Xiaoniu 小妞

I think I’m getting a bit lazy nowadays. We’ve been spending more time just resting lately rather than doing much around the house. I think we’re in the bottom part of the cycle. This weekend started to bring us up and out of it.

We really did not do much this passed weekend, but I’m wiped out regardless. Amy and James stayed over on Friday night, which made for a great time, but can make for a tiring experience. One kid is more than enough. Two kids makes for a loud and toy filled night. The kids love each other and love to play together, but it can really test your patience. Picture two kids running around the house pushing loud “lawnmower” toys and squealing with joy. All the while three adults trying to keep their sanity and talk on the phone.

James I broke out the Lego set that mom and dad gave me for Christmas. He’s finally old enough to handle being involved with putting the toy together. He was patient enough to “help” me put it together by trying to find pieces. Unfortunately, he is way too young to handle actually putting the pieces together or grasp the concept of making something so complex out of such small pieces. We had a good time though and he got a chance to play with the car we build afterward.

Saturday we brought my truck to Toyota to take care of a check engine light. I found out that the light was on because of a bad o2 sensor, which I was going to replace myself. A trip to the part counter educated me a bit. My truck has multiple o2 sensors and I had to know which one to replace. In the end I gave up and had Toyota fix it. Good thing I did. They were able to pinpoint which sensor was bad and ended up cutting it out because it was stuck. I wasn’t up to either task.

Since my a/c is not what used to be we had them charge that up as well. Last week the a/c had to be on high and the truck to be moving just to cool things off a bit. Now I can have it on low and feel chilly. Very nice!

After the truck deal I got a chance to clean out the gutters. The trees we still have still put just enough crap into the gutters to clog them up. With all the rain I can see that my work has done wonders in fixing most of the problems, but there is still one downspout that is clogged. That’s the one with the chipmunks. I’ll probably have to take the whole damn thing off the house to clean it out. Damn rodents.

Sunday we just took it easy. We stopped by an estate sale and actually picked up a couple things. We got a second dehumidifier for a great price (same one we already have), Sue got an Enigma CD and Emelia got some bath toys. Later on Sue cooked up some of our veggies from the garden and Emelia and I went out for a good, long walk and also made a trip to the park. Not much else puts a smile onto her face as quickly as a swing in the park. She can swing for a good half hour without getting bored.

That’s about it though. The only other exciting thing that has happened is that Emelia was sick last week and ended up at the doctors for a diagnosis. I got sick myself on Saturday, but recovered quickly. Now, James and Mike are sick and staying home to be taken care of by mommy. Today is out work picnic, but with the constant rain I think I’ll pass. Standing in the rain, eating hamburgers with my coworkers just doesn’t sound like fun. Without the rain, I would go, but not today.

With the garden growing like crazy we’ve been able to eat a number of fresh veggies. The Asian eggplants are doing very well despite their shaky start at life in our yard. We’ve been able to harvest enough for two dishes so far and there are far more that are going to be ready for eating by the end of the week. Tomatoes are coming in, but slowly. Sue usually ends up eating them like candy, but we were able to cook up two big ones for my favorite dish: tomatoes and eggs.

Last week we picked most of the bok choy and ended up with three shopping bags stuffed with veggies. Not bad for $2 worth of seeds. They usually go for about $2 a pound at the market. Sue stir fried them up with some enoki mushrooms and gluten. Yummy! She also cooked up some baby romaine lettuce that her dad grew in his garden. (Yes, I said lettuce. Romaine is a great lettuce to stir fry. It’s kind of like spinach. It does release a lot of water when cooking though.)

The other plants are growing well and bearing fruits, but none of them are ready for harvesting. We’ll have a couple peppers and plenty of cukes and zucchinis soon enough though. Basil on the other hand is growing like a weed. Our fifty cent investment for nearly dead basil plants has turned into six vivacious plants.

Last night Sue picked a colander of leaves and whipped up a batch of pesto sauce. Mixed up with some farfalle pasta it made for a nice summer time meal. It was our first experience making and eating pesto so we were not sure what to expect. The earthy and pungent smell of basil and garlic is great. I ate two bowls of pasta myself. I would have brought some to work for lunch if it were not so strong smelling.

On a different note my neighbor has dug a grave size hole in their yard near my garden. They bought some large and tall arborvitae trees to plant. I can’t wait until they plant the damn things. I’m tired of looking at them. Seeing as they bought the trees four days ago and only have managed to dig a hole it should be a week or two before the things are actually planted.

This is a great video of the 2009 Corvette ZR1 on the Nürburgring. You can only imagine what it was like to be driving the car (620HP!) at those speeds on that track. The last stretch is just icing on the cake: He tops out at 178MPH on that last straightaway. (h/t Jalopnik)

After years of dealing with a rotting driveway that was only one step above a gravel driveway we have a new one. It took a group of 8 guys two days to tear out the old one and lay down this new driveway.

We’re very satisfied with the new driveway. It comes right up to the garage so no more trouble wheeling the grill in/out of the garage and the end of the driveway no longer becomes a lake when it rains. Water still pools (nothing short of re-paving the road could fix that, but the pool is much smaller and kept more on the road than the driveway.

The only complaint is that the driveway had to be put down at an angle, just like the old one. This is something we learned when the guy that took the old one out started to measure. Sure enough the old driveway was crooked compared to the house. The new had to be installed the same way because it was the concrete pad off our porch that made it all crooked.

The angle is very minor and unless you know its is there you wouldn’t see it. This guy’s trained eye didn’t see it until he measured. At least I know why we have a tendency to go to the edge of the grass when pulling out of the garage; we need to turn slightly to match the angle of the driveway.

Here is another shot of the driveway the morning of the laying down of the new asphalt. The driveway has a thick layer of stone and dust.

I may have pictures of the original driveway and any picture that I do have would not show the detail of the deterioration. Suffice it to say that the driveway was way overdue to be replaced. The original driveway wore out years ago. The previous owner paid to have a thin layer of topping put on top. Both layers were deteriorating and making a huge mess. Hopefully, we’ll get another 30 years out of this one.

Just like Jessie mentioned, this week is busy as ever. Last weekend I made my way out to Mass. to help mom and dad move into their new house. I feel like I wasn’t much help on Friday seeing as the gang got the truck loaded and started to unload by the time I was able to get to the house and, mom and I caught up while they finished the unloading.

On Saturday I was able to get to work. Mom, dad and I all got up early and go to work bringing furniture and boxes into their respectful places in the house. We loaded and unloaded the truck with the gang. Then I proceeded to setup dad’s stereo and TV stuff in the basement before making the trek back home to see my two favorite ladies.

I brought our camera to Mass. to take pics, but totally forgot to take any. They’ll have to wait until I get back out and take a few.

On another note our garden is doing very well. We’ve been able to eat some of the spoils this week. It isn’t much, but it is a nice start. We had a handful of cherry tomatoes come out and two Asian eggplants. The tomatoes were sucked down without wasting anytime and the eggplants are destined for a home cooked meal.

By the looks of the plants it looks like we are about to be hit with a big crop of tomatoes (beefsteak ones) and more eggplants. There are some peppers coming out too, but they grow slowly so maybe we’ll have one next week. The bok choy is growing like weeds. They should be ready to devour in no time and there absence will make room for some cool weather planting at the end of the summer. We’re already planning out what we’ll put down next.

As for the rest, the strawberries are growing like mad, but there haven’t been any more fruits. Next year should be good. The asparagus will be out next year too. The napa cabbage are growing great. There are six plants and they are growing at different rates so we’ll be able to finish off a couple heads before the others are ready for picking. I can’t wait. The si gua (loofa) is starting to come out, the zuccinni and cukes are growing well and starting to flower. The long beans are growing well too.

On a different and very sad note we found out last night that Lily’s cousin died in a car accident in New York a couple days ago. It’s an absolute shame. She was only 17 years old and had just graduated from high school. While a friend drove her home late at night a drunk 22 year old hit them with a truck. It’s a senseless accident that could have been avoided if the guy wasn’t driving drunk. An article in the Post has a picture of the guy. Very sad.

James did great making the big move into his own bed this week. He was ready and willing to move out of mom and dad’s bed and into his own. Of course his bed and room were designed just for him.

First up was a nice, new book shelve. It’s a bit taller than what we shopped for, but it is good enough quality to last him for years. It already has a lot (but, not all) of his books. He’s been playing with this for months and was the first start in making this room his.

About a month ago we went out shopping with Amy to find a decent bedroom set. We found a couple and then Amy and Mike figured out which they were willing to buy and ordered it. A month later it is a no-show. So, we picked up a mattress for James and Amy put it together on the floor. He loves it.

Having the mattress on the floor is actually a great transition step. It gets them used to the bed and you get peace of mind knowing that if they do roll off the 8 inch drop is not likely to break any bones.

Of course the bed has Thomas sheets, pillow cases and comforter. The boy is in love with Thomas. I can’t say that the engine doesn’t have appeal. Emelia likes Thomas too. Ever since we found the Thomas and Friends shows on TV we usually end up watching part of an episode every day while eating breakfast.

Last up was doing something with the windows. The blinds left by the original owner of the house and the curtains were just not cutting it. The room faces south and west, which means plenty of sun during the day and evening. And at night it gets the full brunt of a street light.

The cheap and broken plastic blinds have seen their last day. Amy ordered up a set of metal blinds just like the ones that she has in the rest of her house and like the ones in Emelia’s room. I installed them on Thursday night.

Out with the old:

In with the new:

The valences are from Pottery Barn Kids and have little sailboats on them. A nice boyish touch and easily changed once he out grows them.

Here is Emelia honking the horn on her “car”. Check out the squat. She has the “asian squat” down pat. It must be in the blood, because I don’t have chance of doing it myself.

A slightly older picture of the infamous garden. It’s growing so quickly that this week old picture doesn’t look the same as it does today. Most of the plants are bigger and fuller.