Month: February 2017

Time to do passport photos.

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Outtake #1

Outtake #2

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My washing machine is like my unpredictable lover.  Sometimes saving me and making me feel so loved and well taken care of and sometimes purposely ignoring my texts while I silently glare at my phone for the little undulating dots.  My washer has has a small, intermittent leak.  It’s so intermittent that I get all sad when it leaks, then I don’t do laundry for a few days.  Then I do one load and it doesn’t leak and I get all happy.  Then I try to run 7 loads through it during the day and then it leaks every 2.3 loads and then I get sad and frustrated.  I try to not let the state of my appliances dictate the state of my mood, but I can’t help myself.  It’s like trying to stop eating Doritos after a handful when you are alone and have just opened a huge bag.  Especially if they are the original nacho flavor.   I’m tired just thinking of putting the machine up on blocks to see where the leak is coming from and then taking apart the machine, then replacing all the rubber parts which have aged in the last 1.5 decades and then finally replacing the pump (ordering the part, paying extra for 2 day shipping, installing it) and then not being able to fix it (deinstalling pump, boxing up the pump and going to the UPS store) and finally having to spend $800 +/- $200 on a new washing machine.

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Math test for Vince tomorrow on volumes of 3D shapes.  I’d been checking some of Vince’s practice work earlier and I was going to continue after dinner while Jeremy washed the dishes, but Jeremy sliced his fingertip off with a mandolin (note thumb condom) so he asked to trade night time duties.  I said sure – I’ll do the dishes, you can do the math.  Which then led Jeremy to groan when he realized that he had to figure out the volume of a truncated cone.

I spent hours and hours outside today.  Mostly by myself – running, hiking, getting lost.  I did spend a couple of hours with other people who are teaching me how to read a map in the woods.

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Sunday night dinner at the famous Far East restaurant!  A Rockville landmark for 40 years.

Jeremy went on a bike ride this morning and, while on my own, I got into a tiff with Vince and then I felt blue.  To feel better, I went and took myself out for a walk and Jeremy just happened to come home and spy me walking towards the pizza place.  He asked where I was going and I told him I was just taking myself for a walk for pizza because I was blue and then he asked – did you and Vince get into a fight?  How did he know? He asked me to wait for him and he drove the three houses home and got changed and came back and took me out for pizza and ice cream at 2pm.  He laughed at me and said – you two are quite a pair, a true dyad.  While I was eating my pizza, Vince was trying to text and apologize and I texted back my apology too.  The apology involved edamame gifs.

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I trimmed Edda’s bangs this morning.  Kitachi then put her hair in two ponytails, she looks like a Japanese superhero.

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I went to Thu’s monthly dinner – this was a cheese wheel party.

I used Thu’s party as an excuse to buy things at Whole Foods that I covet and only want one slice of.  Pineapple upside down cake.

Sometimes I do really well at Thu’s party and can chat a lot.  Sometimes I can’t.  Tonight, I was particularly introverted and I worked on a puzzle.  First by myself, but then later with three puzzle friends.

Right after his report card came home, Vince asked for an extension on electronic curfew – from 9 to 9:30.  I hesitated.  This is primarily because I want my parenting duties for Vince to be over at 9 pm, because I want to shift my focus from my children back to myself.  And also because our best time as a family come between 9 and 9:30 pm, when Jeremy’s home from evening meetings, when the child care providers are out of the house, when all the homework and school work is done and we are winding down.  It’s when Vince tells us both what’s going on in his own little world – concerns about friends, various sticky school situations, and funny memes so we don’t get too far behind.

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Jeremy worked from home today and we celebrated Valentine’s day with lunch out.  Adriana, who now works Tuesday nights, last week asked if she could have Valentine’s Day off and reminded us about the holiday.  (It’s her first Valentine’s Day with her beau).  I looked at Jeremy and said, oh yeah, Valentine’s Day doesn’t matter to us and gave her the night off.  And then I looked at Jeremy again and took it back and said, oh no, I meant every day is Valentine Day around here.  xoxo.

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We facetimed Gong Gong and found him asleep in bed.

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Max(ine) is our gender fluid dog.  Recently, she’s taken up humping her bedding.

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We went to my parents’ house for dinner where they have entirely too much ice cream.

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Edda’s so happy tonight!  Maybe because it’s my favorite day, Friday!

After two days in the 70s, it snowed here today…  It didn’t stick because the ground was so warm – can you see any snowflakes in this bus pickup photo?

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Vince and I procrastinating with selfies.  I wish I had his eyebrows.

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Vince has a pet sitting gig this weekend.  Two basset hounds.  They clearly love each other.

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Vince totally did it.  It was a lot of work – mostly on Vince’s part, but also my dad tutored in Chinese and I ran a tight ship.  It wasn’t a supreme stretch about Vince knowing the content, it was all those things I thought didn’t need to be taught – planning, organizing, thinking of test taking strategies, figuring out priorities, figuring out what the teacher wants and cultivating the desire to try or try a little harder.  This next term, I told Vince I’m not going to be able to help him as much keep track of work as I’m busier and out of the house more & my Dad’s in China for a month soon – it’s going to be up to him to manage his time and his assignments. Anyways, that’s the goal – for me to be totally uninvolved with any sort of schoolwork/leisure logistics.  I think before he didn’t even think this was possible, but I’m sensing that now that he knows he can do it and how much work it takes (which is manageable), he will endeavor to continue.

It was a little bit cooler today.  Not by much though.

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I was planning on having dinner on the table as soon as Jeremy walked in the door.  I put the chicken in the oven at 5pm, giving it 75 min to roast.  I misunderestimated the amount of time by more than 30 min!  I hate when that happens, then the whole evening goes off kilter.  Jeremy finally had to unstuff the cavity (I had put onions and lemons in there) and chop off all the dark meat so we could start eating while the white meat went back in the oven for another 10 minutes.  Jeremy’s reading the chicken temp with an instant thermometer – 145, still not done.

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I went to quilting tonight where I saw an antique quilt that had been lovingly restored.

And I saw a bunch of beautiful fabrics.

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I came home and I implemented Vince’s electronic curfew at 9pm.  He put all his stuff away and then (since Edda was still awake), crawled into bed with Jeremy and Edda and glommed off of Jeremy’s phone.  Then Vince started yammering away and Jeremy said – hey, if you want to use my internet access, then you gotta watch what I’m watching and you need to be quiet.

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Small act:  I opened up the ARC form to testify on behalf of Edda about her waiver services, but then I realized I need to think a little more about it.  xo

What the heck?  It’s 70 degrees here in Maryland.  Though I still wore my fuzzy boots and huge down coat because it’s FEBRUARY.  We are so doomed.  OK, maybe I’m not doomed, but for sure Vince’s kids are doomed.  I just hope it’s not 110 degrees all summer.  I’m sure it is only because I bought my dad a snowblower for Christmas.  It’s not climate change, it’s just karma.  Just for this winter.

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I often drive Vince to school in the mornings and he almost always forgets something.  Today he forgot a a social studies packet.    I’m trying to teach him to manage his time between his obligations (mainly school) and leisure (mainly video games).  Vince is conflicted on this matter.  Yesterday, he came home from school all upset because he wanted to play video games all the time and have all his work done too.  I told Vince that this is a very common struggle, not one that will go away in a lifetime.

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Of course, I have the same struggle.  I’m trying to stay on -ask with a new sand timer I ordered from China via Amazon.  It’s suppose to be 20 min, which is the right amount of time for steady work.  But it’s only 12 minutes and 30 seconds long.  That’s too short, so I have this idea that I should turn it around once it runs out for a timer of 25 minutes, but that doesn’t seem very satisfying.

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Small act:  Called our Republican governor to issue a statement against the president’s travel ban.  I also should have told him that I hate that school now starts after Labor Day.  Boo…

Jeremy’s spent 2-3 hours in the past two days trying to figure out international flights for Vince.  Vince is going abroad by himself this summer to lots of places in Asia which is a big step for everyone.  I do wish he went last summer as there is some nervousness about traveling out of the country.  We decided no layovers in Canada, Mexico or the Middle East.  (If you route though the Middle East, flights are pretty cheap right now, no surprise…) Actually, probably no layovers at all because he’s an unaccompanied minor.  Though I’m sure he could figure he own way out of the Dallas/Ft. Worth airport if he was stranded there on his own.

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I had a nursing simulation today with a fake patient (mannequin).   It went OK, I’m glad to be done with it.  There was only one slot remaining when I signed up, so I didn’t go until 4:30pm which is terrible because I spend the whole day fretting.

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Vince took all the comforters from the weekend sleepover and piled them high on his bed.

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Small act:  none.  boo. tomorrow.  I need to plan these out more so I’m not left thinking about what to do at the end of the day when I’m ready for bed.  xoxo, see you on the other side.

How is it Sunday evening at 8:00 pm already?  (Now it’s 10 pm.  I got distracted.) Friday nights seem so luxurious – the whole weekend ahead of us, like an unending savannah of time.  But it all gets filled up somehow and now it’s all over.  Jeremy spent some time this weekend trying to get Edda’s photo for our annual pancake breakfast.

Friday night, Edda wrestled Jeremy as she fell asleep.

While Vince hosted a sleepover.

I went out into the woods to orienteer where I gave up about 3/4 of the way through and felt defeated. I ate a lot of cookies.  Every time I go to these events I get mistaken for Florence.  Hi Florence!  Umm, I’m not Florence.  Of course, it didn’t take me too long to figure out who this mysterious Florence person was.  I should have taken a selfie with her.

Sat. night we watched “Tonight’s Special” on Netflix.

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Sunday Football ice cream cake!

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Small act: Donated $ to rescue.org in Silver Spring.

Let’s start tonight’s blog post with Edda laughing.  I’m happy that she’s laughing.  I had a moment this afternoon where I was sitting down trying to work and think about the regular things that I normally work on and think about and I had a feeling of great sadness and tiredness and hopelessness wash over me and literally had to put my head in my hands and had to stop myself from crying.

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Finding reading material is difficult.  My reading group is reading Never Let Me Go which made me sad.  I was going very slowly.  I’m turning to Truman’s biography.  I’m not sure that’s right either, but it started with this quote – “We can never tell what is in store for us.” Jeremy and I are at a loss of what to talk about in the 15-20 min before we go to bed.  It’s usually a time that’s reserved for a lighthearted chats what happened during the day, but everything we want to talk about is not very relaxing.  I think we are going to turn to reading books out loud to each other.  Which book though?  I want Jeremy to read out loud the Crying of Lot 49 which he read out loud to me during the first few months of our courtship and I tried very hard to pretend I liked it even though I did not know what the hell was going on.  If he reads it out loud to me now, I’ll be happy to fall asleep listening to his voice.  That doesn’t seem so equitable though.  Maybe Silas Marner?

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I got my hair cut today & so did Vince.  Linda, our hairdresser, mentioned that she hasn’t felt so unsafe since she left Cambodia about a decade and a half ago.  She’s cancelling holiday trips to SF and even daytrips to downtown DC.

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We went to the Habit Grill tonight for dinner with my mom and dad.  Note the RM cheerleaders over at the next table.

Here’s Vince’s new haircut.  Pretty short.

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Small acts:

They seemed particularly small today.  This morning, I emailed my handful of Pennsylvania friends (even ones I haven’t spoken to in decades), to urge them to call Toomey to vote no on DeVos.  Most of them wrote back promptly and said that they were already on the case, emailing and calling for days now.  Though we had no impact on the 6:30 am vote.  Jeremy is cautiously optimistic about his actions this week regarding oil company regulations on methane wast turning out OK, we’ll see.  You can read his blog post here.  I need to follow up on Soojung’s email to testify on behalf of ARC of MD about the autism waiver.  If they pull back the Medicaid expansion, we’ll lose our waiver.