Beauty

I have a co-worker that loves the corset. When done up properly, it is a beautiful thing. However, I don't see myself walking around with one of those. If it impedes my eating, no...I'm not going to wear it. I'm sure that disappoints my husband. But if it's going to come between me and my good food, then sorry, then the garment loses out.

And gosh, I'd feel like a stuffed sausage in one of those things!! Has anybody ever worn a comfortable corset? The one and only time I wore one was at my wedding. And I have a feeling it will most likely be my last. It was nice to see my waist that day....

Job sites

With this downturn in the economy, I tend to go to the job sites to see what types of jobs are actually out there. Being as nosey as I am, I started to look in other big cities. There was one for Las Vegas resumes...of course, then you have all your different job ads on Craigslist for whatever city and town...I guess I didn't realize how many there were really out there.

The unfortunate thing is that there isn't a lot of great jobs out there. With the downturn in the economy, everybody is tightening their belts. I don't blame them. But it makes it that much harder for someone that is unemployed to get some work. And the competition is feirce.

I'm hoping that things will turn around soon. I see the weariness in people's faces and I worry for their families. It's just so hard these days for those seeking work. And when they can't, I hope our social security net will help them.

The world is a tough enough place already...being unemployed makes it even tougher.

Naps

My one kid has been sick this week. And that meant waking up 2-3 times a night, and sometimes, spending time with her while she tried to get to bed. I felt like I had a newborn again!

And it made it hard as I wake up at 5 to go to work. I got pretty tired, pretty quickly. But on Fridays-Sundays, those are my husband's nights to get up for the kids. And sure enough, with the 1 kid being sick, he's had to do the same thing.

So, despite all the chores and things that need to get done around this place, I opted not to do it and take a nap. Originally, it was to be a 1/2 hour nap. I did get interrupted by my kids twice...but somehow, I got back to bed. I was in bed for 2 hours on a Saturday. That rarely happens. But I'm glad it did today. I started to feel human again and with some energy. I know my good friend Miss K takes one every Sunday and those times are sacred. Nobody messes with her nap.

Wow. I really think siestas should be allowed at work. We'd have way less grumpier people at the workplace.....

Classrooms

Classrooms haven't changed much since I went to school. But the other day, I heard about some schools thinking of having "different" desks. They would be stand up desks for ergonomic reasons and to help with chidren and their fidgeting. We all know they can't sit for long. Interesting idea...especially when they linked it up with the possibility of children being less obese because they could move around and not sitting on their asses all day.

Then it made me think about what my kid's classrooms will look like. Will they have netbooks instead of books? Will they have palm pilots for agendas? I mean really, it's not that far away.

Then my poor kids will have to hear stories from me starting with..."when I was in school...." Gosh, I'll feel really old then.

Hollywood

Ahhh...poor Miss Jessica Simpson. I feel bad for her. Like really bad. The media is being a totally bully to her. I laughed when the media said she bloomed up to a size 8. Um, hello! I'd love to be a size 8. And when the heck was that considered huge?

Anyways, she seemed like the golden girl in Hollywood. Popstar, fairy tale wedding, cute as can be...then it starts to go downhill, she's selling informercials for the best acne treatment, then they drop her...now she's singing in bars. What the hell? That's quite the fall. And then the never dying weight issue.

She's rehired her last trainer...apparently she's not allowed to eat more than 1,200 calories and exercise. Huh. That's pretty extreme. But I guess Hollywood doesn't always makes sense...and it's no wonder young girls these days have so many eating disorders. Just not cool.

Lawyers

One of the jobs that I wanted when I was younger was to be a lawyer. But of course, deciding what kind was difficult. Did I want to be a divorce lawyer, one of many immigration lawyers or go for the big stuff...defence lawyer of some kind?

But life didn't offer me that opportunity nor did I try hard enough for it. I guess it wasn't meant to be.

Part of me still wouldn't mind doing it...I'd love to be one of those lawyers that you see on tv...sassy and all. But that won't be a part of my life...but I can at least still watch shows with lawyers in it.

Date

My husband had a couple of days that he had to take off from work. Something about no rolling over time, yet everybody in the office seemed to. So, we thought it would be fun to have a date day...and we had that today!

We started the morning by taking the kids to their respective daycares and then headed off downtown. The stores weren't open yet, so we ended up going to the coffee place where we first met. Seemed fitting! And having a much needed coffee was an extra bonus.

I thought the stores opened at 9:30, but in fact, it was 10. So we just wandered, checked out how downtown has changed. It was a beautiful day so it didn't matter that we were outside just wandering. To kill some more time, we went to Chapters. LOVE that place. It was quiet, we had time to browse, and it's a bookstore...what's not to love about a bookstore?!

Then we went off shopping. My husband was so sweet and he got me two pairs of shoes...even a clunky pair that he's not so fond of. But I need some clunky shoes for casual wear and that I can wear socks with! Some shoes, you can't wear socks with. Women understand this. Off to the comic store for my hubby. He wanted to get the Watchmen comic. Hey, as long as he likes it, good enough for me. Then we found a great t-shirt store for my husband. And I got him some shirts as he's been looking for some for a while. I also found a smoking deal for sandals for myself at this store! Summer is actually going to come this year.

We wanted to shop more, but it was time to go for lunch before heading to the movies. We went to the Revolving Tower at Harbour Centre. Pricey...yep. Beautiful...absolutely. It was just a perfect day for an endless view. The food was good. And it was quiet. I'm sure all parents can attest to the fact that it's nice to have some quiet time and some time to just be with a loved one without being tugged on the whole time.

After a beautiful lunch, off to the movies to watch Slumdog Millionaire. Watching all the press on this, we figured it would be a good movie to watch. And basically, it was the only good thing playing at this one theatre! Bit of a sad movie, but truly a fantastic film. I hope it does well at the Oscars. And seriously, the female lead is SO gorgeous. I couldn't take my eyes off of her.

And just like that, our date was coming to an end. We had to go pick up the kids. I didn't even bother making a "proper" dinner. It's whatever was easiest. Figured I had a good day of just enjoying, I enjoyed the rest of the night. Didn't bother with chores (except to make lunches for everybody), didn't exercise, didn't do my kid's mandarin homework. Nothing. And I don't feel guilty at all.

It's true that dates have to be made with your spouse in order to make sure that you both know that you love each other. And just to be with your spouse as adults...not as adults with kids. I hope to have more dates with my husband soon. I really had such a wonderful day....

Valentine's Day

Every year...this date comes up. And I keep saying the same thing. I don't like Valentine's Day. It's too commercial. It's kind of stupid...the only day that you show someone that you really love them? I don't think so.

And I can't even imagine going out on that "special day." Paying double for everything and having it tremendously busy....and having everybody profess their love. Bleah. I don't care, call me a downer.

I had asked my family and they agreed that we could have our own little festivities for this special day. My kids were really excited about Valentine's and I didn't want to not do anything. But I didn't want to hype it up so much that it was the end all be all type of event.

So, my eldest went to Mandarin school that morning while the youngest went shopping with me. When they got home, we had lunch. Nothing special but we ate together. Then we baked heart shaped cakes, we played some butterfly game thingy, and then off to the video store. We had yummy food and watched Beauty and the Beast with the kids. They had a ton of special treats while watching the movie. They had a blast. My husband and I enjoyed watching them have so much fun. Simple things that made for a great day. Maybe I'll start to like Valentine's a little again....

February 13th

I've never had a fear of Friday the 13th. The number 13 in Chinese culture isn't even a scary number. It sounds like "to live." How can a number like that be bad?

It was even better to know that on this day, my husband went in for another routine scan and he was found once again to be cancer free. The wait at the office was extremely long and it was an extremely short visit. I joked and said, well, everytime we come, this is what happens...so we're bound to get good news as that's the routine.

I wasn't expecting anything bad as my husband seems to feeling fine and looks good. But at the same time, I expect the worst. I can only imagine what my husband feels on these days. It was nice to see that he didn't seem too nervous this time.

And I must say, the cancer agency has some really great people there. The person that took us into the examining room actually recognized me. "Weren't you pregnant the last time I saw you?" Well, that would have been at least 3 years ago. But then she said, "No, you brought a baby in too." Crap, that was at least 5 years ago. That woman has a good memory. So we started talking to her and she was such a proud mom herself...showing us pictures of her daughter and son in law. She then proceeded to tell us that she can't wait to have grandkids.

And as we left, she asked how it went for my husband. Thumbs up. I walked by and said goodbye...see you in 6 months. We gave each other hugs and all.

I'm hoping all my visits to the cancer agency will be this way.

Jobs

I have a girlfriend that is a teacher. And she's thinking of taking a leave of absence and interested at looking at marketing jobs. Maybe even HR. Kudos to her as she knows that she'll have a job to fall back on if it doesn't work out. But I must say, I'd be crapping bricks if I had to look for work in this economy. I feel extremely fortunate to have a job that I like and that I'm not looking for work.

But wow. To walk away from a good job and risk finding something else in this market, that takes guts. Good on her for having the confidence to do something like this. Wishing her the best of luck. As long as she's happy

Towers

There's been a lot of chats and a lot of debate of whether or not having a cell tower nearby your place of residence is a bad thing. Some places opt to by one because it's usually cheaper to buy a place there or there getting some source of income. I know that my husband made it pretty clear that if were going to buy a palce, it wouldn't be near one of these things.

But yet we place so much emphasis on our cell phones these days. These things have to be built to keep up with capacity and demands. And there are limited places to put these damn things? But I guess with anything, as long as it's NIMBY (not in my back yard), then it's ok.

Whatever happened to simpler times?

Watches

In this day and age, I find it amazing that people still wear watches. On your computer screen, on the phone, on the tv, on the microwave, on the oven stove top...you get the idea, there's the time. But I guess that there is a certain suaveness to wearing a watch still. There are some Technomarine watches that are pretty sexy. And I just think it's fun that you can accessorize them to match your outfits these days. Now, if I had some outfits that warranted getting a watch to match....

Words of Love

My youngest is really starting to blossom. Real big personality, cute as a bug, and really has a big heart. And though sometimes she whines and drives me crazy, it's when she says the sweetest things that I can't stop loving this kid.

As you know, I take her to the office every morning with me. And one morning she just said, "Mommy, I love you very much and I love you everyday." Then she just proceeded to kiss and hug me. All without prompting.

And the other morning, when she was at the office with me, she wanted to write a little note for her sister. Yep, lots of scribbles. But I asked her what she wrote to her sister. "I love you everyday. You're the bestest sister ever." She was so proud of the note. She gave it to her sister that night and read it to her too.

Sweet as could be.

Clubs

I like the idea of a certain club per month. I like the idea of book clubs but gosh, finding the time to read and then actually remembering it is difficult at times. I seem to do better with magazines...quick flips, pretty pictures and pure brain candy. There are the card stamping things. Nope...love the idea, but really, I can barely make it out to grocery shop.

Then, I saw an ad for a wine of the month. Huh. That's got potential. But I don't drink wine. Quite sad really as I see many folks get joy out of this.

I think the only club I want to join right now is the one that lets you have peace and quiet, and a full night of sleep without interruptions. I'm sure I'd be very good at that club.

Computers

I have a laptop at work as there are times I need to take the thing somewhere to do some work, see an employer, etc. But when in the world were they called a notebook computer? Laptop makes sense to me. It sits on your lap...and on top of it. When I think notebook, I think of scribbling pads, sounds of paper being ripped out because the person didn't like what they wrote. Why do we always try to invent new words for something? Seriously...how many synonyms do we need these days? I'm sure a geek will set me straight....

Singing

My kids are constantly singing. And sometimes, it's just too much. To me, it's the constant noise. But on most days, it's quite fun to listen to.

So, yesterday, like any other day, my kids were singing. The youngest was much louder. My husband and I were on our computers while they had some time to play. Out of nowhere, my youngest sings about "the story of my life....la, la, la." What the hell is a 3 year old singing about her life? Well, it didn't end up being such a long song. Guess there is only so much to sing about when you're 3.

Reading

I try to read when I can. But it gets busy around here. When I do get a chance, I think it's wonderful. Books are really amazing things. And reading in itself is such a gift.

It's the one thing that I've always tried to have my children love. Thankfully, they do love learning and reading.

My eldest loves books. Her reading ability is quite good. It's so good that she's reading to the older kids at her daycare again. LOL!

I hope this love of reading continues with her all life long. It really is a wonderful thing....