The post that broke my heart
I was reading through this week's Sunday Scribblings posts, and came across one that has broken my heart. It's about a sweet, brave little girl and her wise little friend. I have never written about someone else's post before, but you must go over and read it-- it's the most moving post I have ever read. It makes me want to go up to my children's room and hug each of them like there is no tomorrow.
Sunday Scribblings: I wish I had Wings
Isn't the Sabbath supposed to be a day of rest? Not for your typical Silicon Valley parent. There just aren't enough hours in the day to do everything we have scheduled. I wish I had a pair of wings to get me from one place to the next. Or a fairy godmother to help me out.
What I've done today so far:
Went to the laboratory and had my blood drawn for some tests.
Went to the drugstore to buy some kids' toothpaste and milk.
Went to Whole Foods market to buy some snacks to take to this evening's barbecue party.
Went to Whole Foods market to buy some snacks to take to this evening's barbecue party.
Did three loads of laundry.
Wrapped three birthday presents for birthday parties (one for this afternoon and two for tomorrow).
Went to the Spring Carnival of our sons' new preschool, so hubby could check out the place for the first time. Spent a fortune on bake sale goods, face painting, cereal necklaces, .
Rushed home to drop off sons and change daughter's clothes for upcoming birthday party.
Spent ten minutes fixing up daughter's butterfly-design face paint because she WOULD NOT wash it off for the party and after an hour in the sun it looked like someone had thrown a paintball at her face.
Dropped daughter off at birthday party, negotiating several construction-related road detours along the way.
Rushed back home to put sons down for much-needed naps because birthday party host said they must come along to pick daughter up because she has slices of cake and goody bags specially made up for them.
Checked email, snuck a peek at some of my favorite blogs and started on our house scrapbook.
Still to do:
Wake boys up and make sure they are clean enough to take to birthday party.
They will not be clean, so clean them up as much as possible before leaving to pick daughter up from party.
Pick daughter up from party.
Make sure boys don't eat too much cake because they'll be too hyped up for barbecue at 5PM.
Drag boys from birthday party in the shortest amount of time possible -- because we'll need to get back and get ready for barbecue at 5PM.
Drag boys from birthday party making the least noise possible -- because they won't understand why they need to leave since they've only just arrived.
Prepare appetizers for barbecue.
Get everyone clean again for barbecue.
Go to barbecue.
Chase after kids at the barbecue making sure they don't wreck the beautiful things in barbecue host's house.
Drag kids from barbecue back home, easier said than done after a day of cotton candy and cereal necklaces and birthday cake and barbecue party desserts.
Get kids bathed and ready for bed. Send them back to bed five or six times because they are still hyped up.
Do three more loads of laundry.
Spend five minutes with husband for the first time today.
It's ridiculous! Someone tell me why we do it? I've spent too much time blogging already and writing out the Still to To Do part has made me nervous.. See, wings would really help me out because now I really must, uh, fly.....
For more wings, click here.
Love Thursday: A mother's love
Can you spot the differences between this photo
My life expectancy as a person living in the USA is about 77 1/2 years. The prevalance of AIDS and other infectious diseases have shortened this woman's life expectancy by as much as 15 years, to just 48 years.
My chances of having AIDS or HIV are nil. It is highly likely that she is infected, because the prevalence of HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa is 8.7%. If she lives in South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland, Namibia, Zambia or Zimbabwe, her chances are even worse; 20% or more of adults there have AIDS.
Her baby is incredibly lucky to have survived his first year, because infant mortality in Africa is about 10%, or 10 deaths in every hundred babies before they reach a year old. Ours in the USA is 7 deaths per thousand.
But the love that mother has for her baby is no less than the love I have for mine. And this is what breaks my heart. I was moved to tears by American Idol's Idol Gives Back special fundraising event. I turned the TV on to see Melinda Doolittle sing and Chris Richardson get kicked off. Instead I saw incredible images of poverty, both here and in Africa. I saw Simon looking sick, his expression of perpetual boredom wiped from his face. I imagined my children dying of malaria when a $2 tablet could have saved them.
I thought, if every one of the 30 million people that watch Idol gave just $5, and that was matched by contributions from businesses and celebrities and wealthy individulas, think how much we could do to help! So for the first time in my life, I picked up the phone for American Idol.
For more expressions of love, click here.
and this one?
Both show a mother with her child on her lap. But the first photo is one of me and the Pea on vacation, the second photo comes from sub-Saharan Africa, where AIDS, malaria and TB are part of life. Which means....
My life expectancy as a person living in the USA is about 77 1/2 years. The prevalance of AIDS and other infectious diseases have shortened this woman's life expectancy by as much as 15 years, to just 48 years.
My chances of having AIDS or HIV are nil. It is highly likely that she is infected, because the prevalence of HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa is 8.7%. If she lives in South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland, Namibia, Zambia or Zimbabwe, her chances are even worse; 20% or more of adults there have AIDS.
Her baby is incredibly lucky to have survived his first year, because infant mortality in Africa is about 10%, or 10 deaths in every hundred babies before they reach a year old. Ours in the USA is 7 deaths per thousand.
But the love that mother has for her baby is no less than the love I have for mine. And this is what breaks my heart. I was moved to tears by American Idol's Idol Gives Back special fundraising event. I turned the TV on to see Melinda Doolittle sing and Chris Richardson get kicked off. Instead I saw incredible images of poverty, both here and in Africa. I saw Simon looking sick, his expression of perpetual boredom wiped from his face. I imagined my children dying of malaria when a $2 tablet could have saved them.
I thought, if every one of the 30 million people that watch Idol gave just $5, and that was matched by contributions from businesses and celebrities and wealthy individulas, think how much we could do to help! So for the first time in my life, I picked up the phone for American Idol.
For more expressions of love, click here.
Finding the "Me" in "Mom"
Many people have told me, "You are so calm for a mom with 3 kids!" or "You are such an easygoing mom". I think they're mostly being nice, or they feel sorry for me and can see that I need an infusion of positive reinforcement. But compared with myself two or three years ago, I think they're right. I am a calmer parent. And a happier and more involved one. And it's directly correlated with the increasing amounts of "Me" time that I've been able to carve out for myself.
Having twins is a wonderful blessing, but there is no denying that it is difficult, difficult, difficult, especially in their first year. Seriously, there's always at least one baby crying or feeding or pooping every hour of the day. I was breastfeeding twins and caring for a toddler by myself. My daughter's preschool hours left me some time with "just" the two babies, but I didn't think we could afford any other outside help. I was exhausted, miserable, and almost resentful of my situation.
The only time I had to myself was at night, after all the kids went to bed. I would escape to any store that closed at 9:30 (Michael's, ToysRUs, Cost Plus World Markets) or 10PM (Target, Walmart) and just wander around. When the stores closed, I would return home and surf the internet for hours. My husband could not understand it -- Get some sleep! he would say. How could I explain that after a long day of caring for everyone else's needs but my own, I had this desperate desire for a looong stretch of time by myself, for myself?
Finally, my husband put his foot down and hired a housekeeper to come twice a month. That single act made a huge difference in my outlook and began the process of finding the "Me" in "Mom". With each step I felt more like a person. After breastfeeding stopped, I was able to leave the kids with my husband for longer hours. I joined a gym with childcare. Next came an occasional babysitter. Then last September the boys started preschool two days a week. Six hours of time by myself per week! Me time!
Note that I said Me time, not free time. Those six hours are easily eaten away by tasks done better without kids in tow, such as laundry, cooking or light cleaning, or volunteering at school, or errands like grocery shopping or running to the bank. But it's time alone. And I do manage to set aside some of those six hours to do things I enjoy. Like blogging. Or window shopping. Or having lunch at a cafe and sitting quietly in the sun.
The boys are starting a new preschool in September, and today is their last day at their old preschool. That means it's going to be my last "Me" day for several months. Good-bye to those precious six hours (and I've already spent one of those hours writing this post!). I guess it's back to late-night visits to Target again.
But you know what? That's ok. The kids are a bit older now, and require less attention. I'm really looking forward to spending time with the boys at the park and at the Mommy-and-me classes we'll be taking. I have lots of ideas for projects we can do together at home. I've surfed the internet and filled our calendar with events and outings all over the Bay Area. I'm not going back to being miserable and desperate. All that "Me" time I've taken is paying off -- it's making me a better Mom.
Having twins is a wonderful blessing, but there is no denying that it is difficult, difficult, difficult, especially in their first year. Seriously, there's always at least one baby crying or feeding or pooping every hour of the day. I was breastfeeding twins and caring for a toddler by myself. My daughter's preschool hours left me some time with "just" the two babies, but I didn't think we could afford any other outside help. I was exhausted, miserable, and almost resentful of my situation.
The only time I had to myself was at night, after all the kids went to bed. I would escape to any store that closed at 9:30 (Michael's, ToysRUs, Cost Plus World Markets) or 10PM (Target, Walmart) and just wander around. When the stores closed, I would return home and surf the internet for hours. My husband could not understand it -- Get some sleep! he would say. How could I explain that after a long day of caring for everyone else's needs but my own, I had this desperate desire for a looong stretch of time by myself, for myself?
Finally, my husband put his foot down and hired a housekeeper to come twice a month. That single act made a huge difference in my outlook and began the process of finding the "Me" in "Mom". With each step I felt more like a person. After breastfeeding stopped, I was able to leave the kids with my husband for longer hours. I joined a gym with childcare. Next came an occasional babysitter. Then last September the boys started preschool two days a week. Six hours of time by myself per week! Me time!
Note that I said Me time, not free time. Those six hours are easily eaten away by tasks done better without kids in tow, such as laundry, cooking or light cleaning, or volunteering at school, or errands like grocery shopping or running to the bank. But it's time alone. And I do manage to set aside some of those six hours to do things I enjoy. Like blogging. Or window shopping. Or having lunch at a cafe and sitting quietly in the sun.
The boys are starting a new preschool in September, and today is their last day at their old preschool. That means it's going to be my last "Me" day for several months. Good-bye to those precious six hours (and I've already spent one of those hours writing this post!). I guess it's back to late-night visits to Target again.
But you know what? That's ok. The kids are a bit older now, and require less attention. I'm really looking forward to spending time with the boys at the park and at the Mommy-and-me classes we'll be taking. I have lots of ideas for projects we can do together at home. I've surfed the internet and filled our calendar with events and outings all over the Bay Area. I'm not going back to being miserable and desperate. All that "Me" time I've taken is paying off -- it's making me a better Mom.
Let them eat cake
Here it is......ta-daaaa! The culmination of my beginners' cake decorating class. OK, the cake is lopsided (part of it stuck to the pan and I didn't have time to bake another one) and the flowers are all crumbly (I used the wrong type of icing plus I didn't make any larger ones) and the basketweave is too squiggly (no excuse for that one). But I'm happy with my effort.
Skate-a-rama
For those who hate listening to parents brag about their kids: skip this post!
On a sadder note, today the grandparents returned to England. Lots of tears were shed and the house certainly feels emptier.
I found these used rollerblades for the kids at 5 bucks each. They enjoyed ice-skating so much, I decided to let them give it a try. I was shocked to see how they took to it! This photo shows the Pea's second attempt at rollerblading, and the twins' first attempt. Not only were they able to stay up unassisted but they were shuffling around within five minutes and gliding along -- sort 0f -- within ten.
On a sadder note, today the grandparents returned to England. Lots of tears were shed and the house certainly feels emptier.
Let the tour begin....
Are we having a party? A garage sale? An open house? The answers are no, no, and sort of -- it's an open house, but we're not selling it, and you've got to pay 30 bucks to get in. Welcome to the hottest house tour in the Bay Area, the Charming Cottages Tour of Palo Alto 2007!We were approached by the organizer, the Palo Alto Area Mills College Club, some months ago. Despite some initial misgivings and moments of despair, we did it because it's for a good cause and a good incentive for us to fix up the house. Today I realized there are other benefits to opening your house up to perfect strangers:
* The organizers gave us a lovely flower arrangement.
* We got to gawk at four other houses for free. One sumptously-decorated house with charming little knick-knacks certainly made me feel like ours was quite plain in comparison -- but then, as my mother-in-law reminded me, there is no way we could decorate our house like that with little kids anyway.
* Looking at the other houses gave me a chance to see what other little touches they threw in to make their houses look awesome (ahhhh... flowers in the bathroom, must buy a bunch for tomorrow..... ooooh, their bedding is so nice, gotta make a late-night trip to Target for some throw pillows!).
* Last but definitely not least, it's nice to have a bunch of strangers come in and look at your house and say nice things about it. Seeing a long line outside your house five minutes before opening made us feel a bit like celebrities!
Would I do it again? Sure. As long as they don't look inside the closets (which some did) or swipe our stuff (which I hope no-one did).
Steps
This week's Photo Hunter's Theme is Steps.
Once upon a time, there was a pretty little house with just one thing wrong with it: a set of front steps that had grown older and more chipped and more bedraggled with time.
One day, the man of the house decided to do something about it. He called in his trusted master builder. There were many steps involved, and not much time. After three hours in Home Depot, they were ready to begin. 
They ripped out the banisters.
The master builder set to work.
He encased the original steps in new wood.
He put a fresh coat of white primer paint onto them.
He put on two coats of green paint. Nothing stopped him; he worked like a madman through the blistering heat and pouring rain.
Finally, the steps were finished. The very next day, hundreds of people trekked through the house, all hoping to view some Charming Cottages. They all saw the steps with their very first glimpse of the house. They all trod on those steps to enter. They all raved over the fine craftsmanship and beautiful colors, but no-one mentioned the steps in particular, because they looked like they had always been part of the house. That's just how master builder wanted it. As far as he was concerned, his job was done.
(This post is dedicated to Dar. Heartfelt thanks for our beautiful steps; you know how much this means to us.)
Goodbye-a, Sanjaya!!
Finally, Sanjaya has been voted off American Idol. Everyone can rest easy now. Funny, I've been tearing my hair out week after week as Sanjaya was voted safe, and now that he's gone, I can't help feeling sorry for the kid. After all, he's only seventeen, so young to be enduring such harsh criticism. So Sanjaya, no hard feelings, and good luck to you. Now go off and finish high school, sign up with the Disney Channel, become an MTV veejay, or a hula dancer or whatever. As for the rest of the Idol contestants: Let the real games begin!
Bonggamom's Napa Food Finds
Those of you who know me know that "getting hammered" is not one of Bonggamom's characteristic traits. I'm always the one who has water or soda, the one who drives at the end of the night. I don't mind the occasional vodka or mixed drink or white wine, but the taste and kick of alcohol is not something I crave or look forward to.
So I was surprised to find not one, but two wines that I can honestly say I love, during our trip to Napa Valley last weekend. I thought I'd be playing with the kids at the winery parking lots while my husband and in-laws sampled vino after vino, but there I was, swirling and sipping and thoroughly enjoying myself. Both wines are from Sterling Vineyards, a lovely winery at the top of a hill.
The first is their 2005 Pinot Gris, which I thought was lovely and crisp, almost like a sparkling wine, when served nicely chilled. You might find it sweet after the first sip, but try it again after eating a chocolate truffle, and believe me, you'll be amazed at the change -- it gains a "kick" and tastes more like a dry white.
Next is their 2005 Malvasia Bianca. I had never heard of this varietal before but thoroughly enjoyed sipping this sweet, sweet dessert wine. The wine server made a special point to remind us to sniff our wine, swirl it then sniff again to fully appreciate the wonderful aromas.
We also visited Stag's Leap Cellars and the Rutherford Hill Winery during this trip, but Sterling was the clear winner for me. So this brings to a grand total of four, the number of alcoholic drinks that this wine enthusiast has enjoyed in recent years.
Of course, my all-time favorite, grand champion alcoholic treat still remains the Winter Cabernet dark chocolate truffle from Anette's Truffles. Anyone passing by the town of Napa needs to drop by their First Street shop to pick up a box of these decadent goodies. They're pretty generous with the free samples, so even if you don't care for wine truffles (huh?!), I'm sure you'll find something you like.
Happy sampling, everyone!
So I was surprised to find not one, but two wines that I can honestly say I love, during our trip to Napa Valley last weekend. I thought I'd be playing with the kids at the winery parking lots while my husband and in-laws sampled vino after vino, but there I was, swirling and sipping and thoroughly enjoying myself. Both wines are from Sterling Vineyards, a lovely winery at the top of a hill.
The first is their 2005 Pinot Gris, which I thought was lovely and crisp, almost like a sparkling wine, when served nicely chilled. You might find it sweet after the first sip, but try it again after eating a chocolate truffle, and believe me, you'll be amazed at the change -- it gains a "kick" and tastes more like a dry white.
Next is their 2005 Malvasia Bianca. I had never heard of this varietal before but thoroughly enjoyed sipping this sweet, sweet dessert wine. The wine server made a special point to remind us to sniff our wine, swirl it then sniff again to fully appreciate the wonderful aromas.
We also visited Stag's Leap Cellars and the Rutherford Hill Winery during this trip, but Sterling was the clear winner for me. So this brings to a grand total of four, the number of alcoholic drinks that this wine enthusiast has enjoyed in recent years.
Of course, my all-time favorite, grand champion alcoholic treat still remains the Winter Cabernet dark chocolate truffle from Anette's Truffles. Anyone passing by the town of Napa needs to drop by their First Street shop to pick up a box of these decadent goodies. They're pretty generous with the free samples, so even if you don't care for wine truffles (huh?!), I'm sure you'll find something you like.
Happy sampling, everyone!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
