H2 was a pathologist living in LA when she became a mommy.  She enjoyed traveling, running, watching movies, hanging out with friends, eating out, and skiing.  Making the decision to go back to work was both easy and difficult for her.  Easy because her husband doesn't support her quitting her job, and difficult because she struggles to balance her part-time work with being a mom.  Sometimes she thinks being part-time makes things doubly hard, because she has to work outside the home and still has a lot of responsibility at home.  Sometimes she realizes that she really likes her balance.

Now, H2 lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband and 2 kids, a 5-year-old girl and a 10-month-old boy.  On work days, she gets the kids ready and drops them off at 2 different places before going to work.  After work, she picks them up and goes to swim class once a week before going home and having dinner.  On her days off, they have fun with playdates, the playground, museums, and hanging out at home.

To make her life easier, H2 has a housecleaner every couple of weeks.  It helps her to have great friends who are in the same boat and to have an understanding husband who doesn't complain when they eat pizza on worknights, and who makes lunch for the kids the next day and does the dishes.

To teach her kids about their culture, H2 takes her daughter to Chinese class once a week (40 miles away!).  Her mother-in-law speaks Chinese to them.  They have many friends who are Asian-American or have adopted Chinese girls, and are especially interested in retaining their heritage.  H2 doesn't speak Chinese herself, because her mom was warned by her friends that H2 would have an accent when she grew up.  *Sigh*  She wishes that she could speak Chinese.

For fun these days, H2 has started running again.  She and her husband are training for a marathon.  She's been able to do two marathons in the past few years and enjoys accomplishing something outside of work or home.  She also loves to watch movies, read, and spend family days at the park or zoo.  Also, every few months, H2 and her friends hire babysitters and have "adults night out" and go to a nice dinner.  Ahhhh!