By Julie

Today I read about this violent hate crime against an Asian guy in nearby San Dimas. Kevin and I lived there for about a year before the kids were born. It was a very homogeneous place. Aside from the employees at the one single decent Chinese fast food place in town, I rarely saw another Asian face. There was a passable coffee house where we hung out along with the other college kids, but the jeering from the loud drunk faux cowboys who went line-dancing at the bar upstairs sometimes made it a less than pleasant experience. By the time Alex was born we were living elsewhere, thank goodness, and when we started house-hunting we didn't even bother looking in San Dimas. In my ideal town, no ethnic group would be in the majority, and while Walnut looks like it's headed to become yet another Asian 'burb, at least for now it's still fairly diverse.


Here's a picture of the nursery as it looks now. Kevin has installed most of the chair rail (slim piece of wood in the middle of the wall) and base moulding (wide piece of wood at the bottom of the wall). He did an amazing job. Trust me when I say the picture doesn't do it justice.

Today was going to be my last day at work before going on leave, but I called in sick. I spent most of the day lying on the sofa in a daze. I figured it was my body's way of getting me some rest before having to deal with the exhaustion of labor, which incidentally has not started yet.

Labels: home improvement, lusers, news, pregnancy, work

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By Julie

The nursery currently looks like this. No flooring yet. At my doctor's appointment yesterday, I was told it's still going to be a little while. I guess the baby is waiting for Daddy to install the flooring in her room.


Meanwhile, here are some seeds that I'm sprouting in my kitchen window: bell peppers, jalapenos, tomatoes, cantaloupe, and corn. They're all growing like crazy, especially the corn. It's as if the seeds can feel spring just outside the window. I'll need to transplant them outside very soon, just not sure where yet. There is no spot safe from Daisy in the backyard. She likes to eat plants, vomit, then lick up the vomit. I wish I were joking.

I would consider planting them in the front yard, but our nosy neighbors (the ones that steal flowers off my rose bushes) have an unhealthy interest in everything we grow in our front yard, and if they see crops growing, I suspect they'll either steal the fruits of my labor or report us to city hall.

Other than the delight of seeing my crops growing I have little reason to like spring. Right now I have a giant wad of tissues stopping up my nostrils because they won't stop bleeding, and the reason they're bleeding is because I've been taking Sudafed nonstop, and the reason I've been taking Sudafed is because I can't take Claritin, and the reason I wish I could take Claritin is because my allergies are driving me INSANE.


By the way, here's a picture of the belly. It's not a video, but it's more bare skin than I've shown in a while...


... and here's a picture of Kevin getting some fun in before the baby comes. He didn't get shot until several matches into his day, which is quite good considering this is his first time paintballing.

I'm officially out of the office as of the 24th whether or not the baby comes, and Kevin's starting paternity leave as of the 25th. Yay! That's only 9 more days for me and 10 more days for him!

Labels: allergies, games, gardening, lusers, pets, pregnancy, work

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By Julie

Nursery: 60% finished, with stripes, chair rail, and flooring left to go.

Me: +25 lbs at 37.5 weeks, with 2.5 weeks left to go.

Work: just gimme 3 uninterrupted days and I'll be able to finish everything up.

Labels: home improvement, pregnancy, work

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By Julie

Saturday Kevin, Alex, Ana, and I had a family meeting to discuss which night we were going to unplug as part of the 52 Nights Unplugged Project. The idea is no electronic entertainment -- no video games, no movies, no Internet -- one evening a week for a whole year. After much deliberation we chose Sunday, and so last night was going to be Unplugged Night #1.

Well folks, it didn't happen. What did happen was taxes. And work.

We had gotten up a little late, around 11, and after a lovely brunch Kevin settled down at the dining table with his laptop, the copy of TurboTax we bought from Costco, and the gigantic file folder that I had stuffed full of pay stubs, receipts, and anything else vaguely tax related. I sat down across from him with my laptop, intending to do just a little bit of work.

Nine hours later, Kevin was still doing the taxes, and I was still working.

Today I got some news that should change my work habits quite a bit. At the least I think it means we'll actually unplug next Sunday.

Labels: 52-nights-unplugged, memes, work

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By Julie

Kevin has owned his new car for less than 2 weeks, and it's already been washed twice, once by the dealership on the day he bought it, and once by him last weekend. Now he's outside washing it again.

I'm glad he likes his car :)

I'm at 36.5 weeks. Only 3.5 weeks to go, unless the baby decides to come early. Yesterday I had another ultrasound. We learned that she is already 6.5 or 7 lbs. From here on she'll gain half a pound every week. Also, her head is already resting down in my pelvis in the ready-to-be-born position. Good girl!

"She can come anytime," my doctor said. I'm excited. But I need her to give me at least another week to finish up stuff at work.

Today I went to a conference in the OC and ran into some friends I used to work with. They asked me how the pregnancy was going. When I told them all of the above, they were excited for me but also slightly uneasy.

"Why are you here?" They asked accusingly. "You should be home! Resting!"

"It's okay, my hospital is on the way home," I joked.

Off to start finishing up all that work I was talking about...

Labels: pregnancy, toys, work

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By Julie

Yesterday morning, on the drive to daycare...

Ana: Mommy, can you still call me Ana when I'm big?

Me: Of course, sweetie.

Ana: Can I still play Littlest Pet Shop when I'm big?

Me: You can play with Littlest Pet Shop for as long as you like.

Ana: *beams*


When I got to work, I had to write a report on what I've been doing for the past 2 months at the request of a higher up, with time estimates for each project. (It wasn't targeted at me; all of my coworkers had to do it.)

I have mixed feelings about this kind of thing. Sure, it felt good to see how much I've accomplished, but I already spend 2 hours a month writing reports with similar content, and this report just added 2 more hours to that time. I could have spent those 2 hours doing something more productive.

Today was a good day. I stayed home, supposedly to sleep in (2.5 hours), eat all day (20 min) and do nothing (0 min), but I ended up cleaning the kitchen (1.5 hours), filing paperwork (1 hour), stopping by the post office (10 min), going to the credit union (1 hour), and writing a letter to the editor (2 hours) in which I referenced Jay-Z AND Neal Stephenson. Kevin was so highly amused by the letter he ALMOST forgot to remind me about how I should have been taking it easy.

Labels: famous people, kids, toys, work

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By Julie

Friday I took the kids to the doctor for their annual checkup. Alex was lucky because he didn't have to get any shots, but Ana had to get a TB test in order to register for preschool in the fall. The doctor also offered to give her the three boosters that she'll need for kindergarten, but seeing as she was already starting to look agitated during the vision test, I figured I'd do all of us a favor and skip those shots until next year. When the nurse came in with the TB test in a gigantic syringe, Ana started crying, and having to hold her down while the nurse pricked her arm broke my heart.

Saturday passed in a haze as I worked from home. Still, it beat having to travel. Even though I was completely occupied all day, I was grateful to be able to hear the kids playing in the other room and kiss them good night.


Today, after Alex got a much needed haircut and we got some groceries, we took the kids to the store to let them pick out toys using the gift cards they got for their birthdays. While Kevin and Alex headed over to the video game section, I accompanied Ana to the toy section. I was curious to see what her interests were these days. As the younger sibling, so often she ends up playing whatever her big brother wants to play. I was very hands-off as she wandered through the aisles aimlessly, stopping once in a while to point out a toy she already had or examine one she didn't have. Finally she picked 3 toys.

Her first pick was a gorgeous wooden box with 9 games that included chess, checkers, Chinese checkers, etc. I think this toy reflects Alex's influence. He's taken chess lessons for the past 3 years and talks about them all the time. She's probably curious to see what the fuss is about.


Her second pick was a medic kit with a stethoscope, blood pressure cuff, thermometer, syringe, and bandage. I guess Friday's trip to the doctor's office was still on her mind. When we got home she had me play doctor for all of her stuffed animals. Most of them were healthy, but whenever one was sick and had to get a shot, she gave it lots of comforting.

Her third pick was a Mr. Potato Head set with three characters. It reminded her of a similar toy at daycare. She still has a ton of gift cards left, so Kevin will be taking her back to the store again in a couple of months when I'm home with the baby. I'm curious to see what she will choose then.

Labels: kids, parenting, toys, work

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By Julie

Those of you who've only been reading this page are missing out. Over on our 365 page we've been blogging everyday. Admittedly it's more record-keeping for the 365 project than anything else, but it does push us to find something to say every single day.


The sandwich shop around the corner has a condiments counter with free pickles, and I run the risk of embarassing myself everytime I go there because I always take so many. Finally I decided it would be less embarassing if I just bought myself some from the store, but when we asked the employees what brand it was, they had no idea because it gets delivered to the store in a big unlabeled jar. So Kevin's been on a quest to find me pickles that taste exactly the same. He hit pay dirt on his third try. These Bubbies kosher dills are awesome!


It's been a big week for Ana. She had her first dental checkup. The appointment went very well, and her teeth looked great. We ran into a minor problem with the fluoride treatment, which caused her to gag and throw up afterwards in the car. I'll have to mention it next time and ask if there are any alternatives.


We also celebrated Ana's 4th birthday. That morning we removed her old car seat and installed Alex's old booster seat in its place. She was excited, and so was I! Her party will be later this month. Look in the mail for your invitation :)

In other news, the battery in the minivan died, so we have to go get a replacement at some point this weekend, except Kevin is sick with a really bad cold. I've already harangued him multiple times for not wearing a jacket on the day he came down with symptoms, and Ana's been doing the same, haha.

I'd better get back to work. I brought my work laptop home this weekend and will probably clock 50+ hours this week. Sigh. At least this kind of week is becoming less frequent.

Labels: food, kids, work

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By Julie

I'm having a rough week. Somehow I managed to mess up my back. Yesterday I was in so much pain I had to take the afternoon off. After an hour of sitting on the massage chair and a good night's sleep, I've almost recovered, but there's still a huge tender spot on my back. Kevin thinks it's a pulled muscle.


Tuesday was Alex's 8th birthday. The party with family and friends isn't for another week, but we did have a cake for him to make a wish on and a present for him to open. I had to work late, so I didn't get to have dinner with the birthday boy, but I did get home in time to hear all about his day, eat cake with him, and watch his eyes light up when he opened the present.



Wednesday was Alex's first piano lesson. Kevin reported that there are four other kids in his group lessons. Also, the teacher seems to be really good at keeping the kids interested.

I'm thrilled. Music isn't supposed to be punishment, and if Alex told me tomorrow that he'd really rather not take piano lessons, I'd say fine, let's stop and find something better to do. But so far he likes it.

I asked if he'd want to play a band instrument when he hits 4th grade, and he said yes, he'd like to play the drums. (Yay for my wallet! Drumsticks and drum pads are cheap, haha!)

In other news, I'm a Second Life tard. A couple of friends and I got interviewed for an article about SL for a campus magazine, and the photographer wanted to take a picture of us with our avatars. Before we could get shooting, someone asked why my avatar had sticks for arms. I swear, I have no idea how they got that skinny. After much effort I found the setting for fattening up my arms, and in the process I managed to enlarge my hands until they looked like "man hands." By then we had to get going, so I ended up taking pictures with my avatar as is. I must be the only person in SL with an avatar that's uglier than I am in real life. How brilliant is that?

Labels: kids, music, parenting, work

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By Julie

I'm still sick, hence the grumpiness. I can't believe I'm still sick. Why the heck am I still sick???



Saturday I took Kevin to see Wicked. It was good. So good, in fact, that I felt compelled to buy my very first Broadway musical shirt, a green thermal with the words, "Green for Good" emblazoned across my ample pregnant chest. I felt slightly less grumpy.

We also celebrated Kevin's birthday with my family. My mom prepared a delicious hot pot, which didn't quite clear my sinuses. Over dinner, I grumped that my colds often turned into sinus infections, and my sis the doctor advised me to get a sinus cleansing kit. Apparently everybody else in the universe has already been told about this product by their doctors, because when we stopped at the drugstore on the way home, that section of the store was cleaned out.



Sunday Ana helped me baked birthday cookies for Kevin. Afterwards I collapsed on the couch from exhaustion, but I was slightly less grumpy.

Monday morning, after a bad night's sleep, I had to wake up at an ungodly hour to drive myself to the airport for a meeting in San Jose. During the flights there and back my ears hurt even more than usual from being sick. Also, it was REALLY COLD in San Jose. I had the foresight to wear a knit cap, gloves, and ski jacket, but my jeans didn't provide much protection. I was extra grumpy.



Tuesday I took the day off to recover from Monday, and I kept Ana home from daycare to cheer myself up. My grumpiness petered off into a mostly manageable lethargy.

Today I went back to work. I answered a bunch of emails, attended some meetings, and blew my nose a LOT. I'm grumpy again.

Now I'm going to go cleanse my sinuses. Have you ever cleansed your sinuses? It's not an attractive procedure. So unattractive, in fact, that I feel more sorry for the model in the instruction booklet that came with my sinus cleansing kit than I do for myself, because modeling the right way to cleanse one's sinuses is right up there with modeling support hose and nursing bras.

Labels: food, kids, meds, music, shopping, work

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By Julie

I'm sick. I'm exhausted, misanthropic, and full of boogers.

To-do list:
* Finish holiday shopping (50% done, due 12/25)
* Buy a tree (0% done, due yesterday)
* Review two books (0% done, due yesterday)
* Buy a toilet paper holder and door hook for our new bathroom (0% done, due whenever)
* Research answer to question from colleague (10% done, due yesterday)
* Cook veggies in fridge before they all go bad (25% done, due this weekend for mushrooms, next Wednesday for everything else)
* Review an article for a journal (0% done, due -- believe it or not -- 12/26)
* Prep for meeting on Monday (50% done, due this weekend)
* Do lit review for poster session on the off chance it actually gets accepted (10% done, due -- too close to baby time!)
* Replace carpet in study with wood floors (0% done, due whenever I guess :P)
* Write script for two videos (0.5% done, due -- would have been nice this term, but I'll settle for next term)
* Get haircuts for Alex and Kevin (0% done, due a month ago! They look like hippies!)
* Make holiday cards (0% done, due -- is it gonna happen this year???)
* Celebrate Kevin's birthday (50% done, due this weekend! :D )

Labels: food, home improvement, shopping, work

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By Julie

For homework tonight Alex had to create a personal timeline of six significant events in his life. Here are three of them (from left to right): being born, being ring bearer in my sister's wedding, and his baby sister being born.

Our backups are a mess. For about a minute I was in a panic because all our pre-2005 photos were missing. Even after I figured out which hard drive they were on, it took me forever to find the ones Alex needed for his project. Now my eyes are totally irritated. Note to self: next time, take out my contact lenses BEFORE I start helping Alex with his homework.

Yesterday when I got to work, the student assistant on the first floor had the sad duty of informing me that all the elevators were out of commission. I groaned. The evil march up six flights of stairs wouldn't have been so bad if I hadn't also woken up with a bad backache. As it were I think it just made things worse, and the pain stayed with me all day and all night, continuing until this morning, when I finally gave in and took a Tylenol. For the rest of today I was comfortably numb.

Short entry tonight. I need to get to bed to save up energy to climb up the stairs tomorrow. The elevators are scheduled to be out pretty much all day. This makes for the third outage during business hours this term. No worries, my building isn't falling apart; it's just going through a major construction/remodeling project. At least I'm only in my second trimester. If this happens again during my third trimester, I'll need to be carried up those stairs.

Labels: kids, nablopomo, work

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By Julie

My current pet peeve is people ranting about retention vs. social promotion in U.S. public schools when they don't even understand the basic underlying issues. There aren't any simple answers, and I wish people would stop acting like there are.

Other than that, I greatly enjoyed my three-day weekend. (Happy Veterans' Day!) Yesterday a couple of Kevin's friends from work came over to hang out. The one who brought his Xbox 360 is now Alex's new best friend.

Today I didn't get out of bed until 10:30. After a leisurely brunch Kevin went to paint our bedroom. I tried to be productive as well. At first I tried to concentrate on a presentation for work tomorrow but after two fruitless hours I gave up and turned my attention to the kitchen, where I spent over four hours cooking enough food to last us all week, starting with dinner tonight.

The awesome thing is both kids ate without complaining about my cooking. It put me in such a good mood that after dinner I went straight back to my presentation and finished it. Yay.

Here's what I cooked: beef and daikon soup (using the slow cooker instead of the stove), potatoes au gratin, Taiwanese sausage fried rice, and chili relleno casserole. I haven't cooked regularly for years and now I've cooked every weekend four weeks straight. Must be something in the air.

Labels: food, home improvement, nablopomo, parenting, toys, work

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By Kevin

I spent about an hour yesterday cutting a mat and framing an enlargement I had printed for my office wall. I am always on the lookout for new ways to make my work environment more pleasant. so when I read Ugly Productivity: 5 Steps to a Distraction-Free Workspace over at Zen Habits today I was horrified. The premise is that the more beautiful your office is, the less time you will spend working and the more time you will spend contemplating the beauty you've surrounded yourself with. "A gorgeous workspace with a view invites longing glances at a sun-drenched lawn, a lingering visual tour across the spines of our book collection, and excessive fiddling with the trinkets and toys co-habiting our desk." Yeah, that's got me written all over it. Sigh.

Tonight I took Alex to Boys' Night Out at his school. It's an annual fund raiser event (along with Girls' Night Out) that gives the boys an opportunity to drag their parents to school for pizza and some educational lectures/experiences. The subjects this year were robots and rockets and the room was packed. Packed beyond overflowing, beyond any hope of finding seating, and very nearly beyond their ability to feed us. The robotics experts were faculty and students from the CS program I attended at the local uni and they brought lots of fun toys. The space exploration history expert was very entertaining and kept the kids captivated as well. Through it all though, I was thinking that they got forty or fifty primary school boys to show up for an evening science symposium and wondering how the same program will play tomorrow with the girls.

Labels: art, nablopomo, parenting, work

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