1. Waking up whenever I want, no alarm clocks.
2. Reading old love letters.
3. Special dinners out, coffee and dessert to top it off.
4. Family time.
5. Holding little babies. (I get to meet baby Alex tomorrow!! Eeee!!)
6. Sudoku and iPod on shuffle.
7. Figure out how to fold a road map back into its original creases. (It's like solving a rubiks cube.)
8. When Sam goes with me to buy boba, then drinking it with him around. (Thank God, the boba-fast is over!!)
9. Celebrating good news with friends.
10. Being trusted.

Any 10 people that want to do this, just cut and paste!

I finally went to Lawry's yesterday and tried their prime rib. People always rave about it, so now I can say I've been there. It was pretty good I suppose. I guess I'm not much of a beef connoisseur so I can't tell you more about the taste. I actually prefer to eat that stuff with ketchup. But that probably would have been an insult, so I just ate it plain. Not bad though. I had a small cut but it was still HUGE. The bread was good, so was the creamed spinach. Finished the evening with a cup of coffee and shared a piece of chocolate mousse pecan pie with Larissa, mmm. Al's chocolate cake looked so good though. So good that he could not talk. Speechless. Wow. It's not called a "fantasy" cake for no reason. I love it when people really enjoy their food and show it.

Some people got into politics real early. Some are just natural born-leaders. Some wanted power. Some did it to be popular... Remember these flyers? I remember helping my friends make little stickers to support them for this or that election. I had the biggest crush on the school president. He reminded me of Eric in The Little Mermaid, my favorite Disney movie (which BTW comes out on DVD again on Oct 3rd!). He was mind-bogglingly smart... and charming.

Did you know that Sam ran for school president in elementary school? I don't remember ever having positions like that in grade school. But then, I was pretty clueless back then. We have a picture of him in our wedding slideshow, holding up a poster board with his picture that said "Vote Sam for President". It is very cute!

Maybe I have a thing for school presidents.

(Oh wait, I just remembered! In Taiwan, I was VP of my first grade class! Yay for me! I don't remember doing anything though.)

I learned to pole dance on Saturday at Cathy's bachelorette party. It was a lot of fun. Safe in the confines of Sneha's apartment and with girls who were willing to try it, make fun of ourselves, and cheer each other on. The instructor was funny, really good at what she does, and made the environment fun. She brought her portable stripper pole and propped it up in the room so good no one could budge it. Pole dancing mood is a mix of sleepy/tired/horny. "It's like someone woke you up in the middle of the night and forced you to pole dance." Everything's kind of slow and sultry.

Little girls have been doing it since grade school... in the playground... twirling around monkey bar poles, tether ball poles... Same idea, but now we're women. I will never look at poles the same way again.

We started the session with some shots, giving each other stripper names, ended it dancing to Christina Aguilera's "Nasty Naughty Boy", with just the street lights from the window and rotating colored lights that the instructor brought. Oo-la-la. I'd do it again. I only got one bruise on my knee and sore muscles on one arm and one thigh. How did that happen?

We had dinner at Joseph's Cafe in Hollywood, which conveniently turned into a club at night. Below is a tank top the bridesmaids made for the bride. Cute. I finally got to catch up with my high school friends. I noticed how our conversations have changed when we started talking about lines around our eyes, home renovations, babies... I still remember having conversations with these same girls about who we're going to ask to Sadie's Hawkins or what we're going to wear to Winter Formal. Wow. Life is so much richer with friends.

Saturday was dripping with wonderful news:

Kim's engaged!
Janet's set a date for her wedding!
Freda's pregnant!
Esther's baby arrived!

Elated!

I think the 3rd one down looks like my brother, Allen! My brother even had a shirt like that. And he loves remote control cars. It's so him.

We also think he looks like this cookie jar, especially when he was a baby. Hahaha.

Hi, Guh!

Sorry, I don't have any objects or pictures that look like Amy.

Today has been a very exhausting day. The phone was ringing off the hook. One of those days where you wish there was a pause button so I can take a breath. I think the day is finally slowing down now. Thank God!

I'm excited to see Aileen tonight, as well as her week-old baby, Nicole. I love little babies. Last November, 4 of us traveled to Thailand and Hong Kong. Good thing we did because just within the last few weeks, 2 of them delivered their firstborns. Who knows if we'll ever have an opportunity like that again. Katelyn and I don't have any yet, but we get to be fresh aunties again. Plus, we are going to Tea Station for boba tonight. Wonderful things for us all!

If you don't know what I look like...

I don't remember when this was given to me exactly (1st grade maybe), but it reminds me of my childhood, back when I believed in... Santa Claus! Yes, everyone, I believed in Santa Claus. Back then, life was a breeze. The worst of worries was making sure I remember to get my parents to sign my homework so I don't get wacked by the teacher (in Taiwan, not US). Or that my silkworms won't die because I had pet them too hard. (Oops!)

Aren't these cats cute? They are hip Japanese biker cats! You can tell this pencil box is pretty old. It's no longer connected at the hinges and is rusted. I've come across this old tin pencil box so many times when I've cleaned my room over the years. And I've always put it aside to keep. But it's really time to de-clutter.

Well, that same Christmas, I also found a white erase board right next to my bed when i woke up. So fun! On it Santa Claus wrote something like:

Me: *completely baffled* How does he know my name?!
Dad: From your uniform, it's on the shirt hanging on the chair.
Me: Wow, he's so smart!

Such happy memories. Amy got a little green tricycle. I forgot what Santa gave Allen.
P.S. We did not have a chimney in Taiwan.

Goodbye: Care Bear and Care Bear Cousin coloring books

These were definitely my favorites. I always try not to color outside of the lines and made sure that Cheer Bear is pink and Sunshine Bear is yellow... etc. Can't mis-color, you know.

I would let Amy color a few pages of my coloring book from time to time, only if she was good. Then I'd grade her coloring as if I was a teacher. Hahaha! I was laughing so hard when I saw this. The first page reads, "F. You are so uncivilized in coloring, I hope you know. Don't ever color the sky that way." The second page reads, "F. You've done a terrible job."

I am soo mean!! Amy, you did not deserve a F. I've regraded, you now get a... B. The rainbow is not bad, but the sky is rather messy.

So our extended family met at Rose Hills yesterday to be together and to remember them. It was rather chilly up on the hill. But the company was warm. Each family shared about what has been some blessings as well as prayer requests. Then we'd surround the family and pray for each member. There were 4 families present, but we remembered to pray for the other 2 that are out of state. Towards the end of our time there, the cousins were huddled up so close. It was really heart warming. So I wonder what goes on in heaven. Do they see us? Do they know how much we still think about them? Well, they would have been so happy to know that we still get together as a family and love each other deeply.

We had dinner at a nearby Chinese restaurant. It was so nice to be able to sit together at the kids table. A tight fit but we managed. The soup was really yummy. How come our noodle platter didn't sizzle like the parents' platter did?

Last Saturday while rummaging through our garage for hidden things to sell, I found this. The envelope below contained Sam and I's wedding invitation. I addressed it to them, "Grandpa and Grandma". It must have been brought into the garage after their room was cleaned out. The little scribbles are my Grandpa's writing; various drafts of a poem that he had written for us to bless our marriage. We sure do miss them.

How interesting that one can get emotionally attached to items... "Remember when we used this..." But we just don't have the space for it so they've all got to go. We're so happy that most of the big items were sold! 3 mattresses, shelves, coffee table, sofas, elliptical machines, sound system, fridge, tables... All I can say is, people got some really good deals there. I feel like I never want to buy new books again, I should just go to garage sales.

The sad thing to let go was Amy's oil paintings. She painted them back in high school... and now they are hanging in random stranger's homes. Except for two, at least we can still visit them at Rongni's or Alli's.

A HUGE thanks to our friends who stopped by to check out the sale, helped out, or even brought us food/drinks! We're so touched. Nancy, I'm so glad you found the Tiffany cassette you were looking for! That's so funny!

Anyone want a new neon electric guitar sign? We have no idea where we got that along with tons of other items. Anyone want Martha Stewart Wedding magazines from 2002, Martha Stewart Living, National Geographic? All in good condition. I'll hand it over as long as I don't have to ship it.