It’s been a long day, from hitting the snooze button at 4:30 a.m. for eight more minutes of sleep, to flying from Seattle to Oakland to Burbank and landing at 1:50 p.m., to dinner with the fam, and meeting up with friends. But it’s all been worth it. I wasn’t sure how I felt about returning to the Valley after having been gone for seven months. I knew I wanted to see family and friends, but it’s always tough knowing that the reunion will also be draining for my introverted side.

But as we flew low in the sky, approaching the airport in Burbank, I was a little excited to recognize buildings, such as the Blue Cross building near my old office and the Promenade mall. (I also noticed just how brown and barren the area is. Boy, it makes me appreciate all the trees and greenery of the Northwest, courtesy of all the rain we’ve been getting.)

Not much has changed in this area, except for the facelift of the Topanga mall which suddenly sprouted more than 100 new stores. Mom Ip took us for a tour around the mall, and we noticed a ton of more upscale, trendy stores. Matt said, “I feel like we don’t fit in here. Everyone is so trendy!” I thought, “Man, I feel like the hicks that we’ve become…we’re the country mice who don’t go anywhere without our fleece pullovers, and we live where trees fall into our yards and get chopped up into firewood, coming into the city where all the girls wear fur-lined boots and associate fireplaces with flipping a switch.”

My hope is that, even amidst hanging out with people, I will be able to relax a bit and keep in mind the true spirit of Christmas, the real reason why we can celebrate joy and peace, and reflect on what I can do this season to show my love to Jesus. (Of course, all the yummy Christmas desserts will be nice, too.)

I also want to say CONGRATS to my uncle and aunt for the birth of their 4th child, their 1st daughter, Grace Wong! Yippee!! Can’t wait to meet her!

If I don’t post again soon, I want to wish everyone a MERRY CHRISTMAS!

People here tell us, “This past summer was one of our best summers ever. It usually isn’t like that.” And then now, “This is one of the strangest falls ever. We’re breaking a lot of weather-related records.” Apparently so, because the weather is just strange…snow, torrential rains, 50-60 mph winds…what’s next? (If it’s frogs, I will just barricade myself in the house and scream into my pillow.)

Last night, we drove through torrential rain that sounded like it was going to break through the windshield and then tried to sleep through howling wind. I barely slept because I kept hearing the wind tear things off our roof (I later found out these were shingles). In addition to waking up to a power outage that ran from Tacoma to Everett, our dead-end street of about eight houses was blocked off from the rest of the world because of a fallen tree (see pics below; our house is the one on the right of the tree). Fortunately, our office also was closed because of a power outage. After getting over initial anxieties of not getting any work done, I slept in a bit and then had a productive afternoon of unpacking boxes and cleaning.

Two good things also came out of this:
1. We met a lot of our neighborhoods. With a huge tree blocking our way out, everyone was confined to our little dead-end street and wandered around, marveling at the situation. Since the tree is right in front of our house, people had to walk onto our property to go around it. I am really thankful for this interaction, since I had been feeling a bit isolated, as opposed to being in an apartment where we see a lot of people. We met a lot of really nice people, including the neighbors across the street who invited us in for tea. We played with their little kids and hung out in their fire-warmed basement. The little boy ended up really bonding with Matt. At one point, he even said to Matt, “I love you so much.” hehe…turns out the previous tenants of the house (all renters) were terrors, so everyone is really relieved that we’re here. Funny thing, we met two Filipino neighbors; both of them asked us what nationality we were and also asked how much we paid for our house, where our non-Asian neighbors did neither.

2. Since the damage to the roof is now an “act of God,” we’re pretty certain some or all of the costs of getting it reroofed will be covered by our home insurance! We originally planned on paying the cost ourselves and wondered how we could afford it. Our first estimate for reroofing was $8,000. Even if the next estimate is a little lower, it’s probably not that far off.

So despite a day that started out as a hassle, it ended up to be very good. Plus, now we have our power back (while much of the area still goes unpowered).

Now for the pics…

I highly recommend watching “Joyeux Noel” if you haven’t already seen it. It has been on our Netflix queue long before it was even released on DVD, and I was so excited to finally watch it. The movie takes place during WWI and is based on a true story. 

On Christmas eve, soldiers in the French, German and Scottish trenches, a couple of hundred feet from one another, celebrate the occasion on their own. One German soldier begins singing “Silent Night” loudly, while the soldiers in rival trenches fall quiet to listen. Another man in the Scottish trenches accompanies the German on his bagpipes. Soon, the German soldier boldly emerges from his side into No Man’s Land, and carries a Christmas tree to the enemies. Other men cautiously emerge, wondering what will happen next. All the captains join together and agree to a ceasefire for Christmas eve. The men, many unable to speak one another’s language, build friendships by showing photos of their wives and kids and sharing food.

When Christmas eve ends, the men retreat to their respective trenches, casting sad glances back at one another. However, the bonds between the men don’t end there. But you’ll have to watch the movie to find out what happens! :)

There are smells that come from Glade Plug-ins and perfume bottles, and there are smells that come from dumpster heaps and sweaty boys. Then there are smells that are neither, that just exist. For example, your home, a hotel, or the office have smells specific to them that are neither good nor bad. They simply are the smells associated with that building.

This morning, I caught a whiff of a smell that immediately reminded me of Christmas of 1989 (and I admit, I had to count backward from my high school graduation to get to this date because I only remember it was the year before I entered 6th grade). We were moving out of our house on St. Marie Circle and into Uncle Angus’s house for a short time before our house on Surreyglen Way was completed. I remember walking through the empty house, feeling incredibly sad about leaving. I loved–and still love–that house. I had so many great memories there, and interestingly, most of my dreams take place in that house more than any other place I’ve lived in since. I remember carrying around my Dodger (from “Oliver & Company,” which I don’t think I ever saw, but just got the stuffed animal as a gift), pulling him around on a leash like he was a real dog. I vividly recall standing in my empty room, holding Dodger, and wanting to cry.

Then I remember being in Uncle Angus’s house for Christmas. His house was the same layout as our old house, just switched around. I really wanted a Christmas tree, so someone gave me a tiny, decorated artificial tree (about a foot-and-a-half high). We put it on a stand and placed all our presents around it. I also remember making “stained glass” with a kiddie kit with Christine, where we melted colored bead-like things into metal frames of Strawberry Shortcake characters. When we baked them, the odor STUNK up the house. Poor Uncle Angus. Christine and I ran around the house with pillows smushed to our noses. If I smelled that smell today, I probably would still recognize it. Anyway, those are probably the only two memories that I have from that Christmas.

For this Christmas, I will remember moving out of our apartment on 21st Ave. into our home. For the past seven months, we settled in quite nicely into the apartment. The apartment represents our drive from California with our parents, hosting family and friends throughout the summer, meeting new friends in Seattle, getting to know the city by walking around, etc. So when we packed up, cleaned up, and stepped out of the doorway and onto the porch for one last time, I felt that same sadness that I felt 17 years ago when I walked through our empty home. To me, a home is not just a building. It represents everything that you experienced during your time there, and I think that’s why I am so easily attached to my residences.

We’re settling into our new home, and I couldn’t resist putting up a few Christmas decorations although we won’t have a tree this year. It will take awhile for us to fill up the place, since our apartment’s worth of furniture is no where near sufficient for a house, but it’ll do for now. And as time goes by, we’ll celebrate more Christmases there to add to my mental collection of memories.

Hopefully this is the last time I will have to pack up all our belongings and haul them from one place to another…or at least the last time in a long, long time. Next time, it will probably be much worse because we probably would have accumulated a lot more STUFF.

I can officially announce that we bought a house and will be moving tomorrow! We kept it under wraps for awhile because we wanted to just make sure that things went through. And since the keys are in our possession, and some of our belongings are already in the house, I think it’s safe to say that the purchase is complete. Moving day is tomorrow, but we are moving some things in after work–at least whatever we can fit in the Stynkbg, which can actually hold more than you would imagine.

This morning, I thought, “Boo hoo, tonight is our last night here.” I keep thinking about the sad things…about not being in our cozy little apartment, about not feeling like there are people nearby in adjoining units, about not living right in the city and being close to everything. But I have to focus on the positive, like…having double sinks so Matt and I no longer have to jostle for space (and he can leave the sink wet if he wants to), being able to paint and decorate and put as many holes in the wall as I want, having my own garden and fixing up the yard, having a fireplace, etc. I also get my own room for my desk and craft stuff. That way, I can leave out my projects and not worry about Matt giving me the evil eye for not cleaning them up each day. Break out the craft projects! I’ll also be able to host knitting parties without wondering where everyone will sit.

So tomorrow night, we’ll be kicking the spiders out of the house and moving in!!

My dad forwarded me this funny article. Last night at Safeway, someone had cut the cheese while we were standing at the checkout line. I turned to Matt and mouthed, “NOT me.” It was a horrible stench! When we walked away, I told him, “YUCK! That stunk!” He said, “Now you know how people feel when you fart!” The weird thing is that I can totally deal with the smell of my own fart. I like it when it stinks because I feel powerful, but when I smell someone else’s gas, I get grossed out.

Anyway, here’s the article:

NASHVILLE, Tennessee (AP) — It is considered polite to light a match after passing gas. Not while on a plane.

An American Airlines flight was forced to make an emergency landing Monday morning after a passenger lit a match to disguise the scent of flatulence, authorities said.

The Dallas-bound flight was diverted to Nashville after several passengers reported smelling burning sulfur from the matches, said Lynne Lowrance, spokeswoman for the Nashville International Airport Authority. All 99 passengers and five crew members were taken off and screened while the plane was searched and luggage was screened.

The FBI questioned a passenger who admitted she struck the matches in an attempt to conceal a “body odor,” Lowrance said. She had an unspecified medical condition, authorities said.

“It’s humorous in a way but you feel sorry for the individual, as well,” she said. “It’s unusual that someone would go to those measures to cover it up.”

The flight took off again, but the woman was not allowed back on the plane. The woman, who was not identified, was not charged in the incident.

I have mentioned before that I tried not to think about missing Christmas dinners with both sides of Lee/Wong family this year. Last year, we spent Christmas day in Sac, so this year, we planned to spend Christmas day in LA. But as I imagined not seeing all my relatives (which is a huge deal to me), I was still sad about the situation. I know it’s totally fair since Matt missed dinner with his family last year.

But my mom just e-mailed me saying that the Lee dinner has been postponed until the 30th, which works out better for one of the families. YIPPEE!! And there is a possibility that I will see all the Wong relatives together, too. That totally made my day!! YEAH!!!

The end.

In all my Sacramento life, I went to Dr. Chan for any dentistry needs. Even when I moved to SF, I would still return home to Dr. Chan for teeth cleaning. In LA, I looked through a list of dentists covered by my insurance and chose one named Dr. Chan. She turned out to be extremely nice, funny, and helpful. (At my first office visit, she offered to let me borrow her walkie-talkies on our honeymoon–and when I returned for a follow-up visit a few weeks later, she had the walkie-talkies for me!)

A few days ago, I finally found a dentist here in Seattle and went in for my first cleaning. I chose the dentist by finding the closest one to our office. Since there are a lot of Korean restaurants, residents, and businesses in Federal Way, it turns out my dentist was Korean. “He has a strong accent, so if you don’t understand what he says, just ask me later,” the hygienist warned. The hygienist was very nice, coaching me through the x-rays whenever I started to gag, and also bending the x-ray slides so they wouldn’t be so stiff and abrasive. “We’re not supposed to do this, but the dentist is not the one putting these in his mouth,” she whispered.

While the hygienist was working on me, a lady walked into the room and began speaking Korean to me. She said something that sounded like a question, followed by a pause for me to answer. I stared at her blankly. She asked again. I said, “Um, I don’t understand.” “Oh, you are not Korean?” she asked. “No, I’m Chinese,” I replied. “Oh,” she said, and then walked out. Turns out she was the office manager. The dentist turned out to be about as warm and friendly as the office manager.

When he walked in, he didn’t even introduce himself. I don’t even know his name, since the online directory where I found the office just listed the office name, not the doctor’s name. He just sat down, asked me if I was experiencing any problems with my teeth. I listed a few, and he didn’t even really listen since he didn’t respond. He began looking at my teeth and mentioned something about “decay…do that next time…shot…” It’s not like he had a thick accent. I think he just wasn’t speaking full sentences?? I don’t know, but what I pieced together was that I had a cavity, but it would get taken care of next time.

But then I replayed his comments…shot?? Did he mean I had to get a shot? Why would I need a shot if he wasn’t going to treat the cavity until next time? But there it was. After dabbing something on my upper left gums, he pulled out the syringe. I closed my eyes and clenched my hands together as the needle went in, and I experienced a few seconds of painful pressure. I am not queasy about shots, but shots in the mouth are always much more painful than flu shots or blood tests.

Then there was the drilling. The loud drilling that sounded like he was just carving away at my tooth. And even worse, the almost cold jarring pain when he got near the nerve in my tooth (or at least that was how it felt). Then there were a lot of things sticking in my mouth…a piece of gauze, some sort of wire, the stuff to fill the cavity hole…I don’t even know what everything was. The hands of the dentist and the hygienist were all over my face, all the while I was wearing huge sunglasses (given by them) that were getting in their way.

By then, the anesthesia had kicked in, and my left side of my lip felt puffy, but at least that numbed any pain I would have otherwise felt. The rest of the inspection resumed, and the dentist was gone without really telling me anything. Whatever. I also had to hold my own saliva-sucking thing, which was new for me, but also kind of cool.

Anyway, it was an odd visit, and really, I don’t care to go back there. But my laziness to find a new dentist and then to fill out the paperwork and stuff isn’t appealing. I guess I can handle going back there just every six months. But if I could find another great Dr. Chan here, I would switch in an instant.

Today is World AIDS Day. As always, I have to talk about what World Vision is doing. :) Here are a couple of things you can do as part of World AIDS Day:

Check out this blog of activities around the country. On the page is a video of a church in Menlo Park putting together Caregiver Kits to send to people in AIDS-affected countries who devote time to taking care of AIDS patients. The items in the kit are so simple (cotton balls, washcloths, petroleum jelly, notebooks, flashlights, etc.) but they are so important to caregivers. Often times, the caregivers care for people in homes with no electricity (so the flashlight comes in handy), and items like cotton balls are so rare (or the caregivers can’t afford to buy all the supplies) that the balls are often wrung out and reused.

The women and children’s shelter in Seattle’s Union Gospel Mission wanted to participate in World AIDS Day, so they volunteered to make 300 Caregiver Kits. Hooray! A friend and I went this morning at 6:30 *groan* to help set up. I actually wanted to stay for the whole thing, to watch people assemble the kits, but I had to come to work. :( Not that I don’t like working, but it would have been fun to help out with the assembly.

Here’s another cool thing that is an online version of the AIDS Experience, which is a hands-on, walk-through traveling exhibit where you are put in the shoes of someone living with AIDS or affected by it. AIDS is not just about the person living with the disease. Sadly, so many children are orphaned because of AIDS, and children lose out on a real childhood and education because they are taking care of their household.

Take a test to see how much you know about AIDS or read this list for more ideas of how to participate in World AIDS Day.