Fresh and Flesh

There was snow on Mount Diablo today. As Ryan and I were driving to school and the office, we could see a considerable amount of the white stuff on the mountain, a fairly rare sight indeed. It has been twice in recent months. Last night, the news reports had lots of coverage about snow storms in Napa County and I-80, the road we took to Sacramento and Lake Tahoe. The blizzard was so heavy, the cars were stranded 5 miles long and people were basically spending the day and night in their cars. People were making money out of fitting snow chains on the hapless drivers but it is tough work anyway in the cold.

I wished I had taken a picture of Mt Diablo with its white covers. The snow may be gone by tomorrow. It is not a particularly high mountain.

It has been raining a fair amount this week with the rain just pouring on Monday and Tuesday. Today was dry but the air was crispy cold. Quite refreshing in a way.

On the home front, father and son have both been inflicted with finger infections. The thumbs of the boy had turned an ugly blue black from some bacterial infection that was peeling away his flesh at the base of the thumb nails. Father had to bring him to see a doctor and he is applying medication to regain the healthy pink of normal skin. FatherTey, on the other hand, has been growing an angry wart and is intent on self medicating his way to a wartless state. The over the counter drug is working but he is now nursing a small but deep hole where the wart had peeled off. Freaky, if you ask me. My inside froze and shrank when with a wicked grin, flash his prize wound in front of my face at the dinner table. Yuks!

Boy Blues

What do you do with a boy who is so home-bound, bringing him out on any event is a batttle of will? Witness this:

Ryan (whining as usual): Where are we going?
FatherTey: We are going everywhere we want to go!

And UJ, thanks for calling us to talk to us. It is okay that it was 5am. Just hearing your voice made us felt so good!

Cherries & Cheerings

Happy Wonderful Birthday, Uncle J!

And in remembrance of this important day, here are some cherry blossoms from the tree outside our house to cheer everyone up.

The naked trees are beginning to dress themselves up in blooms to await the arrival of spring. The mountains are still green and sunlight so cheerful. We just laid eyes on a very picturesque view coming down from the square where Albertson's is located near our house. The sun was shining on large sections of the rolling foothills so the grassy slopes looked absolutely fresh and bright while the rest of the undulating hillsides to the left and right were slightly shaded. The whole scene could have come from a painting - it was that beautiful. I wish I had brought my camera.

Festive Food

The cherry blossoms are starting to show themselves. I am going to take some pictures to post them up soon.

It is the third day of the Chinese New Year and I have already been at work for 2 days. But we did go to the Lai's family home and got to know a whole bunch of Singaporeans and some Malaysians who have been here for a long long time. Kind of a reunion dinner. But I was totally unprepared for the ang pows that they started handing out to the kids. Had to scramble to get the ang pows from Nic and Ryan so I could reuse the red packets. Should have known better with Singaporeans and Malaysians yeah? The food was good - satay, paper wrapped chicken, etc.

Then on the first day of New Year, we went for a nice lunch at Uncle Yu's and then shopping for Nic's clothes at Marshall's when I got a call from Mrs Tan to join them for dinner with the Lai's. So we had a sort of New Year gathering. But this time, I was ready with the red packets except there were only the two Tan kids to hand them to. Mr Tan (he calls himself Keng) can really cook - Hainanese chicken, fa choi vegetable dish, fish plus other traditional CNY type food. They even dressed up their very nice house with CNY decorations. Felt like home.

Good to have made some friends.

Greetings Galore

Happy Chinese New Year to our Families and Friends.

It was fun talking to you on the phone early in the morning here so we can catch you all on the first day of the new year. I wish we were there with you to enjoy the festive moods and load up on all the goodies but you can be sure we were definitely there in spirit if not in person.

From us here in San Ramon, we wish you all:

新年快乐，万事如意 , 年年有餘

Exciting Evening

We have an invitation to join a group of Singapore families who happen to also live here for dinner this evening. Well actually, we had an invitation some 2 weeks or so ago as well but we gently turned it down because Nic like told us quite last minute and we were psychologically not quite prepared for a social potluck evening. But we are are going to this one, especially since she went to all the trouble to call me personally yesterday and today. I did not answer the call yesterday - did not even hear any phone ring but I was half dead to the world from a very restless nap.

It is about time to start building a social network here. The lady who called is the mother of Nic's classmate and it seems they have lived here for a long time. We shall find out more, I am sure, this evening. It will be a proxy, I guess, for a Chinese New Year reunion dinner since we won't have one with our own families. We had thought of going to the restaurant next to Stoneridge Mall but this is even better. At least we can talk Singlish and have good ol' Singapore food.

And so to our families on the other side of the Pacific, HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR! We miss you dearly and when you eat and drink and gossip, please remember lonely us here. Cheers!

CNY Cheers

We are missing the Chinese New Year cheer here. It is business as usual everyday and I have to work on Monday. The kids are luckier. They are off tomorrow and on Monday which happens to be President's Day (think it is Lincoln's birthday or something like that). So it is a long CNY weekend for them. Except of course, there are no relatives to visit, no bak kua, ang paos, CNY goodies and no company. Pretty lonely.

One of my Singapore colleagues have, however, invited us to his house next Saturday for CNY celebrations. That's something at least.

Surprisingly, the half man has been very agreeable all week to going golfing with his dad tomorrow at Callippe Reserve golf course. Took both of us by surprise. He even checked out all the course online hole by hole to see what barriers there are cos daddy warned him the course is not easy. What a change of heart. Dad and I went to Callippe on Sunday because the tennis courts at Amador Valley High were wet and no one was playing. It looks pretty nice - very well kept as almost all courses are here, even the public courses. Cheap too. Just $11 or $13 for kids for 18 holes. They are discussing the game now on the bed - junior is asking senior to play badly so he won't look so bad :).

To our families on both sides (Tay's and Ng's) and the dear friends we left behind in Singapore, especially Abby, David and Miya, we wish you a Happy and Most Prosperous New Year. We miss you all.

Wet Weather

It is a very foggy morning. From the rains we have had over the past few days. So the air has a damp and crisp coldness to it.

The bare trees have started to bud and you can see the tiny white fluff showing up here and there on the branches if you peer closely enough. Some trees are already covered with white blooms but these are still few and far in between.

Spring is beginning to edge winter out here.

But someone in ox-town is still buried in the latest snow storm that tore through North East USA yesterday. Do envy us here.

Nano Nonsense

Today, I got news that I have won a Nano iPod from the company. Yay! For taking part in a survey. So what shall I do with my Qool that has served me so faithfully through all my jogs at Hwa Chong's tracks and the long walks up and down the streets of Serangoon Gardens? Maybe I will keep the iPod as a special gift for someone. Or maybe not...

The days are getting longer and warmer. It is getting very pleasant. Sun is slowly rising earlier and setting later so it is already light when I drive out in the morning and still not too dark when I leave the office at 6:15 or 6:30 pm. I like it. And soon it should be bright enough even in the evenings to take the brisk walks that I miss so much, with my new iPod in my ears. Double yay.

Except of course, I shall soon have to go to Houston for a few days and then return to immediately leave for India. It is going to be a very tiring few weeks going from SFO to Hyderabad, Mumbai and Chennai and then to Singapore. I have so many errands in my head to do in Singapore. Don't know if I can get them all done. YY, may I borrow your car please? Public transport will probably put paid to my laundry list of things to do. How about bunking in with me for a day or two in the Intercon? I should have a weekend there.

Kids seem to be in foul moods. But I am not. Because I will soon have a Nano in the company mail.

Aceing with A's

It was 11 pm and too late for someone who needed to get up at 6 am to go to school the following day. And because she could not rest, I could not rest. And so we lay at odd angles on my brand new Aireloom mattress with the 4" memory foam watching Shark waiting for the dreaded and yet not dreaded phone call from a certain YY. I had a 7 am meeting and would need to leave the house by 6:30 am so I was not going to get the rest I needed but when you have a nervous 16-year old who is on the verge of crossing a milestone in her young life, what can a mother do but be there?

And the call came and you can tell from her tone of voice and the body twitches, that it was not bad. She hung up the phone, jumped onto my 4" memory foam and pestered dad and mom into asking her the anticipated question. But we played coy of course and simply smiled at her. We knew she would not be able to hold back for long. True enough. "I got 8 points!" So here it is: 4 A1's and 2 A2's. She already knew her Chinese grades since mid-2006 (B3) and she had a B3 for Literature (not good, given her command of English and amount of reading she does).

Thank you, YeeYee, for making the time and effort to get Nic's results and calling us. You know we love you a lot.

So Nic is the star. She has done well. This calls for a celebration of sorts.

Nervous Nic

There is a very nervous girl in the house. She is anticipating the release of the GCE "O" level results and telling us YY will be calling at 10 pm to spill the beans. I don't know if this is the cause, I suspect not. But her cheeks are really rosy today. While Ryan's have been slowly gaining a powdery kind of rosiness from the cooler weather here, the girl's cheeks seem to have just developed a much heavier tinge of red today. She attributes it to the cold but recent days have been much warmer - almost like when we first arrive in August. Maybe it is the nerves, hee hee.

Sound Sleep

And I am in constant pain. For weeks now but especially in the last three days, I have had a numbing headache that won't go away and aches all over my shoulders and back. I am tired and sleepy all the time and even a power nap does not help. I figure it must be the 12-year old mattress. It has served us well and faithfully through two homes in Singapore and now here in San Ramon but the poor thing has two sunken areas the shape of our bodies. The springs are obviously losing their bounce. Time to put the old BeautyRest to bed (pun intended).

So after tennis today, we went mattress hunting. To be delivered tomorrow. Spent more than I had intended but if we are going to spend a third of our lives on it and if it is going to last till I am retired, I think it is better to get something that will promise better sleep and no pain. We'll see. An Aireloom with a 4" foam. Yummm! And the lady in Mancini's was nice enough to give us 2 foam pillows and a mite- and smell- and water-proof mattress protector. All made in the U S of A. Can't wait for tomorrow to get a good night's sleep. Yawn.

Mumblings...

There goes the Man and A Half. It is painful how the two of them struggle to get out of the house on time for the weekly golf lessons. The boy really needs to perk up - I am at a loss how to shape his attitude and behaviour. He is so lacklustre about everything. No passion about anything. Takes forever to get up and eat his breakfast, then another enternity to bathe, change, step out of the house, etc, etc. Meanwhile daddy is up and about and ready in 5 minutes. How do you instill passion in one who had life too easy from birth? How do you make them "hungry" enough to make the most of what has been given to them? It pains us that we scrimp on most things and scrounge around for savings and they blow away the money spent when the things or opportunities that are given are not treasured or used to the fullest.

Shaping Steps

This is excruciating. I wrote up a post, tried to save my work, and to my surprise got kicked out and lost it all. Urh!

What was I saying? Let me recall.

Yes, I am going back to Singapore in March en-route to India. So folks, do you need anything from this part of the world? Send me your wishlist and if it is within my means, I will bring the stuff with me. But I am so going to indulge in chicken rice and all the greasy, unhealthy hawker food and teh alia and visit the mom and mom-in-law. Of course. Not in this order of priority/preference so don't read too much between the lines please.

Other than that, life has settled into the humdrum cycle of normality. It is hard to believe that it has only been 3 weeks since the end of the long vacation as the tumultous thirteen. The daylight hours are beginning to lengthen and the days (and nights) are definitely warming up. Even the Man is feeling comfy - there is definitely less layering and a lot less sight of fleece. Hee hee. Last night, we even slept without central heating. BYY would definitely have enjoyed California more now.

But the days of trying to keep the tumultous thirteen warm in the freezing house are still showing up in my heating bills. They are in the several hundreds range. Ouch. I would have keeled over if this happened in Singapore. The bulk of the costs came from the gas fireplace. So this has put paid to the Man's theory that heating up with gas is probably cheaper than with electricity. The bills show otherwise. We definitely need to remember to keep the fireplace cold.

And this week, the team building workshop that I seemed to have spent an eternity organizing finally happened. I humbly declare it to have been a success. All the efforts spent planning, plotting and cajoling to put together a day offsite exploring ingenuity and innovation and just plain letting the hair down paid off. Not only did all my team members showed up (a rare occurence in the days before me, as I understand) but everyone had a lot of fun. Inviting the other half of the office to join us was also an unequivocal success. We shared, we bonded and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. I am starting to feel like I am making a difference to the climate in the office and in shaping my team culture in a positive way. Wish me luck on this journey!