Shokufeh is... home

Quick and tasty

I love a meal that's quick and tasty. Recently, I remembered a meal that I used to make quite often and have recently rediscovered. In fact, I'm making it tonight. I don't know why I stopped making it (maybe overload), or where I first found it, but just in case you're interested:

Scrambled carrots and tofu with sesame

Put rice on to cook.

Toast a handful or so of sesame seeds in a dry wok or skillet. Once your sesame seeds are toasted, let them cool on a plate while you cook the carrots and tofu.

Crumble a block of firm/extra firm tofu.
Throw several carrots in the food processor, so they're finely chopped. (I aim for about equal amounts of carrot and tofu.)

Heat a tablespoon or two of oil (I use olive) in the wok. Add the carrots and let them cook over medium-high heat for about 5 minutes. Add crumbled tofu and cook for a few more minutes. Add soy sauce or Bragg's to taste and cook for a final few more minutes. Remove from heat. Add sesame oil to taste, along with the toasted sesame seeds.

Serve with rice. Mmmm. Even the meat eater in the house likes this dish.

Update: There turned out to be a very good benefit to posting this here (other than providing you with a new meal) - Sam used it as a guide to cook dinner, while I felt sorry for my left buttock. I should do this more often, before I cook something.

How come I never learned this?

Today, in an email, I got a little video that shows how to fold a shirt. It looks like magic. I must practice. I found it on another site and recommend you check it out:

How to fold a shirt

Or do all of you already fold your shirts this way?

Update: Success in the field! Visit Tina*:) for a helpful hint.

Kung Fu Ouch

I like a good kung fu kick just as much as the next person. Maybe even more than the next person.

Yesterday, Sam and I were in the elevator at Macy's (on the way to the bathroom, of course) and, inspired by the elevator's hugeness and our aloneness, I decided I needed to kick. No, I didn't pee my pants (just in case you thought the parenthesis above was a form of foreshadowing).

I got my leg about halfway up to my goal height and then cringed in pain and grabbed my back and butt. I forgot that, of late, all is not normal in my structure. It seems that for the past few weeks, Bean has taken up residence on a nerve that leads to the left side of my posterior. I've thought maybe it is my sciatic nerve, but something I read last night made me think maybe not - something to bring up at tomorrow's prenatal appointment.

Anyway, Sam and I had a good laugh over the pregnant woman who couldn't do a kung fu kick, but thought she could. Probably not funny to those of you weren't in the elevator with us.

It's alive

and growing!

This weekend, I hit the halfway mark of 20 weeks. I like to think my belly has done more than half of its growing, but I suspect that is not the case. It's amazing how much it's grown in the past two weeks (see my Week 18 belly). Week 19 found me rubbing my belly in hopes that it would expand and relieve some of the tight/crowded feeling. As you can see, the rubbing worked.

Caveats

So, I'm happy, blah, blah, blah, that Brennan Hawkins was found safe and sound. Sorry, that no-stress state I mentioned some time ago seems to involve tuning out some news - it's just easier to focus on Lindsay Lohan not letting the Simpson sisters into her party, than focusing on a child getting lost, because "Oh, my gosh, that could happen to our child one day!"

But, anyway, one lesson I take home from this incident is to teach my children that there are some shades of grey in the world, and don't act like a dimwit when you've been lost for several days. Sometimes, you're going to have to make a judgement call on whether someone has your best interests at heart, and the sooner you cultivate such skills, the easier the road of life will be. So, hiding in the woods when people are looking for you after you've wondered off? Bad idea. Take the risk of talking to someone, because your alternative may be dying at the claws of bear.

Brennan's mother, Jody Hawkins, suggested that her son may have been avoiding searchers by following his father's advice.

"He had two thoughts going through his head all the time," she said. "Toby's always told him that 'If you get lost, stay on the trail.' So he stayed on the trail. We've also told him don't talk to strangers ... when an ATV or horse came by he got off the trail ... when they left, he got back on the trail."

The miracle sneeze

There are many miraculous things about pregnancy. I mean, there's a creature growing inside of me! And if she's a girl, she now has six million eggs! But one of the things I continue to marvel over is that, during pregnancy, a sneeze is so much more powerful. A sneeze used to make me focus on my nose, hoping that snot wouldn't fly out. Now, a sneeze makes me focus on my nether regions, because, as I said, the sneeze is powerful. Even if you've just emptied your bladder, a sneeze has the ability to find that drop of pee that was content to stay in some forgotten crevice of the bladder. And not only that, it transforms that drop into something much larger as it expels it from your bladder. Power.

Different but the same

I really like these pictures of Ashton Kutcher and Lil' Jon that MSN used - it's cool how they look the same with their facial hair and glasses, but opposite in colors (top of head, glasses, skin, clothes).

Father's Day a day early

Sam's had quite the stressful week, but I think that today is making up for it. By noon, he'd talked to his best man, seen Bean , eaten fried green tomatoes and beignets at the farmers' market, and had a Darth Vader slurpee. Now he's spending some quality time with the X-Box. Really, what more could a guy ask for?

Happy early Father's Day, My Love!

Friendship past

Whenever I think of Scientology, I think about Beau. So, with all this talk of Katie and her minder, and my working down the street from a Church of Scientology, Beau’s been crossing my mind a lot. I first met him in the summer of 1996, back when a trip to New York was an annual neccessity. I was passing through for a few days on my way back to China, and hung out with some of my friends from when I’d lived there, and he was friends with them, so we hung out…. He then escorted me across town to where I was staying and dropped me off and then we spent the next few days together, just walking the streets and talking for hours. Over the next school year, me in China, he in New York, we wrote to one another, our letters brimming with our deepest thoughts. The following summer, on another one of my trips to New York, we resumed where we’d left off – walking and talking, from morning until night. I, again, was staying with a friend who was generally busy, so had no social obligations. He was basically homeless, crashing on the floors of friends or on couches in busy hotel lobbies. So, we’d meet up, usually with no specific plans, and get to know each other while crisscrossing Manhattan on foot. He was different from most guys I’d fallen for in the past – a little grimier, a smoker, an artist…. Also unusual, I never discussed with him my smitten state, though it was apparent we both felt enough of a connection to spend days in a row with each other.

On one of our adventures, we visited the Church of Scientology in Times Square. We were walking along one night, when someone at a corner waved some “free tickets” at us. Having nothing else on our agenda, we figured, “Why not?” and headed toward the Church. For those of you who’ve never been, this Church fits in with its surroundings – it’s a theater with a big marquee, but instead of advertising a Broadway show, it’s advertising Scientology. We went in, presented our tickets, and watched the movie, which provided laughs over our next several days together. “Your goal is to get to the next level in the org.” “To find out more about our beliefs, buy this book.” “Sure, you can walk out of here and not pay attention to what we’ve just shared with you. You can also walk out of here and jump off of a bridge. Or shoot yourself in the head.” After the movie, we were greeted by a guy who wanted our feedback on the movie, both verbally and on written surveys. We sat with him for a few minutes, but finally, when it became clear that our feedback would hurt his feelings, I asked, “Is it okay if we just don’t fill these out?” He meekly answered yes. “Okaygoodbye,” and we rushed out of there, saving our true feelings about the movie to share with each other. One of the beauties of going to this Church was the accompanying anonymity of New York. I’ve always wanted to go again, but only if I can go that particular one. We never did figure out what Scientologists believe, but we also weren’t willing to pay the money to find out.

After two summer trips of walking and talking, Beau left my life as abruptly as he’d entered it. We spent a day together, going to the Cloisters. He invited me to Connecticut, where he was going to spend some time with his family. I hesitated, feeling an obligation to stay in the city and see some of my friends from college. As we waited for the train to head back downtown, I started to wonder if he was purposely trying to distance himself from me (or did the wondering come later as I reexamined his behavior?) – he sat on the floor of the subway station, something I would only do if ordered to do so at gunpoint. On the train, I told him I would call him later if my tentative plans with my college friends fell through and we casually said goodbye and parted ways. I did call him to say I’d go to Connecticut, but he didn’t return my call. Nor did he do so on my subsequent trips to New York. As hard as I’d fallen, as I think about now, it’s funny that I have no recollection of every crying about our finished friendship. I’ve googled him and seen that some of the ideas that were beautifully written and illustrated in notebooks years ago were translated onto the stage, and wonder if Anis had stayed in New York they would have eventually met. He’s fallen out of touch with our once-mutual friends, so I’m not likely to cross paths with him. I haven’t tried to contact him for some time. Why ruin the magical memories of a friendship of summers past, revisited whenever Scientology comes up?

Recognition

Last night, for the first time, a stranger recognized me to be pregnant, without the clues of maternity clothing. (Some weeks ago, a neighbor asked us if we were expecting, but we were standing next to each other in the elevator, and more obvious than my belly was the stork emblem on my shirt.) Last night, I was just wearing one of my all-time favorite dresses: I made it about 12 years ago, out of a terracota-colored, super-stretchy knit fabric. Over the years, it's served me well and is still in good shape. Anyway, its hugginess meant my belly was apparent, even though it doesn't look like a maternity dress. So, this woman stepped away from her table, and ours, to have a cigarette, saying she was doing so because of my pregnancy. Not only was it considerate, it was a milestone for me. Now I await someone offering me their seat on the bus.

Things I miss

If you'd ever asked me for a list of 1000 things I love, these two would have never appeared on the list, but now that I can't have them, I miss them:

1) Lying on my back. No longer a good idea, yet so tempting. Sometimes it hurts me, but even when it doesn't, I remind myself that it can hurt Bean (cuts off blood flow to the uterus), and go back to my lying on my side. Oh, my sore hips.

2) Soda. Pop. Soft drinks. Carbonated beverages. Cokes. Whatever you call it, I miss it. Mmmm, sweet, bubbly, cold, in a sweating vessel. This from a girl who rarely imbibed previously. But there's something about the sound of Pepsi and ice, swirling around in a paper coated cup with a plastic lid and straw, that cannot be replicated. I finally had a Caffeine-free Pepsi today with lunch. I have to say, it was on the verge of dissapointing, maybe because I drank it out of the can? Maybe because it's the caffeine that provides the bite? But that won't stop me from drooling next time I'm subjected to a Coke commercial on the big screen.

FAQ

How far along are you? Five, six months?
Almost 4.5 months.

Wow, you're big.
Uh-huh.

Are you sure it's one baby?
Unless they're twins with synchronized heartbeats, or conjoined and sharing one heart, it's one baby. Or triplets. I guess we'll find out for sure at this Saturday's ultrasound.

Do you have any cravings?
Food. I eat a lot more sweet stuff than I used to. Luckily, some of it is fruit. Some of it isn't - the babies in my ass seem to like those snacks.

Has your bellybutton started sticking out yet?
Not yet, but it's quickly disappearing, getting shallower and shallower. I've discovered it has a little mole in it.

Are you going to find out what it is?
We assume the child to be human, since neither Sam nor I was taken for very long. As least we don't think we were. Though perhaps the recent nose bleeds I've had are due to the implant? In regard to the sex of the baby, we've decided to wait and be surprised in the delivery room. Hopefully, Bean will be modest and not expose the privates at our upcoming ultrasound.

Do you have names picked out?
Not yet. I know, I know, the weeks are passing. But we'll get it together one of these days. Hopefully before I go into labor.

Augghh

I just went through the process of tying my shoes for the walk home - tightened the laces just so, made sure the bow was tight. Not an easy feat with extra mass at my middle. What's it going to be like in a few months?! Oh, the feeling, when I realized that I haven't yet put on my shorts for the walk. Time to untie the shoes, put on the shorts, put the shoes on again.... Yes, I know there are people dying, but I have a child growing in me, and I'm trying to put on my shoes. It's all about me.

June 13

How many people do you know celebrating their birthday today? I know five. Five! Three are in my family! All born on June 13, (mostly) different years.

Happy, happy birthday to:

Anis, my brother!
One of Sam's sisters!
My cousin's son!
Chad, with whom I went to college!
Noah, with whom I went to high school!

Anyone else you want to add to the list?

Update:
Congratulations to Leslie on her brand new daughter, another June 13-er!

My time will not be my own

A little while ago, I was thinking I should apply for the DIY Trunk Show. I was thinking I should email Meisa and see if she wants to go in with me on a table. I was thinking about the various things I might want to make. I was thinking that it would be a way of making things go the the way I want. And then it hit me, what the hell am I thinking?! That's the day before my due date! So strange to know that I can't make plans for a day five months in the future - not that I'll neccessarily be doing something, but knowing that I have to leave the date open.

Searches

Looking at my stats, I'm discovering that there are a number of people out there interested in Elisabeth Hasselbeck's breasts, and quite a few of them have ended up here in their search.

Where have I been?

How is it that almost a week has passed without a peep from me? I am alive and well, busy growing. Here's my belly at 18 weeks, almost halfway there:

Since I'm sharing, here are a few pictures from our weekend before past - we spent Memorial Day up in Mokuleia, on the far reaches of the North Shore. We were inspired to go up there with some friends, also "Lost" fans, to see where much of the show is filmed. It was a windy and somewhat grey day, so we didn't go swimming. Just as well, since the weekend before, I jumped in the water on a hot day and am convinced that the resulting sensations in my belly were messages from Bean telling me that I'd traumatized him or her. Despite not going swimming, we enjoyed ourselves for a couple of hours sitting on the beach - thanks to some kitesurfers.

Don't laugh too hard at me

I tuned it to one of the late night shows last week and before I saw anything, I heard a song I've been hearing from time to time on the radio. I was all, "Oh, here's that song I like." So I'm enjoying the song and studying the singers, when I was realize they look strangely like a boy band. Except they're like the overgrown version of one, all looking a little too old to be dressed like that and singing with four other men. Then it hits me! The song I've been liking, the band I'm watching - it's the Backstreet Boys.
Oh, well, I still like the song. And I kind of feel bad for them, that they'll forever be in the boy band category, no matter how old they get or how much their music changes.