No I didn't say that and I am very busy today

Did I say The Pacific is a bad series? No. I liked it! I just miss the movies and the dramas from Taiwan!
I haven't been very organised lately, or should I say, I am reasonably organized that things are being done just before their due dates? It was very cold this morning, but I managed to get up with K and had a shower first. The duvet cover, the cover sheet and the pillows are in the washing machine, and my breakfast was eaten before nine. I did pretty well making a shopping list after reading Cuisine magazine. This week's objective is to cook soup, a lot of soup.
I just can't find any watercress from supermarket, though. I don't even know what it looks like, but I imagine it looks like the above picture or something like parsley. I've decided to get a mint plant so I can plant it into the ground when summer comes after September.
I haven't bought any leek after I married K, that's a first. It's very cheap at the moment as well, less than one dollar a leek. I got two kumara since I've been thinking about roasting some beef in the oven. I managed to get everything into the car with some difficulty, and get everything out as well.
Lunch was a great affair. I made hot and sour prawn chicken noodle soup. It was so yummy! However, I think I can improve it further by not adding to much fish sauce. It was too salty.
K got to Chartwell after getting off work by two o'clock in the afternoon. I coerced him to buy a blue jersey from the shop. It wasn't going so well when we were in Hallenstein, but I managed to get him to get one from Farmers. I feel very good and we went home together to find Fuzzy at the door.
Fuzzy just came back from Auckland. She went there for a visit to the starch factory. She was so tired that after talking to me only for one minute that she was already lying flat on the bed.
We talked about moving out when I sent her home. I hope she is going to be able to move out soon.
I was having some fun on the computer when she was sleeping. Now it's time for me to roast that beef with the pumpkin. Hopefully, this hearty meal will warm us up tonight. It's time to crank up the heater and keep warm under the blanket.
The To Do list is still long, but at least I've done the shopping and folded all the clothes now. I feel that I've accomplished something today.
The temperature is so low today that when I was printing out the document from the printer, it was smoking.

Our country our duty

I watched the last episode of The Pacific this Monday. The mini series reminds me of the movie I saw in Taiwan. War is never pretty and glorious. I remember a girl being raped in Vietnam in the movie, and the soldier was trying to save her. I remember a girl who shaved her hair off because being a woman means that you don't have the right to live as a human being, you will be raped and you will be killed in another movie. I remember the man who fought the Japanese soldier in an arena because of pride and love of his country. China was invaded in Second World War, but even though most of the land had been taken over by the Japanese, people continue to fight back and resist the Japanese soldiers. They won't take Japanese names, they won't speak Japanese, they will fight the Japanese because it is our country.
My grandfather went to the war as a soldier. He seldom talked about his family, but he said that he was taken care of by a servant girl, a nanny. He went to the military school and trained to become an artillery man. He told us about the Clydesdale horses that pulled the cannons. He talked about how difficult the war became and they had to shoot the horses and eat them. Dad told us about how grandma escaped from China with her two young children, how granddad was still fighting with the troops, she's already back in Taiwan. They met again and had dad in Taiwan. What a joyous time!
The Pacific portrayed three main characters in the Second World War. The first one died in Iwo Jima, and he fought valiantly in Guan Canal, Papua New Guinea, and made a huge effort getting people to buy War Bond back in United States. The second one was a writer, he fought in Papua New Guinea as well, and got really sick in the jungle. He kept writing, reading, and the drama looked at the war philosophically as well. Is it right to send men forward when you know that they are crazy? What is the human limit? The Americans came into war from a different angle, it's patriotism that motivated them. They were attacked last by the Japanese in Pearl Harbour. However, the Chinese, the Korean, and the people of South East Asia are all invaded by the Japanese. Your home is torched, your belongings are taken away from you, and your relatives and friends are killed. People in these countries are perhaps motivated differently from the American. They are motivated by necessity, they are motivated because if they don't do anything, no one else will. I am sure that many people felt despair, sadness, anger, and wanted to get out of the war, but they couldn't. There was no food, no water, and you had to go on. You learn to live without.
What shapes us, as human, today? Our forefathers have fought in the war, either out of necessity, or out of patriotism, or for the greater good. We have to learn to prevent it from happening, we have to think that we are better at this now. We can do without killing one another, taking what's not ours, and live in peace. There are still so many wars going on in this war, if we can learn something from this series, it is this: stop fighting, and start living life again. War is ugly and wrong no matter how glorious people paint it. Soldiers who fought in the war should be taken care of when they come back home, and the people should work on reconstructing the war-torn countries. We can be friends. We can love one another.

Real low

I've been feeling real low lately, hence no blog posts for a while. This is possibly brought on the high created by wanting to set up a business by myself, and that plan didn't go so well.
I've contacted a second-hand cloth shop and got some information from the owner about her business. She was going overseas and closing up shop at that time. I came along and went around town to look at several shops. Looking back, I think it was not the right time to get into retail.
I had a second idea of getting into partnership with a lady in Auckland who sells wedding shoes. However, after some number crunching, it doesn't look like it's going to work out, either.
I also went up to Auckland to the Small Business Expo set up by Bizzone. The Expo was a success and I did get a lot of contacts from there. One of the important thing that I lack is the capital, and the second thing is experience.
This retail adventure is now on hold, and I've been sleeping in the morning and not getting up until noon for the last week. I've decided to get earlier and think about some things that I can do to cheer myself up. There are also a lot of constructive things to do apart from setting up my own business.
I've always wanted to make some clothes for my Barbie. Yes, it is childish, but I think it is a good exercise to practice sewing. It is fun, and I can make some clothes for myself as well. Existing Barbie outfits are either tacky, or too formal. I think I may make some track pants or jeans for Barbie.
I also came up with an idea of making some science T-Shirts. There are some around that you can get online, but I've never seen one here in New Zealand. Maybe they are too geeky for people to wear? I am not sure how big the market is, but I am sure some people will be interested in acquiring certain shirts featuring huge dinosaurs, beakers, periodic tables or math equations.
I can also take some photos of my clothes and accessories to upload onto Pupe. You can get free outfit if you do that, and it's fun to dress up your little doll everyday.
I also want to read more novels, but I haven't decided which ones I am going to read. I should take all the books back to the library. They are due on the 22nd of June.
Fielddays is on this week, but I am not going. The weather is well today so I managed to put out the washing. It will be fine again tomorrow, maybe the clothes will be dry in this weather? There's me hoping.
I also want to look at some crafting tools and materials from Spotlight and compare their prices with the ones that you can get from StampUp (Australia). I am not sure which ones will be more expensive. I am also not sure whether I should keep going to the card making classes. They are really fun, and I can give the cards to relatives and friends.
There are also some projects around the house that I can do. I can mend the seat cover. I can make scones and try out recipes on the internet and the recipe books that I've never done before. It will be an adventure!
I hope that I won't want to stay in bed next week. There are a lot of things that I can do, and not all of those things need to involve making money. I think I may have a serious case of burn-out.

Something to look forward to

I still haven't received my full driver's license yet, it is a bit frustrating. I have decided not to go to Auckland to watch Sex and the City 2. It's too far, and I don't think it's worth it to drive up. I also don't have a place to stay up there.
However, there are some interesting things coming up at the end of the month. Erin is moving away this weekend so she's having a drinkie at her place. Emma is turning 3 so we are celebrating her birthday at TA. I've wrapped up her present today, a book and an eraser. I've made her an animal farm so she can play with them and act out little plays if she wants to. I made it myself so I don't have to spend too much money.
There's Roy's birthday party to go to as well, and it's going to be dad's birthday on that same day as well. I've got him a jersey so I can wrap it up or just give it to him. Hope he likes it.
I've also been looking at flights to Port Moresby. It looks like it's going to cost less on Virgin Blues, but we are still looking for more flights.
It is very cold today. Winter is truly here.
There's not much development on my business, but I am sure something good will come up. Hopefully, I can get some merchandise soon.

New business

This is the only place where I can say everything, I guess it's nice to have a private blog, it's like having an electronic diary.
I've called the guy from Bayleys and talked to him about the places where I want to rent. I will see him on Monday morning, and find out more about each place. I think he's Brent's dad, but I am not so sure. I guess it will become very obvious when I see him. I wonder how Brent is doing in Auckland, maybe I will ask him if he is Brent's dad.
It is difficult to find clothes to sell, though. I've called several shops in New Zealand, and no one is talking to me about the important stuff. They are all on holiday in the weekend! I guess I will have to talk to them on Monday. I prefer not to leave a message on the answering machine. What's that going to accomplish? Nothing.
I went and saw the shop yesterday. They all look quite nice, but I think certain ones have potential, other ones require a lot of money to renovate and that's money I don't have.
I found an idea on the internet to ask friends to paint the shop as a paint party. I don't know we even need to paint the wall a different colour, but if it is needed, it can certainly become a working bee party.
Everything is going well. I am motivated to work after getting my driver's license done. I've also received the new FlyBuys cards from mail. There's still the new OneCard to come for him as well. It will be better for him to have his own one so I won't lose my one! I feel exasperated when he loses my stuff. It's not that I can't forgive him, just feel helpless to change the situation.
It is getting really cold now. I hope my vegetables will still grow and we can have some free broccoli and cauliflowers. It will be so nice to have our own harvest!
Maybe I will have to meet some people in Auckland to talk about merchandising and buying clothes from them. It will be fun!