Fist time to dine with Joshua in a restaurant

Joshua was so good a boy in the restaurant.  He let his parents and Grand Yau Yau eat their meals pretty peacefully, while he played with the straw, plastic cup and lid,  and spoon.  Toward the end, he got a bit bored and flirted with the old couple sit behind us.  But all through the meal, he was a good sport!  We ate in an Irish Pub in Ellicot City, right off route 40.

A mild winter

We have had a really mild winter this year.  Hardly any snow and lots of sun shine.  I feel very sorry for the people in eastern Europe who suffered tremedously under the severe cold weather this winter.  We had a gentle snow a couple weeks ago, which turned the tress of my neighborhood especially charming. 

Last year before Thanksgiving, a dog of my neighbor decided to climb out of the window from the second floor.  I don't know what he was searching for.  But he surely delighted me! And I was able to capture him on my lense.  Now I would not be able to see this if I were not retired, mind you!

2012 - A new year

The holiday season seems finally past in my mind.  There were the Thanksgiving, the Christmas, then the Chinese New Year (The year of the Dragon).  I let myself float along with a sense of easy contentment.  The fact of the matter was that I grew lazy and neglected writing on the blog. 

What I decided to do, however, is to commit myself to some continuous learning.  I discovered The Teaching Company, and ordered a number of courses from them.  I enjoyed William Kloss's "World's Greatest Painting" enormously.  He open a door for me to know how to appreciate paintings.  I am also leaning some history of the Asia Minor through professor Ken Harl at Tulane University.Professor John Hale's "The Great Tours: Greece and Turkey, from Athens to Istanbul" offered a great compliment too.

My progress on learning conversational Spanish via Pimsleur's approach is rather slow.  But it is fun to imagine that I could speak a few phrases when I am on my tour in Costa Rica next week.