Bernie’s Blog

This was quite a special year for our Thanksgiving. As we had planned out trip to Las Vegas on Thanksgiving weekend, turkey had to be roasted the day before. With the help of my Mom, we made the following dishes:

1) Brined Turkey (10lbs)
2) Grilled Pork Tenderloin with Orange Marmalade Glaze
3) Ultimate Potato Gratin
4) Pasta, spinach and scallops in Alfredo Sauce

Everything turned out great. Other than the turkey, the other dishes I was attempting for the very first time. Nothing tasted gross, so I guess it can be called a success.

Thursday morning we flew to Las Vegas. Many many thanks to our good friend who agreed to house-sit for us and take care of Charlotte, Cayenne and Clover. If it hadn’t been for her, our trip wouldn’t have happened. Every pet boarding place was full. Yes, I know, of course they are full when I was calling them on that very week itself. I’m never good at planning too far ahead, especially travel plans.

So, we spent 2 nights in Sin City. Rebecca has never been to Las Vegas, and good thing she didn’t freak out amidst the loud slot machines and smoke-filled air. I noticed she was very focused on the floors. She has never really seen such variety in floors, in patterns, and textures – carpets, marble, wood – all with their own distinct designs. Apart from her eczema breakout due to the super dry air in Vegas, she enjoyed herself. She loved running on the carpeted floor, shouting “RUN! RUN! RUN!” She looked really cute, except I was paranoid that I would lose her in the crowds, so I’m constantly chasing after her. Either that or carrying her, which made my arms hurt because she weighs like 30 pounds. She doesn’t want to walk too much, and would shove herself in front of me and demand to be carried. Dad or Grandma just won’t do, so I end up carrying her while we walked along the strip and in the shopping area. We stopped by the M&M’s store where she had fun discovering all the merchandise. She also enjoyed her free meals at Bellagio’s and Paris’s buffets. We ate so much!

All in all, a very nice Thanksgiving.

Click here to see our Las Vegas pictures here.

The weather’s been so cold, and our wooden floors can get pretty cold, so yesterday Reb and I went to Target where we got her pair of Elmo slippers. She’s having fun with them so far, and they keep her feet warm and snuggly.

One day, while watching an episode of Dora the Explorer, Rebecca started to cry and called for me. “Mommy, Mommy!” while tears started flowing. I rushed to her and then I saw that the episode showed a little baby bluebird crying because he got frightened by Swiper the Fox. That was the first time she had cried while watching Dora. After that she cried when she saw characters that scare her, like a scarecrow, and a witch chasing Dora.

Also, I realized that sometimes I don’t understand what she’s talking about. I could see the frustration in her voice when I say “Wha?”, and she keeps repeating the same thing (Not helping!) over and over. I end up saying something else to her, so her focus is shifted. Most of what she says sound the same, for example, “Diego”, and “Tico” end up being “Go-Go”. “Potato” and “Tomato” becomes “To-To”. You get the idea. But I love how she says Patrick from Spongbob Squarepants – “Treeg-Treeg”. Awwww.

Her favorite foods right now is meat, potatoes, tomatoes and fruit juice. Oh, and chocolate.

I’m not sure if this is a default setting but I noticed that when I leave my computer inactive for a period of time, it automatically wants to log out on its own. I searched the Accounts options and couldn’t find anything. Finally found that in System Preferences -> Security -> General, there is a checkbox that says “Log out after … minutes of inactivity”. That box was checked, so that was the culprit! I unchecked it and it was fine. So, just a tip if you encounter this problem, you know what to do!

If you don’t know this already, Nintendo is offering to send out free Wii Remote jackets, so be sure to go get them. Serial number required. Here’s the link.

Sony’s PS3 hasn’t been doing well since its launch here in the US, one of the reasons being that the console is pretty expensive and there weren’t many good games out there for it. YET. Check out their latest ad campaign and believe.

A higher-res video can be found on the Official Playstation Blog.

Good thing I still have my MacBook Pro, but sometimes my “home office” gets hogged by little Reb. Here she is watching Dora on the iMac (affectionately named DORA too) and having waffles for breakfast. I end up sitting on her baby armchair next to her.

Saw these on sale at Nob Hill last week, and I just gotta try it. Verdict – even though I love eggnog, this eggnog flavored creamer just doesn’t cut it. You’re better off making your eggnog lattes with real eggnog. The peppermint mocha creamer, on the other hand, tastes pretty good. The peppermint is subtle and not over-powering.