This week has been pretty nice, being on leave and with Carynn and Stef here from Buffalo. The girls arrived on Tuesday and will stay for 12 days. It is also Thanksgiving week and we all trooped down to Nik's house on Thanksgiving Day which was Thursday for turkey dinner with a bunch of friends. It is always very enjoyable on those occasions. Both husband and wife are good cooks and always serve a wonderful meal.
On Wednesday, we went up to Muir Woods and Stinson Beach where we had a very American lunch with a bunch of houseflies for company and then a long and very winding drive down Pacific Highway 1 ending at Golden Gate Bridge. I managed to get to the South Vista Point where we had the mandatory touristy photo moments. And I made a wrong turn trying to get into the City and ended driving North on the Golden Gate Bridge so had to do a U turn off the Northern Vista Point and paying the $5 bridge toll a second time. Sigh!
And since we were heading home through Frisco, we decided to just thrill the girls by driving down the curviest road in the world at 5 mph. It was already dusk and a little hard to see but the girls gave the expected oohs and ahhs as we slowly crawled down Lombard Street. Then happy that we had done the must-do in downtown San Francisco, we headed home.
Yesterday was Black Friday so of course, we girls had to go shopping. The Man and Half Man would rather stay home and watch TV. Off we went to Walnut Creek with Carynn behind the wheels. There were some good deals - the girls got a lot of shirts and bags from H&M at prices to die for, like $1 and $5 and with a 25% discount to top it all off if you pay before 12 noon. Then to StoneRidge Mall where we went only to Forever 21 which had no sale yet the store was full of people and clothes all over the place. Yet we still found somethings to buy. You do get carried away with the crowd.
So much for Black Friday. We spent the rest of the day pretty much doing nothing with some of us snoozing and the rest cybersurfing. Today is starting late. It is already past 11 and Stef is still in bed and C on the phone as usual talking to her Ox-Town friends. They can talk for hours. Amazing. First Tee lessons for the Half Man ended couple of weeks ago and the second session only starts next week. I wonder what we will do today. Maybe go for a spin on Pacific Highway 1? South this time of course to Santa Cruz and Carmel. But it is already getting late and Stef is still in bed...
And I cannot post the CalHigh marching band video. At 1.2 GB, it is way too big for YouTube. But check out the videos that others had posted.
Saturday, November 24, 2007
Monday, November 19, 2007
Winning Watch
Pics from Fairfield. Videos to be added later.
Clockwise from top left:
Daddy in the stand; daddy, Uncle Keng and Auntie Nic; prizes waiting to be given away; and CalHigh marching band in their uniforms in the opposite stand waiting for the winning announcements.
Ramblings
So today, I went for Lasik eye exam. Just to get a second assessment. The first one I went to a couple of weeks ago said I could go for mono vision in both eyes and be able to both read and see far without glasses anymore. Be rid of the bane of all of my adult life. But the doctor was "not in the network" so to speak of our eye medical insurance so there was no deduction whatsoever. Thought I would get a second opinion and a second cost estimate just to see. No pun intended.
Well, the clinic today in Concord was definitely more hi-tech. All kinds of sophisticated eye equipment. I got my eyes shoned at, my glasses checked and ailments validated. They put some drops in both eyes to dilate the pupils and scan the retinas. Not so good, I discovered later trying to drive home with the half man. The pupils were apparently so dilated, I could barely look at the sun shining through the windshield. Very disconcerting and harsh even through my polaroid Oakley. So I was extra careful on the road. But this clinic does not recommend mono vision - the doctor had done a lot of them but had stopped because the treatment is still "unstable". The prognosis is it would involve elongating my far-sighted eye even more.
Bottomline: both clinics are expensive, but the first one a tad more because the second is currently offering $200 off per eye plus I get a 5% discount because of eye med. But I have decided not to go ahead with either of them - I want to be able to read without glasses, not to get rid of my far-sightedness and astigmatism. These latter do not bother me as much and if the technology to get rid of presbyopia is still "not stable", then I am not willing to spend close to $4,000 to go through Lasik. My kids' college funds come first. Sigh!
Last Saturday, we went to Fairfield for the marching band championship. The finale of the months of training and competition. It was a fitting finale. CalHigh came in first in its class - Class A. The band was splendid. I was such a proud parent, trying to hold my small little digital camera still to take the video and trying to watch over the camera at the same time. The band gave its best performance ever. But the video file is so big - over 1 GB so I am unable to upload it for now. Got to find a way to compress it enough to fit the YouTube 100 MB limit. Going to be challenging. But then again, there are so many much better quality videos of CalHigh's last hurrah, I don't know why I even bother. Actually, I do. It is because my kid was there, in that band, giving her best after months of sun and rain and heat and cold, stumbling and falling, picking herself up, learning teamwork and collaboration and coordination and what it takes to win. And that was why I needed to be there for the competitions, come rain or shine, shivering in the cold blustering wind despite being all wrapped up, losing all sensatons on our bottoms and feet on those uncomfortable stadium seats and shouting my lungs out every time CalHigh is announced. And why I encouraged my little man to shout "Go Nicole!" so his sister would know we were there for her. These are memories for a lifetime.
I could not help but think how far we had come from a tiny tropical paper-chasing island.
Well, the clinic today in Concord was definitely more hi-tech. All kinds of sophisticated eye equipment. I got my eyes shoned at, my glasses checked and ailments validated. They put some drops in both eyes to dilate the pupils and scan the retinas. Not so good, I discovered later trying to drive home with the half man. The pupils were apparently so dilated, I could barely look at the sun shining through the windshield. Very disconcerting and harsh even through my polaroid Oakley. So I was extra careful on the road. But this clinic does not recommend mono vision - the doctor had done a lot of them but had stopped because the treatment is still "unstable". The prognosis is it would involve elongating my far-sighted eye even more.
Bottomline: both clinics are expensive, but the first one a tad more because the second is currently offering $200 off per eye plus I get a 5% discount because of eye med. But I have decided not to go ahead with either of them - I want to be able to read without glasses, not to get rid of my far-sightedness and astigmatism. These latter do not bother me as much and if the technology to get rid of presbyopia is still "not stable", then I am not willing to spend close to $4,000 to go through Lasik. My kids' college funds come first. Sigh!
Last Saturday, we went to Fairfield for the marching band championship. The finale of the months of training and competition. It was a fitting finale. CalHigh came in first in its class - Class A. The band was splendid. I was such a proud parent, trying to hold my small little digital camera still to take the video and trying to watch over the camera at the same time. The band gave its best performance ever. But the video file is so big - over 1 GB so I am unable to upload it for now. Got to find a way to compress it enough to fit the YouTube 100 MB limit. Going to be challenging. But then again, there are so many much better quality videos of CalHigh's last hurrah, I don't know why I even bother. Actually, I do. It is because my kid was there, in that band, giving her best after months of sun and rain and heat and cold, stumbling and falling, picking herself up, learning teamwork and collaboration and coordination and what it takes to win. And that was why I needed to be there for the competitions, come rain or shine, shivering in the cold blustering wind despite being all wrapped up, losing all sensatons on our bottoms and feet on those uncomfortable stadium seats and shouting my lungs out every time CalHigh is announced. And why I encouraged my little man to shout "Go Nicole!" so his sister would know we were there for her. These are memories for a lifetime.
I could not help but think how far we had come from a tiny tropical paper-chasing island.
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Birthday Bashes?
Happy Birthday Uncle Damien and Auntie Siew Mun. And Happy Anniversary too! We miss all of you. We wish you many many happy returns. With much love, the Teys
Sunday, November 11, 2007
Champs
Yesterday was rainy. So the marching band competition at Logan High School got washed out. I had gone to get some food and drinks at the shopping square nearby leaving the Man and a Half waiting in the car. So it was with a heavy heart and two somewhat heavy grocery bags that I trudge the 3 blocks or so back to the car because they wanted to call it quits and go home rather than sit on wet benches in the cold watching the kids marching to their own music. We had come all this way and if the kids are game enough to march in the cold and wet, we should support them all the more.
But luckily for us, the event was shiifted to the indoor pavilion but there would be no competition. There simply is not enough space for the bands to go through their routines. And to my delight when we heard the announcement over the loud speaker while huddled miserably in the car, the Half Man immediately lept up and said, it's indoor, we can stay. Off we went to join the long line of families making their way to the indoor stadium. While we all waited patiently outside, the school staff and organizers laid tarps to protect the hardwood floor and set up the ticket booths to resume sales. So $34 poorer later, we sat up high warm and dry applauding all the bands who still gave their best. I will post the CalHigh performance soon - they were much better than they have ever been. Next week will be the final competition. I wish I had a webcam - the camera is ok but its zoom is limited and there is no tripod to cut out the shake.
But the time devoted to the band has consequences. Hopefully the grades will be back where they belong beginning week after next. You can do it, girl. Be the champ you are entirely capable of being.
But luckily for us, the event was shiifted to the indoor pavilion but there would be no competition. There simply is not enough space for the bands to go through their routines. And to my delight when we heard the announcement over the loud speaker while huddled miserably in the car, the Half Man immediately lept up and said, it's indoor, we can stay. Off we went to join the long line of families making their way to the indoor stadium. While we all waited patiently outside, the school staff and organizers laid tarps to protect the hardwood floor and set up the ticket booths to resume sales. So $34 poorer later, we sat up high warm and dry applauding all the bands who still gave their best. I will post the CalHigh performance soon - they were much better than they have ever been. Next week will be the final competition. I wish I had a webcam - the camera is ok but its zoom is limited and there is no tripod to cut out the shake.
But the time devoted to the band has consequences. Hopefully the grades will be back where they belong beginning week after next. You can do it, girl. Be the champ you are entirely capable of being.
Saturday, November 03, 2007
Musings
It's been a while. Life's been rather hectic lately in the office. And weekends are pretty much filled with errands, going to marching band competitions to support one Nicole and more work, of the house type. I need a life!
As I watch the leaves along the roads to Iron Horse and the office turn yellow, then orange, then red and then fall to the ground, it is with some regret. Because I can see in my mind's eye capturing them on stills as they pass through each phase but they change so fast, almost daily that before you know it, the trees are almost bare and the ground is carpeted with them. Too late to set up the camera and encapsulate the magic of the season.
Looks like we will spend this winter without guests. Maybe we'll go to Vegas, see the sights and help me put my remaining vacation days to good use. It's use them or lose them unlike my US colleagues. But I need to start planning soon. Time just passes by so fast these days.
So I finally found the energy and willpower to use up the $20 coupon I bought at the May wind and arts festival and paid the chiropractor a visit. First visit was mostly about making me sign a bunch of paper, some of which I refused to entertain, mostly relating to my paying if my insurance refuses. Got the poor receptionist in trouble with the doctor because he did not like me keeping back those forms. Then it was scanning my vertebrae to see how good my nerves are and lots of x-rays of the spine.
Next visit was yesterday. The x-rays were very revealing although I had known about the problem for some time. It does look like I am doomed to lots of chiropractic visits in the coming year. Better that than problems in my old age, eh? Actually, I don't feel bad these days. I particularly enjoy the 4 hours of tennis each Sunday with the Chinese gang at Amador Valley High (except when the Man seems more intent on coaching for free than stroking with moi). I feel I am playing much better these days although I am still very breathless when playing single against the Man. The murmuring heart just cannot keep up with the body's need for oxygen. Curved spine and bad heart - what more ominous combination can a person ask for? It is a miracle I am still around after all the crises that have dogged my past.
But like I say, I feel good and tennis Sunday helps make up for the lack of exercise the rest of the week.
Halloween came and went and here are some pics of the cuties who came by for treating and tricking:
And I went to a CalHigh parents' meeting for seniors' grad night preparation recently. Seems parents are roped in to prepare for the grad night for seniors and the celebration go on all day and into the wee hours of the night. Keng was there too and said he and his wife may volunteer to help with the cooking. I am not sure what to sign up for - cloak room duty? A possibility. Don't think I can spare the time for anything else and I certainly don't have the connection to get a free car for the lucky draw. Then I sneaked over to the stadium to look at the kids practising for the next marching band competition. And found that Keng was also there. Took some videos of them. Unfortunately, not of the moments Nicole stumbled and fell to the grass still clutching her clarinet and getting entangled with the marching feet of her fellow clarinetists. But like the true champ that she is, she picked herself up and got back into rhythm. And my heart rallied from my feet where it had dropped when she fell and swelled with pride.
As I watch the leaves along the roads to Iron Horse and the office turn yellow, then orange, then red and then fall to the ground, it is with some regret. Because I can see in my mind's eye capturing them on stills as they pass through each phase but they change so fast, almost daily that before you know it, the trees are almost bare and the ground is carpeted with them. Too late to set up the camera and encapsulate the magic of the season.
Looks like we will spend this winter without guests. Maybe we'll go to Vegas, see the sights and help me put my remaining vacation days to good use. It's use them or lose them unlike my US colleagues. But I need to start planning soon. Time just passes by so fast these days.
So I finally found the energy and willpower to use up the $20 coupon I bought at the May wind and arts festival and paid the chiropractor a visit. First visit was mostly about making me sign a bunch of paper, some of which I refused to entertain, mostly relating to my paying if my insurance refuses. Got the poor receptionist in trouble with the doctor because he did not like me keeping back those forms. Then it was scanning my vertebrae to see how good my nerves are and lots of x-rays of the spine.
Next visit was yesterday. The x-rays were very revealing although I had known about the problem for some time. It does look like I am doomed to lots of chiropractic visits in the coming year. Better that than problems in my old age, eh? Actually, I don't feel bad these days. I particularly enjoy the 4 hours of tennis each Sunday with the Chinese gang at Amador Valley High (except when the Man seems more intent on coaching for free than stroking with moi). I feel I am playing much better these days although I am still very breathless when playing single against the Man. The murmuring heart just cannot keep up with the body's need for oxygen. Curved spine and bad heart - what more ominous combination can a person ask for? It is a miracle I am still around after all the crises that have dogged my past.
But like I say, I feel good and tennis Sunday helps make up for the lack of exercise the rest of the week.
Halloween came and went and here are some pics of the cuties who came by for treating and tricking:
And I went to a CalHigh parents' meeting for seniors' grad night preparation recently. Seems parents are roped in to prepare for the grad night for seniors and the celebration go on all day and into the wee hours of the night. Keng was there too and said he and his wife may volunteer to help with the cooking. I am not sure what to sign up for - cloak room duty? A possibility. Don't think I can spare the time for anything else and I certainly don't have the connection to get a free car for the lucky draw. Then I sneaked over to the stadium to look at the kids practising for the next marching band competition. And found that Keng was also there. Took some videos of them. Unfortunately, not of the moments Nicole stumbled and fell to the grass still clutching her clarinet and getting entangled with the marching feet of her fellow clarinetists. But like the true champ that she is, she picked herself up and got back into rhythm. And my heart rallied from my feet where it had dropped when she fell and swelled with pride.
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