Year: 2007

Tho I am seriously lusting after one and I feel jealous that Ronnie and Xin are getting one for free, I think I’ll keep my money. All is not lost tho, at least work is buying me a new Macbook Pro.

Edda was so excited to start school today that she was eating her hand. Oh wait, I forgot, she always eats her hand. So much for that idea.

It was just fine and dandy and, of course, disorganized, just like I expected her summer session to be. They are having a hard time convincing teachers to work during their summer vacations, so Edda’s going to have a mishmash of different teachers over the 5 weeks which is fine by me.

I went to Goodwill today to get rid of some stuff. I came back with a ten dollar bike for Vincent. He’s outgrown his little bike, and this one had a cute bell on it already – I couldn’t resist.

We went to the park to try out the training-wheel-less bicycle and to have Edda careen down some hills.

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Well it’s been a busy weekend. Giro di Peninsula on Saturday. Organized by none other than the great Yi-Ling. We did about 69 miles, but we cheated, and instead of doing the official 100k course, we did part of the 100 mile course that looped out to San Gregorio. Yi-Ling was complaining a bit about having to climb so much and wanted a shorter ride, but nobody was having none of that. She can handle the climbs no problem. Actually all she really needs to learn is to be comfortable sitting behind Charles and drafting him on the flats. At some point Yi-Ling was the one sticking her head in a good 15-20mph headwind for all of us. Not exactly saving yourself for the climbs.

On the whole tho. It was a pretty good ride. Definitely, I’m a bit tired today, so it was good. And omg, the chocolate chip cookies were excellent. Especially the ones that have been in the sun for a little bit – all the chocolate chips morsels were melted with the outer part still crunchy. MMMM…

That’s Ky in the photo. Notice the (lack of) cycling shoes? 😛

Also went to see Ronnie in his musical – Wonderful Town. It’s about these 2 girls who go to NY for their shot at Broadway. At one point, Ronnie had to get up on some crates and do a jiggle dance. Since, Ronnie doesn’t dance, like… EVER… Larry thought that scene alone was worth the $25 admission.

Today was cleaning day, prep for the 4th of july party at our place. Our house is CLEAN. By god… everything got scrubbed and vacuumed today. Not bad for a place with 4 guys living in it. I will make an apple pie, perhaps a tart, and most definitely I will try my hand at bread pudding. Woot!

We went to the mall in DC today to the Folklife festival. There were three regions showcased; Ireland, Mekong and Virginia. There were bagpipe players, bamboo fish traps and sheepdog demonstrations.

Vince started out as a grump-meister. Even as he had fun building a whiskey barrel.

Nothing a little Popsicle couldn’t fix.

Edda danced to the bluegrass music.

Vincent has been tearful the past few days missing his pals from Singapore. I know it’s tough for him to adjust to the rough and tumble mannerisms of his camp-mates. It also doesn’t help that he’s the littlest one at camp. Each time we suggest something fun to do, he resists and cries. Also when I don’t take his suggestions (Mom! Please wear your high heels and go bike riding with me!), he just crumples with sobs. It’s not as if he doesn’t like camp or the things we do, it’s just that the moving and the job searching has been hard on him.

It’s pretty much impossible to get Edda to drink enough liquid. She knows how to drink through a straw, but she probably drinks less than on cup of liquid a day. I try, with orange juice, apple juice, milk, water… Today I discovered the magic elixir, I’m embarrassed to say that she loves cherry Kool-Aid. She drank 4 glasses at dinner without spilling a drop.

Summertime smile.

Today I had an informational interview at a biotech company about 2 miles from where we live. He’s a classmate of mine (who I did not know) was kind enough to tell me a little bit about the history of the biotech industry in Montgomery county and figure out how I could find myself a position within the industry.

I’m always so nervous before these little sessions, I know the Martin men look at me strangely when I tell them that it takes me a lot of psychic energy to speak with people I don’t know. It doesn’t matter that we spoke easily about science and protein purification for two hours, found out that we have a close friend in common and, at the end, discussed the hourly rate for a high-school babysitter, it’s still tough for me to start off a conversation.

I figure I have to talk to about 15-25 people face-to-face before I find a job, I’ve done 2 so far. Sigh.

The Sunday dinner was shifted to Friday night for various reasons. The cousins are getting more used to having Edda around and Edda is getting used to everyone else’s house. Sarah was feeding Edda grapes (so cute!) and the kids put on a performance and Edda kept weaving in an out of the kids giving everyone a slobbery slap on the arm.

… I just met at the airport? Uncle Robert! On his way off to China to see his wife and kids. Funny. I was there dropping of Xin and Shwe in the Air China line, and there he was, like 6 people up. It was quite a shock to see him in SF. It was his layover. I wanted to invite him to lunch, since Xin ans Shwe and I were going to go out after checking in their luggage, but he disappeared really fast. Oh well. Lunch didn’t happen anyways as Xin and Shwe were in the wrong line since their flight was run by United, and that line was at least 100 people deep, spanning past 2 check in aisle in the international terminal. Crazy.

It was good to see him, but you can tell Uncle Robert still smokes. Ugh.

Yo ex-Singaporean-ish-type folks. A coworker is passing thru Singapore on the way to India. They have an 8 hour layover. Any suggestions on what to do? Mostly where to eat?

Edda’s starting school on Monday!

Jeremy rides Donald’s high school bike.

I’d like some bacon please.