Bananas

I bought a few bananas over the weekend and had one as a mid-morning snack today. No sooner had I finished my banana, my ears and throat started itching … really bad! So, I did some googling … according to the MyAllergyNetwork.com, "If you get an itchy throat or mouth, especially after eating fresh fruit or vegetables AND it gets worse during high-pollen times of year, you may be suffering from oral allergy syndrome." ARGH!!!! I don't want to have to give up this, one of my favorite fruits. I guess this means that I'll have to get my dose of bananas in other things like breads, pies, puddings, pancakes ... just not raw bananas ... not that that's a bad thing ...

On a side note, did I ever tell you about the time my mom and brother fed me two bananas in my sleep? Growing up in Indonesia, there was a variety show our family loved to watch. The only problem was that it came on past my bed time. My parents usually let us (the children) watch it if we napped in the afternoon. On this particular occasion, I didn't take that afternoon nap and I was, of course, really tired that evening. So, I made my family promise that they would wake me in time for the show and went off to bed. I awoke the next morning quite upset that they didn't wake me for the show. I imagine the conversation at breakfast went something like this ...

Inge: Why didn't you wake me? I really wanted to see that show last night. :(
Mom: You slept so soundly, we just didn't have the heart to wake you ... by the way, what did you dream about last night?
Inge: I had a dream that I was a monkey ... and I was in the jungle ... and I found a bunch of sweet bananas in the trees ... How did you know I had a dream?
Family: HAHAHA!!! HAHAHA!!!
Inge: What? What's going on?
Mom: Did monkey eat some bananas?
Inge: Yeah … why?
Harry: Mom and I came in to wake you and you were mumbling about bananas and wanting some, so we got you two bananas and fed it to you in your sleep.

Un-friending facebook friends ...

Those who know me and are my "friends" on facebook ("fb") know that I have really loved being on fb and reconnecting with so many friends from my past. I have pretty much accepted most friend requests and will usually write a note to my new "friend" thanking them for finding me and asking how and what they are now doing. For the most part, these friends will write back and we will reconnect (no matter how brief). There are, however, people who request to be my friend, but not a peep out of them ... EVER! I mentioned this to Brenda a few weeks ago and she likened this to seeing someone you know, recognizing their existence, closing in on them enough to get a glimpse into their lives, and not say a word to each other throughout the whole process. I agree. Yeah, I accepted your friend invitations, but I'm now changing my mind. So ... it's time for some spring cleaning on facebook!

I'm thinking I need to set some rules as to who will remain on my friends list and who should be "un-friended". I am x-ing the following people:

• 
  
  "We were never really friends, never had a conversation or did anything together (nor will we ever do these things in the future), but your name is familiar and I think I knew you from high school / college / mission / wherever / whatever, we should be fb friends ..."
• 
  
  "Will you be my 5,234th friend? It's my favorite number ... for you ..."
• 
  
  "Look at me! I'm no longer that shy kid you knew ... here's a few choiced 4-letter words in my updates to spice up your fb experience ... oh, we can't forget the few pictures of me partying it up to show you how really cool I am now ... aren't you jealous?"
• 
  
  "Yeah, our friendship / relationship did end (and in some cases, badly) ... but who cares if I once lied / stole / dated / cheated you. We should still be fb friends because I'm a control freak and I need to keep a tab on you."

Am I being too harsh? Trimming this friends list will be a work in progress ...

Weekend Highlights

Great company and fun activities.

Dinner with Julie and Janeen at Thyme and Seasons and then some shopping and gelato from Bellissimo. Seeing "Duplicity" with Angel and Tracie ... they got me at Clive Owen (that man really should've been the next 007, not that I don't love Daniel Craig in the role). Frozen cocoa with Lori and Darci at Cocoa Caffe. Celebrating St. Patty's international style with the Smiths and new friends, Roger and Jael, Dow and Luncida, Sean and Sylvia.

Great food.

A generous portion (2 meals worth for me) of delicious chicken curry from Thyme and Seasons in Bountiful. If you've not had a chance to check out this place, do so soon. The owner, Hai, is a Vietnamese man who used to be a French chef. There is no set menu at his restaurant, his dishes changes daily and is made of the freshest in-season ingredients with the focus on the spices. The restaurant is also part store where he sells spices, kitchen gadgets, and coming soon a butcher counter.

Few things beat a delicious cold treat on a warm night. A two-scoop dark chocolate and banana combo gelato cone from Bellissimo definitely hits the spot after a night of shopping. If you think I'm promoting my friend's establishment, you're right. Kim Bangerter sure knows how to make gelatos. Check it out. Bellissimo is in Bountiful off of the 400 North I-15 exit right behind the Chevron station.

My favorite hot chocolate with homemade whipped cream from Cocoa Caffe. I tried their Frozen Cocoa with the homemade whipped cream while catching up with Lori and Darci. Pretty yummy, but I still love the hot chocolate more.

Buy local and support these small establishments.

Celebrated St. Patty's a few days late and as it turns out it was also Sylvia's birthday. Sean made a point to say that the Irish don't eat corned beef and cabbage -- that's an American thing, so this St. Patty's was done Indonesian style tonight ... well, for the most part anyway. Edna made daging balado, ayam kecap, chap chai, nasi kuning (colored green), es teler as well as a chicken noodle dish, a dutch-style ham pasta soup and a corned beef and potato dish. Sylvia made some delicious chicken enchiladas and fried rice. Jael brought some pork carnitas served with a salsa topping. My contribution to the dinner? From the non-cook, a double chocolate pie from Costco ... hey, it was actually a hit!

Did I mention that the nasi kuning was colored green? It actually matched the green sweater I had on. Okay, maybe you can't really see it in this picture since I forgot to turn on the flash ... but it was as green as my sweater ...

Youthful Indiscretions

Most people rebelled when they were teenagers. With me, the my rebelling was done between the age of 5 and 7. I think the Catholic school I attended was a bad influence on me (just kidding).

Hot Drinks. The thing I missed the most when my parents joined the LDS faith was sweet tea the way my aunts used to make them. Within a year after they were baptized, Dad became the Branch President and Mom, the Relief Society President. I got a box of tea from the store and hid it in our food pantry. I would make myself a nice cup of sweet tea and ahhh ... until Mom caught me and gave me a good scolding and whooping. I also recall a time when I poured myself a cup of black coffee at some family gathering and shared it with a couple of cousins. Boy, that was a nasty gulp to swallow. No wonder people put cream and sugar into coffee. Yuck! However, I do love the smell of coffee ...

Alcohol. When I was about 6-years-old, grandpa used to give me a shot glass of red wine every morning before school. He told me that it was vitamins and that the burning feeling I felt was the vitamins working. One morning I was running late getting ready and told Mom to hurry up so I can get my vitamins from grandpa. She followed me when I went down to the main house and saw me sipping my shot glass worth of red wine. I wasn’t allowed to visit grandpa unsupervised for a few weeks after that. I wonder if I ceased to be mellow after that?

Smoking. When I was about 7-years-old, my brother, a cousin and I took a cigarette from my uncle's pack and tried to smoke it under a bed. We had no idea how to smoke, so we lit the cigarette and blew on it. Couldn’t understand why smoking was such a big deal. I swear we DID NOT inhale! Grandpa smelled the smoke, smacked us from under the bed with his cane, whipped us with his handkerchief and flicked our ears. Triple Owie!

Patsy Cline's "She's Got You"

In cleaning my email boxes, I came across this video Tracie sent me just in time for Valentine's Day. I forwarded it to a few people, dedicating it specifically to girlfriends who have lost a love to another woman.

Chinese Hot Pot

The Mulias hosted a Chinese Hot Pot at their home last night. We all came hungry and of course, I totally forgot to take a photo before we started eating, so if this table looks a bit sparse, it's my fault ...

If you're not familiar with Chinese Hot Pot, aka Chinese Fondue, it is fabulous and fun. You start out with a pot of broth on a portable stove (at this party we had an electric one with a divided pot, so one side had spicy broth and the other regular broth). You begin with a sauce bowl where you mix soy sauce, rice vinegar, rice wine, different types of chillies, cilantro, green onions, etc. The raw foods are thrown into the pot to cook and once done, we individually "fish" what we want out with a mini strainer (every one have their own) out of the hot pot. The sauce that you made earlier can be used as a dipping sauce for the foods you've fished out or you can add it to your bowl with broth and flavor the dish that way. We had spinach, mushroom, tofu, cabbage, brocolli, salmon, shrimp, chicken, beef, beef/fish/shrimp balls, and two types of noodles. The only things I missed were the calamari and some tofu skin. It was all so yummy!

The dangerous thing with meals like this for me is that you don't realize how much you've eaten until you're done. When you're at the table chatting and laughing and eating, you don't pay attention to how often you're dipping into the hot pot and putting into your mouth. All I can say is ... I'm glad I had pants that stretch and a sweater that covered the belly ... Ahhhh!

VCRs

So, I got another birthday gift today. Thanks to Angel, I now have a second backup VCR in addition to the VCR that Dave found for me at the DI (which is a backup to my 12-yrs-old VCR that had ressurrected itself and is refusing to die). Janeen also offered me her "Replay" on the way home from church today ... I'm thinking that if this keeps up, I can just totally skip the Tivo generation.

Now, I just need some VHS tapes .... anyone have a few spares? Hmm, maybe I should be a bit more careful about what I ask of my friends ...

Create

Brenda sent me this video last week ... my friends know that I'm a wee bit partial when it comes to Elder Uchtdorf ... must be the tan and accent. Beautiful message.

Tactics to finding employment ...

I got this video a couple of times this week from different friends. As an Employment Specialist in the ward, do you think I should suggest this type of tactic to get a job?

"ARGH! I just can't sleep!"

No big surprise to those who know me, I can't sleep ... that is I can't seem to sleep through the night or at a decent time so I can get up to start my day with the rest of the world. Most days, I can't sleep before midnight to 1:00 a.m. and I drag myself out of bed at about 8:00 a.m. and drag myself around the house to get ready ... usually, I'm not fully awake after about 30 minutes of dragging around the house. I don't drink sodas anymore and even when I did, I don't drink them after 4:00 p.m. I've made myself be in bed by 10:00 - 10:30 only to toss and turn until midnight or later. I've cut out "strenuous" activities at night, tried hot baths, drank warm milk (even though I'm lactose intolerant), dim lights (which worsen my eye sight), cool rooms (which just makes me cold), boring literature (which makes me mad and works me up). Nothing helps ... other than drugs. Springing forward (which is coming up this weekend) kills me.

When I took a week off of work at the end of January for my birthday, I decided to find out what my natural sleeping patterns are and obey the body clock which means I to go to bed when I am sleepy and wake up when I am ready. The result, I went to bed at 3:00 a.m. and woke up at about 10:00 a.m. refreshed and not at all dragging my feet. In fact, I found myself jumping out of bed, humming and got ready in about 30 minutes less than my normal routine. So, apparently 7 hours of sleep is sufficient for me, the problem lies in the time I go to bed and wake up. I need to somehow "reset" my body clock and I'd love to go to bed no later than 11:00 p.m. every night and get up at 6:00 a.m. AND I'd like to do it without taking sleeping pills. Any ideas?