Today Yoshi got her flu vaccines. This was the first time we took her to get a flu shot, and it wasn't that easy due to failed attempts, run-around by her doctor's office, and the craziness of The Swine Flu (dun dun dunnn!). I thought that only the seasonal flu shot was going to be offered, but was pleasantly surprised when the nurse said Yoshi could also get H1N1 vaccine as well. And I was even more pleasantly surprised when the FluMist was offered because that meant only one needle (the H1N1) for Yoshi. Whew!
Yoshi has a lot of anxiety about needles. Tom and I tried to calm her fears by telling her how little the flu shot hurt when we got it. Seriously, I hardly felt it. Yoshi gave me a pinch afterwards and I told her that the shot hurt less than her pinch (which was true). This reassured her somewhat, but she was still scared when we sat in the examining room.
And the poor girl. Tom and I saw the needle that Yoshi got, and boy, it was 3 times the girth of the needle that was used on us. And longer too. The needle went pretty deep into her little arm. Yoshi held it together until we got back to the car and then just bawled.
Tonight, she cried as she went to sleep, complaining of how much it hurt. "It's the baddest boo boo I've ever had! It really hurts!" I felt so bad for her. I let her sleep with my beloved Bandit Snoopy that always sleeps in my bed to make her feel a little better. She fell asleep a few minutes later. The magic of Snoopy! And of acetaminophen.
I don't yet have the heart to tell her that she'll need to go back in a month for a booster shot.
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Friday, November 06, 2009
Paper Plates for Pelosi
Every Friday morning I volunteer in Yoshi's classroom. Today, I helped with a project called Paper Plates for Pelosi. The first task was for the kids to write a simple letter to Nancy Pelosi to request healthy food for their public school. The letter was glued to a paper plate. Then kids used colored paper to create healthy foods like sushi, fruits, veggies, chicken.
The teacher offered me a plate too and encouraged me to create my own Plate for Pelosi. Usually when I volunteer it's one-on-one testing with vocabulary, math, or reading comprehension. But to be given paper, scissors and glue and told to participate in arts and crafts while also writing to my congresswoman?! Awesome! I wrote a short and sweet letter saying how the food in SF public schools are terrible and we need her help to make a change to healthy and tasty foods. Then I went about cutting out paper grapes with a curly vine, a carrot with a bushy stem, a puffy strawberry, and some other fun foods.
One kid said, "Wow! You're like a paper artist!" Always looking for validation, this pretty much made my morning. I said, "Cutting paper and gluing them together is my job."
I need to hang out with first graders more often.
The teacher offered me a plate too and encouraged me to create my own Plate for Pelosi. Usually when I volunteer it's one-on-one testing with vocabulary, math, or reading comprehension. But to be given paper, scissors and glue and told to participate in arts and crafts while also writing to my congresswoman?! Awesome! I wrote a short and sweet letter saying how the food in SF public schools are terrible and we need her help to make a change to healthy and tasty foods. Then I went about cutting out paper grapes with a curly vine, a carrot with a bushy stem, a puffy strawberry, and some other fun foods.
One kid said, "Wow! You're like a paper artist!" Always looking for validation, this pretty much made my morning. I said, "Cutting paper and gluing them together is my job."
I need to hang out with first graders more often.
Monday, November 02, 2009
Boo!
I love dressing up as Dead for Halloween, mostly because of the fun makeup involved and perhaps slightly because Yoshi hates when I wear the spooky makeup. Last year I was a ghost, the previous year I was Little Dead Riding Hood. The year before that I was a dead lion tamer. This year I went as The Dead of Winter. Pretty much every conversation I had with a kid went something along the lines of this:
kid: Ooh, are you a vampire?
me: nope.
kid: A ghost?
me: nope.
kid: Zombie?
me: nope.
kid: Then what are you?
me: I'm The Dead of Winter!
kid: [blank stare]... uh, what's that?
me: You could say that I'm a literary abstract concept.
kid: [more blank stares] No, you're a vampire.
me: I'm going to eat you! [I lunge for them]
[kid runs away]
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Birthday Girl
My daughter turned 6 years old yesterday. But back for her 2nd birthday I created an invitation based on a simple stick figure drawing. I printed all the party details on the inside and sent them off to friends and family. Today I'm featuring the blank notecard version of this design.
Each stick figure is hand screenprinted by yours truly. I cut out each hat out of various scraps of beautiful Japanese paper. Each hat is topped with a colorful sequin, so bright and shiny! The coordinating envelopes come in colors such as orange, yellow, blue, or red, depending on what looks best with the Japanese paper hats.
While I do have a lot of these cards, once I run out, that's it! I won't be printing anymore of these designs.
Get them on my Etsy!
I also have cards for the Birthday Boy!
Saturday, October 17, 2009
5:04 pm
20 years ago was the Loma Prieta earthquake. It's an event I'll always remember. I was 11 years old. The general rule at that age was that I wasn't allowed to have any friends over in my house until I finished all my homework, so my best friend Kari would sit on the porch outside my front door while I sat on the otherside of the door and we did our homework together. When we finished we could play.
At 5:04 that evening, my brother had just gotten out of the bath and ready to watch the Giants and the A's play in the World Series on the TV. Kari and I were separated by the screen door at the front while we did homework. Then I heard that low, basal earthquake rumbling sound and saw that the road moving in large waves like a ribbon. Kari's Dad's 4x4 across the street was bouncing on two wheels, from one side to the other. I heard our lamp fall, then our glass shelf crash. I realized it was a big one. Kari was struggling to get the tricky screen door open from the outside (if you've ever been to my house you know the opening to the screen door doesn't always work so well). In a blur, I opened the door and then dove under the dining room table and waited.
15 seconds later, the earthquake is over. I remember Kari's dad bounding across to street to make sure his daughter was okay. The three of us went over to her house, and there we saw that her aquarium was knocked over on the family room floor. But we were in awe of seeing the swimming pool in the backyard swashing about, water all over the place. I think it took almost an hour for the water to fully settle down.
There were tons of aftershocks. I think those startled me more because there were so many of them and I never knew how big they would be or how long they would last. We walked around the neighborhood, saw hospital procedures being performed out in their parking lot, other neighbors walking around. It was a somber, sobering feeling, and yet as a kid it was exciting because it was so different.
I was so lucky that we only lost a few things, but nothing of incredible monetary or sentimental value. We didn't get hurt, our house was fine. I enjoyed eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches under the table. I was jealous that Kari's family got to use all their camping equipment like their stove. Fun! My family never went camping so we didn't have that stuff.
On our radio we listened to the devastation that hit SF and Oakland, namely the Marina fires, the Bay Bridge collapse, and the Cypress Structure collapse. And once we got power and saw all the images and videos it was really overwhelming. I could go on and on about those events, but they were covered extensively and you can read about that online.
I'm very grateful that no one close to me was hurt seriously (although Tom's sister was burned by a vat of hot oil while working her shift at Kentucky Fried Chicken). And as much as it pains me to read about those who died or almost died, I am reminded by the incredible act of humanity where true heroes emerge, strangers saving strangers.
Read SFGate's article.
At 5:04 that evening, my brother had just gotten out of the bath and ready to watch the Giants and the A's play in the World Series on the TV. Kari and I were separated by the screen door at the front while we did homework. Then I heard that low, basal earthquake rumbling sound and saw that the road moving in large waves like a ribbon. Kari's Dad's 4x4 across the street was bouncing on two wheels, from one side to the other. I heard our lamp fall, then our glass shelf crash. I realized it was a big one. Kari was struggling to get the tricky screen door open from the outside (if you've ever been to my house you know the opening to the screen door doesn't always work so well). In a blur, I opened the door and then dove under the dining room table and waited.
15 seconds later, the earthquake is over. I remember Kari's dad bounding across to street to make sure his daughter was okay. The three of us went over to her house, and there we saw that her aquarium was knocked over on the family room floor. But we were in awe of seeing the swimming pool in the backyard swashing about, water all over the place. I think it took almost an hour for the water to fully settle down.
There were tons of aftershocks. I think those startled me more because there were so many of them and I never knew how big they would be or how long they would last. We walked around the neighborhood, saw hospital procedures being performed out in their parking lot, other neighbors walking around. It was a somber, sobering feeling, and yet as a kid it was exciting because it was so different.
I was so lucky that we only lost a few things, but nothing of incredible monetary or sentimental value. We didn't get hurt, our house was fine. I enjoyed eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches under the table. I was jealous that Kari's family got to use all their camping equipment like their stove. Fun! My family never went camping so we didn't have that stuff.
On our radio we listened to the devastation that hit SF and Oakland, namely the Marina fires, the Bay Bridge collapse, and the Cypress Structure collapse. And once we got power and saw all the images and videos it was really overwhelming. I could go on and on about those events, but they were covered extensively and you can read about that online.
I'm very grateful that no one close to me was hurt seriously (although Tom's sister was burned by a vat of hot oil while working her shift at Kentucky Fried Chicken). And as much as it pains me to read about those who died or almost died, I am reminded by the incredible act of humanity where true heroes emerge, strangers saving strangers.
Read SFGate's article.
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Mushroom pin cushion
Here's my latest hand sewing project. And really, it's more of a gluing project because there was very little sewing involved (and just a little project in general). But still, it used up some fabric from my stash, which is always good.
This pin cushion for Yoshi. She started to take after her crafty mama and learned how to sew a little. She's really excited about it. But mostly I think she likes it because she gets her own Yoshi-sized sewing box with all the goodies inside.
I used the tutorial found here. Very quick and easy! I made a couple more since it was so fun!
Thursday, August 27, 2009
I can't stop watching!
It's crafty, it's funny, it's sexy, it's Isabella Rossellini in the Green Porno. Brilliant!
And very educational.
And very educational.
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