Dinner is served

Once upon a time, Mrs. Woo had a long meeting on a Friday afterschool. It put her in the dumps a bit, but have no fear - food was near!

Dinner:

Woo style:

And she ate happily ever after. The end.

Oh, wait - Prince Charming:

The (real) end:

 

Curry revamped...

Last week Mr. Woo took his final for one of his classes. He phoned afterward to tell me he was on his way home. A few minutes into my meal prep, an impersonator phoned claiming to be "Pooki" and that she "love[s] Boo." This pretender wanted to come over for dinner

So I let Hedder in our home.

Mr. Woo had requested curry. Now, you know how much he likes curry. But he made a modification to this request. He wanted it with noodles. I thought this was so bizarre, but later he explained that it'd be something like a Thai dish. Ohhhhh, it all made sense now!

Off to the kitchen I went like a good, loving wifey to make my Thai-inspired noodles. I made the Japanese curry and had to use frozen veggies due to the lack of fresh ones (not that I didn't like the convenience of it). While that was left to simmer, I boiled the pasta. The special touch? Crushed caramelized peanuts! Absolutely turned the $5 dish into $13. Hedder even said it was "fancy." :D

Above, you'll see two people genuinely enjoying their meal. It was actually good! (Pooki, feel free to make these innovative suggestions more often.) You'll also notice the stark contrast in their speed of ingesting and inhaling, respectively.

But seriously, I was able to clean up, do some of the dishes, and returned to (still) see this:

Hehe.

Our table is set

Jonny has been the self-proclaimed "most patient reader" in awaiting the results of our last Poker Night.

It started with gchat messages like this:

who won?

  i think i've waited patiently

  for your blog

it has been 6 days since wednesday

Since then, I've gotten more written and verbal reminders about the suspense I've been creating with him. But it still baffles me why he didn't just ask Freddy or another contestant...


Without further ado, it's my pleasure to announce that after two whole months we've finally filled our last seat at the table! (It's going to be an interesting championship game as I look at those who will be in attendance.) Bring to the table your poker faces, empty tummies, and some level of cordiality - and welcome to the table...


...R.Shu! Congratulations!

Our winner during the pre-victory meal at Yoshi's.

Fresh oysters complements of the chef due to our acquaintance with one of the waiters, whom I haven't seen since sophomore year of college!

Roll call:

1. Mrs. Woo

2. (J)onny/Mrs. Woo

3. Freddy

4. Mr. Woo
5. Tadamus
6. R.Shu

Champion: ???

An e-mail will be sent out to coordinate the details for the final game!


Who do you think is going to take all? ;) 

The old man is snoring...

From the sounds of it, many of you have already heard Dennis' story of how much Mr. Woo missed me. It, the short version, goes something like this...

Mr. Woo, MikeG, and Dennis were assigned to one sleeping quarter. Before heading down south, I gave heed to dear Husband that it would be a battle of sleeping first in order to gain the best rest. From what I heard, Mike is a "machine," causing one roommate to grab his headphones in the middle of the night and the other to wish he had brought a pair.

At this point, you're probably thinking that it was both Dennis and Mr. Woo who lost sleep. But then Dennis told me the other (awake) side of the story.

Apparently, Mr. Woo konked out the minute his head hit the pillow, just like Mike. But unknowingly Mr. Woo inched toward Dennis throughout the night. This was a problem for Dennis because: (a) he had melodious snoring in his ear; and (b) he was not me.

FYI, I sleep on the right side of the bed while Mr. Woo sleeps on the left side. And we're definitely snugglers and cuddlers. I should have warned Dennis of this routine, so he wouldn't end up on the ground.

Dennis - Thanks for being a trooper, and bearing with my husband's snoring. Don't worry, he makes up for it in his sweet, patient, and encouraging ways. :)

For future brothers who will be rooming with Mr. Woo - If he starts snoring, flip him onto his side. Doing so while notifying, "You're snoring," will result in getting a sincere, "Oh sorry," in response. However, if he has a full plate of responsibilities at the moment, ask the front desk for extra pillows and/or get another deep-sleeping snorer to trade with you so the two of the men will make melodious music in the night. Those are my tips for you. If you sleep with him for a while, you'll get used to it. (But I lost a lot of sleep my first month of marriage... hehe)

I'm just so happy that my Pooki is back!!!

Since you've been gone

My previous post mentioned why I've been having cold (but not sleepless - too tired for that) nights. Though my personal 5'10" portable furnace has been gone, I'm keeping busy with work, music, and catching up on the Olympics. I also have a Poker Night #6 update for you coming up.

Meanwhile, I was surprised today to have a pod of middle schoolers (MS) enter my classroom during lunch.

My face:  o_O  (They never come into my room unless they're in the Afterschool Program, which uses my classroom.)

One of the students (the sister of one of my own) says, "Hi Mrs. Woo. How are you doing without your husband? Mr. Woo asked us to keep you company while he was gone..."

How cute - on both parties (though I don't think she was supposed to tell me that)! I'm so touched at my husband's thoughtfulness as well as these students' kindness. :) I love working with kids! And I love my Pooki even more!!! (heart)

By the way, Husband, the school put a package for you in my box, and I opened it out of curiosity. I don't think I was supposed to though... ;) But in my defense, I saw the back of the item and then quickly closed the envelope so I don't know what the front looks like!


The shirt reads: I heart MY HUSBAND. It was my wedding gift to Pooki. His reads: I heart MY WIFE.

Awaiting the King

I'll be the first to tell you how marriage happy I am. That M-word is one of my favorites in the English language! Our culture seems to not only come to a screeching halt when faced with the word, but also turn around and make a mad dash in the opposite direction. If half of the marriages in our society end in the D-word, that tells us that they don't fully understand the depth and breadth of this concept.

Ephesians 5 gives us the best description of marriage:

Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, He Himself being the Savior of the body. But as the church is subject to Christ, so also the wives ought to be to their husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless. So husbands ought also to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself; for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ also does the church, because we are members of His body. FOR THIS REASON A MAN SHALL LEAVE HIS FATHER AND MOTHER AND SHALL BE JOINED TO HIS WIFE, AND THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH. This mystery is great; but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church. Nevertheless, each individual among you also is to love his own wife even as himself, and the wife must see to it that she respects her husband.

Weddings are wonderful but they are not a lifetime, but your marriage, Lord willing, will be. For me, this meant learning that I am to submit to my husband - no ifs or buts about it (I still fail in this area many times). For Pooki, it meant being (opposed to playing) the leader and shepherding over our family's souls. Of course there's more to it than those two points, but I'm saying that it's not about the butterflies you had when you were dating. Butterflies have a very short lifespan, literally and figuratively. A few months into dating, I didn't want to sit next to Mr. Woo, much less be in the same room as him, literally only. But the Lord was gracious, and we worked it out.

This passage of Scripture is so beautiful in its depiction of Man & Wife. The more I mull over it, the more I learn from the proverbial verses. I'm seeing another facet of the jewel up close and personal this week with Mr. Woo down at Shepherd's Conference. I'm excited for him to be able to attend and enjoy this Disneyland-for-pastors experience, however, I cannot wait until he comes home. And that's just like us in our wait for our Lord's second coming. Our Groom has momentarily left us to fulfill a greater purpose, and expects us to be faithful with what He has entrusted to us during this time. Many of us toil in the sun wiping our brows of the salty sweat from our work, but how few of us expectantly wait and yearn for His return!

Before Mr. Woo departed on his journey, I was told to be an encouragement while I man the fort. He exhorted me to trust in the Lord and read and pray so that I can tell him the things of which I was blessed with when he's back. He, also, would be learning - from godly, seasoned men, writing detailed notes so that he can share with me the benefits from his trip.

I was agreeable to my husband's wishes, but then it came - the river! Since we married, we have spent every.single.day together, and only a couple of short days apart while we were dating. We commute together to work, we work at the same school and campus, we come home together, we serve at the same church in the same ministry (TM is under CM), and have done so for quite some time now. The time apart is like trying to take peanut butter away from jam - you just don't do it! But then I thought about it some more, and I think there are exceptions: You may only take peanut butter away from jam if you replace jam with bananas. And you know what tastes mighty good in addition? Honey! Mr. Woo is going away to be fed while I do some examining (we make idols out of anything, don't we...), but when he comes back we'll have something sweeter! This is all going to be refreshing with a glass of milk. :)

I'm still waiting, but when my king is back I can imagine that there will be much leaping and dancing. I miss Pooki!!!

 The photoholder craft (made at VBS '08) was made for me by Mr. Woo. It's hard to tell from the picture, but it reads: King of Kings, and has a red crown near the bottom. Handcrafted by my Honey Bun! I kept his (staff) school picture from 2008-09 next to it, but Mr. Woo has recently taken the boy bunny back to his desk "because they should be together." :)

Are YOU the next Poker Champ?

The night that Jonny has been waiting for...

he will have to still wait for as the Woos have been quite the busy bees around here. But it's about time for a break, isn't it? Pooki deserves it after what the TPAs are putting him through.

In good timing, Mr. Woo will be gone to Shepherds Conference later this week (he's super excited about it, having asked admin for these days off - back in October), which means - paarTAAAY! (teenage flashback, anyone?) Just kidding, kind of... As I will be very lonely, Mr. Woo has consented to letting me host our final Poker Night all by my lonesome before our Championship game!

Here we go:

You're invited!

Who: The first 5 people to sign up!
What: To our (somewhat) monthly PN
When: Wednesday, March 2 @ 7pm
Where: The Woo Residence
Why: For some "all in" action

Entrance Fee: Free*
Rides: Not provided

*Sorry, dinner not provided this time around. Our fridge is going hungry since half of the family will be gone for 4 nights. I'll make it up to you at Championship.

The Woo Society's Hall of Fame:

1. Mrs. Woo
2. (J)onny/Mrs. Woo
3. Freddy
4. Mr. Woo
5. Tadamus
6. ???
Champion: ???

Anticipation!

--

UPDATE: Poker Night #6 will be held off-site so that Mrs. Woo doesn't have to eat by herself. :) Thanks, Fred + gang!