Storm Troopers

I have this fascination with Storm Troopers. Yes, it feels good to finally say it out loud in cyberspace. I am a Storm Trooper fan, junkie, whatever you want to call it -- I'm obsessed! I don't know if it's the menacing helmet, the stylish high boots, the sexy tool belt, or that oh so obvious athletic supporter slash banana hammock...purrrrrrrrrrrrrr....but the Storm Trooper makes me wanna purr like a kitty in heat. Phew! Just thinking about it makes my pits break out with sweat.

Speaking of pit sweat (a.k.a all things stinky)...I've noticed that ever since I got back from vacation, my farts are especially stinky. It's not just me. Pudge's farts have been rather ripe as well. We think that we may have been infected with some kind of stomach bacteria while on vacation. My money is on the food on the plane. The shrimp cocktail/sushi seemed suspicious. Fortunately, we've gotten progressively better in the last few days (farts not so stinky) so hopefully it's not too long before our farts smell like a bed or roses again! Heheheheh :).

I know what you're thinking....how lucky you are that I shared this piece of information with all you bloggers out there! Hahaha!

Vacation 2008

Our vacation this year was one of the most memorable for me. We went every where. The best, of course, was visiting my family. Pudge was a hit with my entire family! After the 2nd day, I was invisible and I had to remind my mom that I am her daughter, NOT Pudge. All I heard was Pudge this, Pudge that, Pudge, Pudge, Pudge! And Pudge ate it all up!!! :)

A special Thanks to my cousins Dha and Di who took time off from their busy schedule to chauffeur us around and be our personal tour guide and official host. They took Pudge and me all over the map including a hindu temple in a cave called Batu Caves. I must say the temple was magnificently beautiful BUT it stank so bad. I swear it smells like a cross between a sewer and Pudge's ass after a Chilli con Queso Fest! Hehehehe! Why anyone would worship at a smelly place is a complete mystery to me!

The temple was located in a cave and to get to the cave, one must climb a thousand steps. Pudge and Di climbed the steps all the way to the top while Dha and I shopped at the little gift shop (we'd like to think we were the smart ones in this little adventure) hehehehe. We timed it right too because after I spent almost RM$200.00 on golden buddhas for my office mates, and wooden monkeys and elephants for my friends back in Minnesota, Di and Pudge were making their way down the steps. So Dha and I took a video of their descend. I must say, they looked like they were drunk! Both were doddering down the steps and pausing periodically to catch their breath. It was hillarious! Dha and I had a good laugh. However, I must commend them for attempting the climb. They deserve medals for their efforts.
Aside from Batu Cave, my cousins also took us to Genting Highlands. It was so much fun! I had never been there before and since it was such a hot and humid day, I welcomed the prospect of going somewhere in the higher altitudes.

I didn't expect Genting Highlands to be so Vegas-like. It was a total surprise to see all the casinos, miniature Statue of Liberty and Eiffel Tower, and not to mention the roller coasters and all rides imaginable to fortify any child's taste for adventure. We took a gondola ride (cable car) from one end of the Highlands to another and the thick and dense fog made the "sky ride" even more adventurous. When we crossed to the other side, I was all white knuckles and serious. But on the return trip, I had completely lost all my fears and was able to joke around with Pudge and my cousins. Although Pudge was more abnoxious than ever! :)

Aside from Batu Cave and Genting Highlands, Pudge and I also went to see the remnants of the Portugese in Melaka, Lido Beach in Johor, Kelley Castle in Ipoh, and so many more. We had a great time, but nothing beats the time we spent with good friends and family.

Pudge and I were invited to dinner at Azura's house and we met her large family. Her husband is good looking....explains the FIVE beautiful kids (heheheh). We managed to broker a few marriages between Azura's daughters and our sons so in a few years, we should be planning their weddings! heheheh!

Another treat for me was to finally meet Tok Jah (my maternal grandfather's sister). What a rare treat! She is 86 years old and still sharp as a tack! The last time I saw her, I was still in diapers. Oddly enough, this time around, she was the one wearing diapers! hehehehe!

My mom told me that she was once a raving beauty and that a prominent man had asked her hand in marriage. Her parents accepted on her behalf but a few hours after the wedding, she had begged her husband for a divorce as she did not want to marry. Her husband reluctantly granted her the divorce and she never married. Which supports my theory that SINGLE women have the tendency to live longer than their married counterparts :)

Autumn Shmautumn

It is very gloomy today. The sun did not come out at all. I woke up later than usual for a Sunday (9am) and it was still dark in my room. The whole gloomy day has put me in a funk. I watched Project Runway reruns all day long -- all 12 episodes! Wednesday is the season finale. So I'm all caught up but now I feel guilty for just vegetating all day long. Pudge is working double today -- his last switch for our big vacation. We had the boys yesterday and the house was loud and lively. Now that they are gone, I miss those munchkins!

This picture was taken from my living room window. As you can see it is indeed gloomy. Even the colorful leaves that have fallen on the ground, are eclipsed by the gloominess of the sunless day. Ugh! Makes me want to crank the stereo up loud and turn on all the lights in the house. :) Well two short weeks left before the big trip!! Yay!!

More Than Words....

I found this video on YouTube and thought I'd share it with you all. I love this song. Enjoy...
P.S. I have no idea who that chick is at the end of the vid. I'm guessing she's the object of desire of the guy who posted this vid online....hehehhehe! Ahhhh young love! :)

Video: Hello Mistah Buhhd, Are You Hongreee?

Bulan berpuasa ni memang susah sikit sebab kami kerja lewat jadi bila berbuka, makan coklat dan minum air sahaja. Tiba rumah barulah boleh makan sedap-sedap sampai kenyang.

So this video is my little rendition of a Hungreee Little Burdie. The boys loved it and it has become a family tradition to play "Mistah Buhhd" before dinner! :) It's dedicated to all you folks who berpuasa in this month of Ramadan.

Video: Caterpillar Oh Caterpillar

One lazy breezy afternoon during our lunch break, Pudge, my officemate Jenny, and my boss Margarita, sat under a shady tree on a wooden picnic table to "shoot the breeze". We had an unexpected guest, the caterpillar.

Selamat Hari Raya

Selamat Hari Raya to all my friends and family. Less than 2 weeks left then the celebration begins. I just realized that I can count the number of times I've celebrated Hari Raya in Malaysia on one hand. Not a lot but they were fond memories. Mom's awesome cooking, the family all dressed up, the duit raya in little red envelopes...hmmmm....the smell of delicious cakes baking in the oven, the neighborhood kids stopping by to "beraya" all dressed in their best and behaving like young men and women.....those were the days!

The Girl with the Lime Green Ribbon

Today marks the third year since being diagnosed with cancer for the 2nd time. I'm the girl with the lime green ribbon. A lime green ribbon is symbolic of NonHodgkins Lymphoma.

In November 2000 (about two weeks before my birthday), I was diagnosed with NonHodgkins Lymphoma, a type of blood cancer. I was in stage 1 of the disease so I was prescribed 3 cycles of chemo (CHOP) and 2 weeks of daily radiation therapy. Aside from the discomfort of surgery, gaining a lot of weight from steroids, and losing my hair, I thought the treatments were not that bad. And I enjoyed over 4 years of relatively good health....relative being the key word! It was in September of 2005 after surgery to remove my spleen was when I discovered that my cancer had returned. I was no longer in remission! In fact, the cancer was so aggressive, placing me in stage 4 of the disease. Needless so say I was devastated. I underwent 4 cycles of aggressive chemotherapy called ICE. CHOP was a breeze compared to ICE. With CHOP I went in to the hospital as an outpatient. They hooked me up to the I.V. and I just sat there for 2 hours while I received chemo intraveneously. Shortly after that, I was home in the comfort of my own bed.

ICE was a whole other ball game. I was admitted to the hospital for a week. From the moment I was admitted, I received chemo intraveneously none stop until the day I was discharged from the hospital. Each drug made me sick and I spent a lot of time with my head bent in a bucket vomitting. Considering that I had no appettite and ate virtually nothing the whole time I was in the hospital, I often wondered, just what exactly was I vomitting out? Once I had a terrible reaction to a new Chemo drug called Rituxan. My body started to shake. I was shivering like I was cold. I felt so cold that the chill went right to my bones. A male nurse (now I wish I had remembered his name) came in to my rescue. He covered me with three heated blankets and gently told me that it wasn't going to help but it will comfort me (he was right). He took my blood pressure and it was off the charts (230/120). I was still shivering. Then he injected something into my I.V. and stayed with me until my shivering subsided. I will never forget his kindness.

Each time I received chemo, I was hospitalized for a week's time, and I would come home 10 pounds lighter. Imagine! I did 4 cycles of chemo in the span of 4 months. And in between each cycle, my immune system was so compromised that I was admitted into the hospital intermittently for all kinds of disorders like pneumonia, viral infections, bacterial infections...etc. My white blood cell count was so low that there were 2 occasions where I was admitted in a special room where I could not receive any visitors or flowers. They were the loneliest time of my life! Some of the chemo drugs also caused me to hallucinate. At one point, I woke up to find an old black man standing at the foot of my bed in a white shirt and grey pants. He appeared to be praying. I asked him who he was and he didn't move. I repeated myself two or three more times before the old man turned around and walked out of my room as a nurse was entering my room. I saw the old man disappeared into the nurse. I told the nurse what had happened. She told me that I was hallucinating because the chemo I was getting had that effect. It was literally a "trip"! Shortly after that I saw a tidal wave of blood swirling around on my ceiling. My hallucinations were intense but strange!

When the cancer cells were diminishing and my body was stronger, I received a bone marrow transplant. I was hospitalized for 14 days for my transplant because I had developed kidney failure. But by day 10 I was going crazy. I was not able to receive visitors, no flowers, no outside contact except for the few nurses and doctors that came to assess my condition. There were times when I wished I had not survived. I just wanted to be with people again....with my friends and loved ones. I missed my home. I missed watching TV (hospital TV sucked). I missed everything about my life. At that point I started to resent cancer. I was angry and I took it out on the nurse. Her name was Anne. I called her all sorts of names and yelled at her and pretty much cursed her to hell. Anne acted with the most kindness that until today I regretted taking it out on her. The next day, I apologized to Anne but Anne simply told me that it was all part of her job and I wasn't the first person to have "unloaded" on her. Still....I was ashamed of what I had done.

Now those days seem like a decade agao, but I still remember them and often I shed a tear or two when I think about how close I was to death and that my fight with cancer is not over. Any day I can regress. I would not recommend cancer to anyone but with all bad comes good and for all my struggles with cancer, God has blessed me with some of the best things in my life. I can't complain!

Hugs to you all!

Fish Boy

Last Wednesday, I woke up around 5am to thunder and lightning. It was a typical Minnesota rain storm. Bright crack of lightning flashed through the sky followed by a loud thundering noise. You know, the kind of sound that makes you think God is busy moving his furniture around in heaven! Unable to go back to sleep, I got out of bed and snuck to see if the boys were OK. When I opened their bedroom door, the older Pudge Boy was already up, noticeably awoken by the storm. First thing out of his mouth when he saw me was "hey we should go fishing today. Fishing is always best after a thunder storm." I told him I had to work, but since Pudge had the day off, maybe he will take the boys fishing. I promised I would ask Pudge. I went back to our bedroom and found Pudge already up. Apparently, fishing is in the Pudge genetic make up because before I could even tell Pudge about what Pudge Junior had said, Pudge looked at me and said "Are the boys okay? Should get them up. Fishing's going to be good this morning". And just like that, the entire household was up and ready to go while I stood in the sidelines, shaking my head in utter amazement. Yes, fishing and hockey seem to be the two most important things to Pudge and his Boys. While the Pudges went fishing, I readied myself for work and spent the entire morning in meetings. During the meetings my phone kept going off with one text message after another. I had to turn it off completely so I could focus on my meetings. At about 10am, after my 2nd meeting of the day ended, I turned my phone on to a slew of messages from the Pudges about how the older Pudge Boy caught a ginormous Northern Pike. Since the Pudges believe in the "catch and release" policy, they didn't keep the fish but took plenty of pictures to commemorate the occasion. Of course, I am so proud of my Fish Boy!! Not bad for one morning's worth of fishing! Not bad at all! :)

The Great Minnesota Get-Fat-Together

So it's that time of the year again, the Minnesota State Fair (http://www.mnstatefair.org/)!! It's dubbed as the Great Minnesota Get Together, but from what we saw last night, it was more like the Great Minnesota Get-Fat-Together. OMG there was nothing but food everywhere!

Pudge, me, and the Pudge Boys went to the fair later in the day to avoid the scorching heat and the crowd, but it didn't matter....the weather was perfect (warm with a nice cool breeze) but the crowd was endless. Over the sea of people, we made our way to our favorite food stalls....Sweet Martha's Chocolate Chip cookies (of course) and bought ourselves a bucket of the little goodies. It was heavenly. To drink, the boys wanted slushies. Can you believe we walked around in circles for two hours before we found the slushy booth? Amazingly it was right by the entrance...duh! :) So the boys got their slushy treats (finally), they were all smiles. Because of the heat, I think we drank a lot more than we ate. Between the four of us, we had the slushies, a couple of sno-cones, chocolate malts, fresh squeezed lemonade, gatorade, and a few bottles of water. Amazingly, none of us had to use the toilets as we sweated all that liquid out. Well the younger Pudge Boy did use the toilet but he had to do a number 2! hahahah.

We had a great "family moment" where we found a vacant picnic table under a shady tree. There we sat for an hour drinking our water and sno-cones and just talking smack. Pudge was entertaining us all with his stories of fat law enforcement officers and their addiction to donuts. Of course, Pudge had to go get three bags of mini-donuts to "demonstrate" his point of the story. The boys and I laughed until we puked. At the end of the night, we went to the Midway to play games. We spent $30 and lost every single game we played. It was definitely a rip-off but we had fun so it was worth it. It was our first State Fair as a family and I think we had a pretty good time. Although next year, Pudge says we should go on a weekday because Saturday night was just too crowded. We all agreed.

The Mile High Club

It took a lot of effort by both Pudge and me, but our efforts have all finally paid off. Pudge and I will be going on a 20 day vacation overseas! Yay! Today I finally found a great travel agent who found an awesome deal for airfare & my friend Zue found us an awesome deal on hotel accomodations plus limo service. Double yay! :) Pudge and I got our vacation approved and I have even started to pack my bags (yeah I know I'm such a gomer!) heheheheh. We are travelling light because we are limited to 50 lbs. each. The airlines are really being strict about baggage handling costs etc. I couldn't decide what to bring on the trip so I went out and bought all new stuff. I'm bringing 9 outfits but I may have to downsize depending on how heavy our suitcases get. Pudge is such a gurrrl...he's bringing all sorts of crap with him. Can't live without his PSP, can't live without his Ipod, can't live without his electric shaver, can't live without his satellite radio...blah blah blah. heheheh...what a gurrrl! (Yeah Pudge if you're reading this....I called you a GURLLL!) hehehehe. NOTE TO READERS: If I don't blog again in the next week or so....Pudge prolly kicked my ass and I'm home nursin my butt....heheheheh.

I'm not posting my travel date and time because I want to surprise EVERYONE, but I will tell you that it will be after Ramadhan! :) However, today as I was talking to my mother, she weazeled it out of me. My mom prolly worked for the Gestapo in a previous life because she has this ability to verbally torture me into telling her stuff. LOL. I miss her and can't wait to see her. I also don't want her to go out of her way for Pudge and me. She is getting on in years and I would prefer if she just enjoyed our visit and not try to kill herself cooking and cleaning etc. Anyway, yay!!! I'm so excited! Also I may have some interesting news....maybe...stay tuned for more **wink wink** heheheheheh...OK OK I'll give you guys a hint...

Too Obvious?

** giggles **

Everybody's Kung Fu Fighting....

I spent the whole day archiving my digital photos today, and came across this very disturbing photo of Pudge. Now, I'm not disturbed by the pose or anything like that, but if you look closely, you will see that Pudge's arms are an entirely different shade than the rest of his body. In fact, it looks like he had an arm transplant! :) As if both his arms once belonged to somebody else! Pudge is half Swedish and half Irish so he is very fair skinned. In fact, we used to joke that if Pudge were to stand naked against white walls, he would be entirely invisible. Needless to say, we don't use white sheets on our bed because Pudge would blend in with the furniture! So in a few months, we will be (hopefully) basking in the tropic sun for two weeks, and I worry that Pudge will suffer from the blistering heat. Just in case, I've ordered SPF 100+. Let's hope that will be enough protection for my little albino! :)

Things that make you go "hmmmm...."

This is Donald Trump, a real estate mogul with bad hair. This is my friend Scotti, (whom I affectionately call Princess), a future real estate mogul.

Coincidence?

hmmmm.....

Oh the Conundrum

Pudge has been working a lot lately. He's been doing a lot of shift switches so that we can take a month-long vacation overseas. It's going to be a kickass trip since I'm looking forward to seeing my mom and dad and hanging out with a few of my cool cousins and of course swimming in their newly buildt pool which looks so totally AWESOME. My own first cousins buildt AND designed the pool. I'm amazed since I can't even make toast in a toaster! All this will be an awesome experience, but unfortunately, I haven't been able to hang with my Pudge that much. When he's not pulling double shifts, we have the Pudge Boys so we're busy doing kid-friendly stuff. Don't get me wrong, I love my Pudge Boys, and when I don't see them for a few days, I miss them something awful. But I miss my one on one time with Pudge too. Oh the conundrum!

So a few days ago, Pudge suggested that we do another short vacation in a couple of weeks. You know.... stay at a swanky hotel, get room service, eat some caviar and strawberries dipped in chocolate foundue (yummy) and of course get some Pudge Lurrrvin...heheheh. Well those plans are now dashed since the 2008 Republican National Convention will be here and Pudge "volunteered" to do security detail. Now, it's going to be awesome for him (careerwise and of course the pay is phenominal) but I was looking forward to this little mini vacation. We are BOTH soooo NOT Republicans...far from it. I campaigned for Hilary Clinton....this world needs more female leaders as far as I'm concerned. So the thought of not seeing Pudge and losing him to McCain (of all people) just doesn't sit right with me. But Pudge wants to do it and we could use the money to get braces for the Pudge Boys...so I guess it's all for the best, but I just miss my Pudgey Wudgey Smudgey....(ok are you guys puking yet?) heheheheh

Flower Power

I woke up with this ginormous headache today. I haven't been feeling my best physically in over 3 weeks, but strangely, I've been in a relatively happy mood. Just when something horrible happens and I'm ready to go into my "Dramaqueen mode", something just kicks in and I am able to see the humor in the situation. Nothing seems to bring me down. Call it denial, call it hormonal. I don't know, but it seems like I've been able to keep depression at bay. My gal pals think it's hormonal (of course) that my body has been producing an over abundance of seratonin causing a massive take over of my brain hence rendering me incapable of depression. Hmm.... They may be right, but whatever the case, I'm just YhappyY. It's like I'm a flower basking in warm sunny rays and breathing in the clean crisp air....aaaahhh! OK that was corny! I'm tempted to hit "backspace" but what the hell... :)

Video: One of Those Memorable Moments

Honda CR-V

So the nightmares have ceased. I am no longer stressing out over my Saturn Outlook. Yesterday, the deal went down and I traded it in for a Honda CR-V. I'm not entirely happy about it but I am keeping calm but all I have to say is that I got such a terrible deal from Saturn that my ass is still chafing from it getting the proverbial "spank". I will NEVER buy a Saturn for as long as I live.

Saturn Sux

In August 2007, Pudge and I decided to get an SUV. We needed a vehicle that was big enough to shuttle the Pudge Boys around and also a vehicle large enough to lug all our junk when we go camping, fishing, etc. Pudge and I are huge proponents of "Buy American". We feel that it's our responsibility as Americans to stimulate the economy. All our lives, Pudge and I have NEVER owned a foreign made vehicle. Pudge was a huge Saturn fan. Every vehicle he's ever owned was a Saturn, where I'm more of a Lincoln fan. I had never owned a Saturn. Pudge's Saturn had always been too small and "crampy" for my taste. I love driving BIG vehicles so when it came for us to buy an SUV, Pudge suggested we get a Saturn Outlook. I was leaning towards a Lincoln Navigator. But because Pudge was a GM supplier at the time, we got this HUGE awesome deal on a Saturn. To sweetened the deal, the Saturn sales person we worked with was this awesome woman named Mary. I had never bought a car from a woman before and I have to tell you guys....this chick was awesome. Most car salesmen are slimy and gross...trying to be all charming while selling you a dud. Well it was refreshing to work with Mary. So long story short, we bought ourselves a 2008 Saturn Outlook. I was the primary driver. The vehicle was totally tricked out. It had satellite radio, satellite phone, OnStar Roadside Assistance....etc. I was in Car Heaven. To top it all off, the Outlook seats 8 people comfortably. So I loved driving my coworkers and friends to lunch or long distances. It was the ultimate Pudge Mobile.

Then gas prices started getting higher and higher. Pudge was driving the 2003 Dodge Intrepid which got terrible MPGs. Between my Outlook and Pudge's Dodge, were were spending over $500 a month on gas. To make matters worse, Pudge and I had seen the movie "An Inconvenient Truth" with Al Gore and we were blown away by the message. The message of the movie coupled with the growing cost of gas, prompted us to trade in at least one of our vehicles for one that is eco-friendly. Since I LOVE my Saturn Outlook and simply refuse to part with it, we decided to trade in our 2003 Dodge Intrepid for either a Toyota or a Honda as they were the top sellers for eco-friendly and fuel-efficient vehicles. Yes, we were doing our part now not to just Save America but Save the Planet. We discovered that a zillion other people had the same idea because in order to get a Toyota Prias, there was a wait of 8 months. So we went with our second choice, the Honda Civic. We wanted a four door Honda Civic but there was a wait of 3-4 months. Instead of waiting, we settled for the two door coup. We bought one of the last five left. Now we were happy. Both Pudge and I agreed that our Saturn and our Honda totally ROCK!

Then one day, all that changed! Four weeks ago, during one of our hottest time of the year, (it was 93 degrees Fahrenheit outside with 80% humidity), Pudge, me and the Pudge Boys decided that we were going to go see the new Batman movie. The boys were really excited about the movie, and since they loved movie theater popcorn, they made sure they had plenty of room for popcorn, candy, and soda pop. The Pudge Family was happier than a bee in honey! But....Murphy said it best "If anything can go wrong, it will go wrong. "

Two miles away from the theater, my precious Saturn Outlook, my baby, just simply stopped, died...totally dead. One minute we were going 30 miles per hour, the next minute, we were stopped. The car decided to stop in the middle of a busy intersection at a slight incline (slope). So the next thing we know, the car started to roll backwards. Pudge quickly slammed on the breaks, put on the hazzard lights, and tried to restart the car.....but NOTHING happened. So he put the car in "park", and we pressed our little OnStar button for roadside assistance. OnStar was awesome (get it if you can) and did a quick diagnostics of our vehicle via satellite. Within minutes the OnStar Tech was able to diagnose it as a "computer malfunction". A tow truck was called and the Tech even got us an appointment with the nearest Saturn dealership Service Department. Because we were in the middle of heavy traffic during rush hour, Pudge attempted to restart the car in hopes that we could move it. Lo and behold it started! Delighted, Pudge drove the car about a block before it died again. Coasting to the end of the block, we were able to get out of heavy traffic and into a shaded area. By now the blistering heat of the sun was starting take it's toll. Pudge called OnStar again to update our position, but because of traffic, our tow truck took 2 hours to reach us. By now we know there was no hope of seeing Batman that night. We piled into the tow truck and drove 20 miles to the Saturn dealership. When we got there, I was hoping to get a "loaner" and take the boys home while they worked on our Saturn. The Service Tech said that all loaners were out and the car rental places are closed so we should just wait. He will probably fix our vehicle shortly. One hour later, the boys were getting tired and whiny and I was no angel either. The Service Tech told us that they needed more time to diagnose the problem and miraculously had a loander for us to drive home. Hmmmmm.....I was not impressed but didn't want to argue. I just wanted to go home. The following days I got the same answer....we can't fix your car. We don't know what's wrong. It's a brand new vehicle (less than a year old and have 9,000 miles - give or take a few miles). How can this happen? Over the next two weeks I was given one excuse after another. The car isn't fixed, they can't give me a new one....blah blah blah. Basically, I was screwed. Three weeks after the fateful day, Pudge and I came to the realization that it's time to move on. After much arguing and being strung along by Saturn, we traded my baby Saturn Outlook for a 2007 Honda CR-V. This whole mess is going to cost me US$10,000.00. Broke, dejected, angry, are just a few adjectives that can be used to describe how Pudge and I feel. SATURN SUX!!

Stepmonsterhood

One of the best things about being Pudgey's Wife is that I am also a stepmonster...errr...stepmother. Our little Pudge Boys are the coolest kids you will ever meet. The oldest is a math genius. He can blurt out answers to math problems right out of his head. I am old school. I still need to add up my numbers using my fingers and toes! :) Pudgey Genius is an awesome kid too. Aside from his mathematical prowess, he is also into extreme sports. He can outperform anyone his age in water sports. I swear the kid has gills. Now the second one, I like to call Mini-Pudge. If you have ever seen the movie Austen Powers, and laughed at the little guy, Vern Troyer, as a mini version of Dr.Evil then you know what I'm talking about. Mini-Pudge is a smaller, younger version of Pudgey. These two are like clones of each other. Mini-Pudge sometimes even talk like his daddy. It's scary! I'm proud of my boys. Motherhood is definitely a novelty for me, but I'm finding that being a Pudge Step Mom is a most rewarding job. Click to see my Pudge Boys: http://picasaweb.google.com/puterinor/PudgeBoys

Road Trip to Chicago

Recently, Pudge and I went on a road trip to Chicago. We had just bought ourselves a 2008 Honda Civic. With gas prices at roughly US$4.o0 a gallon (US$1.05 per liter), our 2003 Dodge Intrepid was getting about 17 miles per gallon or 27 kilometers per gallon or 7.2 kilometers per liter. Yikes!! So we thought, it's time to trade the Dodge in for an eco-friendly vehicle. We also have an SUV (Saturn Outlook) so trading the Dodge for a smaller vehicle seemed the right choice. In fact, it's turned out to be an awesome investment. Turns out, our new Honda was getting....drum rolls please....30 miles per gallon in the CITY!! Hurray! So we wondered, just how many MPGs will it get on Highways. We were about to find out......jeng jeng jeng....the suspense......So it is roughly 500 miles (800 km) to Chicago from White Bear Lake. And with Pudgey's driving we were able to make it to Chicago within 6 hours. We left home at 8pm but made a bunch of stops to get gas, buy some food, water, and Mountain Dew soda pop (lots of caffeine) before we were on Highway 94 heading east to Chicago. I would say we were finally on our way by about 9pm. I tried to stay awake to keep Pudge company by telling him jokes and reading "Weird News" from the internet via my PDA phone, but eventually I ran out of "juice". So pretending to look for a sweater in the backseat, I quietly reclined my seat, stretched out my legs over the dash and began my five hour requiem of sleep...yes I was snoring. Poor lonely Pudge. At about 3 am, I was awaken by a series of noise that appeared to be coins clanking against metal rails. I woke up to find Pudge, my man, tired and hungry, rummaging through a small ziplock bag full of pennies in the dark and muttering to himself...."Stupid toll booth...stupid stupid piece of crap tollbooth". I swear, if I had been fully awake, I would have taken a video of Pudge. It was the funniest thing I had ever seen. Finally, what seemed like FOR-FRICKIN-EVER, Pudge threw enough coins into the metal basin for the toll barrier to lift and let us through. Hurray!!! Fully awake now, I kept Pudge company as we drove through the city of Chicago in search of our hotel. After driving around through a series of road construction, my Pudge found our hotel. We arrived to find that the front doors of the hotel had been locked. Hmmmm how odd! On the side of the glass doors, we discovered an intercom system. As instructed by the small placard below the intercom, we pressed the black button and summoned for service. An employee of Holiday Inn Express appeared (we could see him through the glass doors), and told us via intercom that the hotel was full. "Yes, OK, but we have reservations" Pudge tried to say but Mister Hotel Employee simply repeated "No rooms bye bye". No matter what we said, his response was the same "No rooms bye bye". From his accent and demeanor, we could only assume that he was foreign and lacked customer service training...BIG TIME! heheheh. Although tired, we had to laugh at his "No rooms bye bye". It reminded us of the "Soup Nazi" from the TV show Seinfeld. So for the remainder of the night (until we found a hotel), Pudge and I kept saying "No rooms bye bye" in that "Soup Nazi" voice until one of us laughed so hard and had to pee. After another half hour of driving, the sun was already making its morning appearance. We looked at the clock. It was close to 5am. We had been driving around in Chicago for almost 2 hours. We were ready to crash. Pudge and I settled on the Hilton Garden Inn. Ahhh a nice room, clean sheets, hot shower, and we were ready for a long hard nap. At about noon, we woke up hungry but rested. Pudge and I got up, dressed, and planned our day. First we had to find out just how many MPGs were we able to squeeze out of our Honda. Are you ready??? We got 40 miles per gallon for our trip to Chicago! Yes, we definitely love our little Civic. While in Chicago, we did a bunch of stuff, went to Navy Pier, Lalapalooza, took a dinner cruise on a yacht in Lake Michigan, walked around Michigan Avenue to look at the fantastic architecture, and went to the Medieval Times Dinner and Show where Pudge was knighted. Yes, my man is now Sir Pudge! heheheheh...so instead of reading about our roadtrip, click on the link for photos.
http://picasaweb.google.com/puterinor/ChicagoRoadTripSummer2008

Cousins Visit Minnesota

In May - June of 2008, my cousins came to Minnesota from Malaysia for a conference in the field of Psychology with the University of Minnesota. After the week long conference, they stayed with me and Pudge and we went on a road trip all over Minnesota and Canada. We hit a teeny tiny itty bitty snag at the Canadian border which is awhole story in itself! :)

Here are some photos of the road trip:

http://picasaweb.google.com/puterinor/CousinsVisitMinnesota

Click the link above for highlight photos from the visit.

Virgin Blog

"First blog, the virgin blog, bloggin' in the bayou, ahhh oooooooo!"

Hello, I'm Pudgey's Wife. This is me and Pudge. Pudge is a cookie addict. He loves M&M's and Chocolate Chip cookies. Pudge will work out (exercise) for 3 hours just so he could eat a half a dozen of cookies in one sitting. Yes, my man is dedicated to cookies. You may even say, he's a cookie-phile. Pudge and I have been together about two years but it feels like forever. Life with Pudge is never dull. This blog is dedicated to my life with Pudge.