By Julie

I've been home for over two months and blogging less than ever, not that there's nothing to blog about but because blogging was in part stress relief for me, and right now even with all the work-related projects I'm trying to finish over the summer I have little to be stressed about. Plus I've been doing a lot of introspection, which by its very nature is more intimate dinner conversation and less "Hello Internet!"

Maybe that's why I don't get Twitter right now. On the other hand, I've been trying to get Twitter ever since Evan Williams announced his new venture and opened it up to beta testers. I immediately grasped the conversational aspect of the party badge, which displays tweets from you and all your friends - and which I used to document conversations between me and the kids for public amusement - and I loved the update-via-IM feature. But both the party badge and IM updates have been broken for a long time now, and I have no desire to share my cell phone number with Twitter in order to update via SMS. I have updated a couple of times via the Pageflakes Twitter plug-in, but those tweets were never conversational. They were more like mini blog entries in that they linked to whatever I found amusing on the Internet at that moment.

One thing I do know is that the 21st century man of mystery does NOT use Twitter. Imagine James Bond broadcasting his martini preferences to the world... hahaha, so not happening. Even more damning is the fact that everybody I know in real life who uses Twitter has locked up their account. Nobody needs that much transparency.

With all three kids home with me for the summer, simple things like feeding and grooming can easily take up much of the day. I consider myself having gone beyond the call of duty if I manage to get the lunch dishes into the dishwasher before Kevin gets home in the evening. On top of that I've been giving Alex and Ana Chinese homework everyday. So far they've learned numbers (一, 二, 三 ... 十, etc.) and family members (爸爸, 妈妈, 哥哥, 姐姐, etc.) as well as have/don't have and do you have (有没有弟弟? 没有! 有没有妹妹? 有!).

Kevin has been busy too. When he isn't at work, he's going to the store for groceries or doing chores around the house. On weekends he takes Alex to karate and both Alex and Ana to swim at Grandma's house. He's also in charge of taking Alex to percussion lessons. It's just for the summer, a break from piano and possibly early preparation for 4th grade band.

In between all that I've found time to make the most of our Netflix subscription:

Labels: chinese, memes, movies, parenting

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By Julie

1. Thursday I watched a live webcast of J. K. Rowling at Harvard's commencement. Her speech was so good that when Kevin got home I made him listen to the archived recording with me. He thought Rowling would make a good motivational speaker. I agree.

2. This week I signed up for the drink pouch recycling program at TerraCycle. I designated Alex's school as the beneficiary of the 2 cents per pouch that my efforts will net.

3. Prior to Angie's arrival my only me time consisted of half hour soaks in the jacuzzi tub 2 or 3 times a week - not that I'm complaining, it really was all the me time I needed. But lately I haven't even had that because Angie refuses to be held by anyone else for more than 5 minutes at a time before she starts crying. I miss my soaks. It's not something I can outsource.

4. Legally Blonde: The Musical is looking for their next Elle Woods! Can't wait to watch this show on stage next August at the Pantages.

5. According to this doggy daycare employee, about half of all dogs eat their own poo. Good to know Daisy isn't such a freak after all. Now, if only she weren't incontinent.

6. My 6 week postpartum checkup went well. I'm still carrying 10 extra pounds, but at least my clothes are starting to fit again. I've started exercising to help speed up the process, mainly sit ups and push ups. Here are some desk friendly exercises that I plan to do when I go back to work in September.

7. These awesome travel tips make it seem like anyone can travel with small children. Even so, I don't plan on going anywhere until Angie is a year old.

Labels: books, environment, movies, music, parenting, pets, pregnancy, travel

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By Julie

Monday was a very special day. My sister gave birth to a beautiful baby girl, Bethany Noelle! Mother and daughter are doing well.

It's been a veritable baby boom in our circle. Not only do I have a new niece, but in the last few months FIVE of my cousins have also had babies. Among our friends there are two new babies plus two more on the way. Wowie!


In other news, we finally hired a gardener. Not finally as in we finally gave into peer pressure but finally as in we finally found one willing to take our business. After a year of dead end inquiries and referrals, I finally found someone by calling a number in a mailer. During their first visit we watched surreptitiously through the window as they surveyed our front yard and laughed at its awful state, but after two visits the yard already looks worlds better. Hooray!

For the back yard we've got different plans. I've successfully sprouted seeds for a bunch of fruits and vegetables, the majority of which have already been moved into pots, but eventually they'll all need to be planted in the ground somewhere back there. I also gave up on the old batch of sunflower seeds that refused to grow and sprouted a new batch that's doing very well, but instead of planting them in the back I think I will eventually plant them in the front, but maybe wait until they look a little less weed-like to avoid confusing the gardeners.

Kevin convinced me to sign up for Netflix so that I don't end up working all through my leave. Here's the first batch of movies I watched:



By the way, did you know yogurt containers are not recyclable? I looked it up a while back and was shocked to learn type 5 plastics are not easily recyclable. This means you can't just dump it in your curbside bin. This recent Slate article explains it pretty well. Update: It turns out our trash disposal company will take all type 1 through 5 plastics in curbside recycling! Yay! Check with your local trash disposal service and maybe you'll get some good news too!

Labels: environment, gardening, kids, movies

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