Ack #20!

Ack! I just realized that I missed NaBloPoMo #20! Well, I worked until 5:45pm, picked up Maiya, sat in traffic and got home at 7:20 pm, got on the computer, ate dinner, had a phone conference call meeting for a group project in my class from 8:30 till 10pm, then fell asleep on the couch watching ER.

Soooo, I'm backdating this post to 11/20. Not that anyone noticed. Or cares. Why we give ourselves these pressures to do certain things that don't really matter, is just beyond me.

And just for the heck of it, here's a classic photo that I love from October 2006 when it was all about the monkeys.

Rockett & Zoe @ Naya's (#19)

We had fun at Zoe & Rockett's Bday a few weeks ago at Naya's Garden, a very cool, independent indoor play place in Silverlake. Lots of cute kiddies, and great food. It was nice to see a lot of friends from work and their kiddies, as well as people like Sona and her parents J & J, who we haven't seen in ages.

Zoe (2) & Rockett (3)Can you just feel the fun?

Oh, got to run. Maiya's waking up from a late nap. She fell asleep on the table eating string cheese and green olive bread at 5:30 tonight.

Reminiscing with Ladan E. (#18)

Maiya and I met Ladan for dinner tonight at Zip Fusion Sushi. What a trip to see a good friend from 26, yes my young friends, 26 years ago. And no, we weren't childhood friends, we actually met back in 1982, our first days in college. Ladan and Takae lived across the hall from me and my roommate Maura. We had a lot of fun in those days, hanging out, studying together, eating bad dorm food, dancing to new wave and punk music, shopping at Express, going to Penguin's for frozen yogurt, Tommies for chiliburgers, and really, growing up together. Then 2 years in the dorms, we lived in the same apartment building for awhile.

We figured out that it has been 21 years since we've seen each other, many moons ago. It's so hard where to start when you haven't seen someone in that long. It's like, "Ok, so fill me in on the last TWO decades of your life!" and "Oh! I ran into so and so, oh gosh I guess it was like 10 years ago." It's also interesting to be having a grown up conversation with someone who remembers you as a naive 17 year old. But it was easy to pick up almost where we left off and joke around. Neither of us is the same person we were back then, a lot of water has passed under the bridge, but yet the essence of who we are deep down inside never really changes, does it?

Note to Ladan: It was so awesome to see you. Let's not wait another 20 years before we get together again. When I got home, I pulled out an old photo album that is falling apart, and found 3 photos of us. I'll try to scan them and get them to you. The 2nd photo of you above, was taken by Maiya. Jenni :)

Joy Brings Joy (#17)

On Saturday, we went to Baby Joy's Red Egg & Ginger/1st Birthday Party in Gardena. I found myself overcome with emotion as new parents Jenn & Bill described how Joy came into their life, all the way from China, and how she got her beautiful name. It was so wonderful to see how this sweet little girl has captured their hearts and enriched their lives in the few months she has been in their lives. Also at the party were two more little girls, who were adopted from China at the same time as Joy.

Maiya sharing cake with new friend Genevieve (Giselle and Dean's little girl)

Trying to take a family photo, although Maiya was not so into it. The smoke and ash from the fires was making it hard to breathe outside, but it made for interesting colors in the sky.

Walking...to end Homelessness (#16)

Yesterday, me and Maiya joined about 13 people from Team LTSC for the United Way HomeWalk 5K - raising funds and awareness to help end homelessness. It was a hot, beautiful, clear Saturday morning, almost to 90 degrees in November, so I was a-sweatin'. Luckily the walk was in the morning because by afternoon the ashes, smoke and heat from the Southern California fires filled the sky and made the air quality really bad. Three of these photos, the nice quality ones (below) are from Mickie O's FB pages, and are awesome.

This is my favorite picture by Mickie. I was so happy to find and bring our old stroller. Maiya only ended up walking about 2 blocks, which made things much easier for me. I didn't have to carry her or deal with any major crankiness.

Me & Noelle before the walk started

This was a cool mural. Everyone was stopping to take photos.

My best friend Maria from elementary school/high school and roommate (87-90) with her daughter Hope. I called her from my cell phone to find that we were walking only a few feet away from each other.

After the walk, Maiya and Kaylene started to run and scream and laugh. Instant friends.

Team LTSC

After the walk, we had to hit the road quick, because I needed to go to Costco Tire Center, then it was a quick shower and off to Baby Joy's Red Egg & Ginger Party. Maiya and I raised about $145 $205 to add to our team's fundraising goal. Big thanks go to Granny Franny & Grandpa Don, Grandma Machi & Grandpa Walt, Uncle Bill, Beth & Brian, Letty & Paul, Lily, Tony O and Yana. We appreciate all the support!

Dear Barack (#15)

President-Elect Obama (now that has a nice ring to it) is hard at work getting this country back on track, but he’s counting on input from all of us. I just signed a congratulations card to Barack Obama from MomsRising - Breadmakers and Breadwinners.

I also wrote in to share my vision for where President-Elect Obama should lead the country. Here's a note and the photo that I sent to Barack Obama tonight. It's not real eloquent, but it is from the heart and from the top of my head.

Dear Barack Obama:

Congratulations! Continue with the ideas that together we can help to change social policies for families. End the War in Iraq and find ways to help save the planet. Continue to listen to women and families. It's not just the middle class, but low-income families in our cities and rural areas around the country that need a change, to survive and thrive. Also, I'm sure you know about Prop. 8. in California. We need your help to repeal Prop.8 for marriage equality. Best wishes to you and your beautiful family in your new job!

Jenni

Now here's your chance to give your input, from the bottom up: http://www.change.gov/yourvision

Coming Soon on NaBloPoMo #16-#30: Joy's Red Egg & Ginger party and HomeWalk 5K for Homeless from earlier today. Still on the back blogger: Zoe & Rockett's Bday, Kyle's Bday, Granny Franny & Zeyde Don's visit... and more.

Rx for Time (#14)

Earlier this year, I went to a conference of Calif. Child Development Administrators. Dr. Richard Swenson gave a fantastic luncheon keynote on "A Special Moment in History: Managing Time, Stress and Health in an Unprecedented Era." Here's a prescription from Dr. Swenson... Rx for Time:

1. Be intentional.
2. Beware of excessive speed and multi-tasking as solutions.
3. Say "no" to non-priorities.
4. Tame technology.
5. Periodically disconnect.
6. Turn off the tv.
7. Simplify, unclutter.
8. Prioritize, get less done, but the right things.
9. Prune activity branches.

Anyways, it's good, solid advice. I'll start after this weekend, right after I finish reading Chapter 11 & 12 and do 2 homework assignments by Monday, work on a group project, do a 5K with Maiya, a Red Egg & Ginger Bday party, try to help our friends move, get new tires for the car (Tony), do laundry, dishes, check FB, try to see Dan Kwong's show at LATC, Great Leap in Leaps of Faith, go to the Farmer's Market, go to the gym, pay the bills, check out some open houses, NaBloPoMo some mo, and breath deep. Someday.

More Bento Mama - Part 2 (#13)

Don't know if you've been waiting for Part 2, but here is more of Maiya's bento lunches, from July to October.
This is Maiya's daily Breakfast Bag (made of CapriSun juice bags), with Trader O's, soy milk, and berries. Yes, she has breakfast in the car most mornings.
Pasta with red sauce and olives, blackberries, raspberries, blueberries and homegrown strawberries
PB&J flower sandwich with frozen corn, cranberries and wasabi covered peanuts and fuji apples
Blueberry/carrot/corn muffin, edamame, applesauce, strawberries
Bunny & Flower onigiri rice with edamame, carrots, frozen raspberries and blueberries
Pasta casserole with blueberries, kiwis and mixed berries
PB&J waffle sandwich, blueberries, raspberries, strawberries and peach slices

13 of 30...

To a Lady Who's... (#12)

Here's a poem that Tony found the other night mixed in with some paperwork. He wrote it 8 years ago, back when I was working at Great Leap, and working crazy hours, 10-12-14, even up to 17 hours a day during crunch time in August when practically all arts grants are due.

And even though today I am balancing work, marriage, raising a 3 year old, enrolled in a very time-consuming class, trying to work out regularly, keep the house together, still active in the community, on the Board of two organizations, house hunting, and now adding kiddie birthday parties and family get togethers more frequently these days, I have to say, life is pretty good, fairly balanced. Busy, but more focused (most of the time), and not nearly as stressful as it was 8 years ago, when it was all about work and community. What I love about the poem is the empathy in Tony's supportive words, back then. And even tonight, as he made dinner, gave Maiya a bath and put her to sleep with stories and books, while I finished my homework (due at 11pm tonight). Love to Tony who's... my best friend.

To A Lady Who's...
for Jenni
from Tony
on August 16, 2000

To a lady who's been working hard. Very hard.
To a lady who's been doing without sleep. Not much.
To a lady who's been under pressure. Lots.
To a lady who's been burning the midnight oil. To the last drop.
To a lady who's been pulling out her hair. Except the gray ones.
To a lady who's under-funded and over-budget. But who you can still count on.
To a lady who's eating fast food. On the run.
To a lady who's finally home. Safe.
To a lady who's in need of a hug. Maybe two.
To a lady who's... all mine.

Weird science (#11)

Not too long ago, I was googling things you can grow from seeds in your kitchen as developmentally appropriate science experiments for young children. I thought, hmm, someday when I have more time. Anyways, happy to be off for Veteran's Day, after making chocolate pancakes with free-trade cocoa and Halloween candy for breakfast this morning, I was putting away the dishes from the dish drain that Tony had washed on my birthday 9 days ago (I had asked Tony for a clean kitchen for my birthday). And no, that's not how long it's been since I've washed dishes, but we've been eating out or at Uncle Bill's a lot lately and it's been that long since I've put all the clean dishes away, just grabbing them off the top of our very deep sink.

La la la la la, hmm? What's this? Why it looks like something's growing in my dish drain! I looked closer, and saw in the drain, a 2-week old damp pumpkin seed with a little green shoot growing in our sink. I tried to pull it up, but it was stuck. I grabbed the camera and yelled for Tony and Maiya to come see the science experiment.

Yes, 6" tall pumpkin shootsWith the roots growing through the drainer, it was 15 " tall

So I did put it in a cup on the sink in the window, just like those science experiments from the internet. I also did wash all the dishes from breakfast, and they are sitting in the dish drain waiting to be put away. If anything comes of it, I'll let you know.

NaBloPoMo #11.

Pampering J.K. (#10)

I like to pamper myself once or twice a year. Today, on my day off, I took Maiya to preschool and then went to the gym and read the chapter for my assignment due today. Then, I went and got gas, spent less than $50 (yay!), then went and got a haircut. I told her, "Just cut it all off. Really short." Of course, she kind of freaked out, and was hesitant, but I said, "I'm not real tied to my hair, so just cut it so it can be wash and wear." So she did. Then I was walking to go to get a slice of pizza then I noticed (for the first time) that the place next door was a nail salon. I must have passed it 50 times before. So I walked in, and got a supreme pedicure, with hot stone massage and massage chair. It's the most elaborate pedi of the 4-5 times in my life I've gotten one. Then I went and got my pizza slice, then went over to Jamba Juice and got a yogurt/fruit/granola thing with a gift card.

Next, I'm heading over to pick up Larry from dialysis, then I have to do some homework that's due tonight for my class. That's it. That's my day off. And the nice thing is, that I actually got to take my day off this week, and that I'm also off tomorrow for Veteran's Day. Not only that, but it will be Erin's Bday and my not so little brother Darin's 40th Bday.

5K for Homeless Families (#9)

Maiya at the LA Marathon 5K in March 2008

Every night in LA County, over 73,000 men, women and children are poor and homeless.

That is why me, Maiya and 15 of my co-workers are walking in United Way’s 5K called HomeWalk this coming Saturday, November 15th to raise money for homeless families. Please help us end homelessness by making a donation to HomeWalk through Maiya's Homewalk webpage and help us in our efforts to support the United Way of Greater Los Angeles.

Thanks to Uncle Bill, Granny Franny & Grandpa Don, Grandma Machi & Grandpa Walt and Tony for their donations.

NaBloPoMo, 9 down, 21 days to go.

Day @ Magic Mountain (#8)

Auntie Keiko took me & Maiya to Magic Mountain today. It was Auntie's first time in 35 years, my first time in 15 years, and Maiya's first time ever. We pretty much spent the whole day in Bugs Bunny World, going on all the kiddie rides. It was fun, but tiring with a lot of walking, minus a little meltdown Maiya had in Gotham City after lunch. The low point was me thinking that I lost my wallet and waiting 25 minutes in line at Guest Relations, but luckily I called Tony at work, and he confirmed that I had just left it at home.

Auntie Keiko's favorite, Tweety Bird

Riding the Carousel togetherThomas Train roller coaster (first time)Animal farm goats, sheep and a pig

We're home now and I'm pretty exhausted. But, I'm taking an online class in Early Childhood Education, and I have an exam that I have to do tonight. Yes, on Saturday night.

Halloween @ Home (#7)

Halloween 08: Left work a little early and rushed to get home before dark, but missed the office Halloween party for our After-School program. I didn't want kids to have to manuever our small front porch, so Maiya, Tony and I passed out candy from the porch. Not many kids came this year compared to the last few years. Kids were passing our house because all the houses around us were decorated and across the street from us is a house under construction, so it was dark across the street.

Because Maiya got so much (non-candy) loot at preschool, we only went to about 5 houses on our block, went to the next block to visit Maiya's new friend Mikayla, hung out there for about 15 minutes, then went to maybe another 5-6 more houses on the next block and then came home and went across the street to our neighbor's house to visit their totally decked out yard.

That was about it. Auntie Lily came over, passed out candy while I laid on the floor, exhausted. Then we went and got Islands takeout for dinner. The next day I went to the drugstore to buy some 50% off Halloween lights and decorations so that next year people know we are open for business. Cause ya know I don't need all that leftover candy.

It's not over (#6)

Sometime yesterday, someone started a Petition to Reopen Proposition 8. When I signed it at 5pm tonight, I was the 164,800th person to sign it. I just checked it, and it is already at 225,400. Protesters against the proposition are taking it to the streets. It will go back to the courts. Regardless, women will love women, and men will love men, and they have the right to marry who they love. How something so simple and lovely got so twisted is just beyond me.

Sweet victory, bitter disappointment (#5)

Image and t-shirt design: Mike Murase

Never have I felt so emotional on election night... we have a new president! So happy for Barack Obama, his beautiful family, and all the people who believe in the message of hope and change. He sure has his work cut out for him after 8 years of Bush's failed administration, years of lies, arrogance and deceptions. But I have hope that Obama will provide leadership and good policies for the next 4 years. I hope that he can end the war in Iraq, and push through some of his ideas.

There has been a lot of talk about the first African American president and people's amazement at "never thought I'd see the day" is really touching. But I also like to think of my new president as a Hapa dude from Hawai'i who grew up eating Botan rice candy and has an Asian American sister named Maya! They never say that in the media, why not? :)

But, the night was also tinged with bitter disappointment in 52% of Californians who voted for Prop (H)8. It is completely inconceivable to me that people would vote to eliminate rights to people to marry, would vote to discriminate against gays and lesbians, would vote to invalidate the union of over 10,000 couples in California since May 2008. We're talking about people's right to get legally married to the people they love. I think even Jesus would have been for marriage equality. I would love to hear from people who voted yes, because I just don't understand it.

Halloween Preschool-Style (NBPM#4)

Maiya's preschool celebrated Halloween with a practice run. First they had their pictures taken by a professional photographer. Then, they took their homemade grocery bags trick-or-treating at the temple offices upstairs and then went door-to-door at the classrooms, knocking on something like 17 doors, with parents waiting inside to hand out non-candy treats and goodies. Afterwards, they ran around in the gym like crazy for like half an hour.

Maiya had a great time. She was confidently walking up to the doors, knocking and loudly saying "trick-or-treat" which is much different from me as a shy child, hovering in the back of the group. I'm also always a little wary about the number of fairies and princesses among the girls and am always happy to see other costumes for girls that are not too "girlish." I know that many want to be princesses at this age in particular, but I know it is because that's what the corporate media, Disney, stores, commercialism and parents, perpetuating and feeding into that whole thing. We had an all black witch costume, but I felt a little nervous that Maiya would feel left out if she wasn't a princess, but she was totally cool with it, and just so excited that it was Halloween.

The other thing as a parent that bothers me about Halloween is the amount of processed foods that fall under "non-candy" snacks, rice krispy treats, chocolate covered pretzels, cookies, chips, sweetened "fruit" nuggets that advertise as healthy (that one is hard to swallow). Since we don't buy these types of things, I don't like to have them in the house. If I'm going to give her a packet of processed snacks, I try to take it out of the wrapper and divvy it up into 2 or 3 servings, so she doesn't get too attached to the corporate logos and such. The other night she wanted a fruit rollup, so I gave her a plate of real fruit first, before she could eat it, and she did.

Next up: Halloween in the neighborhood.

P.S. I know you voted today, right?

Vote tomorrow (#3)

Jenni & Maiya say, "Vote 4 Obama!"

Yesterday was a fun day. We went for cousin Kyle's 6th Bday party at Pump It Up. Maiya had a great time. I gorged on pizza and felt it the rest of the day. Afterwards we went to my mom's house to celebrate me & my brother Darin's bday (40th!) - hopefully someone will share photos since my camera battery was not charged. Maiya had a tantrum of epic proportions that started at my mom's and finished at home. Remind me not to interrupt a nap after going to a party place again. Anyways, it ended with a little laughter and a lot of cuddling. Tomorrow the birthday continues with the Korean Spa with Laura and dinner and shopping with Lily. Well, folks I got lots of backblogging to catch up for NaBloPoMo, so stay tuned after the election.

My Birthday Wish (#2)

Man, I keep thinking that I'm 40, but really as of today, I am 44 years old, born in the same year as Michelle Obama and Sarah Palin. I told Maiya the other day, "You know how you're almost 4? Well I'm almost 44!" She said, "Oh, wow." I still feel 30 and some might say that I look it, although less and less, as I see more and more gray hairs every day. I'm not the skinny mini of my college days, and I seem to injure myself at the gym with some regularity. Anyways, happy 44th to me. You know what I want for my birthday, don't you?

No on 8. Donations to Great Leap. Vote for Barack Obama in 2 days. Not asking for a lot, but asking for everything.



NaBloPoMo#2.

Yes We Carve (NaBloPoMo#1)

Check out the Yes We Carve website. People are posting their Barack-O-Lanterns right and left.

Credit: Amber Koenig-Dehn of Santa Cruz, CA

Oh, and I decided I don't have enough things to stress me out in life and I really needed some more things for my To Do List, so I decided to do NaBloPoMo08 again this year, which means that I will be blog posting every day this November for National Blog Posting Month. I must be nucking futs.