Hello all 4 of you (5 on a good day),
I’m doing my second blog of all time. Anyway, Michelle (will also be calling her Shelly from time to time) and I have had quite a busy last few weeks or as I have deemed it “2 weddings and a funeral”. First off we traveled to Poulsbo for Michelle’s cousins wedding. The wedding was great and they could not have asked for better weather. I’m sure Michelle will add some pics from the wedding because frankly I’m not very good at taking pictures and then remembering to upload them to the computer.
The following weekend, Michelle and I traveled down to CA on Friday night because my cousin, Courtney, was getting married down in Lodi, CA. Of the 4 grandchildren descending from the Gong side, Courtney was the first to get married. I will be the next one in July. Oldest and then youngest. Kev and Amanda will have to fight to see who is third. So like I said, we traveled down to good ‘ol California and had great weather. Courtney and her husband Scott were married at the Amorosa Inn and Gardens. (No, not the annoying woman from the first season of the Apprentice). It was really a great location and at night it reminded me of the title screen to Brothers and Sisters, the show after Desperate Housewives on ABC.
And the Amorosa Inn and Gardens:
(Thanks Lisa for this picture, I stole it from you)
After the wedding, the Sweeney men and Michelle enjoyed a few tacos and gorditas from Taco Bell, why? because we were craving the fourthmeal and it was right across the parking lot from our hotel. Luckily we didn’t have to walk through the drive thru like so many nights in college, we had my dad to drive us. Thanks Dad!! Finally at around midnight we went to bed. The next morning we woke up rather late (8 am) and slowly got up to go to Courtney’s brunch at 10 am. Those who needed it got some coffee *cough*Jess, Michelle, and Mom*cough* The Sweeney men don’t need no stinkin’ coffee. Back on track…..we got to my Auntie Robin’s house close to 10 and feasted on a delicous spread of croissants, muffins, cheese, deli meats, dishes containing eggs (can’t really remember the names), and my favorite, a hash brown casserole. I am weak when it comes to cheese and hash browns…let’s be honest, food in general. Unfortunately, we couldn’t stay too long as Michelle and I had to catch a plane ride back to the Northwest. We had enough time, however, to stop at my parents office and pick up some uber cool sunglasses for Shelly and Jess. And although I voted against it, we picked up some chow fun and squid with spicy salt from our favorite Chinese restaurant in Los Gatos. After taking my first bite of the spicy salt, I became hungry, and then somehow consumed half the chow fun when we got back to my house. I was “jazzed” as my mom always likes to say 
We left CA at around 7pm knowing that we were coming back 4 days later.
We left CA at around 7pm knowing that we were coming back 4 days later.**On a side note, my cousin Courtney and her husband Scott are embarking on a year long world trip (totally jealous). If you wish to read about their travels they are the first link above on the blogroll aptly named “Courtney and Scott”.**
Thursday, October 15th was nice on two levels. One, it was the end of tax season for all extended 1040’s and two, Shelly and I headed back to CA. However this trip was for my Paw-Paw’s (Grandmother on Mother’s side) funeral service. We left Seattle at 8pm Thursday and got to San Jose at 10pm where we were greeted by some more chow fun and squid with spicy salt…the stuff is addicting. We woke up Friday at 5:30 am and headed out the door at 6am…but not before Michelle stopped at Starbucks for a little pick me up 
The burial was at 10am and pretty much the same family who came to Courtney’s wedding, was also present 6 days later. I joked that I saw most of my family more in 1 week than the past 2 years. It was incredibly emotional and it really hit me hard being that Pawps was the closest grandparent that I had. She was truly loved and will be missed by all. Even if she was a stubborn son of a gun (I think I know where I get it). After the burial, we had a service at the funeral home where 3 people were to speak. My Uncle Tim (Pawp’s brother), Kevin (my brother), and Janis Valorie Gong-Sweeney (my mother). Kev’s speech was just amazing and I’m so proud to call him my brother. He did an excellent job and truly touched on all the brightest moments we had with Pawps. My mom also did an outstanding job and we were all shocked how together she was. I mean she didn’t even shed a tear during her whole speech. Public speaking is definitely not her #1 fear. An interesting note is that my mom did cry when Kev and I knocked over the Christmas tree 15 years ago….good times brother, good times. After the service, we did what we always do when the family gets together……eat, and boy did we eat.
The burial was at 10am and pretty much the same family who came to Courtney’s wedding, was also present 6 days later. I joked that I saw most of my family more in 1 week than the past 2 years. It was incredibly emotional and it really hit me hard being that Pawps was the closest grandparent that I had. She was truly loved and will be missed by all. Even if she was a stubborn son of a gun (I think I know where I get it). After the burial, we had a service at the funeral home where 3 people were to speak. My Uncle Tim (Pawp’s brother), Kevin (my brother), and Janis Valorie Gong-Sweeney (my mother). Kev’s speech was just amazing and I’m so proud to call him my brother. He did an excellent job and truly touched on all the brightest moments we had with Pawps. My mom also did an outstanding job and we were all shocked how together she was. I mean she didn’t even shed a tear during her whole speech. Public speaking is definitely not her #1 fear. An interesting note is that my mom did cry when Kev and I knocked over the Christmas tree 15 years ago….good times brother, good times. After the service, we did what we always do when the family gets together……eat, and boy did we eat.9 different Chinese dishes, yep, 9 different dishes were eaten following the service. My mom and Uncle Brad did an excellent job picking out the dishes. I definitely ate myself into a food coma. For those who don’t know me, I take the position that if it take 20 minutes for the stomach to tell the brain you are full…eat as much as you can in those 20 minutes. And I did just that. The only problem was, I had to drive home. We were tired from waking up early and unfortunately, that catches up with you. So we headed home at 3pm or so and only made it about an hour before I had to drink one of those Starbucks Double Shots. I don’t drink coffee, so those little things sure wake me up. Kev and Michelle were nice little co-pilots until they both fell asleep. Michelle amazes me because she can somehow crawl into the fetal position and sleep while only taking up one seat. Guys definitely can’t do that. We ended up going to bed late that night as we just caught up on some TV shows and talked with my parents.
Saturday, Michelle, Kevin, and I ran errands all over the Bay and finished the day eating at our favorite Pakistani/Indian restaurant, Shalimar or as Michelle calls it, Shalimaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaar!! We ordered double what we normally get and all I will say is….I paid for it. Moving onto Sunday….
Sunday, Michelle and I went to a Crate and Barrel Registry thingy ma bob. We registered for more stuff and got a free candy dish. Haha Michelle will be mad that this is all I am describing it as, but pretty much that was it. We left Sunday at 5pm for Seattle, ready to begin our week.
So here we are now. I’ve recapped the past few weeks, which gives me 3 more weeks to absorb and then blog about. The word counter as I type says I’ve typed 1130 words, wait no, 1134, 1135, okay I’ll stop now. I know this was long and I hope the 3 of you (I know I lost one by now) enjoyed my ramblings. Until next time….
S
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