This woman's brother made video crack for her baby. I saw it for the first time two weeks ago, and I woke up this morning with it throbbing in my brain. Forget Teletubbies. If this doesn't initiate the kid into TV culture faster than you can say "Gilligan's Island", nothing will.
I never would have guessed that a doughnut and pickled vegetables rolled up in sweet sticky rice would be one of the tastiest breakfasts I've ever had!! It's called Fan Tuan. Try it if you ever get even half a chance. If I gain 10 pounds over the next year, know that it is because I discovered that I pass a place that sells the stuff every day on my way to work. I guess it just falls in the long-standing tradition of fries dipped in Frosties or chili dogs--if you put enough food that's bad for you in one dish, it automatically tastes good.
My parents- and grandparents-in-law were in town this weekend. Other than being a really good reason to clean up our apartment for the first time since... oh... before Thanksgiving, it was a real treat to see them. For all the complaining people do about in-laws, I always have a great time when we get together with mine.
Anyway, Paige, my mother-in-law, asked whether Josh and I had started any traditions for our family. Other than always being five minutes late for church, falling asleep early on Friday nights while watching movies, and always celebrating holidays at other people's homes, I couldn't really think of any. She said that it's a good idea to start traditions before you have kids, because children tend to be a bit of a distraction once they do show up. When someone who raised (and homeschooled) five children--all born within five years--gives you advice like that, you listen. I'd never particularly thought about it before, and I think it's a fabulous idea. I know we'll need to give some careful consideration to what types of traditions we want to start, though. This is where you come in, my devoted readers. What traditions do you fondly remember from your childhood? (Napping on Sundays? Poker on Tuesdays? Burning all your old underwear to ring in the New Year?) Anything we should definitely avoid? (Napping on Sundays? Poker on Tuesdays? Burning all your underwear to ring in the New Year?)
I may not be able to get a puppy (or at least not one as cute as Sharon's dog, Daisy). BUT, I do have a brand new, fourth-generation, 20 gig iPod, which is almost as good. I dress it in eye-catching iPod tattoos and skins, plug it in to feed it daily, and take it on walks and rides in the car. It even keeps me company by singing to me. Most important of all, it doesn't poop on the carpet. And it's just so darn cute!! Take that, Daisy. :)
...the rush you get passing traffic jams while you're driving in the carpool lane. So long, suckers!!!
Here are some photos of the devastation from the tsunami that I hadn't seen yet. It's amazing anyone at all survived on these islands. If you haven't contributed to the relief effort yet, or you would like to do something that has a more lasting impact, WorldVision is a great Christian aid organization with a well-established presence in the region. You can make a one-time donation to World Vision, or, for a more long-term impact, you can donate $30 a month to sponsor a child. $30 a month. For the price of a nice meal out or a sweater on sale, you can provide a child with an education and health care.
As an added bonus, any donations made to the tsunami relief effort before Jan 31, 2005 can be deducted on your 2004 tax return.
There was a brief article in the Journal this past week (yes, I am an addict) about the rising age of adulthood. Did you know that most Americans think adulthood begins at about age 26? That was news to me. If that's the case, I still have four months left of childhood. Time to quit my steady job, leave my husband of two and a half years and the apartment we rent from no one related to us, and go on a spring-break-style spree in Baja, followed by a stint of mooching off of my parents old skool style.
While I am sometimes beset by panic because I will probably be one of the last of my set to have children (keeping up with the Bradies?), I do know a few people my age who fit the profile in the article: still living with their parents without any source of steady income. My mom once asked me why this happens to people of my generation so often. I wasn't sure how to answer her. Thanks to the good ole Wall Street Journal, I am now better prepared to answer that question.
Here are a few of the explanations that Journal writer Jeffery Zaslow suggested that I found plausible:
- Parents play an over-active role in their children's lives well into college. This problem is exacerbated by the ease with which we can now communicate over long distances. Children don't quite know what to do with themselves when they are out of college and out of the reach of parental aid.
- "Young adults today often expect to have a lifestyle that equals the way their parents are living in middle age." Guilty as charged on that count. At least I'm not living at home to try to fulfill those expectations.
- Divorced parents overcompensate out of guilt or get more clingy because an empty nest is really empty if you're a divorc'e(e).
Interesting that M. Zaslow laid most of the blame at the feet of parents. Here are a few of my own suggestions:
- People my age expect to have "meaningful" or artsy jobs, and we spend our college years training ourselves for them. Unfortunately, there aren't many out there, and the ones that do exist don't pay a whole lot. We panic and go home, or we just plain don't get paid enough to live on our own.
- The rising cost of housing in urban areas. This one is simple enough. People under 35 flock to big coastal cities because that's supposeedly where the action is, but we simply can't afford to live in places like New York City without help.
- The rising cost of a college education, the student loans that come with it, and the decreasing value of a bachelors degree. AKA "I owe $30,000 in student loans and the best job I can get with my BA in History with no teaching credential is the night shift at Starbucks. At least I get health benefits." Some of us try to get a competitive advantage by going to grad school, but all we do is wind up with more debt (or at least no savings to speak of) and another useless degree.
All of this does raise one very difficult and important question: If I'm not an adult yet, does that mean I'm still an ADOLESCENT??!?!?!
Darn tootin'. Our illustrious governator gave his State of the State address today. Other highlights include:
- Reforming the redistricting process by giving the authority to redistrict to a panel of retired judges.
- Performance-based incentives for teachers (This could be really bad or really good. I'm holding judgment until I hear more specific information.)
- Reforming the budget "system" that institutes annually increasing mandatory expenditures.
- Oh, and, "We cut the average wait time at the Department of Motor Vehicles from more than an hour to less than 20 minutes [in the past year]."
We'll have to see how much of this he actually accomplishes, but it was refreshing to hear the governor start out the year with guns blazing. At the very least, it will be an interesting year.