In This Time of Need

Yesterday I came across a news article on CNN.com about one man who killed his family and then himself in Southern California. Why? Because of the horrible economy and how he could not find a job for months. My heart broke. It seems like everything is going wrong, and many people feel there is no hope. I personally went through the hardship of looking for employment for about two years before I finally found a job where I am currently working for about four years now. I can feel the people's frustrations of not being able to find a job. For those are actively looking, you WILL find something. Things will get better. In fact, I believe that once we hit the rock bottom, we learn from it and move up.

I want to share something that may inspire you to think positive. My sister in law Ninotchka "Nino" is truly amazing. She is the one who started this blog, www.thehappyblog.com. Go ahead and read, hopefully, this will remind you why we should appreciate little things and be happy no matter what in life! Enjoy :-)

Morning Person? No way!

Lately I have been having a difficult time to get up in the morning despite the fact that I make an effort to sleep earlier. Luis, on the other side, has no problem getting up bright and early. I would protest and throw the cover over my head whenever he turns on the light in our bedroom. Even with the ceiling light on, I remained fast asleep at least for a while. I would wake up to look at what time it is. When the clock shows like 6:30 or 6:45 am, I groaned and forced myself to get up. There are some days where I am tempted to sleep in, and forget about work. However, I knew there are some things at work that are time sensitive. Great. Eventually I got up and dragged myself to take a shower. I have never been a morning person, like, ever in my life. I recalled several times while I was growing up where my dad would get angry and pull the sheets off my bed. He would sign furiously, "Get up now!" He absolutely hated it when I slept in late, like, until 9 am or even later until noon. To him, it is a complete waste of a productive day.

However, I can assure that since last several years, I have improved at getting up early. Still, no matter if I get up early, I am still NOT a morning person. Like, at all. My mind barely functions properly in the morning. Give me tons of iced tea (not coffee, yuck!), and life will slowly return to my body ;-)

Inspired

The other night I had a lovely chat with a dear friend on vp. Thank goodness for the videophone where we can see each other's faces, and converse in American Sign Language. Anyhow, she mentioned that she is looking for a job. Even though she is deaf, it does not stop her from approaching hearing people to inquiry about a job opening. Many deaf people I know tend to be passive and accept the consequences without standing up and be proactive. I applaud her for being proactive, and be strong! And by the way, she is an Aries, which in other words, she has no patience to wait and plus, she is stubborn. She definitely inspires me to be more proactive and stand up a bit more. It is too bad that we live way far apart. Every time I wear the purple Tampa t-shirt, I always think of her ;-)

After our chat on vp, there is nothing more in the world than wanting to live near my dear friends. However, again, thank goodness for the videophone!

Update

Surprise surprise....I have time on my hands! Benjamin went to bed way too early. Apparently, he did not have a solid nap at the daycare. That was all because of his erratic sleeping schedule last weekend due to being sick with a fever. He's feeling all better now. Ahh, speaking of the devil, he just woke up. :-)

Success!

Yesterday and today, Benjamin was very much looking forward to the daycare. As a matter of the fact, once we stepped into Sarah's house, he zoomed to the playroom! I was surprised but pleased. Sarah has been very open to learning some sign language, such as "play", "eat", "milk", "sleep", "diaper" related to what Ben is already familiar with. We are really pleased with Sarah. She used to be a teacher for several years ago, and seems to be quite educated which we really like. Even though we have to pay for the daycare, we definitely think it is much better for Ben to be around kids than having my mom watch him at our house daily.

And other success! Luis finally found the camera battery charger.

O Where Are Thou, Camera Charger?

For days we are not able to find the charger to our camera, which means no new pictures lately. Grrrr. It looks like we will have to get a new charger. Oh well. Remote controls, small stuff, or whatever always get lost around here. Ahh, the life with a toddler.

Speaking of our toddler Benjamin, his sleeping habits are getting better. He does not cry that much when I put him down in the crib. Just a minute or two, that's it, he goes to sleep. Yay! Success = happy parents and babysitter

Sleep Challenged

Past this week at the daycare, Benjamin has been having a strong aversion to sleep. Poor Ben and poor babysitter! She remarked how he has the stamina to cry and scream continually. We have been e-mailing constantly to think of a better way to help him sleep, but I was running out of suggestions fast. Finally, yesterday I decided to throw in the towel and try to get Benjamin to sleep on his own in the crib. Naturally, he immediately started protesting and crying. I signed to him, it is time to sleep and that I love him. After hugging and kissing him, I left his bedroom promptly but watched him from the baby video monitor in the living room. I can see how he was crying and screaming. Every inch of my body was tempted to run to his crib to soothe him, but I knew I have to endure for at least ten minutes. It felt like eternity! After a while, I can see he was starting to calm down a bit. Crying continually sure can wear you out. Finally, he decided to fall asleep. He did wake up in the middle of the night, but I definitely think we are on the road to success. As a matter of the fact, he is sleeping in his crib right now.

Today he did not even take a nap at the daycare. What? Both the babysitter Sarah and we decided that we will work on setting up specific nap time and bed time for Benjamin. I believe that the kids do better with a daily routine, of course, with some flexibility especially during the weekends. Past this summer we were wayyyyy flexible because Luis did not have to work (he's a teacher). Now school starts for yet other new school year, we are once again trying to settle into a daily routine. Of course, I am certain that happens to practically all parents though.

Oh hey, I just saw Michael Phelps winning 100m butterfly....just barely! AMAZING. Way to go!