Kid Wars

How is it that children can be ornery little storm troopers one day and perfect little Padawans the next? (Perhaps God wonders the same of us grownups as we run amuck). Something in the cosmos converged yesterday, the biorhythms of all three kids must have peaked simultaneously, because they charmed the pants off of their grandpa and grandma all day long. More often than not, they choose to turn to the dark side when company is over or when portraits are taken. But once in a great, great while they do you proud. I guess that's how the little rebels keep the evil empire at bay and get spoiled silly to boot.

Rich Corinthian Leather

I am seething inside, livid because what was supposed to be my academic day for catching up and making progress on a hundred things at work has turned into a day of a thousand obligations imposed upon me. But through the anger, I hear a little voice with a soft Mexican lilt, Ricardo Montalban in miniature sporting a fresh white suit perched on my shoulder saying over and over again, "Smiles, everyone, Smiles!" Not quite the angel on my shoulder I would have expected from attending Sunday service yesterday for the first time in months, which by the way was very rejuvenating, and a topic of another post to come. Alas, Mr. Roarke, with his eternal optimism, has suppressed the demon within me helping me to see past the flash of anger to the blessings that I do have -- two sets of helpful grandparents nearby, a flexible schedule at work, healthy, happy kids, and never the need to have breast-reduction surgery, which my dear nanny is having done this moment. Ah, I feel transported to a far away island of fantasy already...

On My Own

...pretending he's bes-i-ide me...
Sorry, no Les Mis on this blog. Just me lamenting, like Eponine, over the fact that Bob's away tomorrow for a half week at a conference and I'll be in charge of the kids myself -- well sort of. You see, I'm like Rodney Dangerfield, I don't get no respect. So being in charge is more like helplessly calling to the wind. I've tried the idle threats, the stern looks, but unlike the Shins who have a deadly "stink-eye," I don't have the arsenal to really scare my kids into submission. They know I'm a softy. So if you don't see any new posts in the near future, you'll know that I've been tied down and held captive by my lil' rugrats. If you don't hear from me in a week, please send help.

Happy Birthday Max!

At this very moment exactly one year ago, my little Maxi came into the world and his brothers' lives were changed forever. For his first birthday, I found the perfect quote for Max on my Starbucks cup. I hope that being the youngest will inspire him to keep reaching and achieving more in life -- like the ability to walk:

“Having two older brothers is a healthy reminder that you’re always closer to the bottom than you are to the top.”

--Andy Roddick--
who finished 2003 ranked as the No. 1 tennis player in the world – the youngest American and second-youngest player overall to do so. He also holds the world’s record for fastest serve at 246.2 km/h, and recently named his older brother, John, as his new coach.

Called to Iraq

The most disturbing news came to one of Bob's residents. Her husband, who had been a reservist with only 3 months left to his 5-year obligation, was just called to deploy to Baghdad for the next 18 months. I hate to imagine losing a spouse so suddenly, for so long, under such dangerous circumstances. My cousin, an only son fresh out of flight surgeon school, must also deploy to Iraq soon, which just breaks my aunt's heart. It's hard enough to see coverage of soldiers overseas whom we don't know personally, even harder to see the effects of their deployment on loved-ones whom we know. It makes me stop and consider the real blessings I have in my own little household, and see the inconsequentiality of our daily struggles and stresses.

Queen of Mediocrity

I am recovering from a weekend spend hosting dinners that I owed people for more than half a year. There's a reason I procrastinated because cooking formal dinners is not my forte. Add to that the fact that I was totally psyched-out for the first party by our neighbors, certified gourmands who own a Viking range and a wine cellar of more than 300 bottles, vacation in Bordeaux, and caramelize their homemade creme brulee with a handy blowtorch. In the end, I don't think I killed anyone with my cooking, or they were too kind to call with the after-effects. But I can't shake the fear that when the evening ended, they ran home to cleanse their palates and satiate their hunger with pan-seared foie gras. Some days, it's all I can do to put edible food on the table, keep the kids happy and bring home the bacon. Thank goodness for today's Style section in the Post, where I found consolation in a quote from Jon Stewart, the comedian chosen to host this year's Oscars while running a TV show and having a newborn baby: "Some people will burn themselves to the nub. I've decided to exist in a sea of mediocrity. That's allowed me to do all my tasks, but to in fact, do them poorly."

Ready, Set, Go!

There's nothing like the suspense of the Olympic start gate, particularly when a skier is about to hurl himself down a quadruple black diamond slope at 70 miles an hour. The tension in the air is palpable as he plants his poles, preparing to push off, then a disembodied voice from behind the start gate shouts, "Come on Bode, you can buy your momma some roses!!!"

Bode probably spent the entire run puzzling over what the guy meant instead of applying himself because he promptly came in 7th.

Why don't we make our own Top 10 list of inspirational exclamations that could help Bode do better than he has. For example,
1. "Come on Bode, there's a Guiness waiting for you down there!"
2. "Come on Bode, the Olympic officials are coming up here with a breathalyzer!"
3. "Come on Bode, Cheney's comin' and he's got a gun!"
4. ?

A Cold Valentine

For those of you whose honey didn't make good this Valentine's Day, here's a cold idea for sweet revenge.

Oh, no!

At the risk of being politically incorrect -- what the heck, this blog is all about risk-taking -- I would like to share some insight I gained upon watching the Apolo Ohno speed skating fiasco last night. Let me start by saying that Bob really dislikes Apolo Ohno, he claims, because the guy cheated his countryman out of Olympic gold four years ago. You and I know that he's probably not so fond of Apolo's name either, for obvious (i.e. wife's ex) reasons. Nevertheless, I was wondering all night why the Koreans seem to dominate in this particular Olympic sport, one that even Bob's grandfather (3rd from left above) excelled in. Then it occurred to me while I was watching the Flying Tomato get the gold in snowboarding, when the newscaster commented on why the Finns were such strong competitors in the half-pipe because "the mountains are so small in Finland, all they have are half-pipes!" -- that must be it! The Koreans are so great in short-track speedskating because, being from a very small country, all they have are lots of little ice rinks!

Snow Day!

Welcome to Ting-Do!

This is my very first posting ever. For Valentine's Day, I surprised my dear magical hubby, Bob, with tickets to see David Copperfield. In return, he gave me my very own cyber soap box. I never thought of myself as technically able-minded, but now that I have my own web and blog site, I feel truly empowered and defined as a person. Mind you, this was not easy to come by, which came as a surprise to me since I grew up with a fairly unique name. I have never known another Ting in the world aside from my family and I almost never came across another Tricia in my classes at school. So it was something of a shock to find out when I was trying to select a username for my new gmail account that triciating, tting, tyting and tinger were all already taken. Who in the world is out there using my name? I'm thinking maybe there's some Chinese geekess in silicon valley with my name, Bob guesses someone in Canada perhaps. So when he said that triciating.com was still available, I jumped at the chance to cyberize myself and become immortal in the digital web of life. Most importantly, I beat out my alter ego, that other Tricia Ting out there, from owning my dot com -- take that!

Alas, what to do with all this freedom and power? Your guess is as good as mine. My primary objective is to assail the world with my opinions as profound and important at they are, and hopefully, as an added bonus, amuse, entertain, and encourage along the way. I hope to feel connected through this blog, so I welcome any comments as long as they massage my ego.

So welcome, friends, to my wacky world. And Happy Valentine's Day to all :)