The Senakams | Corgi + 3

7 (or 25) Random Things about Moi

First of all, my apologies for not returning your comments/ not stopping by your blogs/ not being a good blog friend in general lately. I'm really feeling the onslaught of pregnancy-related crappiness this week. Everyone tells me by the second trimester I'll "start feeling normal" again. I really hope this is not going to be the new standard of "normal"... ugh.

Anyway, enough self-pitying.

I was recently tagged by 2 of you (thanks Cathy and flanthrower!) to write 7 and 25 random things respectively about myself (actually Tams also tagged me a while back which I started but never got to finish...) And there are miscellaneous rules that go with it like having to tag x number of people in turn, etc etc. But being the rebel that I am (or rather in the state of pregnancy-induced discombobulation that renders my brain mushier than tofu), I'm just gonna write, oh, somewhere between 7 and 25 things, and anyone (yes, ANYONE!) who feel like joining in can consider yourself tagged!

So here we are, in completely random order:

•  I used to be scared of dogs. My mom used to tell us while growing up in Hong Kong that all dogs are rabid and thus we should always stay away (my sister would still cross to the other side of the street if a dog is coming towards us).

• I won the "Healthiest Kid Competition" in Hong Kong when I was 4, to my parents' immense pride I was even featured on the cover of a magazine (totally dorky):

  

• Shortly after that, I broke my arm and was in a cast for weeks. I had to stay overnight in the hospital in the geriatric ward since the pediatric ward was overflowing. I still remember the smell of my sickly (but kind) geriatric neighbors.

• I took piano lessons for 12 years but I still suck at it.

• When I first moved here (Urbana-Champaign, Illinois to be exact) from Hong Kong when I was 18, I was in complete culture shock- I had no idea what bagels are (thought they're doughnuts left out for too long that turned hard and dry); I thought corn that's purple is yellow corn that's gone bad; and I had no idea what the word "awesome" means, so everytime my TA wrote "awesome!" on my homework I thought it's the American way of saying it's awful. ("-ful" and "-some" sort of means the same thing, right?)

• I try to eat healthy and "grown-up" cereal, but what I really love is Lucky Charm.

• When I attend long, boring meetings these days, I have internal conversations with my baby. ("Are you hungry? Yeah, me too" or "What? You have no idea what these people are talking about? Don't worry, me neither...")

• Thanks to my dad, I developed the habit of putting Tabasco in almost everything I eat.

• I spent an hour last night obsessing about diaper bags. Currently, I love this totally hipster one, this more girly and whimsical one, and this retro, quirky one.

• Maltesers (something I grew up with in colonial Hong Kong) are always going to be superior to Whoppers. You HAVE to try it out.

• I love to sleep. 8 hours is a minimum, less than 6 hours I couldn't function. And I wish we have 4-day work week year round.

• I was a horrible teenager (boys, partying, etc). And now I'm eagerly awaiting payback from our kid.

• I really think durian (the spiky exotic tropical fruit that looks like an overgrown grenade) smells like gas. In fact, there was a gas leak in our building a couple weeks ago and I thought someone's hawking durian outside (but thanks to this association, we were able to help my neighbors detect this gas leak. Genius!)

• Speaking of foul smell and food, don't you get that distinct smell in your pee after you eat asparagus? Hubby is convinced I'm imagining it. I think it's just different metabolism.

• I am hopeless when it comes to sewing or knitting. Sewing because I have no sense for precision. Knitting just because I have no patience. Last time I tried to knit something it turned out like this (all of 3 pathetic, wonky inches of it...):

• I tend to believe in the goodness in people. And I know I should have learned by now in my line of work, but I'm still shocked when I discover people are being disingenuous.

• I believe karma is a b*itch.

• In my pregnancy-induced haze, I've already lost my Blackberry AND my cell phone in the past few months. BB is gone, but cell phone turned up in Tucson, AZ (it took a little detour when I flew back from Miami last week), and a Good Samaritan called my sister (the 1st # in my phone book) to tell her he'll turn in the phone to the airport's lost and found, and now it's safely back in my hands. See, that's why I believe in the goodness in people :)

• This is what makes me happy every day:

Happy 5th Birthday, Bryson!

It's Bryson's 5th birthday today, woo hoo!! It just occurred to me that we've never celebrated his birthday on the actual day since we got him (we were out of town both last year and the year before). Bad parents...

To make up for lost birthdays and compensate for our guilt, we lavished him with a bit of an extra special treat today (hint: it's from McDonald's, bad, bad parents...). I think we enjoyed watching him as much as he enjoyed the treat itself. Here's b-day boy (and Picasso who's lending a helping hand tongue in tackling this b-day gift):

Birthday extravaganza continued with a private par-tay thrown by his good friend Tube Dog downstairs. The boys enjoyed degutting Tube Dog's stuffed animal toys and scraps from the dinner table (only on birthdays). I hope this will help him forget the abandonment of his past 2 birthdays...

"Contemplate the Beginning and End of Each and Every Day..."

First of all, thanks everyone for your suggestions on our babymoon! There are definitely some great suggestions there that we would consider (and many that are already high on our list... great minds think alike, ha ha!).

I'm in Miami this whole week for a meeting, but I had this incredible conversation the other day that I have to share with you before I forget (my mind is like a very shallow bowl these days).

OK, a little bit of background. If you live near us around the Berkeley area, you'd know that Elephant Pharmacy is not your regular mom-and-pop drug store. Elephant Pharm (as they'd kitschy-ly like to be called) has in addition to its "normal pharmacy" this huge alternative/ complimentary medicine department completed with its own library of resources. In other words, totally hemp-wearing Prius-driving tree-sitting Berkeley.

So, when I needed something other than my trusty Ambien- drug of choice for my horrible jet lag that I can't use anymore due to my current condition- I went to Elephant Pharm hoping for some guidance on alternative therapies.

Knowing where I'm going, I really should have been prepared for this conversation below, but somehow I was still struck speechless with the brilliantly simple advice I got.

(Hubby and I approaching alternative therapy section tentatively, grundgy yet helpful looking man came up to greet us)

Grundgy storeperson (GS for short): Helloooo ma'am! How can I help you?

Me: Eh, hi. Can you recommend something for jet lag? I'm pregnant and can't take my usual prescription medicine.

GS: Hmm, first of all, if you're pregnant, I'd probably recommend that you stay away from any oral therapy.

Me: Ehhh.... OK. But I need something. Last time I travelled for work without my Ambien I ended up in the emergency room with an irregular heart rhythm caused by exhaustion.

GS: Oh, hmm... (looking thoughtful) In that case, I'd recommend that you rise with the sun and go to sleep with sunset.

Me: (What are you smoking?!) Hmm, that sounds nice but the sun sets at like 5 p.m. when normal people I would still be working.

GS: Oh (looks surprised), then at least spend a few minutes watching the sunrise and sunset, then contemplate the beginning and end of each and every day... (looking irritatingly serene)

Me: (Speechless, and kinda waiting for him to say "I'm just kidding!" which he never did). OK, forget that scenario where I'm pregnant. Can you just show me the aisle where the homeopathic sleep aid is?

GS: Sure! Right this way.

Yep. That's why we love where we live.

¡Viva! La Mexico?

Now that I'm 4 months pregnant, we're reconsidering our choice of New Zealand as our next vacation spot. Well, that and hubby being laid off complicated by a serious lack of cash would be another reason.

I've received numerous serious warnings from women who have recently given birth that we HAVE TO go on a "babymoon" before becoming parents. Their disheveled and sleep-deprived appearance makes this warning difficult to ignore. 

So here we are, trying to come up with a short-ish trip we can go on without breaking our bank. One place that came to my mind was Baja California in Mexico, a short 3-hr flight across the border from us. Seemed like a good idea as we're one of those odd birds out there who live in a border state who's never travelled to Mexico. And if you've seen the Sex and the City movie, I bet you too were drooling over that gorgeous oceanside Mexican resort the girls stayed in, see below (which I later found out to immense disappointment that it was just a movie set in Malibooo...).

But when I mentioned it to a friend (who's obviously either very travel savvy or a total hypochondriac) asked me, "But wait, don't you need shots to visit Mexico? And eh, aren't you pregnant??"

Oh yeah... Forgot about that. I checked out the CDC travel website, and lo and behold, they advise a ton of vaccines for travellers to Mexico, and most of them are pregnancy category C (i.e. things I wouldn't touch unless I absolutely need to).

And even though some friends swear that they've never gotten a shot before traveling to Mexico and has never gotten sick, heaven forbid if I contract any diarrheal disease (as in Charlotte in Sex and the City) WHILE being pregnant in a foreign country? Not a pretty picture.

So, we're now considering alternatives, probably something within US soil so vaccinations and exotic tropical diseases won't be an issue. We've considered other parts of California (easy and we can bring Bryson along but not so exciting), the Pacific NW (nothing like a constant drizzle on a vacation...), Hawaii (we were there TWICE last year)...

Any suggestions for us? Somewhere good for a weeklong vacation that's fun but low-key, with some outdoor stuff to do (suitable for a somewhat rotund, pregnant woman), preferably with good spring weather... is that too much to ask?

And by the way, even though we're not going to Mexico this time, just curious, for those of you who've been or are going to visit, did you get vaccinated before your trip?

Latest Obsession (NOT baby)

First of all, thanks everyone for sharing our excitement and for your well wishes! We'll keep you all posted as things progress.

So, what's my latest obsession? You'd be partially correct if you guess baby-related stuff.

That's obvious, but it's more of a necessity than a real obsesesion, really. All these baby stuff is really over my head, so I've got tons of studying to do. Between all the books Hubby and I bought and what friends and family passed on to us, we've amassed a small library. Don't worry, I won't bore you with that (unless you're interested in the gazillion different ways you can hold a baby while nursing... who knew??).

Anyway, the real reason I've been absent from blogging is due to another new obsession...

Recently, since I realized that our days of "freedom" is numbered, I suddenly devloped a longing to indulge in all things juvenile. Somehow I just feel like if I don't do it now, I'll never get a chance to do it once I become a mom. One of them (don't laugh), is playing video game all day all night.

I know, crazy eh? But I recently bought this game, Animal Crossing, on our Wii, and I've been hopelessly hooked.

It's a pretty simple role-playing game, in which you live and interact with animals in this idyllic little village where you fish, plant flowers, and trade gossip with your fellow residents among other things.

I know, it sounds totally pointless and like a complete waste of time (when I probably should be spending time reading about the 10 stages of labor). I wondered about that too when I first bought it, but now I just can't put my Wii remote and nunchuk down!

I guess after hours poring over the many volumes in my pregnancy library and feeling completely overwhelmed, it's nice to be able to take refuge in this virtual world, where all you need to worry about is if you've remembered to water all your flowers and sell your turnips before they go bad.

It's totally relaxing. Or I'm just totally in denial.

The Beginning of the Rest of Our Lives

OK, I know I have you all waiting waaaay too long for our 2009 surprise, without further ado, may I introduce...

Huh?! A lima bean? An alien?! I know it's hard to make out, but...

Dear blog friends, friends and family... *are you ready?* It's our pleasure to introduce you to our 8-week-old embryo! (who wants me to remind you that (s)he has since graduated to "fetus" status. Eh hmm)

Yep, I have a bun in the oven, I'm expecting... I'm PREGNANT!!! (OMG OMG OMG!!!)

I know some of you are pounding your fists right now and screaming "AHA! I KNEW IT!!!".

Yes, all the heartburn and nausea (by the way I didn't actually take Pepto-Bismol since it's pregnancy category C), extreme fatigue, musculoskeletal instability, are little clues I've sprinkled in here and there in the past couple of months. Trust me, it was hard for me to not spill my own beans!

I can't even begin to tell you about all the emotions I've felt since we learned of my pregnancy, but here are a few I'm able to verbalize:

• I feel elated when I see how adorable other people's babies are.

• I freak out when they start throwing tantrums.

• I get teary-eyed... well, pretty much at everything these days (and not only because I can stare at people eating sushi and drinking sake but CAN'T TOUCH THEM anymore).

• I feel excited imagining strapping the baby on our chest and going on our favorite hike (with Bryson, of course).

• I feel overwhelmed when I stare at the aisles and aisles of gadgets I cannot identify at a baby store (seriously, I can't imagine needing this and I have no idea what this is for)

• I feel hopeful to think of how a new administration will make our world a better place for our child to grow up in.

• I feel panicked when I look at my yet-to-be-employed husband.

Yeah, that kinda sums it up. I know there're a lot of negative emotions, but I can't lie. I know we're blessed beyond words to be able to have a child when we want to, but like I said before, I've always been kinda kiddophobic, and I still am.

But the fact that I used to be afraid of dogs before Bryson, and how I somehow found this place in my heart the day he showed up at our door and now can't imagine loving anything else more, helped me believe that I am capable of being a mother. Anyway, too late now since I don't think there's a return policy on this. :P