Holiday Ruminations

Christmas has come and gone. We've got a green Eddie Bauer shopping bag sitting on the floor, chock-full of candy and chocolate from the various stocking stuffers. Todd likes raiding it, giving me an angelic look and hinting "There's something in the green bag!" We seriously need to hide it-- out of sight, out of mind!

Speaking of coveting things, Allan and I have proven that we truly are bigger kids than our own toddler son. First there was his stuffed turtle-- it was so cute and cuddly that I wanted one of my own. Before I got it for Christmas, Todd had picked up on how much I liked his turtle, and started sharing it with me. But I'm not the only culprit. Allan grew up playing with Tonka toys, not the cheap plastic kind, but the sturdy metal ones that last lifetimes. So when Todd got a Tonka dump truck from his aunt, you can imagine who else wanted one (I have the video evidence of Allan's out-loud wish, too!) and who wound up on the living room floor playing with glee... long past the little man's bedtime :-P

Boxing Day. Canadians, Brits and Australians celebrate it. I guess that makes us the only English-speaking industrialized nation *not* to celebrate it. And that means I have no idea what it's supposed to entail. So what ARE you supposed to do on Boxing Day? And what did you guys do?

2007 is nearly over. What a year it's been! I remember ringing in 2006 with a bunch of Net friends all over the world-- what a riot! Allan didn't know most of them, but I remember connecting my laptop to the projector so the screen was displayed on our living room wall, and he could read along on the IM window (as well as hear the mic users through my turned-up speakers). This year will probably be more low-key, probably Times Square on TV. Todd loves fireworks, too bad midnight is far too late for him to stay up to see some. And maybe I'll find some pear cider and give it a try for once! Any brand suggestions?

(originally posted at: http://www.myspace.com/hellykwee/blog/342236450)

Relaxing and Fun Christmas

Monday and Tuesday shaped up to be one of the best little Christmases I'd ever celebrated! Now that little man is old enough to be excited about opening presents and decorating a tree, I had loads of fun shopping for little things for him to wrap and stuff the stocking with, as well as finding a little tree to decorate.

While in LA, my mom and I found an adorable little 3-foot tree in the nursery near our house, which was chock full of all kinds of gorgeous trees, both Douglas and Noble. We put it on the end table in the house, but when we opened up the box of lights and decorations, we discovered that the ornaments and lights were too big, as all our previous trees had been at least 6 feet tall. Still, we decked the tree out anyway and it didn't look too bad!



I got a fake 3-foot tree for our apartment in SB, and we had to forego the use of lights because the string of bulbs I bought was too short, and I had little desire to pay outrageous sums of money to get a new light strand from K-Mart down the street. So, we made do with little ornaments and some garland. Todd had fun helping, though by the time we took this picture, the lopsidedness (as you can imagine, most of the balls and candy canes wound up at the bottom of the tree) had been fixed:



Anyway, Christmas Eve was spent unwrapping presents, and basking in the joy of watching Todd rip open giftwrap with glee. Me, I got a 17-inch stuffed turtle that is identical to Todd's… only bigger, of course :-D

Christmas morning, Todd discovered a plush Blue from Blue's Clues in his stocking—left by Santa, of course. Then we headed to LA to celebrate with Allan's family. Along the way, traffic was blissfully nonexistent—highly unusual for downtown LA!

Todd had a great time playing with Allan's family, really coming out of his shell and actively engaging in conversation and giggles with everyone. He also loved playing with Sammy, Uncle Ron and Aunt Debbie's Lhasa Apso. This was a total first—up till now, Allan's family rarely had the opportunity to glimpse Todd as he really is at home—a big ball of boundless energy, talking a mile a minute and laughing like crazy.



One of my favorite Todd moments while opening presents was when he opened my parents' gift to him—a check. As it fluttered out of the box, he exclaimed: "Oh! I got paper!" But when he opened up Grandpa's gift of cash, he instantly recognized it as money and proclaimed: "I can pay!" And not just for toys and junk, for when asked what he'd pay for, he answered: "Food! For Mommy and Daddy!" :-D

Here's little man on the lawn of Ron and Debbie's house:


The evening ended a bit later than expected, when Allan locked the car keys in the trunk and we had to wait for AAA to show up and "break in" to the car. Very apt, then, that we made immediate use of the Christmas present that Ron and Debbie traditionally give us every year—a AAA membership.

All in all, this turned out to be one of the best Christmases I've ever had. Nothing exciting—just small, quiet family celebrations. Christmas Eve in our apartment in SB, and Christmas Day with Allan's family. But it was loads of fun because of Todd. Things I normally loathe, like shopping for gifts, decorating the tree, and wrapping presents, were made enjoyable because I liked the thought of Todd opening the presents or hanging ornaments on the tree, with the kind of childlike wonder and glee that only, well, children possess :-)

 (originally posted at: http://www.myspace.com/hellykwee/blog/341568672)

Home! (or not) (ok, home it is)

Mom's home-- yay! The surgeon saw her this morning and shared the amazing tale of how her surgery ALMOST turned into the major-invasive-slice-you-open-big-time one, but at the last moment, he got a clear picture through the cameras and could proceed laparoscopically, after all. Isn't that awesome?

Spent all morning cleaning the house, which paid off when my cousin and her parents arrived for a visit right after I got mom home. Probably anticipating more visitors tomorrow, so I'm glad the house is still in tip-top shape-- Todd hasn't destroyed it too much yet ;-)

Mom's appetite is flourishing, voice is back to normal, and I'm sure it won't be long till the incision wounds heal and her lungs are operating at maximum capacity again.

Here's to a Merry-- and healthy! Christmas!

EDIT [Wed, 19 Dec]:
1. pathology results are back-- they say it IS the same cancer as from her colon, so now she has a referral for a chemotherapy doc. just waiting on an appointment for it now.

2. I just got home from dropping her off at the ER. shortness of breath increased today, which is a bit worrisome, so she's there tonight just in case, and hopefully they'll be able to sort her out tonight or tomorrow.

and now i'm gonna finish my tea and collapse into bed, knowing that the construction workers outside my window will have me up in about 6 hours... and even if they don't, toddy will be up within 7 hrs.

EDIT 2, Thursday, 20 Dec:
So, about 3 hours after I dropped my mom off at the ER, she was ready to go home. Of course, as it was 3am, she was loathe to call anyone at home and wake us up, and so waited till 5am, the time my dad is usually up, before she called and asked him to pick her up.

So, little did I know that when I got up at 9am this morning, mom was actually sleeping in her bedroom. I went about my usual morning routine, and then settled down by the phone at 10am to call the hospital to find out where she was and how she was doing. Imagine my surprise when they told me she'd been discharged at 5am. As soon as I heard that, it dawned on me that dad had picked her up.

When I got up from the phone, that's when I finally noticed little things... like her jacket draped over a kitchen chair. And a hospital bag on the floor with her purse inside. I peeked inside her room-- there she was. Can you say: DUH!!

I'm still chuckling at my moment of ditziness this morning!

(originally posted at: http://www.myspace.com/hellykwee/blog/339111611)

Hospitals

Hospitals. They seem hit-or-miss most days. I have only ever been hospitalized once in my life, and that was when Todd was born. Since both the pregnancy and delivery were very uneventful and normal, I wasn't a patient with very many needs. Heck, my appetite never even floundered-- Todd was born at lunchtime, and I ate my cold meal ravenously right after he came out-- while still in the delivery room!

I wish I could say the same for my mother. Now, don't get me wrong-- she's been in contact with some excellent, caring, responsible doctors. Just look at the timeline: my dad's company switched to a new insurance provider effective 1 Dec. My mom was able to secure a flurry of immediate appointments and referrals with all the right kinds of doctors-- to the point that surgery itself was scheduled for 13 Dec, a mere 12 days later. That cannot be called anything but a miracle, and for that we're very thankful.

However, now she's on to the recovery phase, spending time in the recovery ward of the hospital, where the staff is less than stellar. Yesterday I dropped by in the afternoon, intending to stay for an hour at most, just to check in on Mom. Instead, I wound up staying for over 5 hours because I had to play go-between and drag the nurses in when they wouldn't respond to my mom's call button, as well as help mom out with things I knew the nurses would drag their heels in getting to.

A number of things aggravated me about the nurses on duty. All of it boiled down to one thing: a bad attitude, not only toward their patients, but toward their work in general. Of the nearly dozen nurses on duty, only one did not possess a holier-than-thou attitude and act with disdain everytime I asked a question or asked for help on my mom's behalf. At one point, we couldn't understand why the nurse who had been tending to my mom all day, just stood there staring vacantly at my mom, who was waving frantically for help. (turns out that it was because of a shift change-- the "night nurse" had officially taken over, but would it have hurt for the "day nurse" to at least come by and reassure us "I'm off duty now, she's your new nurse"??)

Although it's my mom's responsibility to try to get up and walk around to regain her strength, none of the nurses could be bothered to help her up and help her walk around. That I could not understand-- not everyone has family who can spend the entire day at the hospital helping out, I would've expected one of them to come by my mom's room and *force* her to get out and move around a bit, as part of her recovery process! But no. They were all very mean and acted like we were bothering them and they were doing us immense favors for things like putting a bedpan in or helping adjust my mom more comfortably on the bed.

There were many more such "horror stories" from yesterday, but I won't bore you with the details. The important thing is that my mom's slowly improving despite the laziness, arrogance and impatience of the staff charged with her care. I would hate to think how I would feel and react if I were in her situation-- unable to move about, riddled with pain, and helpless because nobody around me (save for family, of course) will help.

She was sitting up when Allan, Todd and I came by today, and her voice was louder. I mean, it was by no means her normal pitch, but at least I didn't have to lean in and put my ear near her mouth to understand what she was saying! Todd entertained her a bit by telling her about his fun-filled day... which I think I will save for a separate blog entry!

(originally posted at: http://www.myspace.com/hellykwee/blog/338529494)

Duck Entourage

Part 2 of my previous blog entry chronicling the past couple days...

Today was Todd's last day of preschool for the year. The preschool is actually an "early learning program" put together by the local city recreation center, which also provides services such as after-school programs, dance classes, music lessons, theater classes and sports classes (including martial arts). Today several such classes put together a "Holiday Show".

Todd's class sang 3 songs-- "Jingle Bells", "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" and "The Dreidel Song". The dance and piano classes put on various recitals, the theater group did an improv and the martial arts groups put on karate and kickboxing demonstrations. Obviously, I was most keenly interested in seeing the performance of all the little toddlers. A bunch of 3 and 4-year-olds singing with glee? That stole the show ;-)
I dressed Todd up in a new red flannel shirt, and the black pants from his suit-- it barely still fit! Here he is dressed up as a dreidel:



Afterward, we headed to nearby Lake Balboa, a gigantic park/golf course/recreation center where the city was holding a Holiday Festival which basically consisted of free food (a hot dog, bag of chips, and juice box for each visitor), vendor booths, and a visit from Santa. It was all fun, especially watching Santa arrive by boat from the distant shore of the lake, but the REAL highlight came when we rented a footpedal-powered paddleboat and floated around the lake.

While eating lunch, Todd and I had fun feeding some of the birds on the lake with bread crumbs from his hot dog. It was amazing how well-trained the birds were-- we didn't even throw in any food at first, all we had to do was stand by the edge of the lake and they swarmed to us, hoping for a handout. Pavlov would be proud ;-)

As we paddled around the lake, I came upon the idea of trying to feed ducks from the boat itself, to see what would happen. You guessed it-- they swarmed around us and swam along with us, and kept peeking up at us, hoping for more food. It was adorable!

It was especially neat to see the interplay between the various ducks. Our first few visitors were a small handful of ducks-- one Mallard duck and a few white ducks whose name I do not know, but whom I referred to as "Aflac ducks" (because they are the mascot for the Aflac insurance company-- ever seen the commercials?) None of the ducks were afraid-- when I held food out in my hand over the water, they'd jump up and clamor for it. One of them even ate right out of Todd's hand-- grabbing the chip before Todd could throw it. He blinked in amazement at his now-empty hand, that's how fast the duck was.

The Mallard was very aggressive, having no trouble pushing the other ducks out of the way to get closer to us. One hilarious sight involved two ducks, beaks interlocked, in a tug-of-war as one tried to grab the food from the other's mouth. And the bigger ducks (the Mallards and Aflacs) liked to come right to the edge of the boat, stick their necks out, and eat off the boat itself! Here's the Mallard, mid-grab:



It wasn't long before other birds got wind of what was going on and flocked to join us, and we had "duck groupies" swimming behind and alongside us wherever Allan paddled around the lake! We were even joined by these strange-looking birds I have yet to identify-- maybe someone can help me? They are black, small (about the size of pigeons), white beaks, and odd feet-- the webbing was not fully connected like on ducks or geese. Their feet look like chicken's feet but with feather-shaped separate webbing along each toe. Towards the end, even the seagulls got in on the action-- flying by around us and settling in to swim with the ducks. That cracked me up because all I could think of were the greedy "Mine!" birds from Finding Nemo! Here is a shot of part of our feathered entourage, who followed us all the way back to the dock when we returned our boat.



I cropped a few of the "mystery birds" out of the photos I took of the entire entourage, and here's a couple of them, hopefully they'll aid a reader out there in figuring out what they are? I'd be much obliged!

 

I forgot to mention that since by then we were out of hot dog, we supplied the birds with a bag of barbecued potato chips. Todd's and my hands were quite a sight after we were done crumbling up chips and throwing them in the water. The ducks seemed to like it-- I hope they don't get a tummyache over it, especially the aggressive Mr. Mallard, who seemed to have gotten more than his fair share of food today ;-) Next time we visit this lake, we're gonna rent another boat and come prepared with a bag full of bread already crumbled up-- let the fun begin! :-D

(originally posted at: http://www.myspace.com/hellykwee/blog/338532068)

Doing Well

Took mom to the hospital yesterday morning, as her checkin was scheduled for 10am (with an anticipated surgery time of noon). After being prepped by the nurses and briefed by the anesthesiologist, who advised us that this operation might take a few hours (and even then I'd have to wait another couple hours for mom to go through post-op before I could see her) I took off. I left my cell phone number with the nurse in charge of my mom, asking them to call me when they were done.

3pm rolled around. Then 4pm. Still no phone call. I was getting a bit antsy. Finally, at 4:45pm I called the hospital. Luckily I still had the phone number of the general surgery department's appointment line onhand, and dialed it directly so they could forward me to the appropriate party. I ended up speaking to a woman in post-op, who told me my mom was doing fine and that she should be delivered to the recovery room by 6:30pm. I was a bit miffed that nobody called me, but I suppose the "no news is good news" maxim applied here-- something that didn't occur to me until after I called.

I fixed dinner for my dad and Todd, then took off-- arriving at the recovery rooms at 6:40pm. I walked into the room and was surprised-- no sign of mom! After hunting down one of the many nurses on duty at that station, I discovered that I had actually beat my mom to arriving there! She was still on her way out of post-op. So I sat in the waiting area for about 15 minutes before wandering back in-- and there mom was.

She looked fine, aside from a bit of jaundice. No breathing tubes or anything sticking out of her. Blood pressure read normal. And she was snoozing away, even snoring a bit. She woke briefly, asked me what time it was and how long I'd been there. She was so disoriented and still drugged up she didn't realize she was in a different room. She kept dozing on and off. At one point she asked me if I'd taken care of dinner, and when I told her I cooked, her eyes widened in surprise (I'm not much of a cook). That cracked me up. When she awoke again a few minutes later, she again asked me what time it was and how long I'd been there. I had to chuckle-- I wonder how much of this conversation she'll remember (if any at all) today when I drop by? anyway, she reassured me that she was comfortable, breathing fine, warm enough, etc...

I tried to find out more about her condition and how things had gone, but since it was after hours, the surgeon was no longer around, and since she'd JUST arrived in recovery, nobody had had a chance to thoroughly review her chart. Hopefully today I can get more answers when I return.

Of course, that will have to wait until after lunch, as I shouldn't bring Todd with me, and there won't be anyone to watch him until Allan arrives from Santa Barbara.

Meantime... I'd better get some breakfast for myself and Todd. I got some library books yesterday (including a really nifty one all about turtles!) so maybe we'll get a chance to delve into them this morning. Also a good way to keep him occupied and prevent him for tearing down the house I just tidied up last night ;-P

(originally posted at: http://www.myspace.com/hellykwee/blog/338056330)

The next few days...

... will definitely be a whirlwind of (offline) activity.

An update to my previous blog entry from last week:

The biopsy turned out positive for cancer (we kinda figured anyway). Mom and I visited with the thoracic surgeon yesterday. Despite looking extremely youthful, he was a very nice, respectful and knowledgeable doctor with many years of experience. He explained that they should be able to perform a lobectomy of my mom's upper left lung lobe and do it via minimally invasive surgery: instead of cutting her open all the way, they should be able to use cameras. This means not only smaller incisions (a couple tiny ones for the cameras, and one "large" one to fit the mass through"), but faster recovery time. It also means that, barring any unforeseen complications, she should be discharged the next day, after the operation.

The surgery has been scheduled for tomorrow. If all goes well, my mom should be home by Friday.

Thanks, everyone, for all your kind words and prayers. Please continue to pray for her. I will be sure to keep everyone posted on the updates, as they come.

(originally posted at:  http://www.myspace.com/hellykwee/blog/337465546)

Been far too long...

... since I updated this blasted thing (I'm in the library right now)! Been in LA this past couple weeks, and dialup is not conducive to much web surfing beyond checking emails and reading (but barely being able to comment on) my friends' blogs. I've discovered that Google Maps (or any other mapping service) also dies on dialup-- it's useless. Bereft of my handy Thomas Guide, it was faster for me to call Allan and have HIM look up directions for me and then dictate them over the phone.

Anyhoo-- first up, Todd stuff:

He's been in a preschool of sorts since September, and has adjusted pretty well to it. No longer too shy to even ask to go to the bathroom (I no longer have to bring a change of clothes in case of accidents during the day), and plays well with the other kids. He's taken to another little boy, and I'm not too pleased-- the kid hates school, plays too roughly, and his attitude is a bad influence on Todd.

Part of our parental duties is to serve as volunteers once a month, I've done it twice so far, and it's neat to see what goes on in class and what the kids learn-- alphabet, numbers, singing, crafts-- all good stuff! They even get homework every week. On the 15th the school is having a Holiday Show and Todd's class will sing 3 classic Christmas songs, it'll be neat to see our son out in public, performing with his classmates.

WORK STUFF:
I've lost track of what I've recently blogged about, but my interview at Citrix went well and the recruiter received positive feedback. Unfortunately there's one slight snag: despite the need, there aren't any actual positions officially available to offer anyone. The recruiter has even had to cancel interviews that were supposed to take place this past few weeks because they are still haggling with Finance and corporate HQ to get funding for official positions. They are hopeful for some results in 1st Quarter 2008-- if not then, then hopefully 2nd Quarter. So, if I do get an offer it won't be till January at the earliest, and possibly not till March or April. Fingers crossed that Finance approves the openings they are requesting.

Amgen stock continues to hover in the 50s. Prime time to buy, I say. I took a look at my stock options online the other day-- because I started working when their stock was at an all-time high (in the 80s), my strike price is $80 per share. Umm... yeah, no thanks-- I don't think I'll be exercising those options at all-- even though they expire in a month.

FAMILY STUFF:
Thanksgiving came and went, as always, we gathered at Ron and Debbie's house for a nice quiet family dinner. Todd continues to gradually shed his shyness around Allan's family. This year, he was busy interacting more with them, allowing us to leave him alone with other family members, and even playing actively with the dog! He had great fun teaching Uncle Ron how to count from 1-5 ;-)

Saturday we saw the LADWP Christmas Lights, a mile-long stretch of colorful and whimsical Christmas light displays. I managed to snap a few photos with my phone-- we'll see how they turn out when I download them this weekend. Todd didn't talk much during last year's show, so this year was a treat to have him sit in the back seat and exclaim at all the sights.

On to more somber news: my mom's had a persistent cough for nearly two months. A few weeks ago, her doctor ordered some X-rays to see if they could find the cause. They still haven't, but the X-rays revealed a mass in her lungs, leading to more tests and scans to figure out what it is. These past few days have been a flurry of carting my mom back and forth between doctors and clinics, the latest of which involved doing a lung mass biopsy. In the meantime, we are awaiting news of the biopsy results while Mom recovers from a partially collapsed lung (caused by the biopsy procedure).

As most of you know, my mom had a bout with colon cancer 2 years ago, and we are hoping that if the mass in her lung turns out to be cancer, it isn't the same one that was in her colon. Because if it is, that indicates that it has spread, and that's not good news.

Please pray for her, her health, and a successful and uneventful recovery. Thanks.

That's about it for current updates! :-)

(originally posted at: http://www.myspace.com/hellykwee/blog/334873733

Guestbook Memory Lane

Following Willow's lead... you're supposed to go to page 10 of your Grab guestbook and post some of your favorite entries. Well, in keeping with my self-imposed avoidance of the site, I decided to do a different version: pick out my favorite entries in ALL of my Myspace guestbook.

But because the majority of the funny posts come from the same handful of people, I decided to forego the "guessing game" portion and simply paste in the date, entry and author... along with a little commentary from me :-)

Here's a few of my favs... along with a little "bonus round" at the end that never fails to make me laugh.

Aug 25, 2007 7:45 AM (Jenna)
i had a dream last night that you and i were at some sort of dinner party, and Todd was there too. he took a liking to me and sat in my lap, wearing pajamas with feet on them that were patterned with Eeyore (i clearly read your email right before bed last night). i played "this little piggie" with him and then he fell asleep. how random is that!?
I'm sure I'm not the only one who has had some mighty strange and random dreams involving my friends-- I had a couple involving Jenna, myself-- one with us as runway models, and another where we had a sleepover and spent the entire time surfing the net!

Jul 20, 2007 6:42 PM (Scot)


When I first saw this, I thought it said "HELLY I'm into it" LMAO---I had to do look real close to realize what it really said, but the funny had already happened!
Not a whole lot more needs to be added to this, I'm sure ;-)

May 30, 2007 1:35 PM (Lisa)
I just had a mail. It said

"Just want to say you both look so so sexy looking. So which one is you?"

Im thinking of mailing back and saying the middle one...
This was back when Lisa's display picture was the one of me, her and Fuzzy in Wales. The "middle one", of course, was Fuzzy :-D

May 11, 2007 5:20 PM (Fuzzy)
Hey Helly, I think I've found the perfect airline for you.
I'm sure you'll feel right at home with them :-P

My love of spreadsheets apparently is too well-known. I've had a number of similar comments, but as the saying goes-- a pictures says a thousand words :-P

May 2, 2007 1:52 PM (Wayne)
Happy Birthday!!
2nd annual 29th birthday, right? ;)
Haha-- leave it to good ol' Wayne to put it all in perspective ;-)

Dec 16, 2006 4:30 PM (Lisa)
Those emails Friday night were the funniest ever

guess you could say we talk about anything and everything - my ass included...
We've always talked about some really random stuff, but this ass-related conversation took the cake! Lisa, do you remember it? ;-)

Dec 10, 2006 11:53 PM (Lisa)
Ok, so I only now notice your background

Why have you little spermies floating around your page?
They were NOT "spermies"! They were music notes! See:


Nov 2, 2006 1:42 PM (Jen[glockie])
LOL Loves it! I think I will call your employer to see if they can provide more funds for your vision plan. Loves ya babes! Country is cool (no matter what they may say about it)
This was after I made some commentary about how hot she looked ;-) And thanks for sticking up for me in terms of country music, babes!

Jul 6, 2006 5:03 AM (Fuzzy)
As cute ad Toddy is, he scared the heck out of me when he called me 'Daddy'
Written after a group voice chat in which Todd mistakenly identified his voice as "Daddy's"... never mind that the voice was coming from the computer and Daddy was in the next room!

And finally, the pièce-de-resistance: a group of comments, most of them from Lisa's page. It's... well, you can read for yourself (I've inverted the order to make it easier to read on here):

From Lisa's page:
Mar 13, 2006 10:07 PM (inog)
Old?
Hell, Helly gives me the freaking creaps.
She looks 14.

Mar 14, 2006 9:45 AM (Brian)
Helly gives me the creeps too, but it has nothing to do with her age...

Joking... just joking....

Mar 14, 2006 10:04 AM (Helly)
Whoa, whoa, whoa!
What's this "creepy Helly" talk going around on Lisa's guestbook!?

Creepy, my ass. You ain't seen nothin' yet! :-P

As Lisa said to inog: fuckers :-P

And then on my page:Mar 15, 2006 11:01 AM (inog)
I am reporting you to MySpace for not properly flagging your account as underage.
And finally separate from that, a photo comment:
June 27, 2006 12:46 PM (Fuzzy)
lol, my mates saw me checking your pic Helly. They wanted to know why I was looking at pics of a 14 year old girl. OOhhhhh my ribs hurt, lol
The funniest part about that whole "mock Helly" bit? The fact that a year and a half later, when I finally met the Oregonians, they remained consistent in asserting that I STILL look 14... in person... this time dragging SPAC into the mix ;-P Lisa and Fuzzy weren't too convinced I was nearly 30, either, when I met them in the UK last year. Har har ;-)

(originally posted at: http://www.myspace.com/hellykwee/blog/329572453)

Christmas Gift Flash Toy

Stolen from Jenny (ArmageddJenn). A neat little flash toy that lets you give gifts, customize the look of the wrapping, search for gifts that aren't already posted in their default list, and enclose a personal note. Thought I'd have a bit of fun and sign up for one of my own. Here goes!


(originally posted at: http://www.myspace.com/hellykwee/blog/329495436)

Need a brain, anyone?

... or a witty comeback, in my case? Some random acts of downright ditziness follow...

While shopping at Staples earlier this week to get some nice professional paper on which to print my resume for the job fair, I stopped to peruse the digital cameras. I did a double-take when I spied this little red-tag deal underneath one of the cameras:



Hmmm... how's that for some major savings? Wow, instead of paying $249 for the camera, I'll only pay $248.99!! I think it would be easier to recoup that penny by just looking on the ground.

Yesterday I took Todd to the main branch of the Santa Barbara library system-- downtown, where parking spots are scarcer than virgin sheep in Wales, or talent at an American Idol audition (:-D). I entered a parking structure in which the first 75 minutes was free, and $1.50 for each additional hour thereafter. Knowing that the show we were going to watch would last just an hour, I figured we'd have plenty of time to make it out of there before 75 minutes was up. And we would have.... except...

My first mistake? Letting the slow-ass behemoth SUV go ahead of me as he pulled out of his parking spot and crawled toward the exit. Probably afraid to dent his shiny new gas-guzzler in the cramped garage. My second mistake? Not honking more avidly at the other cars lined up in front of us to pay at the exit. Time was ticking, and people took their sweet time scrounging for change in their purses. By the time I reached the exit, 76 minutes had elapsed since I withdrew the ticket from the entrance, and I was charged $1.50 for basically idling in line trying to get OUT of the damned parking garage! I tried pleading my case to the  hapless parking attendant, who was too low on the totem pole to do anything about it, especially as everything was automated. But it sure got my blood boiling. Now that I think back, maybe I should've paid by credit card. Stick the county with the credit charges ;-) Ah well... next time!

And today I was on my way out of the apartment with the laundry hamper in my arms and Todd following me, clutching a box of laundry detergent. Quite clearly, we were on our way to the laundry room. What do you suppose we were going to do once we arrived? Gee, ya think? Maybe you can enlighten the salesperson (of sorts) that approached us on our way. Her attempt at small talk? "Going to do some washing?"

Again, too late with the snappy comeback. I wish I had thought to say, with a completely straight face: "No, I'm just gonna burn a few buildings down. These 'clothes' are highly flammable, and my son's not actually holding detergent, that's gasoline". Or something equally absurd...

And then, with a flourish: "Here's your sign"

:-D

(originally posted at: http://www.myspace.com/hellykwee/blog/329068221)

Mattress Shopping

It was another dreary day in Santa Barbara. The entire week had been drab and cold and cloudy. Friday and Saturday provided respites of warmth and sunshine, which I had hoped would last through today, so I could wash the cars with Todd. Alas, it was not to be. So, we were left wondering what we could do today. I hit upon the idea of browsing local mattress and furniture stores to look for our ideal mattress.

We already had an idea of what we wanted: a king-size memory foam (like TempurPedic) mattress, but beyond that, we had to figure out what exact kind of memory foam (medium? firm?), whether we wanted a separate foam pillow top, foam pillows, etc...

So we visited several shops today and took the various mattress for test drives, obtaining all sorts of information from the salesmen in the process. The most obvious plus of the mattresses was exactly what they were designed for: the comfort factor and reduction in pressure points that springs normally exert. The next most important factor for me was the absorption of movement (remember those commercials featuring a woman jumping on one side of the bed while a glass of wine barely moves on the other side?)-- because Allan tosses and turns pretty violently at night, which sometimes causes earthquake-like tremors that sometimes wake me up.

Anyway-- the point of this entry is to inquire amongst my friends and see if they have any opinions (either personal or secondhand) about the mattresses? For example, one common complaint I've heard of is that the mattresses don't breathe as well as spring ones, causing people to get too warm. Not a problem for me, but potentially one for Allan-- depending on what "too warm" actually constitutes.

I'd be curious to see about other folks' experiences with memory foam mattresses, so please chime in with your (or your friends'/families') thoughts :-) Thanks!

(originally posted at: http://www.myspace.com/hellykwee/blog/327670177)

More Random Updates

Brrrr!!! It's friggin' COLD up here! Allan blames me, as this cold snap coincided with my return to SB from LA last Thursday.

Thursday was our 4-year anniversary (what a nice, neat date-- Nov 1st) so we dressed up and headed downtown for some dinner. We even dressed Todd in his suit, figuring we might as well get at least one more use out of it. Unfortunately the restaurant was crowded, I was starving and didn't want to wait 30 minutes for a seat outdoors, and we opted to eat outside, under the heaters. All I can say is, I'm glad I ordered hot tea with my meal, because BRRRR!!! I was frozen by the time I finished my meal and though I had room for dessert, we didn't stay. Instead, we rounded out our Italian meal by grabbing some Tiramisu Gelato from Trader Joe's on our way home.

It's been a fun week, lots of quality bonding time with Toddy, especially during the week when Allan's away at school all day and I'm basically full-time Mommy. What an exhausting task! But soooo much fun!

Todd made a new friend on Monday-- a little redheaded girl around his age (and her siblings), she lives across the way from us, and they had fun playing in the sandbox and toy kitchen in her back patio. It was refreshing to see him cast away his usual shyness and see him interacting so much with another little kid! First time I observed it was when we met Molly in Oregon, this was pretty much the same scenario-- except that since he's nearly 6 months older than when he met Molly, his vocabulary has expanded and he could talk more and hold actual conversations with the other kids. Hard to believe he's no longer a baby and is turning into an actual little person who can reason and think and talk (and talk back sometimes!)

Last week I got an actual job offer from the "adult industry" company. I interviewed with them the week before and learned that they are actually a consulting company whose clients are porn industry leaders, like Vivid. They run the e-commerce, web stuff and marketing for Vivid et al. It was mighty tempting-- the job itself sounded interesting, the pay was decent and the benefits (well, retirement, anyway) were EXCELLENT. But in the end I decided I wouldn't be comfortable having to hide aspects of my job from family and friends, and by that time I was getting ready to interview with another company (the one Allan will start at in January) so I declined. Bit of a gamble, since I still don't know how things will pan out with this other company, so I'm a bit anxious.

This Friday I have an on-site interview at the second company (here in Santa Barbara). I'm a bit nervous, which is unusual because I rarely get nervous at anything. But it promises to be interesting and potentially grueling. First of all, the inital phone screen I underwent last week consisted of TONS of technical questions. Second of all, the recruiter advised me that they'd study my resume and quiz me accordingly (in other words, I'd better know my shit down-pat!). Third of all, I'm interviewing from 9am to 1pm. And since I was warned to eat a huge breakfast, I'm not counting on lunch.

Anyway, I've been studying this week and doing lots of review (I feel like I'm back in school again) and am anxiously anticipating the day after tomorrow. Please send good vibes my way on Friday-- I feel like I'll be needing it! Thanks :-)

(originally posted at:  http://www.myspace.com/hellykwee/blog/326521208)

Asian Delicacies

Asian supermarkets can be fun to visit. They carry all sorts of snacks, fruits and vegetables you wouldn't ordinarily find elsewhere. Prices are usually pretty good, too. I don't often frequent such markets, so when I do go, it's fun to try different products.

But there's one section of the supermarket I've learned to avoid: the seafood section. I can't stand the sight of lobsters with bound claws, crowded crabs, and catfish just biding their time in the full tanks until a customer decides to order some fresh seafood to cook. Worse yet are the poor crabs thrown into dry bins, many upside down, only a few moving their feet pitifully. It's positively heartbreaking to watch these poor creatures suffering and just waiting for their demise.

Then last weekend I came across a REALLY horrid sight: turtles! I knew the Chinese ate turtles but I'd never seen live ones in supermarkets until then. There were a few "ordinary" looking turtles, but most of them were pig-nosed turtles-- utterly adorable! The poor things were huddled in what looked like a giant bathtub, most of them retreated inside their shells. Many were piled one on top of the other. Todd saw these turtles and exclaimed in excitement at them, but I couldn't share his joy because I knew what cruel fate awaited them.

Tonight, while I was looking up the actual name of the turtles with the pig-like snouts on Google, I came across this petition. I didn't enjoy reading about the ghastly conditions of animals targeted for consumption in China (which I imagine also holds true for most other Asian countries), but it did not surprise me to read it. China's human-rights track record is pretty atrocious, let alone its treatment of its scaly, furry, and four-legged citizenry. It makes me both sad and angry that such wanton disregard for life is so widespread.

Of course, I am aware that animal abuse and neglect exists in the United States as well-- including on farms. But at least here the culture and general mindframe scorns such abuse and even makes it a crime. Animal rights advocacy is a pretty strong movement.

There is a verse in the Proverbs book of the Bible, which speaks to the respect and care a righteous person shows to his animals. How true. The world would do well to keep mindful of that! Human beings are not only the most complicated but also the cruelest of creatures on this planet. Maybe one day it won't be so... one can only hope!

(originally posted at: http://www.myspace.com/hellykwee/blog/325307871)

Continuing the Meme

Okay, I've done this on Kendra's, Jenna's, and Scot's blogs... so now it's my turn to post it and sweat over the answers ;-)

Type your name in my blog comments.
- Once you do that, this is what I'll do for you...

1. I'll respond with something random about you.

2. I'll tell you which song or movie you remind me of.

3. I'll pick a flavor of jello to wrestle you in.

4. I'll say something that only makes sense to you and me. (if possible. if not, I'll say something that only makes sense to me.)

5. I'll tell you what I like or admire about you.

6. I'll tell you what animal you remind me of.

7. I'll ask you something I've always wondered about you.

*If you play, you MUST post this on yours. No exceptions!

(originally posted at: http://www.myspace.com/hellykwee/blog/324621777)