First part of May Madness did not disappoint.

Work was busy, what with all the defiant kids climbing fridges and running amok. They were handled. I did not fall into beating myself up over "what I could've done differently". I'm very proud of myself for this. Found out my coworker's putting in her resignation. My feelings over it are bittersweet. On the one hand, professionally, I learned a lot from her. On the other, personally, I took her constructive feedback pretty hard. Overall, I think I'll miss her. She had a way with the kids that awed and inspired me. I'm also jealous that she's leaving before I am. She's doing what's best for her right now, and that's really important. I respect her for that.

I got my wisdom teeth pulled on Thursday. It hurt like a biotch! Not the usual extraction either - impacted. Yep. I waited that long. I drugged myself up for the first day with 4 doses of generic Vicodin (at the appropriate timely doses) because the pain was so bad. I still can't decide whether or not I think the pain was worth the nausea I had. Bleh. I ate solid foods today - salmon with mashed potatoes, which was great. I was starving! We had chocolate ice cream for dessert. Yum. =P I still look like a chipmunk with the swelling, but at least I can sit up without too much pain, be somewhat useful at home, and I can enjoy the rest of my weekend. Woo! We're going to visit The Hubby's cousin for lunch and a trip to the boardwalk tomorrow. =)

The upcoming week will be just as busy. The Hubby's getting his extraction Tuesday. BIL's bday is Thursday. I have homemade gifts/cards to make for all the important mothers in my life. I want to bake now, but I think I should do a little more resting before I go overboard with baking and making. I'm excited. When I've figured out recipes to use, I'll post them here.

I hope everyone else is enjoying their weekend.

It was such a nice weekend, I hate for it to end. Though it was cold and I have a slight cold myself, the weekend was sunny, filled with friends and food.

I had Friday off because I took my licensing test. It was hard. Most of the time I wasn't sure if I was answering them right. I started a bit early, and finished the 170-question exam within 3 hours. As a computerized exam, my score would flash on the screen within minutes of completion. However, the computer held it hostage, while it made me fill out a survey. Ack! *grumble, grumble* After taking a possible 4-hour exam, I'd like to have my score, thank you very much. I guess it makes sense to do it that way, or they'll never get any feedback from anyone. =P Ah, well. It was worth it: I passed my exam! Yayayay! The hardest part of getting my license was over. =D

After the exam, I called my family to tell them the news. I broke down in tears of relief and joy. I was so stressed out for the past couple of weeks, I couldn't hold it in anymore. I did it! The Hubby took me out to dinner to celebrate. Delicious steak and maple butter blondies a la mode. Yum!

Saturday was a continuation of the celebration - this time, with our families. We took them to Minado, a Japanese buffet restaurant. We stuffed ourselves silly, to the point that many of us felt like we needed someone to roll us out the door. The Hubby was so full, he couldn't eat for the rest of the day. >P We spent the evening vegging out, watching TFC (The Filipino Channel) or something we taped on the DVR.

Today was a mellow day. My cold didn't let up this morning, so I spent most of the day sleeping/lying down and blowing my nose. Stupid cold. At least the worst of it is happening now, rather than my exam day. That would've sucked. My cold is a little better this evening, so I was able to be productive. I did a load of laundry, straightened up the living room a bit, leisurely read, and baked some brownies.

The brownies came out pretty well. I have 4 different variations of 1 vegan brownie recipe. I made: (1) a batch with Ovaltine (more cakelike, almost has a light german chocolate cake-taste to them), (2) one with macadamia nuts and toasted coconut on top, (3) one with a melted chocolate center, and (4) one plain. I used my cupcake pans to make them the right serving sizes. I thought I'd bring some into work tomorrow as a "thank you" for their votes of confidence and for helping me out in my times of stress there. However, I did make enough for The Hubby and me to enjoy. ;P

Alas, I've developed a cold because of sleep deprivation and stress. =? It's not going to get me down though. My exam is todaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyy! At this point, most of my anxiety is gone. I feel like I'm as ready as I'll ever be. Whatever I know, I know. I feel confident I'll pass. That's what I keep telling myself.

I took the day off because it's at 1:30pm today. The Hubby took off, too, so he can take me. One less thing for me to worry about - getting lost. =) We're going out to dinner afterwards, to celebrate my taking it. I think it's going to be a good weekend.

I often wonder what the kid upstairs is doing, aside from running around like a lunatic. It always sounds like he's falling from 5 feet off the ground. *thump thump* The noises are so loud, I get startled sometimes. I wonder if he has any bruises...

I have yet another paper due this Wednesday, so it'll be some time before I can post pics about my fun Saturday in NYC.

I should get back to my paper now, but I'm tired.

I can't believe it's mid-semester already. Only a month-and-a-half more until I am completely done with school. 0.0 I don't know what I'm going to do with myself. Maybe a cartwheel. Whee!

To help myself prep for the rest of my semester, I finally went to see the guy to whom my old therapist referred me.
The visit seemed to give me some of the motivation I needed to get going on this paper due Thursday. Though I'm still at the beginning stages, I'm hopeful that I'll finish it earlier than I anticipated. Then I have my 2nd paper due on the 14th.

I hope I can get enough done so I can fully enjoy the Chocolate Show next weekend. I'd hate to have the enormous task of doing most of my next paper after I get my chocolate on. =P

Today's been a pretty nice and productive day. Despite the occasional bouts of anxiety about pending schoolwork and future encounters with the oppositional clients at work, I've been able to keep myself relatively calm and positive. Food creating, shopping, and house straightening helped with the anxiety. I got a lot of things done today.

I'm almost done with the Earl Grey chocolate truffles I promised to make for The Hubby's birthday, and I'll be baking his cookies shortly. I've been craving cookies all weekend, so this is good. =P

The dean of students for my masters program finally contacted me about my January graduation. There's a form I can fill out, but I'm still deciding on whether to have it mailed to me in my tiny mailbox, or to pick it up at my Registrar's. I'm so excited!

I went to A.C. Moore and I found some pretty good stuff I've been looking for to use for some presents. I'm getting into some simple jewelry-making, so I bought some elastic cord for bracelets. Hopefully I can figure out how to do what I want to do with it. I also bought some candy boxes for the truffles. =)

The Hubby will be home soon. I'm hungry. I want some pasta. =P

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If anyone can help me with a legal question:
For the past couple of years, I've used a creative moniker to label my creations: cards, candy boxes, crochet projects, etc. I've been thinking about it more and more, and I wonder if I should get a copyright on the name. I've been making so many things and using the name for them, it seems to make sense. I guess it would make the most sense to get a copyright if I decide to start selling some of the stuff I make because I don't want to step on any legal toes. Does anyone have any idea how I'd go about doing that? Would it make sense to do it, even I make small sales?

...But instead I'm being a good girl and working on my paper due on Wednesday. ^,^

I have about a page down, and I'm looking through all my notes to see if I can stretch it out to about another page or so before putting in my two-cents. I'm also hoping my citations are correct because I have been forewarned by my prof that she is a Grammar and Citation Nazi. 0.o

I'm feeling very productive right now, and I hope it sticks with me until I get this thing done. I'm denying the urge to take another nap, though the signs of a possible upcoming cold make it harder to resist. =?

Weekend's been pretty low key. Tomorrow's The Hubby's birthday, hence my desires to make and bake. Oh, and my desire to eat tons of chocolate, too. =D

Update: It's about 11:57pm, and I'm almost done with my paper. Yay! I have to finish off one more section, then put in my own personal perspective, and proofread. I might have to take a break and nap for an hour or so, but I'm determined to get this baby done before the sun comes up tomorrow. Woo!

Oh, and I got to making the ganache for The Hubby's birthday truffles. Mmm. It's tasty. =P

So, my mood has vastly improved. I haven't been much in the mood to post these days, mostly because my life is somewhat dull right now, but also because the weather's gotten so much warmer, and I'd rather spend my days outside or doing much-needed relaxing.

I spent the weekend in Dallas, visiting The Hubby. The weather was gorgeous, despite the forecasts of chance thunderstorms throughout the weekend. =) We did the Tourist Thing on Saturday, walking around Dallas, visiting the place where JFK was shot, and going through the Sixth Floor Museum (dedicated to the JFK assassination). We went to this place called Papadeaux, which had awesome creole/cajun seafood, and had enough left over for a full meal the next day. On Sunday, we mostly relaxed, and took in a flick with Lucas Haas called Who Loves the Sun, one of the many films offered during Dallas' first AFI film festival. Some parts of the movie were good, but not enough to win a high rating from either of us. We got back to the hotel early, so The Hubby could do some laundry, and so we could catch up on some shows. I left Monday morning, and got back in time for my class, but not really because of my dinner outing with Cris and her Jon.

My internship's winding down, and tonight's my final group with my kids. We're going to be doing a little art project/recap, followed by a mini-pizza party. I feel a bit frazzled getting everything together (I was never good with party planning), but I think I have just about everything I need.

Well, need to get ready now. If only there were a place I could have my group outside. It's so gorgeous!

The rest of my weekend wasn't very exciting. Instead of catching up with phone calls, I spent the rest of my Saturday taking naps and cooking/baking, while The Hubby finished up his laundry and started packing.

I made a pork stew from a recipe I found via AllRecipes.com. It was supposed to be for dinner, but the potatoes weren't ready as quickly as the recipe stated, so we had our backup dinner: rice and dinuguan. So, while the stew bubbled in the crock pot, I baked a yellow cake and tried to perfect my recipe for honey-roasted pecans. The yellow cake came out beautifully, and The Hubby was very happy (he was craving cake since Friday). The pecans didn't fare as well. About half of them came out burnt beyond saving, but the other half survived and travelled with The Hubby. Downtime was spent watching many back episodes of Scrubs, finally catching up to Season 5.

Sunday morning we woke up early so The Hubby could finish packing. We went to Church, and then I made one of our favorite brunch meals: lox and bagels. The Hubby and I left for JC about an hour later, and he left for the airport with my FIL and MIL shortly afterwards. I miss him. *sniffle* To put off going home to an empty condo for 2 weeks, I spent a few hours at my parents'. I brought over some of the stew that finally cooked, and a portion of the cake I baked. It was nice spending time with them, talking and laughing about PI, family, and food. I stopped back at my in-laws house (up the block) to visit for about an hour, before I dropped off Marco and headed for home.

Hm. Looking back on it now, I made a lot of food this weekend. Maybe I was making sure he'd miss me and my cooking? ;-P

Tonight, I go back to my ritual of classes and internship. I think I'm supposed to meet with a classmate tonight for coffee before class, but I'm not sure. I'll have to give her a call later this afternoon.

Got to sleep in for the first Saturday in a loooooong time. I woke up about 30 minutes ago because the sun was just too bright and weird dreams about wedding stuff again. Now that I've been up for a bit, I'm hungry. Not sure what to have. Maybe some eggs and rice with tuyo (these stinky little fish, yum!).

What does the rest of the day hold? Not sure, except there are a few people I wanted to call, and a load of laundry that needs to be done before The Hubby's trip. Right then, I should get to it.

Dinner with The Hubby's old classmates was nice. I had a big dish of pasta, which of course, I took home in a doggie bag when I couldn't finish. It was a little strange, just because these are people with whom The Hubby even felt weird about sharing good news (i.e. our marriage, him owning the condo). It's interesting to me how some people hold on to relationships, that others might see as not working past their initial usefulness. In this case, their relationship's based on working on class projects together, but it didn't really go beyond that. Strange. Heh.

Sunday started out really early at 7am. The Hubby and I went to mass, then attempted to donate blood in the school cafeteria. The Hubby was able to, but my iron count was too low. =? So, while I waited for The Hubby, I was flirted up by the blood drive snack man and munched on homemade baked goods from the Church's bake sale. The man was sweet, but it made me feel very shy about how often he would compliment me, especially since I was there for quite a while. It wasn't creepy, just weird; so, to offset my discomfort, I watched a bunch of people register for a Yu-Gi-Oh! tournament on the other side of the caf.

I was intrigued as to the number of people there, and how official it looked. The ages ranged from middle school to late high school. Once The Hubby finished donating, we took a look at some of the wares presented. On the way home, we discussed our interest in learning how to play, and then The Hubby surprised me with a starter deck for the game! Though there aren't enough cards for both of us, he figured we could share it, and figure out how to play, and slowly build it up. It was sweet that he was waiting for a special occasion to give it to me, and even sweeter that it became a random surprise. =) We're such geeks. =P

Shortly after getting home, I got ready and spent the afternoon with lizabug and Carissa, having lunch at Red Robin's and dessert at Cafe Eclectic. We talked for hours on end, and I even forgot how frustrated I'd been with some of my relationships. It was just nice to get out and do something. Some of the wedding stuff came up during conversation, which I'll probably post about later. Needless to say, quite a bit was cleared up. We talked for so long that it got really dark and snowy by the time I headed for home, though not before spending a little qt with my parents. My mommy gave me a gorgeous top, which I wouldn't normally buy myself. She's so cute, and has really good taste. Before heading for home, my papa helped me clean the snow off of my car with a broom, and stayed outside until he was sure I was driving carefully. I love my parents. =D

Driving 40mph on the Turnpike, I got home around 9:30. The Hubby and I ate a late dinner, and watched a few shows before heading off to bed.

So, that's the rest of my weekend. It was full and nice. How was yours?

My weekend's packed, so I've had little time to catch up on my f-list in the last couple of days. What I've been up to lately involves a lot of food and cleaning. I've also been very happy and motivated, so I ended up doing stuff not on the comp. I'm proud to say that I cleaned 3 different rooms in the condo, from top to bottom, and cooked a huge meal with my sister, to serve The Hubby, sister's boy, my bro, sis, and me. We had lots of leftovers ^.^

The sibs and my sister's boy came over last night, and we had a huge Japanese and Mexican themed meal. My bro's girl couldn't make it, so we made sure she had a sampler dish. What my sis cooked on the menu: Mexican-seasoned steak, and lime-infused shark steak. She also brought some homeade truffles she made, with the most popular one being the chipotle-coconut truffle. Yum. I prepared kani sushi (I also tried to do a crispy kani, but it wasn't too crispy), tempura broccoli, sauteed mushrooms, and Grilled Salmon Kyoto. At the end, everyone was pleasantly full. While fighting Teh Itis, we watched Las Vegas and 1 Vs. 100. My sis helped me clean up, and then headed home.

Today was work, which wasn't too exciting. Instead of our scheduled trip to the Y's Open Gym, we brought our kids to a Chinese buffet place for the activity. I'm still feeling full. =P I'm hoping I'll be hungry in an hour because The Hubby and I are meeting up with a few of his grad school classmates for dinner. We're heading to Carabba's, which is an Italian food place. I'm in the mood for Italian. =)

Tomorrow will be QT with lizabug and Carissa. I haven't gotten in touch with Carissa, so I guess we'll see what happens tomorrow. I'm also planning to donate blood after Church. Yeah. Busy, food-filled weekend.

I planned to put up some pics, but I haven't painted the bedroom samples yet. I also haven't figured out which PI pics to post, so that's still pending.

I hope you all are having a nice weekend.
 

W00t! It's Friday! So many good things happening today!

With the exception of waking up late, I have a feeling that today will be the start of a really good weekend.

I get to spend some time with Cris today, and she even called me to ask me if I wanted buttermilk pancakes! My sister's the best! She'll probably be the reason why I'll gain back all the weight I had in college. *L* Afterwards, I'm going bridesmaid dress shopping with a friend for my best friend's wedding. She was so kind to offer to come with me, even though the other girls are going on Saturday (when I have work). She's such a sweetheart. =) Then, later on tonight, The Hubby comes home! Woo! I made him turkey swedish meatballs and saved some honey roasted pecans for dessert. =P

On Saturday, there's work, but then I get to relax at home with The Hubby. Relaxing is something we haven't really been able to do since before our trip to PI. Then Sunday and Monday will be spent having QT with lizabug, my best friend, and her friend.

There are a few more things I have to take care of before I leave for JC and meet Cris. I hope I can finish in the next half-hour, so Cris won't have to wait so long to eat the pancakes. =P

Can you tell I'm hungry? Hee!

I've been semi-productive since Saturday. So far, I've spent half of my days goofing off with games, tv, and food. The other half of my days have been spent doing more beneficial things: The Hubby and I helped my parents get their 1st floor ready for the new tenants on Saturday, we ran a few vacation/health errands yesterday, and I'm currently spending this afternoon trying to make a dent in my final paper research. If I have time, I'm going to try to get to some internship stuff too.

I'm going to have to leaf through my textbooks to get a better understanding of the concepts for my paper. Unfortunately, my procrastination has led to my freak out about the references. I know, it's my own fault. However, I think if I review the major concepts long enough, they'll help me figure out the strategies I've already been using in my treatment.

I notice I haven't posted much around the weekends, and have discovered 2 things: 1) I'm too tired to post (boo), and 2) I've actually had some non-work-related weekend stuff filling my weekends (yay!). I've been able to keep up with what's going on with others on my f-list, but I'm at a loss for words to comment most of the time. =?

( Here are a few weird and some uninteresting things that kept me busy this weekend. )
I finished half of my school work today. I hope to finish the rest tonight, after dinner, Prison Break, and Heroes. =)

Oh, and at whistlebinky's request, here are a few pics of my latest crochet projects. The fingerless gloves are for Cris, the hat for Marco, and the scarf/earband set for Marco's girlfriend.

There were a lot of them this weekend and today. This Quiet One is very happy. =D



Happy days are here again!

Today we were able to just sit at home and enjoy a quiet, lazy Sunday. The Hubby and I spent most of the day catching up on DVR-recorded Scrubs episodes, napping, and eating cookies. Gotta love The Janitor and Dr. Cox. =)

Towards the evening, I was able to work on some arts and crafts projects that I've been neglecting. I spent part of my productivity in Photoshop on some icons and a new banner for my new layout. Hopefully I'll get it done by the end of the week. I made some headway for my other projects, but there's still much to do. There's a couple of ideas I have in mind, but the execution for one of them (the big project) is eluding me atm. *sigh* I might need to sleep on it again to get some fresh eyes in the morning. On the bright side, I can work on the smaller project tonight, and finish in probably an hour's time. =) The house is going to smell nice!

If only I could get myself to be as motivated for my class readings. *L*

Went out with Liza Friday night to have dinner and window shop. Green bean fries at TGI Fridays with wasabi ranch dipping sauce. Mmmm.
Went apple picking with the kids for work on Saturday. I got some gala and winesap apples.
After work, went to NYC to celebrate a couple of friends' birthdays. We hit Chinatown for dinner, then the Billiards Bar, then a club called Vesta. The bar was nice. Some people played snooker in the back, while the rest of us lounged. Vesta sort of sucked. The music wasn't that great. =?
Celebrated The Hubby's birthday by watching The Last Kiss and then having a Penang/Popeye's/Filipino dinner at the in-laws with my family too. He was very happy to get the Firefly  series, and was okay with the HD dvd of Serenity. He said he wants to keep it for when we get an HD dvd player. We did some things when we got home, then crashed to sleep.
Went to work yesterday. Uneventful.

That's all for now. My tea's getting cold. Allergies kicking in. Need to jet to work with The Hubby now.