Oops! Oh well...she's a beauty, no matter what!
Wild scissor woman!Hello, all--
It's Sunday night. It's been a good day. Yesterday was very damp and cold, but today dawned warmer and we were blessed with sunshine!
A team from Youth With A Mission visited our church today. They are based in San Fransisco and are at the end of several-week trip through parts of Asia. They led worship and shared testimonies.
After church, Tony and I thought that it was a good day to try something new, so we had the taxi drop us off downtown near the river and we went walking to find a "local" restaurant. These are the establishments that are all "open-air"--even the ones enclosed with walls have no glass on the windows. Typical food is noodles, rice, pork, chicken or fish. The rainy season is a great time to try out some new places because it is not hot to sit outside to eat.
The place we selected looked somewhat like a cross between a diner and a cafeteria. There was a counter, and the tables were laminant. The chairs were blue, red, and orange and were bolted on to a metal frame at the tables. Groups of three or four tables were joined at the ends with a metal tray to hold condiments. The menus were laminated sheets of paper. There was one menu in Vietnamese and one in English. The menu said "Hamburger" so we ordered six (for the girls and Tony), plus five orders of french fries, and fruit smoothies. I ordered "rice noodles in beef stew." The "hamburgers" turned out to be a slice of pork (somewhat like a pale Spam), with lettuce, tomato, mayo, and a thin spread of liverwurst paste (I kid you not). It actually tasted pretty good to the girls--they all ate. The french fries were ,,, french fries. My stew was beef pieces, carrot chunks, and onion in a tomato based broth, with rice noodles (they look a lot like Ramen noodles, but they are almost transparent in color). The fruit smoothies were a light red in color. They tasted of banana and watermelon, with some type of citrus fruit as well. Very good.
The condiments on the table were interesting, two kinds of soy sauce, two kinds of hot sauce, and chopsticks (no salt, pepper, sugar, ketchup, or napkins). After lunch, we took a walk along the river. It was very nice. There is a large paved plaza that runs along the river--plenty of room for the girls to run. We found a grassy area also. There was a slight incline. Faith immediately laid down in the grass and rolled down the hill, cackling all the way.
Tonight, Faith, Joy and Elizabeth all needed their bangs trimmed. I don't cut much hair, but I do trim bangs. Well...at least I used to. Everything went fine with Joy and Faith. Elizabeth's bangs were very long, since she had been growing them out--past her chin. I don't know what happened, but I whacked them off way to short. When Tony saw her, he said "WHO did that?" She giggled, and said, "Mommy had an accident!" Thankfully, she thinks it is funny (I would have imagined her bursting into tears). And, we know from experience that they will indeed grown back.
So, that has been our day. The girls and I cleaned up the supper dishes together. I love moments like that--we were singing show tunes, dancing with dirty plates, and just having a good time being together. We nearly had a fight between Anna Mei and Jillian about who would GET to wash the dishes (I love it!). It turns out that washing is preferable to drying, sweeping the floor and wiping off the table. Go figure. Jillian won out this time. I did rinse and dry duty, Anna Mei did the floor and worked on the table. Elizabeth helped in general. Faith and Joy were on "puppy sitting" duty. Dad was at his favorite pasttime--reading in his easy chair. I can't complain, though. He had finished up cleaning the kitchen this afternoon, while I had a nap!
This is the kind of day that I fear the girls will not remember, but one that I treasure. Nothing remarkable, but a wonderful contentment and the joy that comes with living peaceful moments without rush.
Grace and peace!
