Week 124: Giants, Retirement, and a ClayDate

Week 124: May 11th-17th, 2025

As I hinted at toward the end of Week 123's SNEW, this week was pretty eventful. I'll start with my dad's retirement party, which was an incredibly sweet and meaningful event that I will remember forever. So many people expressed their love, adoration, appreciation, and admiration for my dad and his 30+ years of teaching. It was beautiful to see, and I felt proud as his daughter. Berkeley Unified School District will be losing one of their veteran teachers, but the retired birding community will be gaining a much-needed member. I can't wait to see what adventures my parents go on now that they are both retired.

Setting up in the school's auditorium for my dad's retirement party

Next up, my family's television debut on NBC Sports Bay Area during the May 13th Giants baseball game against the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Because my dad is one of five finalists for the NBC All Star Teacher award, he was invited (with three guests) to a Giants game to do another interview. The May 13th game also happened to be Korean Heritage night, so my very Korean mother and my family were quite excited for the night's festivities.

We were instructed to get to Oracle Park at 4:30pm, even though the game wasn't supposed to start until 6:45pm. We were escorted by NBC reps, Kira and Meshti, as well as the Account Executive, Jesse Flores. A woman named Rebecca from Provident Credit Union was also there, since Provident is a sponsor for the contest. We got to go on the field with special passes while the players warmed up and my dad did his interview.

It is always nice to get wined and dined on a company's dime, though I'm sure we were WAY under budget compared to other people who might go a bit more wild given the same opportunity. We could have gotten anything and everything in the Blue Shield Field Club. I only got a bottle of water, fries, and a crab sandwich. The photos don't do the food justice because everything was very good.

My crab sandwich

The pastrami sandwich

I felt like I learned a lot about sports journalism and marketing and how television broadcasts of sports events work. Thankfully, the Giants won the game 10-6, and you can watch highlights here if you want, though they don't include my dad's interview as a game highlight, which is silly.

During the third inning, the television broadcast also panned to us in the crowd and told everyone to vote!

Reminder to vote DAILY for Greg Martin and Sylvia Mendez School until June 2nd, 2025! And yes, daily means every. single. day! I WILL be blaming everyone if my dad does not win. He says it doesn't matter, since getting to go to the Giants game and share his teaching career story with everyone is enough, but to me it matters. So please vote and help my dad finish his already amazing career with a bang! And that bang is $30,000 for Sylvia Mendez Elementary!

A nice gift from Rebecca and Provident Credit Union

This week, of course, also included my birthday on the 16th. I turned 26, and though I was already receiving my own health insurance from my job, it is a bit of an odd thought that I will never be able to be covered by my parents' plans again.

A very cute birthday table set up by my boyfriend

For my birthday, my boyfriend and I went to Javier's in La Jolla, which is a pretty nice Mexican restaurant in the UTC mall, right below Din Tai Fung. They were super busy, especially because it was a Friday evening during graduation season, so I am glad we made a reservation. We had to wait a bit longer after our reservation time, but I didn't mind. I just people-watched and admired the insane tile-work on the floors. I also noticed they had a special Javier's brand tequila on some shelves.

We finally got seated and they brought us chips and salsa while we looked at the menu. I got a house margarita and the enchilada and taco plate (chicken) and my boyfriend got chicken fajitas. Our server was very sweet, and noticed it was my birthday when she ID-ed me for the margarita, so she brought out some ice cream with a candle as well.

Overall, the dinner was very nice, though the music was a bit loud, so everyone was talking louder to one another to be heard over the music, which made the whole place a bit chaotic.

To add to the chaotic vibe, I also celebrated with friends at Dave and Buster's after Javier's, because a bunch of arcade games and a chaotic environment are the perfect balanced pairing to an elevated dinner.

Though I may have turned 26, I am still a child at heart (see: Dave and Buster's), and that child loves fixating on hobbies and arts and crafts. I had the idea to have a "claydate" for my birthday, where my friends and I could make air dry clay creations and paint them. At my big, grown age, it is fun to try to stay creative! And of course, I love any excuse to plan a party.

I reserved and rented out the clubhouse at my apartment complex and got most of my supplies months ago (enough for at least 20 people). Turns out I only needed enough air dry clay supplies (disposable aprons, gloves, clay tools, air dry clay, paint, palettes, brushes, etc.) for only about five people. Most of my friends were either out of town or had to work, and I know they would have come if they could have.

In the end, the number of people who showed up doesn't really matter, because even if only one person came, I would have still been thankful. I'm glad at least four people were available and willing to indulge my hobby fixation of air dry clay and painting for half a day.

I have a ton of cake, cookies, and fruit leftover from the weekend's festivities. I know I'm getting old because while the cake and cookies seem good, I actually prefer the fruit, especially for my health in these advanced years.

Haha, see you next week.