10.5 lbs

Chad and I woke up early this morning so that I could go strawberry picking with his mom, Maeve and brother, Scott. Chad had to work so he drove me to his mom's house before heading back home and then to work in the early afternoon.

After a 45-minute drive in Chad's mom's car (Scott drove), we were at the strawberry fields. The strawberries were smaller than I imagined they would be- a result of a June which is uncharacteristically dry and sunny. The bad news: Lots more picking to fill up the box. The good news: They MUST be concentrated with flavour.
It was a wonderful morning. There were many mothers with their young children there. The kids' were excited and every other word I heard from them was "Strawberry". For many of them, it could have been their first time picking strawberry picking. Like it was for me.

The mild weather helped make it relatively easy first time strawberry-picking for me. Extrapolating from my experience with it for a mere hour or so, however, I could tell that that doing it all day would be back-breaking.

After about 75 minutes, I had about filled my strawberry box/basket and decided I had enough of berry-picking and enough strawberries to satisfy both Chad and me. Aunty Maeve and Scott were already on their second box and continued picking for another 20 minutes.

My box of strawberries

The weigh-in for our day's pickin' : Aunty Maeve: 16 lbs, Scott: 25 lbs and me :10.5 lbs

In an 'Experimenting' Mood

I've been in the mood for experimenting in the kitchen lately. Here's the dinner I prepared and packed for Chad, chicken tandoori skewers with saffron rice pilaf. Packed dinner is not always this elaborate. I usually prepare them in the morning BEFORE Chad makes breakfast for us. Sometimes, all I do is assemble a sandwich using store-bought cold-cuts, but lately it's been briyani or poached and roasted soy chicken or split whole tandoori chicken or saffron rice pilaf or chicken tandoori skewers or chocolate lava cake. As it is with any experiment, there are successes and failures. The briyani was a disaster, the chocolate lava cake was a bit too much 'lava' and a bit too little 'cake' and when I made the saffron rice pilaf the FIRST time (SECOND attempt shown in photo above), it did not look 'saffrony' enough and it had so much cardamon, it smelled a bit like cheap perfume! Lots of cheap perfume!

The poached and roasted soy chicken was really good. It tasted like the roasted chicken you find at chicken rice stalls in Singapore. So the next thing I want to try is to make the rice and chilly sauce so we can have something akin to Singapore chicken rice right here in Seattle. The tandoori chicken was so good the first time I made it using split whole chiken, I decided to tweek the recipe and make the chiken skewers using boneless, skinless chicken thighs we already had in the fridge. I also tweeked the recipe for the saffron rice pilaf by reducing the cardamon and including golden raisins and cashews.

Chad loves the Sichuan chicken we had at a restaurant in Singapore and the Portuguese Curry Devil ('Debil') my mom made while we were in Malacca. These are among my favourites too. Looks like I'll be taking further advantage of this 'experimenting mood' of mine this week. I've had lots of fun doing these experiments. It would be even better if I could find someone willing to clean up AFTER me (*wink* Yes, I'm looking at you, Chad).

Ballard Locks

Here is a beautiful montage of pictures that Karen put together of our trip to the Ballard Locks last Thursday. With the sun shining so bright and the promise of warm weather, we decided to go on a picnic. We packed lots of food(a sandwich, a few pieces of chicken, potato chips, cookies and frozen lemonade to keep things cold) and ventured out to the bus. We wanted to take the bus there so we wouldn't have to worry about finding parking, paying for parking and then having to look at our watches to make sure we didn't overstay. Taking the bus is so easy and cheap, just $1.75 each way for Karen since I get a bus pass from work. And it drops us off one block from the entrance, right at a 7-11 store where we each bought an ice cream treat for dessert.

It was really warm, and I wore my short pants for the first time since being in Singapore. We found a small hill with a big tree for shade and ate while watching all the boats coming in and out of the locks. Afterwards, we walked around and explored most of the area, walking across the locks and getting close-up views of the boats going through. The air was definitely cooler by the water!

In all, we were there more than three hours. Such a nice relaxing afternoon, and I know we'll have more of them through the summer. The last two summers were very cold and wet, even for Seattle, so I think we're due for an extra long, extra warm one this year!

Balloons

We went to see Pixar's latest movie yesterday- "Up" in 3-D! Just before the movie, Chad came home from the grocery store and surprised me with.... (look at photo below).


I just love helium filled balloons. Not those shiny mylar ones though, which are not really balloons to me. And balloons without the floating factor are nice but don't hold my interest.

My earliest memory is, like for many, I suspect, when I lost one as it floated out of my 5 year-old hands and into the blue blue skies. I remember chasing after it but it was quickly blown away by the wind. That first experience did not sour my feelings about floating balloons though. I love them and hope someday I can go up in one of those hot-air balloons, just like the old Mr. Carl Fredrerickson in his house with his thousands of helium filled balloons (watch movie below).



Click here for direct link at Youtube.

That night, Chad tied my balloons to my bedside table. They were happily floating high above. Then I woke up in the middle of the night and saw them still floating but barely so and when I woke up, they were looking just a little bit sad on the floor. I guess their short floating life is part of what makes the balloons so special. I find myself ignoring the most beautiful silk flowers but appreciating fresh flowers before they fade away-seizing the moments to enjoy them while they last.

Click here for an interesting blog entry that ties the movie "Up" to Seattle's urban legend Edith Macefield.

Becoming 'Legal'

From the USCIS website:
A "green card" gives you official immigration status (Lawful Permanent Residency) in the United states.

So here's where I'm at as far as being 'legal' here in the U.S.

Chad and I went for the initial interview for my application for permanent residence last Thursday (21st May). My memory is a bit fuzzy on the questions we were asked. I think basically the questions were very much like the ones I had for the interview for the Fiance (K1) Visa in August last year: How did you meet? How did the relationship progress? ...and so on. I was also asked if I was already working. In fact, I have not yet been able to work because I am still missing the Employment Authorization Document (EAD) and when I informed the interviewer about this, she checked on my application on her computer, she found that I've been APPROVED for the EAD. Since FEBRUARY!!!

She then asked us to check at the information counter because we never did receive the document in our mail. The interview continued and we showed her a bunch of evidence to show that we have a bona fide marriage.

Just when I thought everything was going smoothly with the interview, she asks about my middle name and why I had dropped it and indicated that this might be a problem when or if I wanted to apply for naturalization (US citizenship) down the road. To make a long story short, we had to decide on the spot to change my name on the green card to avoid having to legally change my name on my Malaysian passport. This means, however, that I will have to backtrack and have my name changed on at least 3 documents here in the US-social security card, state ID card and my bank accounts, after spending considerable time to get those documents in the first place.

As for the outcome of the interview, we were told that the decision of whether I've been approved or not will come after the 'final review'. If everything goes the way it's supposed to, the application should be approved and we should expect something in the mail within a month.

Which brings us back to the question-What has happened to that EAD? As suggested, Chad and I went to the information counter expecting to get answers. We did not get any answers but were told we needed to arrange an appointment and to do so we had to get to such and such website. Harrummph!!

We get home, I get on the computer, arrange an appointment, the earliest being a week away (which was last Thursday, 28th May), we go back to the USCIS Seattle Field Office in Tukwilla, pay ANOTHER $6 for parking, ask the question, the guy at the counter makes a phonecall and finds out yes, I've been approved, yes, since February but...

We find out my Biometrics (which I did in February) was only linked to my I-485 (Immigration speak for my green card/PR application) and not my I-765 (Immigration speak for my EAD application). The Biometrics data should have been linked to both. So they linked my Biometrics up to my I-765 and the guy at the booth said he was 99% sure, though he would not stake his life on it (his words) that we will be getting my EAD in 10-14 days. We are counting...

So what has this done about my confidence level about receiving that green card in good time, without any problems? I can only say I HOPE everything will go smoothly. I need to have everything I require to be 'legal' here to really rest easy and go on the the next phase in making Seattle my home.

Queueing for Ice-cream

I'm almost always feeling to warm or too cold. Chad teases me about the very narrow range of temperature I consider comfortable.

The temperature in Seattle this afternoon happens to fall within this narrow optimal range. The sun was shining. Not much of a breeze. On my walk to Wallingford, I could wear what Chad calls my "Singapore clothes"- short pants and a cotton blouse. I found that being in the shade was just as comfortable as being in the sun.


There were many people about, sitting outside, enjoying the warm day. Many were queueing up for ice-cream at Molly Moon's. The flavour which caught my eye- Pormegranate Curry Sorbet! I could kick myself for not joining in that queue today. I'm not making that same mistake tomorrow! Warm sunny day and Pomegranate curry sorbet- here I come!