Recent Snapshots

A few recent snapshots from my phone.

1st row L: Last week E finished his first session of swim lessons.  We had a bit of a scare when he was bopping around in the pool before his class and drifted too far into the deep end and the water started coming up over his mouth but the teacher jumped in and towed him back to the shallow end. We had an extra lesson to make sure he wasn't traumatized and he seems okay but now has a bit of a fear of going in the deep end by himself which is probably actually helpful for right now.

1st row R: My mom came to visit my sister Jan a while ago and while she was here they made huge batches of kimchi including radish, my favorite! I'm set for at least a couple of months now :)

2nd row L: E really wanted to get me some chocolates for Mother's Day.  I wanted to get some chocolates for my MIL so I just took him to See's with me and let him pick a few out at the same time.  He adorably asked the lady behind the counter for some "lemon chuckles (truffles), please" (!!!)  And now I annoyingly tell the story to everyone whenever I get the chance.

2nd row R: My talented and lovely college friend Erica was great in a local production of Hello Dolly! She's going to be in the Scarlet Pimpernel this summer and I'm excited to see it.

3rd row L: Earlier this week Mimi caught and nasty bug and is still recovering. Boo.

3rd row R: One day E woke up and was grumpy because I wouldn't let him play video games first thing in the morning.

Hooray for Women!

I feel very grateful to have so many amazing women in my life, especially those in my family.  My mother, sister, mother-in-law, and sisters-in-law are all incredible women.  And my friends--my friends are awesome too! Thank you to all of them for all they do. I feel very fortunate to have so many caring women in my life.

I had a nice weekend with our family. As I predicted there were some cringe-inducing moments during one of the talks at church but two of the three were ok so I guess that's progress. I think I would keel over from shock and happiness if someone gave a talk like this in our ward. I guess it'll have to be enough to know that at least it's happening somewhere.

K-pop: Do you want some tea?

I love the styling in this new Hello Venus song "Do you want some tea?"



The video is super cutesy but the song is actually about female desire and wanting to take things to the next level in a relationship but being unable to make a move.

On a vaguely-Korean-related note, an interview with me is up at Asian Mom Blog. Thanks to Sommy for having me.  Check it out if you like Asians and/or moms!

Speaking of moms, I hope you have a nice Mother's day--and if that's off the table for one reason or another I hope you have a pleasant, low-key weekend. It seems like Mother's day can be an emotionally fraught holiday for a lot of people. The cute kids at our church sing every year and I get a kick out of watching them but sometimes the talks really make me cringe.

Besides being Mother's day, Sunday is also our wedding anniversary (12 years!) so, um, good luck with that, N.

Out and About: Hill Aerospace Museum

I don't get to see my brother Steven that often; he has special needs and lives with my parents so when he and my mom visited a few weeks ago it was a treat.

Steven loves airplanes, trains, and trucks so I thought I trip to the Hill Aerospace museum would be right up his alley. We've taken the kids before and E always enjoys it. We all had a lot of fun. 

I hadn't planned it, but once we got there we noticed that E's red pants matched his Superman jacket  and really completed the look.  So of course we took the opportunity to ham it up a bit :)

My first 5k

I ran my first 5k race on Saturday. The weather was lovely and it was a great day for a run.


Linnie and I sprinted to the finish line. I misjudged the distance and started sprinting earlier than I meant to and as we approached the finish I was almost out of gas and concentrating very hard on not falling on my face.


We did it! Around mile 2 I was very tempted to take a break and walk but I stuck with it and ran the whole way. It helped a lot to have Linnie running with me. When I was starting to feel like I wouldn't be able to make it she would pick someone out up ahead and then we would focus on passing them. For me so much of running is mental and as a beginner having encouragement along the way makes a big difference.


The kids and N's cousin made a very sweet sign and waited at the finish line to cheer for us.


So far I haven't been able to bring myself to throw the sign away. Maybe I'll hang it up in my sewing room.  





My time was 32:52 which averages to 10:36 a mile. I'm happy that I set this goal and accomplished it. As someone who has never run before this experience has given me a boost of confidence that my body is stronger than I usually give it credit for.  

My new goal is to get faster and improve my time. N says that if I want to do another 5k he'll run with me next time which sounds fun.

Tomorrow's the big day!

I just picked up my race packet for my 5k. The race is tomorrow morning and I'm excited (and nervous!)

Since I've been training by running on the indoor track at the rec center last week Linnie and I ran 3.3 miles around our neighborhood so I could practice running outside. It was cold and windy (and hilly!) and I was slower than I am on the track but I finished without walking any of it--phew.

Knowing that I already have a 3-mile outside run under my belt helps me feel a bit less nervous about tomorrow. (But I'm still totally nervous.)

Wish me luck :)

Thank you Ryan Lochte and thank you local news

This is one of the funniest things I've seen in a while. It's worth watching the whole thing but the extra special awesomeness starts around 4:00.



Does Ryan Lochte remind anyone else of a not-so-bright Labrador puppy? Bless his heart.