The End of November's NaBloPoMo

I have made it to the last day and have managed to post everyday. I enjoyed doing my writing at the end of the day to a point that some days I think that I miss the midnight deadline. I started out doing both NaBloPoMo and posting a status everyday of things I am thankful for on Facebook. I kept up with NaBloPoMo, but gave up mid-November on the thankful statuses. I just didn't feel the passion anymore to continue to post things that seem to have become trivial to be thankful for. I did say that I would probably post on the blog my thankful status posts from Facebook on the last day so that is what I am going to do.

Day 1:  I am thankful I was able to spend time with my family this evening attending Church, dinner, and Riley's last Spooky Gym as an elementary student!

Day 2: I am thankful that my children got to meet their great grandmother while in Thailand last year.

Day 3: I am thankful today for my health and for the ability to lead an active life.

Day 4: I am thankful that we live in a city with an awesome library system!

Day 5: I am thankful for my parents who are always there for me and my family. I love you very much.

Day 6: Thankful that I knew Linda Umstattd! Wonderful person and friend. May she rest in peace.

Day 7: Today I am thankful for my friends, old and new, young and old, near and far. You all have influenced my life and made it richer! Thank you for letting me be a part of your lives.

Day 8: I am thankful that I am able to foster my children's interests, whatever they may be, from trucks and trains to Lego, Nerf guns, archery, and hunting. The future looks to hold more artistic interests, drawing, pottery, and cake decorating.

Day 9: To my gramdmother, Mon Chaisurat, thank you for leading us by your example. We will remember you always.

Day 10: Thankful today for a day of rest in order to be refreshed to face the challenges of a new work week.

Day 11: Thank you to all those who serve and protect our country.

Day 12: I am thankful today to know many parents who love and care for their children; parents who take the responsibility of raising a child seriously and believe in being a parent first and then their friend.

Day 13: Thankful for all the opportunities I have been given in life, personal and professional.

Day 14: I am thankful for my education and that I am able to use my education to influence the lives of others.

Day 15: Thankful for my parents today and everyday! They have always supported me in whatever I wanted to do!

Day 17: I am thankful for all children; they teach you with their innocence and truthfulness.

Day 20: Thankful that we are able to help where we can, both in our local community and overseas!

Day 30: Last, but not least, thankful for my husband and the life we have built together. May we continue on our adventures together for all the days of our lives. Love you very much.

Well, after going through my post, I had 18 days of thankfulness. I have much to be thankful for in my life and although I try to concentrate of the positives in life, sometimes the negatives do get me down, but not for long!

Thanksgiving Prayer

Last week Riley decided that he wanted to say grace for Thanksgiving dinner. Today, we sat as a family to compose what he would say.

I wanted to copy and paste or re type the words, but I am having trouble wifi connection. Happy Thanksgiving 2013

Rosalina is 21.

On this occasion of Rosalina's 21st birthday, it is the only thing that I can think about writing tonight. I think about meeting her as a small child in 1994. I remember going to her sister's baptism in Midland in 1996. One Christmas, she wore matching outfits with her sisters; gasp! I don't know how her mother convinced her to do that!

In 2003 she moved to Cleveland and that gave us the opportunity to develop a deeper relationship. I saw her through the trials and tribulations of the teen years. I even remember one New Year's Day visiting her in the hospital because her asthma could not be controlled. Through it all, I have always seen a beautiful, fun loving person who is willing to work hard for what she wants. We loved working with her when we did festivals, and we enjoyed travelling with her when we could.

I have always tried to develop relationships with my nieces and nephews in order to bridge the generations, but also, because one day, I will not be here, and it is up to them to look after their cousins, my children. I try to share with them my knowledge, and what I think is best, but it is up to them to follow their own path. You will only learn by experience, and sometimes, you need to have the experience yourself rather than be told not to do it. You remember the lessons better that way!

The lesson that I hope that you will always take with you is that regardless of the choices that you make, I love you with all my heart always and know that I believe in you and will always be here for you. Do not ever be afraid to come to me; I will help you if I can, but if I can't, I will listen nonetheless.

Friday Night Dinner

Traditionally, I like to go out to eat on Friday nights. I am usually tired from the work week and every other week, it is payday, so why not? Today, I already had a beef roast thawed out in the refrigerator, and I did not want it to go to waste, so I came home and cooked. I got out my iPad and looked up a recipe for a beef round roast and found Perfectly Roasted Bottom Round Roast with Garlic and Thyme. I actually had all the ingredients! Once I got this going, I thought I would pair it with some frozen vegetables, which we always have on hand. Then, I thought, let me see if I have some instant mashed potatoes. Well, I didn't, but I did have some Idaho potatoes in the pantry. So, I looked up a recipe for mashed potatoes and found Perfect Mashed Potatoes. I didn't have any heavy cream on hand, so I found Nestle's Table Cream in the pantry and used that for a substitute. With the frozen broccoli steamed in the bag in the microwave, Voila! A home-cooked meal and all made from scratch!

In Loving Memory

Mon Chaisurat passed away today. She was my grandmother on my mother's side. Because of Facebook, I was able to find out about her passing within 15 minutes of it happening. My cousin messaged me when he saw that I was online.

Happy 39th---

Well, I have made it to 39. Not quite the big 4-0, but close.

Just survived another Valentine's Day, my 28th if my count is correct. Maybe next year will be the last; it will be bittersweet!

Still working on Project Life, thinking about taking pictures everyday or having a spread for every week. Not sure how it will all turn out. Gave up on the Collect at the end of January. Too many gadgets to carry around to document life events on.

I have a friend that is doing 13 half marathons in '13. I know that it could not be a goal that I could achieve, but I have thought about doing 13 5k races this year in the same spirit. I have about six already on my schedule, so what is another seven? We will see where this goal leads me.

I did invest in a new camera two weeks ago and am itching to start another fleece project, but work has also kept me pretty busy. Need to update the Smash books and do some de-cluttering. Thought that I was going to get all these things done this weekend, but really need a break to relax, rest, and recharge, so who knows what I will get to, but definitely need to do some laundry.

At 39 I am very fortunate to have my family and friends with which to share my good times and bad. Looking into the future, I have Disney to look forward to next year! GO MICKEY!

Ron's Gift

My husband's gift is the ability to host and cook.  He is in his element and loves to entertain especially his family and close friends.  He always gets rave reviews for the dishes that he makes.  Christmas dinner included prime rib, wasabi crusted salmon, crab stuffed mushrooms, grilled asparagus, spinach salad, and creme brulee for dessert.  We hosted Christmas dinner last year and again this year.  Next year, we may have to go on the road, but what matters is that we are together.  This year's dinner numbered 19 and next year we hope that more family members will be able to join us.

The Boys

The Girls

The Adults



On Christmas Eve...

I am blessed with a great family and wonderful friends.  As our Chrismas dinner table gets fuller and fuller, I think of what fun tomorrow will be just to be able to spend time with the family.  There will be three generations of family here tomorrow, and time spent together is precious because we never know when it may end.  The oldest is 78, and the youngest is five.  May we continue to be able to have good health and peace in the new year to spend time together.

Sharing Our Gifts

I love to work with Shutterfly and have for many years now made a calendar for my husband's father.  I wrapped up the calendar yesterday in order to get it ordered and in by Christmas.  In the past I have been able to post my work from Shutterfly onto my blog, but that option is not available for the calendar.  I like to make photo books also and the kids' from 2009 is already here and ready for Christmas.  This is a gift that I like to share.  I like to make scrapbooks by hand also. but this is just easier sometimes especially since my son's and daughter's are identical; it is easy to make two copies with different covers.

In addition, I make photo collages for graduations and Christmas.  I usually make one with both of my kids and individuals of each of them for my own wall as well as for each side of grandparents.  This year, since my duaghter made our Christmas cards, I make photo stickers instead of wallets to go on the cards.

What fun it is to share this gift!

The Gift of Words

As I continue to embark on my second month of NaBloPoMo, I started to think about my great aunt.  For all the year that I knew her, she would write daily in a hardcover daily planner provided by some bank in Thailand.  She would write happenings of the day, who borrowed money and how much, and sometimes poems or short stories.  In her car she kept a separate notebook to log her gas usage: the kilometers on the odometer at fill up, how many liters were bought and at how much?  The one thing I remember most is that she had the best handwriting I have ever seen both in Thai and in English.  She liked specific pens, no ballpoint!  In English, she wrote in cursive, and it was so neat and perfect.  I remember watching her one day practice her signature so that it would look the same all the time and people would not be able to forge it!  She was an accounting educator for vocational schools as well as for junior college students.

Which brings me to this thought... do the words lose their personalization by not being handwritten?  When my great aunt died, she left 60+ years of diaries in her own handwriting as tangible proof that she was here.  When I leave this Earth, I will leave my words/stories, but in typewritten form on a blog.  They will not be written for someone to hold unless they want to print them out.  But, I know, from past experience, that if I were to handwrite my memories and stories, they would not get written down.  I am better at typing my words and love the blog format. So, I have to rely on the words that I have written expressing the feeling and personalization for me.  As in, you can hear me talk as you read my words.  It is as if I am talking to you.

It's 11-11-11, make three wishes!

I wish for good health, love, and happiness for all those that I love near and far.

I wish for my family to be able to continue to travel and see the world.

I wish for my parents to be able to retire and enjoy long life.

Whirlwind April

(Although much delayed, I wanted to document this event in my blog because it happened to me directly and I also want a log of my husband's status updates from facebook.)

April started out innocently enough.  Just 15 days to go until Spring Break.  Report cards were done; packing started for trip to Florida; camping items bought.  Then..., on Wednesday, April 6th, I woke up with a stomach ache.  I was trying to shake it off to go to a meeting, but couldn't.  I had the chills and couldn't lay down.  Tums and Maalox did not help.  Chicken soup did not help.  The kids went to school, and Ron went to work.  I laid around dozing and in pain, still thinking it was a stomach virus.  About 11am Ron called to tell me what the symptoms of an appendicitis were; I asked him to check what the symptoms were for a gall bladder attack. (I really didn't think that I had either.)  He asked me if I wanted to go to the hospital again, and I finally agreed mostly to get him off my back.  I got dressed and sat down to wait for Ron to come home.  Off we went to the hospital.

When we got to the hospital, Ron dropped me off at the door, and I walked in by myself to stand in line behind two people who walked in right before me.  I was not able to stand up and when Ron came in, I made him stand in line for me, and I sat back down.  When the registration man called me, I was able to tell him my information, and we sat down and waited to be called back.  Once we were called back, I explained to the nurse what my pains were and how they were spreading and what started out as pain under my rib cage became pain down near my pelvis and down my sides and my back.  They took blood and put in an IV which I insisted the tech put in my left arm.  (I honestly hate IVs and have only had one a few times in my life, but with the birth of my first child learned that I am very right hand dominant and do not like them in my right arm.)  Then, they came back with some pain medication and when it did not work, came back with stronger stuff.  The doctor decided that they wanted to do a CT Scan with contrast and had me drink some liquid with raspberry Crystal Light.  They wheeled me to the CT Scan and they results came back: appendicitis.
At 3:30 as they were wheeling me to pre-op, I was calling my colleague to help me out with sub plans, and Ron was calling the principal to have a sub called for me for the next two days.  By 5pm I was in surgery.  These are Ron's status updates from this day.

My poor wife was in pain this morning. At first she thought she had the stomach flu.4 hours later we found ourselves at the hospital. She had a CT scan performed and it revealed that she has appendicitis. She will be going in for surgery soon. I'll follow up post surgery.

Penny is out of surgery and all went well. She is still snoring and should be in her room soon. She will have to stay overnite and hopefully released tomorrow AM. Thanks to everyone for all of your kind thoughts and prayers. Penny will be back on FB soon enough.

True enough I was released the next day!  Went back to work on Monday, took Tuesday and Wednesday off mainly to rest and for a post-op appointment, worked Thursday, and left Friday morning for our Disney camping trip.

Shutterfly is a Gift Giver's Best Friend

As I was contemplating what type of photo card I would like to do for Christmas this year, I got the Shutterfly 2010 Holiday Cards and Gifts catalog in the mail.  In the past I have done 4x8 photo cards and used 4x6 pictures in the cards where you can insert pictures.  This year the card that caught my eye was the Top Ten Moments Christmas card.  I liked this card because it was flat.  I also liked the newsletter format of the card where I could highlight certain aspects of our year.  What really caught my attention was, in the example, the #1 moment was celebrating our 10 year anniversary, and my husband and I celebrated our 10 year anniversary also this year.  I really like how my card turned out and enjoyed thinking about our year and trying to determine what events were the best ones to add to our card.

I have used many shutterfly products in the past, but this is the first Christmas card that I have done.  I make a yearly photo book for my children that is the same on the inside, but I am able to customize the covers to match their personalities and their favorite colors.  Recently, I tried another photo site because shutterfly did not have the size photo book I wanted for that particular project.  Never again will I stray from shutterfly!  The quality was not as good as I am use to with shutterfly, and my pictures that I thought were cropped correctly when I made the book were cut off when I received the book.

I started making a calendar for my father in law many years ago and it has now become a Christmas tradition.  Thankfully, all of the relatives help out and send me their pictures to be included in the calendar.


If you need photo gifts, shutterfly is the place to go!

Catching Up

I know that it has been a long time since I have written. I left off in the middle of summer vacation in New England so to recap...

We went to Chinatown in Boston for dim sum on Monday.
On Tuesday it was raining, but we still stopped for some outlet mall shopping in Kittery, ME on our way to Kennebunk. We ate lobster dinner that night!
On Wednesday we went to Freeport to the LL Bean Outlet where I found all sorts of bags and backpacks. We also made it to Gooch's Beach that day.
Thursday brought the highlight of our trip: my brother in law came home from Afghanistan and we sped back to Boston to meet him at the airport. What a great day!
I went to the New Balance Outlet on Friday to return some things and my daughter ended up with Bert and Ernie tennis shoes. She loves them! I also took my kids to visit a friend in Salem, MA. We went out to Marblehead Point.
Saturday was our last day and our Maine relatives came down to meet us for a day on the beach near Gloucester, MA. The perfect ending to a wonderful trip.

Real life after vacation brought the set-up of a new classroom for me and 27 wonderful kindergartners for me to teach! No wonder I have had no time to blog, plus my two beautiful children at home and their activities (Cub Scouts and religion class). The change has been tough! Having a classroom there is always so much to learn and so much to do. Even in the two years that I was gone, some things have changed drastically. I am always playing catch up in some arena of my life!

The ironic things that have happened are: I have already attended the funeral of one of my student's mother's and today, a first in my life: I had a student bite another student on the ear a la Mike Tyson! So much for my rule of only food, drink, and candy go in your mouth! What can I say: life is never dull with children around!

Boston Day Two

We ended up staying home on our second day in Boston. My sister in law, my niece, and her boyfriend came down to visit from Maine. They learned how to play Mahjongg while the guys went to play golf, and my children relaxed at home.

The evening was once again a huge meal of chicken and ribs!

In the middle of the night our room was so dark that Reese woke up and yelled out to me, "I can't see!" I had to go and get her from her mattress on the floor!

Boston Day One

We got to Boston at 1:30 am. It was a long trip, and it rained most of the way from home. The kids were very good and well entertained by movies. Thank goodness for the DVD player!

After a leisurely breakfast with family and laundry because our clothes got soaked on the top of the car, we took off to see the sights of Boston. We saw Fenway Park and stopped by the Prudential Building. We then set off on a walk through the city that included a walk down Boyston Street passed the Boston Public Library and Trinity Church. I liked the saying that was inscribed on the Boston Public Library Building. "The Commonwealth requires the education of the people as the safeguard of order and liberty."

We walked through the Public Garden and the Swan Boats to Charles Street and along Charles Street through Beacon Hill to a foot bridge near the Longfellow Bridge. We passed the Community Boat House and walked back toward the Prudential Center along the Charles Street Esplanade. It was fun to see a different side of Boston than I saw on my last trip to Boston, but I wore the wrong shoes that day and was not prepared for a long walk. The top of my sandal dug into my foot and gave me a blister that is still tender today. (I thought that we were just going to look at the shops along Newbury Street.)

We left for home after this trek and a stop at the candy store in the Prudential Center. Then, it was off to the Sam's Club, Lowe's for a grill, and Stop and Shop for groceries for dinner. What a tiring day that ended with a yummy taco meal!

Update

To bring everything up to date, we have had some changes the last few months. I haven't been blogging much due to other obligations. In the spring I took two classes to maintain my Intervention Specialist license in case I needed it for my tutoring position next year. In May I got a kindergarten teaching position and am very excited about the prospect of working full time again with children.

With the end of the school year comes the start of festival season. We did two festivals this year and I think that we might be done. I have not done well in the past in the fall and do not anticipate that this season would be any better.

We had some family friends visit in June, and I had a great time taking them to Amish country. It was the best trip that I have ever taken to Amish country. We had lunch at an Amish restaurant, visited the Amish and Mennonite Heritage Center, and ended the day sampling cheese at Heini's.

Father's Day weekend brought Ron's two best friends and their families to our home. I had a great time catching up and getting to know the wives while the kids played. The kids had an awesome time playing together and playing on the water slide that our neighbors brought out.

July brought the 4th and time spent with family. We had a great weekend with parties and fireworks. Now, comes more time with family as we visit Boston and Maine!

Family Culture

As part of an assignment for one of my classes, I was asked to write about my family culture as if I were going to share it with my students. I thought that it would be a nice addition to my blog.

I am a first generation Thai American. I am an only child, and my parents are from Thailand in Southeast Asia. In my home we spoke mostly English although English is not the native language of my parents. I grew up with an understanding of Thai, my parents’ language and perfected my Thai language knowledge when I spend over three months in Thailand at the age of 10. I speak Thai in the main dialect and understand it in three dialects, the main dialect, the northern Phrae dialect, and the southern Yala/Pattani dialect.

My religious background is Buddhist. My parents grew up Buddhist and passed along the basic principles of thought to me. I was taught if you do good, you get good and if you do bad, you get bad. In addition I was taught to have great respect to elders and not to call them by just their first names. Therefore, I grew up with many “aunts” and “uncles”.

Education was very important to my parents and family. I went to private Catholic schools even though my parents were Buddhist because they felt that good education mattered more than the religion that was taught in the school. I was taught to do well in order to achieve my goals. I had cousins that came here for their higher education as I was growing up, and I was told that if they could do it, I could too. There was no question in my family about going to college. I was going, and I was going to get a master’s degree. Which I did!

Usually, we ate rice at one meal a day, most of the time, it was dinner. We also ate American foods and went out to dinner a great deal when I was growing up. We were not a family that had to eat traditional Thai food everyday.

I married a first generation Filipino American. He is the sixth out of six children. In his home they spoke mostly Tagalog, their native language, and he has an understanding of the language, but does not speak Tagalog fluently. He grew up with a Catholic background, and it was very important to his family to follow the church’s teachings. Through his culture he was also taught to have a great respect for elders just like I was.

My husband attended public schools even though they were very religious. Education was very important in his family also, and he was highly encouraged to go to college. In his community the Filipinos gathered together for social events, have a cultural center, and many social organizations that are based on their shared culture.

As he was growing up, my husband ate mostly Filipino food with rice as the basis. I believe that they mainly ate at home although they would sometimes go out for other types of Asian food. Foods that they ate that were American were ones that were easily paired with rice such as fried chicken, hot dogs, and SPAM.

As we raise our children as Thai/Filipino Americans, we combine our values and our culture. Our children are taught the same respect for elders that we grew up knowing. They are baptized Catholic and are raised Catholic although they are still influenced by Buddhist teachings because all religion is inherently good. They have grown up learning only English because it is the language that we are most comfortable speaking. Hopefully, one day, they will be able to travel to Thailand and the Philippines, and that will spark their interest in learning the languages. We raise our children to aspire to be all that they can be, but they have to go to college first! Both of our children love rice and will eat it plain as well as with chicken, SPAM, and bacon. We mainly eat American when we are out because it is convenient so the children are chicken nugget lovers, but rice is still an important part of our lives and we eat it a few times a week.

With Love and Fond Memories Always

For older members of my mother's family it is a tradition to publish a memory book for the cremation of the family member. Family members can write whatever they like: memories, stories, lessons learned, etc. This is the first time I have felt that I really needed to write for a family member, but, at the same time, I was at a loss as to how to go about my writing. Originally, I wanted to write about a bunch of individual memories, but then I couldn't think of a memory for every time that we met. Some memories were also too private to be share. Below is what I created for the book.

When you are young and you leave, you take it for granted that you will see each other again. I don’t take it for granted anymore. I always thought that Yai Pat would come to my wedding and meet my children. I thought that I would continue to have opportunities to go and visit my relatives in Thailand, but time and distance sometimes get in the way.

I first met Yai Pat in 1982 when I was seven years old. My parents and I were visiting Thailand for my first time, and Yai Pat was there to pick us up from the airport. I remember Yai Pat had a Volkswagen Bug that I wanted to ride in because my mom was riding in that car. Yai Pat insisted that I ride in the pickup truck with my dad because it was air conditioned. During this trip, I celebrated my eighth birthday in Phrae. Yai Pat sent me a telegram that was typed in English that said, “Happy Birthday Love, Pipat”. I wish I still had it today.

Throughout my young life I spent a great deal of time with Yai Pat considering that I live in the United States. When I would visit Thailand, I would always sleep in Yai Pat’s room where we would share stories as we lay in bed at night. Yai Pat made sure that my time in Thailand was fun. She arranged trips for me to places around Bangkok as well as to visit relatives and friends in Phrae, Yala, Chiang Mai, Mae Hong Son, Chiang Rai, Surin, Singapore, Koh Samui, etc. Because of her I got to spend time with family and see sights that I may not have known I wanted to see. I appreciate all the lessons she taught me, and all the memories I have with Yai Pat. I only wish that she could have lived until we met again on Earth.

Hawaii Day Twelve: Last Family Day

We started out the day with church. We attended services at Calvary Chapel South Maui which is right on Kihei Rd., a very beautiful setting. After church we tried to go to our favorite pizza place, Matteo's, but there were not open for lunch on Sundays. We ended up at a food court. We all got something different to eat: Subway, Vietnamese pho or noodles, and Filipino food. This was the day that my brother in law, niece, and nephew were leaving so we went home so they could pack. They left mid-afernoon, and we went to Riley's favorite beach, Kamaole Beach #1. We had a good time walking to the beach and playing in the sand and water. Reese actually went into the water on this day. On some days she only plays in the sand right by the water, but does not actually go into the ocean. On the way home from the airport my sister in law picked us up from the beach in a new rental truck. Our other one had a headlight out, and rather than replace the headlight, they just gave us a new vehicle. Unfortunately, we seemed to have misplaced Reese's tennis shoes in the transition! (We actually did not know until we left and emptied out the car for sure that they were lost!)

We ended our day by going back to The Shops of Wailea to return a nice shirt that Ron got from Tori Richards and for me to go and buy some souvenir t-shirts for some friends. We ate dinner that night at Matteo's and tried some of their other entrees which were just as good as the pizza, which Riley and Reese ate. Reese ate two pieces of pizza and was falling asleep as she was trying to finish the second piece. She ended up asleep in my lap and stayed asleep until the next morning!