Today, I didn't realize that I went to a lot of places - an Asian market, a Vietnamese restaurant, a gas station, a health store, 3 pharmacies, dunkin donuts (twice!), a frozen yogurt place, and the hospital (to visit R) - only to find out when I got home by the end of the day that I had a Cookie Monster sticker stuck to my chest all that time.
We had gone to the pedia dentist for Swe-cha's regular checkup and we had played with stickers. I'm not sure when Swe-cha (or hubby) put it on me or if it was a transfer from Swe-cha's shirt but I was sporting it all day since the dentist was our first stop.
I never noticed it until hubby pointed it out to me when I got home, not really sure if others noticed but were just too polite to ask or it might've been lost in the bright floral pattern of my blouse so nobody really noticed.
=)
Saturday, September 14, 2013
Friday, September 13, 2013
Costume - check!
Got Swe-cha his Halloween costume already and I'm so excited for him. I showed it to him, he identified it and then hugged it. Hope he enjoys wearing it and becoming the character :)
Thursday, September 12, 2013
Project Lutong Bahay
I've been making a more conscious effort to prepare home-cooked meals, we've been spending so much money on takeout / restaurants - it just is crazy, not to mention unhealthy. So let's see how long we can keep this tipid project up:
Monday night dinner + Tuesday lunch baon was penne pasta with tomato sauce.
Tuesday night dinner + Wednesday lunch baon was Stir Fried Chicken.
Wednesday night dinner + Thursday lunch baon was Stir fried beef, just because we still had leftover veggies from the night before.
Thursday night dinner + Friday lunch baon, is braised pork belly w/ adobo eggs. I've been braising this sweet-style adobo for close to 3 hours now and the meat is so tender that you can cut it with a spoon.
Monday night dinner + Tuesday lunch baon was penne pasta with tomato sauce.
Tuesday night dinner + Wednesday lunch baon was Stir Fried Chicken.
Wednesday night dinner + Thursday lunch baon was Stir fried beef, just because we still had leftover veggies from the night before.
Thursday night dinner + Friday lunch baon, is braised pork belly w/ adobo eggs. I've been braising this sweet-style adobo for close to 3 hours now and the meat is so tender that you can cut it with a spoon.
Monday, September 9, 2013
AC Good News
I'm not sure if I ever mentioned having trouble with our car's AC before... it started summer of 2012 and the issue was literally on and off. The AC would run fine one day and then suddenly stop working and it would eventually start blasting out HOT air - it got so hot at one point that I even had to stop on the roadside because I was getting dizzy enough to worry about passing out. It didn't help that the outside temps were at 102 degrees F.
We keep bringing it back to the dealership and to our local repair shop and they couldn't find it. The only suggestion we got from both was to load up the AC with freon mixed with a special dye. When it stops working again, we can bring the car in and they can look for traces of the dye and hopefully, find out where the leak is occurring.
By this time, it was already fall and we weren't dependent on the AC anymore so I asked hubby to push this off until next spring.
By Spring 2013, we brought the car back to the shop and had it loaded with freon and the special dye. While it was being tested, the technician happened to hit a wire and the AC stopped working again - that was the culprit! They tried wiggling the wires and found one that was loose and corroded, this was replaced and the AC worked fine after that.
Some months later, the AC started wigging out again. *sigh* Hubby decided to play with the relays one time and found that if he wiggled or pulled out and reinstalled the AC relay, it would jumpstart the AC and get it working. Last week, he dropped by the dealer to buy a replacement relay, it cost us $7.35.
It's been several days and the AC still works. Hubby's theory is that the loose / corroded wiring affected and damaged this relay. I hope this is the end of our AC woes (well, it should be... at least for 2013 as outside temps are currently in the high 60s so we really don't need AC anymore). It is not a good time to be spending more money.
We keep bringing it back to the dealership and to our local repair shop and they couldn't find it. The only suggestion we got from both was to load up the AC with freon mixed with a special dye. When it stops working again, we can bring the car in and they can look for traces of the dye and hopefully, find out where the leak is occurring.
By this time, it was already fall and we weren't dependent on the AC anymore so I asked hubby to push this off until next spring.
By Spring 2013, we brought the car back to the shop and had it loaded with freon and the special dye. While it was being tested, the technician happened to hit a wire and the AC stopped working again - that was the culprit! They tried wiggling the wires and found one that was loose and corroded, this was replaced and the AC worked fine after that.Some months later, the AC started wigging out again. *sigh* Hubby decided to play with the relays one time and found that if he wiggled or pulled out and reinstalled the AC relay, it would jumpstart the AC and get it working. Last week, he dropped by the dealer to buy a replacement relay, it cost us $7.35.
It's been several days and the AC still works. Hubby's theory is that the loose / corroded wiring affected and damaged this relay. I hope this is the end of our AC woes (well, it should be... at least for 2013 as outside temps are currently in the high 60s so we really don't need AC anymore). It is not a good time to be spending more money.
Monday, September 2, 2013
Master Bath Sink
This weekend, we tackled the sink in the master bath. We replaced the leaky faucet and the sink drain, it had been missing the drain plug for the longest time and we've had to cover the open drain with a mesh strainer that we buy at the dollar store. The strainer gets pretty yucky so I'll spare my readers and not post pictures of that anymore.
This was a pretty straightforward job. I gathered all the tools and materials we needed days before:
- supply hoses $11/pair - I bought 2 different sizes in 2 different lengths, total of 4 pairs, to make sure that we have what we need on the day itself. I plan to return the unused ones.
- new faucet $26 - it was 2nd to the cheapest bathroom sink faucet I could find in our local Home Depot. We're moving out soon and don't need anything fancy.
- teflon tape $1 & plumbers putty $1
We had a rough start when we realized that everything was stuck - the water shutoff valves beneath the sink, and the locknuts holding the faucet to the sink.The groovelock pliers (vise grip) and adjustable wrench which were adequate during our last sink faucet replacement just doesn't cut it here.
Furthermore, since we had to replace the sink drain as well, we needed a bigger wrench - a real pipe wrench.
We started the work yesterday (Sunday) and hoped to finish in an hour or two. We knew what we were supposed to do - my confidence level was really high - but if the locknuts and valves were stuck, what could we do ? I did some research and others suggested cutting down the locknuts if you don't plan on reusing the hardware anymore and as for the valves, the best suggestion was to shut off the main valves into the home but as we live in a condo, I have no idea where that is.
Sometime on Sunday night, hubby was able to turn the shutoff valves successfully. With that victory in hand, we decided to put the rest of the project off till tomorrow when we could drive down to Home Depot and pick up a few tools.
$-power
-----
The locking pliers turned out to be the best solution for turning the lock nuts because the locking mechanism makes it easier to use and maneuver in tight spaces.
The pipe wrench just fit the sink drain lock nut *whew*, we thought about getting the 14 inch one as it was only $1 more and would have more use because of its larger range but as it was so much heavier and we thought it would be more difficult to use.
Now, the sink is done, I'm so proud of hubby (and our teamwork)! I had expected him to give up anytime and I wouldn't blame him but hey, now that he's completed this, I wouldn't let him off easy next time since he proved that he can tackle these types of jobs. Total estimated cost was $64, including the new tools.
Next up, painting the bathroom.
---
I asked hubby to rate the difficulty of this project and he says it was fairly easy once we had the right tools =) I can't imagine why we we chose to live with a leaky faucet and a missing sink drain plug for a long time.
Wednesday, August 28, 2013
House hunting
If you haven't heard already, we've been house-hunting for a while.
It hasn't been easy because we were working with very strict parameters:
- location - we didn't want to leave our current city
- at last X bedrooms
- at least 2.5 bathrooms - a half bathroom is a powder room, it has a toilet and a sink but no tub or shower.
- attached garage for at least 1 car - detached garages are common in older houses in our area
- open layout for the living areas
- good-sized kitchen with plenty of cabinets - we count 23 full sized cabinet doors in our kitchen plus a couple more small ones and 4 drawers. We figured that we needed something that comes close else we'd have a hard time finding storage for our kitchen stuff.
- cooking range has to be gas and not electric - this is hubby's requirement
- bedroom locations - at least 3 should be on the same level
- a good-sized backyard - big enough for Swe-cha to play in but small enough so hubby doesn't have a hard time mowing the grass.
- direction the house faces in - We're not supposed to get a north-facing house according to my mom
- enough closets
And these were the nice to haves:
- built ins (who doesn't like built-in shelves ?)
- covered patio or covered bbq area in the yard
- backyard that has a shady spot in the afternoon
To top it all off, we were also working within a limited budget.
And so, several months after I first made a call to the realtor, we are under contract*.
There are still a few items that we need to work out with the sellers and in fact, the entire process has made us feel like we're on a roller coaster. We would be on cloud nine one day and be planning our move and then the next day, we'd find ourselves consoling each other that it's okay if we lose this house, we don't need it anyway. I've been wanting to pack since our offer got accepted in July but I haven't started yet because it's been a month since that day and we're still going back and forth with additional stipulations.
I've been writing draft after draft about our house-hunting activities and chronicled most of the houses that we've seen. Obviously, they never made it to the final stages and never got published because, until now, there wasn't really anything to tell.
And *that*, my readers, is what's been keeping us extremely busy these days. While we're waiting to find out how this house purchase is going to pan out (will the sellers agree to our stipulations ?)... we've started getting the condo ready for sale. We won't put it up on the market until after we move but now is a good time to start getting the little things done - fix dripping faucets, window screens, fresh coat of paint, update the few remaining light switches and wall plugs that I didn't get to during the great DIY streak in April 2009 when we updated our powder room, painted the living room, fixed the wall behind our stove and updated electrical switches and plugs. We stopped when we found out we were expecting because elders told us that we weren't supposed to touch the house while we were pregnant and afterwards, taking care of a child doesn't really leave one much time to DIY stuff around the house. We still look back on that month of completed projects with fondness, I tell ya.
It would be good if we enjoyed our handywork before we leave.
-------------
* The different stages of buying a house are:
- making an offer - this is when you find a property that you like and make an offer
- attorney review - this is when the sellers accept your offer and attorneys from both sides (if you are working with one) sort out the sales contract
- under contract - this is when a final contract is signed and several things happen (see below). The contract can then be re-negotiated based on the results of these activities.
--- inspections and tests
--- appraisals
- closing day - this is when both parties complete the sale, the sellers get paid and the buyer becomes cash-strapped again. =)
It hasn't been easy because we were working with very strict parameters:
- location - we didn't want to leave our current city
- at last X bedrooms
- at least 2.5 bathrooms - a half bathroom is a powder room, it has a toilet and a sink but no tub or shower.
- attached garage for at least 1 car - detached garages are common in older houses in our area
- open layout for the living areas
- good-sized kitchen with plenty of cabinets - we count 23 full sized cabinet doors in our kitchen plus a couple more small ones and 4 drawers. We figured that we needed something that comes close else we'd have a hard time finding storage for our kitchen stuff.
- cooking range has to be gas and not electric - this is hubby's requirement
- bedroom locations - at least 3 should be on the same level
- a good-sized backyard - big enough for Swe-cha to play in but small enough so hubby doesn't have a hard time mowing the grass.
- direction the house faces in - We're not supposed to get a north-facing house according to my mom
- enough closets
And these were the nice to haves:
- built ins (who doesn't like built-in shelves ?)
- covered patio or covered bbq area in the yard
- backyard that has a shady spot in the afternoon
To top it all off, we were also working within a limited budget.
And so, several months after I first made a call to the realtor, we are under contract*.
There are still a few items that we need to work out with the sellers and in fact, the entire process has made us feel like we're on a roller coaster. We would be on cloud nine one day and be planning our move and then the next day, we'd find ourselves consoling each other that it's okay if we lose this house, we don't need it anyway. I've been wanting to pack since our offer got accepted in July but I haven't started yet because it's been a month since that day and we're still going back and forth with additional stipulations.
I've been writing draft after draft about our house-hunting activities and chronicled most of the houses that we've seen. Obviously, they never made it to the final stages and never got published because, until now, there wasn't really anything to tell.
And *that*, my readers, is what's been keeping us extremely busy these days. While we're waiting to find out how this house purchase is going to pan out (will the sellers agree to our stipulations ?)... we've started getting the condo ready for sale. We won't put it up on the market until after we move but now is a good time to start getting the little things done - fix dripping faucets, window screens, fresh coat of paint, update the few remaining light switches and wall plugs that I didn't get to during the great DIY streak in April 2009 when we updated our powder room, painted the living room, fixed the wall behind our stove and updated electrical switches and plugs. We stopped when we found out we were expecting because elders told us that we weren't supposed to touch the house while we were pregnant and afterwards, taking care of a child doesn't really leave one much time to DIY stuff around the house. We still look back on that month of completed projects with fondness, I tell ya.
It would be good if we enjoyed our handywork before we leave.
-------------
* The different stages of buying a house are:
- making an offer - this is when you find a property that you like and make an offer
- attorney review - this is when the sellers accept your offer and attorneys from both sides (if you are working with one) sort out the sales contract
- under contract - this is when a final contract is signed and several things happen (see below). The contract can then be re-negotiated based on the results of these activities.
--- inspections and tests
--- appraisals
- closing day - this is when both parties complete the sale, the sellers get paid and the buyer becomes cash-strapped again. =)
Wednesday, August 7, 2013
Desperate Measures
I've been wanting to have my hair cut for the longest time but I just couldn't find the time.
Between us making an extra effort to bring Swe-cha out during the weekends and our house-hunting activities, plus the fact the my neighborhood suking salon closes by 6p on Saturdays and isn't open on Sundays - I could never find the time to go! As for weekdays, forget it as I'm always in a hurry to get from work to pick up Swe-cha from daycare.
Today, we kept Swe-cha home as he was having a very bad cough and didn't sleep well last night. Hubby stayed home with him so I didn't have to hurry home for daycare pickup. I dropped by a local restaurant to pick up dinner (takeout) and while it was being prepped, it dawned on me that Swe-cha's salon was just across the street! Desperate times call for desperate measures, I thought, so I went and took a peek, pointed to myself and asked, "do you do haircuts on adults ?" The girl nodded and I got my haircut.
There were 3 toddlers and 2 grade-schoolers having their hair cut around me and I didn't really care. All I felt was relief as the lady snipped off layer after layer of hair from my head. I felt very light and happy that I don't have to have my hair in a ponytail anymore - it was giving me a headache (the ponytail), I swear.
Yes, I sat on a regular salon chair as the airplane and the train seats were already occupied ;-)
I was well-behaved and did not cry - one toddler was bawling.
And, yes, they offered me a lollipop (after the lady saw me staring at the candy jar while paying my bill), I declined. They didn't have any stickers (I would have taken a sticker home with me if they had it).
Lastly, I watched cartoon channel while having my hair cut. It was fun.
The trim cost me $25 + tip which is much lower than the $50+tip I usually spend on my usual salon. Not bad at all.
Between us making an extra effort to bring Swe-cha out during the weekends and our house-hunting activities, plus the fact the my neighborhood suking salon closes by 6p on Saturdays and isn't open on Sundays - I could never find the time to go! As for weekdays, forget it as I'm always in a hurry to get from work to pick up Swe-cha from daycare.
Today, we kept Swe-cha home as he was having a very bad cough and didn't sleep well last night. Hubby stayed home with him so I didn't have to hurry home for daycare pickup. I dropped by a local restaurant to pick up dinner (takeout) and while it was being prepped, it dawned on me that Swe-cha's salon was just across the street! Desperate times call for desperate measures, I thought, so I went and took a peek, pointed to myself and asked, "do you do haircuts on adults ?" The girl nodded and I got my haircut.
There were 3 toddlers and 2 grade-schoolers having their hair cut around me and I didn't really care. All I felt was relief as the lady snipped off layer after layer of hair from my head. I felt very light and happy that I don't have to have my hair in a ponytail anymore - it was giving me a headache (the ponytail), I swear.
Yes, I sat on a regular salon chair as the airplane and the train seats were already occupied ;-)
I was well-behaved and did not cry - one toddler was bawling.
And, yes, they offered me a lollipop (after the lady saw me staring at the candy jar while paying my bill), I declined. They didn't have any stickers (I would have taken a sticker home with me if they had it).
Lastly, I watched cartoon channel while having my hair cut. It was fun.
The trim cost me $25 + tip which is much lower than the $50+tip I usually spend on my usual salon. Not bad at all.
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