Oh the joy of being pregnant…
I have been feeling nauseous for hours. I ate something light. It stopped. But soon as I finished eating, I began feeling nauseous again.
I haven’t been feeling active at all. My husband is at the jazz festival right now. By himself. While I am sitting home alone–well, with my 6 dogs.
I feel like eating cookies. Jelly-filled butter cookies. Yum.
We went to the fresh market today. I bought 2 pints of sweet strawberries and 1 pint of peaches. The strawberries were so good and sweet. The peaches are not ripe enough so I have to wait for about 2 – 3 days to eat them, which is fine with me.
I am hungry. Just a bit. I don’t know what I want to eat though. So annoying. Sometimes I know exactly what I want to eat/drink but other times, I have no clue of what I want to eat. I wonder if other pregnant women out there are feeling like this too?
Thanksgiving is over. I had a lot of fun this Thanksgiving. My husband helped me cook–very nice of him. The turkey came out great according to my husband. I did not make pumpkin cake because after baking pumpkin pie, I thought we had way too much foods for 2 people. So I plan to make the pumpkin cake today instead.
On Thanksgiving night, my husband went to bed at a little bit past 10. I am not sure if he was tired from the turkey he ate or from playing football the morning of Thanksgiving with the guys from our neighborhood.
On Black Friday, my husband and I spent time shopping. Not much though. We weren’t on planning to spend much money so we didn’t really look for anything. Just browsing through stuff. My Christmas shopping list is pretty short. I pretty much only have … mmm, let’s see… about nine people maybe. My husband, my bestfriend, my facialist, my little sister (from Big Brothers Big Sisters)+ her 2 siblings, the postman, and the 2 little boys who live next door. So far, I am done shopping for my little sister+2 siblings, the 2 boys next door, and the postman. I might get some toys for the 2 little boys next door next week. I will see if there are any sales going on closer to Christmas at the toy shop. Or perhaps I will buy them bunch of used books from the library. The gift of knowledge is precious from where I come from.
I am thinking about Christmas right now. I don’t want it to be over… I know it hasn’t even started yet. I like the feeling of anticipating Christmas. Everyone is in a good mood and feeling joyful. I love those feelings. I want that feeling for the rest of my life.
My husband is working at his part-time job tonight (from 6PM – 1AM). And I just got back from grocery shopping. I bought everything I need to make next week’s dinners and lunches for both my husband and I. I still have quite a few ingridients I can cook from last week so I didn’t buy much this week. I bought some extra items: 2 jumbo packs of baby diapers ($22) and 3 cans of tuna ($3). The baby diapers are to be donated at my church tomorrow and the canned tunas are for the homeless man who I see everyday at the bus stop.
Dinners and lunches for my husband next week are going to be Bulgogi, Lasagna, and meatballs. I actually still have to buy some extra ready-made mashed potatoes (buy-one-get-one-free) tomorrow. I have some veggies (cauliflower, brocolli, and carrots) I am going to blanch or roast to accompany the main dishes I am making. I bought some canned soups to eat for lunch next week. Some days I don’t feel like eating much so these canned soups come in real handy.
I stopped by at Petsmart today before I went grocery shopping. I bought 2 boxes of cat litter and 1 big bag of cat food. I have a $15 off coupon so I ended up spending $38 only for everything.
The handyman (from Handyman Connection) came by this morning for a free estimate for fence installation. Labor was estimated to be $3000. The materials should be between $1000 – $2000. So worst case scenario, to fence the whole house, we might need to spend $5000. We’re going to ask for several other bids within 2 weeks for comparison. We’re looking to fence the house this month.
This afternoon, my little sister (from Big Brothers Big Sisters) and I went to volunteer at a homeless center in downtown. We helped them to bag lunches for the homeless. We also did a tour around the facility. The whole thing truly was an eye opener for us. I thought I had it bad; I was wrong. These people who live in the facility had it worse. Some of these people hit the bottom of the bottom. They had no money, no job, no place to go, and some don’t even have families. Thank Godness for homeless center like the one we visited today. They help men, women, and children. The facility is now at its full capacity with more than 100 people on the waiting list. They did say the turnover is high–which could be good or bad. It broke my heart to see the little kids at the facility. Sure, it’s better than being homeless on the streets but in a perfect world, kids are suppose to live in a place where troubles are non existent. Apparently what I saw was a dose of the reality and it wasn’t pretty. The whole experience makes me so so so so so thankful for everything I have in my life–my little money+saving, my families, my husband, my house, my pets, my job. My life is beautiful the way it is now. I am truly thankful for it.
Two more days to payday. Yay. I have been very good for *almost* the past 2 weeks. I brought lunches from home and at them at the office building cafetaria. During lunch hours, I sometimes have time to walk to the library or the park. Because of this I have lost 3 pounds in the last a week and a half. Both my husband and I save a lot of money by bringing our lunches from home and eating dinner at home. Tonight, I got free dinner. I went to a class held at my church and they provided dinner for free. So I thought, what the heck, I’ll go for the free dinner and extra knowledge!!
Not much happening since earlier this week really. Work is fine; so far so good. I cannot wait to get it through March next year. The time when we will finally pay off all our debts except for the mortgage. I am so looking forward to that day. In less than 6 months my husband and I will be debt free!!!!!!!!! What a feeling that will be. And knowing that for the rest of that year we’ll be able to live on my husband’s income alone is a very heavenly feeling. I gigle everytime I think about that. I have this big huge smile on my face just imagining that moment in March 2009. We’ll be able to save all my paychecks. Wow. Amazing.
You know another thing I want to talk about this evening is the power of prayers. I know some people don’t believe in God and it’s fine with me, but for those who believe in God… isn’t God amazing? I mean, I was experiencing some really hard times earlier this year and I prayed and prayed and prayed and prayed… and God answered my prayers. It was beyond happiness to me. I felt that I started getting to know God very well at the beginning of this year. Everything just happened. Just like that. And I turned to God. He has been helping me with everything in my life ever since. The power of prayers, my friends, please do not underestimate it. God hears our prayers.
Whenever I feel down or unhappy, I always seek comfort in the words of God. I now have the habit of reading the bible before I go to bed. I also read the Novena prayer before I go to bed. Sometimes, I read it during lunch hours. I read it over and over. The words are so beautiful they bring tears to my eyes sometimes.
I didn’t know what I was looking for in life before. Then I asked God for guidance. He’s been holding my hands ever since. I feel at peace. I feel comforted. I feel safe. I know that no matter what happens in this world, God is watching me and protecting me. Now I feel that I have a purpose in life.
Lately, with the way economy is going, I have seen a lot more homeless people on the streets. There is this one old man who “lives” inside a bus stop close to my office building. I see him twice everyday; in te morning and in the afternoon. Sometimes I see him 3 times! this is on one of those occasions when I decide to go somewhere with my car. Anyways. This man is always greeting everyone; good morning, good afternoon, have a good day, have a bless day, etc. So one day, I asked how he was doing and he replied, I am hungry and all I want is foods. Normally I would just pass him by but that day I stopped. I looked at him and I said, well you know there is a food bank close to here where you can get foods. He said, yes I went there this morning. He didn’t ask me for anything. I don’t know why I pulled out my wallet and I gave him the last $20 I had that day. I said, spend this on foods please Lord is watching you. He thanked me many many times. I left him and while walking to my office I thought in my head…. what if he spent that money on alcohol???? I assured myself what matters was my intention. I had good intention for him. He did not ask me for money. I gave him the money.
So later that day I saw him again on my way to the parking garage. The man was there. Sitting on the bus stop bench. He had a smile so big on his face when he saw me. When I was about to pass in front of him he said to me, Miss I would like to show you something. I stopped and he showed me a backpack filled with canned foods and crackers. He bought foods with my money!!!!!! He said to me, this should last me for 2 weeks. And again, he thanked me many many times.
I wish I had a lot more money to help homeless people. Not just to give them money but perhaps I could open a shelter for them. Perhaps I could help them to get back on their feet with some sort of job trainings. I can’t imagine the live of those homeless people. Winter is approaching soon. Where are they going to go for warmth and comfort? I don’t know. Maybe I am naive but I believe in the goodness of people. That we should help others when we can. I help people whenever I can because I want to help. Because I have a tiny hope in my heart that someday, when that person I help is back on his/her feet that he/she will help others. And many others that he/she helps will help many many others.
Another day I started early.
I woke up before 8AM. But I didn’t really get up until about 8.15AM. I went to catholic class at 9AM. Class started at 9.10AM. Another nice class. Today was our 3rd meeting and I enjoyed it so much. My husband joined me at church for the 10 o’clock mass. We enjoyed free donuts and coffee after mass. I know it’s kinda bad but I thought it was nice of the church to provide us with free donuts and coffee after each mass on Sundays.
We did laundry after church. We spent $7.50 today. Oh yeah, we had seafoods for lunch today. We had a buy-one-get-one-free coupon so we used that. Lunch for two was $16.00 (tips included). I had some leftover lunch so I will take that for lunch tomorrow.
After laundry, we went to Target to check out some of their Hallowen stuff. I didn’t buy anything for Halloween yet though. Maybe in a week or two. I am waiting for candy sales. I am sure stores will be having some serious sales soon. I am excited. I think Halloween is the start of the holiday season. Ok sure some people think Halloween is satan’s holiday but I don’t think that way. I didn’t grow up in this country and back home, we did not have Halloween. So to me, Halloween is just a fun day to give out candies to little kids. I always give out good candies too–chocolates mostly. I don’t give kids nasty stuff. I plan to spend between $25 – $30 on candies this Halloween. But if can get them on sales, I probably don’t have to spend as much. I am going to decorate the house again this Halloween. My husband is going to register our house as one of the safe houses in our neighborhood so kids can come and do trick-or-treating. It’ll be fun.
Back to today’s activities. After Target, we went grocery at Publix. I spent about $50 on grocery today. Got a lot of buy-one-get-one-free deals. We bought meats (pork chop, T-bone steak, and ground beef)for my husband to eat for the week, olive oils, spinach, sweet teas, dog bones, gallon water, fruits, dry pasta, and 2 pieces of tilapia fish. I made my husband pasta with meat sauce for dinner tonight. There were enough to make 2 dinners and 2 lunches. I baked 4 garlic breads as well–frozen. Tomorrow, I am thinking I can grill the steak for my husband. I have some fresh green beans I need to cook tomorrow. And some spinach too. Yum.
Ok. I am so tired now. I cannot wait until our house is completely done so we can relax on weekends at home. Doing nothing. Nothing. Just relaxing with the dogs…..
Well, I didn’t make my husband pasta with meat sauce tonight. I made him snow peas and ground beef stir-fry. I served it with hot rice. I made several lunches/dinners tonight. I made meat patties, Shrimp salad, eggplant in garlic sauce, and I also boiled shrimp and eggs (to make Vietnamesse spring rolls). Tomorrow, I am going to make Chicken wings, Chicken tacos, Chicken fajitas, and Chicken parmesan for my husband. As for me, I am going to make tofu and veggie stir-fry and soy crumble and veggie in oyster sauce. I might want to make Tuna melt too.
I am on diet right now, so I am trying to eat very, very light. The meals I make should last me for more than a week. My husband can be picky sometimes but I should be able to make him all the meals for the week tomorrow that way I don’t have to cook on weeknights.
Tomorrow morning after church I am going grocery to get some fruits. I should have enough veggies to last for a week. I’ll pack everything for the week tomorrow so we can just do grab-and-go for work lunches.
We have a week supply of yogurt and cottage cheese. I also have some soymilk in the fridge as well as regular milk. I am lactose intollerant so can’t really drink milk but I am fine with cheese, icre cream, or cream cheese, etc, just not milk.
Need to pick up a couple bags of cat foods and dog foods tomorrow. We’d need cat litter as well.
There is a toilet paper sale at one of the local grocery stores. $4.99 for Scott tissues. I am going to grab 2 packs (I think it has 12 per pack). Should last us till the end of the year. We still have enough paper towels I think (we go through a lot of this with so many animals in the house).
Fresh salmon is on sale!!! $5.99/lb. Might get a pound or two of that.
I am trying to serve my husband one or two meatless dinners in a week. I wonder if he’ll like the idea. I know that I have been reducing his meat portions. It’s fine if he still wants to eat meats but I think it should be reduced. People in America eat too much meats. Seems like they eat that for every single meal. I feel a lot healthier since I stopped eating beef, pork, lamb, and chicken. I still eat seafoods–occasionally. I eat lots of veggies, tofu, and fruits.
Ok. Time to go to bed.
I watched Julia Child cooking the first time almost 8 years ago on Food Network TV. She was a guest chef for one of the TV shows. Growing up outside the country, I didn’t get to watch her original TV shows (well, it was released long time ago anyways).
Today, I have the chance to watch one of her DVD’s. It’s black and white. So clearly, it’s got quite old shows. I own and have read Julia Child’s cooking books before so I was quite excited prior to watching the DVD. The first recipe she made was French Crepes, which I happen to love. To my surprise, she used so much butter, sugar, and liquors for the recipe. Butter for the crepes batter, butter for the almond butter spread, butter for when you’re baking the crepes in the oven, and more butter to bath the crepes in right before you eat them. Oh and she also drenched the crepes in liquors. Oh my. I think I had a heart attack just watching her making the crepes. Don’t get me wrong I think Julia Child is a very good cook and chef but that one particular crepes recipe sounds too outdated. I make my own crepes and I use way less butter and sugar than her recipe. And since I don’t drink (alcoholic beverages), I tend to avoid use of any liquors in my recipes. Anyway. I am sure her crepes would taste good but I doubt I would make her recipe though.
I have to admit that I learned valuable new cooking tips and tricks from Julia Child.
Though I love Martha Stewart dearly, I cannot stop to wonder what our future generations would think of Martha Stewart’s cookings….
My husband and I (and the dogs) are visiting Savannah again this weekend from Friday – Sunday. We arrived today around 3PM. We’re lucky we don’t live too far from Savannah. This is our 4th visit to Savannah in almost a year and a half. I am so in love with Savannah. If I won the lottery this weekend, I am going to quit my job on Monday; buy a house in Savannah and move here!!!!!
Savannah is a charming little city. It is packed with histories and old homes–just the way my husband and I like from a city. Although I am only 30 and my husband 28, we both have true love for old homes–Victorian to be exact.
Walking through the streets of Savannah, I always feel some kind of dejavu-like-moments. Like I belong here…my past was here…
I just love it here.
Tonight we went walking down the Riverfront area. We had dinner at Huey’s. I had my favorite Shrimp and Grits while my husband ordered Crawfish Ettoufee. Sure, they are not originally from Savannah (more like Louisiana origin) but they’re still representing the Southern foods strereotype. And of course, we always drink Sweet Tea with our meals when dining out.
Tomorrow morning, we are going to visit my favorite bakery, Back in The Day Bakery (http://www.backinthedaybakery.com/) on Bull Street, to get some yummy cupcakes. The owner has been featured on Paula Deen’s show. Paula Deen is also from Savannah. We plan to grab some lunch tomorrow at Paula Deen’s restaurant, The Lady and Sons (http://www.ladyandsons.com/). Although we have been to Savannah several times, we haven’t had the chance to eat at the restaurant. People say it’s not so good but I love Paula Deen so I’d like to try her restaurant and be the judge myself!! And not far from Paula’s restaurant, there is a kitchen shop I love to visit (and I visit this place everytime I go to Savannah!!), Kitchens on The Square (http://www.kitchensonthesquare.com/). If you love to cook, this place is a must to visit!! Last time I went there, I bought a bunch of cookie cutters in different shapes and sizes!! Very cute.
Anyways. That’s my report from Savannah for now. I will be posting some pics and more stories tomorrow. I love Savannah!!!!
Yesterday before I went to work, my husband took me out to an early dinner and ice cream dessert followed. It was nice of him. We had some fish dinner and he took me to my favorite ice cream shop in town (it’s a mom and pop ice cream parlor). I really enjoyed it. I didn’t see my husband much last week. And I won’t be able to see him for 3 days and 2 nights this week since he has to go to St.Petersburg from Wednesday through Friday for work-related event he has to attend. I am going to miss him so much. But next week I have a whole week off and I will see him every single day!!!!!!! Yay. Tonight I am going to cook him something special. Tomorrow night too. I’ve got it all planned already.
I know it sounds silly but sometimes, little things like that make me happy. Being with my husband. Spending time with my dogs. Just being at home with them makes me happy. It makes my soul leaps in joy and pure happiness.
I was talking to my coworkers at work last night about some of our coworkers who have been looking very unhappy working at our office. Since the new boss arrived, things changed so much in so little time. It’s not a good kind of change. It’s bad. We’re going downhill. A lot of people feel so pressured and pressed. It’s just not a happy place to work anymore. It does not do good to our sanity at all. I am feeling the pressures. I am new in my current position (been doing it for 7 months only). I always fake a smile when I am at work. And trust me, doing that for 12 hours a day is NOT easy. It’s stupid. Sometimes I wonder why I do this to myself. I am hurting nobody but myself. Deep inside, I feel miserable at work. I want to quit. I want to run away from that place. I hate my work. I used to like it. The new boss does not want to listen to anybody’s suggestions. He does not care. He will throw you under the bus if that makes him look better in front of his boss. I don’t know what I am going to do to be honest. I don’t feel like staying there anymore.
Sometimes I feel so lucky that my husband has a full time job. Most of the people at my department are males and they are the breadwinner of their families. So it can be hard for most of them to quit their job. If I really want to, I can quit my job and if I find a part time job somewhere, we’d still make it. But to most of these people at my work, there is no option like that. They cannot quit. If they quit, their family won’t have anything to eat. It sucks. I pray and I beg to God so that the situation will get better in our office/department. I don’t know. God can work some kind of miracle. I know He can. He will help all of us in need.
And if things get really really really bad, I can always call my mom and borrow money from her. She is always there for me. I love my mom.
It is almost 6.30AM Monday morning. My husband will be up in a little bit. I plan to go to church today at 12 to attend Novena Mass. I have lots to pray to God. I know God hears our prayers and he listens and he answers each and every prayer we have.
Uggghh. My job drives me crazy. The other day someone asked me why I applied for another position. I wanted to tell him that I hate this job SO much I’d take any other jobs in a heartbeat but instead I chose a more diplomatic answer. You never know who you can trust at work. I try not to spill any beans I have. I apply for whatever job I want. None of their business. I want to get another job that offers a regular schedule (and a nicer boss). I want to be able to see my husband every single evening and weekend. I want to hug him when I am sleeping at night. I want to spend weekends with him. I want to go out with friends on weekend or any Monday nights or whatever. I want my family time back. My current job is so stupid. I feel stupid for doing it. I don’t know why. I am not happy and it won’t make anyone else happy. I try to be happy and I think I put on a quite darn good show at work concealing my real feeling of my job. I fucking hate my job. I hate it so much I’d do anything in the world to win the lottery so I don’t have to go back to my office ever again.
I want that balance between work and family again. I want my sanity and health back. I don’t want to go to work feeling all presured and stressed out even before I begin the day.
*Sigh*
I need to go to bed.
My gosh I am so screwed. I checked my online account today and I only had like 80 bucks.
I then deposited $10 I received from filing out online survey. And I had to withdraw $20 to do laundry and to buy rice. Now I have abouy 4 dollars cash in my wallet and about $70 in checking account. My husband has about close to $1500 in his account. There are $110 in Emigrant Direct account and $500 in EF account.
The good thing is, I haven’t felt like spending money lately. I am so lazy to go to the stores. I’ve got a cupboard full of canned and other dry foods. Our freezer is also filled with frozen foods/meats/veggies/frozen dinners. So I think if I really want to, we’d survive for a month before I need to do another grocery shopping. My husband and I really need to cut our eating out budget. I noticed that we have been spending our money on eating out a lot.
Speaking of cutting budget on eating out, I have been cooking lots of different foods for my husband and I. I made grilled chicken, hash potatoes, shrimp in garlic sauce, egg and tuna salad, and tonight I made some chicken taco for my husband. I had egg and tuna salad sandwich for lunch today. It was yummo! I am so craving for some Samosa right now. I saw an easy recipe on Real Simple magazine the other day. So I am going to try to find the recipe and hopefully to make some tomorrow. I think I can freeze them too.
I am watching American Idol right now. Top 12. I love that show.
I really liked Danny Noriega, the gay boy. But he got eliminated last week. My other favorite is David Archileta. I think he’s got the best voice. The show, overall is very entertaining.
