Baby Junk

What's happening under that bump?

All of your baby's crucial development is finished, and now, he or she will be growing as your due date nears. The baby is up to almost six and a half inches and weights 9 ounces. You'll definitely be able to feel the baby's movements quite strongly now,and kicks can be

felt by placing a hand on your belly. Your baby can hear the sound of your voice as well as your heartbeat. If you make a sudden noise, the baby will become startled and may even cover his or her ears! The baby has as much sleep and awake time now as a newborn. The scalp hair begins to grow. If your baby is a girl, her uterus is starting to develop.

I've decided to include a belly shot with every (rare) post that I make just so I can share my ever-expanding waistline. And believe it or not, it was actually my husband's idea for me to start tracking my bump progress. Yay to him for trying to be an involved party in this pregnancy!

As of today, I've gained about 8 lbs, which is about 3lbs more compared to 3 weeks ago, during our doctor’s visit. According to the numerous pregnancy books I have, I'm right on track (well, in the sense where I’m suppose to gain about 1 lb a week. As for total weight gain for those who are in their 20th week, it averages out to about 10 – 15lbs. But since they are probably referencing Caucasian women, I should be ok, since Asians are typically smaller than them). And 8 lbs just seem to be more fitting to the bulk I'm sporting these days.

I have yet to feel any movement though - nothing certain, at least. Baby's still there though! (Checked last night using my handy dandy doppler (apparatus used to hear the baby's heartbeat) - highly recommended for those who are a worry wart like me!)

So I've past the point where someone could possibly think that I've indulged in too much burgers/fries/beer (unless they are frigging idiots). But honestly, it's starting to get uncomfortable. Bending over is uncomfortable, sitting upright is uncomfortable, and sometimes breathing is uncomfortable - like someone is sitting on my chest and I'm trying to take as deep of a breath as I can, but will end up feeling like my chest cavity is about to burst). I can't imagine how it'd be as the baby gets even bigger! And I definitely can't imagine how women who have multiples feel!! And just to demonstrate how much I've grown (and therefore, how much of my closet I have to pack up), this is what my pants/skirt section looks like right now....

A few miserable pants that are stretchy to begin with. Is it any wonder that I've been going about looking like a schlub? Because I can't fit into the stuff that I like! Gah. The silver lining is that it now takes an efficient 15 minutes for me to get out of bed and out the door for work. That means I get an extra 15 minutes of sleep each work day (which I need, since my energy level is still not where it used to be). By the way, my clever husband made the pants rack and I painted it.

For the past few days, I've been slaving away on edging (is that the proper description?) an “area rug” that we bought for the guest room....It's suppose to only be a temporary fix until I figure out (and find) what I really want there - but knowing me, I'll probably leave it there for years to come (or at least, until we move into a new house). So I decided to at least make it look a little more presentable (rather than it looking like we just cut a piece of scrap fabric, threw it down on the floor and called it good) and hopefully, a little more durable. Hence, I proceeded to suffer through numerous needle pricks (I've even managed to prick myself on my bum - don't ask me how), back and neck aches. And let me tell you, having a big belly does not help the situation! It took me close to 4 hours just to finish ONE pathetic side. Oy!

As for my husband, he put the stroller together last weekend. Yay! We no longer have a large box sitting in our living room. The upper fabric is not on yet, so it’s not quite complete (since it’ll still be quite a while before baby gets here) but isn’t it pretty?

Bugaboo Cameleon - Black canvas base

It’s definitely much bigger than I remember it being when trying it out at the store, but it definitely is still very lux! I love that it’s an actual bassinet, rather than just a typical “car-seat” type deal. Hopefully baby will be cooperative and not fuss when we try to transfer him/her to this from the carseat when we are out and about. And since we are on the subject of baby stuff, here’s an inventory count of what we bought/received for the little stinker:

Hubby's first purchase for the baby...We are going to have some explaining to do if the baby is a boy! "Um, sorry Jr, see...we were really thinking that you'd be a girl....would you like to try it on anyway??"

Mr. Elephant - I have been playing this to my belly every night ever since I got it (around wk 15-16? Way before its hearing capabilites were even developed) . Lets hope that when the kid is born, it'll calm down with the tune of "Rock-a-bye, baby".

Presents from my brother in law and his family - they've decided that it's going to be a boy, for some reason. And how adorable is that hula-skirted monkey?? When you pull the string, it'll start shaking its hips!

Hit the jackpot - care package from my mother-in-law

And finally, clothes and other crap that I bought :

Can you tell that I’m smitten by baby girls’ clothing??? Ever since John got it into my head that it’s probably a girl, I took it as a free pass to start stockpiling on girl stuff. However, now that my belly is more pronounced, it’s looking suspiciously like a boy bump…arrgh! Now I’m questioning the “smartness” of the idea of letting it be a surprise. *sigh* It doesn’t really matter either way (boy or girl), but it would definitely have made life a little easier when preparing for him/her to come.

Thank goodness that we already have names picked out, for boy AND girl.

My Baby...

After what felt like an eternity of not feeling like myself, I finally took an at-home pregnancy test on May 9th, 2008. When the resulting positive lines came back clear and strong, seeming like it's staring back at me in a defiant way, I honestly felt a little...shaken. Actually, "a little" is an understatement. I was not ready to be a mother! I just started a new job not a month and a half ago, John was looking to branch away from his company and I just felt like we weren't where we were suppose to be before bringing another life into this world. I want to be able to give my child everything. Simply because that's the privilage I've had when I was young.. Not that I was necessarily showered with the most extravagent assortment of materialistic stuff, but I knew that whatever I wanted (within reason), my mom would do her best to fulfill that.

And I was nowhere near ready at my current position in life to be able to do that. We were on our way, but it wasn't enough,.

John's reaction on the other hand was like a little kid. Of course, he didn't have the additional....issue...of having to push something the size of a football out of his nether regions...

I scheduled an appointment with the doctor's the next week, but with the short notice, and with my work travel schedule, I couldn't get in until May 29th.

The drive to the doctor's office was uneventful, the wait in the waiting room was no different than if I were sitting at the dentist's office. I think I was still in denial. I mean, I DID buy the cheapest test available at the store. It was even a private label product. How accurate can those things be?? Unlike those Clearblue commercials, no, it wasn't the most sophisticated piece of technology that I've ever peed on.

I was actually more concerned about making sure that I brought and wore socks during the checkup. I have a big foot aversion and have absolutely no desire to gross the doctor out with mine. Then the CNM placed her doppler wand on my stomach. A strong, steady and extremely fast series of "thuds" echoed across the room, and she announced, "You're pregnant" and smiled. I was floored. I can't really explain the myriad of emotions that came crashing all at once...wonderment, worrying, hesitation, and then, the feeling that my heart and soul now utterly belongs to someone. And I cried.

It was the most amazing sound I've ever heard (the heartbeat, not of me sobbing like an out-of-control toddler), and from that moment on, whatever doubts I've had about the sanity of having a kid right now vanished. From that point on, I would fight anyone who dared to hurt my child or take him/her away from me.

I stayed on to wait for an ultrasound. I was actually further along than estimated, and my due date was pulled forward from Dec 21st to Dec 8th. In time to be home for Christmas.

He/she was squirmy and charming at the same time, if something that's only 3 inches big is capable of being charming. I loved the little hands and feet, and I couldn't wait to be able to touch them and to feel the little fingers clutch mine.

Baby Millard at 12 weeks old

Thus begins the journey of my life. Things are never going to be the same again, (although my ever charming husband is of thought that all we have to do is toss the baby into the pram and we'll be all set to go like usual) and despite the oncoming weeks and months of more nausea, dizziness, "deprivation" of food stuff that I love but can't eat and of course, the process of eliminating each and every article of clothing from my "wearable wardrobe" because I could no longer fit in them, I don't think I'll give it up for the world. Because I'm having a baby.

Another boring update....

*Cue sound for drumroll please* Ladies and gentlemen, my closet is done! Well…let me rephrase that…the closets for the hanging items are done. They've been built, painted and decked out with all my grubby belongings. And I won’t encourage you to examine them too closely because I got lazy after slopping on 20 coats of paint on each surface for the first one and a half closets…so the one that’s closest by the window is still grainy and rough…Hey, not my fault that my husband didn’t buy quality wood and that he didn’t sand it down first, right? At least, it’s in the corner so you can’t really see how bad it is. But so what if it took double the expense, and 4 times longer to build it, and the results are not as nice as those custom ones? I’m just glad that it’s done and it’s still 2007! Hahahahahahhahaa (Sorry, hunny!!)

Isn't it pretty? I (yes, "I" as in me with my own two bare hands with absolutely NO help from my significant other whatsoever...Just wanted to make sure that we are on the same page here....) painted the room a light blue - I envisioned it to be a calm light blue, but the color came out more like Baby Boy blue than anything...That first kid of mine better have a little weiner because there's no way that I'm going to repaint it!!!

And I was going to say, isn't it such a difference from what it was? Then I realized that I never did get around posting all my carefully complied pictures of the inside of the house in the last post! DUH! So sorry....See what getting old does to your brain?? It's a wonder that I remember to lock the door before I leave the house every morning!

So here they are (please bear in mind that these were taken shortly after we moved in, hence all the crap littering the place - not like I'm implying that it's much better right now...but you know...)

We'd pretty much only paid (some) attention to the study and the closet...What to do? I think I must have hit my head hard when I was young, because I have a screwed up sense of "items worth shopping" for...I have no issues spending $$ on clothes or anything fashion related, but when you tell me I have to spend $80 on a shelf for the study, and I'll hem and haw about it for at least a month before taking the plunge! So much so that when my vanity went on sale from $400 to $150, I took so long to decide to get it that the price went back to the original price. GRrrrrrrrr

JC Penney Mirrored Vanity Table

Ok, your two-second tour of what we’ve been up to these past few weeks (all smooshed together because we seriously do NOT live interesting lives....Any longer and you'll probably be falling asleep)

Week of 8/2 to 8/5

MY BIRTHDAY!!!! Although I don’t really appreciate the fact that I’m getting older (and therefore, my bones are starting to creak more, and my hair’s starting to fall out), I must say that it was quite a fun day!

Work colleagues made a big deal out of it (it was a little embarassing, actually, since I'm really not the type to should out "LOOK AT ME"...) but it was definitely fun to be fussed on.

I was wearing a Libertine for Target dress

And yes, I had TWO cakes...John went a little crazy there...I think it's because he thinks he's deprived of sweets and he's going to milk it as much as possible by saying "But hunny, these are for YOU" as he's gorging himself on the cakes.

Weekend of 8/11 – 8/12
We went down to Maryland for our last visit to Tommy and Margot’s before they ship out to Australia. Their house is almost all packed up, and John benefited with more gardening stuff.

Ethan is a big boy now! And the amazing thing is that he took to us quite readily and he got along famously with Buddy, who really is THE perfect size dog for little ones…It was adorable seeing them playing and running along together. Ethan would come bumpity-bump-bump down the stairs to the basement where we were residing just to follow Buddy (either that, or the egotistical side of me will say that it was me he’s looking for! *beams*)

Weekend of 8/18 – 8/19
Finally, a weekend where we can be alone, and do our mundane, normal, run-of-the-mill stuff which I love…Just the two of us (I’m a tad possessive, if you can’t tell). Absolutely loved it. Went to the park by the shoreline that's less than a mile from our house...That place is really hopping! All the oldies would come out and play...and when I say play, I really mean play...We have free concerts down there and one night, there was a Rod Stewart impressionist there, and this old man (complete with cane) was doing the boogie...Not a minute ago, he was shuffling around with his cane, and the next he's twisting and waving his stick around like he's Elvis! I think I almost died laughing!

Ok, until next time, else if I keep waiting to post this, it'd never get anywhere!

NYC - Pre Christmas

Sorry, it’s been awhile since the last time this was updated….But since I was back home HOME, I was too busy enjoying myself to sit in front of the computer. (I save that for my boring life over in the States…*sigh*) Plus, do you have any idea how sloooooow the internet connection has been back in KL since the earthquake in Taiwan???

I have a ton of pictures taking up space in any computer I can land my hands on (namely, my work computer, home laptop & John’s work laptop) so I figured it was time for me to clean up my mess (One of my New Year’s resolution…be timely in my responses/TQ cards/correspondences)

So….we were back in NYC again the weekend after we left Buddy over at Mary Kay’s house…Figured that we might as well take advantage of our curfew-less weekend (not that we stayed out that late…we’re on “old people’s” time schedule, remember?)

John wanted to test out his new handheld GPS thingamajig that he's been begging and begging and begging to have (and I finally caved because I got so tired of hearing about it...Hmm...I wonder where he learnt THAT trick from??) and since one of his arguments for getting that darn thing was “Think about it, honey…When we are in NYC, we can find our way to every shop that you want!” – like THAT ever happened….the best I got was speedwalking past the entrance of the store that I want to go in)

So, there we were, walking along 5th Avenue, trying to find the Museum of Natural History (we got excited seeing the preview for “Night At The Museum” (starring Ben Stiller) and wanted to get a first hand feel of it)…We finally stopped at Central Park where John was trying in vain to get the Satellites God to align with his toy, and I was…entertaining myself, people watching and smelling the horse poop that permeates the air around that area (A horse drawn carriage is a VERY romantic idea…on paper…But when you’re actually there, seriously, how lovey-dovey can you get when all you smell is eau de poopy?? Bleh…)

Finally, I got tired and took out MY toy (Cellphone/PDA with internet access) and found the blo*dy address to the museum…It took me 5 seconds. Makes me wonder why I was standing around for 5 minutes waiting for my husband to (unsuccessfully) find the way to our destination.

For those who think that they will be stuck in a similar predicament, take note:

American Museum of Natural History

+ Add: 79th Street and Central Park West

+ Tel: 212-769-5100

+ Hours: Sun-Thurs 10am - 5.45pm, Fri & Sat 10am - 8.45pm

We did stumble upon Tavern on the Green though...It was GORGEOUS!!! We tried to see if we could squeeze in there for a lunch break, but alas, it was overflowing with people with the same idea in their minds…Next time, we’ll do better. This is definitely on my to-do list before we leave the New England area for good.

At least we got the chance to ogle at the people who had the foresight to make a reservation…hehehe…(the building had clear glass walls in the back area of the restaurant, where the topiary garden was located.)

Not that my outfit was that interesting, but since I'm bored, and I have a captive audience, I'm wearing: Juicy Couture Reversible Fur Hoodie in Ziggy, Arden B. pink L/S top, True Religon Joey jeans, Chanel Cambon tote, Uggs in Chocolate

That location must be magical, because the GPS unit finally decided to work, and we were on our merry way to the museum…Which, by the way, I have no idea why we got so excited about it anyway, because the displays/artifacts there were average at best…The most interesting event was probably watching the guys at the cafeteria try to sweep a cockroach into a dustpan (seriously, how many guys does it take? And it was only a baby roach...)

And of course, since it was close to the Christmas season: THE tree is UP! ("What tree", you ask?? Where have you been all your life? Don’t you watch movies??? I’m only talking about the legendary Christmas tree that’s been dragged out of its 50+ year old address in some forest only so it can be decked out in ornaments and twinkle lights by the truckloads for 3 weeks, ogled at by millions of people and then, when Christmas is over, it’s moved to a dump site where it’s left to die – what a life)

And don’t let the twinkle lights fool you. In broad daylight, the tree is as sparse as hair on an old man’s head.

Bah, humbug…..Merry Christmas, y’all!!

Bah, humbug...

I’m sick, my eyes ache, my nose is rubbed raw…thank goodness my throat is all better…I miss my dog (bawled when we had to leave on Saturday night). So, in a nut shell, I’m feeling crabby. However, one look at this:

*Chanel Medium Cambon Tote & my mini Christmas tree from John*

makes me feel much better! I love my hubby =D

Last Trip Down?

Sorry for the long lull...For some reason, I can't seem to gather up enough energy to do anything beyond the regular eat, sleep, go to work cycle. Now that the holiday season's here, I'm just impatiently fidgeting in my seat at work till I can finally shut down my computer and go HOME!

Nway, it was Ethan's 1st birthday party last weekend (he's not officially 1 year old yet...that would be on Nov 22nd), so we made the trip down to Maryland again. It’s probably one of the last (if not THE last) time we’ll be down at their house before they pack up and leave for Australia. Kinda sad, since I really love what they did with the place, and they are great company.

It’s been roughly 1 month since we’ve seen the baby? And he’s so big now!!! Still adorable, of course!! =D

It’s a pity that they are moving so far away…John will miss his buddy (Tommy). Those two are so alike that it's quite quite...interesting.

Guess Where We're Going on Apr 27, 07??

To see her:

We've got floor seats (not the greatest, cause it's to the side due to a bozo that I shall refrain from naming - grrrrrrr!!) and I can't wait!!!!

For those who don't know who that is in the video, it's Christina Aguilera, and she's bringing the Pussycat Dolls and Danity Kane, so even if it's not the best concert ever (which I highly doubt...it'd be AWESOME!) there's guaranteed to be a *ahem*...boob-packed performance!!

Baby Fever And A Trip Back To Michigan

This past weekend, we flew back to Michigan for a whirlwind trip to attend a friend’s wedding and our new nephew’s baptism. It was…..fun, but definitely exhausting. I think I needed another weekend just to recover from it! Getting out of bed on that following Monday was positively NOT fun.

We got to see all the babies (well, I’m talking about the “real” babies) of the family…Yay. Joey (Heidi and Phil’s baby) is definitely a cutie-pie. Anna’s all blond-haired, blue-eyed…Actually, come to think, they both are…Pity our kid won’t be….Ours will probably be the typical squinty-eyed, bowl-cut hair Asian baby

Speaking of babies, John is definitely experiencing baby fever. He can’t leave all the babies alone! So I’ve started my research on the whole labor issue…just reading about it makes me want to buy one of those old-fashioned chastity belts!! A few things I found out:

1) On a scale of 1 to 5, the pain level of natural childbirth is oh, about a TEN!!!!
2) There will be vaginal tearing…I KNEW that it’s not quite so natural for something that big to come out of something that small!!
3) There’s always the possibility that the mother will POOP when pushing
4) Even getting the epidural will hurt
5) And if I get a caesarian, I get to look forward to bedrest because my skin, muscle and whatnot were cut open and stretched out to take that darn baby out.

So tell me, why on earth would I willingly have a kid???!!! And this does not even take account of the hemorrhoids, the stretch marks and the all-nighters that we’ll have to go through once the baby is here….I told John that if he wants a baby, he’ll have to start the adoption process. There’re plenty of babies in China…and chances are, people won’t even notice the difference when they compare the baby to us…I’ll probably get, “Oh Steph, he/she looks JUST like you!” cause all Asians look the same to the Americans anyway!

Back to the weekend…It was so nice to socialize again!! John and I obviously don’t have a life back here in Connecticut, and to have a taste of what being around friends again felt so good! And his immediate family were all there, so we got to hang out with family too! Two birds with one stone, anyone??

John's Birthday

So John turned 25 (old fart!) on Sept 10 and guess where he wanted to celebrate it? I'll give you three guesses............what? What's that I hear?? Yup, New York City...Are you starting to see a pattern here? When we are bored, we go down to NYC. When it's a special day, we go down to NYC. When we need a treat, we go down to NYC. I'm surprised that the people at the train station haven't recognize us by now.

Once again, it was hop, hop, hop over to the Amtrak in Stamford (veeery close to A.Florence's place....we should make it a point to knock on her door someday) and onto the train. The weather was so-so...the moment I put on my coat and wrap my scarf around my neck, it gets hot. But when I take it all off, it's cold again...I bet that if the weather was human, it'd be a woman (who's going through menopause)

Since it's his day and all, I allowed him to "plan" this trip. Direct translation: Walk around aimlessly until it's time to go home. Boy, was that fun!

On our way to nowhere, we passed this amazing display of cakes, pastries and pies and naturally, we went in since it was Johnny-boy's snack time. I'm not really into sweet stuff lately, so i passed. Which was a good thing since a single serve was HUGE

Street fairs in NYC is pretty common during the weekends, and this weekend was no different. There were vendors selling fresh blended juice, popcorn (LOVE the kettle corn! We bought a big bag, and had to carry it for the rest of the day. It was worth it!!), kebabs, funnel cakes, etc etc etc....it was almost like the pasar malam down in Bangsar (not as crowded/ noisy though, but close enough)

Finally, after trying to send telepathic messages to John all day long, he got the hint and we went down to the Times Square area and toured Madame Tussauds' wax museum...Dang, the entrance fee was high! But it was definitely interesting....almost eerie. 50% of the time, it took me awhile to realize that the person in front of me was not even technically a "person"! The wax figures were THAT good! With this museum, we mere mortals got the opportunity to get chummy with Elvis, Marilyn Monroe, Britney Spears, Jessica Simpson (whose shirt now says the Ex- Mrs Lachey – interesting. Good to know that they keep up with the current events!), the Beatles, etc etc etc...To be quite honest, I had no idea who most of the people were...

Boston, Boston....

That just doesn't have quite the same ring as "New York, New York", does it??

As you may (or may not, depending on how interested you are in our daily lives...which I can't really imagine to be that interesting, therefore the number of people interested in our lives would be practically....3) be aware of, we were in Boston during the Labor Day weekend with Florence, Tommy and his family. A. Florence managed to score a great deal at the newest Westin Hotel and I guess what better way to enjoy that than with family??!! *blink blink*

We didn't take much pictures (since we are still getting used to the idea of capturing our mundane lives in digital stills) but the trip itself was great fun...Actually, the most memorable thing about it is the insatiable appetite of both U.Tommy and my husband....Man, those two can eat!!

Ok, and here are the pictures that I know that you reeeally want to see...(and no, it's not of me...apparently I'm not cute enough... )

For those who would like to see a little Millard baby, I'm afraid that there's a little more waiting to be done! So this will have to suffice...

Notice that he's laying on the most padded area of the bed, where the comforter is folded twice?? These days, our bed is his bed, and his bed is his bed...He's such a little diva! THIS is why he'll probably die if we put him in a kennel during our trip home.

How Time Flies....

I can't believe that it's been almost a year since:

I'm so glad that I found that one special person I want to annoy for the rest of my life!!

Anyway, I'm at work (it's almost 9pm!!) waiting for John who's at this charity poker event downstairs...So, I'm utilizing my time in a "productive" manner! So here's a little something to take a trip down memory lane....

*You can click on the picture to make it bigger*

And once again, a very big, heartfelt thank you to all of you who took the time, energy and effort to be with me on my "special" day...I probably did not express it (enough) but it really meant a lot to me, especially during that time of my life. So, thank you again! And guess what? We get to do it ALLLLL over again in a few months time!!

Does This Sound Like Me??

An interesting site to find out what your birthdate, and your name says about you....

http://www.paulsadowski.com/birthday.asp

Here's my Life Path...

The Life Path 4 suggests that you entered this plane with a natural genius for planning, fixing, building, and somehow, with practical application and cerebral excellence, making things work. You are one of the most trustworthy, practical, and down-to-earth of individuals; the cornerstone members of society. Indeed, as a Life Path 4, you are a builder of society. The cream of the crop in this Life Path can be a master builder in society. if you are among these highly talented people, you have an idealistic nature which is grounded in practical terms, allowing you to conceive grandiose, far-reaching schemes and carry them through to the end. If you desire and are willing to work for it, you can achieve enormous success, prestige, and fame. Obviously, everyone with a 4 Life Path does not become famous.

All with this Life Path have the ability to take orders and to carry them out with dedication and perseverance and many 4s live and work happily in this context. (I think I'm definitely one of those) But so often, the 4 Life Path is the entrepreneur and manager in the community. In either role, you always demand as much from yourself as you do from others, and sometimes a lot more.

You have the kind of will power that is often mistaken for sheer stubbornness. (Hear that hunny??!)You don't think of yourself as dogged, but your honest beliefs and that ever direct speech makes you come across as completely unremitting. Once a decision is made, it will be followed through to the conclusion, right, wrong, or indifferent. You are very set in your ways and determined to handle things the way you are so certain that they should be handled. Your tenacity of purpose and ability to get the job done borders on obsession. You are a wonderful manager with a great sense of how to get the job done.

You are an excellent organizer and planner because of your innate ability to view things in a very common sense and practical way. (Not that I'm saying that I am, but people have actually said this about me before...numerous times...so, is it true??) This stems from a strong desire to be a perfectionist in your labor. Planning is necessary to avoid errors. It's very likely that a 4 Life Path person invented the to-do list, because it is the rare Life Path 4 who doesn't have one by her side at all times. (Hahaha...That probably explains my unhealthy obsession with stationery!) Your life is programed in an orderly fashion permitting you to catalog and manage the flow of ideas and activities that fill your day. Indeed, you seem to function best when you are under the gun and facing a tough set of problems.

Loyal and devoted, you make the best of your marriage, and you are always the good provider. Friends may be few in number, but you are very close to them and once friendships are made, they often last a lifetime. (So THAT'S why I don't have any friends!! )

The number 4 is solidly associated with the element of earth from which it gains its strength and utter sense of reality. You are one of the most dependable people you know. If patience and determination can ever win, you are sure to achieve great success in life. Often, you are called on to take care of others; to finish what they have started. It may not seem fair and probably isn't, but it may be the key to your accomplishment and reputation.

The negative side of the 4 can prove dogmatic to an excess, narrow-minded, and repressive. A lot of skin-deep people turn you off, and you lack the tact to keep your feelings from being totally clear to all around. Additionally, the negative 4 has a bad tendency to get caught up in the daily routine of affairs, missing the big picture and major opportunities that come along once in a while. (Quite, quite true, I'm afraid)

John's Birthday Weekend - Friday

Because I had a whole week of "celebration" for my birthday this year (it started on the Friday before when my sweetie in-laws threw me a surprise "party"), my husband thought it was only fair that he had one too. But since his falls on a weekend, whereas mine was on a dreary Wednesday (probably one of the dullest days of the week), he only got 3 days (which was plenty enough for the both of us to gain a significant amount of pudge, by the way!) to do anything he pleased with minimal nagging on my part. Oh dear.....

So at 11pm on the Friday night, we began our 1 hour long drive to the casino (the 3 wrong turns didn't help the total length of the journey). It was one of the most desolated areas I can think of to put a casino on. I mean, if I had to do it again, I wouldn't drive that 8 miles of winding country roads (avid gambler that I am not) to get to Foxwoods again...I'll just hop over to Mohegan Sun, located probably right off the highway, not 5 minutes away from the Foxwoods exit.

But in the middle of nowhere, there rises this monstrous construction, complete with spotlights...It's just so random...

Anyways, there are 3 separate casinos in the building, each tied to a different hotel *I think*. We first went to the Great Ceder Casino, since we parked at the Great Ceder hotel...It was mainly just slot machines there. We played (and lost) $5 there and moved on. He was in search of a roulette table...

Next up was the Grand Pequot Casino in the Grand Pequot Tower. John got roulette happy whilst I wandered around, people-watching until I decided to try my luck on a particular slot-machine halfway down an isolated row...Call it a coincidence, but I won $17.50 on my very first *run* (is that what they call it?) I took the money and cabut!!! (Hey, I'm not rich enough to risk it!)

Birthday boy wasn't so lucky (or perhaps he just didn't stop at the right time)....we left after he spent his agreed upon sum (even then, I had to drag him kicking and screaming away from that room of booze, smoke, greed & gluttony). Poor John....

Ah well, nothing that a huge ice-cream cone won't cure!

Dear Santa...

Since it's a Friday (and therefore the day tends to drag on and on and on until the clock strikes 5pm), and I'm bored out of my mind, I've created a "Dear Santa" list on the side bar to get the things I'm currently lusting after, out in the open. Who knows, perhaps one of these will land on my doorstep because I'm such a good girl.

*blink blink*

Our Connecticut "Home"

Since we've only moved 3 times in the last....oh, TWO YEARS (!!!), I've pretty much given up the idea of living in an area PERMANENTLY. Because given my husband's nomidic tendencies of never being able to stay at a particular position for long, I know from experience not to get overly attached to a particular location because the moment I do, that's when I'll receive news that we'll be moving within the next week.

However, since I was given forewarning that this little stint in the East coast has an expiration date, I've come to really appreciate it for what it is, and will probably try to fit in as much sightseeing as possible in this beautiful New England territory.

What I do like about our current apartment is that it feels homey. Our Kentucky place was simply too big (and had too little nooks and crannies) for it to be a real home.

And I do like that it has a bigger closet that our previous residence. Finally, I can have my "side" of the closet once more!

Our First ORGANIZED Trip to NYC

So, after our last trip to the city (which ended up with the both of us sitting in front of the library, with arms crossed and huffing away), it was time for us to get organized, and to actually have a plan before venturing back to the best city in the world.

So, I turned to my resourceful girls from my forum and was recommended this. For those who are extremely into shopping (i.e. Moi), this is like the treasure map to shopping in NYC! Notice that it only has certain areas in the city (namely, areas that would cause your credit card to go into overdrive, and your significant partner to break out into a cold sweat because wifey over here is hyperventilating at all the gorgeous displays & goods). So, being the 'kiasu' person that I am, I printed off all of them (using the office printer, mind you), and sneaked back into my cubicle and proceeded to lay each of them out and taped them all together (again, by using office supplies). And voila! A new, informative map that not only shows us a detailed view of the streets in Manhattan, but also where the metro stations, restaurants, museums, landmarks are. More importantly, it also has the more important information that other maps sorely lack: where all the good shops are located. =D

Today, to celebrate Father's Day (apparently having a puppy gives one the right to be called a parent, along with all its fringe 'benefits'), of course my dear husband would want to go down to New York City and inhale all its glorious dust. So we hopped on the Metro, landed in the Grand Central, and started our day.

First stop: Lunch (hey, I was hungry and whiny...If there's something that can shut me up - at least, literally - is to have me a whole mouth of hot food!) Went to this place called Burger Heaven - pretty cool decor, but was not that impressed with the staff. Food was decent

Next: The Central Park Zoo.
Yes, there's an actual zoo in the middle of this concrete jungle, complete with live wild animals.(Where do you think the animals from the movie 'Madagascar' were from??)

Anyhoo, me being the animal enthusiast, I went completely gaga there...yes, I was pushing and shoving along with all the LITTLE kids for a good viewing spot...hey, just because you're 5 doesn't give you more of a right to be in a prime nose-pressing-against-the-glass position!

My favourite was the polar bear, who appears to be a creature of habit since he was swimming from point A to point B the whole time we were there (for, oh...about 30 minutes) Lucky for my husband, since he apparently lacks the whole hand-eye coordination thing...For goodness sake, that bear is already helping you by being in the same spot every 20 seconds...how can you miss it???!!

I'm wearing: Tara Jarmon for Target babydoll dress, Chanel 5087-H sunglasses, Gucci Horsebit Hobo bag

After the zoo, we took a cab (yes, a cab...for the first and last time ever) down over to SOHO for me to oogle at some Balenciagas...Sadly, I couldn't find the one I was lusting over. Ah well...

In the process of finding the Chinese dim sum restaurant we were going to for dinner, we got a little.....lost. And John was no help as he was too busy laughing at me...Apparently I was an amusing sight...hmph!

We finally said "forget it" to finding a Metro station and just walked all the way from SOHO to Chelsea. At least we got to see the infamous Magnolia Bakery (from Sex & the City)...Next time, we'll actually take the time to line up around the block to get our hands on the cupcakes...

When we were making our way back to the Grand Central, we stumbled upon Times Square. It was John's first time there, and yes, I said "stumbled"...Even though I've been there before, I'm so directionally challanged that for me to land up where I want to land up is always a surprise. Put me in a mall, however....