June 30, 2006
Organization Fascination
I haven't oooh'ed or aaah'ed in a long time, but I really, really need
colorful file folders from Paper Source. Don't you?
June 29, 2006
June 28, 2006
A Walk In the Park
Yesterday was His Honor's 5th Birthday. He woke up to a table full of presents, and we sent him on his merry way to summer camp accompanied with sweet things to help curry favor with his camp-mates.
In the evening, what he wanted for his special birthday dinner...was a meal from this fine establishment. I can't say I blame him-it's good stuff. I was hoping he'd have picked a place that had great dumplings, but after all it's not my special day, now is it?
All three of my boys on a walk last week:
June 23, 2006
Songs from My Personal Playlist
In honor of my 33rd birthday, these are a handful of songs that have stayed with me over the years.
Fall At Your Feet-Crowded House. This was on a mixed tape my senior year college roommate was playing one night when I'd came home from practice. "What's that song?," I asked her. It made me feel wistful and desparate and lovely all at the same time. When you need to process how you feel when you're confused about love, play it for four times straight and chances are that your feelings will distill into three simple sentences that describe everything. A boy sang a few bars of this for me once. It sent me through the roof.
Something So Strong-Crowded House. Again with the Finn boys. When I want to feel fourteen, I will play this and dance around in my home office. To me, it's about family and how you feel after life is on fast-forward and yet you find yourself lucky to be surrounded by possibly the world's best people.
Round the Way Girl-LL Cool J. I like to say that instead of having life handed to me on a silver platter, it was served to me on Fiesta ware. What I have is versatile, strong and simple. I'm very much a "round the way girl"-the girl you find in the next office, laughing on her phone as she unwittingly flirts with clients.
Feels Like Home-Randy Travis as covered by Chantal Kreviazuk. I borrowed the soundtrack to Dawson's Creek from someone, and this was on it. It echoes the way I feel about Conan. While he might not be Ryan Reynolds, he's home to me and I feel safe and myself when I'm around him.
Unfinished Sympathy-Massive Attack. I found Blue Lines in Conan's CD collection in the early, dizzy days of my pregnancy. I was confused and ambivalent about becoming pregnant a bare three months after getting married. At work, I would shut my door and just listen to this track a handful of times, and it was all about unanswered questions. It was while listening to this song that I came to terms with becoming a parent. In the middle of one of the refrains, I recall feeling finished with my ambivalence, and I was ready to become a mommy.
This or That-Black Sheep. Possibly my introduction to hip-hop. In high school I'd get together every year with a group of Filipino kids who taught me all about hip hop. You lose yourself jumping up and down to fresh beats. Conan can't figure out why I love it so much. Admittedly, it kind of makes me sentimental.
Everyday-DMB. I bought either in the latter stages of my pregnancy or immediately when The Gov. was born. In the awkward early days of when we were starting to get to know each others and separate human beings, I would play this song to him in the morning, and then hold him as I swayed gently to the music. The guitar in the song always reminds me of 10 a.m. on a summer morning, seeking relief indoors from the already-high sun and tiny newborn onesies with puppies printed on them.
What?-A Tribe Called Quest. This song is made up entirely of questions. Some of them are questions in need of answers, and some are purely rhetorical. I think this is Q-Tip at his most clever and highest level of talent. It's just a great song.
Crush-DMB. I'm the queen of inappropriate crushes. I have them all the time, and I'm okay with that. This song is so great at capturing that exact moment when you come to the realization that you have a crush on someone. The song moves in a way that echoes your emotions as your stomach twists in a little knot. No one can resist that little smile you get on your face when you see the object of a crush.
June 22, 2006
Woman get busy /just shake that booty
I am scared of my inbox.
Every morning, when I walk into work, I instinctively take a deep breath and hold it as I log into the server and launch Outlo0k. After a few seconds, the blue number in parentheses right after "Inbox" gives me a split second indicator of how my morning looks. The average number is somewhere between 20 and 40 and has been known to be 75, meaning I received 75 emails from the time I left (well after the standard quittin' time) and when I arrived in the morning. It was not after a vacation, and it was not after a weekend either.
I guess I should stop kidding myself by thinking that sometime--maybe soon--my workdays will become less hectic. I've got to admit to myself that I'm more than just a little burnt out. There is really going to be no stop to the have-to-have-it right now requests from the clients because their products rely on others...who rely on others.
I'm hoping that perhaps things will calm down in a while, but I thought that at the beginning of the year. But I have faith and I have commitment to what I do, I like a great deal of my clients, and I really like my colleagues.
Maybe that's enough.
June 21, 2006
I hope that someone gets my...message in a bottle
The M.O. in my family for extending occasion-related wishes: text messaging.
Those of you who have been doing this thing for ages will scoff and roll your eyes, but please consider that is my 63 year old father who headed up this mini-movement. Apparently, texting is the main way to communicate in the Philippines, and so his nieces and nephews got him started on it. Right now on my phone are a couple of birthday greetings from yesterday.
Ironically, I'M supposed to have been the one to tell my parents, saying to "hey, did you know you can key in short messages on your cell phone...and send them to other people's cell phones?"
I will tell you secretly, however, that between my mom and my dad...my mom is the better message writer.
June 17, 2006
He Has Absolutely No Clue That He's About to Be Devoured By A Big Yellow Plastic Dragon
Oh well. At least he got to enjoy a tasty treat a few minutes before:
June 06, 2006
The best thing in the world is fairground ride with your dad
5 things I feel like right now
1. That last bit of mayo in the jar that you just can't seem to get.
2. That liquidy stuff at the top of the ketchup that's settled in the bottle that you either have to shake and mix in or pour off
3. The baked-on Pam on that extra muffin tin space that never got filled before you put the muffins in the oven to bake
4. That lone earring sans mate that sits on the side of your jewelry box. You know, the one that you consider turning into a charm on a necklace (but never get around to).
5. That fuzzy crud in the roof of your mouth when you first wake up in the morning.
June 01, 2006
Ask You What Your Interests Are
I can't wait until my two Isobels arrive. They were purchased by me for me off of Etsy this afternoon, and will go wonderfully in my new kitchen.
The plan is to slowly decorate the house with original artwork. I have to scout around and look for places for my strizz-prints, but I think I've made some progress today.