Sick as a WOOF WOOF

For the record, I've been sick since Victoria Day 2017.  To date, that would be 2 days shy of 6 weeks.  First it was strep throat, which I stubbornly did not see a doctor for until day 5.  Add 10 days of Amoxil on top of that would see my first round of suffering end for all of 4 days.  Round 2 of strep had me almost fainting at my hair appointment that I suffered for 2 days too many because the doctor couldn't believe I had strep back to back.  Before the second round of Amoxil even ended, I started coughing out my lungs.  Two hours waiting for my third doctor's visit saw me out with two puffers, Hycodan and a nasal spray.  F.M.L.

Just now, I almost puked from coughing.  This really sucks.

I hate being sick.

Recipes to Keep

蔥油餅
yields 4

300g      all purpose flour
180g      warm water
1/4 tsp   yeast
10g        sugar
1/8 tsp   salt
lots        thinly sliced green onion
              sesame oil
              salt
              ground white pepper


1.   Dissolve sugar in warm water and sprinkle yeast to activate.  Wait 10 minutes until foamy.
2.   Add salt to sifted all purpose flour and slowly add yeast mixture.
3.   Knead for 7-8 minutes, until dough is elastic.
4.   Lightly oil large bowl and place dough.  Cover with plastic wrap and let rise for 40 minutes.
5.   Lightly flour work surface and roll out dough and divide into 4 equal pieces.
6.   Roll out each piece with rolling pin and spread 1.5 tablespoon sesame oil, sprinkle 1/8 teaspoon salt, pinch of white pepper and a liberal handful of green onions.
7.   Roll up carefully, coil dough, cover with plastic wrap and let sit for 10 minutes.
8.   Heat oil in skillet, flatten coil and fry until golden on both sides.

(reference:  Carol's Recipes)

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Easy Focaccia Bread Recipe with Herbs
yields 8

Our focaccia recipe is very simple to make - no fancy equipment is needed at all. The secret to great focaccia is great tasting olive oil. Since there is quite a bit used, the bread really takes on the flavor. You don't need to spend lots of money, just use an olive oil you love. We like something light and fruity. For the herbs, we love a combination of thyme and rosemary, but you could use whatever herbs you love - fresh or dried. Or, omit the garlic and herbs all together and use plain olive oil, instead.

A note on pan size: In this recipe we call for a 9-inch by 13-inch rimmed baking sheet. If you do not have this, you can use a 9-inch by 13-inch rimmed baking dish with taller sides.

• 1/2 cup (118 ml) olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme (substitute 1 teaspoon dried thyme)
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary (substitute 1 teaspoon dried rosemary)
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 cup (237 ml) warm water
• 2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast (1 envelope)
• 1/4 teaspoon honey
• 2 1/2 (350 grams) cups all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt

1. In a cold medium saucepan or skillet, combine olive oil, minced garlic, thyme, rosemary and the black pepper. Place pan over low heat then cook, stirring occasionally 5 to 10 minutes or until aromatic, but before the garlic browns. Set aside.
2. In a large bowl, combine the warm water, yeast and honey. Stir a few times then let sit for 5 minutes. Now, add 1 cup of the flour and a 1/4 cup of the infused garlic-olive oil mixture. Stir 3 to 4 times until the flour has moistened. Let sit for another 5 minutes.
3. Stir in the remaining 1 1/2 cups of flour and the salt. Once the dough comes together, transfer to a floured board and knead the dough 10 to 15 times until smooth. Transfer to a large oiled bowl, cover with a warm, damp towel and let rise for 1 hour. (It’s best to let the dough rise in a warmer area of your kitchen).
4. After 1 hour, heat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C). Then, use two tablespoons of the remaining garlic-olive oil mixture to oil a 9-inch by 13-inch rimmed baking sheet. (See note if you do not have this pan size).
5. Transfer dough to the baking sheet then press it down into the pan. Use your fingers to dimple the dough then drizzle the top with the remaining 2 tablespoons of the garlic-olive oil mixture. Let the dough rise for 20 minutes until it puffs slightly then bake 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown. Transfer focaccia bread to a cooling rack and cool.

 (reference: Joanne and Adam Gallagher, inspiredtaste.net)

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Wheat Pizza Dough
yields 10

• 1 teaspoon white sugar
• 1 1/2 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
• 1 tablespoon active dry yeast
• 1 tablespoon olive oil

• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1. In a large bowl, dissolve sugar in warm water. Sprinkle yeast over the top, and let stand for about 10 minutes, until foamy.
2. Stir the olive oil and salt into the yeast mixture, then mix in the whole wheat flour and 1 cup of the all-purpose flour until dough starts to come together. Tip dough out onto a surface floured with the remaining all-purpose flour, and knead until all of the flour has been absorbed, and the ball of dough becomes smooth, about 10 minutes. Place dough in an oiled bowl, and turn to coat the surface. Cover loosely with a towel, and let stand in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
3. When the dough is doubled, tip the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and divide into 2 pieces for 2 thin crust, or leave whole to make one thick crust. Form into a tight ball. Let rise for about 45 minutes, until doubled.
4. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). Roll a ball of dough with a rolling pin until it will not stretch any further. Then, drape it over both of your fists, and gently pull the edges outward, while rotating the crust. When the circle has reached the desired size, place on a well oiled pizza pan. Top pizza with your favorite toppings, such as sauce, cheese, meats, or vegetables.
5. Bake for 16 to 20 minutes (depending on thickness) in the preheated oven, until the crust is crisp and golden at the edges, and cheese is melted on the top.

(reference: allrecipes.com)

 

Project Itchy Butt ver. 2.0

Haha, geeky but it works!

HDTV antenna - ver. 2.0

It took longer to watch the YouTube video than to make this thing.  Four bunny clips, two large paperclips, one 75/300 ohm transformer.  Done.  Free TV once again.

That was easy.

Kickoff to Summer

Three years ago, I first heard of Kamado-style grills from RFD where a whole bunch of crazy guys were running around town trying to get a BGE from Costco on clearance.  I was curious to find out more about this thing that people were going bonkers over when they're "on sale" for $900.  I mean, who pays this much for a bbq?  Especially when it looks like this:

The BIG. GREEN. EGG.

That's... one... ugly... thing.  Then I found out that it retails for something like $1,500 and "Eggheads" around the world swear by them.  Never going back to gas.  It's a hardcore community of followers and diehard fans out there.  What irks me even more is that this Egg comes with absolutely no accessories, meaning you can't even use it out of the box.  To make it remotely useable, you'd have to spend a couple hundred more on it and yet people still go crazy.  There must be something I'm missing here...

But it got me interested.  I haven't bbq'd in ages and I was in a condo but I wanted one.  Eventually.  Like when I'm no longer in a condo.  So I started researching Kamado grills and found the one I wanted:

Kamado Joe - just as good as the BGE but with all the bells and whistles.  For less money!

So I juggled the idea of getting a Kamado Joe when I moved but didn't realize (until recently) that they are still $1,300!!  When I first started my research, they were around the $1,000 mark but mind you, that's when the Canadian Dollar was less pathetic.  Trying to get 文生 to agree to a $1,300 bbq would probably mean it'll never happen so I just kept the thought on the back burner and hoped for a sale.

Thanks (or no thanks) to the RFD community, I found out that Can Tire was clearing out their Vision brand of Kamados.  Online reviews seem to be quite positive and the more important part, it was less than half price of the Joe!

Vision Kamado Pro C

The first step was to get 文生 to agree to the new addition.  Check.  Kinda.  Then it was trying to find one.  Check-ish.  Well, apparently Vision ended their agreement with Can Tire so hence the clearance, meaning the entire GTA was pretty much out.  Stores were showing phantom stock or only have heavily damaged floor models left.  I really wanted to have a Miss Vicky Day bbq this year so the Friday before the long weekend, I decided to look further away from the center of the universe and found a brand new in box one in... get ready... Peterborough!  Okay, Peterborough is far, but not unreachable right?  So I called the store, told them I'm driving two hours to get there so please have the bbq on hold for me because I don't want to show up to find out it's not there.  Great, all set.

I proceed to borrow a van because yes, this thing is a monster and weighs 200lbs (240lbs with the box) and there was no way it'd fit in my buggy (right?).  Fast forward to Saturday morning, when I woke up both 文生 and CLM at 6am to begin our long scenic drive into cottage country, all was fine and dandy until we got to the Peterborough Can Tire and... they... sold... my... bbq.  OMG#@^*@!#(*&#$(&@@!!!!!  Needless to say, I was NOT a happy camper.  The attitude at the store just did not help the situation either.  We were told there was only one more in the area so fine, we'll go to yet another store.  Apparently "in the area" meant BANCROFT, an hour away from OTTAWA.  I was not only livid at this point, but in much disbelief that the Bancroft store, which showed only 1 in stock (usually that meant floor model or non-existent), actually have it brand new in box as well.  文生 was actually the one to make the executive decision to go to Bancroft so another hour and a half later, they were lugging the big box into the van.  *Side note:  I thought people in the 'burbs are generally more pleasant and it was true up to the point when they see you in person and realize you're not white...

Took us what seemed like forever to get back into town and I really didn't feel like assembling the bbq so I waited until Sunday to finally put it together.  Thanks to YouTube, where this guy basically did a complete unboxing of the same Kamado, I was able to set up the grill with Tinlop in a relatively short period of time.  We did a test run the same night and grilled peppers, zucchini, wings, pork chops and stuff.  Boy it was yummy!  There is absolutely no comparison to gas/propane grills.

On Miss Vicky Day, I fired it up again and made steak, pineapple, more wings and chops, zucchini, asparagus, potatoes, roasted garlic... it was good!  I'd say it's well worth the money for the grill, even when we had to drive to Bancroft.

Twenty Fourteen Just Couldn't Go By Faster

Wow, I just realized that my blog was pretty pathetic for 2014.  Have I been lazy?  Were there a lack of life to document?  Did I get more and more bitter about life so I don't want to remind myself of the bitterness?  Oh, oh, oh....does this all have anything to do with... get ready... 犯太歲?

I've never been a superstitious person, at least I don't think I am, but honestly 2014 couldn't just go by any faster.   太歲年 = 事幹多.  I was told several years ago that 犯太歲 doesn't necessarily mean it's a bad thing.  It just means lots of things will happen, whether good or bad.  Well, 2014 was certainly eventful.  Unfortunately, it wasn't for the better I'm afraid.

Reflecting upon the last few new years posts, I realized that I've become quite bitter in 2014.  I can tell from the lack of bubbly flair while writing this post compared to those from a few years ago.  If I need to choose One Little Word for 2015, it'll probably be FREE.  I'd like to free myself from the bitterness that I'm currently feeling; freely pick up my hobbies again; free up my soul from all negative fields and bring my life back to something more mentally manageable.  How's that for a New Year's Resolution?

One thing I'm proud of achieving in the past year, is the ability to get myself into bed around midnight.  Compared to that of a few years ago, when I was going to bed at 2am every night, it's a drastic change.  For the better.  Now if only I can haul my ass into work at the decent hour, that would be just dandy.

Time flies not only when you're having fun, but believe it or not, it also flies by when you're having a shitty year.  It's now 6.5 months since I've left Harding and 2 weeks until I move again.  Brings back fond memories of all the stress I went through to settle into the condo back in 2010.  Only now in tri-fold or so it seems.  I really should be excited to finally move into the townhouse, but I guess until all the deficiencies are rectified and we settle in, I don't expect to feel the excitement.  Heck, I haven't even started packing yet! 

Twenty Fifteen:  Please be nice to me.  Please.

Wut?!? November Already?

Dear Blog,

I have neglected you.  I'm sorry.

Love,

me

PS, I'll be back soon, but I just can't believe it's already November...

The Inevitable

The inevitable has happened.

CLM called 911 today. 

Sigh.

For the record @2Y7M11D

Another Year

... goes by

(Happy birthday to my dear Luis 表哥 too... wherever you are, I hope you're happy)

聼話啦 PLEASE!!

媽媽們，我好累啦。 妳哋可唔可以聼話啲，等做子女嘅可以擔心少樣嘢呢？

做女嘅處處都為您着想，以您生活安息作大前題，但偏偏俾您看為針對丶阻礙。 當媳婦嘅三更半夜陪您入院坐到天光，您竟然怕麻煩同醫生隱瞞事實，令我同您個仔都好擔心丶失望。 做孫女嘅好心叫您運動多啲，飲多啲水。 您話冇精神，費事去廁所。 點知您轉個頭唔舒服，嘔都唔去睇醫生。 成日就EE鵝鵝話人睇都唔睇下您，電話都冇個。

妳哋明唔明如果妳哋乖啲啲，我哋可以擔心少啲啲，就可以徙多啲精神去啲有需要嘅地方。例如0係公司打仗或者簡單啲 - 搬屋呢？ 避到埋身啦!!!

I'm so sick and tired of all this BS.  媽媽們, 聼話啦, 好嗎?!?

唱出心聲

Yup, that pretty much sums it up... 要反省下...

Recent Accomplishment

I can proudly say that I have marked another accomplishment (albeit mini, but accomplishment nonetheless) off the 小芬's "handyman-ess" list (if you can even classify that as a word) aka "邊個話要靠男人" list.   I have successfully changed the brake lights on my buggy!  Okay, fine, retarded as it sounds and yes, it was extremely easy, but I did pay $12-15 to my mechanic each time I needed it changed for the last xx years, so for five bucks and ten minutes of my time, I saved $25 (bulbs come in two's).

For the record, this cost me $4.97 at Walmart

Hey, what can I say?  Between finding a place to temporarily stay for the next half year to fussing with the finishes for the townhome to dealing with idiotic morons at work, my life's been crazy to say the least.  So a 10-minute achievement was enough to set a smile on my face and make my evening.

I'm not really looking forward to moving since I'm really missing my condo already but I know the two weeks will just fly right by.  Sigh...  Time to pack soon, but for now I really should sleep, haha.

Homeless

Looking back at a post from January 2010, I can't help but chuckle a bit.  Can't believe four years have past and I'm moving again.  This time:

1 full week of cleaning and preparation
2 days on the market
3 offers to purchase

4 showings (only)

SOLD! for full asking price (THANKS AGAIN KAREN!!!)

However, I can't help but feel a little bittersweet.  I thought I would miss Northtown a lot but I only miss it a little, that being my first ever condo.  But here, I poured over blueprints, plans, did all the pricing and marketing, sales opening, office closing, assigned all the parking/lockers, chose all the finishes, watch the building get built, fussed over the problems, deficiencies and finally settled into the home I "put together" from start to finish.  I love everything about this condo: view, size, bathrooms, ALL my finishes (my backsplash!!), appliances... but in another month, I'm going to leave this baby of mine.  :'(

What I DON'T particularly like about this place is everything that happens outside of my four walls - how the building is run and basically, the people living here.  

I know I must move on and constantly tell myself I can't stay here any longer.  From an investment point of view it's leave now or leave never.  Too many developments are under construction in this corridor and all the new stuff will make this building look like it was built in the 90's.  Time to leave 小芬, time to leave...

Come July 7th, I will officially be homeless until the new TH is done.  I thought I would luck out and rent the boss's son's unit short term but that's a no go.  Now I have to quickly find a place (stress), finalize my damn colour chart for the TH (freaking stress ^ 27635162 as it already took 2 months and it's still not done), move twice (stress x2), then settle in finally and then go through the entire process again in a year (stress ^27635162 x2).  WTH did I get myself into??

Dammit, I'm going to miss this place ...

Sneak Peek

Just a little sneak peek at what I've been up to in the last week...

Ah..... so clean!!!!!!!

又一個月喇！

Wow.  Based on my bucket list that I made almost a month ago, I've accomplished all of ...

zero items.

I'm such a retard.  This month has slowed down work-wise; the only major thing was a tedious 2.5 day conference that I had to work a few weeks ago and otherwise, just normal daily happenings.  Hmm... so besides taking life one day at a time, nothing has really happened.  Literally.  LOL~

Then I started cleaning, then de-cluttering, then touch up painting, then cleaning some more, then income taxes -_-", and then guess what?  More cleaning!!  Now I can truly say:  I - HATE - CLEANING!!!!!!  I've cleaned so much that all my muscles hurt.  Damnit!  Honestly, I absolutely ADORE a clean and minimalist lifestyle.  I get so happy walking into a clean and tidy home.  Which means I really need to get rid of crap that I don't need.  Like around 15 years of Food and Drink magazine??  They are so freaking heavy.

**********

CLM's been a funny guy lately.  He's been very particular on certain things depending on his mood, which can change so quickly you won't know what hit you.  Some popular quotes:

• Cur Cur B 唔坐過0的唔俾0的位婆婆坐！
• Cur Cur B 唔同媽媽 "hihi" 唔錫淡媽媽！
• Cur Cur B 唔睬爹爹，睬婆婆！
• Cur Cur B 唔影相，第日冇相相睇！(and while he knows that, he still won't let me take photos of him)

While it's cute that he has his opinions and determination, it gets a little annoying when I'm trying to sit down and have dinner and he won't let me sit; trying to take pics of him and he gets upset; I leave for work and want my goodbye kiss and he won't come...

The cuteness continues to just before bedtime, when we do his nightly ritual:

Me:  Cur Cur B 今晚想聽咩歌呀？
Cur:   聽“牙牙歌”  (刷牙歌)
Me:  跟住呢？
Cur:  跟住我0地聽“牙牙歌”， 之後覺覺豬，之後刷牙牙，之後換 penpen (diaper), 之後奶奶 ja!!!

The order is obviously mixed up but CLM is very particular to have to listen to his “牙牙歌”, “打開蚊帳” and “大笨象會跳舞” while brushing his teeth, then he kisses my teddy bear good night and afterwards he gets his 奶奶 ja. What a little bugger, lol~~

**********

On another note, I think I've found my dream pair of shoes!  I've been looking to replace my crummy, worn out, 14 year old pair of Nike Shox for the longest time but haven't been able to find anything that I liked.  Mui sent me a link to Nike's custom Shox page and I custom-built the pair that I really want to have!!  Totally didn't expect to be able to do something like this.  Now I just have to order it.

My dream pair of Shox:  Black Leather, purple accents.  LOOOOOVE!

Wow, just realized it's 4am.  I think I'm going to sleep now ... more blogging later.  Hopefully it's not 4 weeks later, lol~

I'm So Upset!

Haven't blogged in so long.  Every time I come to my blog I'm feeling pissed, angry, upset, tired, a combination of the above or worst yet, all of the above.  I figure, why document life when I'm upset?  So I can remember the times I was angry?  Well, I've come to realize that if I don't start somewhere, my blog will permanently be neglected.  Now, where do I start...

**********
(post started March 12, 2014)

Sometimes I really wonder if I'm going to die of a heart attack or stroke.  I'm always so uptight with so many things that send my blood pressure through the roof.  Lately, there's been too many things that got on my nerves... so many, that it deserves an entire blog post devoted to it.

In no particular order:

Retail Stupidity
People who know me well know how much I hate dealing with half-brained people.  I just can't tolerate stupidity, especially when said doorknobs are snobby/snooty.  話説 some idiot merchandiser at Target misprinted a few price labels (for two consecutive weeks, mind you.  Tells you what kind of doorknobs Target hires) and someone took photos and posted them on RFD.  Said labels gave people the opportunity to price match and effectively save $55 off the premier version of TurboTax, making it a whopping $15 only.  Every year, I wait until SIG sells the standard version of TurboTax for $10 before buying it so for an extra $5, I decided it was worth my while to try PM-ing.  After all, there were numerous success stories reported so what have I to lose?

Well.

Let me begin by saying I have never... ever... spent 2.5 hours doing a price match.  EVER.  Needless to say, I was pissed.

To make the really long story short, the rep at Best Buy was nice enough to try and score me the PM, while protecting his job at the same time (aka, doing his job properly) so he spent a good 15 minutes or so searching the retarded and crippled Target website for pricing info.  That didn't work, since Target's website is retarded and crippled.  I mentioned that already.

Phone Call 1 - Hillcrest Target
On hold for at least 45 minutes
Once someone picked up, he exclaimed that not a single Target in Canada carries the premier version of TurboTax (so they do in the US?  It's Canadian tax software, duh?).  Both the BB rep and I told him we have a picture of a Target price tag showing the product and price.  Target guy says the label must belong to another store, not his.  We ask what store it's for, he said Cloverdale.  At this point, 1.5hrs.

Phone Call 2 - Cloverdale Target
On hold for 10 minutes (does anyone work at Target??)
BB rep asks for someone in electronics... on hold again (WTF)
Asks to confirm price and was told his store doesn't carry software.  Period.  Both the BB rep and I were doubtful.  BB rep asks that he checks his system and magically, they carry it, but must be out of stock and cannot confirm price.  Both BB rep and I are now very frustrated (more so me since it's way past dinnertime now).  We ask that Target rep confirm price on tag and offered to fax him copy for reference.  He declined.  Asked him why he can't confirm price of a tag from his store.  Here's the kicker: it's not his store.  I just about fainted.  Puts me on hold to check store number and comes back saying the store is in Ottawa.  He's positive because he even called the store to confirm.  Fine.  2hr mark.

I am royally pissed.  BB rep needs to get to the bottom of this stupidity so he can use it in the store's future training.  He feels sorry for me.

I feel sorry for me.

At this point, we've all determined that whoever printed the label put the wrong item description on with a price and barcode that belonged to the standard version.  All the BB rep was looking for was an answer from a Target employee to say they'd honour the price so that he could proceed with giving me the discount.

Phone Call 3 - Ottawa Target
Doorknob 3 was the worst.  He got into an argument with me.  After the same schpeel for the third time in trying to establish the product in question, I asked whether they would honour their own error.

Me:  If your store priced a product incorrectly, will you honour the price?
DK3:  No.
Me:  WHAT?!?  What is your store policy?
DK3:  No, we can't give you the price for something we don't carry.
Me:  That's not what I'm asking.  Let's say you priced a carton of milk incorrectly someone goes to pay and it scans differently.  Are you going to honour that price?
DK3:  No.  Now you're being unreasonable and comparing apples to oranges.
.
.
.
After some further unnecessary exchange, doorknob 3 asked that the BB rep REPHRASE his question so that he can answer it so that he's "comparing apples to apples".  I passed the phone over and the BB rep looked at me with a WTF expression, rephrased his question and finally got the answer I've been waiting for after 2.5 hours.

BB rep:  Now how many copies of this do you want?  You sure you don't need like 5 after all we've been through?

I lost 2.5 hours of my life that I'm never going to recover, just to pay for a program to effectively give more money to the government.  Something doesn't even sound right.  *shake my head

If I wasn't so busy at work (and exhausted) around the time of the incident I would have totally caused a stink with Target head office.  Especially since the idiots at that store made the same mistake the following week and printed the same shelf tag.

目無法紀
I even get upset with things that do not directly relate to me.  How am I going to survive the inevitable?  There are inconsiderate people everywhere and I'm aware of that.  I know I can't change the world either.  Which makes me wonder why I get so worked up over other peoples' stupidity and inconsideration.

Purchaser called to complain he couldn't take his things out of a locker that's owned by someone else.  Wut?  So you used someone's locker without consent and you have the nerve to complain?  Then he went ahead and cut off the lock to take his stuff back.  Erm, can we say trespassing?  I have no respect for these people.  IDIOT.

Anti-Opinion-ers (aka Askholes)
I really hate it when time after time, I'm approached for an opinion in which I spend x amount of time to research an answer and the person does the exact opposite.  I'm not naming names but this infamous person does it ALL THE TIME!  文生 asks me why I bother giving advice when I know the outcome is going to be the contrary.  Sometimes I ask myself the same thing.  Gotta stop being so 熱心.  Always comes back to bite me in the ass.

Liars
Then there are the liars that call me periodically to complain and when I call out their lies they turn around and tell me I'm not high enough in the company to make decisions so I should let them talk to someone else.  Then why freaking call me in the first place?

**********
I so need to vent.  Unfortunately, it's 3am and I'm just rambling on and on.  Might as well get this over with.  That, or I stab myself with a fork again, LOL.  Gotta release my frustrations somehow.  Sigh.

March was just bad.  I worked 3 openings, 3 weeks straight; 文生 has been sick for a month; he got CLM sick and he was throwing up, having fevers, coughing up cur jam everywhere, and didn't eat for 9 days; got mom sick; got me sick; got CLM sick again; and guess what?  文生's still sick.  It's April 8th.  FML.

There's so much I want/need to do but I just can't get my mind around to doing it, especially with a household full of sick people.  My Roomba is not going to fix itself anytime soon, ya know... and when people say 禍不單行?  They're right.  The day I decide to roll down my window, happens to be a freaking cold one, and it decides not to roll back up.  Same day, 文生's brilliant mom drives his car 20km... with... a... flat... tire.  Six hundred dollars worth of repairs later...

Over a bottle of wine (or two), I'm going to have to eventually go down my bucket list and check some things off:

• Service my poor roomba
• Catch up with CLM's pic-a-day as I'm a full month behind :(
• Finish my jumping clay terracotta warrior
• Start and catch up with P365-2014 (don't think this will ever happen)
• Finish blogging HK/TW 2013 - down to the last 3 days
• Bake something, anything
• Go on vacation 
• Catch up with blogging - so many things I should be writing about, yet I chose to complain :(
• Take my poor buggy in for a long overdue oil change

I should really go to sleep now.

/rant

MIA Again?!?

Yes!  I'm MIA again...

December was a whirlwind of cold weather, storms, lost power, parties, food, baking marathons, CLM milestones, Jumping Clay and general Christmassy things that I need to catch up documenting.

January went just as quickly as it came with more cold weather, post holiday syndrome, UV2 office moving, CNY celebrations and promos that lapsed into February.  CLM turned TWO!  and OMG, he's now a "pre-schooler" and no longer a "toddler".  Where the heck did the time go?!?  Made myself a "new year resolution" of going to sleep before midnight.

February is half over with more work related busies, UV2 catered radio remotes, working seven days a week, three new sites opening up before the end of the month, 太上文生's visit, and more CLM funnies.

Once again, I find myself falling behind on P365.  Of course, sleeping earlier means less time to scrap.  I told myself I'm only doing two layouts per month but guess what?  I'm three layouts behind (ie, I haven't started).  Sigh........

Up ahead:  tax season, more non-stop working, finish Jumping Clay project that I started a month ago, SCRAP SCRAP SCRAP, service the Roomba (again), maybe a DIY project if I feel like it, stick to my new year resolution...

Off to bed.  Now.

凍凍凍!

What a great way to start the new year:

... not.

I've been having dire trouble falling asleep because my feet are so cold.  The thermostat's turned to 26C (never gets there) and it's still freezing.  CLM has 4 layers on plus a sleep sack and another blanket so he's fine and toasty.  I have my duckie duvet, another blanket AND a human beside me and I can't seem to get warm.

Winter sucks.

Rant over.

Cur Cur B Then and Now

Well here it is: the long overdue post documenting CLM at 20/21 months.  Oh, I'm just what, 2 months late?  Better late than never I guess.

So CLM back in October of this year really liked doing certain things:

• Hides behind 爹爹 when he knowingly pissed me off
• Loves pushing buttons (dishwasher, monitor, rice cooker, woowoo 機 or any other electronic or whatnot).  As long as it has buttons, CLM's pushing 'em
• Picks up things that he's not allowed to be picking up.  When caught he says: "俾媽媽" thinking we'd believe that he picked up the item just to bring to me (sneaky)
• Favourite saying: "唔係唔係唔係唔係..."
• Loves eating "meat meat".  Chicken has been coined "gok gok meat" in my household
• Started drinking his milk from a straw and termed it 奶googoo or  奶奶goo.  Milk from the source is now 奶奶ja
• Somehow, the "but da but da" sounds just evolved into a random "拔 da 悲" here and there as he learns more words and sentences.  Sometimes CLM will still purposely make random "baby talk" babbling just for fun
• Loves clamping his little clammy cold hands onto my thighs when I change out of my pants and hearing me scream "凍凍凍!".  Proceeds to chase me around the room hoping to get more screaming from me
• Asks for 爹爹 specifically to come into the shower to 拍拍水
• Still scared of woowoo 機 (Roomba) and when we ask him "woowoo 機咬邊個?", he answers: "woowoo 機咬婆婆!!!"

Fast forward a month (November) and he talks way more, starts singing songs, loves watching 恐龍火車 (Dinosaur Train) and gets more particular on who he wants feeding him, what he wants to eat for lunch/dinner, where he wants you to sit (ie, "爹爹坐梳化!").

文生 was basically out of commission the entire month of November OT-ing so I spent most weekends out and about with marmar and CLM doing random things like grocery shopping without the Man.  We decided to check out Fairview one day and saw that the Christmas decor was exactly the same as last year so I took a picture of CLM outside of the Lego Store in front of the exact same tree.  While comparing the photos I couldn't believe how much CLM changed in the span of a year.

 

For the record, I was downtown on November 7th for a meeting and brought CLM with me to the Financial District.  He had so many firsts that day!

• Walked on a downtown street.  Never ever saw so many cars, streetcars, and woh woh's!
• Took an escalator
• Had a fat laan jaa moment (meltdown) in public at East Chinatown.  He was completely sprawled on the sidewalk, screaming.
• Ordered a "kid's meal" off the menu.  Mind you, CLM didn't finish it but it was definitely a first "outside" meal that was ordered just for him!!
• Finally sat front-facing in his car seat because my car broke down and we had to go home in my aunt's car which doesn't have UAS.  To make my life simpler, I just faced CLM forward.  He LOVED it!  So many 巴士's and 媽媽車車's to see.  By the way, all cars are 媽媽車車's apparently.  How nice.  "好多媽媽車車!!!"  Yes BB, just like how dinosaurs are woh woh's.

Sanity and Laziness

Lazy, lazy, lazy.

I come to my blog each day to tell myself I'm long overdue for a new post.  I have so much to write about but too lazy to type.  I think mostly because blog posts are boring unless accompanied by photos and I'm just too lazy to find nice photos to share.

For the last two months I've been thinking of documenting a "CLM then and now" type of post and although I run the points through my head almost daily, I haven't really gotten around to doing so.  Meanwhile, work's been a little crazy, CLM's been a little handful (and then some) and I've still got myself wondering why I don't get to sleep decent nights.  STILL.

Abandoning P365 this year after Hong Kong was probably the biggest "mistake" (or relief, whichever way you look at it).  Not having to document every single day means I have no excuse to blog.  No "me time" to get away from things, which doesn't necessarily translate into more time to sleep.  Looking back at my P365 posts and pages for last year always give me a sense of accomplishment and I'm glad I got to document CLM's first year (and life as a mom).  Although I freed up a lot of time by dropping the idea, I do regret not continuing with it this year.  As CLM grows every day, talks more, learns new things, it's a pity that I won't have anything to look back on.  At least I kept up with his "picture a day" so I can still track his facial changes even if I won't remember what happened that particular day.  I can't believe CLM's 22 months already and will be two soon!  They grow up so quickly!

Lately, I've been thinking about baking a lot.  I think I just need something to do so I can claim it as "me time" and a source for keeping my sanity.  Not that my sanity is jeopardized/compromised in any way *shifts eyes*, not at all...

文生's been working crazily for the entire month of November and finally got a weekend off so we opted to go downtown, have ramen and then hang out at Meishan's for a bit.  Ronna and Meishan picked up some Jumping Clay at the Ex this year and have been inviting me to join them to make things for a while now.  Finding out the clay smells like jasmine did it for me!  LOL~~  It's so much fun!  It doesn't stick, isn't messy, smells great, doesn't require baking, is lightweight and you can basically make whatever you want from it.

This little guy measures about 2" tall

CLM was really cooperative while I made my cutie little penguin.  All was well and I was about to make another one and then CLM fell down two steps of stairs and hit his head.  The remainder of the night was spent at Sick Kids but at least he has no fractures and seem to be himself again today.  做阿媽真係大責任.  I wasn't really freaked out until he started vomiting.  Ew...  Once again, I am grateful for great friends as Meishan, Ronna, Tinlop and Jeffrey all came to the hospital to calm our nerves and just to be with us.   Thank God CLM is fine.  I just wish I reacted a split second earlier... sigh...

On another note, the 16" x 20" stretched canvas 2014 calendar that I printed arrived and it looks great!!  Originally I was going to do a poster print and then frame it but I found a coupon code for a canvas print that was too good to pass up on so I opted for that instead.  I'm so glad I did because it's lightweight and it looks more professional!  I got them just in time before the coupon expired so I ordered a few more.  I'm pretty sure they will be well received gifts this Christmas!

Now I think I will procrastinate some more and yet again leave CLM's "then and now" post for another night...

I Need To Bake!

I have the sudden urge to bake.  Maybe because I just saw an awesome sale on a professional series KitchenAid mixer that I happen to have resisted to buy.  Again.

Or maybe it's the two egg whites sitting in the fridge that's calling to be used.  (Ahem, macarons?)

Well, I settled with making apple pies.  At 1am.  On a weeknight.  Shaped like fish.

I need sleep.  lol.