Snow day!

We got more snow and it is beautiful outside but really cold and so we are staying indoors today. We played quite a bit outside yesterday. Today, we're suppose to get freezing rain in the evening so I guess it'll be good bye to our snow covered driveways and backyard soon :(
Mom, snowball fight!

Our front entry this morning - my neighbor came over to drop my Sunday paper!

Our front entry last night - brrr cold!

Christmasey stuff

Shua's Mt. Everyone :)

contented - happy to play in the snow :)
soccer game in the snow first time to play in the snow
Christmas cookies decorated by Lolo, Lola and Shua
I just baked the cookies they did the decorating :)

Arctic Blast

Arctic Blast - It's what kept the kids home all week long :)
J didn't have school all week long and us being stuck indoors most of the time. My parents went out a bit to play in the snow on Monday but they didn't last too long out there. Shua and I played a bit, tried to make a snowman but the snow is not a good packing snow - it is either slushy, powdery or icy. Driving wasn't fun either. It is very slippery out there and since the State is not prepared for this kind of weather the side roads remain icy, snowy and messy to drive in. The only time I went out to drive is when I picked Pat from the Max train station from his trip to California on Tuesday. The drive wasn't too bad since the traffic was crawling at a 5mph speed but the side road was pretty slippery. As far as how we are keeping ourselves sane from being stuck at home all week long - we'll thanks to TV and Wii, we have something to keep Shua and my folks busy.

Last night, we took the risk and drove out to get some food and get a little present for Shua. He seemed concerned that there were no presents from Mom and Dad under the tree...which was true since we haven't really gone out to get it yet. Yikes!

I was hoping I can go out today but I don't see it happening without a car . P took the car to work. Hopefully, we can catch a break from the weather early next week to get our last minute Christmas shopping done. Apparently, we're expecting more snow, freezing rain and ice over the weekend so I think we'll be stuck at home again :(

'nuff Said

The congressional finance committee and Henry Paulson "at work"



Yeah... the press are a bunch of 'ho's.

School?

I have been contemplating on taking some programming classes for a while now and just recently decided to try the community college nearby. I thought it will be a pretty straightforward enrollment process but I was wrong. Apparently, they don't accept foreign transcripts so you either have an agency translate or evaluate your transcript (will cost $150+) or take their placement test. The placement test covers Writing, Reading and Math. Obviously, I chose to take the placement test. I focused on refreshing my math skills -from Pre-Algebra to College Algebra...and supposedly Calculus too. I can't believe how much I struggled on some of the sample questions and thus, resulted to me being more nervous to take the exam.

Anyway, I took the test today. It was a gruesome 4 hr long test - believe me I had a back pain when I was done. The Reading and Writing part of the test was painful. Reading was okay, maybe because it was the first series of test. Writing on the other hand has been pretty challenging. The grammar was horrible on all of the essays, and as expected you have to correct every single one of them- ah my eyes were teary when I was done editing 5 essays! Then came Math, gosh by this time I was ready to leave the room. My stomach was growling and my back was killing me - and men those calculators they provided sucked! Anyway, it is over and I am finally registered for the winter. I guess I could have gone to Portland State instead...oh well! This class better be worth it...

Oh Christmas tree

Every year we always make a trip to Helvetia Farms to cut our Christmas tree. This year, there is more of us and so it was a bit trickier thus it took us longer than usual. J at some point was already whining about how it is taking us so long to pick one. Nonetheless, it was a very nice trip. No snow this time though but at least it wasn't raining.

and so the search begins...

Joshua and Lolo can't decide where to go...
Lola Teresita: Joshua do you think this is 5' tall?

P playing hide and seek at the farm - ghee Mr. Caraher you need to shave :)
Now, those are definitely taller than 5' Ma!
Joshua: I think we found it, this one is not even dry at the bottom :)
Yes, this is the winner!
P: Well, it better be - because I already cut it!
Nice! cool lego train set
the Alpaca's are cute too...

It's decorating time!
How many Filipinos does it take to decorate a 7' tall tree ---- Madami!



We are mostly done decorating the tree and the house. I think our tree can use some more ornaments but this will do for now. We had a good kick out of Shua's enthusiam with decorating this year... specially this particular one...

Look it's a tree on a tree!!!