A Project, A Phone Call, A Fright, and The Sisters

It's been a good couple of days...

Yesterday I finished my second sewing project - a knee-length straight skirt with a flounce. The fabric is black silk (thank goodness for leftover fabric from my mom!). I did a pretty impressive job if I do say so myself! I thought the zipper would be the most difficult, but it turns out the waist and the hem was more challenging. I couldn't make the lining of the waist fit with the actual skirt - so the skirt has a permanent little pucker at the waist - you'd really have to look for it to see it, so it's forgivable for my second project. Because the flounce is cut on the bias of the material, the hem was a bit wonky in that it's kind of like a cloth tube that's wrinkled. The whole project took approximately 5 hours in total, two afternoons. I did a lot of measuring & re-measuring; I pinned and re-pinned the pattern pieces to the fabric several times before cutting since the leftover fabric had lots cut out of it; I attempted the waist 3 times before it was acceptable; and I did a lot of pressing to help make the hemming easier. Next time will be faster as I will know better what to do.

So, what did I do this afternoon for 2 hours? I cut out the same pattern again! In those 2 hours, I also began the sewing - the darts, the lining for the waist, the back panels minus the zipper(which I don't have yet), and the ruffle for the bottom (because the fabric is heavy, I'm going to finish the bottom with a ruffle instead of a flounce). I think the rest will take 2 hours or less, providing all goes well with the waist. This time the fabric is a white satin with embroidered vines on it (it's leftover from my sister's, P's, wedding dress). I think this white skirt will look cute with a dark shirt & my denim jacket.

My sister, J, the second oldest, called today. We had a great chat. I told her how Gai Doi was waiting for his 2 best pals to pick him up for their outdoor brewfest weekend of drinking and beer brewing and meeting other brewers and drinking. GD was like a 6 year-old waiting for the bus to take him to camp. He was so adorable. Pick up was at 12 Noon, however, at 10AM he had his cooler packed with his supplies. "Uhm, honey, maybe we should keep the ice packs and the food in the refrigerator until just before 12 so that it will stay colder and the ice pack won't melt?" "Oh, really? Uh, ok, I guess so. But I don't want to keep the guys waiting." "Really, honey. It'll be fine. We'll have enough time." I took their photo after they force-fed GD's stuff into the back of the already full mini-van. Oh dear, unsuspecting brewers, look out!

J also had a good laugh when I told her about Yeh and his solo constitutional. I think it was on Tuesday that I asked Yeh to go outside to get his circulation going as he had been sitting & reading for 2 hours straight with no movement. He obliged and stepped outside in his slippers to, as I imagined, wander around the yard, look at the budding flowers and check the progress of the garden. Content that Yeh was moving around, I began making soup for lunch. Ten minutes later, I looked outside to see what Yeh was doing. Hmm, he's not by the garden or the grapevines. Well, I'll just look out the front...he's not there. Yikes! A dozen thoughts raced through my head - my uncle is going to kill me for losing his father, it'll be on the news that there is a missing 87 year old Chinese man, or he's been kidnapped by the neighborhood kids. I ran to the kitchen, turned off the stove, and then raced for the door. Who walks in but Yeh...all smiles, "Me walk to highway." It takes me a second to figure out what he means...I get it - he walked down the block to the next street...in his slippers? Yeh was very happy with himself and decided that every day before lunch he would go for a walk, on his own, in his slippers even. And he has, except, of course, when it's raining and I have persuaded him to wear his sandals.

GD was at home while I was talking to J on the phone & corrected me on details of the above stories. J and I ended the phone call with a "Love you." GD commented that he was impressed that we sisters (we sisters equal 4 very different and passionate women) were getting along so well. I surmised that maybe the sisters have always gotten along well, but because I was so busy with work and never around, we didn't have a chance to show it. GD chuckled...who am I kidding? This IS impressive - usually the sisters fight like cats and dogs, vying to be the one who is the smartest, the one who has the most possessions, the one with the best husband, the prettier one, the one mom likes the most. Typical sibling rivalry...but we sisters have always been there for each other and the rivalry...well, we take it with a grain of salt.

Back at'er

Since we last met over 10 days ago, my Yehyeh, Gai Doi, and I have been busy...

Let's see, the rain finally stopped on the Victoria Day weekend. So on Saturday, we invited some friends and their kids to the house for a barbecue...nothing fancy - burgers(buffalo, beef, or chicken) with the fixings(lettuce, tomato, onion, ketchup, mustard, relish, and cheese), BYOB, and friends were asked to bring either salad or dessert. It was a really fun and relaxing time...lazing around the yard with beer in hand, kids throwing around a frisbee (that is until it was stepped on and broke! Good thing I picked up that football at the yardsale!), Gai Doi's first experience bbq'ing burgers (we lost 2 to the flames - those suckers seem to slide right through the grill!), eating lots of great food outside for the first time this year, ice cream sandwiches (yummy!), and then retiring indoors for a round of Cranium (one of the most fun boardgames around!). GD and I don't have children, but we do love having them around. They fill the house with a great energy which makes me smile.

On Sunday & Monday, we put in our little four foot by four foot garden. Nothing fancy and very tiny. There's two tomato plants (one grape, one beefeater), 3 cucumber plants, 4 green pepper plants, 2 different lettuces (buttercrunch and red leaf), and some basil. This is our first foray into vegetable gardening, actually, into any sort of gardening really! It was very exciting and scary. I didn't think that I could ever feel so protective about a four by four piece of earth...but I am - Is it getting enough sun and water? Is that a weed? Is that an evil ant gnawing on a tender leaf?. I am drawn to it everyday, rain or shine. My Yehyeh planted some cilantro and green onions in the flower beds (as there wasn't enough room in the wee garden). He also planted some seeds of a red-leafed plant that I don't know the name of, but Chinese people make a great soup with it. Yeh is a bit disappointed that the squash seeds he planted haven't sprouted...oh well, he says we'll try again next year. Gai Doi and I are a bit pessimistic...if we harvest one small tomato, a gherkin-sized cuke, and a lettuce leaf, we'll be happy. It is, afterall, our very first garden.

The rest of last week went by quickly...some highlights were:

1. I finally finished unpacking and organizing the computer room - there is so much space and we know where everything is - Yay! So, now it's just the "little yellow room," a small upstairs bedroom that we've used as the "storeroom" since we moved in, to unpack and organize. Originally, it was meant to be for me, my office/sewing room/whatever. However, since it was a "storeroom," both GD and I have set up shop in the "big yellow room" with my sewing area and his beer making area. So, I've now decided the "little yellow room" will now be a single bedroom. I told Yeh my idea and he said he would move into it instead of the "big green room" that he currently has. This is great because we'll get a double bed and set up the "big green room" as a guest bedroom. I love it when a plan comes together!

2. GD had to buy a new burner for the stove...during his last beer making session, the burner basically melted because of the high heat and the length of time it was on. I discovered this the next day when I was making char siu bao. The steamer pot was not level on the burner...I took the pot off and saw that the "legs" of the burner were all twisted and askew. So, this provided GD with the excuse of purchasing an outdoor burner(a la turkey fryer) and larger pot(32 quarts).

3. Yeh and I made char siu bao again - it went very well and the bao turned out pretty good. We made sure we waited for the dough to rise, I used more filling and less dough, and I also made a chicken & mushroom filling to use. In the end we were able to freeze 2 dozen char siu bao and 1.5 dozen gai bao.

4. With my mom, we were able to finalize plans for a trip to Calgary. After Nanny died, Yeh talked about how much he liked to travel and how many people he would like to see. One of these people is an old lady in Calgary who has kept in touch with my grandparents through the years. And since my youngest sister also lives in Calgary, Mom thought it would be a great idea to take Yeh out there to visit both. Then, Mom wanted me to go too because she worries that she can't take care of Yeh like I do. Hmmm, I love to travel but a couple of problems...I don't have the money and I don't feel right about going to Calgary without Gai Doi because he has family there which he hasn't seen since Christmas 2004. Finally, it was decided that all four of us would go, so look out Calgary, we'll be seeing you in a month!

5. More on the home improvement front...we bought a heat gun to assist in the stripping of our dining room set and the front hall banister, which GD began by using paint stripper & only got the top of the newel post done. I've stripped the top half of one chair (only 3 left, plus a huge buffet, a dining table, and a china cabinet - yikes! This may turn out to be a life-long project). We also bought a dremmel set and I sharpened (I think) the blades on our manual push mower, in the hopes that when next we use it, we will actually be cutting the grass and not flattening it!

As you can see, the past ten days have been fairly eventful. Upcoming...I am going to begin my second sewing project, a black skirt. I need to finish my sister's table decorations for her wedding in September. Clean out the "little yellow room." Continue stripping...furniture and the banister, that is. Get ready for the trip to Calgary. And continuing the ongoing struggle to finish my resume and to apply for jobs.

Fun.