Hair of the Dog

Well we had our traditional Chinese New Year's meal last night. Evidently this is the meal you have on the second night of the New Year. The main dish is the one with dried mushrooms, dried oysters and the black moss that looks just like hair. Hence Hair of the Dog. We also had a whole chicken and when I say whole, it was. I think that I will declare now that Cinco De Mayo is a week long event. I have added some photo's so you can experience my joy through your eyes. Please don't worry, I have saved some for all of you!

Year of the Dog

Well the Year of the Dog has arrived in all it's glory. I can only imagine what Pizzaman must be experiencing in Shanghai. It must be 10 times more festive than it is here. We did the house cleaning on Saturday and finished before nightfall. The King and I then took her parents out to dinner for New Year's eve. Everyone had to wash their hair on that day because you do not wash your hair on New Year's day in fear you will wash away any good fortune. You also are not allowed to do any work on New Year's Day. I'm cool with that one. We then went o DimSum on New Year's Day with the rest of the Asian community here. Everyone wearing their new clothes and wearing red. It wasn't to hard for me to find something red to wear. The kids then went to visit all of their grandparents so that they could get their Red Envelopes, which are filled with crisp new bills. The King and I went out for dinner while the kids were counting their money and I just had to go get a steak, I had plenty of Chinese food for a few days. Tonight we will have the traditional New Year's meal that has one of my favorites.....Not! It's a black seaweed that looks and taste just like hair. Can't wait for that! That's it for know from here. Gung Hei Fat Choi!

American Idol

Well it's our favorite time of year again. That's right American Idol. The kids and I really enjoy sitting down and laughing our heads off at all the these people who think they are the next Idol. I like the ones that say they always win Karaoke contest and their friends say they should enter. Every Karaoke bar I've been to, people are usually really drunk by the time they get up to sing and so are their friends that are there. Last night they were in West Coast Peavine, how embarrassing!

New Year Preparations

Well you can see that it is getting closer to the Chinese New Years. The Flower Festival was this last weekend and I'm sure a lot of overpriced flowers, fruit trees and flowering tree branches were purchased. It's funny, our flowering plum tree out front always seems to get pruned this time of year by someone. You would pay about $50 for a branch at the Flower Festival. The girls went out on Sunday and got their New Years haircuts and I gave one to Elijah. We will now put our Pomellos and our tangerines along with the New Years candy and leave it until just before it rots.

Winchester House

I was in meetings all of last week in Concord. On one of the days we did a Team Building activity and went to the Winchester House down in San Jose. It was owned by the widow and heir to the Winchester Gun company. The lady was told by a phychic after her husband and child had died that she was being haunted by the spirits of people that had died at the hands of a Winchester gun. And to keep the spirits away she would have to keep building on her house. She kept workers busy 24/7 for 34 years. There are stairs that go into the ceiling, windows in the floor. You could easily get lost in there. It was really pretty interesting, but very spooky.

And So It Begins

Well this past weekend started off pretty wet, which actually gave us a chance to take down all of our Christmas decorations. Then it was time to work on the rest of the house. I cleaned out some of my drawers and am amazed at how many clothes I have. After thinning it out a bit we then went out and had dinner with some of Elisa's oldest friends at a really nice Chinese resturant in South San Francisco. The food was really good and her friends are really nice people.
Sunday was a beautifull day with plenty of sun. I started out by cleaning out the aquarium and then watching football games. Elisa went to Dim Sum with her Mother and brother Wing, and then on to her favorite sport... SHOPPING! Last night we had the first of many family dinners to celebrate the Chinese New Year which is in 2 weeks. That was about it out here on the West Coast.

Sac Town Gathering

Well the West Coast Peavine group gathered this past Saturday for Brandon and Estela's wedding. It was a very nice event with some great mexican food at the reception that followed. It was nice to see that the family cleans up very well and we look respectable when we need to. We then spent the day on Sunday enjoying the food in the Bay Area with family and friends as we tried out two new Chinese restuarants. Afterwards we spent the rest of a nice winter day hanging out at the zoo and taking in the sun. Looking forward to seeing pictures of Pizzaman's new abode.