This and That

A week had gone by again without a post. Yes, I was busy with stuff - aren't we all?

But I was mainly staying away from writing down my feelings, or anything for that matter. Except that I had drafted a post last week to coincide with my dad's birthday. It was a very emotional week - mainly because I still miss my dad despite all the years of his passing. Additionally, my system is full of hormones (undergoing fertility treatment) which makes me really emotionally imbalance. So weepy. And so the post I crafted last week will remain unpublished.

How was your week? Were you busy with Halloween parties? Not once did I attend a Halloween Party or don a costume, although seeing the receptionist dressed as a Minnie Mouse,at the fertility center today where I had my ultrasound earlier,I was a tinge envious that they wear costumes to work on Halloween. May I add, she's such a fine cute Minnie Mouse in her red polka dot dress and her mouse ears.

Last week also we had a little dinner in connection with church business and this Sunday we'll have luncheon also. This quarter of the year is always so full of something to do.

Still affected by the hormones, I managed to help my husband prep the linen closet this weekend. On Saturday, he stripped the carpeting and we installed wood laminate floors. We're quite pro at this after having installed all the wood floors downstairs.

On Sunday, despite all my whining and weepiness, we were able to paint the walls of the linen closet. This is in preparation for our custom built closet that will be installed this Friday. I am so excited. The master bedroom closet will also be redone. We worked with the closet company a few months ago when they were running some sales so we thought that we made a good deal. Well, I mean we had a budget in mind before we approached them and when the design was on paper and all the materials and labor costs were totalled and they were within our budget range, we gave them a go signal to complete this work order.

Why it took so long to get installed? We purposely did that because we were taking that vacation in September. So this Friday my new closets will be installed.

I hope this would make my closets really neat and tidy. Except that with this new installation all the other boxes we have there would be all gone, and Buster, my cat, wouldn't be very happy with that. He likes to nap in those boxes.

Oh I almost forgot my little nephew (my niece's only son) age 17 months came for a visit so we stopped installing floors to visit with him. He was so energetic and was playing with Buster. Poor cat, he is so patient with toddlers but he gets beaten up - whap here, whap there. And poor Buster he could only run away from this monster of a toddler.

We spent a couple of hours over dinner at a friend's house last evening. Her husband was here for 2 weeks and was leaving again and we thought we had time to spend more time with them, but 2 weeks came and gone and we only had 2 times to be with them.

I guess this would do. I just had to document these things that are happening in my life right now. Thanks for reading my nonsense.

Street Photography #11

Just a little update:

*** Discovered THE BIG BANG THEORY - a real laughfest. Been watching it on ON DEMAND and syndication.

*** Found 2 little kitties, approx a week old, in the backyard on Sunday. I could guess where they came from, but they were from a pack (do you say pack with cats?) of feral cats or stray cats from this neighborhood. We bottlefed them and put them in a box in the garage overnight. Then husband surrendered them to the Animal Shelter the next day. Will go and visit tonite or sometime this week. I missed them already. Our hearts broke when we had to give them up. Much as I'd like to add to my brood of 2, we cannot take care of that young an animal since we both are at work all day long. The kitties will just die of starvation.

***Went to Plumas Co. on Saturday for our annual leaf peeping drive, except that the leaves were late in changing this year. The explosion of colors wasn't there but we managed to salvage some shots with fall colors.

***Am thinking of reviving my other blog - which is solely for random photos. Let me sleep some more on this.

Shaken and Stirred

Yesterday was a day full of excitement. Not all good excitement mind you. Yesterday we had two earthquakes, the first one at about 3 pm was a 4.2 and the second one at about 8:16 pm was deemed to be only 3.9 in magnitude.

This is earthquake country and the last big one that hit this area was in 1989, 22 years ago. Whereas the major faults around the globe had big ones lately, we still haven't. It is inevitable to have a big one. One is expecting it, but also fearing it.

Living in this region certainly makes one always on the lookout for the big one. The first earthquake happened when I was at work, near the epicenter (Berkeley). Our building shook once or twice, but not the sideways shake, I thought it was the up and down movement, which was scarier. Now our building made so much noise that nerves were rattled more than anything in the building. This reminded all of us that well we never had the big one.

The irony of it is yesterday was statewide earthquake preparedness drill. Every gov't offices and schools performed safety drills a few hours before the first one.

I recovered well from the excitement of this shaker, but the second one was a bit more difficult to get over with in my case.

We were dining in Berkeley, of all places. Who knew there would be another quake after the mild one earlier this day. We were having a good time getting together with friends who moved in the area from New York 3 years ago. We knew each other from church but we didn't really see each other outside of church functions until last night.

We chose to eat at TASTE OF HIMALAYAS, which is a Nepalese and Indian restaurant. The food is superb by the way. But this post is about the temblor so I'd forego the food descriptions.

We were done with our dinner when the quake hit. Everyone inside the restaurant paused and you could see that no matter how savvy these people are having lived here and experienced the shaking, you could tell the nerves have been rattled. Mine was definitely frazzled. My heart skipped a beat and I felt ill :). I was thinking was this going to be the big one. Because the shaking took longer than the first one and more noisy.

I couldn't wait to leave the restaurant and go home, which is about 15 miles away. I was worried that mom felt it and panicked, that something fell on the floor, glasses broke, and that the cats were spooked.

Luckily when we got home mom had no clue what just happened. Neither did she feel the first one. Good thing. And the cats seemed to be behaving normally.

Now this calls for preparations for the big one. While we always keep a case of bottled water in the garage and we have some first aid kit, we don't have the emergency preparedness kit. That is the next in line. We also must have food set aside for when we couldn't cook. It's scary. And I'm still frazzled.

You can't blame me. I had a big one experience. I was in the Philippines for the 1990 earthquake that hit Central Luzon. That was the scariest experience of my life and I don't want to repeat that.

Eleven Hints for Life

1. It hurts to love someone and not be loved in return.
But what is more painful is to love someone and never
find the courage to let that person know how you feel.

2. A sad thing in life is when you meet someone who
means a lot to you, only to find out in the end that it was
never meant to be and you just have to let go.

3. The best kind of friend is the kind you can sit on a
porch swing with, never say a word, and then walk away
feeling like it was the best conversation you've ever had.

4. It's true that we don't know what we've got until we lose
it, but it's also true that we don't know what we've been
missing until it arrives.

5. It takes only a minute to get a crush on someone, an
hour to like someone, and a day to love someone-but it
takes a lifetime to forget someone.

6. Don't go for looks, they can deceive. Don't go for wealth,
even that fades away. Go for someone who makes you
smile because it takes only a smile to make a dark day
seem bright.

7. Dream what you want to dream, go where you want to go,
be what you want to be. Because you have only one life and
one chance to do all the things you want to do.

8. Always put yourself in the other's shoes. If you feel that it
hurts you, it probably hurts the person too.

9. A careless word may kindle strife. A cruel word may wreck
a life. A timely word may level stress. But a loving word may
heal and bless.

10. The happiest of people don't necessarily have the best
of everything they just make the most of everything that comes
along their way.

11. Love begins with a smile, grows with a kiss, ends with
a tear. When you were born, you were crying and everyone
around you was smiling. Live your life so that when you die,
you're the one smiling and everyone around you is crying.

Why I love San Francisco

Just a few of the reasons why I love it here.

Just an update

It's been a week I know. But what can I do? Well I have been working on sorting all the photos we took from our last vacation and I must say that 3 weeks after coming back from the amazing trip I have already posted 2 albums for 2 different cities on Facebook. 2 down, 3 to go!

Taking photos is so much fun. While I'm in the moment, I never pose to think how much time I'd put into getting all the photos together and choosing which ones to share with friends and the blog. But the moment we get back and the task at tackling a mountain of photos is at hand, then the regret of taking too many pictures come into mind.

Nope the picture above is not from our last trip. This one's from Napa, I simply love the the rainy gloomy mood of the image - it reflects my mood today even though the rain has stopped and we are on the first day in a string of 4 days where our temps are supposed to climb up to 80 degrees again. Back to Indian summer people.

Last week was hectic. I started to attend a sort of bible study at church so my Wednesday evenings are booked until the end of the year.

Over the weekend we took Emma to the vet. I was concerned that she wasn't eating well enough and that her weight loss or perceived weight loss was worrying me. I knew that most cats are not amenable to changes and when one changes their food this causes some trauma to the cats. Well, I did change or keep changing their brand of food, but 2 weeks before her vet appt I went back to their old food which I know Emma loves.

As a result, 2 weeks before her vet appt she was back to eating normally and I have felt her return to her usual weight. I could tell. She walks all over me every day, especially in the a.m. when she wakes me up - after I put the snooze button on the alarm :)

So the vet visit was a confirmation that everything with Emma is normal and she did gain weight from her previous appt - a whopping 1.7 lbs :)

The other cat, Buster, was given his first animal blessing at church in connection with St. Francis of Assissi's feast day. Yes, he cried the whole way to the church - he hates car rides - but was surprisingly docile and quiet and well behaved at church. Did not even bite anyone who petted him, he was popular.

But while he behaved marvelously at church, the minute we loaded him up in the car and drove away he again cried and cried. We really should train these cats to enjoy car rides. The only time they get loaded in the car is when they go to the vet and so the negative association.

Also last Sunday our friends had a housewarming, finally! I really like their 4br 1.5ba in nearby Richmond. They have a sizeable backyard, fenced in and mostly cemented with basketball court for the boys. The front yard could use a little landscaping, some flowering bushes and shrubs and even roses would definitely add value and curb appeal to this wonderful house. The exterior also needed a fresh coat of paint, but that's about it. She and her husband really did a good job buying this house. I love it.

That's all for now. I have run out of things to day.

The Oh So Short Weekend Is Over - Again

Really when was weekend long enough? When did we have enough of the weekend? When was the last time I was raring to go back to work?

I cannot remember the time I was going stir crazy and wanted to go back to work. But every weekend seem oh so short. Not all the chores can be accomplished in the 48 hours. It's not just long enough to cram all the housework and the "fun" stuff that we imagined we'd be having when weekend rolls around.

I did have another short weekend, but it was sorta fun. Our little Alex turned 2 and so there was a little "handa". Alex is my niece's son. That niece and I are 12 years apart, but we are mentally equal. I consider myself not having achieved full mental maturity as of yet :)

Because this time around we arrived at the time that was specified on the evite, we were there before everyone else is, except for family, which really made the time more special. Particularly since my other niece's 16-month old son happened to be there. It was the first time I'm seeing this adorable little boy who is a mini me of his mother. Just a carbon copy of his mother.

I again attacked the homemade lumpia that my niece made. I only go for the lumpia, I'm such a maniac when it comes to lumpia.

Anyway, we were there for about 2 hours chatting and eating with family when we decided to go. Then it was time to drive mom to the grocery store to grab a few items.

Then it was grocery time (Costco) and haircut (hubby) time. Then it was off to the church where I got to dress the altar - it was my schedule this week.

It was 8 pm by the time I got home and sat for supper.

Sunday was equally short I thought. Was at church until about 12 noon. Hubby had a web seminar at church at 2 pm. While he was away, I vacuumed the entire house. I totally abhor vacuuming, I'd rather wash dishes by hand or do the laundry. I hate everything with dusting, sweeping, mopping or vacuuming. But it was my week to do the vacuuming. It was really needed too, as I emptied the container 3x while I was doing the chore.

Immediately afterwards I headed out to the front yard where our rose plants have dead buds that needed clipping. So I was there clipping the dead hips and buds and doing some pruning as well. Then I noticed that the agaphantus had dead flowers too, which needed clipping as well.

Since I already was in the garden very long, I decided what the heck and continue snipping dry, dead blooms. I have been meaning to cut the dry lavender flowers from the plants because I can see newer growths coming out.

And so there I was on my knees clipping these aromatic blooms. It made for a lovely scented air whenever a breeze comes blowing. I loved it.

I have a paper bag full of clippings. I may give them away. Right now it is giving my house a wonderful aroma. I may make some bunches and bring them to work and give them away.

But I'm sure I'd keep some for bathroom and linen closet. I love lavender.

Oh I also found time to upload some bloggable pics on Flick'r and compose a post.

But that's about it. That's how the weekend went.