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.