Wednesday, December 20, 2006

New blog format

Just upgraded to the new blogger format so not sure if there will be issues with leaving comments or not.

Tuesday, December 19, 2006

Holiday madness

There is a Costco gas station near by my work and I've started getting gas there during lunch. I paid $2.49/ gallon so not sure if that is a good deal or not. Most of the vehicles getting gas there are Seniors who are technologically challenged or people with big SUVs and Trucks. I swear it takes me longer to get gas there than a regular gas station so I may go back to my old gas station next time. Getting in and out of Costco parking lot was a challenge during this time of year. After getting gas, I was planning to go in Costco and pick up some stuff for the party but wasn't sure if I can get out within 1 hour.
We had a retirement party at work today and he told an interesting story. He wanted to retire 2 years before but was talked in to working longer.
While talking about his years of service, he pulled out a measuring tape from his pocket and extended out to 65 inches and said that is how long he lived. Statistically, average male life span is 77 years old and average female life span ~85. When he did the math, he statictically has only 12 years to go so he's not going to compromise anymore and enjoy the rest of his life with his wife traveling around the world, go fishing and play golf.
I'm glad decided to retire and enjoy their life too.

Friday, December 15, 2006

Something new

After a year of the same webpage, I was ready for a change. I've only modified the simple stuff. Hopefully, I'll figure out how to put a banner on top.
Today is Danielle's last day of school so she's very excited about her vacation. We got her report card yesterday but not sure what to make of it. Must speak with the teacher.

Tuesday, December 12, 2006

Too busy

Last weekend, my old friend from Oregon visited and we had fun catching up on our lives. Last time I saw her was 10 years ago and we didn't have much time to chat. We've agreed to see each other this June in San Francisco or San Jose. This way I get to visit bulleye house too.
After she left, hubby started getting ill with body achecough, and fever. Secondo still has runny nose but is on her way to better health. I still have a head cold and can't breath at night. Danielle felt abit left out for being the only healthy on in the family so she was complaining about her throat being sore and forgot about it once we change the subject. I hope she stays healthy through December.
I'm so behind with everything that needs to be done before the 25th so I will be blogging less the rest of Dec.

Wednesday, December 06, 2006

Stuff

Remember Secondo started a fever on Friday? Well she's still abit warm on Saturday but she started coughing and nose started to run. We took her to the Dr on Monday and she got a virus that is going around. She's quite miserable, lethargic for the pass few days and just want to be held by mom. She sneezed on me several times and my throat is feeling sore when I woke up this morning.
Last weekend, I ended up wearing something I had in the closet for the Christmas party while mom & dad watched the kids for the evening. I wanted to bring the camera to capture the food we had but it would appeared too geeky in front of my coworkers and boss. Dinner was OK but they had an elaborate dessert buffet and a chocolate fountain with fruits, sponge cake or marshmallows on a stick for dipping. I had one dipped strawberry, small square of strawberry cheese cake, a mini fruit tart and some fruits with coffee.
I was not happy Sunday morning when our spin coach didn't show up for class and wasn't able to find a sub. Some people with their ipod continued spinning but I went on the treadmill and jogged instead. Next to me is this petite mom who was running at 5 miles/ hour and easily carrying a conversation with her friend about getting hair extension etc.. If it was me I would be breathing hard and counting the seconds before I could get off the treadmill. After she finished her run, she went and did real pull ups on her own and also abs on the exercise ball. I was impressed by her strength and she inspired me to strengthen my arms and abs so I can pull up my own body weight on my own. It'll take some time but that the goal is to do one to 5 real pull up by March 2007.
Back in High School, the females had to do at least 1 real pull up to pass PE and none of us were able to do it so the teacher modified the requirement to have a guy get us ladies up in the pull up position and we had to hold our body weight for 10 seconds.

Friday, December 01, 2006

Pad Thai review


Some of you may not know but I really enjoy eating pad thai. When I saw this box at Trader Joe's and the claim of 2 minutes prep time was enticing so I had to try it. I was shopping hungry and that didn't help the cause. Inside the box, there was 1 bag of noodles and 1 bag of sauce. I microwaved both and tossed them together and the picture below is what I got.

Hubby and I tried it and it didn't taste anything like pad thai that you get from Thai restaurants. Hubby was skeptical but I was willing to try many things at least once. I've made pad thai once and it didn't turn out perfectly but tasted better than this.

I'm a little annoyed at the moment because there are so many tasks on my "to do" list and I automatically turn to confort food to help me cope them.
  1. My key project is not working out as I had expected and time is running short.
  2. Company Christmas party is this Saturday and I don't have any formal outing wear that I still like wearing. It seems like eons since I've been to a nice dinner party where I had to dress up so I either shop tonight or tomorrow morning after going to the gym, alone.. ( May be Danielle could tag along and help me pick out something).
  3. Christmas shopping for everyone on my list
  4. Take picture of the kids for Christmas card
  5. Send out Christmas cards
  6. Get the house ready for my Oregon friend visit next week
  7. Come up with the menu for Christmas party for hubby side of the family
  8. Grocery shopping ( remember to buy brown rice!)
  9. Decide if we are getting a tree or not. Our piano has taken the space of our fake tree and Danielle is still waiting to decorate the tree. If we are getting a tree, the only space is in the living room and Secondo being 18 months, we're concerned that she'll eat the little decorations from the tree or break the ornaments. Sigh...
Secondo woke up with a bit of a temperature and cough this morning so I hope she's not getting sick again.

Wednesday, November 29, 2006

Pass weekend


On Thanksgiving day, we went to hubby's brothers home to celebrate. It was nice not having to cook and just show up and eat for once. Danielle had fun scootering in the back yard and playing go fish card game with her cousin E and Secondo played with Mr. Potato head with me.
They served pumpkin pie, strawberry banana pie and Tiramisu but none of those deserts were appealing. I much rather have cheesecake than pies so I'm proud to say that I had a little taste of the Tiramisu and not the whole piece.
For dinner, we went to my parent's home and celebrated with them, my brother's in-laws and their dog Fei-fei. Fei-fei is 13 years old so she was calm and mellow. Unfortunately, sister in-law had to work on Friday after Thanksgiving so Bulleye and sister in-law didn't get to LA until late Friday night.
Mom said, earlier that day, they went out to lunch so the dog was leashed on a guava tree in the back yard. By the time they returned the dog ran away. Luckily, her nextdoor neighbor saw the dog and started the investigation on Fei-fei's owner with fliers etc. Fei-fei doesn't eat dog food so it was interesting to watch her eat beef stew with rice. Secondo was afraid to pet Fei-fei but she was willing to share her toys with the dog.

On Saturday, I went to the gym in the morning and we had a family dinner at
  • Ma's Islamic Restaurant
  • The bread in the picture was really good but there's another breat that is even more tasty. Needless to say I ate more that I should but I did take a spin class Sunday and burned off 600 calories.

    Wednesday, November 22, 2006

    Happy Birthday Dad and Bulleye

    Today is my brother and Dad's birthday. I tried to call Bulleye to wish him a happy birthday but he didn't answer his cell phone. Can't believe tomorrow is Thanksgiving already and the weather is still hot.
    I'm going to workout after work because the gym will be close tomorrow. That should not be an excuse for not exercising so I may jog around the neighbornood and burn at least 300 calories or so before going to my brother in-laws for Thanksgiving feast.
    One new discovery is that there's a pie factory near work that sells over produced pies for way less than the supermarket.

    Tuesday, November 21, 2006

    Guava

    Being the rookie at a new company, I do rely on the help of others so that I can get things done in a timely manner. Luckily I'm able to return their favors by giving them my Dad's delicious guava. I brought a full bag to work and they were gone in minutes. Those who had them wanted more and I don't know if Dad has any more to share.

    Monday, November 20, 2006

    Fun weekend

    This pass weekend was one of the better weekends we've had lately.
    For the pass three Saturdays, I took kickboxing instead of the usual boot camp class. The class works mostly the torso with lots of choreography so I didn't burnt as many calories as boot camp while I'm learning the routines. I'm going to switch back to boot camp next week so my body gets sore and burn more calories. Danielle went to see the movie "Happy Feet" Imax version with her cousin. When I asked her how she liked the movie, she said it was really loud and she had to cover her ears most of the time. While she was at the movies, we paid my parents a visit and met up with my great uncle #7, great aunt and their youngest son, C. Great aunt was asking if I could introduce C to some nice Chinese girls which I'm sure is emberassing for C.

    On Sunday, parent inlaws paid our kids a visit so hubby and I jumped on the opportunity to go on a movie date. We saw the new James Bond movie "Casino Royale" and we both really liked it. This new bond is quite a muscular eye candy and the stunts are more realistic compared to what Pierce Bronson's had done as the 007.

    On Danielle's reading front, I'm happy to learned that she likes reading the Juni B Jones series. I brought 3 home along with the magic tree house books and she read all 3 of them and asked if I could borrow 2 more which I forgot the titles already.

    Friday, November 17, 2006

    OMG

    Last night I was disturbed by what Danielle had learned from school.

    D: "Mom, let's play chinese checkers" (It's a hand clapping along with chanting words that ryhmes)

    She said the following with a funny accent.

    Chinese people talk so funny
    This is how they talk in Chinese
    Usha, usha, I give you a tusha


    Me in Mandarin: "Chinese don't talk funny. It sounds funny to those who don't understand the language. I don't want you to play that game anymore."
    D:"Yes, we do.."
    Me in Mandarin:" Besides,usha and tusha are made up Chinese words that has no real meaning in Chinese."
    Me: "If we visit China and speak English to them, do you think the kids will do"
    American people talk so funny
    This is how they talk in America
    Usha, usha, I give you a tusha?


    D: "I don't know.."

    May be I've over reacted but I just want her to be aware that making fun of other races is not acceptable.

    Tuesday, November 14, 2006

    Pomegranate

    Hubby got some pomegranates home the other day and he was nice enough to peel off the skin and gather all the berries of one pomegranate so we can enjoy the fruit of his labor. The way I normally eat pomegranate is that I pop 2-3 berries in my mouth, suck the juice off then spit out the seeds in a bowl. It's a labor-intensive process and sometimes I stain my clothes with the juice too.
    I took some to work yesterday and was eating it after lunch and a co-worker of mine, A was making fun of me.
    A: "That's not how you eat pomegranate. You are suppose to eat the seed too."
    Me: "That' how I've been eating it. Are you expecting me to swallow the seed after I sucked out the juice?"
    A: "No. Just chew the whole thing and swallow the seed along with the juice. Go ahead and try it."
    She put me on the spot and got the ladies sitting in the next table involved in the conversation so with the spot light on me, I unwillingly tried it
    Me: "It doesn't taste as good as the juice alone but it's less messy compared to the way I prefer to eat it and I'm sure the fiber is good for me."
    A: "That's how I learned to eat pomegranate since I was little."
    Me: "Interesting..."
    I share some pomegranate with her and she ate them like peanuts. I still prefer to eat it my way and luckily all the good antioxidants such as polyphenols, tannins and anthocyanins are in the juice not in the seed. To really get the health benefit, I would need to suck down equivalent of 1 glass a day.

    Monday, November 13, 2006

    Reading

    Since Danielle and I felt that she's not challenged by the books she had been bringing home from school, I went and borrowed several "Magic tree house" books from our local library. There aren't as many pictures in these books so I decided to read it for her and check her interest level. She picked "Vacation under the volcano" and we both really enjoyed the story. Danielle liked the adventure and time travel aspects of the book and I liked how the book introduces new words with definitions and how she learned these words in context and with historical perspective. I tried to stop in the middle of the book and she said "NO! Let's keep reading". After finishing the 1st book, she read "Midnight on the moon" and "Dolphin at day break" on her own the next day.
    On our next trip to the library, we’re going to borrow "Mummies in the morning" and "Ghost town at sun down". I may sneak in several Junie B Jones books because I felt that she didn't give those books a chance.

    Wednesday, November 08, 2006

    1st Grade parent teacher conference

    Hubby and I had our very first conference with Danielle's teacher this morning and over all, Danielle is doing well in school. She's scored highest on reading and we're suppose to work on reading comprehension and also on her math test speed. When Danielle took her baseline math assessment test, she scored low because she took time to double check the accuracy of her answer and diligent on her hand writing and took too long in down all her answers. She wasn't able to complete all 50 questions within the given time. Now we know what we have to work on.
    As far as reading, the books that she's bringing home from school are not challenging enough for her and for some reason she doesn't like the higher level books that was recommended by her school. We're going to figure out the type of books she enjoys reading and strengthen her reading skills. I can see that she enjoys reading "harder" books than her class mates.
    In math, she's learning addition and subtraction between 0-20 so her brought home some flash cards that will be added to her homework repertoire. She was very excited to show me that se knows 8+8 is 16 but when I asked her how she figured it out, she said that she memorized it.
    On the piano front, she was intrigued that her piano teacher had adults and children as students so I told her that Hubby and I would take piano lesson if we have the time to practice at home. Her latest homework are "Lullaby" and "10 Little Jazzy Indians" which is a bit harder to play than plain "10 little Indians". I enjoy playing it so I hope she feels the same way.

    Tuesday, November 07, 2006

    What to do?

    When I picked up Secondo from day care last night, the child care provider informed me that Secondo bit the arm of one of the boy at the day care. I've tried giving her time out when she does something wrong but she doesn't really understand the concept at 17th month.
    We never had the same problem with Danielle so if any one out there who has a solution to stoping this biting habit, please let me know.

    Monday, November 06, 2006

    Silly daughter

    One day, as I was changing Secondo's diaper and noticed she was constipated so I told hubby that Secondo may be developing a hammoroid at an early age and Danielle got really interested in the subject.
    D: "What? Mei mei (little sister) has a hammer on her butt? Let me see.."
    Me: "There's no hammer coming on her butt."
    D: "I still want to see it."
    Then I had to explain what a hammoroid is to a 6 year old which she thought was hilarious.

    Each morning, we sing little songs as we get ready to leave the house so I came up with the 1st 2 verses and Danielle came up with the last two.

    Put on your shoes mei-mei let's go
    Put on your shoes mei-mei..
    Put on your shoes befor your diaper gonna ooze..
    Put on your shoes mei-mei..

    Friday, November 03, 2006

    Sight Word Spelling Test

    Once or twice a week, Danielle's teacher quizzes her on her "Sight Word" lists. Each column consist of 5 words and if she knows all 5 words, she gets to continue and spell the next 5 words and so on all the way up to 30 words. We review the list nightly except on Halloween night because we were busy trick or treating. When she got quizzed on Wednesday, she miss spelled "called" which is the 1st word of the list so the teacher stopped the quiz and she's stuck at the same point as last Wednesday. I was surprised that she misspelled "called" because she spelled it correctly every night at home. I was working more with her on "Through, because and different" or words that I thought was more difficult to spell. She actually memorized the list and she able to write them all on her own. I was more upset than she was so we're going to make sure she knows how to spell at least 30 words like the back of her hands for the next round. Hubby and I are having a parent teacher conference next week so I got to get my questions ready for her teacher. Am I an overbearing mom? Big sigh...

    Thursday, November 02, 2006

    Driving

    Eversince we turn the clock back an hour, I noticed more traffic on the freeway when it gets dark. I really don't enjoy going home in the dark so it's going to take some getting use to.
    I witness a car accident on my way into work this morning. A car tried to avoid hitting the car infront of him so he swerved to the right and hit a Rav4 on the next lane. I take this as a lesson to drive consciously and leave lots of space between me and the car infront of me. Unfortunately other cars would take advantage of my space and cut in front. I also has to fix my tail breaklight this weekend because a car almost rear ended me the other day. Not sure if he/she wasn't paying attention or didn't see me break.

    Tuesday, October 31, 2006

    Happy Halloween

    Our three little Halloween pumpkins.

    Danielle, aka Primero

    Primero was reading my blog one night and she asked
    P: "Who is Pamelo?"
    Me: "That's you."
    P: "I don't want to be Pamelo. I want to be Danielle. Can I change my name to Danielle?"
    Me: "I'll change your name to Danielle from this point forward (for the blog).

    We had a good homework session last night. After piano lesson, she read for me and was eager to spell her sight words. She struggled with spelling the word "through" so she underlined the word and called it an outlaw word.
    Her latest game with Secondo is training pony. Danielle is the trainer and Secondo is the pony. Each of them hold on to one end of a jump rope and walk around the house while Danielle asked Secondo to trot and stay.

    Monday, October 30, 2006

    1st fight of the week

    Switching to a new job means having new insurance company which translates to getting used to working with either a) Incompetent people who don't understand the policy or b) Competent people who tries to get away with not paying for services that are covered by the policy.
    Secondo had her shots months back and I got a bill from her Dr. saying that my new insurance doesn't cover immunization. That is very odd and I don't recall that was the case when I reviewed the policy. I checked with HR and HR verified that immunization is covered so I called the Insurance company back and told them that I'm confident that shots are covered; however, they still insisted that on their paper work it showed that immunization is not covered. I asked them to fax me a copy of that paper but they said it's agaist their policy. With my 3rd phone call, I asked for the Supervisor right away and they put me on hold. When the claim person came back on line she still didn't give me the supervisor and tried to understand why I'm upset. I told her the whole story again for the 3rd time and she said
    Insurance Lady: "Maam, immunization is covered under out policy. I'm going to resubmit the claim."
    Me: "If it is then why did the other two folks I spoke to earlier told me that it's not?"
    IL: "The policy was now written clearly so newly trained people may interperted differently."
    Me: "The last guy said he's confident that it's not covered because immunization is not covered was highlighted in red!"
    IL: "Red highlight means there has been a change not necessarily that it's not covered."
    Me: "Precisely the reason that I want to speak with your supervisor so that he/she is aware of how frustrated it can be when I get different answers from different people. I don't want to do this again with my next Dr. visit."

    IL: " Maam, we made a mistake and I will send an email to the account manager so that they will rewrite the policy to make it easier to understand"

    It's unfortunate that this lady gotten the wrath of Sam eventhough she was the most helpful one of all 3 that I spoke with today. I actually thanked her at the end for resubmitting helping me out. I don't have the warm and fuzzy that I'm home free yet.

    Wednesday, October 25, 2006

    Wednesday

    All the ladies in the house have a cold. Secondo got it first then it spreadd to Primero and I. We all have sore throat, stuffy and runny nose.
    Today, Primero's school asked that each kid donates a brand new teddy bear for Children Hospital of OC (CHOC) so we picked out a cute bear last night. Funny thing is that when Secondo was born, she had severe case of Jaundice and had to stay at the Neonatal ICU for several days. I noticed that there was a peach beannie bear in her room but not sure who gave it to her. Now I finally have the missing piece of puzzle and I'm glad we are able to continue the circle and give back to kids in need of some moral support.

    Monday, October 23, 2006

    Sisterly Love

    Icee, the blue dog in the stroller is Secondo's favorite Stuff animal. If I put another animal in the stroller, Secondo would take it out and put Icee in instead. Do you see the determination in this child's face? Icee was actually gift from Bulleye to Primero long ago but Primero was never interested in any other stuff animals besides her Green Bear. Speaking of Green bear, Primero took this picture and is very proud of how well it is holding up after 6 years. Green Bear is the only toy she will not allow Secondo to play with. Everything else she's willing to share.


    It's fun when I asked Primero to pose next to Secondo. The disadvantage of being the older sibling is that when the younger one hits the older one, Primero can't hit back. From experience I know how unfair and frustrating it can be.

    Friday, October 20, 2006

    Next week: Red Ribbon Week

    Every Thursday, We get lots of flyers from Primero's school. Yesterday, as I was feeding Secondo, I asked her to read the flyers to me.
    Primero was reading them and asked
    P: "What does 'Turn your back on drugs' mean?"
    Me: "It means staying away from drugs but drugs can be also be medicines that we take when we get sick"
    P: "Oh.. like Sav-On Drugs?"
    Me: "Yes, that's one place to get medicines"
    P: "Then why do we turn our back on drugs?"
    Me: "We turn our back on bad drugs"
    She lost interest and moved on to the book fair flyer.
    This morning, after reading the flyers on my own I realized that her school wants parents to discuss the consequences of drugs to a 1st grader.
    Now that I'm more aware of that's going on, I'll do a better job explaining the reasoning behind "Turn your back on drugs!" Sigh...
    I assume it's better for her to hear it from me than from her friends at school but on the other hand, it's scary to think my child could be exposed to drugs at 1st grade.

    Thursday, October 19, 2006

    Secondo: 17 month old

    After Secondo passed her 1 year mark, I have not been keeping track of her age on the monthly basis so I would say she's 1.5 years old to strangers when they asked.
    At my company picnic last Saturday with the kids, one of the moms asked, "How old is your baby?" After I replied, she said "My son in 20 months so she's only 2 months younger than Lorence.." Gauging by the size differences between the two kids, I had to correct myself and admit that she's only 16 instead of 18 months old.

    At this age,
    1. She loves to sing. Her favorite songs are : ABCs, and Elmo's World. When she naps at the sitter, she plays lullabies to put them to sleep. Lately, the sitter told me that Secondo would hum to the songs before falling asleep.
    2. Her favorite toy is the stroller. She loves to stroll her favorite blue dog, Icee around the house and bumping into walls.
    3. She's temperamental and can't take no for an answer. When she's frustrated, she would throw what ever she has on hand and then hit the person around her. If it happens to be me, I would scold her and walk away and she would cry and conceded that she did something wrong.
    4. I need lots of help from hubby

    Tuesday, October 17, 2006

    Farewell tooth #6


    Primero finally lost baby tooth F lastnight. It had been sticking out saying "hi" to everyone for a long while. She refused to wiggle it herself or let me get near it.
    Last night, she was changing into her pajama smiling and I accidentally snapped off her loose tooth as I pulled her shirt over her head. Next thing we noticed was lots of blood on her gum, in her mouth and her tooth landed safely on the shirt. She didn't cry as she bit down on 2 Q-tips ( I didn't have any gauze handy.) to stop the bleeding but was somewhat relieved that it wasn't painful.
    When I dropped her off this morning her teacher Tasha said "Yes! Finally.."
    Now we are able to see part of her permanent front tooth which is about 1.5 times larger than the baby one.
    On the piano front, she'll be finishing up Alfred's prep course by next Monday and she has a couple more pages on Dozen a day-minibook before moving on to the next level. Practice is more difficult during the beginning of the week versus the end after she learned all the songs. Next fun song to learn is Twinkle Twinkle Little Stars while polishing up Ode to Joy.

    Monday, October 16, 2006

    Communication breakdown

    Below is conversation between Hubby and I this morning via email.

    H:"Dung came back from his 10 days fishing trip in Cabo. I got some Mahi. It should be good for dinner tonight."
    Me: "LOL. Don't call him dung. It's Doug. Make sure the fish is refrigerated."
    H: "His name is Dung, He's Vietnamese. The fish is frozen. I'm thawing it for dinner."
    Me: "I didn't know you have a coworking name Dung.. Sorry"
    There's an incetive to have an American name if your given Vietnamese name is Dung.

    Below is the dictionary definition for those who don't get the joke.

    Definition of Dung:
    1a. The excrement of animals.
    1b. Manure.
    2. Something foul or abhorrent.

    Friday, October 13, 2006

    What does it mean?

    I don't remember when I last dreamed but I had a stressful one early this morning.
    I was running late taking Primero to school so when we got there, we rushed to her classroom and I left the van in the parking lot with the doors open and everything inside including the car key. The thought was that I would run back in a flash. In the dream a body of water surrounded her classroom. To reach the classroom, we hopped on the stepping stone path that took us to the doorway. After saying hello to the teacher, saying good bye, I was ready to run to the van. As I open the door, I noticed the body of water gradually started rising and covering half of the stepping stones. Unfortunately there was another parent in front of me and she was going remarkably slow and I felt that she was intentionally blocking my path. I attempted to go around her many times and she would not let me pass by her. As I struggle with her, the water has risen to the point where I can no longer see the stones anymore so I can either get wet or wait until the tide goes down. I decided to wait for the water to subside but then the stones were replaced with industrial carpet. I ran to the parking lot and the van was replaced with an old lady standing in the spot with another man.
    O Lady: "I saw an unattended van so I valet parked it" (In reality, there's no valet parking at school)
    Me: "Thank you, may I have the key"
    Man: "I also left my car here a while ago"
    She showed us the key chain and it wasn't mine. I was still in denial so I went along with the man and when he put the key in the ignition, he started the car and drove away happy. Next think I know Secondo woke me up.

    Thursday, October 12, 2006

    Preparing for winter

    I had been contemplating about the decision for a while and finally decided to get a flu shot. The next decision would be if I should give the kids flu shots. Hopefully the decision makers guess the right killed virus for the flu shot.

    Wednesday, October 11, 2006

    Memory

    Before having kids, I had better memory. Now days, hubby would say
    H: "Do you remember the movie love story?"
    Me: "Hm..."
    H: "We saw it when we were dating starring Tony Leung?"
    Me: "Vaguely.. I remember he was wearing a white suite but don't remember much about the plot"

    Tuesday, October 10, 2006

    The blame game

    I've noticed lately that Primero likes to play victim. If she played the wrong note on the piano it's because I was singing along in the background and throwing her off or the scooter was hitting her legs. This morning, she had a minor episode. We put a safety gate by the top of the stairs to prevent Secondo from tumbling down freely so as Primero came through the gate said
    P:"Mom..the gate pinched my finger"
    Me: "Really.. How did it do that? Does it have crab like pincher?"
    P:"NO. I opened the gate and my hand is too small so it pinched me"
    Me: "Oh.. So the gate has a brain and said here comes Primero's tiny finger and I'm going to pinch it today because I'm not just a gate. I'm an alligator gate!"
    She started to laugh a little and said "The gate doesn't have a brain"
    I also told her that she controls her finger and can't blame the gate, anything or anyone else for her own action.

    Monday, October 09, 2006

    Another lightning speed weekend

    I anticipated this pass weekend to be busy but it completely surpassed my expectation.
    We went Holloween costume shopping Friday night. Primero got hers but there wasn't much of a choice for Secondo. We tried on an Elmo costume but it was too tight and uncomfortable for a walking toddler. While shopping, Secondo didn't want to be in the shopping cart so when I put her on the ground she had fun exploring and pulling stuff off the shelves left and right before I took her out of the store.
    Saturday morning,I went to the Bootcamp class and burned off 500 calories knowing that I will be eating fun food such as chili dogs, burgers and ice cream at the company picnic. After bootcamp, my whole body was sore but there's no time for whining so I bathe both kids and off we went to my company picnic. The little voice in my head was saying I'm not young as I used to be. There were tons of food and games for kids and adults. Primero jumped on the swing and Secondo went into the bouncer. Secondo doesn't know how to jump yet or even stand in the bouncer so it was entertaining to watch her interact with other kids who were bouncing and summersaulting in there. Primero's favorite parts of the day were the puppet show, getting her face painted and arm tatooed via sticker.
    Hubby and I were hoping to win the grand price of video ipod but my lucky co-worker took it home instead. When we got home, hubby worked on the yard while I watched the kids and he was surprised by our next door neighbor who invited us over for dinner. We accepted her invitation so the kids played and have fun while the adults chated about Dream Dinners, Speed racers over food wine and beer.
    On Sunday morning, we had breakfast, dropped the kids off to grandma's house prior to our date to the car show. Now days when the kids are not with us, I consider our precious time alone a date. We looked that cars that are in our price range and also cars that we would love to have but don't want the responsibility. I really like the body of the new CRV. Hubby said it's a mixture of BMW, Volvo and Mercedes. Lately we've noticed issue with the new model of Camry so new CRV may have similar problem. I was hoping that by going to the car show, it will help us decides on which model to get but on the contrary, there are more research to be done before going for a test drive.
    After the car show we hung out at my parent's house shortly , I got my hair cut, went grocery shopping, had dinner at my inlaws, went home, gave both kids a bath and put them to bed.
    Today is Primero's picture day. She has two big gaps where her front teeth used to be so it's going to be a memorable picture.
    Tonight is piano lesson and she didn't practice all the songs yet....
    Note to self:
    1)Set one day of the weekend aside to stay home and do chores.
    2)You are an athlete in training. Healthy food helps you get stronger.

    Friday, October 06, 2006

    Health

    I went and got my mamogram done yesterday. While in the waiting room, I see women coming out the door cheering "Yes.. I'm good for another year".
    Part of the paper work was a disclosure for women with implants (Not me incase readers didn't know). It mentioned that in some cases implants would interfere with the xray and may not provide accurate picture of the breast tissue. The amount of pressure that is used to convert boobs in to a flat pancake was non-trivial and I thought it would cause implant boobs to burst and deflate. I didn't have enough courage to ask the technician if she ever popped one.
    My result will be available in a week or two so hopefully everything is normal. Since October is breast cancer month, I want to do my part to remind my fellow lady friends and family to do self exam or mamogram.

    Thursday, October 05, 2006

    Self torture

    As I'm working hard to eat healthy and workout, I find my self checking out food blog pages, watching the food channel and start craving for stuff that's not going to get me to my goal. Why do this to myself?
    The open eating season has started. We have halloween candy bowl by the receptionist and it's going to be Thanksgiving feast, Christmas get together & New Year celebration. The logical mind is saying to eat in moderation so by New Year, there's no guilty feeling and wider waist line.
    I"m going to my company fall picnic this Saturday where they'll serve chili dog, burger,Tri Tip etc.. Primero will enjoy the lollipop Tree.

    Wednesday, October 04, 2006

    One month milestone

    It's amazing how fast kids adapt to new environment and changes. Primero has been in her new school and she made some friends and got the hang of her teacher's schedule. There’s a girl in her after school program that has the same name as Secondo and she really likes Primero. She hugs Primero when they 1st see each other and said "You are finally here !!!" and showed lots of excitement where as Primero barely says hi to her with her anonymous waive of the hand. It must be her personality because no matter how hubby and I coached her, she's persistent about her own way of greeting people which is non-verbal and that pushes me over the edge some times. All I asked is that she says hi back to those who say hi to her. Mom in on me on this one but I've tried many different ways and no solution yet.
    Piano is going well, her teacher (E) praised her weekly and that seems to motivate her to practice more this week. There's a boy who's lesson is ahead of hers and he hadn’t been practicing so they are at a standstill for at least 3 weeks. E spoke with his dad about stopping the lesson if he doesn’t learn the song by next week. Primero was there when this happened so I reiterated the fact that if she doesn't practice, she could be kicked out of the Miss E piano school. Her next assignment is to learn "Ode to Joy" and "Are you sleeping". Learning new songs seems to get easier for her compared to 2 weeks ago.

    Tuesday, October 03, 2006

    The magic number 8

    Since my last feeling fat blog, I've been working out at least twice a week and cut out rice when I can. (Thanks hubby for watching the kids while I hit the gym) Sucking in my gut is still a chore but it's not as big as before.
    In boot camp, I'm able to do more of the drills that she dished out but there are still some drills that takes my breath away. My legs had always been my source of strength but the amount of squats she made us do, made my quads shakes. Another drill she made us do is jump in the air spread eagle style and that is something I can't do continously 25 times yet. I believe a month from now I'll be able to do it in ease if I practice at home twice a week. Bootcamp instructor is 5 months pregnant so she can't do some of the exercise that we do in class. She kept us motivated by telling us not to waste time by cheating or not giving our 100%. She said also that it's not what we say aloud that keep us going but the little voice inside which rings true for me. When the going get tough, the old little voice would says "Pain.., I can't stand this anymore..take a short break and catch your breath". The new little voice now says "Just 8 more counts. One more phrase of the music" Once I get pass that then "8 more counts" until I can't breath anymore.

    Monday, October 02, 2006

    Family Stuff

    When I got home from Vegas, I wasn't sure how Primero's piano practice sessions went so I asked her to play the songs for me and she did pretty good. She did practice with mom so I made minor correction on the tempo. She tends to count faster than her teacher and me. Her teacher is also stressing the need to play the notes instead of punching the notes which I'm guilty of doing my self. Last night, after she finished with her practice, I played a Sonatina for her and she liked listening for once. I would like to take piano lesson too in order to keep up with her. I can see that she will surpass my level in a year or less. It will show her that practice is necessary to play well and seamless.
    On Saturday, I had dimsum with mom and dad then, we went to a BBQ/Karaoke party which was consist of mostly people with out kids. There were lots of flies in their backyard so Primero was not able to dine in peace. She covered everything with napkins and was making sure the flies didn't not land on our food. After the BBQ, we went back to my inlaws for dinner.
    On Sunday, I took the girls to the library and it was abit stressful. Secondo wonders around the isles while Primero did not like any of the authors recommended by her school. We borrowed several books that she picked out and I picked out a couple for her.
    I wanted to stop by borders to order a yoga CD but didn't have time. Sigh..


    Exercise log

    Saturday
    Bootcamp: 60 min
    Cal: 404

    Sunday
    Spin: 65 min
    Ave heart rate: 150 b/m
    Cal: 534

    Friday, September 29, 2006

    Glad to be home

    I was in Vegas for a trade show for the pass few days and I really missed home. I'm glad that the hotel I stayed at was non smoking and it had a fitness center that they don't charge extra if you decide to use it. They did charge for the business center so I declined. As far as cigarette smoke, the airport waiting area and the casinos were the worst. People gambling while smoking which made my sinus run as if I had a cold.
    I tried Rio Seafood buffet for $35 and it wasn't that impressive. Mostly shrimp, raw oysters, king crab legs. I will not go back again. The next restaurant was the Social Scene? Very trendy Japanese restaurant. The sashimi were excellent! but the service was extremely slow. We were hungry again waiting to pay our bill. I felt out of place there because they had secret service people around to escort VIPs around. I ate mostly healthy except for occasional coffee drinks.
    People seems to think when I go these trade show, it's like a vacation which is totally opposite. I walk the show, on my feet talk with potential customers so my legs and feet are sore by the end of the day. What I really wanted is to be with my family who are far away.
    Now that we are able to bring some 3oz size liquid, the security line is back to the long dragon style again with everyone with their carry on, me included. I got to the airport early so I didn't mind the wait.
    When I got home, it was nice to see hubby, the kids, and mom and dad. Dad was feeding Secondo dinner so when she saw me, she wanted me to hold her right a way. Primero cared more about what gift I brought back from my trip. I didn't have time to get hubby anything this time.

    Exercise Log
    Elliptical: 45 min
    Ave heart rate: ~ 140 b/m
    Cal: 500

    Monday, September 25, 2006

    Competing for attention

    My 2 girls are already competing for things eventhough they are far apart in age. If I'm hugging Primero, Secondo will run over and push her sister away from me so she can be hugged. If Primero is playing piano, Secondo wants to play also.
    In short, I'm starting to do everything in twos. 2 cups of drinks, 2 plates of snacks and two bouncy balls.
    One thing Primero will not share is her green bear so Secondo snuggles with green bear when her elder sister is napping.

    Sunday & Monday

    I wanted to take the kids to the beach but we had too many other things to do so we went to Costco instead. When I was checking out, they confiscated my card to tell me that I spend enough money to move up to the next membership level which cost me $100/year but I get 2% rebate for every dollar I spend. Based on their record, I already earned $40. The guy said that they want to sustain their customer based so this is one way of doing it. Unfortunately, it doesn't apply to car purchases because 2% of 30K is a good $600.
    This morning, Secondo woke up at 5:30 AM so getting ready was quite a challenge with her wanting to be involve in everything. Fortunately, Sesame stree was on and she's into the show especially Elmo. She actually sang the Elmo theme song in her own way when it came on this morning.
    Primero doesn't have a sense of time. When I say "Let's hurry so we won't be late" and she replied with "You always say that to me" I'll have to figure something out so she doesn't take time for granted.

    Mom and Dad are staying with us for the next few days while their house gets tented for termite.

    Exercise Log
    Spin: 60 min
    Ave heart rate: 150 b/min
    Cal: 511

    Saturday, September 23, 2006

    Saturday at the park



    Bootcamp
    Duration: 1:14 min
    Cal: 456
    Ave heart rate: 134/min

    Friday, September 22, 2006

    Me, me, me, it's all about me

    I looked back at my old entries, I was religiously logging my exercise sessions. To re-motivate my self I'm going to start logging the days that I exercise.
    Type: Yoga
    Duration: 50 min
    Calories: Doesn't matter

    Wednesday, September 20, 2006

    The game plan

    Yesterday, I went to Primero's back to school night meeting. Take home message is that she's going to have lots of homework starting next week. The school mendates that the child reads 20 min/day for 7 days a week plus spelling and math AND extra credit. When I went to school, extra credit is not a requirement. For her school, it is a requirement because she won't get an outstanding on her homework section of the report card if she opt not to do extra credit. Sigh.. I'll get to see what the XC options are next week.
    2 girls from her class were transfered to the combo class. Her teacher is really nice and she said that Primero is doing great. She's impressed with her artistic skill and handwriting so far. I met the other parents from her class but didn't make any connections.
    Starting next week we are going to be busy the moment we get home. Here's is what I'm going to propose to the family and we'll test it out next week. We'll see if there's time for Chinese character writing.

    Monday:
    5:30 : Bath time
    6:00 : Dinner
    6:30-7:20 : Piano lesson
    7:30-8:00: Homework & extra credit
    8:00-8:20: Reading
    8:20-8:40: Getting ready for bed
    8:45 : Bed time

    Tuesday:
    5:30-6:00: Homework
    6:00-6:30 Dinner
    6:30: 7:00 Bath
    7:00-7:30 Piano practice
    7:30-8:00: Break
    8:00-8:20 Reading
    8:20-8:40: Getting ready for bed
    8:45 : Bed time

    Tuesday, September 19, 2006

    Back to School Night

    To night is back to school night for Primero. I look forward to meeting her teacher and get more information on what they will be learning and how many combination classes they will have. They are planning to put 10 kids from 1st grade and 10 kids from 2nd grade in one class. I don't know much about combination classes but my gut is telling me that her school is not willing to hire more teachers to accomidate the amount of students they have. Sigh...
    Piano lesson went well, her teacher is impressed with Primero's ability to play. Her home work has 2 fun songs, "It ain't gonna rain no more" and "Bingo"
    Her kindergarten teacher taught her that the word "heck" was not proper and in one of the song the verse goes "How the heck I'm gonna wash my neck..." cracks her up everytime she sings it.
    I'm toying with the idea of taking piano lesson my self once I figure out when I'll have time to practice.
    Secondo got her 15 month shots last week and on her leg where she got the shot is still bumpy and hard. I massage it when I can and hopefully it'll go away this week. She's been coughing and sounded congested this morning. Still contemplating if she should get flu shot or not.

    Tuesday, September 12, 2006

    Piano lesson: Week 3


    As before, practice takes time but my new rule is if she plays well 5 times then we can move on to the next song but if it's not up to par, she has to play at least 12 times. That seems to work and sometimes she wants to practice more that I asked. She still doesn't like piano her comment was
    P: "Why am I good at something I don't like to do? I didn't even know that I'm good at playing piano"
    Me: "There are many other things that you are good at but you don't even know yet?"
    My concern is that she doesn't like piano. I hope by the time she plays some music that she knows then she'll like it more.
    Her lesson went well and next step is to learn the notes. I learned do re mi but her teacher wants her to learn c d e etc.. and that doesn't come natural to me.
    More practicing tonight...
    From her I learn to be patient with my self and others.

    Monday, September 11, 2006

    Chinese Lesson Karma


    Mom gave Primero Chinese characters writing lesson this Summer so she asked that I continue during fall with the hope that Primero will be able to speak Chinese and read Chinese when she grows up. This brought back painful memories when I was in 3rd grade when mom forced me to learn Chinese by practice writing row and rows of Chinese characters which had no meaning.
    On Sunday,
    Me: "It's time to learn Chinese"
    P: "NO!"
    Me: "Why NOT?"
    P: "''cause I'm hungry"

    It was almost lunch time so I fed them and then
    Me: "Let's learn Chinese"
    Grudgingly agreed so we learned the character rain and the battle begins. Her body language was not happy nor positive and said
    P: "I want you to sit with me"
    Me: "When dad finishes with yard work, I'll sit with you. No one can watch Secondo otherwise"
    P: "Hold my hands and show me how to write it the right way. Popo does it.."
    While holding Secondo on left hand, I held her hand and traced the the character rain with her. She continued writing the characters in an snail moving through peanut butter rate.
    After hubby finished up with yard work, I sat with her and she was still not a happy camper but she wrote one character that's recognizable so I said
    Me: "That character is really close to the example. Can you write another like that or better?"
    With a little positive encouragement, she was more interested in taking time to write or draw rain.
    At the end, she asked me to circled 2 characters that I really liked and I circled 4 which made her happy. Luckily it was the last page so until I get a new book we both can take a break.

    Friday, September 08, 2006

    Long awaited Friday

    Last night, Secondo was wondering around not ready to sleep @ 9:30PM so I took her to her room and slept with her there. She did wonder the hall once and fell asleep shortly next to me so I was well rested.
    After 4 days of training, we got our morning routine down to the T. Both girls have their breakfast while I pack lunches and get all our stuff ready for the day.
    Daughter said
    P: "What day is today?"
    Me: "It's Friday"
    P: "Yeah, I get to stay up late tonight and do fun things?"
    Me: "Yes, after you practice your piano of course"
    I try to make practice fun so it's not a boring chore for her

    Thursday, September 07, 2006

    3rd day of school

    Primero had half day of school yesterday so she was a little disappointed. She said "I wish school was longer today so that I can read the 'Take me out of the bath tub book'". I told her school would be longer tomorrow and Friday so not to worry. I asked her about what she did in class and she said that her teacher was asking volunteers for sweeping and sponge duty (Cleaning their little desks). She raised her hand for sponge duty but teacher picked someone else for the job but she hopes to be the chosen one next week. I asked her "Did you raise your hand for sweeping duty?" P said "No.. I want sponge duty" Come to think of it, she did the dishes with me the other day so she can play with the sponge. Must be a new exciting toy for her at this stage of her life.
    Piano practice was long yesterday. The lessons are getting a little bit complex with controlling her little fingers, sp we practiced 4 short songs over the span of 40 min. There are 6 more songs to learn so we'll continue with the rest of the lessons tonight. She did her Theory exercise, which I forgot to bring to her lesson on Tuesday. Her teacher said, "Well, we can't all be perfect" and I said "Not all the time we can't"

    Let's move on to Secondo's life for a moment. She doesn't have fever anymore but still has runny nose and a cough. For some unknown reason, she was not tired during bedtime and refused to sleep last night. I put the kids to bed by 9:00PM and Primero was asleep within 15 min but not Secondo. In the dark, she was talking, walking around the room, singing, playing by her self. I stayed up with her until 11:30 PM when she finally went to her pillow on the floor and lay down. We put her on the floor because the crib is not her favorite place to be. She woke up several times during the night so when 5:30 AM rolled around, I hated life.
    On a totally seperate note, I just found out that an ex co-worker of mine lost his 19-year-old son in a fatal motorcycle accident. He was wearing his helmet but it didn't save him from the deadly head injury. Grandma used to say is that it's heart breaking for white hair person(parents) to bid farewell to black hair person (child) so I don't pretend to relate to parents who had to put a funeral for their child. Just another reminder to appreciate our love ones today because they may be gone tomorrow and the my dramas are miniscule compared to others so be thankful.

    Wednesday, September 06, 2006

    2nd day of School

    Hubby took Primero to school yesterday but today she's on her own. I dropped her off early morning at the day care and she said "Mom, why isn't any one here yet?" which made me feel bad as a mom. At day care she was the 2nd child so it didn't help the situation. I gave her watermelon for morning snack so I hope she ate it. Hopefully she made some friends to day so she feels more comfortable in the new environment.

    She started piano lesson last week so her homework was to practice 6 mini short songs. We practiced 3 times a week for 30 min last week and her piano teacher was impressed on her progress. She commented "I don't know why but all my asian students pick up piano quicker than anybody". Hubby thinks she was stereotyping our child and was not happy about it. Since she did so well, we got triple the assignment vs. the week before. Piano teacher asked "Mom, does she have homework?" and I nodded if not she was going to assigned even more homework for both of us. Needless to say, we got lots of practicing to do this week.

    As far as me, I've been eating healthy but have not done the exercise part which is cruicial to the plan. Still working on what type of exercise I can do at home.

    Tuesday, September 05, 2006

    So far so good

    Last Friday, I set exercise goal of working out everyday which may be unrealistic so I modified it to 4 days a week. 2 days during the week and 2 days on weekend which is possible. I went to the gym 3 times last week and I'm happy to say that my legs were not sore like the week before. Sit up goal is 200 sit up/night started Monday night.
    If everything goes as plan
    Wed: Pilates or walking 30 min
    Fri: Wt lifting
    Sat: Boot Camp
    Sun: Cardio & Yoga or Spin
    For rewards, I bought these small exercise ball that helps me with stretching my back.
    Secondo was sick last week with runny nose and fever so we didn't take her to the pool which is her favorite thing to do. Last night she woke up in sweats and saying "Hot.. hot.."

    Friday, September 01, 2006

    Feeling Fat

    I swear that after the 2nd baby, my abs had been replaced with fat layers that I can't get rid off. I also lost the reflex of pulling my abs in and I must consciously remind my self to suck my abs in or it'll just pooch out like I'm 3 months pregnant. Doing sit ups doesn't seem to help because the fat layer is still there so the only option remains is to modify diet, exercise to get rid of them fat once and for all. I'm at the point where I'm ready to change.
    When I saw my cousin's wife who had the baby about the same time I did and she's back to her skinny self which got me thinking about my own body and the possibility of it going back to the shape where it used to be 2 years ago.
    I read the South Beach diet and it's a bit too strict for the 1st 1 weeks. It's not realistic for me to follow their recipe so I'm working to put something together to incoorperate the food I'm already eating but cut out the rice, noodles and bread. I can cut out rice but noodles and bread are going to be tough.
    I'm tired of feeling fat. I want to feel fit where my body is tight and strong. It's just going to get harder as I'm getting older so be patient with your self please.
    P.S.: I'm so odd. Even when I'm trying to eat healthy, I still go to those food blogsite to tempt my self. Must stop doing that.

    Monday, August 28, 2006

    Exausted

    This pass weekend was so busy with events centering around kids and families that I didn't get to do any of my chores.
    Saturday morning, I took an hour of boot camp at the gym. Instructor is 4 months pregnant so she had to keep her heart rate at a certain level but still goes pretty hard. "I want you to be exausted after my class!!!" She was tough and merciless similar to Jillian of the biggest looser.
    After class, Secondo and I went to our last swim lesson. She was paddling with her hands and doing some kicking but not consistently. She's more used to being dunk under water but still doesn't like floating on her back. I decided to stop the lesson and start again next summer. She's getting really tan and I have sufficient training to teach her my self at this point. Primero is the one who should take lesson so I'm going to put it on the list. Their cousins came by in the afternoon so Primero went to the pool again while I stayed home with Secondo. She napped for 30 min and said "ma ma.. ma ma" That was the end of my hope to get more chores done.
    When they got back from the pool, everyone was hungry except for my pregnant sister in-law who had been having terrible morning sickness. She had to hide upstairs where the smell food isn’t so overwhelming for her.
    I cooked for 6 adults. The menu was soy sauce simmered baby back ribs, shrimp with ketchup and wine sauce (which I learned from Ang Lee long time ago watching an interview on TV), and baby bak choi stir fried in garlic sauce. I have not cooked for anyone since Secondo was born so it felt good when people liked my food and said how delicious they were.
    After dinner I play cards with the kids, the guess left and we all went to bed exhausted.

    The next day, I woke up with a sore body. My legs were the worst when going up and down stairs. (They are sore still today) We got ready and went to one of mom's cousin's daughter's 1st Bday party. When we got there, lots of girls in Primero's age group was running around playing. They have a dog fluffy who loved Secondo and the other kids but Secondo was afraid of it.
    After that party, we went to visit my friend Steve who lived in that neighborhood so our kids can play together. We had pho for dinner and play badminton. It was really fun.

    Friday, August 25, 2006

    15 month old


    We took the kids to "Build a bear workshop" and Secondo was ruffling in to all the different outfits for the bears. She's 15 months old now and she has mastered walking and is trying to run and jump. Itsy bitsy spider is her favorite song and I'm so tired of singing it for the 20th time. She's also a thumb sucker like her cie-cie (Elder sister) but she's more hard core and her thumb has blister already at this age. Secondo has higher pain level too. Sometimes she'll have a bloody broken toe nail and it doesn't phase her at all.
    Here Primero at her cousin, E's house building their cookie and popcorn shop.

    Monday, August 21, 2006

    3 Iron

    I traveled for business last week and due to the terrorist findings in the UK, I was forced to check my bag with my toiletries and be at the airport 3 hours before departure. My out going flight was @ 7:20AM so I was scheduled to wake up @ 3AM and be at the airport by 4:20 AM. Secondo had too much excitement that night so she was not able to sleep soundly. She woke up many times and I wasn't able to sleep until about 1 AM. Airport was a zoo even @ 4 AM but I checked in and went through security within 40 min so I was roaming around the airport waiting for Starbuck to open and get some coffee. It finally opened around 5:30AM so I was able to get some breakfast. The flight was uneventfull but I'm not used to waiting around for baggage claim etc..
    While traveling, I didn't have to attend to anyone. I ate when ever I'm hungry and go as I please. It felt as if I was single again, freedom.. but it wasn't the same. There was something missing in my life during those days, my family. This one restaurant that I highly recommend is Paesanos. They have the best Italian food I have ever had. I heard that Pachanga Casino area has the same restaurant so I'm going to convince hubby to go to Pachanga sometime this year.
    Returning flight was about the same and I was really glad to be home and see my kids.
    This pass weekend, we rented a Korean movie "3 Iron". It's an interesting movie that didn't have much dialog between the main characters so it works well for a foreign movie. I would recommended this movie for everyone.
    Secondo can say "ma ma" now but the thing is she says it to both me and hubby.

    Thursday, August 10, 2006

    No longer a polluter

    Last Saturday, hubby took the Accord for a tune up and CAT (Car talk for Catalytic converter) change and the Accord passed smog test! Hallelujah!! Now I can drive the car with out feeling guilty when I see the smog in the air.
    Primero went to Boomers for the 1st time yesterday and she can't stop talking about it.
    P: "Mom, can we go to Boomer this weekend? Can we, can we?"
    Hub: "What ride was your favorite?"
    P:"Oh.. all of them"
    Last night, Secondo was really whiney so I scolded her and said "No more whining!" in the mad motherly tone. Next thing I heard was this loud cry. She was in the master bathroom so the crying was magnified by the echos our empty bath room was able to generate. Big mistake.. so I told her I was sorry and held her but she was still cranky the whole night

    Monday, August 07, 2006

    Swim lesson

    This weekend, Primero was hanging out with her cousin, hubby was at work and I took Secondo for her 1st swim lesson. I decided to get there early considering I got to stroll her from parking lot to the pool and in general it takes an extra 10 minutes to do anything involving a toddler. When I got to the pool, there's a message on the gate "Swim Lesson is moved to another pool due to contamination" I was stressing out because I don't know where the other pool was. While panicing, I noticed that they had direction to the backup pool on the gate so I got there shortly. I knew I was at the right place because all the crying and laughing of children in the Air.
    We all finally got into the water with our toddler and the lesson began.
    Since a toddler can't comprehend what's going on, the swim lesson was more for the parent than for the child.
    1. I sang the wheel on the bus and went round and round with the baby, up and down, swish,swish swish while dipping the child side to side so they get used to getting wet ears.
    2. I got a floating toy and threw it to a distance and encaurage the kid to kick while getting the toy.
    3. I helped the baby use their arm to make the paddling motion while singing row row row your boat.
    4. The instructor springkled water on Secondo's head while singing it's raining it's pouring.
    5. I helped the baby float on their back while they lay on my shoulder.
    It was fun and short so we'll do it again next week.

    Friday, August 04, 2006

    Old Car

    My accord is due for smog so hubby took it in for a test and it FAILED! Here goes the journey of making the car pass smog. 1st we went to a mechanic and he said to flush the ERG which didn't work. Now we think it's the catalytic converter so that's what we're going to do next

    Tuesday, August 01, 2006

    Wanting what I don't have

    I borrowed another audio book on meditation by Jack Kornfield called "Meditation for beginners". It was the request of Primero because she enjoyed one meditation audio book I borrowed one time. This one however is different. It explains about the intent of meditation and how to manage when many thoughts are running in your mind and the "what if" or "if only" energy enters the mind. Bottom line is that meditation is a form of acceptance of one self with all the inperfections.
    Another interesting quote I learned is "The greatest diappointment in life is not getting what you want and getting what you want" This ring alot of truth for me in many ways and I'm happy to say that I've learned to accept my self more as I'm older and wiser
    Here's an example of what I did to meet a certain want.
    In my younger years, I was never satisfied with my feet. They were wide and have bunions on both sides which made it difficult for me to wear cute or fashionable shoes. My friend who had similar bunions problem had them removed and she was so happy with the result. I saw how happy she was wear heels and trendy shoes so I decided to remove the bunion from one foot and once it recovered, I'll do the other one. Recovery for that surgery was true suffering. I had to crawl around for 2 weeks and hubby washed my hair for me since I couldn't really shower. After the foot healed, I was disappointed that my toes were shorter than before. I didn't realized that my toes would get shorter. I was not satisfied before or after the surgery so the quote is so true. Over time I learned to love both my feet as they are and buy shoes that fit my feet.

    Monday, July 31, 2006

    Rain is good

    It's been so hot and humid lately that I was so glad when it was drizzling this morning. I slept by the an open window from 3 to 6 AM and really enjoyed the cool breeze. We took the kids to a new water park in the neighborhood and Primero had lots of fun. Secondo didn't enjoy it as much as the kiddy pool. Her latest habit is drinking pool and bath water. She knows how to say "up" now that she's 14.5 months old. She copies different things that we do such as hand motion, facial expression,and sound effects. She loves to blow rasberry on her elder sister's belly and made everyone laughs. She's independent and wants to feed her self during meal time. Because she's not so coordiated, the dining area is such a big mess after meal time.

    Thursday, July 27, 2006

    Long lost friend

    2 days ago, an old friend of mine T got a hold of me. We lost contact about 3 years ago. Since I moved to OC, I would send her Xmas card hoping to reconnect or asked people we both knew as of where she's at. The good news is that we got a hold of each other and we have so much catching up to do. I knew her kids when they were 2 and 3 years old. Now they are in college and all grown up.
    I plan to visit her soon :)

    Friday, July 21, 2006

    Cooling down with Strawberry Lemonade

    It's been hot and humid for the pass several weeks. I got to get this Strawberry Lemonade recipe from my friend Angie. It's delicious.




    Her chocolate/strawberries dips are also to die for.

    Thursday, July 20, 2006

    Getting lost

    With starting a new job, I'm not familiar with the surrounding so I go and explore the area during lunch. I found a gas station with reasonable price and a target. My next mission is to locate a bank. I refuses to buy gas in my neighborhood which is typically 15-20 cents above average. My journey to the gas station was fine but, I got lost on my way back to work. The street name changes from one city to another so I ended up at this strip mall and spotted Coffee bean. I got my coffee with direction and got back to work OK.
    I also found several a 24hrs fitness close by so the goal is to go to the gym twice a week and exercise for 30min/ session. They don't have any classess that I can take but my goal is to strengthen my abs.

    Tuesday, July 18, 2006

    Motivation

    I hope that with me posting more often now, it will inspire Bulleye and Fresno's hot to at least post once every month or so. One can always set goal to stay connected with the ones you care about. I understand that both of them are busy with their career so one paragraph once in a while would be a treat.

    I'm slowly easing back to the gym. Unfortunately my spin instructor Judy moved to Chicago so I go to the earlier weight lifting class instead of spinning. She battled cancer with Chemotherapy and she's doing great.

    The other reason is that I want to be stronger and able to lift and carry the kids around with ease as they get heavier all the time. Sorry to admit but my abs is not as strong as I would like them to be and after Sunday's lift, my back was really sore and uncomfortable. I also realized that my upper body is not in good shape so sculpting my body is good for me.

    Current goal is to hit the gym twice a week and take a walk once a week. There's a boot camp class on Saturday Morning, which is taught by a really tough instructor. For those who are in to reality show, she reminds me of Jillian, personal trainer of the red team of the reality show "The big looser". When I got tired and tried to cheat and she was on me and pushed me to my limit. It is pure suffering when I am taking the class and I am sore everywhere the day after. I plan to take this class this coming Saturday so I can burn up to 400 calories.

    Monday, July 17, 2006

    Secondo 14 months old

    I've started a new job last week. I'm in training for the 1st and 2nd week and I'll have a project I assume on the 3rd week. This company is closer to home compared to the old one. It's different being the new person on the block but I'll managed the change.
    Primero attended a birthday party on Saturday at a park. It was so hot and humid but it didn't bother the kids. They still jumped in the jumper, run around the park, having a great time. She hasn't seen some of her classmates for a month so they were happy to see each other. After the party we went to her cousin's house to play some more. By 8:30 PM she was yawning and had enough energy to lay down and watch cartoon.
    Secondo is walking and learning to talk. She has her own language that she says to people but no one can make sense of what she said. She uses mostly body language to get what she wants. She's able to say mommy and daddy accidentally but not to get our attention. The new word of the week was "Let's go" which came out as "Le go"


    PS
    I totally forgot that Secondo was 14 months old on Monday. She's very active and loves to play with Primero. She copies certain things that Primero does and they play well together until someone is hurt which is usually Secondo falling or bumping her head. Her latest thing is to get a thing and give it to someone. She mastered walking but refuses to wear shoes so we put socks on her and I continue to experiment with different type of shoes. She loves the out door and water. Her swimming lessons starts in August. Hubby worries about her getting too dark.

    Sunday, June 18, 2006

    It's been a while

    Just can't to find any free time to blog anymore. Primero graduated from Kindergarten last week. We video taped the ceremony but we didn't really had good seats. She's out of school but will start summer camp next week. She lost 4 bottom teeth and still has all her top fron teeth. Secondo started to walk on her own at 11 months. She was bitten by her day care friend on the arm last week.

    Sunday, April 30, 2006

    Secondo had Roseola

    This pass week Secondo had been sick. She had fever since Monday and we figured because her top teeth are coming in. By Wednesday, her fever reached its peak of 105F so I raced home from work, picked her up from the sitter and she seemed OK but very cranky and clingy. On Thursday she was tired and clingy so I stayed home with her. The fever went away but I noticed some rash on her neck and upper chest. By Friday night, the rash was all over her torso so we took her to urgent care again not knowing what's causing the breakout. There were other sick kids there but the wait wasn't too long. Dr said that she had the textbook case of Roseola which I've never heard of. It starts with fever and ends with rash. Thankfully she was fine. Primero said that going to urgent care at night gave her a strange feeling. She felt much better after we came home.
    Below is literature I found from kidhealth.org after goggling Roseola. I've included in the blog for others to recognize the symptoms because it could have gotten really serious and scary. We are fortunate that she didn't have any convulsion nor febrile seizure, Whew... Sigh...
    Her rash went away today but my poor baby is still fussy and demanding.

    "Roseola (also known as sixth disease, exanthem subitum, and roseola infantum) is a viral illness in young children, most commonly affecting those between the ages of 6 months and 2 years. It is typically marked by several days of high fever, followed by a distinctive rash just as the fever breaks.

    Two common and closely related viruses can cause roseola: human herpesvirus (HHV) type 6 and type 7. These two viruses belong to the same family as the better-known herpes simplex viruses (HSV), but HHV-6 and HHV-7 do not cause the cold sores and genital herpes infections that HSV can cause.

    Signs and Symptoms

    A child with roseola typically develops a mild upper respiratory illness, followed by a high fever (often over 103 degrees Fahrenheit, or 39.5 degrees Celsius) for up to a week. During this time, the child may appear fussy or irritable and may have a decreased appetite and swollen lymph nodes (glands) in the neck.

    The high fever often ends abruptly, and at about the same time a pinkish-red flat or raised rash appears on the child's trunk and spreads over the body. The rash's spots blanch (turn white) when you touch them, and individual spots may have a lighter "halo" around them. The rash usually spreads to the neck, face, arms, and legs.

    The fast-rising fever that comes with roseola triggers febrile seizures (convulsions caused by high fevers) in about 10% to 15% of young children. Signs of a febrile seizure include:
    unconsciousness 2 to 3 minutes of jerking or twitching in the arms, legs, or face loss of control of the bladder or bowels.

    Contagiousness
    Roseola is contagious and spreads through tiny drops of fluid from the nose and throat of infected people. These drops are expelled when the infected person talks, laughs, sneezes, or coughs. Then if other people breathe the drops in or touch them and then touch their own noses or mouths, they can become infected as well.

    The viruses that cause roseola do not appear to be spread by children while they are exhibiting symptoms of the illness. Instead, someone who has not yet developed symptoms often spreads the infection.

    Prevention
    There is no known way to prevent the spread of roseola. Because the infection usually affects young children but rarely adults, it is thought that about of roseola in childhood may provide some lasting immunity to the illness. Repeat cases of roseola may occur, but they are not common.

    Incubation
    The average incubation period is about 9 to 10 days after exposure to the virus.

    Duration
    The fever of roseola lasts from 3 to 7 days, followed by a rash lasting from hours to a few days.

    Professional Treatment
    To make a diagnosis, your child's doctor first will take a history and do a thorough physical examination. A diagnosis of roseola is often uncertain until the fever drops and the rash appears, so the doctor may order tests to make sure that the fever is not caused by another type of infection.

    The illness typically does not require professional treatment, and when it does, most treatment is aimed at reducing the high fever. Antibiotics cannot treat roseola because a virus, not a bacterium, causes it.

    Home Treatment
    Until the fever drops, you can help keep your child cool using a sponge or towel soaked in lukewarm water. Do not use ice, cold water, alcohol rubs, fans, or cold baths. Acetaminophen (such as Tylenol) or ibuprofen (such as Advil or Motrin) can help to reduce your child's fever. Avoid giving aspirin to a child who has a viral illness because the use of aspirin in such cases has been associated with the development of Reye syndrome, which can lead to liver failure and death.

    To prevent dehydration from the fever, encourage your child to drink clear fluids such as water with ice chips, children's electrolyte solutions, flat sodas like ginger ale or lemon-lime (stir room-temperature soda until the fizz disappears), or clear broth.

    When to Call Your Child's Doctor
    Call your child's doctor if your child is lethargic or not drinking or if you cannot keep your child's fever down. If your child has a seizure, seek emergency care immediately.

    Reviewed by: Wayne Ho, MD
    Date reviewed: November 2003
    Originally reviewed by: Joel Klein, MD

    Thursday, April 13, 2006

    Things

    Mom and Dad just got back from their trip. Primero is having her friend for a sleep over tonight. She's very excited. Secondo is almost 11 months now and is learning to stand on her own. She likes to eat everything that I've offered her so far. Hopefully it won't rain tomorrow.

    Wednesday, March 29, 2006

    Out of touch

    It's been so long since my last blog. I felt that all of us are blog less and less now days and don't really stay in touch as we've had intended when this all got started.
    My guess is bulleye is busy with his new Job, Hendog is busy smoking cigar with his wife and I'm eager to find some time to my self( other than going to the bath room).
    Secondo is 10.5 months now and she's very active and demanding.

    Wednesday, March 01, 2006

    Primero's new school

    Went and visited her elementary school recently and gotten the form for getting in the 1st grade. Can't believe she's going to be a 1st grader. I still remember the day that she was born in my arm with her long lashes.
    The enrolment package is quite extensive. I'll try to have hubby fill out the form. I also want to make an appointment to meet the principal of the school and understand his philosophy on education. This will be a new environment for her so some adjustment will take place. Apparently, some kids bring their personal apple laptop to school and do their homework on the computer. I hope it's not mandatory because I want her to learn to write and have nice penmanship and also learn to type.

    Thursday, February 23, 2006

    Bye Eric

    Went home last night and and Eric was dead at the bottom of the tank. On the bright side, he lasted 3 weeks longer than our 1st fish.
    P: "What should I get for my next pet?"
    Me: "How about nothing?"
    P:" I want a hamster or an iguana!"
    Me: "We'll wait until you're older so you can take care of it."
    Sigh..
    Both kids got baptised last Sunday by the way. It was supposed to be for Sister Inlaw's boy but she said may be we should get Secondo baptised too at the same time. It wasn't planned and apparently it has been bothering my inlaws that our kids were not. Brother inlaw's comment is " Now they can dye in peace that all the grandkids are baptised so I didn't resist.
    P: "What is the purpose of baptism?"
    Me: " The priest said is to take away your original sin.."
    P: " I don't have any sin !"
    Me: "Ask your dad, I don't know why.."
    P: " I thought mom knows everything..hm.."
    Me: " Like you, I don't know much about original sin"
    Hubby wasn't able to explain it either so hopefully it doesn't bother her that much.

    Wednesday, February 22, 2006

    Eric not doing well

    This morning I found Eric floating sideways. Hubby said that he isn't eating his food. We got him beta bite but he doesn't really like it. What am I suppose to do?
    Primero: "Is Eric dying? Is he going to be alive when I come home from school today?"
    Me: "He doesn't look healthy and he's not eating. May be we'll buy a different kind of food for him"
    Primero: " Can you talk to the man and Petco and ask him why Eric isn't eating and is dying?"
    Me: "I'll do that today."
    :(

    Saturday, February 18, 2006

    Meet Eric


    I tried but this is the best picture I took of Eric. It was hard to focus or I'm not good at taking pictures of fish. Hubby was laughing when he saw this picture.
    We are happy that he is still alive and well. He likes to hang out at the bottom of the tank and blow lots of bubbles when he's on the surface of the water.

    Monday, February 06, 2006

    Eric, new addition to the family

    We took Primero to the pet store yesterday and looked at the birds. She went in to this one small room that had 3 bird cages in it. It had Canary, Cockiteel etc. When she came out she said "It's stinky in there mom!" We talked her in to getting a fish instead so we got a purple beta fish. We learned that Beta is a good starting fish. Primero thought it was a girl but we informed her that all beta fish are male. She names him Eric. She's careful about feeding him so that he does not die due to overeating. She gives him 1-3 pellet/feeding. Hopefully it'll last 1 week.

    Tuesday, January 31, 2006

    Teacher of life

    They built a new 24hours fitness by our house last November so I've started spinning on Sunday mornings and get to know the instructor Judy pretty well. She is a great spin instructor and she really pushes everyone to the limit and emphasize on training in different zones.
    Last Sunday, she shared with us that she had to take 2 weeks off which is out of character for her so she shared something personal and shocking. At 40, she recently found out that she has breast cancer. The tumor was so aggressive that it grew from the size of a grape to a golf ball in 3 weeks. They took out the tumor ASAP and the next thing is chemotherapy. She's really optimistic and a real fighter. She promised that she'll come back in 2 weeks and teach even if she'll be just telling us what to do.
    The last song she played in class was "I run for life" by Melissa Etheridge. I got really choked up as I listened to the words to the song. Starting 1/30/06 she'll begin her war with cancer. I'll continue to spin and support her spirit.
    Get well Judy :)

    Monday, January 30, 2006

    Primero's plea for pet

    Primero has been presistently asking for a pet. Her latest attempt is to get a bird. She now has an imaginary parrot that pirches on her index finger and she gets very angry when I sit on it accidentally not knowing where the bird is. Now she's asking for a real bird/parrot that can flies around the house, talks and listens to her every command. Hubby and I told her that it's a lot of responsibility taking care of bird poops and we don't want bird pooping everywhere in the house or Secondo will eat it. Secondo puts everything in her mouth at this age. Primero said that it's OK, she can handle bird poops because they are so small compared to dog or cat poops. She's also under the impression that she'll be able to potty train the bird so that it'll poop on a kitty litter box that we'll have to get from Petco. We said that we're thinking about it to give her some hope. May be we'll go back to the gold fish again since we have everything but the fish and it's not hazardous for Secondo.
    Secondo is crawling now so she gets into corners of the house in a blink of an eye.
    Last night, Primero found a long string so she tied it on Secondo's body and told me "Mom, I got a pet now.. it's mei-mei.. She doesn't crawl when I asked her to yet."
    Secondo was sitting happily eating a platic coat hanger not realizing what's going on. The good thing is now if Primero is in the mood, she's able to play with Secondo for 5-10 min.

    Thursday, January 19, 2006

    8 Months Old

    A good friend of mine took this picture when Secondo was 7 months. He had this high resolution camera that took 5 pictures/second. We kinda skipped her 6 months milestone because the receptionist made an error on the appointment date and I didn't bother to fix it. It didn't hurt to be a month or so older for those shots. She's now 28 inches long and 18 lbs. The whole family went with her to the check up and Primero was concerned about her mei-mei(little sis) getting 3 shots so she did everything to distract her sister from feeling the pain. It worked. Secondo didn't cry that much and she was only fussy the night after the shot. Her two front teeth are coming out finally.

    Thursday, January 12, 2006

    Lunch swap

    Hubby took my lunch to work by mistake today. We usually make our own lunch via taking the left overs from the night before that was cooked by mom.
    Me: "You took my lunch this morning"
    Hubby:"What did you bring for lunch?"
    Me: "It'll be a pleasant surprise.."
    Hubby: "I hope it's not dumpling with seaweed"
    Those are the food he can't stand.
    Fortunately, I packed beef and chinese brocolli so he should be fine.
    Secondo's baby sitter is telling me that Secondo is taking toys away from her older toddler mate and making him cry. She can't really understand sharing so they'll just have to work it out somehow.
    I've been letting secondo chew on oranges in the hope that she'll get enough vitamin C and not get sick as often.
    I wanted to spin today but I pay so the class was packed.

    Tuesday, January 10, 2006

    Lack of updates

    Sorry about low posting activities.
    Balancing family, work and sleep has been the top priority.
    Secondo still wakes up in the middle of the night for one feeding. She's really interested in eating our food so mom made some home made kangi and she loves them. I also give her oranges and she chews on that while we have dinner.
    Primero still fells that she doesn't get enough attention from Mom so she acts like a baby to get attention. I hope she grows out of this phase soon.
    The transmission in our Odessey went out in December and it was quite costly to fix the transmission.
    I'l post some pictures on smugmug when I get some free time on my hand.