Sunday, November 30, 2008

Gift Alert: Baking Pan @ Amazon

The silicone baking pan I put on my wish list is really cheap.
SRP is $15, but it's selling for $5.

Get it for me now!
In fact, you can get me two!

Hurry!

PS. I decided to stop gifting myself... I already bought 2 Bluray discs & 1 Wii game. I should at least leave kitchen supplies for my friends to buy.

Saturday, November 29, 2008

Searching for Samba de Amigo

Sat found out that Samba de Amigo was on sale for $20 at Game Stop.

So we headed over to the nearest Game Stop to go buy it... but we couldn't find the package on the shelf. And there was a long line in front of the cash register, so we went over to Kragen's to buy Sat's windshield wipers.

After getting the windshield wipers, we peeked in Game Stop... and the line was longer!

So we gave up, thinking we can just buy it online.
Although we'd have to find something that's $5.01 or more, so we can get free shipping. Or pay for the shipping.

But if I buy this, I'd have to take another thing off my wish list.
And I've already removed two things... this would be my third. But then again, I don't plan on buying Christmas gifts for people this year, since I'm going to be unemployed next year. But it's no good when I'm buying stuff myself. Maybe I can give up on Samba de Amigo... but I like it more than DDR or Guitar Hero/Freaks or even Para Para Paradise. The only thing that was better? The tambourine game.

Friday, November 28, 2008

Watched Sleeping Beauty on Bluray

Sat & I were bored today so we watched the bonus disc of Sleeping Beauty.
Note that we haven't watched the main disc yet at this time.

The bonus features included a lot of making-of footage, which makes you want to see the movie.

So after spending 2 hours going through every aspect of the bonus disc, we decided to pop in the main disc.

I don't remember the last time I saw Sleeping Beauty. Sat said she saw it when she was in the 4th grade. Either way, it's been like 20 years?

The movie is gorgeous, by the way.
Although I'm bothered that I keep noticing that the colors of the birds change. From yellow to green. And yellow to orange. I'm not bothered that the colors changed, but I'm bothered that I notice these changes. What am I, an animation otaku!?

And I was checking out how much movement there is... like I said... am I an animation otaku?

No no no.
I'd like to think it's just a side effect from my job.

Oh, starting w/ Sleeping Beauty, Disney Bluray discs have a feature called Disney BD Live. I guess it connects you to their online network & you can chat with friends as you watch the same movie. So if any of you signed up for the Disney BD Live, email me your handle. Ours is our cat name, of course.

There isn't much on the Disney BD Live yet. They give you new avatars when you go into the network through your Bluray player. So our current avatar is the dragon from Sleeping Beauty. I'm not sure how the Disney Movie Rewards points work... but if Ards isn't going to sign up, maybe we'll use her Enchanted points. Heh heh.

I guess I should open my copy of Ratatouille soon.
I don't think that one is a 2 disc set though.

Thursday, November 27, 2008

Duck on Turkey Day

The Yama family went to Duck House in MPK for Thanksgiving dinner.
It's our tradition to go to a Chinese restaurant every year for Thanksgiving & Christmas.

This was our first time at Duck House.
We got there early (4:30pm), and found out that the restaurant doesn't open til 5pm. So we went back into the car because it was freezing outside.

We ordered the following:
Peking duck (pre-ordered), winter melon soup, pork spare ribs & combination noodles.

The Peking duck came w/ these tortilla-like pancakes. Well, it came in a tortilla warmer container. Those plastic, flat containers that they have at nice Mexican restaurants.

Papi called it "gyoza skin"...

The Peking duck also came with green onions (usual) and cucumbers (!). It was the first time I had Peking duck w/ shredded cucumbers, and it was nice. Made it quite refreshing. I wish other places would serve cucumbers too.

The winter melon soup was quite good. It didn't have a lot of melon inside, but there was a lot of tiny pieces of shrimp & shiitake mushrooms, and it was like dropped-egg soup. But since they had made it gravy-like with cornstarch, I had to wait a long time before the soup cooled down.

Spare ribs was a bit salty. But they did cook it long enough that the meat just fell off the bones. Yum!

And the noodles were meh. It tasted good, but Papi & Sat complained that the noodles were too soft. I was also disappointed that the shrimp looked and felt (texture-wise) horrible. The meats were good, though.

Oh, oh, oh!
I forgot one last thing.

The waitresses were dressed up like maids! It's a maid Peking duck cafe! Hahaha...
I didn't have the nerve to take photos. Sorry Dee.

And there was a girl (customer) who looked like Panda. I don't think it was her, but it'd be funny if it was. Although we were sitting right by the front entrance & we were the third group who went into the restaurant... so she would have noticed us as she passed by... no?

Photos of the food?
It's on Flickr.

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Old Ladies Shouldn't Do Physical Work

My whole body hurts.

It's because I was boxing up accounting files to send to Japan. There's about 60 of them, and I boxed up 40.

Of course Dee & Dennis were helping (and they did more lifting than I did), but they're young and physically fit young men.

Me, on the other hand... I'm just an old lady.
My left shoulder popped by the end of the evening... and both of my arms feel stretched out. Like loose rubber bands.

And my shoulders & neck are sore. My back is sore. My legs are sore.

But I spent all day today cleaning up some more.
I'll be sore for the rest of turkey weekend. Joy.

Monday, November 24, 2008

Attack of the Mini Moths

For the last couple of weeks, we've had a ton of mini moths flying around outside our condo. And when we leave the front door open in the morning, they like to flutter into our unit.

They move slow, so Koge's been catching a good amount... but not if they fly up higher than she can jump. And she can't jump very high. Probably around 3 feet at most. Not an athletic cat...

But lately, the mini moths have been aggressive and fly into my face while I type away on my laptop.

Oh, they also like to fly into fire. Like while I cook. I actually saw one fly in & burn up in a little black ball.

PS. I had lots of turkey chili cans that are going to expire in December, so I had pasta w/ turkey chili & cheese on top.

I made enough for lunch today, but I forgot my lunch bag at home... so I had to eat frozen tamale. Of course I heated it up in a microwave.

PPS. BTW, Dave's back in town.

Sunday, November 23, 2008

Trip to Torrance w/ Sat & Dee

Sat, Dee & I headed to Torrance to go to Book Off.
I had more books to get rid of, and Sat really wanted to get rid of them before the game night... so we had Dee come over and put the books into his car on Friday.

We were all hungry before we left the house, so we decided to go eat first.
We tried going to okonomiyaki/monja place Tombow, but they were no longer there. So we ended up going to El Pollo Inka.

After getting plenty fat, we headed over to Book Off to drop off the load of books. 300 books turned into $95. Not so bad. They didn't take any of the VHS tapes & books that had "sample" stamped onto them. Darn.

We stopped by Target to pick up Koge's food & litter pellets.
And we got distracted by a lot of things... because it's Target.

I bought two rolls of the $1 Christmas wrapping paper.
Then I wanted to buy the Christmas themed Ziplock bags & Gladware, but all of the sizes were waaay too big (I don't have much use for a gallon-sized Ziplock bags!).

Then I found cute melanin bowls that had monsters on them. Gah, cute!
So I bought four of them. I wanted to buy the turquoise bowls w/ circular designs, but Sat didn't like them. I thought we should have some "adult" looking bowls in the house, but Dee pointed out that I was buying bowls w/ monsters on them...

And I bought a pile of chocolates for work, since I didn't want to go buy holiday gifts for the UPS guy, mail carrier guy, the water guy, etc. during the big holiday rush. I need to buy gifts for the staff too, but I'll be buying those online.

Oh, and we bought cat food too. But no litter pellets.

They also had Ratatouille & Sleeping Beauty on Bluray for $20 each, so we bought those.
Maybe I should have bought extra copies of those for Christmas gifts. Anyhoo, I have to update my Amazon Wish List to remove Ratatouille too.

Saturday, November 22, 2008

Game Night for Mike's B-day

We had a mini game night at the Yama sis house for Mike's birthday & since Dennis has been wanting to do a game night for some time now.

Ards was sick, so she couldn't make it anymore... so it ended up being an all-boys event. But geeky Sat & Ards decided to have Ards Skype in for the party.

Yes, Skype. Like this.

Photo: courtesy Sat

The boys played Zombie Fluxx card game in the beginning.
I was still playing my Facebook puzzle, so I didn't participate. Sat also didn't participate b/c she was busy setting up Skype w/ Ards & ordering pizza.

Then we moved onto Scattegories.
Everyone was busy coming up w/ alliteration to get double & triple points. I think we should limit the double/triple points to actual words & not phrases. Or they'll go on forever...

Then we played Imaginiff, a game Chris brought over.
We did a round w/ all the people in the group + Allen. And for the second round, we went w/ people who weren't there. I won't reveal what kinds of things we said.

And then we did a 6 player + moderator Mafia.

So in the end, we played 4 different games.
No TV. No video games. No singing.

Wow... we're like a family from the 50's.

Thursday, November 20, 2008

Lots of Ear Wax

I couldn't find my 耳カキ for a month, so I was only able to dag a little bit of ear wax w/ a Q-tip for the last couple of weeks.

But Ichigo found it under the sofa & I cleaned my ears.

A LOT of ear wax!

Grossness factor: ★★★★☆

But my ears feel sooooo good♪

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Really Needing Sleep

I was driving all day.

The worst part was coming back to WLA from Cypress in traffic (say 5:30pm)... and then going through traffic again from WLA to Redondo Beach (say 7:00pm).

My right thigh is really really sore from pushing the gas pedal & break pedal.

But I must say I love Garmin GPS!
It doesn't belong to me, but I'll have full use of it starting next year. And it's a smart little gadget. Although I don't think it has the traffic info... damn, I should have suggested the more expensive model. But it was very useful the last few days, and I'm amazed at how easy it is to use.

PS. It's been officially announced, so I can sorta talk about it now.
I'll be unemployed at the end of the year, then working freelance for 2-3 months while Prince & I do the final clean up (= closing accounts, getting the final financials prepped).

I won't be actively looking for a job until mid-February, but I feel very fortunate to have gotten a few offers already. Two full-time and two freelance agent work.

I have to make doctor appointments before the end of the year, so I can take care of things before I lose my health insurance. Or I could convince Vu to list me as a domestic partner, since he has nice health insurance. What? I'm 70% serious...

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Feet in Horrible Condition

I wore heels today.
Cuz I was visiting two companies for the first time.

The meetings were fine.
It's when I went to A Jungle, when my feet got blisters.

And it's been so dry, the heels of my feet are cracked.
Really really gross.

I need to wear those magical socks at night.

Monday, November 17, 2008

Bought Kung Fu Panda, Updated Wish List

I went to Best Buy today & saw that Kung Fu Panda on Bluray was on sale for $19.99.

But they didn't have a copy on the shelf, and one of the customer service managers (he wears a black polo shirt) made couple of the staff go restock the shelves. But I found a copy in a "random DVDs customers left behind" basket, and I pulled it out & bought it.

So I updated my Amazon Wish List for Christmas.
Kung Fu Panda Bluray removed.

I also sold my big salad spinner during my yard sale, so I need a small one. *hint hint*

Sunday, November 16, 2008

Night We All Craved Sushi

After the yard sale, I considered going to N Sushi for lunch... but since Ichigo wasn't going to be there until 4pm, I decided against it. Well, if Ichigo was there, she would pay...

But poor Dee had sushi in his head.

And when I got home, Sat wanted to eat sushi.
Probably because she was near N Sushi, but decided she was too hot & wanted to go home after helping out at the yard sale for 30 mins.

So we decided to go today.

Three of us, meeting there at 5:30pm.
We ate dynamite (mostly Dee), tempura, albacore salad, broiled squid legs, and random sushi. It came out to $48, and had Ichigo pay *laugh*

No photos, because it was our usual fare.

Saturday, November 15, 2008

Yard Sale Completed

Dee's mom let me have a yard sale at their house today.

So I had Dee take a lot of stuff from the office (small office supplies & small electrical appliances). And my car was filled with other junk from the office.

I headed over at 8am, so we can start setting up.

The first thing we did was make signs to post around the neighborhood.


It was fun writing the signs by hand... reminded me of high school when we used to make signs all year round using butcher paper & poster paint. Ahh, the good ol' days.

We made four signs, and posted them around the neighborhood where there's a lot of car traffic.

Dee insisted in posing w/ each poster that was posted.

Once we got back to the house, we started taking the boxes out of our cars. But as we were setting up, some people started to show up. I didn't have prices set for a lot of things yet, so I had them wait until I figured things out.

In the end, I decided to go with dirt cheap prices b/c I didn't want to lug all the stuff back home. And I guess the price point was good b/c only one person haggled with me. A middle-aged Korean guy who probably owns his own business, who wanted to buy the SRP $10 heavy-duty locks (we used them for storage) for 50 cents each instead of $1. I wouldn't go down on the price though.

I was (happily) surprised that people bought office supplies. I didn't think anyone would want staplers & scotch tape dispensers, but they bought them for a quarter each.

Sat & Dave showed up around 11am with the rest of the junk from our house. Mostly clothes & stuffed animals. Dave brought his old guitar hero game & guitar too. We argued about the price... Dave said $5, I said $20, Sat or Dee said $10. We settled for $10, though.

We cleaned up around 2pm, although we saw a few more cars pass by to see if we were still having the yard sale. We had three car-load of stuff, and was left w/ only one car-load (my tiny car). We got rid of a lot of junk!

Sat & Dennis were right about Dee's place being the best place for a yard sale. It's a nice neighborhood w/ households that would do yard sales... and there are plenty of scavengers who'll drive around looking for yard sales, knowing they'll find good stuff around there.

We'll probably have another yard sale in December. Although the first two weekends of my December is booked for me, so I'm only left w/ the 20th... that's cutting it close to Christmas. I wonder if having a yard sale on Sunday is okay too?

Anyhoo, we went to take down the signs. The one we posted on Larchmont & Beverly was already taken down... it was ripped in half too (and put in the trashcan next to the bus stop), so I'm thinking someone tore it off the tree. Maybe the business owner next to the tree? But it's Noah's Bagels...

Afterwards, we headed to the Koreantown Plaza to eat a late lunch.
Dee had spicy cold noodle


And I had a kimchee noodle flakes


Both were yummy!

So now I'm back at home, tending to my sun burnt face w/ aloe lotion.
I was staying up because Clam from HS was going to stop by to pick up a bag of anime junk, but she messaged to say she couldn't make it. So now I can go take my nap while I catch up on The Daily Show and The Colbert Report online.

Thursday, November 13, 2008

Forgetting to Eat Lunch

For the last two days, I've forgotten to eat lunch.
I've been busy at work, cleaning & getting ready for the yard sale this weekend (if all goes well).

After Krystal left around 6pm today (read my work blog on how she's doing), I got very dizzy... and realized I hadn't eaten since the yogurt drink I had at 11am.

So I'll rest a bit.
And then take care of Bung, since he's picking up walkie talkies here.

Sunday, November 9, 2008

Shumai Night at Dee's

Today's lunch.


Ichigo brought over a bunch of raw tuna from N Sushi.
She fed quite a bit to Koge, but there was a lot left... so she marinated the tuna in ginger & soy sauce.

I pan fried 3 pieces for lunch, but could only eat one.
I had thought Sat would eat it while she went to the J house, but she said she doesn't like tuna and didn't take it. Boo!

I put the tuna on top of some rice & ate it like a bowl.

Koge came by to beg for tuna, so I gave her a few pieces.
I always suck on human food to get rid of excess salty flavor before giving to Koge.


Anyway, Dee invited me over because he made kakuni the night before.
And he was planning on making shumai too.

I went over with Paris Baguette's green tea カステラ in hand.
Dee hadn't started wrapping the shumai, so I wrapped all of them. I think he didn't start on it because he was going to make me do it anyway. I think I wrapped them pretty good.


The pork kakuni was reaaaaaaaally good!


But I felt guilty every bite I took. It's all fat... well, I'd like to think there's collagen too. So my skin will be soft & I'll have a lumpy belly.

Saturday, November 8, 2008

Geeky Museum Trip

Ards sent out an Evite to go to the San Diego Air & Space Museum because the Star Trek Exhibit was being housed there right now.

So Dave, Sat & I drove down in one car; Sasami & Will drove down in another car; and Dennis went on his own.

We were going to meet at 11am in San Diego, so Dave team left at 8:30am. The plan was to leave 30 minutes early than the 2 hours it'll take to drive there, so we can stop by Mitsuwa in Costa Mesa on the way down. Our plan was perfect. We got there right at 11am.

Sasami team left a bit earlier, around 8:15am from Torrance. Since they had 15 minutes + 30 minutes head start, they got there way early.

Ards & Dennis on the other hand... showed up late!
Dennis got to the museum, but he wandered over to the front of the museum & was hanging out there w/o calling the rest of the group to see where we were.

Ards?
She was just late. Then had to run and get food for the picnic.

Anyway, we ate in front of the Sports Museum's statue.


I brought turkey sandwich (for myself) and salad. Dave & Sat bought bento at Mitsuwa. Ards bought fried chicken for the rest of the group. Will brought lots of drinks & Dennis brought lots of fruits.

After eating, we headed over to the Air & Space Museum.
You can hear the Star Trek theme from a distance...


They didn't allow any photography inside the Star Trek exhibit, so this is all we were able to take


We will soon learn why we're not allowed to take pictures inside.

First part of the exhibit was a big model of one of the ships (A).
And a showcase of all ships called "Enterprise" starting w/ carrier ships, space shuttle... and then all the Star Trek ships. I couldn't tell them apart.

Then we go up the ramp into the bridge of the Enterprise (original one).
The staff told us they'll take photos of us & we can purchase them at the gift shop.

Ah ha!
That's why we can't take photos inside the exhibit.
They want us to buy souvenir photos instead.

We took three photos, and moved on.

The next part was a display of Picard's private chambers.
And then lots of costumes on display... and the Borg cube.

Then the third room in the hall was a transporter room.
The staff said we can also take pictures there, but we opted to just see ourselves on screen. They even did the special effect where you disappear. Cool.

Too bad we didn't take photos here, because they offered lenticular cards at the gift shop where you appear & disappear on the card. It was expensive though. $27 for a 5x7 card.

Beyond the transporter room was some rocky planet display from one of the movies. It looks like Star Gate, said Ards (OK, I agreed... and I'm ashamed to know what she was talking about).

Then the final room was a time line of the entire Star Trek universe.
It was pretty interesting to follow.


Then we walk out to the normal part of the Air & Space Museum.
And take photos of old looking war planes.


We head towards the exit of the museum, where they have a Star Trek ride thingie. We had to pay $5 in addition to the $24 admission ticket we paid to get in... I was too sleepy to ride it, but everyone else rode it.


It's like Star Tours ride.
Star Tours minus, said Dennis.

We bought 2 of the photos we took.
$32 for two, put inside a leather frame.
And also paid an additional $5 for each photo to get a digital file.
Total of $42. Split among 7 of us, so $6 each.

We left the museum and posed dumb geeky pictures.
Like this


We went to the restroom at the Sports Museum & rested in their cafe for a while.
Then we walked over to the rest of Balboa Park, which was invaded by brides & grooms taking wedding photos.

We saw about 7 groups, but I'm sure there were more.

And then we walked back to our cars & headed home.

It was a long day w/ lots of walking, but it was fun.
But I might have gotten sun burnt in the little bit of time we spent walking around outside. I'm burning up & will use all day tomorrow to rest up.

Friday, November 7, 2008

Gray Hair!

Sat yelled "Shiz, gray hair!" one day.

I have a single strand of gray hair on the left temple side.
I usually cut it off (not pull out, because I don't have much hair), but I guess it's been growing again.

And if you sit to the left of me with the light shining on my left side... the gray hair stands out!

It's just one hair for now... but what if I start getting more?

I think the first gray hair is the most shocking...

Thursday, November 6, 2008

Shiz Can't Cook Series: Cheese Gyoza

Gyoza is one of the only things I can actually make.

Although I'm not good at flavoring them.
That's Sat's job.
She's the 味付け先生.
I'm the 包み先生.
Yuna is the 準備先生, but she wasn't here so I took care of the prep work too.


We made the gyoza on the teppan grill today.
Cuz you can make more at once.

And you can eat directly from the grill while it's still hot.
And leave the rest of the gyoza on the grill, so it can get crunchy on the bottom.

Yum!

Anyway, we had 12 gyoza skins left, so we decided to wrap cheese.
The problem w/ cheese?

They spill out of the wrappers.


But the cheese got really crunchy on the grill and it was delicious!
So don't judge a gyoza by its cover.

Pulled Arm Muscle

I woke up this morning & stretched... and I pulled my arm muscle.

I couldn't get up for five minutes while I rolled around in pain.
In fact, I couldn't really roll around.
I was in too much pain.

So I took half day off to recover... but my arm still hurt.
Twitched whenever I used the mouse.
I don't think it helped that it was cold in the office too.

I think my arms are cramped from using the laptop at a weird height.
Or it could be all the boxes I was packing at work.

I might have to exercise a bit.
Hafu.

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Voting Newbie

I went to vote for the first time in my life today.

It's like what everyone said. The poll location is staffed by old people.
Too bad they weren't very nice.

"Get in line."
"You need to date this."
"Rip off the tag. No, don't rip off that tag."

Hmmm...

But my ballot went into the machine & it's being counted.
So it's all good.
Sat's mail-in ballot won't be counted until next week, huh?

Sunday, November 2, 2008

Shiz Can't Cook Series: Banana Bread

First things first.
I hate bananas.

Sat had bananas rotting in our kitchen.
She had bought a bunch, but she couldn't finish it all. I did recommend that she buy a bunch & split half w/ Dave. Although I would be perfectly happy if Dave took all of the bananas...

What I hate most about bananas is rotten bananas.
This goes back to when I used to live w/ Erikku & the Lum-Chaos at Overland. Erikku had eaten bananas, but left the peels in the room... and his room was filled with the smell of rotten bananas!

I didn't like bananas before, but the smell of rotten banana peels just pushed me over the top.

Anyway, I digress.
I didn't want rotten bananas sitting in our kitchen. And Sat said she couldn't drink two shakes in one day. So I looked up banana bread recipes online.

That's one thing I can tolerate. Banana bread that doesn't taste too much like banana. Gemma's mom made really good banana bread that didn't taste like bananas.

Back to the recipe.
The first page I went to is the Food Network recipe page. But it required measuring flour, baking soda and all that... and I can't bake. I hate measuring!

So I looked up "banana bread recipe using cake mix."
And those recipes exist! Huzzah!

Yellow cake mix + bananas = banana bread

Hmmm... we only have chocolate cake mix (for when we have our chocolate cravings in the middle of the night & need to make chocolate cake). Not even the marbled cake in the pantry! So I decided to go out and buy yellow cake mix.

Albertsons had the Pilsbury cake mix for $1 each. Plenty good. Who cares if we use a cheap cake mix, since we're going to mess it up by adding bananas in it anyway.


Oh, I peeled the two rotting bananas.
That was the closest I've been to bananas in over 10 years. I don't even touch bananas. Peeling them was torture. I was making faces, so Sat took pictures (see her Flickr account). By the second banana, I was tearing up.

Cutting the bananas wasn't so bad. I think the peels are where most of the smell is. Grossest thing ever! I need to throw out the trash tomorrow morning before the whole house smells like bananas.

Dave was kind enough to mash the bananas for me.
And I forgot to take pictures of the that, but I think Sat did.

Meanwhile, I added 1 cup water, 1/3 cup oil & 3 eggs to the cake mix.

And stirred, and stirred, and stirred.
I don't bother to get all the lumps out. It'll bake itself out, I believe.

I had Dave add the banana mush into the batter, and I mixed in chopped pecans.

I think all baked goods should have nuts in them. Cookies are delicious with nuts (and oats!). Well, unless you're allergic to nuts. I'm so glad I'm not.

I poured the batter into my red silicone loaf pan. I forgot to take a picture of this part too.

And I added more nuts on top. And sunflower seeds.

And the finished product is this


Came out pretty good, for a cake mix.
The recipe said to add vanilla, but we don't have vanilla in our pantry & I didn't want to bother buying one. I don't think it makes a difference.

Saturday, November 1, 2008

After Halloween Sale at Toys R Us

I went to Toys R Us today.

Because I wanted to get more of the Frankenstein reusable bags.


And also the black skeleton reusable bag that I saw a kid using at Dee's Halloween party yesterday. And the orange Jack-o-Lantern reusable bag I saw with the Frankenstein bag.

I went to the Toys R Us on Jefferson. They were under construction because they're adding a Babies R Us section. I guess they're doing that to all the Toys R Us. Probably because Babies R Us is more profit generating than the toy business.

The Jefferson Toys R Us didn't have the reusable bags!
They had plenty of other Halloween things, but I didn't need those. Although I considered getting the Mickey Mouse & Minnie Mouse window clings. The woman working at the store said she bought the 12-pack mini puzzles and passed those out, and she said they were really popular. Cute puzzles with cats & Jack-o-Lanterns.

But I decided not to get the clings nor puzzles & headed out to the Toys R Us on La Cienega. They had the bags! But only the Frankenstein one & the skeleton one. No Jack-o-Lantern. Oh well.

I bought two of each bag.
They'll be used for all my shopping needs now. I'm going to get rid of the blue Trader Joe's bag w/ the surf boards. They're too big & you can't carry a lot in them when you keep buying canned food. They're ideal for things like cereal & potato chips, though.


PS. I also went to Albertsons on the way home. They were also remodeling, and had a lot of things on clearance. Like Pert Plus. Each bottle was $1.50, so I bought all four there.

PPS. We had teppanyaki again today for dinner. Dave joined us today. But we didn't get to the tongue. Got full eating tripe & flavored pork (pulgogi?). So we'll eat tongue tomorrow morning, Sat said.