Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Tuhanku gondrong.....

found an old writing of mine. jadi kangen nulis lagi. kapan ya?

-----
Tuhanku Gondrong sih...

Sebagai dobel minoritas yang hidup di Negara berkembang, saya paling sebel kalau ada yang nyombong-nyombongin agamanya di depan saya. Ganggu! Padahal saya bukanlah orang yang terlalu religius. Kalau ada yang bertanya kenapa saya beragama Kristen, saya pasti menjawab dengan bercanda “abis Tuhannya gondrong sih.. funky.” Atau “soalnya bisa makan babi.” Tentu saja ada alasan lain, tapi biarlah itu jadi urusan saya. Kalau ada yang protes dengan jawaban saya diatas, biarlah itu menjadi urusan mereka.

Jadi lain urusannya kalau ada orang yang berusaha meyakinkan saya kalau agama mereka lah yang paling benar, paling yahud, paling canggih, paling toleran, paling begini paling begitu. Segala ‘paling’nya dilihat dari mana dulu nih? Tentu saja banyak syarat yang mengikuti kata ‘paling’ tadi. Paling benar menurut si A. Paling yahud karena tidak perlu repot menjalani berbagai macam aturan. Paling canggih karena doanya tidak perlu diucapkan. Cukup dengan mengisi formulir saja. Paling toleran karena boleh makan segala jenis makanan yang ada, tanpa pantangan apapun. Wih, enak sekali kalau ada agama yang seperti itu.

Dulu waktu SD saya bermusuhan berat dengan seorang anak pendeta. Saya masih ingat, namanya Denny. Kalau ada pepatah mengatakan bagai anjing dan kucing, maka bagi kami pepatah itu tidak berlaku. Kalau anjing mengejar kucing, maka saya dan Denny tidak saling mengejar, tapi langsung berhadapan dan saling perang, entah itu pakai sapu, kemoceng, atau malah langsung tampar-tamparan dan gebuk-gebukan. Permainan keji ini baru berakhir kalau guru melerai, atau bel masuk kelas berbunyi. Setelah itu masing-masing akan menyimpan dendam dan strateginya untuk waktu istirahat berikutnya. Sebetulnya tidak jelas apakah yang menjadi pangkal permusuhan. Saya bahkan tidak ingat kenapa harus dia. Saya cuma ingat, setiap orang dewasa yang melerai pasti bilang “masa kamu berantem sama anak pendeta?” Loh .. memangnya kenapa? Apakah berantem sama anak pendeta bikin kualat? Apakah anak pendeta punya status yang lebih tinggi dibanding anak insinyur, atau dokter?

Sewaktu lulus SD dan masuk SMP, ternyata saya satu SMP dengan Denny. Karena gak kenal siapa-siapa, kami pun secara otomatis berbaikan dan mencari kelas baru berdua. Tidak, kami tidak sekelas, tapi sejak hari pertama di SMP itu kami berteman baik. Saking baiknya sampai semua teman sekolah mengata-ngatai “iih.. hebat loh pacarannya sama anak pendeta.” Loh? Sorry ya, pertama saya gak pacaran sama dia. Kedua, memang kenapa kalau pacaran sama anak pendeta? Apakah itu berarti saya jadi lebih suci? Ah kayaknya gak juga deh.

Sewaktu SMA saya berteman erat dengan 4 orang yang bervariatif baik dalam kemampuan otak maupun kepribadian. Ada yang Buddha, ada yang Kristen, ada yang Islam, ada yang Katolik. Kami tidak pernah mempermasalahkan agama, karena pada saat itu saya bersekolah di SMA favorit yang sebetulnya dikhususkan untuk anak-anak berotak encer. Saya, yang sebetulnya berotak encer namun tidak punya kemauan keras untuk jadi pandai, tentu saja jadi ngos-ngosan berusaha menyamai posisi teman-teman dalam perolehan ranking. Kalau tiba waktunya bulan Ramadhan, teman saya yang Islam santai saja berpuasa, sementara kami santai saja makan di depan dia. Pada saat itu, agama bukanlah satu hal yang penting buat kami. Lebih penting memikirkan siapa yang kali ini dijadikan tumbal untuk dikirim ke olimpiade fisika berikutnya.

Dan kami baik-baik saja. Pertemanan masih tetap terjaga sampai saat ini, dan bahkan setelah teman saya si Islam itu menanggalkan keIslamannya (karena alasan pribadi, saya tahu sebabnya tapi kalau anda ingin tahu, silahkan Tanya sendiri sama dia), kami tidak lantas menuding “Nanti gak masuk surga lu…” Biasa saja. Dia tetap teman kami, terserah mau beragama ataupun atheis. Kami malah lebih kawatir akan ke-antipati-annya terhadap lelaki dan pernikahan.

Karena itu saya gak pernah habis pikir, kenapa ada saja orang-orang yang ngotot membela agamanya, sampai pada titik dimana ia maksa orang lain harus menganut agamanya juga.

Dalam benak saya, ini tak ubahnya seperti orang jualan.

“Eh kamu tau gak, TV Sony yang terbaru, Bravia.. keren banget loh. Aku baru beli kemarin. Wiiih gambarnya canggih bener. Kamu mesti punya juga. Gak nyesel deh.”
“Ah masa sih? TV ku Sharp, masih model lama sih. Tapi ok-ok aja kok buat nonton.”
“Sharp? AAhhh.. ketinggalan jaman tuh. Beli Sony dehh. Asli, Sharp mah gak ada apa-apanya.”
“Tapi aku puas-puas aja kok.”
“Percaya deh. Gak bakalan puas kalau udah liat Sony.”
“Tapi kan mahal..”
“Ya ampun, ada uang ya ada rupa lah. Kualitas meen… lu pentingin kualitas apa kesehatan mata?”
“Apa hubungannya?”
“Ah katro. Kalau kualitas gambar Sharp kan gak sebagus Sony. Nanti mata lu cepet rusak. Daripada nanti mesti operasi mata, mendingan skarang boros dikit, beli Sony.”

Atau ada yang pernah terjebak ditawari bisnis MLM? Saya pernah.

“Cita-cita lu apa?”
Tentunya ini pertanyaan jebakan. Namun karena saya cukup lugu dan tolol, maka saya jawab saja sekenanya.
“Jadi kaya raya.”
Tentu, siapa yang tidak mau? Dan memang benar, tanpa malu saya akan mengakui kalau cita-cita saya memang jadi nyonya besar yang kaya raya. Amin.
“Nah. Lu pilih mana, jadi kaya pada saat elu umur 80 tahun, atau jadi kaya sekarang?’
Lagi-lagi jebakan batman, dan lagi-lagi saya cukup lugu dan tolol untuk menjawab dengan lantang:
“Ya sekarang lah!”

Dan setelah itu saya harus menghabiskan 2 jam waktu saya menghadiri seminar MLM dimana semua orang terlihat antusias dan hiperaktif, gigi-gigi putih berderet rapi tersembul dari mulut yang tersenyum lebar, dan ruangan penuh dengan suara tepuk tangan yang membahana setiap ada yang berdiri baik untuk memberikan presentasi, menerima penghargaan, atau sekedar mau ke WC. Belum cukup itu, saya juga harus menghabiskan waktu 6 bulan kedepan untuk main petak umpet dengan teman saya yang menawari itu. Semua karena saya tidak tega untuk bilang apa pendapat saya mengenai bisnis MLMnya itu.

Lucu? Memang. Tapi tidak lucu kalau yang ditawarkan adalah agama. Coba bayangkan percakapan ini.

“Agama gua lebih enak Ren. Gak sekolot dan sekaku yang orang kira kok. Buktinya banyak kok yang pindah ke agama gua, dan betah. Malah kadang mereka yang pindah sekarang malah jadi lebih taat daripada gua yang asli dari lahir.”

Jawaban apa yang akan anda beri sekiranya ada yang ngomong gitu ke anda? Kalau saya sih akan menjawab dengan santai. “Aduuh.. gimana ya? Di agama lu Tuhannya gak gondrong sihhh.” Karena kalau saya menjawab dengan serius kenapa saya menganut agama yang saya anut sekarang… wih bisa panjang akibatnya. Bisa-bisa waktu 6 bulan saja tidak cukup, dan bukan tidak mungkin malah akan terjadi perang nuklir karena saling ngotot agamanya yang paling benar. Cape kan? Lagipula daripada nanti saya dibilang kualat lagi, mendingan diam saja lah. Apalagi saya juga bukan orang yang sabar dan telaten dalam menjabarkan sesuatu. Lebih gampang untuk menjawab yang singkat dan undebateable aja.

Jangan salah, saya tidak melarang orang pindah agama. By all means, silahkan. Asalkan memang yakin dengan pilihannya. Dan kalau sudah yakin, ya mbok dipegang keyakinannya, supaya nantinya kalau datang yang lebih bagus dan kinclong, hati tidak mudah goyah dan tergoda. Saya juga tidak melarang kalau ada yang berusaha menggaet saya masuk keyakinannya. Sah saja. Asal jangan marah, ya, kalau saya bilang Tuhannya situ gak gondrong.

Sunday, October 24, 2010

cap jempol

on status: yep. it's finally official. i'm a permanent resident of the united states. yayyy!! 5 months from applying to getting approved. now all i have to do is wait for the card to arrive in the mail (the officer said it'll be between 2-3 weeks, but might come sooner), and then i can apply for a social security number. woohoo. i feel so americanized now. :P

on patrick: he's learning to stand up already!! woohoo. mommy so proud. he's been learning to stand up for quite a while now, once he mastered the sitting position from crawling. now he can crawl and follow me to the kitchen, or just approach the dog food whenever it's feeding time. and he likes to hold on to the coffee table and peek what's on top of the table (and pull them to the floor). so annoying yet i don't mind. :))



and he's starting to eat finger food now. the other day hubby and i ate grilled ribs for dinner, and hubby gave him a piece of bone. oh boy oh boy, he gnawed it like there's no tomorrow. and he doesn't have any teeth yet!! and yesterday we went to tucson and ate at a korean restaurant. patrick was fussy and wanted to grab whatever we're eating, so hubby gave him a piece of parsley. lol. boy that was a funny sight.

can't wait to see him walking around real soon.

Saturday, October 2, 2010

stuff hubby said

hubby, on why he doesn't want a baby girl.

"with a boy, i just have to worry about one p*nis. with a girl, i have to worry about all the p*nises in town!"

i can't argue with that.

Sunday, September 26, 2010

of snow, sun, soup and shopping

so here i am, at home with hubby on a saturday night watching titanic for the thousandth time. boring. then i realized i haven't written anything about my recent trip to yellowstone, Wyoming. not that you all care about it, of course. but i'll pretend you do just so i have something to write and to spare you from any suffering, i'll keep it short.

wyoming is so far away it took us 2 full day of driving just to get to the nearest town from the south entrance of yellowstone, which is Jackson in WY. it was past 6pm local time when we arrived at the campground, so we had time to do some laundry (not that we needed it, but hubby was fussy about the bedsheet...). the next morning we left for fishing bridge campground, where we'll be staying during the week.

to get to yellowstone via the south entrance we have to go through grand teton national park. it's not big and although it's beautiful, it's nothing compare to yellowstone. the view was just breath-taking. and to top it all off: it was snowing when we arrived at yellowstone. simply perfect.


the campground was ok, good sized although probably a bit small now that we have the bigger trailer. we couldn't fit into the site we were assigned to so we asked for a change. i had to help hubby park the trailer while it was snowing. how fantastic was that?

after that every morning for the whole week we're there hubby went out the door at 5.30-6am to hunt for wild animals to photographed while i and patrick stayed in the trailer and get ready. at least that was the plan. but of course nothing worked according to plan, ... the heater fan broke on the first morning we were there. so patrick and i had to spend the morning almost frozen. 49F. it's funny cos just less than 2 weeks before then me and patrick had to spent a really hot day in the trailer ... at 90 something F. talk about extreme!! a repair guy from the campground couldn't fix the fan, and so after that we had to spend almost every morning freezing while waiting for hubby.

apart from that the trip was excellent. the sun was all out for the whole week. saw boat load of creatures running wild (elk, bison, canada geese, bald eagle, hawk, black bear, coyote, grizzly mommy bear with her two cubs, wolf (from so far away that hubby called out "LOOK!! a SPOT!"), deer, and idiots) and we had fun making fun of people ("look at that grandpa trying to take picture of that spots - bison far far away - with his tiny little camera pocket.. teeehehehehhehe"). too bad we didn't see any trumpeter swan that are native to that park, and no moose either.

all right, enough about yellowstone. after the heater incident we went back to tucson last thursday to get the trailer fixed. so as usual we stopped by at the asian grocery to buy some asian food. i went berserk at the fresh veggies section and bought fresh beansprouts, kailan and bokcoy and long bean (kacang panjang). but now i have to finish them all quickly before they deteriorate (and that means: within a week!! EEK!). trouble is i don't really know how to cook those except by stirfrying with a little bit of garlic or oyster sauce and hubby doesn't like it that way. hmppph. gotta find another way/dish to incorporate those veggies then. right now for dinner i've settled with soto ayam and tomorrow i'll be cooking seafood claypot (without the claypot..haha). we'll be eating all asian/chinese food this week. hope hubby can keep up.

i'm also a bit excited about my bro-inlaw's upcoming wedding this nov. been browsing online for dresses and went a bit gaga on oldnavy.com. wanted to buy a few long sleeve shirts and tops and cardigans and jacket ... and a pair of boots but i've just spent more than $200 in target so i'm quite broke now. oh well, i'll have to go to tucson again on oct anyway so i'll just stop by old navy and buy the things i want, if they fit. *cross fingers*

Monday, August 30, 2010

my smart boys

brady (left) and max, in the truck, ready to travel

as you probably have known already, i have two dogs: an english mastiff and a yellow lab. max - the english mastiff - is a very observant dog. whenever he's outside he'd notice things. birds, trees, bugs, flower petals blown by the wind, deers, bridge above our boat, .. . whenever we take him to a new place he'd sniff out new smell, see new things and mark his scent as much as he can.

brady, on the other hand, is a very ignorant dog. as far as he's concern there's only two things that interest him: food and water. nope, not drinking water, but water deep enough to waddle or even swim in. he loves to ride in the back of the truck, sure, but he doesn't notice things the way max does (max would bark at passing trees and tries to catch them). brady just likes the wind in his face and knowing that we're going somewhere fun. once he sees the lake / river / pond, he'd go straight to the water and make a big splash and swim around before we even get there.

the same trait goes when patrick (my baby boy) is around. patrick's learning to crawl, and everytime he's down on the carpet, wiggling and waddling, max would want to come closer and sniff. he's very curious at what patrick's doing, probably thinking it's a new game. but brady would just sit in his corner, asleep or sometimes watching idly.

but there are something i've noticed with brady. a few months back i was sitting in the living room and patrick's already in the bedroom, asleep. my bedroom is hidden in the back of the house, and to get there you have to go thru the kitchen and laundry room. i know, weird. but it's a small house so it doesn't bother me. anyway, suddenly brady stood up, facing the kitchen, ears upright. and when i said "brady, what's wrong?" he just looked at me and then resumed his position, alert. at that moment i could faintly hear patrick crying. apparently brady heard him.

today it happened again. patrick's asleep in his crib, in the dining room (his day bed). suddenly brady stood up, looking up at me. not alert, but he was trying to get my attention. again i asked him what's wrong, and he turned his head toward the dining room. so i checked on patrick. apparently he's having a stuffy nose and was asleep with his head buried between his hands, so his breathing was heavy and i could hear a faint squeaking everytime he inhales. i switched his head position so that the nose would face outward, and the squeaking stopped. brady relaxed and resumed his nap.

me and hubby agreed that when it comes to intelligence, brady doesn't have much. he's pretty dull. but it gives me great comfort knowing he takes care of patrick and would let me know if something happens to him.

smart boy. i'm a proud mama.

Sunday, August 15, 2010

baking 101

lately i've been baking cupcakes regularly once a week. call me bored (i am!) but baking is so much more fun to do than doing house chores. heehee. i usually end up with a dozen of the regular size and about 2 dozen of the mini size. that's a LOT, so i usually gave half to my hubby's colleagues in the hospital. they love free food (who doesn't? :P).

today i decided to bake just because i have a few items about to go bad so i search the internet and came up with this:

banana cupcake with peanut butter frosting.
(image taken from marthastewart.com)

i took the cupcake recipe from marthastewart.com. hubby may not like her but her team came up with the best cupcakes recipes so i decided to make their cupcake. besides i have a lot of buttermilk in the fridge that i need to use before they go bad. but i made some slight adjustments with the sugar. the recipe uses light brown sugar, i only have dark brown so i just use it instead. made no difference as far as i can tell.

there's a twist though. when i pour the buttermilk directly onto my mashed banana, one 1/3 cup was good. the next two was .... STALEEEE!! oh my dear fairygodmother.... the buttermilk has gone sour. apparently it expired aug 7, and today is ....... aug 14!!! a WEEK!!! i had no choice but to continue using the stale buttermilk, hoping that i won't cause any food poisoning. thankfully once i mixed them with the bananas (which were so ripe they almost gone bad) you couldn't smell the staleness.

and i didn't put in the pecans because i didn't have any. i was going to put chopped almonds (which i have plenty, and have had them for quite a few months now.. :P) but because of the buttermilk fiasco i forgot to put them in. oh well.

after 20 min in the oven the cupcakes turned out really well. i'm so glad. was still a bit anxious about food poisoning though. i kept imagining the worse case scenario where all of my hubby's colleagues got food poisoning because of my cupcakes.....

now the frosting. i didn't use marthastewart's caramel buttercream cause i can't understand the directions. and beside i still have some heavy cream i want to use. so i use the recipe from allrecipes instead. but i substitute the sugar with splenda sugar blend. AND i reduce the measurements (the recipe calls for 4 cups sugar, which means 2 cups of splenda..). i only use 1 cup splenda and it's already sweet enough. i also put a bit more of the heavy cream because the buttercream was a bit too thick for my liking. it turned out really good.

i did end up with more frosting than cupcakes though. maybe because i didn't pipe it so i didn't use as many i would've (i don't like too much buttercream on my cupcakes). you may want to reduce the measurements and just make 3/4 of the recipe if you're like me. or you can put the frosting in an air-tight container and put it in the fridge/freezer. i can use it again next time.

well, so far i've eaten two small cupcakes and i gotta say, other than the deliciousness, i haven't got any stomach ache or diarrhea yet. so maybe (just maybe) it's safe to eat. but let it be a lesson for me.... never buy buttermilk... ever!! i'll just use a substitute. or make one myself. hmph.

oh btw, since yesterday was friday the 13th, i've read about myths about baking / cooking on fri 13th. apparently you shouldn't because everything you bake/cook will fail. what's this? why? i've never heard such a ridiculous thing before. i made some bbq pork yesterday and it turned out well.

Saturday, July 17, 2010

colorado trip

aah, finally, a spare free time to write my blog using both hands instead of the usual 2 fingers. it feels nice. haha.

ok, brief trip summary, if anyone's interested.

day 1. managed to get out of the door and left before 9am. wow. it's amazing considering the usual chaos everytime we have to leave early morning. it was a long drive so we were anxious to leave early. we got to the campground by 8pm (it was an hour ahead in colorado so we lost an hour of travel time) and it was already getting dark, so we hurried and unhitched the trailer. managed to do it just in time. phew. oh i saw an english mastiff just like max sitting on a grassy yard in front of one house leading to the campground. i was so surprised i yelled "MAX". and the next day hubby heard from someone that that dog was actually named max. what do you know.. :P we kept looking for him again the next few days but no luck.

day 2. did nothing much. hubby was too tired to wake up early morning and baby was too fussy to sleep thru the night. so we woke up rather late, and then went out to grab a late lunch and let the dogs out to play in the lake. oh yeah, we stayed about 10 mins from vallecito lake. so the dogs had fun, we got a nice late lunch / dinner at serious texas bbq. pulled pork, beef brisket, sausage and ribs. yummy.

day 3. we woke up early today (regardless of baby's continuous screaming thru the night) and went on a scenic drive. the route took us from durango - silverton (there's a scenic steam train that goes between this two cities, i'll mention it later) - ouray - placerville - tullaride - cortez and then back to durango. this drive is called the san juan skyway. the view was spectacular and breathtaking. for the first half we got the mountain, valley and all the greenery of alpine trees and green grass. saw lots of cows, horses, sheeps, llamas. during the second half leg of the trip the topography changed from greens to deserts. different kinda trees and not much green grass. interesting. the drive took us the whole day so by the time we were home we were in a hurry to cook dinner (grill some steak).

we didn't have enough days to do the scenic train. and besides, there's a lot of difficulties: where to leave the dogs while we're on the train, and my baby's still a lot too small for trains. so we opted out.

day 4. again we woke up a bit late. but no hurry this time as we planned to go to mesa verde. it's an hour away from durango. but when we were just about to leave durango hubby saw a trailer dealer so we stopped by. our trailer is too small for 2 huge dogs, 2 adults plus a baby. so we're thinking about buying a bigger one, preferably a 5th wheeler. this dealer sells raptor, a brand which right now is #1 in toy hauler 5th wheeler, so we wanted to check it out. by the time we finished it was almost 2pm already. so we hurried and head to mesa verde. got there around 3. was a bit dissapointed that we couldn't take the tour to 3 of the biggest cliff dwellings there because they involve strenuous trek and lots of ladders, but at least we're able to see 2 of them from a far.

we went home on day 5, so there's not much to tell except that we left the dog fence behind. :P i was so tired of the ride that i was glad to be home, eventhough the house was messy and dirty. at least it's not moving. haha. can't wait till hubby buy a bigger trailer though. it would be nice.

Monday, July 12, 2010

colorado let's go

most people i know would consider me as lucky, cos i get to travel to various places quite often. last month we (that's hubby, me, baby + 2 dogs) went to utah. this time we're spending a week in colorado, a town called durango. it's officially arund 9 hour drive from safford but because we made lots of stops for the dogs and baby, it took us almost 12 hours.

compared to other touristy towns i've been to (moab, sedona, san antonio), durango is the prettiest. not too busy, not too touristy... just pretty. and all the open space makes me wanna live here. within one town you get lake, mountain, open fields... dalam bbrp hari ini udah ga terhitung berapa kali liat deers, elks, sheeps, goats, cows, llamas, horses, donkeys... one time i even saw a bear crossing the street. and here in the campground we're surrounded by the san juan forest.. and therefor lots of chipmunks running around, unafraid of humans.

makes me want to live here.

ok, full story and photos gonna have to wait. i still have 1 more day then we're heading home. semoga pas sampe rumah pantat masih berbentuk....

Monday, June 28, 2010

jalapeno garlic tilapia

oh i just found a new recipe that i quite like. but i accidentally closed the website i 'stole' it from so i'm gonna write it quickly before i forget.

jalapeno garlic tilapia with pasta

ingredients:
pasta (i use spiral ones but you can use any kind, really) secukupnya, cook al dente
tilapia fillet (i bought mine frozen, looks something like this:)

to cook the tilapia :
mix 1/3 cup margarine, melted + 3 cloves garlic, chopped.
dip the tilapia in the margarine and then toss in flour (just regular flour). fry in 2 tbs olive oil for about 5 min, turning once. roughly until brown on each side.

i added some shrimps too, cooked the same way.

spinach leaves (de-stemmed) about 5 ounces, but i didn't measure.
1/4 cup heavy cream
2-3 jalapenos, sliced
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp garlic powder
salt + black pepper
2 1/2 tbs lemon juice
1 tomato, chopped

once the fish and shrimp is done, add the remaining margarine & garlic sauce into the pan, plus the heavy cream, lemon juice and the paprika, cayenne pepper, garlic powder, salt and black pepper into the pan, cook until sauce is reduced a bit. add the spinach, cook until wilted. then add pasta and tomatoes, toss until covered in sauce.

mine looks horrible but taste good. (if my husband adds a second helping, that means he likes it, and that's good for me.. :P).

update: oh i know why mine looks horrible. apparently you're suppose to fry the fish then take it out of the pan. grrr. no wonder my fish was ruined when i put in the spinach (cause i have to stir, see?). oh well. it's still good enough for me. and i also forgot the tomatos, and omit the jalapeno cause i don't have it.

Sunday, June 27, 2010

baking under the heat

akhir2 ini kok lagi banyak maunya tapi malasssss banget. belom lagi patrick rewel (ntah kenapa. jangan tanya deh..) jadi kurang ada waktu buat bikin2 yang di luar kegiatan rutin. jangankan yang gak rutin, yang rutin aja keteteran kok. tapi walau begitu kok ya masih sempet baking2 dan bikin camilan sedikit. simple2 aja.

mini cheesecake
ini gampang banget, sayang lupa ambil foto karena emang bikin buat dibawa ke kantor suami.

ingredients:
nilla wafers yg gede (18-20 biji, plus bbrp untuk di crush)
2 butir telor
2 cup (@8oz) cream cheese
3/4 cup gula
1 tbs lemon juice

caranya
panasin oven sampai 375F (190an C kali ya)
cemplungin 1 nilla wafer ke dalam muffin cup (dilapisin paper cup ya) untuk jadi dasarnya. bagian rata ngadep bawah.
isi: kocok creamcheese + gula sampai lembut. masukin lemon juice dan telur satu per satu, kocok sampai agak putih kayak krim. isi ke dalam muffin cup kurang lebih 3/4 penuh. taburi dengan nilla wafer yang sudah dihancurin... panggang 15-20 mnt (sampai kecoklatan). dinginkan di kulkas.

note: bisa juga dihias pake buah kalau ada.
warning: very addictive. makan 1 ga cukup.

habis ini masih mau bikin apple pie, bakpao, sama churros. untuk churros ini kebetulan nemu tepungnya di asian grocery, jadi pengen bikin deh. yumm yumm. trus masih mau bikin es krim buat makan apple pie nya. hadoooh, kapan yaaaaa?

anyhow, how are things?
things been going pretty well here. we go boating every week now (not during weekend though. i can't stand the crowd, neither can my husband). the weather's been so hot that every family who owns a boat would spend the day boating and skiing and swimming. those who don't have a boat buy a swimming pool (i have one too, cheap small plastic ones... just in case patrick wants to play in the water.. hee hee) or simply install a sprinkler in their yard. i prefer to stay indoors but of course it's not possible when hubby's not working. and i know it's not healthy for patrick. :p

yesterday we went to tucson to grab some things. originally we wanted to grab dinner at takamatsu, the korean bbq resto. but when we got there it was closed, with police line on the front doors. apparently the restaurant caught on fire a few weeks ago. darn. but we found a thai restaurant we rather like. so it's all good.

i also found another indonesian family who lives in this town. imagine that!! another indonesian. haahaa.. . i heard them speaking indonesian in walmart. i was so shocked to hear indonesian language being spoken that i blanked out for a few minutes. we exchanged numbers and planned to have dinner together or go boating.. i dunno. yay!!

now, if only i can find the time to declutter the house.

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

morning notes

if you buy a present for someone, and he turned out .. err.. not really excited about it, what would you do?

i don't buy presents cos i know i suck at it, but when i do feel like giving presents i think and think and think about it for quite a long time before deciding on something. this is probably why when he/she doesn't like it i get sad and a bit offended.

oh well. maybe gw sensi aja kali ya?

yesterday we went to lake roosevelt and went boating and swimming. it was so hot! had to slab on extra sunscreen on patrick. and i went for a short swim in the lake to. a major achievement knowing i have phobia about swimming in murky waters. must be the heat. patrick went in too, wearing an infant lifejacket. so cute.

Monday, May 31, 2010

shame on me..

abis ngebaca tulisannya adhitya mulya tentang mbak heni... kok gw jadi keinget waktu dulu pegang acara built in frisian flag. acaranya sih seru, intinya fun and educative games untuk infant and toddlers. biarpun bikinnya cape setengah mati (karena kurang orang, no producer and no effective executive producer in charge, dan research writer pun cuma seorang sajah.. oh gosh masih keinget capenya ampe sekarang) tapi gw seneng dan puas dengan program ini. berasa banget hasil jerih payah gw.

hubungannya dengan tulisan adhit.. begini. frisian flag ini punya maskot. badut .. aduh siapa ya namanya, lupa. marilah kita panggil dia dengan boneka baba. nah pada saat itu mbak klien ngotot si boneka baba ini ikutan nangkring alias in frame di setiap episode. ga akan jadi masalah kalau kita berhubungan dengan anak2 umur 5 ke atas, yang notabene udah cukup gede untuk berani salaman sama badut. susahnya adalah susu bendera target utamanya adalah untuk anak umur 1-3 tahun... which mean buanyaaaakkkk banget anak2 umur segitu yang takut liat si baba. boro2 salaman, baru liat aja udah mundur teratur duluan. frustasi deh, karena pas audisi banyak bgt bocah2 yang oke (pinter dan cameragenic) tapi takut ama baba. terpaksa ga lolos audisi karena gimana mo tampil satu frame sama baba kalo dari jarak 100m aja mereka udah nangis kejer2?

singkat kata untuk beberapa episode terakhir kita ngadain kompetisi antar TK, dan kita syuting di outdoor locations. lokasi pertama adalah ancol... kebayang kan puanasnya kayak apa? gw yang cuma pake kaos ama celana pendek aja udah kringetan setengah mati, gak tau deh gimana nasib si bapak yang 'berperan' jadi baba. padahal dese mesti joget2 senantiasa.

nah pas lagi ngadem di tenda ber ac gw sempet ngobrol2 sama si bapak tukang badut yg jadi baba. pertama sih ngalor ngidul basa basi aja. tapi di satu kesempatan dia sempet curcol, bilang kalau anaknya yg SMP malu kalo bapaknya tukang badut. padahal si bapak di sini berpanas2 ria demi anaknya bisa sekolah, supaya gedenya nanti ga cuma jadi tukang badut kayak bapaknya. gw jadi terenyuh, ikutan ngerasain sedihnya si bapak. tugasnya ngehibur anak2 tapi anak sendiri malu sama bapaknya. belom lagi mesti berpanas2 joget2 hanya untuk bayaran yang buat gw biasa abis dipake sekali makan di foodcourt. sekarang gw berdoa setengah mati jangan sampe anak gw nanti malu sama (kerjaan) bapak emaknya.

life's unfair but you make the most of it.

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

bella .. without edward!!


i was bored today (or had too much time in my hands, .. or simply too lazy to do any house chores.. :D. well, either way.. ) so i surfed thru netflix.com and stumbled upon a movie called bella. i saw the trailer about a few months back but didn't really pay any attention to it until now. it turned out to be a really good movie. me likey.

the one thing that made me cry is when the main character (the guy, jose) told the story how he hit and killed a little girl. it was an accident but it robbed him of his passion. now i can't imagine what it must've felt like to have hurt, let alone kill, a little child. but now that i've got patrick i see it from a different perspective. i can't imagine what it must've felt like to lose a child.

before patrick was born i was not a baby-child-kid-friendly person. i get tongue-tied infront of a child. hand me a baby and i won't know what to do with him. not that i ever want to voluntarily hold a baby in my arms, oh no. i'm scared of them.

nina, the main female character in this movie was scared when whe found out she was pregnant. she wanted to abort the pregnancy, thinking she won't know how to care for a baby. when i was pregnant hubby used to tease me, because i worried so much that i won't know what to do with the baby. well... i still worry too much, but at least i'm not afraid of babies anymore. now i have other things to be scared of: losing my baby or hubby. i pray hard that it would never happen. i don't know what i would do without them.

anyway... i'm rambling. i should be doing some cleaning up. besides, my baby's woke up from his nap. time to get him his bath. whoopee! fun.

ps: when i googled bella poster, the top page came up with kristen stewart's poster from the twilight saga. duhhhh!!! i'd always wanted to name my baby girl (if i ever have any) bella, but thanks to twilight... i change my mind.

Saturday, May 22, 2010

dumplings...

i miss yamcha. i miss those dang delicious dumplings and chicken feet and blackbean pork ribs, and everything else that comes in dimsum. oh well. i got one of those asian dumplings book so yesterday while hubby's home i tried to make the pork and napa cabbage water dumplings. the author (andrea nguyen, same author as my vietnamese cookbook) made everything sounds so complicated, but in reality it's really simple.

ok, for dumpling skin you can just buy them in the supermarket. but here we don't have asian grocery, and the ones available at safeway were only for wonton so it's not suitable for dumplings. so i had to make my own. it's simple.

2 cups of flour
3/4 cups of just-boiled water (i added another tablespoon). boil the water and then set aside (not longer than a minute)

in a bowl pour flour and create a hollow in the middle. pour water and (at the same time) mix the flour with a wooden spoon. do until the flour's moist and then using your hand knead them a bit so it'll create a ball. take the ball out of the bowl, and knead some more using hand for around 2 minute until it bounced back (but leaving a dent) when pressed with finger. put in freezer plastic bag, squeezing the air out and leave in room temperature for more than 15 min but not more than 2hr.

filling:
2/3lbs ground pork, fattier kind prefered but i use 80/20 ground beef, and i use around 1lbs
1/4 cup of chopped green onion
2 cups of finely chopped napa cabbage (sawi putih kalo orang indo bilang). after chopped, put in bowl, sprinkle with 1/8 tbs salt and leave for 15 min. then rinse 2x with water, and then squeeze the excess water out by using cotton cloth (i just use saringan sama peres pake tangan lah.. manual)
1tsp minced fresh ginger
salt
soy sauce
black / white pepper

how to make filling:
mix everything together. gampang kan? :D

how to assemble:
prepare a workspace, yg lebar ya.

dumplings:
- take dough ball out of plastic bag, divide into two. roll the dough into a 1 inch thick log (se-buku jari) and then divide into 16 pieces. sprinkle some flour on the cut side so they don't stick together, put back in plastic bag.
- take another plastic bag, cut 3 of the sides, put one of the dough inside, close, and press it with bottom of glass. and then roll the dough until it's quite thin (according to the recipe it should be 1/8 inch thick but i don't know how thick that is so i just 'kira2'..... but according to size it should roll out to be a bit smaller than your palm). then press the edges with your finger so that the edge is thinner than the middle part.
- fill with filling, putting the meat slightly off centered. then fold the edges together, pressing with your thumb to create a pocket. set aside. repeat.

before eating, boil the dumplings for a few minutes until they float and looks puffy and glossy.


any filling left-overs can be frozen in a vacuum bag or use ziplock bag and squeeze the air out.
any skin left can be refrigerated for up to 2 days but it's better to just make the dumplings, and then freeze those. to freeze dumplings: place on top of parchment paper then freeze for 1hr. after that put into vacuum bag, and it should last up to a month or two.


well, here's the result. not bad, ey?


oh ya, sauce. gampang.
soy sauce (1/4 cup? depends on how much you wanna make)
1 tsp sugar
minced garlic
chile oil. kalo gak ada bikin pake peanut oil + red pepper flakes. caranya panasin peanut oil sampe hot hot hoooot, trus masukin (alias goreng) red pepper flakes for about a minute. leave to cool. i was too lazy to fry the flakes so i just put the peanut oil in the microwave, and microwave it for about 1.5 minute, and put the flakes inside, and microwave again for another 30sec.

Saturday, May 15, 2010

sometimes

sometimes i wonder why am i a better baker back at jakarta than here
sometimes i think my brain is just one big blob of jelly
sometimes i dream reruns, as in i've dreamt the exactly the same dream before
sometimes i wonder what would happen if i hadn't get pregnant
sometimes i think my brain's not working at all
sometimes i feel too tired to do anything, but then i'd say to myself i was just being lazy
sometimes i want to throw everything away and then go on a vacation, just by myself
sometimes i wonder if he really loves me
sometimes i'd like to think myself as a great cook
sometimes i think i should get a lasik surgery
sometimes i think i'd rather buy something else than spend the money on something i don't really need, like a lasik surgery
sometimes i wish there's a target store here in town (actually i lied. it's most of the time..)
sometimes i think i'm being too hard on myself. but that's impossible, knowing how lazy most of the time i am
sometimes i wonder why i'm hungry again eventhough i just ate a couple of hours ago
sometimes i wonder why i wonder so much...
i should stop..

really... stop.

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

jalan sore.. kita berjalan jalan sore sore..

baca blog orang tentang jalan2 kok jadi kangen pengen jalan2 lagi ya? too bad i'm stuck in this country until who knows when so i can't travel anywhere outside the country. but with patrick in tow now, i can't really travel that far anyway. but still one can crave. thankfully hubby got a week off next month so we're going on a road trip again. this time bringing brady and patrick who've never been on a road trip before. i hope they're not fussy.

my inlaw is coming this wednesday. yayyy.. . i actually like my mother in law. she's cool. but i do have my worries, especially that the house is not as tidy as i'd like it to be. patrick's been so colicky this past week that i haven't been able to do much house cleaning (yay? :D). the house is so dusty and dirty. luckily he's sleeping quietly today after his bath, so i can do some things needed to be done. (grrr.. still need a bucket to mop the floor!)

Sunday, May 2, 2010

tales of friendship

salah satu pertanyaan temen2 di jakarta yang sering gw denger sekarang adalah "udah punya temen blom disana?" well, susah2 gampang nih jawabnya. yes and no. yes, i've made friends with some of the women who work at my husband's department. but if the kind of friendship they meant was like the ones i have in jakarta... it's a no then. maybe those women are what people call acquaintance. not yet close friends.

kemarin pas lagi bengong2 di mobil mendadak keinget salah satu episode pada saat i was about to resign from my office. jadi di kantor ini gw punya beberapa temen lengket (kalau nyontek istilah salah satu dari mereka : "kita kan kayak upil dan ingus....") dan pada saat terakhir2 resign itu memang kita lagi sibuk dengan kerjaan dan pikiran masing2 jadi udah lama gak sempet gosip2an bareng lagi. i was busy with my plans, they were busy with their work loads.

i still remember that day, when suddenly all of us reconnected dan ngegosip di salah satu ruang editing. it began when one of my friend said to me in a 'hopeful' voice that insyaallah she'd be divorced soon. note the word 'insyaallah' here (for those who don't know, it means 'if God is willing'). naturally i thought she was joking but you don't joke with stuff like that. needless to say i was shocked and immediately drilled her with the story. she told me the whole thing, and then proceed to say that our other friend had already known about it. what?? so we went to the editing suite (a small cramped space but very convenient for gossiping because each suite has it's own door and it's dark in there so we got our privacy), and started talking.

belom lagi selesai dengan berita yang mengejutkan tadi si temen nomor 2 mendadak bilang "eh gw juga punya berita mengejutkan loooh.. . i'm gayyy". although that news didn't shock me as much but still...

now that i think about it, it strikes me as funny that how we all have our own shocking secrets (including me). and i miss that. i miss those chatty gossipy moment with my friends. much as i like the women here, it's still not the same. first of all ngegosip dalam bahasa enggreesssss agak2 sulit deh. gak ada kata2 gak guna macam 'bo', 'ne', 'tau gak sih looo?', 'masa seeeh?' dan lain2 sebagainya. and then there's not much to gossip about except kids (mostly in form of me asking questions and they answer) cause i don't know the people they talk about and vice versa. kids and my husband are the only things we have in common. and then there's the time differences. although i don't work, i'm busy with my house and boys. they're also busy with their life. we don't have time to go lounging at a cafe to chat like i used to do back in indo when still single.

i miss my friends. they're hard to find. sometimes i wish i can go back to indo and meet them again, but i don't want to trade my life here with whatever. i'm happy, but i'd be happier if i can get some times with them again. it'll be fun to exchange news and stories and chat for hours with them again. (although agak2 sulit ya mengingat skarang kemana2 mesti bawa patrick.. :D). oh well, at least i'm lucky. my husband is quite content at listening to my gossips, so at least i can still project my inner gossip at someone. :D :D

Monday, April 26, 2010

menu ideas

2 more recipes i found rather successful.

ayam masak blackbean ala ny. sisca.
ini lumayan enak walaupun i did some slight variations. i will write the original recipe first then i'd include the variations i made in blue ink lah ya.

ingredients
4 paha atas ayam, potong jadi 8
air peresan jeruk nipis atau jeruk limo (dari sekitar 2-3 buah)
garam

saus:
5 sdm saus cabe
1 sdm madu
1 sdm kecap manis
1/2 bawang bombay, iris tipis / cincang
5 siung bawang putih, cincang
3 sdm blackbean asin [kalengan, airnya dibuang ya]
garam merica secukupnya

caranya:
rendam ayam dengan air jeruk nipis dan garam. setelah 1 jam, cuci bersih, lalu goreng.
[kalau gw sih lebih seneng ayamnya di rebus, jadi dapet kaldu ayam. jangan lupa tambahin garam sama lada dan kaldu block... setelah itu ayamnya baru di potong2]

panaskan minyak goreng, tumis bawang putih dan bawang bombay sampai harum. masukkan blackbean, saus cabe, madu dan kecap manis [gak usah persis.. dikira2 aja. gw sih nambahin madu dan kecap manis + air kaldu sekitar 2 sendok sayur]
, garam + merica. lalu masukkan kembali ayam, aduk rata. sajikan dengan irisan cabai merah.

--
satu lagi adalah dessert ala giada de laurentis. mbak giada ini salah satu cook yang gw suka karena makanannya simpel2 (kalau gak mau dibilang aneh krn doi spesialis masakan italia bo). nah ini adalah dessert yg simpel banget dan jadinya enak. buat yang doyan coklat, this is the dessert for you. cause i'm lazy, i'm just gonna copy paste the recipe. i got it from foodnetwork.com.

chocolate mascarpone cookie

Ingredients
• Vegetable cooking spray
• 1 pound refrigerated sugar cookie dough [recommended: Pillsbury tapi merek apa aja bisa kok. gw pake merk safeway. lebih murah bow.. :D]
• 2 (1.4-ounces) chocolate-toffee candy bars, coarsely chopped, divided [kalau gak ada ilangin aja.. gak gitu guna. atau kalau mau ya ganti sama permen toffee.. ]
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
• 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
• 1 cup (8 ounces) mascarpone cheese, at room temperature
• 1/4 cup sliced almonds, toasted [i just bought the whole already toasted almonds and then chopped them up]

Directions
Position an oven rack in the middle of the oven. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Spray a 7 by 10 3/4-inch nonstick baking pan with vegetable cooking spray. Lay a 6 by 18-inch piece of parchment paper in the pan, allowing the excess paper to overhang the sides. Spray the parchment paper lightly with cooking spray.

In a medium bowl, combine the cookie dough, 1/2 of the chopped chocolate-toffee candy pieces and vanilla extract. Using damp fingers, gently press the dough into the prepared pan. Using the tines of a fork, prick the dough all over [bagian ini jgn sampai kelewatan, krn kalau gak jadinya bantet]. Bake for 12 to 14 minutes until the crust is lightly browned. Cool for 15 minutes.

Place the chocolate chips and vegetable oil in a medium bowl. Place the bowl over a pan of simmering water and stir until the chocolate has melted. Cool the chocolate mixture for 10 minutes. Whisk in the mascarpone cheese until the mixture is smooth. Using a spatula, spread the chocolate mixture over the cooled crust. Sprinkle the remaining chocolate-toffee candy pieces and sliced almonds over the chocolate mixture. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours until the chocolate layer is firm.

Peel off the parchment paper and cut into 1 1/2 by 2-inch bars. Serve at room temperature.

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

let's go green

been feeling a bit sluggish this last couple days. 2 days ago patrick got colic and he wouldn't stop crying for an hour or so. tired!

anyway i've also been working on my garden. dulu pas belom kawin suami pernah cerita soal rumahnya, and i thought "wow. gersang." gak ngebayang ga bisa liat rumput lagi. jujur sempet agak segen sih tinggal di sini. but then he told me he could fix the garden and plant grass and stuff. i was like, really?

well, really. here's the before picture


gersang? yo pasteenyaaa. tanahnya pasir + batu, or should i say batu + pasir. kadar batu lbh banyak daripada kadar pasir dan tanah. itu pager batu.. batunya diambil dari backyard semua tuh. *ngayal tp mungkin terjadi*

nah setelah gw dateng mulai deh tuh digarap. top soil dikeruk, diganti sama pasir. trus dibikinin saluran irigasi biar ga cape nyirem2 kebon tiap hari. trus dibikinin patio dan curb biar cantik, trus ditanemin pohon2 dll. dan yang terakhir: grass.

it took 2 months but it's finally done. and these are the 'after' pictures.


green grass all the way. woohoo. udah lama ga liat rumput jadi norak.

my flowerbed. this one's okra. i've also got marigold, sunflowers, dahlia, roses, lantana, hibiscus, etc.


and this is my vegetable garden. herbs, tomatos, beans, canteloupe, ... you name it.

might still be another year or two before we can harvest the fruits but the garden should look nice this summer. can't wait.

Monday, April 5, 2010

baby language decoded?

jadi ceritanya menurut seorang patricia dunstan tangisan bayi tuh gak cuma asal nangis, tapi ada artinya. babies have their own language dan menurut si dunstan ini gampang banget kok nerjemahinnya. there are 5 words: neh, eh, owh, eiirgh, heh.

neh : means he's hungry.
eh (sometimes staccato and repetitive) : means he needs to burp.
owh : means he's tired.
eiirgh : means he's gassy.
heh : means he's uncomfortable

bah! easy to distinguish my ass.

i've listened to my baby cries many2 times (although not that often, thank God), and they all sound the same to me. sometimes emang gampang sih bedain antara eh dan owh. tapi sisanya...... sounds the same to me. which means everytime he cries i have to try to decode it in my own way. usually it involves checking everything i can check.

this past 3 days, for example. my baby's been bawling his head out, screaming like a banshee during the day. i couldn't figure out what's wrong with him except that he seemed to 'ngeden' (bahasa inggrisnya apa sih?!) a lot. di kamus gw ngeden can only mean two things: mo pup ato mo kentut. he already farted a lot (and by that i mean, a LOT) .. so i don't think he can produce more than he already let out. but he did. only little poop came out though. until today, when i want to change his diaper (already full of poop) he poop again, and again, and again. i ended up grabbing everything nearby (3 towels and 2 plies of paper towel) just to hold his poop. geez. he's sleeping peacefully now, thank God.

do i think dunstan got it right? maybe. do i find it useful? maybe. but until i can understand what patrick's really saying between those closely similar bawling, i just have to try everything i can to calm him down. and right now it means ... everything ... *sigh*

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

pho bo!

yesterday was hubby's birthday. when i asked him what he wanted to eat he said he wanted pho and fresh vietnamese spring roll (goi cuon). we both love vietnamese food and usually that's what we get whenever we go to tucson (no vietnamese restaurant here where i live). but with patrick just under 3 weeks old there's no way i'm going to tucson and leave him behind and there's no way we can take patrick with us. luckily hubby'd bought me a vietnamese cookbook, so i tried the recipe instead.

turns out it takes a lot of preparation and stamina to make pho. but it turned out really good. mine tasted as good as the ones you usually get in the restaurants, although it'd be better if i had more variety of meat and meat balls, and bigger bowls. but i'll settle with this one. the secret is the broth.. you have to make a really strong flavorful broth.

anyway, here's the recipe. it's pretty simple kok. the recipe makes for 8 servings, so i don't follow it closely. you can adjust the amount of ingredients you need.

broth:
4-6 pieces of beef bones about 5inch each
5 star anise
1 cinammon stick
6 whole cloves
1/4 cup fish sauce
salt
beef stock
1-inch yellow rock sugar (i use raw cane sugar.. about 4 tablespoons)
beef chunk (pilih yang ber-urat)
1-2 small yellow onion (bawang bombay), don't peel the skin off.
a 4-inch fresh ginger (i actually use only about 1 inch..), don't peel the skin off.
6 quarts (24 cups) water (kira2 aja lah, pokoknya sekuali gede)

how:
boil the bones until the broth becomes frothy. spoon away the froth so the broth becomes clear.
in the meantime, burn / charred the onion and ginger until the skin becomes black. cool off a bit, then remove the blackened skin with knife.

back to broth: after 15 minutes of boiling pour out half of the broth and change with fresh water, return to boil while keep spooning away the froth (that's the impurities of the bones, you don't want that). add beef chunk, star anise, cinammon stick,cloves, fish sauce, sugar, salt, beef stock, onion and ginger. keep simmer for about 1-1.5 hour.

in the meantime, prepare the bowl ingredients.

bowl:
thin flat rice noodle: boiled then rinse with cold water
variety of meat (chunk, rib eye, tribe, meat balls) - boil everything just before serving, sliced thin.
cilantro leaves just top part, chopped
chopped scallions (just the green part, but i use all)

put everything in the bowl prior to serving.

garnish:
mint leaves, basil leaves, bean sprouts, thin-sliced yellow onion, chopped jalapeno pepper (atau cabe rawit kalau ada), hoisin sauce.

serving suggestion:
bring the broth to boil again, adjust the flavor according to taste with the salt, fish sauce and sugar. pour to bowl, add garnish, .. and enjoy.

Monday, March 15, 2010

supermom in the making

after having patrick i now understand how God created super moms. basic training includes pain. all kinds of pains.

after birth the pain doesn't go away. you'd think being in labor was the most intense pain you could ever experience. wrong. well, sort of. labor pain was so intense that you wish you weren't pregnant. but then after giving birth you're experiencing another kind of pain. the not-so-painful-but-yet-very-annoying-and-can-make-you-cry kinda pain.

well that's what life's like for me now, almost 3 weeks after giving birth to patrick. first came the dull pain of stitches. you feel so sore down there that you actually feel reluctant to walk, pee, shower, let alone poop. and then there's the sore vagina too. mine was so swollen a few hours after that i actually feel like i had a double vagina.

oh not to mention my swollen feet. they don't hurt, but they make you feel stiff. and at night they started to itch real bad.

after that came the sore nipples. mine was chapped and cracked due to patrick's still-poor latching ability. at first it didn't hurt as bad but as time comes the pain intensify from a bee sting to shoot-me-in-the-head pain. then after 4 days milk came bursting from my breasts. good, yes, but they also made my breasts very engorged and that's painful too. i actually cried because my manual breasts pump didn't work and hubby had to run to walmart in the middle of the night just to buy me an electric breasts pump. last night the pain was so extreme that i wanted to cut my nipple off.

apart from the pain there's also the psychological issues. i don't know why but every afternoon i feel like crying out loud. and it can be for a number of reasons too. mine varies from mom's critics, pain, seeing patrick strapped into a carseat, hubby asking me what i wanted for dinner.. anything.

and to top things off: lack of sleep. first night at home patrick spent the night fussing and demanding cuddle and nipples. so i didn't sleep at all until 5am when my husband woke up. it's getting better now, i managed to steal a 2-3 hour sleep between his nursing schedule. but still, i get tired every afternoon. i need to learn to sleep when patrick's sleeping. really.

so now you'd forgive me when i say i cry like a baby when nighttime falls, wouldn't you?

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

(st) patrick's day

so. what's new? big. i had patrick. who's he? my darling cute son. what? when?

patrick was born march 3rd, 2010. he was actually due to be born march 1st, but alas, no sign on labor. i spent 3 weeks dialating only 1cm, so finally doctor said i needed to be induced.

"it's up to you, do you want to wait a week, or do it tonight?"
although i've been expecting this the word 'tonight' sounded so sudden and alarming. but i don't want to wait another week either. i was so huge and uncomfortable that i was ready to be de-pregnant.

so finally my husband and i decided we'd do it the next day. doctor contacted the hospital OB to reserve a room for me while i and husband went to the ER (his work place) to find replacement for him. i was nervous, excited, scared.. everything rolled into one. i was gonna have a baby.

so the next day we spent the day getting everything ready for the baby home-coming. then 6pm came and we drove to the hospital. believe it or not i was crying because i was sad to leave the dogs behind for several days. silly, i know.

once in the hospital they put me on the IV fluid and inserted some kind of a pill into my cervix. to make it dilated a bit more, doctor said. once the cervix reached 3cm he was gonna break my water. lemme tell you something... having someone insert their fingers deep into you (let alone probe around in it) was very very V E R Y unpleasant. i hated that part. and sadly the pill didn't do its job. i had to repeat the process every 4 hour. and once inserted i had to lie flat on my back, hooked up to IV and monitors attached to my belly. sleeping had never been so uncomfortable and annoying.

at around 7am doctor came in and finally announced that i've dilated a tight 3. then he broke my water. my husband arrived sometime around 8 and took me for a walk, which the nurse said will help with my dilating. at around 10 something nurse came back in and put me in pitocyn, a drug that was used to speed up the labor. soon i was contracting really bad, like 4-5 mins apart but was still dilating only 3cm. so she wanted to put more pitocyn, but thank God there's something wrong with my IV needle that everytime she put more dose in it the needle burned my hand. finally around noon or past i was dilating 4cm, and allowed epidural. it took forever for the anesthesiologist to come and by then i was in pain. you cannot believe how much pain involved in the process. each contraction came twice, one backpain and then immediately after that bladder pain.

after epidural though, i was in heaven. i can't feel a thing on my right side, but still able to feel pain on my left side. not too much, just like menstrual cramps, annoying but i was too tired to respond. after a while the nurse help me sleep sideways so the epidural will flow evenly to my body. soon i was numb waist down. and that's when she announce i was complete and ready to push.

so push i did. for half an hour, not knowing when (except for when they told me to), how (couldn't feel a thing), and what to push. but they said i was doing great. after a while nurse suddenly said "ooh he's coming. i'll get the doctor." so doctor came, told me to push, and with one push out came patrick. my husband was so excited that he forgot to record the moment patrick came out. duurrr!

nothing can describe my feelings when i first hold him in my hands (they immediately put him on my chest after birth, and scrub him dry there). amazing. i still can't believe that i managed to push something so cute and scrumpled like him out of my vagina. :D anyway, he weighed 6lbs 15oz, and 19inch long. a bit small but perfect in any other ways (apgars test 9/9).

and my life is never the same.

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

mountain tragedy

almost lost max yesterday when playing in the snow.

we were on the mountain and the boys were playing on a steep slope when suddenly they went down and out of side. we started calling for max, thinking that he's the one with command training, but he didn't show up. so i started calling brady as well, knowing that usually he'd come when i call him as long as he knows where i am. sure enough after a few minutes brady showed up from the steep slope, slightly panting but walking towards me. still no sign of max though.

so i we kept calling for around 5 more minutes. nothing. finally my husband got pissed and took the truck to see if he showed up somewhere down the slope. i stayed there incase he showed up. i kept calling his name thinking he might got lost and don't know where to go. brady started to get whiny and wanted to get back down to max, but thankfully he obeyed me when i said no.

sure enough after around 10 minutes or so max showed up!! panting heavily and looking very guilty. i was too relieved to see him that it didn't cross my mind to spank him for disobeying us. i told him to sit, waiting for my husband but when he did, he yelp as if in pain. so i eventually had to clean his butt and back legs from gravels and small stones. and he eventually sat sideways with his right thigh on my shoes. while i was cleaning his butt a police car stopped by!!
it was so embarassing. but hey, a mom's gotta do what a mom's gotta do. right?

so he asked "is there something wrong?"
i said "yep.. this dog went downhill but i got him back now.. we're ok."
he: "where's your car?"
me: "my husband took it to search for him down the hill.. if you see him can you let him know i got him?"
he: "sure thing. becareful of the steep slope ok, it goes on for 5 miles..."
me: "uhuh.."

not 5 minutes after that my husband pulled over, still looking so pissed that he didn't even want to get out of the car to see max. and max didn't even dare to look at my husband. he knew he did something bad. hoho. so we got the boys inside the car and continued up the mountain just to see the view (and got a bonus. we saw a bunch of turkeys clucking and gossiping on the side of the street).

my husband was still angry with max when we got home but i was just glad we got max back. can't imagine what we would do if max hadn't climbed back to us. phew.

Thursday, February 11, 2010

it's that time of the year again

another year gone by and whaddaya know, it's my birthday again. :D
gosh i'm old. but at least this year there's a major difference. but besides my marital status, nothing much changed. oh wait i'll take that back. yeah, things change, a lot.

for example.

- usually when i wake up mom and dad'd be ready to give hugs and angpao (hoho!).
+ this year, no one. husband has to work and he left early in the morning. he even forgot my birthday until he arrived in the office! lol. tried to give me a call but i didn't hear any rings cause i left my phone outside the bedroom (under his orders!).

- usually then after the hugs i'd eat breakfast and enjoy life as it is.
+ not this morning. i got severe cramp on my leg and couldn't fix it until around 10min. then i had to call my mom, and we chatted for an hour. after that i had to quickly put the garbage down the street. then i had to change the dogs water, pick up poops (trust me, a LOT of poops today!! it's like they want to give me a present or something..geez). pff.

- usually my maid'd already cook something delicious for dinner. most probably ifumie, my fave dish. or if not, then me and my parents would go out to dinner at a simple Chinese restaurant. if i were there i'd probably pick kuo thie or emi medan. hmm.. yummm.
+ well, today i gotta cook my own ifumie. not that i mind, but still.. it'd be great not to have to do anything on your birthday. :D oh and on top of the cooking, i also had tons of house chores to do. really.. i hate wednesdays.

oh well i suppose each birthdays are different. each year is better than before no matter what your situation or condition is. right now i'm content, happy and satisfied. i don't mind having to do all the things myself. at least i can have fun with hubby and the two dogs. :) oh and i'm still waiting for deliveries due to arrive next week. yayyyyyy. i'm so excited i almost can't wait.

Monday, February 1, 2010

just some videos from the grammys

1. i'm very lucky to have married a man who loves nature. you know you're in good hands if a man can treat animals and plants as he'd treat himself.

this video performance of the the tribute to michael jackson somehow made me cry. kenapa ya? yg pasti bukan krn michael jacksonnya sih... hehe.



2. pink for me is just a so-so singer. she makes good music, but i never really applauded her performance until this one. amazing! gotta give 2 thumbs up for whoever suggested this idea to her, and i'd give another 2 thumbs up for pink who agreed to it. simple performance and yet captivating. wow. (and i gotta admit she's got one hell of a stamina to sing while being spin around upsidedown like that).



3. i listen to a lot of diverse music from the 70s until .. err .. recent years. but hubby only listens to what he calls classic rock (that means any songs before the 80s). one of the song from hubby's collection i like is a beautiful song by simon and garfunkle 'bridge over troubled water'. i've actually heard this song before but i never really liked it until i got married. :P yeah yeah, husband influence. well anyway, i guess the key to making a good remake is a good solid song to start with. and this is one of the example. love love love this arrangement.

Sunday, January 31, 2010

spaghettini with garlic and pepper

i've just tried this last night. it was pretty good.

1 pound spaghettini (i substituted it with those spiral pasta thingy.. 6-8 genggam for 2ppl)
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil (again, i substituted it with regular veg oil, about 1/4 cup)
4 large garlic cloves, chopped (more or less, depend on liking)
salt & pepper
1/4 teaspoon hot pepper flakes (i added more)
3 tablespoons finely chopped parsley
grated parmesan cheese

and i added some chicken (thinly sliced) and chopped spam, although i think shrimp would be nice too.

caranya:
1. cook pasta until al dante (tender but firm), rinse with cold water, stand aside
2. in large pan heat oil (medium heat). add garlic cook until golden brown, then add salt, hot pepper flakes, pepper and flakes. then add chicken and spam, cook till brown.
3. add pasta into pan, toss to coat.

serve hot, adding cheese just before eating.

Saturday, January 30, 2010

change of routines

this is what my daily routine looked like when i was still working:

08:00 wake up
08:30 read newspaper, or at least pretend to
09:00 get breakfast. either bread, fried rice, instant noodles, or buy porridge
10:00 bath and getting ready for work
11:00 leave for work (unless there's a meeting at this hour, then i'd get up 2 hours earlier than usual)
12:00 arrive at office, check email or newest office gossip
12:30 lunch
13:30 back from lunch, check more emails and do some work
15:30 maksor alias snack time, catching up on more internal affairs gossips
16:30 work
18:30 usually by this time i'm already ready to go home (of course, unless there's a shooting going on). but it depends, if i'm hungry i'd probably order the OB to buy some food.
19:00 depends. if i ordered food, then i'd still be waiting for the food. if not, i'd be on my way home.
20:30 already home, watching tv and talking to my parents or play with my two dogs.
21:00 usually chatting, read book, or watch dvd in my room
23:00 / 24:00 sleeping.

now that i don't work and become a full time housewife, my routine looks something like this:

07:00 wake up, get the dogs out for pee and poop time, then went back to bed
08:00 really wake up, feed the dogs some breakfast
08:30 get a short walk around the front yard with the dogs. they pee, i change their water, feed the birds, and if it's a wednesday get the trashcan down to the streets
09:30 get the dogs inside so they can play with their chewy while i grab some breakfast. usually choco milk with special K, bread, or instant noodles. and i surf the internet.
10:00 let the dogs out the backyard to play. continue surf the net.
11:00 shower, clean the bathroom.
12:00 fix something for lunch. usually left overs.
12:30 do some house chores. laundry, vacuuming, sweeping floors, and if i'm feeling up to it: mopping.
15:00 get dogs in for some play time, and watch ellen. scouring cookbooks for dinner ideas.
15:30 preparing ingredients for dinner
16:00 start cooking dinner for hubby
17:30 eat dinner (schedule may vary if hubby works day shift)
19:00 feed the dogs
20:00 watch tv
21:30 / 22:00 go to bed, unless hubby's not working, then i'd be watching dvd with him until around 01.00

once a week when hubby's not working we'd usually be out on a day trip (or longer). in that case there will be no house chores done at all. which means every wednesday i'm swamped with tons of laundry to do, dirty carpets and kitchen floors, and filthy bedroom floor. hff.

lately i've been so lazy i don't even want to cook something difficult. yesterday i cooked fried noodles (this is actually left overs from the previous night) and some spam filled chicken thighs. dunno why hubby loves this fairly easy recipe. once before brady came i made syomay and lumpia semarang. but somehow now i don't feel like messing around in the kitchen. maybe because i keep having to keep an eye on brady whenever he's in the house (he still need to be trained to sit and stay on his spot).

well anyway, if you're curious about the thigh fillet spam recipe, here it is:

ingredients:
chicken thighs fillet 3 pieces
spam potong kotak panjang tebal
mentega
char siu sauce
tepung terigu
tepung roti
telur kocok 1 butir

caranya:
chicken thighs di potong tipis jadi lebar2.
rub some butter, and some char siu sauce (from lee kum kee.. botolan) tipisss aja.
trus taro spam di tengah, gulung, ikat pake benang atau tusuk aja pakai tusuk gigi.
roll in flour (tepungnya bumbuin garam dan merica dikit kalau mau), cemplungin di telor, trus gulung lagi di tepung roti.
goreng deh sampe mateng, api sedang biar gak angus.

untuk saus (optional)
kaldu ayam (bisa diganti dengan air + maggi block)
+ hoisin sauce (again, lee kum kee is the best), garam dan lada dikit..
cicipin, kalau rasa sudah dianggap pas, thicken with tepung maizena.

kalau mau lebih kreatif bisa tambah bawang bombay tumis di saus, tapi rasanya gak perlu ya. udah cukup enak kok. hehe.

Saturday, January 23, 2010

home alone

i'm getting lazier and lazier each day. gosh. anyway, here's a bit of an update.

1. brady got here. finally!!! yay. after waiting for months (or at least it felt like months although it's only about a month or so) we're finally able to pick him up from the airport/cargo building. he was a bit stressed at first, tapi dimengerti lah secara he just spent a whole day travelling inside a crate, alone. poor guy.

this picture was taken when we let him out of his crate to stretch before having to travel again (yep, he still need to travel at least 2 hours to get from tucson to our home.. ). he was so happy to get out of the crate that he really didn't wanna go back in. tried hard with four paws grabbing on to everything that can prevent him from going back in. :P


this is when he first met max. we let max sniffed him while he's still in the crate. once we know we can control max's excitement, we let him out. lucky we picked the brave one, he wasn't afraid of max. he was just a bit cautious because max is ... well .. huge. but max is gentle. at least we know he didn't want to (intentionally) harm the puppy. :P

and max took his big brother role quite seriously. he wouldn't let brady get badgered by the neighbor dog (max's girlfriend), but he wouldn't share his toys and chewy either. kept alllll of the toys and chewy to himself. aah, brotherly love.

this is brady snoozing after a moment of serious playing. it was raining the whole day yesterday (related to news #2) and the backyard was all wet and muddy so i let the boys play inside. it's better for me to clean the carpet than to leave my boys out in the wind and cold and rain. :P

it's so nice to see them together. at least max won't be bored to death anymore. now all i gotta do is teach brady how to sit, lay down, and stay so he won't have to follow me around all the time anymore, so i can do my house chores in peace. right now i still have tons of laundry to be done, clean the bedroom cause it was all so dirty from last night's rain,

2. semalem serem banget deh. hubby was at work, night shift as usual for the past 2 months, so i was left with the two boys alone in the house. nothing special except that there was a storm passing Arizona last night. so it was rainy for a whole day (strong wind picking up after dark). you could actually hear the wind howling outside, and caused the stuff in the yard to tumble and make noises against the house. then the lights went off. only for a minute, then it went back on again but it was scary as hell!! even the boys got scared. that happened 2x. and the tv's not helping either, with a weather update every 10 minutes warning everyone about wind, storm and flash flood. urgh.

lucky (for me) the storm landed up on the north side of AZ (i only got kecipratan aja), otherwise i wouldn't know what to do. heck, this house hasn't got any basement jadi kalau memang ada storm i won't know which is best: the archway between kitchen and livingroom (but it's facing a biiig glass window), under the dining table (but it sits next to a small window), or the bathtub (no window in bathroom, but it's not exactly located in the middle of the house either). anyway, i kept my phone next to me all night long, in case i need to call my hubby or 911. smart move, ey? glad i didn't have to do it.

Saturday, January 9, 2010

bread and brady

although i've always enjoyed baking cakes i've never really play with bread making before. mom's more the bread type, not me. i don't like the kneading and waiting-for-rising process, it's too boring for me. but i do love the smell of freshly baked bread. and i do love to eat bread. no matter if it's store bought or mom-made, i simply love eating them.

when i moved here hubby showed me a new invention (at least, new to me..) : bread machine. apparently it's a magic machine that do the whole process of making bread, from kneading, rising, to baking all in one machine. wow.
so mom bought a box of bread mix to try the bread machine. it worked. so hubby bought a second box of bread mix (because he said we can't use the regular recipe for the bread machine). we love the fresh bread so much that he bought a recipe book from amazon.com: bread cookbook for bread machine, or something like that. :P he also bought flour, wheat flour, yeast, and other ingredients so i can make my own bread every day.

while it doesn't make the cute little buns filled with chocolate, jam or cheese, it does make a great loaf of bread. and i can still have my cinnamon raisins bread, whole wheat, french bread, portuguese bread, english muffin, you name it. it's all in the cookbook. interesting. i never knew they can make a whole book about bread machine alone. ha.

well maybe someday i'll be motivated enough to make bread the manual way (especially the ones my mom used to make), but in the meantime, this is sufficient enough. i'm still waiting for my first batch to finish baking and cool down (i mean first using the recipe from the book).

the bread machine's not the only high tech gadge hubby's trying to introduce me to. he seems eager to buy a slow cooker. if you've heard of pressure cooker then you'd probably guess that this pot do just the opposite of that. it cooks everything slowly.. so slow that it can take overnight to cook beef or chicken. this makes me think: why is it that westerners always do things slowly while the chinese like to do things fast? haha.

oh well i don't need a slow cooker just yet. i still have a lot of free time on my hand, why would i need a slow cooker? speaking of free time, i'm gonna get my new not-so-puppy-anymore next tuesday. FINALLY! i've been waiting for him for almost a month now! i'm gonna be busier when he arrived. more vacuuming to do, more mouth to feed, and more playing time with the two of them. i so can't imagine how busy i'd be when the baby arrived. :D

hubby also wanted to buy me a wii fit. it's not from being nice, but he thought i need it to lose fat from my butt. lol. true, i need it. now i won't mind the wii at all. at least it's better than the stairmaster. in the meantime i guess i'll just keep on baking bread (and a few other things).

Sunday, January 3, 2010

introducing...

max, the gendeng english mastiff. ain't he handsome? ^_^

age: less than a year.

fave snack: oww.. anything, really. pork ear chewy, big cow bone, oranges, charcoals, log of firewood, ...

fave playtime: dragging waterbowl on dirt so that it makes loud noise

mischieves: fart (sometimes he does it silently, .. all we got was a sudden horrible smell!!) and snore.

this dog is bigger than any of the other dogs i've ever had. bonny (my dog in jakarta) is only about half of max. and yet max has a way of making me laugh with his goofy and gendeng attitude. or maybe i just love dogs. :)
 

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