On Peeing

Received from school today:

"Unfortunately today at break time A made the decision to urinate in the garden near the Kindergarten corridor.  Another Kindergarten student from another class also did similar.  I have spoken to A about making wise choices and the inappropriateness of his actions."

My response: Oh.My.God. 
Husband's response: That's my boy!

*Also, let me say that this has never been an issue with the girls!

Loss

Mourning an amazing and complicated man (as so eloquently put by my lovely lil sis). To know something is coming for such a long time, it's surprising how much it still hurts. It's difficult being on the other side of the world and unable to support the people I love. Sometimes the expat life is hard.

Back from Vacay

Every time I go on vacation, I discover a new favorite place in the Philippines. Sabang Beach, Palawan was absolutely stunning. Sometimes the view literally took my breath away. Getting away from stinky, overcast, smoggy Manila is always rejuvenating. I was so looking forward to two weeks in Hawaii back in uniform to add to that feeling, but it's looking more and more like that's going to be delayed til who knows when. No orders yet, and I can't get plane tickets or hotel reservations until I have orders, so the likelihood of leaving on Saturday is pretty slim at this point. *sigh* Well, at least I have Donsol and its whale sharks to look forward to in Feb, and then we're headed to Vietnam with my little sis at the end of March (still debating Hanoi vs. Ho Chi Minh,* any opinions?). So things are looking up. Oh, and New England lost, which was awesome, hahahahhahaha! I'm pulling for crazy ass killah Ray Lewis to finally win a Super Bowl in his last game evah. What can I say, I've got a soft spot for hardened criminals. Double oh, and freaking hockey's back!! Watching the Sabres/Flyers game right now on NHL Game Center. Thank god for technology. What did people do before the internet?? I was alive long before the internet, and I can't even remember!

So much else to blog about, I really need to get that Dragon whatever software that translates talk to text. But, I hear the Mac version sucks ass, so I've held off because it's kind of expensive and I am kind of cheap. I realized when looking back to see what I had actually blogged about in the last month (sorry for the slim pickins, ya'll) that I haven't posted a recipe in freaking ages. So here's what I made for dinner tonight both because it is super fast and delicious and because I am feeling guilty for imbibing an average of 4 banana daiquiris per day for the last 4 days.**

Turkey Lettuce Wraps

1lb ground turkey
Romaine lettuce leaves
1 red pepper, cut into thin strips
3 shallots, minced (or 1/2 onion if you happen to live somewhere where it's not easy to get shallots!)
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp mirin
1 tsp sambal oelek
1 tbsp lime juice
black pepper
salt to taste

Use a little oil of choice (I used coconut oil) to fry up the onion over med-high heat for about 2-3 min - just until it turns translucent. Add in the pepper strips and garlic and continue to stir fry for about 1-2 more min (don't burn the garlic!). Remove the veggie mixture and add just a touch more oil to the pan to fry the ground turkey. Cook the turkey for about 5 min or until browned then add the veggie mixture back to the pan. Add in the fish sauce and the rest of the ingredients and cook until mixed through. Then simply put some turkey mixture into a lettuce leaf and voila: Turkey Lettuce Wrap!

Okay, and here's some Sabang pics, too:

Got to add a comment to this one. This is what's known as a woodworm. It's actually a mollusk not a worm, and C ate one. Raw. This one, actually. With vinegar on a plate when we got from our Mangrove tour. Someone book this kid on Fear Factor, stat!

*Hanoi sounds more interesting, but Ho Chi Minh is cheaper to fly into.
**We stayed at the Daluyan Resort where the food was horrendous, but the banana daiquiris were the fucking bomb...except for when they ran out of fucking bananas, not once but twice...in the Philippines. 

99 Problems

Okay, so even after declaring a do-over, 2013 continues to suck my ass. I'm not sure what I did to piss it off, but clearly the end of the year must have something awesome in store for me because I cannot imagine that bad luck can follow me around this long. Between the constant construction next door (and the staring construction workers it brings), the feral cats engaging in kitty gang bang all night long, crazy karaoke neighbors who think I have no Christmas spirit*, kids puking and diarrhea pooping, and my helper borrowing 13K PhP to go home to the province the first week the kids are back in school (oh, and then not coming home on time, hahahahaha), the joke is seriously on fucking me. Now I can't get my orders cut to go do my military duty in Hawaii in two weeks because I can't update my records to reflect my new home in the Philippines (currently I can get tickets from VA to HI but not form the Philippines!) thanks to the military's lack of computer know how.** Agghhhhh!!!!! I am about to give up on 2013 and just go hibernate. Someone wake me when 2014 gets here.

*news flash, mother fuckers, Christmas ends after Dec 25th!

**everything is set to work with IE or Netscape (does anyone actually use Netscape anymore?) - but I can't use IE past version 5.something because I use a fucking Mac, so all I get are error messages. 

Gender Differences

Example Boy Pretend Play:
A: *picks up random object* This is a gun. POW POW! Mama you dead!

Example Girl Pretend Play:
J: Okay, Mommy. Pretend I am a dog, a baby dog, the cutest baby dog you have ever seen. And I am a German Shepherd mixed with Golden Retriever mixed with Dalmatian mixed with Chihuahua baby. And I got lost and then you saw me. Mooooommmmmy. Are you paying attention? Okay, I'm a baby puppy who is part German Shepherd mixed with Golden Retriever mixed with Dalmatian mixed with Chihuahua, and I got lost. And then you saw me swimming over there in the middle of the pool, and you said, 'Oh, what a cute baby puppy who is lost over there.' And then you wanted me to come over and be a part of your family so we can bake cookies together. Mommy? Mommy? Mommy, mommy, mommy, mommy, mommy, mooooommmmmmy. Are you paying attention?

Happy New Year

A friend of mine posted this on Facebook, and I thought it was very apropos considering how life has been going lately:

December 32-38th was the fuckin' pits. Happy to be starting a new year tomorrow. Happy 2013 everybody!