The Little Professor

Ms. Linda is Arthur's teacher at Roger's ABC Happy Kids. She was almost in tears when she learned that Arthur would be transferred to Helen Walton Day Care Center. "He'll be a professor when he is 3 years old." She said.

Helen Walton Day Care was set up by Sam Walton's wife and has been a highly regarded and accountable place for infant and pre-school care. When we picked up the kids last Friday, I saw Ms. Linda's comment on Arthur's Daily Activity Sheet, "I'll miss my little professor."

It breaks my heart to have to move the children to another school since they just got used to the current one. However, it's for their best interest and my best interest. I cannot have any more speeding ticket in the mornings and cannot waste time in traffic court or traffic schools any more.

Arthur had had his first taste of icecream in the past weekend and apparently was very fond of it. Although we should not give him any citrus, I still let him lick the orange cone we got from Braum's. At least I didn't give him true ice cream with dairy in it. That would be devastating.

公民

今天早上4：30就被阿诺吵醒了，他又发烧了，看来猪流感非常盛行。只好接着已经起床的这股东风，把申请公民的文件搞齐，星期一去公司复印之后就可以寄出了。

两个孩子劳动节之后就转学去海伦沃顿幼儿园了。学费会比现在昂贵一些，但学校设施非常好，而且离家和公司都非常近。阿瑟今天上午8：45去试上小小体育馆的课，主要是练习爬行和走路。阿诺11：45去试上体操课，下午1点去踢足球。之后我们会给阿瑟注册一个学期的小小体育馆，但阿诺已经参加了足球队，所以就不上体操课了。

晚上我们会去朋友家聚餐，每人带一个菜。我们准备带的菜还在山姆俱乐部呢。今天准备烤三文鱼，等两个孩子的活动结束之后就去买鱼。这里的朋友很多是华人教会的，好在他们并没有极力逼我们信教，所以还是可以一起吃饭聊天的。大部分人都在沃尔玛工作，今天聚会的主办家庭是潘统升家，他在沃尔玛国际部投资策划部做高级财务经理，非常聪明的一个人。沃尔玛分舵和国际部分舵的人好像都比山姆俱乐部分舵的人聪明，每次和他们谈话都有“听君一席话，胜读十年书”的感觉。

Biajee正在剪草，下个星期六他就要回科罗拉多了，我又要一个人带着孩子过苦日子了。上次他申请的四份工作有两个职位被取消了，另外两个职位已经招了别的人。今年初技术部门裁了1000人，所以再找人的时候一定会先从这1000人里筛选，除非Biajee是程序界的泰斗，否则很难与这些人竞争。能被招进沃尔玛公司的人全都是天才，需要经过严格考试，简直和进微软差不多。

Selling the House

We got an offer on our house yesterday and we countered back. The buyer has signed the contract today. Now we're selling the house at $18,000 below the price we bought at. In today's market with the double digit unemployment rate, I am not too upset about it.

We have to go through inspection and then seal the deal. I don't think I'll pay for anything if the buyer finds out a list of things of the house that need to be fixed. They've already got a sweet deal and if they don't want to invest any more money, we'll just break the deal.

I feel like part of me has gone blank. After the house is closed, which will be at the end of September, if the buyer has no problem getting the loan, we totally cut our connection with the state of Colorado. Arkansas will be our permanent and only home going forward. If I ever get laid off again, the same amount of money will last us longer in Arkansas as the day care and housing is cheaper.

I'm taking Dale Carnegie class at the moment for 12 weeks. We meet every Monday evening for 4 hours. I am learning a lot about confidence, communication, public speaking and managing stress.

暗度陈仓

从我上班的第一天起，老板和同事就信誓旦旦地告诉我山姆俱乐部坚决反对加班和周末加班。但后来老板的种种举动让我觉得他实际上是非常需要我周末加班的。尤其是着周末他开始给我发电子邮件，我的下属也开始给我打电话询问工作事宜。原来他们说得那么漂亮的工作生活两不误的话全都是幌子，所谓“明修栈道，暗渡陈仓”讲的就是这班人马的所作所为了。

我其实并不反对加班，但对心口不一的人和事非常反感。我宁愿接受丑陋的现实，也不愿意为加班的理念和精神困扰。山姆俱乐部去年被员工们评为最糟糕的部门，所有人都不堪忍受这里的工作小时和强度，纷纷跳槽去了沃尔玛和国际部，导致现在部门里的大部分人都是新面孔，加入公司超过两年的人寥寥无几。

Biajee今晨又踏上了回科罗拉多的旅程。这次走之前，他帮我将垃圾桶移到前院了。明天晚上倒垃圾的时候我会省很多力气。昨天早上他剪了所有的草，只有我们和邻居公用的草坪没有剪。我问为什么，他说邻居星期四刚刚剪过。可是如果是我还会再剪一遍，因为下周末Biajee要加班，可能星期六赶不回家。而我们全家要在星期天下午去俄克拉荷马城给阿瑟看病。

这个星期我真正上班的日子只有三天。星期四全天培训如何领导不同种族的人。星期五幼儿园放假，我也请了假。星期一全家在俄克拉荷马州给阿瑟看病，自然也请了假。终于可以好好休息一下了。