No white Christmas this year!

I had a very nice Christmas this year. As I said on the last post, Andrew got me a wii for Christmas. I couldn't wait until the 25th to open that. So we played the Wii for the whole Saturday, which caused me walking and acting like a robot on Sunday because my arms and back were so sored. I don't think I have to go to the gym anymore.

My mother-in-law made a very nice Christmas Eve dinner, very tasty roast beef and my new favorite, scalloped potato with white sauce, yum... Next morning, of course, we opened our gifts.
First, let's test my memory and see what we gave out this year. We got Andrew's parents a universial remote control, so they don't have to use 5 remotes to watch tv. Got Mom H a pair of red leather gloves, little garden decor, "home sweet home" candle. Got Dad H a awesome tree calendar. Gave Alison 2 neat purple glasses and a computer game. Gave Grandma H and Grammy a nice wrap/stole. Gave Gramper a Schick hat. Gave Becky a Denise needles set, but she already got it from someone esle, gave Mike a gift card, gave Lindy a mogu people pillow, a toy for Michael. Hats and scarves for my parents, and 3 seasons of "Family guy" ($16/season, good deal) for Kaho. I also gave Andrew 3 seasons of "Arrested Development"(only $34 total, very good deal), movie "Ice Pirates", and a calendar.

And then what we got this year: Andrew got his favorite gift ever from his parents...

He loves the Nerf gun. That's all he played with after we came back. He also got an air force t-shirt and I got a Knitting calender from Mike and Becky. I got a Wii game and Wiimote from my in-laws. ( something wrong with me and Andrew, we both "still" want toys...), Mom H got me a SnB calendar a cook book and a Knitster shirt(my favorite gift and gift bag this year). When we came back, we also brought back home Mom H's famous dish, cube steak. It was very good, yum...

I think I have bragged too much already. So... During the last week, I have finished the scraf for my dad and another hat for my best friend Renee. And now I am working on my sweater, hopefully I can finish it before the school start. I still haven't gotten my new car yet. I can't wait for it to arrive so that I can to to SnB. I miss it very very much!!

I think I am going to stop here now and go watch the ball drops with Andrew.
Happy New Year!!

Wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii

Andrew got me a Wii as Christmas present. We played for more than 10 hours yesterday, and today my arms are sore. (As Tracy told me before)
I am going to New York now, Merrii Christmas to everyone!!

New Jacket

On Tuesday morning, I used my birthday gift money to buy a jacket at Macy's. I have been looking for a hoody jacket with fur trim. So couple weeks ago when my car was still working, I window-shopped with An, and we found this pretty jacket. I was looking for a brown one, but I found this unique color jacket. It looks like taupe, light brown, but under different lights, it would have different colors, sometimes it is light green, or sometimes it is darker brown, pretty cool. Plus, I love the hood!!

Yesterday, I went to my friend, Chau's work. She waxed my eyebrows for free. She said it's my Christmas gift. I was very happy, so I got home and started knitting her a hat right away. After couple mistakes, I finailly finished this morning and I gave it to her after lunch. I hope she will like it, because I really like it. I think I am going to knit one for myself. Before I knitted the hat, I was going to finish my third pair of fetching as a gift for her since the left hand is already finished, I thought it wouldn't take long to finish the right hand. However, I couldn't find the left hand. I looked everywhere in the house, still didn't find it. Oh well, I am a little upset about that.

Finals are done!!

Finally, all my final exams are done. I feel so free and happy. However, don't say I am crazy, I feel guilty that I am not studying or doing homework today when I was knitting and watching TV. It's a strange feeling.

Last Saturday, I had my Biology exam. Before that exam, we had 4 tests through the whole semseter. They were all multiple choice tests and exam, so we needed to use pencil to fill the "bubble" answer sheets. So from the first test, everyone knew that we needed to use pencil to take the tests. Our first test, 3/4 of the class didn't bring in pencils. Fine, it was the first test, the students didn't know. The second test and the third test, still half of the class didn't bring in pencils. I was very surprised. The more surprising was, at the final exams, there were still 1/4 of people did not bring pencils with them... I was like, what the... and of course, there were always people who came in late for class, but come on, it's the final exams, how could people being late? That's just not right, made me mad.

I want to introduce to everyone my favorite fat cat, Choppy.

I want a Wii!!

As my close friends know, I have been hunting for a Wii. It happened yesterday that I could almost buy one. I had this website, Refresh Thing, on my screen. It locates where the Wii is available online and it updates information every 30 seconds. I saw couple Wii bundles were available in KB Toys yesterday. So I added one in my shopping cart right away, then called Andrew to see if he agreed to buy one. He thought I was crazy to call and ask him, he wanted me to finish the transcation right away instead of wasting my time calling him. Then I tried to type in my address, credit card number and things, and then it asked me to register an account there in order to buy something. Ok, after I went through all the typing, I clicked "confirm order", and then this message showed up, "This item is out of stock". I was upset and a little bit mad at myself. It was in my hand, and I let it slip away. *sigh*, oh well... I guess there is no rush to get it right now. But I really want one. Here is a joke about Wii:


Anyway, couple days ago, I got my Bio test back, not final exam. I got a 99. It's not a big deal because it was a take home test. I think I should be getting a 100. However, I noticed lots of people were getting 80s in the class. Then I overheard people in class said, they spent maybe one hour to do the test. I did spend more than 2. Now I wonder, why won't people care if they spend one more hour working on the test, they would get an A instead of a B? Everything was in the book, if they read though it, they would get an A with no problem. Then I asked myself, was it worth it to spend more then 2 hours to get 99 on a test? I would still say yes. I don't know how do other classmates pay for college. I need to get good grades in my classes because a big part of my tuition is paid by scholarship which depends on my GPA. If I don't keep my grades up, my GPA will go down, and I won't be able to quilify to get the scholarship. Some people may say, "I don't care as long as I pass the classes and I can graduate", but I do care because I am not only looking for passing the class, I am aiming for a good grade.

As I studied for more than 7 hours yesterday, I allowed myself to knit for couple hours. I have started a scarf for my dad to match the hat which I have already sent it to him for Christmas.

Alright, I should go back to study.

Finals are coming!

Next week is final week, I will have one final presentation to do on Thursday night, one exam on Saturday morning, two on Monday, and last one will be on Tuesday night. Then I will be free. Man, I can't wait.

This weekend, I spent some time with Andrew shopping. Actually, our Christmas shopping was done long time ago, but lately, we have been hunting for a Wii. I know there is no need to walk around to find one. Becuase it's not possible to get one from the store now unless we camped out at the store over night. But I think it's always nice to walk around with Andrew.

No big news, my Fit is still not here yet, and my car has been dying. It keeps overheating if I accelerate too much, then I have to park somewhere and wait for it to cool down, and then I can go again. So, recently, I have been driving very very very slow, which drives me "banana". (my friend Ade always phrases it that way). So I am still crossing my fingers and hope the Fit will be here SOON.

This weekend, I supposed to study for a "quiz" which is on Monday. However, I really dislike this class which made me postpone the studying until the last mintue which is at9pm sunday night. I am not very concern about the test, because I do know or understand "everything" the professor taught us. If I knew everything, I didn't really have to study, I think . But considering myself as a hard-working study, I did spent couple hours to rewiew the subject.

I forgot to mention, I have not been feeling well since Firday. I have had running nose and sore throat. So Friday night and Saturday night, I did sleep a lot. I watched some TV with Andrew and of course, I knitted a bit. As I said before, I am knitting couple scarves for Red Scarf Project . Here is the first one:

After 5 mins:

After 15 mins:

Finished within 2 hours:

And I have started the second one:

Anyway, it's bed time...

Too old

I found out last week that I am not able to take one particular class next semester. I need that class, which only is offered once a year, to qulifiy to take other 2 classes in 2 semesters. So, to conclude, I will not graduate in 2 years. Instead, I will graduate in 2009, which I will be 31. I transfered to this school because I wanted to graduate college faster, but instead, I am graduating slower now. I am too old to be in college. I want to get out of there as soon as possible, so that I can get a better job. I think now I have to delay my baby plan. I am so mad at this school that making me my life harder.

Anyway, after my car broke down, I was not able to go SnB, my knitting group for couple weeks. Last week, Andrew was very nice that he drove me there. While I was knitting, chatting and laughing, he was reading magazines at the corner of the coffee shop and bored. I really appreciated he drove me there, because when I was there last week, I found out how much I missed Snb after I haven't gone for 2 weeks.

Since school is busy, final exams are coming next week, I haven't knitted a lot. Well, I shouldn't say it that way. I did knit for some hours, but I didn't finish a lot of project. I finished a gift hat, can't show the picture yet, because the owner read my blog quite often. besides that, I have finished a hat for my dad. I have been making lots of hats, because I have lots of left over yarn.

Lastly, I have started knitting a sweater for myself. Hopefully it will fit me this time. I am also planning to knit couple scarves for Red Scarf Project .

Thanksgiving

Today is Thanksgiving. Last night I asked Andrew to drive me to do grocery. I bought ground beef, thought I was going to make meatloaf today, yeah, not turkey, so? However, after we got home last night, I put the beef into the freezer right away and I didn't know that. So today, the beef couldn't be defrosted on time. And we ended up having hot dogs and left over pizza for Thanksgiving dinner, so sad...

Monday was Andrew's birthday. I felt really bad that I didn't make him a birthday cake, I really did. Sorry, honey!! I think he will not bake me a cake next year... :(

Anyway, I got back my test from Imcompressible Fluid Flow class. I thought I did very bad, but luckily, I got 94 -- A. Yay!! I am very very happy about that, however, someone is thinking i got that because of my husband. I don't care what people think anymore. Chinese always say, " it's their month, we can't control what they say". Plus, I have talked to one of my professor from my last school, he gave me support, and the most important thing is he believes in me, that means a lot to me. Thank you Professor Lotezcka.

This week, I have finished couple knitting projects. I have knitted 2 hats to match my scarves. I know, I know... I said I would not knit another hat. But once I am used to the double pointed needles, the whole knitting process is not acutally that hard. The hats are not perfect, but I like them.

I also finished knitting the vest dress. It is way too bad for me. I don't want to rip it off, because there were lot of knitting. However, it's very hard to find someone is fatter than me to wear it... What should I do?And the gloves for Katy, I made a mistake. I found out it was one row short before I knitted the thumb. So I had to rip it and re-knitted again. And now... tada, look great!!

My husband is an engineer...

Yesterday, I was in one of my male professors' office asking him(who is the chair of the Mechancial Engineering department) questions about the homework. Then one of my female professors came in and tried to talk to him, and she was shocked to see me there because she thought I was in Electrical Engineering, blah blah blah... then a conversation came up like this:

female: She(meaning me) is a great student... (immediately interruped by the male professor)
male: Her husband is an engineer...

I was so surprised and very upset to hear that comment coming out from his mouth. I honestly wanted to cry right away. He always thinks that I do well in classes because I have an engineer husband. I think it is an insult. I can't say that Andrew has not helped me at all. But he mostly helps me in the language/English part of my study, not the technical part. Several semesters ago, I took a Western history class, which I didn't understand the professor said in class, so I recorded what she said, and asked Andrew to listen all the lessons with me at home and explained what she said in class. BUT, I never ask Andrew to solve a differential equation or do a physics problem for me. I did them all by myself. I do my homework or study until 3/4 am all the time. I can say that I do well in my classes because I work hard, really hard. I get As because I earn them, I deserve them. I didn't bring Andrew to take the tests with me. When the male professor said "Her husband...", my heart felt sour, and I still have that feeling. I am definitely bothered by that. I am very proud that my husband is an engineer. Buy why do people always have to think that I do well in my classes because of my husband? May be I should not mention to anyone about that until I graduated...

Anyway, my car broke down couple times since last 2/3 weeks. I only hope it will last until I got my Fit. We have put a down payment for it since the middle of August, and I am still waiting for it now... Hopefully, it will be here at the end of this month.

Last weekend, Andrew and I raked lots of leaves in our front yard. We ended up having 18 bags of leaves and pain in the back. And then after 2 days, our yard is covered by leaves again...

For knitting projects, I am very close to finishing up my vest dress. As a knitting-sweater newbie, I did make a mistake right at the begining of the armholes. However, I didn't notice until I almost finished the dress like right now. So, I had to rip it off and redo it again... just want to make it look right.

I am also in process of making a second pair of fingerless gloves which would match the cable scarf I have been knitting. I think they will go to Katy for Christmas.

New Gloves

I would never thought I could knit gloves until I finished this pair. They are not perfect, but for the very first time of knitting gloves, I gave myself score 90. Haha... They could be a gift for someone, so don't be surprise if you have recieved it someday in the future. If you want them, please email your address to me as soon as possible!!

I am also in a process of a "vest dress". At the beginning, I thought it would be too small for me, but now I think it's too big....

Anyway, it has not been as busy as last couple weeks in school. I did have a test today(don't ask me what the class is, because I never remember the name of it), I couldn't believe that I have given up a 20 points question in that test. Of course I was not happy about it, but there was nothing I could do when I was running out of time. If I had 15 mintues more... I am saying "if", I think I could get it done... oh well, I think I am getting a C in that class. I really don't like that class, it's a new subjust that this is the second semester it has been held. Since everything is so new, we don't even have a right text book for it. So everything is made up by 2 professors. Since they were both in chemical engineering major, of course the class involves lots of chemisty material, and those are not the easy stuff like H is hydrogen, O is oxygen. I really have had a tough time in that. Last test, I picked up a mistake in the question that the professor made in the test. The professor spent 15 mins to try to solve my question. Don't think 15 mins is nothing, I had only one hour to do the test!! And I spent at least 30 mins trying to understand those confusing questions. I can't complain to my professor, because she is very nice and explains everything well during classes, I only think the other professor is the trouble maker. Anyway, I assume you don't want to hear more about it... back to homework now...

Booooo!

It's Halloween. Since I had a class from 7 to 10pm tonight, Andrew and I did not do anything to celebrate. There were only 4 kids stopped by to get candies, worse than last year. However I did dress up Choppy and Sticky. I bought the outfits last year on Halloween at target, they were both on sale for 2 dallors each. Choppy and Sticky were way too small for the outfit last year, but they fit well now. However they seemed not to like them much, trying very hard to take them off.

there was a little accident at our house. A witch crashed into out breezeway door. ha. I also got a very cute hello kitty card from my mother-in-law. Thanks Mom!

Since, it's Halloween, I made something scary for dinner. I have made pork and preserved egg porridge. Most of the Americans scare of it because it's name is "thousand years old egg", but most of the Chinese love it.

After I saw how pretty An's cable scarf which she has been knitting, I can't help to knit one myself too. It is a Christmas gift, I suppose, it's either for my mom or her friend. However, I love the color and the pattern, I may not be able to let it go, we will see. ha.

Backside of the scarf

Late Birthday gifts!

After finishing a mid-term exam yesterday and a robot project today, I can taste a little freedom again. I did have lots of fun during the robot project. The robot itself doesn't do much, just moves an object from one place to another. But from assembling from lego pieces, to programmed it and made it do what it needed to do, it involved lots of work. I am lucky that I have some good (and bad) team mates to finish it all together.

Came home from school this afternoon, I opened the door and saw a package in the breezeway. "Wah....." my heart started beating really fast. It's from my best friend Renee.

(My last name is Hitchcock, just in case you don't remember :) )

I ran into the house, slammed the door, dropped everything else, and ripped off the package right away. "Wah....." again, I saw something in pink, some hello kitty thing, but I saved that for last to open.
Then I saw something I have been waiting for, the Vivian concert DVD. I remember several months ago, I was joking with Jimmy that since I couldn't go to the concert in HK, he should buy me DVD once it came out. He actually did remember what I have said, and bought me the DVD as soon as it came out. Then I saw a book which I requested Renee to buy it for me. She also sent me a lip color set from Anna Sui, beautiful colors. Last but not least, I opened the hello kitty package carefully. "Wah....." my heart felt a little sour, it's a hello kitty bling bling cellphone strap. Sooooo pretty.

I asked her to find me a decent hello kitty phone strap loooong time ago. She still remembered it(*tears). I always thought that my friends in HK don't think of me, but today I found out that they still do, and not even that, they put my says in their minds, remember what I like, care what I want. I really appreciate what they did and I feel I am so loved. They are my best friends, I love you Renee, I love you Jimmy. Thank you very much ....(* tears).

After openned up everything, I popped the DVD in the player right away, love Vivian very much and forever, even though she doesn't really sing well.

While I was enjoying the concert, I did not want to stop but I had to meet some new Chinese friends for dinner at their appartment. Before I went there, I stopped by Sam's Club and picked up a Italian cream cake from the Cheesecake Factory for my friends. (by the way, it tasted awesome. Very creamy but light cheese cake) When I arrived, My friends were just starting making dumplings. So I helped a little. After eating dinner, we chatted a little, then I went home. Although they are a little younger than me, I had a really great time being with them. Dumplings were delicious too.
Came home, watched a little bit TV with Andrew, then I kept watching the concert DVD again.... still enjoying it while I am writing this... oh my gosh, it's almost 4am, bed time...

Sick again!!

I have been sick since last weekend. I started to have a fever on Friday night. It stopped on Sunday morning, but I started to have a stomachache, and it never goes away since then. I am having a mid-term exam on Thursday, and I was supposed to study during the weekend, but I couldn't, so I have to use some of my sleeping time to do that this week. It's so irony that I am sick, so I need more time to be rest, but because I have to study for the exam, I don't have time to get rest, and if I don't get enough rest, I will keep getting sick. When will I feel better? (plan for this weekend, lots of homework = no rest) Moday morning, I found out that I have the cold sore again on my lip. It was a terrible experience when I was in HK. My lip got really big, and I looked very ugly. So due to all of my sickness, I went to see my doctor on Monday afternoon. She said I have some kind of infection. And the cold sore is because I am under stress(from studying I guess). She gave me some antibiotic. However, after I have been taking the medicine fro couple days, I still feel the same, not better. :( Luckily, while I was not in the mood of studying last weekend, I knitted a lot. That makes me feel better. So I have decided that, no matter what or how busy I am, Thursday would be my knitting day. Andrew agreed with me that knitting clams me down. So, I have decided to spoil myself, yay!!

Miss Home

Finally, I got my scarf done. It took me long time to finish it not because it's difficult to knit, it's because it's a boring pattern. So I knitted a little and put it away for a while, and then knit a little again, and so forth. The hat is way too small, it can barely fit me. I was thinking giving it to my neice, but she lives in Phoenix, a hot place all year round. So I guess she doesn't need it. Anyway, lately I have been missing my family. I wanted to go home this Christmas, but since I am going to attend my cousin's wedding where is going to be hold in where my parents are, I have to wait until next summer. Since I haven't cooked for a while, I miss homemade food. I miss my mom's dishes. I miss playing mahjong with my family. That's why I can't wait for summer to come, but winter is just here... :(

Happy tears

I couldn't believe it, Andrew baked me a birthday cake. For some reasons, I was very down yesterday(even though it was my birthday). Andrew wanted to cheer me up and make my day special, he went to Target himself and bought the ingredients for the cake. He came back, and was doing something in the kitcken. I was studying for my tests in the computer room, got very frustrated, so I didn't bother checking him out. But as soon as he walked in to the room, I smelled something good coming from outside. I didn't ask him what it was, I just walked out to the kitchen, and then... I saw a baked cake. And then, no surprise, my tears ran down from my eyes.

a double layer cake, incredible!! yeah, it doesn't look so good, but it tastes real good!!

Beside the cake, he also got me a Bday card. The card said, " To my wife, I love the way you do that amazing thing... putting up with me". I was so... I couldn't find a word to express myself. I want to say I am sorry to him, because, actually, I think he is the one who is putting up with me all these years. I really appreciated what he has been doing for me. We do fight sometimes(which couple doesn't fight?), but he always let me win. Lately, I have been so carzily busy at school, I don't have time to clean, to cook, to take care of everything, but he never complains about that. Instead, he does most of the household work. Sometimes, he even makes dinner for me, even though they are simple meals, but hey, I don't have to cook, how can I ask for more? See, another fact for proving that I am lucky that I have found Andrew.

October 15th!!!

I just met a friend, An, tonight. She is a wife of Andrew's co-worker. She is from China, an English teacher in a university. Since I don't know how to speak mandarin, and her english is very good, we spoke in English the whole time. She is such a nice and friendly person. I hope I didn't scare her tonight (since I talked so much) and we could keep in touch.
I am so happy that Yim Lam has remembered my birthday, I am impressed. Thank you so much for remembering me. I also got a lot of birthday cards and gifts from families and friends. I feel that I am so loved. And right after it passed midnight, Andrew gave me a present... a hello kitty calendar. I love it, it's so cute.
I am knitting a secret project, and I am testing some yarns... I found a kind of yard I like it very very much, it's so soft, but I don't know what to do with it... so I used it to test some patterns... the following picture shows one of my tested patterns, can you tell what it is?
I know, I know, it's really hard to see/tell. But it is a paw pattern. so... I will try to use this yarn to make another pattern... Andrew also thinks it's really soft...