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

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

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!

We are All Officially Sick

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

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.

The Past 365 Days

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.

じゅるる Hand Surgery

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*

Banana Compromise

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.

Paper Anniversary

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.

FB Debut?

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.

Married Filing Jointly

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.

Big Four-O Birthday Dinner

Today was じゅるる's 40th b-day.

We made reservations at Lawry's, since じゅるる is a meat eater.
He went for the Lawry's cut, I went for the English cut. I decided to try well-done this time too.

At the end of the meal, じゅるる said he was so full he wanted to cry (from the pain?). He doesn't think he can eat a Lawry's cut anymore... so he'll have to downgrade to a California cut next time.

Oh, since I told them that it was his b-day, they brought out a cake. Altho we were waaaay too full to eat much of it.

Once we got home, we went to Koge Haus b/c Sat bought an ice cream cake for him. Of course we were too full to eat that too, so we had a tiny piece. And took the rest of it home.

We're Open to Guests!

We put together the couch today.

Even tho the instructions were 20 pages long... it wasn't as difficult as we thought it would be.

And before the final pieces were assembled and linked together, we did a whole switch-a-roo of the living room set up. So now the TV is along the east wall of the living room, and the couch is sitting in the corner of the west & south wall.

It looks like we have more space, even tho we have more furniture.
Strange...

There's plenty of room for people to sit, so we can have visitors over now.

Anyone up for a takoyaki party?

Goodbye Burbank

We moved out of the temp housing at Burbank today.

Damn, we were there for 3 months...
So we had accumulated a lot of stuff.

We bought an extra set of hose-type shower head, since I broke my foot & had trouble bathing... and an extra set of foot stool (for showering and toilet-ing)... we even took our panini grill so I wouldn't starve to death while じゅるる was at work.

One thing we'll miss is cable.
We haven't decided if we want cable here yet.

Oh yeah, we also got our couch delivered today.
It came in four pieces, so we'll be busy putting it together tomorrow.

The delivery guys didn't take our old couch away, so we'll need help lugging it outside (and I'll call the city to have it hauled away).

iPhone Generation

We went to OC to visit the in-laws.
じゅるる's brother Yuu-chan & his family were in town.

We took a photo w/ niece Lee-chan.
It was cute b/c she was being shy the whole day, but as soon as we said "let's take a picture"... she ran over & sat down on my lap.

After we took the pictures, Lee-chan went over to the camera to look at the LCD screen. And she kept touching it, and Yuu-chan explained that she thinks you can scan through photos by swishing your finger on the screen... like an iPhone.

I guess they taught a 1 year 4 month old to view photos on an iPhone. Teehee.

Bed Arrived

Our new bed arrived today.
It's a lot taller (?) than our last bed.

Either our old bed was getting low b/c the springs had to support じゅるる's weight for the last 10 years... or this bed is on the tall side. I vote w/ the former.

We had already bought a mattress protector at Target, and got queen sized sheets as one of our Xmas gifts from じゅるる parents, so we're all set to go. (Blankets & pillows stay the same for now)

We just have to go buy a box for Popo to sleep in (she'll go in the middle).

Bed Hunting

We decided that we need a bigger bed.

じゅるる had a full size bed, which is currently at the new apartment.

I also have a full size bed, which is currently being occupied by Koge.

Plus じゅるる's bed is really old.
Like 11 years old.
So it's time for a new bed.

Although we would love to have a king size bed, it would never ever fit in the tiny bedrooms of WLA. So we'll be settling for a queen. It's not that much bigger than a full, but it'll be a little more room.

We first went to Sit & Sleep around New Year's.
The prices were around $1000. Hm, so-so.

Couple days later, we went to Easy Life.
Well, they sell furniture... but also sell some mattresses too.
All of the bed frames were too bulky (the headboards are really tall!). But the mattresses were a little bit cheaper. They also had a cute & tiny couch and chaise set, but it comes w/ a non-matching side chair & ottoman/table. Very strange.

We also stopped by Leeds, but all the mattresses were pricey.

Sometime later, we went to IKEA looking for bed frames... but none of them looked that good. They all either looked like hospital beds (metal ones) or white (wood ones). They can't have darker colors?

Anyway, we saw a TV ad for The Mattress Store.
They were having some big sale or something... so we decided to go check it out, just in case. They had signs on the beds, but the sales guy quoted $200 less than the "red tag" price. Really?

So we bought one.
They'll deliver next weekend.
And haul away the old one.

And because it's a Serta, they gave us a sheep ^__^
It's a girl sheep, so it'll be Popo's first plushie, I guess.

Roomba Adventures: Stuck Under TV

Ards & Sasami gave us a Roomba from our registry.
Thank you, girls!

We finally set it up earlier this year, and it's set up to run on Monday mornings.

Today, we noticed that the Roomba (we haven't given it a name yet... any ideas?) wasn't in the charging dock.

Last week, it got stuck behind the couch.
Got tangled on the power cord of the electric screwdriver that was plugged into the wall.

So we look around the room... calling out "Roomba"... although it's not gonna answer.

But we couldn't find it anywhere.

Until I look under the TV stand.
And there it was... stuck.

I guess there's a piece on the Roomba that sticks out & it doesn't fit under the TV stand. Although it was able to get under w/ the piece to get stuck down there...

Well, it needs time to learn the area.
Although we're planning to move it upstairs, since I don't want to carry the regular vacuum cleaner upstairs.

じゅるる (who reads manuals) said the Roomba can talk too.
In multiple languages.
But we haven't figured it out yet.

More Roomba adventures to come...?