Went shopping after work today. Came home with a new bathing suit from K-Mart. Great deal, clearance sale-- it's almost the end of summer, after all.
I get home to try it on again and model it for Allan. To my surprise, what do you suppose was still affixed to one of the straps? That big, bulky plastic security device. You know, the ones that can only be removed by special removers at the checkout stand, that burst and spray indelible ink if you try to force it off yourself, and that set off alarms if you try to walk out of the store with them?
Yeah... nice little surprise, considering there were no alarms to be heard when we left the store.
Kinda defeats the purpose, eh?
La Maison des Tortues: One third of the "heckled trio" writes...
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Exercise more, eat more?
Diet and exercise go hand in hand, usually. At least, for a well-balanced life, they do.
For me, though-- "diet" has taken on a new meaning. Aside from trying to eat more healthful foods, I've found that I've actually increased the quantity I eat.
My days are no longer as sedentary as they have been for the past 5 years. The 10-minute walk between home and work is multiplied fourfold because we go home for lunch. That's 4 trips x 10 minutes each = 40 minutes of walking per day. Okay, not terribly impressive since it's not power-walking or jogging, but better than nothing.
The apartment complex has a little gym and swimming pool, eliminating any excuse against working out, that we might've harbored previously. So, I've taken to alternating days of weights and days of swimming while Allan attacks the treadmill.
Knowing I was woefully out of shape to begin with, I've been careful not to overdo it. So I'm a little sore, but it's not too bad, and I can already see the difference in things like improved sleep quality and increased energy during the day. Not much yet, mind you, but noticeable enough at this point.
What I hadn't counted on, however, was a marked increase in my appetite! I suddenly found myself ravenous during times of the day when I wasn't hungry before! I suppose it makes sense-- now that my body's burning more calories I need to replenish the supply more frequently. Still, I found it amusing that Helly's "diet and exercise" regimen would involve more eating, and not less.
Looks like fewer leftovers in our meal futures... ;-)
For me, though-- "diet" has taken on a new meaning. Aside from trying to eat more healthful foods, I've found that I've actually increased the quantity I eat.
My days are no longer as sedentary as they have been for the past 5 years. The 10-minute walk between home and work is multiplied fourfold because we go home for lunch. That's 4 trips x 10 minutes each = 40 minutes of walking per day. Okay, not terribly impressive since it's not power-walking or jogging, but better than nothing.
The apartment complex has a little gym and swimming pool, eliminating any excuse against working out, that we might've harbored previously. So, I've taken to alternating days of weights and days of swimming while Allan attacks the treadmill.
Knowing I was woefully out of shape to begin with, I've been careful not to overdo it. So I'm a little sore, but it's not too bad, and I can already see the difference in things like improved sleep quality and increased energy during the day. Not much yet, mind you, but noticeable enough at this point.
What I hadn't counted on, however, was a marked increase in my appetite! I suddenly found myself ravenous during times of the day when I wasn't hungry before! I suppose it makes sense-- now that my body's burning more calories I need to replenish the supply more frequently. Still, I found it amusing that Helly's "diet and exercise" regimen would involve more eating, and not less.
Looks like fewer leftovers in our meal futures... ;-)
Monday, August 11, 2008
All moved into the new place
Current Mood: sore and exhausted
( I have to admit, I miss the built-in "mood" feature of Myspace, but at the same time, enjoy the flexibility of having to hand-write it in when I feel like broadcasting it. When was the last time you could simultaneously pick two moods from the Myspace drop-down menu? ;-) Hehehe... )
So, we're all moved in. And moved out of the old apartment. For an extra $1000/month in rent plus utilities, we get to enjoy newer facilities (built in 2003 vs. built in the 1950s) with almost twice the square footage (less than 400 sq. ft versus 750 sq ft). We're loving our HUGE kitchen with its Corian countertops, a walk-in closet, close proximity to work, a separate dining area where we can actually put a table and chairs, a storage "closet" out on our balcony (where the water heater sits) that has washer/dryer hookups, and living on the second floor, i.e. no more lead-footed, noisy upstairs neighbors to contend with!!
Saturday the movers moved all the furniture, and Sunday we grabbed the last remaining items from the old place, as well as cleaned it. For the first time, I was grateful that our place was so small. Although I guess scrubbing appliances is never fun, no matter how large or small the kitchen. Needless to say, my current mood is rather apt-- stiff, sore, achy and tired! But we enjoyed a good night's sleep last night and had a brisk, refreshing walk to work this morning. I could definitely get used to this ;-)
I plan on taking some pictures of the new place once we get everything put away. (Yeah, yeah, I know-- I keep meaning to everytime we move, but 4 moves later I still haven't done it... maybe this time will be different ;-) )
In the meantime, here's a snapshot of our floor plan, created by floorplanner.com, a handy site for your furniture arrangement needs (click on it for a larger image). Note my favorite part of it: a little reading nook in the bedroom-- sanctuary! :-)
Ahhh... home sweet home :-)
( I have to admit, I miss the built-in "mood" feature of Myspace, but at the same time, enjoy the flexibility of having to hand-write it in when I feel like broadcasting it. When was the last time you could simultaneously pick two moods from the Myspace drop-down menu? ;-) Hehehe... )
So, we're all moved in. And moved out of the old apartment. For an extra $1000/month in rent plus utilities, we get to enjoy newer facilities (built in 2003 vs. built in the 1950s) with almost twice the square footage (less than 400 sq. ft versus 750 sq ft). We're loving our HUGE kitchen with its Corian countertops, a walk-in closet, close proximity to work, a separate dining area where we can actually put a table and chairs, a storage "closet" out on our balcony (where the water heater sits) that has washer/dryer hookups, and living on the second floor, i.e. no more lead-footed, noisy upstairs neighbors to contend with!!
Saturday the movers moved all the furniture, and Sunday we grabbed the last remaining items from the old place, as well as cleaned it. For the first time, I was grateful that our place was so small. Although I guess scrubbing appliances is never fun, no matter how large or small the kitchen. Needless to say, my current mood is rather apt-- stiff, sore, achy and tired! But we enjoyed a good night's sleep last night and had a brisk, refreshing walk to work this morning. I could definitely get used to this ;-)
I plan on taking some pictures of the new place once we get everything put away. (Yeah, yeah, I know-- I keep meaning to everytime we move, but 4 moves later I still haven't done it... maybe this time will be different ;-) )
In the meantime, here's a snapshot of our floor plan, created by floorplanner.com, a handy site for your furniture arrangement needs (click on it for a larger image). Note my favorite part of it: a little reading nook in the bedroom-- sanctuary! :-)
Ahhh... home sweet home :-)
Friday, August 8, 2008
Friday Five (memory)
First Friday Five to be posted on the new blog here :-)
1. What piece of information do you keep forgetting?
2. What regular event in your life do you keep forgetting?
3. How are you with remembering the names of people you meet?
4. What kinds of tricks to you have for remembering to do stuff that falls outside your regular routine?
5. If you keep a daily planner, what is it like? If you don’t, why not?
1. Honestly, it varies. Currently, it's our new address. And it's not so much forgetting as it is tranposing. You see, our building number is 140, and our apartment number is 204. With two 0s and 4s, it's easy to get them mixed up, and wind up wanting to say 104 Silly St, #240. Or 204 Silly St, #140... or some other random combination. Always have to think twice to make sure I get it right!
2. My wedding anniversary. And my own birthday! I remember once going to work on another ordinary Tuesday or Wednesday, and getting phone calls and emails throughout the day from friends and family wishing me a happy birthday. I was concentrating on work so much, I'd inevitably be surprised at the next call/email. Good to know at least everyone else remembered and was able to remind me! ;-) I wonder if this "forgetfulness" is because birthdays are no longer spectacular, big-deal events. They really are just another ordinary day for me, no fuss, no glory. Not like when I was younger and looked forward to birthday celebrations full of friends, presents and cake. It was hard NOT to look forward to the festivities (and hence the date) back then!
3. Pretty decent, actually. I never know how to answer the question "do you remember names or faces better". My memory is more associative-- show me a face and I can instantly recollect details about that person (where I met them, what striking thing they said/did, etc...) while the memory of their actual name takes a bit longer to percolate to the surface of my brain-- but it does get there eventually. Conversely, when given a familiar name, it takes a few moments of thinking before memories associated with that name (including the face) come to mind. So I guess the answer to the question is that a person's name is just another aspect of them to remember, no more and no less important than anything else.
4. Easy. I write it down! I have a little notebook that I keep in my backpack for jotting down things I need to remember, including funny license plates for future blogging ;-) At home, we have one of those magnetized pads that we stick on the refrigerator, that gets a lot of use, esp for building up shopping lists. And most of all, I use the computer. At work I set myself tasks using Microsoft Outlook. If a task needs to be done outside of work hours (i.e. when I won't be at my work computer to receive the popup reminder), then I open up Google Notebooks and jot stuff down there.
5. My daily planner is my Outlook Calendar, plain and simple :-) And Outlook Tasks (see #4), which I organize into categories and review daily. I also keep a separate yellow legal pad (the small ones) to jot down tasks I want to accomplish each day. I write them down in the morning, refer back to them during the day, and check the items off as I finish them. This serves two purposes: a) I get done what I need to get done and manage my time better, and b) I have notes on what I've done all week. Every Friday we give our boss weekly one-sentence updates on what we've done. You tell me-- when was the last time you could, on a Friday afternoon, instantly recall what you worked on Monday? I thought so. One glance at my notepad saves me racking my brain for details of what I accomplished.
How about you?
1. What piece of information do you keep forgetting?
2. What regular event in your life do you keep forgetting?
3. How are you with remembering the names of people you meet?
4. What kinds of tricks to you have for remembering to do stuff that falls outside your regular routine?
5. If you keep a daily planner, what is it like? If you don’t, why not?
1. Honestly, it varies. Currently, it's our new address. And it's not so much forgetting as it is tranposing. You see, our building number is 140, and our apartment number is 204. With two 0s and 4s, it's easy to get them mixed up, and wind up wanting to say 104 Silly St, #240. Or 204 Silly St, #140... or some other random combination. Always have to think twice to make sure I get it right!
2. My wedding anniversary. And my own birthday! I remember once going to work on another ordinary Tuesday or Wednesday, and getting phone calls and emails throughout the day from friends and family wishing me a happy birthday. I was concentrating on work so much, I'd inevitably be surprised at the next call/email. Good to know at least everyone else remembered and was able to remind me! ;-) I wonder if this "forgetfulness" is because birthdays are no longer spectacular, big-deal events. They really are just another ordinary day for me, no fuss, no glory. Not like when I was younger and looked forward to birthday celebrations full of friends, presents and cake. It was hard NOT to look forward to the festivities (and hence the date) back then!
3. Pretty decent, actually. I never know how to answer the question "do you remember names or faces better". My memory is more associative-- show me a face and I can instantly recollect details about that person (where I met them, what striking thing they said/did, etc...) while the memory of their actual name takes a bit longer to percolate to the surface of my brain-- but it does get there eventually. Conversely, when given a familiar name, it takes a few moments of thinking before memories associated with that name (including the face) come to mind. So I guess the answer to the question is that a person's name is just another aspect of them to remember, no more and no less important than anything else.
4. Easy. I write it down! I have a little notebook that I keep in my backpack for jotting down things I need to remember, including funny license plates for future blogging ;-) At home, we have one of those magnetized pads that we stick on the refrigerator, that gets a lot of use, esp for building up shopping lists. And most of all, I use the computer. At work I set myself tasks using Microsoft Outlook. If a task needs to be done outside of work hours (i.e. when I won't be at my work computer to receive the popup reminder), then I open up Google Notebooks and jot stuff down there.
5. My daily planner is my Outlook Calendar, plain and simple :-) And Outlook Tasks (see #4), which I organize into categories and review daily. I also keep a separate yellow legal pad (the small ones) to jot down tasks I want to accomplish each day. I write them down in the morning, refer back to them during the day, and check the items off as I finish them. This serves two purposes: a) I get done what I need to get done and manage my time better, and b) I have notes on what I've done all week. Every Friday we give our boss weekly one-sentence updates on what we've done. You tell me-- when was the last time you could, on a Friday afternoon, instantly recall what you worked on Monday? I thought so. One glance at my notepad saves me racking my brain for details of what I accomplished.
How about you?
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
How long...
... does it typically take for food poisoning to set in?
I got into work at 9am, and since it's Bagel Wednesday, I made a beeline for the kitchen and got my usual-- half a chocolate chip bagel with 1/3 blueberry, 1/3 strawberry and 1/3 honey-walnut cream cheeses smeared on it. Went up to my cube and wolfed it down.
10am, I headed for a daily meeting, rubbing my tummy because it started feeling a little gassy. I didn't even think of food-related causes until I stepped in the meeting room, and one observant colleague, upon noting the tummy-rub, noted: "Uh oh. Bad bagels?" Another pointed out that if anything was bad, it was more likely the cream cheese.
Cue to 10:45, and I'm doubled over at my desk, trying to keep from grimacing too much because I'm wrapping up a one-on-one meeting with another colleague, rifling through code on my computer. And I don't want him to think it's our meeting that's causing pain :-P
So... we're talking an hour, hour and a half. If indeed the cream cheese was the culprit, would this really be sufficient time for it to take effect? Can't think of any other reason-- I had nothing else to eat this morning, and I was fine until an hour after I ate. Haven't had too many bouts (if any) with food poisoning, mild or otherwise, so... what have your experiences been?
Beware the Bagels!
I got into work at 9am, and since it's Bagel Wednesday, I made a beeline for the kitchen and got my usual-- half a chocolate chip bagel with 1/3 blueberry, 1/3 strawberry and 1/3 honey-walnut cream cheeses smeared on it. Went up to my cube and wolfed it down.
10am, I headed for a daily meeting, rubbing my tummy because it started feeling a little gassy. I didn't even think of food-related causes until I stepped in the meeting room, and one observant colleague, upon noting the tummy-rub, noted: "Uh oh. Bad bagels?" Another pointed out that if anything was bad, it was more likely the cream cheese.
Cue to 10:45, and I'm doubled over at my desk, trying to keep from grimacing too much because I'm wrapping up a one-on-one meeting with another colleague, rifling through code on my computer. And I don't want him to think it's our meeting that's causing pain :-P
So... we're talking an hour, hour and a half. If indeed the cream cheese was the culprit, would this really be sufficient time for it to take effect? Can't think of any other reason-- I had nothing else to eat this morning, and I was fine until an hour after I ate. Haven't had too many bouts (if any) with food poisoning, mild or otherwise, so... what have your experiences been?
Beware the Bagels!
Monday, August 4, 2008
Busy week
This past week has been a good week for not having Todd around (as we have all summer), as it's been jam-packed with activity. Lots of long lunches during the week as we sorted out apartment stuff. Lots of social activities, too! Monday was dinner and games night with Leah and John-Paul, Tuesday was crepes night to bid farewell to a couple heading to Texas, Friday was a mini UCSB Geeks reunion as several out-of-towners from all over (the Bay Area, LA, New York City, Ohio) converged onto SB. We stayed up late (well, these days 11pm is considered late for me :-P) talking and catching up and reminiscing about some of the wild and wacky times we had here at UCSB. And still doing crazy shenanigans, like Ingrid volunteering to test the "myth" that a person cannot swallow a tablespoon full of pure cinnamon. I think the most amusing part of that little adventure was everyone following her to the kitchen, laden with cameras to capture the event :-) YouTube, here we come! ;-) Apparently we still had plenty of catching up to do, for we met for breakfast the next day, where we received the news that John and Golnaz had gotten engaged this morning! Welcome to the club ;-)
The rest of the weekend has been a blur of packing and unpacking stuff. We picked up the keys to our new apartment on Friday. It's still a 1-bedroom, but the square footage is nearly twice that of our current apartment. We spent time packing up little things-- clothes, kitchen utensils, toys, books, etc... and hauling a car full of boxes to the new place, unpacking the stuff, and bringing the empty boxes back for another round. Will continue to do this all week so that by the end of the week, all that remains is the large furniture, just in time for the movers to come pick it up on Saturday morning!
We also managed to get rid of a few unneeded items. Our work has a Bulletin mailing list that pretty much serves as the name implies-- a bulletin board. People use it to list stuff for sale, list stuff wanted, obtain recommendations for various services, etc, etc... It's like our own internal Craigslist, except it's done over email. Well, it served me well-- last night at midnight I listed the stuff we had for "sale" and by 7am this morning I had several responses. I never had to resort to using the actual Craigslist, after all. Which is a good thing-- much easier to deal with colleagues than strangers responding to online ads.
Anyway, I'm really looking forward getting settled and to 1) not having noisy upstairs neighbors to deal with anymore, 2) being able to walk to work-- it's only a 10-minute walk and 3) being able to have easy access to a workout room AND a swimming pool so I can finally get some much-needed exercise! What I'm not looking forward to is the increase in rent (by $1000/month) and having to pay for all utilities, but there's nothing to be done about that. With Allan graduating this summer, we would've had to vacate family student housing by the end of August, so it's just as well that we do it now, during the summer, before Todd starts school again and will be underfoot during most of this, esp the cleaning of the old apartment next weekend (fun!).
Here's to another busy, productive week!
The rest of the weekend has been a blur of packing and unpacking stuff. We picked up the keys to our new apartment on Friday. It's still a 1-bedroom, but the square footage is nearly twice that of our current apartment. We spent time packing up little things-- clothes, kitchen utensils, toys, books, etc... and hauling a car full of boxes to the new place, unpacking the stuff, and bringing the empty boxes back for another round. Will continue to do this all week so that by the end of the week, all that remains is the large furniture, just in time for the movers to come pick it up on Saturday morning!
We also managed to get rid of a few unneeded items. Our work has a Bulletin mailing list that pretty much serves as the name implies-- a bulletin board. People use it to list stuff for sale, list stuff wanted, obtain recommendations for various services, etc, etc... It's like our own internal Craigslist, except it's done over email. Well, it served me well-- last night at midnight I listed the stuff we had for "sale" and by 7am this morning I had several responses. I never had to resort to using the actual Craigslist, after all. Which is a good thing-- much easier to deal with colleagues than strangers responding to online ads.
Anyway, I'm really looking forward getting settled and to 1) not having noisy upstairs neighbors to deal with anymore, 2) being able to walk to work-- it's only a 10-minute walk and 3) being able to have easy access to a workout room AND a swimming pool so I can finally get some much-needed exercise! What I'm not looking forward to is the increase in rent (by $1000/month) and having to pay for all utilities, but there's nothing to be done about that. With Allan graduating this summer, we would've had to vacate family student housing by the end of August, so it's just as well that we do it now, during the summer, before Todd starts school again and will be underfoot during most of this, esp the cleaning of the old apartment next weekend (fun!).
Here's to another busy, productive week!
Saturday, August 2, 2008
New Beginnings
All right!
I've decided to start afresh. For a long time I've looked for a blogging service that consolidates all the features I want in a blog. I found several that encompassed a few of those features, but never one single service that had them all.
Well, if you're reading this, then you've come from my Myspace blog, a service I stuck with because it included the most of the features I wanted. But now, with some tweaking of Blogger and other Google-provided services, I think this is as close as it comes.
Let me give you a brief tour:
1. Subscriptions. There is a subscription button on the left. You can type in your email address directly to subscribe to a Google Groups mailing list that will receive email everytime I post a new entry. Just like Myspace (well, when it works, anyway)! Or, better yet, if you have a Google account (and I believe most of you do, almost all of you are either on Blogger or Gmail) you can sign in with that account and join the group.
2. RSS feeds. Highly recommended for those of you who don't mind setting up a feed reader to keep track of your favorite blogs. Myspace already provides an RSS feed for its posts, but it doesn't include the entire entry. Blogger, on the other hand, provides the entire post in the RSS feed AND it has an RSS feed for comments, so you'll know straight away when someone posts a new comment anywhere on this blog.
3(a) Comment notifications. If you'd prefer not to use RSS, you can still leave a comment using your Google/Blogger account, and check the option to receive new email when a new comment is posted to that particular entry.
3(b) Alternatively, you don't HAVE to have a Google or Blogger account to leave a comment-- you can leave a comment with just your manually-typed-in name. But you won't be able to take advantage of email comment notifications. Still, you can use the RSS feed to keep track of new comments.
4. Comment threads. Myspace's best feature!! Someone decided to tweak Blogger's template code to allow comments to be displayed in nested fashion. It's slightly tedious-- you have to remember to copy and paste a string of numbers (which is provided when you hit the Reply link) into the FIRST line of your comment, in order for it to correlate to the correct entry, but it's worth it and works like a charm :-)
The only feature that Blogger doesn't have, that Myspace does, is the ability to lock select posts as "friends-only". But I figure, I rarely post such entries anymore, anyway. And on the rare occasion that I do, since most of you migrated here from Myspace, I can always post the protected entry ON Myspace, and put the link here.
Voila! There you have it. I hope to start blogging here more permanently. Here's to more years of successful blogging! :-D
I've decided to start afresh. For a long time I've looked for a blogging service that consolidates all the features I want in a blog. I found several that encompassed a few of those features, but never one single service that had them all.
Well, if you're reading this, then you've come from my Myspace blog, a service I stuck with because it included the most of the features I wanted. But now, with some tweaking of Blogger and other Google-provided services, I think this is as close as it comes.
Let me give you a brief tour:
1. Subscriptions. There is a subscription button on the left. You can type in your email address directly to subscribe to a Google Groups mailing list that will receive email everytime I post a new entry. Just like Myspace (well, when it works, anyway)! Or, better yet, if you have a Google account (and I believe most of you do, almost all of you are either on Blogger or Gmail) you can sign in with that account and join the group.
2. RSS feeds. Highly recommended for those of you who don't mind setting up a feed reader to keep track of your favorite blogs. Myspace already provides an RSS feed for its posts, but it doesn't include the entire entry. Blogger, on the other hand, provides the entire post in the RSS feed AND it has an RSS feed for comments, so you'll know straight away when someone posts a new comment anywhere on this blog.
3(a) Comment notifications. If you'd prefer not to use RSS, you can still leave a comment using your Google/Blogger account, and check the option to receive new email when a new comment is posted to that particular entry.
3(b) Alternatively, you don't HAVE to have a Google or Blogger account to leave a comment-- you can leave a comment with just your manually-typed-in name. But you won't be able to take advantage of email comment notifications. Still, you can use the RSS feed to keep track of new comments.
4. Comment threads. Myspace's best feature!! Someone decided to tweak Blogger's template code to allow comments to be displayed in nested fashion. It's slightly tedious-- you have to remember to copy and paste a string of numbers (which is provided when you hit the Reply link) into the FIRST line of your comment, in order for it to correlate to the correct entry, but it's worth it and works like a charm :-)
The only feature that Blogger doesn't have, that Myspace does, is the ability to lock select posts as "friends-only". But I figure, I rarely post such entries anymore, anyway. And on the rare occasion that I do, since most of you migrated here from Myspace, I can always post the protected entry ON Myspace, and put the link here.
Voila! There you have it. I hope to start blogging here more permanently. Here's to more years of successful blogging! :-D
Friday, August 1, 2008
Test post
Copied from an old Grab blog post, just to provide some filler content.
Today things finally started looking up for me, health-wise. I got a good night's sleep and woke up feeling much better. Of course, I was still weak and even a chore as simple as dressing myself and washing up left me feeling exhausted and beat, but at least I had a bit more energy and a bit more of an appetite. I still can't eat full-sized meals but I'm eating more than I was this entire week. I'm sure I've lost a few pounds from not being able to eat much all week.
I slept in while Allan and Todd walked around the hotel grounds and hung out in the hotel room this morning, then rested while they went to lunch and brought me back a to-go box from IHOP. Then naptime yet again before getting ready to head to San Rafael and meet Allan's old high school friend, Benn, for dinner with his wife.
Whereas we crossed the Bay Bridge last night on our way into SF, this time we went across the Golden Gate Bridge. Of course, it was typical SF weather and too foggy at the bay to really see much. We drove through parts of downtown on Lombard St (not the winding parts, though!), and passed by the most beautiful and ornate City Hall I'd ever seen.
Today things finally started looking up for me, health-wise. I got a good night's sleep and woke up feeling much better. Of course, I was still weak and even a chore as simple as dressing myself and washing up left me feeling exhausted and beat, but at least I had a bit more energy and a bit more of an appetite. I still can't eat full-sized meals but I'm eating more than I was this entire week. I'm sure I've lost a few pounds from not being able to eat much all week.
I slept in while Allan and Todd walked around the hotel grounds and hung out in the hotel room this morning, then rested while they went to lunch and brought me back a to-go box from IHOP. Then naptime yet again before getting ready to head to San Rafael and meet Allan's old high school friend, Benn, for dinner with his wife.
Whereas we crossed the Bay Bridge last night on our way into SF, this time we went across the Golden Gate Bridge. Of course, it was typical SF weather and too foggy at the bay to really see much. We drove through parts of downtown on Lombard St (not the winding parts, though!), and passed by the most beautiful and ornate City Hall I'd ever seen.
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Recurring Dreams
We all have recurring dreams/dream themes. I have my own little handful, some common, some unique.
For instance, the classic flying/falling dream-- in my dreams, it's manifested as leaping/bouncing high into the sky, soaring for a moment, and then feeling that sickly drop in the pit of my stomach as I plummet to the ground. You know-- the ticklish sensation brought on by freefall. I wonder if it's because I really loathe that free-falling sensation, probably more so than most people. It is why I won't ride the aptly-named "Freefall" ride at Magic Mountain, and why I won't bungee jump or parachute out of a plane.
Another common recurring dream is a bit more unusual-- I dream that my mouth is stuffed with food or gum. Then a situation arises where I have to spit it out-- either the food is dry and chewy and I don't want to eat anymore, or I need to do something like speak, but can't chew and swallow the food fast enough (or HAVE to spit it out, if it's gum) to empty it. Only problem is, the food refuses to come out of my mouth! I end up having to use my fingers or a spoon to manually scrape the stuff out of my mouth-- but despite my best efforts, it never completely empties! This one is interesting to me-- I can't even begin to fathom what it's supposed to mean.
And then there's the dream where I am driving a car, and the brakes don't work (or if they, do, they're extremely sluggish to respond). Usually I'm in the middle of a turn, or trying to back the car up, and wind up jamming my feet onto the brakes HARD, hoping desperately that I won't hit anything. Eventually I do slow down, probably due more to losing momentum due to friction rather than the brakes working at all. A corollary to this dream is the opposite scenario: my accelerator won't work and I find myself lugging the car up a steep hill, Flintstones-style.
It comes naturally that when your head is deeply mired in something (like school or work or a particularly pressing situation) you'll take it to dreamland with you. More than once have I found myself doing programming or working out formulas in my dreams, during the time when I'm supposed to be RESTING and taking a break from it all! :-P A few times, however, it's served me well in that I've discovered a solution to the problem/task at hand in my dreams :-) Now that's what I call productive sleeping!
Finally, an entertaining note: have you ever been sooo furious or yelled so loud that you could hardly make a sound? I have not, in my waking life. But quite a few times I've dreamed that I've gotten so incensed that I could hardly speak, or yelled so loud I could hardly form sensible noises. Who do you suppose was my chief source of aggravation in such dreams? Why, none other than Allan, of course! ;-)
How about you? What recurring dreams do you have? Are they fairly common or unique to you?
(originally posted at: http://www.myspace.com/hellykwee/blog/419651721)
For instance, the classic flying/falling dream-- in my dreams, it's manifested as leaping/bouncing high into the sky, soaring for a moment, and then feeling that sickly drop in the pit of my stomach as I plummet to the ground. You know-- the ticklish sensation brought on by freefall. I wonder if it's because I really loathe that free-falling sensation, probably more so than most people. It is why I won't ride the aptly-named "Freefall" ride at Magic Mountain, and why I won't bungee jump or parachute out of a plane.
Another common recurring dream is a bit more unusual-- I dream that my mouth is stuffed with food or gum. Then a situation arises where I have to spit it out-- either the food is dry and chewy and I don't want to eat anymore, or I need to do something like speak, but can't chew and swallow the food fast enough (or HAVE to spit it out, if it's gum) to empty it. Only problem is, the food refuses to come out of my mouth! I end up having to use my fingers or a spoon to manually scrape the stuff out of my mouth-- but despite my best efforts, it never completely empties! This one is interesting to me-- I can't even begin to fathom what it's supposed to mean.
And then there's the dream where I am driving a car, and the brakes don't work (or if they, do, they're extremely sluggish to respond). Usually I'm in the middle of a turn, or trying to back the car up, and wind up jamming my feet onto the brakes HARD, hoping desperately that I won't hit anything. Eventually I do slow down, probably due more to losing momentum due to friction rather than the brakes working at all. A corollary to this dream is the opposite scenario: my accelerator won't work and I find myself lugging the car up a steep hill, Flintstones-style.
It comes naturally that when your head is deeply mired in something (like school or work or a particularly pressing situation) you'll take it to dreamland with you. More than once have I found myself doing programming or working out formulas in my dreams, during the time when I'm supposed to be RESTING and taking a break from it all! :-P A few times, however, it's served me well in that I've discovered a solution to the problem/task at hand in my dreams :-) Now that's what I call productive sleeping!
Finally, an entertaining note: have you ever been sooo furious or yelled so loud that you could hardly make a sound? I have not, in my waking life. But quite a few times I've dreamed that I've gotten so incensed that I could hardly speak, or yelled so loud I could hardly form sensible noises. Who do you suppose was my chief source of aggravation in such dreams? Why, none other than Allan, of course! ;-)
How about you? What recurring dreams do you have? Are they fairly common or unique to you?
(originally posted at: http://www.myspace.com/hellykwee/blog/419651721)
Friday, July 25, 2008
Fridays are for...
... being thankful that the week is at a close.
... Happy Hour!
... staying up late and then sleeping in on Saturday.
... dragging yourself into work, tired and sleepy because your upstairs neighbors awakened you far earlier than normal with carpentry-like sounds of pounding on the floor. It sounded like they were on a treadmill. Irritated and wide awake anyway, I leaped out of bed and pounded my fist on the wall. I hadn't expected it to reverberate as loudly as it did, but they got the message. The pounding was reduced to rhythmic tapping before dissipating. I am soooo glad that in just a couple short weeks, we move out of there and into an UPSTAIRS unit, where we won't have to contend with lead-footed neighbors anymore.
It was 2.5 years ago that we moved. Those of you who have been reading my blog that long might remember the first time I ranted about the neighbors. If not, allow me to refresh your memory:
http://heckledtrio.blogspot.com/2006/03/neighborly-rants.html
... oh, and Friday Fives!
1. What drink wakes you up best in the morning?
2. During the day, what do you drink to keep going?
3. Do you drink the recommended 8 glasses of water per day? Why/why not?
4. What are the ingredients of your favorite mixed drink? (Doesn't have to be alcoholic!)
5. Are you a coffee drinker? How do you take your coffee, if so?
... Happy Hour!
... staying up late and then sleeping in on Saturday.
... dragging yourself into work, tired and sleepy because your upstairs neighbors awakened you far earlier than normal with carpentry-like sounds of pounding on the floor. It sounded like they were on a treadmill. Irritated and wide awake anyway, I leaped out of bed and pounded my fist on the wall. I hadn't expected it to reverberate as loudly as it did, but they got the message. The pounding was reduced to rhythmic tapping before dissipating. I am soooo glad that in just a couple short weeks, we move out of there and into an UPSTAIRS unit, where we won't have to contend with lead-footed neighbors anymore.
It was 2.5 years ago that we moved. Those of you who have been reading my blog that long might remember the first time I ranted about the neighbors. If not, allow me to refresh your memory:
http://heckledtrio.blogspot.com/2006/03/neighborly-rants.html
... oh, and Friday Fives!
1. What drink wakes you up best in the morning?
2. During the day, what do you drink to keep going?
3. Do you drink the recommended 8 glasses of water per day? Why/why not?
4. What are the ingredients of your favorite mixed drink? (Doesn't have to be alcoholic!)
5. Are you a coffee drinker? How do you take your coffee, if so?
Monday, July 21, 2008
Twenty years flies by fast
... so does 15. But 20 is more :-D
This past weekend, Allan and I went down to Irvine to the Crowne Plaza Hotel to celebrate his 20-year reunion. Hard to believe it has been 20 whole years since he and his cronies graduated from Rowland High School. Time sure flies! I had a surprisingly good time-- though I did not know anyone there, the ones I did meet were fun to talk to.
Since we had to drive 150+ miles to make it, we booked a room at the same hotel and stayed the night. I was worn out before midnight, and it was nice to be able to come up to our room, soak my feet (I hate heels) and relax a bit while Allan stayed downstairs to reminisce with his old friends.
In 5 years I will celebrate my own 20th reunion. I attended my 10-year in 2003. Although the turnout was small (only about 100 out of a graduating class of 500 showed up) the evening was fun. 10 years is a long time, but in the grand scheme of things, it isn't that long, either. Now that I've found so many of my old classmates on Facebook, I am hoping that my 20-year will have more attendees. More of us will have had kids, and we'll all be a bit older and wiser. And I'd be curious as to how most of us will look, pushing 40! No doubt some will look older than that, some will have aged well, and others aged not at all!
Speaking of aging, during the evening, each table was asked to nominate one person who they thought looked most like they did in high school (i.e. aged the least). Our table nominated Allan. I think they did it in jest. Judge for yourself, Allan 20 years ago and Allan today:
More pictures uploaded in my photo albums... too lazy to post them here, you know where to find them :-D And the complete set can be found on my Picasa album: http://picasaweb.google.com/hellykwee/Reunion2008
(originally posted at: http://www.myspace.com/hellykwee/blog/416994942)
This past weekend, Allan and I went down to Irvine to the Crowne Plaza Hotel to celebrate his 20-year reunion. Hard to believe it has been 20 whole years since he and his cronies graduated from Rowland High School. Time sure flies! I had a surprisingly good time-- though I did not know anyone there, the ones I did meet were fun to talk to.
Since we had to drive 150+ miles to make it, we booked a room at the same hotel and stayed the night. I was worn out before midnight, and it was nice to be able to come up to our room, soak my feet (I hate heels) and relax a bit while Allan stayed downstairs to reminisce with his old friends.
In 5 years I will celebrate my own 20th reunion. I attended my 10-year in 2003. Although the turnout was small (only about 100 out of a graduating class of 500 showed up) the evening was fun. 10 years is a long time, but in the grand scheme of things, it isn't that long, either. Now that I've found so many of my old classmates on Facebook, I am hoping that my 20-year will have more attendees. More of us will have had kids, and we'll all be a bit older and wiser. And I'd be curious as to how most of us will look, pushing 40! No doubt some will look older than that, some will have aged well, and others aged not at all!
Speaking of aging, during the evening, each table was asked to nominate one person who they thought looked most like they did in high school (i.e. aged the least). Our table nominated Allan. I think they did it in jest. Judge for yourself, Allan 20 years ago and Allan today:
More pictures uploaded in my photo albums... too lazy to post them here, you know where to find them :-D And the complete set can be found on my Picasa album: http://picasaweb.google.com/hellykwee/Reunion2008
(originally posted at: http://www.myspace.com/hellykwee/blog/416994942)
Friday, July 18, 2008
Kids are expensive!
For those readers who have kids (esp more than one), I know I don't need to tell you that twice.
There's the obvious up-front expenses of diapers, baby wipes, formula, bottles, baby food and all that miscellaneous baby equipment that's essential (strollers, car seats, high chairs)... not to mention clothes that they outgrow every couple months. Or couple weeks, if you're a freak like Allan.
Then they get older and stop using diapers, start sleeping in normal beds and start eating regular grownup food alongside us at the dinner table, sans booster seat. They even help with the housechores! Yay, progress!
But then they get even older and it's time to start thinking about where to enroll them in school. If you're lucky and you have a reasonably well-mannered child AND live in a place with low crime and an excellent school district, then... well, you're lucky. For some of us, private school is the only option. Especially with an easily-influenced hardhead like Todd. It goes without saying that the word "private" by definition implies that you pay tuition (unless you live in the UK-- strangely enough, what the Brits call "private" school is what we call public school. Go figure). But if both parents work full-time, then there's the added cost of after-school care, too. Fun. Nothing quite like carving out $1000/month in our budget, knowing that's just an average estimate and could very easily go up.
I just spent some time perusing the websites of potential schools I want to enroll Todd in this coming Fall. Some had scant information, some had volumes. I did my comparisons and narrowed it down to a top handful of choices. At that point I downloaded and printed off application forms, just to make sure I had a checklist of things I would need to supply (like immunization records). What I wasn't prepared for, however, was flashbacks of 15 years ago, when I was applying to various universities. Not the mindless humdrum of filling out basic info multiple times, but the agony of formulating the perfect admissions essay. And the hesitance of bothering my teachers to supply letters of recommendation.
Some of these grade school applications could rival college applications! Detailed questionnaires. Goals for your kid. His strengths and weaknesses. His development history. Expectations. References. Time to sharpen my pencil and put my thinking cap on!
There was an episode of Law and Order (CI) on recently, about a deranged mother who shot 3 parents of toddlers at a prestigious preschool so that her own son could move up in the waiting list and be offered admission. Madness, you say, and you would be right.
But when you consider just how much it costs to get your kid a good education, and how much effort it takes to get him INTO a good school in the first place, I can understand how frustrating it is to sit on a waiting list, unsure of your next move.
Onward we shall forge. We get to do it all over again if we move. If we don't, and we remain in Santa Barbara, we get to go through this process all over again when Todd enters high school (or middle school, in some cases). And then comes college. At least THAT will be paid for. With costs rising ever more, we started saving when he was born. One less thing to worry about a dozen years from now :-)
There's the obvious up-front expenses of diapers, baby wipes, formula, bottles, baby food and all that miscellaneous baby equipment that's essential (strollers, car seats, high chairs)... not to mention clothes that they outgrow every couple months. Or couple weeks, if you're a freak like Allan.
Then they get older and stop using diapers, start sleeping in normal beds and start eating regular grownup food alongside us at the dinner table, sans booster seat. They even help with the housechores! Yay, progress!
But then they get even older and it's time to start thinking about where to enroll them in school. If you're lucky and you have a reasonably well-mannered child AND live in a place with low crime and an excellent school district, then... well, you're lucky. For some of us, private school is the only option. Especially with an easily-influenced hardhead like Todd. It goes without saying that the word "private" by definition implies that you pay tuition (unless you live in the UK-- strangely enough, what the Brits call "private" school is what we call public school. Go figure). But if both parents work full-time, then there's the added cost of after-school care, too. Fun. Nothing quite like carving out $1000/month in our budget, knowing that's just an average estimate and could very easily go up.
I just spent some time perusing the websites of potential schools I want to enroll Todd in this coming Fall. Some had scant information, some had volumes. I did my comparisons and narrowed it down to a top handful of choices. At that point I downloaded and printed off application forms, just to make sure I had a checklist of things I would need to supply (like immunization records). What I wasn't prepared for, however, was flashbacks of 15 years ago, when I was applying to various universities. Not the mindless humdrum of filling out basic info multiple times, but the agony of formulating the perfect admissions essay. And the hesitance of bothering my teachers to supply letters of recommendation.
Some of these grade school applications could rival college applications! Detailed questionnaires. Goals for your kid. His strengths and weaknesses. His development history. Expectations. References. Time to sharpen my pencil and put my thinking cap on!
There was an episode of Law and Order (CI) on recently, about a deranged mother who shot 3 parents of toddlers at a prestigious preschool so that her own son could move up in the waiting list and be offered admission. Madness, you say, and you would be right.
But when you consider just how much it costs to get your kid a good education, and how much effort it takes to get him INTO a good school in the first place, I can understand how frustrating it is to sit on a waiting list, unsure of your next move.
Onward we shall forge. We get to do it all over again if we move. If we don't, and we remain in Santa Barbara, we get to go through this process all over again when Todd enters high school (or middle school, in some cases). And then comes college. At least THAT will be paid for. With costs rising ever more, we started saving when he was born. One less thing to worry about a dozen years from now :-)
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Name that duo
A bit of geekish background:
As part of his work, Allan has written a program to combine sound files, not only flush, but at varying intervals, kind of like when you sing "Row Your Boat" and the next person chimes in as you're halfway through, etc...
We had fun reading parts of my old blog entries out loud, recording them, and then mixing the ensuing sound files. When we mixed 6 different voice clips (3 of his, 3 of mine), the resulting cacophony didn't sound as bad as expected-- it actually sounded like you would expect a small room full of people to sound, each conversing with another.
Then I hit on an idea: what would it sound like to mix singing? Even more cacophonous than talking, I speculated. So he put together 2 voice clips of the same song, recorded separately. The amazing thing? Despite the fact that both were recorded independently of one another, the timing just happened to work out perfectly. Enjoy the results:
The mp3 (75KB):
http://www.fileden.com/files/2007/2/2/725759/duet.mp3
In case, for whatever reason, the mp3 won't play for you, here's the original WAV file (1.2MB):
http://www.fileden.com/files/2007/2/2/725759/duet_wav.wav
Can you identify the two singers?
(originally posted at: http://www.myspace.com/hellykwee/blog/415252556)
As part of his work, Allan has written a program to combine sound files, not only flush, but at varying intervals, kind of like when you sing "Row Your Boat" and the next person chimes in as you're halfway through, etc...
We had fun reading parts of my old blog entries out loud, recording them, and then mixing the ensuing sound files. When we mixed 6 different voice clips (3 of his, 3 of mine), the resulting cacophony didn't sound as bad as expected-- it actually sounded like you would expect a small room full of people to sound, each conversing with another.
Then I hit on an idea: what would it sound like to mix singing? Even more cacophonous than talking, I speculated. So he put together 2 voice clips of the same song, recorded separately. The amazing thing? Despite the fact that both were recorded independently of one another, the timing just happened to work out perfectly. Enjoy the results:
The mp3 (75KB):
http://www.fileden.com/files/2007/2/2/725759/duet.mp3
In case, for whatever reason, the mp3 won't play for you, here's the original WAV file (1.2MB):
http://www.fileden.com/files/2007/2/2/725759/duet_wav.wav
Can you identify the two singers?
(originally posted at: http://www.myspace.com/hellykwee/blog/415252556)
Saturday, July 5, 2008
Smoke, fire and campouts
Well, my blog entry before the weekend got cut off due to a power outage, one of many this week. I was basically outlining what was going on with the fires near where we live-- specifically, the Gap Fire near Goleta/Santa Barbara.
It started Tuesday night, and by Wednesday thick smoke obscured the mountains, and we could even see the flames from the street outside our work building! We had several power outages, each at least a few hours long. I had a brief respite when I went to LA Wednesday night to pick up Todd, but Thursday, upon our return, provided yet another evening sans electricity. Ash and smoke filled the air, and the sun glowed cherry red from behind the brown haze.
We were glad to leave Friday morning and head out to Rancho La Scherpa for a little campout with our church. This was the first time they had organized something like this, and though our numbers were small, we had a great time and hope our experiences will lure more folks into coming next year :-)
Since 8 years of hardcore "camping" (i.e. military field training exercises) have left me thoroughly "camped out" for the rest of my life, we opted to stay in cabins rather than tents. Not like we own tents, anyway. Our cabin was basically one large building divided into 4 rooms, each housing 4 sets of bunk beds. Allan and Todd got one, and I got another. Todd, of course, immediately clamored for the top bunk, which he enjoyed :-)
After a delicious lunch of teriyaki chicken with rice, Todd and I enjoyed a splash in the pool. The weather was SO nice and warm, highly unusual for Santa Barbara. I got to break in my new bathing suit :-D The evening brought a dinner of hamburgers and after I put Todd to bed, the grownups enjoyed a rousing game of "Taboo". It was the first time most of us had played the game, and I have to say-- it definitely ranks among my favorites now! We had initially intended to see some fireworks from a nearby city, but the fire hazards prompted fireworks cancellations throughout the entire county. Bummer :-(
The night would've been peaceful and serene except for the fact that by midnight, the fire, which had previously seemed so remote to us in the fresh mountain air and clear blue skies, shifted and sent plenty of smoke our way. It was too hot to close the windows, but I was afraid to turn on the ceiling fan for fear the racket would wake everyone (as it turns out, most of the folks sharing our room had earplugs anyway!) So nobody really enjoyed a good night's sleep, even Todd seemed restless when I checked on him at 5am.
Morning left the three of us dragging our heels, despite a delicious and nutritious breakfast. That is, until we hit the paintball field to play some Bocce Ball! The first time I had ever played was when Allan and I were first dating, over 5 years ago. I had forgotten how much we enjoyed it until we played again today. Even the little kids could play, and Todd played on our team-- performing surprisingly well for a 4-year-old without much ball-throwing coordination! I will definitely vote for more Bocce Ball games in the years to come :-)
One note of surprise-- considering we were surrounded by dense brush nestled deep in the mountains, my allergies did not flare up once! Normally I'd have to stuff myself with Claritin before rolling out of bed, to make it through the day, but this time, despite being up close and personal with the plants most notorious for triggering my hay fever, I did not react once. Maybe they've died down a bit, now that I haven't been exposed to the outdoors in 7 years (that's how long it's been since I was in the Army)? I sure hope so!
It started Tuesday night, and by Wednesday thick smoke obscured the mountains, and we could even see the flames from the street outside our work building! We had several power outages, each at least a few hours long. I had a brief respite when I went to LA Wednesday night to pick up Todd, but Thursday, upon our return, provided yet another evening sans electricity. Ash and smoke filled the air, and the sun glowed cherry red from behind the brown haze.
We were glad to leave Friday morning and head out to Rancho La Scherpa for a little campout with our church. This was the first time they had organized something like this, and though our numbers were small, we had a great time and hope our experiences will lure more folks into coming next year :-)
Since 8 years of hardcore "camping" (i.e. military field training exercises) have left me thoroughly "camped out" for the rest of my life, we opted to stay in cabins rather than tents. Not like we own tents, anyway. Our cabin was basically one large building divided into 4 rooms, each housing 4 sets of bunk beds. Allan and Todd got one, and I got another. Todd, of course, immediately clamored for the top bunk, which he enjoyed :-)
After a delicious lunch of teriyaki chicken with rice, Todd and I enjoyed a splash in the pool. The weather was SO nice and warm, highly unusual for Santa Barbara. I got to break in my new bathing suit :-D The evening brought a dinner of hamburgers and after I put Todd to bed, the grownups enjoyed a rousing game of "Taboo". It was the first time most of us had played the game, and I have to say-- it definitely ranks among my favorites now! We had initially intended to see some fireworks from a nearby city, but the fire hazards prompted fireworks cancellations throughout the entire county. Bummer :-(
The night would've been peaceful and serene except for the fact that by midnight, the fire, which had previously seemed so remote to us in the fresh mountain air and clear blue skies, shifted and sent plenty of smoke our way. It was too hot to close the windows, but I was afraid to turn on the ceiling fan for fear the racket would wake everyone (as it turns out, most of the folks sharing our room had earplugs anyway!) So nobody really enjoyed a good night's sleep, even Todd seemed restless when I checked on him at 5am.
Morning left the three of us dragging our heels, despite a delicious and nutritious breakfast. That is, until we hit the paintball field to play some Bocce Ball! The first time I had ever played was when Allan and I were first dating, over 5 years ago. I had forgotten how much we enjoyed it until we played again today. Even the little kids could play, and Todd played on our team-- performing surprisingly well for a 4-year-old without much ball-throwing coordination! I will definitely vote for more Bocce Ball games in the years to come :-)
One note of surprise-- considering we were surrounded by dense brush nestled deep in the mountains, my allergies did not flare up once! Normally I'd have to stuff myself with Claritin before rolling out of bed, to make it through the day, but this time, despite being up close and personal with the plants most notorious for triggering my hay fever, I did not react once. Maybe they've died down a bit, now that I haven't been exposed to the outdoors in 7 years (that's how long it's been since I was in the Army)? I sure hope so!
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Is it really July already!?
Wow, how time flies. Like Scot, I've been remiss in blogging lately because I haven't had much to write about. Well, I guess I HAVE, I just haven't found the time or motivation lately.
Todd's spending the summer in LA. After a couple straight months of not seeing my parents at all, his Chinese was VERY rusty. For the first time in my life I heard him speaking English to my Dad (the person with whom he solely converses in Chinese)! Meanwhile, the break has been nice-- no more early mornings, no more worrying about Todd not eating/drinking well enough. And I can now head off to the bedroom to read while Allan watches TV in the living room.
Timely enough, we are also moving at the end of this month. With Allan finishing up school this summer, we have to vacate student housing by Aug 30. We put in applications for the apartment complex behind work, and lo and behold, vacancies started popping up. Summer is a popular time to move! We landed one with a lease starting Aug 1. It is still only 1 bedroom, but nearly twice as large as our current apartment, much newer and only a 10-minute walk from work! Good way to get exercise in during the day :-) Unfortunately, the mover we hired for our last 2 moves no longer does moves in Santa Barbara, as the cost of gas makes driving up here prohibitive :-(
Week before last marked the beginning of summer. Our company heralded the season with its annual summer party at a local park. Lots of good food, drinks, great weather and amazing performers from Cirque du Soleil. It was like the Amgen Summerfest in some respects-- the food, the performances, the children's play area... but at a fraction of the size. This meant that I knew a whole lot more of the people we ran into throughout the evening. It was amusing to run into the CTO, one of the founding fathers of the company-- he expressed amazement at how huge the company has gotten, with all these unfamiliar faces. Yet from my perspective it was very small, much more cozy, and ample opportunity to see plenty of familiar faces. I've got some pictures, I'll be sure to post them as soon as I can.
With the advent of July comes my favorite holiday of the year-- America's Independence Day. We've done so many different things each time, from enjoying fireworks and festivities at a local park to visiting family in Salem, OR. This year? A campout with our church. I know what you're thinking: "But Helly doesn't do camping!" Well, it's only for 1 night, it's jam-packed with activities, we're opting for cabins instead of tents, and most of all, I'm looking forward to getting to know some of our fellow parishioners better. We usually join many of the younger couples in getting together after services for lunch every week. And while I enjoy the camaraderie, it would also be nice to meet other couples with kids, and let Todd make some new friends, too.
Hmm... I suppose one advantage of not blogging so frequently is that I tend to have more to talk about, as there's always stuff to catch up on.
Hope everyone else's July and summer are shaping out nicely. Any interesting plans?
(originally posted at: http://www.myspace.com/hellykwee/blog/410900487)
Todd's spending the summer in LA. After a couple straight months of not seeing my parents at all, his Chinese was VERY rusty. For the first time in my life I heard him speaking English to my Dad (the person with whom he solely converses in Chinese)! Meanwhile, the break has been nice-- no more early mornings, no more worrying about Todd not eating/drinking well enough. And I can now head off to the bedroom to read while Allan watches TV in the living room.
Timely enough, we are also moving at the end of this month. With Allan finishing up school this summer, we have to vacate student housing by Aug 30. We put in applications for the apartment complex behind work, and lo and behold, vacancies started popping up. Summer is a popular time to move! We landed one with a lease starting Aug 1. It is still only 1 bedroom, but nearly twice as large as our current apartment, much newer and only a 10-minute walk from work! Good way to get exercise in during the day :-) Unfortunately, the mover we hired for our last 2 moves no longer does moves in Santa Barbara, as the cost of gas makes driving up here prohibitive :-(
Week before last marked the beginning of summer. Our company heralded the season with its annual summer party at a local park. Lots of good food, drinks, great weather and amazing performers from Cirque du Soleil. It was like the Amgen Summerfest in some respects-- the food, the performances, the children's play area... but at a fraction of the size. This meant that I knew a whole lot more of the people we ran into throughout the evening. It was amusing to run into the CTO, one of the founding fathers of the company-- he expressed amazement at how huge the company has gotten, with all these unfamiliar faces. Yet from my perspective it was very small, much more cozy, and ample opportunity to see plenty of familiar faces. I've got some pictures, I'll be sure to post them as soon as I can.
With the advent of July comes my favorite holiday of the year-- America's Independence Day. We've done so many different things each time, from enjoying fireworks and festivities at a local park to visiting family in Salem, OR. This year? A campout with our church. I know what you're thinking: "But Helly doesn't do camping!" Well, it's only for 1 night, it's jam-packed with activities, we're opting for cabins instead of tents, and most of all, I'm looking forward to getting to know some of our fellow parishioners better. We usually join many of the younger couples in getting together after services for lunch every week. And while I enjoy the camaraderie, it would also be nice to meet other couples with kids, and let Todd make some new friends, too.
Hmm... I suppose one advantage of not blogging so frequently is that I tend to have more to talk about, as there's always stuff to catch up on.
Hope everyone else's July and summer are shaping out nicely. Any interesting plans?
(originally posted at: http://www.myspace.com/hellykwee/blog/410900487)
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