l-r: Jennifer, Mom, Me, Janice

Today, my Mon turned 73. The photo above was taken over 30 years ago when she was almost 40. She looks great and is a very active retiree - aerobics, volunteering to check other senior citizens blood pressure at the mall, shopping with her friends Mely and Cecil, going to parties and dances with my Dad.

I don't know what I'd have done, if I didn't have my Mom while growing up. We almost lost her when she had a heart attack at the age of 45. All I know is that without her, I wouldn't be able to play piano; I'd have crooked teeth (she paid for my braces); would have never known the joys of chicken casserole with uncooked noodles (she does cook a kick-butt Pinakbet, Afritada and back in the day she would make Ensaimada almost every weekend during the winter); and would have not have half the sense of humor that I have now.

From my Mom, I think my sisters and I all got her playful sense of humor (I think Jennifer got most of it.). In addition to describing her day at work at dinner - (detail descriptions of surgeries), she would often tell somewhat dirty jokes that she heard in the operating room. Janice and I got her shopping disease, especially for shoes and bags - but always at a good bargain. To this day, whenever I visit home, Mom shows me her latest bargain finds - often at a 75% discount. We also got her love for singing. Mind you, we're no Renee Fleming, but we like to belt out a tune. If you stand near her at church, you can definitely hear her singing.

Happy Birthday Mom - can't wait to see you this week!


Mom and Chloe.

Chloe enjoyed her first venture in trick-or-treating. Dan and I showed Chloe how to ring the doorbell and when the door opens, say "trick or treat". She had it down pat at home, but when we were at the first house, and the door opened, she fell silent. I said, "Chloe what do you say?" and she looked at the lady and said "Please?". Then, she got more excited by the homeowner's dog than the bowl full of candy presented in front of her. By the fifth house, she would take the candy and then say "Trick or treat!"

Here we go - into the third tri-mester.  Pregnancy is going well.  The baby's been kicking and my the latest craving is for apples and cheese - together.  Have you tried padano cheese?  It tastes great with apples.  Anyhow, before this baby arrives, I'd like to complete the following (in no particular order):

• Re-design this website - ta-dah!  whaddya think?  Doesn't it look better than the last design.  Then again, anything would have looked better than the old design.  Still working on some pages and adding stuff to the right navigation.  It's getting there. 
  
  
• Move this site to a new host provider (gosh, hope the current provide doesn't read this).
  
  
• Put pictures from trip to Spain in 2005 into a scrapbook (this was on the to-do list before Chloe was born.)
  
  
• Make a baby album for Chloe - most of her photos are online.
  
  
• Knit a sweater or two for the new baby.  One of the downsides of not finding out the sex of this baby, is being limited to gender-neutral colored yarn. 
• Try out more recipes.  So far, I've prepared
  
  • Baked Penne with Roasted Vegetables - great dish and so easy - just a lot of chopping. 
  • Tuscan Vegetable Soup with White Beans - Dan loves this one - I've made it twice and it tastes great.
  • White Chocolate Rice Krispie Treats - I never knew how easy these are to make. 
  • Outrageous Brownies - These are good, but next time I'll lower the sugar and omit the un-melted chocolate chips in the batter, maybe add more flour

Yikes, the holidays are upon us - that's its own to-do list. I can't believe I saw holiday decorations in some stores already! Geez with so much to do no wonder I can't get to sleep on some nights.