ShizLife

The Mythos of Santa (and having to decide to believe or not)

2011-12-25T13:03:00.000-08:00

Santa never came to our house when we were little.
It's not because I was a misbehaving kid, or being punished for pulling my sister's arm out of the socket when she was a little over one.

I don't think the idea of Santa was wide-spread in Japan yet (he was a mascot character for winter events, but not someone who actually gave you gifts), and I checked w/ Ichigo and she confirmed that we never got presents from Santa.

So I never believed in Santa.
And the concept of Santa is foreign to me.

It never hampered my life as an average citizen... until now.

When you have kids, all of a sudden you're forced to decide...Do we believe in Santa or not?

Okay, some people don't need to decide. It's a given. Santa exists for kids, and you keep the idea going until they start questioning it, no longer believe or something.

But for me, I have to learn this Santa business.

How do kids find out about Santa?
What age do you start talking about Santa? How do you make him believable? What's his back story!?

F*ck.
I don't have memories of the Santa fantasy (or the disappointment of finding out the truth), so it's really hard to comprehend.

I didn't know Santa gives you the gift you most want (or the expensive toy).
Man, you get the gift your kid wants the most, and you don't get credit for it? That kinda sucks. (Yeah, yeah. The joy in your kid's face is rewarding enough. Bah!)

So is that the joy of Santa? He knows the gift you want most? And you try to stay out of trouble, listen to your parents, don't pull your sister's arm out of the socket...so he'll bring you your favorite-ist toy ever?

What is magical about Santa?
He comes in the middle of the night to drop off gifts? Hmm. How do you know Santa dropped off a gift when there are other gifts under the tree? Doesn't it get lost in the pile? Or is the box so big, it's hard to miss?

And I knew about leaving cookies & milk (TV commercials tell you so), but I assumed you just buy cookies. Our friends are posting on FB about baking cookies w/ their kids. What!? Do you know how much mess I make when I bake cookies? The thought of baking w/ a 3-4 year old is making me dizzy.

I'm sure it's cute when kids believe in Santa.
But the cynical part of me would be twitching at the face if I had to play along with the Santa mythos.

Which brings me to the really important part.
I don't want to be the adult, nor do I want to have the kid, that ruins the Santa fantasy for other kids.

I've already come pretty close.
I openly talked about "not doing Santa as a kid" in Popo's music class. There are kids 2-4 years old who fully understand what adults are talking about, and some of the parents looked uncomfortable. I only realized later on that the parents were nervous their kids heard me.

Ugh.
If I'm not making any friends in the parent/tot classes, this is why.

So we haven't decided whether or not we'll believe in Santa yet. Popo is still scared of people in costume (Santa included), so we haven't even tried introducing her to Santa. I think she might know what he looks like from cards, books, TV and iPad apps, but not sure what he is.

But we'll definitely need to decide by next year, since she'll understand more and some of her friends will believe.

Is there a good book to read, so it'll help a first-generation Santa-ican understand this childhood magic?

The Pad

2011-12-03T14:14:00.000-08:00

じゅるる had their company holiday party yesterday.

Last year, he was on some committee to help decide what prizes would be good. I whispered "iPad"... and they did give away a few. We just didn't win any.

In fact, じゅるる didn't win anything for 2 years in a row. The odds are pretty good to win SOMETHING. He just doesn't have that luck, maybe.

So this year, I sent him some luck vibes (curse?).
I bend my knees, legs at shoulder width, extend my arms, wiggle my fingers, and send him some chi (curse?).

Looks ridiculous.
But I have the luck. At least for little things, like gift cards and B*rney concert tickets.

And I get a text around lunch.

"Guess who won an iPad? Whoo!"

No. Way!

But for some reason, I couldn't tell people because I felt that the luck would go away if I said it before really confirming. Strange, isn't it? He already won it. It's not gonna get taken away.

(He could have dropped it on the way home. The car catches on fire and iPad burns up in flames. Asteroid comes shooting down the 405 and his car gets crushed. Earthquake comes and iPad gets swallowed up in a huge crack in the road.)

After a while, I message Sat. Message Ards.
Ards sends a nice list of free apps to get for Popo.

After charging overnight.
And downloading a few apps.
We show it to Popo the next morning.

Happy early Xmas!

Shiz Can't Cook Series: Persimmon Cookies

2011-12-01T14:07:00.000-08:00

Somehow Ichigo thought I like to bake cookies or something.
Must be all the cranberry & w choco cookies I've been making.

So she gives me a vague recipe for persimmon cookies saying, "I like them."

Make them yourself!!

But being a better daughter than the pre-kid me (no, not really), I decide to try making persimmon cookies.

First off... the batter came out awfully wet.
Probably too much pureed persimmons.

But not being familiar w/ how baking works, I didn't really want to add more flour or other dry stuff. So I decide to just freeze the dough. That'll make it easier to mold and bake, right?

So I made these long rectangular log.
One w/ walnuts, one w/o nuts.

Froze 'em long enough so I can cut them.
Aw, I don't have any roasting strings. Floss will have to do (bfft!)

And they came out like this:

They don't look so bad.

They're just kinda... chewy.
That's probably the soft batter talking.

I'll try it again w/ more flour.

PS. Ichigo's reaction: "Oh, I like them in mounds."

Make 'em yourself!!

Shiz Can't Cook Series: Cranberry & White Chocolate Cookies

2011-11-27T13:45:00.000-08:00

Eek, long time no write.

Back in the beginning of October, I helped organize a charity event and one of the gals brought these delicious cranberry & white chocolate cookies.

But I never got around to asking for the recipe, so I did some searching online. And found a few recipes... and one of them was an egg-free version. Awesome!

Since we have tiny bowls here, I cut the recipe in half. And also decreased the sugar by half.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup cream cheese
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup flour
1/2 cup cranberries
1/3 cup white chocolate chips

It's easy b/c you pretty much mix it all together.

Then drop them onto a baking sheet.
I like them in little mounds, but they can go flat too.

And voila:

Delicious little mounds of cream cheese cookies!

They're so easy, I'm chucking the idea of making Russian tea cake cookies to pass out to Popo's teachers for the holidays. This is our go-to cookie recipe now!

Hello, New Expensive Advanced Phone

2011-07-01T23:45:00.000-07:00

Ardee said, a slide out keyboard would be easier to text (S Intercept).

Sat said, LG OV got a lot of great reviews.

じゅるる said, I can get whatever phone I want.

But two of the three agreed on one thing.
No phone is a toy for Popo.

So I agreed to keep the phone out of reach from her. Change my habits instead of training her. Really? I thought our mantra was "train her to live in an adult world."

Oh, then she touches adults' things & destroys them.

Bah. I could keep the phone way up high.
So I went with the $150 LG Optimus V.
I've never ever ever spent so much on a phone. Oh, except the prepaid phones in Japan. And we bought 3 of those.

And you know what? It's an Android phone.
Woooooow.

It's like... I've advanced 10 years.
Okay, not that much. Like 5 years?

But I don't really know how it works, so I'll have to play around with it. But my mind is really foggy from the cold, so I won't be able to figure anything out for a while.

Now time to manually enter in all my contacts. Before my old phone uses up its last bit of juice.

The End

Hello, Temporary Phone

2011-07-01T23:32:00.000-07:00

So my plan was this.
I'll buy a temporary cheap phone while I decide on what phone to get next.

Sat's phone (K TNT) was cheap, and although it doesn't have a qwerty keyboard, it's something I could use for this weekend.

So after a Mitsuwa crepe run w/ Ardee, we stopped by BB and bought a similar phone (K S2100).

Got home & tried to switch my account over to the new phone. Nice thing about V Mobile is that you can do this all online.

But after I typed in the serial number, it gave me an error message.

"You need to migrate your service."

Huh?

So I call the customer service line.
And the kind young woman on the other line explained that I bought the wrong type of phone. Apparently there are two "classes" of phones. Inexpensive to semi-expensive ones are non-internet ready phones. And you only get talk minutes and you have to buy "debit money" to text. Whaaaaat?

The plan we currently have (semi-expensive to expensive phones) can do the unlimited data & text, but limited talk minutes.

But, but, but... my phone & my sister's phone can do unlimited data/text! And the phones are still available... oh, they're newer models. And they've been downgraded to non-internet ready. Really!?

Well, having to pay for minutes and then pay for text would be... like AT*T or Veriz*n.

FIIIIIIIINE.
I'll hurry up and decide on which phone I want & go return this cheapy phone.

So I head back to BB to return the cheapy phone (and buy a more expensive phone).

(to be continued...)

Goodbye, Phone

2011-07-01T23:10:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I made a lazy mistake.
I let Popo play w/ her saline nose spray bottle & left my phone on the couch. It appears that she's learned to unscrew the bottle cap.

And flipped the bottle upside down to pour the saline onto my phone.

I screamed.
Quickly dried off the phone.
And relieved that it was still working.

Or so I thought...

I didn't think to check all the nooks and crannies, and charged my phone overnight.

But it wasn't charged.
Hmmm...
Maybe the charger came loose on the extension cable.
Nope.

So I look at the charger port, and it's a little green-ish. Oh. My. Gosh. It's that time she poured saline on the phone. It's corroded!!

The phone works fine. But without any way to re-charge the phone, my phone is dying a slow death.

With one bar left on the battery life, I didn't know how much longer I had the phone.

(to be continued...)

We are All Officially Sick

2011-06-28T23:02:00.000-07:00

It always starts w/ Popo.
She catches colds from various places. But I have a few location suspicions. Like Westside P's food court play area. And WBC's ballpit.

Anyhoo, even if Popo gets sick, it doesn't necessarily hit the rest of the household. Sometimes (like 50%) it hits じゅるる. And I get hit about 10% of the time.

But this time... we all got it.
Popo got it first. じゅるる started getting a stuffy nose by her 2nd week. And by the time her 3rd week was starting, I was sick.

So now we are all on antibiotics. Popo for her ear, じゅるる for his bronchitis-like thing, me for... something.

Isn't it too hot to be the cold season?
It makes it hard to get better when you end up kicking off all the blankets too.

We Joined the Y

2011-06-22T13:36:00.000-07:00

We learned that the Y offers free childcare as long as you're in the building, so we took tours of the two local facilities with the intent of enrolling in one.

I'm not a workout type of person, but there are days where I would love to get away from a certain critter. Maybe I'll walk on the treadmill. Maybe I'll do water exercise w/ the old folks. Maybe I'll sit on the bench and watch other people working out.

First we went to our usual Y.
That's the one where Popo takes her swim class (= water play time).

CP's rates are $125 joining fee & $60 per month for the family membership. They just got brand new gym equipment (じゅるる said it had a "new car" smell). Childcare is only in the mornings to noon, and in the afternoons. But tot classes are all free w/ membership.

The next day, we went to the next closest Y.
WS is a bigger, nicer facility. But the rates are $169 joining fee & $90 per month for families. Ack! But they have a hot tub, sauna & steam room in both the men & women's locker rooms. Childcare is longer hours, and the room was much bigger and had more windows. But tot classes still cost money, altho it's half the price of non-member class fees.

Even though I was attracted to WS, we ended up going w/ CP. Cuz we didn't know if we would be able to make a full use of the facilities in either places, so why not start low? Plus we're able to go to the other Ys four times per month. Ha! Time to use the hot tub & sauna!

Then when we went to sign up, CP said they're waiving the joining fee ($125) if we've taken classes before. What!? I love you!!

So now we've been members for 2 weeks. Used childcare two times. Took two water aerobics class. Tried family swim once. So far so good. The only problem is Popo's been sick, so we can't really use childcare now. Or go to family swim. And I haven't gone to the other Y for the hot tub, but we did join their tot gym class (at the cheaper rate).

Next might be yoga. Or tai chi at the other Y. Or if I'm adventurous, maybe zumba.

Shiz Can't Cook Series: Egg-less Cupcakes

2011-05-06T16:29:00.000-07:00

So now that we know Popo is allergic to eggs, I looked up some egg free cupcake recipes online. Most of them are chocolate... but I don't think I'm ready to give a 13 month old some chocolate yet.

Then! I found a vegan website that had these strawberry cupcakes. Could be muffins. What is the difference between cupcakes & muffins anyway? With or without the frosting?

Anyhoo, I decided to give it a try.

The dry:
1 3/4 cup flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp baking soda

The wet:
1/2 cup canola oil
1 Tbsp vinegar
1 tsp vanilla
8 oz strawberry puree

I don't really care for strawberries, nor do I have frozen strawberries on hand, so I substituted w/ cranberry-raspberry apple sauce. Each snack cup was 3.9 oz, so 2 snack cups will do.

Oh, the original recipe asked for 3/4 cup to 1 cup sugar, but since this is for a toddler, I went w/ 1/3 cup sugar. Drastically less, but it should be sweet enough.

The site said to mix the dry, then mix the wet separately, but I just dumped them all in the same bowl. Started out w/ the dry, then added the wet.

Maybe I should have waited to put the vinegar last, since the chemical reaction of the baking soda + vinegar is supposed to do something for baking, right? But I don't know the science of it, so I just dumped them in random order.

The batter looked rather purple, even though the cranberry-raspberry apple sauce was dark pink. I might get purple cupcakes *laugh*

Also the batter isn't very liquid-y. Kinda lumpy, like oatmeal. But I poured/dumped them into the cupcake molds.

Oven: 350F for 22 mins

Ta dah!
(wait, it's still baking... photo & description coming shortly)

Shiz Can't Cook Series: Chicken Bao

2011-04-13T22:24:00.000-07:00

Lately I've been using the bread machine for making dough.

Last time I baked individual round white bread (and some w/ jam & cream cheese on top), which came out pretty good.

This time I decided we'll use the dough to make chicken bao.
I used this recipe as the base, but omitted the dark sauces & most of the sugar since we're not making a BBQ pork bao.

Chicken bao filling:
1) Cook chicken
1 Tbs oil
1/2 lbs chicken, diced
salt & pepper to flavor

2) Cook onion, green onion separately until soft
1 Tbs oil
3/4 cup onion, chopped
4 Tbs green onion, chopped
1 cube of mashed garlic
1 cube of mashed ginger

3) Mix in chicken
1 tsp sesame oil

4) Add the stuff to make the "goo"
4 Tbs cooking sake
1 Tbs sugar
1 Tbs corn starch

We didn't have regular sugar, so added brown sugar. The recipe called for 3 Tbs of sugar, and I wasn't planning of putting it in, but I forgot & added 1 Tbs. It was a little too sweet. Next time we'll cut it in half.

Good thing Sat was there to work on the flavoring. I'm not very good at determining how food should taste. That's why Shiz can't cook, yo!

As for wrapping the gooey chicken in the dough... I thought it'd be the same as gyoza. Hm, these things need to be stretched out. My first one ripped at the bottom... but I stuck the bao on wax paper & it covered it up.

So they key is to don't stretch out (=thin out) the bottom, but the edges.

Okay.
The next few looked pretty good.

After 10 mins of steaming... voila!

It was actually really good :)

Now I did mess up on the last batch. I forgot to check the water level of the steamer... and it ran out of water for the last minute or two. So the bottoms got a bit burnt. Oops.

But Dee said it still tasted okay. Whew.

Next we'll try BBQ pork or red bean. Yum!
My goal is to make 'em nice and pretty looking, so I can take them to potlucks... but that may not be happening anytime soon.

Shiz Can't Cook Series: Baked Cheese Cake

2011-04-02T22:45:00.000-07:00

Last week, Ards offered to help make cupcakes for Popo's birthday.

It was a red velvet cake recipe, so it said to get 2 cups of cream cheese ready for the frosting. So Ards got a tub of cream cheese from Costco. Only to realize that 2 cups was 1/4 of the tub (to her credit, she was calculating for two batches... but we didn't need that much frosting & only made one batch for the two batches of cupcakes).

Since I was left w/ a good amount of cream cheese, Sat told me to make cheesecake.

Okay, I heard it was pretty easy... but I never made cheesecake before. And with no one around to oversee my baking? This can't end up good.

I bought a cheesecake book at BookOff ($1).
Also looked at CookPad.
And found a "just mix everything in a bowl" recipe for baked cheese cake.

Recipe conversion from Japanese measurements to US measurements is tough, but that's where Google/Bing comes in handy. They're just estimates, but good enough for me!

First, I tried to whisk the ingredients all together.
But lots of little clumps of cream cheese remained.

Time to whip 'em all up in the Magic Bullet!
Argh! The recipe is too much for one MB cup. Split the mixing into two batches...

Ta-dah!
Looks very foamy, but let's pour away in silicone cups (lined w/ cupcake sheets).

It was barely enough for 12 cups.
(The original recipe was for a 15cm round. That's like... 6 inches?)

Baked the cheesecake for 40 mins.
When they came out, they were nice and puffy. But I knew it was going to shrink when it cools down... and shrink it did.

The middle seems a little undercooked, but it has the sour-ish taste of Japanese cheesecakes.

I heard you can make this in the rice cooker too.

Aches & Pains

2011-03-30T23:56:00.001-07:00

Recently, I've been having some aches and pains all over.

First, I had trouble raising my right arm.
I was worried I had 四十肩, altho I'm not 40 yet.
But I realized it's probably due to carrying Popo on a sling recently. So I switched the shoulder I carry her on, hoping it would relieve some of the pain. It still hurts, but not like before.

I'm thinking of doing 準備体操 every morning, but haven't gotten around to it. I should bookmark the YouTube vid.

Then recently my right leg has a lot of pain.
I thought it was around my hip joint area, but now my knee hurts. It's the same knee I busted in a mini skiing tumble I had when I was 19. It's hard to walk up and down the stairs sometimes.

Well, I'm going in for my 35 year physical this Friday, so I guess I have more things to talk about.

I really want them to fix my middle finger. It's been cracked for 3 months now.

The Past 365 Days

2011-03-25T23:02:00.000-07:00

At 10:49am this morning, we've been parents for exactly 1 year now.

Let's see how my life's been for the last 365 days.

I've been struggling with my identity as a semi-work-at-home, almost stay-at-home and non-income-generating parent. With my almost non-income, I've been quickly emptying out my savings account(s) for the condo. Thank goodness one of my savings account is a bit difficult to access, or that would have been long gone too.

I've been contemplating between looking for a minimum wage job (like cashiering at F*mima or M*tsuwa), looking at part-time accounting work on Craigslist, thinking about working full-time, wondering how much I'd be able to pay my mom to look after Popo, realizing she probably doesn't have the capacity to look after her full-time.

It's all hard to coordinate!
But I figure things will fall into place somehow, so I'm not too worried about it too much.

I started out thinking my kid will just grow up as a kid surrounded by adults. I don't know any kids, so we'll just hang w/ the adult friends. And she seems to enjoy them a lot.

But the cheapskate Asian woman in me had to look up free things to do... and boy, did I find them. And with my eagerness to share this newfound knowledge, I ended up joining a MOM'S GROUP. Yeah, mom's group. Crazy, eh!? (I still like to call them parent groups, tho)

I didn't just join one group too. I joined two online groups, made friends(?) in some classes... exchanged emails & cell numbers!? I NEVER answer my cellphone! And here I am, texting people I've only met once or twice.

We still go to sleep around 2am. Wake up at 8:30am. That's probably not enough sleep, but we got by before & it's not too bad right now. Some parents think we're crazy allowing Popo to be on a similar schedule (12am - 8am), but it works for us & I don't feel the need to change it yet. Maybe when she goes to daycare that'll change (or not, sinceじゅるる can take her in the morning).

I still have no interest in cooking. And Popo seems to like my mom's food over what I make. I'm glad she's okay nibbling on frozen veggie mix boiled w/ a bit of soy sauce & tiny amount of sugar.

My manga consumption is a lot less than before, but that's been the overall trend between me & Sat for the last 2 years. No access to cheaper manga, less series to follow after some ended, and the rising yen keeps us to 4-5 new manga per month. Sometimes we go through major withdrawals, then cry over the cost of a 400yen manga (and we don't even bother buying the 505yen ones anymore).

I still bite my nails when I'm bored/hungry.
I cut my hair twice.

And I didn't expect it, but I'm comfortable w/ this little creature attached to me all the time. Altho it's probably not that different than having Koge around. Just a little needier for now.

And we have at least another 17 years to go?
Oh boy. I didn't need to think that.

Ramen Celebration

2011-03-18T22:10:00.000-07:00

Sat, じゅるる, Popo, me & Ards went to eat ramen at Mits*wa tonight.

It's a late celebration for Ards' advancement.

It would have been nice to go somewhere... nicer? But Ards wanted to eat ramen.

So we had ramen, bottled green tea & individually wrapped chocolate cake for the celebration.

Yay!

Japan Quake Fundraising

2011-03-17T23:59:00.000-07:00

Steph wanted to do a fundraising event for the Japanese quake/tsunami victims, so she recruited a bunch of her friends.

Me?
Currently in hybernation from all this event planning... but joined their efforts.

So we spent three mad crazy days w/ very little sleep to throw an event together.

And I think it was pretty awesome.
There are rooms for improvement, but isn't that always the case?

Ards & Dee came to help too.
And we bumped into old friends too.

Time to think about a new event.

Missed Dr Appoint

2011-03-16T22:06:00.000-07:00

じゅるる set up a dr appoint for me cuz I have a cut (crack) in my finger that hasn't healed in over 3 months.

But I got so caught up w/ screaming Popo & helping out w/ the We <3 Japan project that I completely forgot about it... and I missed it.

Oops.
Well, my finger will have to wait for the next appointment.

Shiz Can't Cook Series: Tofu Salad

2011-02-09T23:27:00.000-08:00

Hey, I can make a decent tofu salad.

But this is what happens when you're kinda tired to actually cook... and feeling a bit silly from the lack of sleep.

Heart of Romaine greens w/ a BLOCK of tofu on top. It's circular because I like using the soft Korean tofu for tofu salad. They crumble easy & act like dressing.

Drizzled w/ Kraft's Asian Sesame salad dressing.

Normally I wouldn't trust a non-Asian company's sesame dressing, but this one is pretty good! And much cheaper than the Japanese ones!

Oh, I thought it'd be funny to leave the tofu the way it came out of the container. I was giggling as I served it. じゅるる kinda gave a "I'm not impressed" look, but cracked a smile later. Cuz smiles are what's important in family life.

And here's the rest of the recovering-from-sickness-and-can't-cook dinner:

Beef skewers from Trader Joe's.
I think they're like $2.99 for the container. Has 12 mini skewers.

We bought these as back-up for the potluck where I took chicken & beef satay. Just in case I mess up. I would take these.

It was pretty good!
Maybe I shouldn't bother slaving over homemade satays anymore. At least until Popo is old enough to help skewer.

Violent Stomach Flu

2011-02-07T23:03:00.000-08:00

So after spending a whole week as a virtual single parent & surviving Popo's first fever w/ the help of Ichigo... I caught the virus.

And I guess it was a stomach flu, because it caused me to puke very very violently. I think it scared じゅるる a bit & he was ready to drive me to the ER.

Saturday 3:00pm
It started out as an upset stomach.
Kinda like a heartburn. Where you feel like you ate too much oily food. I did have Carl's Jr for lunch (chicken burger & shared chili cheese fries w/ じゅるる).

Over the next three hours, I get progressively nauseous until...

6:00pm
First bout of puke. And then a few more times until midnight. Everything I ate or drank came right out.

Sunday midnight
It gets runny on the other end. But the nausea continues, so I'm holding onto a baby pail I got from the hospital in case I hurl as I sit in the restroom.

I think before all this, my stomach hurt a LOT. But you can't take painkillers on an empty stomach. What to do!? Heating pad helped... only a little.

During all the pain, I was thinking how if I never got an epidural, this pain would probably feel like nothing. I only reached the tip of the unbearable pain last March, so I don't know real pain... and so I think a pain from a stomach flu is pain level 8. Weak!

5:00am
Finally able to go to sleep. Before that, I would be able to take short naps of 20mins until it got too painful & I wake up running to the bathroom.

Oh, to keep my loved ones from having to stay up with me, I slept by myself downstairs. With the comfort of the heating pad. And Season 1 of Brothers & Sisters (thanks Netfl*x).

9:00am
Everything is drained out of me, but I have no apetite. じゅるる offers to go get popsicles. That made me really really happy.

And I spend the rest of the day sucking on popsicles. Hungry, but don't want to eat feeling. And secretly thinking, if the fever/flu lasts couple of days, I may lose a significant amount of weight. But even more back of my mind thinking how じゅるる can't take anymore days off b/c he took a whole week off last week.

12:00pm
Fever starts. Around 101 degrees. Ah, just like Popo.

So we missed Ards' Super Bowl party.
We didn't even bother watching it at home. We ended up watching the rest of Brothers & Sisters Season 1. Gosh, it's much more tense than Parenthood could ever be. My heart can only handle Parenthood level of tenseness, yo.

6:00pm
Fever starts going down, but now headache is starting. Still can't take painkiller b/c of empty stomach. Yikes.

I was able to eat a modest amount of food by the evening & by the time we went to bed, I was feeling good enough to let go of the heating pad & ice pack.

Lasted about 18 hours.
It was a violent and quick stomach flu.

Need to Learn Camera Settings

2011-01-28T02:03:00.001-08:00

I don't know a single thing about photography.
While I appreciate the art, I'm not that interested in it. There are plenty of others around me who can take great pictures, so I don't have to be that good.

Then... I've been taking lots of photos at these parent meetup group events. And I post them to the site, but now I'm a bit embarrassed at my lack of skills.

One thing I really need to learn is how to adjust the settings on the camera. Since I don't have thousands to spend on better lenses, I should make the most out of camera settings. But I know NOTHING about 'em.

Is there a good site or book for beginners?
Something that can explain to a non-enthusiast?

Shiz Can't Cook Series: Steamed Bread

2011-01-25T18:48:00.000-08:00

I've read on Japanese blogs that steamed bread (mushi pan) is really easy to make & it's a great snack for little critters.

The easiest recipes are with pancake mix & microwave, I decided to go w/ the more challenging flour, baking powder & steamer.

But it's still pretty easy.

1/3 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 Tablespoon sugar
50g milk (or soy milk)

And add 1-3 Tablespoons of any flavor you want.

So attempt 1:
Kinako for Popo. Hot cocoa mix for us.

I think it came out good, but Sat & Ichigo said it doesn't have enough flavor. Well, it's for infants... can't make it that sweet, right?

Attempt 2 (no photo):
Carrots & edamame for Popo. Raspberry jam for us.
Popo seems to like the carrot-edamame one. It's easier to carry around than porridge, so it'll be our outdoor snack.
And the raspberry jam was pretty good. I could have put a bit more jam in, or maybe chunks of actual fruit?

Attempt 3 (no photo):
Peanut butter. And chocolate (hot cocoa) and peanut butter.
I added more sugar to these, and it was pretty good. Peanut butter one was a bit dense, though. For the choco-peanut butter, I accidentally dumped a LOT of cocoa... and it came out real yum!

Probably more to come!

Shiz Can't Cook Series: Chicken Satay

2011-01-24T22:17:00.000-08:00

So remember all that trouble I went through to get the ATK beef satay recipe?

The potluck was on MLK Jr Day, so I did my test run w/ じゅるる the night before.

Things we had in the kitchen:
- Chicken
- Garlic
- Scallions (green onions)
- Soy sauce
- Siracha sauce
- Brown sugar

Things we had to go buy:
- Cilantro
- Creamy peanut butter
- Flank steak
- Lime
- Skewers

But I think that's all the ingredients you need.
For both the marinade & the peanut sauce. Pretty simple, eh? That's why I love ATK.

Anyhoo, first the marinade.
It's everything but the peanut butter & lime. Those go into the peanut sauce.

Soy sauce & brown sugar, we went by the recipe.

For garlic & cilantro, I'm a fan of the frozen cubes they sell at Trader Joe's. They're not fresh, but they're pre-measured, pre-mashed & easy to store. I think I put in 3 cubes of garlic, 2 cubes of cilantro.

The recipe calls for 4 scallions, so I just put 3 fist fulls of chopped up green onions (we have them chopped & in the freezer).

For Siracha, they suggest 2 tablespoons...!? That's friggin' hot! So I went w/ 1 tablespoon. Smells pretty spicy already.

I mixed the marinade in a cube-shaped Tupperware. Tall sides make it easier to mix all the ingredients... but I should have used something even taller, cuz dipping the skewers is tricky. I had to tilt the container at a 45 degree angle to get most of the meat dipped, and I still couldn't do a good job w/ the bottom (of the skewer) pieces. I guess flat & narrow would work too.

Meat + marinade go into the fridge for an hour.

While they do their work, time for the peanut sauce.
Same ingredients + peanut butter and lime. I tried using chunky peanut butter before (the only kind I eat!), but the chunks got in the way during actual dipping. So we got creamy peanut butter for a nice smooth sauce.

It's 2 tablespoons of lime, which is about 1 whole lime. I never really knew that, so that's good to know.

And again, they suggested 2 tablespoons of Siracha...! I went w/ 1 tablespoon. It was plenty spicy.

At this point, we realize じゅるる only got one lime. And this is a trial run for the next day... how do I make more peanut sauce!? Instead of going out to get another lime, we decided to split the peanut sauce for today use & potluck use. 80% went to the potluck. It ended up being enough, whew.

For the actual grilling, ATK recipe uses the broiler. Unfortunately, our apartment's oven was missing the broiler pan. We made do w/ a baking sheet & wire rack that fits in it. The baking sheet doesn't fit nice & snug in the broiler, so it was a bit uncomfortable getting it in & out of the broiler drawer.

So this is how it came out:

Success!!

I ended up cutting the skewers to 8-inch lengths to fit in the Tupperware. ATK said to get 6-inch ones, but I've only seen 12-inch ones. I also realized the skewers are easier to cut w/ scissors when they've been soaked. FYI.

Cleaning Day

2011-01-23T16:15:00.000-08:00

じゅるる and Popo were supposed to go to OC today, but じゅるる's hand still hurt so he couldn't drive. Darn, I was planning on getting some work done.

So instead, I spent the day cleaning the house.
I can't do a lot of cleaning unless they're both out of the house or they hang out together at home.

A self-congratulatory list:
1. Swept the dining, kitchen & front entrance.
I'd also like to wash the kitchen, entrance & bathroom rugs, but shaking them outside will have to do for now. Maybe next week.

2. Vacuumed up the sweepings.

3. Mopped the kitchen & dining room floor.
Popo drops a ton of food on the floor, so I try to mop every week... but it's more like every 2-3 weeks. Sigh.

4. Wiped kitchen cabinet doors & fridge door.

5. Cleaned 1st floor bathroom sink.
This isn't that big of a deal since I do it regularly.

6. Vacuumed the staircase.
Cuz I feel like we haven't done it since we moved in. Which would make it 18 months. It wouldn't have bothered me too much, but Popo's been climbing up the stairs lately & she picks up a lot of dust on her clothes. So time to vacuum!!

7. Cleaned the shower door in 2nd floor bathroom.
There was a lot of hard water stains on the door & you couldn't see through. I tried lots of different cleaning things in the past, but it really has to be the lime remover.

8. Cleaned 2nd floor bathroom floor.
Esp near the back of the toilet. I just didn't feel like reaching down there before. If I used this bathroom more, I might... Sometimes I think this bathroom stinks.

9. Cleaned the 2nd floor bathroom sink.
Just to finish up the cleaning.

10. Cleaned the master bedroom window.
I was shocked to see all the mold! So I spent a good hour scrubbing down the window.

11. Did じゅるる's laundry.
I usually don't do this, but since he can't use his right hand... I'm glad no one was using the washer/dryer went, so I got both loads done at once. Otherwise, I would have been pissed off that the laundry request didn't come on a weekday.

Oh, I also vacuumed the living room & bedroom too.

I think I'll take the rest of the day off.

じゅるる Hand Surgery

2011-01-20T23:16:00.000-08:00

じゅるる had an out-patient surgery on his right hand today.

He's been having a lot of pain in his forearm, esp when he's carrying heavy things (ie. Popo) or twisting his hand (ie. opening a jar).

I heard it was tendonitis.

Then, someone at a parent group told me she has "mommy's thumb" and the description sounded just like じゅるる's pain. So he'll have surgery to fix his "mommy's thumb."

Anyhoo, the surgery was real short. Most of the time was spent waiting, he said.

And he came out w/ a cast-like thing around his hand & forearm.
It's a lot bigger than the "bandage" he was expecting.

He can't get it wet until it gets removed next Tues.
Which means I'll have to bathe Popo for the next 6 days. And I can't push it onto Ichigo, cuz she's out w/ a cold. Hafu.

PS. じゅるる has an arrow & "YES" printed on his forearm. It's to indicate which arm to operate on. I had that on my belly before *laugh*

Signed Up for ATK

2011-01-16T16:07:00.000-08:00

I had a potluck coming up and wanted to make the chicken/beef satay from America's Test Kitchen. Finger foods are easier to serve at potlucks, right?

Of course I can't find the ATK DVD when I need it... and I gave the cookbook away... and I didn't keep the Complete 2001-2010 Cookbook they sent me last year b/c I hadn't ordered it.

So the only other way to get the recipe was to go online.

ATK membership is $30/year.
And I believe in paying for online content... but it was so hard to commit to spending the $30/year. Maybe it's cuz I'm not working. Maybe because I own the damn DVD!

But I decided I need to get used to paying for content online, and signed up.

I do have 14 days to change my mind... but I'll probably forget to cancel. I hope I find other uses for the ATK membership.

I should order the Complete 2001-2010 book w/ DVD. Then I'd have all the recipes on hand & won't have to renew next year. But look, I'll just forget next year.

R-jin at BookOff

2011-01-11T23:12:00.000-08:00

I bumped into former co-worker R-jin at BookOff today.

Today was my day off, so I went w/ Sat to sell books & buy new ones.

R-jin said he was in the area for a job interview. He mentioned that there are a lot of job postings, but a LOT of people apply to them... so it's hard to land a job.

Wow.
I figured it wouldn't be too hard to find a job, but maybe I should get working on it too, huh?

Start of 2011

2011-01-01T19:10:00.000-08:00

Ichigo, Sat & Ards came over for New Year's Eve.
Yipee! All girls! Plus じゅるる. Tee hee.

Yakiniku, Kohaku & Ards Papa flan (yum!) & pumpkin pie (yum!) & chocolate torte (yum!)...

We switched to Chan 7 for the countdown... and being non-drinkers, じゅるる got pear cider/soda. Yum!

New Glasses

2010-12-30T19:59:00.000-08:00

I finally got my butt to an eye doctor.

I thought my eyes have gotten worse b/c I was crocheting in a dimly lit room in Burbank last winter. Plus I was running low on contacts (one left, not even a pair). And they are disposables, but I hadn't changed in a long time. Like six months? And my glasses have been broken for over two years.

After the exam, the doc said my prescription hasn't changed.

Wow.
After all the abuse my eyes have gone through, I was sure they were going bad.

I got a new pair of contacts. Whee!
I'll have to go order more from C*stco next week.

I also got new glasses.
They kinda look like Sat's glasses. Red hue, metallic, but rounded corners. They'll be arriving in two weeks, so maybe I can post a new profile photo on FB.

Next appointments are dentist & ob/gyn.
But that'll be next year.

People Who Step in...

2010-12-22T16:38:00.000-08:00

I went to a nursing home today... and I stepped in poo.

I guess when you're at a nursing home, some of the patients there may drop things. And you gotta be careful to look where you're walking.

This is the first time I've stepped in human poo, but it's not the first time stepping in poo in general.

The first time I stepped in poo (dog), I didn't even realize it & walked into Jekk's apartment. Good thing I took off my shoes at the tiled entrance way... but I didn't realize I had poo on my shoes until I LEFT, so I left a bit of poo there & never cleaned it up. Sorry, man.

Sat thinks people who step in poo... are always stepping in poo. You're either a poo-stepper or a non-poo-stepper. She falls in the non-stepper, and I apparently fall in the poo-stepper. I won't name names, but she said we know other poo-steppers among our circle of friends. You know who you are.

I also tend to step on gum too.
I really ought to look where I'm walking, huh?

PS. じゅるる said he used to step on (dog) poo all the time when he was a kid. I guess he falls in the poo-stepper side too. No word on if he still steps in poo.

What I Want for Xmas

2010-12-21T21:12:00.000-08:00

I realized... that what I really want this Xmas is a cordless phone.

Usually my cell phone acts as a cordless phone & the land-line phone is just an intercom to let people in the front door...

But the rainy season is making my cell phone semi-useless in the apartment.

I need to call HP to get the tablet fixed (still shuts down!), but I get cut off on my cell phone.

So what I really want for Xmas is a cordless phone.

And a CD player for downstairs.
Cuz we don't believe in MP3s in this household.

But more cordless phone than CD player.

Kinda late, but thought I'd leave it out there in the world.

Banana Compromise

2010-11-29T00:05:00.000-08:00

So it's no secret that I hate bananas.

I don't think I really liked them as a kid... but the hate started when Erikku left banana peels lying around O-house, and they were rotting! And the room/house smelled like rotten bananas!

Gives me the shivers even remembering that smell.
Brr.

I swore off bananas.
And even when Ichigo wanted to give Popo bananas, I didn't want to be near them. My belief was, "You feed whatever you want to feed her." And don't want to feed her.

And we were pretty happy with that.

Until Popo got active & restless.
And I've been finding ways to keep her quiet.

One was letting her hold onto a wedge of an apple. Then she'll chew on that for hours.

But she gets bored of one thing... so I folded & gave her bananas. That keeps her quiet too.

But now the fridge & trash smells like banana.
Torture!!

Well, the fridge isn't so bad.
The trash is very bad...
Which means we'll just haveじゅるる take out the trash more frequently.

Dream Recaps: Que & a Wedding

2010-09-19T10:44:00.001-07:00

It was a while back (2-3 weeks ago?), but I saw a dream where Que was alive.

We were all attending a wedding, and Que was one of the groomsmen.

I'm not sure where the location was, but it either looked like a college campus (w/ pillars and such) or a Catholic church. And even though I usually see very colorful dreams, this one had a very black & white feel (altho I think there must have been some color).

I have no idea who was getting married.
And it'd be odd for me to go to a Keppel wedding, since I really haven't kept in touch w/ anyone. But he was there, I was there & I knew it was a dream, but let it roll along.

The dream faded out when we were all called into the hall(?) where the wedding was to take place.

The End.

PS. I wonder if I'm seeing Keppel dreams b/c I bumped into Tofu a little while back. I forgot to blog about that.

Buu's 35th Birthday

2010-09-11T23:32:00.000-07:00

Well, all of my classmates would be turning 35 this year, so it's no news... but Buu turns 35 this month. And Sat, Ards & I (+じゅるる & Popo) got together w/ Buu to celebrate.

It's sorta tradition to eat at Mr Cecil's for Buu's b-day, so this year we did take out.

And headed over to Buu's parents house, where Buu's sis & cousin were waiting w/ him.

Wow, I haven't been over to their house in a long time.
But it still feels the same. Just with more cats <3

Ards got cake from King's Hawaiian (the rainbow cake). And we all got fat from ribs, hush puppies and cake. Gefu.

Scaredy Cat Movie Review: Couple's Retreat

2010-09-10T23:12:00.000-07:00

Ards got Couple's Retreat on Netflix & brought it over for all of us to watch.

The set up of the movie was kinda long.
I guess they had to show how the four couples (friends) ended up going on this retreat to save one of their friend's marriage, but it could have been shorter.

And we all enjoyed the yoga scene.
"Bump."

And the younger kid was cute & funny.
"Don't pee in the fake toilet, honey."

Oh, and the Asian guy from Community is on it too.
He's so unpleasant looking, he's great!

Stuff that bothered us?
1. Some of the ocean background scenes looked fake. Not sure if they were, but looked kinda green screened, you know?

2. Shark scene looks very fake & bad. It looked fake & bad in the promos, and it's more so b/c the scene is longer.

3. Why are some of the wives really young?
OK, it's only Veronica Mars girl who's really young compared to Michael Bluth (I should learn actor names, really... Kristen Bell? and Jason Bates? Something like that?), so it was hard to believe they were a couple.

And like watching any movies set in Hawaii, we wanted to go to Tahiti after seeing this. Tropical paradise... Mmmmm.

Awesome Yard Saler

2010-09-05T12:29:00.000-07:00

I realized I'm an awesome yard saler (yard sale seller?).

Or maybe I just happened to go to crappy ones today. Well, it's Labor Day weekend, so prolly the professional yard salers are all taking the weekend off.

I thought it was normal to put basic price tags on things.
Like "Everything in this box 25 cents." And definitely for big ticket items.

Of course if you don't have price tags, you can change the price on a whim. Set a general price you'd be happy with, and figure it'll be negotiated down. There's no point in setting high prices that people won't want to take your junk anyway. The point of a yard sale isn't to make money, it's to get rid of junk.

And then the mess.
It might be a lot of hassle, but things w/ small parts should be baggied together. And it'd be good to give a little wipe to get rid of the dust. Obviously you're sorting through your junk to determine if you're gonna keep, toss or sell, right?

Cleaner looking things fetch better money yo.
And couple of cheap things baggied together is all more appealing too.

Clothes should be organized too.
1. Hang the pricier clothes (like coats/jackets, dresses) on a hanger, preferrably on those portable coat racks.

2. Toss t-shirts into plastic bins by price. The 25 cent bin, the 50 cent bin, the $1 bin. (Of course I set my t-shirts at 25 cents each, which seems to be a lot lower than what most poeple sell them for... but if your other option is to donate to Goodwill, you can get rid of a lot of shirts at 25 cents)

3. Jeans are really the only thing that can be laid down on the ground (on top of a mat or sheets, please) and people would be willing to buy.

So I went to 7 yard sales today.
The one in Beverly Hills was a no show (unless I just couldn't spot them). I was really looking forward to this one, cuz it's in a good neighborhood & said they'll have children's clothes & toys.

The two in Palms could have been better, but it was a mess. I did pick up two books for 50 cents each, altho they were having such a bad turnout, I probably could have negotiated down to 3 books for $1. But I'm not much of a haggler.

One in Culver City was meh. They were selling brand new blankets, so they might have a store somewhere? The other one had clothes lined up nicely, but too small for Popo. And awfully low selection... Like they have a yard sale every other weekend w/ a few new things every time.

The fundraiser one for special needs children was a big big mess, but I think it can't be helped b/c they just get a lot of donations & can't figure out a way to organize them all. Too bad the clothes were directly on the floor, and it was too hot for me to dig around. They had a few good toys, but the noise was too loud for me to tolerate at home.

And the one around the block was organized, but didn't have anything I was looking for.

Maybe it was a bad weekend, or the location is bad.
I might venture out to the Santa Monica area one of these days.

Blood Heart on Nail

2010-09-03T18:25:00.000-07:00

I had a razor accident this morning...

Somehow a little bit of blood got on my thumb nail.

Into a heart shape.

That's all.

PS. This is not the thumb that had the dead nail for 6 months :D

Benofie Wedding

2010-08-21T23:00:00.000-07:00

Retroactive post about Benofie wedding.

It was a hot day.
I barely got off my butt to get ready. But it would have been awful to flake out on a wedding, right? Plus I thought we'd see old friends. Which I did!

Of course we saw our usual bunch.
Sasami & b/f A. Panda. Ku. Allen & g/f A. Dave.
Dennis showed up late, so stood w/ us in the shade during the ceremony.

Oh, the paper umbrellas (red & gold) and folding fans were real cute. Since it was a hot day and all. It's too bad they were asked to put the umbrellas away during the ceremony... cuz they sure looked hot.

We stood in the shade in the back. Along w/ two other couples w/ critters (one couple had twin? toddlers... and the guy was carrying both of them. じゅるる said he'd rather die right now than have to endure that) and a pregnant woman.

Benofie's (female end) dress was really cute on her! And the red roses bouquet was awesome. You hardly see red at weddings, and I thought it was カッコいい. The male end looked hot in his 3-piece suit. Not "hawt" but may-have-a-heat-stroke hot. Oh, but he looked pretty too (just in case he's reading).

While the bridal/groomal party was taking official photos, the rest of us were herded into a saloon & patio for drinks & light food. I didn't eat breakfast or lunch (forgot from the heat), so I was lunging at every server there. Sorry. I was real hungry.

And that's where I chatted w/ Jackie & Alex (they didn't bring J-boy, and said they should have seeing all the other critters) for a long time. I also talked a bit to Jek, Adam & Z too.

I think I explained to a lot of people on why Ards wasn't there (sick) and why Steph wasn't there (convention/work).

Dinner was nice. I'm glad there were lots of veggies.
The dining area was kinda tight, so I ran over someone's leg. Like real hard, cuz he yelped.

Since Popo fell asleep during dinner, we left before we had dessert or cake. We didn't get to participate in the iPhone Touch game they did too.

The gift card/cash box was taken away, so we couldn't drop off our gift. We'll have to send it to them, I guess.

And I'll be zipping all the photos (including those I didn't post on Flickr) & sending the files to Benofie via YouSendIt.

Paper Anniversary

2010-07-31T23:39:00.000-07:00

Today is our first anniversary.

I hadn't thought much of it, but I guess it was in じゅるる's mind... and we had made a date of going to see a movie + dinner, minus Popo.

So that part was all planned out... but じゅるる warned me on Thursday that he had a card & a "something" for me for our anniversary.

See, he has to warn me... or I won't prepare anything.
Am I not an anniversary type of gal or something?

Anyhoo, he gave me enough hints. Or I guessed. Or something. But I understood it was something along the lines of Skittles (which he gave me for Valentine's Day).

So I went out and got a card + a little something the next day.
I would have picked a more humorous card, but they didn't have anything that hit me. Or all the funny ones were from a third party to the anniversary couple. What? Couples can't give funny cards on anniversaries?

And my little something was a bag of Poppycock.
And Mr Goodbar.
A big sized one, at that.

So today.
We went to see a movie (Inception), while Dee came to critter-sit Popo. And we ate at the food court (Lawry's Carvery). Not much of a first anniversary date, but we're a no frills kinda couple anyway.

After we came home, じゅるる told me to open the glove compartment.
Inside was a card & a ring pop.
Gah! He got me!

See, I asked for a ring pop as a promise(?) ring before we got married. Or did I give it to him? Yeah, I think it was the latter... but he paid for it himself (I didn't have cash that day).

I lost this year, but next year I'll get a super cool cheapy accessory to beat him.

SDCC 2010 Wrap Up

2010-07-26T23:13:00.000-07:00

Day 1
Skipped out b/c of back pains.
Ate at Phil's BBQ for dinner. Yum.

Day 2
Pre-paid parking is awesome. I have a feeling it's gonna sell out real fast next year, tho.

Went to couple panels, talked to a few work contacts, didn't get too many freebies.

Discovered that SDCC has a nursing station. How awesome is that?

Had tea w/ Steph & Steebu.

Day 3
Saw the "The Event" premiere. I guess I'll check it out, NBC. Even though I vowed not to watch anything except for L&O SVU, 30 Rock and Parenthood, NBC. I even stopped watching Brian Williams & watch Katie or Diane instead, NBC.

Saw Rich working at a booth.
Hung out w/ Sat & Wuken for a bit.

Had dinner w/ Laurven & じゅるる + Popo.

Day 4
Popo's first SDCC. She even got her own badge. And she was filmed by a TV crew.

We bumped into Sasami & Laurven, and rested w/ them.
Then Den + his ate & Mark came by to chat.

Drove home.
Stopped at Del Mar area to eat & rest.

The end.

Shiz Can't Cook Series: Walnut Bread II

2010-07-23T22:59:00.000-07:00

The bread machine has a feature where you can just have it make the dough.

Which is what I really wanted the bread machine for... so I can make my homemade pastries!

See, I've seen so many pictures of people making ham-and-cheese bread, corn-and-mayo bread, hotdog bread... Cookpad just makes you want to... cook. Even if you can't cook. Like me.

So I decided I'll try making walnut bread using a loaf pan.
It's easier to gift(?) a bread made in a loaf pan, you know. Doesn't look like it came out of a bread machine, see.

But our oven has issues.
Namely, it's not hot enough. And I don't know how to calibrate an oven, so that's a problem.

I figured, if the recipe says to bake at 350 degrees, I should set the oven at 400-450 degrees.

Which probably would work... but I also didn't know how long to bake for.
The recipe said 40 mins, so I thought... why not?

Wrong.

Cuz the bread... came out like charcoal.
Well, only on the outside.

The inside was perfect!
So what went wrong?

I have no idea... but it might be a while before I make a second attempt baking outside the bread machine.

So for SDCC, I ended up making another loaf using the bread machine.

PS. I forgot to take pictures of the charcoal loaf. Sorry.

Thew Out Back

2010-07-22T23:09:00.000-07:00

So a day before SDCC, I threw out my back.

I wasn't carrying anything heavy... I was just bending down to get some undies from a drawer, when there was a sharp yet dull pain on my back.

I never experienced this before, but I kinda figured it was gikkuri-goshi. (Hm, sounds so strange to say "throw out my back" as a noun. How does that work?)

Immediately after the pain, I laid down on the bed.
I was able to get down to the first floor on my own... and Skyped to Sat & Ichigo that I threw out my back.

Ichigo came over to help me do laundry.
Then she delivered Popo to Sat, who took care of her the rest of the afternoon.

Meanwhile, I took a nap to escape from the pain... while heating my back w/ a heating pad.

I felt better the next day, only to stand up quickly from the couch & hurt my back again. I didn't know if I was gonna be OK enough to go to San Diego, but I recovered enough by noon to sit in the car. Sat drove the whole day down. Of course I skipped out going to the con center, and just hung out in the hotel vicinity.

First time in years that I'm going to SDCC & not working.
Actually, I've never gone to SDCC on my own... it was always for work. Heh.

Using PedEgg

2010-07-21T02:19:00.000-07:00

じゅるる's been fascinated by the PedEgg, so we bought one the other day.

He tried it out & said he got a pile of dead skin inside the egg. It was like Parmesean cheese, he said.

So I decided to give it a try.
Since I wear Crocs every day, my soles get very dusty/dirty. So much so that my soles are turning quite gray-ish. The dust is embedded deep into my dry skin, that I can't wash it off... even w/ much soaking.

With that said, my pile of dead skin was... gray-ish in color. So not like Parmesean cheese.

じゅるる said his pile was chunkier too.
Mine are fine & dust-like. So I produce ash instead of Parmesean cheese.

Not that either one would taste good.

Shiz Can't Cook Series: Walnut Bread w/ Home Bakery Mini

2010-07-19T09:43:00.000-07:00

So with all the ingredients in hand, I was ready to bake bread w/ the bread machine.

I was reluctant to start immediately... cuz I really don't like measuring.

And I don't really follow instructions, but it's really important to follow steps when it comes to baking, right?

But I realized I won't go forward unless I mess up once, so I decided to start.

Friday.
Like Sat said, I started w/ the basic white bread. But added walnuts to make a walnut bread, since you just had to chop the nuts & put them in when the machine beeps. Simple enough, eh?

Mistake #1: Never wear black when you're dealing w/ flour.
This should have been obvious, but I didn't think about it until I had flour all over. It's okay, though... you can just pat them off.

Mistake #2: Listen to Sasami when she says put a paper towel underneath, so you don't get flour all over the place.
I got flour all over the table, on the floor, on top of other things on the table. It's okay, though... you can just wipe the flour off.

Other things I should have thought about... like getting a container for the flour? I bought bulk bread flour at Sprouts, so it came in a plastic food bag. I was dumping it into a Ziplock container, but I should have something more... permanent. Will go look for sealable containers at BBB, Ross or Marshalls.

Anyway, everything went pretty good.

I put the pre-measured sugar, dry milk & salt in one container, so I could dump them all in after the flour. I also cut up the butter into small cubes, like the instructions said... and kept them on the small cutting board.

Water went in first (2/3 cup), then flour (2 cups), the sugar/milk/salt mix (1-1/2 Tbsp, 1-1/2 Tbsp, 1 tsp respectively), butter (1 Tbsp), and finally the active yeast.

I don't think I ever dealt w/ yeast before... and I didn't know they're "sticky." Like to each other. Kinda like the 砂鉄 when you put magnet in sand. It was very weird. And it was hard to measure the 1 tsp because of the stickiness.

And it says not to make the yeast touch the liquid ingredients (water?), but what about butter? It's kinda melty... I guess that's okay.

The bread came out pretty good.
Not great, but not bad either. It was good toasted.

Saturday.
We decided to make another batch for Saturday morning, since we had eaten most of the bread on Friday. This time, I was to attempt the "soft" bread setting.

It's like more water, extra all purp flour, more sugar, more dry milk.

This time, we didn't hear the beep to add the walnuts (it's supposed to beep 30 mins in), so we added the walnuts after the first knead was done. Oh well, the walnuts will probably be clumped in one area.

The softer version was yummier!
Yes, the walnuts weren't really mixed in well, but it wasn't noticeable.

The all purpose flour was old too, but we didn't taste anything weird.

Success!

I want to try olive bread some day... they don't have a recipe in the booklet, so I'll have to research it.

And eventually the scone. Mmmmm...

Home Bakery Prep Phase

2010-07-13T23:29:00.000-07:00

So today's mission was to read through the bread machine manual & to go shopping for basic supplies at Sprouts.

It seems simple enough.
Measure, dump everything in, set the machine & go.

I wanted to try something I'd want to eat... like scones or tasty treats, but Sat thought I should start w/ something basic since I'm prone to messing up.

The only thing I could mess up is measuring stuff... and that is a part I'll most likely mess up. Cuz I never follow directions, really. I'm a "good enough" measurer... which doesn't work for baking.

So I decided on white bread w/ walnuts.
The trickiest part is putting in the walnuts after the beep. I don't know when the beep will sound, but I'll read up on it some more.

Anyway, since we don't have any baking supplies at our place, time to head over to Sprouts. Cuz they have a bulk foods section and they had all sorts of flour.

My list of things to buy:
* Bread flour
* Active yeast
* Baking powder (when I get to my scones)
* Dry milk
* Walnuts

What the heck is dry milk? Powder milk?
Eh, they'll have it in the store anyway, right?

So I go to the baking section... find everything but dry milk.

They have evaporated milk, but that's not dry... I text Sat to have her look it up. She says it's powder milk. But I don't see it in the shelves.

But I did locate a container of powder milk by the bulk food section. Whee!

So I have everything I need.
Maybe I'll give the bread machine a try tomorrow.

Aka Suri (Bath Scrub)

2010-07-12T18:37:00.000-07:00

Ichigo, Sat & I went to aka suri in K-town today.
Well, Sat didn't get one b/c she volunteered to watch Popo.

Ichigo said they used to have a 2nd floor w/ resting space, which we would have been able to take turns watching Popo. But they didn't have the 2nd floor anymore.

So we soaked in the hot tub for 15 mins to loosen up our skin... then headed over to the spa area to get all our dead skin scrubbed off.

I didn't actually get to see all the skin that came off... but I haven't been able to scrub myself really well since a year ago. So I was pretty sure they were able to get a tennis ball sized amount of dead skin off of me.

I was expecting it to hurt, but it felt real good.
I think I might go get this done every 3 months... then I don't have to scrub myself clean as hard on a daily basis, right?

35th B-day

2010-07-10T23:51:00.000-07:00

The day started w/ many FB greetings.

And apparently Skype also says, "Shiz just turned 35!"
Gee, thanks Skype.

Sat arranged for my b-day festivities, so we had a very full day.

1pm lunch at HK Deli.
Cuz we like eating there.
I think about 15 people showed up, and we took over 1/3 of the small restaurant. And stayed there for a long time too. But the folks are always nice. We love them.

4pm obon fest at Nishi H temple.
That was what everyone voted for. But the dancing doesn't start til 6:30pm or something, so we left before the main event. Maybe next year.

Oh, we bumped into Mrs F-moto and S-ie at the obon fest.
I got to show them Popo too.

7pm karaoke, Scattergories & peach cobbler at our apt.
Dee offered to make peach cobbler (Paula Dean's recipe), so while he was slaving away, everyone else sang or played games.

The peach cobbler was yum.
I do apologize for not having enough bowls ready... Den ate out of a margarine container. We have real adult bowls, really!!

And じゅるる gave me my b-day present he's been hiding for several weeks... a bread machine!

Of course Sat was against him getting it, cuz she claims that I have a gazillion kitchen gadgets that I don't use.

We'll see how many uses we'll get out of the bread machine. It makes pizza dough though... I think we could use it for that, at least. Altho we were perfectly fine w/ Philsbury pizza dough... so would we care enough to use the bread machine?

Phoneless for a Day

2010-07-09T19:51:00.000-07:00

So... I bought a Virgin Mobile phone at B*st Buy.

And I called to transfer (the industry lingo is "port," they say) my current AT&T number over to Virgin Mobile.

This was on Tuesday afternoon.

I was told by the VM rep to call back the next day to see if my phone number transferred over successfully.

Wednesday.
My AT&T phone was still working, so the number hasn't transferred over. But I was kinda busy, so I didn't call VM that day. They did say it could take up to 72 hours anyway.

Thursday.
The AT&T phone still works. Hmmmm.
I call VM, and the new rep told me that the transfer didn't go through because I didn't provide a password for my AT&T account.

Yes I did!

Anyway, I give it to them again.
The rep told me that he'll put an urgent ticker on my request, so it'll go through faster. I didn't really believe there's a "urgent" and "not-so urgent" for phone service transfers anyway (aren't they all urgent, since they want the sale?), but I thanked him anyway.

And today.
My AT&T phone still works. Hmmmmmmmmm.

At this point, I'm caring less and less... when I get a phone call from a private number. I answer, and it's a VM rep.

They were calling b/c the transfer request was denied again & he wanted to verify the password. I told him it's what we use online & over the phone, but I'll call AT&T to see if there is another password for phone number transfers.

I call AT&T, and the rep there told me that we did have the correct password, but for phone number transfer, the password should be a numbers-only password (the one we set up for online access was alphabetical).

So I set up a new password w/ him.
He was a very nice young man, despite the fact that I was telling him I'm changing service providers.

I call VM back again & have them send in another phone number transfer request.

After taking a nap & heading home (I was at Koge Haus), I check my AT&T phone and it doesn't work anymore.

Hurray!

No, it was too early to rejoice.
Because my VM phone doesn't work yet.

Of course, of course.
I didn't set up my plan yet.

See, I was told to call back when the phone number is transferred over, so I could let them know what plan I wanted & provide my credit card info.

I try to set up my account online.
It says my phone number doesn't exist in their dbase.

Okay, I'll give them a call.
The first rep told me that my phone number isn't in their dbase. So she transferred me over to the phone porting department to see what was up.

The second rep (from the phone porting dept) told me that my phone number hasn't ported over.

Well, since my AT&T phone is no longer working, AT&T released the number... so why can't they set up my number w/ my new phone?

So the second rep got all the info from me.
Like when the AT&T phone stopped working, my password w/ AT&T (again), how many times I've called them, etc etc.

He's putting in a request (to who? some tech dept w/in VM?) to get my number working. He said to try again tomorrow... which I replied, I'm phoneless until then!? Well, yes... and he didn't seem apologetic about that.

Do people in the world go phoneless for a day and survive these days?

Okay, I don't go out & I'm always online, so I'll probably be fine w/o a phone and all... but it still annoyed me anyway. My irritability could have been from the lack of sleep, though.

So I'm supposed to try to set up my account tomorrow.
But I'm going to be out most of the day... you know, it's my b-day and all. Sat planned a day-long activity fest geared towards... her *laugh*

I hope I can get the phone working before we head out.
Of course I can't transfer my address book from my old phone, so I'll have everyone enter their own data.

New Phone

2010-07-02T22:00:00.000-07:00

B*est Buy emailed a 10% off coupon today.

Perfect timing!
I was planning to buy my Virgin Mobile phone there.

I got the Kyocera Loft.
It looks like a Blackberry.

Since it's a plain black phone, I'll have to find a way to personalize it. Stickers? Case? Something...

I'll activate the phone after AX.
I read online that it could take couple of days to transfer the phone number... altho Virgin's site says "1 hour or so." Hopefully it'll only take around an hour.

I get unlimited text, so feel free to text me :D
But I only get 300 minutes of talk time (no free nights/weekends) w/ no rollovers, so I can't talk for long periods of time.

Unlimited web/data too... but I don't know how that works yet, so it's hard to get excited over it. Maybe I'll even start tweeting. Gasp!

Amazon Wish List, Updated for 2010

2010-06-28T01:49:00.000-07:00

Since Ards mentioned it, I updated my Amazon wish list.

This is no way a solicitation of gifts, but here's my preference list:

1. Flip camcorder or digital camera, so we can take videos of Popo (not on Wish List)
Psst, they're cheap at Costco.
Psst2, for digi-cam, I'm OK w/ anything w/ rechargeable batteries & takes SD cards.

2. Salt grinder
3. Travel bag
4. Wet bag
5. Jar opener
6. Robot plates

Oh, I should have looked for cilantro seeds for my AeroGrow planter.
I'll drag it out after the event season is over.

Dim Sum w/ Baby Roo

2010-06-27T23:38:00.000-07:00

Today, we went to eat dim sum at 888.
Although we woke up late (9:15am), so we got there 30 mins late (supposed to be there at 10am).

It was our first time meeting Nay & Jay's baby Roo.
Oh, and Sat, Ards & Panda were there too.

Panda offered us the correct "Chinese broccoli."
Not "Panda's Chinese broccoli."
Good.

Since we got there late, we didn't get to eat much... but it was enough.

Ards said baby Roo was getting bigger, but she was still lighter than Popo. Baby Roo's thighs were still thin, but she'll bulk up and have thick chubby thighs like Popo in the next 6 weeks.

Oh, but baby Roo's hands were bigger than Popo's (!!)

I'll have to get my butt down to South Bay, so we can have a let's-watch-them-sleep play date.

Obon Fest 2010, Part 1

2010-06-26T23:24:00.000-07:00

We went to the Senshin Temple obon festival today.

I didn't even know there was a Japanese Buddhist temple near USC, but maybe it's for the Japanese-American folks who live in the Arlington Heights area? Altho the ones in Little Tokyo are just as close.

Near the entrance.

I forgot to wear the G*mers hapi coat before we took the picture. Fail!

This obon fest is different from all the other ones I've been to... since it only has three food booths. One for spam onigiri & oden, one for snow cones & baking sale, and one for hotdogs & chili rice.

No kalbi or other Hawaiian BBQ-ish stuff, no okinawa dango, no kuri manjuu.
Le sigh.

Oh, there are no gaming booths, yard sale (bazaar) booth, nursery (plant) booth either.

Just a bon odori circle and those three food booths. Plus the usual raffle.

They did have a bunch of candles lined up on a table in a different courtyard, but we didn't stay for the lighting ceremony. But they look beautiful in the photos I saw. We just couldn't stay that late w/ Popo around.

We watched a bit of the bon odori.
I only recognized one song/dance out of five.

We left before it got dark b/c Sat got cold.
And we went to Little Tokyo to eat ramen at Koraku. Too bad it was too late to go to Hanaichi. Maybe next time.

Three Month Mark

2010-06-25T23:15:00.000-07:00

So it's been three months in my semi-home confinement *laugh*

Physically, I'm doing pretty good.
Walking daily w/ Sat & Ards is probably helping a lot. I'm still out of shape, but been so for over 10 years, so I'm not too worried about it.

I'm down to my original weight... which is good, but not so good, cuz I could lose more poundage. I'll work on that in the next three months.

Now I'm going to do a test run of working in the real world.
I'll be working two days next week, acting as tour guide of the LA geekdom. Hopefully I'll have the energy to be out all day (and driving all day too!)

And somewhere along the day, I have to find time to make Popo's breakfast/lunch/dinner. I will have an ice chest in the rental car.

And we'll see how Popo handles the day w/o me.
But じゅるる will be home, so she should be fine.

Dinner @ Versailles

2010-06-24T23:15:00.000-07:00

Today, during the middle of our walk, Sat & Ards decided they want to go eat at Versailles.

Hm... I had dinner plans involving leftovers.

Sat texted じゅるる, and I called Ichigo to see if she was okay watching Popo... and off to Versailles we went.

One thing... they renewed their menus.
And two... they renewed their menus & raised the prices.

Well, it was awfully cheap before.

As for the food, it seems like their garlic sauce got more sour (lemon-y) than before. And the shredded pork portions got smaller? The chicken got bigger, tho (but also is $3 more than before).

I was sad that the toast wasn't covered in the garlic sauce either. We probably got a bad batch, but the frequency of the bad batches is getting higher.

But the food is still good.
And moderately priced.
And the service is good.
So we'll go back... just not as frequent.

Smart Phone Debut?

2010-06-22T21:44:00.000-07:00

Since Sat & Ards had a Karate Kid date tonight, I went on our daily walk alone w/ Popo.

I walked to Best Buy, since it's only a little bit further than Ralphs... and I wanted to check out one of the no-contract phones from Virgin Mobile.

They offer unlimited text & web (+300 talk minutes) for $25 a month, so it's better to get a phone w/ a querty keyboard, no?

The cheapest querty keyboard phone is $70, but I didn't want to blindly spend $70 on a phone and not like it. So off to Best Buy to check it out.

It's the size of a Blackberry, so it's not bad.

But I had half my heart set on the pink Sanyo phone from Credo, so I'm waiver-ing about which plan to go with. If Credo had a no-contract plan, I'd go w/ them... since they support progressive causes (and not D*ck Ch*ney, as their ads say).

Or I'd deco the black phone.
I should have bought deco stickers while I was in Japan.

Nope, no iPhone for me.
At least not until the plans get cheaper.

New Crocs

2010-06-17T23:09:00.000-07:00

We went to the newly renovated Fox Hills mall today.
It's the first time I've been there since it's been renewed.

The food court area is really nice.
There's little nook areas that would be good for unofficial industry get togethers... Not that I'd host get togethers anytime soon.

Since there was a Crocs kiosk, I decided to buy a new pair.
I think I've had my khaki colored ones for a year and a half now. And the sole was getting really worn out. I never thought plastic shoes would wear out, but of course it does. Duh.

I was going to buy something less bulky than the original model... but I couldn't find anything in my size. Plus they cost more.

So I went back to the original model.
But this time, in a chocolate brown color.

The new Crocs feel much better... It's stiffer, so it's more stable feeling.

I should have bought new ones earlier!

Pink Eye

2010-06-10T21:39:00.000-07:00

Ack!

My eye was hurting today, so I felt it forming...
And when I looked at the mirror this evening before dinner, the lower lid of my right eye is pink & puffy!

I guess I'll try to stay indoors for the next few days while it heals.

Koge Pees on Bed

2010-06-09T23:59:00.001-07:00

It appears that Koge is upset about something.

Sat noticed that it smelled like Koge pee, and discovered that Koge had peed on my bed.

She hasn't done this in couple of years... but maybe it's b/c Sat was out of town for couple of days? Or b/c her litter box isn't fresh anymore?

Anyway, Ichigo took all the blankets off to get them washed.
And covered the bed w/ plastic tarp.

And today... there were three small puddles of yellow on the white tarp.

I took a photo of it before I cleaned it up.
It's on Sat's SD card, so I'll upload tomorrow.

Gah!

Dee's Last Critter-Sitting Day

2010-06-02T23:59:00.000-07:00

Dee came by Koge Haus today to Popo-sit (altho both Sat & I were home the whole time).

It's his last time to Popo-sit during the week, since he'll start working full time starting tomorrow. So from now on, he'll just have to visit us on a weekend (maybe lunch date?).

Things are starting to settle down w/ Popo... like she's easier to predict, can go longer periods w/o feeding or diaper change... so I'll be okay on my own now. But it was really nice to have an extra body to watch Popo for the first two months.

Plus she's rarely fussy around Dee.
Or most other visitors (like Ards).

The less time she's fussy, the better it is for the peace of my mind.

Thanks Dee for all your help!

After-Work Walks w/ the Girls

2010-06-01T22:12:00.000-07:00

Sat & Ards made a pact(?) to start walking every day after Ards gets off work.

And Sat decided I should join the walk, since I need to gain my strength back.

So starting today, we're walking 15 mins.
Each week we'll increase the time. And speed.

Right now we walk really slow... mostly b/c I can't walk very fast. Esp w/ Popo strapped on my chest. That's 10 extra pounds I'm carrying around!

Popo likes walks too.
She spends the first 5 mins looking around, then falls asleep for the rest of the walk.

Too bad there aren't parks nearby that we could walk to.
Maybe we can meet up at a park once we increase our time to 30 mins.

Joint Pains

2010-05-31T22:35:00.000-07:00

I've been having joint pains stemming from my tummy swelling days, and I was hoping things would improve over time.

It's been over two months since Popo came out & my joints are still ache-y when I walk or stand around for a long time (like over 30 mins), and it's hard to sleep on my side.

Then I tried yoga.
I thought yoga would help me build up my endurance, and I'd regain a bit more mobility w/ my ache-y joints, you know?

Everything was going fine until I had to do the pose where you're your knees & lift one leg off the ground.

I couldn't.
It was too painful at my joints.

I think I seriously need to go see a chiropractor.
Time to search for one in the area.

PS. My ankle is also a bit ache-y too.
More on that some other day.

Lean Cuisine Review #1

2010-05-30T14:23:00.000-07:00

Since Ralphs had Lean Cuisine meals on sale for $1.85 each, I decided to try some of them out.

There are hits and misses, so here's my review of the ones I tried.

Flat Bread Sandwich - Chicken, Red Pepper & Basil
I liked this one. It's very cheesy, which was really nice.
The flat bread is a lot thicker than I expected & chewy too. But it tasted pretty good, like white bread at Subway.

Panini - Chicken, Artichoke & Spinach
Was okay.
I wish it was cheesier. Didn't taste much of the artichoke too.

Panini - Steak & Cheese
Okay to kinda bleah.
The bread is thick and yummy, but would be nice if it could get crunchier... which is a bit hard w/ a microwave.
Steak was okay, and the cheese had a nacho cheese flavor, making it taste more chili-like.

Pizza - Roasted Vegetables
Bleah. No taste!
I was looking forward to this one, b/c I like the veggie pizza at CPK and other places.

The crust is the same as flat bread. Soft & chewy. I actually don't mind the taste of the crust.
The toppings include red & green bell pepper, cheese and tomato sauce. Unfortunately none of the toppings have any flavoring added, making the whole thing bland.

Entree - Chicken Pecan
The chicken & pecans were in a sweet sauce. And it's paired up w/ the rice-shaped pasta (orzo?), some wheat-like grain, snap peas and red bell pepper. It was okay, but I think the bread-type meals are more filling.

I got five boxes initially... and got a $1 off coupon for buying another five, so went to buy more the next day. So I'll have more entrees to review.

Yakitori @ Home

2010-05-26T18:02:00.001-07:00

We haven't BBQ'd at home for a long time...
Plus Sat & I have been craving yakitori for a long time...
And after being inspired by the BBQ this past weekend, we decided it's time to start BBQ-ing at home again.

But the big Weber at Koge Haus is a little too much for the two of us. So we decided on getting a smaller grill to do a poor-man BBQ.

Sat found a cute bucket style one at Amazon, so I immediately added the green one to my Wish List. But my b-day is 2 months away. We want yakitori right now!

So Sat found a mini BBQ grill on sale at Target for $15.
We went to Target & they had black, red & green. The red was cute, and I really love green... but only the black one was on sale. So black it is. If we like it a lot & the black one breaks, I can always get the green one next time.

We also picked up a skewer set at TJ Maxx.

It took a long time to put together the mini BBQ grill... cuz the pieces don't line up straight! I got it to at least stand up, but it's not completely screwed together. That's for next time... cuz we be hungry.

Yakitori, okra & pineapple.
We didn't have a lot of ingredients at home, but that was plenty to make us happy.

I think we could do this every day.

Scraped Knee

2010-05-20T16:20:00.000-07:00

I went to Giraffe R Us today to buy a stroller.
They didn't have the one we wanted in stock at the Culver City store the previous night, so I headed over to La Cienega b/c they were gonna receive a new shipment.

I haven't been to the La Cienega one in a long time (ever since Company B closed?), but they completely remodeled & have a big baby area.

They also added more entrances & exits, and I was very confused... So I walked in the right most door. But it was one of the exits (there were 3 entrances), so I crossed over to the middle door... and WOOMPH!

There was a bar along the floor.
To keep the shopping carts in place.
And I didn't see it b/c I had Popo strapped to my belly.

I landed on both of my knees.
Fortunately I didn't fall completely, so I didn't crush Popo.
And I didn't break my foot either. Whew.

But my knees are scraped.
The right one is bleeding a bit.
They sting a bit, so I put bandages.
しくしく

Thinking About an iPad

2010-05-18T21:40:00.000-07:00

I was thinking... maybe I should get an iPad.

I'm okay w/ the Vaio for work related stuff.
I mean, I only use email, Word & Excel (occasional PowerPoint). Altho it would be nice to use PhotoSh*p, I'd only use it 2-3 times a year.

But the Vaio can't handle FB games. Or Hulu. Or iTunes.

iTunes is a new concept for my life.
I don't listen to music, b/c I'm okay w/ any noise to keep me company. So most of the time it's the TV. But Popo likes music, and I thought iTunes would be handy. Of course I've never used iTunes, so I hope I can figure it out.

Oh, and a computer for storing all my photos would be nice. And be able to share it w/ じゅるる.

And I'm guessing an iPad is easy to use.
So I don't have to call Vu up every time something happens to any of the computers lying about the house.

Or I could be happy w/ having something like Sat's blue Dell.
Would that be cheaper than an iPad?

HK Kitchen w/ Sat & Dee

2010-05-17T21:50:00.000-07:00

Last time me & Sat tried to go to HK Kitchen, they were closed. They close on Tues now.

So we made a second attempt today.
And took Dee w/ us, since Sat had some business w/ him.

It's handy to have three sets of hands when taking Popo along. Cuz one person would have to be holding her... she won't stay put in the travel bed anymore. I wonder if she'll stay calmer if we had a stroller? I should start looking into them.

The food was yum.
We ordered too much, and we didn't take any containers... but there was plenty of food to fill up the Styrofoam boxes.

After eating, we went to Dee's house so Dee's mom & Cee could meet Popo.

And we wanted to meet Mr R.
He's sooooooo cute!
Queen L is cute too (just in case she's reading this), altho we didn't get to see her yesterday... only heard her on the other side of the door.

Ards Brings Nan

2010-05-14T22:15:00.000-07:00

Ards came by after work today.

She was waiting for traffic to die down, so she came to hang out.
And brought me nan from Samosa House.
It was yum.
I should go there someday.
It's walking distance too, so might be a good walk.

She also gave me updates on Nay & baby R.

I'm shooting to go visit them next week.

Cut Hair

2010-05-13T18:11:00.000-07:00

I got a haircut today.

I decided having long hair takes too much time to wash... gets in the way when I'm feeding Popo... so I decided to chop it off.

Now my hair is chin level.

I haven't had it this short in a long time, but I'm happy I use less shampoo now.

Photos... coming soon.

Shiz Can't Cook Series: Country-Styled Pork Ribs (Slow Cooker)

2010-05-11T22:38:00.000-07:00

I found a package of country-styled pork ribs on sale at Ralphs, so I decided to cook them in the slow cooker.

Pork.
BBQ sauce left over from the other time we cooked beef short ribs.
Ketchup.
Mustard.
Soy sauce.
Brown sugar.
Salt.
Pepper.

All went inside the slow cooker, set on "high," and left alone for 4 hours.

Came out like this.

The meat was tender, but didn't have enough flavor.
I over-under-compensated since we put too much BBQ sauce in the beef short ribs & it came out too strong.

But if you pour BBQ sauce right on it, it was fine.

FB Debut?

2010-05-08T23:21:00.000-07:00

じゅるる, who works in the real world, gets requests from co-workers & friends for Popo photos.

I mean, do people really want to see photos of kids they're not related to?

Here's my thought on other people's kid photos.
1. For prints, once a year is good enough.
Like holiday cards.

You see how much they've grown, and it's a good reminder of what they look like (just in case you don't see them often, but would need to recognize them if you see them at the market or something).

2. For digital files that are emailed to you, once a year is also good enough. Maybe even too much, after the initial newborn interest. Altho photos for holidays ain't so bad.

Ichigo wanted to send some Popo photos to friends in Japan, so I e-mailed her smaller files of what I uploaded to Flickr. Sat agreed that people wouldn't care to HAVE photos of kids (= Popo) of kids (= me) they're not related to. But Ichigo's generation don't all have emails and internet access (only via cellphone), so maybe this was the only way to go.

Which brings me to...
My Flickr set, full of Popo photos.

Since only friends & family have access to it, I'm okay posting all these photos and being a total 親バカ. And although I think the photos are all adorable (see, 親バカ), I dunno if I want to have everyone we know see our complete 親バカ-ness.

So what do we do w/ じゅるる's colleagues?
We could make a Picasa account w/ a limited number of Popo photos to share. Or create an album on FB...

But I don't wanna be one of those who have kid photos as their profile picture. Okay, an album on FB isn't a profile pix... but it's one step closer!

That doesn't mean I'll stop じゅるる from having an album.
He's nowhere as neurotic about being public on FB as I am. I mean, I resisted being connected to him until we both updated about Popo on FB. I still think it sucks that FB forces BOTH of you to be linked, once you confirm your relationship. It can't be a one-way thing? Really?

Okay, I stop my rant.
Popo will be making a FB debut shortly... maybe.

Poor Planning

2010-05-06T22:08:00.001-07:00

I was in Santa Monica today for my 6-week follow up appointment.

And Nay's in a hospital in SM right now... and I should have thought to arrange to visit them, since I was in the area (like 4 blocks away).

But I've been really bad about pre-planning & muti-tasking & all the stuff I thought I was good at.

Is it b/c I haven't been working in a busy environment for the last year and a half?

...or is it from the bump hormones?

...or lack of sleep w/ Popo?

Well, I thought Nay might be further along... since I was put on Pitocin after 12 hours & in serious pain by hour 15.

But it's still poor planning on my part.
We could have dropped off lunch for Jams. *sigh*

Leftover Cake

2010-05-03T22:39:00.000-07:00

So what do you do w/ all these leftover cake?
Share it w/ friends, of course!

Sat had arranged for Ards to stop by after work, so we had a little cake dim sum.

A little bit of tiramisu cake, a piece of opera cake, and 1/3 of the guava cake.

Three straight days of cake.
We'll avoid sweets for the rest of the week, I guess.

But after Ards left, I realized I forgot to give her the Japan omiyage from Steph. I guess she'll have to stop by another day.

Second B-day Cake

2010-05-02T23:18:00.000-07:00

We had a second b-day cake today.

This time it's family only.
Plus Dee.

Dee came early, so he took care of Popo all afternoon.

We had guava cake.
Man, eating cake 2 days in a row... not good on the diet. So we sent half of the leftover cake home w/ Dee, so he can share w/ his mom & sis.

And we watched Amazing Race & Celeb Apprentice together too.

Sat B-day Chinese

2010-05-01T23:06:00.000-07:00

Like we do every year, we had a get-together lunch for Sat's b-day... at a Chinese restaurant. This time it was Hop Woo in WLA. Duck time!

I finally got to meet Sasami's b/f. Nice guy.

Sof showed us a photo of Ben wearing a gakuran.
No, actually it's a high-collared Chinese shirt. But b/c it's black, it just looks like a Japanese school boy uniform. *snicker*

Our table was mostly vegetarian. And it wasn't b/c Steph was at our table either... just happened that way.

And the other table (mostly boys) was very meaty. Poor Panda was wishing she was at our table... which would have made sense, b/c there's no point in having two Cantonese speakers at one table and none at the other.

Most of the group headed over to Yuu Yuu's for happy hour karaoke, while me & じゅるる went home b/c we had brought Popo along. Plus Vu was gonna help me fix my virus infected Vaio. Which is now fixed. Horray!

Post-karaoke, half the group came over to have b-day cake. TJ tiramisu cake & opera cake. I had the opera cake, which was yum. Sat figured Ards would like the tiramisu cake, so saved one piece for her. She'll come by on Monday to eat it. And pick up Japan omiyage from Steph.

We should have ordered pizza or something cuz everyone stayed late... so I quickly made takoyaki & cheese-yaki. But I'm sure everyone was still hungry afterwards. Hopefully they all had late night munchies.

Walked to Ralphs

2010-04-27T17:34:00.000-07:00

It's sad when all you can post about is going to the supermarket... but I haven't left the house in 2 days. Like not even walked over to Sat's to say hi to Koge.

Well, I had a deadline to deal with.

Sat offered to walk w/ me to Ralphs, so off we went.

They tell you never go grocery shopping when you're hungry. But what do you do when you're constantly hungry? Ah, make others shop for you... or make a list. Next time...

Cuz the first thing we see is the deli section. And I'm just staring at the fried chicken. I need something easy to eat during the week. Something that can be heated up easily in the microwave. Fried chicken!

I don't even like drumsticks, but I ate one anyway.
That's how hungry I am.

I also bought an assortment of bagels & rolls, so I can munch on them all day long. Plus sliced cheese & turkey, when I'm tired of just eating carbs.

Since we walked, we only buy the lightweight things.
All the heavy stuff like milk, cranberry juice... are being bought by じゅるる.

PS. We also had Popo's doc appointment too. That'll be on PopoLife.

Recovery: 1 Month Mark

2010-04-25T23:46:00.000-07:00

So it's been a month since my major abdominal surgery.

The area around the incision is still numb/tingle-y. Occasionally it hurts, like when I sit down hard on the couch. I need to be more careful when I sit.

It took me about 3 weeks to comfortably walk up & down the stairs. I have no probs now, but I get tired if I go up & down more than two times in an hour or so. I need to build up my already-low endurance.

I'm almost back to my original weight. About +/- 2lbs from my original-original weight, and about + 5lbs from my lowest original weight.

I tried driving once... but it seems okay. I like the mini SUV since it's taller & I don't end up sitting down hard like I do w/ other cars. Once we get the back seat set up for Popo, I should be driving around to places more (w/ Sat).

I can finally eat meat & chocolate & fried foods.
That's a relief. I might want to eat Smitty's and Cecil's and Versailles. Someone invite me.

Dim Sum & Tokyo Table

2010-04-24T23:31:00.000-07:00

We went to dim sum today b/c Ards told us that Nay wanted to go before she was on home confinement.

Yes, that's a very good plan.
How come no one told me to do that too... Oh, my heartburn made it impossible for me to eat anything. Great.

Altho with a little critter, you really can't eat much.
Plus the pork spare ribs never came around! Or the shumai! And Sat ate all the tripe by herself!

After dim sum, Nay, Jay & Ards headed to the Grilled Cheese Sandwich Invitational event.

The rest of us headed to Bin Bin Konjac for drinks.
It seems like the ownership changed, but it's the same good drinks. Only the point card is different... and they have a buy 2 get 1 free deal, which is nice since there were three of us.

At night, we went out to Irvine b/c じゅるる's college friend was in town.

We were looking for places to go that would be OK for Popo to tag along... we looked up Tokyo Table on Yelp. Seemed like it's similar to the BevHills one, but is it actually crowded? Cuz the BH one was empty. All the time. Which is why we liked going there.

Yelp wasn't helpful (only that it's too expensive [for college kids] & meh food [if you're looking for 'authentic' Japanese food]), so I tried asking on FB. But no one responded. Either I have no friends in the Irvine vicinity, or I have too few friends, or none of my friends go out...

We gave it a try anyway, and it was fine for Popo.
Maybe a little too cold.

Food was fine. It's the same fusion stuff as the BH one, but they had an expanded menu. We tried the chirashi-sushi pizza, which was like the original sushi pizza but w/ tuna & salmon. I liked the original, so the new one was good too. We got the usual for everything else (tofu salad, karaage, Philly roll), altho we tried the Hawaiian roll (crab + pineapple).

Oh, they no longer have the gyoza (not that it was good anyway), but they had stick gyoza. Didn't try it, tho. Maybe next time I'm in the area... and I'm not the one paying (which is the only way I do Tokyo Table).

Lots of outing in one day, for someone who's been on home confinement for a month. But it was exhausting fun.

Takoyaki Practice Night

2010-04-16T20:14:00.000-07:00

We're having guests over on Sunday.
They're じゅるる's friends who I've never met before.

We're doing 鉄板焼き & たこ焼き, since you get to sit around a table & talk & eat, so we won't have uncomfortable moments of silence... Naw, it's so one person isn't responsible for making the food.

But I haven't made takoyaki w/o Sat before.
So we're doing a practice run today.

Starting out w/ making the batter (which has always been Sat's duty). I think I can handle the rest, since I've worked the takoyaki grill and all.

Teppanyaki is simple enough.
I'll just cut up veggies, mushrooms, and じゅるる will marinate the beef.

If I'm not frazzled, I'll take pictures.

PS. Dee came by to critter-sit today again.
I got a good nap on the floor (on top of the heated carpet).

PPS. Steph is supposed to come by tonight around 9pm.
Hopefully she'll find parking, cuz we're using up both parking spaces right now... I should move the mini-SUV back to Koge Haus.

Walked to Yogurtland

2010-04-13T19:53:00.000-07:00

Today, Sat was reading the "first month" chapter of the APA book, when it mentioned that it's good to go outside & take a walk.

So we decided to take a walk to Yogurtland.
じゅるる (who took the day off b/c he couldn't sleep at all last night due to some fussy critter) carried Popo in the BB carrier, Sat walked in front & I trailed behind.

I get bit of a sharp pain on my left side now. Comes every 2-3 minutes when I walk. But nothing that's not bearable.

We got a little bit of frozen yogurt ($5.70 worth for the three of us... we don't pile on a lot in our cups, do we?), and as we were walking home, we all agreed that we were feeling like junky Chinese. And walked right into Panda Express.

So much for having a non-fat snack, eh?

I can't carry Popo in the carrier yet (or I don't think... I haven't tried), but it'll be nice to take walks every other day.

Married Filing Jointly

2010-04-12T21:53:00.000-07:00

Worked on 1040s & 540s over the weekend.

I should have worked on them earlier, but things have to fall into place first to get things started... or that's the excuse procrastinators like me use.

Didn't help that Popo decided to show up a week later... or that it'd take me 2 weeks to recover.

Anyhoo, I learned a lot about "married filing jointly"... or "separately" for that matter.

I thought the latter would be easier, since there were a lot of changes in my overall life last year. But it made things more complicated. Shouldn't we be considered individuals, especially if we've been married for less than half the year last year?

So "jointly," it is.

I am looking forward to next year, when we can claim another exemption.

OK to Drive

2010-04-08T22:44:00.000-07:00

I went to my doctor for the 2-week follow up.

Since I'm not in a lot of pain, and I'm moving about pretty decently, I got the OK to drive.

Not that I have anywhere to go, since I'm not working.
And hard to get out when there's a critter taking up a bulk of your time (altho I'd have more time if I stopped playing games on FB...?)

And the car seat is in じゅるる's car for now...

Maybe I'll start driving in another 2 weeks.

Critter-sitter Dee

2010-04-07T21:46:00.000-07:00

Today Dee came over to critter-sit Popo.

It was mostly so I can catch up on sleep, but I also had to run over to Koge Haus to cut Koge's nails. Well, run is just figurative speech... since I can barely walk at a normal pace yet. But I do need to start walking, and the 200 meters or so to Koge Haus is a good start.

Sat came over to wait for the food that Dee was picking up from Ichigo, and we watched Mary Poppins while we waited... and then while we ate.

After we left, I guess Dee watched Mary Poppins again w/ Popo. She's gonna learn all the words to the movie & songs by the time she's 3.

Then he watched Zombieland that Ards had left for us to watch (along w/ Star Trek & Cloudy Meatballs). I wasn't aware of the movie, but I guess the boys went out to see it a while back? And Dee had missed it, so he was enjoying it here.

I crashed when I got back.
I really should take 2-3 hour naps every day, since I'm only sleeping 4-5 hours at night. Although that's about how much sleep I was getting when I was working -__-

Borrowed Clothes

2010-04-06T22:49:00.000-07:00

Ards came by today w/ a BIG bag of infant clothes.

Nads offered to lend me a bunch of hand-me-downs she got from friends & family, since I had mentioned that I was running out of clothes (I didn't buy a lot of NB or 0-3 sizes).

So I went through the pile & picked out about 12-15 outfits.
Mostly long sleeve ones, since Popo seems to complain about it being cold lately. I also decided to try out couple of the zipper coveralls & dress-type coveralls, since I haven't gotten those. If I like them, I might buy them myself.

A bit later, Sat came by to drop off some gyoza. We froze them couple of weeks ago, when we made a big batch. Good, we have dinner for tonight!

PS. Tues night is our "Parenthood" night. It's one of the few TV shows we watch on a weekly basis. We didn't have any problems watching last week, but tonight... Popo decided to wake up at the 15 min mark. Gah!

We were able to quiet her down for about 5-10 mins w/ the bottle & pacifier... but we missed the whole segment w/ Julia & Joel. Grrr. Time to read TelevisionWithoutPity recaps (even tho I do anyway).

N&J Baby Shower, Visit from Vu

2010-04-03T23:21:00.000-07:00

Today was Nads & Jams' baby shower.

I was planning to go w/ Ards, but couldn't get up before noon. Well, I was up earlier, but collapsed after couple of early morning feedings.

And Sat decided not to go b/c she was feeling sick.
Plus Vu was gonna come up to WLA to look at computer stuff.

So even tho the event was 12pm - 4pm, we headed over there a little after 3pm. The shower was already winding down (they finished all the games & opened presents), but we managed to grab a few red velvet cupcakes. They were yum! Gotta ask Jams where they got them.

Since I took some cupcakes home, Sat came over w/ Vu to eat them.
And for Vu to see Popo.

While Popo (& Sat) were napping, Vu and I were stalking people on FB. See, I'm having trouble remembering all the HS friends (even if I had friended them). So we were going thru the list, trying to tie them to groups and clubs and stuff. Of course there's a bunch of people I haven't friended, so we went from person to person to see if they're around... if they look any different.

Meh, I'm not good at this keeping in touch w/ people thing.

Date w/ Ards

2010-04-02T23:29:00.000-07:00

Ards had the day off today, so she came over to hang out after she got her hair cut.

BTW, her new hair cut is fabulous.
Much much lighter looking.
And good length too.

I wanted to buy some stuff at Babies R Us, so I asked Ards to drive me there (I can't drive for 2-4 weeks) while Sat babysat Popo.

We ended up going to Babies R Us, TJ Maxx, Target & Campos Tacos.

And she let us borrow Star Trek BD and Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs BD. Oh, Zombie-something too.

じゅるる hadn't watched Star Trek Movie yet, so we watched it (I was asleep for the first 30 mins or so, but had watched that portion earlier). He was surprised how good it was.

Ards stayed til around 11pm... which worried me, since she usually goes to sleep much earlier than that. I hope she wasn't tired. She spent a lot of time coo-ing Popo to sleep, who was fighting to keep her eyes open. But in the end, Ards won. It took 5 hours, tho... -__-

Photos from Hospital Stay

2010-04-01T19:30:00.000-07:00

I uploaded the photos from my hospital stay on Flickr.

My account is expiring on April 6.
I need to renew soon, but the Yahoo login page isn't working. Prolly just a Firefox issue.

A bunch of other photos are being uploaded by Sat.
But her account already expired (and she's also having trouble renewing), so she can only upload 100 per month. She should have more uploaded soon b/c it's April.

If you need a guest pass for Flickr (to see "Friends only" photos), email me.

More Visits & Mail Packages

2010-03-31T21:27:00.000-07:00

Dee came by to visit Popo today.
I need to let people know to bring their own drinks, since we don't have anything at our house... since I only drink water & cow milk.

Dee played with Popo all afternoon.
While Sat... napped...

We also received packages and congrats cards.

I have a play date w/ Ards on Friday.
Yay, my week is filled up ^__^

Visits & Taru Hat

2010-03-30T23:31:00.000-07:00

We made a separate PopoLife blog.
It's basically for grandparents who want to stay updated w/ Popo's life, so it's in Japanese. But feel free to check it out once in a while.

Anyway, Ards & Sasami came by after work today.
Sasami brought me some lotion (for any stretchmarks I have) and a knitted hat for Popo!

Very cute.
I asked for neutral colors, so she made the main color brown. With a touch of pink to make it a bit girly.

Oh, we played dress up w/ Popo alright.
She's our little dress up doll *laugh*

Popo was being good & modeled for us as we took pictures.
Photos will be uploaded to Flickr soon.

Out of the Hospital

2010-03-29T23:39:00.000-07:00

We left the hospital around 1pm today & all three of us got home safely.

I had a lot of trouble climbing up the stairs in front.
So I'll be living downstairs this week... altho I'll try to go upstairs at least once a day.

I'm going to concentrate on pumping; tummy recovery; and getting my swollen feet back to normal. My feet currently look like eggplants. I'll be warming them all night long w/ a heating pad. Hope that works.

Since I can't walk much, じゅるる is in charge of feeding this week.
Good thing we have Sat and Ichigo helping.

Ichigo will also be helping us w/ adult food.
We've gotten so used to having food delivered to us at the hospital, we didn't really think about how we're going to eat at home. Someone's gonna have to make dinner, you know?

I'll be stuck at home this week.
If anyone wants to visit, bring food or babysit while I nap, it would be wonderful.

Oven Progress: Hospital Day 5

2010-03-28T17:24:00.000-07:00

Forgot to mention that Popo has a real name now.

Hospital staff have been asking us for her name, and we'd had to say "we haven't decided yet..." each time. Which was kinda sad, since most new parents have a name decided by the time they're at the hospital.

We had decided on the kanji for the name too... but after Googling the kanji, we decided we would need to change it. Well, only the second kanji.

Yama clan came over again in the morning.
Sat wanted to take pictures w/ a better camera than the one Papa Yama had (not that his compact digital camera is bad or anything...), so she made him come over again. They stayed for about 3 hours... kinda overstaying their welcome, don't you think?

They gave us opinions on Popo's kanji name, which was helpful.
We're also gonna ask Papa T and Mama T for their opinion too. Altho we have a clear favorite.

My feet & legs are super swollen right now... and the left foot is fatter than the time I broke my ankle. I didn't think that was possible, but I have a really thick, really elephant-like foot & ankle in front of me. Keeping it raised isn't helping... What to do, what to do?

I think we're checking out tomorrow... but none of the doctors showed up today, so I don't know what's going on. Hopefully they show up tomorrow morning.

Oven Progress: Hospital Day 4

2010-03-27T16:14:00.000-07:00

I realized it should no longer be the "oven progress," since the bun is already out. Oh wells.

Ichigo & Papa Yama came at 6am today.
6am!?
They decided to stop by before dropping stuff off at Koge Haus.

We didn't have the good camera w/ us, so we only took pictures w/ Papa Yama's new digital camera. I guess that's good enough.

We took a nap before Sat showed up at 10am.
I finally got to shower! Yay!
It's been 3 days... gah!

Mama T & Papa T came by around noon.
But the hospital was doing a hearing test on Popo right when they came, so I had to have them wait outside for a few minutes. No hearing problems for Popo, tho!

Ards, Nads & Jams came by in the afternoon, after watching How to Train Your Dragon. We want to see it, but I dunno if we'll ever get the chance to see it in the theaters. Maybe they'll have a mommy screening somewhere... nah, doubt it.

We have the rest of the day to ourselves.
I have rashes all over my body, so I might want to get checked out before I leave.

BTW, we're here til Monday.
Although we could possibly check out on Sunday, if I'm up for it.

Oven Progress: Hospital Day 3

2010-03-26T20:38:00.000-07:00

Popo didn't let us sleep at all last night.
After being a pleasant angel for her first 12 hours, she decided to show her true self. Lots to look forward to in the coming years.

Of course it didn't help that all the nurses came in to probe us. Temperature here, heart rate there, blood pressure over here, blood test over there...

じゅるる and I took turns napping.

At 5:00am, I was told to try walking.
Oh my gosh, it's the hardest thing ever! I did walk over to the bathroom (4 feet away). I'm supposed to practice walking for the next few days before I'm discharged.

I was told my urine bag would be removed around 11am.
That'sa bummer, because I was really enjoying not having to go to the bathroom to pee. I think everyone should try it out... you can keep drinking, but never go to the bathroom! Awesome stuff.

With the urine bag gone, I'm now on pills for pain killer.
I think it works better than going thru the IV. They're keeping the IV on me until I pee normally... But that came quickly, so now I'm free!!

But it's still hard to walk around.

Today was visiting day for a few friends & family.

Sat & Ichigo came again. Around 10am?
They brought Paris Baguette bread, but I can't eat any of it. Grr!! I should be allowed to eat things other than "clear liquid" tomorrow.

Dee came by around 1pm.
He took videos of Popo. One of Ichigo changing the diaper, and Popo letting out another squirt in the middle of the diaper change. Ewww.

And Ards & Sasami came by after work.
They brought dinner for じゅるる and Sat. And they also brought gifts! How sweet of them.

More visitors tomorrow.

Oven Progress: Hospital Day 2

2010-03-25T00:05:00.000-07:00

Semi live-blog.
Altho I probably can't type anymore soon...

12:00am
We were told doc prefers another dose of medicine C b/c no progress yet. Waiting for medicine to be delivered from pharmacy.

12:30am
Now I have too much contractions for medicine C.
Back to medicine P, which is more controllable.
But told to hold off on epidural until further along.

4:00am
Was in lots of pain w/ no sleep.
Nurses convinced me to get epidural, even tho I still hadn't progressed.

4:45am
Got epidural.
Miracle drug, I tell ya.
No more pain.
Can finally get some rest.

6:00am
A bit of pain in back.
Hallucinating hamburgers... weird.

7:45am
Doc shows up for check up.
Still only 1cm!!
Broke water, made a lake.

8:45am
Still making puddles.
Ichigo calls for update.
She said she'll come by w/ food for じゅるる.
I'm not allowed to eat anymore, but really hungry.

10:00am
A bunch of nurses rush in, trying different things to check Popo's heart rate. They give じゅるる some scrubs to wear over his clothes. We guess c-section, but not sure yet.

10:30am
Taken to OR.
At 3cm and Popo's heart rate getting low w/ more contractions, they think c-section is best. I'm shivering in the OR...

10:54am
Popo taken out.
Looks like an alien.
Cries like one too.

Updated
Oh, Popo did have a cord around her neck.
Three times!
No wonder she wasn't coming down...

11:30am
I'm patched up, taken to recovery room.
I crash.

Popo & じゅるる head to the nursery for Popo to be cleaned up.
Sat & Ichigo arrive around this time.

1:30pm
My blood pressure is too high, so they keep me on monitor for another hour.
Tried out suckling.
This is the first time I hold Popo in my arms.
Wiggles around like an inch worm. Gotta get used to this.

5:30pm
Finally released from L&D area, taken to PP area.

During the ride over to the new room, I get sick & burp. Then puke out water. That was a complete surprise. I wasn't even feeling nauseated.

7:00pm
After an hour long nap, 2nd attempt at suckling.
Popo's already been sucking her thumb since she was in the nursery, so the nurse said she'll do fine suckling. And sure enough, she latches on good.

Can't get on Skype, so check here for updates.
Oh, we definitely can't get on IRC either.

11:00pm
Third and final attempt at suckling for the day.
じゅるる got to change diapers for the first time too. We're still not sure how to clean up all the smeary poo. Popo isn't liking it. Hehe...

I don't get to eat anything for today.
Just ice. But moderately.

Tomorrow, I get to have liquid food. Like Jell-O.
But before all that, I need to pass gas.
I was so gassy all these months... but now I no longer need to fart. Hmmm... I hope I get to eat Jell-O tomorrow.

Oven Progress: Hospital Day 1

2010-03-24T20:08:00.000-07:00

Pretend live-blog.

10:45am
Checked into hospital.
We were supposed to go in at 10:00am, but we were kinda running late. Had to pick up breakfast at McD's. Egg McMuffin good♪

11:30am
After answering paperwork related questions & stuff, medicine C in.
I'm not allowed to pee for 2 hours. Hrm...

11:45am
Sat showed up w/ Arby's for じゅるる.
She took pictures too.

And brought me manga. How sweet.
Okay, not really sweet b/c she wouldn't let me take it home last night to read, since she wanted to read it first.

We started watching Julie & Julia.

1:00pm
Sat leaves.

1:30pm
Lunchtime♪
Chicken w/ tomato sauce + rice, salad, bread, apple.

Oh, finally got to pee.

2:00pm
Medicine C is working.
Pain level is around 3.
I still have 10 hours before the real pain starts.

I get a call asking about the menu for dinner, breakfast & lunch.
They have several options. How nice.
Too bad I can't eat anything after midnight.
じゅるる will just have to enjoy the breakfast & lunch for me.

4:15pm
My doc came by to visit.
Next time I'll see her is tomorrow morning.

6:00pm
Dinnertime♪
Turkey & rice soup; turkey & cheese sandwich; lemon bars.
I had the soup & half the sandwich & half the lemon bar.

Pain level going up to 4-5 range.
Watching the news.

7:50pm
Was told pain doc was dealing w/ two c-sections, so our epidural should be planned for about midnight. Looking forward to 4 hours later.

11:30pm
Took out medicine C.
12 hours of medicine, 10 hours of early labor, absolutely no change in the exit.

Pain level around 6-7 when it's bad.
We were told not to get an epidural yet, so I have to endure this a little bit longer w/ medicine P. Torture? Yeah-huh.

Looks like we're not sleeping tonight.

Oven Progress: 5 Days Past Due

2010-03-23T22:21:00.000-07:00

I went to the doc today.

I'm officially checking into the hospital tomorrow.
At 10am.
Whee!

I'll be on the initial medication (like a tampon) for the day.

And if I'm not that further along, then I'll be on the secondary medication (IV) at midnight. And be in pain all night long, until the doc arrives on Thursday morning. Yay!

I don't know how much pain I'll be in on Wed, so I'll have my PC on.
And be on FB.
And Skype.
And possibly IRC.

Thursday, I'll be dead.
Don't try calling me or anything.
But じゅるる will probably update FB or something.

And I'll be in the recovery room on Friday.
Hopefully open to visitors, but I'll let people know via FB, Skype, IRC.

And probably checking out on Saturday.

Maybe I'll take Vu's mini Dell to the hospital, so I can do video Skype w/ the T family.

PS. Parking at St John's
If you park in the lot next to St John's, it's $12 for the day (or anything over 1 hour).

If you want to park on the streets, Arizona will most likely have space. Santa Monica is metered parking (2 hours) only. You can't park on most of the streets perpendicular to Santa Monica b/c they require permits (=residents only).

More info on how to come into the hospital later.

Oven Progress: 2 Days Past Due

2010-03-20T20:16:00.000-07:00

Still no change in status, folks.

I ate leftover gyoza & deep fried lamb pieces at Sat's yesterday... and the grease made me a little sick. I guess I'll stay on a bread-only diet for a while.

Today, I slept all day.
Stayed on a mostly carb diet.

じゅるる bought me a cheesecake from Angel Maid. Happy♪
And bagels from Noah's Bagels. Happy♪

Maybe there'll be more progress tomorrow.

Oven Progress: Week 40

2010-03-18T22:44:00.000-07:00

So we went to the doctor's again.
Not much progress seen yet.

We were told that there's really nothing good about leaving Popo inside too long, so I'm going in again next Tuesday. If still no progress, then I'm checking into the hospital on Wed afternoon & they'll put me on gradual medication to induce me.

And I should be popping the creature out by Thursday.

Popo might just be a procrastinator just like me.
If it's me... I'd be getting my ass ready on the 18th (today), and be done the next day.

Anyhoo, stay tuned.

Oven Progress: Week 39

2010-03-16T21:44:00.000-07:00

Since I've been getting emails & messages, and I've been bad at responding to everyone... here's an update about Popo (week 39).

I had slightly painful contractions for a little under an hour on Saturday night. So I thought I'm about to pop the sucker out any minute, but noooooooothing happened on Saturday. Or Monday. Or today (Tuesday).

So we're on standby.

I have another appointment tomorrow, so we'll see how it goes.

I don't think we're hitting the target date of the 18th, tho.

Shiz Can't Cook Series: Corned Beef & Cabbage

2010-03-16T21:34:00.001-07:00

Last week, I bought a package of corned beef brisket cuz it was on sale at Ralphs.

I've been wanting to make corned beef & cabbage w/ the slow cooker... and St Patty's Day is coming up... so perfect, eh?

I bought the smallest packet of meat.
2.5 lbs.

Cuz it's only the two of us eating... unless Sat wants some, but she never seems to like anything I make.

I didn't know how long you need to cook it, so I looked up recipes online. One recipe said 8 hours for a 4 lbs chunk of meat. Also suggested adding potatoes & carrots. Ooh, that's a good idea!

So the meat went in first (around 1pm).
And I put mini red potatoes and carrots in around 5pm.
And cabbage around 7pm.

Our dinner is always 8pm or so, b/c じゅるる comes home around that time. Altho we're not always hungry around then, cuz I snack all day (usually around 6pm), and じゅるる also eats his lunch leftover in the afternoon too (usually the last 1/4 of a Subway sandwich).

Aside from the meat & veggies, I only put in water... which I was skeptical about. But it came out delicious!

Yay!
I think I could eat this pretty regularly.
I wonder if corned beef briskets are available all year round... or if it's only a St Patty's season thing.

Shiz Can't Cook Series: Mexican Out-of-a-Box

2010-03-10T21:44:00.001-08:00

I made dinner again today.
Three days in a row!? It's gonna start snowing in LA!

I decided to make Mexican tonight.
I looked through the flavoring packet section & found an enchilada packet. I read the ingredients on the back... tomato sauce only (aside from ground meat & tortillas). That sounds easy enough.

The packet makes red sauce. Water + tomato sauce + packet.
Okay, that's easy.

Next, cook the ground turkey.
And pour a bit of the red sauce on it.
Okay, that's easy.

Next, heat the tortilla. Put sauce on the tortilla. Put meat in the tortilla. Wrap tortilla.
Done, done, done, done.
I also decided to add a bit of cheese inside the tortilla too.

Next, pour the rest of the red sauce on the enchilada wraps.
Hmmmm... there isn't enough red sauce.

Oh well.

I also made Spanish rice out of a box.
And stir fried some frozen veggies & added baby spinach.

The enchilada wasn't soaking wet, but it was moist in the inside, so it was okay. Next time, I'll only wrap 4-5 enchiladas, instead of 7 (the instructions said 8, but I could only squeeze in 6 enchiladas inside the baking dish... and the 7th went on top *laugh*). Then we'd have enough red sauce to make everything soggy.

Shiz Can't Cook Series: Tomato-y Italian Dinner

2010-03-09T21:54:00.000-08:00

I cooked dinner two nights in a row!
Am I becoming more domestic? Oh ho ho.

Well, it's not really cooking... more like heating things up.

I wanted to eat gnocchi, and we had a packet from Trader Joe's.
Of course I thought it was the creamy type... which I find out later that it's not (I didn't check before I started cooking).

But the TJ gnocchi packet is never enough for two people, unless you have something else with it. So I decided to make something w/ chicken.

I considered making Parmesan chicken, but that seemed too difficult... so I looked up stuff on CookPad (Japanese recipe site) and decided to go w/ a tomato based stew-y chicken.

Onion, mushroom, chicken, spinach + pasta sauce.
Okay, pretty simple.

Then I open the gnocchi packet... ack!
It's tomato based too!

So we'll end up w/ two tomato dishes. Gah!

We also had frozen garlic Parmesan toast, so we toasted it in our toaster oven.

I wanted to also serve Brussels sprouts (frozen w/ garlic butter), but we thought it was too much food, so we decided against it. It really would have been nice to have something green and not tomato based...

Look how red the plate looks!

Next time, greens!