Cameron Make Honor Roll

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Originally uploaded by Ryan Yee.

This picture was taken of Cameron at his middle school's Honor Roll Ceremony. Both Cameron and Alexandra made the Honor Roll for the second straight quarter. We're very proud of both of them. See more pictures at www.YeePhotos.com.

Wow, we're having a college FLASHBACK!

After a lot of running around with the kids this President's Day, Maria and I dropped them off at home with Nanay, who is visiting for a few days, and took off to the newly opened Cham Am Thai Restaurant--just the two of us ;-)

Maria said she had to work on her lesson plans for homeschooling tonight. I suggested that we head to a relatively deserted Starbucks in town...she agreed. Now, she's sitting in a quiet back area in the coffee shop and writing up her lesson plans. I'm sitting next to her totally logged into the Internet and surfing and blogging away on a wireless connection. We're laughing because this SOOOOOOOOOOO reminds us of sitting up on the fifth floor of Moffitt Library on the campus of U.C. Berkeley studying way into the night sneaking sips of coffee.

We're definitely having a deja vu moment .

Our youngest one has already called Maria on her cellphone twice, but he's just letting us know that he's watching his Teen Titans DVD.

This Starbucks is almost completely deserted and stays open for another 90 minutes. The counterlady already offered me food samples on the house so that we'd try some of their products. Since we just ate about an hour ago, I'm not REALLY hungry, but I'm sure that'll change in 30 minutes or so ;-)

This is fun!

Valentine's Day at Menara Moroccan Restaurant

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Originally uploaded by Ryan Yee.

If you've never had Moroccan food, run (don't walk) to Menara Moroccan Restaurant in San Jose. It's been around for over 25 years or so. Maria and I went there on Valentine's Day (don't pass on the Menara "Magic" drinks...juice mixed with rum...delicious!!). We had a 7-course meal with chicken (that literally fell off the bone), lamb, meat/nut pastry, couscous, and a terrific dessert. VERY romantic, I might add ;-)

Go to www.YeePhotos.com to see more pictures.

We FINALLY got it -- the Wii is OURS!

Okay, I finally did it...I got my hands on that elusive Wii. But, OH, was it ever so challenging!

This morning, I woke up rather early, went to get coffee at Starbucks, picked up a Sunday newspaper, and drove back home to drop everything off with Maria. I decided I wanted to go to the flea market since there were no dark rainy clouds threatening to wash it out. Boy, was I wrong...I guess everyone endured the rainstorm last night and planned on not selling at the flea market today. I was the ONLY one there, no cars in the lot, no vendors, no nothing!

I decided to round up the family and go get dim sum...as I was changing and shaving my head, I happened to glance at the Sunday paper I bought earlier. On page 2 of Target advertisement, my eyes fell upon a simple ad that said, "Nintendo Wii on Sale Sunday; limit one per customer."

Oh hell! I've been up all this time and didn't know they were going on sale this morning...now it was 11:30 AM and the store's been open for sometime now. I rallied the boys into the car and literally FLEW to our local target (a good 15 minutes away). Ran into the store, hurried to electronics, browsed the glass case, and saw a big, empty shelf! Yikes!! I asked the salesman if he ran out of Wii's and he said, "Yeah, about an hour ago." Oh dammit!

But, being the nice guy that he was, he mentioned that the Lodi target still had seven units in stock. What? Really? Lodi? Where's that? He retrieved the address and phone number of the store for me and I called them to get directions. It was a good 30 miles or so away.

I called Maria on the cellphone and asked if she wouldn't mind if we went to Lodi...she signed, "Okay." The whole family got in the car and drove FAST to the Lodi store. Cameron and I ran in--I couldn't help but notice that a young guy standing near the door had already purchased two Wii's (I subtracted two in my head from the seven in stock). I hurried through the aisles and saw another guy with a Wii in hand (okay, minus one more from the stock). Got to Electronics...to my joy and happiness, I saw about six units on the shelf. Obviously, the original count was a little off.

Me to the salesman, "I'll take it!!!"

We celebrated my conquest by lunching at the local Lodi Chili's (lol).

And what did YOU do today? ;-)

Ryan & Maria Celebrate Chinese New Year

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Originally uploaded by Ryan Yee.

I'm getting VERY good at taking our picture with one hand. It's all in the centering of the camera's lens (hehehe). Here we are at the restaurant last night celebrating an early Chinese New Year with the whole family (father, siblings, and their families). Lots and lots of food! Afterwards, we stopped over at Fenton's Ice Creamery to top off the evening with what else...ICE CREAM!!! And of course, it was raining hard last night.

The Yee Grandkids Enjoy Early Chinese New Year

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Originally uploaded by Ryan Yee.

We all gathered for an early Chinese New Year dinner hosted by my Dad on Saturday, February 10th. The food was VERY filling. We took lots of pictures if you want to check them out at www.YeePhotos.com.

Picture: (from L to R) Brandon, Nicholas, Jason, Mitchell, Cameron, Deanna, & Alexandra.

The 13 Most Overlooked Tax Deductions : Yahoo! Finance

The 13 Most Overlooked Tax Deductions : Yahoo! Finance -- As Maria and I prepare our taxes, I happened to stumble onto this helpful article on the most overlooked tax deductions. Who knows? It may help you...thought I'd pass it forward.

Cosmic Bowling Night

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Originally uploaded by Ryan Yee.

Took the boys to late night Cosmic Bowling with strobelights, music videos, and blacklight bowling pins. We were there until well after midnight ;-) We all had a LOT of fun! They played five games over two hours (we could have stayed for three). Great deal at $15 a piece--we're already planning our next bowling night. It reminded me and Maria of going out late into the morning on the weekend with friends. Of course, that didn't include any 5-year-olds, but we're crazy that way!

Super Bowl on Yahoo! Food

Super Bowl on Yahoo! Food -- If you still haven't planned your Super Bowl menu for tomorrow's game, you may want to click on this link ;-)

Nicholas & Brandon

I like this picture of the two boys primarily because Brandon (on the right) didn't close his eyes to avoid the flash. This picture was taken on 02/01/07 and their Dad harassed them until they agreed to take about six pictures in a row (LOL). They're good sports. You can see more pictures at our family picture site, www.YeePhotos.com.

A house in turmoil...paint, paint, paint!

Quick update--our house is moving right along with all the stuff we're doing to it. Yesterday, the painters started painting Alexandra's room and Nicholas and Brandon's room. The kids are doing a room-swap. I'm sooooooooo glad we hired reasonably-priced painters to do the job with all the prepping and wallpaper-peeling that went on. They had to prime the walls first, too. Today, they're back and finishing up the two rooms, then moving onto the hallway and staircase. Then, on Monday, they'll paint our master bedroom--we picked "Zen" colors (smile). Should be a wonderful "retreat" when we're done. In a week, we move on to the total recarpeting of our second floor. Lastly, our new bedroom set is delivered. Maria and I have waited oh some 12 years to get all this done--we're quite excited on how this will all turn out. Have a wonderful weekend!

Magazine: McDonald's coffee beats Starbucks - Food Inc. - MSNBC.com

Magazine: McDonald's coffee beats Starbucks - Food Inc. - MSNBC.com -- WOW, now THIS was a surprise! My Dad and I often eat breakfast at McDonald's right before work and let me tell you...their coffee is quite good (I thought it was just me...hehehe).

Forget Yale -- Go State - washingtonpost.com

Forget Yale -- Go State - washingtonpost.com -- Being a father of four young children, this recent Washington Post story on clever ways in which those in the "middle class" plot a reasonably-priced college education for their children hit home big time. I definitely agree with the "first two years at a community college" idea.

A Disappointing Day...

Guess I'm feeling a little introspective today. Don't really want to say why, but it was a very disappointing day on a personal level. Just wanted to blog for a bit for distraction and relaxation more than anything. I came home early today and Maria and I went out to Chevy's with Nicky and Brandon. We used our Christmas gift card (thanks again, Stephanie) and enjoyed a nice Friday afternoon lunch, just the four of us. I played one of those games on the back of the paper table cloth with Brandon. He's really funny how he tries to just play "for the fun of it," but then turns quite strategic and competitive in order to win. He covered 15 squares to my 12, so it was really a wipeout (grin). Nicky's been under the weather, but he enjoyed the grilled chicken. As for Maria and me, we BOTH went for the Mandarin Blush flavored vodka drinks (hehehe...hey, I wasn't working ;-)!!!! We toasted with Brandon (and his water) and Nicky (with his chocolate shake) to "just being happy." Really in the end, that's all we can do sometimes. Take the many blessings you receive in life, pick yourself up, and start another day with a smile...disappointments fade in time.

Top 10 Chinese Holiday Calendar for the Year of the Pig (2007)

Chinese New Year may be China’s biggest excuse for a party, but it’s not the only one. There are many Chinese holidays throughout the year, and most have their own special celebration food. Because Chinese holidays are based on the lunar calendar, the date on the Gregorian calendar changes from one year to the next. Here is a Chinese holiday calendar with dates and information about the major festivals and significant days in 2007, the Year of the Pig (also called the Year of the Boar).