What I learned from my cat

1. If it itches, scratch it.

2. If it’s dirty, wash it.

3. If you gotta heave something up, find a soft place like the new carpet or a bed. Someone will clean it up.

4. Odors are interesting so sniff everything.

5. Have fun and play with everything, including someone’s toe if it moves.

6. If you’re lonely, let someone know, even if it’s 2 AM.

7. If your food dish is empty, complain to someone, anyone and everyone.

8. If you see an empty lap, fill it.

9. Never permit an interloper in your territory.

10. Do not even recognize the word “No.”

11. If someone gets angry with you, purr.

12. If you get tossed out of bed, wait a few minutes and get back in, they’ll be asleep by then.

13. Be eccentric and aloof, you don’t want them to think they own you.

14. Never let other things interfere with important activities, like your nap.

15. It’s easier to get forgiveness than permission.

16. Do not worry what other people (or cats) think.

17. Do not make the mistake of thinking you are on the same level as your master, you’re much better than that.

18. Scratching pads are for laying on, furniture is for scratching.

19. When it come to furniture, what’s theirs is actually mine.

20. Kitty beds are for decoration; sofas, chairs, beds, refrigerator tops, clothes dryers, closets and dressers are for sleeping.

21. Every vets should have to go through an annual exam like cats, including being tested for worms.

I wish I wrote the list above, but I didn't. It's from this site.

And why am I posting this today when I have a separate blog for my cats? It's because I'm celebrating Emma's adoption day today and her birthday too. Emma is with us for 2 years now and today is also her (appointed) 4th birthday. Happy birthday sweet Emma!!!!

Things I Learned

IMG_0620, originally uploaded by M'roy.

I learned to rely on God's loving mercy and guidance, to call on God in times of need and to give thanks in times of joy.

I learned to make do with what I have.

I learned that family is the most important in the hierarchy of things.

I learned that the best way to stay out of trouble is to stay away from situations where trouble will arise.

I learned the little vices in life - window-shopping for jewelry.

I learned to enjoy eating and having a good coffee in the morning.

There are so many things that I learned from the one who gave me life. I may not be able to enumerate them all.

Happy Birthday, Mom!!!!

I'm reading a book and other things.

My New Year's Resolution or goal this year was to read a book.  Er books.  Get me back into the habit of reading.  So I'm really proud to report that I'm reading a book right now.  It's one of those conspiracy spy thriller books.  I don't where I got the book, but I'm guessing that I picked it up on one of the library book sales last year.  Unfortunately the book is book #5 in a series of 8 (the #8 is being released this June).  How do I know that?  I googled/wiki'd the book and found out that it's book #5.  I was quite intrigued because the characters weren't being introduced as properly.  It's because they've been introduced in previous books.  So what I did was to jot down the rest of the books in the series.  In the meantime I'd finish this book and work my way into all the books from book #1. Hopefully, I'd get the gist of the series from book #5.

Some other things that's on my mind and what I've done lately:

• Loving the rainy weather after a very dry winter.
• Been enjoying my tv viewing lately.  Many of my shows will be ending soon, either series finale or season finale.
• A dear lady that I mentioned in the past post that recovered from a coma had died yesterday.  I was really shocked to hear about her passing via email from my priest. God bless her soul.  Rest in Peace Judy.
• Went plant shopping on Saturday in my raincoat and umbrella.  We are crazy we know, shopping for plants in a downpour.  We were the only ones looking at plants in one nursery, but at the Cactus Jungle (where we spent $50, expensive) there was another couple crazy just like us braving the inclement weather to look at and buy cactus/cacti.
• Had a lovely time going to Happy Hour at Chevy's after the plant shopping activity.  We picked up a friend who lives near Chevy's and we had a fun time talking, eating and drinking.  And yes I had two margaritas. I was bad!
• I overate on Sunday too.  Mom, my two brothers and their wives and my hubby and I went to the casino for mom's early b/day celebration.  She wanted to go.  We usually take her once a year, usually on or near her b/day.  We hit the buffet and while I was disciplined at what and how much I put into my plate/s I knew I overate just the same.  
• Still doesn't have plans for our wedding anniversary in May. 
• I don't want to get FB timeline, I really don't.
• To see (Hunger Games) or not to see, I don't know the answer to that question.
• I really need new shoes that would be perfect for both spring and summer.
• I've watched PRIDE AND PREJUDICE 4x in the last 2 weeks.
• Apparently I've got allergies, the doctors can't just figure out what it is I'm allergic to. 

Flowers of Spring

P1040024, originally uploaded by M'roy.

“We say that flowers return every spring, but that is a lie. It is true that the world is renewed. It is also true that that renewal comes at a price, for even if the flower grows from an ancient vine, the flowers of spring are themselves new to the world, untried and untested.

The flower that wilted last year is gone. Petals once fallen are fallen forever. Flowers do not return in the spring, rather they are replaced. It is in this difference between returned and replaced that the price of renewal is paid.

And as it is for spring flowers, so it is for us.”
― Daniel Abraham, The Price of Spring

Spring

flower_Page000, originally uploaded by M'roy.

It's official, we are in springtime mode. I love spring. It's an outdoor season. You have to be outside to enjoy it. All the trees are blooming. The rapeseed are blanketing the ground. The bulbs are all on display - the tulips, hyacinths, etc.

I must take advantage of the start of this season. I have noticed that my camera was in hiatus lately. It only went out shooting once the entire winter.

Hope springs eternal they say. And spring is the season of hope. The season where we begin anew, fresh start.

This spring I'm looking forward to a little quick get-away for our anniversary. I am hoping for a little walk with the giants (redwoods) but I"m not sure what we'll do. The past couple of years we've done the beach (Monterey) although both times it was still too cold to linger even on the beach. I'd like a little nature walk under the trees, but I'm not sure.

Nothing else is in the books for spring. We are anticipating a long-awaited visit to relatives abroad in the summer time, but that too is not set in stone. One thing that is booked is our cruise in November. Plenty of time to acrrue more vacation time to use for that right?

Enjoy spring. Enjoy the flowers. Take antihistamine so you can for those who have allergies :). Just kidding.

Breathing a Sigh of Relief

I am now breathing a sigh of relief after finishing the public speaking that was slated for this morning. But last night as we were driving home from a wonderful dinner with my brother and sister-in-law at a Brazilian steak house, I was filled with fright at the prospect of giving my talk. And at 9 pm last night I have not even written a single word of draft. I needed a cheat sheet to be able to share my experiences to people. I cannot just go in front of a podium and wing it. Not just me.

So with my stomach heavy with meat I sat in front of the computer last night and suddenly words started coming out. In fact I was able to share my experiences in the least amount of words possible. How could I be so succint? I am wordy as you can tell from all the blogposts here. I tend to be use more words than necessary, however, last night the right words started coming out. Therefore I was able to easily compose my "speech" in a matter of minutes. Hallelujah!

Updates

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*****Rain, rain, rain. We've been having that for days now. Will continue for a few more days it seems. We like it, we need it. But going to work is a big pain. Slow traffic, very wet, and visibility is challenging.

*****Finally got around to opening one of the boxes sitting in the garage from when we moved 2 yrs ago. The box we opened contained our dvd collection. And we even have videotapes, which we will be donating to Salvation Army if they want it. The good news to this is I finally got to see PRIDE AND PREJUDICE again. The minute we unearthed our copy, we immediately put it on and watched it. Oh Mr. Darcy, how I missed you :)

*****We went to dinner a week ago to HANA JAPAN. We purchased a dinner voucher from Travelzoo last year and it was expiring this week so we went last week. We went on a Tuesday and the place was packed. Who knew people go out to eat on a workday? Anyway, I was excited to see the "chef show" you know how the chef will perform some tricks while he cooks your food. Okay so the show was adequate, the food was equally adequate. Nothing special. It's actually highway robbery if we paid the full price and not the discounted price that we paid via the voucher. You don't really get to linger over your dinner and talk to your date because the arrangement is different. Plus the food wasn't all that great, overpriced if you ask me. Even the cocktails were not outstanding. My ZOMBIE, as my hubby called it, tasted like Robittusin, cough syrupy. I chosed Zombie because when I first started to try drinking my friends ordered zombie for all of us. One sip and I pushed my drink to my friend who just welcomed it with open arms. I didn't like it the first time. I certainly would not make the same mistake of ordering it the next time.

*****I'm terrified at speaking infront of about 50 people this weekend. I'm about to share an experience regarding HOSPITALITY. My experience is how this woman continuously offers hospitality to me and I keep on refusing. The thing is the woman went into a medical emergency last week. By the time I decided on the topic, she was lying in coma in a hospital. Many, including her family, have achieved peace at the prospect of her leaving, because the prognosis wasn't very good. No one was expecting her to recover. And so that was my background going into this assignment. Miracles happen and she recovered and by this time will be at home recuperating. Thank God! I haven't even wrote a draft on my talk, I'm scared shit, God help me.

What's happening in your neck of the woods?

Daylight Savings Time

IMG_0091, originally uploaded by M'roy.

We just sprang forward today, which means we lost an hour of sleep that we will recover in the fall.

We missed church because of the change in time, not a good excuse, but we missed church just the same.

I look forward to more beautiful flowers and gardens. Hope to go to Golden Gate Park this spring to photograph the flowers.

What are you looking forward to this spring?

This.......is American Idol

guitar hero? nah, acoustic., originally uploaded by M'roy.

The new season of American Idol unfolded last night. Did you see it? I tuned in nearly midway when contestant #5 was singing. I have a few comments with regards to the newest season.

First, every day I am liking Jennifer Lopez more and more. Did you see her stylish white ensemble last night. So elegant and fabulous. She is flawless with her styling. I also like the way she's calling it bad if it's bad, in her own I-don't-want-to-be-mean fashion when she told Shannon it wasn't her best. I could have preferred if she gave Shannon some tough love.

Second, I don't see many contestants that excite me.

Third, my early faves are Jessica Sanchez, Hollie Something, Skylar Something, Phil Phillips and Colton Something. Yap, that's how much I know this new crop of wannabes.

Fourth, Stevie Wonder is a terrific singer but enough of his songs already. It seems that every single year we have to sit in front of the tv and watch these wannabes cover Stevie Wonder. Pick another singer/songs will ya American Idol bosses.

Fifth, I hope none of my early faves get the boot tonight.

BTW, did you know that today is the International Women's Day? I didn't. Happy IWD to all the wonderful women.

Street Photography #14

P1010826, originally uploaded by M'roy.

Art Deco District. Miami Beach, Florida.

Faster Than A Hummingbird's Flapping Wings

IMGP0932, originally uploaded by M'roy.

The weekend that is..... don't you all agree? But despite all that, the weekend was gorgeous here, weather wise. We saw a high of 75F, very high for March, a temperature we seldom even experience in the summertime. I think it's a hot year, you know what I mean?

Among the things we did this weekend was attend a fundraising White Elephant Sale to benefit Oakland Museum. The rummage sale was held in a 96,000 sq ft storage near the Oakland estuary. This would be my second year in a row coming here.

List of our loot: books, mostly old, some are even in the 1800s, nothing fascinating. It's not for reading, we just want to collect it. The binding was interesting, mostly typical of the era I believe. Although there were 2 of them about Russian tsars, a bit interesting read I think.

There is also another book with a dedication in the front, dated 1939. Can you believe it? Someone gave this book to somebody in 1939 and 73 years later it's in my book shelf. Fascinating.

We skimmed through the art section, spent a short time there compared to last year, and still managed to buy three or four prints.

In the bric-a-brac section, I had no success. I was looking for some cat figurines, but they only have bigger ones and I saw only 3 or 4 of them. Where are the cats stuff?

Also catching our eye was the display of old Avon perfume bottles. I remember this, in the 70s my brother would send me Avon perfumes and the bottles were really interesting. They were works of art. I had a teddy bear, a little house, and other interesting bottles, I cannot remember. We gave the bottles away though when relatives asked for them. Mom couldn't say no. We have them displayed in the sala and everyone can see them. Of course I used up all the perfume, so mom thought it be okay to give away the bottles.

Anyway, these ones were doll figurine bottles. They were so cute and only a dollar for each one. I was tempted to buy the whole lot, except that the hubby was there with me and he usually put the reins on my shopping sprees (good to do). Hence, we only took 3 of those glass dolls, we chose the prettiest we could find.

As always the jewelry section was crowded, I just made a cursory round of the display. We went there in the afternoon and not enough time to browse the 96,000 sq footage of goodies. As we were leaving we spotted this beautiful and charming soup bowl, we always wanted to get one, at $8. So we bought it. We probably spent under $40 in total. Next year, we plan to spend the whole day there :)

Moving on, after our exciting rummage sale, we were scheduled to watch THE DESCENDANTS starring George Clooney. We had a discounted ticket at Shattuck Cinema in Berkeley, which is a short drive from the rummage sale. Now, this cinema is not a multiplex. It's a real cinema that I haven't been on one before.

The screening room is quite small, roughly 50 people capacity I believe. The seats are nothing like multiplex seating. At each aisle they have a couch like seating with leathered cushioned seats with leathered pillows as backing. Our seat was for two people only. It was like watching a movie in your own home. How cool is that???

The movie where George Clooney won best actor at the Golden Globes award this year was outstanding. That Clooney guy can really act. The story telling is superb, the cast was good. And Hawaii is so amazing. So dreamy. I want to go to Hawaii!!!!

Let's leave this post at that last sentence, that's like a shout-out to travel gods. That Sat went by fast so did Sunday. Hence, here we are again Monday workday. Hope the week runs smoothly for everyone.

BTW, we were awaken early morning by an earthquake. Scary!

Sisig

When I was growing up, sisig is a banana blossom dish, not the pork cheek dish that's so popular nowadays. In fact, I just heard of the pork sisig when I came here in the States. Here is the recipe for the banana blossom sisig version. I miss eating this dish, I will probably cook it within this month.


Have you had this sisig dish?