http://gamevideos.1up.com/video/id/25612

I didn’t know my grandmother very well.  She lived with my family for about a year before moving to Canada to live with my Aunt and her family.  Her language of choice was Cantonese and mine was English, so it made communication a challenge.  I learned a great deal about her after she passed though.  Not sure how I feel about that.

Our original holiday plans this year was supposed to start with Christian, his sister Stefania, our dog Lily, and I hopping into the CR-V on Sunday morning the week before Christmas to spend Sunday-Saturday with their parents in Santa Barbara.  With my grandmother’s passing, we couldn’t move forward with that plan since I needed to head to Canada with the rest of my family to pay our respects.  Christian and Stefania ended up staying home a few extra days to wait until I returned before heading down to Santa Barbara.  Bless their hearts for doing that (and their parents’ hearts for being so understanding) because a single one-way flight down there to meet them would have cost me about $250.  EEEK. 

I flew from San Jose to Seattle, Washington at 6:30 AM Monday morning with Mom, Dad, Uncle Bao, his wife, his daughter Annie, my Aunt Linh, her husband, and her kids Cathleen and Colin.  They had booked my flight separately so I ended up in first class on my own.  That was my first experience in first class and let me tell you, it was niiiice.  The seats were so roomy that my feet couldn’t touch the floor when I sat all the way back.  My tea came in a glass mug; I had maybe 3 or 4 refills during the 2-hour flight.  I was even offered a Bearclaw for breakfast (I turned it down in an effort to make healthy choices during this trip).  If you ever have a long flight, first class is the way to go.

Once we landed in Seattle, we had a few hours to wait before our flight to Bellingham, WA.  The family wanted breakfast so we stopped at a Wolfgang Puck Express and ordered a bunch of breakfast pizzas (bacon & ham).  They looked DELICIOUS, but I went for a yogurt instead.    We saw Santa fly by on a golf cart during the meal so I took the kids (and my mom) to see him and take some photos. 

Breakfast Pizzas

Cousins

Mom w/Santa & the Elf

The flight to Bellingham was a short mayyybe 45-minute flight.  I sat next to an audio engineer who works on major awards shows (she was wearing a 73rd Annual Academy Awards jacket, so I had to ask), so I chatted it up with her for a while.  She was a super-nice lady who is building a house to settle into in Bellingham. 

Once we arrived in Bellingham, my Uncle Sen (who lives in Abbotsford near or in Vancouver – Grandma had been living with my Aunt, Uncle, and cousin there since the late ‘90s) picked us up from the airport and we all loaded in to head up to his place.  We made a quick stop at the cemetery where my Grandmother was going to be buried in Lynden, Washington – not far from the Canada/US Border.  They were digging the grave when we got there.  Next to the grave they were digging was my Uncle Huy Quyen’s grave.  It was all very strange.  I didn’t think about seeing his grave when we went up there, so it caught me off guard.  He died in a tragic lumber mill accident in 1996 – very sad because he went way before his time.
 

Uncle Huy Quyen’s Grave

Once Uncle Sen was done talking business with the grave digger dude (I don’t know what you call those guys), we made our way up past the border and to his mansion of a house in Abbotsford.  That place is BEAUTIFUL.  9 rooms.  A bajillion bathrooms. Huge.

My Aunt Anh was prepping a feast of a dinner when we arrived.  Turkey with veggies, asian-style. 

Turkey Dinner – Asian Style

After we ate, we all headed to the funeral home for a viewing/memorial at the funeral home.  When we got there, my Aunt Linh had already arrived separately and she was standing before her mother’s open casket bawling her eyes out.  She was so torn and emotionally wrecked, she couldn’t even stand.  It was heartbreaking to watch.  I spent most of the evening staring at my Grandmother from the front row of seats in the hall.  I think it was the first time I’d ever seen a dead person, so it was a very surreal, very trippy experience.  As I mentioned earlier, I didn’t really know her very well, but to see all of the people that came to her memorial and wept for her passing, it gave me a whole new insight into who she had become to this community.  She was very active in her church and her senior community group.  Everyone there was very touched and affected by her and they were all very devastated that she was gone.  I remember one older gentleman who walked in – someone I didn’t know – walked up to her casket, took off his hat, and just about had a meltdown.  Loud sobbing, tears streaming down his face – it was really sad to watch. 

The funeral the next morning wasn’t any easier to bear, but that’s where I learned the most about the person she was to these people.  She was baptized and became an active member of her church.  She made homemade mooncakes for everyone every year during the moon festival.  She became a happy person.  That wasn’t the person I remembered, but I was so glad to hear that it was the person she transformed into.  I mourned the loss of opportunity to know this happy person that my grandmother became and through everyone who was at the funeral, including my family who flew up with me from the states, I mourned the loss of her.  I shed my first tear during this event after our family had to line up as part of the receiving line at the end of the funeral and we paid our respects one last time before they closed the casket.  My Aunt Linh went ballistic – she fell to the ground and had what was probably the biggest cry of her life.  My mom lost it.  She had to sit herself down to try and catch her breath.  My Uncle Bao started crying.  Even my dad, who was completely stoic during this entire trip, shed his tears for her.  So THAT’s when I teared up.  All of her children and grandchildren were gathered around her crying one last cry for her passing.  It was heavy.

After the funeral, we drove past the border behind the Hearse to the Lynden Cemetery in Washington.  We paid our last respects and watched the casket get lowered and grave get filled.  It was all surreal, I tell you. 

Once the burial was done, we made a pit stop at McDonald’s and then headed for the airport.  It was a LOT of work for me to be the only fluent English speaker on this trip… my goodness.  I was so happy to be home once my aunt dropped me off.  It was such a tiring experience and the first leg of my traveling was finally over.

Christian, Stefania, Lily and I all went down the Santa Barbara the next day and spent Christmas with their family.  Christian, Lily, and I made our way back home again on Sunday and then I got really, really sick and had to log on to work the next day.

I’m currently nursing my Christmas cold (Thanks, Santa.  Really, you shouldn’t have) and am longing for my next day off (Thursday).  Here’s hoping 2010 brings better and happier memories.

Thanks to those who made it allllllllll the way down to this point in my blog.  Hope you all enjoy a safe and wonderful New Year’s. 

We found Dottie a home the day before we left for Santa Barbara. She has gone to the home of a fellow Yahoo and we’re confident that she’s happy.

I ate too much unhealthy food during the Thanksgiving holiday and now feel a bit blimpy. I went for a run with Christian over the weekend to get back into the workout routine and was ready to die.  I’m still sore.  Back to Thanksgiving though, I made this little guy for Christian’s mom:

Isn’t he cute?  He sat next to the real turkey on the Thanksgiving buffet piano (yes, you read piano).

We took Lily to the beach on Thanksgiving Day and she went nuts. She LOVED it – even got into a little bit of trouble:

Loving the beach

Getting into trouble


Christian trying to get her out of trouble

That was exciting.

We took some family pictures of our friends, the Gibson Family, the day after we got back from Santa Barbara.  Here are a few fun ones that I took:

Lily Gibson is such a cutie patootie.   I love it!

Once we got back to work, I worked feverishly to organize last minute details for a surprise baby shower for a co-worker (Geneva).  Never let me throw a surprise party again.

Geneva surprised – we actually got her!

Here’s the diaper cake I made for the party:

As for the rest of December, we have a department function tomorrow night, a play on Thursday, a canned food drive contest at work in which we’re both competing, some parties sprinkled here and there, and back to Santa Barbara we go.

Tired.

Here’s a video Christian made of the dog (we call her Dottie for now) and Lily:

Lily and Dottie from Christian Pizzirani on Vimeo.

Here are our online postings:
http://www.fidofinder.com/dog.php?id=185476
http://hssv.convio.net/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=7667&news_iv_ctrl=1345

Help us spread the word and let us know if anyone would like to care for this cutie!  Otherwise, we’ll be dropping her off at the humane society on Tuesday.

The vet tech called me this morning with the blood test results. “Perfectly healthy” was the verdict based on the results that returned. There is absolutely nothing wrong with her organs, nothing wrong with anything in her blood, nada, zip. She said that it could have been an epileptic episode, but I also asked if it was a possibility that she maybe swallowed something toxic because she was walks around our lawn and tends to lick paws clean (yes, like a cat… but she’s not a cat – I swear!) AND Christian had put some snail bait out two weeks ago. She confirmed that it was a real possibility that she could have stepped in some runoff that was tainted with bait and ingested that when she licked her paws.

So this means either no more lawn play time for a while or a really thorough wipe-down after each trip out there.

Oh, one more thing that the vet tech mentioned… A seizure once a year is nothing to be alarmed about (not like it’s okay, but it’s not an indication of anything serious). Anything more frequent than that and we might have to treat her with medication for the rest of her life. Praying that she stays seizure-free forever…

After a little while, I was able to get her to stand up and walk back into the house.  The episode was over and now she was just really weak.  She went straight for bed and laid down.  She still had some drooling issues, so I grabbed a towel and wiped her down.  I sat with her for about an hour while she just laid there.  It was so sad to think about all that had happened and watch her lay her, so weak.  I couldn’t help but check her breathing every few minutes – I know, I’m crazy.  At this point, she seemed tired but okay.  I brushed her teeth and left her alone and she recovered some of her energy as the day went on.


Poor Lily had a hard day

Our friends Jason & Sharon stopped by so Jason could get a quick tutorial on some DVD functionality from Christian – nerd-type stuff.  Our friends Justin, Natalie, and their son Jacob came by not to long after to drop off some things and catch up.  It was a full house and I wasn’t sure how Lily would do with the troubled day she had.  Little Jacob is 14 months old and is the cutest little boy!  He has so much personality and such a charming little face. 

Jacob being cute

He took to Lily right away and she let him chase after her until he tired himself (and her) out.


Jacob & Lily

Here I am posing with my girls.

My skirt just sits like a large skirt when I don’t flare it up and out like in the photo (I got questions about how I fit into doorways and my cubicle several times).

Here are some fun Ghosting photos. 

As you can see, I decorated Serina’s cube a la Disney Halloween.  Not good enough to win anything, but it was still fun.  Loads of thanks to Rosie & Christian for their help & support!

I had a free $10 to spend at Old Navy before it expired this upcoming weekend, so Christian agreed to hit the Great Mall with me tonight. I also had a coupon for a free aromatherapy product from Bath & Body Works and since the stores are right across from one another, I figured two birds, one stone.

We hit Old Navy around 830 or so and I picked up two camis, a cute, furry hoodie (all for me ’cause I’m greedy), and a dog collar for Lily. I had my $10 off reward which was set to expire this weekend, but I also had a $20 off that wouldn’t expire until 2010. Typically, stores won’t let you combine coupons in a single transaction and I knew this when I got to the register. I decided to take the risk anyway and asked the cashier if she’d be willing to combine them for me… And she said yes! I guess under any other circumstances, it would have been a no, but since she was the manager or supervisor and was one of the last few employees in the store (it was 9 by the time I picked out what I wanted and they were closing shop), she was more than happy to override for me! In addition to getting my $30 off, everything I picked out was on sale!

After we checked out, I thought I’d give Bath & Body Works a shot, despite it already being past closing time. I looked across the way and saw that the gate was still wide open, so I made a mad dash for the entrance. I grabbed my free aromatherapy bottle, picked up some lip balms that were buy 2, get 1 free, and hit the register. The supervisor scanned my items and told me that because I was spending $15 (yes, lip balms were $7.50 each – well worth it I tell ya!) I was entitled to any item in the store valued up to $13 for free because of one of the new coupons they had available. I had no idea about the coupon and she didn’t NEED to tell me this, but it was super-awesome of her to be on the lookout for me! I grabbed a body wash called “Optimism” and dashed back to the register. The supervisor had to tend to a phone call, so another associate rung up the rest of my stuff. After she scanned my coupon for the free aromatherapy bottle and printed the receipt, she handed everything over to me, including the coupon. I told her that I didn’t need it anymore since she just scanned it and she whispered to me, “keep it – you can use it again.” I walked away with a very free bottle of aromatherapy lotion, 2 coupon books, and the original coupon for a free aromatherapy product.

Total spent for the evening: $36
Total savings for the evening: $80

Color me elated over saving loads of money AND having a fabulous customer experience! Good customer service really pays off because I WILL be coming back soon

Thanks for reading!