I’m knocked up!   Yup.  It’s been 2 months since my last post and I haven’t had the energy to sit in front of a computer and try to gather my thoughts together.   I’m not used to feeling this way.   I thought perhaps I was just going through my lazy sloth stage but I’m not that lucky.  Not to say that I’m not welcoming the whole pregnancy thing, but man, I did NOT know what I was in for.   I feel queasy a lot…and the only way I get rid of the feeling is to eat/stuff my face until the knot in my stomach and throat go away.  It’s usually done between naps, which occur every 30 minutes.   Luckily, I haven’t puked yet (knock on wood) and other than the binge eating/narcolepsy thing, I’m doing okay.   Keep you posted.    Promise to not be such a stranger…

So the other day, one of my co-workers and I were discussing our childhoods.  Of course, there was the required teenage angst but I realized that we all had our epic battles with bullies. 

I never had a problem with kids at school, middle school to be precise.  They were all pretty nice to me.  I had good friends and the word “bully” never even entered my thoughts.   Actually, I was the only Asian kid in my town for a while.  Funny fact: when the second Asian kid came along, everyone asked if we were related.  We weren’t.  Okay…getting off-subject.

Anyway, I grew up going to this one church in San Francisco.  All the kids knew each other, the parents knew each other…we all went to the same summer camps, blah blah blah.  My best friends were Donna, Christina and Esther.  We swore that we’d be in each other’s weddings and be best friends forever.   It was good until Tina came rolling into our church.  She of the teased bangs and striped jeans (this was the 80’s, yanno), she brazenly smoked behind the church (gasp) and told of these adventures she had that would keep all the good church kids mesmerized for hours.   She was the cool 15yr old who had shaken up our naive little group.  For one reason or another, all the kids flocked to her…except me.  So she chose me to be the object of her hate and anger.  

She was merciless in her decimation of my 12yr old self.  She’d whisper stories as to the real reason my father had died (although she had arrived on the scene 2 yrs after)…saying he killed himself because I was such a horrible and ugly child (he passed away after a long battle with cancer).  Her many lies of my supposed promiscuity (I WAS 12!!), my drug addiction, my penchant for shoplifting were eaten up by my friends…because of course, Tina was too cool to lie about any of this.  Of course it had to be true.   The best shot at me had to be the slambook (once again, it was the 80’s) that was conveniently left so I could stumble across it.   She had turned my friends against me.  They had become lemmings.  Everything in the book that was negative had my name scrawled all over the pages.    It broke my heart.  That day, I stopped going to church.   It was the only time I ever wished any harm on anyone. 

Years later, I heard that she was arrested for solicitation and both her brothers were in jail for random crimes.   Donna?  Christina?  Esther?   I could care less now but back then, Tina’s incessant tormenting of me and my friends’ betrayal felt like the world’s end.   It’s weird.   I hadn’t thought of her in ages…but I guess you never forget your #1 bully.

So, it just dawned on me that I haven’t posted since the beginning of the month.   It’s been a crazy fun-filled couple of weeks.  It was Matt’s birthday on the 12th so we hung out in San Francisco at KFOG’s Kaboom, listened to music and watched the fireworks over the bay.  The next day we celebrated Mother’s Day with my mom:  Yank Sing for dimsum and shopping around the city.  Eating and shopping.  Two of my most hated things (yeah right) so it was such an exercise on patience.  ;-)   The following weekend was the Giants games…or if you ask Matt, it was the A’s games.  Oh and of course, Mother’s Day, part deux.  But this time around, we went to the city to visit my great-aunt and a friend of my mother’s who used to babysit me as a toddler.   We brought both of them orchids and chatted for a while…then of course, we ended up at one of my fave places for duck.  Random hole in the wall place in the Sunset that has awesome roast duck and pork.  Yeah.  It was tough.   More eating.  The only thing that really stopped us from eating our way through May was a glitch called work but those were just merely speedbumps.  Anyway, here’s hoping that life continues resembling a bowl of cherries.  At least for a little while. 

beautiful vines, originally uploaded by ihategreenpeas.

“There cannot be good living where there is not good drinking.” - Ben Franklin.

This was a nice way to start our three day weekend. We went up to the wine country with our friends Mimie and Jon…we stayed in the Sonoma Valley, which I’m sort of partial to. Not a big Napa fan. The weather was perfect. 76-80 with a slight breeze that could be shaken with enough wine. We drank, we ate amongst the vineyards and drank some more. It was idyllic and peaceful. Ahhh..

a kind soul who must have known that my mind was hungry for a good story handed me this book today, out of the blue….one of just a few murakami’s i have yet to read.  how did they know?  this person is an acquaintance.  someone i say hello to in the hallway and the elevator.   it was very thoughtful and a great surprise.   i can’t wait. 

today has been an interesting day.  i’ve been feeling quite lazy (as have my dogs) lounging around in the shade and basking in the sun.  there isn’t a breeze to be found and i’m thirsty for a bit of cooler air.  the temp is 88 degrees but it feels like 100 in my house.  so what does that mean?   i’m cranky!  i tried to self-soothe by eating yet another pomegranate juice bar (anti-oxidant, right Aviva?) and it helped for a minute until i got the call.   it’s a call that’s not unlike a lot of the calls from her that i’ve been trying to avoid for a while.   i didn’t look (yes, I’m guilty of screening my calls) and answered it without bracing myself.  

here’s the history:  we’ve been friends for about 15 yrs.  6 kids (3 are step), 2 marriages, 1 divorce, 2 TRO’s, 3 boobjobs, 2 nosejobs, 1 pec implant (for her hubs), 1 calf implant (for her hubs), 3 trips to rehab for prescription drug addiction, 2 close family deaths, a bitchy pompous sister and a whole lotta drama wrapped up in a petite 97lb blonde slip of a woman. 

she’s whispering on the phone to me.  again, might i add.  her 13 yr old stepson has scared her shitless and she’s hiding in her bedroom closet after having barricaded herself in her room.  her husband is out of town, unaware of what’s happening…although he’s fully AWARE of what his kids/animals are capable of.  she’s been in her closet since 10 this morning (it’s 4:21 now) and she’s afraid that if she comes out of her room, the kid might “bash her head in” like he’s threatened numerous times before.   she tells me that she hasn’t called her husband because he’s at a conference and he doesn’t like to be bothered at work.  i’m more worried for her kids who are still somewhere in the house.   she says that she hears them playing so she “guesses that they are safe”. 

how the hell does one handle calls like this?   every 3 weeks or so, i get a call from her where she just soaks all the energy out of me.  i’m left feeling like i just gave birth to an elephant.  i tell her the same thing every time (talk to your husband, don’t let your husband leave you in the house with his kids alone, get some help, don’t let anyone make you feel like a prisoner in your own home, yadda yadda yadda) but it doesn’t seem to work.   i hope that just sharing the event with me helps her out but there’s gotta be more that can be done, right? 

ahhhh!!!!

pasta with clams and shrimp, originally uploaded by ihategreenpeas.

the weather is amazing today and tonight is no exception.   it’s a nice and breezy 75 degrees and i thought it would be nice to have a seafood and wine dinner so i made some pasta with clams and shrimp in a light pinot grigio sauce.   i thought it came out nice and matt’s in a food coma on the couch so i guess he enjoyed it too.   

note to self: don’t eat a pound of pasta after whining that you’re too fat but justifying the meal by drinking a barrel of wine to ‘balance’ it out and finishing it off with a pomegranate juice bar. 

i love being a sloth sometimes.  

between all my feverish cooking (tonight was chipotle simmered carnitas taco bar night) I did squeeze in a great movie over the weekend.    We went and caught “The Host” at the Parkway Theatre in Oakland. 

so…back when I had time on my hands (I’m talking HOURS) I used to go hang out with mom at her house, binge on Korean food and watch K-dramas. It’s always so melodramatic that even MadTV spoofed it. I’m such a dumbass that I’m guaranteed a good cry at least once a video. That’s right. VIDEO. (more on the video part later) I haven’t had the heart to throw away our VCR because of my occasional K-drama cravings. Anyway, my pal Jodie who is incredibly hooked on the shows linked me to this awesome Tiger Cinemas that is the K-drama equivalent to Netflix. DVDS! Not videos! And the whole series at a time! Not just one video a week! Okay, so in Korea (South Korea, to be precise) tv shows last roughly 3 months to a year or so. There are some that go on forever (like Dae jang gum) but most of them do not. It’s nice because you rarely get the bizarre storylines on some American soap operas (one character dies then comes back as their separated-at-birth twin only to find out that it’s not their twin but their mom’s twin whose embryo was frozen and fathered by her neighbor’s cousin who is now a woman) and they end usually before you get tired of the show. Anyhow, the K-Drama video stores locally usually have a weekly release of one or two video tapes of maybe 4 episodes that last 20 minutes each. And the shows that they offer as “new releases” are shows that were originally aired maybe 5-7 months back in Korea. Now with my new find, I can have instant gratification!! I can finally chuck my VCR that I shamefully hide so our friends won’t mock us for our techie embarassment!    Yay.  Just a little sunshine in my cup.

Chicken and orza frittata.  That’s what I made for dinner.  

Chicken, orzo, roasted bell peppers, creme fraiche, scallions, ricotta cheese, sea salt, eggs, parmigiano reggiano.  I love this dish because it makes a good cold leftover.  I’ve been cooking a lot lately.  On Monday night we had my mom over for “Mom’s Choice” dinner.   Of course, her choice was:  prime rib.   Here it is hanging out with some roasted fingerling potatoes before I dressed the platter. 

However, my mom LOVES her kimchee so we made some Persian cucumber kimchee

and chive (from her garden) kimchee to go along with it. Hey, like I said, it was “Mom’s Choice”.

Wednesday I had a craving for pasta so I made some fusilli bolognese.   Too hungry to dig out the camera. 

I took a break the rest of the week but on Saturday night, we went out to T-Rex with Mimie and Jon.   I think we probably ate 70% of the menu between the four of us.  Satisfying as usual.  Here’s what the long cut short rib and babyback spare rib 2-way looks like.

I totally thought we were going to have to wheel Jon out of there.  

Although earlier in the day, I had a bad encounter at a restaurant.  Maire and I decided to grab brunch at Chow’s in Lafayette.  It’s weird.   The place is always packed so you gotta figure that they offer good food and service, right?   Well, it started off with a big hair in my water.   Then cold minestrone.  Wha? When did minestrone become a cousin of the gazpacho?  We thought Maire’s lunch was safe but as she finished up her cobb salad, right there was yet another hair, swimming in the dressing.  Ugh.  Anyway, the place was mediocre and the food bland.   The location and service was good, however not enough to make me go back.  So sad. I love finding great food near my house.

I’m thinking mostly seafood for this week’s cooking adventures.   Did I ever mention that I am not a big chicken or pork fan?   I think it goes back to my days laboring away in path class.     I always will pick the seafood, red meat or vegetable dish over the chicken or pork.  However, Matt’s a big chicken AND pork fan so I deal…and I never add green peas. 

So, I’m warning you…this is a vent post. 

Yesterday (Wed) at work, I was passing by a couple of gals who were pointing at a newspaper sitting on a counter.   One lady says, “that is such a horrible event!” and the other points to the picture of the gunman and says, “well, of COURSE he’s South Korean!”   WHAT?  So I stopped and said, “what does that mean?  Why does the fact that he’s from S. Korea matter?”  Her response:  ”Because they’re communists.   Everyone knows that!  They have that crazy dictator that people spoof.”     It took all my willpower to not slap her across the face with the dumbass rod.   Then she continues, “Yeah, THOSE people and the Arabs are the worst…”   I was so appalled, I just blurted out, “You’re a fucking moron.   It’s North Korea with the lunatic dictator.   South Korea is not a communist country.   I have never been so insulted or offended by anyone in my whole entire life.”   After my tirade, she just shrugged and said, “I guess I got my Asian countries confused.”  WOW…and they let morons like this vote?  

Ugh.   I felt anger towards her but now it’s just pity.