Silicon Valley Moms Blog

I'll have the champagne, the halibut...and a label maker

Yesterday I awoke to the following:

Isaac: I want to play on the computer!

J [stage whisper]:  Okay, Bean, go wish your Mommy a happy Mother's Day, then you can play on the computer.
[poundpoundpoundpoundpound down the hall]

Isaac: Happy Mother's Day, Mommy!

Me: Thank you sweetie! Can I have a hug?

Isaac: No.  [Hugs me].
[poundpoundpoundpoundpound back down the hall]

Isaac: Step one, say Happy Mother's Day to Mommy!  Step two, play on the computer!

I fell back to sleep until 9:40.  Bliss.

Sandblasting and Extractions

For the last several months I’ve had the opportunity to go to an esthetician to get my eyebrows shaped.  As crazy as it sounds, I love this time.  I live for this half hour when I lay down on a heated table, close my eyes and have someone else fret over me. 

I call it my mini-massage.

My esthetician is a perfectionist.  She frets over a single hair.  A common conversation she has with herself over my head goes something like this, “Hmm.  Well I’m almost happy with your eyebrows… but I want to take one more hair off of this eyebrow.  But if I do that I’m afraid it will make the other eyebrow unbalanced.”

I sit there and smile.  Truth be told, I’d be perfectly happy walking out of her office each month with not a single hair left above my eyes.  Just being able to lie on her table while she manipulates my eyebrows is treat enough. 

A few months ago Sandra began telling me about a procedure called microdermabrasion.  I know all about microderm and have been itching to try it out, someday. However, when finances are tough, as they always are, it’s difficult to justify my $20 eyebrow shaping once a month, let alone this much more expensive and oh so unnecessary procedure.

25 Things Worth Doing

I would like to be able to claim my inspiration for this posting as my own brilliant idea.  I would like to, but I can't.  Instead this random list is inspired by Maggie Mason's post on her website, Mighty Girl, of 100 Things Worth Doing.  It reminded me to take stock and think about my best moments.  Am I on track to where I want to be?  Is it about getting somewhere or just enjoying the precious joys as they happen? 

I have pared my list down to 25 for now, possibly the first of a couple of installments.  These are things that I have done in my life to date that I will always remember as the best of choices, adventures, etc. in my world.  It is in no particular order and at the end I added just a couple of things I would love to see on this list if I were to write it again a year or two from now:

xxx
1. Being Pregnant (even though I hated it at the time) Twice - for no other reason than the two beautiful daughters in my life

Did You Know That Onions Grow in the Dark?

I didn't know that onions grew in the dark until I pulled one out of my closet pantry. I was wondering why my closet was smelling so bad every time I went in to grab TJ a snack. Way down low, in the back corner where it's dark, something was growing wild and free.

When I first caught a pungent whiff of stinky onions, I realized, "Shoot! We didn't finish off the 10 lbs of red onions from Costco in time. Now, they're rotting! Disguuussting!" I quickly held my breath, yanked the sack of remaining offending suckers and made a mental note to self. Next time, put half of the onions in the fridge.  Start with the ones in the closet and you'll be fine.

My husband has constantly berated me for buying garlic and onions in bulk when there are only the three of us. But hey, I'm Chinese. I practically throw bulbs of garlic and onions into my stir fry. And I swear, there's gotta be some Italian in my ancestry, because I can't get enough of my pasta. Diced onions taste so good in sauces, whether red or white. And don't forget salads, too.

So, the first thing I did when I realized my onions were decomposing was quickly destroy the evidence and spray with Oust! "There!" I thought. "Hubby won't even know it ever happened." I breathed a sigh of relief, figuring I caught the stink in time.
 

Diamonds May Be a Girl's Best Friend, But a Great Hair Stylist Is Priceless

I couldn't stand it any longer. I tried to hold off as long as I could.  I tried to accesorize, putting my hair up in a pony tail, wearing cute hair clips, and given the cold weather, wearing a different hat every other day.  But, last weekend, I had to go to a fancy, schmancy wedding.  And I didn't want to look "cute".  That was my everyday mommy incognito:  jeans, pumas, cardigans and sweatshirts.  No, this wedding called for me to do my superwoman-spin-till-I'm-dizzy transformation into a 30-something Silicon Valley woman.

Every outfit I was trying on just didn't seem to work. I hated all my usual favorites and there was only 15 minutes before the babysitter was going to arrive.  Aaaaggggh!  I should've gotten my hair cut sooner, rather than always putting it off and putting it off .. Without a good hair cut, everything just didn't look right at all.

Out of exasperation, I took a pair of scissors and started snipping. I started out lightly, barely taking off any length. But,then, I got daring. What the heck, my hair looks terrible anyways.  Might as well go for heavy fringes.  Bangs are back.  Just commit, I told myself.

Mommyblogger Tips for Avoiding Being Groped

Going to a recent fundraising event, the last thing I was thinking about was getting hit on by men.  My job was to cover the occasion, meet people, take pictures.  My friend and I made our way through the various areas of the venue with our purpose 100% in focus.  It was a fabulous organic event with one unintended consequence: a meat market on the side.  While the food was excellent, we were unprepared to encounter single men hitting on us and invading our personal space as we perused our surroundings.

Lucky for us, we learned a great trick that I'm going to pass along to all the other mommybloggers out there.  During that time between first contact (whether it be a look, an approach, a hello or some sort of line to get your attention) and the point where he discovers your wedding ring are some uncomfortable moments where you know there's... interest... from the new person you're talking with.  Sometimes that space can be more than uncomfortable - disconcerting, even.  In that empty space, the sooner you talk about mommyblogging, the faster you can get to the imminent disembarkment of the wannabe-beau, stalker, whatever.  Try it next time you're out by yourself and you get hit on or feel that vibe - watch the color instantly drain from mens' faces.  It's really a priceless social experiment.

Our Family's 2007 Naughty or Nice? List

Here is our Family's 2007 Naughty or Nice? List that was supposed to be published by Shutterfly in our holiday card, but they screwed up.  Here is life with twin five-year olds summed up in fewer than 1500 characters. I'd love to hear what you had on your hands this year, too!

Our Family's 2007 Naughty or Nice? List:

Dog Envy: If you like someone's dog, ask the owner when she is going to die.  If there are other family members, inquire about their estimated dates of death.  Offer to take care of the dog.

Delaying Tactics: If you don't like karate, tie on your yellow belt, then tie the long ends around a banister with, like, 5 knots.  Guaranteed to tick off your mom and make you 10 minutes late for class.

Boyfriend Criterion per Kitty Cat (5): "Bigger teeth than me."

I Could Really Use Some Hello Kitty Butt Paste

Hello Kitty Butt Paste doesn't exist, but I sure wish it did.  It seems that in the course of human events, the one constant is diaper rash, and my daughter has it.  Oh yes she does.

So I did what any (relatively) new mom and veteren geek would do - I panicked and then searched online for clues.  The medical sites were all vague and un-helpful and the doctor we spoke with at our friendly neighborhood medical foundation sent us down a random path, so I decided to ignore both and I went to the experts: moms.

How to Lose Friends and Influence, People

So I open my email this morning to discover that I now have one less friend than I did yesterday. On Facebook. Turns out my friend Jordan saw yesterday's NYT article about Facebook's new advertising strategy; that they plan to sell "ads that display people’s profile photos next to commercial messages that are shown to their friends about items they purchased or registered an opinion about," and she packed up and got outta Dodge.  [In case you're wondering what happens when someone de-activates their Facebook account, it's like they never existed.  Photos, profile, everything, down to the two sweet wall posts she left on my profile. Sad.] 

Here's what she had to say:

Hi All - I just deactivated my Facebook account. I've totally enjoyed our silliness with it and all, and it was a good experiment to see what it's all about (as much as anyone in their 30s can actually understand that!), but I am too cynical to think it's not just a way to use our information for other purposes. Here's an article from today's NYT that prompted me to go ahead and cancel. Sorry! xo, Jordan

Mother And Child Share More then Genetic Material?

A scientist friend of mine passed this article on to me from the globeandmail.com science section: "Mommy Dearest: She could all be part of us". It seems that Mothers may pass on more then half the genetic material for their children; they leave maternal cells that stay with their children for years to come. The article also said that children leave fetal cells in their mothers.

How nice, a good example of mother's sharing with their children before they are even born. It seems that these cells can come to the aid of mother and child, yet they are studying if there are also negative consequences. Either way, it is nice to know that I may have three generations of maternal cells within me. But I can't imagine that my stem cells were transfered to my boys, their brain works completely differently then mine. Maybe some of my maternal cells could help them remember to put the toilet seat down.