my new maple & stone heavyweight comforter worked out great last night. by the time i went to bed, it'd already puffed up to its maximum size. even though it was just 3 lbs. heavier than my old comforter, it definitely felt heavier, which is what i like. i'd just taken a shower so the residual heat really warmed up underneath the comforter, making me worried at one point if it might be too warm. but the overall experience was very comfortable, like sleeping in a thick and soft warm cloud. made me regret not getting a heavyweight winter comforter earlier, rather than needlessly suffering through cold winter nights because i was using a light comforter.

i rolled out of bed around 9:30am to get ready for work. before i left for the cafe, i walked down to market basket to pick up two packages of boneless chicken thighs on sale. i got the cafe before 10:30am, saw my sister walking esmei around the block.

i started getting the place ready before we opened. my mother showed up, having walked here from home. my father walked down to the mechanic to pick up the car before driving it to the cafe. the annoying whirling engine sound he asked them to fix was still there. my 2nd aunt showed up around 11am.

even though it was saturday, my parents came to work because my sister was coughing yesterday so she wouldn't be able to deal with customers. plus it was her birthday today, so they gave her the day off to rest. she still came by the cafe once in a while, occasionally bringing with her esmei. i gave my sister her birthday present: novelty socks that look like esmei's paw prints.

it was a little busy around lunchtime but customers quickly tapered off. i want to blame the weather, but despite the overcast, it was actually kind of warm outside, with the temperature around 50's. dumplings by far were the most popular item today, we kept cooking them. we discovered the pork dumplings we got were actually chicken dumplings. my father tried one, he said he couldn't tell the difference.

at one point i went to my sister's place after she came to the cafe after seeing esmei crying in her playpen. i let her out and took her into the backyard so she could pee before coming back inside.

we closed up by 4pm and left for belmont. we asked my sister to come to belmont so we could get some takeout dinner for her birthday. we let her decide what she wanted to eat, and she ended up ordering from two different places: pizza from armando's in cambridge and chinese food from joyful garden in watertown. after placing the order, my sister and mother and esmei went to go get the pizza while my father and i went to go get the chinese food.

the pizza was a large anchovy and onions. they must've made it early because by the time we brought it back to the house the pizza was already cold. my sister also ordered two subs. as for the chinese, my sister got a soup while my mother padded the order with some braised lamb and poached chicken. it was a lot of food and my sister hardly ate any of it, bringing much it back with her when she left. she was still coughing, and thinks its allergies instead of what it most likely is which is a cold. she ended up wearing a face mask which she said helped control the coughing (and if she was contagious prevent her from spreading her germs).

esmei's playpen arrived yesterday and my parents had already set it up. she ended up having a few time outs in her playpen when she wouldn't stop chewing on shoes. she never seems angry when spending time in the playpen, happy to be lying on her dog bed and chewing on some toys. the only time she did act up was when i went in the pen with her, and she stood up against the fencing, trying to get out. also at one point my sister let her out in the backyard to poop but instead she got the zoomies and i watched as she ran around the backyard in the dark, her collar light the only way i could tell where she was. later she seemed to have calmed down, quietly chewing on her rawhide stick. i bought her a few nylabone chewies but she didn't like them at all, they might be too hard for her to chew. my sister also managed to play some indoor fetch with esmei.

i left around 8:15pm. there was a slight fog and my motorcycle was covered in condensation. when i got back to cambridge, there was hardly any place to park, so i ended up parking at the end of the street. i put the rain cover over the bike as it's supposed to be raining all of tomorrow, up to an inch i heard.

i did some photo consolidation tonight, downloading images from my two phones, my dSLR camera, my 3D camera, and my gopro. i also followed a few NBA games, happy to see the kings beating the nuggets and the nets beating the magic. unfortunately the bucks beat the hawks.

i've been dreaming about my new comforter all day, can't wait to go to bed.