it's ladies' night

My better half prepared the Cream of Spinach soup
which turned out really tasty.
We had chicken salad on the side, and everyone likes the Laughing Cow Cheese!
Our Spanish belle said: "La vaca que rie!"
Mrs. Brown said:"La Vache qui rit!"
As for Mrs Carter who remembered eating it while she was in Vietnam: Con bò cười.
For me, i first tasted it when i was in Europe. Sometime it's amazing how little thing like this connect people together! We had a wonderful time sharing our lives over the simple meal, and a sweet time of fellowship and prayers.

a loud start to a quiet day

This morning, I was woken up by the fire alarm - it was a few minutes past nine.
my little one wanted scrambled eggs for breakfast and decided to do it himself! It's all well and good except that while waiting for the pan to heat up, he sat down and watched cartoons...It was a good thing that we had a super sensitive fire alarm!


I like quiet Saturdays. Sleeping in is big for me, even though just for today for this will not last ....The soccer games began in two weeks.
my better half fixed lunch today - salad and Chicken Romano, the lean cuisine box meal from School's Co-op.
As for the rest of the day, I got back to my card making - pressed flowers cards.
Last spring, I gathered and pressed wild flowers (and grass) and now is the perfect time to show case my collections... You may not have noticed most of the flowers/ grass, or even stepped on them; but the Creator poured His artistry in each flower and on every blade of grass. He never ceases to amaze me..

it's been awhile!
the little one has been sick for weeks,
and it doesn't help that my better half was out of town for sometime...i was glad that he's back now and the little one returned to school this week.
for the past weeks there were a lot of "what if" and "i should have" and found myself made many trips to the land of guilt and doubt; because the little one had never pay a visit to Doctor since we moved here 8 years ago!




yeah! Spring is just around the corner and my appetite is back!

his name is Justin

The door bell rang and I thought the mail man came early today.
A stranger stood there trying to be friendly. There were a few studs on his ears and a small star tattoo right under his left ear. It's obvious that he's a smoker.
He told me he needed help to achieve his dream, namely a trip to Rome. He proceeded to show me the paper in his hand, and asked if I wanted to subscribe to any magazine so that he can earn enough point to qualify for a travel contest and the $2000 top prize. I asked him a couple of questions and he does not want to waste his time and walked away.
I dug into my purse, took my dog Jack and walked around the neighborhood in search for him. I saw him came out of a junction and called out his name. He turned around with a puzzled look on his face.
"Any luck this morning?"
"No. Nobody wants to help me."
We stood by the road and he stooped down to pat Jack.
"I had been there."
He looked up, surprised by what I said.
"I was in Europe, went door to door trying to sell books. Most of the time people just slammed the door at my face." We shared a laugh with that thought.
I did it for a different reason though and asked if he had heard about Jesus. He nodded.
"I like people with dream." I said, "I've visited many countries and places, it was people that matter at the end of the day." I told him that someday he may end up in Rome and pressed a few bucks into his hand.
"I want you to know that God loves you and you can call out to Him anytime." It was obvious that he did not know what to do with me.
"God said I have loved you with an everlasting love, I have drawn you with loving-kindness. "I quoted Jeremiah 31:3. "I want you to remember that."
As we parted, he thanked me and I gave him a hug - what was I thinking?!!
He matters to God.

Papa John's

since there were one and a half hour drive to the airport, we had a quick lunch - and for a guest from the other side of the world, Papa John was the best choice!
we ordered the children's favorite:cheese, pepperoni and sausage, and the Hawaiian BBQ chicken for ourselves, and the very berry sweetreat!
i remembered we used to get together with the Lindamans on Sundays, and the standard lunches were Papa John's pizza and popcorns for dinner! i miss the people in the Mid West....

thumbs up for Italian food

An old friend dropped in over the weekend and took us to Romano’s Macaroni Grill for dinner. i had Grilled Chicken Caesar Calzonetto. We usually celebrate birthdays here with the credit card vouchers. My little one told the waiter how good the complimentary birthday cake was and he was sad because no one had birthday this month. The Smothered Chocolate Cake , topped with warm homemade chocolate ganache and sprinkled with pecan pieces - by far was the best chocolate cake we have had ever!
well, those of you who had gotten to know my little one and how charming he could be, we were served the complementary cake at the end of the meal!

selamat hari jadi Le-lah

Wednesday night:
went to Le-lah's surprise birthday party with the Middle Eastern theme - almost everyone dressed up for the occasion and the backgroup music was very Arabian. There were good spread of finger foods, some from Aladdin (Mediterranean groceries & deli) and most of the stuffs were foreign to me. i'm not very comfortable in a big group of strangers, even though i've met most of them before. i was really glad that Jay was there,
our sailing days created an instant bond that only the fellow seafarerers can understand and appreciate!

who is in the air?

We took a trip up north on a cloudy Saturday morning - (and yes you can bring your friends along). Have you heard of Jungle Aviation And Radio Service - JAARS ?
It turned out to be a wonderfull trip. My fourteen year old with a life long dream of becoming a pilot and in recent years, his aspiration has been to be part of a medical mission when he grow up. Big dream indeed but that's what being a kid is - dare to dream and the sky's the limit!
My sixteen years old with a keen engineering mind just like his Dad was more intrigued by the helicopter instead. As for the little one - i doubt that he would ever want to be on a little plane again!
After all the excitement we had five very hungry boys sat around the table and finished up two loaves of bread, two packets of ham/turkey and a big pack of chips.

what is life?

We had our lunch date in between our medical and dental appointments - how romantic was that! My better half got the coupon for the Uno Chicago Grill quite awhile ago and since we were around the neighborhood it worked out well for our lunch date. i had the lunch special: sirloin tips w/ sautéed mushroom and onions on pilaf rice and veggie soup. There were limited conversations during lunch. I was somewhat affected having just gone through the whole insurance & billing episode. Well this is life and there is so much to be thankful for! Given a day like this, things could have turned out differently.