A "Green" Marathon

 I always enjoy having people over because it forces me to clean the house.  This morning, Trung took the girls to soccer practice, so that I could concentrate.  I tidied up the place, got some laundry going, and put the corned beef cooking in the crock pot.  Around 2 PM, we walked over to Ocean Ave to cheer on Snow, Elizabeth, and Linda as they ran the final stretch of the LA Marathon.  Around 5:30, Weiru and family & Jessica and family came over for dinner and plenty of alcoholic drinks.  Too bad the main guest Snow couldn't make it because Linda had to go to the hospital ffom malnutrition.  Running a marathon really isn't as easy as it looks...hoping she gets better soon!

 Elizabeth and Snow running towards the finish line

 Just this last stretch left to go!

Enjoying a celebratory Irish dinner complete with corned beef, Irish soda bread, and Irish creme ice cream

Lalaine's Baby Shower

 Lalaine, who's son Pierre goes to school with Sophie, is expecting her third child, a little boy at the end of April.  Someone how I was put in charge of her baby shower, probably because she knows that I'm responsible and get the job done.  With Lydia working the last two days, however, I wasn't able to think about the shower, much less prepare for it.  So this morning, I managed to buy a cake, put together party favors (thanks to my family), and make a diaper cake.  Lalaine picked me up and we gathered with six others for lunch at El Cholo, a local Mexican restaurant, and enjoyed margaritas and good food.  Lalaine had a good time and to be honest, that's all that really matters.  I always seem to complain about the small things, but knowing how appreciative people are afterwards, I feel silly having complained in the first place!

 Most of us were Washington West moms and the rest were Lalaine's co-workers

 

My usual diaper cake gift, since almost all the baby showers I attend now are for the second or third baby

Now we're talking

A little over five months ago, I signed Lydia and Sophie up with Kids Management to do some extras work.  Since then, the girls have each gotten roles on network television shows, but not until today did I really feel that we were taking a step forward.  Lydia was picture-picked for this particular job, but was to work for two days, which she had never done before.  Even though it was just for a pilot, I felt like there was a real opportunity for her, so I took the job.

Yesterday was the first day out in Burbank at Warner Brothers Studios and to my horror, the Infiniti wouldn't start after I moved Lydia's car seat over, so I to move everything back into the minivan.  We arrived on set about 20 minutes late, which was a first, but thankfully it wasn't a huge deal.  The kids polished off four hours of school the first day and when we finally got on set around 3, we discovered that Ken Jeong, the crazy Asian guy from Hangover, was going to be Lydia's dad and
"Susan", a recurring character, was Lydia's mom.  So, this might mean that if the show gets picked up, they might ask Lydia back again!

Lydia really connected with her "grandfather" Dan Lauria, the dad from The Wonder Years, and did well on set.  Plus, she got along well the Gavin, the little boy who played her older brother.  Today, we were told that there would be a live audience, so Lydia got to "perform" in front of them and do the curtain call at the end.  We didn't get home close to 7 both days, but it was well worth it.  Wow, what a cool Hollywood experience!  Oh, and Sullivan and Son is a great comedy with Asian humor, check it out on TBS!

 Warner Brother studios

 Very cool grill-in-a-car

 On set in Stage 10

 Passing the time away

 Lydia's pretend family.  Yes, that's crazy man Ken Jeong from Hangover (Lydia's dad) and Wonder Year's dad Dan Lauria (Lydia's granddad).

I saw Vince Vaughn on set and ran into him again outside.  When I asked him for a picture, he said "if I start, it won't stop, but she's young..." meaning that he only took the picture because Lydia was with me.  I'm fine with that.  :P  Apparently, he's the executive producer of the show.

Swimming past the chill

A cool 65 degrees, hopefully the rash guard keeps Sophie a little warmer

You can see the heat from the 85 degree pool.  It's nice and warm in the water, but the moment the kids step out, it's freezing!

The girls play when Daddy is away

  Trung went on another ski trip with the guys, this time to Lake Tahoe, so it was just me and the girls again for the weekend.  Saturday, we spent most of the time at home; the girls got to play their electronic devices since it was the weekend.  We also made blueberry muffins and walked to the library to get some new CDs, movies, and books.  Sunday, we woke up at a decent hour, especially for Daylight Savings, and got our free Krispy Kreme doughnuts before heading out to Orange County to meet up with Mike and his family.  39 hours without Trung actually goes by faster than I thought!  :)

 

 Alexis joined us at the table for the first time for dim sum at Happy Harbor

  Mike had a lot of estrogen around the house for the day

Reading to Alexis from the baby books that I used to read to the girls

Trying out the recommended duck salad from Brodard...yum!

I guess the girls don't mind if I start eating.  :P

Sophie's swim class

Sophie wouldn't swim because she said that her legs were tired, probably because her little body was worn out from battling a stomach flu the last two days.  At least her basic skills are still pretty good.

I think the kicks would be more effective "under" the water

Floating sea star

Willy Wonka

 After eight weeks of theater class, Lydia had her "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" performance today.  She spoke one line (which of course, I missed recording) and had a few scenes where she stood around, but I was still very proud.  Lydia came a long way from her second class...I poked my head into the auditorium to see how the class was going that day only to find my sobbing daughter.  The teacher said that she was probably shy, but who really knows what was going through her head.  After weeks of practicing her line and visits to Menchies for frozen yogurt after class, Lydia was brave enough to go on stage and perform.  Even though I mainly enrolled her in the class to help with her extras work, the class also helped her self-confidence, which is a definite bonus!

 

Hiding out backstage

Lydia's big "oompa loopma" dance; she told me later that it was the wrong one.  :P

The end

On set in Pasadena

Lydia hasn't worked for awhile, so when I got the text Friday for a job opening, I almost would have taken it regardless of the show.  Well, not really, but it certainly was a bonus that it was a show that I regularly watched...Revenge.  With Trung in Florida and a 8 AM call time, I had to ask three people to watch Sophie throughout the day.  I dropped her off at 6:50 AM at Weiru's place, who then dropped her off at 8:45 at Dominic's place.  After school, Lalaine took her to a park and got home right around the same time that I showed up at 5:15.  It was a very long day with several takes, but the kids got to play on a playscape while filming and the craft services (food) was certainly one of the better ones.  I even got to see my buddy Madeline Stowe, who I would like to think recognized me; she smiled in my direction at one point in time.  Maybe I'll see her again at coffee and talk to her then...then again, maybe not.   

 

 Lydia's samba girl Halloween costume

Emily getting all made up

The kids played on a portable playground; Emily is in the hoodie on the far right

Prayers for Ba

Trung left this afternoon for Tampa to see his father, who just got out of the hospital yesterday after suffering a minor heart attack a few days ago.  After performing a scope, the doctor discovered that Ba has two fully blocked arteries and one that is 50% blocked.  Open heart surgery was an option that both he and Ma (my mother-in-law) chose to forgo as he is 79 and the risk is high for his age.  Ba is now back in the comforts of his own home and in the loving care of his wife, taking it one day at a time.  Please keep Trung and his family in your thoughts and prayers as they go through this difficult time.

Even smiling when he's all hooked up; we love this dear man!

The first time I met Ba back on Christmas Day 2003.

Sundaes on Friday

I purchased a Ben and Jerry's livingsocial voucher of 4 sundaes for $12 a few months back and decided to invite Sophie's classmates after school to help redeem them.  13 of her 19 classmates showed up and it was pure chaos.  It didn't help that the noise just bounced off the parlor walls either.  Still, it was a great way to start off the weekend, especially since it was the warmest day in weeks!(hitting almost 80 degrees)

 

Ice cream = big smiles