1224 christmas eve

My friend, Judy K, picked me up for the Christmas Eve service at SBCC. There were two services (4:00 and 5:30), but we were attending the 5:30pm service. After opening worship with Pastor Joey and the Worship Team, there was a performance by the Hula Team, as they danced and gestured to “Away In A Manger”. It was very beautiful.

Pastor Gary gave a message about hope and told the story of an American POW during the Vietnam War, who was shot down on Christmas Eve four decades earlier. The service ended with candlelight provided by lit candles in the hands of the congregation.

After the service, I saw Carol and asked what the plans were for dinner (we had talked earlier about getting something to eat). She said that instead of driving around and checking what was still open (like last year) and ending up at Norm’s, the plan was to go straight to Norm’s. So we did.

As we were entering the restaurant, Mike told us to look at the special thru the window. They had a New York steak dinner on a sign. Someone asked him if he was in the mood for steak. He told us to look underneath the steak. Under the steak, the sign read “includes dessert” and had a picture of a brownie with a scoop of ice cream. Guess what. Half of us ordered the steak special.

1221 home for christmas

The Youth Ministry at South Bay Community Church was putting on a production called “Home For Christmas” and it was a combination of live drama, film, dance, and live music. The kids did a great job with the show.

Ching came by early and we went to Azuma for dinner. We were so engrossed in conversation that we lost track of time. When we checked the time, we had twenty minutes before the show started. We barely made it in time. Fortunately, Azuma is about seven minutes from the church.

1220 dim sum

After service at SBCC, our Koinonia lifegroup met in the Dugout for our participation in the prayer for the church’s move, then we went to Seafood Empress for dim sum, just like we did last year. Sam gave me a ride over there and I used the walker to get from the car to the table. Maybe I’ll use the wheelchair next year to save time.

1218 brian setzer

Netty picked me up and off we went to the Gibson Amphitheatre at Universal (formerly known as the Universal Amphitheatre) to see the Brian Setzer Orchestra live. There were a couple of opening acts, so we met Didier and his friends, and went to Tony Roma’s in CityWalk for some food and drinks.

Didier’s friends were Rambo and Fig. My friend was Netty. For once, I had the name that stuck out. I had a Mango Margarita that was really big. Fortunately, Netty was driving, although navigating the wheelchair was fun.

We made it to the concert during the break between the second opener and the Brian Setzer Orchestra. I last saw the BSO four years ago and listening to them while watching them perform, was great!

1212 whirlybird

It was overcast and windy, so Jim Y and I went “walking” in Lakewood Center. It had been several months since our last visit. One of the stores changed tenants. The current tenant was selling gifts and the remote control helicopters caught Jim’s attention.

When we were ending our circuit, I leaned against a wall so that Jim could go in and check them out. He ended up buying two of them for his boys. Mind you ... one’s at UCI and the other is a senior in high school.

1211 membership christmas party

The Membership Christmas Party at SBCC was tonight, but there was an unexpected surprise. The actual dinner was being held in the Worship Center! Yes, the room where food and beverages were prohibited. As I understand it, since the church has to move out by June 1, 2010, and the new owners indicated that the carpeting would be removed, carpet stains were no longer a concern. Nevertheless, we were careful not to spill anything.

After the dinner, we were entertained by the Ukelele Group that played and sang Christmas carols. Then Pastor Gary said a few words and welcomed the new members. He also announced that Ken and Natsuko were celebrating the birth of their 2nd daughter, Reese, just earlier that day. That’s why Pastor Ken wasn’t present.

Unfortunately, Ken knew that Natsuko was due, so he appointed Jim Y to take his place in running “the game”. For those of us who were expecting a reprieve, we were disappointed. Everyone was drawn into “the game”. I thought I could escape it by going to the restroom when it started (with the walker, it’s a task that can easily take 15 minutes). But when I returned, “the game” was still going on.

“The game” involved unscrambling letters to form a word. The guys with Hawaii Five-O were having trouble, since the word didn’t end in a vowel. The results of “the game” determined the order in which people would claim their gifts in the exchange.

1128 everything should taste like bacon

Jim Y came by for our walk at Liberty Park. Since the weather was overcast and cool, we noticed that most of the women were wearing sweats. I told Jim that his trolling wasn’t going to be as productive.

I had to go to an ATM, so instead of fighting traffic at the Cerritos Mall, we ended up at a branch of my bank near Norwalk and the 91 freeway. As a result, we had lunch at Polly’s Pies, which is in the same parking lot as my bank.

After we ordered, we noticed some shakers on the table. One was Lawry’s Seasoned Salt, with a label that said it was to be used on french fries. That made sense. The other one was just labeled “Bacon Salt”, with a slogan that “everything should taste like bacon”. Jim tried both, but the face he made while trying the “Bacon Salt” told me that I didn’t want to try it out.