Vegas!

Some of my college girl friends every year take a trip around fall/winter time. Usually it was up to Nor Cal to see the ones who are up here. This year, we went to Vegas! :) Man.. this is the last time I take a flight after work to Vegas on Vetern's Day weekend.. it was nutso! My flight was delayed and it still took us forever to get off the ground. I was supposed to land at 9:30, I didn't get to the Monte Carlo until 11 (I didn't even have check-in luggage).

I called two of my friends who were already there, they were drunk and somewhere on the strip. :) Hilarious. I was so exhausted it took me forever to get ready (I'm getting too old for this). Finally by the time I was ready, the rest of the ladies had arrived so I figured I'd wait for them. We finally got to Club Tao at the Venetian at 12? 1? I lost track of time. More hassle, I work in non-profit and it's all about service...as most things are. And I was raised with a high expectation of customer service. After spending a week at work I just wanted to have a good time. But of course.. it's a club. The bouncers who power trip have to make you wait, I won't go into too much detail, coz it's making me irritated already.. but I almost got us in trouble without saying much at all.. we finally got in. It was a good time, we were there until about 5am, then headed back. May and I got hungry so we grabbed some food and then I tried to pass out on the floor.

I didn't sleep too well and was so exhausted the next day. After lunch at 3 at the Monte Carlo buffet I wanted to pass out. We walked all the way down to the Wynn checking out the hotels and shopped in Ceasar's and walked back. Three of the party animals, May, Sonia, and Ami dressed to go out. They're like energizer bunnies I swear! They went to Pure (I really wanted to go, but physically there was no way). I had blisters on my feet and I was ready to fall asleep anywhere. Sherwynn, Chiemi and I decided to go eat and just hang out. I couldn't handle anymore at about 3am I finally slept. Delicious sleep! Then it was wake up, pack, wake the girls up, eat McDonald's (ugh) and off to the airport. We had no problems getting taxi's the whole day.. then the day we need to get to the airport.. there's a freaking long line! I had to hussle a bit, but I made it. Phew..

Vegas felt like a single breath, in and out.

round and squishy!

squishy!!!

So most of my friends know I like round objects.. there's just something nice about them. Well let's add to the list squishy!! Okay you're probably thinking.. geez the girl's gone crazy! I have a perfectly good rational explanation for my sudden discovery in squishy things. Since part of the time I work with families with young children I naturally get a lot of toys and stuff that come into the office. Not for me to keep but to give away. Well one day I got a small, sample tub of Play-Doh. Now I haven't touched Play-Doh in I don't know long. I put it on my desk thinking if I'm ever working with a client the child could sit there and play with it. Well today I got bored and pick up the container and opened it. Inside was a perfect piece of orange Play-Doh, untouched and untarnished. Do you ever remember how nasty Play-Doh could get in school with all those oily, dirty hands and carpet dirt and fibers getting into it? Well this was brand new pristine. So I did what anyone would do, poked it with my finger.

And lo and behold! My mind was remember the hours of fun I'd have just squishing it. It's purposely putting elmer's glue on your fingers and waiting for it to dry to pull it off piece by piece. I managed to pull the Play-Doh out of the container after having it get stuck under my nails (not a problem when I was a kid..) and I had this silly grin on my face. Squishy things are great! If you think about it, it's like kitten's paws (they remind me of little grapes), grapes themselves, stress balls (not nearly as much fun as Play-Doh), those pillows you can get at Sharper Image. It's great! You should try it, when you're stressed out, get some Play-Doh and just mess around. Plus it's easy to clean up and in a small container no one will notice it. ;)

between two worlds

I was driving to work yesterday morning and when I left my house it was foggy, slightly dark and gloomy. As I turned onto the main cross street and looked forward, this beautiful sight blew me away. It felt like I was caught in between two worlds. Behind me was the fog and gloom, with a purple/pink sky and ahead of me was this warm yellow with hints of blue sky peaking around the sunlight. For a moment it felt like dawn and sunset all at once.

That's one of my favorite times of time, where the sky is changing and it feels as if two worlds are merging and changing over. That time of day where night and day are existing at the same moment.

widgets!

I am definitely getting sucked into Apple mania. They've really gotten good at what they do. And now that I've been able to upgrade to Tiger OS X I get widgets! Yahoo! If anyone knows of good widgets, let me know!

what's the deal with height?

You can now predict your babies height within 2-2.5" thanks to the advances in medicine. The College of Kinesiology have even developed an online tool to help parents. I wonder what's changed? Doctors were predicted babies height way before now!

When I was born, the doctor predicted that I would be 5'9". At least this is what my mother told me in high school. I thought, great.. well where's my other four inches? At that time I was almost 18, so I figured I was pretty much done growing. I would be at my 5'4" stature and that was it. Within the next four years I received an extra inch, hooray! I don't know why I wanted to be taller, it didn't seem to make a big difference, I just wanted it. And here's the creepy thing, I went with my mom to her herbal doctor and after he finished checking up with her, he took a lot at me. He pulled my lower eyelids down and said to my mom, "Why isn't she 5'9"?" Great. I'm not even meeting the goals set forth by my own body!? What the heck!

Anyway, so it got me thinking. Height always seems like such a big deal, almost everyone wants to be a little bit taller. My mother was 5'7" and my father is 5'5", you think I'd ignore height as a factor in physical attractivness then, right? Wrong.. I still like my men tall. Tall men who can wrap their arms around me and make me feel safe. Not that I don't feel safe with my dad, he's like a round bull dog (better looking of course). It's not to say I'm not attracted to short men. I've liked shorter guys or guys who were my height or just a little bit taller, they were all cute and their personalities just drew me in. It's just that height adds extra bonus points I guess.. can't help it. Everyone's a little bit shallow, like ugly teeth.. I can't stand that.

Even in myself, I still wish I was little bit taller. My mom always said 5'7" or 5'8" would have been good, then she'd always tack on, "Buying clothes would be easier". Don't ask me why buying clothes would be easier if I was taller.. I mean I'm average for women and compared to some asian women, I'm tall. I guess there's no getting around it, I'm not growing anymore anyway. I can stretch all I want, eat chicken soup til it comes out of my ears, but for this lifetime I am 5'5" and loving it. Maybe I can credit the missing inches to my future children..I'll just hope my mother's genetics kick in in them then. ;)

love is cooking for another

Food is a huge part of my life.. when I want to get together with someone(s) I usually always suggest dinner, coffee, smoothie, donut, some form of food. It's just nice to share a meal. There's is something that makes a person feel connected to another when sharing a meal. I could go into this in more depth, but it ruins the fun of it. :) Food is great in general, but even better when you have someone to share it with. Especially when it's made with love... and behold! The cooking male.. a rarity in this world. Quite often you see them prowling about or sitting on the couc

h in front of a sports game. But occasionally if you are patient they surprise you and cook you breakfast. :)

i'm in love again!

The RA's had a reunion this past weekend in LA and they all went out to dinner.. unfortunately I couldn't make it. :( So sad. I did see a picture of them though and my goodness if that isn't a fine looking group of people! Roowwrrrrr. I love seeing pictures of them because it reminds me of how much love I have for family and friends. They are absolutely amazing, that year was incredibly. These 19 individuals impacted my life in a way that I will never forget and created memories that will always bring a smile to my face even in the worst of times. They were my support and my family and I fell in crazy love with them. I know how lucky I am to have such great friends and even when I can't be with them, I still feel their spirit surrounding me and lifting me up always. Find the incredible people in your life and don't let them go. :) Even from so far away, just seeing a picture of them lifts my spirits and makes my day so much brighter.

Now I'm just waiting for the next wedding to bring us all together again and I heard a few of them are engaged. ;)

$$$$$$..*poof*

It's like early Christmas for myself! :P I know I should have, but I did. I found my snowboard. I wrote to hammersnowboards.com a few months ago and gave up the cause. When out of the blue.. I received an email with a website to where I could buy it! I open up the website.. it's in German.. great.. but wait! There's an english version.. and the snowboard is 50 Euros off and it comes with a free snowboard bag! I'm in! It finally arrived today and I'm totally excited. I'm actually looking forward to the cold weather now coz I've got a new toy!!

Not to mention my other new toy. My brand new Trek Mountain bike. Wooweeeeeee (so I gave up on the snowboard and found another hobby). I was using an old bike we had in the garage. It wasn't the most attractive thing, imagine a purple frame with a flame design on it and tires that are black with two red stripes on the outside and hot yellow highlighter colored splash cards.. not pretty. My new Trek.. much prettier.. see, black and red and wonderful. I never realized how much the frame could matter. My posture is better and I don't tire as easily on this new bike. So I just had to share my joy! But no more big purchases.. at least not until January.. minus Christmas presents for family and friends of course. :)

spirit of hula

My kumu just combine the intermediate wahine (my class) with the advanced wahine and now we dance every Thursday from 7-9pm. Last night was the first time we did this and it was amazing! There was a fire in the class and things just felt good. It was great to feel all this aloha and hula energy in the room. All I've learned so far are kahiko's (tradition hula dance). This is a dance done to chanters using traditional hawaiian instruments. But last night he started our first auwana! Auwana is "modern" hula, a combination of traditional hula with Western influence in the music. So it can be danced to pretty much any song.

Anyway.. yay for hula! :)

Chomping in the Big Apple

I just got back from a vacation in New York City.. and all I did was eat! :) It was fantastic. Well eat and walk around. So I know you're all incredibly interested in what I ate and did in between eating..

Day 1 - leave SFO at 4:00pm on Friday, on-time.. yahoo! Watched "The Longest Yard" on the airplane, amusing movie. Did I mention it sucks to be in economy and not have your own personal TV? yes.. yes it does. I arrived at JFK at 12:30am Saturnday morning.. call the Super Shuttle people and guess what happens.. so this guy shows up and I noticed there were two shuttles outside. The guy sends the other shuttle away (I'm assuming) and calls me to come out. He asks if I'm Samantha.. "Uh.. no I'm Victoria, but there's another girl inside.." (who apparently was Samantha). He asks where I'm going I say Roosevelt Island (it's an island between Manhattan and Queens). So he tells me he's not going there, but to get in anyway and he'll drive me to another van (this is where I think he sent MY van away.. idiot!). Well.. everyone looks pretty grumpy in the van already, it's stuffed, he drives all the way around the terminal.. stopping at a green light to look at his cell phone.. running a red light for no reason and drops me back off at the same freaking terminal. I'm pissed.. what a waste of 10 minutes! Tells me ot call the office again.. which I do, it's already 1AM.. they tell me to take a taxi and mail them the receipt and they'll refund me. Okay no problem.. I go out to look for a taxi and there's none around. This guy near the taxi stand asks if I'm looking for a taxi and where I'm going. Roosevelt Island I say, he says, $40 and I can give you a receipt. Yahoo! I get in and as we start moving I'm thinking.. wait a minute.. crap. I'm in an unmarked car, it's a "taxi service", but of course he's not a licensed private taxi person because he's done a bit of time and has a few marks on his record.. great I'm going to die before I even get to Kris' place. So I'm keeping myself alert, looking at the street signs to make sure he's not taking me somewhere to mug, rape, or kill me.. And this whole time he's talking about politics! We covered the Port Authority, Bush, Clinton, NY's troubled times with racial politics, the mayor, Palestine, his favorite Chinese food place, and where he gets his haircut now that he's had a falling out with his old barber. I don't even bother arguing with any of it, just listen to his rambling for 45 minutes and lo and behold I'm there! Yes, still alive, thank goodness. He scrawls a receipt on the back of his card and hands it to me.. guess what it says:

Cousin Vinny
Airport Car Service
###-###-####

Classic!! At least I'm there finally.. Kris and I end up staying up until 5 talking anyway. Good times.

Day 2 - Saturday

We wake up around 10, I think.. and decide to go shopping. *grin* you know me.. I loves to shop. First store, Urban Outfitters (btw I love love love the NY subway system.. so efficient.. beautiful)..we try on hates and accessories. I realized I look stupid in most hats, except for beanies. Although with my short hair now, I look more like a boy with a hat on then ever. "Can I take you somewhere sir?" - fake newsie accent. Kris gets these really cute fingerless gloves, I wanted some, but hello California.. not necessary. It's about 3pm and we're hungry now, we pass by Gray's Papaya but the line is so long. Next stop a quick walk by Times Sqaure during the day, overrated and then off to Kangol (my co-worker wanted a hat). We try on more hats, both deciding the newsboy/taxi driver hats look horrible on us. The guy at the store was really weird too, he was 50, looked young far away but old up close. The other girl in the store looked like she hated working with him. He kept asking us weird questions.. anyway, I pick out a hat and then it's off to lunch. We find this nice cafe place that reminds us of Europe and chomp away. I noticed there's lots of places in NY that serve breakfast at all hours and serve a mimosa or some other alocholic drink as part of the meal.. interesting. After lunch at 3pm.. we head to H&M. Talk about crazy! It was a weekend and there were clothes everywhere, it made me not really want to shop. I did get a cute, bat-wing looking sweater and a dark brown blazer. There was this adorable black blazer made out of cable sweater material, but they didn't have any in my size. boo.. I hate wearing blazers and jackets usually, but if it feels like a sweater, I'm in love!

It's getting kinda late and we're both so tired, so we head back to her place. Dinner at Trellis on the island. It was actually pretty good! I had a Chicken Sulvaki.. yuuuuuummmmmm. She had cheesecake with no crust. Back to her apartment, chatting away and then bedtime.

Day 3 - Sunday

I got to church with her. It was pretty interesting, but I started yawning anyway. The pastor is also a professor so it didn't sound as much like preaching as it did like a lecture/talk. I realized I kinda liked it, but I don't know if it's for me. I loved the diversity though. There were so many different people there. After church it was time to eat again! We went to meet up with her friends and went for Mexican Brunch.. so I'm pretty open to anything, but I'm thinking it's going to be burritos from a hole in the wall place. We ended up at Dos Caminos, a beautifully decorated restaurant with live music and warm, earthy decor. The food.. amazing! Served with alcohol of course, but I had orange juice. We had fresh guacamole made at the table, then I had banana and pecan pancakes with pecan syrup and butter.

Kris had chorizo with eggs, black beans and tortiallas. We shared.. I LOVE FOOD! I also got to try her friends tortilla casserole and salmon/avocado benedict on cornbread. Yuuuummmy. Then we went off to Chinatown to walk off our food. Her roommate got some huge pieces of chicken for $1.29!! That much chicken in a store would cost $5-6. I was amazed. Then back home. I know I haven't done much sightseeing, but I've been there before and my parents dragged me EVERYWHERE. We ordered Thai food and just hung out for the evening.

Day 3 - Monday

I was on my own since she was in class. So following the advice of my friend I went to Century 21, a discount clothing department store. I took the subway down there, somehow mixed up where to change trains and ended up walking 20 blocks to get there. It's all good though, I got to walk around Greenich Village and SOHO area and then came upon all the "official" buildings like City Hall, etc. I was close to site of the former world trade towers, but didn't feel up to going. So I finally found my way over there and wasn't in the mood to shop. But it was fun looking at all the designer clothes on "sale".. Pucci, D&G, Roberto Cavalli, etc. It was kinda sad though, to see them tied to the racks, a $1000 dress going for $600 tied to a rack..*sigh*. I looked for some Missoni, but they didn't have any and I was getting dizzy from all the clothes. I took the train back up to where SUNY optometry was and met Kris for a "drink". We watched the Yankee's rally in Bryant Park across the street from her school. It was funny, guys in suits shouting and cheering. There was one guy, really gorgeous body, just sun tanning in the middle of the grass. He took of his shirt, pulled one of the green chairs to the lawn, sat there and just napped. I guess this is how New Yorkers tan.

Wandered around some more, went to Midtown, lots of shopping. I did a lot of window shopping, tried some stuff on, didn't really feel like buying anything. Came upon a few other H&M's and got another top. Finally my feet were about to give and all I had to eat was a granola bar and a banana, hopped in a McDonald's got myself a Fish Filet (in memory of my mother.. it was 2 years to the day October 3, 2003 when she passed.. she loved Fish Filets for some reason) and parked my butt in a park to just relax and reflect. I was watching a squirrel try to find a spot to bury his nut.. and it dawned on me, that the only place to 'get away' in the city was the park. And that this squirrel probably knows nothing else except his park, he'd get sqashed the moment he left. Second thought was.. how did they get there in the first place..

5:30 rolled around and I met Kris back at her school and we headed home. Dinner time came and we went over to the Kebab King in Queens.. delicious. We had Tikka Marsala, Kebab, and one more.. it was a red looking chicken but oooo so yummy. With naan of course. We had to roll ourselves home we were so stuffed.

Day 4 - Tuesday

My last day! We were so lazy, and it was all gloomy.. until we decided to go outside. Then it totally cleared up, as if it knew we were heading out. My friend gave me a list of things I should eat, so today was the day to do it. We took the tram over to Manhattan instead of the Subway, really pretty. First stop, the Buttercup Bake Shop for Red Velvet Cupcakes.. oh all the cupcakes they had in there.. looked so beautiful. I could feel the sweetness penetrating the enamel on my teeth. After one cupcake each we headed to Gray's Papaya.. yahoo! Hot dog time! I got two hot dogs and drenched them in Ketchup (yes I'm californian) and a Banana daiquiri (virgin). Delicious. Subway to Central Park and we layed out for an hour, watching the horses go by and listening to the sounds of cars whizzing past and watched the couple to our right get all cuddly, while two guys in business suits sat on newspapers to keep themselves clean, and another bloke to the left slept with his pimp hat over his face.

Then it's off to SUNY Optometry again, I told Kris I'd let her practice on me. Their teachers decided to come in on the holiday and help them out. I let them shine a light in my eye.. over and over again. It was funny and I actually learned a little bit. Then Kris practiced that too and did the whole drops in the eye to check something else. I forgot what it was called.. (HERE'S A DISCLAIMER: if you're sensitive about your eyes, skip the next paragraph) I don't think the optometrists ever told you this.. when they put the drops in your eye and you look at the blue light, they actually TOUCH your eye! The drops are there to numb it so you don't feel it. It still didn't hurt, but it definitely felt weirder now that I was aware of this.

We were in there for two hours before we finished. Just in time for dinner! We decided on hamburgers and her roommate Hang said there was a good place in downtown. Back on the subway and to the Corner Bistro. There was a long line though, so we waited, and waited, and half an hour later were seated and another 15 minutes later these giant hamburgers with cheese and bacon was layed before us. Sooo good, don't forget the fries! After we finished it was time for dessert. So off to Cafe Lalo, remember that cafe in "You've Got Mail", where she's waiting for him with a book and a rose and he realizes the girl is his rival? Yeah we went there. It's a lot brighter and they definite cram more people into that place than it looked in the movie. The desserts aren't bad, but I didn't think they were exceptional, although there sure were a lot.. the pictures is of Kris in front of the case of desserts. Then again, when you've had tiramisu made from scratch in Florence nothing's as good anymore.

We got home around midnight and I was exhausted. All this walking around has left my calves aching every night. So I re-pack everything and set my alarm as tomorrow is leaving day. :(

Day 5 - Wednesday

Stupid stupid stupid me.. my cell phone was set to silent.. so the dumb phone rings silently... luckily I've already checked-in online because I wake up at 9:30, we're supposed to be out the door at 9:40. I wake Kris up and we get dressed and scrambled outside, just in time to find the bus coming around the corner. We get lucky, instead of having to walk 10 minutes to the subway station we bus it for a quarter. hehe. She leaves me at the train shuttle to the airport and we say our good byes. *sniff* My flights are all on-time thankfully and off I go. Eating more crappy airplane food while trying to watch Batman Begins on the tiny screens. I swear the food was the same.. only instead of lasanga I had ravioli (tasted the same). I did finish my book finally.. I've been trying to read the Rape of Nanking for the last three weeks. Finished the last 85% on the flight home. Transfer in LA for SF to arrive exactly on the dot at 4:54 as they said.

So that's it, my brief NY vacation and I'm back in California. I feel like I've been gone awhile, but really it's only been four whole days. Back to the same ol' routine I guess. Although I just found out one of my housemates from England is going to work in Argentina, in fact he's already there! I wonder how much flights are to Buenos Aires..

re-inking a fading tatoo

*GASP* you know that sound that people make when they come up for air and desperate need it? that sound feels like it's sitting deep inside my chest and echos in my ears lately. it's been almost two years and it feels like forever since she left us. for some reason as i get closer to the two year anniversary (if you can call it that) i have this desperate feeling that passes through me. i'm afraid i'll forget what she was like... her hugs and kisses, the sound of her voice, our talks, her teaching me how to cook (over the phone usually), just everything. i feel like i need to go through every memory of her that i have in my head like i'm trying to re-ink a fading tatoo.

i don't want to forget anything because this is all i have left. but i desperately want to see her now, to smell her, hug her, hold her and love her. i want to be able to ask her what to do now and to be able to ask those questions in the future when i need too. i want to be able to make new memories but i can't and it feels like i'm gasping for air trying to feel her again.

i don't want to forget her and it feels like so much time has passed.. i don't ever want to forget any of it, but there's this fear that her presence will fade and i will forget as more time passes.. how do you hold on and let go at the same time?

how to make..

How to make a jadeheart

Ingredients: 1 part friendliness 5 parts courage 5 parts empathy

Method: Add to a cocktail shaker and mix vigorously. Top it off with a sprinkle of lustfulness and enjoy!

Username:

Personality cocktail
From Go-Quiz.com

5 senses

It's kind of funny how random thoughts will hit you while you're doing the most regular things. Last night I went to my first book club meeting, we read "The Girl With a Pearl Earring" by Tracy Chevalier and then saw the movie staring Scarlett Johannson and Colin Firth. I've always tended to like books better than the movies, minus maybe the Lord of the Rings triology (they can get a bit slow in the middle). Anyway, there are big differences between the movie and the book because of time constraints for the film. The characters tend to develop a bit different and some are missing. But since I had read the book I had all this background knowledge and it helped. This was the first time that I felt like the book and the movie meshed well together. The background helped enhance the visual aspect. So it got me thinking about how we see things in life.

Our eyes are biased, we think we see the truths, but they only catch a fraction of what happens in a moment. And if you really sit and think about it, there's a lot going on. Each person in the 'scene'has a life, has a history that develops who they are. There are so many complexities that make us each individuals.

Even if we could trust our eyes to see truth, our hears to hear it, and all our senses to feel it out. Even if they were all working together, the truth is still a perception that we interpret in our minds.

I think this is why I like interacting with people so much. There's so much going on , so much that can happen. There are no absolute truths, but there are the truths that happen in your life to make you who you are.

CCS 21st Annual Auction & BBQ

Just thought I'd post a few pictures of our BBQ/Auction fundrasier, while I was doing the layout for our newsletter. Since May has this project consumed much of my time and effort at work. It was a lot of fun and went really smoothly. Everything looked great and the minor glitches that came up, we smoothed out pretty quickly. The food was delicious as usual. The firefighters from Local 1165 always come out and cook for us, it's so good, they do tri-tip, ribs, huge chunks of chicken, beans, salad, garlic bread... yummy. Look at all those chickens! We had these great auction items too. Hotel stays, gift certificates, cookbooks, floral arrangements, teeth whitening (I lost that bid), jewelry, purses (I donated one that I had made), spa treatments, haircuts, manicures, vaccuums, antiques, handmade quilts, scarves, and the so much more! The live auction items were really cool too.. too bad I don't have enough money to bid on all that, there were Sharks tickets paired with dinner at Outback Steakhouse, getaways to Mexico, cruisetrips, dinners by local chefs. What I really wanted was this gorgeous beach cruiser.. but honestly.. where am I going to ride it? Around my house?! Give me a break.. with all those hills that thing wouldn't make it. If I still lived in Newport.. I would have gone for it. But I only convinced myself that if I was going to spend $300+ (the bike sold for $275, that's how much they cost - at cost), I may as well invest it in a bike I'll use. So I decided to get a mountain bike. This way I can go out and about, maybe use it to commute to work. I can't wait for it to get here. All in all, the event was fantastic, and I think we made a profit of around $50,000. At least that's done.. for now. I have about a month to breath, before the planning for the next fund development projects start picking up speed.. here we go! :)

happy birthday mom

she would have been 54. we don't realize just how short time is and how young we really are all at the same time.

brain is dead.. and i'm venting

the human body amazes me, what we're able to endure physically and emotionally, how it just keeps functioning. there are so many parts to you as a person that has to keep running to keep you moving, thinking, breathing. every little bit is entwined with another part and no matter what hits you, you just keep going.

well.. that's been me this week. i just keep going. our agency's major fundraiser is tomorrow and i've been working on it since may. meetings every month for the bbq, for the auction, just because, phone calls, letters, mailings (i've been to the bulk mailing office 3 times in one month), counting, sorting, databaseing, logging, graphic design, website, promotion, press releases.. all me. weeee. i've definitely learned a lot and if you know me, you know how i like event/program planning. must be the virgo side of me that can't help herself. anyway it's the week before the event and i'm brain dead. yesterday i felt like i had things running through my head about the bbq, what i have to finish, what i need to make sure is there, delegating tasks, testing the computers for check-out, finishing up auction stuff, cleaning the database.. and the auditor comes in the middle of everything to get stuff from me. talk about a near train wreck in my head!

i swear i had a blank look on my face all day, but i kept working. my manager was asking if everything was alright, my executive director was asking about the audit and i was trying desperately to hold onto bbq/auction stuff inside my head while finding the answer to her question. i kept imagining little people in my head running around managing thoughts (yes i know i'm crazy :P). anyway, all in all it was fine, by about 5:15pm i had most things sorted out and when i stepped through the doorway to hula class i was feeling great. i left everything i was thinking about and just enjoyed the dancing and the learning and the movement. that and i finally slept through the night relaxed last night.

phew! just one more day and the bbq will here.. then it will be over and i'm sure i'll find something else that needs to get done..in fact my mind is already moving that way... newsletters, annual appeal, volunteer recruitment...

yes i love helping people.. can't help it. :) although some might look at it differently, i could just be in love with that self-sacrificing feeling of giving myself to help others.. but that involves a whole other post and more.

band geek

so i used to be a band geek or at least hang out with them, i don't know.. is the colorguard considered part of the band?

anyway.. yes i was in colorguard, spinning and tossing flags, sabres, and rifles and dancing across the field in funny look costumes. one year it was a tunic over a body suit (going to the bathroom was a chore), the next year it was a one piece suit over a ruffled shirt with ruffled cuffs, and then after that it was a black leotard with black velvet pants (that wasn't so bad). but yeah.. there was something glorious about running across a field while the band played, running from yardline to yardline, trying to reach your flags in time and not get in the way of the band or smack them with your flag.. hehe. okay may not sound so glorious, but when you win.. that felt good.

why am i going on about a cheesy high school memory? well.. last night i was channel surfing and i came upon the world band corp championships. yes folks, it goes on after high school ends. but you know what? some of them are really, really good! it was fun to watch. not to mention.. men in uniform ;) haha. you may laugh but some of those guys are pretty cute. if you think about it, they practice really, really hard, early in the morning, in the evenings, carrying their equipment and uniforms wherever they go. you can develop some serious muscle that way. Not to mention they're 'running' around on the field, non-stop... while playing an intstrument, that is not an easy feat. And the colorguard.. more running, dance practice, flag practice, etc. They work just as hard, on the field with the band and off.

So anyway.. just a bit of insight into a life of a band geek.. maybe they're not so geeky afterall.. where's the nearest field?

look it flips out too!

25 year old Monkeys

jumping on the bed! Yay, I'm 25, I can finally rent a car coz ya'll know how long I've been waiting for that.. (note sarcasm). But really, turning 25 doesn't feel like 25, in fact it doesn't really feel like anything.. other than a reason to party and get lots of present and birthday wishes.

It's fun coz I get birthday wishes on my birthday and the belated ones that come after only remind me of the fun I had. So this past Saturday I got to celebrate with other Virgo babies - Virginia, Karen, and Jen (I'm the oldest.. by a few days. :P). We went to Dragon Bar which is a nice place, low-key, mixed crowd, not snobby, pretty good music, free (before 11), so for the value I give it an A. Anyway, here's one of my favorite pictures from the night. Click on it to see more. We were trying to squish into the photo, the first one cut Jen's head off and then this one looks mushed. Which is how the night went.. with Jen doing most of the mushing.

A great time of dancing, drinking (coke), and friends. :) Thank you to the ones that made it out. And for those that missed it, let's just go out again. I'm done sitting on my butt watching movies.. I want out!! The going out bug has hit and I need bodies and ideas.. so let's go!