Looky what I learned how to make!

When my grandmother passed away I inherited her crochet and knitting needles. She had taught me a couple of basic crochet stitches many, many years ago and I promptly did nothing with it. Now that I'm older and feeling more crafty, I really wanted to put her needles to good use and, I suppose, feel a connection to her now that she's gone.

Similarly, my friend Sabrina also inherited her grandmother's needles but she's been doing the crochet/knitting thing for much longer than I have. She even gave me a great fuzzy scarf several years ago that I still use regularly. Well on my last trip out to the bay area several weeks ago she showed me these great crocheted animals she's been making called amigurumi. This is an amigurumi octopus she made me, which her hubby said is appropriate for me because I'm a multi-tasker :)

Well, I'm a sucker for cute. Sabrina re-taught me some crochet stitches (thanks, Miss Sabrina!) and then I was off to decipher the foreign language that is crochet patterns (work 6 sc in first ch. *2sc in next sc, sc in next sc around...huh?!). With the help of some books and Sabrina's suggestion of YouTube lessons, I eventually got it. And looky what I made!



I am so stinkin' proud of my crafty self ;P They're a little rough around the edges, but I think not bad for my beginner efforts. I made the elephant first because he's all one color and I wasn't sure yet how to switch yarn colors mid-project. I gave him to my sisters because the college they went to has an elephant as a mascot. Then I made the penguin for my mom. Sabby's made the penguin for her hubby and a friend of ours and it's a perpetual big hit. I also finished a turtle last night that I haven't taken pics of yet.

This is my newest obsession and I can't wait to make more! Have to get more plastic eyes from the store today and I think I'll be attempting a giraffe next. I think my grandma would have been proud, albeit a little critical too of the aforementioned rough edges, haha! Then she would have told me how to make it better. I like to think she's smiling down at me as I'm working on these.

Miss you, grandma.

Happy New Year!

It's a snowy, blowy, and cold New Year here in Boston. Nothing that a yummy hotpot dinner with family can't cure though. It's always nice to start things off with good food.

Personally I'm looking forward to the beginning of new and better things in 2009. Best wishes for health, wealth, and happiness to you all!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas, everyone! I am way behind on posts, but I'll have to catch up later. Just wanted to wish everyone a very happy holiday and offer a few quick pics of some of the goodies I baked up over the last few days:

Chocolate pots, sugar cookies, and peanut butter chocolate chip cookies, all from scratch (even the sugar cookie frosting!). Yes, I do know that some, if not all, of the sugar cookies look like a two-year-old frosted them but, hey, not bad for my first time!



There's also an apple pie that I didn't take a pic of. I'll have to post the whole Christmas Feast menu a little later. It's a bit insane. Enjoy your Christmas, all!

History in the making

Wow, it's pretty amazing to be participating in this moment in history. We've just elected the first black President of the United States. He's got a tough job ahead of him, but he seems to have the intellect, passion, and drive to get things done. I am hopeful and believe that the country will rally around him now to help the country move forward.

The only question left: who will be our first FEMALE president and when will she be elected???

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.