Just My Rambling

The swine flu has hit Washington. Yesterday it was reported in the news that there are 6 probable swine flu cases in the state, including 3 in this county. The 3 in this county includes an 11 year old boy and a pediatrician. The school that the boy attends is now temporarily closed till next week. What makes me scared is that you can’t differentiate swine flu from regular flu. With flu season and allergy season at its peak now, everyone seems to be coughing or sniffling. So we won’t know if they are having regular flu, swine flu or just bad allergies. We can’t stay in isolation and avoid every single person, right. This morning I went to Target to buy some Purell hand sanitizer and discovered that they have been completely sold out. Three shelves were completely empty! No masks either. I ended up just buying some hand soap and Dansko shoes. Luckily I still have some Purell at home but I will have to find some more because I will be using it a lot especially on Lil’ C!

This week I have been busy making summer plans. Lil’ C will be out of school in the beginning of June. I was planning to send her to summer camps but after checking out the prices, I am having second thoughts. I can’t believe how expensive some of those summer camps are. It looks like she will end up attending mommy camp this summer instead. So now I am planning all the activities for mommy camp. So far it includes lots of visits to the parks, children museums, art museums, berry picking, playdates and maybe even wholesale auctions. I am also checking out some vacation bible schools too. Mommy camp is looking exciting so far. I hope she will think so too.

After living in my current house for 2 years, I am really beginning to feel that it is a little too big for us. It has been more than a week since I even went downstairs to our living room in the basement! Such a waste of space! So we have been thinking about downsizing lately. A smaller mortgage would be helpful too. It is a good time to buy another house now considering the huge pool of houses available out there. I would love to get a ranch style house if possible. The only problem with ranch style houses is that they are usually older houses. Don’t get me wrong. I love older houses but I am always afraid that they might contain asbestos just like my sister’s house. I definitely would not want to engage the services of mesothelioma lawyers in the future. I think we will just have to make sure that we get a good house inspector if we ended up getting an older house.

Last weekend we were out in the garage getting all our summer things out of the attic. There were the beach chairs, beach umbrellas, tents and all the camping gears. With the weather warming up, it looks like our beach and camping season will be in full swing soon. After checking the equipments and realizing that we may have to replace some of them, we headed to a nearby sporting goods store only to discover that they are going out of business. That is the third major store closing in this town after Linen ‘n Things and Circuit City. I really hope that there will not be any more casualty or we may have to a lot more shopping in the next town.

Always wear a helmet for protection when cycling even if you are only going 0.1 mile per hour!!

Thanks for visiting my PhotoHunt. Happy hunting & have a great weekend, everyone!

Just when I thought that layoffs are slowing down, this week I found out about new layoffs that affected a couple of people that I know. For my friend, the layoff was a bit of a surprise since the company seems to be doing well. I think a lot of companies are just taking the opportunity to downsize even though they are still making a profit. Anyway, now my friend is scrambling to find health insurance for her family. Hopefully she will find a cheaper alternative at Blue Advantage or other similar programs. Preferably she will be able to get a new job very soon.

I can’t even remember the last time I worked in an office environment. Even before I had Lil’ C, I didn’t work for many years. So it has been quite a while. Now that Lil’ C might be going to Kindergarten in the fall, I have been thinking about getting back into the workforce. I used to work in the computer industry but seriously I don’t think I will ever get back into that rat race again. First of all, I am so out of touch with the latest technologies and secondly, there is no way I can compete with all the computer-savvy youngsters! Maybe I will check out admin careers instead. I realize this is probably not a good time to look for jobs but hopefully by September, the economic outlook will be better and I will be able to find a job.

Sorry for the lack of update lately! The weather has been so awesome that we have been spending most of our time outdoors. It’s amazing how much I have come to appreciate the blue sky after the long cold gloomy winter. When I lived in Florida and Malaysia, blue skies were pretty much a norm, so it was not a big deal. In fact I would try to stay indoors or find shade just to be out of the sun. But now, after living here for 2 years, I think I have become so-Seattlelite!! The moment the blue sky peeks out of the rainclouds, I am out in the parks together with the most of the city! I kid you not!! : )  It seems that everyone is out there. Sometimes I wonder if anyone here works on a sunny day!

Here’s a fun fact for you:

Did you know that Seattle sells more sunglasses per capita than any other city in US? 

Why? Because we don’t see the sun much, so on the rare occasion that it peeks out from behind the clouds, people here can’t find their sunglasses. They have to buy a new one!! Hehe….

Spring break is over and I think it was just too short! : ) We took a little short trip up to Victoria, BC for a couple of days. The weather there turned out to be great despite the wet forecast. Too bad I can’t say the same for the weather here. It has been raining non-stop since we got back. It even snowed today!! Oh well, hopefully the weather will warm up soon.

On the other hand, I love that the days are getting longer. Today, it was still bright at 7:30 pm. Cherry blossoms are blooming though the tulips are not blooming yet. Looks like the Tulip Festival might have to be extended after all.

It is spring break this week and the little one is out of school for the whole week. The weather has been so awesome that we have been spending all our time outdoors enjoying the spring weather, allergies included. Then yesterday we left on a short road trip for the rest of the week. It is also turning out to be a pigging-out trip as we explore new places to chow down. What can I say, we are foodies and somehow our road trips always end up as food tours instead! Ha! Hopefully by the time we get back from our road trip, I will not have to resort to weightloss pills! I think I will try to sneak away to the hotel pool to get a little workout!