Christmas Pics

Merry Christmas!

Cael celebrates his first Christmas tomorrow. Albeit with a cold he caught. We couldn't resist letting him open a present yesterday. He is quite good at tearing wrappers. I will remember to take some pictures to post for all to see.
Gerald's last day of work was on Thursday and he is on a break until Jan 8 when he starts his teaching career. I wouldn't really call it a break as he will have lots of lesson planning to do and stuff to go over before he meets his class.
I am making a dessert right now with a recipe given by a friend. I hope I did it right otherwise I will be in trouble. That is because we are celebrating Christmas with our friends and I told them I will bring dessert. Well, alcohol always works eh??? JUST KIDDING... I don't drink, in fact I am actually allergic to alcohol. Just a sip makes my whole body turn red and my heart starts palpitating and the pulse in my head starts throbbing. And I am not kidding.
Talking about allergies. I have another weird one. I am allergic to fragrance. Can you beat that? Just a sniff causes me some horrifying migraine. I will tell you a story. I don't think anyone has heard it before...so don't tell anyone. Once, at a wedding of an ex-boyfriend (I only had one, ex-boyfriend that is) and a good friend (seriously, we are all STILL in very good terms), another friend of mine was in charge of the floral arrangements and I was tagging along with her. There was only so many roses I can stand and pretty soon, I was plagued with this TERRIBLE migraine and my head was going crazy with all the bright lights and I felt like I was gonna puke my guts out any moment. So to my embarrassment, I told the bride and groom I was gonna have to leave and miss their reception. I was sooooooooooo afraid they and everyone else were gonna think it's because I was too heartbroken to see them together (I WAS NOT!). Thank God someone came to my rescue. She said she had this miracle migraine pill in her bag that was guaranteed to cure my migraine in minutes. And whaddaya know, it actually worked! So I was able to stay through the whole reception, thankfully.
Anyways, when I was pregnant with Cael, the allergy disappeared and I could sniff any smell-goods. Unfortunately, it came back. The only fragrance type stuff I can smell safely are citrusy stuff. So anyone out there who wants to buy me perfume, you know what to get me :)

Knitting

It is to my shame to acknowledge that in my whole life I have NEVER EVER completed a cross stitch project that I started. And I mean starting from when I just had one digit numbers to my age. I start all excited and dream of the finished project hanging on my bedroom wall. But somehow the dreams are never realized. Well, never realized by my hand. My aunt has always taken over the projects from me after my once again failed attempt and they are proudly hung on the walls.
And yes, I had the audacity to begin another project when I first came to USA. Needless to say, it is still an unfinished product. I will have to bring it back to my aunt :)
Anyways, I say all these to say that I have now started on a different project. Knitting. But with a more realistic goal. I bought some yarn and knitting sticks today and looked up on how to knit on the internet. After a few failed attempts, I got the hang of it and have hopes that my red scarf will turn out, if a bit bedraggled. Because of my past history, I have already resigned myself to the fact that if nothing else, I enjoyed myself for a little while with two sticks and a yarn.
Gerald laughed at me today when he saw what I had in my hands. He is well aware of my past.

Pics

Cael's first Christmas tree

Mummy's Boy

Daddy's Boy

Baby in a basket

Earworms

No, it is not as bad as it sounds, just annoying. Wikipedia explains this condition:
"Earworm, a loan translation of the German Ohrwurm, is a term for a song stuck in one's head, particularly an annoying one."
I had an earworm stuck in my head this evening and the song is 'Feliz Navidad' Gerald is practicing this song on his guitar because he will be meeting his class before the Christmas break just to introduce himself so they know who to expect when they come back. And ALL evening long, this song has been playing again and again in my head. Argh!
I read once that one way to get rid of earworms is to sing the song until the end and make sure you end the song with a grand finale in your head. So I did this long loud crescendo, holding on to the last note until I am out of breath! (just in my head, not out loud) I think it works. Well it did until I started writing this down...now the song is back in my head! Blast it all!

Joy Abounds!

What a difference a good report brings to this household! I should start from the very beginning.
Remember my previous post Melancholy? Now I can elaborate. Gerald had a job interview for a teaching position last Tuesday. For those of you who know us, you will also know that we have had multiple setbacks trying to get Gerald into the teaching community. So needless to say, we were very excited about this interview and were very hopeful as usual (well, me anyways, I never learn to not place all my eggs in a basket!) So after the interview, Gerald came home and said that he thought he did well as one of the interviewers just kept smiling at him. And he said that they told him they will be making a decision by the end of the day. Anyways, me being me, I was waiting by the phone ALL DAY LONG. Well you know what happened there, hence the previous post.
Anyways, back to the current post. I had decided to just forget about the whole thing and be joyful anyways, so out Cael and I go very early in the morning to get him a Christmas tree. (Early because we went the previous night and the tree we wanted was sold out at Walmart, so I called a different Walmart to see if they had it). We got our tree and some ornaments, and then went out again after his morning nap for more ornaments! In all this I had forgotten to bring my cellphone with me.
Eventually, we got home and found a voicemail waiting. And it was from Gerald, who had tried countless times to reach me, at home and on the cell. Finally gave up to leave a message. And the mumbled message said that his supervisor told him that he will be getting a job offer to be a 5th Grade teacher! Shortly after that, he indeed received a job offer from the Human Resource of the district. So he goes next Tuesday to sign the contract.
So short story long, we got our Christmas tree and a new job! I couldn't be happier for my husband! Yes, he is also very nervous but happy. In fact he is out shopping with Cael right now for some proper teacher attire. Good for you Mr Matthews!!!!!
So thank you all who have been praying together with us.

Melancholy

Do you have days where you start with such a bright outlook but unfortunately as the day goes on, things just do not go according to how you had hoped they would and you just want to pull the covers over your head and call it a day? I experienced such a day today and right now I am just sitting at the computer listening to Eden's Bridge's Celtic Worship. Not sure if it's helping but it suits my mood perfectly. I especially love the song 'Stones and Sea'. It speaks about being so busy collecting the stones in the seashore you lose sight of the rolling glory of the sea. There must be a message somewhere in there for me.
I know I will not feel this way tomorrow. There's something about waking up and facing the new day that fills one with hope that all is not lost. Just as the Bible says, 'God's mercies are new every morning, great is Thy faithfulness'. And it is very true for me. But for now, I just need to wallow in a little melancholy.

Texas Boy

Cael was born in Houston, Texas. The clothes were gifts from our friends, Pam and George Martinez. We miss you guys!

About A Husband (previously titled Before Cael)

Before Cael, I lived a somewhat boring existence. Can't write on Gerald's behalf. His was a little more interesting since he loves to be out in the sun. That is, only in California. He didn't like to be out in hot and humid Texas. He loves to do gardening. In fact, until he read that plants and trees do not like to be moved about all the time, every few weeks, he will decide that he needs to re-plant our entire garden because he was not satisfied with the results. Well, one day he did some research and found out that his plum tree was not fruitful because it has not had a chance to settle. Well.... so for a little while, we had permanence. Or the plants did. Then we moved.
Well, I was going to write on a whole different subject but talking about Gerald brought back a whole lot of other memories, hence the title change.
Living with Gerald is quite interesting sometimes. I have come home to a different, well....home. Let me explain. Somedays, I will come home and the walls have taken on a different color. Other days, the furniture in the living room has been completely re-arranged. Once I even came home and found my bedroom has moved to another room.
It is quite exciting really. I am still waiting for the day I come home and find my Hyundai turned into a Beemer.