First Checkup for the Baby No. 2

Yesterday afternoon I was finally able to tell the boss that I am pregnant.  I've been contemplating for the past 2 weeks how to tell him, it was sheer luck that he put me through a feedback session.  And since it was a no-holds barred session anyway, I already told him in all honesty about my pregnancy.  It takes a lot off my mind to be honest with him on that.  And luckily he was ok with it and appreciated the honesty and the very early advise. :-) I was relieved.
And then this morning, I finally decided to spend lunchtime going to The Medical City-SM Marikina to have my first check up.  I was kinda delaying it thinking that I want the first ultrasound to have a clear pole and heartbeat already however it was not the case.  Though by age based on my last LMP I am already 6 weeks along, by the trans-V ultrasound I was just actually 4 weeks and 6 days.  No heartbeat yet.  I need to wait another 2 weeks for another trans-V ultrasound and hopefully we would have the heartbeat by then.  I need to take the vitamins, folic acid and the anmum now to supplement.
So all is well,  I am hoping this is a successful pregnancy.  The two weeks wait is a long stretch but then time flies fast and next thing you know I'd be hearing Baby No. 2's heartbeat already.

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Goose Family Life

Taken with my camera phone on a wonderfully lovely Saturday. The parental geese hissed at me.

Not the easiest cabinet ever

The picture doesn't exactly do justice to how much of a pain in the ass this cabinet was. We are very excited to have this one done.

First of all, it's heavy and unwieldy. A good deal of measuring and remeasuring was necessary, and we had to do some dancing, swearing, sawing, chiseling and Rube-Goldberg style rigging to get this sumbitch up. I had to construct some support devices; apparently the wife hasn't been weightlifting enough to hold 40 lbs of cabinet over her head, perfectly motionless, while I drill holes and drive screws. I also managed to nick the dishwasher drain tube with my rotary tool, so I've got a bit of plumbing to do. The dishwasher was the source of some frustration (that white expanse in the middle of the picture is a board that goes from the floor up to the soffit; moving the dishwasher to work on it caused some issues).

We'll install the cabinet to its immediate right tomorrow.

The project has had fewer surprises and frustrations (so far) than the bathroom remodel, and we're a good chunk of the way through.

home theaters

part of the big plan now that we have our own place is to personalize the look of the place, and quite frankly, one thing in my wishlist is a home theater seating system to go with a home theater -- take a 40" LCD TV mounted on the wall of our living room. And surround speakers that shake the place up when there's a load bang on the movies. Ahhh... bliss...
Well, of course, we are quite far off from this dream but hey, everything can change in an instant, or when we work for our dreams. Who would have thought we'd be on our way to owning the house of our dreams after being married for two years. So no, nothing is impossible, and sooner or later, we might just get all the things we want. All at the right time of course.

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Oh! it so good
Inside 1957, Harold Macmillan made a speech in Bedford, UK to be able to his fellow Conservatives, by which he offered the actual opinion that:

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Week end ends.

Ok, so its 7:30 pm Sunday and there goes the weekend.  We've just had dinner. Stayed at home the whole day, and yesterday too.  Well, yesterday after work the yaya asked to go out, and the other one went to school, so we just stayed at home and rested.  Like I said in my previous post, saturday is not such a good time to go out. Come sunday, we initially planned to go out in the afternoon.  I just went out to go to the wet market in the morning and did some cooking too. Planned my menu for the week.  I might be out next weekend.  Poor Jess won't be seeing the mall for 2 weeks at least.  I'm sure she'll get over it though. hahaha....
Will just make it up to her the following week, as am not quite sure if I will be in Cebu this weekend.  :-)

In other news though, our weekend was spend eating.  This week I was in a "cooking" mode so I was able to do a lot of cooking.  Pancit, crispy pata, champorado, dinuguan (not so good since the blood seemed old and had a bad smell) and calamares.  It was good to be back on the groove.  I am still hoping that one day I can still be in "experimental" cooking mode and mix up something I saw on TV.  I like watching all those cooking shows: Iron Chef, Top chef, Masterchef Australia, Barefoot Contessa, and Everyday Italian.  I really like their recipes.  If I did not have Saturday classes I might even have enrolled in some cooking classes.  Howell. Someday.

Hope everyone enjoyed their weekend.  Good night and have a productive week ahead!

Rocks at Eye Level

I'll probably end up taking long showers, using a lot of hot water in the process, because I'll be staring at the rocks we've mortared to the wall.

Click on the picture. It takes you in close.

Too Tired to Think of a Title

Raleigh Stollen 2007

This year's version is without icing or powdered sugar, and it does not contain candied fruits, only dried fruits: pineapple, apricots and blueberries. The spices are nutmeg and cinnamon, and the nuts are toasted pecans.

I baked a large loaf for a potluck at work and a smaller one for us at home. Historically, the dough is folded in such a way as to symbolize the infant Jesus wrapped in swaddling clothes. I went one step further and made a loaf as big as a healthy newborn. Born late. To a mother who took too many prenatal vitamins. And human growth hormone.

Anyway, people liked it, and none of the monster loaf made it home with me at the end of the day.

Naan Sequitur

I suppose you'd call it naan, anyway. I made bread dough (1/4 whole wheat, 3/4 all purpose flour) and kneaded lots of fresh rosemary into it. After a few hours' rise, I flattened it, made it nice and slippery with olive oil, ground some pepper over it and grilled it:


It was good. The grill has hot spots, so there were some burnt spots. Still, there's nothing like that rustic, smoky flavor that bread gets from being made on a fire.

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Stock trading

There has been so much news regarding the US recession, it gets scary at times when you wonder if the same economic crisis will get to our own economy. I'm not an expert on trading, I've only some slight background on stuff like futures trading, hedging, etc. I don't even understand much of it. I tried something like a stock market online game, and I think I did fairly well, but is it something I will look into in the future? Probably. I think the stock market is still a good way to augment income and savings, better than a bank account that is. But the saying still goes, the bigger the risk, the bigger the loss or the gain. I'm hoping when I do try it, its going to be a gain.

On careers and office issues

A good friend of mine and I have been having lengthy discussions about this matter since last week.  A week ago my friend got the shock of her career when she was reassigned to a post which she didn't really like for some bogus reason she didn't really believe. Its when we realized how futile some efforts are. Even if you work the best years of your life in a company, sometimes its just not enough. There are simply times when this will be disregarded, and after all your efforts, you will end up feeling betrayed, empty, and completely demotivated.

Its a sad reality that we can't take out of the corporate world. And in our field its doubly sad because my job, being in purchasing, is based mostly on respect, trust, and integrity. I believe these are the most important things I need to do the job well. And take out one, then its all gone. For instance in the case above, if I were in my friend's shoes, how would I feel knowing the bosses have lost trust in me, and that I have lost my trust and respect for them as well. I'll end up not loving what I do, and resisting any effort for a continuing relationship with them. And an unhappy workplace is the worst there is. I mean, I envy the people who last long in working for companies they absolutely don't like. Never been one to be like that. Never will, I guess. I'll say, if you are not happy, move on. You spend more waking hours at work than you do at home, can you really live for so long doing something you hate?  Its not worth the stress, and life's to short to be bitter. Move on. You'll probably find something better, especially if you know you're good. That way, you'll live a healthier and more productive life ahead of you.

Just springing my thoughts. I definitely feel sad for my friend, and sad for the company I once trusted and loved. I wish things didn't end so badly. But then, its a good thing I've moved forward ahead of time, otherwise I may be suffering the same state now. 

Life is too short for regrets. I definitely won't live my life having any.

Dinner on the Deck

I've been busy. Or at least that's the word I choose for whatever I've been. My new (6 months now) job has been challenging, and I have been uncreative, antisocial and lacking in initiative.

That being said, I cooked lamb sirloins, scallops (wrapped in bacon and in smoke salmon), baked bread, and Lindz made a salad. That Pinot Noir was goood. Too bad they only made 750 cases of it.

Christmas in San Diego

People really enjoyed Lindz's marshmallows:

And people liked my bread. I was very flattered at how big a fuss they made at the Christmas party to which I brought it. It's a shame that people are always so astonished at the idea of someone making bread rather than buying it. I understand that reaction with the marshmallows ("You made marshmallows? How can you do that?"). Anyway, they enjoyed it, which is always the goal.

This is an onion ring at Stone Brewing's restaurant. It is as big as a doughnut. That's their Cali-Belgique ale in the glass there.
And here is the sunset, the last night there. Heartbreakingly perfect. Lindz and I got to feeling pretty emotional about San Diego. We ask ourselves why we don't live there, and it's an ongoing internal struggle.

The Pot Awakens

This is a piece of Guardian Service cookware. This stuff was manufactured from the 30's to 1956. We believe Grandma and Grandpa Zucker got the set for their wedding in 1939. It has been used to cook what amounts to, I am sure, a staggering amount of food over the decades. And now it's mine. It probably hasn't been used for a number of years; Grandma was doing poorly for a little while before she passed on.

 

I boiled fingerling potatoes in it tonight. I tossed the potatoes in olive oil, rosemary and garlic and served them along with broiled scallops with lime butter and grilled asparagus with reduced balsamic goo and pecans. Lindz's home made ice cream was dessert. I hope Grandma would be pleased.

Tired of not having enough space to bathe a baby hippo?

Then try BIG ASS SINK!

Up in Michigan 2

Our late maternal grandmother had an incredible collection of salt & pepper shakers. Grandpa built the display cabinet.

I found this sign at a store in Frankenmuth. It's virtually identical to one that our late paternal grandparents had in their front porch area (my sister has that one in her guest room now). I hung it on our porch in Raleigh.

This is Delphi. However, it is Steering Gear to us. It was Saginaw Division of General Motors. Our dad worked there for 34 years. I left the picture file full-size for detail.

This 1967 ranch is the house is the first house I ever lived in. It still has the same sycamore tree out front. Our family lived here for 11 years before moving to the house where our mother still lives today.

But enough about the past. Here is my eldest nephew, standard-bearer of our family's next generation, lighting fireworks in the sandbox:

And here is my eldest niece bouncing on the trampoline:

Going on vacations

Got the news that my SIL will be going to Turkey this June. They live in London right now, and being newly married and still in their honeymoon stage, its a good thing for them to be travelling all around, while there's no baby yet. They might even go to the US next year. For us, vacations have now become a luxury what with the baby and having to pay for the house and such. Been looking at online reservations in Westgate and it really is enticing. But one has to consider the sheer expense of vacations. So I guess that is something on hold for a while till we're more liquid financially.

This is what we do on Superbowl Sunday

Football? What the hell is football? Sounds vaguely familiar, but it just doesn't quite register....
Anyway,to support the shampoo shelf while the thinset cures, I drove a screw into the wall and used a string and a binder clip which, of course, I did not steal from work.

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MamaLa and PapaLo

First (of many, I hope) of my digiscrap work. I'm targetting to finish quite a number of pre-selected pics so I'm hoping my creative juices will soon be on a roll. Once I've done this maybe I can go back to scrapping just ordinary, day to day pics so I can have lots of memories to share as well. This are Jessica's maternal godparents (my mom and dad), and though we don't often spend a whole lot of time with them, they are really such great parents to me and they love Jess very much. I wish I could tell them everyday how much we love them.

Extreme Makeover: Orangewino Edition

The duvet cover in the guest room is a turquoise and brown item from Anthropologie. I like the color combination, so I chose it for my blog. I took a black and white picture of my maple cutting board and merged it with html color #00CCCC, and it is now the background (complete with knife marks).