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.