Posts made in January, 2009

Lunar New Year

Posted by Michelle on Jan 28, 2009 in Life | 2 comments

Lunar New Year started on Monday Growing up Filipino, my family didn’t celebrate the Lunar New Year. All I remember is that I was always a little jealous of the Chinese and Vietnamese kids who got money for New Year. I mean, they didn’t have just Santa to gift them — they got money from ALL their relatives. How cool was that?

Though The Hubster ™ is Vietnamese, we don’t formally celebrate the Lunar New Year though we have “accidentally” celebrated it. How do you accidentally celebrate it, you ask? It involves deciding, “Oh hey, a bowl of pho would be great!”, driving down to favorite pho restaurant to get stuck in the traffic jam from hell, only to realize that it was the Lunar New Year eve. I somehow managed to do that TWICE while we were living in San Jose. I definitely had some fun watching people set off fire crackers at the Lion Center and got a taste for the Lunar New Year treats.

Since then, Lunar New Year has become a time for me to grab some lotus candies and banh chung from a Vietnamese deli. Not a formal celebration to be sure but still a tradition tha I liked to keep. While living in San Jose and later, the East Bay, this wasn’t a problem because there were always either a Vietnamese deli within a short drive or a well stocked Asian supermarket. I went looking for our required lotus candies and banh chung at the local Asian supermarket this weekend. To say I was massively disappointed would be an understatement. There isn’t a large Chinese or Vietnamese population in this particular area — East Contra Costa County is considered to be more the Delta than the Bay Area — so this wasn’t surprising.

I’d like TLE to learn more about her heritage and be able to participate in both Filipino and Vietnamese traditions. Seeing as I’ve already indoctrinated the poor thing into being Filipino by doing the whole baptism + big ass Filipino party, it is only fair that she get to explore her Vietnamese side as well. The Hubster ™ and I have decided that next year, we will make more of an effort to celebrate Lunar New Year though honestly it wasn’t for a lack of trying this year. We’re just in the wrong city

On time alone

Posted by Michelle on Jan 27, 2009 in Life, Parenting | 0 comments

On a local parenting mailing list, a mom asked everyone how much free time other parents get. Since becoming a stay at home mom, I’ve had maybe an hour of “free time” to myself, without The Little Empress. And that “free time” was spent doing interviews for the  paper that I contract with so I don’t really count that as free time.

And while I will have moments of weakness — usually after a bad day when TLE has bitten me incessantly or been unreasonably cranky for some reason — I don’t regret being at TLE’s beck and call while she’s little. As I’ve said here before, the days are long but the years are so short. TLE is our “one and done”; we don’t plan on having any more children so every precious moment we have together is a moment well spent. Being a stay at home mom, I’ve come dangerously close to taking these moments for granted. Day after day, day in and day out, “just” taking care of The Little Empress…. and yet, when I take a moment to step back, I feel so blessed to have witnessed so much of her life. Every day, she learns or tries something new. She changes day to day and I am here to see all of it. And I can’t ask for anything more, even time alone.

The house of sick

Posted by Michelle on Jan 26, 2009 in Life | 4 comments

Ah, it was bound to happen. Despite being fully vaccinated and breastfed, The Little Empress has fallen ill with some sort of virus. Unfettered by whatever virus she has caught, TLE has gone about her business, ever the intrepid explorer. The only clue we had to the fact that she was sick was that she was just a little more irritable than usual and her poop was… well, not as it should be. And has been, well, not as it should have been for about four days now, joined by slight sniffles and sneezing. A few sneezes haven’t slowed her down one bit, though. She’s still crawling all over the place, climbing over things and is intent on learning to walk, darnit. A little cold will NOT stop this child! She laughs in the face of fevers and colds. She also would like it to be known that she haaaaaaates that suctioning bulb and would much rather blow snot bubbles all night.

Since her poopie issues have continued, off we went to the doctor who said she had a cold and a bacterial ear infection from the congestion. Great. That went a long way to explaining why she was so sensitive to being laid down to sleep and would wake up screaming. Luckily, wrapping her would lull her to a comfortable sleep… though it has meant that I’ve been spending at least part of the night either rocking her in her wrap… or sleeping upright with TLE in the wrap.

Did I mention I’m sick too? Ugh. I have a pretty I am so exhausted right now. Despite having the sickies, TLE isn’t sleeping any more than she usually does which means that I’m SOL for getting more rest myself. I bought some DayQuil but remembered to call my doctor to see if it was okay to take. It’s not. So here I am, sniffling, congested and pretty miserable, hoping that my coughing doesn’t wake TLE. Ughx2.  Now I know that I am too much of a wimp to take care of TLE and be sick at the same time.

How does your garden grow?

Posted by Michelle on Jan 26, 2009 in food, Life | 4 comments

When we were looking for houses last spring, one of the “must haves” on our list was a backyard big enough for Miyuki and a decent food garden. We moved in mid-summer so planting wasn’t an option but now that spring is around the corner, I’ve been giving some thought on how to approach this.

For one, I know jack about gardening. My dad had a vegetable garden for a bit during my childhood and I don’t remember much about it other than a bumper crop of tomatoes. So I really have no idea where to start. Secondly, our back lot was cleared over the summer but since then, lots of wild grass and weeds have grown in everywhere. Our back yard is huge but unfinished and I want to get it decent looking and safe for TLE to play in once she’s a toddler. I was so excited about the idea of a food garden but now the idea is daunting.

Still, I’m determined to have one but am hoping not to over extend myself and fail at this experiment. I’m hoping to have an herb garden with two types of basil (Italian and Thai), red perilla, mint, shungiku (chrysanthemum greens) and mizuna. These are all herbs that we eat on a regular basis and I’d much rather walk outside to get them than to go across town to pick up some sad looking greens from the market. I’m also planning on planting some cherry tomatoes. I love heirlooms but I don’t know if my gardening n00blet self should be trusted with such produce. Another green that I’m hoping to raise is wild betel leaves or la lot. Because, yes, I love that beef wrapped in la lot leaves dish so much. It’s not an easy herb to find and I’ve only ever seen it in ONE supermarket in the San Jose area so it will be interesting to see if I can even find seeds at all much less start them and raise them to maturity.

My dad offered to buy (and plant) some fruit trees as well. I know that I want a Meyer lemon tree. For one, they’re small and grow well in pots so I don’t have to worry about transferring. Plus I love the idea of having that sweet lemon as lemonade during the summer and making Meyer lemon curd and bread and…. oooh the possibilities. Mmm, nummy. I’ll probably also ask my dad if he can buy me a rainier cherry tree and a peach tree. I love cherries and peaches and they have such pretty blossoms.

Hopefully I’ll be able to do this. I need to read up and ask local nurseries if some of the greens I’d like are even possible!

MIA

Posted by Michelle on Jan 25, 2009 in Life, Parenting | 2 comments

Ah, so much for keeping to schedules. The last few weeks haven’t been the greatest when it comes to work-life balance. Got gobsmacked by some personal stuff and as a result, got a bit over my head with work. Not good considering it is just January. I took a week “off” (ie. not taking or looking for any assignments) from writing to get my head screwed on.

I have to admit that during this week “off”, I didn’t do much of anything, including writing for fun. I’m sort of kicking myself for this now because I feel like I’ve wasted time that I could have used to do something, well, useful. I’m sure that I did more than “just” take care of The Little Empress, something that I’ve discovered is becoming more challenging. TLE fits the classic definition of being “high needs” and I confess that it has been leaving me drained both mentally and physically  By the end of the day, I am just plain exhausted by trying to keep up with her.

I’m hoping to get back into a better frame of mind this week, get some more stuff done without feeling like I’ve been beat down. *sigh* Here’s to trying.