As you may have noticed, I have not been posting very frequently lately. I still haven't delivered the Clapton concert recap I promised in my last post (let's just say the story involves an outdoor venue, torrents of rain, a drunk and pushy mob, and a nearby tornado), nor have I written about how I finally made The Big Cut last month (11 inches, baby!). And I honestly don't think I will ever get around to composing either of those posts. The fact is that Mr. G and I have been dealing with some news that has rocked (and will continue to rock) our world:
In the months ahead, I will endure an extremely high-risk pregnancy and hopefully deliver four healthy babies. After that, I imagine that our lives will be full and crazy and difficult and fun. But I already see Mitad Mitad as a record of an old life, when things were simpler and much more trivial, and I have no interest in anything but incubating these babies for as long as possible. So this is Guycita, signing out. Thanks for reading, and wish us luck!
it was about time i bought myself some new underwear. i mean, of the ones i own, i LOVE. but... i can no longer get them anywhere because i bought them at Costco's, of all places. about half of them are starting to get holey. and not at the most ideal places.
yes - Costco's makes amazing cotton underwear for women who are buying for practicallity AND comfort without needing to graduate to the 'granny' underwear variety.
so i went to the Superstore yesterday and bought a pack of five for six dollars. not bad and really cute colours. except that i bought low-rise hipsters. i was desperate though and really like the colours. i tried to compensate by buying a size larger then usual, thinking that it would sit a little higher (i don't mind low rise but not too low).
i was so wrong.
it still sits low. and is too lose so i'm always having to pull them up.
i can't return them either - what a waste.
well, maybe i can cut the material up and make some craft use out of it. at least of the four i have not worn yet.
It was a lazy day. I lounged on the couch all day (with my laptop.) But I did even take a nap...wile the S.O. was playing Rock band, if you can believe it.
Got a lot of work done. Whipped a couple of yummy hodge-podge meals too. Loves me that Trader Joe's!
Breakfast:
Shredded Oats Cereal
Rice Milk
Lunch:
Trader Joe's Chicken-less Strips, sauteed in Olive Oil with Fresh Spinach, Garlic, Basil, Organic Corn and Organic Edamame
Dinner:
Trader Joe's Penne Arrabiatta, mixed with Spinach, Garlic, Basil and Meatless Meatballs
As always my family takes care of me at family parties. This time my sister and brother-in-law got the idea to roast a Sweet Potato on the BBQ, along with the usual Portabella Mushroom.Very tasty and healthy too!
Breakfast:
Vanilla Almond Crisp Cereal
Rice Milk
Lunch:
Morningstar Farms Riblets
Corn
Dinner:
Chips and Crackers with Hummus and Guacamole (this was the not-healthy portion of the meal)
Grapes
Portabella Mushroom
1/2 a Sweet Potato
Cauliflower and Broccoli
Vegan Cherry Pie
Diet Dr. Pepper
here's a question i'd like to post to anyone with or without kids of their own...
we have these neighbours... very nice people... but they have two kids (one around 7 or 8, the other about 3 years of age) who seem to have a habit of looming around our back patio (townhouse property - open concept so no one has a fenced off backyard, though the patio portion IS our property).
everytime we're outside, especially when they are home, they come by. and it doesn't matter if they're not out there already. as soon as they hear us, they come booming out. now, i don't mind them running around in the common, grassy area that connects the entire back patios of surrounding units... there's actually a rule that asks parents to minimize their kids running around too much but these two kids are not overly noisey, so it doesn't bother me.
what bothers me is that they will stand at the end of our patio... and stare.
really... that's all they will do. if we are playing with chaeli or planting/tending our potted garden, they will just stand there, side by side, and stare (after awhile, i feel like i'm in a horror movie - like 'children of the corn' or something).
it was a beautiful day yesterday. i had brought my book out to read while doug and chaeli transfered some of our vegetable plants over to larger pots. but them standing there and staring got to me. so, i went inside. later on, i learned that even after they finished with the pots, the two kids stood there staring as doug started grilling our beer-can chicken for dinner.
doug, one of the most patient and tolerating guys i know, simply said, "it was annoying. they wouldn't go away."
sometimes, the younger one will try to get our attention by doing something and then saying, "look at me! look at me!"
and there lies the other problem.
i have a hard enough of a time giving so much of my attention to my own child - one that i adore and love but talks non-stop pretty much for 98% of the day and who is constantly on the go, but to cater to other people's kids? uh uh. i've said this before... WE'RE NOT A FREE BABYSITTING SERVICE!
if my neighbours do not wish to mind their own children, they really need to keep their kids inside.
is it just me? i would NEVER allow chaeli to roam around freely out of eye-sight. and i especially would never let chaeli go and bother other families... especially without their consent.
perhaps it was the way i was raised but i believe that letting one's child constantly hang around another family during what is obviously said family's family time is just plain rude.
at the same time, i don't know how to deal with this... it's not the children's fault because they were not raised to know any better (though i did scold one of them because she was getting chaeli to throw rocks and one almost hit me in the head - i scolded chaeli more for being the one to throw the rocks but i also scolded the neighbour's kid for being the one to start it).
doug and i want to have a couple of BBQ parties this summer. if the day is nice, we would like the party to happen on the patio. i would very much like that these two kids not loom around and stare at us and our guests for the entire party.
what should i do? i know that the simplest thing to do is talk to the parents but the father is hardly around (i think he has shift work) and the mother does not have a strong grasp of the english language. they are chinese but they do not speak my dialect - mandarin.
the summer has begun and i love patio-time. but every year, this situation with the neighbour's kids is just getting worse.
i'm looking for creative suggestions here where i can reframe from hurting anyone's feelings about this. and i would like to keep good relations with my neighbours because other then them not minding their own children, they have been nothing but ideal.
What do you find interesting or unique about your family history?
Here are a few things - perhaps not unique, but interesting, at least to me!
- Our great grandparents on our mom's side (our Mom-Mom's parents) were from the same village in Hungary, though they did not know each other and did not meet until after they had both immigrated to the states. If I am remembering the story correctly, Grandma Meyer was Grandpa Meyer's house help when his first wife was alive. Some time after his first wife passed, they married, but I seem to remember Mom-Mom saying that he never treated her as he should have - that he favored his first wife and wasn't shy about letting her know that.
- The Meyer surname is not actually accurate - it was Mayer, pronounced like the bologna, but they Americanized it - well, all but our Great Uncle Dominic (who I believe was from Grandpa Meyer's first marriage), who retained the original spelling. I have no idea what Grandma Meyer's maiden name was - I wish I did.
- Our great grandmother on our paternal grandmother's side married her childhood sweetheart when she was in her 70's, I believe. She was 98 when she passed, outliving both of her husbands by many years.
- On both sides of our family, the name Charles is very predominant, though only one person goes by "Charles". Here's the count and how we keep it all straight: my father (Charlie), his father (usually went by his last name), my other grandfather (Buck), his son (Chuck or Butch), my mom's cousin (Charles), his son (Chucky), and one of my dad's uncles (Brother). Needless to say, no one in my generation - on either side! - has felt the compulsion to use the name Charles for their progeny.
- Our mom's parents eloped on Thanksgiving day. He was 26 and she was 17 (I think - do I have that right, Janie?). They won't back "home" separately. After a week or so, Mom-Mom spilled the beans to one of her sisters, and I believe that is when word got out. I am not sure what the reaction was or when they actually got a place of their own (maybe one of my sisters can shed some light on that).
- Another "famous" surname within our family tree comes from our dad's side: Hefner. Do you think we could be heirs to either a lunch meat or - *ahem* - other fortune? (Heh. Not likely.)
- When our mother was pregnant with me, she wanted to use Patricia for my first name. Our paternal grandmother thought that was outrageous since our father had been engaged to a Patricia. A year or two later, our parents reconnected with Pat and her hubby. The four became fast - and best - friends for years. I've always found it humorous and ironic that Mom and Pat became such good friends.
My apologies for having disappeared for so long! I went to China for a three-week trip, and it wasn't until I got there that I discovered that Vox is actually censored in China. So I had no way of writing anything, even though I really wanted to! I took lots of pictures of the wonderful wonderful things I ate though, so keep an eye out for posts to come soon :)
