No golf today!

Bob and I were so excited when the forecast for today was going to be a high of 72F! Unfortunately, when we were drove into the property of the golf course, the fairways and greens were still iced over!
Here's a view of the practice green and driving range!We did end up walking sloooooowly to the indoor hitting range to practice a little and also to do some work on the video, so the day was not all wasted.Yesterday was a nice day too. I finally decided it was time to "recycle" our Christmas tree. Yup, the Christmas tree had been laying in the backyard more days than it has been lit in the house! Poor thing. I trimmed the tree and tried to shed most of its pine needles. Talk about being high from smelling pine needles! Haven't figured out what I'm going to do with those pine needles yet. I read on some website that you can actually use it like mulch. We'll use the trunk and limbs for a fire in the chimenea :-)

Good news! The Adidas shirts came in today. After having to deal with customer service all of last week, I was finally able to exchange two defective shirts. The experience was like pulling teeth!

Ice storm

Thankfully the freezing rain stopped last night and the sun is out today. Nonetheless, I'm definitely staying home today. Looks like there's actually more snow than ice, which is a good thing. But I'm still not going to chance it, as long as that fire hydrant is still on the other side of the street!
I had to put some mail in the mailbox for pick-up and that's been the only time I was out today. Here are some pics while I was outside, which includes ice on shrubs, twigs, and some confusing bunny tracks!

I miss Phoenix, AZ!

Here is when pink is not a pretty color! We're in the middle of an ice storm now. I should have stayed an extra week in Phoenix!
Bob and I decided to take a mini vacation this past weekend. We decided on Phoenix because having lived there before for over 10 years, I know that we could be guaranteed with some good weather and some good golf courses!
But sadly enough, when we arrived in Phoenix, it was actually cloudy and drizzling! On our first night, we had dinner with 10 other friends at the Pink Pepper restaurant. It was great to see some old friends again and to catch up. And it was also great that owner of the restaurant provided us with some free appetizers! The owner's daughter - Tiffany, plays on the FUTURES Tour and I see both of them frequently on tour.
On Saturday, after a yummy breakfast at the Orange Table, we headed out to Mirabel Country Club to play golf with Kiersten. Kiersten and I were traveling together during a mini tour in China in the summer of 2005. Kiersten was paired up with Bob in the pro-am and that's how Bob and I met. And the rest is history...! :-)
Mirabel was such a pretty golf course! The desert was green, the freshly grilled shrimp sandwich on #8 tee-box was fantastic, and the restroom facilities on the golf course had fancy tiles and mosaic glass windows!Sunday evening, being the eve of Chinese New Year (Year of the Ox), Bob and I went out for some noodles. Long noodles for long life, so they say! I ended up getting some Japanese udon noodles - which are kinda stubby and not so long. So hopefully it's the thought that counts :-)
On Monday, after our quick round of golf at Karsten Golf Course, we headed over to In-and-Out burger. Yes, we finally got to eat our cheese burgers! During our last trip into Phoenix a couple of years ago, it was a failed attempt and we weren't going to be disappointed again this time!
With our full belly, we proceeded to the airport and while checking in our luggage, the Southwest personnel mentioned that there was an ice storm going through Tulsa. The airport at Oklahoma City was already closed. We were thankful that our flight departed and arrived without a glitch. But what a huge difference in scenery from Phoenix! It was dark and gloomy when we arrived in Tulsa and I could see ice forming on the front of the wings when we were arriving at our gate. There were quite a few canceled flights that night.
And brrr... talk about COLD! And this morning, we had freezing rain and there is just so much ice everywhere!!!

Ok... maybe still some Adidas

I've been having an email battle with an Adidas rep all afternoon. You wonder why neither one of us would just pick up the phone and talk it over! I guess there is probably less confrontation via email and I definitely write out my feelings and train of thoughts better than I say them.
Anyhow... I'm finally making some progress. I told them there were couple of shirts that weren't sewn symmetrically and despite another email of the same "no return/no exchange policy", I became even more persistent. And looks like it paid off! The rep is going to look into it some more but seems like I will be able to return the shirts for warranty. Yay! And hopefully this time they will re-send the same model shirts from a better batch!
What a week... I'm feeling so much better now. Crazy to think that little things like this really gets me down. And then to think, in some other part of the world, people are trying to fight world hunger, AIDS, global warming,... and here I am, just trying to get justice with 2 shirts!!! Silly, I tell you... just silly.

No more ADIDAS!!!

With the new year starting out, I decided to get some new shirts for my golf. For the past 2 years, I've been purchasing Adidas attire. When the box arrived this year, there were a handful of shirts that just did not fit well. The material was sagging under the armpits and it just did not look good. Unfortunately, after a few phone calls and emails with customer service, there seems to be a no refund/exchange policy! So needless to say, I'm not very happy!!!
Maybe my sewing machine will be seeing some action soon!

Green Card update

After getting my immunizations updated (that tetanus shot hurt for 4 straight days!) and having my physical performed by a designated civil surgeon, the paperwork for the Green card and my work permit is finally routed back to US Immigration. Hopefully all will go well. I've received a handful of reject letters now - using an outdated form, not enclosing the correct information, etc... so I am rather nervous.
I have another trip scheduled for Oklahoma City in a couple of week to get my fingerprints taken. It will be an early morning... my appointment is at 9am!!! :-s

Car window and lock FIXED!

But I'm feeling very stupid...! After waiting for about 1 1/2 hours in the waiting room, the Honda service rep finally got my car ready and told me that the door lock is functioning properly. The car is not suppose to lock when the door is open,... which I was trying to attempt and thinking it was a malfunction. So, there was nothing wrong with the lock in the first place! I suppose thankfully I didn't try to take anything apart (like the glass window) or force anything into place. But then again, it cost me $48.60 just for them to put my door back together! They did put more lubrication along the window track, but I could have done that myself! Oh well... I did get a car wash with the service. Yes,... an expensive one! I am still feeling pretty stupid :-s

Car window - Act II

After having the car sitting in the garage for a few extra days while I bought some new tools, I was finally able to get the window back up and down in order last night. But after a few more test, the window still kept coming off its track.
So today, I decided perhaps the window didn't need this one bolt. :-) And sure enough, it seems to work better! So, I put the door panel back... reattached some wiring... tested a few other things... and come to find out, now my car door won't lock! I had to detach the door panel again and attempted to take a peek at this door lock mechanism. I did some research online... and hmm... might be the lock actuator. I went back to the car and with my big torch light, took a few more looks between the window panel. I proceeded to remove a tiny screw... and at the back of my mind I'm thinking, if this screw falls, it would be too difficult to this thing back together! So I decided to screw it back in, pack up my tools, and called it a day. I guess I could have removed the glass window for better access but I just have this feeling that I'm going to break something. I don't need 7 years of bad luck!
I'm scheduled to bring my car into Honda tomorrow at 9am. :-s

Philbrook Museum

This past weekend, Bob and I decided to check out the Philbrook Museum of Art. This Italian Renaissance villa was previously owned by an oilman named Waite Phillips. He donated the 23-acre villa to the City of Tulsa in 1938. The garden was really pretty!

Physical examination

I had to get my physical examination done today for my greencard. So now, on top of a sore left arm from the tetanus shot, I'm also hurting on my right forearm from the TB test and from the spot where the blood was drawn. At the end of the day, I kept having to tell Bob... "Don't touch me!"
I'll have to return to the doctor's on Monday. He'll take a look at the TB test and if all is well, including all the other examination, I'll obtain the paperwork to be mailed back to immigration.
As for my car, I went to an auto store today to pick up some additional tools. I'll have a shot at taking out that bolt tomorrow. Wish me luck! :-)

Fixing the car window

Here's my first attempt at fixing my car window. Somehow, the window came off its track again when Bob was using my car this past Monday. I keep telling him to be gentle with my baby, but he just doesn't listen!
I was able to find some instructions on the web, with pictures too! So, my work begins... I was able to take all the screws off. That was the easy step. It took me a while to figure out how to pop the the door panel off, but now that's done too. Unfortunately, now I can't get that one bolt off! It's screwed on too tightly and I don't have to right tools. Hopefully Bob can bring home some fancy ones from work :-)
So, till then,... my work is at a stand still.

Happy 2nd Anniversary!

Today is our 2nd wedding anniversary! Wow... 2 years! Sometimes it feels like it's been a lot longer. Every time I make that remark, Bob would always ask me if that's a good thing or bad thing. Haha... it's a good thing :-)
So to add to the collection on the pillow case for our anniversary, I decided to embroider the word "Love" in arabic. I figured this would be a good choice since we were in Dubai last year.
Bob, on the other hand, improved tremendously with his gift wrapping skills since Christmas... as you can see here :-) He gave me a pair of ear-rings and I gave him a monogrammed money clip which includes a picture of me, of course!
For dinner, I made home-made dumplings. YUM!! And we watched The Notebook. What a tear-jerker! It was both happy and sad... happy in the beginning of the movie and then sad at the end of it.

Last night, we decided to play scrabble. It's been a while since we last played. I got to start the game and I thought it was going to be a pretty rough one when I got these tiles.
But funny enough, I won by 60 points! Even after giving Bobby an additional 14 points since I could not finish using my tiles and he did. Sorry honey! I still love you though. Happy Anniversary! :-x

Another Green card update

Drove to Oklahoma City today to have my biometrics taken... i.e. finger printing. I arrived waaaaaaay ahead of schedule. I suppose better early than late since it's a 2-hour drive. After a few gummy bears and trail mix in the car, I decided to go in at 11am but the security guard would not let me in! He told me to come back at 11:45am for my noon appointment. Grrr...
So after a quick cup of coffee and muffin at Panera, I headed back to the Immigration office. And another note to self... leave the cell phone in the car! Finally, on the third try, they let me in.
These people are serious about finger-printing! They took finger prints of all 4 fingers first for each hand, then the thumb for each hand, and then every single finger after that! The lady rolled all of my fingers from side-to-side on this fancy machine. My fingers were constantly cleaned before each print.
Overall, the experience wasn't that bad at all. It was not as busy and crowded like I imagined it would be. There were probably only 4 applicants in the room at that same time (plus two others for interpreting). And oh, I found out that I will need to drive back to OKC again once I get the paperwork for my work permit. I don't understand why they can't just use the same finger prints that they just took!

On a side note, Bob drove my car to work today and on the way home, he wound down the window to talk to a friend and unfortunately, the window did go back up! So he had a chilly ride home tonight. It was probably in the mid 30s. Hehe... sorry honey! This same window incident happened when I was in Kentucky last year. I saw them repair it... so maybe I can give it a try! :-)

Green Card update

After receiving the Reject Notice back in November, I re-submitted the paperwork and sadly enough, it was rejected again!!! I knew I should have run it through with Bob first that second time! Anyhow, it seems that I had enclosed the wrong form and who knows if it needed a new payment, but I sent a check out anyway! So we'll see what happens in the next few weeks...
In the meantime, I have to drive to Oklahoma City on Monday for finger-printing. The weather is suppose to be cold but hopefully it won't be icy! And then, on Thursday, I have an appointment for a medical examination. I need to get my immunization record updated before I go, otherwise it's going to cost me a little more to get that done there. The receptionist told me to bring the payment in cash or cashiers check. Sounds a little suspicious!
Hopefully all will go well. I suppose that why these immigration lawyers get paid the big bucks. A friend of mine got her green card in less than 3 months!

Happy New Year 2009!

Similarly to last year, Bob and I did not stand a chance staying up until midnight last night. We watched the ball drop in NY on TV and that was our cue. 11pm,... we kissed each other Happy New Year then and got ready for bed. Ha ha! we're definitely getting old!

Today, on the first day of 2009, we decided to start the New Year by doing some spring-cleaning. We took the ornaments and Christmas tree down. The tree is now just laying on the lawn in the backyard. I'm going to attempt to saw it into pieces so we can use it as fire wood. The lights up front came down as well.

Bob and I went through out closets again and gathered up some clothes and shoes for donation. We did about 4-5 laundry loads of sheets and blankets - both ours and for the guestroom. Our friends from Houston (Jim & Mary) came by to visit last Tuesday. They were on their way back to Houston from Kansas City, after visiting their grandkids. Speaking of kids... we found little Mikey's pacifier when we were pulling off the sheets on our bed! I wonder how it got there in the first place. And I guess we've been sleeping with it in bed without knowing it. Too funny!

We also re-organized the garage. We broke down the cardboard boxes for recycling, re-arranged the shelf in the corner, and put some other things in the attic. The recycling items of glass, metal, and plastic are starting to pile up in their respective boxes. They don't recycle here in Tulsa. I'm going to have to figure something out!

Phew! What a day! It's a great way to start a new year though! As for the first new year meal... chocolate croissants for me and regular ones for Bob. Bob was very proud of the his nicely rolled croissants, compared to my funny looking ones :-)
That's the French side of him showing off! :-p