The Sassy Lawyer & Pinoy Cook on food, family and home.
The house-hunting is on a standstill. I keep getting outvoted. No one wants to live in a high-rise condo because of the pets. There has to be a place for the pets, according to Sam. Where we can find a house this size, with grounds as large or larger, that we can afford is beyond ... (more)
Sam has only two items on her agenda today: one, convince Speedy and I to agree to see Iron Man 2 on opening day; two, clip Astro’s nails and give him a bath. Speedy and I agreed to see Iron Man 2 but I have two conditions: first, only on the last full show as ... (more)
I’ve told you about Poco’s tragedy. After what happened, I couldn’t bring myself to even look at Astro. It’s like seeing him in a different light. And I wondered how Sam would feel about him, if she would like him less, if she would care for him less. Sam cried for two days and two ... (more)
While waiting for the Smart tech people to install my Smart Bro connection, there isn’t much that I can do in terms of blogging. Can’t upload photos, can’t view attachments in e-mails… Meanwhile, tragedy struck on Tuesday. The househelper was going to walk Astro and I suggested that the other house helper take Poco the ... (more)
When Speedy arrived yesterday afternoon, he went into the kitchen for a snack where he was joined by Sam. Astro was sniffing around and even put up his front paws on the table. Speedy had to say “Off!” several times before the dog finally gave up.
He did look cute though with his front paws on the table, like he was begging for food…
I was cooking when Speedy arrived home with a crate for Astro. Sick and all, and he still went out to meet with a client. I know that some of the top brass in his company read my blog so, read this — my husband deserves a medal and a 1000% raise hehehehe I don’t ... (more)
Remember that time when we thought we lost Pepper because she was gone for two nights? That was a little over three months ago. Pepper never went away like that again and we were happy. Just a week ago, Alex commented on how Pepper has gained a lot of weight after the noticeable weight loss ... (more)
Have I ever mentioned that Speedy comes from a family of graphic artists? He has two brothers who are Fine Arts graduates and who have been working for years in big advertising companies — one in the U.S. (Hi, Sonny!) and another in Beirut (Hi, Richie!). Speedy used to dabble in drawing and painting but ... (more)
For the past week, I’ve been thinking a lot if we hadn’t been too rash in allowing Sam to get a dog. I must admit that the way Astro has attached himself to me has been both flattering and endearing. But his presence in the house has been traumatic for Pepper — and the rest ... (more)
First of all, the dog has a name — finally. Not Brad, unfortunately, but Astro. Speedy’s idea. When I first heard Sam say “Astro” I thought the dog was being named after the cartoon character called Astroboy. But the origin of the name is a song with the same name by the Radioactive Sago Project ... (more)
The whole point in retiring early was to spend more time with the kids while they were growing up. It wasn’t a tough choice to make. I was never the ambitious young lawyer that most of my peers were. That retirement proved better than I ever imagined was a bonus. I had the opportunity to ... (more)
Casa is Spanish for house. CASA is also an acronym for Connie, Antonio, Sam and Alex. We are all surnamed Veneracion. We all love to take photos -- of anything that catches our fancy. It's a family obsession.
This is a journal of how we live, eat, learn, play and have fun. Work? Work is part of playing and having fun. Seriously.
In 2003, a time when I hadn't heard of the term "blog", I started a recipe website at cooking.houseonahill.net using a now defunct content management system that ran on ASP. Ok, never mind the geek talk, I'm sure you're not interested in that. The contents easily multiplied and, in 2004, I moved the food site to pinoycook.net. Always unhappy with the fact that the dot com versions of houseonahill and pinoycook weren't … (click here to read all »)
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