Yesterday at Barnes @ Noble, I ordered one big Chocolate Chip Cappucino to drink there and one to bring home. It costed me almost $10.00. Mom said that for that money on Latte, I could buy a book. Some day when I am famous, I can drink as many Lattes as I want too.
This weekend, Mom and I will try to cook the Peking Duck. Mom always wants to make this dish, but she can’t find any easy recipe. She just got one from the newspaper, and it sounds super easy. Mom never wants to do anything that looks complicated with exact measurements; she just throws things in and mix (the Vietnamese way she says).
Cooking Vietnamese way is fun, I like it also – just a dash of this or that, and some other things; then you have the dish. Mom is a fast cook. She can make 3 dishes in less than 30 minutes time. If she were any younger, she could be “Van Can Cook” like “ Yang Can Cook”.
Mom is thinking about starting a women club for her single friends supporting one another because all her friends are without husbands. ( I asked what happened to the men? Mom said they liked going to Vietnam for younger brides).
These sad women need a shoulder to cry on once in a while. Having a club, they can call each other to talk instead Mom has to listen to everyone’s story. She has no patience sometimes because most of her friends are weak –hearted people; they are scared to make any move except cry and cry.
The plan is to get together once a month to bring their best dishes to eat and to cheer each other up. Mom will be president of this club so she can pick whoever she wants to join the club. Mom is the only one with a husband, but she has this idea for her friends to have a good time, so she gets to be the president. She is funny but tough to deal with. Mom doesn’t like taking orders from others, so in order for her to be in any club; she will be president.
She is bossy to us but very nice to her friends; she always looks out to see whom she can introduce to whom. Her matching skill is good; sometimes if it doesn’t work out, she would point out that at least the people have fun for a short while. And then it’s time to move on to new destination.
Mom always points out to me that says if you are the president of your own club, you can do whatever you want , and people tend to listen to you.I will start my own club soon once I figure out what club I want it to be.
Mom has very unusual friends, each has a special talent. One can sing very well. Another one is the best cook in town. One other friend who can cry on cue: if you want her to cry, just put on a Vietnamese song, she will cry and cry. If this friend comes over, Mom has to put on American music like Frank Sinatra’s . Another friend who only likes to go to the temple whenever she has a chance, and nowhere else. In fact Mom has quite a few friends who like going to temples; Mom likes this kind of friends because they don’t have big ego, they let her get away with things. Then another friend who only watches Korean and Chinese movies – nothing else.
Only Mom gets to do everything. She will watch international movies, listen to music, read books, and cook. She writes poems the most, but she dabs here and there like Scott. You never see her staying with one thing too long. Right now, she is reading true crime books and tells us about things to stay out of troubled people’s way. Actually, Mom does lots of reading so that she can write poems.
“You have to read so you can write. Things don’t come from nowhere.” Mom says.
