Meeting some family for the first time

On Saturday, the family drove to Bailey, NC for the Boykin family get-together. The Boykins are Jason's paternal grandma's side of the family. It was nice to be able to meet them but it was difficult to remember more than 40 names all in one night! I think there were four generations there.
Bailey is a town in Nash county with a population of about 670 only. You'll see houses on a big piece of land and another house about a mile away. Seems that the older rich folks buy land and build their mansion and spend the rest of their retirement there.

We stayed the night in Raleigh (about an hour's drive from Bailey. No hotels in Bailey) and came home to Charlotte the next morning, stopping at Concord Mills on the way home for a quick unplanned shopping trip and lunch.

Christmas 2007

Do you still believe in Santa?

We came home at around 2am after midnight mass on Christmas eve, tired out and went straight to bed.
At around 5am, I heard a light jingle jangle. It was at that time when you are barely awake and can't tell the difference between a dream and reality. But Jason nudged me and asked "did you hear that?" I mumbled "I was dreaming that some bells were ringing". He said he did too.
He said "Its Santa!!" (or I dreamed he said it) and he got out of bed to check.

Nothing.

He came back to bed and we listened. This time I was a little more awake.
We both heard it again.

It was the cat rustling against the capiz shells curtain on the front door, peeking outside.
The capiz shells makes a soft bell-like tune.

Did the Grinch steal my Christmas?

It's only 5 days to Christmas. Less than a week!

So, I've had all the presents wrapped, Christmas cards mailed, the tree is up, stockings hung and some impulsive need in me made me hang blue ornaments on the dining room chandelier this year. Christmassy table cloth and table napkins are set up and wreath hanging outside front door.
I've been enjoying (too much) eating truffles and survived three wonderful parties which I truly enjoyed. I've watched a bunch of 4 year olds sing and dance at a Christmas concert in school which was so cute and helped put together a gingerbread house and I've watched atleast two old Christmas movies on TV.

Christmas has always been my favorite time of year.

Then why am I still not feeling it this year?

Meteor showers tonite

Jason and I camped out in our back driveway hoping to catch a glimpse of the Geminid meteor showers which is supposed to be at its peak tonight. We saw about 10 or more in about an hour and a half. One of them was particular bright and slow and real close. It was awesome.

By 2 a.m. Gemini will be directly overhead, and it's been said that meteors will streak outward in all directions like spokes on a wheel. If I can keep my eyes open, I'll go outside and look again. Maybe. Just maybe.
It's 51F now, so it's still bearable.

I'm glad we got to do this instead of going to the cinema.

Busy hands

Can't believe Christmas is just two weeks around the corner!
We went over to the Gower's and assembled the Gingerbread house. We had a lot of help from the boys so the house turned out rather interesting. Bushes and trees growing on the roof, half eaten gumdrops, candy canes stuck in the chimney. Yes, very artistic.


In the morning, we went to the bamboo farm and got more bamboo to finish the bench. Today has been creatively filled.

First party of the season

Went to our first party of the season tonight at one of Jason's co-worker's house. It turned out to be a mansion. Good food, great company. Then we got a tour. Their closet is probably as big as our bedroom. And the basement could fit 50 elephants. It would make a nice cinema and a wine cellar.

The fun part was the blind gift exchange. We each brought a gift. Pick a number from a box and the lowest number gets to pick a gift first. The second number gets to decide if he wants to steal No.1's gift or pick a gift from the pile. A gift can only be stolen 3 times.
Everyone was fighting over a pair of soft bedroom slippers because it also had a Starbuck's giftcard in it.That ended the night. I was pretty happy with the gift I picked and glad it did not get stolen. And phew, it wasn't the I-Dog.

Just three more parties next weekend.....

Trouble has Hyperthyroidism

Trouble just got back from the doctor's. He's been diagnosed with a late stage of hyperthyroidism. Both his thyroid glands have been enlarged to the size of a lima bean. That is rather big for a cat. He has most of the symptoms present in a hyperthyroid cat:

• Increased Appetite
• Unexplained Weight Loss and loss of muscle mass
• Irritability or Nervousness
• Frequent Vomiting
• Unkempt-looking Coat
• Diarrhea
• Excessive Thirst (polydipsia)
• Weakness
• Lethargy

So we have 3 options :
- Anti-thyroid medication (Tapazole (methimazole), 5 mg once a day for the rest of his life) with regular tests to monitor hormone levels, so dosage can be regulated.
- Surgical removal of both the thyroid glands.
- Radioactive iodine treatment

Like all medicines, Tapazole may cause certain side effects and prolong usage may cause liver damage.
And because of his age, it is not advisable for him to go through surgery. As both glands are involved, a second surgery is necessary. We'd rather not succumb him to that.

I am inclined to try another option which is natural herbal remedy but there is only one website that sells it and all the reviews and comments are from that one particular website. Good reviews no doubt. But Jason is skeptical.

So that leaves us with the last option, Radioactive iodine treatment.

Advantages:

• Provides a permanent cure in 95% of cases.
• Safe
• Minimizes stress to the cat.
• No serious side effects

Disdvantages:

• Very Expensive (Thank God we've finished our Christmas shopping this year)
  
• The subsequent development of hypothyroidism is a possibility, but it can be treated with thyroid supplementation.
• Special home care is required for 3weeks after release from the hospital to comply with radiation safety requirements. We are to avoid any human radiation exposure from the cat by limiting contact by not allowing the cat to sleep on the same bed or rest on a person’s lap. It is also advisable to spend only the time necessary for basic pet care during the first 3 weeks after release and to use rubber gloves when changing the litter box during this time.
  
• Pregnant women and young children should not spend time with the cat during the first 3 weeks after treatment. (I guess any desire (if any) of wanting to become pregnant will be put on hold for me)
  

The doctor wants us to start him off with the Tapazole and go back to see her after 2 weeks for more tests. We can then decide our next course of action and see if Trouble is a suitable candidate for the radioactive treatment.
Today's visit to the doctor left us $335 poorer. We definitely need to start saving up for Trouble's next big adventure.

He could not find his car

A few days ago, a neighbor called us to inform us that a car was stolen. It belonged to a Caldwell banker guy who had parked it outside the neighbor's house whilst he was distributing some pamphlets around the neighborhood. He got back to where he parked it and found his car missing.
Thinking that someone had stolen his car, he called the police, made a report and the police gave him a ride home.
Today, said neighbor got a lengthy voicemail from this guy explaining how he had found his car. Apparently he had mistakenly thought his car was still parked outside said neighbor's house but he had forgotten he had driven it and parked it a few blocks down when he was distributing those pamphlets.
Neighbor said this guy was old. We think he probably had an alzheimer's moment.

I may not be that old but I do get an alzheimer's moment when I visit 4 shopping malls in one day. Usually after the third mall, I forget where I had parked my car because I get confused with where I had parked it at the first or second mall. This happened a few times when I am shopping in Malaysia. The parking deck at the malls are located in two or three separate levels and go for miles. If you come off a different elevator or escalator, you'll find yourself in a totally different wing of the parking deck. Good luck in finding your car then. Fun times. Thank God for LRTs.

So, I can relate to this guy. He was probably distributing pamphlets all day in different neighborhoods. Or maybe I am just getting old.

Mortified

Trouble got his haircut at a different groomer today. When he came home, we were mortified. They had shaved off ALL his fur and even his tail and left a little bob at the end.
I am not only mortified but am also really mad that someone could do such a sadistic thing to a cat. Do these people have any common sense at all? Poor Trouble is going to freeze in the cold!
It is acceptable for a poodle to look like a poodle but certainly not acceptable for a dignified cat to look like a poodle! That's just not right. Not right at all.

He looks sick.

My heart just aches when I look at that poor cat.
It really hurts.

Turkey-fied

As usual, we (or I) over-indulged ourselves with food with all the Thanksgiving dishes at lunchtime. We could've fed an army of 20. I spent the afternoon trying to digest my food and being entertained by the nephews and looking at ads to plan our target for Black Friday. We also took family portraits for the annual family Christmas card. Since the weather was unusually warm, we had our pictures taken outside on the deck. It was interesting trying to get a good picture. We must've taken atleast 15 shots, and Wrenn was making funny faces.
Then up to the attic we go to help carry a dozen boxes of Christmas deco and ornaments down and the Christmas tree.

At 5pm, we drove home to feed the neighbor's cats because they were out of town and went back to Jason's parents' for dinner. Had turkey sandwiches and pecan pie. I skipped the apple pie because I had that after lunch. We left for home around 10pm after watching Grey's Anatomy.

At 5am the alarm clock rings. We get up and head on over to Staples. We escaped hitting a couple of deers who were about to dash across the road. The line outside of Staples at 5.45am was ridiculously long. Longer than waiting in line at Disney. Since we weren't desperate for whatever we wanted to get, we decided to sit in the car and wait for the doors to open at 6am.
Seems like everyone was there to get the GPS which was a really good deal. We got ourselves the three things that we went there for - a 4GB SDHC card to be used with Jason's Christmas present (yes, he already knows what he's getting for Christmas), some DVD discs and a Samsung Black and White Laser printer. The ink for the laser printer costs $40 more than what we paid for the printer! So hopefully the ink will last us for a long loooong time!

Then Jason dropped me off at Michael's while he went to get us some breakfast because I wanted to get the 12inch paper trimmer which was 75% off. Unfortunately they were all gone by the time I got there. So I got myself a bunch of other arts and crafts stuff that I probably do not need, hence living up to the Black Friday name.

Now we're home. Jason's back in bed. I think I'll do some cleaning around. It's been fun.

And phew.. the husband did not buy a TV this year.

Thanksgiving prep

Thought I'll just share the recipe of this Strawberry Pretzel Salad that I've been requested to make for tomorrow.

Crust : 2 cups crushed pretzels, 3/4 cup butter (melted), 4 tablespoons sugar.
Mix together and press onto a 13x9" dish
Bake at 400 degrees for 6 minutes
Remove from oven and cool.

Next layer : 8 oz softened cream cheese, 1 cup sugar, 8 oz (1 tub) cool whip
Whip together and fold in cool whip
Spread over cooled pretzel crust

Next layer : 6 oz package strawberry jello, 2 cups boiling water
Mix together until jello dissolves.
Add 20 oz of slightly thawed frozen sliced strawberries and mix until mixture is cooled.
Pour evenly over cream cheese mixture.
Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Thanksgiving surprise

There was nice surprise on our front porch yesterday. Fiona had sent us a Thanksgiving snacky gift Box filled with yummy cheeses and sausages from Hickory Farms!
Thanks Fio!

What's in my burger?

I had an interesting discovery today. Yesterday we went to Sonics and I ordered two Sonic burgers because I had a "buy one get one free" coupon. I couldn't eat them both yesterday so I took one to work today. After reheating it, I took a bite and discovered that it tasted much better than the one I had yesterday. I had bought two identical burgers so it didn't make sense that one would taste better than the other, especially not a leftover burger! I took another bite and discovered an egg neatly placed between the bun and the burger.
I know I was crappy and probably hallucinative last night after slogging 12 hours away at work but I was pretty sure there was NO egg in my burger yesterday. And Sonic do not put a fried egg in their burgers. Now how in the world did I get one in mine?

So I called the husband and told him about my interesting find. And he said he had sneaked that in my burger this morning.

Phew, so atleast I am not hallucinating and am not going mad (yet)

Ouch my brains are bursting

Another loooong busy day. Just spent 12 hours working for a stupid deadline tomorrow. I have a feeling all that information will not be used anyway and I have just wasted my time, drained my brain and put myself in a crappy mood for nothing.
Bosses just want to see that it looks good on paper. Bleh.

Monopoly

It's been probably 10 years or more since I last played Monopoly. It was my favorite boardgame when I was a young teenager and my cousins, Daniel & Gabriel and I would spend hours playing this game. Sometimes we would bend the rules a little so that the game would last even longer. We'd keep "separate bank accounts" and allow players to owe each other money to stretch the game to days or even weeks.

Tonight, we finally got together with Brian and Sophie for a game night. We decided to play Monopoly for a change. And boy do I miss this game. I've never played the American version. Just always the British version. I like it just the same.
I almost won but lost to Brian in the end. We decided to count our monetary value and call it a night because it was close to midnite.

T'was a fun night. Oh, and Elise entertained us with some song and dance. That was too cute!!

Happy Halloween

Some pictures from my office today.




First prize - Hillary Clinton






The wicked witch who won 2nd prize.



Publications department.



Our department which was turned into a haunted house. It's actually pitch black with glow-in-the dark spiderwebs.



If you want to see what I looked like, click here. (The husband did my hair and eyes) I was the Guardian of the Haunted House.

Spooked up Thursday

I usually abhor going into the office on Thursdays but today was unusually pleasant. Infact, I have to admit that it was even fun.

The Halloween committee has organized a Halloween Spooktacular Extravanganza. What does that mean? It means there are contests and contests and more...
Best costume, best Halloween decorated department/cubicle.. etc... The prize? Winners gets a "leave work at 3 o'clock" pass.
And my department has decided to go all out for it! I mean.. seriously.. ALL. Out.
We have transformed our entire section of 6 cubicles into a haunted cave. Ceilings and windows were draped with black plastic table cloth, and the sides of the cubicles were made to look like a wall of glow-in-the-dark ghosts using screen-setting wallpaper. There is a huge black spiderweb at the end of the hallway with purple lights, and spiders hanging from the ceiling. Cubicles and my fake plant will be covered in glow-in-the-dark spiderwebs. We made a special door to the entrance to our cave. It is totally dark inside.
My scandinavian colleague will be in-charge of legally downloading some spooky music.

I know we are so going to win this.
I may have to go into the office next Wednesday afterall! If I do, I'll bring Jason's gargoyles to guard our entrance, and I am thinking of bringing some dry ice.

But I need a costume now. I know the other two girls are going all out with their $100 + costumes.
My sweet husband came home from work today with a witches hat, white hair spray and a black cape without making a huge dent in our wallets.
Once again, he reads my mind.

Renaissance fair

Here are some photos from the Renaissance Faire last weekend. I won't blog about it since Jason already did.



Click on it for captions and a bigger view

Pink on Purpose

Our company has a sanctioned charity event this week to raise funds and awareness for the Breast Cancer Awareness month. The "Pink" committee decided we should have a Bake Sale in the lobby of our building and asked for volunteers to take on various roles for the success of this event.

I could not decide whether to volunteer to make posters, tent signs, pack the bake goods or do the lapel ribbons. So I ended up contributing to the Bake Goods pile.
This weekend, I obsessively made over two hundred cookies. Again, I made the same mistake of being overzealous and attempted to make something that I have not tried before. I saw the recipe for peanut butter pinwheel cookies and I wanted to substitute the chocolate in the recipe for something pink. So I melted some pink wafer candy, spread it as a second layer and attempted to roll the pastry to make the pinwheel effect. BUT the candy hardened before I could roll the dough and it made the outer layer fall to pieces. The result.. you guessed it... I created some really artsy fartsy pinwheels instead. I had seriously thought of just going ahead and submitting them to the Pink committee at work. But I decided not to. Some people are scared of artsy fartsy things. They were really delicious tho. Jason and I both ate probably more than twenty cookies in one day.

Plan B.. I used a different recipe that called for cream cheese instead. The pinwheels looked slightly better but they were still not all identical. Won't work.

So Plan C... I used the same recipe, but instead of making pinwheels, I just rolled them out and drew a pink ribbon using the same melted pink candy. Boring but safe.
But me being me, I had to do something else to zest it up. So I printed some pink ribbons on a card, cut it up and tied a ribbon to each cookie bag.

300 cookies later and sore feet and a sore back, and a tummy full of discarded cookies that did not pass the QA test, I finally sent an email to the Pink committee informing them I'll contribute 40 cookie bags (80 cookies)

Ok, I am going to sleep now.


*Update :
The Pink Committee Head asked me where I bought these cookies. I said "my kitchen" :) .They loved it and want to do the same for all the other baked goods.
I've just emailed her the template of the cardboard label topper and I volunteered to go shopping to buy a few hundreds of these plastic bags for the event.
Feels good to have a purpose! I think I'm going into business some day! :)

And try your luck for a free camera here :
http://www.5minutesformom.com/2440/casio/#comment-420058

Boooed

Remember us being "Booed" last year? Well, I was wondering if that's gonna happen again this year. This morning, I found a Boo bag on our front door!
I think I know who booed us.

Well, I'll get busy now and put together a Boo bag and boo three neighbors before time runs out. I'm running out of ideas!! If you think of something cute that I can put in a boo bag, let me know!

Happy Birthday, Carlton!

We celebrated Carlton's 87th birthday at his favorite Fish restaurant, and got him a sugar-free cake that actually tastes pretty good!

Happy Birthday, Carlton!!

Losing the wisdom

Removing the wisdom tooth this time round was more difficult than the last one. When I got the other wisdom tooth removed about 3 years ago, it was simple and straightforward. This time, the tooth was in a bad angle so the oral surgeon had to use a saw-like machine to break the tooth up and also remove part of the bone. Good thing they only told me about having to remove the bone AFTER the surgery or else I would have freaked out by all that hammering and sawing.
I was put on local anesthetics and Nitrous oxide (laughing gas). If you have ever wondered if laughing gas actually makes you laugh, No it doesnt. It just makes you really really drowsy. Thank God! I have no intention of laughing while my tooth was being yanked out. I had a scary experience of the first sniff of nitrous oxide as it gave me palpitations, trembling hands and I felt the room spinning, so the nurse turned it down to a lower setting.
After what seemed like forever, I finally heard the doctor say "Ok, I'm sewing you up now". And then they switched over to a tank of oxygen to wake me up.
I was glad I had my mom-in-law to drive me home as I was still feeling drowsy from the nitrous oxide. She stayed and cooked dinner at our place. By the time the novocaine wore off, I was in pretty bad shape. God, I didnt remember it hurting this much! And the bleeding did not stop. It took some time for the other pain killers to kick in.

The doctor actually called up that night to check if everything was alright. I thought that was pretty good service! But ofcourse I was in no condition to talk.

The husband was really sweet and brought me ice packs every 20 minutes. The next day he worked from home and blended stuff for me to eat and made sure I did not faint from all the medication.

The swelling came up the next day and now I am looking like a puffer fish. It is hard to even close my mouth. So yes, I look stupid and in pain. I am trying to lay off the narcotics (the good kind) because it makes me nauseous. I think the pain has reached a bearable level.

For breakfast, I made some yummy banana/watermelon/ginger smoothie. Yesterday, Jason made me some parsley/ginger/apple smoothie. My lunch was a spinach/carrot smoothie. Yes, I am turning into a blender Queen.
Now I have this craving for KFC! Ever wondered what fried chicken would taste like in a blender?

A letter to my sis-in-law's dog

Dear Chelsea,

I hope you have adapted to your new home. Have you gotten a chance to meet Champ, Bandit, Bingo and Poppy yet? I'm sure you will all have a blast up there in Dog Heaven and I know you will be in good hands. Bingo and Champ will share their bread with you. Bandit may be a little protective with his blankie but I'm sure he wouldn't mind letting you sniff it. Poppy would love having someone chase frogs with her. Maybe you can teach Poppy how to fetch sticks and balls. She was never really good at it. I know for sure that a sweet natured dog like you will make plenty of friends. Just make sure they don't give you any chocolate.

You are missed by everyone who knows you here.

The moose and the cat

Trouble and his new best friend

Trouble : " But I wish he would stop staring at me "

Snaked under

Nothing interesting happening lately.
Except that I saw big fat long black snake in the middle of the road as I was driving into our neighborhood this afternoon. I thought it was part of a tire or something. I drove by it slowly to get a better look and the snake moved.
I checked my mirrors to make sure that the snake did not swing himself under my car when I drove over it and I saw it slid away into the driveway of one of the houses under construction.

Someone will be disowned

Guess who ruined our much-awaited Friday ?

TROUBLE!!

Jason jumped out of bed this morning because he had the feeling that the cat was about to pee. Between the two of us, Jason is the one who can read the cat's mind. Partly because the cat has been in his life for 14 years.

And he was right.
But he was too late to stop the cat from doing so.

We saw the cat had already gotten into his position and was peeing on my dress!!! I looked with eyes half closed. Oh No.. its THE DRESS!!! The bridesmaid dress that I wore to my cousin's wedding. The dress that I had just brought back from the dry-cleaners and was going to return to my sis-in-law.
I was mad. Really mad. And I still am.
That cat is so not coming into the house today. He'll have to find someone else to feed him and tend to his princely chores.

Putting in a different way

Today I had my first taste of disc golfing. Disc golf, informally called frisbee golf, uses the same terminology as golf but instead of a golf ball, players throw a flying disc into a metal basket.
This 18-holes course we went to is located in a public park in a semi-wooded nature trail. In a way, you get the best of both worlds - walking on a nature trail and playing golf (sort of).

It took me awhile to master the spins and I usually send my disc flying into the woods and landing into a mass of poison ivy and what not. Oh, good times. But I think I didn't do too badly for a first timer. The game took us about 2 hours to complete. It was one lengthy nature trail too.

I was itching from the mosquito bites and spiderwebs and also mentally thinking of the poison ivy that I had to crawl into. I came home and put baking soda all over myself. Now my skin feels like a crusty floured yeast roll.

It was a fun sweaty afternoon.

Gearing up for Halloween

It's still 43 days away but the stores have started bringing out the Halloween stuff. Heck, some stores even started selling Christmas items already!

Last year, I handmade little paper bags and filled them up with candy. That was really time consuming but I had my mom to help me last year. This year, I wanted to do something simpler so I bought some plastic table cloth from Party City in orange color, cut it up into squares and I'm going to bundle it up with some chocolate bars, skittles, Garfield fruit snacks, Mary Janes, a purple gross-looking lollipop and Fear Factor gummies. I think I'll save the Fear Factor gummies for the teenagers who come knocking on our door.
So far, I've made about 50 bags. No idea how many kids will show up this year. Last year, we ran out of treats because I only made 50 bags. So I'll make atleast 20 more this year.
Ofcourse I could totally do without those bags and just give out candy alone, but making these bags are fun. That's what I do on weekends when the football game is on :)

Have a good weekend!

I got this in my email today...

"She is pregnant, he had just saved her from a fire in her house, rescuing her by carrying her out of the house into her front yard, while he continued to fight the fire.

When he finally got done putting the fire out, he sat down to catch his breath and rest.

A photographer from the Charlotte , North Carolina newspaper, noticed her in the distance looking at the fireman. He saw her walking straight toward the fireman and wondered what she was going to do.
As he raised his camera, she came up to the tired man who had saved her life and the lives of her unborn babies and kissed him just as the photographer snapped this photograph."

A smokin' afternoon

My PC blew up. Not literally. But I could smell smoke. And the monitor went blank. So the first thing that came to my mind was that the monitor blew up.

I told Jason that went he came home and we went online to look and compare monitors before making a trip to BestBuy or Circuit City. He saw a 22 inch monitor that HE really liked and he wanted it for himself so he told me he'll give me his existing monitor so he could have the new one. I thought.. "hmmm, that doesn't seem fair. I'm always having to take over his old stuff"
But because I am such a kind-hearted wife and because I care too much for the geek in my husband, I agreed to it.
So we bought that 22-inch giant online and went over to Circuit City to pick it up.

Came home, I watered the dead lawn while Jason hooked the thing up. An hour later, he told me we need to go back to CircuitCity to return that giant. My head went "Yay!". Turns out that the old monitor is still working but the graphic card was burnt. My head went "Yay" again because a graphic card costs less than that giant monitor.

So now my PC is working again (Yay!) and I have a brand new graphic card (Yay!) and it's all mine!

If you have already read Jason's post, this is THE true account of the situation.

My Friday

I am compelled to give a detailed account of my Friday.

8.08am : Check emails
8.30am : Work
9.30am : Filled up cat's bowl
9.32am : Work
11.00am : Vacuumed
11.35am : Cleaned up cat puke and accidently touched some puke. Gag. Curse cat.
11.38am : Continue vacuuming
11.50am : Take thrash bag out.
11.52am : Work
12.00pm : Husband comes home for lunch
12.15pm : Mother-in-law and Cooper comes over
12.45pm : Husband goes back to work
1.00pm : Mother-in-law, Cooper and me go out for lunch at Trails End. It was good!
1.30pm : Susan and Wrenn joins us.
1.45pm : Susan and the boys leave.
2.00pm : Mom-in-law drives me home.
2.15pm : Get mail from mailbox /Check email / surf web (I sign off early from work on Fridays)
2.40pm : Listed an item on eBay for the first time
3.00pm : Watched the Soap that I recorded earlier (I am shamelessly admitting that I watch All My Children)
4.00pm : Watch Oprah
5.00pm : Husband comes home
5.30pm : We go for sushi!
7.45pm : I look outside and saw that a big box of Zoysia grass that we ordered a few weeks ago had arrived.
7.48pm : Husband and I unpack the plugs (they come in sheets like sod)
8.20pm : Mentally cancelling all weekend plans because we will be slaving away planting grass plugs!

I don't think I'll be doing anything else tonight so I'll post this now.

Oh.. Happy Birthday to me!..I plan to go count my grey hairs tonight at 9.15pm or so..and I'll be proudly wearing this sticker on my shirt tomorrow :)

Super Terrific Crochet Funtime

Today I received the soap saver and scrubbie set that I ordered from Jessie!! Yayy!! And she even threw in a complimentary dishcloth! Thank you Jessie! They are so pretty!

Toxified

Every Thursday, I come home and I feel this need to detoxify. It is unbelievable how much toxins can be accumulated in just a mere 6 hours. And for the past two months or so, it has really been dragging me down.
I need to do something.
Or maybe I just need to find some friends to talk to... especially during the football season.

This evening, I went to the library and spent a good 2 hours there. It may not have been a cure but it did get rid of some of the toxins.

Laboring away

Here's what I did on Labor Day.

Can you tell that I desperately need a vacation?

Back from Smurfland

I survived my first live football game!
But did I enjoy it?
Honestly... I did. Being a part of the atmosphere, the excitement and the patriotism of the crowd beats watching it on TV for sure. 95% of the stadium wore light blue colored shirts to show their support for the Tar Heels. That damn smurf theme song (la la la la la laaa, la la la la laaa) was in my head all the time. It was actually annoyingly funny and cool at the same time.
I totally loved the opening. I thought the fireworks and parachuters and even the band formation was pretty awesome. Reminded me of the good ol' schooldays. 15 years ago, my husband was in that same band.
Now I understand the game a little better thanks to my mother-in-law who patiently explained it to me.
After half time, it got a little boring and I was fidgeting and itching to leave but I endured it for the sake of my marriage.

But will I go to another one? Hmmm..... maaaaaaybe. But at this very moment, I just want to stay away from crowds. I need a vacation!!!! Please!!

Oh, I forgot to mention that the toilets were pretty clean for such a crowded stadium. Oh and ya, the score? UNC beat James Madison 37 - 14. Go Tar Heels! Roar, roar, roaaarrr... LOL.
Glad I wore a blue T-shirt!

What I learned today...

I went to check out an art gallery in Matthews after work today and learned a new word.

Giclee, commonly pronounced "zhee-clay," is an invented name for the process of making fine art prints using ink-jet printing.
The term "giclee print" connotes an elevation in printmaking technology. Images are generated from high resolution digital scans and printed with archival quality inks onto various substrates including canvas, fine art, and photo-base paper. In the giclee process prints are made by spraying more than four million droplets per second onto archival art paper or canvas. The effect is similar to an airbrush technique but much finer. Exact calculations of hue, value and density direct the ink of 8 nozzles which can produce more than 3 million colors of highly saturated, pigment-based ink. The result is a print that can rival the original in color and detail.

So you pay $100 for an artwork instead of $1000 for the original and the print lasts longer too. Pretty cool eh.

Kids are funny

My two year old nephew, Wrenn wanted to go to the bathroom and sit on the toilet like a big boy.
My mother-in-law goes in with him to make sure he's doing it right.
He turns around and tells her "I don't want you bothering me".

I've been Simpsonized!

Have you ever wondered what you would look like as a character on The Simpsons? Never? Not even once?

D'oh! Well, anyway, I would look like this:
Try it for yourself :

http://simpsonizeme.com

The bleh Sunday

Started out as a bleh Sunday for me. So I drove 30 miles to nowhere and back and felt a little better.
Then I got a call from my friend, Fiona, who just arrived in Denver to do her post-grad and we chatted for a bit and that totally made the bleh mood go away! Friends are the best medicine!
And I'll be here for her when she needs a friend.

Here's my Life-as-it-is Sunday:

Your Last Meal: Shitake mushroom sushi roll
You'd Rather Be: On the mountain
The Future: Unknown
Creature That Freaks You Out: Lizards
Currently Feeling: Lonely
Most Recent Purchase: Superfood Juice
Thinking About: Vacation
Your Keyboard: black
Your husband is: On his computer
What You Like for Breakfast: Fried eggs

Putting the "Gro" in Grocery

Trader Joes has finally opened its doors in Charlotte.
We drove by last weekend and could not even get into the parking lot. So we tried again this evening.
They carry all kinds of exotic and organic foods at reasonable prices. Love it!

What to do when nothing fits

The doctor told me that I am officially no longer underweight. So what does this really mean? It means I need a new wardrobe and am trying to convince myself that I am not fat. Just not underweight anymore. But being short and not underweight can somehow make you look fat. Thanks to my very honest and loving family and friends back in Malaysia who have all generously told me that I have gotten fat since they last saw me two years ago. I totally agree. Two years ago, I was stressfully planning a wedding and stressfully getting all the paperwork done for my US Visa and then painfully stressfully saying goodbye to everyone. All that took a toll on my weight and I remember my wedding gown designer telling me that if I keep losing weight each week, he will refuse to keep altering my gown. He is a sweet talented gay guy and and he was genuinely concerned.
The majority of Malaysians are stick thin. When we were in Malaysia two weeks ago, I kept pointing out to Jason at all the thin, small-waisted mini skirted girls. And I would look at myself and tell him, "God, I look so fat beside these girls!"

So this morning, I went looking through my wardrobe and decided to put on some random pants and skirts that I haven't worn for the past two years or more and realized that they don't fit anymore. Since I work from home on most days now and on the days that I go into the office I wear something really casual, I don't wear those corporate suits and pants anymore. Some of these pants and jackets even have a tag on which means it has never been worn and staring at it totally makes me feel guilty. All that wastage! So, if you are a Size 0, do hop into a Goodwill store next week and you might just land yourself with some nice new pants or skirts!

Then I realized, if I were to land myself with an interview next week (not that I have started job hunting or anything but who knows, maybe I'll get to meet the Queen of England) I would have totally no interview clothes ! Eeek!
I am also in-between two sizes which means looking for something that would fit me is not going to be easy.
The solution : Put on some more weight or lose some weight and be underweight again.

All said, I think I'll go get myself a Krispy Kreme fresh hot donut now. That would solve the problem and I'll get to go shopping.

Happy Birthday, Lo Kong!

Jason's birthday today.

Back in Queen City

After 36 hours of being in the air and in between airports, we are finally back in Charlotte in one piece but totally exhausted.
The airport in Stockholm is a pain. It is definitely not built to cater to crowds or a full flight.

Not looking forward to going back to work tomorrow.

Hibernate mode has been turned on.

Vacation almost over

The last week of our trip was indeed pleasant, except for having a flat tire on Thursday night. But it happened at a good spot where we were able to change tires at a well-lit parking lot with accessible restrooms. If you have to have a flat tire, this would probably be considered a blessing.

Jason had a surprise early birthday celebration early in the week. The look on his face was priceless.

We also managed to meet up with some dear friends on Tuesday for a long tea and followed by dinner with an aunt. Spending quality time with friends and family always makes coming home to Malaysia worthwhile.

Back in Melaka, we managed to meet up with Adeline and family for a short while. Aidan is growing up fast. Unfortunately, we did not have enough time to stop by to say Hi to some old co-workers of mine. That would have been nice.

My uncle also surprised us by driving all the way up from Johor for a brief afternoon visit. That really touched me. It made me realized that it will be awhile before we will be able to see everyone again.

We left for the airport on Friday. Aunt Shirleen, Uncle Victor, Adrian and Nicholas stopped by to say goodbye and we later had a farewell dinner with my parents, Aunt Annie and Kathy and Yat Onn. I was teary eyed when they left.
Stayed a night at a hotel close to the airport and we took a shuttle to the airport at 5.30am. I had a feeling my parents will show up at the airport and they did.

Yet again another long flight.

If I could have one human superpower, I will ask for the ability to teleport.

Cousin weds

Here are some pictures of the beautiful bride and grinning groom. The wedding was last Saturday in church and a reception was held the same evening by a lake amidst the beautiful sunset at the Palace Beach and Spa Resort. Aunt Patsy performed the hula, a few crazy people (including yours truly) did the chicken dance on stage and then the highlight of the evening was a fireworks display! That was totally awesome!

Bleh Bleh

Still sick.
Jason is starting to feel better after two visits to the doc and I am on my last day of antibiotics but my cough is getting worse. But being sick did not stop us from going out and sticking to our plans. Just got back from Genting Highlands. Big BIG mistake going up there on a Sunday. It was CROWDED. Total mad house. There was a line of atleast 500 people ahead of us standing in line for the cable car to take us up. The ride up was 3.4km.
Then, trying to walk through throngs of people from the skyway station to the hotel was another mad house. But the craziest part was having to wait three hours to check-in to our hotel. We had to stand in line to take a number, then having to wait for our number to be called in order to get our room key. Our number was 845. The current number being attended to at that time was 569. My uncle and aunt who had arrived 2 hours ahead of us was only just now getting their number called. It was ridiculous. So we left our bags in their room and walked to the Arena of Stars to watch the World Lion Dance championship. The US team won 3rd place. Pretty impressive.
When we walked back to our hotel about 3 hours later, they were attending to number 1035. So we missed our turn which was totally fine because we just have to walk up to a counter assigned for people like us who had missed their number and we got our keys.
Skipped dinner and all we wanted to do was crash.
Next morning, we went down to the casino. Stood in line to apply for a slot card, and when it was our turn, we were told we needed to fill up some membership form and was told to go back and stand in line again. How stupid is that.
Anyways, I lost RM14 and Jason won RM13.60.

I might post some pics later. Just realized that we did not take enough photos especially of the wedding because Jason and I were too busy with our assigned tasks.

This has been the most stressful vacation ever. I'll have to put myself in hibernate mode for the next couple of weeks.

bleh

Vacation + sick = no fun at all

Feed me!

Food.. that's what we have been stuffing our face with since we landed in Malaysia. And it's not because we are always hungry.
Since the entire clan is back from all corners of the world for the wedding, and friends of family who have also come to visit and experience the country and my crazy family, there's been dinners after dinners and lots of mealtime get-togethers and what nots. My calendar is full for the next 12 days and 87% of it consists of food. And I am not complaining. These mealtimes are bonding sessions. We eat, laugh, make a lot of noise and do stupid things to embarrass ourselves, like the chicken dance. I get to see how fast my little cousins are growing up, and how weird my teenage cousins have turned out. Jeremy is doning a mohawk hairstyle which I think makes him look like an angry iguana. Megan is a chubby 3 year old now with a genuine wide grin. Aaron has found himself the nicest and sweetest girlfriend. All my aunts are still as crazy as ever and that's what I love about them. My grandma is still the grandma who dotes and always makes sure we are fed before we leave her house.

It's so good to back!

They say home is where the family and tummy is. And that is so true because that is where mine is and will always be.

And I hear more chicken dances have been officially planned :)

Ok, gotta go and eat breakfast now.

The Last Supper? Hope not

This might be my last post before we board the plane.

We had to go out for dinner last night because we have totally cleaned out the fridge except for a couple of eggs, butter, ketchup, mustard and apple juice, which I don't think can be considered as dinner food.
So we went to our favorite sushi place which we haven't been in awhile and sat at the sushi bar and ordered our usual meal. This time, we also ordered entrees and not just sushis because I had a coupon for a buy-one-free-one entree.
While waiting for our meal to arrive, the sushi chef surprisingly handed me two fresh slices of sake (raw salmon). Ahh.. pure joy was written all over my face.
Rule for the day :"Make your customers happy by remembering what they like to eat and feed it to them!"
It sure made my day!

Frantic

Three and a half days to go, and we'll be airborne for 27 hours. This was a frantic weekend (for me atleast). I hate packing. Not so much the packing itself but the "making-sure-I-get-a-gift-for everyone" part. I've been making a list for months now and yet, I still had to make one last shopping trip today. I am hoping I did not miss anyone out.
We have 2 big suitcases, one big box and one smaller suitcase, and 2 carry-ons. The box and 2 suitcases are mainly just gifts.
I am just bringing 5 days' worth of clothes and I plan to do some clothes shopping in Malaysia since the mega sale is on and I miss the stuff at MNG and Miss Selfridge and U2.
It is just almost impossible to find a dress that fits me here. We went shopping last week and I walked into atleast 12 different stores and none of the dresses would fit. Not that I like wearing dresses much but when an occasion calls for it, I get worried because I have no dress!

I am also trying to clear up stuff at work but everyone is trying to dump more work on me before I go on vacation. And I have to call in to some meeting right before we leave for the airport. How nice...not!

Poor Trouble has been sulky since we got out those suitcases. And he cries when he sees it.
I guess cats have feelings too. Thankfully, Jason's parents will drop by occasionally to look in on Trouble.

We have also assigned our neighbors to get our mail for us and another neighbor to feed Trouble.

I think we should be all set.

Boy, I'm tired already and I'm not even on the plane yet!

Window shopping

Last week, we saw the new Hyundai Elantra on the road and it looked really nice so tonight, after dinner, we decided to drive to the Hyundai dealership to check it out since we did not have anything else to do.
We tested it and drove around and I must say I am impressed! It is much more silent, smooth, more horse power and the doors are solid. It is a little wider than the old one. The interior has also improved. But what caught my attention is this little hook on the passenger side at the bottom that pops up and you can hang your handbag/purse there. Now, that is one smart invention because my bag always falls over when I take a left turn and I end up dumping everything out on the car mat and I have to grope around looking for my cellphone and office doorpass under the seat.

But we are not ready to trade in my blue thang yet.