Q4 is here

October 1 marks the beginning of what us calendar year fiscal year corporate folks call Q4.  So, no doubt, things are really, really busy.

For everyone else, it marks the beginning of the "holidays" which it seems starts earlier and earlier every year.   And with the holidays, comes the kids' birthday (along with the Star Wars-themed party I must plan along with it) - their 4th.

OMG.

Where did the year go?

And where did my babies go?

4 1/2 months old, April 2005

 

Almost 4 years old, September 2008

My 15 minutes of fame

About a year ago, one of my work colleagues asked me if I wanted to participate in a focus group for the new book we were developing (I work for a large media company, in case I haven't already mentioned that). The focus group participants would work and consult with a renowned New York City celebrity dermatologist-psychologist to help improve our skin, reduce our stress and help us achieve a more youthful looking appearance by doing a few simple things.    

In addition to other criteria for focus group participants, one of the participants they were seeking was a 30-something, busy woman (preferably a working mom who didn't have time to take care of herself) and if they could find one,  a token Asian (gee - sounds familiar!).   And I seemed to fit the bill for several of the criteria.

For free.   

To help out with a work project.  

With added bonus of potentially improving my then 35-year old sun-damaged, already-starting-to-age skin.   

PLUS, access to a renowned NYC dermatologist.   

Hmmmm... 

Well, as you can imagine, it didn't take too long for me to make a decision to be one of the sacrificial lambs for the writing of this book.  The purpose of the focus group was to go through Dr. Amy's treatment and eventually be featured in the book about reversing the physical aging that is caused by stress, lack of sleep, lack of hydration, you-name-it (basically, all of the bad habits that contribute to our physical appearance and skin - which is almost everything).

A few lifestyle changes (like more sleep, more date nights), lots of Shiseido 55 SPF sunscreen, Keihl's cleansing products, safflower oil and Neutrogena moisturizer and 2 tubes of Tretinoin retina cream later, my skin is smoother and a little more youthful because of Dr. Amy's treatment.

So now, voila!

Next week, the book launches.  And on pages 21-23, I am featured as what not-to-do (at least 12 months ago). Funny enough, it is quite a  pathetic read since it sounds like I do nothing but work, hang out with the family in spurts in the evenings and on weekends, and stay up late on the computer -- which, sadly, is not entirely untrue.  But I take solace in the fact that such is the life of a full-time working mom.

Thankfully, no photos of me.  Those were left on the Simon & Schuster editor's cutting room floor.

Here's to another 6 years of wedded bliss and new adventures

Sunday, the 21st was our 6 year wedding anniversary.

Six years ago on the 21st of September, we walked down the aisle at the Church in the Forest in Pebble Beach, California. And afterwards, we had a wonderful reception at the Quail Lodge in nearby Carmel-by-the-Sea with over 160 of our closest friends and family members. It was a blissful, unforgettable day. And it was exactly the wedding I had dreamed of having as a little girl, complete with the perfect wedding dress, a handsome groom, a classy, idyllic destination setting and all.

At the time, Dave was a job-searching, laid-off software sales guy and I was working in a stressful, sweatshop job in a big-and-corporate-consumer-software company in the Valley product managing small business software. We were renting our dinky little 2-bedroom, $1900 a-month (no joke!) apartment in the San Francisco Bay Area and contemplating leaving the rat race of Silicon Valley for greener and beachier pastures down in San Diego, where Dave grew up.

Six years ago, we felt like we were running on a treadmill with no set mileage goal and we were scared of what would happen if we tried to get off and stop.  And we were wondering, dreaming of the day that we could actually, finally afford our own home and start raising a family.  At the time, it seemed like a far-and-away prospect since the home prices in the Bay Area were (at least where we were in the Peninsula, just north of the Valley where we were thinking of buying) at the cheapest were about $700-$800K a pop.  Yes.  For a 1960's or 1970's-era "starter" home with probably no more than 1500 square feet of house.  And this was back in 2002 when we were a newly married couple, practically broke by today's standards.

So, we decided to up and move down south to San Diego in 2003 to create a new life that we felt we could not have had we stayed up north. And now, 6 years later, we are blessed with 2 amazing, healthy children, a warm, supportive family on both sides, a wonderful home in a caring, eco-friendly community, a comfortable lifestyle that allows us to travel and see the world, forward-moving careers and a blissful lifestyle in one of the best cities in the world. (Really, I'm not bragging; I'm just reminiscing and counting our many blessings :)

And my, how far we have come since then. And in a strange way, this -- our current existence -- is always how I planned it in my head.  I just didn't know how we would get here.

Sunday night, we went out on date night in La Jolla to celebrate year #6 and enjoyed a swanky sushi meal at Zenbu where the fancy rolls were little art creations unto themselves. And by the time we left, we were heavier on the tummies and lighter on the wallets. It felt so indulgent, especially with all of the economic hardship out in the country right now but it was our time to celebrate, so we did.

Here's the one of the off-the-menu sushi creations we enjoyed from the chef last night...called Sid Fishous - haha. (Notice the "anarchy" symbol made out of hotsauce...Dave was thoroughly amused being a skater punk kid of the 80's and all) Sid Fishous cost $20 so you can bet we enjoyed every bit of that roll, right down to the last grain of rice which probably cost at least $.05 cents. Despite my fetish for things designer/pricey (like jeans, sunglasses and purses), I am cheap with other things, like food and treating ourselves to a nice dinner, so not surprisingly I think that way.

Nonetheless, six years is a feat. It hasn't always been easy, and there are times when I'm sure we both at some point were contemplating our choice, but we've both managed to grow and learn and continue to make each other better through it all. We are committed to one another and we're in love, 6 years later.

And Sunday night, we drank Sapporos and Mai Tais, enjoyed fancy sushi and celebrated the life we've created together and the adventures that are yet to come.

The Skills You Can Learn @ 3 years old!

This past weekend, my husband hooked up the kids' new computer in the playroom...complete with parental controls and favorite bookmarks of our carefully chosen online learning games, of course.

With my husband and I both working the in the tech industry and tapping on our computers in the evenings sometimes when we need to finish work at home, it's no surprise that they have been showing interest in computers for a while now.  And we decided it was time.

So as I watched them play their "fine motor skills" and "literacy-building and storytelling" games on the Sprout/PBS kids website, I sat there behind them proudly and was constantly bemused by the fact that our 3 year olds were clicking around on icons and learning how to work the mouse.   They can't read yet, but they knew exactly where to click once we gave them the short tutorial.   I knew this would come soon enough, but wow, at 3?!!

Part of the reason I think I was so amused was this: I don't think I knew how to work a computer and type until I was in high school (and in the late 80's/early 90's I  think they were still called "word processors"...how funny!)

And now, here is this new generation of our children for whom computers, the internet, etc. is a part of their everyday existence...

Unfortunately, this morning before preschool they woke me up to see if they could play on the computer again.

Uh-oh.

Thank goodness they haven't yet discovered games that you actually play for regular fun instead of learning fun.  Or worse yet, the Wii.

No country for (inconsistent, tired, clueless and corrupt) old men

Ok, so I'm back to my politics talk again. I just can't stay away from this topic.

So, the last few days have been B-U-S-Y...not only on the family and work side, but also on the "figuring-out-my-campaign-volunteering-commitment-between-now-and-November-4th" side.

After 4 days of spinning my wheels and creative negotiation with my husband and our September-October schedule, here's where I ended up with my Obama campaign involvement:

• Camp Obama & being a Deputy Field Organizer = just too much time commitment for little old me (Camp O meant at least 3 full weekends of volunteering - one weekend of boot camp training, 2 weekends in Nevada -- albeit Vegas - bling, bling, which would have been fun...we will likely still go though)
  
  
• After 4 phone conversations and 3 e-mails to the Obama4America peeps in the L.A. regional office, we've determined the best way for me to be involved is to sign-up with my local San Diego peeps.
  
  
• So now, I am on Team B in the 50th Congressional district (San Diego) and I have taken on a small leadership role called "Data Manager" - this is nice title for data input monkey for people who can't use the online tools for our canvassing calls to Nevada. (Ironically, as a tech person and computer savvy professional, this job is probably my worst nightmare since it involves picking up the slack of computer illiterate people and inputting their results into the voting software. BUT, I am over this and will do whatever it takes to help my team. Yes I am a pig, not a chicken, as the analogy goes.)

Last night I attended the 50th Congressional District Obama rally party in Encinitas. And how refreshing it was to be surrounded by 200 like-minded individuals who want so badly for our candidate to win that they are volunteering time to do so. The energy and excitement was palpable. And our stated goal for California campaign efforts is clear -- Help win Nevada's 5 electoral votes. This election may come to 5 votes at this rate.

This weekend, I begin my phone canvassing of Nevada undecided voters. And one of the weekends in October, our family will likely make the trip out to Las Vegas to do physical canvassing and voter registration - sans any Camp Obama training...I think we can handle it.
(Funny enough, with all of this Obama talk in our household, I have my almost 4-year-old twins saying "Obama for America" to their preschool teachers -- so much so that the teachers mentioned it to me the other day. Whoops! At least they will be ready for our Nevada canvassing. :)

I know, I know...all this time, all this commitment. And you know what? We may not win in November, but at least I will know that I am not just on the sidelines watching how this unfolds. 47 days commitment to this campaign is relatively short in the scheme of another 4 (or possibly 8) years of another potentially bad leader. I want to make my difference in this, however small.

To close, there was a great editorial I read earlier this week from Thomas Friedman, author of non-fiction bestseller The World Is Flat. The editorial was in the New York Times, entitled "Making America Stupid." It totally resonated with me and is the new article I point folks to when they ask me why I support Obama.

No country for (inconsistent, tired, clueless and corrupt) old men, especially McCain.

_________________

Update on my Data Manager role as of this evening's Obama campaign 9PM PST conference call :

Apparently, there's more to my responsibilities than data input guru. I will also be training other volunteers on the voter database software tool and will be the list generator for canvassing calls and for volunteer management on specific events like out of state travel, etc. OK, I feel better now. I think. This, on top of everything else. Oy. (I have to remind myself...it's only 47 more days in the grand scheme of 4 years of the same old, same old...)

Ah, summer - 'twas good seein' ya

After the abyssmal Chargers-Broncos game yesterday where we disappointingly lost (subtext: were cheated), we decided to drive the 15 minute jaunt over to the beach to enjoy the last bits of the weekend and savor the last few nights before Summer officially turns into Fall.

The wind was a bit chillier, the water was a bit colder, and the sun was barely peeking out from the gray clouds as if to say, "Autumn's almost here... enjoy every last bit of this lovely late summer afternoon."

Of course, it was like, 60 degrees, but then again, I've become thin-skinned a total cold-weather wimp since I've moved to Southern California. I was sad to have been wearing a long-sleeved shirt in September...in San Diego of all places. But then again, it is almost Fall.

The surfers were out in full force, Luke was in regular form running circles in the sand (as only a 3 3/4 year old cooped up watching football in the house all day could be), and Dave and I were fully in the moment...enjoying the lovely stroll along the beach knowing that in another month we would be breaking out full-on sweatshirts, long pants and close-toed shoes.







There could be worse places to live, I guess.

(as I gloat :)

I got the call!!

So after the RNC, I was so mortified with what I heard that I had started to rant and spin in circles. My ranting finally became productive when, on a whim, I decided to apply with the Obama campaign to be a "Deputy Field Organizer" and do my part to help win this election in a battleground state. (California is a non-factor/traditionally blue state.)

Well, I got a call!!!!!

Yesterday afternoon, I got a voicemail from an Obama campaign volunteer named Anjali who said they had reviewed my application and were interested in having me, just so long as I could attend Camp Obama (the weekend community organizer boot camp in SoCal) AND just as long as I could spend a weekend doing community organizer work somewhere in Nevada (a battleground state) between now and Election Day!

Wow. Be careful what you wish for, right??!

Like I need another extra-curricular activity besides...um, everything else I'm doing.
BUT, I so LOVE, LOVE this stuff. And I feel so passionate about this election, and this candidate, our candidate -- more than I've ever felt before.

So now, I am busily trying to arrange for child care and do some creative juggling around our next couple of weekends since, if you can believe it, we are almost totally booked up between now and Election Day.

I so, so, so hope I can make this work.

Thank goodness for Tivo

It seems that everyone's talking about politics today and I am making a concerted effort not to (only because I am getting really obsessed about it and talk-- or read -- about it incessantly when I'm not talking about the kids or work or my other pastimes.)

Sooooo...I thought that I would write about something completely innocuous and mundane like my excitement over the TeeVee fall line-up of premieres that I am looking forward to checking out, starting with...

1) The Amazing Race

My fave, fave, fave reality show of all time - even more than Survivor. I love seeing these random couples duke it out against each other and also be put in precarious situations where they need to work out Roadblocks or Detours or FastForwards, etc.  Not to mention, Phil Keoghan is probably the least annoying of all the reality show hosts...This show harkens me back to the old days when Dave and I used to jaunt to Aruba, Florence, Istanbul, Costa Rica, Sydney...satisfying our wanderlust.   Since we've had the twinsies, we've (or should I say I have) started at least 2 show applications but have never dared send it in.  Maybe next time I'll actually do it??!  We can bill ourselves as the "yuppie-couple-from-So-Cal-who-met-and-fell-in-love-because-of-their-mutual-wanderlust-and-now-have-young-kids-and-miss-it-so."  I really think we could get cast, and win,  if we really tried.

2) Survivor: Gabon

I have been a fan of Survivor since Season 2.  I remember catching the last epi of Season 1 when Richard Hatch won wondering what all the fuss was about it.  Well, now I know!  And 17 seasons later, here I am anxiously awaiting the latest - Survivor in Gabon, Africa.  I love all the strategery   (hehe) of the game and watching everyone outwit, outplay, outlast the other.  Can't wait to find another character I love to hate.

3) Grey's Anatomy

So goes another season of Meredith and Derek, Izzie and George, Christina, Bailey and the others.  I've been watching since Grey's was a pilot after the Superbowl a couple of years ago. And even with all of the ridiculousness that has transpired over the last couple of years, I am still watching it.  For no other reason except that it feels like such a great escape to me since these characters are nothing like my life today.

4) The Office

Dunder Mifflin rocks.  So does Schrute.  Need I say more?

5) Lipstick Jungle

I tuned in last year by accident.  I was up a few nights doing work and it happened to be on the TeeVee a few times.  Now I am  totally into it.  I love all 3 of their characters and most especially, I can relate to Brooke Shields's character as the full-time working mom exec with the supportive hubby.   I also love the backdrop of New York City.  It's such a fabulous place to watch these fabulous women live their fabulous lives.

6) 90210

Yes, I am one of those mid-30 somethings that back in the day watched Brenda and Brandon Walsh  fit in with the likes of Kelly Taylor, Dylan McKay, Donna Martin and Andrea Zuckerman at West Beverly High.  I remember watching this show (along with Melrose Place, of course) in college and having a whole social gathering with my sorority sisters planned entirely around the epi.  90210 is to my generation what the OC and Gossip Girl is to today's legion of youth. It's only been 2 epis and I am already sucked in.  And of course, I can't even remotely relate to this age group anymore, but it's still a nice guilty pleasure.

7) Desperate Housewives

Even though the storyline has gotten more and more out of hand the last few seasons, I can't help but tune in to the women of Wisteria Lane season in and season out.  Bree, Lynette, Gabrielle and Susan are all caricatures of every day women we know and love, and the great part of this is that we can see a little bit of each of them in us.

8) NFL

Go Chargers!

Wow, that was nice to talk about something else besides politics for a change.  

Thank goodness for Tivo.

Birthday cake, yum, yum

We've been on the late summer birthday party circuit these days (think 5 birthday parties in a 4 week span...and we're not yet completely through it!). For some reason, late August - early September is B-U-S-Y with birthdays.

As a tribute to our friends' kids who have recently celebrated birthdays we've attended, I thought I'd post a few party photos of every kids' absolute favorite part of the party - CAKE!!!!

(The goody bag handout ranks high with our kiddos, too)

And of course, a piece of cake is often followed by sugar-induced exuberance.

Here's a chronicle of their sugar-high, cake loving (and eating) adventures at various friends' parties.

BE it, don't just do it

So I told myself that I wasn't going to use this forum (too much) to even remotely pontificate (and/or rant, as I have been doing) on politics.

But lately I am finding that I can't help myself.

Why?

Because I CARE what happens to our country. And because I CARE how it affects my family and my kids, especially. And just because I lean left, that does not mean that I am not patriotic and I don't love America. Quite the contrary.

Tonight I read a very good, succinct blog post from Jamie Lee Curtis, the actress no less, on The Huffington Post. And she had echoed some things Obama said this weekend that I said a few days ago after having listened to Ms. Palin's RNC speech thinking to myself,

"Uh, oh...she was good (delivering from a teleprompter). SO GOOD that people are going to forget she's a friggin' puppet and be brainwashed by all of this KarlRovian garbage...like they were brainwashed in 2004 and 2000 - Lord help us."

Anyway, something in Jamie Lee's post struck me, and it was what she had quoted from Gandhi:

"You must be the change you wish to see in the world."

While this is not the first time I've seen this quote, it really resonated with me, in particular, related to this election.

With all of this talk about "change" from both sides (especially now that McCain decided to take on this as his campaign message), and with all of the GOP mockery of community organizers, this was the kick in the pants I needed. For me and the now and how I can make a difference come November 4th.

And as a registered Democrat and strong supporter of Barack Obama, I realized that I mustn't just sit here and let 2004 happen all over again. I needed to do my part outside of donating (which I have already done) or putting up lawn signs and bumper stickers in a state that will likely go blue anyway. And I can no longer be complacent and assume the last 8 years is enough to speak volumes and direct the American public to our candidate.

So this weekend, on a whim, I applied to help the Obama campaign and the Deputy Field Organizer Groups that they are mobilizing in California to spread the message to the audiences who most need to hear it. As such, the Obama campaign is recruiting a team of "community organizers" to attend Camp Obama with the goal of developing grassroots coalitions to gain victory in the battleground states. And while I can't travel to the battleground states with my current family and work responsibilities, I asked them if they could leverage me somehow remotely. I really don't know how, and highly doubt I will get "accepted" but I feel better knowing that I am trying to make a difference in this election.

Just BE it. My not-so-new mantra.

Not-so-new because when I stepped back to think about it, I've already started being some of the things I want to change in the world. But I still have more to be including making a difference (however small) with the choice of our new leader.

(ok, I'm done ranting for today.)

Celebrating life and it's dichotomies

Today was a good, but strange day.  

Good because it was quality time well spent with the kids. 

Strange because of the dichotomy of our activities today, both celebrating life in different ways.

9:00AM

Hannah, Luke and I went to a memorial and celebration of life for my friend and colleague's beautiful, sweet 7-year-old  son, Max who passed away after 4 years of fighting cancer. 

It was a beautiful and heart-felt gathering of his family's friends, family and general support network -- there were probably a couple hundred of us there at the park sitting high on the bluff in scenic Seagrove Park in Del Mar, celebrating Max and listening to his favorite stories being read, hearing his teachers telling us their favorite Max stories, and watching his favorite vintage WWII planes fly overhead to salute him as he stared down at us from heaven. Family, friends, teachers, colleagues, kids, babies, parents, classmates from Max's school were there to pay tribute.

The event was purposefully family and child-oriented, complete with various Lego building stations of the take-your-Lego-creation-home-as-a-memory-of-Max-and-the-toys-he-loved-s-much variety.   And with that, Hannah and Luke left with an airplane and a robot creation made from the very Legos that Max played with.  Despite our sad reason for being there today, the kids had fun.

11:00AM

Contrast this with our next planned event 2 hours later, where we attended a birthday party for our friend and neighbor's daughter at PumpItUp, which is basically a huge gymnasium of inflatable bounce-houses.  

Hannah and Luke and friends ran around for an hour and fifteen minutes jumping in the bouncies, sliding down the slide, and then ate pizza and had birthday cake.

There were at least 25 2-5 year old kids there with protective parents in tow.    And again, not surprisingly, for different reasons at this particular event, we were surrounded by the birthday girl's friends, family, classmates, etc.  Of course, the kids had fun.

******************

Two events, back-to-back, both celebrating life in different ways.  

One event (the birthday party) was planned weeks ago and meticulously and lovingly executed. 

The other event (the memorial) was not planned and meticulously and lovingly executed.

The dichotomy of life.

In either scenario, it is worth celebrating.   And today, in particular with the unplanned juxtaposition of these two events, I have better perspective on how to value it.

I'm not buying the red meat

I have been watching the RNC this week with curiosity as well as with a sincere attempt to be fair and balanced going into November (although I do have my biases).

As much as I commend Sarah Palin on her ability to read and deliver a wonderfully-crafted speech from the teleprompter and rally her conervative base, I remain largely unimpressed and have yet to hear anything new that will restore my faith in the Republican party. While they may critique the Democrat's rhetoric, I critique the patronizing, fearmongering soundbites and old ideas that they continue to leverage...soundbites that unfortunately people like my own Republican right wing conservative parents buy into and take as fact.

Big government! High taxes for everyone! Islamic terrorism! Country first!

So what else is new? And where are the real issues like the economy, health care, education, energy independence (outside of drilling), fiscal responsibility and fiscal balance, making America competitive again in the face of globalization? Issues at home that we have largely ignored while we've spent billions and billions of taxpayer dollars protecting America outside of our walls. With all due respect to our military, I commend their courage to protect us abroad as well as continuing to execute on their charter to restore peace and democracy in areas that need it, but honestly, it's time. Time to divert some of this attention back to your own home and see what you need to fix - or your family unit might just fall apart. Isn't this about Country first? Last I checked, it was.

Does America have selective amnesia from the last 8 years? I find it funny that after Day 2 at the RNC with all of us watching the sitting president orating via satellite, there has been no mention again of the Bush administration. Does the GOP think we are that stupid?

So, again tonight, I will watch with curiosity.

Oh, and by the way, I am not putting my America hat back on...I never took it off.

Today's WTF news...the mommy wars (campaign-style)

Wow - check this out.

And so ignites the firestorm on one of the most polarizing issues ever (at least among women) outside of the abortion debate - the mommy wars of stay-at-home vs. work-away-from-home... at the highest and most political of levels.

Quick summary – Palin certainly has her own issues to deal with but now people are questioning if she should even take the VP post (implying working moms = bad, especially with her ) is insanity.

I may not be a supporter of McCain-Palin for November's ticket, but I am a supporter of women and their right to choose the path that's best for them - whether they decide to work outside of the home or not.

And for this, I commend Sarah Palin in her efforts to do what she has to do for herself and her family.

Yep. Uh-huh.

Bring it on.

I am so broken hearted.

My friend's 7-year-old son, Max Mikulak, passed away this weekend.    He has been fighting neuroblastoma (an aggressive form of pediatric cancer) for 4 years now and he finally succumbed to the disease on Sunday night.  

I have posted about him several times, and more recently here, but I guess that our prayers to chase away the cancer monsters did not work (at least in this world).  And if they did work, God did hear them and Max is now in heaven, chemo and radiation-free, pain-free, having all the popsicles his heart desires and having victorious light saber duels over Darth Vader.

I met Max only once, several months ago at the beach.  But through his father who is my friend and colleague, I felt like I knew him so well - between their blog, their photos and stories about Max, I felt like he taught us some very important life lessons about living life to its fullest potential...living life to the Max.   And all of this was engendered from his parents who have given us incredible examples.   He and his wife Melissa, are two of the strongest and most admirable people I know.   

Sweet dreams, beautiful Max.