Conjunctivitis what's your function

For the pass several days I've noticed that S has lots of mucus discharge from her eyes not only in the morning but through out the day. I thought may be she has some sort of strange cold so I talked to my co-worker sushi-man about it and he said that the discharge from the eye is one of the symptoms for Pink Eye. I did a quick research on the internet and he was right. Hubby is taking her to the pediatrician as we speak so hopefully we'll get it resolved so she doesn't have to suffer anymore. I hope I don't get it since I was helping her clean her eyes and didn't always wash my hands afterwards.

Hair Folklore

My hair has grown to the level where it's beyond ready for a cut. I kept procrastinating because a) I don't want to drive 40 min one way to get a hair cut by Lynn my Chinese hair dresser for over 3 years and b) It's time to take some risk and try some local hair dresser so that I don't have to drive 40 min every 6 weeks. I didn't get very far with plan b because my hair is so short that there's really no margin for error. Like a creature of habit, I made an appointment with Lynn and I took S with me to get the job done. Italics = Mandarin
Lynn:"Oh.. what a cute little girl. Such beautiful hair."
Me:"Thank you"
Lynn:"She has lots of hair for a four year old. Must take after your husband's hair since your hair is thin and fine"
Me:"You think? My husband did have thick hair when he was a child"
Lynn:"You shave her head when she was a new born!"
Me:"No, I did not. I don't believe in those old Chinese folklore"
Lynn:" Hey, don't under estimate the power of shaving the head of the new born. It works for both of my daughters. You see my hair, thin? My husband also thin hair. I shaved both of my girls' heads when they were new born and now they both have beautiful thick head of hair.
Me:"There's no need to shave them because the baby hair is designed to fall off on their own."
Lynn:"No. Shaving the head stimulate the fair follicles and the stimulation caused the hair to grow a fuller & thicker"
I changed the topic since I wasn't making any progress

Double charged

I get depressed when I'm paying household bills, the part of the American dream that is more nighmarish. Must spend less money from now on. I went over the credit card bills and I was surprised that I did not see credit for this workout outfit that didn't look so good in my own mirror. Those dressing room mirrors are so deceiving. Instead I was double charged instead. I went back to the store today to fixed the problem. The clerk said "Next time make sure it says credit instead of purchase on the top left corner" I said "Yes, next time I will pay closer attention to the receipt"
Here's a butterfly S drew for me :)

Butterfly by S

Purse-onal Preference

When my friend P & her husband G i.e. (P&G) visited in July, I gave her a hard time about her purse. I’ve known P for almost 20 years. Refer to exhibit A.
Me: “P, how long have you had that purse?”
P: “ It doesn’t matter. It’s still in good condition?” “ I don’t know why everyone is on my case about my purse, my sister, my mom and now you. There’s nothing wrong with it.”
Me: “ It looks hideous. It’s ready for retirement. What if I get you a new purse for your Bday?”
P: “No. I can’t find this style anymore”
G: “Don’t you think I’ve tried that before? Believe me, it won’t work”
P: “I’m not materialistic, it’s functional & I’m going with the acid wash look and check out the inside..it is still in great condition” Refer to exhibit B.
Me: “We are not in the 80’s anymore. Acid wash look is out.”
She was kind enough to let me take picture of her purse so that I can find a replacement for it. After thinking about it more and shopping around, I’ve decided not to get her a purse for her birthday and let her be P. If carrying exhibit A around town make her happy, let it be. It is selfish of me to force my view of what is aesthetically pleasing to me upon her. What do you think after seeing the evidence? Would you retire this poor purse?


Exhibit A

Exhibit B

Peachy day

Last night mom stayed over our house. She was in good spirit considering the events that had happened for the pass week or so. We checked out some pictures taken @ the SF wedding etc.. while hubby was laundring the sheets for the guest room (Thanks hub).
She made chow-mein so we had that with some left over curry chicken with rice. I forgot to make a veggie dish since we wanted to finish dinner quickly and take a walk to a local supermarket that had just opened. Our time together was very short. Next thing you know, it's bed time.
She also gave me lots of peaches which she had received from her Fresno in-laws. I brought them to work and shared them with my co-workers. Co-worker A (s/f/Japanese) said " This peach is so...good. The aroma of the peach reminds me of Japan." I'm glad that a peach was able to bring back such connection. Another co-worker C(m/f/East coast transplant) said " The peach was delicious. It tasted like the ones I had back East where we picked them ripe off the tree" I'm glad I was able to spread the peach joy around. They are huge. I've got to thank bulleye's wifey's parents next time I see them.

Teacher Mom

Mom has dedicated her career to caring and nurturing pre-school children while their parents are at work. In her career as a preschool teacher, she
-Wiped more than her fair share of runny noses
-Tied plenty of little shoelaces
-Singed an adequate amount of nursery rhymes & lullabies
-Wiped gallons of tears from boo-boos and good byes
-Read Abiyoyo hundreds of times.
-Created mountains of arts works for kids to show their parents and to decorate the classroom wall
-Recited the ABCs more than once a day
-And many more behind the scenes activities that no one see or appreciate her for

Here is a poem I found on the internet that sums it all up more eloquently.

Top Ten Reasons to Become a Preschool Teacher

1. Cute little children......cute little paycheck.
2. Confidence that you will never, ever forget to count to 10.
3. Attention span.......Do they have one?
4. Shoes that untie themselves.
5. Get to sing your favorite songs; over and over, and over.
6. With all this bending, who needs aerobics?
7. Play, play, play.
8. Classroom art displayed in kitchen "galleries".
9. Small hands......LARGE crayons.
10. You alone make little ones count.

~author unknown

All under control

After generating a list, things seems more managable. I was so flustered that I didn't want to workout but I went so that I can see my fellow spinners. One die hard spinner was spinning with one foot on a cast. That's dedication. I was happy to get my favorite bike. I attempted to keep heart rate ~160 bpm by increasing the resistance but I felt pain on both knees after 10 min or so. I closed my eyes, imagined I was riding in a pack of cyclist on Maui. I visualized the number 500 during class and I was there:)
Workout log
Time: 60 min
Ave heart rate:151 b/m
Cal: 500.

There's a get together at work on Thursday with a friend/ex co-worker. On one hand, I would love to catch up with her and see her how she's doing. On the other hand, I want to spin.

To do list for my sanity

Today is one of those days where too many things are going on and I find writing everything down on a “To do list“ helps keep me from pulling my hair out. One of the short essays from this book titled “Simple Abundance” by Sarah Ban Breathnach, provides reasons behind why it works. The book says that

"A friend of mine has a theory that it’s not so much all we actually have to do in any one week that kills us, it’s thinking about all we have to do.”

“The subversive beauty of a to do list is that once a task is committed to a list, whether it be errands or personal, you don’t have to give it another conscious thought because the left side of your brain -the location of logic-loves lists. It goes on automatic pilot when making lists, sorting and shifting until a schedule appeared that can accommodate everything. If you ever hope to get it done, write it down.”

I'm only human

At this moment, my patient is at the level where I’m ready to fly off the handle if I have to repeat the same process for the 3rd time. Work has this really non-user friendly data base that gives an error message that is so vague that one can not pin point the error to fix the error. On top of that, the software does not let you save the work until the error is resolved. I was told that the solution is basically “go back to square one.” That does not go well with me when I already invested 30-45 min. entering it the 1st time. I don't like this game.
Serenity now…ohm……
I wonder if yoga master bitches about life? They are only human too.

Jelly fish Monday

Here's one of the artworks S brought home from school, the two of us (Yellow is me), floating in the sea.

Jelly fish by S

Weekend round up

Saturday morning, we started out with lots of cleaning. It's amazing how much dust was around the house if I look for them. S was helping with dusting. She's proud when she's able to collect lots of dirt on her rag. She also enjoyed sweeping the floor so she got that duty too. Hubby was outside, mowing the lawn, cleaning the patio furniture and trimming the trees. I had the pleasure of stabbing marinated chicken cube on the stick and that would have been more fun with some help. At around 5: 15 PM, hubby's brother M's family arrived. They are the most punctual ones out of his side of the family so sister-inlaw S got busy prepping the shrimp veggie kabob. Everyone else were more than fashionably late like always and I've learned to live with it.
One issue I have with outdoor dining are the flies. They decided to join the party and some of us ate inside. Over all we had fun eating, puzzle fighting and getting together. Half an hour after everyone left, sister inlaw Q called and said "Did you call Dad's cell?"
Me:"No, not us. What number did the caller ID show?"
Q:"He doesn't have one. Oh. by the way, Dad thinks that he left his wallet on you couch. Can you check?"
Me too exhausted to go down stairs so started yelling from upstairs: "Hub, can you check the couch and see if you can find Dad's wallet?"
Hub: "What?"
Me to Q: "I'll call you back later"
Me to Hub: "Dad thinks he left his wallet on the couch"
Hub looked on the couch: "It's not there. Let me look out side the house." He did his investigation and I heard hubby called dad inlaw in his native tongue so I couldn't eavesdrop on the conversation. When hub finally came upstairs.
Me to hub: "Did you find the wallet?"
Hub: "No. Dad left it home."
We didn't go to bed until 12 AM.


Mango cake

Stir-fry Gai-lan

Center: Vietnamese rice noodles, bologna with fish sauce. Upper right corner: Cajun shrimp & veggie shish kabob.

Yummy chicken satay. I used heavy duty skewer and it worked out great.

Sam I am

Portrait of Sam by S

Simpsons

Which Simpsons character are you? I'm Krusty the clown.

Gala Planning

Planning a party for 9 people can be a bit stressful. Initially, my plan was to have a nice Vietnamese cuisine so I can show hubby's family that he married a great chef. I went to Fineliving and checked out some recipes. After looking at the ingredients, the little voice in my head was sending warning signals saying "Hmm.. never cook this before, don't even know how it'll taste". Will test drive the recipes 1st with hubby. Plan B is something I can do in my sleep. Decided to go with Chicken Satay Indonesian style. I might add Thai Stirfry shrimp since brother inlaw M doesn't eat chicken.

Happy Birthday Hub

Today is hubby's Bday, we had a mini celebration tonight. We had pineapple fried rice with salmon. It was delicious. We'll have the real party this weekend. That means, 8 people will be coming to our house. Lots of cleaning, shopping and cooking to be done before Saturday. If I'm not too overwhelm, I'll take picture of the food we're planning to have to practice posting pictures.
Spinning log
Time: 56 min
Ave. HR: 154 b/m
In Zone: 54 min
Burn: 468 cal
It was a full class today. E lucked out that I saved her a bike. The instructor said that if we want to have a bike for sure we'll have to pay again. Hopefully all the new comers will quit in a week or so.

Capture the moment

Ocean Scene 

Unexpected news

Last night, as I was having dinner, one of my good friend, S called. Her mom just passed away a week or so. Over the phone, S sounded calm and together. I never know what to say other than I'm sad that she lost her mom. When we saw Spiderman 2 together, S said that her mom was getting stronger. (Mrs. S had a heart attack almost a year ago)
The point of today's blog is to inform my fellow female or male who cares about their mom, aunts and friend that the
signs of heart attack for women are not exactly the same as men. Another scary statistics is that we, women don't get help right a way. S's mom symptoms were heartburn, and difficulty sleeping. Like the stats, she didn't go to the Dr. until 3 or 4 days after she felt the discomfort. If she had, I would not be bloggin about this topic today.
Workout log
Time: 57 min
Ave heart rate: 152 b/m
Cal: 461
Can't seem to hit 500 lately deep sigh...

Lychee down memory lane

I went to 99 Ranch Supermarket (99) over the weekend and noticed that Lychee is now down to $1.99/lb from $5.99/lb two months ago. Inventory must be building up which put price pressure on the stock. Supermarket, stock market, what's the difference? It's amazing how a fruit can bring me back so many fun filled childhood memories. The aroma, the texture and the taste of Lychee bring me back to those summer vacations back in Taiwan when I was 10 or 11 years old. Our family stayed with the Sun family. Adults were busy playing MJ so the children, we entertained ourselves by playing cards and pretend to be the G-Force, an anime TV show that I watched religiously as a kid besides Three's companies. I recalled eating bouquets of Lychees in Taiwan resulting in serious bloody nose and play G-Force with Bulleye, Oliver, & Ellen. When Bulleye didn't get his ways, he used to charge us with his head pretending he was a rhinoceros. Now days, I get to enjoy Lychee from Taiwan and not even have to fly for 13 hours. We are all adults now and live our separate life in different part of the world.
I also bought Taiwan yellow watermelon and S was having a great time eating it. She was fascinated that the watermelon wasn't red.
Another fond memory I have was the breakfast trip. Every summer morning; Oliver and I (we were the eldest) would walk to the local bakery to get freshly baked polo-bao (Pineapple coated bread) and fan-tuan (Rice roll made with sweet rice filled with Chinese donut and pork sung filling) for everyone. Needless to say, I bought some of those too from 99 and shared them with the family. S likes the bread but mostly the sweet coating on top. Hubby thinks the rice roll is tasty and he said, "It's just like sushi with out the raw fish"
Sigh.. the good old days...and why is it all food related?

Yoga

I took a yoga class today after a very long sabbatical. I felt good reconnecting with my body's capabilities and limitation. The class was thought by a male teacher who looks like an average guy off the street. I guess I was expecting some one more exotic and flexible. He's a good teacher and I would take his class again. I learned a breathing technique that I will practice when I'm stuck in traffic.

Calming breath

1. Inhale through right nostril for 5 counts. Hold for 5 counts. Exhale through the left nostril for 8 counts


2. Repeat step 1 with left nostril and back to right nostril

I was having some difficult at first but then I got over the fact that right and left lungs are connected somehow. He recommends this type of breathing when you are overwhelmed with the world. He also talked about how the yoga class is all about the journey not the end point. Something to think about in the grander scale of things.
This Alternative nostril breathingsite provides more details.

Lesson learned from Mori

One of the discussion during last weekend's Fresno wedding receptions with Mori (future sister in-law to the groom) was the following:
Mori:"Do you know the lyrics to the diarrhea song?"
Me:"No..Never heard of the song"
Mori: Surprised. "Really.. I thought everyone who has kids would know that song"
Me:"hmm. Can you sing a bit of it" Now I'm curious
Mori: "Diarrhea, diarrhea, cha. cha. cha... diarrhea, diarrhea, cha. cha. cha..."
Me:"No. Doesn't ring a bell but sounds like a funny song"

I googled the song today and indeed there's such a song. I found the lyrics and it's pretty funny. Still searching for the melody.

Diarrhea Song
Diarrhea, cha-cha-cha, diarrhea, cha-cha-cha.
Running on to first and your pants're about to burst.
Diarrhea, cha-cha-cha, diarrhea, cha-cha-cha.
Running on to second and you need a disinfectant.
Diarrhea, cha-cha-cha, diarrhea, cha-cha-cha.
Running on to third and you let a greasy turd.
Diarrhea, cha-cha-cha, diarrhea, cha-cha-cha.
Running on to home, and your pants're about to foam.