Almost Shattered Christmas

Christmas started out like no other Christmas before. We planned to leave for SoCal at four in the AM because Farah's boss wanted to keep the restaurant open until the regular closing time, 2AM--what could we do--but it later dawned on him that people don't come in for Chinese food at one in the morning on Christmas Eve! Gee, I didn't see that coming! So the plan was for Farah to hitch a ride home from a co-worker after work because I needed all the sleep I could get before driving in the wee hours of the morning. Farah was to shower up and do all that a girl needs to do to get ready for a trip, and in the meantime, I would wake up at around 3:30 to pack up the car so we could leave by four o'clock. But we had a minor complication. The restaurant closed early--no surprise there--and Farah came home at 2:00. The co-worker who was kind enough to drop her off turned to Farah and instead of wishing her a Merry Christmas as Farah stepped out of the car, she said, "Oh, no! Farah, your car window is broken!"

Shit!


Our box on wheels did not even stand a chance parked out in front of our house beneath the crow-infested, now leafless trees. Some A-hole decided that it would be a good idea to bust out our window to wish us a Merry Christmas. Merry Christmas to you, too, buddy! It almost would have been better if this person actually stole something from the car, that way, it would have been almost justifiable, as if there was a motive besides just breaking glass. (By the way, there was nothing inside of the car anyway, well, unless you want to count a 24-pack of Aquafina) But no, the doors were not even unlocked. Somebody just wanted to break a window and continue on their way to having a jolly holiday. And to this person, there are only two words that I'd like to say to you and they are not thank you.

With three hours of sleep and a window that fell to the ground when I opened the door, our trip to SoCal wasn't looking like it was going to happen. So what do you do when it's now three o'clock in the morning on Christmas Day and you have a busted-out window and are supposed to be leaving for a 400 mile drive in just one hour? The answer is: after scratching your head and kicking yourself in the pants for not having duct tape in your toolbox, you call your nearest, most reliable friend.

Dan, how can we ever thank you? Dan was equipped with what we were not--cardboard and packing tape. And Dan was kind enough to not just lend us the supplies but to actually come over and help us put together a make-shift window, all this, I remind you, at three o'clock in the morning on Christmas day. This, ladies and gentlemen, is friendship.

Despite the frustration and inconvenience of the situation, we didn't want to let the actions of some jackass to ruin our Christmas; with just three hours of sleep, a one hour delay and a damn good window made of cardboard and tape, we decided to go for it. We left at 5:10 and in record time found ourselves on my grandparent's porch only five hours and twenty minutes later. And thanks to Dan for all of his help, we were able to go down south after all.

Ladies in Pink

My Mom came over tonight and the three of us went out to dinner at one of our favorite local restaurants, Jack's Urban Eats, which is a casual & tasty place to eat. It was nice to have her company and to be able to visit. She showed up and that's when Farah and my Mom discovered that they were dressed in almost identical outfits. They look kind of like twins, huh?

Or maybe not...

And since moms never come over empty-handed and because my Mom is super cool, she brought us a little something. Check out our new mini xB to match our real xB! Cool, huh?!

Lately...

It's been a while since I've written anything so here goes a quick update for the last couple of weeks:

Warm Bed

It's been cold. Really cold. Farah and I have been struggling to adjust, or climatize ourselves as somebody might say (*inside joke* the guy in the middle), to the weather in Sacramento since it's now winter and freezing at night! (Keep in mind that we come from a much warmer place than all of you Norcal folk) And on top of that, our place doesn't get much sunlight so that it stays kind of shivery throughout the day, which we are hoping will be an advantage in the summer, but for now, we have to concentrate on making it through the winter! Piling on the blankets night after night and sleeping between the painfully cold sheets only got us through the beginning of December; we just couldn't take it any longer. So we did a little make-over on our bed and got ourselves a new down comforter and flannel sheets, which are keeping us nice and toasty at night! What a difference it makes to not have to bundle up in multiple layers of clothing and keep from moving so that you don't touch any unwarmed part of the sheets. And yes, the bump beneath the comforter in the picture is Farah. Sleep tight, baby!

B-ball

On a very cool note, we were able to do something that came completely unexpected. Thanks to Dan (in his Halloween costume), we got to go check out a Kings game a couple of weeks back. It was the first time for both of us to see an NBA game, which I have to admit, was pretty exciting (even from the nosebleed section). We had a great time at the game and I think that we both feel a little more at home now in Sacramento. Thank you so much, Dan. You've been so good to us! I hope that we can return the favor someday...

"Go Kings!"
"Which ones are the Kings again? The red or the white?"

Foresthill

Also, we had a nice visit with the parents in Foresthill last week. It had been a while since we went up there (and that's why Cory got lost on the way) so it was great to visit. M&D have done so much work on the house that it looks amazing. Hopefully we'll be back again soon for some more R&R, bacon burgers, and Direct TV!!

The City

I tagged along with Dan and Ulysses(sp?) for their annual Chritmas outing to San Francisco and it was so much fun! We started out the day taking swigs of Jack and... I mean, by having dim sum in China Town at Four Seas Restaurant, which is beautifully-decorated and simply exquisite! The dim sum was fabulous and Chinese tea mixed with Jack... I mean, the tea was also very good. We then hung out at Union Square and slowly made our way to North Beach, and had coffee and the best cheesecake that I've ever had at Cafe Greco, I think. Don't quote me on that though. I do know where it is in case anybody wants me to take them there (Eric y Brenda?). The two words that best describe our day in SF are: unconstrained and relaxed. And that is just what the doctor ordered to get me away from my routine schedule. I have been feeling kind of "Lost in California," unmotivated and uninspired lately--I won't go into it too much--so it was nice to get away from it all and experience something with a hint of excitement. I only wish that Farah could have joined us. We ended the night with a perfect dinner at Fog City Diner and some drinkies at Oreilly's Irish Pub. So thank you for the good times, Dan and Ullysses.

Well, that's about all the time I have for an update today. I'll try to post something more in the next couple of days...

Our PC Holiday Tree

Whether you are a letter carrier, parking enforcer, admin officer, liquid recoating specialist, or perhaps a flight attendant, and even if you are aurally, optically, horizontally, or of all things, folicularily challenged, or comb-free, respectively, it doesn’t matter. If you are a negative saver, nasally repetitive, thermally incompatible, athletically biased, socially misaligned, or god forbid, motivationally deficient, it still does not matter. From the domestic engineer to the utensil sanitizer, from the sanitation engineer to the involuntarily leisured, little people and Canine Americans alike all know that a Christmas tree is not a "Holiday Tree" but a Christmas tree!!

p.s. I could say a lot more on this subject but I don't want to get too worked-up tonight. I just want to call a Christmas tree a Christmas tree without being offensive. By the way,Ryan & Jenny, thank you so much for the tree! We love it!