apartment hunt

We are looking for an apartment near the school I'll be attending next fall. So far, no luck but there are some potential places. I think I will have to leave this up to my hubby because I'm way too picky. For instance, we saw a place that was 1050 sq. ft. The size met our standards, but the quality did not: it was old and dark. I thought maybe I could fix it up myself with some paint, but the guy said we can't paint the trim or door which is a dark wood color. The sink, counter tops, and cabinets are all very old too, and dirty looking. It looks like roaches could take a vacation there. And the bathroom, I'm not excited about at all. The last occupant was there for seven years so you would think the owner would fix this place up a little and do some renovations. I guess not.

The places that are renovated are more expensive and not as big. We will never find what we want because we just don't have that kind of money yet. After all, both of us are students. We really do need more space. I think you will understand if you see our current place. There's stuff everywhere because there's no pantry or cabinets. It basically looks like a sick dorm to me.

I also wanted to find a place with a washer/dryer in the apartment unit, not within the apartment complex. I just don't understand how people can use a coin laundry to do their clothes. The water isn't even hot enough to wash linens and there is no way you can wash cashmere without having your own washer/dryer.

So like I said, I think I will leave this up to my hubby because I'm just way too picky. I'll just have to deal with it.

developmental psychology

The following was a writing assignment for a developmental psych course that I took back in the summer of '05. The course focused on the stages of development of an embryo up to the adolescent years. I saved it because I knew I would need it one day. Maybe you too.

***

This course has left me with much sage advice on how to handle, treat, take care of, and interact with children. For instance, without this class, I would not have known how to praise children: their effort, not their intelligence. If failure occurs in children, this method would reduce the chance of them thinking that they are incapable of mastering the task because they would feel their intelligence is fixed. Praising their effort, however, will foster them to keep trying until they accomplish the task. Likewise, I would not have known to express concerns about their negative actions rather than falsely labeling who they are from what they did. For example, if the child continually, but accidentally wets the bed, it would be more appropriate to say, "You wet the bed; let's clean it up," instead of "You are such a trouble maker!"

Because I believe in a healthy lifestyle, I can surreptitiously instill my eating habits onto my children by treating fruits as desserts and vegetables as snacks. A simple sentence, "We'll have oranges for dessert," will get children to have the mindset that fruits and vegetables are "goodies," instead of chips, candy, and other junk food. And, as I learned from Dr. Noll, I would have to steal the line, "You don't have to like it, but you have to at least eat one."

Obviously, the key to getting rid of a bad habit in children is to ignore the habit. But most parents give in and the key is not to give in. I would not have known that intermittently reinforcing the habit is horrible such that it will never help the child to rid the habit.

I will try my best to adopt the ways of an authoritative parenting style to promote a healthy emotional development of the child. I can do this by expressing lots of love and at the same time, be very demanding. To facilitate their language and cognitive development, I would ask open-ended questions such that they could not reply with a plain yes or no. Also, an important part of their development is providing support, such as social scaffolding. To do this, I would aid their thinking along the way. Most importantly, it would be very important for me to be a very good role model because children imitate actions more than what they are told.

critique on tonight's dinner

Pork
C-
Dry, not tender (I didn't tenderize it), sauce dried on pork (marinate for a few hours at most, not overnight because the sauce thickened), too gingery (will not add at all next time), not enough ketchup or worcestershire sauce.

Hearts of Romaine
A-
Needs a little more ponzu and needs to be a little crispier.

Nishiki Rice
A
It's good.

wow, this is funny!

clipped from msn.foxsports.com

Beijing officials want to ban 'bad English'

Municipal officials promised Wednesday to crack down on awkward, Chinese-inflected English, known as "Chinglish," and asked the public to help police bad grammar and faulty syntax.

[caption for picture] "Shangri-La is in your mind, but your Buffalo is not."
For more information on the story, click here.

When I saw this story, it reminded me of Taiwan's bathroom sign that read "WC." I never understood why they used WC. I thought it was bad grammar where they thought WaSh-room was spelled WaCh-room because phonetically, they sound the alike (ch sound as in chateau, not change or chrome). Upon further investigation, WC actually stands for water closet, also known as a flush toilet. So next time you visit and are looking for a washroom, the sign may say WC. And don't be surprised if they are squat toilets. *shivers

tomorrow's dinner menu

Pork slices
marinate in ketchup, worcestershire sauce, water (I don't measure, usu. do it by color)
add a spoon of sugar and desired amount of rice wine
add julienned ginger and minced garlic (optional-I don't always do this, depends on what I have on hand.)
bake in oven

Hearts of Romaine
wash and rip into bite size pieces
boil for a few minutes and drain
spike it with Ponzu (I like it better than soy sauce because of its citrus flavor)

Nishiki rice

dichotomous feelings

This is an old post from June 8, 2006 that I forgot to post. As a note, I don't have these conflicting feelings anymore.

June 8, 2006
This may sound contradicting when I say I'm really proud of myself that I got into dental hygiene, but at the same time, I am not really so proud. In the former reason, I feel like I finally accomplished something I didn't think I could do; I really thought I would not get accepted. However, in the latter reason, I feel like I should be able to accomplish something so easy and do something else that people merit with more credit or impressiveness.

My dichotomous thoughts or feelings lead me to a positive view that can help others. What I have to say is that other people, including parents, siblings, peers, horrible teachers, and horrible counselors may put you down at times saying stuff like, you're dumb, that is too hard for you, or you'll never make it. For example, a classmate of mine told me that her counselor said she wouldn't make it into nursing so don't bother trying. That's cruel and rude! Well, depending on the personality of the person this is said to, it might affect this person harshly or it may not if the person is resilient (psychobabble interpretation: a person who is resilient will bounce back even in the toughest of times while a person who is not resilient will fall apart unless there is some type of emotional support).

The positive light in which I view dental hygiene still holds notwithstanding.

credit

I was recently denied by Discover credit card because of insufficient income. What do they expect? I'm a student, or at least will be this upcoming fall and I made that clear on the phone interview. I guess I should have fudged the numbers a little bit. Usually, my dad is the one who tells me what to do or what to put down, but this time, I didn't have anyone to tell me... It's a life learning experience, so now I know. I'm hoping they will send me another offer because it was really good. Usually, I shred incoming offers because they suck, but this one was too good to pass up. I'm still looking for another credit card to replace the sucky one that doesn't offer me anything. In contrast, I love my amex because they pay me to spend money on stuff I need. It's sweet. I think it was rated number one by kiplinger's magazine.

joong festival

My mom calls it the joong festival, but I think the more proper name is Dragon Boat Festival aka Duanwu Festival. I never heard of the Dragon Boat Festival until last year when I was in Taiwan and not until recently, I never realized that joong and the dragon boat festival were related!

What's my point? Well, I like how we follow Chinese tradition, but sadly, don't understand the meaning behind it. I asked my mom what the meaning of these traditions are, and her answers are always obscure. I'm always put into more profound confusion. It's a good thing my hubby can explain to me what my mom means when she says joong is thrown into the river and can last a long time there. He made the connection for me and I know I will have a lot to learn for other upcoming traditions. :)

clipped from en.wikipedia.org

maybe a harbinger?

My right eye has been twitching and according to Sarah's mom, it's bad luck. I wonder what's in store for me, especially with Friday the 13th around the corner. Usually, something bad always happens to me on that day, like finding silverfish in my toothbrush cup or injuring myself. I wonder what's the chance of that happening this time? Well, I guess I just have to be more cautious this upcoming Friday.

like always

I probably make a post like this every year, but seriously, I can't wait for summer to be here! It doesn't feel like spring at all with the weather we've been having. That's probably why spring and fall are usually my least favorite seasons. I just want to take Isabelle out for a walk around the neighborhood. Fortunately, we have been able to take her out twice for walks, but she was sleeping as usual. She didn't wake up until we stepped right into the lobby of the apartment. Great timing, just when we finished! Oh well, maybe next time. I really look forward to it.