‘Tis the weekend and though I feel like I’ve been generally out of sorts for the past month or so, I really do have a lot to be thankful for. In particular, I’ve got to give thanks and props to friends and family who have been super supportive during this time.
The last few weekends have been really busy, so here are a couple vignettes:
11/11-11/13: “Let’s all celebrate and have a good time”
This year saw a record number of birthday cakes, from a bunch of mini-cakes at OHO, to a birthday flan at Green Field, to an enormous cake with chocolate covered strawberries from the VariAsians, to the classic chocolate cake with strawberry ice cream (complete with 28 candles) from Jen Feng, to some apparently yummy cupcakes from Carin Lee (that I never got to taste), to a devil’s food cake from Kyle & Anna. Whew! We had plenty of dessert-y items for a while.
Other highlights from the weekend include getting to spend time with my favorite ladies from Berkeley who I don’t get to see nearly enough (including lots of meat, some memorable Karaoke Revolution, and a shutout (men (7) vs. women (0)) in Catch Phrase), having laghman (yum!) on Saturday with some old (and new) friends, two successful gigs with the VariAsians, coffee with my dear sister yooniverse… The list goes on and on.
On the other hand, this was the first year that a majority of people commented that I’m starting to get old, but hey… see the next post. 
11/18-11/20: “…did not know you could ever look so good…”
10 years since graduation from good ol’ Arlington. Seeing friends and catching up was so great. In general, folks seem to be doing really well.
One thing that surprised me was that in general, people looked better than they did back in high school. I suppose one of these years the tables will turn and we’ll start to have droopy features, but yeah… 1995 sure had some good looking people!
Another thing that surprised me was that there were a fair number of people who did not recognize me. I might point out that I was one of a very few (3, maybe?) Chinese people in my graduating class of 500. Apparently, I was sort of dorky in high school. 
So I guess I’m one of those people who looks better now than I did in high school. And I had thought I had always been good looking…
11/20: Scoring big with the kids
In a surprise move, Nathan has joined Annah and Elijah as a “kid who made me feel special.” Don’t get me wrong; I always love hanging out in the nursery and we always have good times. But every now and then, one of them does something special that makes me feel on top of the world.
Now it usually takes me a good hour or so to get Nathan (who’s 5) even to interact with me—he’s historically been really attached to his parents. Last Sunday, though, when I came down after service for the CCFC Thanksgiving Potluck Dinner, Nathan looks up at me and says, “Hey! You missed all the fun!” As another friend put it, I had one of those moments where I thought, “To me? Is Nathan actually talking to me?” Well, we talked a bit about the Potluck and he told me how he didn’t like any of the Thanksgiving foods (his loss!) and then he went to ask coolipuss for a horsey ride. Coolipuss begged off saying that if he gave Nathan a ride then everyone would want one. So then I asked Nathan if he’d give me a horsey ride. He said, “Sure! Climb on!” So I went over and stood over his back and he put his arms around my legs and we walked for a little while like that. But after just a bit he said, “You’re too heavy! We’ll need a giant monster to carry you!”
Ah… precious moments. Who will be next to charm me? 
11/24-11/27: Being Thankful
I travelled a lot and saw a lot of people over Thanksgiving weekend. Celebrated Thanksgiving Day with lots of family in Flushing at my cousin Richard’s Sheraton. Yes, that’s the possessive case. Crazy. Got to see my cousin Stu’s place in Hackensack. Visited my cousin Si’s grave; he would have been 33. Watched a whole lot of movies (I suppose I could put up some reviews one of these days). Had dinner with my sis and got to set up the Internet for her and her roommate (I love doing IT for friends). Visited Redeemer and had a “fun time.” No, really, it was a great service and a great sermon, helping me put things in perspective and to consider anew God’s incredible love. Taking the Chinatown bus back to Boston was decidedly unfun, but I made it back safely and in better-than-expected time.
Whew… this has been long. Hence the value in posting more regularly, I suppose. I didn’t really post that many vignettes either, I suppose—mostly just summaries. But I sorta just wanted to get most of what has happened down on paper because a lot has happened and I’ve realized I have a lot to be thankful for.
