Milestones

Tonight is the first night that Janelle gets to sleep on her own (Jing had been accompanying her until she fell asleep). She was actually crying (just a little bit). She just wanted to hug and didn't want to let go. I felt really sorry but she's six now.

Jed came to help with consoling her, making her laugh with his antics. They probably helped, even just a bit. In the end, she finally agreed but with the condition that her door be open (not fully though). I thought it was a reasonable request. It's a good start. She's likely asleep now as I type this.

Earlier today, she started using the shower (she had been using the tabo and with someone's assistance) with Jing guiding her. Again, a good start.

The other day, we were in Southern Cal for the Johns Hopkins University Center for Talented Youth awarding ceremony. Among the test takers this past summer, they invited the top 1% and Jed was among them. Of course, the proud parents decided to attend. :) We actually didn't know about the 1% until they said it right there.

While we were there, we took the opportunity to drive down to San Diego and meet up with my college buddy Joey. Being a member, he had two free tickets to the SD Zoo. We only had to buy two more for the kids. It was fun. The weather was perfect.

Let me close this post with a song that Jed and/or his friends made up. It's actually a real song called "In myself, I am free". Jing and I have heard them sing it in school. We were there to watch Jed's inquiry presentation, witness Janelle's birthday shower of appreciation, and help out at the library... talk about hitting multiple birds with one stone. Anyway, so tonight, Jed had said that he/they made up these words and it really cracked me up:

I am formless, ever free, in myself, I am pee.

Hilarious... and so true. :)

Love and light to all,
Ever

Guapos and Guapas

We were at some burrito restaurant the other day and the restroom signs said "Guapos" and "Guapas". Pretty creative. However, I thought, what if someone who's... say, not good-looking and they know/admit that they're not and they don't have any sense of humor whatsoever get offended by those signs and sue the restaurant? I wouldn't be surprised.

Last week's episode of Smallville totally reminded me of 28 Days Later. Even the very first scene where Clark woke up all by himself. That's how the lead dude's (whose name escapes me right now) first scene was, only, he was naked. And that guy actually looks a bit like Tom Welling, too. Let me look his name up... brb...k, back... he's Cillian Murphy. He was also in Red Eye with that dudette.... ah... Rachel McAdams.

The other night, Jed said he had memories of when he was a toddler but they were not first person memories.... haha... I asked him why and he said it was because they're from the home videos that he had seen. Very true... and very smart. Reminded me (again) of Heroes. Nathan was having all these memories that didn't feel like his. If you follow the show, you know why.

That's about it for now, guapos and guapas... and yes, that includes you so don't sue me! :)
Ever

Janelle moves on to Math 2

Janelle had her closing of the book ceremony the other Friday, moving on to Math 2. Good job, sweetie!

That's it for this post... hehe...

Well, speaking of Math, there's actually a site for Grades K-12 that you might want to check out. It's called MINDsprinting. It's not just for Math. It will also hone your child's reading skills. It's like Kumon but it's FREE! And customer service is A+. I got answers to my queries in less than 24 hours. Try it out. You got nothing to lose, well, except for paper and printer ink/toner, since, unlike Kumon, you print your own test materials. But I don't mind that at all!

That's really about it. Buenas noches! Amor y luz! (I think that's right :))
Ever

Blue joke

Hehe... couldn't think of a better title... Had to look up "blue joke" to see if it meant anything. And it does. It's "dirty joke", in other words. But no worries, there is nothing dirty about this post.

Last Saturday, before we got out of the car to go to the pool for the kids' swimming lessons, I was in the mood to tell jokes. So, on our way back to the car after swimming, they wanted more. I don't have a big reservoir of jokes in my head so, as a stalling tactic, I just said, "Okay, I have a joke". Then, a moment of silence. While buckling Janelle up, she asked, "What is it?". I just said, "No, I don't really have one"... to which, Jed responded, "You really had a joke then. You said you had a joke but you didn't. So you were in fact joking". Well, those weren't his exact words. But it was really insightful, don't you think?

On to the next half...

The story for tonight was "Blue Moon". Jed asked what "blue moon" meant and I told him it was the rare event when there are two full moons in a month. I told him it happens because the moon's cycle is really only 28 days (is that even correct? I'm too lazy to look it up). Then, it went on and on until I said that it would never happen in February since it only has 28 days. But he immediately thought about leap years. Oh, right! Then, I realized, blue moons in February (during a leap year) would be the statistically rarest ones. Of course, this is all assuming I'm right about the 28-day moon cycle. I know it's not exactly 28 days but it's around that, right? Okay, I'll look it up. Be right back... k, I'm back... I typed "lunar cycle" and Google gave me this: 1 lunar cycle = 29.53059 days. I just managed to misinform Jed tonight. I'll remember to correct him first thing in the morning, how's that? :) So this means we'll never get to see a blue moon in February.

Does the "blue joke" title make sense now? :)

Take care y'all!
Ever

LiteOn won over HP...

The black "clip" at the center of our laptop's DVD drive had been loose for a while. After we got back from a mini-vacation recently, I couldn't find it anymore. I asked around and it didn't sound like it could be replaced. And so I went shopping for an external reader/writer. I initially got the HP dvd1170e. But sadly, it wouldn't work with my TDK DVD+R's. Pretty picky.

I was intent on getting a new brand of blank DVDs but I came home with a LiteOn 22x EZ-DUB instead. :) It was $10 cheaper than the HP one so I was really hoping it would work. And it did. So, here is the HP one, sitting by me, repackaged and ready to be sent back to the store.

The only thing that I was hoping I could make work but haven't been able to is the SmartErase functionality. The manual says it should work with non-RW discs. But when I tried it from the bundled Nero, it says I could only do it with RW's. The screenshot from the manual is actually different from what I'm seeing. So, I must be missing something. I don't know how to get to that screen. Oh well, a little googling will probably help. If not, a call to customer support would be in order.

'Til next post.
Ever

Neti Pot and Fleas

Nope, there's no connection between the two besides the fact that I'll be talking about both of them in this post. :)

Jing told me about Neti Pot just recently. I think she just remembered out of the blue. A former coworker told her about it so it has been six months at least. Anyway, it's for rinsing your nasal passages. We got one at Target the other day and it came with 50 pre-mixed solution packets. The brand is NeilMed.

How it works is... you stick the pot's spout up your nostril.. hehe... and the water (with the dissolved solution) goes through and out the other nostril. Then, you blow your nose and then switch nostrils. It's just a tiny bit uncomfortable the first couple of seconds because you feel the water cross over. I've been doing it and so have Jed and Janelle. They get a kick out of it. I would like to think that if we weren't doing it, our colds would be in worse condition.

They also have the plastic bottle kind that is supposed to be better because it adds pressure. The water coming out of Neti Pot simply flows, relying on gravity. We actually went to Costco tonight to get it but sadly, they no longer carry it. I remember seeing it every time I checked out what they had for allergies.

k... enough about Neti Pot... on to the fleas, which the Neti Pot can't help with, in case you're wondering... While I still can't remember the context, Jing (again) reminded me about what made Janelle think fleas came from Texas. There was one episode of SpongeBob where Sandy (the squirrel) said she got her fleas when she went to Texas. If I could only remember why that was even brought up... that was actually the funny part. I think it was when Jed and I came back from his school's field trip at some ranch and brought home a flea. Or was it a tick? Man, I always forget the difference between the two. Oh well, I guess the story will come back around... eventually.

'Til next post.
Ever

The wooden block is gone!

Heh, Ate Sonia... finally, a new post. Buh-bye to you, wooden block. I hope you enjoyed being at the top for three months. Man, it's been that long. Gotta grab this chance to empty my to-blog list again. I'm sickish so I'm staying at home today. I missed choir again yesterday. :( I/we might take the kids out biking this afternoon (or tomorrow morning), depending on the weather and my condition. We bought their bikes about a couple of months ago. And yep, they're still unused. So sad!

We've said buh-bye to the birds nesting in our backyard. It was kinda tragic. A crow invaded their nest again. We don't know whether it managed to eat some of them. But one thing's for sure, one of them managed to escape. My father-in-law saw it fly away with the parents. Hopefully, the others got the chance to escape, too. Good thing they could already fly. Bad crow! But like I said to Jing that night, if it were an eagle, we would have been awed. Let's cut the crows some slack. That's what they do. It's part of the natural food chain.

I read somewhere that the Vermont (don't remember if it was a city or county or what) constitution was adopted on 7/8/1777. I wonder why they didn't do it the day prior. Could bad weather have played a factor maybe?

I don't remember the context but there was one time when Janelle thought that fleas came from Texas. It was really funny. Apparently, when I noted it down, I didn't think it was going to take this long before I wrote about it. All I put down was "fleas from Texas". :(

I did it again. I thought everything had suddenly become touch-screen. Jing was showing me a text message on her phone. I was trying to open it by touching the message. Yikes!

Cerelac! When Francis, Arlene, & kids visited us sometime ago, Francis mentioned that he had bought Cerelac from Amazon. He even said that their local Wal-Mart carried it, too. And guess what, our local Wal-Mart does, too. Yummy! I had been looking forever for it. Oh, btw, nope, we don't have a new baby nor a toddler. It's for me. :)

Jed recently saw the Arnold S. talk on TV. He said, "This is the first time I've seen him talk and he sounds exactly the same as he does in Terminator". I don't mean to tease. Just thought Jed's comment was really sincere and funny. Jed, btw, has been answering Jeopardy questions left and right. Even many of his guesses are right on!

I was looking up the local Wamu's hours yesterday and some of the branches that came up in the results had "talking ATMs". Never heard of those before. I should try them one day.

Tough times. Working on our loans to be modified. One down, one to go. Thanks to our dear friend, Res, arguably the kindest person on the face of this planet.

Just found this budgeting tool called YNAB. I was bummed when I heard that MS Money was being discontinued. But it turned out to be a blessing in disguise. I had been using both Money and Excel because Money doesn't have good budgeting features, particularly the envelope system. YNAB is what I'd been looking for. When I need to enter an expense, I just do it once. In my previous system, I would log it twice, once in Money (to update my physical account balance) and another in Excel (to update my envelope balance). Check it out if you want/need to take control of your budget.

I guess that's about it. Better rest now. 'Til next post.
Ever

The wooden block on the road

I was on my way home, listening to KCBS. I passed a green (I think) wooden block that was sitting there in the middle of the road, right on the line between the two lanes.

After about five seconds, the lady reporting the traffic said "Watch out for a wooden block...", referring to the same exact one I just passed. Is that cool or what?

I've noticed that my coughing comes back every time I'm in the car or here in our home office. I'm having a bout as I type this. Today at work, I wasn't coughing as often. What could that mean? I think it's time we sprayed the house and the car with some air sanitizer.

Good night!
Ever

Saturday afternoon (and can't come up with a title for this)

Jing and I got to watch The Birds last night. And man, the ending was a complete letdown. What was the point of that movie? It wasn't even scary. No explanation whatsoever of why the birds were attacking them. I thought it had to do with her coming to town or the lovebirds she brought with her. But no, they just left. And of course, the birds just let them go away. Just like that. The only thing they resolved was her relationship with her "future mother-in-law". If not for the church and the schoolhouse, which, as you may recall, Jing and I visited recently, I wouldn't have cared to borrow it from the library.

Oh, the lead character smoked a lot... even inside the house... with a child right by her. An insight into the public's general attitude towards smoking during that time?

I'm currently reading Choices and Illusions by Eldon Taylor. And I just finished reading the section with the ad that had explicit subliminal messages. Today at Target, I couldn't help but scrutinize the soda picture on the wall to see if there were any on there. :)

We took Janelle to the pedia this morning because her inner right thigh was hurting. The pedia said it could be groin pull. Some Advil and some hot tub are all she needs.

Jed performed for seniors again today. There were fewer students this time.

The little birdies in our backyard have started developing feathers. I forgot to write about the parents' routine every time they come back to the nest. They would land on the fence first (sometimes on our neighbor's tree first, then the fence) and then look in all directions, making sure no predators are present, then they swiftly fly right to the nest, through the exact same opening in the tree. It's a lot of fun watching them!

Janelle's been on a home-video-thon since last night. She's enjoying watching our old home videos, especially of her kuya's when he was younger than she is now. There was one where Jed was only 3 1/2 and was singing (instead of just plain-reading) some magazine. He started to read when he was 2 1/2 if I hadn't already mentioned it.

I had to skip choir today. Still coughing and got a hoarse voice. The only upside is that I can sing Richard Marx songs and actually sound like him. Well, in this condition, I can't of course reach the high notes without my voice cracking but yeah... raspy voice. Nice. :)

God bless you, my patient reader. Got to go back to indexing.
Ever

House finches

I don't recall if I've mentioned this (and I'm too lazy to check right now) but we have another pair of birds that are nesting in our backyard. And this time, the crows did not find the eggs, thank God! We were at Costco one time and came across a book on birds. So, I flipped through, hoping to find the birds there. And I think I did. They're called house finches. Interestingly, the male bird is the one that has the red-orange parts.

Guess what, the eggs had actually hatched. It probably took just a week, which is not surprising since they're small. I saw the chicks (or is that term just for little chickens?) one afternoon when Papa and I were in the backyard. We inadvertently scared the mom away so we were free to look. :) I couldn't really tell how many "chicks" were there. Two or three maybe but I only saw one beak. It was yellow. The body or bodies were covered in black "fur". They couldn't open their eyes yet, it seemed.

The morning after, I took out the camera and videocam. Yep, got to film them as well, the breathing and all, still with their eyes closed. Janelle got the chance to see them as well. We still only saw one beak but I'm pretty sure there's more than one of them. Will keep you posted.

I was never really fond of birds until now. Whenever we went to zoos, I'd find the birds section the least interesting. We had chickens, pigeons, and even quails when I was a kid. Maybe I was into pigeons for some time but that's about it. I liked the chickens for their eggs. I even gave a young one some laying mash and it worked on her, too. I feel sorry now every time I think about it.

But I digress... I have a newfound respect for birds. How do they manage to build those nests? It's just amazing to me. This morning, while Jing and I were waiting to see Jed's teacher for our portfolio conference, we were outside and we were watching the birds fly. Suddenly, I was in awe. I wish people could fly. I've always wished that but I'd never associated that wish with birds before. Here they are, according to Jing, the freest creatures of them all. And she's right. They can go anywhere they want. What cool beings!

On another note, have you checked out Microsoft's Bing? I like the cashback feature. :) I should remember to look there first for online shopping. But I tried searching for a couple of things last night and it didn't find them while the ever-handy Google did.

Tonight is Janelle's first piano lesson. :)

Love and light to you,
Ever