Showing posts with label random things. Show all posts
Showing posts with label random things. Show all posts
How we are spending spring break
So You Athletes Think You Can Dance? Yes, We Can!
.jpg "Haka face paint")
When friends and family think of my sons, the first words that come to mind are probably: Identical. Twins. Soccer. Tough. Solid. Maybe Cello and Videogames and Drawing and Athletic. Maybe Dark Haired. I would add Handsome and Brilliant and Imaginative and Loving and a million other complimentary adjectives that make it obvious I'm their parent.
Future U.S. President (and other delusions of grandeur)
Last week, while stuck in traffic on San Francisco's Bay Bridge, we found ourselves beside a tour bus with the words "John Davis for President.org". The side of the bus pictured a man shouldering a giant plumbing wrench, painted like the American flag, beside the words, "Let's fix America". In the background was a gigantic American flag, a section of the U.S. constitution showing the words "We the People". The bus also had a giant bald eagle on the sides and back (and I do mean giant -- the eagle was bigger than John Davis).
Hmmm.. I've been following the Republican debates, and I'm pretty sure the only John I've seen is John Huntsman.
So who is John Davis?
The mystery of the expanding shopping cart
After I dropped the kids off at summer camp this morning, I stopped by Target to pick up a couple of things. My intention was to spend five minutes there and get back home quickly so I could get some work done before going back to pick the boys up at noon. I really only wanted to pick up a couple of things, literally (I even brought just one shopping bag to the store with me).
So how in the world did I end up with all this?
So how in the world did I end up with all this?
Italian Vogue features plus-size models on the cover
photo: Huffington post
I'm very impressed that Vogue, the ultimate fashion magazine, has bucked the trend of Photoshopping cover models to make them look thinner (remember Faith Hill on the cover or Redbook Magazine?) and actually featured three plus-sized models on their cover. Of course, the images might also have been Photoshopped, but they certainly didn't cut out the rolls or the curves -- and do I actually detect hints of cellulite in this photo?
Spring cleaning -- in the summer
I'll admit it -- I'm a pack rat. I keep stuffed toys and baby cars because sometimes (like once a year) the kids want to play with them. I keep old holiday cards and baby blankets and The Pea's cracked ceramic footprint because they're precious memories of good times. I keep old receipts and bank statements and tax returns from 10 years ago because you never know when you're going to need to prove you bought that VCR recorder for $199.99. I keep new stuff, too. I have a gift closet filled with cute presents that were on sale, because you never know when you're going to need to pull a present out for a birthday party or housewarming. I keep boxes of craft supplies because the kids are always doing some project or craft. PR agencies send me things to review. I pick up swag at conferences and events. Stuff, stuff, stuff. Every time I see ads for the show Buried Alive on tv, I shudder and wonder if I would ever let myself go that far.
Fortunately, I have Alfie, who is neat and tidy and very minimalist in his approach to material possesions. His motto is, If you need it, buy it. If you don't need it, throw it away. There's no "Just in Case". He keeps my hoarding tendencies reined in. To his credit, Alfie never nags (well, hardly ever). When I see his frustration mounting as he sees piles of stuff piling up in more and more corners of the house , I know it's time to clear up. And over the years I think I've gotten much better at expediting the outflow.
Just this week I donated a vanload of old toys and games to our local homeless shelter. In the past I would probably have tried to sell them, and failed to sell half, and kept that half in the hopes that I'd eventually sell and make some money. This time I decided to rip the Band-Aid off in one fell swoop; I told myself that we'd be making some homeless kids very happy, clear up much-needed playroom and garage space, and get a good charity write-off to boot. It actually feels just like ripping a Band-Aid off, or picking at a scar -- suuuuuuuuch a relief.
It took me a whole summer to finish up my Spring Cleaning, but hey, better late than never.
The scary part is, the playroom still feels like it's filled to bursting. I may have improved on the outflow part, but I guess I still need help stemming the inflow.
Maybe I need to start watching Buried Alive?
Fortunately, I have Alfie, who is neat and tidy and very minimalist in his approach to material possesions. His motto is, If you need it, buy it. If you don't need it, throw it away. There's no "Just in Case". He keeps my hoarding tendencies reined in. To his credit, Alfie never nags (well, hardly ever). When I see his frustration mounting as he sees piles of stuff piling up in more and more corners of the house , I know it's time to clear up. And over the years I think I've gotten much better at expediting the outflow.
Just this week I donated a vanload of old toys and games to our local homeless shelter. In the past I would probably have tried to sell them, and failed to sell half, and kept that half in the hopes that I'd eventually sell and make some money. This time I decided to rip the Band-Aid off in one fell swoop; I told myself that we'd be making some homeless kids very happy, clear up much-needed playroom and garage space, and get a good charity write-off to boot. It actually feels just like ripping a Band-Aid off, or picking at a scar -- suuuuuuuuch a relief.
It took me a whole summer to finish up my Spring Cleaning, but hey, better late than never.
The scary part is, the playroom still feels like it's filled to bursting. I may have improved on the outflow part, but I guess I still need help stemming the inflow.
Maybe I need to start watching Buried Alive?
Things about Twitter I'd Like to Know
A couple of weeks ago I was invited to join BlogHer's street team, an informal group of people who like to share their own posts and links with the BlogHer community, share links to BlogHer posts that move them, and generally grow and strengthen the Blogger community. It's not a paid position and there is no obligation on anyone's part to promote or share any stories. I decided to join because I think there are a lot of great articles and posts on the BlogHer site that I might never get around to discovering (much less reading), and now I get a weekly email with links to a bunch of great BlogHer posts that I can read and share, and use as inspiration for my own blog posts.
For example, last week BlogHer had a post explaining some common Twitter terms like DM's and hashtags and twitter streams. It's a great post for people just starting to wade into the twitterverse (that's another term explained in the post). The blogger, Melanie, also has a follow-up Twitter post with more basic Twitter information, and even better, has links to more tutorials for people who want to learn more. Reading these posts made me think of some other Twitter-related questions I've always wanted to ask:
1) Is there anywhere in the blogosphere that lists down upcoming Twitter parties? You can go to sites like Amy's Resourceful Mommy and Jyl's Mom It Forward to see the Twitter parties they're hosting, and that probably takes care of 90% of the Twitter Parties that the mom blogging community cares about, but there are a lot of other parties being hosted by other bloggers (TwitterMoms, for instance) or by smaller bloggers (I've hosted several myself!). I wish there were a place where Twitter party hosts could list their parties so that partygoers like myself could get an idea of what parties they can attend that week.
2) Does anyone know of any twitter tool that counts how many tweets occurred with a certain hashtag between a specific start and end date? I've tried doing this with search.twitter.com, and it does return all the tweets with that hashtag, but it doesn't return a count, so I have to scroll through pages of tweets and count them by hand. Not fun!
3) If you don't have a smart phone, what are some good Twitter apps to use? I use a Samsung Reclaim with a Sprint Mobile service, and I can only manage to get a very basic Twitter app which doesn't do retweets and only lists about 10 tweets in my twitter timeline.
4) How do you insert all those special characters like notes and hearts and smileys into your tweets?
5) Is there any tool around for effectively managing your Twitter followers, i.e. be able to sort them alphabetically, by age, by location, be able to search for a specific follower, etc?
If anyone knows the answer, or knows where to find it, I'd love to hear from you! You can find me here, or where else? on Twitter.
For example, last week BlogHer had a post explaining some common Twitter terms like DM's and hashtags and twitter streams. It's a great post for people just starting to wade into the twitterverse (that's another term explained in the post). The blogger, Melanie, also has a follow-up Twitter post with more basic Twitter information, and even better, has links to more tutorials for people who want to learn more. Reading these posts made me think of some other Twitter-related questions I've always wanted to ask:
1) Is there anywhere in the blogosphere that lists down upcoming Twitter parties? You can go to sites like Amy's Resourceful Mommy and Jyl's Mom It Forward to see the Twitter parties they're hosting, and that probably takes care of 90% of the Twitter Parties that the mom blogging community cares about, but there are a lot of other parties being hosted by other bloggers (TwitterMoms, for instance) or by smaller bloggers (I've hosted several myself!). I wish there were a place where Twitter party hosts could list their parties so that partygoers like myself could get an idea of what parties they can attend that week.
2) Does anyone know of any twitter tool that counts how many tweets occurred with a certain hashtag between a specific start and end date? I've tried doing this with search.twitter.com, and it does return all the tweets with that hashtag, but it doesn't return a count, so I have to scroll through pages of tweets and count them by hand. Not fun!
3) If you don't have a smart phone, what are some good Twitter apps to use? I use a Samsung Reclaim with a Sprint Mobile service, and I can only manage to get a very basic Twitter app which doesn't do retweets and only lists about 10 tweets in my twitter timeline.
4) How do you insert all those special characters like notes and hearts and smileys into your tweets?
5) Is there any tool around for effectively managing your Twitter followers, i.e. be able to sort them alphabetically, by age, by location, be able to search for a specific follower, etc?
If anyone knows the answer, or knows where to find it, I'd love to hear from you! You can find me here, or where else? on Twitter.
The Winter Olympics: Who's on Top?
The 2010 Winter Olympics are over, and now that my family is no longer obsessing about whether Canada wins another gold medal or whether Apolo Ohno makes it through another race without getting shoved or disqualified, it seemed like a good act of closure to visit the Winter Olympics site to check out the medal standings. I've been quite impressed with the Canadians' amazing performance at these games (they won more gold medals at these winter Olympics than any other nation has ever won in a winter Olympics), so I have to say I was surprised to see the US at the top of the table:
Official Vancouver Olympics website
I've always thought these medal tables ought to go by the number of gold medals, not the number of medals overall. After all, you're ranking the countries by the number of winners, right? Besides, the US is always on top of the table. As a world citizen who's used to America running around thumping their chest and declaring, "We're Number One", it would be nice to see another country there for a change, and I'm all for giving props to the underdogs.
But then I suppose each country who medaled in these Olympics is going to want to present the results to make themselves appear in the best possible light. To test this theory, I went on a virtual round-the-world trip to the websites of leading newspapers in countries that medaled in these Olympic games. I managed (and believe me, it's not easy to figure out how to surf a Russian or Korean or Chinese website when you have absolutely no idea how to read their language) to get some screen shots of the medal counts (I've shown only the top five countries for brevity's sake), and the results speak for themselves:
NBC Olympics page, US
Most Americans who care about the Olympics would go to the NBC Olympics page, so I'm not surprised that they chose the method that puts the US on top (had they ordered the countries by the number of gold medals, the US would be #3). That's pretty much the case in all the American newspapers:
New York Times, US
South Korea, on the other hand, chose to order the countries by number of gold medals. They're ranked #5 in terms of gold medals, and #7 in terms of overall medals. Again, not surprising. If I were Korean, I'd want to see my country in the top 5 too.
Chosun Ilbo, South Korea
But how does the rest of the world do it? I decided to go to the BBC, since their newscasts always seem to have such an unbiased, authoritative vibe, what with their posh British accents and all (besides, I'm married to an Englishman and he'd be quite offended if I suggested that the BBC was anything less than 100% neutral). They use the Gold Standard too:
BBC, Great Britain
But hang on, I thought. Canada used to be part of The Empire, and even now, for some reason, they call Elizabeth II their queen, so it's possible the Brits might be leaning towards putting their former colony on top of the medal heap. So I looked for a country that would have no reason to care which way the medals are tallied. Germany ends up second in the total medal count and gold medal count, so I figured they're as neutral as any country. Also -- since I'm flaming the fans of nationalism here -- Germany was beaten by both the US and Great Britain in World War II, so I figure they'd hate both countries equally. If you think it's silly to be bringing that kind of ancient history into sports, just ask Alfie about how his father and grandfather felt when England beat Germany to win the World Cup in 1966).
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Germany
Germany's newspapers use the gold medal tally. Another "neutral" country, Norway (who stands at #4 in both gold medal tally and overall medal tally) also used the number of gold medals to report medal counts in their newspapers -- although I noticed that the Norwegians couldn't resist reminding their countrymen that they are Number One in gold medal and medal standings for the All-Time Winter Olympic medal count.
Aftenposten, Norway
For a true lack of bias, check out this Austrian newspaper. They stuck to the gold medal tally even though it meant Austria would be ranked #9 instead of #5:
Die Presse, Austria
And what of the Canadians? Surprise, surprise, they used the overall medal tally and ranked themselves third!
Toronto Star, Canada
I actually checked a couple of Canadian sites to make sure this one wasn't a fluke (as if the most popular news site in Canada would be a "fluke"), and they all ranked the countries by overall medals. Good for the Canadians. I guess when you do something completely awesome, you don't need to brag about it, you just let your achievement speak for itself. They make me feel silly about caring who's on top. Alright, US and South Korea, you can keep your medal standings. Countries have enough to fight over without adding medal count methods to it. Besides, either way is perfectly valid. At least no one's tallying fictitious platinum medals!
I've always thought these medal tables ought to go by the number of gold medals, not the number of medals overall. After all, you're ranking the countries by the number of winners, right? Besides, the US is always on top of the table. As a world citizen who's used to America running around thumping their chest and declaring, "We're Number One", it would be nice to see another country there for a change, and I'm all for giving props to the underdogs.
But then I suppose each country who medaled in these Olympics is going to want to present the results to make themselves appear in the best possible light. To test this theory, I went on a virtual round-the-world trip to the websites of leading newspapers in countries that medaled in these Olympic games. I managed (and believe me, it's not easy to figure out how to surf a Russian or Korean or Chinese website when you have absolutely no idea how to read their language) to get some screen shots of the medal counts (I've shown only the top five countries for brevity's sake), and the results speak for themselves:
Most Americans who care about the Olympics would go to the NBC Olympics page, so I'm not surprised that they chose the method that puts the US on top (had they ordered the countries by the number of gold medals, the US would be #3). That's pretty much the case in all the American newspapers:
South Korea, on the other hand, chose to order the countries by number of gold medals. They're ranked #5 in terms of gold medals, and #7 in terms of overall medals. Again, not surprising. If I were Korean, I'd want to see my country in the top 5 too.
But how does the rest of the world do it? I decided to go to the BBC, since their newscasts always seem to have such an unbiased, authoritative vibe, what with their posh British accents and all (besides, I'm married to an Englishman and he'd be quite offended if I suggested that the BBC was anything less than 100% neutral). They use the Gold Standard too:
But hang on, I thought. Canada used to be part of The Empire, and even now, for some reason, they call Elizabeth II their queen, so it's possible the Brits might be leaning towards putting their former colony on top of the medal heap. So I looked for a country that would have no reason to care which way the medals are tallied. Germany ends up second in the total medal count and gold medal count, so I figured they're as neutral as any country. Also -- since I'm flaming the fans of nationalism here -- Germany was beaten by both the US and Great Britain in World War II, so I figure they'd hate both countries equally. If you think it's silly to be bringing that kind of ancient history into sports, just ask Alfie about how his father and grandfather felt when England beat Germany to win the World Cup in 1966).
Germany's newspapers use the gold medal tally. Another "neutral" country, Norway (who stands at #4 in both gold medal tally and overall medal tally) also used the number of gold medals to report medal counts in their newspapers -- although I noticed that the Norwegians couldn't resist reminding their countrymen that they are Number One in gold medal and medal standings for the All-Time Winter Olympic medal count.
For a true lack of bias, check out this Austrian newspaper. They stuck to the gold medal tally even though it meant Austria would be ranked #9 instead of #5:
And what of the Canadians? Surprise, surprise, they used the overall medal tally and ranked themselves third!
I actually checked a couple of Canadian sites to make sure this one wasn't a fluke (as if the most popular news site in Canada would be a "fluke"), and they all ranked the countries by overall medals. Good for the Canadians. I guess when you do something completely awesome, you don't need to brag about it, you just let your achievement speak for itself. They make me feel silly about caring who's on top. Alright, US and South Korea, you can keep your medal standings. Countries have enough to fight over without adding medal count methods to it. Besides, either way is perfectly valid. At least no one's tallying fictitious platinum medals!
What we learned from the Winter Olympics Opening Ceremonies
Here are some interesting things we learned at last Friday's Winter Olypmics Opening Ceremonies in Vancouver:
* India, a country with 1.1 billion people, only sent three athletes to the winter games. What's up with that? It's no use saying that India doesn't have any snow; neither do Ethiopia or Senegal, and they still managed to come up with one athlete each to compete in these games. What, don't they have ice rinks in New Delhi? Or aren't there any rich Indian kids who go to boarding school in Switzerland and ski?
* I was planning to include Iran (with 4 athletes) in the list of countries with no snow and more athletes than Inda, but I found out it does actually snow in Iran; some of their mountains have snow all year round!
* Hong Kong is one of the most densely-populated areas in the entire planet, with almost 16,000 people per square mile (compare that with Canada's 10 people per square mile). One square mile is like, nothing! I'd say Palo Alto's downtown area is about one square mile, and the thought of having 16,000 warm bodies squished there makes me want to run away and join Cirque du Soleil (which is based in Canada).
And here are some interesting "facts" we noticed all on our own:
* Team USA had the best headgear-- love thoseNordic-inspired knit caps! -- although Mongolia's lone athlete comes a close second, with her bongga, silvery fur hat.
* Speaking of bongga, that's exactly how I would describe the opening ceremonies. I was impressed by how they incorporated technology to come up with such creative and entertaining production numbers. Our favorite section, hands down, was the part where they made the entire stage look like a bunch of whales swimming across the ocean. Magnificent! I have to commend the organizers of the event for not even trying to compete with the human-body extravaganza of the 2008 Beijing Olympics opening ceremonies; instead, they dared to be different and did their own thing.
* Winter Olympians are extraordinarily good-looking! Seriously, the women look like models (check out Lindsey Vonn, Gretchen Bleiler, Lindsey Jacobellis, and the entire Swedish female delegation) and the men are all total hunks (except maybe Shaun White, but I suspect a lot of girls find his goofy dude appeal much sexier than the typical male model hunky type) . Alfie thinks it's because winter sports have a high financial barrier to entry, so for the most part it's the richer kids who get into these sports -- and the gene pool tends to be decidedly better-looking vwhen you have more money. I think he has a point, although I'd say the cameras also focus more on the better-looking athletes.
* Somebody is going to get fired for that Olympic torch malfunction!
* India, a country with 1.1 billion people, only sent three athletes to the winter games. What's up with that? It's no use saying that India doesn't have any snow; neither do Ethiopia or Senegal, and they still managed to come up with one athlete each to compete in these games. What, don't they have ice rinks in New Delhi? Or aren't there any rich Indian kids who go to boarding school in Switzerland and ski?
* I was planning to include Iran (with 4 athletes) in the list of countries with no snow and more athletes than Inda, but I found out it does actually snow in Iran; some of their mountains have snow all year round!
* Hong Kong is one of the most densely-populated areas in the entire planet, with almost 16,000 people per square mile (compare that with Canada's 10 people per square mile). One square mile is like, nothing! I'd say Palo Alto's downtown area is about one square mile, and the thought of having 16,000 warm bodies squished there makes me want to run away and join Cirque du Soleil (which is based in Canada).
And here are some interesting "facts" we noticed all on our own:
* Team USA had the best headgear-- love thoseNordic-inspired knit caps! -- although Mongolia's lone athlete comes a close second, with her bongga, silvery fur hat.
* Speaking of bongga, that's exactly how I would describe the opening ceremonies. I was impressed by how they incorporated technology to come up with such creative and entertaining production numbers. Our favorite section, hands down, was the part where they made the entire stage look like a bunch of whales swimming across the ocean. Magnificent! I have to commend the organizers of the event for not even trying to compete with the human-body extravaganza of the 2008 Beijing Olympics opening ceremonies; instead, they dared to be different and did their own thing.
* Winter Olympians are extraordinarily good-looking! Seriously, the women look like models (check out Lindsey Vonn, Gretchen Bleiler, Lindsey Jacobellis, and the entire Swedish female delegation) and the men are all total hunks (except maybe Shaun White, but I suspect a lot of girls find his goofy dude appeal much sexier than the typical male model hunky type) . Alfie thinks it's because winter sports have a high financial barrier to entry, so for the most part it's the richer kids who get into these sports -- and the gene pool tends to be decidedly better-looking vwhen you have more money. I think he has a point, although I'd say the cameras also focus more on the better-looking athletes.
* Somebody is going to get fired for that Olympic torch malfunction!
Letter to my fairy godmother
Dear Fairy Godmother,
Yes, you. I know you exist. You must exist; otherwise, how else could I explain this incredible opportunity that has fallen our way? I've seen you grant wishes to other, way more deserving people. Last February you gave us a little taste of your magic.
And now, somehow you've arranged it so that oh, man, we're going to Disneyland. Yes, the Disneyland I've wanted to take my kids to since they were, oh, about 6 weeks old. I'd break into a joyful Disney song, except the neighbors might have me committed before we get a chance to go.
If I won the lottery, I don't think I would survive. Just the thought of this trip has turned me into a bundle of adrenaline-charged nerves. Now I'm yelling at the kids to walk down the stairs and take those slippery socks off because I don't want them to sprain an ankle or break a bone before we leave.
OK, I gotta go. I have to rent Alice in Wonderland and Peter Pan from the library because my kids have never seen or read the Disney versions of these classics. I can't have them riding the catterpillar and flying pirate ship in Fantasyland wondering who the heck these characters are. I can't wait to don my Mickey ears and raise my Mickey-shaped ice cream bar and toast to your generosity. In the words of Cinderella, Thank you fairy godmother. Thank you.
Love,
bonggamom
PS: Since you are a fairy after all, maybe you could do something about this nasty CA Proposition 8 and send it back to The Underworld, where it belongs. Yes? Thanks.
Yes, you. I know you exist. You must exist; otherwise, how else could I explain this incredible opportunity that has fallen our way? I've seen you grant wishes to other, way more deserving people. Last February you gave us a little taste of your magic.
And now, somehow you've arranged it so that oh, man, we're going to Disneyland. Yes, the Disneyland I've wanted to take my kids to since they were, oh, about 6 weeks old. I'd break into a joyful Disney song, except the neighbors might have me committed before we get a chance to go.
If I won the lottery, I don't think I would survive. Just the thought of this trip has turned me into a bundle of adrenaline-charged nerves. Now I'm yelling at the kids to walk down the stairs and take those slippery socks off because I don't want them to sprain an ankle or break a bone before we leave.
OK, I gotta go. I have to rent Alice in Wonderland and Peter Pan from the library because my kids have never seen or read the Disney versions of these classics. I can't have them riding the catterpillar and flying pirate ship in Fantasyland wondering who the heck these characters are. I can't wait to don my Mickey ears and raise my Mickey-shaped ice cream bar and toast to your generosity. In the words of Cinderella, Thank you fairy godmother. Thank you.
Love,
bonggamom
PS: Since you are a fairy after all, maybe you could do something about this nasty CA Proposition 8 and send it back to The Underworld, where it belongs. Yes? Thanks.
The Grass is NOT greener
People often say things like, Twins! And both boys! Double trouble! I don't know how you do it. I usually smile and say Yeah, it's tough, but you deal with it. And it's a lot easier now.
Sometimes, of course, it's still not all sweetness and light. Like when they're rolling on the floor punching each other. Or when they're "talking" to me, trying to out-shout each other at the top of their lungs. Like I said, it's tough, but I deal with it. Anyway, there are so many families who have it waaaay tougher than I do. I really don't know how these people do it:
Families with twins less than 1 year old
Been there, done that, don't wanna do it again. I don't know how I did it either. The nursing, sleepless nights, diapers, need for attention -- times two. I always say the first year of the twins' life is a bit hazy for me because I've buried all the bad memories.
Families with multiples of higher order
No explanation necessary. From giving birth to feeding to cuddling to transporting everyone around, it just gets exponentially more difficult with the number of multiples.
Families with multiple multiples
Again, no explanation necessary. Jon and Kate (twins and sextuplets)? The Duggars (17 kids, including 2 sets of twins)? The Hayes's (twins, twins and sextuplets)? OMFG. And what about all the other multiple multiple families who don't have their own TV show? Hats off to you guys.
Baby bunching families
Yes, it's tough having twins. But at least the tough part ends for both kids at the same time. When you have 2 kids less than 2 years apart -- or OMG, "Irish twins" or siblings 11 months apart -- the agony at each stage is prolonged. Plus you don't get "awwww, are they twins?" pseudo celebrity treatment.
Single parent families
Alfie and I may not have close family around for support, but at least we have each other. When it's 6:30PM on a difficult day and I'm at the end of my rope, he's my lifeline -- I have the greatest respect and admiration for parents who do it all on their own.
But then again, I suspect these families wouldn't trade places with me for the world, anyway. They encounter challenges and they deal with it, for the love of their kids.
Sometimes, of course, it's still not all sweetness and light. Like when they're rolling on the floor punching each other. Or when they're "talking" to me, trying to out-shout each other at the top of their lungs. Like I said, it's tough, but I deal with it. Anyway, there are so many families who have it waaaay tougher than I do. I really don't know how these people do it:
Families with twins less than 1 year old
Been there, done that, don't wanna do it again. I don't know how I did it either. The nursing, sleepless nights, diapers, need for attention -- times two. I always say the first year of the twins' life is a bit hazy for me because I've buried all the bad memories.
Families with multiples of higher order
No explanation necessary. From giving birth to feeding to cuddling to transporting everyone around, it just gets exponentially more difficult with the number of multiples.
Families with multiple multiples
Again, no explanation necessary. Jon and Kate (twins and sextuplets)? The Duggars (17 kids, including 2 sets of twins)? The Hayes's (twins, twins and sextuplets)? OMFG. And what about all the other multiple multiple families who don't have their own TV show? Hats off to you guys.
Baby bunching families
Yes, it's tough having twins. But at least the tough part ends for both kids at the same time. When you have 2 kids less than 2 years apart -- or OMG, "Irish twins" or siblings 11 months apart -- the agony at each stage is prolonged. Plus you don't get "awwww, are they twins?" pseudo celebrity treatment.
Single parent families
Alfie and I may not have close family around for support, but at least we have each other. When it's 6:30PM on a difficult day and I'm at the end of my rope, he's my lifeline -- I have the greatest respect and admiration for parents who do it all on their own.
But then again, I suspect these families wouldn't trade places with me for the world, anyway. They encounter challenges and they deal with it, for the love of their kids.
Adios, Daylight Savings
Ahhhh...... thanks to the end of Daylight Savings Time, I got an extra hour of sleep today. The mornings have gotten colder and darker and the temptation to sleep in has gotten greater and greater. Of course, it also means that Alfie and I will stay up an hour later because we aren't sleepy yet, so it all evens out. But for now, I'm going to enjoy that extra time I can snuggle up in bed.
Out of my way, grocery shoppers!
Maybe I'm getting my period soon. Maybe I've forgotten to take my thyroid pills once too often this past week. Maybe it was just hotter than usual yesterday, and all the sweltering and sweating had put me in a bad mood. Whatever the case, I had a perfectly miserable experience shopping at Trader Joe's. Every human suffering from an incurable case of rudeness and selfishness (myself excepted, of course) being seemed to be shopping there all at the same time.
My patience was stretched to the limit by people who rammed their carts into my ankle, people who poke and manhandle the fruits and vegetables like they're masseusses at a spa, people who decided they didn't want that wedge of Brie cheese and left it by the unrefrigerated cereal shelves so it would spoil and add to Trader Joe's inventory costs. Generally, grocery shoppers are a kind, polite bunch. Just my luck, then, that I happened to run into my top three shopper peeves:
** People who leave their shopping carts in the middle of the parking lot and let them roll into other people's cars. Last week the boys and I came out of Trader Joe's and found a shopping cart embedded in the hood of our minivan. Now we have a nice shopping-cart-handle-shaped dent. Come on, guys, it's not thaaaat far to the shopping cart parking place! The exercise will do you good!
** People who leave their trash in their shopping carts. Yes, I know it's nice to walk around Target sipping a supersized Slurpee and munching on a pretzel. I get it, it's like not being able to watch movies without popcorn and soda. But once again, it's not thaaaat far to the nearest trash can.
** People who write checks to pay for their stuff. Hey, have you seen that Visa Check Card commercial? You're holding up the line. It's the 21st century and they do have these things called check card or an ATM cards. They work just. like. your checkbook. Only faster.
Yeah, you know who you are. Do the considerate people a favor and stay away from Trader Joe's, ok? Or at least until I get off my high horse and out of this bad mood.
My patience was stretched to the limit by people who rammed their carts into my ankle, people who poke and manhandle the fruits and vegetables like they're masseusses at a spa, people who decided they didn't want that wedge of Brie cheese and left it by the unrefrigerated cereal shelves so it would spoil and add to Trader Joe's inventory costs. Generally, grocery shoppers are a kind, polite bunch. Just my luck, then, that I happened to run into my top three shopper peeves:
** People who leave their shopping carts in the middle of the parking lot and let them roll into other people's cars. Last week the boys and I came out of Trader Joe's and found a shopping cart embedded in the hood of our minivan. Now we have a nice shopping-cart-handle-shaped dent. Come on, guys, it's not thaaaat far to the shopping cart parking place! The exercise will do you good!
** People who leave their trash in their shopping carts. Yes, I know it's nice to walk around Target sipping a supersized Slurpee and munching on a pretzel. I get it, it's like not being able to watch movies without popcorn and soda. But once again, it's not thaaaat far to the nearest trash can.
** People who write checks to pay for their stuff. Hey, have you seen that Visa Check Card commercial? You're holding up the line. It's the 21st century and they do have these things called check card or an ATM cards. They work just. like. your checkbook. Only faster.
Yeah, you know who you are. Do the considerate people a favor and stay away from Trader Joe's, ok? Or at least until I get off my high horse and out of this bad mood.
How many miles did you drive this week?
With gas being so expensive these days, I thought I'd start keeping more careful track of how far I drive. The answer shocked me: I drove over 200 miles last week! Mind you, I'm a stay-at-home parent, so how in hell did I rack up so many miles? Here's how:
Going grocery shopping (twice)
Taking kids to school
Taking kids to ice skating lessons
Taking kids to soccer lessons
Taking kids to dance lessons
So, how many miles did you drive this week?
Do you have a question of your own? Get it answered here!
Meet FrankenBear
This has got to be the worst patch job ever. Meet Peanuthead, a small blue teddy that 3Po won at some carnival game in Vegas. When Peanuthead's crotch started to split, 3Po came to me for help. I was too lazy to get the sewing box out, so I got the glue gun (which is right beside the sewing box) and tried to hot-glue the seams together. As you can see, it didn't work. I was forced to sew them together anyway, and the glue just hardened Peanuthead's fur and made it impossible to make fine, delicate stitches. It was like pushing a needle through a plastic plate.Moral of the story: Do it right the first time. Unless you want your son's teddy to look like he's been eunuched by Frankenstein.
Save our Tree!
One month ago, the lemon tree in our backyard was a sturdy little thing, tucked snugly away between an azalea and a hydrangea. It had lovely deep green leaves and a fat little lemon.
We decided to move it to the newly-cleared flowerbed by the back fence in order to give it more space and more sun. Sadly, one month later, I have a sinking feeling that our lemon tree is dying. The leaves have turned a sickly yellow, they have curled up, and the single lemon is now shriveled and dried up. We really thought the sun and space would help it thrive, but the opposite is happening.
We suspect overwatering. We've stopped watering it for now, but we're still not sure if the tree can be saved, or how we're supposed to care for it anyway. Does anyone have any ideas? Can anybody save this plant? Somebody call 9-1-1-P-L-A-N-T!
For more sinking feelings, click here.
What's in my bag?
I've been meaning to post something like this for the longest time... now the good folks over at Maya's Mom have given me the perfect incentive with this week's Maya's Mom Photo Challenge.
A: Here is my everyday tote bag. In it, I keep.....
B: receipts, flyers and other junk;
C: money, credit cards and ID;
D: a pen;
E: my cellphone;
F: an ultra-compact tote bag so I don't ever have to use plastic shopping bags again;
G: and my car and house keys (not shown in photo, because I'm at home and my keys are somewhere around the house).
As you can see, I'm a bare-bones kind of person. Why, then, do I need such a huge bag? Somehow or other, it always seems to fill up with STUFF, like
H: brushes
I: extra ponytail holders
J: water bottles
K: snacks
L: half-eaten candy
M: extra sweaters
N: kids toys
O: books
P: sunblock
Q: etc...
Stuff like that, just things that come and go each time I leave the house. Only items A through G remain constant. So even though I don't know what extra thing I'm going to be carting around with me, I do know I need the extra space for it.
I'm On the Road to Hell
Now that the Vatican has issued their new Ten Commandments of Driving, I had to stop and take a long, hard look:
And how does it work, anyway? If you violate these commandments, is that a mortal sin? A venial sin? Is it worse or better than molesting a choirboy? Do they feel like if they put these commandments down as law, then God-fearing Catholics will be more likely to follow them because they fear eternal damnation? It seems to me that these are rules decent people with any sense of fairness, compassion and respect for fellow human beings ought to be following anyway.
Despite these questions, I figured I'd better examine my conscience to see how many of these I've violated anyway:
Commandment #1, 2 and 6: Never, never and never. I'm in the state of grace on those.
Commandments #3 and 10: I think almost any Filipino driver violates these commandments on a daily basis. Drivers are constantly swerving, running red lights, speeding, cutting people off, anything to get one or two cars ahead. Although I'm not an aggressive driver, there is NO WAY I'm going to let ANYONE cut ahead of me when I'm in the proper lane -- so I guess I've sinned.
Commandments #4, 7 and 8: I've actually never been in a situation where these commandments would apply -- unless you count rubbernecking when there are accidents on the highway (and there are already policmen there anyway) or refusing to forgive the idiot policeman who issued me a traffic ticket three years ago. Would those count as venial (minor) sins?
Commandment #5: I'm going to burn in hell for this one. Once you've driven a BMW, it's hard to enjoy driving anything other than The Ultimate Driving Machine. The speed, the acceleration, the power, feeling As One With The Car ... ahhhhhhh. Power and pleasure? Yes! Yes! Yees! I'm unrepentant in my enjoyment -- it's sort of like having sex for enjoyment rather than merely procreation. And I'm not even going to discuss my usage of cars as an occasion for that type of sin!
Commandment #9: I used to be a big sinner on this one -- again, the driving habits of Filipinos in Manila. It's hard enough to get drivers to adopt the habit of wearing seatbelts, much less the passengers, to say nothing of carseats for babies. As a child, I rode cars sitting on adults' laps in both the front and back row. When I visit Manila, I see nothing has changed. But after living in the US for so long, I've seen the light and have been born again on this one. Seat belts are non-negotiable in our family, whether here or in Manila.
I guess I've failed the Decent Driver test - but not because I'm violating these Commandments. I consider myself a good (though somewhat lapsed) Catholic -- and by that, I mean instead of asking myself, "What does the Church say?", I ask myself, "What would Jesus do?" (thanks to Alfie for that simple yet powerful mantra). I've failed because Jesus would always slow down to let another driver get into His lane, and Jesus would smile and say the policeman who gave him a ticket was only doing his job. I have to say, though, that I do think Jesus would enjoy driving a BMW for the sake of it - he's human, after all.
For more of my thoughts on the Ten Driving Commandments, head on over to my post at the Silicon Valley Moms Blog.
- You shall not kill.
- The road shall be for you a means of communion between people and not of mortal harm.
- Courtesy, uprightness and prudence will help you deal with unforeseen events.
- Be charitable and help your neighbor in need, especially victims of accidents.
- Cars shall not be for you an expression of power and domination, and an occasion of sin.
- Charitably convince the young and not so young not to drive when they are not in a fitting condition to do so.
- Support the families of accident victims.
- Bring guilty motorists and their victims together, at the appropriate time, so that they can undergo the liberating experience of forgiveness.
- On the road, protect the more vulnerable party.
- Feel responsible toward others.
And how does it work, anyway? If you violate these commandments, is that a mortal sin? A venial sin? Is it worse or better than molesting a choirboy? Do they feel like if they put these commandments down as law, then God-fearing Catholics will be more likely to follow them because they fear eternal damnation? It seems to me that these are rules decent people with any sense of fairness, compassion and respect for fellow human beings ought to be following anyway.
Despite these questions, I figured I'd better examine my conscience to see how many of these I've violated anyway:
Commandment #1, 2 and 6: Never, never and never. I'm in the state of grace on those.
Commandments #3 and 10: I think almost any Filipino driver violates these commandments on a daily basis. Drivers are constantly swerving, running red lights, speeding, cutting people off, anything to get one or two cars ahead. Although I'm not an aggressive driver, there is NO WAY I'm going to let ANYONE cut ahead of me when I'm in the proper lane -- so I guess I've sinned.
Commandments #4, 7 and 8: I've actually never been in a situation where these commandments would apply -- unless you count rubbernecking when there are accidents on the highway (and there are already policmen there anyway) or refusing to forgive the idiot policeman who issued me a traffic ticket three years ago. Would those count as venial (minor) sins?
Commandment #5: I'm going to burn in hell for this one. Once you've driven a BMW, it's hard to enjoy driving anything other than The Ultimate Driving Machine. The speed, the acceleration, the power, feeling As One With The Car ... ahhhhhhh. Power and pleasure? Yes! Yes! Yees! I'm unrepentant in my enjoyment -- it's sort of like having sex for enjoyment rather than merely procreation. And I'm not even going to discuss my usage of cars as an occasion for that type of sin!
Commandment #9: I used to be a big sinner on this one -- again, the driving habits of Filipinos in Manila. It's hard enough to get drivers to adopt the habit of wearing seatbelts, much less the passengers, to say nothing of carseats for babies. As a child, I rode cars sitting on adults' laps in both the front and back row. When I visit Manila, I see nothing has changed. But after living in the US for so long, I've seen the light and have been born again on this one. Seat belts are non-negotiable in our family, whether here or in Manila.
I guess I've failed the Decent Driver test - but not because I'm violating these Commandments. I consider myself a good (though somewhat lapsed) Catholic -- and by that, I mean instead of asking myself, "What does the Church say?", I ask myself, "What would Jesus do?" (thanks to Alfie for that simple yet powerful mantra). I've failed because Jesus would always slow down to let another driver get into His lane, and Jesus would smile and say the policeman who gave him a ticket was only doing his job. I have to say, though, that I do think Jesus would enjoy driving a BMW for the sake of it - he's human, after all.
For more of my thoughts on the Ten Driving Commandments, head on over to my post at the Silicon Valley Moms Blog.
Gas prices are GAS-tly!!
We filled up our gas tank this weekend. Cost for approximately 18 gallons of regular-grade gas: $63.75. OUCH! Well, at $3.41 per gallon, what can you do? I still remember when gas cost $1.19. Those were the days.....
Alfie's relatives in England say we shouldn't complain, since gasoline ( or petrol, as they say) costs over $5 per gallon. To that, I say yes, that's true, but you folks across the Atlantic are lucky enough to have cars with mileages of 30-40 miles per gallon. In the US, only hybrids approach that kind of fuel efficiency. Our Toyota Sienna is supposed to get 18mpg in city driving and 27mpg on the highway. But looking at the trip computer, the average mileage on our van so far is 14.9 mpg. So we are actually spending more on petrol with our gas-guzzling car than a family in England would, driving the same amount of miles with a more fuel-efficient car.
In Venezuela, gas costs 12 cents per gallon. That's probably the only place in the world we could afford to drive a Hummer!
Alfie's relatives in England say we shouldn't complain, since gasoline ( or petrol, as they say) costs over $5 per gallon. To that, I say yes, that's true, but you folks across the Atlantic are lucky enough to have cars with mileages of 30-40 miles per gallon. In the US, only hybrids approach that kind of fuel efficiency. Our Toyota Sienna is supposed to get 18mpg in city driving and 27mpg on the highway. But looking at the trip computer, the average mileage on our van so far is 14.9 mpg. So we are actually spending more on petrol with our gas-guzzling car than a family in England would, driving the same amount of miles with a more fuel-efficient car.
In Venezuela, gas costs 12 cents per gallon. That's probably the only place in the world we could afford to drive a Hummer!
Fridays Feast #145
Appetizer: Name a sound you like to hear.
My son's footsteps when he comes running into our room at 6AM to snuggle and go back to sleep in our bed.
Soup: What is your favorite kind of cheese?
Any kind of goats' milk cheese, preferrably made with raw milk.
Salad: Do you sleep late on Saturday mornings? Why or why not?
On weekdays I'm the first one up at 7AM but on weekends I stay in bed until the kids wake up and start messing around. I only get up to referree one of their fights or when it approaches 8:30 or 9AM.
Main Course: When was the last time you forgot something? What was it, and how long did it take you to remember it?
I put a load of laundry in the dryer at 8PM; I've just gone back upstairs at 11:30PM and remembered that I haven't taken it out yet. Dang -- that means my shirts are all wrinkly again!
Dessert: Fill in the blank:I notice___________ when___________.
I notice my kids are happy when they see their parents are happy too.
For more feasts, click here.
My son's footsteps when he comes running into our room at 6AM to snuggle and go back to sleep in our bed.
Soup: What is your favorite kind of cheese?
Any kind of goats' milk cheese, preferrably made with raw milk.
Salad: Do you sleep late on Saturday mornings? Why or why not?
On weekdays I'm the first one up at 7AM but on weekends I stay in bed until the kids wake up and start messing around. I only get up to referree one of their fights or when it approaches 8:30 or 9AM.
Main Course: When was the last time you forgot something? What was it, and how long did it take you to remember it?
I put a load of laundry in the dryer at 8PM; I've just gone back upstairs at 11:30PM and remembered that I haven't taken it out yet. Dang -- that means my shirts are all wrinkly again!
Dessert: Fill in the blank:I notice___________ when___________.
I notice my kids are happy when they see their parents are happy too.
For more feasts, click here.
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