Snow in Vegas?

We went on our "Annual After Christmas Vegas Extravaganza" on December 26th. We were so glad that the bad weather had scooted out of the area by then because a friend of mine made the trip on Christmas Day and it took more than 8 hours in the snow and ice. Yikes.

Lately, we have been staying at the Red Rock Resort, which is way out west of the Strip in Summerlin. It's a super-nice community and is very laid back compared to the hub-bub of the Strip. In fact, we also had free rooms at Steve Wynn's newest hotel endeavor, Encore, but thankfully we decided to stay at Red Rock anyway. We went to check out Encore on Sunday and it was wall to wall tourists. People with video cameras, people with fanny packs, people with babies in papooses. There were literally 1000 people in line ahead of us to get our car out of valet. Okay, maybe not 1000, but more like 997. The only place not busy was the bar. How odd, I thought. So, we had a seat and began playing some VP. The bartender asked what we wanted to drink, and naturally we ordered assuming it was FREE. Wrong! The bartender said it would be $13.50 for a beer and a bottle of some fancy-schmancy water. Huh? Turns out that they don't embrace the free drinks at the bar policy like EVERY PLACE ELSE. You can only get free drinks on the floor, where there was a total of about 2 cocktail waitresses. Check please!

This is how Red Rock looks in the snow. My slot host sent this photo to me before our trip. Does this really make you want to come to Vegas??? They might want to re-think their marketing angle.



When I go back to Vegas in three weeks for my brother's birthday, (what gambling problem?), we're going to take some time and visit Hoover Dam. I'm actually looking forward to nerding out for a bit and learning all about it. I heard there are ghosts there of workers who met an untimely fate!

Beaches, gifts, and pan-pans

This is one of the best times of the year. Not only because it's Christmas and everyone is in good spirits and parties are numerous, but also because it's time to spend with family. My Mom and Dad have been coming out to Cali for Christmas ever since my brother lived here in 2003. They enjoy the warm weather and vacation-like atmosphere.

We spent one morning in San Clemente and had breakfast on the pier.



Christmas Eve was when we always used to open gifts at my Grandma's house in Chicago. There were so many of us and so many presents that it was the only way we could ensure that we had plenty of time to get them all open because more gifts would arrive in the morning from Santa. This year, we made use of our webcams and watched my nephew open our gifts for him live over the internet. I also got to see my favorite dog, Lucy.



For Christmas Mass, my local church used to put up a large wedding-style tent in the equestrian fields at Antonio and Ortega Hwy. This is because the regular weekend mass services were held in the Oso Grande elementary school, which wasn't large enough for the volume of people who turn out for Christmas. The church is planning to build their own new building on the vacant land near my apartment complex. They recently constructed a small temporary church building on that land and so the Christmas tent was erected on the grass. It would've been really nice if it hadn't rained all night! We lucked out when the sun came out on our walk home.



We had one of my favorite breakfasts on Christmas. We had what I grew up calling "pan-pans" for unknown reasons because they are not pancakes and do not even resemble pancakes except for the fact that they are made in a pan and are topped with syrup. Pan-pans are simply slices of cornmeal loaf fried in a pan from a recipe my Grandma (on my Dad's side) used to make. Now my Dad has carried on the tradition. Mmm mimosas....

My Big B-day Bash

This post is long overdue and I finally had some quiet time to myself to reflect on what an awesome trip I had for my birthday. As most everyone knows, I turned 29 again this year, which is weird because most people born in 1978 should've turned 30. Must be some sort of new math. Anyway, I had an absolutely amazing time, thanks for asking. The trip came about as an idea to get away on a mini-vacation for a few days when Sara said she wanted to come spend my b-day with me in Cali. Mammoth seemed like a destination that we would enjoy. As it turned out, Andrew also loves Mammoth and we were stoked that he wanted to join us. Another friend, Tammy, was there with us in spirit since she had some unforunate bad luck with an untimely car repair just prior to the trip. That just means we'll have to go again!



We booked a condo at the Village in Mammoth, which is a phenomenal resort in the town of Mammoth Lakes. I stayed there with Carrie and Aron back in 2004 and just loved the feel of it with the cozy stores and restaurants that were all within walking distance. The first night we walked around the Village to see what our options were. We selected a wine bar and split a bottle of Cab, my favorite. We also had the server select for us a variety of sliced cheese and crostini with olive oil. After we were sufficiently warmed up and relaxed, we braved the freezing weather and tromped over to the Auld Dubliner for dinner. We all had hearty Irish boxtys (boxties?) which pretty much put me over the edge into food coma. It was a great day.





The weather on my birthday was unreal! The next morning when we got up, it was snowing pretty hard at our condo and already there were 6-8 new inches. The part of the mountain near our condo in the Village wasn't open yet due to the lack of snow so far in the season, so we had to take a shuttle bus to Main Lodge, which was further up the mountain. On that drive up I have never seen so much snow in one spot! I was impressed by the bus making it up the winding hills with snow chains on. When we got to Main Lodge, it was blizzard whiteout conditions with a 60-70 mph wind. You literally couldn't see the lifts or the trees or anything. On the slopes, Andrew headed off on his own expert double-black dodecahedron trails with rocks and cliffs, while Sara and I stuck to the easier ones that were named things like "Sesame Street", "Squeeze the Charmin", "Jeezey Creezy This is Flat", and "Trust Me, This One is REALLY EASY". After a couple times of getting off the lift in complete whiteness, Sara and I decided to wait it out in the lodge where it was warm. Where there was food. And hot chocolate. Andrew was still out on the slopes doing an Olympic course or something that sounds equally impressive. He came and met us for lunch and said that several times he got vertigo from the snow swirling and not knowing which was was down. He also got buried in some drifts after going off a cliff on one of his expeditious runs. After lunch it was snowing a bit less and the winds weren't as bad, so we ventured out until 3:30 or so before it started getting worse again. I literally skiied into a drift up to my thighs! Every time you went down the hill, your tracks were covered by new snow. Andrew posted on his blog and fittingly titled it "God's Etch-a-Sketch".



By the time we were done for the day, there were already 3 feet of new snow. We headed back to the Village and sat in the outdoor hot tub, which was awesome. You're outside, the snow is falling, and there's all this steam coming up from the tub. We had it all to ourselves. We went and got some dinner at this Hawaiian-themed restaurant called Lakanuki's. Who would've guessed that all of their food would've been 50% off in honor of my birthday?



The next day was gorgeous. We woke up to 4 feet and blue skies! What else could you ask for? We were checking out of the condo that day, so we immediately bounced out of bed and packed the car. We then headed for Main Lodge again and since it was a Tuesday, there was practically no one there. It was awesome. We skied until lunch and then we had to drive home. It's a 6 or so hour drive and we weren't sure how the road conditions were going to be. Thankfully we left when we did because the next day we got a huge storm and all the freeway passes through the mountains near LA were closed due to snow! It was a crazy adventure.











I really had a special birthday and look forward to next year when I turn the big 2-9! Whoa!

Yes Virginia, there is still a blog

Many of you have been asking me what happened to my blog. Well, it's still here. It's just that I haven't been spending so much time with my computer, which is good! But, I will be posting more updates soon, including one about my big b-day bash! Just to throw a quick bone, here's a story about my lunch today. (No pun intended, you'll see...)

My Mom and Dad are in town to escape the wrath of winter that is wreaking havoc on the rest of the US. While we were out shopping today, my Mom and I stopped at On the Border since my Mom was craving one of their chicken burritos. I happened to venture out of my normal range of enchiladas and order a combo plate that included enchiladas and flautas. Baby steps people. Anyway, as we were enjoying said meal, I suddenly felt my tongue get pierced by a foreign object that was not part of the menu. I pulled out this massive chicken bone, which could also have been a brontosaurus bone. Grossed out, we finally managed to flag down our waitress who called over the manager. She apologized and offered to get me another meal. With the unplanned hole in my tongue, I didn't feel much like spinning the roulette wheel to choose another entree from the menu. She said that she would have my entree taken off the bill. Perfect, since I barely ate a third of it. We continued to sit there for another 5, 10, 15 minutes as we saw all sorts of other uninjured customers taken care of after they finished enjoying their meals. Finally, the manager came back by our table and said "You guys look like you're done. Can I get you anything else? Perhaps another refill? A box for your leftovers?" (Of course she was motioning to my picked over plate.) My Mom and I looked at each other as if to say "Did this woman shake her head and erase her brain?" She seriously forgot that we had an issue. I pointed to the ostrich bone on my plate and said "THIS is what we're waiting to get taken care of. No, I would not like a box." She said "Oh yes! I forgot. Can I get you a dessert? They are usually boneless." What a douche bag.

I Love Good Customer Service

I recently ordered a new pair of snow pants for my upcoming birthday ski trip. My old pants are okay, but they were a little snug in the hips when I tried them on a few weeks ago, so I ordered new pants that wouldn't make me feel like a sausage. When I got said new pants in the mail. They were HUGE! I'm not talking about a little big. These pants could be used as sleeping bag. These pants would fit me and my non-existent conjoined twin if we both wanted to ski. The website said to order a size bigger for more comfort... yeah not so much. However, the real reason for this post is due to the excellent customer service I received. They were pleasant, tried to fix my problem for me, and wished me a wonderful trip. They even sent me free handwarmers! I know it's not much, but it's unusual these days. Here's the website in case you ever need any discount snow apparel: Active Sportswear Outlet.

As for me, I guess I won't eat this week...

Sunset

This is a photo I took tonight of the sunset from my balcony... It was a such a beautiful evening with cool breezes and clouds in the sky.

So I had a meltdown...

I promised that I would continue posting about my Thanksgiving holiday, but I've just been too tired to do it! Also, the end of my trip wasn't the greatest. In order to conserve time, I'm reposting parts of an email I sent to Tammy when I needed "couch time". Things have greatly improved, but I still feel like I need to change something or somehow make it up to my friends and family who haven't gotten to see enough of me since my move to California.

<> I have been so tired after vacation. Isn't that pathetic? I guess I tried to squeeze in too much over a few short days. I actually had a major meltdown on Saturday at home. It was my last night in town and my brother had mentioned that he and Christie were getting together with one of their friends that night who they had hung out with the two previous nights. I was sort of upset because I thought that we should do something together as a family since it could be a very long time until I see them again. Well, after I heard that they made their plans, I went ahead and made plans with my friend Sara because I don't get to see her enough either. Unfortunately, this is when the problems started. By the time the evening rolled around, my Mom had mentioned to my brother that I was upset that we weren't all going to be together, so then he changed his plans for that night to stay at home.... but no one bothered to tell me! I didn't find out until when I was getting ready to go out and had already called Sara to come over. I got mad because I didn't want to, or feel I should have to, cancel my plans with her. The next thing I know, my mom is throwing her arms up because we all can't get along as a family and she says she's had it. It was unreal! I totally had a meltdown and started crying because of all the pressure I'm under to see certain people when I am home and make sure that everyone gets enough of my time. It's so stressful! I basically have to group a lot of my friends into one night to hang out because I don't have enough time to see everyone individually and it just kills me! I was upset because I was home for a whole week and it didn't seem long enough to make everyone happy. I suppose it's easy for friends and family to be selfish and not see how much pressure there is for someone visiting fro m out of town to set aside certain amounts of time to visit, but it's even more hurtful to the person who is visiting. Even my dad's side of the family was mad that we only came over for 20 minutes on Thanksgiving to say hi. There just isn't enough time in the day!

So anyway, this week has been hard because I've been trying to come to terms with what I should change, if anything. I just got tired of guilt trips put on me because of not spending enough time with people, but the flipside is that it's nice to have someone who is so interested in seeing you that they feel it is important enough to tell you. It would be unpleasant to not have people want to spend time with you.

When I got back to town I was thinking about just crawling into a hole and not being social at all because I was worried about not providing enough time for people. Of course my friend Lori was already hounding me to go to happy hour this week when I got back to town and then I actually smiled to think that I'm truly lucky to have friends who care enough to want to hang out. <>

Wine with Friends

Tonight I was planning to finish posting about my Thanksgiving trip, but I got sidetracked. Some of my friends at Curves invited me to go to Amazing Grapes for wine tasting. We worked out, so why not?? Amazing Grapes is a wine store and bar conveniently located next to our gym. They were conveniently having Ladies Night tonight and conveniently, we happen to be ladies. The store is intimate and cozy. Our host, Joe, looked like Howie Mandel and had about the same personality minus the silver cases.

The deal was this... a flight of three tastings for $2.00. Yes, $2.00! There were five of us, so we had a round of tastings, as well as an appetizer of hummus and gourmet nuts. The first was a chardonnay, the second was a sangiovese, and the third was a cab. Penny is not much of a drinker, so she was severely lagging behind the rest of us. Penny was only on the sangiovese when the rest of us had finished with the cab. Howie came back and "split" her taste of the cab amongst the four of us, which really meant that he just up topped up our glasses again for free!

Needless to say that it was a really fun evening... it's hard to beat good drinks with good friends and good conversations!

Now, where's my bed..............

Circle of Friends

Tonight I met up with my friends for a girls' nite out dinner.  It was great to catch up on each others' lives and have a few laughs over cheesecake.  Most of us have been friends since elementary school or at least middle school.  The only one of us missing was Jami, who just had a baby a few weeks ago back in Washington.  These girls are truly special to me since we share so much history from growing up together! 


R to L Kate, Tricia, Julie, Heather

The Song Stylings of Weekend Cheese

So my friends Sara and Rob got Rock Band 2, which I of course had to play because it comes with drums.  I've always wanted to play the drums, not sure why, but Sara knows this because I got a pair of drum sticks at the Joint in Las Vegas one year and then proceeded to drum all sort of songs in our dorm room.... which inevitably ended up in me getting my sticks taken away by her.  

You can play Rock Band with two turntables and a microphone (I said clap your hands) or actually it's two guitars, a microphone, and a drum kit.  They should make turntables part of Rock Band 3.  Sara and Rob let me join their indie band, Weekend Cheese.  You get to create characters, unlike in Guitar Hero, and then you can give them crazy hair cuts, tattoos, and buy sweet outfits and accessories.  Rob and I found that to be extremely entertaining.  Sara suggested that we find a game that's just about shopping and get back to rocking. 

Anyway, I didn't get a warm up session or any practice.  It was right into the first set.  I can't remember what the first song was because it was all a blur of beats and drum pedals.  Thankfully I didn't get us booed off stage!   The way it works is colored bars come at you that are coordinated with the colors of the four drums.  When you need to use the kick pedal, an orange line comes across.  During transitions between verses, you can fill in with creative solo beats and get bonus points so long as you hit the last green note in that section.  I finally figured that out by about the fifth song.  Rob was the master at the solo beats... he would go crazy and score like a million points.  Or something like that.

A couple of the songs that I rocked on were PDA by Interpol and Chop Suey by System of a Down.  It definitely helps if you know the song so you can get the beat.  That goes for singing too.  Sara's vocal stylings were always 100% spot on!   I switched it up and sang a few songs, like Blondie's One Way Or Another, Alanis' You Outta Know, and POTUSOA's Lump.  I really only like to sing in my car, but Sara and Rob didn't feel like moving the band to be near the cars.  Only then would we be a true garage band.

Here are some pix of our Rock Band night.  Curtis and Martin (cats) were our groupies.  They told us we were pretty good.

Yay vacation!!

So today is my first official day of vacation.  I don't count yesterday because the morning was spent packing up, then I had to drive to San Diego, then I waited around the airport, and then I finally got here at 6:30pm.  I got home in time to eat my favorite dinner... my Mom's spaghetti and meatballs.  It's the best!  She makes her sauce and meatballs from scratch.  It's just not quite the same when I make it.  It's good to be home.

My first day of vacation started off by being awoken by my mom at 6:45am so we could go to 7:30 church.  Yikes... that was so early!  Not to mention cold!  I know I have been complaining about being so hot in California, but it was only 22 this morning.  I should've brought more shoes.  I doubt I'll be getting much use out of my flip flops.   Speaking of which, I'm heading over to REI with Sara to check out their big sale.  We need to get a few items for the b-day ski trip!

Yay vacation

I am officially on vacation, which feels great.  It's been a pretty stressful week, month, .... well year really.   I am glad to get a few days off to recoup.  I'm heading to St. Louis tomorrow to visit my friends and family for Thanksgiving.  I am looking forward to cold weather!!  Stay tuned for some updates from the central time zone....

Bad luck or incredibly bad timing?

You may or may not know this, but I like the Cure.  That may come as a surprise to you.  They are still incredibly good live in concert, as Sara and I found out earlier this summer, and every time we see them we assume it could be the "last" time.   

Last week I heard that they were coming to LA to tape episodes of Jay Leno, Carson Daly, and Jimmy Kimmel in December.  That got rumors going that they were going to headline KROQ's Acoustic Christmas.  This is a very real possibility because Robert Smith does not like to fly, so when the band does travel, it's usually by boat.  If they're going to come to Southern California by boat/bus/dirigiberbil/etc., chances are it's not just to film a couple US tv shows.  

Here's where the bad luck/bad timing comes in.

First the bad timing.  When I heard they were taping Leno, I thought this would be too good to be true because I have connections at NBC and could score tickets to the show, no problem.  In fact, just last year, I got hooked up with front row tix, so I figured I was in like Flynn.... until I found out the taping was on December 11th.  Why is this a problem?  Well, because 11 months of hard work is culminating on the 12th at a 9:00am meeting.  Thereby making it extremely unlikely that I would be done early enough to skip a 1/2 day to go trouncing around LA to see them play one song.  Okay, I'll live.  They're still playing Acoustic Christmas, right?

Here's the bad luck part.  Normally the AC concert is held on the first weekend of December, which would be a perfect excuse to skip my office's annual holiday party, but I digress.  Today they made the announcement on the line up and the dates.  ::Drum Roll Please::  The Cure is headlining and this year it's on the second weekend in December.  Guess what.  I've already got plans that weekend to go to Mammoth with friends for my b-day ski trip!   Now, I am totally stoked about the trip and wouldn't reconsider for anything... all I'm sayin' is today was a real bummer of a day to find all this out!  Aaaarrrgh!!!

I just want to...

...give a single finger salute to the crooks over at NCL Financial. They have made my life a nightmare for more than 3 months.

It all started back in June when I went to the emergency room in Las Vegas with pneumonia/bronchitis. I was on vacation and extremely ill, so ill, that my mom found it necessary to take me to the ER. Beginning in early August the bills began to roll in. There were bills from the nurse on duty, bills for the antibiotics they administered via a shot in the butt (ow), bills for the anesthetics prior to the shot in the butt, bills for breathing treatments, and bills for the specialist doctor. In any regard, knowing I had received treatment and it was considered out of network by my insurance, I paid whatever bill came my way. Or so I thought.

One day early in September, I received a call on my cell phone from a 1-800 number. There was a voicemail from an automated system stating that they were attempting to collect a debt and that I needed to call back right away with a specific case number. Seeing as how it was a generic message and that I knew I always paid all my bills, I ignored it. Well, unfortunately the calls kept coming. They were coming 2-3 times per week at first and then it got to be almost every day. Even on the weekend! For several weeks straight I was getting a call at 6:03am on Sunday mornings. Gee, these people really know how to piss someone off.

I finally called them back early one morning and to my surprise, I was put on hold for 10 minutes which turned to 20 minutes, then 30, then 45! I hung up disgusted. The calls kept coming. It made no difference if you picked up the call because it was always the same automated system. I tried calling again later that week and same thing. Put on hold for 25 minutes. It was so aggravating! Finally in October, I called back again and this time I was passed from operator to operator until FINALLY someone took my call. I did not want to give them any personal information, but before I could even speak, they addressed me by name. Apparently they had caller ID. The operator said that I had an outstanding bill for $26.62 from the ER which I never paid and now they were going to damage my credit that I had worked so hard to build if I didn't pay them. Were they threatening me? I told them that I had NEVER received a bill and if I had, I certainly would have paid it. I demanded that they send a bill in the mail and I would pay it if it was legit. I made them confirm my address. The operator agreed and then hung up on me!

Fast forward a few weeks. I did some research online and found that this outfit is extremely shady (changing their phone numbers all the time) and often try to collect debts well outside the statute of limitations. In case you aren't familiar, the way debt collectors usually work is that they "buy" debt from creditors for a fraction of what the debt is worth and then do everything they can to collect because every penny above what they paid for the debt is pure profit.

Anyway, more than 4 weeks went by and I never got anything in the mail. No calls, nothing. I thought the nightmare was over. Until last week. The dreaded calls started up again nearly everyday. It is so FRUSTRATING to see that 1-800 number pop up on the phone. It's like a predator slowing stalking you. So last Tuesday I called them back. This time I was really irate. The person on the phone was accusing me of being a deadbeat and they were going to do everything they could to "ruin my financial future and prevent me from ever getting a mortgage." I stated (again) that I have never gotten anything in the mail. The guy at x2225 said that they had sent me three bills and obviously I was not going to pay so they were going to start charging fees if I didn't pay up. Of course I was not going to give these crooks a credit card number, so I demanded that another bill be sent out. He told me that they had sent one out on November 10th. Well this was the 11th and mail doesn't appear in my box by magic dumbass. I made him confirm my address and as it turns out, he didn't have my apartment number.

So today I got a bill in the mail from them dated the 12th (liars) and their cover letter had my correct address, but the actual bill did not have my apartment number. It's kind of hard to pay something that isn't addressed correctly, isn't it?  Stupid bastards. Thanks for making my life miserable the past few months for no reason. Thanks for making me spend extra money on fraud protection and checking my credit reports and FICO scores. Thanks a lot. I appreciate it. I will be sending a money order tomorrow (no personal checks Suze Orman says) and hopefully this nightmare will be over for good.

Fire everywhere

Once again, California is on fire. Today will be 95 with single-digit humidity. I felt guilty last night coming home from a great evening out with friends in Laguna Beach and turning on the news only to see that another wildfire had started in LA destroying people's homes. I slept on the couch because the carpet wasn't dry (see below) and there was NBC coverage all night on the fire. At one point I actually incorporated some of the fire coverage into my dreams and dreamt that Ladera was on fire and I needed to evacuate! This morning, the fire is even bigger and some 2,500 acres have burned. RIght now the 5, 405, 14, 118, and 210 freeways are all shut down right now in the vicinity of the fire. It's unreal. There are some high-voltage power lines in the path of the fire, so we may end up with rolling blackouts if and when those are affected. On top of that, this doesn't help our water shortage issues.

Last year was one of the worst fire seasons on record. There was on fire that was only a few miles from work and it eventually made it down to only a few miles from where I live. It was eerie! Each day I packed up important documents, photos, etc., in my car just in case it got closer and we were asked to evacuate. Here is a photo from last year where the fire is above Lake Mission Viejo. It's beautiful, yet frightening.

Borderline OCD?

Anyone who knows me knows I'm obsessed with cleaning. Last weekend I was thinking that I should put up my Christmas tree because I'm going to be out of town for the next several weekends, which naturally means I have to get my carpet cleaned.

Okay, now that you're questioning how a Christmas tree = carpet cleaning, let me explain. Once the wheels started turning, one thing led to another and before I knew what happened, I had this huge list of things that needed to be done before I could put up the tree! One of those things was to have the carpet cleaned. If I am going to take the time to move stuff around in my apartment, which I inevitably have to do because it's so small and introducing something as large as a tree requires a bit of magic and some Crisco, I wanted to get other tasks out of the way so I don't have to move everything again later for cleaning. SO, here I am, waiting for the carpet cleaners to come. I requested the morning time slot, so I am going to be extremely disappointed if they don't show up soon because I'm also supposed to be at work.

Is it too much to ask...

...for someone to not touch the glass when shutting my car door? I realize that my car does not have a door frame around the window for your convenience, but that does not make it okay to put your fingerprints all over the window while shutting the door. Use the handle! I'm just sayin'.

Overactive Imagination

So I had this really realistic dream last night that I got laid off from work. It was so vivid and emotional, that I swear I probably yelled out in my sleep at some point. It started with some gossip around the office that more layoffs were coming (we had one earlier this year). The way the layoffs were circulated were, oddly enough, via a PDF in email. You basically looked for your name and hoped it wasn't there. Anyway, I didn't pay attention because I thought no way would my name be on there. But, I got nosy and looked just as I was going to delete the email... and there was my name. Funny thing was that my name was under the heading of "Transportation", which is the group I worked in when I first joined B&V in 2001 but switched to water when I moved to CA. I got really upset and started demanding an explanation. The only explanation I could get was that each department head had to pick a name and since the Transportation head probably didn't know me, he picked my name. It apparently didn't matter that I was no longer in that department. What bothered me the most is that others in my office knew about this before me and did nothing to stand up for me!! I was absolutely devastated. I remember crying in my dream and thinking how I was going to move back to St. Louis, but I would have to leave all the friends I made here. It was an awful dream and I think I woke up more tired than before I went to bed!!

So all you dream interpreters out there...what does this mean?

Jewelry, makeup, and.... wine

Today was about as girly of a day you can get.  My friend Jane was hosting a Silpada jewelry party at her house and my friend Lori was also selling her Mary Kay makeup.  The day began with me heading over to Lori's house to help her pack and schlep her wares over to Jane's house in Dove Canyon.   We needed lots of time to set up and also to make hors d'oeuvres for all the women who were about to be descending on her home.   While we were setting up the Mary Kay table, Jane popped the first bottle of wine.  Who cares that it wasn't even noon!

Jane's daughter-in-law, Courtney, and I then moved to making tasty appetizers and tasting each one (just to make sure they went with the wine, of course).  A couple hours (and glasses) later, Mary and her partner Nicole arrived to start setting up their jewelry displays.  If you've never heard of it, Silpada jewelry is sterling silver jewelry that can be both casual and dressy.  It is not costume jewelry since the pieces are made with fine materials like sterling silver, rare stones, beads, shells, and leather, by artisans all over the world.  It was fun trying on the different pieces and also perusing the catalog.  Based on my experience at the party today, I developed a complex mathematical relationship (below) that I shall abide by on all future endeavors.  Don't be surprised if you get jewelry or makeup for Christmas!!

The hapa hapa hapa happy world

This is my current favorite song.  Just give it a chance.

4:13 Dream Track by Track

What can I say? “4:13 Dream” gets better with every listen. Interesting, yet sometimes heart-wrenching lyrics, the music you can’t get out of your head… Awesome guitar and bass parts, all kinds of sounds that make you wonder.   Experimental, biting vocals.  What else can you wish for? But I have to say – this album is not as accessible as some people might think. It seems to be pretty upbeat – mostly, but the lyrics are not, Robert managed to wrap serious, sad, honest words with intense hooks and melodies.  This album will not be light, poppy fare that's candy to your ears – it makes you listen attentively and think hard, only then you will really hear it. 

I'm not sure anyone could have predicted 4:13 Dream before they first heard it - and that is a good thing.  4:13 Dream is today's Cure, unapologetically guitar-driven and intense (as their live shows of this year demonstrated), but still capable of being melodic and full of intrigue, creating unique soundscapes and dream imagery that is reminiscent of the drug-laden era of Pornography and The Top while preserving the hard, yet melodic moments seen on Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me and Wish. It's hard, it's intense, and it's visual. Listening to the album takes you on a wild journey of imagery starting off with the dreamy  "Underneath the Stars", descending into the depths of The Cure's dreamworld, traveling through a variety of scenes before hitting bottom with the nightmare of "The Scream" and being spit back into consciousness after enduring the frenetic mania of "It's Over".   It's a crazy trip, and it's one that you'll find yourself wanting to repeat over again and again ... and again and again and again!  (Okay, blatant reference to "A Forest".)

The album title is not as cryptic as it may seem.  This is the band's 13th studio album and they released four singles on the 13th of four consecutive months.  Rumor has it that they recorded another 20 songs and the "dark" companion album will be released next year when Robert turns 50.  50!  Can you believe it???

If I haven't bored you to death yet, here are some notes I took while listening:

1. "Underneath the Stars" (6:17)
This is a slow ballad the band used to open many shows on the U.S. tour. The familiar chimes take you back to "Pictures of You" of the Disintegration era, but for me, the song fails to deliver.  Robert's nearly unintelligible vocals are drowned in echo effects, thickening the song's moody ambiance.  In a way, it lulls you into thinking this is going to be an uplifting album ala "Wish"... oh but it's about to get much, much darker.

2. "The Only One" (3:57)
This jangly, effervescent pop tune is a song reminiscent of Wish-era Cure and was released as the album's first single back in May.  Robert delivers his happiest and most enthusiastic vocals talking about all the things you could do to him.  It could be a bit creepy, hearing those words sung by a 50 year old man, but c'mon, it's Robert!

3. "The Reasons Why" (4:35)
Tension returns on this mid-tempo rocker, punctuated by Simon's melodic basslines. Robert's melancholy lyrics ("I won't try to bring you down about my suicide...") set the tone as the song builds from its subdued opening to an explosive climax.

4. "Freakshow" (2:30)
Freakshow is the Cure at its funkiest and friskiest.  It has cowbell!!!  You can tell because Robert puts on his deeper voice, which is his way of putting on another persona.   Freakshow presents a scene frothing with seediness and gives a taste of what's to come.  It seems to me like a throwback to the B-side called "A Man Inside My Mouth", but yet still catchy and fun to sing along to.


5. "Sirensong" (2:22)
Robert gets romantic! Slide-guitar moans, acoustic strums, and piano melodies highlight this airy, whimsical pop waltz.

6. "The Real Snow White" (4:43)
Robert begins this song chanting "You've got what I want" in a snarl that's almost ... sexy? But the flirtatious opening takes a dark turn as the band lays down some of the album's darkest grooves. I wasn't sure what to make of this song the first time I heard it, and was certain that I couldn't stand it. But before I knew it, TRSW was running constantly through my head and I was sucked into its dark, sleazy scene. This song is full of drug references, sexual innuendo, and Robert's seductive and incessant insistence that, "You've got what I want," TRSW leaves your head spinning, unsure of what you just witnessed. All you know is that it was dirty, seedy, and that you liked it more than you probably should've. I love the throaty tone with which he utters the last words, "I swear."

7. "The Hungry Ghost" (4:29)
This bouncy tune could have been pulled straight from the Bloodflowers cutting room floor. Greed is the focus of the poppy, guitar-driven song.  This song was one that I had to listen to several times before I got into the hooky groove and now it's one of my favorites on the album.

8. "Switch" (3:44)
A robotic drum beat and distorted guitar squalor kick off this mid-album highlight. The band picks up the pace, and Robert adds to the intensity by delivering paranoid lyrics that lament his isolation... "And I'm sick of being alone with myself"

9. "The Perfect Boy" (3:21)
In this song, Robert presents both sides of a doomed love affair on the album's most sentimental cut.  This is a quintessential Cure song from a happier time.  To me, this seems like an odd place for this song. I think it should have gone earlier in the track listing, before things started getting crazy. I have a hard time going from "Switch" into this and on into the next song.

10. "This. Here and Now. With You." (4:06)
A quirky, mid-tempo track, highlighted by chiming guitar melodies, heavy bass tones and another bright, easy to like chorus.  Once again, I think it belongs earlier in the album, knowing where the album is headed.

11. 'Sleep When I'm Dead" (3:51)

This song was one of those that stood out to me during the live shows.  It was a song that left me wanting to hear more.  It was also a song that Robert would often dance around on stage to.  The hooks are catchy and the lyrics are intriguing.  It's an all-around satisfying song, reminiscent of the Head on the Door era.

12. "The Scream" (4:13)
Right off the bat I found it interesting that this song, a veritable turning point in the album, is 4 minutes and 13 seconds long.  A dense, brooding track, the song explodes into a hurricane of howling vocals, screeching guitars and frantic rhythms, resulting in the album's most intense emotion. This song's darkly delicate opening quickly descends into nightmare territory, with increasingly frightening words and sounds (Robert's scream is 15 seconds long!) and images culminating in terror as Robert insists that, "this is not a dream." This one makes my heart pound.

13. "It's Over" (4:16)
Contrary to most Cure albums, 4:13 Dream ends on a fast-and-furious note. "It's Over" kicks off loud, noisy and nasty, and the energy only grows from there. Robert rattles off lyrics like a madman as the world crumbles around him. Now that your heart is pounding, get ready for it to race.  By the end of this one, you're bracing yourself for the crash. You're speeding out of control towards the end of the album - towards waking up out of the dream - and it's frightening and exhilarating all at once. Yet once it's done, you're ready to start the whole dream over again. 

What if your bed commented on your blog?

I love Anne and today her bed posted a comment on her blog. I'm serious. Okay, maybe it wasn't her bed, but rather the sales person for her bed. You see, recently Anne was complaining of back pain, so she decided to go and buy a new bed from the people who make beds with numbers in them. I am afraid to type the name here for fear that they will seek me out and try to sell me a bed too. And then comment on it. If you don't believe me, go here and here.

I may sleep on the couch tonight.

Welcome Andrew Carter!!

I just want to give a shoutout to my good friend Jami and her husband David, who welcomed their new son, Andrew, into the world on Halloween! I have to say that we were all a bit surprised by the name they chose. You see, Jami has always been a HUGE fan of the show 'Friends'. Her first son's name is Joseph Chandler, aka "Joey", so the name Ross was a 2-1 favorite amongst our friends. We thought something perhaps like Ross Phoebe or Ross An'Rachel might be in there somewhere. But, Andrew is a great name. What's awesome is their last name is Jackson, so he's a namesake for the 7th President of the United States!

Anyway, I am just very excited that everything is going well and I hope to get to see them soon. Jami and I have been friends at least since 3rd grade, maybe earlier. I don't get to see her often, since she had been living in Alaska for several years and now lives outside Seattle. Here are some of my favorite memories with Jami:

1. We were the only two in our group of friends who loved Star Trek: The Next Generation, so we often nerded out in middle school and wrote notes to each other in class with our code names. I was "Troi" and she was "Geordi". Yeah, we were dorks, but it was fun! I wouldn't trade it for anything.

2. She was there for me when I got my foot stuck in the basket beneath the desk in front of me in 8th grade Spanish class, even though she couldn't stop laughing.

3. I went to her New Kids on the Block birthday party when I didn't even like them and actually spent the evening shooting pool in the basement with her neighbor, Kevin, listening to this new band called "The Offspring".

4. For another birthday, Jami had a slumber party where we played "Truth or Dare" and had our sleeping bags all arranged in a circle in her living room. When it was my turn, I asked Ehren Ressell "Truth or Dare" and she chose dare..... so I told her to stick her naked butt on the living room plate glass window until a car drove by. Just as Ehren was doing so, Jami's mom came out and caught her!! Her mom said that we all had to clean the windows the next morning! Then, her mom sat there to make sure we were all going to sleep. Unfortunately, I wasn't in my sleeping bag, because I had gone to lay next to my friend Ali, but I didn't dare make a move!

5. Jami has a huge famiy that goes to Table Rock Lake every summer. I got to tag along in the once and had the best time water skiing and riding wave runners.

Here are some pix that I dug up... Jami's gonna kill me!! :)

March 2006: Me, Jami, and Katie (Tricia was taking the photo)

LHS Varsity Tennis Team 1996:
Jami is second from the left and I'm on the far right.

Jami's Basement 1996:
Jami had a dark room in her basement and took and developed this photo.

Table Rock Lake 1995:
Wave runner fun! We were racing her uncle's boat.

The Perfect Boy

I've had the new Cure album, 4:13 Dream, for about a week now. I'll post a complete review later, but for now, the song on the album that stands out to me is "The Perfect Boy". Its quintessential Robert Smith. One of the main reasons I like the Cure is the poetic, deep, emotional lyrics and that is what had been lacking on the last album. His greatest talent is telling stories with music and this album seems to go back to those days.

Where is my perfect boy? I've been waiting so long...



"You and me are the world”
She said
“Nothing else is real
The two of us is all there is
The rest is just a dream…
Always meant to be
I can feel it
Like a destiny thing
Written in the stars
Inescapable fate
Yeah it’s out of my hands
Falling into your arms”

“And I don’t want to get innocent
But I would love you to take my time
We’re on the edge of a beautiful thing”
She said
“Come on…
Let’s stay here for a while”

Oh girl!
He is the one for sure
Oh girl!
He is the perfect boy

“Yeah me and you are a world”
He said
“But not the only one I need
The two of us is never all there is
That doesn’t happen for real
If it was meant to be us
It was meant to be now
Don’t see the sense in wasting time
If you’re so sure about this
Laurel kismet hardy thing
You know tonight you’re mine”

“And I don’t want to get obvious
But I have to be gone by three
Were on the edge of a beautiful thing”
He said
“So come on… jump with me”

Oh girl!
He’s not the one for sure
Oh girl!
He’s not so wonderful
Oh girl!
He’s not the one for sure
Oh girl!
He’s not the perfect boy at all

“You and me are the world”
She says
“Nothing else is real
The two of us is all there is
The rest is just a dream… ”

And her heart may be broken
A hundred times
But the hurt will never destroy
Her hope…

The happy ever after girl
One day finds the perfect boy

Girls' Day Out

Today my friend Lori (former Curves owner) and I celebrated Halloween with a Girls' Day Out. I met Lori at her house at 7am, which is a bit early for a Friday off, and we set off towards our destination of Palm Springs. The weather was cloudy, cool, and a few sprinkles here and there. It felt just like fall, as it should. Lori suggested that we make a stop at her favorite breakfast location east of LA, which is the Farmhouse in Banning, CA.



The Farmhouse is pure Americana. For those of you who have been to a Cracker Barrel, it's pretty much a privately-owned version of one of those, complete with an adjoining antiques shop. They have a huge menu with everything from hearty breakfast platters to chicken fried steak to ... Mexican food? Yeah, not sure about that, but everything else looked awesome. They make their own pies and desserts and the cinnamon rolls looked to be the size of a small baby. What I found endearing was they are so non-commercial that they don't even have dessert boxes with their logo on it. Someone actually takes the time to write their name and draw a logo on every pie box by hand! Anyway, seeing the gigantuan portions that other tables were getting, we opted to share a Western omelette with home fries, wheat toast, and a half order of biscuits and gravy. Oh yeah baby! Biscuits and gravy are one of my guilty pleasures. Turns out, same for Lori! They were literally the best I have had in California. I sometimes make my own version on "Football Sundays", but these were way better. Almost worth the drive in itself. Although, I'm not sure how any one person could eat all that we got though. It was 4 biscuits with at least a pound of sausage gravy on a giant platter. And that's a HALF order!

After breakfast, our destination was going to be Agua Caliente casino in Palm Springs. But then we saw Morongo. Since neither of us had been there, we decided to stop and check it out. It was nicer than I thought it would be and you could see that they were really trying to be like a Vegas casino. The casino floor was huge, but 98% of the machines were the video slots, which Lori and I don't play. We found video poker over in one teeny section, so we played for a couple hours, both breaking about even. We finally found several banks of brand new video poker machines waaaay back in a corner. Video poker doesn't give the house as much advantage as the mindless slot machines, so that's why they can be harder to find. We played over there for a few more hours and enjoyed a few beers and generally just had a great time. So much so that we decided to leave Agua for another adventure. I wish I could say that we won or hit a royal, but it didn't happen. It was just good times with good company.

update

Okay, I couldn't walk away without figuring out what went awry. I guess that's the engineer in me. I found out that in the process of changing my blog, I reverted to the classic template which doesn't let you choose the fancier templates so that's why it was just plain black. Now that that mystery is solved, I feel slightly better.

Don't do what I just did

I decided that I was going to change the background of my blog which then escalated to changing the entire HTML for the template itself. I spent about an hour searching for a template I liked and after running into several dead ends with either codes that didn't work or .txt files that I couldn't read, I finally found a site that required that you upload the .xml file rather than copy and paste HTML. When I did that step, Blogger informed me that my widgets would be deleted. I figured it would only take 15 or so minutes to redo my widgets, so I said OK. For some reason, the preview works, but my Blogger site just shows the standard black background template. After about another hour of frustration, I finally reverted back to my old blog by copying and pasting my old template from an email I sent to myself in the very event something like this would happen (clever, eh?) Well, now the preview looks like my old blog, but when I actually open my site, its just the black background!!! Argh! I can't deal with this right now.

new is not always better

I'm really digging this song lately.



On an unrelated note, the new Cure album is being released tomorrow (it was incorrectly reported that it was to be released last Friday), so I will be hitting Best Buy at lunch to pick it up! As I say, new is not always better (no way they can top 89's Disintegration), but this album has got a lot of great reviews, so my hopes are UP!!! The album artwork looks great so far!

Say farewell to Samantha...

No, this is not some sort of ransom note. I'm talking about the American Girl doll, Samantha Parkington, who is going to be put into the AG archives. You're probably wondering why I care and it's kind of a funny story. The American Girl doll craze started sometime when I was in high school. At the time, AG dolls were a collection of five or six historic dolls, each from a different era in American history. The dolls came with a series of story books centered around her life story and lots of period clothes and accessories that you could buy. These dolls we're not something you would really play with. Each doll costs about $100 and to buy all her accessories would run about two grand per doll. Today, there are about 15 AG historic dolls and also present-day dolls that you can have made to look like you... or your daughter. It's a pretty neat concept.

Anyway back to my story. When I was graduating from college, as you do, I got several gifts from friends and family. My Mom's side of the family mainly gave me various amounts of money, while my Dad's side of the family got together and gave me... Samantha Parkington. Yes, you can imagine the look of surprise on my face when I got a 2-foot tall doll at the age of 23. My aunt explained that she knew how much I love the Little House on the Prairie books and TV series when I was growing up (this was true, loved those stories) and so she thought that this gift of a doll from 1904 would remind me of those days. Couldn't I just reread the books or watch the re-runs of the show that are on every Sunday on Channel 9? Besides, the Little House series was set around 1870 so this Samantha doll wouldn't even have lived then. To truly be correct, they should've bought me the Kirsten doll who was from 1854. But, I digress. It was a thoughtful gift. So my aunt contacted me today to let me know that Samantha and her accessories will no longer be available after 12/31. She wanted me to know in case there were any pieces that I still needed to complete my collection. I didn't have the heart to tell her that I haven't bought a single accessory because, well, kids my age generally don't buy dresses for dolls.

But, if I had to pick any doll to have, I would've picked Samantha. Some day my kid is going to get a new-old doll from 1904 circa 2001 with no accessories.

All the leaves are brown...and the sky is grey

I've been uploading photos to my new computer and I was reminiscing through some photos from Thanksgiving last year. Fall is my favorite season. I can't wait until my trip to St. Louis in November... only 29 days till I get there! The weather will actually feel like fall, rather than the freaking hot weather we've been having here! Plus, we're going to celebrate Tricia's 30th b-day!

Walgreens rocks

I'm always looking for a good bargain and Walgreens is usually a good place to start. Waaay better than CVS. Walgreens has a monthly rebate book with coupons and rebates for many products that I use or want to try out. This month, one of the rebates was for the new lithium Energizer batteries. They are lightweight and last longer than regular batteries. You can never have enough batteries, right? I use a lot for my Wiimotes and random other electronics. Anyway, the rebate was to buy $30 in batteries and get a $15 iTunes gift card. The batteries are normally $5.99, but this week they were on sale for $2.99. That meant I needed to buy 11 packages to qualify for the rebate. I had to go to two stores because Walgreens emails a weekly coupon for $5 off any purchase of $20 or more so I wanted to maximize the use of that. Here is how I fared:

Walgreens Store #1
7 packages @ $2.99 = $20.93
Less email coupon for $5 off purchase of $20
Total = $15.93

Walgreens Store #2
4 packages @ $2.99 = $11.96
other toiletries to get to $20 = $8.29
Less email coupon for $5 off purchase of $20
Total = $15.25

Total amount of stuff bought less $15 gift card = $16.18

Total amount without coupons, sale, rebate = $74.18

Oh yeah.

Just goofing around

Here's a pic I managed to take with my new webcam!

Check out my IT skillz...

Now that I have my new computer I naturally wanted to hook it up to my wireless network. Not too much to ask, is it? Apparently it is. I've been having issues with my wireless setup where, for seemingly no reason at all, the wireless network will just disappear. I can still hook up via ethernet, but who wants to roll with 1999 technology? I figured out recently that when you live in a complex with a lot of other wireless networks, other networks can somehow mask your signal. Not sure why it's always MY signal that gets masked, but apparently that's what's happening. There are only 10 wireless channels and most routers come with default settings as 1 or 2. Therefore, since 99% of the people never change it, they get overloaded. Whenever I can't find my network, I have to log in as an admin on my router and change the channel. It's a pain, but at least it works! BOOYA!

Arrested Development Arresting Developments

So tonight a few of us from work went down to Newport Beach Brewing Co to partake in what is called Taco Tuesday. Why a brewing co has Taco Tuesday is yet to be determined, but it was still really fun. Besides the 3-foot tall column of beer with a tap on our table (not joking) they also happened to have NTN trivia. NTN trivia is a bar game that's played across North America by answering questions on a TV screen with a little transponder at your table. Why the Arrested Development reference you ask? Well the show is set in Newport Beach, which oddly enough is where we were. On my drive there, I saw a car with one of those oval stickers that usually has initials for where they live. You know what I'm talking about... no one ever has a big "C" for Compton or a "G" for ghetto. They usually flaunt some fancy place like Coto de Caza (CdC). Anyway, back to my story. The car had this sticker that just said "Her?" and as soon as I saw it, I knew it was from AD! For those who didn't see the show, Michael Cera's character dates a plain girl named Ann Veal and everyone always says "Her?" when he says she is his girlfriend.


Anyhow, there weren't enough NTN transponders to go around, so Andrew and I made up our own team. In the spirit of the location, we went with the team name "Bluth" (another AD reference) and then we randomly heard the song "Final Countdown" play on the stereo, which is Gob's theme song! Totally funny timing!

">

First Mac Blog Post!

So I was totally surprised that my new computer arrived today! I had just ordered on Friday and using free shipping, I figured I was in for at least a good week of waiting. Not so much! I bought from MacConnection on a tip from Andrew, so I highly recommend purchasing from them in the future! They also sell PC stuff at PCConnection.

I'm a happy user so far! I like how the Safari browser looks and the font that Mac uses is better than the standard Arial. I did have to adjust the screen brightness because it wasn't as bright as my HP. It also automatically adjusts based on ambient light, so that's kinda neat. I haven't transfered anything from my old computer yet. I figure I'll have plenty of time for that next weekend. I'm just happy that I was able to figure out how to get online! I can't remember the security password I set up for my wireless network (doh), so I had to breakout the ethernet cord. I suppose that's another item I'll add to my list. I was also going to take a picture of my computer, but I figured that was too much learning for one night.

4:13 Dream Releases on 10/24

The Cure's thirteenth studio album, 4:13 Dream, is going to be released next week! I haven't been this excited about a Cure album in a long time, mostly due to some of the disappointment I've found with the other recent albums. Their last studio album, The Cure, was almost unlistenable. I think I listened to it a total of five times and then I had to put it away. There was too much of Robert's screaming vocals and not enough of the melodic qualities we've grown to love. It was lacking the deep, rich, mysterious layers of music and swirling vocals that make the earlier albums so decadent. Craig Parker over at Chain of Flowers has already heard the album and used words like "magical", "dynamic", "manic", and "chilling" to describe it. I can't wait! I need to get it home, pop it in my stereo and listen in the dark to really get a good feel for it. Here is the track listing from Robert himself on his website:

IT WILL SOUND SOMETHING LIKE THIS...

01 UNDERNEATH THE STARS
02 THE ONLY ONE
03 THE REASONS WHY
04 FREAKSHOW
05 SIRENSONG
06 THE REAL SNOW WHITE
07 THE HUNGRY GHOST
08 SWITCH
09 THE PERFECT BOY
10 THIS. HERE AND NOW. WITH YOU
11 SLEEP WHEN I’M DEAD
12 THE SCREAM
13 IT’S OVER

In the meantime, Fuse is airing an hour-long set from the Cure's recent concert at Madison Square Garden today at 11:30am. Woo hoo! Here's "Inbetween Days" from that concert.

I pulled the trigger!

Thanks to everyone for their input and comments on my big purchase! I went ahead and bought the MacBook and a new all-in-one printer yesterday from Macconnection.com. It has already shipped! So, I should be up and running by next weekend assuming I can figure out how to use a Mac. I feel like my current HP is sensing what's about to happen because it keeps acting up doing things to thwart my plan. Things like refusing to connect to the internet, stalling when trying to print the rebates for my new computer, and requiring frequent restarts. It doesn't realize that it's going to be relocating to St. Louis and will get the same attention and use from my Mom.

(Note: even while trying to post this post, my computer gave me an error... hmm... I sense a conspiracy?)

Size Does Matter

Okay so yesterday Apple announced their new line of MacBook and MacBook Pros on Engadget. The announcement came at a great time because I'm in the market for a new computer. The new MacBooks now come with everything that the Pros have, but they are 13" screens rather than 15". Andrew and I went to the Apple store at the Spectrum today during lunch to check them out, but they didn't have any on display yet. What gives? You can't sell what you don't have! Er, actually they can. The genius dude told me that they already sold out of the stock they received that morning.

So my dilemma is this: The MacBook with everything and the 13" screen is $1599. The new MacBook Pro with everything and the 15" screen is $1999. Is 2" worth $400? That's $200/inch or $100/half inch. That's a lot! The other option on the table is to get the older MacBook Pro (which Andrew has and is awesome) is about $1500, but it doesn't have the new features and also I can't find one with a glossy screen. They all have the matte screen, which I find I don't like as well.

So what is a girl to do? Will I shoot myself later for not spending the $400 now for the bigger computer, or will I learn to appreciate the lighter, more transportable 13" MacBook?

Top 10 Reasons Why Today Sucked

10. Freaking NY Giants beat winless Cleveland to knock me out of the football pool with a pot of over $14,000.

9. My DVR restarted itself randomly and lost some of the saved programming I recorded (note: final episodes of Gilmore Girls are safe).

8. My 401(k) was down $18,000, which is equal to the amount remaining on my car loan (I know, it's just paper money, but still).

7. California is on fire AGAIN.

6. A tumbleweed on the freeway scratched my bumper.

5. My big boss at work is ignoring my request to discuss my horrible mid-year review for the third time.

4. I feel PMS-y.

3. My lower back still hurts from when I hurt it over 1 month ago.

2. I want to go on a weekend trip to Vegas, but have no one to go with.

and the number 1 reason why today has sucked...

1. I jammed my pinkie toe on the wood foot of the sofa. OW!!

Fun with numbers

...from one of my favorite cartoons, XKCD.com

"Olivia"

I am very close with my younger cousins. In my family on my Mom's side, my brother and I are the oldest of 12 grandkids and I've always thought of them more like siblings I enjoy helping them with homework even if we have to do it over the computer. My cousin Lauren was asked to write a personal essay about something that is important to her in her daily life. Lauren chose to write about her sister, Olivia. I decided to post her essay here, which is fitting since today is Olivia's birthday. The sentiments in her essay made me a bit teary eyed and wishing I had a sister too.

“Olivia”

October 8, 1996, Olivia Grace was born. To the human eye she looked just like every
other baby that had ever been born. She had her hands clinched in a ball, a pink and blue hat on her tiny little head, and an outfit that drowned her. She looked like the perfect baby girl. I was so excited to have a baby sister!

Olivia is my second sister. She is someone that at times can make you laugh, can make you cry and can make you want to pull your hair out. She’s the lovable middle child. Olivia is someone I try to put myself in her shoes. Every day is a journey for her and it’s never easy. The easiest tasks can make or break her. She has an auditory processing disorder, which simply means she can’t process what you’re saying. She hears bits and pieces of conversations all day long. It’s like when you’re on your cell phone and you’re not getting good reception when you’re
talking to someone and you only can hear one or two words and its fading. She goes through life like that every day. She has ADD also. My parents were told when she was three years old that she had Asperger’s Syndrome-or high functioning autism. My parents would never accept that and did everything they could to bring her to normalcy.

Doctors have told my family things like “Olivia will have a hard time making friends; kids like her don’t hold friendships very well. Or things like she won’t be able to handle regular school.” Olivia has proved them all wrong. She has many friends and they all adore her. She has had the same best friend for four years now. And for the past two years she has held a solid GPA. She works for things ten times harder than normal children. For example, a sixth grade student might study for a division test a day in advance. Olivia has to bring it home weeks in advance to just get a passing grade. She has to study harder than anyone else.

She’s changed the whole dynamic of my family. When she has a test coming up the whole
family has a test coming up. We all have to help her. That may mean my Mom staying up till 11:30 p.m. for a U.S. Map test, five days in advance, or my Dad coming home from work early to help her understand her science. It means me testing her on her vocab. It means my other sister Abbigayle who is in fourth grade having to be responsible for her own homework or taking it upon her to test herself if she has a test. It also means my Kindergarten brother knowing when to get in the shower on his own before he goes to bed.

Looking at how my family comes together to help Olivia is the greatest thing. I wouldn’t change it for one second. Olivia has taught me as much as I have taught her. She helped me understand just because a person is different don’t treat them differently. Everyone deserves an equal chance. She helped me understand the importance of family sticking together when times get hard and you just want the week to be over. She taught me what love really is. It’s when you and your family can endure anything that is thrown at them and stick together and care for each family member. It really takes us all at times to help Olivia through things. The criticism like, “Olivia won’t be able to make it,” “it’s too hard for her, pull her out why you can,” only made her that much stronger.

As an all loving family there are challenges. Sometimes the stress that goes along with it makes us all fight. Olivia has a very hard time with change or anything that is sometimes different, and can get her to get very upset. An example would be on a day that you don’t have to wear a uniform to school; Olivia obsesses over what she is going to wear and gets very upset over it. To be honest, I don’t know why this upsets her so much and makes her fret so badly. Nobody else would think twice about it, but this can turn into a horrible night/or morning before school and before you know it, we’re all late. Things just domino and go from bad to worse. My Mom has to put 100% into her and sometimes takes out her frustration on myself or my siblings when she has had a bad day with Olivia.

I know Olivia won’t be the smartest kid in the room, or the top scholar. But I think when it’s all said and done at the end of the day Olivia will be the kid who has lived each day to the fullest and tried the hardest. She might not go to the best college when she’s older but if she wants something she will work for it and get it. Her entire life has been worked around the phrase “If you want something there is no easy way you have to work at it”

To everyone who has ever passed the free spirited blonde hair blue eyed twelve year old girl you wouldn’t have thought twice if she could understand anything you said or if she could concentrate. She plays on a competitive basketball and soccer team. She does swim team in the summer. She thinks Nick Jonas is the cutest Jonas brother. She thinks it’s necessary she has a cell phone and doesn’t understand why she still needs a bed time. She comes home everyday to rapidly change her uniform get on her bike and ride as fast as she can to her best friend’s house. She likes things done her way and isn’t afraid to tell you if your winter formal dress looks bad on you the day of the dance. She does what she wants when she wants too. She has the most fun every day. And doesn’t let things hold her back.

Her unique personality won’t let you forget her either. She is loud and mischievous. She doesn’t stay out of trouble for long. But she has heart of gold. She doesn’t hold grudges, and let’s things roll of her shoulders quickly. She gets mad if she comes home to a dirty house. And if you get a glass of water and walk away to go turn on the T.V. she already has the glass in the dishwasher. She would want everyday to be clear blue skies and lush green grasses. She could live outside in the woods if we let her, with just a tent and a lifetime supply of soft pretzels. I haven’t met anything or anybody that could scare her. She’s one of a kind and is going to do what she wants regardless of what you may think or say.

In the twelve years I’ve known my sister not once have heard her use an excuse. She’s aware of her disabilities. She doesn’t make an excuse to my Mom on why she failed a test, while I on the other hand would have thought of a million different excuses. She embraces that she was born differently and runs with it. Sometime she gets sad when she tells my Mom how certain kids at school call her “dumb”. My Mom just tells her that that’s the only thing they can say to her to get her and someday she’ll tell her children that she used to be called “dumb” and they won’t believe her because she is going to be so successful and great when she grows up. My Mom says that Olivia will be the child to change the way people view “stupid” kids.

Without Olivia as my sister I wouldn’t be the girl I am today. When the house is quiet I constantly wonder when she’ll be running in the back door, or when I’ll hear the latest Hannah Montana song blasting from the iHome. She’s constantly on my mind. She’s the most normal person to me and at the same time the weirdest and most unique human being to walk the planet. Her moods can go from good to bad and bad to worse in a second. Because we all are so heavily involved in her life and she requires so much attention, my days and moods can be affected by her. Usually if she is not having a good morning, she will wake up screaming and crying. My Mom has to attend to her immediately, to try to get her back on track. But we are all scampering around her trying not to make her mad, but I usually get frustrated and go to school angry and upset resulting in a terrible day. But when she is happy and in a good mood it’s some of the best days that you can ever experience.

Since I’m older and can start to understand what Olivia goes through on a regular basis, I believe God made her this way because she could handle it. She endures things ten times harder than I could even start to handle. I get completely stressed out with three tests on the same day. But she lives her life like there is a final in every single class on the same day, and while you’re trying to get what’s going to be on it, the teacher walks in and out of the classroom every second so you can only get one or two words. Olivia is something special she will change the world in
some way. You’re lucky if you get to meet her, you’re a tad bit luckier if she likes you, because then you’re on her good side. Olivia has taught me that if you’re going to do something with your life you have to make an impact. You can’t just do it half way.

Kids with disabilities have the most love to give. They can’t hurt anyone and only want to succeed. Without Olivia in my life today I can honestly tell you I wouldn’t have the patience to deal with people slower or different than me. I wouldn’t care as much if someone had ADD, and I wouldn’t think about if kids could hear me or not. I used to think about how horrible life would be if I had to go through life everyday like she does. After many years of living with her I can
tell you her life isn’t horrible she just lives differently than most people you will meet. She can do everything that everyone else can do but I would put $100 dollars on it that she can do it better than you. She’s the most colorful thing you’ll ever meet.