Browse Category: videos

Single Parent Day 3

IMG_2902Kumquat and I are in a groove now.  Only one more day before Jes gets back from Colorado.  I also got my sunglasses back.  I had misplaced them somewhere between my car and my condo last week when I got home from work.  I asked one of the association staff guys if anyone happened to pick them up and someone turned them in!! Woot!  Oh happy day!

This evening after Kumquat went to bed, I made some meatloaf tarts.  I have a general idea of how meatballs or meatloaf is made so I improvised with what I had.  Here’s what I did:

  1. IMG_6990I combined in a bowl the following: 1 cup shredded zucchini, 1 cup shredded carrots, 2 eggs, 3/4 lbs ground beef, 1/2 cup seasoned bread crumbs, 2 cloves of garlic (minced), and a big plop of tomato sauce.
  2. IMG_6994Then the mixture went into a muffin tin.
  3. IMG_6997They baked in the oven at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes and Ta Da!!

IMG_6999All done.  It’s so simple and easy.

IMG_7001

Now they’re all packed up and ready to go in the freezer.  I have 12 meals ready and waiting to be gobbled up by Little Miss Kumquat.  Hm…what should I make next?

By the way, she liked the egg tart I made for her last night.  Making baby food is fun when you make the time.

Oh yeah…one more thing.  I recorded this tonight for a dear friend who was asking me how to make orange segments.

Click here if you can’t view the video above.

Portland

IMG_2404We took a trip to Portland this past weekend and it was a nice family vacation.  The weekend started with a late flight and a cranky baby that couldn’t’ settle down.  She fussed for most of the flight until I finally took her to the back to walk around.  Once it was time to land, I sat down in the back of the plane in an empty seat and she fell asleep.  When we got to the hotel, it was pretty late but we all settled in quickly and got a pretty good night’s sleep.

IMG_2429On Saturday (all day) and Sunday (morning), I went to class.  It was actually a good class and worth the trip.  On Saturday it rained but we still managed to explore the city.  We stayed at the Westin, which was located right in the middle of everything.  In fact, it was just a few steps from a collection of food stalls.  Unfortunately Nong’s Kao Man Gai was closed for the weekend so we grabbed a bite to eat at Kenny & Zuke’s Deli.

IMG_2412We had shared a tasty chicken noodle soup, pastrami sandwich, potato salad, and mac and cheese.  Even Kumquat got some!

DSC_1713On Sunday afternoon after class, we drove up to Multnomah Falls.  It was a short 30-minute drive and we got to see two waterfalls.  The first was Latourell Falls where we took a short hike up a hill.  We also saw a couple critters along the way.


Centipede a video by beakatude on Flickr.

Inch Worm a video by beakatude on Flickr.

Multnomah Falls was just down the street and so accessible!

DSC_1744Jes took the 0.2-mile walk up to the bridge and my lens was long enough to get a photo of him from down below.  He’s the guy in red. DSC_1745Pretty cool, huh?!

IMG_6823Later that evening, we met up at Pok Pok for dinner with Heather and her family.  I was so excited to see her and to finally meet little Daphne and her husband Brian.  It’s been about 8 years since I last saw her and it was just like old times.

IMG_2452 IMG_2455The food was good and had some really authentic flavors but with a twist.  It was worth the visit.


Baby Elephant a video by beakatude on Flickr.

The next morning, we met up at Oregon Zoo.  Heather has a membership so she got one of us in for free.  Thanks, Totoro!  The best part of the trip for me was seeing the baby elephant, Lily, who was born in November.

DSC_1799Daphne enjoyed the baby monkey that was also recently born.  Heather emailed me todayy and said that she won’t stop talking about the baby monkey and the mama monkey with the long boobies.  So funny.

DSC_1821I love this photo of the four of us.  I wish we lived closer to each other.  We’d have so much fun together.

IMG_2482 IMG_2484 For lunch, we stopped at Nong’s Kao Man Gai.  I was so excited as I waited for our order and when I brought it back to the hotel room, it was DELICIOUS.  There’s something so awesome about eating something that I grew up eating only at my house.  And seriously…can anyone tell me why there are SO MANY Thai restaurants in Portland?!  They’re just as abundant as coffeeshops!IMG_2506Kumquat needed to take a nap so I took her for a long walk in the stroller.  About 90 minutes later, she woke up in time to try on some shoes.  We ended up getting a pair of matching Nikes.  LOOK AT THAT MINI SHOEBOX!  So cute!

IMG_2527For dinner, we sat outside on the sidewalk.  It was a pretty warm day and comfortable enough to stay out until sunset.  These tables were all full when we sat down but emptied out by the time we left.  Weird.

IMG_2538 On Tuesday morning, we walked over to Voodoo Donuts.  I had walked past it the day before but there was a huge line.  IMG_2540Luckily there was no line in the morning so we picked up a maple bacon donut and it was pretty tasty.  I cheated on my low-cholesterol diet that morning and ate half the donut and made myself throw the other half away.  Yes, it’s true and a little bacon fairy out there somewhere cried a little that morning.

IMG_2555Our flight home went smoothly with the exception of an hour-long delay.  Luckily we hadn’t boarded the plane yet when they decided to delay the flight due to a mechanical problem.  We got to hang out at the gate instead, which worked out great for a 13-month-old who doesn’t sit still anymore.  IMG_2560Once on the plane, she did great and even got a middle seat to herself.  She made up for the horrible flight up on Friday night.

It was a fun trip filled with tasty eats, good friends, quality family time, and oh yeah…some professional development.

Taiko!!!

doorApril is OT Month and every year we spend an afternoon in a team building activity and then finish the day with a dinner.

taikoThis year, we went KM’s taiko studio on Thursday for an afternoon of drumming. The group actually made these drums by hand!  Amazing.

drummingI had always wanted to try taiko and it was so much fun!  We made lots of noise and everyone caught on rather quickly.  My T-Rex arms got quite a workout too!


Here’s a quick video of us in action.  Not bad for our first time, huh?!  Of course I’m not in the video since I was behind the camera but I was on the drum on the high stand, which was my favorite.  Click here if you can’t see the video above.

groupHappy Occupational Therapy Month!!

Bay Bridge

bridge lightsThe Bay Bridge has a special light display that started last month.  It’s on the western span of the bridge and you can see if from The Embarcadero.  I hadn’t seen it yet so after the baby went to sleep, I took Koa for a long walk down to see the lights.

Here’s one part of the show.

Here’s another part of the show.

It’s going to be on display until 2015 and turns on a dusk and turns off at 2am everyday.  Pretty cool!

muniIt was pretty late when it was time to head back so the dog and I took Muni home.  Koa’s ridden Muni and the bus before but I guess it had been a while because when we got on, he was shakin’ in his britches the whole way home.  Silly dog.

Sophie’s Bday Party

elephants

On Sunday, I took Kumquat to Lafayette to celebrate Sophie’s upcoming 1st birthday.  Her birthday is actually this Friday and I’m so glad that we were in town for the party.  It was supposed to be at a park in Orinda but with the unpredictable rain this past weekend, it was moved to a local Round Table.  The decorations were really cute with little elephants topping the scrumptious homemade cupcakes.  I usually don’t like cake but I ate TWO of these.  Ranee, they were delicious!!

kids

There were lots of kids including the Chu twins.  Here’s a pretty funny photo of the four kiddos together.  This is one of the outtakes and I can’t help laugh when I see this.

steph and maiAunties Steph, Mai, and Karen were there too and they each got some time with Kumquat.

IMG_4487Here’s a photo of Karen with both of the chubby cheeksters.

moms and babies

We also managed to get a group photo of the kids and their moms.  It’s the first time we’ve had all four kiddos together in the same place.

cakeThe best part of the party was watching Sophie enjoy her first taste of cake and frosting.  Good stuff…

She seemed a little confused by all the singing and everyone staring at her.  Click here if you can’t see the video above.

Here’s a photo of her getting a taste of the cake.  Yum yum!  Click here if you can’t see the video above.

Happy Early Birthday, Soph!

Kumquat saved the day!

This has been an unusually stressful week in our house.  It started when Kumquat caught a cold over the weekend and we just felt crummy that our little one had to sleep with a stuffy nose.  Then on Tuesday morning, I got a text from Jes saying that the dog had puked a huge amount after I left.

That same day, I got a warning light on the dashboard saying that I had low tire pressure and this was on top of the service light that we had on for the past month.  So, this morning I had to leave my sick baby and sick car at home and take BART into work.  It’s usually not so bad but I was running late and I HATE being late to work.

As if the day couldn’t get any worse, I got a text and photo from our nanny about a water leak coming from our kitchen lights in the ceiling.  What the heck?!  So I texted Jes and he called the building engineer who took care of it.

I was so frazzled by the end of the day that I made myself walk home from the BART station to work off my frustrations.  By the time I got home, I was ready to hang out with my baby girl and we went for a long walk with Koa before her last feeding.  Then, as I was about to say “good riddance” to the day, Kumquat decided to save the day by rolling for the first time!  Ah…what a great day after all.  You can just hear the excitement in my voice in the video.  I guess I needed SOMETHING to make me feel better and this did the trick.

Click here if you can’t see the video above.