Happy July 5th

Yesterday, July 4th, Rick and I went down to Monterey for a barbeque at Vince's home. His sister and her family were there, and a little by little, other people came by. We made Korean short ribs and onigiri, Nathan and Selena brought spicy shrimp and tri-tip (yum), and Kenny and Lisa brought lovely desserts and salad.

We hung out, talked, laughed, and ate until we were ready to bust. The kids (3 boys and a baby girl) exhausted us by their shenanigans. Later on, some other friends came with their children.

The plan was to go down to the beach once it got dark so people could watch the fireworks, but Rick and I were thinking about leaving early because of work, BUT safe and sane fireworks were brought out and that was it. We lit sparklers, fountains, whistlers, etc. Then, someone asked, "Are fireworks legal or illegal in Monterey?" Nope. That put our little fireworks show to and end.

By this time, the fireworks show on the beach was on, so we walked a block or 2 down the hill to get a better view of the show. Vince's mother, Mrs. U, came with us. When we settled down on one corner, she said there was a better corner a block away, and started walking. Some of followed, mostly because we were afraid something might happen to her. Well, something almost did. We were crossing a street when a car came flying up the hill heading towards us. We began to run to get out of the way, when Vince's sister yelled, "Where's mom?" I turned around and saw Rick holding Mrs. U as the speeding car sped by them. Only the speeding car passed them, did they slow down. Grrr. It was pretty scary. And maddening. But no one got hurt and Rick is a hero. And the legal fireworks were beautiful.

We finally left around 10 PM and got home around 11 PM. We were wasted at work today, but we don't regret the little trip down south.

Hi Ho, Hi Ho...

Back to work I go. My vacation is over. I go back to the bookstore tomorrow. Waah. I'm not ready to go back yet. Fortunately, Tuesday is Independence Day, and then i just have to work Wednesday and Thursday. I get Fridays off. I have a rough schedule.

Tide Pool Day

This morning, Rick and I woke up early and made our way over to Moss Beach to visit the Fitzgerald Marine Reserve. We stumbled on the reserve a couple of years ago. During low tide, you can explore the tidepools at the reserve. Back then, we had missed low tide by a few hours and we vowed to come again. Finally we had the chance to go again.After doing some research on tide cycles, we figured today was a good day because: 1) our vacation was winding down and 2) low tide was at 9:13 AM this morning, unlike the other mornings (ex. 6:35 AM).

Once we got to the reserve, the small parking lot was packed. There were only 2 tiny spots left. We parked and hiked down to the beach. It was an amazing sight. We saw tons of exposed kelp covered rock and waves crashing all around, but the tidepools were safe. There were many families exoploring the rocks, pools, and channels in the rock. We made our way out onto the rocks and began exploring. At first all we saw were tiny hermit crabs and all kinds of kelp. It was a little boring. There were what looked like green piles of poops hugging the rocks. Out of curiosity, I nudged one (Rick said I kicked one), and it was squishy. I was grossed out. Later on, I found out that the pile was a sea anemone. I felt guilty. I also stepped into a little pool. I hope I didn't kill anything

After awhile, a woman with 3 little girls pointed out a deeper channel where we could see a big starfish. We tiptoed over, and a photographer pointed it out to us. It was huge! The starfish was purplish-blue and had 24 arms. We could only see about 10 or so. Soon after, we began to see different kinds of life. Clusters of mussels. Barnacles. Crabs. Sea anemones. Tiny fish. As the tide came in, the pools became more interesting. The green piles started to open up and tiny spines and arms appeared. What looked like dead, white barnacles, were actually alive. The barnacles turned pink as water came in. Brown kelp took on a bluish-greenish tint. It was fascinating.

We had so much fun in a couple of hours before the tide started coming in. We hope we can go out again soon, but only if the low tide is after 9 AM.

Vacation!

We're on vacation! So far, we've gone to Portland, Oregon for Lynn and Xang's wedding (will post more on that later), and after we've come back, we've just slept, and slept, and slept. Oh, and Rick fixed part of the patio. But mostly, we've been catching up on sleep. I feel like I'm wasting away, but, oh well. I think I'm going to to take a nap now. See you later.

Bye-Bye Civi-chan

Tonight, my co-worker, Luis, came over with his friend Milton to take my Honda Civic away. I promised to donate the Civic (aka "Civi-chan") to his church when I got a new car. Once I got the Subaru Outback Sport (aka "Sporty-chan"), it took us awhile to figure out a time for him to pick Civi-chan up, until tonight.

It was a little hard to give Civi-chan up. Technically, it's my first car, and my mom and I purchased it soon after my dad passed away. Civi-chan has held up so well all these years. It survived a rear-end collision, ground up axel, numerous overheatings (note: check your coolant level regularly!), flat tires, collisions with the garage wall, and other mishaps. God had really blessed me with a durable, long-lasting, reliable car. I am very grateful.

I'm sad that Civi-chan is gone, but I'm glad Luis' church can "ressurrect" Civi-chan so it can be a help to his church and another family. I hope someone else can get as much use and satisfaction from Civi-chan as I did.

L and L Hawaiian Barbeque

Good News! L and L Hawaiian Barbeque is now open in San Mateo! It's next door to ichiban-kan on Third Avenue, about a block from Suruki Market. I was so excited. I was going to pick up dinner for Rick and myself at Suruki, but changed my mind when I say L and L. I got a mini Loco Moco, and the regular Mixed BBQ Plate. The cashier was upbeat and helpful. The service was quick. And the food, pretty good. We were very happy campers. I know, I know. L and L doesn't serve the best Hawaiian food (someone we were talking to in Oahu called it junk), but it's better than nothing, especially since the closest Hawaiian place in San Mateo closed down about a year and half ago.

I had a meeting with my doctor on Monday, and she said I have to careful with my carb intake. Darn. No weekly treks to L and L.

Happy Father's Day!

Today, Rick and I went down to Watsonville to celebrate Father's Day with Mr. Y (Rick's dad). The plan was to get down there about 4:30 PM or so and take him out to a local Japanese restaurant for dinner. But, Mrs. Y (Rick's mom) asked if we could come down earlier so she could show the both of us the rental property they recently purchased. So we did. The new home is in a new developement next to a river (I forgot what it's called). It (the house, not the river) was beautiful. It's a two bedroom home with a HUGE kitchen, two bathrooms, a great little deck outside the living room, a BIG walk-in closet in the master bedroom, and very airy. Plus it's an environmentally friendly house with solar panels on the roof, wood that looks like wood, but isn't wood, and a water heater that heats water in a flash. After checking out the house, she wanted to check out some other homes. Why? We're not sure, since she had already purchased a place. Maybe to convince herself that she made the right choice. Anyways, we went to a three bedroom home a few houses away, which was gorgeous, but we still liked the two bedroom one better. Then, she wanted us to drive to the other homes, which wouldn't have been too bad if we hadn't gotten lost and spent about ten minutes driving in circles in the same neighborhood. Finally, we found one of the houses, but it wasn't open to viewings. Then we drove across town to another developement on top of a hill, got lost, saw some pretty ghetto looking apartments, drove down Auto Row, and finally found the place. Mostly half-built condos. A bit of a let down for all of us. Through all this, Rick was starting to lose his patience, Mrs. Y was getting confused, and Mr. Y just wanted to eat. I tried to go with the flow, but was fading fast.

Finally, we got to the restaurant, Miyuki. When we got there, the restaurant was less than half full, but within twenty minutes, the place was packed. We were elbow to elbow with people and the place was getting hot. By the time we left, it was a little chaotic. Other than that, the food was pretty good.

It was a nice visit with Mr. and Mrs. Y, if a little rushed. It was good to see them. If Mr. Y is reading this, "Happy Father's Day!" If Mrs. Y is reading this, "Hi Mom!"

Hello Out There...

Well, after many weeks of stalling, I've finally decided to take the plunge and started a blog. I won't promise anything very exciting or revolutionary, but periodically I'll post something about how life is for me and Rick...so it'll probably be a pretty boring blog! Still, I hope family and friends will stop by sometimes to check-in and say, "hey."