Court, coding, coffee, and crashing

Lydia had her first 8 AM basketball game of the season; those mornings are particularly brutal since we all have to wake up earlier than on a regular school day.  At least a win softened the early wake up call and we had an entire day ahead of us.

Lydia's first basket ever and Trung caught it one tape!

Lydia is my trooper...she gets right back up when she falls down

After the game, we dropped the girls off at their coding class and we went to Funnel Mill to enjoy some high end caffeine.  Trung tried the Turkish coffee and surprisingly enjoyed it.

Dark coffee for my "dark" hubby  :P

Later in the afternoon, we walked over to the school only to be kicked out minutes later.  Apparently, the gates are locked at sunset, which is really early these days.  Sophie still got some practice riding her bike on the sidewalk next to the school though...she's almost got it!

Liver biopsy

For the past few years, I have not had a menstrual cycle.  The first month it happened, I though I was pregnant because I have always been like clockwork.  After a pregnancy test confirmed that I was not pregnant (whew!), my doctor and I set out to find out why my period had stopped.  For the longest time, we thought maybe it was the change in birth control pills, so I switched to a no iron pill.  Then my blood work in November of 2013 showed that I had elevated ferritin levels; my body was absorbing too much iron and not having a period probably didn't help.  Looking back at past lab results, I noticed that my ferritin levels were slowly increasing, but now it had gotten substantially high.

So, I was referred to a hematologist (blood doctor), who honestly didn't provide any answers.   I got an ultrasound of my liver to see if it was swollen/enlarged, which it wasn't and after several blood donations, my ferritin levels were within a reasonable range.  The hematologist said I didn't need to see him again, so I thought I was in the clear.  Well, some of my blood lab results from my 2014 annual exam were still elevated, so my doctor referred me to a gastroenterologist to make sure once and for all that everything was okay.  Apparently not, because than he said that my elevated gamma globulin levels may indicate that I have autoimmune hepatitis...my immune system is attacking my liver.  So, I had a liver biopsy done today and now I wait for 3-5 business days for the gastroenterologist to give me the final verdict.

Prepped for my liver biopsy; my nurses were all super cool.  I had a brief scare when the doctor doing the biopsy thought I was pregnant; apparently someone had indicated incorrectly in my file.

Channeling ET

Hospital lunch...I was very disappointed that my apple wasn't pudding or jello.

I was much happier with my Vietnamese gourmet dinner

Ice cream for my top three supporters

The patch protecting the hole where the needle was stuck through to get a hairline, 1.5" piece of my liver.  Not everyone gets to see a piece of their liver, so that was pretty cool.  

Majestic sunset

We saw the most beautiful sunset tonight; this picture doesn't do it justice.

Dine LA

Tonight I went with a few of my lady friends to Coast Restaurant for Dine LA.  We enjoyed some wonderful seafood and conversations.  We haven't gone out in over a month, so we had much to talk about.  Some of us hadn't even see each other since the new year!  So much fun!

 Seared tuna with asparagus

 Marscapone Cheesecake

The ladies

The Dream win

Lydia's team, Dream, played a team with much smaller girls, so naturally, they won!  Most of the players on her team scored at least one, and though Lydia has six attempts, she is still trying to get that elusive first basket.

Lydia's final attempt was her best one

The last day

Today was the last day for the ice rink to be open.  Even though we had just gone on Tuesday, I still had a pair of tickets that I had won through Facebook from the city.  The girls said that they would be okay skating by themselves (I didn't want to purchase a full price ticket for myself), so I took them after my pilates class.

Starting off with worried looks on their faces

The kiddie rink was very wet, but the girls managed to skate a few rounds

Actor Chad Lowe was also there with his mom and daughter

Way to go, Lydia...and she's smiling too!

Looks like Sophie is the skier and Lydia is the skater

Sophie was content staying in the kiddie rink

Day trip to Santa Barbara

Trung's mom's youngest brother lives in Santa Barbara, so we took a trip up there so she could stay with him and his family for a few days.  We hadn't been in over three years (the last time we visited them), so it was nice to see their new place and to catch up.

Lounging around at the lake in the community where Trung's uncle lives

An afternoon pick me up

Awesome mosaic seats we walked by 

The beautiful Santa Barbara County Office with a lovely garden out back

Kid's World at Alameda Park

The girls always go for the tire swing

Pelican encounter at Stearn's Wharf

Check out the surprise near the end of the clip

The friendly seal who kept asking for food

Ma goes to the Getty

Lydia is still point guard, for now

Lydia almost makes her first shot ever

After Lydia's basketball game, the kids went to coding class, and then we had lunch back at home.  Afterwards, we took Ma to the Getty Center to show her the best views of LA.

Figuring out where to go next

Sophie and the beautiful architecture of the Getty

Lydia probably could have kept going, but I was getting a little nervous

Sophie too busy looking at the map to watch the sun set

And another day has gone

Getting ICE-ed

I bought a Groupon back in November for the Santa Monica ice rink and never got a chance to use it for one of my girls' night outs, so I went with the family instead.  The girls finished all their homework before we met Trung for a quick Happy Hour dinner at Benihana and then we all spent a good hour ice skating.  Thank goodness for late start Wednesdays or else we wouldn't be able to stay out a little late during school nights.

 Waiting for their hot chocolates to cool down

 You'd think we only came for the hot chocolates

Sisterly stabilization

Sophie's classmate and her sister happened to be at the rink too

Basketball season has begun

Every winter session, Lydia switches from swimming to basketball.  She is now one of the more experienced players on the team as a third grader, having played last year, but now really has to step up her game.  Lydia's team this year is coached by Rondell again, which is great because Lydia loves him.  The "Dream" team suffered a great loss this first game only scoring three points, but they seemed to have a good time.  Here's to a fun season! 

Quick talk about good sportsmanship before the game

Waiting for the game to start

Lydia is the starting point guard this year

A Magical Birthday

Lydia's classmate Violeta turned 9 today and she celebrated at the local magic show place Magicopolis.  Trung and I had been there twice before and knew that it would be the same show, so he stayed home to get some work done, while I went to socialize.  The show was still entertaining enough and it was fun watching everyone else become amazed since I knew some of the tricks already.

 Pre-show for the birthday group

 Violeta and the magician

A pretty good chocolate cake considering that it was provided by the venue

Everyone enjoyed the show

New Year's Brunch

Though I've had as little as one person come out and as many as ten; I have still been e-mailing mommies about monthly brunches/lunches and bi-weekly night's out.  Hopefully, I can get a good group to come out regularly, but even if not, it more for me than anything.  :P

The view from our table at the Georgian Hotel for lunch

Rachel's Roosevelt Birthday party

Sophie attended her first birthday party of the year at school for her friend Rachel.  It was nice seeing several mutual friends before school started the next day.

Sophie and her stache

On the road again

After a wonderful breakfast of pancakes and quiche, we fueled up and were on our way back home.  We took a couple stops for lunch and gas, and made it back in Santa Monica by dinnertime.  This road trip didn't seem quiet as bad as the one from Texas and we are considering doing it again during Spring Break to Mammoth.  We'll see.  :P

 My excellent lunch of prime rib sandwich and grilled artichoke

 Watching the sun set as Trung drives the final leg of our road trip

Discovered during dinner at Hana Sushi that wasabi looks an awful lot like green tea ice cream

Casa Michelotti

We had a wonderful time these last few days in a large cabin in Homewood.  It was perfectly situated in West Tahoe, so we had the option to go to either north or south for skiing.  It was a bit crazy at times, but the kids had a blast and that's why we do it.  Friendships were strengthen and many electronics were played; and at the end of the day, we all left with smiles on our faces.  Until next time!

Inside the cabin

Outside...the driveway was on an incline, which made it hard for my brother's rental sudan, but we managed.

Selfie in front of the sign

After lunch in Tahoe City, I went back to fetch my nephew's snow boots back at the house while Trung and the girls went sledding for a bit.  Both our saucer-type sleds broke, but a nice lady offered her sled so the kids had something to play with.

We met back up with Jimmy's family at an old family friend's house near Sacramento.  We have known Jerry for over thirty years and he and his wife kindly opened up their home to us for the night.

Figuring out how to cut this enormous tiramasu cake

Skiing into the new year

Today everyone went to Squaw Valley, though half the group went to the big mountain while some stayed in the kiddie ski area.  We opted to teach the kids one last time even though I had already pre-purchased my lift ticket.  By lunchtime, Sophie was going up the magic carpet and skiing down by herself with ease, and Lydia became more comfortable skiing by herself.  I am not 100% sure, but I think Lydia's accident 1.5 years ago when she slipped and got stitches on her head makes her more cautious and unwilling to be adventurous.

Sophie the skier

Even though Lydia will tell you she doesn't like skiing, I think she secretly does

At least Sophie will admit it

Sophie and I went on the kiddie ski lift three times.  The first and third times went well...we skied together arm in arm, but the second time we were going a little too fast, so I had to let Sophie go mid-hill.  Fortunately, Trung was standing there and got to her quickly and she wasn't even crying (thank goodness).

All smiles after a long day on the slopes

Magda, my new skiing buddy, though I didn't find out until this trip that she used to be a skiing instructor!