My Other Family
For the past month, we’ve been at work without our manager who has been on extended sick leave due to her battle with breast cancer. We all knew that she wasn’t feeling well but not exactly how badly. She had treatments last year too and came back just as strong and we were expecting the same this time around. Then on Monday morning, we were called in for an emergency meeting at lunch and were told that she had passed away on Sunday night. It was such a shock to all of us since she was the type of person who didn’t want to worry us with details and kept a lot from us on purpose. So the rest of the afternoon was spent grieving and coming to terms that our fearless leader wasn’t going to be returning to us after all. We were all in tears and most of us took the rest of the day “off” with a minimal workload and time to process. This is a photo of Sue having some “Janie Time” back in June when she was only 10 weeks old. Sue was a great person, awesome therapist, and I learned so much from her. *sigh* I’m going to miss her.
This evening, a bunch of us met up at our other manager’s house after work for a little “family time”. She’s been out due to hip surgery too so it’s as if all the birdies at work haven’t had their mamas around for almost a month. I took off work a little early in order to hurry home to pick up Kumquat and then headed back over the bridge to Alameda. I had thought about not bringing Kumquat but I’m so glad that I did. I think we all needed some “baby time” to lift our spirits. It was like she was a “therapy baby” for all the girls and made everyone smile. Steph brought her buffalo chicken dip and we ordered Indian food for dinner. We all sat around the table talking and laughing as we usually while reflecting on all the funny times we had with Sue. I think we’ll all heal in our own ways but this was a nice start. We just need to remember that we really are a family at work and that we’ll get each other through it in the end. I feel so lucky to be able to spend most of my waking days with such great people. Kumquat had a pretty good time tonight too. 🙂
It’s awesome having the ballpark so close to us sometimes. The 
Initially, we got some seats in right field but then it got cold so we went down to the field for some sun. I love it when I can just hang out on the awesome carpet grass.
Kumquat got to hang out with Jason and Jia and got to feel the grass on her hands and feet.
Some of the “planes” were pretty funny and some of them actually got some air. Can’t imagine how freezing cold that bay water must have been.
It’s so cool that Jason and Jia are here in California so we can actually celebrate birthdays together now. Happy Birthday, DiDi! Thanks for planning a fun night out, Jia! And thanks for babysitting, Masayas!
On Saturday morning, Teresa took BART into the city to have breakfast with me and Kumquat. We met up at the Ferry Plaza and had some breakfast sammiches and coffee out in the sunshine and then did a little shopping for some produce. 
Walking back to the house was also quite pleasant.
At noon-ish, I drove T back to Oakland and then I headed over to Lake Merritt for a stroller run around the lake with Ranee and Sophie. We signed up to run a 5K Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving morning so this was considered one of our training runs.
It was sunny and warm and running with a stroller is hard work! The rough terrain, hills, and dodging people also didn’t make it very easy but we finished 3 miles and got a post-run treat at the Farmer’s Market nearby.
On November 2, 2002, we tied the knot. That was ten years ago!! We’ve also been together for 17 years now. Sheesh…1995 was a long time ago.
To celebrate, we both took the day off work and Mirian came to watch Kumquat while we spent the day hanging out together. After I got a long-overdue haircut, we headed out to Hog Island Oyster Co. for one of our favorite meals. 
We ordered almost everything on the menu (again) and walked out of there stuffed and 
Next stop was Tiffany & Co. No, I didn’t get anything shiny. It’s our tradition to go there to get our rings cleaned and polished. It’s one of those courtesy things that we take full advantage of every year.
For dinner we went to Coi. It’s a Two-Michelin Star restaurant that we’ve had on our list for a while. Jia came over to babysit Kumquat and we had a long 3-hour-12-course meal with a shared wine pairing. All the dishes were good and some were really interesting in presentation and flavor.
The most beautiful plate was a beet rose on goat cheese and a bed of rose ice that was intricately assembled using very thinly sliced beet “petals”.
Jes’ favorite was the grilled abalone on nettle-dandelion salsa verde.
This was one of our three desserts: grapefruit with ginger tarragon meringue. There was also a little dot of essence (on the left) that we had to rub on our wrist to smell while we ate the dessert.
My favorite dessert was a really yummy frozen lime sorbet covered in a lime marshmallow. It was also toasted on top.
Meanwhile, Kumquat was home with Jia and they played, took a walk, and had her usual bedtime routine.
Happy 10th Anniversary, Jes! I love you and can’t wait to see what’s in store for us in the next 10 years.
Recent Comments