Meeting Anson Chan

We were in Toronto over the weekend to visit our nephew - Anson Chan. Just 8 days old and he was just the cutest thing. He cried a bit because he soiled his diaper but after his dad cleaned him up, he was ready for a short nap. So far, he's been a dream child. Doesn't cry much and just looks around, wondering who we are and what the big deal is. :)

I wasn't brave enough to hold him. He was a lot smaller than I had imagined. Our visit was too short but Joyce and Samuel looked very tired. Ah, the look of new parents. The next time we're in town, he will be 1 month old.

We also got to see my brother Sam, his wife Steph, and their son Hong. I haven't seen them since Jeff and I got married. Too bad the stay was short .. I would have liked to stay a little longer but we just couldn't. Can't wait for the next reunion. Miss you all.


Pudgy

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Nephew #2

He finally arrived. My new nephew .. baby boy Chan - I don't know what his name is yet but I'll mention it in my next blog post. He is the cutie that belongs to my sister Joyce and her husband Samuel. Don't be fooled by the calm, sleeping image of this child. The boy has a set of powerful lungs. :) I haven't seen him in person yet. We should be heading out to Toronto next weekend to visit. I figure the new parents need a week or so to adjust to their new sleeping pattern. I'd rather they get some much needed rest before we drop by.

I'm a little anxious about holding baby boy Chan. I get always nervous holding a baby that is less than 6 months old. I haven't mastered the art of holding a newborn yet. With their sensitive neck and soft bones, I just don't know what's comfortable for them. I hope it will come naturally when I have children. (To Readers: no, the stork hasn't come by for a visit yet .. when it happens, you'll be the first to know. :))

Toodles,

Pudgy

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Home Away from Home

Puffy bought me a beautiful orchid a few weeks ago. I love it when it buys me presents out of the blue. :) It's fully bloomed and the flowers are huge! I think that's a good sign.

I took these pics this morning with the morning glow through our shades.

It's growing quite nicely and is a great accent to our home. Sometimes I find our house is too mono-toned. It needs some colour .. some je ne sais quoi. Flowers are a great addition to the house. I can't get enough of them. Next to diamonds, flowers are my favorite things.

We've also added a new kitchen table to our house. It also gives the house a more homey feel. We looked around for the longest time and finally found this set. Puff put it together himeself. (Very proud of you, baby!)

We also have a healthy group of herbs growing by our window sill. Our first attempt at growing herbs was a disaster. They all turned to dust after 2.5 weeks of care. We decided to take a second stab at it .. this time, only growing rosemary and basil. The chilli peppers were so cute .. so we decided to buy them. I don't think we'll eat them .. they are too cute to prune. My brother-in-law gave us some mint to grow .. and boy, did it grow! It has taken over the window! The stuff grows like weed. It's all over the place .. good thing it smells good. :)

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Home Alone?

This long weekend, I was home alone. Jeff was in Edmonton visiting my in-laws while I stayed behind. I couldn't go because I could not afford the time off work. I was a little nervous about staying in a city where I don't know anybody but it turned out okay. I spent a bit of time cleaning but most importantly, I spent time doing things I wanted to do and eating whatever I wanted to eat. No, it wasn't a weekend of Doritos and Pepsi. :) Ever since we moved, it's been non-stop go-go-go. Even short vacations were stressful because you knew you had to come back to a mound of laundry or yard work to do.

The most enjoyable thing I did this weekend? Listen to music for hours while doing chores and singing at the top of my lungs. I don't sing in public but I enjoy singing. Weird, eh? :) Time goes by and stuff still gets done. I don't get stressed out .. tomorrow is another day so if it doesn't get done today, no big deal. To be able to recapture the fun was satisfying. I hadn't done that since I moved out of my parents home. Next time you're at home, I highly recommend doing that. :)

Jeff returns tomorrow night .. and life will go back to the way it was before.

Toodles,
Pudgy

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A Week in Toronto

Last week, I was in Toronto for a week. Jeff was on course while I was on vacation. It was a great vacation for me because I got to spend time with friends whom I have not seen since my wedding day. I also got to see my family and spent lots of chat time with them. Even though I talk to them on the phone almost everyday, it is not the same as talking to them in person.

Everytime I am in Toronto, my desire to move back grows. Ottawa is nice but it is rather boring when there are no familiar faces here.

Finally got to see Corrie and Ka's cozy condo. The place was very nice. They were such good hosts! Kendrick can make a fine chicken and potato dish - it turned out great even though they substituted the tomato paste with tomato sauce. Luckily I drove my car. When any of Ka, Kendrick, or Jeff is involved in a dinner party, you know there will be some serious boozing. I've never had ice wine before but the stuff that Ka had was tasty. Thanks again for having us over. We had a fabulous time. (Oh and congratulations to V & S on their engagement!)

The surprise news of the week came during the Friday lunch group meal at Ala Kitchen. Finally .. yes, finally .. Ka and Corrie are engaged! You should have seen my jaw drop when they said the wedding date was December 2007. If you guys need any help, we are there for you. We owe you guys big time for being such great help at our wedding.

And lastly, my sister Joyce turned the big 3-0. She doesn't look a day over 20 though. Too bad she wasn't able to visit us during the Civic Holiday weekend. But we understand, she's carrying precious cargo .. :)

Toodles,
Pudgy

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Pink Cupcakes

After an afternoon of mowing the yard (front and back!), Puff and I decided to cap off our evening by doing something we've (ok .. I've) been meaning to do for a long time ... make cupcakes! My sister is coming to visit over the Civic Holiday weekend and I wanted to throw her a mini-baby shower - she's due in October. Instead of buying or making a cake, I decided to try my hand at making cupcakes. I dunno .. maybe by making cupcakes, if it goes wrong, it won't feel like one huge disaster .. just a bunch of small oopsies. :)

We made both the cupcake and the frosting from scratch. The cake was a vanilla cupcake. I love the smell of vanilla cake baking in the oven. The sweet smell just fills the kitchen. For the icing, we prepared a raspberry buttercream. The pink colour you see, is not food colouring. I have to admit, buttercream is easy to work with but difficult to maintain .. after all, it is butter and in the summer, it will melt or change (darkens) the colour of the buttercream. Puff and I are weird folks .. we don't stock candy at home. But I manage to dig up a box of Easter Smarties and topped each cupcake with a smarty. <rant>Okay, I know you're thinking "Ewwww!! Smarties from Easter? That was *how many* months ago??" We just don't go through candy that quickly. Besides, we all know chocolate doesn't rot that fast. :) And I promise when we do make the cupcakes for the shower, they won't have Easter smarties on them.

</rant>

This was the end result of our creation. I think vanilla worked best because they make the pink frosting stand out.

At the last minute, I remember we bought shredded coconut for the top .. they looked snow capped. Not bad for a first-time cupcake maker, eh?

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Bad Mosquito Bites

For the last few years, I've developed some kind of allergic reaction to mosquito bites. Small bites turn into big red, swollen areas. Just on Sunday, I was bitten three times - one on each calf, and one on the foot. Within 24 hrs, my foot got swollen so badly I could barely bend it - making driving quite difficult.

I didn't have anything in the house to put on it so I went with the chinese method of White Flower oil (aka - bak fa yeow). It helped prevent the itch and brought down the swelling a bit but it's still pretty bad. The two on the back of my legs are the size of a baseball and hot pink. I have a medicinal stench now but hey, it works. :)

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