I am thrilled to tell you that there will be a commercial during the Super Bowl on Sunday that will show two deaf men communicating with each other in ASL! What is even better, they will show one of the deaf community's well-known jokes! I think that it's great they will be bringing awareness to the deaf culture in a positive light.
Check out the link below, CNN wrote a report on this commercial out of ten commercials that they chose to make reports on.
http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2008/news/0801/gallery.super_bowl/8.html
Thursday, January 31, 2008
New Challenge
Hi there,
I can't believe it's already the end of Jan. I feel like Feb. crept up on me!
This morning, I read a post on a homeschooling yahoo group and somebody said something about a challenge where you commit to making something a day. Anything. Knit, crochet, draw, bake, cook, craft, painting, or whatever. I went and checked it out, and it sounds like fun. The only requirement is that you make something, and you document it on their site. The best part about it is that it doesn't have to be big, they said just spend 20 minutes on it, no more than an hour. Tonight is the last day to register, by midnight.
Considering my struggles with sticking to something as a commitment...I thought I'd take up the challenge. It's only 29 days, the shortest month of the year! It'll help me tap into my creative mind (eventually) but I will start with ideas from the magazine that my brother gave me for Christmas as a subscription. It's called "Family Fun", and it's always filled with simple crafts and fun food to make with your kids. On the days I feel like cooking, I'll try out new recipes from my "Cooking for 2" magazine.
http://www.thing-a-day.com/
I'll probably post some of our creations on this blog. I wonder what we'll make tomorrow!
I can't believe it's already the end of Jan. I feel like Feb. crept up on me!
This morning, I read a post on a homeschooling yahoo group and somebody said something about a challenge where you commit to making something a day. Anything. Knit, crochet, draw, bake, cook, craft, painting, or whatever. I went and checked it out, and it sounds like fun. The only requirement is that you make something, and you document it on their site. The best part about it is that it doesn't have to be big, they said just spend 20 minutes on it, no more than an hour. Tonight is the last day to register, by midnight.
Considering my struggles with sticking to something as a commitment...I thought I'd take up the challenge. It's only 29 days, the shortest month of the year! It'll help me tap into my creative mind (eventually) but I will start with ideas from the magazine that my brother gave me for Christmas as a subscription. It's called "Family Fun", and it's always filled with simple crafts and fun food to make with your kids. On the days I feel like cooking, I'll try out new recipes from my "Cooking for 2" magazine.
http://www.thing-a-day.com/
I'll probably post some of our creations on this blog. I wonder what we'll make tomorrow!
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Dinner at my house
My brother (Anthony) and his girlfriend (Lara) came to visit WV! They stayed at our place for 2 nights, then flew back home to Boston. My sister's family came over, and a couple of friends. I think it was my first time to cook for 10 people! I actually had fun cooking up a storm! Then we had cake and ice cream for dessert. We really enjoyed having Anthony and Lara here with us, so it was a great week with bunches of people around all the times!
Abby and Uncle Anthony chatting
My turn to catch up with my bro!
Tara waiting for dinner by playing w/ puzzles
Anthony and Lara listening to Mark. See the clock on the table? It sings a bird tune at every hour. Anthony got that for me for Christmas, it's a long story about why he gave it to me. I loved it! He put it up on the wall for me with all of the ladies' help on making sure it's centered and all that, ha. 
Fierce cat in action!
Kade playing w/ his daddy. My sis in background.
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Babysitting my niece, Tara
Tara playing in basement w/ toys
Tara found Abby's toy and liked the music that played on it.
Silly Tara!
She likes purses, bags, or anything that you could stuff things into. She found 3, and we had to encourage her to share one with Abby!
Tara found Abby's toy and liked the music that played on it. 
Silly Tara! 
She likes purses, bags, or anything that you could stuff things into. She found 3, and we had to encourage her to share one with Abby! 
Last week, my sister and her family finally moved to West Virginia from Florida! They arrived on Monday night, then the next day they moved all day. I babysat Tara so she could play and have fun while her parents worked hard moving stuff from the truck with her older brother's help (Kade, age 3).
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Cooking for 2
http://recipes.cookingfor2.com/eRMS/recp.aspx?recid=39210 (copied and pasted this photo from the link above, so I wanted to make sure credit is included)
My little helper! She wants to learn to cook now! 
Hey, I found a new magazine that I like! It's called "Cooking for 2" by Taste of Home publications. I saw a few laying around my friend's house and I looked at them and wanted to get one of my own. They show recipes with pictures and it's perfect for just 2 people. NO LEFTOVERS! There was one page for whenever one person is away for the weekend, so they have recipes just for one person. I made Broccoli Crescent Appetizers, and it turned out great! It has homemade cheese sauce and I was able to put them in all the crescent, and there was NO sauce left over. Awesome!
Saturday, January 19, 2008
My VP not working!!!
Hey,
For those who haven't heard of VP, it's a videophone and it's a way deaf people can communicate with each other (it's been around for a couple of years). It is hooked to a TV and a high speed Internet service or DSL. As you can see in the photos, my daughter Abby and her friend, Jonah could see each other on the TV. The VP has features where you could click for a full view of the other person instead of seeing 2 pictures. I usually use that full view because I can see my friends more clear that way. They have relay service on the VP which is called VRS and I like using that to call my hearing friends, order pizza, make reservations with car rental, or stuff like that.
Anyway, today I had a VP call with somebody in Pittsburgh to talk about a deaf event that's coming up soon. That was about 2:30pm today, and it went well. Then another friend wanted to talk to me on VP tonight, so I went to call her at 9:30pm and it wouldn't work at all! I am desperate for it to get fixed because I have an VP interview tomorrow! While I'm trying to do all the trouble-shooting, I thought I'd do a blog about Abby's very first VP call.
Abby misses her friends in DC, so she asked me if she could VP one of her friends (back in Aug). She got on the VP for the first time with Jonah, and instead of chatting like I had expected, they got a pad of paper and started drawing pictures for each other! Cute, ha ha. They drew Pokemon, of course. In the next series of Abby's VP calls, she would run and grab one of our 3 cats to show them to her friends. We have a friend who has a little girl, and she likes to see Abby's stuffed animals. When I'm trying to talk to my friend, her daughter and Abby are shoving one of their stuffed animals in front of the cam, interrupting our conversations! During my recent VP conversation with my Texas friends, at my end it was just me and Abby but on the other end, it was a couch full of my friends and their kids! The kids were excited to see each other, so VP calls are fun!
See both kids are drawing at the moment.
Jonah was done first, then waiting for Abby to look up, so he started spinning in his chair.
For those who haven't heard of VP, it's a videophone and it's a way deaf people can communicate with each other (it's been around for a couple of years). It is hooked to a TV and a high speed Internet service or DSL. As you can see in the photos, my daughter Abby and her friend, Jonah could see each other on the TV. The VP has features where you could click for a full view of the other person instead of seeing 2 pictures. I usually use that full view because I can see my friends more clear that way. They have relay service on the VP which is called VRS and I like using that to call my hearing friends, order pizza, make reservations with car rental, or stuff like that.
Anyway, today I had a VP call with somebody in Pittsburgh to talk about a deaf event that's coming up soon. That was about 2:30pm today, and it went well. Then another friend wanted to talk to me on VP tonight, so I went to call her at 9:30pm and it wouldn't work at all! I am desperate for it to get fixed because I have an VP interview tomorrow! While I'm trying to do all the trouble-shooting, I thought I'd do a blog about Abby's very first VP call.
Abby misses her friends in DC, so she asked me if she could VP one of her friends (back in Aug). She got on the VP for the first time with Jonah, and instead of chatting like I had expected, they got a pad of paper and started drawing pictures for each other! Cute, ha ha. They drew Pokemon, of course. In the next series of Abby's VP calls, she would run and grab one of our 3 cats to show them to her friends. We have a friend who has a little girl, and she likes to see Abby's stuffed animals. When I'm trying to talk to my friend, her daughter and Abby are shoving one of their stuffed animals in front of the cam, interrupting our conversations! During my recent VP conversation with my Texas friends, at my end it was just me and Abby but on the other end, it was a couch full of my friends and their kids! The kids were excited to see each other, so VP calls are fun!
See both kids are drawing at the moment.
Jonah was done first, then waiting for Abby to look up, so he started spinning in his chair.
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Our cats
This was taken in November. Whitey, Taz, and Midnight.
Taz was so small in this picture, I couldn't believe it! He's bigger now! This was taken in Oct.
Taken last Oct, her name is Midnight. She is still our smallest kitty! Taz and Midnight are both 6 months old now but Taz is growing big!
I can't find my wire for the camera to upload current pictures of our cats! I've been searching for that wire all day! Probably one of the cats played with it and it got stuck underneath something. So I'll just post old photos of when they were little. We got Taz on Sept. 9th which was one day before Abby's birthday. In early October, we saw a white kitty but we thought she had a home. One week later, we saw her again and that time, she had a buddy, a black kitty. We asked around the neighborhood to see if we could find the owners of these 2 kittens. We were told that they have been roaming the neighborhood for 2 weeks, so they were strays. Abby begged me to take them in, I told her that it'd be for temporary until we can find homes for them. Four months later, they're still living with us! Yep, they're family now. That week in October, I took them both to the vet, and he said that Whitey was 6 months, Blackie was 3 months exactly the same age as Taz.
Taz was so small in this picture, I couldn't believe it! He's bigger now! This was taken in Oct.
Taken last Oct, her name is Midnight. She is still our smallest kitty! Taz and Midnight are both 6 months old now but Taz is growing big!Monday, January 14, 2008
Science Center and Car Trouble!
The 2 photos are tiny models on a huge table where they have Thomas the train and other trains go around the table. See the baseball fans below, they're made out of Q-tips! I like going there because it shows all 4 seasons, and the lights will dim as if it's night time, then brighten up. Funny because Carrie said to me, "We've been here 2 days already" but it was only few minutes!
These two activities were Abby's favorite. Playing in the water, of course and playing the digital drums. She thought it was hilarious because there's a microphone where your voice becomes distorted when you speak into it. That's Abby's fave part about the drums because she records her voice and hits the first button which sounds like a chipmunk and the end is a boy voice.
Look at Abby's face, that's how she reacted when she saw the TV with the brain jello that we can eat! Abby said EWWWW!!!! (That's her friend, Isaac, on the left). Josh sat in the front, and Bing Xia sat with her mommy eating snacks.
I liked this one because it's cool. It looks like gel is inside and you can move the Earth one way to see it spin, then stop it and spin it the other way to see what the gel does. It looks like a hurricane.
These two activities were Abby's favorite. Playing in the water, of course and playing the digital drums. She thought it was hilarious because there's a microphone where your voice becomes distorted when you speak into it. That's Abby's fave part about the drums because she records her voice and hits the first button which sounds like a chipmunk and the end is a boy voice.
Look at Abby's face, that's how she reacted when she saw the TV with the brain jello that we can eat! Abby said EWWWW!!!! (That's her friend, Isaac, on the left). Josh sat in the front, and Bing Xia sat with her mommy eating snacks.
I liked this one because it's cool. It looks like gel is inside and you can move the Earth one way to see it spin, then stop it and spin it the other way to see what the gel does. It looks like a hurricane.
Today, Abby and I went into Pittsburgh to drop off my car at a Volvo dealership. I've been having some trouble with my car lately, and 3 local places couldn't help me because they didn't have the parts. To make long story short, my car is no longer driveable. It's parked in my driveway and I'll put it up in the newspaper to see if anybody wants to buy it for the parts.
What am I gonna do about transportation? It's too cold for me to walk, so that option is out. I know alot of people walk everyday in this weather, but I can't! Bicycle would be fun, but Abby doesn't like it. Since she's with me all the times, that mode of transportation is out! I'll need another car, indeed and I'm working on it with some advice from my friend's brother.
Anyway, when we dropped off the car this morning, my friend and her 3 kids came to pick us up from the shop. We went to a sandwich shop in Pittsburgh, called Uncle Sam's Sandwich Shop. Abby said that it was better than Subway! The service was quick, and she liked having french fries. I had onion rings, but it was too much for one person!
Afterwards, we all went to the Science Center, which Abby loved. We watched a "kitchen" show about brains, and they made jello using a model of a brain. Abby thought it was gross, and so did I. They used red jello mix and added yogurt (I think to make it look pinkish and more realistic). The kids all had fun, and this time I have photos! The last time we went, my batteries died. Now I can share them with you.
Oh yes, it also snowed this morning. Alot at once, but not enough to play in it.
Please pray for me to find a car within my budget!!!
Saturday, January 12, 2008
Free Books! Well, kinda...
Hello all,
My sister told me about a website where you could swap books. It's called...
http://www.paperbackswap.com/
To start an account, you have to post 10 books that you are willing to mail out to other members. You will receive a free credit for doing just that. Oh, the credits is what you use to receive books from other members, and when they get the ones you mail, you will earn a credit. If it's an audio book, then it's worth 2 credits. The only thing you pay for is the postage when you mail books at media mail rate.
Anyway, I joined the club a week ago, or so...and posted 10 books and within the hour, there were requests for 6 of my books! I mailed them all out and as of today...all have been received! Today, a member requested a book from me. I'll be mailing it out on Monday.
Yep, that means as of now I have total of 7 credits. I got the first credit on the day I started the account, so I already received the book that I wanted. It's easy to find books because the website has a search engine. You can search books by titles, keyword, authors, etc...but you also can search in "posted book list" so I would know what's available. If I searched for a book in general, and it's not posted then it'll go on my wish list. As soon as a person post that certain book, the first person in line will receive that one.
For my first book to receive...I just typed "deaf" in the search and they showed a list of all books that is related to deaf. I clicked on 3 books and none of them were available : ( Now they're on my wish list and I am number 4 in the line. Then I found one that was already posted, and I got it. It's a book written by Marlee Matlin, "Deaf Child Crossing". I haven't started reading it yet.
I can't wait for my other books to arrive!
My sister told me about a website where you could swap books. It's called...
http://www.paperbackswap.com/
To start an account, you have to post 10 books that you are willing to mail out to other members. You will receive a free credit for doing just that. Oh, the credits is what you use to receive books from other members, and when they get the ones you mail, you will earn a credit. If it's an audio book, then it's worth 2 credits. The only thing you pay for is the postage when you mail books at media mail rate.
Anyway, I joined the club a week ago, or so...and posted 10 books and within the hour, there were requests for 6 of my books! I mailed them all out and as of today...all have been received! Today, a member requested a book from me. I'll be mailing it out on Monday.
Yep, that means as of now I have total of 7 credits. I got the first credit on the day I started the account, so I already received the book that I wanted. It's easy to find books because the website has a search engine. You can search books by titles, keyword, authors, etc...but you also can search in "posted book list" so I would know what's available. If I searched for a book in general, and it's not posted then it'll go on my wish list. As soon as a person post that certain book, the first person in line will receive that one.
For my first book to receive...I just typed "deaf" in the search and they showed a list of all books that is related to deaf. I clicked on 3 books and none of them were available : ( Now they're on my wish list and I am number 4 in the line. Then I found one that was already posted, and I got it. It's a book written by Marlee Matlin, "Deaf Child Crossing". I haven't started reading it yet.
I can't wait for my other books to arrive!
Friday, January 11, 2008
Photo of the Day
I have nothing to say about today. I would like to post at least something on the blog everyday if possible. If there's no news, then I'll just post a picture that I want to show. It can be anything, not necessarily current ones. I chose this picture because it's the earliest picture I have on my computer. This was taken by Rick's father with his digital camera. On the right side of the blog, you can see a picture of Abby in her dance dress. That was also taken by the same person in the same month, May of 2004. He took pictures and I asked him for copies, and these are two best pictures that came out of the CD. I didn't get a digital camera till March of 2006!
Jordan (9), Rick (5), Abby (4), and Wolfgang (7) showing off their new tattoos at Six Flags on Mother's Day of 2004.
Jordan (9), Rick (5), Abby (4), and Wolfgang (7) showing off their new tattoos at Six Flags on Mother's Day of 2004.
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Busy Week!
It's been a busy week for Abby and me!
First of all, Monday was the first day we got back to homeschooling again from the Christmas break! A friend showed me a link to try out for Abby, it's called Time 4 Learning. That link allows Abby to do some work in different subjects such as math, language arts, science, social studies, and etc. The first day, she was upset when she saw the "timer" on the screen. I had it set for 30 minutes in total, first half is for homeschooling, and the 2nd half is for free play. She said, "Mommy, 30 minutes is a long time!!??" By the time she was done, she said she liked it. I thought she was just trying to make mommy happy. However, on the 2nd day, she didn't even go to the free play online, she stayed on the school part the whole 30 minutes.
Of course, that's not all we do, we have books to read, writing activities for Abby to do, and lots of math activities. We're going to start P.E. again which is swimming and gym at the community center, just five minutes from home. We go there every Tuesdays. My friend told me that it was going to start again in Feb. but then the center called her last Tuesday and informed her that it actually started that day! We'll start back next week, and it will continue through May.
There's another group that meets in Pittsburgh, which is about 25 miles from home. They meet on Wednesdays, and a new group developing and that group will meet on Fridays. Both groups will have classes such as art, science projects, music, foreign language, and many more. Abby haven't been enrolled in either one yet. I'm waiting on the registration dates, and the prices, etc.
Tuesday, we went to play at the local park with our friends, it was in the high 60's temperature!!! Beautiful weather! Abby had fun with her friends, and a little toddler was following her around the park. I told her to stop going all over the park because the cute little boy made his poor father follow them all over the place! She said, "But he is following me." I said, "Well, he obviously likes you!" All the kids there had fun, including the little boy who copied everything that Abby did!
Yesterday, we went swimming with our friends and Abby wants to do that more often, she LOVES the water. Afterwards, we went to eat at Subway for lunch and then two boys came over to our house and played with Abby and video games for a while. Then we all went out to eat at an Asian Grill in Robinson Center, and did a little shopping. When we got back, we watched a movie and by the time I got home, I was officially worn out!!!
Today, we're doing homeschooling and then I'll mop the floors. This is my very first time to live in a home with hardwood floors. I have to sweep everyday because of 3 cats, and I mop every now and then because of footprints or whatever.
First of all, Monday was the first day we got back to homeschooling again from the Christmas break! A friend showed me a link to try out for Abby, it's called Time 4 Learning. That link allows Abby to do some work in different subjects such as math, language arts, science, social studies, and etc. The first day, she was upset when she saw the "timer" on the screen. I had it set for 30 minutes in total, first half is for homeschooling, and the 2nd half is for free play. She said, "Mommy, 30 minutes is a long time!!??" By the time she was done, she said she liked it. I thought she was just trying to make mommy happy. However, on the 2nd day, she didn't even go to the free play online, she stayed on the school part the whole 30 minutes.
Of course, that's not all we do, we have books to read, writing activities for Abby to do, and lots of math activities. We're going to start P.E. again which is swimming and gym at the community center, just five minutes from home. We go there every Tuesdays. My friend told me that it was going to start again in Feb. but then the center called her last Tuesday and informed her that it actually started that day! We'll start back next week, and it will continue through May.
There's another group that meets in Pittsburgh, which is about 25 miles from home. They meet on Wednesdays, and a new group developing and that group will meet on Fridays. Both groups will have classes such as art, science projects, music, foreign language, and many more. Abby haven't been enrolled in either one yet. I'm waiting on the registration dates, and the prices, etc.
Tuesday, we went to play at the local park with our friends, it was in the high 60's temperature!!! Beautiful weather! Abby had fun with her friends, and a little toddler was following her around the park. I told her to stop going all over the park because the cute little boy made his poor father follow them all over the place! She said, "But he is following me." I said, "Well, he obviously likes you!" All the kids there had fun, including the little boy who copied everything that Abby did!
Yesterday, we went swimming with our friends and Abby wants to do that more often, she LOVES the water. Afterwards, we went to eat at Subway for lunch and then two boys came over to our house and played with Abby and video games for a while. Then we all went out to eat at an Asian Grill in Robinson Center, and did a little shopping. When we got back, we watched a movie and by the time I got home, I was officially worn out!!!
Today, we're doing homeschooling and then I'll mop the floors. This is my very first time to live in a home with hardwood floors. I have to sweep everyday because of 3 cats, and I mop every now and then because of footprints or whatever.
Saturday, January 5, 2008
Abby's best friends
New Pokemon plush dolls!
Silly!
Happy!
Today I went to pick up two girls to spend one night with Abby at our house. Abby was so excited to see them! She was counting the days till today! They're our former neighbors in the aparment complex at the Gallaudet campus. We lived directly across the hallway from each other. Both girls are Abby's best friends, since they met in fall of 2003. They're the people who Abby misses the most since we moved to WV.
We went to the store to buy some groceries for dinner. We also went to Wal-Mart where Abby got to spend her $20 that she got for Christmas. She decided to spend it all on three Pokemon plush dolls. At the check-out, the cashier looked at the 3 girls. She giggled, and I was wondering if they were loud. She looked at me and said "They are singing!" I said, "Oh I can't hear..." As if I had to tell her that so she would know why I wasn't regulating thier voice volume! She laughed and said "Oh, maybe that's a good thing." I wonder why she said that?
Anyway, I cooked dinner with Monique by my side as it have always been for 4 years when we lived in the apartment at Gallaudet. She loves to help me cook, and she said that she helps her mom and her grandma cook also. Abby and Jovanna were busy playing so when the timing was right, I gave them the job of cleaning off the table and setting it up!
We all played a few board games together and then the kids played with our 3 cats, video games, legos, "model clay", and stuff. They're having a blast!
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