Traffic Nightmare

As you all probably heard we had a little accident out here this past weekend. A tanker wrecked, blew up and destroyed a major intersection that allows me to get to San Ramon every day. Fortunately for us, the fact that we leave so early in the morning helps us. We took the detours they have set up and it added between 5-7 minutes this morning by going through the surface streets of Oakland. There should not be any problems for us when we go home. But it will be a "Nightmare" for anyone that works in San Francisco and has to go home that way this evening. I think it will add an extra hour to their commute. We are lucky because we have the reverse commute. Aside from that, it was Elijah's 16th birthday yesterday. He chose to spend the day hanging out with his friends in San Francisco and then we took him out to dinner when he got home. I had spent the day painting his room with a "little" help from Crysta. The King and I were going to get the Visa's for China today but the Consulate is closed for two days and after reading UK blog, I now know why.We will get them this Thursday instead. Aside from that it was pretty quiet around here. We are sure that Mike is very happy about the draft and figure he already has his Peterson jersey. Later!

China Trip

Since I am not sure if UK sees the e-mail I send him, I am trying the blog as another source of info. We will be arriving on June 13th at 5:25 pm at Pudong Airport on United flight 857. There will be 6 of us this time as the King's mother will be joining us. We will be in Shanghai until a Monday morning flight at 8:10 am out of Pudong Airport to Xian. This should give you a little time to figure what might be the best way to get us to the airport on that Monday morning. Would a ride on the Maglev train be a possibility? Look forward to seeing you!

Stockholder's Meeting

Today was Chevron's Annual Stockholder's meeting in San Ramon. I was asked to volunteer and help out at the event, which I agreed to do. They didn't tell me when I volunteered that I would have to wear a suit. But thankfully with the weight I have lost, I must admit it actually fit me pretty good. I was assigned to the Security part of it which required me to search everyone's bags and to confiscate any electronic devices that they might have. It was actually pretty interesting and all of the people were pretty easy going about it. A few didn't like having to leave their phones with us, but these were the same people that missed the 10 signs leading from the parking lot saying they were not allowed. I most enjoyed the more mature ladies asking me when the gas prices were going to come down. They said they had gotten no answers from the Board of Directors so I told them that they were going down tomorrow. All in all it was a pretty interesting day and will certainly help out again next year if asked.

The Race Is On!

Here the two are in one of their qualifying races for the mixed teams. You can see them circled on the photo. It was a very cold and windy day on the lake and it started to rain prior to the Championship races.

Crysta Banging Her Drum

Crysta is banging the drum to keep them in rhythm. Elijah is the one right in front of her. We were hoping she wouldn't drop the drum stick and thought about taping it to her hand. Not really, they both did very well!

Dragon Boat Races

Well this past Saturday was the High School Dragon Boat Championships. We arose early to have our two contestants there by 7:00 AM on an overcast and rainy day. The kids first race was not until 10:15 so we had some time to stand around. Elijah and Crysta were on the same boat this year, while Elijah paddled on the all boys team as well. Crysta was the drummer for the boys team also. They did not win any medals this year but it's not because they did bad. They actually did better than they did at the meet in September of last year. You have qualifying races throughout the morning to determine your Division, which consist of "A - D" Last year they surprised everyone and won the "B" Division. Well this year they messed up (not really) and qualified for the "A" Division finals. It was the first time that one school had 3 of the 6 teams in the "A" Division finals. So suffice it to say that they were going up against the very best and held their own. The Gold Team from their school Lincoln which is mainly Seniors won the event. They may not have won any medals but they certainly improved over what they did last year.

Happy Birthday Edge!

The King and I as well as Crysta and Eli would like to wish Edge a very happy birthday. We hope you have a great time today and wish we could be there for your party. We love you buddy!

Easter Weekend

We awoke Saturday morning to the sound of someone and their jack hammer making a lot of noise. The King asked what is was and after I told her she got dressed and was out the door. About 10 minutes later she was back and had arranged for the guys that were making all of the noise to come to our house and widen our driveway. By the time she had finished with them she had gotten them to reduce the price by $250. She's good at that. After that the King and I went to see the Giants and Dodgers play on Saturday, unfortunately we lost, but it was nice to get out and watch a game. We then cooked some chicken out on the grill later that evening. On Sunday her and I went into Chinatown for a little shopping and then got home in time to take Elijah to an event he was having at the school. After picking him up I planted a bunch of flowers in some pots that we had bought to spruce up the back yard some more. The kids then went out to dinner with their Paternal Grandparents. Hope you all had a great Easter and it was really nice to be able to see you all and talk to you.

Ching Ming

The kids are on Spring Break this week so the King and I took yesterday off with them. We got up and went to Chinatown for supplies and then took off to the Chinese Cemetery for Ching Ming. It is a Chinese tradition of visiting the ancestors. We took rice wine, fruit, dim sum and incense and candles. You burn the candles, light the incense and then burn paper money and such so that they have money and gold in the after life. You pour the wine on the ground for them and leave food. Then you eat the rest of the food for yourself while you are there. Most people went on the weekend but we went on Monday, there was no one there which was very nice.It's always been very busy. Sunday night was the Tam Family Association dinner which is the King's mother's clan. The King's uncle is one of the leaders of the group. There was the typical 10 course dinner and the ever popular Karaoke singing. NOT!! The rest of the weekend was either spent at Home Debit as I continue to work on the back yard or shopping for new clothes to take to China.

Weekend Update

Well, not a whole lot to report for this past weekend. I started walking in the Park again now that the weather is nicer. It's a lot more scenic than walking through the neighborhood. The King and I took the kids to practice on Saturday and then went shopping at Home Debit. We picked up a nice "Money Tree" for her Dad. After we picked the kids up from practice, we picked up Estella who is Francy's daughter. Francy is the King's best friend in Hong Kong who played our tour guide for the first few days we were in Hong Kong last year. We were taking Estella out for her birthday. We went and had Sushi at our favorite place and then went to the Mall. Elijah took off once we got there and I was left with the girls. All three of them were in their shopping mode. I found myself enjoying having two girls but do not think I could afford it. Estella spent the night and played video games with Elijah most of the evening. On Sunday we took Estella home and the kids to their paternal grandparents which left the King and I a chance to go to Costco. We picked up a few trees to plant out back and then went to Ross. It was a pretty quite weekend. Later!

Happy Birthday Auna

We all want to wish Auna a very happy 18th birthday! Hope you have a wonderful day and can not believe you are already 18. Happy Birthday Sweetheart!

Clean Up

Well I woke up on Saturday morning and for some reason I decided to clean out the back yard junk. All of the stuff that has been collected over the years sitting on the lower level of the yard. I just started loading it all in a van that I had and took off to the dump. After the first load I was just ready to go back and get some more. Eventually I had completely emptied out all of the junk and now have a spotless backyard. Now all I need to do is get the portable building I want to put down there. After that I finished Crysta's room by putting up her mini blinds and doing a little touch up painting. After that I went outside and pulled weeds from the back yard. Yesterday I came into the office and set all of the clocks. After that is was back home to see what the gang was up to. Not much, we then went to the grocery store picked up a few steaks and grilled the steaks and some lamb chops for dinner with the King's parents. I will go home today and clean out the aquarium. Fun!!!

Catching Up

Last night we went out to dinner with two of the families that we were on the tour to China last year with. The family with the twin girls and everyone's favorite little boy. The King's parents went along with us as well and everyone had a great time. Everyone looked well and the kids picked right back up where they left off. The talk was to go back to China as a group in 2009. They all said to tell Momlls hello! There was a lot of good food but I am trying to eat less. I was very inspired by the news of Greg and Jeanne new slim physiques that I am trying to lose some weight as well. Kudos to both of you! I have been walking as much as I can and I climb the 5 flights of stairs at work 10 times a day. I have lost about 10 pounds in the last month and look to lose a lot more. If nothing else I feel better.

The Celebration has Ended

This past weekend officially ended the New Year's Festivities for another year. The Chinese New Years parade was held on Saturday night with the Street Fair on both Saturday and Sunday. We went out to dinner with some friends on Saturday night for another dinner. We went to a new place fr us and had a very "special" version of the Monk Dinner. It was mostly pretty tasty. We then went to Chinatown for Dim Sum on Sunday morning and then checked out the Street Fair. I was a little disappointed. I had money to buy things, but just didn't see anything that I could live without. We then went out for dinner last night with the King's parents as well as her brother Wing and Ethan and Stephanie. It was fun to hang out with them all. It was a very nice weekend here after it had been raining for a while. I was able to work out back in the yard and wash some cars while the kids were at Dragon Boat practice.

Mother Nature or the King

Last night Crysta and I were in our bedroom watching TV when I noticed a big thud and some rumbling. I said to Crysta that we just had an earthquake. She looked around and said no that was just Mom coming up the stairs. Sure enough about 3 seconds later the King walked into the room and I just thought to myself someones putting on a little weight. But fortunately about 10 minutes later they came out with a news report that we had just had a 4.2 quake or a "Light Quake" This sure made me feel better about the King. Yesterday we also had some snow atop Mount Diablo which is always pretty cool to see, we don't see it very much unless you go to the Sierra's. This weekend will be the Chinese New Year parade and the Street Festival. Not sure we will do the parade, but will probably do the street fair. Hopefully there won't be too much rumblings today from the ground.

Lakers in Town

Well this weekend started off really well. After watching a cooking show, I had forgotten how much I enjoyed Po-Boy sandwiches. So the King and I went to our local Asian Market and bought the biggest shrimp we could find. We then proceeded to make some very tasty Po-Boys. The on Saturday it was everyone's birthday in the Chinese Culture. We went for Dim Sum and then took the kids to their first Dragon Boat practice of the year. We then took the King parents with us to Home Debit so we could get some paint for Elijah's room. We then picked up the kids and they went to their paternal grandparents for dinner while the King and I went to dinner with her parents. We then took them to the mall after dinner to walk a little of it off. On Sunday we had tickets to see the Golden State Warriors play the Lakers in basketball. We had all of the kids with us and most of us were wearing our Lakers jerseys. The King was actually pretty good. She had the binoculars attached to her eyes the whole day watching Kobe Bryant. The only time I got worried was when she anted us to wait out by the Lakers bus to see Kobe leave. I told her he would not be out for a while and she reluctantly agreed and we left. We then picked her Dad up and went to dinner. The kids have practice again today. I'm not sure they have gotten over the aches and pains that they acquired on Saturday. It's pretty funny.

Year of the Pig

Gung Hay Fat Choy to everyone! Well it's officially that time of year again. We rose early Saturday to do some last minute shopping in ChinaTown for the festivities. Getting our fresh chicken and other items. The rest of Saturday was spent feverishly cleaning the house prior to midnight, with a rush of showers and hair washing prior to midnight as well. You are not allowed to clean house or wash your hair on New Year's Day as you might wash away any good luck. We arose on Sunday to join every other Asian for Dim Sum. We were all wearing our new clothes that you save for New Year's day preferably red, which you know I was sporting. After that the kids spent the rest of the day with their paternal grandparents. The King and I spent some time running errands before we met her parents and every other Asian again for dinner. The night was spent watching all of the New Year's celebrations that were on the Chinese channels that we get. Events from Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong. Monday was spent visiting her parents house for some New Years rituals, nothing bizarre. And then we followed it up with the Monk's dinner which has to be one of my favorites? It consist of dried mushrooms, dried oysters and black hair moss. And the really fresh chicken, all of him. This weekend we will be celebrating again in the morning and the evening with our very close friends the Asian community. On Saturday it is everyone's birthday in the Chinese community. I guess it's mine as well, so we will be celebrating those as well. And then on Sunday we will all be going to see the Lakers play the Golden State Warriors in a basketball game.

Happy Birthday G-Man

All of us at West Coast Peavine want to wish G-Man a very Happy Birthday. Hope you have a great day and we look forward to seeing you soon!

Rainy Weekend

Well it has finally been raining around here which is something we could use. A lot of people are starting to get nervous. I remember it did the same thing last year, and then it rained for 35 straight days starting at the end of February. Crysta and I finally got around to painting her room on Saturday. I really hate to paint and had been putting it off until it was a rainy weekend with nothing else to do. It really made it so much easier having her help me. She was able to paint in the corners and the lower parts of the walls leaving me to do the higher parts. We really did a god job together and her room looks really nice. She picked out a really nice shade of blue. Next we will have Elijah pick out some paint and do his room. While her and I were doing that, The King and Elijah took her mother into Chinatown to buy food and such for Chinese New Year. It will be on February 18th this year and we had our first New Years dinner last night at one of their favorite restaurants. That means that this Saturday they will all be busy cleaning the house before New Years and then I can look forward to one of my favorite dishes. The black hair moss. Yum!

Queen Mary 2

We didn't do much of anything this weekend. Did a little around the house on Saturday then got up Sunday morning to go for a walk and then clean out the aquarium. After that it was time to watch the Super Bowl and the part I look forward to the commercials. Sadly the commercials this year were pretty lame. The game was actually much better than the commercials. Also on Sunday the Queen Mary 2 came into San Francisco on her trip around the world. It's a pretty big boat! Everyone was crowded on the beaches the Golden Gate Bridge was packed and traffic stopped when she came through. She will be here until tonight before she heads off to Hawaii.