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March 30, 2005
This Old House
This is the house I grew up in. We moved there in late 1973. My first memory is walking up to the house when we first got there. I remember how excited I was that I was going to be 3 years old. Interesting fact about this house was that it was in the same neighborhood as the Hoffas.
This was a great house. I could find my way around it blindfolded in the dark. I knew exactly how many stairs there were, how many steps it was from room to room, and exactly where all the furniture was so I never stubbed my toes. We used to have an alarm system that used a motion-detection beam at the foot of the stairs. I'd sneak downstairs to watch tv after Mom & Dad set the alarm. I'd go to the 4th stair, climb over the railing and walk against the wall to get to the family room. Obviously I spent way too many hours watching tv: Wonder Woman, Dallas, Dukes of Hazzard, The Love Boat and Fantasy Island. We also had an old vacuum tube stereo system I'd use to play my vinyl records. Took 20 minutes just to warm up.
The only thing I hated was the big window in the family room when it got dark. I was afraid a burglar would try to break in. That and the deer skulls my dad kept in the den. If I was the last one upstairs, I'd turn off the lights and scram like hell upstairs to get away from those creepy skulls.
Saturday mornings, I'd watch cartoons in the kitchen sitting over the heating vent. My best friend and I had sleepovers several times a week. When she came over, we'd pretend the red carpet in the family room was lava and we'd jump around on the furniture trying not to touch it. And I also made fortresses and tunnels with the couch cushions.
My bedroom was also my sanctuary. My brother, sister and I rotated rooms, seemingly often. My original room had wonderful yellow and blue butterflies with gold and silver glitter on the walls. My favorite was the room that faced the back of the house. There is where I spent many many many many many many many hours studying and doing homework. But afternoons and Sundays were the best because I'd sit there listening to my music for hours and hours, trying not to disturb my sister next door, though she knew every song and every artist I loved (especially Duran Duran). I used to bug her all the time when I got lonely for company. I'd appear in her doorway and ask, "What are you doing?" and ask if I could read comic books with her. She always said yes.
Speaking of my sister, listening to her practice piano was one of my favorite things. She'd sometimes call me down when she played Olivia Newton John, Billy Joel and the Sound of Music and make me sing the lyrics. My favorite classical pieces are still ones she used to play. When she went away to college, the house was disturbingly quiet.
There were so many memories for me in that house and I was devastated to leave it when we moved away. But I guess it was time to move on and grow up, as we all must do. *sigh*
Posted by Amy at 07:00 AM | Comments (0)
March 29, 2005
Easter Sunday Brunch
This is the first year I've "celebrated" Easter since I was a little girl going on Easter egg hunts. Our friend Greg had us and a few other friends over to his clubhouse to have Easter brunch. I'm not Christian, but I thought it was a great way to spend the day. The food was fantastic (the waffles were delicious and the bacon was done to perfection! Not to mention there was yummy roast beef and chicken!), and the company was even better.
Here's a (somewhat blurry) picture of our friend Gloria and her daughter, Cristina. (Hope I spelled that right.) Cristina was having a nice time with Greg's daughter, Danielle and her boyfriend. And we all had a wonderful meal. I missed it last year because I was in Chicago getting fitted for a dress for the blessing before the wedding. I can't wait until next year's brunch!
Posted by Amy at 12:35 PM | Comments (2)
March Madness
I normally never watch college basketball. In fact, I've never been much of a basketball fan period. Until I married Don. Though, he's only gotten me to like the Pistons. I root for them and don't care about anyone else, unless they're playing the Pistons, in which case, I hope they all lose.
But this Sunday night (I'm a little behind on blog entries), Don turns on the MSU-Kentucky game. And OH MY GOD! That was one of the best games in any sport I've ever seen! With the Kentucky player making a controversial 3-point shot at the end of the 2nd half to tie the game, the refs couldn't reverse the call, so they went into OT which I thought was the fair thing to do. It looked iffy, but MSU was able to pull off the win. GO GREEN! GO WHITE! I'm looking forward to watching the Final Four if State makes it.
I showed up to work with my MSU sweatshirt on and one of my co-workers didn't like that, so he told me I shouldn't wear it. So I showed him the MSU shirt underneath. Ha ha ha!
Posted by Amy at 12:29 PM | Comments (0)
March 28, 2005
SHEEEEED!
Oh man, what a game! I was able to get tickets to Saturday's Pistons game versus the Boston Celtics. This time, we took Danielle & Ryan. For a while, in the first half, the Pistons weren't looking too good, even with Rip Hamilton back in the game. (His sprained ankle kept him out of a few games and it really hurt them--they lost every game he was out.) I thought they were going into a losing streak, but they started to light up in the second half.
And Rasheed Wallace was ON FIRE the whole game! We got there during the first quarter and as I was adding Tayshaun Prince to my bobblehead collection, I kept hearing the announcer yelling, "Rah-SHEED Wallace!" and everytime he got the ball, the crowd yelled "SHEED!" He was playing about as well as Chauncey played during last year's championship.
Speaking of Chauncey, he made a BEAUTIFUL long shot at the last second of the first half. Then, at the last couple of minutes during the 4th quarter, the Celtics tied us to take it into OT. For a while, it looked like the entire Celtics team would foul out. The Pistons totally DOMINATED and their defense was perfect. The entire crowd was jumping. And our boys really ripped it up to win the game 105-99. Woo hoo!
The only thing that sucked was it took us a good 20 minutes or so to get out of the parking lot because I parked in the wrong lot. And there were a bunch of girls behind us that screamed so loud, it was like hearing a bunch of crazed, psychotic chimps. But the Pistons played such a great game and won that I didn't even care. I was having a great time. Even Kid Rock was there! And no smelly fat guy this time either!
Posted by Amy at 07:00 AM | Comments (2)
March 25, 2005
Bad Boys, Bad Boys...Whacha Gonna Do?
What a bit of excitement! I was at the cell phone store just before karate class yesterday around 6:15. I'm standing at the counter when I hear someone yelling outside. I turn to look out the window and I see this Ann Arbor cop pointing a shotgun at some poor old street bum. He's yelling, "GET ON THE GROUND, GET ON THE GROUND!...GET ON YOUR STOMACH NOW!" There was also a female cop pointing her Glock at the poor guy who looked very confused and seemed as if he had absolutely no idea what was going on. He looked pretty harmless.
As I try to understand what's going on, I see the man was holding a long box with a picture of a rifle on it. Now, I don't know if he stole it or what--my guess is someone passing by him saw it, freaked out and called 911. The more I looked around at the scene, I realize there was a SWARM of police around him: about 5 or 6 squad cars (2 on each side of the corner of the store and 1 or 2 kitty-corner across the intersection), not to mention more than a half-dozen officers including the ones with the guns trained on the poor dude.
He slowly went down to the ground on his stomach as ordered, then the police searched his pockets. All I saw that he had on him was a pocket watch, his wallet, some smokes and a BB gun, besides the box he was carrying. They promptly cuffed him and dragged him away and it was over in less than 5 minutes.
I couldn't believe my eyes! I've never seen anything like that in person. It was like being in an episode of Cops. And I thought it was a completely excessive use of force. The store owner said the guy was a local drunk, which is probably why he seemed so disoriented. I must say that the show of force the police gave frightened me to think they'd open fire on the guy and we'd all have to take cover. Especially as close as we were...I mean, we were separated by what was going on outside by merely a glass window and a couple of feet of distance.
Bad boys, bad boys...whacha gonna do when they come for you??
Posted by Amy at 07:00 AM | Comments (3)
March 23, 2005
A Baby Story
I thought you all would enjoy reading my mother's entries in my old baby book. As I re-read it, it really brought a smile to my face and a chuckle here and there. It's interesting to read about my personality back then and realize some things didn't change. Enjoy!
Baby sits alone at 5 3/4 months. First gets into the play pen. Also at 5 3/4 months while learning to hold the bottle herself.
Crawls 8 months old. Stands up alone 1 yr old. First word: Bye-bye. Says it while waving her hand. On approaching one year old Amy dances and nods her head according to the rhythm of music. She likes playing with the piano.
Amy's day is pretty regular. Daddy gives her a bottle before he goes to work. She likes a soft boiled egg for breakfast. Takes another half a bottle, then goes for a morning nap. Wakes up about noon, has lunch, plays in the playpen, then goes for an afternoon nap for a few more hours. Then goes to bed around 7:30. She sleeps right through the night ever since she's 2 months old. She's such a good baby, never is fussy or cranky.
Now that she turns one year old she doesn't take long naps in the mornings or afternoons anymore. Usually takes one nap from around 11 or 11:30 until 2 or 2:30. Then has a late lunch. Amy is especially overjoyed to see Daddy coming home from work. She loves Daddy so much and is very close to him.
On Tuesday afternoons, Amy goes with Mommy & Ippie to the bowling alley. There she stays in a nursery and every time she monopolizes in being held on the babysitter's lap.
Posted by Amy at 09:45 AM | Comments (5)
March 22, 2005
A New Home?
This is a house Don and I were looking at this weekend. It's on the west end of Ann Arbor in a nice upper-middle class neighborhood. Some friends of ours, Bruce & Gloria, knew we were looking to get a nicer home and told us about it. When we found out it was available, we had to see it right away. The man that lived here had already moved out, but his house just hadn't sold in several months.
We were able to take a look around inside, thanks to a neighbor lending us the key. It's really nice with a big kitchen, a fireplace, 3 bedrooms and 2 1/2 baths. It has cathedral ceilings with a ceiling fan in the master bedroom and a huge walk-in closet! The square footage is not much more than we have now, since our basement is half-finished, but I like the neighborhood better and it's a classier home. Most importantly, it has my "must-have's": more than one bathroom (a big must-have) and a 2 car garage! I've never been able to garage my car before... EVER! I can't wait to be able to do that!
I like our home just fine because we fixed it up exactly the way we like: the paint, the refinished floors, new carpet, but it's just too crampt.
But Don talked to a mortgage banker at my office and got us started with an approval for a mortgage for the house. We just have to wait for the previous owner's contract with his realtor to expire in April so that we don't have to pay more to cover his commission. If we buy the house, we'll buy it straight from the owner for less than it's listed for now. It'll be exciting to get into a new house, but I have to say I'm REALLY going to miss the old one!
Posted by Amy at 07:00 AM | Comments (3)
March 20, 2005
We Kicked Their Ass!
I was able to go to the Pistons vs. Toronto Raptors game Friday night. The seats were in the nosebleed section, but tickets were only $10 each because I get a discount now. You can't beat that considering the last tickets I bought were $75.
I took this picture of Don and our friend Eric—I guess the one beer he drank put him to sleep. Ha ha ha! We were able to leave Ann Arbor around 7:15 and got to the Palace of Auburn Hills in only an hour. We took a different route avoiding all the I-75 traffic and made way better time than the last game we went to which took us over 2 hours to get there. Unfortunately, I got stuck sitting next to some giant smelly guy, but since the Pistons kicked Toronto's ass by a score of 103 to 92, that kind of made up for it. Tayshaun Prince made some slammin' baskets along with Chauncey and Rip. Ben still couldn't make his free-throws and Rasheed Wallace couldn't get a break on most of his shots. But it was a good game all in all, even with Larry Brown out for hip surgery. And I even got my Chauncey Billups bobblehead for my desk at work. Yay!
Posted by Amy at 05:31 PM | Comments (0)
March 17, 2005
Flea Update
As you know from the last entry, Princess had an allergic reaction to the fleas. She licked half the fur completely off her back and now she has a large bald spot. Don took her back to the vet this morning and they treated her with steroids. Our vet friend at the dojo told us to make sure they don't give her a certain medication because it can cause diabetes—this is what they were going to treat her with, but we made sure they gave her the right stuff, called Prednizone. She should be fine now. But I still feel bad at how miserable she's felt for the last couple of days!
My poor baby!
Posted by Amy at 03:09 PM | Comments (0)
March 16, 2005
What?? Fleas??
I wouldn't have thought it possible that pets could have fleas in the winter, but I found out that it is. Hideous started showing signs of it a couple weeks back when we'd scratch his back, he'd go nuts licking and biting himself. We thought he just had a "licky spot": a spot where he'd just lick when you scratched it, like when you scratch a dog's ears and they start tapping their hind leg.
But then it got worse and worse to the point where you only have to stroke him normally and he would do that. Then our little Princess started doing the same thing, then Gabriel. And Gabriel has never had fleas before!
So I called up a friend of mine who's a veterinarian and he told me what to look for, and sure enough, it was fleas. So Don got some medication from the vet...and by the way, you should NEVER give your cats any flea medication from over the counter, ESPECIALLY the stuff they make for dogs because it can give them seizures or even kill them. Get it only from your vet! It's safer.
But the vet also told Don to spray the house to kill the larvae, which we were going to do on the weekend when we had a chance. But Princess started meowing to us in the middle of the night on and off through the morning, which was very strange because she's usually silent. We think the fleas are really bothering her. So maybe Don will have to spray the house before then. We also plan on giving the cats another dose of the flea medication in a month. Poor kitties!!
Posted by Amy at 09:15 AM | Comments (3)
March 11, 2005
Working in Detroit
This is what I used to hate about working in downtown Detroit. You couldn't walk one block without some street bum bugging you for money, cigarettes, or in my case, my phone number. They used to ask me, "What ARE you? Chinese? Japanese?" Of course, I always gave them the smart-ass answer and said, "I'm American, a**hole!" There were even a few scary moments when I thought I'd have to use what little karate I knew against some really shady characters. I'm SO glad I work in Livonia!
Posted by Amy at 09:33 AM | Comments (5)
March 10, 2005
You're a Wonder, Wonder Woman!
Wonder Woman RULES!! I used to watch that show RELIGIOUSLY when I was a young girl. I admired her so much and I thought Lynda Carter, aka Wonder Woman, aka Diana Prince, was the most beautiful woman in the world! Her face, the costume, everything about her. I still think she's beautiful.
As a typical little girl, I very much wanted to be Wonder Woman. Both my best friend and I had the WW swimsuit, which I wore every day--along with my homemade tin foil bracelets that stopped bullets; tiara that could be turned into a boomerang, and golden lasso of truth (a gold elastic ribbon taken from a candy box). The only things I didn't have were the boots and the gold belt of strength. But I would play in the basement and pretend I was saving the world...and Steve Trevor. I would twirl around and make that exploding sound (just like in the tv show) and pretend I was turning from Diana Prince into Wonder Woman--that was my favorite part!
I'm 2/3rds of the way to completing my Wonder Woman DVD collection. I just need the last season...whenever that comes out. It's funny--as I watch the episodes now, even after not having seen them for, well, several years, I still look up to her. Wonder Woman was the epitomy of goodness, kindness and beauty. And to Lynda Carter--if she's out there somewhere reading this--you really are a wonder, Wonder Woman!
Posted by Amy at 09:00 AM | Comments (2)
March 09, 2005
Comcast Cable SUCKS!
I'm sure this is what goes on at Comcast Cable in Ann Arbor. They fixed the local CBS and NBC affiliate channels for the Superbowl, but then decided they liked them better when they're fuzzy.
Posted by Amy at 09:35 AM | Comments (1)
March 07, 2005
Bummer!
When I was 12 years old, I was "lucky" enough to spend my Christmas holiday in the hospital. I had been diagnosed with Scoliosis--a curvature of the spine. Doctors typically screen for it when you're very young. The degree of my curvature was such that I could have been treated with either surgery or by having to wear what's known as a Milwaukee brace--a very uncomfortable cage that surrounds your entire torso and comes all the way up to your chin.
Needless to say, me being a very self-conscious girl at the time, I chose surgery. It was the more risky choice, to be sure, but I wasn't about to spend 5 years of my developmental years (mostly high school) in some metal contraption. (If you've ever seen 16 Candles, remember the metal thing Joan Cusack's character had on in the scene where she drinks from the water fountain.) My dad was very nervous about the whole thing and even had one of his medical friends perform the anesthesia on me so that he could be sure I was being taken care of. They permanently put 2 metal rods in the upper portion of my back-one on either side of my spine-to keep it from curving. They said that my back was so narrow, they had to slice off half my left shoulder blade to do the operation.
This is a special bed that I had to lie in. You can see me being flipped over to face downward. I had to do this 45 minutes each day to relieve some of the pressure on my back while I healed. But I healed so fast, they had to take the stitches out (about 77 of them) 3 days early. They put me in a body cast from my chest down to my butt and told me to lie in bed for another few days. But I was so stir crazy, I surprised the nurses by getting up and walking around right after they put me in it.
I had to be in the cast for 6 months and I looked like I had a hump on my back. One girl in school even called me the Hunchback of Notre Dame. I suffered a lot of itching due to the crumbs that came off the edges of the cast down my back and it turned into a nasty blister that scarred, leaving the nerves in that area feelingless. But I only had to suffer this for 6 months before I was freed. FREE AT LAST, FREE AT LAST! THANK GOD ALMIGHTY, I AM FREE AT LAST!
So now, when you see me, you'll be able to see how I always sit straight as a ruler. It's because of the rods that I can't arch my back. I can't do Aikido, but I can sure sit up straight!
Posted by Amy at 09:30 AM | Comments (2)
March 04, 2005
Quicken Loans University
Today was graduation day for all the Quicken Loans and Rock Financial mortgage bankers. We all went through a month-long training program to learn all about the mortgage process, the products, and how to sell them. I only went through certain parts of the course since some of it dealt with technology training for programs I'll most likely never use. But what I learned I found highly valuable and very useful for me to do my job better.
A few of my department team members did come to cheer me on which was really nice. Made me feel warm and fuzzy that I had such support from my co-workers, even though I'm still pretty new to the company. This really is a great place to work and the company works hard to keep people motivated, incentivized (is that a word?), and happy.
Posted by Amy at 03:32 PM | Comments (4)
March 03, 2005
Spain 1992
This was my first trip to Spain and my first trip away from home alone. It was 1992 and I was a junior at MSU (you can see me front and center). I remember it took us 24 hours from takeoff to final landing in Valencia--we had 3 layovers and I was completely exhausted (I took a 6 hour nap upon arrival). The third week into it, I got homesick and called home crying. But my host family was extremely accommodating and friendly, not to mention the fact that the mother was a kick-ass cook which put me completely at ease (after getting over my homesickness).
All 38 of us students made friends very quickly as we were the only people in town that could speak English. Our host families would bug us to speak in Spanish because we'd revert to English too much. "En espanol!" (In Spanish!) We'd bug them to slow down when they spoke Spanish to us. "Mas despacio, por favor!" (More slowly, please!)
We'd spend every afternoon at the beach working on our tans, leave every Thursday afternoon right after our last class of the week, go to the bank for weekend spending money, and take a rail trip to tour some other Spanish town: Madrid, Sevilla, Barcelona, Toledo...wherever the train went. We got to see the Olympic stadiums a week before the games began, met two men carrying the Olympic torch and saw the world Expo. And if we weren't exploring some exciting place, we were spending our time at the local bars dancing and drinking Sangria (fruit punch mixed with wine and fruit). We'd watch the summer festival fireworks, the local Running of the Bulls (not the big one in Pamplona), tour the cathedrals and architectural sites and enjoy the local fare.
We had a blast, got pretty fluent in Spanish (I even started picking up the local accent), and had an experience to last us a lifetime!
Posted by Amy at 09:30 AM | Comments (2)
March 01, 2005
My Family
Here is my father's side of the family. Top row, we have Kosol and Komol (Dad). Bottom row is Pawadee, Krongjit, and Kowit.
As you all know, Komol is a retired M.D. who specialized in Gastroenterology and is, of course, the greatest father a person could have. His brother Kowit is younger than Dad by (I think) 4 years. I think he's an architect. It seems odd, but I really don't know much about him. His eldest daugher is one year older than me--she married a month before me and lives with her husband, Greg, in San Francisco. His son is a golf-pro in Thailand and looks VERY much like Tiger Woods. I think they even competed together once. Their youngest sister also lives in Thailand, working for a bank.
My aunt, Pawadee, is a teacher (boy we have a lot of those in our family!) and the youngest. Krongjit is my dad's half-sister and does not work. I'm not sure what she used to do (maybe she was a teacher too), but she worked extremely hard to put my dad through medical school. Our family owes her everything for that!
Kosol is an engineer who, for years, worked for General Motors in Bangkok. I think now he's with Mercedes Benz. We are closest to his family since my dad and him are best friends and I almost think of them as twins, though they're 9 years apart. They look very much alike--they have the same voice and even the same mannerisms. I've even mistaken my uncle for my dad on occasion. And they both are the same when it comes to being a great father. Kosol and his wife, Pimphun, always treat me like their own daughter and I think of them as second parents. Our family always stays with them when we visit Thailand--he always treats us like absolute royalty and takes us to THE finest restaurants in Bangkok.
Dad once told me an interesting story about him and Kosol. They used to live in an apartment over the family store which sold basic household things (we still use some of the silverware from that store). The store was in a strip mall that included a jewelry-maker. When my dad was about 9 years old, a fire somehow started in the jewelry store and because the buildings were all made of wood, the fire spread very quickly. When my dad realized what was happening, he put all the money from the cash register into a money belt around his waist and then put 4-year-old Kosol on his back and carried him out of the store to safety. I don't know where the rest of the family was, but fortunately, none of them were hurt. But I think it's so neat to know my dad was a 9-year-old hero.
Posted by Amy at 09:30 AM | Comments (0)