Like a Sweet Red Cherry

Today I promised Ashlynn we wouldn't go anywhere. This comes after dragging her around sightseeing with us yesterday and she is a homebody to the extreme. We have to bribe her to even go to the park. She just likes being home and playing with us. So anyways, I figured I would get around to telling one of our move in stories...It's not the best grammatically, but it gets the job done.

When we first arrived here in Hong Kong it was a Friday and Hoss was called away to a conference, in Bangkok, on the following Monday. I was alone for the week; feeling a bit overwhelmed and wanted the beauty of Montana back (we had just finished vacationing there), but I was trying to make the best of it. At any rate the place where we were staying had a pool and I was determined to find a swimsuit so I could take the girls, mine had gotten lost in transit. So off we go into the crowds of people and onto the joys of public transportation. (I had a fairly good idea of where I was going as one of the ladies helping us get adjusted had pointed out a department store.) So we arrived and I managed to find a suit, but trying it on was nearly impossible because the dressing rooms were the size of a bathroom stall and with me and the girls it was a little squishy. Never mind the fact that Brielle kept trying to peek under the stall to see who was next store:) So just as I'm struggling the top on over my clothes (we all know the hazards of trying on swimsuits) I have to keep reaching over Ashlynn to pick up Bri and then as I finally am shrugging on the bottoms she decides to play with the door and out it swings with me chasing it like a waddling penguin. It sounds funny, but when you are jetlagged and not into the big city life it was just another thing to add onto the discomfort. Let's just say I pulled the swimsuit off and figured it would work. Then as we were walking to the tram stop I noticed, about the same time as the girls, a Toys R Us and since I was trying my hardest to help them happily adjust to this new place, we went up to the store and looked down every aisle. Now, about this time the girls decide they are starving and have to pee so we asked around until we found a bathroom and thankfully it was right next to the food court. So, we once again squished into a stall together and took care of the business at hand. After this we sat down to a fabulously western meal of KFC. By this time it was getting dark and I was terrified I might miss the bus stop without being able to identify the buildings I needed to so we hurried off and hopped on the tram. The whole experience had charged Ashlynn and left me exhausted. She was just a talking away about the toy store and Hong Kong and going to the pool. I was trying to keep up and making sure Brielle was still snuggled into my side when I noticed the bag with my swimsuit was missing. Now with how many places we had walked, and been, I had no idea where it was or when I might have put it down and with all of the people constantly swarming it probably had been picked up right away. And also, as it was getting late I couldn't go back to try and find it anyhow. So, I will admit, this was my lowest point and the tears started falling; right there on the stupid tram. It was just too much and I didn't want to be there. I had a fabric grocery bag in my purse and I used it to wipe away my tears and hoped no one was noticing. But poor Ash kept going and I had to ask her to stop because I wasn't keeping up or giving her the answers she was looking for and she was getting frustrated. Well, kids are pretty perceptive and she looked me in the eye right then and told me: "It's ok mommy, I love you like a sweet red cherry" then she gave me a big hug. I think it was the sweetest thing anyone has ever said to me. There have been lots of moments in my life but those words are something I will remember for the rest of my days. What a sweetheart. What a crazy life. I still long for the peace of Montana and the beauty of the mountains, but I am ok here in the noise of the city.