Every day has its own story

2025

noreply@blogger.com (Mita) — Sat, 03 Jan 2026 04:19:00 +0000

2025 was a year of growth and challenge for me, especially related to Nadine. Nadine is a quiet and shy girl who needs familiar and steady environment. For the first 4 years of her life, she got a routine to go to daily to a daycare called Kindercare, so her friends were pretty much kids that she already knew since she was a baby. Unfortunately things went downhill with the daycare so we had to move her mid-year during Pre-K class to St. Agnes School.

Since Nadine was in St. Agnes, I started to observed a pattern of high anxiety. The trend continued when she transitioned to Starkweather Elementary for Kindergarten. Kindergarten transition was rough to say the least. Every now and then I got concerned calls and emails from teachers because she often shutdown and refused to participate in the class activities. Outside classroom, meltdowns happened frequently, when she was introduced to a new unfamiliar activities or people. We enrolled her to a few activities, started with Cub Scout and Swimming, then later she also joined Taekwondo and Piano.

The anxiety pattern continued that we decided to bring her to a counseling. While we are continue the counseling, we tried to be consistent with the activities. Bringing her to activities was such an emotional roller coaster that demanded lots of my energy.

Taekwondo was especially challenging. She started well and seemed to enjoy it, and the environment was so friendly and supportive. A few months into the lessons she started to get so nervous without obvious reasons. She said that she is so scared to join the class. She often cried and ran away from the mat to find me. Being a mom, it was so hard to see my kid struggling like that. We tried to teach her a few technique to calm down , things that we learned rom the counseling place. Nothing seemed to help when she is overwhelmed. Dave and I almost gave up. We called the owner to say we are quitting, but provided some alternatives like extra one on one lessons that seemed to help for a bit, and then all of a sudden meltdowns happened again over something simple like the uniforms that she did not like. It was so frustrating and exhausting for me, and often embarassing. I cried too in front of the owner, which happened to be our old neighboor. The only reason why we did not give up was because they provided a lot of encouragements, and she seemed to enjoy the activities when she is calmed down and not overwhelmed. With lots of encouragement and support from ATA we decided to stay. We know that introducing her to a new group activity will end up in the similar situation anyway, so might as well stick with this one. We added an extra private lesson on Saturdays to boost her comfort level and confidence. Slowly but surely, with lots of ups and downs in the class, she moved up belt by belt, and at the end of the summer, she finished the Tiger class and moved up to the big kid class (7 years and older). What an achievement!

Along the same time, we also did the swimming class, which we did with a similar struggle just like taekwondo. She could not easily adapt to any changes, so any last minute instructor substitute often created anxiety for her. When the changes happen be it instructor, or introduction to a new stroke, she refused to join the class. It took her a few minutes (out of 30 minutes class) to be able to calm down. Often she had to be individually assisted in a special lane due to her meltdown. Just like taekwondo, we tried to keep it consistent despite the challenges. And just like taekwondo, she actually excelled and showed up as a strong swimmer, when her emotion does not overwhelm her. And about the same time that she graduated the taekwondo Tiger class, she also graduated the swimming classes and eligible to join the Swim Force program, which basically a more advance class to practice lap swimmings.

With the ups and downs, I am so proud and grateful to be her mom. I learned about perseverance, patience, and courage by being with her. I learned that it takes time to build kids confident. At the end, it's all worth it. Our journey managing her anxiety is not over yet. I am sure there will be other challenges that require both Nadine and us to adapt again. But for now, I am just grateful and feeling super blessed.

Thanksgiving 2020

noreply@blogger.com (Mita) — Sat, 28 Nov 2020 02:50:00 +0000

What a crazy ride we have been riding in 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic has pretty much put our life on hold, if not going on a slower pace. I feel that we are running a marathon, and it's not over yet. The emotional toll that we have been experiencing since March is real. Everything that we used to take for granted, like meeting up with friends, birthday parties, kids activities, traveling, the convenience of doing grocery shopping anytime we want, a lot of them have been taken away from us, from my family. No more parties, no more lunch or dinner with friends, no more invitation for birthday parties, no more traveling. Perhaps my life had become too easy before the pandemic. We had to switch Nathaniel from a brick and mortar school to a cyber school. I tried to plan my grocery trips ahead of time to avoid crowds. We had to wear masks everywhere. But at least we are healthy. At least I am facing this together with my husband and kids as a family. At least I am at home that is full of love. At least, my job is still pretty stable and safe. For all the uncertainty this year and in the future, at least there is a glimpse of hope. And we are all thankful for the hope, that 2021 will be a better year.

2020

noreply@blogger.com (Mita) — Mon, 23 Nov 2020 05:35:00 +0000

It's been too long since last time I wrote, or post anything in my blog. Time flies fast, really fast. I looked at this blog, and gosh, the last significant post is older than 10 years ago. Perhaps I should start writing, to restart the good old habbit that used to be my therapy. It's really hard to start writing. Words and ideas disappeared. Well, perhaps, just perhaps, I can write what has been happening with me. A lot of things happened since my last post in 2015. I am now a mother of two: Nathaniel, and Nadine. I am exhausted more than ever to ensure that the household runs, balancing the role of a mother, a wife, and a working woman. I barely have time for myself. I abandon a lot of things that I used to do, like writing, reading, dancing with my Indonesian group. But I also discover new things like parenthood - well, mostly parenthood, and sometimes I have no choice :), I recently rediscover baking, I cook, I restart to exercise regular. I am getting older, my body changes, it's not a body that I used to have before the babies. Each of them give me at least 5 lbs, and I cannot lose them, but it's alright. As long as I have them and Dave, that's all I need. It's been a challenging year, for everyone. 2020 is no kidding! Pandemic, political chaos, burden at work (despite my success), and now Dave lost his job. It is quite stressful. I don't know when I can see my parents in person again. All of us is trying to protect ourselves from this evil virus, hoping we are not going to get one. A lot of nights I have short but intense nightmare. Nothing really scary, but there is a big chaos in my mind trying the balancing act to manage the stress. I tell myself everything is gonna be alright. I don't have enough enery to worry about everything (not like in my 20ish when I had time to cry over failure on dating :). I'll take it one a time. Start with doing my job as good as I can, so it is safe. Starting with stay calm and logical, to ensure that I can support Dave in his difficult time. Starting with one breath at a time, to be grateful that the kids are happy and healthy. God, please help us discover the way out of this mess.

2015

noreply@blogger.com (Mita) — Thu, 22 Jan 2015 17:39:00 +0000

I've been ignoring this blog for a very long time, last post was 2010 :), and I am hoping that I can start *regularly* again. A few lines of writing is a healthy dose for my sanity :) So, where should I start? Time flies too fast, too many life changing events have happened since 2010. Got married, have a kid, still with the same company - fortunately with quite a few promotions. Motherhood and work-life-balance has been the recent nuance in my life. I should say I am riding a roller coaster right now- balancing motherhood, work, and everything else other than those two - if it's at all possible. One thing that I definitely want to try in 2015 is worry less and enjoy life more. Unfortunately, my inherit personality is the biggest challenge. So here I am, worry too much about why the baby is not eating well, why his cold is not getting better, etc etc. Why can't I just relax for a second ... well, I am trying, and I'll try to write again as my "therapy".

Menulis lagi ...

noreply@blogger.com (Mita) — Sun, 11 Apr 2010 01:08:00 +0000

Sudah lama tidak menulis. Waktu rasanya terbang, 24 jam tak pernah cukup. Bekerja 8 jam sehari, pulang ke rumah, menyiapkan makan malam, membersihkan apartment, berolahraga demi kebugaran - dan obsesi perut rata ;), belajar menari - cha cha, rumba, dan salsa, lain waktu menari bali - mencari sesuap nasi boleh di negeri orang, tapi hati ini masih indonesia, hahaha.

Mencuri waktu untuk bertemu teman di sela-sela pekerjaan. Mencoba selalu meluangkan waktu untuk keluarga yang jauh di sana. Meluangkan waktu bersama pasangan - yang sayangnya hanya bisa dilakukan di akhir pekan.

Yah, itulah hidup saya akhir-akhir ini. Waktu melayang, tiba2 kerut di ujung mata hadir entah dari mana. Tapi dinikmati saja ... lebih baik merasa bahwa 24 jam tidak cukup dari pada 24 jam terbuang percuma ...

2010

noreply@blogger.com (Mita) — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 21:21:00 +0000

Happy new year 2010, I hope to be back on more writing :)

noreply@blogger.com (Mita) — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 01:20:00 +0000

All of a sudden my thoughts fly to my old friends tonight. How are they all doing? I miss the good old days. I am here, content and happy, but somehow I still miss them. People come and go in your life, but true friends remain in the heart, no matter where they are now, right :) ?

noreply@blogger.com (Mita) — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 15:40:00 +0000

Ada rumah sederhana di tepi kota. Dekat dengan sebuah danau kecil, taman di tepi danau, menawarkan damai.

Ada bahagia, dan tawa di rumah itu. Ada hangat sehangat seduhan teh yang dibuat pemiliknya. Ada lagu jenaka - kadang sedikit sumbang ;) - ketika suara terompet mengalun. Ada tawa, ada bahagia.

Ada damai yang ia tawarkan, untuk hari ini, esok, sampai lanjut usia.

noreply@blogger.com (Mita) — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 09:10:00 +0000

Benarkah argumentasi dengan orang tua itu salah satu milestone kedewasaan juga? Begitu kata my dear friend ...

My dad and my mom are two very different persons. My dad is very quiet, rarely discuss serious stuff directly to me. Maybe it's a cultural thing because he was raised in Javanese tradition. Although he is not perfect, he is one of the nicest men that I know. My mom ~ on the other hand ~ is very outspoken, maybe because she is not Javanese. She is very argumentative.

The combination of those two personality inherits in me ~ I was born stubborn, yet tend to avoid conflict as much as possible. But sometimes, there is no other way than to face the different opinions ...

I can't say anything more than this ...

noreply@blogger.com (Mita) — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 03:09:00 +0000

Mau pulang!
Gak peduli dengan debugging yang tidak berujung!
Grasping a lil bit of summer sunshine ...
Sejenak melarikan diri :)

noreply@blogger.com (Mita) — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 00:44:00 +0000

Butterflies in the stomach are back. Will it last?

Rediscover childhood ...

noreply@blogger.com (Mita) — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 01:07:00 +0000

When Iis asked whether I'd like to join a traditional Indonesian dancing ~ Balinese, I was hesitated. Last time I did Balinese dance was in Nyoman Gunarsa's Sanggar Dewata around 1989.

I started dancing Balinese at age 4 when I saw my older cousins dancing, so I told my mom that I wanted to dance. Wrong decision :p! My mom enjoyed bringing me to the dance club, more than I enjoy dancing, and I was stuck for more than 6 years :p I knew that I wasn't talented, but she just didn't let me quit no matter how much I begged, hahaha. I finally quit because I needed to study more to prepare for Ebtanas (I know, I know it's such a lame excuse, hehehe).

Never crossed my mind that I would dance again. First because I didn't enjoy it, second because I am not talented.

When finally I say yes, I'll come, I thought it would be the first and last time :) But I was wrong. It's fun and I enjoy it. This time is different because my mom doesn't tell me to do the dancing. Plus I don't have to be perfect :p Dancing in Sanggar Dewata was so painful for me :p I had to do all the moves perfectly, and no matter how hard I tried, it seemed never good enough for the Balinese instructors. But now, who cares :p Even more, there are some Americans in the group. I think I am still better ... hahaha ... :p

I don't know how long I will enjoy this, but for now, I find a new joy rediscovering my childhood :)

Book review : Time of My Life

noreply@blogger.com (Mita) — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 00:59:00 +0000

Author : Allison Winn Scotch
Publisher : Shaye Areheart Books, NY.
Year : 2008

What if we could go back to back to a previous period of your life? Would you see things differently thus made different decisions ? What today would be, if we did make a different decision? Though a friend of mine said that only today matters, sometimes I couldn't help thinking of it. Apparently, I am not the only person :)

Jillian has a perfect husband, lives in a nice suburb, and spends her days to be a good house-wife and a good mother. But who knows that she felt empty inside? As her husband's rising career demands him to travel a lot, their marriage is getting dry. She starts wondering a lot of "what if" that might happen if she had chosen a very different path. Would she have a good career instead of doing the laundry and trying to make her house spotless? Would she end up with Henry if she didn't leave Jack ~ her ex ?

She finally got a chance to answer those questions when she suddenly woke up in her pre-marriage life. It's now up to her to make either same decisions or completely different ones. Would that change her life path?

Among the clever plots, my favorite part of this novel is the way Allison ends this novel. It's a happy ending, yet far from a predictable ending that I anticipated. Two thumbs up for her.

Thanks to Matthew Scotch that sent mass messages about this book :D. It's way beyond my expectation. If you're a woman who likes to laugh about your own life, or if you're a reflective person who always seeks for answers, you will love this book. So girls, don't wait to read it. You won't be disappointed. It's not just another chicklit as I thought before.

noreply@blogger.com (Mita) — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 03:12:00 +0000

Pernah kuberharap akan menemukanmu kembali di masa depan. Ketika kenangan masa muda menjadi kembang gula yang manis rasanya, dan kita tertawa bersama menikmatinya. Namun apa yang kutemukan kini sungguh berbeda. Album tentang kita kutemukan di dasar kotak lamaku, tersimpan berdebu, terlihat usang dan begitu tua.

Dan harapan itu hanya menjadi kenangan bahwa aku pernah berharap. Karena seperti dunia, kita pun semakin tua, dan jalan kita menjadi semakin berbeda.

Entah untuk apa dan kepada siapa kutuliskan kalimat-kalimat tak berkesudahan ini. Mungkin untuk sepotong bayang sempurnamu. Ya, aku melukiskan mu dengan sempurna. Tentu saja tak nyata, tapi tak apa.

Ah, lagi-lagi aku mengigau.

Another niece ...

noreply@blogger.com (Mita) — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 23:13:00 +0000

Welcome to the world Mikaela Theona Christabel! I wish I can visit you very soon :)

10,20,30 ...

noreply@blogger.com (Mita) — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 00:00:00 +0000

When we were not even ten years old, we looked at the world with amazement. Grown up people looked weird and whatever they did seemed strange for us. We had our joyful and playful world. There was a small room behind my grandpa's room. It was full of old books, newspapers, and magazines. For them it's just trash, for me it's hidden treasure, and I spent the whole day there reading.

When we were teens, we were confused with all the changing. Our body changed, they way we think changed, the world seemed so confusing. We tried to deal with that, but failed a lot. We weren't a kid anymore, but not yet an adult. So many times I argued with my mom. She didn't like my friends, she didn't like the boy who had crush on me. I just couldn't understand why only school matters for her.

When we were twenties, we stood up bravely. We wanted to conquer the world. Everything looked perfect, or would be perfect. People come and go, friends, boyfriends, co-workers. But did it bother us? We were young. We thought we had limitless energy and endless future. I was busy with college, lots of activities, and later on trying to have a good career. Everything must work as I wanted.

Meanwhile, not everything came as we wanted. Career wasn't as promising as before, love life wasn't any better. We tried to put all pieces together, but we didn't always find the answer.

Then we're becoming thirties. We realized that life comes at us fast. Really fast. We saw our kids, nephews and nieces growing. Babies are born. We realized we couldn't stop time. All we can do is enjoying each moment, trying to make best out of it. All the perfectness that we dreamed on in our twenties doesn't always matter anymore. We realized that life is not about always getting what we want, but how to compromise between our ideal dream and reality. There are some much stuffs that we still want to grasp, there are a lot of things that falling apart. But also ... there are a lot of unexpected blessing that we got along the way.

Someday we will be forties, fifties, until our last breath ... and maybe, I will continue this posting to see how I see the world at that time ;)

Iseng ...

noreply@blogger.com (Mita) — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 01:49:00 +0000

There's nothing special about this photo. I took it while I jogged/walked around Valley Forge Park. As summer already passed, I miss the park so much :|

New nest

noreply@blogger.com (Mita) — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 01:02:00 +0000

Thanks to Albert, Fina, Teka, Tata, & Andy to help me moving to Collegeville two weeks ago. It's not a luxury apartment, not even have my own garage or washer n dryer, but it's more than enough for me :) Finally, I have my own place. Not renting a room in somebody's house or living with a friend anymore ...

Book review : Twilight

noreply@blogger.com (Mita) — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 01:30:00 +0000

Twilight
Stephenie Meyer
Little, Brown, and Company
Paperback, 2006. 498 pages

Fork was a small town with the most rainy days where Bella Swan lived with his dad after her mother was remarried. The Cullens was a strange family in the town, with strangely beautiful pale faces, whom people gossiping as a family of vampires. Yet Bella couldn’t resist to fall into Edward, the youngest of the Cullens. As written at the back cover of the page, she was insanely in love with this gorgeous vampire.

About three things I was absolutely positive. First, Edward was a vampire. Second, there was a part of him – and I didn’t know how dominant that part might be – that thirsted for my blood. And third, I was unconditionally and irrevocably in love with him.

Her love affair reminds me of insane naive puppy love belongs to every teenager. Where nothing matters but today, and when love requires nothing but itself.
While I didn’t find strong plot and characters as in Harry Potter, yet something keeps me to continue from the initial page till the last one. The sentences are flowing lightly and beautifully, telling a simple story in a simple way, and suddenly strong plot and characters are not everything.

Bella’s character is my main disappointment. I expect her to be better personalized. Though Meyer created her as a girl that suddenly became Fork’s center of attention, I just couldn’t see what’s so interesting about her (I sound like Rosalie, one of Edward’s adopted sister who is not so welcomed to Bella :). However, I am quite satisfied with Edward Cullen’s character. She made the vampire alive in him.

Although it’s not as good as I expected, I still recommend this if you want to read something entertaining and easy to read. Maybe 3 stars out of 5.

Full time dad

noreply@blogger.com (Mita) — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 22:08:00 +0000

In my conversation today with one of my female co-worker, she told me how hard it is to be a female engineer and a mother at the same time. I admit it whole-heartedly. She is just two year older than me, has been working in this company for more than four years as an automation engineer, and also a mother of one and a half years old daughter.

Not like in Indonesia where we can afford maid to do household work, families in US do not usually have that kind of luxuries. So becoming a working mother really means a double job, that a woman has to work at least 8 to 5 everyday, then rushing to take her daughter from day-care (who charge a late fee of $10/minutes if parents pickup their kids later than 6 pm), preparing dinner for whole family, etc, etc.

Even worse, the 8 to 5 schedule is sometimes just not enough. Like today, we have to work on weekend to get jobs done on time. The nature of our industry also requires traveling to customer sites within US, from West Coast to East Coast. Even if company policy tries to be as flexible as possible, sometimes traveling is just unavoidable.

Then why just not quit the job? Wives earning more than husbands is not uncommon situation. In that situation it means that a woman can't just quit and be a full-time mom even if she wants to.

She cracked a joke that her husband always wanted to be a full-time dad if she earns more :), just like one of our other co-worker's husband who doesn't work. What ?? Tell me about feminism, woman emancipation, and gender, still, full-time dad concept is a very intriguing idea for me. Can't imagine that I have to work 8 to 5, going home with exhausted feeling, then finding my husband waiting for me at home without him have to work as hard as me. Off course it'll be nice to have our dinner prepared, but it's still hard for me to imagine that :p

I really don't mind if I should marry someone who doesn't earn as much as I do. But switch position to be the working-mom and the full-time dad sounds very very interesting, hahaha. I need to give thumbs up for couples that can work that roles out. So what do you think guys, to become a full-time dad :p ? Is that disturb your man's ego :) ?

noreply@blogger.com (Mita) — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 02:36:00 +0000

Tadi siang temen gw tiba2 nanya gini, "Do you miss Indonesia ? Or you just miss your family ?" Gw sempet diem sebelum njawab. Bukannya gw nggak kangen Indonesia, tapi gw nggak bisa ngedeskripsiin apa yang benernya gw kangenin.

Turned out alright

noreply@blogger.com (Mita) — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 23:51:00 +0000

Last week everything turned out alright :) Jumat siang, dengan restu teman2 kantor :p gw cabut dari kantor, walaupun area leader gw ngajakin meeting buat next recipe, tapi dia bilang "Go ahead and don't worry about the meeting, you better get your license today :p". Jam 12.30an, gw dijemput sama orang dari driving school, dan ngebutlah kita ke DMV Norristown ngejar ujian jam 2 siang.

Gw deg2an banget, apalagi karena udah gagal 1x. Kalau gw fail lagi, means that I screw everything up. Karena in the next four weeks para tebengan bakalan cabut ke site di Oregon (gak mungkin kan gw jalan 2 mile ke kantor), kontrak apartment gw habis akhir September dan gw harus cari apartment baru, dan ada chance gw bakalan dikirim ke Oregon juga (walaupun bukan shift pertama). Tapi above it all, hidup tergantung sama orang lain itu sucks. Gw gak bisa bebas ke mana-mana, gak bisa cari kegiatan dan temen2 sendiri (temennya ya cuman temen dari temen gw), gak ada social life sama sekali.

Nyampe sana, wah, deg2an nya nambah. Test pertama control mobil. Nyalain lampu, wiper, dll. Eeh, pas udah selesai semuanya, kan musti matiin wiper tuh, saking groginya, bukannya wipernya mati, tapi sprayer nya malah nyala. Aduh :p Untung orangnya kagak perhatian. Abis itu gw kudu paralel parking. Ini nih yang untung2an. Walaupun gw udah latian malam sebelumnya, tetep aja deg2an. Pelan2 gw mundur banting kanan, banting kiri, eh kagak cukup, musti maju, mundur lagi. Fiuh, akhirnya keparkir juga mobil itu (batesnya cuma 3x maju mundur doang, gw berhasil setelah 2x). OK, next, harus mundur buat keluar dari tempat parkir dan bikin U turn, dan gak boleh nabrak curb kayak sebelumnya, hihihi. Berhasil juga. Fiuh, gw lega, kalo yang ini dah lewat, I will be OK. Yap, akhirnya gw dapet SIM :)!

Karena lulus, gw balik kantor, mumpung baru jam 2.15. Disambut gegap gempita di kantor, hahaha, tentu saja lengkap dengan pertanyaan2 seperti "So you didn't hit anything this time ? :p". Pulang kantor gw dianterin sopir #1, hahaha (#2 ganteng lho :p, #3 pensiun karena get married, hihihi). Kita mampir di dealer Honda deket kantor karena gw ngincer Honda Fit. Di parkiran masih ada satu Honda Fit belum kejual, eh ternyata itu manual :( Ternyata keluaran 2008 udah gak ada, dan harus nunggu 7 minggu buat keluaran 2009. Males deh, keburu para sopir kabur :) Yahhh, gak jadi deh gw punya Fit. Akhirnya gw memutuskan buat ambil pilihan ke-2, Nissan Versa hatchback. Bentuknya gw lebih suka dari Fit, yang gw gak suka adalah bensinnya yang lebih boros, dan kursi belakangnya gak bisa dilipat rata kayak Fit. Tapi overall gw suka mobil ini. Untungnya gw dapet APR yang lumayan (not the best though) jadi gw bisa nyicil. Hari itu juga urusan insurance juga beres, jadi gw dah bisa bawa pulang mobilnya.

Sabtunya gw dah bisa mulai cari2 apartment baru. Tadinya gw ngincer apartment di Phoenixville, tapi setelah baca reviewnya gak bagus, gw jiper deh. Daripada tar stress melulu, cari aman aja deh. Akhirnya weekend itu gw liat dua apartment. Satu di Collegeville, jaraknya sekitar 10 mile (15 menitan dari apartment sekarang & kantor), satu lagi cuma di seberang apartment yang sekarang. Apartment kedua lebih bagus, ada canopy buat mobil, malah ada teras (yang katanya boleh bbq-an) dan fireplace segala (lha gw ga butuh fireplace, bbq juga setaun sekali palingan). Tapi juga muahal, cuma beda 20 dollar dari apt gw yang sekarang dan jauh dari mana2. Yap, tempat gw jauh dari mana2, pemandangan di sini cuma 2 cerobong asap super guede yang adalah reaktor nuklir, hahaha. Bete gak :p

Akhirnya gw pilih yang Collegeville. Lebih murah, walaupun gak ada garasi/canopy. Lebih deket ke 'peradaban', at least ke arah King of Prussia. Gak terlalu deket kantor (gw bete tinggal deket2 kantor, hahaha) tapi juga gak jauh karena bensin mahal dan males kalo kejebak macet. Moga2 minggu ini beres karena mereka musti cek referensi gw dari apt2 gw dulu di Pittsburgh (walaupun di sini gak ada RT RW, ternyata repot juga).

Weekend ini mungkin gw mo nyetir ke Pittsburgh, ada kawinan di sana. Semua orang nyuruh gw nyetir aja (walaupun gw rada males 4-5 jam sendirian di jalan). Tapi daripada naek Greyhound, udah capek, makan ati dan waktu, gak aman pula (search deh Greyhound Canada murder).

So, everything is so far so good, and hopefully it's a good start :)

Fiuh

noreply@blogger.com (Mita) — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 01:04:00 +0000

I am trying to tell myself that I am going to be OK. That I won't fail again, yes, I am going to pass the driving license test this Friday. I will make it. I will make it.

I just need to take a deep breath, and no need to worry about little stuffs. Yep, I am going to get my license this Friday, so this weekend will be a perfect time to buy a car! Remember Mita, just think about the car you've always wanted.

Just think that you'll be able to drive to countryside, don't let anything bother you. You know that you can do that, you only need to be a lil bit calmer.

What would they decide ?

noreply@blogger.com (Mita) — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 00:25:00 +0000

When I was a little girl, I heard a lot of stories about far-away lands from my mother. She told me stories that she got from my father's letters when he was away. Our family was apart for four years. My father went to school to Montpelier, France while my Mom raised my brother and me in Yogyakarta.

Every other year Dad visited us, brought a lot of books and pictures home. Pictures of Versailles, Lourdes, Marseilles, Spain, and a lot more. He told us many stories, brought me from our little home to those countries, although only in imagination. Since that day, I convinced myself that someday, when I grow up, I will see those places with my own eyes :)

About twenty some years later, my turn came. I stand here, a few thousand miles away from home. About once a week I call home, talked to my parents about this place. About the harsh winter in Pittsburgh, about my new town near Philadelphia, about my new job.

I might not be here if my father never brought me those pictures, told me stories about the different kind of beauty in different continents. Nor if my mom didn't raise me toughly. If I look into mirror, I see myself as reflections of my parents thirty some years ago. And this quest keep coming to my mind, what they would decide if they were me?

The recipe author

noreply@blogger.com (Mita) — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 22:56:00 +0000

Belakangan banyak orang nanya ke gw, benernya kerjaanmu itu ngapain sih :D ? Yang nanya mulai dari orang yang cuman kenal online, sampe Shirley, my best female friend in Austin :D, hahaha. Shirley aja nanya, gimana yang laen :p Taruhan bokap nyokap gw gak tau gw kerja di perusahaan apa, hihihi :p

Most of the time I can not explain it clearly :p, sampai tadi pun pas harus ngirim resume buat apply permanent position, hiring managernya telpon gw nyuruh gw benerin section job desc gw yang sekarang, hahaha. *Yes, finally they say that they're willing to hire me permanently :)*

So, what am I actually working on? They call me "recipe writer/recipe author" Too bad it's not food recipe as you might have in mind. Stuff that so called recipe here is manufacturing work-flow in pharmaceutical / life science industry. Imagine that in order to make a drug there are a lot of highly-regulated processes involved, like: preparing equipments, making sure equipments are clean and sterile, making sure that the amount of ingredients is exactly as expected, mixing all the ingredients for a certain time, etc etc.

Those processes used to be done manually, but nowadays there are many automation system to help. However, since it is heavily regulated under FDA regulations, a lot of human validations are involved in those processes. For example, the sterilization or mixing are usually done by automation systems, but once it's being done, the system should get back to ask operator's signature to verify that the process is finished without having any problem.

So, the basic idea of what I am doing is like creating Visio diagrams that consists of automated and manual procedure, implement the diagrams using this product, and of course do pre/post-implementation stuffs like documentation and testing :)

Usually people who know my previous background will ask, how much programming involves in that area? What's the relation of this area with your Health Information Management background?

The answer of the first question. Not that much :) *big smile*, that's why I enjoy this job no matter how much complains me and my co-workers have. If you are a hardcore programmer like my dear son I bet you will hate this job, with all of its limitation outside programming. But if you are not hardcore programmer like me *wink-wink*, this job is way better than hundreds of arrays, pointers, methods, and those object-oriented nightmares, hahaha. Of course you can't be a wizard as if you are a master of C with its pointers (sigh. this sentence belongs to somebody). Well, you still need to know the basic of algorithm and programming, lil of this and that like web services, database, reporting, HTML, XML. But it's all right for me. I know a lil bit of every of those stuffs, but not in detail :)

So, here I am, the recipe author. I am way from good, still a beginner, still learning. Anyway wish me luck with my transfer ya :)