Category: The Other Half

Posted on

70″ 3D TV

Yes, we have a new 70″ – 3D tv – and when PB asked me if I’m alright with him buying a 3D tv – I told him as long as we pay it in full, not with credit card nor having to dip into our savings – power to him.  So yes, we don’t believe in spending money that we don’t have and yes, the tv is paid in full and we don’t owe anyone for anything not even the stock in the store.

He ordered it online from future shop and it only took a few days to arrived.  Chloe and PB are enjoying their 3 D movies tremendously, as for me – a tv is a tv – as long as I can watch my shows on it – I’m good.  I’m so low-tech I know hahahaha!

Posted on

A Round Up Of The Summer 2013

Yes, a little round up of what we did this summer.  We had planned to go to PEI but because of the closing of the cottage that we had bought only 2 minutes away from the beach, we had to change our plans but it was all worth it.

We loved the cottage and since its a 2 mins walk from the beach only, I forsee many, many more wonderful summers here with lots of BBQ and gatherings with friends and family.

PB bought me a new phone, because I told him my iPhone wasn’t big enough – so I’m using a Samsung Galaxy instead now.  No i’m not on contract, we bought the phone outright.

1ST bbq at Grampie’s this summer

Followed by a charity auction for this painting by local artist Andre Haines in support for the Hebron Art Center, I won the auction for $200 – really a steal.

We of course visited the farmer’s market.

Went to Cape Fochu for lunch one Sunday

And had a second BBQ at Port Maitland beach because Godma Lynn from Toronto came to visit.

We also hired someone to build Chloe a playhouse in our backyard

And headed up to Halifax for the Basker’s Festival.  Stayed for several nights and had more authentic Asian and Japanese food.

We also drove an hour to Digby to try out the new Japanese restaurant because the one in town wasn’t open yet at that time.

We headed out to the clay shop in Quinn pool for Chloe to do some clay art.

This year we went to Upper Clements Park with friends and family.

Bought a garden art piece for almost $200 from a local artist in town.

And went bowling.  All in all it was a pretty good summer.  Now to welcome the fall.

Oopsie !  and I forgot the wonderful airshow that we went to as a family but met plenty of friends there.

Posted on

I’m So Proud

I’m so proud to call you friends  because it seems that only my friends back home can understand the humor like the poster above.  My g/f has a kid who has Asperger and instead of wallowing, she had taken time to educate the teachers/principal in her kid’s school and help mothers with kids like hers. She humbles me – she is very successful in her own field and yet spend countless of hours taking care of her kid.    She is also able to laugh at things and enjoy the humor of some very sinister people who insist on knowing what is best for an Asperger kid and make judgement about him without knowing what Asperger is.

Sometimes, it’s easy to point fingers and lash out and think that you or your kids are hurt or disturbed but have you thought about the other party when you started complaining about them?  or making snide remarks or conclusion about the other kids/person before knowing how he or she felt? or what the real reason behind the behavior?

I’m so proud to call you friends  because I see the difference in my friends from home and how intelligent they are at dealing with the not so informed.  Some of you have been friends with me for more than 20 years and you know who you are and even though we are so far apart, you are all so very good to me in so many ways.  I’m so blessed to call you friends.

Posted on

Fruit Season For Chloe’s Class

Yes, it is that time of the year again – fruit season at the Wallace Brother’s Apple Farm in Port Maitland.  And since we know Andy and his wife so well, they are such special people to Grammie when she was alive, we try to keep the tradition going even though Grammie is not with us anymore.  This year we started late as we had so many things going on in the store and at home.  Apples are for Chloe’s little friends.

And pears for the teachers as well as PSA.   It is common for us Asian mothers to bring fruits and other things for the Chloe’s classmates and teachers because they are so good to Chloe in every way.  I hope I can still get some plums for the teachers and kids this year.  Next week, the Macintosh apples are going to be ready for picking, so we will be heading out to the Apple Farm on Sunday to pick apples for the class and teachers again.  We usually bring in a few rounds of fruits till the end of the season.

Posted on

Random Shopping

Many years ago, before coming to Canada, I would buy a piece of jewelry every time I go away for work, and knowing that I travel so much, my local jewelers would call me up if they had new stock in house.  Unfortunately, after coming to Canada, I cannot find the kind of gold I like here, i like the 22K gold and no Tiffany here as well, so I don’t get to buy as much jewelry as I liked.

But once in a while at Crescent, I do get to see some really good pieces and I would snatch them up immediately.  I prefer buying jewelry when I can put them on and try them out to see how it fits me, so a month ago, I saw this ring and immediately liked it after I tried it and bought it of course.  Guess what Chloe said to me?  Oh no Mom!  not another piece of jewelry ! hhahahah!!!  You see I buy them but sometimes don’t wear them and leave them in our safe deposit box and forget about it and Chloe being Chloe, she knows me too well.  But PB never complained, he always say – go ahead and buy whatever you want – muahahah!!  i’m totally blessed right?

Posted on

New Glasses For Chloe

We had gotten some new glasses for Chloe because she had complained that she can’t see that clearly with her old glasses even though it was less than a year old.  A eye test with the optometrist and eye doctor was scheduled as soon as the school term ended in July and true enough she needed new prescription.  We had wanted to recycle the old frames since they were still very new only to find out that with using the old frame, we won’t be getting the buy one get one free deal and it and if we were to get new ones, it would cost about the same amount albeit a little bit cheaper.

So we decided on getting her 2 new pairs that cost us about $500 because we chose the lenses which has that scratch proof thingie and very thin lenses, so that it won’t weigh so much on her.  We then donated the old ones to kids who needed them.  Chloe loves her new glasses and couldn’t wait to show them off to her friends at school.  We are not spendthrift but when it comes to the kid, we want the best for her, especially if it is a necessity.

Posted on

A Gift From Spain

Look what came in the mail for me !  woohoo!  a gift from my ex-boss wife – Manuela.  Yup! I did some translation work for their daughter who was in Shanghai working and needed some immigration papers done quickly.  So when they emailed me the documents, I had done the translation work for her so that she can get it notarized and all but I had refused any money from them.  So today, this came from Fedex and I was really touched because you and I know that a Hermes is not cheap but I don’t know when I will have a chance to wear it because unlike many years ago, I needed to attend company’s functions and cocktails, now I mostly go help out at the store or work on my online work and look after Chloe.  Maybe, when I go on vacation eh – haha!  when PB finds time to bring us for a short break, I tell you that man is a real workaholic!  *sigh* !  oh well!  Thank you, Mr Hernandez and Manuela!

Posted on

Computer Problems

Sorry I haven’t been online for a lot this summer, been busy with the lil’ brat of course and also had some computer problems, so was  reformatting hard drive  and doing all sorts of virus scanning before we said, I give up and reformatted the computer.  But while we were at it, we decided to look into a new laptop for me and sell the old one but we still had to reformat the hard drive because I didn’t want someone else to see what I had in my old hard drive right?  So yes, so in between reformatting the hard drive and getting the new one set up and transferring all my old stuff to my new laptop, that’s the reason why I haven’t been updating a lot.  But now that everything is almost set up, I should be good to go.

Posted on

Fireworks

Fireworks was yesterday and we had to go of course, since Chloe was all excited over it.  But since nobody said anything to meet up or not, we didn’t care to organize anything but to go on our own.  But of course, my dear g/f was looking for us in a panic mode when we were all ready to head out and i didn’t bring my cellphone of course.

Anyhow, we enjoyed the fireworks although PB sat to have his sandwich, such a spoil sport but Chloe had a lot of fun and of course, I was wondering the whole night if my g/f was alright.  Now why can’t people make arrangements earlier?

Posted on

Growing Money

Of late I haven’t been saving a lot of money because I had been helping a friend for over a year now.  And I really don’t mind helping my friend but one have to think of the lil’ brat’s future too right?  so the spouse said to me the other day – so I’ve decided that I should do right by the kid again and grow some money for her.  So I hear you asking – how can one grow money?  you can by saving a little here and there and not eating out so much and buying things that you don’t need or going on vacation when you don’t need to. This is how I do it – by buying a little gold at a time – when I have some money to spare –  so how to buy gold  i hear you asking?  You can do what I do – buy them online and save them up and every ounce of gold that you buy or even gold coins is a bit of saving for your kids.

How else can you save money?  you can squirrel them away into a savings account – or you can buy shares but of course those are a lot riskier and I wouldn’t want to lose any money because I’m a sore loser.  So I prefer to buy gold or silver because for centuries my great – grandparents had been doing that.  Saving up is a very satisfying thing let me tell you and securing your children’s future is a must for all parents.  Don’t need to wait till they are older – do it right now – like we do since Chloe was born.