Bernie’s Blog

Today was fun. We drove to the city in the afternoon. First stop – Ocean Beach. I know it can be windy during certain months, but I wasn’t expecting the strong winds that day. Heck I was even in T-shirt and Shorts! I’d prepared a towel, and an extra change of clothes for Rebecca, expecting her to play in the sand, and waddle in the water. We did neither of that. The winds were so strong, and it was really chilly. D and I were just shivering. Anyway we managed to take a few pics. It was Rebecca’s first visit to the beach, and she was just overwhelmed by the “blueness” of it all. Hopefully when the weather warms we can take her to Santa Cruz or Monterey where the beaches are warmer.

We then went to Chinatown to get groceries for the week. For dinner we went to Todai where D’s Mom enjoyed a free meal because it was her birthday. Rebecca was so mesmerized by the decor of the place, she was laughing and pointing to all the cute characters hanging on the walls. So funny. See more pics here.

I was taking the dogs out for their walk this evening, and suddenly a great big shadow hovered over us. I turned to the direction it was heading, and I saw this big crane-like bird land on the grass just in front of the children’s playground. From my memory of pictures I figured it was the Blue Heron, and now after looking up on it, it turned out to be the Great Blue Heron. We were pretty close to it, but I didn’t have my camera with me, so I went back, took my camera, and zoomed in on this guy, which explains the grainy picture, it was taken from across the street. Maybe this big guy is lost, but maybe he’s just doing a stop over from Shoreline, I’m really glad I got to “meet” him.

Wow, almost the end of the week already! I didn’t do as much skating as I wanted to this week, because of my eye (which was attacked by Rebecca, see previous post), I was putting on the ointment and couldn’t see very well. I also got a call from my friend who told me she had hurt herself while skating. Turned out, she wasn’t wearing any knee pads, tripped on a rock, and fell hard on her left knee (ouch!) Well, other than a nasty scar she is going to be ok. She then told me the first thing she’s going to do once her knee heals is to get a pair of knee pads. Good!

Work was a little busy this week, and I didn’t have time to read up on Rails as I had wanted to. On Monday we went to visit a new office space that we might be moving into next month. We currently share our space with another company, and it will be good to finally have a place of our own. There’s even a place for a lounge area, so we can play video games during our breaks. How cool is that?

I’ve been spending too much time on Twitter. I guess part of the reason why I keep updating is the fun aspect of it, and another is probably my being nosy, and always reading what other people are up to and how they are spending their day. I also signed up for a Tumblr blog account to record interesting videos, links or photos that I see on the web.

Rebecca’s walking skills is improving everyday, and I can feel that she doesn’t really need to hold my hands anymore, but she still does. I don’t know about other babies, but I get the sense that she’s always cautious when trying out new things, yet she’s also challenging herself to do something different. Ok, for example she would hold on to a piece of furniture and stand up with two hands holding on, then she would let one go, see if she can still balance, and then put the hand back. She LOVES swinging doors, and I know its very dangerous, that’s why I always supervise when she does this – push the door open, then crawl to the other side and push the door the other way. I’ve witnessed her do it for 15 minutes straight, non-stop. Amusing huh?

Last night a friend showed me a really nice site that sells cupcakes. Today we ordered a dozen, to be picked up tomorrow. Apparently this place has been referred to by the folks at Yahoo!. I will try it and let you know if they are really good. After watching that episode of “The New Adventures of Old Christine” where they were in line for cupcakes, I have this craving to get cupcakes. Talk about subtle advertising.

On Saturday we went to Saratoga for a visit to Hakone Gardens. Funny thing is, I never knew this beautiful park existed until that day. Did you know that it was one of the locations where Memoirs of a Geisha was filmed?

The event was organized by D’s co-worker, and we met with the other members of the group at the park entrance around 12 noon. First item on the agenda was a pot luck picnic – the group had about 20 people and we had quite a spread – sushi, salad, teriyaki chicken, chicken strips, dessert … everybody had their fill. We mingled, we talked, but most of it was about work because pretty much everyone was from the same company.

Rebecca had a blast at the gardens. She got to be part of a Tea Ceremony, see tall bamboos, beautiful flowers, do some hiking, and meet Dad’s friends. The weather was absolutely beautiful!

For more pictures CLICK HERE.

The good thing about having an impromptu day off is getting to play, watch tv, and taking pictures and clips of my Little Princess. I also get to admire the Japanese Maple in my backyard.

A funny thing happened to me last evening. I was doing stuff on my lappy and noticed Rebecca was having that “pooping” face. Just to be sure I would usually sniff her diaper (ok TMI I know …). I guess my eye was in the wrong place at the wrong time, and just as I was lowering my face she swung her arm up and the next thing I knew I was feeling a sharp pain in my left eye. It just started tearing uncontrollably. I thought the pain would go away after a few minutes, but it didn’t. I had trouble keeping my eye open. D wanted me to go see a doctor, but I told him it should be ok by morning.

Wrong. This morning when I woke up, the eye was swollen and the insides red. The pain was still there, and tears as well. I could bearly keep my eye open. Ok I give in, and made an appointment with an optometrist. D drove me to the Doc’s, and after a closer inspection, she told me that yes there is a scratch on the surface of my eyeball. Great. So she sent me off with antibiotic ointment and I had to go back on Monday for a follow-up, just to make sure the scar heals properly. Thank God its the weekend!

So here I am, sitting around, with blurred vision caused by the cream, and still feeling a slight pain in my eye. My little girl is one strong lady. I know better than to mess with her now!

I was in my car, driving home from work, and stopped at a stoplight. In the corner of my eye I saw a maroon-colored roadster on the next lane. “Ahh the Lotus Elise.” I thought, but as I took a second look, I noticed the words “T E S L A”. OMG its the electric roadster! Well it figures – their office is located in San Carlos, CA. And I think they already sold their first phase of production cars. Luckily I had my camera ready and managed to take a pic. I was going to follow that car, but, alas, I was too slow.

Rebecca, my 14 month old, has an obsession for bananas. Yes, the minute she sees one she wants to eat it! “NA NA, NA NA” she says, and cries if we don’t give it to her. Just the other evening while we were shopping for groceries, I made a horrible mistake by pushing her to the area where the bananas were, I said “Look, what’s that?”, and the next second there she was, armed stretched out, and insisting I get it for her. Ok ok, not wanting to create a scene I took two and let her hold it. Her face broke into a smile immediately. Wait, that’s not the end of the story. A few minutes later, after holding on to the bananas like her life depended on it, she began to realize that no one’s going to peel it for her. And what does she do? She tries to take a bite with the skin on! OMG, I immediately took the bananas away from her, another bad idea – she began to cry, this time really, really loud. Argh. Back into her hands. I thought maybe giving her something else would solve it, but no, all she wanted was the bananas. In the end, we decided to tag team – Doug took it from her, let her cry for a minute or two while I tried to get her attention on something else. Luckily, that worked.

So now whenever we go to the Supermarket, we would refer to banana as “B”.

Dogs these days have it good, too good. We care for them, feed them, take them for walks, keep up with their checkups, booster shots, give up our couch … the list goes on. I came to that realization when I saw Charlotte and Cayenne sprawl lazily in my backyard, soaking up the sun’s rays, doing absolutely nothing. I thought they had passed out, but they were just having a sun bath. Oh how we love them so.

On another note, since the weather’s getting warmer, I’ve decided to move Clover back into his “Summer Home”, which is his original cage in the backyard. I spent Sunday morning hosing down his cage and scrubbing off the dirt. He can now chirp with all the wild birdies!

Those ugly “sticks” in my backyard is turning into nice plants again. I can’t believe my Hydrangea bush came back to life, and my Japanese Maple tree is flowering. The Birch tree has leaves again too! I will be taking more pictures to track their progress.

Dear Lord,
I pray for:
Wisdom, To understand a man.
Love, To forgive him and;
Patience, For his moods.
Because, Lord, if I pray for strength
I’ll just beat him to death.

Thanks to SweetPea of Maya’s Mom for sharing this.

Rebecca’s new mode of transportation:

Step by Step – Rebecca’s still learning how to walk:

I’m a big fan of Brandi Carlile – even pre-ordered her new album “The Story” which comes out April 3rd. Just today I found out that her single is SOTW (Single of the Week) on the iTunes Store. If you get the chance, please download it and give it a listen. Her voice is awesome.

Here’s the direct link to the iTunes Store.

Check out her podcasts while you are there as well:
Brandi Carlile EPK Audio Podcast
Brandi Carlile Podcasts

I watched two DVD movies this weekend – The Da Vinci Code, and Man of the Year. I actually quite liked the Da Vinci Code, you must see it for what it’s worth, and not have any expectations whatsoever. The movie in general is pretty boring though, its a bit too long, but I love stories, and it was interesting to hear how Robert Langdon explain the historical events in the show, and even his friend’s explanation of the Priory of Sion. The ancient buildings in Europe are so beautiful too.

I didn’t get to finish Man of the Year because we saw it during dinner, and after that Rebecca needed to get to bed, and I was so sleepy I dozed off. I’ll watch it later tonight.

On Sunday too, we went to Seal Point Park. I love this park, too bad its quite a drive to get there. Rebecca sat on Daddy’s shoulders! For more pics, click here.

I would never have known of this park in San Mateo had it not been a comment made on my Yelp review of the Foster City Dog Park. This park is beautiful! It’s pretty new, and the dog park area is HUGE, especially the big dog area, its probably like an acre wide, seriously! Anyway here are some pics of the park if you are not convinced. Yesterday we brought Charlotte and Cayenne to the park, and they got their first taste of life in the “big dog” area. Apart from the incessant barking by Cayenne, I think they did pretty well. Charlotte was, as usual, a cool gal and went around marking patches of grass around the area, and Cayenne just barked, chased some dog, and ran back to hide in between my legs. Lil’ Chicken! Here’s a map of the place if you are interested in going.
Here’s a short video clip too!

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