Dinner Surprise

Written by my friend Betty Walls

One of my family’s very favorite meals in the world is chicken curry. I, on the other hand, despise the stuff and it despises me. I swore ten years ago I would never eat it again after breaking out into cold sweats and spending copious amounts of time hugging the porcelain throne. Maybe it is the Indian spice all together that hates my guts…literally. I know for sure I am not willing to try it again to find out. It left a burning impression in my memory to this day. However with all that being said, I caught a recipe on direct tv pittsburgh and realized this was a super easy dish to make & my family loves it so I am going to make their jaws hit the floor tonight when I put it on the table. I may even include it in my go-to recipes for busy nights. I will be eating something else entirely, possibly from another room! Maybe I can capture it all on film and win a million bucks from their reaction.

Little India

We always go back to Singapore for the summer. As our kids grow bigger, they get more demanding. They're no longer just satisfied sitting around their grandparents' place, or playing at the neighborhood playgrounds.

Last year, we made a special effort to arrange something fun, or new for them to do at least once a week. We took them to Little India one day. My 7-year-old had got to the stage where he was becoming aware of different cultures, and enjoyed seeing different places. Little India was just like a miniature India, with lots of Indian restaurants, shops lining the streets selling Indian spices, incense, saris, and a couple of Indian temples.

We stopped at an Indian restaurant, and my 7-year-old actually decided he was brave enough to try curry! I was very proud of him! He drank a lot of water, in between "bites" (we dipped Naan - tortilla like bread - in curry), but he didn't complain.

Later, we stopped at an open shopping area full of little shops selling Indian outfits, and other accessories. It was fun, and we grew dizzy just walking around the circular mall, dazzled by the clothes, mostly with sequins, beads, and beautiful embroidery sewn on them!

Railroad and Lone Star Flight Museums

Trains and airplanes topped the list on my boys' Christmas lists. One year, we took them to "Day Out with Thomas"! They were thrilled! We didn't tell them where we were going, until we were at the place. It was priceless to see their faces when they saw Thomas huffing, and puffing into the station! Of course, their excitement doubled when they learned that we were actually going to ride on Thomas!

My older boy had a week off for Spring Break last year. We didn't really want to take a long trip because of rising gas prices. So we went to the Railroad, and the Lone Star Flight Museums in Galveston. Parts of both museums were damaged by Hurricane Ike, but it was still fun for the boys. Anything life-size was awesome to little boys! We actually got to get onboard some of the trains. They were not moving, and mostly dirty (due to the hurricane), but we could still see what they were like, back in the days when they were still running.

Who would have thought there was so much fun stuff to do so close to home?

Buying The House

When I bought this house I wasn’t thinking about things like high speed internet service and plumbing, I was thinking about things like how pretty the moldings were and what colors I wanted to paint all the rooms. I think the realtor said something to the effect of "good bones" and I was just sold – it was a great house and it was so cheap for what it was! Well, I’ve come to find out that the reason it was so cheap was that it needed thousands and thousands of dollars worth of work. Oops. Guess in the future I’ll have learned to look into things more before I buy. Anyway, I’ve spent the last few months trying to get everything together for the house of my dreams but it’s really just making me crazy. Everything has to be special ordered or put in after I get a permit from the city and all in all it’s just the biggest hassle ever. I don’t think I’d do it again!




Guest Post by Olga Quinn

Fishing Trip

Ben was very excited about the weekend! We might even be more excited than his 6-year-old son Seth. He was going to introduce his son to his favorite sport - fishing! Ever since Seth was born, he had been planning this day. Father-and-son quality time - fishing together! His wife, Adela, finally gave her consent. She didn't think Seth was big enough to go fishing for the longest time! Ben was ready to take Seth on a fishing trip since he turned 3!

Of course, Ben planned way ahead! He was going to make sure Ben's first fishing experience would be a wonderful, and memorable one. He turned to his favorite website for all the fishing gear he needed to make the fishing trip a success. Adela could not suppress a smile seeing her husband's gleeful face as he ordered cool fishing stuff on the computer. His expression was mirrored in her little boy's face, as he listened eagerly to Daddy explaining to him all the fishing gear appearing on the computer screen.

Adela hoped her 2 favorite boys would have the best fishing experience ever during the weekend. She almost wished she was going along! However, she knew Seth would feel so grown up, and happy to be doing something fun with Daddy, without Mommy. She felt happy, and a little sad at the same time. Her little boy was growing up so fast!

New Life

I feel like the transition from being a full-time student in college and having a full-time job has been rather difficult. First, I can’t sleep as late as I use to and I can’t stay up as late watching thankless videos on the Internet till all hours of the night. Furthermore, I don’t get any afternoon naps and my day doesn’t end at noon. Although, I do like making a steady income and I feel like working has some great benefits that I didn’t really see when I was thinking about getting a full-time job. The major things I didn’t think about were mainly focused around amount of benefits my company has like dental and medical insurance and the two week paid vacation days. In college, I always got a lot more vacation days but I didn’t get paid while I was taking them. Plus, I’ve finally gotten out from under the watchful eye of my parents and I finally have my own place. My dad recently sent me a link to http://shopElectricityRatesTEXAS.com/ that really helped me understand the importance of having fixed energy costs. Now I feel like this is one less thing I have to worry about and something I wish I would’ve known about in college.



Thanks to Roman May

Naruto

One of the shows that first got me hooked on Japanese animation was the show Naruto. So when I realized that I could watch it here in the states on satellite TV, that I got after seeing these directstartv.com, I was thrilled to say the least. Catching the first few episodes that night swept me with a feeling of nostalgia. I'd forgotten how much I loved the characters of Uzumaki, Naruto and Uchiha, Sasuke. The show focuses on these two young ninjas as they form a brotherly rivalry through their shared experiences and one of their team's biggest missions. Naruto is the main character and basically plays the role of the hard-working underdog with a big dream. Sasuke, on the other hand, is considered a prodigy. His character has both an inferiority complex and a desire for revenge against his last remaining family member, his brother Itachi. Itachi has been banished from the village for the murder of his clan members, including his own parents. The beginning parts focus on Naruto's incredible growth as a ninja after he comes under the tutelage of Kakashi, the team's leader and an upper ranked ninja. This fosters both a growing respect and a feeling of inferiority in Sasuke as the two compete in every mission. They begin to look upon each other as brothers, but everything changes when Sasuke's brother returns for a visit.

(Guest post from: Issac Bird)