Mia's Dog Sitting Adventures

When our neighbors asked me if I wanted to take care of their dog while they were in Hawaii, I jumped at the opportunity. I have been begging for a dog as long as I can remember. So far, I have learned a few things:

-Chasing after a loose dog makes him run more because he thinks it's a game.

-If a dog won't come to you, ignore hi. If you do that, he is more likely to come.

-Casper (neighbor's dog) likes to play fetch with tennis balls (and be rewarded with doggie treats).

-If you lose something in the snow, ALWAYS retrace your steps by looking for your footprints. I lost one of my 'Yaktrak' (spiky shoe brace to prevent slipping in ice) when I was chasing after the loose dog. I found it only after playing detective following my own footprints.

-Show the dog who's boss.

-If a dog refuses to come inside, get his leash and go for a very short walk before taking him home again.

- When carrying the reluctant dog back indoor, always deposit him in the middle of the room and far away from the open door.

-Never pull on a dog's leash when his head is facing you. The leash is likely to come off and he'll escape.

-Sitting on snow while holding down a very squirmish dog in somebody's yard under a bush is NOT comfy.

-ALWAYS check before you step in a house where a dog has been left alone for a long time (they may have left you a present on the floor).

-If it is a small dog, pick him up when he refuses to move.

-Beware! Dogs like to lick toes.

-Beware! Dogs like scarves.

Some Pictures...

Our home from across the street taken at 4:30pm today

Mr. Snowman to welcome our visitors by our front porch

My handcrafted snowflakes by our entry way

Our outdoor Christmas tree on our front lawn

Our indoor Christmas trimmed by Neil, mom and me

Indonesian man as Santa

Snowmen collection

Our Snowman family of 4

Neil in deep thoughts composing his blog

Mia Playing Flute

Here is Mia playing 'Serenade' by Haydn on the flute for Solo and Ensemble in May...

2008 Happenings

Merry Christmas Everybody!

As you all know, Christmas is right around the block. Neil and I have been slaving away working on this letter since...well...yesterday so we hope you like it. Here is a quick overview of our year ...

Southern California trip in February ...

During mid-winter break, we went to LA, visited Disneyland, California Adventures, Universal Studios, San Diego Zoo Wild Animal Park, SeaWorld, Ailey & Aaron, Sue & Vince (Beta's long time friends) and Koko Vicky. We had a great time. I didn't think I could scream like a kid when the rides took my breath away. But I did, many, many times. After letting out the inevitable screams, I felt really good so I highly recommended roller coaster rides to those of you who need to release a load of pent-up stress like I did. Just make sure your heart can take it. - Beta

Here are Neil and Mia's recollections ...

I could write this in 2 simple words but I bet you would like to know more. Those 2 words would be 'spectacular' and 'adventurous'. So here it is ...

"Ding! We have arrived. Thank you for choosing American Airlines". We walked out of the LAX airport. I looked at the blue sky, the blazing brightness of the sun. The weather was the total opposite of Seattle's. I thought, 'that's a good sign'. We got into our rental car and sped down to Hilton.

The next thing I knew I was right in front of the gates of Disneyland. People and kids stood around me waiting for the same thing - to get in. The door opened, everyone scurried in. That's when it started. I looked around and saw tourists screaming on fast roller coasters. We went to the Mutter Horn ride. Dad went on that ride when he was a young boy many years ago. The roller coaster took us around the mountain. It then took us inside. It was dark. Suddenly a yeti jumped into sight. I screamed for about ten seconds then the roller coaster jerked us to the left and the yeti was out of sight.

Next, we went to Buzz Lightyear that is like a giant video game. You shoot stuff around you while the cart moves around. When you shoot a target you get points. This is my third favorite ride. My second runner up was 'Tower of Terror'. Alright, this is how the ride goes. Imagine being in a haunted hotel but instead you're in the hotel elevator. Suddenly the cord breaks, your elevator speeds downwards then just when all hope is lost, it stop. It wasn't done just yet. Oh no! It went up then stop. It repeated for a solid five minutes worth waiting for. Now, want to know my favorite? It is 'California Screamin' (see picture). You start on ground level then you speed off, probably 10 mph then you go up something like maybe 75 feet when almost to the top you put your arms up. You wait then you scream your lungs out. You do a loop around Mickey's face which means you go upside down so after that you repeat the up and down sequence.

Someday, I would love to go again with my kids, if I have them or maybe during my honeymoon when I get married. - Neil

Shamu show at Seaworld ...

We sat down on the bench a few rows behind the sign 'Splash Zone', the trainers were talking to the orcas that swam in a pool in the middle of the "stadium". The music went on and the lead trainer started talking as the orcas swam around the edge of the pool making big splashes and extracting screams from the audience. While the trainer was talking the orcas did the standard tricks of waving to the audience and doing flips in the air. During the middle of the show the trainer ask a girl about 10 years old from the audience to the stage and had her pet the orca. While he talked a heron stood on the stage with the other trainers waddling around contentedly. The trainers tried to shoo the bird away to no avail. It walked back and forth testing the water that was splashing against the side of the stage. Then it entered the pool floating proudly above the water. Before we knew it there was a splash and the bird was gone. Feathers floated in the water as the whales gathered around the remains of the bird. The lead trainer became very upset and left without saying a word. Our show was over. - Mia

Neil's Sports ...

My soccer team stinks. If you don't know I play soccer, well I do. My team's record is one win and too many losses to count. If you're wondering if I got any goals this year the answer would be no. I gave up goals while I was a goalie but I didn't even score one goal. The only win we got was from plain luck because they were totally a better team. On top of all we have the lamest name ever "Mighty Feet". My teammate Josh (the coach's son) named it. When ever you say Mighty Feet it sounds like 'my defeat'. Go on try it.

On the other hand, I have a winning team in baseball. My team got second place in the leagues playoffs, which by the way, every team goes to even if they are terrible. I didn't play the same position every time. I played every position, even the outfield, which was kind of pointless because the ball rarely went there, but I played it with pride anyway.

My baseball team's name wasn't so bad. It was the Cubs named after the Chicago Cubs. One of my favorite play was when I got one homer. It wasn't a normal one. Here's how it went. I hit a ground ball to the short stop and he threw it over to the first baseman. The first baseman threw it over to the second baseman while I was running to second base. An outfielder scooped up the ball and threw it to the third baseman while I was running to third base. The third baseman could only watch the ball fly over his head. I ran to homeplate! - Neil

Mia's Summer in Chicago ...

During the summer I went with Guama to Chicago for about 10 weeks! I was helping my cousin Mallory do some stuff at OLPC. For those of you who do not know what OLPC (One Laptop Per Child) is it's a program that supplies needy students with laptops so that they can learn better. If you want to know more you can visit http://laptop.org/en/. Anyways, during my stay in Chicago I got to learn how to properly de-assemble a laptop (although I never quite learned how to put it back together again), figure out how much power a xo (name of the laptops) uses and a whole bunch more. Plus, I got to visit the Google office in Chicago and that was pretty cool. I mean they have yoga balls and bean bags! And you can get Odwalla smoothies for free! I don't know about you bet I think that's just awesome. I want to work there some day. - Mia

Teacher's Strike in September ...

When we first heard there was going to be a teacher's strike in Bellevue, Neil and I thought it was going to be fun because we got to miss school. But after a couple of days the fun started to wear off. I started worrying about having a shortened summer or not getting as many breaks. Plus I was tired of sitting around all day with nothing to do. So you can imagine the mix of sadness and relief we felt when we found out we had school the next day. One thing I learned is that having teachers on strike is not fun, it's bad. - Mia

Mia, the flutist ...

This year mom's co-worker Raffy asked me to play flute at her church's Simbang Gabi. I will be playing about 5 songs including 'Lord Have Mercy', 'Lamb of God' and 'Ang Pasko ay Sumapit'. I have one solo in the song 'O Come, O Come Emmanuel', a song I am sure most of you are familiar with. This is my first time playing in front of a big group with out a middle school band or flute choir so I am a little nervous. You'll never guess who is going to play percussion (okay maybe you will, but it's surprising). My mom! I'll let her to tell you all the details about her experience being a musician in the last month. All in all this is a very good experience for me, I have learned so much already! Wish me luck! - Mia

To make sure I don't become an over anxious stage mom, I was assigned to percussion. I thought it only involves hitting the triangle in a song or two, but it turns out to be more involved. I have to handle the chime, gong, triangle and tambourine throughout the mass with precision. After seeing me struggle the tambourine with both hands, a choir member suggested to hit the tambourine to my thigh so I can sway to the beat. Wonderful idea, until I discovered the side of my right thigh got all bruised the day after the practice. Now I'm back to using my hands. Wish me luck too. - Beta

Unusual Seattle Weather in December ...

As I write this letter, it is snowing outside (or at least it was yesterday when I wrote this), I am conveniently seated next to the window where I can watch and be distracted by the snow drifting to the ground . We have accumulated about 6 inches of snow which is the most we've ever seen in this area before. Neil and I were very disappointed to learn that the snow was not wet enough to pack together so it was not good for making snow men or snow forts and such. We soon tired of attempting to make balls out of the pathetic stuff and began throwing handfuls of powder at each other. As you may have guessed we soon went inside to sip hot cocoa and watch more of the snow fall. It has been below freezing since last week. Due to these conditions school has been canceled for the past 2 days. Hopefully it'll heat up so we don't have to make up any school. We already lost a whole week of our mid-winter break next February because of the strike. - Mia

Well thanks for reading! We hope you all have a great Christmas and a awesome New Year.

P.S. Expect more to come if we remain house bound.

-Mia, Don, Beta, and Neil

Welcome from Dobemine...

For all of you guys wondering what Dobemine means, it's don-beta-mia-neil all squished together. Anyway we saw your blogs and decided to make one for ourselves so you can know what's going on with us here. Our next post will be coming very soon, so keep checking in!