Purkey Update

Hello All,
Time for another Korea update. I've decided to get with it and try out this blog thing. Hopefully, I didn't miss anyone when I sent out the e-mail to let everyone know where to go. If I have and if you know anyone who'd care to know what's going on with the Purkey family feel free to pass on the URL: purkeysrok.blogspot.com I'll try and get on here every so often to update and once I figure out how to post photos, I'll do that too.
There hasn't been a whole lot that has happened since the last update. Charley got neutered. I had an appointment for 7:30, so I thought it would just be a small matter of dropping him off at the appointed time and then picking him up later in the day. Not the case. Apparently, EVERYONE is told to show up at 7:30. I got there at 7:20 and was one of the last people to show up, so I had to wait until each animal ahead of us was examined by the vet and okayed for surgery. It took forever!! Of course with all the other dogs and one cat there, Charley was in a tizzy and kept whining. Boy, does that grate on your nerves after a few minutes. Then, he HAD to establish his rank in the pecking order by peeing on the door. Thanks Charley!! At least it wasn't on the reception counter. Someone obviously did not think clearly when that piece of furniture was chosen. It was covered in fabric and had definitely been peed on on more than one occasion. Needless to say, my sympathy for him evaporated after that little stunt and he was relegated to his kennel to await his turn. He had no issues that would preclude him from getting snipped so I handed him over and went to work. He was ready to be picked up that afternoon. He wouldn't eat his dog food that night and I was worried about him, so I ended up hand feeding him some leftover steak from dinner. No, he's not spoiled. Not at all!! He's completely recovered now and is his usual self again.
I love, love, love the Roomba. It works great. It does go and dock itself when it's ready to be recharged. Of course it has to be within a certain proximity for it to do that, so when I do a room other than the living room, I have to fetch it myself when it tells me it's done. I've noticed when I do our bedroom, it likes to stop under the bed for some reason. Right in the middle, of course. Charley is still alarmed by it. It's comical at times. I was standing next to Allissa talking about her homework and Charley was right beside me as usual. The Roomba came towards us without Charley noticing and ran into his back leg. The mutt leapt about three feet straight into the air. I've never seen a dog do that before. We couldn't help laughing at him.
Allissa is doing pretty well. She's joining the volleyball team. She's never really played before so she's worried she's not going to be any good. I told her most of the other kids are probably in the same boat and they'll get lots of practice, so not to worry about it. I just hope she hasn't inheirited my hand-eye coordination, by which I mean my LACK of hand-eye coordination. There is a reason I avoid such team sports. Sheer potential for humiliation!! Ha ha. That reminds me of when Cliff and I were in Korea the last time. He was in Kwangju and I would take the bus there on the weekend to be with him. During the summer, there was a softball game just about every weekend. I wasn't too keen on playing because I knew I would never hit or catch anything, but I suffered through the embarrassment because I wanted to spend time with Cliff. Of course I got buried in the outfield where there was little chance of a ball coming my way so I wouldn't do too much affect the team negatively. Well, wouldn't you know, one game there was a guy on the opposing team who was a pretty good hitter and kept hitting towards me because he knew I couldn't catch anything. Hmmph. I decided if it came my way again I would catch that darn ball or get beaned on the head and die trying. Wouldn't you know the very next hit sailed straight toward me high in the air. It was beautiful!! I kept my eye on the ball and tuned everything else out except the sight of it dropping toward me. I just willed myself to catch it. And sure enough, I did! I couldn't believe it and immediately starting jumping up and down yelling triumphantly "I caught it! I caught it!". Meanwhile, my team mates are yelling, "Throw it! Throw it!". Apparently, the guy who hit the ball was out, but there was someone who had been on base and was steadily making his way home. Ooops. I guess I thought the play ended once the ball was caught. Hey, I'm not a sports fanatic. I don't know these things. I can't remember if he made it or not. He probably did and everybody probably was miffed at me for giving up a run, but I didn't care. It sure felt good to catch that ball. It's funny sometimes, the things we remember, huh?
Allissa got to experience her first semi-formal dance this past Friday. It was a dinner dance and was held at the ballroom at the Dragon. She was very excited about it and went to get her hair and nails done and everything. She looked so beautiful. I can't believe how grown up she is now. It seems to have happened overnight. Here's a link to some of the photos I took. http://www.shutterfly.com/view/picture_dt.jsp?state=67b0de21bb4ac74da4ef&idx=4 She didn't like posing and wanted to get to the dance, so they're not the greatest. I think she's almost grimacing in a couple. Oh well. Hopefully, the one she took at the dance will turn out nicely. It should be ready in a week or so, so I'll be able to scan it and post it. She reported that she had a good time and just dance with her girlfriends - no boys.
We went to our friend Hak Sun's home this past Saturday. We had such a nice time. Her mother and sister had to work, so we didn't get to meet them, but her father was very nice. The meal he prepared for us was absolutely delicious. I hope I can find a restaurant where it's served, so I can have it again soon. We were so full when we left because he kept ladling more soup into our bowls. I think in Korea you're supposed to just stop eating when you're full. Being American, every time he gave us more, we felt obliged to continue eating so we wouldn't be rude. I think he finally realized that and asked through Hak Sun if we were full. Either that or he thought we were greedy and he was running out of food. Ha Ha. He very kindly insisted on driving us home although I told him we were fine with taking the subway. I felt sort of bad about inconveniencing him and the traffic was terrible. We got a little turned around, but made it there without too much trouble. All in all, it was a nice day.
That's about it for now. I hope everyone is well.