By tomorrow morning, I will have survived almost 72 hours at home. This is a big deal considering my previous visit lasted less than a day. What can I say, my patience for dealing with family has been at an all-time low. Overall though, besides the constant rooster calls (via telephone and clocks) and my parents' inability to speak in anything other than their stadium voices, it was a nice-ish stay. I caught up with childhood friends, shopped with cousins and even bonded with my mother over rice bowls.
Yes. Bowls. Apparently her newfound obsession is with dinnerware, rice bowls in particular. Which is kind of nice considering her past obsessions: there was the year of nylon tracksuits, replaced by Buddhist statues of every shape and size, and then came the chili garden (which is now producing more chili than any of us can eat). Every week she finds new bowls and plates and then ends up selling the old ones or just giving them away. I hope by the time I'm her age, they will have some sort of medication for this.
In other news, I'm off to London and Amsterdam on Sunday. So excited for the shopping and the fact that I'll be ringing in the New Year somewhere else. I'll try to update as often as I can, but in the meantime here are some funny quotes from mom to hold you over:
Mom: You look nice honey. Jacket very nice...
Me: Oh, this? This is old but I love it.
Mom: How much? Tell mommy, it expensive? Must be, look expensive.
Me: Um..I don’t remember..not sure actually.
Mom: Hmm, me think you shop too much. Why you spend so much money when jobs so bad? You waste the money!
****
Mom: You ate dinner already with Chinh? That good. I made soup for you too.
Me: [pause]
Mom: Make sure you eat it. Want to eat it now?
Me: Um..But I’m not hungry.
Mom: What? You diet again?? Why diet all the time? No good look skinny. Boy no like.
****
Mom: You think all the store, they close Christmas? Like no one work?
Me: [pause]
Mom: We go shopping tomorrow, okay?
Me: But all the stores will be closed, Mom.
Mom: So they ALL close tomorrow? Mom no understand why they do that. How they make money?
****
Mom: Eat more, you so skinny. Will die soon.
Me: Um..I don’t think I’m going to die?
Mom: Tsk, tsk, tsk..don’t talk back to mommy. I made soup for you. Want to eat it now?
****
Me: [hands over present]
Mom: I no need new camera. Why camera?
Me: To take pictures with when you go to Vietnam..
Mom: Okay, I take it. Thank you honey. Mommy can sell it for good price at flea market.
****
Mom: You need to drink milk. You want milk, I get for you?
Me: I’m fine without milk for breakfast.
Mom: Why no drink milk? Make you stronger, better bones. You get old, must drink milk.
Me: I take vitamins every day. Calcium vitamins too.
Mom: No, no. Vitamins bad for you. Very bad, just drink milk. Especially from cow.
Me: But um..that doesn’t make any sense..
Definitely not complete without Hello Kitty ornaments.
Hilarious video: http://www.makemylogobiggercream.com/
Gee, wonder why these shoes are discounted?
I can't believe it's already December. The last couple of months have come and gone with only two real blog updates from me. I'm sorry I haven't been posting anything but mobile posts. There hasn't been much time to do anything between work and my social commitments. November included a lot of late nights in the office and even a few weekends. The culmination of all that hard work was the launch of TypePad Connect. It was a *huge* release with lots of moving parts but the team made it happen and I couldn't have been prouder to have been a part of it. Now that the beta release is out, I actually have a bit of breathing room.
Recently I traveled to NYC for my college roommate's bridal shower and bachelorette party. That's Margie with the big present. Yes, we are the same height and size. That's why I originally wanted to live with her - it made borrowing clothes really easy. She's getting married in Costa Rica in January but sadly I won't be able to attend. That really is the last wedding event that I'm attending this year, I swear! I can't afford anything else even if there was something.
It's been a year since I've been back to New York and I've really missed it. The city feels like home to me, even when I'm walking down a street I've never been on, it feels like I've been there before. The sights, scents and sounds of NYC are always comforting. I like that it's a city that never sleeps. I know this means I need to spend some time living there. Maybe one day...
In family updates, I stopped talking to my mom for about two months. Long story short, that I won't get into here, but it involved a nagging voicemail about what I wasn't doing with my life. No, it doesn't stop with my mother even after you've turned thirty. That definitely was the longest I'd ever gone without talking to her. But I came home for Thanksgiving and it seems like everything is fine now. In true mom fashion, she didn't want to talk about it and preferred we act as if nothing was wrong.
The end of Spring brought significant changes with an almost three year relationship out the door. But no regrets. Now that time has passed, we definitely know it was the right decision for the both of us. I do miss the companionship but to be honest, it's been really good to spend more time on just me. This is the happiest that I've been in a long time. And there are only more great things coming especially with my big trip planned to London and Amsterdam for the New Year. Oy, I'm super excited about that!
Oh and I've been shopping a lot. But that's nothing new. :)
Always only 90 calories..
