Showing posts with label hello. Show all posts
Showing posts with label hello. Show all posts

Friday, September 15, 2017

Shrank

My sister and her family in California sent me a souvenir shirt along with a boxful of pasalubong (souvenirs and homecoming gifts) from the Philippines years ago. That shirt didn't fit me. When I started losing weight, I was able to wear it once. It sadly shrank when I washed it. It was so tragic.

But I still kept it.

Today, I didn't have anything to wear for work but that shirt. All my other tops were still downstairs in the laundry room.

...and OMG! Along with the shirt, I also shrank!

Yay! It fits me now!

#kumbatiLili

L1990615

Saturday, October 22, 2016

Hello from my kitchen

I am back to making bread again after a long time. The mister asked me yesterday if we have cinnamon rolls to be paired with his morning coffee. I said we have none, and I have not been buying those kind. I get our rolls at Giant Eagle, but lately I have not been satisfied with their product. Too much frosting It's smothered in frosting that the sweetness on top drowns the taste of cinnamon. The middle part of the 6-rolls-in-a-pan sank. I realized from the low quality of cinnamon rolls I have been buying that their bread isn't made with love. So, I stopped patronizing.

 I came across a recipe online the other week, and saved it in my email. Finally, it's time to try it. First try, I used my stand-up mixer. But I noticed right away that the dough looked off.

Me to the mister: 'yot, nganong nisuway man ko ug laing bread recipe oy nga sakto na man tong akoa sa una. Perfect na man to oy! (Why did I try this other bread recipe when mine is perfect already?!)

The Mister: Di ba lisud man na himuon? (Isn't that hard to make?)

Me: Dili oy! Kapila na bitaw ko gahimo sa una! (No, it's not! I made it many times in the past.)

I have several ebidensya.





So I mixed another batch still using the new recipe using my breadmaker. I didn't discard the first try. I let it rise.

Guess what? It was still a failure! The dough looked runny, and it didn't rise as much as I wanted it to.

So, I scrapped the cinnamon roll idea, and salvaged the two big lump of runny doughs into small buns topped with sugar. The rest that didn't fit in the pan, I made it into a loaf.

This morning, the mister woke me up with my coffee in his hand. He was already on his second roll when I joined him in the dining room. He said the bread tasted like monay.

...and he finished 6.

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Good morning! Have a wonderful weekend everyone!


Friday, June 3, 2016

Ain't Nobody Got It Easy

Hi. I've been lazy to blog lately, and very busy with other stuff. I had a health concern too. Everytime I get so worried, I tend to be really quiet, and I alienate myself away from friends, and even families because I don't want to share it with anyone, but with the mister. The anguish keeps hovering in my mind morning, noon, and night. I don't google about it too. I don't want to add more worries to think about.

That was two weeks ago. I thought it was over, and I am perfectly fine, and then I got a call today that I need to see a surgeon. *sigh. Deep in my heart, I believe this is nothing serious, but is something to monitor closely. Whatever this is, will you please say a prayer for me? I will face this head on. I'll keep calm and carry on. Well, I'll try.

Anyway, while multi-tasking today---working at the e-shop and watching an episode of Royal Pains (Season 8, Episode 2), I heard this song. It was played at 14:30 where Divya and Jeremiah's mother were talking at the beach, sitting on blue adirondack chairs. I just love it. It's a song by Drew Holcomb & The Neighbors, Ain't Nobody Got It Easy.



"Ain't Nobody Got It Easy"

It's a strange and lovely world
It don't make no sense to me
There are few things I am sure of
Ain't nobody got it easy
Ain't nobody got it easy

Standing on the edge of a confession
Waiting for the sorrow to break
Too many reasons, too many questions
Ain't nobody got it easy
Ain't nobody got it easy

Grass is always greener on the other side
Looking for avenues to freedom
I have yet to find someone satisfied
Ain't nobody got it easy
Ain't nobody got it easy

One man's trash is another man's treasure
One man's pain is another man's pleasure
Trying to climb down your family tree
Ain't nobody got it easy
Ain't nobody got it easy
Ain't nobody got it easy


Did you like the song too?  I hope you all have a wonderful weekend.

Friday, May 13, 2016

Busy

Hello from my kitchen. I have been so busy these past few weeks. 24-hours a day isn't enough. But truthfully, I am loving it. There is no idle time. I just get overwhelmed with the lists of things to do, and accomplish in a day. I get confused which one to do first.

The weather here is gloomy and wet. It's been like this for a couple of weeks already. My daily walks and lunch break bike rides have been on hold. I really miss sitting outside when it's nice and sunny. Gardening has been on hold too.

Oh! ...and I am so happy today. I got an email from someone very famous, and one of the kindest and the most generous person I know from afar. I only know her online. Her message made me jump for joy. I'll blog about it one of these days.

Yesterday, I had ginisang ampalaya (sauteed bitter melon) for lunch with my steamed white rice  mixed with red quinoa and brown rice. But I also wanted to have soup. I had okra and squash in our refrigerator, but I ran out of greeneries---spinach, bok choy or kale will do. What to do?

By the way, my ginisang ampalaya wasn't really plant-based. There was one egg in it.

ginisang ampalaya

I remember the previous night that the mister told me about his mother using talbos ng kamote (sweet potato tops) in her Sinigang. And I remember too that we have a kamote growing in a glass goblet by our dining room window.(I forgot to boil this potato and it grew in a basket from my kitchen, and I let it continue to grow in a goblet with a small chip.) I wanted to plant it in the new garden plot that the mister built but the weather wouldn't let me.

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Since, we are growing food indoor, I chopped off some of the kamote tops, and added it in my all vegetable Sinigang. There are more food growing inside in those plastic containers beside the kamote. (Check above photo.) We also have some spring onions in our family room. There were mint and thai basil too but it died when I left it outside last month, and it suddenly freezed overnight.

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Okra, squash, tomatoes, onion, and kamote tops in my sinigang. Yum!

I can be an indoor home farmer now. Until next time.


Tuesday, March 1, 2016

The Godfather

Thursday of last week, on our way home from school, the boy was so excited to tell me about Al Capone. I didn't exactly know the reason of the sudden interest of the famous American crime boss, but I just kept listening. I also told him about the young lady and my trip to Alcatraz in the summer of 1998 before he was born.

The three things I know about Al Capone were: 1) he was in prisoned in Cell 181 in Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary in San Francisco, California; 2) after his time in prison, he went to John Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland for mental treatment, and 3) he didn't pay his taxes.

Then, he also told me that he's interested in watching the movie, The Godfather.

Me: Pwede na diay ka motan-aw ug ingon ana nga salida? Pwede na diay na sa imong edad? (Are you allowed to watch that movie? Is that suitable for your age?)

The Boy: Ma, I'm turning 17 already. I've been watching movies that aren't for babies anymore for a long time. Besides, Abe Vigoda is in that movie!

Me: Kinsa man na siya? (Who is he?)

The Boy: He's in Godfather lagi! (He was getting annoyed.)

Me: Sigurado ka pwede ang 'The Godfather' sa imong edad? (Are you sure that 'The Godfather' is appropriate for your age?)

The-Gotfather-1972-Movie Poster-Marlon-Brando 
Photo source

Then, he wasn't slightly annoyed with me anymore because he was pissed! He stopped talking to me the rest of our way home. He really wanted to watch the movie, but since I haven't watched it yet, I was thinking it's a violent one. You know what I mean---mob, gang, full of crimes, and violence.

I knew that the boy wasn't pleased with me because he didn't ask for his after-school snacks. He also refused to give me hugs before he went up to his room to do his homeworks. When the mister got home that evening, I told him what happened in that afternoon. But, I was careful because I always knew that the boy never liked being talked about. From being pissed, he'd surely be fuming if he'd hear me telling on him to his father. So I told it in Tagalog, a language that the boy doesn't understand at all.
"Kaninang hapon, nagalit si Budoy sa akin. Hindi niya 'ko kinausap hanggang ngayon kasi nainis siya sa akin noong tinanong ko kung angkop na ba sa kanyang edad ang pelikulang 'Ang Ninong.' Sabi niya kasi na ninanais niyang manood sa nasabing pelikula ngayong Sabado." (This afternoon, the boy was mad at me. He didn't speak with me even until now because he was annoyed when I asked him if the movie, The Godfather is suitable for his age. He said that he wanted to watched the movie this Saturday.)
The mister just laughed at me. Hehehe. It sounded funnier when I Tagalized the title of the movie.

Anyway, I think it's fine if  the boy will watch the movie. It's from the 70s and I guess some scenes will not be as gory as mob movies shown nowadays. As a mother, I sometimes forget that my baby boy is going be a legal adult next year. *sigh. Life isn't short, it just flies so fast.

Wednesday, December 30, 2015

Hello!

How was your Christmas? Mine was wonderful, well...almost! I was sick for over a week. I am feeling kind of better now, but this time the mister is sick. *sigh.

Our house is a mess again! The lady just unpacked all her stuff from her apartment in Washington D.C. Some of her things is in the family room, her bedroom furniture set is in the garage, and her luggages and shoes are in the living room. Now she's packing again for her trip to London. Most of her clothes are laid in the guests room's bed because she's having a hard time choosing which one to pack. Her study-abroad adviser recommended for her to pack lightly. I think that would be a very hard thing to do, if she's staying there for six months, and not just five days!

Aside from the constant sneezing, and hacking cough, there is also nonstop loading of dirty clothes in the washing machine. While waiting for the light colored clothes to finish washing, I am fixing our living and dining room so it can look livable again. At least. While doing so, I saw a paparazzo taking a picture of me folding the holiday throw blanket that we got as a Christmas gift from our very dear friends, Tita Su, Tito Bert, and Camille. *Thank you, Tita, Tito and Cam!

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...and I overheard her from the stairs,
"Ugh! I am so tired of packing! I swear this is my last time packing this year!"
You see, last May she packed her things to go home for the summer from her sophomore stay at her university dormitory. Unpack. Then she packed for a week long trip to Ocean City with her best friend, Sammy. Unpack. Then in late June, she packed again for her month long summer student conference which was held in six different cities all over America. She came home in August, and unpack. In that same month, she packed again to transfer her stuff in her apartment in D.C. In Thanksgiving, she packed to go to California for the holiday and to attend a wedding. In mid-December, she packed again to take her things home, and now she's packing to study abroad in London for six months. There' so much packing in her 2015. Hehehe.

Wednesday, August 19, 2015

Yo!

I'm writing this while having my late lunch. I'm having a warm bowl of black and brown rice, and oatmeal combo champorado, with a little creamer and freshly sliced strawberries, topped with some left over fried pork from last night.

lunch

I wanted to blog about the penny farthing event last Saturday, but I just couldn't find the time to upload and choose photos for the post. I have so many things to do--at home and for the shop. This is the last week of summer vacation for the boy. Today is their school's back to school night, which reminds me to start dinner earlier than usual. We're done with school supply shopping though. Thank God.

Got to go!

Tuesday, June 25, 2013

Hello...

...is it beer you're looking for?

  
or watch it HERE!

You know that feeling when you open your fridge and just can't quite find what you are looking for, but Lionel Richie is playing on the piano?