Thursday, September 29, 2005

Bad Crash

I don't usually like to share my opinions about movies. I guess, I don't really have the greatest taste in movies and some might even call me a "cinema slut," because I would watch almost any movie out there if I had the time. That is why cable is so dangerous. Also I'm kind of embarrassed by my taste in movies. For example, 40 Year-Old Virgin... HI-larious. If you've seen it, you might be shocked that a seemingly proper mother of 2 like me would enjoy it so much. I mean, it was almost disturbing how loud I was laughing.

Anyway, I rented some movies at Blockbuster because I was trying to kill some time the other day before I had to pick up Abby (I in NO way endorse Blockbuster. Blockbuster is evil). One of which was Crash. By the way, what is up with the "End of late fees" deal that Blockbuster is now adopting, because I read all the fine print and it's pretty clear to me that if you don't return the movie within a week after the due date, you buy it. If that doesn't seem like a late fee, I don't know what is.

So Crash is about different circles of people, who are actually supposed to be regular people like you and me, who really have all this deep seeded racism. It just riled me up so bad and I didn't even think it was that good. Sure the message was good albeit simple, "don't be a racist," but really the way it was written was not all that deep or eloquent. It felt like a bunch of stereotypes regurgitated and we as viewers are supposed to sit back and applaud the effort for being so racially profound or even novel, which it is not. And since when is LA so interconnected? In fact, it has to be one of the least connected cities in the world, which is why Crash seemed so overly contrived. Plus, I have a real problem with the way they portrayed L.A. First off, where are all the Asians (especially the hundreds of thousands of Koreans?) and Latinos, which make up more than the population of Caucasians in LA. We're not all Cambodian refugees or housekeepers. Also, I've never seen so many Blacks in LA before in my life. I hate how to the media, racism is all about Black and White. Finally, if you're going to do a movie in L.A. at least give some props to certain neighborhoods. It was no fun to watch a movie about L.A. and not know where anything was happening.

In the end, what was it trying to communicate - that Blacks are not as bad as you may think and Whites are not as good as you think? As a side note: Latinos are not all gangbangers and Asians are... it doesn't really resolve what Asians are or are not.

We're all sinful, Black, White, or whatever your race, and all deserve God's judgement.

Crash: 10 fingers AND 10 toes down

Tuesday, September 27, 2005

Idiosyncrasy

I'm not sure how I feel about spilling my various quirks and weaknesses. Some of you may already know these things about me, but I'm pretty sure most of you don't.

id-i-oÃ,·syn-cra-sy

1. A structural or behavioral characteristic peculiar to an individual or group.
2. A physiological or temperamental peculiarity.
3. An unusual individual reaction to food or a drug.

List five of your own idiosyncrasies:

1. My conscience can consume me. I once bumped this car as I was backing out and don't even think I caused any damage (the other car was already not in the best condition). I didn't have a pen on me, so I waited for a while for someone to come out. When I got home I called Joe in a panic, who didn't seem too concerned. I felt so guilty about not leaving a note that I called the police and filed a report on the incident. It still bugs me when I think about it.

2. I am by nature a very trusting, oftentimes labeled "gullible" person, but for some reason I don't trust service people. When I hire a contractor or repair person I need to do thorough research myself on the proper installation or repair before I let them walk through my door. In the end, I could probably do the job myself with all the research I've done.

3. I am a closet-messy person. If you've ever been to my house, it usually looks very tidy, but if you drop in unannounced you may be shocked. I think this comes from the fact that I use a lot of things - lots of gadgets, lots of ingredients for cooking, lots of clothes, just lots of stuff. Plus, I'm not very good at putting things away after I use them and I get so focused on the task at hand that I can't stop to tidy up along the way.

4. I am pretty poor... alright, I'm downright bad at doing multiple things at once. Joe often makes fun of me because when I'm thinking about something or doing something, I can't even hear my own children yelling at me. Well, maybe I just have selective hearing, I say. But really, when I do something I have to use my full brain to do it. But, I like to think that I'm more precise and efficient because of it.

5. I am beyond anal about how my laundry is done. Joe has often offered to drop our laundry off at a cleaners or even help me with it occasionally, but he and I both know that I wouldn't be comfortable with that. I'm a mad scientist when it comes to doing laundry. It begins with inspecting and pretreating each and every stain, then dividing each load down to the hue, setting the exact load size and temperature (my washer has a dial with about 20-30 notches between SMALL and LARGE LOAD, and 7 different temperature options), setting second rinse for the kids' clothes or just 1 for the adults', adding the soap (and bleach if it's a white load), and letting the water fill up at least halfway before adding the clothes. AND for the drying I follow the suggested dryer setting on the tag. To this day I haven't met a single person who does this. If it's something delicate, it's something I'm afraid of shrinking or it has even 1% of lycra, I won't risk it and will always hang it on a rack to dry. But before adding all the wet clothes to the dryer, I'll inspect all the pretreated stains to check if they need another run in the washer. You don't want to risk setting the stain permanently. Also, my dryer has a moisture sensor which allows me to pull the laundry out before it gets overly dry. Okay, now that I think about it this does seem a bit excessive. But if you ever need recommendations on good washer/dryers, I'm your woman.

Okay, I hope you enjoyed your laugh, now what are your idiosyncrasies?

Monday, September 26, 2005

A new woman




<----We had to ask some poor fool to take this ridiculous photo for us

My first trip away from the kids was wonderful. I spent the weekend relaxing and recharging and today I feel like a new woman. The spa, the hotel, the company, the shopping were all great, but for some reason trouble seemed to follow us wherever we went. The first night someone called security on us at 2 a.m. because we were making too much noise in our room, which made me feel like I was back in college again. The second night we got scammed by a dishonest parking attendant. It was one of those places where you slip a $5 bill in a slot and park. We came back to the lot after 4 hours of walking around to find that our car was missing. When we questioned the parking attendant, he said that our car had been towed. It was pretty obvious from the beginning that we were being scammed, since we had most definitely paid the $5 AND in the presence of the manager. We later found out that he had called to get the car towed almost immediately after we (3 women) had left the lot. After yelling at some boneheads on the phone and talking to the police, we acquiesced and paid the $215 to get our car from the tow yard, which was conveniently located a block away from where we had parked the car. Apparently we have no recourse except if we want to take them to small claims court. What drama. Life is just not as interesting without all the mishaps and run-ins with the law. Everyday I am amazed at the crooks that are out there and the blatant disregard they have for others. These people messed with the wrong woman.

Anyway, my point was really to talk about this weekend and how it affected me. It made me appreciate my life more, including my husband and two girls, and it gave me this new found energy and drive. Inside I was screaming for something like this. As a mother I put myself last, and my happiness and health are often an afterthought. I often worry that if I continue giving and not taking care of myself there will be nothing left but a withered empty shell. Women with kids spend a large portion of their lives dealing with guilt: guilt for not giving enough to their jobs because of family, guilt for not being there for their children when they need them, guilt for not being able to juggle the laundry list of responsibilities that are always knocking on their door, and guilt for taking time for themselves. If this weekend taught me one thing, it was that feeling guilty about the latter is ridiculous. In fact taking time for yourself and regarding your needs as a priority make you a better and stronger person. My girls will learn from my example, and when they put themselves first they will love who they are and everything that comes out of their life.

Thursday, September 22, 2005

Autumn is here

It's officially the beginning of autumn, not that it makes any difference here in Southern California. I just envision what it must be like in NY. *Sigh* I guess I sound ungrateful when I say that weather here is boring. Sun everyday with a high probability of sun in the forecast. I think it was almost 90 today.

I had a celebrity siting yesterday - I met Monica Lewinsky's father who happens to work at Joe's hospital. Cool beans. Hmm, haven't said cool beans since junior high. Joe says to me while I was visiting him at work, "There's a celebrity I want to introduce you to. Meet Dr. Lewinsky." I was kind of shocked at first. I wasn't expecting that kind of sudden introduction and then all kinds of thoughts popped in my head: thoughts of Monica doing lewd things with our former president, curiosity about how he must feel to be known as the father of a public figure who's famous for her highly publicized sexual misconduct, thoughts about whether it's okay for Joe to be introducing him to me for no other reason than him being Monica's dad. I could hardly make eye contact. What do you begin to say to Monica's dad? I was graceful though and said, "Hello, nice to meet you." I guess it's too early in our relationship to be cracking Monica jokes.

Tonight I made some bibimbap, but instead of using beef I used turkey and marinated it like I would bulgogi. I did this partly because I bought a buttload of turkey at Costco and also because I didn't want to wait for the bulgogi I have in the freezer to thaw. Amazingly, it was good. So, here's cooking tip #1: Try substituting turkey instead of beef, especially when a recipe calls for ground beef (I like turkey meatloaf). It's a healthy, flavorful alternative that tastes a lot like beef.

Well, faithful listeners, I will be signing off for the weekend while I get some hard core pampering and relaxation in this weekend with some girlfriends. I of course have a full schedule and list of possible activities lined up, but will be more than willing to let go of any one of those plans to lie around in the hotel room or just hang out by the beach. It's just my nature to plan out a relaxing unplanned vacation.

Please continue to keep the residents of Houston in your prayers, specifically the Ous, the Jungs and the Has. As far as I know, they are still stuck in Houston. Thankfully, it looks as if the storm may be turning.

Mass exodus

I just talked to my brother on the phone and he is STILL driving up to Austin after nearly 11 hours of driving from Houston (he left at midnight). It sounds like people are really taking this one seriously and are evacuating early. Pray for the best. I heard that at best Rita will be cat. 4 when it hits Galveston and will hit Houston with over 100 mph winds. Our friend Peter said yesterday he had to go to 5 different stations to find one that had gas. I read that they even opened all southbound lanes of the 1-45 to northbound traffic. Over a million people are leaving, plus all the Katrina survivors. Fortunately my parents are vacationing and don't have to deal with any of this yet. My prayers go out to those people who are choosing or have no choice but to stay behind and the homes and communities that are hopefully still standing after Rita blows through. God please have mercy.

Wednesday, September 21, 2005

Sweeeet

Napoleon
You are Napoleon Dyanamite and a buttload of gangs
are trying to recruit you.

Which Napoleon Dynamite character are you?
brought to you by

Girls rule

Three's company

I think I'm going nuts. I am so easily influenced by others. So, I go and visit my 2 friends who just had babies yesterday (one of which just had her 3rd less than a week ago) and I think to myself, having another one of those might be kind of nice. Nevermind the 9 months of giving your body and life over to an alien parasite and looking like you swallowed a melon. I'm not even going to start with the labor. People who say pregnancy is a beautiful thing are fooling themselves or lying, and I had (from what I hear) 2 relatively easy pregnancies and labors.

I'm back. I had to change a poopy diaper. Which reminds me, that's definitely another huge negative of my job. I just got over telling Joe the other week that if I ever mention having another child to tell me I'm crazy and knock some sense into me. But then I think about growing up with the kids and the memories we will build. They won't be in diapers forever. There are those sweet precious moments when you're holding your child in your arms and they look up to you with those eyes that say, "I love you and trust you with all my heart."

Sometimes I think of all the selfish reasons I don't want to have more: I want my life back, I want to be able to start back at my career, I want at least some time with my husband, I'm afraid of what having another child will do to my body, and... no more diapers please. But then, having children is not a completely selfless act either. Deep inside, we have children because we want to shape the lives of someone who's so gullible they believe our every word, we want to produce a mini-me, we want to do all the things we couldn't or correct the problems we had in our lives. It's kind of narcissistic.

Maybe it's just my gotta-be-more-gotta-do-more attitude. Well, the debate goes on. Tune in for more developments on whether or not Joe should get fixed.

Current stats on having #3:
HaYoung : 25%
Joe: 5%

Tuesday, September 20, 2005

The beginning

I don't know why I didn't try this earlier - spilling myself to anonymous people who could care less. I'm officially addicted.

In honor of my good friend Cha:

10 years ago I:
1. was starting my senior year in college studying poli sci (where did I go with that?)
2. was in a bad relationship and thought I wanted to get married
3. went by the name Ha

5 years ago I:
1. worked for a private health foundation and gave out lots of money
2. was celebrating my first anniversary
3. was living in the trendiest part of LA in a 1-bedroom and had everything I needed

1 year ago I:
1. gave birth to my second girl and left my job to stay at home
2. turned 30 (gasp!)
3. made an offer on our first house (really our second home, but this one's a real house)

Yesterday I:
1. went to church and had lunch with the gang
2. attempted to organize the house again, but wound up doing gardening
3. had some kick-ass linguini with clam sauce. I'm a red sauce convert.

Today I:
1. debated with myself about whether I should really do this blog thing
2. picked up Abby from school all the while dreading going home to have to clean
3. braved Costco alone with the 2 kids and somehow spent $400

Tomorrow I will:
1. visit 2 separate friends who recently had babies (the babies in-utero count is now up to 7 at our church)
2. pick up Abby from school
3. meet with the designer from the show ReDesign to get our family room remodeled

5 top locations I'd like to run away to:
1. Maui (where I honeymooned)
2. Italy (where I was supposed to go with my husband before I got pregnant)
3. NY (just 'cuz, plus Cha is there)
4. Australia (always wondered what is was like down under)
5. Alaska (my parents are there now and I've always wanted to go)

5 things I'd do with $1000 (more like $5-10,000)
1. Go on a vacation to one of the aformentioned places
2. Get some landscaping done
3. Remodel something, probably the bathroom
4. Chip in for a new home for my parents
5. Go nuts at Costco

5 bad habits I have:
1. spending too much at Costco
2. being defensive
3. being stubborn as a mule
4. obsessing over things I can't change or control
5. making messes too fast

5 TV shows I like:
1. Oprah
2. Barefoot Contessa
3. Martha Stewart
4. Good Eats
Don't watch much else

5 biggest joys at the moment:
1. my husband
2. our 2 adorable (in my eyes) daughters
3. spa getaway this weekend with just the girls
4. our California ranch home
5. being selected for the show ReDesign (HGTV)

Enough of a good thing

A little opener to warm up: As a novice blogger I must say that I am intimidated by this whole phenomenon. I have always loved to write but could never get myself to open up to the vast nothingness I am so openly journaling to. Who's out there and why are you reading this? Okay, enough paranoia. Here I go.

This summer was so jam packed I could hardly breathe. Add to the mix 2 never-a-dull-moment toddlers and you have the making of an MTV reality show, G rated. Okay I admit this first entry is going to be pretty rambly. I have a lot of things I want to recount and not a lot of personal introspection about them, so forgive me.

In a nutshell, here's what I remember: driving back and forth to classes at UCLA late at night, house warmings, successful potty training (AT LAST!), getting a shiny new barbeque, torching the new barbeque with my beer chicken and galbi, a Nemo/Under-the-Sea party, first trip to Disneyland, first trip to Chuck E Cheese (and a bad case of some kind of virus to follow), first, third & 31st birthdays, San Diego Zoo, SD Wild Animal Park, some successful do-it-yourself construction on the home (very professional looking crown molding in all 4 bedrooms thanks to the Lee men and my hubbie), count-em TWO camping trips (one with all the men in my family, my girls and bears, and one with Abby's best friends at the beach), and a last minute trip to Houston to see family and friends.

This summer epitomizes my life. Without conscious effort I plan too much and don't leave room for error. You would think I'm theme-parked out, but I'm itching for more. Why do I always have a constant tug to do more? It's a vicious cycle - If I don't fill my schedule, I don't feel fulfilled, so I keep adding and adding until I'm so exhausted I can't enjoy myself. Joe always asks me at the end of a big event, such as our wedding day, "How was it?" My usual response at first is, "Good," which is about the most nondescript comment you could make about your wedding day or any major life-changing experience. Also if you know my husband, that kind of response is not acceptable and will not be left without mention. I think I say it's "good" because I'm just so overwhelmed my brain is unable to process thoughts or formulate sentences. Maybe we all have this synapse between our feelings and the part of our brain that communicates those feelings. I think that connection is often lost in my brain.