Mom's group媽媽們的咖啡時間

經由一個在台灣的美國朋友的介紹，認識了Melonie。Melonie介紹我到這一個很棒的媽媽小組。每個星期一早上我們會在一個咖啡店碰面，小朋友在地下室玩，每一次會有一個媽媽留在下面看孩子，其餘的媽媽就到一樓喝咖啡談媽媽經。很棒吧！讓媽媽可以有喘息的機會。
這裡的照片是在Lea家拍的。因為咖啡店在裝修，我們只好去Lea家玩。Lea是這個媽媽小組的招集人。 這是大概兩個多月前拍的。
Through our American friend in Taipei, Matt, we met his high school friend, Melonie. She introduced me to this Mom’s group. They meet every Monday morning and take turns looking after the kids when all the other moms can sit, have some coffee and chat with each other. I love the idea and I like those moms too. They are so cool and friendly. I even signed up to look after the kids couple times.
The photos here were taken about 2 months ago in Lea's place. When the "House cafe" was doing the renovation, we met in Lea's house once. Lea is our coordinator.

這就是Lea。腿上坐著的是他的兒子Login，中間是他的女兒，Naomi。
That's Lea. Her son, Login is on her laps and daughter, Naomi is in the middle.



有一對雙胞胎，我老分不清楚，雖然是龍鳳胎！穿紅色衣服的應該是雙胞胎中的女生，Georgia。孟田躺在那裡研究拼圖。
I got confused with the twins sometimes, even they are one boy and one girl. I believe the girl in red is Georgia. Fiona is trying to figure out the puzzle.

這是Kathy和他的女兒Anna，還有一個去年12月才出生的小女兒，Grace。
This is Kathy and her daughter, Anna. Anna has a baby sister now, Grace. She is only about 3 months old. (Marcia, I know they don't look like you at all, but somehow, they remind me a lot of you and your girls, Mikayla and Izzy.)



Melonie和Mikayla在左邊，Nula和他的雙胞胎在右邊。
Melonie and Mikayla are in the dark. And Nula with her twins are under the light.




我有個直覺，孟田以後應該很愛打鼓。
我以後再放一些我們平常聚會的照片。
I have a feeling. Fiona will be a good drummer one day.
I'll try to post more regular mom's group meeting photos next time.(If I spell some of your names wrong, please forgive me and let me know.)

job hunting in Calgary

Makes no difference where I go / You're the best hometown I know / Hello Calgary, hello Calgary (eeee!) / Channels 2 and 7 love youuuuu
Well I hope someone out there besides me remembers the TV jingle above. That was from back in the day when Calgary's Global station was independent CFAC, KangaROOS sneakers and fluorescent legwarmers were all the rage at school, and the city skyline looked a bit like this:
When I reached my mid-20s I was a little dismayed to discover that the fondly-remembered Hello Calgary jingle from my misspent youth was in fact part of a prepackaged image campaign used in numerous cities across North America. Hey! Awww...

Now, returning home to Calgary after an 8-year-haitus, it's surprising to see how much has changed. Of course I've changed too, mind you, and for the better. Still, it's got me thinking. Is Thomas Wolfe right? Can a person really come home again? Did I shake the dust off my sandals when leaving in '99, take my fill of life in the big Asian city, then return expecting to find a place that no longer exists any more?

Calgary is in fact bigger and better than I remember it, though the prices and the traffic take some getting used to. To address the former challenge, I need a proper job. Catch me in my natural habit of late and you'll see me e-mailing resumes with machine gun frequency, working a part-time retail job to feed the family, doing the odd interview, and wearing a sandwich board on downtown streetcorners during weekday lunch hours. OK one of those isn't true. And soon when I get that proper job, none of them will be. Wish me luck!