Looking Back In Anger is a TVB Hong Kong Soap Opera that I loved watching when I was a kid... and I guess I still do now. It was one of the first drama's I remember, where it starts out with the main character spends 90% of the drama flashing back on his life... with the remaining 10% being the climax and conclusion of the show. Nowadays, it's been done so many times, it's considered old hat. But after a tumultouous October... which feels like a lifetime... I have that urge to spin that coin, and when the coin lands, be zapped back into my cold icy home in San Jose typing away on my much neglected blog.
没料到我所失的, 竟已 是我的所有.
Friday, November 04, 2011
Tuesday, November 01, 2011
Halloween 2011
Last year Halloween... Anderson and the Gal Pal came over to watch Game 4 of the World Series (the Bumgardner game) and we ended up hiding half a dozen times from trick or treaters.
This year... church did a cool thing and planned a Family Prayer and Worship Night. The setting was simple... just pizza, veggies and bottled water. And the entire night was based mostly on educating, declaring and reclaiming what is ours.
We didn't stay for the entire thing... cuz Nn was showing signs of lethargy. Upon getting home... we're 10 feet from our driveway, we see hordes and hordes of TOTers still roaming the streets. Darn!! So we ended up crusing and circling for another 20 minutes to avoid them.
Next year.... I'm just gonna flat out open my house and hand out dental floss. No more of this sneaking and hiding around!
This year... church did a cool thing and planned a Family Prayer and Worship Night. The setting was simple... just pizza, veggies and bottled water. And the entire night was based mostly on educating, declaring and reclaiming what is ours.
We didn't stay for the entire thing... cuz Nn was showing signs of lethargy. Upon getting home... we're 10 feet from our driveway, we see hordes and hordes of TOTers still roaming the streets. Darn!! So we ended up crusing and circling for another 20 minutes to avoid them.
Next year.... I'm just gonna flat out open my house and hand out dental floss. No more of this sneaking and hiding around!
Sunday, October 30, 2011
I ain't a Lego maniac...
"Zack! Zack! He's a Lego-maniac!" --a famous commericial from back in the earl 90's.
I've never been a big fan of Lego's. I'm impressed by some of the things that can be done with Lego's... (empire state building... darth vader.. etc...). But I've always felt the end results of Lego's took a lot of imagination after the fact to resemble the real thing. Plus, I was never good at building things or following instructions. Goes to show why I dread buying any "Assembly Required" furniture from IKEA.
The biggest Lego purchase I made as a kid (and adult) for that matter... came when I was around 9-10. With my birthday money, I went to Emporium and bought a Knight's Castle. I distinctly remember having to choose between "King's Castle" and "The Black Knight's Castle." The King's Castle was bigger... more grandiose... was more righteous (it was white...duh!) but it was more expensive. The "Black Knight's Castle" was black... was smaller...and was cheaper. With mom holding us accountable for a tight budget, I didn't have the negotiations skills to squeeze out the extra $10 from her.
That night... ended up watching big bro assemble the whole thing by himself. I just watched. I don't remember if he convinced me that was a good idea so that he can have all the fun. Or was it the manager in me directing the contractor to do my work. Nonetheless.... we built that darn thing. It was amazing!! Horses...knights... swords.... a swinging drawbridge. But the next day... we disassembled the castle which instantly became humpty dumpty -- we could never put it back together again.
Flash forward 20 some odd years and yesterday, Nn wanted to buy a Lego set. I was skeptical because the box said "Ages 7+." Joyce was saying our daughter is playing toys beyond her age. I think every parent thinks that about their kids. My gut feeling was to get her some Duplo (Lego's for kids), with cute animals and characters. When we ask Nn to choose, of course she chooses the more expensive Lego set. I examine the box... and MAN!!!!... Lego sets sure got complicated. And there are pieces the size of boogers (literally, not figuratively) that can get lost a the slightest breeze of a sneeze.
And last night... guess what happened? Joyce and I assembled the Lego set and in the midst of it all... Nn was losing pieces left and right. Kids will be kids... I kind of expected that to happen. But the coup de grace is... after putting the set together, there are things I can't even begin to imagine what it is. With what looks to me like a cross-over between and ostrich and a jetski.... Joyce thinks it's actually a dog. WTH!?!?!?
"Hank! Hank! He's ain't a Lego-maniac!" --circa 2011
I've never been a big fan of Lego's. I'm impressed by some of the things that can be done with Lego's... (empire state building... darth vader.. etc...). But I've always felt the end results of Lego's took a lot of imagination after the fact to resemble the real thing. Plus, I was never good at building things or following instructions. Goes to show why I dread buying any "Assembly Required" furniture from IKEA.
The biggest Lego purchase I made as a kid (and adult) for that matter... came when I was around 9-10. With my birthday money, I went to Emporium and bought a Knight's Castle. I distinctly remember having to choose between "King's Castle" and "The Black Knight's Castle." The King's Castle was bigger... more grandiose... was more righteous (it was white...duh!) but it was more expensive. The "Black Knight's Castle" was black... was smaller...and was cheaper. With mom holding us accountable for a tight budget, I didn't have the negotiations skills to squeeze out the extra $10 from her.
That night... ended up watching big bro assemble the whole thing by himself. I just watched. I don't remember if he convinced me that was a good idea so that he can have all the fun. Or was it the manager in me directing the contractor to do my work. Nonetheless.... we built that darn thing. It was amazing!! Horses...knights... swords.... a swinging drawbridge. But the next day... we disassembled the castle which instantly became humpty dumpty -- we could never put it back together again.
Flash forward 20 some odd years and yesterday, Nn wanted to buy a Lego set. I was skeptical because the box said "Ages 7+." Joyce was saying our daughter is playing toys beyond her age. I think every parent thinks that about their kids. My gut feeling was to get her some Duplo (Lego's for kids), with cute animals and characters. When we ask Nn to choose, of course she chooses the more expensive Lego set. I examine the box... and MAN!!!!... Lego sets sure got complicated. And there are pieces the size of boogers (literally, not figuratively) that can get lost a the slightest breeze of a sneeze.
And last night... guess what happened? Joyce and I assembled the Lego set and in the midst of it all... Nn was losing pieces left and right. Kids will be kids... I kind of expected that to happen. But the coup de grace is... after putting the set together, there are things I can't even begin to imagine what it is. With what looks to me like a cross-over between and ostrich and a jetski.... Joyce thinks it's actually a dog. WTH!?!?!?
"Hank! Hank! He's ain't a Lego-maniac!" --circa 2011
Saturday, October 29, 2011
Pick your battles... Win, and I still lose
It's 320AM in California. I'm wide awake.
For the past hour, I was battling with nn. Around 2AM this morning, she started crying and screaming. It woke up the entire house and furthermore, she was spiraling into an uncontrollable cyclone of emotions. The more I tried to calm her down... the louder and wilder she got. Kicking... crying.... screaming. Albeit.... she's 2. But then again.... she's 2.
"This has gone on long enough." I thought to myself. So of all the nights... this was the night I wanted to break her. Lay down my final expectations. If you don't want to sleep.... you want to cry and scream and holler at the wee hours of the morning... if you can't control your emotions... then so be it.
For the next 50 minutes, I made her stand. Stand. No timeout. No sit in a corner. Plain old STAND.
She tried crawling back into bed... I told her "No, not until you stop crying." She got louder.... I didn't back down. She had to stand. She went to her usual kick and scream on the floor. I pulled her back up and said if you don't sleep, you stand! She screamed for mom. I said mom needs to sleep... just like everyone else including the sun. Nn pulled out every trick in her tiny 2 year old book. And I stood pat.... she had to stand.
50 minutes. That's almost an hour. We wasted an hour just letting her emotions drain away. Boy!! She's full of energy. After 50 minutes.... she was still going beserk without any signs of tiring.
Where did we go wrong as parents? Why did it have to come to this? She's 2. Did we set our expectations too high? Am I too strict? Or should I believe that this is a phase...she'll grow out of it.
Whether she crawls into bed or not.... whether she fully comprehended the magnitude of her disobedience... whether or not I did the right thing by forcing her to NOT sleep... in the end, I still lose.
For the past hour, I was battling with nn. Around 2AM this morning, she started crying and screaming. It woke up the entire house and furthermore, she was spiraling into an uncontrollable cyclone of emotions. The more I tried to calm her down... the louder and wilder she got. Kicking... crying.... screaming. Albeit.... she's 2. But then again.... she's 2.
"This has gone on long enough." I thought to myself. So of all the nights... this was the night I wanted to break her. Lay down my final expectations. If you don't want to sleep.... you want to cry and scream and holler at the wee hours of the morning... if you can't control your emotions... then so be it.
For the next 50 minutes, I made her stand. Stand. No timeout. No sit in a corner. Plain old STAND.
She tried crawling back into bed... I told her "No, not until you stop crying." She got louder.... I didn't back down. She had to stand. She went to her usual kick and scream on the floor. I pulled her back up and said if you don't sleep, you stand! She screamed for mom. I said mom needs to sleep... just like everyone else including the sun. Nn pulled out every trick in her tiny 2 year old book. And I stood pat.... she had to stand.
50 minutes. That's almost an hour. We wasted an hour just letting her emotions drain away. Boy!! She's full of energy. After 50 minutes.... she was still going beserk without any signs of tiring.
Where did we go wrong as parents? Why did it have to come to this? She's 2. Did we set our expectations too high? Am I too strict? Or should I believe that this is a phase...she'll grow out of it.
Whether she crawls into bed or not.... whether she fully comprehended the magnitude of her disobedience... whether or not I did the right thing by forcing her to NOT sleep... in the end, I still lose.
Sunday, October 02, 2011
Sunday, September 25, 2011
Not quite perfect.... but who is?
Jackie Evancho, an 11-year old soprano prodigy has an angelic voice. But when performing the Broadway masterpiece and one my all time person favorites, "All I Ask of You..." it just doesn't even come close to Sarah Brightman. Regardless of how well of a singer she is... she's still too young and raw to add "soul" into the song. How can an 11 year old possibly be capable of knowing what it feels like to fall in love?
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Saturday, September 17, 2011
6 year anniversary
2005 - "I do..."
2006 - Backpack in Europe
2007 - 兩個都病左. Called in sick and stayed at home.
2008 - forgot lu...
2009 - Nui-nui 3 month old birthday - dinner at Maggiano's
2010 - weekend getaway at Sacramento
2011 - Dropped the kids off with Eden Fellowship and off to LB Steakhouse at Santana Row.
Service was very good! Steak was above average at best. But the conversation during dinner... that was the best part of the night. We talked about child-raising (surprise, surprise)... shared our 5 year plan... (vacation, remodeling, promotion) and lastly... shared the most exciting, most memorable, most unforgettable moment of the past 5 years.
And with tears in my eyes as I am typing these words.... the most memorable moment has got to be the night we found out God blessed us with Nui-nui. (But 11/1/2010 - Giants win the World Series comes in a close second!)
Many more years to come....
2006 - Backpack in Europe
2007 - 兩個都病左. Called in sick and stayed at home.
2008 - forgot lu...
2009 - Nui-nui 3 month old birthday - dinner at Maggiano's
2010 - weekend getaway at Sacramento
2011 - Dropped the kids off with Eden Fellowship and off to LB Steakhouse at Santana Row.
Service was very good! Steak was above average at best. But the conversation during dinner... that was the best part of the night. We talked about child-raising (surprise, surprise)... shared our 5 year plan... (vacation, remodeling, promotion) and lastly... shared the most exciting, most memorable, most unforgettable moment of the past 5 years.
And with tears in my eyes as I am typing these words.... the most memorable moment has got to be the night we found out God blessed us with Nui-nui. (But 11/1/2010 - Giants win the World Series comes in a close second!)
Many more years to come....
Friday, September 16, 2011
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Lonely
Been slammed with an immense wave of loneliness lately. Hard to articulate. Harder to mitigate. How I long to have someone who understands when I don't even understand myself. Maybe it's stress from work. Maybe it's the pressure of raising a family in the midst of a recession. Maybe it's a sudden stagnation in my spiritual life. Maybe it's a little bit of everything. Maybe it's a lot of nothing.
Saturday, September 10, 2011
Prudent in Spending
Insurance is one of those things in life that you never want to buy... never want to use... but you're glad you have it when you need it. Last year... after Bebe was born, we upgraded our AAA membership from Standard to Elite. Aside from other perks... the biggest usage was the towing capacity goes from 10 miles to 100 miles. And boy did it come in handy last night.
Our car broke down in Millbrae - for no apparent reason. I called AAA to jump start it...thinking I may have left the door ajar and the little dome light drained by battery. They came after 40 minutes and couldn't jump start the car. So I had the guy tow our little Civic (which is suppose to reliable, right?) to our house! That's a good 30-35 minutes away.
We even had to put Nui-nui's car seat in the front of the truck with us. Geez louise... Thank goondess everything went as smooth as it did.
Our car broke down in Millbrae - for no apparent reason. I called AAA to jump start it...thinking I may have left the door ajar and the little dome light drained by battery. They came after 40 minutes and couldn't jump start the car. So I had the guy tow our little Civic (which is suppose to reliable, right?) to our house! That's a good 30-35 minutes away.
We even had to put Nui-nui's car seat in the front of the truck with us. Geez louise... Thank goondess everything went as smooth as it did.
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