94 Good Years

Last week, I was saddened to hear of the passing of my great aunt. She was my paternal grandfather's sister. I know most folks these days don't seem to know much of their extended family, but when I grew up in L.A., our whole family was there and the Munesatos all saw each other a lot. My second cousins were always around to play & fight with, and we'd often mistake our granfathers for each other's (my grandfather & all his brothers all looked a like more & more as they got older). We had big family gatherings with all of my grandfather's brothers and sisters and all of their families. They still get together on Super Bowl Sunday for brunch (west coast, fellas) but I haven't made of these in years. Auntie Yae was a sweet old lady who always had a smile on her face when she saw you. When I got married almost 3 years ago, she sent me my birth announcement with the sweetest card. I'll miss her. God Bless and rest in peace, Auntie Yae.

Some things look easier than they really are

OK, some of the early ones....like how hard can they be.



Props to Bert for posting this on his site. So am I proud to be Japanese or just am I just explaining to everyone that my relatives branched in the evolutionary tree when they moved to America?

so you think you can dance

so i know that there isn't much to watch on TV, but we started watching So You Think You Can Dance a few seasons ago. this past season, this guy made it totally worth it instead of just a way to waste some time:

Superbad

Went to see Superbad on Saturday. I haven't laughed that hard in a long time. I can't even remember much about specific jokes, but I can't remember a time when I've laughed that hard at the movies. I think this is probably one of the crudest movies around, but at the same time actually had some pretty honest, real moments. Do not see this movie if you are easily offended and definitely heed the R rated-ness (not child safe). Hilarious.

My new phone

Last week, I got a call from Sprint saying that since Wei Yan ported his number to AT&T, that I no longer was on a plan and was being charged per minute. They offered to put me on a plan only to then inform me that getting on one of them would commit me to a 2 year contract. I was done talking to them & told them I would have to call them back later. Wei Yan tried to log in, only to find that he no longer can log in - so no access to our bill for that period. He called them & found out it was 50 cents per minute, but that luckily I hadn't used my phone much in that time. He also put me on a month-to-month plan, that only gave me 200 minutes ~ which at least is more like $0.20/minute.

But a decision had to be made, so got a refurbished Treo 680. It will tide me over until I find a phone that has everything I want (need the stylus, good batter life, 3G, etc). We did figure out that pretty much all customer service folks are created equal...we spent more time on the phone with the AT&T CS as Sprint, but only cuz we cared more about getting things right. Finally got my number ported after talking to several different people - which I admit wouldn't have been that bad, except that I work on the number portability software and I know it doesn't take that long! So, the number is the same, and I will actually be answering my phone now. :-)

New Ob

So the last few days or week I've been kind of stressing over changing obstetricians. I first found out that my current OB shares call with another practice, so if I deliver on the 2 weekends of the month that the other practice covers, than a doctor who I've never had an opportunity to meet with would be taking care of me. I also realized that the classes we take before the due date will be with folks from Durham and probably not Raleigh. It will probably be harder to hear about resources for folks living in Raleigh - for day cares, doctors, etc.
I heard a few weeks ago from a friend's mom (who works as a nurse at durham regional) that she wouldn't recommend delivering at the hospital that my Ob delivers at. Then last week, I met a lady who works as a pharmacist there, and she said she also wouldn't go there as a patient. So for the past week or so, I've been asking around for referrals. I've gotten some really good recommendations - for about 3-4 practices that deliver at Rex. I wasn't sure how I would decide. My friend who is a nurse at Rex recommended hands down a place called Atrium ObGyn (she also mentioned some other great practices, but said this was her 1st pick). After hearing a glowing review from another friend who actually went to Atrium as a patient and said a bunch of the things that really appealed to me, I called them this morning. I'll have to go through another intro with the nurse going over the medical history, but there are 4-5 doctors in the office (the most senior no longer does ob care/call) and a nurse practitioner - and they don't share call. I'm feeling much more at peace about the whole thing, and we might even be able to get a 3D ultrasound later in the pregnancy for not a crazy outrageous fee.
So anyway, that worry has been alleviated in a huge way for me. It's definitely hard to make a decision that you've already made and then decided wasn't the right decision in the first place, but at the same time we are definitely fortunate to be living in RTP with so many good hospitals and good medical schools around here - I don't think I could have made a bad decision with the few practices that were recommended to me.

More on Kobe-gate

The other night I stayed up WAY too late to watch the Kobe interview on Jimmy Kimmel's show. I think this article pretty much summed it all up. It was worth staying up for, even if I only got a laugh, but no reassurances. *sigh* I think the article said it all.

Oh, and Kobe mentioned some soccer player (as his sports idol), but I couldn't make out the name. Kobe went all italian on us and said the way you are supposed to, but I have no idea who it was. Anyone know? I'll have to check out all his soccer tricks on uTube.

Bourne Ultimatum

Every time I go to a new sequel this summer, seems like I can't for the life of me remember what happened in the last movie. Maybe it's pregnancy brain, or just that I pretty much go to movies to shut my brain off. You will not hear me complaining that Transformers wasn't "real enough" or the acting was bad. Really, it's 1) enter theater, 2) shut brain off.

We went to go see Bourne Ultimatum last night and I think if your brain was half on, you would still enjoy it. I do remember laughing during some fight scene and thinking, "Am I supposed to be laughing here?", but yup, it was definitely entertaining. I think the biggest chuckle was the Norton anti-virus scan...hilarious. I wonder how much that cost!?!? Everyone has told us to go to the movies now, since after the baby gets here, we won't be watching many. Luckily this summer has kept us busy.

When procrastination is a good thing

So with all the Michael Vick stuff happening and the Boston College Men's basketball woes last year, it never ceases to amaze me that athletes can't just put off smoking weed or other illegal activities for a few years! If your football career just won't be that long, or maybe you just need to make it 3 years to get into the NBA, can you just not do stupid stuff at that time? It's not like you won't have tons of time after your career is over & you are sitting on a huge pile of cash. I just don't understand.

This guy has got to take the prize. Maybe he should have also given up pot for a few years.