25/50 Luau Weekend
Much like my sleep, I've been trying to catch up on writing the post about the Bay Area weekend. Now that it's been nearly a week since I left (I was babysitting this time last week), I finally have the time to write this out. I finally have the time to sleep as well.
I think it's fall, or getting there anyway. When I step out of the door to get the mail, the air smells clean, crisp and cool. It makes me long for apple-picking, drinking apple cider and curling up with a good book. Some day those activities will fall into place, but for now I will reflect on this past weekend. (This paragraph was written on the 12th, though it is still cold and smells like fall.)
On Saturday, the whole family awoke at 5:15. I needed to leave for the airport. Dad was going to a hamfest. Mom just gets up that early. I packed what was left and headed to the airport on my own. This is the first time I have ever gone to the airport by myself since I needed to drive myself straight to work after the return flight. I patted my car as I left it in long term parking, and made my way to the gate. For 6am, the line to get into the terminal was quite long. Eventually I made it in. The first leg of the flight landed twenty minutes early, so I was able to grab some breakfast (bagel and soy chai latte) before hopping on the second leg. Both flights were on time. There was no turbulence. My stomach was troubling me, but managed to keep itself in check. When I arrived in SFO, I headed to the shuttle for BART. While I rode BART to my destination I read Aldous Huxley's Island. After Lake Merritt, I gave Phil and Jeff a call to pick me up. Jeff picked me up. Soon they left for Santa Rosa and I was left to my own devices. Warning, the next paragraph gets so exciting that you may wet yourself.
I decided to take a nap. Getting in the groove for waking up early to get to work early (before 7:45 or 7:15, depending on the day) and having to get up at 5:15 that day was a lot harder on me than I thought. I hijacked their audio system and attached it to my iPod so I could listen to music without an earbud jabbing me. After resting on the couch awhile and reading for class, I decided I should go out of the house at least once.
Every time I had been there so far, we always went off the island to do something. This time I decided to explore Alameda. It's roughly a ten minute walk to the bird preserve and beach from my uncles' house and then another ten minutes to get to the shoreline path. The wind was so strong that tears were streaming down my face as I walked. It was fairly nice out, but I was surprised to see people swimming. From the shore you can see San Francisco, although at this point in the year it is shrouded in fog. After taking photos and walking the length of the beach, I headed back. I wanted to buy some brown sandals to wear the next day but didn't have time before I left to purchase them. What do I see as I walk back but an Old Navy. Two dollars and a hole in my soul later, I was heading back to High Street. I did more homework when I got back until Phil and Jeff returned from Santa Rosa.
After pug feeding, we went to the Golden Lotus to eat amazing vegan chinese food. You may remember this place from a post the first time I went. The service was better this time, although we still waited 20-30 minutes for them to take our order and a while longer to return my credit card. However, the food (and the company) was well worth the wait. I was getting so hungry at this point that I decided to make a sign that said we were ready to order. I got up to writing ORDER and Jeff had gotten their attention. After that everything went fast. Our appetizers came first, which were "chicken" drumsticks. The "bone" was a small bamboo stick. The texture of the "chicken" was very close to chicken. It creeped me out a little at first. I ordered spicy beef with pineapple, Phil ordered tofu and beans, Jeff ordered a clay pot of thousand layers of tofu and eggplant and we had white rice and curried rice to share. The appetizer, mine and Jeff's meals were my favorites.
Following a meal such as that (in addition to the lack of sleep), I was getting sleepy. We decided to go to Peets (Jeff's favorite coffee place) for chai lattes before we prepared for the party. Jeff was confident until our order until it suddenly dawned on him that I couldn't drink a chai latte. Soy. Then we went to Safeway to pick up ice and a few miscelleneous things. Phil chose a cart that was hard of stearing. I occassionally helped him guide it through the aisles so we wouldn't hit other shoppers or endcaps.
When we arrived at the house, we put ice, water and pop into coolers. Then we went over our game plan. I was to squeeze lemons. A few hours later, I had five cups of lemon juice and then Phil took over. Jeff and I watched part of a movie before bed. My stomach had been acting funny the whole time I was there, so after a couple trips to the bathroom I announced that I should probably go to bed now. Jeff helped me make the bed and then I was out.
I awoke a little before seven and though I wanted me to stay in bed, my bladder disagreed. When I climbed up the stairs to go back to bed, the pugs were being fed and I surprised my uncles that I was already awake. In my zombie-like stupor, I didn't look at them or acknowledge their presence. I curled up in my warm fold-out bed and enjoyed some more quiet time. Jeff asked if I wanted coffee, but I declined (I don't drink coffee) and stayed in bed for a few more minutes. I got up, stripped the bed and ate breakfast. As we prepared for the party, Jeff looked through the twenty-five years of pictures that he and Phil had with each other. There were some great ones there, like micro-shorts at Disneyland (the 80s, you know) and curly perms (ohhh, the 80s). I even saw Jeff's prom photos. There were even some of me. We continued to prepare and get dressed. They were set with help, so I did some homework for a while. My stomach pain returned and I laid down for a little while.
Martin was the first to arrive with egg rolls and sweet and sour sauce. Then people kept rolling in. Dave (the one that drove me to Stanford the last time) was there, too. However, the other 35 or so people at the party I had never met before. It was a lot of fun. I think I talked to almost everyone for at least a little while. We called my house to talk to people during family dinner, too. I got compliments on the grass skirt that I borrowed from Jennie (thanks!) and I had borrowed some leis from my uncles, too. The party ended at 5 and some people stayed a couple hours longer.
Once I had changed, packed my clothes and printed out my boarding pass, we went to another couples' house for cigar time. Strangely, my uncles thought I smoked them (I don't). I ate my Purely Decadent Chocolate and Peanut Butter soy ice cream (which Phil will forever call Soy Nightmare) when I could. The couple (I think they're Mark and Steve?) own three pugs and two of them are black and named Harley and Davidson. :) They were very adorable and full of energy, so one jumped right into my lap when I sat down. They are very into food, so if you stop watching for a second it is likely that their head is in your food/beverage.
I don't know what it is about David, but he brings out the attitude in me (in a fun, joking way, or at least I hope it's taken that way). We had a lot of that going back and forth and we talked about music. When we were going to leave, I sank back down in the chair and said, "I don't want to leave." Everyone said, "Aww," and we talked a little longer. Around ten we had to leave for the airport and as we got up to hug, I just stared at him. With a "don't give me that attitude" pronouncement, we hugged and then the three of us were on our way.
The flights were on time and with no turbulence. I actually slept more than I had ever slept on a plane, and I mean actually slept. I slept for two to three hours on the SFO to ORD flight and almost the whole flight from ORD back home. I drove home (my car was in one piece), got dressed and went to work. Working wasn't too bad after a red-eye, although my eyes were tired. It was an awesome weekend. I always have a good time with them and none of it was awkward at all this time. As the weekend went on, I realized how light-hearted I had gotten over the past couple weeks. I am glad to have work and school routines again and those no doubt contributed to my good mood. It probably helped that I wasn't in turmoil over life decisions, either. I look forward to going back. When? Who knows. Before two years? Who knows. But it will happen again.
I have a lot more photos than are posted here. If you would like to see more, let me know and I'll send you the link.
I think it's fall, or getting there anyway. When I step out of the door to get the mail, the air smells clean, crisp and cool. It makes me long for apple-picking, drinking apple cider and curling up with a good book. Some day those activities will fall into place, but for now I will reflect on this past weekend. (This paragraph was written on the 12th, though it is still cold and smells like fall.)
On Saturday, the whole family awoke at 5:15. I needed to leave for the airport. Dad was going to a hamfest. Mom just gets up that early. I packed what was left and headed to the airport on my own. This is the first time I have ever gone to the airport by myself since I needed to drive myself straight to work after the return flight. I patted my car as I left it in long term parking, and made my way to the gate. For 6am, the line to get into the terminal was quite long. Eventually I made it in. The first leg of the flight landed twenty minutes early, so I was able to grab some breakfast (bagel and soy chai latte) before hopping on the second leg. Both flights were on time. There was no turbulence. My stomach was troubling me, but managed to keep itself in check. When I arrived in SFO, I headed to the shuttle for BART. While I rode BART to my destination I read Aldous Huxley's Island. After Lake Merritt, I gave Phil and Jeff a call to pick me up. Jeff picked me up. Soon they left for Santa Rosa and I was left to my own devices. Warning, the next paragraph gets so exciting that you may wet yourself.
I decided to take a nap. Getting in the groove for waking up early to get to work early (before 7:45 or 7:15, depending on the day) and having to get up at 5:15 that day was a lot harder on me than I thought. I hijacked their audio system and attached it to my iPod so I could listen to music without an earbud jabbing me. After resting on the couch awhile and reading for class, I decided I should go out of the house at least once.
Every time I had been there so far, we always went off the island to do something. This time I decided to explore Alameda. It's roughly a ten minute walk to the bird preserve and beach from my uncles' house and then another ten minutes to get to the shoreline path. The wind was so strong that tears were streaming down my face as I walked. It was fairly nice out, but I was surprised to see people swimming. From the shore you can see San Francisco, although at this point in the year it is shrouded in fog. After taking photos and walking the length of the beach, I headed back. I wanted to buy some brown sandals to wear the next day but didn't have time before I left to purchase them. What do I see as I walk back but an Old Navy. Two dollars and a hole in my soul later, I was heading back to High Street. I did more homework when I got back until Phil and Jeff returned from Santa Rosa.
After pug feeding, we went to the Golden Lotus to eat amazing vegan chinese food. You may remember this place from a post the first time I went. The service was better this time, although we still waited 20-30 minutes for them to take our order and a while longer to return my credit card. However, the food (and the company) was well worth the wait. I was getting so hungry at this point that I decided to make a sign that said we were ready to order. I got up to writing ORDER and Jeff had gotten their attention. After that everything went fast. Our appetizers came first, which were "chicken" drumsticks. The "bone" was a small bamboo stick. The texture of the "chicken" was very close to chicken. It creeped me out a little at first. I ordered spicy beef with pineapple, Phil ordered tofu and beans, Jeff ordered a clay pot of thousand layers of tofu and eggplant and we had white rice and curried rice to share. The appetizer, mine and Jeff's meals were my favorites.
Following a meal such as that (in addition to the lack of sleep), I was getting sleepy. We decided to go to Peets (Jeff's favorite coffee place) for chai lattes before we prepared for the party. Jeff was confident until our order until it suddenly dawned on him that I couldn't drink a chai latte. Soy. Then we went to Safeway to pick up ice and a few miscelleneous things. Phil chose a cart that was hard of stearing. I occassionally helped him guide it through the aisles so we wouldn't hit other shoppers or endcaps.
When we arrived at the house, we put ice, water and pop into coolers. Then we went over our game plan. I was to squeeze lemons. A few hours later, I had five cups of lemon juice and then Phil took over. Jeff and I watched part of a movie before bed. My stomach had been acting funny the whole time I was there, so after a couple trips to the bathroom I announced that I should probably go to bed now. Jeff helped me make the bed and then I was out.
I awoke a little before seven and though I wanted me to stay in bed, my bladder disagreed. When I climbed up the stairs to go back to bed, the pugs were being fed and I surprised my uncles that I was already awake. In my zombie-like stupor, I didn't look at them or acknowledge their presence. I curled up in my warm fold-out bed and enjoyed some more quiet time. Jeff asked if I wanted coffee, but I declined (I don't drink coffee) and stayed in bed for a few more minutes. I got up, stripped the bed and ate breakfast. As we prepared for the party, Jeff looked through the twenty-five years of pictures that he and Phil had with each other. There were some great ones there, like micro-shorts at Disneyland (the 80s, you know) and curly perms (ohhh, the 80s). I even saw Jeff's prom photos. There were even some of me. We continued to prepare and get dressed. They were set with help, so I did some homework for a while. My stomach pain returned and I laid down for a little while.
Martin was the first to arrive with egg rolls and sweet and sour sauce. Then people kept rolling in. Dave (the one that drove me to Stanford the last time) was there, too. However, the other 35 or so people at the party I had never met before. It was a lot of fun. I think I talked to almost everyone for at least a little while. We called my house to talk to people during family dinner, too. I got compliments on the grass skirt that I borrowed from Jennie (thanks!) and I had borrowed some leis from my uncles, too. The party ended at 5 and some people stayed a couple hours longer.
Once I had changed, packed my clothes and printed out my boarding pass, we went to another couples' house for cigar time. Strangely, my uncles thought I smoked them (I don't). I ate my Purely Decadent Chocolate and Peanut Butter soy ice cream (which Phil will forever call Soy Nightmare) when I could. The couple (I think they're Mark and Steve?) own three pugs and two of them are black and named Harley and Davidson. :) They were very adorable and full of energy, so one jumped right into my lap when I sat down. They are very into food, so if you stop watching for a second it is likely that their head is in your food/beverage.
I don't know what it is about David, but he brings out the attitude in me (in a fun, joking way, or at least I hope it's taken that way). We had a lot of that going back and forth and we talked about music. When we were going to leave, I sank back down in the chair and said, "I don't want to leave." Everyone said, "Aww," and we talked a little longer. Around ten we had to leave for the airport and as we got up to hug, I just stared at him. With a "don't give me that attitude" pronouncement, we hugged and then the three of us were on our way.
The flights were on time and with no turbulence. I actually slept more than I had ever slept on a plane, and I mean actually slept. I slept for two to three hours on the SFO to ORD flight and almost the whole flight from ORD back home. I drove home (my car was in one piece), got dressed and went to work. Working wasn't too bad after a red-eye, although my eyes were tired. It was an awesome weekend. I always have a good time with them and none of it was awkward at all this time. As the weekend went on, I realized how light-hearted I had gotten over the past couple weeks. I am glad to have work and school routines again and those no doubt contributed to my good mood. It probably helped that I wasn't in turmoil over life decisions, either. I look forward to going back. When? Who knows. Before two years? Who knows. But it will happen again.
I have a lot more photos than are posted here. If you would like to see more, let me know and I'll send you the link.