On Monday this week, Tom turned thirty-eight. A year and three months have passed since I last wrote Tom’s Thursday Thoughts, though there wasn’t much writing, just the last few rather bittersweet photos I’d taken of Tom the day we left New York. Continue reading “Tom’s Thursday Thoughts on Turning 38”
Our neighbors have a fat toddler.
Continue reading “Sydney Coronavirus Days, 2”
I’m not so much inspired to write this blog by recent events as I am by Tom’s brother and mom, who have recently started blogging from Vienna and Washington D.C., respectively, documenting their days unfolding in the midst of Coronavirus. Why not, I thought. One day I’ll want to look back and recall the flavor of these strange times. Continue reading “Sydney Coronavirus Days, 1”
We have yet to regularly call him by his name. We went with Arthur, with James and Ho as middle names. He can go by Arthur, Artie, James, Jimmy, Artie Jimbo as a friend suggested, or as his maternal grandpa (whom he looks like) sometimes refers to himself, “Ho”. Whichever suits his fancy in the future. But right now, around these parts, he’s “the Baby.” He is who he is. But we’re still trying to figure him out.
We knew life with a newborn would be hard, but of course we didn’t really sit down and consider just how effing hard. I don’t think anyone can accurately imagine the actual pain of interminable sleep deprivation. All I can say is I understand how sleep torture can be effective. There have been dark days when all I wanted was for someone to come and punch my lights out. Continue reading “Mr. Baby”
This morning, my mother texted me and my brother.
“Today is Mid-Autumn Festival,” she wrote in simplified Chinese. “Don’t forget to text dad, and grandpa Happy Mid Autumn Festival. This is all basic etiquette I should teach you.” Continue reading “Mid-Autumn”
We do some weekends better than others. Continue reading “A Sunday Afternoon at Coogee Beach”
Before getting pregnant, I first had to remove the copper goalie in my cervix, which by the way, I highly recommend to those looking for hormone-free birth control. I did this in Washington D.C., a few months after our wedding, at one of OneMedical’s light-and-plant-filled modern offices. I met with a friendly, young female doctor who had no children herself, but who had done some reading on the topic. Continue reading “Good Books to Read While Pregnant (or Not Pregnant)”
On May 12, 2015, I wrote this blog about why I wasn’t ready to have kids. The reasons were pretty sound: I was unemployed, unpublished, and – oh right – unmarried. Continue reading “Family Planning”
I don’t think Tom and I underestimated how much work moving abroad and setting up a new life would be. However, we underestimated how much work doing so would be without the things we were used to, like knowing how to navigate local public transportation, having a car, or even just knowing where to go for what. Continue reading “Bondi, Rain or Shine”
It’s tempting, when arriving somewhere new, to ground yourself with comparisons. Continue reading “Newtown, Sydney”
VERY HIGHBROW 