Sunday, November 28, 2004
Chinese Food for Beautiful People
So I did a whole buttload of stuff since I last wrote you all, which if memory serves was last Tuesday. I've said before how much I hate it when I have to go into day-by-day summaries of a week or so, but this week it was pretty much unavoidable. I apologize in advance - to both my loyal readers and to my future self who may be reading this - for all the tidbits I'm sure I'll forget to mention.
I woke up relative late on Wednesday morning, only to roll out of bed and lounge around the house for a little while. Alena called after a fair amount of time, and we planned for me to go over to her house for a few hours until she had to leave for her flute lesson, which was inconveniently scheduled in the middle of the day. But what can you do? The effects of the limit on our time together were dulled more or less because I'm coming home again in two weeks anyway, but a little more time would have been nice. We sat around and talked and played a board game or two...you know, the usual stuff. I got up late enough that morning to miss breakfast, and because Alena's house was void of food stuffs (because the Egenses were going to Fresno for a few days for a cross country meet of Krista's) Alena, Krista, and I went to In-N-Out for lunch. I think I'm pretty much over the whole sick-of-In-N-Out-food-and-can't-stand-the-smell-of-the-place thing, because I rather enjoyed the meal and the three of us had just a grand old time. After not too long Alena had to leave for her lesson, so we said our goodbyes and she left. I remained to finish a game of Scattergories with her sisters. I left for Ramona a short while after Alena left for Ozzie's.
I arrived up the mountain to meet Dad and his brother Roland and family. The seven of us drove over to Lindbergh Field to pick up cousin Adam (son of Dad's brother Craig) who had flown in (for free - he's a pilot) for Thanksgiving. We swept through the second terminal, cramming Adam and his luggage into the already-packed Suburban, and departed for dinner. After much debate over which restaurant to eat at, we decided to stop by Vons on the way home and pick up a smorgasbord of sausages, tri-tip, and a bunch of other stuff I can't remember but that I'm sure was there. Dinner at home turned out to be much more pleasant than any restaurant could have been, as eating out tends to be much more stressful when you've got three kids to manage. With a full stomach, I went to bed in my own room with a loverly queen bed.
I woke up slightly earlier than I perhaps would have liked on Thanksgiving due to the high level of noise emanating from the kitchen Thursday morning. Why do kids get up so early?! It's at least a change from the dorms though: in SLO you can sleep in 'till noon but you can't go to sleep before one because everyone's up all night; in Ramona you can go to bed pretty much as early as you'd like but you're up at 7:30. Hey, I'm all for variety. Anywho, we spent the better part of the morning playing each other in backgammon and chess, two games I quite enjoy, if only in small doses. After a few hours of that I decided to practice trumpet, playing some actual exercises from an actual lesson book for the first time in at least six months. And you know what? It was actually kind of fun. Just another example of the benefits of everything in moderation, I suppose. Anyway, Steve, Tyler, and Jason showed up whilst I was holed up in my room practicing. There wasn't a whole heck of a lot of stuff for us to do for entertainment, so we ended up helping prepare for dinner. Can you imagine the horror? But seriously, I took charge of setting the table. Dad went all out and bought a dining room table for twelve and matching china cabinet, which he stocked with a full set of new china ("friendly village" themed). He also had nice fabric napkins with little berry wreathes to put around them, a couple of sterling candlesticks, and nice fabric placemats. I arranged the lot of it into an exquisite setting, if I do say so myself. (I enjoy that sort of thing - decorating and whatnot...I'm pretty sure I get it from Mom, who has always been into buying and displaying things that match the decor of her house.) Thanksgiving dinner went off without a hitch, complete with turkey, ham, and all the fixin's. My favorite? Stuffing, as always. We had pie for dessert, *cough* *cough* from Coco's *cough*. Apple, boysenberry, two pumpkins, and a banana cream. Yum! After the Riches hit the road, the rest of us fell asleep watching the third Harry Potter movie.
I again awoke slightly earlier than I would prefer on Friday, this time to the result of Dad's feeding Lizzy multi-grain bread and Lizzy's severe allergies to nuts. Never a dull moment in the Parker household, let me tell you. I played a couple last games with the family before I left for an action packed day with all the RB people I've been missing in SLO. First it was off to Lauren's to chat for about an hour, then off to Stacie's to meet her and Jenna for lunch at Marie Callender's (French dip sandwich...delish!). I went home to Mom's for a couple of hours, cleaning my trumpet (which was in desperate need of a bath) for part of the time. That night I went over to RBHS to meet the RB pep band for the RB-Mira Mesa playoff football game. I figured I'd be the only graduate to be dorky enough to come back and play with my high school band, but a whole group of RB alumni showed up to play, and not just from the class of 2004, either. We had very much fun, partially because the Broncos kicked the Marauders' butts and partially because it was almost like old times again. After the game a few of us went over to the RB Denny's to find it completely packed, so Joanna, Jen, Jenna, and I "road tripped it" over to the Poway Denny's instead. I was home by a few minutes past midnight.
On Saturday I got up and started decorating the outside of the house with Mom. Mom put up the bulk of the lights; it was my job to cover the difficult ones, including the second-story roof ones and the ones in the front-yard tree. In the process of climbing across the roof I knocked off and broke a tile...whoops...didn't kill anyone, though. Time was a factor, however, and this year's production suffered slightly, I'm sorry to say. I'll have to do some adjusting to some of the lights when I return in a couple of weeks...But anyway, I met Dad and Uncle Roland's family at the Chili's on Scripps Poway Parkway, and the seven of us (Adam had gone home) drove to La Jolla for a fantastic dinner at P.F. Chang's. (I miss the kung pao chicken in SLO...) We roamed UTC for an hour after that, strolling into stores that caught our fancy. We left around 6:30 so I could get back home to help Mom get a Christmas tree. When I arrived back in good ol' Woodcrest Heights, Mom was too tired to get a tree (which I wasn't overly disappointed about...I was tired myself), so I spent an hour putting up lights in the upstairs windows and setting timers for all seven zones of Christmas cheer. At long last the project was completed; here's a picture of our finished product (please forgive the poor quality of the picture...night shots are difficult!):
Lauren came over right about when I had finished with the lights, and we watched Men in Black II, which happened to be on Fox. We then caught the first half of Men in Black (the first one), which was playing on TBS. Lauren had to get home for her 11:00 curfew, so we said our goodbyes after what was certainly not enough time to spend together and she left. And then I went to bed.
This morning I got up in time to meet Jenna, Justin, Nick, Kevin, Joanna, Stacie, and Irene at the Penasquitos (spelling?) IHOP. Kevin had planned to leave for SLO from there, so he came back to Mom's with me so I could finish packing. We were on the road by 11:40 for the long haul home, with only one stop at the Ventura Chipotle for lunch. Due to a couple of traffic hang-ups, we didn't get home until around 5:30. I hurriedly dressed myself for the band banquet (I had to ask Jeeves how to tie a tie, but my first attempt at it was, shockingly, satisfactory) and rushed out the door to the Madonna Inn. Filet mignon, green beans, baked potato, and a slice of chocolate cake later, the banquet was over and I was on my way home. Highlights: (1) receiving the band yearbook DVD, which was shorter than I would have liked but was of a far superior quality than what I'm used to from RB digital media (2) watching awards given out to assorted individuals/groups (saxophones as best section? psh...whatever!) and (3) getting to take the centerpiece of the table home because my birthday is the next to occur.
And now I'm back here, writing in my blog an entry that went very much more smoothly than I would have predicted. Hooray! But, alas, I must now sign off and go to bed. But you all knew that was coming, didn't you?
Cheers,
Josh
mood: a little homesick...coming back after five days at home is more difficult than coming back after two days at home.
music: Ottmar Liebert's Poets and Angels, a guitarist's interpretation of some of the most cherished Christmas carols. I love this CD because I grew up with Dad always playing it at Christmas time; it puts me in the Christmas spirit.
location: back in home sweet dorm, SLO
PS - Uncle Roland, in comparing P.F. Chang's to the Chinese restaurant he frequents where he lives, referred to P.F. Chang's as "Chinese food for beautiful people," hence the title of this entry.
Family Guy Quote-of-the-Day
[The US Army prepares to launch an attack on the Griffin's house]
General: "We're about to commence 'Operation Bomb-the-Crap-Out-of-Your-House.' The guy who thinks up the names is on vacation."
I woke up relative late on Wednesday morning, only to roll out of bed and lounge around the house for a little while. Alena called after a fair amount of time, and we planned for me to go over to her house for a few hours until she had to leave for her flute lesson, which was inconveniently scheduled in the middle of the day. But what can you do? The effects of the limit on our time together were dulled more or less because I'm coming home again in two weeks anyway, but a little more time would have been nice. We sat around and talked and played a board game or two...you know, the usual stuff. I got up late enough that morning to miss breakfast, and because Alena's house was void of food stuffs (because the Egenses were going to Fresno for a few days for a cross country meet of Krista's) Alena, Krista, and I went to In-N-Out for lunch. I think I'm pretty much over the whole sick-of-In-N-Out-food-and-can't-stand-the-smell-of-the-place thing, because I rather enjoyed the meal and the three of us had just a grand old time. After not too long Alena had to leave for her lesson, so we said our goodbyes and she left. I remained to finish a game of Scattergories with her sisters. I left for Ramona a short while after Alena left for Ozzie's.
I arrived up the mountain to meet Dad and his brother Roland and family. The seven of us drove over to Lindbergh Field to pick up cousin Adam (son of Dad's brother Craig) who had flown in (for free - he's a pilot) for Thanksgiving. We swept through the second terminal, cramming Adam and his luggage into the already-packed Suburban, and departed for dinner. After much debate over which restaurant to eat at, we decided to stop by Vons on the way home and pick up a smorgasbord of sausages, tri-tip, and a bunch of other stuff I can't remember but that I'm sure was there. Dinner at home turned out to be much more pleasant than any restaurant could have been, as eating out tends to be much more stressful when you've got three kids to manage. With a full stomach, I went to bed in my own room with a loverly queen bed.
I woke up slightly earlier than I perhaps would have liked on Thanksgiving due to the high level of noise emanating from the kitchen Thursday morning. Why do kids get up so early?! It's at least a change from the dorms though: in SLO you can sleep in 'till noon but you can't go to sleep before one because everyone's up all night; in Ramona you can go to bed pretty much as early as you'd like but you're up at 7:30. Hey, I'm all for variety. Anywho, we spent the better part of the morning playing each other in backgammon and chess, two games I quite enjoy, if only in small doses. After a few hours of that I decided to practice trumpet, playing some actual exercises from an actual lesson book for the first time in at least six months. And you know what? It was actually kind of fun. Just another example of the benefits of everything in moderation, I suppose. Anyway, Steve, Tyler, and Jason showed up whilst I was holed up in my room practicing. There wasn't a whole heck of a lot of stuff for us to do for entertainment, so we ended up helping prepare for dinner. Can you imagine the horror? But seriously, I took charge of setting the table. Dad went all out and bought a dining room table for twelve and matching china cabinet, which he stocked with a full set of new china ("friendly village" themed). He also had nice fabric napkins with little berry wreathes to put around them, a couple of sterling candlesticks, and nice fabric placemats. I arranged the lot of it into an exquisite setting, if I do say so myself. (I enjoy that sort of thing - decorating and whatnot...I'm pretty sure I get it from Mom, who has always been into buying and displaying things that match the decor of her house.) Thanksgiving dinner went off without a hitch, complete with turkey, ham, and all the fixin's. My favorite? Stuffing, as always. We had pie for dessert, *cough* *cough* from Coco's *cough*. Apple, boysenberry, two pumpkins, and a banana cream. Yum! After the Riches hit the road, the rest of us fell asleep watching the third Harry Potter movie.
I again awoke slightly earlier than I would prefer on Friday, this time to the result of Dad's feeding Lizzy multi-grain bread and Lizzy's severe allergies to nuts. Never a dull moment in the Parker household, let me tell you. I played a couple last games with the family before I left for an action packed day with all the RB people I've been missing in SLO. First it was off to Lauren's to chat for about an hour, then off to Stacie's to meet her and Jenna for lunch at Marie Callender's (French dip sandwich...delish!). I went home to Mom's for a couple of hours, cleaning my trumpet (which was in desperate need of a bath) for part of the time. That night I went over to RBHS to meet the RB pep band for the RB-Mira Mesa playoff football game. I figured I'd be the only graduate to be dorky enough to come back and play with my high school band, but a whole group of RB alumni showed up to play, and not just from the class of 2004, either. We had very much fun, partially because the Broncos kicked the Marauders' butts and partially because it was almost like old times again. After the game a few of us went over to the RB Denny's to find it completely packed, so Joanna, Jen, Jenna, and I "road tripped it" over to the Poway Denny's instead. I was home by a few minutes past midnight.
On Saturday I got up and started decorating the outside of the house with Mom. Mom put up the bulk of the lights; it was my job to cover the difficult ones, including the second-story roof ones and the ones in the front-yard tree. In the process of climbing across the roof I knocked off and broke a tile...whoops...didn't kill anyone, though. Time was a factor, however, and this year's production suffered slightly, I'm sorry to say. I'll have to do some adjusting to some of the lights when I return in a couple of weeks...But anyway, I met Dad and Uncle Roland's family at the Chili's on Scripps Poway Parkway, and the seven of us (Adam had gone home) drove to La Jolla for a fantastic dinner at P.F. Chang's. (I miss the kung pao chicken in SLO...) We roamed UTC for an hour after that, strolling into stores that caught our fancy. We left around 6:30 so I could get back home to help Mom get a Christmas tree. When I arrived back in good ol' Woodcrest Heights, Mom was too tired to get a tree (which I wasn't overly disappointed about...I was tired myself), so I spent an hour putting up lights in the upstairs windows and setting timers for all seven zones of Christmas cheer. At long last the project was completed; here's a picture of our finished product (please forgive the poor quality of the picture...night shots are difficult!):
Lauren came over right about when I had finished with the lights, and we watched Men in Black II, which happened to be on Fox. We then caught the first half of Men in Black (the first one), which was playing on TBS. Lauren had to get home for her 11:00 curfew, so we said our goodbyes after what was certainly not enough time to spend together and she left. And then I went to bed.
This morning I got up in time to meet Jenna, Justin, Nick, Kevin, Joanna, Stacie, and Irene at the Penasquitos (spelling?) IHOP. Kevin had planned to leave for SLO from there, so he came back to Mom's with me so I could finish packing. We were on the road by 11:40 for the long haul home, with only one stop at the Ventura Chipotle for lunch. Due to a couple of traffic hang-ups, we didn't get home until around 5:30. I hurriedly dressed myself for the band banquet (I had to ask Jeeves how to tie a tie, but my first attempt at it was, shockingly, satisfactory) and rushed out the door to the Madonna Inn. Filet mignon, green beans, baked potato, and a slice of chocolate cake later, the banquet was over and I was on my way home. Highlights: (1) receiving the band yearbook DVD, which was shorter than I would have liked but was of a far superior quality than what I'm used to from RB digital media (2) watching awards given out to assorted individuals/groups (saxophones as best section? psh...whatever!) and (3) getting to take the centerpiece of the table home because my birthday is the next to occur.
And now I'm back here, writing in my blog an entry that went very much more smoothly than I would have predicted. Hooray! But, alas, I must now sign off and go to bed. But you all knew that was coming, didn't you?
Cheers,
Josh
mood: a little homesick...coming back after five days at home is more difficult than coming back after two days at home.
music: Ottmar Liebert's Poets and Angels, a guitarist's interpretation of some of the most cherished Christmas carols. I love this CD because I grew up with Dad always playing it at Christmas time; it puts me in the Christmas spirit.
location: back in home sweet dorm, SLO
PS - Uncle Roland, in comparing P.F. Chang's to the Chinese restaurant he frequents where he lives, referred to P.F. Chang's as "Chinese food for beautiful people," hence the title of this entry.
Family Guy Quote-of-the-Day
[The US Army prepares to launch an attack on the Griffin's house]
General: "We're about to commence 'Operation Bomb-the-Crap-Out-of-Your-House.' The guy who thinks up the names is on vacation."
