Author: Doris

Recently, we lost our free high-speed Internet link from our nearby High School (guessing.) We do have the dial-up Netzero slow link everywhere in USA though for our secured banking stuff via land line.

Therefore, we discovered that our local library and McDonald’s can help – they provide free wifi services. Since it is a small town and distance-wise, anything in it really does not make that much a difference. But, guess what, library isn’t that reliable as McDonald’s.

That reinforces my feeling (bias, maybe?) that government isn’t as reliable as private sectors doing the right thing in economic matters. The government can only set up policy as well serve as a watch dog on behalf of its citizens.

As employment sinks further, government employment is increasing at an alarming rate. I don’t think this Obama-noics is going to work. he is working on health care, wall street new regulations with a brand-new agency (where is the old SEC?) &, of course, the mosque a lot (an unfornate distraction.) But, how about the unemployment ?

As an early birthday present request, Jeremy asked for a ukulele. He wanted an instrument that would allow him to sing to Edda while she fell asleep (although she is often asleep when Jeremy gets around to playing). The ukulele is also known as the simplest instrument to learn to play according to the Guinness Book of World Records. Right now, Jeremy’s playing Bad, Bad Leroy Brown. Earlier, he was playing Beatles songs and I’ve Been Working on the Railroad. Learning from internet and youtube videos.

When Jeremy’s interest in the ukulele was just starting to take hold, we found the following youtube video of a 5-year-old kiddo playing the ukulele and singing (in Japanese/English) I’m Yours and I thought that if a 5 year old can do it, certainly Jeremy could do it no problem. But, of course, this kid is simply amazing and it will take a long time to learn to play like him.

I have been working through the doldrums of August. Both of the kids are at home full time until school starts on the 30th, Eliana is feeling pretty sick, both Jeremy and I are swamped at work. I pride myself on being able to juggle a lot of things – but these past few weeks have been hectic and I have not been able to manage everything with my usual cheerfulness. The car sprung a leak while Jeremy was out of town, the fridge is intermittently not able to keep our frozen things frozen and the gutters need some tender loving care after the storms of the summer.

Yesterday, Eliana came down for work at 9 am and I took one look at her and realized that she was too sick to take care of the kids and sent her back up to bed. I told Vince (in a stern managerial tone) that he was in charge and that I needed to put in a full day of work and that he needed to watch Edda. I set up the baby monitor downstairs with the kids and went upstairs to work. I did take a lunch break where I made them a hot lunch and Eliana did poke her head into the living room between doctor appointments and naps and changed Edda’s diaper, but Vince, man, he really pulled it together and was the babysitter for the day. Gave Edda snacks (grapes) and juice. Made himself snacks (microwave popcorn), changed videos, did arts and crafts, put Edda down for a nap (!). I didn’t hear a peep from the kids until I logged off work late in the afternoon.

Here’s a photo of Edda at Brookside Gardens enjoying the butterflies and the flowers.

Wow! Look at that nose!

Here’s Vince at a friend’s birthday party, telling a youngster about Star Wars lore.

Went to my 20th high school reunion this weekend. I had a great time! Better than I thought I would! These are some of my best friends from high school. Yes, we are all Asian. But we aren’t all Chinese!

Jeremy not only had our kids for the evening, but also volunteered to babysit a 1-year-old! I was a little nervous when I left for the reunion, I could see the intersection of Edda and the one-year-old’s bedtime (simultaneous) and I could see that it might not be easy for one person to handle. But Jeremy had a great night and Vince was his baby-sitter assistant, keeping either Edda or the one-year-old entertained or soothed when Jeremy had to tend to the other.

Brickfair was held in the Dulles Expo Center this past weekend. Brickfair celebrates the love of all things Lego. Vince and Jeremy went this weekend with some school pals and had a blast. Brickfair shows Lego creations which are not made from a specific kit. The only thing you need is your imagination and 10,000 Lego pieces.

One of the highlights was being able to buy a minifigure without buying the whole kit it comes in… This is what Vince chose:

Vince is coming home tonight! It’s been a quiet week here – the house seems so much emptier without Vince’s energy.

Jeremy and I spent last night and this morning reading and talking about Atul Gawande’s article in the New Yorker about end-of-life medical care. I have been melancholy lately and there is nothing like kicking it up a notch by talking about death and desired quality of life. Life is so full of grief, sometimes I don’t know how we get up in the morning to face another day. Jeremy told me that I had to read The Plague.

Michelle Obama is catching some flack for taking her “private” trip to Spain with her 9-year-old daughter Sasha. Critics, from Fox News to the New York Daily News are laying into the First Lady over everything from the trip’s price to a travel warning on the State Department’s website, according to Yahoo.com.
Fox News reports that the State Department had issued a travel warning on its site stating that “racist prejudices could lead to the arrest of Afro-Americans who travel to Spain.” But the warning was removed from the site on Monday, two days before Michelle left for Spain.
In an Op-Ed on Thursday, New York Daily News writer Andrea Tantaros compared Michelle Obama to a “modern day Marie Antoinette” for taking such a costly vacation when so much of the country is suffering to make ends meet. It doesn’t help that Michelle, Sasha and their entourage is staying at the Hotel Villa Padierna, a Ritz-Carlton hotel with rates from $500 to $2,500 a night.
White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs told reporters that the Obamas will pay for their own personal expenses, as will their friends who are traveling with them. However, the most costly part of the trip is the full-time Secret Service and entourage, which is all covered by taxpayer money.
Lynn Sweet, of the Chicago Sun-Times, wrote that by the end of the summer, Michelle will have taken eight vacations, including the June trip to L.A. to watch the NBA Finals, as well as the two trips she has scheduled with the President in August.