My father-in-law passed away yesterday.  He was 80 years old.  We think that he knew it was coming, because he and my mother-in-law had been talking about it in the preceding days.  He told her that when the time came, he wanted it to be just the two of them alone.  He didn’t want anyone else with them.  That’s just how it happened.  Just the two of them. Just what he wanted.  He passed quietly and sweetly.

I got the call about an hour and a half later.  I had been in Utah for five days by then, but Jason was still in Taipei.  So I made the four hour drive from Salt Lake City to Panguitch alone to be with my mother-in-law.

When I arrived at her home, I knocked on the door and the quietly walked in.  I found my mother-in-law lying on her bed, awake.  So I laid down next to her, in my father-in-law’s spot and the two of us talked for a long time.  She did most of the talking while I listened.  I shed most of the tears.  I’m a crier, she’s not.  We talked about the dignified way that he passed.  We talked about the way that Glen was friends with everyone, even the down-trodden and friendless.  We laughed as we reminisced.  My mother-in-law was holding up incredibly well for what she had just been through.  I’ll cherish that time I was able to spend with her; just the two of us, on the bed.

My father-in-law was a big, jolly, cowboy Santa Claus type man.  He could talk to anyone about anything and he had the ability to make anyone feel like they were instant buddies; like they had known each other all their lives.  He was a good man and he will be greatly missed.

So rest in peace Glen B. Hale.  Until we meet again.

This is a very good question.  And I wish I had an answer.  But alas, I don’t.  However, I do know of some possibilities.  We received our bid list this week.  I wish I could publish it here, but apparently that’s a no-no.  But I do have to say that one of the 30+ possibilities is a city that Jason and I hold very dear to our hearts–having spent some time there in the early ’90s.  And I think that it would be very cruel of the universe to dangle it in front of us and then not send us there.

There are some other interesting cities on our bid list; some of which are very exciting, some a little ho-hum and others that are downright scary.  We’ve been madly researching each city and have found a couple of surprising gems.  Our list includes cities in South America, the Caribbean, eastern and western Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia and Polynesia.  So, yep, there is literally an entire world of possibilities.  We should find out where we’re going in about six weeks.

So in the meantime, we’ll be enjoying another full year here in Taipei, which is as wonderful as ever.  We really feel that we hit the jackpot with Taipei as our first post.  It is everything we had hoped it would be and more.  We truly love it here!  Jason recently commented that he thinks we are turning into expat snobs because we constantly talk about how much we love living abroad.

The kids and I are heading back to Utah in one week.  I’m looking forward to seeing family and friends, eating Mexican food and a Five Guys burger and shopping for shoes that fit my gigantic American feet.  But I will miss my husband and Taipei.  Eight weeks is a long time to be apart.  I plan to drown my sorrows in salsa, french fries and Italian leather (the latter I’m hoping to buy a lot of in our next post).

Speriamo!

I’ve been stressed out today.  I follow a blog called the NieNie Dialogues.  Nie is such a good mom and she has perfect children.  Of course, she was horribly burned in a plane crash, but other than that, her life is perfect.  I want Nie’s life–without the burns.

So like I said, I’m stressed out.  My sister and her two beautiful daughters were here for most of the week, and we had a grand old time tooling around Taipei.  I fancy myself and expert tour guide.  I was sad to see them leave this morning.  But, as a result of all the fun, I have neglected my house, my children, my husband, my church calling.  So today was the day to pay the piper and get back to reality.  And reality is stressful.

My least favorite part of the day was when my 7 year-old told me she hates me because I insisted she have lettuce on her Subway sandwich.  Nie’s children would never say that to her.

My second least favorite part of the day was looking at my dirty, neglected house and knowing that I had other priorities and that the dirt would have to wait.  But even with all of my valiant attempts to ignore it, the dirt just seemed to taunt me.  Nie’s house is always perfect.

My third least favorite part of the day was the stress that my church calling causes me.  Most active Mormons have some sort of church assignment.  My calling is as the Relief Society President of my ward.  As Mormon women, we’re taught not to complain about our callings, but to do them to the best of our abilities and then bask in the blessings that flow from the service that we render.  That’s all well and good, but sometimes my calling is such a STRESS!  And today was one of those days.  I love my calling.  I really do.  I love the women in my ward and I love the relationships that I’m able to foster with them.  But some days, the weight of the calling can be crushing.  Nie (who also happens to be Mormon) is never crushed by her calling.

But today, in the midst of my failed parenting, my dirty house and my crushing calling, I did something that helped relieve the stress for just a couple of minutes.  I got down on the floor and painted my daughter’s toenails.  (Yes, it was the same daughter from the above lettuce incident.)

In the New Testament, Christ got down on the floor and washed His disciples feet at a time when I’m sure He was under a great deal of stress. More stress than I can imagine in my pathetic little life.  Maybe it brought Him a few minutes of stress relief during that difficult time, like painting my daughter’s toenails brought me today.  I suppose I should do more of that sort of thing.  Then maybe my daughter wouldn’t be so quick to say that she hates me when I do something cruel like make her eat vegetables.

I’m sure Nie’s daughters’ toenails are always painted and, as a result, they eat their veggies without complaining.

Up until this afternoon, I thought my soon-to-be 14 year-old son Ben would do pretty much anything for money.

Once, during a combined youth/adult sunday school class at church, I whispered in Ben’s ear that I would pay him $1000NT (about $30 U.S.) if he would raise his hand and make an intelligent comment.  It took a total of one nano-second for Ben to raise his hand.  Our bishop called on him immediately, and soon after I handed Ben a $1000NT bill.

Last month, when we were in the Taipei airport waiting for our flight to Bangkok, Ben’s older sister Cecily was mortified to realize that her chemistry teacher and her boyfriend were on our flight (the teacher’s boyfriend, not Cecily’s boyfriend;  Cecily will undoubtedly want me to make that fact very clear).  Cecily could see that her teacher was correcting the exams that the class had taken earlier that week.  I told Ben that I would pay him $500NT (about $15) if he would walk up to the chemistry teacher, introduce himself as Cecily’s brother and ask what grade she got on her test.  To Cecily’s horror, Ben was on his feet before I had a chance to exhale after making the offer.  Ninety seconds later, he was taking a $500NT bill from my hand.

So given Ben’s willingness to do just about anything for money, today I thought I had made him an offer he couldn’t refuse.  It was easy money!  So, so easy! This is how it went down: I was in the lobby of the school waiting for Cecily when Ben happened by.  It was just as both the middle and upper schools were letting out and kids were pouring into the lobby.  Ben told me he was STARVING and asked if I would give him some money to go to the snack bar.  I told him that I would give him $100NT (about $3 U.S) if he would kiss me on the cheek — right there, right then.  (So, so easy!)

The look on his face said it all.  He had met his match.  I had found the one thing that he would not do for money.  Kiss his mom in public.

(Cue the evil mom laugh).