And the Credding Bell Saga Continues...

So last weekend, J and I went to a workshop held by Connecting Marriages, under the umbrella Twogether Texas. It was an 8-hour class on a Saturday, one-time only, so that's fine. It waives the 3-day waiting period for a marriage license and saves you $60 off your marriage license. That's really icing on the cake: what we went for was its shedding light on the marriage process, and relationship stuff, and so on. What we walked away with was the certificate, but also a better idea on our dynamics, and how we can improve that; it also showed us we are not alone--in love, and in intercultural unions, to name but a few. No ring yet, but we're looking into that... someday, I guess, maybe?

Along this trend, I was reading this blog that got me into ordering the book, The Meaning of Wife. Because as much as there is talk about weddings and such, what about after, which is what matters, anyway (I think)? It might prove to be good reading. And with J's and my different religious views, I got this book, Celebrating Interfaith Marriages, because religion I think plays a big role in our lives, our psyches, how we view the world, whether we admit it or not. In light of our workshop, it'll affect not only our potential ceremony, but our whole union, so I'm going to see what this book has to convey. Maybe, maybe this really is all coming together; I hope it is.

My parents touched down on Houston this afternoon. We leave for Machu Picchu on Thursday. Ironing stuff out, can't wait: haven't seen my dad since March, my mom since May. And since then, my dad's been sick, so, I'm a bit anxious: they're getting older and that can't be helped; what more my grandparents? I just hope they're all ok. This is the worst thing about being away from home: it's being away from family and friends, not being there to see the little changes that add up over time. I just hope I don't miss out on too much, and that I can visit soon.

I finally went to the doctor about my cough/cold/flu/whatever, and I seem to have acute bronchitis. The doc said it can last 2 weeks (as I have it), or more. I guess I'll just have to wait and see.

School is progressing. Office work gets frustrating sometimes, but c'est la vie. I'd prefer to spend all my time with my kids, but I guess this way with office work in the afternoon is more balanced. Sometimes, too, what to do with kids who don't take anything seriously, or who want to play all day? What about kids who get so mad they shut down? All kinds of questions: I just hope I find answers as I work with them more.

Almost-Credding Bells?

Well, J and I have been talking of "Step 2"*, and I look at this website for grounding advice and whatnot; I've also been looking at dresses lately that should still be affordably priced, 'coz who can't discount prices nowadays??? Plus most girls like dresses and like to look pretty, and I am one of those. I was looking at this dress. Now for shoes: I don't know what style, especially as I don't have the teensiest feet. Maybe this? I was thinking something else: the more we can save, the more money we can use towards other stuff like honeymoon, or furniture, or other shopping stuff, or photographers like this one, and so on. I love pictures, so it's a semi-big deal: they're memories, and those count. Pictures and maybe gifts for guests like from here? Plus we won free invites here; yay! Ok, so things are still up in the air, no ring in sight, but J told me, "have patience, mouse*." And I said "mraow." We are going to a pre-crarriage* class next Saturday, which is completely free (whee!), by the way, here. That way, we save on a potential license, and all that, so yay more savings. Since I was too sick this weekend to go look at shiny jewelry, much to my frustration (body 1, me 0) and I will be going on a trip later this month with my folks to Machu Picchu, I playfully told J, now you can look without me! And he said yes :) We tried Etsy, but we didn't find anything that really caught us. So eh, we'll see. And J said that it has to be perfect for me, nothing from a bucket out of Safeway, no sir. Aaaw <3

So this is where we are. May Fortune/Lady Luck/God smile on us. We'll see how this will all turn out.



*Step 1= serious committed dating/moving in
Step 1.5= engagement?
Step 2= marriage
Step 2.5= preggers?
Step 3= children
- My folks did not follow this process AT ALL, so want mine to be perfect, whee! (Who can blame them for wanting the best for their baby girl/only child, though)

*mouse= me
bee= J

*credding= wedding
crarriage= marriage
-I refuse to say the actual word as I am too shy

Time to get un-ill

Ugh. Sick as a dog. Getting better, hopefully, evidence being I'm typing right now, but yeah, my Mom says it's probably a head-cold: intense head pain (alternating between a band tightening around my head with a cap bearing down); chills alternating with feeling super hot; and aching joints. Not a lot of mucous, though. Oh well, I'm combating this with Dayquil first and Tylenol as needed. House-bound all the way, feh. J's mom said the first year she was teaching her doctor gave her this advice: keep your hands away from your mouth/eyes; wash hands as often as possible, or have hand sanitizer. Good advice; she reminded me it'll take a while to get enough immunities/antibodies to my kids' germs and whatnot, so yeah. I hope I get better soon.

Of Soup and School

Wow, it's only Tuesday and I already feel beat. A good thing I did (with J) today was vote at the local election for school trustee, mayor, and various propositions to be passed in state government, I guess. And as we parked, we saw the twinkling lights of downtown in the distance. Classic Houston moment: beauty amid lack of zoning laws.

But I digress. As a backgrounder, I work at a public school's Montessori program as a teaching assistant, but given the nature of Montessori classes, and the added plus of my pretty good rapport (touch wood!) with the teacher I assist (Ms. T), I am a teaching assistant acting more like a co-teacher, which is great experience. It started out that I was only to work in the classroom, but now I act as cafeteria co-marshall, then after a brief lunch, work in the office/administrative part of the school, making my work experience pretty well-rounded. Tiring? Yes. Informative? Most definitively. I think--and hope--that it'll pay off in the end. Heck, last week there was a district-wide mandated online testing requirement for teachers/salaried staff called ASPIRE, and even as I'm hourly, I was pulled to do it! It was mind-numbing to say the least, but I will say again that I (still) count my lucky stars. So all these experiences have been shaping me to hopefully be a better teacher: this week in particular found me especially stern with my class of kids. I love them, but they need to follow protocol! Man oh man, suffice it to say two kids had a curtailed recess period today. After being nice to them all morning, a stern Ms. S was a shock for them, and one of them in particular, who I've been especially encouraging with, rebuked me, saying "you're mean!" And I said, "I like you, but you have to make better choices; you know better!" to which he reluctantly nodded his head, even a tad ruefully. But I hated being stern and firm, to which end Ms. T patted my shoulder at the end of the day and said, "Be strong!" Indeed; the trials of a teacher continue. But as long as one of my 20 kids learns something, hopefully more than one; then it will all be worth it. I have hope yet.

In other news, I made soup last week.

You heard that right, I who doesn't cook, made soup--not the kind from a can, but since I like to do things all the way, I made soup from scratch. Soup made of fish and clams and shrimp and saffron, to name but a few ingredients.

Ok, so that's more like a stew than soup.

It all started when J and I went to Central Market with J's intention of getting some fish to make this little Asian islander happy. Well, yours truly had a sudden flash of brilliance: why not make a rustic bouillabaise of some sort? So we bought redfish, shrimp and clams, much to J's chagrin. To soothe his quiet alarm, I called my mom for guidance. Well, mothers know best, at least most of the time, and this time was no exception. Of course we Filipinos don't really use measurements, but rather do the "rough eyeing, taste-testing measurement." Voila, my mom's rough recipe. Note: this should only be done in 1 pan, making clean-up hopefully a bit easier!

1. Heat pan; cover pan with olive oil (maybe 1/4 c)
2. Saute 1 whole garlic (minced), 2 whole onions (chopped), and 3 chopped tomatoes.
3. Add fish one at a time: 1/5 lb. redfish, 1/5 lb. shrimp, 1/2 lb. clams*; brown.
4. Drench mixture in white wine (better half of a bottle; don't be stingy!), add 1 small can of tomato sauce* to mixture.
5. Add 2 bay leaves, 2 pcs. anise or equiv. 1/4 tsp., 1 Tbsp. saffron (I used 2 sachets); 1 pinch equiv. of 1/4 tsp. of sugar; add salt and pepper to taste.
5a. Optional: add red peppers (in can--small can), or 6-8 olives (black preferably), or chopped potatoes, or garbanzos/chickpeas, or all of the above for a heartier stew
6. Simmer, 30 minutes or a bit longer.
7. Serve and enjoy!

*tomato paste can also be substituted: just use equal parts water for tomato paste: stir and add into the pot!
*clams must be soaked overnight in ice and a bit of salt for the sand to be removed from the clams: they will spit, even when dead! Keep shrimp in shell, as well as clams, though DO clean clams beforehand to remove the sand; skin and chop the fish into pieces.

Serve stew with either garlic bread or garlic fried rice, latter's recipe below:

1. Steam rice.
2. Heat olive oil in pan
3. brown some garlic
4. dump steamed rice in (older, leftover plain rice is preferable)
5. add salt; stir-fry
6. Serve and eat!
*measurements are up to you: Filipino style!

This is most of it from my end: we had leftover soup from this recipe for tonight's dinner, as well as leftover pizza, and organic buttery popcorn for dessert, as well as coconut maple-pecan ice cream and blood orange sorbet, topped off with some red wine: trashy meets gourmet, hello! Next paycheck, I would like to buy some merchandise from this website.

Whee! Goodnight y'all! Enjoy the (hopefully) cooler weather! For those in the US, it's time to fall back; don't forget to get some rays to avoid getting SAD!

2009 Juli

I have become a legal Texas Driver since July 14 :) Which means I have been driving to work. Woot woot; go me!

Housewarming last Saturday: yay domesticity?

September and October I have no obligations, so that means more "us time", just me and J. Yay. <3

Looking for good education postgrad colleges in Texas. If anyone has ideas, please let me know.

So little money, so much to buy.

Still studying to be a teacher. Hopefully, hopefully.

Cardio kickboxing but frustrated as I don't seem to be losing weight, or I don't know, I hope I am.

I should eat less and exercise more. Even if J says I am beautiful. I don't think so, and wish I looked better.

So.

I hope it's J and me, more and more, better and better, together and for always.

Fuzzy mushy thoughts.

Goodnight.

6.29.09*

is my last day of work before a 2-day off. Sweet.

I want to make granola. and kombucha. and yogurt. 'Coz I think it can be done.

I am also thinking of reformatting this blog, to create a new username for uniformity.

I still need to learn to ride a bike, and get my driver's license, and get a new SS card. And possibly change my health insurance. And maybe join a gym, beCAUSE I might be getting visibly fat. I feel tired, so I get lazy...and it's a vicious cycle. I SHOULD exercise but...NO BUTS!

And there are steps....maybe, steps to ascend? <3 I can dream and hope.

And of course I've got to pay bills. Dammit. We cannot escape death, bills and taxes.

Things are good; I hope they can only get better. Life is good, not much to gripe about, but too busy either way.

Is this the new generation of yuppie-busy-blogging?

I try.

*Happy birthday, D. I should forget, but I haven't: I don't think I can. You were the first, after all. I wish you well from my wellness; goodbye.

Of Things in the Now and Later

J and I celebrate a year of being officially together, next week. Next week, holy cow. And with a deciding education test looming 2 weeks after that, I should've been studying, but no, I was looking at schm(w)edding sites like planning and rings and stuff, how it can be done with $2000, or why can't rings be simple bands, and even engagement ones to not have big shiny rocks? And something of contention between us (even if we haven't discussed "it!"): schm(w)edding favors.

Then there is moving. We have found a place, and J is moving there on Saturday and I on Monday. A place of our own, he likes to point out. And despite my fears, I told my parents, albeit through the postal service. I had to.

So here we are. A year pretty soon, and then hopefully more and more. Onward and upward, I pray and hope.

Let it Snow.

It snowed in Houston yesterday. Small flecks around 4 pm, then increasingly bigger flakes, til when we closed shop for the night, my colleagues and I all had a snowball fight in the parking lot! Not super big drifts on the ground, but just on cars, a little on the ground, and enough to coat the steps leading to my apartment and front porch!

Oh my God. It snowed. In Houston. Who would've thought.

Who says global warming doesn't exist now?