Bath Time :)
Caleb has started to eat "solids"...
He's doing pretty darn good actually. I just keep telling him, "it's okay, mommy's new at this too!" We make quite a mess between the two of us; I have given up on trying to scrape the spills off of his chin with the spoon because it just confuses him; he goes for the spoon every time, no matter where I am putting it, he's dipping and swerving to get it closer to his mouth... so yeah, pretty messy but he's up to about 3 TBSP of oats twice a day. He's not sitting really consistently yet, so I have switched him into the bumbo seat for now. You can see in the pics that he's kind of tipping over, and in the one that I am in the shot, I'm holding him up by his right arm so he doesn't tip :)

We started swimming classes! He's quite a little fish; he loves the water and doesn't even mind getting his ears under and laying on his back on my shoulder. He's a social butterfly too; he just loves looking at the other babies, and grins his big gummy smile at them until they smile back. Sadly, they won't let us bring a camera in to the pool area at all... I will have to get one of him in his little swim suit though, he looks so cute!

I've been having fun with my new breadmaker... my first couple of batches of buns were a bit dense but edible. I was quite pleased that I could find multigrain bread flour.
Valentine's Day was great... Karl has been working so hard on painting the basement that between spending hours down there every night and working from home, I was pretty sure he'd forget that Valentine's Day was even coming (it doesn't help that he totally didn't grow up with the tradition!). But, he impressed me by booking his folks to babysit (last Saturday; we celebrated early) and taking me to a restaurant that I've been talking about going to since I was there this summer with my mom and sister (the Brava Bistro on 17th ave for you Calgarians). He also had a thoughtful card and box of my favourite chocolates (ferrero roche) on Valentine's Day itself. The best part about the chocolates was that he had wrapped them in a brown box and tied it with string... because I just watched The Sound of Music for the first time so we've been singing the favourite things song quite a bit these days!

Here's some fudge that I made. I gave a plain piece to Karl at his computer and went over to my computer... this is what our grandparents (parents?!) would roll their eyes at and think, "what is this world coming to?!" ... because I had only sat down for a couple of minutes and had a new email notification... from Karl. I opened it up to find this photo and a cute little love note. So techie eh? Hey, I'll take a high tech love note any day ;o) The funny part is that our computers are only about 10 feet apart, but blocked by a wall of storage boxes (that are usually in our basement... another story...)

[in case your monitor is a bit dark, this is the fudge I made, with "KD" inscribed on it by Karl]

Basement updates coming soon... I may let Karl do the honours on that one. He has a few little update video clips and may do another one tomorrow as they are spraying the ceiling. Next to decide on flooring... anybody have recommendations on what flooring to put in (or what not to) and/or where to buy some for a good price? We're thinking laminate...

Happy (Chinese) New Year!

"Happy New Year & Everything will go your way"

Weekly Awards

It's been a long time since we did the weekly awards; they're back!

• Best Martha Stewart moment: homemade marshmallows! (these were not too difficult to make, but also could have won an award for biggest mess ever made in the kitchen... a story for another time; I'll leave it to your imagination for now. Let's just say it involved boiling sugar, corn syrup, and gelatine... nobody got hurt, but kids... don't try this at home alone!)

• Best DIY-er:Karl working on the pantry part of our basement development

• Best frost in 2008: January 25...
• Understatement of the Year Award: "Karl's Happy To Be Working From Home..." January 28: -49*C with windchill. Yes, this photo is of the inside of our front door, 10am, with frost on screws of the metal lock. We didn't leave the house for a while!

• Best Sleep-fighter (he sleeps well at home actually, but fights it when there's action to be had, plus I was really just showing off his cute "bearly sleeping" Hatley sleeper that Grandma Jacquie got him in Kananaskis! Came with a hat too, so cute.) Caleb discovered his fingers in the middle of this photo shoot and they were much more interesting than the camera!
• Best illustrated health warning: DON'T SWALLOW YOUR GUM!
• Best January Date Night in Calgary: Zoolights (if it's warm out!)
• Easiest step you'll take to becoming environmentally friendly: freecycle! Freecycle has been my best friend over the last several weeks. It's an online, nonprofit movement of over 4 million people who are giving (and getting) stuff for free. "...It's all about reuse and keeping good stuff out of landfills..." Basically, you post whatever it is you want to get rid of, and whoever wants it emails you and says, "hey, pick me! pick me! I'll come by and pick that up tomorrow..." and you put it on your front step and it's gone the next day! Lovin' it. Did I mention we're developing our basement? Yeah, we had some stuff to get rid of! Incidentally, you can also post "wanted" ads on there. So I am the proud new owner of a free bread machine! I shouldn't brag too much yet though, I need to see if it works first :) Anyway, freecycle is all over north america, so check the site for a group in your town; if there isn't one yet, get one started* (*keep in mind that this would likely cease to be the "easiest step" you'll ever take to becoming environmentally friendly! This award only refers to the act of keeping something out of a landfill by giving something away or picking something up.)
• Creepiest supper dish (click for a wonderful close up):

Stay tuned early next week for pictures from our Chinese New Year celebration party with the family happening tomorrow night...

Caleb is 6 months old!

We can hardly believe it, but Caleb is 6 months old already! Here's a little clip of him rolling, his latest trick :) Turn up the volume, he has another treat in there for you too.

personalized mug template

If you've ever tried to make an insert for your personalized travel mug, you may know that it's a bit tricky... I did a lot of searching, but finally came up with this template; since it took me so long to find, I thought I'd share it with you... (they used to have some on starbucks.com, but I couldn't seem to find them anymore...). This site has some fun printable inserts, or, I am using the template to create my own collage for my bride-to-be friend that I am the "best woman" in the wedding for. I don't think she reads my blog... but if you're reading this Nicky, act surprised! ;o)

[editors update: since this is the most viewed page from google search engines, I thought it would be prudent to list the link that my sister gave me in the comments section... the actual starbucks mug template is here. Hope that helps!]

2012 update: seems those links are defunct now as well, but since I still get thousands of hits on this post, here are a couple more links that I hope stay current for ya! :)
http://www.theshaffers.org/announcements/starbucks-templates/
http://www.snapfish.com/snapfish/tumbler
http://makeitblog.com/downloads/starbucks-16-oz-photo-tumbler-template/

It's not a lie, it's just irrelevant

Whole grain popcorn? As oppose to what? Refined popping corn meal?

High Dynamic Range (HDR) Photography

I first discovered a digital photographing technique called "high dynamic range (HDR) photography" back in September 2006. Unfortunately, our camera then didn't really have the feature required to make it easy to use this technique. This Christmas, Dayna and I decided to get ourselves a new camera as our "big gift" -- the Canon S5 IS. It has the crucial feature called "automatic exposure bracketing" (AEB) that allows one to take a series of photos at different exposure levels. Afterwards, you can run the photos through a software and create an end result that looks like this:

The above is a shot of the front of our house. Compare that to the "point-and-shoot" version below:

Check out these other amazing photos on Flickr here:
http://www.flickr.com/groups/realhdr/pool/

TAGGED

I was tagged by Rachel

The rules of the game:

• Link to the person that tagged you and post the rules on your blog.

• Share 7 random and/or weird facts about yourself on your blog, as we all want to know them.

• Tag 7 random people at the end of your post and include links to their blogs.

• Let each person know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

7 Random Things About ME:

1. I am an identical twin
2. I used to play the trombone
3. I have spent at least one night in 315 cities in 11 countries
4. I worked at starbucks
5. I owned 2 volkswagen rabbits
6. I've been blogging since 2004 (is that random?)
7. I'm a "secret shopper" (rate customer service etc)

I am tagging:
Dunn
Sheryl
Stacey
Stephen
Tim K
Keri
Kori

Pre-spring Clean-up

Oh the joy of basement renos! It forces us to have a pre-spring clean-up. As Dayna had said before, I am amazed at some of the stuff that I still have... does that qualify me as a pack rat? Anyhow, when I was in high school in Hong Kong, we have physical education classes; but unlike it here in Canada, we have uniforms for those classes... and here it is:


As you can imagine, having phys-ed classes in 30°C+ weather would make for a very sweaty t-shirt after class. Packing it around for another half-a-day in our small yet fashionable backpacks would go against our teenager instinct to attract the opposite sex. Being a bunch of rascals that we were, we would wash our uniform in the bathroom before packing it; but that presents another problem: mixing of moisture and hand-written assignments (remember, this was in the 80's). As such, we came up with an ingenious solution of pinning up our shirts on the bulletin board in the back of the classroom, so that they will dry before we pack them in our bags. You can see in this picture some of the pin holes on the shoulder of the shirt.


In any case, in the same pile of old clothings, I also found the shirt of my scout uniform (my stories in Hong Kong seemed to revolve around uniforms). Unfortunately, I don't think I have my necker (Scout scarf) anymore.

I wasn't a very accomplished scout, evidenced by the scarcely decorated left sleeve. On the right-sleeve, the middle is the "Hong Kong Island East" district badge. The top badge is the "40th Group" badge. This particular group will be somewhat historic as "St. Margaret's College"does not exist anymore because the Catholic school board had decided to close down the school and the building has been demolished. When Dayna and I went to Hong Kong back in March/April 2006, I missed the reunion held there by a mere few days.

At any rate, that's it for now. I am sure we will find more interesting things as we dig through our boxes.

Christmas Photos

Here's a link to our Christmas album:
http://picasaweb.google.ca/dayna.chu/Christmas2007

:) Happy New Year!

Dayna

Holiday Eating Tips

My mom sent me this in an email... I had a few chuckles, so I wanted to share it (thanks mom!)... the funniest part is that she doesn't believe a word of it... and probably worked out every day of the holidays (see #6)... She made the most delicious low fat egg nog for Christmas eve dinner... let me know if you're interested and I will send the recipe :)

Holiday Eating Tips:

1. Avoid carrot sticks. Anyone who puts carrots on a holiday buffet table knows nothing of the Christmas spirit. In fact, if you see carrots, leave immediately. Go next door, where they're serving rum balls.

2. Drink as much eggnog as you can and quickly. You can't find it any other time of year but now. So drink up! Who cares that it has 10,000 calories in every sip? It's not as if you're going to turn into an 'eggnog-aholic' or something. It's a treat. Enjoy it!!! Have one for me. Have two. It's later than you think. It's Christmas!

3. If something comes with gravy, use it. That's the whole point of gravy. Gravy does not stand alone! Pour it on. Make a volcano out of your mashed potatoes. Fill it with gravy. Eat the volcano. Repeat.

4. As for mashed potatoes, always ask if they're made with skim milk or whole milk. If it's skim, pass. Why bother? It's like buying a sports car with an automatic transmission.

5. Do not have a snack before going to a party in an effort to control your eating. The whole point of going to a Christmas party is to eat other people's food for free. Lots of it. Hello???

6. Under no circumstances should you exercise between now and New Year's. You can do that in January when you have nothing else to do. This is the time for long naps, which you'll need after circling the buffet table while carrying a 10-pound plate of food and that vat of eggnog.

7. If you come across something really good at a buffet table, like frosted Christmas cookies in the shape and size of Santa, position yourself near them and don't budge. Have as many as you can before becoming the center of attention. They're like a beautiful pair of shoes. If you leave them behind, you're never going to see them again.

8. Same for pies. Apple, pumpkin and mincemeat - have a slice of each. Or, if you don't like mincemeat, have two apples and one pumpkin. Always have three. When else do you get to have more than one dessert?

9. Did someone mention fruitcake? Granted, it's loaded with the mandatory celebratory calories, but avoid it at all cost. I mean, have some standards.

10. One final tip: If you don't feel terrible when you leave the party or get up from the table, you haven't been paying attention.

Reread tips: Start over, but hurry, January is just around the corner.

Click for larger image...
I hope you had a fabulous Christmas! I love Christmastime for the social aspect... I love parties and getting together with friends and family... okay, presents are good too!

We had a couple of get-togethers this year; our church spoiled the staff and servants team with a wonderful dinner and night out at the Kananaskis Lodge, I had a bit of a gals' "Gingerbread Latte" night plus several individual visits, we had a family turkey dinner with Karl's family, a Christmas brunch with my extended family, Christmas eve with us and my folks plus my Grandma, and then more turkey Christmas day with my folks.

Caleb mostly drooled through the entire thing... but he did like the lights. He was especially hypnotized by the flashing lights on the reindeer antlers that my mom was wearing around on her head... her secret strategy to get Caleb to look at her!

We were spoiled yet again this year... we got seasons passes to the zoo, lots of gifts from "Karl's favourite hockey player" (Tim Horton!), I got a gorgeous ring from my sister as well as some shopping $. Karl and I purchased a camera as a "gift to each other" but he also got me some "Celtic Ladies" CDs, pieces for my Willow Tree Nativity set, and... the new Dance Dance Revolution game! now I am even more excited to get the basement finished (as if my kitchen being full of basement storage isn't enough).

Caleb got OMIGOSH so much Osh Kosh from my mom and trent... mom found an Osh Kosh store on her trip to Charleston, SC when she went to visit Melissa & fam in Mooresville. Caleb also got other cute clothes and a learning toy from the Forsyths, jammies from my Auntie Kathy & Uncle Paul, more cute clothes from his Langa Amma (Great Grandma), a "Baby ride 'em Quad" (yay basement renos!) some hand and foot print kits, a few fantastic books and some clothes from his Grandma Jacquie, "Paddy the Panda" (a lamaze learning toy)... and more that I am not recalling right now!
Lastly, Karl got Caleb giggling last night... here's a video :) Updates on the basement reno coming soon!

Our Christmas Decor...

Here's our little Christmas elf! (yes, I propped his ears forward under the hat!)Here's our beautiful Christmas decor... courtesy of basement renos! But my mantra is, "it will be worth it when it's done... it will be worth it when it's done..." Does anyone out there use freecycle? Freecycle.com is my new BEST FRIEND... you post stuff that you don't want, and other members check the listings and come and pick it up. It's amazing how much STUFF we have... I think we kind of moved in (4 years ago) and stashed everything without really going through it. Well, I still haven't gone through it all, but our rule is that it's not allowed back into the basement without being purged and labeled!

I have *way* more stuff than Karl... but I am amazed at some of the things that he brought here from Hong Kong... ie grade school crayons (he moved here when he was 16!). We've been sharing a lot of stories about our stuff!


Basement before and after pics coming early in the new year!

Best Before January 18, 2008...

I get all calloused and jaded about the holidays by the uber-early arrival of decorations and sales. This year it was literally in August... and we're not talking craft supplies here. Anyway, I think when it really hits me that Christmas is just around the corner is when the milk's best before date is in the new year. AHhh! Only 13 days until Christmas?! How did this HAPPEN?

What I should really be scared about, however, is that my milk doesn't go bad for over a month... what is in this stuff?

"Bundle" of joy

why not to get santa photos done...

We decided to wait another year to get Santa pics with Caleb... or maybe this is the only GOOD year to do it, while he's not "playing shy"? These are some pics from ellen's website


at least the other santas don't look like they're about to whoop your kid!

Reminder of an old story

I was doing some cleaning in the basement and was going through some of my boxes of stuff. Some of them are old textbooks and some of them are random keepsakes. Suddenly, this tape caught my glimpse and I started to remember the story.

About ten years ago, I was a little younger and a lot more active socially. By virtue of that, I was out for a lot of late nights. I recall one bitterly cold winter night, I left a friends house in the wee hours of the morning. I was nearly to falling asleep at the wheels and was not really paying attention to my surroundings as I headed south on 14th Street NW (in Calgary) just past the Winter Club and the Police Station. I stopped at the set of lights on top of John Laurie Boulevard. The light was about the turn green, but suddenly without warning, a native woman ran past the front of car, and before I knew it, she was in my passenger seat.

By now, I could tell that she had had a few drinks. She seemed calm enough, but still the last thing I wanted to do was to provoke a drunken stranger in my very own vehicle. So I asked if I could help her in some way. She said she needed a place to stay for the night, and she knew a friend who might be able to take her in. I felt a little annoyed because I was dead tired; but at the same time, I was a bit fearful. So I offered to give her a ride.

As we were cruising along the night streets of Calgary, she started unloading all her personal problems: broken family, abusive boyfriend, and the whole nine yards. I started to feel sorry for her -- I really did. Unfortunately (or rather fortunately), I had no similar life experience to draw on to be able to say anything intelligent to console her. So I just quietly listened and let out the occasional uh-huh.

After what seemed like a long drive, we finally arrived at her friend's house. Before I could wish her luck and say goodbye, she asked if I could hang on until she can be let in. I quietly sucked in a breathe of cold air through my teeth, and said "sure". As she staggered up the steps to knock on the door, I was tempted to just take off. However, I didn't have the heart to do so as it was a very cold night. If her friend was not home, or simply did not answer the door, she would have to walk for miles to find any shelter. So I waited and hoped the lights would turn on and the door would open. Neither happened.

She staggered back down the steps, opened the car door and let in another draft of cold air, climbed in and shut the door. "Now what?" I thought. She said she really need a place to spend the night and she did not know what to do then. She mumbled on for a bit and I was starting to get the sense that she was hoping I could make a place for her to stay in my home. Not to mention that I was living with my parents at the time, I simply would not have made it happened. I finally said, "I can give you a ride to another destination, but after that", I made up a white lie and continued, "I have to go home, or my wife would start to worry". She paused and thought for a moment. Then she asked if I could take her downtown to the Cecil Hotel. I agreed, put the car in gear, and started the final leg of this interesting journey.

During the ride, she continued on with her life stories for a bit, but then she grabbed a tape of native music out of her coat pocket. She stuck it into my stereo and then just listened to the music.

After what seemed like another long drive, we finally arrived at the Cecil Hotel and she let herself out. I finally got to wish her luck as she climbed out of the car. Needless to say, she forgot the tape and I was not alert enough at the time to have noticed. I kept the tape because it was a reminder of a somewhat funny anecdote in my otherwise-ordinary life. Moreover, it was also a reminder of this unique opportunity to catch a glimpse into a world that is unknown to me. Most importantly, it reminds me to be thankful for everything that is of me, and everyone and everything that surrounds me.

We got Elfed by the Forsyths!... check it out: Elf Yourself

I guess I just can't sit still...

Hey All,

So I've started selling "Lovable Labels"... check out my other blog for more info (www.lovablelabels.blogspot.com) or my website (www.dayna.lovablelabels.ca); Lovable Labels are dishwasher/microwave safe and the clothing and shoe ones are uber-durable. There are a few other personalized items available too, including personalized story-books and medical id bracelets.

That's all for now! Don't worry, I won't be sending you spam :)