Annual Self Review

It's the time of the year again. How do I write an appraisal of myself that will convince the management that I had been such a great employee in the past year and how valuable my contributions are to the firm? How do I sell myself convincingly? I hate writing self review!

Eye cream

I just spent a whopping US$88 (inclusive of shipping) on eyederma. According to the reviews, it is supposed to work wonders. Hopefully, it works for me too. I dun wear make-up so I don't spend on cosmetics. But I'm a total sucker for skin care products esp anything that will help make my dark eye rings go away. Those dark eye rings have definitely lighten a fair bit since I came here. But it is still not good enuff. Maybe after using eyederma, I will have bright, puffy-less, wrinkle-free eyes. Will update u all if it really works.

P/S: I think I must be real bored - three entries written at different times of the day.

Wifey chores

I'm beginning to feel more and more like a wife, a housewife to be exact. I just spent an hour of my Sun ironing clothes - 40 mins on Tim's clothes; 20 mins on mine. Good thing I ironed 10 pieces of his shirts which mean I don't have to iron any next Sun.

And nowadays, after I cooked, I have to wash the dishes as well. Not that I cook that often these days since Tim doesn't even come home for dinner now. Nevertheless, all Tim has to do after each meal is just bring the dishes to the basin which he may sometimes forget as he engrosses himself in his online soccer news.

Oh not to mention I'm now the official laundry lady too. I washed 3 loads of clothes/towels/bedsheets today, changed the bedsheets, and folded all the clothes too. I also washed the w.c., basin, and bathtub yesterday. I wanted to vacuum the floor too but got lazy...

Life is becoming mundane. Hopefully, it is all Martha Stewart in the making and not that of a maid.

Boring Sat

I've been staying at home for the past two weekends cos Tim had been working. I entertained myself with loads of dramas, watching Prison Break, Nip/Tuck, and Just in Singapore (on Tudou). So yesterday, the third Sat, I decided to get my ass out of the house.

After deliberating for the longest time ever, I finally made the 32 miles drive to the new Premium outlet mall in Cypress. It took me approximately 40 mins to reach there. Two hours later, I was on my way home. I bought NOTHING! Seems like I am really not into shopping. With so many things on sale, I couldn't find a single piece of clothes or bag that entices me.

Wasted my three gallons of gas which now cost US$3.50 per gallon. Every time I go to the gas station, my pocket will bleed. The money sitting in the bank is depreciating in value as we speak with the ever falling exchange rate and high inflation rate. Even the US, where rice is not considered a staple, has been affected by the huge increase in the price of rice. Cosco and Sam's club are now curbing the bags of rice that can be purchased. I wonder how much my next purchase of rice is going to cost.

More birthday news

All is not lost......

Tim gave me a bouquet of roses and bought me to Ruth's Chris for steak. Had the best filet ever....the steak is grilled at a temperature of 1800 degree fahrenheit and served on a plate heated at 500 degree fahrenheit to maintain the sizzle. The seared ahi tuna is to die for too....Shows that my hubby is still a little romantic and hasn't fully treated me like a housewife yet.

I think he spent around $150 on the dinner although he refused to tell me how much it really cost. Tim had a glass of carbonet sauvignon while I had still water. The waiter came by and asked if we wanted sparkling or still water while I was on the phone. Tim told the waiter he wanted normal water. Somehow, the waiter couldn't get him. After repeated tries, Tim just said he wanted the non-sparkling water. And so that added to the bill too. Well, at least we were given a complimentary molten chocolate cake with a scoop of vanilla ice cream by the steak house so we didn't have to spend extra on dessert - not that we still got space for dessert though.

Prezzie

How do you know you have reached a another stage of your relationship? When the guy doesn't buy you jewellery, flowers, branded stuff like handbags, wallets, watches, etc for your birthday.......

Here's my birthday prezzie from my hubby:

2 recipe books from Donna Hay.

I suspect he might start buying kitchen appliances as prezzies soon....

Free time

The last time I went to a gym was almost a year ago before my wedding. I finally hit the gym again yesterday.

Here's what I did:

Tread mill - 2 mins warm up, 4 mins run, 2 warm down

Leg Press - 20 times with weight of approx 10 kg.

Triceps/Biceps - 20 times with weight of approx 6kg.

Miscellaneous - fiddled with a few machines here and there.

I feel healthier already. Ha.

Since I was already out, I decided to go to Barnes and Noble which is located just outside our apartment complex (less than 2 mins walk). Even though it is so near, I had only been there a couple of times.

I had no idea what to read as it's been a while since I last picked up a book....

After some browsing, I read this:








Hmmm......

MIA

My monkey has been MIA-ing. He claims he is working on a new audit engagement, Brock, that has an extremely tight deadline.

Many people had asked me about his whereabout. When I told them he has been working, no one believed me. Since it is the first time he has MIA for such a prolonged time, all of them warned me to be careful as he might be having an affair.......

They unanimously think he is having a "Brock Back Mountain" time.

Blisswood Ranch

What was supposed to be a relax, laid-back time at a ranch turned out to be one of the most exciting and fun experiences I had. We booked a house at one of the bed and breakfast places over the weekend. We got nothing much on our itinerary except to go horseback riding and to have a bbq on Sat.

Horseriding was canceled for Tim and I. We decided to do it in Yellowstone instead. And b'cos of that, we had the experience of a lifetime. We followed Kathy as she went around feeding the farm animals. Emus, ducks, geese, horses, wild pigs, potbelly pigs, donkeys, deers, alpaca, goats, chickens....I am a person that is never fond of animals (strangely except for a particular breed of monkey) yet I enjoyed myself tremendously.

The ranch wasn't your typical commercial kind of farm. Kathy and Mike were extremely personable. Both of them used to be corporate executives. Mike used to be an engineer and worked in one of the oil and gas companies. Then one day, both of them decided they wanna retire and they wanna retire at a time when they could still enjoy life and do things they want. So they quit their job, became beach bums, then got themselve an RV and began traveling around the US, moving from one RV park to another. Eventually they decided to settle down and work at this farm. But it's only gonna be temporary. Their next move would be to do some sailing....What a free-spirited couple!

p/s: I started this entry a few days ago. Didn't post it cos i wanted to write more. But now i don't seem to have any idea how to continue. So I'm gonna just post whatever i've writtem thus far.

Special dinner

Tim informed me about a week ago that he won't be able to come home for dinner on his birthday cos he was starting on a new audit job on Monday which has an extremely tight deadline. I was disappointed. But still I bought the ingredients just in case there's a teeny weeny chance he could make it.

Indeed, at 645pm on Tues, he told me that he was coming home for dinner! I was excited! So I got down to preparing the food. Here's the pic of the meal I made to celebrate his birthday for the first time as hubby and wifey.


Strawberry salad with sweet lemony dressing and Citrus Soy Salmon with Soba Noodles.

Hmmm.....it's now almost 1030pm. He is still not back yet. He still has to study for his last CPA exam which is coming up in mid May. Poor boy...

Belize

It's official, we just made reservation to go Belize during Independence Day weekend!

Some facts about the country from Wikipedia:

- A country in Central America
- English-speaking as it was a British colony for more than a century
- Became independent only in 1981.
- Bordered to the south and west by Guatemala, to the north and northwest by Mexico and to the east by the Caribbean Sea.


The following excerpt is extracted from Lonely Planet's website on Belize (http://www.lonelyplanet.com/worldguide/belize/):

"Belize is good for your blood pressure.

This tiny nation is so laid-back it's almost comatose. Dabbling its toes in the Caribbean Sea, Belize has more in common with its island neighbors than the fiery volatility of Central America - its history is thoroughly coup-free. Soak up the glorious natural wonders and rich cultural history.

Unpaved roads, high prices and a lack of infrastructure make it a difficult place to travel, but Belize compensates with brilliant diving, dramatic ruins and pristine jungle - secluded eco-lodges cater for sedentary adventurers. The English-speaking population is mainly Creole and Mestizos (mixed descent)."

Life is short, play hard

We will be staying at a ranch this coming weekend. Blisswood Bed and Breakfast. Expensive farm house stay. Hope it will be fun and relaxing!

No wonder I have no money to buy LV. :p Always spending it on holidays. Seems that we have been and are going somewhere every month this year...

Jan - Boston/New Hampshire/Portland: Met up with fren, sightseeing and snowboarding

Feb - CNY celebrations, concerts, plays, basketball games (these ain't holidays but they still eat up a big chunk of my savings)

March - Panama City Beach: Spring Break. Enuf said.

April - Cat Spring, Texas: Ranch stay, horseriding, picnic, bbq, nature walks, farm animals.

May - Yellowstone National Park: Meeting up with Shumiin, Keith and Peggy. Geyser, trail hikes, white water rafting, sightseeing...

June - Cozumel, Montego Bay, Grand Cayman: Carribean cruise

July - Bahamas: This is still pending. Awaiting Tim to plan after his exams.

August - New York City: Tim is going there for work again and hopefully i will be able to join. It's my busy season :(

Sept - Alaska: Pending too

Oct - Shopping at factory outlets.

Nov/Dec - SINGAPORE! Home sweet home!

I'n soooo broke.