Tiger Lanterns

Went for a stroll in Rancho San Antonio. The kids ran up this very muddy hill and slid down. The things kids find fun.



At the farm there were two baby sheeps. They are so cute. They do leap and hop like in the movies and cartoons.









Then we went to Santana Row for lunch and desert and strolled around somemore.





The kids made wishes in the camellian fountain. I liked these camellians in mosaics.





Stephen and Alice bought double layer glass. They were pretty. Santana Row really made it look like spring on this one sunny day with all the beautiful blooming flowers. I liked the tulips in bloom.





Then we went home for dinner and put together lanterns for the kids in tradition with Full Moon lantern festival of the 15th of the first month of the year. In the past it was candle lit, totally not child safe friendly but cool, now it's flashing mutli color LED light. Very pretty and totally child safe friendly. They had really cool tiger designs this year for tiger year. Even I wanted one. But Stephen and Alice who are visiting a day from Taiwan only brought 6 for the 6 kids in the house.

I remember my fish lantern when I was like 6. I loved it. It was golden orange, totally fat and cute. It wasn't the year of the fish. There isn't an year of the fish. The fish or any aquatic animals weren't in the race. But still I picked that one out for me. I went for my lantern walk with everyone and decided to set it down to rest a bit before the second walk with the big brothers. I set it down by my bed and closed my eyes. Good thing there were adults around and put out the fire before it burned the house and me down. Well, the only damage that night was the table I set it on. Since then I was not handed another lantern to hold. So sad!

Dragon Found a New Home

Cheese Board ficcocia. It is one of my favorite breads to eat. But todays were extra crispy and drenched in sauce. Very messy to eat.

Teance was great! I really like Rev. Heng Sure's series on puppet story telling. The Raven on death was great. This dragon is just awesome. But it didn't last too long, Farzov asked to buy it for his son, 7 years old who is going through troubles with parents divorce procedures. So this dragon found a new home to heal a little boy. Well, Iguess that makes new room for another new dragon to arrive. Rev. Heng Sure should just get commission for all the Folkmanis puppets he circulates. They probably haven't had such a revival of interest for a long long time.

Not Raised That Way

My Daddy's birthday. He said the cake was better than Sheng Key Bakery. That is a compliment. My parents don't compliment in general, they just weren't raised that way. So when they do, it's a big deal. And when they do compare it to a favorite professional commercial work, it's like getting nominated for Oscars!

Kevin's Eleven Year Old Movie Birthday Party

I love decorating cakes especially for kids. I also like wrapping presents. Kevin's eleven year old birthday. We saw "Tooth Fairy" at the AMC and then went to Roundtable for lunch where they have a play ground for kids to play in. Then we went back to the house for cake and presents.

Then we went for a party favor run at Michael where each kids picked up a roll of colored duck tape. It's really in and cool for 11 year old now. Everyone said it was the coolest gift ever.

Even Rocky got a treat bag from the Petco treat bar with heart shaped patterns on the bag.

A Whole Hour Late

Went to Tai Chi class, aimed to get up at 5am to get there on time for once at the 6am class, but,.... after all these years and 4 years of absence, I still managed to be as usual a whole hour late. I didn't mind. I'm so out of training, like 4 years, and I was in no shape to do 2 hours training. So being late by an hour cut my training down to 1 hour. My legs were wobbling like noodles. It was quite funny.

Chinese New Year on Valentine's Day at BBM

Laura Tan is back with a new look. She looks great from her trip, a new pair of glasses and a new hair cut. Yup, vacations are great!

Great Strength Academy Reunion!

Even Dante showed up with his niece Bahia and his parents.  It was great to see Dante. He is now working at Cliff Bar teaching kick boxing. He will be heading out to Thailand to do Thai Boxing.

Two Amandas! So nice to see.

I sat in the balcony looking at beautiful stained glass window of Amitabha Buddha and felt great peace and contentment. The lay community of moms did a wonderful job of staffing the large event and the arrangement of food on three buffet lines were beautiful. Even the outside tables were decorated with beautiful flowers. I felt really good inside knowing things are well taken care of for large public events aimed at Asian crowds. Thinking back at Henry Rosemont's talk I also felt great relief things are well taken care of for set up and take down by DRBY/IWR crew. It seems like there is consistency and people are well trained and got it together. What a nice change after a decade plus of not being so. It felt really good to not have to worry about things falling through. I felt at peace to finally let my heart accept retirement. As for day to day operation, it's not my problem to worry about anymore.

Rocky's Play Dates

I took Rocky to play with his doggy friends, Katy and Bobby. I threw the ball and they would all run and chase after it. It was more like Katy who liked to play catch while Rocky chased Katy and Bobby chased Rocky. It was fun to have fun with the dogs. When dogs smile, they smile beautifully. Katy can really run and manuever. Rocky and leap, hop gracefully, like a true poodle. It was a three hour play date. I had Tie Guan Yin Tea at their house. Good stuff from FuJian!