Ramblings

Last night was a mini movie marathon. We rushed over to Hacienda Crossings as soon as the little man returned from golf with daddy at about 6 pm and managed to get there in time to put in two shows - Pirates and Shrek (yep, both the tri-quels, if there is such a word). The little man had yearned for this weekend so we could do just this and at one stage when the timing seemed un-doable, it was sulk-time. He ended the day happy even though we had to eat a midnight dinner courtesy of Wendy's drive-thru.

This is the long Memorial Day weekend. Friday am was just another boring morning of cleaning the house but at least it is a 4-day weekend for moi. Gasoline prices are at an all time high but the Americans are still expected to drive long distances to make the most of the holiday. Today there is no Chinese class for the boy and hence no tennis at AVHS. But I have no regrets. At least we get a break from the Man having to coach one Chinese kid after another gratis. Especially this one boy - I like Gordon because he has a very positive attitude but I cannot say the same of his dad who without any hesitation whatsoever throws his son at the Man every week for an hour of free lessons. Tennis lessons here are something like US$45 an hour. I checked the San Ramon recreation guide for the going rate. And now, there is another boy waiting in the wing whose father seems to be looking to do the same. What started out as our weekly tennis games with Terry and others has turned into free coaching sessions during which I have often to resort to walking on the tracks so I can get my exercises. Bummer.

This afternoon, the kids and I are driving into San Francisco to meet my colleague and his friends for tim sum. He has been raving about this (rather dingy, he says) restaurant that serves the best tim sum without draining your bank account. He wanted Bert, Ryan and I to share his enthusiasm but did not know Nic is already here. Jeff is funny - he says he would not tell anyone else about this restaurant because his parents used to frequent a very good Chinese restaurant when he was a kid and word got around and as the number of patrons increased, the quality of the food went down steadily. So he is keeping mum about this restaurant. I guess we must be very lucky that he considers us good enough friends to want to bring us there.

We were supposed originally to volunteer at the Art and Wind Festival at San Ramon Central Park but we will do that tomorrow. There are supposed to be over 200 arts and crafts booths and all kinds of fun things like kite flying demos at the festival. Hope to take lots of pics to share.

And the days are really warming up. We are all in shorts and tees now and enjoying long hours of sunshine. And I have New York Times every Sunday now to catch up on world events. Great way to spend a few hours.