Thai Name

While we were walking on the grounds of Holiday Inn Phi Phi we saw signs with inscriptions of couples' names along with dates of their wedding, honeymoon, anniversary, etc. and cheesy phrases like 'we complete each other'.  A few of them had their 'Thai' names inscribed, which got me thinking...


Me: I wonder what my Thai name would be...
J {without missing a beat}: 'The-woman-who-eats-too-much'.


Spoken like a true romantic...

Happy Wedding Anniversary!

J and I get to spend our 7th year anniversary flying over the Pacific, but we'll make sure the day doesn't end with a 'DUD' by hitting the Shilin night market as soon as we land in the evening.  I've already told mom and dad to take a nap during the day, because it's going to be a loooooong night!  We'll have to make sure dad can find the place, as he, who's lived in Taiwan for decades, managed to 'miss it' during my last visit to Taiwan in '07.  We ended up 'off market' (like 'off broadway' or 'off the strip' in Vegas).  Imagine my disappointment when I saw the HUGE neon sign '士林夜市' on our way home as we turned the corner from where dad had parked.  Major fail!

Happy 8th anniversary M&V!

Four More Days...

And then I get to see J.  Thanks to the stress of being a 'single mom', lack of exercise, and improper diet, I've come down with a cold this past week.  I'm just hoping that I'll be all better in 4 days.  J hasn't had it easy either.  Between working 14-hr days & weekends, and sleeping on the cold floor (the air mattress leaks throughout the night, leaving his tushie on the floor by morning), I'm sure he's ready for a much needed vacation as well.

Taiwan & Thailand here we come...

You Know You're Getting Old When...

You start paying attention to the fine lines on your face and become a willing participant to spending big money on moisturizers to reverse the signs of aging.  When you look at the back of your hands you start to see your mother's hands, so you slather on the moisturizers but the fine lines are still there.  Regular moisturizers are no longer enough, and you explain to your husband that the more expensive products are superior.


Me: It lasts all day and doesn't dry out like the Olay.
J: You don't need it, and then you'll have to use it forever.
Me: {Rhetorically} Don't you want your wife to be pretty?
J: You're already pretty.
Me: {We know this trick very well and I am not falling for it this time} Well I'm getting it.

So I bit the bullet and got this.  

In my defense I did make sure I didn't buy it at full price, but instead got 36% off and free shipping, as I hate to buy anything without a deal.  One day I will eventually accept the fact that the lines are not going anywhere with the use of anything, but until then J will have to put up with my vanity.

I'm Ready To Move

With all the complaining I've done about CA over the last 2 weeks, you'd think I'd be happy being home.  However, this time around, I am so ready to move.  Not because I want to move to CA, it's because I want to be with my husband.  It wasn't as bad last week because I knew I'd see him soon, but this time around it'll be 2 1/2 weeks before we meet up again.  The good thing is he's finally settled in and won't be moving anytime soon.

Since the place is not furnished I brought our air mattress from home for J to sleep on for the next few months.  As there was a limit to what I could bring over on a flight, we had to go to Ikea to pick up a computer desk and chair so that he wouldn't be sitting on the floor to use the computer (or eat).

One of my chores as a wife - inflating the air mattress, all the while seeing spots and feeling all tingly...

Almost there...(ignore the bald spot)

J reaping the benefits (although I did get a nice steak dinner out of this at Mastro's Ocean Club).

This is the 'guest house' where J is staying.

And this is the 3.9 million house for sale 2 houses down.  You can see the ocean through the front door.  J & I joked that this will be the most exclusive place he'll ever stay in in his entire life.

Some shots of the community.

Moving Again

The thing about our marriage is that there's equal giving and taking.  J does all the cooking and I do all the packing.  J decided that a 90-minute commute (one way) is insane, which I wholeheartedly agree, but Californians don't seem to mind.  So he's found a one bedroom rental in a gated community of multi-million dollar homes in Laguna Beach.  Moving there brings his commute time down to 10 minutes.  I have since packed up all his belongings for the third time in 2 weeks, and would love nothing more than to never have to see another cardboard box or a roll of packing tape...

I Love Costco

I'm sure J doesn't necessarily love the fact that I love Costco.  Especially now that he doesn't have 'immediate veto power'.  In my defense, I did call him before I pressed the 'Check Out' button, but only got his voicemail.  Plus, I didn't really buy anything for myself.  I got a TV so that when mom and dad come to stay they'll have something else to watch besides the internet.  Our old 19" TV's been broken for the last 1.5 years (I remember because the last time I watched anything on the tube was when they announce that Michael Jackson had died), and J & I haven't watched any TV since.  Even when we're staying at a hotel, we never turn on the TV because we no longer have the desire to.  

Hannspree is a Taiwanese brand, but I'll bet it's made in China because how else can you get a 32" for under $300 (taxes and delivery included)?  I don't really know much about specs, resolution, or even how big 32" is, but as long as the reviews are good, I'm sold.

Now you see why I love Costco?  

Why Men Need Women

Or at least 'Why J needs me'.  For a very intelligent and capable guy, when it comes to packing J just can't seem to focus.  He's like a kid with ADD, going from one task to another and not able to complete anything.  Case in point, I've pack the first box for him, written down everything I've packed in Box 1, and taped it to the box so he'll know what's in it.  And what's he doing?  Sharpening his cooking knife.  Uhh...you can do that in CA!?!  As I'm packing Box 2 with all of his clothes, he takes down his suits and starts dusting them off, then he proceeds to hang the suits right back from where he took them down from.  Then he disappears doing god knows what.  Finally, I had to tell him, "Go pack your shoes."  It's a good thing I'll be going to CA with him this weekend, otherwise he'll probably be living out of boxes for the foreseeable future.

Shopping

In order to get ready for J's new job, we spent most of today running errands and shopping for J's new wardrobe.  Much to his chagrin, J now has to wear suits and ties to work.  In the past few years he's gotten away with khakis and casual collared shirts, and more recently, sandals, shorts, and T-shirts.  I could imagine the dismay when he read the dress code policy, and I couldn't stop chuckling today while we were shopping.  Personally, I think he looks hot in suits, and told him that he'll be getting ties as gifts from now on for all holidays.

Clown

Those of you who have had the opportunity to watch the video of J dancing will now know why my life is never boring.  I'm essentially living with a big clown.  For some of you it's painful to watch him embarrass the whole clan, but rest assured most people thought he was quite entertaining.  His dancing even got recognition from the only black dude at the wedding.  All I have to say is that I feel very lucky to be married to a silly goose, as there's never a dull moment...

In One Ear...Out The Other

Since I didn't get to go back to NYC this year, I had asked J to take some pictures of people and places.


{Before leaving for NYC}
Me: Honey, I packed the camera for you.  Make sure you take pictures to bring back.
J: Why do you want me to take pictures?
Me: So I can see what everyone looks like.
J: OK.


{A few days after arriving in NYC}
Me: Have you taken any pictures?
J: Oh, I forgot.
Me: Well make sure you bring the camera with you to the barbeque today.
J: OK.


{After work yesterday}
Me {all excited}: Ooh, let me see the pictures.
J: Oh, I didn't take any.
Me: How come?
J: I keep forgetting to bring the camera, but I did take some with my phone.
Me: Let me see...


All I see are fuzzy images of restaurant interior, the backsides of people, or of his friend's head bent over a bowel of noodles.


Me: Your pictures are not very flattering.
J: They're not meant to flatter.  They're supposed to tell a story.
Me: {Yeah, a fuzzy story...}

Luckily for him, he didn't forget to pick up the marinated duck wings for me.  Otherwise, I can't see him easily redeeming himself in the near future.

Solitude

The past 4 days alone with the dogs have made me appreciate a few things:


1) Sharing a bed with someone is overrated; why limit yourself to one side when you can sprawl across the bed?
2) As long as there's broadband internet connection and a continuous supply of kdrama, I can survive anywhere, alone.
3) On the flip side, had dad not cook a pot of food before leaving, I think I would have starved.  I really need to learn how to cook...someday.


With all that said, I'm excited that J's coming back later this morning.  So what if the bed gets too cramped, or there's an endless supply of kdrama, because you know what?  Solitude is overrated.

The Male Brain

Is waaay too concrete.  You'd think that after having been married for 7 years, that the husband and wife can communicate telepathically.  Apparently, it's easier to communicate telepathically with your dog than with your husband.

{Last night, when I was expressing my frustrations about J not taking out the trash the other day}

J: I need you to tell me that it is important to you that I take out the trash.  That's how my mind works.

Me {silence...seriously, how do you respond to that?}

J: So the next time you want me to do something just say, "Honey, this is important to me, please [do this]."

You mean after 7 years of marriage, I can't stare at the back of your head with fire coming out of my nostrils, and you feeling this searing pain directing you to put your shoes and socks away?  

This really should not still be happening this far into a marriage...

San Diego Marathon Race Report

First things first.  I failed to qualify for Boston again, but this time I was off by 6 minutes, not 6 seconds like last time.  For some strange reason I'm not totally beaten up by fail #2.  Maybe because I've reset my goals so many times during the run that I've managed to do much better than what I had finally decided was my goal.  Along the run, my goal went from BQ to 'just finish' to 'must beat NYC times' to 'under 4 hours'.  I finally came in at 3:52:22 (much better than under 4), so I'm pretty satisfied.  So what happened?  We'll get to that, but let's rewind to the day before.

J and I got to San Diego at around noon Saturday, and headed straight for the expo before grabbing lunch.  The Rock n' Roll marathon is an entire league of its own.  Compared to the miniscule Tucson marathon, this one is huge.  If you include both the marathon and 1/2 marathon runners at SD (there were more 1/2 marathon runners), the field is about the size of the NYC marathon.  

Packet pick-up.  They required a photo ID and a printed signed confirmation sheet.  No other races in the past required a photo ID.  I guess they're trying to prevent people from selling their bibs, or having other people run for you.

Scenes at the expo

Way too commercialized...

Porta potty fitting rooms...

I had wanted to sign up with the 3:45 pace group, but they ended up not having one.  They had a pace team for 3:40 and 4:00 and nothing in between.  That was a sign.  Next to their table, I saw that they had pace bands for each race time, so I figured I'd use that instead.  I was under the impression that they were giving it away for free so I asked for the 3:45 pace band, then they asked me for $2.  What was I going to do?  Fling the band back at them?

I ended up coughing up $2 for a band that I used wisely up until mile 19, at which point I gave up tracking my time since I was starting to lag.

Everything about this marathon is better than Tucson: the expo, organization, volunteers, water & gel stations, and medical aid stations.  With that said, I would not run it again because of its size.

The morning of the race (nice and overcast, but HUMID): on the way to the starting line.  It was a mile and half from our hotel.

I'm the 'short little thing' in the white cap futzing around with my garmin, and finally concluding that my garmin refused to be 'customized', so I turned the 'pace alert' to OFF.

Scene at the start line, with marathoners (blue bibs), 1/2 marathoners (yellow bibs), and relay runners (black bib) all grouped together.

And off we go...

I was running a bit under pace, but made sure I slowed down when I was going too fast.  Things were going great even up that hill between miles 7 and 10.5 that I was fretting about pre-race.  I thought to myself, "This is it?"  Apparently, my hill training had paid off.  However, things started to turn for the worse at mile 13 when I felt the first twinge of a calf cramp.  Alarms were going off in my head, "What's going on?  It's starting too soon.  I didn't get my first calf cramp until mile 19 during the Tucson race."  So I slowed down a bit more to work out the cramps, and it did release a bit from time to time but stuck around till the very end of the race.  This was about the same time the sun came out, and was in full force at mile 16 as I was about to scale a 'mountain'.  

I saw this little blip (between 16 and 16.5) on the chart, but it never concerned me as much as the earlier hill.  Oh, was I wrong...

Finally, at mile 19 I started to fall behind, and that's when I started resetting my goal.  I had felt terrible and entertained the thought of dropping out of the race.  As I approached the water stations I decided to do my walk breaks through the stations and then run on.  So it was: run a mile, walk 50 feet for the rest of the race with intermittent stops to stretch out the calves and quads.  The best thing I got from the medical station was a bag of ice, which I ran with for a mile using it to cool me down (putting it on my head, face, chest, and arms).  It was HOT!  From mile 18 on, it was 2 cups of Cytomax, one cup of water, and one cup of water used to pour over my head.  I was soaked from head to toe.  It looked as if I had peed all over myself, but the strategy helped ease the discomfort, and I began to reset my goals 'up'.  Between miles 21 and 22, I saw an ambulance with a guy in the back and another one being tended to by the paramedics, and I was so tempted to join them and ride the ambulance back, but then I remembered J was waiting for me at the finish.  For the last 1/2 mile, I started to work up to a sprint and actually felt OK sprinting, and questioned myself whether I should have started sprinting earlier.

Finish line

So what did I learn from this experience?
1) Running marathons is akin to going through labor pains.  You're hating it at the time and swearing that it'll be the last, but as soon as the race is over, you're reminiscing and planning your next race.
2) Never run summer races.  Stick to fall and winter races.
3) Run smaller races.  Large crowds mean energy wasted on running around people.
4) Never wear new running shoes for the race, because it gets really dirty with all the water poured down on it.  Luckily, I wore the ones that are about to be 'retired'.
5) If I want to qualify for boston, I should start running flat courses.
6) I need to change my training plan to include long runs that are longer than 18 miles.
7) I need to figure out what's causing these cursed leg cramps.
8) And last, but not least, I have the most wonderful and supportive husband in the world.  He followed me along the course, and was exposed to the 'element' (we all know how much he hates the sun) for 4 hours to cheer me on.  Later I apologized that he didn't get to do anything for himself on this trip and you know what he said? "I got to spend time with you."  What more can a girl ask for...

Partial Credit

So I still haven't completely given up on the idea of cooking for J.  It just takes time and baby steps.  Yesterday, I (we) made sushi.  It took me an hour to cut the cucumber into strips (luckily no one was starving at the time), and things were going well until I started working the unripened avocado (note to self - buy ripened avocados).  Then J took over the prepping.

I did all the wrapping and rolling...

J cut it into pieces.  Not the prettiest bunch of sushi, as you can see the uneven amounts of tuna in each piece.  I personally would not pay money to eat this.

Paired with the Luigi Bosca 2007 Pinot Noir we got at Costco.  I was able to detect hints of chocolate on the nose, and I was actually right.  Maybe my sense of smell is improving.  As for on the palate, you can't go wrong guessing cherry (9 times out of 10 it's cherry).  This Pinot Noir actually went well with the sushi.

{After the meal}

Me: So would you count this as a meal I cooked?

J: You helped.

Me: I helped?!  Why isn't it the other way around?

J: OK, fine.

So, I get partial credit.  Like I said, baby steps.

Got Caught

{Me, stealthily trying to put on my new shoes this morning}
J {coming up from behind me}: Are those new shoes?
Me {heart thumping}: Uh...yeah...
J: When d'you get those?
Me {sheepishly}: Uh...last week...
J {looking at my feet in the shoes}: How come all your shoes have toe cleavage?
Me: Because it's hard to tell when you buy online.
J {shaking his head}: 浪費錢.
Me {walking out the door}: These retail for $288 and I got them for 37 bucks!
J: Does that mean I can get a Ferrari if it's 20 grand?
Me: Sure!


I'm going to have to curb the shoe buying for the moment, because even though I got a deal on the shoes, I almost had a heart attack this morning.  Not worth it.

Vote Of No Confidence

{This morning}

Me: I'm making dinner tonight.

J: You don't have to, I'll just have cereal.

Me: No, I'm going to make dinner.

J: We might as well order in.

{Met up for lunch during work}

Me: Do you not want me to make dinner?

J: Not if it doesn't taste good.  I appreciate the thought.

Me: Didn't you want someone to cook for you?

J: Only so we don't have to go out to eat.

Me: So it doesn't matter that I don't cook?

J: No.

YAY!  I'm off the hook!  

Cookbooks begone!

Overwhelmed

Started flipping through "How to Cook Everything", and all I could think about is 'what have I gotten myself into?!  Nothing is simple!'  

There is no such thing as simple cooking aside from making instant noodles, toasting bagels, and frying eggs (which I have problems with from time to time).

  

Either the ingredients are too exotic (e.g., cardamon), the prep too tedious (e.g., cut up a whole chicken), or the cooking time too long (i.e., any length of time more than 40 minutes).  Not to mention the frustration that comes with reading through a recipe and coming across the words "to taste".  I gave up after 5 minutes as it was giving me a headache.  
Will try again tomorrow...

Cooking

The thing with running for 2-3 hours straight is that you have all the time in the world to think.  It's you and your mind, and they can potentially drive each other nuts during that time.  Last week, it was the rumination that I may actually be a Republican that drove me to run faster and faster; as if I were trying to run away from myself.  This week, it was the thought that I may in fact not be the perfect wife.  How so?

{Yesterday noon}

J: I'm always cooking, sometimes I wish someone would cook for me for a change.

Me: You know my cooking.  I'm not sure you'd want to eat it.

J: That's true.

Now there's a really good reason why I don't cook.  It's too abstract...

{Last night while preparing the dry rub for today's barbeque}

Me: So how many tablespoons of the each of the condiments?

J: It's 'equal part' salt, pepper, chili powder, garlic powder, and a fourth of the oregano, cayenne, cumin, and paprika.

Me: What's equal part?  That's so vague.  

J: Just go by taste.

Me: I need exact instructions.

After much debate and anguish during my 18-mile run this morning, I realized that I didn't want to be on my death bed regretting that I had never cooked for J at least once during our marriage.  So I decided that I will try to cook dinner on Fridays now that I have half days off on Fridays.  I will consult the 'How To Cook Everything' cook book since every thing is all laid out for you in 'cups', 'teaspoons', 'tablespoons', and the occasional 'to taste' (I'll make sure to avoid recipes containing the words 'to taste').

The reason for the barbeque is because the local supermarket had a "Buy 1 Get 2 free" on the ribs.  Nineteen to 20 lbs of ribs for $26.  Unless you're vegetarian, how can you pass up on that?

J's special dry rub...

On the ribs...

All wrapped up and ready to go...

Slowly grilled for at least 3 hours on our trusted (and rusted) Walmart grill...

Voila!

Paired with the Brookdale 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon that we got at Wines Til Sold Out (on the nose: alcohol; on the palate: not sure, but definitely alcohol; extremely smooth and better than the Courtney Benham).

Mmmmm...life is good!

Me + Free Time + Ebay

Is a lethal combination to J's wallet.  


I pride myself as someone who's sensible and doesn't spend much money buying things.  However, I have my achilles' heel...SHOES.  Mind you, I don't buy just any pair of shoes.  I like to buy shoes only under one circumstance, and that is when I think I've gotten a great deal on a pair of quality shoes.  Example?  A pair of shoes that normally retails for hundreds of dollars, and I get it  for under $50.  
The easy part is buying it.  The hard part is keeping it from J's eagle eyes.


J: Are those new shoes?
Me (playing dumb): No silly, I've had these for a while*.
J: Don't lie to me.
Me: I'm not lying, you just haven't noticed because you're too busy on your computer.
(Then I rush out the door, claiming to be late for work).


So I got myself a pair of Kate Spade sling backs today for $49.98 (normally retails for $275), and we'll see how long I can get away without being caught.


* 'A while' denotes any length of time longer than a millisecond.