Happy (Chinese) New Year!

Last year we made such a big deal out of Chinese New Year. Actually, we didn't, but Jason's mom cooked a big meal, and we dressed Marcie in her "red couch" outfit from China.

This year, the date actually slipped my mind until it was upon us. Somehow I managed to dress both kids in red before sending them off to school (though this was pure luck). But I forgot to send either of them to school with our "China box." This is a plastic container filled with artifacts from China and a couple books. I like to try and send it in a few days before Chinese New Year so that the teachers can let the kids manhandle it.

Last year Jason's mom went into Casey's classroom and even did a presentation. I'm hoping she'll have time to do the same thing this year, but I haven't been very on the ball about arranging these things. Sigh. Maybe we'll do something this weekend.

Anyway, gung hay fat choy (Happy New Year-- phonetically speaking)! And welcome to the year of the rat.

I dragged Jason to a Puget Sound alumni reception. Tonight I met a zoo-keeper and a woman training for triathlons and exchanged information. They are younger alumni and both happen to be originally from Boise, Idaho. It was nice. I plan to totally take advantage of my new zoo-keeper contact. For instance, tonight I learned that invertebrate animals (like spiders) shed their exoskeletons. It's like shedding skin, but it's not skin. It's the exeskeleton. And that means when you find those "dead" spiders and bugs in cracks and crevices of your window and door tracks that seem to blow away, those aren't the animals' decaying bodies. Nope. They've just shed their exoskeletons because they've grown. Which is a cool fact to know on the one hand. On the other hand, that means the spiders are still around. And that's at least a little bit creepy.