A Mom's Insanity

Meet Tiny the Hamster

2008-07-11T20:21:00.000-07:00

How time flies

2008-06-10T01:02:00.000-07:00

Happy 8th Birthday John

10 Favorite Drinks

2008-03-04T16:15:00.000-08:00

1. Coffee
2. White Chocolate Mocha
3. Water
4. Ice Tea/Ice Green Tea
5. Boba Milk Tea
6. White Wine
7. Hot Tea
8. Diet Coke (I can't even remember the last time I had it, it has been so long.)
9. 1% Milk
10. Mango Mojito

Senior Abuse?

2008-02-29T21:21:00.000-08:00

As I was leaving Target the other day, I stopped for a lady to cross from the front door to the parking lot. She stopped half way, I was ready to lay the horn on her, then I saw an old lady (her Mom?) walking out the door, pushing a cart load of stuff. She was probably 4'8", 5' the most, looked like in her 70s. The cart was filled up to as tall as she was. The woman just stood in the middle of the road watching the old lady pushing the cart toward her, very slow of course, it must be very heavy for her.

Luckily for the lady, their car was the first one in the row. The daughter (I assumed) opened the door and just went to sit in the driver seat while her Mom put everything away in the truck!

I sat there with my mouth open, totally shocked.

Seriously WTF? Are you kidding me here??? How disrespectful and rude could you be? I felt very sad for the old lady.

Words from the mouth of a three-year old!

2008-02-07T18:39:00.000-08:00

Just now Amber was putting stickers somewhere, most likely somewhere she shouldn't be putting stickers on. Then I heard her saying, in the saddest voice:"I broke my hand. I can't do this anymore."

Happy Chinese New Year.

I am proud

2008-02-03T21:04:00.000-08:00

Last week JE's school was selling snow balls to raise money? I am still not too sure. Basically it was made of cotton balls, whichever class can fill up their class jar will win a prize. It costs 50 cents each. Being the cheap-ass, I was giving JE 50 cents a day. On Friday, which was the last day, he dug out $10 out of his wallet and used all to buy snow balls. I was pretty amazed. I am sure the prize incentive helped, but still... He rather gave the money to school instead of buying a new toy.

Wooohoooo

2008-02-03T12:10:00.000-08:00

I just finished doing our tax. We are getting a refund as usual. I have been using Turbotax online for a few years now. It is so easy to do, especially you do not have a business, just the usual like mortgage, property tax and such.

On a different note, Amber started her gymnasium class a couple of weeks ago. She goes there every Tuesday afternoon. Well last Tuesday, her underwear was stuck, so she decided to take off her pants and underwear in the class! I was modified. Luckily we were on one side of the room, I think only one parent saw it.

Vegas Baby!

2007-12-23T23:20:00.000-08:00

We just got back from a three-day trip in Vegas. We went without kids this time, so we were able to watch La Reve and Zumanity, both were awesome shows. And outlet-shopping with having someone constantly nagging how bored they were. We also spent the best ten minutes at The Gun Store firing up automatic machine guns. It was quite an experience!

Tomorrow we are going to my aunt and uncle for the annual Christmas gathering. They changed it to breakfast this year, so the kids can play with more daylight. Personally I hate the idea, not to mention John can't go since he still has work.

Happy Thanksgiving

2007-11-22T23:19:00.000-08:00

We had our usual gathering at my parents. This year I did all the cooking except the turkey. Everyone raved about my food, especially my Pumpkin and Sausage soup.

I think that was enough cooking to last until the end of the year.

On the bad news part, my Uncle does not look good. He has deteriorated so much in the last week. *sigh* Most of the out of the states relatives are flying in next week to see him, maybe for the last time.

...

2007-11-15T15:41:00.001-08:00

One of my Uncles (He is my Dad's oldest brother) has stage four stomach cancer. He was in a hospital earlier, last week he was released to a nursing home. My cousin was looking for someone to drive my Aunt to see him on weekdays. I volunteered myself, since I am the only stay-at-home person in the family. The time I have to pick her up and drive her back is in the middle of the day, which means I pretty much can't do anything else. I am not complaining, but just didn't realize simply driving back and forth, even though the distance is short, can be so much work.

I am so tired by the time I get home from picking up my son, I just want to sleep. Laundries are piling up; we have been eating take-outs every night. But it is the least I can do to help out.

I am not. Really!?

2007-11-11T22:13:00.000-08:00

I am not a violent person, but today something happened in a restaurant. I had a fight with the world's biggest asshole and most arrogant SOB. I never thought I would use violence onto anyone, but I seriously wanted to punch him in the face. I am still sending out evil thoughts onto him, wherever he is.

It must be scarier

2007-11-01T10:25:00.001-07:00

This morning around 6, Amber woke up screaming "Spider on my neck! Spider on my neck!" I had to hush her and kept telling her that "Mommy got the spider off". She finally calmed down and I took her into our bed. (John has left for work by then.) She laid there, kept saying, or more to reassure herself that Mommy got the spider and saved her, she felt back to sleep.

Poor Bunny, having spider nightmare, she didn't even have a single candy after we got home from trick or treat. She might end up like her Aunty Kim and forever has a fear for spiders.

Trick or Treat

2007-10-31T21:36:00.000-07:00

I love scary movies

2007-10-30T10:25:00.001-07:00

Bold those you’ve seen.

Italicize movies you have started but couldn’t finish.
Add an asterisk* to those you have watched more than once.
Underline those on your To Watch list.

The Shining* - I watched it so many times, it still freaks me. Especially the part when the boy was walking in the hotel corridor by himself.
The Exorcist* - It was a good scary movie. But not scary to me.
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre* - Nope.
The Silence of the Lambs* - The book is more scarier. Still a good movie.
Jaws
Halloween* - I saw every single Halloween movies. The worst was the out of space one, as in a bad movie. Lots of blood, lots of chopping. Not scary.
Psycho* - It was scary when I watched the first time, but not that scary decades later.
Seven* - This is one of my all-time favorite movies.
Rosemary’s Baby - Not that scary to start with.
Poltergeist - I think I saw it, can't remember.
A Nightmare on Elm Street* - I saw every single Elm Street movies. In a way I guess they were scary that someone could kill you in your dreams.
Friday the 13th*
The Thing
The Evil Dead* - It was more amusing than scary.
Carrie - Whatever
Night of the Living Dead* - Zombies, not scary.
The Omen (1976) - It was one of the first scary movies I have seen. It has imprinted into my mind.
An American Werewolf in London - Not scary.
Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer - Who?
The Hitcher - Not interested.
Lost Highway - Didn't like it.
The Blair Witch Project - Didn't like it. All those camera bouncing around made me motion sick. And I didn't get it, probably due to the fact I had to cover my eyes the whole time so I would not throw up.
Pet Cemetery* - Freaky
Saw - Watched Saw I and II and plan to the rest. The scariest part of all the Saws was when the girl was pushed into a pit full of needles to search the cure. Eeekkkk.
The Ring - It freaked me out!
Scream* - Not scary.

Ok here are some that are not on the list that I think are scary.

28 days later
It
The Grudge
Cujo

Neglect

2007-10-28T21:38:00.000-07:00

I know, I know. I have not posted anything since forever, just was not in the mood it lately. In light of coming up halloween, which is one of my favorite holidays. I have decided to come back, for now at least. And Xinh tagged me to do a meme.

This afternoon JE got invited to a halloween party at one of his friends' place. I decided to bake a halloween cake. It was my first time. I think it turned out rather well.

While JE was at the party, John and I headed out to Pasadena to meet up some friends for lunch. We had a great time. How could we not when "dirty" jokes were throwing around?

Anyway, here is the meme that Xinh tagged me. She is such a meanie.

Eight Random Things About Me:
1. I was really good with math in high school. I was tutoring other students in grade 11 and 12 when I was a sophomore. I know, I was such a geek. I got paid for it of course.
2. I worked in a Japanese restaurant when I was a senior in high school. That was how it all started with my love for Japanese food.
3. I met my husband over the internet. We are going strong approaching ten years.
4. I never gambled once whenever I was in Vegas. Not even the slot machine.
5. Strangely I gambled when we went on the cruises.
6. Before I got married, I told myself I would never name my son John. But for circumstance beyond my control (aka family tradition), our son is named John.
7. I have perfect eye sights. Even after years of ~~abuse~~working in front of the computers.
8. I had an appendicitis when I was 14.

I am tagging Em, because she hasn't updated her blog for a while either. But anyone is welcome to do it as well.

Who woud have thought?

2007-09-22T14:42:00.000-07:00

We have been living in our current house for almost four years now. All that time we never knew that within ten minutes, there is a drive-in theater near by! We headed out there last night to watch "The Bourne Ultimatum". We brought snacks and drinks. Even though there were long lines of cars to get in, but it was not crowded at all due to that there were four screens showing different movies. In fact if you finish what you are watching or get bored, you can drive around to watch something else. But we only watched one movie,. Good thing too, we made home just in time for the rain to pour down.

The quality of the photo was not that good. But I think you can make out the big screen and get the idea.

Back to School

2007-09-05T09:51:00.000-07:00

First day of school, and shall we say it was quite a disaster. We were LATE!

I blame on jet-lagging. I had about two and half hours of sleeps ~~last night~~this morning. It was a wonder I actually was able to drag my tired ass out of bed.

Right now, I would like nothing but lie down and sleep. But I must resist or I will never get over the jet-lag.

Australia Trip

2007-09-03T22:16:00.000-07:00

First of all you think our gas price is bad, wait until you go to Australia!

No, it is not $119/gallon. It is $1.19/liter, which comes to about $5/gallon.

Anyway, here are a couple of pictures of Melbourne.

Flinder Street Station

Melbourne Aquarium

A pre-wedding photo of John and his Mum

We are back

2007-09-03T12:19:00.000-07:00

We had a really great time in the land down under. Mum's wedding went really well. Will write more and post photos. I have bags to unpack and laundries to do, but those can wait. I am seriously jet-lagged and very very hot.

And apparently I missed an earthquake yesterday.

Almost outta door

2007-08-19T14:17:00.000-07:00

In a few hours we will be on our way to LAX to Australia. I am very excited, but also very anxious. I always get very anxious before a trip, big or small. But I have to say I am glad I am escaping this 100 degree into some cool weather.

Can't wait!

Ants Invasion

2007-08-18T21:27:00.000-07:00

Does your house have ants or just mine?

Every summer there are always ants coming and going in our house. If we are not careful and leave food out on the counter just a little too long, it would be covered in ants, totally gross. They could be found in the tub too. Was it because they were thirsty? One year they even invaded the Pirate Ship birthday cake that I spent hours making for JE.

This summer we thought we have escaped the ants, they have not bothered us at all. We have been so careful, never leaving any food out, always clean out dishes right away. I was ready to celebrate, until this week.

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

I am done

2007-08-16T15:55:00.000-07:00

We are going away for two weeks soon. I am done with packing except toletries. I am pretty proud of myself, between the four of us, we only have two luggages, rest are all things that my mother-in-law asked me to buy and wedding stuffs.

On the other hand, I feel like I still have million things I need to do before we leave.

I have been playing Animal Crossing on DS. I am so addicted to the game. You should all be happy to know that I have paid off my mortgage, in the game that is.

DAMN IT!

2007-08-11T11:53:00.000-07:00

A very good friend is in ICU. Thought she had surgery and everything should be fine, but now...

Worst of all can't find out what's going on and visit, since we are not related to her.

Pizzeria Mozza

2007-08-10T14:39:00.000-07:00

This is not exactly a food blog and I don't usually talk about the restaurants I go to, but I have to make an exception for Mozza. Reservation is one month in advance, unless you want to try your luck and wait for a table or a backless bar stool, but I read enough good reviews about it on yelp and chowhound and willing to wait a month to give it a try.

John and I went there for lunch today. Although our reservation was for noon, the place didn't open until shortly after. The deco inside is very similar to what Mario Batali has on his food network show. It has a very warm, rich, tuscany feel. The place was fairly empty around the tables, but that soon changed when we were looking over the menu. I have read plenty reviews to know what to try for our first time. We started with a Nancy's chop salad and a Pepper and Tuna. The salad was good, but a little bit too vinegary for me, but the Pepper and Tuna was excellent. I would have never thought those two combinations could be put together and tasted good. For pizza, we got a squash blossoms, burrata & tomato, and a salame gentile, mozzarella, tomato & fresno chiles to share. Both pizzas were too good to describe with words. The salame one was a bit too spicy for me with the chiles on it.

We were really stuffed. Next time we will just get one pizza and save room for dessert. Even though we have to drive to West Hollywood, we might still make it a quarterly experience. At least it has some great shopping spots around there.

Whose great idea was it?

2007-08-10T09:58:00.001-07:00

Don't feel like blogging much lately. I blame the heat. Went to Knotts Berry Farm two days ago. Great idea to go there after four in the afternoon; less heat, less crowd, not to mention the half price deal.

And we are off to Pizzeria Mozza in a few minutes, so I will leave you with this.

Too tired to think of a title

2007-07-27T20:41:00.000-07:00

Just got back from OC fair. Geez, we spent almost eight hours there! It was a really good day to go, didn't feel that hot either. The kids had loads of fun and I had loads of food.

How many more years do I have to endure this?

2007-07-24T23:01:00.000-07:00

Today was such a bad day. Constant fighting over everything and anything between my two kids. It started after A. got up from her nap. It drove me nuts!

...

2007-07-23T09:41:00.000-07:00

I only read a few chapters last night and got really tired around midnight. But John woke me up about an hour and half later throwing up in the bathroom. Couldn't go back to sleep after that. I started reading again. And didn't stop until God knows when.

Now I am paying for it.

Harry Potter Weekend

2007-07-22T22:41:00.000-07:00

Saturday was running errands, didn't get home until 3 in the afternoon. Right away sent John to wait for the mailman. He didn't have to wait at all. When he got to the box, the mailman was there. He got two boxes from him, one for me and one for our neighbor. I wonder what was in it? I could hear the neighbor's scream of delight inside of our house when John gave her the book. Surprisingly I didn't start reading until night time. Whatever I have read so far I am liking it. I think I felt asleep reading around 3am.

Had to drag my ass outta bed on Sunday to watch "Order of Phoenix" with a friend and John. It was a bit boring in the beginning, still it was a good movie. Although it is my least favorite of all the Harry Potters.

Potty training sucess

2007-07-20T00:09:00.000-07:00

Amber is potty trained. Yay! Joy! She has been for a while now. What a relieve!

Since my last bitching section, I decided to make her go at least once per hour. If she did her business, great; if not, that was fine too. I did that for two weeks, obviously my persistent paid off. If nothing else, it sure saves lots of diaper money, which means more trips to Starbucks for me.

Off to bed now. Took the kids to circus tonight, or was it last night? JE felt asleep during intermission, but our daughter stayed awake the whole time, not even during the trip home. I blamed the cotton candy.

A day in downtown

2007-07-15T17:36:00.000-07:00

Every other Friday, John is off work. That was the case for the past Friday. We decided to make it a day in downtown LA.

We took train, then dash to have breakfast at the Pantry. At 10:30 in the morning there was actually a line out the door. But we didn't have to wait long to get seated. The food was plenty and as yummy as I remembered, which the last time I was there was about ten years ago. JE enjoyed it too and ate everything on his plate.

After breakfast, we took another dash and headed out to California Science Center. It was our original plan, but when the dash dropped us off in front of Natural History Museum, JE decided he wanted to go there instead. We have a membership, so money was not lost on admission. We saw dinosaurs, mammals, displays from the movie Night at the Museum, and butterflies.

When all were seen, we headed out to Philippes for some french dip sandwich. Oh my God! I was so disappointed, the sandwich sucked so badly. Cole's is so much better and bigger, unfortunately it is closed for remodeling. At least I know now. Needless to say I left very angry and unsatisfied. We did end up having some mochi afterwards, so it made up a bit.

It was a pretty good day spent with family and not to mention the gas and parking we saved.

John got a notice for jury duty, it happens to be around the time we are in Australia. He had to call back and reschedule. He is actually excited about it. As for me, long ago I have checked that I have small ones to take care of at home, I have not got a notice for years.

DAMN IT!

2007-07-05T14:50:00.000-07:00

I lost my phone. Good thing it is insured. Still some a-hole picked it up and used some minutes yesterday.

Almost over

2007-07-04T22:34:00.001-07:00

Our neighbor finally stopped shooting fireworks. It has been going on for the last hour. So annoying! I love fireworks, but not if it was that close to our window.

Anyway, had a good day today. John and JE went to see Transformer this morning, while Mom and I shopped for gifts for our Oz trip in August. Some crazy sales were happening today. JE really enjoyed the movie, and I just took him to see Ratatouille on Monday. I guess this summer is going to all about watching movies. I personally really liked Ratatouille, except the part about all the rats cooking. That grossed me out a little bit.

Tonight John also took JE to a Dodgers' game. It had fireworks after the game. I think they are still stuck in the parking lot.

Dance, dance

2007-06-26T22:03:00.000-07:00

A while back I signed us up for a ballroom dance class in our local community class, us meaning husband and I. Tonight was the first class, we were learning Waltz. Even though I learned when I was fourteen or fifteen, it was still very very hard, mostly needed to get coordinated with John. In the beginning, he kept stepping on my left foot. But I think by the end of the class, we were getting the hang of it

It was actually a very good one-hour work-out. We had loads of fun. Now I need a foot massage, not used to dance in heals.

Bulletin Board III

2007-06-17T22:30:00.000-07:00

- We finally got DVR from our cable company on Friday. I am loving it!
- I have already recorded a butch of shows, just hope I will have time to watch them.
- How did I live without it before?
- Had Father's day breakfast with parents' on Saturday morning.
- Went outlet shopping with John afterwards.
- Played "Ghost Squad" at D&B with him after three attempts on three machines. (Ok, I admit. I enjoyed it. Though my arms hurt. Those guns are heavy.)
- Bought some items for mother-in-law, kids, and myself. John got a new cell phone. I guess it was his father's day gift.
- Though we have long stopped giving each other gifts on mother's, father's, and v-day.
- Went swimming at parents' pool this afternoon.
- More like John and the kids swam.
- Amber finally came around. She even jumped into the pool a few times.
- I think it was a weekend well spent.
- Tomorrow get to sleep in a little since there will be no school. :)
- Have to think of ways to entertain the boy. Such as take him to Natural History Museum.

School is almost over! Sort of...

2007-06-08T20:58:00.000-07:00

Only one week of school left for JE. Technically only four days, since last two days are half days. Part of me is very happy about it, knowing I don't have to get up early driving him to school; on the other hand, it will only last a week, then he will have summer school/camp. What? You think I am that crazy to have him home everyday, telling me he is bored every second for a whole summer?

On Sunday he is turning seven!! He keeps telling me he will be in second grade after summer. He is growing up too fast.

Sometime in August we are flying to Australia for my MIL's wedding. We are also dragging my parents there too. JE has been there twice already, but this year is the first year he actually understands where he is going and he is very excited about it. All I am hoping is to survive the 14-hour plane ride with Amber.

2007-05-28T17:37:00.001-07:00

We just came back from S.F. for a four-day trip. So tired...

Crazy weekend

2007-05-18T18:09:00.000-07:00

We are going to have a busy weekend ahead of us. John is taking JE for his end of year boy scout camping tomorrow. He had a t-ball game in the morning, but he hurt his knees this week at school, he will has to pass tomorrow's game. On Sunday, two kids in JE's class and a friend of ours are having birthday parties. JE can only go to two of them. In the middle of two parties, he is going to an award ceremony for his piano annual exam that he had a few weeks ago.

All I can say is that I am glad we finally got a second car last year. It will be insane without it. Did I also mention that I signed up ballet class for our daughter, on a Saturday morning none-the-less? I must be on crack when I did that.

At least I maintained my cool

2007-05-11T20:50:00.000-07:00

The day before as I was putting clothes in the dryer, I heard my daughter calling out help. I went into the dinning room, saw her stuck between the bottom bar of back of the chair. I tried to move her forward and back, but couldn't get her unstuck.

I decided to screw it and ruin the chair. I was sawing away the bar and calling John the same time (on speaker). But he hung up on me and called 911 for me. Within one minute, I got a call from the emergency service and heard sirens blasting around the house. The polices, firemen, and paramedics showed up. The police ended up cutting the cushion part of chair and freed her. There was no way I could do that. I cut myself while cutting bread, I would not trust myself with a knife that close to my daughter's face.

She stopped crying when help arrived. She was totally fine afterwards. But I was a bit traumatized after that.

You know what is really funny? She pooped while being stuck in the chair. Good thing I changed her before the rescue party arrived.

PS: Everyone that I have told about this incident all asked me if I have taken a picture of my daughter while being trapped in the chair, my MIL included. You are all butch of sadist. :) But secretly I did wish I have done it. It will be very good blackmail material when her boyfriend comes to see us for the first time. But you know, like, I couldn't really do it with the rescue crews there. They probably would have called child service on me.

Damn!

2007-05-08T23:26:00.000-07:00

There is a huge fire going on at Griffith Park, it is about 30 minutes away from our home. I can smell the smoke, even though all the windows and doors are closed.

2007-05-02T10:16:00.000-07:00

PS: Why oh why did I sign up to make brownies for my kid's school open house tonight?

hmm ribs

2007-05-02T10:00:00.000-07:00

The past Saturday we went to annual work picnic for my husband's. It was also a March of Dime walk. John has always participated in it until this year, one year he even got second place for raising money.

We had lots of fun, especially the kids. There were tons of food, tons of games, the highlight was near the end that for $5/two pies (the money goes to March of Dimes), you got to throw pies full of whip cream to the two big bosses.

Silence is golden

2007-04-30T16:36:00.000-07:00

Nine years

2007-04-25T16:40:00.000-07:00

Happy Anniversary to us. Look at my dress, my mother-in-law made for me, pretty amazing huh? We are celebrating in the most unromantic fashion by doing nothing, at least nothing today.

potty training sucks

2007-04-20T20:27:00.000-07:00

I do not remember having this much trouble with JE. He was basically good to go in a week. Whoever said girls are easier were full of you know what.

Home sweet home

2007-04-08T14:40:00.000-07:00

We are back. As I am sitting here typing away, I feel like the place is still rocking back and forth like I am on the ship.

We went to the Mexico Rivieria; a week without cell phone, internet, and lots of great food, I could do without the whining and nagging also. We had a blast none the less and a huge bar bill to prove it ;). I thought I would miss going online, and a couple of times I was temped to get on too, but I resisted, and mostly didn't feel like paying the outrageous dollar to get online.

After all the fun, unpacking is the worst and not to mention loads of laundries to be done. I almost don't want to unpack since we are going away in a few months anyway.

When the rocking is gone, I will post some photos.

PS: If you want to see photos, you can either go to flickr or John's blog

2007-03-29T18:43:00.000-07:00

In two days, we will be spending a week on this ship. I can not wait!

Smart boy

2007-03-21T16:29:00.000-07:00

Part of JE's homework, usually on Monday is to make sentences with the words of week. One of the words for this week is "always". He made the following sentence: My Mom is always right. HAHAH. That is my boy, and you better remember it.

Guess what else I did last night? I actually voted for American Idol. I never even watched much until this season and I voted for the first time. The shame!

Food for Thoughts

2007-03-12T17:44:00.000-07:00

Me: How can you think when you just sit there and eat?

JE (my son): I need brain food.

Mobile

2007-03-06T13:53:00.000-08:00

Today was the first day I ventured out on my own after a month cooped indoor. On the way to drop off JE at school, I could not help but admire how beautiful the weather was, especially at eight in the morning, when the heat has not come down yet. I also could not believe how expensive the gas is. I must be out of touch.

I still can not do too much, especially heavy lifting. At least I am able to get around by myself. It felt so good to finally be able to get out the house.

Sappy

2007-02-13T12:09:00.000-08:00

this one is going to be sappy, so if you dont want to be grossed out, you can turn away now.

first thanks for all the good wishes, and sorry about the small letters and all the errors, very hard to type when the laptop is on the side instead of in front of me.

as you know by now i had surgery a week ago, and no it wasnt on my bum. you would think life will be great that all i do is being a couch potato, but too much of a good thing isnt that great, not to mention i have to sleep in an angle instead of lying down flat. my bum and my back hurt so badly, where i had the surgery actually dose not hurt that much compared to my back.

john has been working from home and waiting on me hand and foot. the man is so fantastic at taking care of me, our kids. and the house. i dont realize i have been under-appreciate him until got thrown into our current situation.

and thank goodness i am finally allowed to take showers again starting tomorrow. hah.

Update

2007-02-10T11:02:00.000-08:00

Last Friday (Feb. 2) Liz had surgery. She has not really had much of a chance to blog as her days have been spent recovering from her ordeal. She hasn't done much to Blog about anyway as her days are spent sitting or lying down, so the only thing noteworthy is that her bum hurts, A LOT!!!

- Cap'n John

It is time

2007-01-24T18:04:00.000-08:00

So my boy and a few of his school mates are having boy scout weekly meet-up downstairs. My husband was volunteered being the Cub scout leader when he mentioned he was a scout himself a long time ago. They had a surprised fire-drill earlier. It was pretty funny seeing them trying to crawl through each other. Good to know they know what to do. And thanks for cleaning our floor for us.

His best friend came home with us, and all I can say is I am glad I do not have two boys. They mostly entertained themselves cooped up in the boy's room, but when they emerge, oh my goodness, the noise level in the house!

Anyway, major event change in life, I am stressed out, but I do not want to go into details yet.

So how about some bitching instead? That always take my stress level down, especially the family kind.

After two kids, I have this small bulge on my tummy. It is mostly not visible if I wear the right clothes, but I know it is there. (Say what you want , I do have a tummy, so STFU.) At the recent family gathering(it mainly consisted relatives from my Dad's side), one of my cousins asked me if I was having a third child? I just glared at him, and he quickly said he was just joking. Whatever. I didn't appreciate the comment. Then a few moment's later, his Mom said the same thing. Gee, how come I was so not surprised that the comments were coming from them, like Mom like son. I was really pissed off. I could have said plenty equally rude remarks back to them, but I bit my tongue and walked away instead.

I only see them maybe three times a year. Even that it seems already too much if I have to deal with personal insults.

Seriously I can not imagine how can people be so rude! That is one of the things about the Asians, nothing is offensive to them, everything can be written off if you just say "I am just kidding." WTF? I do not understand that. I can sort of understand it when comment came from my aunt, since she is old-time Chinese. But my cousin? I except more from him.

No wonder

2007-01-14T19:11:00.000-08:00

I am freezing here. It is 60F in the house. Time to turn on the heater.

Heh.

Happy New Year, a day later

2007-01-02T19:52:00.000-08:00

Well, my cousin and her family came and gone. It was a lot of fun hanging out with her. My son actually played really well with her daughter, who is a year and half younger than JE.

We had a good time at the family Christmas party, everything was good except Amber felt ill. She had a fever, a cold, then it turned into an ear infection. Luckily she was able to tell us that her ear hurts, and we took her to the doctor to get it checked out and got some anit-biotic. She is already back to her ole-self.

When I took my kids to my parents today, my Mom told me one of the teachers at Amber's pre-school, she taught four-year-olds, has past away. She didn't wait outside for her carpool and showed up to work this morning. So the director went to her home to check out and found her on the floor. It was quite a shock and very sad to hear about it.

The Happiest Place on Earth

2006-12-28T18:14:00.001-08:00

My cousin and her families are in town for Christmas. They have a girl and a boy and decided to do Disneyland on Christmas day. John took JE to d-land a couple of years ago shortly after I gave birth to Amber, this time it was my turn to do it.

The day was good for the kids and not so good for us oldies. So drained afterwards, mostly mentally. It was a crazy place to start with, which was filled with gazillion people, had to constantly watching out for the kiddies, to see where they were; then it got cold really fast once the sun went down. Good thing I brought sweaters for us and but not so good for my cousin and her kiddies. She did not know in LA it is always cold in the mornings and nights, even it is 100 degree in the middle of the day.

I am beat

2006-12-23T23:18:00.000-08:00

One of my cousins and her families came from east coast to spend the holiday with us. I have been doing pretty much nothing except going out to eat and going to the malls, which broke one of my rules that never go to the mall during the last few days before Christmas. At least the food was free.

We went to the Grove today. It was not as crowded as I imagined. The kids loved the water fountain and trolley. They stood by the fountain forever, which shooting up different streams along with different type of music.

JE is having great fun with my cousin's daughter, who is closer to his age than her son. They play really well together.

Tomorrow is the Christmas party which is held at one of my aunts every year. I will be busy cooking some dishes to bring. If I don't write more, I will wish everyone a Merry Christmas.

2006-12-17T15:15:00.000-08:00

We got back from Vegas for a three-day trip earlier. We left before lunch, didn't feel like to be stuck in traffic for hours.

Didn't gamble, since we had one of the kids with us. So tired.

I am all shopped-out and buffeted-out. Legs are so sore. I need a massage just to recover from this weekend. And I don't want to eat at and see a buffet place for a long long time.

Now we are back and just in-time to receive some guests in a few days. My parents are flying out tomorrow, the guests will be staying at their place. It will be a first time in a long long time that I do not get to spend Christmas with my parents.

Feeling better

2006-12-09T23:16:00.000-08:00

Well the magic pill (aka airborne) worked! When I first felt the itchiness in my throat a couple of days ago, I quickly dawned one and shoved night-Quill's in me. I so do not need to get sick right now, with the holiday coming soon and guests arriving next week, not to mention we plan to take a weekend trip to Vegas. Thank goodness nothing flared up.

Promised JE that we would take him to Sea World today, since his best friend's Mom had some free tickets. But was feeling like crap last night. John ended up taking him, his friend, and the Mom there. He had a good time.

John told me those two were the best buds one minute, then the next they acted like the worst enemies. They did that back and forth all day long. Glad I wasn't there, it would have driven me crazy.

I was helping John wrapping one of the gifts for his co-worker. His work does the secret Santa thing every year. It was a bottle of lotion which she requested. We wrapped it in 3 layer of boxes, each box was wrapped in duct tapes. I put wrapping paper on the third box, then put that in a larger box all wrapped up in nice paper. It is going to take her forever to open it. And she is one of those girls who likes to tear the wrapping paper quickly to get to the gift. I wish I could be there to see her opening it. We are too evil.

Damnit!

2006-12-07T10:49:00.001-08:00

I feel a cold coming!

Da quiz

2006-12-05T22:57:00.000-08:00

What American accent do you have? Your Result: The Inland North You may think you speak "Standard English straight out of the dictionary" but when you step away from the Great Lakes you get asked annoying questions like "Are you from Wisconsin?" or "Are you from Chicago?" Chances are you call carbonated drinks "pop."
The Midland
The Northeast
Philadelphia
The South
The West
Boston
North Central
What American accent do you have? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

Only partially right. My accent is more a combination of mid-west, Chinese, English, and after married to an Aussie for eight years, my husband claims that I speak Australian from time to time too.

We are such wuss

2006-11-30T13:29:00.000-08:00

I got an email from one of my cousins earlier, she lives in Chi-town, she mentioned that it was getting warmer there, in the 50-60 dregree. I had to laugh at that. I told her that we have the same weather, we call it freezing here.

Imagine I used to live there! So spoiled.

Good thing it is back in the 70's on the weekend.

Woot

2006-11-27T10:34:00.000-08:00

It rained this morning! Can't remember the last time it rained here. Of course the groomy weather made me think it wasn't morning, which in term made me up late, which in term made JE late for school. Poor kid had to eat dry cereal in the car.

Had a good Thanksgiving. This year it was just my parents and us, the other two usual suspects, my aunt and uncle's family didn't join us this year. The aunt's spent it with their daughter, and the uncle just came out of hospital due to a nasty fall. We thought he got brain damage, he was pretty dedulusional and the man is over 80! Luckily he came out fine at the end.

So shopping has started, but not me, didn't venturn into any shopping centers during the crazy weekend, except to Best Buy to pick up a TV for Dad. That is what happens when you get a SUV, everyone wants your help to carry their bulk items. It was surprisingly not crowded. We were in and out in thirty minutes.

Did I mention I am done with Christmas shopping? I know you are all jealous.

Bloody Hell

2006-11-22T13:32:00.000-08:00

Around seven last night I realized I have totally forgot to buy paper plates/cups for Amber's T-day lunch at her pre-school. They are doing a pot-luck lunch. Of course I choosed one of the two non-cooking items. HAH. Anyway I grabbed JE and rushed out the door. I went to a couple of stores and they actually sold out on t-day plates/cups. I finally got some at Target and they were on-sale too. As I was pushing the cart to the car, I kicked my little toe on the wheel. When I got to the car, I found my toe was gushing out blood. I patched it with some napkins. God that hurt!

This morning I did again with the cart kicking at another store. More blood and more pain. My little toe is all bloody and black, very gross. Did I mention it is bloody painful?

---------------------------------------------------

I don't know about you, but isn't Thanksgiving tomorrow? Then why the hell are Christmas lights out on full-forces on some houses?? It just ain't right.

Is it wrong?

2006-11-18T17:21:00.000-08:00

That I do not feel like doing Christmas cards this year.

I do not know why, but I have no desire what's so ever to do them.

PITA

2006-11-14T11:18:00.000-08:00

Let me just say that it was a pain-in-the-you know where to change the photos in flickr to private, at least the ones with my kids in them.

Now I got that out of the system. We have a big event happening in the family next year. My mother-in-law is getting married in September. She is smiling so much and looks so happy after she met her husband-to-be. I am very excited, and the fun part is wedding shopping, aka dress(es) shopping.

I can not buy one for A. yet, since MIL wants the flower girl to wear pestle color, and pestle is not coming out until spring. And imagine my shock when I saw how expensive the boy's suits are. Who knew! Thank goodness good ole eBay came to rescue.

All my kids and husband have important roles in the wedding. John will walk MIL down the isle, A. will be one of the flower girls, and JE will be the ring bearer. As for me, I will be hiding in the corner, so A. does not run to me in the middle of walking down the isle and yells "Mommy" on top of her lungs.

A day later

2006-11-01T11:35:00.000-08:00

Took the kids out last night for some trick or treat. The street we went on went all out. One of the houses had a fake cementary in their front yard, completed with tomb stones and steam machine. They even had their kids hid in the bushes and jumped out screaming every once a while. The kids were not scared, but a few parents got a good scared out of it. It was quite funny.

Another house turned their front lawn into a carnival. We didn't bother. It was way too crowded. We also heard that another hosue on the block put a haunted maze on their front yard. By then we already walked up and down for almost an hour and got two buckets of loots for each kid. We decided to call it night. We had to be home by eight anyway.

JE's school district did this thing this year that they encouraged the kids to be home by eight. The parents had the option to fill out a form, if your from was picked and they called you after eight. Your child got a prize. I told JE about it, he was very excited all night, kept telling us to be sure to get home at eight. I realized he might not get the call, since they were picking out from hundreds of forms. I tried to calm his down and didn't want him to get disappointed. But guess what? Someone called us shortly after eight and JE got third prize. I am yet to go pick up this prize. Apparently I have the whole November to do so. JE got extra excited and it made the night complete.

Happy Birthday Amber

2006-10-22T12:18:00.000-07:00

My baby is two today. Two I tell you!

It seemed like yesterday I held her tiny body in my arms. Now she is a walking, running, jumping, climbing, talking little girl. She is growing up too fast.

She tries to climb onto anything she sets her eyes on. She is truely her Daddy's girl, I just hope she does not get a scar to prove it like her Daddy did when he was two.

On the other hand, she is a girlie girl. After I put clothes on her, she will point to herself and says "Pretty." And looking at herself in the mirror, turning in circles.

We had a combined birthday party for her and my Mom yesterday. My mom was turning 60.

Welcome to Santa Monica Pier

2006-10-12T13:27:00.000-07:00

Long Weekend

2006-10-09T10:01:00.000-07:00

We spent three days at San Diego. Had loads of fun, but I'm beat. At least the hotel's spa made it all better at the end of the days.

Went to Sea World on Friday, Wild Animal Park on Saturday.

Had lunch with Shamu at Sea World. It was a really cool experience, the not so bad food and free beer helped too.

Then the boys "forced" SIL and I on to the Journey to Atlantis ride. It was pretty scary, but we overcame our fear after the first loop around.

Unfortunately the Shipwreck Rapids ride was closed. JE was looking forward to getting wet. He ended up getting wet anyway by standing on the side of the Atlantis ride, water splashed at him when it did the big drop.

The boys went to Legoland on Sunday, while we shopped until we dropped at Carlsbad Outlets. Good thing we got the highlander, we were able to fit six adults and one child, plus all the shoppings.

John took BIL to Magic Mountain today. Those two are roller coaster junkies. No thanks, I don't feel like vomiting today.

Such a beautiful day

2006-10-04T22:55:00.000-07:00

We took SIL and BIL to downtown, to see the real LA. Well, was I shocked! The slum was not a slum anymore. There were hardly any homeless. Condos are being built left and right. Cops were everywhere. But sadly lots of shops were forced out too.

Thank goodess Coles was still there. I had the yummiest French Dip Sandwich. Oh how I missed it.

Bulletin Board

2006-10-01T17:45:00.000-07:00

- MIL and a family friend arrived on Monday morning.
- Then all hell broke lose. HAH... just kidding. Everything is going well so far.
- Tuesday took them for a bit of shopping. But Amber was very fussy, ended up in Chucky E Cheese.
- Wednesday went to LA County Fair after picking up JE from school. Had lots of fun.
- Thursday took it easy at home.
- Friday went to Old Town Pas, after stopping by at Michael's first.
- Checked out the new store H&M. It was a mad house there. Bought a couple of tops, didn't bother trying them on. The line to the fitting room was a mile long and so was the cash register.
- Saturday they spent whole day at a dog show. (they used to show dogs) Then all went to my parents' for dinner.
- Sunday (today) took them for Dim Sum, so yummy. Then SURPRISE, more shopping.

SIL and BIL are arriving tomorrow evening. Going to SD this weekend.

JE kicked ass for his school fund-raising. Well, he didn't do anything. Mostly due to John's co-workers, he had 50 items under his name.

...

2006-09-24T12:26:00.000-07:00

My mother-in-law (MIL) is coming tomorrow, sisiter-in-law (SIL) and brother-in-law (BIL) are coming here in a week. They are going to stay here for a month.

The house is clean and fridge is stocked. Now I can finally relaxe a little bit.

MIL is bringing a suitcase load of Aussie goodies. I'm drooling as I'm typing. Anyone want a piece of Tim Tam?

On a different note, my daughter is one month shy of turning two! Two I tell you! When did this happen? So I leave you with this chocolate heaven.

I am trying to block it out of my memory, until someone opened his big mouth

2006-09-15T20:49:00.000-07:00

Was it Tuesday? I think it was Tuesday. See, I already can't even remember when it happened.

Anyway, I went into the garage to get something, when I turned around and tried to get back in the house, my darling daughter has locked the door. She didn't just lock it, she deadbolted it!

I freaked out and tried to tell her to unlock it for a while, but like any almost 2-year old, she kept saying no.

Luckily my bag was in the car along with my cell. I called 911*, and within a few minutes our local PD showed up. Not one, not two, but three cop cars**. They tried to open the door without breaking it, but couldnt do it. They ended up calling a local locksmith. He showed up, he opened the door in 2 seconds.

What was my daughter doing? Finger-painting on the floor.

Go ahead and laugh. I know you are.

*I called my husband first. He was out lunch without his cell!

**I would have totally taken picture of the three good-looking cops if not for the emergency.

Typical

2006-09-15T15:52:00.000-07:00

JE's school started last week, I saw my first and only Hummer at his school. Already the driver has proved himself to be typical Hummer asshole.

When we drop the kids off in the morning, basically we pull up to the curb and let them out, and we are on our way. There is no stopping, no parking by the curb. This morning after I dropped JE off, I pulled out and went on my merry way. I past the Hummer, he basically parked himself by the curb blocking traffic. Instead of doing the decent thing which is driving around the block to pick his wife/girlfriend from taking the kid(s) to class.

I hate Hummer drivers!

Surprise surprise

2006-09-14T22:32:00.000-07:00

Wow, my husband was in bed around 9:45 tonight. Not even WoW could make him stay up late, like he usually did.

I wonder...

I can cry

2006-09-07T20:49:00.000-07:00

I'm crying actually. I scratched the brand new car. It is in the shop now and I won't get it back for about ten days.

I was at the bank's drive-thru, waiting behind this car. It seemed like the shorter lane at the time. I didn't know what the woman and her friend were doing. Seemed like searching for a dropped ATM card. They took forever. I couldn't really back out and go to the other lane, there was a car behind. Finally the car behind me moved. I waited a bit longer, but they still have not even put their card in the slot. So I backed out, as I turned to move to the other drive-thru. I heard this grinding sound. It was the sound of my car grinding on this pole between the two drive-thru.

I dared not look at the damage until I stopped at somewhere later. I just about died.

I feel so sad and angry at myself, at that woman in the drive-thru, and the stupid pole.

Too hot

2006-09-04T15:25:00.000-07:00

Why is it still so hot in September?? At least I can take comfort in knowing that school starts in two days.

Didn't do much this long weekend. Did I mention it is way too hot?

We went to travel town this morning, then had lunch at CPK. Nothing is better than free fun. I was sweating like bullets though. Everytime A. got on a train, I was freaking out that she was going to fall out.

Wooot

2006-08-29T11:18:00.000-07:00

School starts in one week!

Everyone can be Spiderman. At Science Center's Marvel Exhibition.

F-ing miserable

2006-08-21T19:59:00.000-07:00

My mom is turning 60! Geesh, I can not believe. You never really imagine your parents getting old, and 60?

I took her to Queen Mary for Sunday brunch yesterday. I guess some people were walking out without paying, now you are required to pay ahead of time. It is pretty rare that we get to go out just two of us. A lovely time we spent together.

She took today off as her birthday day-off. We decided to hit Santa Barbara for the day. I booked a whale watching tour for us. It was a good idea, considering my dad had a back surgery earlier this year and now he walks with a limp. So sitting in a boat for a few hours, seeing some sea lions, whales, dolphins sounded fun and my dad didn't need to walk much.

Well, everything went downhill an hour into the trip. The waves were really strong, I felt like I was on a roller coaster. My dad started to get sea sick. So we all moved to downstairs, but it didnt help much with either of us. One by one we got sea sick, including JE. JE and I ended sleeping most of the trip, because it was the only way not to feel like throwing up.

I did see some sea lions, dolphins, and whales though, so the trip wasn't totally lost. Still we were paying to get "tortured". Even as I am typing now, I feel I'm rocking back and forth. I think I'm going to lie down now.

Random fun

2006-08-17T17:17:00.000-07:00

JE has finished day camps, and there are still three weeks left until school starts. I have to think of ways to entertain him. He can drive me crazy from time to time.

On Saturday, we packed the kids up and went to Long Beach aquarium. It is one of their favorite places, esepcailly Amber. She loved seeing all the fish. She just sat in front of the big tank and if she could, she would stare at them for a long long time.

Then again, among all the crazinesses, we have this:

She was sound asleep in the middle of everything. I was impressed that she was able to sleep with the noise level in the aquarium.

On Monday I took JE to the Natural History Museum. We were greeted by one of those after we entered.

It was a good and inexpensive place to spend a couple of hours, but their cafeteria sucked. There were no child-friendly food. We didn't stay to eat, nor we stuck around the area after we left the museum. Unfortunatly I forgot my cell, otherwise we would have joined John at his work for some lunch.

While we were there, I saw a d-list celeb, one of the sidekicks from The Drew Carey Show.

I found an indoor play place, rather John googled it after I asked if he knew any fun places I could take the kids. I took JE and one of his friends there to play yesterday. It has all the equipments of outdoor, plus bouncer and play house, except you don't get burned while playing. I even treated them at Cheesecake Factory afterwards. I'm just cool like that.

Now three weeks to go and I will have my sanity back. Sort of.

Title? What title?

2006-08-07T14:24:00.000-07:00

I know I have been neglecting this blog. But I have been driving my kid around to day camp and swimming. Everyday, back and forth, drop off, pick up; drop off, pick up. There seemed like no end. Finally things are slowing down. He does not have any more swimming class and it is the last week of day camp. Now I just need to come up ideas to entertain him in the remaining four weeks.

Last Friday, his day camp has a field trip to Knott's Berry Farm. I tagged along, only because the bus would not have picked them up until 7pm. Ten hours in an amusement park? I think not. Usually I can not stand amusement park. Waiting in line for an hour just for an one minute ride isn't my idea of fun time. We were lucked out that Knott's was not crowded at all.

We had a blast. Especailly at the Big Foot Rapids. JE had so much fun that we went on the ride twice. The second time we were soaked, only part of our bodies didn't have any water were our socks. It was not comfortable wearing water-soaked shorts. Luckily the sun was out by then and we got dried in no time.

Already?

2006-07-26T22:17:00.000-07:00

I went to Target this morning. What is in the store?? Back to school supplies and parents and kids buying them. It is only July!

I love buying school supplies, but JE's school does not send out the supply sheet until near the end of August. I do not know why they send it out so late and it annoys me. (Maybe I will complain to the PTA.) Because by then most of the good supplies are gone already. So I took the opportunities and bought a few items. Who could resist a spiderman binder?

What's been happening?

2006-07-23T18:29:00.000-07:00

The circus is in town! We went to see Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey on Thursday night. When we were looking for our seats, I had no idea I actually purchased tickets three rows from the ring side. It was quite a nice surprise when the ursher showed us our seats.

It was a very good show. My favorite were the horse trainers. HAH, those European men were gorgeous, especailly the one with the long dark hair.

I took JE and a friend of his to see "Monster House" on Friday after their morning camp. Half way through, both of them got a bit scared and wanted out. But, but it was the good bit, they were ready to "kill" the house. But what can you do when the kids got scared during the moving. We left and took them home for a short swim before going for their swimming lesson. One of the preview we saw was "How to Eat Fried Worms". Basically the whole movie is about a bet of eating ten worms, how the kid goes about to eat them and tries to win a bet against a bully. It showed various ways to cook a worm, fried it, microwave it, boil it, squeezing the worm juice out, etc, it was very gross.

I can not believe how much JE has improved since he started swimming lessons a month ago. A month ago he screamed wheneven water got into his eyes. Now he IS swimming! I am so proud of the little man. But every two weeks I have to get up very early to register swimming class for him, if I am even a bit late, the section I want is gone.

John and I went to a movie date this afternoon, we saw "Pirate of the Carribean: Dead Man's Chest". Good movie. But it ended leaving us hanging until the next one. Bastards!

And here it is.

Something new

2006-07-15T21:15:00.000-07:00

We got ourselves a new car on Friday. We have been an one-car family since forever. There wasn't really no need for a second car.

John either carpooled or takes public transportation to work. He still will, but now he drives one of the car to the bus depot and has a choice of buses to take, instead of waiting for one.

Now the kids are older, they have more activities between them. One car just isn't doing it. A few times we found outselves in very cramped time-frame. We literally had to get one kid from one place and "fly down" to another to pick up the other one.

So I get to drive the new car and I'm loving it.

Have you been watching the new show on USA network Psych? It is so funny, and I am having a crush on James Roday.

We took the kids to the Long Beach Aquarium this afternoon. Amber was so excited seeing all the fish. She just sat in front of the big tank and didn't want to move. By 5:30, JE was saying he was hungry, so we headed across the street to eat at Bubba Gump Shrimp Co Restaurant & Market. It was a take from Forrest Gump. It was a very casual place to eat. The servers was super friendly, and if you answer their four trivia questions right, you got free dessert. We only got three questions right, not that we could fit dessert in our tummies. But where was Xinh when we needed her?

Do you know how many Jennys are in the movie Forrest Gump?

Wikipedia

2006-07-11T11:22:00.000-07:00

Go to Wikipedia and search on your birthday (but not year). List three events that happened. List two important birthdays and one interesting death. List one holiday or observance (if any).

Events

1184 BC - Trojan War: Troy was sacked and burned, according to the calculations of Eratosthenes.

1770 - Captain James Cook runs aground on the Great Barrier Reef.

2004 - Ronald Reagan's funeral held at Washington National Cathedral.

Births

1956 - Joe Montana. American football player

1959 - Hugh Laurie, English actor and comedian

Death

323 BC - Alexander the Great , King of Macedon (b. 356 BC)

Holiday and Observance

Kamehameha Day, official state holiday of Hawai'i, United States, in honor of its first monarch, celebrated with floral parades, hula competition, and festivals

Grrrr

2006-06-23T08:30:00.000-07:00

Last night JE stayed at grandparents'. I was trying to take the opportunity to sleep in. Did it happen? Nope. When 7:30 rolled around, my internal clock woke me up.

You call this summer?

2006-06-21T20:55:00.000-07:00

Summer break was offically started for JE on Monday. His Chinese day camp didn't start until this morning. Let me just say is that gas bill is going up the roof from the way i have been driving back and forth.

His day camp starts at 9, but since it was the first day, they asked everyone to get there at 8:30, so they could get organized. It was so hard to drag my ass out of the bed at 7, since all school year his class didn't start until 10:25. But I guess it is a good pratice for his coming school year, which starts at 8:25.

While he was at camp, I drove around to a couple of stores for grocery shopping with A. By noon, I drove back to pick JE up. We drove to my parents for some lunch, and dropped A off to have her nap. JE played with his grandfather while I slept on the sofa. By 3:30, we headed out the door again for his swimming lesson. It has only been three days, he has already improved lots, and he is willing to dunk his head in the water and swam for a short distance. That was more I could say about the 2 summers he spent at YMCA learning swimming. Hopefully this is the summer that he will be able to swim.

It is over

2006-06-16T22:27:00.000-07:00

Today Kinder is offically finished. The two kinder classes had a performance for all the parents. Basically they sang a few songs. While they were standing under the shades singing, all the parents had to endure the hot hot sun, while filming at their kids at the same time.

But no playtime for this kid. I signed up day camps and swimming lessons for him until early August. He is doing all those with a couple of his classmates, so hopefully he will indulge me and go along.

2006-06-13T22:43:00.000-07:00

You Belong in Rome

You're a big city girl with a small town heart
Which is why you're attracted to the romance of Rome
Strolling down picture perfect streets, cappuccino in hand
And gorgeous Italian men - could life get any better?

What City Do You Belong In?

Party, party

2006-06-06T09:10:00.000-07:00

I need a week's rest

2006-06-04T21:05:00.000-07:00

to recover from this weekend.

Today JE had his bowling birthday party* with thirteen of his friends and families, most of them were his classmates. His actual birthday isn't until next Saturday, but that bowling place is all booked up on Saturday. He had a blast. I am sure all of them did too, from the way they bowled and chowed down the pizzas.

Bowling was a great idea, actually JE choosed it himself. The bowling alley provided almost everything, from invitations, goodie bags, thank-you cards, pizza and unlimited drinks, plus two-hours of fun. Only thing we got was a chocolate cake. And the fact that it was indoor, was totally perfect for a hot day like today. The best part was that we didn't have to clean up afterwards.

JE is entering first grade this Sept., he wanted to join the local cub scout. John and he attended the last meeting of the scout for the school year, they gave him a free ticket for the scout expo which was held on Saturday. That was where they went on Saturday for around three hours. JE had a great time, but he was so tired afterwards, he felt asleep in the car right away. I'm extremely happy and surprised at the same time that he is so eager to join cub scout. Usually he does not want to join any activities if none of his friends are there.

*: Pictures to follow tomorrow. I'm pooped.

Does your back hurt?

2006-05-28T00:15:00.000-07:00

Another back-breaking day has past. Our floors are all done, done, done! There are no carpets in this house at all, except a few rugs. I am so happy about the result.

John helped the workers with most of the furniture moving, while I went to get a hair-cut and spent an afternoon watching over our kids at my parents. I don't want them to inhale any dust. Even though I didn't move any furnitures, when I got back around 7pm, upstairs looked/looks like a train-treck.

Four hours later we finally cleaned up ours and the boy's bedrooms, and put everything back. All I gotta say is Damn I have lots of clothes! I felt like I just moved again. Tomorrow we are going to attack the girl's room and whatever got moved into the family room. We took the advantage and re-arranged the boy's room. It looks so much better and with more free spaces.

At least the house is more organized and more clutters are thrown out. Thank God for free babysitters (aka grandparents) that we are able to do the cleanings and movings without worrying about our kids.

Friday Five

2006-05-26T14:30:00.000-07:00

1. How many places have you lived in your life?
4 countries, 2 states.

2. Which was your favorite and why and what street was it on?
I loved when I lived with my parents in Burnaby, BC. (it is a sub of Vancouver) Not neccessary the apartment we were living at, rather the city itself.

3. If you could live anywhere for the rest of your life, where would it be?
Sydney, Australia

4. What would your ideal home have in it?
Big kitchen with a kick-ass range, a room size closet, and huge backyard.

5. Can you describe your current crib?
4 bedroom 2.5 bath condo with a 2 car garage.

Back to Back

2006-05-21T11:22:00.000-07:00

It was an action-packed Friday.

Let me see, there was a dental appointment for JE first thing in the morning. We were late for school, but it was ok since I have told his teacher already. He got there in-time for library time.

After school, we rushed home, got changed (it was pajama day for JE), grabbed the gifts, grabbed John and Amber. Then the fun started. We went to two birthday parties on Friday afternoon/evening for our son's friends. TWO!

It is Sunday now, I have not recovered since.

Glad we have post-phoned doing the bedroom floors until next weekend.

They are so beautiful, I can almost cry

2006-05-14T22:08:00.000-07:00

So guess what I have been doing all afternoon on Mother's day? Don't know? Give up?

I have been cleaning this and this, and moving and re-arranging all the furnitures, with John's help of course. Yep, we got ourselves some spanking new floor.

As much as it was a total PITA moving the furnitures in and out, and getting a back pain. It was so worth all the efforts, and not to mention the pennies we paid for them. In the words of my cousin, "The prize we paid for comfort."

In the process we got rid of a lot of clutters we accumulated in the last three years.

Next weekend they are coming back to do the remaining three rooms. I can not wait for the finishing results.

The question now is how to keep the floor clean? Attach the swiffer to me permantely?

Surprise

2006-05-12T18:04:00.000-07:00

John got home and gave me an envelope. I looked at the address and it read Washington, I was like what? who? I don't know anybody from Washington. I didn't even make the connection when I read the sender's name. I opened it and it was a beautiful mother's day card from the one and only Morg.

Thank you, thank you. It was a really good surprise to brighten up my otherwise very stressful Friday.

Another weekend

2006-05-07T20:41:00.000-07:00

Whoo, I'm glad this weekend is almost over. I think I am going to bed early tonight and hopefully I will be able to have a good-night sleep.

We had a really busy and packed Saturday. It started with us going to our city's fire station for their annual Pancake Breakfast. The pancake actually was very yummy. I would be glad to pay almost any amount for the breakfast for a good cause, but it only costed us $4 a person. Besides JE and a friend of his had fun climbing up and down various fire trucks. At one point, he did a junior fireman obstacle course, which he got to wear a little man fireman uniform and helmet; ran a short distance carrying a hose; climbed onto a platform and hammered down some objects; carried some other objects for a short distance, with a fireman's help; ran to another hose and got to hose down a building. He had a blast. Unfortunately we rushed out of the house as we were running late, and we forgot to bring the camera. Oh well, there is always next year.

We went to our friend's for a short while, chatted while the kids jumped on the trempoline. After that we headed home and all had a short nap to re-boost for our evening activity. We went to Memorial Park for their Cinemas in the Park with a few friends. We had a picinic there before the movie. It was the first time JE watching the Oz. We had fun even though it was way after our usual bedtime.

May already?

2006-05-01T20:31:00.000-07:00

Another weekend has come and gone.

We went to friends' for their daughter's 100-day celebration on Saturday. It is Chinese tradition to celebrate the child's 100-day, but personally I never did it. It was their first child, so she didn't have any ideas with others kids at the party in turn of food and entertainment. So I suggested her to rent a bouncy house, pizza, and a chocolate cake for them. The bouncy house for the kids and chocolate cake for me. Personal motive? You bet ya. It was fun, mostly for JE, as John and I have to take turns to chase after Amber all over the house.

Can you believe it is May already? That means I have to make decision for the very first summer camp for JE. Fun fun fun. I am so inexperienced. Next year I need to start early and who knew summer camp is that expensive. I don't think I will send him to any over-night camps until he is at least seven. Does it mean I have to start saving from January the previous year?

Meme from the Xinher

2006-04-27T21:57:00.000-07:00

Today did you…

1. Talk to someone you liked: yes.
2. Buy something: nope.
3. Get sick: nope.
4. Sing: no.
5. Make out: yes.
8. Talk to an ex: no.
9. Miss someone: no.

___________________________________________________
Last person who….

10. Slept in your bed: me, as John got up way earlier than I did.
11. Saw you cry: John.
12. Made you cry: one of my SILs.
13. Went to the movies with: JE, Ice Age: The Meltdown.
14. You went to the mall with: my meet-up Mommy groups.
15. Said I love you to you: John.
________________________________

16. Ever been in a fight with your pet: no, I am not crazy.
17. Been to California: as I live in CA, I’m going to say yes.
18. Been to Mexico: once.
19. Been to Canada: yes. Lived in Vancouver for 2 years.
20. Been to Europe: no.
___________________________________________________
Random….

21. Do you have a crush on someone: my husband, celebrity-wise it's Jason Statham.
22. What book are you reading now: Sister of the Dead by Barb & JC Hendee.
23. Best feeling in the world: not having to worry about anything.
25. What do you sleep with: nothing.
26. What’s under your bed: blankets in boxes, dustbunnies.
27. Favorite sports to watch: I used to watch a lot of basketballs. Now I barely have time to watch anything, let alone sports.
28. Location: where do I live? Southern Calif.
29. Piercing/tattoos: no piercings, one tattoo on my back.
30. What are you most scared of right now: something terrible happens to my kids.
31. Where do you want to get married?: My dream wedding would have been an outdoor wedding, perferrable over-looking the ocean, but we couldn't afford it. We got married in church instead.
32. Who do you really hate?: no one.
33. Do you have a job: Does full-time Mom count?
34. Do you like being around people: Somewhat, not if I have to deal with them daily in a customer service relation.
36. Have you ever cried: yes.
37. Are you lonely right now: no.
38. Song that’s stuck in your head right now: nothing.
39. Played strip poker: yes.
41. Been on radio/TV: no.
42. Ever liked someone, but you think they never noticed you?: yes.
43. Ever liked someone who treated you like crap?: yes.

FIRSTS
1. First real best friends: This girl that used to live next to door to us in Shanghai, and we went to the same middle school.
2. First school: Dont remember the name, a kindergarten in Shanghai.
3. First screenname: simplyred.
4. First funeral: one of my grandma's.
5. First big trip: my dad used to teach at an university in Shanghai, each summer the school has tours to different parts of China. I remember fondly that we do that each summer since I was 10.
6. First celebrity love: Jon Bon Jovi. (Don't laugh)
7. First job: babysitting neighborhood kids.

__________________________________________________
Everyone also has their lasts…
8. Last person you hugged: John.
9. Last song you heard: "What is the name of that song?" from one of Elmo's videos, that goes La De la de la, what's the name of that song? Please God, let this be over soon. (Great, now the song is stuck in my head.)
10. Last car ride: the drive to pick up JE from school.
11. Last time you cried: reading news on CNN.com about the surviving miner from that W Virginia mining, his story about what happened.
12. Last movie you watched?: in the theatre, see question #13 above; on DVD it was The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe.
13. Last food you ate: chicken bowl from Yoshinoya.
14. Last person of the opposite sex that you talked to in person: JE.
15. Last shirt worn: a white t-shirt.