Archive for the 'GORDO' Category

…but I’ve been really overwhelmed by work, birthing classes, putting together furniture for the nursery, making contact with the in-laws after the great Manila flood, etc.

I’m sure everyone will be relieved to learn that Czaiye, HH, and Lily are doing fine, and that all of Czaiye’s blood relatives are OK.

Unfortunately, Czaiye’s brother’s father-in-law died tragically in the flood. I had given her brother a motorcycle cab so he could earn some money, and his extended family came to depend on the income. His father-in-law drowned while trying to secure the cab so it wouldn’t be washed away. The rest of the family lost only some possessions, so they fared better than many others and they’re counting their blessings.

Today, I’m fort-*cough* *cough*-r!

Meet Crystal Beth, the latest addition to the Packard clan

Sorry I haven’t posted anything, but there’s been a lot going on over here. I’m starting a new job tomorrow, and I got my ultrasound results on Thursday.

The ultrasound reveals a 1 pound girl, developing normally. We’ve tentatively named her Crystal Beth, but you can vote for better names in the comments section if you think you can think of one. And since this was the first indication of her gender, the last couple of days have been spent running around getting work clothes for me and baby clothes for Crystal Beth. Also, me and Czaiye bought a new bed so that we can hike the Appalachian Trail without waking up the whole neighborhood.

I’m still writing thank-you cards after my wedding.

A recent exchange between my wife and her mom made me smile

Here’s a big announcement: Czaiye, my wife, is now officially pregnant. To celebrate, she sleeps 14 hours a day and throws up every couple of hours.

But the pregnancy does have its amusing side. We’re discussing baby names, and if it’s a boy we’ll likely name him after Czaiye’s father, Donato. Czaiye sent a text message to her mom to get her opinion:

Czaiye: If the baby is a boy, we think it would be a good idea to name him Donato.

Czaiye’s Mom: Don’t do that! He might turn out to be like your father!

In case you haven’t yet guessed it, Czaiye’s parents are a lot like Ralph and Alice Kramden from The Honeymooners.

Hombre Hambre longs to go outside to play with the owls

As both of my readers will recall, I adopted a stay cat named Hombre Hambre, who is a never-ending source of amusement. But I’ve had to keep him cooped up inside for a couple of months now, and he’s going crazy.

Not only does he spend hours looking out the window, but he’s decided that the full sized cat bed I bought him is too comfortable, and beds down instead on a tiny bed that my nieces gave him, which is meant for a cat about half his size:

But Hombre indulges in his strangest habit at around 9:30 every night. For 5-10 minutes, he will go to a photo of my brother that we have hanging on the wall and confess his sins:

So what does a cat have to confess to? Crapping in the sandbox?

At any rate, one of these days my brother is going to visit me, and Hombre is going to finally meet his confessor in person.

I can’t wait to see the look on his face.

Me and Czaiye at the courthouse

One of the reasons posting has been light around here is that I’ve been preparing for my big wedding ceremony on May 10. But to satisfy the INS, Czaiye and I got married at the courthouse back on March 10. I kept wanting to do a post about it, but I’ve been having trouble tracking down photos.

Anyway, the first big ceremony will be conducted by Rev. John Fife. We’ll also be having a ceremony in the Philippines as soon as the INS allows us to leave the country.

Woo!

Our tour of the west coast has reached its end, and Czaiye and I are now settling into our new home in Tucson, AZ. Sorry I’ve been away from the blog for so long, but it’s taken much longer to settle in than I anticipated.

Thanks to all who came by and left comments, and thanks especially to Richard of This Old Brit for providing so much fresh content during my absence.

The apppletree world headquarters is starting to show signs of neglect

I know that I’ve been neglecting the website of late, and that pattern will continue until late February or March. You won’t get too many of the thoughtful commentary pieces that both of my readers have come to expect until then.

The problem stems from the prize for this caption contest that I so foolishly offered. My fiancee Czaiye shocked us all by taking the grand prize, which was a romantic trip down America’s west coast. I’ve been spending the last week organizing the trip, which happens to come right when I’m moving to Arizona.

So I’ll still pop in occasionally to answer comments and clean spam, and to leave links to interesting news stories. I might even spin a yarn or two about our fascinating trip, which everyone is just dying to hear about. But until the trip is over, I’ll be limited in the amount of time I can spend updating the site.

Czaiye doesn’t hang out with Snoop Dog very much

Here’s a snippet from a chat I had with my fiancee this morning. She lives in the Philippines, and it’s sometimes difficult for her to decode American slang:

Czaiye: good morning po

Gordo: good morning

Czaiye: i’m chilling..

Czaiye: it’s cold outside and i just came from the shower

By the way, Czaiye just got through with her interview with the folks from Immigration, so it shouldn’t be long before she can come to the US. When that happens, there will be one more immigrant to annoy Rush Limbaugh and Lou Dobbs, which is as good a reason as any to marry a woman from abroad.