First lunch date... without Nui-nui

Yesterday was the first time we've gone out to lunch since Nui-nui was born. During lunch, we tried to recollect the last we ate out together. It was day before her birthday - lunch at LeBoulanger. How fast time flies.

Mood: 溫馨

Victim of Cyberthreat

The other day... I changed my Google-chat status to "A hectic day...exhausted." Within minutes, I get a call from a number with a weird area code. It was a pre-recorded message that's left me a voicemail many times before.

Voice: Hello, this is Kaiser Permanente. Is this Mr. Henry Luuuu-eng?
Me: Yes
Voice: We have some information regarding a change in your membership. To continue in Spanish, press 7.
(this is when I started walking around... I wasn't paying much attention)
Voice: You have had a hectic day and you're exhausted.
==END OF CALL==

Mood: creeped out

First day of school...

I still remember the first day of school. The most exciting part was of course the night before. I'd pack my bookbag with all my new pencils and pens in my pencil box. I'll slip the new, razor sharp crispy line paper into a recycled binder that my mom found in a recycling bin. I'll lay out my uniform with my sweater and socks stuffed into my shoes.

Last night, Joyce and I spent hours getting Nui-nui's things ready for her first day of school. Packed extra clothes, extra diapers, extra wipies. Filled out all the necessary forms for registration. Cleaned out the cooler to hold Nui's milk. And of course had to pick out the perfect outfit to make that first impression on her new friends.

The next morning, everything that had to go wrong did. I got Joyce and I lost even though I've been on the same freeway a thousand times. We did NOT have time for breakfast despite waking up at 5:30. And traffic was at it's worse even before 7:30AM.

We finally got to Auntie Et's place. We were the first ones there. The other children don't show up until 8 or 9ish. So it was just me, Joyce, Nui-nui and Auntie Et. She was ready for us. We gave her all of Nui's stuff. All the forms. The payment for the week. Auntie Et didn't even read the forms. She just picked up Nui and started to hold her. We engaged in some small talk, trying to stall, trying to avoid the inevitable. But after about 10 minutes of talking, the awkwardness finally settled in. We had nothing else to do but leave.

Joyce gave Nui a kiss and put her shoes on. We turned for the door and started to head out. Then Joyce halted, took her shoes off and ran back to give Nui another kiss. And that was it. That was the final dot to the eye and cross to the tee. This time, there was no turning back. We walked through the fire door, heard the BANG! to behind us and started down the stairs. Tears started welling up in our eyes. Our little princess, our little precious, our first born, our gift from God is now in the hands of a lady we've met but once. And it won't be another 8 hours till we see her again. This was one of the must heart-wrenching moments of my life... this moment in time...

Mood: lonely

First date...without Nui-nui

Nui nui is already 4 months old... and it's been a good 4 months since we've gone on a "date." We rushed home after church to get ready... then we rushed to drop Nui nui off at good ol' Auntie Mel-mel's place... and off to Star Wars in Concert we went. We find parking and start walking towards the Shark Tank. About 3 minutes into the walk... it hit us. It really hit us. We didn't have our daughter with us. Awkward? Naked? Weird? Incomplete? None of these words fully describe it.

For me... I've been back at work since July, so I'm more or less use to not have Nui-nui around me. But for Joyce, other than sleeping, she's never been separated from Nui-nui for more than an hour. And even if they are separated, they're always within a 100 yard radius of each other. So this is how mom and dad felt the day I went to college...

Mood: Thankful

Performance Review

Been asked to write performance reviews for a dozen colleagues. This is the first time I had so many to do. The first guy easily got all my attention, my diction and my praise. By the time I got to #12, I was seriously running out of things to say. A few of my buddies told me they recycle their writeups from previous years. That probably helps a whole lot - but doesn't that water down the genuinity of the appraisal? I hate to compromise anyone's performance due to my laziness. How much will my time spent on these writeups affect their compensation?


Mood: exhausted

Why was it ever a tough decision?

Last night, I was VPN-ing when Nui-nui started crying for no apparent reason. I ignored it for about 15 minutes, hoping she'll calm down and go back to sleep so I can get some work done. I got really annoyed when it continued and continued. Then it hit me.

I'm choosing to do work over holding my own daughter? How many more years do I have where I can actually hold my daughter in my own arms? And I'm about to give that up so I can work on some crap that isn't gonna get done anyways?

Come to think of it....why was it ever a tough decision to begin with?

Mood: disgraced

Inevitable

Nui-Nui has been exhibiting small signs of rebellion. She doesn't like to be held at times. And she fights off when we push her hand from her mouth. A very poignant moment in the Leung's household last night when Joyce lovingly whispered "Nui-nui...don't grow up so fast. Don't stop being my little baby."

How I dread the day she goes off to college... the day she walks down the aisle... the day she gets sworn in as the first Asian president of the United States.

Mood: dreadful