If you count the hours between leaving my parents’ house to get to the airport to arriving at our house in Seattle, our trip took about 13 hours. We encountered delayed and canceled flights, spending about 10 hours at the airports in Sacramento and San Francisco. If we had rented a car and driven back up to Seattle, we would have gotten there before our flight did. But we made it back in one piece and without having to spend the night in the airport. For that, we are thankful. We spent most of the time reading, playing Text Twist, writing in my journal, and watching episodes of the upcoming Sarah Connor Chronicles (thanks, Kit!).

And now that we are back after having spent 10 days in Sacramento, I want to reflect on things I learned over those days (while also giving a glimpse to how our time was spent):

1. The older I get, I see more similarities between my parents and me (whether Matt or I like it!) hehe..

2. Matt was ever so patient during the 10 days of meeting up with friends, family, AND always having so many people around in the house. He also helped repair my parents’ thermostat, broken washing machine door, and did some work on my parents’ and Na’s cars.

 3. Even though all the cousins on the Lee side are out of high school, having them stay over at our house for a few days was still fun, like one big slumber party. I always wondered what it would be like to have more siblings, and I got a taste of that with eight “kids” in the house for a few days. Two of my cousins from the east coast hadn’t spent Christmas with us in 10 years!

4. There is a 30-year gap between the oldest grandchild on the Wong side (Na) and the youngest (Grace). And seeing all my aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents play with the young cousins makes me wish we could be around them more once we have kids.

5. I can get around SF using the public transportation and our own car without a map AND without getting us lost–not even once–even though I haven’t lived there for five years. Call it a Christmas miracle. I can’t even do this in LA or Seattle. Even though we could have met up with more friends in SF, we chose not to–and finally got the touristy afternoon in SF that I have been craving since last Christmas. We took the subway to Union Square, walked to Chinatown, then to Embarcadero, and then hopped on the F-line to Fisherman’s Wharf. We also saw my old workplace, school, and old house in San Bruno.

6. I can’t eat as much as I used to. I used to be able to eat a Sonoma burger (with a big salad and heaping of roasted potatoes) AND a strawberry/nutella crepe from Crepevine in one sitting. When we met with Shirley and Steve at Crepevine, I could barely finish my Sonoma burger. Queencie would be quite disappointed in me.

7. I am still very, very attached to my possessions with sentimental value. I went through my old closet and couldn’t bear to toss some trinkets, for example, a glass owl pendant from Disneyland that was painted green but is all faded now. I think it dates back to when I was in 1st or 2nd grade.

8. Going back to my home church makes me feel safe and comfortable–and a little sad, like I had never grown up or left. Everyone, specifically people older than I am, still looks the same, and I like having people around that I can call auntie and uncle who have watched me grow up in the church.

9. Even though we had decided to alternate which family we spent Christmas with, it really was nice to see Matt’s mom, grandma, and sisters, and to get a pre-Christmas celebration with them.

10. Inviting friends over to my parents’ house helped me to not feel guilty about not getting together with each friend individually. Plus, since people came and went over a couple of hours, it was sort of easy to have a little time with everyone. We had about an hour with just Wayne, which actually was great because it gave us a chance to catch up with him without others around. I also finally got to meet the newest member of the Candiani family–Lexi, daughter of my high school friend/SF roomie, Tami.

11. No matter how poorly the Kings played on Friday night (especially when they actually had a chance of winning!), I don’t think they should be booed, especially on their home court. Sadly, the crowd showed more energy and enthusiasm over the half-time show.

12. Dorc sure can eat. After eating an enormous dinner at Mel’s Diner, she wanted cotton candy and nachos at the Kings game…AND she was still open to eating more when we got back to my parents’ place.

13. I’m weird about spending money sometimes. My uncle gave me some Christmas money and told me to buy myself some books (since a few of us were going to Borders). When I got there, I had one book in mind that I wanted, but found out the paperback wasn’t being released until May 2008, so I decided to wait on that one. Plus, I’m sure it will be cheaper at Costco. I saw the Best of Sade CD for $9.99, which I had been wanting since listening to Hong’s CD in 2003–but just never bought it. I almost got it that day until my cousin Kim told me she’d give me her copy. But even when I had the CD in my hand, I kept going back and forth about whether or not to buy it. Then I found two books that seemed interesting and were part of a “Buy 1, get 50% off the 2nd book” deal.

Aside from Harry Potter and John Grisham books, I haven’t bought myself a book in who knows how long. I prefer to borrow books from the library and then MAYBE buy a book if I really like it. I bought those two books, but the next day, I went back to Borders and returned them. :P I don’t know what my problem is. I just have a hard time buying certain things for myself, like books, but it’s easier for me to buy stuff that I know I will put to use, like yarn or kitchen utensils.

14. I like hearing stories of my parents growing up and their childhood memories with their siblings.

15. If Na and I lived under the same roof now, we probably would have more fun together and get along better than we did back when we both lived at home.

16. Even though I am against materialism, I really enjoy watching people open gifts that I know they will like.

17. Sacramento is not some small hicktown, yet it’s surprising how small the community really is, specifically the Chinese Christian community. It’s rare to go out and NOT run into people we know. We went to Target and ran into Auntie Janice Wong. On the way to the airport, we saw Norbert Gee driving behind us. Then, when we took an alternate route to the airport, through some residential areas, a guy jogged by and my parents knew him. How random is that?!

18. Na and I still remember a lot of words to the songs in the New Kids on the Block’s Christmas album. Scary.

19. Christmas traditions with my family (opening gifts at midnight on Christmas Eve) and with friends (the annual gathering with Na, Dorc, Kris, Daisy and Patty) will make it even harder to not be in Sac each year for Christmas.

20. I really need to be more accepting and open of changes that occur after marriage, now that there are two people to consider, rather than just myself. This means having two families that we’ll spend Christmas with, or maybe not hanging out with as many people as I normally would. And I have to be OK with that and not take it out on Matt.

Anyway, and as we say farewell to 2007, I hope you all had a great year–and even greater one to come. Happy new year!