February 14, 2009

• Happy Valentine's Day!

  My Valentine's Day is almost over, but it's only a bit after 4 a.m. in Los Angeles, so, Happy Valentine's Day, everyone!

  Today marks the eleventh Valentine's Day together for me and Johnny. It's also the first one where we're not in the same place!  Before I left Los Angeles, I hid a Valentine's Day surprise for Johnny (I won't reveal what it is right now -- nothing big -- in case Johnny makes it here before finding it), but I was secretly a little afraid that Johnny would forget Valentine's Day this year, especially since I'm 16 hours ahead in Taipei. We don't usually make a big to-do of Valentine's Day -- just a special dinner at home and a card exchange, no gifts -- but I was still hoping for an acknowledgement. Silly girl that I am, I didn't want to mention Valentine's Day to Johnny, in case he only remembered because I reminded him.  Of course, I needn't have worried. Early this morning, this arrived for me from Johnny:

  Valentine's Day bouquet

   

  It was a huge bouquet of 24 dark pink and light pink roses, wrapped in gauze and this really pretty corrugated paper, and tied with a pink feather boa. There are also little strands of pearly beads lacing through the flowers! I was so surprised. I wondered how Johnny had managed to get me flowers in Taipei. Turns out, long before Valentine's Day, he had emailed my mom and asked for her help in ordering flowers for me. He included the text for a note, which was correctly typed on the card. Although my heart hurts at thinking about the overinflated cost of roses on Valentine's Day, I was very, very touched! And as usual, Johnny has outdone me. I'm afraid my surprise looks rather pale by comparison. Johnny also made a video letter for me, and made sure I had no lack of emails from him today.  The flowers are nice, but the most important thing is that Johnny always shows me how much he cares, regardless of the occasion. Happy 11th Valentine's Day, sweetie! I look forward to our forever of Valentine's Days together.

  Besides fawning over my flowers, I also went on an outing today. Uncle Scott came over, and we all went to Wulai with Daniel and Alisa. Wulai is in the mountains, and despite my getting slightly carsick on the winding roads (don't worry, no vomit), and Alisa's sudden pollen allergy outbreak, we still had a good time admiring the cherry blossoms and ooh-ing at the waterfall.

  Waterfalls at Wulai

  

  Daniel, me (and my bump, hee hee), Jack and Uncle Scott, and Alisa

  

  I was very nervous about this picture!

  

  Cherry blossoms

  

  Oh, and a funny thing happened as we were leaving Wulai. There was a reporter and camera man there from a major TV station, getting some man-on-the-street interviews from the crowds of tourists. It's cherry blossom season, so they were filming a feature story. We were walking back down a trail, and Uncle Scott was holding Jack's hand as we got to the base of the trail. The reporter asked Uncle Scott if she could interview him, and asked him what he thought of the cherry blossoms, how he liked his trip today, what brought him out there, etc. Jack became curious about the microphone and camera, so Uncle Scott picked him up, and luckily, Jack didn't start crying or protesting. He was just happy to look into the camera! At the end of the interview, Jack said bye-bye and waved. The reporter and camera man commented that Jack was very cute. About an hour ago, Uncle Scott called to say that the entire clip -- including Jack waving bye-bye at the end -- made it on TV! They repeat the news segments sometimes, and the next news broadcast is at 8:30 p.m. (in eight minutes). I'm going to try to catch it and record it on my camera's video function. Imagine ... Jack's first TV appearance.

  I also have a few pictures to share from yesterday. My mom and I took Jack to a huge park in Neihu, where my parents' condo is. Jack had a ton of fun running around.

  The way this photo is taken, doesn't it kind of look like I'm a celebrity, hanging out with my kid? Haha. I'm wearing one of my new maternity shirts! And Jack's shirt says "I get my muscles from my dad." Double haha.

  

  My mom and Jack by the lake at the park

  

  Jack and I

  

  The beautiful lake

  

  That's it from me for now! I hope everyone has a great Valentine's Day.

  • 7:25 am
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