Tuesday, December 28, 2004

In the city of angels

First full day of the Lau family reunion, and some things never change. It still takes the group an hour to get going anywhere and a convoy of mini vans making a couple u-turns to get to our final destination. All in all, its good fun to be together again. Our last one was about 7 years ago, so its quite a shock to see how everyone has aged.
Last night everyone stayed up late playing mahjong and Halo 2. The Halo 2 group lasted to about 5:30 am, keeping people with jetlag (like me) awake. Sleep has become something we do on the go since all our travels began.
The thing about being Chinese and pregnant is that everyone will tell you or try to feed you strange things. Supposedly, anything or anyone touching my shoulders is a bad thing. Eating green mung beans is not good. Warm water good, cold water bad. With my cold I can't get anyone to give me any medications. And ginger is my friend.

But, I still love my family reunions.

Thursday, December 23, 2004

Merry Christmas...

Well, we're in Taiwan for Christmas this year. We won't be in Seattle at all this holiday. Strange to be in a country that's predominately Buddhist, so there is little Christmas spirit here. That's ok, "Christmas is in the heart", right?
We were having a great time till Mark got food poisoning, I caught a cold, and we got an email from our real estate agent saying that our neighbor called to let us know DC's weather has been 11 degrees lately so our pipes froze, and we got a new swimming pool in our basement for Christmas. whoo hoo.
I wouldn't feel so crappy about it, if the water didn't leak over to our neighbors (we live in the end unit of a row townhouses), flooding their basement, and therefore forcing her to close her daycare. I'm glad she was nice about helping us out while we are out of town.
Figures we'd have something like this happen. Our new place has been nothing but water problems.
Other than that, we're doing good. Mark's getting better from his encounter with bad shellfish, I'm over thinking about my cold cause I've been thinking of how much damage there will be when we get home, and we'll be in Los Angeles next week for a family reunion. The fun never ends in the Chang household.

Friday, December 10, 2004

Look! It's alive! Our baby at 9 weeks. It's not the "bean" shape. It's the figure between the two "plus" signs. The brighter spot close to the middle is its heart, and the little protruding part on its right side is its little arm nub! Woohoo! We're gonna have a baby! Posted by Hello

What a Day

Well we went to our first doctor appointment to check on our baby. It actually was supposed to be the day before, but we were late because Bev was stuck in Southeast DC and I was stuck in Northwest, and anyone who knows that area, it's pretty hairy during traffic hours. Anyway, we waited and waited, in anticipation to catch the first glimpse of our baby. It was a touching moment to be able to see the little baby there, with little arm nubs waving back at us, and watching its little heart beat. I held back my tears, but was filled with excitement to see a little healthy baby growing up in there. I couldn't be more honored/blessed to be entrusted with raising a baby.

On a funny note, Bev almost passed out giving blood for the bloodwork. I think it was because I started asking the nurse, "so, how many ounces do you take out?" Bev started turning green and feeling faint, I kept talking about food, and then the doctor came in and said she looked pale and needed to lie down. The nurse finally got what she needed, and laid Bev down and gave her water and a chocolate truffle. Ok maybe it's not a funny note. It was my fault really.

Now we're in Seattle (I know, long long day). Bev's brother Leroy is coming home from his mission in Sydney, Australia, today, so we're going to welcome him back. I'm still stuck on Eastern time so I've been up since 5am PST, while Bev seems to have no problem adjusting. Oh well!

Monday, December 06, 2004

Combined Federal Campaign

CFC as it is called in our acronym built government, is a "wonderful" thing that happens this time every year. And lucky for me I was drafted to be the CFC cheerleader in our office. Basically it's the one time of the year that government workers are solicited for time and mostly money to a list of charities that qualify to be in the CFC's catalogue. I think the only requirement is that they have to have less then 25% of their donations go towards their admin costs.
Although, there are PLENTY of charities out there that I believe are a joke, I've decided to give them the benefit of doubt and give my time and efforts. So, today we held our book drive. We collected used books from people in our office and sell them again at a cheap-o price and give that money to CFC. I can say some people get real snooty about giving in any way shape or form. Some go as far as to squeeze behind me and the wall to not have to walk infront of the books. We call it the "walk-of-shame". Well, despite the weirdos in my office building, we managed to sell enough books to exceed my goal for a 3.5 hour sale. $152. Not bad I think. Some people thought it was books I was selling for myself. "Hello? Do I look that desolate and poor?" Must be the lack of sleep.
That's the one thing I can't stand about some people here in the DC metro area. They assume way too much. Then they open their mouths, and I want to shove my foot in it to plug up the crap that falls out. I know, I know, one day I'll move away from here and miss the stupid things some people do and say here. They just say the darnest things!
Why do they say "Virginia is for lovers"? it's more like "Virginia is for people who think too much about themselves" Its the what's-in-it-for-me syndrome and its like a chronic plague here.

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