Life as a Mother

( Kong si, kong si, kong si nee... )
afterward, two of the moms read from some storybooks which Kay really enjoyed, and we wrapped everything up around 11:30 and headed to lunch at a pasta place. during lunch, we talked about places to go for the kids. i mentioned that i'd be taking Kay to the library next to Da An Forrest Park tomorrow to return some books, and the moms said they wanted to come along as well. so, we're gonna get together tomorrow as well. :)

i didn't get pics while we were teaching/storytelling, but i did get a few pics and vids of lunch and play afterward :)

so, rabbit rabbit. :3

since Chinese New Year is coming right next month, hubby suggested that we send my folks back home a package of goodies. i thought that was a great idea, so i bought a few traditional snacks and some of my dad's fave ramen and put it all in a box to be mailed out. when i looked at it, it didn't seem right without a card, so i decided to make one instead of just buying a card since it was going to be from both HUBBY and me (for those who know our history, this means a lot).

anyway, hubby took Kay on a playdate with his Japanese friend on Saturday which gave me the whole day to complete my card. i had already decided what it was going to look like, but i had no idea it was going to be so time consuming. i'd picked out a Chinese papercut of a fish off the Internet and was going to cut it out and put it on some gold foil. the design was exactly what i wanted, but talk about tedious work! it took me a total of six hours just to get the fish cut/carved out and then i spent another good hour on stamping and embossing a border of Chinese coins around it. after all that time and a blisters on my fingers, i was actually really happy with the end result. so happy that i wanted to keep the card for myself! then i thought, what's the good of a card if it isn't for someone who will enjoy it? just shows you that hard work really does pay off.

other than making the card, i also cleaned the fridge which really made my hubby happy since he's been harping on me about it all month. it was starting to smell, so i didn't have a choice :P

today was my day to take Kay out so that hubby could work. since it was really sunny out (i can't believe it's snowing back home in Va...), i decided to meet up with my friend Robyn outdoors at Sun Yat Sen Mem. we usually'll go to a fancy restaurant and talk all afternoon, but this time, we decided to give Kay a break and eat at HER fave restaurant instead :) other than an accidental OJ spill, she was actually well behaved through the whole meal, so i was able to really talk and catch up with Robyn. ever since she switched jobs (she's a Project Manager at Intel now), she moved out of Taipei so we haven't met up in months. we talked mostly of a few of our old college classmates and what they were doing, and then she showed me a new way of telling how a person is by using numbers. it's kinda like the numbers are a person's horoscope sign which can tell what kind of person they are. she did both me and Kay and it was pretty accurate. :) after that, we walked around the Eslite bookstore and parted ways.

( back to teaching ) one thing i really, really regret was not getting any pics. :( oh well, maybe next week!

( Felix and Kay's day )

the next time we'll be able to see them again will probably be after Chinese New Years which'll be after the middle of February.

for my non-facebook friends, here are the photos from today :D

originally, today was suppose to be a playdate with a mom and her little 4 yo boy Felix that i made friends with at the library, but she called to postpone to this Tuesday instead. we were planning on going to a story time thing together, but i ended up going just with Kay.

there are usually various people who come to story time at the library, but i never really go since they're usually all in Mandarin. i went this time because it was being conducted by Dr. Mike Lockett, so knew it'd be fun. don't let his title fool you for a minute, though. this guy was pretty funny and reminded me of "home" so much. i think i enjoyed the story time more than Kay did. he he, she was more interested in the kids around her (kept on say "Nihao" to everyone) :P it was only an hour long and afterward, he ended up promoting some children's books he'd written that were being sold on the spot. i was tempted on getting some, but i knew that i'd be able to check them out later that week at the library anyway.

i'm actually glad that i got to go straight home after that because Kay fell right asleep in the wrap after we left, and i was so drained (tossed and turned until 2 AM last night) after a bad night's sleep that i ended up taking a nap when we got home. :(

hubby saw how tired i was, so he decided to let us have some pizza tonight :) a new Dominos had just opened nearby, so we tried out their "buy 1 get 1 free" deal and stuffed ourselves silly! good thing i'm on my banana diet and just had one banana for breakfast and a sandwich for lunch. i did feel a bit bloated afterwards since i went waaay over "satiated" and was quite "full" tonight :/

oh, i weighed myself yesterday in the morning and was surprised to see that i was 57.7 kg. i remember weighing close to 60 kg around december, though... oh well, maybe it's because of my shrinking stomach?

all in all, it was an eventful weekend :)

after realizing that my American passport was gonna expire in 11 months, i decided to get a head start on the renewing process in case i forgot later on in the year. since hubby needed photos done to renew his driver's license, i decided to get my passport photo taken. i actually went there twice because i thought that i'd put on some make-up before they took it. i didn't expect for it to be a stellar picture, but i didn't expect for it to look the way it did. (sorry, not posting it...) i would have asked to change it, but then i caught myself and thought screw it. if that's what i really look like, then it'll be a reminder for me to get my act together.

to fully understand my shock, you have to know that i've been constantly neglecting myself ever since Kay was born, so after two years of that, it builds up to things like weight gain, bad hair, aged hands, really, really dry skin, and a whole bunch of problems. :( so, i've gotten into the habit of not looking into mirrors as often or taking more pictures of Kay instead of myself. in other words, i haven't really taken a look at myself fully in a long while. so, the image of me that i have in my head is of me three years ago when i was still working at Luby, which is soo not the case now... ~_~;;

anyway, it was a rude awakening. since i'm going to japan in March, i plan on taking the time until then to try and get myself back down a few pounds, remember to moisturize, moisturize, moisturize, and take better care of my hair :) i'm also gonna take the extra passport photos and tape them to the door, fridge and bathroom to remind myself... gawd i hope i don't end up quitting and being lazy again like i usually am... ~_~;;

oh, i've started on this banana diet that started a craze a while back. i didn't register with the site, but hopefully, it'll help since i don't plan on exercising like i did a couple of months ago. that just really killed my energy level...

anyway, keep your fingers crossed for me! :D

yea, i'm still at that point where i'm kinda counting the months along with the years. i haven't been keeping up with her milestones and have forgotten the dates to some of the major ones, so here's a summary of what little Kay can do now!

( all about Kay! )
as promised under the cut, here's Kay operating a mouse with her left hand at 2.5 years old. :D

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing

i think i'm making this a yearly thing for me. The upcoming Chinese Zodiac sign is the Tiger. it's rumored that women shouldn't have kids during this year because tigers are apparently trouble makers. :/ anyway, onto the fortunes!
those born in the year of the Chicken (me)
those born in the year of the Monkey (like my hubby)
those born in the year of the Pig (like my Kay)

for the rest of the zodiac fortunes, here's the link. :D

( how we spent the holidays )
( i watched Sherlock Holmes!!! )

today didn't intend to be a daddy day as well, but Kay decided to throw a tantrum this morning which prompted hubby and i to change strategies and see if having her at home while hubby worked was possible... that and hubby's been very worried about my recent behavior and is afraid that i might get clinically depressed if i didn't get any alone time. i dunno if that would happen since depression is a very subtle but serious illness. knowing how i am, i think my hormones are just getting the best of me. when Aunt Flo goes away, i'll be back to normal... if you can call me normal, that is. :P

so, here i am at the library using one of their internet stations and finally getting time to update this thing. i haven't gotten an SOS call yet from him, so i guess things are going well. apparently, Kay's a different person when i'm not around; less needy and more independent. sigh...i've got sooo many errands to run and things to do on Monday. at least my cold is starting to let up a bit. i might have to go back to get a refill on my Rx, but we'll see if my body can make it through this. :)

as far as resolutions go, i'm not going to make any. i never end up keeping to them and most of the time forget them anyway. i'll keep cheering you all on with your resolutions though. :D happy 2010 everyone!

since i don't have much time to post the events of the day, here are some vids of the main event: unwrapping presents!

Christmas 1
Christmas 2(thank you chiarents!!)
Christmas 3

note: they might take some time to load, because the vids are from our handycam.

( five days in Tainan visiting my sister for an early Christmas )
this week has just flown by on trying to get things caught up, helping out hubby with work, and trying to get Kay back into her usual schedule/routine. it's now about 30 min. before Christmas here i Taiwan, so i just want to take the time now to wish all you guys Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!! :DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

Dh Preview One - The best video clips are here

gah.. and to think i have to wait a YEAR+ to see the whole thing!! sigh.. well, i guess it's better than them butchering the book to make just one movie... :) it's gonna be AWESOME!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ninjallamayama!!! love you Becky!!!

my nephew Xavier:

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing

i should be asleep now but wanted to share this vid of Kay using a brush as a flip-phone. Enjoy! :D

( i guess, i should just say 'my weekend' then )

hope everyone else's Thanksgiving was eventful in some way, and just a note to y'all that i'll be mailing out my Christmas cards next week! ^_^