I don't even know where to begin...I haven't posted anything since October! I can honestly say I've been busy! There are the boys' sports, Bryce's hula, Bunco parties, weekend events/errands and get togethers. I am working during the day at the office and then I work the rest of my hours at home. Trying to juggle with working, dealing w/the kids needing something or having to settle arguments between the 9 yr old and the teenagers is not fun. I didn't mention the baby b/c he is pretty independent and will just play. For the most part my 2 oldests are the ones who watches him while I work. They feed him, play w/him & change his diapers. By time work is done, dinner has to be ready and then tending the little one, I barely have time to pee! By the time I get on the computer I'm too exhausted to write anything out. My brain is fried. So..below is a nutshell . The last 4 months, I must say, have been about eating and lots of eating for sure!
November- Brad got his license! Yes he's driving..my 18 yr old is offically driving! He got my sister in law's old 1996 Honda Civic (silver) for his birthday in October. He was itching to get his license forever but he didn't get enough hours to get his license yet and we kept holding it off. Insurance is expensive, you know?! However, push came to shove, his determination helped get the numbers of driving hours needed. He passed his test and was just 2 points shy from failing the test!
Thanksgiving in San Francisco. It was the first time in 15 yrs!! The ex always had to stay in town for fball games/playoffs and bowl games so we never went up for Thanksgiving. This year (being divorced now for 5 years now) I thought, why not? Kids need to take their annual portraits w/the cousins for their grandchildren portraits and I was dying for Dad's chinese marinaded turkey and roast beef. We haven't had a road trip in awhile too. We had a feast (dad's dinners are always a feast for 50 people even though there was 15 of us). We hit the early 12am Black Friday sale at Toys R US first and shopped at various places until 10am. Took the kids to do their grandchildren portrait too. We had Giorgio's pizza one night for dinner (an old hang out from my elementary/high school/dating days). Another day we went to the Cheesesteak Shop for lunch too and that's another stroll down memory lane. We also ate at Celia's Mexican Restaurant in Burlingame too! The trip started off disastrous (took 12 hours to get home (SF) due to normal LA Commute traffic) but it was well worth the trip to spend Thanksgiving for the first time in 15 years w/my siblings and parents, eating constantly to familiar places and shopping up a storm.
December-Celebrated Bryce's 9th birthday w/a trip to Chuck E Cheese w/his best friend, Carson and Carson's sister, Lauren. Due to being on punishment off & on, we opted for no big party for him. We went to Chuck E Cheese on a Wednesday, minimum day schedule. No one was at Chuck E Cheese. We had the whole place to ourselves. It was the best party to have, no crowd, no wild bunch of kids running in all directions and it was QUIET.
Christmas morning was spent in Sacramento w/my inlaws. (Sister in law lives in Sacto) The parents-in-law and the youngest sister-in-law & her family drove in from Reno . We drove up from SF. We did a morning brunch with Dave's family and opened gifts afterwards. Christmas night was spent in SF w/my family and once again, we had a huge feast that dad cooked up. My older brother, Jeff cooked up some smoked ribs too. We could've fed an army! The day after Christmas was Kurt's first birthday & Red Egg & Ginger party. We celebrated another day of feasting with 415 people at Four Seas Restaurant in San Francisco Chinatown. There were people I haven't seen since I was Bryce's age, that was 31 years ago! It was nice to reconnect w/people. It's been a long long time! While Kurt had no clue what was going on for his 1st birthday, got a lot of gifts, money & thoroughly enjoyed his first cake!
Over the Christmas holiday, I met up w/my high school friends at Fenton's Ice Cream parlor. Back in the days it was a weekend/Friday date night place that we used to go to all the time. The place hasn't changed and the portion/servings have not changed either. Portions are GINORMOUS. If ever in SF/Oakland area, you must go to Fenton's. Get there early b/c the wait is anywhere from an hour to 2 hours. We also ate at Americana Grill -a vietnamese, chinese, italian and american food restaurant. Good food and not bad for the price but it's definitely not your typical "real" italian food. The asian items are pretty good too. We took Bryce to Lombard Street to experience the curviest street and we also let him see the Cable Cars. (Reminder to myself-take the boys to ride the cable cars). Before we left San Francisco, we did the usual thing. We stopped at Little Lucca's, another memory lane location for food! It's an awesome sandwich place with a mean jalapeno spread and pesto/garlic aioli that they put on their sandwiches. We always stop there before we leave the City. It's always a good way end an awesome trip. Once again, our trip started out w/an empty van and came back w/a fully loaded van...
January-I turned 41 this year and I must say it was way better than last year. Since August, I worked on planning my college roomie/friend's Surprise 40th birthday to be held in SF. Everything was planned down here in Southern Cal. I flew up to SF on Saturday morning of my birthday/ her party. My sister took me out to Hard Knox for southern food. Yum soo good although Johnny Reb's in Long Beach is by far the best! We drove to Chinatown to Eastern Bakery to pick up Coffee Crunch Cake, to Mee Mee Bakery for fortune cookies then to Jackson Market to get chinese beef jerkey. My sister dropped me off at Mercury Lounge where the party was being held. My friend was SURPRISED. She had no idea! They had driven up from Southern Cal thinking she was coming up in SF for a high school reunion w/her Lincoln High School Alums! (She lives in Southern Cal now. She married my boss and has 2 kids- Yes i was the matchmaker) It was a blast, the food at Mercury Lounge was by far an awesome mix of filipino, korean, thai, japanese & chinese. Very good fusion asian food! The Pork Sisig was to die for. The grilled zucchini in adobo sauce was tangy and mouth watering. The garlic noodle had an awesome kick to it, i didn't get any beef satay, it disappeared quicker than I could grab one, the sweet potatoes fries were double fried and went great w/the mayo siracha! We also had lettuce cups w/minced chicken and jalapenos, an asian salad infused w/hoisin sauce in it. The turn out was great, my friend was extremely happy & yet so excited. She never thought she could be surprised. She was even more shocked that I pulled one off on her. More importantly, she didn't think I'd be there to celebrate w/her either b/c she knew it was my birthday too.
I had to go home the next day. That morning, dad toasted a bagel & made coffee for me. I had the best toasted bagel ever made. Just the right toasty-ness on the top, the right brown-ness, and the right crispy-ness along the sides! He even offered to take me to the airport (awwwe) but I already woke Wenda up to take me and I didn't want her to yell at me for making her get up. As I was leaving, Dad gave me the cutest yet sweetest squeeze like hug from behind. It was such a touching gesture. My dad is the best! I must say! I had a nice 24 hour break from the husband and the kids. Although I can't say I celebrated much on my own birthday, having this 24 hour break, spending time w/my sister, seeing my friend totally surprised & enjoying her 40th birthday, dad making me breakfast and giving me the 'daddy' hug makes it an unforgettable birthday. Seeing & feeling all the love & happiness that whole weekend was enough of a birthday celebration for me!
There you have it....2009 another year of good food, friends, family and happenings and here I am in 2010 off to a good start, again with good food, friends, family and more memories. Who can ask for more!?
Happy New Year to all of you! Wishing you all the best for 2010 and may it be another happy & properous one for all of you!
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