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These Are The Moments I Think That I'm Alive...

December 31, 2008

Done with hibernation and back to reality

Guilty as charge! Just what I was afraid would eventually happen - slacked off on updating the blog. Been busy doing nothing!! So darn happy the artic blast storm didn’t stay long. I was a bit annoyed by all the media though. Every channel I turned to was either the local news about the terrible road conditions, dumb inexperience pdx drivers attempting to drive on the slick, ten feet of snow roads, the bombing in Salem by a father and son, which killed two police officers, the weather forecast and so on. Ughhhhhh...I’m sick to my stomach!

I hibernated more than I needed. I planned to only take off two days work after surgery but it ended to be a little over a week! I couldn’t go any where or do anything. However, during hibernation, I’ve baked a chocolate cake, some cookies, brownies, and banana bread. I’ve never baked so much in my life! That’s a FACT! And I’ve never text messaged anyone as much, too! LOL

Here’s a recap of last week:

Monday – Stayed home and did nothing. Emily’s parents arrived around 6pm at PDX airport.

Tuesday – Stayed home and was a couch potato.

Wednesday – Attempted to get last minute shopping done. Emily came to drop off our presents and stayed until we opened presents at MIDNIGHT (on the dot). The whole Christmas spirit was for Booboo more than anyone else. He sure was excited for all his presents, let alone enjoyed opening other people’s presents. Cleaned up and made hot coco and Booboo and Emily played several rounds of “Connect Four” and then called it night.

Thursday – CHRISTMAS DAY!! We stayed home. Everything and everywhere were closed.

Friday – Stayed home all day and then went to the store and bought a sled for Booboo. My goodness, how is it that a board made of spongy material no more than four feet long cost an arm and leg!!! I didn’t think it worth the money at all.

Saturday – My little family drove to Mt. Hood and tried to find a place where we could put that expensive board to use. It rained the whole drive there and back home. Although the drive took forever, the scenic view of the mountains and valleys were beautiful and breath-taking. Anyway, we didn’t find any place that was open to the public for sledding. We checked out a few places but have no luck. Then we decided to just come home. Even though we didn’t get go sledding, my two boys played a little bit of snow fight. Booboo had so much fun.

We attended an early New Year’s party at a relative’s house and later headed out to bowling then karaoke. Came back to their house and had a “hot pot” feast and had discussions of all subjects all morning. We got home around 6am and knocked out all morning.

Sunday – Returned the sled since we didn’t get to put it to use. The highlight of the day was meeting Emily’s parents – Geri and Jim. We met with Emily’s family at Jin Wah and had dinner. I regret not having a chance to meet them sooner. I really like Geri. I felt so comfortable talking to her.

It felt so good to be back at work finally!! Although it will be a hectic week, it’s better than being stuck at home doing nothing!

And despite all agonies and dramas that have come and gone, it’s time to check back into reality and get back on the road to resume normal activities. “Life Is Too Short...”

Although 2008 has been a rocky road for me, I am looking forward to a better and prosperous 2009!

Happy New Year to everyone!!

December 21, 2008

Update - Surgery and the cold weather

Been busy and haven’t had the time to update blog. Here’s a recap of what happened since Dec 14th:

Dec 15th – It was snowing and all PDX metro area schools closed. Employer closed the office too so I just stayed home and watched the news all day. Emily and Thai came by and spent the day with us. I made kapoon (curry noodles) and Emily baked brownies and cookies. We had an awesome time.

Dec 16th – Schools were closed again. Woke up and called co-work to see if she was in and if the road conditions were ok. She confirmed that the main roads were ok. I decided to go in. I made sure the car was all warmed up. This part of the morning brought me back to the winter days in MN when I had to get up early, scraped off the snow and ice off the windshield and windows. Anyway, I was the first to drive out our cul de sac. It was slippery and icy. I was having difficulties getting out and onto the other streets. But it was fine when I got to the main street. Although my vehicle has 4WD, I had no idea where the button is so I had to call my husband and ask. After he told me, I put in 4WD but it didn’t really make that big of a difference. It was still slippery and icy. I was irritated by the guy behind me. I kid you not, he drove so close I was afraid if I hit my brakes he would rear end me. Stupid PDX drivers!!! Later when I came home from work, watched the weather all night to see what the weather will be like the next day. They said it was going to be pretty bad – snow and then later mixed with icy rain. Yikes! I’m freaking out!!

Dec 17th – Schools were still closed. Got up to watch the news and the weather man said the morning looks ok but just make sure you can find a safe way home. That just did it for me. I’m embarrassed to admit that I am a wimp. I will not drive on the icy roads. I emailed my boss and told her I’m not going in because I am not comfortable driving on those icy roads. I stayed home again.

Dec 18th – Schools still closed. Although it was snowing a bit in the morning, I decided to go into work and get some things done before my surgery tomorrow. I am taking off on Dec 22nd too so I need to get my butt into work and finish what I can finish for the week. A little nervous about it but it will be ok.

Dec 19th – Surgery day!!! Emily came to pick me up at 8am. We had to be there 8:30am to register. When we left my house, I started to get nervous and the only one thing on my mind was Starbuck’s coffee. I just wanted a double shot of something. But then of course I knew I couldn’t have anything before the surgery so I resisted and didn’t get anything. Finally got there and I kid you not, my nervousness was getting to me that every sign I read was wrong. My mind was not fully there. Emily laughed at me. She repeated assured me that everything was going to be ok. We hung around a little bit then Emily suggested that we should go get coffee for her since she hasn’t slept the whole night. Got coffee and waited to be paged when a room was ready. Boy, I got so nervous when we walked to my room. All that was going on in my mind was that movie “AWAKE”. I was paranoid. Anyway, surgery went fine. Had a headache the nurse gave me a pain killer so it would help relieve the headache and the pain. All I have to say is that pain killer didn’t do so well in my stomach. I got nausea and wanted to barf!!!! Was hungry and told Emily that I wanted to go eat Pho afterwards. We left the hospital and on our way to the Pho place. As soon as we sat down, I felt it coming up. I ran to the bathroom but nothing. Sat down and ate pho in ten minutes and then came home. As soon as we got to the door, I ran straight to the bathroom. Yep, it was time! Thank god for those quest bathroom on the first floor right by the entrance way! Just laid down the whole day and relaxed on the love seat with my foot elevated the whole time.

After Emily got off work, Thai and Emily came to spend the night. Emily is great! She is so thoughtful! She offered to spend the night and help cook and help me get around. Thanks for the spaghetti Em!!! It was delicious! We ate and watched a couple of movies and knocked out. Thanks again Emily and Thai!

Dec 20th – Wow, my foot did pretty well over night. It didn’t bother me at all. It’s probably because I relaxed and kept it well rested. I haven’t taken any pain killers yet. Woke up this morning with a little discomfort and asked for two Tylenols – regular Tylenol. My husband made breakfast. Everyone ate and then it was already time for Emily and Thai to go because Emily works are 2pm. After they left, I just laid low and relaxed on the loveseat again. Around 7pm, I got bored and decided didn’t want my bananas to go bad so booboo and I made banana bread. I know I should be up but I was so tired of lying down all day long. Don’t worry I didn’t stand for too long! I gathered all that I needed and put them on the table then mixed everything while sitting down. See no pressure on the foot? Ate banana bread and helped booboo with his homework and with reading and writing and it was time to call it night. Took two Tylenols again and headed to bed. See no pain killers yet!!!

BTW, it's snowing like crazy and cold!!!

On another note, I heard that mom went to ER today. How come no one called to inform me? Did they not want me to worry since I just got out of surgery? I just talked to her last night to update her on my surgery. Whenever she sleeps more than usual, she always end up in ER and the docs usually can't find anything but will just diagnosed that she is low on oxygen, potassium, calcium, or that blood pressure is too high. Well, I'll call tomorrow and talk to her. Love you mom!! Get well soon!!




December 14, 2008

Snow in PDX!!!

Darn, I spoke too soon! It was snowing like crazy today and cold too. Woke up and planned on going to work but then booboo yelled out, “Mommy, it’s snowing!” so I peeked out the window. Goodness! My eyes widened when I saw the thick layers of snow on the garage roof. It reminded me of the Minnesota winters. Ugh… I immediately got discouraged and didn’t feel like going anymore. Also, I couldn't stop thinking about the inexperience crazy PDX drivers during times like this. I would much rather stay home and be safe then to be out on the streets with a bunch of lunatics!

I didn’t realize it was that cold until I went outside to capture precious moments of booboo enjoying the snow. My fingers were freezing cold! To be quite honest, it has been eight long years since I left the excruciating cold Minnesota winters therefore, I don’t remember the last time my fingers got this cold.

Anyway, I tried to make omelet for the first time this morning and I’m embarrass to admit that I was unsuccessful. It's not as easy as it looks. LOL Oh for crying out loud, I don’t cook omelets. Simple scrambled eggs will do it for me.

***GOOD NEWS!!!!!! EMPLOYER IS CLOSE TOMORROW!!!!***

Enjoy the pictures!

I can't believe this tree survived the snow.


Booboo saying "hi".


The Persimmon tree.


Booboo and the Persimmon tree.


Booboo and the Fuji apple tree.


Can you find him?


Hahaha...there he is!!!!


BRRRRRR...ready to go inside.

December 13, 2008

It wasn’t as cold as the weather man predicted. PDX folks panicked for no reason as usual. Business was definitely good for the grocery stores because paranoid people stocked up like crazy. Or maybe the cold winds haven’t made its way here yet. Then again PDX has crazy weather so it’s impossible to predict what the weather will be.

Today was boring as usual. Planned to go into work today but didn’t. Was lazy this morning so decided to go tomorrow. Booboo said he wanted pizza so we stopped by Costco and picked up a WHOLE pizza. It was a zoo at Costco, probably because of the holiday.

I am so overdue for a haircut. Made appt and got my hair cut. Cut off about 4-5 inches. Yeah, I know it’s short but it’ll grow back. Came home and colored it chocolate cherry.

BEFORE


AFTER


December 12, 2008

This morning was cold. Met up with the hubster for docs signing - refi on current mtg loan. Going from ARM to 30yr fixed. What a relief! Well kinda, sorta. I don't have to worry about refi ever again. Only downfall is the pymt is high compared to what we used to pay but that's because it's mtg + MI + property taxes, and home ins. In a way I am glad that this time around, we combined taxes & ins. Thanks god! Now I don't have to worry about getting a bill from the county every November! Another thing that gets to me is we have to pay MI this time. DAMN!!!

Headed back to work and it all went downhill from there. Anxiety attacks started kicking in. My breathing got heavier and heavier. So many things circling in my mind. SO MANY THINGS... I felt my body getting weaker and weaker. I hadn't had anything to eat all morning. By the time I reached the work parking lot, I thought I was going to collapse. I kept telling myself to hold on. Put on a fake smiley face whenever I passed other coworkers. Made a cup of green tea hoping that it would help a bit. Tried to focused but every time I looked at the clock, it didn't even move an inch. Arghhhhh!!! I felt my soul crying out for help and wanting to speak to someone - someone who doesn't even know me and vice versa. Someone I can tell my problems to and won't judge me. I wanted to hear that other someone tell me everything was going to be ok. **big sigh** When the clock hit 4:15, I didn't hesitate to shut down my work station and called it night.

On the drive home, spoke with a confidant and had baby cries here and there. Rambled on and on and on like a motor mouth. Was informed that it might be depression. Oh really? I never thought I would hear someone diagnose me with such condition. Who wouldn't be depressed? For this land I am standing and traveling on is like a desert with no camel footprints.

To be continue...

***MISS MOM AND DAD DEARLY***

Photobucket

December 11, 2008

Last night I made pho. Picked up booboo at home and headed to the Asian store and bought stuff. Came home and wasted no time and went straight to cook. After almost two hours of cooking and preparing, I was pooped out. By the time everything was done, I wasn't hungry anymore.

Whew!!! It’s been a long day. Work was okSSDD (same shit different day). J Went to the Dr’s appt and got there around 10:45am. A Filipino woman arrived shortly after I did and was limping badly. She looked Asian but I didn’t pay attention to what ethnicity. While completing the registration paperwork, the only voice echoing in that small office was hers in some foreign language dialogue. It sounded familiar and I suspected that it was a Filipino dialect only because one of my coworker has the same foreign accent. I didn’t realize that the Dr was Filipino, too. Dr. Myrna Casono – how was I supposed to know that was a Filipino name or last name?

Dr. Casono was nice lady. Although I was only there for pre-ops physical, I asked her a lot of questions and she answered every one of them. This is the first time I’ve met the doctor but felt like I’ve known her for a long time. Again, she was very nice lady.

Came home and made several calls to creditors and paid some bills and then headed out to Subway for a yummy sandwich with boobo.

Anyway, looking forward to tomorrow because it's Friday but definitely not looking forward to the cold weather as predicted by weather forecast guys. Watched the forecast and they predicted that it was going to be the coldest few days of the winter. People here in OR are not used to the freezing cold weather so when they hear it's going to get colder then usual, they stock up food and get chains on their vehicles. And people here go crazy! The groceries reported that business is going really well during times like this. But in my opinion, I still think it's nothing compared to MN cold weather - negative temperatures with negative wind chills!!! Now that's BRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!

Night…

December 10, 2008

Pulled boobo’s tooth (front) out last night. It was wiggling and will need to come out sooner or later. He was so good and very cooperative. And even I was brave yanking the tooth out, too. When it finally came out, booboo said, “Mommy, that wasn’t so bad...” Awe, my heart melted. We cleaned it with cold water and applied gauze to the open pocket.

Took a few pictures of him with broken tooth. He looked really cute with an open space in the middle when he smiles. After a long half an hour trying to pull his tooth out, he finally went to bed and I showered and called it night, too.

CHECK THEM OUT:
He was excited we finally got it out!



Below: He was so tired he could hardly keep his eyes open.


Morning was same as usual – sluggish. Got to work and called a ton of Dr’s office for an appt to get pre ops check up done before surgery next Friday – Dec 19th. It’s required for surgeries now. Have really bad bunion on right foot and finally decided to get it done. Left side was done and it was a life saver. No more pain when wearing shoes (mid-high heel). Can’t wait to get the right foot done and over with and be pain free!

December 9, 2008

Hello!

Hello...bare with me as I slowly come out of my nutshell.

Just started this blog to keep a journal of my everyday happenings. I have a short memory and I don't remember what I did for the day. And maybe some day I can look back and read what I've encountered, accomplished and/or need to accomplish in my life.

So here we go...

Life is ok at the moment. Not going into details but I wished it was better though. My little family is still all together in one piece under one roof. Although I am still confused and hurt at some things but hey who said life was going to be easy. I try not to think about it and just live and enjoy everyday like it's my last, with all the people I love most. At times I have anxiety attacks and wondered if it's the right thing to seek help for alternative substances to ease the mind and soul. Sometimes I even wondered if peace will ever come find me during stressful times. That's all the elaboration on my life.

Couldn't get out of bed this morning. It's hard to get up every morning! Funny thing is the alarm is set one hour before I actually wake up. Don't ask...I don't know why I do that. The snooze button gets hit several times and hard too. If the snooze button was a human head, it'd probably have the worst migraine. My only motivation to get up and feel lively is to wake up my booboo and stretch a bit together with him before completely awake. I'm always rushing in the morning. Why? Why do I torture myself like that? Probably cause I think I can beat the ticking time. LOL I know it's pretty bad!

Work is work. Same thing everyday and repetitively boring. I know...I need to get out and find another more exciting job. My only hesitant is there's a lot of flexibilities at my current job and no micro managing.

Hoping for a new start and new day tomorrow. Later...

***WOW, PRETTY LONG FOR THE FIRST BLOG***