My Veteran's Day Off

Last Monday was Veteran's Day. While most in this country honored veterans of all wars, it was just a regular day for me. I do not mean any disrespect, but since I personally do not know any veteran (at least, I don't remember), it's quite hard to relate. In the same manner that people might sympathize with families of 9/11 victims during anniversaries, that day each year has a far deeper, more special meaning to me and my family because my cousin was in one of those planes.

It was a holiday for my son, as well as with all government (federal & local) agencies. Most private companies were not, like mine. But I took the day off to chill with my son, and to give myself a little break. As in most cases, whenever I do take off during a workweek, I end up doing more work than I had wanted to. Often, I wished that I had gone to the office instead, and I won't be as tired. But why complain? At least, I was able to sleep in a little bit, did not have to be all dressed up, and have a decent lunch other than a sandwich or salad.

It was a blessing in disguise that I was off, and so was my son. He wasn't feeling well. The day before, he had a basketball game in the afternoon and club volleyball practice in the evening. In between, he was snacking with his buddies as they watched other CYO games at Moreau. I guess one of those, or a combination of, contributed to his icky feeling. For the rest of the day, he was sluggish and just wanted to sleep. But we had chores to do and errands to run.

First, we drove down to Milpitas for our 11:00 am appointment with our favorite hair stylist (a.ka. haircutter). My son had wanted to have his hair cut last Saturday, but I convinced him to do it yesterday instead because I wanted to have mine done as well. We've tried many different barbershops, salons, and parlors, but none of them did a good job consistently except for this lady. So, we make our monthly trek to Milpitas to get our buzz.

Next, we did the groceries -- one for cooking, and another for everything else. Since I cook dinner most weekday nights, my dishes are simple, traditional Filipino comfort food. And for this, I went to an Asian market store, where I found most (if not all) of the ingredients that I needed, including special cuts of meat that are only available in these places. For regular meats, like steaks and even chicken, I went across the street to the regular grocery store to make my purchase. Other "regular" items like milk, cooking oil, bottled water, and cereal were also on my list.

With groceries all packed in the trunk, we rendezvoused with the wife at a favorite Mediterranean cafe in Fremont for a quick lunch. We then went home to unload our goods, before we headed 2 miles to Mission Blvd for my son's dentist appointment. When I dropped him off, I went straight home. And for the next 1.5 hours,  I was able to rest and relax.

The dental office called and it was time to pick up my son. He still wasn't feeling any better and his energy was almost zapped. So I told him to take a nap while I prepared to do my next chore -- to cook dinner. That evening's menu was pan-seared salmon with light lemon cream sauce and steamed baby bok choy in sesame oil with garlic and oyster sauce (I'll probably have to do a separate post for this recipe).

By the time the scented candle was extinguished and was able to raise my feet on the reclining Lazy Boy, I was dead tired and ready for bed. But I never let the day pass without catching the latest news, locally and back home in the Philippines. As I flipped channels and scanned recorded shows, I didn't realize that I had already dozed off. I knew then that it was time to hit the sack.