Things can only get better from here, right?

On top of everything else, I just got laid off. Another casualty of the financial market meltdown.

Saying goodbye again :( :( :(

Don't have much time or energy to write too much on the topic right now, but today we lost my grandmother due to a massive brain aneurysm she suffered sometime on Sunday. Willy and I were in San Diego at Michele and Brian's wedding and got the call from my sister at 4am PST Monday. Luckily we were on a flight back home at 8am PST that day anyway so we went straight to the hospital to see her. She never regained consciousness after the aneurysm--which caused massive damage to her brain including bleeding and swelling to the extent that it was pushing against her brain stem--but we are grateful that we got a chance to see her before they removed the tubes this afternoon that were helping her breath.

We are more grateful that it was just last weekend that we got to spend some time with her when she was at our house for a family BBQ. The hard part is that this is all very sudden--she was otherwise very healthy; 100% mentally alert, aware, and capable; walking unassisted at the age of 87; etc. There are some things I had yet to learn from her like her incredible knitting skills and the delicious dumplings she used to make that were my favorite...just didn't see this coming.

Rest in peace, grandma. Thank you for everything you've done for us, helping to raise us from the second we were born. We'll always love and remember you.

League Champs!

Yay, we are the champions! Our outdoor co-ed reverse fours team took first place in the league playoffs last night. We've led all season and it's nice to have a league championship under our belts (even if there were only four teams total in the league :P). Our team name is Get a KLIW (clue), for the first initial of each of our team members. Guess me managed to get one!

Saying Goodbye

After multiple battles with a persistent brain tumor, W's dad passed away Monday evening. He went peacefully and without pain and several family members were with him at the time of his passing. Funeral arrangements are still being finalized but they will most likely be next weekend somewhere in the L.A. area.

It's the first loss that's hit so close to home for either of us. W is doing OK but sending a few good thoughts his way wouldn't hurt.

Great volleyball tourney season

W and I have been having a great summer outdoor volleyball tournament season. At our very first doubles tourney this summer we were bumped up to the A pool because we were the only ones who had signed up to play in the BB pool. I was afraid we were going to get crushed that day because the two times we'd played in the BB pool last summer we didn't win. That first tourney we won 2 out of 8 games, which I was happy with (I was really expecting 0/8). The next couple of times we went 4/8 against some very competitive teams. Today we went 6/8 and finished first in our pool! So cool!

There was another A pool that we would have faced in playoffs--if it hadn't started POURING at the end of pool play! So unfortunately we didn't get to see if we really would have won the whole thing but I'm really happy with our progressively better performance. Yay, I'm not totally old yet ;)

Congratulations to E & G!

I'm way behind on updates but wanted to send a belated congrats to E & G on their July 19 wedding! It was a really fun day and I had to share one of the best parts of their wedding ceremony: Anyone Else But You. So fun! This performance also came after E and his brother/best man came out to Indiana Jones theme music complete with a little skit from The Temple of Doom. Guess who had to roll out the giant "rock" (aka an exercise ball :)) at them as they tried to "escape." Haha!

Congrats you guys! Thanks for a great party.

Cape Cod anniversary trip

A couple of weekends ago IM and GM came to town a week before my and IM's college reunion. GM had never spent much time in Boston before so IM wanted to show him around. We all went down to the Cape together for a chill weekend. IM shot this very cool pic of three of us--neat, huh?

IM also found us a great little B&B called
Cobblestone Cottage. The room we stayed in was super comfy with a newly updated bathroom en suite. We were the only people there that weekend so it was like having a little hotel all to ourselves. I'd definitely go back there and highly recommend it. Bev's bottomless cookie jar was a big plus :)

We did a lot while we were there, considering we didn't do a lick of activity planning before heading down there. We arrived late Friday afternoon and just wandered down to the nearest beach for a look-see; it wasn't really swimming weather. Splurged on a yummy dinner at Pisces. Instead of appetizers we basically got a couple of entrees to share amongst the four of us. Mmm, mmm good.

Saturday we did a great bike ride on the Rail Trail--a nice, flat, easy ride. The hubby says we rode something like 16 miles round trip. I haven't been on a bike in probably 7 years so that was a big deal for me. We barely missed the rain that started flowing just before we got back to the bike shop. After the ride I somehow coerced everyone into doing a little bit of rock climbing at a local gym (heehee).

On Sunday we fulfilled GM's need to see the Kennedy compound with a little boat trip out of Hyannis. I actually skipped that tour because of my tendency to get seasick and instead went shopping on the main drag. We made sure to get back over the bridge at a decent hour to avoid the traffic and explored Plymouth a bit. Plymouth Rock was unfortunately not open for viewing as they were renovating the structure that's built over it. The trip ended with a delicious meal at Isaac's in Plymouth. Don't let their 1980s, gold-trimmed, ugly carpet decor fool you--the seafood is delicious!

Happy Third Anniversary to Us!

It's been three years since our May 29, 2005 wedding and it has FLOWN by! I already got my (very sweet) card plus a (very sweet) Heath Bar on my pillow from Willy just after midnight--haha, he knows my sweet tooth well! I'll save the candy until after the dinner he has planned for us to celebrate. He won't tell me where we're going but I can't wait!

Yay for anniversaries! Yay for amazing spouses! Yay for us! :)

Dad update

I just realized I never provided an update on W's dad's surgery. Everything went pretty well and the surgeon thought he got about 70% of the tumor out. I know, sounds like there's still a fair amount still left in there, but he seems to have been doing pretty well since the surgery. He was only in the ICU for a day before they considered him ready to go back on the regular floor. After a few days he transferred to a hospital in Long Beach, which is closer to home for him and therefore also easier for his wife to go back and forth. All in all, it's been the best possible outcome so far. Thanks to all the friends and family who offered their support through this relapse. JC, SZ, MK, Aunt M, Aunt C--you guys are great. Thank you!

Happy Birthday, W!

Happy Birthday to You
Happy Birthday to You
Happy Birthday, Dear Hubby
Happy Birthday to You!

Last Saturday we had a little birthday get-together at our house for W, a day after his actual birthday. It was the first time we threw a non-family party at the house so it was kind of a big deal for us. We invited a bunch of volleyball people from our leagues and it was really nice to see them outside of the gym. It's hard making new friends as adults, but we keep trying.

I was a little nervous about playing hostess and hoping that everyone was going to have fun. I wasn't sure how many people were going to show up since it's not like our tight S.F. crowd of friends and it would have sucked if only a handful of people came over. But I feared for naught as we had about 20+ people come to celebrate. We borrowed my sisters' Wii for entertainment--Raving Rabbids was a big hit, heehee. I made/defrosted/bought a bunch of appetizer-type food but was good this time and didn't totally overdo it with the food. The drinks, however, were another story. I bought about three big bottles of hard alcohol and some mixers and no one touched it. They just had wine and beers. Oh well, more for us to have when everyone's in town for our 10th reunion I guess! In the end the last guests left around 1:30 or 2:00am so I guess they were having fun! Whew, glad it went well!

Oh, and these pics are courtesy of our friend and fellow volleyball player (of course) Suzi Camarata who is a professional photographer. Thanks, Suzi!

Oh, and if you're wondering what I got him for his birthday, here it is. We both need new helmets as ours are past their expiration dates. Apparently you're supposed to replace them after a few years regardless of whether they've been involved in an accident. Now I just need to get him a new riding jacket as well since the one he has is blue (part of our wishful thinking that we were going to get a blue Yamaha YZF, which didn't happen--instead we got the equally hot Suzuki GSX-R in red so I can't complain).



But remember how I said we both need new helmets, since we bought them at the same time? Well guess who got herself a little present while she was at it? ;) Here's hoping the spring weather that's been around for a week or two sticks around so we can put some more miles on the bike. W hasn't even ridden it enough yet to get it past the break-in mileage. With gas prices what they are nowadays (I think I paid $3.75/gallon for premium yesterday), we'll have to travel light more often and take the bike instead of one of our cars!


Happy Birthday again, best hubby in the world! Looking forward to many, many more.