Anticipation
There is nothing quite like New York City during the holiday season. This trip allows us to enjoy the best of family, friends and all that the city has to offer at this magical time.
Our Everyday
Sharing our stories, big and small.
Own your dreams
Own your regrets
Own your hips, your thighs, your gut
Own your laugh lines
Own your insecurities
Own your strength
Own your vulnerability
Own your gratitude
Own your silliness
Own your somber
Own your moodiness
Own your contentment
Own it all
Or no one else will
Best Friends Forever
Dear Eun Jung,
I’m sorry for stealing Robert. You were my best friend and I stole your crush. You confided in me and you told me your secret feelings for a guy I hardly noticed. You were slightly embarrassed because he wasn’t that cute and was kind of goofy but something about him made you like him. It took nerve to share it. You were brave. How could you have known that the moment you uttered his name you made him a person of interest putting him squarely in my radar? Suddenly I noticed the cuteness in his goofiness. He was tall and had broad shoulders, he was friendly and immediately receptive to my new interest. I would gain his attention for you, I would make sure he knew who you were, I would see if he liked you. So I smiled, I laughed at his jokes and I touched his arm. We all hung out and became friends. Perhaps because it faded naturally as crushes do or perhaps because you could see the mutual interest between he and I, you denounced your crush and moved on. We flirted and carried on for a few more months and then without ceremony my crush faded as well. And just as suddenly as Robert went from obscurity to the center of the universe he faded into the dusk.
Your friend,
Apologizing on behalf of Susan 1989
When Penny comes home from school she runs right into my office and proudly shares the crafts and drawings she made that day. When showing me this drawing she told me everyone that went for a boat ride: Penny, Oliver, Lucas and Daddy. When I asked where was I she said “You are the boat”.
Our Christmas traditions…
Breakfast with Santa at Clyde’s at Willow Creek…The Nutcracker…The Elf on the Shelf…
Dear Santa with the tattoos at Breakfast at Clyde’s, we know you’re not the real Santa and you make us a little nervous.
“Ummm….”
“I want a pink princess dress”
Oliver: Ummm….
Penny: I want a pink princess dress
Lucas: I want a dinosaur kit
Dear Santa at Breakfast at Rockefeller, your joyful laughter made us giggle, your velvet red sack of toys made us smile and your kind words warmed our toes.
Oliver: I want Thomas train
Penny: I want a baby doll
Lucas: I want a fish
Dear Santa, the real Santa, we journeyed to the North Pole to see you. You listened to our lists and tucked our letters into your right boot, the Nice boot.
“I want a truck”
“I want Pokemon”
“I want a baby doll with long hair”
Oliver: I want a truck and Thomas train
Penny: I want a baby doll with long hair I can braid, headbands, bracelets and Calico Critters
Lucas: I want two Poke-balls, Pokemon X, Ash gloves and a fish
Believe for as long as possible
There are a few children’s stories that make me cry, make me choke up and tear up each time I read it, make me pause to where my children look up and ask why I stopped reading. “The Little Stone Lion” with the beautiful cover implies heart tugging emotion. The artwork, simplicity and truth of the story touch me every time.
I first read “Mars Needs Moms!” while at the bookstore with my entire family. The cover with the Mom and Milo is sweet but the premise of Mars and the recent movie prepared me for a humorous story. 
It read humorous with an interesting premise, one of course that I could appreciate being a Mom. And then it hit me, I turned the page and Milo realizes, sees his Mom in a new light. The words, his realization, the illustration just hit me and I was a ball of mush.
During the holiday season I like to read one holiday-themed story a night. On this night the selection was “A Bad Kitty Christmas”. For those of you that have read any of the Bad Kitty books you are familiar with the surly cat, the humor, ample use of alliteration and clever story telling. Bad Kitty books make me laugh but never have they ever made me cry.
I’m making quick progress through the book as its quite long and the night is getting late. Told in the voice of “Twas the Night Before Christmas” Bad Kitty creates a disaster of Christmas only to make things worse by running away. Taken in by a lady she shows Kitty her Christmas tree simply adorned with photos of all the folk in her life and the people she knew and teaches Kitty the true meaning of Christmas: Family. Kitty flees and returns home leaving the lady to say:
“So I sat in my chair and put my tree in my lap and settled myself for a long winter nap. I was happy to know she had a home of her own. Too bad I’d be spending my Christmas…
alone.”
Of course the story has a happy ending but it impressed upon me the importance of our history, our stories, loved ones gone and the true meaning of Christmas. In years to come when I reflect on Christmases past I won’t remember what was under the tree. I will remember all eleven cousins singing karaoke, all six Go grandchildren climbing over Lola for a photo, Papa and Nana taking us out for dinner to a Japanese steak house because they think our kids love it but the fire always makes Penny and Oliver cry, my Mom feeding my kids kim-bop with no egg, my Dad spilling hot sauce on Jodi’s white tablecloth, Oliver playing trucks with my Dad and my Mom smiling as she listens to her four chatty daughters gab away. This is what I will remember, the blissfully ordinary moments shared by family.
I love this time of year. And each year I have the desire to do something more, more than just buying each of my kids their heart’s content but I forget, each year. Thankfully to Oracle and an organization called KINDH (Kids In Need During Holidays) this year I did not forget. Each volunteer adopts a family in need for the holidays, buying the children toys and providing a gift card for a holiday meal. My family had a five year old that wanted Barbies and likes to read, a four year old that likes to build and a two year old that likes to cook.
I wanted my children to be involved so in addition to what I bought, I asked Lucas and Penny to each donate an unopened toy of their own.
Shopping for these three children was the most rewarding shopping I have done all season.
The gifts are all wrapped and will be delivered to the family this Friday. I’ll never know the looks on their faces and I’ll never know if I got everything exactly right. It is entirely true, by giving do we gain.
Hands down, without a doubt, the personal quality I cannot stand in others is cheapness. This bothered me when at the age of 13 I had a close friend who would count every nickle and dime and it continues to bother me today. It bothers me so much I almost have a sixth sense about it, if I start to sense this trait in a person it’ll immediately turn me off and although I may continue to be friends with them the friendship won’t go as deep.
The least favorite trait in myself? How ironic but the two are related. My least favorite trait is this notion of tit for tat. I keep score. I can’t help it, there’s no denying it’s my true nature but something I fight against everyday. If I treat a friend to dinner, the original intent is one of generosity, I want to treat my friend to dinner. But afterwards, if they never reciprocate this will bother me. So am I being bothered because they are “cheap” or because I’m keeping score?
