My Life at November 2008
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November 30, 2008(Sunday)
After sunday worship, I had meeting with pastor; he is interested in applying for our church so the pastoral search committee had a meeting with him. He had a good testimony and we are looking forward to meet him again.
November 29, 2008(Saturday)
Lately we are trying to have more sleep training for Cailyn. Usually during the afternoon nap, I sleep with her. However at night time, we tried to let her to sleep by herself. We put her in the dark room, and let her to struggle. Lately she doesn't require a pacifier and is able to sleep after about 20 mins of struggling, which is considered to be really good.
November 28, 2008(Friday)
Today is called "Black Friday", not because it is associated with Friday-the-13, but because the Friday after thanksgiving (yesterday) is called Black Friday, where the retailers start to sell goods for Christmas. We did not go for shopping. At night we went to Thanksgiving dinner at our church and I shared briefly about the history of thanksgiving, which I googled the history from the internet.
November 27, 2008(Thursday)
Today is thanksgiving in US; the school is closed and the dorms are closed as well. We walked around the campus and it is much like an empty campus. Throughout our 1 hour walk, I think that we only see about 10 to 20 people on the street! No one else! However, I like this kind of environment because it feels like I own the campus!
November 26, 2008(Wednesday)
Cailyn is great today. She had two 1.5-2 hours afternoon naps, a huge pooh and also ate well today! Let's see whether she will go to bed easily or not tonight.
I had meeting with professor today about my review-and-resubmit paper. I am glad that for the healthcare paper, I have done my part and it is up to professors to work on that.
Tomorrow is thanksgiving and we decided to take today as a celebration. (Actually for us, we have holiday almost every day so it does not really feel differently). Anyway, we went to McDonald to have dinner and went to Barnes and Nobles to read comic book. We are glad that we are not materialistic at all, and such a simple kind of night can be considered as a good celebration!
November 25, 2008(Tuesday)
This morning I drove my church friend Melody to have driving test. Then we went to second hand baby store to sell some baby toys. At night Jacky came to our house for dinner and discipleship training.
November 24, 2008(Monday)
I just don't understand!! Why everyday it takes such a huge effort to make Cailyn to go to bed. I tried everything that I can think of. I turned off the light and let her struggle. Then she got really upset and cried. I tried to give her pacifier to calm her down but she tried to sit up and stand up. Then I took her pacifier and she got upset again. I tried to press her when she had the pacifier and she seems to close her eye, but once I leave she woke up again. I got really frustrated and angry! She did not have much sleep today and the last sleep was about 3 to 4pm. Then she got really tired when we fed her the last meal at 8:30 and ready to go to bed. But then she just doesn't want to sleep! It is now 10:20pm and she got energetic again!
November 23, 2008(Sunday)
Today is another very smooth day. I was busy working on the healthcare paper for the last several weeks; the deadline will be Dec 1. I think that I have more or less finished my part. Therefore I am freer now. On the other hand, I have another review paper that I need to work on and the prof is out of town now. Therefore I took these few days as a relaxing day. For instances, I slept for 9.5 hours last night, plus 1.3 hours of afternoon nap with Cailyn.
When I was busy, I am very busy. When I have nothing to do, I am really bored.
November 22, 2008(Saturday)
Nicky and Joyce visited us this afternoon. They used to live in Bloomington, but went to Chicago to work last year. They gave birth to their son Matthew this April so this is a good time for the two babies to play. This is also one of the first times that Cailyn can play with someone that is closer to her age. Previously, the babies are always about several months larger than she is. However, when Cailyn is active, Matthew is tired; and when Cailyn wants to sleep, Matthew woke up. Nevertheless there is some time that both babies are active.
November 21, 2008(Friday)
We went to visit the pediatrician for Cailyn's 9 month check up. Now she is 27.5 inches (25-50%), 18lb3oz (25-50%), 44.5cm head circumference (50-75%) and 13 months developmental process. She also had a flu shot.
I also played basketball for a couple of hours (lots of basketball lately) and had Bible study at night.
November 20, 2008(Thursday)
We went to Wal-Mart to do shopping today, which is considered to be a big event and entertainment. Otherwise, there is not much to be done in this place. Then Cailyn still doesn't really want to sleep. She is especially difficult to go to bed at night. That really frustrates me because it sometimes takes her more than an hour of comfort to go to bed!
November 19, 2008(Wednesday)
There is no meeting today because the professors are out of town. I stayed home to work on the paper and also played basketball.
Cailyn's constipation problem has improved, but yet she does not sleep as much. She should sleep for 14 hours a day but lately she only sleeps for 10 hours at night and less than two hours during day time. Hope that she will sleep more!
November 18, 2008(Tuesday)
I had meeting today with professors about the healthcare paper. It seems that there is some light in the tunnel! At night we had dinner with Jacky. I shared with him about the problems that our church is facing now and he gave various suggestions.
November 17, 2008(Monday)
I am working very hard on the healthcare paper. The deadline for submission is Dec 1 but then it seems like that we are not yet ready. After working on this for 2 years, I really want to get over this!!!
November 16, 2008(Sunday)
Serving in the deacon board this year is very tough! There are so many problems going on and I think that this is the toughest 6-months (in terms of serving in church) I have ever gone though! And there are more problems that I need to take care today! However, luckily Cailyn can pooh a bit at night, and that makes my life better.
November 15, 2008(Saturday)
Cailyn has constipation lately and today spend a long time helping her to pooh. At one point, we have to hold her for 1.3 hours but still there is no luck! I felt very bad for her! Hopefully she can have pooh soon!
November 14, 2008(Friday)
Cailyn woke up in the middle of the night (5am) and had trouble going back to sleep. Therefore I went to the computer room downstairs to do some work while Carmen tried to calm her down. Then, I had workout and played basketball today. I used lots of energy and it always feels very good to have a sleep afterward.
November 13, 2008(Thursday)
This morning we went to Kroger (supermarket). We have been to this supermarket ever since we were here. However, today is the grand opening of the expanded section. There are a lot of "test-eat" free food available; and there is a Santa Claus, a clown, and lots of server too! We have been here numerous times and this time is the best! We were there later at the night (after prayer meeting at 9pm) to get some medicine for Cailyn (because she has constipation) and there are very few people. Not as good a feeling as this morning.
November 12, 2008(Wednesday)
My physical shape, as indicated by the workout performance, decreased after the Vancouver/HK trip. After two weeks of workout, I finally found myself today. I also had meeting with professors about papers.
November 11, 2008(Tuesday)
Jacky and our family went to Indy today for nice Japanese food. I am so full every time after buffet, so I don't really prefer one. We also went to Babies R Us. We purchased a safety gate two months ago. However when we visited Vancouver, we saw Peter Pang's home has a much better gate. Therefore we purchased it and hope that it also works for our home.
November 10, 2008(Monday)
I am busy working on paper today.
November 09, 2008(Sunday)
We went to church today; afterward we went to Wonderlab, a place like Science's World which has some scientific experiments for little kids. We were there during last Christmas for the departmental party. This time we brought Cailyn to see various things. However, Cailyn is too small to benefit from anything.
November 08, 2008(Saturday)
One of our church's friends is a physicist at the Psychology lab and he needs a subject for experiment today and asked me to go. Therefore, I went there for the experiment: I am being examined by a MRI machine, to test how my brain functions with the new imaging technique. The experiment lasts for about an hour an in return I get $25. It is an easy experiment because I just lie there, and sometimes even fall asleep!
At night we went to couple's fellowship. There were 5 couples, and including Cailyn, there were 6 little kids (plus 2 teenagers). We had dinner together and had some sharing too. Most of them are in the similar stage in life (working on dissertation while taking care the baby) and it is good to listen to their sharing.
November 07, 2008(Friday)
I had a brief meeting with professor about the queuing paper. Then I played basketball for 2 hours today with church friends. I am training myself to get the rebound and I think that I did an ok job today. At night the fellowship is Bible Study using the new book that we purchased from HK/Canada.
November 06, 2008(Thursday)
Originally I planned to play golf today; however they are maintaining the putting area (the green). Therefore we went to bookstore and read comics instead. At night we went to prayer meeting. I also spent time working on the paper today.
November 05, 2008(Wednesday)
I went out for some jogging today; the weather here is still nice, with around 20 degree during day time, which is much warmer than Vancouver but not as hot as HK. Then I sit in to the class that I will teach next semester. It is a spreadsheet modeling class, and the students are using computer during the class time. I am sure that most of the students are checking email or browsing website, so it will be a very difficult course to teach. Then I played basketball with church friends.
November 04, 2008(Tuesday)
I was at Canada during the Canadian Election Day; today is the US Election Day and I am in US!
We are still waking up in the middle of the night to take care of Cailyn. Therefore, for the rest of the day my schedule is quite mess up too. I was doing school work most of the day, but can't focus 100% because we have to take care Cailyn.
November 03, 2008(Monday)
I was told today that I will teach a class next semester. For the past several semesters I was only a discussion section leader. However for this class I have to design the exam and course material, hold office hour, etc. I am 100% responsible for this class!
I had meeting with professors about my healthcare paper. There is (another) changes to the algorithm again, with only less than a month of the deadline. Hopefully that we can finish everything on time!
November 02, 2008(Sunday)
Cailyn is still not used to jet lag and woke up at night. Therefore I still cannot get used to jet lag because I need to take care of her at night. My time is all messed up - I slept for 4 or 3 hours at night, have a couple of afternoon nap, each with about 1 or 2 hours. I hope that she can adjust soon.
I had deacon board meeting this morning and talked to another pastoral candidate after worship. I was tired during worship and also the meeting and I slightly fall asleep during the sermon.
November 01, 2008(Saturday)
Last night Cailyn only slept between 3 to 6am. That's the time that I am sleeping too. She slept a lot during the day today. So obviously that she hasn't get used to the jet lag situation, and tonight it will probably be the same.
We spent today organizing our home, because we brought way too many things back. And there are ridiculous (this strong word indicates what I think) amount of new clothes for Cailyn; they are either gifts or something that we purchased. I think that now she has at least 10 times as many clothes as I have (I tried to clear the way for her, so I only keep what is necessary, like 4 or 5 of each type, while she has 100+ clothes!) This creates a lot of stress and frustration to me because I always want to organize the home and try to keep only what is necessary.
I also went out for workout today; after not exercising the muscle for 5 weeks, I am quite weak now.