"Being a family means you are part of something wonderful. It means you will love and be loved for the rest of your life. No matter what." ~Author Unknown



Sunday, January 22, 2012

Chopsticks, Fortune Cookies, and Airports

We had a perfect plan for Saturday.  The usual suspects were supposed to convene at my house.  We were to eat, drink and be merry.  Then, at the appropriate time, Uncle Rick would head to the airport to retrieve our missing peeps.  Unfortunately, he left his door unlocked and the flu done walked right in.  Flu said, “No sir, you will not go anywhere.  Neither will your wife.”  Plan B.

No problem, Em and I are masters at making happy(adj.-marked by joy or pleasure) out of happenstance(noun-an event that might have been arranged although it was really accidental).  I quickly decided I wasn’t cooking, so off to Pei Wei it was with our 4 littlest blessings.  When you have a table of 6 with only 2 adults and 2 in highchairs, you get a few looks.  When you start taking pictures, striking poses, and giggling you get people checking the menu to see if they serve alcohol.  They don’t, and we were only intoxicated from drinking in silly kids.  Do you know how many uses chopsticks have?  They are great for jabbing, poking, prodding, drumming, and oh yeah, eating.      

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Livy was determined to get every last noodle in her mouth without a western utensil.

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What are you eating Sof?

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Oh, I see, edamame.  Mmmmm, looks good.

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There was lots of feeding going on. 

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Then it just got ridiculous.  Strike a pose…

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Pei Wei has help yourself fortune cookies.  We were excessive, admittedly.  They are so little though, and who is to say that 2(or 3 or 4) fortunes aren’t meant to come to us?  We know those little tidbits of wisdom have been written just for us.  The proof?  Undeniable, Em’s “word” was weather!  Steve is a weatherman!  That is not coincidence people!

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What you can learn at Pei Wei on a Saturday night with 4 kids:

1.  Life is full of little decisions, like white or brown rice.

2.  Treasure what you have.

3.  To be mature is to accept imperfections.

4.  The simplest answer is to act.

We left enlightened, and will go off into the world enacting change in the name of fortune cookies.

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Adrienne had to be picked up from dance, and then we had time to kill before the airport run.  What to do?  Dance of course!

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Then finally it was time for me to collect my people from the airport.  There is something electric about the airport.  The excitement of trips to be had, experiences to be made.  On the flip side there are reunions with loved ones that have been away.  I had a flood of Russia memories come back driving up to the arrivals.  The stress of getting there, cancelled fights, delays, and so on.  Then the joy of bringing our daughter home to a crowd of friends and family waiting anxiously in the hallway of arrivals.  If the airport walls could talk they would tell amazing stories of joy and sorrow.

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Welcome home.  Take your coat off and stay awhile:)

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