We stopped by Vacaville and had yummy thin-crust pizza.

While we were waiting for it to arrive, I was admiring the pretty tile on the wall.

I wonder if the restaurant people wondered why I was taking picture of the pizza and tile.

We walked around and found another bead store!

Then it was time to be reunited happily with our kids. It was great to see them!

We started out by cleaning the kitchen.

Then we rearranged the living room. It looks a lot bigger now.

I’m sure our kids are glad to have us home.

We decided to be low key today. We didn’t really go out except I discovered a place with caramel apples, so we went out to get some.

Then we just relaxed… part of the time in the lobby as they cleaned our room. Nice lobby!

We went to Sonoma for dinner at El Dorado Kitchen. They brought a surprise cute appetizer!

I totally loved the beef carpaccio. It was sooooooo good.

The tuna tartare had amazing presentation. I was trying to figure out how they got the fried wonton strips to stand up. There were no hidden supports. They used the bowl of the plate to support the strips.

We split the entree, which was scallops with asparagus, crunchy prosciutto and raisin caper sauce. It was like a work of art!

Here’s the side view. So nice to look at I wasn’t sure if I wanted to eat it! (In case you are questioning the portion size of the dish, they split it for us.)

Albert absolutely loved the French Press, a marvel of design and engineering. He said, “Look at the perfect coefficient of friction as you push it in!”

Yes, my husband thinks and talks like an engineer.

I, on the other hand, though I thought the French press was a super cool design, was more interested in getting an attractive picture of it. The first one had a cluttered background, so Albert suggested using his napkin as the backdrop. Much better!

I also had to take a picture of him holding it because it was so cute and little!

Hmm… this blog has three pictures of a French press. I guess this is what happens when an engineer and designer get married.

They put a candle on our dessert, but it was a molten lava cake, so the candle started tipping precariously. The server sang happy birthday to me super quick before the candle fell completely over.

Afterwards Albert and I went back and watched Food Network and Discovery Channel. This is what geeks do when on vacation.

It was a wonderfully relaxing day. So thankful for this vacation. Tomorrow we head back!

We were incredibly blessed to be gifted with a weekend away at a really nice hotel in the all-time vacation destination… drum roll… Petaluma!

You may think we joke, but actually we have loved this vacation!

(They tried to get us a weekend in Napa but the hotel was booked there.)

First of all, we feel so greatly thankful for such a generous gift. It turns out I was a member at this chain (I forgot) and we get a bunch of free benefits too! The hotel is super nice and quiet.

I was organized and brought some baskets to hold a knitting project, and other baskets to hold various odds and ends. I am glad I got these baskets from IKEA because they zip up flat and I can toss them into my suitcase. And they weigh practically nothing!

(I am using like the world’s largest knitting needle to create what is called broomstick lace crochet. This is my first broomstick lace project.)

This is why this has been an ideal vacation for us — we discovered all these cool places in Petaluma that encompass things that we like to do!

Like:

1. There is a sticker factory 4 minutes’ drive from our hotel! I use stickers all the time now in my journaling so I am always on the lookout for nice (and cheap) stickers. I have found stickers to be a good way to keep myself regular in journaling!

There were discount stickers! Like 12 cents a sheet or even if I wanted to splurge — gasp — 50 cents a sheet. Wow!

(Albert read a book on his phone while I was browsing. Stickers are not his thing. But he is a very supportive husband!)

2. Albert and I like to eat yummy food.

We wandered around downtown Petaluma and found a super yummy cafe, very quaint inside.

They had a killer almond croissant, freshly warmed in the oven!

Albert ordered the crab chowder, with big chunks of crabmeat in it (that’s a piece right there — the one that looks dark).

3. We like to go to Starbucks. There was one 3 doors down and we had to use the bathroom.

4. Albert likes bikes. We stopped by a bike store and Albert drooled over the bikes. Being an engineer, he has an appreciation for well-made bikes!

5. We found a bead store!

Although Albert is an engineer, he has an artistic eye and enjoyed looking at all the cool and diverse beads too.

Being a big spender, I bought a whopping 12 beads, each of which cost anywhere from 15 to 52 cents.

6. Albert and I love to read. Before we got married, our dates were going to the library and the bookstore. We found a large bookstore with the entire lower floor all used books — a rarity in this age of closing bookstores! It was very nice browsing.

7. Then we found a yarn store!

For some odd reason, the yarn store also had live chicks peeping in the window. I thought it was interesting that so many of them chose to sit on that wooden box.

Albert and I had a good time looking through all the cool yarns. I think about 80% of the store was yarns I have never seen before — not yarns carried by the online yarn places I usually frequent!

I really liked all the Japanese yarns there. I think this was the first time I have ever seen so many Japanese yarns in one place.

Afterwards, we went to Michaels for Albert to get some cheap yarn to practice knitting on.

Albert: Coming to Michaels after being in that yarn store is like… is like…

Angela: It’s like using Times New Roman.

We both thought that was a good description.

8. Albert and I like to watch movies. We spent $1.20 on a video from Redbox yesterday (Hugo) and watched it. I didn’t like it very much. I read the book but didn’t remember 95% of it. So it was like watching a new movie.

We also got a free one month trial of Amazon, which lets you watch streaming movies for free! But we were so busy exploring downtown, we haven’t taken advantage of it.

It is pretty amazing that Petaluma has just about all the types of shops we would go to on a vacation. The only thing I have to do now is find a place that has a good caramel apple place. That’s another thing we do on vacation.

For dinner, we drove up to Sonoma and ate at a Restaurant called The Girl and the Fig. I liked the cool bread basket.

Albert got the mushroom/prosciutto soup. I totally loved the salad (menu called it “sweet gem salad: green garlic goddess dressing, duck fat croutons, cracked black pepper, shaved pepato cheese).

We shared a scallops dish with yummy sauce (seared bay scallops, carrot puree, hazelnuts, saba).

We also shared the dessert, a caramel chocolate tart with caramel ice cream.

It was totally delicious. Good thing we rarely eat out at home — this stuff is totally unhealthy compared to what we eat at home.

Speaking of home, I was totally impressed that the kids cooked up their own dinner tonight!

Wow!

I also thought it was funny that Megan doesn’t like tomatoes so I noticed that they made some bruschetta above that is tomato-less.

Besides all the fun above, Albert and I have also had time to talk, read, knit/crochet, blog, walk, Skype with the kids, and journal, reflect, and pray.

It’s been a wonderful time with my husband!

He had a Host a Murder dinner. A total of eight people dressed up in costume and played a character. One person was the murderer and we had to figure out who it was.

Everyone really got into it. I totally loved the costumes!

The theme was about Mardi Gras (thus the masks in the picture). There was a varied and questionable cast of characters:

• I was supposed to be a French maid. My excuse was I lived in America and therefore had no French accent. (I couldn’t do a French accent to save my life!)
• Albert was a lawyer who was best friends with the deceased.
• Brent Meyer was a chef who was an aspiring TV star.
• Carrie Meyer was a former barmaid from Las Vegas and the deceased’s wife.
• Karen was a goth novelist.
• Glen was a banjo musician.
• Jill Cosgrave was the daughter of the deceased, a beauty queen.
• Theron Cosgrave was a “swamp boy,” madly in love with Jill.

We had a total blast. I won’t give away who the murderer is in case anyone who reads this blog plays the game.

I think I spent more of the night laughing than anything else. Carrie and Albert had me in stitches. I was laughing so hard I was crying!

His birthday was actually earlier, but our extended family came over to our house for dinner and Corrie brought ice cream and sherbet to celebrate.

Afterwards, Albert showed them the scooter that I use to scoot to work.

Matthew totally loved the scooter. He just stood on it, beaming in delight. (Love his rubber boots!)

Then Stephen wanted to get in on the fun too. Steve had his work cut out for him, pushing the boys around. The little boys sure had a good time, though!

Our family tradition is that the birthday person gets to pick where to go for dinner. I picked Mikuni. This year my mom and sister and family were able to join us.

Stephen ate quietly while Matthew dipped his potstickers into ketchup. He’s a big ketchup fan. I also thought it was because he is truly Asian-American.

Matthew also enjoyed playing with Corrie’s iPhone. He was so cute, laughing at what he saw!

Although I didn’t win the birthday game, the lady gave us a gift anyway. Albert got a headband and did his imitation of a stern master. Given the magazine article the other day, I think that he will put this headband to good use in his class.

No parties this year…later this month Albert and I are going to go away to celebrate. I’m all into having a quiet birthday these days.

• Take book and go to sofa.
• Lie down.
• Get thirsty. Realize forgot water bottle.
• Get back up and go get water bottle.
• Go back to lie down on sofa.
• Phone rings.
• Go to office to get phone.
• Lie back down.
• Read book.
• Want to write a note.
• Realize forgot pen and paper.
• Too lazy. Forget about getting up.
• Later regret I didn’t write the note down.
• Feel grumpy that I keep forgetting stuff.

You would think that after almost a year of doing this, I would learn!

Finally, this weekend, I put together my “relaxation basket.”

I took all the things I typically forget and threw them all in one basket.

My basket has:

• A book on world history I am reading
• My iPad (I am reading a book on that too.)
• A basket for my crochet stuff, including a little plastic case I got last week to hold my stitch markers, crochet hook, and instructions.
• Water bottle
• Moleskine notebook for taking notes (I carry this everywhere), with pen
• My phone

Yesterday I found these cute little fabric baskets at IKEA. They have larger ones and smaller ones, and the smaller ones were 3 baskets for $4.99! The fit perfectly into the larger basket. What is even funnier is that they match my book and the plastic case I had! (Albert asked, “Does this mean that if you read a new book, you will have to change all your baskets to match?”)

Here are two of the three smaller baskets. They fold up and have a zipper on the bottom. I even like the pattern. (I usually don’t like IKEA patterns, but I like these!) They have little loops that so you can hang them from a nail. My water bottle fits perfectly into the little basket.

Ironically, just when I got this basket together, now my health is getting better and I hope that I won’t have to rest so much. But I’m not too regretful about that!

I do like this relaxation basket, though, and now I never forget stuff!

Angela: Let’s watch a movie. We are all off (on vacation) tomorrow. It feels like a movie night.

Albert: Great! Let’s check out Netflix. (We got a free one-month subscription.) Let’s see. Comedy Action and Adventure. Spy Action and Adventure. Martial Arts Action and Adventure. Hong Kong Action and Adventure.

Angela: I sense a recurring theme here.

Albert: I’m just naming the categories. (gasps) Kagamusha! That’s the best movie ever! Classic Japanese movie.

Angela: Does it have a happy ending?

Albert: No. (gasps) Ran! Another classic Japanese movie!

Angela: Does it have a happy ending?

Daniel: I sense a recurring theme here.

Albert: Romantic comedy. Maybe we should watch a romantic comedy movie.

Daniel: (deadpan voice) I want to watch all the romance movies. I’m totally into romance.

Albert: (continuing to look at categories) Horror.

Angela: Ewww. (We never watch horror movies.)

Daniel: I know. Let’s watch a Romantic Horror movie. It’s everything our family loves. We love romance and we love horror. What could possibly go wrong?

Timmy was looking on the computer for a while and then explained to Albert, “I’m trying to figure out how to get the PS3 controller to sync.”

Albert said, “Just drop it in water and it will sink.”

Timmy looked at Albert for a moment and then ran off. He had heard the wrong thing, and he said to the boys, “Just plug in the wire and it will sync.”

The funny thing was — it worked!

Albert has the knack for fixing things — even secondhand through someone who misheard his joke!

Guess who was on the front cover.

Albert is famous!

William Jessup University (where Albert works) renamed/redesigned their magazine, and Albert was selected to be featured in it.

So far all the pictures I have seen of professors in their magazine have them looking very dignified and professional.

But Albert — well, let me say they captured his personality. (Part of the reason I love this guy!)

Albert even dressed up for his photo shoot. When he arrived, they handed him an Angry Birds t-shirt, put football paint on him, and turned on a big fan. (Albert uses stuffed Angry Birds in one of his physics experiments. He really enjoys keeping the kids engaged in class.)

To his dismay, they also decided to show quite a portfolio of how the photo shoot went.

Albert is walking around now, going, “The things I do for my university…”

Well, I am very proud of him. He keeps his students very engaged in class and at times they will even ask him to do something again so they can video him and put it on Facebook. There’s a reason they asked him to do this kind of thing — I’m sure very few professors could pull this off!

Albert, on the other hand, is a bit mortified at his new-found fame.

• One of the people in my office got the magazine and showed it to everyone in the office.
• A member of the congregation wrote Albert a note saying how much they enjoyed the magazine.
• Another member of the congregation said she got two copies in the mail so she put one in the church library for everyone to see.
• And one of friends from our old church in Fremont said someone brought it into the church office there and showed it to everyone!

Here’s a PDF of the article if you’d like to see it. (The magazine was so big it barely fit on our scanner!)