Picking up Mandarin

When I consciously force my self, I would speak Mandarin to S at home so that she understands and pick up the language (I hope). For me being tri-lingual has been quite handy. People treated me with more warmth when I speak their language.
In the following conversation we were discussing her upcoming Bday which is 7 months away. Mandarin is in italics
Me: "Who would you like to invite to your up coming Bday party?"
S: "Tiffany ah.. Katelyn ah.."
Me: " What about Ethan?"
S: " Ethan ah.."
Where did she pick this up from? Adding ah.. at the end of names? I must have talked that way in Mandarin or how else would she pick this up?

I also use Mandarin as our secret language since hubby pretends that he doesn't understand. An example:
S: "Mom can you help me open this?"
Me: "Ask Dad to help you"
S: "Dad can you help me open this?"
This confirms that she understands but doesn't have enough vocabulary to converse with me in Mandarin
Must check out if there's any Chinese school I can send her too.

Whiskey Lalluby

Here’s the lyrics to a sad county song by Brad Paisley & Allison Krous that is stuck in my head.

She put him out ..like a burnin’ end of a midnight cigarette
She broke his heart.. he spent his whole life tryin’ to forget
We watched him drink his pain away a little at a time
But he never could get drunk enough to get her off his mind
Until the night...
1st Chorus:
He put that bottle to his head and pulled the trigger
And finally drank away his memory
Life is short but this time it was bigger
That the strength he had to get up off his knees
We found him with his face down in the pillow
With a note that said I’ll love her ‘till I die
And when we buried him beneath the willow
The angels sang a whiskey lullaby
(Sing lullaby)
The rumors flew... but no body know how much she blamed herself
For years and years.. she tried to hide the whiskey on her breath
She finally drank her pain away a little at a time
But she never could get drunk enough to get him off her mind
Until the night...
2nd Chorus:
She put that bottle to her head and pulled the trigger
And finally drank away his memory
Life is short but this time it was bigger
That the strength she had to get up off her knees
We found her with her face down in the pillow
Clinging to his picture for dear life
And when we buried him beneath the willow
The angels sang a whiskey lullaby
(Sing lullaby)

Random thoughts

Lately, S (the daughter) starts every sentence with "Mom! You know what?"
I'm so tired of hearing it so I pointed out to her and asked her to eliminate the"you know what"prefix. She wasn't too happy so I allow her to say it once a day.
Went to game stop and bought a used controller for PS2. Hopefully it'll work pass 90 days. It would be more fun if I can play puzzle fighter against a real person instead of the cpu.
A friend reminded me that it's not realistic for a person to be happy all the time. I was not happy today. Lots of problem that I don't have solution yet. I had my share of chocolate to make me happy but like the song said "Chocolate is only a band aid". Indeed a band aid that I'll have to burn off tomorrow.
I truly need a hair cut. It's to the point that I'm tempted to cut it myself. "Patient...3 more days.."

Serenity now...

P.S. I'm tired of the old skin so I'm using this minimalist style.

Sandwich anyone?

Interesting article on how a sandwich. changed a person's life in San Luis Obispo


Workout blog
Time:48.5 min
Ave heart rate: 145 b/m
In zone: 41 min
Cal: 359

Trip to the airport

We went up to Fresno this weekend to attend a wedding and also hang out with friends and family. One of the interesting part of the trip was picking up jojo and joma (How S would address my bro & sis) at the airport. It was a small airport and there were houses along the runway. Those houses have small plane hangers instead of garages for cars. We got there around 8:40 PM so it was getting dark. We would look at the sky and trying to see which blinking light is jojo.
Mom: "Is that him?" pointing at a blinking red light from a distance
Me: "I don't think so. The light isn't moving."
We chit chatted some more as we saw a couple were preparing to take off. After a while, I notice a yellow light blinking above the pitched dark sky.
Me to bestman : "Is that jojo?"
Bestman: "I don't know yet. If he turns towards the runway than it's him."
The blinking yellow light did fly in a U pattern and align itself to the runway
Bestman: "Yes, that's him"
As the plane is hitting the runway, S and I were waving our arms in the air signaling the plan to land as if the pilot can see us in the dark.
Once the plane landed, I went up to the plane and said "Hello.."
Bestman: "Let's wait and see if it's truly jojo. It could be some one else"
Me: " You're right." Luckily it was him and the male spicies helped the pilot park the plane.
I put S on the passenger seat when they moved the plane back and forth and she had fun. I seriously don't know how I can fit in there. It seemed tight even for joma who is very very slim. While they are all busy moving the plane, I took some pics that night to capture the moment... a very special moment. I know mom and dad are proud of jojo although it was not verbally conveyed.

Lance is my hero

I can't imagine burning 6500 calories a day but Lance Armstrong is doing it as he competes to be the next champion of Tour de France. Check out his very impressive anatomy.


Here I am barely burned 400 calories yesterday for a 40 min workout. I guess if my profession is cycling, and bike 8 hours/day, I would burn 4800 calories/day. I'll take me 9.8 hours to burn 6500 calories; however, my goal is to burn 3500/week so that cuts it dowon to 6 hours/week or 50 min/day, every single day. How is that going to fit in my schedule?

Workout blog

I did go to the gym today. I forgot my book so I was people watching as I work out on the machines. It was boring.  I noticed that there aren't that many people working out on Friday. Most people go to lunch but I'm here. I was bored with the stair master after 12 min. so I tried the treadmill since this one guy behind me was sweating like a pig walking on the treadmill with an incline. I tried jogging again but it wasn't working out so I walked quickly. After cardio, I went upstairs and did some weights.
Here's the result
Time:45 min
Ave heart rate:135 b/m
Burned : 292 cal.

Friday.. At last

Here's a funny story courtesy of Mir on Cat enema

Meal time

I dread dinnertime in our house because it’s tends to be stressful and tense. Why you ask? If you don’t have time to read the blog, the short answer is we (the family) make it that way. The long answer is in the story.
S, my daughter is not really into eating in general especially meat; however, I try everyday to give her some chicken hidden in rice or beef hidden in rice ‘cause she need protein. I give her egg too sometimes. Note that I don’t even force her to eat her veggie which I recalled my parents forced me to eat when I was a kid. I give her fruits instead which she chows on
Last night, her menu was not bad (to me). It was 5 dinosaur nuggets and a 2”x1” roll of rice for dinner. During dinner, she tends to talk and play while we eat and when she’s bored, she’ll get off her seat and walk to hubby and talk to him and come hug me and stuff so she doesn’t have to eat. At around 7:10 PM, she asked if she could have a donut hole if she finishes her plate. I said YES! I even give her added incentive. I up the ante and said “If you finish your plate on 7:20 PM you get one donut hole. If you finish your plate on 7:15 PM you get 2 donut holes. It took awhile to help her to understand how much time is involved. By the time she understood, she realized that she’s not able to make it in time so she said “Mom, I don’t want donut hole anymore.”
Me: “OK. You still got to finish your plate"
S: “I’ll eat the rice and nuggets but not the ketchup”
Me: “ You don’t have to eat the ketchup”
After all the negotiating, her behaviors got worst. She starts playing with the ketchup using her index finger even though I’ve told her not to several times earlier. By this time hubby is in mad because she didn’t listen when we asked nicely. She just ignored me when I asked her not to stick her finger in the ketchup multiple times so he said “That’s it, NO TV for tonight and you still have to finish your plate."
I feel bad now so I sat with her on the table and encourage her to finish her dinner. At this point, she dropped one nugget on the floor so I told her pick it up and throw it in the trash.
Hubby’s comment: "Notice how she conveniently dropped one nugget so she doesn’t have to eat it?"
I broke down and said "Here’s the deal. Finish this nugget and that’s it. You are done."
S: "Mom, look at my big bite and she shoved the whole nugget in her little mouth"
That was the end of the torture for everyone.
Needless to say, she had no TV last night but she managed to entertain herself by listening to book on tape and did some coloring while I paid the bills. She's a great kid.
I hope she’s not traumatized by the daily struggle and have some kind of eating disorder when she grows up. What can be done to make mealtime more fun and happy?

Workout Log
Time: 57 min
Ave. heart rate: 151 b/m
In zone: 53 min
Kcal: 460
I felt weak.  It was a struggle to get to 400 cal. 

Puzzle mania

Ever since I got the puzzle fighter turbo, I’ve been training with the help of my coach S. The game is similar to Tetris but you get to dump the puzzle you eliminate to your opponent. I train against the CPU until a real challenger appears before me. If I loose a battle, S, the coach would make recommendation as of which character to pick. Her favorite character is Felicia the cat. As of last night, I’m able to get through all 8 stages in the normal mode. The next challenger after stage 8 is one of the hidden characters name Akuma. He’s quite intimidating on screen and he’s strategy is dropping small counter gem to prevent his opponents from getting to the big gems. I have yet a strategy that is able to kick his booty. When I’m playing I don’t pay attention to what my opponent is building but S, the coach, pays close attention. She warns me when I'm about to get attacked with "counter gem" and I would make small attacks to minimize their attack.
S: “Mom, it’s not fair!!. Akuma didn’t get much when you dump on him and when he dumps on you, you get killed”
Me: "Life is not always fair and Akuma is the best puzzle fighter I know. Don't worry. We’ll beat him someday."
As I researched to figure out ways to kick Akuma's butt, I came across ways to play as some of the hidden characters. They are quite entertaining. Hubby doesn’t participate. He thinks the game is boring. S is into the game but she doesn’t have the dexterity yet but she will.

Stinky coffee grind

As I was sleeping soundly, I was woken up by a strong smell of coffee grind. It's not the fresh enticing smell that lures you to coffee shops. It smelled like 2 days old, used, forgotten grind.
Logical brain said: This is not real. It's only a dream because no one in the house is making coffee at this hour and neither are the neighbors so go back to sleep.
Creative brain: Your wrong LB, my sense of smell is never wrong. There’s bad coffee grind hidden somewhere in this room or coming from outside. Seek and destroy!
Half asleep, I got up and got a drink of water in the bathroom and noticed the smell is there too. It's everywhere. Why isn't this nuisance troubling hubby? He's sleeping soundly as if everything is hunky-dory. On my way back to bed, I noticed a 5’ fake pink rose tree and a large box in the hallway. What in the world? I looked at the box closely and inside was a brand new sewing machine.
Me: Hub, what’s going on?
Hub: We had a company party and I won the sewing machine from the raffle.
Me: What about the tree?
Hub: That was the centerpiece and I won that too. This is rare. I usually don’t win anything from company functions.
Me: Odd. I’ve never heard of sewing machines give aways but I guess I can take some sewing classes and become interior decorator as seen on trading spaces or design on a dime.
Next thing I know it’s morning and it’s time to get S ready for school but wait is the coffee smell still there? Sniff.. sniff.. The smell.. it went away! Yes, I’m so glad the smell went a way.
Me: Hub, did you smell coffee this morning when you got up?
Hub: No.
Me: Must be a dream but what does it all mean? Still a mystery.

Dating after married with child

Saturday morning conversation:
Hubby: "What should we do this weekend?"
Me: "Let's go see Spiderman 2. I heard good reviews from those who had seen it."
Hubby: "What about S? Who's going to watch her?"
Me: "Parents inlaw?" (Mine has MJ sessions)
Hubby: "We don't have to see it this weekend. It'll be around or we can wait for DVD"
Me: " I don't want this to be another Lord of the ring, return of the king experience where we waited long enough that the theater that claim it's playing the movie no longer plays it anymore. :("
Hubby: "What about this, you go see the movie on your own and I'll see it on my own later"
My internal dialog: Sucks! I guess it's better than not going.
Me: "That's a great idea. This way, we are not bothering your parents."
Hubby: hmm.
Comes Sunday morning.
Me: "I checked the schedule and Spidey 2 is playing @ local theater @ 10:00 AM. If I catch that one, you can catch the one @ 1 or 1:30 PM."
Hubby: "I don't think this will work (finally came to his senses). Let me call my parents and see if they are available."
After conversing with mother inlaw, parents in-law agreed to babysit and we were able to see the movie together as a couple + a good friend who I have not seen for many months.
Since we don't get out much, I'm still having sticker shock that matinee is $7.50.

Parenting

Hubby and I are not always on the same page as of how to bring up and discipline our child. He applies what I call AOS (Asian Old School) where as I do 50/50. 50% of AOS that worked for me as a child, and 50% of what I've learned from reading parenting books and stuff. One key principle that I'm adamant about is this: Tell children what to do instead of "Don't do xyz". This one hit home for me because as a child I was constantly told what not to do. "Don't jump off sofa!. Don't climb the tree and jump off. Don't run inside the house!. Don't hit your brother!"
Recalling when I was ~ 6 year old, my family and I lived in a 1 bedroom apartment in Taiwan. No memory of brother so he was probably not born yet. I recalled one incident where I did artwork on the wall. Needless to say mom discovered the artwork and she was furious.
Mom in Chinese: "Why did you draw on the wall! Didn't I tell you not to draw on the wall." I got some spanking followed by time out in the bedroom. I didn't say anything back to her to minimize the punishment but the conversation in my head was "Why not? The wall is so white, big and bare. It's just like my teacher's chalkboard at school except it's white". I thought mom would be proud of my discovery and my artwork. After this episode, I did not draw on the wall ever again.

Even to this day, whenever someone tells me not to do something, I unconsciously would do the action as illustrated in a recent incident at work.
Co-worker: "Don't click the 'save' button. Click on create a copy instead."
I consciously know that I'm not suppose to click the 'save' button but my subconscious clicked it wanting to know what is the consequence.
Co-worker: "What are you doing? I said don't click the save button. Now you are in trouble with IT"
Me: "Next time, tell me what to do First then tell me what not to do!"

I'm applying this principle as I bring up S but on days when I'm fed up with life and lack patience, I would revert back to autopilot and tell her what not to do. It's not easy re-writing programs that are ingrained in me for years. In all fairness, I see hubby is trying. Deep sigh...

Bad Thursday

Rewind
On Thursday, I looked forward to spinning since I wasn't able to do it on Tuesday. I went to the gym's locker room all excited, said hello to a fellow spinner, E and attempted to change and discovered a nightmare situation. "I forgot my shorts!". I brought two tops instead of a pair of SHORTS !! URGH... Usually, when I forget something, I'm able improvise. For instance if I forget a towel or socks, I'll use a shirt as towel or wear work sock. Unfortunately, I can't improvised shorts. I thought about how convert my towel into shorts or my shirt into shorts. I mentioned it to my fellow spinner E hoping she'll be able to rescue me.
Me: "I forgot my shorts today"
E: "What a bummer.... I didn't' bring an extra pair either. You don't have a spare?"
Well at least I've tried. In my head "If I had a pair of spare shorts we wouldn't have this conversation right now would we? " I'm pissed at myself most of all but politely, I said "No... Well I'll have to come back tomorrow and workout instead."
E: "I'm sorry..."
Me: "Do you think people would notice if I spin in my underwear?"
E: " Some people would..." (Making concern facial gesture)
Me: "Spin extra hard for me OK!"
E: "I'll spin for both of us today" (Making relieved facial gesture)

I put on my street clothes and decided to go shopping instead and blow off some steam.

After work, I was craving for junk food so I bought some ice-cream & potato chips. I snacked on the chips as I was preparing dinner but didn't get to the ice-cream yet. The fact that it's in my freezer and I have easy access to the ice-cream is good enough for last night.

Friday
Since I didn't have Ice-cream lastnight, I was craving caramel macchiato this morning as I drove to work so I decided to have that for breakfast. I had some protein before it so that make it somewhat in the zone.
I was so.. ready to blow off today's workout plan off too but I went to the gym. I'm not planning to do anything substantial this weekend other than play games. I changed, went to the restroom and when I came out, to my surprise, I saw E entering the locker room.
E:"Hey, did you remember your shorts today?"
Me: "How can I forget! after yesterday's trouma :). Didn't you get a good workout yesterday?"
E: "No, she was easy on us yesterday so I'm back to do some running"
Me: "Sounds good. Have a great workout"

Workout log
Time: 40.5 min
Cardio: 20 min (Stair master-->200 cal)
Circuit training: 20 min--> 100 cal
Ave heart rate: 145 bpm
Kcal: 304

I'm usually less pissy after a workout. At least the week ended on a happy note.

July 4th

On July 4th, mom & dad brought their old college friends over for lunch. These two uncles knew me since I was a newborn. I'll call them uncle L1 and uncle L2. (Note: these two uncles are cousins) I made gado-gado (Indonesian salad with peanut sauce dressing) and hubby made BBQ chicken. Knowing mom, she always has something critical to say "The Chicken is over cooked! The krupuk (Indonesian shrimp chips) was not fried right. Too ugly!!" She has a point. Hubby tends to char chicken for some reason. We ate and talked about how the navigation system in the visiting uncle's car lead them down the wrong path. Talked about how beautiful and emotional H & M's wedding was in Hawaii. They mentioned that M shed some tear of joy but I wonder if H did too? Talked about how uncle L2 should stay longer now that he's retired. After lunch, everyone decided to take a little nap. Auntie L1 started the napping relay as those that were still awake talked about death and religion. After 15 minutes or so into the conversation, uncle L2 decided to nap. I noticed Dad is yawning, fighting to stay awake but he could not pretend any longer and gave in and napped upstairs. At this point uncle L2 and I were left on the dining table talking about the differences between Christianity, Catholic, Buddhist & Muslim. Uncle L2 shared that he has difficulty gaining weight but he seemed happy now that he has found Christianity as his religion of choice. Note that S (the kid) who should be napping isn't napping so I had to excuse my self to get her to nap while Mom took over the chit chat. When I finished putting Summer down, I went downstairs and found hubby napping on the computer table. It must be the beer I put in the chicken that got everyone really relaxed and sleepy. I went to the dinner table and re-join the conversation and by this time uncle L1 got enough rest and started to rejoind the chatting group with Mom and it was uncle L2's turn to take a short nap. At around 4PM, Mom decided that everyone should wake up so they can do some sight seeing before the dinner gala with her kareoke friends. So everyone got up, had some fruits and went to Disney main street.
In the evening, we went to our community park to check out the firework. We sat up front so we can get great view of the firework show. S was really excited about the fireworks until the show started. She was terrified by the sound and covered her ears and closed her eyes the whole time. She opened her eye briefly in between songs and saw the smokes on the sky.
Next time we will sit far back so she won't be bothered by the fireworks explosions.

Friday

Tonight, while I was washing vegetables in the kitchen,here's my conversation with S, the 4 year old.
S: "Fenada mommy, fenada.. Did you know that fenada means you're welcome in Spanish?"
Me: "Oh you mean de nada."
S: "No.. It's fenada, I mean penada"
Me: "I think it starts with letter D and it's de nada and you are right it means you're welcome in Spanish. Where did you learn Spanish?"
S:" My magic mom taught me. She knows everything" [Note: Magic mom is her imaginary mom who knows everything and gives her everything and she asks for in her imaginary land]
Me: "Good. Tell her I said hello and she should stop by our house sometimes"
S: "She lives far away from us. She gave me a Pokemon lunch box & Pokemon candy"
Me: " Lunch box is ok. Candy will give you cavity so don't eat too much"
S: "OK"

My parents and some of their friends from out of town will be visiting us on Sunday. We'll have a BBQ, Indonesian style.


Workout log
Time: 47 min
Ave: 143 bpm
In zone: 44 min
Kcal: 329