I Suck At Santa

I suck at Santa... probably because there aren't too many Asian Santas out there. Luckily for me, I don't have to be Santa.

For the past several years, Karen's father has donned on the big red suit, big black boots, felt bag, and sparkly key for children of all ages to see. He says he enjoys seeing the kids look at him with wonder and awe, particularly his grandkids for whom he has been entertaining the past years.

Yesterday, however, I'm not so sure he quite enjoyed the experience. Karen and I invited our friends (Cass, Ellen, and Meredith) over to our house for a special Santa visit. Their respective children are around my two year old daughter's (Briana) age. My parents, and my in-laws also came over to share in on the fun.

Briana is actually the oldest of the bunch. One probably would not have guessed that she were the oldest, based on her reaction yesterday. After all, of all the children there, Briana was the only one who broke down in tears when she saw Santa. Granted, none of the other children were that keen on seeing Santa either. They were all pretty much scared of the man in the big red suit.

They loved the presents of course... just not the person pulling out the presents out of the bag. Anyway, it made for an interesting Santa experience. I'm curious as to why some children are afraid of Santa. I think my nephew and niece were also afraid of him when they were around Briana's age as well.

On the plus side, it was fun hanging out with Cass, Ellen, and Meredith. It was like a play date of sorts.

I Suck At Gymboree

This past Friday, Karen and I took our two year old daughter (Briana) and our eight month old daughter (Bridget) to Gymboree. For the four of us, it was our first time at Gymboree. I guess you can say that I suck at Gymboree.

Anyway, Gymboree was having a Halloween party for kids on Friday. Our friends (Cass and Ellen), who have a daughter that goes to Gymboree, organized the outing. So in addition to them, my friend (Meredith) and her son also attended.

Needless to say, it was quite the fun time. Of course, it seems like any outing on a Friday night would be a fun time. I almost forgot what it feels like to go out on a Friday night since we seldom do it any more.

I think the kids enjoyed it as well. Well, I think Briana enjoyed it. Bridget still isn't walking yet. So how much fun can an eight month old have crawling around and watching other kids run around? And I must say, the staff (of two) at Gymboree is very good. They did an excellent job entertaining the gazillion (or maybe twenty) children that were there.

And following the Halloween party, all of us headed back to Cass and Ellen's to hang out. Cass and Ellen were gracious enough to make dinner for everyone which was quite nice. I think for some, it was a good time to hang out and chat about parenting. And in some ways, it was good to hear that some of the challenges that Karen and I faced are common challenges faced by other parents.

All in all, it was an enjoyable family outing.

I Suck At Cookouts

On Sunday, Karen, my two year old daughter (Briana), my three month old daughter (Bridget) and I were invited to a cookout. Now, I suck at cookouts. This particular cookout was hosted by my friends (Cass and Ellen) in Quincy. It was actually good to see them, as I haven't really seen them in quite some time. Joining in on the shindig were my friends (Marc, Kelley, Garv, Leeann, Andrea, Aimee, and Meredith), my BFF (Kerry), Aimee's children, and Meredith's son.

Luckily for Cass, he had finished his backyard project just in time for the cookout. He added a little patio in his yard, apparently with the use of a Dingo (not the dog, but the compact loader). I never heard of a Dingo until Sunday. I think though, I still want a Bobcat for my mechanized fun.

As is commonplace these days, I felt like I really didn't see much of any of my friends while I was at the cookout in part because I apparently had parenting duties that day. The highlights that I remember were talking to Leeann about being an elected official since she seemed a little too interested in being an elected official, and hearing about Kerry's house hunting exploits. Kerry apparently was house hunting Sunday morning and liked a house enough to contemplate making an offer.

Aside from that, I remember bits and pieces of other things like Andrea's desire to see Rock of Ages, devouring a whole slew of bacon wrapped string beans, and Aimee giving Briana some Capri Sun. I guess that's not totally true. While watching Briana, I did get a chance to see Cass and Ellen's remodeled bathroom. The new bathroom looks great.

All in all, it was definitely good to see everyone and have some fun.

I Suck At Santa Visits

Yesterday, my family had a special visit. A jolly o' soul with a white beard and red suit happened to visit my house yesterday. Too bad I suck at Santa visits.

In preparation for the event, Karen and I invited our friends (Cass, Ellen, and Meredith) to come on over and bring their respective children. Their children are all younger than our twenty one month old daughter (Briana). And of course, we invited my mother-in-law and father-in-law because they happened to be Santa's special helpers.

Needless to say, it was an interesting experience. This year, Briana seems to be afraid of good o' Santa. She cried uncontrollably to the point where she didn't want us near Santa when we visited Karen's relatives in Lowell. (Is there a lot to love about Lowell?) Whenever we've been walking around the mall, she would purposely avoid getting too close to Santa, preferring to watch him from afar instead.

I'm not sure when this fear developed. After all, she was okay last year. Then again, she was not even a year old the last time she saw Santa. I have a feeling that this may be a natural thing for babies: fear of Santa. The only reason I say that is because my niece and nephew behaved the same way when they were young. And as luck would have it, Cass and Ellen's daugher and Meredith's son also cried when they were in the presence of Santa yesterday. I bet it's the shoes. Just kidding.

Despite the tears, all of the children seemed to enjoy one particular aspect of the Santa visit: the receiving of gifts. Santa = tears. Presents = smile. After Santa left, all of the kids played with their toys. And might I add, having three kids in the house gets crazy.

All in all, I think everyone had a good time. And really, how can you not? Santa came to visit.

I Suck At Wakes

On Sunday, my eighteen month old daughter (Briana) had a play date. My friend (Meredith) brought over her son (Xander) who is about four months younger than Briana. To be honest, the play date went a lot better than I expected.

I think the last time Briana and Xander saw each other, Briana basically grabbed all of Xander's cheerios and ate them... in front of him. Not this time. This time, she actually shared some of her toys with him. It was definitely nice to see her share her toys.

It was also good to see Meredith again. I haven't seen her in some time. So it was good to catch up and hang out even if it was for a short period of time on Sunday.

Following the play date, Karen, Briana, and I ventured into the great white north known as Lowell. There's a lot to like about Lowell, or so the city would have you believe. Karen's Lowell-loving cousin's (Karlene) husband's (Tommy) mother had passed away and her wake was on Sunday.

Too bad I suck at wakes. I can't imagine what it must feel like to lose a parent. Losing my son (Braden) was heartbreaking enough. I dread the day that my parents pass away because I love them dearly even if they drive me insane at times. I wouldn't be who I am without them. So it's tough I'm sure to lose a parent.

Anyway, it was an interesting wake particularly because Briana was with us. Bringing an eighteen month old definitely seems to make people smile at a wake. Of course, it could be that Briana was hamming it up since she got a lot of attention from people and other strangers waiting in line.

Karen and I also got to hang out with Karlene and Tommy's friends (Kim and Rick). We have never hung out with just them before. It was interesting. Apparently, I introduced Karlene and her friends to the term "vagitarian". The topic came about because Kim and Rick own Subaru's, which is the type of car that Karen recently bought.

Jokingly, I mentioned to Karen that Kim and Rick are Lowell versions of us: Kim/Karen with the Subaru, me/Rick with the computer stuff. At least, I think Rick does stuff with computers. As a side note, a lot of Tommy's family (and Kim/Rick) thought Karen and Karlene could be sisters. That was weird.

I Suck At Cookouts

The city of Quincy, is to me, like what Weymouth is to my favorite sister-in-law (Janine): a place of dread. The main reason for my dislike of Quincy is that Quincy is chock full of traffic lights. Every intersection has a traffic light. What normally should take 5 minutes from point A to point B in Quincy takes half an hour. It can be ridiculous at times. Thus, I lovingly refer to Quincy as the City of Lights. And it is also why I like to plug my friend (Cass) as future mayor of Quincy so that he could be my puppet in removing all of the useless traffic lights.

On Saturday, Karen, our sixteen month old daughter (Briana) and I were lucky enough to be invited to a cookout in Quincy. Now, I suck at cookouts, especially in Quincy. Regardless of the location, I had a great time.

I consider myself blessed to have such great friends. Most of my friends I have known since childhood. I don't think that is exactly the norm. Most of my non-childhoood friends don't exactly still hang out with their childhood friends. I think my graduating class was different that way. After all, I know other people in my graduating class who also still hang out with their childhood friends. So perhaps my graduating class was odd that way.

Anyway, the cookout on Saturday was the brainchild of my friends (Cara and Jeannette). Apparently, they were talking one day about how there have been new additions and whatnot to families and thus wanted to do something to meet these new additions and catch up on old times.

Cara hosted the cookout and she did an amazing job, especially when you consider that there were 11 children at this cookout (12 if you include me). Needless to say, it was good to see everyone again. Joining in on the shindig were the future mayor of Quincy (Cass), and my friends (Ellen, Meredith, Nicole, John, John's wife Gilda, Hugh, Jenny, Liz and Cara's husband Eric).

All in all, I had a fun time. And Briana seemed to enjoy it too, albeit she spent most of the day interacting with the adults and not the other children.

I Suck At Hanging Out With Meredith

This past Friday, Karen, our baby daughter (Briana), and I went to visit one of my friends (Meredith). Unfortunately, I suck at hanging out with Meredith. Meredith recently had a baby boy (Alexander) a couple of months ago. And naturally because I suck at hanging out with Meredith, I kept forgetting to contact her to see if we could stop by and meet her little bundle of joy.

Thanks to my friend (Marc) who left a voice message to remind me to call Meredith, I finally set the plan into motion. Thanks Marc! And so on Friday, we got to meet Alexander.

Interestingly enough, Friday was also the first time Karen and I had ever been to the Presidential Estates in Quincy. For anyone curious, Meredith happens to currently live in the Presidential Estates. The Presidential Estates area in Quincy is a lot bigger than I would have thought. I did not know there was that much land back there.

Anyway, Friday was a great time. Meredith's husband (Doug) made some home-made pizza for everyone. It was delicious. There was also bruschetta, which I heard was also good, but I unfortunately did not get to taste any because I was stuffed full of pizza.

The night actually turned out to be a play date of sorts. Briana, who doesn't really interact well with other children, did play and grab at Alexander's feet. (And for anyone curious, Alexander looks like a smaller version of Doug.) Shortly after of course, Briana started to fuss and we did what any parent would do: we threw her into this awesome looking contraption that Meredith and Doug owned. The thing looked like a souped up exersaucer.

Needless to say, much of the night involved talking about parenting and children and all of that. One of the highlights is that I got to see a cool picture taken by one of the doctors of Alexander coming out of Meredith "alien-style". Alexander's head was protruding through part of Meredith where she had the Caesarean section. It was neat.

Now, I don't really consider myself as one who always talk about my children. In fact, I generally try to talk about my children only whenever someone asks me about them. I guess that is one of the reasons why I don't post status updates in Facebook about what my child is doing. That said, after Friday night's experience, I can see why a lot of people in general do talk about their children.

For awhile, I have considered myself to be a pretty terrible father mostly because I have not read any books about parenting. Thus, there have been many times when people have asked me if Briana is experiencing such-and-such by a certain chronological time. In response, I would simply shrug my shoulders because I would have no clue. It's this feeling of not having an answer (and consequently feeling that I do not know what I am doing) that makes me feel like a bad father.

Similarly, Meredith had mentioned to me that she sometimes felt like she did not know what she was doing at times. Naturally, that got me thinking that perhaps the reason why some people do talk about their children a lot is to elicit validation or confirmation from others that what they are doing as a parent is... for lack of a better word... correct. It was just a random thought that entered my head. I don't even know if it is true or not.

Regardless, I had a great time on Friday. It was definitely nice to see Meredith again and meet her little bundle of joy. I feel that I don't really see Meredith as much as I would like. She's a great person. Although I suppose now that we can have play dates, perhaps I will be seeing her more often.

I Suck At Cookouts

On Sunday, my friends (Cass and Ellen) had a few people over for a Memorial Day cookout. Now, I suck at cookouts. It has been a while since I got to hang out with Cass and Ellen.

Needless to say, it was a great time. It's always good to hang out with friends. I feel like I don't do it as much these days. Joining in the festivities were my friends (Marc, Kelley, Meredith, Doug, and Andrea).

Anyway, Cass and Ellen recently had a deck added to their house. So the cookout was a good way to christen the deck. And by christen the deck, I don't mean vomit in the yard like in cookouts past at Cass and Ellen's. Although I suppose in Kelley's defense (for vomiting that time), she was having a bad day.

I would recount the details of that eventful cookout where Kelley blew chunks, but sadly I was equally inebriated... being her drinking buddy and all. The only things that I can remember from that incident were that Marc and Kelley had gotten into a car accident that day. So in an effort to make Kelley feel better, Cass and I pushed booze into her (not like it was hard). Of course, I also imbibed quite a bit too... so much so that I rolled around a bit in the grass... which eventually ended up on Cass's couch. Needless to say, I do remember Kelley vomiting on Cass's bricks in the corner... good times... good times.

Unfortunately, we are all old fogies now. We just don't imbibe like we used to. So there was no vomiting this year to christen the deck.

One of the more memorable incidents of the day happened with one of Cass and Ellen's pet (Seamus). Seamus is a little tiny dog. I think he is a shih tzu. Anyway, it turns out that Seamus really likes our baby daughter (Briana).

When Karen brought Briana inside to get changed, Seamus followed. In fact, Seamus hovered around Briana making sure she was okay and all of that. It was very cute. I probably would not have believed it had I not witnessed it firsthand.

I had gone inside to help Karen change Briana's diaper. So there was Briana.... simply lying on a changing mat on the floor. She had never seen a dog before, so her eyes were fixed on Seamus. Seamus kept hovering over her. He would soon lick Briana's legs... then her tiny hands... and eventually her face. In fact, Seamus kept licking Briana's face as though it were a bad make out session that I just started laughing uncontrollably. Even after pulling Seamus away, he returned to lick Briana. It was too funny.

And I must say, Briana was good. She didn't cry during the whole thing. She just kept looking at Seamus with awe. But that was definitely a memorable moment. I wish I had a video camera for that.

Anyway, I like I said, the cookout was a great time. I had a lot of fun. Hopefully there will be more cookouts during the summer.

I Suck At Roasted Potatoes

On Saturday, Karen and I began our day with a memorial service in Hingham. The memorial service was for the spouse of my former friend's mother (Peggy). (I say former because my friend passed away.) I can imagine that it must be difficult for Peggy. After all, she has lost her only son and her husband all within five or six years.

Nevertheless, the service was good. The last time I was at the church (The Episcopal Parish of St. John the Evangelist) where the service was held was for the memorial of Peggy's son. And prior to that, it was for Peggy's wedding 14 years ago.

If there can be anything "interesting" from a memorial, it's seeing familiar teachers of yore. (Did I mention that Peggy was a teacher at the high school I attended?) Having not seen a teacher for quite some time... and then seeing then now... is an odd feeling. You sometimes wonder if those teachers remember you the way you remember them.

Anyway, a bunch of friends were at the service too. Attending were Sam (who flew in from Virginia), Jeannette and her son, Nicole, Meredith, Garv and Leeann, and my BFF (Kerry). I think Peggy was ecstatic to see all of us there, which was nice.

And for anyone curious, Jeannette's son (Sam) is very good for a four month old. He didn't cry, scream... anything during the service. He did manage to put three of my fingers in his mouth though. Other than that, he didn't make a peep. He was good... possibly the envy of all parents who have a four month old.

Following the service, Kerry headed back to our house. My friend (Andrea) had planned a little get together for the night. As we had time before the big shindig, the three of us decided to catch a couple of episodes of Veronica Mars. Slowly, we're making it through the third and final season. Too bad it takes us awhile to watch the episodes. Remembering what happened in previous episodes is sometimes tough. Nonetheless, it was fun.

Eventually, it was time for Andrea's shindig. Her get together consisted of her self proclaimed famous dinner: chicken and potatoes. Originally, she had debated about whether to make roasted potatoes or mashed potatoes. Rather than make one or the other, she made both. (She also made asparagus and rolls too... and a trifle for dessert.)

And might I add, this dinner was pretty hyped up by Andrea. For those who know me, they know about my feelings on hyped up things. With all the fanfare, there naturally is some lofty expectations. Needless to say, Andrea delivered. Her dinner was absolutely delicious. (I probably should not be surprised because everything that I have had from Andrea has been delicious.)

I think my favorite dish was the roasted potatoes. Too bad I suck at roasted potatoes. I must have eaten a whole lot of them. Truth be told, I probably could have eaten just the roasted potatoes and been happy.

Needless to say, dinner at Andrea's was great. Besides Karen, Kerry and I, my friends (Jen and Hot Amy), and Hot Amy's significant other (Mark) were able to attend the dinner. I think they enjoyed the dinner too.

I'm pretty sure Kerry enjoyed the "bread in a can". Speaking of Kerry, it turns out that her favorite U.S. currency is the quarter. That was an interesting fact that was discovered for the night. I did not know people had a favorite currency. Who knew? Among other interesting facts are that the favorite numbers of Andrea, Jen and Kerry are 8, 21 and 2 (or 5... hence the quarter) respectively. Favorite colors are red, blue and purple for Jen, Kerry, and Hot Amy respectively. And Mark apparently is not a sanitation engineer (or so he claims)... not that there is anything wrong with that.

Anyway, it was a fun time at Andrea's. Following dinner, Jen, Karen and I then headed off to Stars in Hingham. On Christmas Eve, the three of us and Kerry had discovered that Stars was having an ugly holiday sweater party. Everyone seemed pretty excited about the party (except for me). So we figured we'd give it a try.

(Picture below is Jen in her ugly sweater.)


Joining us at Stars were my favorite sister-in-law (Janine) and my favorite brother-in-law (PJ). The place was packed... and cold. Nevertheless, it was a fun time. Jen even won a free t-shirt for having such an ugly sweater. And for anyone curious, I thought the band (The Smoking Jackets) was great. The band covered a bunch of songs that you wouldn't normally think would be covered at a bar... like Dancing Queen by ABBA... or the Safety Dance by Men Without Hats. Based on the turnout for the ugly holiday sweater party, I would probably suggest the idea to my friend (Garv) for his bar (Blue-22). But, I'm pretty sure he would pretend to jot the idea down in his hand, crumple the piece of paper, and toss it over his shoulder.

I Suck At Tree Trimming

On Saturday, my friends (Marc and Kelley) had their annual tree trimming. Unfortunately, I suck at tree trimming.

In keeping with the annual tradition, I naturally got a little inebriated thanks to my drinking buddy Kelley and her great bartending skills. Yes, in addition to baking delicious cookies and muffins, Kelley is pretty good at making martinis. So naturally, I could not resist the temptation of booze... or more particularly... mass consumption of booze.

Sure, I admit it. I may have an unhealthy relationship with booze. Eventually I will give up consuming mass quantities of alcohol... either from sheer willpower... or organ failure. I am hoping it will be the former case.

As always, the tree trimming was great. It was good to see some of Marc's family whom I have not seen in awhile. Of course, it was also great to see and hang out with my friends (Cass, Ellen, Meredith, Doug, Andrea, the Czar, Adam, Alex, and Kim) and my BFF (Kerry) who attended the tree trimming. For anyone curious, I refer to my friend Amy as "the Czar" so as to not confuse her with my phonetic sounding friends (Hot Amy or Aimee). The first four letters of Amy's last name is c-z-a-r. Hence, "the Czar". By no means is she Russian... at least, not to my knowledge.

Amy the Czar is great. I don't get to see her too often. She is one of the nicest people I know. So, it was nice to be able to see her again.

Among the other people who I hardly see within a given year are Adam, Alex and Kim. Adam and Alex are the brothers of my friend (Scott) who lives in New York. They are a riot together. We spent much of the night trying to figure out a superhero that I could be within Adam's cell phone. Rather than use names of his friends with their cell phone number, Adam assigns a superhero name. Hard to maintain? Sure. But in terms of geekdom, I think it's pretty funny and cool. (For anyone curious, the superhero that I wanted was already taken, which is why we spent some time trying to figure one out. C'mon, who likes Hawkeye?)

And not that I am particularly proud of this fact, but Kim is also a big fan of the Miley Cyrus "Party in the U.S.A." song. Kim happens to know more (if not all) of the lyrics than I do. Truth be told, I'm not sure I know any lyrics. Somehow that song came up in conversation. I have no idea how or why I remember it, but I do.

Proof that it is a small world: Kim and Kelley were neighbors growing up. I first met Kim when she was a freshman in high school. At the time, my friend (John) who had a thing for freshmen girls... somehow started hanging out with Kim (probably because he wanted to date her). Sadly, John and I were seniors at the time. I believe they may have met in Drama club. And yes, I was in the Drama club in high school... not because I enjoyed drama... or the freshmen girls like John. I was in the club strictly for the food... which was very lacking in the club. (Interestingly enough, John is married to someone who is his senior.)

Anyway, John and Kim helped set Kelley up with Marc... and the rest is history. And since that time, Kim has ended up briefly dating Adam and my friend (Garv). It's very six degrees of Kevin Bacon random.

Regardless, the tree trimming was fun. The food, as usual, was delicious. Andrea brought her stuffed mushrooms again. Yum! So needless to say, I had a good time.

I Suck At Celebrating My Friend's Birthday

Yesterday, Karen and I went to a birthday party. On Friday, it was my friend's (Kelley) birthday. Happy birthday Kelley! So, in honor of Kelley, my friend (Marc) organized a little get together with a bunch of friends.

For some time, my friends and I have celebrated each of our birthdays within our circle of friends. The birthday celebrations generally run from August to January. October happens to be Kelley's (and Karen's) month. The past few years, we have combined birthdays because it was easier to get everyone together at one time, especially when it comes to the month of December, where in addition to the birthdays there are holiday parties and whatnot.

This month, however, we were just going to celebrate Kelley's birthday in October. (Karen was not big on celebrating her birthday this year.) Originally, the plan that was being tossed around for Kelley's birthday celebration was a sleepover party. That idea seemed to be quite popular at the time. Unfortunately, the plan did not stick. Oh well. My visions of a pajama pillow fight will just have to wait...

Oh, and before I forget... happy belated birthday to my friend (Aimee)! Aimee's birthday also happens to be in October. It's too bad I suck at celebrating my friend's birthday. Happy birthday anyway!

Anyway, as usual the birthday celebration was fun. It is always good to see everyone. In addition to Karen and I, my friends (Cass, Ellen, Garv, Leeann, Meredith, Doug, and Jen) were there, as was my BFF (Kerry), as well as Kelley's friend and fellow scavenger hunt teammate (Nancy).

Nancy must think that the whole bunch of us are nuts. She's funny though. With all the topics of conversation going around, I do wonder what Nancy thinks about all of us. She probably thinks we are all loons. Among the topics of conversation from the party: Doug's chainsawing in his sleep, the Boone/Zac Effron/[insert white person's name here] similarities, Garv's detailed knowledge of legalized prostitution in Amsterdam, and the apparent case that Karen and Kerry seemed to have been on separate vacations when they went to France together.

Needless to say, it was a great time. I had a blast. Watching Karen laugh so hard that she started to cry was worth it. For anyone curious, Karen was laughing at the flip-flop incident when her and Kerry were in France.

Anyway, it's always good to hang out with friends and be silly. I do look forward to these birthday celebrations.

I Suck At Meredith's Wedding

saturday was our independence day... happy fourth of july!

in celebration of the fourth of july, karen and i were invited to a wedding. my friend (meredith) was getting married at the red parrot in hull. now, i suck at meredith's wedding. the celebration was actually very nice.

according to karen, the ceremony was one of the more touching ones that she has been to. i think what was really touching about the wedding was that you could see the excitement on the face of the groom (doug). anxious... nervous... his face and actions said it all. and then when meredith walked in, you could hear him whisper how beautiful she looked. it was rather nice.

(pictured below are meredith and doug.)


prior to the wedding, my friends (marc, kelley, garv, leeann), karen and i had attended a cookout at my friends's (ron and trinh). ron and trinh are simply amazing. they always serve great food. they always throw a great party. their place is like a vacation resort... the next time i vacation somewhere, i may vacation in pembroke (which is where ron and trinh live).

ron and trinh's cookout was great. it was a lot of fun. i got to relax and hang out with my friends. my friend (aimee) also showed up. probably the most memorable part of the cookout... aside from hearing that leeann received blunt force trauma to the head courtesy of a door at her house... was garv's giddiness over a shirtless friend of ours (bill).

needless to say, garv only further perpetuated the running joke about his torrid gay love affair with bill... with all the taunts about a shirtless bill. it was rather comical to watch. i joke because i care. in fact, i care so much that i dressed up like garv for meredith's wedding.

following ron's cookout, a bunch of us went back to our place to get ready for meredith's wedding. not trusting my own ability to pick out an outfit for the wedding, karen went through my clothes and selected a few things for me to wear. it turns out, the things karen pulled out for me to wear were almost identical to what garv had brought to change into.

you can imagine the surprise when i emerged... fully dressed for the wedding... to see garv in a similar outfit: striped shirt... steve maddon shoes... it was as though i were looking at my twin... with the exception that i don't use product in my hair... or have a high forehead. i'm just teasing. but it was rather funny.

garv and i even joked about playing a prank on doug's family while at the wedding... since we were dressed similarly, but we didn't. instead, we just perpetuated the stereotype that all asians look the same.

anyway, meredith's wedding was great. my friends (cass and ellen), who were in the wedding party, met up with us and we laughed and hung out like the old times. it was just fun to hang out with my friends and be silly. in fact, i even got to briefly reprise my role as exotic... and erotic... dancer. (trust me, it's not something you want to see.)

congratulations and thanks, meredith!

I Suck At Meredith's Cookout

today was one of those days where karen and i were overbooked.

in fact this overbooking will probably be an annual tradition because of the fireworks celebration for the fourth of july. this year's fireworks celebration took place today. (the fireworks are ignited from wessagusset beach in weymouth. i believe braintree also had fireworks today too.)

as it turns out, my friend (meredith) lives in weymouth. my other friend (hot amy) lives in quincy... in particular, hough's neck... which overlooks the water. anyway, both of them usually have an annual cookout. thus, karen and i try to make both of them within the given day.

after a brief visit from my friend (andrea), karen and i started the cookout/fireworks celebration at meredith's. (andrea stopped by on her way to the cape to borrow some dvds of the show "lost"... such a good show... she's addicted now to the show.)

after picking up my friends (marc and kelley), we headed off to meredith's cookout. i suck at meredith's cookout. as usual, i stuffed myself silly. i couldn't resist the tempting food. in particular, i couldn't resist the corn on the cob.

(pictured below is kelley and marc at the cookout.)


in the event anyone is curious, meredith grills great tasting corn on the cob. apparently, her secret recipe (although it really isn't a secret) involves buttering the corn, adding salt and pepper, and wrapping the corn on the cob in tin foil, before throwing it on the grill. (cue rachael ray's "yum-o" sound.)

needless to say, i ate three ears of corn. i'm sure my bowels will thank me later for eating three ears of corn. i couldn't resist the yellow goodness (which is something you won't hear me say a lot... not just because of my affinity for asians... just kidding). the corn on the cob was very delicious.

don't get me wrong, i didn't stuff myself purely on corn alone. i had a cheeseburger, a hot dog, some chicken wings, and kielbasa too. dr. atkins would have been proud of me... well, if it weren't for the corn. yum... corn. i probably would have eaten more than three ears of corn had i not had another cookout to attend.

nonetheless, it was great to see meredith. she is a true sweetheart and i had a great time at her cookout. plus, hanging out with my friends is also a bonus.

I Suck At Hanging Out With Meredith

last night, i ran into my friend (meredith).

meredith and i go way back. i've known meredith since middle school. we used to chat on the phone all the time. we used to laugh, joke, and just be silly. in fact, i pretty much still laugh, joke and be silly... so it's good to know i haven't changed that much.

anyway, the last time i saw meredith was at her then-new house in weymouth for a fourth of july celebration a few years ago. so, it was nice to see her again albeit the circumstances surrounding my seeing of her again were not the greatest. we were attending a wake for the uncle of my friend (ellen). ellen happens to be married to my other friend (cass). it's somewhat odd how most of my friends have met their significant others while in high school. i guess my high school graduating class was very tight-knit. but, that's beside the point.

needless to say, i got to talk to meredith while at the wake. when we left, it naturally got me thinking how i suck at hanging out with meredith. meredith is one of the nicest people i have known and have ever met. she has recently lost some weight too and looks good. she recounted a story about how when she first moved to her grandmother's house in quincy, my other friend (hugh), who incidentally was the best man at my wedding, had rode his bike all the way down to the house and gave her a stuffed animal. he had given it to her because she was concerned that she didn't know anyone in the neighborhood. thus, with the stuffed animal, she would at least know one person. i don't really do the story justice (meredith did a much better retelling of the story). she laughed and thought it was funny how that was one of the things she remembered about the past.

anyway, i'm glad i saw meredith again. seeing childhood friends always cheer me up. some might even say it makes me all sappy, which is why come christmas time... i get a little thankful for all of my friends. regardless, i hope to see meredith again in the upcoming months.