1st Anniversary!

On April 4, to mark the day of our customary wedding, I made the sweet dessert soup that we had during the tea ceremony in Singapore.

Sunday, 25 May marked our first year anniversary. A year ago this day, we were in Letchworth State Park, Buffalo, saying our vows and drinking champagne to cello music with friends and family, and ended the day with the wedding reception in the beautiful Botanical Gardens.


I had to work the afternoon, but that evening, we went down to our favourite grassy spot on the beach, stood close under the palm trees, and said our vows to each other once more. I bawled my eyes out again and felt more thankful and more loved than I had a year ago.


Blessed always, blessed always
For the arms of God surrounds us
Let our joy be so triumphant, that we rest in God and say Amen
- "Blessed Always"

***

Wish I had some photos to share, but I forgot the camera.

Dinner at 26 Beach Cafe was excellent, they have the best salad ever - pan-fried goat cheese medallions in a summer salad blend with sundried tomatoes, berries(raspberries, strawberries, blueberries) and walnuts, served with the most heavenly raspberry vinaigrette.

And a good ol' slab of lasagne, you know it's freshly made when the lasagne doesn't come shaped like a box.

The smiley waitress, having learnt that it was our wedding anniversary, even brought us a surprise - oozy chocolatey brownie topped with a huge dollop of vanilla ice-cream with chocolate fudge and powder - yumMMY!!

Constant Vigilance!

Got into an accident on the freeway - it was not major. It was bumper-to-bumper traffic and slow-moving, but I guess this is where constant vigilance for brake lights in front of you comes in.

No one in all three cars involved were hurt(can't say the same for the cars though), although the impact gave me a sore neck for a c0uple of days after. The car got smashed in with the hood half crumpled up, so we were at the mercy of the nearest mechanic. Luckily for us he's our regular mechanic who doesn't try to rip people off.

We also had the foresight to have all our registrations and insurance updated just a week ago, thus avoiding more complications and paperwork.

The price paid is small, the lesson taught is huge - buckle up, and put your cellphone away. Unfortunately, in LA, where people spend half their day sitting in traffic or on the road to the nearest store, such precautions are often conveniently forgotten.

I really think it's just a matter of developing good precautionary habits and behavior, which in our case, everyone did for the large part and had their seat belts buckled in. This, undoubtedly, more than saved us from further and more serious injury.



Constant Vigilance!
-Professor Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody

Hello-OH COOKIE!

Say hello to Cookie!

Cookie is a sweet, bright, 3yr-old black and white abby. She came to our home as a companion for Mousey, who's been very lonely and depressed since Tobey passed away. Cookie also lost her cage-mate, albeit to more tragic circumstances.

When we visited Cookie at her home in the previous family, she was named Oreo. She looked lovely, but had a very extensive balding patch on her back near the rump. The owner said some baby piggies that were there a year ago had been pulling out Oreo's hair, and being the sweet little pig that she is, she let them. The hair never grew back.

Back home, we re-named her Cookie and put her with Mousey. Cookie is the sweetest thing ever, and wow, we've never seen Mousey so bossy! Mousey's just running around Cookie, sniffing her, following her around like she's guarding Cookie and checking what she's up to, planting herself next to her at the hideys, giving her big wide yawns to show teeth. Even when we tried to tempt her away with some lettuce to give Cookie a break, Mousey would come over, grab the lettuce and run right back to station herself next to Cookie. But it's all good, Mousey seems a lot happier with something to do. Cookie's just completely blase about it.

3 weeks later, they are happily trotting after each other, running around the cage and apartment, looking for secret hiding spots, chomping on lettuce and hay, chasing each other and sometimes just sitting side by side in the hideys.

Mousey has since recovered from an unknown source of URI, and sustaining her weight. She is a lot livelier, and I have seen her popcorn (a quick jump-n-twist that guinea pigs do to show they're happy!) more often than I've ever seen her. Cookie has since grown back all her hair in that bald spot, and she looks lovely and healthy - she's even gained 2.5 ounces!


On a different Cookie note: I'm rooting for David Cook to win AI Season 7 cos he does such wonders with some of those songs, although D. Archie gives me goosebumps every time he sings, I so love his voice! It's a tough choice, and I can't wait to find out who wins! :D