Glass by Yuri – Online Jewelry Store

I’ve met Yuri (meaning “glass” in Korean) while I was in Austin. Back then, she was only in junior high. Now, she’s all grown up and working in NYC! Now, she has just opened, starting today, her very own online custom made jewelry store!

Glass by Yuri

She has a fairly large collection already online and I’m sure she will add more as time goes by. What’s more, she will donate portions of the income towards local and international mission support! She started making jewelry for sale to help out a local missions group at first. I am so very proud of her.

Please go and support her by buying some! 🙂

Kids and Houston Auto Show ’08

So I was brave enough to decide to take the kids this year to the Houston Auto Show 2008!  I knew JJ would love it but wasn’t so sure about Anna… well, they both loved it really!  And the unexpected part was that they both wanted to get in all the cars and take pictures!  😀  That was so cute…

We did total of about 2 and 1/2 hours of walking around and seeing all kinds of cars… my favorite was seeing the Audi R8!  That car was suh-wheat!  Here are the pictures of it…  Enjoy!  I know I did.

Oh yeah… Buick had a water fountain to show…

Increasing Responsibilities of Parenthood

Anna’s first year in public school system has been great.  She loves going to school and is always excited about learning…  However, there has been a bit of… concern.

There’s this girl in her class that has been saying negative things to Anna.   It all started with “You are not my friend” type of simple (but common, unfortunately) negative comments whenever Anna didn’t play with this girl or wanted to control her.  Anna is mostly a very sweet girl who gets along with everyone else and tries to be kind.  Unfortunately, that’s her weakness as well and so even such statement makes her cry.  🙁

I remember the first time Anna mentioned it.  It kind of came out of the blue and she started to cry.  So both of us have been telling her to try her best to ignore what she tells her.  Well, unfortunately, things have been getting worse.  Last week, that girl told Anna that she’s stupid!  😡  Erg…  This girl is currently the only child and so tends to try to be controlling and authoritative.  Both of us were so mad.

It’s hard to advise a 5-year-old on how to handle such situation.  While being a Christian, we want to tell her to just love that girl unconditionally, I told myself that Ann’s 5 years old.  She has no concept on what all that means, let alone being able to process how to not let such negative things not affect her.  So until I believe she’s old enough to ignore those negative comments and still be able to befriend her, I told her (as calmly and nicely as possible) to avoid her and ignore what she says.

In her first year in school system, all I wanted for Anna to learn is adapt well into the system.  I could care less about how smart she becomes or capable or such things.  I want her to enjoy the school life.  After all, she will be in it for 12 more years!  So on Tuesday, we had our 2nd teacher-parent conference.  Anna’s teacher is great.  She loves her.  And the teacher is great for most part.  But she’s a teacher nonetheless and with all her responsibilities, this kind of situation was oblivious to her.  So after the teacher spoke about her academic progress (and she’s doing just fine even if others are doing superior), I brought this issue with this particular girl.

Now that she’s aware of it, I hope the teacher does a bit more.  And I do pray that Anna grows up to be a very understanding and accepting kind of person.  But until I think she’s ready to even understand what that means, I am advising her to avoid her.  Man, it’s tough being a parent…  🙁

Caffeine helps women stay sharp

I love coffee… ever since I took a sniff at the age of 8, I imagined that hot choco was coffee to me.  😛  So my affinity to coffee has been very long and though may not be an aficionado by any means, I am still somewhat avid drinker still…

Well, there’s a co-worker at work who’s kind of like a godmother to me.  She told me today of how her mother (86) is still so lively and well, and that her mother’s sisters (88 and 92) are also lively and sharp.  So I asked her that she should find out about what enables them to be so.  And without a hesitation, she says, “coffee”!  😮  I was pleasantly surprised to hear that.

And she then went onto tell me about Chronicles article that stated to support her claim (and the same one that made her drink coffee again!).   It states that 3 cups of coffee or tea a day can help women over the age of 60 maintain mental sharpness!   But alas, not in men.  🙁

So dad, go ahead and tell mom to drink more coffee!!  😀  LOL…  to your health, mom!

“Interesting” replies between Dell & Me

As my 2 readers 😛 know by now, I have been having some major run-ins with Dell.  I ordered a video card from them nearly TWO months ago and still have nothing to show for it.  Why?  ’cause the dumb-luck company took in WAAAY too many orders and never kept the promise!  They have been delaying my shipped date on a weekly basis.  Last ship date was supposed to be 01/11/08.  Yes, you read that correctly.

That’s last Friday!  😡  Then they had the nerve to delay it again and now it’s 01/29/08!  Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!  With more than a month (?) of delay, FTC requires the sellers to notify the buyer and must auto-cancel the order if it goes beyond that unless the customer states to keep the order explicitly!   And this is what I wrote when they sent me the e-mail that it was delayed to 29th of the month…

What the hell is this?!  Excuse my language but I’m getting delayed for two months now?!!
Do you guys call this service?  If Dell was such a great company and excel in service, you would have offered alternate solution in one way or another, even if you had to eat your words and offer other branded solutions at a loss!  If you can’t do that, please just drop my sorry excuse for an order off your list.  I’m not ordering from you guys ever again and I will let the entire world know.

And this is the reply I get from Dell… I just couldn’t stop laughing… and cry at the same time!!

Thank you for your reply.  The response did not clearly indicate whether you wished to cancel this order, or consent to the delay.  We apologize for the misunderstanding.  Please respond as soon as possible, and indicate whether this order is to be canceled or continued in process.

Thank You,
Dell Inc. Notification Team

WTH?!  Dell sucks.  That’s all there’s to it!

An Addendum to Cold-hearted b******

Let me add a bit more to clarify something.

It’s not that I don’t make the effort in reaching out to the less fortunate including the homeless.  Yesterday’s turn of events proved that I still try to “segregate” the times I am kind and when I am not, while Soojin’s mentality is continuous flow.

I have been to homeless shelters and special programs and what not.  When I approached the gentleman yesterday, I realized that I interact much better if I am prepared in my mind.  That in the end means that I have to be prepared 24/7.  Internal strife must continue and I must not lose to myself.

I am still a cold-hearted b****** and Soojin’s my hero

Happy birthday Pastor Shawn! 😀

So to celebrate his, Andrew Kim’s, and Eric Song’s b-days, we went across the street to Chipotle for lunch after the service. Nothing too extreme to denote the title thus far, right? Well, after the lunch and the looong stop at Berripop, we headed back to our car. We had to walk back to the church parking lot.

On the way, we noticed a homeless man sitting on the bus stop bench. I tried to hurry along, and try to ignore him. However, Soojin, as soon as we pass him, she says, “Do you think he ate?” At first, I was irritated and annoyed. She then proceeded to suggest that we should buy him something to eat and pointed to Whichwich.

So I sent the rest ahead and I went to buy the sandwich and came back to give him the sandwich. He is all that anyone would think of when you heard the word “homeless”: beard and facial hair everywhere, half asleep, very dark faced, age of 40-something to 50-something. When I approached him, he saw what I had in my hands and got up and said something appreciative that I don’t recall.

Afterwards, I had realized how cold and heartless I was. I am as the title says, a cold-hearted bas****. I’d rather avoid him and turn the cold shoulder rather than be like Soojin who obviously had the heart of Christ in her… definitely more than I had.

You see, this isn’t the first time. Last year during summer, Soojin had noticed this older man selling newspaper on Kirby near 59. His name was Dave. When she first saw him, she again wanted to feed him and give him drink. Everyone has their heroes. Mine is Soojin. She certainly has the heart of a hero of Christ. She is able to see the person that is in need. And sees it right through.