Daily October (5)

Watching the A's-Tigers match, game 2, and it's bottom of the 9th, 0-0.....


The A's just won....walk off hit by Vogt.


Yay!!!!!!

Daily October (4)

Episode 1, Fall Season 2013 Part II

What do you know I have forgotten a few of the shows I follow on the previous post about premier episodes?

So here are the rest of the shows I watch and what I think of their premier episodes:

GREY'S ANATOMY - This would be the 9th or 10th season for this durable show. While they lost me as an avid viewer sometime during the course of its long run, I found myself coming back last year. The thing with GA is that it's like an old neighborhood where you grew up, or the neighborhood where you lived while in college....while there are many changes (new characters), the landmarks (mainstays) are still there. You can easily reconnect with it, with the characters. The 2-hour show held my attention, it was like visiting with old friends. I have a feeling that this might be the last year of the show. Leave while you're still somewhere near the top :)

THE BIG BANG THEORY - Seriously I don't know how I could have forgot to write about this on the previous post about premiers. It has never wavered in the entertainment value; the comedy is terrific. Watching the show makes one realize that it's an well-oiled machine at work. What a great cast. Not since FRIENDS have I been this awed at a casting of a show.

SCANDAL - Wow, what a first episode. I was hoping that the affair would be out there in the open and see what happens, but then again there will be no storyline if that is what happens. So Scandal, bring on all the shows!

Daily October (3)

I cannot remember if I wrote about the brunch we had last weekend. If I hadn't, well a friend of ours invited us out for brunch because she really wanted to eat there.

Since then I have been like a hungry bear wanting food....breakfast/brunch food. I find myself googling menus for brunch. What is happening to me?

Daily October (2)

Got the surprise of my life yesterday. Had taken the day off to accompany mom for greencard renewal. Her interview was set in Oakland. They no longer have it in the downtown office; they now have it near the airport, which was good since there is available parking and it's easy to go - after you've battled your way out of the traffic jams from 80 to 880.

Anyway, as I have said I had taken the day off because I really don't know how long it would take and just in case an emergency arises I don't need to be worrying about going back to work.

Our appointment was 9:00 am. We arrived about 8:40is. It was quick. The process was greased lightning. Pain free, hassle free. She was called upon arrival to the next desk where her expired green card was slapped with a sticker signifying the extension of the said card to another 9 months. 5 minutes max - that's all it took then we were headed to the fingerprinting and taking of pictures. Another 5-7 minutes.

I commend the job done by the USCIS to facilitate the processing of renewals.

By the way, I have downloaded the form online and sent it out with the renewal payment ($450) and a couple of weeks or so I got the appointment letter in the mail.

How about DMV....is there still a long wait?

Daily October (1)

Here I am again attempting to write daily for a month. Keeping my fingers crossed this will happen.

Let me begin this project by writing about my success in the kitchen today. I attempted to make "ginisang ampalaya" or sauteed bitter melon with shrimps. I'm all thumbs in the kitchen, so this is a victory for me. This would be the first successful thing I cooked that I could remember.

I've made some wonderful dishes before, but everything lacked something. Salt is the most common lacking in my previous dishes. This time around though I aced it. Hubby even gave it two thumbs up! My mother was really impressed and I had the gall to tell her that I learned to cook without getting any help from her.

My mother was a great cook. She fed us with wonderful dishes when I was growing up. In her advancing years, she lost her mojo in cooking and in sewing - two trades she was really good at when she had all her faculties.

She taught me how to sew and use the sewing machine. BUT she never taught me how to cook. Hence, today makes me more hopeful about my abilities in the kitchen.

Next up.....I'll attempt to bake a scone.

Episode 1, Fall Season 2013

With the exception of SCANDAL, all my fall tv shows have started their new season. Here are some of my thoughts:

CASTLE - Castle is about bestselling author Richard Castle observing a NYD station for his book. In return, he gets to help the department solve their cases, be friends with Esposito and Ryan and get involved with Det. Beckett.
This season opens with Beckett no longer in the police force (now with FBI) and no longer in NY. And she's also engaged to Castle. With this scenario on the season opener I wonder:

• Where does Castle fit into this FBI set-up, when he can no longer actively participate in solving crimes.
• What will happen to Esposito and Ryan?
• Will Beckett eventually move back to the police force to be near Castle?

Likewise, will there be storyline for Alexis (Castle's daughter) now that she's off to college and bringing boys home?

PERSON OF INTEREST - I must defer my thoughts and comments on this show for another time. I need to rewatch the premier because for some reason I was multi-tasking when I saw it and didn't get hold of the gist of the show.

ONCE UPON A TIME - One episode is not enough for me to tell where which direction this show is going. I am fully aware that there is a spin-off called ONCE UPON A TIME IN WONDERLAND, I don't know if somehow the two shows will intersect again, like in the past. One thing I know is that Sunday's premier was not powerful enough to catch my full attention.

THE GOOD WIFE - The writing continues to be good. The acting is solid as usual. I feel that this show will continue to gather good ratings and the writers will throw us a curve ball. What will happen with Alicia. Will she leave with Carey. Is Carey still leaving with the group? I am excited to see the rest of the show this season. Good job on E1.

REVENGE - Jack knows Emily Thorne is really Amanda Clark. Nolan refuses to be geek god after brief stint in the slammer. Ashley is finally shown the door out. Will Amanda get her revenge soon? Who shot Emily Thorne?

HAVEN - This Syfy mainstay opened ahead of network shows. It has plenty of questions to answer, like where is Audrey Parker? Is she stuck in purgatory-like niche? How will she find her way back to Haven? Well for that matter how will she regain consciousness of her Audrey Parker identity? If she remembers who she really is, which one of those personas will she remember? Is there going to be a happy ending for her and Nathan? What about Duke? So many questions, awaiting happily for answers.

HOSTAGES - This is a new one this season, despite the fact that I have no more room in my evenings for another serial to follow. The preview attracted me. I like Toni Collette and Dylan McDermott, they are both good actors. And I like any show that has something to do with the White House or the POTUS. So far, the first show was meaty. I hope the writers are able to sustain this kind of writing the whole season.

Sleep like a cat

A former student and now facebook buddy doesn't update her status much, but when she does it's always imploring the high heavens to give her sleep. I think she's insomniac.

I don't have a problem with sleeping, thank heavens. Despite all my many ills, perceived and real, difficulty in sleeping is thankfully not one of them.

However, once a month, coinciding with female hell time, I experience difficulty in sleeping. It doesn't fail to happen, once a month, at that specific time.

So the specific time happened to me on Sunday night into Monday this week. I've already seen replays of the Giants game earlier that evening. I've also seen a show I've DVRd. I still couldn't sleep. Emma (see picture) who sleeps in between my legs was also getting affected. Finally she left her spot and walked up to my belly and looked me in the eye as if to say, 'GO TO SLEEP, SO I MAY SLEEP TOO.'

It's really funny. So when the tv turned itself off (we put timer on tv when we go to sleep) I let it be. I thought that I could easily fall off when the distraction is gone, but it wasn't to be.

The ugly thing about laying awake in bed while everyone's sleeping is that you hear funny noises. Some scary noises too. Or perceived noises?

Thankfully in this house where we are living now for 4 years, I have yet encountered the house to "breathe". In my previous place, the townhouse which was relatively newer than this house I'm in now, squeaks and creaks at night. So when I get those once-a-month insomnia, it was very disconcerting.

Also as if it timed itself, Monday was a day off for me making my lack of sleep a nonfactor in my Monday.

As if to reward myself for my lack of sleep, I spontaneously got a massage.

All's well that ends well.