ChanomiTalk

Almost six months have pass since we brought home our baby girl. I will say these first six months have been much more difficult than either my husband or I expected, but it’s also been very rewarding. I love to see how she develops every passing day. At first all she did was cry and sleep. Suddenly, she is trying to sit and eat and talk to us. She is even developing her own personality. I hear the second half of her first year of life is even more exciting because that’s when she’ll really become her own little person. If the next six months are like the first six months, we are in for some adventure for these new parents.

Tomorrow, my brother is coming back from college for winter break. Unfortunately, we have a full house and it was decided he is going to stay in my room. It seems that every time we have people over, my room becomes the guest room as well. Despite the inconvenience, I’m glad to see him again.

When I’m in San Diego and I don’t want to fight traffic I ride the trolley. The trolley can be very convenient for getting around the the city’s center because it services downtown, all of the major malls, and stadiums. So I never have to worry about parking or drinking too much.

The trolley also runs outside of the downtown area. I’ve taken it as far east as SDSU and south to the US/Mexico border. But it takes over an hour to reach the border. So I don’t ride it that far anymore.

今年は娘（17歳）も初参加となり、家族3人でホノルルマラソンに参加しました。途中で娘が足が痛くてこれ以上走れないと言い出したので、仕方なく僕と娘のみゆっくりと歩く事にしました。一度途中で再び走ることを試みましたが、やはり痛くて無理だと言うので、結局コースの半分以上を歩きました。「痛い～！」っと苦しそうな顔をして歩いていた娘でしたが、やっとゴールが見えるとパッと顔が明るくなり、スマイルがでました。なんと所要時間は9時間26分でした。ゴール地点いた友人が下の写真を撮ってくれました。偶然マンガみたいな変なポーズになってて笑えます。父と娘のいい思い出になりました。

先日帰省して日本の秋を堪能してきました。特に観光名所に行くわけではなく、実家でのんびりと過ごしました。実家のすぐそばを流れる武庫川は、兵庫県の西宮市と尼崎市の中間に位置しています。紅葉あり、季節の渡り鳥ありの美しいふるさとです。

週末の夜、泳ぐのが習慣になりました。最初に、ジャクジーで１５分ほど温まりながらストレッチやヨガをし、３０分ほど泳ぎ、最後にまた温まります。

私の得意種目はバックです。背泳ぎ、平泳ぎ、自由形、バタフライ、犬かき、ネコかき、カエル泳ぎ、全て後ろ向きに泳ぎます。ただし、足は水中を歩きます。プールの深いところではできません。この泳ぎはリズムとタイミングが必要です。後ろ向き水中徒歩競技があれば、ぜひとも出場したいと頑張っています。一緒に泳いでいる友人に笑われていますが、背中と腕のシェイプアップに効果が出ています。ちなみに、前向きに泳ぐと気持ちが悪くなるのはなぜでしょうか？

Yesterday, Saturday, was a classic example of poor traffic management in Hawaii. Of course, I guess it was my fault for not getting the message. Everyone knows that the marathon is today and traffic will be bad. Who would’ve guessed that the traffic congestion would start yesterday, a whole day before the event? I discovered this the hard way when it took me over two hours in solid traffic to get from Pearl Harbor to Waikiki. Figuring that H-1 would be busy yesterday afternoon, I took Nimitz and Ala Moana. Huge mistake! The police peremptorily shutdown all but one lane on Ala Moana and would not let you enter Waikiki using Ala Moana. After sitting in a one hour traffic jam by Ala Moana beach, I was eventually forced to turn left by the shopping mall to take Kapiolani and Kalakaua to Waikiki. The birthday party for a friend from Taiwan that I was supposed to attend lasted for two hours and I still showed up a half hour after it ended! What a terrible hassle and a crummy afternoon.