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

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 ::

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. add the salt, pepper, and hot pasta. stir until coated, and serve.
   

44 months.

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!

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 ::

• Duriez
• Le Temple du Scrap
• Marie Papier
• Melodies Graphiques
  
• Muji
• Papier+

ack! already?!

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.

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

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

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.

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.

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 ...

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

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

[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

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

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.

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

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

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

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. one day i'd like to have a masters degree ... in something.
7. 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.
8. 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.
9. 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.
10. i'm a stickler for the rules ... to a fault. rupert hates it.
11. 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.
12. for someone who prides herself on her memory, i am very bad at remembering the endings of movies and books.
13. i wrote my college application essay on why i was glad my parents got divorced.
14. 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.
15. 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.
16. i like cute things with an edgy/spooky twist to them.
17. 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.
18. 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.
19. 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.
20. 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.
21. 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).
22. 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.
23. 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?
24. 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
25. rupert is the only man i've loved and will ever love.

first born

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

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

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

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.

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.

a new chapter in maya's life

the day has finally arrived :: maya started school this week. last friday night i was kind of a mess, worrying about how she'd do.

day 1 :: ian + i dropped her off at school

it figures she would pee just as we arrive to pick her up!

day 2 :: ian + rupert were going to take her to school since rupert doesn't go onto campus on tuesdays this quarter. when he mentioned she'd be going to school, she slapped her forehead and said, "a-gain?" rupert worried for a second that she was already starting with the "i don't wanna go to school" routine, but when he explained to her that we all now go to school each day, she easily agreed, "okay, let's go!"

day 4 :: the crying begins. i miss it because i have to be at work a bit early on thursdays. i'll let rupert's email to me later in the day describe what happened.

After you left Maya went on-and-off crying about not wanting to go to school. The compromise was that we took Ian to school first and then I took her to school. Another thing that helped calm her was that I let her wear a pull-up instead of underwear, and I didn't make her wear socks. I tried to avoid any "you have to [wear underwear, wear socks, etc.] to go to school" statements. [rupert got in trouble with the director for letting maya wear the pull-up -- the kids have to be completely potty-trained to go to this preschool.]

Oh, and I printed out a few pictures of the family for her to take to school.

By the time we actually go to her school she was in a better mood. She started getting sad when I first tried to say goodbye and then she took me to the bathroom. She went to the bathroom just fine, although the toilet does flush before she can wipe and get the toilet paper in.

When I tried to say goodbye for the second time I gave her the family pictures to hold. Then one of the other girls came over to look at what she had and Maya was like, "This is my brother. This is my mama." It was cute and I was able to leave.

So I think she's fine. Although I get the feeling she misses dropping Ian off at school. All the girls were there playing with her and I think that's what cheered her up. Dropping Ian off at school was probably the thing she looked forward to the most each day and now that she goes to school we took that away. So I'm thinking that maybe on Tuesdays and Fridays we can take Ian to school first and then take Maya to school.

38 months.

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!

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 ::

1. saying "no" every once in awhile;
2. 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?);
3. no more aimless shopping trips to michaels, joann, target, or the bookstore;
4. getting more sleep; and most importantly,
5. 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

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

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!

a little hint as to what's to come

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!

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. ;)