Grace Lin's Blog, page 87

the first gift

Many lovely people have offered baby things for our upcoming Rain Dragon.  We are happy to accept but have been putting off the receiving of them as our place is already crammed with our own adult stuff (we have to look into moving soon!).  But, for the holidays, the Sasquatch got me (us) a special gift that I had to make room for.

Those of you that have read Year of the Dog, might remember that the main character has a teddy bear named Butterscotch:


That is because in real life I really did have a teddy bear named Butterscotch. I loved him and still have him. His name is Butterscotch because when I first got him he was butterscotch colored. But now he is so old, he is grey (and tattered):


So, the Sasquatch did some internet searching and found a Butterscotch family member:


Which I can't wait to give to our Rain Dragon!!!

Butterscotch and Caramel 

the cake we bought

The first question people ask after they hear about Baby Rain Dragon, is "Is it a boy or a girl?" Well, we wanted to tell our families the answer in a more fun way than usual so (borrowing the idea from my friend Elaine--who just got her first picturebook contract, by the way!)when we got our ultrasound we had the technician write the sex of the baby down on a card and place it in a sealed envelope.

This sealed envelope we brought to a bakery. We asked the baker to make the cake chocolate if it was boy and vanilla if it was a girl and to ice the whole thing in white. This cake we planned to take to the Sasquatch's family for Christmas to cut Christmas morning--all of us finding out the sex of the baby at the same time as our holiday gift!



Of course, in the meantime, I tried to guess by just looking at the ultrasound photo. But I couldn't tell:



However, finally, Christmas morning came and with the magic of technology I skyped my parents and sisters in for the grand cake cutting...



And it was....




Vanilla! Rain Dragon is  a girl!

I checked the card just to make sure:



Hello, Rain Dragonette!

Sunday Chinese School

Welcome to Sunday Chinese School, where we learn a Chinese word (or phrase) a week with my mom!
Today's word is:
gift
lǐwù

christmas tree

Everything has been a blur! I've been so busy with all my different projects that I haven't gotten to do all the fun holiday things I usually like to do.

But we did get a tree! Since I didn't have time to think or create a new decorating scheme, we used old ornaments from christmas past, like my origami animals (found them in a hidden box in the closet!):


And last year's birds (I have far less as many were "liberated" over the year by visiting friends):



However, the Sasquatch and I did make one new ornament for the tree:


It's a peanut baby! Even though our baby is in utero, it's rain dragon's first Christmas so I thought we should have something for him/her.



I think it's our nicest tree, yet.

Happy Holidays, all!

fortune cookie friday

"If there is beauty in character, there will be harmony in the home. If there is harmony in the home, there will be order in the nation. If there is order in the nation, there will be peace in the world."
-Chinese Proverb

all is even brighter

Some people know Christmas is coming when the mall brings out the Santa Claus or you get a Christmas tree. But, I know it's Christmas when the house down the street lights up the night. Year after year, this house makes me smile every holiday season:


I'm trying to imagine how they'll fit more lights next year...[image error]

booktalk tuesday

A Girl Named Faithful Plum: The True Story of a Dancer from China and How She Achieved Her Dream By Richard Bernstein

IndieBound Description: In 1977, when Zhongmei Lei was eleven years old, she learned that the prestigious Beijing Dance Academy was having open auditions. She'd already taken dance lessons, but everyone said a poor country girl would never get into the academy, especially without any connections in the Communist Party of the 1970s. But Zhongmei, whose name means Faithful Plum, persisted, even going on a hunger strike, until her parents agreed to allow her to go. She traveled for three days and two nights to get to Beijing and eventually beat out 60,000 other girls for one of 12 coveted spots. But getting in was easy compared to staying in, as Zhongmei soon learned. Without those all-important connections she was just a little girl on her own, far away from family. But her determination, talent, and sheer force of will were not something the teachers or other students expected, and soon it was apparent that Zhongmei was not to be underestimated.

Zhongmei became a famous dancer, and founded her own dance company, which made its New York debut when she was in just her late 20s. In A Girl Named Faithful Plum, her husband and renowned journalist, Richard Bernstein, has written a fascinating account of one girl's struggle to go from the remote farmlands of China to the world's stages, and the lengths she went to in order to follow her dream.

My Thoughts: This is the book that I

on my desk monday

On my desk is a copy of the Sunday NY Times Book Review, where the

Sunday Chinese School

Welcome to Sunday Chinese School, where we learn a Chinese word (or phrase) a week with my mom!Today's words are:

silver: yínsè
gold: jīnsè

fortune cookie friday

"If you light a lamp for somebody, it will also brighten your own path.
"
-Chinese Proverb