:: good enough ::

Week in the Life 2011 :: Day 7, Sunday

2011-08-11T17:51:00.000-07:00

6:55am: Wake up and groggily decide whether I want to go to yoga. Maybe I don't want to go right now, but in the grand scheme of things I know I want to go. Besides, I want to try out my new yoga mat. Drag myself out of bed and get ready.

7:05am: I think I wake Maya up while walking past her room. I hear her calling for me so I get her and plunk her down on the couch to watch TV until Ian and/or Rupert wake up. Leave for yoga at 7:10am.

7:30am~9:00am: Yoga.

9:10am: Head over to Fry's to pick up a screen protector for the iPad. I have to hunt around for a bit but I finally find the $9 pack. (I can't believe there are people who would pay $25 for one sheet of plastic!)

9:35am: When I get home I find Maya and Rupert in the backyard making sand art. Ian is inside reading. I desperately need coffee. (I'm convinced, as is Rupert, that if I don't have my coffee I get headaches, which is what happened yesterday. Can you say, "coffee withdrawal"?) According to Rupert, this is the second day in a row that Maya is cranky and whiny in the morning. Glad I missed that!

10:00am: Wish my brother-in-law (and two other friends) a happy birthday on FB. Get hungry so I resort to Rice Crispy Treats again. Maya is also hungry and has a snack (or two) while she watches even more Pucca. Rupert is doing work on his laptop.

11:00am: Finally get ahold of our friend M who's in town for the 6-man tournament (we've been trying to coordinate something since Thursday). Plan to have lunch with him at La Penita. Rupert and Ian go outside to play basketball. I'm struggling with putting the screen protector on. Please learn from my mistakes: trying repeatedly is not a good idea, use a ruler to prevent air bubbles, don't try laying down the plastic at your dining table where there's lots of lint from the tablecloth and placemats. Rupert decides he has to take a shower, even though it's 11:25 and we're supposed to be in Hermosa Beach in 20 minutes.

11:35am: Leave the boys behind (they're going in a separate car so they can go to Ian's Lego robotics class afterward) and head over to meet M. Luckily, we find parking easily. Rupert and Ian join us a short time later and we have lunch. Maya's tooth falls out part way through lunch.

12:45pm: Rupert and Ian leave to make it to Ian's class on time. M, Maya, and I sit and chat for a little while longer before we go our separate ways.

1:00pm: Since we're in the neighborhood, I decide to swing by work and pick up my mail. There are two postcards from students for me! (I asked the kids to send postcards from their travels so we can decorate our Read Around the World bulletin board in the fall.) Maya asks to check-out some snake books.

1:15pm: I ask Maya to water the tomato plant in the backyard because it's looking a little wilted. These plants require SO much water! Once inside, she gets a turn with the iPad to do some coloring. I'm about to doze off.

2:00pm: I give Maya permission to watch TV and what does she turn on? SpongeBob. Blech! That's my signal to head to the bedroom to read; I browse through the July issue of School Library Journal.

2:30pm~2:40pm: Nap. It's amazing how quickly I conk out, how I wake up automatically after 10 or 15 minutes, and how much better I feel afterward.

2:50pm: Call Rupert to ask him to get something to make dinner tonight. Take a shower.

3:10pm: Hop back on the computer to work on keeping up with today's entry for Week in the Life, catch up on twitter (and subsequent links I find), and download this week's free audiobook from Audiobook Community.

3:40pm: Ian and Rupert get home. Rupert bought chicken legs to barbecue for dinner. Yay! Ian goes to his room to read.

4:00pm: Maya convinces Rupert to spend time with her water painting.

4:45pm: Color with Maya on the iPad. The drawing part is harder because my fingertips are so stubby.

5:00pm: Rupert starts marinating the chicken. He goes back and forth between painting and getting dinner ready.

6:00pm: Dinner!

... and because I waited so long to write this part of the day up, I've forgotten what happened after dinner. Most likely we watched a lot of TV!

Week in the Life 2011 :: Day 6, Saturday

2011-07-30T20:58:00.000-07:00

6:15am: It's hot or something and I'm uncomfortable. Toss and turn for awhile and decide to get up around 6:30.

7:00am: Get dressed for yoga and hang out in the living room, checking my email and FB on the iPad. Ian wakes up.

7:15am: Leave for yoga. Run into an acquaintance/neighbor who's trying out YogaWorks for the first time. I guess there was another Groupon; the class is fuller than usual with new students.

9:00am: Finish my class and browse the sale rack at the store portion of the studio. It takes awhile but I finally pick out a tank top, a halter top, and a yoga mat (a purple one!). I use the credit I had on my account so I pay less than $5 for all of it.

9:45am: Get home and rest for a bit; nothing like three pieces of Rice Crispy Treats to give you a little sugar boost. The kids and Rupert go for a bike ride and Rupert's usual exercise routine at Glasgow Park.

10:20am: Walk over to the farmers market to pick up a few things. Get some fruit, veggies, and a baguette for tonight's picnic with S and D.

10:40am: Get home to an empty house. Load the dishwasher, start boiling water for the corn, and brew a big pot of coffee for my ice coffee. The kids get home from their bike ride.

11:20am: I get hungry so I reheat A's leftovers from the other night. Maya finds Pucca on the Netflix and starts a marathon of TV watching. After I eat (a very filling) lunch, I get comfortable on the couch and read until I fall asleep (a very normal occurrence during the weekend).

1:10pm: Wake up to Maya complaining that she wants to eat some of Ian's chicken egg rolls. Rupert goes to take a shower. Ian shares an egg roll with Maya but neither of them can finish the last one so I end up eating it.

1:30pm: Take a shower and get ready to go. Rupert wants to go to Target to buy new socks and show me the cabinet he wants to buy for the kids' bathroom. Then we need to go to TJ's to get dessert and some drinks for tonight.

2:00pm: Shop at Target. Decide to just get the food for tonight there so we don't have to make another stop.

2:20pm: That's the fastest we've ever gotten out of Target!

2:50pm: Get home, pack up the food, and leave for LACMA to see the Tim Burton exhibit with our friends S and D.

3:20pm: We make great time and get there in less than half an hour. I pick up the tickets and since we're not supposed to meet S and D until 3:45, we wander around a bit, slowly making our way toward the Resnick Pavilion.

3:50pm: Meet up with S and D and get in line for the exhibit. There's no photography allowed in the exhibit, which is unfortunate because there's lots of cool, creepy, creative stuff in there from Burton's career. Of course, Maya is having a hard time staying interested and Rupert is a good sport about schlepping her around. In the gift shop, at Rupert's suggestion, I buy a poster for our friends' upcoming baby shower.

5:10pm: Make our way out of the exhibit, take a short detour up the escalator of the Broad Contemporary to check out the view, and then go stake out a spot for our picnic.

5:20pm: There's live music playing in the background, S made a fantastic chicken salad, the weather's perfect, and the kids have plenty of space to run around.

7:20pm: Say good-bye to D and S and swing by the gift shop before heading out. I buy some books for my library. The kids play around the big inflatable multi-eyed monster outside. Leave LACMA around 7:40pm.

8:00pm: Get home. Watch a little bit of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, which is on TV. This is the only HP movie we don't own.

9:00pm: I start downloading pictures and recapping today's activities on this blog. The kids go to bed. Maya's bedtime story is the Korgi story from the same Free Comic Book Day comic they read from last night.

9:30pm: Rupert watches some Twin Peaks on Netflix while waiting for the current season of No Reservations to download to his computer.

11:30pm: Geez, Twin Peaks is weird. Head to bed.

Week in the Life 2011 :: Day 5, Friday

2011-07-29T17:07:00.000-07:00

7:35am: Friday are sleep-in days (during the summer) for me and Rupert (he doesn't go into work on Fridays). I woke up earlier with Ian's banging-around in the kitchen getting his breakfast. I use the kids' bathroom so I don't wake up Rupert; I wake up Maya instead. She's waiting to use the bathroom when I'm done. I text my friend to confirm our plans for today to go to the Discovery Science Center ("the Cube") in Santa Ana.

8:00am: Rupert wakes up and joins us in the living room. He and Maya have breakfast together (cereal). Bad as it is, I munch on a Rice Crispy Treat while I wait for my chocolate chip Eggo to toast.

8:30am: Tell Ian to shower so I can also shower before we leave at 9:30. In the meantime I catch up on the news on my the iPad and read a bit of The Influence Machine: Brooke Gladstone on the Media.

8:50am: Take a shower. Marvel at how little shampoo and conditioner I need to use with my new haircut.

9:15am: Get our stuff ready to head out for our excursion: pack snacks, make ice coffee, pull out my backpack from the hall closet, pack the camera. Decide today is the day to break out my new shoes.

9:30am: Fill the Prius with gas at Costco and hop on the freeway to get going. Traffic is moving smoothly so we make good time.

10:15am: When we merge on to the 22, I notice my friend's car behind me. Decide to follow my friend, assuming she knows where's she going, but she takes the wrong exit. We pull over, laugh a bit, and get back on the road toward the museum.

10:30am: Make our way into the museum. First stop, the bathroom! (Too much ice coffee for me.)

10:30am to 12:30pm: Explore the exhibits at the museum. The boys really like the hockey stuff upstairs and try out the Shooter and Goalie experiences repeatedly. Maya is kinda grouchy and not in the mood to take part in a lot of the stuff. But she really likes the slide and spends a good deal of time there.

12:30pm: Decide it's time to head out. I want to get a shirt but they don't have my size. I get an Oscar the Grouch hand puppet (for $5!) instead. I intend to use it at work when I'm getting grouchy with the kids; hopefully it'll send the right message in a more positive way instead of me just yelling at the kids.

12:50pm: Walk down the street to get lunch at the Habit. It's fun, and a little hectic, eating in a small booth with two adults, two middle schoolers, a first grader, and a toddler. After we finish eating, the kids think it's funny to kick each other under the table. On our walk back to our cars the kids hang out at the mall's fountain for a bit.

2:00pm: Say good-bye to our friends and head home. There's a bit more traffic and I make one wrong turn (darn 22/405 interchange!) but it doesn't matter since the kids are knocked out in the back and I want them to get some rest so they're not cranky later.

3:00pm: Get home. After a few minutes of family time, I head to the bedroom for some quiet reading. The kids get their own downtime by watching a Pokemon video. I take a 15 minute power nap.

4:30pm: Play baseball in the backyard. Maya has killer batting abilities, as long as the ball is thrown underhand.

5:10pm: Rupert pre-heats the oven for dinner. He sits down with Maya to draw from her new animal drawing book. I continue to work on this project with a glass of (slightly over-steeped) mugicha, Japanese barley tea. Ian goes back to his room to read.

5:30pm: Maya takes a break from drawing a horse to watch Horseland. You know, to remind her what horses look like.

6:00pm: Dinner time: TJ's tempura chicken, sauteed bok choy, and rice. We love that Maya likes vegetables; she asks for more bok choy. Rupert chooses to watch an episode of Superhumans. I read my book instead.

6:45pm: Instead of family board game night, we have family video game night ... although I don't know if you can call it "family" game night if Ian wanders off to read in his room and I'm writing this up. Actually, I help Maya out with the drums, then take over drumming completely, and Maya ends up walking away!

7:30pm: Watch the Simpsons.

8:00pm: More drawing.

8:15pm: Back to Rock Band: me on guitar, Maya on drums for the first song, Rupert on drums for the second song. We haven't checked the new downloadable songs so Rupert scrolls through to see if there's anything worth buying. Maya dances to the various samples, especially SpongeBob and the Nom Nom Nom Song.

9:05pm: The kids get ready for bed. (Ian was reading for over two hours; he's definitely my kid.) Rupert reads the Johnny Boo part of a comic book (from Free Comic Book Day) for Maya's bedtime story.

9:20pm: Watch the Hokkaido episode of No Reservations on Rupert's laptop. He has a bowl of coffee ice cream but I pass on dessert (super full from all the food today and I already brushed my teeth). Slight delay in the middle of the episode since Rupert's laptop runs out of batteries. The episode really makes me want to finally visit my uncle in Hokkaido.

10:15pm: Check iTunes and Season 11 of No Reservations is available; try to buy it but it's not working for some reason. Try again tomorrow? Catch up on reading blogs.

11:30pm: Off to bed.

Week in the Life 2011 :: Day 4, Thursday

2011-07-28T08:53:00.000-07:00

7:15am: We're all up and doing our normal summer morning routine: cereal (TJ's Honey-Os), TV (SpongeBob), couch, checking email and FB. Zoboomafoo comes on on PBS.

7:45am: Open the catch-all drawer and it's like a bomb went off in the rubber band container. I guess Maya was looking for a blue rubber band and dumped everything out. Ask her to put everything back but there are so many rubber bands that I ask her to sort out the dirtier ones and put them in a ziploc so I can, hopefully, give them back to the postal delivery person.

8:00am: Mama Mirabelle comes on but Maya decides playing on the iPad is a better way to spend her time. She uses apps for coloring, tracing numbers, "playing" music, and playing games. Ian reads Pendragon #9, Raven Rise in his room; he's really loving the series. I'm back at my laptop working on this project (uploading photos and typing blog entries).

9:00am: Getting into a routine of having Maya work on a few pages of her packet everyday. At this rate she'll be able to finish by the end of the summer, which is a relief. Really noticed that even a week without schoolwork and her brain gets lazy and forgetful.

10:00am: To take a break Maya watches the Cat in the Hat. I tell Ian to get dressed and pack his lunch to take to his aunt's. When the episode is over the kids play by throwing a ball at each other and squishing each other. Fun!

10:45am: Leave to drop the kids off at my in-laws'. Can't wait to get my hair lopped off! Take a "before" picture first.

11:30am: Haircut time! Julie, who came recommended by my sister, is great with my hair. I rarely get my hair cut so I don't mind shelling out a few extra bucks to get it cut by Julie.

12:30pm: After setting aside the 10 inches of my hair, Julie does a great job giving me a cute bob. My head feels light and summery! Drive to the nearby Japanese market to pick up some books (including a travel guide to Kobe on sale) and food.

1:15pm: Pick up the kids. Maya and my SIL painted their nails. Looks like they had a great time. It's so nice to have family around. Get home, unpack the groceries and head to my room to read my new books and take a power nap. (Notice a pattern in my afternoons?) Let the kids do whatever and watch whatever. I'm happy to report they don't give each other any problems, which means they don't give me any problems. (I bought three bags of Karl; one of them I ate on my way to pick the kids up (what? I was hungry) and the kids got into another bag, so we only have one left!)

3:30pm: Remind Ian to write the birthday card for his friend's party. Drag myself out of my room to wrap the present. Drive him over to his friend's house down the street at 4:00pm.

4:05pm: Take Maya to TJ's with me to pick up some staples: milk, bananas, granola bars, half and half. I spot vinho verde and buy a bottle. In the frozen dessert section I find something that's new to me -- peach pops -- and decide to try them out. I let Maya get coffee ice cream, her current favorite flavor.

4:45pm: Remember that I need to pick up a book at the library. Walk over there, telling Maya we can only stay for a little bit because we need to clean up the living room before our friends come over for dinner. Maya checks out another Pokemon video.

5:15pm: Get home and clear the living room of the laundry, tidy up the dining table, and clear the kitchen counter. Steep some mugicha. Just opening the package and getting a whiff of the barley smell makes me close my eyes for a moment to savor memories of summers in Japan.

6:30pm: Rupert comes home. Maya and I have just been hanging out in the living room, peacefully. It's so nice when we're all pleasant to each other ... and it's quiet.

7:00pm: Our friends R and A arrive. They're visiting from Atlanta. We've missed them since they moved away from Los Angeles several years ago. We order food from a local Mexican place and send Rupert and Maya to pick it up. It takes them awhile to come back with the food because the restaurant's busy.

8:00pm: Go pick Ian up from the birthday party. Seems like they had a great time but I'm just eager to get back to my food and conversation with my friends.

8:30pm: Get R, a computer science professor, to take a look at our wireless set-up. Rupert hadn't been able to set up the the wireless printing and we hope R can help. He patiently works on the problem and manages to figure it out. Hooray!

9:15pm: The kids get ready for bed. But, first, the requisite group photo. After the kids go to bed we hang out and talk. Eat peach pops; they're not bad and actually have real peach chunks in them.

11:15pm: R and A leave. Rupert and I continue to hang out on the couch. I upload photos, surf the web, etc.

12:00am: Head to the bedroom. Make the mistake of browsing through the Kobe guidebook. Can't put it down for half an hour. Turn the light off at 12:30. Good night!

Week in the Life 2011 :: Day 3, Wednesday

2011-07-28T08:11:00.000-07:00

sometime between 6:00am and 6:45am: Maya wakes up. She was doing "nothing," according to her.

6:45am: Ian wakes up. The kids watch SpongeBob.

7:13am: When I wander into the living room the kids are watching Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide. Ian started watching this show recently (much to our chagrin) and I wonder if it's because he's mentally getting himself ready for middle school (in a weird TV-land sort of way).

8:00am: Maya wants a turn with Netflix Streaming but I refuse to let her watch another episode of Horseland or SpongeBob. She reverts to Hello Kitty's Furry Tale Theater, a show from the 80s we watched repeatedly before. The kids watch the Star Wars episode.

8:30am: Time for work! Ian needs to stay on schedule for his Cryptography class (and it's a long-ish assignment today); Maya keeps working on her Language Arts packet; and I'm emailing (trying to get permission to access the wireless at work so I can use my iPad (which I'm hopefully getting today) in my library) and catching up on internet stuff.

9:00am: Maya's reached her limit for working on one thing and heads off to color and read. Ian's still working on decoding stuff.

9:30am: Renew my subscription to Saveur using an amazon gift certificate I received from one of the kids at school.

10:00am: Pay bills, check online accounts (yay -- our BofA account is working again on the laptop!), call our health insurance provider to see why my automatic credit card payment stopped (annoying!), load the dishwasher, and field some questions from Ian.

10:10am: Ian finishes today's assignment and takes a break by playing a baseball video game.

10:35am: Maya needs a snack so she eats a Rice Crispy Treat my dad made.

10:45am: It was inevitable: Pokemon video time. Tell the kids our plan for the day: drop off old linens at the animal shelter, lunch (Ian chooses Marmalade Cafe over CPK), and then to buy an iPad. I call the Apple store to see if they have the iPad I want; I literally let the phone ring for 5 minutes before someone picks up. Yay -- they have the one I want in stock!

11:00am: Ask Ian to wipe down the old baby gate we're giving away to a neighbor. In the meantime Maya and I pull old sheets and towels out of the linen closet; she gets bored after a minute and walks away. I pack up a lot of old stuff (especially baby sheets and towels) but the closet still looks completely full. I know we don't need this many towels and sheets but I have a hard time getting rid of things that are still usable.

11:15am: Head out of the house. I let Maya use the camera in the car and she loves it. The kids take self-portraits.

11:30am: Drop off our donation and take some time looking at the dogs and cats. There's an especially cute puppy and some cats in the room right off the lobby. Maya has been asking and asking to get a dog but I've been steadfastly refusing. But if there's one way to sway me, it's to make me actually see the animals. (No picture-taking allowed inside so we snapped a picture as we were leaving.)

11:45am: Head to Marmalade Cafe in El Segundo for lunch. Normally I wouldn't spend so much money on lunch, but Ian had a free kids meal certificate from school. The kids play Tic-Tac-Toe while they wait for the food to arrive. (Ian and I order burgers, Maya gets chicken fingers.) See a student from Robinson sitting at the table next to us; I think this is the first student I've run into this summer. Remember that we have one extra errand to run afterward: we have to get a birthday present for a party Ian's going to tomorrow.

1:30pm: Make it to the Apple store after getting short with Maya for already complaining about being in the car for "so long." We only have to wait a few minutes for them to bring out an iPad for us to buy. The kids play games while we wait. Maya's game is in German so we keep telling her, "Gut, Maya, gut!"

1:40pm: Maya wants to go to the fountain in the mall before we leave. I let her throw a few pennies in to make some wishes.

2:00pm: Shopping at Target. The kids pick out a set of Pokemon cards for Ian's friend and then we buy a few ingredients for tonight's dinner. I'm getting progressively more tired and cranky. <-- This is called "foreshadowing."

2:30pm: Make it home and the first thing Ian wants to do is call his friend. I tell him that's fine but I'm not driving him over there. He asks if he can ask his friend's parents to pick him up. No, of course not! Then Maya starts badgering me to use the iPad, even though I told her it would take time to set up. Finally, I lose it and yell at both of them. I feel bad, yes, but there's only so much I can take. I apologize later but I explain to them how frustrated I was.

3:00pm: Register the iPad and start syncing apps, which is very time-consuming. I don't want to deal with the kids so I let them watch TV while I do this.

4:00pm: Maya starts drawing her version of the Crabby Patty Secret Formula.

5:20pm: I start making dinner, penne with crumbled Italian sausage.

6:00pm: Eat dinner without Rupert, even though I know he's coming home soon. I want to eat before Maya gets cranky and I need to let my stomach settle before going to yoga. Maya eats three helpings of pasta. Ian, as expected, picked out all of the onions. I read the newest New Yorker while eating.

6:30pm: Rupert comes home as I'm finishing dinner. Another episode of Brady Barr is turned on. We play with the iPad a bit. Maya decides Ian shouldn't use it because of his sweaty hands.

7:15pm: I brush my teeth, change my clothes, and head out to my yoga class.

9:30pm: Finish yoga; I feel great. Text with my hairdresser and my sister-in-law to see if I can leave the kids with SIL so I can get my haircut tomorrow. Success!

9:45pm: Rupert's watching So You Think You Can Dance when I get home. I should shower but I get sucked into the TV. Lady Gaga is throwing shoes.

10:00pm: Still need to shower but Rupert's new guilty pleasure, Love in the Wild, is on. It is a terrible show but we watch the whole thing (partly to see the bloody injury, but we weren't impressed with the amount of blood).

11:00pm: Finally shower. Wash my long hair for the last time; tomorrow at least 10 inches of it is getting cut off.

11:30pm: Back to the couch to play with the iPad and download a couple more apps. Bring it to bed and upstage Rupert's much-smaller game of Solitaire. Check out the Kindle app; I like that I can read in the dark and the photos are in color. Rupert thinks my new-ish Kindle is now obsolete. I don't think so; there's a time and place for each.

12:35am: Finally go to sleep.

Week in the Life 2011 :: Day 2, Tuesday

2011-07-26T12:52:00.000-07:00

7:30am: Rupert leaves for work; I'm still rolling around in bed. Check my email and FB on my phone.

8:00am: Maya wakes up and immediately takes advantage of Ian not being home: turns on Horseland on Netflix Streaming.

8:15am: Ian and Alex come back and go to Ian's room to play Legos.

8:30am: I begin uploading yesterday's photos to flickr. Maya finishes watching TV and goes back to working on a drawing she started yesterday.

8:45am: The boys are back to playing video games.

9:20am: Put away dishes from the dishrack, but I have to wait for Ian to put the dishwasher dishes away so I can load it. Yes, it would be easier and faster if I unloaded it but it's not my job! Maya finally gets hungry enough to ask for breakfast and she eats two strawberry Eggos again. I munch on a chocolate chip one while putting away dishes and making my daily ice coffee.

9:40am: Notice Maya's finger nails are like claws. Finally do something parent-like and cut them.

9:45am: The boys are finally finished with their video game, giving Maya a chance to watch a Pokemon video from the library. Ian and Alex linger on the couch and watch with her. But I make Ian unload the dishwasher before he sits down.

10:00am: Load the dishwasher and wash dishes.

10:30am: Work on yesterday's Week in the Life post.

11:00am: At last, the TV is turned off (but probably not for long). The boys continue to talk about Pokemon (for 45 minutes!) on the couch.

11:10am: Maya starts working on her summer packet worksheets. I mentioned to her that Julia is way ahead of her and that seemed to motivate her a bit; nothing wrong with a little competition, right?

11:30am: The boys help themselves to chips to energize their Pokemon conversation. They leave the itty-bitty crumbs in the chip bag and return it to the counter. Ever heard of a garbage can?

11:50am: Maya gets frustrated with doing work so she goes outside with the boys. It occurs to me that I could easily be doing a load of laundry. Throw in a load of lights. Ian and Maya request chicken nuggets for lunch; Alex doesn't want anything but I tell him he has to eat. They go outside for awhile to play (from what I can tell from where I'm sitting inside) some kind of hybrid baseball Pokemon battle game.

12:00pm: Glance at the sidebar on my blog and I realize I haven't updated it in years, probably. Make some quick changes. Remember that I wanted to email my principal about the upcoming school year. Get an automated reply that she's on vacation until August 16. Guess work will have to wait.

12:45pm: Lunch for the kids first. Then I make myself some instant noodles. The kids are watching more Pokemon.

1:30pm: Ian and Alex leave to go back to Alex's. I love these summer days when they don't have anything to do but live at each other's houses. I briefly ponder how old my son is getting to be: I let them walk back by themselves to Alex's house where his teenage brother will be supervising them. No adults and I'm okay with that. Testament to how good these kids are.

1:45pm: Maya is back to her worksheets but she's whining the whole time. Totally lose it and yell at her. Send her to her room to cry. Hear her sobbing that she wants to do homework but I'm pretty sure she's not up to it in her current condition.

2:00pm: She comes out of her room and asks to watch TV but I turn her down. Instead, she sets the timer and sets to work on her coloring book. I guess she set the timer so that she can ask me again about the TV in a bit. "Why is this taking so long?" she asks and turns it off.

2:30pm: Empty the dryer and sort the laundry. I should fold clothes too, but I'll wait until I finish the next load. Head to my room to read the next chapter of The Story of Charlotte's Web: E.B. White's Eccentric Life in Nature and the Birth of an American Classic.

3:00pm: Nap for 20 minutes while Maya is in the living room playing with her Pillow Pet. And I know she snuck a piece of candy; I can hear her sucking on it all the way across the house! But she was good enough to try again with her worksheets and completed a couple more.

3:30pm: Let her watch SpongeBob while I take a shower.

4:00pm: Start another load of laundry. Maya finishes watching SpongeBob and I'm really finished having to watch SpongeBob. Help Maya fix some mistakes on her worksheets.

4:30pm: Maya is back to her coloring book. Contemplate finally responding to an email my father sent me on my birthday three weeks ago. Not that I don't want to email with my father; it's just that writing in Japanese is difficult and time-consuming.

5:00pm: Turn on some music (Adele's 21, my favorite album right now) and open up my email. The Japanese typing is slow-coming but it's getting done with some breaks, including prepping dinner at 5:20pm.

6:00pm: Let Maya watch more TV; she's hungry and I need to keep her preoccupied while dinner is cooking. (Dinner is my version of Kheema curry with eggplant and garbanzo beans.) While the curry is on the stove I finish the email to my father. Rupert comes home at some point.

7:00pm: We sit down to dinner without Ian who's eating over at Alex's (probably a good thing since this is his least favorite kind of curry). Rupert again chooses to watch Brady Barr.

7:30pm: After dinner Maya asks for a Game Night; she chooses Simpsons Sorry! and she wins. I read my book instead. Jared Diamond's Guns, Germs, and Steel series is on TV in the background.

8:00pm: Ian calls to say that he's staying a bit longer because they're watching Rango. Rupert and Maya go to pick him up around 8:30 and the kids come home to get ready for bed.

9:00pm: Half watch MasterChef and half read my book while Rupert does work on his laptop.

10:oopm: Nothing good on TV so turn it off; read and work in silence for awhile. And can't forget to eat dessert: ice cream for Rupert and sherbet for me.

11:00pm: Doze off on the couch and wake up at 11:30 to go to bed.

Observation: Maya and I spent the entire day in our PJs, which means we never left the house!

Week in the Life 2011 :: Day 1, Monday

2011-07-26T10:25:00.000-07:00

12:19am: Rupert's making noise coming to bed and wakes me up briefly. Note to self: tell him to close the bathroom door more quietly. Back to sleep.

7:17am: Wake up. Everyone else is already awake, watching TV.

8:00am: Make the kids turn the TV off and do something else. Ian goes to his room to read and Maya decides to play with her Little People toys and makes up a story about a family with a farm. While I have a moment of quiet I catch up on my emails, resend my James and the Giant Peach virtual peach to Sawa in South Africa, and then load the dishwasher.

9:00am: Give Ian a writing prompt based on a New York Times article on a Japanese baseball player. Send him to his room to write/type so Maya can watch SpongeBob after she finishes playing in her room at 9:30. Ice coffee time for me.

10:00am: After Ian finishes his writing prompt he goes to shower. Maya needs a snack and asks for Eggos; she actually eats two.

11:00am: Off to Borders to see if the liquidation sale prices are any better. Unfortunately, most of the books are still only 10% off. Ian buys another Pendragon Before the War book, Maya chooses a drawing book, and I find a Bad Kitty stuffed animal and get a copy of Ghostopolis for work.

12:00pm: Hop back on the computer after getting home and order the tickets to see the Tim Burton exhibit at LACMA with S&D. Lunchtime for the kids: Ian makes himself a PB&J sandwich (practice for middle school) and I heat up a beef burrito for Maya. I eat Maya's leftovers and a piece of corn.

1:00pm: The kids keep each other occupied by torturing each other on the couch. Alex comes over to play and the boys immediately begin to play the Wii. Maya heads to her room to play with her doggie stuffed animals. I relax by reading Usagi Yojimbo: Yokai in bed.

2:00pm: I take a power nap for 15 minutes while the kids do who-knows-what. The mail comes and Maya brings it to me; my copy of Comics Express (to help kids in Joplin, MO) arrives.

3:00pm: I keep reading in bed (a profile of Wilkie Collins in last week's New Yorker and the introduction to The Story of Charlotte's Web: E.B. White's Eccentric Life in Nature and the Birth of an American Classic). Maya is drawing in her room but, oddly, is not using her new drawing book. Ian and Alex are playing outside but wander back in to play more video games before heading over to Alex's house.

4:00pm: The boys leave having first asked if Ian can spend the night over at Alex's (what a surprise *sarcasm*). Maya and I go for a bike ride (Maya riding, me walking) toward Cabrillo. Coincidentally run into Julia so the girls play for awhile. Get to catch up with Teresa and we both lament how difficult it is to get the girls to work on their summer packets. Agree to tell our girls that the other girl has finished her packet!

5:00pm: Manage to pull the girls away from each other around 5:30 so I can go to the market to get ready for dinner. But, first, I have Maya water the plants, a chore Rupert assigned her before going to work. Head over to TJ's to get some vegetables to go along with the fish nuggets I found in the freezer. Maya chooses green beans and salad.

6:00pm: Maya watches Backyardigans and snacks on pretzels while I pre-heat the oven. Surprisingly, Rupert gets home. I send Maya to pick cherry tomatoes from the front yard for the salad. During dinner Rupert chooses to watch Dangerous Encounters with Brady Barr. I find him slightly annoying; he's like a big, spastic kid. Apparently, that's what Rupert finds entertaining.

7:00pm: I rest for a bit before getting ready to go to yoga. Wonder if my pork "It's All Good" shirt is inappropriate to wear to yoga. Wear it anyway. Monday and Wednesday nights are my favorite class: YogaBlend 1/2. Sure enough, it gives me the workout I want/need.

8:00pm: While I'm gone, Rupert and Maya go to Yogurtland for a special dessert. Maya is trying to explain to Rupert that Hello Kitty is going to be there; Rupert is confused. They bring home Hello Kitty bowls and spoons and Rupert diligently washes them so they can be saved. Rupert is also kind enough to bathe Maya (something I was supposed to do during the day but forgot to do).

9:00pm: Class goes a bit late so I don't get home until 9:30. I am blissfully exhausted, but my lower back feels a bit strained. Probably shouldn't have done the Bow Pose.

10:00pm: Lounge around on the couch and in bed while I wait for Rupert to come to bed. Fall asleep a few minutes before 11:00pm.

Week in the Life 2011 :: summer edition

2011-07-25T15:50:00.000-07:00

The scrapbooking part of my life has been on hiatus for what seems like years. Despite the lack of physical evidence of my chronicling of our family life, I've tried to diligently keep up with the photo-taking and -posting on flickr.

Thankfully, Ali Edwards is hosting another Week in the Life project, which is a great motivator to get me to record our everyday life in a more organized way. I did this project once before in 2008. Again, there's no actual scrapbook of this project (photos were printed but never put together in an album ... story of my life), but I'm happy that I have something to look back on to see what our everyday life was like. It's "only" three years ago but we're all in a drastically different place in our lives than we were then.

I'm glad Ali chose a week during the summer to do this year's Week in the Life; summer life, obviously, differs considerably from our more regimented school year life. Because we have nothing concrete planned for this week I'm not sure how many pictures I'll have from day to day, or if anything "exciting" will happen. But that's part of real life, right?

Gobble, gobble! In 2010, we are thankful for ...

2010-11-25T11:38:00.001-08:00

[Thanksgiving at Rupert's parents' house: November 25, 2010
back row: Rupert's grandparents
front row L to R: Rupert, (crazy looking) Ian, Rupert's brother A, Maya, Rupert's sister L]

Maya, what are you thankful for? "My world."
What should Mama be thankful for? "Family?"
What is Ian thankful for? "Me."
What is Daddy thankful for? "His mom."

Ian, what are you thankful for? "Netflix for Wii, our home, my books, my DS."
What do you think Mama is thankful for? "Your computer?"
What do you think Maya is thankful for? "TV, her family, her bed, her toys."
What do you think Daddy is thankful for? "Finishing his final."

Rupert, what are you thankful for? "I don't know yet."
What do you think Ian is thankful for? "Video games."
What do you think Maya is thankful for? "Crayons."
What do you think yucaree is thankful for? "Books."

What am I thankful for? "I'm thankful for a daughter who wakes up in a good mood, a smartypants son & a husband who can't say "no" to me."
What do I think Ian is thankful for? "Video games and his buddies."
What do I think Maya is thankful for? "Sparkly things, preferably in bead or sticker form."
What do I think Rupert is thankful for? "What little peace and quiet he can get."

'Cause I only blog when there's something in it for me, I mean, my family

2010-11-23T21:23:00.000-08:00

Cathy Zielske shared a TodaysMama/GameStop giveaway and there are at least three members of this family who could find fifty things (minimum) at that store we would want to buy. So filling out this meme seemed like the least I could do if it means a chance at a Chanumas (that's Christmas + Chanukah if you're not aware) surprise.

Mama’s Holiday Wish List Meme

TodaysMama and GameStop are giving away a sleighful of gifts this holiday season and to enter I’m sharing this meme with you.

1. What is your holiday wish for your family? I wish for time with family and not so much emphasis on the material stuff. It would be wonderful if my children also gained better insight into the true meaning of giving.

2. What is your Christmas morning tradition? We go to my parents' house because that's where the chimney is and we all know Santa likes to come down the chimney.

3. If you could ask Santa for one, completely decadent wish for yourself, what would it be? Free time; I want "me time" ... or a decadent family vacation to Spain.

4. How do you make the holidays special without spending any money? Luckily, we live near our families, which means we get to spend a good portion of our winter vacation with family.

5. What games did you play with your family growing up? Hmm, good question. I don't recall ... Yahtzee?

6. What holiday tradition have you carried on from your own childhood? We have Christmas Eve dinner at my parents' house (usually prime rib with my mother's fabulous Yorkshire pudding) and open one present.

7. Where would you go for a Christmas-away-from-home trip? I would probably want to take my family back to Japan. There's enough of a Christmas feel (and wintery cold) and we'd be around my extended family.

8. Check out GameStop and tell us, what are the three top items on your GameStop Wish List this year? Xbox 360 250GB with Kinect (of course); Nintendo DSi XL Plus One Bundle; Rock Band 3 Keyboard Bundle

Looky What I Made :: Gathered Clutch

2010-08-23T17:58:00.001-07:00

To round out my crafting-for-BIL's-wedding urge, I made a purse using Noodlehead's gathered clutch tutorial. It is really quite cute and not as hard as it looks to make (like I've said before, I'm not much of a sew-er). Sure, it took me most of the day to sew, and I really should've been working on the wedding programs, but it was totally worth it :: it matches my dress, the materials cost less than $8 (with fabric left over), and it's big enough to hold most of the stuff I need for the evening.

I included the optional divider pocket and card holder; I like having compartments for all of my stuff. I modified the card holder so it has one wider pocket for my iPhone (sideways) and another pocket that's big enough for a credit card/key card (or lipstick for those who are so inclined). With the divider I have space for my point-and-shoot camera and a change holder.

I'm glad I bought more fabric to make another one for the fall; it's going to be brown with a retro-looking apple and pear fabric for the band across the middle.

Looky What I Made :: Ian's necktie

2010-08-19T12:55:00.000-07:00

Rupert's brother is getting married next weekend in Sebastopol; the entire family (especially the bride's mother) has been working up a storm to pull off what is, no doubt, going to be a phenomenal wedding. Rupert is a groomsman, I'm the stationer, Maya is the flower girl, and Ian is the (quite possibly the world's oldest) ring bearer.

My mother-in-law took Ian shopping for a necktie but they weren't able to find anything in the wedding colors. So I decided to get a little ambitious and make one. After what seemed like forever at Joann looking at fabric, Ian and I decided on a dark brown with some pink and fuschia circles -- just right for the wedding without overwhelming the bridal ensemble with too much more pink (the flowers, bridesmaid dresses, and the groomsmen's ties are fuschia).

I made the tie using the Purl Bee's tutorial, which was really easy to follow. Believe you me I am not an expert sew-er but I managed to hand-sew the tie in a day. I believe the tutorial is for a boy younger than Ian (who is almost 10), but I think it's just long enough. If you're thinking about using the tutorial I wouldn't make it for a boy taller than 4'8" without making adjustments to the pattern.

And I managed to figure out how to tie a tie (this tutorial helped); at least now I know I can tie a basic four-in-the-hand tie if called to do so.

[I'll post pictures of Ian wearing the tie after the wedding.]

Wurstkuche

2010-08-16T08:05:00.001-07:00

Friday night, 6pm.

Rupert and the kids went camping in Long Beach for the night so I went out with my "local BFF," Sidney. Since I rarely get out of the house for grown-up socializing, I had no idea what to do. Sidney emails me the link to Wurstküche in Downtown. Sausages :: what's not to love?

Wurstküche is practically next door to where I worked over 10 years ago. Gosh, east of Alameda has changed quite a bit since then. The restaurant (and its prices) definitely embodies the yuppification of that area.

What I ate :: Rabbit, Veal & Pork seasoned with white wine ($7.50); Klein (small) Belgian Fries with Bleu Cheese Walnut and Bacon dipping sauce ($3.50); Nesbitt's Peach Soda ($3.50); Toasted Apple Pie Ice Cream Sandwich ($4.50), not pictured.

I really wanted to like the place. Fancy sausages, french fries with dipping sauces, and fun sodas (I'm not much of a drinker so I like having alternatives) are right up my alley. You'd think this place fits the bill perfectly. Unfortunately, I can't give Wurstküche a hearty two thumbs up (sorry Sidney).

My suggestion? If you want to actually taste the sausage, skip the bun and push whatever toppings you order off to the side. The rabbit, veal, and pork sausage I ordered is mild to begin with; the sauteed onions and peppers totally overwhelmed the flavor of the meat. I could've been eating who-knows-what-in-a-casing and it would have tasted the same as my $7.50(!) fancy sausage. Frankly, the bratwurst I buy at Bristol Farms for $3.50 a pound is tastier and juicier, and there are sausages that are way better than Bristol Farms'. So that should tell you where I rank Wurstküche's sausage. (Sidenote :: as we were leaving the restaurant, I noticed a bumper sticker on the store next door proclaiming Wurstküche over-priced and over-hyped and I might have to agree.)

I gotta say, though, the fries were quite tasty -- just the right amount of crisp, creamy, and salty. But next time (if there is a next time) I'll choose a different dipping sauce; the bleu cheese, walnut, and bacon sauce didn't taste like any of those things. The Nesbitt's soda wasn't anything to write home about; the fake peach flavor, crazy pink color, and the $3.50 price tag weren't worth it. Bad choice on my part. They do have a big selection of beers that sound interesting ... anyone want to comment on the selection, flavor, and price of the beers?

The one thing I would write home about (if I had to) is the sole dessert they serve, an apple pie ice cream sandwich (with oatmeal raisin cookies). Yes, it's $5 and it wasn't big enough to share (well, I didn't share), but it's the one thing I'd consider going back for (but I probably won't).

We ended our Downtown jaunt at Yogurtland in Little Tokyo. Sidney is a big fan (it's her one dairy indulgence now that she's going dairy-(almost)-free) and I'd never been so it seemed like the right dessert to have. Uh, yeah, my second dessert. Considering all the money I spent on dinner (and first dessert) I'm definitely more enthusiastic about the $3.10 I spent on a fairly decent-size portion of all kinds of fruity yogurt with mango and mochi toppings. Is Yogurtland over-hyped? Maybe (I'm no frozen yogurt expert). But it's definitely not over-priced (the constant line of people in the store proves that).

There happens to be a Yogurtland down the street from my house (even closer than Pinkberry) so I know where I'll be going from now on for my fro-yo fix (Rupert thinks the term "fro-yo" is stupid ... it probably is but I use it anyway).

Wurstküche :: 800 East 3rd Street, LA 90013 | 213.687.4444 | www.wurstkucherestaurant.com

Yogurtland :: 130 South Central Avenue, LA 90012 | 213.687.0733 | www.yogurt-land.com

five years

2010-08-13T00:34:00.000-07:00

Oh, wow ... I haven't blogged since the end of March! Uh, hmm, I guess I didn't have much to say these last four months. And, once again, I missed my blogiversary; August 10 marks five years since I started writing this blog. Despite my recent absence I still care about having my own personal space to write and share stories about my family and myself, so I don't envision this blog shutting down. I just need some inspiration + time to write about something new. Hopefully that'll happen sooner rather than later.

Playing tourist in my hometown

2010-03-31T10:17:00.000-07:00

Running errands with my mom in Downtown LA (she dragged me along so she could drive in the carpool lane!), we decided to ride the newly reopened Angels Flight.

It's quite cute and pretty rickety, but well worth the 25-cents.

While I was at it I took a picture of the view from (500) Days of Summer ::

Now, to get my hair cut ... I deserve something for hanging out with my mom on my week off, right?

What I made for dinner :: Chicken Thighs Braised in White Wine

2010-03-02T19:48:00.001-08:00

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Ian is a S-U-P-E-R S-P-E-L-L-E-R!

2010-02-23T16:43:00.000-08:00

[Ian and his classmate F getting recognized as spelling bee qualifiers at last week's school assembly.]

I'd like to take a moment to brag about my son, the speller. Unbeknownst to us, the students at Ian's school (grades 3-5) took a written spelling bee qualifying test awhile back. According to Ian there were 60 words on the list (apparently they were 8th grade-level words) and they were allowed to miss 12 to qualify for the district spelling bee. There were many classes that didn't have any students who qualified; Ian's class had two qualifiers! In the end, three fourth graders and four fifth graders qualified out of a student population of over 400.

Today was the district-wide spelling bee for grades 4-6, so the qualifiers from Ian's school, the qualifiers from the other elementary school, and the 6th grader qualifiers from the middle school gathered together at the middle school library. There were about 15 kids there and we thought it would take awhile for the spelling bee to finish, but the first round knocked out more than half of them.

[Round 2]

Ian moved through the rounds (with a nice, clear voice, which was helpful to those of us in the audience; some of these kids are so quiet!) until it was just him and a 6th grader in round 4.* The word that knocked him out in round 5 (German words)? Rucksack. Not knowing the word or much German pronunciation, but recognizing that there are words in German that use -ch, he spelled it "ruchsach." I looked it up after I got home, but I think the German -ch is a soft sound (if there's anyone proficient in German out there, please let me know).

Even though he didn't win, I think it's pretty impressive that he made it so far, especially since he didn't study or practice at all, except for his usual reading. Rupert and I went into this with the attitude, which we shared with Ian, that this was for fun, to see what a spelling bee is like, and that there will be other years for him to try again (not that I didn't get nervous during the spelling bee!). Still, Ian was disappointed with his mistake and shed a few tears afterward. It was wonderful to have a supportive group of teachers and friends who shared how proud they are of him and his classmate. This was the first year fourth graders participated in the district spelling bee and they did so well.

We're really proud of you, Ian!

[Ian with his teachers, principal, and classmate/fellow spelling bee-er after the spelling bee.]

[Coincidentally, the winner's mother? I came in second to her in the fitness challenge two years ago. Weird, huh?]

* Ian did a funny thing in round 4 and asked for the pronunciation of the word "chagrin" and the moderator gave away a huge hint, which I'm not sure Ian heard but a bunch of us in the audience did. I'm not sure it was entirely kosher, to be honest, but the end result was the same, just one round later. Ian should've asked for the definition or the etymology, but what more can you do for pronunciation but say the word over again?

Taking a break from blogging

2010-01-08T17:05:00.001-08:00

As if you hadn't noticed, my blog postings are few and far between. I'm just too busy with other stuff and I don't have a whole to say right now. So I'm going on a blog hiatus until the itch to write comes back.

In the meantime, feel free to follow me on twitter (see sidebar) or tumblr (yucaree.tumblr.com).

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Slow + Steady Cleans the House :: Week 4

2009-11-22T18:35:00.001-08:00

I'm going to take it easy the next two weeks because of the Thanksgiving holiday so there won't be any in-depth cleaning posts or polls, but I wanted to leave you with something that has been very helpful to me and is better for my family :: homemade cleaners. I hope you'll consider using them too.

The health risks of using commercial, chemical-based cleaners always bothered me, especially since having Ian and Maya. It took me awhile to switch over to greener cleaning products, but I've been very happy since doing so. With a little elbow grease these products clean just as well, if not better, than the store-bought stuff.

My essential "cleaning kit" includes the following :: Dr. Bronner's peppermint Castile soap, Costco-sized white vinegar + baking soda, borax, essential oils, scrubbing brushes, old toothbrushes, and microfiber cloths.

[My cleaning supply carrier full of stuff that rarely gets used.]

A book that really helped me is Green Up Your Cleanup by Jill Potvin Schoff. I use several of her cleaning "recipes" instead of store-bought cleaners ::

ALL-SURFACE SPRAY

2 teaspoons borax
hot water
1/4 teaspoon liquid Castile soap

Put the borax in a 16-oz spray bottle, fill it with hot water, and shake until the borax dissolves. Last, add the Castile soap. Spray on surfaces like counters and walls, let is sit for a little bit, and wipe off with a clean sponge or microfiber cloth.

GLASS CLEANER

1 cup distilled white vinegar
1 cup water
1/2 teaspoon liquid dish soap (optional)
3-8 drops essential oil like lavender, lemon, peppermint, and tea tree (optional)

Fill a spray bottle with vinegar and water, and shake gently. You can add essential oils to cut the vinegar smell. According to the book, you should use the liquid dish soap in the glass cleaner to dissolve the buildup left behind by commercial glass cleaners. Once that buildup is gone you can omit the soap.

BAKING SODA SCRUB <-- love this stuff!

2 tablespoons baking soda
liquid dish soap or Castile soap

Put the baking soda in a wide-mouthed container (I used an old reusable Ziploc sandwich container) and add the soap a little at a time until you have a foamy paste. Apply the paste to what you want to clean with a rag, sponge, or brush and let it sit for a little while before rinsing with vinegar. Spray the vinegar off with water. You can keep the scrub in the container for awhile with the lid on it. But I've gotten so lazy that I just squirt some Castile soap on whatever surface I want to clean and sprinkle on baking soda before scrubbing away.

DISINFECTANT

2 cups water
1/4 teaspoon (about 25 drops) tea tree oil
1/4 teaspoon (about 25 drops) lavender oil

Fill a 16-oz spray bottle with water and then add the essential oils. Shake gently before each use. Spray on surfaces and leave to dry.

Schoff has a few other "recipes" I haven't tried yet, like laundry soap and dishwasher soap, both items I still buy at the store (although I try to buy the "green" option, whatever that means). And I still buy toilet cleaner at the store. Every once in awhile I try to use baking soda to scrub the inside of the toilet and then I spray it down with the disinfectant. I'm not sure which is more effective, seeing as my toilet always seems to be dirty ... I'll just have to keep experimenting.

And I'm leaving you with one last "miracle" cleaning tip (which I read about in a Japanese baking soda + vinegar cleaning book) :: you know that oily buildup that accumulates on stuff near the stove? I've always had a heck of a time scrubbing that crud off my teapot, which I leave on my stovetop. I used abrasive cleaners and hot water and nothing ever worked. Until I read that baking soda alone could clean it up! Sure enough, all you have to do is sprinkle baking soda on the item and scrub with a dry brush (I usually use an old toothbrush) or even your fingers. The oily residue just balls up and crumbles off. Once you're all done rinse it with water.

Slow + Steady Cleans the House :: Week 3

2009-11-15T13:00:00.000-08:00

This week I tackle the dreaded laundry monster. Laundry, to me, is a mystery chore :: it's not an extremely difficult task (after all, the washing machine + dryer do most of the work) but it still doesn't get done often enough; all of us seem to wear the same clothes over and over again but the mountains of laundry seem to get larger and larger; and where do the darn single socks disappear to?!

[image from Shirt.Woot]

Everyday I am faced with some kind of you-still-haven't-finished-the-laundry reminder :: we have stacks of clean clothes in the living room that need to be folded, put away, or washed again because they've been sitting there for god knows how long; and we have way too many laundry hampers around the house full of dirty clothes and linens. And we can't forget about the washer that's full of dirty clothes and the dryer that hasn't been unloaded yet.

It's clear that we haven't found a laundry system that works for us. I'm hoping that if we have an actual plan we can conquer laundry. So, what do you do?

Mishmash Laundry Poll :: What kind of laundry person are you? (Check all that apply; comments appreciated.)(poll)

I'd love to read about your laundry process, so please feel free to leave comments as well.

In an absolutely perfect world, someone else would take care of my laundry for me, but that ain't ever gonna happen. So I've been thinking instead of what would be a more ideal situation. Unfortunately, that entails some major renovations to our house so I had to scrap the idea. (Honestly, I would rather have an office/craft room or a nicer bathroom but more square footage for a laundry room would make things so much easier!) So now I'm down to being realistic about our laundry solutions. Boo being realistic!

First, I think we're not using hampers well. Before we had kids we kept two hampers, one for white clothes and one for colors. I did the laundry when they got full, and the clean clothes got put away because I needed the hamper to be empty for the new dirty clothes. But then, somewhere along the way, we started accumulating more and more laundry baskets and hampers. I think that was the major mistake.

Now that we have enough baskets to leave our clean clothes in, I don't bother to fold and put the clothes away. Instead, we just pull clean clothes out of the basket to wear. And because we have the dual system of throwing dirty clothes directly into the washing machine and putting some dirty clothes into hampers, the whites and colors don't get sorted and some clothes don't get washed for a long time (i.e., the washing machine fills up more quickly than the hampers fill up so the hamper clothes get neglected).

As a solution, I'm really liking the idea of these laundry baskets by Rubbermaid :: Stack'n Sort baskets, which were mentioned on the Real Simple Home & Organizing blog. Each member of the family would get two (whether for whites + colors or for clean + dirty). Once we have the hamper situation squared away we'll stop putting clothes directly into the washing machine.

Second, I think a laundry schedule would work for me. Otherwise I go much too long between washing towels and sheets. Writing laundry into my weekly schedule might help me to be more efficient about getting it all done. My plan is to start laundry in the morning on the days I go into work late (Monday and Thursday) and do a load (or two) of linens during the weekend. If there's a lot of laundry that needs to be done, I might do a load on Wednesday (when I come home early from work) or on Friday (my day off). With this schedule I might end up doing a load everyday (!) but at least I've scheduled specific times to get it done.

Third, "doing laundry" means sorting dirty clothes, washing + drying, folding, and putting away. It's the whole package and needs to be done as a whole package. Going back to my last point about scheduling laundry, I need to make sure I have enough time during that day to complete the entire process.

And last, Rupert and I are trying to get the kids involved. We obviously can use all the help we can get! Currently, the kids put their dirty clothes in the washer and they sort the clean clothes. For the most part they do a good job, but it dawned on me that they pay very little attention to what Rupert and I wear; it's not uncommon to find Rupert's shirts in my pile and vice versa. I'm sure with some more practice they'll get it one of these days. As they get older I'll have them take on a bit more of the laundering process.

Laundry is definitely a chore for me, so I was surprised that no one chose laundry as one of their three worst chores in last week's poll. Cleaning the kitchen came in first as the worst chore, followed by dishwashing and dusting + vacuuming (a tie). As I've been thinking more and more about cleaning in order to write these blog posts, it's becoming clearer and clearer that having fewer possessions would make cleaning much easier and go by much more quickly. (I think a decluttering post will be in the works for posting in the near future.)

As for the follow-up poll about how often people spot-clean, it turns out people are kinda split on this one. One person answered "weekly" but two others answered "once every two weeks," and another two, "when it gets disgusting." I wish the two people who answered "other" specified their frequency. I am definitely not a weekly spot-cleaner -- the days just seem to fly by before I can get the cleaning supplies out -- so I'd have to say I wait until things get disgusting. When I write it out like that for all the world to read, it makes me feel pathetic. Gotta work towards spot-cleaning a bit more frequently ... or at least train the kids how to do some of it!

what I made for dinner :: mini honey-mustard meatloaves

2009-11-09T18:28:00.000-08:00

I don't know about you, but I grew up with fabulous meatloaf. My mother makes an amazing meatloaf with some surprises inside :: she would often stick an entire sausage (like a bratwurst) or a hard-boiled egg inside the loaf. It may sound weird, but it's delicious! And her meatloaves were always moist so I never had the aversion to meatloaf that many people seem to have.

Fast forward to college, sophomore year. I attempted to make a meatloaf and I didn't have a recipe. That was a disaster and a memory Rupert seems to have erased from his memory (thankfully).

I think I was traumatized by that cooking experience and I've been very reluctant to make meatloaf for the last 10+ years. But I think I've found a recipe that will help me add meatloaf to my cooking repertoire :: Mini Honey-Mustard Meatloaves from Martha Stewart.

The recipe is not perfect as is, but it's a good start. Rupert was surprised at its moistness, a big plus. Adding cheese to the meatloaf mixture and the top of the meatloaves helps, no doubt! But I found that it's too fluffy, a result from perhaps too much panko breadcrumbs. I don't want the meat to be too dense, but I also want it to still taste like meat; next time I'll reduce the amount of breadcrumbs to a quarter of a cup. The recipe calls for honey-mustard but I didn't have any so I mixed some honey into regular yellow mustard. Next time I may use a Dijon or seedy mustard instead to give it deeper flavor.

One warning, because of the cheese, the meatloaves expel a lot of grease (I also used 80/20 ground beef so there was a lot of fat in the meat too). Be sure to use the cooking pan that is appropriate for you. I used a rimmed baking sheet lined with Silpat and it required a lot of cleaning. Placing the meatloaves on a rack in a deeper baking pan might be better ...

I served the meatloaves with curry roasted cauliflower, which was a hit with everyone. I just cut up a cauliflower, doused it with some olive oil and sprinkled salt, pepper, and a little bit of curry powder on it. I think I roasted it for about 12 minutes in the oven while the meatloaves were cooking. Be sure to toss them midway through the cooking time so they don't get too dry.

Slow + Steady Cleans the House :: Week 2

2009-11-08T03:43:00.000-08:00

I'm now starting week 2 of Slow + Steady Cleans the House and I haven't done a lick of cleaning in the last seven days. Why am I not surprised?

[Cleared off the top of the dresser + reorganized my books.]

Actually, I partially decluttered our bedroom last weekend but what I didn't get cleaned up is still on the floor. That's my problem :: I lose steam part way through an organizing or cleaning project and I'm left with a bigger mess than when I started.

[What was on the dresser is now on the floor.]

So, why did I not finish? Let's analyze this for a moment ... I've read enough organizing books to know the basic guidelines, and I clearly did not follow them ::

Make a commitment to organizing + cleaning as a family --> So far I'm the only one on board. I also started cleaning the bedroom by myself to surprise Rupert but I should probably enlist his help next time.
A place for everything, and everything in its place --> There was a lot of useless junk on my dresser that I got rid of (including some old poetry medals I won in middle school), but I still have too much stuff to store in an orderly way. I have to work on minimizing and finding a proper place for everything instead of just leaving stuff on any available flat surface.
Touch items as few times as possible --> I need to remember that the extra 10 seconds to a minute it takes to properly put things away is worth not having junk all over the place all the time.
Changing behavior takes a long time; I will have to repeat an activity for more than three weeks before it becomes a habit --> I should spend some time each week doing the same cleaning/organizing activity so that it becomes a regular part of my routine.
Cleaning + organizing are more mental exercises than physical acts --> Most importantly, I will have to think about my possessions, the reasons why I keep certain items, and my motivation behind mindless shopping.

So, my goals for the following week are to finish picking up the junk on the floor in the bedroom, and to go through guidelines 1 ~ 5 everyday.

All right, down to some business :: Last week's poll results surprised me. I asked what your cleaning methodology is and I thought for sure that most people cleaned a bit everyday or weekly. Most respondents are like me :: they clean before company comes over. Or, as my mother-in-law mentioned, she hides stuff before company comes over. Valid point -- cleaning and hiding are two different things.

Of the 13 respondents, six said they clean before company comes over; four have a housecleaning service; and there was one respondent each for seasonal cleaning, monthly cleaning, and feigning housecleaning ignorance. But, surely, people must do spot-cleaning every once in awhile. Otherwise, everyone's house would look like mine and I know for a fact that they don't! So let's get a bit more specific here ... and be honest!

How often do you spot-clean your house (vacuum or sweep the floor, scrub the toilet, dust furniture, etc.)?(polls)

OK, but this week's official poll is actually about your three most dreaded chores.

I had a hard time just picking three!

48 months.

2009-11-04T17:12:00.000-08:00

Maya @ 48 months :: November 4, 2009

[the last of my what-started-as-weekly-and-is-now-monthly posts about Maya]

Visited a real pumpkin patch for the first time in Ventura. This was a tradition we started when Ian was little, but we stopped going after a few years so we'd like to resurrect it.
Her counting to 20 is definitely getting better ... finally.
She was a mermaid princess for Halloween and went trick-or-treating with her friend M (for two blocks before she got tired). She definitely loves her candy ... but she separated out the chocolates for me and Rupert to eat.
From Rupert's Facebook :: "I'm shooting zombies out of my butt." -- not the words of a normal 3 year old.
And calling bad guys (Biff from Back to the Future Part II) "poop heads."
She's not very good at pluralfying nouns. Appropriately for October :: "ghostes" + "leafes"
First parent-teacher conference :: academically moving along quite well, but socially it turns out she's a lot more similar to Ian than I originally thought.
Rupert *still* spoonfeeds her cereal in the morning but she promised me that once she turns 4 she'll eat by herself (which she is totally capable of doing). Now, we have to make sure Rupert goes along with the plan.
She has this thing about not wanting to be on the freeway because "it's boring!" If we're going somewhere she doesn't recognize the first thing she asks is, "Are we going on the freeway?" Then she asks, "Are we on the freeway now?" And finally she asks repeatedly, "Are we off the freeway?"

Week 1 in my new weekly series Slow + Steady Cleans the House

2009-10-31T14:00:00.001-07:00

It's no secret that I am not a fan of housekeeping. "Not a fan" is an understatement :: I loathe and detest it and often take naps instead of picking up a sponge or a mop or a broom. Who wants to spend their time scrubbing toilets and wiping down baseboards when they could be doing anything else?

[How true it is.]

Of course, I'm not alone. My friend L recently asked on her Facebook page if money were no object would you hire a housekeeper or a nanny, and all the responses were a resounding yes for the housekeeper. I think most parents -- whether at home or at work -- would rather spend time with their kid(s) than have to say, "Hold on, sweetie, Mommy has to wash the windows instead of take you to the park."

Heck, even if money were an object (and, believe me, it is), I'd hire a housekeeper to come every once in awhile. The only thing stopping me is my husband. In fact, my mother-in-law has offered on numerous occasions to send her housekeeper to clean my bathroom and kitchen (because they are, in fact, that dirty!) but Rupert has pooh-poohed the idea repeatedly. (It's not that he thinks housework is a woman's job; I guess it's the principle of not having to pay someone to do something we can do ourselves. Along the same lines, he didn't like when our parents sent a gardener over to spiff up our yard. Again, I would rather hire someone to do that occasionally instead of listening to Rupert mumble about the amount of yard work there is when he could be spending time with the kids or studying.)

It's not that I'm bad at housekeeping. On the rare occasions I get around to cleaning, I do a fairly thorough and good job. It's the upkeep that I cannot, well, keep up with. And since I started working almost a year ago, the house has gotten worse. As a result, our house is in perpetual disarray. We're getting pretty close to the point where we would be a good candidate for one of those organizing shows on HGTV.

[My view on housekeeping isn't this extreme ... but it's pretty close.]

I do not jest, nor do I exaggerate, when I say the house is not just dirty, it's a health hazard (I can picture my mother and mother-in-law nodding in agreement). Every surface is covered in dust and/or cobwebs. There are stacks of crap throughout the house. And let's not even talk about the bathroom; it's like a science experiment gone awry. Suffice it to say, it would be easier to completely remodel the bathroom than try to clean it completely (at least, that's what I keep telling Rupert in the hopes of moving along ~~our~~ my remodeling plans). Looking around the house it is just overwhelming; I don't know where to start or what to tackle first.

Enough is enough! I've been a homeowner for over seven years ... let's show some pride of ownership here, people! So I'm starting a new project :: Slow + Steady Cleans the House. I want to take a more organized and routinized approach to cleaning the house and keeping it that way. And I'd like for you to come along for the ride. That means I need your advice and feedback. Part of my housecleaning improvement process will be to learn and to understand how other people tackle their housekeeping. I think your answers will be really enlightening and helpful to other readers as well. So, how can you contribute? For one, you can comment on each week's blog post; but the easier way will be to participate in the weekly poll.

Polls will be posted each Sunday. Results will be announced and discussed in the following Sunday's post. This week's poll is a general view on how often you clean. Not surprisingly, I'm of the "Housecleaning? What is that?" camp. Occasionally I dabble in the "Clean before company comes over" category but usually I just don't invite people into my house. I'd like to change that. Sure, I claim that I don't care what other people think but it's hard not to compare the state of your house with those of your friends' (who also work but somehow manage to keep their homes habitable).

Last piece of business :: in order to embark on this weekly cleaning journey (which will, by association, include organizing) I set some ground rules for myself ::

As the name of the project implies, this will be a gradual process. I will not expect miracle results overnight.
No matter the temptation, I will not compare myself to others. I may steal their cleaning/organizing ideas but I will not compare the progress or result of that idea-stealing.
I'm doing this for the kids as much as I'm doing it for myself. I want to set a good example and teach them organizing skills so when I say, "Clean your room" they know how to do it properly and they don't ask me, "Well, why don't you clean your room?"
I will not give up. Even if I encounter some set-backs (i.e., letting dishes or laundry pile up) I'll ease myself back into the cleaning routine.
I am not looking to be perfect, just adequately organized and clean so that housework no longer causes me stress.

All righty, are you ready? Let's get started!

pride of craftsmanship

2009-10-24T08:39:00.001-07:00

On my list of "33 Things to Do While I'm 33" are things like travel (check!), get an iPhone (check!), and learn a new language (not so check). And I'm now on my way to checking "take a creative class" off the list.

My sister D and I are taking a 10-week letterpress class at Otis. Like many paper fiends we both love letterpressed items and we were curious about how it works. So we nudged each other into taking this (expensive) class.

Who knew letterpress would be so much work? OK, who am I kidding, of course it's a lot of work! No wonder letterpress stationery costs so much. (And it's very greasy (which actually was a surprise).) Most modern mass-produced letterpress stationery is made using photopolymer plates, which easily allows use of images, patterns, and text. But we're starting off old-school with metal type.

I set the phrase "i (heart) the liberry" because one of my first graders would literally run around the library yelling this. I liked it ... but no body seemed to "get" it so I reset it as regular ol' "i (heart) the library". My idea was to print it in black except use red for "love," which means you pull out the "love" letters and print a batch in black, swap out the letters, and print just "love" in red.

Unfortunately, it's not that easy when it takes two-and-a-half hours just to set and adjust the type and machine. So all I got done was this:

[This sample is on smooth, slightly shimmery paper. The ink "sticks" pretty well to this paper.]

Sure, the phrase isn't complete, but I wish you could feel the lovely impression of the letterpress. I'm pretty happy and proud of the results. It drove me and the teacher crazy trying to get everything just right (he basically told me he hated this project!). But it was well worth the hassle. Truly, it gave me the joy of creating something with my own hands.

[I printed more on watercolor paper, which my teacher didn't think took the ink very well, but it has a nice texture to it. Besides, I bought a whole pad of the stuff so I need to use it up. My idea is to cut them up into business card size and fill in the blank depending on my mood.]

the start of my day

2009-10-22T09:45:00.001-07:00

How my work desk is beginning to look every morning ...

I'm also a bit embarrassed to admit (but just a bit) that I had a chocolate chip cookie for breakfast with my coffee.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

The Simple Woman's Daybook :: 10.19.2009

2009-10-19T18:31:00.000-07:00

[Topics copied from Ali Edwards's blog, which was inspired by the original Simple Woman's Daybook]

Outside my window … confused weather: cloudy + sunny, warm + breezy, somewhere between a Los Angeles summer + fall.

I am thinking ... there’s so much I’d like to do to “pretty up” the library. But my priority really should be about curriculum!

I am thankful for ... my husband's flexible grad student schedule. We may not have a lot of money but we have the Man of the family around when we need/want him.

From the kitchen ... tuna noodle casserole.

I am wearing ... light gray corduroys + a hot pink tank top (which I get lots of compliments on), both from Old Navy, and black ballet flats.

I am creating ... shelf marker paint sticks + shelf marker frames (whoo-hoo decoupaging!).

I am going ... to Borders to use the 30% off coupon that expires today.

I am reading ... _The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie_ by Alan Bradley, _Leviathan_ by Scott Westerfeld, _No Impact Man_ by Colin Beavan.

I am hoping ... to cancel my gym membership (since I haven't gone in forever) and use the money instead for KPCC membership + a charitable cause.

I am hearing ... the sound of an empty campus, the peacefulness of no kids at school.

Around the house ... Ian is home early from school with a headache + Jordan spent the day working on the couch.

One of my favorite things ... alone time with some coffee (even though what’s supposed to be regular drip coffee tastes suspiciously like hazelnut today) and ideas for what to buy at the bookstore.

A few plans for the rest of the week ... come up with 3rd grade curriculum about the Dewey Decimal system, finishing the shelf decorations for work, sewing up four tagE*blankEs, printing up some stationery at the letterpress lab, and reading three books.

Picture for today ...

what i made for dinner :: broccoli calzones

2009-10-16T19:46:00.000-07:00

Meatless dinner, for a change. I needed to use up the ricotta cheese from the other day so I did a search on Everyday Food and found this recipe for calzones.

It's simple but a tad time-consuming to make + cool the broccoli filling and to roll out + fill eight pizza doughs.

The results are, however, pretty good. And even without any meat I found it to be quite filling. You could, of course, add some kind of meat like sausage if you can't bear the thought of eating vegetarian.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

47 months.

2009-10-04T16:58:00.000-07:00

Maya @ 47 months :: October 4, 2009

Is a total Daddy's Girl right now ... which is fine by me since it means she bothers Rupert in the morning instead of me!
Started "Hot Shots," a tumbling class, at school. It's a great way to get her to wear something other than dresses.
She can be very lovable + sweet when she wants to be. I get lots of "Mama, I love you all day," which makes my day.
On the other hand, she often hits or kicks Ian, usually in the face. Then I send her to her room for time-out and she always asks for the timer so she knows when to come out.
Despite beating up on her brother, she enjoys spending time with him and his friend R when they are hanging out in the morning before school.
Her drawing infatuation continues. Lately she's been drawing more animals and making bookmarks for me.
She's taller than I think she is :: I put the scissors up high since she was having issues with cutting paper up, but it turns out she can reach it on her tip-toes (I didn't notice because she was good enough to put the scissors back after using it). She can also turn on the lights in the house; now, if only she'd turn them off.
Has a fascination with butts and boobs.

what i made for dinner :: chipotle chicken + rice

2009-09-18T18:34:00.000-07:00

going back to work dampens my mood for making dinner. well, not really. it dampens my mood for thinking about what to make for dinner. if you tell me what to make, for the most part, i'm okay about the actual cooking part.

to help me find something to make, i signed up to get daily emails from everyday food. i file them away in my email "recipes" folder and scan through them when i'm at a loss as to what to make. i'm all about the simple, quick, as-few-ingredients-as-possible recipes so tonight i made chipotle chicken + rice. (it helped that, when i cleaned out the pantry, i came across a can of chipotle chiles in adobo that needed to be used.)

the cook time is a tad on the long side, but actual prep time is quick. unfortunately, we are light-weights when it comes to spiciness so even just two chipotle chiles made us sweat and our noses run. luckily, ian wasn't around for dinner and maya ate leftover chinese food so we didn't have the kids complaining about "it's too spi~cy! i don't li~ke it!"

i did neglect to use lime and cilantro as garnish, so that might make a difference. the other thing i'm going to try, at rupert's suggestion (and a good one, at that), is to alter the recipe and make a mexican paella. don't you think it would be good with chorizo, seafood, lime, cilantro, etc.?

46 months.

2009-09-04T21:32:00.000-07:00

maya @ 46 months :: september 4, 2009

we spent a week in palm desert with my parents (an annual tradition). boy, does she like staying at hotels! she also loves swimming and she'll jump into the pool if you let her hold one of your fingers, but she doesn't like to float around on her own.
the following conversation pretty much summarizes her attitude right now ::
maya :: i'm the boss!
ian :: no, you're not.
maya :: why not?! i'm three and three-quarters!
went on an overnight trip with ian and her grandparents to legoland.
one of her favorite books is "go, dog. go!"
she started in the "official" pre-K class, i.e., the four-year-old class at her preschool. i'm happy 'cause tuition is lower thanks to the LAUP program.
keeps talking about going to ian's friends' houses for sleepovers when she's 16 and 24. i guess it's because we told her she has to be a little bit older to go, but i think i would be hesitant to let her spend the night at a boy's house when she's 16!

too many -versaries to remember!

2009-08-19T18:19:00.000-07:00

i forgot, once again, that my blogiversary was on the 10th. it's not that i don't love my blog; i do. it's been a wonderful record of the last four years of our life.

around this time of year i enjoy reading old entries, like this one from august 27, 2005 :: "at this rate it will take me a good five years to get the house in order, but it's a start." can you believe i said "five years"? do you know what that means?! i only have a year to get the house in order! yikes ... i guess it's good to have these little reminders to get my butt into gear.

but another part of me hates this time of year. i seem to always have a mental and emotional breakdown in august. not a good month for me. if given the chance to reflect on my emtional state in this blog, i would most likely go on a downward spiral to the dark depths of my soul, and i'm not ready or willing to do that. so i tend to neglect the blog or only write "fluff" posts during this time of year.

but one of my goals for this year is to stop dwelling on the negative in the past and to put my energies toward living in the present. and you know what? this blog can be a tool for that purpose; to record the present.

so, here's to another year of blogging!

45 months.

2009-08-04T16:23:00.000-07:00

maya @ 45 months :: august 4, 2009

wants to wear dresses all the time. probably influenced by all the girls at her preschool.
we started going to our new farmers market down the block from our house and now she thinks the farmers market "lives" in that parking lot.
always yells out "my school! my school!" when we pass by, which is often.
enjoying splashing around in the water but isn't much about swimming (i.e., dunking her face underwater), although on a good day she'll let me pull her around while she blows bubbles and kicks her feet.
can write ian's name and most of the alphabet correctly. she asks about the spelling of certain words, mostly names of people she likes (i.e., ian's friends).
drawing cats and dogs and princesses.
finally got to spend the night in ian's room.
her favorite song is the "ABC song" but one day towards the end of the month she was upset because she "lost" the letter O in the song. it was really because she kept singing it, as most kids her age do, "ellamennow."
it seems at some point she decided she does, in fact, have a favorite blanket :: the light green baby gap "wan wan" (i.e., puppy) blankie that once belonged to ian.
she loves to stop by a bush near her preschool that attracts a lot of little yellow butterflies. she tries in vain each day to have one walk on her hand; she's only been successful once so far. (on occasion i gently catch one for her so she can see it up close.)

obon festival

2009-08-02T23:41:00.000-07:00

i spent my childhood summers in japan. my memories are filled with time spent with my maternal grandparents, going to japanese school (not all good memories), semi-tori (cicada catching) with my cousin, the humidity, and summer festivals. the obon festival was something i attended from year to year and it's a tradition i'd like my kids to embrace as well. it just seems like ian and maya don't have the same kind of summer traditions i did and i'd like them to have fond memories of their summers as i do.

but in order for them to embrace the tradition, i need to take them to an obon festival every year! sadly, in the last 20 years or so i haven't attended any of the many festivals here in the los angeles area. the one i used to go to is the gardena buddhist church obon, and it's the last one of the season in our area.

i couldn't convince ian to come with us (he opted to play at a friend's house) and jordan had a paper to write, so it was just me and maya. i dressed her up in ian's old jinbei-san (even though she wanted to wear a dress) and we headed to gardena for a little cultural mom & daughter time.

the main attraction of an obon festival is the obon dancing, which usually happens in the evening, but we couldn't stay that late. instead, we enjoyed some food (shaved ice and sata-andagi donut holes), watched a bit of taiko drumming, and played a couple of games. the festival seemed smaller than i remembered but it was just the right size for our afternoon outing.

walking through the church grounds and looking at all the people around me, i felt a tad bit out of place. not because i looked any different from the people around me, but because i didn't feel like part of the community.

the japanese american (ja) community has strong ties to each other through many activities for the young and old, annual traditions like obon and nisei week, and families that go back three and four generations in southern california. my step-dad's side of the family has been here for about four generations and my step-sister is pretty tied in with the goings-on in the ja world.

but i've never been a part of that. at the same time, i was never a part of the chuuzai-in (temporary transfers from japan) crowd either. it didn't help that i grew up in manhattan beach with so few asians around me (much less jas). in many ways i feel awkward being at these kinds of events because i know what they're about, but i don't know the ja way (sometimes japanese traditions change or are tweaked over the generations after they've crossed the pacific), or i think i should know about something but i don't and the jas do. basically, i feel in limbo between being a "real" japanese and being ja. and, no wonder. i'm not ja and i'm not really japanese. and my kids are really neither because they don't see themselves as ja or japanese (at least, i don't think ian does and maya needs more time before she even figures out she's not a fairy princess).

i don't think about it often, but there are times when i contemplate cultural self-awareness and what that means for the kids. i want them to be informed about their japanese and jewish heritages but they don't have very good role models in rupert and myself, unfortunately. it's hard to ask your kids to take their cultural backgrounds seriously when you're not very in tune yourself. figuring this all out is another thing to add to my long list of parenting to-dos. at the very least, taking maya to obon and exposing her to it was a start. a pretty tasty start.

the closest i'll get to meeting one of my heroes

2009-08-02T20:45:00.000-07:00

facebook is useful. very useful. through a friend on FB i found out hayao miyazaki was going to be in town for a talk (with john lasseter, no less). i found out just in time to get tickets the day they went on sale (i hit the "buy" button right at 9:01am), which was a good thing since they sold out by mid-morning apparently.

if you don't know who hayao miyazaki is i'm not sure we can be friends ... just kidding ... sort of. miyazaki-san is the director of some of my favorite movies :: nausicaa of the valley of the wind, totoro, princess mononoke, howl's moving castle, etc. i never get tired of watching any of his films and i doubt i ever will. it pleases me bunches that ian and maya repeatedly watch some of miyazaki-san's movies (especially totoro and spirited away). along the same line as pixar films, miyazaki films can be enjoyed and appreciated by adults and children alike.

anyway, rupert + i made it a date night (along with our friend H who told us about the event) and headed to the samuel goldwyn theater in beverly hills last week. as we walked in we were given the chance to write a question that might be read by lasster and answered by miyazaki. being the smart cookie that i am, i thought this opportunity might present itself, and i came prepared with a question in mind.

the talk itself was lead by lasseter asking some questions, interspersed with extended clips from miyazaki's movies. the nice thing about that was watching them on the big screen; i've only seen a few of miyazaki's movies in a theater setting. the bad thing, however, was that they showed dubbed versions, which irked me. some of the voiceovers are so awful (especially jiji from kiki's delivery service -- truly awful -- sorry phil hartman). as rupert explained to H, "we're not allowed to watch these movies in english at our house." but, despite the dubbing, you know a movie is good when, even though you've seen it a hundred times before, you think, "hey, i was watching that!" when they stop the clip.

at the end of the talk came the q&a session. i sort of gave up on my question being asked (i've never been lucky like that) so i was pleasantly surprised, and slightly uncertain, when lasseter said the last question was from "yurak matuma[mumble mumble]?". of course, once he read the question i knew it was mine so i got very excited and craned to hear what miyazaki said.

my question was something along the lines of, "rumor has you retiring after every movie since princess mononoke. what keeps bringing you back to film making?"

his answer was something like, "to be honest, the first time i said i was going to retire was after nausicaa. but i only told my wife. now no one believes me so i'm not saying anything about retiring anymore." so he really didn't answer my question!

regardless, it was a thrill to see miyazaki and lasseter in the flesh, even if they were about the size of my thumb since we were sitting at the back of the theater. i never thought i would get the chance to be in the same room as miyazaki so i was in absolute heaven. too bad they didn't allow cameras at the talk, otherwise i would've snapped a million pictures. instead, i leave you with a self-portrait taken later that night at home.

what i made for dinner :: chicken with balsamic barbecue sauce

2009-08-02T20:14:00.000-07:00

summer = bbq, no? it's easy, your kitchen stays cool + you get the husband involved in dinner-making.

since i still have the giada cookbook (giada's kitchen) i prepared a simple dish for rupert to grill. instead of a whole chicken, though, i used four pieces of boneless thigh and eight drumsticks. there was plenty of sauce for all of that chicken.

chicken with balsamic barbecue sauce

(4 servings)

ingredients ::

1 cup balsamic vinegar
3/4 cup ketchup
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 garlic clove, minced
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 chicken, cut in serving pieces (2 breasts, 2 thighs, 2 legs, and 2 wings)
salt and freshly ground black pepper

directions ::

combine all the barbecue sauce ingredients in a small nonreactive saucepan and whisk until the mixture is smooth. Simmer over medium heat until reduced by one third, 15 to 20 minutes.
place a grill pan over medium heat or preheat an outdoor grill. season the chicken pieces with salt and pepper.
transfer 1/2 cup of the sauce to a small bowl. grill the chicken for about 10 minutes per side, brushing the chicken with the 1/2 cup barbecue sauce for the last 2 or 3 minutes. transfer the chicken to a serving platter and let it rest for at least 5 minutes. serve with the remaining barbecue sauce alongside.

note :: if you prefer not to grill, the chicken can also be baked. place the chicken skin side up in a baking dish and bake for 25 minutes in a 375 degree oven. remove the baking dish from the oven and spoon the barbecue sauce all over the top of the chicken. return the baking dish to the oven and bake for another 15 minutes.

what i made for dinner :: Orecchiette with Sausage, Beans, and Mascarpone

2009-07-18T15:51:00.000-07:00

i know i said this last time too, but it's been awhile since i've tried a new recipe. our local library has a copy of _giada's kitchen: new italian favorites_ by giada de laurentiis so i thought it was high time to add a new pasta dish to my repertoire. and, although i love baked pastas (such as giada's stuffed manicotti), i don't much feel like turning the oven on in july (even if i wanted to i couldn't since it's broken). i hunted around for a recipe with a short ingredient list and just a few steps.

the recipe for "orecchiette with sausage, beans, and mascarpone" kept catching my eye. i made a few substitutions (medium shell pasta instead of orecchiette, mild italian sausage instead of turkey sausage) and finally used the sea salt i bought in paris (from brittany). i thought it was quite tasty, and the kiddos did too (including a friend's almost-4-year-old).

Orecchiette with Sausage, Beans, and Mascarpone
(4~6 servings)

ingredients ::

1 pound orecchiette or other small shaped pasta
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 pound turkey sausage, casings removed
1 small onion, chopped
1 (15-ounce) can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
2 tablespoons chopped fresh oregano leaves
1/2 cup mascarpone cheese
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

directions ::

bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. add the pasta and cook until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, 8 to 10 minutes. drain the pasta, reserving 1 cup of the cooking water.
in a large, heavy skillet, warm the olive oil over medium-high heat. add the sausage and onion and cook, using a wooden spoon to break up the sausage into bite-size pieces as it browns. continue cooking until the sausage is golden and the onion is tender.
add the beans and oregano and cook for 2 more minutes. add the reserved pasta cooking water and stir, scraping up any brown bits from the bottom of the pan. add the mascarpone cheese and stir until it dissolves into a light sauce.
add the salt, pepper, and hot pasta. stir until coated, and serve.

44 months.

2009-07-04T21:48:00.000-07:00

maya @ 44 months :: july 4, 2009

talks incessantly; a complete and total chatterbox.
went to disneyland early in june with her grandparents and can't stop talking about going again.
coined the term "snarted" when she sneezed + farted at the same time while sitting on the toilet. rupert was so proud.
really, really, really wants to get a puppy + kitten :: she talks about it almost everyday, asking when she can get a dog and a cat. we keep telling her that when she gets her own house she can do whatever she wants.
calls the zoo, "the jungle."
no change here but she's writing + drawing up a storm.
learned a "princess" dance from her classmates, but it's not particularly classy or regal. it's basically putting one hand on the side of her head + the other hand on her hip, and shaking her hips vigorously.
spent a week away from mama + ian (while they were in paris). claimed she didn't miss ian at all (the feeling was mutual).

ooh la la, paris!

2009-05-25T10:18:00.000-07:00

I mentioned this on my twitter/FB, but somehow I neglected to mention it here :: I'm going to Paris in 6 weeks! Oh my gosh, I'm so excited! I've never been to Europe, and wasn't expecting to go until next year (for our 10-year anniversary trip to, hopefully, Portugal).

The trip came together rather suddenly and quickly, thanks to my in-laws. They've invited me + Ian for a 6-day stay in Paris with my sister-in-law + her boyfriend. Which means Rupert + Maya are staying home. Yes, you ~~heard~~ read me right :: I'm vacationing sans husband + daughter ... to Paris ... during my birthday!

In preparation for the trip I'm going to put together a travel scrapbook with all the necessary information plus space for journaling, ephemera + photos (I'm making a simpler one for Ian too). I've opted to decorate the journal with pages from picture books (I have in my library) that take place in Paris :: Madeline (by Ludwig Bemelmans), Hugo & Miles in I've Painted Everything: an Adventure in Paris (by Scott Magoon), Crepes by Suzette (by Monica Wellington), and This is Paris (by Miroslav Sasek). I'll post pictures of it as soon as I assemble it.

I'm also poring over the guidebooks I have, trying to decide what I want to see, what Ian wants to see, what wouldn't be good for Ian (i.e., twenty million museums in a row), possible daytrips outside the city, what I want to eat (very important!), and potential shops to visit (particularly food/cooking shops, stationery stores, and antique stores/stands). I found a few guidebooks from the library but they're all at least ten years old, so I'm only going to rely on those for sightseeing. I own a couple of new guidebooks (with maps, which I love) and checked out Clotilde's Edible Adventures in Paris (by Clotilde Dusoulier). One book I've especially enjoyed is French Milk (by Lucy Knisley), which is an art/comics journal about Lucy's four-week stay in Paris with her mother.

We're staying at the Hotel Pont Royal in Saint Germain des Pres, which is a great location. I imagine walking to the d'Orsay, the Louvre + along the Left Bank (while browsing the many bouquinistes) to Notre Dame and then to Ile Saint-Louis for ice cream at Berthillon. Lots of idyllic walking and exploring of the city. But I'm sure what will happen is mostly crazy, rushed sightseeing, and a lot of crowds + waiting in lines. But it's nice to dream while I can. ;)

REPOSITORY OF PARIS SITES + SHOPS (more to come) ::

My Google map for the trip

Book Stores ::

English-language book stores

Cooking Supplies ::

E.Dehillerin

Museums ::

d'Orsay
Louvre
Picasso

Stationery Stores ::

ack! already?!

2009-05-19T23:19:00.000-07:00

the other day, one of ian's best friends came over to play. as they're sitting at the table waiting for dinner to be served, i hear them playing "truth or dare."

A :: truth or dare?
I :: truth.
A :: who do you like?
I :: like, kiss-kiss like?
A :: yeah.
I :: um, my mom.
A :: no. it can't be someone you're blood-related to.
I :: uh ... uh. i don't know. no one.
A :: c'mon. someone.
I :: i don't like anyone.

and so the conversation continues; A is very persistent with his question. clearly he likes a girl (and he freely shares who his crush is), but ian is so not into girls yet.

but hearing that A likes a girl makes me truly realize that it won't be long before ian develops a crush. i hope it starts off as a sweet puppy-love kind of crush, because i can't even begin to imagine the craziness that goes with teenage hormone-induced crushes. yikes!

43 months.

2009-05-19T23:12:00.000-07:00

maya @ 43 months :: june 4, 2009

participated in her first "talent show," two dances for parents' night at her preschool. she danced to "99 red balloons" by blondie + "rollercoaster of love" by the ohio players. when rupert found a youtube video of "99 red balloons" afterwards, maya stopped what she was doing and immediately started dancing to the music.
slept through her first semi-major earthquake. she experiences the second one (a couple of days later) at school; she got a nice lesson on dropping and crawling under a table. the earthquake doesn't seem to phase her much.
no longer pretends to be a cat. instead, she crawls around on all fours barking. i wonder what animal she'll be next?
caught her saying "jesus!" when she made an exciting discovery. (i can't remember her exact wording, but it was something akin to, "jesus! i like those stickers!") i had to somehow explain to her that it wasn't a bad word to use, but it wasn't the right word to use either. i blame rupert because i would never take the lord's name in vain, even though i'm not christian.
opens the fridge in hopes of reaching the bottle of "pori pori" (probiotic pills).
her drawings of people now have eyeballs and torsos are becoming an option.
caught her first real cold (i.e., lasting longer than 24 hours).

chinatown randomness

2009-05-19T23:04:00.001-07:00

this past weekend we met up with my best friend from kindergarten, J, and her family in chinatown to have dim sum. afterwards we decided to wander the kitschy part of chinatown, half a block from the restaurant. as we were leaving we hear jazz music coming down the street.

sure enough it's a new orleans-style jazz band playing in a funeral procession. kinda strange + random but we stop to watch and listen. the band is playing boisterously and we wonder who the deceased is (the funeral car procession looks long). finally, the convertible classic car with a photo of the deceased slowly rolls by. i have to giggle because it's a photo of a chinese dude in a cowboy hat! okaaay.

the funeral procession continues to slowly go down the street, including a whole line of classic cars driven by heavily tattooed guys in wife beaters. i'm confused as to whether they are part of the funeral procession or they're a classic car club that just happened to get stuck in the middle of the procession.

all the while, a homeless lady not 10 steps away from us is spewing profanities about killing someone's family.

it was completely surreal; you can't make this stuff up.

what i made for dinner :: edamame corn chowder

2009-05-19T12:42:00.001-07:00

this is really a story for another day, but rupert + i were kinda annoyed at each other this past weekend because we're having a difference of opinion on our roles at home. (or maybe i'm just annoyed and he's not? who knows with him ... i'll have to ask.) anyway, because of that, i wanted to spite him and show him that i'm capable of being super-mom. and what better way than to try out a new recipe, which i haven't done in quite some time.

luckily, a new recipe from everyday food appeared in my inbox and it seemed just the dish to make for a cool evening after freezing our butts off at ian's baseball game :: edamame corn chowder. [and, as an aside, please stop pronouncing it "eda-mommy" -- it's "eda-mamé".]

the ingredient list is simple and it's easy to assemble. but, like most soups, you need to give it some time on the stove to really simmer so the veggies can soften. i also found that, for a corn chowder, it's not super corn-y. my personal preference would be to add another can of creamed corn or fresh corn kernels, but rupert said he could taste the corn as is. the key to this dish, though, is the bacon. don't omit the bacon! in fact, i cooked up twice the amount of bacon it called for, and i recommend that you do the same. the soup greatly benefits (as most dishes do) from the saltiness and crispness of the bacon.

i served the soup with a salad and multigrain rustic bread. it was the perfect almost-meatless meal.

42 months.

2009-04-19T14:28:00.000-07:00

maya @ 42 months :: may 4, 2009

when we used the compost for planting our garden, maya discovered the wonders of the earthworm. she digs them up from the compost and carries one around the backyard. she continues to try to bring them into the house, but the threat of the earthworm's demise convinces her to return the worm to the earth.
her people drawings now have more hair, appendages sticking out of the head, and more details like eyelashes. i suspect she'll start drawing torsos very soon.
there's been improvement on writing her name. if she gives herself enough room she spells her name correctly in capital letters, but if she runs out of space she puts the last "a" in front of the "m" so she becomes "amay."
she's a pasta-freak.
she had a good time at her "boyfriend" domenic's birthday party. apparently, domenic threw a fit when he found out maya's invitation went to the wrong girl. good thing rupert was willing to take her to the party at the last minute instead of going to the festival of books with me and ian.
she says she wants to cut her hair like mine but i wonder what would happen if we actually took her to a haircut place?
she's finally completely potty-trained! no more accidents! and wakes up on her own in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom! yay!

41 months.

2009-04-04T21:46:00.000-07:00

maya @ 41 months :: april 4, 2009

is really getting into the powerpuff girls dvd. she would totally shake her booty during the song between episodes. she doesn't seem to like mojo jojo very much.
to delay bedtime even more, not only does she come out of her room at least twice to go potty, but she insists that she's scared of "bears, ghosts, witches, and mojo jojo." i have to tell her that the mommy bear, mommy ghost, and mommy witch have sent their kids to bed already and maya is the only one still awake and she better get her butt into bed.
she's cutting with scissors quite well now. but i have to remember to tie her hair back when she uses scissors so she doesn't accidentally snip off some of the hair that's dangling in front of her face like she did the other day.
loves to sing songs. now that i've lifted my own ban of singing to her in english she's really gotten into "old mcdonald had a farm." she also makes up songs, although the lyrics usually consist of her repeating one word (maybe two) over and over again [see below].
identifying letters everywhere we go; a good sign that eventually she will, in fact, learn to read despite our earlier worries.
got a new pony stuffed animal while we were staying in ojai. she named it "beauty" all on her own -- it's black.
loves her friend domenic at school. so much that she sings a song about him incessantly if reminded about him at home. the song is just her repeating "domenic" over and over again in a semi-melodious way.
so happy that her uncle aaron and auntie anne visited for grumpa's 60th birthday.
she still whines but i think she's getting better. i truly believe it's helping that i'm interacting and parenting in a much calmer way. i rarely raise my voice at her and i try my best to explain everything to her in a clear and simple way. she responds positively to this and seems to be making an effort to follow my directions. now, her relationship with rupert, on the other hand ...
but there are days when she is very liberal with her out-of-the-blue "mama, i love you!"s, which does make my day.
drawing people with bodies (a line) and, on occasion, arms, but still no legs.
loves animals (cats, especially) and is enjoying looking at her animal encyclopedia and identifying the ones she knows.
when rupert pulled out the chinese take-out menu she immediately said she wanted, "chicken and bwok-li, and two rices." um, maybe we get take-out too often?
her teacher said she has perfectionist tendencies, which really surprised me. i totally thought she would be more laid back and relaxed than ian (we're having some issues with him), but it appears she cares very much about her work being just right. the poor kids take after me ... on the bright side, her teacher did say she's doing quite well in most other areas of her school work. this particular teacher calls her maita, which is so cute and true!
potty training is definitely not complete :: she'll go quite a few days withouth an accident and then she'll have several days of accidents in a row, especially while she's sleeping. we just have to keep working at it.
she has a thing for wednesday; maybe she just likes to say it?

kids (and artists) say the darndest things about elephants ...

2009-03-23T22:27:00.000-07:00

so, for my third graders this week, i'm reading ballet of the elephants by leda schubert. it's about john ringling north asking george balanchine to choreograph a ballet for 50 elephants in 1942. balanchine asks igor stravinsky to compose the music and, voila, circus polka is written. no, seriously, it's a true story.

as i read the book i tell the kids that my favorite conversation of the day occurred between balanchine and stravinsky:

balanchine: "i wonder if you'd like to do a little ballet with me."
stravinsky: "for whom?"
balanchine: "for some elephants."
stravinsky: "how old?"
balanchine: "very young."
stravinsky: "all right. if they are very young elephants, i will do it."

seems sort of odd and random, doesn't it?

but i was mistaken about that conversation being the best of the day. turns out the best one happens after i finish reading. i'm showing the kids a photo in the back of the book of the 50 elephants performing the ballet; they're in tutus (yes, even the bulls) and have their front legs on the elephant in front of them all in a large circle around the circus ring. one of the boys raises his hand and asks, "are they humping?" i unsuccessfully suppress my laughter and tell him, "no -- weren't you listening? they're dancing!" and then, not a second later, another boy raises his hand and asks, "are they getting ready for war?" wtf?? "no! they're dancing!"

ah, boys ... only sex and fighting on their minds.

what i made for dinner :: asparagus, mushroom, and tomato tart with ricotta and petite jurassic cheese

2009-03-15T10:24:00.000-07:00

yumminess of the week 3 was asparagus, mushroom, and tomato tart with ricotta and petite jurassic cheese. well, it was yummy to me + rupert. no surprise the kids picked off the mushrooms and tomatoes (it's a good thing they eat asparagus, even if it does make their pee smell funny). i just can't seem to find many recipes that appeal to all of us; there's always something wrong with an ingredient or two that makes someone say, "ick!"

anyway, we tried to sell it as "fancy pizza" to the kids but they didn't fall for it. the dish is a tart with a puff pastry bottom and a ricotta, egg, and asparagus puree as a sauce. there's sliced cured meat and veggies on top. i also added extra shredded gruyere cheese to the crust, which gave a nice crispy, cheesy, nutiness to the flaky crust.

i think i might make this for my father-in-law's 60th birthday party in a couple of weeks.

what i made for dinner :: white chicken chili

2009-03-15T10:02:00.000-07:00

[i forgot to take a picture of my chili but you can see what it should look like at seriouseats.com where i got the recipe from.]

new dinner numero dos this week was white chicken chili. the weather was a bit on the cooler side this week so it was nice to have another hearty meal. because of the kids i omitted the jalapeno and green chilies, and i'm sure those ingredients would've given the dish the wee bit of oomph i felt it needed.

i think the other issue was that i doubled the recipe and it turns out i used too much chicken broth, which made the chili too soupy (despite mashing up the beans as the recipes suggests), so i added another can of beans ... without adding more spices (although i did salt + pepper accordingly). for the most part, however, this is a super-simple (especially if you use pre-cooked chicken), tummy-warming, and filling dish, which i will probably make again.

i served it with corn chips and the leftover cheddar from the shepherd's pie. next time, i'll prep some onions, cilantro, and avocado as a topping.

what i made for dinner :: cheddadr-topped shepherd's pie

2009-03-15T09:08:00.000-07:00

i made dinner three times last week and for all three meals i tried out new recipes. first up, cheddar-topped shepherd's pie from the october 2008 issue of everyday food magazine. i knew it was something rupert wouldn't be particularly fond of, but ian actually showed some enthusiasm about eating it so that was enough reason for me to make it.

for the most part this recipe was quick + tasty, but there are a couple of issues :: i must be a very slow mirepoix-prepper because it always takes me much longer than i anticipate to do the veggie chopping; the beef filling is bland so it needs to be seasoned liberally with salt + pepper (it's very strange to me that the recipe doesn't call for salt + pepper in the filling); don't dump in all of the milk at once to mash the potato, unless you want a soggy potato topping. oh yes, last but not least, don't be skimpy with the cheese!

planning ahead

2009-03-13T20:34:00.000-07:00

i can't wait to see this. i don't care that it's coming out on my 10th marriage anniversary; i will be sitting in a movie theater on 09.09.09. (see the original animation short that the movie is based on here.)

40 months.

2009-02-22T21:00:00.000-08:00

maya @ 40 months :: march 4, 2009

after she watched the monsters vs aliens trailer (on the kung fu panda dvd) she started saying, "suuuuusan ... oh, i scare myself!"
when singing the ABC song, she repeats "k -- lmnop" a lot
drawing faces and continues to color a lot. learning to trace her name at school; sometimes it comes out "moyo" or "moya."
likes to pretend she's a cat. she also mentioned she wanted to bring the stray cat in the backyard into our house and keep it ... and hug it.
randomly told me, "i don't like you" while we were shopping at the supermarket. when i asked her why, she told me, "you're awful." gee, thanks.
while brushing her teeth with rupert she told him, "i hate this!" which is weird because she usually likes to brush her teeth.
the two points above, we think, are preschool classmate influences.
likes to do "where is thumbkin?" but misses about half the song.
another thing she learned from a friend (we think) :: crossing her arms and stomping her feet. great.
hopping on one foot.
her friends call her "my-my" at school.
loves to blow dandelions. this love is making our already dandelion-infested front yard into an even more dandelion-infested lawn.
she actually said she didn't like the little mermaid dvd. hallelujah! but we'll have to see how long that lasts.

me + the husband memes

2009-02-19T22:18:00.000-08:00

more memes! will it never end?! i found this one through heather armstrong over at dooce.

What are your middle names? rupert's is "harry" after his great-grandfather. how appropriate since he's a pretty hairy guy. i was born without a middle name (japanese people don't do that) but took my step-dad's last name as my middle name in high school (kind of a long story).
How long have you been together? 15 years (geez, that sounds like a long time); in september it'll be our official 10 year marriage anniversary.
How long did you know each other before you started dating? i'm thinking it was about a year and a half. we were in the same english class junior year and he also joined the newspaper staff that year as a sports writer (i was in journalism since freshman year). we didn't start dating until february of our senior year.
Who asked whom out? there was never an "official" asking out. our friendship just turned into a relationship. we arbitrarily chose february 12 as our dating anniversary because it was the night we hung out together on the beach and it seemed like a special night.
How old are each of you? we're currently both 32. that will change next wednesday when rupert turns 33 and i can make fun of him for four months that he's old.
Whose siblings do you see the most? probably my sisters since we have dinner with my parents once a week and they both come; rupert's brother lives in new york and his sister usually is away at college (although not very far away in pasadena).
Which situation is the hardest on you as a couple? having kids. we are really struggling with that right now, but more as parents rather than as a couple. for the most part we are good together as a couple, although there were a couple of years in college when i made life hell for rupert. [wasn't that fun, honey?]
Did you go to the same school? schools. as i mentioned above, we went to the same high school, and we weren't friends but we went to the same middle school too. as for college, we started off at different schools but i transferred to cornell during my sophomore year to be with him.
Are you from the same home town? sort of. rupert lived in missoula, montana until mid-way through sixth grade when he moved to manhattan beach. i grew up in manhattan beach (since kindergarten).
Who is smarter? book smart :: rupert. regular smart :: me. i know lots of useless trivia. rupert knows lots of useless data-related mumbo-jumbo. i know stuff that helps me get through our everyday lives; rupert would be really lost if something were to ever happen to me.
Who is the most sensitive? hands down, me. i take everything very, very, very personally. and i will cry at the drop of a hat ... or tear rupert's head off.
Where do you eat out most as a couple? i wish i could say we had a place we frequent as a couple, but we rarely go out on dates. and when we do we try to go some place different each time.
Where is the furthest you two have traveled together as a couple? japan
Who has the craziest exes? i don't have any exes, so by default i would have to say rupert.
Who has the worst temper? good question. in the past i would've said rupert without batting an eyelash, but i'm beginning to think my temper is as bad as his ... but only when it comes to maya. rupert loses his temper at a lot of other stuff so i guess he's worse than i am.
Who does the cooking? i'm sure rupert would beg to differ on this, but i'd have to say i do most of the cooking. don't get me wrong, rupert does his share of the cooking, but his repertoire is pretty limited. i'm more likely to try making new stuff.
Who is the neat-freak? neither of us is a neat-freak, but my tolerance for mess is much higher than rupert's. it's not uncommon to hear him grumbling about the shithole we live in.
Who is more stubborn? hmm ... me? yes, me.
Who hogs the bed? rupert. he also hogs the blankets.
Who wakes up earlier? usually i do but not because i want to. i think i got into the habit of waking up early automatically last year when i was working out in the morning. which has been helpful now that i work. and on the weekends i try to let rupert sleep in a bit. 'cause i'm a nice wife.
Where was your first date? we never had a first date. perhaps that is why we don't really go out on dates now.
Who is more jealous? ooh, that would also be me. besides his temper rupert is not an overly emotional person (he is a guy, after all), and i haven't really given him a reason to get jealous. isn't that right, rupert?
How long did it take to get serious? it was serious from the get-go. we just knew what we had was going to be serious and long-term. and we weren't wrong.
Who eats more? in one sitting :: me. during the course of the day :: probably rupert because his metabolism forces him to eat more frequently. but now that i'm kind of off my diet i just may be the eating champ of the family.
Who does the laundry? 85% of the time rupert does it. but i'm better at it.
Who's better with the computer? rupert, no question. and to think i used to be a computer lab teacher.
Who drives when you are together? rupert ... because that's what a man is supposed to do. no, actually, it's because when we're together we usually take the prius, which is his car.

and on a somewhat related note, my friend B posted a husband survey meme, which i tried to answer to the best of my knowledge ::

He’s sitting in front of the TV: watching sports or the sports news if he missed the game. and we do watch an insane number of simpson reruns.
You’re out to eat: we often end up wanting to order the same dish, so we'll get the two we both want and share (although i am an awful food sharer). if we're out for mexican he orders some kind of carnitas dish 99% of the time. if a fresh beet salad is on the menu he will often order that (eww!).
What is one food he doesn’t like? no question about it :: tomatoes.
You go out to the bar: i don't go to bars. the few times a year rupert goes out i'm guessing he orders a beer.
Where did he go to high school? mira costa high school in manhattan beach
What size shoe does he wear? 10 or 10-1/2
If he was to collect anything, what would it be? rupert's not really into stuff so he doesn't collect anything, per se. the one thing he does have a lot of is music. and if we lived in japan, he would collect the free tissue packs they hand out as advertising at the train stations.
What is his favorite type of sandwich? probably turkey. but there was a time in college we would eat this reuben-esque sandwich (with curly fries) for lunch at the ivy room and, on occasion, we still ask each other, "why would we eat that sandwich?!" because it was darn good, that's why.
What would the Husband eat every day if he could? cereal. and he does eat it everyday.
What is his favorite cereal? i actually don't know what his favorite cereal is right now. i'm pretty sure he grew up with sugary cereal but he's grown accustomed to low sugar cereals like rice crispies and trader joe's Os and honey Os mixed together. when he's feeling decadent we get life cereal or frosted mini wheat.
What would he never wear? something fashionable! i jest, i jest. never wear? a dress?
What is his favorite sports team? the miami dolpshins. don't ask me, ask him!
Who is his best friend? he's not very good at keeping in touch with his friends (although facebook might be helping a bit with that) but i'd say his closest friends are matt and jon. (but his real best friend is me.)
What is something you do that he wishes you wouldn’t do? ask so many goddamn questions! especially those hypothetical ones.
How many states has he lived in? three + one district :: montana, california, new york, washington, dc
What is his heritage? ashkenazi jew
You bake him a cake for his birthday: probably a fruit tart
Did he play sports in high school? basketball and football
Where did you meet him: high school, junior year, through mutual friends and being in the same english and journalism class.
Does your husband have any hidden talents? he's actually quite clever with puns. basically, he's very good at being cheesy.

25 random facts about me

2009-02-17T15:06:00.000-08:00

Rules: Once you've been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits or goals about you.

i am scared of going down stairs. well, maybe not scared per se, but i'm very cautious. i think the initial fear came from the very steep stairs in my grandparents' house in japan. i never fell down them but i was always afraid i would.
i go through shopping phases when i'm only interested in buying one kind of thing. right now i'm in a book-buying phase. other times it's clothes, snacks, fabric or scrapbooking supplies.
i sleep best in my bed when rupert's not there; i sleep diagonally, on my stomach, my toes rubbing my "blankie (a well-worn sheet)," and drooling all over rupert's pillow.
i am obsessive compulsive about some things and a complete mess in other areas of my life. usually, i'm ocd about things that don't matter, and a mess in things that do matter.
i want to travel the world ... and be able to speak the language of the country i visit. not particularly realistic since i'm not very good at languages, but attempting to learn a language is the least you can do before traveling.
one day i'd like to have a masters degree ... in something.
when i was pregnant with ian i had a huge craving for hot dogs, but i never ate one. i did, however, eat way too much tito's tacos beans + chips (but no tacos). with maya i ate a lot of fruit. go figure.
i'm an awful singer (when i was young my mom told me not to sing out loud because my singing would kill the plants outside my window) but i love to sing rock band songs.
the only time in my life i drank alcohol semi-regularly was when i lived in japan. i think it had to do with needing to loosen up to participate in karaoke.
i'm a stickler for the rules ... to a fault. rupert hates it.
rupert and i had to take one of my little sister's friends to the emergency room for alcohol poisoning once. mind you, she showed up at my parents' house already drunk ... she was like 15.
for someone who prides herself on her memory, i am very bad at remembering the endings of movies and books.
i wrote my college application essay on why i was glad my parents got divorced.
if at all possible i prefer not to talk to people (even people i know well). hence, my disdain for the telephone and my over-reliance on email. which also means i usually prefer to deal with machines rather than people :: the supermarket self check-out, the atm, the automated postal center machine.
somewhat related, i have a hard time keeping eye contact with people during a conversation. i can only briefly hold eye contact before i get uncomfortable and have to avert my gaze. it's rude, i know, but i can't help it. please don't take it personally.
i like cute things with an edgy/spooky twist to them.
i am an avid japanese comic (manga) reader; have been since i was about eight or so. my first series was "dr. slump" by akira toriyama; i still have all of them. another series i cannot part with is "to-y" by atsushi kamijo. and i'm not ashamed to admit that even though i'm in my 30s i read a lot of manga geared towards teenagers.
i used to dislike japanese school so much that i would feign headaches and stomachaches every week so i could hang out in the nurse's office.
my favorite food is noodles. i could eat some kind of noodle dish for every meal. i think my love of noodles really blossomed the summer after sixth grade :: as usual, i was spending the summer in japan and i would have a bowl of wonton ramen at the local chinese restaurant, meme hanten, everyday after school. seriously, everyday.
my freshman year in high school i was the secretary for the quixotism club (a gaming club -- yes, i know, totally nerdy. but, in my defense, i wasn't a gamer; i was just the secretary). unfortunately, i didn't know how to spell "quixotism" (i didn't even know what it meant) so i guessed and wrote "quick sadism" for the bulletin. (as you can imagine, i didn't know what that meant either!) yeah, i got called into the office for that one.
when i'm nervous or bored i have a horrible habit of pulling out strands of hair. but i'm very particular about the kind of hair i yank out. they have to be very coarse or crinkly hair (my normal hair is pretty fine and straight).
since college i haven't been able to continue anything for longer than 10 months (except being married and being a mom). i only lasted 10 months at my first job out of college in japan; i dropped out of grad school after two quarters; i was a teacher's aid for one school year; i was a computer lab teacher for one school year; i only lasted two months as a teacher in watts for the university intern program at ucla; i subbed for six months; and now it looks like i've finally found my dream job that i want to do forever and they're going to lay me off because of budget cuts.
i hate to say this out loud, but i don't think i was meant to be a mother ... at least, it seems like i don't enjoy motherhood as much as most other moms i know. what's wrong with me?
as of right now, my favorite ... book :: neil gaiman's the graveyard book; animal :: the manatee; color :: grey; magazine :: school library journal; food :: matzo ball soup with fideo noodles; shirts :: striped; day of the week :: friday; nintendo ds game :: lego batman
rupert is the only man i've loved and will ever love.

first born

2009-02-12T23:28:00.000-08:00

found another meme on facebook so here it is ...

1. WAS YOUR FIRST PREGNANCY PLANNED? heck no! and we got the best kid ever. we plan the second pregnancy and, well, you know what happened ...
2. WERE YOU MARRIED AT THE TIME? legally, yes. but we were still in the middle of planning the wedding, which didn't happen for another four months.
3. WHAT WERE YOUR REACTIONS? uh oh!
4. WAS ABORTION AN OPTION FOR YOU? to be honest, the thought did occur to me for a moment (i did try to think of all of my options), but rupert was having none of that.
5. HOW OLD WERE YOU? 23
6. HOW DID YOU FIND OUT YOU WERE PREGNANT? i was feeling even more tired than usual, i was late, and the orange juice i drank that morning made me feel really sick.
7. WHO DID YOU TELL FIRST? i don't remember ... rupert was there when i took the pregnancy test, and i remember we waited a bit to tell our parents, but i have a feeling we might have told a couple of friends first.
8. DID YOU WANT TO FIND OUT THE SEX? yes. i felt like i needed to be "prepared" in some way ... but nothing prepares you for actually becoming a parent for the first time.
9. DUE DATE? november 23, 2000
10. DID YOU HAVE MORNING SICKNESS? besides that orange juice incident i did not have any morning sickness. i had guilt about it.
11. WHAT DID YOU CRAVE? i craved hot dogs, but never had one during the entire pregnancy. i thought about hot dogs because there was a hot dog place a couple of blocks from our apartment that i drove past everyday. i did, however, eat a lot of chips and beans from tito's tacos.
12. WHO/WHAT IRRITATED YOU THE MOST? the stairs at my work. i'd like to think i didn't get too irritated during the pregnancy but you're going to have to ask rupert.
13. WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST CHILD'S SEX? boy
14. DID YOU WISH YOU HAD THE OPPOSITE SEX OF WHAT YOU WERE GETTING? before the sonogram i was hoping, hoping, hoping for a girl, and i did shed a tear when i found out we were having a boy. after all, i didn't have a clue about little boys. i was scared of their rough-and-tumble ways. then we got ian so i have nothing to complain about.
15. HOW MANY POUNDS DID YOU GAIN THROUGHOUT THE PREGNANCY? over 50!
16. DID YOU HAVE A BABY SHOWER? my best childhood friend threw me one at my mom's house; my mother-in-law threw me one; and then rupert's grandma threw me one after ian was born. i think we also had one at rupert's work.
17. WAS IT A SURPRISE OR DID YOU KNOW? we knew about all of the baby showers.
18. DID YOU HAVE ANY COMPLICATIONS DURING YOUR PREGNANCY? none whatsoever. i did, however, have some kind of bacteria thing, which meant i had to have an extra IV during the birth.
19. WHERE DID YOU GIVE BIRTH? cedars sinai. loved it, especially the freshly baked chocolate chip cookies and martinelli's. someone did steal my raggedy old birkenstocks, though. weird.
20. HOW MANY HOURS WERE YOU IN LABOR? labor that i noticed? a couple of hours at home, and another couple of hours at the hospital. but i'd been having contractions for a couple of days already.
21. WHO DROVE YOU TO THE HOSPITAL? rupert
22. WHO WATCHED YOU GIVE BIRTH? rupert was the only one in the room during the actual birth. i had to kick rupert's dad out of the room because he was watching the end of monday night football on my tv.
23. WAS IT NATURAL OR C-SECTION? natural
24. DID YOU TAKE MEDICINE TO EASE THE PAIN? you betcha! that epidural was fantastic, and that's coming from someone who is deathly afraid of needles.
25. HOW MUCH DID YOUR CHILD WEIGH? 6 pounds 15 ounces
26. WHEN WAS YOUR CHILD ACTUALLY BORN ?11:50pm, november 13, 2000
27. WHAT DID YOU NAME HIM/HER? ian george
28. HOW OLD IS YOUR FIRST BORN TODAY? 8 years 3 months

what i made for dinner :: lomo saltado

2009-02-08T09:19:00.000-08:00

did you wonder where my special section "what i made for dinner" went? yeah, me too. i basically forgot about ~~this section~~ ~~posting~~ cooking. it's been four months since my last creation. i just don't feel like cooking much lately, unfortunately.

guilt inspired me to cook on friday night, though. friday is my day off so i felt compelled to make something. while eating my lunch i flipped through the january 2009 issue of bon appetit and found a recipe for lomo saltado. [the website's recipe search function is down right now so i'll have to post the recipe later.]

it's a tad time-consuming to make but well worth it (and it's simple). the end result is a lot soupier than what we're used to from our local peruvian restaurant. i should have used a better cut of beef, but you know, with these tough economic times a girl can only afford beef every once in awhile. next time i'm going to try it with chicken.

random ??s

2009-02-07T15:05:00.001-08:00

1. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE? not that i know of, but my father has yet to tell me what my name means.

2. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED? cried, cried? or getting teary-eyed? i get teary-eyed almost daily for almost any reason at all. the last time i really cried was last summer when rupert had his thyroid issue and we had an argument about it. (yeah, only i would pick a fight with my sick husband, right?)

3. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING? who doesn't like my handwriting?

4. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCH MEAT? i waiver between roast beef and pastrami, but i must admit i do like a good liverwurst sandwich.

5. DO YOU HAVE KIDS? two ... and i'm done.

6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU? hmm, i'm not sure about that. i can be nice and fun, but i'm also sarcastic (see question 7) and brutally honest at times. i'm not one to sugar-coat things if i'm really friends with you, so i may not be the right person to go to if you need someone to tell you what you want to hear; i tell you what you need to hear.

7. DO YOU USE SARCASM? is outer space vast?

8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS? sure do.

9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP? can't wait for the day. that's what life insurance is for, right?

10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL? right now it's kashi go lean honey almond flax. but i also like to munch on life cereal dry as a snack.

11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF? usually i don't. i purposefully bought a pair of slip on all stars so i don't have to untie them. the one pair i consciously untie each time are my running shoes.

12. FAVORITE LOCAL RESTAURANT? unfortunately, there aren't that many good restaurants in the south bay. i think my favortie local restaurant right now is el gringo.

13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM? coffee ice cream, normally; rupert's "shake" (TJ's vanilla ice cream mixed with milk); ben and jerry's vermonty python; and i still miss B&J's white russian

14. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE? i don't know ... maybe this is why i cannot, for the life of me, remember peoples' names and faces?

15. RED OR PINK? red, although i'm learning to embrace pink ... sometimes.

16. WHAT IS YOUR LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF? i'm a bundle of negativity, usually about myself (low self-esteem nourished by asian parents -- you know how it is).

17. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST? dead :: my maternal grandparents. alive :: my girlfriends all over the world.

18. DO YOU WANT EVERYONE TO COMPLETE THIS LIST? sure, it's fun to read.

19. WHAT COLOR PANTS AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING? dark jeans. we don't wear shoes inside our house.

20. LAST THING YOU WATCHED ON YOUTUBE? a video of art tatum playing "humoresque"

21. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW? maya yapping away

22. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE? i'm going to have to come back to this one after i research crayola color names. but i'm thinking some kind of grey color because i'm bright and cheery like that.

23. FAVORITE SMELLS? chocolate chip cookies baking; fried chicken; the ocean

24. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE? rupert

25. DO YOU KNOW WHO SENT THIS TO YOU? yes, although we've never met in person. beth (aka grudge girl) and i are blog buddies.

26. WHICH SPORTS DO YOU LIKE TO WATCH? do i have to watch?

27. HAIR COLOR? black

28. EYE COLOR? brown

29. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS? nope. i have great vision; i even impressed the eye doctor.

30. FAVORITE FOOD? ramen noodles (not the instant kind, although i like those too; i mean, the real deal from japan, and wonton mien from hong kong)

31. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS? i hate scary movies; i'm genuinely scared, even though i know it's fake. so i will have to go with "happy endings."

32. LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED? wanted -- it was ridiculous.

33. WHAT COLOR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING? light heather grey long-sleeve shirt under a dark grey threadless t-shirt.

34. SUMMER OR WINTER? is there a difference in los angeles?

35. HUGS OR KISSES? kisses from rupert, hugs from everyone else

36. FAVORITE DESSERT? freshly baked chocolate chip cookies with vanilla ice cream

37. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING NOW? what i talk about when i talk about running by haruki murakami; joy of spooking (book 1): fiendish deeds by p.j. bracegirdle; mr. lincoln's boys by staton rabin

38. WHAT IS ON YOUR MOUSE PAD? i don't use one.

39. WHAT DID YOU WATCH ON TV LAST NIGHT? season 4 of project runway, disc 3

40. FAVORITE SOUNDS? tree branches creaking in the wind; my kids having a good laugh; complete silence

41. ROLLING STONES OR BEATLES? beatles

42. WHERE IS THE FARTHEST YOU HAVE BEEN FROM HOME? hong kong

43. DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL TALENT? can't say that i do. i'm more of a jack-of-all trades; i can do a lot of things very average-y.

44. WHERE WERE YOU BORN? kobe, japan

45. HOW DID YOU MEET YOUR SPOUSE/SIGNIFICANT OTHER? we met in high school through mutual friends our junior year (although we knew of each other before then); rupert joined the newspaper staff and we started working together. senior year we were in the same physics class, which is when i started to notice him. second semester i dropped out of physics (best decision i ever made in high school) but we were together in adult living (yes, there was actually a class called "adult living") and he would drive me home from school. the turning point was probably the day rupert and his friends were rejected from the talent show (the assistant principal did not like their "basketball jones" performance). instead of going home we went for a drive to a palos verdes beach. and the rest is history. (next thusday marks 15 years of togetherness.)

one word

2009-02-07T15:02:00.000-08:00

Only one word ...

Where is your cell phone? pocket
Last thing you lost? mind
Your significant other? rupert
Your job? librarian
Your hair? damp
flowers? tulips
candy? japanese
Your mother? loony
Your father? clueless
Other in-laws? entertaining
Your favorite thing? lounging
Your dream last night? weird
Your favorite drink? boba-tea
What room are you in? living
Which room needs to be cleaned? all
Your hobby? reading
what you had for dinner? peruvian
Where do you want to be in 6 years? away
Where were you last night? home
Something that you aren't? male
Muffins? chocolate
Chips? calbee
Wish list item? books
Last thing you did? shower
What are you wearing? t-shirts
TV? sometimes
Your pets? none
Friends? love
Your life? disorganized
Your mood? moody
Missing someone? yes
Drinking? water
Smoking? yuck
Your car? crappy
Something you're not wearing? jacket
Your favorite store? bookstores
Your favorite color? grey
When is the last time you cried? january
Where do you go to over and over? dreamland
favorite snack? everything
cooking or dining out? out
favorite place to eat? japan
Favorite place I'd like to be at right now? bed
favorite book of the Bible? what?
favorite music? indie
favorite disney character? wall-e (do pixar characters count?)
Children? unfortunately
favorite scent? citrus
favorite season? fall

39 months.

2009-01-17T15:43:00.000-08:00

maya @ 39 months :: feburary 4, 2009

beginning of the month :: adjusting to preschool life. i can't say she wants to go (she's happy on the weekends when we tell her it's not a school day) but she goes without resisting ... most days.
end of the month :: very rarely complains about going to school, and even asks to go on the weekend. even if she does wake up complaining about going to school, by the time i've gotten dressed for work she wants to get dressed and go to school too. she likes to get her hair done by her teacher, who does a much better job than i do. i've also gotten compliments on her behavior and how she's so good at cleaning up without being told. i did not know who the teachers were talking about. it worries me slightly that when i go to pick her up she often has to hug one of the boys from the 4-year-old class.
her potty training is coming along; most days she doesn't have an accident. some nights she doesn't pee, other nights we change sheets totally bleery-eyed. but she still needs to learn how to use the right amount of toilet paper; sometimes she can't tear it off at the right place and ends up putting in a quarter of the roll of TP into the toilet!
had a great time when her auntie L babysat while rupert + i went out for a few hours with our friends.
loves to color. i made the mistake of complimenting her on how well she stays in the lines and now she gets a little upset when she doesn't. hmm ... i wonder where she gets that ocd from?
she's no longer allowed in ian's room; we keep finding her in there raiding ian's sticker stash and also cutting them up with scissors on occasion.
learning to clean up her room on her own a tiny bit better.
her abc's are coming along but counting is still a challenge. she seems to always skip "3," even though she's three years old. when she does remember "3" she seems to forget all of the numbers that come after it.
she's embracing "real" shoes (i.e., not crocs) and cute, colorful socks.
she won't sit long enough to watch more than 10 minutes of her brother's basketball games, which means i don't get to watch more than 10 minutes of ian's games.
she is quite the little charmer :: she got complete strangers to read her a book in the children's section of barnes & noble.
grammar is not her strong point :: we hear a lot of "i is bossy!" and "i is rude!" around here.
her favorite snack is dried mangoes from TJ's.
her version of "are we there yet?" is "are we home now?"
when we walk to school i noticed that she jumps over the cracks in the sidewalk. i'm grateful she does not want to break my back.
her favorite movie characters :: tai lung and darth vader. and who does she want to be when she grows up? darth vader, of course. why? because "he fights and he's strong." zhoo-oom, zhoo-oom (my feeble attempt at making lightsaber sounds)!
she calls pony tails "pony ride"
her uncooperative conversational skills have already begun :: "what did you do at school today?" "i don't know."
her favorite colors are pink and purple (no surprise). she often colors entire coloring pages purple or pink.
we are seriously getting worried about what kind of teenager she's going to grow up to be. at the rate she's going we'll have a delinquent on our hands. just the other day i had to scold her because she colored all over her stool and the coffee table. i told her if she did it again i would take her crayons away. sure enough, the next day, i'm walking past her room and she tries to slam the door in my face, a sure sign she's up to no good. i go in and she's colored all over her floor. i tell her i'm very upset with her and take away her crayons. she starts to cry and claims she's tired so she wants to take a nap. fine. i leave her in her room, but notice sometime later that she's in the bathroom, washing her hands. for a long time. i yell towards the bathroom (why get up when you can yell?) to turn the water off. she yells back that she's still washing her hands. i go in and she's vigorously scrubbing her hands. wouldn't you know, if i take away her crayons but leave a ballpoint pen in her room she'll use that to write all over her hands. clearly, my fault. i take away the pen and go to assess the damage in her room. that's when i notice she's peed her pants. i guess the running water made her go. but she was too busy trying to scrub away the evidence of her actions to stop and use the toilet. needless to say i was not a happy camper that day.
speaking of pee, i have to keep reminding her to "pee down" (i.e., sort of lower her behind into the toilet) or else her shi-shi shoots out of the toilet ... on to me.
she's actually attempting to write her name by herself (see scribbles on picture above). she's also beginning to draw faces. she can also spell her name. i'm thrilled that school is really helping her academically; it's more than i managed to accomplish in three years. she's showing much more interest in letters and reading :: she points out letters while we're driving along and asks how to read words. when she wants to be read to but we can't at the moment and tell her to look at the book by herself, she always says, "i don't know words!"
she randomly likes to say, "mama, i love you" or "mama, i like you," which is nice and all, but i can't help but feel she's practicing for, "mama, i love you ... can i [insert ridiculous request here]?"
she can "sing" the imperial march from star wars.
one of her favorite books is chicka chicka boom boom.
when we do go to ian's basketball games she likes to hang out outside and do defensive sliding drills.

38 months.

2009-01-04T22:37:00.000-08:00

maya @ 38 months :: january 4, 2009

two of her new favorite sayings, both of which we are trying to expel from her vocabulary :: yada (no, i don't want to, uh-uh in japanese) + dumdum (from lovely spongebob square pants)
her potty training is regressing a bit. when she's distracted with playtime or eating she just goes.
trial day at preschool went fairly well, but we were there so i'm not sure how it will go on her actual first day. she, of course, hogged the sink before snack time, just leisurely rinsing her hands while all the other kids waited patiently. she also cut in line to wash her hands. i'm also concerned that she's not going to pull up her pants very well (she tries to pull up her panties and pants at the same time, and then her panties get all bunched up). i'm also worried that her jap-lish (japanese-english) will confuse the teachers. well, there's lots to worry about but there's no sense in getting too worked up until actual problems arise, i guess.
still confused about hanukkah :: she wanted to blow out the menorah candles and she was really much more about the ho-ho-ho (i.e., santa).
she likes to go on trike rides around the block with rupert.
when you come into our house you are basically entering whiny-town. the whining has gotten worse lately; or maybe it's because we've all been home lately and we're getting on each other's nerves.
her favorite new dessert :: one marshmallow after dinner
she seemed to like the smurfs and the gummi bears cartoons, both rented from netflix
she's taken a great liking to ian's new stuffed penguin, fluffy. there have been some tiffs about who gets to sleep with fluffy each night ("ian not need to sleep with fluffy!"), but ian has been very generous in allowing maya to play with fluffy ... as long as she doesn't hide fluffy in the kitchen cabinet again.

happy new year!

2009-01-01T22:52:00.000-08:00

i can't decide whether a new year's resolution is necessary this year. did i have one last year? let me see ... it appears i did have something like a resolution. huh, fancy that; i didn't even remember. instead of a traditional resolution, i chose a word to guide my actions :: do.

i'm usually satisfied with good enough so i have to say i did a better-than-good-enough job with this one. instead of sitting on my butt, i got active and lost weight. instead of putting it off, i signed up and completed two 5k races. instead of taking a back seat, i actively participated in more pta activities. instead of just thinking about it, i went out and got a job (granted that happened 12 months into the year, but hey, it happened).

so, what to do about 2009?

if i were to choose another word, moderation comes to mind. in many aspects i have an obsessive compulsive sort of personality. when i get into something, i really get into it. then i often drop it like a hot potato. (which explains the many half-finished craft projects and over-abundance of craft supplies.) my lack of self-control also accounts for the countless hours i spend surfing the internet, getting overwhelmed with too many obligations, and my very loose purse strings.

i would definitely like to work on showing some restraint in all aspects of my life ::

saying "no" every once in awhile;
not getting sucked into surfing the internet/reading/video gaming/etc. for hours on end (maybe i should use a timer to limit each activity?);
no more aimless shopping trips to michaels, joann, target, or the bookstore;
getting more sleep; and most importantly,
making sure i find a good balance between work, family, friends, and personal needs (aren't all moms looking for this balance?)

lofty goals, these are, but i'm up to the challenge. i'm feeling uncharacteristically optimistic (and partially in denial of my inherently lazy personality)!

one other very important thing to work on this year ... being a better laundress. i must complete the entire cycle of laundering (wash, fold, put away) in a more timely manner. well, okay, it's not just the laundry i need to work on; i probably should be a better housekeeper in general. (i am reminded of this -- once again -- as rupert is moving unfolded laundry from the bed back to the living room so we can actually sleep in our bed and he's getting the dishwasher ready to run ... as i'm sitting on the couch blogging.)

so, dear reader, i ask you :: do you have any interesting goals, resolutions, or ambitions for 2009?

holiday card 2008

2008-12-31T12:33:00.000-08:00

once again we decided to forgo the paper card and go electronic (to save paper, money, and time). i'm pretty sure i was able to email this out to all of our friends + family who have email addresses, but in case i forgot anyone ... enjoy! (you'll notice rupert's and my names are replaced in the brackets.)

Season's greetings, friends + family! We are a tad late in getting out our holiday well-wishes, but we are sending happy thoughts your way.

Having two kids makes the years go by faster and faster ... or maybe it's just because we're getting older? Whatever the reason, 2008 sped by and I'm actually surprised that 2009 is just a couple of days away. We had some exciting goings-on this year, mostly good and one a little nerve-wracking.

The kids continue to grow at an astounding pace. Maya turned three in November and, even after three years, we're still not sure where her personality comes from. She is strong-willed and has quite the independent streak. She's outgoing and fun-loving, but she's also trouble! I guess a good way to describe her is as a princess-loving tomboy. One thing I can say, she keeps us on our toes. Now, if only I knew how to harness her energy in a more positive way ...

Ian started third grade in September and is doing so well. He reads well above grade level and started the GATE program at school. He continues with his French lessons, and I think the language is starting to sink in. I predict just a few more years before he can take us around France! He still loves to play (and watch) sports; he finished his fourth season playing soccer and will play baseball in the spring. But first comes basketball (with [rupert] as his coach). To counterbalance outdoor activities, Ian also enjoys playing video games, especially on the Nintendo DS he got for Hanukkah.

[rupert] is in his second year of the PhD program at UCLA. He received a fellowship, which enabled him to stop working at Los Angeles Unified School District at the end of summer (the timing couldn't have been better, actually, with layoffs and such). He works part-time on campus, which means he doesn't have to drive between Westwood and downtown everyday. Our big scare came midyear when the doctor found that the right side of [rupert]'s thyroid was really enlarged. It was so large, in fact, that the endocrinologist was surprised he wasn't having problems breathing and swallowing. Long story short, [rupert] now only has half a thyroid, and -- thankfully -- the growth was benign.

As for me, most of the year passed without much incident. Until very recently the highlights of the year were two weekend getaways [rupert] and I went on without the kids (to NYC and Chicago) for family weddings. But then, just a few weeks ago, I got a job as the librarian at the elementary school I used to work at before Maya was born. I only worked one week before winter break started, but it is the best job I could ask for at this stage in my life. Now that I'm working, Maya will start preschool in January. We spent some time at the preschool yesterday and she seemed to enjoy it very much, but we'll have to see how she adjusts. Hopefully it will be a win-win situation for all of us.

Wishing you many delightful joys and wonderful discoveries in 2009,
[yucaree], [rupert], ian + maya

holiday presents

2008-12-26T13:12:00.000-08:00

it's been awhile since i made anything, and what better time than at hanukkah/christmas? i "made" scarves for the young ladies in our family and a couple of our friends. i use quotes around the word made because i don't feel like i actually made anything :: i cut out fleece into long rectangles and then i painted designs on them. (i found a tutorial at curbly.com via the craftzine blog.) making the templates and cutting them out was rather time consuming but they came out fairly nicely. the lighter colored fleece came out better, i think.

for my sisters i painted trees and a lotus flower; for rupert's cousins the design was trees, a bird, and lotus; and for our friends i did a fork + knife design and cephalopods.

merry christmas!

2008-12-25T10:10:00.000-08:00

a little hint as to what's to come

2008-12-23T22:06:00.000-08:00

i made some hanukkah/christmas presents for my sisters (including rupert's sister) and rupert's cousins. here's a little sneak peak ...

happy hanukkah!

2008-12-21T21:09:00.000-08:00

happy first night of hanukkah!

the kids came home with quite a stash of goodies from our family hanukkah dinner at my in-laws' house. what can i say? they're super lucky :: 1) they get to celebrate both hanukkah and christmas; 2) most of our family is local so they give them tons o' presents; 3) they are the only two little kids in the family at the moment, which means they are the beneficiaries of most people's "oh, that's so cute/fun/interesting/unique!" shopping; and 4) our families don't seem to know when to stop shopping!

i know, i sound ungrateful, don't i? it's definitely not that we don't appreciate the gifts or the show of love from the family. it's more of a "we can't/don't know how to control the clutter at our house" issue. ~~i am~~ we are going to have to make a concerted effort to implement, and execute, a one-thing-in-one-thing-out policy. literally, the kids have no more space in their rooms for even one more thing. (not surprisingly, i said the exact same thing last year. wanna make a bet i'll be saying it again next year?)

and because we're boring people, rupert and i did the donation thing again for gifts to our family. it may seem like we don't go through the same kind of stress and hassle of shopping for the holidays but it doesn't mean we love our families any less. ;)

working 9 to 5, what a way to make a living!

2008-12-20T10:11:00.000-08:00

i got a job! you heard me right ... a bonafide, (hourly) wage-paying, tax-deducting, people-interacting job. i'm now the library media specialist at the elementary school i used to work at before maya was born.

i can't even begin to tell you how thrilled i am about being employed; not just having a job, having this job. now, let me make something very clear :: i am not anywhere near as accomplished or knowledgeable as the previous librarian, my friend B. but i can't help but think that i was meant to have this particular job. the timing is perfect (me wanting to get out of the house and maya needing to start preschool), i'm familiar with the school, the hours are good (part-time during school hours), and i'm surrounded by books all day long. i almost don't even care that my hourly wage isn't even half of what i make at my tutoring gig!

i finished my first week of work and -- there's no other way to say it -- i'm in love with my job. there's tons to do and learn but everything is a joy. how lucky am i?

(i'm working on a website for the library; it still needs some sprucing up.)

37 months.

2008-12-04T08:09:00.000-08:00

maya @ 37th months :: december 4, 2008

confused the show "pushing daisies" with literally pushing her stuffed duck daisy.

when she doesn't want to walk anymore we hear a lot of "my leg broken" and "so much walking"
wanna get her to do something? tell her dr. burgett wants her to behave :: "my doctor said?"
actually unchi-ing on her own (sans miralax) almost everyday. hallelujah!
when she wants to show you something, she requests that you "close your eye ... open your eye!" i always find it funny that she uses the singular.
starting to do some "chores" :: wanting to help in the kitchen, using the handheld vacuum.
favorite movie :: the nightmare before christmas (she loves jack)
rupert instituted a rewards jar with skittles in it but, to be honest, it wasn't very well-thought out so it hasn't been particularly effective. we're going to have to come up with something better.

weekend in the windy city

2008-11-30T21:11:00.000-08:00

rupert's family gave us another reason to travel this year; another cousin got married. luckily, my parents were willing to watch the kids again so we took off for the windy city last weekend.

we made it to chicago just in time for the rehearsal dinner. the bitter cold was a shocker, even though we were preparing ourselves for it. after dinner rupert and i went for a walk in millennium park (across the street from our hotel) and came back with red cheeks and painful ears and fingers.

the following day was actually quite lovely, as long as you had your coat on. we went back to the park to take pictures of cloud gate, and then took a leisurely walk towards the river so we could have brunch at frontera grill. with our tummies full we walked to paper source, the museum of contemporary art, and then headed back to get ready for the wedding.

the wedding took place at our hotel, and it was a beautiful ceremony. rupert and his brother were recruited to be huppah holders at the last minute so i delegated myself photographer. at the reception the food was pretty good (great cocktail hour); it was quite an impressive wedding.

the following morning there was a post-wedding breakfast hosted by rupert's parents, where we finally got to meet rupert's cousin's new baby. with just a few hours before our flight home rupert and i dashed across the street for a quick walk-through of the art institute.

i had a horrible flight home but i won't recount it here because i don't want to remember it. if it weren't for that flight the weekend would've been almost perfect.

thanksgiving yumminess

2008-11-30T20:22:00.000-08:00

my habit of trying out new recipes for family gatherings kicked in again. this year for thanksgiving i made the pioneer woman's caramel pumpkin gingersnap cheesecake. the kids helped me a bit, which kept them occupied for awhile. i should really bake more with them.

packing in the gingersnap crust into the springform pan.

mixing the pumpkin cheesecake batter.

the end result caused some dripping and burning of the batter in the oven, but it sure is tasty (we have quite a bit left over). i didn't use nearly as much caramel as the recipe called for and rupert thought it was still too much. the caramel layer on top of the crushed gingersnap crystalized it to a pretty hard crust, which i like but it may be a bit too hard for some people.

it's clearly not an everyday food but for special occasions it's quite the treat.

what?? he's a tween?!

2008-11-13T19:27:00.000-08:00

according to my parenting magazines, i'm now the mother of a tween. how did that happen? somehow eight years went flying by and my baby is a full-fledged boy with a capital "b". day by day he grows more independent and he's becoming his own person.

he's a fantastic big brother, although there are times when we hear a lot of yelling back and forth between the kids. he's an observant, bright kid, but he has his totally oblivious, "hello? are you on planet earth?" moments. he's well-behaved and mild-mannered, but he hasn't quite outgrown his only child, self-centered habits. we love him to bits, but he's a work-in-progress. no, i take that back. we, as his parents, are a work-in-progress.

i realize, watching him, that our nurturing is so crucial in these formative years. sure, by nature, he's a wonderful kid who will, no doubt, grow up to be a wonderful adult. but, as his parents, we need to set the example so that he can be a better adult than if he were left to his own devices. everyday is a new opportunity for us to be the best parents we can be so he can be the best kid he can be.

in some ways i feel bad for him, as i do with all first-born children, because they are the guinea pigs. mom and dad keep trying to figure things out, year after year. we mean well, really, we do, but we're bound to make mistakes. so, i apologize to ian for screwing up over and over again. and i'll probably keep on making mistakes even though i don't mean to. and, because he's a swell kid, he'll put up with me and rupert. thanks buddy! now, promise me you won't go crazy when you become a teenager.

happy birthday to my little girl

2008-11-04T22:49:00.000-08:00

it's kind of weird to think that this little being has been in our family for three years. it seems like the longest and shortest three years of my life. no doubt she challenges my patience and often brings the worst out of me, but it's true that she's also made me appreciate the job of parent so much more and i've become more introspective because of her.

i love her (even when i want to strangle her!) and am so looking forward to watching her grow up into a little lady (hopefully a more cooperative little lady).

happy birthday, maya!

now comes the real work ...

2008-11-04T22:34:00.001-08:00

i am thrilled and so excited that barack obama is our next president. change is coming and it's inspiring to see that so many people (especially young people) are hopeful and dedicated to making this country better.

but president-elect obama has his work cut out for him. the world is watching him, there are plenty of americans who are waiting for him to make a mistake, and the hopes of many other americans lie with him. he faces so many challenges; truly, the presidential campaign will be nothing compared to the job of president.

still, i can't help but smile and think to myself, "GObama!"

36 months.

2008-11-04T20:03:00.000-08:00

maya @ 36 months :: november 4, 2008

rupert taught her how to play candyland (actually following the rules) and she, of course, was two-for-two the first time they played.
she's unchi-ing on her own a bit (harder unchi = uncomfortable unchi) but we still need the miralax.
she exclaimed "dude!" and smacked herself in the forehead in frustration while playing the tightrope walking on wii fit.
loves halloween :: every single time we pass a house with halloween decorations she yells, "halloween! halloween!". she even insisted, "halloween!" when we stopped at a light next to a derelict house.
really enjoyed trick-or-treating and getting candy; the costume not so much. we told her she couldn't get candy unless she wore her costume. as for trick-or-treating, we practiced beforehand what she had to say and she was pretty courageous about going up to scary-looking houses.
we're hearing a lot of "i not tired! i really not tired!" around naptime and bedtime, but she really still needs a nap ... i need her to nap!
i am blessed that my pta/mom friends are so generous with maya; they help me take care of her and don't mind when i bring her to pta stuff.
she enjoyed watching the new indiana jones and iron man movies. she can even identify robert downey jr. as iron man.
likes to be the little mermaid :: when her hair's wet she says, "little mermaid hair" and she was insistent that i acknowledge she was like the little mermaid when she put chapstick on her lips (i didn't quite understand that, but whatever).
finally starting to understand how the green lights + red lights work (which light to look at when we're waiting to cross the street).
she insists that i dakko her (pick her up) when we talk about going to her grandma's house because, "lucy lick me. lucy lick my face. i not like it." (lucy is my in-laws' dog)
interested in words and getting it that letters together make words that can be read.
really psyched about her birthday. she's been talking about it a lot without really knowing when her birthday is ... or how old she's going to be, for that matter. well, i guess we can work on that!
this has been going on for awhile, but she likes to use the pepper grinder and sprinkle a pinch of salt from the salt cellear to her eggs.

history in the making

2008-11-04T11:02:00.000-08:00

the day is finally here :: election day! we headed out as a family this morning to our polling place (conveniently located across the street) and participated in this historic election. while rupert voted the kids used the practice inkadot machine to mark their own ballots. when we got home maya proudly put her ballot on the fridge and ian penciled in "obama" on his "i voted" sticker and went to school with it on his shirt.

getting on my soapbox

2008-11-02T08:26:00.000-08:00

i normally wouldn't do this, but i've been thinking a lot about prop 8 and i just couldn't not say anything. as i drive around my neighborhood and see all the "vote yes on 8" lawn signs i get this gut-wrenching feeling that's a mixture of disgust, anger, and sadness. i can't articulate very well why it makes me so upset but i'm gonna give it a try ...

if you've watched the commercials, i'm sure you're aware that what no-voters are asking for is that all people be treated equally in regards to civil marriages. to be treated equally in the eye of the law, not in god's eyes. that's a whole other issue altogether. whatever your religious beliefs, or your opinion on gay marriage, does it sincerely seem right to you that the law would discriminate in this way? the law, theoretically, does not discriminate against people because of their race, religion, gender, age, national origin, ability/disability -- characteristics that are inherent to us. to me, sexual orientation isn't any different than those other characteristics; it's a part of a person but it's not the entire person. yet, we're willing to flat out declare in the law books that it's okay to discriminate against gays (who are said to make up 2~7% of the population) because of one part of their lives.

not even a lifetime ago i would probably have been prevented from marrying rupert. after all, interracial marriage only became legal in 1967. i couldn't imagine not being able to marry simply because i was born with one skin color and the one i love was born with a different skin color. does my skin color have anything to do with my ability to love my spouse and honor my marriage vows? in the same vein, does a person's sexual orientation have anything to do with his/her ability to be a good spouse? i don't think so. it's silly and ridiculous that the prerequisite for marriage be that a penis and a vagina be involved.

if prop 8 passes we would be discriminating against people in this state solely on their choice of who they love. we would be perpetuating intolerance (because that's what it is) to future generations, telling our children that if you're gay you're treated differently and if you're not gay it's okay to treat gays differently.

what is a "traditional marriage" anyway? the definition of "traditional" is evolving and i would venture to say that most reasonable people in this country don't subscribe to what history and/or the bible considered traditional. we no longer have polygamy or levirate marriage and a husband doesn't consider his wife chattel. why would we then base legislation on some bible literalists who are selectively choosing which passages in the bible to follow?

i don't understand why we would even consider the religious beliefs of a portion of the population be made into law for the entire population. i'm not politically naive, but whatever happened to separation of church and state? i don't care what people believe privately and religiously (although i don't understand it) but i do care very much that their religious beliefs not be forced on the rest of us as law.

but putting aside religion and law, i have to think of the actual people this proposition would affect. i personally only know one gay couple, and i was lucky enough to attend their marriage ceremony in july. i cannot imagine taking that day away from them. taking the affirmation of their love away. taking their joy away. it makes me sick that some people are unremorseful about taking away that special bond of matrimony from gay couples who finally were able to marry. can you imagine going up to a heterosexual married couple and telling them, "your marriage is wrong and the law no longer recognizes you as married."? it would be unimaginable but people are willing, no, eager, to do exactly that to their fellow human beings. it's just not right.

please please consider what i've said and vote NO on proposition 8.

[edited 12.4.08 :: this video says it all.]

what i made for dinner :: quick sausage + mushroom lasagna

2008-10-13T18:27:00.001-07:00

lasagna is such a great dish to fall back on when you need something relatively quick, easy, and hearty. the newest issue of bon appetit had a delicious-sounding recipe for quick sausage + mushroom lasagna so i had to try it out the next time i was in need of a dinner recipe that yields lots of servings (for leftovers, of course).

it's actually not so quick if you have to slice all of the mushrooms yourself; that slowed me down a bit. but the recipe itself is simple and the assembly is quick. and, boy, was it yummy. ian, of course, picked out most of the mushrooms but maya enthusiastically ate it all.

what i made for dinner :: chicken + sweet potato pot pie

2008-10-08T19:26:00.000-07:00

it's the second week of october. you'd think the weather would start to cool down and the sweaters would get pulled out of the closet. nope, we're still enjoying the last vestiges of summer. so, in this heat it would be silly to start with the hearty, oven-baked dishes, but my body craves the food of autumn.

enter the chicken and sweet potato pot pie by ming tsai. i watch his show on pbs every once in awhile, which led me to his website recently. i found this recipe for an old favorite, but jazzed up with some ginger and chinese five spice. i also liked that it can be easily adapted for vegetarians (just take out the chicken -- duh!) without sacrificing on the flavor; the sweet potatoes really add something to the dish. the first time i made it i used yams, which made it turn out quite orange in color and too sweet in flavor. it's best to follow the recipe and use the lighter colored sweet potatoes. the sweetness is more subtle.

maybe i'm just slow, but chopping all the veggies took me some time; when i doubled the recipe for a party it took me half an hour just to chop the vegetables. and i had to cook down the mixture (after adding the heavy cream) for far longer than 25 minutes to reduce the amount of liquid.

a week in the life :: day 7 | sunday

2008-10-06T00:12:00.000-07:00

see pictures from the week here.

it's wonderful that a) ian keeps himself occupied when he wakes up, and b) maya sleeps in some days, like today (she didn't nap yesterday). i keep on snoozing until 8:30; rupert wakes up earlier and is reading for school on the couch while it's still relatively quiet in the house.
spend the morning just hanging out on the couch, reading, and surfing the net. i was going to watch the snl biden/palin debate skit but realize i need to shower before ian's baseball game.
rupert makes us a yummy lunch of leftover zankou chicken tortilla wraps. we hussle out of the house at 11:45 to make it to the field across town. this is ian's first game for the fall baseball league, which is not our local league. we were told to arrive an hour early, which we do, but we have no idea who to talk to or where to go. luckily, our local little league's president shows up and his son and ian are on the same team.
the game goes alright, except that our kids are not used to the pitching machine or stealing bases. i think we lose (i miss the end of the game because i took maya to the playground) and i think ian is a bit bummed that he doesn't make a hit. but he had a great catch at first base for an out. his favorite position to play is pitcher, even if he actually doesn't pitch (he stands next to the pitching machine and catches the ball from the catcher). the game is long so we don't get home until close to 3.
ian takes a shower, we eat some snacks, and then it's nap time for mama + maya. i read a bit more of my book and then fall fast asleep. when i wake up around 6pm ian is sorting laundry in the living room and rupert has gone to TJ's to find dinner. i hop online and take care of some pta business. commend ian for successfully sorting a huge pile of laundry and folding his own clothes. now that i know he can do this it will become parts of his chores.
rupert makes dinner (korean bbq) so that we can eat our leftover kimchi. maya wakes up slightly cranky but seems pleased to eat salad. she perks up after that and is in a disturbingly good mood. we inhale a ton of meat and we manage to polish off a pack of korean nori. then it's time for fox's animation domination :: the simpsons, king of the hill, family guy, and american dad (which we normally don't watch but it's on in the background while we tap away at our laptops). the kids went to bed during family guy so it's just me + rupert hanging out on opposite couches. around 11 i im for an hour with my step-sis D through gmail. but by midnight we're all tired so we head to bed.

a week in the life :: day 6 | saturday

2008-10-04T22:56:00.000-07:00

another slow start to the day. i think it's getting to be that time of the year where it's so warm and cozy in bed i don't want to leave.
got bit by a mosquito behind my knee yesterday at the sand dune and it itches like crazy. and it's swollen up.
ian has a soccer game at 1 but i am completely knocked out with a tension/sinus headache. it starts to drizzle a bit so maya comes home and hangs out in the living room by herself while i continue to nap. ian comes back exhausted from the game ... and he made a goal. yay!
we're supposed to head to the hometown fair but the weather's iffy and ian doesn't want to go and something that should be simple somehow ends up slightly complicated. in the end rupert + i drop off maya and my mother-in-law at the fair. ian stays with my father-in-law at their house by the beach. rupert + i are now free for the rest of the evening :: date night!
dinner at daikokuya in little tokyo. our decision to eat there is influenced by the recent issue of la weekly. it's still fairly early but there's a wait; i tell rupert i'm going to pig out on noodles + gyoza. soooooo nice to slurp noodles uninterrupted, but i wonder why the noodles here are slightly chijiri and the same stuff i get at the market? i finish the noodles and savor the gyoza but find myself fuller than i used to be after polishing off a bowl of noodles. i fear my stomach is shrinking; rupert said that was a good thing. really?
wander back to the car through japanese village plaza, browsing some shops along the way. since it's still pretty early (6:30ish) and we can't think of a single hipster thing to do in little tokyo/downtown, we head to borders near our house. order a coffee and walk around. i can pick up books and actually flip through them without having to worry about what maya is doing. consider buying something for my sister's birthday but i realize i forgot my weekly coupon. no shopping tonight.
my question of the day :: could early man have pyromania if fire hadn't been discovered yet?and what's a cave man with ocd like?
make it back to my in-laws' house to pick up the kids. maya had a great time riding the pony at the fair. ian had a mini pizza for dinner. it takes us awhile to leave because maya wants to take a walk with lucy, my in-laws' dog, which is their ritual. and then she insisted on having ice cream for dessert. i kill the time doing a sudoku, which i don't finish.
after getting home, rupert puts the kids to bed. he wants to watch "forgetting sarah marshall" but i am engrossed with the internet. he turns it on anyway and i get engrossed with the movie. really cute and peter totally cracks me up (especially his dracula puppet musical). watch the special features too. and then off to bed.

35 months.

2008-10-04T09:06:00.000-07:00

maya @ 35 months :: october 4, 2008

at the beginning of the month, her diaper was not fitting right for some reason (i.e., her pee leaked frequently). at first we thought it was because we got some huggies (we usually use pampers), then we thought it was because her pampers were too small, but now that we've switched to bigger pampers and it's still happening, we're stumped. --> duh, she's just peeing more!
likes to make herself dizzy by twirling around, running in circles, or spinning on her butt
favorite movie :: harry potter (usually "harry potter and the sorcerer's stone")
favorite game :: wii fit ski jump
favorite animal :: elephants
we made her cry when we told her not to eat her boogers because it's gross
she can wash her hands by herself. she even drags the stool over to the light switch to turn the light on and off.
back to playing with her friend julia, but now i have to swing by ian's old school (after dropping him off at his current grades 3-5 school) so she can have her mini-playdate each morning.
i cannot seem to get rid of the fruit flies in our kitchen, and when maya sees them she says, "bug :: squish it!" as she claps her hands together.
collecting rose petals in her basket purse, ziploc bags, and spongebob tin.
hiding her hands behind her back when she's taken something or has something that she shouldn't have.
after some playdates with more potty-trained friends she's been going to the bathroom more consistently :: "i NEED to go peepee!!"
climbing into her crib (swings her legs over the front if it's lowered).
likes to use colored pencils :: the other day she was "drawing" colorful lines on a piece of paper and when rupert asked her what she was drawing she replied they were all "mad people."
got a hand-me-down (3-wheeled) scooter from our next door neighbors. she's really cute in her doggy helmet, kicking along the sidewalk ... until she runs into something.
the dreaded "why?"s have begun.
she's beginning to express fear more frequently :: "i scared" and she hugs herself. she's been sleeping fine in her room without a nightlight but now she occasionally complains about the dark. (ian having just recently stopped using a nightlight we are trying very hard not to get her to use one.)
a clear sign that we need to cut down on the tv-watching :: "i like this commercial!"
breaking bones and choking ... and she thinks it's funny.
when she's got attitude we hear a lot of, "i know!" but when she's being cute she'll say stuff like, "oh, i got ya!"
calls the iphone "debbie phone," since my step-sis has one.
taking fewer and fewer naps ... boo!knows a few more letters (w, c, r, q); rupert has been working with her using flashcards.
learned from somewhere that after you say, "trick or treat!" you get candy.
i've caught her using my scissors, snipping pieces of papers into tiny pieces.
she likes to assign "mama," "dada," "baby," and "niinii" roles to everything living (usually by size).

a week in the life :: day 5 | friday

2008-10-03T18:25:00.000-07:00

to make up for the two previous unproductive days, i get up at 5:30am to go to the sand dune. i'm supposed to meet my friends there so i head out to get there by 6. i arrive earlier than the others so i start my workout :: trudging up the sand dune. in the end i get up 11 times, which is the most i've done so far, and i wasn't even dripping sweat! i think i can do more. :)
when i get home i print out ian's oral presentation paper and take care of some emails for the pta. rupert is nice enough to pack ian's lunch for me and get maya out of her crib so i can shower.
ince maya, rupert + i are going to the zoo with some friends after dropping ian off at school, i pack some snacks and get maya ready. i walk ian to school and we arrive a couple of minutes before 9:20. ian's disappointed that we're going to the zoo without him but i'll think of some place to take him on monday when he doesn't have school.
we get to the zoo and meet up with our friends D+P and their daughter D. we spend the next three hours enjoying the animals and the great weather (the temperature is finally dropping). i assign rupert photographer duties and he takes some great shots of the giraffes. my favorite animal of the day is the koala :: there's an especially active and adorable one. rupert's favorites are the orangutans (the baby was pulling and tugging on the male, and the mom had to drag the baby away).
by the time we leave it's kind of late and we haven't had lunch yet. i worry that we won't make it back home in time to pick up ian so i text my friend Y and she agrees to get him for us. now we can enjoy our lunch withour hurrying. we head to zankou chicken at rupert's request and enjoy a quick meal of chicken with garlic sauce. we say bye to our friends and actually make it back home by 3:05. as we stop at the intersection in front of our house we see ian standing at the corner with his friend R (Y's son). perfect timing!
maya fell asleep in the car so we leave her in there and i spend some time in the garage uploading the pictures from the zoo (i open the garage door so i can see maya in the car). i tag-team with rupert and he works on the computer for awhile. maya wakes up a couple of hours later and we head inside for rock band time! the three of us play for awhile, and then rupert heads to the kitchen to heat up some food for the kids. ian and i play and we really get into it. rupert says we're ridiculous. and you know what ian says in his best rocker voice? "why? are we ridiculous because we want to rock?!"
finished watching "sicko." became a fan of tony benn. i always take what michael moore says with a grain of salt, even though i'm a liberal myself and generally agree with what he's trying to convey. still, it is sickening to think what lack of health coverage/care does to people and their families. i know other countries' socialized health care systems aren't perfect, but it made me wonder why so many americans resist the idea of helping others for the benefit of the greater good. i guess i'm more of a socialist than i realized??

a week in the life :: day 4 | thursday

2008-10-02T20:10:00.000-07:00

what's happening to me? i didn't get out of bed until 8:30! (i did get up at 5:30 ... again ... because maya was scared and i had to convince her to go back to sleep.) jump in the shower to wake myself up. no surprise, i didn't work out. i ask rupert, exasperatedly, to pack ian's lunch. i don't have time for breakfast so i grab half of rupert's bagel and throw some fruit into a bento box for maya.
walk to school, noticing it's already pretty warm, even though it's supposed to be cooler today. head over to the other school and end up chatting until 11am with some of the other parents. the shade is nice and there's a bit of a breeze; seems like it actually will be a bit cooler today.
get home and plop down on the couch to finish reading "bonk." give maya some snacks and let her watch tv. eventually i fall asleep ... and keep sleeping ... and keep right on sleeping. i don't eat lunch again.
decide by 2 that i am in no shape to go tutor. i don't necessarily feel sick but i don't have the energy or the willpower to get going. call my mother-in-law to tell her she doesn't have to watch the kids. call rupert and leave a voicemail asking when he's going to come home.
pick ian up at 3 and slowly make my way home. maya fell asleep in her stroller so i carefully put her in her crib. she wakes up, of course, but i tell her to nap and close the door to her room. am so tired but i have to send some emails for the pta meeting i can't attend tonight. i also catch up on reading blogs. ian finishes his homework and then types up his presentation (about the medal he got from the 5k) for tomorrow. must remember to print it out before tomorrow morning. finish "bonk" and start reading "the year of living biblically."
turn the tv on and watch the vice presidential debate. maya has been chatting, whining, and finally crying in her crib so i retrieve her. when ian realizes that "the simpsons" isn't on he hightails it to his room where he finishes reading "diary of a wimpy kid." bring up "the reality-based community" blog to read liveblogging during the debate. part-way through the debate rupert comes home. he starts making dinner (ravioli) while listening to the debate. he and the kids eat but i pass (i do nibble on a few bites of maya's leftovers, though).
i am no fan of palin's but i can understand her appeal to the republican base she's already captured; she performs much better than her katie couric interview (and i use the word "perform" intentionally). i feel biden answers more of the questions directly, and he's more knowledgeable about what's going on in the world. but we'll see how accurate both of their claims are once the fact-checkers get through with them. to lighten things up we watch last saturday's palin/couric skit from snl. i wonder if they'll do anything about the debate for this week's show.
we watch a little bit of the show "hole in the wall" while the kids get ready to go to bed. such an absurd show; no surprise it's inspired by a japanese game show. after the kids are in bed rupert pops in "sicko," which we got from netflix. this is probably not the right movie to watch before rupert gets his surgery ...
in 45 minutes i will be watching episode 2 of "spain ... on the road again." it'll keep me up longer than i want because i have to get up early (5:30am) to go to the sand dune. but it'll be worth it.

a week in the life :: day 3 | wednesday

2008-10-01T22:18:00.000-07:00

maya wakes up once around 6am but i convince her to go back to sleep. and since ian is early bird on wednesdays i decide not to work out today, which means i sleep in until 7:30 (it probably also has to do with my staying up late reading). force myself to get up since i still have to pack ian's lunch and get ready myself. while pulling out lunch stuff from the fridge i notice that there are fruit flies in the refrigerator. wtf? where are they coming from? i freak out, thinking they're breeding in the fridge, so i start throwing out old stuff and scrubbing some of the grimier parts. check the clock and i only have a few more minutes before we have to leave. maya barely wakes up in time for us to leave for school at 8:20.
it is another hot day; i'm sweating just walking to school. by the time we get to maya's "playdate" at the other school i feel disgusting. only stay for a little while since it's hot and maya's little friend has to leave.
get home and have a feeling it's going to be an unproductive day. blame it on the heat.
maya hasn't eaten so i toast her a bagel (a new purchase by rupert :: TJ's sprouted wheat bagels). she is displeased with my decision to put cream cheese on her half of the bagel. i am forced to eat off the top layer of the bagel with the cream cheese. we watch "sid the science kid" on pbs, which we really like.
head to the post office to mail a tagE*blankE order and wedding magazines for my future sister-in-law. i think i got a new postal employee because he tried to charge me over $6 to ship the blankE, which i know should only cost $2 to ship. set him straight.
i am already exhausted and it's only 11am. plop myself down on the couch and continue reading "bonk," which i am totally engrossed in. feeling drowsy so i decide to take a nap, especially since maya is actually keeping herself busy.
an hour later maya wakes me up because she's hungry. i feel too hot to eat anything but ask maya what she wants to eat. she doesn't want anything but carrots, so that's her lunch. i cut up a nectarine for myself but can't finish it.
keep reading (my own book and a pokemon book for maya) until it's time to get ian at 2pm. the sun beats down on us during our brief walk. we get to school a few minutes early so i spot my friend L and chat with her about her new job. should've brought my sunglasses because i'm majorly squinting. i spot riley, our friend's dog, coming and maya is cautiously excited (riley is bigger than maya and he licks her face if given the opportunity).
get the boys and head to the park, our wednesday tradition. my friend Y (R's mom) has a spot staked out in the shade under a tree. hang out for awhile until maya gets cranky and insists we go home. ian is enjoying a game of football with some of the other boys and i have to tear him away from the game. maya's crankiness gets worse when the football is thrown at her chest.
walk home and get the kids to bathe. sadly, i don't get a turn in the shower. i am stinky. after ian does some homework we head to the local farmers market, our new wednesday afternoon routine, before heading to ian's french class. maya likes to go to the baker and get a free cookie sample. this week they only have banana bread and macaroom samples. the kids like the banana bread enough that we buy a loaf. i head to the two booths i always hit :: the organic stand for four ears of corn and the fruit vendor for apples and nectarines. i was going to complain that the grapes i bought last week had seeds even though i was told they were seedless, but i realize that the vendor might not know a lot of english. (today i ask him if we're getting to the end of nectarine season and he gave me a blank stare so i'm guessing he's not fluent. it would be helpful if i knew more spanish.) the kids are zigzagging around the various vendors eating free samples, which i feel slightly guilty about but not that much since it gets the kids to eat fruit. leave the farmers market without having spent too much money.
head to ian's french class 20 minutes away. plead with maya to take a nap, even though it's 5pm already. she does not comply and lets out some ear-splitting screeches instead. after dropping ian off, maya asks to go to the pet store (it's in the same stripmall complex). we spend a few minutes looking at the furry critters but maya's real interest is in reptiles. she is delighted with the lizards (the snakes are sleeping) and i must admit i got a little excited when i saw the baby bearded dragon eat a live cricket. on our way out we run into our former rie teacher (who happens to be the mom of one of my close friends).
there's still some time before ian's class ends so we hang out in the waiting room. this is where i realize maya actually knows more letters than i thought :: we're putting together an alphabet puzzle and she identifies some letters. and here i thought she didn't know anything. i guess there's still hope for her.
by the time class ends it's 6:45pm so we pick up dinner at a chicken place i've been meaning to try. it's peruvian-influenced so i order lomo saltado for rupert, chicken fried rice and platanos for me, and a chicken sandwich for ian (with grilled onions, which is weird since he normally hates onions). it's tasty but on the salty side.
we watch the season premiere of "pushing daisies." it is really a cute, clever, and colorful show. i sort of forgot to keep watching it last season but i can see myself getting into it.
and my night ends the way it has for the last two days :: uploading photos and blogging about my day. and a "friends" rerun with a strawberry popsicle.

a week in the life :: day 2 | tuesday

2008-09-30T21:42:00.000-07:00

wake up at 6:45, 15 minutes later than i intended to. rupert is already up because maya woke up scared. find them on the couch watching "maya and miguel."
eat maya's leftover red bean pastry and drink a glass of water (with my calcium and fish oil supplements) before heading out for a run. come back 22 minutes later (2 miles), very sweaty. maya is watching sesame street, dancing and singing along to ll cool j and elmo singing about an addition expedition :: add 'em up!
take a shower even though i know i'm going to have to take another one in a few hours (after i play tennis with friends). get dressed and get ready to face the day :: packing ian's lunch, having a snack (nectarine slices and a danish), looking over ian's homework, checking my email, getting maya ready.
same routine as always :: get ian to school by 9:20 and walk over to the other elementary school so maya can see her friend J. but today we head to the park to play tennis (me + maya, J + her mom T, our friends D+Y). it is a scorchingly hot day and we are sweating in no time. we play for 45 minutes until D has to go to work. maya wants to go on the swings so we head towards the playground. J convinces her mom that she needs to go on the swings too. end up staying at the park for another 45 minutes while the girls play. on the walk home notice that there are tons of termites flying around. must be the heat.
get home around lunchtime but maya is filthy so i put her in the shower. she wants to hold the showerhead and doesn't get too upset when she squirts herself in the face with water. i give her lunch (turkey, carrots, apples, and cheese), turn on sesame street, and hop in the shower while she eats. i continue to be slightly disappointed that my dr. bronner's bar soap doesn't keep its lather while i wash my body.
scarf down lunch of leftover korean noodles and bean sprout namul while i browse the cookbook club catalog. it's now 1 o'clock so maya and i head to the library (a one minute walk across the street). she picks orange flowers from our front yard while we wait for the light. i return "tunnels," pick up the books i have on hold ("bonk" and "the year of living biblically"), and find a few other books ("the wall" and "diary of a wimpy kid" 1 + 2 for ian). maya kicks off her shoes, pulls books from the shelf (which i forget to return to their rightful places on the shelves), and ends up at the pre-k/kinder computer before finding a video about animals.
since i have to tutor in the afternoon i try to get maya to take an early nap. i read her a japanese book about pooping before depositing her in her crib. i lie down in bed to read "bonk." before i get too involved in the book i call my mother-in-law to make sure she can watch the kids while i tutor. get back to reading; i'm already loving it and i've only read 22 pages. but i need my daily nap so i close my eyes at 2:04. the phone rings a minute later. it's my bff in san francisco. we didn't get to meet up while she was down in la over the weekend so she calls to check up on us. chat for about 20 minutes. i don't have much time before ian gets out of school so i set the alarm for 2:47 and try to take a quick nap.
wake up 15 minutes later. turns out i don't need the alarm. brush my teeth, pack up the car with the afternoon necessities, and wake up maya. she must've just fallen asleep because i can't rouse her. carry her to her stroller and walk to ian's school to pick him + R up. maya finally wakes up when i try to transfer her from the stroller to the car seat. we head over to grandma's house with all the windows rolled down because the car is hot. the wind makes maya's hair blow into her face and paper scraps fly around the backseat.
drop the kids off at grandma's house and make a dash out of there (i like to be on the road by 3:30 to make it to my tutoring job). i have a few extra minutes so i make a pit-stop at boba zone and buy two large boba milk teas to take to tutoring. the girl i tutor, Y, has homework in language arts (the different types of nouns :: concrete/abstract, common/proper, and collective), science (the characteristics of all living things), and math (multiplication + division of negative integers). she forgot her social studies worksheet so she'll have to use her free homework pass tomorrow. finish at 6pm.
drive to the japanese market on the way home. i was hoping a new comic book would be on sale at the japanese bookstore but no luck. buy two packs of my favorite rice crackers at the market. realize spending over $6 on rice crackers is absurd; must cut back on cracker consumption. in the parking lot try to get in touch with someone on my cell so i know where to go for dinner (it's rosh hashanah and we're supposed to have a family dinner). rupert calls me from home (after he misses my call to his cell) and we decide that i'll go home so we can drive together to his parents' house.
on the drive home i anxiously watch my odometer as it nears the 100,000 mile mark. i get my camera ready and take a few test shots while it's at 99,999 miles. it hits 100,000 miles as i cross rosecrans avenue. prop my camera on the steering wheel and take a few shots of the odometer while keeping my hands on the wheel. make it home and it's still at 100,000.
hang out with rupert for a few minutes on the couch. check my email on his laptop. as we're getting ready to leave we see that our bathroom and kitchen garbage cans are infested with fruit flies. yucky! we get the garbage out of the house as quickly as possible.
dinner is salmon with noodle kugel and broccoli. the kugel doesn't turn out exactly as my mother-in-law hoped (the noodles on top are really crunchy), but it's good nonetheless. we talk about the economic "bailout" legislation with my father-in-law; it doesn't get heated but my fil is clearly unhappy that the legislation didn't pass. rupert + i feel something should be done but it shouldn't be rushed.
after dinner rupert helps his mom figure out the bus line to downtown so she can go to jury duty, which she is not happy about. meanwhile, the kids watch tv with grandpa and have dessert. it's getting late (already past 9pm) so we change maya's clothes and get ready to go home. my mother-in-law reminds us to look up flights to chicago so we can attend a family wedding.
once at home, i immediately turn on my laptop and start uploading the photos from today while rupert gets the kids ready for bed. blogging about my entire day takes some time and rupert is waiting for me to finish.
end up reading in bed for another hour. rupert is conked out next to me. don't want to stop reading but finally relent since my eyelids are so heavy.

a week in the life :: day 1 | monday

2008-09-29T21:32:00.000-07:00

to kick-start my creative scrapbooking juices i'm participating in ali edwards's a week in the life project. she used to teach this class at cku, and i would've taken it had i attended again. so i'm really glad she's taking us through the project.

pictures from this week
day 1 monday ::

5:15am :: got up before the alarm went off. surprisingly, rupert did too. groggily got ready to go to the gym. ian wakes up and i send him back to bed, "it's waaaay too early." microwave my current favorite hot cereal, tj's oats + flaxseed. read the second-to-last chapter of "tunnels" while i eat.
remember to take my calcium and fish oil supplements.
get to pattie's at 6am, wait around for a few minutes while listening to npr. realize i should've texted her last night to see if she was going to the gym. after five minutes i decide to go without her.
do a 40-minute workout listening to the "rock band" playlist on my ipod. come to the realization that my arms are weak and my cardio endurance is low. must get back into shape.
come home to find ian working out on wii fit. get a turn in doing the hulahoop. don't quite make it to 300 spins.
pack ian's lunch and cut up a nectarine to eat as an early morning snack. finish reading "tunnels" (it's due back at the library tomorrow).
rupert leaves for work/school. feed maya some cereal while we watch tv. send ian off to his room to read while i shower. get maya ready and leave for school at 9:10.
after ian lines up maya + i slowly make our way around the block towards ian's old school so maya can play with her friend J.
make it home by 10am. we're both hungry and, therefore, cranky. i make fun of rupert all the time that he gets nasty when he's hungry, but i'm finding that i act the same way. it doesn't help that i eat breakfast at 5:45; my blood sugar drops by the time 10 o'clock rolls around. we snack on my favorite japanese rice crackers. maya watches franny's feet.
send some email (mostly pta and sleepyhead related), catch up on my blogroll at bloglines, read craft zine and serious eats, check flickr, and look at some new food blogs (noodle whore seems right up my alley).
must get to the market before it gets too late. but first, off to costco to fill up on gas. spend $43.62 to fill 3/4 of a tank -- thank goodness i only get gas every 3 weeks or so. afterwards, hop on the 405 and go to freshia, the korean market i've been meaning to check out. it's cold inside and maya complains. try to placate her by taking her to the fish section. she asks to buy nori. good idea. besides groceries we buy some pastries at the bakery. maya is enamored with the pretty cakes; maybe we'll get one for her birthday. on the drive home chow down on a sweet potato pastry. maya enjoys most of her red bean-filled rice pastry.
make it home an hour later. eat lunch (korean nori wrapped around rice, bean sprout pajun, and (spicy) soon dubu). so full i feel like barfing. take a short nap on the couch before it's time to pick up ian at 3pm. maya was kind enough to have an unchi diaper before we head out. she puts a sticker on her unchi calendar.
on the walk to school join up with our neighbor M, who is also going to pick up her kid. maya is delighted that M has one of her pet rats with her; she always asks, "where mouse?" when we see M. pick up ian and R (ian's classmate) and head home. R hops into his mom's car and i chat with his mom about playing tennis tomorrow morning.
when we get home i'm exhausted and nursing a tension headache. ~~plead with~~ yell at maya to take her nap. she's getting tired too so she fights it, but i know she needs it. at 3:30 read her "a color of his own" (actually, i do a half-ass translating job and describe the pictures to her in japanese). tell ian to do his homework and crawl into bed.
i hear maya babbling for awhile but i can't get up. ian comes into my room after he finishes his homework but i tell him i'll check it later (which i neglect to do). he wanders off to play video games. i dose off again until i hear rupert get home.
finally get out of bed around 5:30; rupert brings me headache medicine. hang out on the couch and catch up with rupert about our respective days. play with his new laptop and check my email. deb (my step-sis) signs in to chat. we complain about how stupid boys are. rupert helps me start getting dinner ready by boiling some eggs. then he takes ian to soccer practice and shoots hoops at the basketball courts for awhile.
i chat a bit more with deb until she has to go to yoga. maya wakes up in a bad mood. only castella and a spongebob dvd makes the tears stop. after rupert comes back maya + i head out to go get ian (good thing practice is just across the street). maya takes this opportunity to run around and blow off some steam.
after getting home i start making dinner :: korean naengmyon noodles with korean bbq, kimchi, bean sprout namul, sliced pear, and a hard-boiled egg. it's pretty good until about half-way through, when the meat starts to cool and the fat congeals. the inside of my mouth gets a bit waxy.
nothing good on tv so we decide to play rock band :: ian's on guitar (as always), rupert starts off on mic and i play drums. after a couple of songs ian relinquishes the guitar to rupert and i sing. get 95% on hard singing "dirty little secret." stink at "are you gonna be my girl" (on hard) but get "most gutsy" anyway.
rupert gets the kids ready for bed while i hop back on the laptop to work on this project.
it's 11pm now and i'm almost ready to go to bed ...

what i made for dinner :: cheesy baked penne with cauliflower and creme fraiche

2008-09-14T17:54:00.000-07:00

i was a tad disappointed with last month's bon appetit but this month's issue looks really promising. we're on the cusp of summer and autumn so i'm looking forward to using the remainder of summer produce in heartier recipes.

tonight we're going meatless :: cheesy baked penne with cauliflower and creme fraiche. meatless but not necessarily healthy. this dish is heavy on the dairy products, so i'm sure it's chock-full of calories and fat. while i made the sauce i had to blot the grease with a paper towel because there was a pocket of cheese/butter fat.

some notes ::

active time (for me) was 45 minutes (plus 35 minutes baking time). i suggest grating the cheese and measuring the ingredients before the actual preparation of the dish. (and, no, i don't need reminding that prepping all the ingredients first is standard procedure.)
i used broccoflower, which was tasty. whether you use cauliflower or broccoflower, be sure not to overcook it during the sauting stage; it's good to have the bite in the final dish.
the recipe calls for 10oz of the penne. i used the whole bag (16oz) and i still had plenty of sauce to coat everything, and it baked up nice and cheesy.
be liberal with the ground pepper; pepper gives it a nice contrasting flavor so you don't overload on the cheese.
i skipped the breadcrumb crust on top because i was being lazy. in its place, to get a little bit of crunch, i sprinkled finely grated parmesan on top and after baking for 35 minutes i finished it off with a couple minutes under the broiler.
definitely not a cheap dinner :: all the dairy ingredients begin to add up. but they're not hard to find ingredients. i was able to get everything at tj's.
rupert and i had the leftovers for lunch the next day, and after microwaving the food we noticed a pool of grease. best to sop it up with a paper towel before digging in.

what i made for dinner :: zucchini frittata

2008-09-14T06:52:00.000-07:00

many garden-blessed families usually encounter a problem during the summer :: what to do with the dearth of zucchini. thankfully (?) we are not one of those families. honestly, i'm not a fan of zucchini for the most part. i never request that my husband plant it in our garden, and if anyone tries to ~~give us~~ unload some on us, i politely decline.

but, on occasion, i get the urge to cook zucchini ... okay, okay, i admit it, i actually want to use my hand-me-down julienne slicer.

i picked up a few zucchini at the farmers market this week with the notion of whipping up an easy and quick frittata. i scanned a few recipes online and then got to work.

ingredients ::

3 medium zucchini, julienned (you can definitely use more)
1 small onion (we felt like more onion would've been good --> maybe bump it up to a medium onion? even a large one?)
1 clove garlic
basil chiffonade (i used about 8 medium leaves, but use as much, or as little, as you like)
5 tablespoons parmesan cheese
8 eggs (if you like it egg-y :: ian liked it the way it was, rupert thought it could've used fewer eggs)
1.5 tablespoons butter
olive oil
salt + pepper

directions ::

julienne the zucchini into a bowl. sprinkle salt on it and gently toss; leave for 10 minutes to draw out the liquid.
in the meantime chop the onion and mince the garlic. in a separate bowl whisk the eggs with salt + pepper, the basil, and 4 tablespoons of the parmesan.
start sauteing the onion and garlic on medium high heat. here's the most important part :: take handfuls of the zucchini and squeeze out as much liquid as you can. i just dropped the zucchini directly into the pan after i squeezed it, and did that a few times until i got through all of the zucchini. turn the heat up to high and saute until just before caramelization begins but there's no liquid coming out of the vegetables. transfer the vegetables into the bowl you used for the zucchini. cool for a bit. add the egg mixture to the vegetables and combine well.
in the same pan, heat the butter until it bubbles. pour in the egg mixture and cook over low heat, uncovered, for 18~20 minutes. the middle will still be slightly runny but the edges should be cooked and browned.
sprinkle the rest of the parmesan on the frittata and put it under a hot broiler (mine was set on high) for a minute. when i checked on it half of it was browned nicely but the other side wasn't, so i turned it and left it in for another 45 seconds.
cool slightly before serving.

What is your housecleaning methodology?
Clean a bit everyday. Clean once a week. Clean before company comes over. Have a housecleaning service. Clean monthly. Massive cleaning seasonally. Housecleaning? What is that?
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