3:33 AM

Feb 29
Fri

Started preparing dinner in the morning. We invited the Whites over for dinner. The date was set long ago, when we thought we had to leave mid-March. Was meant to be some kind of farewell dinner, but now it was just to catch up.

Although my headache was gone, I was starting to develop a cough. Quite a bother, now that we are going on a trip soon.

Tidied up the whole house, with both ds' help. Ds1 is getting much better in making the house neat. He can make all 3 beds for me, and put away all the toys neatly. He also likes to do other work, but I rather do those myself, either because I do it quicker or neater. Ds2 mainly puts away toys only, and he doesn't sort very well yet, so ds1 has to help him decide where each toy goes. Eg the beanbags go into the larger box cos there are many more beanbags. The egg shakers go into the smaller bin, since there are fewer eggs.

Dh came home early as promised, so we got dinner ready in good time. We had nasi lemak (coconut rice) again, this time with chicken curry (I used only drumsticks), mixed veggies with mushrooms and pork, and honey roasted chicken. A bit overloaded on chicken, because we had chicken spinach salad too. But fish and beef are trickier to prepare for guests.

They came on the dot at 6.30pm. Mary Jo brought her homemade boysenberry pie, sparkling juice and some toys for the boys. Some of the toys opened up to reveal little chocolate balls. Very cute.

We started eating and chatting, having a good time. I discovered that ds2 ate up all his choc balls before he even started dinner, grrrr. Ds1 knew to wait till after meals to eat such things, but ds2 still has totally no regard for my warnings. Don't know what to do with him. Mary Jo said she shouldn't have given it to him before dinner, but really, it wasn't her fault. The kids should know better. So ds2 did not eat much rice.

Ron made lots of jokes. He feigned surprise at being able to like the food, and told Mary Jo he would be able to "fit right in" in China (meaning Chinese cuisine). Anyway, we all know how much he likes to joke.

After dinner, we had the pie. It was delicious. We can't find boysenberries in Utah. Since the Whites came from California, they brought some over and planted them in their own backyard, so every spring MJ will pick and freeze the berries to be used throughout the rest of the year. She'll make jams, pies or jellies. Boysenberries are more tangy, though they look very like blackberries. Dh especially likes the sweet and sour taste. MJ also taught me how to make the pie crust, and passed me a recipe. Yay!

We took group pics then they left at 9.30pm.

Ds2 started becoming cranky, and that night, he coughed throughout the night. Sigh, now it was his turn to be sick!

The next day, Sat, he became better after a whole day of rest, fruits, soups and lots of water. That was a relief because our flight was on Sun morning.

rainbows every day, do not worry for the morrow
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