Another nice relaxing weekend... M and I went peach-picking Saturday morning at the Battleview Orchards in Freehold, NJ. We originally had plans to go with my brother and family (who were suppose to spend the weekend with us), but something came up last minute and they ended up not making the trip to the burbs. I was a bit disappointed since that meant I wouldn't be able to see my little nephew, not to mention have my brother help M move some furniture from the soon-to-be nursery into the newly painted guest bedroom. I even took the day off on Friday to clean the house for them, but I shouldn't complain that it was done in vain, since we really shouldn't be leaving the house a mess as we have been.
In any case, I digress. Back to our peach-picking adventure. It was a little early for picking since the season had just started (we were confined to three rows of trees), but it was a good experience... very much like apple-picking, except the trees are shorter. The yellow peaches were a bit too soft and tasted sour when we bit into them, so we ended up only getting white ones. If PM and family decide to stay over next month, we'll try peach-picking again (have to take advantage of the 2008 season pass we paid $1 for!). Maybe by then, the fruit will be sweeter, and it'll be nectarine season as well, so we'll have a little more variety.
After peach-picking, I felt very itchy on my legs (not sure if it's b/c of bugs or the sun), so we stopped by the Freehold Raceway Mall to cool off and enjoy some air conditioning. We didn't want to leave our 6.5 lbs of peaches in the car to boil, so M carried it with us the whole time we were in the mall. When we got home, we separated them into different bags to give to each of our parents... only Sunday morning, we forgot to take them with us (just another example of how my memory's going). Hopefully they'll last until next weekend so we can bring them out then.
Monday, July 14, 2008
Thursday, July 10, 2008
High School Memories
Over the weekend, M and I were cleaning up some things in the basement. Included in the pile of junk was a large shopping bag full of letters my friends and I used to write to each other in high school. I skimmed through some of them and had to laugh - the worries we had back then seem so trivial now, like having a crush on a boy, worrying about passing a test, cutting class to go shoot pool, etc. Ahh, what it's like to be young again! I found it interesting how 15 years later, we really haven't changed all that much. Thinking about those friends now, it's safe to say they still have the same attitude and behaviors (for the most part) as they did a decade and a half ago. As many experiences as we've gone through post-high school, I suppose it is really our earlier childhood years that develop our underlying personalities.
In the midst of all the letters, I came across an article that someone wrote for the school newspaper when one of our friends (JC) passed away in a tragic car accident at the end of our senior year. Since then, TY and I have made it an annual tradition to visit his grave in Long Island (I think there's only been one time we missed it out of the past 13 years). In many ways, this annual tradition was established so that TY and I would have an excuse to stay in touch (not that we should need one, but this was probably the only time we got together during the college years) - to the point that I think I've lost sight of the real reason why we bother driving the 2+ hours to Pinelawn Cemetery every summer. Reading the article was such a great reminder of what JC meant to all of us. Hopefully TY and I can continue this tradition for many years to come.
In the midst of all the letters, I came across an article that someone wrote for the school newspaper when one of our friends (JC) passed away in a tragic car accident at the end of our senior year. Since then, TY and I have made it an annual tradition to visit his grave in Long Island (I think there's only been one time we missed it out of the past 13 years). In many ways, this annual tradition was established so that TY and I would have an excuse to stay in touch (not that we should need one, but this was probably the only time we got together during the college years) - to the point that I think I've lost sight of the real reason why we bother driving the 2+ hours to Pinelawn Cemetery every summer. Reading the article was such a great reminder of what JC meant to all of us. Hopefully TY and I can continue this tradition for many years to come.
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
We're Having a Girl!
We finally found out the gender of our baby last week. Much to our surprise, it's a girl! I was so convinced we were having a boy (as was M) that I wasn't quite sure how to react to this news. I wouldn't call it disappointment, since we didn't have a strong preference either way... I guess shock would be a more appropriate word. But nevertheless, we're still excited to welcome our bundle of joy into this world in a couple of months. As long as the baby's healthy, that's all that matters.
So now that the mystery to the gender has come to an end, we can finally start thinking of names and ideas to decorate the nursery, which is painted lavender and currently the guest bedroom. We'll need to move everything from there into the newly painted blue room (yes, M finally got around to painting it two weekends ago). There's still much work to be done, but it's all good. Now that I've had about a week to digest the fact that we're having a girl, I've grown accustomed to the idea and feel even more attached to this fetus inside me than I had the past four months. It's great to be able to refer to her as a "she" instead of an "it" or "he/she..." like she's finally taken shape as a real being. Also, I started feeling her movements more. She's quite an active little one... no doubt we'll have our hands full when she's born.
Crazy as it sounds, I love this little baby so much already, and she's not even born yet! I can't imagine how much more I will love her when she does come out, but yet, I know it only grows from here. It's amazing -- the love a parent has for his/her child. It's this love that allows a parent to endure endless nights of sleeplessness and fatigue... the same love that enables a parent to make self-sacrifices for the well-being of the child throughout their lifetime. If I can love my own child this much, I can't even fathom how much more it is that God loves us.
BTW, we're taking suggestions on baby names (although no guarantee we'll use any of them), so please feel free to leave a comment with any ideas you may have!
So now that the mystery to the gender has come to an end, we can finally start thinking of names and ideas to decorate the nursery, which is painted lavender and currently the guest bedroom. We'll need to move everything from there into the newly painted blue room (yes, M finally got around to painting it two weekends ago). There's still much work to be done, but it's all good. Now that I've had about a week to digest the fact that we're having a girl, I've grown accustomed to the idea and feel even more attached to this fetus inside me than I had the past four months. It's great to be able to refer to her as a "she" instead of an "it" or "he/she..." like she's finally taken shape as a real being. Also, I started feeling her movements more. She's quite an active little one... no doubt we'll have our hands full when she's born.
Crazy as it sounds, I love this little baby so much already, and she's not even born yet! I can't imagine how much more I will love her when she does come out, but yet, I know it only grows from here. It's amazing -- the love a parent has for his/her child. It's this love that allows a parent to endure endless nights of sleeplessness and fatigue... the same love that enables a parent to make self-sacrifices for the well-being of the child throughout their lifetime. If I can love my own child this much, I can't even fathom how much more it is that God loves us.
BTW, we're taking suggestions on baby names (although no guarantee we'll use any of them), so please feel free to leave a comment with any ideas you may have!
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Sharing The Joy
Within a span of several weeks, I now know of eight other people who is due to give birth between November 2008 to February 2009. Four of those eight are coworkers from work, so needless to say, year-end will be a busy time for those not as fortunate to be on maternity or paternity leave. This is probably the most expectant parents announced at one time that I know of. I'm really excited that our baby will have so many playmates close to his/her age, but unfortunately, that also means more competition on the daycare wait list at work. Hopefully I beat some other people to the punch, but not likely since I've been dragging my feet on this (took the tour around the daycare almost a month ago), and I just submitted my application form and the $100 registration fee earlier this week. In any event, it's kind of cool to be able to share pregnancy stories with other moms-to-be going through similar experiences.
So... who's next???
So... who's next???
Monday, June 23, 2008
Lancaster, PA
M and I had a good time at Lancaster this past weekend, although I am in a lot of pain now, reasons for which I will go into later. We started our day early on Friday morning, taking a drive down to Nottingham, PA to make it to the Herr's Snack Factory Tour, which I made reservations for at 11:00am. We took the scenic route with our trusty old-fashioned maps at hand and got there right on time... it took a lot longer than it should've (about three hours), but that's the price we pay for avoiding tolls, even if it means driving down local one-lane roads with lights for 100 miles. The tour was pretty interesting. Herr Foods is a family-owned business since the 1940s, and employs about 1,400 people at their factory. What I found really admirable is that they have a no-layoff policy... if someone's job got eliminated as a result of automation (or anything else), they'd find a new position for that person elsewhere in the company. It gives me a whole new respect for when I see their potato chips on the supermarket aisles now. At least this is one item that is truly still made in the USA.
We stayed at the E.J. Bowman House bed & breakfast, which I absolutely loved. This is probably one of the better B&B's we've been at, and was very reasonably priced. The owners, Alice and Murphey, are very friendly, and Murphey has a sarcastic sense of humor that can be interpreted as snide and rude if you didn't know better, but both were very helpful and knowledgeable in the town's history, things to do, and restaurant recommendations. Murphey also gave us a lesson on the differences between the Amish and the Mennonites. I'd probably stay there again if we were ever back in Lancaster.
On Saturday, we went downtown to the Central Market in Lancaster, but it was a bit disappointing. It didn't seem like anything actually came from a "farmer's market" so we ended up not getting anything. We walked around downtown for a bit, and came across the Heritage Cultural Museum. The sign "FREE" caught our eyes, and that was all the convincing we needed before going in. There was one floor dedicated to the history of the Amish, which I really enjoyed. I'm amazed at the simple lives these people lead, content with what they have, the constant focus and priority placed on family and their community... If only more people shared their values, we'd be in a more peaceful world.
After downtown Lancaster, we went to the town of Intercourse (M kept making fun of its name the whole drive there), where I did find my yummy mushrooms at the Intercourse Canning Company. But ironically, I ended up not getting it. It was kind of expensive, and I figured I can get something similar at BJ's for half the price. Besides, I'd rather maintain the memories I have of how good it tasted years ago; I'm sure if I had gotten the jar of mushrooms this past weekend, it would not have been as delicious as I remember it to be.
On our way back, we stopped for a game of mini-golf (our weekend trips are never complete without one). M must've been having a really off-day b/c his performance was lacking its usual luster... he even hit the ball into the middle of a pond at one point. There were no nets around to fish it out, so he had to go back to the main office and ask for another ball. He lost by so much that I felt bad and didn't even take advantage of my bragging rights. After our game of mini-golf, we spent the rest of Saturday outlet shopping. Sunday was more shopping (at another outlet) before the long drive home.
Now onto why I am in so much pain... I think pregnancy does make one more clumsy and injury-prone, as was demonstrated by my actions this past weekend. At the start of our mini-golf game, my foot took a misstep a couple of inches too far past concrete and landed on the grass lower than the ground we were on, almost resulting in a near accident. Then about five seconds later, as we were descending down some steps to our first hole, I placed my foot on a step that was uneven, and my flip flops went one way while my ankle twisted another way. Ouch! I couldn't move my ankle at that point. I did manage to hobble over to a nearby bench; M spent the next couple of minutes massaging it for me, and it felt better. I was able to get up and walk without limping, so I didn't think much of it until that night when we were having dinner. I looked down and saw that my ankle was twice its normal size, and the pain had started coming back. It got progressively worse throughout the night, and I kept waking up in the middle of the night b/c it hurt so much, but I just dealt with it.
That was the least of it. On Sunday, we stopped at Ruby Tuesday's for lunch before heading home. There was a small wait, so we went to plop ourselves down at the waiting area. I chose some booth-like seats by the window, and apparently, the actual seats were smaller than I had expected, b/c I went to sit my butt down full-force, and smacked right into the wooden window ledge. That hurt even more than the ankle! And that is the main reason why I am in so much pain right now. The foot seems to have gotten better after soaking it in Epsom salt last night, but my tailbone - that is one area that is hard to treat. I don't even know what I can do for it. The pain is constant... it hurts when I'm not moving, and it just hurts more when I do move.I heard that there was a special on Dateline where they said woman lose about 8% of their brain cells when they become pregnant. In my case, I'd be lucky if I still had 8% of my brain cells functioning!
We stayed at the E.J. Bowman House bed & breakfast, which I absolutely loved. This is probably one of the better B&B's we've been at, and was very reasonably priced. The owners, Alice and Murphey, are very friendly, and Murphey has a sarcastic sense of humor that can be interpreted as snide and rude if you didn't know better, but both were very helpful and knowledgeable in the town's history, things to do, and restaurant recommendations. Murphey also gave us a lesson on the differences between the Amish and the Mennonites. I'd probably stay there again if we were ever back in Lancaster.
On Saturday, we went downtown to the Central Market in Lancaster, but it was a bit disappointing. It didn't seem like anything actually came from a "farmer's market" so we ended up not getting anything. We walked around downtown for a bit, and came across the Heritage Cultural Museum. The sign "FREE" caught our eyes, and that was all the convincing we needed before going in. There was one floor dedicated to the history of the Amish, which I really enjoyed. I'm amazed at the simple lives these people lead, content with what they have, the constant focus and priority placed on family and their community... If only more people shared their values, we'd be in a more peaceful world.
After downtown Lancaster, we went to the town of Intercourse (M kept making fun of its name the whole drive there), where I did find my yummy mushrooms at the Intercourse Canning Company. But ironically, I ended up not getting it. It was kind of expensive, and I figured I can get something similar at BJ's for half the price. Besides, I'd rather maintain the memories I have of how good it tasted years ago; I'm sure if I had gotten the jar of mushrooms this past weekend, it would not have been as delicious as I remember it to be.
On our way back, we stopped for a game of mini-golf (our weekend trips are never complete without one). M must've been having a really off-day b/c his performance was lacking its usual luster... he even hit the ball into the middle of a pond at one point. There were no nets around to fish it out, so he had to go back to the main office and ask for another ball. He lost by so much that I felt bad and didn't even take advantage of my bragging rights. After our game of mini-golf, we spent the rest of Saturday outlet shopping. Sunday was more shopping (at another outlet) before the long drive home.
Now onto why I am in so much pain... I think pregnancy does make one more clumsy and injury-prone, as was demonstrated by my actions this past weekend. At the start of our mini-golf game, my foot took a misstep a couple of inches too far past concrete and landed on the grass lower than the ground we were on, almost resulting in a near accident. Then about five seconds later, as we were descending down some steps to our first hole, I placed my foot on a step that was uneven, and my flip flops went one way while my ankle twisted another way. Ouch! I couldn't move my ankle at that point. I did manage to hobble over to a nearby bench; M spent the next couple of minutes massaging it for me, and it felt better. I was able to get up and walk without limping, so I didn't think much of it until that night when we were having dinner. I looked down and saw that my ankle was twice its normal size, and the pain had started coming back. It got progressively worse throughout the night, and I kept waking up in the middle of the night b/c it hurt so much, but I just dealt with it.
That was the least of it. On Sunday, we stopped at Ruby Tuesday's for lunch before heading home. There was a small wait, so we went to plop ourselves down at the waiting area. I chose some booth-like seats by the window, and apparently, the actual seats were smaller than I had expected, b/c I went to sit my butt down full-force, and smacked right into the wooden window ledge. That hurt even more than the ankle! And that is the main reason why I am in so much pain right now. The foot seems to have gotten better after soaking it in Epsom salt last night, but my tailbone - that is one area that is hard to treat. I don't even know what I can do for it. The pain is constant... it hurts when I'm not moving, and it just hurts more when I do move.
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Memories of June 18
June 18, 2005: On this very day three years ago, M and I entered into holy matrimony at the lovely Russo's On The Bay. It was a busy day, and everything happened so fast that most of the details are now a blur, but this was the one day that I could afford to overlook the details... because on this day, M and I made a vow to each other that precedes all else - to spend the rest of our lives together. And for that reason, and that reason alone, June 18 will always be a special day for us.
June 18, 2006: We spent our first year anniversary at the Finger Lakes in Skaneateles, NY. M surprised me with a beautiful bouquet of flowers at the B&B we stayed at. The weekend was spent in the outdoors, visiting the Cayuga wine trails, taking a stroll in downtown Ithaca, and we even managed to go to service on Sunday morning at the First Baptist Church in Skaneateles.
June 18, 2006: We spent our first year anniversary at the Finger Lakes in Skaneateles, NY. M surprised me with a beautiful bouquet of flowers at the B&B we stayed at. The weekend was spent in the outdoors, visiting the Cayuga wine trails, taking a stroll in downtown Ithaca, and we even managed to go to service on Sunday morning at the First Baptist Church in Skaneateles. June 18, 2007: For our second wedding anniversary, we went to Cape May, NJ. Unfortunately, M was sick this weekend, so much of our time was spent at the B&B resting. We did manage to fit in a game of mini-golf, take a stroll down at the beach, rent a surrey (those two-seater bikes), and visit the Cape May County Park & Zoo on our way back.
June 18, 2008: Unfortunately, today is a Wednesday, so here we are, slaving away at work (well, at least one of us is... I'm just blogging along). This year's anniversary trip will be to Lancaster, PA, home of the Amish. We were there many years ago, when I was still working for PwC and had a client in that area (M came to meet me for the weekend). I remember picking up the best jar of marinated mushrooms I've ever had at some Farmer's Market. Hopefully we will be able to find it again.
June 18, 2009 and onwards: Who knows what the future holds for us and how long we'll be able to continue these weekend trips? As we grow older, the aches and pains that ail our bodies become more real each day. And as we get ready for parenthood (yikes!), the worries we have will only be compounded by the second. But I just remind myself... "I can do everything through Him who gives me strength." - Philippians 4:13
Monday, June 16, 2008
Achy E.
I feel achy all over today. I don't know why. It's not like I had a strenuous weekend or anything. Early Saturday morning, we took Pearl in for an oil change, then headed out to NY after that. We picked up EC in Chinatown (along with my order of $1 dumplings) and proceeded to Sunken Meadow State Park in Long Island for a barbecue in celebration of little SC turning two years old. The drive was quite long... Exit 53 off the LIE, then another few miles north all the way up the Sunken Meadow Parkway until we hit the last exit. It was hot, but at least not as brutal as the weekend before. I stayed in the shade pretty much the entire time, and didn't even bother taking a walk down to the beach (though I did have good intentions to do so). M was more energetic than I, and threw the ball around with my brother and EC. Everyone started heading out in the late afternoon, as did we, since I made dinner plans with SW. There was a bit of traffic on our way back to Queens, but we still managed to get to the restaurant early. SW, her hubby, and little JL got there soon after. It was nice catching up with them. Little JL is so big now, and he's such a good boy!
It started pouring on our way home Saturday evening. I don't think we've ever driven on the road with that much rain before (except maybe the week before when we had dinner with TY and BT, but that was brief). We made our way out of Queens, into Chinatown, through the Holland Tunnel, expecting the rain to stop by the time we got to the NJ side. Of course, things rarely happen the way you'd want them to, so it was still pouring when we got out the other side of the hole. We should have taken the NJ Turnpike to go home, but the more frugal side of us took over, so we opted for the toll-less Rt. 1 & 9 instead. As we approached the Pulaski Skyway, we slowed to almost a complete stop. We thought there was either an accident, or they closed one of the lanes for construction and didn't open it back up. It was only when we got closer that we realized we'd have to take Pearl through a river of water a foot high in order to get any further. We made it through, and decided to take Rt. 1 all the way home to avoid Rt. 22, since flooding was pretty frequent on that road. The rain stopped for a while, but once we approached our town, the torrential downpour started again. We eventually got home, like three hours later!
Sunday involved a little bit more exercise, but still nothing strenuous. After church, we walked up Broadway to Crate and Barrel... not that we needed to buy anything. We just felt like taking a walk, and it's been a while since we headed that way. I was a little disappointed to see that Pottery Barn on the corner of Houston St. and Broadway had closed down... not that I was a frequent shopper at that store, but they had some nice stuff and I always enjoyed going in to browse. We stopped by Dean & Deluca on the way back in hopes of picking up some bread, but nothing really looked appetizing. On our way out, we happened to see the prices for cherries - $10 a lb! That's insane! I couldn't believe how expensive they were! You walk a couple of blocks down to Chinatown and can get them for less than half the price - it all comes from the same place anyways. We also stopped in at Sur La Table and picked up another set of tongs and a cutting board. It's not that we actually needed those things, but we still had money left over from a gift card, so thought we might as well use it.
We had Father's Day dinner at my parent's place that night. My mom took the day off, so she was home, and brother, sister-in-law, and little AM came too. It's been a while since we had dinner with everyone in the family present, so that was nice. And I just love seeing my nephew every opportunity I get. He responds to me with a hug and kiss when I ask for one now, and he actually listens when I tell him to give a hug and kiss to his Uncle Mice too... makes me so happy that he can call me Doo Doo for as long as he wants.
Well, that was my weekend in a nutshell (kind of). After much rambling, I go back to my original thought at the start of this entry... why do I feel achy all over?
It started pouring on our way home Saturday evening. I don't think we've ever driven on the road with that much rain before (except maybe the week before when we had dinner with TY and BT, but that was brief). We made our way out of Queens, into Chinatown, through the Holland Tunnel, expecting the rain to stop by the time we got to the NJ side. Of course, things rarely happen the way you'd want them to, so it was still pouring when we got out the other side of the hole. We should have taken the NJ Turnpike to go home, but the more frugal side of us took over, so we opted for the toll-less Rt. 1 & 9 instead. As we approached the Pulaski Skyway, we slowed to almost a complete stop. We thought there was either an accident, or they closed one of the lanes for construction and didn't open it back up. It was only when we got closer that we realized we'd have to take Pearl through a river of water a foot high in order to get any further. We made it through, and decided to take Rt. 1 all the way home to avoid Rt. 22, since flooding was pretty frequent on that road. The rain stopped for a while, but once we approached our town, the torrential downpour started again. We eventually got home, like three hours later!
Sunday involved a little bit more exercise, but still nothing strenuous. After church, we walked up Broadway to Crate and Barrel... not that we needed to buy anything. We just felt like taking a walk, and it's been a while since we headed that way. I was a little disappointed to see that Pottery Barn on the corner of Houston St. and Broadway had closed down... not that I was a frequent shopper at that store, but they had some nice stuff and I always enjoyed going in to browse. We stopped by Dean & Deluca on the way back in hopes of picking up some bread, but nothing really looked appetizing. On our way out, we happened to see the prices for cherries - $10 a lb! That's insane! I couldn't believe how expensive they were! You walk a couple of blocks down to Chinatown and can get them for less than half the price - it all comes from the same place anyways. We also stopped in at Sur La Table and picked up another set of tongs and a cutting board. It's not that we actually needed those things, but we still had money left over from a gift card, so thought we might as well use it.
We had Father's Day dinner at my parent's place that night. My mom took the day off, so she was home, and brother, sister-in-law, and little AM came too. It's been a while since we had dinner with everyone in the family present, so that was nice. And I just love seeing my nephew every opportunity I get. He responds to me with a hug and kiss when I ask for one now, and he actually listens when I tell him to give a hug and kiss to his Uncle Mice too... makes me so happy that he can call me Doo Doo for as long as he wants.
Well, that was my weekend in a nutshell (kind of). After much rambling, I go back to my original thought at the start of this entry... why do I feel achy all over?
Thursday, June 12, 2008
New Camera
We ordered a new camera using M's reward points accumulated from his credit card spending, and it just arrived earlier this week. We got another Canon, since I'm a fan of the brand. We haven't fully tested it out yet, but I can't wait to use it this weekend and next. Unfortunately, it only came with a 32MB memory card, which allows us to take like 15 pictures, and is not compatible with the memory card (or battery) in our old camera, so we're going to have to get another card before fully putting it to use. I started looking into it on Amazon and shopping.com, but just get overwhelmed with the different brands and wide range of prices. I do think that it's much cheaper getting it online than at the store. I was thinking of getting a 2GB one... hopefully that will be sufficient for any pictures or videos we'd take. Any suggestions on vendor, memory size, brand, or other accessories like camera bags and spare batteries? Please feel free to add a comment. Hopefully we can order one soon and receive it by next weekend before our trip to Lancaster. If not, we'll just have to carry two cameras with us. Too bad we couldn't trade in the old one... we did look into it briefly on B&H's website, but it's not worth anything anymore. I guess it doesn't hurt to have it as a backup. Or maybe we'll include it in the garage sale we keep telling ourselves we'll have later this summer.
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