Life with the Two Crazy Dogs

Since I have taken the day off, I’m listening to my dozens of CDs but the best is Rachmaninoff.  I can listen to this, this, this and this 24/7.  Horowitz plays it so well.  I think he is one of the best pianist ever and Rachmaninoff is the greatest composer of his time.   Concerto No 2 is still the best.  Listening to all of this composer’s work is mesmerizing.  I set it to replay the whole day and don’t get bored of it with will drive DB out of the house very soon!

This is another of my favorite.  DB said sounds like someone just died.  The piece from Schindler’s List is the one that move me the most. 

Just got done checking my work emails and my boss sent the department an advance notice she will be going on vacation in a couple of weeks to her favorite hotel, Excalibur Las Vegas!  Ain’t she lucky.  Her hubby is actually going for a conference with the company and spouses are invited.  They will be staying at the Excalibur which I heard from her is just a  excellent hotel.  I have not been to Las Vegas, but from listening to her vacation stories in Vegas are enough to make me feel I am already there.  The Excalibur has that King Arthurish feeling.  Who don’t want to be there?  It’s call the kingdom of fun and entertainment.  Viva Las Vegas!

Needless to say with the storm that wrecked our clean yard this early morning, DB and I took the day off.  What a great day to be off!!!  We might try to get some body shop supplies to move Mr. Oak out of the way so vehicles can go by.  We do not have a chain saw, if we do, DB and I would be out there now cutting our shade provider up and save them for fire wood.  DB said if the City is not here by this late afternoon, we need to really get something to move it and clean the yard up.  It is an inconvenient for the neighbors.

DB and I slept right through the storm that rolled in at 3 a.m.  Apparently there were super loud thunder and great lightning show out there.  I didn’t hear a thing and didn’t even know the electricity went out.

I didn’t go for my morning walk coz it was so darn humid.  DB took the trash cans out as it’s trash day today.  Drove his truck out and came back in to the garage.  I thought he forgot something.  He rolled the passenger window down and told me the tree on the front yard fell.  I walked out to the yard and saw nothing as it was still pitch dark.  He backed up his truck and faced the direction of the fallen tree.

There it is….

Now we are just waiting for the city to move the damn tree.  I was thinking we can tie a chain around it and hook it to the Blazer, but I guess not.  Thank God it didn’t fall on our house.  I was more worried of the one that’s facing the living room.  That tree has fallen more big branches than I can count. 

This weekend went by quick and I was busy, too.  I met up with Simmie at Ikea on Friday afternoon.  We were already chatting via Gmail Chat on Friday morning and she mentioned she is going to Ikea, I was “I want to go, too!!”  I have not seen her since late June before she left for KL.  It was nice to see her again.  We had our early dinner and then shopped.  I know we had a blast.  As usual we were chatting from the moment we met till we left the parking grounds.  When I got home, had some left overs with DB and told him what sofa I want to buy from Ikea.  He said, “Go for it.”  Sounds so easy! 

Then I was on the phone with Moonlight_Tears for almost 2 hours!!  Couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw the time when we hung up.  It was a great pleasure to chat with you, Nicole!

Simmie and I met again on Saturday.  We were supposed to meet up with Nicole for some Dim Sum, but she couldn’t make it.  I’m sure the three of us will get a chance to meet.  So, Simmie and I went to Minneapolis Farmers’ Market.  I bought a bunch of veggies and fruits.  I gave my self a $30 budget, shucks, I withdrew $50 and bought almost $40 worth of goods.  

For lunch we went to Jasmine Deli and had Vietnamese noodles.  I’m a noodle freak, so any noodles will work fabulously for me.  The green tea bubble drink was good and so was the grilled pork sandwich.  I bought two of the sandwiches home for dinner, DB loved it.  He said he could eat another one of it.  Now I know what to get him.
After lunch, we went to United Noodles for some mooncakes and I bought more groceries.  Got back to her place and sorted our groceries, split the cakes, picked up my stuff I tumpang her to get for me at St Michael’s, KL.  Once I got home, I went grocery shopping at Cubs and hung out at Satay-2-Go for a bit chatting with the lady boss, Corrine.  By the night was over, I was beat.

Mooncake from United Noodles

Some of the loot from the farmers’ market: corn, cherry tomatoes, and Thai chilies.  Not in picture are cherries, onions and shallots, green beans.

Morning came and was woken up by the furry alarm clock Ranger.  Cooper trained Ranger well.  It used to be Cooper’s duty, and I presumed Ranger picked it up from Coops.  So Coops now is the big boss, just lays there and Ranger does the duties.  Actually Ranger is getting very daring.  He never was that noisy, nosy and boisterous.  Anyways, we love it that he is enjoying his new family.

OK, back to the updates, boys and I went for our walk, and when I came home, I was on the phone with Simmie.  After I was done on the phone, I got lazy!!  Wanted to bathe the boys, but I putzed around looking through the flyers, chatting with DB and had lunch.  Vacuumed and cleaned the bathrooms, and then I went to Corrine’s for the rest of the afternoon.  By the time I got back at 6:45 p.m., had dinner and made some dinner for the week, I was past 8 o’clock.  Time just zoomed by when we are having fun.  Folded some grocery bags and I called it a night.  I was wiped! 

Today is a start of another same-old, same-old work week.

Miami Dade County, I would like to visit Miami at least once in my life time.  After watching CSI: Miami every week, thanks to DB, I absolutely would like to see what it looks like especially when we have a friend there, but….. 

Our friend, Kurt, is moving to Thailand permanently by end of next month. He is trying to sell his home in Jackson County in Florida.  He and his family moved to their current home 2 years ago and now he found a new job in Thailand.   He told us he obtain Homekeys Miami flat fee mls services to sell his home, with having to travel back and forth to Thailand it will save him a lot of his time.  Homekeys will have their home listed in the regional MLS for 12 months with pictures included.  In addition, his home will be listed with key description in Realtor.com, AOL, MSN and other main sites with one picture.   He do not have to worry about brokers and buyers inquiries.  Sweet deal and not much concerns for him and his family when he’s away.

I made this dish after reading my sister’s cooking/food blog.   I think folks who read my blog now knows who my sister is :)  Yeah, she is super nice, put up all these simple dishes on her blog to make me cook!  It worked, so her hard work paid off.

Below is my version of the Kerabu Timun, and this is hers.  Hers look so much better.  The cucumber I got from my coworker who brought them in from her garden.  They are China hybrid cucumbers, and those cucumber looked really weird.  I called it cucumber from the Alien Nation.

Anyways, I put too much chilie padi on mine and after a few bites, looked for something sweet, waited till the fire subsided and went for it again.  I used the chilie belachan my sister sent me.  That chilie was good.  DB took a few forkfulls and sweat was breaking out.  Haih….. but the thing is he said it taste good.  “What did you put in there?  I thought you were going to make it with some stinky stuff?”  Hahahaha, I told him I did use the stinky stuff and even put in dried shrimp.  He was still wondering why he didn’t smell it when I made it…. COZ I DIDN’T FRY THE STINKY STUFF IN THE PAN, BABE!!

With all these rain, every one at work said they had enough.  “Bring the hot, sunny summer days back.”  “No more rain.”  That’s what they said.  I’m so sick of them complaining about the weather.  When the state was in a draught, they complain because of global warming.  Rain was scattered across the state, the Cities, zippo.

“No rain, my yard is so dry and my poor flowers.”

“We need the rain really bad.” 

“The weather for the past couple years has been crazy.  No rain and not much snow.”

For me, I want the rain because its free watering for the yard and flowers.  The rain cools off the hot 80s and 90s that we had for so many months with no relieve.  

Now that the sky opened up, I welcomed the rain.  Makes me lazier and not want to do anything, but I deserve those days!!