11/7/2011



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the art of one-night camping trips

there’s definitely an art to it. mainly, the goal is to create a system where packing and then unpacking is smooth and easy. which is hard to do and to be honest, i haven’t figured it all out just yet but i’ve made it my project to find out how to do it.

friends of mine use to have in their trunk a box of equipment and some clothing (older stuff they don’t mind getting worn and dirty) all set in their trunk. maybe even a sleeping bag or two as well. when the mood hit, they would just toss in the tent and some food, keeping the meals really easy.

returning from their weekend trip, all it took was to store any leftover food and do the laundry.

easier said then done when it comes to just taking care of yourself. throw in a kid, a dog and a husband who likes to over-pack, and you’ve got yourself quite a handful.

still, i’m determined to make it easier because while there is still work involved, i loved camping this weekend. and i really want to do more of it.

i made some mental notes this time around in areas we can cut back on and improve on. when we unpacked, i asked doug to keep this one box out with supplies we have at home, that we can keep for future camping trips. i’ll be building on that box. at the moment, we’re still borrowing some utensils we have at home and then having to unpack them and store them away for daily use. so, i’ll be looking at keeping a set just for camping, along with other supplies.

food is an area we need to improve on. we always created ‘gourmet’ meal plans and we have to let go of that when we’re just going for a night or two. it might mean sandwiches, ramen noodles and/or kraft mac ‘n cheese with chopped hot dogs. and while there’s nothing like fried eggs and bacon/sausage in the morning, the time it takes to make and clean up forces us to not get a chance to explore the park until closer to noon when the day is starting to get hot. cereal, milk and fruit will have to do.

and a bag of rain gear should always be packed with some fleece for unexpected cold nights - all just left in the trunk. picnic blankets can be left in the trunk as well.

there’s a lot we can do that doesn’t need repacking each time.

anyway, we did have a great weekend regardless of how short it was. i will write a separate post about it with photos later on this week.

Tagged: bliss, family, geek, organize, vacation, .

21/6/2011



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catch-up

i am so very behind on my blogging. i even had photos i wanted to upload from a few weeks ago - all still on my camera.

then i got hit with a nasty bug mid-last week and have been recovering ever since. as of Sunday, i felt much better but am still coughing and blowing my nose. so this will be another random update of some sort.

  • last sunday night, i found myself alone at the beach. i had a challenging week and i needed some space. so i decided to let doug take care of chaeli’s bedtime routine while i took a drive. i didn’t plan on going back but that’s basically where i ended up. it’s a peaceful place. when i arrived, i couldn’t help but notice a lot of people park their cars and just sit there, staring off into the lake. did they all need some solitude as well? or were they just there to kill time?

  • wednesday was doug’s birthday but unfortunately, it was also the day i got sick. still, we had a nice steak dinner.

  • saturday was the day we celebrated doug’s birthday with my family. everyone except my aunt and my mom caught the matinee for x-men first class. excellent. probably the best written x-men movie yet and i do hope that they continue down this path.

  • saturday evening, we went to my aunt’s/uncle’s for some lobster. what a treat! i have not had lobster for quite awhile and my 1.5 little red dude completely filled my tummy.

  • sunday morning, we slept in and then first went to the dog park on the way to my parents’ place and then had both lunch and dinner with my parents. it was simply the perfect weather type of day. blue skies with only a hint of clouds, a light breeze and lots of sunshine (but without the humidity so quite comfortable).

  • we watched two movies on netflix - fearless and ichi. fearless was a great movie. reminds me what jet li is best known for. ichi was fun - mainly eye-candy. i would put it into the whole spaghetti-western quality genre (except all in japanese).
Tagged: bliss, family, geek, solitude, .

09/6/2011



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random updates with a humidex of 43 celcius

  • it’s hot outside. hot. and while rain is needed to relieve us, i’m pretty pissed off that it’s falling on a saturday. it’s like that every week. at the beginning, they announce cheerfully not to worry about the rain we just had on the weekend because next weekend will be two full days of sunshine. pffbbbt. whatever - as soon as we approach mid-week, the sunny forecast turns to rain and overcast skies.

  • chaeli has now finished her four captain underpants chapter books and just started her first of five diary of a wimpy kid chapter book series. i didn’t realize she was that far ahead. damn - my kid gets to read more then i do! but i’m still happy for her that she’s not only able to read and understand herself, but purely enjoying the experience.

  • we work beside this hotel. not a bad hotel. i would probably say it is a 3 star hotel which is pretty standard over here. our cafeteria is situated right next to the parking lot of this hotel and you can clearly do some people watching from the windows. apparently, there is one man who is a repeat customer - each time he checks in, he’s with another lady.

  • the ‘children of the corn’ neighbours moved out a couple of weeks ago. just like that. we didn’t even know they were selling. and while the walls are thin enough not to cover all noise, so far, our new neighbours are a big improvement. at the same time, who knows how long our lucky streak will last. it is a little odd that i have never even seen them. all i see is their car. and some things they’ve moved to the back patio. anyway, i can go out and enjoy the backyard without having two creepy kids standing next to each other, and staring at me so deeply i’m expecting laser lights to shoot out of their eyeballs.

  • hobbes is starting to ‘talk’ to us. up until now, the sounds he makes have been limited - barking, growling, whining and big sighs. now, he is making noises that are sounding like he is trying to talk to us. i’ve seen this happen with other dogs and sometimes, it can take a few years to develop. it will be nice, though, if he reaches that point. i would much rather hear this type of ‘talking’ over barking and whining.

  • there was a thing on the radio - of how people take their ipad with them to the washroom. and i have to say, that makes sense. it’s not too much different from reading a book, magazine or newspaper while sitting on the loo. in fact, i’ve read most of your blogs while on the loo.

Tagged: geek, hobbes, parenting, random, rant, .

30/5/2011



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guilty pleasures no. 36

filet-o-fish

Filetfish

it’s my fast-food comfort food. one that i can’t have often but when i do, i savour every single bite of it.

but… it’s not just the taste of the soft, flakey, white centre or how the breaded batter gives you that delicious crispy texture on the edges (especially from the four corners). this mc d’s creation holds a lot of memories for me.

for one, it was my grandmother’s (my pwo-pwo’s) favourite item whenever we picked up some mc donald’s. and from her, it became a favourite of mine. each time i bite into one of these babies, i always remember her.

secondly, it reminds me of my best friend… ada and i even have had email conversations about the love of the filet-o-fish.

the last one was about the cheese - how it should be a full process slice rather then the half. i complained that it’s rarely positioned in the middle and usually askewed to one side. she claims that it’s really just a bonding agent to hold it all together.

she could be right. i’ve made a point on my to-do list to email the corporation and inquire exactly what the purpose of making the slice only 1/2. and why, at the least, can’t they centre it so that there’s a better distribution of cheese throughout the sandwich.

but whatever the answer may be, i will forever be faithful to the filet-o-fish.

[previous guilty pleasures]

Tagged: bliss, family, friends, geek, .

25/4/2011



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first e-book purchase, easter feast and sunday dog park

i know - what a weird thing to get excited about. especially since i’m probably one of the last on earth to have purchased a novel in it’s digital format. and it’s not that i’ve never read a digital book - i’ve gotten several from the library in the past but at the time, i had to read it on my computer. which wasn’t exactly mobile. and this is my first purchase - through kindle-amazon, to be exact.

but still, i’m happy. happy to have discovered that it was $5 cheaper then the print version, happy to have it available on my ipad, happy to support the earth by going paperless in one more area and happy to be reading a novel by an author with mad writing skills.

so yesterday, i downloaded alice munro’s too much happiness and was able to start reading it last night. i mentioned in my previous post that reading was one thing i really missed and am hoping to bring back. the last time i finished a book was sometime last july/august.

as for the rest of the weekend (and no, the above was certainly not the highlight), it went very well.

friday was rainy and uneventful. but the rain couldn’t have come at a better time as i spent all day indoor to clean and prepare any food preparations for the next day (at least anything i could make ahead of time). doug had to work but as it was a holiday, it wasn’t very busy. he started work at 6am and was able to be home not too long after 2pm. i was so tired by the end of the day - while chaeli and doug stayed up to watch a movie, i fell asleep around 10pm (not too long after they inserted the dvd).

saturday was busy - there were a lot of cooking and setting up the table and giving chaeli a head to toe and last minute cleaning/organizing… but i managed to get whatever i could get done in time to do a bit of yoga. which meant that this week, i was able to do yoga twice - yeay!

my family and one family friend from japan (he was able to get his company to transfer him back to canada), arrived after 5:30pm. the friend is here to get things settled (i.e. finding a new home) so that he can move his family over as soon as school for his two teens is done with. the earthquake and radiation scare made the decision to move back pretty simple - no hesitation what-so-ever. it will be nice to have them all back here.

our easter menu this year was a great success. everyone had seconds (and some had thirds). in the end, we hardly had any leftovers which was a good sign (they loved it and we made just enough to be filling without creating very little room in our fridge for the next few days).

sunday morning, we slept in. all of us. chaeli didn’t come get us until 9:45am which shows how tired she must have been. in fact, she was so tired, she had forgotten about the egg hunt until we reminded her. after that, it didn’t take long for her to hurry us all downstairs where she began finding treats and little easter gifts scattered everywhere in the living/dining room.

it was a challenge this year to hide everything - we had to take into account that hobbes is a great sniffer. but it turned out that hobbes so tired that all he wanted to do was curl up on the couch and snooze with all the egg-hunting excitement going on.

after our traditional, easter sunday brunch, we did the egg colouring and then went out - we took hobbes to a dog park not far from my parents’ place and then visited with my parents for a couple of hours.

once again, i was exhausted. doug and i started to watch ‘salt’ and i fell asleep mid-way. which is becoming my thing. in the past year alone, i have watched the first half of movies way more then any movies from beginning to end. i have a collection of movies i have yet to finish. how sad.

our 2011 easter menu:

deviled eggs

bacon-wrapped enoki mushrooms

salad bundles

herb-marinated roasted lamb

  • rosemary, oregano and thyme: all fresh and finely chopped
  • olive oil
  • garlic
  • salt & pepper
  • basically mix everything and rub all over lamb
  • warp with seran wrap and marinate in fridge overnight
  • slow roast/grill on low heat

roasted vegetables

  • red potatoes, halved
  • big chunks of carrot and parsnips
  • brussells sprouts
  • toss veggies with olive oil and dry herbs (oregan and parsley, for example)
  • roast in oven

pistachio cheesecake

Tagged: bliss, family, friends, geek, health, hobbes, parenting, solitude, .

10/4/2011



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Diorama

We’re in the midst of doing a dinosaur project with Chaeli. She has to draw/paste an image of the dinosaur, write a short verbage about it and then create a model scale, 3D scene of its environment. Which I have learned is called a diorama.

I actually wouldn’t have believed ‘diorama’ is a real word had it not been for this homework assignment. In fact, I actually feel silly everytime I have to say it out loud.

Anyway, I found a realistic lineart of her favourite dinosaur online, printed it out along with a coloured image for her to see so she could get an idea of what colours to use. With the use of a dinosaur book, Wikipedia and the rest of the internet, we were able to write some facts such as where it was from, what it ate and about its size and body structure.

I would have suggested to include the fact that most archeological findings indicates that it probably had been a species that lived alone, but one finding foud a herd of 20 or so fossils which may prove that it was a herd forming species at least in its juvenile state…

But then I figured the teachers might think I did too much of the work.

Anyway, my kid happened to pick the Euoplocephalus, a well armored herbivore from the late Cretacious period.

And the main reason she picked this dinosaur was because: 1) it wouldn’t eat her since it doesn’t like meat; and 2) it was well protected from those other scarier and bigger dinosaurs that freak her out.

Meanwhile it took me a whole weekend to learn how to say, “Euoplocephalus.”

Tagged: geek, .

02/3/2011



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Untitled

we spent this saturday at ikea, purchasing a couple of TROFAST cabinets and wall shelves (with an assortment of different colour and sizes of bins) for chaeli’s room.

the assembly and re-organizing (which included more sorting and chucking) took up a good chunk of the day. but it was worth it. with just one wall shelf to put up (which we’ve decided to leave empty and use as a book shelf instead), her room is pretty close to being organized. i’ve shown her where she can find all her toys (mainly one cabinet) and all her craft supply (one wall shelf and top bins of the other cabinet on the other side of her table). i know it’s still wishful thinking that she’ll keep it neat but so far, she seems to have no trouble putting things back where they belong. it helps that she can take the bins out completely on her own so that she can really see what’s inside. and it’s just a matter of putting the bin back inthe empty slot.

i recommend investing in this storage system if you’re a parent. ikea is not the most high-quality type of furniture but lets face it - it will outlast the school age years.

sunday afternoon, we went over to di and rik’s place for high tea with the rest of the posse. and i really do mean the whole posse! even though rita and harry are in the states, and ada and hoa are in vancouver, we made sure to skype them over.

on the way home, i said to doug that even though i know this is so not new, it definitely was an interesting situation - to have people there.. virtually at a party. it was a neat concept though, of course, i would have much rather have had them there in person but i suppose this was better then nothing!

anyway - doug baked some scones which were pretty much fresh out of the oven (we were late) and still warm when we got to the party.

here’s the recipe.

Tagged: bliss, friends, geek, parenting, .

23/2/2011



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texting and phone use during dinner

so this blogger basically entitles his blog, “I Will Check My Phone At Dinner and You Will Deal With It.”

i would comment on his blog but wordpress has this really annoying thing of keeping you on the email subscription forever so that if the blog post is very popular, anyone who makes a new comment will force that blog at the top in your ‘my comments’ page. ever months after you’ve lost interest in that post.

[if anyone knows how to stop this, please let me know. and if there’s no way to stop this then wordpress should really consider fixing this problem. man do i miss vox!]

i think my comment would have basically been, “you’ve spent a lot of time just to justify and make it seem okay to be rude at the dinner table.”

he refers back to his mother a lot and basically goes on and on about how the older generation needs to basically just deal with it and change. well, i’m not from that older generation. i’m a total geek - and a bit of a gadget geek. i’m also a mother and i know one rule that will stick in our household - there will be no texting or using one’s handheld device at the dinner table. not at home nor when we go out to a restaurant - even if it’s a pub.

i’m not saying this should be everyone’s rule within their household, but i don’t at all see why it’s a negative rule, as this blogger seems to want make his point around. or… maybe he’s yet again, making justifications of his rude behaviour… to his mother, especially. because really, he’s going on and on about how surfing/texting enhances the social experience. right… true to some degree. because if you’re having a meal with peers who all do the same thing, i can somewhat see that if the surfing involves the discussion (i.e. looking for information). i can’t, however, see how his reasoning hear applies at all to his mother.

if he, as he puts it, has to text under the table, pretending all the long to me looking at the menu, then i would like to ask this person, ‘how exactly is this enhancing your social experience with your mother?” he claims that talking on the phone and engaging in texting where it obviously takes up a good amount of time at the table, excluding others, is the exception to his rule.

so in the scenerio where he’s secretly texting so that he doesn’t get in trouble by his mommy… how is that escape this grand ‘exception to the rule’ of his? there sits a person who wasn’t born into a generation where being rude at the dinner table is socially acceptable.

what ever happen to taking in the account the background of the person in which one is dining with? it’s the same as certain cultural traditions - you’re the bigger person to try to abide by such guidelines in hopes to not offend the person/people across from you at the table. is age/generation all of the sudden not something he should factor in?

personally, i don’t have any patience with people who want to be glued to their phone or mobile device. when i make time to go out to dinner (being a full-time, working mother, it’s not like i have all the time in the world to do this), the last thing i want is to sit there and try to have a conversation with a friend only to get interrupted a dozen times because they get a call or an incoming text. if this is the way of the future, we’re going to have a much harder time with meaningful relationships - it’s bad enough that we’re communicating to each other through 140 characters (not that that is bad in itself, i mean the people who do not use any other form of communication - or very little of it).

if this blogger feels that this is actually enhancing his social skills, i would like to challenge him to go out with friends and leave his mobile device completely off. i would no doubt predict he will have a hard time to communicate.

and if this is the case, i would further extend my prediction to issues he will have in his interpersonal relationships in the long run. i.e. marriage or even his communication skills with his children.

such things, regardless of the of device, has not changed in how it effects how we communicate with one another.

i can say one thing - i have dinner with my parents and other close family members about every two to three weeks. we sit down and eat with no tv or anything else that we are hooked up to anyway throughout our waking ours of the week. we sit there and we talk. like really talk. and it doesn’t matter what we talk about - it can be serious, entertaining… whatever.

it’s the best. not just because we’re spending quality time with one another, but we’re not aided by devices which eventually is used as a crutch that mimics the appearance of ‘enhancement’. the converstations stand on their own - natural and strong.

Tagged: family, friends, geek, rant, relationships, .

20/2/2011



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i heart postsecret

for several months now, i’ve been diligently following the weekly postsecret posts.

of course, like most, i’ve been hearing about this site for a very long time and while i peeked into it in the past, lately, i’m starting to get addicted to it. i look forward to sitting at my computer every sunday morning with my freshly brewed cup of coffee as i read each posted postcard.

i sometimes wonder what wakes me up more - the caffeine or some shocking confession from some anonymous stranger out there.

i think it’s very much the latter.

some secrets are sweet and touching. others are truly sad. though, i think i like the quirky ones the most. the kind of secret that defines how human we really are. that we all have these weird idiosyncrasies. like one recent person stated that he/she sits on toilets sideways. and another admitted that cleaning out the lint from the dryer as being her favourite laundry pasttime (which made me realize that i quite enjoy that part too - the thicker the layer, the better! and i hate doing laundry.) such strange revelations. but to me, the most fascinating!

then there are the dirty secrets. usually involving theft or infidelity. and they are bad… really they are. yet i enjoy reading them. so much that lately, i started to question whether i’m becoming the type of person that i never wanted to be. you know, the type of person that enjoys gossip.

sure, i suppose it’s a bit better that i don’t know any of these people but there is a sickness to the pleasure i get from reading the naughty postcards. it obviously doesn’t paint me as a good person - but it’s true. i suppose while i try not to indulge in the workplace gossip (especially as 95% of the gossip turns out to be untrue), if i need to have an outlet, indulging in postcards from strangers, sharing some controversial secrets, is the best way to go.

anyway, the website doesn’t archive pervious weeks but i have them archived by grabbing their rss within my google reader.

here’s one posted a couple of weeks ago that i found quite amusing:

Tagged: geek, random, solitude, .

18/2/2011



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on parenthood and music

as parents, we try to be responsible - we want to raise chaeli on the right path in regards to the importance the various paths of life.

one of such paths involves having a decent and diverse taste in music. but lets face it - i’m sure this has always been a challenge for parents worldwide. and it always starts with us holding our little, tiny baby in our arms, cradling him/her while saying, “just you wait and see… mommy’s going to teach you all about david bowie, the smiths, the cure, just to name a few.” and of course, it depends on the parents are the era - those musicians and bands are replaceable - but those were my ideals.

at the beginning, it seemed to work. i spent the first two years of chaeli’s life playing a lot of classic bowie. by the time she was 2.5, she was walking around singing ‘scary monsters’ and when that day happened, all i could think was, yes! i did it! sucess! hahaha!!!

the problem is that no one can predict what external forces lies ahead, just waiting to crush that winning path you’ve worked so hard in defining for your children. and when that one variable comes into your household, it’s amazing how little power you have to stop it’s evil and malicious influence on your child.

it happened to our household a couple of months ago. we were watching tv and something about justin bieber came on.

chaeil: mommy - do you like justin bieber?

me: no! he sucks. remember that.

chaeli: but i like some of his songs.

me: you do? since when? oh no - you don’t think he’s cute do you? please don’t tell me that you love him and want to marry him some day.

chaeli: ew! of course not! he’s too old for me - he’s a teenager!

me: yeah… right… that’s right! you just remember that. he’s a teenager and way too old for you.

chaeli: i’m just talking about his music.

me: okay. well… i still don’t think he’s that great. plus he needs a haircut.

chaeli: mom, he’s not that bad.

and there you have it. see? all that work for the past seven years - gone. it was a sad day for me.

Tagged: geek, parenting, rant, .

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