wow, this poor blog is so neglected. Its a new year and so happy to start over...2009 wasn't exactly the great year but I'm excited and looking forward to a great 2010! Christmas was fun as usual although a little different without Jenny ..first year thats happened for as long as I can remember where all the "kids" weren't around.. We did a white elephant exchange this year which I think we'll do again next year. I contributed a zebra print Snuggie:-) Lets see..work has been alot crazier then I ever expected after the reorg...Its definitely been a challenge and some days I'm not sure if I can do it anymore but I'm learning..or I tell myself :-) anyhow, aside from that nothing much going on...Brians' still in school for another year or 2 or 3..haha...I've also been cooking quite a bit lately...I've found cooking to be such a stress reliever for me... I look forward to getting off the bus everyday, coming home, turning on the music in my kitchen and making dinner ,..best part of my day. Yesterday had some friends over for a potluck...we had lasagna, beef stew, tomato basil soup, followed by apple crisp..all very tasty and fun to share with everyone...today, made some awesome fried chicken...its been over a year since I last attempted this dish and so glad I did.. Brian took a bite and I think he was actually speechless for a min.. just a smile on his face then he said, no need to drive to Popeyes anymore.. I'll take that as a compliment;)

Love the new paint color! slate it is for the next few years;-)... also hung up the lennons and a bunch of photos downstairs...actually feels more like we want to live here now which is a good thing...since we plan to stay awhile...also bought a new back door - dutch door actually since we currently have a dutch door and I love it so much. need to find paint for that now..either a brick red or a burgundy/purple...a little more then i expected to pay but its a nice door, fir...Frank's doorstore rocks.. yes a stored devoted to nothing but doors!

and Maui was amazing as usual. loved the condo in Wailea, loved the "new" beach we found in Wailea/Makena..so quiet. In fact, on our last day there we showed up early around 8am and we were the only people there. The water was so clear I could see fish just standing in the water...crazy. Didn't really do much this time other then eat and soak up the sun. went to the Maui Ocean center, Mama's fishouse, some hiking upcountry... found a great Italian place walking distance from the condo - matteos...so good... oh and the gelato - still thinking of the gelato. Brian and I have decided we are going to start our Maui fund right away so we can go again next year...yes there are so many places to visit in this world but I heart Maui and why change it if it aint broke...such a Brian thing to say;-).

4 years later and I am "tired" of the living room....so whats the cheapest thing to do? new paint! haha...when Brian hears me say paint color I think he prepares himself for paint colors..aka, 2 to 3 shades later I'll finally like something..but maybe , just maybe we'll get lucky this time and I'll love the color we chose...slate.. just worried it might be a tad dark when its cold and dark out but we're hopeful it'll work out okay:-)... also going to finally frame our family photos and hang them...we now have 15 PB gallery frames thanks to my Xmas gift cards:-) to cover everyone including some very cool old photos of Brians' grandparents from the early 1900s... and those Lennons I framed for Brian will finally find a home in the living room. I bought 2 shelves this weekend and was going to put them up in the living room then fill it with photos, prints but nah...we have those huge Lennons with nowhere to go so why not. Just need to choose the 2 I like best and a home for the lonely 3rd:-)... also need some new curtains and a redo of the mantle... oh new coffee table maybe?? k, I'm pushing it...no photos till its done and I actually like it:-).
and today was our 7 year anniversary! crazy.. 7 years has just flown by...no celebrations today...took it easy and will be celebrating in Maui in 5 days! can't wait! this was the same week we went last year..hope it'll be just as nice. got a condo this time for a change of pace so not sure what we'll get but staying in Wailea again and hoping to try the different beaches instead of just the one at Maui Prince...

My new headboard! It almost cost us our marriage:-) but heres the bed Brian made for me.. some foam, a piece of board, batting, and some fabric with plenty of staples and voila!..100bucks instead of 699 plus 150 to ship at PB:-)

PB One...

And one we made...

Been awhile since I've posted some food! Since B is out of work, we're cooking more:-).. some of the usual and 2 dishes I tried out recently.. Bolognese sauce and a soup I call clean out the fridge soup that actually turned out really good..its a cross between a minestrone and an italian wedding soup (the meatballs)..

food photography:

Bolognese sauce with fettucine and shaved parmesan

Bolognese sauce 4 hours later.. not sure I'd do this again..it was good but 4 hours?? not so sure

Has it been a month? geez..time flies when you're busy.. I am enjoying a very lazy calm saturday - something I haven't done it seems in a long time.. i felt at ease for once..had a nice dinner at Jaks' with Brian on Friday.. a glass of good merlot and a big fat steak and I slept like a baby.. today I spent the entire day at home, cooked chicken and noodles for J&J and now I'm just sitting back with a cup of coffee..I know people complain about the rain around here but I really enjoyed it today..so calming. The last month has been nothing but stress so I really needed a day like this. A few weeks ago I spent the week in St. Louis at a mtg which turned out really well but man the flight was killer..early morning flight, 2 legs to get there. yuck..came back to more stress at work coupled with the move to a new office space and brian's job and school..but all is well for now. We got Brian registered for classes - finally..this was a lot harder then it sounded.. so many options, so many things to consider and all the apps..poor guy probably had about 10 advising sessions before it was all said and done but I think w'ere headed in the right direction and i'm glad he'll be able to do something he's wanted to do and something that I think will be very fullfilling..hard work I'm sure but fulfilling..so with that out of the way, and some stressful things at work over, I'm finally able to relax this weekend.. we'll see what next week brings...

My first attempt at blueberry scones turned out pretty darn good.. needs to be sweeter but aside from that, pretty good.. texture is like the ones at Starbucks so next time, some more sugar and we should be golden:-).. oh and a picture of Stanley using the liveview on me camera..

I''m on day 6 of using the new bike..so far so good... the last 2 days were much better.. still sore the day after but not so painful when riding so maybe my legs are getting used to this excercise - something they havent experienced in awhile:-).. I'm riding about 6 miles each day and burning about 150 calories each time..doens't seem like a lot but guess every bit helps hehe...
I had my eyes examined today and what do you know, my glasses were bad..so bad I could hardly read up to row 2! haha.. loved the optometrist at costco.. she has given me hope again on using contacts..the last time I tried them they "HURT"! so bad I gave them up.. the new optometrist tried a new brand and voila they went in so easy.. the stigmatism on my left eye is still kinda of weird with the contacts but at least they dont' hurt:-)..so happy. I like glasses but dang they're pricey and its nice to be able to not wear them every once in awhile..tomorrow I'm going to wear them again to get used to them..happy happy.. and I love costco! 2 pairs of lenses for less then 200bucks.. Market Optical charges me almost 200bucks for 1 pair..yikes..unfortunately I had one pair that they couldn't do so I will have to take it back to Mkt Optical becuase its such a "special" frame.. thats what I get for buying fancy frames.. no more of that now that I can wear contacts:-)

Gung Hay Fat Choy! I took Monday off to celebrate..well not really..just needed another day off:-) and I have the vacation so might as well. Anyhow, we had New Years eve lunch at moms and Monday New Years at moms again for dinner with the family.. Mom cooked all the traditional food and then some....the sad part is I was sitting there thinking, wow I have no idea how to do this.. maybe its time to learn.. oh and since I d idn't make any resolutions for new years I made one for chinese new years.. workout more! although the doc hasn't given the official okay to go to the gym, I felt well enough to go out and buy a nordic track recumbent bike.. I still had dollars to spend from work - its so nice when you're forced to spend:-).. so far I love the bike..comes with speakers for my iphone and a built in fan.. Our offices move end of Feb and I'll be bussing it so thought instead of coming home, then heading to the gym I can work out at home and still have time to make dinner and relax before bed.. ah the days are just not long enough.

How cute are these! haha.. you pull the top and the little fish or scroll moves.. hehe.

Its a sad day.. the McRib is no longer.. actually it was Sun when I found out.. went to Micky Ds hoping for a mcrib since I was not allowed to eat greasy bad for me food during my recovery.. still not suppose to but thought sunday I could get a little treat.. how disappointed was i when the guy said no more mcrib! ugh..just had to share...sad sad day.. till next time.

well unfortunately some not so good news to report..Brian was laid off his job last week and yeah took us a little bit by surprise although we should have probably saw it coming since the housing market is so bad but thats alright..new opportunity ..haha.. so in the meantime, I got him a list of "honey please dos".. started off with painting the bedroom which he said he'd help me do about a year ago! but yay its done! its now the blue I've always wanted.. we'll hold off on redoing all the furniture till things settle down and he lands somewhere.. lets see.. next thing is to repaint the window ledges and door downstairs where Stanley has scratched it all up from jumping up to see whos walking down the street.. We thought putting double sticky tape on the ledge would stop that behavior but nope..he doens't mind it now.. ugh.. so not sure what to do next..might just have to deal with it although now he's also jumping onto of my sheer curtains and of course I now have doggy footprints all over my pretty white sheers..ugh..double ugh.. that dang Stanley... and I've been back to work now for a whole week and it went well but not as well as I had hoped.. had to work from home Wed due to pain.. I think I overdid it the first 2 days but Thurs and Fri were fine so maybe next week will get even better.. I'm on week 5 now! woohoo.. although I did call the Doc the other day and asked him why it still hurts and they laughed at me.. well he said, because it can take 8 weeks to full feel 100%..ah.. well that explains it.. I'm an impatient person..what can I say..

Playing with the camera..different settings..can't remember what is what..hmm.. kinda fun:-)

Wow, I can't believe Christmas has come and gone.. well as usual it was great. A little pissed about the snow - we had to cancel the usual dimsum due to the roads..it started snowing like crazy up north Christmas morning..thank goodness it stopped by dinner time.. we hung out at home, then Brian went to the airport and picked up his dad and off we went to Cheng Goos for dinner with our more then 20 boxes of gifts! filled up the whole car but overall I'm pretty proud - I think most everyone loved their gifts..or I hope. funny one was Johnny.. i got 2 camera bags from crumpler..one for me and one for him.. I took mine to dinner and thank goodness he liked it so Brian was like oh you can get one through B&H, etc and of course he got one for Xmas..hope its good for his trip to Europe next year.. I got gift cards, 2 tripods! haha.. need to return them unfortuantely.. and a bunch of other stuff.. I got Brian a Garmin which he likes. He knew..dang thought I was pretty lowkey about it.. I got my prime lens too so I'm set..thats all I need for a while till I learn how to use this dang camera..haha.. russian tea cookies I made for Xmas..almost didn't make it since the stupid oven acted up again..
Me new Crumpler "4 Million Dollar Bag".. why they call it that I have no idea...

tree that Brian killed..forgot to water it..oops

Its snowing!! and lots of it.. been snowing for 2 days straight now and I think we have over a foot on the ground..most of it came yesterday from about 4pm on then it started again this morning.. and stil going as I type..crazy is how i would describe this since we hardly get snow in Seattle.. and we all know how excited I get about snow but having been couped up in the house for almost a week and a half now (lifetime for me).. I was hoping to be able to get out this weekend now that I'm well enough to walk.. well we did go out yesterday for a few hours and how nice it was to get out..also got the last the christmas presents done so that was great timing:-). and speaking of that, my recovery I "think" is going well..Doc says takes 6 weeks to recover but after 2 weeks I feel pretty good except for some slight pain still at the stitches and thus walking really slow and my back hurting from walking all hunched over:-).. I need to fix that asap or I'm afraid I'll end up like that after my 6 weeks..hehe..also contemplating cutting my leave from work to 3 weeks instead of 4 and starting to do some work from home after Christmas to ease myself back into things..getting a tad stir crazy staying at home and not working although I know I need it.. well tuesday I go back to the docs (assuming the roads clear) and we'll see how I am doing... some snow pictures brian took

Stanley having a blast in the snow..I think he likes it:-)

well today is the 1 week anniversay of my surgery..so far so good although this has to be the hardest thing I've done and I was NOT mentally prepared for what it was going to be like..thought I would be up and driving by now, etc but I can't even get in and out of a car without help! - well that and the fact that my surgery was turned into major surgery during..long story but in the end it worked out well and recovery is going well.. 1 week and I'm feeling better...up and about and walking..slow but walking.. the only crappy thing is that I haven't been able to do anything for Christmas..and staying at home is driving me crazy:-( we did a lot prior but no way I'm finishing up in time..oye.. next weekend I hope to be able to get out and do some things - with Brian's help of course.. and speaking of that, no way I could have done this without him..he's like a 24x7 nurse! hehe..I'm so lucky..
Oh yeah, camera is here.. the D90 got here last Wednesday but I couldn't even pick it up and still really can't but I'm so very happy about that and can't wait to play with it. Brian took some photos with it and it looks awesome.. I also bought the 50mm 1.8F lens..well John has it ...haha..but we bought another so he can have one too. can't wait till Xmas for another camera lesson.. and for once I really am not checking into work. I thought I wuold be able to but I honestly need the rest..

Thanksgiving was great as usual.. nothing beats a lot of food and family:-). We did the usual dimsum, then dinner at Goo Goos. I made strawberry cheesecake and some mango pudding for the adults.. I didnt' have any of it but it was all gone so I assumed it was good:-). Kit gave us a free camera lesson.. very cool although I wish I had my new camera with me.. should have it in time for the Xmas lesson though. I ordered the camera and lens last night and cannot wait! how exciting.. hehe.. I dont' know how to use it but can't wait to learn. We didnt do black friday.. got the paper and honestly nothing really enticing - quite dissapointing actually.. Maybe its because I knew all I wanted for Xmas was the camera.. no sales on the D90 - as expected.. not to mention after this camera there is no money for anything else..haha..Going to work for a week then on a leave of absence for at least 2 weeks while I get my health taken care of.. starting to get sick of being poked but the nurses are very sweet so can't complain..could be worse:-) Brian says people will think I'm a druggie after I'm done with all these needle marks on my arms...haha..he's so funny..NOT! All I can say is I'm thankful..in this yucky economy we have a home and job, family and friends..we're lucky...

Ying and I are going to the NKOTB concert this Sat!! woohoo! Donnie was the love of my life when I was what 13 years old? haha..now I wish I still had my trapper keeper where i switched out different pics of Donnie every week.. Better start listening to the CD Jessica lent me so I can sing along.. Brian of course thinks this is the funniest thing ever that I'm going to this concert but he's probably just jealous that he didn't get to fulfill his dreams of being in a boy band so poo to him.. Can't wait - Thanks Ying!

oh and on the house front..I finally settled on me new curtains! Trust me this was no small feat.. 2 years later I think I got everything I need now to do what I've always wanted with those darn windows in my house.. double curtain with white sheers and oatmeal linen drapes from Pottery Barn.. yes, PB.. the overpriced store I swore I wouldn't shop at but now I'm looking around the house and its sad..and the horror, I am also now a PB credit card owner..but I get rewards, and specials, and 10% off .. you know how it goes..and 8 panels later it ADDs up FAST! Can't wait to put it all up and get this over with.. and now I can stop the sleepless nights of contemplating..do I buy them, make them, how long, how many, what color, .. ie, I have a problem.. is it not obvious? haha..

More cooking I did last week..although I just heard the McRib is back! haha.. why this post reminded me of the McRib I have no idea.. hehe.. time to go get one I think..

carbonara with pancetta and peas

Baked chicken parmesan..cheesy goodness:-)

Brian and John have been working pretty hard the last couple of weekends finishing up 2 flooring jobs so with not much going on I've been doing some cooking for them. This weekend we tried the meatball lasagna recipe from America's Test Kitchen.. pretty tasty ..a little bit of work with all those tiny grape sized meatballs but worth it..then Sunday I roasted a chicken, some potatoes and lots of spinach - good for ya:-) I even carved the chicken! Martha would be proud haha.. Oh and guess I am upgrading to a the D90 afterall...yep, Johnny is going to take the D60 - at a discount..Merry Xmas dude;-).j/k.. I'm so fickle but then again who knew photography was fun until I bought one of these darn things..hobbies are expensive..oye..roast chicken...I'm a dark meat fan:-) meatballs ready for the oven..I think I made about a hundred of these simmering in sauce..

all ready to eat

Our pumpkin this year:-).. Brians so proud but it is so cool.. wish it lasted longer:-(