Christmas 2009

...was full of life lessons, to put it optimistically.

On the plus side, I spent the morning watching Albert play Generations basketball. It was a toss-up between sleeping in and spending Christmas morning by myself...or waking up butt early and watching boys duke it out on the courts. But I'm glad I went and shared bball moments with Albert. Maybe that'll be our Xmas tradition!

On the negative side...
- I learned that Albert's mom's love language is the language of help.
- I hate it when I reinforce negative stereotypes of myself in front of my parents. As my sister said, at least everyone ooh'ed over the handblown ornament before I dropped it and it broke into a million pieces.
- I can't knit half a scarf in half a day. The thought of the said scarf interfered with my hostess duties all night long.
- Cooking kind of stresses me out. That's why I follow recipes to the tee, so that I can eliminate ambiguity and uncertainty...which creeps back in anyways, in the form of "Salt to taste" :P

I was being somewhat of a Martha tonight, running around everywhere and not really stopping to reflect the meaning of Christmas: Christ's birth. Happy birthday, Jesus!

Crab night

Albert impulsively bought a live crab for dinner last night. I didn't believe it was live in the supermarket until I saw it moving its crabby legs. I thought it would have died for sure in the car while we were running other errands, but its resilience surprised me.



Albert and his prize catch



When it first plopped out of the bag. I thought it was dead for sure. And I thought we took off two of its legs by accident! Turns out he's only missing one leg...



He should have made a move at this point if he wanted to live.



Too late!

Enjoying a hot bath

The remnants on the dinner table. Forgot to take a picture before we started digging in!

Belated thanks

I interviewed 3 people for an entry-level position on Friday. At the Goog, interviewers are required to provide written feedback within 48 hours.

One of the applicants took the initiative to ask for my email address and sent me a nice thank-you note today. Now, it's reasonable to think that I wouldn't be working over the weekend, which is usually the case. However, I ended up submitting feedback for a few candidates on Sunday, including her. So unfortunately, though nice, her thank you note didn't make it into my feedback. (Not that it would have changed THAT much, whether she sent me thanks or not.) So the moral of the story is: if you're applying for a job, send a thank you note immediately. Also, don't judge your interviewer for not getting enough sleep the night before the interview -_-

Well, I'll be the first to admit that I still have a stack of wedding thank you cards to write, more than one year after the wedding :-/ So I'm no better than the poor applicant!

Garage sale

It was supposed to start at 9 AM. We stumbled out of bed at 8:40 AM and opened our garage door at 9:01 AM. The street was packed with people! Apparently, my neighbors had promoted the garage sale via Craigslist and homemade signs. "Be ready! Some people are professional garage sale bargain-hunters," my mom had warned. Once again, she's right.

At the end of the day, we made a little over $100, selling old board games, toys, and gadgets. Gotta say the people who came at the end of the day definitely got a good bargain -- I was too tired to really haggle. We then celebrated our success by joining in at the neighborhood potluck, where we learned all about the history of the neighborhood and the personas behind each house on the block.

Farmers' market

Carrots and orchids at the Menlo Park farmers' market.

We used to raid the Chinese supermarket after CFC on Sundays when we were living in SF. These days, since Ranch 99 isn't that close by, we've started to go to farmers' markets instead. Hopefully, it's a way to get fresher vegetables that are in season. Look at those carrots!

Priorities

It's high time to get my priorities straight again. Think of it as New Year's resolutions in October.

- God: Wake up early enough for devotions. Find a church, establish community, and don't be scared of strangers and social events.
- Hubby: Have dinner ready and the bed made whenever possible. Exhibit forbearance and love.
- All other family: Pray for healing and reconciliation. Reach out in love.
- Friends: Pray for deeper relationships and opportunities for sharing. Take up knitting. Be a helpful bridesmaid and pray for the brides+grooms.
- House: Make it a warm and homely environment without spending a boatload of cash.
- Work: Concentrate on improving my writing. Get to work on time. Don't slack off.

Knitting = mom??

Just because I'm taking a knitting class...and I'm married...does that mean I'm a mom??

"What are you doing this weekend?"
"I'm taking a knitting class!"
"Ohh, how fun? Are you knitting something for a little Fiona?"

O_O

"Um, no..."

Hysterical.

Name change

One of these days, the credit card company is going to deny one of my purchases. Why? Because I can't remember my name for the life of me.

Ever since I changed my name on my social security card (but not my passport), credit cards (but not my bank accounts), driver's license, etcetc, I get stumped whenever I have to think of my name on the spot. When salespeople ask to verify my name, I usually give them two to choose from. Is it Fiona Lee or Fiona Chong? Is my middle name Hiu Fung Chong or Hiu-Fung Chong with the dash? Sometimes, I even sign my receipts as Fiona Lee Chong and just hope for the best.

Thankfully, most of my documents are now using my new, but loooooooooooooong, name: Fiona Hiu-Fung Chong Lee. (Try signing that 30 times in a row!) Some people are okay with substituting their maiden name as their new middle-name, but I'm kind of glad that I kept my Chinese name in there. It'd seem like a part of my heritage is lost if my Chinese name isn't part of my real name.