This evening, I returned home and straight back into the office. We are slowly putting together our home office, full of all the amenities that two workaholic yuppies could desire. We both have plenty of desk space and we plan on decorating to reinforce the particular gung ho which has facilitated successful careers. The walls will be festooned with power mantras and stern canvases with brilliant, broad brush strokes. These stark images will enrich the room as we, in turn, enrich our work and teams.
We just settled on a new house and have been in the process of cleaning and doing repairs. Firstly, I want to acknowledge my darling wife, Lisa, for being the point-person for much of the home-buying process. Also, she’s done the majority of the cleaning–she’s an incredible wife and partner!
Anyway, we installed a new mailbox today, and are slowly making the house our own. We hope you get to see it sometime!
Our nephew came today to spend the week. He’s a well-behaved baby of almost a year. I made him cry twice by scolding him. He insists on stuffing things into his mouth. I’m not sure I would mind if I were his parent, but since they mind, I am trying to prevent such behavior. I say ‘Mai!’ Which means no in our Chinese dialect. I try make it deep and threatening in a way that goes beyond language. It must work, because it has made him cry several times now. Aside from making him cry, I also wrestled with him a bit. He is really cute!
This week, Lisa and I have spring break from Temple University. We are going to enjoy it by going out on a night we typically have class. I can’t wait! This weekend was relaxing, long, and fun. I hope we’ll have many weekends like this once we both finish school.
On Friday, Lisa, Pris, Hung, and I went to a sushi place in Jersey off of Route 130 called Sagami. Although its tight, the food was excellent! We returned to Pris’ and I worked on her virus-infested computer while the others watch August Rush.
The next morning, I went to the laundromat to modify the system to accept card numbers in any rage, then the previous’ nights group went to Reading Terminal Market. Lisa and I had pita rollups and Hung and Pris had Thai food. We also snarfed down Famous Cookies‘ cookies. Afterwards, we went to KOP where Lisa shopped and I did some reading at Border’s. I read a couple chapters of Malcom Gladwell’s newest book, Outliers. The most interesting part was his explanation of why Asians are good at math. His theory has to do with the length of the words for numbers in Chinese languages, the linguistic formation of large numbers, and the difficulty of growing rice. Later that night, we met with the crew at Lonestar Steakhouse to celebrate Tuan and Chris’ birthdays. I gave Tuan a copy of the Manga Bible trying to play off his Catholic upbringing and love of manga. The food was better than Lisa and I expected, and we were glad we went.
Today we went house hunting in the morning, then played a little tennis, and did some spring cleaning.
Phone conversation with Jamie’s dad… of course he would like the idea of his son going to law school, of course!! and why? of course, you know why!! (i just tried to get it out of him…) what’s funny is how predictable this whole conversation was.
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Dad:when Andy was here and we went to dinner, I heard Jamie say that he wanted to go to law school and I thought it was a good idea….
Me: why is it a good idea?
Dad: oh I just thought u know it would be good to have a lawyer in the family you know, it would be good.
Me: but why is it good?
Dad: well, you know, I thought, u know, if he was interested in it, I think it would be good.
Me: you know, it’s not like we can afford it right now and it would be a full-time thing, we wouldn’t be able to have a family.
Dad: oh so you can’t do part time after he gets his master’s degree?
Me: well, it would take a long time and it is a lot of work.he was basically joking when he said it, it’s not a serious idea.
Dad: oh? He was just joking?I thought he was interested.
Me: well, he IS interested. He would go to school because he’s interested, not because of the money. It is nothing about the money and he won’t even be a practicing lawyer, it’s just to go to school because he finds it interesting.
Dad:oh so if he wants to do it, I think it’s a good idea.
Me: why??
Dad: oh, you think it’s a bad idea, lisa?
Me: No, I did not say it was a bad idea!!! I want you to tell me why you think it is a good idea.
Dad: well you know, no one in the family is a lawyer so it would be good. How much money do they make? You think they make a lot of money?
Me: I don’t know.
Dad:yeah it would be good.
Me: why is it good? Because they make money?
Dad: I just think it’s good. One thing is making money. The other thing is just u know, it is just good.
Me:don’t even think about it, it’s not something we are thinking of now. And if he even does it, it could be like 20 years from now.
Dad: oh?! He would do it in 20 years?
Me: no! I don’t even know if he will do it. I’m just saying it might be much later, or it may never happen.
Dad: oh, okay. Well I thought maybe if he wants to do it, his mother can help pay for it.
Me: look, don’t count on it. He was basically joking, okay?
Dad: oh okay, I thought maybe he heard Phedra say that her sister was a lawyer and –
Me: oh my gosh, you know Jamie is NOT LIKE THAT.He doesn’t care about that.
Dad: I thought maybe—
Me:HE IS NOT LIKE THAT. You should know that by now, he is NOT that type of person. HE DOESN’T CARE ABOUT THAT.
Dad: okay, what is he doing?
Me: he’s at home.
Dad:and where are you?
Me: I’m at home.
Dad: okay then I will talk to you later, I just wanted to ask you about that.
Jamie and I were in Europe for the holidays, including Christmas and New Year’s. We visited over a dozen cities and over seven countries during a two-week time span. Exhausting as it was, I still valued the experience and the time we spent together! We took over a thousand pictures and a number of videos. We plan to make a scrapbook of our trip (as we did for Hawaii) in a couple of weeks. We’ve just been so busy lately! We just celebrated Chinese New Year, we started our spring semester at school, and it’s been incredibly crazy at work. I speak for myself on the last one– last week I had about five 16-18 hour days at work, back-to-back, and the previous week, I was in Atlanta for a few days, where I also worked around the clock. For you ibankers out there, this is nothing– for me, it’s quite an extreme compared to the typical number of hours I work! At least I know that every hour contributes to my bonus, which I will get in June. =)
In addition to the things I mentioned that are keeping us busy, we’re also trying to start a book club with our close friends and relatives. It’s been hard to find time to read, but I still intend to finish the book by the deadline! We’re reading “The Power of One,” by Bryce Courtenay.
Last semester was pretty rough and it was annoying to have to drive to Center City every week for class. At least this semester, my classes are at the Fort Washington campus, much closer. AND… Jamie is in both of my classes! What an interesting experience it will be… I wonder who will do better. So far my record in grad school has been straight A’s and one B+… beat that, hun!!! =P
I think I’d like to write more often… not necessarily in a diary-like format, but perhaps, do some creative writing? I have never really been a good creative writer. I tend to enjoy writing more objective, factual pieces, like a research paper. Maybe this has to do with the business side of me… or perhaps this is a reflection of my repressed childhood…
This past weekend, Jamie and I celebrated a fun and long Thanksgiving weekend with friends and family. On the eve of Thanksgiving, we went out with some friends to dinner and drinks in the city. We had an excellent meal at Alma de Cuba, which we had never been to, and then coursed through the chilly streets of Center City in search of a bar or lounge, winding up at the rooftop of Continental. We were outside on the rooftop, but luckily there were these neat, tall heat lamps that kept us warm. My face was red as usual, after drinking a bottle of hoegaarden and still recovering from a sangria I had over dinner.
On Thanksgiving, we went to Jamie’s parents’ house for lunch and his aunt’s house for dinner. We had two meals with turkey that day, and my enlarged belly was quite visible by the evening; I’m surprised no one thought I was pregnant! (Important clarification: I am NOT.)
On Friday, I spent the day with my immediate family. My cute little nephew, Carter, is the most adorable little thing in the world! He is very attuned to sounds, always turning his head at the slightest bit of sound, and always recognizing the voice of his mommy and my mother when they call his name. When he looks at me, he stares, and his jaw drops, showing his two white little bottom teeth, and his head tilts to the side (nearly 90 degrees) to get a different angle of perspective. Then, he’ll smile a smile that looks fake, or maybe it’s the look of disgust. It’s actually quite adorable, but not as adorable as a real smile or laugh, like one responding to the random silly sounds that come out of his mommy’s mouth.
My sisters and I fired up the oven in the evening for some kitchen bonding. The oven in our kitchen is ancient and we use it about once a year– nearly always on Thanksgiving. This year, we made a tray full of lasagna, which Leena supervised me on, as the head chef. We took some risks this year and tried making tiramisu, pumpkin cheesecake, and cheddar biscuits (Red Lobster recipe). All of them turned out really well, with one exception. The tiramisu had way too much fluid and each bite felt like a waterfall in your mouth. As quantitative and analytical people, we discussed the results and evaluated the situation and learned some lessons that we may apply next time… if there is a next time for tiramisu.
Meanwhile, Jamie was in the family room, where he was most of the day. He babysat Carter while my sisters and I cooked and attempted to teach Carter to learn his alphabet, at age 8 months.
On Saturday, Jamie and I prepared our dishes to bring to our Thanksgiving Potluck with friends. Jamie made eggplant parmesean and I made summer rolls. It was a first for each of us, but the dishes came out pretty well!
It was a fun-filled weekend with lots of eating and cooking. -Lisa
It’s certainly been a while since this blog was updated, and this is actually the first time that I am writing an entry on this blog. At this very moment, I am at work — it’s a Friday afternoon and I am literally watching the time pass, despite my ever-increasing workload! Just one of those days…
Since the last post was in September of 2007, let me simply enumerate some of the things worth mentioning that have happened since that time.
In September, I started taking violin lessons, which was short-lived, since I stopped when school work got more intense.
In October, Jamie and I celebrated our 5-year anniversary since the day we met. We spent a weekend in NYC and crashed at my cousin’s/his brother’s apartment.
In December, Jamie and I completed our first semester of graduate school. On average, we each received an A- in our classes.
On December 13, I started a new job. I am now a Consultant for a private accounting, financial, and economic consulting firm that specializes in intellectual property.
In April, Jamie and I welcomed our very first nephew into the world. Carter is the cutest little boy in the universe!
In May, Jamie and I completed our second semester. We got a mix of A’s and B’s. I am officially half-way through with my pursuit of a graduate degree!
At the end of May, we went to Orlando with a few of our friends.
Now it is June, and as with all other months, we are keeping ourselves busy with school, work, and weekend activities. Time really flies, but I am glad that we are making the most of our time.
Usually in the warm seasons, Jamie and I play tennis. Just recently, we started going to a driving range, and with instructions from our dear friend Priscilla, we are learning how to properly swing.
We also have a bunch of weddings to go to in the next few months. I hope more of our friends get married and settle down. That way, when I have kids (in a few years), we can go through the process together and our kids can play with each other. Hehe…
All right. I tend to be verbose with my blogs (as I always was with my ancient Xanga entries). Let’s call it a day and I will try to update more frequently.
MBA classes have continued with a steady pace. I have been trying to find time to keep up with the textbook and while I have set a good pace with statistics, I am behind in economics. The teacher is somewhat dry and likes to amuse himself with little stories. I don’t mean to sound critical–I’m not. I appreciate that everyone has a different teaching style.
The extra work has meant that I have not been reading lately. Instead, to unwind, I’ve been playing Double Dragon II. I’m very close to being able to beat it with only three extra lives.
I have been contemplating life and its course recently. I feel like doing something totally new, something totally unexpected. Maybe I’ll whisk Lisa away to some foreign land, and we’ll start our lives all over. Can I fight the future and buck the trend with the recklessness of youth?
It’s back to school time for kids again, back to lectures, books, and teachers dirty looks. I must be a kid again, because I’m going back to school too! This is the second week of the fall term, and two weeks into my graduate degree. I’m taking a Statistics class and an Economics class this term–both required. The great thing about required courses is that both tails of the distribution (ahh I’m using Stat) have to take them. It’s nice to be an outlier.
