a proper send-off

one of the hub's uncles was recently diagnosed with a pretty aggressive form of cancer, which unfortunately led to his passing about a month later.  while we weren't very close to him, we knew him as a really nice man who was always willing to help out whenever needed.  he was a decorated vietnam war veteran, husband, father, grandfather, brother, uncle, friend.  it was a tough loss for the hub and his family, and i think we were all happy to hear that his final day on earth was spent with those he loved the most, ending with a peaceful passing as he slept.

with that news, family members began to arrive in the area as they gathered to organize a memorial service to celebrate his life.  a highlight was having brother wan and his family come to visit, bringing sweet little wyatt to come and play with us.

the service was held out at the national cemetery in riverside, where he was memorialized with a full military burial.  it was a beautiful day, and we got to listen to FIL speak about his beloved big brother, his hero throughout his whole life, along with the gun salute, the playing of "taps" and the presentation of the flag to the hub's aunt.  it was very touching and emotional, and i felt honored to be present for it.

after the ceremony was over, we had a good amount of time before gathering again at the hub's cousin's house for the afterparty.  is that the right thing to call it?  maybe, maybe not - but FIL said that his brother loved a great party with everyone in jeans and t-shirts, just hanging out having a good time.  they'd even secured one of the in-n-out cookout trucks for it, which is pretty much how his uncle would have wanted it.  the way things worked out, it didn't make sense for us to go home since we'd have been fighting traffic to get to the party on time.  and so instead we headed over to victoria gardens and grabbed a table at punch bowl social.  it's one of those places where you can eat, drink, bowl, play games...sort of like a grown-up chuck e. cheese.  being a monday afternoon, we pretty much had the place to ourselves.

you can order drinks to share that are brought out in an actual punch bowl, served with a proper ladle into cute little cups.  ours was the watermelon polo bowl - tequila, watermelon spearmint tea, watermelon shrub, housemade strawberry syrup and fresh lime juice.  it was sweet, refreshing and delicious.

we ordered up some appetizers, too - "a pig, a duck, and some cheese walk into a bar" was a platter with prosciutto, confit duck leg, crispy chicharrones, olives, housemade dill pickle slices, chunks of blue and feta cheeses, strawberry jam and a baguette.  it was delicious.

and the crab rangoon dip, warm and creamy and super tasty.

barbacoa tacos:

and the shrimp burger.

 the girls and i had just enough time to do a little mini bowling:

oh, and there are a few lanes for full-sized bowling too.

it was a fun way to kill some time, and then we wrapped it up and headed on out to the afterparty.  the in-n-out truck was already parked in front, ready to serve up some tasty burgers.

and the back yard was all set up with tables and chairs, with framed photos of the hub's uncle sprinkled everywhere.  the somber mood had given way to a lighter, more festive one and everyone was enjoying each other's company and sharing old stories and memories.  and there were pretty floral centerpieces on every table.

being a school night, the girls and i didn't stay too late.  we slipped out quietly, leaving the hub and his family to continue enjoying their time together.  i think his uncle would have liked his send-off, and i hope he watched it all happen from above with a smile.

the family that runs together...doesn't necessarily stay together

the fit 4 fall 5K, sponsored by olympic gold medalist bryan clay, will always have a special place in my heart because it was the very first 5K i ever ran.  not to mention, it's super close to home and there are always lots of familiar faces throughout the course.  plus, i'm a legacy runner, which means that i've been a participant in the race every year since the first one in 2011.  i kind of have to keep running it until my legs fall off.  heh.

last year, the bryan clay foundation started sponsoring a contest for all of the schools in glendora to register as many people on their team as they could, and the school with the largest team won a check for $5,000.  the bean's school promoted the hell out of it to their students and families, which resulted in a win by a landslide.  i'm not sure why, but they kind of dropped the ball this year and didn't really get the word out until about a week before the race.  when it was announced that another school was giving us a run for our money (literally), i talked the teen and the bean into joining the hub and me so we could add four more to our team.

it took a little work, but we finally got dressed and out the door, all clad in running shoes and our crazy bright neon team shirts.  the bean was not in the mood for a run that morning, throwing a fit and all but refusing to come.  it was the promise of possibly seeing her friends along the course that finally got her dressed and in the car, but she still pouted the whole way there.  oy vey.

parking was a little hairy, but the hub always has a few tricks up his sleeve.  we even managed to find a spot just around the corner from the start line.

and sure enough, as we joined the crowds of people hovering near the start, the bean let out a yelp as she found one of her most favorite friends in the whole world.

the teen was...a little less enthused about this whole thing.

i, on the other hand, was kind of over-the-moon elated to have my whole family gathered for a race.  this just doesn't happen, like ever.

i was resigned to having to do a lot of walking during this one.  i was itching to get out and run it to see if i could continue my streak of getting through the whole 3.1 miles without a walk break, but i knew the teen wouldn't be able to hang with that.  she'd graciously agreed to stay with her sister while the hub and i ran it, but i felt bad leaving them behind.  plus, the bean and her friend were sticking together.  and so as we crossed the start line, i watched the hub take off ahead of us.  the girls did get a running start, though.

it looks like the bean is ahead of her friend there, right?  but the joke was on her as little red proved herself to be a pretty steady little runner.  she hung back with the bean for at least half of the race, putting up with her little sprints that lasted for about five seconds before slowing back down to a walk.  seemed like forever till we finally got here:

the teen was ahead of us for most of the run, and i'd prod the bean along with a "hey, go catch up to your sister, she's totally leaving us behind!"  although it was fun to be with the girls as i listened to their 7-year-old chatter along the way.

this lady was annoying the hell out of me, though, as she continually tripped over the girls as she sped-walked along with her friends.  i couldn't understand why she wouldn't just stay to the side instead of always veering towards the girls.  she bonked the bean with her stupid elbow more than once, and by the third time i was ready to smack her with the bottom of my shoe.  ugh.

water break!

after the second mile marker, little red finally tired of the bean's whiny walking shenanigans.  she broke into a sprint that lasted for a good long stretch, and we ended up leaving the two sisters behind after all.  i'd promised her mom that i'd stay with her, and so the teen ended up with the bean while i kept up with little red.  it felt really good to run again.  and in what seemed like no time at all, that final mile was behind us and we were approaching the finish line at last.

her mom found us just as we crossed the finish, and i thanked little red for being my running mate as i joined the hub, who'd also finished just a minute ahead of us.  we waited for the girls together on the sidelines, and cheered loudly as we spotted them - also just about a minute behind us.  they both got high-fives from bryan clay as they finished.

amidst all the confusion, we still managed to get a shot of them together.  maybe next year we'll get them all looking in the same direction.

although who knows if there'll be a next year for this girl...

by the way, we got our asses totally spanked by that other school, who brought in 350 runners to our 150.  they took home that $5,000 check and a sweet trophy, but as second place we still received a nice $1,500 donation.  not too shabby, eh?

food makes up for bad basketball

i spent all day yesterday thinking it was sunday. ha! i get confused pretty easily.

it started out with lovely, yummy dim sum with r and one of my other awesome cousins, lakerfan. yes, his name could totally apply for pretty much all of my family, but when i think lakers, i always think of him. we've managed to make a tradition of sorts whenever r is in town to get together and grub down on some tasty little treats at various dim sum places, and today's venue was full house in arcadia. it's not my favorite place, but it's easy to get to and cheap as hell.

to r's surprise, the hub (not a big dim sum fan) actually came along this time. it'd been quite a while since she had seen him, so it was nice for them to catch up a bit. and the bean had fallen asleep in the car on the way, so she spent the entire time cuddled in her daddy's arms. although we don't keep the house silent for when she sleeps, it was really noisy in there and we were pretty amazed that she snoozed so soundly.

as we were seated, out of the corner of my eye i spy a little person walk up to lakerfan and tap him on the shoulder. and when i focused my attention on him, i realized it was a family member i haven't seen in a long time. we turned our heads and saw his little brother and dad sitting at a nearby table. and why is this significant?

well, this was m's family - close family of that man. and i hadn't seen them (nor anyone on that side of the family) in over a year - not since the teen and i quietly sat in the back of the church at her memorial service. as r and lakerfan got up to go and say hello, i struggled silently with the decision of whether or not to join them. i glanced frantically at the hub, who encouraged me to go, and so i did, wondering with each step whether or not i would be welcomed or ignored. i really hoped for the former, as my relationship with m's husband (to whom i was actually related to) had always been a good one.

my worries were laid to rest as i received not the icy glare i half expected, but a warm smile. i went in for a hug and was hugged back, and my overwhelming feeling of awkwardness dissolved instantly. we all chatted for a while, and then we said our goodbyes and went back to our table.

i often ponder how it would go if i ran into anyone from that side of the family while out and about. and i must say that out of all the folks to stumble upon, i'm really glad it was them. i've thought of them often and hoped they were doing okay in the wake of their devastating loss, and they seem to be doing well. i guess i didn't really doubt it - i always thought of them as a close-knit, loving family. life goes on, and i hope they're living it to the fullest.

oh, check this out - i was so stoked when i went to fill the gas tank in the pri-YES!:

hell, the X5 took twice that - and more. although i admit that i miss the little luxuries and gadgets in that car, every time i think of this (and watch the real-time mpg display consistently show 30+), i forget all about 'em. i. love. my. car.

i also got a really brilliant idea today for a fun road trip to do this summer with my little family. we caught a showing of "cars" on the disney channel the other day, and i suppose i was subconsciously influenced by it, because i think it would be fantastic to road trip along the original route 66 - all the way to chicago! while this may sound like lunacy to some, it's actually something i think the teen would dig. there's so much history and fun stuff to be found all along the route, and we'd cross eight different states along the way. i'm reading that it's historically incorrect to go from west to east, so we may just make up our own route to chicago and then hit up 66 on the way home. i'm finding so many different sites and blogs with helpful information, maps, tips, etc. and i think it'll be super fun.

to cap off our weekend, the hub picked up stuff at the grocery store to make dinner that we could enjoy as we watched the laker game. check out these ginormous hunks o'meat:

we had some broccoli & cheese and stuffed baked potatoes to go with them:

and i'd baked some delicious chocolate & peanut butter chip cookies earlier today. holy cow, i'm gonna explode.

at least dinner was good, since the lakers sucked ass tonight. sheesh.

too much easter fun

ah, easter. a holiday about the resurrection of christ, marshmallow bunnies, cadbury creme eggs, and plastic eggs. ain't it great?

my kids are either too young or too old for easter egg hunts, although for some reason the kid was absolutely clamoring for the chance to look for eggs. she was probably picturing cash-filled eggs, like the kind my family used to hide when most of my cousins were still at the right age. i did go to target and pick up a bunch of fun stuff to make an easter goody bag for her - things like lip gloss, new mascara, reese's peanut butter eggs, a couple of magazines with her favorite boys in it (who else remembers tiger beat and bop magazines? i crack up whenever i see these now), and some cocoa-flavored peeps. i threw it all into a lime green gift bag with some shredded tissue paper and she was thrilled. yay!

i got the bean all dressed up in her colorful easter dress, and then we piled in the car and headed off to church. we got there just as the service was starting, but being easter, we got the very last 4 seats in the place. sheesh. we couldn't see a damn thing, but it was better than not getting a seat at all. and the bean was in quite a joyful mood - she giggled and squealed through the whole thing. cute, funny, but rather loud - you've heard how loud she can get. so i took her outside to squeal some more. we were glad she wasn't crying, but she was still loud as hell and although people were giggling and waving at her, i didn't want to piss anyone off.

afterwards, we let the kid pick our breakfast venue, and of all places, she chose ihop. hahahahaha! i love ihop, though. and luckily, there was one right down the street, so off we went.

the bean fell asleep the moment we started the car.

apparently, ihop was partnered with the new dr. seuss movie, horton hears a who. and what does this mean? well, a fun menu, of course! the kid had seen a commercial for it, so she already knew what she wanted. and because they were so outlandish-looking, i risked the hub's wrath and snapped pictures of everything. ha! check it out:

this is "beezlenut splash" - otherwise known as sprite with cubes of jello at the bottom. gross.


these are who-cakes. a stack of pancakes in varying sizes, topped with boysenberry and blueberry glazes, rainbow chips, and a bubble gum lollipop. and that lollipop was TINY. the picture made it look blow-pop size, but it was just a little teeny-tiny dum dum. and yeah - grosser than that beezlenut splash shit.

coke at last! whee!


the hub's strawberry-banana pancakes. after 45 days of no sweets, he was only able to eat half of these. but the bean got to try the sauce, of course.


my boring (but delish) german pancakes - lemony, buttery, crepe-y goodness.

i took a few more pictures as we waited for our check.

man, i love these legs.

after breakfast, we headed home, dropped off the hub, and headed over to a gathering for my aunt's birthday. it'd been quite a while since we'd seen everyone (like, uh, christmas) and it was fun to see them all and show off the bean.

we laughed at the size difference between her and my cousin's daughter (born a week before the bean). chubby vs. skinny. who wins? ;)


here she is with one of my other cousins (i have a zillion freaking cousins, y'all).

all too soon, it was time to leave and head back home to scoop up the hub and the desserts we had for easter dinner with his family. i'd made some of bakerella's fabulous oreo truffles, and had enough time to re-dip them in white chocolate. i'd already dipped them in pink-tinted candy the day before, but they weren't covered to my standards. and a tip, for those of you who may decide to try this: don't use two colors. the pink started to melt a little as i dipped them into the white candy, and while it wasn't ugly, it was a little off. ha! but they tasted fabulous.



we also brought french apple pie and cream cheese brownies. i didn't make these, but they were yummy anyway.

the kid and i had a little fun with the camera.

and our very un-easter-y dinner: kebabs! teriyaki chicken, shrimp, veggies. dee-lish-us.

the bean played with grandma - this kid loves to be upside-down. don't know why, but it sure makes her smile.

and she entertained us at the table. peek:


a-boo! the hair is comical.

whew! it was quite a long day. i think i saw more family this weekend than i have in the last six months. heh.