"But it's actually possible to wait, celebrating each season when it comes, not fretting about its being absent at all other times because something else good is at hand."

--Barbara Kingsolver, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle

The Search for the Ideal Brown Boots

The search for the ideal brown boots has taken over my life. Months and months and many visits to Nordstrom, Macy's, Target, zappos.com, piperlime.com, amazon.com, shoemail.com, dillards.com, you-name-it.... have resulted in utter boot-less-ness. I've actually purchased two pairs of boots online at different times and ended up returning them because they just weren't what I was looking for.

Living in New York City had taught me the value of well-made shoes. When your primary and most reliable mode of transportation is your feet, paying the big bucks for great shoes just makes a lot of sense. If you're also someone like me, who suffers from small-feeted-ness, you have all the more reason to be extremely picky with your footwear. Well-crafted shoes truly go a long way - they support the foot well and prevent injury and can even improve posture.

Here's a picture of the latest pair of brown boots that I'm eyeing: Enchanted by Arturo Chiang, a Chilean-born Chinese designer.


















Could this be the one?


Now, onto the granola recipe I raved about. I have made several batches of granola in the past few months, and some were too sweet, too buttery, too dry, or too boring. This one, I do believe, is a keeper of a recipe. Andy thinks so too, so that makes the two of us. It's adapted from this online recipe.

Ingredient List:

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 2 cups rolled oats
• 1 tbsp butter plus 1/4 tsp butter
  
• 1 tbsp honey
• 2 tbsp brown sugar
• 1 tsp maple syrup
  
• 1/4 cup raw slivered almonds
  
• 1/4 cup raw pepita (pumpkin) seeds
• 1/4 cup raw chopped pecans
• 1/4 cup golden raisins
• 1/8 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1/8 tsp ground cinnamon
• a titch of salt
  

Directions

1. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add oats then cook and stir until starting to brown and crisp, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and spread out on a cookie sheet to cool.
2. Melt the 1 tbsp butter in the same pan over medium heat. Stir in the honey and brown sugar; cook, stirring constantly, until bubbly. Return the oats to the pan. Cook and stir for another 5 minutes or so. Add vanilla. Pour out onto the cookie sheet and spread to cool.
3. Melt the remainder butter in the same pan and add maple syrup. Toast nuts for 3 minutes or so and add to the granola mixture. Add cinnamon and salt.
   
4. Once cool, transfer to an airtight container and stir in the golden raisins. Serve with milk or yogurt or eat as is.

I <3 granola

A new look for starting anew

A lot has happened since my last blog post. To name a few things: I got married to Andy, we moved out of New York City, and we now live in Oakland, California. Things are pretty swell, if I do say so myself.

The impetus for starting to blog again is that I have way too much time on my hands. These days, I happen to be a housewife who tutors out of her home twice a week and regularly watches DVDs rented from the public library. Oh, and I cleaned my oven today (more on this later).

To give you more details, here is a day in the life of yours truly:

6:30am - Andy's alarm goes off and he does not get up.

7:30am (but probably more like 8:15am) - Andy finally gets up to go to shower, eat, go to work. I go back to sleep.

9:00 - 10:00am - I wake up to make tea and buttered toast - my favorite breakfast foods. I read a magazine or two borrowed from the public library (so awesome).

til about 1:00pm - Browse the internet (aka online shopping for things I have no need for), watch tv episodes on hulu.com, check facebook pictures and profiles, read up on friends' blogs or food blogs and simultaneously eat prunes or chocolate pretzels.

1:00pm on - Start thinking about what I need to do for the day. Maybe grocery shop? Maybe start prepping for dinner? Maybe study for an upcoming test that costs $300 just to register? Maybe take a nap? Maybe go to Costco and browse each aisle? Mm, the possibilities!

3:30pm - Kid 1 or 2 comes over for tutoring on Mon/Wed. On other days I continue pondering my potential plans for the day.

5:00pm - Wash up, get dressed, and head out to a local shopping center or new grocery store to explore.

6:30pm - Andy comes home and we cook dinner together. Eat dinner and desserts.

8:45pm - Begin getting ready for bed. Crawl into bed and watch a movie rented from the public library. Fall asleep during the movie.

Although some may be envious of my easy-breezy lifestyle, I must admit that I can't wait for it to change. I would love nothing more than to work and be in the classroom again. I honestly get very depressed sometimes and struggle to stay positive and hopeful. However, it's a waiting game for me.

In the meanwhile, I'd like to share with you a recipe for a natural oven cleaning solution that I discovered in Martha Stewart's Whole Living magazine (Oct 2010 issue). I created the solution last night and lathered it all over the walls of my oven. This morning, it took me over an hour to wipe it off. But I think it was worth it because using chemical cleaners last month nearly killed me.

Ingredient list:

2 cups baking soda

1 cup washing soda
1 tsp dish soap
1 tbsp white vinegar

Can be thinned with water, if necessary

Wear gloves and scour the oven's interior with a scrubber, rag, and
hot water to remove crust that hasn't yet stuck solid. Apply thickly
to all sides of the oven and leave overnight. In the morning, put
gloves on and scrub, wiping with a wet cloth until all traces are
gone.

Happy (non-chemical) cleaning!

Next post: granola par excellence recipe

Incredible

To the question: What animal are you like?

"I chose a panda because I have a great imagination. Pandas like to sit around and imagine."

2009

I looked through my somewhat abandoned journal this morning to find the following note from Barbara, a prophetess-prayer warrior I met in Oakland over the summer:

"Rosa

A woman of: prayer, praise, faith, acceptance, joy, loving kindness, beauty -

REST IN HIS FAVOR"


Thanks Barbara, I need this word now just as I needed it then.

2009 will be a year of relishing and resting in God's favor.

A semester has ended, and winter recess is in full swing. I'm currently sitting up in my room at my Claremont home, pondering the fact time really does fly. With only one more semester to go, I will soon be a full-blown elementary school teacher. I feel both excitement and anxiety for the future.

In reflection of the semester passed, I could blog about the list of unfortunate events that have occurred. I could tell about how I lost a friend after attempting to be brutally honest with her and opening up my heart to her, or about the times that I had to break up hostile fights among fifth graders in the classrom, or about the time that I was hospitalized from having food poisoning, or about the other day when an elderly lady rear-ended my car and then accused me of taking advantage of her when I wanted to report the accident, etc. etc. The list goes on. But to avoid increasingly becoming a curmudgeon (thanks, ezhsieh), I will focus most of my energy on creating another list - a list of fortunate events and of things I am grateful for this semester:

1) finding and having a New York home. Sure, the rent is incredible and the neighbors are obnoxious, but I sure love and appreciate my apartment. Not everyone has a place to rest their heads each night or a space to host their friends for gatherings.

2) Ms. LaRoche and the students of 5-319. They have been my wonderful students and teachers this semester. They have shared their lives with me, and I have been so blessed by it.

3) Andy, Helena, and Evelyn. My New York family. Andy, the most kind and fun-loving friend and boyfriend a girl could ask for. Evey, whom I have known for nearly eight years (wow!) and who continues to amaze me with her love and her wit. Helena, my dear ol' roomie who has a beautiful heart and wins, hands down, the title of Snacking Monarch.

4) joining All Angels Church as a member. I absolutely love this church community. The freedom of Christ is alive and well and upon us.

5) my student teaching cohort and professors. I feel honored to be among such dedicated, eager, and supportive teachers. I have gained a lot from sharing of our hearts and our ideas.

6) celebrating the one-year anniversary of my first date with Andy. I took him to eat French-Carribean food; he took me on a walk and scavenger hunt in Riverside Park.

7) livin' it up in New York: ice-skating in Central Park, apple-picking in upstate, visiting friends in nearby cities New Haven and Baltimore/DC, concert-hopping, discovering the most amazing bagel shop owned by Thai immigrants, bike-riding in Riverside Park, and more. I <3 New York!

Winter in NYC, Upper West Side (source: Joy Kwong photos)

Hey teach, what's the haps?

I have discovered one of my favorite aspects of teaching: parent-teacher conferences. There was something about meeting the parents and getting to know the “whole” person of the child better that made my heart leap for joy. As I sat listening in on conversations between my CT and various parents and at times felt appropriate enough to chime in, I understood that teaching as a partnership with family and the wider community is teaching at its best and is teaching as it was intended to be. Teaching should never be an isolated job or activity – but why is it that teachers often feel so unsupported and alone?

As my CT and I greeted and welcomed each parent/family into our classroom and carried out productive conversations about their children, we certainly felt less alone in our endeavors to educate these students to be successful in school and towards their futures. My CT had a suaveness to her when conversing with the family – she was both very friendly and very firm about the points she wanted to get across. I learned from her that friendliness goes a long way with parents and that being well-prepared is key. For every student she prepared a report card, an index card written with points of concern regarding the student, a reading level assessment printout, and plenty of the student’s in-school work to provide proof of the concerns she was raising. My CT has a trustworthy reputation because every parent or family member that walked into her classroom were all ears and ready to partner with her in getting their child in shape for academic success.

Nearly all but three parents/families attended the parent-teacher conferences. The first conference I sat in on was with N.’s maternal grandmother, who is the legal guardian of N. and his older brother. Mrs. C. uses a walker and could not make it up the stairs to the third floor. So she, my CT and I sat down in the guidance counselor’s office on the first floor and had our meeting. After we discussed how N. is still having uncontrolled behavior issues and how he is not giving his best efforts to learning, Mrs. C. with wet eyes said to us, “I’m trying the best that I can, but it doesn't seem to be good enough.” I nearly teared up hearing this. I can only imagine what she has gone through. She had seen her daughter become a drug addict and lose custody of her own children, then she took the boys in and has been playing the role of a parent a second time around – and this time, as a frail old lady. In retrospect I really wish that I had some words of affirmation to offer her, to tell her that she is a most self-sacrificial grandmother and that her grandsons will grow into great men on account of her, or to offer her something material that could substantiate their needs, but I did not and could not. All we did was thank her for her time and bid her farewell. Then we raced up the stairs to meet with the next set of family.

Each parent or guardian thereafter was unique in their interactions with my CT and me and all of them expressed much gratitude for our role in their children’s lives. In the evening session, C. came in with his mom and two baby sisters. Through a translator my CT communicated to C.’s mother that it was really important for C. to engage more during class and to be more proactive in learning English. C. and his family had immigrated to from Guatemala about two years ago and have been in New York ever since. It was very pleasant to see C. as a big brother to his younger sisters and as a respectful son to his mother. His mother had such a deep love and high hopes for him and expressed that she wished she could do more to support his academic development. However, as a single parent with two other little daughters to feed and take care of, such a task is beyond her. We assured her that at school we do what we can to support his English and his learning, and we told her that C. would improve as long as he stays focused and puts in more effort in his schoolwork. His mother felt glad about this, thanked us, and left with her three children. After they were gone, the guidance counselor, who served as our translator, informed us that they have a P.O. Box address. My heart sank upon hearing this and as I imagined them walking back to a temporary home that was not theirs.

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At the bookstore today I bought a book on electricity for C. I knew that getting him a book is no solution for the more urgent needs that C. and his family have, but it was what I had on my heart to do for a long time. C. has consistently expressed his interest in electricity science for several months now and we have not been able to find him a book on this topic in the classroom library. I'm so excited for C. to expand his interest. In the book, I'm going to write him a note, "To C., our future electrician/electrical engineer: Thanks for blessing me. You are bound for great things. Your student teacher, Ms. Tsay."

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Lastly,

Rest in peace, Happy. You're the sweetest dog-friend ever and we will miss you always.