Emotional Danny

Danny has been very emotional lately. We watched an episode of West Wing last night, and he was tearing up because it touched him that they were trying to "do the right thing." And then a couple of nights before that, his eyes welled up with tears as he played Keith Green's "Prodigal Son" on the piano. After playing, he started bawling (our wedding-esque) because it just touched him so much. I asked him was it your playing that touched you or God's heart for the prodigal son? Haha. Just kidding. And I just read his entry about a song and how he feels like crying every time he hears it.

Do guys go through hormonal changes? Does he have sympathy pregnancy hormones raging inside of him? I mean, it's perfectly normal for me to go through crying sessions, but for him, it's not the norm. In any case, I like it. When we were dating, he told me that he thought he didn't have tear ducts because he cried exactly two times in his life. I said, "Interesting." Since then, I've seen the waterworks turn on many times. Especially at our wedding. He and his dad (who officiated and was standing up there with us) were both a watery, snotty mess. :) Good times! I just think in general it's great to see men cry. It's sad that they're socialized not to. It's the greatest release of emotion in the world! I feel tons better after a good cry.

A Survey

Two Names You Go By

1. Jieun

2. Ji

Two Parts of Your Heritage

1. Korean. I was born there. My relatives all live there. I speak the language and root for the Korean Olympic teams.

2. American. This is the country in which I grew up. My earliest memories are here. Most of my significant life events occurred here.

Two things that scare you

1. Labor and delivery.

2. Conflict and tension in a room.

Two Of Your Everyday Essentials

1. Washing my face, which is not something that everyone in the Chai household practices daily.

2. Checking email. I love getting personal email. I get so upset at all the spam I get. But I'd rather have spam waiting for me than to have nothing in my INBOX when I sign in. Sad.

Two Things You Are Wearing Right Now

1. Red Stanford sweatshirt. It's a part of my sleepwear.

2. Fuzzy white slippers. I bought this pair at Macy's because our apartment is freakin' cold. I can't wait for the sun to shine into our lives.

Two of Your Favorite Bands or Musical Artists

1. Debbie Gibson

2. Whitney Houston

Two Things You Want in a Relationship

1. Conversation. It's important that I have things to talk about with the other person. Not just being the listener (which is my default mode), but to actually feel like the other person wants to listen to what I have to say as well.

2. Keeping in touch. It's important to me that Danny calls me throughout the day, or writes me an email, or AIMS me, etc. And vice versa. Same goes with friends.

Two Physical Things that Appeal to You

1. Clean lines. I like furniture that is classic.

2. Solid basic colors. You should have seen my wardrobe in high school. White, gray, navy blue, and black. I discovered red in college, and pink as a married woman, but my default mode is white, gray, navy blue, and black. Think JCrew and Gap back in 1994-1996.

Two of Your Favorite Hobbies

1. Reading. I've become a reader in recent years. When I'm into a good book, I feel like I'm taking a wonderful adventure. I actually go through a grieving process when I finish a book because I feel like I'll never find another good book to read.

2. Watching sit-coms. Ever since Family Ties and Growing Pains, I have loved watching situation comedies. I'm a fan of Friends and Everybody Loves Raymond lately. If any of those shows are on when I turn on the TV, then it's 30 minutes of smiling Jieun.

Two Things You Want Really Badly

1. Stand mixer. I should have registered for one when we got married, but I didn't know anything about the kitchen or cooking back then, so I had no idea what a great piece of machinery this was. The prices keep going up. Currently they run at $250!

2. A nice blazer. I haven't found one that I like.

Two Places You Want to go on Vacation

1. Austria. I want to go on the Sound of Music tour.

2. Hawaii. I've gone only once with my family. Not good times. I believe my brothers and I were all adolescents experiencing teenage angst and bad mood. I want to counter that experience with a good one.

Two Things You Want to Do Before You Die

1. Visit NK.

2. See my grandchild being born.

Two Things You Are Thinking About Now

1. Labor and delivery.

2. What does Abby look like? Whom does she resemble??

Two Stores You Shop At

1. Target. It's where you can whatever you need.

2. Macy's. A down-to-earth department store. Not shee-shee-foo-foo like some other places. I feel comfortable going here, and I'm not so aware of being underdressed. And the customer service here has improved greatly.

Two people You Haven't Talked To In A While

1. Jean Lee. My senior year roommate. I need to get her current address, but her phone number had changed, too, so I'm in the process of tracking her down.

2. Eunice Chu. I wonder how she's faring in Virginia.

Two favorite web sites

1. mail.yahoo.com. I love checking email.

2. babiesrus.com. I love updating my registry and checking out the latest baby products.

Two Favorite Sports

1. Softball. I'm actually pretty good. I have good aim and coordination. And I don't like running too much. Perfect!

2. Volleyball. I actually coached a sixth grade volleyball team back at Menlo School. And, I played in junior high before becoming a cheerleader for it. I love the adrenaline you feel when you're in ready position, and the moment you connect with the ball, it's a rush! I was a good bumper, horrible setter, and an even worse server. But I always enjoyed the teamwork aspect of sports like volleyball.

Two People who will fill this out

1. Karen

2. Jibin

Two things you did last night

1. Watched two episodes of West Wing. Dave and Tina Park both recommended this show to us. It's getting really good. I'm enjoying the dry wit and the depth of characters. I have a hard time following the politics, though.

2. Made curry for dinner. I was proud of the result! This time I didn't forget the potatoes, and I didn't overcook the ingredients. This has become one of my staples. I think I need to expand my repertoire, though. I always fear that Danny gets bored and tired of my cooking.

Two shows you like to watch

1. Friends. Come on! Chandler Bing. Monica. Ross and Rachel. Joey. And weird Phoebe. How can anyone not like to watch this show? Can it BE any better??

2. Everybody Loves Raymond. An Italian American family who deals with family/in-law troubles. It's very similar to Korean-American families, and because I can relate to the situations, I enjoy watching it. I think some of my other Korean-American friends have said that they dislike the show for that very same reason. It's just too close to home. They're not ready to laugh about it because they are in the thick of it.

Two places you like to go to:

1. Baskin Robbins. Jamoca ice cream. MMmmmmm.

2. Santana Row. Even it's only one street, I love walking down and taking in the scenery. I don't like the prices, though.

Two Favorite Subjects In (High) School:

1. Spanish. I first discovered my competence in learning languages through Spanish class. I loved conjugating verbs.

2. English.

Two Favorite Places to eat:

1. Lee's Sandwiches.

2. Galleria Market. This place holds a special place in my heart. The food here comforted me through many weeks of morning sickness and nausea pain.

Two things you like about yourself (physical):

1. Hair. Easily manageable.

2. Fingernails. Nice and long.

Two things you ate today:

1. Tangerines.

2. Leftover curry from last night.

Two people you last talked to:

1. Danny

2. My mom

Two Things You're doing tomorrow:

1. Driving up to Berkeley to visit Desiree and shop at Hold Everything. The stores in California are all closing down! The last one open is the one in Emeryville, until March 31st.

2. Attending smallgroup.

Letter-Writing

Let's go back to keeping in touch the old-fashioned way: writing letters! I recently wrote a bunch of thank you cards. And in the process of finding the right words to say, and slapping on a stamp to send it to that special someone, I was reminded of my youth. I used to write letters when I was young. I remember sending Karen letters to her Cerritos home from my Cerritos home. Danny asked me how we kept in touch if she moved away from my street at age 6, and we never attended the same school afterwards. I guess I saw her at church on Sundays, but I think the key was letters! We sent each other letters and wrote about the boring details of our suburban lives. So anyways, I'm going to TRY to write some letters this year.

Home stretch. Three more weeks until the DUE DATE. March 21st. Am I ready for the life change? Perhaps. I don't know! We'll see. I got an ultrasound done today, and found out that my baby is approximately 6 pounds. Everything looks normal. I'm just a little petite, that's all. Here I am with my co-worker. She's the Spanish teacher at my school. My students remarked that maybe her boy and my girl will someday get married. Wow! That's three engagements so far.