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POTD - DAY 30
A few more shots around the house.
DD - DAY 30
David and I got to play with crayons today. He likes them a lot. It must
be in his genes.
POTD - DAY 29
These are holders for the umbrellas the hotel provides you from one
building to another.
DD - DAY 29
Little boy, happy to have mom back. And I love the lip-bite.
POTD - DAY 28
A few shots from Tahoe. Courtesy of the Google Product Team ski trp. I
even skied. First time in nine years.
DD - DAY 28
I was out of town for Monday and Tuesday so big thanks goes to Jake for
taking these photos. Except for the one taken from my computer. He was
wonderful enough to setup a video chat with me so I could see David from
the hotel room.
POTD - DAY 27
Still exploring my backyard. As much as I hate the rain, I love the
colors it brings.
DD - DAY 27
I love love love this photo of David. Looking out into the pouring rain.
POTD - DAY 26
Lately, I've been wanting to play with paint.
DD - DAY 26
My beautiful son.
POTD - DAY 25
This was my birthday present from last year. I've used it a bunch but
not nearly enough. Here's to a year of sewing projects.
DD - DAY 25
David and the red umbrella. It's been pouring cats and dogs here.
 
POTD - DAY 24
Tonight was dinner at Nicholas' place since our friend Anastassia was
visiting from New York. We grilled veggies, meat, and bread on the
raclette. After dinner, we ate ice cream created by Nicholas called
Queasy Cream. Cream cheese ice cream, green dye, caramel, and chocolate
cookies. It was yummy. Here are two other shots from preparing dinner:
 
DD - DAY 24
David engrossed in TV.
POTD - DAY 23
Tonight was Mahjong-night. We had a fantastic time with fantastic
people. There was pizza, cheese, bread, cake, and much laughter.
DD - DAY 23
Today was a full day. This morning David wanted to eat Jello really
badly. I told him that he couldn't and then changed my mind (yes it's
bad IDEA!) but then he said "Mommy, I so happy" and it totally made my
day. He didn't just say "I happy," he said "I so happy." Then, we
took him to get his hearing tested. Since he is speech delayed and some
of his articulation is off, multiple people asked us to get him tested.
The testers were wonderful with him, even though he did eventually get
completely fed up with it. Today's David photo is him asking me "really
nicely" whether he can have Jello. The rest are from the audiologist and
more from the Jello time.
I love you so much, David. I so happy, too.
POTD - DAY 22
Terrible photo, I know. But it's a memory of a good time so I still like it.
DD - DAY 22
This is the first time I've ever thought David looks like me.
POTD - DAY 21
Relatively relaxing day today. A morning of painting and then lunch and
lounging around with friends. Here are a few other snap shots from today.
DD - DAY 21
Some precious Daddy and David time from today. I don't know how I got so
lucky as to have two of the best men in the universe.
POTD - DAY 20
Spring is finally coming to my backyard. I am going to miss so much of this.
DD - DAY 20
Not much to say to this one.
EXTROVERT VS. INTROVERT - TAKE II
In the last few weeks, I've become the office joke because I had the
audacity to claim that I
am not extroverted. Anyone who's met me under most normal
circumstances will quickly realize that I talk. A lot. Really. A lot.
With a few exceptions, I make friends quickly and feel comfortable
chatting up random people. I speak my mind. I tend to talk quickly and a
lot, so people think I talk without thinking. People make judgments
quickly and, unless they spend considerable amount of time with me, they
don't get to see how I spend all my time. So they tend to "figure me
out" quickly and yet incorrectly.
Here's what wikipedia says about extraversion and introversion:
Extraversion is "the act, state, or habit of being predominantly
concerned with and obtaining gratification from what is outside the
self". Extraverts tend to enjoy human interactions and to be
enthusiastic, talkative, assertive, and gregarious. They take
pleasure in activities that involve large social gatherings, such as
parties, community activities, public demonstrations, and business or
political groups. An extraverted person is likely to enjoy time spent
with people and find less reward in time spent alone. They enjoy
risk-taking and often show leadership abilities.
An extravert is energized when around other people. Extraverts tend to
"fade" when alone and can easily become bored without other people
around. Extraverts tend to think as they speak. When given the
chance, an extravert will talk with someone else rather than sit alone
and think.
Introversion is "the state of or tendency toward being wholly or
predominantly concerned with and interested in one's own mental life".
Introverts tend to be quiet, low-key, deliberate, and relatively
non-engaged in social situations. They take pleasure in solitary
activities such as reading, writing, drawing, watching movies, listening
to music, inventing, designing, programming and using computers
extensively. An introverted person is likely to enjoy time spent
alone and find less reward in time spent with large groups of people
(although they tend to enjoy one-to-one or one-to-few interactions
with close friends). They prefer to concentrate on a single activity
at a time and like to observe situations before they participate.
Introversion is not the same as shyness, though introverts may also be
shy. Introverts choose solitary over social activities by
preference, whereas shy people avoid social encounters out of fear.
An introvert is energized when alone. Introverts tend to "fade" when
with people and can easily become overstimulated with too many others
around. Introverts tend to think before speaking. When given the
chance, an introvert will sit alone and think rather than talk with
someone else.
I added the underlines to show what pieces of each are true for me.
While I am chatty and enjoy the company of people, I hate parties. I
don't like large social gatherings of any kind actually. I prefer the
company of a good book to 98% of people, including my friends. I spent
years writing. Even scrapping is something I prefer to do in the
solitude of my home. I spend hours thinking about my life, my choices,
the people around me, etc. I would say, for the most part, I am not shy
and, depending on who it is, I certainly get energized with people
around me. However, I always prefer solitude. I loved working
from home. So maybe, in the end, I am not an introvert, but an ambivert.
A term wikipedia describes as:
Ambiversion is a term used to describe people who fall more or less
directly in the middle and exhibit tendencies of both groups. An
ambivert is normally comfortable with groups and enjoys social
interaction, but also relishes time alone and away from the crowd.
I don't know why the distinction matters so much to me. I don't know why
I try to convince my work mates that they are wrong about me. It
shouldn't matter much, I suppose. In the end, it's just a label. And, as
with many others, neither of these labels fit me well. People are
allowed to think however they want. I guess I mostly mind that how I see
myself doesn't seem to match how others see me. Does that really matter?
BALANCING IT ALL
And I remember saying to her, "The show is over by
noon. I could be in the car by twelve-thirty and be able to pick up my
kids from school every afternoon."
"It's perfect," Elizabeth said again. "It's the perfect balance of
family and work." And it seemed it would be. A mid-morning show, four
days a week, someone else's signature on it. A show that didn't belong
to me - it would give me a certain distance, and the freedom necessary
to raise my family. I think this is close to every workingwoman's dream.
It's the fantasy that somehow you'll land a gig that allows you to
explore your talents without shortchanging your children, a job both big
and small to allow you to exist in all your dimensions - domestic,
corporate, maternal, artistic.
I've always been a fan of Rosie O'Donnell. I like her rawness. Her
honesty. How so much of herself she is. So I was bound to read Celebrity
Detox. The most profound parts of the book, for me, were about the
struggle between motherhood and self-identity.
There is no such thing as having it all. It does not happen. People who
say it does are lying. People who think they have it are wrong. It's
just not humanly possible. Each time you do something, you're
sacrificing something else. It's just a fact of life. So the trick is to
choose how you spend your moments wisely.
CAPTURING A SLICE OF LIFE
Each time we go to Muir Woods, I am compelled to take photos. I click,
click, click the whole time we're there and then we get home and I
download my captures of the day and I am always disappointed. My photos
never come out well. They can never convey what I actually saw. I feel
this way in several places, but I think Muir Woods is one of the worst.
I was thinking today that it's because there's so much more to Muir
Woods than what's visible to the eye. There's the smell. The beautiful
scent of wood and the humidity and the plants. There's the texture;
everything that practically screams for you to touch it. There's the
sound. The streaming water. The birds. The little critters. And, most
importantly, there's the feeling. The overwhelming sense of being
enveloped by nature. Protected. How negligible one's existence is in the
face of these trees who've been here for centuries. All of those things,
combined, make Muir Woods the magical place that it is.
And these things cannot be captured by the camera. At least not with
someone at my level of photography skills.
CHINA DOLL
David doesn't like to take naps. He often fights on the way to bed. But,
every now and then, he takes these long, peaceful naps. Sometimes they
last three hours. After one of these, he wakes up a little disoriented
but very happy. He's well rested. Ready to conquer the world.
It takes him a good twenty minutes to go back to his usual self. When
he's in one of these dazes, I look at him and I can't believe he's my
flesh and blood. He's so pure. So beautiful. His white skin is so
unblemished. He looks like a real-life china doll. I am filled with so
much love for him that I can hardly breathe.
I don't know how I got lucky enough to have this extraordinary child,
but I am thankful for it every single day.
STANFORD STROLL
Two weeks ago, I posted a photo from Mark and my stroll around Stanford
campus. Here
are all the others.
FAMILY DAY AT MUIR WOODS
I absolutely adore Muir Woods. I fell in love with it the very first
time I was there in 1999. It was one of the main reasons I wanted to
move to the Bay Area. It turns out I don't get to go nearly as often.
When we talk about going, it always seems so very far away. But then we
get there and I remember the incredible peace that always surrounds me
when I am there.
We had an absolutely wonderful day. David loves the woods almost as much
as I do. Here
are all the photos from today.
NIGHT PHOTOGRAPHY AT SKYLINE
Five of us went up to Skyline Drive on Friday night and had a wonderful
time shooting at night. My photos didn't all come out as great as I'd
hoped but I still had a total blast. Here
are the rest of them. Here's to more night photography, soon.
POTD - DAY 19
We went to my favorite place in the world today: Muir Woods. More photos
coming very soon.
DD - DAY 19
It's not that Mr. Potato Head's glasses are too small but they are also
upside down.
POTD - DAY 18
Friday night, a few of us from work went to the top of Skyline Drive to
do some night shooting. It was a lot of fun. I will be posting a bunch
more photos from the session in a few minutes.
DD - DAY 18
My very very smiley little boy. Isn't he the sweetest?
Here's another cute shot from today:
POTD - DAY 17
All the product managers in my team went out to dinner at a Vietnamese
restaurant in Mountain View tonight and I wanted to capture a bit of the
amazing desserts. Here's a photo of a few of the people there.
DD - DAY 17
This is David with a grape in his cheek. But what I really love is the
hair...
POTD - DAY 16
Today was our team offsite. We went to Los Gatos to play bocce. Half my
team works remotely from home, all over the US, so it was wonderful
having them all in one place.
DD - DAY 16
It's been a really hectic week. So here's all the photos I did take
throughout the week. This is David sitting in Mommy's chair. It's always
fun to watch him try to get up on there as the wheels move.
DD - DAY 15
I left home at 4am and I didn't get home till late so it wasn't a good
day for David photos. But here's the little one, eating his meatballs,
wearing my Macworld badge.
And here's a photo of him outside the Moscone center when we went to
pick my badge up.
POTD - DAY 15
I wouldn't be doing my job as a recorder of events if I didn't post
photos from Macworld. I woke up at 4am this morning to drive to San Fran
with my work mate, Greg. We still weren't able to get into the main
room. We spent the day in the Google booth, demoing our products to
people. It was a very long but quite a nice day. And, while it won't do
the thinness justice, here's my first photo of MacBook Air:
POTD - DAY 14
Bits and pieces of toys are scattered all around our house. In corners
we didn't even know we had.
DD - DAY 14
A little shot from bedtime.
POTD - DAY 13
More documenting from my house. This is the orange tree in our backyard.
DD - DAY 13
Cutie little boy. Lately, he likes being photographed.
JOURNAL YOUR CHRISTMAS - THE FULL ALBUM
Doesn't it look magnificent?
JYC - BACK COVER
For completeness sake.
JYC - INSIDE COVER
For completeness sake.
JYC - PAGE 37 - LAST WORD
I am so glad I did this journal. It made this year magical beyond all
years.
JYC - PAGE 36 - PUTTING IT ALL AWAY
And now it's all over. Here's to next year.
JYC - PAGE 35 - REMEMBER FOR 2008
What to remember for next year. For me it's all about getting the
presents ahead of time.
JYC - PAGE 34 - PERFECT MOMENTS
This year really was one of the best Christmases I've had in my life.
JYC - PAGE 33 - CHILDLIKE INNOCENCE
All the joy and anticipation and hope the new year brings is
intoxicating for me.
JYC - PAGE 32 - RESOLUTIONS
Looking towards 2008.
JYC - PAGE 31 - NEW YEAR'S EVE
Finally took photos of the last few pages. Here's the last one for the
month of December.
POTD - DAY 12
I know you must be sick of photos of stuff in my house but this was the
first year we bought wonderful, little things for Halloween and I want
to make sure I remember them. I love these corns. I love the color.
DD - DAY 12
We took David to the park today and I snapped five million photos. I
will post them later but here's one I love.
DD - DAY 11
And here he is, finally able to touch it. Minutes later, it was just a
balloon. To be fair, it took a whole two days for him to completely
destroy it.
POTD - DAY 11
One of the engineers who works in our team is awesome in multiple ways,
as is often the case with Googlers. Mark made this incredible poodle for
me. I knew I had to give it to David and that he would immediately
destroy it. So I wanted to capture a shot before he did. The whole time
I was taking this photo, David was reaching out for it and crying at the
same time.
DD - DAY 10
Sorry, I'm running a bit behind on posting them, but I am still doing
them. Here's David ignoring his millions of toys and looking up at a
shelf out of his reach. I would like to call your attention to the fork
he placed so elegantly on the car.
POTD - DAY 10
Tonight was my first time on Apple campus. I was there for Cocoaheads
since Ted was talking about the MacFUSE Objective-C framework. Here's
the video
of the talk.
POTD - DAY 9
Ok I know this one's a bit lame but it's for me to remember how behind I
am in all my reading. Just sitting on the table, looking at me, enticing
me but not actually getting touched.
DD - DAY 9
David's sharing his little frog book with me and showing me the mirror.
You can never instill the love of reading too soon.
POTD - DAY 8
Of course today's about the elections as well. But the captured facial
expression is one of my favorites.
DD - DAY 8
A black and white one for today.
POTD - DAY 7
Leftover pumpkins from Halloween. One would think they were bad by now
but two months down and they are still so cute.
Not a pumpkin person? Ok, here are some stamps for you:
DD - DAY 7
You thought I was slipping, didn't you? Today we took David for his
speech evaluation. As part of that, the evaluator showed him a bunch of
photos and asked him to say what they are. When he saw a couch, he said
"Couch, mommy couch." and then they showed a book and he said "Mommy's
book." That prolly sums up my life for the last 20 days that I've been
sick. Mommy on the couch with a book.
PTOD - DAY 6
My friend Mark and I took a long walk around Stanford campus today. It
was a wonderful time even though it started raining and we couldn't find
our car. More photos from today to be posted later.
DD - DAY 6
David was playing so happily that when he saw me grab the camera, he was
amused and even posed for me.
POTD - DAY 5
Rainstorms are still all the rage here. Supposedly we'll have another
six or seven days of them. Joy Joy.
DD - DAY 5
Today was one of a lot of fun and horsing around with Daddy. Here are a
bunch of others from the same fun moments.
TWILIGHT AND BREAKDOWN LANE
As opposed to last year's Christmas vacation, I got a lot less reading
(however a lot more scrapping) done this year. The two I managed to read
are Twilight
and Breakdown
Lane. So let's talk about Twilight. I'd read about this one on
multiple blogs and thought that there would be no way I'd like it since
I don't generally read young adult novels and I definitely don't read
anything about vampires. Ever. I really mean ever. Yet I loved this
book. It was a lightweight, easy read. Well enough written that it
didn't bother me the story was a perfect fit for my mood. I'd sort of
hate to admit it, but I did really enjoy reading this book.
 I picked up Breakdown Lane because when I
absolutely hated Twelve times Blessed, Kim and Cheryl told me to read
this one instead. And, man, they were right. I absolutely adored this
book. It was depressing as shit. Really, really depressing. And I was so
very sick so it only exacerbated my grief. But it was so much better
written than the other book that it's hard to believe it was the same
writer. The book left me with a lot of thoughts but that's for another day.
I've also read a few scrapping books but that's for another day. I
really need some good fiction. Any ideas?
DD - DAY 4
Oh uh. David was not very accommodating with the photo taking today. I
hope this is not a trend.
POTD - DAY 4 - PART 2
Today, we had one of the biggest rain storms we've had in Palo Alto
since I've moved here. Nonstop rain and heavy winds. It was not fun.
However, one of the benefits of a lot of rain is that grass and plants
get a lot of water and become really colorful. So I wanted to capture
the beautiful reds in our front yard to remind myself that rain is not
all bad.
POTD - DAY 4 - PART 1
Ok, so I have two of them today. At first, I was like, "Oh, crap that
doesn't work with the rules." Then I remembered, guess what? I
make the rules! How do you like them apples?
This is a photo of one of the Christmas lights we put outside. They are
iridescent. With all the rain, it looks even more magical to me and I
wanted to capture it so I could remember this special holiday season.
DD - DAY 3
Today's shot is of David looking out the window and watching the rain.
It's a good thing I was sick and not at work. I hate rain.
POTD - DAY 3
And we've caught up to today's photo. For anyone who knows me, today's
photo should be predictable. This is the first time I get to vote in a
presidential election and so I am watching every moment of every major
political event. And, of course, the Iowa Caucus qualifies. It was Obama
and Huckabee's nights.
DD - DAY 2
Another Christmas present shot. Jake's parents got David a bunch of toys
and one of them was this hat which is David's new favorite toy.
POTD - DAY 2
Today's photo is more for me than usual. As Jake was in the side yard,
cutting up our tree, I snapped this photo of our side yard. I've always
wanted a house with a yard and this one has two of them. I don't know
how long we'll have a house and the side yard's so green right now that
I wanted to make sure I captured its beauty.
DD - DAY 1
And here is our daily David for Jan 1st. I couldn't miss this amazing
little moment where, as always, David enjoyed the boxes his presents
came in more than the presents themselves.
PotD - Day 1
Yes, I know I haven't done the looking forward post yet. I have had a
fever of 101 for the last four days and I've pretty much been in bed the
whole time. I will do the post as soon as I pick up all the pieces I've
been dropping for the last few days. David's been sick twice in the last
three weeks and Jake just came from the hospital where he found out that
he has a well-advanced ear infection. So our household has welcomed 2008
in our own special way. By being sick.
Anyhow. I'm starting two new things this year: picture of the day and
daily David. We'll see how far I go, but the goal is to capture random
photos from my day. They are not meant to be high quality (though they
can). They are meant to document something from my day. Each day.
Today's is about our tree. This year, we got a real tree for the first
time in ten years and we decorated it with white and blue ornaments and
lights. It made this holiday season my very favorite. I looked forward
to seeing that tree every night when I came home and every morning when
I woke up. So this photo is to commemorate our last day with the tree.
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