I miss Indonesian food very much. Everytime I want Indonesian food, I always make it myself. Life is so different here. Well, duuhh????
I remember that back in Indonesia I could get the food in the middle of the night from the street vendor. The Nasi Goreng and sate vendors always came by our house about 10-12 pm at night. Life was so easy.
Here? hmmmm….. all in the restaurants or grocery stores. Can’t get the nice flavor from Chinese restaurants here either. Thank God there is Japanese restaurants.. I love sushi and sashimi very much. Can’t get enough of it….
Oh….siggh……
I miss you too…. June 28, 2005
The Cantwell Visit June 24, 2005
Last Wednesday we had visitors from Toledo, OH. They are the Cantwell (Tripp, Lina and Nikita). They are a nice and friendly family…we loved to have them come to our house. I knew Lina from the http://www.wanitaonline.com/ (she is the founder) and we exchanged e-mails too. They came about 7:00 pm and we talked and just enjoyed each other company until 9:30 pm. Lina was a nice friend… she talked with the familiar Manado accent… reminds me of my friends in Bogor who are mostly from Manado…. It is nice to have some companies over and share the afternoon.
Thank you guys…you are welcome to come again anytime…. Next time we will be well prepared…and no salmon fish for Tripp…hehhehehe… and it is only 2,5 hours driving..LOL…
Kenangan….. June 24, 2005
Beberapa kali gue ditanya apakah OK bila kita mengingat2 eks pasangan kita atau orang yang pernah kita kagumi or cuma sekedar kenal tapi berkesan…..
Ada yang bilang…masa lalu tinggalah masa lalu, jangan diinget2…bakalan susah sendiri… ada lagi yang bilang….cuma sekedar keingetan sih boleh, jangan sampe dibawa mikir….ada lagi yang bilang, ngapain sih nginget2 kayak nggak ada kerjaan aja..kan udah sibuk sama urusan yang sekarang, punya suami dan anak2….yada yada en yada….
Bicara dan menasihati orang emang gampang… tapi itu adalah masalah hati. Gue termasuk orang yang paling susah lupa kalau ada sesuatu yang berkesan dihati. Mau itu romantis, baik atau jelek.
Ada beberapa orang yang bener2 berkesan di hati gue, walau orang itu pernah menyakiti atau membuat gue kecewa atau sedih. Tapi yang namanya ‘hati’ nggak bisa bo’ong kan? kalau sayang dan rindu mah tetep wae jalan.
Itu bukan berarti gue nggak hormat dan cinta ama keluarga dan keadaan gue sekarang…tapi masa lalulah yang membuat gue begini…so, nggak bisa begitu aja dilupakan.
Gue berterima kasih sekali sama Tuhan atas keadaan gue yang sekarang ini. Bener2 bersyukur…dan gue bersyukur dikasih Tuhan hati yang masih bisa mengenang saat2 yang manis dulu…..dengan siapapun.
Bukan berkhianat…bukan menghayal yang enggak2…tapi sekadar mengenang…..
Apakah itu salah?????
Sama aja dengan mengenang betapa gue dulu sangat bahagia bila oma dan opa gue (kedua2nya udah almarhum) dateng kerumah gue di Bogor sana…bawa rambutan dan gue tahu bahwa selama oma dan opa gue nginep dirumah, gue bakalan dimanja dan dikasih apa aja yang gue minta. Sama dengan perasaan gue waktu gue lolos UMPTN…seneng banget bisa meliat ortu gue bahagia…karena biaya di Universitas negeri (UI) nggak semahal di Univ swasta. Kenangan is kenangan….cuma sekedar dikenang….
Gue punya kenangan terindah dengan beberapa orang yang menoreh ‘kenangan’ terdalam dalam hati gue…. biarlah tetap menjadi kenangan dan bunga dalam kehidupan gue….
Gue juga masih dalam proses berkenangan dengan suami dan anak2 gue tercinta sekarang…
Thank you, God….
Happy Father’s Day, Poppa June 20, 2005
Happy Father’s Day, Poppa…
Thank you for being our poppa…
Thank you for the joy and laughters you shared with us…
Thank you for reminding us to mind our behaviour…
Thank you for the projects and activities you did with us…
Thank you for hugs, kisses and caresses you gave us….
Thank you for bedtime readings and peaceful prayers….
Thank you for comforting us when we were sad and hurt…
Thank you for working hard for us and our family….
Thank you for being you….
You are just the world greatest poppa for us…
We love you Poppa….
Jonah and River
Late Afternoon Carnival for Jonah June 20, 2005
Last Friday I took Jonah to his school carnival party. It was a gloomy day but I wanted Jonah to experience the outdoor as much as he can and to socialize more with his friends and other people. So, even I was so tired and sleepy, I drove him to the Center. When we arrived there, there was no spot for parking. So I had to go to the other building to park our car. We had to walk a little bit to the Center.
Thank God all the activities were outside. Firstly we were greeted by the nice teachers there. I like Rainbow because all the teachers there seemed nice and friendly. I feel comfortable putting my first son there. Back to the party, when we first entered the building, they gave Jonah a nice hunting hat. Then we stood on line to get the food (hmm..just hot dog and chips and lemonade….but surely taste good when it is outdoor, hehhehe). Then we sat on the grass to watch the clown that was funny enough for the children. Jonah paid attention, clapped and laughed hard. Good for him.
Then they got a character baloon each.
After that we moved to the play area where the games and activites were. Jonah was so happy and wanted to try everything. He even ate his cotton candy…just a little bit…because he doesn’t like candy and chocolate that much.
Then he got a monkey mask for the throw the gecko on the wall games.
After almost trying all the things there….we went home… ups..not yet…we picked up sushi dinner for me and Sam….
Nice to go out and saw Jonah happy….. I love you, Son….
More pics here
Multiply time June 19, 2005
Hmm…lagi asyik nguplik2 multiply gue…. mau liat? check it out…
Buat Alice…iye nih akhire gue bayar juga…..hehhehe
Nggak jadi pindah euy…. June 16, 2005
Mau bikin pengumuman nih kalau gue sekeluarga belon jadi pindah. Masalahnya gini, Honeywell mengumumkan pemutusan hubungan kerja gede2an minggu lalu. Sekitar 3000 orang bakalan kena lay off. Si Sam juga baru tahu pas dua hari dia mau berangkat ke Seattle. Buat yang udah tahu, Sam dapet kerja di Honeywell Aerospace, Redmond, WA… dan dia diharapkan udah disana tanggal 13 Juni kemarin. Tapi dua hari sebelon dia pergi, pihak Honeywell mengumumkan mereka bakalan mengadakan pemutusan hubungan kerja gede2an…di Honeywell mana aja. Mereka bakalan mengirim kerjaan2 mereka ke India…(waduh?????). Nah, gila aja kan kemarin…lah suami gue udah resigned walau dia juga rada ogah2an..(dia ngeri sama biaya hidup yang tinggi di Seattle…)….tapi karena mereka meyakinkan kalau segalanya oke2 aja, makanya dia berani resign dan ngasih two weeks notice-nya… Lah, pas ujung2nya, mendadak pisan, Honeywell bilang mau cut backs orang2nya….wahhh????
Untungnya setelah dibicarakan dengan manajemen Smiths, Sam masih dipertahankan di Smiths Aerospace sini (Thanks God)….. dan dapet project yang dia sukai juga….(Puji syukur lagi…).
Jadi ya karena Sam buat komitmen baru sama Smiths ya kita jadinya masih tinggal disini….nggak tahu buat berapa lama.
Gue terus terang kagak suka disini pas musim salju… musim panasnya enak banget…udara cerah ceria, anget dan aktivitas banyak banget….tapi pas musim salju…wah…..semuanya locked up.
Well, kalau Tuhan berencana kita tinggal disini dulu…pasti akan ada jalan gimana kita bisa menikmati musim dingin tanpa depresi.
So gitu kabar dari kita…. buat temen2 di Seattle dan sekitarnya yang udah gue janjiin mau ketemuan…sorry banget…. bukan nggak mau kita kesana…cuma belon berjodoh aja untuk tinggal disana…
Sekian berita dari saya (hhehhehhe….).
Wabasis Lake Sunday Outing June 13, 2005
Yesterday afternoon we decided to go to the lake again… In the summer we tend to go to the place which has water….and in Michigan which is known as ’state with thousands lake’, whereelse than to go to the lake. But we decided to go to different one. We saw many lakes in Rockford/Belding area and we wanted to go to the big one with the park named Wabasis Lake.
We went there about 3:00 pm after the boys had their nap. And we were surprised of the size of the lake and the trail and the nice environment. We liked it very much. We went first to the beach and the boys played in the playground. Jonah was acting up so we didn’t spend long time there. We went for a picnic on the other side of the park…with the green pastures and valley view. The boys just tiring themselves going up and down the hills. Good for them…they surely slept well in the evening.
Then we went to try the trail….just a little hike and came back.
So nice just to get out…and it becomes our weekly routine now.
Here some pictures of us…and the park.
Wabasis Beach
River and poppa
On the go for hiking
More pics here
Whale Pool New Location June 13, 2005
Thanks for Cilla’s reminder I moved the whale pool to the grass under the tree. As you can see our backyard is so small…compared to the frontyard. But as long as the whale fit in there….it is OK.
So, this is the new location of the whale pool and the boys still dig it…
Whale Mini Pool June 8, 2005
Two days ago I bought a small pool for the boys. It was a nice and cheap one…but I thought the boys would gonna like it. I was about to get it ready yesterday, but then Jonah was in school. I didn’t want him to be missed out
I tried to pump it with the air pump for the bicycle’s wheel…but it took so long and so tiring to manually pump it. The pool is bigger than I thought. And then I looked for the air pump for the baloon…I thought maybe it would be easier…I couldn’t find it.
Wow, I couldn’t imagine Jonah and I pumping the pool with the manual air pump. But then I just remembered that we have an electric air pump for the air mattress…. I looked for it and found it in the basement, but then I got dissapointed because the connection doesn’t fit…it is too big for the pool spout.
Then I called Sam… as usual, for suggestion. He said that the electric pump came with all kind of spout’s attachments…WOW…I didn’t know that.
And then I took the pump and tried it out… it worked like a charm….no pushing,no short breath and no hassle…. just leave it to the electric pump. Let it do all the work.
I put the pool on the backyard…just behind our garage…. the front yard is surely bigger but it is not private. So, the backyard is the good place for that.
Then the pool was ready for the water… so I took the big hose from the garage and run the water. The boys were so anxious and unpatient. Before that they ate their food well and I kept telling them if they didn’t eat their food they wouldn’t play in the pool. So, that two water slaves ate their food right away.
Again, bribing always work with my boys…I tell ya!!!…hehehhehe…
So, I run the water and filled up the pool. I also put about 4 buckets of hot water so the water wasn’t that cold…and….as you can see…their jumped right into the water….and played there for 30 minutes.
