Still Alive

Yes, I'm still alive. I have been unusually unmotivated, uncreative and uninteresting lately. I think my cubicle job is sucking the life out of me. It's kind of like The Matrix. Life is easier when you're sedated and distracted, but occasionally you see glitches in the programming...

THE @#&*?! TILES ARE ALL IN PLACE

If you look closely, you will notice that we've done a bit of grout, too. Grouting among the river rocks will take a bit of time, but the wall will be transformed.

This trowel has worked very hard. It gives me great pleasure to put him out to pasture.

Lindz and I have worked extra hard on this the past few weekends. What remains? Grouting, attaching the fixtures, caulking and installing a recessed light in the ceiling.
This would be a good time to commit a crime; we've worn our fingerprints off.

Good Wine, Good Food, Good Company

Two friends visited us here in North Carolina, and it was the first time in four years that we were all together. Luis had been in the Peace Corps, and he romped through Europe for a few weeks before returning to the States. He told us many tales of rats, boils, village superstition, ineffectual NGO's and long lines at European castles. We may have had a glass or two of wine during the visit:

Highlights include Magnificat, Napanook, three different Chateauneuf-du-Pape, Saintsbury Pinot Noir, Schramsberg Cremant, Frank Family Blanc de Blancs, two Champagnes, Ferrari-Carano Chardonnay, Qady Essensia, and Estancia Meritage. I'd say the winner of the red category was the deep, smooth-as-a-baby's-ass Napanook, and the winner of the sparkling category was the bracingly dry, toasty/minerally Frank Family. Luis has a keen palate and a true afiçion for the grape, and he has helped to elevate my appreciation for fine wine. Having him around is not helpful to frugality, but we truly had some splendid enological exploits.

We did our fair share of eating, too. I didn't cook as much as I usually do; we ate out or grazed more of the time. I did grilled salmon with sweet pepper coulis and grilled corn on the cob, but I took no pictures. In fact, we ate out more in a week than Lindz and I do in three months. But this was vacation. 42nd Street Oyster Bar was quite good; I had clams on the half shell for the first time. I liked them; they are firmer and meatier than oysters.
For dinner on our last night together, I made grilled boneless porkchops with a speck and sage sauce with herbed roasted potatoes. Lindz made the salad of greens, strawberries, blue cheese and balsamic vinaigrette. Tasty Chateauneuf-du-Pape and Pinot Noir accompanied it.
It was all a much-needed respite from the cubicle farm. Talk of travel, life and the future while enjoying the finer things is a restorative pastime.

Caught in the Act of Mooching

This was shot on the evening of Bryan's return from Germany. Oliver stayed with us while Bryan was away, and he was a brazen mooch of the very highest order. We demonstrated for Bryan here. As you can see, he coasts through life on his good looks and charm.

New Gadget Again!

This year has been a mixture of good and bad experiences for our family.  For one, I would like to think that this year was good for us financially and career-wise.  First we were able to get the company car, and since we had some savings, we were able to add some cash to upgrade the company car to an SUV (Ford Escape).  It makes us a bit more confident when it comes to heavy rains.

While we were drained financially when I miscarried last March, we were not exactly in a rut.  I'm really thankful that I had a great job that at least paid for all the bills, and hubby is able to save a bit while I cover most household expenses.  

Last month I was able to convince hubby to help me get a Macbook Pro.  Since my office laptop did not allow me to install Photoshop, I had to have a reliable laptop to use.  The laptop hubby was using had an LCD problem so he has to use it with a monitor, and that is not exactly handy.  The old netbook is being used by my college student-househelp, and its not also exactly the best in performance when it comes to Photoshop -- meaning it hangs a whole lot and is really frustrating (happened to me the first time I tried to make the backdrop for the bazaar).  Anyway, I digress. The MBP is now my home laptop.  The office laptop only goes home with me on weekends.  Its 12 months to pay at 0% interest so it isn't as heavy to pay.  Always been my dream gadget (yes, I've wanted this one ever since I can remember, and I can live without ever getting an iPhone but a Mac is one thing I've dreamed of owning).  

Now that the bazaar planning is already in the works, I've decided that the next business investment for me would be a DSLR.  

Background, since I started with organizing bazaars, I bought another business investment every run.  The past two years (2009 and 2010) it was for the digital printing business --- heat press last 2009 and the pvc card package in 2010.  This year we bought a DSLR.  Hopefully by 2012 we can already seriously start the digital printing business. Always told myself that I should make sure to teach the hubby how to do it in Photoshop since its not something I can do all by myself.  That's my target in 2012.  

This is what we got:  Bought it from Kimstore and although there was a slight glitch and I'm waiting for the replacement SD card, I'm happy with the ease in dealing with them.  Happy that we have this and hoping I can learn how to use this well soon!

Fixed!

Whew. That was a scare.  Ok updating my previous post.  I deleted some widgets and removed that hacked script. Whew.  Irritated.  Can't believe someone would hack my page.  Now more than ever I want to get my own domain.  But that's too much to ask now that I still have a lot on my plate.
Maybe some other time. :-)

January 2: Malling and Haircut for Jessica

Today rather than to stay at home and say goodbye to the last day of the holidays, we decided to go to Megamall for some family time.  That is after I finished packing up the Christmas tree and all the lights and decor.   Now that the home space if free from the clutter of the Christmas season (except for some gifts that I need to give away), there is more free space for the little girl to play and run around.  But I digress, so we went to Megamall, got to see the new Toy Kingdom (which is huge), ate at the Food Court (Sizzling Plate), then brought the little girl to Cuts 4 Tots for a haircut.  Jess' hair has already grown and we decided to cut it down by 2 inches  (its actually still too long, might need another haircut in a month or so).  After the haircut the girl asked to play at Kidz Republic.  So we left her and her yaya (who is fresh from a 2day vacation btw) and went around the mall.  After getting her back we finally went to Girbaud where I was able to buy a wallet for me and for my sister who's having her birthday tomorrow.
On the pregnancy: I still have not gone to the OB, will probably do so 2nd or 3rd week of January, where hopefully the baby's heartbeat will be there already.  Meanwhile I am religiously drinking the vitamins (folic acid + prenatal vitamins) to keep healthy.  We are hoping this will be a good pregnancy now and come around August we will have the newest member of the family.

Oh btw, this is the second days of (hopefully) Project 365.  Off to a good start, I hope to finish at least with half and I will be happy.

Bic Pens

Bic pens are probably one of the more common ballpen names of our time. Sort of like Xerox for photocopying machines. Some of us were exposed to this brand while we were young, and we have since regarded it as a trusted brand name. Now I realize that bic pens have actually gone from their initial simple yellow pens to different and funky designs for the youth, some of the designs are actually funky and cool! I'd better get one for myself the next time I go to the bookstore.

Sunday Afternoon Coffee Table

(Listening to "Blues Dues" by Joe Pass, preceded by "Half the Perfect World" by Madeleine Peyroux and "In Rainbows" by Radiohead)
Lindz and I are loafing around. We ordered the countertops today, so the kitchen will move forward after a holiday hiatus.
I'm going to make spaghetti alla carbonara this evening. I got some good quality eggs at Trader Joes today specifically for that purpose. I wish I could get this relaxed and smug by Saturday afternoon, but it's been taking me longer to relax lately. Oh, well. As you can see, I have no real basis for complaint. Life is better than I deserve.

Hurricanes Got the Cup, Y'all!

 

Yes, indeedy. This is the first major league professional sports title to be won by a North Carolina team. 

I got the pic from the Raleigh News & Observer website.

Mexican Lasagna and Hard Work

Bryan came over with a bunch of ingredients and a plan. We set to work, and here was the result:
Goodass crap. As a refined little apertif, I got a giant can of Budweiser Chelada style beer. Purely out of morbid curiosity. It is beer (sort of, it is Budweiser after all) with Clamato, lime and salt. It was kind of weird, as you might expect from a beverage built of light beer, tomatoes and mollusks. We dumped it out and drank some Ommegang Three Philosophers instead.

On to a different subject. Lindz and I began the kitchen project. We replaced two base cabinets on Saturday (my back is still sore). Behind one cabinet was evidence of how attractive the kitchen must have been in 1981:
And here's me leveling one of the new beauties. It's actually made of wood, rather than sawdust!
And the payoff. this drawer is nearly three feet wide, and it comes all the way out. We're going to need some partitions in there. It's so big, you could call it zoning. Note the attractive masking tape flag serving as a drawer pull until the new ones arrive.

Lindz and I had a good time demolishing the flimsy old cabinets. No complaints, really - they served for two and a half decades, but their era is at an end.

Miscarriage at 20 weeks ... Our story

March 20 AM - I decided to treat myself and my daughter to a bonding day at the mall (In cubao).  So we went out, had her play at the playroom there while I went around naman and did a little window shopping.  Got home around 3pm

March 20, 6PM - I felt this GUSH of WATER come out of me all of a sudden, similar perhaps to the bag of water bursting to those who are on term already.  I don't know really, I didn't experience this when I gave birth to my first daughter.  Anyhow, I called my OB right then and there since it just continued to drip, and she advised us to go to the hospital.  We went to TMC. They tested the fluid and it came out as amniotic fluid na nga.  They confined me and put me on bedrest.

March 21 - My birthday.  Short of saying the saddest yet most memorable bday so far.  Good thing no plans were made yet, since I'd end up cancelling them anyway.  Had ultrasound, blood tests, urinalysis. Bedrest and IV the whole day. Ultrasound results indicated my amniotic fluid level was at .88cm. Two weeks ago when I had another ultrasound, the level was at 5.3cm.  The heartbeat of the baby was strong though, and I can feel her strong kicks.

March 22 - Spent the day in waiting. Bedrest still. We waited for the OB but she never came and just texted me that its too soon for a repeat ultrasound.  Despite the difficulty, I could still feel the baby moving.

March 23 - OB visited us, and we told her we wanted to go home already and i preferred to be at home instead.  After all, hospital bedrest isn't helping, what with nurses coming in every 2 hours for vitals and I can't even get enough sleep.  I can feel the baby fighting and I know I would fight for it also, but being away from my daughter isn't calming me at all.  My bitchiness is starting to set in.  My OB instead, told me the baby will go out TODAY OR TOMORROW! She tells us there is no chance of survival, she will just monitor it since it will surely come out in a day or two.  She advised the nurses to transfer me to the labor room for "monitoring".  It was the longest 4 hours of my life.  They were monitoring contractions (NON-EXISTENT) and heartbeat of the baby (STRONG!) and I can feel her kicking all the while. And then somebody would go to me and ask me what happened and I'd have to narrate it again (sometimes I declined) and I'd end up crying.  Finally I said wanted to go back to my room.  If baby was fighting, who am I to give up on her.  So they transferred us back to the hospital room. My daughter was also there and it lessened the sadness I really felt.

March 24 AM - Against my OB's advice, I said I wanted to go out and have the bedrest at home.  The hospital expense is piling up, I don't trust my OB, and I can feel the baby fighting. I missed my daughter.  My hubby and I decided instead to go directly to another OB (one I visited when I miscarried last year), for a second opinion.  She advised for another CBC and another ultrasound before I left.  The heartbeat was still good but the fluid level is still going down (meaning the tear isn't healing yet).   So we were discharged from the hospital

March 24 PM - We visited the other OB and though her prognosis was that the chances are really slim at 90%bad, 10%good, she did say it can take days or weeks to finally come through (the miscarriage). I guess it was then that we finally accepted that the baby may not really survive, but I was still carrying on that as long as I can feel the baby fighting, then I will.  She even checked the baby on the ultrasound and heartbeat was still good so she was positive about it. I was happy to be home with my daughter that I missed so much!  until I slept that night, I could still feel the baby. 

March 25 - At 6am, I was feverish, and desperately waiting for the baby to move, but NADA. By 6:30, I was having chills already and my teeth were chattering.  It was not good, I knew the baby was gone, and it seems my body was really fighting the infection. Hubby rushed me to Cardinal Santos where my new OB is.  I came in with a 40.2degree fever.  when I went into the labor room it was 39.8.  They tried looking for the baby's heartbeat but it was gone.  They transferred me to the labor room already for induction, put me on IV/oxytoxin.  I had to push the baby out because they didn't want her disfigured if they pull it out.  Finally delivered her at 3:15pm.  Slept through the D&C and they woke me up only before transferring me to the recovery room. 

It was the recovery room period that was really troubling, since my blood pressure levels continued to drop.  They had to put 3 doses of epi on me to push up the BP only for a while.  I was supposed to be back the room by 5:45 but my BP was at the 77-80 levels so they couldn't let me out.  At 6:30 they finally decided to have blood transfusion (2 bags). I was finally released back to the room at 1:30AM the following day.

March 26 - OB referred me to a Cardio for 2D echo and ECG, because she feared the BP levels and the high heart rate I had the day before may have other effects. I was still on IV antibiotics and continuous monitoring of BP and temp.

March 27 - finally discharged from the hospital.  

The baby was already fully formed. Right now, we've already accepted that she's gone and she will always be our little angel looking at us from heaven.  We're positive that someday, God will give us another one, when the time is right.

Mum's Visit

Crust: Half whole wheat with fresh rosemary. Sauce: Caramelized onions and sweet red peppers. Toppings: Chicken/apple sausage and provolone cheese with fresh basil after baking.

It didn't suck. It was but one of the numerous things consumed during Mom's visit.
Lindz made ice cream with fresh peaches and ginger, it should be mentioned. That was some goodass crap. And then there was dinner at Humble Pie. I got a couple bottles of wine for the occasion (a Vacqueyras and an Aglianico), and we had a smashing time. The mushroom napoleon is great. And the spinach tart. And the black bean crepe with crabmeat. And the shrimp and grits. And the berry tart....
Naturally, there was more to her visit than just gluttony, but the gluttony is easier to remember.

A new first

After 9 years of being together as a couple plus another 4 years plus married, you'd think we'd have experienced most of our firsts together already. First big fight, first car, first family home, first pet, first baby.  Now there's a new first for us, and that is the first time to be physically apart for a month.
Hubby has been assigned to an offshore project for a month in the US. We've been anticipating this already since initially he was supposed to be out in April, but this was cancelled and now he is on a new project and it entails being in the US for 4 weeks.  He left june 27 and is due to be back july 25.
Like all first times, it mighty hard to adjust.  First, I'm so used to having him just here.  Free to text, free to chat, same time zone. The 1 day apart from the time he left to the airport was hellish enough because he was incommunicado.  Thank God for Skype though, we at least get to see each other.  Its a big thing, this technology. At least there's webcam and chat.  Good thing I am allowed that here in the office, I can wait for hubby to be online.
We're just starting with the setup and though I know it'll get easier in time and then one month is just a short period, well, there are times I just terribly miss him, and the thought of not having him here just plain sucks.  I could of course savor weekends I can spend with myself or with my daughter.  Always wanted to go out sometimes, and maybe this is one of those opportunities to do so.
As for hubby, I can only say that this is such a great opportunity for him.  I've always been by himself, and by going out of the country alone he will be more confident and sociable. :-) Spread your wings and fly, my love!

Ausgezeichnetes Frühstück

I couldn't wait any longer. Bryan brought some home made liver wurst back from Germany, an it is heavenly. I suppose I should have had a nice Berliner-Weisse with it, but it was only 9 in the morning.

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Fifty Gallons of Christmas in August

  
Yes indeedy, folks, that's a brand new water heater. The old unit was actually quite effective at heating water, but it just didn't know when to stop. Now I'm as big a fan of 50 gallons of continuously boiling water as the next guy, but it just didn't fit into my household's active, two-career, non-second-degree-burn lifestyle. It would have cost some real cashola to replace the thermostat on the old one, and it was an eight year old water heater.

The best part of all this is that I instructed the plumber to put a few hundred bouillon cubes inside of the new unit. We now have hot running broth at our house.

Mattress Toppers

I just learned about how a mattress topper works today. I actually didn't realized that these things actually existed. They cushion the body and allows for a more comfortable and supported sleep. There are even two types of foam mattresses:

• The thicker memory foam mattress toppers offer increased cushioning, and the higher density memory foam toppers provide firmer support.
• Featherbeds and fiberbeds add an extra layer of softness between you and your mattress to cradle you gently as you sleep soundly.

So next time you go shopping for mattresses, and about nothing seems to satisfy your needs, then foam mattresses might be able to do the trick.

The Unbearable Blizzard of '08

Hoo-whee! I do declare, Mother Nature is one ruthless lady. We're purt-near buried under snow, and it's colder'n eighteen witches' teats.
It's cold enough to freeze water solid!
Yep, this here storm's a real sonofabitch. Came up on us like celery stalks at midnight. Fortunately, I had time to go to Caspian Interational Food Mart on Brentwood Road, and I got some good, God-fearin' processed meats to see us through this ordeal.
They had plenty of news people standing out in the rain and snow on television, 'cause that makes it more serious-like. As you can see from the pictures above and below, there's enough snow to justify the 383 closings and delays reported on WRAL.com.

They're worried about black ice. Black ice?! Who ever hearda such poppycock. Nice, shiny, regular ice is the ice for me. If I'm gonna go tumblin' into the ditch, ain't no make-believe black ice gonna do it, it's good old regular ice.

Almost November!

The days are going by so fast nowadays.  Ever since we started the -ber months the days have been going on fast forward all of a sudden.  Not that I mind though.  I'm happy.  In two weeks we are already off to HK. Yey! Its a dream to see the excitement of my little girl on seeing the Disney characters, on seeing her happiness with the rides, stuff like that.  Last time we were there she was too young to know the characters except for Pooh, now that she's 4 years old she knows all the characters and I soooo look forward to her enjoying Disneyland.

They also declared two consecutive Mondays as holidays: October 31 and November 7. Yey for that. Time for rest and for me to fully prepare for my bazaar.

Then the bazaar weekend, Right now, at a little less than a month to go, I am down to only 17 more booths open for November and 20 for December.  Its the fastest so far, I expect bookings to flood in on the last two weeks of November, but at this point, I'm kinda hoping next week we can fill in the slots, or at least till we leave for HK.  Its not that far off anyway.  So happy.  December bazaar comes after, but I'm pretty confident about that too.

So the weekend will be spent packing up the bazaar flyers, ready for mailing by next week for most participants who did send in their address, and retrieving the addresses of those who didn't?

Overall its a happy time now.  The only downside I see right now is that unlike the past years, I'm not too keen on the halloween parties.  I guess this is mainly because we have something much more exciting to look forward to.  I don't have a costume yet for Jess.  And well, I'm not too excited about it at all.

Tree Removal

Before:
During:
Here's Emilio up in the tree. I circled him. It was a tall tree.
After:
We've still got plenty of trees left. The absence of those two pines and two sweetgums will greatly improve the workload of raking and gutter-cleaning this fall.

fetish for cute stuff

Last saturday was Jessica's checkup. Poor girl had 3 immunizations done to her: Booster for DPT and BCG and her MMR vaccine. She cried loads, poor soul. Afterwards we went to Ayala Center and went malling the whole afternoon. Got Jessica her first pair of Minnie rubber shoes and they fit so well! Could have gotten her a pair of Crocs but I just can't bring myself to imagine that it won't fit her anymore after 6 months, and that costs almost 2k!
Blame it on mommy, whose just so fond of cute things, whether its just office supplies, or small, cuddly stuff. The fact that I have a little girl to buy those stuff to adds all the more fun to it (but dents the pocket, though). But then, having a kid smile at you over the cute thing you bought for her makes it all the more worth it.