Let's Do This!

I really wish I had the time to blog more. I love to write and document feelings, events, finds, etc., but I haven't found a way to focus on my Ethan, my older kids & my husband, and find some time for myself. It's funny how we tend to take advantage of time while growing up, and yet it becomes so precious to us when we're adults. I know I've said it before, but I WILL make an effort to blog more. Pinky swear! ;)

Catching Up

Wow! So much has changed since I've last blogged two years ago! My older kids are now almost an 8th and 5th grader, and I've also had a new baby since then! My baby Ethan turned 16 weeks yesterday and is more cute, cuddly and lovable than I could have ever imagined. My life is consumed more than ever with my family, and I wouldn't have it any other way. I do hope to blog more often when time permits, but we'll see how that goes. :)

Life is good!

Dessert Recipe: Snickerdoodle Pie

I made two of these yesterday...one for Tyler's cakewalk at the kid's Harvest Festival and the other for us to try, because you can't send a new recipe anywhere without trying it first, right? ;) It was soooo good and the aroma coming out of my kitchen yesterday was amazing! The recipe is a little involved, but so worth it. It's a cross between a cake and a snickerdoodle cookie all rolled into one and baked in a pie. Healthy it's not, but everything in moderation! I forgot to take a picture of it before we cut ours and Tyler took his to school, so here's a picture from the Better Homes and Garden's website, where I found the recipe. Enjoy!

Snickerdoodle Pie

Prep time: 40 min.

Baking time: ~44 min. (depending on your oven, see note at the bottom)

Cooling time: 30 min.

Stand time: 30 min.

Ingredients:

1 recipe Single-Crust Pie Pastry, or 1 rolled refridgerated unbaked pie crust (1/2 of a 15 oz. package)--I actually used a frozen 9-inch deep dish pie crust in pan, thawed, and it turned out fine

1 Tbsp. raw or course sugar

1/2 + 1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon, divided

2 tsp. butter, melted

1/2 c. packed brown sugar

1/4 c. butter

3 Tbsp. water

2 Tbsp. light colored corn syrup

1/2 + 1 tsp. vanilla extract, divided

1/4 c. butter, softened

1/2 c. granulated sugar

1/4 c. powdered sugar

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. cream of tartar

1 egg

1/2 c. milk

1 1/4 c. flour

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. For the crust: Prepare pastry and line a 9-inch pie plate with crust. In a small bowl, combine raw or course sugar with 1/2 tsp. cinnamon. Brush melted butter over unbaked pie crust and sprinkle with 1 tsp. of the cinnamon-sugar mixture. Set aside.

For the syrup: combine brown sugar, 1/4 c. butter, water, corn syrup, and 1/4 tsp. cinnamon in a saucepan. Heat to boiling over medium heat, stirring to dissolve sugar. Boil gently for two minutes. Remove from heat and stir in 1/2 tsp. vanilla. Set aside.

In a mixing bowl, beat the 1/4 c. of softened butter with a mixer on medium speed for 30 secondes. Beat in granular sugar, powdered sugar, baking powder, salt, and cream of tartar until well blended. Beat in egg and 1 tsp. vanilla extract. Gradually beat in milk until combined. Beat in flour. Spread evenly in unbaked crust.

Very slowly, pour syrup over pie filling in crust. Sprinkle remaining cinnamon-sugar mixture over the pie. Cover crust edges with foil.

Bake at 350 degrees F. for 25 minutes*(see note at bottom), then carefully remove foil and bake for 20 more, or until top is puffed and golden brown, and a toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. Cool for 30 minutes on rack. Serve warm. Makes 10 servings.

Nutritional Information:

Calories 385, Total Fat (g) 17, Saturated Fat (g) 8, Cholesterol (mg) 49, Sodium (mg) 289, Carbohydrate (g) 53, Fiber (g) 1, Protein (g) 4, Vitamin C (DV%) 0, Calcium (DV%) 4, Iron (DV%) 9, Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet

*By the way, I had to add an extra 10 minutes to each the 25 and the 20 minute baking times, thus making the total baking time to be an hour and 5 minutes. Please adjust the baking times to your ovens at home.

Noooo!

I am devistated! In my hunger haze, I found myself checking out the Zippys online menu to salivate over the pictures, and then clicked over to the online ordering site...

Are you kidding?! Is this a bad joke? How could you do this to us mainland people? Now where will I order my dobash and haupia cakes? Luckily, there's an Asian grocery market here that has frozen Zippys chili, hamburger curry, and napples, as well as other Hawaii favorites. That's not the point, though! :( I am truly sad. (sigh) I can't take this...I need a nap!

Fasting...Ugh!

Later this afternoon, I have to go and get some blood work done at the doctor's office, so I'm fasting today and hating it. :( I haven't eaten since 8:30 last night! Hello?! I'm from Hawaii and Hawaii people were not made to fast. It's just not in our DNA. It's only supposed to be a 12 hour fast, but I wanted to wait until Alex could take me and that won't be until this afternoon. Ugh, I have a hunger headache! I'm also diabetic...is this even healthy for me? I thought they said that I couldn't skip meals? AND WHY ARE THERE SO MANY FOOD COMMERCIALS ON TV?! I'm sorry. I promised that I wouldn't complain in my blogs so much. Today's just not a good day.

I'm constantly running a mental list in my head today, of things that I want to eat after my blood tests. So far everything is Filipino food such as dinuguan, bangus, pinakbet, puto, kusinta, rice, beef sinigang, beef caldereta, etc. I'd go for Zippys too if they had that here--zip pack, chili frank, beef curry, zip min, oxtail soup, fried noodles, wun tun min, katsu, surf pack, broasted chicken (do they still have that? Or is it just fried now?), hamburger steak, teriyaki... Ooh, Korean food sounds so ono as well! Korea House! I'll take the dinner combination #1 with the bbq chicken, beef and pork, with a side of mundoo, some bi bim bap and soju. Don't forget my sides--kim chi, pickled turnip, seaweed, etc., and extra cucumber kim chi please! I see a comfort food pattern developing. By the way, does anyone know a recipe for those triangular Chinese rice cakes that the manapua man sells? I miss those. I tried to make it once but it was a bad recipe and it came out to be more of a weird looking mochi than a rice cake. E-mail me if you have a recipe. :) Ok, I have to stop talking about food because all I have is my trusty Evian bottle for the day. Hmph!

On a serious note, this makes me thankful that my family and I have a good place to live, and we're not out on the streets wondering where our next meal is coming from. Thank you God for providing a good life for us, and giving us the blessings that you do each day.

Spam Wha?

Spam hot dogs? Are you kidding me? These were spotted at Costco in Hawaii, of course! Hawaii people love Spam! Spam musubis, fried spam with eggs and rice, teriyaki spam, grilled spam at the beach, spam spam spam! I remember going grocery shopping with my mom when I was little and we would stock up on a case or two of spam when it was on sale. In our house, it was like toilet paper. If there was a good sale and the store had a limit, my mom, my sister and myself would have to stand in line so that we could stock up without being limited. At one time, we had 9 people in the house, so imagine how much food Mom and Dad had to buy!

Spam hot dogs though? I think I'm a little scared to try this. I don't even do the spam burger recipe on the back of the regular spam can. It's uncharted territory...unsailed waters venturing into the Burmuda Triangle! It could ruin my love of spam! Sorry, I had a melodromatic moment. Inhale. Exhale. Balance. I wonder if we'll get this here on the mainland?

Has anyone tried this? E-mail or comment and give me a review!

Just Do It

Whatever your political affiliation and whomever you choose, please register to vote. If you don't vote, you have no right to complain about what's going on in the country. We can all agree that a change needs to be made. Make a difference and make your vote count! Deadline is October 20, 2008.

And for those that are registered...although the options may not be ideal, please vote anyway, even if you feel like abstaining from this election. Try and find the best person that you feel could turn our country around. A no vote may be a vote that we could regret later. We all need to help bring back the excitement of voting again!

Thank you for listening to my public service announcement! :)

Just Thinkin' and Bloggin'

I love my husband! I mean I really REALLY love my husband! :) I was so blessed with the greatest husband in the world. He's done so much for the family, not to mention so much for me. I don't know anyone that has been so active in their children's lives since even before the kids were born. To this very day, he's never missed a doctor's appointment. He got up in the middle of the night for the babies feedings. He changed diapers as much as I did. He's bathed and fed them. He chaperones field trips, helps out with homework, attends awards assemblies, gets them up, breakfast and to school. He's never missed any sporting events. He cooks, cleans, and does dishes. He shops for groceries. He does the laundry. He's so awesome, and I've only begun to scratch the surface.

I can't count the endless times that he's taken care of me because of my back and other health problems. He's taken days off to take care of me and often has to take on all of the responsibilities here because I am unable to. He's also taken days off just for "our time". He telecommuted from the mall while he stood in line for 6+ hours at the Apple store so I could have my iPhone, while Tyler and I stayed home. Most recently, he took this past Wednesday off just so we could spend some time together. Oh, and remember a few posts ago, and how I called him the "warden of the womb"? Well, he's still not ready, but we haven't been NOT trying either...just for me. ;) How lucky am I, right? I don't know how I deserved him, but I'm glad that we are together forever.

Thank you Alex, for being you, for being ours, and for being mine. :)

$700 billion is still less than $810 billion right?

The Senate has passed another bailout package, this time at $810 billion instead of $700 billion. This time the bill is "laden with pork", including:

• $223M for Alaskan fisherman
• $192M for rum producers in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands
• $128M for auto racing
• $33M for companies operating in American Samoa
• $10M for film & TV production
• $6M for producers of wooden arrows

Rum producers?! Wooden arrow manufacturers?! Are you kidding me? That entire list is ridiculous and unbelievable! This is where our money is going...money that could benefit someone that actually needs it? I am dumbfounded! How many of these bills that have been previously passed has crap like this in it? And wasn't one of the reasons why they voted against the previously proposed bill was because $700 billion was just too much money? I don't get it. We'll see if this one is passed...

I'm off to sit in the backyard and whittle arrows out of pencils so I can qualify for part of that $6 million!

Lonely and Bloggin'

Alex had to go into the office today. Correction, Alex has to go into the office from now on. He had a staff meeting on Friday and they're enforcing the No Telecommuting Unless Prior Authorized so I'll be here...alone, from now on with the canines. (Sigh) The house seems so empty and quiet. It's nice that I don't have to worry about being too loud, but now I miss him so much. :( By the way, have I shown you my baby Hanai? Isn't she cute? We adopted her the day after Thanksgiving when she was 10 months old, and it's hard to believe that we've had her for almost a year. She's a sweetie though, a spoiled sweetie and we all love her! She is the one that keeps me company, not Buster, who is so old that he just sleeps and snores all day. She always seems to know when I'm in pain (which has been a constant since the day after Labor Day) and always wants to comfort her mama. :) The kids just adore her...yes, even Tyler who was nipped by a the neighbor's chihuahua and has been scared of animals biting him ever since. They baby her all the time and Hanai loves getting carried, chased around, cuddled and scratched. In turn, the kids get plenty of licks and snuggles with our little chihuahua mix. We have a new fish in the family too! It's a crown-tail betta and it's the coolest betta that I've ever seen! He's still unnamed and I hope to call him something more than "fishy" soon. :) A few weeks ago, the kids went to church with my parents and brought home two goldfish from the church carnival. They were in the plastic water bags for awhile, and we had hoped that we could care for them enough to have them survive. Sadly, they didn't. Alexis was a little sad and traumatized, saying that she doesn't want another fish, but Tyler still wants one. We'll see how that goes. We have a large aquarium for their fish, it's just a matter of cleaning it out and finding somewhere to set it up. Also, why must fish stands be so expensive? $90 for one that looks like actual furniture! Anyway, it's been ages since I've blogged...since I've really blogged. I read over my entire blog this morning and have noticed a few things:

1. I swear...a lot!
2. I'm in pain...a lot!

Hopefully I can find other things to blog about besides pain and cursing. LOL ;) I am an open book though, and I'm willing to share anything, whether it's good or bad. I've found something new that I can do on my iPhone. Twitter! I love it! It's posting short little this-n-thats out into cyberspace and "tweeting" back and forth with newfound friends. I have three Twitter apps on my phone and can't decide which one is THE one that I want to exclusively use. Any Twitter peeps have a preference among Twitterrific, Twinkle and TwitterFon? Please e-mail or comment me back with your opinions. Speaking of my beloved iPhone, there's something wrong with my camera. I took a couple of pictures yesterday and the pictures seemed like one of those number puzzles that you shift the blocks around to order from 1 to 12. It doesn't happen all the time. I took one picture yesterday that was normal. The next one was the weird number puzzle, and then the one after that was vertically cut in half but in the wrong order. The next one after that was normal again. Weird! This is only the third time that it's happened, but I'm still irritated at the fact that it's just another problem that has to be fixed. Ugh! At least the software update has turned out to be a positive. I am loving the better signal strength and longer battery life. Can we please have an mms & video app soon? (sigh) I'm lonely and babbling. LOL What's new with you?

I did it!

So I finally got my butt in gear and survived my workout today! I did 3 miles on the treadmill at a mostly 5% incline and afterwards some cardio, weight training and stretching on my big fitness ball. I'm so proud of myself! I feel good, but I'm sooooo tired now. Hopefully I can do 2 more miles before bedtime. I need to make a change and it's time to get serious again because my family has a lot of health issues that I don't want to deal with! I know I should be easing into it, but I feel like I've wasted enough time and just want to see results as soon as possible! Yesterday I didn't get to work out until after the kids went to bed and did 2 miles but I'm glad that I made myself do it.

Anyhoo--now I'm off for a date with my bed for a nap!

Hi Blog! Who are you again?

I know, I haven't written in this bitch fo' days! Seems like it took me over an hour just dusting off the cobwebs! LOL Too much to say, too much typing to do, and my carpal tunnel can't handle all that action. I think I'm only blogging now to put off getting my out-of-shape ass working out with the weights and on the treadmill. Can Ms. Lazy have a do over on the bod? One that can rock a little black dress or attend a red carpet function if need be? I promise I'll be good this time! I remember when I was 110 lbs in high school thinking that I was akofat! What the heck was I thinking?

My brother and sister are the skinny asses in the family. I mean seriously, they don't even have to try! Why did I get stuck with the fat genes? WTF!?! Life sucks sometimes, don't you think? I know, wah wah wah. Whatever! Let me whine!

So Alex has been telecommuting from home a lot since his new position. It's got its good points as well as bad. I think it's funny that I used to complain that I never get to see him enough and then ta da! Here he is, all holed up in my bedroom like gold at Ft. Knox and all up on the phone like it's going out of style. j/k It's part of his job, but hello?! He looks like Lily Tomlin on Laugh In doing the operator bit! Oh wait, did I just date myself? Really, I'm not THAT old! I saw it on Nick at Nite repeats! LOL And can anyone tell me how do you get work done if you're almost always on a conference call? So what are the bad points you say? I still never get to see him, much less talk to him using more than 5 words at a time and he's only down the hall. He also works more hours from home than if he actually went INTO the office, and I feel like I'm invading his space...which is MY bedroom, whenever I have to go in there for anything. Oh, and talk about stressed! He's more stressed out now than he's ever been. Talk about fun to be around! (sigh) When we actually have time to ourselves at night, he's either busy with work or falling asleep on me so I never get to talk to him anyway! Maybe I can find a phone-a-friend on Craigslist? LOL I guess we all have trouble finding our balance sometimes but it's so frustrating!

Anyhoo, I'm still on my baby making mission but he still hasn't changed his stance yet. He's stressing about money as usual, but shoot...if my sister can handle life with 5 kids, wouldn't we be fine with 3 (maybe 4)? He used to tell me, "my only concern is your back, honey." So now after having a disc replacement surgery, the back's ok. I have my days where it's achy but it's not like I'm laid up for days like I used to be. I know I can carry a baby. See? I had a feeling that was all BS and that it's always been about the money! I feel like my clock is ticking and my uterus is collecting dust bunnies and cobwebs. What if I can't have a baby by the time he's FINALLY ready?

(This next part may be TMI, so skip down if you're not down with reading about birth control pills and baby making. LOL)

I stopped taking my bc pills. I felt that my body needed a break from the hormones and that I should stop taking it soon if I want any chance of having a baby in the near future. The pill that I was on was estrogen-free and acts just like the shot, so it could take FOREVER for it to be out of my system. I've read where people couldn't conceive for at least 3 years because of that kind of birth control messing up their baby making cycle. So being as AR as he is I'm sure I'll see some Trojans in the shopping cart the next time we're at the grocery store. Hello?! Control issues! I ask you people, when we got married did that give him the lock and key to my womb as well? He won't even talk about having a baby. Talk! Who made him the keeper of all things regarding Staci's uterus? Ugh! All of this gives me a headache! I love him dearly but sometimes I am 2 steps away from finding a baby daddy donor on Craigslist! Handsome and intelligent inquiries only please.

(End baby making talk...for now!)

Meanwhile, as I blog my uterus (oops, there's that word again) out to you, my sister is cracking me up...although what just happened to her is no joke! She is texting me (hopefully not while she's driving!) and telling me about how this lady wanted to turn, almost hit a car, and that car almost hit them. She's going on about her road rage and how she will give them the finger and yell out the window while she's following them, even if it's a guy or an older person. LOL I love my sister! We are so much alike! I bet you didn't know that road rage is hereditary! Oh yes, we got the rage from my dad, whom I have witnessed almost running someone off the road not once, but TWICE and I know he's done it more times than that! I won't go that far because I am not into public transportation, but I will tailgate you like a crazy person while screaming until you are piss-your-pants scared and changing lanes. I know, psycho right? Of course I will never do that with the kids in the car, but seriously I cannot handle driving. Between idiots on the road and back pains, that is why I rarely drive! Why are people such stupid drivers? Please do the world a favor and take a class to learn some skills! My high blood pressure and I thank you!

Ok, so I've managed to procrastinate for an hour and a half and now I feel like my day is wasting away. I guess it's finally time to hit the treadmill and weights so that I can get my day started. LOL

Fish and Poi Wit Some Local Kine Grindzzzz!!!

I wrote this almost a year ago, but somehow never published the post. Since I haven't blogged in awhile, I decided to post this unfinished blog while I read over my posts and visit the memories. :)

"...I like my fish and poi, I'm a big boy, lomi salmon, pipikaula, extra-large lilikoi...squid and chicken luau, don't forget the lau lau, beef or tripe stew just to name a few, oh yeah! Can't forget papa's speciality and mama's poi mochi. Smoke meat, shoyu poke with da rice can make a bad day fill you nice..."

I'm sooo craving local kine food right now. :( Thank goodness we have an L and L here and other Hawaiian bbq restaurants, along with a nice mix of Asian grocery stores or else I'd be doing a lot more cooking than I usually do (which hasn't been a lot lately. LOL)! Alex and the kids are on the way home from Alexis' soccer game and are stopping to get me a Pork lau lau combination plate w/chicken, a portuguese sausage musubi, an order of 5 malasadas and a large fruit punch. No, I'm not planning on finishing it all in one sitting...who doesn't like a little taste of everything? ;-) Our L and L here isn't nearly as ono as the authentic ones in Hawaii, but it will do for a craving fix. (Sidenote: My husband is such a sweetie! He's also stopping at Lourde's Ice Cream to get me a halo halo! Awww! :) Yum!)

Anyway, anywhere else pales in comparision to the selection of food from Hawaii, and it's nice that I was fortunate to grow up among such diversity.

Char Siu Chicken Anyone?

I didn't know how difficult it was to find a char siu chicken recipe! Originally, I was planning to use the Noh's brand, but then changed my mind because I wanted it to taste a little more authentic. Not that the Noh's alternative is so bad, because it's actually quite ono! I just want to make a marinade and save the flavor packet for another day (maybe for a quickie char siu recipe for some homemade manapua!) Should I just use the pork kine char siu marinade recipe? I figured that the chicken version would have a little bit of a difference since chicken and pork have slightly different flavors, so I googled char siu chicken but didn't find anything. I can't believe that no one from Hawaii has a char siu chicken recipe online. Wait, I take that back. I did find one, but he used the Noh packet. LOL Suggestions anyone? All right, I'll go and check the Hawaii nei cookbooks then.

On a Filipino food note, I made some hot rice and some pinakbet yesterday. Mmmmmmm! It was so good, that it's enough to make your lips pucker and make you psst! psst! and yell hoy to your fellow Filipinos! ;)

Caught Up In This Thing Called Life

Hi there. :) Remember me? I know, I know, it's been a year and a half since I last even thought of the blog, and as I signed on this morning I could barely remember my username and password (and when did blogger merge with google?). I'm sorry, but I got caught up in the dailies of life. I'm sure you know it well...husband, school, homework, sports practices and games, girl scouts, health issues, doctors visits, family life, yadda yadda yadda. It happens to all of us, and for awhile there, I was stuck on a wheel much like mouse...running and running, to no end. Not that I'm complaining. I love my family and would move mountains for them. I guess I just wish that I could manage my time more efficiently so that I can give ample time to everything...even myself. I have missed my blog though, and I'm happy to be back. I would have been back a few days sooner, if not for a computer virus, but better late than never!

The kids are doing well and are in 5th grade and 2nd grade, respectively. Can you believe it? Why do they have to grow up so fast? I miss having a little baby or toddler in the house. I feel like the more they grow up, the less they need me. Or maybe I'm just looking at it from the wrong perspective and they have been needing me more and more, judging from the lack of time that I have for everything. I'm so ready to have another one...maybe just one more and I'll be done. Maybe. ;) I've already gotten the clearance from my surgeon, so what's the hold up you say? HUBBY! My clock is ticking, though...and ticking down fast! It's kind of depressing when you look around and see people...friends and family, having babies and you want to but aren't and can't because your other half isn't ready, may never be ready, and won't even talk about the subject because it's "complicated". There's so much more I want to say, but won't, out of respect for my hubby. So that's where I am now. I'm home, crying almost daily because of the "empty nest" syndrome and can't do anything about it.

Lately I've been getting back in touch with my roots. More specifically, I've been watching Filipino movies (with subtitles, of course!), and cooking Filipino and Hawaiian kine local foods. You know it's funny...I've always embraced my Hawaiian and local kine Hawaii heritage, but spent the better half of my years denying my Filipino ethnicity, even making fun of it, calling the foods "jungle food" and teasing things like the accent, mannerisms, etc. when my grandparents even spoke the language and we all ate the foods and did half of the things that we made fun of. Now I wish I had kind of embraced it more, and even wished that I knew how to speak the languages. I'm ashamed of the way I denied who I am. I'm ashamed for calling the Philippines a "third world" country, and would even love to visit there sometime. From the looks of the scenery in the movies that I've seen, there are such beautiful places in the Philippines! Hopefully soon I can start learning how to speak Tagalog too.

So how have you all been? I apologize to all of you that have e-mailed me or called me and I haven't gotten back to you. It's not that I don't miss you or think of you (often!) because I really do. I've just been caught up in life, but hopefully soon I will learn how to manage my time more effectively to fit in phone calls, e-mails and blogs!

Back in the E-E-ER!

Tuesday night I reluctantly ended up back in the emergency room. That horrible pain in my side was still recurring, with a midgrade one occuring Monday night after I had gotten home from the hospital, and then one on Tuesday afternoon that made me think that all of my innards on my right side was going to explode! Alex called my surgeon's office and the doctor on call said that it couldn't have been a pinched nerve, because of how often the pain was recurring. We went to another hospital that was still in our primary care network and after a 2 hour wait, we were finally seen by none other than the same doctor as my first trip. I guess you could call it lucky, because we didn't have to start over from scratch with all of the medical history. He had me drink a nasty tasting liquid which was equivilent to the size of a big gulp from 7-11 so that I could take a CT scan. It turned out that I have a kidney stone about 2 mm in size, but still packed a powerful pain punch! They said it's like a grain of sand, but it hurts because it's not perfectly round and scraping its way down the urethra. Usually they let patients go because it normally passes on its own, but since I was in so much pain and my back meds weren't working for this pain, they admitted me for pain management. I got a room at about 7:30 on Wednesday morning and was discharged today at almost 3. There were so many complicating factors surrounding my stay in the hospital because of my upcoming back surgery, but to make a long story short, I'm having an outpatient surgery tomorrow to remove the kidney stone. Sigh...so many hospital visits and I haven't even had the disc replacement surgery yet!

Adventures in the ER

We spent 12 hours in the ER on Sunday night. Got there at midnight and ironically left there at noon on Monday. (What's with the number 12?) I guess my body wanted a hospital practice run before May 4th. Actually, I had a new pain...a different pain from my usual back troubles. This one was still in my back, but off to my right side and wrapped its way around towards the front. I couldn't get comfortable no matter what position I was in, and was literally crying in bed because it was so unbearable. I had no idea what it was. Something with my kidneys? An infection? Appendicitis? Reluctantly, I agreed to go to the emergency room. Talk about a production! We had to walk Buster, pack some things for the kids, wake them up (which is never a small task!), get them and their things into the car, drop them off at my parents house (11:30 at night!) and then finally be on our way downtown.

So many things happened around us that night. There was a code blue down the hall, which was broadcasted over the intercom system, and I could hear the noise of them doing chest compressions. A Korean lady broke her hip, but there was a communication barrier amongst her, the doctor, and nurses. Because she was combative (probably from being in so much pain) they had to restrain her but luckily called a family member over to serve as an interpreter. A man next door seemed to be a regular pain meds receiver there, known quite well by nurses. I couldn't help but overhear their conversation because his room was right next door to mine. Actually, I couldn't help but observe everything that was going on around us because everything is so loud there on the floor so it seemed like nothing could be kept secret. While I waited in my room, I also wondered how the man in his mid 20's accompanied by his 2 friends broke his hand and also about the little girl a few doors down that had trouble breathing and was so sick they had to admit, and hoped that she would be better soon...hoped that they all would be better soon. What a night. What an adventure! After seeing all of that in addition to going through my own ordeal, it felt so good to finally be home and be in my own bed without being around people that are unfortunately sicker than you or ones that only frequent the ER for pain meds paid for by taxpayers!

So my pain ended up to "probably" be a pinched nerve due to my back issues. All of my tests came out normal and they couldn't find out the source of my pain, so they said it was most likely due to my bad disc. The ER doctor and my surgeon's office both said to increase my pain meds and take 1 1/2 to 2 pills every 4 hours, instead of 1 every 8 hours, and lucky for me my surgery's next week so I won't be a walking zombie for long! You know before all of this excitement, I was pretty apprehensive about my back surgery even though I know it's going to pretty much save my life. It's a major thing, and I kept on freaking out about being put under, being in the hospital, being away from my children, the recovery process, etc., but spending the night in the ER helped me overcome some of my fears and in turn, made me realize that this whole ER experience wasn't such a stumbling block after all. That in fact, this was a hidden blessing that was sent to reassure me that everything's going to be ok. :) So with things in a new perspective for me, I'm ready for the surgery with my chin up and eager to take things one with one step at a time!

Surgery Time

We heard back from UCSF on Friday and my surgery date is set! My pre-op appointment is on May 1st, the surgery itself is set for the 4th and I'll be in the hospital for about 4 days after that. Perfect timing for my birthday huh! I guess I should look at it as the best birthday present in the world, but anxiety is starting to set in. As soon as I got the news, I started to feel sick. Three hours later, my asthma was still bothering me and I still felt like I want to throw up. I need to get over it though and realize that this is the beginning of something great! I'll finally have my life and my freedom back again with a growing lengthy list of things to do. Wish me luck!

Overnight Trippin'

Last Tuesday, Alex and I took an overnight trip down to San Francisco for my doctor's appointment and stayed overnight at the Radisson Miyako in Japantown. It was so nice to get away (although I was in so much pain from the ride) and also nice to see the Bay Area again after so long. I had forgotten how truly beautiful it is there and how much I missed it and missed living there. Just seeing the mountains and hills again reminded me of how flat Sacramento is! Our hotel room was nice. Not extravagant nice or Trump Towers nice, but pleasant and not tacky or stuck in the 70's like a lot of hotel rooms are. It was very spacious for a hotel room and everything was decorated in a contemporary Japanese theme, including the ceiling and the windows. We also had a king sized sleep number bed and I was in LOVE! Here are some pics that I took:

The heavenly sleep number bed...


The view from the hallway (my back was to the room door, closet and the bathroom)...

Also fell in love with the deep whirlpool tub and the bath salts (Ok, they could've updated the glass blocks, but it was still nice. LOL)...


Ok so about the food! We were surrounded by restaurant madness! We decided to walk to the Japan Center, which was right down the street and have dinner there. It was so overwhelming because there were so many places to choose from, and I made myself and Alex walk the entire mall until we settled on somewhere to eat. The restaurant we picked was yummy, with a good balance of sushi, sashimi, and entrees. One of the sushi rolls that we got was a Tonkatsu roll and they breaded the roll in panko, deep fried it, and served it with Tonkatsu sauce and it was absolutely delicious! We also got some hamachi sashimi, an order of inari sushi, a spicy tuna roll, a teriyaki/tempura bento, dinner salad, miso soup, and shared everything. After dinner, our way back to the hotel we passed a little coffee shop that had some butter mochi, lychee mochi, pastries, truffles, ice cream, coffee drinks, lychee slushies and mochi slushy drinks. We were both so full, but Alex needed some coffee and I had to get a lychee slushy and some lychee mochi to go. We went back to the hotel room and I soaked in the whirlpool tub for a bit before we settled in and watched a movie on Adella (my laptop). The next morning, we checked out and headed out to my doctor's appointment at UCSF. It was a really good appointment and everyone there was so nice. The appointment itself surprisingly lasted for 3 hours but it was nice to not have that rushed feeling at a doctor's appointment for a change. So although it was short, it was a nice trip to the city. I wanted to take more pictures, but it rained most of the time that we were there and I didn't want to get the camera wet. I would have loved to stay longer as well, but we weren't there for a vacation and had to get back to our family. Besides, if all goes well we'll be back there soon enough!

*yawn*

I'm so tired. You would think that since I only got about 3 hours of sleep last night, that it would be easy for me to fall back asleep and take a little nap...but, not so much. :(

Somebody pass me some Ambien please.