hub bub gumbo

2009-10-15T19:33:00.003-05:00

The big boat was nice. The destinations were even better. The flight to and from, meh.

The Bahamas was great. Had a fun filled and sun filled day of snorkelling. So much so that I got a lovely sun burnt back to show for it. I'm still healing up right now and it's been five days. Peeling will begin soon enough, if it already hasn't. The second day was spent walking around the famous resort on Paradise Island, Atlantis. Really quite a huge complex, though partially overpriced and you can tell that the economy has hit them hard.

It was a great way to spend turkey weekend with my family. Couldn't have asked for more (well maybe a direct return flight).

2009-10-04T20:20:00.002-05:00

Only a few days away before I'm on a large boat. Yay! I'm really looking forward to the fews days of away. I plan on packing away as many fresh coconuts that I can find. Mmmm... Yum.

The weekend was a good one. Had a great class and came out of it with less bruises and more confidence. Had a great visit with friends last night and today. Got a massage. Yay. Worked on the garden and have half of it done. All in all productive in many respects.

Still Going...

2009-09-30T19:40:00.002-05:00

Okay, it's been two years since I last wrote. In a nutshell...

1. I've been travelling a lot for work. I train people on the software that my employer developed. I go across the country and do my best to get our clients comfortable with the software.

2. Summers have been occupied by none other than... The deck. Yes, the deck that I mentioned in my last entry. The same deck. The deck has become a lot over the last three summer. Summer of 2008 saw the addition of a pergola. This past summer was the addition of an outdoor kitchen with a built-in gas bbq and a sink (hot & cold water feed).

3. If work isn't keeping me away and the deck isn't keeping me busy, I've been trying to keep up with the rest of my life. Family, friends and squeezing in travelling whenever I can.

4. Travelling. Punta Cana, DR. Vancouver, BC. Las Vegas, NV. Orlando, FL. Montreal, QC.

5. Food. I've enjoyed a lot of it. I've enjoyed it wherever I have been.

Okay, so that's a really rough idea of how life has been over the last two years. As always, there were a lot of ups and downs along the way. Ta ta for now.

2007-09-25T21:55:00.000-05:00

It's been a long time since I last wrote. Our summer has been dominated by one thing...

The Deck

Anyway, we're near the end of this phase of deck building so I may be popping in here more often. Outside of that, I feel like my trip of a lifetime was eons ago. I wish I was still there. I think I miss travelling more than anything. It could be that I am tired and not tired all at the same time. My eyes are tired and really I should be going to bed but something is keeping me up. My eyes would really like it if I just shut them, however my brain isn't ready yet. Anyway just wanted to keep this short and sweet so off I go to try and lull all of me to sleepy land.

2007-04-21T22:19:00.000-05:00

I actually worked a full week and waking up at 5-ish is not easy. Now that I think of it, I didn't mind waking up at 6 for the tours I was on. 6 seems so much nicer. Not much is going on with me. There were a few changes at work but it's all good. I hope that things are good and I will adjust fine. It always takes a bit to settle. Settle Angie, settle.

2007-04-10T11:12:00.000-05:00

I'm back! Got home last night after a smooth flight back. It's been nice and weird being home so far. I got used to living in HK and just jumping around China that it's odd to be home. I've done nothing but laundry and unpacking so far. Thankfully I'm almost done.

While away I made a new friend. He's a great guy and we had a blast together. I'm looking forward to developing our friendship even more. In addition to making a new friend, we both met a nice couple vacationing from Spain. We exchanged contact info and hopefully J & I will be able to visit them there.

Mochi is out cold right now and I think he has the right idea except that I really don't know if I should have a nap or not. So far I've been pretty okay with the time change. I am tired but I don't know if that is more from the lack of sleep (5 hrs the night before my flight & only a few ours on the plane). I did get about 7 hours sleep last night (the most I've had in the last 6 weeks). I'm looking forward to another 7 hours tonight.

2007-02-24T07:57:00.000-05:00

Three days! Two fingers and a thumb. I can't believe it. Wow.

2007-02-17T08:04:00.000-05:00

Wow, I haven't post in over a month. A lot has happened since then. We've celebrated three birthdays and are celebrating a fourth today. I've landed a new job and just finished up my first week yesterday. Chinese New Year is tomorrow and we'll be celebrating next week. Shortly after that we'll be off on our big trip! These few sentences have pretty much summed up the big things that have happened. Oh wait! Nix the celebrating three birthdays, we've actually celebrated four and we are celebrating a fifth brithday today. Crazy, eh? Btw, my new job environment is awesome. I really like my new employers and my co-workers are great. This might be a little thing but to me it's a cool thing, I get to wear casual clothes to work. Jeans, tee's, runners, etc. Yay!

2007-01-02T16:25:00.000-05:00

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Ya, I know I'm a touch late but better late than never, right? It's been crazy hectic over here. We hosted Christmas dinner for my family. The turkey was awesome and so were all the other dishes to go with it. We've been going crazy these last few week either visiting with friends or family. It's starting to slow down now. We just had New Year's here with Kef and as always had a delicious meal with some fabulous wine and fun. We started off the evening with a bottle of wine while playing video games and getting dinner ready. We managed to polish that bottle of wine so we opened another and finished that by the time dinner was over, which by the way was fantastic. Just before we sat down a neighbour called and invited herself over after dinner (she asked but how could I say no ). We cleaned up just before she arrived with a bottle of sparkling wine in hand. We played the Wii and had mimosas (and other alcoholic beverages) while waiting for midnight to strike. Just before midnight we changed into our bathing suits and headed to the hot tub with another bottle of champagne (brut). Got in the tub, popped the cork (into our yard), poured the bubbly and toasted to a new year. We enjoyed the hot water, the light rain and brut. After our soak in the hottub, went back inside and continued to play more video games. We finally headed to bed about 1:30.

It was a good night.

2006-12-22T03:31:00.000-05:00

It's what time?! I've been up for an hour and a half now. I've surfed the world wide weebl I've played the Wii and here I am blogging. I finally got all my Christmas shopping done the day before and everything wrapped yesterday. Yay! We've figured out the menu for dinner but I still have to go grocery shopping to get it done. I would've gone tonight except I wasn't sure if it was a good idea to go at this time of the night alone.

Had a fabulous dinner last night. Went to our fave Thai restaurant with a really wonderful friend (who's home from England, visiting) and her new family. It was so good to spend an evening with them. Her stepsons warmed up to us by the end of the evening (we've met one before, not the other). She was also a real sweetheart and brought us back some goodies :) She brought back my fave chocolate, Galaxy, and some lovely tea, Taylors of Harrogate Yorkshire Gold (loose leaf). I still have to arrange her little package home and will drop it off prior to her heading home late next week. I miss having her around. We use to go out for dinner all the time to this Thai restaurant.

If I'm still not asleep by 4, I just may get a head start on my grocery shopping for dinner.

2006-12-17T14:19:00.000-05:00

I'm going on vacay in a few months! Hb and I (and my auntie and mommy) are jetting off to the other side of the world. We'll be away for a few weeks (Hb-3, me-5, auntie & mommy-8). My sis will join us part way through for a couple weeks. I'm so excited and I know that I won't be sleeping the night before.

Christmas is soon approaching. 1 week left! Yikes! I better get started on our Christmas dinner menu. We're hosting this year :)

2006-11-28T04:50:00.000-05:00

I've been up for how long? The mind is a powerful thing and when it says 'get up!' you get up. Unfortunately for me when my stomach gets involved there is no fighting it. You just concede and hope to amuse yourself until they both say 'okay, go to bed now.' I don't think that is happening anytime soon so maybe I should just make some tea and breakfast for my Hb who will be up in less than an hour. While I tended to myself, the cat (Jasmine) decides she needs to get up close and personal with our virtual fishy friends (aka the screensaver). She's getting more gutsy and demanding as she gets older. As I have discovered over the weekend, she's about twelve and a half now. My sil (and her family) came down for a nice visit this weekend. Her and her Hb were the original owners of Jasmine who eventually made her way through the family and now belongs to us until death do us part. I have the strange feeling that she, like a cockaroach, will live through the ages of time. I'm not starting to make any sense now, at least it seems that way, and will head off for now. Mint tea sounds good.

2006-11-18T08:38:00.000-05:00

This time I'm going to bump up the font so I can see it better and hopefully catch my typos unlike my last post where I didn't. Anyway more things have come about since the last one. Hb and I have reached adult bedroom-dom and have a bed on a bedframe. We graduated from a queen (which was too small for us) to a king which is perfect. We now sleep on a memory foam mattress, that is heavenly on a gorgeous bedframe with suspended side tables. I love the new additions to our bedroom.

On the job front, things are moving. I am hoping that something will work out soon. I'm going to keep my fingers crossed and hopefully you can too.

We start Christmas baking this weekend. We'll be making short bread and scotch cakes and hopefully hermits too. I've also started decorating the outside of the house for Christmas.

I think that's it for now. I do have to say a big Thanks to my mommy for feeding me. She's sent home some of my favourite foods. Love You Mommy!

2006-11-08T12:40:00.000-05:00

So it's been a while since I last posted. A few things have happened. I've done a True Colors assessment which has really fun. It confirmed what I know about myself and it also surprised me too. I'm a rinbow. I don't have a dominant colour unlike my Hb who is a Green- Gold.

We've also put up a shed thanks to a lof of help from some great friends. Kef and M were marvelous and I know tat it would haven't been as easy tom complete without their support. Thanks to you Kef and M. They helped create the shed base/foundation. We had a few obstacles that frustrated Hb but with their views and ideas it got done. The base was completed this past weekend. Hb, my il's and I put the shed up on Monday. I moved shed stuff in yesterday and I also relocated the extra gravel that we had off our driveway. My car is back in the garage and we don't have to squeeze two car side by each in the driveway anymore. Yay!

Speaking of which, we got a second car. My mom graciously gave us her old car when she got a new one. It couldn't have come at a better time. We really needed a second one and I hope that this means it'll be easier for me to find a job now that I have reliable transportation.

I have had some wonderful people help me through this struggle of finding employment. Friends and family have been so supportive. My Hb has been the most incredible person ever. He has been so supportive and encouraging. I am honoured to hae him in my life and I'm proud to be his partner in life.

I love you, Jwe *mah*

2006-09-25T13:44:00.000-05:00

Our cedars look fabulous! They were planted 2 weekends ago. I can't wait until they become a nice full hedge. J and D did a great job of planting them. The berm that we've made is slowly taking shape too. The grass seed is taking nicely so that's awesome awesome awesome awesome.

Despite how crazy my family is I couldn't imagine life without them.

2006-09-14T11:05:00.000-05:00

Congratulations Mui-Mui!

I am so proud of you and so very happy for you. You deserve that promotion and you deserve that recognition.

2006-09-11T11:09:00.000-05:00

We (Hb and I) kick ass. Last week we finished digging our trench (all 60' of it) and we weren't sore afterwards. We did in the matter of 3 days. We probably could've done it a lot faster but we had other things to do as well. I'm proud of ourselves. I kept saying that we should get someone else to do it but alas the money isn't there so we had to do it ourselves. We rock!

2006-09-02T07:15:00.000-05:00

Happy Birthday Daddy!

This would've been your retirement year (well sort of). I miss you a lot and think of you every day. It's been 7 years since you left this world and I hope that you are well wherever you are. I miss you and I love you.

2006-08-01T08:54:00.000-05:00

It's been hot outside but my tomato plant is loving it. My lemon tree is enjoying it even more! You wouldn't think we had a full day storm, nah blow-out on Saturday. Our yard even flooded because there was so much rain coming down. It was awesome just sitting on the porch watching it come down. Very relaxing indeed.

2006-07-21T09:57:00.000-05:00

I know it's been months since I last said anything. Not much has changed. About the most exciting thing that has happened was a huge bash Hb and I had last weekend. It was great. We celebrated with close friends and family. We had a 30th birthday bash that was right between both our 30th birthdays. We had a tonne of food to chow down on and the weather was gorgeous albeit a touch warm but the breeze helped out. We had a great time and I know our guests did too. I think we might just have another get together next year with perhaps more people (we had about 65 this time around).

2006-04-21T08:13:00.000-05:00

Not much to report. Things have been pretty okay. I've been enjoying the weather and spent a few hours working on our yard yesterday. I'm off to do that again now.

2006-04-11T13:57:00.000-05:00

So apparently headhunters come out of the woodwork when the weather gets better.Last week I received a call from an old headhunter that I haven't used in 3 years (at least). Today another call came in from the headhunter that plucked me out of second last job and put me into my last job. Interesting eh?

2006-04-04T14:05:00.000-05:00

I had a fabulous weekend. I went away with a bunch of friends up to Collingwood. Went up Friday came back Sunday. It was so nice to hang out with the girls. A couple friends flew in to join our retreat so that made it even more memorable. I think the best part of the whole thing was my visit with Judy. She is such a sweetheart and I'm really glad that I got to see her again. We caught up like old friends and I look forward to seeing her in the fall (provided we go back to Collingwood again for the retreat). We had a wonderful time dancing, eating, drinking, singing, and catching up. I can't wait for the next one.

2006-03-28T10:27:00.000-05:00

Apparently blogging on a Mac isn't quite the same as blogging on a Windows box. i don't have the fancy schmancy choice to change the date or the colour of the text (not that I want to anyway).

Two weeks and seven years ago today I was in a hospital losing someone very very dear to me. He's been in heaven since then and there isn't a day where I don't think of him. I hope that I am making him proud now. I miss him, I really do.

On to something a little less sad, more mad. Just over a week ago Hb got a parking ticket. It was a doozy and can I say I wasn't happy with it neither was he. It all happened that one really foggy Monday evening. Hb didn't see any parking signs after calling his friend to confirm where he could park without imposing on any parking infractions. Well needless to say they don't know their area well (despite living there for a few years). Hb came out with a whopping $150 parking ticket. You know if my friend got that ticket because it was my fault for misinforming them I would've offered to pay for half of the ticket. Funny enough other friends have said the same thing. Makes you think eh?

Now something happy...It's a beautiful day today. The sun is shining and the sky is blue. It was even like this yesterday. I took advantage of the lovely weather to try out my new golf clubs (well new for me). I'm going for a walk with the dog and neighbour in a bit. I've been working on a new flavour for the fudge and I hope I get it right soon.

2006-03-14T11:56:00.000-05:00

The storm door is up! The storm door is up! It works and looks fantastic and I'm really proud of my Hb and fil for putting it up. Yay for them.