Gong Xi Fat Cai!

Happy Chinese New Year... A little early.

You may be asking yourself "Why is she posting about Chinese New Year when we haven't got through Advent, Hanukah or Christmas yet? Does she even I celebrate all of those?"

The short answer to the former is "sheer consumerism". The latter is more complicated.

Look, if "they" can put out Christmas the day after Halloween and have it all marked on clearance the day before Thanksgiving, then why can't I pimp out advertise the Chen Emporium? That's right, Crazy Mama Chen has FINALLY opened the doors to the CafePress shop known as Chenporium.

So if you need any cute stuff for 4707 (2009), get it now! Oscar the Spokes-Ox will be departing after the Spring Festival is over.

As for celebrating multi-culturally? Well, we celebrate Advent and Christmas. We're learning about Hanukkah because the kids are BFFs with my parents' neighbors. Neighbor guy is Jewish and while hanging Christmas lights on his house, he says to my dad "Jesus saves, Moses invests". Neighbor guy and wife are cool folks. The girls adore them and want to go hang out with them All The Time. Of course, the oldest was really confused when she found out that Neighbor Guy didn't celebrate Christmas. And middle child said "He's Jewess?" which totally cracked me up. Apparently, she hasn't quite figured out the -ish sound yet. Of course, I'm not entirely surprised. The color yellow was "lellow" until she turned four. So this year, we're celebrating or honoring a variety of religious holidays. Don't tell the neighbors that the girls are handpainting a menorah for them. It'll be our secret.