Tonight was the night...

that the termites were out in full force! Yuck!

And so were the bloggers! Well, some of us were anyway. This was my first blogger meetup. It was much tamer than I expected. Where was the nerdy belligerence?

I just hope I didn't come off as too much of a bumbling idiot. I've been holed up at home for the past 6 weeks, and it seemed like it'd been ages since I last went out and spoke with people other than my family.

I hope no one noticed the safety pin on the side of my pants that was keeping my fat hips from jumping out and eating all of the cheesecake, or the small hole in my blouse that showed up out of no where just to mock me on my first outing in a month and a half. Note to self: find sewing kit.

I was going to take a few candid shots, but Miwa helped out and took a group photo. Thanks, Miwa! But some of us, and by some of us I mean me, look like junk, so I posted the picture small. Because I know that no one is going to click on it.

Since I carry Jacob's food around in my boobs I had to get home early. Maybe everyone was waiting for me to take the minor (Katelyn) home before they cranked up the muzak and pulled out the kegs.

Boni - I'll be there again next month. So will Katelyn. Maybe Sommer will want to make a new friend?
~~~~~~

James: Fork butt.
Me: Fork butt?
James: It's Filipino pork butt.
Me: Oh.
James: You should blog that.
Me: I don't want to.
James: Everytime I tell you that you should blog something you don't.
Me: Because it's not funny...Blog it yourself.

This Week's Wednesday What Is It?

What is it?

Here's how to play (I made a few changes, check it out)

**Take the Sunday Sample**

Wednesday What Is It? Results

The results of last week's Wednesday What Is It? Dant da da!

Starfruit!
(Am I the only one who knows them better as Star Apples?)

You know, I chose such an easy one because it was the first round. Yeah, that's it. I knew everyone would get it right, I just wanted to give out points. Yeah, yeah...points.

In the lead with 5 points - Steve and Miwa
2 points each to The Saipan Blogger, Borego, and Donna
Sorry, Marianas Eye, I can't give out points to implied winners. ;-)

**Take the Sunday Sample**

Cuz it's all my head, I think about it over and over again...

I'm thinking of giving myself a reward for each time I visit Sara Market and resist the urge to buy a Twinkie at the checkout counter. Now what would make a good reward? I've got it! Cherry Coke!

Come along on my journey to Skinnyville.
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Pan's Labyrinth - good movie.

...if you could only bring one thing? Duct Tape!

I'm not really sure what's going on. I needed (still need) a new camera, so when my sister got a new camera she gave me her old one. And what happens? The one she gives me stops working correctly and now needs to be taken to the shop and my old one that hadn't been working at all is now working. But I dropped it while running after my daughter at the Taste of the Marianas a week ago and now the I have to use duct tape to hold the battery cover closed. Aaahh, duct tape, I've missed you my old college buddy.

I'm not complaining. I'm happy to have a working camera. I'm just confused. It's like I'm not supposed to have a camera. Or what? Come on, I should have a camera, look at the pictures we can all enjoy...

This is Jacob Seth and his mirror image twin.

This is Jacob's UFC promo picture.

You can still help Deece get a new camera.
Oh won't you please help Deece get a new camera?

**Play the Wednesday What Is It? and take the Sunday Sample**

Dear Jacob,

I know how eager you are to become a boxer, I still feel the punches to my bladder. But would you please wait until your father and I buy you the right training equipment? It makes me sad to see you punch yourself in the face.
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Is anyone else irritated by the SoyJoy girl? You know, the one who doesn't need an almond, vanilla, toffee, knock me across the room nutrition bar. The girl who needs just. a. snack.
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I know what I don't need. I don't need the trademark cartoon characters on my son's diapers. Why should I pay more for diapers that have Disney characters on them? My son doesn't even know who Mickey is. Give me the simple lions on the Kirkland Signature diapers, I'm happy with that.
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Catch and Release - nice little movie.

Music and Lyrics - not bad, Hugh Grant is funny. The opening 1980's music video is great.


**Play the Wednesday What Is It? and take the Sunday Sample**

The Sunday Sample

Last week's Sunday Sample results. What do you drive?

• VW - 1
• Honda - 1
• Toyota - 5
• Ford - 1
• Mitsubishi - 2
• Something Else - 4
• Dodge , Chevy, Nissan - 0

Again, my apologies to Mona. I bet DaeWoo would have swept with a whopping 6. Maybe the Something Else's are DaeWoos at a close second.

Take this week's Sunday Sample in the sidebar. Which do you prefer?

**Play the Wednesday What Is It?**

Fracture?

I don't know why we drove by the theater this morning. Just to see which movies that we aren't going to watch are playing?

Me: I like Ryan Gossling. What's Fracture about?
James: Anthony Hopkins kills some people.
Me: Oh, again?
James: And that other guy tries to figure out why.
Me: Oh, again?

**Play the Wednesday What Is It? and take the Sunday Sample**

Who I admire.

Angelo and Dr. Khorram have already posted this. And it's taken me a while to figure out who the people are that I admire the most. This is not something I'm generally conscious of. There are lots of people who have influenced and affected me, but I don't really think of them as being people whom I admire. But I tried to put a short list together.

When I spoke to my husband about this earlier tonight he told me I should add Brittney Spears to my list. I thought he was joking. He was serious! He said she should be on my list because I wanted to be like her. Pshaw! I never wanted to be like her, I just liked dancing to her music - when the dance floor would clear out at GIG because Oops I Did It Again came on, Megan and I would stick around and tear that sucker up! But you know, James was right, at one point I really, really, really wanted to be on the Mickey Mouse Club and/or Kids Incorporated. So I'll start my list on a light note and say that I admire(d) Brittney Spears, Christina Aguilara, JC, Justin Timberlake, and Stacy Ferguson aka Fergie.

1. Jesus Christ for being who he is. For his compassion, for his ability to forgive, for not being a pushover.
   
2. Dr. Michael L. Kenney, aka My Dad. I didn't know him as well I wanted to - I had just turned 11 when he passed away. But he inspired me. He held fast to what he believed in. He was part of the civil rights movement. He always made time for me. He loved democracy. I chose my (first) major because I wanted to be like him...turned out that I couldn't just "be" like him. He was a much better man than I could ever be.
   
3. My Uncle Pete. For a man who never went to high school, he's done pretty well.
   
4. The Giving Tree. No, not the author of the book, the tree in the book.
   
5. Dr. Michael T. Carney, my finance teacher in college. To some he was tough like a ruggedized laptop, but to me he was awesome. He helped me learn that I didn't completely suck at numbers and he taught me how to teach. Yep, he's who I try to emulate when I step into the classroom.
   

A common thread among them...I could probably find a more powerful common thread if I spent more time on this, but here goes: they are all men. Could my choice of a commonality have to do with some complex I developed as a result of losing my dad at the age of 11?

**Play the Wednesday What Is It? and take the Sunday Sample**

Hello, Saipan?

If anyone has extra mangoes laying around feel free to give them to me. I make awesome Mango Cream Pies and now I make awesome Mango Jam. (I'm still perfecting it but whatever.)

I cooked it.

I let it rest.

I filled the honey glass with it.
(No, I don't use that fake honey, the glass was given to me.)

And viola!

I want to make mint jelly, but I don't plan on making lamb any time soon. Any suggestions on what to do with mint jelly?

A Detour

I was on my way to Skinnyville, but there was a roadblock last night. Unfortunately, I had to take a detour through Cream Cheese Lane and Spamforbreakfast Road. But I sucessfully found my way back and plan to jump on Interstate V8 this morning.

**Play the Wednesday What Is It? and take the Sunday Sample**

Why? Chicken Thigh!

I can't remember when it started, but Katelyn is relentless with asking "why".

Me: Katelyn, do you see the grasshopper on the screen.
Katelyn: Why?
Me: Because he wanted to climb the screen.
Katelyn: Why?
Me: So he can look into the house.
Katelyn: Why?
Me: To see what's going on inside the house.
Katelyn: Why?

You get the idea. Well, I have my own 'why' to ask. Why do parents buy Kidz Bop? They might as well just buy their kidz Now That's What I Call Music! Just because you have some kids sing intermittently on an adult themed song doesn't make it suitable for kids.

Who is the target audience for Kidz Bop anyway? There's gotta be a point at which kidz decide that they are too cool to listen to hip hop and pop music that is not sung by the original artists. And if they haven't yet realized that they are too cool for school (name the movie) they are probably too young to listen to what those songs have to say.

Let's take for example, these excerpts from Kidz Bop 8:

Lonely No More:
"I don't wanna be lonely no more, I don't wanna have to pay for this. I don't want to know the lover at my door is just another heartache on my list"

Obsession:
"So baby if you let me could I get you to say maybe we could ride together, we could do this all night. Now I don't care if you got a man, baby I wish you'd understand. Cuz I know he can't love you right, quite like I can."

How different are these songs from these songs or these songs?

On a sort of realted note, it's "if I were a rich girl..." Come on now, If Tevye got it right, why couldn't Gwen?

**Play the Wednesday What Is It? and take the Sunday Sample**

Welcome to the Wednesday What Is It?

What is it?


How to play:

Every Wednesday I will post a small part of a picture of some object. You tell me what you think the object is. You have until 8:00 p.m. (Saipan standard time) the following Tuesday to sumbit your guess by leaving a comment.

Submit one guess per person; you may not change your guess - your first guess is your final guess. Please be specific. Don't say, it's food; instead say, it's a chocolate chip cookie.

The first person with the correct answer will receive 5 points, all other correct answers earn 2 points.

On the following Wednesday I'll post the answer along with the results, which will be tracked in the sidebar.

The first person to 35 points wins Deece's Saipan's Own Mango Jam. I'll mail it to you if you live off island.

Let's play!

I'm late!

Sorry, I promised a Wednesday What Is It? and I didn't deliver. Yet. I will.

First, I would like to thank my husband, James, for not getting upset at me for bugging him at work because I almost killed our his computer and for his patience while talking me through various computer geek solutions. Oh, and for saving our computer!

Second, I would like to say I'm sorry, Missy, I saw you at the Taste of the Marianas and I didn't go say hello. And so I ask myself again, what's wrong with me? I saw you but I just kept walking, looking for my husband. When I found him I told him that I saw you and wanted to say hello. I kept walking..I saw you again...but I kept walking. Finally when I was over my anxiety and was ready to go say hello because it looked like you were at a table alone with Connor, I got closer and saw four other people sitting across from you. And I just kept walking. I went over to the stage and snapped a few pictures of the my cousin, the bass player. I should have remembered patrickstar's comment...I promise to say hello the next time I see you.

Welcome to the Sunday Sample!

Every Sunday I will post a new poll in the sidebar of this blog. You may vote at any time during the week. Next Sunday I'll post the results of this poll as well as a new poll.

This week: What do you drive?

Check back on Wednesday for the first "Wednesday What Is It?"

Anything for baby?

Anything for baby? I'm sorry, but those women in that Gerber commercial aren't doing it for baby; they're doing it for themselves. To stop the intense, ridiculous, crippling, wrenching pains of labor.

Anything for baby is more like getting peed and/or pooped on at least once a day, not being able to change your spit up covered shirt for hours because you aren't able to put your fussy baby down for two seconds to change, crying because you've tried everything and you still can't figure out how to soothe your colicky baby. Anything for baby is sitting up in bed all night so your sick baby can sleep in your arms, not buying those contact lenses you really want because it's more important that your baby is clothed, killing a spider so it won't crawl on your baby even though you have major arachnaphobia. Anything for baby is continuing to breastfeed even though you have crazy sore/cracked nipples, finding a way to pump at work even though you don't have your own office so that baby can have the best food available.

Anything for baby? I'll show you anything for baby.
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James: Jeffrey's Beach?
Me: Yeah, Jeffrey's Beach.
Katelyn: Oh no! Not Japanese Beach.
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Pieces of April - I'm still trying to figure out if it was just Katie Holmes that brought the movie down or if it is just a crappy movie.

Hollywoodland - I liked it.
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I wish Twix didn't have caramel. Then they'd be perfect! But then I'd eat them more often - so I guess I'm glad they come with caramel.

My first tagging

I'm no grafitti artist like Darren Brass of Miami Ink. I've just been tagged by Missy. You might already know alot about me from my 100 post, but I'll try...

Here are the rules: Each player starts with 7 random facts/habits about themselves. People who are tagged need to write on their own blog about their seven things, as well as these rules. You need to choose 7 people to get tagged and list their names. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they have been tagged and to read your blog!

1. I crack my knuckles a lot.
2. I have huge feet! I was a size 9, but since I had Katelyn, I sometimes wear size 10!
   
3. I have nightmares almost every night. I have two recurring nightmares.
   
4. I quit smoking when I got pregnant with my daughter. I don't plan to start again.
5. I used to want to wear glasses when I was a kid. Now that I do wear them, I'm sick of 'em.
   
6. I don't like surprises.
7. I get static shocks often in California. Especially in Montclair Plaza. To avoid getting shocked by your car door, upon exiting the vehicle hold the car door so as to make contact with the metal then step out of the vehicle. Once one or both of your feet are planted firmly on the ground, get out and close the door.

I don't really "know" everyone on my blogroll and some have already been tagged, and I don't want to pick 7 and leave a few out, so...I'm tagging 4 people and inviting anyone else.

Boni, Steve, Bev, Mona

The Biggest Loser - let it me be!

When I worked at NMC, I wanted to work with the Spirit Squad to create NMC's Biggest Loser. I had it all outlined: we would try to get free Gold's Gym memberships for participants, we would work with the Nursing department and CREES for health checks and nutrition advisement, we'd organize a weekly challenge with the NMC Athletics department, it'd be $50 to join the competition and the winner takes the pot - of course, I was going to win. And if the first round went well, then we'd do it again, but maybe we could expand and get prize sponsorships or maybe some news coverage - well I don't see why there couldn't be news coverage the first time around.

Even though I'm not in any Biggest Loser competition I'm still going to try to lose some weight. I still have the black pair of pants that I wore the day that I caught James's attention and I'm determined to fit look good in them again. So here's what's up...

I'm not going to take measurements or find out what ridiculously huge percentage of my body is fat, I just know how much I weigh now (maybe I'll post it for you sometime, or maybe I'll just post my total weightloss and my ending weight and you can figure it out) and I know what clothes I can and can't fit. I'm going to get my Zone books back from my sister and I'll try to stick with it as best as my bank account and my breastfeeding will allow and I'm going to make sure thatI get at least 30 minutes of activity in each day, even it just means dancing with Katelyn to Baby Genius music while Jacob relaxes in my arms. I don't plan on joining a gym - but if I had the time and money to, I would join Curves.

All I want to lose is 50 pounds - a 1200 pound guy on TLC lost 200+ pounds in 5 months on the Zone. So, Saipan, if you see me on the street, feel free to encourage my lazy, over-eating, million excuses, procrastinating butt by yelling out, "keep it up, you big loser". To which I will reply, "I will, cause I'm a bigger loser than you!"

Come along on my journey to skinnyville.

Storing Breastmilk on Saipan

We are no longer experiencing regular rolling blackouts here on Saipan, but it's still Saipan - you never know when the power is going to go out. So if you live in area prone to blackouts and you need to store breastmilk, here's an idea:

Get yourself a small cooler bag and some blue ice. Place the blue ice and the frozen breastmilk in the cooler. Keep the open cooler bag in the freezer. When the power goes out just run over to the freezer and close the bag. And when the power comes back on just open the bag again. Those puppies are so well-built that if you keep the bag closed all the time the cold freezer air will be kept out of the bag and the blue ice and the breatmilk will eventually thaw.

19 bags so far, baby. Booya!

Lansinoh is the best! I love their disposable nursing pads. I have their washable ones too...but I think those are best for when my supply lessens. I love their milk storage bags, and I love that each box of nursing pads comes with two free storage bags - not with the ultrasoft pads though.

A few of the boxes that I've recently bought have actually come with a sample of Lansinoh's Clean & Condition Cloths (baby wipes). I'll be using those in the diaper bag, but I don't think I can afford to buy them regularly.

But I do think I'll need to get me some of these before I go back to work.

So what do you think?

About the new layout? I'm not so sure about it. I don't know XML so I can't go in and make the other changes that I want to.
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If you are Chamorro, use spatial relations in a sentence. Here's mine:

Si Juan yan si Thomasa sneak around and have the spatial relations.

Ahahahaha! Joke, joke.

Yeah, whatever.

We should have gotten a Musical Snow Globe

We bought her a keyboard because she's always trying to play my broken "pie-ano". But she's not interested in making music, she only wants to listen to the keyboard's pre-recorded Santa Clause is Coming to Town and Jingle Bells.

The Dance of the Cucumber

My daughter watches one of three Veggie Tales videos that we own at least once every day. The kid can't get enough! But for my sanity I think it's time to buy her a few new ones - and this time on DVD because rewinding is like so last century.

My favorite Veggie Tale segment is Silly Songs with Larry. And of the three videos we own, my favorite Silly Song with Larry is the Dance of the Cucumber from Rack, Shack, and Benny.

Larry: "Miren al pepino"
Bob: "Watch the cucumber"

Larry: "que suaves movimientos"
Bob: "Oh, how smooth his motion"

Larry: "tal como mantequilla"
Bob: "like butter"

Larry: "en un chango pelon."
Bob: "on a ... bald monkey."

Happy Birthday Katelyn Rebecca!

Two years ago today I gave birth to my first child.

Two years ago Katelyn could only cry, sleep, eat, and make dirty diapers. But today, today she can walk and talk, she can jump and sing, she can ride her tricycle and dig in the dirt, she can dance and tell stories. Today my daughter turned two.

TLC: This Lady's Channel

I love A Baby Story and Bringing Home Baby and I even enjoy Surviving Motherhood. But is it wrong that I think there should be a different host for The Baby Block? Jennifer Hill seems like a nice person, but she's way too spokesmodely for me. She really does come off as a former Miss New Jersey or Miss USA or whatever she was. I would rather see a regular mom as the host, one who speaks naturally, not like she's following a script.

Did you know that Kat Von D is opening up her own shop? Oh, how I wish I were back in Los Angeles.
~~~~~~

Happy Feet - Couldn't keep my interest, or my daughter's.

The Good Shepard - Good.
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In college my hair went through many makeovers, it had been orange (in an attempt to go blond), blue, and various shades of burgundy and brown. But I wish I had dyed my hair to look like this:

It would have gone well with all my piercings.

Home of the Binadu

No, not San Roque school, my yard. Last night I woke up to change and nurse Jacob and what did I hear? I had no idea! It sounded like a weird cat-bird craw-meowing on my balcony.

I woke up James with the excuse that he needed to fix Katelyn's blanket, and then I asked him if he could hear that retched noise. It didn't seem to bother him, he went right back to sleep. I, on the other hand, sat up in bed with a baby on my breast imagining what kind of sad creature was outside my window dying.

Duh! It was a deer! Our babysitter and my sister have been hearing the pterodactyl-like calls for a few months now. And recently my sister has seen a few deer run through our yard and through my cousin's farm (right next door to us). Isn't that cool? If I had a better camera, I'd sneak out the next time I heard Mr. Binadu and I'd try to take some pics. But, alas...

Maybe I'll take some pics of the fanihi (fruit bats) that fly over our land. Oh, right...nevermind.

Hey Gamer! Games go better with Broadband!

We just got MCV Broadband Internet set up and I. am. stoked. I can finally watch videos and load complete photos. Thanks, MCV! Bye bye PTI.
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A Kingfisher crashed into my window this morning. It looked dead. Then it hopped onto it's feet and just looked injured. I grabbed my camera and headed out the door. I looked at my feet as I slipped on my zorries and when I looked up again the bird was gone. So no photo. But I'm glad Mr. Kingfisher was OK.

Get a job, sha na na na, sha na na na na, get a job...

I've been trying to convince my husband to look for a job out in Washington state. He's an incredibly intelligent systems analyst who I think could work for Amazon.com or Sun Microsystems or maybe Microsoft...but he's been hesitant to agressively look for work with those (or other WA based companies). Why? Because some of his time in the Army was spent at Ft. Lewis in WA and he's decided that he doesn't want to live WA again.

I'm still trying to convince him to consider it - we both have family in WA and Mona is there too. And if we were there I could help Mona decorate her son's room. Because while I can't sew clothes or anything fancy, I have sewn (hemmed) simple costumes for my sister's polynesian show; and while I don't think that I'm all that creative of a person, I do know that I'm right-brained and I learned in my Creativity in Business course that my MBTI of INFP says that I am very creative.

See what I free-handed at my sister's old hula studio?

OK, fine. The flowers were from a stencil, but the ipus and the lettering were all me baby!

Ok, Ok, so maybe the pictures don't prove that I'd be good at decorating a little boy's room...but so what? They give me the chance to reminisce about how I looked pre-pregnancy. Which reminds me...

This morning James and I took the kids out to Shirley's for breakfast - in yo' face those who would talk smack about me taking my not-even-three-week-old baby out of the house. While we were there we ran into Borego's sister who has a 6 month old (I think that's right...6 months). When she found out that I gave birth only 3 weeks ago she complimented me by saying that I don't look like I just gave birth. It was very nice of her to say, because I have noticed how I was much fatter when Katelyn was 3 weeks old. But it still made me think about how I'm WAY TOO FAT!

When I had Katelyn I made absolutely no effort to shed the pounds because I wanted to make sure I consumed enough calories so that I could make enough milk so that I wouldn't have to supliment with formula. I ate with reckless abandon. This time around, I'm still not going to make a big effort to shed the pounds because I still want to consume enough calories to make enough milk so that I don't have to supliment with formula. Except this time around I'm just going to make better food choices. When my husband brings home chocolate and/or ice cream each night, I'm going to say "no". Maybe I'll re-adopt that old drug free line as my motto, "Just say no!"

Well, whaddaya know...

Urban Dictionary taught me that Angelo dabbles in the art of blogpimping and my friend, let's call her Merced, has blogophobia. Oh, it also taught me that I sometimes suffer from blogorrhea.
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Nice hat.

"It's you, Jacob! Ha ha ha, it's you!"~~~~~~

Night at the Museum - Eh.

The King - Disturbing.

Wanna see something cool?

Thank you, Steve and Miwa, for the gift! I've been buying diapers for two years now - not having to buy some is great!! :-)
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Has anyone else noticed that you can now choose your own eggplants and okra at Joeten Susupe? They're no longer in pre-packaged...packages. I love this! This is what I've been waiting for. I'd like to see it at the Sabalu Market as well.
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I heard the orchids say "...you're just green with envy because we look like purple silk".

"WhatIBA!"

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The Last King of Scotland - Hmm, well. I didn't not like it while I was watching it, but when it was over I wasn't really sure if I enjoyed it. Does that make sense? No? Sorry, I can't say describe it any other way.

Her Minor Thing - Cute. Cheesy. Michael Weatherly was fun to watch. It wasn't bad...but I don't think I'd recommend it.

The Station Agent - Nice movie. It's about this guy, who's a dwarf and a train buff. He inherits an old train depot in Newfoundland, NJ and he moves there to get away. He meets this guy who wants to be his friend and there's this woman who runs him off the road, twice. You know, this movie sounds incredibly boring if described by an inarticulate average movie watcher like me. But really, it's a very good film.
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Chocolate Cream Pie, Baby!

Booya!