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Pictures From the Annual Filipino Ball

Posted on June 22, 2014 by Ching under Events, Family.

The Filipino Ball is a celebration of milestones — debutantes, wedding anniversaries, achievements — in the Filipino community. It’s a chance for us to relive prom night in that we get to wear our fanciest clothes. Women are in beautiful gowns and men are in colorful and stylish barongs. It’s a pretty formal event so you can be as fancy as you want to be. Brian opted to wear his tux this year. Yeah, we’re still trying to get our money’s worth. LOL.

These are some of my favorite photos from last night. Huge thanks to Jennifer Cannady for taking the photo above. I’ve put on some weight in the last couple of years and actually don’t look too bad in this photo. LOL. Brian, my very own James Bond, looks amazing as always.

If you recognize my dress it’s because I recycled it. It’s the same dress that I wore to the American Heart Association benefit earlier this year. I would have preferred to have worn a new dress but life has been hectic and I didn’t have time to shop. Rather than stress about it, I figured I’d just wear one of the ones I already had hanging in the closet. I wore new jewelry to freshen it up a bit. This is the Kahlo line. If you’d like to see it up close or want to schedule a trunk show, contact me.

Obligatory selfie… because we have to take at least one of the two of us.

The Filipino Ball is the one time a year that we get to see people who we don’t normally see on a regular basis. Kids babies and children grow up to be adults almost overnight it seems. It’s like one year they were children and the next they’re hosting the event. Yes, I’m talking about Jenna. She was a baby when Brian and I first started attending the gala and now she’s a grown woman. Amazing. Brian and I still feel pretty youthful but this is the one event that’s guaranteed to make you feel old. Before the evening is even over I always end up wondering, “Are we really that old?”

We must be because I actually enjoy the event now and I didn’t used to. In my youth I used to dread having to attend. “Do I really have to?” This was one of those parties that was forced upon you by your parents. I don’t know how the other kids felt or how the kids today feel. It was not a fun party for me. It wasn’t really that much fun watching old people drink and make fools of themselves on the dance floor. Now I’m one of those old people. It’s awesome how time can change your perspective.

It used to that you couldn’t pay me to attend now and I’m actually paying to go. If you told me years ago that this would happen, I never would have believed you. LOL.

The Filipino Ball has become one of those events that I actually look forward to attending each year. I love watching the kids grow up and watching families expand as they welcome new family members. As long as I can look youngish and have my handsome James Bond by my side, I really don’t mind feeling old for a night.

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Grandma’s 92nd Birthday

Posted on June 20, 2014 by Ching under Family, Food and Drink.

We celebrated grandma’s 92nd birthday at Firebirds last night. It was also a late birthday dinner for Brian and late Father’s Day celebration. We didn’t have time to figure out what to do for gifts for everyone so we just decided to buy everyone dinner. It was a little lazy on our part, I know; but what can you do when you’ve just gotten back from traveling and you have to get on with everyday life real quick? I was back to my day job and teaching my Zumba classes right off the bat.

Without further ado, here are some of the pictures from last night.

Mom and dad were able to join us so that was great.

Brian got a card that makes noise and some cash for his birthday from his mom and dad. He is so easily amused.

Mom really thought this was a half portion.

Brian got ribs. He said they were very good.

Grandma got pasta.

Dad got a wood grilled salmon.

Kevin got a cheeseburger.

I had a Fireside BLT with grilled salmon.

Donna got meatloaf.

David got a steak filet and fries.

We all shared a couple of slices of the banana cream pie.

Close up!

Grandma got a nice card from the Firebirds staff.

We had to take a selfie!

Here’s a photo of the Brubakers outside the restaurant after dinner.

Firebirds Wood Fired Grill on Urbanspoon

Food at the restaurant was actually better than I remembered. I have always liked their bread because it reminds me of pan de sal. The servers brought us several loaves well before we could even finish one.

I’m not sure about the others but my food was pretty good. The last time I had salmon at Firebirds it was a little overdone. It seemed that way anyhow. I thought I would give them another chance and get salmon again. This time to just add to my salad. The salmon was done absolutely perfectly. It didn’t dry up so that was great.

Our server recommended their seasonal dessert, a banana cream pie on steroids. We shared two slices of the pie. It was delicious. I hope Brian learns how to make it because I would love to have some again. LOL.

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Brian Gets Balls, Bowls 172

Posted on May 26, 2014 by Ching under Family, Hobbies.

Brian inherited a couple of bowling balls from his late grandfather a few years ago, but he never got them drilled. He just kept bowling with them even though they didn’t fit properly. It wasn’t really a big deal when we were only bowling occasionally (as in, once a year, if that). Since we recently joined a summer bowling league with mom and dad, we figured it was time to get the balls properly fitted.

We left the two bowling balls at the bowling alley’s pro shop and they said to just come 30 minutes early the following Sunday to pick them up. For the first time ever Brian switched to a finger tip grip. When he tested the balls, he got three strikes and a spare. He was hesitant to go from conventional grip to finger tip grip at first, but now I think he’s sold. LOL.

With his brand new bowling shoes (only worn twice so far) and newly drilled and fitted bowling balls he was probably feeling pretty legit. He actually bowled better than the rest of us on his first game.

Mom, dad, and I cleaned house last week when we were supposed to be sandbagging and then totally tanked yesterday. Well, dad did alright. Mom and I didn’t live up to our averages. Needless to say, we lost to the opposing team. Blech.

The men carried us last night. It as a little disappointing but at least the other team was nice about it. They didn’t gloat like we would have if we would’ve won. LOL. I’m kidding! We wouldn’t have gloated. We are good sports too. Anyway, congrats to both Brian and dad for bowling above their respective averages.

As for me, I plan to bowl my first 200 game of the bowling league (and my first one of the year) next week. Stay tuned!

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Flip and Ching Join a Bowling League

Posted on May 21, 2014 by Ching under Family, Hobbies.

After over a decade of marriage Brian and I finally joined our first bowling league. It’s a mixed league at Derby Bowl on Sunday nights. We are on a team with mom and dad. We named our team ALOBAKER because it’s a combination of our last names. Not very creative, but it works. LOL.

Our first league night was last Sunday. We had to be there early for a league meeting, to make some decisions about what to do about the holiday weekend, prize pool, etc. We also had to pay our sanction fees. The guy in charge of the league gave us the option of paying $21 to be sanctioned for a full year or $10 for just the summer league, which is an option if you’re not interested in being eligible for awards.

Brian asked what option I wanted. He was leaning more towards just paying the $10 because he didn’t foresee joining another league after this one ends. I was like, “Hello? Do you know who you’re talking to?” I want to get awards!

We both opted to pay the full sanction fee. Dad hadn’t bowled in a league in several years so he had to pay the sanction fee as well. Mom was already a sanctioned member.

Since the three of us were new league bowlers we had to set our averages. I wanted to set a low one so I could get a higher handicap. I think that was the plan for all of us. It was not to be, though. Dad bowled amazing. I bowled pretty well too despite all my efforts to sandbag. Mom says the more you try to sandbag, the more relaxed you are and you actually end up bowling better.

Let me explain the whole bowling handicap concept. The idea is to add points/pins to the score to make the game more competitive for less experienced and expert bowlers alike. Without the handicap the better bowlers will always win and it wouldn’t be as much fun playing. Handicaps equalize the playing field so as long as you bowl your average game or better then you have a fair shot at winning.

The handicap is based on a percentage of the difference between a bowler’s average score and the basis score. For our league we agreed upon a bowling handicap of 90% of 210. Since I bowled an average of 150 over three games last Sunday, my handicap is 54.

Here’s the calculation:
210 – 150 = 60
60 X .90 = 54

This means that when we bowl next week I get to add 54 points to my total for each game. This is why I wanted to set a low average. I was actually going for 130 which would have given me a handicap of 72. Knowing that I’m fully capable of consistently bowling an average of 150, that would have given me a 20 pin advantage. Now imagine if Brian and dad sandbagged also. We’d win every week!

Alas, I set my normal average. I tried to sandbag, but it didn’t work. Mom blames it on the law of averages — the belief that outcomes of a random event will tend to even out. For instance, she bowled 192 on her first game and 200 on her second game. Guess what she scored on the final game. She bowled a 109. It is a terrible game by mom’s standards but she explains it away as the law of averages at work. Mom’s average is around 170. The average of her three games that night is 167, not far from her typical performance. So she predicted that she would bowl a lower scoring third game because the law of averages assumes that it has to balance out.

I believe in the law of averages over the long term, but I avoid thinking about it or using it to explain events because I think it then becomes a self fulfilling prophecy. If you bowl two great games as mom did and you believe that the third game will be crappy (because of the law of averages) then that’s exactly what will happen. Why? Because energy follows thought. I think mom was fully capable of bowling a 600 series that night. She’s done it before so it wouldn’t be such a fluke. She just had to believe that she could do it rather than thinking that the third game was the balancing event according to the law of averages. As for me, I intend to bowl better than my average every week from here on out. I want to win some awards, darn it!

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Happy Birthday, Eli!

Posted on May 19, 2014 by Ching under Family.

We celebrated our nephew Eli’s 8th birthday on Saturday.

This is his older brother, Logan. He is taller than his mom Jenni and me. He’ll be taller than his stepmom and his dad before long. They grow so fast!