Testing

I'm testing out a "feature" of the new Google Reader that lets you share items from your feed to your blog.

To be honest, it's much more frustrating to do it this way. I don't consider it a feature, but rather a step back. But as it's the only real option that's left to me in Google Reader, I'm giving it a shot.

Holier-Than-Thou Badges

Perhaps you have a few. Such badges are common where one's interest-at-hand is different from the general population. Here are some examples of Holier-Than-Thou badges, plus an entirely-too-sarcastic-and-exaggerated-and-thus-purely-hypothetical blurb from a hypothetical holder of such a badge. The bolded indicates the Holier-Than-Thou badge.

• Point-and-shoot cameras vs. SLRs (single lens reflex)
  "Ha, good luck taking any sort of professional grade pictures with that little thing. Do you even know how to change your aperture settings? I would choke if I had to use a point-and-shoot" And further within the photography realm...



• Manual focusing vs. auto focusing lenses
  "Have fun with your precious auto focus in low light conditions, while my $500,000 focusing screen and vintage f/0.4 lens gets it perfect every time. I could never go back to auto focus."



• Making your own computers vs. buying pre-assembled computers from Dell, HP, etc.
  "My computer is so much more powerful per dollar because I didn't have to pay myself $90/hr for labor. I would choke if I had to buy an assembled computer."



• Linux vs. Windows
  "Bow before me, mortals, I am so cool because I use Linux, death to everything Windows. BTW I am non-conformist for the sake of non-conformity.
"


• Traditional board games vs. Euro/German style board games
  "I'd much rather push wooden cubes around in a non-confrontational manner than bleed you dry in Monopoly."



• Store-bought vs. home-grown vegetables
  "The vegetables from our yard are so much higher in vitamin, mineral, and antioxidant content than your store-bought vegetables. Have fun dying of cancer."

The next few get a bit more relateable to any readers we still have left, mostly because I have/had personal experience with computers, cameras, and gardening and can't think of any others. And BTW, there is a point to this post besides being a vent or a rant; I shall put it after the list which follows.

• Homeschooling vs. institutional schooling
  "My homeschooler read Cicero's Greatest Hits in its original Greek, translated Swaziland's constitution into Latin for fun during his free time, and built a particle accelerator in his closet and has collected 153g of antimatter so far. What does your public schooler do with his time?"



• Cloth diapers vs. disposable
  "Cloth diapers are better for you, better for baby, better for life, and a prerequisite to enter Heaven."



• Avoiding trans-fats vs. Not
  "Avoiding trans-fats is better for you, better for the world, and a prerequisite to enter Heaven."



• Having many children vs. Not
  "I guess those people just don't view children as God's blessings."



• Grinding your own grain vs. white flour or store-bought whole wheat flour
  "You don't grind your own wheat? No wonder you're fat and diabetic."



• Backyard eggs vs. store bought
  "I guess those people just don't view fresh eggs as God's blessings. Oh, and backyard eggs are a prerequisite for entering Heaven."



• Natural childbirth vs. Not
  "BLARGH epidural anesthesia now, methamphetamine I.V. later."

In recent years, I have become much more sensitive to exhuding a Holier-Than-Thou attitude in my writing, speech, and actions. In discussing the topic with Harmony, both of us agree that our miscarriages and fertility woes were a big catalyst in changing the way we presented ourselves. For the duration of this blog post, I will refer to the period before miscarriages and fertility as BM&I, for "Before Miscarriages and Infertility."

BM&I, it was always my (our?) intention to have more children at this point in our marriage. After all, having lots of children is an indicator of God's blessing on a married couple living in holy matrimony, and we were pretty good people, right? Well. Then June 19, 2007 happened and our lives were never the same again. October 15, 2007 happened and set in stone that our thinking would never go back to BM&I mentality.

Miscarriages and infertility dampened our self-righteous tendencies quite a bit. Pregnancies and children were no longer Holier-Than-Thou badges to be smuggly flaunted, they were more like "oh-my-goodness-what-you-have-is-SUCH-a-blessing,if-you-had-any-idea-what-it's-like-to-not-be-able-to-have-that-you-would-spend-the-rest-of-your-life-cherishing-it/her/him." Viable pregnancies were something to be maddeningly but cautiously nervously grateful for, not casually addressed as "oh another blessing here and on the way, sweet, let's see how many tons of tomatoes we got today."

We discovered that, hey, you know, it doesn't quite feel great to hear people on blogs or blog comments boasting of God's blessings and their family size and implying that smaller families were that way because they actively rejected the blessings, in light of what had just happened. And I'm sure these people (I honestly do not remember any specific instances anymore) did not intend to come off that way, but that's the way I read things during that time. Losing hope for our "Has Many Children" badge humbled us in that area, as well as all the others. If it was that unpleasant to hear self-righteousness in one area, then it must be unpleasant in others as well. After all, who wants to feel like they are being condescended and condemned because of their choice of gardening philosophy or where they get their eggs?

I wish we had not had to endure the post-BM&I period, but good came of it. This is how life is, though - God gives us trials to help refine our character. I cringe to think what my thoughts might be if we'd had a honeymoon baby and easy children born at 1 year intervals after that. "Well anyone who rejects God's blessings shouldn't cry about it when they have difficult children. Well those people [who might have untold fertility issues or whatever, none of your business] obviously are rejecting God's blessings...I mean their first daughter is 2 and the mom isn't pregnant yet..??" You get the idea. Post BM&I, there's a greatly reduced (but still non-zero, as we are sinners) probability that such presumptuous thoughts will cross our minds.

In the end, all of these Holier-Than-Thou badges might come to us. I would, of course, welcome having many children, which is the Holier-Than-Thou badge which has proven most elusive to us. But perhaps God thought that it would be better for us to take the long route there, so that we could be fully grateful for what God has given us, with much less self-righteousness than if He'd given the blessings to us right away. But even if He chooses not to give us any more children, at least we'll be much less likely to be self-righteous, Holier-Than-Thou bags of hot air.

Recent Facebook statuses

For my few remaining readers who do not also check my facebook status (I think that amounts to just my dad). So for the benefit of my dad, who misses all of these cute moments....

All day today, whenever I give something to Pearl she says "코마와!" (A slightly convoluted version of the Korean for "thank you") I wonder what made her suddenly start saying that instead of "thank you"?

What initially looked like random scribbles in my crossword book turn out to be remarkably consistent: small scribbles in individual squares, scribbles over the clue numbers "marking them off", and sprawling scribbles in the margins making "notes". I didn't realize she paid so much attention to what I was doing...

Pearl: Voldemort good, Harry Potter likes him!

Umm... She seems to have missed a key point.... ;-)

She must sleep better with a clean conscience. Pearl's last words before falling asleep tonight: "Pearl say 미안해. I throw dirt on Luna. 미안해, Luna."

(미안해 means 'I'm sorry'. And the most recent dirt incident occurred several days ago.)

Watching little girls attempt to dance like ballerinas must be one of the funniest spectacles in the world.

April 2011 grocery budget week 2

The main shopping trip was at Target, where I spent $44. We also made a couple of "emergency" runs to the store, which totaled about $10. That brings our monthly grocery expenditures up to $145, and leaves us $155 left in our budget for the rest of the month. That leaves us approximately $52/week from here on out.

From our Target trip, we bought:
reeses cups - $1
tortilla chips - $2
pringles - $1.44
kashi granola bars - $2.99
juice - $4.73
onions - $2.24
spaghetti sauce - $2.84
zucchini - $0.35
garlic - $0.25
cucumbers - $1.48
oatmeal - $2
oranges - $2.04
bread - $2.69
pork roast - $6.49
ground chicken - $2.29
eggs - $2.39
almond milk - $4.50
allergy medicine - $3.84

Thoughts about Proverbs 30:7-9

I quoted the passage in a previous post concerning being content with little, and here are a few more thoughts I thought warranted their own post.

These are a few verses which I find come to mind more times than statistically insignificant:

7Two things I asked of You,
Do not refuse me before I die:
8Keep deception and lies far from me,
Give me neither poverty nor riches;
Feed me with the food that is my portion,
9That I not be full and deny You and say, "Who is the LORD?"
Or that I not be in want and steal,
And profane the name of my God.

I don't know why, but these verses stuck with me ever since the first time I read them, which was I-don't-know-when, probably during the college years. I suppose the purpose of this brief post is to write/"talk" "out loud" to figure it out.

One of the reasons is that I perceive it as a very down-to-earth and understandable passage. No premillenial, preterist eschatology or transubstantial this-or-that. The writer is able to sympathize with the condition of someone in need, of someone who's tempted to steal in order to fulfill his (or presumably extending to his family's) needs. With a couple of very important exceptions, the Bible is filled with all sorts of imperfect people living life in imperfect ways and thinking imperfect thoughts. With good reason, as I believe is illustrated in this passage, since we imperfect humans are much better able to empathize with fellow imperfect humans.

Another reason I like it is that it seems that it's fine to not take a voluntary vow of poverty, in being a Christian. God does not call us all to be either very rich or very poor. In fact, this passage would imply that it's dangerous to be at either extreme. I do find it comforting that I am not necessarily called to take my family and live in a cardboard box ;)

On the other hand, living in (one of?) the wealthiest nation(s) in the world, it is also a stern warning not to forget God in the pursuit of or the wallowing-in of riches. I also talked about this more in the aforementioned post I linked to at the top.

April 2011 grocery budget week 1

This week we went to the Super H mart 30 minutes from our house. We spent about $85 there. The majority of the expense was 30 lbs of brown rice (15 lbs sweet rice, 15 lbs medium grain rice). We also spent $11 on beef for bulgogi and $7 on mandoo (we had friends over for lunch on Sunday, and we have to serve American-friendly food when we're introducing Korean food to someone).

Other items we bought at H mart: Korean pear, roasted seaweed (a gift for a friend - no, really), rice flour, sweet red bean paste, 6 lbs napa cabbage (w00t, 6lbs of kimchi in the fridge!), Chinese chives, green onions, apples, garlic, ginger, tofu, eggs, and a family pack of Shin Ramyun (JunkMale insisted I treat myself, for some reason).

We also took a trip to Kroger to get more American staples for the week: peanut butter crackers, hummus, yogurt, juice, basil, granola bars, green onions, mushrooms, fruit cups, and potatoes. This cost us $36.

I don't usually count bulk-purchased staples like rice in our monthly budget - 15 lbs of medium grain rice lasts us 4-6 months and 15 lbs of sweet rice lasts even longer, so it seems unfair to include a 6-month expense in a monthly budget. Obviously you could abuse this by labeling too many foods "bulk staples", but I really only count non-perishable things like grains, sugar, etc, and only when it will last us more than 4 months without stocking up again. Thirty pounds of rice certainly counts. Quick note: if you cannot afford more than your monthly grocery budget, you shouldn't use this method. Our grocery budget was designed with this in mind. :-)

The cost of the rice (minus tax) was $29.98, so I will subtract $30 from our total. This means we have spent $91 so far this month on groceries - 30% of the total budget. We will have to be careful the rest of the month not to average no more than $52 each week. But with 6 lbs of kimchi in the fridge and 30 lbs of rice in the pantry, we shouldn't have too much trouble.

Keeping tabs on our grocery budget

This series of posts was prompted by my sister, who wondered how we were able to keep to a $300/month grocery budget.

Well, to be honest, I'm not really that sure that we do keep to that sort of budget. I've never really tracked it. But in theory, we average no more than $75/week in groceries. And now - partly because I'm curious and partly because we need more posts to keep this blog up and running - I'm going to find out. I will do my best, every Tuesday, to post an accounting of the grocery bills from the previous week.

But to start off, I thought I'd set the stage. We eat a mostly dairy-free diet (JunkMale and I do eat dairy every now and then) because of Pearl. This means that we eat a lot of foreign food (mostly Korean, but also a lot of Thai/Vietnamese and Greek foods around this time of year). It also means that we buy a lot of expensive dairy replacements - almond milk, soy and coconut yogurt, etc. This all has an effect both on our budget and how we shop. The closest Korean store is 20 minutes from our house, and it's more expensive than the large Korean market 30 minutes away. So trips to buy specifically Korean ingredients (red pepper paste, fish sauce, fermented soybean paste, sweet potato starch noodles, seaweed, 15-lb bags of brown rice, etc) are important but infrequent. That means that when I go I stock up. That changes how I have to view my weekly food budget. If I had to stick to a strict weekly budget, I would be going to the Korean store every week, and that would be a huge hassle.

OK, with that in mind, I will present a summary of what we have spent so far this month on groceries. I made 6 trips to the grocery store over the first 4 weeks of March, spending a total of appx $238.51. I have all of my receipts except for one (I do remember that I spent about $48, though). Here is what we bought with the $190.51 we have recorded:

22.5% was spent on generic food items (condiments, pasta, cheese, chicken broth, etc)
19.5% was spent on meat/protein (eggs, tofu, and vegetarian corndogs were included with meat)
14.4% was spent on produce, fresh or frozen
13.6% was spent on beverages
13.1% was spent on snack items (chips, crackers, cookies, granola bars, etc)
9.2% was spent on vitamins
Approximately 6% is tax. The remaining 1.7% can probably be attributed to rounding and simple arithmetic errors that I don't feel like going back and finding. :-)

So with one week left in the month, we have $61.49 left to spend before we go over budget. Considering this week's shopping list is pretty short, I expect we'll have made our budget for the month. So that, apparently, is how we eat on $300/month - or, at least, how we ate on $300 in March 2011. I do not clip coupons except for on rare occasions. I do not look at sales fliers. We do have a garden that every now and then saves us a dollar or two, and I also keep the going prices of food items in my head and will sometimes change the menu on the fly in the store because something is very expensive. But those are my only "secrets". Other than that we just eat what we like.

For the incredibly curious, here is a breakdown of exactly what we bought, and for how much.

Nitrate-free deli meat - $5.00
Frozen chicken breasts - $7.98
Ground turkey - $2.56
Eggs - $2.78
Chicken tenders $8.88
Frozen baby lima beans - $3.00
String cheese - $2.64
Frozen baby brussels sprouts - $2.25
Cheese slices - $4.28
Potatoes - $2.47
Garlic - $0.69
Tomatoes - $3.24
Granola bars - $10.92
Cooking spray - $1.68
Ginger ale - $3.33
Spaghetti noodles (either multigrain or whole wheat) - $1.18
Crackers - $2.28
Bread - $2,72
Potato chips - $5.36
Dill pickles - $3.04
Lime juice - $1.19
Onions - $2.49
Chicken broth - $5.28
Hoisin sauce - $2.39
Fresh basil - $2.99
Fresh cilantro - $0.99
Cucumber - $0.99
Pork roast - $4.54
Mushrooms - $1.99
Juice - $12.68
Mustard - $1.58
Almond milk - $8.56
Tortilla chips - $1.88
Vegetarian corn dogs - $3.48
Unspecified produce - $1.99
Cookies - $2.37
Gummy vitamins - $17.48 (2-3 month supply)
Non-grocery items - $7.69
Korean radish - $1.14
MSG-free ramen noodles - $1.39
Korean red pepper paste (고추장) - $5.99
Buckwheat noodles (냉면) - $3.99
Organic tofu - $1.99
Seaweed (김) - $6.99
Coconut milk - $1.59
Barley tea - $1.39
Tuna in hot pepper sauce - $2.59

Menu Plan for the week of 3/28/11

Last week, for many reasons, we ate just over half the meals I'd planned. So this week, we will pick up where we left off last week.

Monday - Basil fried rice and coconut soup
Tuesday - Basil fried rice and coconut soup
Wednesday - Pad See Ew (assuming I can find large flat rice noodles before then - otherwise, 빔면/bibimmyeon)
Thursday - Souvlaki-stuffed pitas
Friday - Souvlaki-stuffed pitas
Saturday - Mexican black bean burgers
Sunday - Mexican black bean burgers

Lunches - 김밥/kimbap and leftovers for JunkMale, mushroom and potato soup for us ladies (basically this recipe minus the half-and-half)

Breakfasts - long-rise whole wheat and oat bread with butter, maybe also some oatmeal

Menu Plan for the week of 3/21/11

It's spring! Something about these first few weeks of spring makes me want to eat Vietnamese, Thai, and Greek food. This week it's going to be spring rolls and basil fried rice. Next week it'll probably be souvlaki. Mmm, souvlaki.... But first we have to eat the roast I bought back when it was still cold here down here. :-)

Monday - roast beef, carrots, and potatoes with onions; roasted brussels sprouts
Tuesday - roast beef and vegetables
Wednesday - Vietnamese fresh spring rolls
Thursday - Vietnamese fresh spring rolls
Friday - basil fried rice + coconut soup
Saturday - basil fried rice + coconut soup
Sunday - kimchi fried rice

Lunches for JunkMale will be leftovers or kimbap. Lunches for me and Pearl will be sandwiches. Breakfasts for JunkMale will be egg and cheese sandwiches. Breakfasts for me and Pearl will be oatmeal and eggs.

My shopping list for the week:
cucumber
basil
cilantro
onions
bean sprouts
Thai chili peppers
laver (seaweed for kimbap)
dill pickles
tofu
hoisin sauce
imitation crab leg meat
chicken broth
lime juice (or limes, depending on price)
boneless pork chops
bacon or ham for kimchi fried rice
juice
Korean red pepper paste (if the new Asian store near our house carries it - it's run by a Filipino woman)
fruit, if it's on sale
potato chips (don't judge, lol)
peanut butter crackers
granola bars
crispy rice cereal
something for dessert

With some smart shopping, this should come in right at budget. If I have to cut my shopping short to just two stores it'll probably go over, but no more than $10.

Weeds in my backyard

I like to think that I have a rule about weed in my backyard. The rule is that if the weed is pretty, it gets to stay. If it's ugly, it must go. The rule is firmly enforced every year until about May, when days get hotter, mosquitoes start swarming, and vegetable gardening starts taking off.

But now, in March, it's fine to have nice ideals like that.

I don't understand why some plants are considered weeds. Take violets, for example. Do you see that lovely plant in the picture below? Pretty purple flowers, deep green leaves. It's a lovely plant. Why would someone want to tear it up? I certainly don't want to... which is, of course, why four years after moving into this house, there are large areas of our backyard which are carpeted with violets. They get big and weedy later on in the season, of course, but by that time they've already re-seeded the yard and a weedwacker won't do them any harm.



Another lovely "weed" is wood sorrel. The leaves look like tiny little clover leaves, and the flowers are a very cheery yellow. It's a low-growing plant, and it would fit in quite well in a flower bed. So why bother uprooting it? Just let it grow and enjoy it.



Of course, not every weed is as pretty as wood sorrel or violet. There are plenty of ugly weeds out there, and I do my fair share of weeding. But even among the eyesores of the plant world, every now and then I am surprised.

I am not very fond of henbit. It grows too tall and spindly, its flowers are too small, and fuchsia really isn't my favorite color anyway. But today, Pearl made a bouquet of flowering henbit that she had picked, and it was actually very pretty.



So even some of the lesser eyesores in the yard can be pretty in the right light. But despite the fact that the weeds in my back yard are pretty, I get the idea that most people prefer their yards to be neatly covered in grass.

Why grass?? If we are talking about invasive, impossible-to-kill plants, grass would be right at the top of the list. It's unattractive, it makes you sneeze, it's itchy, and it can sprout from nothing.

I have to conclude that our society chose grass as a cover plant for one simple reason: if you can't beat it, join it. Grass is the ultimate survivor. I was watching the Planet Earth episode on grasses, and they're indestructible. You can burn them, drown them, have a plague of locusts descend on them, or a hoard of wildebeests, and they will grow. They survive the arctic, deserts, and even pesticides. We cannot win. But, aha! If we pretend like growing grass is an art form, then we have won.

Or so I assume the thought process must have gone. Because I can see no other logical reason for having a lawn full of grass.

But honestly, if you had your choice, wouldn't you rather have a pretty carpet of wild flowers? Or am I the weird one?

Being Content with Little

Recently, we had a missionary preacher at our church to speak about his experiences and stir up interest for a Vacation Bible School that would be happening in Jamaica in July. Among other things, he had a long set of Powerpoint slides detailing pictures and experiences while doing foreign missionary work.

A couple of items stood out most to me, and those would be mentions of droves of people being baptized at once or coming from afar to attend services; and mentions of people living in sub-poverty conditions (by American standards) yet being content with what they had. After thinking about it for a bit, I do not think these two items (enthusiasm for the Gospel + contentment despite poverty) are independent.

One particular anecdote stood out to me. He recounted his experience with a Jamaican women with 6 children, 2 of whom she had not given birth to. He showed a picture of her hut, which consisted of scrap lumber, plywood, and sheet metal, probably scavenged from wherever she could find it. Obviously there were no utilities / luxuries such as running water, electricity, climate control. Yet he also showed a picture of a handwritten sign she had in her house, which said something along the lines of "Thank You God for providing for all my needs."

At this point, it's quite appropriate to mention Proverbs 30:7-9, one of my favorites. Usually when I am asked to say the prayer before the offering/contribution, I make some mention of the principle(s) in this passage:

7Two things I asked of You,
Do not refuse me before I die:
8Keep deception and lies far from me,
Give me neither poverty nor riches;
Feed me with the food that is my portion,
9That I not be full and deny You and say, "Who is the LORD?"
Or that I not be in want and steal,
And profane the name of my God.

That particular Sunday, on the way home, we had a conversation about why we seemed to hear such stories (foreign/third world people flocking to hear the message) from missionaries but never as much from people living in industrialized countries. We theorized a couple of reasons. People in such countries: 1) have grown up exposed to less-than-optimal representations of what they think is Christianity, thus growing calloused to the true Gospel, 2) have the "riches" spoken of in verse 8, thus not really feeling a need to add piety on top of their shopping list. After all, we are all too busy making money to go to church and think a few spiritual thoughts every now and then. And let's not forget Matthew 19:23-24:

Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly I tell you, it is hard for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven. 24 Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”

We are no doubt "rich" here in America. Our grocery stores are always stocked, our pantries just as much, gas prices are reasonable even if they have risen recently, we have nice cars, and our houses are comparatively gigantic. Most of us, fully including me, have no idea what it is like to be truly poor. Thus, as Christians, we must be careful to be content with what we have (or much less) and not covet more and more that we don't truly need. There are more important things in life than stuff.

An Important Moment in Pearl's Life

Today, we decided that we would introduce Pearl to the world of Star Wars. Since it's such a monumental occasion, we thought it would be fun to take notes during the watching, to record her reactions. So consider this a live blogging the first watching of Episode IV. Will be updated as we watch.

DVD menu - she says she's afraid of the music.

The opening scene where the Star Destroyer flies overhead - "Ohhh...it's a big!!"

People running aboard the Tantive IV - "running"

Stormtroopers board the ship shooting lots of people - "he fall down," whimpering a bit.

At this time I noted that this is going to be difficult if I record everything she says. So maybe I will just note the notable stuff.

6:01 PM
Darth Vader interrogating the Rebel soldier - "Darth Vader," clap clap clap. Uh yeah, I guess so. Clap for the Darth Vader, not necessarily the demise of the poor Rebel.

6:05 PM
R2-D2 and C-3PO go their separate ways. Pearl says "This way, that way."

6:07 PM
Jawas picking up a stunned R2-D2 - "Picking up, that. Hug you." Later when they are loading R2 onto the sandcrawler, "he's okay, that."

6:18 PM
Luke's family eating dinner - "I need that...I need that." It IS dinner time, after all.

6:32 PM
Starts losing interest during the meeting of the Imperial leaders. But Darth Vader brings her attention back.

6:42 PM
Chewbacca attracts her attention. "Pearl, what sound does a wookie make?"

6:44 PM
Upon seeing Greedo: "Oh, mouse! I like mouse!"

7:00 PM
We are pleased to know that she recognizes Chewbacca and Darth Vader on sight.

7:04 PM
Just inside the Death Star - "Chewie! Chewie right there. I like Chewie."

7:09 PM
During the "weapons malfunction", in a distressed voice: "Chewie! Chewie!"

7:13 PM
In the garbage chute: "Chewie, bye-bye."

7:19 PM
At the end of the garbage chute scene, when 3PO thinks they're dying: "Don't like it. Don't like it."

7:23 PM
When Obiwan meets up with Darth Vader: "Oh! Oh-BEE-wan. Oh-BEE-wan." (Repeated ad infinitim in a few minutes upon his death)

7:31 PM
"Drink it," as she offers Han and Leia some of her tea. (And more refrains of "Oh-BEE-wan")

7:34 PM
"Chewie here. Chewie here." (Her new refrain, after realizing that Obiwan is not going to reappear.)

7:37 PM
"Obiwan!" OK, so maybe she hasn't given up on Obiwan....

7:41 PM
"Obiwan, he... dies."

7:45 PM
Inexplicably, she breaks into song: "Trust, obey, no other way; Happy, Jesus... trust, obey."

7:55 PM
Harmony, at movie's end: "So what do you think? Do you like Star Wars?"
Pearl: *nods* Where's Chewie?

Why Parents Think Their Children Are So Smart

I would guess that it has something to do with the fact that when they first met their children, the ability to support one's own head was considered a milestone far off in the future. The child came into the world being able to do basically 2 or 3 things. Think of it as being that any positive number is infinitely greater than 0.

Now, I have no explanation for why parents think their own children are the most beautiful children in the world, because I have seen some pretty not-beautiful babies and children. Such a thing can only be explained as a feeling/thought that is divinely placed ;)

Does anyone have better theories?

How we like our cruciferous vegetables

Cabbage. Collard Greens. Broccoli. Brussels Sprouts. You know they're good for you, but can you hold your nose long enough to choke them down?

We used to feel that way too. But somehow, we in the JunkHouse have found ourselves not only tolerating cruciferous vegetables, but enjoying them. JunkMale now really enjoys both broccoli and brussels sprouts. I am fond of collards, broccoli, and brussels sprouts, and Pearl loves cabbage, collards, and broccoli. Luna will eat them all. :-)

So how did we come to change our minds? I think it was because I learned new ways of cooking them that appealed to our palate. I realize not everyone enjoys the same foods as we do, but hopefully this list of recipes will help you, too, learn to enjoy the many health benefits of cruciferous vegetables.

Cabbage

We mostly eat napa cabbage, which I used to make kimchi. Kimchi isn't for everyone, so I'm willing to let that one slide. :-) But before we discovered Pearl's dairy problems, JuneMale and I used to really enjoy making colcannon. Mashed potatoes with bacon (and cabbage). What's not to like? :-D

Collard Greens

I'll admit that I used to hate these. But this recipe has changed my mind. I add 1 Tbs of brown sugar to them and leave out the red pepper flakes. Oh, and I double the bacon. :-D

Broccoli

Broccoli noodles. What else can I say? This has been a staple in our house ever since I saw the recipe posted at The Common Room. We've tweaked it in the years since then, and it continues to be a consistent performer on our menus.

But if you don't like broccoli noodles or have a peanut allergy in your family, you could always try drowning your broccoli in a cheese sauce. This was my favorite way to eat broccoli growing up. Yum, yum yum! It works well on cauliflower, too, but JunkMale hasn't gotten up the nerve to let me serve him cauliflower yet. ;-)

Brussels Sprouts

I used to hate these. JunkMale used to hate these. So why are they a favorite of ours now? I credit the Barefoot Contessa, who first turned me on to the idea of oven roasted brussels sprouts. They taste a bit like sweet, green oven fries, and they are absolutely wonderful. Caveat: the smaller the brussels sprouts, the better they taste. Large brussels sprouts tend to be bitter and not-so-tasty. Brussels sprouts from your backyard garden are To. Die. For. If you've never tried brussels sprouts this way, you owe it to yourself to try it at least once.

2010 in 12 Pictures

January:

February:


March:


April:


May:


June:


July:


August:


September:


October:


November:


December:

Let the Randomnimity Begin Anew

Way back when this blog was alive and thriving, every now and then I'd post some randomnimity. This consisted of several random unrelated blurbs which by themselves I considered too short to be a blog post. Let them begin again!

• I am thankfully still employed and work for the same company, but for a completely different program. It is nice because my work building now has windows, albeit only at the north and south ends of the building, which is actually just a glorified production hangar. It is not so nice because the bathrooms are not as nice as those belonging to snazzy fighter jet program buildings. It is nice because I can telecommute. It is not nice because I can telecommute. Overall, I think the positives of being able to telecommute outweigh the negatives. It is nice because I work on the 4th floor, so I get a little bit of extra exercise every day. It is not so nice because I work on the 4th floor.



• I have a new nephew who was born yesterday, so that means we share a birthday. Mid-January is allegedly a nice time to be born. This is one birthday I won't have trouble remembering, unless I start forgetting my own, which I did for about an hour yesterday morning.



• I have completed my master's degree in systems engineering. In time, you will learn to call me "Master."



• It annoys me when people mix up "your / you're." "Your welcome." My welcome what? Perhaps you referring to my overdue and welcome rant that your grammar is awful. If I were looking at your McDonald's job application, I would reject it outright.



• When you're a teenager, you know everything. When you get older, you know better. The more I observe teenagers and other children (mostly the teenagers), the more I realize that, indeed, folly is bound up on the heart of a child. I used to be much more dogmatic about various things. Since I have proven wrong more than a few times in my life (my grades in some of my physics classes will verify this), and since I have been there and done that, I think I have lightened up considerably.



• Speaking of low grades in physics classes, my lowest grade ever was a 10 on an electrodynamics test. That's 10 out of 100. My previous low was an 18/100 on a stellar astrophysics test (I did not really expect that I would have to memorize large portions of the Hertzsprung-Russel diagram). Can you beat that? You have to have actually tried to do well on the test instead of throwing it on purpose, and it is not limited to physics tests. There will be no prizes involved, because, wow, really? You got less than or equal to a 9?

Cultural Differences - Parents of Adult Children

This subject is something I'd not been able to experience much until I had been in a relationship with Harmony for a while. It concerns the topic of how parents treat their adult children. My sample size is very small, one set of Korean parents and one set of American parents, so this might not apply generally.

What I have noticed is that my parents, the Asian ones, tend to treat us/me like we/I are still children. This is not to say that they ground us when we don't do as they please, or make us eat our vegetables before leaving the table (well, the last one maybe still for me sometimes). Rather, when they don't agree with us on something, I get the feeling that they think it's because we are kids who don't know anything. Sort of the "you're young, you don't know what you're doing." True as that may be, we are still adults. I think I have noticed this attitude more from my mom rather than my dad. Not coincidentally, my dad was the first one to come around regarding our decision to get married, indicating to me that he is slightly more willing to view me as an adult.

What I have noticed from my in-laws is that they treat us much more like adults than my parents do. I do not ever recall getting the "you don't know what you're doing vibe," although I'm sure it has been thought before ;) It also helps that our general parenting philosophies are fairly similar.

I have no evidence or data to tell whether or not this is the general trend among Asian and American parents of adult children. But the general feeling I get with each set of parents is that mine still view me/us as children, and my in-laws view us relatively more as adults.

Unfortunately, I cannot recall any concrete examples, so this post remains displeasingly nebulous :p I'll blame it on being out of practice due to the severe blog drought.

Mommy advice needed

Pearl has recently learned how to get partially out of her car seat. Although I feel like I am strapping her in there tightly enough, she is still able to wriggle her arms out of the restraints. This usually happens when she is upset with being in the car seat and is crying. Of course, that amounts to at least 33% of the time we're in the car. :-P

Has anyone else had a Houdini baby? How do you keep your child safe without cutting off blood circulation?

Kitchen Tip Tuesday - Peeling Garlic

Korean food calls for a lot of garlic - some recipes call for a cup or more! Think of all the time you might spend peeling garlic! There has to be an easier way, right?

Well there is: use water. Throw all your garlic cloves into a bowl of water and then begin peeling. The water will loosen the skins. After a while, the skins will almost just pop off, no fuss!

Visit Tammy's Recipes for more kitchen tips. :-)

We are still alive!

Despite what you might think, we are still here. The poor blog has been woefully neglected. Which of you still subscribe, I wonder? We will hopefully start posting more posts in the new year. It's a bit silly to wait until the new year to do so, but that's the plan.

We have been busy with life, mostly Pearl related. For anyone who reads here but is not Facebook friends, Pearl is a thriving 18 month old toddler. She still does not eat very much except for momma's milk, but her weight is acceptable to the doctor, I think. Her vocabulary grows every day, along with her wits.

The events that prompted me to write this post are as follow: we had been visiting my parents in Florida. They, of course, were overjoyed to have the opportunity to spoil their granddaughter. Before we left, I turned off the heat completely, under the guise of saving money. Readers from cold climates will realize that this was a very foolish decision. Compounding the foolish decision was the fact that there were several warnings that we curiously ignored. Here is a list:

• While we were pulling out of the driveway, I realized that I had forgotten to turn the heat off. I should have ignored this and left it forgotten, but I didn't.


• At this point, Harmony remarked that it would be cooooold when we got back, but for some reason, this didn't register as anything but a statement of fact (not a warning).


• Then, as I was driving my ladies to the airport, we heard the weather guy on the radio say that due to the cold weather, thermostats should be left at least at 55. At this point, I should have went back to the house and turned the heat on. But I didn't.


• I also had the thought that we should have given a spare key to someone. But we didn't.

It was decided this morning that we really needed to do something about the lack of heat in the house. I was still in Florida this morning, and I am now in Georgia, so obviously we decided that I needed to come home early. I came home to a house that was 42 degrees. Not quite as bad as I thought. Best of all though, I came back to a house that was mercifully spared from burst frozen pipes.

Lessons learned:

• If there is the slightest possibility of a deep freeze, leave the thermostat on!


• Leave spare keys with trusted friends who live somewhat nearby!


• Don't ignore the weather guy, especially when you have left your house but are within an hour's drive from it

Following these tips could have saved me from cutting the visit short. As a consequence, I am back in Georgia two days earlier, with only Luna and a messy house to keep me company ;)