End of the 8th Grade

This post is geared more towards family & friends just update y'all on Avery. She had her 8th grade dance this past Friday and today is her 8th grade gradutation. I can't believe she is going to be in High School next year. Tomorrow is their last day of school. Rather than going to school they are taking a day trip to one of the islands close by. I'm not sure how many of her friends are headed back to the states or wherever they call home for the summer. Hopefully there will be enough of them around though so she doesn't get too bored.

Signs

Why is it that I am living in a country where over 75% of the population is Chinese do you not see any street signs written in Chinese, but back in Houston, in the areas where the residents are mainly Chinese the street signs are written in Chinese and English?

Ewww!

Ok...I have come to the conclusion that Singapore women must not wear slips under their skirts and dresses. Avery has her 8th grade dance tonight. Last night we went on a search for a 1/2 slip to wear under her dress. Why did I wait until the last minute? What was I thinking? Had I known that our trip to one of the largest, newest malls on the island wouldn't have a store that carried slips I would have started looking months ago or had someone send one over to us. Not only did the stores we went in not carry them, they looked at us like we had lost our minds. And I'm sure I was giving them the same look back. The sales ladies in one store, hell I'll name names TANGS, were all standing around not doing a damn thing including offering assistance to Avery and I as we scoured the lingerie department for a slip. I asked the lady in the section to the far left of the department and she sent us all the way over to the far right end. Of course when we got there they didn't carry them. The lady looked at me like she didn't even know what I was talking about. I asked if they knew of a store where we might find one (which is something I would have offered on my own if I had been the salesperson) and of course she had no idea. At that point you know I couldn't resist making some smart a** remark about the women in Singapore not wearing slips....EWWW! .... especially since everyone was being so friendly and helpful, NOT! So, leaving the mall...slipless...I told Avery I would go look today at lunch. And again, no luck, even in a lingerie store...where that is all they sell. Where is a Kohl's or Wal-mart when you need one?

Welfare Urine Test

Thank's to my hubbie for this post topic. I like the way this guy thinks! If you can't read the photo, this is what is says:

Don't help people sit on their rears

I have a question, not only for Douglas County, but for the entire state of Oregon. Like a lot of folks in this state, I have a job. I work, they pay me, I pay my taxes and the government distributes my taxes as they see fit. In order for me to get that paycheck, I am required to pass a random urine test, which I have no problem with.

What I do have a problem with is the distribution of my taxes to people who don't have to pass a urine test. Shouldn't one have to pass a urine test to get a welfare check, because I have to pass one to go earn it for them?

Please understand, I have nothing against helping people get back on their feet. I do, on the other hand, have a problem with helping someone sit on their butt. Could you imagine how much money the state would save if people had to pass a urine test to get a public assistance check?

Leonard Wilson

Learn to Speak Chinese!

Thank you Breann for supplying me with today's post! I love it!! It's perfect for being over here. I think I'll try some of these:

Learn Chinese in 5 minutes (You MUST read them aloud)


English Chinese

That's not right Sum Ting Wong

Are you harboring a fugitive? Hu Yu Hai Ding

See me ASAP Kum Hia Nao

Stupid Man Dum Dum

Small Horse Tai Ni Po Ni

Did you go to the beach? Wai Yu So Tan

I bumped into a coffee table Ai Bang Mai Ni

I think you need a face lift Chin Tu Fat

It's very dark in here Wai So Dim

I thought you were on a diet Wai Yu Mun Ching

This is a tow away zone No Pah King

That hurt. Ou Chi

Staying out of sight. Lei Ying Lo

He's cleaning his automobile Wa Shing Ka

Your body odor is offensive. Yu Stin Ki Pu

Great!!!! Su Pa

My Mother's day present

While we were in Phuket we visited a huge jewelry store. Thailand is known for their mining of sapphires and rubies. Rob was wanting to get me a mother's ring with Avery's birthstone being diamonds and Blair's being rubies we were in the perfect place to look. When we first walked in I spotted the most beautiful ruby ring I have ever seen. The ruby looked like it was on fire. But the price tag, although much better than in the US, was still more than what we were looking at spending. I found another really pretty ring with channel set diamonds and rubies in two rows. We bought that one however they had to re-size it and when they cut the ring all the stones came loose. So, they had to repair it and deliver it to us the next day. Well, when the delivered it the repair was done very poorly. So we went back up the the store later that afternoon. After a lot of looking and discussion, we left a deposit on the ring we saw first. I told Rob that if our plans were to come back at a later date and hope that ring was still there (or one like it), I'd rather just put the money into that one rather than buying one now then another one later. My birthstone is also the ruby (Blair and I have the same b-day). Tell me what you think:

What Flavor Margarita are You?

In honor of it being Friday and a great day to enjoy a Margarita, here is another quiz I took at Lauri's Blog:

You Are an Orange Margarita

At first glance, you are very unique - but deep down you are still quite a traditionalist. A margarita may be "too fancy" for you, but you'll never turn a free one down.

What Flavor Margarita Are You?

Don't Squat on the Toilet Seat

If someone said something to me about squatting on the toilet seat I would assume they were talking about what I refer to as "hovering". When most gals use a public restroom we either "hover" over the seat never coming in physical contact with the toilet seat or we put t.p. on the seat before sitting down. The second option is one I reserved for my two girls when they were younger, before they were too big to "hover". So with that little bit of backgound info there you can see how I was amused by the following sign in the ladies restroom at the shipyard where we have our weekly meetings:

Look at the drawing of the toilet in the bottom left of the sign. There are two footprints on either side of the toilet seat!!!! You see here, most public restrooms have western toilets, like what we have in our homes and they also have "holes in the ground"...well that's what I call them anyway or also known as "squat toilets". To use one of these, you stand with your feet on either side of the hole and lower your pants, squat and pee. Kinda like you would if you were camping. But I would think it would be tricky to get your clothes out of the line of fire while not emptying the contents of your pockets into the toilet. You will also find some of these types of toilets come with a water spray nozzle on a hose attached to a spicket on the wall. I don't even want to get a metal image of how you clean up yourself with one of those things. So why would someone go through all of that and stand on the seat when they can just use the toilet the way it was designed to be used?

Off to Phuket

I meant to post this before I left on Friday....oh well! This is where we went. I'll post pictures as soon as I get them off the camera.

Well while the rest of you are slaving away at work on Friday we will be jetting off for a much needed break in Phuket Thailand. Phuket is an island in the Indian Ocean, 867km from Bangkok. Where we will lounge around the beach and the pool bar, drink too much, eat too much and sleep too much. I will work on my tan. I'm paler now than I have ever been and I live 1 degree north of the equator! That's SAD! It will be a short weekend trip but that is OK. It will give us a chance to check things out and plan a longer trip there in the future. I'm sure sometime during the weekend we will squeeze in a spa and some shopping. We will be staying on Karon Beach which is one of Phuket's longest beaches. There are a lot of things to do in Phuket, such as: tours to the temples there, visit their aquarium and butterfly farm or sea shell museum. They also have shows with elephants. Not sure how much of that we will be able to do as I've already listed our top priorities for this trip, but there's always next time!

Blair's Aggie Ring Day!

Blair has put in for her ring audit so now we officially start the count down:

Another word I won't replace

I thought of another word I won't replace with the Singapore version:

Trunk --> they say Boot.

The first time I went to Avery's school which requires you to go through a security gate they asked to look in my "boot". If I hadn't see the car in front of me open their trunk for the security guard I don't think I would have known what he was talking about.

Cute Car!

Isn't this just about the cutest car you've ever seen? Rob and I saw this one afternoon while we were out and had to take a picture of it. Just to mess with Avery, we told her that we'd get it for her when she learns how to drive. Rob had to stand by it so you would be able to get a good idea just how small it really is. It was acutally for sale. I can't remember what the asking price was.

Miss All My Kitchen Stuff

I have to admit I like to cook when I don't have to cook. Does that make sense? I like cooking for parties and special occasions, not so much the day to day nessecity sort of cooking. I will also admit I love Pampered Chef kitchen stuff too. It makes cooking much more enjoyable. Luckily I have a friend who keeps my addiction satisfied. She sells Pampered Chef products. The only problem is figuring out how to get it over here. Daughter no. 2's birthday was on April 23rd. She wanted to take cup cakes to school. I soon figured out I needed a cup cake pan that holds more than 6 cupcakes. I bought that with big breakfast muffins in mind, not feeding an army of 8th graders. Then, she had some girls over for a slumber party to officially celebrate her birthday. I made a huge chocolate chip cookie cake and soon realized I needed a large bar pan to contain all of the cookie dough so it doesn't run over the sides of my rectangle stone and burn in the bottom of the oven. Luckily just as the first blobs where spilling over the edges I remembered I had two of those throw-away aluminum pans so I immediately put them in the bottom of the oven to catch all the ran over the sides. Eventually the dough was set enough that it quit dripping and finished baking. It came out just right. I trimed the edges with my pizza cutter so they were nice and straight. By that time the girls where all at that house and it was time to load up and hit the mall for a movie. Hubbie stayed home and after the cookie had cooled he decorated it. It turned out really cute. If he had the Easy Accent Decorator it may have even been cuter, maybe not. I thought he did a wonderful job. ('ll try to remember to post a photo of the cookie cake once I get home)

Are you a True Texan??

Here's another quiz. Thank God for quizzes - they make great fillers when you haven't had time to think of something interesting to write about. At least this test must have had all the correct answers as you can tell by my score. That other one was messed up somewhere. Now it's your turn....and let me know how you do. There's even a hint above:

You are 100% Texan!

Great Job, you got a passing grade!!! That's just Wonderful!!! you rock my Texas Socks!!!! Once again, congrats!!!

Are you a true Texan??
See All Our Quizzes

Oh! And Happy National Scrapbooking Day!

Guys and their Toys

Ok. I've been dying to show y'all these pictures but unfortunately they were taken with my cell phone and aren't that good. The guys here are strange. How many guys from Texas do you know that would cover the dashboard in their car with these toys? You would think that these cars belong to girls....little girls that still play with toys. You don't see too many cars with bumper stickers but you see a lot of cars with toys. Toys on the dash, cute little stuffed pillows on the head rest with cute matching steering wheel covers and toys in the back window (or boxes of kleenex's - but that's another story). So, now that we have are getting a digital camera for the shipyard I'll try to keep camera in hand and post better pictures of this strange phenomenon.

Come back again and see what other fun toys I can find.

How Many Kinds of Tuna does a Person Need?

I doing some looking for grocery prices I came across all these different types of tuna in a can. I knew they had some different ones but I didn't realize there were this many. Which are your favorite? Are there any that you would like to try:

• Black Pepper Tuna
• Chili Tuna
• Curry Tuna
• Deli Tuna - Hot Mayo
• Deli Tuna - Mild Mayo
• Ginger Soy Tuna
• Onion Tomato Savoury Tuna
• Spicy Lemak Tuna
• Tom Yam Tuna
• Tomato Chili Tuna
• Tuna & Onion
• Tuna 1000 Island
• Tuna Dinner Green Curry
• Tuna Dried Tomato Herbs

There were some others but they seemed to be variations of the ones I've listed here. Let me know if you need me to send you some!

The Price of Eggs in Singapore

Normally the saying is something about the price of eggs in China, but since I'm not in China we are going to look at the price of things here in S'pore. My hubbie thought it would be a neat idea for you to see how much things are here and then you can let me know what they cost where you are. So, here is my list (the approximate price in USD is in parentheses):

• Cheerios (375gm box - 13.2 oz) - S$10.90 ($6.89)
• Fresh Raspberries (170gm - 6oz) - S$8.90 ($5.63)
• Hostess Donuts (13.5 oz) - S$9.40 ($5.95)
• Pilsbury Bread Sticks - Refrigerated in a can (11oz) - S$10.30 ($6.52)
• Kellogg's Breakfast Bars (222gm-7.83oz) - S$9.40 ($5.95)
• Tiger Beer (6 pack) - S$16.50 ($10.82) --> This is the local beer so compare to your local beer in price.
• Velveeta (454gm - 160z) - S$13.60 ($8.92)
• Betty Crocker Cake Mix - S$5.40 ($3.54)
• Hunts Stewed Tomatoes (14 oz) S$2.05 (1.34)
• Flour Tortillas (10 count) - S$8.90 ($5.84)