TEDDY & BUDDY

Teddy and Buddy are playing and chasing after few days together. When Teddy is aggressive he likes to bark at Buddy. Buddy does not like it then they will attack each other. At first we were worried if these 2 animals could get along in the house. Thank god, so far they are doing fine . I believe they will soon be able to eat and sleep together peacefully.

Teddy is very alert of the surrounding; sometime he is just nosy ! Whenever the birds flipped their wings he would wake up from his nap to go to the cage to see what happened to them. Teddy thought he has the responsibility to take care of the house. He acts like a Watch Dog !!

Teddy is an intelligent puppy. He is able to read our expression. When I woke up this morning, I didn't see Buddy so I asked Teddy , "Where is Buddy? " He understood what I asked, looked at me for once and won't dare to look at me again, walked away from me like a guilty child with his head down. When I asked him again and louder, he went hiding at a corner and cuddled like begging for pardon!. He knew he has been naughty chasing away Buddy.; and he could not find when the Buddy being hiding!! hmmmmm ..... these 2 little creatures really give us lots of fun.

Teddy Can't catch Buddy !

This is sharing time - they both like yogurt

Teddy does not like this dog who came over from across the street to our yard.

Teddy was trying to smell the other dog

Teddy is taking a shower just now

He is such a good boy who likes to be clean !

ONE MORE NEW PET

This is the new member to our home......

It's "Teddy". Teddy is a schnoodle. We adopted him this afternoon.

He is super active & cute puppy. He has little training from the previous owner so we need to spend more time to work on this.

Our Cat Buddy is not happy to see him around. So we have to separate and rotate them in and out the family room and the lanai.

Hope they will get along soon.

Teddy is a bit skinny right now.

He is looking at Buddy in the family room through the glass door

He's already a "buddy" to Ah Don

He knows he is in Camera

WE ARE IN ORLANDO AGAIN!

We left from home to Orlando on Thursday evening. In the car, we have Mom who is visiting us from Indiana and our Buddy! ! Why Buddy ??? hmmmm because he has been acting very aggressive and liked to climb on top of the cage to distrub the birds. If we left him unattended, it is unfair to our birds.

This was the first time that Buddy travel with us. He was good on 2 hours journey; though he made some noise in the cage ; it wasn't a nuisance.

Soon after we reached the Vocation House in Kissimmee, that has 4 bedrooms, Jason, Marc, Brooke and Roberta also arrived from New Jersey by flight..... so this is like a small reunion for us.

Buddy took sometime to browse and smell every inche of the house; he even went upstairs to see what are there ! After feeling safe and comfortable with this new place, he started to play with Marc & Brooke.

Grandpa Ah Don bought 4 days tickets to Disney World for Marc and Brooke. This is one of the X'mas Gifts to them.

We did not see Marc & Brooke for only 7 months since last Family Reunion in 4th July 2009. They are so tall now !!!!! Brooke has her front teeth !!! And she is wearing the sneakers of my Size !!! So now you know what I meant !!!

They went to Magic Kingdom yesterday. Mom and me stayed at home. Since I am still in recovering stage and still having some chest congestion and dizziness in the morning, I might have to take extra precaution to excerpt my body and rest more. Certainly, I missed and enjoyed those rides but not this time.

This morning , they left for Epcot. It's good to visit Disney during this period as the parks are less crowded and the lines to each ride and game are shorted. waiting on a long line has been a pain during summer time under the hot sun. The weather during this time is most ideal for visiting Disney World. There might be some good offer too.

Oh .... Buddy is such a good company here....... Soon, we are planing to adopt a Schnoodle. I hope the lady I dealt with would keep her dog "Teddy" for our adoption . If the adoption go through, we will have Buddy and Teddy ...... their names seem to get along fine !!

Think about my disappointment for being rejected to keep pet in our last place in Village Walk on my 62 Birthday, I am really thrilled to be able to see our pets running or flying in our home.

I AM SICK TODAY !!!

Yes!! I am sick and resting at home today.

I was not feeling comfortable for last few days. This is the first time that I have to take a sick leave to stay at home. I tell myself , this is the time that I should forget about the work and let my body have its time to do some internal adjustment or balnacing work to my body; I know, I have been defeated by virus or any other abnormal factors.

There are few reasons that my body shows sign for a good rest !

>I have been too stressful over a last couple of weeks. Have bad habit and persistantly overworked my matured bodyin the past. I have turned to a night bird which is definately is bad for my body.

>There has been a big change of weather from super hot to super cold; and there is high tendency that I could have had a chill and unnoticed!

>I have the new glasses that may cause some impact or effect on my headache.

>My daughter sent me a Garuda Dzi bracelet which is showing signs of my future sickness. My body is aching since I put it on ! Dzi is telling me that I should look after my health more seriously by now! Dzi has been known for its power to tell the wearer of what future sickness.

>Lastly...... it might be a mild warning that medical attention is needed. Since living here for close to 5 years ( by coming May) I have not seen any physicians for treatment except for a body check-up early last year.

I am definitely a tough person who likes to fight against sickness with natural healing process and home remedies.

I feel very much different to be at home on working day! I can't make myself rest completely; that's why I am sitting right in front of my pc........But I like to have this extra hours to play with my birds and cat. They are my good company.

"Forever" likes to kiss me.. she thinks I have something in my mouth to share. oh! and that naughty "Buddy" have been jumping up and down the bed this morning wanting to wake me up !!!!.

♠♠♠ WHAT HAPPENED TO OUR PLANTS?????

This is the first time that I experienced cold weather in Florida. Over the last two weeks the weather was so cold that it dropped to 30 F. It was mainly due to the cold front that push its way from the Arctic. When I asked Ah Don how could it be so cold this year? He told me it was cold too last year; but I was lucky to be back in Malaysia for the Chinese New year during this period!!!!

It's not difficult to deal with cold weather here as I had gone through below freezing point while living in New Jersey for over 2 years. I have plenty of jackets and thick sweaters that I can wear to keep warm. ( since moving to this new place, they have been packed and stored; I thought they are no longer required!)

While we can keep ourselves warm, we were not aware that we have to cover our plants to prevent them from the frost that could freeze them. As reported, local farmers have bad hit of losses due to such cold weather!

This morning when we have a little big of warm sunshine we could walk out to the yard. We were sad to see that most of our plants have been damaged. I don't know how long it take to see their new leaves again ? They are the fruits of our hard labor; At one point we were so happy to see them growing successfully after being transferred from their respective pots to the yard.... now they look bad !

My Pencil Cactus turning pink

This plant were struggling hard with the new place but now......

No longer our green green grass of home !

Look like they have been cooked in bundle !!

When would I see the Green leaves agin ?

Poor Aloe !!!

All needles are dropping off !

Yeah! It's colorful, but I love them green !!!!

We were happy to see the bright color but the have faded !!!!

All leaves fall-off overnight !

It's sad to see our plants in this condition. I pray and believe they will be fully green in spring.

House Warming & BYL Birthday

I'm not going to write as much as BYL.  I think my fingers would fall off. Ha Ha Ha

Below is a little video I put together on the day of the house warming and BD party.  Just gives you a different view of the house.  Obviously we like and enjoy our home.

DO I HAVE QUESTIONS IN MY LIFE ????

Officially, I turned 64 today!

When I was a little girl, living in a small town, I liked to be around my mother listening to her conversation with visiting lady friends. More often I heard them saying, " Aiyo ! we can not already lah ! It's too old to wear this and that after 40!" So in my little mind , I learned that "Women over 40 plus is TOO OLD for anything !" "Young ladies over 20 remained single are overage and hard to find a guy to marry". Then I thought I might have to look for a boy friend before I finished High School. But, that never happened to me ! I wasn't interested in any boys in our class at all !! During my teen, I was hoping to be able to live in a bigger town.


When I reached 40, it was wonderful that I did not feel that I was old!! Then I thought I might experience that Old feeling in another 10 years. When I turned 50, I did not feel that I was old either. In fact, I remarried at senior age of 59 ( Now, people are talking about retirement age at 55 !!!) So, there is only one reason for me not to feel old .......because I DO NOT AND DON'T WANT TO FEEL OLD IN MYSELF... " When you feel old, you are old!" That's it!! Okay !

Then a year after this , I reached this significant NUMBER 60, another round figure in my life! This time around, I did have some strange feeling then made me admit that age is catching up on ME !!! .... Since then, I hated to use or hear the word "OLD" to describe ME! I prefer to use and hear the word "MATURED" instead. In common sense, "Old" means outdated, useless, ineffective, nonproductive or even a burden to younger generation if you are disable whereby " matured" is just like fine wine .... the oldest is the best and right time for appreciation !!!

When I cut my birthday cake 2 days ago, I told our guests that I only have 3 more years to cut the cake ! They asked " What do you mean?" Well, this was a prediction from one Psyche who told me I would live up 67 years old; if I could skip this , I would live up to 87 . If I were to follow Chinese way of calculation ..... I really do not have much time to enjoy my life !!!! How sad !

Right now, I am going to enjoy what are there to enjoy. I am happy to be able to celebrate my 64th Birthday with Ah Don and friends. I am thankful to be able to wake up every morning to see this world, to walk around and run about freely. I can eat as much as I like to. I am both mentally and physically fit to work. May be my memory may fail me sometime but that's not a big deal. I have to use different way to register the memory !! I believe, I am doing good and fine!

Yeah, I can squad up and down without leaning for support. I can lift my leg high up ...... I can hear, I can see, I can jump, I can sing etc, ...... Do I have white hair ? Sure, I do! There are some patches by the side of my forehead. They are like permanent highlight . So what ? I am proud to have these patches.... because there are signs of "Wisdom". Some wise ladies quoted this before and I simply agree with them now that I have them on my head !

Looking back, I have been through various phases and aspects of my life.

When I was little...... I was really little in size and age in my class. I was the youngest and the shortest in the class from my primary years to High School. I had no chance to be appointed as class monitor throughout my whole schooling years... So far, this is my only regret for being too young and too small in the class. This image took away my hidden quality of leadership. ( This is my excuse of failure to be one) . I called myself a "Late Comer" because I was able to explore the quality of leadership at late 50 after I joined and involved in various political and non-political association and movements !! Certainly, I took the greatest pride in my life to see my little daughter being selected to be the class monitor on her first day to school. She was so capable to make her classmates in order while teacher were not around. She fulfilled what I had lost during those schooling years!!

When I was in the college in Singapore, I became the oldest student in the class. I was 24 when the rest of students were in there 17 to 18. WHY ???? Because there was a lapse of more than 6 years before I could walk into the college to continue my education. I am always grateful to my deceased mother and eldest brother who supported me financially and allowed me to accomplish my dream for better education. It was through this education, I was able to set my career path in commercial world. They transformed me to a better person who gradually accumulate confidence and ambition to do great.

I first married at the age of 30.... In 70's this was considered "Late Marriage for ladies"; However, none of our neighbors made any bad comment to my mother of such Overage Marriage merely because I was a career lady ! Haahahaha.....it was so interesting!! They could not believe that my Ex-husband is 7 years younger than me too!! !! Looking back, I was really blessed with a most wonderful and supportive mother in my life. She is my forever mentor and mental supporter. When I faced the fate of divorce, (again, this was predicted by same Psyche ) she gave me adequate encouragement and loving care. I could share with her my joy and sadness. On the other hand, I am also blessed with having one and only daughter Su-Yee who is so special in my life too. I am grateful that she accompanied me and made my life meaningful from 30 plus onwards. She sent me a loving gift and called me in the early morning to wish me "Happy Birthday!" Thank you "Bei" !

During my time as a single parent, I learn to be very independent and strong. That was the period for me to polish my life. I have to give this credit to my ex-husband for giving me the opportunity to grow stronger and be a sole responsible Mom. I worked hard to build my career; I gained the confidence and trust from my boss. I worked 25 year with the company till the company was sold. I quit my position as Assistant General Manger when I could not stand to be treated like "junk" in the eyes of those new management. Regardless of this, there are people in this new management that I like to express my thankfulness to them ! Why again ? Because without their " bad treatment and double standard altitude", I would not have made up my mind to quit and marry with Ah Don. All I know, they helped me to make the right decision in my late 50!!!

Hahahaaha... some people would want to know how and where did I meet this Matsalleh ?

Well, we get to know each other through Internet. When my daughter Su-yee has her circle of friends and seldom be around with me like before, so, I spent some of the time on Internet when I was not involved with any other activities. This is how I got to know Ah Don in 2002.

Do I have to question why I have been treated like this in my life ? No, not really, I am happy with what I had gone through before. The past strengthens my mind set towards my future. And I am happy with what I have now....... I have indeed been treated very fairly and blessed with all good thing in most of life. I have my family members who love and support me all the time especially my youngest brother Alan who cares and close to me. We have similarities in many ways. He is the youngest son and I am the youngest daughter; we both like to see that all our Gan family members are happy together. He has visited me twice since I came to US in 2005.

Below are what I my Birthday Gifts from Ah Don beside a warm kiss this morning!!

My New Glasses ( Price ? hmmm = to my few days pay loh )

The Hard Floor Cleaner for our Home

(I believe he will use this to keep our house clean ......

The supply of tool should come with labor, hahhahaha)

Lastly, a Diamond Pendant & Card

Thank You Ah Don for making my life complete! Thanks to Su-Yee for coming to my life!
I also received a nice Birthday card from Mom-in-law with $10.00 note !!! How sweet & nice of her. She remember all of our big days !!!

House Warming & My Birthday

Yesterday, 01/10/2010 was a happy day for me and Ah Don. It's was a Double Happiness!

After 3 months, we thought it's about time to have our friends coming over to warm our new place. Since I am 2 days shy to my birthday, I thought it might be meaningful for me to prepare dinner for our guests.

I started planning, organizing, arranging and timing for food to be prepared, cooked and ready to serve as soon as I woke p from bed. Initially, I have chicken steak in my mind as the main dish but Ah Don thought roasted ham would be more acceptable. Since I do not have any prior experience in roasting ham hence, I have to go online to look for the most simple way to roast ham. I followed exactly the procedure to glaze and bast the ham .... I am glad that the ham turned out to be delicious, tender and juicy inside. Yummy yummy...it tasted good too !!

Have to set the table First

Roasted Ham in process & Pie

Stuff prepared and to be cooked after arrival of our guests
By the way, those knives by the side are X'mas gifts from Ah Don
They are really nice, now I don't use my old knives anymore!

My first experience in roast ham

Pics show pieces being cut by Ah Don & ready to serve our guests

Then followed by these dishes

Round the house : Our Office

Guest Room ready for Kids : a boy & a girl

This is mainly for Mom's visit during Winter Season

This is our Bedroom

We have some new items fixed on the wall

SMALL CELEBRATION OF MY BIRTHDAY

My Boss carried in the Birthday Cake.

This is a Surprise for me !

Ah Don was taking pic for me and wanted me to lower my chin

This is how I look !

They wanted me to make a wish..... but I have to

think which is my primary wish ! Money, health, love ????

Blow the candles to mark my matured age of

8 X 8
It was a cold night but our home was filled with warmth & laughter

New Year New ME♠♠♠♠

♠Got my new glasses yesterday. It has been a long delay to shop for this pair of new glasses.

I was supposed to have a new pair back in Malaysia after visiting the eye specialist. However, the lens would not be ready for me before I returning to US.

Now. I have this pair to begin with the new year ..... I told Ah Don, this is my expected Birthday gift.

♠

BYE BYE 2009, WELCOME 2010

An opening present from "Forever" !!

3 eggs while we move to new year 2010It was such a Mother Nature that she turns to be so motherly overnight!

******************************************

It's around this time or at the beginning of December that most of us would pull out the list of resolutions set in January to review what are outstanding or what have been achieved before setting the next resolutions for the new year!

Practically, I do not own a set resolutions to navigate or monitor my life; I move with the pace and follow the direction that I am suppose to go. With the matured age and the wisdom and experience that I have gone through, I think I can behave and handle without any firm resolutions set as checklist. However, I did want and hope for something to happen, overcome and accomplish in the past year of 2009. Do I have to tell myself how to behave and discipline ? No! I just want to be myself. After all life is short. I like to do what I feel right and happy of doing it. That's it ! simple.

To keep fit and healthy is always my primarily hope for each year; To continue and maintain good relationship with Ah Don, my family and his family members is the next and a steady job to keep me occupied with extra money in the pocket. Other than this, I am still hoping to involve in social activity in America.

In fact, 2009 has been a significant year for me and Ah Don, With the bad economic and unemployment rate escalating, we are blessed with steady employment. When there are so many people in Florida have to put their properties in the market due to default in mortgage payments, we consider ourselves lucky to be able to own a house in 2009. We have "Forever" and "Buddy" to play with while "putera & puteri " are making whole lot of noises in their cage! Life is beautiful when we are happy with what we have and not to overstrech ourselves!

Of course ! amongest all, it is such a thrilling experience to see our "Forever" laid her first egg on 30th December 2009. All this while, we are not sure of her sexulity . Now we know "Forever" is a female ! On new year eve, I witnessed her laying the 2nd egg. Now she is hatching on 3 eggs, and I am not sure if there will be anymore to come !! Poor baby... she becomes a "Mommy" instantly and is now so protective of her eggs. Look like we will be blessed again in year 2010 with such a good sign !! ( I will let her hatch the eggs for a while before removing them !)

But , no all good thing happened in 2009. I lost my eldest sister due to prolong illness on the day we confirm buying this house. This is the most heart breaking experience for not seeing her last face before she left for her lord.

Anyway...... life goes on...... we have to learn to face the reality. Everyone will be gone one day. we just have to treasure every minute as though it's our last minute!

The good thing with me is that..... I could be very sad over one thing however, I have learn to "let go" so that the sad feeling will not prevent me from pursuing any other thing; life have to move on ! We don't want time to stop at one point!

So, we went downtown on New year eve, to join the big crowd, to see the dropping of pineapple. This is the 3rd year we being to this event. The weather was not too cold to walk around and stop at 3 performing stages to listen and dance with the music. This is one thing that I like about American culture. People can do what they like regardless of ages. I saw some senior ladies dancing and drinking as though nobody is watching them. I believe this is why most of the Americans can live longer lives than Asian. Ah Don & I have a good time to count down to year 2010 and with champagne popping in the crowd ! Hahaha, it's fun to begins with 2010!!

One of the bands was performing rock music

For our last look before moving to 2010 !

We were here waiting for the pineapple to drop from the sky

Pineapple was high was dropping with the count down 1, 2, 3!

The pipeapple was hooked up by this crane

It's landing!

CHEER & HAPPY NEW YEAR TO EVERY ONE !!!

X'MAS 2009

X'mas is similar to our Chinese New Year where family members return home to celebrate the holiday together. X'mas is about giving gifts as to Chinese giving "Ang pau"- Red Packet. In both cases, parents are made poorer to see kids excitement in opening the gifts/presents and Red Packets!

For this X'mas, we did not travel either to New Jersey to meet Don's 2 sons and grandkids or to Indiana to visit Mom and Don's siblings and their children. Certainly, we missed the joy and the feel for X'mas for not being together with them.

As we have no plan of traveling, we decided to have a quiet X'mas in our new place . This time, Don bought me some gifts that are more practical for daily use than those luxury jewelry or handbags that I used to receive in the past X'mas. He is always thoughtful in getting what I needed at different time. From me to him, I normally go for shirts, pants , shoes (Earth Shoes) and other items for personal use. Basically, I can't fulfill his wish list ... because, he still want a Bose Sound system, a big Flat HDTV for our bedroom, a super speed PC etc..... Oh NO, what he wanted are too costly and out of my budget. Hmmmm ...... I thought he might have to work harder and get a second job in 2010 to fulfill his Wish list!!!!

I am hoping that in a very near future, when the time is right and when we have some "Extra over Extra money" he will have a Bose Sound system as consolation....... Ok!

Some X'mas lights were up at exterior of our house

Some gifts under the X'mas Tree

A pose before opening my gifts


A sharp knife for me ? To kill someone?
Oh, there is another full range of knives in the block set!

This is good for me. keyboard with wireless mouse

Sold my toaster in garage sale; So it's good to have a toaster
with digital display

Oh! this is interesring ! I bought this Coffee maker for Don as one of my X'mas gift to him. It's a Cuisinart -12 cup Coffee maker with thermal carafe.

As I was too anxious to try it out, hence, this box was opened prior to X'mas day !

He kept laughing to himself while opening the box, !! Reason? Hahahaha because he bought the same coffee maker for me too ! ( He says- his coffee maker comes with better accessories! Ya right !) The result - he will have to return the item)

This is for him but I am the one who makes the coffee every morning !

He thought he has a wonderful gift in the box

A small gift from me !

What is inside eh ? ( I told him.... you know one !)

Oh !!! 3 Sport shirts !!

He said..." Blue shirt for his blue eyes!

There is nothing special for this X'mas, we were invited by our boss to have dinner in her house on X'mas day.

Day after X'mas, we went shopping at various stores and were hoping to get some good bargain on X'mas clearance sale. Since we were out late, there was nothing great to buy for next X'mas . Crazy shoppers started at 6 am !!! Fortunately, we are not that crazy yet !

EXCHANGE GIFTS IN OUR OFFICE

On the X'mas eve, we have this unplanned surprises.

Chris was the one who placed all his gifts on the reception counter first when we arrived in the morning. Chris is always the first one in the office. Then, we placed our gifts together too.

When our boss Elida arrived and saw all these gifts on the counter, she went back to her car and brought in her gifts as well ! So we all have gifts for X'mas !!

This is the first time, we enjoyed the fun of exchanging and opening gifts in the office just like kids !! hahahaha... We have lots of fun, laughter and excitement to see and open each gift ! Oh, we have our Bonus too. Wasn't that a Merry X'mas just begun?

In fact, Elida suggested us to have an off day but we came back to finish some works since we would be having a company lunch at noon.

At noon, we went to Mattison for lunch for the good food and drink.

All the Gift boxes

Chris, Don & ElidaNow with me in the PictureChris' present to ElidaOur Gift to ElidaOh Don has a Gift card (The card says "For Mom" soit's very likely it's for me !)

Don has the gift from ChrisChris has the gift from us and he was excited !

These are for me from Elida.. Love them !! Gift from Chris

At the bar counter

Some drinks before lunch !

HOME ALONE AGAIN!

Yeah..... I am alone again !! Ah Don went to California to visit his brother Tom since last Wednesday. Tom was in the hospital for a while after returning from their trip to China in October. He was not doing well when we first got the news. Ah Don loves his brother so he decided to stay a bit longer to be with Tom. I am happy to hear that Tom is getting better and has been discharged from the hospital.

Since I am alone, I tried not to do anything that requires labor. I am afraid to have any incidental fall or cut because there is no one to help me.

While going through the TV channel two days ago, I found this Sino TV at channel 281!!!It's a Chinese Channel. Now, I have the opportunity to watch some fun shows & Chinese movies. :):):)

This afternoon, suddenly, I have the urge to do some floral arrangement. So these are 2 pots of artificial flowers placed at both side of the TV in the family room.


Next, I also have the X'mas tree up in the living room !

One for the Left

One for the Right

A simple X'mas Tree

Busybody " Buddy" is playing with Santa

OUR HOUSE

THIS IS OUR HOUSE

Finally, we managed to have the house done to a "Home Like" condition. We have 4 days at home to tidy the place. On Thanksgiving day, we sorted out those boxes that were still left in the garage. Almost all moving boxes have been opened and gone to places where they belonged. Leaving behind are about 100 over moving boxes of all sizes in the garage !!! What are we going to do with them ? Ah ..... good question! I think, I still love to keep some of them .... it's just Me !Do not like the idea to throw things away! Anyways this is an exceptional case due to limited storage for Junks.. those boxes will make the garage look rather unsightly !! So, we will advertise for people to come get them for moving!

So! here is our new place..... a place where you will see 2 parakeets, 1 cockotiel, 1 cat and 2 human beings that's Me and Ah Don.

Puteri and Putera

"Forever"

" Buddy"

Coffee Table at Family room

Sofa & Love seat at Family Room

The big rock on entrance. (pending painting to Gold :):) )

Back yard after Landscaping Work

Back of Lanai

Left side of the house

Landscaping Workers at work

Entry at Kitchen

Front Foyer

This is my collection Corner - Clocks & Plates

Dining Room

Living Room

A pose after the hard word on yard

2 car Garage

Front view of the house ( now visible after tree trimming!)

Laundry Room - Washer & Dryer

Garage with unopened boxes

Family Room - TV corner

View from Kitchen to Family Room

High top Dinning table for two of us

This is the Kitchen..... Place for my collection of Bottles

THANKSGIVING DAY

This is a simple meal for two of us on Thanksgiving day!

We have a small roast turkey and some stuff from the box ! Lat night while seasoning the turkey, I thought I wanted to cook it with slow fire ; but, I changed my mind this morning. I decided to roast the turkey. When I took it out from the freidge, then only I realized that I have cut the skin off last night while washing the turkey !!

I am glad that the turkey turned out to be quite nice and tasty except without crispy skin !

HAPPY THANKSGIVING !

For the first time, Ah Don and I will celebrate this Thanksgiving day just two of us.

Also. it's the very first time that I am trying out cooking a "pettie Turkey breast" for dinner tomorrow! No receipe in hand yet; but as ususal , I will cook my own way; or may be just a combination of East & West.

What would be the meal like ????? Good or Bad ? anyway, Ah Don knows the rule on dinning table

"JUST EAT IT ! NO QUESTION ASK !'

Reason : I have the secret receipe that I can't reproduce !!! Ha hahahahahahah..... got it ?

OUR CAT -BUDDY

Buddy has been with us for 26 days. He is very active, likes running and amusing himself with toys. He would not play a toy for long. Just like any young kids, he is very curious and wants new things to play with. His favor toy is a tiny yellow soft bone that keeps missing from sight so we have to locate the bone whenever we come home!

During the day, we believe he could be sleeping on the chair, couch or even up on the dinning table. When we are home, he is very well behaved; walks around the house or sits at the lanai watching insects in the yard. Occasionally, he likes to play hide and seek with us too ! we have fun playing after a hard day work.

Buddy is now perfectly toilet trained by Ah Don. Thank goodness! Otherwise, we have to find where the shit smell come from. That happened during the first few days when he was new to the environment. Ah Don takse care of Buddy and I take care of the 3 bird.

Buddy loves to touch water. Normally, he will come and wake us up around 6 o'clock. As soon as he saw me woke up, he would rush to the bathroom right away and wait for me to turn on the tap! He likes to touch the running water; So, he has his face and body wiped every morning and evening. By so doing, I hope I can bathe him once a week soon!

Buddy likes to sit on Ah Don's lap since he is very gentle and patient to him. He likes to catch the mouse in the screen !!

Buddy is playing with water

Buddy is catching the mouse in the screen

Buddy is drinking the running water !

Buddy is waiting for me in the sink

Oh! Buddy is a Cool Cat !!

He is sleeping soundly !

IT'S GARDENING DAY!

We have been thinking of transplant potted plants to the yard for a while; somehow, there is always other things seemed to be more important.

Yesterday, we bought some additional plants form one of the garage sales. That gave us an urge to work on the plants right away. We managed to plant the new ones but did not have time for the transplanting. the day is getting dark much early during fall. That's the good time for mosquitoes to come out for their victims. Mosquitoes here are very fierce!! Before I could escape I already got few bites with big "bump" on my arms and legs. The bites are painful and itchy. I am yet to find the right medicine to stop the itch. Terrible !!!

This morning as soon as we finished our breakfast, we continued with the gardening work!

Don started his work first, this pic was taken through the lanai Screen !!!

This is my precious plant !

I'm getting tired! where should I plant this 2 ?

Have to leave some space between plants for growth!


Need some landscaping skill - taught by Ah Don!

Don was cleaning the lanai- Good job, love!

Time to relax with a good smile in the yard!

It's almost 3 PM now.... time to feed ourselves......................... There will be more work to do next week when we have to make way for the bigger plants!!!

Can't wait to see all my plants are doing well!!

WECOME "BUDDY" TO OUR HOME

"Buddy" - is the white with black spots cat that we adopted on 10/24/2009.

Nicole is a single mom, she bought 2 kittens for her son from a pet shop ; one black & one white. After a while, her son seemed to love the black cat " Andrew" and refused to play & care for " Ralphie . She thought this is unfair to "Ralphie", so she advertised "Ralphie" for adoption online.

When I saw the picture of "Ralphie", I had the immediate instint that I have a strange bonding with the cat. I related that to my daughter and she also like the cat from the Pic. We did have one cat that had the similar look. So I emailed to her and asked if she could hold the cat for me for 2 weeks since we were about to move to a new place. She agreed knowing that we would definitely give "Ralphie" the love he deserves.

As soon as we settled in our new place, I gave Nicole a call and we went over to her house. After a brief information on "Ralphie" behaviour, we took him home . " Ralphie was born on 02/28/2009..... so he is 8 mouths old

It didn't take long for "Ralphie" to get used to our home. As I find it hard to call him " Ralphie" so we changed his name to "Buddy" We hope he can be "Buddy" to our birds.

It's almost 2 weeks now.. "Buddy" is getting very active and playful. He likes to jump up to rest on dinning table. I guess this is the habit that should be rectified.

Yesterday, we sent him to have the neuter done. He has been kneaking all the past days!! When we took him home in the evening, he could jumped up & down as usual except when he walked he lost his balance for a while.

Don & I both love "Buddy" so much that we can't wait to see him back from work. All these pets bring us so much joy and fun. They are like opur babies need a lot of love and tender care. Now, we have to divide our time to play between birds and Cat !

We hope Buddy will soon get along fine with all the 3 birds so that we don't have to take turn to lock Buddy or Forever in the room when we let the birds out for exercise !!!!

See! how naughty is "Buddy"

hiding under the stool eyeing on the birds !!

Buddy is trying his first touch on "Forever"

Not very comfortable to face the camera for the first day!

This is the bed for "Buddy" but he prefers to sleep some place else . He was trying to run away from the bed !

Finally, needed a quick nap after neutering

He likes to rest at the lanai

Still Playful like nothing ever happened after neutering!

HALLOWEEN PARTY

What a fun night to join the crazy Halloween Party organized by WSRZ in Venice Community Hall for the first time !!

It was an unplanned event . We bought the tickets just a day ahead of the party. So, we did not have time to shop for the costumes. Hence, I just have to grab whatever was available from home to dress for the party.

We have 2 funky orange hats which were given to us as VIP guests to Ringling Circus in year 2006. It was an exciting Birthday Entertainment gift for me from Ah Don in 2006 and some red materials bought from the garage sale; then plus some horrible make-up..... we went for the party.

When we arrived at the venue, the hall was almost full of participants. Everyone was wearing all kind of funny costumes. Everyone was so excite to cramp either on the dining tables or on the dance floor. We went straight to the dance floor to have fun with others.

The hall was full of creative people who came up with all kind of costume ! It was full of color! Most of the costumes reflected the night of Halloween with all horrified creatures; there were characters from movies, daily life and imaginative features. There were sexy guys disguise in lady etc..... There was a $1000 Cash to be won for first 3 best/ creative costume of the night.

Am I a witch or what!!!

What happened to my hair?

What about this ?
( No! I might not able to see in the dark ! )


I am Ready for the Halloween Party

Are we Funny ???

Ah Don said," I am the Chinese Mafia.... TaiKo !"

Some interesting features !!!

Tai Ko in negotiation !

The tall Robot could hardly walk with all his Alumium gears on!!

It was a real fun and entertaining night.... We will like to join the party again next Halloween !!

We bought a big package of candy for the Halloween kids to come by ...... unfortunately, we missed them since we were at the party.....But the Big Boy Ah Don will finsih these candies very soon !!!!

BOO!!!! BOO !!!!!

OUR GARAGE SALE

This is interesting.......We have shopped over hundreds of Garage Sale in the past and had never organised one ourselves. Since we have tons of extra items ( as quoted by Ah Don) , we made one happened on October 26th 2009!!

Before the move to our new home, I went through boxes in our garage to pull out things that are no longer needed or will not be used in a while. They are repacked and cleaned to go for our Garage Sale.

On that day, the weather was fine in the morning; when it came to the noon time the weather was getting too warm t o reamin outdoors. So, we ended our business at 1pm with a bit extra money in my purse for my future shopping in other Garage Sale.... hehehehehehehehe!

Things we sold were inexpensive .... some people are just like me like to pick up things of good bargain. I received a few good comments from shoppers like...... "very reasonable price, very good arrangement, neat and clean., vey organized!"

I grouped items of similar price together with a Big Price Tag. Customers could pick up things they liked and paid without easily.

Here are some pic of items for sale at our Garage Sale....

Have lot of books in boxes ; they are not popular for sale at half.com

Some left over Toys that were not sold at Flea Market in Ewing , NJ

Some crazy stuff bought or given free over time at Garage Sale

Some Knick Knack that were interesting to me at one point of time !!!

Some of my own floral arangement for sale too

Some of the clothings that we don't wear any more!

It was a good experience ....... at least some of the boxes have been eliminated before the move !!

OUR NEW HOME AT HAMPTON, PALMER RANCH

Finally, we have a place to call our Home at Hampton, Palmer Ranch which is less than 2 minutes away from where we live - Village Walk.

After months of house hunting, this is just the right house that we are looking for. This house got my immediate "affection" when we dropped by at its open house. It has 2 car garage, 4 bedrooms, 2 full baths, a formal living and dinning room, a large kitchen, with all new stainless steel appliances, opens to family room. The most attractive part of this house is its unique interior design. The lovely golden orange floor tiles that are so warm and inviting. The ceiling at the dinning room and family room are very beautiful. All fans are fanciful to match the color scheme of the wall and the flooring. According to the broker, this house was bought by one rich man who remodeled the whole house as gift to his daughter, but she did not like it. ( Hmmm.. some people could be so lucky !)

The whole idea of getting a house aroused after we are sure that we like Sarasota and believe that we will be here till we retired from work ! In the meantime, this is the right time to take the advantage of declining housing market. Florida is among one of the states with high ranking in unemployment and foreclosure.

Since we have the desire to buy a house, we started to drive around housing community during weekends. While I was shipping at garage sale from one place to another, Ah Don would hang around the nearby area , looked for "House For Sale" sign; In the evening, after dinner, we would browse through most of the MSL & house sale listing online. We marked those units that we were interested for our Agent- Laura to arrange for the viewing after office hours.So, for over 3 months we were busy visiting one house to another. After the visit, two of us would sit down to discuss and analyse the "Plus" and "minor" factors to narrow down the list of houses that we would like to have a second visit. I think we could have visited more than 59 houses !!!!

Altogether, there were 3 houses that we really liked before encountering this house. The deal did not go through, They were all wonderful & nice. The house No 1 is till my favour house. Unfortunately, the owner misquoted his asking price. He was not aware that the listed price was not adequate to settle his mortgage. The House No 2 is just 2 blocks away from our present house, regrettably, we were late to make the offer, so the house went to other buyer. It is a corner unit, with bigger yard..... Now, whenever we drove pass the house I wanted to see who is the smart buyer ????? The house is almost $35,000 less than what we paid for this house !!!!! The house No 3... Oh! ! this is another house that perfectly match with our "dream". The house is so nice and beautiful in its design and layout. There is a cosy swimming pool as bonus to the listing price.!!! Now! you may ask why didn't we go for it ????? Well, we viewed the house on Saturday afternoon, thinking that we could contact the agent to submit our offer On morning. Before Ah Don could related to her of our keen interest, she told us that the house has been sold and there were 5 other buyers lining to offer should the 1st buyer did not get through the deal !!

Anyway...... we are happy with this house. We completed the whole transaction in less than 3 weeks and moved in on 9th October 2009.

As soon as the deal was in process, we started to pack all our stuff........ OMG.... there were so many things to pack!! Luckily we have the moving boxes and packing paper that were used and kept when we moved here from New Jersey in November 2007. We saved some money from recycling !

One week before moving, we had our garage sale at our office's car park to sell those extra stuff we don't need and not easy to sell at eBay. On that Saturday, the weather was fine in the morning; we had fair amount of people came to our garage sale. When the sun was getting too warm toward noon,we closed the sale by 1pm. .. Ha ha ha.... I manged to make a little money but Ah Don wanted to claim for his time and the gas for his transportation! I bet he forgot that I am his wife and what is his is mine !!!

So here are some pictures of our new place

The Exterior look of the house

The Timber panel at Ceiling

Part of the view of Family Room where our big TV will be here

The Lanai looking into the matured trees and plants

The view From Family Room

The Cloud in the master bedroom

Kitchen with Cherry Wood Cabinets ,GE Profile appliances, Granite counte-tops

The Slates to the bathroom at Master Bedroom

The Golden Orange Floor Tiles which we are not sure of its name!

We are still in the process of opening boxes. Most of the things have got the places to go..... but there are still plenty of boxes left in the garage ..........

Normal Night

Tonight was another normal summer night here is Florida. The video below is of a thunder storm that was raging behind our house. In front of the house the sky was clear and the moon was bright. We never did get any rain from the storm. It stayed to the south of us.

FOREVER PICTURE

This is the group photo of me with my 2 sisters and 4 younger brothers

( My 2nd elder Brothers was not around while this Pic was taken)

This photo is now even more valuable than before since my eldest sister

has gone to join my father, mother and eldest brother

This photo was taken at Eng Kui's house in Johor Bahru , Malaysia in 1997

Once, I asked my mother, " What is the thing that you are most proud of ?" She was then around her 60 something; she passed away at 83.

Her answer: " The only thing that make me happy and satisfied in nonetheless for having 9 children who are normal kids!"

How humble and true is her answer. This is why I respect my mother more than anybody in this world. She has so many good things for me to learn from.

I used be No 5 in between 2 elder brothers & sisters and 4 younger brothers. Now..... I am not !!

FRUIT OF TENDER CARE

I love looking at this plant every morning before going to work and in the evening after work.

I bought this plant with the rusty stand from a Garage Sale about 3 months ago. It was from an estate sale. It was placed by the side of the entrance to the house and no one bothered to look at it. ... I believe the plant could have been special to the owner who passed away and left unattended for a long period without watering . It was a pot of dying plant. I bought it because it looked funny but special to me.

When I took it home, I told myself, " Well, I'm going to try to save this plant; even if I fail, I would have the pot stand that could be used for other plant".

In life, we do like to take chances in this manner. We like to bet! After all ,our lives are full of risk taking.

Same principle also applied in situation in handling negotiation. I always believe there is nothing wrong to bargain. there is nothing to lose. Says, if I offered a price that I am willing to pay and that the seller is comfortable to sell. We are both happy, If the seller is unwilling to accept my price, I walk away.

I watered the plant every morning. I looked & touched it every morning....... Slowly and gradually, the leaves were turning from white to purple then to green........ Then one day, a small bub appeared. In next few days........ it bloomed into a lovely flower!!!

In this case, I am not talking about bargaining with price I paid for the plant,.... I am paying the price to take the challenge to save the plant........ and I made it happens ..my effort is rewarding.

When I look at the plant these days, I am very satisfied. I can sense that the plant is sending me this warm message " You can turn a deadly plant to green with tender care and patience"

See! these lovely flowers .......... She bears flowers every 2 weeks.

The leaves were dry and white in color once...... very unhealthy and unsightly!!!!

NEVER BE THE SAME AGAIN.......

When we broke or damaged something that is valuable to us, we would try our best to get a replacement. If this happen it's easy to deal with the temporary loss. If the item has its sentimental value and that there is no way that we will not blame ourselves for being careless.

I have this mixed feeling over the loss lately..........

Case 1 : I broke one of the Avon Canny Bowls which we bought from a garage sale. This is a collectible item that is no longer in production. The seller was a young lady who was lucky to inherit the house with contents from her uncle who passed away without decedent. We bought these 2 Candy bowls with other items that come in set. We used these 2 bowls for ice cream after dinner. Now, I am using a different bowl and hope that I will be find one from garage sale; or else, I have to buy from ebay !

This is the only one now left for use by Don

These are shattered pieces after I hit the edge of the sink accidentally. It went to trash!!! I am yet to find one from the garage sale...... I may have to bid from ebay

For this Case 1, I am sure to find a replacement i a matter of time. But not for the following case..... I will never get one ; it will NEVER BE THE SAME .......

Case 2 : The following are 3 knitted sweaters as gifts from my eldest sister. She spent her leisure hours to knit these sweaters for me; they are great gift that are full of love from her. It shows how much she loved me and cared for me despite her poor health. She wanted me to keep warm with these sweater in USA . She knitted these sweaters piece by piece while she was watching Cantonese drama or while she was in the car or waiting at the clinic or hospital for consultation.

This was the 1st Sweater she gave me the day before I left for USA in May 2005. She said, " It's cold in American , you must keep yourself warm!" This is a sweet sweater and I used to put it on at work

This is the 2nd sweater she knitted for me when I came home for Chinese New Year in Feb 2006. During that time she was still in good health except having some aging problem. She told me since I was not available for measurement hence the sleeves are a bit longer...........It's fine with me !

The is the 3rd I received from her this past Chinese New Year. She rushed to complete this sweater for me even she was not fully recovered from her operation. She even felt sorry for not fitting the white buttons ; She told me she could not walk for long and did not go shopping for the buttons!! She still care for me like her little sister; she forgot that I am a senior citizen !

This white sweater is the last sweater I received from my Tai Ka Che. I would not receive another sweater from her . She is no longer there to knit for me when I return home again. I won't see her face in person, I can't chat and joke with her ; There is no way that I can taste her good cooking again....... She is gone to her Lord.... What she left with me is the memories......

These are sweaters that are real treasures that can be bought by money. They meant so much to me...... Each of them keeps me warm from her heart.

These gifts are non-replaceable . They are full of sentimental value ........... Unlike the Avon Candy Bowls....... I will find one again.............

These sweaters were knitted with warm love from my Ta Ka che.......No one else does the same!!

I love you and miss you so much Tai Ka Che!!!

CONDOLENCE MESSAGE TO MY ELDEST SISTER

~~~~~~~~This is the only wayto express my feeling in writing to Tai Ka che
and that someone from home will read to her at funeral service ~~~~~~~~~

Dearest Tai Ka Che,

First of all, I would like to apologize and beg for forgiveness for being unable to share the last moment of your life as well as to pay my last respect at this service.

Next, I would like to express my deepest sympathy and condolence to Fong family for the loss of a good loving wife, mother, mother-in-law and grandma.

This is a very difficult time for all of us. Please look beyond the sorrow and think about all the sweet memories that she has given and left with us.

My Tai Ka Che, Ai Chin or “Tin Na”, which we used to call her while we were young at home, made history in our small kampong in those olden days. As far as I can remember, she was the first girl being sent to Singapore to study. She was the first girl who managed to overcome all hardship and difficulties to marry with Mr Fong. We lived in a small “kampong” where there were many traditional ladies who were strongly against daughters marrying men of any dialect other than HOKKIAN Lang! It was through the affectionate and truthful love that Mr. Fong obtained my parents’ approval despite the objections of the kampong folks.

After her marriage and despite her tight schedule, being a teacher and mother to four kids, she was like a Santa to us. She would sew beautiful clothes and dresses for all of us. She sent them by post from her home in Kuala Pilah. Tai Ka Che ensured that we had new dresses to put on for each day that we were off from school for the festival day. It was beyond words to describe how kind and how much she loved us as her siblings.

Tai Ka Che’s kindness was unbounded and was rewarded and blessed with a good husband who loved her dearly, shared all ups and downs with her. They have 4 great and successful children of whom they are very proud. Tai Ka Che was very humble about this, but I took every opportunity to remind her of this great success that she achieved in life in addition to being a great sister.

Now that she is gone, but never forgotten, I will always remember her beautiful smile, the good dishes she cooked and the open invitation she extended to me and my daughter to share with her family for all festivals. I am so grateful to be able to share the joy of being in a big family

Tai Ka Che, once again, though you are gone….. We will miss you forever. Please let your magic charm and sweet memories stay with Mr. Fong to strengthen him and allow him to have a healthy life for many more years…..

From: San Chio Che – Ah Ngo Yee or Louyee

Florida, August 31, 2009

OBITUARY- FAREWELL TO MY BELOVED TAI KA CHE

~~~~~~~~OBITUARY~~~~~~~~

GAN AI CHIN

AT AGE 73 YEARS

WENT HOME TO BE WITH THE LORD

ON 30th AUGUST 2009

Half page in Sin Chew Jit Poh inserted by Gan Family

Wake Service on Monday 31st August 2009 at 8:00 pm at Nirvara memorial Center, KL

Funeral Service on Tuesday 1st September 2009 at 10:30 am at First Baptish Church, PJ
FBC web site : http://www.fbc.com.my/

Thereafter cortege leaves for burial in Christian memorial Garden, Semenyih, Malaysia

In Star paper inserted by Fong family.

THERE GONE MY BELOVED ELDEST SISTER AI CHIN - TAI KA CHE

This is definitely not a good Sunday....

Su Yee brought me the bad news in the morning that my beloved eldest sister has passed away peacefully in the afternoon in one of the private hospitals in Malaysia. ( our time is 08/30/2009 2:00 AM).....

My Eldest sister is Ai Chin, I like to call her as "Tai Ka Che". she has been suffering from terminal illness and has her pancreas removed last September. Since then, she had been fighting strongly with this "devilish illness" until this July where her body was getting too weak to continue the fight! This could be the time she felt she has completed her missions for the family and in this world that she marched gradually towards the end of her journey

This news came at time while I was chatting and sending prayer to her ....... not what I anticipated to receive but it came TOO SOON.....

This is a hardest thing and most emotional experience to accept. I was very upset and sad for being unable to join the rest of my family to mourn for the loss of our beloved sister ; Also, I felt so bad that I was unable to offer my condolence and comfort to Fong family for the loss , the grief and the bereavement. I beg for the forgiveness!!!

From here, I could only hope and continue to pray that everyone is able to see beyond the sorrow and may the love and care given to my sister be shared and helped through the days ahead.

To my brother -in -law, Mr Fong, I thank you for all the care and love that you have shared and given to my beloved sister for over 50 years. You are a wonderful husband to my Tai Ka che. May all the past sweet memories you had with her remain to give you the strength to get over the loss soon. Remember, you have your lovely children and grand kids who love and care for you just as much as they loved my Tai Ka Che. I sincerely hope that you will adjust your life and move on. Your grand kids are there to give you joy and happiness. They all love you!! So, please accept my deepest sympathy for the loss of your beloved wife!

To all my nieces, Yee Mei , Molly, Suo Mein and husbands Bryan, Jo and John plus kids and my nephew Jason's family, I am beyond word to express how I appreciate your dedication of love and care for your mother during her life time. It is through your love, care that your mother has the desire and the will power to fight for survival till her last effort failed. Thanks to you all!

I strongly believe that my eldest sister is now in good hand; Soon, she will be in good company with our deceased parents and eldest brother in the other world and they will look at us moment to moment with smile.

These are precious collection of photos of happy moment in our memories

My dearest Tai Ka Che,

You are the best sister in this world......

You loved and cared for all your siblings unconditionally tille the last minute of your life.....

Now ... you may be gone and no longer around in sight.....

We may not hear your voice or perhaps listen your complaint that came with advice.......

But, we know you are still watching us from above and still wanting us to be safe and better...

You will always remian in our hearts......

We love you just as much as we love our father, mother and eldest brother whom you are going to be with......

We were so lucky to have a Tai Ka Che like you...a warm and beautiful woman

Tai Ka che, I love you forever!!

Lastly, I like to dedicate this song to my Tak Ka Che.......... "GONE TOO SOON".........

Yes..... Why didn't she wait for my next trip home ? I missed holding her hands before she's gone !!
Please ignore the opening message from MJ.... just listen to the lyric of the song ........ "Gone Too Soon"!!!

HOME ALONE AND THINKING

Ah Don is away from home again. He left for New Jersey on Thursday morning. He is on official trip this time to fix up our company's computer and servers to be co-located at Jason's house. I am sure apart from the work, he can spend sometime over the weekend with kids and grand kids. I did not go with him as I wanted him to be with them without me.

So, when he is not around, I am able to take care and amuse myself. Once a while , it is nice to be able to have the time to unwind myself and do what I like ! First of all, I played my Chinese CD to top volume and sing along !

Oh, I really missed those Chinese oldies ! When I played those line dancing music it made me feel bad for forgetting all the dance steps!!!! . The music brought me back to those Thursdays nights where a group of us were having fun & sweat practising the line dance. After the class, I would go to the "Pasar Malam" and buy my favourable "rojak"home to eat. What a sweet memory and melody~~~ "Chili Cha Cha"~~~~ "It's so easy to fall in love" ~~~~ "Macarena"

While flashing back to those old good time .......all of sudden my brain alerts me to the hospital in Malaysia where my eldest sister Ai Chin is dying with dips, struggling and fighting hard with terminal illness. My tears starts to wet my eyes..... I can visualize how difficult she is suffering right now with pain attacking her all over the body. I was told that she looks calm and sleepy but the agony look on her face while at rest does not hide the fact she is suffering the pain even with the drug. Her body is too weak.

On the other side of the bed, I can see that my brother-in-law Mr Fong is looking at her, praying earnestly to reduce her pain and suffering......Every moment is so precious and a blessing to him. Over the phone, he told me... My sister is a wonderful wife to him. They had never parted with each other except for once when my eldest sister was away in overseas with my niece. He is uncertain if he could adjust his life without my sister around should my sister no longer live. Frankly enough, they are such a great and loving couple. They shared their lives through ups & downs for over 50 years. It's sad to hear this ........ but life has to go out no matter what happens. I hope Mr Fong would be strong enough. All my nieces and nephew would be around him to give all kind of support.

Next to the side of Mr Fong, I can see all members of my nieces' families and nephew's are there around the clock to look after my eldest sister. One of my nieces, Molly is back there from Vancouver for over a month now. She told me this is the most precious moment in her life to be able to take care and hold her mother's hand as well as to close to the father. At the mean time she has an important task to prepare food for siblings and kids who are in the hospital to take care of my sister. They bonding of love is so great that I believe my sister would smile even it may be the end of her journey.......I pray and hope she will live with the strength she receives.

Love and care is flooding the room where my respectable and beloved sister is hospitalized. I am always proud of my sister and Mr Fong. They brought up 4 brilliant and successful children ( 3 daughters & 1 son) and grand kids. They are the living role model to happy marriage.

I am sorry for being unable to visit my sister at this time. My heart is with her always. My daily prayer is there to reduce her suffering. She is a kind person, she should not suffer like this !

Dearest sis " Tai Kak Jie", I love you and I never forget all the good things that you have given me. I hope you will fogive me for not going home to see you. To all Fong family, I understand the hardship that you are going through. I am thankful and grateful for everthing that you have done and given to my sister. She deserves to live longer. She should!!!

Me, my 2nd Sis & 1st Sis

JIGSAW FUN

Let's Play!

TOGA! TOGA! TOGA!

Went to a Toga party Saturday night. Watch the video and you will see BYL in the congo line. Had a good time. Danced our legs off

TIME & LIFE CHANGING

It has been a while since I last wrote about those exciting items that I bought from the Garage sales. Since then, I have some other interesting clocks added to my collection..

By now I have more than 40 clocks in my collection. All clocks are working and displayed to remind me that time will keep moving no matter what. If I want to make thing happen, I should make it happens today. Yes, there is always "Tomorrow" for us to catch up. We fail to realize that once "today" is gone it falls into "Yesterday" ans we are not able to gain back the day to our lives any more. It is not possible for us to duplicate, rewind or change whatever we have done or happened yesterday. There is no way that we can re-date today to be 5th August 2009 this lifetime

However, once a while, I like to remain myself in the past. Perhaps there are things that I like to keep, situation that I hope to change; Some not quite good action that I hope to recall or even to hold back some bad decisions or some sweet moment that I hope will stay.

This is why I love to take and collect my own photos .............Each photo tells me how my image change with the passing of days,months and years that will never return to my life any more.

Our image will never be the same with the clicking of time .......every clock tells me I have to treasure every second that I have .......

The following 2 photos are definitely not my favourable collection. However, they are here to remind me that I look terrible and uncomfortable with long hair. Perhaps this should be my attempt to allow my hair to cover my ears ! :):):)

Now, I feel so much better with short hair.

When the age number is "+", my hair is "-" (:(:(:

I love my silver hair at both side..... Not need to highlight !! :):):):)

IT'S MY LUCKY SATURDAY!!!

It's one of those days that we hope thing will move as planned, scheduled, and happened the way we wanted it to be . Yesterday was my normal routine for Saturday......Go Garage Sale. Nothing much could I expect during summer day. There is less garage sale to shop around.

But, it turned out to be even more interesting and exciting than I could have anticipated!

So, I got these pots that I can use when some of my plants need a bigger pots!!!

Asking price $10 ... my price $1.00

Asking Price $15....... My price $7.00 Come with dried flowers !

$2.00 for this original Painting ( No bargain. owner sold me cheap)

Then at our last stop, I spotted this wild peacock resting at one of the cars parked at the visitors parking lots. I went as close as possible so that I could snap the photos

As proud as Peacock ????

Say "Hello" to me ... " Do you have any food for me ? "

"Sorry, You are unexpected Friend, I don;t have anything for you!"

See How friendly is this proud peacock. I was touching its bead

I could have caught it home if I wasn't that aggressive & anxious to touch it !! :(:(

hmmmmm. if I ever have the chance to meet it again .. it will be mine....... for sure.

Meanwhile, I am happy with my 3 birds at home.... We love to look at them, play with them .. they are our darlings !! They give us joys & fun!! Ah Don tends to pamper "Forever" and I want to discipline her !! We have different approach to handle pets!! :(:(:(

See how beautiful is my "Forever "!!! She is growing Fast & "FAT" ha ha ha ha..

I love this picture. 2 parakeets are like penguins standing behind the " Forever "

"We are happy together at the patio. We like sharing food, fly a bit and back to get some foods but we do not like the idea of living in the same cage ! "

WHAT'S HAPPENED ???

This is how we celebrated 4th July 2009 and the Strasburger Family Reunion in Indiana!

There was a lot of fun........!!! Particularly when I have the chance to "Abused" the following people in the Pictures ! ha hahahahahah.. Just love it !!

We have a eventful and fun night together. I am thankful to everyone for being supportive and sporting in participating all games that I organised for the night.

The significant event was the decade celebration for members who are going to be 50, 60 , 70 & soon to be 90!!!!

We have jigsaw competition, newspaper dressing design contest, face painting . The most exciting one is the American Idol !!! You got to see how our judges worked their way to be real !!!

We casted th vote for the best & the Worst American Idol!! Gramma is the winner!!!

Ah Don will capture and edit into DVD.

Hmmmm... There will be more fun to view the video with sound effect !

DEADLY CACTUS TURN GREAT WITH FLOWER!

About 5 weeks ago, I bought this pot of cactus from an estate sale. It was completely neglected for months without watering. It was dry and part of the branches were turning from green to red and white.

I thought I might be able to save the plant with more care. The asking price was $10 and I bargianed to $3.00 ; it came with a rusty stand that required some touching up.

As soon as we took it home, I topped some soil and watered the plant every morning. I watched how the stems graudually turn from white to red then to green.......

Then one morning, I noticed a small bud coming out from one of the stems !! Gradually,it grows bigger and bigger. . When we left for Family Reunion in Indiana on 2nd July, I was disappointed and thought we might miss the chance to see it blooms into flower since we would be away for 5 days....... but, to our surprise... the bud waited for us as though it wanted us to witness the fruit of my effort.

The following photo was taken this morning before we left for work. It looks like the bud I is big enoughand should open or burst by today. The bud is very hard and solid.....we were anxious to see what are inside !! this is the first time I planted this kind of cactus. Certainly I couls not wait to see its tranformation!! It's strange to have such a big bud with unhealthy stems!!!

This evening, when we reached home, the first thing I did was to rush to the patio to see what happened to this bud ......I was so excited to see the flower wide opened ! It is so sweet and unique !!!! I love it.........

There are still some white stems that require more time to be good !
One small bulb is blooming soon !


I am so glad that all my plants are doing well.

I hope to have a place where I can have more plants in the garden rather than at the patio ! :):):)

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While we were away, our boss helped to take care of our Cockatiel " Forever". The 2 parakeets were doing fine at home. They were all excited to see us home. We are thinkingof getting another cockatiel for her company. "Forever" is definately our sweet heart right now. Our boss likes her very much too. She is growing fast. She is getting pampered by us only in the evening. She knows when she can get out from the cage and jump on our shoulders!

OUR 3 BIRDS

These are our lovely pets.... Putera, Puteri and the new comer "Forever" the cockatiel.

"Forever" is tame,discipline,sociable and smart. She likes to stand on our shoulders. Unlike the other 2 parakeets, we still can't get close to them even after 9 months They were very scared when we first tried to put "Forever" into their cage. After few attempts, now they are fine for this new friend to hang around in their cage for a while !!! Sooner, we need to get a bigger cage for Forever.

See, this is the favorable place for "Forever" She likes to play with the chain !

Ah Don likes to carry her around.. She is his new love !

I was teaching "Forever" how to kiss... hmmm.. this is my first lesson.
She is learning fast......

The weather is very hot this summer..... I don't like hot sun.... For the fun of walking and hopping from one garage sale to another I have to bear the hot sun and the dark skin. Look at my hands and the arms. There are multi-color tone ! :(:(

I stopped taking much picture of myself recently. I noticed that my face has changed. Well, I hate to use the word "old" but it is written on my face !! I like to look at my old photos.... I think some oldest photos gave me sweet memory. The reason for putting my ugly photos here is to allow me to view them I am more "matured".... like when I am 70 ??

Wait ! I don't think I will live up to 70 because one fortune teller told me that I will die at 67....and it's really not very far away from now;

Do I worry ? No ! I am ready for the day to come. 2 great stars passed away yesterday. It is shocking and sad to hear someone die. We have to accept that every one has to die one day when on gets old. I really people who have strong fighting spirit to survive. Definitely...it won't be me. If I were diagnosed with terminal illness, I would opt to die. I don't want to go through horrible treatment. I can't stand to suffer the pain and the process of treatment.

This is my decision and I am writing it in my blog ... I want to die beautifully if possible

I am thankful to have a good family, a lovely husband and a wonderful daughter and now I have 3 birds to play with. What more should I ask beside good health ???

Nicole's Graduation

The evening of the day after I arrived in Seattle my daughter Nicole celebrated her graduation from High School.


There were 589 students attending the graduation ceremony. It was not easy getting pics during the ceremony. However, below are a few of the scenes I captured.

Jaclyn Sings

The evening, of the day I arrived in Seattle, my daughter Jaclyn performed in the school's choir concert.

Below are some scenes from that performance.