Category Archives: Regional

For Me

After nap, I went out with Bean to run an errand, and I found myself driving past the Chung Tai Zen Center of Sunnyvale. I’d heard of them a couple years ago but never pursued actually locating the center. I’d also been on a mailing list for another Zen center in Mountain View, but I just haven’t gotten there yet.

As I drove by, I told myself I’d stop in next Wednesday when the babysitter relieves me for awhile. Then I changed my mind, because I felt nudged to take action right then. So I unloaded Bean (who was wearing her cheap sunglasses on a rainy day) and carried her in with me.

I was greeted effusively by a monk who was very sweet to Bean. I told them I had stopped in on a whim and that I wondered if they held sessions or classes. I was introduced to the Vice Abbott who gave me some handouts. He had led us to a classroom where he I think planned to give me time to read the material and then return to answer questions I had, but with Bean that wasn’t feasible. So we chatted briefly, and I learned that they are just about to offer their next session of classes. Each class is two hours, with the first hour being instruction and the second being meditation.

The level 1 class involves learning about meditation methods: breath-counting, mindfulness of the breath, middle way reality (a Zen practice). The topics covered are introduction to Buddhism and Zen, Karma and causality, the Four Noble Truths (suffering, the causes of suffering, nirvana, the Noble Eightfold Path), Three Refuges, Five Precepts. This class is on Saturday afternoons and is three months long.

The one hitch is that the time of class, 3-5 p.m., falls directly into the time we usually attend open houses. Some open houses are only held on Saturdays. While we are taking May off from searching, we do plan to return to house hunting later. My attendance at class will interfere with this. But this is something I really need. Husband supports me doing this, and I consider my timing propitious.

So that’s where I will spend next Saturday afternoon. Yay me.

Already Over

Today was my last day of physical therapy. I felt a little wistful, because I’ve gone twice a week for six weeks, and you get to know the therapists and aides a bit. I would highly recommend Santa Clara Sports Therapy to anyone; they are professional and friendly, and the atmosphere is not at all intimidating. I’m going to miss Ray, the therapist who worked on my knee the most. He was always upbeat and helpful, and his massages were thorough. My knee still has some swelling and occasional pain, but I’m fairly mobile and my legs are much stronger.
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There was a confirmed case of swine flu in a local high school. Branham high school was closed for a week; the infected student had recently traveled to southern California. There are three other probable cases of swine flu in Santa Clara county as well. While Husband and I don’t want to overreact, we decided to cancel our outing to the SF Zoo on Sunday. We figured it’s unwise to be exposed to hundreds of people and the surfaces they touch, and caution doesn’t cost us anything. The zoo isn’t going anywhere.

Do The Right Thing

It’s Earth Day. One of our kitchen fluorescent tube lights burned out and we have to dispose of it. After some Googling, I found this information for California:

A fluorescent light tube in your dumpster is a violation of the hazardous waste laws. Violation of these laws can result in large fines and criminal prosecution.

Fluorescent tubes contain mercury and become hazardous wastes when they no longer work. Mercury poses especially serious hazards to pregnant women and small children. Non-working tubes must be recycled by an authorized recycling firm and cannot be discarded in the trash.

Fluorescent tubes and bulbs may be managed as universal wastes under Title 22, Chapter 23 of the California Code of Regulations. This allows those who wish to discard their fluorescent tubes and lamps to do so more easily than if they were managed as hazardous wastes.

Although spent fluorescent lights can not go into the trash, there are several options for getting them to an environmentally safe and responsible recycler.

For residential disposal, you can do the following:

Find a partner in the Take-It-Back Program and drop it off (such as Orchard Supply Hardware).

Find the local Household Hazardous Waste Facility to take fluorescent tubes
and bulbs along with other universal wastes — search Earth911 or the Department of Toxic Substances Control.

This and more information for California is in this PDF.

Ah, Insomnia

Today was the first really warm day of the year: 95 degrees. And I, as usual, can’t sleep because it is still warm inside and out.

We went to see a house yesterday and today. The yesterday house we liked well enough, more for its location than perhaps the interior, but the price is higher than we feel comfortable going. The house we saw today was, well, just another frakking house. It was well-priced, but there were several problems with it, and it just didn’t stand out to us. Husband and I agreed that it is time to take a break — for me, not for him. We have spent every single Saturday and Sunday since the first weekend in January looking at houses. We have done nothing else, because after working around Bean’s nap and the open house schedules (1-4 p.m.), there is usually little time for any family trips elsewhere. We do get to a park after each foray, which we all enjoy.

But I’m weary. I’m rather depressed at the prices and the quality of the houses we see for those prices. I have not had any “me time” on the weekends for several months. The only weekend we took off from looking was the weekend immediately after my surgery. Husband used to take Bean on long walks in the neighborhood that afforded me time to clean, do laundry, etc. or just be home alone.

So I don’t know how long our break will be. The good thing all this research has done is that it has helped us clarify exactly what kind of house we would like to buy (e.g., square footage, small yard, recent build, etc.). It’s just that we haven’t found it yet. Next weekend, however, we will go on an outing to a zoo or museum — something fun.

And I’m working on cleaning out my closets of old clothes and stuff that feels extraneous. I’m not touching art supplies or yarn. I just need to streamline a little or I’ll go mad.

Here’s hoping sleep comes soon. I really need it.

Still Trying To Wrap My Brain Around This

Apparently it’s all doom an gloom still in the housing market. We’re still looking to see what’s out there that we can possibly afford without risking our necks and also feel comfortable living in. Please note in the quote below what is considered the “low end” of home values here. We’re talking about houses, condos, and town homes that are 1,200 to 1,900 square feet.

“Sales are up dramatically,” said Jim Klinge, an agent in San Diego. “There’s a group of buyers that need housing more than they need to pay attention to the doom and gloom headlines we see every single day.”

Many of his buyers are young people who are backed financially by their parents. Mr. Klinge noted that all the sales were on the low end, which in San Diego means less than $500,000.

—Record Drop in January Index of Home Prices

We went looking at new construction last weekend. I have to admit there’s a huge appeal to shiny new homes. Especially at these prices. If you’re going to spend that kind of dough, getting something fresh and new makes sense. These homes aren’t complete, so when you purchase you can choose what counters, paint colors, floors, etc. you want. So, shiny and new is attractive, unless you want a postage stamp yard (i.e., a detached single family home). If you want actual land with your house, you get much less interior space or house that needs some work.

One of the realities I am struggling to accept (I have actively resisted) is that we live in an urban area. I cannot recreate the neighborhood in which I grew up. We will never own a house with the size yard that I enjoyed. I cannot do this because it’s just so dense and intense here. Bean is having her childhood, not mine. It’s a fact of our lives that we live an urban existence. I need to find what is good about that for her sake and mine.

Drama We Don’t Like

A couple months ago, two blocks from here where I walk with Bean, a man brandishing a gun wandered the streets and was shot by police when he refused to drop the weapon. I think he survived. I haven’t heard anything about it since, but it’s disconcerting. We could have been taking a walk in that area at the moment.

Last night six people died in a family murder-suicide in an area of Santa Clara where friends live, and where we have looked at housing. Of course, these tragedies happen all over, even in rural areas.

We just had an earthquake here at 10:40 a.m. Not huge, but a reminder of a restless earth.

Busy Weekend, Then Back to Work

Tomorrow my “vacation” ends, and Husband’s vacation begins — both of us will be going back to work. His vacation is from me and from full-time waiting on two demanding females. 😉 My break was the two weeks of healing from surgery, and I’m mostly mobile. We’ll see how I fare tomorrow!

Yesterday we went to an open house in an area of San Jose we rather like, and then we drove up to Hayward to purchase a used Schwinn recumbent stationary bike for me. When we got home we realized it’s a few inches too long for the space we thought it would fit, so we had a long discussion about our stuff and how much house we need in the future. We also talked about how much house we can afford and looked hard at the numbers in several scenarios. We came away with a better sense of our priorities.

Today we toured seven different model homes in Fremont and Morgan Hill. All of them were vertical (three townhomes and four houses), and my knee communicated its displeasure at the end of the day. However, we saw some things that have potential. Then around 6:30 we met some friends at Choi’s Korean restaurant. The girls had fun eating the glass noodles and other food, and it was good to get out with friends. We’re all tired out. Bean is just going to bed now, and we hope dearly that she will sleep long and well. We rarely miss bedtime (8 p.m.), but now and then a special occasion is okay. She is a really patient and cooperative child while we wander through homes every weekend.

So Far This Week

It’s been a low-key week so far. I wasn’t my usual social self; in fact, I’ve been a little cross now and then. I had an upset GI tract on Monday, a small bout of flu or something. Aunt LP was a huge help to Husband while I was knocked out much of the time, and Bean adored her. We did get to visit a little, but as I wasn’t the most chipper host I’m sure my company left something to be desired. 🙂 She left this afternoon, and I’m wishing her good travels. Her flight was delayed and left her with no connections from Houston to Austin (spring break, SXSW events), so I’m hoping she got a standby flight.

I got my stitches out on Tuesday. I had two tears in the meniscus. One was large and folded under; it caused the most damage. I have arthritis in the area now. I start physical therapy tomorrow for six weeks. I can put 100 percent weight on my leg for short amounts of time, but it tires easily. Heck, I tire easily. I seem to have no energy. I stopped taking the narcotic painkillers on Saturday, but I still feel a little loopy and off-balance. I won’t be driving a car until I’m off crutches, which is probably around March 28. Husband will be off the rest of this week and all of next taking care of us. He’s been amazing.

Bean has bonded a lot more with her Daddy than ever before. He takes her out every day for an hour or two at a park, which has done him a lot of good as well. She cries for me and has tantrums when I’m not available, but I’ve noticed she’s become his little buddy and helper too. Her vocabulary continues to grow and her sentences become more varied and complex. She’s going through another growth spurt or something. One day she basically ate all day in large amounts, had a long nap, and this morning she slept in until 7 a.m. I swear she looks different from one week ago.

Day Two

Bean woke at 7:15 a.m. and started the day well. She didn’t ask for milk until late in the morning. She still refuses milk in a cup and gets mad when it’s offered. But she’s eating a LOT of other food, including 9 ounces of yogurt today.

While I cooked this evening, I offered milk in a “take and toss” cup — a simple plastic cup with a lid. She sat on the kitchen floor and played with it. Then she took a sip and had a whole conversation with herself, most of which was garbled — she has her own language and syntax. But we did hear her say “bottles” and “fairy” and “milk” and “cup.” Then she began playing with the cup and dripping milk on the floor. I stopped that after a few minutes, but the fact she took a sip and was talking to herself about it is heartening.

Oh, and she skipped nap today. We put her down but she wouldn’t sleep. So we went out to look at houses and go to a park, where she enjoyed herself thoroughly. I also had a long conversation with another mother I met there with whom I felt a connection. We traded email addresses, so perhaps something will grow out of it.

We Survived

We survived the first day. Bean is on a milk strike. She won’t accept milk (plain, chocolate, or strawberry) offered in any container that is a sippy cup, tumbler, or with a straw. The times she requests milk disintegrate into tantrums and crying, with her pointing at the fridge crying, “Milk! Milk!” and swatting away what is offered in the cup. Bean has developed a habit of saying “I saw-wy” when she gets hurt; it’s her way of communicating that she is hurt. At one point she ran to me crying and saying, “I saw-wy! I saw-wy!” and it was very hard for me to stay stoic. Much of the day she wanted to be in my arms. I expected this. It’s very upsetting to lose a beloved ritual and object. I provided all the cuddling she needed, and Husband and I talked to her about how the Bottle Fairy came and did this because she’s a big girl and can do it herself.

However, the day wasn’t really that bad. When she didn’t get milk the way she wanted, she asked for other food. She also requested yogurt. By the end of the day she had eaten 16 ounces of yogurt, along with many servings of fruit, cinnamon toast, vegetables, chicken, bologna, and a hot dog. She also compensated for the absence of milk by drinking a lot of water, so there’s no risk of dehydration. (And what goes in must come out. She produced six very toxic diapers! Oy!)

We went to three open houses in an area of San Jose that I wasn’t certain I’d like, but one of the houses I did like well enough. We’re still debating our options. After that trip we took Bean to a park we like a lot — it’s always very busy with families playing — and then treated ourselves to a bad-for-us dinner at Popeye’s.

Bean loves her rocking horse. She spent the day riding it and by the end had learned how to mount and dismount by herself. Husband also brought home a discarded keyboard for her to play with, and she’s very happy to “press the buttons” when she’s not rocking.

happy with horse

Quick Update

Bean’s fever broke on Thursday, and yet she still isn’t quite well. She never fully bloomed into a cold (no sneezing, coughing, runny nose), but her voice is hoarse and she is cranky, cranky, cranky.

Meanwhile, it was 71 degrees today; our average is 59.

If Only I Were A Ladybug

Husband is a researcher. For months he has diligently tracked the housing market to see if house prices will enter a range we can afford. In the past couple of weeks, we have taken field trips to various parks in San Jose neighborhoods to see if we like the area, and to see what our money could buy. Unfortunately, this also means a much longer commute for Husband. He works in Mountain View, although this is not a given forever. Yet we cannot afford to buy a house north of Santa Clara.

So far, we’ve learned that the house we want (about 1,400-1,700 square feet, two baths, and a small yard) we can’t afford in certain neighborhoods (or we can only afford a town home, but those rarely have yards), and the houses priced so that we could buy are in neighborhoods that are run down or downright scary. It still galls me that $500,000 can only buy a shack. But we will continue to look, to eliminate areas and narrow down a few regions we might afford. Then we’ll see what happens to the market. It continues to move in our favor, but we’re still talking scads of money. Since we already pay $2,200 a month for rent — and since we know it will go up again this year — we might be better off at least getting some equity built up (though it will take many, many years for that to happen).

I took the photo below at the San Francisco Zoo. If only my housing issues were as simple as a ladybug’s. This looks like an inviting place.

sf zoo leaves 1

What’s Cooking?

The first week of January is nearly past! I have only a few minutes to write this post, so it’s a bit scattered. I signed up to participate in Creative Every Day 2009, so here’s my first post about it. For Christmas I received some culinary items: a jumbo muffin pan, four really heavy cookie/jelly roll sheets, 6 tart pans, 4 mini loaf pans, and 2 mini cake pans, along with a book called Small-Batch Baking. I really enjoy baking (even more than cooking), but most baked goods are indulgences. And as we should know but have forgotten, an indulgence is a treat, something enjoyed specially; however, the quantities most recipes create are many dozens of cookies or large pies and cakes that a family of three does not need.

This morning I put the loaf pans to use by making more pumpkin bread. I’ve found that large loaves don’t get consumed quickly enough, and another point to baking small is to reduce the amount of temptation to overeat. I was really pleased with the results and look forward to making more goodies. The recipes in the book make very small amounts; for example, a recipe for a cake makes 2 little cakes (slightly larger than a jumbo muffin) or a half a dozen cookies.

I’ve also decided this year to get creative about food in a different way. I received three other books, some of which provide ideas to ponder and one of which also has recipes. One of my relatives has undergone a significant weight loss, and she and I discussed eating habits and the need to remain healthy, and how excess weight impinges on health. Eating differently — heathfully and in less quantity — is also a creative response to environmental issues.

I realize I have, for too many years, consumed food mindlessly in quantities that would shock a large percentage of the world population. As I watch my daughter learn to eat and to feed herself, I’ve felt my conscience poked and prodded. She follows her natural hunger and satiation. It’s been so long since I stopped at satiation. I know what hunger feels like but often eat as recreation, and I often eat beyond simple fullness. So many people live on much, much less. And in fact, as my relative and I discussed, our sense of proportion is extremely skewed. We have grown accustomed to large servings and lost the understanding of how truly little a body needs to thrive. By reducing how much I consume, I can save our family money, and some of that money will go to organizations such as Feeding America and Heifer International. So the books I will be reading are:

All Through The House

After reading three different versions of The Night Before Christmas about 20 times each today (which I did willingly and happily), sweet Bean is now asleep. She is too young to understand who Santa is or what Christmas is really about, but our little parrot spent the day repeating Santa and (with prompting) Merry Christmas. It comes out sounding more like Mewy Cwithmah. Quite charming!

She sampled two spoons of my clam chowder. A simple supper of French bread and clam chowder on Christmas Eve is a family tradition from my childhood which Husband has enjoyed adopting. As I write this, I’m listening to the radio, a classical music station with symphonic Christmas music. A small glass of eggnog is at my side. Husband is upstairs wrapping the rest of his presents to me. All of the others are wrapped.

I’ve also explored Norad Tracks Santa. It’s a lot of fun even for adults. Click on the small presents and a little box with a photo of the location pops up. There are places — little atolls and countries — that I never knew existed. There’s also video footage of Santa traveling and a narrative about what he’s doing. Oh! I must remember to leave out cookies and a glass of milk for Santa too.

Sweet dreams of sugar plums, everyone!

Change In An Instant

I just learned today that my good friend who has a two-month-old baby (Baby G) was in a bad car accident on Saturday. Her baby is fine and so is her husband, but she was moved to a hospital in Oakland for surgery. She has a smashed kneecap, a smashed tibia, a broken rib, and a broken collarbone (which needs a pin put in). She’s in surgery today for her knee and collarbone. At the end of the week she may go home if she can maneuver herself into a wheelchair, but if not, she’ll have to go to a rehab facility for awhile. Her came mother-in-law came from out of town and is watching the baby right now.

She called me today to let me know and unburden herself. We’d given our infant car seat to them, and that was what Baby G was in when the accident occurred. It will need to be replaced, and she said they’d be getting the same one. My friend was trying to be brave, to focus on the fact it could have been so much worse. Yes, it could have been, yet it is also pretty bad right now. She is without her child. She is pumping her milk in an attempt not to lose it. She has a long road to physical healing. She will have to somehow care for her baby and herself once she’s home, and she’ll need a lot of support (professional and informal friend support).

It’s the kind of thing that happens all the time to someone. It’s just not someone I know. So I’m a little aquiver from the news.

So Much Fun

We had a lot of fun in San Francisco. We started later than planned and took the car instead of Caltrain, because Bean was cranky and had a slight fever in the morning, and Husband has been sick. I wanted to see how things would settle out. But it seemed okay to leave them, and we arrived around 10:30. It was very chilly and breezy, but the sun was out, so we walked from the AT&T stadium (where we parked) up the Embarcadero for awhile. Then we caught the MUNI and went to Fisherman’s Wharf.

We ate New England clam chowder in a bread bowl, then did some shopping for gifts. Then we hiked a few blocks to look at some art at Lahaina Gallery (my eyes almost popped out of my head when I heard the prices). We looked at a couple of works by Dario Campanile — Il Banchetto (which I really liked) and La Tazza Blu. We also looked at originals and prints from James Scoppettone (the photo on the site doesn’t do justice to the vivid painting). Since we didn’t have a spare $17,000 for the original or $3,000 for a limited edition canvas giclée print, we left without purchasing anything. Then we walked to Ghirardelli Square for hot chocolate and yummies.

Then it was back to the Wharf for dinner and a little more shopping. We ate at Neptune’s Palace and saw the sunset. We had a perfect view of the bay and Alcatraz. From the angle we sat, the island looks like a large tanker ship. Then we got a trolley to MUNI and took that back to the car. We were home by 7:15 p.m., in time to see Bean a little while before her bedtime.

She and her Daddy had a good day together, but he was exhausted. We were originally going to take a little day trip today to the coast, but since it’s cold and might rain, we might just stay home and bake cookies instead.

Here’s a photo from the other day. It was close to dusk, windy and cold, but we had to get out of the house for some fresh air. This is a sweet shot.

looking for leaves

After Eight Years

For the first time in eight years, I feel hopeful about the future of our country. I am thrilled with the historic presidential election results.

In his famous Gettysburg Address, President Lincoln urged every American to take on “the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far nobly advanced.” That work remained unfinished, though, for a century and a half. For despite decades of civil rights legislation, judicial interventions and social activism — despite Brown v. Board of Education, Martin Luther King’s I-have-a-dream crusade and the 1964 Civil Rights Act — the Civil War could never truly be said to be over until America’s white majority actually elected an African-American as president.

That is what happened Tuesday night, and that is why we wake up to a different country. Yes, the struggle for equality is never done. But we can start afresh now from a whole new baseline. Let every child and every citizen and every new immigrant know that from this day forward: Everything really is possible in America.

–Thomas Friedman, Finishing Our Work

It’s not looking so good for Prop 8 and Prop 4 here in California, though.