Gieaz v1.1

My dad is part of an internet startup company, or I think that's what it is. At first, my siblings and I asked why a 60 year old man is doing this. Isn't he too old for this internet stuff? I am sure he would say that there is no age limit to possibilities, opportunities, and some fun. Nevertheless, we were glad to find that he has a vibrant group of young professionals on the team.

The product, recently released, is called "Gieaz ListWidget v1.1". It's a powerful search engine and you can download for free at www.gieaz.com

Currently, Gieaz is in Japanese only but of course, you can search in English. It's just that when you are in the process of installing the software on your computer, all the little windows come out in little scribbles. You can still download it by clicking the most obvious buttons for download. Wako is working on translating some of this to English so when that is done, the new English version will be ready.

Since it was just released, there is opportunity to further develop and finesse the software. My dad says any and all comments are welcome. He is expecting me to test it out rather than using google as I normally would. And he asks me to see if my friends could do the same. Please help me by downloading gieaz and giving it a try.

Here's the youtube ad for Gieaz:



And while I am on the topic of my dad, I should introduce him. He turned 60 and he scared us recently by being hospitalized for 2 weeks for some heart condition he had since birth. We didn't know what was wrong but thankfully, they found the problem, gave him medication, and he seems to be back being himself. He works harder than anyone I know; he likes to work. He loves taichi and goes to the park before work for some exercise. He's short. He's a proud Taiwanese. He lives in Japan with my mom. He's serious and he's pretty darn funny. He told me to go to California for college because it's close to home (9 hours flight) and the chancellor at that time was Taiwanese. In the last few years, he took up ceramics and brings back uniquely shaped plates and cups for my mom. He thinks Gieaz is pretty cool but do you?

recently

Lots of chages are taking place in our family. Sierra started school last week. I am not too heartbroken this time around but I worry because she is not eating too well there. I am not sure if she's just trying to adjust or she's just that way. While she's there, I am not in control and things like that worry me A LOT.

I am going back to work next Monday. Originally, I was suppose to have another week to myself but boss called me yesterday to see if I can start a week early. I thought about how much daycare costs and I said sure. Pat's work said that they are laying off another 5% by the end of the year (they'd already laid off 5%) so it's good for me to have a job. Pat doesn't seem to be worried since he thinks worrying is a waste of time, so I worry for him.

Sierra is now in school 5 days a week (only in the am now), but Terran is still only 3 days. So for a few days, Terran and I had the mornings to ourselves. That's been really special since I have not had time with just him since Sierra was born. He likes to talk continuously and we just have a lot of fun. We went to a music class and did a really crazy dance together; on another day, I took him to the farm. We were suppose to pick apples but we just looked at animals, played on the tractor, and ate donuts. Even taking him shopping is fun. It's nice to be able to focus just on him for change.

I don't have any photos of Terran this month yet but plenty of Sierra.
I love this photo of Pat and Sierra laughing. It's so sweet.



Sierra can stand and walk around as long as she's holding on to something like the wall. She's a happy gal.



She likes to walk around with a bag; it's so girly. And she waves by to me as she does this.

No France

So I did plan on going to Nice with Patrick but changed my mind after coming back from Japan. Adjusting to time for the kids was so difficult that I didn't want to go through with it all over again so soon after. So we opted to stay home and I think I made the right decision.

I talked to Patrick a few times while he was in Nice. The first thing he said to me: "They don't pick up dog poop here. It's everywhere and it's nasty." He was busy from early morning at the conference til very very late at night hanging out with his buddies. And he planned to take 3 days afterwards to relax and travel around the area. But towards the end of the conference, Pat was so tired and decided to skip the 3 days and come home. I was really happy that he decided to come home to us sooner because we were all missing him. He told me that he wanted to come home mostly because by himself, he just didn't think he'd find the sites all that interesting. He said that without any diapers to change, a little hand to hold, or a kid to yell at, he didn't see the point. A few years ago Pat would have happily taken off on his own. It's a little sad that he seems to have lost this but it also showed me that he has become "totally dad".

For women, we become moms the instant we pop out our first baby and hold the little thing in our arms. There is no going back after that and we become all consumed with our responsibility for the new life. For men, it's a different story; it takes time. Even though they try, mr. selfishness gets in the way more than just once in awhile. But now, there's evidence that Pat is there. He may still have his "me" moments, but in essence, he's really "dad" now. You may disagree with my view of men (especially if you are one), but ask any married woman and she will agree with me completely!

So there was no France for me, and France was cut short for Pat.

Sept.

Just realized that it has almost been a month since my last blog. I think it's because I had to watch the Olympics, then the DNC, and then a small part of RNC. All these add up to be about a month.

Sierra turned 1 at the end of August. It has been an incredibly fast but happy year. She slept through the first 4 months, and she didn't move for another 4 months. Finally at month 8, she started becoming more active. Now at 12 months, she crawls, walks while supporting herself on the wall, tries to grab Terran's toys, and says a few words. Unlike Terran whose first and favorite word was "dada", Sierra loves to say "mama". She's such a girly girl. She loves stuffed animals and loves to play with my hats and jewelry. It's been such a great year to be able to spend so much time with her. Next week, she will be starting daycare. I will be back to work at the beginning of October. It's going to be a lot of change for both of us.



Terran and Sierra with their favorite snack: Yogurt Pop. 2 cups of whole milk yogurt, 2 cups of blueberries (or whatever berries), a few tablespoons of sugar, blend it and freeze in ice pop trays. Yum!



Sierra's birthday cake. I was going to make a cake but that didn't happen so I got a cheesecake with lots of fruits on top. After we sang her song, they devoured the fruits right from the cake and left the cheesecake untouched. So we had the cheesecake for breakfast!



On a hot summer day, if I don't feel like dragging them to the pool, I give them buckets of water and let them splash in the back.



My baby!