Not much to report this week. It went something like this: work, work, eat, work, sleep, work work...repeat for 5 days. At least we're making progress, though, and I don't feel nearly as stressed out and overwhelmed as I did last year (or at least I don't feel that way all the time).
So I guess I should start with last weekend, since we did have a small family get-together for Aunt Tai's birthday. Mom, Dad, Mel, and I met Tai, Uncle Bruce, and Alex for dim sum in Columbia. I have to say that my favorite dim sum place is still Oriental East in Silver Spring, but Jesse Wong's is ok. OE is better than some of the places we tried in Hong Kong, though, so they set the bar really high. Anyway, lunch was interesting, as Tai kept talking about setting Alex and me up with random 25-35 year-old men who she meets or who are sons/relatives of people she knows. I think that is a bit of a wide net to cast, but then again, she works for the government and has a pretty high ranking job, so maybe she can order someone to take me out to dinner?!
I did remember this week, thanks to a reminder from Anne, to order Lara's birthday present. I think I now need to invest in some Redskins gear to neutralize the Cowboys merchandise that I bought. Although I'm glad that the package got to Lara in record time (2 days from order to receipt?!), I found out that the infamous tariffs are still in effect, so Lara's going to have to pay some amount to actually get the package delivered. You would think that UPS or the NFL Store would have included the payment of that tariff in their pricing, but there was no way to pay for that in advance through either site. And imagine that...232 years after we gained our independence, the Brits are still managing to find a way to stick it to us Americans.
This weekend was the first where I didn't work both days. Saturday night started at Anne's house, where she hosted a Body Shop party. Talk about indulgence...20 girls sitting around noshing on cheese and crackers and chocolate fondue, all while playing around with facial cleansers and toners and such. What a great way to end the work week! The only thing I wish I'd tried was the old lady product line...I'm pushing 30 and my face could probably use some preventive maintenance.
After Anne's party, I drove to Rockville for Beney's going away shindig. We met at Dave & Busters, as it was a central meeting point...and she go play video games to her heart's delight. I tend to always go to the Super Shot game, which I totally rocked, yet again. That's about as close to athletic glory as I'll be. Sadly, she and the rest of our group of friends did not get a chance to practice our moves on the Dance Dance Revolution machine. Instead, we stood there half-mesmerized half-appalled at the sight of a 30-40 year-old guy and a 10-year old kid challenging each other to DDR...and they were absolutely tearing it up. They must have practiced for months in order to reach perfect scores for 10+ dances in a row. It was like a nerdy, electronic version of Step Up. After about 15 minutes, we decided we'd had enough and went to the Silver Diner for some grease to compliment the alcohol we'd had. All in all, I'm thinking it was a pretty good send off for Beney...food, friends, and video games. Perfect send off for a consummate engineer!
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Sunday, February 10, 2008
Chalk another one up on the list of bad ideas...
Bad Idea #1 - Drinking a grande white chocolate mocha and 3 cups of tea all within in 2 hours, plus taking 2 tablets of non-drowsy cold medicine on an empty stomach. I think that's about 1000mg of caffeine and the recommended dosage for Vivarin and No Doz pills is something like 200mg every 3 hours, so holy crap am I WIRED! I can feel my fingertips tingling, and I have about 20 things running through my mind simultaneously. Clearly shouldn't be blogging at work, but I have so much nervous energy right now, I have to do something, and reviewing spreadsheets isn't a very engaging activity.
Friday, February 8, 2008
Happy New Year...Again!
No, this message is not a month late. A day late, maybe, but not a month. We whacky Asians celebrate things on the lunar calendar, so yesterday was the start of the new year. So it's not really 2008, it's more like 4076 or thereabouts. I suppose I should be celebrating with my family, making dumplings, cooking noodles, etc. Instead, I am drinking beer and polishing off some chicken enchiladas. I suppose that is bad form, but if failing to become a concert pianist/doctor/champion tennis player didn't cause me to lose my Asian status, then nothing will! :)
I was thinking about this holiday, and my memories of it from my childhood are a bit muddled. I guess I think of my grandparents most around this time, and I suppose we must have celebrated the holiday at their house. We did most of the family get-togethers there when we were little and before grandma got sick. I remember going to their house and trying to roll out the dough for the dumplings. I was little and grandpa handed me a wad of dough, and it was my job to roll it out into a perfect little circle so that we could wrap the filling in it. I got to work and thought I was doing a good job until my dad came over and laughed about how I had made a pretty good South America-shaped wrapper. Sadly, my dexterity has not improved much since then. I remember the 2 refrigerators: one packed with the regular food for everyday eating and the other containing cans of soda and random jars of pickled vegetables. Then there was the little red tricycle that David, Mel, Alex, and I used to fight over. That trike was indestructible. Grandpa must have fixed that thing half a dozen times. And he never got mad at us for tearing around the house on that thing. Pretty sure we never would have gotten away with it at home. We just had to be careful when we drove through the dining room...grandma used to have trays of silkworms laid out in trays in there, and it would have been a disaster if we'd knocked those trays over. If you've never seen where silk comes from, it's rather gross. A bunch of stinky worms squirming around, eating bamboo leaves, and spinning cocoons that would eventually need to be harvested and boiled to preserve the silk strands. I think that watching those little buggers (literally) do their business is what produced my irrational fear of bugs.
I realized that grandpa was also born on the lunar new year in the year of the dragon...so he was basically the luckiest man on earth (aside from Eli Manning last Sunday). I think grandma was born in the year of the dragon too, so they were pretty much as cosmically blessed as you can get. When I went to Aunt Tai's house a few weeks ago, she told me stories about how the family got to the US in the first place, and if I didn't believe in fate/luck/divine intervention before, I think I did after hearing the story. I'd actually heard the story before when I was younger, but now that I'm grown up, I have a better appreciation for the sacrifices my grandparents made. I think the family made their escape during the civil war, and my grandma was alone with her three surviving kids, including my mom, who I think was about 2. Grandma paid a smuggler to take the four of them to Hong Kong, but as the roads were closed and the "authorities" were catching people and doing god-knows-what to them, the smugglers suggested that they split up. So Grandma took my aunt, and my uncle took my mom, and the 2 pairs headed to Hong Kong. Mom and Uncle Teddy apparently hid in the bottom of a boat, while grandma and Aunt Fong took the train. Somehow, all four reunited in HK. From there, they were reunited with grandpa, and they set off to Taiwan and then ultimately to the US. It much have been a mix of luck and faith that allowed that to happen. Had grandma put her trust in less able or less trustworthy people, mom never would have made it out, and I probably wouldn't be here, or at least not be who I am.
So, today, I celebrate the new year (albeit non-traditionally), remember and honor my grandparents, and count my blessings.
I was thinking about this holiday, and my memories of it from my childhood are a bit muddled. I guess I think of my grandparents most around this time, and I suppose we must have celebrated the holiday at their house. We did most of the family get-togethers there when we were little and before grandma got sick. I remember going to their house and trying to roll out the dough for the dumplings. I was little and grandpa handed me a wad of dough, and it was my job to roll it out into a perfect little circle so that we could wrap the filling in it. I got to work and thought I was doing a good job until my dad came over and laughed about how I had made a pretty good South America-shaped wrapper. Sadly, my dexterity has not improved much since then. I remember the 2 refrigerators: one packed with the regular food for everyday eating and the other containing cans of soda and random jars of pickled vegetables. Then there was the little red tricycle that David, Mel, Alex, and I used to fight over. That trike was indestructible. Grandpa must have fixed that thing half a dozen times. And he never got mad at us for tearing around the house on that thing. Pretty sure we never would have gotten away with it at home. We just had to be careful when we drove through the dining room...grandma used to have trays of silkworms laid out in trays in there, and it would have been a disaster if we'd knocked those trays over. If you've never seen where silk comes from, it's rather gross. A bunch of stinky worms squirming around, eating bamboo leaves, and spinning cocoons that would eventually need to be harvested and boiled to preserve the silk strands. I think that watching those little buggers (literally) do their business is what produced my irrational fear of bugs.
I realized that grandpa was also born on the lunar new year in the year of the dragon...so he was basically the luckiest man on earth (aside from Eli Manning last Sunday). I think grandma was born in the year of the dragon too, so they were pretty much as cosmically blessed as you can get. When I went to Aunt Tai's house a few weeks ago, she told me stories about how the family got to the US in the first place, and if I didn't believe in fate/luck/divine intervention before, I think I did after hearing the story. I'd actually heard the story before when I was younger, but now that I'm grown up, I have a better appreciation for the sacrifices my grandparents made. I think the family made their escape during the civil war, and my grandma was alone with her three surviving kids, including my mom, who I think was about 2. Grandma paid a smuggler to take the four of them to Hong Kong, but as the roads were closed and the "authorities" were catching people and doing god-knows-what to them, the smugglers suggested that they split up. So Grandma took my aunt, and my uncle took my mom, and the 2 pairs headed to Hong Kong. Mom and Uncle Teddy apparently hid in the bottom of a boat, while grandma and Aunt Fong took the train. Somehow, all four reunited in HK. From there, they were reunited with grandpa, and they set off to Taiwan and then ultimately to the US. It much have been a mix of luck and faith that allowed that to happen. Had grandma put her trust in less able or less trustworthy people, mom never would have made it out, and I probably wouldn't be here, or at least not be who I am.
So, today, I celebrate the new year (albeit non-traditionally), remember and honor my grandparents, and count my blessings.
Sunday, February 3, 2008
Holy Upset, Batman!
I am a total jinx. How do I know? Because every team I root for (out loud) loses. Case in point - the Patriots. I said I was rooting for the Pats, and look what happened! To be completely honest, I don't mind the Giants winning either - I like Strahan, it's fun to see the underdogs come through, and poor Eli Manning could finally do something better than his big brother. So, the smothering offense, unusually poor play by Tom Brady, and consistent leadership by Eli (plus a crazy-good catch by David Tyree) had something to do with the Giants winning. I think that my uncanny ability to bring down teams that I am cheering for may have had something to do with it too. My favorite play of the game - David Tyree's 4th quarter catch...it was made only with his head and what appeared to be his right pinky. My favorite player of the game - Eli Manning, for keeping his head on straight throughout the whole game, not falling apart under the pressure, and proving that having a Zoolander-like ability to project only one facial expression in all situations doesn't mean he's not capable and excited. My favorite commercial - perhaps a tie between the e-Trade baby and the clown and the cross-marketing ad for Will Ferrell's new movie and Bud Light (although Will in short-shorts is NOT funny...that's just gross). So, it was the end of a terrific season for both teams, but seriously, who really saw this one coming?
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