Birthday

It's my birthday today. I'm older and wiser now. It's also my first gym day since Arthur was born. Everything has been going on smoothly this year.

We're going to O's Restaurant in the Westin Hotel in Westminster to celebrate. It is said that the chefs in the restaurant are scientists who utilize very abstracted ways in cooking, such as liquid nitrogen in sorbet demonstration. I definitely hope the food tonight worths the calories as I got up at 4 am this morning and went to the gym.

I went to JC Penny this morning and picked up a black tank top for myself. I noticed that most clothes these days are made in Vietnam. China-made apparel products no longer have a cost advantage in the United States any more.

I also found that the price of groceries in Safeway is almost twice as much as Wal-mart. I should definitely go to Wal-mart for food from now on. The thing is, they only carry Horizon Organic milk, which tastes horribly nasty.

Generally it's been a great day. I don't need to cook or do any work today. This is the least reward I could give myself.

出关

今天是蓓蓓出关大喜的幸福日子.我的体重终于恢复到生孩子,怀孕之前的水准了.怀孕对一个女人来说就像天山童姥散功一样,特别是生孩子,非常伤身体.这一点作为男人永远也理解不了.下个星期杨天骐(阿瑟)就要满三个月了,这就意味着我终于可以回健身房锻炼了.当然这种锻炼已经不再是为了减肥,而是为了让肌肉修长好看.Biajee决定下个星期我过生日的时候帮我拍摄大量性感内衣写真集.我们越过越象新婚夫妇,越过越离谱了.

为了老公，为了孩子，为了读书，为了找到好工作，我一定要再接再厉，百尺竿头，更进一步，让自己的体型日趋完美。经过体重的几次反复，我得出的结论是，凡是减肥减不下来的人根本就是从内心里不想减。只要功夫深，铁杵磨成绣花针。人有多大胆，地有多大产。不怕做不到，就怕想不到。人心齐，泰山移，蚂蚱还有四两肉。傻小子坐凉炕，全凭火力壮。

今天下午有加州的朋友来丹佛面试,之后我们会带阿瑟去这里的厂家直销店狂购一些教练牌皮包，大概最便宜的要300多美元一个。还得把上次爸爸给Biajee买的GAP的一条裤子退掉。Biajee的腿太粗了，居然穿着很紧，这和他常踢足球不无关系。

这次生完孩子休闲在家才深切体会到购物对女人的身心健康非常重要，为什么活了这么大，以前居然没有发现呢？今后要经常去各种名牌高档商店购物，不买最好，只买最贵，让自己的钱包经常快意恩仇一把，才不枉此生。

ARRA

President Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) on February 17th, 2009. The law gives "Assistance Eligible Individuals" the right to pay reduced COBRA premiums for periods of coverage beginning on or after February 17, 2009 and can last up to 9 months.

I received the letter from our COBRA provider yesterday and talked to them this morning. There is a form I have to submit for us to qualify under this plan. COBRA would then recalculate our health care premium and send us bills with the new amounts starting from next month. All the money I had over paid previously will remain credit on our account.

I must say I like president Obama a lot. He's issuing policies to help people from all aspects. I don't think we'll get this benefit if president Bush was still serving his term.

Quarter 1 sales results came out for most companies and the numbers still looked gloomy. Stock market will probably crash again. We're still in a tough economic environment.

新疆手抓饭

Biajee今天早上起来做了超强版的新疆手抓羊肉饭，算是对昨晚我包的菜肉云吞的回报。做法并不复杂，只是程序非常多，尤其是肉和胡萝卜丁，都要切成一厘米的立方块。由于我喂奶不能吃洋葱，Biajee特意没有放洋葱。不过他好象也忘了家葡萄干和杏干，大概是起床太早的缘故吧。

昨天晚上我包了很多云吞，发现还是上海的云吞皮最好用。猪肉白菜的馅非常鲜美，完全得自于此次爸爸教我的家传之秘，传女不传男，所以以后就要失传了。当阿诺和阿瑟想吃妈妈做的云吞时，就只好回家来了。嘻嘻，这个坏主意还是从《人人爱雷蒙》的肥皂剧里学来的。雷蒙的妈妈会做一种非常好吃的肉丸子，并且坚决不教给儿媳妇到底如何调味，只是雷蒙每次想吃肉丸子了，就必须得回家找妈妈。

阿诺和阿瑟将来娶的妻子很可能是白人，当然也有可能是黑人，或者黄种人，总之很可能不会做中国饭，所以要乘他们小时候多做好吃的中国饭给他们，使他们习惯中国的饮食文化。有时候看到他们睡着的样子，心里总会涌起各种各样望子成龙的梦想，但是累了一天之后，脑子里只有一个念头--只要他们比我们活得长，并且健康，安全，快乐，我就心满意足了。

今天又下雪了，致使邻居取消了明天她女儿的生日派对。我们只好把生日礼物退掉--又给了我们逛商店，买东西的机会。每次购物之后，我的心情都非常愉快，以前忙着挣钱，都没有时间花，现在终于可以大肆享受一下挥霍的乐趣了。

Arthur's Milestone

Today is a historical day for Arthur. He slept through the night for straight 8 hours! This is the first time he has slept for so long since he was born. Biajee and I were wild with joy. Nobody could understand the pain we've been through every night. We hope this is not a one-time event, but a permanent trend.

Unfortunately Arnold woke up at 4:40 am so we all had breakfast by 6 am. Biajee was able to leave home with Arnold at 7 am. The trick is to get both kids on the same schedule, but we think we're getting there.

The rice cereal idea might be working so we need to continue feeding Arthur a bit solid food every day, especially during dinner time. Arthur is a very laid-back baby. He usually doesn't cry after he wakes up, unless he has a dirty diaper. But he has a tough time sleeping through the night compared with Arnold.

We would be hesitating to have a 2nd child if Arthur was our first baby. The sleep deprivation is devastating.

I'm taking Arthur shopping today in the cold rain.

家长会

今天要去学校开家长会.这个家长会已经被推迟三次了,因为下雪,老师的不舒服等种种原因.以前我和Biajee很少能有机会参加家长会,因为我们的上班时间都比较严格.我有时还能早点下班,参加一些聚餐和游行之类的活动.Biajee简直就没有好好地和阿诺在学校玩耍过.

我们暂定从5月11日起将阿瑟也送进托儿所,这样我才能有时间找工作,学习,健身,做一些自己想做的事.一般美国家庭如果有人失业了,第一件事就是不送小孩子去托儿所了,这样全家的开销就会大幅缩减.如果我一直找不到工作,我们最终也只能将两个孩子领回家,全权由我照管.

上周末开了一个派对，是自从我怀上阿瑟以来第一次请朋友们来家里聚会。Biajee借机将房子大刀阔斧地打扫了一遍，具体而言就是将阿诺的所有玩具都堆到地下室去。这件事做完之后，我们发现房子原来是很宽敞的，只不过堆满了阿诺的玩具而已。我严重警告Biajee以后再也不要给阿诺乱买玩具了，大部分玩具他只不过摸摸，便丢到一边，再也不碰了。

从现在开始的未来四个周末，我们的日程都排得满满了。自从我生完孩子之后，每天就有做不完的事，在家里实在比上班要忙，要累一百倍。上班的确是一件非常轻松的事。

昨天晚上阿瑟醒来之后Biajee又喂了他10盎司奶，这个家伙的胃口实在太好了，以至于我们三天之前已经开始给他加固体食物了。

Dental Cleaning

I went to the dentist today for regular cleaning. Rhonda, the hygienist, gave me a full check and an X-ray. It appeared that I have some deep pockets and loss of bones. She said Dr. Keene would read my X ray after he came back from North Carolina.

In the mean time, I was scheduled for a periodontal scaling and laser cleaning next Monday for 2 hours. If the situation doesn't improve, I may have to go to a periodontist for surgery.

The bad thing is: we do not have dental health insurance any more. Everything will be out of pocket. The receptionist there held Arthur while I had my cleaning done. She had a baby girl five months ago so she was pretty used to holding a baby.

Arthur was quite dandy today. He smiled and cooed at everyone in the dental office. People were surprised at his size. I had to get there 45 minutes earlier than my appointment time so that I could nurse Arthur before being treated - all these fun details when you have a little baby.

送别

爸爸的飞机是今天早上10：12起飞。他5点多就起来给我们做饭了，把中午的饭做好之后才去机场。这些日子Biajee每天上班带的饭都是爸爸做的。爸爸在的这段时间里我们全家的体重全部增长，尤其是阿诺，被外公喂得肥肥的。

早上我们给阿诺穿衣服的时候，告诉他要送外公去机场了，阿诺说：“我也要和外公回家去。”小孩子天真无邪，知道谁真心疼他，对他好。爸爸在机场又去汉堡王给阿诺买了三次食物和饮料，仿佛所有的爱都浓缩在这些汉堡包，薯饼及饮料里面了。这次爸爸来时的行李整整两箱装的全是给阿诺的衣服，鞋子，书本，皮靴和食品。爸爸说以后阿诺的所有衣服都由他接管了。

现在由于机票减价，旅行的人非常多，我们在安检处排了很长的队，爸爸终于顺利地离开丹佛。想到我这两个多星期来经常颐指气使，对爸爸大放厥词，心里非常不安和后悔。爸爸的事业非常成功，在合资公司做总经理做了十年，又是中国光电子学会薄膜专业委员会副理事长，平时在公司都是他领导下属。可是在家里他对我的宽容和忍让与天下任何一个父亲都没有区别。我的朋友们都觉得他平易近人，根本想象不到他在业务上的诸多成就。在大家眼里，他就是我的慈父，我的避风港，我可以撒娇撒泼的对象。

爸爸对投资股票和外汇的精辟见解也令我的朋友们刮目相看。可惜每次都是来也匆匆，去也匆匆，无法和爸爸好好切磋这方面的经验。爸爸走了之后，阿诺问了不下十遍：“外公在哪里？”我们只好告诉他，外公回中国了，如果你想外公了，就要经常给外公打电话。

The Melting Pot

Daddy is taking us all to The Melting Pot tonight. He said Biajee worked too hard so he need to reward him by feeding him lots of good food.

I made the reservation yesterday. The restaurant was fully booked on Saturday till 8 pm so we had to take a 6 pm spot tonight. Daddy leaves for China on Sunday morning. My honeymoon will be over after he leaves.

Our family didn't have to pay for anything while Daddy was here. He paid all the grocery bills, food, clothes and kept asking us what we need to buy. My father's love to us is definitely unconditional. There will be no way in this life that I could ever pay him back enough.

Our family photos turned out great, except that I was too fat. It was really hard for me to lose weight while daddy is here. He cooks every meal and forces me to eat. I need to jump onto an express weight loss program next week.

Arthur still wakes up every four hours at night. Not all kids are created equal. We miss the time when Arnold was little - he slept through the night at 8th week.