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)

Why Can't they Make Iced Tea?

Ok...here in Singapore there are tea shops, places that sell tea leaves and all sorts of tea kettles/pots. I know they are mainly for drinking hot tea. But darn it! it's sweltering over here...why can't I go into a restaurant and order a plain ole' Iced Tea? Instead I have to order Iced Lemon Tea which comes in a can and is sweetened already. They have the same brands we have back home like Nestle and Lipton (I think?) plus others I've never heard of. I just don't get it. How come they act like they have never heard of making regular iced tea so I can sweeten it as I like? Note to self: From now on, don't give in. If you want Iced Tea, then let them figure it out. It isn't that hard.

How Texan Are You?

Ok. I think this is the perfect quiz for our little page here. Now, I don't know what question they think I got wrong but whatever it was I have to disagree with them. Now, you go try and let me know how you did.

You are 95% Texan!

You did GREAT!!!! You are born a true Texan!!!!! AWESOME job, you don't have to go back to school to come here!!! You are good enough already!!!! You have the blood of a true Texan in you!!!! You are PERFECT Texas Material!!!!! You Rock out loud, You rock my Texas socks!!!!! :-)

How Texan are you?
Create a Quiz

Resisting the Urge to Conform

Ok...I am not going to change my way of saying things. I feel I must resist the urge to use these phrases even though it may mean that the people here won't understand me. I must stay true to myself as a Texan.

I will not say, (when I mean):

Car Park (Parking Garage/Lot)
Petrol (Gas)
Esso/Mobil (Exxon/Mobil)
Expressway (Freeway/Highway)
Take-a-way (To Go - Like when you are at a restaurant and you ask for a "to-go" container for your left-overs)
Handphone (Cellphone)
Slip Road (Feeder Road)

I know there are many others...for some reason this is all I can think of at the moment.

Can Someone Tell Me....

Can someone tell me why a person would own a Ferrari, Lamborghini or Mazerati on an island where the top speed is 90km (about 55 mph)? The stretches of highway that are 90km are few and far between....and normally congested, you are lucky to go 30km. On top of that the island is only 26 miles east to west and 14 miles north to south. So why would someone pay the not-so-small fortune it would cost to own one of these here?

Safety Rules about using the restroom

We had our Safety Induction Meeting the other day since the rig has arrived and we will be in the shipyard and on the rig quite regulary. This is from the handbook given to us from the Shipyard....notice item #5.1.6:
The scary thing is that I guess it must be an issue since they had to make a rule about it. I hope they clearly mark this designated area, not that I am going to need to know where it is as I plan on taking care of any business I need to before or after I make a trip to the rig.

It Snowed!

Well...not here in Singapore! But it snowed our last (full) day we were home. Yes, we were home for about 2 weeks. We got to see a lot of family and friends. It went by way too fast. We ate Mexican no less than 4 times. The one other food "must" on our list was Shipley's Donuts. We didn't get that until we were at the airport leaving to come home...and they weren't hot. :-( I drove all over the place from Houston to Midway, to Huntsville, to College Station, to Magnolia, to Austin, to San Antonio...the blue bonnets and other wild flowers were blooming...it was beautiful! Thank you to everyone that let us camp out with them. A BIG Thank You to my brother that cooked up some scrumptious crawfish for us. If we hadn't come back when we did I might have stayed! I think Rob was feeling that too because he called us a few times while we were at the airport to come home. I think he was just checking to see if we were actually coming home. We did A TON of shopping. There is just so much we can't get over here. I stocked up on over the counter medicines. Stuff that we took for granted back home like: pepto, sinus stuff, alka-seltzer, etc. I even brought back Sweet Baby Rays BBQ sauce and cans of Green Enchilada sauce. And we bought clothes. Not sure when we will be able to make it back again. Hopefully it won't be too long though. It was so nice just getting in my truck and driving all over Texas.... There's No Place Like Home! (The photo was sent to me by our welding inspector on our project here. His Mother-in-law sent it to him. He thinks a friend of hers took it somewhere near Franklin, TX)

Veils or Headdress...That is the Question

Being here in Singapore there are a lot of women who where various forms of headdress. In an effort to understand more about what I see I searched the internet to see what I could find. I thought I would share in an effort to help all of y'all out there broaden your knowledge of the subject as well. The truth is...if it makes me go hmmm? or huh? Then when I find the answer it becomes my next post here on my little blog.This is what I found so far:

The burka comes in many variations, but in its most conservative form, it thoroughly covers the face of the person wearing it, leaving only a mesh-like screen to see through. This refugee is wearing the conservative burka that the Taliban regime requires women in Afghanistan to don outdoors. The burka is thought to have originated in the Arabian peninsula and can still be found there today. They are not always as conservative in form as the one shown here and often allow parts of a woman's face to show through.The word hijab refers to the variety of styles in which Muslim women use scarves and large pieces of cloth to cover their hair, neck and sometimes shoulders. As shown on this Seattle-area Muslim woman, the hijab often leaves the entire face open. In the United States, the hijab is the most common form of headcovering for Muslim women.

The chador is the full-body cloak Muslim women in Iran are expected to wear outdoors. Depending on how it is designed and on how the woman holds it, the chador may or may not cover the face. The chador was forbidden in Iran under the reign of Mohammad Reza Shah, who was brought to power with help from the United States and sought to modernize the country. After the shah was exiled during the Islamic Revolution in 1979, the chador became required wear for all Iranian women. Many Iranians today subvert their dress-code by wearing Western-style clothing beneath the chador.Hindu women also wear a veil, a practice that highlights the fact that veiling is not exclusively Muslim. Traditional and orthodox Hindu women, such as this one, will cover their heads and at least partly obscure their faces in the company of unrelated adult males. Sometimes veiling is accomplished with a loose end of the woman's sari, and sometimes it is done with a scarf-like fabric known as the dupatta.

Many Pakistani Muslims, such as this one, wear some form of veil. This woman is wearing the nikab along with a bandana that reads, "God is great!" The veil existed before Islam existed, but it has been embraced and spread by the religion. Not all Muslim women wear a veil, but among those who do, styles vary wildly, from simple kerchiefs and elaborate head scarves to full face-and-body coverings. The nikab is the form of Muslim veiling that comes closest to what is actually meant by the English word "veil." English speakers tend to use the word veil as a catch-all term that covers all types of Muslim head and body coverings. The nikab, worn in black by this Moroccan woman, is a veil in the true sense of the word. It covers everything below the bridge of the nose and the upper cheeks, and sometimes also covers the forehead.

Now...what about their actual dress. Some dress very modestly while you see some women dressed in very bright colors where their outfit consists of a loose wraped skirt, a tight lycra top that bares the midriff with a matching scarf to cover their sholders and hangs below the waist in front and back. I wonder why the differences? That will be my next challenge.

Funny Joke

I heard a funny joke on the way to work. Now, I'm really not that good at telling jokes, but I'm not so bad at typing them. So if you don't find this funny, then you aren't good at reading jokes. Ok, here it goes...it helps if you imagine the voice of an Asian DJ doing a Scotsman's voice:

A man and his wife are out in the backyard. The husband makes a comment about how large his wife's backside is getting. He says that her bottom has gotten almost as large as the gas grill. His wife not, liking the comments moves farther way in the backyard but the husband continues with his comments. He even goes as far as to get the measuring tape out and declares that her rear end is in fact the same size as the gas grill. Well, later on that night after they have gone to bed, the husband is snuggling up next to his wife trying to get frisky. She moves away from him and he asks, "Honey, what's the matter? What's wrong?" And she says.....

"Don't get any ideas. There's no way I'll be firing up the grill for one little sausage!"

Coming Home and Crawfish

I thought it wasn't too far away for me to start counting down the days to mine & Avery's trip back home. We are really looking forward to it. I think my brother is having a crawfish boil, so we will make it to that for sure! That reminds me...if you scroll down to the picture of the things they call crayfish here...I found out these are actually spiney lobsters. See..I knew they weren't crawfish, crayfish or any other type of *fish.

To All Those....

Sweet Taters

Out there!

This was too cute to pass up. Click on the link above.

Thanks Kim for sharing.

What I Miss About Texas:

We went out this weekend with a co-worker of mine and one of the questions she asked was what I miss most about home. So here is my list of what I miss about home:

• Family & Friends
• My co-workers (which I consider friends but wanted to make sure they knew they were missed)
• Mexican Food
• Tequiza
• Shipley's Donuts
• Going to see Dwight, Tbyrd or Mark Chesnutt with my friends
• Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo
• Whataburger
• Texas BBQ
• Country Music
• Mexican Food
• My pickup truck
• Bluebonnets
• Oh! and did I say Mexican Food?
  

Candy Hearts!

Got this from Lauri:

Your Candy Heart Says "Hug Me"

A total sweetheart, you always have a lot of love to give out.Your heart is open to where ever love takes you! Your ideal Valentine's Day date: a surprise romantic evening that you've planned out Your flirting style: lots of listening and talking What turns you off: fighting and conflict Why you're hot: you're fearless about falling in love

What Does Your Candy Heart Say?

Crawfish Time!

Well thoughts of making a trip home and making plans on how to spend our time while we were there eventually reminded me that it should be crawfish season while we are home. I sure hope someone is having a crawfish boil while I am home. We may be too early for all of the pre-OTC parties. I'm wondering what kind of crawfish season it will be. Has it been warm enough? Has there been enough rain? Now they have what they call crayfish here. They don't look anything like a crawfish to me:

This is the only photo I could find. Can someone please tell me what these things are? I've searched the internet and anything that is called a crawfish looks more like the mudbugs we boil up nice and spicey and eat until we are miserable. They have claws....I can't see claws on these that they have here. I have eaten these things pictured here. There is a restaurant (hawker center) near the shipyard that searved them as "Black Pepper Crayfish". . . and they are good but I just think they look prehistoric. I like to know what I'm eating. I think I'll have to bring back some "Swamp Fire" or "Swamp Dust" back with me so we can see how these things taste cajun style. Well "Laissez le bon temps rouler!" and let me know if you know of any crawfish boils coming up between March 26th and April 8th so I can mark my calender!

New York Ban on Talking, Walking

I heard on the radio today....way over here in Singapore....that a state senator from Brooklyn said on Tuesday he plans to introduce legislation that would ban people from using an MP3 player, cell phone, Blackberry or any other electronic device while crossing the street in either New York City or Buffalo. Apparently pedestrians are so tuned into these things they are being struck by moving vehicles. Well I'm not sure how you feel about that but let me tell you how it is over here. Here in Singapore it is a common site to come up to a cross-walk in your vehicle and have a pedestrian step out, never looking to see if anyone is coming all while either SMS-ing someone one their cell phone, talking on their cell phone or listening to music. THEY NEVER LOOK UP!! You want to know why this is? Why are they so comfortable knowing that they aren't going to get creamed by a bus? It's because over here most of the cross walks are painted with the wide black and white strips and there are black and white stripe painted light poles on either side with blinking lights at the top. They have total right-of-way. If their foot reaches the cross-walk before you do then you have to stop. Let me tell you though...imho they should bear some of the responsiblity for their own safety by looking to make sure it is safe to cross. Drivers do get distracted, especially over here! Nine times out of 10 when I look to see why the idoit driver next to me can't stay in his lane it's because he's on his/her cell phone or SMS'ing someone WHILE they are driving! They aren't supposed to be but they all do it. I can tell you I don't just blindly walk across those things! I doubt New York driver's would be easy to train to not speed up to try and beat a pedestrian to the cross walk. If people are stupid enough to walk out in the road and not look first it's their responsibility, I don't think the government should be responsible. What do you think? MSNBC Story - click here.

Cowboy central? - Opinion

Cowboy central? - Opinion

Saw this in the online version of The Battalion. Thought is was pretty humerous and got the message across too!


I also liked this photo:

Spencer Selvidge - THE BATTALION

The Texas A&M student section holds up 'Beat Texas' signs during Texas' starting lineup announcement in Reed Arena. The Aggies beat the Longhorns 100-82.

How are your New Year's Resolutions going?

Thank you Joe for today's post:

Hey!

Don't you think it's time we all became more physically active. Beginning in 2007, I (and a few friends) will be riding 5 miles every day.

If any of you would like to join our Bike Club, please let me know and we can make arrangements.

I think it would be appropriate to ride somewhere between 4:00 and 7:00pm. We can call it happy hour, if it will make you say yes.

I have enclosed a photo of my bike - see below.

I Missed the Snow

I guess y'all back home had some nasty weather last week. It's a constant humid, tropical climate here. I imagined there was a lot of this going on back home:

Save "Saw 'Em Off"

Save "Saw 'Em Off"! Click Here!

UT sues over sawed-off horns - News

One of these days..

One of these days you are going to read about me in the Singapore news. It's a good thing these people here don't drive in Houston. I had gone to pick my mom up Saturday from their apartment. I pulled into their complex and drove up and around the traffic circle that you have to go around to exit. I had just stopped and could see my mom coming when this STUPID taxi driver pulled up behind me and started honking his horn. GIVE ME A BREAK!! You can't wait 30 seconds? As my mom was getting in, I put the car in park and got out and gave the guy the (not what you were thinking) but the "What's up with you?", arms up in the "Y" position over my head and got back in the car. Making sure to take the time to buckle up and adjust my mirrors. The more you honk, the longer it's going to take me is what I was thinking. Then I SLOWLY pull on around the circle and out of the driveway. Of course the STUPID taxi driver had to give it one more honk for good measure as he turned the opposite direction. Yeah, that's right...you better be going the other way! Most of the time the Singaporeans don't get offended by someone honking at them...WELL I'm a Texan NOT a Singaporean. I guess they don't get upset because they don't carry guns here! Mom says that every once in a while you will hear about someone being caned because of an altercation on the side of the road between two drivers.

How Rude!

I'm not making this stuff up! Read for yourself. This article is from today's edition of a local paper called Today.

Nip rudeness in the bud with education
Letter from Jessica Chan

COULD we include service training in our school education curriculum? I worked in the service industry for about 20 years and noticed that teens who have worked part-time in, say, an F&B outlet, behave better than teens who have never done such work.

The former group tends not to behave obnoxiously towards service providers. If a youngster is trained from school-going age to behave respectfully towards another human being (or even a property), it will be a win-win situation for all concerned.

We are trying to improve service standards, but I keep reading about rude Singaporeans almost on a daily basis and have had close encounters with quite a few myself.

We should prevent our young from turning out to be such ugly Singaporeans by educating them while their minds are still impressionable, and not only when they have started working.
_______________________________________
It appears that these 3rd generation Singaporeans are a rude bunch. Some blame it on being raised by the family's domestic helper. If the child misbehaves or does something wrong the houskeeper gets the blame. They haven't learned any responsibilty for their own actions. They don't learn to pick up after themselves either. It's like being surrounded by a bunch of spoiled brats who always have to be first.

Singapore Slang Translator

Here is a handy little tool for you to use if you should ever make it over here:

Accuse me: excuse me
Anything can: anything is possible
Ang moh: Caucasian (literally 'red headed' in Hokkien)
Auntie: a respectful way to address an older lady
Barang Barang: stuff as in bags, clutter etc
Blur: very confused
Bo eng lah!: can't commit, not available, no time to do something
Can ah: can you or can't you?
Can leh: yes, of course
Can lor: yes, I think so
Can hah?: are you sure?
Can hor: you are sure then
Can meh: are you certain?

***Ok I have to add my 2 cents here....why do they make it so difficult to find out or answer whether or not you "can"??*****

Die die: no matter what happens
Don't play play: don't fool around
Goondu: stupid or acting stupid
Habis: finished or all used
How can: how is that possible?
Kaypoh: nosey
Kiasu: very afraid to lose out to others
Kopi: coffee
Kopi tiam: coffee shop
Lah: no translation, Lah is added for emphasis
Lose face: become very embarrassed, lose dignity
Makan: food or as a verb to 'go makan' to go to eat
No nid: no need
No stock orready: not in stock as in habis Orready already
Orso can: no problem
Out station: overseas or away from home
Over orready: none left or the event is finished
Rojak: an Indonesian Malaysian dish but used as a common word for mixture
Singlish: Singaporean English slang
So how?: and the answer is?, what is next
Teh tarik: tea
Tumpang: ask for a favour
Ulu: distant or far away (English equivalent to in the boonies)
Uncle: a respectful way to address an older man
Wah: wow, another emphasis term or word
Wah so cheap lah: wow, that's really cheap
Why Like That: why things happen this way
You know I know can already: usually meant to be a secret between

And lastly

Maid with a promotion: My brother made this one up to describe the little Filipino maids you see walking around with older Caucasian men. We got a laugh out of that one.

Finally!

Well There they are! Not sure what happened but now Blogger seems to be working.

Well, we are just settling into a routine here. Not much going on so I thought I would post a "rant" then a "rave" as not to turn this into a "complaint" page. So here it goes:

RANT: These people here have no idea what "elevator etiquette" is. If you are standing outside the elevator waiting to get on everyone around you swarms the elevator as soon as the doors open to rush inside...doesn't matter if there are people on the elevator waiting to get off. They get on anyway. Doesn't matter if you were there first..."If you aren't first, your last". That's their motto about everything it seems. And once on the elevator they are mashing the "close door" button instantly.

RAVE: Once on the elevator they are really friendly. They will always say "Bye" to you when they get off the elevator. If I'm on the elevator with Sugar they talk about her wanting to know how old she is, what's her name etc. This has been my experience on the elevator at our condo. Not quite as chatty at the malls as the elevators are always packed.

There! Now I feel better. :-p

what's the deal?

testing...testing...why didn't my last post show up? I can see it in the preview....auughhh!

Looking for bikes

Well this weekend is pretty uneventful. We went shopping at SimLim Square for some electronics Saturday after Avery got finished with gymnastics. It's a huge 6 story mall full of electronics. Everything from cameras, cell phones, computers, printers, etc.

Sunday we went shopping for bicycles. Avery got one for Christmas so Rob and I really need to get one so she has someone to ride with. We got online to see what kind of bike trails they have here. Singapore is really doing something neat. They have all these parks and they are connecting them with trails called Park Connectors. Not all of them are completed but I think there are plenty of places for us to discover.

Blair's Last Day Here

Well, today is Blair's last day here. We have to get up early in the morning to get her to the airport at 5:30AM. It sure has been great having her here. We are about to venture out for one last shopping trip down on Orchard Rd. This evening we are going over to the Botanical Gardens to take some family pictures then mom and dad are coming over for dinner.

Last night was fun. We went to a Singapore Slinger basketball game. They won!! I believe they are in the play-offs. We have tickets to next weeks game too. It was a close game. Even though the Slingers stayed ahead throughout the game there were occasions where they were only ahead by one point. It was a nail-biter! Rob took some great pictures. I'll post them here when he gets the pics off of his camera. He took it with him to work today.

Since I need to get out of here I'll fill some more space with pictures:

Monkey on our balcony one morning while we where in Batam, Indonesia.

Avery, Cristie and Blair with the Orangutans at the Singapore Zoo.

Avery practicing her pirate routine.

Blair practicing for when she gets to dunk her Aggie Ring.

It's 2007!

Well it's great having everyone FINALLY! Rob is here for good. Scott's visit was a short one, Cristie has already headed home and Blair leaves on Friday. After that it's back to the same routine...well almost. With Rob being here it should be much better. We have been really busy with everyone here. We hit the ground running as soon as Blair and Cristie arrived. We've been to the zoo, the bird park, out to eat a zillion times (nothing new for living in Singapore), China Town, Holland Village, Indonesia, shopping....shopping and more shopping! We had a Singapore Sling at the Long Bar at Raffles where the drink was invented. We also spent about S$280 in 45 minutes there! I knew drinks were more expensive here and I figured that back in the US the drink would have been about $8-$10 so I thought it would be s$12-S$14 here. Was I wrong! They were S$20 each! Rob ordered a Grey Goose Martini and it was S$32!! Needless to say, anyone that wants to come visit us has to visit Duty Free for booze first. Thank you Cristie for the Captain Morgan and Baily's. We had dinner that same night at Bobby Ravino's where they have a drink called "Sex with the Captain" that I think I need to try! We just got finished taking down the tree and the rest of the Christmas decorations. Although it seems like we have ample storage space for an apartment, we don't really have room to store all the luggage it took to get us over here along with the tree and the decorations. So...Rob's brillant idea was to put the decorations inside one of the suitcases. It fit perfectly. When Blair leaves, the spare bedroom will have to be the storage room until the next guest comes. Yesterday we went and picked out some furniture for little patio. We are waiting now for it to be delivered. Should be here shortly. Now we will be able to sit on our balcony and have a cup of coffee or a glass of wine and enjoy the view. Since Rob has been here he has hung up the large mirrors and paintings that we had bought. Starting to look much better now. We even looked at some oriental rugs too yesterday. We found some that we liked, but will wait to see what they offer at the auction coming up on the 19th. Well, here are a few pictures from the past three weeks. Enjoy!

Make a Complete Elf of Yourself

I promise you will laugh your a** off!

Click Here!

Your Christmas Present From Me

My dear friends,
Somewhat embarrassing to admit, I'm not getting an annual bonus and Christmas is tight this year. I will be making bedroom slippers for you all as gifts. Please let me know your sizes. You'll most likely agree that it's a splendid idea, and should you wish to do the same, I've included the instructions below:

• How to make bedroom slippers out of maxi pads:
• You need four maxi pads to make a pair. Two of them get laid out flat, for the foot part. The other two wrap around the toe area to form the top.
• Tape or glue each side of the top pieces to the bottom of the foot part.
• Decorate the tops with whatever you desire, silk flowers (this is most aesthetically appealing), etc.
• These slippers are:
• Soft and Hygienic
• Non-slip grip strips on the soles
• Built in deodorant feature keeps feet smelling fresh
• No more bending over to mop up spills
• Disposable and biodegradable
• Environmentally safe
• Three convenient sizes: Regular, Light and Get out the Sand Bags.

I've attached a photo of the first pair I made so that you can see the nifty slippers for yourself.... Awaiting your response. It's crucial that I get the right size for each one of you!

An Update for my Holidays

I have turned in my vacation and have figured it out to where I can split the vacation days I have left into 1/2 days here and there so that I will be off at least 1/2 a day if not the whole day each day until Blair goes back. She'll be here the longest as she goes home on the 11th or 12th of January. Nothing opens here until 11 am anyway. I hope each of you are making plans for a wonderful holiday too.

Where's the Popcorn button?

Thought you would like to see the choices on our microwave here:




What happened to the popcorn button? Isn't that really the only reason we use microwaves? I have no idea what Tom Yum Soup is. Can anyone out there tell me? Now have to actually read the popcorn package to remind myself how many minutes I'm supposed to cook it for and I have to stand there and wait and listen to it cook so I know when it stops popping so I can take it out. The nifty popcorn button on our microwaves in the USA cooked popcorn to perfection. Now I don't know the difference bewteen Tom Yum Soup and Spicy Chicken Curry but the pictures make them look similar enough that you could have combined them into one button don't ya thing? And what's with the button for cooked rice? If it's already cooked then why are you microwaving it? Just another example how American's got it right.

The Reason for the Season

Thank you mama for reminding us what Christmas is REALLY about:

As you well know, we are getting closer to my birthday. Every year there is a celebration in my honor and I think that this year the celebration will be repeated. During this time there are many people shopping for gifts, there are many radio announcements, TV commercials, and in every part of the world everyone is talking that my birthday is getting closer and closer. It is really very nice to know, that at least once a year, some people think of me. As you know, the celebration of my birthday began many years ago. At first people seemed to understand and be thankful of all that I did for them, but in these times, no one seems to know the reason for the celebration. Family and friends get together and have a lot of fun, but they don't know the meaning of the celebration. I remember that last year there was a great feast in my honor. The dinner table was full of delicious foods, pastries, fruits, assorted nuts and chocolates. The decorations were exquisite and there were many, many beautifully wrapped gifts. But, do you want to know something? I wasn't invited. I was the guest of honor and they didn't remember to send me an invitation. The party was for me, but when that great day came, I was left outside, they closed the door in my face......... and I wanted to be with them and share their table. In truth, that didn't surprise me because in the last few years all close their doors to me. Since I was not invited, I decided to enter the party without making any noise. I went in and stood in a corner. They were all drinking; there were some who were drunk and telling jokes and laughing at everything. They were having a great time. To top it all, this big fat man all dressed in red wearing a long white beard entered the room yelling Ho-Ho-Ho! He seemed drunk. He sat on the sofa and all the children ran to him, saying: "Santa Claus, Santa Claus"... as if the party were in his honor! At 12 midnight all the people began to hug each other ; I extended my arms waiting for someone to hug me and ... do you know .... no one hugged me. Suddenly they all began to share gifts. They opened them one by one with great expectation. When all had been opened, I looked to see if, maybe, there was one for me. How would you feel if on your birthday everybody shared gifts and you did not get one ? I then understood that I was unwanted at that party and quietly left. Every year it gets worse. People only remember to eat and drink, the gifts, the parties and nobody remembers me. I would like this Christmas that you allow me to enter into your life. I would like that you recognize the fact that almost two thousand years ago I came to this world to give my life for you, on the cross, to save you. Today, I only want that you believe this with all you heart. I want to share something with you. As many didn't invite me to their party, I will have my own celebration, a grandiose party that no one has ever imagined, a spectacular party. I'm still making the final arrangements. Today I am sending out many invitations and there is an invitation for you. I want to know if you wish to attend and I will make a reservation for you and write your name with golden letters in my great guest book. Only those on the guest list will be invited to the party. Those who don't answer the invitation, will be left outside. Do you know how you can answer this invitation? It is by extending it to others whom you care for... I'll be waiting for all of you to attend my party this year... See you soon .... I love you ! Jesus

Catching Up

Ok...so I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. Mine & Avery's was OK. We spent it with co-workers and their family. There was lots of great food and visiting with each other separated by a brief thunderstorm. We were however not with our family which are all back in Texas now. That's okay though because now we can seriously get to counting down the days until they get here! So where have I been....nowhere actually, bust busier than a one armed paper-hanger. Avery has had dance practice after school, even on some days that she has gymnastics. Outside of not getting home until 6:30-ish each evening, I've been busy making Christmas cards, cooking for Thanksgiving, shopping, WASHING DISHES, taking Sugar outside, decorating the apartment for Christmas, going to the dentist, preparing a fruit tray for the reception after Avery's Dance performance, attending her first gymnastics meet here in Singapore, going to a gymnastics parent meeting....blah, blah, blah! All this within the hour to 1-1/2 hours I have from the time I get home until the time I have to go pick Avery up from gym, and then in the time we get back until 11:30-12:00 when I finally go to bed. I'm pooped! Glad it's the weekend. Well, I'm off to sit my butt on the couch and watch a movie with Avery. Tonight was her Dance Performance. It was really good, very entertaining. All choreographed by High School dance students with one or two by the dance teacher. I couldn't take my eyes off of her so I have no idea what the dances looked like that she was in. I ordered a DVD so it will be fun to watch again.

Well...It was bound to happen...

Sooner or later I knew it was going to happen. Those pesky Singaporean drivers just cannot stay in their lane. It's not just one or two people here and there as I'm driving to work or somewhere...it's almost like an epidemic. You wouldn't believe it was this bad unless you saw it for yourself. I remember my dad telling me once that he waits until they move over just enough and he zooms by freaking them out. It's like they can't decide which lane they want to be in. The closest thing back home would be the constant lane changer-type people. At least they can commit to a single lane, even if it is just for a second. Well...it was this non-committal to one lane that caused my accident here Saturday morning. It was about 8:30AM and I was taking Avery to her school for dance practice. We were on a four lane divided road headed towards the PIE (their version of an expressway). We were driving in the left lane which is the slow lane here and there was another car slightly ahead of us in the right lane. I notice that she having difficulties staying in her lane, but not too bad. As I approach her she is again inching into my lane so I beep my horn at her. She keeps on coming and before you know it she's hit the front right quarter panel of my car. I can remember watching her car bump into mine and rather than go back to the right she's still headed left and the next thing I know she's spun around to where she is now perpendicular to me. I thought she was going to tip over. I am now veering to the right and she spins on around and is facing the opposite direction. I stop and get out and go back to where she is parked. She was a little stunned. I make sure they are all ok. She's asking what happened!!! "I don't understand what I did?" I said, "You weren't staying in your lane and you came into my lane and hit me." There was another lady and a young girl in the car with her. Maybe they were chatting away and didn't realize they weren't the only people on the road at the time. Who knows! I inspected her car and thought that she had gotten away with only slight scratches on each corner of her front bumper. I couldn't believe it. I thought for sure the whole side of her car would have been messed up. I did keep looking and saw that her left rear quarter panel, where the initial contact was made, was damaged some. I guess because we weren't really traveling that fast the damage was minimal. Both cars were able to be driven. I guess she realized that she was in the wrong. She didn't want my name or anything. I had Avery write down the license plate number of her car. I wasn't really sure what to do at that point. An emergency vehicle, like a big wrecker, came and blocked traffic so she could turn around and I backed up closer to her. Since everyone was ok, and the cars were drivable we each went on about our business. The rental car people brought me a loaner and I should have my car back in a week or so.

Now I feel "gun-shy". I want to beep my horn every time some one now drives over the line. However, i figure that just happens way to often. I would wear out the horn on my car. Well...hope that was the one and only wreck for me while I'm here. I was trying to remember the last one I had...I must be getting old...I remember back in 1990 when I got my Miata someone hit me. Other than that I did back into someone who was stupid enough to park directly on the opposite side of the street from our driveway...I've done that twice (two different locations). But I can't remember the last moving accident other than the one in my Miata.

I Found It!

Well...not sure if you remember me mentioning it before but I've been on the hunt for a make-up mirror with lights. Kinda like this:


It is so dark everywhere. Not sure if Singapore is trying to conserve energy or cause everyone to need glasses...hmmm...now that I think of it there are a lot of locals here that wear glasses...maybe I'm on to something. My bathroom is only fitting with these two small recessed can type lights. No windows. I can't see very well at all to put on my make-up, pluck my eyebrows....look for grey hairs to yank out....etc. I have looked in so many stores that i had given up finding one. I looked in their stores that are similar to Super Wal-mart. I looked in electronic stores similar to Best (but with out the Cd's and movies)...nothing. I have looked in department stores similar to our Dillards...nothing. Any store that I went in I looked. Sometimes the store clerks would look at me like they didn't understand what I was looking for so I would check on my own too. Well the other day I was in a mall and happened to see one out of the corner of my eye at a store on the next level down. I immediately found my way to that store and had the salesperson show me the two free-standing models they had. This store sold bathroom fixtures, mirrors, sinks, shower heads, etc. (and I have looked in similar stores before). I had her plug them in so I could see how bright they were. One of them had a very unique design. The mirror face was square and concave. It looked more just like polished chrome than a mirror. The lights were recessed on either side. The second one was round with the lights around the perimeter. I was so excited.....until I found out I would have to rob a bank or sell one of my kidneys to be able to afford it. Seeing that I didn't have the desire to spend the rest of my life in a Singapore jail nor did I want to part with any of my body parts I figured I have to stick to my original plan to have Rob bring one with him when he comes over. I guess I've waited this long. One more month won't kill me...my eyebrows are probably scary though. So...do you want to know how much???? Are you sitting down??? The square one was $850 and the round one was $690. For that price the darn thing should apply my makeup for me!

To all my friends lurking in the background:

Ok...I know you are out there....I can hear you breathing! What do I need to put in here to elicit a response from you? I hate talking to myself. Is there anything about this place over here that you would like to know about? Come on, give me a challenge! I don't want to bore you with all of our day-to-day, work and school stuff. Tell me what you are interested in and I will find the answers. It's really easy...here let me show you what to do:

• See at the bottom of this post where is usually says: 0 Comments (because you are too busy lurking)? Click on that.
• That will open a new window where you can add your 2 cents worth. You will have to type some mixed up characters and pick whether you want to add your comments as an anonymous, a registered user, etc.
• Then click on the preview or publish button.

See...isn't that easy? Come on...show me how much you miss me! Leave me a comment when you stop by or on this post here let me know what you want to know about. In the meantime I will try to come up with something clever to write about.

If you want to read some really funny stuff...check out the links over here -->

Disgusting!!

I have to post a complaint here, SORRY! Hopefully I don't p*ss off a bunch of people... but here it goes: People here need to learn to eat with their mouths closed!!!! There, I said it (or typed it anyway). Avery and I went to eat Friday night and people (locals) all around us are eating with their mouths open...chewing away like a herd of cattle. The kid (teenager) facing me, sitting behind Avery, was about to make me loose my appetite. He was eating and food was hanging half-way out of mouth. I admit that noodles are hard to eat with chopsticks but that doesn't mean that once you get it in there you can't chew with your mouth closed. I can see that you are eating, I don't need to see WHAT you are eating. This is definately becoming one of my pet peeves here. Do they not think that it is gross to be sitting and having dinner with someone and having to watch them eat like that? It's not just one or two people here or there either. And to top it off, they are very noisy too. You might be able to ignore the "See Food" by just staring directly at the person you are eating with and avoiding everyone else, but you can't help but hear the symphony of chewing and smaking going on all around you...

Why I've decided not to cook

Well, I may have mentioned that I was going to stop cooking...okay Kim don't panic...I still love all my Pampered Chef stuff! I still enjoy cooking...well, here are my reasons:

• Groceries here are expensive! Here are some examples (all in Singapore dollars) - Cheerios $11.90, Yoplait Plain Vanilla Yogurt $6.90, 1 doz. eggs $7.20, small ricotta cheese $8.95, 1 tube Pillsbury crescent rolls, $11.90.
• So, I think we can eat out cheaper - Chicken/Rice $2.50 Sing, that's about $1.60 USD. Tonight Avery and I took my dad for dinner for his birthday. We had Mongolian Chicken, Beef & Baby Kailan, 3 orders of steamed rice, 2 7-ups and a large Tiger beer and the total was $22 Sing or $13.90 USD.
• We don't have a dishwasher, other than me :-) Everynight I have to wash a sink full of dishes.
• Most of the places we can eat at around here are a nice walk from our apartment, so we get dinner and some exercise.
• Avery is learning to eat something other than fried rice when we go to the hawker stands.
• No longer will I have surprises in my hamburger buns!

I figure I can cook two or three nights a week....for now anyway.

I'm Counting Down The Days!

Not What I Thought I bought

...okay so I am the store Friday after work. Even though I said I was going to quit cooking (I'll tell you why later) I found myself buying all kinds of stuff. My mom had told me that if I see something I need/want I better get it then because when you go back it will be gone. So I'm at the Cold Storage (grocery store chain here) that is about 3-5 miles away. It's in an area with a lot of expats and it looked big so I thought I would stop in and see if they had what I needed for my chili and pecan pie before I drove on in to the city to try Tanglin Marketplace. They had all kinds of stuff. They had chili seasoning, and Karo syrup which I needed, but no refrigerated pie crust. I had to make the crust from scratch (thanks for the recipe mom!). I also found Stove Top stuffing which I thought I better get for Turkey Day, along with Hidden Valley Ranch dip mix, and Cool Whip! I bought some other stuff too but was surprised to get those things especially. I thought I would make hamburgers for dinner one night over the weekend so I bought hamburger meat and what I thought was hamburger buns. There was nothing else in the bread section that looked like hamburger buns except what I found. There were hotdog buns so I figured what I bought must have been hamburger buns. Well, Saturday night I fix our hamburgers and I go to slice the buns (remember, they don't come pre-sliced here) and there was this glob of stuff baked in the middle. It looked like chocolate! There was nothing on the package that lead me to believe these buns had a surprise in the middle. I read the ingredients and found that it was red bean paste. Yummy! I had to taste it to see if it totally ruined the bread. It didn't have too much of a taste, kinda sweet. Needless to say, we scrapped that out into the trash. Otherwise the hamburgers were ok. I guess nextime I'll have to read the ingredients to be sure I know what I'm buying!

Texas Chili

I went shopping on Friday (even though I said I was going to quit cooking...did I mention that yet?) ... anyway...stopped by the store on the way home to get some ingredients I needed to make chili for Avery's school. They were having a big International Food Festival on Saturday and I volunteered to cook chili for one of the booths that was having a little chili cook-off. The parents/friends/etc. that came to the event could buy a bowl and "taste" as much chili as they wanted then vote for their favorite. The chili was also used as a hot-dog topping for the same booth. Anyway...I didn't win. I got robbed!!! I think my chili was good but at the time I happened to be over there doing my own taste comparison I overheard some of the people there saying it was between mine and one of the others however mine wasn't hot (temperature hot). I had brought extra as I made two potfuls. One batch I heated up before we took it to the school and the other was in a large ziplock. Well they must have waited until one batch was gone before they added the other so it wasn't warmed up yet. What do Singaporean's know about Texas Chili anyway??? Avery and I were at the festival all morning until about 2:30 PM. They had a bazaar set up too. I bought a few Christmas presents and some other things for the apartment. Oh! I also baked a pecan pie for the 8th Grade Graduation Fundraiser bake sale. I was told that it sold as soon as I got it there. I hope it turned out good. I also made one for Avery and I for Thanksgiving and put it in the freezer. Also at the festival each of the different grades were responsible for creating these theme baskets to raffle off. They were pretty awesome! One had an iPod Nano and another had some other type of iPod. Each of those were VERY popular. They had a BBQ basket, a Movie night basket (probably had at least 15 DVD's in it), Leggo basket, etc. Most of them were at least 3 feet tall, they were huge and just full of stuff. We bought $20 worth of tickets but didn't win anything. Well...tomorrow I'll tell you what else I bought at the store.

Halloween in Singapore?

You may be wondering if they recognize Halloween here in Singapore and yes, they do. Not quite as much in the stores here as back home but you will find small displays with some costumes, scary props, make-up, etc. Not the three or four huge aisles like you see at Wal-Mart back home, with at least two of those being nothing but candy. The thing that surprised me most was that the kids were encouraged to dress up at school in their costumes. Well, at least at my daughter's school. Not all the schools are that way. One of my co-workers children go to another school and they get to dress up for Hari Rayeh or Deepavali but not Halloween. If the kids didn't wear their costume or at least orange and black they had to wear their school uniform. I remember the days before the teachers and school administrators were afraid of being sued by some parent they "offended" by having a Halloween or Christmas party. Avery went trick-or-treating in the area near her school. There are more houses there with a large percentage of Americans. Most of her friends from school live in that area. I went to pick her up that evening and while I was waiting I saw a bunch of really great costumes. I was also surprised to see a lot of older kids 10+ and not so many little ones like I see back home. Those little babies don't need all that candy anyway...you know it's mom and dad that are going to eat it all! One of my co-workers went to a Halloween party at their complex. He said they didn't really get the candy concept there. When he opened his kids treat bags they had shrimp crackers and a juice box. The only piece of candy was one tiny lollipop. He said they had games for the kids...but no prizes. Candy might have made a nice surprise for the simple kids games. At our complex you could have signed up at the office letting them know that you wanted to participate and pass out candy at Halloween. They compiled a list of the units passing out candy, gave you a sign to put on the door and handed out the lists to the kids and/or their parents that night. Since I had to go pick up Avery I didn't sign-up but I saw a bunch of kids running around...again some of them had some great costumes. I was supposed to go to a Halloween Party the Saturday night before but it didn't work out. I had a costume all ready. I guess I'll save it for next year!

Another new Singapore "Cool" thing

Now, any of you that are used to Urban living, please don't spoil my thinking that this is something "new" and really cool as I have never seen this before. Next time you have to go to the mall or airport, or somewhere where you had to park in a parking garage wouldn't it be great to know how many parking spaces are left and on what level they were located? No more wasting time circling an entire floor looking for a parking space when there isn't even one available on that floor. Avery and I went to a mall here called Plaza Singapura. When you enter the parking garage there is a digital sign that lists the levels in the parking garage and how many spaces are empty on each level. The number of spaces indicated changes as people enter a level and leave a level. I thought it was really a neat idea. Sure made parking easier. From what I can tell there are lasers that keep track of when a car passes through the beam of light. The system must know how many spaces are on each level and subtracts the available spaces when a car parks on each level. One other note too...this parking garage was so clean it looked as though the floors were moped and polished hourly.

Quiz Results

Thank y'all for taking the time to take my little quiz. I know you are all dying to know how well you did compared to everyone else, so here are the current scores.

• Robert (Hubbie) - 100%
• Avery - 90%
• Aunt Kathleen - 80%
• Byrna (mom) - 80%
• Kim - 80%
• Cristie - 80%
• Laurie - 60%
• Sharon - 50%
• Lynne - 40%

Well, Robert blew the curve for all of y'all. Maybe we should go on the "Newlywed Game" or something like that for people who aren't newlyweds. Way to go Avery - only missed my weakness when it comes to desserts which is cookies! If I make cookies, everytime I walk past them in the kitchen I have to eat one or two. Question is ... where is Blair? Daughter no. 1 didn't take my quiz. Just about everyone missed the one about desserts and my first car which was a silver VW Beetle. How could y'all forget??? I did have Firebird but that was after the bug. Lynne, good guess on the truck. Being from Texas, just about everyone has or has had a truck at some point. My middle name is Renae. I figured the spelling would have been a dead give-a-way for those that didn't know. And lastly....this is the car I want when I get back:

Isn't it beautiful?

Introducing Sugar

Let introduce the newest member of our little family: Sugar.


Those of you who know me know I love dogs. I just like having them around. Avery and I really wanted to get a dog and when we found Sugar we just knew she was perfect for our family. She will be 10 mos. old next week. She's very petite, calm and well behaved....nothing at all like Charlie the pomeranian we had back home. He was really big for a pom, very hyper (he would stand at the back door and jump up to look in the back window over and over again) and he wouldn't stay in the back yard. We loved him anyway but was afraid he would get hit by a car so a friend took him into her home so now he is a chubby happy inside dog. Anyway..back to Sugar...
So far she has been really good. We did have a run of the runs (ha!) over the weekend but she appears to be over that now. It took her a few days to get used to being with us. I don't think she moved off of her blanket the entire first day. When I take her outside to do her business she walks right along side me without a leash. So far we haven't had to venture out while it was raining but I know that day is coming. I wonder if I can train her to use a litter box? What if I planted some grass in a litter box, do you think you could get a dog to potty there? I've never had a dog while living in a condo. I'm used to being able to scoot them out the back door then let them in a short time later. Some dogs don't like to go out in the rain, I hope she's not like that. And there are some dogs that get scared when in thunders, I hope she's not like that either. Right now she's curled up in the corner behind me sleeping...she's so cute!

Took A Quick Trip

Sorry I haven't posted since last week. Avery and I took a quick trip over to Bintan in Indonesia. She had several days off from school so we headed over there for a long weekend. It was really nice and relaxing. Felt like all we did was eat & swim. Surprised my clothes still fit. The place was really nice. Very tropical with white sandy beaches and blue water. We spent our days switching back and forth from the pool to the beach. We found sea shells, small ones, built a sand castle, went snorkling (twice) and enjoyed some of the organized activities put on the the staff. They even had a trapeze there for the guests to play on so of course Avery tried that out. You have to take a ferry to get there and back. I still feel like I'm on the ferry today. It seems like I'm sitting at my desk rocking back and forth. We were really bouncing around when we docked back in Singapore last night. I'll add some pictures later today. Before we left to head home we went into the little shopping village and found a few things to bring home. I'll probably see what other resorts are available there in Bintan for the next time we get a few days off. You can even go for the day. Not much different than driving from Houston to Galveston timewise. Oh! I have to tell you one of the strangest things I think I have ever seen...this little asian kid pooped on the beach! He just dropped his drawers and went right there! His dad had to clean it up with the little shovel they were using to build a sand castle. Imagine having to follow your kid around with a pooper scooper! Another interesting thing was that everytime they made an annoucement at the resort they made it about 5 times all in different languages. Avery and I laughed saying we should walk around speaking spanish (not that we know much). That was one of the languages they DIDN'T include.

How Well Do You Know Me?

I was over checking out Laurie's blog and she had this quiz on her's. I love these quizes so let's see if you know me or if you just think you do.

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Is it so hazy!

Those of you who live in the southern part of Texas probably remember the summers that Mexico was burning it's fields to clear the land for use again. I remember it being slightly hazy outside for a few days every here or there. Well they have something similar going on over here. Indonesia is having it's annual burn-off to clear land for agriculture. The haze caused by smoke has been a problem for about 2 weeks now. They measure the air quality with a PSI ('Pollutant Standards" index, not Particles per Square Inch which is what I thought it was. This chart shows you the ranges:

PSI Value PSI Descriptor
0 to 50 Good
51 - 100 Moderate
101 - 200 Unhealthy
201 - 300 Very unhealthy
Above 300 Hazardous

Friday, two weeks ago when I left the office I thought there was a fire right down the road. I even called my dad to see if he had heard anything about a fire out here at the shipyards. It was just the smoke coming in from Indonesia. It actually smelled like smoke outside. That Sunday the PSI spiked to 150 then eased back down to 136 at midnight. They said that in 1997 it rose to 226. It's bad enough now, I'd hate to see it get up to that level. The haze is bad enough that it affects people with allergies and asthma related problems. You'll see people walking around outside with a face mask or bandana tied around their head. You can actually see it. It makes it appear like it is foggy outside. Take at look at the pictures below. (Pictures coming later today)

Amusing Car Names

Ok...really busy here today so this will be a short one. Here are some of the amusing car names I see as I drive around Singapore:

Nissan Sunny
Toyota Picnic
Kia Picanto
Nissan March
Nissan Sylphy
Toyota Royal Crown (I think they got the name backwards)
Hyundai Verna

I swear I saw a car today called a Cheerio! I couldn't see the name real clear but that's what it looked like to me.

Let's Talk Eggs

Ok..here is something else that seems strange to me. In the grocery stores they sell their eggs in cartons just on a regular shelf, not in the refrigerated section like we are used to. Now I wonder...it that safe? Why would our stores sell them refrigerated if they didn't need to be? The neighbor in the apartment across from ours leave their eggs out in a big bowl on the counter. It's a BIG bowl full of eggs. They have mostly brown eggs here too. Do brown eggs come from dark chickens? So, since I had no choice I had to buy eggs that were not refrigerated. I put them in the fridge as soon as we got home, of course. Maybe years ago, when people used ice boxes, before the refrigerator, we too kept eggs out on the counter. Unless you lived on a farm and you gathered them fresh everyday. Does anyone out there know? Am I risking my health, just one egg away from salmonella poisoning? For those of you who know me, you know that my oldest daughter is the perfect person to ask about this. I'll let you know what she says.