Geek in Heels - Page 92

May 29, 2011 • In Claire, Parenting, Personal, Relationships

Enjoying a Lazy Weekend

While Claire’s nighttime sleep has somewhat returned to normal, her naps are still a mess. All week I had been dealing with 15-30 minute naps…and she only takes two per day! I try to make up for her lack of sleep with early bedtimes, but keeping a cranky, teething (no top teeth yet), sleep-deprived baby entertained all day every day has been taking a toll on my patience.

My wonderful husband knew how stressed I was by the time Friday rolled around, so he contacted a girlfriend of mine and asked her if she would take me out Saturday so I could get a break from the baby and enjoy some adult-only company while he stays home with Claire. (Have I mentioned lately how much I love this man?) Needless to say, I had a wonderful time yesterday and I am feeling refreshed and recharged.

Right now I am writing this post on my phone while J drives us to my parents’ for a Memorial Day BBQ. As you can see from the below picture, we dressed Claire in an adorable outfit for the occasion. I must admit that baby clothes are much cuter and fun with the warm weather – we’ve been putting all the great hand-me-downs we’ve received to good use.

Posting will continue to be light this weekend, especially since I have been working hard at redesigning the site in order to make room for ads.

I hope everyone has a great weekend!

The (Incorrect) Western Interpretation of Asian Plastic Surgery

A few days ago, CNN Asia posted a video and an accompanying article titled “Plastic surgery boom as Asians seek ‘western’ look” which tells the story of Lee Min Kyong, who opted to have Asian blepharoplasty — otherwise known as double eyelid surgery — at the age of 12 in order to “westernize her eyes.”

This really pissed me off.

As I have written in the past, I am well aware that East Asia has a disturbing rate of cosmetic surgery. I also believe that many people who choose to go under the knife are — in my opinion — too young to make such decisions.

But I wasn’t pissed about this.

I was angry at CNN’s assumption (and the resulting skewed report) that Asians have plastic surgery in order to look more “western,” or “white.”

Westerners did not invent the double eyelid. Many Asians naturally have it. The reason that so many Asians prefer the double eyelid to the “monolid” is because it lifts the extra skin and fat on the upper eyelid and creates a crease which gives the illusion of larger eyes.

Large eyes, a well-defined, pointed nose, and a smaller chin are standards of beauty in women for many cultures. And they have been what is considered the ideal beauty in Asia for centuries, well before its assimilation with the West.

Now I’m sure that some Asians who go under the knife do so because they want to look white. But I can assure you that these people are few and far between. The vast majority of Asians who get plastic surgery do so in order to become more aesthetically-pleasing while retaining their Asian features, not to look more western. And most Asians do not think that being caucasian does not automatically make one more beautiful.

Here are two of Korea’s biggest celebrities, Song Hye Kyo and Lee Hyori.
Neither of them look “white,” in my opinion.

While the Asian idea of beauty may have been influenced by the West over the years, the idea that Asian women are trying mimic caucasians is an incorrect interpretation. An Asian woman getting double eyelid surgery, a nosejob, etc is rather an attempt to enhance one’s features in a society that overly glamorizes beauty and celebrity culture.

Likewise, an Asian dying his/her hair, wearing colored contacts, etc are not in efforts to look more western. They are merely ways of standing out and experimenting with your looks in a sea of black-haired, brown-eyed people.

In my opinion, the notion that Asians have plastic surgery to look white is like saying caucasians who tan and get lip fillers are trying to look black.

Going Cable-Free, the Geek Way

Late last year J and I made the decision to cancel our cable. Not because we had stopped watching TV, but because we were no longer watching our favorite shows as they air. Sure, the DVR that our cable company had provided was getting a lot of mileage, but we couldn’t ignore the fact that the majority of the shows we enjoy are available — for free — online.

So what is the best way to live cable-free in a technologically-driven household? Well, this is how we did it…

1. Connect a media computer to your television.

There are some great media streaming devices on the market today (Boxee, Roku, and Apple TV to name a few). However, we decided to go for an actual computer instead because a computer allows us to play DVDs, downloaded videos in practically any format, in addition to everything that a media streaming device would do.

J considered building our own computer. But after calculating all the parts we would need, we decided that getting a Mac Mini would be comparable in cost.

Our Mac Mini is directly connected to our television via an HDMI port, so technically, we are using our television as a giant LCD monitor. The image quality is great and having a 52″ screen to do the occasional Photoshop work ain’t too bad either. 🙂

2. Invest in a wireless keyboard and a mouse.

With the keyboard, we decided to keep it simple and purchased the Apple Wireless Keyboard. It’s small, unobtrusive, and perfect for what we need.

We went a fancier route with the mouse: the Logitech MX Air. When J first described it to me, I asked him, “You want to spend HOW MUCH for a mouse?!!” But once I tried it out in person, I was hooked.

What’s so special about a computer mouse, you ask? Well, the MX Air is designed to be used by home theater PC users and presentations by tracking motion even after you lift it off a surface. Which means you can hold it just as you would a remote control.

The buttons that run down the middle of the mouse can function as playback controls, and the smooth surface where the scroll button would be is actually a touch panel sensor where you can slide your finger up and down.

And for those who are wondering — yes, it can be used exactly how you would use a regular computer mouse too. I find that I use it on a mousepad (or directly on our couch 😉 ) when doing “computer” work, and lift it and use it as a remote when watching videos.

3. Purchase an HD antenna.

For the rare occasions when we are able to watch a television program as it airs, we use an HD antenna.

The very first time that we hooked up the antenna to our television, we couldn’t believe our eyes — the picture quality was better than what we had with cable! And while the channel selection was limited (which was expected), we were able to pick up a few channels that we would’ve had to pay extra with our cable company, e.g. a Korean channel and a Chinese channel.

We went with the Terk HDTVa Indoor Amplified HD Antenna due to is popularity and positive reviews on Amazon. But we have also heard that a $20 HD antenna from Walmart works just as fine, so I don’t think an antenna makes that much of a difference if you live in, or near a metropolitan area.

4. Subscribe to a video streaming service (or two…or three).

We’re currently subscribed to Netflix‘s $7.99/month unlimited streaming plan. We’re pretty happy with the service — the quality is better than we had expected, and there is practically no lagging. That being said, we do wish that more older movies and shows would be available for streaming (and not just on DVD, which we would need to pay extra for).

We watch most television shows which have already aired on Hulu. Again, the quality is pretty good (the picture quality on Hulu is better than that of most network websites that are streaming the same shows) and I wouldn’t be lying if I said that I have been tempted to subscribe to Hulu Plus on more than one occasion.

I have also recently discovered that with my Amazon Prime membership, I have access to over 5,000 commercial-free, streaming movies and TV shows.

We scour the web for websites that stream live sports games. We download television shows that are not available on Netflix or Hulu. We’ve also discovered new programs and movies that we would have never known about if we hadn’t canceled cable.

And that’s how we did it. Sure, the initial setup cost quite a bit a money, but considering that we were paying almost $90/month for cable, the investment has evened out after a few months.

A Half-Assed Update

Claire woke up no less than nine times last night. Each time with an agonizing scream that pierced my heart.

Needless to say, I got very, very little sleep. I decided to take her to the doctor this morning in order to ensure that there was nothing physically wrong with her. I was particularly concerned that she might have an ear infection because the symptoms of an ear infection are very similar to those of teething.

Our pediatrician declared Claire perfectly healthy, albeit a bit cranky. She remarked on Claire’s great hand-eye coordination, her terrific balance, and even her clean ears. After checking her mouth, the doc showed me how her top middle gums were painfully bulging with some white showing underneath.

“It looks like she’ll pop two at once again,” she added.

I couldn’t help but wonder if this was a metaphor for our initial years as parents, with a second child who will be just 13 months younger than the first. Extra difficult while it lasts, but get it out of the way fast.

Now, please excuse me while I try to catch some ZZZs before my daughter wakes up screaming again.

Education Regrets

With the increasing number of studies and articles questioning the value of college degrees, in addition to the declining rates of employment and starting salaries among new graduates, it is no wonder that today’s young adults are fraught with regrets about their college choices.

According to a recent study by Rutgers University’s Heldrich Center for Workforce Development, a full 74% of recent graduates wish that they had done something differently about their college careers. At the top of the list is choosing a different major, with getting more internships/experience a close second:

I can’t help but be reminded of myself and my husband when reading articles such as these. Shortly after we had first started dating, I had asked him, “If you could go back in time and change one thing about your past, what would it be?”

“College. I would’ve taken that scholarship at NYU instead.”

Incidentally, that was my answer too. Except I would have gone with Columbia.

What is so ironic about our matching answers is that we had met in college; if we had not attended JHU, we probably would have never met.

But then again, NYU and Columbia are in the same city so there is still a slight chance that fate would have intervened.

What about you? Do you have any big regrets about life? What is your biggest regret about college?

Via Geekosystem.

Growing Pains

About a month ago, Claire’s first two teeth popped out. And the very next day, she no longer started screaming for (seemingly) no reason and resumed waking up only once per night.

And within days of that, she *magically* started sleeping a full 12-13 hours through the night. And taking at least one 1-hour nap per day (well, 2 hours when her Aunt Annie is watching her but we all know that it’s only because she’s kissing up to her).

You guys, you don’t understand how good it feels to have your baby sleep that long. Especially after 5 consecutive weeks of multiple night wakings, scattered catnaps that do little to rest her tired little body, and endless fussing/crying/screaming from pain and discomfort.

We experienced two full weeks of this blissful period.

And now, we think Claire is teething again. Because for the past few days she has resumed that nightmare of a schedule and returned to interminable fussing.

Claire’s favorite teething remedy at the moment is
teething feeders which I fill with chilled sliced fruit.

What’s worse, we think that she is outgrowing her 3-nap schedule and needs to transition to a 2-nap schedule. (Not that we have a set schedule — because the length of her naps have never been consistent — but we try our best to stick with the same number of naps per day.)

According to my handy infant sleep chart, most babies transition from two to three naps between the ages of 5-8 months, and since Claire will be turning 8 months old in just a week, she is definitely ready. There’s also the fact that she is fighting her naps more than ever, and seems to be doing just fine going 2.5 hours between each nap.

Eliminating a nap is no easy task for most babies. (Don’t believe me? Just google “3 to 2 nap transition” or “2 to 1 nap transition.”) Add teething to that and…

You get stories like Claire who has now been up for almost five hours and still refuses to go to sleep.

I can only hope that her teeth will continue to pop out in pairs, like her first two did.

Interruption

This is a perfect illustration of what happens on my bed when Comang decides that walking around me would take too much effort.

Via WarrenEllis.com.

Five

One…

Holy crap can you believe this is a cupcake??!??

Via This Isn’t Happiness.

Two…

The difference a year makes:

Via Young Me/Now Me.

Three…

Age verification win:

Via The Fail Blog.

Four…

The Legion of Super-Groomsmen:

Via Wired: Geek Dad.

Five…

And just because I can:

P.S. —

Someone asked me earlier this week if I, as a Christian, believe anything will happen tomorrow.

“Meh, probably not,” I replied.

I believe in a post-tribulational rapture, not a pre-tribulational rapture as Harold Camping preaches or the popular Left Behind books illustrate. (See this article at Desiring God for the difference between the two, as well as the arguments for post-tribulationism.)

But I am looking forward to tomorrow for another reason: I plan to chop off five inches of my hair! My hair hasn’t been that short since college and I’m ready for a change. So if the rapture does happen, at least I’ll have a new hairdo to go with it.

Rethinking My Role as a SAHM

I am no longer on bedrest. I still need to take it easy (ie, no heavy lifting, getting as much rest as possible, etc) until my next OB appt in two weeks — when hopefully we will find out BebeDeux’s gender! — but I am no longer confined to the bed. Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers.

I actually quite enjoyed bedrest. Although I felt a bit bad for J, my SIL, and my mother who were all chipping in to help with Claire, it was a nice break for this pregnant and tired blogger. For all that, I am certain that I probably would have hated it if it lasted longer. I seriously don’t know how other pregnant women who are ordered to bedrest for months do it.

Lying in bed for a few days got me thinking about a lot of things. And one of those things has been my role as a SAHM.

I always thought that my being a SAHM would be the most beneficial to our family. But for the past couple of months I have seriously been reconsidering my position. I am thinking about going back to work, and leaving Claire and BebeDeux with a nanny (the daycares around our area are not that great). I know that I will most likely make less money than I had before, and that I will miss my children tremendously when I’m at work. But I feel that my health — both mental and physical — is really suffering as a result of my being a SAHM.

Because it’s not that I don’t love my children; rather, perhaps I care for them a little too much and/or is too sensitive to their emotions. After almost 8 months of being a SAHM, my heartrate still shoots through the roof whenever Claire cries. It physically pains me (I get uncomfortably tight feelings in my chest) whenever she is not happy — not just crying but not happy — and it’s just impossible to keep a child happy at all times, KWIM?

I wish I could make Claire this happy ALL the time, but it’s just not possible.

Additionally, my personality has me questioning if I’m really cut out to be a SAHM. When I was employed, I had complete control over my work. I got feedback on whether I was doing a good job or not. As a SAHM, I don’t.

Be that as it may, I am afraid that if I do return to work, I will not be able to give it my all. Both the supervisors at my two previous jobs have told me that I have been the best employee at those positions — and commended me various times for the efficiency and quality of my work. I fear that if I were to return to work with two babies at home, I will not be able to put in the caliber of work for which I can take pride. And I know that my half-assing it would not be fair to my employer or myself.

And all the problems I had described above about being a SAHM? They won’t disappear if I return to work. I may have less exposure to them, but they will not be solved by any means.

Luckily this pregnancy gives me at least a few more months to think about this decision.

I have read many stories of mothers who chose to quit their jobs in order to become SAHMs, and couldn’t be happier with the result. I wonder if there are as many SAHMs who chose to return to work and are just as happy with their decisions?

Bedrest

I woke up this morning to some cramping and bleeding. A visit to the doctor showed that BebeDeux is doing fine and that my cervix is still closed, but I have been diagnosed with marginal placenta previa which may have caused the bleeding. Nonetheless, I have been put on bedrest for a few days.

Needless to say, I’m pretty scared. I know that tons of women experience bleeding in their pregnancies and go on to have healthy babies. I also know that placenta previa diagnosed before the 20th week gives the placenta plenty of time to move up in the uterus before going into labor.

But I also have friends who have lost babies well into their 2nd trimesters, as well as those who were put on bedrest for months due to placenta previa.

Please keep our family in your thoughts and prayers…

Enjoying a Lazy Weekend

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The (Incorrect) Western Interpretation of Asian Plastic Surgery

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Going Cable-Free, the Geek Way

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A Half-Assed Update

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Education Regrets

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Growing Pains

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Interruption

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Five

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Rethinking My Role as a SAHM

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Bedrest

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