Cold Sunday and Dogs with Full Ammos

It's been precisely 32 days since I arrived in Houston. It's still winter here. Somedays are pretty warm and others are just damn cold!

It may be a lot worse on the east side of the country, for there is no snow here in Houston, but still, I'm a tropical girl that enjoys sunshine and casual rains. Rainy days in Houston suck. It's cold and it's damp and the dogs hesitate to go outside to do their business. Thus I'm stuck with two dogs with full ammunition, ready to "bomb" various spots in my home.

My husband and I love dogs, so we adopted two around three weeks ago from Citizens for Animal Protection (CAP). We named the first one "Sausage". She is 4 years old and a mix of beagle and corgi. She is short, long and well built. The other one is "Trippy". She is a 9 months old dachsund mix. Her left eye is practically blind, because her eye ball did not developed perfectly. She is stubborn and lovable at the same time. She just loves to cuddle and make you feel really important. When she is up and awake, though, she is a nightmare. She munches and eats everything. Her stubbornness only makes her even more determined to chum, eventhough she can hear us constantly telling (and screaming) "NO".

Taking my dogs out to do their business is one of my main activity these days. My husband is the "Honey, the dog just poop! Do you want me to get you a plastic bag?" type of husband. So yeah, I know which poop belongs to which dog. Not that sexy, I know, but that's the truth. I even know when the dogs want to go. I can even tell whether Trippy, our dachsund is pooping or peeing, even if I only observe from afar. Here's the thing; when she pees, her tail would point upwards and when she poops, her tail would go really straight to the back. It's hilarious, really.

Well, it's a cold cold Sunday today and we're planning on having really good steak tonight. Thanks to the Man v. Food on Travel Channel. Have a great Sunday everyone. Try to stay warm!


Love,
Andini

Dear Readers: An Introduction

Dear reader(s),

Thanks for visiting. As all civilized people should know, an introduction is mandatory. So here it goes, a recap of things (I consider) worthy enough to be shared with you.

My name is Andini Haryani. I'm Indonesian, got married to an Indonesian man on December 12th, 2009. His name is Aris Pramudito. I have not decided to take his name, because apparently we are both too lazy to do all the paperwork for needed documentations. So as for now, I'm sticking to my simple and typical Indonesian name.

Two weeks after the wedding, we flew to Houston, Texas, USA. My husband works for an oil company here in Houston. Before we got married, we were in a 3 years long distance relationship and it sucked. Big time. So with two huge suitcases by my sides, I left everything behind; my family, my friends, my dogs, my Jakarta, my Indonesia. The farewell broke my heart into millions of little pieces.

As a typical middle class Indonesian, I was accustomed to be provided with facilities. My mother had a household assistant and a gardener to help us with everyday life activities, from the simplest things such as changing the lightbulb, washing the dishes, to washing the car, mowing the lawn, fixing the roof, even painting the garage and do the grocery shopping. The help around my house in Indonesia started at 9 am and ended at 5 pm and then we had to things on our own. In most households in Indonesia it continues 24 hours. Household assistant(s) usually live in the house too. Here we do everything ourselves. I'll tell you later about the constant drama between my husband and his tools. It's funny and absolutely depressing at the same time.

I worked as a freelance writer and translator back in Indonesia. I used to work full time for a travel magazine, but quit the office drama altogether in 2006 and decided to self employed myself. Now I'm a full time housewife. Without any kids yet, I have lots and lots of spare time on my hand. Actually I can do more cleaning around the house, but it seems like I don't have enough motivation to do MORE cleaning. I cook, of course. Eating out all the time would drain out our monthly budget in a heartbeat. To sum it up, I'm a lazy housewife, but I love my man, so I do basic things to keep him content.

I don't have a clue of what this blog would become. I would probably just write about the life I'm living here. If that could catch any interest from any readers out there then it would be awesome, but if not then at least I don't have to do MORE cleaning and fill my spare time with blogging.

I'm writing in English because I already have a blog in Bahasa Indonesia (you can check it out here: It's Me, Being Chauvinistic and Totally in Love with Indonesia) and I am determined to keep my brains intact by practicing my English in any way possible. So here is my attempt to write in English.

It would be great to hear from you. Please feel free to leave your comments or even recipes. Simple ones though!


Love,
Andini