Peg’s Journal

After celebrating a few birthdays, Valentines, and Chinese New Years, my sister broke the news that my grandmother had passed away. I was completely devastated and heartbroken. In the week that followed, I had lost my appetite, I couldn’t sleep – yet all I wanted to do was stay in bed all day, I would weep after Aric and the kiddies went to bed, and spent a lot of time contemplating life and mortality. The hardest thing for me to accept was that I didn’t get to see my grandmother. My parents and Wil had gone to Taiwan a month ago to visit her. Aric and I were waiting until Ashlyn’s spring-break to go visit. *sniff* A little too late now.

(last picture taken with grandma – November 2005)

Though my grandmother and I lived oceans apart, we were close. We shared a relationship that transcended our age and generation gap and cultural differences. She was an extraordinary person….full of life, spirit, and unconditional love. She lived simply, with discipline, patience, and an enthusiasm to learn new things (taking tai-chi, Chinese brush painting and sign-language classes at 80+ years of age). The smile lines on my cheeks, a love for sewing, and our identical hands are the things she passed down to me (although her hands are infinitely softer). *sigh* I miss her so much.

(on the phone)
Mom: “It’s noon…get out of bed! You have to get up, make yourself pretty, spend time with your husband and kids! Go eat, take care of yourself, exercise!
Dad: “You cannot be sad all the time. It’s not fair to your babies. You have to continue to live and be happy.”

After a much needed verbal kick in the butt by my parents, I’m doing better now.

…but I still have my moments.

Yes, I’m feeling the love today…and the fever and phlegm. We’ve all been feeling a bit under the weather lately, but this morning I woke up feeling like I’ve hit the pinnacle of this cold. I’m weak and achey. While walking up to the gate when picking up Ashlyn from school, I suddenly felt dizzy and disoriented. The ground beneath my feet felt as if it were sliding (similar to standing on a skateboard). Gosh, dropping to my knees would have been so embarrassing. It was scary, but luckily it passed quickly.

Last week Ashlyn and I decorated a shoe box to hold her collections of V-day cards and goodies. This afternoon, we emptied the box and read each card outloud. Over-commercialized holidays like Valentine’s becomes fresh and so sweet experiencing it through the eyes of a child. Ashlyn was beyond herself with giddiness as she went through her pile of cards…cherishing each and every one. Too cute!

my little love bug

enjoying her sister’s treats

I’m resting on the couch and taking it easy today. I’ve turned on the TV (which is strictly off limits M-Th) to keep the kiddies occupied. *tsk-tsk*, I know.

Tags: Ashlyn, school, valentines

Since y’all got such a big kick out of it last year, it’s the return of the floating heads! HA!

Hope your day is filled with love, hugs, kisses, cards, chocolates, flowers, romantic dinners, and all that mushy stuff!

Weekends used to be a time for relaxation and lounging about….but these days, they’re mostly filled with kids’ activities, lots of driving, errands/shopping, and time with the in-laws.

Last Friday, after a full afternoon playdate with Ashlyn’s classmates, Aric and I took Ashlyn and Summer (along with a large group of friends) to see a production of “Annie” at the Orange County Performing Ats Center.

Although the play didn’t follow the movie exactly, it was an awesome show. The young actors gave an outstanding performance and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Ashlyn just loves musicals, and sang along to some of the songs. Summer, on the other hand, had a difficult time sitting through it. It was dark and from our seats (in the nose-bleed section), it was hard for her to see the stage. Aric had to take her out one time before the intermission. Luckily, the second half wasn’t quite as long and she was able to sit through to the end.

Saturday, we took the kiddies to the Orange County Children’s Discovery Museum. Ashlyn has been bugging to go for some time now, and since she has been improving on her school work and her rewards chart, we gladly obliged. Every month the museum features a new exhibit…this month is “Sesame Street Presents: The Body”.

My kiddies had a blast running amok and manipulating all the cool exhibits, labs, kiosks, and stations. At first I would read the educational information at each station to them, but they would just run off to the next before I even finished. *defeated sigh* They’re still too young, I guess…give them a couple more years.
View more pictures here.

Aric and I also had a good time. There’s so many things to see and do…but it was pretty crowded that day, so we didn’t get a chance to hit up each and every station. Good thing we bought a family membership…it’ll give us more opportunities to explore the center in the future. Much to my surprise, our membership also grants us free admission to 250 other Science Centers around the US (including my beloved Exploratorium, San Jose Tech Museum, and Happy Hollow, just to name a few).

Sunday, we gathered with the in-laws and relatives to celebrate Aric’s grandmother’s birthday. We lunched in Rowland Heights, then spent the rest of the afternoon and evening at my in-laws. While the kiddies played with Netty and the dog, I watch a whole lotta TV – “King Kong”, last half of “Matchstick Men”, last half of “Fatal Attraction”, and the first half of “Star Wars: Attack of the Clones” on HBO. I even watched parts of the Grammys (love love love Shakira and Wyclef’s performance, as well as Justin’s performance with Robyn Troup).

We have a pretty full calendar this week and a 4-day weekend (no school on Friday or next Monday) ahead. YAY!.

Tags: kiddies, pictures, weekend