Happy Monday

Radio silence last week due to ongoing severe cold at the Random Mommy house. It was H's spring break and we were supposed to go the San Jose Children's Museum, the Oakland Zoo, Chuck E Cheese (reward for going to sleep on his own for two weeks), and a magic show. Zero for zero. He even missed the egg hunt at school the Friday before spring break. All of us were so out of it that we could barely move around the house. H&R both ended back in my bed since they claimed they needed special treatment since they were sick. I was too exhausted to argue. We watched so much TV that the capacitor to our fancy big screen LCD TV blew out. So finally Saturday before Easter we attempted the last event on our calendar for the week, the Campbell egg hunt. Here is H contemplating his strategy to gather the most eggs and R warming up on the sidelines.

However minutes before the egg hunt was supposed to start, R had a sickness meltdown and demanded Stewart take him back to the car. H waited till after the egg hunt and then disappeared by himself back to the car. That is what happens when the rule of the hunt is that parents aren't allowed on the field. The announcer kept saying this over and over again. So I listened to him. I shouldn't have done that because of course I couldn't find H afterwards and he decided on his own that he should go back to the car since he was done. Since Stewart took the camera with him when he went back to the car with R, I have no photos of the actual egg hunt, which was pandemonium. Some kids didn't get any and some kids got a full basket. We won't be going back there ever again.

So yesterday I finally broke down after a week of not being able to breathe and bought some Sudafed. Not Sudafed PE but the kind you have to buy from the pharmacist. That made me feel like I was doing something illicit. It provided some relief but after I took it I started having dental pain, which grew increasingly worse until 2 AM when I got up and googled home remedies for toothaches (baking soda anyone?). I called the doctor this morning and the antibiotics should be ready in an hour for pickup. I never knew that dental pain was a sign of sinus infection. Hopefully I will get some relief soon! So that's what's been going on at our house. Hope your Easter week was lot better than ours!

Spring Cleaning: JAWS Review and GIVEAWAY

CONGRATULATIONS #2 AS CHOSEN BY RANDOM.ORG! PLEASE RESPOND TO MY EMAIL WITHIN 72 HOURS. THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO PARTICIPATED! ANOTHER FUN GIVEAWAY COMING SOON. HAVE A GREAT WEEK!
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As much as I try to use only all natural products, sometimes those grapefruit extract based cleaners just aren't enough to get something really clean. This spring cleaning season, I had the good fortune of being able to try out JAWS-the Just Add Water System. JAWS is the refillable, reusable way to clean. Even if the ingredients aren't all natural, they are non-toxic and the product is green in that the packaging is a cartridge and so there are fewer plastic bottles being circulated and distributed (fewer trucks, less petroleum involved in manufacture and transport, etc).

Just fill the reusable spray bottle with H2O, pop in a super-concentrated cleaning cartridge and you’ve got eco-friendly cleaning power wherever you need it. It’s an innovative, easy-to-use, non-toxic* and effective system that reduces plastic in landfills, conserves resources and saves you cash. In fact, when you finish your Just Add Water™ starter kit and buy cartridge refills, you can make 2 full bottles of cleaner for less than $2.00 each. JAWS cleaners use 70% less packaging material, leave 59% less packaging waste, require 59% less energy to transport, reduce water pollutants by 85%, and greenhouse gas emissions by 60%. The company's founding principle makes complete sense, "Stop Shipping Water…It’s the Right Thing to Do."

So I sent Stewart and the boys away for the afternoon and attacked the house from top to bottom. Actually I only managed to clean the top floor--who knew that it would take four hours to clean 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. The JAWS bottles were easy to put together and worked well to clean everything from the scum in the shower stall to the grimy fingerprints on the windows. You can see for yourself how easy it is to use. Knowing that I won't have to buy new bottles when I run out makes me feel better about the fact that the ingredients aren't completely natural. Thanks to the generosity of JAWS International,Ltd., one Random Mommy reader will get the chance to try the system (all 4 varieties of cleaners) on his/her own messes.

HOW TO ENTER THE GIVEAWAY:  Contest period runs from Wednesday, April 13, 2011 at 6:01 PM (Pacific) until Wednesday April 20, 2011 at 11:59 PM (Pacific). Enter by leaving a tip on how to "green" one's lifestyle, and leave your e-mail address OR sign in to comments using your Blogger ID, making sure your Blogger profile is public and includes your e-mail address.

Bonus Entries (leave a separate comment for each entry, it counts if you've done any of these so leave a comment for each one)
1) Follow me on Twitter
2) Tweet this contest and leave the tweet url
3) Follow my blog with Google Friend Connect by clicking on the sidebar
4) Like JAWS on Facebook
5) Follow JAWS on Twitter

If you don't leave a qualifying comment and your e-mail address or public Blogger profile, your entry will be disqualified. I reserve the right to extend the contest period. At the end of the contest period, I will utilize Random.org to randomly choose the winner. The winner will be contacted by e-mail and will have 72 hours to respond to my e-mail. If the winner does not respond within 72 hours, the prize will go to the next place winner as decided by Random.org. This contest is open for US Residents only. Good luck!

I did not receive compensation for this post. I received product samples to facilitate my review.

Real Men Don't Buy Girls

Those of you who have been reading my blog for awhile know that human trafficking is a topic about which I feel strongly. I belong to Just One, an organization that strives to eliminate human trafficking, whether it is for the sex trade or labor slavery. A lot of these modern day slaves are children. If you think that this is something that just can't possibly exist in the U.S., here are the current trafficking statistics (source: DNA Foundation):

• The average age of entry into forced prostitution in the U.S. is thirteen
• Ninety percent of youth trafficked for sexual purposes in the U.S. are citizens of our own country
• Hundreds of thousands of American girls and boys are currently enslaved in the U.S.
• An estimated one million children are forced to work in the global sex industry every year
• The global sex slavery market generates a $39 billion profit annually
• Selling young girls is more profitable than trafficking drugs or weapons

This week, Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher’s DNA Foundation is launching an interactive online video campaign called “Real Men Don’t Buy Girls” to raise awareness about the issue of child sex slavery. The goal of the campaign is to educate people about child sex slavery in the United States and to create a cultural shift around the buying and selling of humans. The message of the campaign is that “Real Men” don’t buy girls. Instead, “Real Men” do respect, love, care for, and protect girls. The short videos feature supporters Justin Timberlake, Sean Penn, Bradley Cooper, Jamie Foxx, Jason Mraz, Ashton Kutcher, Drake, Adrian Peterson, Isaiah Mustafa…and YOU! Check out all the interactive, celebrity videos here.

To create a video by inserting your own photo with a celebrity supporter, go to the DNA Foundation Facebook page and click on the “Real Men” application tab. The application allows you to insert your own photo into the celebrity video – in order to create your very own “Real Men” video. After the video is created, you can share it with your friends by posting on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. The goal is for as many people as possible to watch the videos, create a personalized video, and spread the word about child sex slavery. All videos can be viewed at www.demiandashton.org/realmen. It was really easy and took me only a couple of minutes to do.

A second component to the campaign is the “DNA T-shirt Challenge.” DNA has partnered with Threadless, a community-based design company, and retailer Steven Alan to create t-shirts around the concept of freedom.  More than 200 artists submitted designs and 60,000 votes were cast to determine the winners. The two tees selected (one of which is "Freed" by Alex Solis, pictured left) will be sold at Threadless.com and Stevenalan.com, as well as in all Steven Alan stores, with a percentage of proceeds going to DNA.

Ashton Kutcher said it best, “Child sex slavery is a difficult issue to think about, which makes it all the more important that we do. Real Men do not ever buy children for sex. Period.” Added Demi Moore: "People don't realize child sex slavery is a serious problem in the United States.  Young girls are victimized in the commercial sex industry every day.  No 13-year-old girl chooses to be exploited for sex. Real Men love, care, and protect girls. Real Men don’t buy girls.”

More information and links to other sources on modern day slavery can be found on the DNA Foundation website and the website for the National Human Trafficking Resource Center, which operates the Human Trafficking hotline: 1-888-3737-888.

Please check out the DNA Facebook page and the DNA Twitter feed and spread the word: Real Men Don't Buy Girls.

From Left to Write: Love and Marriage

 Today’s post is part of the From Left to Write online book club. The idea of this book club is not to write a book review but to write a post in which the blogger connects that month’s book to an experience from his/her own life. The current book is 29 by Adena Halpern.

Reading about Ellie, the main character of 29, and her struggle to figure out whether she had missed out on true love made me think about Korean and Korean-American views on marriage. My parents had an arranged marriage and it was clear to us daughters growing up that it was definitely not one that was arranged very well. They were married a couple weeks after the matchmaker proposed the match. This wasn't as strange as it sounds, most of the marriages of my parents' generation in Korea were done by arranged marriage and some people married without even seeing their future spouse. Even today, in "modern" Korean society, the custom of using a matchmaker to introduce potential matches is as normal as using a headhunter to find a job. The matchmakers have books filled with photos and resumes. The matchmaker makes sure to investigate the parents and even the parents' parents to make sure that there are no scandals or anything dishonorable in the family background.

One older cousin of mine who had found what she thought was a suitable "love match" discovered to her enormous disappointment and despair that her mother would not approve the marriage because the family was from Seoul. Since my cousin is from Pusan (a mere hour flight southeast but worlds away in terms of subculture and dialect), my aunt would not approve because it meant that her daughter would live in a different city. I couldn't believe it, but my cousin accepted my aunt's decision. It seems that the idea of marrying someone against your parents' wishes is something that is just not done even today. I see this theme over and over again in the Korean dramas to which I'm addicted on Hulu. Every drama seems to hinge on the parents' disapproval of their children's choice of a spouse. In one drama the couple get legally married but only have a wedding (when the bride is 8 months pregnant) after his parents finally give their approval. In another, the aunt tells the mother to let the kids the married just don't register it legally so that they can continue to connive to break them up in the meanwhile.

You would think that growing up in the U.S. would have meant that my sisters and I would have been able to break free from this expectation of making the "proper" marriage. We almost didn't. The person I almost married was someone who had come to the U.S. during junior high, which meant he was more culturally Korean than American. His parents certainly had very different expectations of their future daughter-in-law than the reality that was me. His mother told me that one of the most important things I should have as a goal for my child was for him (of course the first child would be a boy) to be the best dressed kid in his kindergarten class. She completely disapproved of my going to law school because lawyers dealt with people who broke the law and so had to associate with criminals. My ex assured her that I would become a professor so I wouldn't have to deal with those kinds of people. Needless to say, I wised up and realized that the practical reasons for which I had agreed to enter into the marriage were not enough for the Korean-American part of me. So I gave back the ring in the turquoise box. A short time later, Stewart and I got back in touch (he had been my first boyfriend at college) and got married the next year.

My sister C also also almost fell victim to my parents' endless commentary on who would make a suitable match. She had fallen in love with someone in her early 20s but had broken up with him many times in part because of my parents' opposition--K was NOT Korean and was NOT in her decade. But oh what a different tune they sang almost immediately after her 30th birthday. My mother started to ask me if C ever spoke to K. I took this to mean that she was not opposed to it if they were talking. Then this past January C announced to my parents that K would be visiting them. He showed up in Chicago to "ask" my parents for her hand. They knew the jig was up, this time C and K would get married no matter what they said. So last month, I drove with the boys in the minivan down to Los Angeles to help C prepare for her wedding. (No, she's not pregnant, they just didn't see any point for a long engagement after a decade of on and off dating.) My parents made one more effort to put the kibbosh on the wedding by arguing that the radiation from the Japanese ongoing nuclear disaster would be especially dangerous since the wedding was on a boat. I didn't even bother to relay this message to my sister. The wedding went off without a hitch (other than H making some gibberish noises during the ceremony, comic relief?) and now C and K can start their happily ever after together. 

Thank God I listened to my friend Caryn when she said that there was passion and love out there for me and that I didn't have to get married just because I had found a Korean man that didn't smoke or drink to excess or beat me. Instead I found my way back to my true love Stewart, my one and only, the love of my life. And he's Korean! I'm glad I don't have to wonder like Ellie did in 29 whether her marriage had been worth it. She (and Adena Halpern) says it best at the end of the book, "May you get everything you want in your life. If you should get it all, however, and you still don't like the outcome, don't take it as failure. Take it as something to learn from and move on."


I received a free copy of 29 as part of the book club.

Technorati Post: Apology to my Daughter

A few friends are saying that I'm becoming increasingly neurotic about having a girl. But better safe than sorry right? You can read about my latest worries for my daughter here.

San Jose Bakesale for Japan

UPDATE: The event was one of the most uplifting days I've had in a long time. People from every different background you could imagine came together to provide baked goods and purchase them to raise funds to help those in need in Japan. Here are the results from Paige: The grand total for the bakesale was $8985.43!!!!  Add that to the $4K the ukulele jam brought in, and the $2,384.17 Roy's brought in (tips from baristas and 10% of sales) and we have a grand total of $15,369.60 we raised for relief organizations on the ground in Japan!

Yuki Hashimoto, who put together a cool video of our event also wanted to make people aware of a charity concert for Japan, that he's helping plan. And Case-Rust Photography and Moms who Click who covered the event and put together a fabulous flickr album!  

R was happy to walk away with a maple cupcake (he only ate the frosting), but H was denied any sweetness due to the continuing saga with his teeth. These photos were taken near the end of the event so they don't show the crowds that we experienced earlier that day. The event even inspired me to continue the effort with a bake sale at my church, Pathway/New Vision in Milpitas. If you are in the San Jose area and would like to participate in a bake sale on April 23rd, proceeds going to Samaritan's Purse Japan Relief, please contact me!

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Every time I read a story about the situation in Japan, I feel so terrible and helpless. I want to do something to help all the people who are displaced and without the comforts on home. A group of fellow mom bloggers in the San Jose area felt the same way and decided to do something about it. Led by Paige of Canning with Kids, the Bakesale for Japan is happening this Saturday April 2nd in Japantown, San Jose. If you are local to San Jose or know someone who is, please come out and support us! I will be baking cookies all day Friday and helping to man the tables on Saturday morning. Even if you don't eat baked goods, come and fold paper cranes at the bakesale, which can be sent into Students Rebuild and turned into a $2/crane donation. Here is the 411 from Paige about the Bakesale:
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San Jose Bakesale for Japan!  Last year we raised $23,000 at our Bakesale for Haiti and we think we can do way better this time! In fact, we're going national.  With your help, we can break our bakesale record!

Date/Time: Saturday, 4/2 from 10:00am - 2:00 pm

Location: Roy's Station 197 Jackson Street in San Jose

All of the money raised will be donated to Peace Winds Japan.  100% of funds donated to them go directly to ground relief efforts in Japan.  They are an incredible organization with a 15-year history in Japan, and we spoke with them at length before deciding to contribute the money we raise to them.

On April 2nd, from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m., Ukulele Jams and Ukulele Source will be holding a Kanikapila at the Roy's Station to benefit Japanese Red Cross Tsunami and Earthquake Victims.  Smiley and Janet Kai of Ukulele Source will be donating a Ukulele for the raffle.  Baristas will be donating all of their tips for the day, and Roy's Station will be donating 10% of their sales.

Sponsors to date.

Looney Tunes Prize Pack GIVEAWAY

CONGRATULATIONS #4 AS CHOSEN BY RANDOM.ORG! PLEASE RESPOND TO MY EMAIL WITHIN 72 HOURS WITH YOUR MAILING ADDRESS. THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO PARTICIPATED AND PLEASE ENTER ANOTHER GIVEAWAY COMING LATER THIS WEEK! HAPPY MONDAY!
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What's up Doc! I remember watching a lot of Looney Tunes cartoons as a kid. I'm so excited that Looney Tunes has launched an all new and improved Looney Tunes Facebook page so that I can stay connected with your favorite classic 1933 American animated cartoon characters such as Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Elmer Fudd, Sylvester, Tweety, Taz, Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner, Foghorn Leghorn, Yosemite Sam, Pepé Le Pew, Speedy Gonzales, and the rest! One of H's first drawings was of the Road Runner so I know he will enjoy watching these classic cartoons with me. If you can't find them on TV, you can turn to the special Looney Tunes YouTube channel launched earlier this year which showcases some of the best moments from these animated classics. Of course you can follow along with all the Looney Tunes on Twitter! The Facebook page has a lot of interactive content with Looney Tunes trivia, games, and fun facts, and up-to-date Looney Tunes news. 

To celebrate the new Looney Tunes Facebook page, the folks at Looney Tunes will give one Random Mommy reader a fun prize pack (wrapped in a tweety shopping bag) including the following:

• Ring
• Makeup compact
• Flash Drive
• Havaianas flip flops
• T-shirt
• Looney Tunes DVD – Daffy Duck: Frustrated Fowl (Looney Tunes Super Stars)

HOW TO ENTER THE GIVEAWAY:  Contest period runs from Monday, April 4, 2011 at 12:01 AM (Pacific) until Sunday April 10, 2011 at 11:59 PM (Pacific). Enter by leaving a comment on your favorite Looney Tunes character, and leave your e-mail address OR sign in to comments using your Blogger ID, making sure your Blogger profile is public and includes your e-mail address.

Bonus Entries (leave a separate comment for each entry, it counts if you've done any of these so leave a comment for each one)
1) Follow me on Twitter
2) Tweet this contest and leave the tweet url
3) Follow my blog with Google Friend Connect by clicking on the sidebar
4) Like Looney Tunes on Facebook
5) Follow Looney Tunes on Twitter

If you don't leave a qualifying comment and your e-mail address or public Blogger profile, your entry will be disqualified. I reserve the right to extend the contest period. At the end of the contest period, I will utilize Random.org to randomly choose the winner. The winner will be contacted by e-mail and will have 72 hours to respond to my e-mail. If the winner does not respond within 72 hours, the prize will go to the next place winner as decided by Random.org. This contest is open for US Residents only. Good luck!

I did not receive compensation for this post. I was given an opportunity to share the information and run a giveaway for my readers and took it!