Living in a Foreign Language

You Can Take the Girl out of Texas...

…..but you can’t take Texas out of the girl! 

I spent some time with my cousin Sheila and my mom the first part of last week.  We hung out in sweats, relaxed, did a spa day and otherwise just chilled.  It was great to see her.  She is really more like my sister than my cousin. 

 

Then I set out for South Texas.  Friday morning was rainy and nasty but by the time I finished all of my errands (and got rained on about four times) the clouds parted, the sun came out and I was off -  down 59 headed for Corpus to spend a girls weekend with my dear friend, Melissa.

For some reason I was feeling nostalgic anyway, but a funny thing always happens to me when I take road trips in Texas.  I quickly revert back to being 20 years old again.  I blame it on the music…or the blue Texas sky…or the flat never-ending road ahead…or the trains running along parallel to the road…or the grain silos…or the cows…or the convertible mustang...

Sorry, I got distracted ~ which happens when you are 20.

Anyway, the Rolling Stones, Cars, Stray Cats, and Boston on the radio all managed to harken me back in time to when I frequently threw a bag in the car and tore out to some coastal town to watch live music (and, actually my dear friend Melissa sometimes came along).  We would dance all night and eat Mexican breakfast at three a.m.  So much fun!  While I wasn’t in search of live music, as soon as the music and the convertible mustang worked its magic on me I found myself flying down the road at 100 mph, listening to super loud rock and roll and feeling SO Texan!  You just KNOW you are in Texas when you pass signs that say “Monkey Slough, or “Chocolate Swale” or “Devil’s Run Creek”.  Add some soft, old, comfy jeans and Luchese ostrich boots – I just about danced in the car!  Actually I DID dance in a parking lot all by myself, but don’t tell anyone, it will be our little secret.

I made it in one piece, with no speeding tickets, and found a beautiful suite waiting for me at the Omni (thank you again Mel).  It had a great view of the marina and the USS Lexington.  Beautiful! It also had a good view of Citgo and Valero Corpus.  If you worked in the industry I did you will understand why I took this picture...or maybe not.  I always take photos of refineries.  Weird that way.

We spent part of our girls weekend immersed in “Revenge”.  WOW!  What a great series!  I am so hooked on it.  We also did a little spa-ing and each evening we listened to the piano player and had a lovely dinner at the top of the Omni. 

It was a really relaxing and fun weekend catching up with her.  I hit the road on Sunday and headed to Kyzerville.  Sadly, I didn’t discover until later that I left a drawer full of clothes behind at the hotel!  How does that happen?  Have I completely lost my mind or what??

Waltz part two up tomorrow!  Until then, stop and dance in a parking lot, it is so fun!  Love, spajunkie

 

Bringing the Party to Houston

Such as the event was named!  We had a great time last night catching up with our nearest and dearest friends and (part of the) family.  Thanks to all of you who came over, drove across town - we really enjoyed catching up.  And thanks to my momma and Jim for allowing us to host the party in the "party barn".  It is a great venue for eating, drinking, and visiting!

Herewith some pics:

This is part of the party barn...the A&M shrine part...(GO HORNS! Just thought I'd make that political statement up front.)

Cute car we rented!  Even though Mr. Ken hates little girl cars he let me get this because if I'm going to waltz across Southeast Texas I'd like to waltz in a convertible!  I just thought I'd throw that in...I'm not sure why.  I'm a bit of a chatty mood really.  (And while we are being chatty, yes, I now realize my bangs were all curled up somehow but seriously someone could have said something - I did go to all the trouble of drying my crazy curls straight-ish!)

We were SO looking forward to meeting this cutie!  What a doll and what a flirt!  I've not been this captivated by a man (other than Mr. Ken) in years!  And, might I say we were also very glad to see his parents and his grandma!  We adore the entire family!  Brian, Angela, and Karsten. 

This is just trouble times 6!  I'm not kidding.  Trouble waiting to happen...we have spent many a fun evening with these guys.  Amanda, Tommy, Sharon and Eddy (just a huge shout out here to Eddy, a dedicated and loyal spajunkie follower, unlike others who shall remain nameless.  Amanda, oops, you didn't remain nameless long!)  But, here is the good thing about peeps who don't read your blog...you can actually tell them stories that they don't already know!  We also really enjoyed meeting Anna, Trenton's fiance.  Somehow I don't have a pic of this lovely couple!

Here is some of my family:  Jim and Mom, Mark, Charlynn, Michael, Harvey and Tony.

Me and friends!  Somehow Mr. Ken took most of the pictures so he isn't in very many of them!  Cyndy.

Diane.

Jean and Don.

Tami - she is the friend I've known the longest, since we are only in our thirties, it is hard to believe we've been friends for 40 years!  (note the creative use of words omitting out the "O" adjective.)  I'm not sure why her hubby Tom is not in the picture...sorry about that!

Tricia

Brittany, Diane, Debbie and Kelsey.

It was a wonderful evening and we really, really enjoyed it! 

Crazy to think that my calendar is FULL for the next 19 days!  How does that happen???  Going and doing and seeing and visiting...waltzing across Texas as it were!  But first,

I CANNOT WAIT FOR TOMORROW!  My cousin/sister/best friend, are there enough nouns to cover what she means to me, I don't think there are, (take a breath), Sheila, arrives from New York!  I haven't seen her since the spring of 2010 when I flew up to see her with my kitty cat, Petula.  That is way too long. 

Enjoy your Superbowl day - GO GIANTS!!!!

Love, spajunkie

 

 

Random Thoughts Thursday

For whatever reason I cannot get my laptop to find a wireless connection - anyone know a fix for this, I've tried everything I know!  So, I am borrowing Mr. Ken's for a quick update. 

I just went to Sonic for a super large iced tea, in my jammies. In KL there is only one drive thru (McDonalds) that I've ever seen so jammies just don't work for a "quick" errand. You have to park, get out and go in. And, for those of you thinking "why would you go anywhere in your jammies?". I just say, psshhhh, you know you've gone somewhere in your jammies before! But, so, yum! Sonic iced tea.

Facebook is a lot of things, and it is not a lot of other things. But, one thing it does have the ability to do is make you feel really good on your birthday! I had over 100 posts or email messages from well wishers for my birthday. That is so amazing. I sincerely appreciated each and every one. I felt so darn popular! How crazy is that? So when you look at the number of "friends" you have, you really do!

Eating my way through southeast Texas. I have been! Let's see, in about a week I've had Mexican food twice, bar-b-q, Panera for breakfast and for lunch, a beautiful Ruby Red Texas grapefruit almost every morning (my momma got a whole box from the valley for me!), Floyd's, burgers with homemade potato salad and baked beans, huge country breakfast, fried dill pickles, pizza from Pizza Hut, boiled shrimp...and some scrumptious cupcakes from Rise. Is this the cutest cupcake pedestal you've ever seen? My momma gave me that for my red velvet cupcake!

Tonight is dinner with our VBFF, Sharon and Eddy, at Tommy's. Then tomorrow night is dinner with our dear friends, Angela and Brian, somewhere TBD. Have no fear - The eating will continue!

It is really nice to be in Texas. It is so familiar, yet not. We drove by our old house yesterday...the house looks good but the people who are living in "my" house took out my azaleas! Really! Why?? They have tacky potted plants placed in their place. I just don't understand this at all and was frankly tempted to stop and just ask why? Why? Talk about random. My yard was beautiful! I'm sure they believe the house isn't mine anymore and they can do what they want but come on, that is just tacky!

The big party is Saturday where there will be more eating of mexican food and cupcakes! So looking forward to seeing everyone. It seems like the weather may not cooperate but we will just have to muddle through, rain  or shine!

I miss the DES!!!  I would say I miss the fish but they have once again gone belly up.  I am hopeful the turtles make it...oh, we got another turtle, Scout!  So, Scooter and Scout.  We hope anyway.  We don't know what the heck kills everything but from here on out I think just plants and turtles.  And DES.  I miss him!  Fortunately there are these cuties to pet!  Mr. Buff:

And Mr. Sassy.  Yes, Mr.  He was named prior to finding out his gender...he was rescued from his head being stuck in the bar-b-q pit in my momma's back yard.  He was pretty skittish in the beginning but now he is just spoiled, and super duper cute!  He posed for these pictures, seriously! As soon as I started snapping photos he preened and posed for me. 

Party Pictures will be next!  Until then, enjoy your super bowl weekend!  Love, spajunkie

KL Update 545

Where to start????? 

1.  The fish lived!!!!  They lived I tell you!!!!  And so a few more fish were added, we will see how this goes and when we are back from Houston we will add some more if all went well.  Here they are - Scooter and his mates:  I apologize for the formatting, it just gave me fits and at this point I just gave up!  (If you are thinking these fish look big!  You are correct!  We decided go big or go home...if these fish don't make it, NO more fishes.  There are about six smaller fishes too.)
   
   
   
   
   
   
2. I’m really having fun with the girlfriends!  I had them over for a girl’s dinner two weeks ago or so, we had a blast!  No one left until one a.m. Since then we got together for some shopping and then a traditional Gong Xi Fa Cai dinner where I learned how to order some fabulous Chinese dishes I would never have known to try!  I can’t wait to take Mr. Ken there and show off my new found knowledge.  Asian food has never been a favorite of mine but this meal has swayed me to think I just didn't ever have GOOD asian food.  Tomorrow I’ve been invited to one of the girl’s parent’s house for a REALLY traditional family Gong Xi Fa Cai lunch.  It is my understanding this is a very high compliment as a) I’m not Chinese and b) it is her parents, her husband and children, not just her.  I’m excited to go and I’ve purchased the traditional Chinese New Year gift of tangerines to take to give to the family, in a festive gift bag I’m making, of course!  Herewith a couple of pics from the dinner party (once the party started I failed to take pictures, BAD blogger!):   
   
   
   
3. I FINALLY finished my project(s) for the two weeks while Mr. Ken was gone.  It may not look like much BUT this represents three boxes of pictures not in albums or otherwise from 2003 through 2007.  That’s the good news – in that they are in place now (or thrown out)!  The bad news is that means I still have to a) print pictures and b) do something with pictures from 2008 until now.  UGH!  I so wish I enjoyed this process way more than I do.  It just feels like work and I approach it like work.  Take this, break it down and organize it to this, then take that, break it down and organize it to this, etc. until it finally all gets resolved!  WAY too much like work.  I wish that I was not so left brain (logic, detail, order, math and science) oriented and had more right brain (creative, big picture, imagination)…maybe I would at least enjoy the process more!                                                                                            
    
   
   
4. On that note, I made menu plans, grocery shopped, cooked, labeled and froze, and wrote instructions for Mr. Ken’s meals for 15 days while I’m gone to Houston and he is here!  Now, honestly kids, THAT was fun!  I totally enjoyed it.  He’s got quite the menu I must say!  A little sneak peek (not in the order they will be served): 

Roasted chicken, fried rice, pork spring rolls

Mini meat loaf, mac and cheese, green peas

Steak, baked potato, broccoli

Lasagna, salad, TX toast

Grilled pork chop, black-eyed peas, Brussels sprouts and cornbread muffins

Italian chicken and potatoes in the crock pot

Grilled Chicken and corn on the cob with baked beans

Spaghetti with salad and TX toast

Beef Stroganoff over fettuccine noodles with steamed broccoli

Grilled burger with French fries

Pulled pork in the crock pot - sandwiches with cole slaw and chips

Shrimp gumbo over rice with crusty baguette

Red Beans with pork loin in crock pot, served over rice with corn bread muffins

Two nights out to eat!

Since I’ve got everything, and everyone, all organized;  now I’ve got to get myself together for Houston!  Picking out clothes, shoes (sandals???), etc. is my next project.  Wish me luck, no working out for a month, holiday eating and drinking, and projects that have you sitting all day…fat clothes it is!  No judgment please.

Until next time, Love, spajunkie.

Scooter's New Friends

Today I was out getting some spa time...before I go to Houston where spa-ing is expensive.  And when I came home...

We had two fish.  It seems Rikki Tikki Tavi brought over two LARGE Koi as a test run.  When I called him he said "Sis, my company is sponsoring two fish for your pond..."  I said " Well, I saw the fish, they are lovely, what do you mean, sponsoring?"  He said "Sis, my company is sponsoring the two fish." 

At this point I ran out to look at the fish closer because I was somewhat expecting they should have on little T-shirts reading "Sponsored by Victory Vision Resources". 

But, seriously, maybe this explains the Vicky part...Victory, Vicky.  ???  I don't know.  Minus shirts I ascertained he meant he was giving us the fish for the pond...because he feels kind of bad the others died...

Anyway, the update is two new friends in the pond, so far so good.  If everyone is alive and well tomorrow we will have a school, pun intended, of fish to swim with Scooter AND his new two friends, SPONSORED by Victory Vision Resources.

You got to love the marketing thought either way!  I so hope this kid succeeds in life, he really deserves to!

I'm gonna really be happy if the fishes live. 

Think positively fishy thoughts guys!  Love, spajunkie

 

The World According to Scooter

(Most portions of this text have been translated from Malay to English for your reading ease.)

I was happily swimming around in this large pond having recently been rescued by a nice, but I think quite possibly, crazy lady. 

I am not sure but I think crazy lady may have read that I eat fruit and vegetables as she seems to pelt me with them regularly.  Hello!  If you do a little more research you will find out I am carniverous until I get older when the vegetarian in me comes out.  First I've got to build a strong shell and leg muscles and stuff.  So, x-nay the apples and lettuce babe!  I'd prefer tuna or some roasted chicken, no skin, easy on the spices.  Oh, and the turtle pellets from the fish store are a welcome treat as well but maybe not so many???  They get soggy quick. 

Everything was going pretty good (other than the food snafu)...I finally negotiated my way into and on some of the plants to get some sun.  It was nice of her to buy those just so I had a soft place to perch.  I think the crazy lady may even have had some kind of a bridge thing built for me to sun on but so far, well, you will see what I mean in a minute...

Tuesday I was happily swimming around with my friends, admittedly not great friends as I might snack on them on occasion but hey, Melvin is a good bloke.  Good for a laugh or two as he jumps out of the water just to show off!  Man, he's got some colors that Melvin does.

Anyhoo, where was I, oh, Tuesday.  Yep. So, the guy who swims with us sometimes came over, he is not at all afraid of us and just jumps right in.  Well, immediately I knew something was up.  The water started getting lower and lower and I thought to myself, Scooter, today is going to one for the books.

So, then crazy lady comes out of the house and says "Tup Retoocs tuo ni eht nedrag."  (or something like that...I'm from Malaysia, Saya tidak bercakap dalam Bahasa Inggeris (translation:  I don't speak English)...) Suddenly I am whisked up and away and land in a garden!  I knew it was there!!!  I just knew it.  All that time I've been climbing the walls, literally, and getting no where when I knew a garden, and maybe freedom, was just up that wall. 

Hello!!!!  Anybody home?

Ok, so it's a pretty nice garden anyway, maybe crazy lady can grow some stuff.  Yeah, maybe stuff I can eat on...well, in a few years when I get my vegetarian on.

Wait a minute, wait a minute, hold the phone! - WHAT IS THIS?

HELLO - HELLO!  HELP, HELP!!!  BEING HELD AGAINST MY WILL BY A CRAZY LADY FLASHING SOMETHING IN MY EYES AND FOLLOWING ME AROUND THE GARDEN!  HELP ME!!  CALL THE SPCA!  CALL PETA! CALL MY MOTHER!

Clearly that didn't work. 

Then, I was unceramoniously dropped right back into the pond.  Oh, the pond where I can live free!  BORN FREE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Oops sorry, totally wrong theme song.  Melvin and all his gang were back.  It was just like before!  Swimming, chasing fish...I take it all back crazy lady!

Until.  Oh, the nightmare of it all.  I've heard about this ... believe me, it happens.  But I've never had to witness the horror of it all.  One by one the fish, dare I say, well, they went belly up, floaters, dead.  All of them.  All 29 of them, 20 Koi and 9 Goldies.  One by one.  My main man Melvin, he was the last to go.  Had a tear in my eye on that one. 

But then again, I AM a carniverous creature (until I get older) so ... hey, sushi is sushi, dead or alive!

The crazy lady went, well, crazy!  Apparently dead fish to her were NOT sushi! 

So, the next day our friend that swims with us, me, came back and here we go again!  Only this time I got put into a tub!  The indignity of it all.  AND, the pond had no water for like a day while I struggled in the tub.  I tried my best to get out...and I succeeded!  More than once.  Only to be put right back in.  I wonder if crazy lady and swimmer guy have ANY idea how long it takes a turtle to climb out of one of those things????  Seriously folks.  It is inhumane!  The only bright spot was crazy lady fed me some tuna...I would have preferred sushi grade Ahi, but hey, canned is okay too!  She's learning...she might be a keeper. (and, no, the tub wasn't always this dirty, this was right after mealtime, it got cleaned soon after.)

And, now tonight, back in the pond, all by myself.  I admit I miss Melvin and the gang, and well, I'm a bit depressed but I think things are looking up, there is water to swim in and MEAT to eat!

And if I've learned anything from the crazy lady I pretty sure Melvin's cousins will be joining me soon!

So, from my pond to yours, happy sushi!  Love, Scooter.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Random Thoughts Monday

1.  It didn't seem like that long of a time when we booked all of our travel for the US but....I still have like ten days, and nights, before I leave!  Ugh!  
2.  I have been accomplishing some projects I've wanted to work on for a while now.  (more on these in another post.). Feeling crafty!
3.  Has anyone ever heard that turtles like egg shells?  Guy Fieri said so today on his show.  I'm not that partial to his show but my ears really pricked up on that...And, what about the fish?  They seem to eat anything you put in the pond...and the Scooter is like the proverbial goat, eats anything on the surface of the water!  I still am not completely sure what to be feeding them so I've opted for fish food, and turtle food...and some random lettuce and other veggies.  But they all eat each others food. Have to wonder if that is a problem!   Plus the DES will sneak any of the pellets if given the opportunity...not to mention the gardener fertilizes with chicken $&;t, serious.  DES loves that too!  At least it isn't chemicals...
4.  I just don't get Pin interest, I really want to but I don't.   I've tried but I simply fail to get it.  If I wanted an outfit I would go buy it.  If I wanted to decorate a certain way, I would just do it.   If I want a recipe I print it or save it ... And just go on about my business.  I just do not understand.  It makes no logical sense to me.  (No offense to anyone who enjoys this particular pastime, I am probably too ADD to really focus on what makes it great.)
5.  Having friends here in KL has turned out to be surprisingly nice!  I had a dinner party Saturday night for the girls and in turn they have invited me out this Saturday night for Gong Xi Fa Cai Yee Sang dinner for the Chinese New Year and have invited me shopping this week so I can pick up a few trinkets for a few special peeps in Houston.  I am feeling almost popular!  Or at least as if some women enjoy my company!  (I have sworn off expat wives for the rest of my life!)
6.  I haven't even been back to check on Luke (the cocker spaniel puppy who should be mine), I just can't see those beautiful eyes again unless he is in the car with me coming home.
7.  Mr. Ken bought me the most gorgeous baroque pearls for Christmas, our anniversary, my birthday, and Valentine's day.  They were just delivered on Saturday.  They are from China, and are somewhat rare as they are a silver/pewter color with a gorgeous luster to them.   Baroque means that they are imperfect and unfinished.  Kind of like me!  Yes, that's it!  I am baroque! (not to be confused with BROKE, even though...)  Thank you Mr. Ken, I love you much!
8.  I keep saying how much I love this house...I will just keep saying it...from the pond, to the plants and the yard, from the decor to the layout of the rooms, I LOVE this house.  Plus, I feel super safe here.  No alarms going off in the middle of the night, no snakes of the two legged or slithering kind, just peace and tranquility.  Aww....big sigh of contentment!  While we were both excited to go to Houston and see family and friends we are both equally excited to come back and enjoy this space.
9.  Oh, and might I mention since the move I haven't been sick once!  I had a sinus infection for what seemed like the entire time we lived in our other house.  I swear if you took out the walls and ceilings you would find nothing but mold in them.  Here, no issues, so far, knock wood.
10.  Oh!  So, we have this gardener, handy man, jack of all trades, guy that we got hooked up with when we moved in.  His name is Vicky.  No really, I have his business card.  I at first thought he kept saying Ricky (which let's face it makes a lot more sense than Vicky).  Anyway, I have finally named him Rikki Tikki Tavi  After the mongoose in the short story in "The Jungle Book" by Rudyard Kipling.  Why?  I don't know, why is he a guy named Vicky?   But, as we've had Rikki Tikki Tavi do a lot of work for us I've gotten to know him and his story is amazing.  He is in his early twenties.  His father passed away and so he is taking care of his mother and sisters.  They are Malay Indian and as such he has taken it upon himself to provide for his family inclusive of giving his sisters their respective weddings which by Indian tradition are very elaborate and expensive.  He has never traveled, never even eaten Italian food, much less experienced any other culture (because as he said to "Sis, I've got to save my money."  He calls me Sis???  I don't know.)  So, in the tale by Rudyard Kipling, while Rikki Tikki Tavi fought the two giant cobras to keep the family who rescued him safe, we find our real life Rikki Tikki Tavi, keeping his mother and sisters safe when most young men his age are out on the town.  He is polite, unfailingly honest, does extremely good work, and I must say, I admire him.   He said to me recently that once his father died he knew at that moment his pride had to take a backseat to whatever he had to do to make a living and support his family.  That no job was beneath him.  He would do whatever it took to keep his home (that he bought and pays a mortgage on) so they always had a roof over their heads.  I just can't help but think there is a boy who was raised well by his parents.   He did also mention he wishes for the sisters to marry except that the weddings would break him financially!  You can't knock a guy for wishing!

So, on that note, I leave you...feeling very humbled by even having the good fortune to have met our Rikki Tikki Tavi, and we hope to keep him employed for a long time!  I am just sure the pond needs something else!  Oh, which reminds me...

11.  The pond now has lights for night and a bridge for Scooter to sun on!  (All Rikki Tikki Tavi projects!)

Love, the very random spajunkie

How Much Is That Doggie in the Window?

Today the DES and I went for some grooming!  Desi went to his groomer while I went and had a facial and a massage.  I caught a quick bite to eat for lunch and by then Desi was ready too!

Those of you who regularly read this blog know how in love I am with this dog...this crazy, sometimes pain in the neck, sweetest boy dog ever.  You may not know, though, that I am just as in love with cocker spaniels in general.  The DES is our third.  First there was Delaney, then Maggie, then Desi.  (Additionally my mom had Barney, and now Buffy.)  All three were "rescues" from the cocker spaniel rescue.  Desi was named so after Desi Arnez...Ricky Ricardo...I said after we lost Maggie that someday I wanted a Lucy to go with Desi!  Sweet!!

When I went in to pick DES up this afternoon, here is what (who) greeted me:

I was drawn to this little puppy like a magnet!  A two month old, golden, pure bred cocker spaniel puppy.  I had finally found my Lucy!

Who could resist this face?

Then I found out ... puppy is a boy!  His sister has already found her home.  Darn it!

At any rate, Mr. Ken had just landed in Moscow and text me so I text him back with the little guys picture and said no Lucy but how precious is he?

We text back and forth, mainly Mr. Ken teasing me about my (in)ability to resist this temptation.  As I was driving home I was talking to myself in my head (and you know maybe even out loud!), basically writing this blog, and I got to the juncture where I said to myself (and you readers and the DES and whoever else was watching me drive and talk to myself), no Lucy but maybe he is a Luke! 

I kid you NOT dear readers, the next second my phone goes off and it was a text from Mr. Ken that said "Ok very cute, let's see how strong you are.  Maybe he's Luke!"  I almost wrecked the car!  NOT REALLY!  I was at a complete stop at a stop light that was red and the vehicle wasn't even considering being in motion, I SWEAR!

Maybe there is a natural transgression from Lucy to Luke, maybe we've been married so long we think alike, OR MAYBE, Luke was meant to be ours!!

All I know is I left my puppy there and I've regretted every second I've been away from him so far! 

I'm super close to cancelling my flight to Houston, picking Luke up and starting some potty training!

 

Just Kidding MOM!!!   

Desi and Luke.  The DES and LUKE.  Deeesss, Luuukkkee,... I like it!  I like it alot.  It flows well when you need to yell correct bad behaviour.

If he is still there when we get back from Houston, HE IS MINE. 

Love, spajunkie.

 P.S. The answer to the rhetorical question of How Much Is That Doggie in the Window is that you cannot put a price on welcoming a new member of the family!  It is priceless!  Right Mr. Ken? 

Quality of Life

Quality of Life is one of those catch phrases that you hear people say, talk about, reference; but the actual articulation of what is quality of life is sometimes lacking.  Is it because we don't know what it is?  Or, likely, is it because we don't know what it looks like for us?  I'm not at all referring to the reasonable expectation that we all have a roof over our heads and food on our table, or how big our house is, or how much money we make...but is the quality of the life you have good?  Good for you?  Or do we just adapt to what we are doing and consider it good?

I had an epiphany this morning (YES, even spajunkies have them). 

We are currently living the best quality of life we have ever had.  I say this for many reasons. 

Rewinding even back to 4 years ago or so.  Mr. Ken and I were both working and traveling for work non-stop.  There were many times one of us arrived home the day the other was leaving so that the animals were always taken care of.  There were many times the animals were boarded for weeks while we were traveling, separately, for work.  Oh, sure, we made a lot of money.  We had a nice house, nice cars, and took great trips together.  Why I remember several, many "vacations" where all we did was work - separately, on our laptops.  At beautiful locations we paid money to go to.  To work. 

When we moved here the pace of life slowed down a bit, but in all honesty not really (refer to this blog post http://spajunkie.typepad.com/living-in-a-foreign-language/2012/01/the-year-in-review-2011.html. )

Mr. Ken still had an hour or longer commute, even if I dropped him at the train it took a half hour to get to the station.  The traffic is unbelievable really.  The commute home was normally even longer.  So, of course based on this you get up earlier and you stay gone longer.  Couple this with the time difference here and his day could easily stretch into 18 hours if there were conference calls with Houston in the evening.  Up at six, to bed at midnight.  Not exactly what we were looking for in slowing down our life!

Then you had our location in general.  It IS true what they say - Location, Location, Location!  Where we lived was super nice, that is a fact, but we were up on this mountain, kind of back in a corner whereby the only way out was through Sri Hartamas or Solaris.  Quite possibly two of the most congested outer lying areas in KL.  Honestly Sri Hartamas alone could add a good 20 minutes to anywhere you tried to go.  Then on top of that the area was new, I don't speak Malay, I have an accent (YES, I do! ), so even getting a taxi was an iffy proposition.  It was just difficult!  Very difficult. This archive memory is a good, funny example!   http://spajunkie.typepad.com/living-in-a-foreign-language/2010/06/to-know-me-is-to-love-me.html.

When we found out we had to move the highest priority on the list was a house closer to KLCC where Mr. Ken works.  Or, minimally, closer to the train station so it wasn't an hour round trip to drop him there. Once at the train station he can be at his desk in 15 minutes.   We also wanted to be out of the corner where we were!  Someplace that getting around, or getting a taxi wasn't iffy, nor did it take three hours to go 20 minutes!

At any rate, as you know we luckily found this house we are now moved into.  It allows for us to get up around 7:30 or 8:00, leave for the train station by 8:30, Mr. Ken is at work by 9:00 or earlier and I am back home by 8:40 or I'm at my favorite shopping center for iced tea before any of the shops even open and parking is EASY.  It also, obviously, allows for me to have the car every day which is a major plus.  Mr. Ken then texts me in the evening when he is on the train headed this way.  I wait 5 minutes, leave the house and drive up just as he is coming out.  Plus the DES gets to take a car ride twice a day! 

From a purely quality of life stand point this adds back hours to the day...makes it so easy for Mr. Ken's commute, plus even allows a bit of nap time in the evening if there are conference calls late into the night.  It allows me the advantage of a car, no taxi necessary, and the stress level is just way lower. 

Location, Location, Location!  What a difference it makes!

How about your quality of life?  Have you considered what one small change might do for your day?  I know we were super lucky we had a FORCED change of life occur but seriously, what might you do, some small, seemingly insignificant change, that just makes your quality of life better?

Think about it.  I'd love to hear!

Love, spajunkie.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gumbo Ya-Ya

Gumbo:

Okra, esp. the gelatinous pods used in cooking.

(in Cajun cooking) A spicy chicken or seafood soup thickened typically with okra or rice.

This is my personal version of gumbo...it is really okra and tomatoes with shrimp kicked up a notch! Everyone has their own favorite gumbo. I completely respect all the opinions on roux, no roux, dark roux, etc...but...

I'm a no roux kind of girl. Hey! Don't knock it until you try it! So, when I was trying to come up with a homemade gumbo I experimented around with a lot of different recipes and the one I liked most was this one. It is very close to this recipe by the king himself, Emeril, but has been tweaked based on personal preferences.  http://www.emerils.com/recipe/2812/Shrimp-and-Okra-Gumbo
(The pictures.  Well, I tried to take some...my camera is acting up...then Mr. Ken picks it up and it acts nice.  Sorry, I'm still posting a few because I spent such a long time putting the recipe together!)

Ingredients

4 lbs shrimp (yielding about 3 lbs once peeled and deveined)
1 1/2 cups diced celery
1 1/2 cups diced bell peppers (red, green, yellow, whatever you like but green will give the most peppery flavor, and is my preference)
1 1/2 cups diced onion
1 1/2 cups diced fresh okra (if you can't get fresh frozen is just fine, about a box will do you)
3 cups diced fresh tomatoes (or you can used canned diced tomatoes, one large can or two small should be fine. I use fresh Roma tomatoes, about six or seven diced.)
4 cups shrimp broth (other broths are fine as well, and I will give you a super quick throw down broth option below)
Cayenne pepper
2-3 bay leaves
Salt and pepper
3 Tblsp butter
3 Tblsp Asian fish sauce (optional)

Throw down broth option

The best way to do shrimp broth is to leave the heads and shells on and boil along with seasoning (I use zatarains shrimp and crab boil, it is handy because you can remove the bag and it doesn't leave too much seasoning in your broth which can overwhelm your gumbo.)

However, if you are like me and really don't like peeling and deveining, I just go ahead and boil my peeled and deveined shrimp the same way! I have a secret ingredient at the end that totally makes up for this laziness!

At any rate, boil your shrimp per the instructions and when you drain them retain about 4 cups of the broth. Set the separated shrimp and broth to the side.  (Many people cook their shrimp right in the gumbo at the end - you can totally do this!  I just like to have the shrimp broth for more flavor and no, I'm not organized enough to have it on hand in the freezer.)

Now, melt your butter in a big soup pot. Add your okra. Add a little salt and pepper and if you have some a little Emeril Essence (which I make a bunch of it, then store for future use, click here for the recipe).  http://www.emerils.com/recipe/14/Emerils-Essence-Creole-Seasoning  You want to sauté your okra until most of the slime is gone. Don't let okra scare you! The slime does go away! Once it is a beautiful bright green color add your celery, bell pepper, and onion. Add a little more salt, pepper, and or Essence. I try to do this at each layer so everything gets a little seasoning plus the salt helps your veggies to weep. Continue to sauté and stir until your veggies are translucent and or tender. Next you will add your tomatoes and your bay leaf. Season again! They cook down so that what you've got now is very tender, bright, beautiful veggies! About 20 minutes or so...
 Beauty!

Next add in your shrimp, your broth, more seasoning, and if you like, some cayenne pepper. I like spicy, a lot. I'm prone to over spicing my gumbo so I suggest you take it slow and continue tasting rather than add a great amount of cayenne (ESPECIALLY if you use Essence). Start with about an 1/16 of a teaspoon and let the gumbo cook for a good hour before testing the spice.

Now for the secret ingredient:

Asian fish sauce. At the time you check the spice heat factor, add about three Tblsp of the fish sauce. You can find this in the Asian section of any grocery store. It adds a saltiness along with just an ocean flavor that you can't get unless you've boiled those shrimp with heads and shells! I love and I swear by it!

Let your gumbo stew and simmer lightly for a couple hours, stirring occasionally. If you feel it needs more liquid you can add any type of broth or even some water.

Serve the gumbo over white rice, with some fresh sourdough bread.

Yum!

El Cerado - and the suckling pig

Our friend Agnes invited us to go out to dinner with her and her friend, Angelie, on December 27th, for our anniversary.

We really had no idea what was in store!  It was so much fun!!  El Cerado is a Spanish restaurant that also serves German food!  I know, right!  At any rate, what we didn't know is that they specialize in suckling pig.  In fact, you must call in advance to order one.  Agnes not only called in advance for the piglet but also that it was our anniversary.

So, here we are:

Here is the piglet (poor piglet, I think the look on my face pretty much sums it up for me!  I believe meat should come wrapped in plastic from the grocery store!  I don't want to meet it, or see its face...)  He is explaining to us that because it has been marinated for days prior to cooking you can chop it up with the side of a dinner plate...no knife necessary...that is how tender it is.

So, here I go!

BUT, here is the really fun part, after you chop him up they bring out this big barrel that you break the plates into!  It is supposed to be good luck and prior to plate breaking you make a wish.  Here we are, Ken making his wish, me just finished breaking my plate.  (I can tell our wishes and they were both the same - GOOD HEALTH for the years to come.)

Here are the four of us:  Agnes in back, Angelie in front.

And, then, beautiful desserts with gifts!

Is this pig adorable or what?

What a FUN evening we had! 

And, most of all, we have friends that live in the same city as us!  How cool is that?

Love, spajunkie