Missing you hurts

I miss the intellectual conversations we had.
I miss the casual talks we had.

I miss your spunky attitude.
I miss your words of wisdom.

I miss your random calls to me.
Just to let me know you're there.

I miss the impromptu invites for lunch at home.
I miss your cooking.

I miss you calling me, "your favorite daughter".
I miss you telling me you loved me.

I miss that extra push you always gave me, when I was about to give up.
I miss you telling me how proud you were of me.

I miss seeing you at home.
I miss seeing you at family gatherings.

I miss you asking me to help you out.
I miss scolding you and giving you advice.

I miss the trust you had in me.
I miss the love you gave to me.

I miss you so very much, it hurts!!!
I sometimes think the pain of missing you will never go away.

A Cool Weekend

I learned how to play a new game on Friday night. It's called Bananagrams. It's almost like scrabble, but with a twist to it. My nephew, Sly, taught me and after a couple of games, I was hooked! I can't wait to play our next game...

On Saturday, PIC held it's 2nd annual Duck Race. It was my first duck race to attend and it was actually pretty fun. It was nice to see many people from the community, including our guests watch the colorful ducks floating in PIC's lazy river. I could feel everyones excitement as they cheered on, hoping their duck would pass the finish line first.

Unfortunately, none of my ducks won. But I was happy to know that PIC received a lot of support for a good cause. All the proceeds raised will go towards the Marianas March Against Cancer (MMAC), which is held in May each year.

The race started at 6:15pm so Floyd & I enjoyed happy hour at PIC's Seaside Grill. I ordered their yummy poke. It was so good!

Sunday I spent most of my day just lounging in the house. I caught up on some sleep (thanks to the rainy, cool weather) and watched some TV. Sometimes I like staying home and just hibernate.

Monday was Martin Luther King day and it was a holiday for me. It was also my Uncle Lo's 1st death anniversary. As I was getting ready for mass, I couldn't help but remember how I felt this time last year. It was sad and it was still sad today, but I thank the Lord that my uncle is resting in peace and is now watching over us.

I also watched the movie, the Book of Eli. My review.....it was alright. It wasn't the greatest, but it did teach a valuable lesson: we sometimes forget that we have more than what we really need.

Food for Thought

I had lunch with Floyd today and was surprised when I was served my salad. "Wow! That salad dressing is bright green!" I told the server. "Oh ma'am, it's kiwi dressing," she said. Hmm, I thought to myself. This should be interesting.

The dressing had a hint of kiwi flavor with a vinaigrette finish to it. It was good, but my salad was kinda swimming in the dressing, so it was a little too much for me. I hate it when my salad has the dressing completely covering it and I end up looking through the salad for the rest of the veggies. To me, it's not a salad anymore.

Do you like pizza? I do! Well, not just any kind of pizza. I'm picky when it comes to pizza and where I order it. My ultimate favorite is Bobby Cadillacs. Their pizzas are phenomenal and the crust is absolutely perfect! I like lots of toppings on my pizza -- with the exception of onions and bell peppers. Well, I like the flavor the bell peppers give to the pizza, but I just won't eat the bell peppers. I'm weird like that.

A couple weeks ago I made stuffed mushrooms for the first time. It turned out really good! The mushrooms were stuffed with cream cheese, parmesan cheese, mushrooms and garlic. Floyd, my taster and ultimate food critic, said that these things tasted SO good, he knew it was bad for you. LOL!

Dental Drama

I hate going to a dental clinic. All dental clinics smell the same. They have this latex powdery smell with a hint of chemicals. Ewww! I was trying to figure out why I hated going to the dentist so much and I think it may have to do with the fact that I didn't like pain and I also wore braces for 3 years, even though my Orthodontist told me that I was only going to have it for 2 years.

Today I went to the dentist to get a root canal done. It was my first time to ever get this done. I honestly think I jinxed myself when I was waiting in the dental room staring at the poster on the wall that showed how a root canal was done. Ohmigosh, that kind of work looks like it's painful, I thought to myself. Before I knew it, the dentist was telling me that after my cleaning, I needed a root canal scheduled or else, it's permanent extraction of my tooth! "No, I would like to save my tooth please..." I told the dentist 2 weeks ago.

I wasn't looking forward to this session with the dentist one bit. I was so nervous about my appointment yesterday, I loss sleep over it. I think I thought I was in a sci-fi movie for a bit because I thought if I didn't sleep, the next day wouldn't come....and then I woke up! This morning I heard no birds chirping, no songs playing. I just kept hearing the sound of drilling!

Floyd was so supportive. He always knew what to say and he always knew how to make me comfortable. He even offered to sit in the "operating room" while I was getting my root canal. But I nodded in disagreement and said I was ready for this and wanted to get over this already.

So here I am writing this blog as a survivor of a root canal and I feel like such a big girl. LOL!!!

High school friends to sisters for life

Josi, one of my close friends from high school, came to Saipan from Hawaii to attend her sister's wedding. She, along with her entire family, came home for the wedding and the holidays. And even with the crazy business of the holidays, her and her husband, Barnaby, spared a couple hours to spend with us and just catch up.

My friends and I are truly different blends and that's what I love about them! I think our different personalities balances the entire group out.

Our first group shot with our men.

Taken at Sabina and Ton's wedding.

Cookies and more cookies!

Every year I try to make an original cookie and give it an original name. Unfortunately, the cookies I had planned on making didn't turn out right so I had to go with plan B as time was of the essence. So my plan B cookies is something simple, sweet and good. I ended up making the famous holiday cookies: sugar cookies, and from scratch, too! I just added a bit of cookie decor to go with the festive mood. Last year, I made a White Christmas Cookie and it was awesome!

I've baked 65 cookies in 3 hours today. Why so long? Well, I actually don't have an oven so I use a toaster oven to make my cookies. Lucky for me, my new toaster oven is a bit bigger than the one I use to own, so it allows me to make a total of 9 cookies every 10-15 minutes. I know, that's a lot of work, but at the end it gets the job done.

I'm making these cookies for our annual Cookie Exchange, which is scheduled this Sunday, December 13th. This tradition started not too long ago and actually, this year is going to mark our 5th year of carrying this tradition! I can't wait to see what everyone else baked up.

Got a quarter?

The CNMI's very own state quarter's were released today. It's a historical day for the CNMI! Floyd is an avid coin collector and he was probably the first in line at the American Memorial Park today (although he won't admit it) to see the unveiling of the quarter. I wasn't there, but he said that there were even students from the public school system there to witness such a historical moment.

A very interesting fact to note about our quarter is that only 72,800,000 CNMI quarters were minted. This is the lowest amount of quarters minted for the U.S. Territories, which means our quarter is rare and at a potentially highly collectable.

If you haven't got your share, check out the local banks around your area (on or off-island).