Kids grow up so fast

Its been almost 4 months since I actively searched for a job. I got an offer today, and looks like its going down the drain again. Its simply not for me. I know its not about being choosy. Yeah, I could grab it on the context that we need the income now, but then it won't be fair to me, and it won't be fair to the employer. Yes I'd have a job, but I won't be happy. And yes they would be happy with their choice, but I'd leave the moment something better comes along. Lose-lose for both of us. So I'm saying no. Well, tomorrow that is.

On another context, it means a few more weeks with Jessica. While she spends a lot of time with her yaya, its still going to be a huge adjustment for me when I go back to work. I might just cry everyday thinking about how much I miss her. For all the times I let her be, seeing her, her milestones, her laughter and tantrums, and seeing her only at night, spells a huge difference and a whole new adjustment period for me.  I seriously think it would have been easier for me if she wasn't talking yet. Now that she's this amazing interactive character, its so easy to miss her, tantrums and all.

But well, that's something I have to get through if I will be moving on and moving up again. :-) Here's to new and more exciting challenges ahead, and SOON!

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THG Waterproof Coffee High Density Pure Canvas Vintage SLR DSLR Camera Messenger Shoulder Case Bag Handbag For f. Nikon Sony Canon Pentax Olympus

Brand : THG

Sales Rank : 268154

Color :

Amazon.com Price : $44.49

Features THG Waterproof Coffee High Density Pure Canvas Vintage SLR DSLR Camera Messenger Shoulder Case Bag Handbag For f. Nikon Sony Canon Pentax Olympus

Package Included: A waterproof classical style camera shoulder bag
High density cotton canvas, processed by sand washing to present you the vintage look and soft touch feeling
Inside pad made of pure cotton, thick and soft, giving good protection for camera and lens
Can be used as laptop bag, professional SLR camera bag, and fashion casual travel bag
Suitable for: DSLR/ SLR/ TLRDigital Camera, Sony/CANON/Nikon/PENTAX, etc

Descriptions THG Waterproof Coffee High Density Pure Canvas Vintage SLR DSLR Camera Messenger Shoulder Case Bag Handbag For f. Nikon Sony Canon Pentax Olympus

Specification:

Condition: 100% Brand New & High Quality
Package Included: A waterproof classical style camera shoulder bag (camera is not included)
Material: High Density Pure Canvas (outside), Cotton (insert)
Color: Coffee
External size: Approx. (L)35 x (W)14 x (H)31cm = 13.7" x 5.5" x 12.2"
Internal size: Approx. (L)30 x (W)13 x (H)22cm = 11.8" x 5.1" x 8.7"
Weight: 0.93kg
Two large side pockets at each end and two large front pocket
Zipper with pulls closure

Feature:

High density cotton canvas, processed by sand washing to present you the vintage look and soft touch feeling
Inside pad made of pure cotton, thick and soft, giving good protection for camera and lens
If you take off the pad, it is then changed into a leisure bag for daily use
The whole bag demonstrates your vintage taste, showing a strong impression of casual and nostalgic
Shockproof box can be removed, attached, adjustable shoulder strap
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Peanut Butter and Chocolate Chip Sandwich

I made it with the bread I baked earlier today. I warmed it on a cast iron griddle, and I posed it beside some Jamaican rum on the rocks and On Food and Cooking, the Science and Lore of the Kitchen, by Harold McGee (open to the page about peanut butter).
Since it's on the internet, everyone is free to view this. But it's for my sister, and she'll know it as soon as she sees it.

got my netbook back

Whew! I'm so happy I finally have my netbook up and running. It has been a frustrating month what with having to recover and recover all over my files because it just keeps crashing. Apparently something was wrong with the harddrive and it was causing all the blue screen terrors. We brought it several times to where the store that sold it (Octagon). First we brought it to Megamall branch. They used the recovery disk and I lost all my files the first time. Then it crashed. I built my own removable cd rom to recover it. same thing. I used someone else's external drive (the offices' equipment). Still crashed. Took it to the Sta. Lucia branch. It still crashed after a week. Upon checking there were a lot of bad sectors in the HD, must be the one causing those crashes. We went back to the Sta Lucia branch and they advised us to go directly to the distibutor for faster service, since if we course it through them it will take around 3 weeks. And so I did. Brought it last Saturday to the distributor, I called up in the morning and they informed me that its ready for pick-up, and they replaced the hard disk. Yey! So happy about that. I went there during lunch and I have it back now. Whew. It was a struggle, but I'm happy its fixed. I hope. I'll be placing it on trial mode for a couple more days but hopefully all will be fine now. In as much as I don't spend too much time on the PC at home anymore, its been a hassle using the bigger laptop. hehe... I still love this one because its just too easy to carry around. And when we go to Singapore next month, I'll definitely be glad I'll be carrying this one around instead of a really bulky thing.

on weddings

My friend, Cathy and Justin will be married soon, 2nd week of June, if I remember it right. She wasn't able to send me any save the date magnets like I would have sent out before, but I do think I was part of the entourage of the wedding. Yikes, I'm so not prepared! hahaha.... I'd have to think out a gift for her too. Tell me, what would I give to a couple who is starting out but must have everything already.
I always loved weddings! And whenever I attend one, I always want to be there in time for the bride to march, simply because I think its an essential part of the ceremony, and I want to be there to see any crying episodes or something. hehehe... call me sentimental! But I simply want to see the love in the couple, I think its really inspiring to see that.
Meanwhile, I would have to think up a nice gift for them already. Suggestions, anyone?

looking handsome

One of the things I don't find in my husband's wardrobe is a tuxedo shirt, and a coat. I would love to see him in one, unfortunately there are not much opportunities to get to wear them since he is not working for a company that requires it. And besides, working in a tuxedo and shirt in a tropical country like ours would be horrible, I can just imagine that one would be perspiring the whole day wearing that one. Might as well ask the ladies to come in fashionable trench coats. But seriously, had there been an occasion that would call for it, I would surely pursuade hubby to get one for himself, though he won't wear it often, its a good investment to keep for occasions that would require him to be majorly handsome! :-p

Ravioli

I made ravioli with a stuffing of ricotta, parmiggiano, sage, mint, parsley and cinnamon basil. The sauce is a simple tomato sauce with the addition of orange zest and juice.

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Brand : VOCHIC

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Color : Khaki

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Features Durable Mens Military Canvas School Hiking Travel Backpack Chest Pack Bag Bookbag

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4 years and counting

It has been more than four years of marriage. Its not perfect, definitely, we were like any other couple. We fight, we encounter problems along the way. But in our marriage, there's always love, and laughter.

We have a long way to go, and more upsides and downsides to come, but as long as there is love, I'm sure we can conquer them all.

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Color : Khaki

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Brand : hotstyle

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Color : Grey

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Linings: Combination design, 1 * laptop/Tablet Linings (29CM width, suitable for 15.6 inch laptop)

For the crowd: Male and Female with height 150CM to 190CM

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Another Day at Work

Gyū-maki

I'm not sure why the picture is slightly blurry. Perhaps the camera focused on the bit of exposed plate in the center, which was a bit further from the lens than the top of the rolls. We ate them, obliterating the possibility of a re-shoot.
Anyway, they tasted good. The scallions added a good element. Perhaps next time, a bit less rice and a bit more beef. Maybe I'll use slivers of grilled flank steak.

Car Maintenance

Ok, so today I had the new car scheduled for maintenance, its actually the third maintenance schedule for the 10,000km or 6months PMS (whichever comes first).  The sad thing about it is the mileage is only at 3,000 km. But since this is something we have to deal with because of the warranty, then it has to be done at the dealership.  Good thing about it is that hubby told the service advisor to use mineral oil instead of synthetic oil.  I mean, who needs expensive oil for 3 months use and like another 1000 km?  We barely use the car, I use it daily for a 4km trip to and from the office, so really, by how much can you really tire the car out, right.  So anyway, from the initial quotation of P 8,960, the actual bill came out at P5,894.47.  Whew, that's a whopping P2,000 off by just using mineral oil instead of synthetic oil.  The joys of having a husband who knows he's way around cars.  Now what I have to prepare for next is the next PMS, which comes around December. Whew another 5000 I think. :-(  Looking on the positive side, at least I am not paying for any amortization.  So this is enough I guess. :-)  Count your blessings, right?

on window blinds

this morning the person I called to yesterday with regards to re-upholstering our sala set came by. actually my main concern with them is to have a quotation for the re-upholstery of the sala set, and to ask how much it would cost to have my first sala set covered. We kinda kept underneath its plastic sheets because we didn't want it to turn black of dust. I also asked them how much it would cost to have some curtains made. he didn't give me a quotation, though it seems to me they are expensive with their service. 6,500 just for labor charges on upholstery is a lot. I can only guess how expensive it would also be to have those curtains made, which is sad, because I wanted to get rid of the window blinds for a change in atmosphere. it looks like it will actually be cheaper to just buy the ready-made ones in Divi. That is the next thing on my agenda, well at least once I get me some money. heehhe...

my new toy

I just got my year 2009 present from hubby. year 2009 meaning, it probably represents all the gifts I am supposed to receive from him the entire year. not that it matters, this one is really to die for, and brings out the geek in me. hahaha... kidding.

Anyway, hubby and I just bought a notebook, the ultraportable and cute MSI Wind LX100sp2+. Pardon the numbers, its basically an MSI Wind. The specs are the best, as far as we have looked around, and the laptop itself is pretty handy to take anywhere. Here are its specs:

• Intel® Atom™ N270 Processor, 2 GB RAM
• Genuine Windows® XP Home
• 10” Wide Screen Display
• Convenient Magnifying Capability
• Ergonomic Big-Size Keyboard and Touch Pad
• 160 GB hard disk drive
• Built-in 1.3 Mega Pixels Webcam
• Built-in High-Performance 2 Channel Stereo Speakers, and Microphone
• 802.11b/g/n Wireless Lan


We've looked around for similar models of a mini notebook that can match this size and specs, and we've really not found one that matched, at least in terms of speed and the price. There are a lot of similar priced notebooks, but most of them only at 1 GB speed. The beauty of having 2GB, for me, is that it will allow me to go back to my hobby of creating digital masterpieces (also known as digiscrapping. And since its soooo portable, I won't have a hard time carrying it about. plus, we don't have to worry about sharing it, since we now have 2 laptops at home (well, we did since I have an office laptop, but I barely use that at home, just for work and the usual web browsing --- the photoshop version installed was really ancient).

I'm just too ecstatic about this one, I really, really, really love it.
Thanks sweetheart! Love you!!!!

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Almost done.

SmokeDroid Strikes Again

Some Salmon spent 24 hours in the fridge, buried in salt, sugar and black pepper. I invoked the powers of SmokeDroid, and this is the result:

I drank Carolina India Pale Ale, and the music was Cornershop, The Police, AC/DC and Band of Gypsys.

The salmon is pretty friggin' tasty.

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.

Last year in July the four of us friends from our previous work in Nestle went to Cebu for an all-girls vacation. It was really a lot of fun and we truly, truly enjoyed the bonding time we had, away from boyfriends and in my case, being the only married one in the troop, away from hubby and daughter.  It was something different from all the vacations I had, I was never the type to go out vacationing with girl friends. For the most part, this is the 2nd time I was away from hubby and baby ever since I got married, the first one being my trip to Boracay which was both work and recreational. :-P

Anyway, back to Cebu.  We left on a saturday and checked in at Marriot hotel. Landed in Cebu around 1pm and we checked in the hotel first, then had lunch at a popular resto in Ayala Mall. We went back to the hotel afterwards to rest and wait for Kate, who would be landing late afternoon. She arrived dinner time already and we went back to Ayala for dinner, then back to the hotel to dress up to go to a newly opened club (sorry forgot the name already). We were at the bar till about 2am, was too sleepy already when we got back. As usual, I am not the clubbing type of gal. never been one, and probably never will. Its also not something hubby and I used to do.

Come morning, we checked out of Marriot and went to Plantation Bay, which was a much, much better resort.  We rested and had to catch up with some sleep, because we were going to Crown regency that evening to test our fear of heights. :-D  And we did, in the evening. We conquered the roller coaster on top of the hotel as well as the skywalk. Well, almost all of us did. Anj backed out last minute on the skywalk, and kate gave up on the idea of scary heights the moment we planned to go there. We ate the very popular pochero of Cebu afterwards, and then back to the hotel, where I slept early while the girls were chatting up with Anj's former schoolmate, Mick.

Monday morning before we checked-out of the hotel, we went for a swim, enjoying the waters of Plantation Bay. Had a blast bonding again with the girls. We had late checkout and went to the airport afterwards.

All in all, it was a very memorable trip with my girl friends. Loved it and hope we get another chance. Oh well, Anj is to be married this month, so she'll be pretty busy adjusting for a while. If not this year, I hope we can get a repeat of our all-girl getaway next year!

Spent Grain Bread and Death

  

I've been lazy, and I haven't had much to say.

My computer at home is broken.

My maternal grandmother died, at the age of 90, on Good Friday.

It makes me frustrated and philosophical.
To shape that frustration into something tangible, I intend to build a table. It will be a big, 8-foot long table for the deck. The kind of table that is meant to be laden with food and surrounded by a big group of people. It will be a fitting memorial to my Grandma, who laid out countless holiday feasts and spent little time sitting down to eat them. Her concern was others' happiness.

My sister and her hubby came down for a visit. We hung out. We ate and drank. That's pretty much it. It was bliss. They brought me some spent grains from a batch of the absolutely sublime Howell at the Moon Stout which my brother-in-law made (with newly increased involvement on the part of my sister). It makes an excellent addition to bread.

Unexpectedly Good yet Backbreaking Saturday

This weekend, the goal was to install the two base cabinets on the sink side of the kitchen. The source of anxiety for me was the fact that unless I successfully reconnected all the plumbing, we would not have a functioning kitchen. Get your calendars out kids - it's almost Thanksgiving. Anyway, we got to work this morning. Here's the whole kit and caboodle:
Much to our delight and satisfaction, everything went as we hoped, with no nasty surprises. Everything is reconnected, with a few (but not all) of the hardware pieces installed. Just look at those pot & pan trays! And check out the ribbed glass in the wall cabinet!

It ain't easy being SuperCouple.

The Ongoing Bathroom Project

This picture is entitled "Chiseling away the Eighties":

"Father-in-Law Peering into the Underworld":

"The Tub is Ready to Jump!":

"A Glimpse up through the Drain at the Pulsating Ever Growing Verdant Vista of the Ultraworld":

"Rusted Tub and Trees: a Mixed Media Installation":

Dinner with the Wife

This is the first time I've been able to fully apply myself to cooking for my wife, and only my wife, for one month. There has been much cooking, but often for a crowd in recent weeks.

The menu is:

Lamb chops on a bed of roasted red peppers with mint

Risotto with garlic and fresh oregano and rosemary

Salad of organic greens with beets, goat cheese and pecans

I had Acacia pinot noir. Lindz had San Pellegrino Limonata with muddled mint.

She took all these pictures. Here's an action shot of me preparing the red peppers:

The meat meets the heat:

I used Grandma's spoon for the risotto:

Here's the finished plate:

I was pleased with how the mint worked with the peppers and the lamb. I also enjoyed using my new All-Clad saucepan for the risotto. Lindz and I had a nice, romantic dinner while thunder rumbled outside.

A Seal Having His Teeth Brushed

Suisin 210mm Gyutou

Ahh, there's nothing like a new knife. Lindz has yet to fathom my consuming fascination with cutlery, much less my newfound desire to know all about Japanese cutlery. This knife was made in Sakai, near Osaka. It is the Suisin Nihon-ko Western Style Gyutou, 210 millimeters in length. It is of carbon steel, so this is the only time anyone will ever see it shine. I prepared dinner with it, and it has already begun to develop its gray patina. It is half the weight and thickness of a European knife of the same length. It is perfectly balanced and wicked sharp. My Viking knife (Ringil) is a good knife, but it is the opposite of this Suisin. The Viking (made in Solingen, Germany) is heavy, thick and well balanced. The Suisin (I have decided to name it Usagi, the Japanese word for rabbit. Yes, I know this is intolerably nerdy) is light, thin and perfectly balanced. I like them both. This Japanese piece, however, seems to approach the "extension of your hand" experience much more closely. The shape of the blade is more to my liking as well. I will have to become familiar with it, and, more importantly, learn how to keep it sharp -- a Sakai knifesmith grinds a different edge on his wares than a Solingen one.

Merry Christmas

Yeah, you read it right. I said "Merry Christmas," not "Happy Holidays."

This was my brother's first North Carolina Christmas. He has been elevated in status because my wife made him a stocking:

He made our Christmas Eve even more merry by bringing Ollie over, complete with a red collar. Christmas cat is a decadent yuletide treat.

I made some pain a l'ancienne, a delayed-fermentation bread from The Bread Baker's Apprentice:

The dough sits overnight in the refrigerator. I made boules for Christmas dinner.

Here they are, fresh out of the oven (by the way, these pics were taken with our new, impossibly tiny, fabulously feature-laden digital camera given to us by Lindz's folks):

And here is how the boules were used. Bryan made a rich seafood newburg (full of scallops, shrimp and crab), and we put it in bread bowls. It was delicious, and it brought back memories of Christmases past. We drank a tasty Rutz pinot noir with it.

Bryan, in his Christmastime extravagance, made the mythical Bee Pie. Lindz has heard about this pie for years now, and Bryan decided to bring forth the legend so she could actually have some.

She liked it. By the end, we were full and dazed in that old-timey Noel way.

Stollen

(listening to "Don't Take your Guns to Town," Johnny Cash)
In the interest of being homey, domestic and Christmas-like, and to uphold old German traditions, I made stollen:


("The Ballad of Ira Hayes," Johnny Cash)
It's bigger, uglier and more decadent than the stollen that my recently departed grandmother used to make. Just like me. Nevertheless, I'm pleased with how it came out. I used candied pineapple, mixed candied fruits and toasted walnuts in there. Stollen is a thing that varies, so I made my own version of it.

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Sandpiper of California Bugout Backpack (Black, 22x15.5x8-Inch)

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Echo -Sigma Bug Out Bag - Echo -Sigma Emergency Systems
The Echo-Sigma Emergency Bug-Out-Bag (BOB) is a full size emergency preparedness kit that is designed to be kept in the home or office. The unique vertical storage ...

Black and ABU Air Force Rucksacks and Backpacks
Bags manufactured in Black and ABU Digital Tiger Stripe for Airman of the US Air Force. US Patriot offers backpacks, rucks, hydration bags, 3 day bags and deployment ...

: Ultimate Bug Out Bag - Fully Stocked with ...
The Ultimate Bug Out Kit with Premium Bag was designed for the individual that is not sure what they need to start their own Survivalkit. This survival kit is fully ...