Bonus Days - a totally unexpected and happy event! I had one just this week and it was wonderful. Between the four college educated people who looked at our daughter and son-in-law's flight itinerary, none noticed that they were to return to Oklahoma on Friday and not Thursday. So Thursday morning we said our good-byes, called a taxi and sent them off to the airport. I was depressed because after almost three months of spending time with my children, the party was over. I worked at cleaning the house and did some laundry. Then the phone rang. Our daughter said, "Guess what ...our flight doesn't leave until tomorrow. They made their way to the airport, an hour's drive away and still no one noticed until they began the check-in process. So back to our house they came. How great! We did some of the things that we had planned but ran out of time to do (so we thought). We revisited the 101 and looked around the shopping center. Mark took off work early and we all hiked around Elephant Mountain. We capped the day by eating Korean BBQ.
If we had planned the day, it wouldn't have been nearly as much fun. But we savoured it because it was an unexpected gift, a treasure.
Friday morning we tried the going home thing again and it was successful so again I worked at cleaning the house and doing some laundry. But I wasn't as depressed because I had enjoyed our bonus day so much.

Menopause - yes men you can stay tuned. This isn't really about menopause...

Because I have been 50 years old for a number of months now, I figure that I am entitled to wear purple or red or whatever old ladies are suppose to wear and talk inappropriately loud. Well as it happens, purple isn't my color but red is a favorite and when I am enthused, I always talk too loud so basically nothing has changed.

But this whole menopause thing has me confused. If I read the popular literature correctly, menopause is a disease that must be corrected by coloring my hair and talking medicines when I reach a certain age. Men however are exempt. I wish to be exempt also. My hair is unabashedly grey. It positively shines silver. I love it. I have never liked my hair better than I do now. As for medicine, I know what it means to have a life threatening illness. I don't have to take medicine for that and I don't want to take medicine for getting older. I look at everyday, every year as a bonus. When I was diagnosed with cancer and had my kidney removed, I was told that I would either live a normal life expectancy or die within two years. Well here I am four years later. So why deny my age or take a pill to make me "feel younger". Just being here is an undeniable gift.

I haven't had any hot flashes but I nod knowingly when younger women describe theirs to me. I simply don't know what to say. My mother and mother-in-law both had surgical induced menopause and years of hormone replacement therapy so cannot tell me what to expect. All the books on the subject sound terribly boring and probably are not one size fits all.

I decided to look at the whole thing as a chance to pause. I can pause and be thankful that I am alive. I am thankful that after 35 years of courtship (do I date myself?) and marriage, I still think my husband is the greatest guy on the face of the earth. I can be thankful that I have two amazing daughters who still will tolerate my idiosyncrasies. I can be thankful that my mother is still able to give me advice when I need it. I can be thankful that although my father and my son are dead, I can still enjoy their memories and love that I had them.

So maybe, perhaps, the pause part of menopause is really the part we need to focus on.

Well it has been a while since I wrote anything, but I think I have a good excuse. We made it through three weddings in three states plus two bridal showers in two states plus our daughter's college graduation in about 5 1/2 weeks. It was fun and intense since the showers and one wedding were for the same daughter who graduated from college. Hopefully her life will slow down just a little now.

So we raced back to Taipei right after the final and glorious wedding. Why? Because we had to get ready for what we have been looking forward to since moving here...both daughters plus one husband coming to Taiwan to visit us. One of the best parts of having a family is being able to share your lives and we hadn't been able to really share until they visit.

So our oldest daughter agreed to visit for three weeks this summer and we are having a BLAST! We started with a trip to Bali and Hong Kong. I loved the ruralness of Bali but she preferred the cosmopolitan Hong Kong. (She's a city girl at heart plus is allergic to most of nature) Bali was beautiful and we really got to see life there in an unspoiled and noncommercial way while being able to retreat to a luxury hotel with all amenities when unspoiled got difficult. Hong Kong looked as if it had just been waiting for Elissa. Both days were beautiful and the air quality was amazing. On one day we were on a 5K hike across some mountains on Lama Island in Hong Kong (yes in a huge city, Mark can still find the wilderness hiking trail) it was sunny and warm. When we stopped for lunch and beverage on a terrace overlooking the harbor, a cooling shower started. It felt nice but only because we were on a covered terrace. We could see from one island to another and over to Kowloon on the mainland side. The laser light show was supplemented by 10th anniversary fireworks on the evening we watched and it was spectacular.

Now we are back in Taipei and we have one week to show her the sights of our home away from home. We started with a cooking lesson from a local chef. What a treat! After this week, I have a couple of days and then our other daughter with her husband will be here. July is definitely being a good month for us.