Nuttin Much

Not a whole lot going on out here. Crysta has had a few basketball games this week in which her team won both of them. Today is Stephanie's (Ethan's Girlfriend) birthday. We will take her out to dinner tomorrow to help her celebrate. We are closing in on the Chinese New Year which is on February 18th this year. It will be the year of the Pig - let me know if you need anything from it Auna. I recently had my 25th anniversary with Chevron and have now started on my 26th year. I get to have a dinner or lunch with friends of my choosing and the place of my choosing. I am looking to find a place that is VERY nice but not real stuffy. I want the best but I want to have a good time. Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Happy Birthday UK!

All of us at West Coast Peavine would like to wish UK a very Happy Birthday! We hope you have a great day and look forward to seeing you soon!

Greetings from Icy West Coast Peavine

Well I know it doesn't compare to what those of you in East Peavine are experiencing, but for out here it's a bit nippy. We have had temps in the 20's in the evening which is pretty cold for out here. I hear that the citrus crops were basically wiped out so prepare to pay for your fruit. I have actually had ice on my windshield a few mornings and had to wait for them to thaw because I don't think anyone has an ice scraper out here. Aside from just trying to stay warm inside and outside we have not done a whole lot. The King and I took all of the kids the other night to see Golden State and Miami play in basketball. It was a pretty good game even though Golden State lost. We are going to see them play the Lakers in a few weeks which should be fun. Some will have more problems at that game without mentioning any names. I did actually take one of my days off yesterday. Everyone else in the house were off so they decided I should as well. We ended up going downtown for lunch at one of our favorite little dives for Vietnamese food, Tu Lan's. We then went to the new Bloomingdales that they built on Market street. It is a brand new shopping center that is anchored by a Bloomingdales. We are still awaiting to hear what tours will be offered in the summer for China before we make any official plans. We did look at several books at a Borders yesterday to try and get ideas of places to see in the areas we want to go to. As soon as we find out something Kev we will let you know. Maybe you could join us on the tour if we go to Xian and Guilin. Hope you all are staying warm and safe in the weather that you are having out there. Later!

Xmas In West Coast Peavine

Holiday in Review

Well we hope you all had a wonderful holiday and got everything that you wanted. We would like to thank everyone for the great gifts that were bestowed upon us from UK as well as East Peavine. We went over to Teri's on Christmas Eve and had another great time. It's always good to see them and the boys and their families. We had tamales and enchiladas and rice as well as sandwiches. Lots of good food. Then it was time for the carnage. The kids had to wait until Christmas morning for Ethan to come over before they could unwrap their gifts. We then had the King's parents over for lunch and everyone had a good time. It's now back to our routine and starting to think about next year's gifts. Sorry I wasn't able to make it back for the football game but I'm sure everyone had a greet time and that no bones were broken. Hope you all enjoyed your gifts from us and that it is something you can use.

Basketball Tourney

Well another weekend has past without any major incidents. We spent this past weekend attending a basketball tourney that Crysta's team was in. It involved teams from the San Mateo are with Lincoln being the only team from San Francisco in it. The girls ending up winning the tourney after a few close games. Our girls are very good and very quick and all of the other teams are very tall. We will always be the smallest team. The King and I spent yesterday shopping for Xmas gifts for both the family and for work. My company is having their Xmas Party tomorrow and I have been responsible for buying all of the raffle prizes we will be giving away. That's a lot of prizes. You have to figure out what you think 400 people other than you might like. Well this year they are going to like what I like. I will then spend the next few days passing out candy the kids sold for their Dragon Boat Team. They didn't actually sell any themselves. They were required to sell $50 dollars worth and they hoped they sold $100. Together they accounted for about $1000 which I get to distribute now. It all comes back to haunt you. I remember giving Dad my really crappy candy to sell for me at work, and now I know how much he hated doing it. It's the parents curse.

Yes Kids, There Really Is A Glen!

Well Glen finally came out for a visit after saying he was going to for the last five years. The King and the kids had always heard stories about him, but had never seen him. Sure they had talked to him on the phone but still assumed he was just a myth. He arrived on Thanksgiving day and we then sat down with the King's parents and all of the kids for smoked turkey and pink turkey. We then spent the next few days watching football games and then seeing the sites after the games. He has been here before but never spent much time in the city as we did this time. We fed him lot's of Chinese food that he loved and the King cooked a few wonderful meals for him as well. I really think she enjoyed seeing someone enjoy the food as much as he did. The kids just kept laughing at the sounds of enjoyment he made as he ate. We then took him out for his first taste of Sushi which he loved! We also spent a day in Chinatown where we took him for Dim Sum. The King made him eat with chopsticks the whole time he was here and would get onto him if he tried to use a fork. It was really great to have him here and for the gang to meet him.

West Coast Weekend

Well I hope everyone is ready for the holidays coming up? I guess the King and I will go get our pink turkey today. Not sure what else we will have. Not too much happened this weekend. I watched football while the King and the kids went to the eye doctor for new glasses. We then went to Crysta's first basketball game which was a preseason game. Her team won 20-3. They have about 16 girls on their team, but they look like they could be good. Yesterday we went to a new place for dinner since the kids were hanging out with their other grandparents. We took the King's parents to a new Chinese place by our house. It was pretty good, but her Dad and I probably liked it more. It was Szechuen style cooking, which is a much spicier style than what the King is used to. They had a really good spicy calamari that really had a kick. We might have company for Thanksgiving but I'm not holding my breath. Glen keeps telling me he is coming out, but he has told me that before. I told him if he called from the airport then I would come get him. We shall see. It would be fun to have him here and watch football games with him. He's a little more of a fan than the rest of my crew. Hope you all have a great Thanksgiving and I will talk to you then!

More of the Same

Well this past weekend saw me finish my gate project, getting the final of 5 coats of paint on and then covering the top with Plexiglas to keep the rain out. I then took 5 boxes of old paint to the recycler to clean out the garage. I then worked on the plants out back for a while and finally got the grill working again. I then went inside to watch the OU game. The king went to a concert on Saturday night to see Alan Tam who is a big artist in Hong Kong. She was in a very happy mood to see that. Yesterday we went to her friend Anna's house for a birthday party for her daughter. We are getting the torsion springs on the garage fixed today which have been broken for about 4 months. The garage door won;t open without someone helping it along. Aside from that it's life as usual, Crysta has basketball practice every day and they both have Dragon Boat practice about once a month. Aside from that, not much to report. Later!

What's Going On

Not much to report out here the past week. I spent all weekend painting our front metal gate. Scraped of all the old paint I could and then put on 2 coats of primer and 2 coats of paint. Hope I don't have to do it again. I then cleaned the aquarium in time to sit down and watch the game on Saturday. The King did what she does best and went shopping. Crysta has made the JV basketball team at her new high school with practice every day after school. So much work to be done around the house that aside from OU games, I plan to do nothing else on weekends until I get caught up. I figure sometime in June should be about right. Hope everyone is doing well!

Napa Valley

Well this past weekend I was stuck with a very emotional dilemma. On one hand I had the OU/Texas game to watch. On the other hand, one of my very good friends and his wife from New Orleans was in town. The King and I took them out to dinner Friday night at Fisherman's Wharf and really had a good time. They were asking us whether it was better to take a tour of Napa or just try it on their own. You have no idea how long and hard it was for me to utter the words' We would love to take you". In the end, I made the right choice. We really had a good time and I only thought about the game a few times. My friend did tell me later in the afternoon that we had lost, but we were having a good time and I didn't dwell on it.

Happy Birthday to the King!

Would like to wish the King a very Happy Birthday. Long Live The King!

Crysta's Birthday

Here is the gang celebrating Crysta's Birthday at BJ's Brewhouse. It was her idea to go there. Honestly!

Dance Workout

For Crysta's birthday, Mom got her a Playstation 2 game called "Dance revolution SuperNova" It's a really cool game that you mimics on a dance pad that you get to go with it. The kids had been playing it and we decided to get a second mat so that you could go head to head with two people. It is really fun plus you are getting a workout. Here is a picture of the two of them playing it.

Dragon Boat Races

Yesterday was the 11th Annual International Dragon Boat Festival held at Treasure Island here in the city. We awoke before the crack of dawn and delivered our race contestant before the sun ever rose. We then proceeded to spend the next twelve hours next to the bay under a perfect sunny day watching dragon boat races. We were there to cheer on Elijah and Lincoln High School where he and Crysta go to school. Lincoln has three teams and Elijah's team are the first year group. The other boats have been doing it longer. Traditionally Lincoln and Lowell High School are the top high school teams in California as well as the U.S. They had races to determine the seedings and in the first race they were up against the top team from Lowell and held their own. From there they went into the semi finals which determined their class. They were then in the "B" class finals. They started off very good and led throughout the entire race. It was so nerve racking hoping that another boat would not catch them and pass them at the end, but they didn't. They won the Class "B" division and won themselves gold medals. The top ranked Lincoln team won the "A" Division as well. The King and I are both very proud of him for doing this. We had no idea that he wanted to join the team. He didn't tell us until after he made the team and then he looked forward to every practice. He was always totally exhausted after each practice but really enjoyed every one of them. It was really great to see all of their hard work pay off. And all of those days that I had to take him and pick him up from practice and wait for him was worth it to see him so happy when they won. It was a good day!

Give em Hell and Get Well!

All of us here at West Coast Peavine wish UK a very speedy recovering from his ordeal yesterday. It is certainly no surprise to any of us that this happened, only that it doesn't happen more often. We are very happy to hear that it's not anything serious and that G-man is alright as well. Being over there and seeing the way they drive it's no surprise that the locals saw nothing wrong with it, that's how they are. Sorry you had to find out first hand, but are proud that you stood up for yourself. Never thought you would be the one the Day Officer had to bail out! Remember to look all 4 ways when crossing the street!

Autumn Moon Festival

This past weekend was the Autumn Moon Festival. In the Chinese culture it is very similar to Thanksgiving. The King and I took her mother up to Chinatown for the event. We first went and had Dim Sum at our regular spot there in Chinatown. After that we went and bough Moon Cakes. They are a type of cake that is usually about 3 x 3 and have different fillings in them. The King really likes the ones that have what I call dried egg yolks inside of them. I could do without those. After making our purchases we walked along the streets and checked out the hundreds of vendors selling all kinds of good stuff as well as performers doing there thing. We will probably eat Moon Cake for a few days now, trying different ones each night. It was a beautiful day here and we had a good time.

Week of Caring

Every year Chevron has their United Way campaign to raise money for non-profit organizations in and around the Bay Area. I have been on the core team of that for years but in the last few years I have been in charge of my OPCO's campaign. Each year we also have what is know as Week of Caring where people volunteer for different projects to work at. Chevron had over 2600 people that volunteered for different organizations. I worked at The Habitat For Humanity building houses for low income families, which here in the Bay Area would include me, but I digress. It was very hard work and it was a very hot day, but worthwhile in the end. Also as part of the same week, Crysta's ROTC group cleaned up the beach near the Cliff House for a few hours. She said they picked up a lot of trash except for the dead seal they found. This is me hanging inside a window. They asked who was not afraid of heights and I raised my hand. I got to work on putting up the roof. Did I mention it was hot! The smart ones were all working inside the house

Giants Game

Well I have been really bad and haven't blogged in a while, so I will do my best to catch you all up. A few weeks ago we got to go see a Giants game with some people I work with. Only this time we got to sit in the Chevron Suite. Since Chevron is a major sponsor of the Giants they have their own suite behind home plate. It is very plush with all of the food and drink that you want right there. There are sofa's and chairs inside if you want to watch on the plasma screen. But we sat outside and had a blast. If you wanted anything to eat you just called the kitchen and they brought it up to you. I think even Crysta got a little sick from all of the food she ate. The Giants won the game and we all had a really good time. I do think we are spoiled now and it will never be the same to just sit in the stands.

Happy Birthday Jeanne!

Jeanne, we hope you have a wonderful birthday!