Van’s Blog

Hello everybody!
I was with family for the season’s holidays and I feel so refreshed for 2006!! Yeah! It started with a TON of work. As you may recall, my research has been progressing relatively well, and as soon as I showed up in the lab (Jan 3), my boss gave me a list of experiments that needed to be done ASAP. She stressed that “ASAP”-part and reminded me that this is a competitive field and we do NOT want to be scooped out of something good. Yeah, what I’ve got is GOOD. I am so motivated to go to work now that I work much longer hours. Andrew has been more accomodating in the childcare department. (Thank god!)

My new year resolution is this: I will live a healthier lifestyle. ( I will eat better and exercise. ) Yup, I will work on taking care of ME this year. It has never dawned on me to take care of my mind and body. And I think that’s part of the reasons for my problems in the past. Hopefully, with a healthier me, I can catch those “curve balls” better and perhaps, even pass the lemon back to the giver.

I know that I am making myself more miserable than I need to be. Anyone else feeling the blues can write/call me.

Ok, so we did not much celebrate thanksgiving at my place. I am always busy, and so is Andrew. Does anyone ever think about why we do what we do? I mean why are we working so hard every day? Ok, don’t answer that. I am miserable and the only thing that moves me is the very fact that there are a ton of things that I need to tend to.

Let me use this site to ask a personal question. Please try not to be overly critical, but any comments are immensely appreciated. Here goes: What do you do when you discover that you are no longer in love with your spouse? I have tried counselling, and it has made me want to leave my spouse even more! I don’t even want to talk the problems over with my spouse as I have no interest in a reconcilliation. I hope I am making sense to you “happy couples”. I am not a very good wife in the sense that I don’t want to be a wife any more. A mutual friend (of my husband and me) told me to stick with this marriage because Andrew still loves me. But what about my needs?

Please tell me this is not as wacky as it sounds.

After learning about Kevin’s flat tire incident, I decided to bring my car to the Valvoline oil change. I had the oil changed, the tire rotated, and some other maintenance stuffs done. Ever since I have gotten my “own” car and Andrew got his, I slowly learned to become a responsible car owner and do things for my car on my own. And I am proud of myself today - I have become a parent to my car, too!

Update on the BATTLE with the PIANO lessons:
I have learned a new trick to get my son to practice the piano. He loves sour stuffs, in particular, the Claussen pickles. I bought a big jar yesterday and told him that he could have a piece whenever he’s finished practicing the piano. Well, it worked! Yesterday, he resisted the temptation. But this evening, he announced that he wanted to practice, so I went downstairs with him - happily - until he uttered the question : “then I can have the pickles?” Hm…. I certainly hope he is getting something out of his practice, but at this point, I’ll take any practice time with him!
So for you parents, or expecting parents out there, I hope this trick will work for you too! Just don’t make it too obvious that you are actually begging them to do this. I am tough with my kids regarding most things, such as TV time and buying new toys. So that makes up for a trick or two, right?

My kids are at a fun age range. This is , alas, a short window of opportunity for learning and having fun. And because of this, I can’t help feeling that I need to do more with them. For example, I have started piano lessons for my son, who is 6. But I am also giving them personal lessons, and I had hoped that it would build up our intimacy. But unfortunately, it has backfired! I get so tense and I always become overly strict with them during these lessons. I guess I take the lessons too serious and my expectations from them is too great…. I know that I need to back down, and just let them enjoy the music — or the horrible cacophony that they manage to achieve. I need to find a balance between my goals and their goals, but this is easier said than done. Alexei performs so, SO MUCH better in front of his teacher! She doesn’t believe that he hasn’t practiced the whole week!
What I want to know is, how do you know when you’ve done enough? As in, how do you know that you are a good mother/father?

I am sorry, guys. I have a midterm on the coming Monday, and I try to concentrate on my studies. I have been very busy with work, too. I have been successful in generating 4 mutations in my gene of interest, so working with these mutants makes me even busier than before! I wish there were more hours in a day! For the past few weeks, I have been bringing my kids to the lab so that I can continue working! It is all so very exciting, and the work never ends. By now, my kids already know that they should bring their toys, paper, markers, etc, to keep themselves occupied without my prompting! (They learn so quickly, I have to admit!) The upside of my field of work is the flexibility, as in, I can take Monday off and leave early on Friday (to study for the exam).

This week has been pretty typical despite an incident that resulted in my laptop being broken. Now all my precious digital pictures are gone (so don’t ask for them.) But the real question is: how much should I spend to retrieve them?

Hello! This is my first official blog entry. I am a little nervous and this entry will seem a little rough…not like my brother’s flawless blogs.
I know, I know. You must be thinking: “Not another blog! Who cares about what another wife and mother has to write about?” Well, I want to use this site to update my friends and family of my busy life, and secondly, to amuse myself. Therefore, while most stories may be true, many may not be. Those who know me, please refrain from entering my personal information on your comments. Thank you for visiting my site. I hope you will have as much fun as I do.