Halloween

Since the ladies in our office go all out with Halloween decorations, they also go all out with dressing up. I won $200.00 gift certificate for Halloween costumes at Kerrie's Costumes. But I did not have any Halloween party to go to so I gave it to two ladies at work. I did not dress up either as I had doctor's appointment Friday. Here are four of the ladies.

My favourite and she made this costume.

Happy Halloween everyone!!!!!

Yikes!!!

The dreaded white stuff is here......hope it does not stay. A reminder to make an appointment to get my winter tires installed. And I still have not found winter boots!!!!! I have to get going on this. Another dilemma, should I just take the transit now since I hate clearing snow off my vehicle and warming it up.

Oh, well that is just part of living in the Canadian north. At least the forecast tomorrow is no snow for the rest of the week. I hope the Weather Channel is right.

Freebies

One Sunday about 2 months ago, I took the elevator and this young lady who always loses her FOB was already inside with a box of what looks like alcohol and a shopping bag from the Bay. While in the elevator she has asked if I drink and I replied "once in a while". She opened the box and gave me a bottle of Ciroc vodka, I did not want to accept it but she was adamant. Then she took a smaller bag from her Bay bag and gave it  to me. As the elevator stopped on her floor, she was even asking if I want the whole box of vodka. I did not take it but she had insisted I take the other bag. When I stepped out of the elevator I looked at the bag and saw these two vases.

To this day I don't understand why and I just took it that I was understanding when she comes to the office to get her new FOB. By the time I was ready to leave for my new job, she told me she found 3 FOBs somewhere in her couch. That costs her $300.00 for replacement and got refunded once she returned the 3 "lost FOBs" which she always calls "swipey".

The vases was from the Gluckstein Home Collection.

Product review

This will not be a regular feature of this blog but this one was just good enough I had to post it. I am a creature of habit so I don't try a lot of new things, if products I use work for me, I seldom go to a different brand even with make-up, I might change colour/shades and that is just about it.

Last week two ladies at work went out at lunch just to kill time and came back with this product. They tried it at work and it works quite well, am not endorsing it but it really works. So the next day, they went back to the store to buy more for the staff who wanted it as well. This is for you out there who likes to clean and most especially do not want dust.

And we paid $4.99 for it. A really good deal!!! There are two brushes for it, one big and a small one for smaller things like your computer keyboard and you can wash them.



Hairdo dilemma

My hair has grown quite long and I can't decide which style to go for. So I will let relatives and friends decide. I will have a poll on the side bar. My next hair appointment is not until first week of December.

The choice will be picture 1 or 2.

#1

or

#2

Little things mean a lot

A new feature here. A while back I was cleaning up, getting rid of stuff I do not use or don't like anymore. And I had come across stuff/things I have kept for some reason or another. And then realized that I still have them because they mean a lot to me at a certain time in my life. There are also things that I know I will keep for the rest of my life. Here is the first one.....for a very different and special reason.

Yes, just two pairs of earrings but they are special. Back in October of 2006, my sister Luckie, her daughter, Alysia and son, Gino visited me here in Edmonton. Actually they came to visit mother who was in the nursing home.

It was also just before my birthday, so we went out shopping. I love earrings and while we were in a store and I was looking for earrings to buy, Gino came around and told me he was going to buy me and he will choose the style. And these are the two. So special then because no men had given or bought me earrings in my life, more special now because Gino is no longer with us.

Small, simple, not expensive but has become little treasures.

A potpourri of thoughts

 First of all, if you have been reading my blog and found it was screwed up for the last 3 days, I apologize. I really don't know what happened. I was just doing some editing and oooooooops there was miles(seems like) of space between my header and my post. First one I emailed was my niece as she has been blogging for years but she was too busy at work. So I called my brother-in-law and sister and somehow he was able to repair it. So, thanks a lot to you both.


Wednesday was my birthday and when I started this, I posted something about my birthday and this year it was weird. I thought everyone was ganging up on me. I did not get any birthday wishes until later in the afternoon. So, Leesh, you were not the last, in fact you were the first.


The era of having to wake up to a text of Happy Birthday from an ocean away is now over. Maybe the friendship as well, and to everyone who greeted me....thanks for remembering.

While on the subject of friendship, while having a discussion about it at work, I thought of when does one become a friend and what is the process of going from an acquiantance to being a friend. Does having same interest, hobbies or likes or dislikes make one a friend? How long is this process? I was with someone and had dinner with some of my relatives and I introduced her as an office mate and when we wereout of the restaurants she said " I would rather have been introduced as friend."

 To me, I believe it is a slow process and it involves sincerity, being comfortable with each other, honesty, and somehow it comes naturally without even trying. As a friend said I am being philosophical about it. But it is something that is interesting to me. She even said that even if we do not talk for a year or not have seen each other for that long, that nothing would have changed and it will be like we just talked the day before.


And I also believe, like that saying that friends come for a reason, season or a lifetime ,maybe to be there to teach us a lesson, or learn a lesson, help us when we are in need......can't remember the rest of it. So to everyone else, what has been your experience?

Birthday present

At work this afternoon, we had cake for my birthday and the staff gave gifts. It is a cupcake jewelry case and flower scent diffuser which will go well with my white bedroom decor.

In the evening Raquel picked me up and we went to our favourite Japanese restaurant Ichiban and had bento box dinner and deep fried squid for appetizer. Again, I forgot to take picture of my dinner.



A birthday poem

A wonderful and meaningful gift from my little sister. She writes a lot of poems, but I noticed they were all meant for people she loved and have passed on.

I know for a fact, she wrote one for a very good friend of hers who is still alive, so I am honoured. She sent this a day early as I had blogged about who sends/calls/texts birthday wish for me first. She said she is not competing. Besides, it does not count, it had to be the day.

A big thank you. Here it is.

Now I can say a poem was written specially for me!

A big mistake

I am at work and looked at my watch and thought it was 12:00 so I started to have lunch. After reading the paper and doing nothing, I looked at the computer clock and it realized it was just before 12:00.
So now I don't know if I will pretend to have lunch or continue to work.

Happy 101

I have been tagged by Blarkness Chronicles, the rules are to do a list of 10 things I like, tag 10 other bloggers and make a comment.

I have only been blogging for less than a month. So I will just do the list since I do not know a lot of bloggers.

So here is my list.

1. Downtown living ---- I like the hustle and bustle of being downtown, it is so convenient, i can go to meet friends at a coffee shop or have dinner at Earls. I am not really in the downtown core but I am close enough to feel the enegy but far away not to hear it.



2. Hawaiian sweet Maui onion chips----the only kind of chips I buy now if I want to indulge in junk food

3. Kichen Aid Mixer----I find this very usseful especially at Christmas time when I am baking big batches of cookies or squares. Really great when making buns or loaves of bread.

4. African decor---always have been fascinated by exotic things, and I have quite a selection of African frames, animals, statues, masks. Here is a collection of animals and other stuff. They are mostly from different African countries

5.White bedroom----looks very clean and crisp, from the linens to furniture and decor.

6.Being organized---whether at home or at work, I need to have things well organized so I know what I have to do or where stuff are. My favorite dishes are organized according to their use. Cereal bowls with the creamer and so on.

7. Gardening----I try to take advantage of the long summer days and plant vegetable and flowers in my balcony which is about 40 ft. long. It is so nice to be able to pick tomatoes for salad and basil for spaghetti sauce, or peppers for grilling.



8.HGTV and Food Neetwork shows----I enjoy watching all the decoration/renovation shows especially Sarah Richardson's shows, she has very classy tastes and I like Diners, Drive-ins and Dives, can't miss this one on Friday nights when I am home.



9. Japanese food----any kind, sushi, tempura, maki rolls or the different kinds of bento boxes...just really like them and tried my best to learn to make sushi and tempura.



10. Tesco laundry detergent tablets----smells so good, I use this for any clothes, underwear that I handwash. I get them from the UK, I don't know what will I do when the last package is gone.

Hats, hats and more hats

In my new job, we have an hour lunch which I am not used to. For as long as I can remember, I had only half an hour lunch and I liked that since an hour is too long and you get to go home early or start later.

So to adjust to the hour lunch time, I have decided to crochet or do something for the last half hour. I have been in the new job about a month and I have these to show for.

This is the second one I have done and this fits my head perfectly. The yarn is just leftover from another project and I was still in the trial part but this came out really well and I am quite happy with the result.

This was my first project and took a while as I was getting used to trying to fit it before adding stitches or decreasing. The brim I just did myself when I had seen it was turning ruffle like and I just continued with it. This is also left over yarn. When I do the others, it will be different kind of yarn and will be plain colour with accent colours.

This is the last one and a bit roomy on top or good for someone with a bigger head than mine. I will try to do scarves next time too and I will see which one I prefer to do.

So this just shows that you can do a lot in half an hour every day. This will only be winter projects because when the weather is warmer, I will be walking to be in shape for the summer.

Freebies

Here is another feature I will post once in a while as I get a lot of things from residents in my building. It was not only when I was working here but they still give me stuff even after I have left the office. So here are the latest.

I got these from two different ladies.

These are the most comfortable pair of boots. I wore the black one on Friday and I was ok with it for the whole time I was at work. The white one feels the same way. When I got them, they were in the original box and the price tag was still on.

These scarf and toque was given by another lady who loves to crochet and knit. She is also the lady who taught me how to crochet hats.

This plant I got from work for Thanksgiving and it is quite unusual and it is called Corkscrew Grass and the store (Safeway) only gets them once a year.

Rewind, Reconnect and Reminisce 2

Rewind to early 1980's in Yellowknife. We had met a family who became very good friends of ours. My ex-husband was a teacher up north and we met this family because the father was the new principal in the high school department.

They are the Dumonds. Vince, Sandra, twins Camille and Michelle and Lisa. When we met, we did not even have kids yet. In 1986 we adopted a son from the Phillipines and I was also pregnant at the same time.

I had babysat the girls when they were going to school half day. And once we had the boys, the girls in turn babysat the babies. Our regular sitter was Camille but once in a while the other two would pitch in when she could not make it. There was one time when we were both really sick and Vince and Sandra took the boys until we were feeling a lot better. Jordan, our eldest got a very bad case of allergic reaction to the down pillows and was taken to emergency. They were so caring that we were only told of the incident after the fact.

We were having dinners at each other's homes. In fact, they had a cabin by the lake and gave us key to the place and we had spent a few times in that cabin. How great was that!!!!!

In mid 90's we left Yellowknife and we were still getting in touch but lost touch after a while and then got reconnected, then lost contact again. By this time, they had also left Yellowknife.

When I got divorced, Vince mentioned that I had flourished adjusting to the change and being a single parent. And I had never forgotten that.....it was a good compliment at a time when my life, I thought then was in a turmoil. And I hope now he realizes how that comment made a difference in my life. Though it is a bit late, thanks, Vince.

It was last year when I was not busy one night and started googling. I found Vince in Linked In or in one of those sites and started communicating again. It is so wonderful being in touch with them again especially Sanda who I talk to at least once a week.

Vince is somewhere up in Northern Ontario, Sandra is in Toronto, Camille lives somewhere in Nova Scotia,  Michelle is in Vancouver and Lisa is in Ontario. None of the girls have gotten married yet.

So thanks to modern technology, there is a lot of ways to find people we had met and remember. So now after reconnecting, we are always reminiscing about our life in Yellowknife and also Edmonton. Someday we hope to see each other again. Sandra and I are even planning to go on a holiday together. She was and still to this day continues to be a great and caring friend.

I, unfortunately, do not have recent pictures of the family.Maybe Sandra will send me a picture when she checks this blog.

Thanksgiving dinner

So this is the meal I have decided to cook for Thanksgiving. Pineapple/apricot glazed ham, pasta salad, scallop potatoes, only because I have not had this in a long time and creme caramel, a different recipe which turned out really delicious.

The pictures are ok except for the potatoes....have never done this without the cream boiling over the rim of the dish and I can't transfer it to another dish just to get good picture or it would not look good serving it.

Also the picture the morning after....pancakes with pan fried leftover ham.

So what did you have for Thanksgiving? Was the meal your usual or was it different? What was your favorite? Mine was the ham and the creme caramel. I am quite sure that offices all over Canada will see leftover turkey/ham or whatever combination for lunches.



A poem for Gino

As part of a new feature in my blog, I am featuring friends and relatives who's got talent in any form of art. The first one is my sister, who after the death of my father and her son started writing poems. I believe it was and is her way of dealing with grief.

From the time my nephew, Gino passed away more than 2 years ago, she has written poems in honour of him. His birthdays, anniversary, thanksgiving, Christmas and New year, I feel it is her way of reconnecting with him as well as remembering him.

This one is most touching and one of the best poems she has written. I am posting this with tears in my eyes but a good way of remembering him. One of the things I am thankful for is knowing who he really was as a person when I stayed with them in 2007 and he and I did all kinds of stuff.  So whereever you are Gino, Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving

To all my Canadian friends and relatives,
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!! A time to reflect on all the good things we have, the good friends we have and appreciate every single good opportunities that come our way. And for me I am most thankful for my health and the support of everyone from the past and the present. Enjoy your thanksgiving dinner, and the long weekend which is the best part for me.

Cheesy chicken and rice

On Monday I wanted to make sometthing other than roasting or baking chicken, so while flipping through the pages of Canadian Living I saw this recipe and made it. It was ok, at least I had dinner ready in an hour and took left over to work the next day. I don't really like creamy rice but it was different and fast and easy.

Driving vs. Walking

When I started my new job, I did not have parking for the first two weeks. So since it was still nice (weatherwise) I decided to walk 16 city blocks one way. Going home the weather is warmer so I walked the same 16 blocks. It was very exhilirating and good for my diabetes and it would help me get in shape. It took me 30 minutes or less depending on whether I hit red or green lights at intersections. Closer to the end the view is so wonderful of the river valley.

Last Friday, I got my parking pass and drove to work. The morning drive was fine, I can choose nice spot for parking in the lot. On my way home, with all the traffic and construction, it took me 23 minutes and it was upsetting. So now I don't know whether I will continue to drive or walk until the weather gets cooler. If I take the transit, sometimes the busses are so crowded that I end up standing anyway. I now do my walking at lunchtime for half an hour. Oh, the problem of working downtown!!

Halloween decor

In my new office, 11 women work there and they love to decorate the office for holidays. So I took some pictures, it was hard because the decorations are everywhere in little corners or wherever they can put them in.

Thanksgiving dinner dilemma

Only a week left before Thanksgiving and I am having this dilemma of what to make. The usual choice of turkey, ham, crown roast of pork or prime rib. I don't like turkey that much as I find it dry and I cannot eat leftover forever. I love stuffing though with lots of gravy. I was almost sure of having pineapple/mustard glazed ham until I realized I have not had crown roast pork since Gino and I had it that Christmas in 2006.

It was a dinner I will always remember as we went shopping together for stuff for the meal and we each cooked different side dishes for it. Every Christmas from then on I remember this. So even though I would really love to make this, I will save it for Christmas dinner instead.

So I guess it will be pineapple/mustard glazed ham!!! Dessert will be creme caramel with melted white chocolate. And a pasta salad of some kind. Maybe I will make strawberry margarita for drinks.

What will your thanksgiving dinner be?

Pecan tarts a la Gino

This weekend I used my leftover tart shells and made pecan tarts. I remember a few years ago I came to visit my family in Mississauga just before Christmas and we baked all kinds of Christmas goodies. Tarts of all kinds!!! Gino, my nephew baked his version of it and put chocolate chips instead of raisins. So in honour of him I made this version the same and hence the name.

Last weekend, I tried buko pandan using jello that is already flavoured with pandan. Nene from Yellowknife has been  looking for this type of jello so I bought and made it and it actually tasted good.

Birthdays

My birthday is this month and I was reminded by a friend of different things/situations that have happened on my special day.

Just like the year I got a phone call from my aunt and she started to greet me but I was a bit confused, I had forgotten that it was my birhtday.

Before cell phone, internet, iphone, blackberry and texting, we had to wait for birthday cards to arrive by mail and most times, the cards came days after my birthday. We were lucky to get phone calls from friends or relatives far away as it was expensive to call long distance. How times have changed, now you get texts seconds after it was sent and unlimited long distance calls.

My sister has this thing as to who greeted me first as I think she wants to be the first one. Years ago she would get that honor of being the first. In the last 10 years, someone else has got that honour but only because a friend lives in the UK and he has been the first one all the time because of the 7 hour time difference. I don't know if he also wanted to be the first as I have noticed a birthday text was there when I woke up. Let us just wait and see what happens this year.

Last year was the weirdest, I got two texts an hour apart and it was from ex-boyfriends, one from New Jersey and the other from the UK.

One year I only got at the most 4 calls and I realized then that people have become so busy and it made me feel sad about it, so I try and remember to greet friends and relatives.

Then there was the year I got flowers a few days before my birthday and I was wondering who would have sent it as it did not have any card. So I kept saying why my dad forgot the day or how wonderful my sister remembered or the kids finally gave me flowers only to find out that there was a campaign to sell roses at my ex-husband's school and a co teacher forced him to get 2 dozen roses. Oh, well that was how close he got to being romantic!!

Another year, someone invited me for birthday lunch and another friend a dinner date and I went home with stomach ache or was it food poisoning!

There was also years I would visit relatives to spend my birthday with them but I have had to go home the day before my birthday.

Birthdays come and go but somehow we look forward to it. The older I get the less important it gets, just another day just like any other holidays. But it is the day we get a year older and hopefully wiser and smarter. Still it feels good when friends and relatives remember, as it somehow makes me feel important even for just that day.

To those who will celebrate their birthdays this month, may i be the first to wish you
"Happy Birthday".

Official launch of my blog

Today is the official launching of this blog but I found out my sister has been telling friends and relatives. So to everyone else, welcome to my blog.

I will do random posts and anything I think or feel I want to post whether it be baking, decorating tips, fashion finds, new experiences, new friends, people who have made a difference in my life and I hope they would give me permission to share it with the rest of you.

Please feel free to comment or make suggestions as to what you want to read or find here. I am looking forward to reading your comments.

Music of our generation

While looking for songs in Youtube, I have come across this song which was popular during my teenage years. Bands in Manila liked to cover songs and most of the time it is the version we heard most times that I don't even know who sang the original version.

It brings a lot of memories, reminds me of a certain friend or classmates and what activities we enjoyed doing and the fun times we had. This is just one song and this is the version we were familiar with. This band produced a number of great singers who are still popular in the Philippines.

This is the original recording from the 70's so the sound is not as good but it is the memory that it brings that is important to me.