Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's day to those two very special ladies in my life, with the continuous encouragement and support from the two of you so many things have been accomplished.

Enjoy ~SJ

In The Spirit Of Christmas, Kind Of

Today's Close To Home comic reminded me of the last time My Mother, Grandmother and I went shopping on Black Friday.


We all decided that we wanted to go and check out the amazing deals at the Christmas Tree Shop. I dropped of My Mother and Grandmother at the front door and went in search of a parking space. I knew from looking at the parking lot that find a spot was going to take some skill and maybe a blessing from the Parking Space God. After a few laps around the lot I decided to cut to the chase and stock someone coming out of the store. I drove to the front of the store and waited from someone to come up, and then I just followed her to her car. I was in luck, the first lady that I followed had a prime spot right near the front! She walked with her overflowing cart and I crept slowly behind her. She got to her SUV (also overflowing with bags) and proceeded to put in her bags, I waited. Once she got all of the bags into the car I thought I was all set ready to get the car parked and on with my shopping. But no, this SUV driving overflowing bags lady had another thing planned. She began to WRAP (in the beautiful new gift bags she just got in the Christmas Tree Shop) her presents! Yes folks, you read that right, here she is in a parking lot brimming with people looking for spaces, and she takes her time and wraps presents! Well, to say the least I was a little ticked off. I was tempted to roll down the window and ask her if she wanted help addressing her Christmas cards as well, but I decided to not say anything at all. Back to the front door I went to start the whole routine again. The second time I found a man coming out of the store (again, shopping cart overflowing), I followed him to his vehicle and waited. Once he was done loading his car he yelled over to me "I'm going to leave my cart here for you, there are none inside!" He left and I pulled into the spot. The simple act of this man being kind wiped the slate clean of the SUV Woman's rude behavior. Once I finally got into the store My Mother and Grandmother had been wondering what took me so long, and informed me that they couldn't find a cart. I re-told the whole story, and we were all thankful for the nice man who not only let me have his spot, but also the cart.

Enjoy ~SJ

J Is For....

Jade and Jin Asian Restaurant!

On my most recent trip back from Humarock I was with my Grandmother and the Music Man. It was around lunch time and we decided it would be best if we found some food, so we headed up route 1 outside of Boston. I was going over the various restaurants that I could remember that we drove past trying to come up with the perfect place to stop. Nothing was inspiring me to make a suggestion, until I remember that Chinese restaurant up on the hill. My Mother had told me that she had seen them on the Food Network and I had always wanted to try it. I gave the suggestion and everyone in the car agreed that it was worth a shot.

From the outside this is a very impressive building, huge, and Asian inspired. Upon entering it was even more impressive, large carvings, water falls, and banquet rooms. We were shown to our table and proceeded to look over the menu. My Grandmother defaulted to the Music Man and I to rder since we are more familiar with Asian cuisine than she is. We order several of our favorite dishes and anxiously awaited our food. First came the hot and sour soup (this is how the Music Man rates a Chinese restaurant). One sip of the amazing soup and we were all waiting for the rest of the food to arrive. Next came the dumplings (this is how SJ rates a Chinese restaurant). One bit of the amazing dumplings and we were all waiting for more of the food to arrive. The main courses were just as impressive as the soup and dumplings. The Music Man and I agreed that we hadn't had such great Chinese food since we left China several years ago. The Jin Asian restaurant has now become a new favorite place to stop.

Aside from the amazing food, the restaurant also had several very large jade carvings. I wouldn't do them justice with my camera since they are three-dimensional. Again, haven't seen anything that impressive since leaving China.

I recently did a little research on Jade and the Chinese culture, here is what I found at about.com:

"Jade (Yu in Chinese pinyin) was defined as beautiful stones by Xu Zhen (about 58-147) in Shuo Wen Jie Zi, the first Chinese dictionary. Jade is generally classified into soft jade (nephrite) and hard jade (jadeite). Since China only had the soft jade until jadeite was imported from Burma during the Qing dynasty (1271-1368), jade traditionally refers to the soft jade so it is also called traditional jade. Jadeite is called Feicui in Chinese. Feicui is now more popular and valuable than the soft jade in China.

The history of jade is as long as the Chinese civilization. Archaeologists have found jade objects from the early Neolithic period (about 5000 BC), represented by the Hemudu culture in Zhejian Province, and from the middle and late Neolithic period, represented by the Hongshan culture along the Lao River, the Longshan culture along the Yellow River, and the Liangzhu culture in the Tai Lake region. Jade has been ever more popular till today.

The Chinese love jade because of not only its beauty, but also more importantly its culture, meaning and humanity, as Confucius (551 BC - 479 BC) said there are 11 De (virtue) in jade. The following is the translation (don't know the translator):

'The wise have likened jade to virtue. For them, its polish and brilliancy represent the whole of purity; its perfect compactness and extreme hardness represent the sureness of intelligence; its angles, which do not cut, although they seem sharp, represent justice; the pure and prolonged sound, which it gives forth when one strikes it, represents music. Its color represents loyalty; its interior flaws, always showing themselves through the transparency, call to mind sincerity; its iridescent brightness represents heaven; its admirable substance, born of mountain and of water, represents the earth. Used alone without ornamentation it represents chastity. The price that the entire world attaches to it represents the truth. To support these comparisons, the Book of Verse says: "When I think of a wise man, his merits appear to be like jade."'

Thus jade is really special in Chinese culture, also as the Chinese saying goes "Gold has a value; jade is invaluable."

Enjoy ~SJ

G Is For....

Grandmother

I happen to be blessed with not one, but two living grandmothers. Since they live nearby I have gotten to spend a lot of time with them over the years. When I was in pre-school I spent my afternoons with them. My Paternal Grandmother and I would spend our afternoons going for walks and making apple pies. She worked as a crossing guard so I would go and help her, and was known on occasion to dress up in her uniform. My Maternal Grandmother and I spent our afternoons working in her store and going to the library. Her store not only sold candy (this might be the root of my love for candy), but also pizza and sandwiches (this might be the root of my love for provolone cheese), and tropical fish. My favorite part about the store was feeding the goldfish.

Enjoy ~SJ

Humming

Today I put out the humming bird feeder, and while I was making the food I got thinking about my Grandmother. When I was growing up, my Grandmother spent her summers with us at our cottage on Worthley Pond. We always had humming bird feeders around the property, and stored the extra food in the refrigerator. One night my Grandmother got up to get a drink, and without knowing drank the humming bird food. The next morning she commented on how sweet the soda was that she drank during the night. We asked her to show us what she drank, and when she showed us the humming bird food we told her "Well at least you will hum all summer long!"

Thank Grammy, I can never see a hummingbird or feeder without thinking of you.

Enjoy ~SJ

Seeing Double!

Like many people, I spent the afternoon with My Mother and The Grandmother. We had a fabulous time eating too much food at The Grandmother's favorite restaurant, Town and Country. It is a great little place nestled in the mountains of New Hampshire. The Grandmother, at the young age of 92, plays competitive bridge at Town and Country once a month. The three of us had a wonderful visit with each other, and I truly cherish the time I get to spend with these two ladies.