Archive for "Family"
Happy Holidays!
Posted on December 23, 2007 by Brian under Family, Life.
Well its that time of year again! The Holidays are upon us and the commercialization of a long standing religious tradition is once again blatantly thrown in our faces with TV spots, Radio ads and now Online Spam. The Christmas music has been playing since shortly after Halloween, the people flocked to the after Thanksgiving sales like the drones that they are, responding to the mass media that filled there brains weeks prior to the 2nd most commercialized holiday of the year. And now with one day left to shop the “Last Minute Sales” are flooding the airwaves enticing folks to spend even more money (that most of them do not have) to satisfy the cravings of friends and family all in the name of……..oh that’s right. Christmas isn’t about counting our blessings anymore, its not about family or tradition or spending time with loved one’s that may not have much time left on this good earth. No, its about products, selling, MONEY! I remember that when I was growing up, my family would look forward to Christmas not because it was a time to give gifts to everyone (we didn’t have a lot of money in those days and my parents did whatever they could and we were very grateful for what we got) but because it was one of the only times of the year that we would all get together as a family and spend a significant amount of time with each other. To this day we still hold that tradition strong. To us Christmas is about family, being thankful for the lives we have and for what we can share. I cringe every time around this year because I see more and more people falling out of this tradition and falling deeper and deeper into that pit that commercialization has dug in the souls of humanity. I weep for what the world brings, but in my heart I know that the family I have and the values we keep will hold us together through anything that life has to throw at us.
I hope that this makes you think and I wish everyone a very safe and Happy Holiday and a blessed New Year.
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Snowy Saturday Afternoon
Posted on December 22, 2007 by Ching under Family, Flickr, Life.
We had big plans for today that were foiled by the crummy weather. Brian and I were going to have dinner with his parents at Logan’s Roadhouse and then head to the Lake Afton Public Observatory (LAPO) for “Mars Madness.” This weekend Mars is the closest it has ever been to Earth. It won’t be this close again until May 2016. I’d never been to LAPO before so I was really looking forward to going. I wanted to see Mars’ polar caps and other surface features.
We knew that there was some bad weather coming so we thought maybe we could just go to dinner and then watch a movie. Brian didn’t want to brave the crowds at the movie theater, though. Our contingency plan was to go to dinner and then ride go carts at The Alley… But then, as the day progressed, I didn’t feel like doing that either. We finally decided we would just go dinner.
So at around four o’clock Brian and I decide to head out. Well, guess what. We didn’t get much further than the driveway. Bebot was stuck. At this point we had decided that we would call his parents to cancel on dinner. We weren’t going anywhere.
Brian tried to make the car go forwards and backwards and it wouldn’t budge. We were getting more and more stuck. Finally, we tried something different. I took the driver’s seat and he went outside to try to push the car foward, back into the garage. I had to stop, though, because I was freaking out. I didn’t feel like I was in control of the car and was afraid that I would slam Bebot into the garage.
I stepped out to try to convince Brian that this was a bad idea. Right then two guys in a truck drove by. They asked if we needed help. They offered to help push Bebot back into the garage. With Brian at the wheel and the two guys pushing, Bebot managed to get back into the garage safely. That was really nice of those two guys to stop. They really didn’t have to, but they did. We couldn’t have gotten Bebot back into the garage otherwise.
Anyway, we are stuck here for the day. There is nothing to watch on TV and barely any food in the fridge. Ugh. Pizza Hut is closed so it’s not like we can call for delivery. I guess I should be grateful we have power and Bebot is safely in the garage.
I really hope the snow goes away soon. I don’t think I can last another day locked up in the house. At the very least, we need to be able to get to mom and dads and on Christmas eve and Brian’s parents’ on Christmas day.
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What We’ve Been Up To
Posted on December 4, 2007 by Ching under Family, Flickr.
Brian and I had dinner with Brian’s parents the other day, Sunday. We had chicken fajitas. Yum!
Afterwards, Brian helped his dad put together a couple of bikes. They were intially going to have a bike-building contest but there wasn’t enough room for both of them to build at the same time. The bikes had to get built one at at time. I took the opportunity to play with my Gorillapod (one of the things I purchased with the $40 Best Buy gift card that David and Donna gave me for my birthday). The Gorillapod is awesome! It attaches to anything!
But I digress.. David and Donna purchased the bikes for a church Christmas charity, kind of like the Angel Tree or Star of Hope that we have at my work — which reminds me, I still need to buy a gift for my “angel” (I picked up a little seven-month-old boy). I usually pick up a couple but I can only do one this year because I am contributing to several fundraising events at work.
David and Donna got the girls (one is ten and the other is nine) winter jackets from Old Navy (one in pink and the other in cream/white color), educational board games, and the bikes (one in hot pink and one in sky blue). We decided that the hot pink one would belong to the younger girl because its handle bars had tassels. The ten-year-old would probably prefer the one without tassels, we guessed.
After that, I set up forwarding emails for lastpatrol.org while Brian and his dad played Halo. Then we went to my work to deliver my Christmas presents for the CSRs in my group. I had to give them their gifts early because I got them Christmas door-hanger ornaments. This way they can enjoy the ornaments this holiday season.
Brian attached the cards and premade bows to the wrapped presents (I had wrapped them a couple of weekends ago) and helped me put them on each CSRs desk. None of them work the late Sunday evening shift. I wanted them to have the presents first thing when they arrived at work on Monday.
Last night, we (Brian, his parents, and I) attended the OMA Academic Achievement Recognition Celebration. It was kind of a disappointment, actually. I will save that for another blog. I want this to be a nice positive entry.
Except for a couple more gifts that we are waiting to arrive and the gift that I need to buy for my “angel,” we are pretty much set for Christmas. We are just waiting for the day to arrive.
P.S. A note to Cannady Girl: I have a door-hanger ornament for you also! I will bring it by mom and dad’s this weekend. Maybe on Sunday?
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Congratulations, Mom!
Posted on December 2, 2007 by Ching under Family, Flickr, Life.
Mom took her oath and became a naturalized US citizen on November 30, Friday. Congrats, mom!
She is the last one. Mine took place about three years ago. I went ahead and did it because my green card (aka permanent resident or “alien” registration card — I’m not sure why they call it that, it sounds so negative) was about to expire. I didn’t want to expire on me so I couldn’t wait on mom and dad any longer. Dad and Jen were both naturalized last year. Their green cards actually expired on them.
Mom’s green card had a later expiration date because she lost her purse several years ago and had to renew everything. Therefore, her green card ended up with a later expiration date than mine and Jen’s. Our entire family is now naturalized. Woot! Woot!
I haven’t found a huge advantage to being naturalized other than we now have the right to vote and we won’t have to pay for a green card renewal every few years. In the long run, being a US citizen is more cost effective.
Some people wouldn’t dare consider pledging to another country. They would maintain their original citizenship or at the very least maintain dual citizenship. Even though we are all naturalized Americans now, we haven’t forsaken the Philippines. I love my home country and will forever call it my home (although in most of my online profiles — e.g. Facebook, MySpace, etc. — I refer to Wichita as my hometown). We are not unpatriotic to our country of origin. We are merely pragmatic.
I suppose we have assimilated more than we realize. Pragmatism is very American. I’m proud to be one, and I’m happy that my mom is now one too. Congrats!
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Eek, It’s a Real Tarantula!
Posted on November 24, 2007 by Ching under Family.
Cannady Girl posted this video of Logan on their web site. It’s so creepy! Brian said he would have screamed like a little girl. I guess you can say that Brian and I are not too fond of exotic pets. Sugargliders are as exotic as we can get. No snakes (Logan has one) or spiders for us. This tarantula happens to be Jude’s. I think this video is as close I want to get. LOL!
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