This entry was posted
on Friday, September 14th, 2007 at 4:28 pm.
- If the neighbor’s family is congregating at night, it must be Ramadan. I think it’s kind of cool, actually; every year (well, this is year 2 of us being here, so I’m extrapolating a little) at Ramadan, all the kids and grandkids (and, I think, aunts and uncles, etc.) congregate at the house across the street at night. There’s a mosque not a half-mile down the road from here; I don’t know if they (the men? the family? No idea) go there first and then meet back at the house, but the family is always there in force. They’re nice people, as far as we know them - one of the sons invited us over for the wake they held when his father died, and we’d just moved in, and I’ve exchanged waves with an auntie or two. Last week, another Muslim (I think) family moved in next door to them - I’m guessing Pakistani, based on clothing, but I’m not sure. They were also decked out in their best last night when we came back from picking M. up at the station. I can’t tell you when Easter is anymore, but I’ve got Ramadan down.
- We will simply never see eye-to-eye with our landlord on the plumbing issues. We kind of think the problems have got to predate our move here, and he thinks we stand over the garbage disposal and flush a constant stream of tea leaves, potato peels, and raw rice down it. Oh well. We had a plumber out, he snaked the back sink, and right now the plumbing is happy. We paid, because, apparently, this is our responsibility. Of course, now the under-the-sink smell is back (probably nothing that gutting the kitchen and putting in non-rotting cabinets wouldn’t solve), so our little inconveniences continue. We’re never going to get our deposit back.
- Still, still stalled on my dissertation. F*** it all.
- The split lip is looking much better - it’s amazing how kids heal. If it were me, I’d be laid up for a week and probably sport a permanent scar or something. And have residual PTSD or something. MM just brushed it off and moved on. Of course, she’s developed a new issue - fear of spiders. I killed one this morning and she’s been seeing them all over the house ever since (phantom spiders, of course, since there was only the one). This is apparently karmic retribution for screaming about spiders at all hours of the night when I was a kid.
- Tiger’s doing well so far. That’s my boy.
- No idea what to make for dinner. I hate cooking. I hate thinking of menus.
- I’m starting to get anxious about pregnancy things - some founded, some not. The unfounded anxieties (or, rather, the ones that there’s little to be done about, so why worry) include umbilical cord accidents (always a possibility, however rare - you read about them all the time online), placental abruption (again, a possibility but nothing I can do anything about), and HELLP Syndrome (a real concern, but no more so than with MM). The more justified ones - well, there’s just the two, really. Maybe three. One is this weird thing with my heart - it keeps fluttering and then pounding (or missing beats), which is very disconcerting. When I mentioned it to the nurse practitioner at my last visit, she asked me to keep track of when it happened and call if I was concerned. I notice that it seems to happen when I’m laying on my left side sometimes, and sometimes after I’ve eaten (especially sugary things, it seems). I’m not concerned enough to call yet, but it’s a nagging worry. Another is just my blood pressure, which is actually fine so far. I expect it to start going up in the next two or three weeks, but for now it’s good. The last is more abstract, and really falls in the unfounded category, given there’s nothing I can do about it. But about a month and a half ago, the ballast in the fluorescent light in the laundry room burst, and we were living with the smell for several days. My helpful father offered up the observation that he’d be more concerned about that than I was about pesticides, since there might be PCBs in the stuff. He and M. both backed off their helpful observations about possible problems that could result from my having breathed the stuff (when I said “Do you really think I should be concerned?” they both said “No”), but not before they firmly planted that worry in my head. So, you know, thanks guys.
- So that’s where my life stands. I still don’t have much of an outside life of my own right now. I still haven’t figured out who I am in my post-MM world, and it’s been over two years. This is the kind of thing that happens when you have kids late in life, I guess.
September 15th, 2007 at 10:29 am
Oy! Sounds like other than the landlord problems you’re living in a pretty great neighborhood.
During my pregnancy with Piko I used to see stars whenever I raised my arms above my head and looked down all the time. It was vrey strange.
You know you’re my go-to for all Asian-information in the area right? So I was wondering if you know of a good Japanese book store. I’m looking for japanese pattern books for crafts like sewing, and kanzashi. They are readily avaliable on E-bay and Etsy, but I would like to browse them before buying. Do you know of a place? It can be new or used, no matter.
I also forgot to talk to my mom about Kona eating, but I’m calling her today, so I’ll be sure to get on it
Thanks!!
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September 15th, 2007 at 10:40 am
I do love this neighborhood, although I can’t say that we actually get out and meet our neighbors. But we’ve got the Lebanese and ?Pakistani? families across the street, the Chinese and Vietnamese families down the road and behind us, the Latino family behind us, the older white guy/Asian (Vietnamese? I’m guessing…) couple across the way - it’s an interesting crowd.
I wish there were a good place around here for Japanese books!! The closest good place is Kinokuniya (might now be Maruzen) up in NJ, which is a good five-hour trek. BUT, it’s kind of worth it if you’re looking for something to do one weekend - you basically head up I-95 for 4.5 - 5 hours and hit Mitsuwa - have you been? All-in-one Japanese grocery store, fabulous food court, bookstore, etc. There’s a Book-Off used bookstore in NY, but that’s actually more of a trek than it’s worth. But the Mitsuwa/Maruzen-or-Kinokuniya roadtrip can be a nice weekend drive (if Piko can take the car time) and the food court alone really is worth it.
You might check out the lending library at the Japanese-American’s Care Fund office, although, since it’s kind of a trek for you (it’s in Annandale, VA), you might want to call ahead to see what they have. The website’s here:
http://www.jacarefund.org
One other thing you could try is looking at Amazon.co.jp, since they also have the Look Inside feature for books - you can at least get a sense of what a book might contain that way.
I feel all validated now! I’ve been culling Asian information for this area for well over 15 years now!
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September 16th, 2007 at 8:59 pm
Thanks alot for the info! I have never been to Mitsuwa/Maruzen-or-Kinokuniya, but I think that Anthony Bourdaine went to it on one of his shows. Sarge has friends up in the NJ area, so maybe if we ever go to visit them we can make a side trip. Sarge is never one for the Asian food store, he does not like that lovely mix of fish, kim chee, weird produce smell that they all seem to have.
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September 17th, 2007 at 6:21 am
The beauty of Mitsuwa is that, being pretty much wholly Japanese, the only weird smells to be had are over in the fist department. Otherwise, it’s comparatively antiseptic and doesn’t really come with The Smell. And, like I said, the food court is seriously to die for - most of the shops are Japanese chain imports, including one very good ramen stand, and I think they may even still have a coffee shop in there somewhere.
Definitely worth a side-trip if you’re in the neighborhood.
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