Clean House

I've slacked off with a picture a day, the last few days were somewhat sucky with me feeling a little under the weather so I neglected taking pictures but I have returned. Today I decided that, feeling bad or not, I needed to give the house a thorough clean and so I did. I vacuumed a good bit to get a lot of dust out, especially in the corners and on things like our lampshades etc. Now I am achy and tired.

Fried Rice Paradise

Tonight's dinner was fried rice and I made it the style Jason liked. Fried with soy sauce and chicken. I personally like to fry mine with some chili but I decided to be nice and spare him the spice this time. I added a big dollop of sambal to mine when I ate it though. Now to wait for the storm to pass through, we're on a tornado watch.

Itch

My face started to itch at work. I did not get bit, I do not know what I am having a reaction too but it got really itchy and of course I scratched which made it more itchy, which in turn made my cheek turn bright red, like I had been slapped. It went away when I left work. Stress maybe? I often break out in hives when I am stressed but I wasn't exactly in a stressful situation when this happened. weird!

Shrimp

Saw these shrimp on sale at the grocery store today and had a sudden craving for 'sambal prawn' (a spicy sauce over prawn/shrimp) and so I decided to go for it.

Wedding

We attended Jason's cousin's, Brantley, wedding. I love weddings, it's always a fun affair and everyone has fun. We drank, ate and danced! I have not danced like that since forever.

Friday

I failed, I did not get a picture taken today. I was so tired, it took all I could to get to work, do my work, and come home.

Rehearsal Dinner

This evening we attended a wedding rehearsal dinner. My first ever. I had to learn about this tradition because it is not something done in Singaporean weddings. Basically, the wedding party rehearse the wedding and the parents of the groom hosts a dinner after hence the term rehearsal dinner. While we were not part of the wedding, we were invited to the dinner. We had a delicious steak dinner at Stoney's.

Working Out

I have decided that it is time to start being healthy. I have gained so much weight since being sick and the side effects of the prednisone. So now that I am well and no longer on any evil drugs, it is time to start working out. I won't even go into the amount of weight I have gained because I don't know and am too afraid to find out. Wish me luck!

Manly Men Grill

I believe I have mentioned that I love when Jason grills. Today was one of those days. He grilled hot dogs, and I opened a bag of chips for the side dish. No cooking, no mess, no cleaning up. A perfect timing because I have been feeling rather crappy today and am ready to call it a night.

Corn

It's funny how I used to not like corn and now it's one of my most favorite food in the world. I especially love a good juicy corn on the cob. I saw these on sale at the grocery store today and could not resist. So we cooked them in the grill together with some pork chops. I love grill out dinners, it means I don't have to cook, and there isn't much cleaning up to do. A win-win for me!

Anniversary

Today Jason and I celebrated our 7th wedding anniversary. It doesn't seem like it has been seven years, yet sometimes it feels like it has been forever and a day. We decided to rest at home today since the week had been a busy one and we spent most of yesterday out and about. We ordered in pizza and watched t.v, just like we always do, the two of us.

Dogwood Festival

Every year on the weekend of our wedding anniversary, we attend the dogwood festival at Piedmont park in Atlanta. It has become a tradition of sorts. I love festivals, but I have to admit this, we go for the freebies. We arm ourselves with a bag, and walk around collecting free samples, bags, and other useless stuff. The little things, my friends, are what keeps life interesting.

The Smell of Spring

I came home from work, got out of the car, and a sweet smell overpowered my senses. I've smelled this before and could never place where the smell was coming from except that ti had to be from a plant. I realized today that it came from these flowers. I am not sure what they are, but they remind me of honeysuckles, the one we used to eat the nectar from when we were kids. This tree sits right on the property line that divides our space from the neighbors. I truly enjoy the sweet scent of spring and am so glad we are getting a spring this year and did not head straight into summer weather.

The Atlanta Braves

Many years ago, as a teenager in school, the softball team I was in wore the Braves hat as part of our uniform, mainly for the A to represent Assumption, the school I attended. Who would have thought, years later, I would marry and move to Atlanta - The home of the Braves! Unfortunately the Braves have not proven their worth this season, but then, it's still so early and anything can happen. Let's Go Braves!

Hot Air Balloon

We had a hot air balloon demonstration at the school I work at today. Unfortunately, it was too windy for it to fly but it was still neat to see and the kids enjoyed it. It makes me wish I could take off and fly wherever the wind takes me without turning back or worrying about the next destination. Don't mind me, I'm feeling somewhat melancholy today.

Planting

Today the kids transferred the beans we had been growing into little pots they made and filled it out with dirt. I was going to do this on Thursday but two factors made me change my mind. 1: I had 2 kids out who would have benefited from the lesson I was going to do, and 2: those damn beans were starting to stink our room. In fact, most of them did not take off and were starting to rot, the ones that did grow, we planted save a few for the absent ones. This is a little snippet of my job and what I do. It is also a visual reminder of the things I do enjoy, even though sometimes I think I had gone insane when I decided to pursue this career choice. I guess I can deal with a love-hate rather than a hate-hate.

Growth

I have been watching the tree transform and grow its new growth as winter slowly gave way to spring. One of the things I love very much is watching the seasons change, something I never had a chance to do growing up in forever hot and muggy Singapore. I like to think it's nature's way of telling us that there are second chances, and that even when we fall and start to wither a little, we can also spring back and grow again, stronger and mightier.

Knitting

I taught myself knitting a couple years back through a book and online videos. It is not difficult and I don't know why I had trouble learning when I was a kid. I only know the basics and have yet to ever finish a project. I always seem to start with good intentions and then lose interest and forget about what I intended to do in the first place. So I have started again. Maybe this time I will actually accomplish my goal? We'll see.

Baseball Season

And so it has begun - baseball season. This means that summer is so close and I can smell it's freedom, heat, and sweat. Today was the second home game of the season and we went, mainly to get tickets for the rest of the season, mostly games with freebies. The Braves lost this time, but there's something about sitting on the hot stadium seat, with the drunk crowd yelling and doing the tomahawk chop. Go Braves!

Haircut

I have been putting off getting a haircut for a couple months now. Either I was too busy, too tired, or too sick to go get one. I told myself I would get one during spring break and before I knew it, it's Friday. So I decided to just get my butt to one of those no frills, walk in places and get a trim. I really didn't want it this short, I always forget that I need to tell them an inch or two lower than what I want because when my hair dries it shrinks an inch or two. Plus I had a really weird hairdresser who when she ran out of things to say, would say "Nice to meet you." I believe she said it to me several times and I felt like telling her to just spare us both and be quiet but I'm ball-less like that. Anyway, the picture you see is the result. It's not too bad from the back, I'm just going to have to get used to it from the front. And at least hair grows back and this will keep me cool through the summer.

Soul Food

I met with some Singaporean friends for lunch at Chinatown today. I had been waiting for awhile for this trip because I recently learned about a stall at the food court in Chinatown that sold Singaporean/Malaysian dishes even though it was a Hong Kong place. It was so nice to sit down to a meal of food that bring back so much memories. I understand more and more what soul food really means. This my friends, is my soul food, the comfort food of my youth, the food I was fed when I was happy, sad, sick etc. It is the food that will bring me back to a place that while I no longer call home, will always be special to me.

Easter Candy

I did some shopping today and one of my stops was Target. I couldn't resist looking through the easter aisles and wanting to buy useless crap. I wish my cousins' kids were closer or that it isn't so expensive to ship things over because I was so tempted. I ended up getting my favorite seasonal easter candy - starburst sour jelly beans and Cadbury creme eggs. This is all the easter candy I am getting I swear!

Onion Rings

After last night's storm and my itchy eyes saw me tossing and turning and scratching, I finally fell asleep and slept in until almost noon. I really wanted to keep some normalcy for spring break but my sleep schedule is already so off. I managed to get some cleaning done, and got Jason to grill some Italian sausages for dinner and I baked this batch of onion rings in the oven. They're pre-made frozen onion rings, so nothing special about them. I feel worn out today and hope to get more accomplished tomorrow.

Blooming Tulips

The tulips are starting to bloom. I got home from the grocery store and found 3 of my tulips blooming. I wish they stick around longer but it seems like they take forever to bloom, but once they do, they die off really fast.

Pollen Season

The funny thing about life is that there are pros and cons about everything. Even the seasons and mother nature do not escape this. As winter drags on, we long for the sunshine that spring brings. However, spring brings more than just sunshine. It brings rain, thunderstorms (which I love when I am indoors), and how can we forget, the pollen. We enjoy the beauty of the plants arising to the warm weather and spreading their seeds so that nature can take its course. It's such a beautiful time of the year. I just wish nature would tone it down a little so that we are not plagued by itchy eyes and stuffy noses. Ah well, you win some, and you lose some. Who said we could have it all?

In case you're wondering, that's pine pollen on the grill.

Gardening

We decided to tackle the area under our mailbox today. This area of our front yard, is the pit of death. Everything we plant there dies or fails to thrive. So we ended up buying some hardy plants - mainly liriope. So here's hoping they survive and actually grow this time!

Taco Night

I am so glad it is finally spring break! It has been a long 3 months with no break and this break cannot come any sooner. So to celebrate, I made tacos with taco fixings and all. Of course I am a lazy cook, so I got the already chopped up tomatoes, peppers, and onions pack. TGIF!