Imitation of Life

One night, my son decided to pretend to be mommy.

He fed his baby.

He put his baby on the "bed" (the couch) and tucked it in (literally, better than I have ever done...I don't think the baby could have moved even if it were animated).

He gave his baby a kiss, and told his baby to call for "mommy" if his baby needed anything and "mommy" would come.


I cannot even begin to tell you what it means to me to have him imitate his mommy in this way. I hope he has so much more of these memories ingrained in him and that he knows his mommy loves him so.

Quotes

My son says (from the movie Cars)...

"I'm so not taking you dinner!"

But he adds...

"Lunch is good."

The Day After

We walk into our house. Toys are covering the living room floor from earlier play.

My son says "Look at this mess!"

I ask, "What should we do about it?"

He replies, "Not clean up!"

About Molten Chocolate Lava Cake

You know them as "Simple Abundances", "Beautiful Things", and "Gratitudes". I'm talking about those little special moments that make life wonderful, moments that put the icing on the cake.

But I wanted my own catch phrase.

I thought of Daily Joys. Simple Joys. Precious Moments. And a slew of other words in that ilk.

Somehow none seemed quite appropriate.

So I started thinking back to the icing on the cake. I'm not a big fan of icing. In fact, I usually scrap it off. What I love is the chocolate that oozes out of a cake. Warm dark rich chocolate to enhance the cake and accompanying ice cream.

Remember "Life is like a box of chocolate?"

Well, life offers much more if we choose to search for it. Molten Chocolate Lava Cake is my contribution to the touchy feely feel good moments that I want to remember and share with you.


Molten Chocolate Lava Cake
December 22, 2006

My son kissing my hand and saying "Mom, I love you."

Seeing our regular postman back at work after knee surgery and being able to give him his Christmas gifts of homebaked desserts.

Watching my son enjoy his new Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer and Abominable Snowman Musical Snow Globe (and laughing at my husband as he wished we could have tried it out before we bought it...so annoyingly loud for anyone over 8).

Watching my dog enjoy the warmth of the fireplace.

Leonardo Da Boy-ci

A few days ago we went shopping for my son's Christmas presents. Since he is still young enough to believe what we tell him, he came along. We picked out "My First Kenmore" items, a vacuum and a toaster for him. He was told that the gifts were for his cousin.

Poor baby. He cried.

He really really wants the vacuum and toaster.

I think he will be very excited on Christmas day. His gifts also include: microwave oven, chef's hat/oven mitts/apron, stove/sink, pots/utensils.

We encourage all his interests, so he also is getting Tonka construction vehicles, monster truck, paddles and baseball & bat.

What a Renaissance boy!

An Upcoming New Year and a New Day

I heartily apologize to my readers. Yes! I have been lax at my writing! I used the excuse of the holidays and hustle and bustle. A good excuse, many would agree. But, I thought about it last night. And it is not a good excuse for me.

Why?

If I have no thoughts, nothing to write about, no observations, then I am being swept away in daily life. I am neither taking the time to smell the roses or enjoying all those little things which makes my life so beautiful.

I am not savoring moments and preserving them into memories.

So, here I am. Back to my fighting form, my writing form. Ka-chow!

eyh am bihting mah tuhng

I'm just going to take a few lines from Forrest, Jenny, and momma. I think they can say it best. If you know me, I won't need to preface this anymore. If you don't, too bad, so sad.

My Mama always said you've got to put the past behind you before you can move on.

What's normal anyways?

You have to do the best with what God gave you.

That's all I have to say about that.

Is it Saturday?

One of the most important answers lies in the question "Is it Saturday?"

We have been rewarding him for potty training. We have gradually been spacing out the times he gets his reward. So now, he gets a new special toy for going "shi shi" but new toys are given only on Saturdays.

So, it is very important to know "Is it Saturday?"

Fishing for more than Shrimp

I had lunch today at Bubba Gump Shrimp. No, I did not have shrimp. I was in the mood for a burger. So yes, I had a cheeseburger at Bubba Gump's. But that's not the point of this story.

The waitress, after we have been there for a while, asks me if I am running in the upcoming Honolulu Marathon.

Me?

Are you talking to me?

ME! I say no, and she says she just wondered because she is running in the marathon and I looked in shape. She thought I looked like someone who would run marathons.

WOOHOOOOOO!!!!!!! Can someone give me a HOT DAMN?!!


Needless to say, she got a great tip!

Are you ???

An old family friend came to dinner. She hadn't seen me since high school so her image of me has always been of a thin person (she completely missed seeing me in the fat years).

She happened to see a photo of me from my sister's wedding in 2004.

She says, this must have been when you were pregnant. Um....no. Much after.

Oops!

Merry Christmas

My son loves Christmas.

He loves the Christmas lights. He loves Christmas trees. He loves the decorations. He loves Santa. He loves the Christmas trains.

He loves the ringing of bells. He loves giving coins to the Salvation Army volunteers. (He even asked if they were ringing the bells just for him.)

He loves Christmas songs. He loves snowmen and snow globes.

He loves all those things. For him, Christmas does not equal presents. Christmas is wonderful and exciting, magical and beautiful.

And so is he.

Boy and his Cars

So the movie "Cars" is a big hit in my home. My son is absorbing new words and phrases from the movie like a little sponge.

Here are a few of his favorites:

"Life is a highway. I wanna drive it all night long. Wooooooooh!"

"Ka-Chow!"

"I'm so NOT taking you out to dinner."

"Boy, you in a heap of trouble."

"No, no, no, no...no tires, just gas."

"Focus, Focus"

"Speed. I am speed."



And his parents' least favorite that we are trying to get him to stop saying...

"Comprendo?"

Duh Mom!

I try to monitor what my son watches on television. I find that even shows that are labeled for kids are not necessarily the shows I want him to see. I make sure I explain to him the images he is seeing so that he won't be frightened or upset. I say things like "that's not real". And "it is pretend."

My son enjoys having me with him, wants to make sure I am watching with him, especially the scenes he loves. This evening we were watching Disney's Cars movie (for the upteenth time). I know how important it is to him that I watch. So I try to get all revved up too so he would feel like I was huge fan too (which I am 'cause it is a great movie), partners.

I ooooh'd and aaaaah'd my ass off during the racing scenes. Even added some whoa's and moans and groans in there. I guess I was too good.

My son turns to me and says, "it's only a movie."

Flied Lice

Let me set the premise for this one...

My mom is from Thailand.
So is one of her friend.
Both have accents.
They were going to play golf today.
So mom made sure to ask dad to pack mom some foods to snack on for her day at the course.

Mom came home 6 hours later and asks me, "what is the name of the club that you use to hit the golf ball out of the sand with?"
I say, "sand wedge".
Then mom starts laughing.

This is what happened on the golf course:

Mom's friend: "Pass me the sand wedge."
Mom: "I don't have any sandwiches. Only eggs."

Homecoming Story

Once upon a time a girl got fat. She got married, got fatter, had a baby, and got even fatter.

Then she found Weight Watchers and Bootcamp Buddies. She worked hard. And she once again could see... she could see her feet and the space between her legs. She even saw her own muscle definition without straining. She was pleased, very very pleased.

Then, she went home.

Somehow coming home for me is such an enlightening experience.

I came home minus 30 pounds of excess body weight. I was looking forward to finally not hearing "Look at the size of your arms" and "You need to lose some weight".

But instead of the usual "You're too fat", I got "You're too skinny." Not "You're too skinny" kidding/ha ha/fun type of comments. Serious "You're too skinny" comments from family and family friends.

Which is weird since skinny was a word that would have last been appropriate for me at age 8.

So it reaffirms my belief...I cannot please everyone so I should try to please me more often.

And I am pleased with me.

So deal.

The end.