a great city to call home

if you want to experience life without leaving home, what could be a better place to call home than toronto?

a few months ago, we were invited to celebrate someone's bar miztvah at a synaguage a coupl of blocks away. last week, at sienna's preschool, she celebrated Eid dressing up in eastern clothes and having her palm hand painted with a heart-shaped henna. yesterday though, we ventured downtown to attend a evegenrical mass choir at the Metropolitan United Church.

lui had a rather heated exchange of words about religions over the internet with mr. huang, the composer and conductor of this choir music. somehow they got to know each other further via our friend yiga and others from the central conservatory of china. huang invited lui to come for the event. yiga, the piano teacher extraordinaire, cancelled lesssons on 5 of her students in order to make it. i was just tagging long. it won't hurt to be at a church where the mixed sounds of organ and choir fill up the air.

during the 2-hour long service, i was busy coaxing 3-year-old sienna and 9-year-old rachel to stay on their seat and be quiet. not something you could do without their ultimate co-operation. rachel complaint that she would rather be at her ballet class. sienna was again exercising her extreme patience beyond her age -- considering she had 8-hour sleep the night before and no nap to recharge. they started to play their game: rachel drew on her mini note pad, sienna put each of the her work into the donation envelopes for "distribution".

i found something of my own to do. while browsing a bible, i was thinking to myself, "it's a good thing i didn't live in mediaeval time. i would have been so prosecuted. and i would be carrying a scarlett letter like Hester Prynne." how on earth that i would have been made to believe that the world was created in 6 days and everything else that comes with that notion?! to make it funny, i asked myself, "is god so tolerant of me or am i tolerant of him?" if god reaches out to save lost souls, i am a soul forever lost in his search. no sense of guilt!

i do feel guilty that sienna and rachel had to endure this session. they both got ice cream treats afterwards. to top everything off, we had a marvelous dinner at a restaurant that has a silly but most appropriate name, "Hot Spicy Spicy Restaurant." i would say this again, toronto is a great place to call home, i.e., to live, to experience and to eat.

tackle the tasks with ease

this is another thing. the school gives 3-3/4-year old kids homework to do every weekend. should "homework" even be in their vocabulary at this age? it's debatable. but i don't mind. this gives me a chance to see her in the act of learning.

i totally respect sienna's sense of duty in her personality. she is such a natural when it comes to doing the work she's supposed to do. and she seems to tackle her task with ease.

i suggested, "sienna, can you turn off the TV when you do your homework?" she was too busy doing two things at the same time to respond. so i said, "what about this? you watch 'dora the explorer' first. after it's over, you do your home work." she reacted this time, putting aside her paper and pencil. a few minutes later, she was multi-tasking again: writing while watching TV. and she was done with everything before i knew it.

i pretended that i didn't see her. secretly, i kind of encouraged her way of doing things. i spent half of my life pursuing education, but i was never a serious student. i want her to have fun in learning too, first and foremost.

curious about writing in cursives

the school is making sienna write cursive letters instead of printing them.

honestly, i myself still cannot even write the letter "p" properly in cursive. also how do you write the letters "c" and "e" so that they can look completely different? i didn't want her to have a tough time and get burned out. so i went to see the teacher just about it.

ms ahmed had only good things to say about sienna, that didn't surprise me. onto my big questions, i asked, "why the cursive? so young?" the teacher explained to me, every human movements are circulars, not linear like printing in strokes... well, well, professionals talking. i was not complaining, only curious. ms ahmed showed me sienna's workbook. amazing! she is already writing cursive letters, page after page.

way to go, sienna!

speaking not enough english is not to blame

this is on today's "toronto star." a study concludes that some 30% of Peel region senior K children are not ready grade 1, primarily because those kids have english as their second language. the study also finds that children who attended organized preschool programs were more ready for grade 1 than those who did not.

speaking of the language factor. i met a 9-year-old girl named helena over the weekend. she came to canada 2 years ago without speaking a word of english. it took her 3 MONTHS to pick up the language and got ready to be blended into a regular class. examples of this kind are not rare. it goes to say the readiness to approach the structure of knowledge is more important than the language. coming from china, helena was apparently more used to structured learning than anyone else in her class. for her, to learn english was another thing to learn and she tackled it. the preschools here, by the same taken, also teach kids the ability to learn and to deal the educational system early on.

those non-english speaking families are mostly new immigrants. just like other working-poor parents, they don't have enough access to community support and cannot afford preschool programs. kids from these homes are likely to miss out LEARNING THE ABILITIES TO LEARN. they miss out on different levels, emotionally, physically and socially. on top of everything else, they don't have good enough english.

i just don't want the study to be misleading to some new immigrants. it's a pity when i heard that some parents deliberately give up speaking chinese (or their mother-tongue) to their youngsters so that they can be part of the english-speaking crowd safe and sound. don't forget, being bilingual or multilingual is exactly an add-on ability to learn. a friend of ours, dr. li states, "to learn chinese is not an option for my kids: they must learn." and i agree with him.

entertained by bill maher

i don't like how bill maher looks. i don't like the way he talks. i know he might be a self-centered jackass with women in real life... but boy, do i ever agree with whatever he has to utter about everything on the face of the earth!!!

because of his unappealing appearance, i always ignored him when he hosted "politically incorrect." now i still cannot find "real time with bill maher" on HBO among our over 100 subscribed cable channels. but every now and then, when he's interviewed by someone else, i find his opions and attitudes are always so right on.

last night, i got another dose of bill on larry king live. equally entertaining! speaking of how the election was won by moral and values, he blasted how some confused these things with religions. he said, "i was taught morals and values were things like fairness, honesty, generosity, tolerance, humility... " but things like believing earth was created in six days, you don't eat meat on friday or you don't turn on a light on saturday... those are rituals, superstitions, traditions.

here i recite word for word, "i do not understand so many people in this country who are out there thinking, ok, you know what, my air is poisoned and my job is gone and my son is scattered all over a desert I can't even find on a map, but all those problems will take care of itself once we set some stern constitutional limits on rosie o'donnell's sex life. that's what's important to me. you've got to let those people go..." just my thinking and brilliant!

he went on to say, "...this is what bin laden wants more than anything else. we are so playing into it. he's like, please stay in iraq, please make more abu ghraibs, please make more tapes like that. and trust me, there's going to be a tape where they're going to do something to a woman, and then every muslim man in the world is going to say to himself, I've got to kill me an american yesterday. so if you think bush made you safer, he didn't." that just sum up my whole opinions about this war in iraq.

in a word, bill maher is topping the short list of my tv favorite personalities.

what does it take to be a lady?

laugh me if you want, but i'm lovin' it!

it's a reality show "He's a Lady" that features straight-up guys dressed up as ladies in a race to win a quarter of a million dollars.

the best part of the show was at the beginning. those macho looking guys accompanied by their equally uninformed wivies and girlfriends walked into the studio, thinking they are going to jump from a helicopter or eat worns. the reactions on each of their faces upon learning what they are getting into and seeing themselves in lady's gowns just threw me on the floor laughing.

three weeks of competition lead to last night's finale. as the show progressesed to the end, i was so certain who was going to win. and i was so right on. the best looking "girl" "alberta" only gets the third place. the second place goes to "raven" who played the show in the most deliberate way. the 250 lb giant/gentle bear david (aka wyonna), a 37-year-old loving husband and father of 2 is crowned for his beauty, mostly from inside. he makes everybody cry answering the question, "as a lady, what did you learn to be a man?"

superpowers of 14 superfoods

according to steven g. pratt, author of "SuperFoods Rx", 14 vitamin-packed goodies bestow superpowers when it comes to keeping us healthy and improving our well-being provided we do our part by eating them regularly.

Beans
They lower cholesterol , fight heart disease , stabilize blood sugar, reduce obesity, lessen cancer risk, and relieve hypertension.
-- eat four 1/2-cup servings a week. substitute green beans, sugar snap peas, green peas, or chick peas instead.

Blueberries
they lower the risk of heart disease and cancer and help maintain youthful, healthy skin.
-- eat 1 to 2 cups a day. when they aren't in season, eat cranberries, raspberries, strawberries, cherries, currants, and purple grapes.

Broccoli
it boosts your immune system, reduces the incidence of cataracts, builds bones, and fights heart disease .
-- eat 1/2 to 1 cup a day. eat instead brussels sprouts, red and green cabbage, cauliflower, bok choy, and kale.

Oats
oats lower cholesterol , reduce the risk of heart disease and diabetes , and are high in fiber and protein.
-- eat five to seven servings a week. can also try wheat germ, brown rice, barley, wheat, buckwheat, rye, millet, and quinoa.

Oranges
they support heart health while preventing cancer, stroke, diabetes , and other chronic ailments. -- eat one a day. want more variety? try lemons, grapefruit, kumquats, tangerines, or limes.

Pumpkin
pumpkin lowers the risk of various cancers, while it promotes youthful, healthy skin.
-- eat 1/2 cup a day. want an alternative? Try carrots, carrots, butternut squash, sweet potatoes, and orange bell peppers.

Soy
it prevents heart disease, cancer, and osteoporosis , as well as relieves menopausal and menstrual symptoms.
-- eat at least 15 grams daily.

Spinach
it lowers the risk of cardiovascular diseases, a variety of cancers, age-related macular degeneration, and cataracts.
-- eat 1 cup of steamed spinach or 2 cups of raw spinach a day. also eat kale, collards, swiss chard, bok choy, romaine lettuce, mustard, or turnip greens.

Tea (Black or green)
besides soothing the soul, tea boosts the immune system, helps prevent cancer and osteoporosis , lowers stroke risk, and promotes cardiovascular health.
-- drink at least one cup a day.

Tomatoes
they lower cancer risk, increase your skin's sun-protection factor, and play a role in preventing cataracts and age-related macular degeneration.
-- eat one tomato a day. Don't like them? try watermelon, persimmons, or pink grapefruit instead.

Turkey (skinless breast)
it's not just for thanks giving. turkey is not only the perfect healthy low-fat protein, but also builds a strong immune system.
-- eat three or four 3-ounce servings a week. Want something else? skinless chicken breast is a great alternative.

Walnuts
walnuts reduce the risk of heart disease , diabetes , and cancer.
-- eat 1 ounce five times a week. Other options include almonds, pistachios, sesame seeds, peanuts, pumpkin and sunflower seeds, macadamia nuts, pecans, hazelnuts, and cashews.

Wild salmon
it lowers risk of heart disease and cancer.
-- eat it two to four times a week. go instead for Alaskan halibut, canned albacore tuna, sardines, herring, trout, sea bass, or clams.

Yogurt
in addition to being a great source of protein and calcium, yogurt promotes strong bones and a healthy heart.
-- eat 2 cups a day. want something else? Try kefir.

missing out the fun? i think not

i suggested that we go see santa claus at the parade.

sienna: "can we ask santa claus to come to our house?"
mommy: "why?"
sienna: "our house is cozy. and, and he can bring me my presents."
mommy: "sure, i will ask if i run into him."

sunday morning, she woke up early and called out the first thing, "mommy, can i go to ballet again today?" apparently, sienna is not enthusiastic about the christmas parade or any parade, as experience has taught me. so i didn't have to drive all the way downtown for the event, which is celebrating it's 100th year this year.

just what i wanted. just another case to show how much in sync we are. she ended up spending the whole morning around the round table drawing, cutting, pasting, singing and doing silly dancing moves.

me and a dog of the same name

i worked with this girl on a web project. she wrote me today, "i've always wanted to tell you this but was unsure as how you'd take it. but... my cute little baby doxie weiner dog has the same name as yours." i wrote back, "woof! woof! woof! woof!" so she sent along this photo of her poodle. look at her and look at my profile photo here, aren't we a good pair for a fido commercial?

my company's buying lunch today

when i heard this yesterday, i thought it was a joke. then, i thought it was a rumour. when it was confirmed, i kept asking "what for." hey, whatever reason is, free lunch is always a nice gesture, especially when it's so rare.

i used to work for a company that treated us lunches for any reason they could think of: hip restaurant, full course, 2-hour break. once we all went to see a movie across the street during the working hour and all paid for. there were two christmas parties: one was for employees' kids, hosted by a full-gear santa clause. the other was an black tie event for employees and their spouses. there was a annual spring themed party too. not to mention the monthly birthday ice cream cake, the most exquisite kind in town. and in mid of some hot summer days, a colorfully decorated ice cart would roll up the floor going "ding ding ding" distributing free treats...

oh, those were good old days... since then, i was gone. so was the company -- the 30-billion-dollar operation was bought up by a major international firm.

belonging to the same industry, my company now has a christmas party and a spring party annually, no spouse allowed in either. i don't complain my salary now although i did with the old company. i don't complain about having no free lunch or birthday cake. from a chinese point of view, you don't call company with a 65-billion-dollar asset in any way cheap. it's thrifty. it's lean. it's hungry. and it's always looking for smaller fish to eat, one merger after another. and now it's talking about buying my old company!

this morning, somebody came and said, the lunch food will arrive around 12 noon from quiznos. now, the whole lunch thing started to sound like a joke again. on top of "what for", i kept asking "why? q-u-i-z-n-o-s??". i only eat meat and vegies. free lunch from quiznos cannot be my unch after all.

i like her because i am like her

there is an interesting quiz on emode.com that tests "which TV mom you are". i did it, twice, one year apart. the results are the same. i turned out to be lorelai gilmore. she is my favourite tv mom! i guess i like her because i am like her.

lorelai had her daughter by MISTAKE. i had mine by CHOICE. at any rate, dealing with an only child, a daughter in my case, a mother shouldn't complain. you consider youself adding a very special one on your friends'list. you tend to become her equal.

on top of that, that child, rory or sienna, happens to be morally more conservative, emotionally calmer and intellectually more comprehensive than her mother. with the combination, a door opens up for natural and mutual human connections.

as much as i enjoy what's going on between me and sienna, i love to watch every bits of the interactions between lorelai and rory. they are almost always in sync with each other, not always free of conflicts, that only end up in laughter and add up to the fun.

a typical scene from the show, they kissed to leave for the day. rory noticed something and reached to tie lorelai's scarf. right there, lorelai picked up a clip from rory's hair, took a closer look and then tossed it in the air behind her...

as for us, sienna is the one who looks at me smiling, "mommy, you are funny!" or she is the one who looks over my shoulders when i pull in a parking spot, comforting, "nice and easy, mommy." fantastic role reversal!

i don't mind being roseanne. but to me, food is love. not including cooking in my routine is not my style. mother claire from the cosby's show has real high standards for herself as well as her kids: kind of boring and lack of colors for my taste. i am jealous though that she can always talk so calmly and coolly. there is also marge simpson: democratic and encouraging, and yet not domestically capable. she has to deal with one domestic disaster after another. not that i cannot, but there is so much that you can do before you get to even one disaster.

a princess near casa loma castle

she is in an elegant dark purple dress with a same color flower broach. her hair's long and curly from loosened braids. like a lady, she takes over the present from sienna and says "thank you!" then, she runs away to the other side of the gym like a light deer, yes, in that dress. she forms a circle with a circle of her friends talking, singing and playing games. somebody in the crowd next to me exclaimed, "look at her, a spetacular kid!"

it just happens, the show "dora, the explorer" turned into such a huge hit after theadora was born with a big purpose and such named. theadora became the real explorer when she travalled across the pacific ocean to live with her beloved mother near the casa roma castle.

the chinese/jewish princess is turning 4 this week. as her friends, sienna and i went to help her celebrate, with a new "(thea)dora, the explorer's backpack!"

falling off the edge of reason

had a girls' night out last night with abby. we went to see "bridget jones diary - the edge of reason." liz called to say there were paintings in the movie that she was convinced were lui's. we knew they weren't but curious about what made her think that. i didn't see the first "diary". abby said, "well, doesn't matter, it's going to be silly anyways."

i didn't know it would be this horrifically silly. i used to like renee zelweger. in this "the edge of reason," she is completely falling off the edge of reason for me. in overstating her girl-next-door image, she became chubbier and even more dowdier than necessary. you wonder what would be the REASON for the wealthy and prestigious lawyer to cast any interest in her.

what's worse about the night? i took sienna with us. my poor little girl had two poor movies in row. last week, the family went to see "the Incredibles." she asked for being covered going through the violent scenes. "do you still want to go for movies?" her answer is "yes". i know it is more to the popcorns.

after all, the painting turne turned out to be john currin's, who works abby showed me a couple years ago when he appeared on Vanity Fair. that did give us a reason to go for the movie in the first place.

start right if you want to start early

we have pretty much entrusted the system for sienna's education. she started printing letters and numbers before she turned 3. she went through about 20 weekly workbooks. i showed off one of those to her new school teacher, not so much about WHAT she could do, but HOW she could tirelessly and persistently work on something so tedious.

ms ahmed at her new school pionted out though that she had the formation wrong. i only realized this fully today when i was watching her doing her homework. for numbers, she can do well with "1, 2, 3, 4, 6 and 7." but she drew two circles for "8" and the "5" didn't carry big enough a bag underneath. "9" was done the other way around like a "p" and "0" looked ok but was circled wrong way as well.

i explained to her the formation "8." suddenly she told me, "mommy. i'm going to start with an 'S' and finish it from there!" smart kid! she immediately grasped the formation of "8". and she is really getting there with "9" and "0" too.

if you cannot start a kid the right way, there is not point to start at all, unless you think correcting a bad habit later is a fun thing to try.

winning over whinning, slowly

right on time, sienna dashed out of the ballet studio after her class. instead of running to me, she threw herself on the stairs, crying and whining. the teacher went to attend her ahead of me, "what's wrong?" apparently, sienna hinted that she wanted more of those gummy bears and the teacher didn't pick up enough hints. not anything i would recommend, but the teacher gives out goodies to keep her 3 little ballerinas on their toes. siennan got what she wanted. i watched all these unfolded without saying much in front of everybody.

coming home in the car, i started to address the issue, "you know candies are not good for you. but if you really want them, you have to ask nicely, not by having a fit." she was quick to apologize, "i am sorry mommy, i won't do it again." i didn't want to let go so easily, "that's nice. but we will have to do something about it. which one do you want to pass for your whining today, seaweed snack or your after dinner popsicle?" she didn't want to give up either. "then i will do away with the seaweed," i declared. "no, mommy, popsicle," she decided. and that was the deal.

the essence of the deal is to avoid whining on the parent's part when a kid starts whins. the best thing about the deal is that she is free to do it again, each time with a more conscious recognition of the consequences. with consistency and patience, i don't just help to curb her whining. in a long run, i make her take resposibility for her actions of whining or anything else.

a guilty verdict as a birthday gift

having been online for long, you found youself belonging to different virtual commmunities. i for one follow the entire court preceedings of the infamous scott peterson's murder case. the website of the local newspaper has an forumn for people to gather and chat.

early in the morning a girl there annouced that on her birthday, she wanted nothing else but a real verdict. then 2 other girls followed to say they shared the same day birthday and wanted the same thing. i didn't join in because i am only a watcher of these trial watchers.

much wished but less expected, the verdict did arrive around noon. the jury announced this guy was guilty of first-degree murder in the death of his 8-month pregnant wife laci and second-degree murder in the death of their unborn son they named connor. we scorpions are psychics. the power we pulled together was so powerful it sent a scorpio murderer on a death roll...

bye bye, my big fat breakfast

i've done enough of bragging about my dughter. this is about myself on this special day of mine.

first of all, it goes to show how i am such a consistent and persistent person. for over 2 years now, every week morning on my way to work, i dropped by this "Wrap Place" to get my breakfast: a whole wheat bagel with scrambled egg, ham and lots of butter. without placing an order. without any exchange of greetings. this hardworking korean couple handed me the food and i handed them the money. the same time, same place, same people and same thing.

now, the second part shows how i am a person of an open-mind. a few weeks ago, we were visiting a friend. their other guest mentioned how oat meal has helped a diabetic patient in bringing down the sugar level. this was a light in my head. after a few days of adjustements, i switched to oats , the large flake kind. i put some cream and boiled water in a mug. oats get soaked well right inside there. no added sugar or salt. how healthy! and how cheap! i am so pleased. not strictly so, but i do follow a diabetic diet even though my sugar and cholesterol are well within the healthy range.

is being perfect a perfect thing?

every body knows first lady laura bush is a former smoker. now, there are speculations that she is still a sometimes-smoker, a closet smoker or a social smoker. whatever you call her...

the rumour says they had to set up a secret room for her to smoke in on the campaign trail. to smoke is one thing, to hide the fact that she smokes another. why hiding? once she even asked a reporter for a cigarette, and of course, while the camera is not on. it's ok to have god watching, but not the people?

ironically, "new york times" commented, if people know the she is a smoker, they might have liked her more. my friend hubby fnds her phony, thinking she must have some major cover-ups, probably bigger than hiding her cigarettes.
people want to be perfect, but don't we all hate perfect people?! she is lucky to be so well-liked while she appears to be so perfect.

kudos to the new 57-year-old first time mom

a new york woman gave birth to twins three days shy of her 57th birthday. she is among the oldest woman to give birth. the former actress and motivational speaker, aleta st. james, underwent three years and $25,000 worth of in-vitro fertilization treatments to make it this far. her doctor won't recommend women at this age to become pregnant, but he worked with her because she in such an excellent health. so are the twins. they are heading home tomorrow to celebrate her birthday. there are so many more birthdays to come together as their birthdays are only 3 days apart.

if data is correct, we can place her date of birth on nov. 12, 1947. this new mom is a sun scorpio native with scorpio moon. she has her mercury in scorpio too. her mars and venus are both in fire signs. the planets are so aligned that keeps her life like a big steaming kettle with fire burning underneath. the kids are scorpio too, much more light-headed though with a lot of libra influence. they are going to have so much fun as long as she curbs her intense nature from time to time. something not too difficult for a scorpio woman to do at the age.

she told the press conference that she has learnt so much in life, she wants to give it back. well, as long as she lives long enough to do that. it's just an encouraging thing to hear and around my own birthday.

judy moody's moods

this is not an "age appropriate" book for me. my 9-year-old friend rachel passed on to me, "judy moody gets famous." it turned out to be fun.

the 3rd grader judy is jealous because her classmate has her picture on a paper for winning in a spelling contest. imaginative judy comes up with a number of schemes to make herself famous as well. none of her ideas work out quite the way she planned. unintentionally, she encounters a situation where she gets to fix all the dolls at a hospital for sick kids. her deed is depicted anonymously in the local newspaper as an act of a phantom. she feels more filfilled than having her picture in the paper.

interestingly enough, the celebrated theme is pretty similar to what i was growing up reading in a communist society: ie., do the good deed, don't have your name mentioned.

the basics of the humanity are pretty much the same everywhere: the desires of being good and of virtue, the moods of being jealous and bitter. different ways of teaching in moralities and religions sometimes make the differences so insurmountable. it's a privilige if we can always keep ourselves in touch with the basics of the matter. the rest is just fun. megan mcDonald certainly makes the book a lot of fun to read.

not a bad sick day

i called in sick today. physically i am ok, but my voice is totally ineffective to make any corporate communication. so i wanted to do nothing but watch a lot of tv. my friend suzanne was quick to encourage in her email, "watch as much tv as you can swallow." that's exactly what i did today.

the thing about me is, being on a normal day or a sick day, i don't lose my appetite much. checking my fridge for lunch, i came up with a new invention: stir fry mushroom, dried tofu (fried outside with mushy inside), minced pork and shrimp. accented with green onion and cilantro. i had a half a handful of brown rice to go with the dish. whoa!

just happened. when i turned on the tv over my lunch, emeril just started to cook up a storm with mshrooms on the food channel. he is doing better and better. i am totally tuned in to his "cooking is playing" style. my problem with cooking show is that you can only see it. and seeing is deceiving. i aways want to be the audience of a cooking show where i can smell. then i will have to get picked to taste.

today, eating my own creation of mushrooms while watching the cooking of them seemed to make up the problem.

all in all, my sick day didn't turn out to be a bad day at all.
http://www.emerils.com/

my early exit

after a few round of sake and karaoke at a korean restaurant, the cold bugs caught on me. i felt like having a frog on my throat. the frog grew bigger with tighter grisp later in the day. so i took an early exit around 4pm and rushed to pick up sienna. i took an early exit around 4pm and rushed to pick up sienna. it's difficult for a nosy mom like me not to go to school. sometimes i feel i just have to be there to satisfy my mounting curiosity.

sienna was totally surprised by my appearance. she ran to me like we see in the movie where an ecstatic kid runs to her mom. she introduced me to everyone in the room, "look, my mommy. this is my mommy." we went to the washroom that has those cute little toilet seats. while we exchange "hi" with a teacher and a gilr from the next class, sienna pulls down a piece of paper from the dispenser for the girl to dry her hand... a very nice guesture indeed.

what's making daddy's day today

sienna sits with her dad side by side on the couch. they are talking about the topic of what she does when she grows up. she is asked to pick from a list of things. she shakes her head again and again, even to things that she says she loves to do. then she leans forward and whispers to dady's ear, "i want to paint." this really makes the artist daddy smile from ear to ear. wether she is really fostering the passion to paint or she says it to please daddy, she really makes his day with her decision.

we have a winner here

the discussion on the "mother borad" (BBS board where mothers with kids born march 2001 chat) is about how some kids want to be the winners all times. i don't have much to contribute on this.

sienna doesn't seem to have that aspect in her. we don't see the idealistic side of her being developed. she does seem to be born an realist (the old soul related, again). she has an acute sense about what she can do and what she cannot do. rachel can whistle, she cannot. kenny G can play saxphone, she cannot. she can beat the egg, little brother ben cannot. etc. her favorite saying right now is, "when i grow up..." this is the way she deals with the thing that she cannot do.

she is not the winner type, but i really like the realistic part of her that is required to be a real winner, no matter you actually win or not.

singers in the subway

every other morning, at york mills subway station, i pass by a street performer playing guitar singing songs from the sixties. he is in his sixties, or at least looks like he is. i call him "mr sixty". mr sixty is a small-sized unimpressive and impassionate singer. i am good at staying calm with noises. unfortunately, i recognize all the songs he sings, only not right away. his low and vague voice set my mind to work unwillingly, trying to figure out which song he is actually trying to do damage to. by the time i get to the other side of the hall with a substantially damaged morning spirit. mr sixty need to pay for keeping this spot.

yesterday, as soon as i stepped onto this hall that connects subway and bus hub, i was struck by an uplifting soprano doing a classic opera number in italian. i looked over to mr sixty's spot. it was empty. there was only one person standing at the end of the hall -- a tall guy with grey hair pulling a garbage bag out of a can. then he pushed the cart slowly upward the slope as well as his voice...

i am sure, if he could take mr sixty's spot, i would want to pay among many other fellow morning commuters.

billed by bell, wrongfully

we bought an insurance service called "wire protection" with bell canada. four months went by, i noticed by chance that a similar item "phone protection" was on the bill too. i called up the the service rep to ask the differences between these two. turned out the latter is something they sneaked in without my request or permission.

"how could this happen?" i asked.

"well, it's your responsibility to check your bill,"

i was going to say, "hey, how could you say that?" but i kept cool.
with not much money at stake, it was not worth the fight. besides, i am responsible for placing my trust in these cooperate systems and not learning from the past. about 3 years ago, i kept being billed via automatic withdrawl for an insurance that i cancelled officially 11 months ago!

at this point of time, i don't know what else i'm getting charged for no reason.

a sweet dream about sienna

i have a very close friend who lives far away in paris. i met one of her two daughters. she never met mine. in fact, she and i never met. but we communicate almost daily. this is what suzanne wrote me today in her message:

"i had a dream about sienna. it was so sweet. we were somewhere together and she and i had to wait till 1pm to eat. she was very patient and watched the clock and when it struck 1, she became all animated and excited... she is so cute and loving."

election as it played out

so, bush won in the election. so did i in a sense, as i predicted that he was going to. not that i wanted the outcome one way or the other.

i have always treated the election part of my guilt-pleasure of TV viewing. now i felt really guilty for being so playful after i heard from my friend barbara in the blue state california, "the election is over and we are distraught. some of our friends are so depressed they can't even function, go on with life."

i still doubt about how the outcome would change the cause of the history. the magic is that we never would have a way of testing this kind of hypnosis. that gives us a hope. when things are not going well, we would count on the change of reference to make the changes of the environment. i don't know enought to understand as how a new president could make specific changes that are drastically different from the other. in my understanding, the american democracy is a beautiful piece of machine with all it's due defects. how much it matters to have a different person, or a different president for that matter, to run it? i really doubt it.

you do have a choice though when picking up the person. it's not about what they can do about the machine, but what they say they can do. bush says "i can protect you" from the terrorist and he sticks to it like a crab (he is a crab astrologically). that plays so well into the post-911 psych. kerry says "i can make the enocomy going, facilitate health care plan, encourage stern cell..." it's too complicated a statement. i saw it failing, more in terms of marketing strategy.

i don't know if these would comfort my friend barabra's friend or further disappoint them. i certainly intend to do the former.

for me, certain things are predictable

it was election night. not that i cared, but bush was going to win. i predicted, based on astrology and the hints i got watching the campaigns unfolded. being my witness, my friend abby said she would get popcorns for the showdown. for us, it was a bowl of green seedless grapes.

i pleaded to sienna, "please, let mommy have CNN for tonight. no Tree House, ok!?" she seemed to feel the urgency in my voice immediately. not only she agreed, she set up my yoga mattress in front of my bedroom TV and asked me to sit there, side by side with her. "just like watching a movie, mommy," that must have reminded her of the last movie we saw. in a drive-in theatre, we sat on the ground outside our car watching "shark tale".

now she asked me to stop flipping the channels as if that disturbed her. we came back on mommy's channel, CNN, a guy from Kerry's camp appeared just in time to crack her up. he was talking so fast. she tried to imitate him. "do you understand him, sienna?" i asked. "i will understand when i grow up..." i could have finished her sentence.

for every grape she put up in her mouth, she asked me to pick up one from the bowl between us. or else, she would stuff one in my mouth. "mommy, have another." i reached my hand into the empty bowl. she laught so hard because she just tricked me. smarty pant!

i looked at her and i couldn't help seeing her as a much much older kid, like, a very sweet, happy and calm teenager. something in her is so predictable, pleasantly predictable.

mysterious disease, caught and fought!

no. 1, she was most definitely exposed to. the adorable theadora (sometimes dubbed as theadorable) came over for a visit last sunday. they never played alone so well for so long in her room. the following tuesday thea fell ill.

no. 2, during the day on saturday (within 3 to 7 incumbent days), i discovered blisters on both side of her mouth, inside. she was a bit feverish that night.

that was it. the hand-foot-mouth disease! i phoned around. i checked the internet literature. i was bracing for the outburst of all the accompanying symtoms: red spot on hand and foot, more mouth sores and of course loss of apetite.

none of these realized. the blisters, which i happened to have myself, didn't seem to bother her that much. she ate as much as she normally does, if not more. she was singing the whole version of canadian national anthem and etc., loud and proud.

i took her to the doctor to check out. the doctor said she might have had a cold or she might have been exposed to the disease but she fought it off. the major discovery though at the doctor's was that her right ear was pluged with a ball of ear wax. icky!

guilt of pointing to the little guilty one

i found out sienna was not telling me the truth in more than one incident.

we take turn watching TV. i am about to turn on the TV, sienna declares, "the remote control is missing, mommy." lui say, "oh, let's look for it." sienna goes, "oh, don't look for it." as it turned out, she hid the remote control inside her kitchen set. we all laught it off on this one.

last weekend, i caught her getting socks out of a drawer. "why are you changing your socks, sienna?" i asked. "my socks are missing," she replied. as it turned out, she opened a bottle of baby oil and had a little self-massage session on both of her feet. when she put the socks back on, they were so greasy. so was my bed sheet, so was the hardwood floor, from our bedroom to hers...

i said, "sienna, you did two things wrong today. no. 1, you didn't ask for permission to open the bottle. no. 2, you could have told mommy that your socks were wet from the oil. but you told me they were missing." i was not mad but very firm and clear.

i turnd off the tv that she was watching and told her there was no tv that whole day. she kept saying she was sorry. by the evening, she told her daddy, "it's mommy's turn today to watch tv." lui was a bit surprised that she would give up her turn so easily. i said, "sure, and sienna knows why she has no tv today." end of the story.

i remember the first time when i was caught lying. my mother gave me some goodies to share with my younger brother. i ate his portion but told my mother i did give him his share. my mother didn't say anything at first. and she got me to confess by telling me a famous story. that was the first time i heard "here comes the wolf" and i remembered it for life. but that was when i was at least 7 years old or maybe older.

with sienna, i am debating myself. since she is blossoming, certain things need to be nipped in the buds. on the other hand though, i think maybe it's too early to get her into the big concept of lying. i want to give her more chances to make mistakes and face the concequences herself. she is a little girl known for being able to tell the right from wrong. i almost feel guilty to tell her that she is guilty of anything like that.

scary night, quiet night

i don't have a picture to show how my princess of tiger looked like last night. the flash on our 4-year-old, then prototype digital camera is no longer in sync with the shutter. we cannot use it in the dark any more, at least for now!

at certain piont of time, sienna said, "i don't want to do the treat-or-treat. candies are not good." i swear, i oppose only candies, never treat-or-tricking. daddy did take not so enthusiastic sienna out for the event.

a few house down the road, she looked into her half-full pumkin busket and declared, "i had enough, i want to go home." that's just typical of her.

for the first time, we hang up a skeleton & bone light decoration to attract any scary. so before and after the outting, we gave out treats to about 50 scary creatures, big or small. sienna wanted to take picture of the visitors but the camera was broken, just in time!

when all was done and gone, sienna had the patience to sit down on the floor, attacking a 250-piece puzzle with her daddy.

it was quite a quiet night, almost as usual.