New Hôm Nay

Here is my very first video with the new Flip camera. Alex picked the color, and she really, really wants to play with it. You can tell she is working on her charm.

If you are in need of a more active bottom, there are several styles available at TJ Maxx.

Well, after packing up the car and getting on the road to Reno last night, we had an unexpected surprise. We had wondered if the weather would be a problem, but it was fine. Instead, Alex started crying and complaining of a tummy ache about one hour into our 8-hour drive. We stopped and tried a potty break, but to no avail. Just past Wendover, she threw up in the car - those of you other parents who have ever cleaned puke out of all the crevices in a car seat know how special that is. :-)

We drove for a while before finding a turnaround point (there are no exits west of Wendover for a LONG time), and went back to Wendover where we spent the next hour and a half in the Wendover Peppermill, breathing cigarette smoke, chasing Sam, and watching Alex throw up again. Despite her unhappy tummy, she was impressed at the "pretty lights" in the casino. At that point we decided we were through, and headed back home to Salt Lake. Happily, the kids slept and Bryan and I enjoyed a nice 2 hours of uninterrupted talk time - a rarity! We had both just had our coffee in preparation for driving half the night, so we were wide awake. We arrived home at 2 a.m. and collapsed into bed.

So, we are spending Christmas at home after all. We had no food in the house because we had planned to be gone, so we got Chinese take-out for Christmas Eve and spent the day unpacking, washing clothes, cleaning up, and catching up on sleep. Now it is Christmas day and we're all feeling well. A big storm is moving in and we're just going to stay home and watch movies and watch the snow fall. Merry Christmas to all!

Alex was coming out of her room at 9:30 pm complaining, "I'm not tired!"
"Well, you can stay in your room and be quiet, or sit in the time out chair for a while. Which will it be?" I said. She chose the chair.

A few minutes later, while transferring wet laundry from the washer to the dryer, I heard a soft snore. Guess she got some time out!

Well, it's that time of year again. People (VA hospital staff) are illegally parking in spots designated for our office at work, causing us to have to park farther and farther away and walk through the snow. Last year I sicced (sp?) the VA police on them and was rewarded by seeing the parking patrol giving tickets. See the link below.



http://hunca-munca.blogspot.com/2008/01/justice-is-served-in-va-parking-lot.html

We'll see how long it takes for the offenders to get their tickets this time. Hopefully not months like last year.

Believe it or not, Sam ate part of a broken Christmas ornament today. I was cooking dinner and saw him walk by crunching something in his mouth. It occurred to me to wonder what he was crunching and when I looked, he had all these sparkly shards in there. Unbelievable. I was glad he hadn't cut himself. I tried getting him to spit it out but it was all stuck inside his mouth, so I swept it out with my fingers the best I could and I think he must have swallowed the rest.

Crazy kid! Has anyone ever eaten anything weirder?!?

I was putting Alex into bed the other night and she said, "Oh, this is the place where my dreams come out."

How sweet, I thought. "Your dreams come out while you're sleeping?"

"Yeah. They come out my bottom!"

Alex was trying to sing, "We wish you a merry Christmas" today in the car, but wasn't quite able to remember it all. She told me they had taught it in preschool. So I sang it for her and she said, "It's not 'we wish you', it's 'we FISH you a merry Christmas, mom." I tried to tell her no, it really is "wish," but she would not hear of it. She insisted it was "we FISH you" and after a couple more tries, I could see this would not be an argument I could win today. So, we are "fishing" you a merry Christmas. A few minutes later she told me, "Mom, if you are bad, then there will be no Christmas this year." I said, "What makes you say that?" and she said, "I told Ava that if you are bad, Santa brings you coal. But Ava told me that if you are bad, then there will be no Christmas this year." I think I know what Ava's been hearing from someone...

Her Cubbies class tonight was pretty entertaining, too. The teacher was quizzing the class about several Bible stories and asked "How did Jesus come to Earth?" The answer
- "In an airplane!" I wouldn't have been surprised if Alex had said that, but it was another kid. Another question was "What is a miracle?" One girl said it was like a maze, and another said it was something you want. It really must be confusing to figure out Christmas when you're hearing it all for the first time.

Alex wants us to make a birthday cake for Jesus this year. But I think she has ulterior motives. She said, "If Jesus couldn't blow out his candles, because he's just a baby, then someone could help him. [pause] Like me."

She watched Rudolph the other night, and has been prancing around pretending to be a reindeer. Christmas really is fun with a four-year-old.

Qué bien vivimos, ¿no?

Mi nevera está llena de comida, pero quizás ese pollo que tengo no haya llevado una vida tan agradable, de hecho no creo que nunca haya tenido ninguna libertad de decidir ni siquiera a dónde ir. Puede que solo tenga unos meses de vida, los cuales es muy probable que fuesen un tormento. No habrá conocido a nadie de su familia, pero sin embargo habrá sido arrastrado por cintas de transporte con otros tantos miles de polluelos y puteado hasta extremos insospechados hasta morir.
Las nuevas técnicas industriales lo único que hacen es aplicar todos lo métodos de producción para tratar nuestra comida como un producto más, bajando mucho la calidad del "producto", sin contar con el estrés de los animales.

¿Porqué el tener dinero para adquirir algo te da derecho sobre la vida de los animales? ¿O de los árboles o plantas?

¿Me hago vegetariano? Desde luego eso ayudaría.
Pero al igual que los pastos para el ganado vacuno, las plantaciones de soja se están cargando el amazonas. De nuevo tener dinero para comprar terreno nos da el derecho para arrasarlo, es curioso. ¿Qué tendrá que ver la vida con el dinero?

Cada vez se consume más carne, lo que tú tienes en la nevera lo quieren tener miles de millones de personas en la suya, por supuesto, pero no va a poder ser. No hay para todos.

Todo es un producto. Enciende la tele, todos los anuncios que ves durante las 24 horas de emisión solo van dirigidos a una cosa: tu dinero. A nadie le importa tu futuro, ni tu salud, ni que parezcas más o menos guapo o guapa, ni que tus hijos coman bien, ni nada de nada, todos y cada uno de los comerciales están pensados para que gastes. Mientras tengas poder adquisitivo eres interesante, sino, te puedes morir. Literalmente. Si no tienes el dolar que cuesta el tratamiento diario para el Sida en África te puedes morir. Parece poco, ¿verdad? pero para la inmensa mayoría un dolar al día es demasiado. Por lo tanto se mueren.

Pero yo tengo tanto porque trabajo mucho y soy muy inteligente, trabajo mis ocho horas diarias más las dos o tres que me lleva arreglarme, vestirme, ir a mi trabajo y volver, sin contar la hora de comida que la tengo que pasar donde mi oficina esté. Eso si no cojo mi coche para meterme en un atasco para comer en casa y marcharme a los 20 minutos. ¿Porqué ocho horas? ¿Porqué 5 días de una semana de 7? ¿Quién ha decidido eso?
Los neandertales dedicaban 15 horas a la semana para procurarse alimento y cobijo. Pero claro, ellos no tenían PlayStation 3 los pobres, ¡que atrasados! Ni seguridad social... Ups, lo mismo nosotros la dejamos de tener en breve. Mejor privatizarla y que se convierta en otro producto como en Estados Unidos donde la mortalidad infantil es la más elevada de los países "civilizados".

El secreto es abaratar, abaratar... Cuanto menos paguemos por algo, mejor. ¿O no? Puede ser que la calidad de vida de los que han fabricado el producto empeore, o que incluso no puedan fabricarlo nunca más porque las grandes supercompañías lo fabriquen por una fracción del precio. Da igual, lo importante es pagar menos, caiga quien caiga, que espabilen. Si una hortaliza de los maravillosos invernaderos de Almería cuesta menos que la de la huerta biológica de al lado mejor comprarla aunque no sepa a nada, ¿no? Es que esos tomates todos tan igualitos son tan monos...

Yo adoro a mis gatas, ahora mismo tengo tres: Candela, Perla y Dora. Cada una tiene su personalidad y sus hábitos. Candela es cariñosa, pero se queja mucho, le gusta salir al balcón y tomar el sol. Perla es menos cariñosa, pero no se queja nunca, no sale al balcón porque se asoma por la barandilla y un día se va a caer, le encanta el agua, Dora es más tranquila, no sale de su casita y no me deja que me acerque, se lleva muy bien con Candela, la cual no se lleva tan bien con Perla, pero la imita en todo lo que hace, espero que no se asome por la barandilla o no la podré volver a dejar salir al balcón.
Las quiero un montón, las beso, comen de maravilla y juego con ellas, hacen lo que quieren. Pero sin embargo los cerdos, las vacas, los corderos, los conejos, las gallinas, los pollos, los patos, los salmones, las truchas, los pulpos, las perdices, etc... son animales estúpidos y no tienen personalidades diferenciadas, se merecen morir y que nos los comamos. Nada de conocer a sus familias ni de vivir en el campo ni nada. A la olla por imbéciles. De hecho cuanto más jovencitos mejor. Mira lo ricos que están los terneritos, los cabritos, los cerditos. De hecho se han llegado a comer cerdos no natos en España, tienen que estar taaan tiernos. Con sus huesecitos sin formar tan crujientes...

Pero bueno, al menos nos quedan los coches, yo quiero mi coche. Cada yo de la tierra quiere su coche. Serán... déjame calcular... unos 6 mil millones de coches. No está mal.

Ya da asco andar por las ciudades, tener que tener cuidado de no pasarte andando un semáforo en rojo o morirás atropellado. O que el conductor no se haya tomado un par de copas de más. Todas las calles de toda la ciudad están forradas de coches, muy necesarios por supuesto. Eso sí, como patines o montes en bici por la acera te insultan porque eres un gilipollas. ¿Para qué usar transporte público? Prefiero ir en mi coche yo solito. Lo malo es que los demás apenas saben conducir, pues les pito hasta reventar, si es que no saben hacer nada... Pero bueno, que mueran miles de personas en accidentes de tráfico o atropelladas solo en España cada año no es importante, como no son atropelladas por terroristas y además el petróleo da un pastón al gobierno...

Por lo menos vivo en la mejor cultura de todas, las demás son una mierda, atrasadas, machistas, ignorantes. Pobrecillos... Aunque si lo pienso se parece mucho a como se vivía aquí hace unos años, ¿no será que los demás también llegarán a los mismos niveles en que nosotros estamos ahora en unos años? ¿Que la diferencia la marcan la situación geográfica preferente, el clima, la cercanía a puertos y los gobiernos corruptos? No, no creo, lo que pasa es que están atrasados y listo. Yo he inventado la sociedad occidental y como tal soy mejor.

No quiero, ¡necesito! lo que tengo. Tengo que comprarme esa colonia, ese polo, esas zapatillas, ese coche, ese móvil, todo eso para encontrar el amor y ser feliz. ¿Cómo sino?
Me tengo que parecer a ese futbolista que ha hecho tanto para que vivamos mejor, o a esa niñata millonaria que es tan feliz y tan guapa y llevar ropa cara y coches de lujo sino no podré ser feliz, ni de coña vamos.

Para eso tengo que trabajar mucho, para poder comprar mucho y para, al final, poder tirar más del 90% de las cosas que compramos. Joder, mi iPhone ya está pasado de moda, acaba de salir otro que hace cosas que necesito. Y una cámara con más megapixeles, aaargh que estrés...

Pero bueno, al menos tengo un piso que me ha costado 100 mil Euros y lo puedo vender por el doble en solo un par de años, pero eso me pasa porque soy muy listo. Que se joda el que no se lo pueda comprar y trabaje lo que yo. Además alquilar es de desgraciados. Viva la especulación. Y poder conseguirme un piso de protección oficial para venderlo aunque no me corresponda porque ya tengo cuatro. Pero es que soy muy inteligente y sé hacer las cosas. Lo bueno es que si me vanaglorio con mis amiguetes en el bar de mis pisos, mis ventas de inmuebles abusivas, mis pisos de protección no merecidos y demás en vez de mirarme mal me van a admirar y a querer imitar. Ser un sinvergüenza está de moda, mola y se liga.

Me voy a ir de caza este finde, como me puedo permitir tener un rifle y pagar las cuotas tengo derecho sobre las vidas de los animales que pasan por mi punto de mira, que se jodan, haber nacido humanos. Y si no les doy bien y se quedan jodidos durante días hasta morir pues eso, que se sigan jodiendo. Yo también sufro en la oficina con el excel. Vivan mis zapatillas de cuero.

¿Qué dicen en la tele? ¿Que nos van a subir la jornada laboral a 65 horas? Quita esto que es una mierda y pon el partido que hoy juegan los suputamadre contra tal.

Etcétera, etcétera, etcétera... Un asco vamos.

We had a very nice Thanksgiving. The day was actually very relaxing, and I reflected throughout the day on my good fortune to live in this time and place, and especially for the people God has given me to love. Thank you, God. :-)

We cooked the turkey in the crock pot this year, at the suggestion of my friend Tammy, and it turned out delicious! Moist and tender. I had made the sweet potatoes (yams with apples and cranberries) the night before, and everything else was pretty easy - green beans, glazed carrots, and berry cobbler. Buzzmeo brought the stuffing, mashed potatoes, and delicious Pumpkin Gooey Cake that is better than pumpkin pie. We also enjoyed having two Korean university students, Hyejin and Mira, who are here for the year studying elementary education. Their favorite menu item seemed to be the stuffing. :-) I told them, "Sorry, no kimchee today" and they laughed. They also introduced us to a new Korean snack, sweet potato chips with a glazed coating - kind of plain, but good (and Sam ate handfuls.) We enticed them into playing a game of Settlers after dinner, and they were quick learners and seemed to enjoy it. The kids are really changing and growing, as evidenced by the fact that we could get through a whole game without having to referee much, although I'm sure the videos helped, and the playroom seemed to have endured a small tornado. Still, it was a LOT better than years past. Alex and Ava play together SO well now.

Sam continues to give us scary moments and reasons to be thankful he's still alive. Last night he heard John go out to start the car, and ran out the front door after him yelling "Mommy!" (I guess he thought it was me). John did not notice and was backing out the driveway in the dark with Sam outside, but luckily he had the sense to stay out of the way. I heard him yell and ran for the door, reaching him in time to grab him. Then today he saw me squirting OxiClean on Alex's coat and grabbed the bottle and squirted some in his mouth - ack! This is the second "Poison Control" moment we've had in 2 weeks, the first one being his sampling of one of my thyroid pills. Good grief - I try to be careful but it seems I am often 2 steps behind him. Give him one chance at a dangerous situation, he'll grab it. I'm glad for the grace we get as parents - and hope it continues - even as I try to keep ahead of him instead of behind him.

Alex: Mom, do you know what the silliest thing is?
Me: No, what's the silliest thing?
Alex: Getting up in the morning when it's still dark outside!

Yup - pretty silly, all right. Too bad the world still expects us to go to work even if it's dark. I love the 4-year-old insights we're getting these days.

The other day she told me she wants her eyebrows painted like rainbows. Where do they come up with this stuff?

Alex and her preschool class presented us with a cute Thanksgiving program yesterday. Here she is in her "Indian" outfit (OK, Native American) which she decorated herself. Alex loves to sing at home, but apparently does not think much of singing in groups. Mostly she just stood there and watched while the other kids sang. This surprises me because she tends to be outgoing, and she sings the songs for me in the car, but I wonder how much of it is just stubbornness/nonconformist leanings...anyway, it was a cute program and I was impressed with how much the teachers got 24 3- and 4-year-olds to do!

Last night I shopped for Thanksgiving dinner at WalMart, with no kids. I'm finding ways to avoid taking them with me to the store anymore - Sam climbs out of the cart and both kids are getting bolder about fighting in public and/or grabbing stuff off shelves. What a pain! Now I know how my mom felt when she took us to the store. :-) Anyway, I was pleased with all the bargains I found. Wally World will match prices of any local store's ads, so I got lots of stuff "on sale" at one place. I felt like such a savvy shopper and even remembered to bring my own bags. :-) I love my heavy-duty, insulated canvas bags but half the time I still forget to take them in. I do better without 2 little monkeys.

I'm going to try new recipes for crock pot turkey breast and stuffing from Tammy. Her recipes have never failed me yet, so I'm looking forward to these. Except for the green olives - those will just have to be omitted from any stuffing of mine.

And now - if I can get rid of this horrible, awful virus that is attacking my entire respiratory tract lining, I'll be ready for cooking, feasting, and hopefully good times with friends and family next week.

I tried a new recipe this weekend - it was yummy!

http://www.nutritionmd.org/recipes/view.html?recipe_id=205

Yams, apples, and cranberries are a good combination.

November 8, 2008 - today we said goodbye to our crib. Wah!

For the past three years, five months and fifteen days it has been in use every single day and night. When I think about it, it's been such a haven of security and rest for both Alex and Sam. The past few months, however, it has become just another jungle gym for Sam, something to climb up and jump off of. So, away it went today to the recycled-kids'-stuff store - I hope it finds a good home.

I'll miss it. I can't believe my babies aren't babies anymore!

On a different topic: we made two yummy things this weekend. One was a fruit cobbler (thanks to Shari Kawashima) - just dump frozen berries, a box of yellow cake mix, and a can of diet Sprite into a pan and voila! I will use this one again!

The other was more laborious to make, but yummy and nutritious AND both kids ate it up and asked for more. And it's all made of vegetables! See

http://www.nutritionmd.org/recipes/view.html?recipe_id=579

for this recipe for stuffed spaghetti squash. I did not steam it, since I don't have a steamer large enough, but baking it worked just as well. Again, time-consuming enough that I won't make it often, but it was very good.

This was a low-key, very nice Halloween. We did not carve any pumpkins or put out any decorations, except a cute ghost with a spiral tail that Alex made at school.

We went trick-or-treating with some friends There was a light drizzle so we came home a little earlier than we otherwise would, but that was just fine with our 2- and 4-year-olds.

The evening was passed very pleasantly with Pumpkin Jack's ale, chocolate, several rounds of Scattergories and 3 mainly happy kids playing in the background.

Just a good night. Friends, family, a little candy thrown in.

I can't believe it myself, but the more I learn about food production and the agriculture industry, the more inclined I am to eat less meat and more plants. Even more shocking is the sudden consideration of substituting soy and/or rice milk for cow's milk. What is this world coming to? I, who grew up loving all things dairy, no longer an enthusiastic supporter of the industry that brings me yogurt, ice cream, and cheese? No wayyyyy!

People are soooooo opinionated about food. Browsing vegan websites and books is interesting. I never knew eating dairy and eggs could be so evil. But there it is - animal cruelty, chickens with their beaks cut off, laying hens with their skins rubbed raw from pressing against the cages, cows juiced up on hormones and connected to milking machines for so many hours they develop open sores on their udders (that then drain pus into the milk, but that's OK because it's pasteurized!). Is all this for real or is it just the animal rights nuts' blowing things out of proportion?

Well, I'm not jumping off the deep end just yet. I reserve my right to eat animal flesh in healthy, sparing amounts when I feel like it. But I'm interested in trying some of the alternatives. Hey, I already know I like veggie burgers as much as hamburgers and they're a lot healthier. I've found a website (NutritionMD.org) that has recipes and nutritional information and I've been eating mainly "vegetarian" for the past week (except for the 2 slices of ham that I needed to "use up" because I had already bought it). So far I like eating all these fruits, veggies, grains and legumes, and I even like soy milk although it takes a little getting used to. The vanilla flavor is a hit with the kids. Bryan is willing to give it a try too, because Buzz told him his acne went away when he went off dairy. Hmmm. Anyway, the trick is to not replace the meat with a boatload of cheese and eggs. So far we're doing well but it's only been a couple weeks.

Anyone who has cool yummy vegetarian recipes, feel free to send them to me!

I'll post my favorites when I find them.

I've always had a thing against Landon Donovan. The tag of "best US soccer player of his generation" rang a bit hollow when you looked at what he's achieved on a global scale. His two aborted attempts at Bayer Leverkusen in Germany really frustrated me.

You see, the guy has undeniable skill. He might not be considered world class per se, but he definitely is the best player in the MLS pre-Beckham by a country mile. If he had stuck with it and tried to develop himself in Europe at an earlier age, I believe he would've achieved much more and became a far better player than he is today.

What I find really irritating wasn't that he had tried to play at a club and failed, it was the manner of his failure. It wasn't based on not being good enough to get into the first team. It wasn't about a bad atmosphere or a league that was too difficult for him. It was his inability or unwillingness to experience life outside of the US. His first stint in Germany was at a very young age (16, I think), and he struggled to adapt to life in Europe and so he was allowed to go back on loan to the MLS until he matured enough to be able to handle the situation. In San Jose he prospered, and was consistently the best performer on a mediocre team. He publicly spoke about his nightmare in Germany and not being able to cope with the move away from the US.

Then came the second stint at the age of 23. Bayer Leverkusen wanted a player of his calibre back to contribute, and he was forced to leave the US again. Once again, he failed to adjust to his surroundings and a move back to the MLS and the LA Galaxy followed suit. I was really disappointed to hear about it at the time, since I thought that surely Germany cannot be THAT bad? And even if its not exactly where he'd like to live, it is more than simply a positive career step and going back the mediocrity of the MLS was the least ambitious thing I have ever heard of.

My friends struggled to see why I was so upset. Surely he had a right to choose where he wanted to live? My grief was in the fact that he was living my dream and making a mess of it. He had the talent to be a world class player, he was a professional footballer with everything he ever wanted.. and he couldn't leave the comfort zone of "America, the Best Place on Earth".

Landon came out recently and said that he is now dreaming of a move to Spain or England. He recognises that his game would improve drastically over in Europe, but he's unsure now whether any club would sign him after his antics in Germany. He's finally matured enough to think with a professional mindset.. but he's almost 27 now, and a lot of time was lost where he could've further honed his craft in more competitive surroundings.

As a person, I don't know Mr. Donovan and have little regard to how his life turns out to be. Its the concept that bothers me, the fact that his reluctance to put some pressure on himself to further improve on his God given talent stems from his inability to leave the US cocoon. When I first went to university, my roommate who hails from New York asked me why anyone would want to live anywhere but the United States. His lack of geographical orientation astounded me, and I wondered sometimes how many Americans can locate any given country on a map of Europe if presented with the challenge. I'm sure there are many worldly and knowledgable yanks, but the majority seem resistant to the fact that the world holds much more than just the 50 states. My roommate went on to developing a fondness for Europe and a willingness to travel around the world, despite his initial reluctance. It took him 6 years, but he came 'round in the end.. as did all the other Americans who I'm proud to say took a piece of Europe back home with them. May it extend to affect all of the people surrounding them.

So, Landon, I'm glad that you've finally had your moment of enlightenment. There's more out there than simply the good ol' US of A and the MLS. Time to see if firsthand.

Una serie de animación genial:

I just want to record for posterity that it IS possible. Today I had a near-perfect commute. After one stop (first light on Wasatch) I got every single light green from my house to work, even the left turn from Foothill onto Sunnyside. The entire drive took 18 minutes.

There was hardly any traffic on the road today. I'm guessing that means that UEA weekend (Utah Education Association, I think) must apply to the University too.

Not only did I have a perfect commute, I had my choice of parking spaces. The east half of the parking circle in front of Bldg 4 was EMPTY when I arrived at 8:18. I don't think this has ever happened on a non-holiday. I didn't realize how many people would be taking time off for this school break.

It sure would be nice if my commute were like this every day!

Here's what's been going on...

Sam likes to sleep on the floor of his room, against the door. With his blanket around his head like a turban. He has decided his favorite binky is the one that says "Mute Button."

Alex ran too close to her trundle bed and bumped her shin on the iron frame - painful! I was telling her it's hard to see that frame because of the mattress and if we're not careful, we could stub our toes. She said, "Yeah, and if you were crawling you would stub your face!" :-)

We enjoyed a nice visit from my mom last week. She and I played one game of Scrabble and it was a close race. I was losing most of the time but I totally lucked out at the end with a 47-point word and won by 3 points. I should credit my mom for letting me use the dictionary, which isn't allowed in real Scrabble. Anyway, it was fun.

We had our first snow of the year on October 12. Today it was back in the 60's and beautiful.

Last night I finally figured out how to get Alex back for her naughty screaming fits in the car. For about the last year she has discovered that she can get away with a lot of bad attitude and very disrespectful behavior while safely strapped in her car seat with me in the front. I've been frustrated because threatening her with a time out just doesn't seem to cut it - she will go on with her screaming, tantrums, whining, demands, and general obnoxiousness no matter how much time out she endures on arriving home.

Last night in the midst of her tirade she even yelled, "You're going to DIE." What the...? I ignored that but it was a scary thing to hear from your four-year-old. Maybe she's been watching too many Disney movies - ever notice there is never an intact "nuclear family" in a Disney movie? The main character is usually deprived of at least one parent at some point. Anyway...

I read a strategy in a parenting book once that suggested dropping your kids off a mile before home and making them walk the rest of the way. That will be beautiful once they are older, but as much as I would like some peace and quiet in the car, I just can't do it at this point. I am saving it though...

So last night, while enduring another ridiculous four-year-old rant, I rolled down the windows and that made her mad. She doesn't like the wind. She screamed and complained of being cold (it was probably 70 degrees out). I told her when she could talk to me nicely I would roll the windows up. She kept demanding (very imperially) for me to close the windows, alternating with more screaming and crying. This sounds really BAD, but up front I was smiling at FINALLY getting some payback for all the tantrums I've endured in the car! We were home before she changed her tune (and even that was only after a double time out in the car seat in the dark garage).

Speaking of time out, I've had to get creative with that too. She will spit on the floor or kick the doors or walls when she's in time out - not something I feel I should tolerate. When she does this I put her outside on the front porch - she's strapped into the high chair (good thing she's still small). Usually this calms her right down. It will be interesting to see what happens in the winter.

I feel really mean sometimes. It seems like she really needs to push to the point where she breaks down, and then she takes a long time to recover her equilibrium. Last night, for example, she went from full defiance mode in the car (first four minutes) to hysterical panic after another four minutes. (Being alone in the dark garage probably was scary.) I'm open to suggestions.

But for now, I am happy to found a trick to get to her in the car. I think it will help, especially as the weather gets cooler!

We were sitting around the table eating lunch. Alex was counting (for some reason) and every time she said a number, Sam said the number too. Alex said, "I don't want Sam to count." I asked why. "Because then he would be wasting elevens!"

Elevens. A terrible thing to waste. :-)

"La ciencia puede haber encontrado cura para la mayoría de los males, pero no ha encontrado remedio para el peor de todos, la apatía del ser humano"

Visto en"www.animalliberationfront.com"

We signed Alex up for a preschool program at the Catholic church near us. Yesterday was her first day. She's been talking about preschool for months, telling us all that she plans to learn (especially learning to whistle). As we were getting ready to go she told Bryan, "I'm so excited to go to preschool!" The first day is made much less intimidating by having the parents stay the whole time. She knew I would be with her and we didn't have Sam to divert my attention away from her. Still, when the moment came and we were getting out of the car, she became pretty apprehensive. "My stomach hurts," she said. "I think I want to go home."

Flashback to last year, when she developed a stomachache in the car on the way to her first day of preschool (at a different location). I was suspicious that the stomachache was due to nerves, but decided to stay and see how she did. Good thing, because although she ran in and seemed to be having fun immediately, even flirting with a nice boy, she suddenly stopped and complained that her stomach hurt again. It seemed real enough and although I was disappointed to have her first day end that way, I took her out. I had planned to have lunch with a friend so she came along, but we no sooner sat down than she vomited right at the table. :-( Afterwards she seemed fine. I guess I'll never know whether that was nerves or a virus. She definitely complains of stomachaches when things are stressful, so I think she is just susceptible to stress and that is how it affects her. Poor thing.

So yesterday, when she developed the instant stomachache at the sight of the preschool building, I wasn't sure what to think. Do I give off any "vibes" that make her more nervous? I didn't think I did, but I'm sure both of us have our subconscious anxiety about the start of a new school year. She wanted me to carry her rather than walk by herself, something that is becoming rarer now, but I obliged. We checked out the bathrooms and then joined the class, where she clung to me for a couple minutes until she saw the play-dough. There was no more mention of tummy-aches the rest of the morning, and though she didn't interact much with the other kids, at least she seemed happily absorbed. I noticed she is becoming conscious that there is a "right" way to color (inside the lines) - a notion that had not seemed to cross her mind last year. She watched the other kids and started to color in a small, tentative way, then stopped and asked me, "Am I doing it right?" Part of my heart breaks for her, seeing this awareness creeping in - the awareness of social environments, expectations, and fear of public humiliation or judgment based on performance. I fear the premature squelching of my free-spirited child. But there is a positive side to it too: without this awareness of others and one's social interactions, how could anyone do well in school, or develop compassion, or succeed in sports or academics or life?

All in all, the hour passed quickly. It ended with story time, some kids sitting on the rug in a circle, some (Alex included) on their mom's or dad's laps. She seemed not to be paying particular attention to the story, and I thought it was a bit slow-paced, but later she was able to tell me what it was about with reasonable detail. In retrospect, I would say the first day was a success. Especially compared to last year - no vomiting - yay! :-) It is quite something to think of the years and years of school ahead of her. Today was one small step forward into what will become a significant part of her life.

The last half of August brings happy celebrations for us. Alex turned 4 on the 19th and Sam's arrival day is the 24th. Alex chose a cake with rubber-bug finger puppets on it, and got some cool presents related to her latest interest in bugs - a ladybug game, a plastic "Venus fly trap" that catches bugs into a clear cylinder for viewing, a "bug loupe" to magnify them, and 5 live caterpillars that will soon be turning into butterflies. To balance things out, she also got some new princess attire and a fairy princess doll with black hair and a matching dress. I guess she can be the queen of bugs.

We had her party at Wheeler Farm, and it turned out great. Bryan's remote-control airplane was a big hit, despite a brief stay on the pavilion's roof. (We got it down just fine.) The kids enjoyed making fruit loop necklaces (easy party activity - just bring floss and fruit loops!) and we attempted some games, but with 1-4 year olds the games were pretty chaotic. We played Follow the Leader, Hot Potato, and chased balloons which were blown around by the wind. We lit the candles, sang happy birthday, and Alex was all ready to blow out the candles when she got some "help" from her friends - at which point she cried - ironic because SHE was the one who blew out Ava's candles at Ava's party. Poetic justice was served, but she didn't appreciate it. She cried all the way through the second candle-lighting-and-singing, but recovered in time to blow out her own candles and was soon engrossed in cake and presents. Once again I felt so thankful and lucky to have Alex, and said a special prayer (in my heart) for her birth mother. I wonder what she thinks about on this day.

Alex's party day was also Sam's arrival day. How he has grown. He decided to mark his accomplishment by finally climbing out of his crib. He climbed out twice the other day, though I didn't see him do it. He appeared this morning in the kitchen before 7 a.m., sleepy and clinging to his blanket. Ah, the glory days of confining him safely to his bed are over...and at only 2 years and 4 months. Alex was well over 3 before she ever thought of climbing out. We are debating between keeping him in his crib a while longer, versus just putting a mattress on the floor. Either way, we have a Sam on the loose so we will have to be on our guard. :-)

And that's the update. One of the pictures may need explanation. It shows Alex being an owl, showing how she can turn her head around backwards. :-)

In spite of my love affair with most team and individual sports, I was never one to follow track and field with anything more than a passing interest in the latest world record. I must admit that the advent of the olympics didn't really strike much of a chord with me, especially after one of the best football tournaments ever in Euro 2008. How could you follow up all the drama of the beautiful game and hope to fill the void that exists after a major international tournament?

To me, the olympics has always been too many sports on at the same time, which is quite confusing and distracting. Things like swimming, sailing, shooting, gymnastics, tae kwon do, amateur boxing, fencing, track cycling, 20km walkathon, water polo, etc etc.. they just don't really resonate for some reason. Lack of globally identifiable athletes? Difficulty to "watch-in-passing" for people are not intimately familiar with the sport?

The first thing that captured my imagination was Micheal Phelps' 8 gold medals. I didn't really watch any of his events, aside from a replay of one of them, but to have lived in a time where such a record is broken was exciting stuff. The real kicker was the track and field, however. If you conjure up an image of the olympics, the first thing you'd think of besides the hoops logo and the flame would be an olympic stadium with a big track and large patch of grass (which would be awesome to play football on) in the middle. Athletics have always been the heart and soul of the games, and this year has been a special one.

Usain Bolt, fastest man in the world. His antics and showboating as infuriatingly endearing as anything you've ever seen. His run in the 100m was something else. To be so blase about it all and still manage to shred his own world record is something I will remember watching for the rest of my life. I've never set a reminder to watch a track and field event in the past, but after that race I had to see if he can do it in the 200m. The fact that he did was almost expected but just as exciting. The cool thing was that he busted a nut this time around. Micheal Johnson is known as Superman, and its for good reason that his record stood for 12 years. Bolt really pushed himself for that one, and its going to be interesting to see how much further he can take it, being so young and all. The theory goes that he'll try to incrimentally better his world record to keep the money and the interest rolling (a la Sergey Bubka), but I don't know if its humanly possible to do better with the 200m. Although there had been some headwind that night, so you never know.

I've now developed a routine of watching the olympics coverage at lunch and after work (government working hours, 7-2), and I must say that its really introduced me to something new. I can't say that I'll now start following all the other events like the world championships and the commonwealth games, because only the olympics can give you this feeling. I am, however, much more interested in London 2012 than I was two weeks ago!

It's summer and I'm feeling lazy. So lazy I haven't even blogged for the past few weeks. I've also been choosing sleep over workouts - frustrating, as I love the way I feel when I get my workouts in, and I know I should be getting up early to take advantage of these beautiful early summer mornings - but some part of me must be unconsciously yearning for those carefree summer days of childhood...no school, no obligations, nothing I HAD to do. Not to mention the Olympics are sucking up a lot of my time. Those opening ceremonies were sure impressive, weren't they? I watched the synchronized diving last night - I don't remember ever seeing that before, but it was sure beautiful. We're having fun rooting for Korea and the US.

But just because I'm feeling lazy doesn't mean I'm actually sitting around doing nothing. Ah, that would be nice, but my life doesn't really enable that anymore. This weekend I've enjoyed some quality time with Ava and Lena while Cameo worked, which is fun and busy. Alex and Ava are playing SO well these days - it is so GREAT after the past couple years of 2- and 3-year old competition and fighting! Lena is getting more capable of holding her own against Sam, though he is still the primary aggressor, but it is hard to stay mad at him because he's so darn cheerful even when he's misbehaving and getting time out. He actually kisses me when I put him in the time out chair and loves to buckle himself in. Very talented at using his charm. His latest trick is opening the refrigerator and helping himself to whatever he wants. He can't reach much above the veggie drawer, but he enjoys his stolen mouthfuls of lettuce and green onions. When he sees me coming he runs away chewing joyously. I wouldn't mind it so much if he didn't leave the refrigerator door open...or pieces of chewed greenery lying about...

In closing, I have to give an honorable mention to my latest audiobook, which I'm only about 1/3 of the way through: The Life of Pi by Yann Martel. A good summer read, well told, lots of adventure mixed with food for thought about God/religion and interesting facts about various animals. Definitely unique!

Pues sí, como dice el título del post he vuelto a Madrid.
He empaquetado unas cuantas camisetas, libros comics y a mi gatita Candela (ya os hablaré de ella) y me he venido a Madrid tras aceptar una oferta de trabajo bastante jugosa.
He vuelto a currar para Babel, mi antigua compañía de UK. Me han pedido de rodillas y llorando que vuelva con ellos y les ayude con un proyectito en Madrid relacionado con EA.

¿Ventajas? Que mi familia y mis amigos están aquí tan felices de verme, que no pagan mal, que me encanta Madrid y que pillo más experiencia que nunca viene mal para el CV.
¿Desventajas? Que curro como un animal de carga. Soy el típico pringado que va con dos móviles de aquí para allá. Hecho más horas que un reloj y además tengo que estar "on call", vamos que tengo que estar localizable a cualquier hora. Un infiernazo...

Pues eso, que si andas por Madrid y te apetece podemos quedar y liarla un poquillo.
Yo ya he estado en un par de fiestecillas y festivales. Por cierto, no os perdáis el Payback, garitón en la Sala Changó, (Covarrubias, 42) para unas sesiones de Hip Hop, Oldskool, Dubstep...

Besos!

How funny - right after I posted that debate I was having about which cookbook was better - here is a New York Times article reporting that the author of one of the books is suing the other for copyright infringement!

I don't know enough about the case to comment on whether it's legitimate - but unless the content is expressly the same, I wouldn't think the lawsuit will be successful. Could the writer of one vegetarian cookbook sue another writer of a vegetarian cookbook, just for stealing the idea?

Anyway, I'm thinking I probably won't buy either book at the moment - at this point, my kids seem to be doing fine eating their fruits and veggies, especially with a little butter or sugar on them. :-)

Gamedevmap es una web de grandísima utilidad para los que nos dedicamos a los videojuegos.
Es un mapa del mundo donde puedes elegir la ciudad que te apetezca y te dice que empresas de videojuegos tienen sede en dicha ciudad.
Una maravilla.

Recently two cookbooks have been brought to my attention - "Deceptively Delicious" and "The Sneaky Chef."

Both books purport to help you "hide" veggies and healthy stuff in your kids' food so they will get better nutrition. I am intrigued by the idea, as my kids are getting pickier, though they still eat pretty well. (I'm a little worried about Sam, who yells "Fries!" every time we pass a McDonald's.) It is getting easier now that they have more teeth and can actually eat salad if it's chopped up. Still, I'm always open to new ideas that can help us get our 3-5 servings a day of fruits and veggies.

The ratings are a little higher for the Sneaky Chef on Amazon. Has anyone used either of these books or made any of the recipes? I'm wondering if they are very time-consuming, and also if they are really "healthy" or if it's just hype.

We enjoyed a beautiful summer evening last night with Mom, Dad, Buzz, Cameo, Bean, Ava, Lena, Alex, Sam, and Tres. The kids played for a long time with the rocket-sprinkler and ended up wet and naked and very happy. We decided the girls should at least put their panties back on when the neighborhood boys started hanging around the fence watching the fun. Sam experienced his first pee into the grass, at least I think it was his first, and his expression was priceless as he watched this process sans diapers...and maybe next summer he will be out of diapers altogether - a nice thought!

The adults enjoyed chicken carbonara, green beans, Waldorf salad made with yogurt, and 2 kinds of pie...mmmmm...it was perfect weather to sit outside. This summer is much easier than last in terms of the kids, with Sam being able to play more independently, and Alex and Ava playing TOGETHER and not fighting. :-) Alex did accidentally sock Ava below her left cheekbone (while they were both spinning in circles with their arms outstretched under the sprinkler), but they managed to remain friends. During dinner someone (Lena?) started crying and Alex said, "It's too loud. And if it's too loud, I won't eat!" She DID eat but it's true, she is sensitive to noise. Last time we were at Buzz's house, Ava got hit by a ball and cried, which caused Alex to say, "It's too loud," and then Alex cried and screamed (much louder and longer than Ava). Do they make earplugs for 3-year-olds?

Last night Sam pretended he was a dog, crawling on hands and feet and "arf-arf-arf"-ing all over the deck. It's the first I've seen him really get into "pretend" play for that long, and it was cute. He also has learned to ask "Why?" whenever we ask him to do or not do something...kind of funny coming from a kid who can barely put two words together let alone understand the reasoning of "why" we're telling him things...between him and Alex asking "Why?" every 5 seconds, though, I'm tempted to resort to that famous "Because I said so" even though I swore I would never do that.

The pictures are of the kids on the train - we rode it to the Gateway a couple days ago. I NEVER thought Sam would fall asleep on the train, but I guess he was just too tired.

We're having fun this week with family in town. My sisters Mary and Robin, my parents, and Bryan's mom are all here AND I'm working the hospital every day, so it's feeling fun and slightly out of control. :-) Between us we have kids ages 5 months, 1,2,3, and 4 so there's plenty of action. Last night we drove up Big Cottonwood canyon to the nature trail around Silver Lake. As we entered the canyon Alex said, "Wow, this world is so pretty, I need to take some pictures," and she proceeded to snap several "photos" with her play cell phone. :-) She is wearing dresses more as the summer heats up, but they are a bit awkward with the 5-point booster seatbelt, and when I put her in the car yesterday I guess her panties were pulling the wrong way and she said, "Stop it! You're pulling my bottom off!" and she was not pleased at all the giggles from me and Nana.

Just as we tried to enter the parking lot at Silver Lake, a car in the lot erupted in flames and we watched an exciting firefighting show as they squirted foam on it and hacked open the hood with a crowbar. Strangely enough, Bryan and I had witnessed another car fire in this same parking lot about a year ago. We didn't learn what caused it but no one was injured.

It was quite cool at the lake (upper 50's, compared to 90's in Salt Lake) but pleasant. We didn't see any moose as we have in the past, but did see fish, birds, beaver, and - the kids' favorite - a pair of mallard ducks that were nibbling at this really mucky, slimy stuff at the edge of some standing water...Sam said "yuck" and "duck" a lot. Sam pushed Alex in the stroller for a good 100 yards and even managed to stay on the trail.

Unrelated: We tried a couple new recipes from the Thai cookbook this week: Thai peanut patties with ground turkey, which fell apart on the grill but tasted good, and a Thai peanut salad with cold noodles, cilantro, peanut butter, honey, salsa, and ham. Sounds weird but it turned out pretty good.

I'm just recording these here because I want to remember the silly things our kids say - these made us laugh.

We were at the park with Ava and saw a goose with one of those lumps on the top of its beak. Ava laughed and said, "That duck has a crazy nose on top of its head!" :-)

Alex was in the dressing room with Nana (B's mom) at the swimming pool and said to her while she was getting dressed, "You have big muscles!" :0)

Bryan and Nana were swimming with Alex. Alex did something brave and Bryan said, "That's my girl!" Nana said, "That's MY girl!" and Alex said, "No, I'm HIS."

:-)

I've enjoyed cooking some new dinners from my new "Thai cooking and more" cookbook (a Borders $4 special). So far, I've made Pad Thai, Buddha's delight, and baked fish with Thai pesto. They were all good but I think the Thai pesto has been the best so far. It has lemon juice and grated/zested lemon peel, fresh basil, cilantro, and mint leaves, garlic, green onions, jalapeno, and peanut oil. (Maybe something else but that's all I can remember.) I may try cutting the peanut oil in half and substitute broth or something less fattening next time. You chop it all up in a food processor and spread it on salmon fillets (or fish of your choice) and bake. Mmmmm. It was really good!

This weekend was fabulous. The women's group at our church took a little time out for pampering at a Park City condo. Nothing was scheduled. We just hung out together and relaxed. Luxurious for moms of small kids, which we all were. I think the idea of time away is most appealing when you are used to working hard at home. I did not miss cooking or cleaning up after every meal. Thanks to the good husbands for taking care of things so we could feel human again. :-)

Books I'm reading these days (I like to read several at once) -

The New Testament and the People of God - NT Wright - a scholar's history of the first century environment, Jewish and other, surrounding Jesus and the early Christian movement.

If Jesus Were Mayor by Bob Moffitt - about the role of the local church in the community. We may tackle this one next in women's group. I like his emphasis on living your faith through action.


Bagels, Dim Sum, and Grits - about living as a multicultural family. This was part of my inspiration to buy the Thai cookbook. My first attempt at Pad Thai was delicious, even though I used too many noodles. :-)

Dave Ramsey's money management audiobook - I've only listened to the first 2 chapter or so, and so far haven't learned anything new, but he's entertaining (though occasionally annoying) to listen to.

Con Netdisaster podéis ver la web que os de la gana atacada con los desastres más terroríficos.
Bueno, los hay que no son tan horribles como la manifestación que está invadiendo mi blog en la foto de abajo.



No es una página muy útil, pero para darle un sustito a alguien no está mal.

He cambiado de dominio, ahora es kbushi.com

Haven't posted in a while. We've been busy! Here are pics from our trip to Phoenix. (I got to go present a paper for a conference, and we decided the whole family should come.)

Phoenix was GREAT. The hotel we stayed in was quite the resort - complete with water park, palm trees and fountains. It was perfect weather to enjoy the swimming pools, the wave pool and the "lazy river" (. Alex surprised me with her boldness in the wave pool. She has learned that with a life vest and her little toucan inner tube, she is invincible in the water. Even after one wave smacked her in the face, she still wanted to go back for more. In the evenings they showed a kid movie over the pool. This will be perfect in a few years; as it was, I couldn't really watch the movie because I was trying to focus on keeping the kids from drowning unnoticed. They sure had fun - they thought it was pretty cool to be in the pool at sunset. The kids slept well in the hotel except for one day when Sam learned he could climb out of the pack and play (see picture). We moved it away from the bed and that seemed to foil him again. Whew.

I had a nice mix of attending conference meetings, shopping the outlet mall, and playing in the water with the kids. I haven't traveled much for work in the past couple of years, trying to stay closer to home and the kids, but it was nice to get out of my usual work environment and meet people who are tackling the same problems from different angles. I felt happy with my presentation, and it generated so much discussion among the audience that the moderator had to cut it off so the next person could speak. At least they didn't fall asleep, as the department chair did while I defended my master's thesis. Anyway - I'm happy that part is over and look forward to presenting the same material to another audience in July.

We visited a train park too - this was really up Sam's alley. He looks so serious in the pictures but he really did have a good time. Really!


Alex insisted I include this picture of her showing off her bandaids. She skinned her knees at the train park. She stood up for an entire bath trying to keep the bandaids from coming off. :-)

Even though we returned to a cool and wet Salt Lake City, it felt like we got a good start on summer vacation. Hooray for summer!