She can’t wait to take a vacation though. Walmart, here she comes!

She and Kaitlyn got sick again over a month ago while all the swine flu hysteria was going on. Kaitlyn got the flu and Mel had severe allergies & a sinus infection. Kids and teachers at school were getting sick left and right as germs were spreading like wildfire. It was unbelievable that our school didn’t get shut down for cleaning/disinfecting. Thankfully they got over it quick.

No, we didn’t abandon technology & move into a cave, nor have we decided to let Facebook replace our family blog, at least not completely.

Things were crazy for the past 6 months (helping w/ cross-country move & dealing w/ family illnesses) & we just didn’t have enough time & energy to do everything we wanted. Other priorities had to come first & we had to temporarily abandon lings.info.

Anyways, since so much has happened in the last 6 months, I have scheduled a new post everyday for the next 2 weeks to update you all. So, come back tomorrow. We’ll be here.

It’s either the toys, the teachers, the other kids, or a combination of things that she likes about the place. As I dropped her off on both mornings, although looking nervous & hesitant, she also had this curious & excited look on her face. May be that’s why a big hug & a kiss was good enough, and that she didn’t cry when it was time for me to leave.

So, there here you go. That’s the update on how she did on her first & second day of school. Now, it’s time for me to go to bed, or I’ll have a hard time staying awake at work again.

We were still very tired from the red-eye flight that we all left the house @ 7:30 this morning, a little later than we were supposed to. The trains were packed and everyone was sweating as usual. As we transferred from the N to the 6 Train at the 14th Street station, we got separated.

Mel got onto the train but Kaitlyn & I couldn’t. Some guy was just hovering by the door after he got on, so I was trying to get around him. Since he had his headphones on, he wasn’t aware that there were people behind him trying to get on. Now thinking back, I should had just rammed him with the stroller! I’ll admit that I’m a “door-hoverer,” too, because I don’t love holding onto the poles. But at least I’m a responsible “hoverer!” When the train doors open, I always move out of the way & make sure that people can get on & off easily. And I’m always willing to move in to the middle when needed. But this guy just stood there, blocking half of the doorway with his 50-inch waist, 250-lb body!

Anyway, by the time—which was just 5 seconds later—Melanie realized that we were still on the platform, she turned around, and tried to get off, the train doors closed & I had to pull the stroller back.

We eventually got there. Kaitlyn was pretty happy as she walked into the classroom and excited to see other kids. She would walked up to them and looked at what they were doing. There’s this one boy (I think his name was Toby) who came in a few minutes after her. As soon as his mom said goodbye, he just started crying & screaming. At that moment, I was like “oh, no,” because I can just see Kaitlyn doing the same thing. Some time during our vacation, Kaitlyn became very clingy & attached to us at times. She would freak out when we leave her sight or when she sees “strangers” (my family, whom she has met many times).

Fortunately, she only acted shy and asked me to pick her up once (but I didn’t). When it was time for me to say bye to her, she was OK and would let one of the teachers hold her instead. I stayed for a few minutes outside the classroom looking at her through the one-way glass on the door. Although she kept looking at the door, she was calm & didn’t cry or anything—at least for those few minutes.

Hopefully she’s OK and is having a good time right now. I guess we’ll find out later today.

We’ll keep you posted.

By the way, I’ll try to start posting up photos from our vacation by Sunday, but not until I unpack first.

Anyway, here’s a picture taken just 6 months ago today, when we threw her a wonderful birthday party.

So, Mel-Mel, thanks again! You’re also why my project got picked for the senior show!

Just like me, Kaitlyn hates it when there’s a monkey on her back, too. Here are 2 photos to prove it. Enjoy.

I really don’t mind staying home alone working on projects, since I usually get more things done without the distractions. It’s hard to resist playing with Kaitlyn. Trust me. Besides, I love how our apartment has big tall windows & a high ceiling. They just make the place brighter & look bigger, so it’s very pleasant to be inside. The location & rent are the other obvious things that we love about this place. You can’t beat this anywhere else.

Sadly though, because the building itself is really old (probably over 60 years old?) & the last time that this place got a total facelift was probably 30 years ago, there’re all these gaps/cracks/holes in the house. I try to patch up as many as I can & we keep this place pretty clean, so we have no problem with ants & roaches. In fact, I haven’t seen one since I moved in here almost 3 years ago.

BUT, for some reasons, mice get in somehow. I am seriously a musophobe. I can tolerate any bugs: cockroaches, spiders, caterpillars, whatever. You can put them on my face, if you want. I won’t flinch. But when it comes to rodents, regardless of size, I can’t bare even looking at a photo of it. For real!

Since they are doing major renovation/construction just two houses down the block, we’ve caught almost 10 mice in the past month alone! We live in attached houses, so the construction makes the rodents move to other houses. Although we put all the food that mice would eat in containers, they have been biting on bags & plastic containers in the kitchen, trying to get to the food. Our two electric mouse traps have been doing a great job catching them most of the time.

Still, there’re more coming!

Every time I’m alone in the living room at night, even with all the lights & the TV on, a mouse has to run into the room!

And a stupid mouse ran in on me again last night! What’s there to eat in the living room?! I mopped twice yesterday! Or do I smell like food to them or something??!

WHYYYYYYYYYY???!!

I swear the first thing I’ll do, when I get a full time job after graduating this May, is to find a rodent-proof place to live in!

Anyway, enough bad news. Here’s a video Melanie took of Kaitlyn falling asleep after eating. It’s about two minutes but it’s pretty funny. It was the morning my mom & sister arrived, so you can see my mom napping in the background, too.

One more thing: buy the converters as soon as you get the coupon(s). They expires in 90 days.

If you bought it here in the U.S. but didn’t buy it from De Beers, you may be qualified for a cash refund (and still keep your diamond) resulted from a class action lawsuit settlement.

Here’s an excerpt from the Arizona Republic:

“De Beers, the world’s largest diamond supplier, recently settled a $295 million class-action lawsuit that charged it unfairly monopolized the diamond trade and fixed prices for years.

Customers who bought a De Beers gem between Jan. 1, 1994, and March 31, 2006, have until May 19 to submit a claim to the settlement’s administrator to get money back.

How much anyone receives in the settlement will depend on the value of diamonds purchased and the number of claims filed.

Under the formula, a consumer who bought a diamond worth $2,000, for example, could get as much as $640.

The class action was born from several lawsuits claiming that De Beers broke antitrust and consumer-protection laws by monopolizing diamond supplies, controlling diamond prices and disseminating false advertising.”

To sum it up, you should file a claim if you meet ALL the requirements below:

• Purchased a diamond between Jan. 1, 1994, and March 31, 2006.
• If it’s a Mixed Stones Jewelry with combined purchase prices of $165 or more OR a Diamonds Only Jewelry with combined purchase prices of $95 or more.
• You can provide proofs such as a receipt, invoice, credit card statement, insurance statement, appraisal, certificate or any other documents showing the diamond’s or the diamond jewelry’s cut, clarity, color, number of carats, authenticity or the person or business from whom the diamond or diamond jewelry was bought.

Here is the same story that appeared on MSN Money.

So I was happy to hear an NPR’s “Your Health” podcast yesterday about lead test kits currently available on the market. In contrary to what the Consumer Product Safety Commission says, Consumer Reports concluded that the kits are reliable. The reason the commission disagree is because the kits point out toys with any amount of lead, while the toys can still meet the current (but outdated) law & regulations. However, experts & health professionals agree that any traces of lead is still unsafe for kids when ingested.

The only “drawback” is these kits only test for lead on product surfaces. But for concerned parents, that’s all you need know.

Two of the lead test kits mentioned on NPR were the Lead Inspector (8 tests for $12.99) & the Lead Check (8 for $18.45).

You can also read & listen to the stories on NPR here:
– Testing Toys for Lead
– Do Home Lead-Testing Kits Work?

Consumer Reports’ result: Lead Test Kits

If you are looking for some practical stocking stuffers for people with infants & toddlers, you certainly may want to consider one of these.