Susan and Tony

Who knew we had so many things stuffed into a little condo.

Update 10/27:

Yesterday, we visited our home around 3:00 and found there was still no power but there was plenty of daylight for us to clean out our fridge, wash the dishes in the sink, and get the tank ready for Susan’s turtles to return. The phones were back on so we decided to stay the night even without electricity. Before settling in, we picked up my parents for dinner and swung by Costco to pick up some batteries and a second battery powered lantern. After dinner, we packed up the Touareg and headed home.

When we got back into our neighborhood we noticed the traffic signals flashing red. Before they were completely dark. We figured they were on a different electrical circuit from the homes and didn’t get our hopes up. Then we noticed the sign in front of our community was lit so we immediately looked up the hill at the houses. Some of those were lit as well. Power was restored while we were at dinner.

Now I’m sitting here, at home, on the internet checking my email after taking a nice hot shower. Not a bad close to a week that started with an evacuation because there was a wildfire right behind our home.

Update 10/26:

We made it out to our place yesterday after the president left and Susan got home. Power and phones and gas were all out but we finally got to see what our place looked like. The flames got very close. As luck would have it, our HOA hired a crew to cut new firebreaks and trim the trees around the grounds. That seems to have made it possible, in more than a few areas, for the firefighters to save our homes. Only 3 homes were lost in our community. We were extremely fortunate considering the losses in the communities that neighbor ours on all sides.

Today we will be heading out a little earlier so that we can clean up while there is still daylight. The SDGE website is estimating we will get power back in a week. I really hope they are just being very cautious with their estimates.

Update 10/25:

Susan went to work today in Pacific beach and I am working remotely. We are still evacuated and have no information about when we can return home. Right now, the President is flying around the neighborhood across the street from ours. Later, he is supposed to be on the ground surveying the damage to Rancho Bernardo. We are hoping that we can return when he leaves.

Update 10/24:

We were hoping to get in to our home today so we drove out to Rancho Bernardo. Unfortunately, our area is still under mandatory evacuation and there is no estimate as to when the evacuation order will be lifted.

At least we got our first look at our neighborhood as we drove past on the freeway. We were in a very lucky pocket of homes. The hill behind us is completely charred down to the homes at its base but the homes themselves are still there. Just north and south of us, the neighborhoods were not nearly as lucky.

Update 10/23:

We just saw the list of destroyed homes in Rancho Bernardo and we were not on it! For the time being, our home is safe.

We feel extremely fortunate. The list of destroyed homes is very very large and our hearts go out to those that found their addresses on it.

Update 10/22:

Susan and I were evacuated from our home this morning at around 4:30. We are both safe in Chula Vista with my parents.

Thank you all for your calls and well wishes. They are much appreciated.

I know many of you have been asking for some wedding photos. We’ll get them up on here soon, I promise! In the meantime, I’ve put a couple up on myspace.

We just got back in from a 7 day cruise down to Mexico. We left last Sunday afternoon and returned yesterday morning. It was a great vacation but also a bit of an adventure.

Just one more week.

We’re getting closer and closer to the big day and I think we have everything ready to go.

The only thing we really have left to do is some of the logistics stuff. We need to write up the schedule for the reception, make our seating chart, and put together some cheat sheets for the people in the wedding party. We already started a checklist of things to do or pickup for week leading up to the wedding. We almost look organized as the list includes who is assigned to the task along with any contact information, order numbers, or special instructions necessary.

Honestly, we are playing quite a bit of this by ear. I’m hoping people relax and have fun with it. Neither Susan nor myself are concerned with things proceeding in the exactly planned way. Come to think of it, I don’t think we have an exactly planned way of doing anything.

Now that we’ve passed the RSVP date, we’re starting to check the guest list to see who is coming, who is not, and who we missed.

As it turns out, Huy, my best man, was not invited. He was among a stack of invites I had in my car for the last month for some of my friends. I was planning on handing them the invites next time I saw them. Some I haven’t seen due to busy schedules. Some I ran into when I didn’t drive my car so I didn’t have the invites with me. Others, I’ve run into several times and I just keep forgetting to hand them the invite.

We slid right past the one month marker and barely noticed. I’m not sure whether I should be worried or relieved but everything seems to be going well with the wedding plans.

Proving that some combinations are so good they transcend international borders, we received a website comment from a Susan and Tony in the UK.

http://www.susanandtony.co.uk

Congrats to Susan and Tony in London!

Good luck and best wishes from Susan and Tony in San Diego.

This past Sunday, Susan’s Aunt 8 took us out around Monterey Park to pickup all the stuff I will need to bring with me to the wedding ceremony. I am so glad she offered to help. I knew what to buy and generally where to find it but she knew all the little details. She even offered to pick up some of the stuff we ordered a couple days before the wedding. She was EXTREMELY helpful.

Here is the list of what we picked up or ordered…

• Shark Fin
• Black Moss
• Tea
• Longan Fruit
• Lychee Fruit
• Cognac
• Dragon and Phoenix Candles
• Cakes
• Golden Flowers
• Red Envelopes
• Double Happiness Stickers and Signs

All this stuff will be put onto trays the day of the wedding. My entourage will then carry the trays in behind me to give them to Susan’s family.

Here’s the stuff I still need to order…

• A Pig
• The Trays and Covers