February 1, 2011

• So what did I do the rest of January? The kids continue their weekend basketball practice/game (Zach), dance class (Calie), and swim lessons (both). I try to jog 2x a week in a halfhearted attempt to lose the 3.7 lbs I gained over the holidays. 

   

  A few weekends ago, Karen, Melissa, John, and I (with our families) got together for dim sum at Asian Pearl. I was totally craving Chinese food after seeing Melissa’s chili crab pictures from Singapore. After we got back from brunch, I met up with Tabitha at the Little Gym open house for a few hours. We did not win any raffle prizes, but the kids had fun doing gymnastics and eating cheese/crackers. As usual though, all the classes of interest were during my/James’ work hours. Oh well!

  
   
   

  The next Friday, James and I attended Intel’s Winter ball. I wore a dress Kathy gave me with my Louboutains. I weighed myself that morning and was only .5 lb away from my goal weight (135lbs), so I decided it was close enough to earn by shoes back.  We left the kids at home (obviously) with their favorite babysitter and for the first time, Calie said goodbye without crying. Yay for little milestones!

  

  There was dancing and eating and drinking. My friends Rachel, Karen, Bhavana, Sherry, and Tabitha were there with their husbands, as well as Peter, Aishwarya, Damon, Troy, Greg, and many other coworkers. Dinner was chicken and beef filet over mashed potatoes and steamed vegetables … typical hotel wedding food. I thought it was pretty good, but I tend to be very forgiving when I don’t have to cook. The dancing was fun, especially the Bollywood numbers Bhavana requested; so many people got on the dance floor! While I lasted longer than I expected, I am confirming that there is no such thing as comfortable 4” heels no matter what the price tag.

  

  The next day (Saturday), we had a few of James’ friends over for dinner. I made parmesan spiral pasta, a green salad, and chicken Caesar burgers (Rachel Ray recipe.) We had Baskin-Robbins mint chocolate chip ice cream cake for dessert. It was a very good turnout considering I planned it so last minute!

  

  

  Kids started by playing outside (new basketball hoop) and moved indoors once it got dark. There was a very clear gender division amongst the kids – the girls played together in Calie’s room and the boys all wanted to race on the Wii. Late into the evening, the adults played a few rounds of mahjongg.

  

  

  On Sunday, I took the kids to Bounce U to jump off some energy, followed by running around at Lembi park. In the evening, I took Calie out for sushi, where at the end of the meal she proclaimed,”I love it. Come back.” I am so pleased to have someone in the family enjoy food as much as I do!

  

  On another positive note, I found the perfect massage place (Golden Hand Massage). They are located about a mile away from my home and take appointments up until 9:30pm, which means I can go after the kids are in bed. It’s one of those foot reflexology places that also do full body massages … a full hour for less than $35! The last place like that I went to, the masseuse smelled like cigarettes so I never went back. I’ve also tried making appointments at Massage Envy, but I’ve been unsuccessful the last few times getting day-of appointments. Retrospectively I’m glad because this place is less expensive and my new masseuse Lucy is great … plus she speaks Mandarin so I get to practice my spoken Chinese!

   
   
  Tuesday, Melissa and Dana (and their families) met up with us at Red Robin for dinner. A few of my friends went to see ‘True Grit’ after dinner, but the idea of watching a western was not appealing at all, so I passed. The following day, John and Sam took James out for a birthday dinner at Lucille’s Smokehouse BBQ. Unfortunately, for James’ actual birth date, I was enroute to the east coast (see previous post), but his coworkers treated him to lunch at Thai Paradise to celebrate. Happy 39th Birthday James!

   
   
  On Thursday, Sam and Melissa invited James and the kids over for dinner at their house. Neither of our families have relatives living nearby, and it’s nice to have friends who help support the ‘single parent’ when their spouse is traveling. I’m so grateful for their friendship! James did an excellent job (as I expected) with the kids while I was away – he took Zach to get his basketball team photo taken, went to Calie’s dance class and  Zach’s basketball practice/game, and attended a fun playdate at Rachel’s house. Not to mention the house was clean and a load of laundry was done, plus he was working on a major work project after the kids were in bed. What a guy – I couldn’t ask for a better role model for my kids.

  Sunday morning, James took the kids to swim class while I unpacked my luggage and restocked groceries. Then to give him some well deserved time to himself (well, for work), I took both kids to ArtBeast. I thought it was a good idea since the weather was cold and rainy, and apparently so did every other parent in the area. Unlike past Sundays when we’ve gone, it was very crowded! The kids had fun though. Zach made *5* beaded necklaces for Valentines’ Day gifts.

   

  While I was was bummed to miss Rachel’s dinner playdate (multiple dishes of Chinese food made by Rachel’s mom vs dry airline pretzels), I was glad I got back in time for Karen’s crab feast at CF Chengs that evening. That place was amazing – you buy your own fresh (live) crabs and they cook it for you for a nominal fee. The spicy garlic dish was my favorite.  James’ opted not to go since he doesn’t appreciate the ROI on eating crabs, so I took Calie and joined Sandy, Karen, Rachel and their families. I was late because I missed my exit, but since I eat quickly, I more than made up for lost time. Note to self: Next car must have GPS. As I sat in my parked car on the side of highway 160 with a 2-year-old in the back seat and an “Exotic Dancer” neon sign flashing nearby, waiting for my iPhone to reroute me, I concluded that not getting a GPS system in my car was one of the dumbest decisions I’ve ever made.

  
   
  Last but not least, happy 2.5 years to Calie!

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