An 8 course tasting menu and a pay raise
- braised chicken with potatoes
- boiled okra with tsuyu
- marinated radish with korean pepper flakes
- cucumbers with soy sauce and sesame oil
We had such a fun and eventful weekend! On Friday evening, our club hosted a mini pickleball tournament organized by some of the members. Nine teams participated, and although the tournament wasn’t gender-restricted, only men signed up. I went to watch and cheer for G, who had joined as well. Midway through, one of the players injured his foot, and they asked me to sub in. I ended up playing two games in his place—won one, lost one—and had a great time. That’s how I became the only woman in the group photo of participants.
We’ve been members of this club for a while, but this will be our last month since we now mainly play at the other indoor pickleball club. I’m grateful for the many friendly and welcoming members here, some of whom have also joined the new club. We’ve made wonderful friends who’ve already offered to bring us in as guests in the future.
We took G’s mom shopping at Costco today. Afterward, we stopped by a Chinese bakery and dim sum takeout spot, where we had fun pointing at different items for the lady behind the counter. His mom insisted on paying for all the delicious treats we picked out, and it suddenly made me feel like a kid again—in a good way—just like when my parents used to pay for things when I was little.
G and I went for an eight-course tasting menu at a newly opened Asian fusion restaurant we discovered through an Instagram ad. Maybe it wasn’t promoted very well—or perhaps the 5 p.m. dinner slot was too early — but we ended up being the only guests during our two-hour meal. It felt like we had reserved the entire restaurant just for ourselves. The husband-and-wife owners came out to chat with us between courses, even bringing out the chef to greet us. They were so friendly and gracious that we truly felt like VIPs.
The food was quite good and an excellent value at $120 per person, gratuity included. Overall, it was a memorable and very pleasant dining experience. Living in a smaller town, we enjoy trying new restaurants whenever they open. I’m thankful that, with how fast our town is growing, we get a new place to try every couple of months.
I’m very grateful for my full-time, salaried, fully remote, and super chill job. I usually work just one to three hours a day, and I rarely have meetings on Mondays, Wednesdays, or Fridays.
We have a no-camera policy for meetings, and as long as I complete my assigned tasks, hardly anyone ever bothers me.
It really feels like the perfect semi-retirement job—and to make it even sweeter, I recently received a $5K annual raise, which works out to about $250 more per month after taxes (California!).