As the holidays draw near...

There's nothing better to get you in the spirit of the holidays than a bit of Josh Groban's Noel album, a 6 foot fake tree with no lights or decorations, the warmth of early fall and a strong dose of smog. Throw in 7200 miles of distance from family and friends, over 5x the cost for a 19lb frozen turkey, and Thanksgiving plans gone amuck due to the circle of life and you have the foundation for my aptly titled Shanghai Overseas Sacrifice (SOS) we've come to appreciate and respect.

Which brings me to my point - that life is funny. It's like a puzzle with a gazillion pieces and each piece carries a story, either bland, solid or chaotic. It has edges, easy parts and really amazingly complicated parts. Sometimes you try to move it and it falls apart. Sometimes you debate whether you should glue it to a permanent backing but usually decide it's more interesting to try again when the time is right. And...it is purely strategic. So what do you do when you discover you've lost a piece of the puzzle - the most significant piece or pieces - and that without them the puzzle loses its meaning and your sense of accomplishment quickly diminishes?

The holidays away from family on the other side of the world, immersed in a completely different culture and environment is like finding your puzzle is missing pieces. It doesn't hit you until you've gotten to that point and the thought of all its taken to get there hits you square between the eyes. I've had my breath taken away lately at that exact point of realizing pieces are missing from my puzzle. It's a bit numbing to say the least, too numb to cry and too numb to even laugh at the sheer ridiculousness of it.

Quite frankly, those missing puzzle pieces are essential to our lives. They are the pieces of our family & friends, the snow, music and snap & sizzle of the fireplace, the annual Christmas tree hunting, smell of fresh pine, hot cider with rum, the carving of the turkey, collapse from overeating and the gift of giving. It can be just about anything that brings you to that point of discovery and it takes the wind right out of you.

So as I study this incomplete puzzle and wonder if it has any meaning or ability to convey its art, I pause at the simple realization that the journey to get to this point might be interesting enough and we'll simply have use to our imagination and memories of holidays past to complete it.

As Thanksgiving draws near, take a moment to pause and be thankful for family and friends near and far and the puzzle in front of you, complete or not.

Happy Thanksgiving

The Nicholas'

Culture Shock!

It's been a bit of a rough go over the last month or so. Call it Culture Shock. Blame it for writer's block. And here we are mid-November facing the holidays with a few more grays and kids with emotions all over the place. Our new family motto - "what doesn't kill you makes you stronger". The picture says it all!

Here's are the key team player's and their brief stats:

• Jon. Man of the house. A warrior true and true. Blood pressure a bit high, weight quite down and Friday nights spent bewildered. Does he let it bring him down, down, down... not a chance. He finds the good in EVERYTHING. This guy will bounce back the next morning, grab a bike and a kid and head to a high school basketball game. (yes - on a saturday morning. you learn not to ask questions). Or, in some cases find any way to experience the winter element. (right side of photo)




• Beth. Tired, grayer and still seeking food comforts. LOOK AT ALL THAT GRAY (before color mercy mission).How else do you explain the fact she will engineer a whole food "doping" ring by coordinating three different focal points to perform household good reconnaisance missions, Meijers shopping and suitcase borrowing. This effort resulted in 50lbs of US goods and required asking a visiting global leader to escort all this way. The nerve! The satisfaction.

• Megan. A portrait in the life of a teenager. Sleeps til 11, tell you she's old enough to make her own choices and stay up as late as she wants yet the next day tells you she doesn't want to grow up! huh??? Misses soccer terribly and looking forward to spring school team. College prep-like homework up the kazoo and toss in a new school, multi-culture and UNIFORMS and you have either dabbled with fate or created a child ready for success... check again in 10 years!
  


• Emily. Bun Bun the Middle One. She quietly plots while smiling a twinkly smile. We sent her off on a 7th grade week-long school trip to Beijing and we got back this very grown-up child. Or better yet, pre-teen. The big 13 looms this spring and she knows it! The only one to not suffer from culture shock although she'll politely tell you to turn the Christmas music off because it makes her sad. (middle of photo).
  

• Chloe. The littlest and mightiest. The one who would not let us forget what we did to her for 3 months straight. Until now. Now she slightly smiles, agrees with her sister and says "I'm with her. I don't want to go home. I like it here". Parental manipulation poster child. But a spirit that amazes, an energy that you'd envy and a sweet charmer. Watch for future postings. Something tells me she'll be starring in a few dedicated blogs.

Stay tuned for an action pack thriller, but have a little patience for culture shock related intermissions.