One word: Grading.

Damn I have a lot of grading to do. Oh well, I will get it done.

After grading all day Saturday, Thao and I went for a swim at the pool at my gym and then went out to eat. That night, we watched a scary movie called “The Strangers” starring Liv Tyler. I’m not a big fan of scary movies – only every now and then. This one was pretty freaky though. Not a great film by any means, but I enjoyed it and it freaked Thao out. At one point she got up to make sure my door was locked – which I’ve never seen her do before. Great songs in that movie by the way – Gillian Welch’s “My First Lover” is used to chilling effect, and also a song by Joanna Newsom called “The Sprout and the Bean” that I thought was very good. And any movie that includes “Mama Tried” by Merle Haggard can’t be all bad.

Sunday: More grading. Thao and I went to lunch at my favorite restaurant, An Lac Chay, and Thao said something really funny. I am always giving her grief about how much she eats. She usually orders a ton of food – and usually finishes it. She just eats a lot. Yesterday she surprised me by only ordering one thing – usually she at least tries to order something else and I tell her maybe the first thing will be enough. So yesterday, after we finished eating, she said “If I ever try to order something else, don’t let me because my eyes are bigger than my stomach.” And I told her that I agreed and that I was surprised that she had only ordered one thing at lunch. Then she said “Remember that Elton John song we heard at University Star, ‘Sorry Seems to be the Hardest Word’? For me, ‘full’ seems to be the hardest word.” [She said "full" in Vietnamese, which is "no" - but pronounced like the "kno" sound at the beginning of the word "knocking."] She comes up with some pretty funny stuff sometimes.

Oh, I forgot! On Saturday night Thao and I also called my sister and had a videochat with my sister and her three kids. We are all very excited that we’ll be seeing each other in about three weeks! O and C were as cute as ever, and H was adorable. He was really focusing hard on the computer monitor – wondering who the hell Thao and I were, I’m sure. I was making faces at him and making funny noises at him and he was smiling and laughing. So cute! I can’t wait to see all of them! Not too much longer now!

Okay, I’m back to grading! I hope everyone is doing well!