just us.

slacker

so it has been brought to my attention...*coughcoughErincoughcough*...that I have been slacking in the blog department.

it's been a week since I've checked in.  there are reasons for that, but I won't bore you with those.

so I will be back soon with an update on the Lieu household.

but since no post is ever more exciting than one with a picture, here is one from the weekend parental visit we just had.

the papaloo turned 60 yesterday.  still looking good Dad!!  and my parents also celebrated their 33rd wedding anniversary on Saturday as well.  it was a weekend for celebrations, that's for sure.

see ya Seattle!

so we're back from Seattle.  one of Ryan's best friend's got married this weekend and we were up there for the festivities.  the weather wasn't too bad.  probably a comfortable 70 degrees, and no rain! 

Mike and I flew in early Friday morning and my parents had already arrived an hour before us.  We picked up our rental car and headed to Pike's Public Market for some lunch.  We had lunch at the Pike Seattle Brewing Company where we indulged in fish and chips, Reuben sandwiches, dungeoness crab chowder and bacon cheeseburgers.  We walked the market afterwards, and saw lots of fresh fruit and vegetables, fragrant flowers and some seafood too.  We didn't get to see any fish flinging though.  the crowds were gathered for it, but I think because no one was buying any fish, they didn't have any to throw.  We grabbed some gelato before heading back to the hotel to check in.

Saturday was the day of the wedding.  This is the kind of church that I would've loved to get married in.  It had lots of pretty, colorful stained-glass windows.  It was a traditional Filipino wedding (the bride is Filipina) but thankfully, it was no more than an hour long!  my brother was a groomsman (he's the second guy in line) and it ended up

being a pretty long day for him and the rest of the wedding party.  My parents, Mike and I along with Ryan's friend had pho for lunch afterwards, since we figured it would be at least a few more hours before dinner and didn't plan on the hotel food being all that great.  Then we went on our search for some hard liquor.  Did you know that in the state of Washington, you cannot buy hard liquor in a grocery store (they only sell beer and wine)?  You have to go to a liquor store for that.  When we asked for it, the workers looked at us like we were weird.  Now we know why.

The reception was at 6pm, which I was late for because I was taking a nap.  Luckily our table was right by the door and the ambience was pretty casual so no one noticed.  As predicted, the food was not good.  I think I had half a bite of the chicken (it was dry) and the sauce on the salmon made my stomach churn.  So we pretty much just ate the salad, potatoes, and steamed veggies. 

There was dancing (the electric slide!!) and lots of drinking going on.  A lot of my brother's high school friends came up (the groom is a friend of high school too), so it was a big reunion for them.  They'll all be getting back together in two weeks for another wedding in Northern California.  I love that despite time and distance, these guys are all still together.

The newlyweds, Ken and Aimee, are heading down to California from Seattle today.  Aimee is moving down and they'll be living in Hercules (my hometown).  We''ll be seeing them again this weekend since they're leaving out of Long Beach for their Mexican cruise.  Congrats to you both and thanks for inviting us!

culinary delight

two words:  Fajita Pita.

I haven't had much of an appetite lately, and the thought of food just makes me queasy.  But today, it came back. 

It's our typical, "what are we going to eat for lunch today?" debate here at work and we always bust out the manila envelope full of take-out menus.  My techs had narrowed down the choices to two: Daphne's and Islands.  Daphne's it became and the question of what exactly pita bread is came up.  That triggered "do you remember the fajita pita?"..."from Jack in the Box right?"..."oh my goodness!!  I haven't had a fajita pita since high school!!"..."there's one down the street, you know."..."but I just had soup for lunch, so maybe tomorrow.".."(with hands up the air) FAJITA PITA!!!"

I love my coworkers.  the talk of food just makes us giddy with joy.  we can talk for hours about it. 

tomorrow, we have a lunch date with Jack.  most definitely.

it's a male kind of day

so first off, before I forget, happy Father's Day to my Dad.  or as we call him in our house, Ba, Babaloo, Papa Ko, Bank Teller or when he's in trouble, VINCE!!!  hope you're having a good one, even though your two offspring aren't there to celebrate with you.  We'll see you next weekend in Seattle!

now, I don't usually blog while I'm at work but this was one I couldn't wait to put down for the record books.  Sometimes I just wonder about people.

So I'm in my last 20 minutes of hell here at work, and a guy comes up to the counter asking about vitamins.  He asks which is better, Centrum (a general adult vitamin) or a Men's vitamin (formulated specifically for men, duh).  So I tell him in my professional pharmacist voice what the difference is and he asks which one is better.  Again I redefine each one and tell him that either one is fine, but if he's looking for something more for men to go with one over the other.

his next question is the kicker.

he asks what defines you as a man.

now,  I do give him the professional pharmacist answer, which in this case has something to do with age and such.  but you know that's not the answer I wanted to give him.

my real answer?  the one I really wanted to give?

if there's a penis in between your legs, that's what defines you as a man.

and penis isn't really the word I was thinking.

tonight

 

so I made dinner tonight.  angel hair pasta with homemade pesto, topped with chicken and mushrooms.  Pesto itself is really easy to make, all it is is basil, toasted pinenuts, a couple cloves of garlic and olive oil, plus some salt and pepper to taste.  Use a food processor to put it altogether and voila!! 

made an attempt to work on some stuff for Label Tulip's gallery reveal on Sunday, and it didn't work out too well.  of the 4 layouts I started, I've finished none of them.  mojo isn't flowing very well this month, I hate to say it.  I still at least one more thing in mind and I'm hoping that goes a lot better.

as for Top Chef's season finale last night, I am glad that Stephanie won.  She's always been a consistent player and has won 4 elimination challenges, as opposed to Lisa's one.  I don't like Lisa, plain and simple.  She's got a major stick up her you-know-where and just can't seem to wipe that snotty look off her face.  not to mention that she just has an attitude problem.  I like Richard, he's into that molecular gastronomy stuff, using liquid nitrogen and electric smokers and sous vide-ing chicken and whatnot.  Unfortunately, Richard didn't fair too well and let his nerves and overthinking get the best of him.  Stephanie and Lisa were neck and neck throughout, both with high points and low points to what they made.  but thank goodness Stephanie came out on top, otherwise I might've just thrown the remote through the television. 

so while I finish watching Ace of Cakes on the Food Network, I must get back to the scrapping.  but I really feel like just going to sleep.  deadlines, deadlines...

food fun and the tv

Mike sent me this link for a local food blog for Orange County.  and I'll admit that I scrolled through every single page I could while at work today.  and I'm about ready to go out and try them all.  so if you like to eat, like me, and live in Orange County, like me, then you'll like the Food Frenzy blog.

did anyone watch Jon & Kate plus 8 on Monday?  the one where Jon gets a hair transplant?  I will start by staying that I was very disappointed to know that he was getting one.  I think he's fairly decent looking guy and so what if he's 30 and already balding?  Embrace your baldness!!!  so Mike and I sat and watched the actual procedure and I think I almost gagged once or twice. for the most part, i can handle stuff like that but to see them plunge a needle thing as thick as a ballpoint pen into his forehead made me squirm.  and yes, I still want 8 of them.  if only they could just come out and already be 3 years old, I'd love it. 

let's see, what else to report.

I'm off tomorrow, but will be scrapping like a maniac to get my stuff done for the reveal on Sunday.  I have a different schedule this week at work, so tomorrow's got to be the day to get things done.

did you know this Friday is the 13th?  dum dah dum dum DUM!!!!

Season finale of Top Chef is tonight.  I will probably watch it tomorrow, so Erika we will discuss as soon as I digest it, okay??   AH BUMMER!!!  I just went to link the show site and what do you think I do??  FIND OUT WHO THE WINNER IS!!!  well at least it isn't the one I don't like.  still, I will watch it anyway.

I can't think anymore.  so I'll share a picture from this weekend's Mud Run.  two words:  got toilet?

gettin' ready

for what?  nothing in particular.  I just couldn't think of a title.

Mike's shoes are currently in the drying process right now.  they've been soaking since yesterday and I washed and scrubbed them until the water came out clear.  The course was not as muddy as Mike has thought, so luckily they're not super dirty.  but I did get a small sprinkle of sand and gravel when I was taking the Mud Run clothing out of the dryer earlier.

I visited with my girlfriend Erin today, mommy of cute little Ava who is growing up to be so big and cute. Ava's gonna be a big sister in a matter of a few months, so Erin's going to be doubly busy rather soon.  She gave me a bunch of books to read and even fed me a nutritious lunch of a Western Bacon Cheeseburger and fries from Carl's Jr.  yum yum!

I'm doing laundry right now and trying to get a little bit of scrapping done.  I'd normally be at work right now, but my schedule is a tad different this week.  my staff pharmacist is on vacation, so I'll be working a bit of overtime this week which is fine.  what's 4 hours right?  it just means a nicer paycheck next week.  I'm planning on making some yummy dumplings for dinner and partaking in some of the pluots (apricot and plum hybrids) that we bought this weekend. 

that's about it. just felt like checking in. 

a romp through the mud

can I just say now how proud I am of these guys and girls?  and the very fact that they made it through 6.2 miles of uphill climbs, treks through 5 foot deep water, scaling over 5 foot walls, and tons and tons of mud??

final times:

girls 1:42:15

guys 1:29:04 and 1:29:05

Mike says that there were some people along the course that passed out and needed medics to come get them.  we overheard that another person broke their leg on the way down from the wall.  I guess that's why they have you sign a waiver, huh?

overall, I'm so glad I got to see these people finish a challenging race.  Mike was a bit scared about not being in shape and not being able to finish, but now he's ready to do it again and even better his time.  Ryan said Mike was a good running partner, because when he wanted to walk, so did Mike.  When he was ready to run again, so was Mike.  I think I may have just gotten some motivation to be ready for the next Run...

title?

let's see, where to start.

just got back from my brother's place where we just finished up a carbo-loading feast for the Mud Run tomorrow.  I'm not doing it anymore, and luckily they found someone to take my place.  but I will be waiting at the finish line when all 3 teams complete the race, muddy and tired as hell.  I'll probably bring along my June Label Tulip kit to work on in the car, since I'll probably have a few hours of waiting to do.  the race starts at 9am, but they have to be there around 630 to register and get situated.  oh joy. 

My brother- and sister-in-law are staying with us this weekend, since they're attending a family wedding on my sister-in-law's side tonight, as we speak.  We hung out a bit this morning by going to the farmer's market for some local fruit (pluots and white peaches, yummy!) and kettle corn (of course!).  Candace and I had our nails done (the boys went home to drop off our farmer's market goods) and then we had lunch with some of Paul's friends at Lucille's.  Mike and I took naps after they left for the wedding.

my car had a tune up too.  a major one.  it's only had one other tune-up in it's 9 year life, and that was back in 2003.  so the oil has been changed, the fluids have been flushed, the timing belt, water pump and something else are brand new.  apparently going on 150,000 miles without changing the timing belt is some sort of miracle.  I'm hoping my car will last me another few years, until we upgrade to a family car.  I'll need some time to recover financially since I'm about a thousand dollars poorer now.

apparently my dear mom is a scrapbooking machine now.  I have yet to see any of her creations though.  she's been asking other people for pictures so that she can play, but I told her she needs to start doing some for herself. I bought her an American Crafts modern album to use, but has yet to put her own work in there.  she usually goes to bed early each night because she leaves for work at the buttcrack of dawn, but apparently she's been staying up until 10pm in front of the tv watching her Korean soaps...while scrapping.  she says she just might get as good as me.  um, is that a challenge mom??

I'll be back tomorrow, hopefully with some pictures from the Run.  I wish I could do it, but my body is in no way ready for it.  I guess there's always next time...

so proud

Mike played hockey this morning for a friend of a friend's team.  Lately, I haven't been to many of his games because they're either really late or I had stuff to do or I just didn't feel like going (let's be honest right?)  But seeing that it was a Sunday morning and nothing but laundry was calling my name, I figured I'd go.  and if I got bored, there's always Target down the street to pass the time.

Mike played out today, meaning he wasn't playing goal.  that's another reason why I don't normally watch his games.  Being a goalie doesn't provide a lot of action.  he just stands there in front of the net and moves side to side about a foot either way.  He'll probably correct me on this one, but oh well.

So I took some pictures and decided, what the heck, let's make a video too.  That's one thing I love about the camera Mike got me for Christmas, it takes awesome videos.  so here's the video:  (Mike's wearing the #2 black jersey and blue pants)

  just in case you couldn't tell, he scored a goal...instead of being scored on :).  In his words, it wasn't a very pretty one, but it was a goal nonetheless.  I think his goal made it 5 to 3.  I can't remember now.  But they ended up winning, 7 to 5, with 6 of the goals being scored by substitute players.  Winning doesn't happen often for Mike and the guys he normally plays with, so this was actually pretty cool.

We did a lot of housecleaning this weekend.  Both bathrooms are clean, blinds have been vacuumed, laundry is almost done, and a new pair of curtains went up in the living room.  We managed to wash some white ones that are up as well, sort of our second set that allows light in when the outside ones are pulled to the side.  Does that even make sense?  pictures will come tomorrow, when the daylight is out and about. 

until then...