Today I'm grateful for:
--cooler weather
--that my husband can drive the kids today so I can do my brainstorming
--lunches with my mom (especially sushi at a restaurant that would be too pricey for me)
--that we live in a relatively peaceful place
--our jobs
--our parents
--public libraries (again)
--birds singing in the morning
Not much else to say right now. Must run to work for a busy day.
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Monday, July 26, 2010
Crazy storm
I know I missed out on yesterday's posting, but we had a giant storm and lost our electricity. That's my excuse. I was sitting in the living room, playing Monopoly with Philip while Sofia and Angelina ran rings around us. I'm usually unexceptional at Monopoly, but this time I had a green property monopoly, the dark purple ones right after Go, both utilities, and all 4 railroads. I had 1 house on each of the green ones and 4 on the purple Baltics. I kept thinking about how this game was invented in Atlantic City during the Depression, and how I wished I could amass property like this right now. I was also remembering -- amazingly enough, given how long ago it was -- a book I read when I was a kid about how to win at Monopoly. Apparently you could take a prince or a pauper strategy, although I don't remember what they are right now. Also, the book calculated the likelihood of landing on each of the properties, and -- surprisingly -- it's not random.
I was in the midst of cleaning Philip out of house and home, when the wind started to blow wildly. We not-so-intelligently crowded to the window, while we watched trees sway and a giant branch come down in our neighbor's yard. Then the rain came down, literally in sheets. Soon after that, the electricity shut off, and the house began to heat up. Pretty crazy... Bojan ran out to move the Hyundai, because it was situated under the weak tree that we've begged the County to get rid of. We call it the Moon Tree, because Philip used to see the moon behind it when he was younger than Angelina is now. Luckily, the Moon Tree sustained little damage. (Which is less than I can say for my parents, who had one of their trees go crashing through their neighbor's roof, rendering the place uninhabitable.) Once it was clear that the electricity would be out for a while, the kids starting asking for hot chocolate and talking about how they wanted to cuddle up with blankets. I guess they were remembering Snowmageddon, when we last lost electricity and it hit 42 degrees F in our house overnight.
After a couple of hours of sweating in a steamy house, we headed out for dinner in Downtown Silver Spring. It was great to get out, and we managed to snag an outside table at Austin Grill. We ended up sitting between two sets of neighbors -- one of whom we knew, and the other whom we hadn't met before. Service was awful, but luckily the kids were able to run around by the sprayground. By the time we got home, our power had returned, thank God and PEPCO.
Anyway, with all of that, I just didn't have time to post yesterday. And then today, when I went to drop Angelina off at Miss Wiwin's, I noticed that her giant red minivan was no longer there. It turned out that their power had never come back on, so Miss Winwin had taken her family to her sister's place. And Northwood Camp was closed for the same reason, so I designated it a girls' day out. We went to Brookside Gardens, which was also closed due to power outages. Luckily, the gardens themselves were open, so we saw lots of flowers and butterflies (pictures to follow). We're home now, with Sofia playing a computer game (bad mom!) and Angelina blessedly taking a nap. So, now is the time to say what I'm grateful for today:
1. Electricity, and PEPCO's ability to restore it in our neighborhood
2. That I have an understanding workplace that lets me take these unexpected and unavoidable days off
3. Library books, especially the fun one I'm reading now
4. Upgrading to a free Blackberry
5. The beauty of Brookside Gardens -- really nature on a leash!
6. (Should be #1): Spending fun times with Angelina and Sofia (to be extended to include Philip, when we pick him up later today.
Okay, time to try to sneak some work in while the girls are occupied and the electricity is still on. Cheers!
I was in the midst of cleaning Philip out of house and home, when the wind started to blow wildly. We not-so-intelligently crowded to the window, while we watched trees sway and a giant branch come down in our neighbor's yard. Then the rain came down, literally in sheets. Soon after that, the electricity shut off, and the house began to heat up. Pretty crazy... Bojan ran out to move the Hyundai, because it was situated under the weak tree that we've begged the County to get rid of. We call it the Moon Tree, because Philip used to see the moon behind it when he was younger than Angelina is now. Luckily, the Moon Tree sustained little damage. (Which is less than I can say for my parents, who had one of their trees go crashing through their neighbor's roof, rendering the place uninhabitable.) Once it was clear that the electricity would be out for a while, the kids starting asking for hot chocolate and talking about how they wanted to cuddle up with blankets. I guess they were remembering Snowmageddon, when we last lost electricity and it hit 42 degrees F in our house overnight.
After a couple of hours of sweating in a steamy house, we headed out for dinner in Downtown Silver Spring. It was great to get out, and we managed to snag an outside table at Austin Grill. We ended up sitting between two sets of neighbors -- one of whom we knew, and the other whom we hadn't met before. Service was awful, but luckily the kids were able to run around by the sprayground. By the time we got home, our power had returned, thank God and PEPCO.
Anyway, with all of that, I just didn't have time to post yesterday. And then today, when I went to drop Angelina off at Miss Wiwin's, I noticed that her giant red minivan was no longer there. It turned out that their power had never come back on, so Miss Winwin had taken her family to her sister's place. And Northwood Camp was closed for the same reason, so I designated it a girls' day out. We went to Brookside Gardens, which was also closed due to power outages. Luckily, the gardens themselves were open, so we saw lots of flowers and butterflies (pictures to follow). We're home now, with Sofia playing a computer game (bad mom!) and Angelina blessedly taking a nap. So, now is the time to say what I'm grateful for today:
1. Electricity, and PEPCO's ability to restore it in our neighborhood
2. That I have an understanding workplace that lets me take these unexpected and unavoidable days off
3. Library books, especially the fun one I'm reading now
4. Upgrading to a free Blackberry
5. The beauty of Brookside Gardens -- really nature on a leash!
6. (Should be #1): Spending fun times with Angelina and Sofia (to be extended to include Philip, when we pick him up later today.
Okay, time to try to sneak some work in while the girls are occupied and the electricity is still on. Cheers!
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Hot hot hot
It hit 101 or 102 today, breaking all kinds of records. Since I grew up here, I kind of like the heat and humidity. When you first step outside, it's like having a comforting blanket settling around you. It makes me recall walking to the pool when I was a kid and buying chocolate eclair or toasted almond ice cream bars. Still, 102 is a little much, and it made the most sense to stay inside. Nobody accused me of having a lot of sense, however, so while my husband took Philip on an errand to his work, I packed up Angelina and Sofia and we went trawling for yard sales and thrift shop goods. It was a lot of fun, despite the heat. Angelina and Sofia each got a pretty hair band at a yard sale, and Sofia and I are still fighting over who's going to end up with a great Wonder Woman notebook that only cost a dollar. Then we went to Unique Thrift Shop and I watched the girls having fun playing dress-up with fancy hats and yucky wigs. Sofia is a natural at this, and I'm definitely going to encourage her to take up drama someday (and she's always been quite the drama queen). I met a nice older woman who encouraged me to buy a couple of dresses, including one Maggie London dress for only $9.99 http://www.maggylondon.com/#collections/maggy .
I love Unique, because everything is so affordable, and it's like going on a treasure hunt. You may end up with something amazing, like a pair of $200 shoes (score!!!), but then there's a ton of tacky stuff. And of course there are guys hanging around there who could either be the typical undocumented construction worker types or else gang members. The construction workers are the ones looking at cheap jeans and boots, while the gang members have tattooes. Actually, I haven't really seen too many gang member types, but I'm always ready to assume the worst. And the police are there a lot, which makes me think there may be a potential for crime. And then there's a big Korean supermarket nearby, as well as one of those greasy-looking taqueria trucks that I haven't gotten up the courage to try yet. And on federal holidays everything is 50 percent off, which makes the whole place a zoo. It's a lot of fun, and I think Sofia has already absorbed the spirit of thrift store shopping.
Afterwards, we had a cheap-ish lunch at Duncan Donuts, where Sofia and Angelina danced in their chairs to "Isn't She Lovely," the song that Sofia's dance class performed to at their recital. Then Sofia turned up her nose at the bathroom there, so we went on to my favorite Asian Store, Han An Rheum, or H-Mart for short. H-Mart is in the same type of area, where you really see people from all over the world and you read about shootings in the nearby apartment complex. Okay, maybe not that often, but from time to time. Also, my former daycare provider had her groceries stolen there. At the same time, you see wealthy Asian-looking people pulling up in Mercedes and other expensive cars, because the food is so diverse and fresh. Each time I see things that I never knew existed. Last time I saw a Chinese or Korean-looking man putting some bitter melon in a bag. It was on sale, and he had a t-shirt with a slogan that referred to genetics, so I felt comfortable asking him how he cooked the melon. (I suppose I felt comfortable because it meant he spoke English, was educated, and possibly worked in the same field as my father.) He told me that he basically stir fried it, so I bought some and tried it later that week. It was...bitter. I don't think I'd buy it again, but it's always nice to try new things. Today I saw some dragon fruit, which until now I had only heard of as one ingredient in vitamin water. It looked so crazy...I can't really describe it, but here's a link -- http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://img.alibaba.com/photo/104906322/Vietnam_Dragon_Fruit.jpg&imgrefurl=http://makeupgeek.com/forum/viewtopic.php%3Ff%3D6%26t%3D19952%26p%3D174491&h=302&w=350&sz=53&tbnid=Dj6r19r9CFt2TM:&tbnh=104&tbnw=120&prev=/images%3Fq%3Ddragon%2Bfruit&usg=__0Ft7WVqbMKF9Zi9oDpOaOZPR1Sc=&sa=X&ei=5q9LTIr0JcKC8gbW3bDyCA&ved=0CDQQ9QEwAw. And each time we pass the sugar cane, Sofia makes a reference to our book about the Day of the Dead. The other good thing about the Asian store -- aside from the fresh, cheap produce, meat and fish, and the 80s music soundtrack -- is the fact that they're always giving away free samples. Today we tried bottled green tea, Japanese bean cakes, and mango aloe drink. The latter was a bit odd, but I was compelled to purchase the delicious bean cakes. I love Japanese food, and I should really make the effort to cook it more.
Later today, I had another cultural experience. Philip has been going to a French language and culture camp for the past week. It's at a place I could never afford, but my parents offered to subsidize him because my mom was excited that he was interested in learning French. It's at Sidwell Friends, so I had visions of running into one of the Obamas there (but alas, they're away in Maine). Anyway, it's been a great experience so far, and it pisses me off a bit because why can't they have such a great experience at public school? He's been eating French cheese, drinking Orangina, and building models of Notre Dame. Also, they've been learning about Senegal and Mali. On Friday, they had a Senagalese drummer come in to teach them how to drum. He brought all sorts of drums for the entire class, and they counted in French. Tonight, Philip gave Sofia and me a drumming lesson. It was so much fun! Angelina really got into it as well. She was drumming away with chopsticks, while Sofia and I drummed on a diaper carton and a baby wipes box, respectively. It's inspired me to plan a trip to the African Art Museum tomorrow, and Philip is excited about it.
So, Mr. Evil Glen Beck, what is my crazy liberal self grateful for today? (See, you evil wingnuts, we left-of-center people can stick to a schedule and keep our commitments about what we say we're going to write.)
1. Girls' days out. So much fun today with Angelina and Sofia.
2. Air conditioned cars.
3. That I live in a multicultural area, and that nonetheless we still have pretty decent public schools. (Okay, shoot me for being politically incorrect, but I know how these things work.)
4. That Philip has the opportunity to go to such a great program, even if it's only for 2 weeks.
5. My kids.
6. That my parents are so involved in my kids' lives.
7. Free museums.
8. Netflix (what I'm thinking about doing after this, even though I shouldn't).
9. Our new-ish dishwasher.
10. My health.
11 Freedom of religion (Take that, Glen Beck!)
Okay, that's all for now. I'll write more tomorrow, but it may not be as long. This is a great exercise.
I love Unique, because everything is so affordable, and it's like going on a treasure hunt. You may end up with something amazing, like a pair of $200 shoes (score!!!), but then there's a ton of tacky stuff. And of course there are guys hanging around there who could either be the typical undocumented construction worker types or else gang members. The construction workers are the ones looking at cheap jeans and boots, while the gang members have tattooes. Actually, I haven't really seen too many gang member types, but I'm always ready to assume the worst. And the police are there a lot, which makes me think there may be a potential for crime. And then there's a big Korean supermarket nearby, as well as one of those greasy-looking taqueria trucks that I haven't gotten up the courage to try yet. And on federal holidays everything is 50 percent off, which makes the whole place a zoo. It's a lot of fun, and I think Sofia has already absorbed the spirit of thrift store shopping.
Afterwards, we had a cheap-ish lunch at Duncan Donuts, where Sofia and Angelina danced in their chairs to "Isn't She Lovely," the song that Sofia's dance class performed to at their recital. Then Sofia turned up her nose at the bathroom there, so we went on to my favorite Asian Store, Han An Rheum, or H-Mart for short. H-Mart is in the same type of area, where you really see people from all over the world and you read about shootings in the nearby apartment complex. Okay, maybe not that often, but from time to time. Also, my former daycare provider had her groceries stolen there. At the same time, you see wealthy Asian-looking people pulling up in Mercedes and other expensive cars, because the food is so diverse and fresh. Each time I see things that I never knew existed. Last time I saw a Chinese or Korean-looking man putting some bitter melon in a bag. It was on sale, and he had a t-shirt with a slogan that referred to genetics, so I felt comfortable asking him how he cooked the melon. (I suppose I felt comfortable because it meant he spoke English, was educated, and possibly worked in the same field as my father.) He told me that he basically stir fried it, so I bought some and tried it later that week. It was...bitter. I don't think I'd buy it again, but it's always nice to try new things. Today I saw some dragon fruit, which until now I had only heard of as one ingredient in vitamin water. It looked so crazy...I can't really describe it, but here's a link -- http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://img.alibaba.com/photo/104906322/Vietnam_Dragon_Fruit.jpg&imgrefurl=http://makeupgeek.com/forum/viewtopic.php%3Ff%3D6%26t%3D19952%26p%3D174491&h=302&w=350&sz=53&tbnid=Dj6r19r9CFt2TM:&tbnh=104&tbnw=120&prev=/images%3Fq%3Ddragon%2Bfruit&usg=__0Ft7WVqbMKF9Zi9oDpOaOZPR1Sc=&sa=X&ei=5q9LTIr0JcKC8gbW3bDyCA&ved=0CDQQ9QEwAw. And each time we pass the sugar cane, Sofia makes a reference to our book about the Day of the Dead. The other good thing about the Asian store -- aside from the fresh, cheap produce, meat and fish, and the 80s music soundtrack -- is the fact that they're always giving away free samples. Today we tried bottled green tea, Japanese bean cakes, and mango aloe drink. The latter was a bit odd, but I was compelled to purchase the delicious bean cakes. I love Japanese food, and I should really make the effort to cook it more.
Later today, I had another cultural experience. Philip has been going to a French language and culture camp for the past week. It's at a place I could never afford, but my parents offered to subsidize him because my mom was excited that he was interested in learning French. It's at Sidwell Friends, so I had visions of running into one of the Obamas there (but alas, they're away in Maine). Anyway, it's been a great experience so far, and it pisses me off a bit because why can't they have such a great experience at public school? He's been eating French cheese, drinking Orangina, and building models of Notre Dame. Also, they've been learning about Senegal and Mali. On Friday, they had a Senagalese drummer come in to teach them how to drum. He brought all sorts of drums for the entire class, and they counted in French. Tonight, Philip gave Sofia and me a drumming lesson. It was so much fun! Angelina really got into it as well. She was drumming away with chopsticks, while Sofia and I drummed on a diaper carton and a baby wipes box, respectively. It's inspired me to plan a trip to the African Art Museum tomorrow, and Philip is excited about it.
So, Mr. Evil Glen Beck, what is my crazy liberal self grateful for today? (See, you evil wingnuts, we left-of-center people can stick to a schedule and keep our commitments about what we say we're going to write.)
1. Girls' days out. So much fun today with Angelina and Sofia.
2. Air conditioned cars.
3. That I live in a multicultural area, and that nonetheless we still have pretty decent public schools. (Okay, shoot me for being politically incorrect, but I know how these things work.)
4. That Philip has the opportunity to go to such a great program, even if it's only for 2 weeks.
5. My kids.
6. That my parents are so involved in my kids' lives.
7. Free museums.
8. Netflix (what I'm thinking about doing after this, even though I shouldn't).
9. Our new-ish dishwasher.
10. My health.
11 Freedom of religion (Take that, Glen Beck!)
Okay, that's all for now. I'll write more tomorrow, but it may not be as long. This is a great exercise.
Friday, July 23, 2010
More pessimism about the economy
Check out this link to a story by Matt Miller at the Center for American Progress. Basically, he says that the bursting of the housing bubble and the near-crash of the economy was like a heart attack, and our responses like TARP and the stimulus were like emergency medicine. The longer-term, more ingrained problem of the U.S.'s decline in terms of innovation and production -- and the resulting hits to the U.S. middle class -- are more like a cancer that demands a radical response. Basically, he calls for "creat(ing) capital-intensive jobs that have labor productivity levels consistent with advanced country incomes," and making sure Americans have the skills to perform these jobs. I'm not quite sure what the first one means, except it sounds like it takes into account the need for jobs to actually pay a living wage. Miller notes that we're doing "dismally" on these important tasks, because political leaders simply won't face up to them. See the article here:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/07/21/AR2010072103052.html
Also, on the topic of educating Americans to have the necessary skills, see this article about how the U.S.'s worldwide ranking of the number of 25- to 34-year olds with college degrees has fallen from first to twelfth. The article also says that the problem begins long before college. I'm sure the cost of post-secondary education has something to do with it as well. And our friendly neighbor Canada is number one! Read it here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/23/education/23college.html?hpw
So...we have a lot of work to do, but we seem to lack the political climate for getting much done. I take that back, because Obama has actually gotten an amazing amount done given the political climate. But there's so much animosity and contention. I guess we need to keep on moving forward, regardless.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/07/21/AR2010072103052.html
Also, on the topic of educating Americans to have the necessary skills, see this article about how the U.S.'s worldwide ranking of the number of 25- to 34-year olds with college degrees has fallen from first to twelfth. The article also says that the problem begins long before college. I'm sure the cost of post-secondary education has something to do with it as well. And our friendly neighbor Canada is number one! Read it here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/23/education/23college.html?hpw
So...we have a lot of work to do, but we seem to lack the political climate for getting much done. I take that back, because Obama has actually gotten an amazing amount done given the political climate. But there's so much animosity and contention. I guess we need to keep on moving forward, regardless.
Long time no see
It's been ages and ages since I've written. I shouldn't even be writing now, because I have SO much work to do. But here I am.
Strangely enough, I've been following the blogs of two women who had difficult pregnancies. One of them (http://cak-micropreemie.blogspot.com), whose daughter was born at 24 weeks gestation back in May, is still waiting to take her daughter home from the NICU. The other one (http://bhcalaway.blogspot.com) gave birth in June at around 26 weeks gestation, I think, but sadly her son died after only an hour. The first woman is in Pennsylvania, and the second is in Idaho. It's amazing how you can be touched by the stories of people you've never met. And I think it's amazing that the second woman is still blogging and sharing her thoughts with interested readers after going through such a terrible tragedy. One interesting thing about her, in my point of view, is that she is a religious Mormon and probably pretty right of center (although I'm not sure what left, right, and center mean anymore). There's a lot on her blog about her faith in God and her religion, and you can see her drawing upon it to help her through this extremely difficult time. So, for someone like me, who was raised by atheists, it's a fascinating look into what almost seems like another culture.
I'm not sure why I've been so drawn to these blogs. Maybe I'm missing the baby days, or maybe something inside me really wants another baby (but that's not going to happen, so don't worry...). But in any case, it has kind of given me a feeling of connection to touch base with these women. Maybe it's a general human connection, maybe it's a mother thing, or maybe it's just that their stories are so compelling. I don't know. But I keep reading.
So, Hilary, the Idaho woman just noted in her blog that she was watching Glen Beck (Argh!!! Make anti-vampire sign!!! Bleah!!!), and he challenged viewers to fill themselves with "faith, hope, and charity" for the next 40 days. Why 40 days? I don't know. Something to do with Noah? (I've always hated that story...such a testament to Old Testament cruelty.) 40 days seem to be significant in many cultures. Maybe he can't count any higher than that? Who knows... In any case, I'm going to take the Evil Mr. Beck up on his challenge and try to do this for the next 40 days. Each day in this blog, I'll write down something I'm grateful for. And I'll try to be a nicer person too, and not jump to negative conclusions about people, including myself. (Sarcastic inner voice: Yeah, we'll see how long that lasts!)
So, for today, here is what I am grateful for:
--My kids
--The trees and nature
--Hilary Clinton (Sorry, Hilary from Idaho, your name got me thinking about how lucky we are to have such a strong, hard working woman as a high-level public servant.)
--Barack Obama (It would have been great to have Hilary as President, but I chose to vote for Obama for many reasons. See earlier postings.)
--The fact that I have a job and can afford (barely) to provide my kids with a good education.
Speaking of jobs, I'd better get back to it. I have to say that my listing of Hilary and Obama feels kind of yucky. I mean, who am I to be listing the top politicians in our country...no politician can really be noble, right? On the other hand, maybe I should be grateful that I still have the naivete and enthusiasm to feel this way about our current leaders (and also grateful for the fact that we don't have to be calling someone Madame Vice President right now, God forbid).
Okay, enough chattering. Time to get back to the grind. I'll do my best to post each day. Hope it won't be too boring!
Eve
Strangely enough, I've been following the blogs of two women who had difficult pregnancies. One of them (http://cak-micropreemie.blogspot.com), whose daughter was born at 24 weeks gestation back in May, is still waiting to take her daughter home from the NICU. The other one (http://bhcalaway.blogspot.com) gave birth in June at around 26 weeks gestation, I think, but sadly her son died after only an hour. The first woman is in Pennsylvania, and the second is in Idaho. It's amazing how you can be touched by the stories of people you've never met. And I think it's amazing that the second woman is still blogging and sharing her thoughts with interested readers after going through such a terrible tragedy. One interesting thing about her, in my point of view, is that she is a religious Mormon and probably pretty right of center (although I'm not sure what left, right, and center mean anymore). There's a lot on her blog about her faith in God and her religion, and you can see her drawing upon it to help her through this extremely difficult time. So, for someone like me, who was raised by atheists, it's a fascinating look into what almost seems like another culture.
I'm not sure why I've been so drawn to these blogs. Maybe I'm missing the baby days, or maybe something inside me really wants another baby (but that's not going to happen, so don't worry...). But in any case, it has kind of given me a feeling of connection to touch base with these women. Maybe it's a general human connection, maybe it's a mother thing, or maybe it's just that their stories are so compelling. I don't know. But I keep reading.
So, Hilary, the Idaho woman just noted in her blog that she was watching Glen Beck (Argh!!! Make anti-vampire sign!!! Bleah!!!), and he challenged viewers to fill themselves with "faith, hope, and charity" for the next 40 days. Why 40 days? I don't know. Something to do with Noah? (I've always hated that story...such a testament to Old Testament cruelty.) 40 days seem to be significant in many cultures. Maybe he can't count any higher than that? Who knows... In any case, I'm going to take the Evil Mr. Beck up on his challenge and try to do this for the next 40 days. Each day in this blog, I'll write down something I'm grateful for. And I'll try to be a nicer person too, and not jump to negative conclusions about people, including myself. (Sarcastic inner voice: Yeah, we'll see how long that lasts!)
So, for today, here is what I am grateful for:
--My kids
--The trees and nature
--Hilary Clinton (Sorry, Hilary from Idaho, your name got me thinking about how lucky we are to have such a strong, hard working woman as a high-level public servant.)
--Barack Obama (It would have been great to have Hilary as President, but I chose to vote for Obama for many reasons. See earlier postings.)
--The fact that I have a job and can afford (barely) to provide my kids with a good education.
Speaking of jobs, I'd better get back to it. I have to say that my listing of Hilary and Obama feels kind of yucky. I mean, who am I to be listing the top politicians in our country...no politician can really be noble, right? On the other hand, maybe I should be grateful that I still have the naivete and enthusiasm to feel this way about our current leaders (and also grateful for the fact that we don't have to be calling someone Madame Vice President right now, God forbid).
Okay, enough chattering. Time to get back to the grind. I'll do my best to post each day. Hope it won't be too boring!
Eve
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