Christmas Is Here

Today I spent the day cleaning my living room and I mean CLEANING. You know the kind that you're on your hands and knees wiping the corners of the walls. I'm so tired from cleaning and decorating our Christmas tree and our house. Now my house looks like Christmas just threw up all over my living room. It's green and red so you can't get more Christmas-y then that. I've been toying with the idea of changing the theme of our Christmas tree but I've decided to wait. My son was helping us decorate the tree and I wanted it to be his tree and he can put what he wanted on it and if he broke an ornament then I won't be too angry because they're old. Which he did break a couple of ornaments earlier. I wanted it to be fun and colorful so he'll remember this experience, I think it's more for him than for us. We decided to buy a fake tree last year because it was just less messy and cheaper in the long run and also we didn't have to drag it from some lot and bring it into the house. Now my living room feels clean for the next 5 minutes and I'm sure it'll be upside down again within minutes. We're sort of ready for Christmas, we just have to put Christmas lights on the house, Christmas cards, presents and we're good. Did I say that we're sort of ready... hmm I take that back.

Four day weekend

It's Sunday today. I had a lovely 3 day weekend, because it was relaxing. My cousin came up from San Francisco to spent time with us doing the Thanksgiving holiday. It was really nice catching up with her. We haven't seen much of each other because we get busy in our lives and it's hard to take a minute and see how each other are doing. My cousin is the only family member from Malaysia I have who is living in the U.S. So it was really nice to have her here for Thanksgiving. It's comforting to talk to someone who knows who you really are. You don't have to pretend that your life is perfect and you have everything under control. My husband took care of our son while I went shopping with my cousin yesterday. Anybody who is a mom knows that it's a luxury to shop without your children because you can't concentrate when your child there. I guess while I was out with my cousin, my husband brought our son to the park and a pond near our house. Here's a couple of photos that he took. My husband was going crazy taking pictures with our new camera.

Thanksgiving

Yesterday was Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving day always falls on the fourth Thursday of November. It's a big holiday in the United States. It's a day that everybody give thanks to what they have in their life. It's a day of eating turkey with gravy, marshmallow yams, green bean casserole and pumpkin pie. People usually share this feast with family and friends. I think everyone love this holiday because they are with friends and family the whole day and everybody gets to eat as much as they want and watch American football while the food is being cooked.

The day after Thanksgiving is called Black Friday. It's the first day people start shopping for Christmas presents. It's just unbelievable how people shop in the U.S. Some stores open at 1 a.m and others 5 or 6 a.m. Some of those people get there really early and stand in line until the store opens. I did it once when I was in college because I had nothing else better to do and wanted to experience it. It was fun but I never did it again because I didn't see any point to it. The sales are o.k but nothing worth waking up early in the morning and standing in the cold. I'll stand in line if they were going to sell a 40 inch flat screen television for $100 USD, which I don't think is going to happen any time soon. Shopping in America is an experience because sometimes you can't believe how cheap things are. My mother was shocked that even cars go on sale. I just found out today a Wal - Mart employee died because he was trampled by people who were standing in line since Thursday. When the police said they had to close the stores the customers were complaining that they have been waiting since Thursday for the store to open. It's just sad when a human life is less important than material stuff.

Anyway, I've posted pictures of what we had for dinner on Thursday night. It was delicious and it was even sweeter because I shared it with friends and family.

Television Addict

Thursday night is must see TV for me. It has my C.S.I. Las Vegas, Grey's Anatomy and there's a couple more shows I try to watch but it's kinda hard to watch it when it's on at the same time. I love watching television. I'm such a T.V. addict it's not even funny. I think it's in the blood because my brother and sister are T.V. addicts too. I would tape all my favorite shows and watch them later in peace. I love crime, sitcom, drama, you name it I like it.

Anyway, right now I'm obsessed with Grey's Anatomy. I find the characters and their relationships fascinating. The plots are so out of this world that the fans live vicariously through the characters on the show. How can one not be curious with nicknames like McDreamy and McSteamy. The drama and romance on the show is totally great and it helps that the actors are easy on the eyes. The music on Grey Anatomy is pretty cool too because it sets the mood of that scene. Right now, I'm loving the story about Dr. Christina Yang and Dr. Hunt. I'm usually annoyed with Katherine Heigl's character Dr. Izzie Stevens, but now I'm curious and I want to know if she's losing her mind and her ex-boyfriend Denny is her guilty conscious or Denny is a ghost that came back to help Izzie go on with her life guilt free. It's a long story but a great one. I know I'm rambling but it is a great series and you really should check it out if you haven't. I hope you love it as much as I.

A Joke

I would like to share with you a little prayer that was e-mailed to me by a friend a long time ago. It's called A Prayer for the Stressed. Keep in mind I was still working.

Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
the courage to change the things I cannot accept,
and the wisdom to hide the bodies of those people I had to kill today because they pissed me off.

And also, help me be careful of the toes I step on today as they may be connected to the ass that I may have to kiss tomorrow.

Help me to always give 100% at work...
12% on Monday
23% on Tuesday
40% on Wednesday
20% on Thursday
5% on Friday

And help me to remember....
When I'm having a really bad day,
and it seems that people are trying to piss me off,
that it takes 42 muscles to frown and only 4 to extend my middle finger and tell them to bite me!

Amen.

Life of a Stay at Home Mom

I can't believe it's Wednesday already. Time flies when you're busy, which is a good thing. I have so many things on my mind that I'm having a hard time keep my thoughts straight while having a conversation with someone. Why is it with women we can't just relax and say to hell with it ? I know I'm generalizing. Today I was thinking of bills, errands and what I have to do on Thursday to get ready for Friday. My brain is driving me crazy. My mom always told me to make a list to organize my thoughts. I try to do that and hope that I don't stay up all night thinking about stuff. Sometimes I like to leave the television on before I sleep so that I can listen to what's on instead of focusing on my thoughts.

I am trying to organize a small party for a friend who is turning 30th, which is no big deal. Then I realized that on Friday I have to come up with a science project to do with preschoolers and also bring snacks for them. I know I can handle all this, it will be fine, so I wonder why I'm stressing myself. Things happen and I need to take care of it. I need to learn to let go and not think it's the end of the world if it doesn't get done. The world will still go on if it's not perfect. Wish me luck that I don't lose my mind between now and Sunday.

Busy Monday

Monday. It's a start to a whole new week. I'm kinda happy because I've figured out what I'm cooking tonight and tomorrow night. I had to figure out what I was going to feed my husband and son in advance because I have a parenting class for his preschool tomorrow evening. Tonight it's pot roast with grilled asparagus and garlic potatoes. My husband will be happy because it's not Asian food..hehehe. Tomorrow it's nasi minyak with rendang. That's a load of my mind. I can't believe I spend $72.00 at the grocery store. Hopefully it'll last us a while.

Anyway, today my son and I went to a field trip with his class. It was kinda fun and cute. We went to the Nimbus Hatchery, it's where California Dept of fish and game spawn and rear salmons and steelheads. In the visitors center there was a room where you can observe how they get the salmon's eggs. I missed how they killed the salmon in order to get the eggs. I think they gas the fish first then hit them on the head and cut them open to get their eggs. I don't think I could stomach seeing that process and I know I didn't want my 3 year old to see that just yet. I don't feel to bad about them killing the fish because after they spawn, the salmon die. I've come to the conclusion that ignorance is bliss. I like the fact that I go to the grocery store to buy my meat that has been cut and cleaned. I wish I could be a vegetarian but I like meat too much to give it up. It was an interesting visit and I think the kids had fun. It was a beautiful day too.