Lucy's 5-Month Pictures (09/14/2009)

So since I have all these coupons to JC Penny Portrait Studio from my Parents magazine, I figured that I would just use them all up, each month on Lucy. This is probably a good thing considering that I left my camera in Japan and I won't be getting it back until my mom comes back out to visit in January. And she is changing so fast, every day it seems, so monthly pictures isn't excessive, is it?

I dressed Lucy in her jinbei which was a gift from my cousin, Aiko in Japan. My niece, Maya, has a matching set as well. I hope that Lucy still fits into it next year because it is a great outfit for the summer (or maybe we can just borrow Maya's).

We actually captured a few smiles this time - she's becoming more photogenic. Maybe cousin Maya can teach her a few tricks for the camera as she gets older.

I ordered the two pictures above. The top one looks super posed but I like how it shows her whole body and I think that her little leg in the air is pretty cute.

These ones didn't make the cut though:

This one was my third choice but she kinda looks like a blob. I'm glad that I had more good ones to choose from this time.

This one kinda looks like the sheet is swallowing her up - I don't know why they insist on such unnatural poses. I guess they don't realize until the pictures come out - thank goodness for digital cameras.

This would have been cute if her head wasn't cut off.

I was surprised we got smiles this big - the photographer was much better this time...

...but they can't all be winners.

I do love these little feet though.

And the "enhanced" images weren't incredibly cheesy this time. I was actually a little tempted by the one below.

But not by the obligatory "Love" one. I can't believe that people actually pay so much extra for these. But then again, I've always been more of a traditional girl.
Next month: Halloween costume!

Guilty As Charged

I think that I have a tendency to be a self righteous frugalist. I found this article through a link on this other blog that I also have on my sidebar, Being Frugal is Fabulous. I thought it had some good reminders for us frugalists, or anyone for that matter - don't judge how people spend their money.

These are both written by frugaldad:

Frugal Living Is Not A Competition

Don't Be a Self-Righteous Frugalist

We just spent a lot of money on a trip to Japan which I would hate if someone judged me on that use of our money. But we scrimp and save in other areas of our budget and didn't go into debt to finance this vacation. And this trip was more about spending time with family, especially with the new addition of Lucy in the family (my dad hadn't met her yet!). But I don't know why I'm trying to justify this - if you read the articles above, hopefully, I'm not being judged at all.

So maybe we should think more seriously about moving...

Last night we didn't get much sleep. Yes, this is probably because my schedule is still a little funky from the Japan jetlag (although Lucy started sleeping through the night again on Friday - just 3 days after returning - what an angel!). But it is also because there was some crazy domestic disturbance going on right outside our window early this morning at 3:30 AM! I couldn't get to sleep and was just lying in bed, finally on my way to dreamland and then I hear all this shouting. At first, I thought all the noise was some punk kids making a ruckus. But when I peeked out of the blinds of my bedroom window, which overlooks the street, it was apparent that much more was going on.

There were four people, two girls and two boys. One boy was swearing his head off and wanting to get at the other boy while the girls were trying to hold the boy back and keep them apart. It seemed like a pretty heated squabble at first but it quickly escalated. I heard an authoritative voice from under me, which ended up being my next door neighbor, yelling at the kids from his front door and telling them to cut it out or he was going to call the cops. It was difficult to see from my window since it was dark out and I had a tree obstructing my view but the boy was obviously not calming down, but getting more aggressive. The girl frantically starts screaming in a panic, "Call the police! Call the police!", at which point, my neighbor goes out in the street in his underwear, cell phone in hand giving a play by play to the 911 operator of what is happening while simultaneously trying to break up the fight. The one boy is swinging - not sure if he ever landed a shot on the other boy who is evading but making no effort to run away - and the girl is trying to intervene when the boy turns on her.

At this point, the boy and girl disappeared behind my tree but I'm pretty sure that he lands a shot on her because I'm hearing my next door neighbor telling the operator that she was hit and the girl doesn't emerge from the behind the tree until a significant time later. Meanwhile, my neighbor hands his phone to his wife who has come out onto the street, and gets in between it all and the kid starts swinging at him. Big mistake! My neighbor (who is a pretty big guy, probably in his 30's) pins him down to the asphalt in a second, with the kids face in the ground, my neighbor's girth on his head (they were in opposite directions) yelling, "You are under citizen's arrest!" over and over again. Despite the size difference of the two, I was still pretty worried about my neighbor as he had previously had leg surgery a couple of months back and you just never know if these kids are drunk, on drugs, or have knives or guns or you know, have trained in MMA or something. Within minutes, 5-6 police cars were there, catching the other boy who had fled, who finally figured out too late that there was no good reason for him to be there, and arresting the other boy who was pinned. By this time, Brandon and I are out on the street, wanting to make sure our neighbor was okay and to be witnesses to make sure he doesn't get into any sort of trouble for defending himself.

The crazy thing about the whole scenario was that this girl, who had just been hit, was screaming at my neighbor to let the boy go. The other woman, who we found out later was her mother, was pleading that the boy not get arrested because his father had died a month ago. Sad, but like that is any justification for him to hit a girl and start swinging at a complete stranger. It ended up that the boy who was arrested had found his girlfriend with the other guy. And when the cops started questioning the mother and daughter, they both completely denied that he had hit her! The cops asked my neighbor, his wife, and me and Brandon, back into our homes and that if they needed any more information, they would get it from us later. I'm trusting that they know how to do their jobs and will get the whole story. If not, they'll always have the 911 tapes with the play-by-play.

I was just really glad that my neighbor (who confirmed he had some training and based on his take-down, I believe it) and his wife (who also happens to be a 911 operator) were there on top of things (literally). I was scared just thinking about Brandon trying to break things up if our neighbor wasn't there but you can't let a guy just beat on a girl like that. So this wasn't exactly CSI/Law & Order type drama, but even fists can be pretty scary. We don't even know our neighbors names although they've always been friendly if we see them outside their house. They even watered some of our garden without our asking since the plants were dying while we were in Japan. It's nice to know that we have good people living next door who are willing to lend a hand when not asked or when things get ugly. Brandon suggested that we 1) find out what their names are, 2) invite them over to dinner to get to know them a little better, and 3) start thinking a lot more seriously about moving to a different neighborhood...

Happy Birthday Brandon!

On this day, 32 years ago, my wonderful husband was born into this world. Now that I am a mother myself, I sometimes think that birthdays should actually be a celebration of the mother, for gestating the baby for 9 months in her womb, birthing her baby through labor, pain, and stretching, and then nurturing that baby through middle of the night feedings, dirty diapers, and many, many tears. But enough of my self-absorbed musings. Although Brandon's mom, Susan, does deserve kudos for the wonderful man that is Brandon.

To celebrate Brandon's birthday, I made reservations for a new restaurant in SLC called Pago. Our partners in crime these days, Emily and Jared, accompanied us. The food was absolutely delicious and the dining experience was fabulous - good service, nice setting and ambiance. I just hope that Brandon liked it as much as I did. I wish that I brought my camera to take pictures of the place and the food because I'm sure that my descriptions won't do it justice but sadly, I left my camera in Japan. But I feel like the names of the dishes alone are enough to make your salivate just a little.

We started off with appetizers of Cinnamon Beets and Braised Beef Cheeks on Polenta, both of which I loved (and I'm not a huge polenta fan). For entrees, Brandon ordered the Wagyu Bavette Steak, I got the Roasted Pheasant with Quinoa, Emily had the Chicken Paillard, and Jared got the Curried Gnocchi with Braised Morgan Valley Lamb. I tried a bite of all of them and Emily's chicken was my favorite, which she also enjoyed (and I was so glad that my pregnant sister was finally getting some protein she liked to her little fetus). I ranked mine second even though the other dishes were truly delectable (Jared's was just really spicy, but good and Brandon's beef was classic goodness). Dessert consisted of Amano Chocolate Mousse and Passionfruit Mousse while Emily and Jared shared the Peach Buckle (which I feel like I ate the majority of).

The reason why I chose Pago is because it practices RSA which stands for Restaurant Supported Agriculture so all the dishes there use local ingredients from local farms and ranchers (similar to a CSA but for restaurants). So it was nice to know that our meal didn't travel too far. And for those of you who are not familiar with Amano chocolate, it is made locally here in Utah and has won all sorts of international awards and is absolutely delicious (yeah, who knew?). And Brandon is all about sustainability, supporting local business, and the environment so I thought it was fitting for us and our values. But even if you don't care about those things, I would still highly recommend this restaurant.

I'm pretty horrible about celebrating birthdays because they aren't a big deal in my family. But Brandon's mom is really thoughtful about it so Brandon bought a nice new 23 inch computer monitor with the Best Buy giftcards she sent him (to go with his new MacPro computer). Brandon bought himself a comic book as a gift from me, called Blankets, which we had previously borrowed from his brother, Cameron, but we both read and enjoyed it so much, we thought it would be nice to add to our library.

What I am pretty decent at is coordinating an event such as a restaurant outing. In addition to this outing, in a couple weeks when Brandon's parents come into town, we'll do a family birthday dinner then. And I may even be so ambitious as to make the legendary chocolate roll for dessert...more to come on that in a couple of weeks.

So Many Books...

...and now, so much time - spent nursing, that is. And reading makes for a perfect nursing time activity, especially if Lucy falls asleep on me and I don't want to disturb her. I used to think that mothers must have so much free time because they are always reading but the truth is, we are spending so much time into forced rest while we are breastfeeding. Well, here are some of the books that I've been enjoying these days:

The Neverending Story by Michael Ende

I know this is more of a childrens book but there are some adult themes I think especially when it comes to religion. Maybe I'm just interpreting it in my own way but I recommended that Brandon read it and we had some really interesting discussions about the symbolism and metaphors in the book. It may be nice to revisit if you've already read it before or seen the movie (which I love but is not as good as the book).

These Is My Words by Nancy TurnerThis is pretty much a period romance mingled with some adventure and tragedy although not quite on Jane Austen level (who really is though?). It was a fun, fast read though and I was fully engaged. I think that it was previously on my church's book club reading list but I must have missed that month...


The Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri

I'm usually not a fan of short stories but maybe I haven't been reading the right ones. My sister recommended this book to me a while ago and I was so glad that it was available at the library when I stopped by without having to put it on hold and wait for another library to send it or for someone to return it. The stories scan be a little sad but even though I'm usually not a big fan of downers, I enjoyed these - maybe because they seemed so real but also had some romance and heartbreak in them as well hope and strength. I also am intrigued by the Indian culture (which all her stories include in some way), especially intermingled with the experience of American immigration - maybe because I feel some connection to that growing up in a bicultural household of both Japanese and American traditions. The last story was a good one for me - I like when they end hopeful. I renewed this just so Brandon could read it in Japan.

Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri

I got both Interpreter of Maladies and Unaccustomed Earth at the library at the same time. I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to read it before it was due back and disappointed that I couldn't renew it because someone else had put it on hold. Fortunately, I tore through it in just 3 days. These stories were even more heart-breaking than Interpreter of Maladies - not so much hope here. But again, I loved how real they felt. I really like the author's writing style and how she develops her characters in such a short story. I'm looking forward to reading her other book, The Namesake when I get back from Japan.

Losing Kei by Suzanne Kamata

I finished this right before we left for Japan which got me kinda excited with all the Japanese references it has (it takes place in Japan). But even though it was a quick and easy read, it wasn't all that satisfying and I couldn't see it appealing to people who don't have an interest in Japan. The heroine was annoying in my opinion and the resolution was just a little too convenient. Maybe after reading all the Jhumpa Lahiri books, I was expecting something a little more realistic.

Julie & Julia by Julie Powell

I borrowed this from Elaine while in Japan and it was perfect vacation reading. It had some laugh out loud moments and some other very poignant thoughts that I could really relate to. Now I want to watch the movie - I hope it does the book justice. Then I want to read Julia Child's book about Paris.

I'm such a sucker for things like this...

My friend, Kim, forwarded me this e-mail and she never forwards stuff so I thought it must be good. I had some laugh out loud moments - waking Lucy as she slept in my arms as I was reading:

I wish Google Maps had an "Avoid Ghetto" routing option.

More often than not, when someone is telling me a story, all I can think about is that I can't wait for them to finish so that I can tell my own story that's not only better, but also more directly involves me.

Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you realize you're wrong.

Have you ever been walking down the street and realized that you're going in the complete opposite direction of where you are supposed to be going? But instead of just turning a 180 and walking back in the direction from which you came, you have to first do something like check your watch or phone or make a grand arm gesture and mutter to yourself to ensure that no one in the surrounding area thinks you're crazy by randomly switching directions on the sidewalk.

I totally take back all those times I didn't want to nap when I was younger...

The letters T and G are very close to each other on a keyboard. This recently became all too apparent to me and consequently I will never be ending a work email with the phrase "Regards" again.

Do you remember when you were a kid, playing Nintendo and it wouldn't work? You take the cartridge out, blow in it and that would magically fix the problem. Every kid in America did that. But how did we all know how to fix the problem? There was no internet or message boards of FAQs. We just figured it out. Today's kids are soft.

There is a great need for sarcasm font.

Sometimes, I'll watch a movie that I watched when I was younger and suddenly realize I had no idea what the F was going on when I first saw it.

I think everyone has a movie that they love so much, it actually becomes stressful to watch it with other people. I'll end up wasting 90 minutes shiftily glancing around to confirm that everyone's laughing at the right parts, then making sure I laugh just a little bit harder (and a millisecond earlier) to prove that I'm still the only one who really, really gets it.

The other night I hit a new low at an open bar. I had already hopped on highway blackout when, inevitably I had to find a bathroom. Eventually I decided it was probably on the other side of the bar so I tried to walk over there, but ran into a guy coming the other way. We played that, Both go left, Both Go right game to no avail so I finally put out my hand to guide myself past and that's when I realized, yup, that's a mirror I just tried to walk through. And the guy on the other side is me. Even cats can recognize their own image.

How the hell are you supposed to fold a fitted sheet?

I would rather try to carry 10 plastic grocery bags in each hand than take 2 trips to bring my groceries in.

I think part of a best friend's job should be to immediately clear your computer history if you die.

A recent study has shown that playing beer pong contributes to the spread of mono and the flu. Yeah, if you suck at it.

Was learning cursive really necessary?

LOL has gone from meaning "laugh out loud" to "I have nothing else to say..."

I have a hard time deciphering the fine line between boredom and hunger.

Answering the same letter three times or more in a row on a Scantron test is absolutely petrifying.

My brother's Municipal League baseball team is named the Stepdads. Seeing as none of the guys on the team are actual stepdads, I inquired about the name. He explained, "Cuz we beat you and you hate us." Classy, bro.

Whenever someone says, "I'm not book smart, but I'm street smart," all I hear is, "I'm not real smart, but I'm imaginary smart."

How many times is it appropriate to say "What?" before you just nod and smile because you still didn't hear what they said?

I love the sense of camaraderie when an entire line of cars teams up to prevent a dick from cutting in at the front. Stay strong, brothers!

Every time I have to spell a word over the phone using 'as in' examples, I will undoubtedly draw a blank and sound like a complete idiot. Today I had to spell my boss's last name to an attorney and said, "Yes, that's G as in...(10 second lapse)...ummm... Goonies."

While driving yesterday I saw a banana peel in the road and instinctively swerved to avoid it...thanks Mario Kart.

MapQuest really needs to start their directions on #5. Pretty sure I know how to get out of my neighborhood.

I find it hard to believe there are actually people who get in the shower first and THEN turn on the water.

Shirts get dirty. Underwear gets dirty. Pants? Pants never get dirty, and you can wear them forever.

I would like to coin the phrase 'catching the swine flu' to be used as a way to make fun of a friend for hooking up with an overweight woman. Example: "Dave caught the swine flu last night."

I can't remember the last time I wasn't at least kind of tired.

Bad decisions make good stories.

Whenever I'm Facebook stalking someone and I find out that their profile is public, I feel like a kid on Christmas morning who just got the Red Ryder BB gun that I always wanted. 546 pictures? Don't mind if I do!

Is it just me or do high school girls get sluttier & sluttier every year?

If Carmen San Diego and Waldo every got together, their offspring would probably just be completely invisible.

Why is it that during an ice-breaker, when the whole room has to go around and say their name and where they are from, I get so incredibly nervous? Like I know my name, I know where I'm from, this shouldn't be a problem...

You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work when you've made up your mind that you just aren't doing anything productive for the rest of the day.

Can we all just agree to ignore whatever comes after DVDs? I don't want to have to restart my collection.

There's no worse feeling than that millisecond you're sure you are going to die after leaning your chair back a little too far.

I'm always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me if I want to save any changes to my ten page research paper that I swear I did not make an changes to.

"Do not machine wash or tumble dry" means I will never wash this ever.

I hate being the one with the remote in a room full of people watching TV. There's so much pressure. 'I love this show, but will they judge me if I keep it on? I bet everyone is wishing we weren't watching this. It's only a matter of time before they all get up and leave the room. Will we still be friends after this?'

While watching the Olympics, I find myself cheering equally for Chine and USA. No, I am not of Chinese descent, but I am fairly certain that when Chinese athletes don't win, they are executed.

I hate when I just miss a call by the last ring (Hello? Hello? Damn it!), but when I immediately call back, it rings nine times and goes to voicemail. What'd you do after I didn't answer? Drop the phone and run away?

I hate leaving my house confident and looking good and then not seeing anyone of importance the entire day. What a waste.

When I meet a new girl, I'm terrified of mentioning something she hasn't already told me but that I have learned from some light internet stalking.

I like all of my music in my iTunes, except when it's on shuffle, then I like about one in every fifteen songs in my iTunes.

Why is a school zone 20 mph? That seems like the optimal cruising speed for pedophiles...

Sometimes I'll look down at my watch 3 consecutive times and still not know what time it is.

It should probably be called Unplanned Parenthood.

I keep some people's phone numbers in my phone just so I know not to answer when they call.

Even if I knew your social security number, I wouldn't know what to do with it.

Even under ideal conditions people have trouble locating their car keys in a pocket, hitting the G-spot, and Pinning the Tail on the Donkey - but I'd bet my ass everyone can find and push the Snooze button from 3 feet away, in about 1.7 seconds, eyes closed, first time every time...

My 4-year old son asked me in the car the other day, "Dad, what would happen if you ran over a ninja?" How the hell do I respond to that?

It really pisses me off when I want to read a story on CNN.com and the link takes me to a video instead of text.

I wonder if cops ever get pissed off at the fact that everyone they drive behind obeys the speed limit.

I think the freezer deserves a light as well.

I disagree with Kay Jewelers. I would bet on any given Friday or Saturday night, more kisses begin with Miller Lites than Kay.

The other night I ordered takeout, and when I looked in the bag, saw they had included four sets of plastic silverware. In other words, someone at the restaurant packed my order, took a second to think about it, and then estimated that there must be at least four people eating to require such a large amount of food. Too bad I was eating all by myself. There's nothing like being made to feel like a fat bastard before dinner.