A Year Ago ...

A Poem--

I don't want any more of her
She makes me very swollen
I don't want any more of her
She makes me fallen

So I'll move to Holly Land
where for supper
I'll have soome berries
And I'll have a wife and children
that will give me many merries

A Letter --

Dear Santa,

Before I fly, will you bring cozy clothes for our long cold flight? I will get cold. Get me groomed too, because I don't like to be messy. Get me some snacks, I get hungry. Prepare them so I can fly.

Love,
Star the Reindeer

A Book --
The Important Book

The important thing about a puppy is that it is cute. It is playful. It has fur.

But the important thing about a puppy
is that it is cute


The important thing about
a car is that it takes you to places. It has seats. It has wheels.

But the important thing about
a car is that it takes you to
places.




The important thing about a
flower is that it is colorful.
It is beatiful. It smells good.

But the important thing about a
flower is that it is colorful.












The important thing about my family
is that we love each other. We spend
time together. They help me learn.

But the important thing about my
family is that we love each other.





The important thing about
Cristmas is it is Jesus's birthday.
We get presents. We have lights.

But the important thing about
Cristmas is that it is Jesus's
birthday.

Marymoor Park Birds

Just a little earlier today, my family and I went to Marymoor Park again. But, oh, what an adventure it was today! I took my binoculars and one of my birding books. I took the "Washington State Birds" one. It was a small book, and I don't need bird recordings from my other book.

The first bird I discovered and recognized (some birds I saw but didn't recognize) was actually a flock of migrant Canada Geese. This was a little strange. The geese were supposed to migrate in the fall, not winter. But I didn't mind too much .

The second one first gave out its song before I spotted it. It was a very familiar song from my bird recording book. Then, a dark shape suddenly fluttered into view. I didn't mistake it for a crow even at the first glance because I noticed a funny crest on it's head. It was a Steller's Jay. That was the third time I saw one!

Now here comes the third bird (it rhymes!). I also first heard its song. It was a nasal chick-a-dee-dee-dee-dee-dee. It had to be some sort of chickadee. I grabbed my binoculars and aimed it at a small bird that was "chickadee shaped". I couldn't tell what it was until I noticed a black stripe running from it's eyes to it's cheeks. So I checked my birding book. It was a Mountain Chickadee!

Finally, this is the last one: After me and mom crossed the bridge (the bridge had flooded and the others were too scared to come)
there was the lake. There were some waterbirds swimming in the giant pond. My binoculars were too weak to find out what bird it was, but I saw that somewhere on the bird was a patch of white. And there was a TON of possibilities for what it was if there was a patch of white on it.
Later, we got home and looked at the pictures mom took at Marymoor. She had also took pictures of the waterbirds. I realized that the birds had white bills. Suddenly, I knew what they were. Black bodies, white beaks... why, it was nothing but the American Coot!
I think I'll go there again and again. Marymoor is an excellent birding place!!

-by Hannah

Sneezing Nose (ACHOO!)

Dad has a super-sensitive nose. Tickled by a feather for only 1 second? ACHOO! Being squeezed? ACHOO! There's practically a whole list of other things that make him sneeze. Some of them also make me sneeze, but then, they make everyone else sneeze, on the other hand. ACHOOOO!

-by Hannah

The Shooting Star on Halloween

It was Halloween night, and I was freezing. I was only wearing what felt like silk and I couldn't even make a 2 out of my hands! Then, all of a sudden, I saw an orange and red shooting star, blazing like fire. "There's a shooting star!" I shouted, pointing. But when my parents turned around, it was too late. "Did you make a wish?" they asked. I nodded. I secretly wished I would go home without trick-or-treating anymore houses, since I didn't believe such things at that time. So I simply forgot about my wish almost immediately after I made it. But suddenly, it came true! I told a few of my lucky classmates the other day about what I saw. And some of them also saw it. One of them, a boy named Diego, said that he wished he'd get a ton of candy. and he did get a ton. He used a bag taller than himself, and it still overflowed with candy. Another was one of my neighbors. He said he wished he'd fall on his hand. He didn't believe in shooting stars and wishes, either. But he did fall on his hand and had to go home. Wow!

-by Hannah

The Ambulence Siren

We were driving home from the Pacific Science Center after watching "Happy Feet", the new movie, at the Imax theater, when an ambulence siren rang. It reminded me of the firefighters (they have the same siren), which reminded me of fire, that reminded me of smoke (from the fire), that reminded me of tobbaco, that reminded me of pipes that people use to smoke, that reminded me of Huckleberry Finn! Huckleberry smoked when he was only 10. Not long after, the siren came again. And by that time, my whole mind went straight to... Huckleberry Finn. :)

-by Hannah

Sleeping Buddy

函函有固定的sleeping buddies, 如一只灰色的大象，一只穿红褂子的白熊.
妹妹曾一度青睐一只软软的哈巴狗，后来就多了，各式各样的娃娃，eeyore, peter rabbit, bumble bee, etc, 再后来，顺手拈来，逮谁是谁，再再后来。。。比如昨晚，捏着一个橡皮筋也躺下睡了，半夜坐起来哭，因为找不着sleeping buddy 了，mommy 一个鲤鱼打挺，扯亮电灯，掀起被子，才找着恐怕是世界上最小的sleeping buddy —— 一根粉红色的橡皮筋。

（补记01/05/07）最近妹妹常常搂着一件毛背心睡觉，第二天醒来后四处溜达，手里还拎着那件背心。

Cutie Beautie

On the day before she was born, my mom went to the hospital and told me my little sister was going to be named Melody. I couldn't wait, I was going to be a big sister! Now I would know what it felt like to be a (assistant) baby-sitter! I couldn't sleep that night either, so the night seemed like a year. The next day, mom didn't come back. I felt like I was going to urinate in my pants from all that waiting. FINALLY, that night, the new babe came home!! I ran to her and sneaked a brief peek at Melody. She was sleeping peacefully in her car-seat. If I didn't know she was a girl earlier, I would've thought she was a boy. Her breath was the smell of the little blue flower called Baby's Breath. "Oh, she is gorgeous !" I thought. I wanted to kiss her, but I was too shy to do that yet. Melody was certainly the right name. I'm glad she wasn't named anything else, not even Rosie or Carol. She was beautiful, cute, and precious at the same time, so she was a "cutie beautie" after all. :)

-by Hannah

朝三暮四新篇

自打Costco没了Silk Soymilk，换上了Signature Soymilk 之后，妹妹便不爱喝奶了。只得搭配着促销出去。这不：
“妹妹要看Bunny"
“先喝了这杯奶”妈妈往一大杯子里倒奶
“No, No, too much" 妹妹着急地摇手摆脚
妈妈不急不忙，转手拿来妹妹专用小杯子，将大杯子里的 Signature 倒在小杯子里，小妮子接过杯子，到一边乖乖的喝去了。

——得再找一地进 Silk 了。。

节前节后

节前——
“函函，如果有一天，Santa 死了，怎么办？”
“Mom, don't mention it!"
(一天后）“Mom, I just saw the news posted in Columbia Club saying that an old man has figured out how to be Santa! Since then he hasn't shaved his beard. He will be the new replacement of Santa, I think."

"Mom, you know, in Hawaii, houses there have no chimneys but Santa still managed to deliver the presents even with the door locked."
"Oh, how?"
"It's a little secrect about that guy." 函函耸耸肩，不是很操心。

节日中——
“Mom, after opening all the presents, Christmas becomes a normal day，again ” 不知隔壁家还剩下哪些帽子，借顶给小蹄子也戴一戴？

Christmas

Today is Christmas. I'm happy. The instant I woke up, I went downstairs quietly. There, under the Christmas tree, were 4 presents. I looked at the first one. It had a small card that said: "Hannah, find your lucky penny. Ho ho ho. Merry Christmas. Santa." The second one was a cylinder that also had a tiny card that said: "For Melody." The third one had an envelope that was addressed:

Melody
2003 Angel St.
Cloud City, Heaven 1002

(she was born on 10/02/2003) The fourth present said:

Hannah
1998 Happy Ave.
Sunnyville, Heaven 1021

(I was born on 10/21/1998) Santa sure had a good sense of humor that tickled my funnybone!

When my parents came down stairs (and Mel), I started to open my presents. First, I opened the addressed gift. It was a real sewing machine!! Then, I opened the "lucky penny" one. It was a kit that shows you how to be a cheer leader. But I didn't find my lucky penny until mom looked at the card. There was a mini stocking on the card. "Why don't you look in the stocking?" she suggested. Sure enough, a penny was in the stocking. And of course, it said on the penny: 1998.
Mel got a gigantic set of Playdoh and a box of Winnie-the-Pooh stuff: books, a music player with it's own discs, and even a small film-maker! Both of us had one gift that had a small box attatched. It was a box of Pop-Its. They look like dandilion seeds without the fuzz. It makes a loud popping sound when you throw it on the ground.

Santa seems like he's been using our snowflake wrappers again. That's what all the gifts are wrapped with. I found my Scotch tape on a present; he's using that too, AND a greeting card from my room!

Merry Christmas!

--Hannah

P.S. Lila and Mo meowed quite a bit this morning. Are they saying "A stranger came into our house last night!" ?

-by Hannah

A Funny Word --天籁 (2)

"妹妹要看电视, YEAH! " We cracked up.
Once, we had to not let Mel watch TV because of something important we had to do. Mel wanted to watch TV, so we had a discussion with her. Now, you could imagine her dismay. She started to cry. But suddenly, she stopped crying a little, just enough for her to talk. And then she did talk. "妹妹要看电视，YEAH! " But we laughed instead. So funny! The "YEAH!" part was the funny one. None of us would use that word, though. We would have got scolded more greatly instead. But Mel was little, only 3 years old, and we never heard that phrase before (it only sounded funny), that we just led her upstairs. And the good thing was, Mel stopped crying. I still wonder why, she was very calm.
--Hannah

Little Artist

Draw, draw, DRAW! When ever Melody has time, she would either be playing on the Nintendo DS (I HATE Nintendoes) or drawing! First, she can only draw weird things that look like blobs of jelly. Then, she can draw people that look like ants to me. Then, she can draw sharks eating fish. THEN, she can draw what looks like our cats, and maybe some foxes are in her picture. After all this, I don't see or regonize any new figures when she draws. But too much of a good thing IS a bad thing. I'm very proud of her talent. On the other hand, I'm also a little worried. Mel usually draws on white paper. But now she has started to draw on MY pictures (even my best works) and on paper that simply aren't for drawing! Oh, well, she is still a very good artist for someone her age. I'm not surprised when mom admires it like a fine piece of art. I like her drawings too, actually. :)

--Hannah

天籁（1）

拉着妹妹在大床上疯，突然妹妹躺倒在床上痛苦的哼唧起来。
“妹妹，扭着手了吗？"
“。。。对啦~~”小脸儿扭成一小团。
一众看客哈哈大笑。
“妹妹，意思说对了，但语气错啦！”

——平常如果妹妹回答问题正确，我们就会高兴地对她说“妹妹，对啦~~”

函函委曲吗？

"妹妹，今天晚上你跟我睡，好吗？”姐姐好脾气地问道，
“No"
“妹妹，今天我跟你睡，好吗？”
“No"
“妹妹，你睡我的房间吗？”
“No"
"妹妹，那我睡你的房间，好吗？”
“No"
“妹妹，我睡地上，不会打搅你的，你可以pretend我没睡在这里”
“No"

谈判失败，姐姐也就不再讲客气了，抱着 camping 用的睡袋径自铺在妹妹房间的地上，舒舒服服的躺下来。那位说“No" 的同志，好像也没啥意见。

——姐姐因为 vivid imagination （依我看纯属自个儿吓自个儿）在晚上较活跃，不敢一人睡一间房，总想拉个垫背的，或三岁的妹妹，或一只小猫。

搭错车 II

“Soup! Hot soup!" 昏黄的路灯下有几个人围着一火炉，一个男孩子冲我们，应该是我们，因为路上没有别人，喊道“Soup, it's free!" —— 前几天因妹妹的病，没好好睡过安稳觉，有些意识模糊，我该不是走进了狄更斯笔下的伦敦街头吧？

我犹疑了，首先想到的，这是不是为homeless提供的假日服务呢？要不他们就是一堆homeless.　但我还是走过去，说我不需要热汤，我想打个电话，那男孩子问有零钱吗，我说还有，他转身指着一旁颇气派的大楼说，里面有 pay phone.

以前开车常路过这地，知道是个police station/fires station/city hall　之类的所在，因为警车，消防车就趴在门边。走进去，大厅干净明亮温暖，当中立着一棵亮闪闪的圣诞树，电话崭新好使，通知完了Daddy，便想搞清楚政府几点关门，走到门口看关门时间，从一侧的会议室出来一位和蔼的妇女上前询问，我简单地跟她说明原委，她忙建议我们进会议室坐坐，那儿更暖和，有热茶热巧克力奶。她叫　Denise. 平时工作是一个 traveling nurse，屋外那个男孩是她15岁的儿子，叫Brendon, 他正在努力争取得到 Boy Scout 的 Eagle Award，这是Boy Scout 的最高荣誉。她女儿也在这儿帮忙，她已大学四年级了，学的是 Anthrology. Denise 家屋顶上星期四被一刮断的树枝戳了一大窟窿，她丈夫自己修了修，我夸他是个handy man， Denise 和她女儿相视一笑，说修没修好，等下次下雨就知道了。　

室内有几张桌子几把椅子，三五个人在聊着天。又有一位妇女迎上来领我们到放着热饮还有饼干的桌子前，函函和我各自冲了杯hot chocolate。这位妇女叫Brenda，她有哮喘，需每天喷 steroid，后来 Brenda 又跑去听七点钟的 city council——她并不是其中一员，只是对今晚讨论的救灾问题感兴趣。　Brenda 建议我们到门外火炉那儿弄点热汤，我们便高高兴兴又去了，函函私下里问我他们是干什么的，我说是给遇到困难的人提供shelter的，函函说长大了也要办这么一个shelter.

在火炉上做汤的老太太已是满头银发，很精神的短发。桌上地上摊者一堆做汤的罐头，锅碗瓢盆，都是用自家的pick-up拖来的。端了杯chicken soup 回到会议室，Denise过来聊天，Denise 善谈，更善听，函函这下逮着可以倾诉的对象了，有人说，美国女人，给她一杯水，她的话就可以如滔滔江水一般排将过来。函函一边喝着巧克力奶，一边抖落着脑子里所有的存货，从 Barbie doll 的 fashion style, 到学校一男孩子对她的crush，从暴风雨夜的断电经历，到各色小joke——书里看来的，听同学说起的，自己makeup的， etc. 可以参考她的文章 "Locked Keys".

Daddy 直到8：10才现身，问为何姗姗来迟，答曰“心急似火，却欲速不达，陷于traffic jam 不能自拔”。该 jam 系交通繁忙区红绿灯灭了两盏酿制所成。

“I hope I'll see you again" 函函与Denise hug,告别。

回到家，我把剩下的3个钢镚给了函函，奖励她今晚所表现出来的勇敢和冷静；
小姑娘大方的受下了，从她的 piggy bank 拿出另外3个钢镚给我，说是补偿我打电话浪费掉的3个。我不是很解，她说不想看到我 waste money for nothing ——我还是不解，不过还是接受了她的好意。


--从city website 上找到关于Denise他们自愿从事的组织的介绍：

Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) Program：

Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) training is designed to prepare you to help yourself, your family, and your neighbors in the event of a catastrophic disaster. Professional emergency services personnel will not be able to help everyone immediately, so citizens like you can make a difference by using your CERT training to protect and save lives. With training and practice, you will be able to do the greatest good for the greatest number of people after a disaster, while helping prevent yourself from becoming a victim.

Emergency Services Coordinating Agency (ESCA) began providing CERT training in 1996. Since then, over 600 citizens have graduated from the CERT program.

搭错车 I

今天下午带着函函出去买点菜，因为大部分区域已通电了，商店里该有牛奶和肉买了。买完了东西就去图书馆还已过期好几天的书，接下来长达3个半小时不寻常的经历就这么平凡的开始了—— 恍恍惚惚乎间，搭错车到了一个不知名的小站。。。

天很冷，偏偏我又只穿了件夹衣，函函也只比我多件薄毛衣。在图书馆停车场将散落的书装进拎包时，函函催我快点，因为她冷，我一着急，车钥匙就锁车里了，绕着车走了一圈，无缝可插针。一旁刚趴好的车里走出一人主动提出一些建议和帮助，可惜车子严丝合缝，爱莫能助。

4:45，天快全黑了，拎着书到图书馆，因停电的原因，今天还是闭馆，本指望在那里打电话给Daddy W。然后我俩浮生偷得半日闲，舒舒服服暖暖和和在书堆里耗上2个小时。我问函函该怎么办，“走回家吧”这是函的建议，“恐怕得走3个小时，并且大部分路程没人行道”。打的？在这称之为 “valley” 的地方，那就好比在大都市想坐小驴拉车，并且这时候上哪去找出租车公司的电话号码。斜对角有一辆警车正等着红绿灯，他应该看到街道上的两个孤魂吧，里面会不会坐着一位雷锋叔叔呀？绿灯了，雷锋叔叔打我身边飞驰而去。

望着对面小型shopping mall,只能从那儿想办法，幸好今天带了钱包。

我对函函说，这个时候，首先要打通电话，让家里人知道我们在哪儿，然后再找个暖和安全的地方等着爸爸来接。

先奔加油站，函函说他们不会借给我们电话的，缘于上次在downtown找不到朋友下榻的旅馆，Daddy到一家书店借用电话遭到拒绝的经历。后来还是函函建议“问问”车子的GPS，输入电话号码才找到正确的地址。果不出函函所料，但是人家还是给我们指出一条出路，附近有公用电话，简直是难以置信——我指的是居然有公共电话。函函担心没coin，我说这好办，兴冲冲奔就近一家grocery store，得了８个quarter。

这是个简陋的室外公用电话亭，两部电话，没一部是通的，还吞掉了我宝贵的３个quarter.就着昏暗的街灯一看，听筒坑洼遍布，满腹心酸状——显然被人"bang"过无数次，

街过道有一小教堂，还明亮着，奔过去，门扉久扣不开，原来临街的铺面已并作一家当地小报社，已下班了。

事态开始严峻起来，很冷的天啊，已经全黑了。

这一带经常开车路过，努力回忆，好像有那么一辆公交车经过邻近的一条街，能离家近一步就算一步。

一路跑着找 bus stop,函函紧跟在后面。我心里已盘算着找个饭馆，吃饱喝足，再讨个电话打打。

Locked Keys and a People Shelter Make a Fun Difference

Yesterday, after some shopping for food at Costco and Trader Joe's, my mom and I went to the Issaquah Public Library to drop off overdue books, and if it's open, we'll pick up some more books there. It was closed because of power outage since Dec.15. And we also realized we had locked the keys in the trunk of our car. And then thats when we had one of our best days in our lives. It started out very bad, though.

We came up with many ideas, but a number of them failed. For instance, we found a grocery store. We bought things that we could not find earlier: green peppers and carrots. Then, instead of credit card, we used a $20 doller bill. We got change, just as we planned. There was enough coins from the change to make plenty of calls on the telephones out in the city. We hurried to the telephone booth right outside Shell, a gas station. But the wrecked thing would not "swallow" the coins. Mom had wasted 75 cents! Also, the telephone had broke because people had banged it hard. But finally, we were still walking when we came across a small group of people. "Soup! Hot soup!" they called. Then I saw a sign that said "FREE HOT SOUP." They asked us if we wanted any soup. All we asked for was a telephone, the one by Shell had broke. They had one in the building. I hoped it was better than the other one. It was. We called dad to pick us up as he was driving home.

There happend to have a shelter for people at the City Hall and Police Station. We decided to stay there until dad came. I had fun there, especially with Denise, who is the head of Community Emergency Response Team (CERT), I think. As a result, we stayed there for almost 3 hours. Dad was supposed to pick us up in the Van Pool. And Van Pools leave only at 6 o'clock. But dad wanted to leave earlier and pick us up. So he Car Pooled instead with a friend. But his friend took a different road and they got stuck in a 1-and-a-half hour traffic jam. While at the shelter, we drank hot chocolate and chatted with each other. It did turn out to be a good day after all （At the begining, I thought we were goners)!

-Hannah

日落而息——购物篇

当街上所有的红绿灯都成了黑灯瞎火的stop sign时，车子走的是文文雅雅，人行道上也多了些消消停停拎着购物袋走路的人。

走走停停的车子在shopping mall做探头探脑状，一店挨一店地探过来,大多数grocery store 关门2-3天，即便开门，也没有牛奶鸡蛋鱼肉卖。

QFC 前好像聚着一堆人，赶过去一瞧，一伙计把着门，对着门前一众说道：
“My generator is down. We will open as soon as it's back" 神情颇有些high，但这一干人似乎并没有散开。
"But where is my wife?" 一男子走过来，够着头往店里东瞧西瞧，一边说道。
众人一阵哄笑。
—cell phone 没电了，老婆也找不着了。

日落而息——逍遥篇

晚饭后，洗漱完毕，6：00以后干什么呢？

妹妹——
Nintendo掌中游戏机，玩得没了电，妈妈高兴得跟她说，“妹呀，游戏机没电啦，又冲不了电耶，我们玩不了啦！”
小人儿才不会自找没趣呢，转头就攻“Bird Songs"，这本书可以放出250种鸟的鸣叫声，后来电池也跑光光；
再换Lego, 可怜她妈，烛光下，摸摸索索，做大象，盖房子，不比穿针走线来得轻松。

姐姐——
睡前函函每天给我们讲一个故事，"The Frog Prince” ”Hansel and Gretel"
"Goldilocks and the Three Bears”, 小姑娘靠着墙自顾自的重复着古老的传说；
函函从她closet顶层架子上翻出一个不需任何“电”的游戏，Pictionary, 是隔壁阿姨若干年前送的阳春白雪，束之高阁，是它的宿命，如今得以下凡，那是它的造化。抽出一张卡片，选一个词，画出来，然后让对方猜，猜对了可掷色子，移动你的棋子，谁先到终点谁赢；
用一副扑克牌，去掉花色，一人一摞牌，每人出两张，运用+-*/四则运算, 先算出21的人得到桌面上的四张牌——此乃“21点”游戏，函函进步较快，但她人小输不起，我得赔着点；

爸爸妈妈——
爸爸对妈妈唱道“你挑水来，你浇园”，妈妈做饭，爸爸帮忙或倒忙，并以此为乐，见“吃喝篇”。

日落而息——吃喝篇

早上不能烤toast,就做 French toast. 牛奶用小锅烧热，格外的香，浇上chocolate syrup 或 honey，便是一顿暖胃暖身的早餐，尤其在一个chilly的没暖气的清晨。
晚餐，等想起做时，天已黑了，好在中饭总是做了很多，再添个粥，到后院揪几棵小白菜，大火清抄就很好吃了。
中午饭，是一天的重头戏。做饭时总免不了想起 "The Longest Winter" (“Little House" series), 一家六口，没有butter，没有肉，木材短缺，靠着黑面包和土豆，在大雪覆盖下冰冻的屋子里，度过了5，6个月。想起这一出，做饭的高兴劲就受到打击。

但饭还是做出来了，并且很奢侈。

第一天，饺子，手工杆的饺子皮，饺子馅动用了12味调味品，硬是把牛肉馅调得吃不出牛肉味来，并且一点不干，12钗是：火鸡肉末，芹菜，香菇，炒鸡蛋，姜末，盐，糖，白酒，白胡椒粉，miso，芹菜汁，香油。

第二天，面条，手工杆机器压的面条，30 chicken wings，3 carrots, 4 ribs of celery 烧制的 home-made chicken soup 煮面条，鸡翅捞出，浸葱姜汁30分钟，成就一道本乡本土的鸡汁鸡面。清炒青菜一盘增加维生素。

第三天，包子，配糯米粥。天气虽冷，但给足够长时间发面，包子个个胖大柔软，出锅不塌陷。

蒸蒸煮煮，家里弄得还算暖和。

日落而息——起始篇

12月14日晚，一场时速达60迈的风暴袭击了花生屯，一夜之间，150万人断电，翌日清晨，街道上断枝败叶横布，两旁大树或腰折或拔根而起，触目惊心，犹如战后沙场，虽尸籍遍野，却是平静异常，远空云彩瑰丽。

我们这一片停电三天三夜，有些区域至今还未通电。工程车加班加点的剧掉危险的树枝，搭起被压倒的电线。

没有electricity, 我们失去了什么，还剩下什么？
我们还有：
。时间，爸爸妈妈有了大把时间，家里还有一个电池钟，不至于4点天一黑就糊里糊涂吃晚饭了；
。火，幸运的是我家炉子用的是煤气，一日三餐还有热饭吃;
。照明，去年买的3大罐香蜡烛排上大用场，还可以“烛光晚餐”;

我们没了：
。暖气，家里晚上温度降到49F;
。Gasline, 所有加油站统统的关门，捱到周六，有那么一两家gas station 供油了，排队加油的车子塞满了一条半街道；
。电视电脑, Daddy 眼里的血丝血块，在休养3日后，没了；
。净化水，冰箱不制冷倒也罢了，水也不出了，grocery store 里的 bottle
water 早脱销了。只好喝 tap water.
。热水，不能洗热水澡；
。pressure，日出而作，日落而息的生活，你还指望什么呢；
。Grocery store 没有牛奶鸡蛋和肉;
。10+ citizen lives. 有烧煤球取暖而煤气中毒的，有大水冲进地下室未能脱险的，等等.

Cat Hugs and Kisses

Here's the thing that made me cry a little bit this afternoon:

We had moved the cat's bed this morning to our back door so there was a beautiful view of the snow in our garden for our cats to see. The cats were already getting used to sleep there by the afternoon. Finally, Lila, my female tabby cat climbed in and looked at the garden snow. I guess she's never saw the world become white before. A few minutes later, Mo, my fat male black cat climbed in also. He gently bit and licked her neck, which I call "cat kisses".

After some more kissing before lying down to rest, they were sleeping. Then, I noticed that Mo was hugging Lila. It's no joke. He DID look like a boy hugging a girl if they stood up. "MOM, LOOK!" I cried. But my mom had already noticed. After a minute, my mom said "Hannah, come here, quick! Look!" I ran over. Now both of them were hugging. And sleeping. "Oh, that's so cute!" I exclaimed when I saw them. "Take a picture of them before they wake up!" my mom said. I ran to the office and grabbed the camera. Click! The cats woke up to the sound but quickly fell asleep again, hugging each other. Here's the picture:


--Hannah

Hedge Hog Warning

Hedge Hogs are very cute. It could get 100 grumpy people cooing about how cute they simply are. But think twice before you say "Awww, that's so adorable!" when a hedge hog licks your finger. When a hedge hog does that, it is actually sniffing you, seeing if you're good enough for it to bite you.

--Hannah

有感于米国小学生的成绩单

这 report card，每学期3次，其评估分8个方面，依次为：Reading, Writing, Math, Communication, Science and Health, Social Studies, Physical Education and the Arts, and Social/Learning Skills.

这里单表最后一项：Social/Learning Skills. 此项又进一步细分为9点：
.Respects the rights and feelings of others
.Accepts responsibility
.Follows class rules and school rules
.Cooperates with others
.Uses time wisely
.Follows directions
.Demonstrates good organizational skill
.Exhibits positive attitude
.Completes assignments on time

别看小朋友上学整天跟玩儿似的，老师一旁冷眼看着呢。
先跑一下题，美国是个工业国家，工业国家造出来的每一个螺丝钉都标有一个号，保证这一号的螺丝肯定能拧进同一号的螺帽。造螺丝如此，种庄稼亦如此，那教育呢？
虽说没有全国统一教材，虽说鼓励个人创造，但学校要求的个人素质，原来也是一个个打上号，标上码。
教育早已上升为一门科学，科学者，有尺有度有衡量单位者也。
我并不否认，在这种综合素质的要求下，过关斩将者肯定能顺顺利利在这个社会 survive，他们对这个社会的繁荣昌盛也会起到推波助澜的作用。这些要求是完美无缺的，又有一项项详细标准的指导，我不怀疑其“科学”度，可是，每当我看到这条条框框几十项，总有隐隐约约的担心和不安。
他们是在做螺丝拧螺帽么？
小孩的心理千差万别，曲里拐弯。一个腼腆的孩子，可能会在大众场合表现失态；一个敏感的孩子，有可能表现粗鲁和冷漠。如果不是一个细心的妈妈，或者儿童心理学家，我真的没有信心，其他的人怎么看出其中的道道？
做个小孩子不容易啊，做个又符合规范，又不失本色保持其天真美好的孩子，几乎是不可能。
二者只能取其一的话，我自会取本舍末，既为人父母，就应该好好地了解孩子的心思，在适当的时候给以适当的启发，正确的引导——说来容易，做起来就没那么简单，该给孩子灌输些什么，我是越来越没把握了。“摸着石头过河”吧。

（遂改“炼钢记”为“过河记”）

The trick I played on Melody

I gave Melody the tiny light my grandpa uses to read, made her go into the bathroom (with the light off) and locked the door. I told her to open the little light I gave her so she won't be scared. Under the door was a crack.I peeked in and saw the blue light flashing about.

"Good." I thought, " 'Cause to do this,I need her to know how to use the light."
After a few minutes, I called out to her "Hey, MELODY! It's dinner time!"
"Oh, boy!" I thought,"Here it comes!" I heard her struggle to open the door.
"Hey, help!" Melody cried.
I cracked up, "Hey, Melody, I'm eating a cake! hmmm... Yummy!"
Melody struggled more and I could hear "emm, emm" sound from the other side of door. Obviously Melody was trying harder to open the door.

Finally, when she sounded like she was going to cry, I opened the door and she ran out.
But it was not dinner time yet.

----By Hannah

妹妹，你爱什么呀

为了启发小人儿的心智，妈妈先表态：“妈妈爱妹妹，妈妈还爱谁呀？”
"爸爸，姐姐”；
"那~， 妹妹爱。。。”妈妈满怀期待地；
"。。。"
妈妈做着发“m" 音的口型，再循循诱导之；
小人儿一边咬着勺子，一边扭着身子躲闪，小圆眼睛一转，坏坏笑道:
"Mmmmm, Mo! ”
"还有呢？”再坚持一把，或许有转机?
"Lila” 这回很快接上；
"还有呢？”贼心不死；
"Birthday” ——嗳，a party girl；
"嗯，还有呢？”沙锅打破也在所不惜；
"巧克力！”

沙锅破了一地。。。

那山，那水。。。

已不足为奇了。
花生屯东西南北方四大名雪山有如金钢般矗立，高速上一不留神，一座白面馒头般的雪山，就从你前方地平线上冉冉升起，视觉告诉你，沿着这路往前冲，你就可以一直冲到馒头山顶上去呢。
如果转头朝西开，可以一路滑到大洋里。
于是有了去山上滑雪，去海里看鲸的传统。（不是我家的，是屯里的）

山水原本是还愿，上香者千里跋涉去朝拜的。去了这一层矜持，也就跟自家后院的池塘没多大差别了。（宜为 "Mood" 一文的再一佐证）

倒是朝去暮归经过的几处 moor 常常引我侧头多看两眼。

秋冬，衰草连连，或远或近疏疏落落着几棵枯树，颇有几分神似圆明园那已久违的荒凉园子。“绵连~~/如波浪起伏/的旷野/是/禁止的/风”（大家都会敲敲打打的近代诗哈）。
春夏，葱葱郁郁，如墨如画，鸟鸣其间，翻飞其外, 虽无夏花烂漫，却让隔窗观望，风掣而去的我看到一派盎然生机。

朝雾未散尽时，就有了雾里看 moor 的不尽兴；
正日底下，身旁的车流绝尘而去，moor 依旧安静从容。

如果要我打个比方，如果硬要我打个比方的话，moor，是远古时期，是传说中，是诗经所吟咏的，
。。。

Mood, Mood, It's All About Mood ——寄小星星

做饭时如果你的肚子还饱得话，你做出来的饭就缺乏诚意，尽管你也努力想做好；
工作时如果别的人都忙着过节，你就免不了“身在曹营心在汉”；

年轻时，背一破书包，没地图，没干粮，口袋里几个挤公共汽车的钱，心中默念一个地名，就出发了；
拖家带口之后，没地图？——车子有GPS；没干粮？——有 cooler 和烧烤架；口袋里还是没几张cash？——信用卡总有的吧。（突然想起，恍惚大约还欠着隔壁的20来块钱）。且不说事前作的 homework， virtual tour 和 reservation, 从家门口零距离直指目的地，车路转水路再转空路，端的是行如流水。
。。。。

我不是一个喜欢找不自在的人，远不是。一个找不自在的人，首先得是个勤奋的精力充沛的人，显然我不是一个勤奋的精力充沛的人，对这一点我还是很自信的，所以我不是一个找不自在的人，所以我没有厚古薄今的想法。只不过，一碰到做选择题，我就跟邻居家的小女孩一个样：两者的好处都想左右逢源的利用着。还有比这更美好的愿望吗？没有。

I have a dream, 如果年轻时有现在这种便利，或者反过来也行啊，现在还拥有年轻时的心情，这世界该多美好啊——

——是不是这个理儿，星星?

妹妹的手套

那是几天前的事情。

十一月的意外的一场大雪，大人不上班小孩不上学，无事可做达三日，Daddy W. 远见卓识在七八九月份买的雪撬便派上用场了。伊四出勘探，在临近的park 发现一小山坡，达50米长，再好不过了。妈妈在家里七翻八翻，翻出一些行头给一家子凑合着穿戴上了，姐姐的防水的裤子是5岁大的，手套是我多余的；妹妹原有一双手套，但找不着，估计送人了，妹妹便裸着手也跟去了，说“妈妈以后买”。

从山坡上冲下来确实很有速度，很刺激，但妹妹谨慎的一旁看着，玩玩雪；手冻僵了便过来要在我手中“擦一擦”；看到姐姐一路尖叫着冲下坡，便奔过去，一边秀秀气气地追问“Hannah,怎回事啦”。肯定有一个多小时过去了，爸爸妈妈姐姐玩得很尽兴。

后来妹妹说“回家吧”，于是妈妈陪她回家，爸爸继续陪姐姐玩。

回家路上妹妹不大说话，经过小区旁的马场时，我说“妈妈抱抱吧”，妹妹转过身子让我抱，一路上她的头歪在我的肩膀上，很安静。小丫头看来已经累了。

回到家脱了外套和鞋子，才发现妹妹的鞋子已经湿透了，一双脚冻得冰凉。手当然也是凉凉的。

今天一大早，妹妹自己起床，打开门，进到我的卧室，“看，妹妹的手套，有飞机”，不知她从哪里翻出来的一只我已忘了从哪里来的小小孩戴的手套，蓝色的，上面绣着一架飞机，这是连 mitten 也算不上的，因为连大拇指都没分开，要不姐姐还说是袜子呢，另一只还不知在哪里藏着。妹妹很宝贝她的新手套，高高兴兴戴着一只蓝蓝的手套上学去了——手套有点紧巴巴的，五个小手指半蜷在里边。

到了学校，脱下外套，我建议她也脱下那只手套，和外套放在一起。

出了教室，在玻璃门外又溜了一眼，老师走过去跟妹妹打招呼，妹妹立刻又拿出她的手套，扬起来 show 给老师看，接着又戴上它 show 给老师看，好像还一边说 "I like it".

——妹妹应该觉得手套是一件很了不起的东西吧。

（忍不住还是发了一帖）

休网一月

本指望这期工作完了以后，好好休息一阵子，结果邻组扩张，有意让我加入，这是一个 permanent position ，并且所做的东东比较有意思--新的工作总是有点刺激的，好比新年初始，大伙免不了写点或想点 new year resolution.

故此休网一月，并：
1. 坚决抵制做饭的诱惑；
2. 能不干家务就不干，油瓶倒了，跨过去；
3. 每天锻炼身体半小时以上；
4. 剩下的就是看书,准备面试。

其实 head count 并没有彻底定下来，但也要做好准备，机会只砸有准备的人嘛。

--立此存照--