Thursday, March 8, 2012

Week in Review

Happy Thursday, everyone! This week has flown by! It's great in one aspect because it means that the weekend is almost here, but on the other hand, I feel like my life is flying past! :/   So here's what's been going on in my life the past week:

Saturday:
D and Larry got back home around 10:30am. They had driven up north to drop the mechanic off since their dad's truck was broken down. I think it was a 10 hour drive round-trip. Plus, they hung around and helped the mechanic. So D slept for a bit. Around 2 or 3, Larry texted  us to see if we wanted to go eat @ a Korean BBQ. So we spent all afternoon/evening w/ Larry, Alicia, Chicho, and Crystal.

While we were waiting for Chicho and Crystal to meet us @ the restaurant, we decided to go look around the local Korean Supermarket. Can you believe this gigantic pile of noodles?
Some strange looking fish...
Octopus for sale...
This place was packed! They had some really good prices on produce!
The restaurant we went to...
The service was HORRIBLE! They were way understaffed and it took us forever to get our drinks and our food. Doubt I'll ever go back here...
Some strange looking rice. But it tasted ok...
Sunday:

After church, we ate lunch @ Flame Broiler. I was trying to capture the image of the mountains in the background through that window, but it didn't show up very well....
The Flame Broiler in Hacienda Heights
It's so strange having this mountain view all the time. I don't think I"ll ever get used to it. Eating lunch and I just look out and there they are! So weird! I'm used to looking out the window and seeing corn fields, not mountains! haha
After lunch, we went to Lowe's. D wanted to trade in a tool and also buy some supplies to build a potato cannon. Aren't these fans pretty cool?
This one was super unique looking...
I wish I could plant a garden!!!
D w/ his potato cannon supplies...haha
Next, we decided to go through a car wash since the car was pretty filthy.
All the pink soap goo!
Clean!
D with his potato cannon. Actually, you can't fit a potato in there. He bought a smaller tube for the first attempt. I think they used a wad of paper or something instead.
Monday: 


Smoothie time!
Yuuum!
D and I used to make smoothies ALL the time back @ our Amelia Ave apt. in Laffy. Good times!



Tuesday:


Waiting to have our taxes done...We went to Atlantic Tax Service, which was recommended by Larry. They were pretty friendly!
Waiting....
Then we decided to go eat @ IHOP
The menu
Waiting for my pancakes....
Yum!!! The pancakes are mine...everything else is Diego's




Wednesday:

I had to run a ton of errands after work. Went to the post office and got these really nice stamps!


We've been eating out quite a bit lately, so I decided to make spaghetti for dinner...I dirtied up three different pans! That's one thing I hate about cooking @ home--all the dishes!
Used fresh mozzarella...
The chicken took forever to cook. D has made me paranoid about cooking meat ( he always overcooks everything because he's afraid of undercooking it) I was trying to get the chicken to 165 degrees, but it took forever! And then it was kind of overcooked...so who knows...
Yum!  Unfortunately, we shouldn't have eaten so late! Because I was up sick all  night...bleh.


Today:

During class today...
Went grocery shopping after work. Notice I tried to buy a lot of neutral foods. Nothing spicy or acidic.

I've been having a lot of trouble w/ my acid reflux this past week and it has been making my life HELL! Ugh. It's so torturous. :(  I need to lose some weight, start taking my meds regularly, watch what I eat, and start working out more regularly I guess. I think I've had horrible acid reflux every single day this week. Last night was the worst though, it almost felt like I could be having a heart attack or something, but it was just my stupid GERD. I'm kinda afraid to eat anything so have been sticking to pretty neutral foods today. Things that often trigger my acid reflux include: citrus fruits(, tomatoes and tomato sauce, garlic, sugary foods (cakes, candies, etc.), dairy (milk, cottage cheese, etc.), chocolate, cinnamon spicy foods, onion, coffee or anything w/ caffeine, some fried foods, and *some* meat. I don't even know what to eat anymore. The flame broiler sauce was making me sick. The pico de gallo that I put on my chicken tostada salad made me sick. Cereal w/ milk makes me sick. The spaghetti sauce made me sick. Ice cream made me sick. Orange juice made me sick. I've been hungry for a pomegranate, but can't eat it because it's too acidic. I bought a bunch of rice, some bread, some potatoes, and some soup. 

Any tips for dealing w/ acid reflux? I usually try to eat something really neutral like a banana or something to neutralize my stomach acids. I really need to take care of this problem because acid reflux can eventually cause throat cancer, which I definitely don't want. My throat has felt so weird for the past couple days, like there's food stuck in it. and this stupid reflux makes me feel like CRAP! One positive is that maybe if I'm watching the foods that i eat that I'll lose some weight! I definitely haven't been eating mindlessly the past day or two. But enough about that...

I've been dealing w/ an annoying student this week. Had a meeting w/ this student and my boss on Tuesday. We'll see what happens. But this student is making my life very difficult in the classroom because he doesn't like me as a teacher. He's older and set in his ways, he wants things HIS way and tries to rule the classroom. I find him exhausting. I feel like I have to fight with him everyday. Everything feels like a battle. So they gave him a warning, and he's on a week probationary period. He's supposed to refrain from speaking Japanese and from interrupting me during class. So far he's been doing better, but I doubt it will last. We shall see..

Anyways, that's about all for now. Happy Thursday, everyone!





Saturday, March 3, 2012

Photo Review: Part II

Watch your thoughts, they become words.
Watch your words, they become actions.
Watch your actions, they become habits.
Watch your habits, they become character.
Watch your character, for it becomes your destiny.

Those were the words that I posted yesterday afternoon on my Facebook and then I go and lose my temper yesterday night and say things that I regret. Will I ever learn?   Probably not. :P   Sometimes watching those words are so much easier said than done......

Not much has been going on here the past week.  I wasn't feeling so good and didn't go to work the other day. D's been in a grouchy mood all week because he's burnt out. D's dad's truck broke down AGAIN five hours north of here. Larry and D drove the mechanic up there late last night. They left around 8:30 pm and just got home this morning around 10:30 am. So it looks like the day is probably shot. I got a good 12 hours sleep but D rolled in looking half dead. So I'm guessing he will be attempting to sleep all afternoon.

Anyways, so here are some more photos like I promised earlier in the week:

2.17.12: This was a busy week because I was teaching both the morning and afternoon classes. Wasn't used to teaching a full shift like that. Exhausting!
2.18.12: D and I met up w/ larry, alicia, and Irma @ Walmart. We saw this really cool coca cola machine.
I soooo wanted an ice cold Fanta, but we didn't get one!!!
2.18.12: After our trip to Walmart, D and I decided to try and get to the 5:00 service @ church, but we were too late. On our way over to D's fam's house we saw the most amazing sunset!
Gorgeous!
2.19.12: D has been obsessed w/ this donkey puppet. :rolls eyes: He has been taking it everywhere. i don't always claim him! ;)
2.19.12: Surprise bday cake for Crystal. They convinced her to go on this early morning hike and then wanted to surprise her w/ a homemade breakfast and cake.
Waiting for Crystal to get there...

Weird design that I made w/ the bingo chips! hehe Do you think it could be art?
2.19.12: Crystal cutting her bday cake
2.19.12: The Robles' have this weird tradition where the bday person cuts and serves the cake. I always thought it was the other way around? Seems backwards to me!! but to each their own....
2.19.12: I spent the entire day creating a midterm for my class. A lot of work! I took a short break to eat an ice cream cone that Edgar bought from the traveling ice cream truck....it was pretty yummy!
2.19.12: My school things all spread out on the table @ the Robles'
2.20.12: D and I both had the day off of work because of Presidents Day...I celebrated by making French Toast!
2.20.12: We didn't do a whole lot all day,but in the evening met up w/ Larry and Alicia and drove over to Redondo Beach.
2.20.12: We ate @ El Torito's on the beach. This is the view from the restaurant window.
My dinner. I ordered a veggie burrito, which is usually delicious! But this time they stuck all these weird veggies in there and I didn't really care for it. I'll have to be more specific next time.
A japanese restaurant @ the Redondo Beach Pier
We walked around the pier for awhile. It was kind of windy and chilly, but pretty cool. There were a lot of people out fishing.
Outside view of El Torito, the restaurant where we ate, it's up on the second level.
We found this arcade filled w/ a ton of ancient games...
Of course we had to play Deal or No Deal! Love this game!
2.21.12: Review day @ school
2.22.12: Written part of the midterm. Of course on the day where I had to sit there for six hours w/ nothing to do, the internet connection is out ALL day long! At least during the second class I was able to grade the exams from the first class!
2.22.12: Rachel and d's mom made mole from scratch. They were pretty excited about it! I'm not a big fan of mole, but it's this traditional food that they eat for special occasions. I think it's definitely an acquired taste. Or maybe it's just something that you had to have grown up eating...I personally think it's a really strange combination of flavors, but I can tolerate it.
2.25.12: Had bday cake and went out to dinner for Edgar's bday. I think I wrote a blog entry about it..This is a drawing that one of his students drew of him in his bday card...hehe. Hilarious!
2.26.12: So D and I FINALLY finished up our gifts for each other and exchanged them on Suday the 26th. D made me a clock for my Christmas/Vday gift. He carved it by hand. A very nice and thoughtful gift..
I made D a memory book filled w/ photos and memories from the past year. It was a ton of work! I've been working on it on and on since early December. Spent last Saturday and Sunday finishing it up. (That's not a permanent spot on the bottom of the book, it's just water!)
Some of the pages....
3.01.12: I made baked chicken breast, rice, and peas for dinner the other night. Trying to eat a bit healthier.


Well, I think I'm pretty much caught up on photos. Getting ready to watch a movie that I rented, "Hugo"...D has been sleeping for about 1.5 hours or so, but just woke up because he got a work call. Looks like there's a water leak. Dunno what our plans are for the day. We shall see.

Happy Saturday,everyone! Hope you are having a great weekend! :)