Friday, January 24, 2020

Wrapping Up The Week

Hello!

It's Friday and that is a wonderful bit of news.  This was a short week for me with Monday as a holiday and then being off to take Fletch in for his cataract surgery.  But short weeks always feel busy and those days at work seem to be more full of "stuff."

Thank you all for the well wishes for Fletch.  This was his second cataract surgery (he had his right eye done a year ago).  The surgery went well (though it took his eye longer than normal to dilate, so even though his surgery was scheduled first, the doctor took another patient ahead of him).  Even with that little delay, we were at a diner for breakfast by 9:30 a.m.!  His eye was a bit uncomfortable that day (he said it felt like he had a cardboard splinter in his eye), but Advil seemed to do the trick as well as the two kinds of drops he has to use 4 times a day.

That evening we went over to Mailing's parents house to celebrate the Chinese New Year.  The New Year (Lunar New Year) is actually Saturday, but Mailing's Dad was leaving for Japan yesterday, so we celebrated early.  Her parents had already made ALL the dumplings by the time we arrived, so no dumpling making this year.  The dumplings were much prettier too compared to what we make - lol.  There were more side dishes, but here's a shot of the table with the dumplings on it:


They were so delicious - as were all the other dishes (steamed pork, fermented cabbage, broccoli, kimchi).  The "creatures" at the end of the table are rats!  That's because the New Year will be the Year of the Rat (just for the record, I am a Snake [not pleased with that] [my element is water] and Fletch is a Pig [his element is fire].

Mailing had made a delicious cake for dessert.  Made with sticky rice and both black and white sesame seeds.  DELICIOUS!!!


Before dinner, Zhongren (Mailing's Dad) showed us a house he had recently made:


Isn't that so cool?  He got the idea after visiting Morris Arboretum in Philadelphia.  The roof is made from grasses in their yard.  The doors in front have rice paper in them and they slide back and forth.  It reminds me of the Japanese Garden in Fairmount Park that we visited.  Here's a shot looking inside:


The bundle inside is actually rice and the red figure is a Rice God.  It is very, very cool.  He is such a creative person.

A fun evening for sure.

Yesterday morning I took Fletch to the eye doctor for his post surgery appointment.  All is well and the doctor is pleased.  He does not need to go back until February 4th (and will be able to drive himself at that point).  So, I ended up getting into work late yesterday and was slammed for the balance of the day.  Lots of financial reports, etc.  This morning I just have one financial conference call at 10 and the balance of my day looks good:)

I did manage to finish Fever on Wednesday and enjoyed it.  The end of the book sort of petered out for me, but overall I did enjoy it.  And, I've started Disappearing Earth which is good so far (I've only read maybe 25 pages or so).  There was knitting accomplished too:


I'm enjoying using the variegated yarn for the cuff and foot for a change.  This is sort of a dark picture, but you get the idea.  (The embroidered pillow on the chair is one my Mom made years and years ago.)

I'm looking forward to the weekend.  It is supposed to rain (and rain hard) on Saturday, but I have plans to meet up with Dee and I know we'll have a great time in spite of the weather.  Whatever your are up to, I hope it's a good weekend for you.

18 comments:

  1. glad his eye is good to go. Weird that it would not dilate... I remember your last year celebration with Mailing's family (or at least I think I remember something!). How nice to have your family close by like that - I'm envious :)

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  2. I'm glad to hear that Fletch's surgery went well, and I always like hearing about your dinners with Mailing and her parents. (I would be thrilled if either of my boys was involved with a girl from such an interesting and creative family!) Your socks are looking good and I hope you and Dee have fun (you always do!)

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  3. Glad to hear that Fletch's surgery went well.

    Happy New Year to you and Mailing's family. Jongren's house is very cool.

    See you tomorrow come RAIN or come shine. LOL

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  4. I love how that sock is working up!! Happy Weekend, Vera!

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  5. That sounds like a fun evening! I'm an Earth Sheep (or goat depending on which zodiac you look at.) Dave is lucky, he's a Fire Dragon... it doesn't get cooler than that!
    Your sock is just flying! I'm hoping to finish Dave's Valentine pair this weekend, but we'll have to see.

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  6. I am happy that Fletch did well with his surgery! Yay!

    And, what fun for your Chinese New Year Celebration! My mouth is watering with all those delicious sounding (and looking!!) foods!

    Have a great weekend!

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  7. I hope to attempt a dumpling and have the ingredients ready. You are so lucky to have such wonderful relationships with your extended family. Good news for hubby!

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  8. Happy to hear Fletch's surgery went well no that you had a delightful New Year celebration. I'm a Rabbit - I should do more research on that. Enjoy your visit with Dee.

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  9. I'm so glad that Fletch's surgery was uneventfuly, (except the delay with dialation). It makes such a huge difference in life when you can see well.
    Your evening with Mailing's parents looks like a lot of fun. I love dumplings but don't think I've ever had homemade ones. I'll bet they're even better! The little house is wonderful. We used to see things like that in Japan a lot. So much patience and talent to make.
    I think I'm a Monkey but don't know my element.
    Have fun with Dee, I know you will. I'm jealous, I could use a day out knitting.
    Blessings,
    Betsy

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  10. Happy Chinese New Year! I am glad that Fletch's eye surgery went well. The little house is so cute, very creative. Enjoy your day, wishing you a happy weekend..

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  11. Hooray for Fletch's surgery. The Chinese New Year celebration and menu sound great; the little house: delightful!
    Enjoy the weekend and meetup with Dee.
    Cheers~

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  12. Im so glad your husband's eye surgery went well. Zach is so aware of Chinese new year because his students are Chinese. SO he is on vacation for a bit! Is Dee not posting as much or am I looking at the wrong blog of hers?

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  13. I'm glad to hear Fletch's surgery was a success and he didn't have super bad pain. You're lucky to have such interesting and generous in-laws. I have not had such good luck in that department. Have fun on your weekend. ((hugs)), Teresa :-)

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  14. My DIL is from China and she and Son just filled our freezer with dumplings. As soon as I get home from my NC trip this weekend I am going to steam up a feast. I can't wait.

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  15. Happy Lunar New Year!!! What a delightful way to celebrate -- and that little house Mailing's father made. How wonderful! So glad Fletch's surgery went so well. :-) (I loved Disappearing Earth.)

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  16. I'm glad you had a great new year celebration!
    The socks are pretty like that!

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  17. What a delightful New Year celebration and so glad all is well with Fletch's eye. Good vision is so important. My mother also embroidered pillows with crewel threads. I am glad you mentioned who made the pillow because I was going to ask. :-) Hope next week is a little less eventful for you.

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  18. More dumplings! Yum! DH is a pig too. :D So Fletch and my DH might be the same age! I'm a cow. :D It's nice to hear about the cataract surgery. I have that in my future. So far, mine aren't too big, but I think they are growing all the time. Sigh. So I need all the encouragement I can get about it not being a terrible thing. Hope work slows down a bit for you!

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