The Laws are In

Yes, that's my play on words for the fact that Scott's parents came to visit last week. We were all very excited for them to come into town. I wanted the house to be spotless when they arrived, so Andrew (since he was on Spring break) and I, mopped the parquet floors on our hands and knees. Andrew thought it was very fun...and he actually did a great job. The best part about having a child who is excited bout cleaning is that I could send him to do all the nasty, tucked away places that I didn't want to touch. (He could care less about crawling under a bed to remove all the dust bunnies). Luckily I am in an Asian country and child labor laws do not apply here. Jacob was bummed he did not get to help with the wood floors, so after school on Wednesday, the three of us hand washed the marble floors. It was fun to have the company while cleaning...but the kids did not grasp that fact that they needed to work backwards. They would mop an area, then slide across it to get to the next spot; leaving a trail of gray slosh in their wake. Basically, the boys wet down the marble with their muddy, wet bodies - and I followed behind with a clean rag. I was very proud of how all the floors looked by the end. I was not, however, happy with the appearance of my knees. The mosquito bites I had been acquiring throughout the week had some kind of adverse reaction to the cleaning solution in which I was kneeling - and my legs had bright red marks for the next few days. 

David and Jan arrived late Wednesday night. The boys were very upset that they could not stay up to see them get in (they landed at midnight). Scott, David, Jan and I all had the chance to catch up for a few minutes before we all admitted that we needed to get some rest.

Thursday morning the boys woke up excitedly to see Grandma Jan and Opa. Andrew (Jacob had left for school) was even more excited when Grandma Jan opened her largest suitcase to reveal she had purchased a small portion of a Safeway store to bring to us here in Singapore. He eagerly dug into the bag of Yo-Gos while I eagerly loaded the Lucky Charms and Coco Puffs into my cabinets.

That afternoon, we all met Scott at work to get some lunch. Scott and I had agreed to hit Black Angus for lunch and were eagerly anticipating a nice juicy cheeseburger. Well, we all walk over to Scott's office building, then make the trek over to the waterfront. We come out of the breezeway only to find that Black Angus is boarded up. Boo. So much for a burger. We then decide to go to an Irish pub on the other side of the financial district. I ordered what turned out the be the biggest club sandwich I had ever seen in my life. Not only was it loaded with turkey, bacon, and ham - but it also had some huge slices of avocado and a couple of fried eggs. I guess I could have morphed that beast into some type of high protein, low carb thing....but I could not give up the bread and thus consumed a high carb, high fat, high calorie, high cholesterol piece of heaven.    

Friday, we decided to have Jacob skip school since Scott had the day off work. We all took the sky tram to Sentosa Island. The tram ride had a beautiful view, but the lack of air conditioning made it a bit uncomfortable. The afternoon was spent doing various activities....some great and some not so. The luge down the hills of the island were definitely the high-light for the boys. We all had a great time and were thoroughly worn out by the time we got home. 

Saturday morning was spent watching the boys play baseball. Jacob hit a home run his first time up to bat and on his first swing. Very exciting to watch!  While I was waiting for Andrew's game to start, I felt something tickling my leg. I thought it was a blade of grass. I kind of scratched my ankle with the other foot, but a few seconds later, the tickling began again. I looked down and noticed a black snake was nestled up against me. I initially thought it was fake because it was not moving. However, when I  nudged it with my foot it began to slither away. As a couple of the other moms began to scream, I attempted to coax the snake off the field. The snake kept trying to go towards the field, so I flung it towards the fence and it seemed to get the point. The problem was that it passed Jacob on its way out and Jacob could barely restrain himself from following the thing.  That night we decided to hit the Night Safari.  It was just as much fun as the first time we went. The only low point was when we went to take a picture on a stage with some of the animals and zoo workers in costume. We got up to the stage only to find out that we have to pay $5 per person for a lousy picture. In order to circumvent the policy, we moved to the side of the stage and I took a picture of everyone with all the goodies in the background. Seeing as it was 10pm, my flash went off. Immediately after I took the picture, the zoo guy ggot on the microphone, "Do not use flash photography. These animals are nocturnal and you will damage their eyes."  Everyone in the vicinity turns around to stare down the moronic, not-friendly to animals person who dared use a flash. Hi everyone! It was an accident.

Monday was David and Jan's last full day here. Since the boys were both back in school, Jan and I decided to hit Chinatown. I was hoping to stock up on some cool jewelry, but the prices were ridiculously high. I eventually wound up buying some clothes: a skirt I love, an embroidered dress, and a kimono looking blouse. I am counting on having buyers remorse on at least one of the items. It was still a blast to roam around Chinatown with Jan and look at everything. 

That evening, we were able to get tickets for the Singapore Flyer. What is that? you may ask. Well, the Flyer is Singapore's version of the London Eye. However, it is taller than the Eye (a fact which is a very big deal to a very many Singaporeans).  We were all excited to have the chance to go - and we were able to have our own capsule. The entire capsule is made almost completely of glass (except for the floor), but for some reason the boys felt the best view was standing right smack in front of the doors....a fact that would cause a constricting of my throat, and make me periodically leap off the bench and yell for them to move away from the door. Honestly, if they had fallen out of the door it would have been from my reaction rather than any cause of their own.

The next morning, David and Jan had to leave. It was very sad for all of us. We wish they could have stayed longer, but were glad they were able to make it out here. 

After dropping them off at the airport, I had to head up to Jacob's school. Tuesday was Staff Appreciation Day at the American School. This event is an enormous deal. The teachers basically have an all day catered event with gifts and everything. I had signed up to bring a pie as my donation. On the sign-up list it specified to bring your food donation in a disposable container. So....I bake my pie in a cheap little foil tin. I make my way up to the room where the food is to be served, and walk in to find what looks like a high-end social event. There is the most gorgeous spread of foods around the room with giant, spectacular floral arrangements. There are intricately woven baskets holding a variety of muffins, rolls, and croissants. Beautiful china and sliver platters with all sorts of rich foods. Get the picture. Well, here I come....with my little apple pie....in a foil tin.  Guess what stood out the most on the table. I felt like I was entering a rat into the Westminster Dog Show.  I walk up to a lady and ask where I should put my pie. She answers (in a distinct British accent) that she does not know. (Do you really not know? Or are you embarrassed to have my pie on your table?) Anyway, I finally found a home for my humble little pie, bid him well, then went home. 

The rest of the week has been spent trying to get back in the swing of things. First order of business was to get back on my diet that has been failing since we moved here. I decided that I needed to hit the gym and spend some time on the treadmill. I totally hate to work out, but this evening was the most fun I had ever had. Not because I enjoyed what I was doing, but because of who was in there with me. 

Guy #1 is wearing a tank top and gray sweat pants. I noticed him at first because he would do about 1 set of three reps on each machine he approached. (yes, that is what I meant...h would do the motion only three times on the machine then dismount.) It was cracking me up because I had no idea how he could accomplish anything doing so little work.  His relationship with the machines took on an entirely new dimension when it started to look as if he was getting ready to break up with the machine. He would pace back and forth in front of the machine - taking deep breaths and running his fingers through his hair. He would then stop, and stand in front of the machine, staring at it with his hands on his hips. It was very intense. I was waiting for the machine to burst into tears and run away. I lost track of the guy for a while while I was focusing on my own lame workout. About ten minutes later I noticed him just sitting on one of the other machines. He was staring into space looking very defeated. (Guess the machine won the argument).

Guy #2 also was wearing a tank top. Actually, his was a shirt with the sleeves cut off. This guy spent his time solely with the free weights. He would grunt loudly every time he lifted an arm. (I know it was loud because I had my ipod on full blast and could hear him like he was yelling in my ear). After finishing his reps, he would stand in front of the mirror and flex his biceps. He would then turn and flex his triceps. Seriously....you think you will be able to tell a difference right after the reps? My other favorite part was that he would stare at himself in the mirror the entire time he was doing his reps. Not looking at himself - this guy was staring into his own eyes. 

We have been having a series of intense thunder storms this week. Consistently there are these long, loud grumblings that go on. I was sitting out with Andrew, eating during one of the storms when he said, "The thunder sounds like it's laughing."  Ever since he said that, I can never listen to thunder the same way again. 

The boys both  had a great day at school yesterday. Andrew went to see "The Emperor's New Clothes" with his class. When he came off the bus that afternoon he yelled to me, "Mom! I saw his booty on stage!" Kind of scary to hear as a parent. Jacob had a different kind of good day; he came home with a Super Reader certificate. Not only did he get the certificate, but he got to meet with the principal, speak with him for a while, and then got to choose a little gift. We were really proud of Jacob - he has been working very hard on his reading these past few weeks.

Well, life continues to go well - even though our last name is being desecrated by the news on a daily basis. Guess there always has to be something......