Don't have time for a real blog entry, but I wanted to update quickly:
* Baby: 26 Weeks. I can see the baby moving, kicking in my growing belly. It's so exciting!
* Baby showers: Registry is 98% complete. Shower planning in the works.
* Great Leap: Needs your support now! Tough time for progressive arts nonprofits!
* Home Project: Chaos! Packing our house, taking our carpets out, refinishing floors.
* Breaking the Fast: Celebrate Ramadan Angelino style on Nov. 6. See Great Leap News 10/18/04
* Little Tokyo Mural: Unveiling tentatively set for 12/4.
* Happy Birthday to my nephew Kyle. Happy Halloween for those who celebrate it.
* Vote for Kerry/Edwards Nov. 2. Get the idiot out of the house. Friday - Click here to comment:
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October 23 - 10 Reasons for Change Tony found this on Common Dreams.org. It's an article called The Case Against Bush: 10 Reasons Americans Need a Change by Ted Rall. I'll list them and you can go there to get the details, and then take this to the polls in 10 days:
1. He stole the 2000 election.
2. He politicized 9/11.
3. He let the terrorists get away while giving them a pay raise.
4. He murdered nearly 100,000 people (Afghanistan and Iraq).
5. He bankrupted the treasury.
6. He threw thousands of innocent people into concentration camps.
7. We are more feared than Al Qaeda.
8. He has done nothing to improve the economy.
9. He will appoint the next Supreme Court justice.
10. We deserve a president who can speak English and doesn't look like a chimpanzee.
So, we've actually had some weather lately. Rain, flooding, etc. Just wanted to make a quick update while I can. It's 5:30 am. One of the things about being pregnant is that I wake up between 3:00 and 4:00 am almost EVERY morning. Some days I turn over (getting increasingly difficult) and go back to sleep, waking every hour for 5 minutes to 2 hours. This morning, my legs were hurting, so I just got up and sat on the couch for half an hour and tried to stretch them out. Since July, I think I have only slept through the night 5 or 6 times. More and more, the baby seems to be up and about during those hours. I guess that late-night activity is prepping me for what is in store for our coming life changes. Been working on the baby registry, trying to figure out baby showers, working, and running around too much. I finally got to meet Kaz' baby Skyler Mariko on Tuesday night at Lily's house (photo at right), and again yesterday at Zip Fusion Sushi for lunch with Kaz, Lisa and her mom.
I have been testing out the comments on the website. For awhile now, it has been very inconsistent, sometimes not showing any comments, and then they will be there, or not showing the correct count from different computers. Whatever. You get what you pay for. Oh, my website host is upgrading, so some time next week, I might not be able to update for a week or so, or if it's down, that's why. So, if you come here and find no updates, click over to my Blogspot address http://kuidaosumi.blogspot.com/ which is still active. Who knows, I might be updating there. Thursday morning - Click here to comment:
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October 19 - Advice from the Mamas and the Papas
We are now 6 mos pregnant as of last week. We've been taking classes on labor and delivery, breastfeeding, newborn care, post-partum care (next week), and have just signed up for Lamaze in December. That starts making it feel pretty real. That and the fact that I now waddle when I walk, and have been experiencing pain when walking, turning over when lying down, getting up from sitting position, etc. for the last month. I just got a maternity belt which helps somewhat, but I had to break down and take a Tylenol the other day. Some of this I attribute to being a 40 year old first-time mama. We tried to go to BabysRUs on Sunday night, but were surprised to see that it has closed and is no longer there! So last night, we spent many hours on-line researching items for our baby registry--trying to determine the things we really need, and the things that we really don't need, especially in our house with a serious lack of storage space or closets. Baby paraphernelia is such big business! I have been told that all a baby really needs is breastmilk, have a clean diaper, plenty of sleep and lots of skin-to-skin contact, and that's really it. Any mamas (or papas) out there want to tell us the brand, style, benefits and drawbacks for the following items, we'd really appreciate (comment below or email us!):
--strollers (prefer as lightweight as possible - small car trunk, weak-armed mama-to-be)
--car seats (infant seat vs. convertible vs. booster)
--breast pumps (necessary if not working? electric vs. battery vs. manual)
--co-sleepers (does a pack n play suffice or do you need both?)
--high chair (how impt is this? is it used beyond 6-18 months? Tony likes the Stokke chair after 18 mos so baby eats at table with you)
--baby bjorn carrier (classic vs. advanced or Snugli -- do you really need if you have a sling?)
--cloth diapers (how much do you need if you use a diaper service... what about disposable liners?)
Those are just a few of the questions I came up with last night. Tuesday - Click here to comment:
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October 18 - Checking In It's about time for the weekly update again! It's getting harder to get onto the computer at home because of our busy schedule and the fact that Tony is often needing the computer, and let's face it, my energy is often oozing on the couch by the time we get home. Other than that, the mural is moving along well, it's slightly ahead of schedule, but trying to finish by end of November, so we can have an early December unveiling celebration.
On Friday, we went to our friend Glen's wedding rehearsal (photo at right), I had a quick dinner at Al N Bea's, and then Letty & I went to see "Boyle Heights" a play written by Josephina Lopez at Casa 0101. It was really great and runs through this weekend. On Saturday, Tony had an education conference at UCLA and did a mural/art making/board games workshop, and then we had two weddings! Congrats and best wishes to Glen and Chiae, and to Kristina & Mike! Unfortunately I had to leave Glen's reception before it really got started, and missed the beginning of Kristina's wedding in South Pasadena. It was really nice to see many old community friends at Glen's, and then to see all my cousins, their kids, aunties and uncles at Kris' wedding. Sunday, Tony crashed as he has been working 7 days a week for the last month and a half. We were able to do some grocery shopping, which was good. That's it folks. One more day to register to vote. Do it! Monday - Click here to comment:
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October 11 - Mural, Mural On the Wall
I've been wanting to write about the mural, because it has been our life for the last month. In addition to several weeks of prepping the 20 wood panels, they have had 5 public painting days. This weekend over 200 (yes, 200 people came to volunteer to paint, and last weekend brought over 100 painters. It has been a crazy time for Tony as the only paint mixer, Nancy, the project director, Jorge, who has done an incredible job working with Tony and the volunteers. Luckily, each day has 1 or 2 site coordinators who help with setup, sign-in and orientation for the volunteers. On Saturday, I stopped by for a few hours to take pictures and help out a bit, and on Sunday, I brought Tony's niece Danika and nephew Chris. Letty came by to paint, then afterwards, Tony & I visited the Ayala's and had delicious albondigas soup. I just spent 4 hours adding two more pages of the Little Tokyo Mural Volunteers and yesterday's pix so check 'em out!
Nika and Chris help out
Paint support, sign-in, snacks, reflection journal--home base
October 10 - Raising FUN(ds) for GL
Last weekend was the Great Leap FUN-raiser event. It went ok, although last year we raised probably twice as much money. For an arts organization that has lost all of its state funding in the past year (California Arts Council budget slashed from $31 million to $1 million and eliminated all grant programs), we count on this fundraiser as a way of partially making up the loss from the CAC. We had maybe 100 people, but we had targeted to get about 200 people there. The highlight was the very generous and gorgeous Mathew St. Patrick from "Six Feet Under," Amy Hill, Hapa actress from "50 First Dates," "Cat in the Hat," hilarious auctioneer Shabaka Henley from "The Terminal," "Ali," "How Stella Got Her Groove Back," and guest speaker Ms. Shabazz, the daughter of Betty Shabazz and Malcolm X. We had a live art auction, a "Mind, Body & Soul" silent auction, and some awesome food and GL performances. My back was bothering me, and the GL staff, board and volunteers were my legs and voice as I did what I could to help. Want to make a donation? Click here.
Mathew St. Patrick & Amy Hill, Emcees
Nader's piece about American Muslim's fears after 9/11
October 4 - DEFEAT BUSH
Although I haven't written about the upcoming election lately, it has been often on my mind. I hope to bring our baby into a world where Gee Dub is not the president of this country. With any luck, I won't have to. I am glad that Kerry has picked up in the polls. I realize how much is driven by how the news media covers and spins what's happening. In any case, just about everything about Bush infuriates me-- he's such a liar. I'm not so hot on Kerry either, but I know for sure that I am going to vote for him. Last election I voted for Ralph Nader, but not this time. I hope that all the left-of-Democrats like myself come out and cast their vote to DEFEAT BUSH on my birthday, November 2nd. Then I will have a truly Happy Birthday. If not, I will have a very UN-happy Birthday. Monday - Click here to comment:
Comment October 3 - Cute Kaylee/Baby X
Just wanted to post a recent photo of my niece Kaylee at 4 1/2 months. She's a little cutie. This is her on her first visit to our house last weekend. According to my sister Gayle, she's a really easy baby, always happy, sleeps well. Kaylee is going to be our baby's cousin, along with older cousins Kieth and Kyle.
The question I am most asked is whether or not we are going to find out if our baby is a girl or a boy. The truth is, we have decided to wait until the baby is born. Some people are excited, but many people are disappointed to hear that we have decided to wait. Besides the surprise of waiting, I wanted to try to avoid pre-natal gender stereotyping based on whether our baby is a girl or a boy. There are definitely things that we hope to avoid giving our child--toy guns, blond Barbies, Disney videos, and clothes that are pink for a girl and blue for a boy. There is a story that I remember from my first year of college, the story of Baby X that made a strong impression on me as an 18 year old. I recently found it on the www, and found that it was written by Lois Gould and published in Ms. magazine in 1972. The story of Baby X was written to show that gender alone should not shape who we are, or what we can become. Sunday - Click here to comment:
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