I love koi -- aren't they just so calming? There is a great garden center called Swanson's in Seattle, which is where I took this photo.
The next few days will be hectic as always, but I see some slowing down of activities in the near future. I've been tackling my to-do list and I've noticed that the list is shortening...not much feels too urgent right now.
Ba-chan leaves in three days. I don't know how we'll function without her! I must work on making millions of dollars so that I can relocate my parents to Seattle. Hmmmm....
I have over 3,000 spam comments. Dear John of Viagra, please stop spamming. Before I make my millions, ridding my poor little blog of spam is somewhere on the ever-shrinking to-do list.
I am getting more and more lax on these monthly updates. Above is a photo of Kumi eating Japanese soba noodles in our old place back in November. It's hard to believe that it's already 2010 -- what have we been doing?
Well, painting, mostly. After many weeks of tears-inducing DIY projects, I was able to get the house into habitable condition and we have settled in quite nicely. I painted the living room, both bedroom ceilings, trims, and the strange metal t-bar ceiling tile holders that were horribly rusted in the bathroom. I scoured floors, appliances, walls and every nook and cranny (grossness to the max). I conquered mold and mildew. I would like to share some photos but the "before" photos are really blurry -- I think my hands shook from the sheer abomination of it all. The weird thing is that it didn't seem that bad until I started cleaning. I still have nightmares about the dishwasher mold.
The holiday season was lovely. We bought a real tree for the first time, trimmed it to the nines and Kumi got so many presents she actually said, "I'm tired of opening presents, can you do it?" The trials and tribulations of being an only child, I tell you. The highlight has been having my mom here for an extended stay. The Kumis (Kumi was named after my mom) have been having SO MUCH FUN. As a bonus, MF and I have been having more dates and I've had a lot more time to take care of unpacking and general house stuff.
Have you ever noticed that as soon as you make a resolution, you go out and do the exact opposite? Like the time I vowed to spend zero money one week and found myself buying a $3.00 coffee in the next second? Shame on me. So here are mine for this year:
1. I plan to eat as much fatty food and avoid exercise at all cost
2. I will make sure to thoroughly hoard all manners of unnecessary items and be disorganized
3. I will go on daily spending sprees and ALWAYS find the priciest items
4. I will not make a single thing. No crafts, no cooking, no painting/drawing, nada.
5. I will gripe about every aspect of my life and vocally covet impossible things that I don't even want.
6. I will refuse to clean.
7. I will not update this blog. Ever.
I'm going to make it a horrible year, I promise.
xo!
This little sassy Snow White (costume made by Bachan) raked in tons of candy for Halloween and loved every minute of it. We actually did all trick-or-treating (at preschool and then at MF's work) on the day before Halloween and by the time the real deal rolled around, Snow White was exhausted beyond belief. She napped her way through the 31st.
This month flew by as usual and our crowning achievement has been in the potty arena. She finally stopped the routine I had come to dread every night: take a bath, put on a diaper for the night, rush to the corner of the room to poop in a crouch/waddle. Turns out candy and bribery really work. I tried to go the educational, non-sugar route and failed miserably so I've succumbed. Armed with the large stash of Halloween candy, I now look forward to bedtime.
This year is knocking me down and hurling punches at me left and right. I lost my wallet last night and was in a state of panic. It wasn't so much that I lost it that I had NO IDEA how it happened. I don't lose things very often, especially something as important as my wallet. I searched and searched and finally had to give up after I retraced my steps a dozen times and turned the house inside and out. I canceled my credit cards and had nightmares about someone emptying out our bank accounts.
Fortunately, a nice young man happened to see it lying in the middle of the street this morning and when I received his call, I did a little happy dance. How lucky! When I called to un-cancel the cards, the bank representative marveled at the man's honesty. My wallet looked rather worse-for-wear and I'm pretty sure someone (me?) drove over it. Yet, everything inside was intact, even the cash. How amazingly lucky!!!
More pix of Halloween to follow. Right now I need to get a new wallet.
