Here's what I did....

So I was bored.... and.... spent some time rummaging in the attic and came across this!! =))
Does anyone know this guy?? =D

Some alone time

Jason is off to California (again). This time he'll be away for a good 6 days. He has gone on many different business trips around the States throughout the past year but this time, it will feel a little strange as it will be my first time being away from him in the new house. So it will be just me, Trouble and the smell of new paint.
Feeling a little bummed out so I have made a list of things to do whilst hubby is away to occupy my time and utilize my hermit life to the fullest. Let's see how many of these things I can actually accomplish by next Tuesday.

1. Do laundry
2. Fold laundry (last week's laundry is still unfolded)
3. Wash trash bins (found 4 trash bins in the garage that is in dire need of Grease lightning)
4. Buy magnetic curtain rods and put up sheers in Master bedroom (the old sheet we use to drape over the french doors is really pathetic. Am surprised homeowners association hasn't knocked on our door yet)
5. Unpack shoes from storage boxes and put them away in the closet
6. Play Rollercoaster tycoon
7. Read my new "Feng Shui your life" book
8. Organize bills and receipts
9. Vacuum carpet
10. Wash my car
11. Cook salmon and mushrooms (since hubby is not a fish or mushroom fan)
12. Take a walk around the neighborhood if it gets a little warmer.
13. Call the builder and Sears and annoy them about our microwave. No fun being without a microwave for almost a month!! Can't make those instant Microwave dinners!!
14. Upload photos in Kodakgallery.com
15. Visit in-laws over the weekend
16. Scrub bathtub
17.Clean glass on top of desk
18.BE NICE TO TROUBLE!

Welcome basket

We had a pleasant surprise on Sunday morning. The doorbell rang and I thought "Oh-no .. it must be the Avon lady... or someone trying to sell us newspaper subscriptions". As we just had a conversation about annoying solicitators on Saturday with Brian and Sophie who had experienced solicitators on their doorstep after moving into their new home, I figured it was our turn now.
But lo and behold, this lady on our doorstep came bearing gifts! Awww.. ain't that sweet? Our first welcome-to-the-neighborhood basket! In it was a notepad, Java coffee, 2 heart-shaped chocolates, a vanilla scented candle and hazelnut cream cookies (which Jason and I devoured immediately).
And right at the bottom of the basket was a business card : "Bring the Dry Cleaner to your Carpet"!!
Hmmm.... sneaky, sneaky!
I guess I better not drop too many hazelnut cookie crumbs on our carpet now!

A somewhat busy Saturday

Somehow, the Saturday just flew by. We had a late start, did some shopping at Old Time Pottery.. bought a lamp shade, throw pillows for the guest room and some kitchen stuff. (yup, more kitchen stuff!!)

Had sushi for lunch (yum!!) and proceeded to Cooper's birthday party. Coop turns 3 today. The party started with the kids all scrambling for their dear lives when Cooper and Lathan tried to run them down with Cooper's newly charged Fire Engine! That truck is really something. Even has a water pump and power gears.
Then the kids started to hunt for Easter eggs in the backyard. They were really adorable to watch.

We left the party and decided to drop by to visit Brian and Sophie who live 3 miles down the road. Sophie is due on April 2nd. How exciting! It is always nice catching up with them and we didn't realised it was already 7pm by the time we left.

Stopped by Harris Teeter to get some groceries and dinner, then came home and watched Mythbusters.

There goes Saturday. Did not even do any "house" work. Not even one box was put away. But it was a good day.

Cabinet-ing

Last night, we finally put up cabinets in our garage. Looks easier than we thought. But we did it and now our kitchen counter is rid of those baskets of tools. Yippee!!
My arms are still aching from helping Jason hold up those cabinets above my head whilst he drilled screws into them. Being vertically challenged ain't fun at times.

Cat puke and a wonderful day... not!

This morning, the first thing I set my sleepy eyes upon was cat puke. Trouble has puked twice since we moved him into the house with us on Sunday, which means he has been puking everyday. And somehow he chose our bedroom to do it. But this morning he had done it right next to the bed, at the exact spot where I'll place my feet down when I get off the bed. Perhaps he did it deliberately. What a nice morning wake-up call!

Then at approximately 11am, there was a very strong burning smell coming from the upstairs walkway. Thinking that the gas heating system in the attic was on fire, I started to panic. I checked every room but the aroma only came from the stairs. And for some reason(maybe it was psychological), the temperature suddenly became much warmer near the stairs as the seconds ticked. I panicked more, grabbed the phone to call the Gas and Heating Co. But they could only send someone over after 4 pm!!! I told him that by then, our house would have burned down! So he said he'll try and send someone over ASAP.
In the meantime, I turned off the thermostat downstairs and waited in the cold.

Chad, the P&N builder representative was kind enough to drop by to check. He, too, could smell that burning stench but did not see anything in the attic. So it wasn't just my mind playing tricks on me.

I was so relieved when the Gas & Heating guy finally came over at about 2.30pm. Jordan was as tall as me and he looked like a 15-year old kid. He spent a good 2 hours in the attic but could not see anything wrong. So he gave me his cellphone number and told me to call him if that burning stench starts again.

Oh, did I tell you that while waiting for the Gas & Heating guy to come over, the microwave decided to break down? It let out a long and loud rattling buzzing noise and refused to cook my lunch.

Why do all these dramas only happen to me when my husband is out of town?

Now, I am so ready to jump into bed to welcome the end of this day. I can only pray that the house doesn't go up in flames while I am in la-la land.
Give me cat puke anytime!!

It's Tagging time again!!

Ok, I've been tagged by Fio again.

Four jobs you have had in your life: (Hmm.. I've had more than 4 actually so I'll just list them all!)
1. Waitress in Pizza Hut
2. Bookshop Assistant
3. Executive Assistant
4. Senior Marketing Executive
5. Department Coordinator
6. Sales & Marketing Information Developer

Four movies you would watch over and over:
1. Meet Joe Black
2. Sound of Music
3. Indiana Jones (all of them)
4. Somewhere in Time

Four places you have lived:
1. Kuala Lumpur
2. Petaling Jaya
3. Melaka
4. Charlotte,NC

Four TV shows you love to watch:
1. Gilmore Girls
2. Desperate Housewives
3. Most anything on FoodTV network
4. American Idol

Four places you have been on vacation:
1. USA (Alaska, St Thomas, L.A, Vegas, Atlanta, New York)
2. Sydney
3. Seoul
4. Hong Kong

Four websites I visit daily:
1. www.mail.yahoo.com
2. www.gmail.com
3. www.blogspot.com
4. www.foxnews.com

Four of my favorite foods:
1. Nasi Lemak
2. Eggs
3. Sushi
4. Spaghetti

Four places I would rather be right now:
1. Back home with my family and friends
2. Getting a facial and a massage
3. On a beach
4. On a deserted lake with views of snowcapped mountains

Seven friends who I have tagged that I think will respond (Well, I will not list names but whoever who reads this post consider yourselves tagged! ha!)

Encounter in the loo

Today, as I walked into the ladies restroom at work, I bumped into a guy who seemed nonchalant that he was obviously in the wrong restroom, which made me wonder for a second if I was the one who made the mistake. But that's not possible. You see, to enter any of the restrooms in the office building, one has to type in a given code on the door before the restroom doors would unlock itself. The ladies' restrooms and men's restrooms each have a different 3-digit code.
So it would be difficult for one to make a mistake of entering the wrong restroom, not unless it was a deliberate mistake. Even for one who is as blur as I am on somedays, it would still be impossible to enter the wrong room. And that guy must've known the code for the ladies' room. And he did not look like he was going to clean or replace toilet rollls either. So it boils down to one solution... a toilet hacker in the lurk!

Kremed!!

Eversince Elizabeth posted on her blog about Krispy Kreme doughnuts on March 4th, I have had a craving for those damn Original Glazed Krispy Kreme doughnuts! It is so addictive that it's not funny at all! So what's the big deal about Krispy Kreme's doughnuts?
The taste is beyond compare. The doughnut is so airy and amazingly light that a mere finger-touch leaves a dent, and it melts in your mouth! Once you've eaten a Krispy Kreme doughnut, no other doughnuts will ever taste the same again.

So this morning, the evil craving struck again. I got up at 6am craving KK doughnuts (and no, I am not pregnant). I waited 30 minutes for the craving to go away but it didn't. So what do I do? The evil doughnut then speaks through me " Go wake your husband". So I did what I did last August when I arrived in Charlotte after a 31-hours flight and extremely jetlagged. I nudged Jason and whispered in his ear "Let's go get some Krispy Kreme doughnuts!" And just like last year, he grunted and asked "Are you pregnant?"
15 minutes later, he struggled out of bed, all the while chanting "my wife is insane" and we got into the car.

The "Hot Donuts Now" neon sign was lighted up. There is nothing more satisfying than eating a KK doughnut fresh out of the conveyor.
So we bought 2 dozen of those wonderful, magical, scrumptious things home to feed the family.
Me happy. And husband goes back to bed. When he wakes up 3 hours later, he won't remember a thing and thinks it's all a dream (until he sees the Krispy Kreme box downstairs).
Did I tell you I love my husband?

How comforting to know

I was browsing today and came across a discussion board on City-Data.com.

Someone posed a reply on Stallings which is where we're moving to :


"Stallings is a nice area. Just south of Matthews and north of Indian Trail. It is an easy commute to everything in Charlotte. Yes, Union County is a bit less expensive to live than Mecklenburg County but I am sure since it is growing so fast, will eventually catch up. That is a good thing. Schools in that area are better than the CMS schools."

And there seems to be a lot of people relocating to NC from the North East!

"I don't really see it as a sacrifice. The Charlotte area has 2 great lakes - Lake Wylie (south side) and Lake Norman (north side). Both good for boating, fishing, camping and swimming. About 30-40 minutes in either direction. The ocean is anywhere from 1 - 5 hours away depending where you want to go. Charleston is about 1 1/2 hrs. Ocean Isle is 2 hours. Bald Head Island is 3 hours. Myrtle Beach, SC is only 3 hours away. Jacksonville FL beaches are only 5 hours. Mountains are 1 hour north or west depending where you want to go. There is skiing and tubing and other winter activities up there. West Virginia is only 3 hours for skiiing. Atlanta is only 4 hours away. Raleigh is 2 1/2 hours. Disney is only 9 hours. NEED I SAY MORE? I don't consider leaving NY behind a big sacrifice."

Must say something for NC if everyone from the great white north keeps heading this direction!
I think we made the right decision.

Let the journey begin

Last August, two newlyweds decided to build a house. They fell in love with this somewhat new neighborhood in Stallings.



So they picked out their lot and the builders were kind enough to let them select a design from another neighborhood to be built on this one.


They kept a close watch on the house slowly being built..


after weekss...


and months...


And finally they close on the house on February 17th.




Now the fun part begins.. Moving IN!!












It is hard work...


because the husband has a LOT of stuff!! (even though he keeps denying it)



but slowly, bit by bit.. these two newlyweds will be able to live in this house and start their journey together.

Oh blooming tree.. Oh blooming tree!

It is beginning to show signs of spring and I have yet to see any snow hit the ground yet this winter. I am captivated by all the budding and blooming trees that somehow emerged this week, especially this one that has tiny clusters of white flowers. Some people tell me it's Dogwood, and some tell me its a Pear tree. But whatever your name is ,dear tree, you make my day!