Archive for January, 2008
January 28, 2008 at 6:52 pm · Filed under daily
So today being Monday and all, I was expecting to be in a really crabby mood. But, fortunately, I wasn’t. I think it has something to do with being pregnant and how much Baby Bean brings joy into my life. I was happy all day long. Nothing could bring me down — not even the case of the Monday, or even the pesky hour-long court mitigation traffic hearing I had to attend, or even the fact that our lunch restaurant wasn’t open at the time we wanted it to. I lugged Jen around with me all day long, poor girl. She’s such a good sport. Luckily she loves me so much. I don’t think I would’ve gotten away with it otherwise. Hehe.
So, funny story. I came to court really cheery. It was a mitigation hearing to explain why I got a ticket for my over-two-months-expired car tabs. I hate those things. I think they’re a big scam. So when the judge asked me if I had anything to say for myself (he was very nice), I responded with:
Yes, your honor. 2007 was a very happy year for me. I was planning a wedding, then a honeymoon, then a baby. License tabs were the last thing on my mind!
He kind of laughed, and smiled, and said, “Well, that’s the best excuse there is! I’ll reduce your fine.” Heh. As annoying as having to pay $155 for not getting my tabs updated, it’s not the end of the world. At least I’m not a high risk driver and have to have high risk life insurance or something. If that’s the biggest of my worries on a Monday, I consider myself pretty darn lucky.
January 26, 2008 at 12:11 pm · Filed under heart
The other night, I had the most awesome dream. I dreamt that we were re-living our wedding day, except it was different (as all dreams make reality events different). Dave and I were getting married all over again, as if it was our first time (haha). This time, my grandfather was there. My paternal grandfather passed away when I was in graduate school, back in 2004. I was about 5 hours too late saying goodbye to him personally. We were on the flight to California when he passed away in the hospital. He tried to hold on as long as he could, to say goodbye to his youngest son (my father) and his kids (us). Unfortunately, the cancer ate him up quicker than any of us realized. The doctors had given him two months to live. He barely made it 3 weeks. I’ve been grieving on and off since then. Every so often I still find myself thinking, “I’m going to call Grampa to tell him the good news!!” And as I look for my phone, I realize that Grampa was gone. I never really got to say goodbye, or thank you, or tell him that I hoped he was proud of me, or that I was proud of him. Sometimes, I feel like my goodbye was prematurely taken away from me. All my other cousins were able to say goodbye because they lived in California, close to him.
So in my dream the other night, Grampa attended our wedding. There was a specific moment in that dream where it was just me and Grampa, standing in the middle of this beautiful, dream-like field of gold and green, with the wind softly blowing, me in my wedding dress, him in a handsome suit. He was smiling at me, and he looked as healthy as I last remembered seeing him. I faced him, and I said to him, “Grampa, I love you so much. Thank you for all those wonderful food you made me while I was in university. Thanks for caring for me and babysitting for us when we were younger. Thank you for being kind, and thank you for being my grandfather. You’re an awesome grampa and I’m proud to have you in my life. I love you very very much, Grampa.” He smiled at me and in his shy way, said, “Oh you’re just being silly! Let’s go eat!”
We walked away together, to meet with the rest of the wedding guests, and I remember the rest of the dream looking like photographic snapshots. Us posing for the camera. Dave and me walking hand in hand. Grampa in front of us. My father in his suit walking away. Snapshot after snapshot of a happy family, getting together for a happy event.
I woke up with this incredibly satisfying feeling in my heart, and I thought, “I finally said goodbye, Grampa. Goodbye.”
January 24, 2008 at 7:33 pm · Filed under daily, interests
Boy I’ve neglected this site for a couple days, haven’t I? Not much new to report, just little stuff here and there. Last weekend was really busy, and I got a lot of things done. Jen R. came over on Saturday for a little visit, and then on Sunday, Candice came over. That was really cool. We played the Wii for the first time ever (she brought her console over). We’re now addicted and we have sworn to get one for ourselves here. 
Bowling and tennis are the most fun, but so was Super Mario Party. That was a load of fun. It’s awesome being able to physically interact with the games you’re playing. That bit of physical exercise does a body good. They’ve found a way to get the video game geeks to do some exercise. I totally approve, yo.
I also did a lot of house cleaning over last weekend. We tried out the robo vac, and much to our lovely surprise, it works wonderfully. I tried cleaning out some of the closets in the hallway, but they were so full of tools and other crap that I got discouraged. I ended up doing laundry and dusting instead (when I do laundry and dust, that’s when I’m really discouraged ). I think we need a tool storage shed in our next home, or something.
January 19, 2008 at 12:32 pm · Filed under daily
In case you guys haven’t noticed yet, I made a site for Baby Bean. I’ve been adding more things here and there, including a time line of events, the about page, and tummy photos page. I will be adding the tummy photos there, of course. Today will be spent so awesomely! If you have a pregnancy site, let me know so I can link you on my links page there! I love meeting kindred preggy sisters!
It’s freakin’ snowing out, yo. Like, hard. Within minutes, it was already sticking and now it looks like it’s going to be thick, thick snow. Jen R. is supposed to come over today, so I hope she drives very very very safely. Then we’re going out with Gran to have dinner, so then of course, I’ll have to drive very very very safely myself. Important cargo on board!
Hope your Saturday is well too! I can’t wait to use our new robot vacuum to vacuum the house today. Woo!
January 18, 2008 at 5:21 pm · Filed under interests
Now that we’re pregnant, I’ve been really keeping my eyes open about deals, coupons, and sales. Everything has to be cheap cheap cheap because we want to save as much money as we can for medical bills and for baby supplies. Nothing too good for our baby, but everything else seems to be too expensive when it comes to shopping for us. Weird how that mind just shifts. So finding Coupon Chief is a great thing for me. Everything from dell products to Target items, which are some of my favorite places to shop. Target has a lot of really cute baby stuff, so that should be great too.
Besides that, Valentine’s Day is coming up, along with our anniversary just two days before that. I usually go to Target to get some lovely craft supplies and make a card for Dave (I loooove making homemade cards), so Coupon Chief will be very handy indeed around this time of year.
January 17, 2008 at 10:57 pm · Filed under daily, heart
Well, seeing as how I keep bragging about how wonderful and cute and comical our lovely kitty is, now I actually have proof to show you. Over the last couple of days, we’ve taken some video footage of Tink in her glory. So check them out if you’re curious:
Here, Tink is getting a cookie from Dave, and as you can see, she is very, very vocal and talkative. She’s like that usually, but cookie time is the best, guaranteed time to see/hear this because once the camera’s on, she mutes up.
Here’s one of Tink getting her head stuck in a bag that once held my ham and cheese sandwich for lunch. She smelled the odor coming out of it, and decided to try and explore. She got her head stuck. It was so cute, we couldn’t stop laughing. Hehe.
(P.S. Know anyone who knows anything about fiber cables? I think we’ve got some hooked up here, but I’m not entirely sure.)
January 16, 2008 at 10:50 pm · Filed under meme
I finally re-did my “about” page. Go check it out. I tried something different, so let me know what you think. It took me a while to come up with something, but I kinda like it. The format is a bit boring and may have to change, but the content is pretty good.
On to the meme that Danni tagged me with! It’s the 2008 New Year’s Questions.
Here’s the rule: Remove 1 question from below, and add in your personal question, make it a total of 20 questions, then tag some people in your list, list them out at the end of this post. Notify them in their chat box that he/she has been tagged.
1. What is your favorite food?
Noodle soup. I love making my own noodle soup. It’s Asian style (I don’t eat any other styled noodles ;P).
2. Where is the place that you want to go the most?
I want to see my family again in Vietnam. Haven’t been back in about 10 years. 
3. Which part of you do you hate the most?
I don’t hate any part, but if I were to choose my least favorite part, I would probably say my teeth.
4. When you encounter a sad moment, what would you do?
Cry.
5. What are you afraid to lose the most?
My family. My friends. Those I love. Heck, even those I no longer keep in touch with. I’m terrified of losing people I’ve known and loved.
6. If you win $1 million, what would you do?
Pay back my parents, my education debt, Dave’s credit debt, buy Gran a house, and use the rest of the money to finally start my own non-profit agency to help abused children around the world (THE LUCKY FOUNDATION, I have forgotten).
7. What’s your wish for the year ahead?
A healthy Baby Bean. 
8. How did you celebrate the New Year?
I spent it with Dave, my sister, my cousins, and my sister’s boyfriend, Michael, at his house. During the day we spent the last hours with my family in NC before we got on the flight back home.
9. Till now, what is the moment that you regret the most?
Not sticking up for myself when I was younger.
10. Which type of person do you hate the most?
Snobby people who go out of their way to make others feel badly when it’s absolutely not necessary.
11. What is your ambition?
To get a PhD eventually.
12. If you had one wish what would you wish for?
A healthy Baby Bean.
13. Name one of your body part your hubby or boyfriend tells you he adores:
My boobies. He loves my boobies. Hehe.
14. What is the best gift you can give someone this year?
I can give the world Baby Bean. That will my best gift to society.
15. List two of your Top Ten New Year’s Resolutions.
a. Read more.
b. Write more.
16. What was a memorable moment in 2007?
One of them was our wedding in July. A long time coming, and it was perfect and beautiful.
17. What are the Top 2 things that you are most thankful for the year 2007 that made you even more happier for 2008?
a. Baby Bean
b. My husband
18. What was the best lesson you learned in 2007 (be specific)?
Relax, go with the flow, change the things you can and accept the things you can’t change.
19. In this very moment, are you doing what you thought you’d be doing at this stage in your life?
I’m not sure. I didn’t really have a plan for what I would do at 27. I think I got exactly what I’ve always wanted, deep down: a family who loves me.
20. What is the most shocking thing that happened to you in 2007?
Losing George.
January 15, 2008 at 7:25 pm · Filed under interests
I’m working on several different projects that I will be able to concentrate more on once I’m on maternity leave (which I am predicting to actually start around my 8th month of baby-making). Eventually, I will be re-doing a bit of mindmirror.net and making it into a project site (at least part of the site anyway) and putting in a shopping cart for people to buy various things off of me. These things will include jewelry, photography, knitted items, and drawings. I’m excited to get back to my hobbies. I haven’t had a lot of time to do this, so I have a lot of plans. I’ve made some things but I never got around to actually advertising. I want to showcase my work. AShop is the best way to allow me to do so. They have a really good shopping cart system, that’s easy to use and dependable. I can’t wait to get started!
January 13, 2008 at 10:00 am · Filed under daily
Last night was our lovely family birthday dinner for one of Dave’s brother, and I must say, I absolutely love these family get-togethers. They’re so unstressful and they’re so full of family fun and connectedness. I enjoy seeing the whole family in one place, and I enjoy connecting with the kids. Jaeden was just absolutely adorable, playing with his puzzles and so polite when he wants something. I am so in love with that little man! Some of the menfolk were downstairs watching a football game (especially since the entertainment unit was recently connected with an HDMI cable) while the womenfolk were upstairs talking and laughing and such. Though, of course, there were lots of going in between, and we had a good mix for the most part. Everyone wanted to see my growing belly bulge, and everyone was impressed that I was already showing, though not as much as I’d like. Hehe.
Today I have one personal appointment and then I will be working on some more paperwork for work. I ended up not touching any yesterday due to a lot of cleaning and then resting cuz I was so tired. I think within the next month we’re going to start fixing up the baby’s room — or at least get it prepared to be renovated. Exciting!!
January 13, 2008 at 9:53 am · Filed under interests
I know a lot of people in construction. My father was a construction worker when I was growing up, and I remember sometimes going to the job site and watching him work — putting in windows, building doors, setting up walls for extra bedrooms. I was always so fascinated that something beautiful can be created out of nothing — or practically nothing. When I was 10, I was very interested in apprenticeships and how I can become my father’s apprenticeship. I thought it would be so neat being on the job site, big and strong. Heh. Well, now if I ever wanted to pursue that brief childhood dream of mine, I can at least get some training information from cskills.org on construction work. I have a lot of respect for people in that field: they have to know what they’re doing, but they’re also doing something that is pretty high risk and unsafe. All to build homes for people to live in, and businesses for people to work in.
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