Thanksgiving 2015: All is Well That Ends Well
Posted on December 5, 2015 by Ching under Events, Family, Games.
It was a little stressful this year but it turned out alright overall.
The days leading up to Thanksgiving were hectic. We found a car for Brian, which we paid for on Monday. Then we sold Bebot on Wednesday. That didn’t really leave much time to get ready for Thanksgiving specially since Brian worked Monday and Tuesday.
Luckily, we don’t really have to do much to prepare for the meal. We just buy the deluxe holiday meal from Fresh Market as we’ve done the last few years and follow the reheating instructions. The nice thing is we’ve done this a few times that we have it down. We just pull up our Thanksgiving project timeline year after year and follow the schedule.
The only hitch this year was that we didn’t get everything that was supposed to be in the box. Didn’t realize it until we were planning where everything was to go. I was like, “Turkey will go here. Ham will go here. Stuffing will go here…” And then Brian interrupts and tells me we don’t have any stuffing.
I was like, “What do you mean we don’t have any stuffing?”
“They didn’t give us any,” was Brian’s reply.
I opened the fridge in disbelief. Sure enough, no stuffing. Brian didn’t think we were supposed to get any and was rather calm about it. I don’t really care for stuffing but I was quite upset. We paid for the deluxe holiday meal package and three pounds of stuffing was part of the deal. Not only is stuffing a big part of Thanksgiving, but it was on the list of things we were supposed to get. I had to show Brian this picture to prove to him that we got gypped.
I called Fresh Market at least three times but there was no answer each time. I don’t know why I bothered or why I kept trying other than I was desperate. I knew that they would be closed for the day and there was nothing we could do. We had to go without stuffing for Thanksgiving this year.
On the bright side, I really don’t like stuffing so it’s not like we were missing anything important. Had they gypped us on the corn soufflé then I probably would have gone completely ballistic. LOL.
Here are some pictures from Thanksgiving.
Mom made lumpia so we just put it in place of where we were going to put the stuffing so there wasn’t an empty slot. It turned out alright. I don’t think anyone really cares for stuffing either, and I’d rather have lumpia any day.
Since we had lumpia, we had to bust out the bottle of Silver Swan soy sauce and Datu Puti suka. Mom brought a bottle of banana ketchup for also.
This is our turkey.
We got two different kind of bread to go with our meal. Fresh Market’s bread is yummy!
We also had ham because that was part of the deal.
The mashed potatoes were delicious. Don’t know what’s so different about these, but the mashed potatoes made by Fresh Market are just better than others I think.
We had way too much green beans.
This is the corn shuffle, which is my favorite dish out of all the items that the deluxe holiday meal includes. It doesn’t look like much but it is delicious. We usually have leftovers of everything else but this always gets wiped out.
We were expecting a few more people to join us but things came up and it was just us.
We still had a great time, though.
Brian made these decadent “adult chocolate pudding” desserts with Rumchata and Godiva. Everyone else thought it was too strong but I liked it.
Afterwards grandma taught mom and dad how to play Skip Bo.
And then it was time to video chat with Brian’s folks in Oklahoma.
Here are some pictures of Brian getting everything set up.
Don’t mind the bored look on Brian’s face. That’s how normally looks.
Isn’t technology great? You don’t even need to visit people anymore. 😉
Later that evening our awesome neighbors came by and brought their dogs Nikki and Ellie over. Jim is working is Orlando now and he was home for the holidays. Their house just went on the market because Karen will be following him shortly.
These guys are hands down the best neighbors we’ve ever had. We are really going to miss them.
So that was our Thanksgiving in a nutshell. Even though I was a little stressed out about the whole stuffing situation. It all turned out okay.
Brian called Fresh Market the next day to complain about missing a vital part of our deluxe holiday meal package. They asked him if he still wanted the stuffing. It was pointless at that point since we had already eaten the rest of the food and so we had no more need for it. They offered us a gift card to compensate us for the missing item and that was fine with us.
How about you? How as your Thanksgiving? Anything interesting happen?
Comment on This
Happy Belated Birthday to My Sister
Posted on November 28, 2015 by Ching under Events, Family.
We had a family dinner in celebration of Jenni’s birthday the other day at Oh Yeah! China Bistro the other day. Here are some pics…
Jen Cannady and QQ
Eli, Jenni, and Mom (background)
Mom, Dad, and Logan
It was really nice to have the entire family together, including the Cannadys. It’s not all the time that everyone can be together in the same place so I’m very grateful for the opportunity to see everyone and celebrate Jenni’s birthday.
Happy belated birthday, Jenni!
Comment on This
Citizen Police Academy Graduation Day
Posted on November 26, 2015 by Ching under Events, Things to Do.
It’s the end of another journey.
I was in Topeka for Citizen Police Academy graduation night but they were nice enough to make a certificate of completion for me and gave it to Brian.
Everyone also got a copy of our class photo which, incidentally, I’m not in either because I was, again, in Topeka that week. I promise I really did participate in the class. If it weren’t for work commitments, I wouldn’t have missed any of the sessions at all.
I am so grateful for all the things we learned and experienced in Citizen Police Academy. I will take the knowledge with me for years to come. The time I spent with Sgt. Hein, Sgt. Kimble, and all the other law enforcement officers who volunteered their time to teach our class has given me an even greater appreciation for law enforcement.
I’m not sure what it’s like in other areas of the nation/world but our law enforcement officers in Wichita and Sedgwick County are amazing. They are the some of the best people you will ever meet.
Comment on This
Our Friends are Old and Throw Amazing Parties
Posted on November 25, 2015 by Ching under Events.
A sure sign that you’re old is when your friends start celebrating their 50th birthdays. Last month we celebrated Connie’s 50th birthday at the Kansas Star Casino. A couple of weeks ago Uncle Roy had a huge birthday bash complete with ping pong and shuffleboard.
Here are a few pictures from the event…
I didn’t get to have cake but I bet it was yummy!
I had a cookie. It was delicious.
I loved all of the personalized touches…
Including the poker chip drink tokens!
The table decorations and center pieces were very creative and consistent with the theme. Some tables had chalkboards. A couple of tables had a bit of a debate going.
Brian and I had a great time celebrating with the old man. I was going to say “celebrating with the birthday boy” but, at the tender age of 50, you are clearly no longer a boy.
Bonnie did such an amazing job of planning and hosting the event. Thank you to Bonnie and Roy for their generosity and for sharing the joy of Roy’s birthday celebration with us. The best part for me was seeing so many people I hadn’t seen in years.
And also seeing people we still see on the regular, though not as frequently as we used to. These people are know as the Dills.
Bonnie and Roy sure know how to throw a party. The parting gifts were great.
We dream of being Bonnie and Roy when we grow up. Brian and I will eventually get old and turn 50 but we will probably never be as cool.
Cheers to Uncle Roy on his 50th birthday!
Comment on This
“A Day in the Life of Kelsey” and Team Building
Posted on November 24, 2015 by Ching under Events.
Since I was out of town on Veterans Day, I decided to shadow Kelsey on her birthday and experience a day in the life of a 25 year old. It’s been a lifetime ago for me so I can barely remember what it was like.
Step one was a leisurely breakfast at the hotel before heading to the mall for our MAC Cosmetics makeovers. This is what Kelsey had planned for her birthday/day off. She was nice enough to let me tag along and scheduled one for me as well.
They were so busy that day that we kept getting interrupted. It reminded me of why I don’t get makeup done at the mall. The end result was great, though. Misty did a fabulous job despite having to juggle customers and doing my makeup.
Here’s the finished product. For her birthday makeup Kelsey went completely glam, complete with fake eyelashes. I went pretty neutral but, even so, I felt like I had so much makeup on. I think it’s because I’m not used to wearing makeup.
Our next stop was downtown Kansas City. We had the rare opportunity to check out the PwC office there. The consultants didn’t get Veterans Day off so they camped out in one of the conference rooms and worked that day.
Good thing I was off that day because I don’t think I could have worked with the amazing view. I would have been day dreaming all day.
Not sure if you recall but it was super windy on Veterans Day. Kelsey and I got into a minor fender bender on the way to the hotel, which made us a bit late for our team building event. We weren’t the only ones late, though. The consultants worked late and got to the hotel much later than we did even after we waited for the Kansas City police officers to show up on the scene and release us.
We eventually made it to Top Golf. I’d never been there before. It’s really cool. Even though I sucked compared to everyone else, I still had a blast. I actually can’t wait to go back. I want to bring Brian there on a date.
You basically wave your club at this box thing that spits out a golf ball. You hit the golf ball as hard as you can while trying to make one of the targets. You earn points based on where your ball lands.
Radhika is a pro. She did the best out of all the women. She actually did better than most of the men, too.
This is a photo of Rahima getting ready to swing.
Here’s our two Project Managers: Andy (foreground) and Joey (background).
Since we were so late getting started we decided to cancel our dinner reservations and just eat at Top Golf instead. The food there is actually pretty good.
Here are some photos…
These donut things were delicious, specially with the dipping sauces. Serving the sauces in syringes was a clever touch.
Some people had already left by the time we remembered to take a group photo.
We all had so much fun that we ended up spending the entire evening at Top Golf. The time just flew by, though. It was a great team building experience.
Comment on This
