Mother's Day Mending

Mimi loves her Mama, so she wanted to do something special for her this weekend.

We knew it was going to be a full weekend, so we started celebrating early Saturday morning.  Mimi helped to set the mood by making sure the toilet paper was nicely brushed.  

Toilet paper brushed and parents showered, Mimi helped her Mama open presents while Papa prepared pancakes.  She'd gotten some help with the first from daycare.  I think that's why there's paint on the frame and not the picture.  

Mama's second present took a bit of assembly.  Several days earlier, Mimi took her Papa to a specialty used cooking equipment store.  There she bought a very reasonably priced pasta roller and cutter.  She wanted Sumie to open it early so that we could have pasta that night.

But Mimi's plans for pasta making were, unfortunately, thwarted by the insanely busy day her parents undertook.  Sumie and I, still novices when it comes to San Francisco and the Bay Area, decided we'd spend the day exploring.  Breakfast done, car and child packed, we headed southeast for Glen Park and Bernal Heights.  We like both these neighborhoods and, if we're lucky, may be able to afford them in a few years (such neighborhoods [affordable] are very few and far between in SF).  We then drove past AT&T park, home of the Giants, and up to the Ferry Building for lunch.  It had already been a full day, but we were just getting started.

Intrigued by housing prospects in the city, we thought we'd see how the rest of the bay compared.  Thus started our epic journey.  We crossed the Bay Bridge to check out Alameda, which is both relatively safe and affordable.  We realized it wasn't quite for us, though, and decided to check out the south bay, given that the Bay Bridge was completely socked in with holiday traffic.  We ended up exploring San Mateo as well as the Hillsborough and Burlingame Hills.  We fell in love with the latter two, not realizing that entry to either of these neighborhoods is 2 to 3 times our dream home budget.  Ouch. 

Saturday's home search reinvigorated our frugality.  "It's time to save!" we both thought.  On Sunday we visited my Mom in Pleasanton for an early Mother's Day dinner (excellently cooked by my stepfather).  This gave me a chance to give Sumie her second, and also very fruga,l present: auto body repair. 

Back in November, Sumie accidentally introduced the passenger side of the BMW wagon to a gas pump barrier.  Though we could still use the doors, the bottoms of both were mangled to the tune of $2,500.  I simply couldn't stomach spending so much for what was, after all, merely cosmetic damage.  I'd find a way to do it myself! 

Shortly after the accident I'd learned that one can pull out some dents by freezing them with dry ice.  This constricts the metal, causing the dents to pull out.  It's best to do this on a warm day, so on Sunday, armed only with a few towels, rubbing compound, $5.00 of dry ice, a rubber mallet, and sunny Pleasanton weather, I set out to repair the BMW.  While I came far from making full repair - the damage was far too extensive and deep for that - the car at least looks presentable now, and for $2,495 less than the original estimate.    

I learned a lot from the process.  Were I to do it again, I'd use the rubber mallet first to press in some of the areas that buckled out.  This, as I found halfway through, helps relieve the pressure on the dents and allows the dry ice to draw them out much better.  Still, it was a fun learning experience and by the time I finished, Sumie was feeling much better about that accident 6 months ago.  It had finally been wiped off the books.  Well, almost.

One of the great things about repairing a car with dry ice is that you usually have a bit left over.  This I immediately threw into a large mug of Dr. Pepper, much to Mimi's amazement. 

I had to be careful that Mimi didn't drink any - she could've come in contact with the dry ice - but it wasn't all that tricky to do so.  Mimi was far more interested in blowing off the fog than drinking any of the soda.  

Our Mother's Day in Pleasanton ended with a fantastic dinner and Mimi blowing bubbles with Grandma.  I'm glad we could be there for my Mom on her special day after so many years on the east coast.  

I think Sumie had a great Mother's Day weekend, and I know that Mimi and I had fun putting it together for her.  I can't imagine a better, more caring mother than Sumie.  I hope that someday Mimi realizes just how good she has it.  At least in the mommy department...