Peg’s Journal

“Every year on the fifteenth day of the eighth month of the lunar calendar, when the moon is at its maximum brightness for the entire year, the Chinese celebrate ‘zhong qui jie’. Children are told the story of the moon fairy living in a crystal palace, who comes out to dance on the moon’s shadowed surface. The legend surrounding the “lady living in the moon” dates back to ancient times, to a day when ten suns appeared at once in the sky. The Emperor ordered a famous archer to shoot down the nine extra suns. Once the task was accomplished, Goddess of Western Heaven rewarded the archer with a pill that would make him immortal. However, his wife found the pill, took it, and was banished to the moon as a result. Legend says that her beauty is greatest on the day of the Moon festival.”

Tonight we celebrated this day with family and relatives over a grand feast that my dad had prepared wholeheartedly. Dinner was yummy!
More importantly, it was a time to get together with our loved ones. After our meal, we had tea, mooncakes, and gazed at the bright moon. Boy, it’s starting to get chilly!

I relish the moon cakes with the salted egg yolk in the center. Not many have them though. *phooey!* Anyhow, I wrapped up the evening with the kiddies, nieces, and cousins in front of the telly.

Saturday~

The kiddies and I spent the day with Wil. We had lunch at Erik’s Delicafe (my all time fave), at the Gilroy Outlets before shopping to our wallets’ discontent. hehehe

Now that I’m fitting into sizes more familiar to me, I splurged on a black skirt at BR and a denim motorcycle jacket at CalvinKlein. I also picked up a gift and some undergarments.
After our spending-spree, we headed home to relax. Everyone (excluding me) got in a nice nap after a day in the hot sun.

We enjoyed a quiet dinner at Pasta Pomodoro with Dad, and spent the rest of the evening watching “Cold Mountain” on DVD. Such a good movie.

It was a wonderment being able to spend an entire day with my sister. Wil is usually so busy…and even though I see her often throughout the week, the quality of time spent is different. Our talks, our laughs, our buffoonery, our sentiments…all brings me great merriment and hilarity. And for a selfish split-second, I wished we were little again….when we shared a bedroom and all we had was time together. *SIGH*

We spent a relaxing day at home….not doing anything in particular…just hung out with the kiddies, Marisa, my cousins, and my dad.

My mom and Sis have been in Taiwan for over a week now (attending a Taiwanese World Chamber conference). So tonight I took my mom’s place and accompanied my dad to his friend’s son’s wedding. It was a beautiful reception at The Mayflower in Milpitas.

To my delight, my darling Bett was also there (she’s a friend of the groom). Unfortunately, she was seated all the way across the room. Nevertheless, I had a good time sitting with my dad and my parents’ friends. It gave me an opportunity to get to know my dad better. It especially made me feel very honored to see how respected he is among his peers.

Since my mom left on her trip, I’ve been spending a lot of time with my dad. He’s a very quiet person and mostly expresses his affections through actions rather than words. We are a close loving family, but sometimes I wonder if my dad really knows me.
Of his three daughters, I resemble him the most, but I feel the least connected with him. That was not always the case….but I could tell you that things changed dramatically during my tumultuous years post high school.
Though that is all water under the bridge, I really long to take advantage of this time to build a stronger bond with him than before. And to really know him as well. Because he truly is an amazing man!

Hoped you had a great weekend!

This week has been quite eventful thus far. With the exception of today, the kiddies and I have been meeting friends for lunch every day this week:
Monday – we hung out with my best guy-friend, John.
Tuesday – we had lunch and Starbucks with Rich and Millie.
Wednesday – we met up with Amy and Ceech (and his lil’ one).

It was fun…but very tiring. Taking the lil’ ones out by myself is always a daunting task. What’s even more challenging is getting us out of the house on time. But I realize that the more I do it, the easier it gets.

Today I embraced the freedom of not feeling rushed to get myself and the kids ready early and run about. In fact, I stayed home all day in my pjs…up until I had to get ready for dinner. hehehe

Tonight I got repose from the kiddies (thanks to my cousins and my dad), and enjoyed a relaxing dinner with my girlfriends.
We overindulged ourselves at Sushi Sam’s in San Mateo. It never ceases to amaze me how much food my friends and I can put away. HAHA!

Bett and our sushi order!

It was sooooo nice spending an evening engaged in conversations without the constant interruptions of my chatty little Ashlyn. It was nice being able to leisurely eat instead of my usual juggling act (getting in quick bites while feeding Summer and Ashlyn simultaneously). I treasured it so much that I started feeling pretty guilty afterward. hehehe
After dinner, we went for a short stroll, stopped into Walgreen’s, and had dessert at an asian cafe on 3rd Avenue. The fresh fruit sagos were so refreshing and yummy! *Mmmmm!*

By the time I came home, both kiddies were tucked into bed and sleeping sweetly.
*SIGH* An absolutley perfect evening.

(3 months into challenge)

WEIGHT LOSS SINCE PREVIOUS UPDATE: 2 pounds
TOTAL WEIGHT LOST: 37 pounds
CURRENT WEAKNESSES: Starbucks’ Caramel Macchiato and french fries with ranch.

I’ve started taking a 2-hour dance class once a week. It totally helps. If not for weight loss, it helps reduce stress, builds energy and stamina, and gets me out of the house to interact socially with new people….plus, it’s fun!

I also have a waist now, and am beginning to fit into my old pre-pregnancy clothes. Horray for that!

But I noticed that even though I watch what I eat and have been exercising and staying active, my weight loss has slowed down tremendously now. I fear the last 13 pounds will be the toughest to shed. Wish me luck.