Still working

So far so good. New job is working well. I haven't managed to work out since starting the new job, though. I am using the Lose It app for my i phone. I have managed to lose another 4.5 lbs. since my last post. Still in the overweight category, and according to to wi i fit, my ideal weight is still another 23 lbs to go. ideal? I think I weighed that much when I was 17!! Whatever. Another 3-4 pounds, and I think I'm good to go. After all, I am a man, not a teenager!

Still debating about the car, can't use the fed. clunker program since it's a high MPG japanese car. plus I'm not big into destroying things that are clearly still useful. I might take it to a dismantler. or donate for a tax benefit.

LG is going through her terrible 3s right now, but she's not even three yet! (Soon, very soon). She's making the transition into pre-school (age 3-4) right now. Uh-oh, big kids, big britches!

I was a speaker/moderator at a group for adoptive dads (to-be) last month. Interesting.

People at my new job ask me if I have kids, and when I say, 1, they always ask are you going to have more?

Announcements

• I start a new job on Monday.
• I have lost 10 lbs. with a combination of Wii Fit, EA Sports Active, and reduction of food intake. 3 Months. My BMI is still over 26 (overweight category).
• My car failed smog inspection.
• The produce clerk asked LG if she had a little brother. She replied, "Not Yet."

Memory Flash

I was driving back from the grocery store with my window down and my arm on the ledge.  The wind was blowing up my cuff, and rolling the edge back, almost folding it over.  I was reminded of a woman I dated in college, who “taught” me to cuff my sweatshirt sleeves.  I say “taught” because as a little kid, my parents would do that for my jackets to make sure my hands wouldn’t be covered up, since I was small.

As I got older, like a teenager, I stopped doing it, because it looks “lame.”  And it highlights the fact that you’re small.  (As if all the kids didn’t know I was short anyways).  When I went to college, I met a lot of other Asian Americans and grew to find an acceptance into a community where I “looked” like I belonged.  This woman I dated was about 4’11” and she had a lot of the same clothing size related issues I did.  And even though my sweatshirts were cuffed, it sure looked better than massively bunched up sleeves!  Anyway, my college experience was a growth period for me as an Asian American, where I began to get comfortable in my skin.

What happens when you grow up as a minority Asian in your community and school?  If it is anything like me, you grow up as the smallest kid in your class.  Always in the front for the class picture.  Too small to play during recess with the kids in your class.  Always losing in 1 on 1 basketball.  Always losing at tetherball, cuz you can’t ever reach the ball to get your chance to swing it.  Always getting denied at the school dances cuz you come up to the girls’ armpits.  Can’t go out for football cuz your too small (rules out  your chances with the cheerleaders).  I guess you can always study hard and try for the smart chicks.  High school.  Hard time for everyone actually.  I did eventually date a cheerleader, though…

Anyway, it’s funny how a simple event like a wind draft up your sleeve can trigger a flood of memories and experiences.

Diabetes

I rode 50 Miles on Sunday for the Amer ican Diabetes Asso ciation.  It was a 4 hour ride for me, since I hadn't trained for it like I thought I would.  I have 2 family members currently living with diabetes.  There is some belief that type 2 diabetes (or the pre-disposition towards it) runs in the family.  This could also be more lifestyle-related, and families (even grown adult siblings of the same family) tend to have been influenced by and live a similar lifestyle.  Meaning increased exercise and a 'better' diet lifestyle can work to fight type 2.  

This is one of the reasons I ride for, donate to, and raise money for the Amer ican Diabetes Asso ciation.  Because:  

You are at an increased risk for type 2 diabetes if you are

•  African-American, Latino, Native American, Asian American or Pacific Islander
  
• Over 45
• Underactive, overweight, or obese (According to my Wii fit, I am overweight, borderline obese)
• someone with a family history of diabetes
• a woman who has had gestational diabetes
  

so for me, already 3 out of 5, creeping up on 4 out of 5 (age) - and since I am NOT a woman, I could never really get to 5 of 5....

I used to be very active as a teen and in my early 20s, but "Grown-up" life doesn't really seem to allow time for exercise.  It doesn't pay the mortgage, buy the groceries, feed and diaper the kid, wash the laundry, keep the lights on, run the heater, etc. etc.

But when you think about these risk factors, and keep in mind that our food supply (and thus our bodies and our health) is loaded with fat, sugar, salt, and preservatives, you have to admit, we're on a road going steeply downhill with crappy brakes.  

I am glad to have ridden on Sunday, rain and shine, and for the insight this event has given me to keep my weight down and increase my cardio exercise.  Ride on!

Updates

• 3 weeks of Wii Fit.  No noticeable BMI or weight change, although I am trimming down in the waistline a bit.  
  
• Bicycle riding.  I have been riding about an hour a day, and according to my bike computer, I am burning about 4-500 calories.  So over a week, I should lose 1 pound.  7 days x 500 calories= 3500 calories= 1 pound.
  
• I am riding 50 miles on Sunday, I expect it to take 4-5 hours.
• LG has been wearing underwear to school for 2 days now.  Not a single accident.  (Diapers at nap and nighttime, though)
• Possibly could have met Firegirl, who was out in my neck of the woods, but schedules did not permit.  Rats!
• LGs been taking a keen interest in newborn babies (one of her classmates has a new baby brother) - and I am really processing the 'talk.'  She has some knowledge of our trip to China, where we started as a family, and of the orphanage where she was living, and the caretakers, but I think she's starting to process where are her pictures as a baby....

Bad Blogger

Yup, that's me.  You would think, being laid off, that I would have time to post.  Like every day.  Guess not.  What have I been doing?

1) looking for a job

2) filing for unemployment

3) lots of domestic duties

4) daddy-daycare a couple of days a week

5) car maintenance

6) eating alot 

so today, this is our newest addition to the family.

Happy New Year

For those who follow CNY, Happy New Year.

It's been awhile, so we'll do the bullets update.

• the economic situation has hit home, Stew is being laid off in a month.
• LG is talking ALOT. Starting to say 3 word sentences. a fave right now is "daddy, MY (insert word)
• the "my" is getting dropped from "mommy," who is now about 50% of the time being referred to as "Mom" Remember, she's not even 2 1/2 yet!
• She likes using her "chop-chop" (chopsticks) but gets frustrated after 10-15 seconds and reverts to the spoon
• Potty-training is still in progress; she can keep a dry diaper, and sometimes will tell you when she needs to pee, but when in training pants, she just pees and then tells you she pee'd.
• She started eating chicken drumsticks right off the bone.
• doesn't cry every single time she falls down anymore.
• Fell down the stairs the other night when she was running away from me (down the stairs) while I was insisting that she hold me hand. After 2 stairs somersault and 4-5 stairs of Superman slide; me throwing down the food and scrambling after her without stepping on her, I was able to hold her and comfort her a bit, and reprimand her for NOT holding my hand on her way down the stairs. She was more scared, and only suffer a small rug burn on her nose, and definitely slowed down and held my hand for the 2 flights of stairs.

That's about all I can come-up with, and that we're going to be eating Chinese food for about the next month non-stop. In the exact words out of LG's mouth - "Why?"

"Because we're Chinese."

"Why?"

"uhh...because we are."

More sick

Well, I was off work on Monday because I got a cold; I didn't even lift my head off the pillow until 11AM. It would have been a good day to do some blog posts, but I barely got up to take some A!rborn, the 'proven, non-effective supplement'. Went back to work yesterday, with some congestion, but runny nose gone.

Last week LG had diarhea. Luckily, she's been doing some potty training, so the first episode was on the toilet (we use a potty seat on the toilet, not a self-contained potty chair). She was still unhappy about it, though. Early the next morning she had another episode in her diaper. Whew, stinkyyyy!

Anyway, she was still eating, and had no fever, and generally seemed OK, but we stayed home and she napped for about 1 hour in the mid-morning and then again in the afternoon for about 2 hours. I guess she needed the rest.

Later that night, she had another BM; solid this time. But it was whitish color (or absent of color). I've heard of this before; for people with nasty colds, but I know that not everyone looks at and discusses their BMs. Especially not the color or shape or consistency of it. (except for new parents, and then it's only about the kid's BM, not their own)

Each day has progress with more and more color, so it appears to be more normal now. A couple of days ago I g00g led 'white BM' and found some link to forums where people mentioned it might be mucus, and just montior it for a few days - if it persists to call the ped then. so I think we're OK, the BMs are solid and somehwat colored again. sorry if it's TMI,

Bullets

2 bullets because there are 2 topics...

• We bought some small chopsticks for LG. Just to start practicing with. Some things, we are just REALLY old-school about. And using chopsticks (for me) is one of those things. DW sent me video link a couple of years ago about ‘making trainer chopsticks’ with some paper and a rubber band, and I flat out told her – “no way is a kid of mine going to be seen using something like that. Back in the day, no one in China ever used ‘Trainer chopsticks.’ As a matter of fact, did you use trainer chopsticks? Because I know for a fact that I never had a rubber band around mine.” My mom actually had a homemade set of small bamboo chopsticks (cut down and sanded smooth) for us kids to learn with. I think in Asia kids start using chopsticks around the age of 3 – so up until now, we’ve been using fork and spoon with LG, but one night, at one of our favorite Chinese restaurants, we saw a father with his 2 daughters eating dinner. And the youngest (who looked smaller than LG) was using chopsticks (!!). So a few days later we went to the Ichibankan (Japanese $0.99 store) and found some small chopsticks that even had little grippy bumps on the end (helpful since the Japanese chopsticks are tapered). So far, she has had a couple of successful uses – noodles and a piece of chicken. No pressure, though, she can always switch to her fork or spoon (or fingers), if necessary.

• Last night I asked DW if LG was Happy. She looked at me as if I were high. I couldn’t put my question into other words. I mean she’s got a killer sweet demeanor, hugs, kisses, she shares (not main foods, but snacks). She smiles, and laughs, loves to tickle and be tickled. She loves piggy-back rides, gives and receives massages. She plays with shoes, often wearing DW or mine and shuffling around the house. She plays with her dolls and stuffed animals. She loves looking for choo-choos as we drive around town. She’s friendly and outgoing (but sometimes a little shy or bashful). What I’m wondering is, is she happy? I mean her life, like is she happy with her life? With us. Because on some level, this union as a family was a choice. Which seems a weird way to put it. But if LG were able to choose, would she have chosen us?