It's Official!

Another staff announcement made yesterday. It's my turn this time. My goal of becoming an Account Manager is finally fulfilled. Thanks to our greatest Father for granting me such a wonderful Xmas gift. I also want to thank my beloved hubby for his support and encouragement, and of course, baby Caitlyn is my biggest driving force for working so hard to earn this. I know the path ahead of me is a tough one, but life is all about taking chances. Letting go of one great opportunity to achieve another is inevitable.

Some Strange Thoughts

Three kinds of fruits on a plate, persimmon, orange, and apple. It just came natural for me to eat my favourite persimmon first, then orange, and I'd finish up the apple. But when I looked at hubby who sat next to me, he had orange first, then apple I believe. I know he likes persimmon, but he would save it. What does this tell me? Obviously he's the type of person who likes to save up for retirement. I guess the way people eat tells alot about their personality.

Happy Surprised Birthday to Ray!

After spending 2 days thinking about where to go for dinner on Ray's birthday, I decided on a fine dining restaurant that overlooks Coal Harbour. I thought, this is supposed to be good...good reviews, great ambiance. So I made the reservation 2 days in advance and even confirmed the time before we left. I only gave Ray the direction to the restaurant, I didn't want to tell him the name because I want to give him a surprise and wow him. So there we were, drove all the way to Denman street and paid $8 for parking, walked over to the restaurant. Then I realized something was wrong...how come the name is different...errrr...didn't seem right to me...the address was right though. But I went ahead and walked into the restaurant and was greeted by some Japanese. "Is this Bravo Bistro?" They looked at me and said, "this used to be Bravo Bistro, but they closed down half year ago" I couldn't believe what I heard, I was 100% sure that I made the reservation, how could this happen? 2 possibilities: 1. I made the call while I was dream walking. 2. I was on crack.

After a few urgent phone calls to friends, I got the restaurant's contact and found out that it's not Bravo, it's a Moroccan Restaurant located in gastown. Nice! BIG surprise for Ray and I did WOW him. Thanks to Entertainment Book!

Caitlyn is Walking!

After 15 months, Caitlyn finally has the courage to take her hands off the furniture. She's now able to walk freely around the house. Watching her walk back and forth transporting her toys is amazing...I would be satisfied just standing there all day and look at her.

I Overheard...

A husband and his wife were happily shopping at the mall. I overheard the following conversation:

Hubby: You look chubby in that outfit!
wife: ignoring his comments
hubby: (after 3 mins) you walk like an old woman in those heels.
wife: ignoring still....
hubby: you have so many fine lines, you should work on your facial mask
wife: no comment...
hubby: you have no fashion taste, your clothes don't look nice.
wife: .........

After dinner:

hubby: you're not allowed to have the whole mini ice-skin mooncake! you eat too much, you're too overweighed. You always have big lunches...you eat more than I do....blah blah
wife: exploded!! finally...

Another Farewell

Holey! more people are leaving the bank. There seems to be staffing announcement every 2 weeks. This time it's Phuong's turn! Congrats! Your dream came true! Wish you best of luck in your new job.

I Thought of My Old Colleagues

As I walked into Blackboard the other day to meet with Ray, I could see the walls are up. The old WebCT no longer exists. Although I don't work there, I can totally understand how Ray feels. This made me thought of my happy old days at the branch with my best colleagues. I thought of Kathryn, my good mentor and partner, who passed away not long ago. I thought of Vince everytime I pass by reception. I thought of Suzy who always tells funny jokes. There's a Chinese saying "桃花依旧,人面全非" Everything remains the same, except the people. I had a strong indescribable feeling, especially in the first 2 weeks of going back to work. I was very depressed. But reality tells me I have to look forward and do my very best. There's still a long path ahead of me. Looking back and thinking about the past is not going to get me anywhere.

Caitlyn's First Step

After almost 14 months, Caitlyn can finally make her first independent steps. She has recently learned to stand up from a squatting position. Today, while I was playing with her, she stood up and started clapping her hands as usual. I reached out my hands and surprisingly, she took 3 steps and fell into my arms. It's an amazing experience to see how she develops and learns new skills.

Happy 2nd Anniversary

Time flies. It's our 2nd wedding anniversary today. I thought Ray would come up with some innovative ideas to celebrate this day, but unfortunately, he didn't!!
What happens to my rewards for working so hard in the past year? I'm a little disappointed. The good thing is, he still remembers what happened exactly 2 years ago...or maybe he doesn't. I guess men don't bother to remember or plan for surprises after they get married.

We ended up going to our favourite Greek restaurant, a place where we have lots of memories. Nothing fancy, no pricy food, just a place for us to enjoy our meals and have some quiet moments. Although I didn't get a BIG surprise, I did enjoy our time together.

Friendship vs Reality

I was hesitating for over a week whether I should blog this story, since my friend kinda got over with it. But it just gets on her nerves everytime she thinks about it...

A friend of mine (A), and her 2 friends B and C are church friends. After knowing that Friend A needs a career change, Friend B offered to help her submit her resume to his organization. That's very nice of him, since he helped her speed up the process. Two weeks later, my friend received an invitation from the company to attend an info session. This is a good start, so she dressed up and went to the orientation. She was surprise to see one of her church brother there, and of course, he was also referred by Friend B. The info session went pretty well, very informative, however, a little disappointing. Job responsiblities and salary were unexpectedly disappointing. And she thought it's totally OK to talk about how she felt about the job description with this fellow brother and friend C. On a side note, Friend B and C are very close friends, to a point that we all think they are more than close friends.

A few days later, my friend was fortunate enough to have a first interview. So once again, she made her trip to Surrey Central...looking fresh and professional, did her absolute best on the interview, except that she tripped on one question :P. So that was it, went home and waited for their reply.

Here comes the climax of the story. A week after the interview, friend B sent my friend an email. He asked her not to stall the company and the hiring process, and that she should let them know if she's not interested in the position. Wasting other people's time is unethical and unprofessional. I was in SHOCK when I heard this. Wow...when did my friend get a job offer that she's not even aware of herself? She was like....XO&#Z%@X&..wth...

I don't know what had happened or whether misunderstanding has occurred. However, as an adult, friend B should have been more responsible for his words. Until this moment, my friend is still confused about this whole thing. I don't know what advice to give her, all I can say is, think twice before expressing your thoughts to others, even to your close friends, especially when professionalism is involved.

First Day Back to Work

The feeling was like a small child holding onto mommy and feeling nervous on the very first day of school. The difference is that I was holding onto Caitlyn and not wanting to step out of the house. It was tough, very tough, and not a good feeling. This is the only time that I hope I could make the clock stop moving. But at same time, I want the week to pass by quickly so we can see daddy again. Why is life full of contradictions?

As a "new trainee" on the job, I had to spend the morning to familiarize myself with the new applications and switch myself back to the work mode. Then things started to come back after a little while, as if I was there sitting at the same spot yesterday. It's hard to believe, but it really did seem like yesterday to me. Hopefully things will go smoothly for the rest of the week.

A Tough Week Ahead

Ray left to DC for a conference today. Before he left the house, he woke Caitlyn up for a big hug, and thanks to him, she didn't want to go back to sleep because it was almost 9:00am, normally she sleeps until 10. Since she wasn't fully awake...the way she snugs inside me tells me she's sleepy, I decided to put her back to bed, but the process took almost 3 hours. From past experience, I know the feeling is back again. Everytime Ray is out of town, I have depression or separation anxiety (yup, not just happen to babies), no exceptions this time. I guess mainly because he has become part of my everyday life, or my "daily bread". Just hope that the week will be over soon.

It's time! I'll be officially back to work tomorrow, after staying home more than a year. Everything has changed, staff changed, management changed, computer system changed...I'll be a total new stranger. Hope I can adapt to the new work environment.

A Lost Lamb

Recently I found myself lost in the deep woods, wandering deeper and deeper and not knowing what to do. I'm lost. Not mid-life crisis, I'm not there yet, but it's something worst. For the past few years, I've prayed and still praying, but it seems like my prayers have never been answered. I'm starting to feel the separation. My personal relationship with Him is no longer strong. Where's my shepherd?

Happy 1st Birthday to Caitlyn

One year ago at this time, I had a little bundle in my arms, crying helplessly for hunger. I spent nights and days comforting this little one and had to hold my breath everytime I put her down on the bed. Today, exactly a year later, I am still sitting on the same couch, still have the little one snugs in my arms, her face is still as sweet as a newborn when she sleeps. The difference is that she had turned into a little princess. All the memories, good and bad, came back as if they just happened yesterday.
Happy Birthday to my dear little princess!

Scams

This is not about MSN scams or emails from some security departments asking you to update your account info. This is a total scam from a large wireless service provider. A little more than a month ago, I called in to subsribe a communication value package and was told that I could get a month free trial. A month later, I called again and asked to switch to a lower price package since I don't need "Enhanced Voicemail" and they said I still have another 2 weeks before my free trial period expires...that's fine, and I thought everything is settled, until I received my statement today and noticed there were 2 charges, one was for the package I subsribed which was supposed to be free, the second charge is a prepayment for next month. My first response was to call them and inquire about the charges, and I was told that there were no messages in my file that indicated I have a free trial of the package and that I have to pay the full price. After complaining about the misrepresentation, they said they could waive half of the package fee, and that's it.

Lesson to learn: Always ask for the name of the representative. I didn't bother to ask for her name since I trust the company. But this tells me that business is business, always ask for proof or records of all things we do.

Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader?

I've never experienced such an intensive interview, it was even more intensed than the one I had when I joined the bank. The whole process took 2 hours, a major part of it was answering HR's favourite behavourial questions, the final half hour was a 10 page written test. What type of questions? Hmm..it's everything, testing your proofreading skill, vocab, basic math calculations, problem solving, logic, comprehension, and analytical skill. Here's an example of a basic math problem. 10 boxes of apples weigh 300 lbs, when emptied, each box weighs 3 lbs. What is the total weight of the apples? If you can answer this question, congrats, you are smarter than a 5th grader. Hope to see you on the show :P

You Think You Can Dance

I don't know where she learned it, but everytime she hears music, she would rock her body. It's difficult to capture her dance moves, she just doesn't cooperate.

Customer Service

Ever since I set my path in a client-focused industry, I know how important it is to deliver and receive great customer service. You can make or ruin someone's day by that 3-minute conversation. In this job, I learned, and am still learning to say things in a more politically correct way. I have to admit that I am not a very well-rounded person, but common sense tells me what kinda tone I should use to avoid being blunt. Anyways, this entry is not about my job, it's about the service I got at Tim Hortons. I have to say that "everytime" I go there, something went wrong. At the one in Parksville, I waited more than 10 minutes for my order, then I realized they gave it to another customer. Yesterday we went to Michael's in Richmond. Ray suggested to have a light lunch, so we dropped in Tim Hortons next door. I was served by a trainee, beside him was his trainer. After answering them all the standard questions, the lady (trainer) took out 2 ceramic cups, and when I asked if I could have paper cups, she took a deep breath and let out a big sigh...
I got no instructions as where to pick up my order....I guess they assume everyone knows. Anyways, they got my food ready almost immediately this time. Then I noticed something was missing. That's it...it's the donuts!
We don't eat out at Tim Hortons very often, the main reason I go there is to get Timbits for my mother-in-law because they're her favorites (yea..I'm a good daughter-in-law :P) Everytime when I asked if they can give me the ones with fillings, they would stare at me and give me a weird/unfriendly look. Is something on my face?

Caitlyn's first dental visit

The dental clinic was big, and scary! When we were led into the examination area, I started to get goose bumps, not because I was cold, it was all those tools and the row of exam chairs lining side by side that freaked me out. It was like being in a big dental lab, waiting to be examined. They are all pediatric dentists, but the setting is not too child-friendly, except that there are some stickers on the wall. I guess Caitlyn didn't know what was going on. She was placed on my lab facing me as I sat in the patient's chair and her head rested on the dentist's lab. I thought she would cry, but to our surprise, she did well. She was very brave :) The examination took less than a minute, and before she knew it, it was over. So there goes Caitlyn's first dental exam.

Caitlyn is learning to walk

A few months back, I have uploaded Caitlyn's first crawl. Now she's learning to walk! It's really amazing to see how quickly she reaches her milestones.




She also learned to say and wave "bye bye"




After going back and forward a few times, she finally decides to get down.




Here she comes again, after less than a minute on the floor. This time her target is the electric outlet!

Fatherhood

To me, this term means more than just parenting. It also means nurturing. I believe today's family men are different than those of the past generations. It's not surprising to see a father feeding his baby, in fact, this is one way to share responsibilities and to bond with the child. I never thought this is an issue, until hubby said he wouldn't bottle feed Caitlyn in public! He said he doesn't want to make it a scene. Come on, I'm not asking him to breastfeed, what is he thinking? I personally find it very sexy to see a father feeding his baby. I really don't understand what's on Ray's mind.

Talking about men, I'm not sure if other women share my point of view. I think it's totally OK for a man to cry, especially infront his loved one. It's a way of showing trust. It's just so sensual and affectionate. Ray, don't roll your eyes please! If women can express themselves explicitly, why can't men do the same? There's no point to cry under your blanket.

Some Thoughts on a Hot Sunny Day

The same question has been floating on my mind for the past couple of days. Can someone not knowing how to strip the vein out of a celery stalk? I thought this is common sense until I realized there is actually someone out there who would use a peeler to scrape off the surface of the celery and thought that's the way to strip off the vein. Hmm...this person must be very lucky not having to worry about anything in the kitchen.

Elevator Access at the Mall

Ever since we brought Caitlyn to the mall, we have to pay close attention to the direction for elevator access. Sometimes we walk around and around and just can't find it. Anyways, I noticed a sign at the elevators saying "Please give priority to wheelchairs and strollers" But why don't we ever get first priority? All we see is healthy consumers with shopping bags get in and quickly take up the space. Escalators are everywhere, why can't these consumers make use of them rather than wasting time waiting? I don't get it! And I have to say that our largest shopping centre in Burnaby is really not stroller friendly.

Update of Caitlyn's Status

Thank you for keeping Caitlyn in your prayer, she's fully recovered, and once again a happy and active baby!

And here's a quick update of her development. She's now 10 months old, likes to pull herself up and walks holding onto furniture. I also found out that she can talk! One day she dropped something to the floor, I said "uh-oh", she surprised me with an "uh-oh". From then on, she would imitate me when we drop things on the floor. It's amazing to see how quick babies pick up sounds from us. She also gets to the stage where she puts everything she can pick up in her mouth, and her favourites are loose threads on the carpet and food that falls to the ground. She'd make sure we're not paying attention, and quickly pops things in her mouth and tries to get away with it, and she knows she's not supposed to do this. Most of the time she got caught, but I really don't know how many pieces of loose threads or small stuff went in. She's apparently smarter than I am.

An Incompetent Mother

I stood beside the crib, gently touched her hair and patted her chest. She looked at me with her weary and swollen eyes and said, "mama". My heart broke and tears came out of my eyes. She then shut her eyes and fell into sleep. Caitlyn is sick. I'm mad at myself for not taking good care of her, I'm upset that I can't do anything to help her. I rather suffer it myself. I would give up anything for her health.

I brought her to her doctor in the afternoon, fortunately, it's just a cold and she's doing great coping with it. She's still very active and plays hard as usual, although she gets tired easily and needs extra naps. Hope things will get better.

I "Freakin Love you"

After watching the final episode of The Bachelor last night, I kept scratching my head. How can a man say the same thing to different women? I guess he freakin loves everything. I also don't believe that someone could find a soulmate in such a short period of time. When he turned Bevin away, he said he would never forget her. She chose not to say a word to him, but he just didn't let her go. Anyways, he finally picked the girl of his dream after kissing almost every one of them...congrats! The proposal was a drama!

A Happy Ah 4

It's almost 2 months since in-laws went on their vacation. This year, I have Caitlyn to take care of, so it's a bit tough for me to juggle between house work and the little one, and I thought I wouldn't survive. But surprisingly, everything is going OK. I've been working like ah 4 serving my young master and my little sunshine over 12 hours a day. But I'm starting to find it fulfilling, not fulfilling as being ah 4, but it's fulfilling when I see how my day goes by so quickly and efficiently. Everytime hubby calls home and asks what's for dinner or what kind of soup I'm making, it gives me an impression that he's longing to be home to enjoy my cooking. Everyday, I would stand infront of the fridge and keep staring at it until I come up with meal/dishes ideas, and the kind of soup I'm going to make to surprise him. Yes, it's tedious! very tedious, and I do feel bitter sometimes, but it's this challenge that keeps my momentum going. Then when hubby comes home, he would have this "wow....yummy" look on his face. That's all I care about.

Hello Summer!

Today is the first day that I can actually feel that Summer is here. It was sooo hot and sunny in the afternoon when Caitlyn and I went out for a walk. It was like 30 deg., and I had to stroll her uphill for 20 mins on our way home. What a workout! I don't have to run the stairs at Wreck Beach :P

Super Nanny

I got a nice day off yesterday as a Mother's Day gift. Ray was being a great nanny the whole day, took care of Caitlyn including making her lunch, oh ya, I have point this out specifically since this was the first time that Ray cooked lunch for her. He was lucky that he went out to get his summer tires reinstalled in the morning, so he avoided 2 of Caitlyn's big poops. In the afternoon, we went out for a walk and did a little grocery shopping. The day passed by so quickly. At dinner, Ray surprised me with a nice gift....it was a Precious Moments Mother's Day doll. Wow....I was touched....a feast, wine, and my favourite collection. Caitlyn was cooperative as usual, she slept through dinner, so we had a quiet and enjoyable time. Ray was also nice enough to wash all the dishes and bottles. What a great day I had. Happy Mother's Day!

Ma'ma

Mother's Day is coming and this year, I'm officially a mother, and being called "ma'ma" after 9 months...yay!
Being a mom is like riding on a roller coaster, some days I am way up there, deeply in love with my little one and can't stop kissing her, and there are days that I feel sooooo tired that I rather be my old self, single and available :P

What do I want for Mother's Day? no house work, no cooking, nothing except a quiet and relaxing day where I can just sit and space out.

Vancouver Island Trip

This is our first getaway since Caitlyn's arrival. Although it was only 4 days, it brought Caitlyn alot of eye opening experiences, her first time on a ferry, first time at the beach, first time at a wedding party. After the wedded couple's first dance, mommy and Caitlyn were on the dance floor, and that was also Caitlyn's first dance. Then came a fast song, and she started to rock her body. After we got back to the car heading back to our hotel, Caitlyn passed out, not that she was drunk, just that she had been awake for more than 5 hours without a nap. She was very well behaved throughout the night, I guess she did enjoy her time.

The next day, we spent half a day at Qualicum Beach. Driving from Parksville to Qualicum only took about 20 mins. It was a very small and quiet town, and I guess the residents there either stay home on Sundays or they're out to somewhere, so most of the shops were closed, we didn't get a chance to browse the gift shops for souvenirs. Then the best time of our day was spent at the Beach House Cafe. I got myself sole and chips and Ray had his yummy oyster burger, and Caitlyn got her cheerios :P

A weekend getaway is always nice, and I appreciate Ray for giving me a family vacation, a real family vacation this time!

Trust without reservation

I couldn't believe what I heard when I received an email regarding a fellow sister's miscarriage. It striked me like a hammer. As a mother, I truly can feel her pain, there's nothing more important than welcoming a healthy baby into our world. But I also believe that when God takes away something, He has a reason, and He will definitely grant us something better at the right timing. My faith has never been very strong. I have doubts sometimes, not that I don't believe in Him, I just don't understand why He lets tragedies happen when He and only Himself can avoid them. I guess I'm not deep enough to understand God's plan, but again, everything is built on the foundation of faith.

This incidence reminds me how precious and blessed it is to be able to bring baby Caitlyn into my world, and that I should love her even more and cherish our every moments together.

Under the weather

It's time of the year, and I thought I can escape the virus this year since most of my time is spent at home...but still, I caught the flu, and it just striked me all of a sudden. For the past few days, my nose went missing, I had to breathe with my mouth. Fortunately, Caitlyn is OK (keep my fingers crossed). Being ill made me realized how good it is to live happy and healthy. Lessons to learn: I should always value my health and should not take my body for granted.

ToyBox Studio Pic con't...

Finally, after 2 weeks of waiting, Caitlyn's 1st official studio picture is here. I would give a "yes" to it, but not sure about Ray, since he always 'pours cold water' on me. I'll see what he has to say in his coming blog entry. As an extra bonus, the studio made a mistake with the size of the wall hanging picture. Rather than giving us our 20x24, they printed a 24x30. They asked if it was OK for us. What can we say...of course it's a big YES! But then framing will be another big expense.

Updated March 27:

Thumbs down! we got ripped off with the photo CD. I thought the file size is at least 3 MB (I never expected they would give us the original size), but what we found were a bunch of craps...1 MB pictures!!! wow...I can't believe what I saw! Now I'm positive that Ray's new toy is doing a much better job.

300

A bunch of sexy men swinging swords, bloodbath, violence...are these what people want to see nowadays? Why are most of the reviews positive? Am I being lame when I choose not to watch it? Should I go with the flow? Despite all the positive comments from the critics, I personally think it's not worth my 2 hours. Why would I spend a ticket on something I cannot see myself enjoying...sigh...

Amazing Grace

Becoming a mother is such a powerful and life-changing experience. Being a mother means working around the clock with no breaks or paid, walking the floor at 3:00am every night trying to put the baby back to sleep, putting my baby's needs before my own, and dealing with frustrations while keeping myself positive. Caring for Caitlyn has become my most important job, a job that gives me challenges and satisfaction, a job that shaped me into a more responsible and independent person, and a job so tough that I sometimes want to quit. And my biggest rewards are, of course, an innocent smile and a big tight hug. From feeling that little kick to watching the helpless little bundle turning into an independent baby crawling around is such an amazing experience, an experience given to me from our God to shape me into a better person.

Caitlyn's crawl

Caitlyn is learning to crawl...go...Caitlyn...go!!!

Bible Talk

A new pastor moved into town and went out one Saturday to visit his parishioners. All went well until he came to one house. It was obvious that someone was home, but no one came to the door even after he had knocked several times. Finally, he took out his card, wrote on the back "Revelation 3:20 " and stuck it in the door.
The next day, as he was counting the offering he found his card in the collection plate. Below his message was notation "Genesis 3:10".

Revelation 3:20 reads:
"Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If any man hear my voice, and opens the door, I will come in to him, and will dine with him, and he with me."

Genesis 3:10 reads:
"And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked."

Chinese Calligraphy - A lost art?

When I was asked to write a chinese poem using "Di Shu", an official writing style, I was in shock. I learned and participated in alot of writing contests when I was in elementary school. I was like....errr...OK...I'll give it a try, but don't set too high expectations...

Today, for the first time after this many years, I picked up the brush and started to write...it was like picking up a skill that I almost completely forget. Then things started to come back after an hour of practicing.

I don't know how many young kids nowadays have the interests in learning this chinese writing, since everything can be typed on the computer, and there're hundreds of fonts to choose from...why bother? I wonder if it is going to be a lost art...

ToyBox Studio

This is the first time ever that Caitlyn got her photo shoot at a studio. It was a new experience for her, so she was a bit nervous at the very beginning, especially when she had to sit on a stone for posing. But she was all good after we removed the stone and let her sit on a flat surface. Caitlyn was dressed in a cute white dress and had a flower band on her head. After snapping over 70 shots, we managed to pick out a cute pose. We won't be able to view the finished masterpiece until 3 weeks from now, so hopefully it'll turn out good.

I don't know why men have different thoughts than women when it comes to spending money. Can't they just be less practical? Ray kept complaining the photos are not worth the price and said he could do better with his digital camera. I thought they're very nice, the backgrounds are beautiful, and the best part is, we're giving Caitlyn and ourselves a nice memory. I think that's why men are from Mars, women are from Venus.

We had our first official cell group gathering today. It wasn't that bad, at least not as intense as I thought it would be. We had a nice time sharing, and of course, we had our prayers.

Happy CNY - 2007

New year, new start...and new blog. Time flies, and it's just unbelievable to see how Caitlyn grows, how she learns different things each day, and how she surprises us when she makes funny facial expressions. And my new year resolution is, of course, to raise a happy and healthy baby....and probably cut off a few pounds :P