Columbus Day

This is the first time I am getting Columbus Day off. I guess it’s not a major holiday here since my nephew who is in second grade had class today. Other than Columbus discovering America, I’m not really sure what else we’re supposed to be celebrating. The post office and banks are closed. But pretty much everything else is open. Not that I’m complaining, after all, a day off is a day off …

I was all set to spend a day of leisure just reading “The Man Who Ate Everything” by Jeffrey Steingarten (who is pretty hilarious!) and gossip magazines from back home, lying in front of the tv, and catching up on emails and blogging. Aaah, bliss! Sometimes it’s great having the house all to yourself. You can eat whenever and whatever you want – chocolate cookies at 9:00 am in bed! You don’t have to get out of your pajamas and you don’t have to worry about brushing your teeth. Even the weather was cooperating. It was dark and gloomy and almost cold. Perfect for me! I started my day with a cup of steaming Tim Horton’s hot cocoa and while watching Still Standing reruns on Lifetime. Now that’s what I call a day off!

My hubby left for work at 8:40 am. Today is his first day. Actually, I’m getting ahead of news I have not had a chance to share. My hubby resigned from his former job at the anime company two weeks ago and is starting a new job at a computer company today. It’s major news and I can’t believe I have not posted about it. But lately, there are not enough hours in the day and so I’ve sort of put it off. Anyway, the new company is offering him better pay and better benefits … but the real clincher is the fact that they are located 15 minutes away from our place. Now, in LA, to find work 15 minutes away from where you live is almost unheard of … the fact that both of us work 15 minutes away is a downright miracle!

As I was saying, Jojo left at 8:40 am but less than two hours later is back home. He needed to take a drug test at a local clinic before starting work and the results won’t be in till tomorrow. So technically he did not have Columbus Day off, but he did get the day off from work.

So much for my day of just lazing around. Now don’t get me wrong. I love spending time with my hubby and he can be just as big a couch potato as I can be. But since we both had the day off, we figured today was probably a great day to get all our chores done. The ones that we didn’t have enough time over the weekend to do! We had a quick lunch at Pollo Loco and spent the afternoon going to the dry cleaners, had my pants altered at my favorite seamstress (Mrs. Chong is a genius!), bought a vacuum cleaner on sale at Kohls, and went shopping at Del Amo for a dress for my SIL’s upcoming wedding. It was a frustrating afternoon since a teal-colored evening dress in my size and in the style I like is not easy to find. After that, we went over to my other SIL’s place to pick her and my father in law up for an appointment with a family-friend. We ended up staying over for dinner. Afterwards we played around with my nieces and nephew who were as rambunctious as ever! :)

It’s almost 10:00 pm and we just got home. I’ve finished making lunch for tomorrow and my hubby is ironing his shirt for work. In about an hour we’re going to have to get ready for bed. Strange how my day of leisure turned into another jam-packed day like all the rest!

P.S. Yesterday we belatedly celebrated the Mooncake Festival with our annual dice game here at home. My BIL, Lee, won the grand prize ( a $50.00 Target gift card). We had about seven or eight rounds of rolling the 3 pairs of dice to win prizes. And we had a lot of really nice prizes (crystal chess set, roadside assistance kit, camping chairs, sports tumbler, Bath and Bodyworks spa set, swiss army knife, television remote caddy, crystal candy dish, picture frames, and lots more) - but all I won was a Nestle crunch bar. I'm not normally superstitious but I hope my lack of luck playing dice does not translate to my being unlucky in life :)