San Diego County Fair

This is the third year in a row we have gone to the fair with Anthony's parents. We went this year for Father's Day, and we had a blast! Our tradition is to start out the day with a turkey leg and pork chop on-a-stick from this vendor by the Swine Races (they race pigs... we have never watched), make our way through the barn animal displays (I love the pygmy goats they have on display!), and then make our way to the garden exhibits. Some of the gardens they have there are so beautiful and creative, I could only hope to get a grain of an idea from these folks. We also love looking at all the bonsai on display. There is so much to do and see, and so much to eat! We also play this water game, so one of us always wins. I won this giant hippo this year, which was as hard as a rock. I probably should have picked something else. Elaine (Anthony's stepmom) won a Padres bear and a Chargers bear. She was really pleased. We also found this vendor who sold a lot of beautiful asian plants and bonsai. I got a desert rose and a tuber-like plant (I need to look up the name). I also got a 15 minute acupuncture massage... man were my shoulders in need of a massage!

We also found this machine/gadget that carbonates water for you, so you can make your own soda! We tasted just the plain water that they carbonated, and the water tasted different. We bought the machine, and we carbonated some water and just added a twist of lemon and lime to it. Talk about refreshing... hopefully this will make me drink more water throughout the day, and not drink sodas. I will keep you posted on the DIY soda machine. We are very excited about it!

WJW Foundation

I'm helping a friend of mine set up a foundation to help the elderly with costly vet bills. We hope to expand it and help with adoption fees, and hopefully someday, own some land so we can rescue animals and provide them a permanent home after their mom's and dad's pass on if no one else wants them. I finally finished reviewing the brochure... it's taken me a while to get to it. But I finally got it done! We hope to get it to print soon, so we can set up a fundraiser to raise enough funds to incorporate and file for non-profit status. Step 1 is done!

Empress Orchid

I am almost halfway through this book by Anchee Min that I just picked up on Saturday. It's a historical fiction about this young girl from the country joining the Imperial Court as the Emperor's fourth wife. It's really entertaining, and it sucks you right in to the old world. I can only imagine what life must have been like back then. I find myself going online a lot to look things up that I found in the book.

One thing that fascinates me is the eunuch. I wonder how young men and boys back then go through that process, and what makes them go through that process, and the pain they must have gone through. And what sick person actually performs that... thing. Did these boys do it by choice? It's the same thing with ladies who bound their feet (though there are none in the book). I've seen some of the embroidered slippers that ladies with bound feet actually wore, and I can't even imagine the pain these girls went through to have their feet bound. It's such a different world that we live in today. I'm sure that's the reason these books intrigue me so much... life was so different back then, I can only imagine what it was like in my head.

Where did May go?

May is gone. Wow. My dad-in-law has this theory about time that I'll probably butcher, but pretty much time goes by much faster when there are a lot of events going on. May was full of it... travel, time off, a visit from my parents, Mother's Day, Memorial day... it was jammed pack full of good things. It was a very memorable month indeed!

My mom also left behind an inspirational book that she told me to read, and I'm slowly trying to change my attitude about things, and to be happier with what I've got. I think it's slowly working. I'm almost done with the book, but I think I will have to re-read it... or maybe I'll re-read Harry Potter before the movie comes out!

Updates

Wow I can't believe May is almost over, and I haven't been keeping up with my blog. It's been a whirlwind the past week since I got home from my trip to Virginia. The very next day, my parents arrived for a 5-day stay and we were getting things ready for the Mother's Day brunch we were hosting, and we had errands to run too.

We woke up early to get my car in for a service, which never happened, but we managed to get to the farmer's market in Temecula to pick up some fruit and veggies. I also got my car washed, all before we picked my parents up. After picking them up, we had a quick lunch and drove to Moreno Valley to pick up this fruit-arrangement (www.ediblearrangements.com) which we thought was really neat! It was fruit arranged like flowers. That was our centerpiece for our brunch. Then we met up with Anthony's grandparents who had driven in from Arizona for the weekend to see AJ, so we all had dinner together in Corona. Talk about driving... I think I added 250 miles to my car that day!

Anthony woke up really early on Sunday, and by the time we woke up, he had already gone to the store to buy a chicken to rotisserie, and went to Polly's to pick up the pie. He thought it was weird for us to buy a roast chicken (that was our original plan) when we were cooking everything else. So he took care of the chicken, and I can't remember what the heck I cooked. I know I made deviled eggs, garlic bread and butter prawns. Oh and I think Anthony made garlic mashed potatoes too, and I made the gravy. Everyone had fun... I also got to give all the mom's their gifts, so everyone got to open presents too. That was fun! It was like Christmas in the middle of May :)

Monday was more of an R&R day. I had the week off, so I slept in. My mom cleaned out my kitchen pantry and organized it for me (I don't think she could stand the clutter), and we cooked some pontay (a Straitsborn-Chinese dish... will write more about the Straitsborn-Chinese in another post) and curry, and my dad cooked the veggies and soup. We had a lot of food. I remember driving around town to all the Asian markets I could think of looking for Cap Bangau Sweet Soy Sauce, but they didn't have any! Oh well... we managed to do without it for the food we were cooking, thank goodness.

Tuesday was more of the same... we took my parents out to Polly's for breakfast (they have THE BEST belgian waffles), and then we hit Target and Lowe's. That was fun. My parents got a lot of ideas for their new house. We cooked some more.

Wednesday was their last day, so I helped my mom pack her bags, and we cooked some more! Haha. We love food (and I think our bodies show it too... heh). We went out for Japanese food before heading out to LAX that evening. Thankfully, traffic was nonexistent, though the Tom Bradley terminal was packed! We stood with my mom in line to help her with her bags (my dad was travelling on a different airline), so we stuck around until she got her boarding pass. We said our goodbyes, and we headed home. We didn't get home until past midnight.

We slept for a bit and then had to wake up early again on Thursday to get my car taken care off... so that was Thursday. I was so out of it and tired. I worked at home on Friday, and just vegged out on the weekend.

*phew*. I'm a bit sad that my favorite shows are ending... I'm watching the final episode of this season's Dancing with the Stars as I'm typing this blog entry. Oh well... maybe I'll write more about my favorite shows in another entry :)

Trip to Virginia

I'm now at the Denver airport eating some french fries and a hot dog for lunch. I'm hungry, and the line for Mickey D's is ridiculously long. Plus I don't really feel like a box lunch from United. I'm on my way home from my second trip to Virginia. It's been a rather fun and intense week.

My flight to D.C. from Ontario was pretty uneventful, except that the video system didn't work and I didn't get to watch Music & Lyrics, which I really wanted to see! That sucked, and the lady who sat next to me kept chewing on her nails non-stop and that bugged me a bit too.

I didn't get to my hotel in Old Town Alexandria until 10.30 on Monday night. I was still working on west coast time. I got set up in a really ritzy Hilton hotel, since all the other hotels were booked up and the Hilton was within walking distance of the office I was to visit, Sciences International. Talk about plush... the carpets were so thick I had trouble dragging my suitcase along, and the towels were thick and fluffy. Very very nice furnishings too. I was comfortable, except they had feather pillows and they just don't give me enough neck support. So I slept really badly the first night, especially since my room was across the way from the metro station and train tracks.

There's something about old colonial style brick buildings... I think they're cool. To think that they have been standing there since the late 1600's. Just amazing. I walked down to the river and all the way back up to my hotel mid-week. I got a lot of shopping done for Mother's Day, and there were so many neat stores in the old buildings. I stopped by the Ramsey House, named after the founder of the town or the first mayor... I can't remember which. It's now a visitor's center, but they were closed by the time I got there. I picked up a guide to Alexandria while I was there, but I kicked myself for not reading it first before I started walking again. I missed doing the walking tour of some of the more historic buildings there... George Washington's old townhouse was just a block away! All in all, I think I walked about 24 blocks that day... which is a huge accomplishment for me!

I met up with a buddy of mine who lives out there. The weather was beautiful! We had a really nice dinner and he drove me around some of the monuments at night. We didn't stop anywhere, and he had to work the next morning so we didn't stay out too late, plus I had to pack.

I had a really nice ride to the airport... I guess the driver who took me to the airport has this secret road he takes to Dulles, that doesn't involve traffic. It was such a scenic drive! Drove by some of the monuments by day, and this area by the river which was just woodsy and oh so green. I made it to Dulles with plenty of time to spare, and there was almost no one at the check in counters! The last time I was there on a Saturday, that place was packed, so I planned for extra time just in case there was a line. I hate rushing anyway, so this worked out just fine.

Anyhoo... I got some breakfast and took it on the plane, and I got an ice blended drink from Dunkin Donuts. Pretty good, but not great. Anyway... the freakin stewardess who was asking us what to drink didn't see it or chose not to see my drink, so when she leaned over to drop napkins on the other folks tray tables, her sleeve or skirt or something caught on my drink and she spilled it! And instead of apologizing, she said "Jesus Christ! That wasn't a very good place to put a drink!".... uh... excuse me? SHE spilled MY drink, not the other way around. How rude. She never did apologize for spilling my drink, and she almost didn't ask me what I wanted to drink... b*tch. That kinda spoiled my mood. I think I will go to the UA website and write a complaint.

Anyhoo... the United Economy Plus seats are pretty nice. I didn't realize how much more space an extra 6 inches gives you. It was a really good flight otherwise. They were showing the Painted Veil, so I finally got to watch it. It was a pretty good movie. By the time the movie was over, it was close to landing time.

I want to get home to get some sleep... sleep has been eluding me this week. My folks arrive tomorrow, and we're hosting mother's day brunch on Sunday. It'll be a busy weekend, but I'm taking next week off to spend time with my parents, so I'm very much looking forward to it.

To all the Mom's out there... HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

Sinks for Beds

My cats love sleeping in the bathroom sink... they don't care if it's wet or dry!

AJ Kenniston is born!

I am officially an aunt today! Anthony Joseph (AJ) Nicholas Kenniston was born at 9.40 a.m., weighing 6 pounds 11 ounces, 19 1/4 inches in length. I got to hold him when he was just two hours old! It's amazing. He's the best looking baby!! Mom Meagan and Dad Joe are tired, but doing great. That's Anthony with little AJ.

Closet update

I DID IT! I finally cleaned out my closet and organized it! I never thought it would happen (neither did Anthony), so now my challenge will be to keep it cleaned and organized. It was a little disturbing to see how many clothes I had "outgrown". I guess that will be my next big long-term goal... get rid of some excess baggage. But either way, my closet looks great. I should have taken pictures before, during and after. I have a big pile of clothes to donate. I still have a few more things to put back in there, but it's pretty much there. Next: The guest room. My folks are coming in two weeks and I'd like to get that room ready for their arrival.

Drama!

Shortly after I posted my last update, I saw someone slamming the side gate to my back yard shut, and my door bell rang. A police officer was standing out there. The first thing I blurted out was "Those aren't my dogs".

Let me back track a little bit... remember the dogs I wrote about in "Terrors in the Night"? I know they get loose and roam the neighborhood, and they always bark at the kitties outside their window, but they usually go away when we close the blinds and don't bother us. They also usually don't get into our yard when the side gate is closed. For some reason, maybe it was the rain, they decided to bash through the gate anyway, and the latch isn't very secure so it gave way. They left after a while, and I went out to close the door, and I made sure it was latched this time.

I heard a commotion outside, and a lot of barking, so I went to the kitty room to see what was going on. I saw the kids across the street from us shooing the dogs away. I guess they scared them enough that one of the dogs decided to squeeze his way in (the gate is warped), even though the door was latched. The other one kept running around trying to get into the yard every once in a while. I saw the other dog who squeezed in trying to get out, so I decided to brave walking outside to open the gate for him. He was as huge german shepard. His buddy was a pitbull. He started growling and barking at me when I got closer, probably because he felt cornered, so I slowly backed away and came back inside. After his buddy left, I went out from the front to get the gate open, hoping they would both get out, but the other one decided to come in, and they both just stayed! That's when the police officer came by.

He told me that they had tried to attack the kids across the street, and that they needed to contain them in my yard until Animal Control came. He asked if I knew who they belonged to, and I said that I suspect they belong to the folks two doors away from us. He told me that they would be contacting the owners, and I should just stay inside the house. So I sat in my living room, watching the dogs, and they must have sensed something, because the pitbull decided to dig under the fence to get into my neighbors yard. After a while, he tunneled his way through, leaving the shepard behind. So I went outside to tell the officer that, and he swore. He told me to just stay inside the house again.

I peeked outside the kitty room window, and I saw two police cruisers out on the street in front of my house and my neighbors house, and neighbors just peeking out through windows. Jeeze! I hoped the neighbors didn't think it was our dogs.

Anyway, Animal Control finally came, and man did they have a hard time catching the shepard! They kept chasing him all over and they finally cornered him on the other side of the house (I didn't see it), but I did see them leading him outside on that leash-thing that the AC officers use.

Then they went into my neighbors yard to corner the pitbull, but he kept squeezing his way back and forth until they used my wheelbarrow to cover the whole he had dug. They finally got him too. Man. And the owners never showed up the whole time.

When the officer came back to let me know that the dogs were caught, I asked him if the kids knew that the dogs weren't ours, for fear of retribution to our kitties. He said everyone knew who they belonged to, so I was told not to worry. I feel a little sorry for the dogs. They never bothered us, but I guess they crossed a line today when they bothered the kids. I hope they will be safe from harm where they are. Shame on the owners who let this happen to them! I took a picture of the dogs. What drama!