MY X'MAS GIFTS FROM AH DON

It has been a while since I last updated our blog.

Reason..... we have been very busy with office work ( reached home about 8 PM) and did some last minute shopping for X'mas Gifts for family members.

Normally, I did not list what I wanted for X'mas to Ah Don particularly for this X'mas. I kept my mouth shut when he asked me what I wanted ! Why ??? Because he would take note of what I wanted !!

This happened last year.... When he asked me what I wanted for X'mas, I told him jokingly that I wanted a 32" monitor for my pc. And guss what ???? On the X'mas eve, he carried one box from the car to me !!!! It was a 32 " screen !!! It was definately too big for me a size "S" person!!!

The box was unopened, returned and replaced with a 23"screen.

So guess what did he get me this X'mas ????

We exchanged our gift early in the morning....since we have to catch the morning flight to New ( We were visiting Jason , Chris and their kids).

I bought him a red T Shirt and a dress pants.

And he bought me all these gifts below......

No 1 ......... A pearl neckle & ear rings

No 2 ............. A DKNY watch

(that I happened to "take a look" in one other store)

NO 3.................. A Diamond neckle


No 4 ..................... A Notebook
( that I can use in Malaysia)

WOW .......they are great gifts !!!!!

I told him not to spend so much on me!!

He answered...... " You worked so hard! you reserve to have them !"

Well !!! Well !!! Sound so sweet! isn't it ???? Thank You Thank You Ah Don!!

Now if you asked me why am I so stingy to him ???

Well well......My answer is simple >>>>>>> because he is receiving my gift everyday.... I take care of him every day.......every moment as a wife, as a partner and as a friend!!!

That being the case,I am getting worry if he can take care of himself when I am away ............

That's right...... I will be going back to Malaysia in January 2009. for a month........ I am excited to be able to see my daughter, my brothers, sisters and all my nieces and nephew very soon....... I am going to celebrate the Chinese New Year with them ......I missed 2 Chinese New years!!!!

I missed so many thing back there ........

OUR LITTLE X'MAS TREE

After Thanksgiving.... it's time to look forwards to X'mas!!!

Generally, the heat of X'mas in Sarasota is not high. Not much X'mas decoration or lights can be seen in shopping malls or stores. Only a handful of owners hanging up some extra lights outside their houses in our Village Walks.

Back in Malaysian and during this time, it was fun to hop from one shopping mall to another to see the X'mas decor. Each year the management of these shopping malls would decorate the malls with huge X'mas trees and colorful lights to attract shoppers. Although X'mas is not a traditional holidays to be celebrated by most Malaysians , it is definately a becoming a popular holiday season to enjoy by everyone.

Not to be a loser, I set up our little X'mas tree yesterday.....

( No present under the tree yet !)

This is the third year that we are using the same X'mas tree; the only thing that makes it different from the previous is that I added more ornaments on the tree.............. I have lots of them bought from the garage sale ! :)):)):)) except the X'mas tree that we paid full price from the store !!

going out to the garage sale ,you will find lots of X'mas items on their tables for sale! It is interesting if I can find the reason why these people have to change & replace their X'mas trees every year!

Should I give them for contributing their cash to stimulate the market and business activities???

Bye Bye Whatever :(

Even though Whatever was with us only a short period of time he will be greatly missed. He brought a lot of life to the house with his constant chirpping and singing.

I'm not a big pet person but with Whatever I always made sure I said Good Morning and Good Night to my pretty bird.

So, thank you Whatever for the time you gave us. We miss you.

MY PET (Whatever) IS GONE !!

Every evening when I reach home from work, the first thing I do is to look and talk to my 3 birds, Putera, Puteri and Whatever.

I like my "Whatever" more than the other 2 parakeets; because Whatever is very active and clever; He will turn his head right & left to look at me and then start singing and hopping in the cage. I like watching him. But .... this evening when I came to the cage. he ws lying still and not moving ..... He is dead and he is gone.

I held his tiny body and started crying!! He has not been active for the last few days. I thought it might be due to the change of weather. I was wrong! Whatever was sick !

Recently, Whatever has just started to come out from the cage, moved around for a while then hopped in to the cage again. It was such a plesure to see Whatevere specially when he can be touched and was getting close to me. But now I have lost my Whatever... I can never hear him singing.... jumping, hopping...I don't know would I be able to get another bird like Whatever??

Putera & puteri are equally lovely but they are not as smart as Whatever. But I have to make them my darling bird to replace my loss of "Whatever"

THANKSGIVING DAY

The following letter touches me.......


Annie's Mailbox Kathy Mitchell and Marcy Sugar

Dear Readers: Today is Thanksgiving. We hope you are lucky enough to be spending the holiday with loving family and friends. Here's one of our favorite Thanksgiving pieces, author unknown:

"Dear Annie: I lived on the streets of Los Angeles from 2001 to 2003. I won't go into the reasons why, but I didn't think I could go home. The ravages of homelessness took their toll on my eyeglasses pretty quickly. One of the earpieces was missing and a lens kept popping out. It was terribly demoralizing. People are less apt to give you opportunities to better yourself when you go beyond a certain point in appearance. I was ready to give up.

One day, on an impulse, I stopped into an eyewear boutique on Melrose Avenue. It was a nice store and I was bedraggled, so I expected to be immediately escorted out the door. That didn't happen. I asked the lady behind the counter how much it would cost for me to purchase one earpiece. I braced myself for a sarcastic comment, but instead she asked me to have a seat. She came back in about five minutes and said, "Try these on. Do they fit?" And then she handed me a brand-new pair of frames. I stammered that I couldn't afford them and she replied, "Don't worry, sweetie. You don't owe me anything." I began to cry. She made a few adjustments and never flinched away from me in spite of my obvious need of a shower. She was kind enough to offer me a drink of cold water. She even hugged me before I left.

I don't know the woman's name and cannot remember the name of the shop, but for years I've wanted to thank her for helping to restore my dignity and preserve my safety. She also reminded me that there are wonderful people in the world who don't judge you based on your appearance or circumstances. I give her much credit for my getting off the streets, because shortly after that, I regained the courage to turn my life around. I'm now a wife and mother to a beautiful little boy, my family is speaking to me again, and I'm about to graduate from college.

Ma'am, if you're reading this, God bless you! You must have been an angel. Your kind gesture saved my life. I've been -- and will continue -- paying it forward to others in need, and you will be in my heart forever. -- I Can See Clearly Now

Dear See Clearly: Your letter is perfect for Thanksgiving Day. How wonderful that your life has turned around. Hopefully this woman will see your letter and know that her act of kindness made such a difference in your life. We never know how the small things we do might affect another person, so please, readers, be kind to one another. You could be the one who makes the difference.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

My thought today .......

Likewise, there are some people I am thankful to not just for today - on thanksgiving day. They are in my mind everyday.

These are the people who made who I am today ........ my family, my friends and even my ex-colleagues I worked with in the past.

I am even thankful to those people who had negative thought of me because they were my driving force to work harder of better myself in order to prove them wrong !!!

I am thankful to my ex-husband, he was the one who made me stronger and independent mentally and financially.

I am thankful to my daughter Su-Yee, without her, I won't be able to experience the motherhood in my life.

So far, have I ever done something good and meaningful to other??

Sure I did !!!!..... but they are not significant ...... Giving is Giving....

Just a side note.... We are thankful to our Boss Elida, so we invited her & her company to a Thanksgiving Dinner

>>>>>

Bowls Full Of Love<<<<<<<

"It's not what's on the Thanksgiving table that matters but who's sitting around it."

HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO EVERYONE

I GOT SOMETHING EXCITING!

Yeah Yeah Yeah!!

Yesterday was my lucky day !

1st.....I found the Turkey platter that I broke in June 2008

( I have been very sad and quilty for being carless to break it ! I thought I won't be able to find one to replace it from the garage sale!) hmmm..... Luck was with me after 5 months of searching !!

Here is the Turkey Platter that I got a good bargain together with the following items:-

2nd.... I have this beautiful golden vase engraved with designs that comes with a bundle of unused artificial flowers (still in wrap); I was very thrill to get them; I can arrange flowers my own way which I did immediately after reaching home !!!

3rd..... I have this Vitoria Collection -Genuine Porcelain Doll -( hmm, I wonder.... should I keep it or sell it at Ebay ; by the way, I have just listed some Avon memories Collections to sell !). I do have a lot of stuff that to sell at Ebay , somehow, I have the problem to describe them in writing...... No many people can understand my ENGLISH!!:(:(:(

So,,,, How much did I paid for these 3 items above eh ???? Ha ha ha ha...... ONLY $6.00.

Beside the above 3 exciting items, we also purchased some other items like Travelling Case , a brand new backpack ( yeah! this is good for Ah Don to put all stuff on his back when we travel since the airline restricted only one carry-on to the plane!)

It is always an exciting experience to go through vendors' garage sale from house to house and place to place. It's like a treasure hunts trip for me..... we don't know what are there for us to see, get and buy. Sometimes it was full of surprise !!Other time, we might come home with just few items . From time to time, we came across nice people who would accept whatever price we offered. I always have a lump sum discount at the end of the deal !!! On other occasions, we would come across some unfriendly vendors who would show us their sour faces when the price was not right for them.... Well, to these kinds of vendors, I will just turn my back and walk away.... After all, I have nothing to loose!!

I always keep this principle in mind for any business transaction>>>> " Willing buyer, Willing seller!"

This remind me of one nasty situation with one sour lady who did not accept my price, said to me in a very unhappy manner "Put them back, I can sell them at Ebay at $$$$ ...." Ok, I put them back right away...no big deal at all.... go ahead and sell them at Ebay .. My question was why take the trouble to set up the yard sale in the first place. Obviously, she didn't realise that the value of most of the common items in garage sale are marked down 80% to 90% .... people are just funny in many different way !!! There were some other occasions, I would tell the vendors straight that they have over-priced their items.

There was another incident which made me sad for a lady vendor at her yard sale; She was clearing most of her household items. Halfway of my negotiation with her about some items that I was interested, her boy friend screamed at her very rudely from the house. They had some argument after that. She felt so upset that she told me to take whatever I like for free !! Of course, I won;t do that !!! I stayed back for a while instead to comfort her and help her get over with her emotion. She could not put up with her boy friend any more and wanted him to move out !!! Amongst the items that I was interested was a black Hardy Davidson Sport shirt that I could get easily at 25 cents.... with the situation like that, I did not buy anything from her at the end!.... I just hope that she would be fine to handle her failing relationship

So you see.... garage sale is not just about disposal of some extra stuff from home... there are other reasons behind for doing so from each family; like estate sale for deceased person, divorced cases to split the belongings, moving to new but small place........get rid of old stuff left by their parents ,grandparents etc , some parents were training their kids to sell items they longer wanted to exchange for some pocket money or to raise fund for some events,charity drive ........All I know.... this is a recycling process!

Regardless of whatever reasons behind........ I am always their SUPPORTER; Right ! just put the ads out or putting signs along the roads..... here we come !! Ho ho ho ho ho...... After all, this is one and the only one exciting activity that I have for Saturday until I find another hobby to turn to ..........cheer !

God Bless America with lots of Garage Sale !!!

CAN YOU IMAGINE THIS?

Yesterday after work, Ah Don bought one cold cut from the store .We were going to Player Theatre for a play " House of Blue Leaves", so we had a quick bite in the office.

As we did not finish the whole piece, so I packed them back in the plastic bag together with few other boxes of pies that he bought. Normally, Ah Don is the one who carries our lunch bag and other stuff to the car. I put the plastic bag next to the lunch bag. Since the weather was cold, I jumped into the car right away, but he took a while to get into the car. It was dark, I did not see what he was doing then.

The play was nice but I do not like the story.

When we reached home it was almost 10:30 pm. I was hungry and thought I should have another bite of cold cut. But, I could not find the plastic bag. Ah Don could not remember puting any plastic bag in the car. Anyway, he thought he could check it .

Whle doing so he then recalled he did take the plastic bag but he thought it was trash.... so he threw it into the dumpster that was placed outside our office....

Now can you imagine this >>>>> he was throwing foodstuff away ???

Apart from this above incident, there was another serious incident!!! He threw away the wedding ring away !!!!

It was about 3 years ago when we were in Ewing New Jersey, no long after he disposed off the garbage to the dumpster at downstairs, he realized that his wedding ring was not on his finger !! He searched all possible place that he sould have misplaced in the house. He could not find it. He could not remember having it removed from his finger. So the only possibility was that the ring could have stuck with the plastic bag hook. When he threw it hard to the tall bin, the ring could have ripped off together with the garbage....... He went back there but the wedding could not be found .......As a consequenc, we had to buy one to replace!!!

Hmmmm... what would happen if he turns 65 eh ???

TABLE MANNER

Dear Annie: Could you please settle a dispute over manners between my son and me?

He recently told me of a dining experience he had with his new girlfriend and her family. They had gone to a nice restaurant and my son ordered a t-bone steak. He went on to tell me how he picked the bone up and chewed the remainder of the meat off of it. He sees nothing wrong with this. I, on the other hand, think he had a lapse in good judgment and manners. Please settle this for us.

-- Tried To Raise Him Right


Reply :

Dear Tried: In an informal setting, perhaps at his girlfriend's home, it would be OK to pick up the mostly clean bone of a lamb chop, pork chop or small steak and chew to your heart's content. But in a restaurant, your son should have cut as much meat as possible from the bone and eaten it with his fork. You win this one, Mom.

*********************************
This letter appears in Annie's Mailbox today. It reminded me of the various different table behaviour when I first came to USA. Ah Don has to teach me how to use the fork & spoon displayed on the dinning table in the restaurant !!!!

As Chinese, we used to put all dishes on the dinning table . Each dishes is provided with a serving spoon for use. Everyone can take any amount of dishes onto his/her own serving plate and repeat whenever he /she likes. Unlike Americans, they have to pass around the dishes from one to another round the table. ( OMG, some of the dishes are so heavy or big to hold! )

I had a hard time to get used to this manner at first. I found it very awful to either taking too much ( that I don't like!!) or too little food ( that I like!!!).

Ah Don is very particular with table manner; I know, he has something to say about my eating behaviour....... but , who care...... ! Ha ha ha ha ha...

GRATITUDE------- THOUGHT OF TODAY

Gratitude

The above is dedicated to Ah Don who has been kind to me sometime ; Like taking me out to Garage sale on most Saturday!!! Terima Kasih Ah Don for your kindness.

Honestly, without this hobby, I don't know how to pass my weekends; I do not have any other activities to keep me away.

Some friends asked me why am I still working?

My reasons are very simple.......

No 1........I want to prove that my brain is still ok to perform Office
task.

No 2 ...... I love US$$$$$ so that when I spend $$$ I don't have to
think in term of RM

No 3....... I will be bored to death if I were to be left alone at home
and doing nothing !!! I don't watch TV except some reality shows at night.

I guess these reasons are good enough for me to remain at work as long as I am healthy and fit.

SOME PICS FROM LAS VEGAS.

This is the last day on Las Vegas, Alan & family was heading to Vancouver by Morning Flight.

We were leaving by 5PM so we have some extra time to continue browsing all the buildings.

The most outstanding building is Bellagio, the interior is full of modern design, the ceiling are covered with color crystal flowers as seen in one of the following pic. the garden was fully decorated with all autumn color and beautiful flowers, green plants, pumpkin's etc.... It was so refreshing that we spent hours to admire the good work... the animated apple that would twitch hie eyebrows and blink his eyes..... It was real interesting and eyes-catching experience to be around at the right time. Unfortunately, Alans' have missed out this part...

This is a real person !!

I lost $13.00!!!! No Luck!!!

The Autumn harvest

Look into the Casino

Look at these 2 curves, formed by running water

I love all the floral arrangement !!

The big water mill

Animated Apple tree that will smile and blink

These are up in the ceiling

Musical Fountains outside the Bellagio Hotel

ha ha ha ha... since we did not have time for any "Sexy show"......

what about these pics??? ( from shopping center )

This was indeed a very eye opening trip for us. I like to thank Alan for visiting me & Ah Don. I hope the family did have a good time here. The weather was just fine for them at the time of the year. Please come again with Darwin and Sze Min.... they will love Disney world for sure!!

TRIP TO LAS VEGAS FROM 27TH TO 30TH OCTOBER

Well, this is our last stop of travel. It's Las Vegas.

This is the place for Gaming and Adult Entertainment.

I wanna to see why people are saying "What happened in Las Vegas stay with Las Vegas !!!"

The moment we landed at Las Vegas airport, I could see that people disappeared very fast either in their own transport or through shutter bus.

We did not rent car at this place. We stay in Flamingo Hotel which is just in the center of Strip of Las Vegas. Having 5 big luggage, Alan had to give tip to load & unload. ( Honestly, I am not in favor of giving tips- Don always give 20% of the bill amount and I hate it !!!!)

What appeared in my eyes were all kinds of Casino... Casino ......signage; There are huge buildings close to each other; some are joined with the overhead bridge to link to the hotel on the other side of the road.

This is my niece Sze Thien

This is really a shopping Paradise if you have $$$$$$


Some pics of Hotel around the strip


Venice in Las Vegas

Some beautiful Fine Art around building

A glance to the Casino

All the tall hotel buildings close to each other

CASINO !!!

Cloudy sky within the hotel building

The famous Tao Restaurant

We took our buffet dinner in this hotel - $22 per person

Donny & Marie Show in Flamingo. We could not get ticket to the show!

Flamingo Hotel : a cosy look of the room

Alan's 5 big luggage, 2 of which were their shopping stuff !!!

Before checking them in, we have to weigh at the airport to make sure they were each below 50lb to avoid paying extra charges of $50 per case !!

There are more to show about Las Vegas...........

To be continued !!!!