It wasn't on my list of things to accomplish for the year, but Erin is my adventurous foodie friend, so I proposed Chong's on the West Side. This restaurant is near an Air Force base and was filled with uniforms! I took this as a good sign since a lot of the Air Force stationed here come from a Korean base.
I had no idea what to expect with Kimchi. I knew it was cabbage based, but I pictured something more like sauerkraut. It was spicier, not nearly as sour as I expected. The waitress brought out a sample of cabbage and turnip based kimchi and I have to admit that I liked the turnip better. It was gingery and crunchy and I loved it!
I warned Erin that there would be pictures and blogging but my eating was messy and there was concern on my part about the multiple spots all over my breasts so I completely forgot.
I really should have gotten a picture of the location though. It's hilarious to eat in a restaurant next to an insurance company across from a bar. It's hidden in the dead end of a strip mall. It was surreal. It was like every Korean restaurant joke I have ever heard (and I have to admit it...I was thinking dog meat!)
So the four perfect scores by the health department was a good sign. The fact that they felt the need to post them ON THE FRONT DOOR however was a bit disconcerting. I think I even saw a blue plate from KSAT from the Kitchen Kops. Regardless, Erin and I had a great time. We stayed until everyone left. Not because we chased them off. I don't think. Time flew and they never seemed to want to shoo us away. I'd go back...but next time I want the ribs. It isn't every day you get scissors with your meal!!
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Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
On Parenting: In which i'm sure to offend someone
I hate to brag but I have to admit I have well-behaved kids. It's not just me saying that. I get told this all the time. Nothing makes me more proud as a parent than to pick up my child from a party and hear the mom tell my son or daughter that he or she is welcome back ANY TIME.
My children did not hatch from eggs, or get picked from a cabbage patch. They are the culmination of hard work and constant, consistent parenting from both Craig and myself. There are things we have chosen to do in order to make them well-adjusted, eager, patient, considerate future global citizens.
Did I mention patient?
I stress this one attribute because I find it so lacking in all of American society. From immediate song changes to the constant need to be entertained, I don't think Americans are able to be silent long enough to hear their own thoughts. I am beginning to just believe that Americans don't like themselves so they try to fill every waking moment with things, communications, and entertainment so they don't have to listen to themselves think.
The side effect is that Americans expect to have every waking second filled. They wake up, turn on the TV or radio, check their phone. Spend the day on the computer, talking on their phone, checking text messages and facebook. They talk in the car or listen to the radio. Does anyone drive in silence any more? Watch people in the grocery store. How many people are talking as they shop. The rudest of people talk when they checkout to avoid any interaction with the person standing in front of them. And in the evening they watch TV. Lots of TV.
I admit that I spend most waking moments reading something. Computer or book. But I long ago decided that I really like my thoughts and the crazy places they take me so I often drive in the silence. My house is usually silent. I hate ambient TV noises. Probably because my mother's house always has noise and this is my juvenile rebellion. Who knows?
This is the mother my poor children got. Go. Call you mother and thank her for not being me. I don't mind, really.
When we took the long road to Key West. We drove. My husband, his parents, our two younger children and me. In a car together for 3 hours. One way. It should have been a nightmare. It was a blast. Don't get me wrong. The kids fought. They argued. They slept. They were kids. They were not mind-numbed machines plugged into a game that kept their whole attention. I hate to tell people, but that isn't parenting. And what really are you teaching your kids anyway? Seriously think about what you are trying to tell your children when you do this. You don't value their thoughts and ideas. You just want them to shut up and frankly not be a part of your life.
Does this mean my children never get to play video games? No. My son has a iPod Touch. We have computers. I have games on my iPhone I let my kids play. But they aren't used to just keep my kids quiet whenever I want them to be little statues.
My husband and I are both horribly impatient people. I didn't want our children to grow up to be like us. So I make them wait for things. They often hear me tell them that "it's good to want things." Meaning if you have everything, what is there to look forward to? I want them to enjoy the anticipation. Enjoy the WAIT as much as the THING.
Which means when I booked us with a FIVE HOUR LAYOVER in Fort Lauderdale after our cruise while we waited for the FIRST LEG of our plane journey to begin, the children were great. My husband however paced like a caged animal snarling things like "Never again" and veiled threats of actually booking a plane ticket himself some day. Empty threats I tell you.
This is what parenting is all about. Preparing your children for their mother's stupidity. It works every time!
My children did not hatch from eggs, or get picked from a cabbage patch. They are the culmination of hard work and constant, consistent parenting from both Craig and myself. There are things we have chosen to do in order to make them well-adjusted, eager, patient, considerate future global citizens.
Did I mention patient?
I stress this one attribute because I find it so lacking in all of American society. From immediate song changes to the constant need to be entertained, I don't think Americans are able to be silent long enough to hear their own thoughts. I am beginning to just believe that Americans don't like themselves so they try to fill every waking moment with things, communications, and entertainment so they don't have to listen to themselves think.
The side effect is that Americans expect to have every waking second filled. They wake up, turn on the TV or radio, check their phone. Spend the day on the computer, talking on their phone, checking text messages and facebook. They talk in the car or listen to the radio. Does anyone drive in silence any more? Watch people in the grocery store. How many people are talking as they shop. The rudest of people talk when they checkout to avoid any interaction with the person standing in front of them. And in the evening they watch TV. Lots of TV.
I admit that I spend most waking moments reading something. Computer or book. But I long ago decided that I really like my thoughts and the crazy places they take me so I often drive in the silence. My house is usually silent. I hate ambient TV noises. Probably because my mother's house always has noise and this is my juvenile rebellion. Who knows?
This is the mother my poor children got. Go. Call you mother and thank her for not being me. I don't mind, really.
When we took the long road to Key West. We drove. My husband, his parents, our two younger children and me. In a car together for 3 hours. One way. It should have been a nightmare. It was a blast. Don't get me wrong. The kids fought. They argued. They slept. They were kids. They were not mind-numbed machines plugged into a game that kept their whole attention. I hate to tell people, but that isn't parenting. And what really are you teaching your kids anyway? Seriously think about what you are trying to tell your children when you do this. You don't value their thoughts and ideas. You just want them to shut up and frankly not be a part of your life.
Does this mean my children never get to play video games? No. My son has a iPod Touch. We have computers. I have games on my iPhone I let my kids play. But they aren't used to just keep my kids quiet whenever I want them to be little statues.
My husband and I are both horribly impatient people. I didn't want our children to grow up to be like us. So I make them wait for things. They often hear me tell them that "it's good to want things." Meaning if you have everything, what is there to look forward to? I want them to enjoy the anticipation. Enjoy the WAIT as much as the THING.
Which means when I booked us with a FIVE HOUR LAYOVER in Fort Lauderdale after our cruise while we waited for the FIRST LEG of our plane journey to begin, the children were great. My husband however paced like a caged animal snarling things like "Never again" and veiled threats of actually booking a plane ticket himself some day. Empty threats I tell you.
This is what parenting is all about. Preparing your children for their mother's stupidity. It works every time!
Saturday, February 11, 2012
Solar Eclipse
Actually I do have a trip planned. But since it's all about the solar eclipse and not about the travel per se I guess some small part of me had already begun the TWP (Travel With Purpose) mindset. If you have any interest in viewing a solar eclipse then you should check out NASA's webpage for information.
This is going to be a dry run of sorts as well. The drive to Craig's uncle is the half way mark of the travel we would take if we go skiing for Christmas this year. I'm trying reallllly hard to sell travel for Christmas for the rest of our lives. Heh. For the sake of the children of course.
This is going to be a dry run of sorts as well. The drive to Craig's uncle is the half way mark of the travel we would take if we go skiing for Christmas this year. I'm trying reallllly hard to sell travel for Christmas for the rest of our lives. Heh. For the sake of the children of course.
Thursday, February 9, 2012
Travel with purpose
I cannot believe that in less than four weeks I will be travelling to Paris and Morocco. But even more amazing for me is that I do not have a SINGLE trip planned after that. Not. A. Single. Trip. This is unreal for me. I don't even have a weekend trip to the coast planned.
It's made me really think about when and where I want to travel next. It seems like my level of enthusiasm for my next place is hesitant to make itself known. It's like walking into a really quiet room and automatically whispering. And as I sit and think about what I want to do and accomplish in the next year. Travel really isn't one of them.
Don't get me wrong. I still read travel blogs. I still have subscriptions to travel magazines. I still check Delta for flight costs. I went to tripadvisor and left all my reviews for the cruise trip. But then I hit a brick wall.
Years ago when I took a group of high school students to Paris and London, a co-worker joined me. She was in her 60s, fit and well-travelled. In her 50s, she had sailed from the South Pacific to California, hitting dozens of islands, filling a passport book (oh how wonderful that sounds!). After spending the time in London and Paris we were sitting at a cafe watching people stroll down the Parisian streets and she said something that sticks to me today.
"I can only take so much concrete and culture. I need my next trip to be green and nature."
I realized then that for the most part, for my travel it was always about concrete and culture. Since then I've gotten away from the madness on trips. I took a weekend to Big Bend and Terlingua with a friend and no cell phones. Not much green there but lots of nature! I've laid on beaches in the Caribbean drinking Corona Light; I've played golf at top courses in the world.
And I've enjoyed it all. I don't begrudge any of my past travels, but I have spent some navel-gazing thinking about my future travels and I realized I want to travel now with a purpose. Or rather I want to travel to for meaning. I don't just want to arrive and take in, as if my travels are this one way street where I arrive to be entertained. I want to arrive in a location knowing I will be adding something back. That the reason I am there is to make things better (or attempt to I don't have a god complex!), to learn something that I can teach to others, or achieve something that will let me know myself more.
It's for this reason that cruises don't totally appeal to me as a method of travel. Don't get me wrong. My mother and daughter both want to go on cruises in the future and I will suffer for both of them (DD wants to go to Curacao and my mother wants to go to Canada or the Eastern Mediterranean. I suffer so for them!) But for my personal travel and my goals in the next few years I want there to be a reason that I am travelling beyond just seeing stuff. And buying stuff. I want to know when I get back on the plane that I have grown somehow. And that I will be offering this growth to everyone else who meets me.
Our church has a variety of short-term missions in Burkina Faso, Guatemala and Brazil, and I've already told Craig that in 2013 I intend to join one. My friend Nancy has contacts all over the world willing and able to show us places we can help out and learn. Perhaps I will use my travel to acheive a Master's in Zoology so I can teach in colleges and universities.
The point is there are lots of opportunites out there to do more than visit a city to watch and observe. I can do that in a travel video on my couch. I have 10 months left in the year and I intend to complete several financial goals, and then I will give my travel plans some thought.
Of course with this said, when Craig comes home one day and tells me to book a trip to Vegas, I can't say no, can I????
It's made me really think about when and where I want to travel next. It seems like my level of enthusiasm for my next place is hesitant to make itself known. It's like walking into a really quiet room and automatically whispering. And as I sit and think about what I want to do and accomplish in the next year. Travel really isn't one of them.
Don't get me wrong. I still read travel blogs. I still have subscriptions to travel magazines. I still check Delta for flight costs. I went to tripadvisor and left all my reviews for the cruise trip. But then I hit a brick wall.
Years ago when I took a group of high school students to Paris and London, a co-worker joined me. She was in her 60s, fit and well-travelled. In her 50s, she had sailed from the South Pacific to California, hitting dozens of islands, filling a passport book (oh how wonderful that sounds!). After spending the time in London and Paris we were sitting at a cafe watching people stroll down the Parisian streets and she said something that sticks to me today.
"I can only take so much concrete and culture. I need my next trip to be green and nature."
I realized then that for the most part, for my travel it was always about concrete and culture. Since then I've gotten away from the madness on trips. I took a weekend to Big Bend and Terlingua with a friend and no cell phones. Not much green there but lots of nature! I've laid on beaches in the Caribbean drinking Corona Light; I've played golf at top courses in the world.
And I've enjoyed it all. I don't begrudge any of my past travels, but I have spent some navel-gazing thinking about my future travels and I realized I want to travel now with a purpose. Or rather I want to travel to for meaning. I don't just want to arrive and take in, as if my travels are this one way street where I arrive to be entertained. I want to arrive in a location knowing I will be adding something back. That the reason I am there is to make things better (or attempt to I don't have a god complex!), to learn something that I can teach to others, or achieve something that will let me know myself more.
It's for this reason that cruises don't totally appeal to me as a method of travel. Don't get me wrong. My mother and daughter both want to go on cruises in the future and I will suffer for both of them (DD wants to go to Curacao and my mother wants to go to Canada or the Eastern Mediterranean. I suffer so for them!) But for my personal travel and my goals in the next few years I want there to be a reason that I am travelling beyond just seeing stuff. And buying stuff. I want to know when I get back on the plane that I have grown somehow. And that I will be offering this growth to everyone else who meets me.
Our church has a variety of short-term missions in Burkina Faso, Guatemala and Brazil, and I've already told Craig that in 2013 I intend to join one. My friend Nancy has contacts all over the world willing and able to show us places we can help out and learn. Perhaps I will use my travel to acheive a Master's in Zoology so I can teach in colleges and universities.
The point is there are lots of opportunites out there to do more than visit a city to watch and observe. I can do that in a travel video on my couch. I have 10 months left in the year and I intend to complete several financial goals, and then I will give my travel plans some thought.
Of course with this said, when Craig comes home one day and tells me to book a trip to Vegas, I can't say no, can I????
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Tentatively titled: Leave us alone so we can play on the beach
If you look closely I think there is even some eye rolling from the girl. The film cuts off because my battery died. I'm lucky I got this. Super planning mom I am not.
The beaches of Haiti are naturally rocky. Royal Caribbean carted in tons of sand to make a typical beach so the kids could build castles and bury their feet. The kids had a live sand dollar come up during play and they kept it in a bowl of water to watch it breath and move. I think they learned more playing on the beach in Haiti than they would have learned a week in the school they missed!
Sunday, February 5, 2012
Craig and the Cock: a Key West story in pictures
Once upon a time, a man travels to an island. Little did he know there was another male on the island waiting for him. Apparently, the Florida Keys have lots of roosters roaming free. Like Lots.
They are friendly buggers. Having no problem walking right up to you. I am slightly afraid of chickens when they are too aggressive because of a horrid goose incident when I was a child, so I took this picture then ran back to the car.
These little buggers would pop up in the strangest places: parking lot, beaches, streets. And I have to admit I was a little apprenhensive that the restaurant my in-laws chose, used local animals for their food :) Most everyone ordered seafood, because in the Florida Keys who would order chicken???? Well, that would be me. And my kids. I did have a Mojito, too.
They are friendly buggers. Having no problem walking right up to you. I am slightly afraid of chickens when they are too aggressive because of a horrid goose incident when I was a child, so I took this picture then ran back to the car.
These little buggers would pop up in the strangest places: parking lot, beaches, streets. And I have to admit I was a little apprenhensive that the restaurant my in-laws chose, used local animals for their food :) Most everyone ordered seafood, because in the Florida Keys who would order chicken???? Well, that would be me. And my kids. I did have a Mojito, too.
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
A month in review
If anyone knows where January went could you have her give me a call? She left and I totally didn't notice! Despite the fact that January took off before I could say goodbye, this year is looking good! I'm on track to complete everything on my resolutions list!!
First off I need to Organize my bucket list! (which is actually on my bucket list but I won't count it for my 12 :) ) DONE! I even posted two sections this month as well.
1. Books to Read (from 1001 Books to Read Before You Die):
Cat’s Cradle – Kurt Vonnegut 01/03/12
The Spy Who Came in from the Cold – John Le Carré 01-13-12
Choke – Chuck Palahniuk 01/08/12
Like Water for Chocolate – Laura Esquivel 01/05/12
Less than Zero - Bret Easton Ellis 01/27/12
Rabbit, Run – John Updike 01/31/12
2. Movies to Watch (from the list of movies that won Best Picture):
1971 - "The French Connection" 01/12/12
8. Plant a vegetable garden, Can't be crossed off yet as nothing got planted. BUT we did create the garden, hauling wheelbarrow loads of dirt from the farm so that Craig can smell "home" when we wants.
9. Donate platelets once a month for a year. Contribute to a microloan at kiva.org This change is chronicled here.
10. Spend 3 months getting my body in optimum shape STARTING TODAY! Cannot be crossed off, but one month down. I have worked out at least 5 hours each week. I plan to work out more when I get back from the cruise, and some day I will actually start watching what I'm eating too!
February is a short and sweet month and I plan to do a lot of reading and some movie watching. I have Slumdog Millionaire on Tivo too now. Who wants to watch this and Hurt Locker with me this month???
1. Books to Read (from 1001 Books to Read Before You Die):
2. Movies to Watch (from the list of movies that won Best Picture):
19
8. Plant a vegetable garden, Can't be crossed off yet as nothing got planted. BUT we did create the garden, hauling wheelbarrow loads of dirt from the farm so that Craig can smell "home" when we wants.
10. Spend 3 months getting my body in optimum shape STARTING TODAY! Cannot be crossed off, but one month down. I have worked out at least 5 hours each week. I plan to work out more when I get back from the cruise, and some day I will actually start watching what I'm eating too!
February is a short and sweet month and I plan to do a lot of reading and some movie watching. I have Slumdog Millionaire on Tivo too now. Who wants to watch this and Hurt Locker with me this month???
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