Bay Area Diaries


Day 2:
Was up before anyone else in the house this morning. The wind and pouring rain actually woke me up. I hoped that the weather would clear by the afternoon to give Ms. Penny and Stud Muffin a beautiful day.


I dropped off my mom down Mission to get her hair done and headed to visit my Apu. It's funny because everytime I drop by, for some reason I answer the door with a nice and loud "Trick or Treat!" Don't ask. Anyways, I visited with my grandma for a bit, hung out and got the latest tsismis, and got to eat some yummy pasalubong treats from P.I. It was so nice to see my Apu all smiles and such. Being the typical grandma, I was offered all kinds of merienda stuff, all kinds of soda (it's too early for Sprite, Apu!), and any other foods that she could pull of the fridge. Of course, I had to oblige...because you just HAVE to.


Picked up mom and proceeded to get ready for the wedding. Thankfully, the skies cleared up and it was nothing but blue. Yay! By the time my sis and her family got to my parents, it was all rush, rush, rush. I forget how "excited" my dad could be when it comes to big events. He likes to be there early and likes to leave when he says so. It got to the point where all us gals were cramped in the bathroom doing last minute stuff to our hair and faces and had to keep yelling, "We're coming! In a minute! Hold on!"


I forget how beautiful Epiphany church is. I remember wanting to walk down that very aisle for my own wedding. The church was decorated in a simple fashion, but as in most cases, simple = classic beauty. Aside from the white runner, there were orangy flowers every couple of pews and the lighting backdrop to the altar was in pink. The choir, which was a combo of Creed and St. Patrick's, were decked out in barongs and if you can believe it, they truly sounded like angels. I was looking forward to hanging out with Creed because it's been a while since we were all together...the O.G. peoples anyway. The music selection and direction under Francis definitely set the tone for the ceremony.


As the procession began, everyone stood and had cameras at the ready. Something different that I haven't seen before was that Ms. Penny walked out solo and met her parents halfway down the aisle. The sight of her in that amazing dress got me all teary-eyed! She looked so pretty and I had one of those "she's-all-grown-up" moments. The rest of the ceremony was standard wedding stuff and being the goofy couple that they are had their laughs here and there. At the end, the bride and groom kissed amid the applause of the congregation.


The reception was held at a restaurant in Chinatown in downtown Oakland. For me, this has been the wedding that everyone's been crossing their fingers about for so long and we're just all happy that it's finally happened. The way I see it is that it was definitely worth the wait. Ms. Penny and Stud Muffin are both well into their careers, they've got their own place, and well, they just had to make it official now. The 7,8,9, or 10-course meal (I lost count!) was yummy and her cake was simply melt-in-your-mouth de-lish. The favors were these lil' red ceramic apples with a gold leaf that had their names and the date on it. Very appropo, don't you think? Staying with the Chinese tradition, Ms. Penny changed outfits twice. The first was in this spectacular red, sleeveless and sequined Chinese dress and the second outfit was traditional filipino. Even Stud Muffin wore a barong tagalog! After making toasts and taking pics at all the tables, they had the money dance. This is where things got all freaky deaky! Lol! It's not unusual anymore for group dances, men with the groom, and women with the bride, everyone getting their freak on. Creed choir got together to dance with Ms. Penny and we had this huge group hug, too.


It was a nice reunion of sorts because there were so many of us who grew up together, but who have lost touch somewhere along the way. This was one of the first times where we were all together in one room, but unfortunately, we couldn't manage a group pic. It's funny to see how we've all grown up, to see where we are in our lives, careers, and own families, and to see how much we've changed or stayed the same aside from the physical. Lots of hugs, lots of updates, lots of pics. All in all, I have to say that the Gee's had THE perfect wedding on a perfect day.


Much love and congratulations to the Gee family. May God bless your union and fill your lives with much love and happiness. Love each other and take care of each other always. OINGO BOIGO TIME!!!!

Thanksgiving Dinner


Thanksgiving dinner the night before was off da hook! Hubby took care of everything, from the dinner to the dishes. How dope is that? I think it's safe to say that we both ate to our hearts' content. Considering that it was just the two of us and that I would be heading out to da Bay the following morning, there was plenty of leftovers to go around for days. While hubby worked in the kitchen, I was busy trying to pack for my 11-day stay in the City. On top of that, I wanted to make sure the laundry was done, the place was vaccuumed, and that the house was in semi-decent order before I left. Out of all the visits I've made home to CA, this is one of the longest in a while and so I had the hardest time figuring out what to pack. To add to the stress of all of that, my body decided it was best to give me a sore throat as a going away present. Tight.


Bay Area Diaries


Day 1:
The day I left MN, the weather was wet and rainy. The forecast called for snow any day now. Compared to last year, the snow is late. I figure it's almost a 100% guarantee that by the time I return, everything will covered in white.


I actually woke up early on Friday, sore throat and all, because I knew hubby wanted to try to hit some Thanksgiving sales before dropping me off at the airport. That didn't happen. Shiet. In a way, I was glad we didn't go because I wasn't in the mood to be among crazy ass shoppers on a mission. I would have rather spent my time with hubby..even though I was running around trying to get ready and pack last minute stuff.


To my surprise, the airport was busy. Not busy-busy, but busy enough. I guess that whole theory of people staying throughout Thanksgiving weekend goes out the window! My flight was full, yet fortunately and thankfully, the middle seat in my row was empty. Aisle seat chick and I were cool with that and we made use of the space quite nicely and comfortably. After a quick lunch (Turkey sandwich, Frito chips, an apple, and cranberry juice), I settled in to read, but ended up falling asleep. I woke up about an hour away from our destination and buried myself into "The Five People You Meet In Heaven."


I won't go into detail about what the book is about, but the premise is that after you die, there are five people you will meet in heaven who will explain and make sense of your life. It's such an intriguing interpretation of what heaven might be like that I'm hoping that it comes close to the real deal. Suffice to say, the tears were flowing by the end of the book. Of course I was trying to hold back the sobs and tears, but shoot, ya'll know that only makes it worse. In any case, if you are looking for a new read, this is it. It's not even that long, which kinda pissed me off. It's too short. I wanted more. In fact, I'm planning on re-reading it again. It's that good! It definitely gets the two thumbs up recommendation and if anything, hopefully it will get you thinking about what happens after we pass.


I arrived in da City on time. It was so great to walk through the sea of people and see four familiar faces in the crowd. My sister and family were there to greet me and just like the last time they picked me up, I was met with the biggest bear hugs from Bina and Nico. It trips me out at how big they always seem to get! August was the last time I was home and man oh man...Bina is taller than ever and Nico is talking (in full sentences!) more than ever! With the excitement of being home, it's no wonder that there are so many different conversations going on in the car. Plus, I don't think I've heard the word "Ninang" so many times in such a small period of time. As a pasalubong for Nico, I bought him THE softest stuffed toy ever. He has this obsession with Christmas and Santa and when I saw this Gund Santa, it was on. I purposefully didn't pack it in my luggage 'cuz I didn't want to squish him and once I gave it to Nico, his eyes totally lit up! Oh, the cutest thing. Throughout the entire ride and night, he would come up to me, Santa in his clutches, and hug me and tell me, "Ninang, I've missed you. Thank you for the Santa" or "Thank you for the Santa, Ninang, I've missed you." Talk about melting my heart! I feel so loved.


Got to my parents and had a quick meal. My sister and I headed to Epiphany for Ms. Penny and Stud Muffin's wedding rehearsal. Even though they were all busy, we did get our hellos and hugs in. We stayed for a bit, talked story with some peoples...I finally got to see pregnant Em, and gee, talk about looking GOOD at 8-months! Seeing people at the church was just a teaser of a reunion of sorts that would come tomorrow. There's so many people that I haven't seen in ages (DJ Rod and Lil' Richard) and I know that it's just going to be THE perfect day for the future Gee's.


Well, seeing that my body is on Minnesota time and that I still had my sore throat, I ended up crashing in bed by 7:30pm PST. And guess what time I woke up the following morning? 5:30am....CST.


Anyways...stay tuned for the Bay Area Diaries. There's lots of people to see and much to do. I've got a list of pasalubong to get and pictures to take.

Thank You, Enrique!


No, I ain't talking as in Iglesias...it's more like Enrique, the maintenance dude. Hubby and I had to endure a couple of THE coldest nights ever in our apartment. The temps have been in the mid-20's in the daytime and you can imagine how cold it gets at night. Because handy dandy maintenance dude couldn't come in for a couple of days, hubby and I had to layer it: hooded sweatshirts, sweats, thermals, and socks. Heck, I got to the point of wearing triple layer shirts! Since we're going to be moving soon, I kidded hubby that we should lay off using the heater to save on our bills. I mean, when we were both growing up, it had to be really cold for the moms to okay turning up the heat. Lo and behold, the moment that it got too cold for us to handle, the damn thing wouldn't start up. Great. Perfect. If any of ya'll can remember, this very thing happened to us last year. It was the motor that got jammed. The cause? Muddaubers. Ewwww! I mean, they were dead and all, but its nest clogged up the motor. When Enrique showed it to me, my body instantly felt like there were hundreds of creepy crawlies on me. Not cool! I would totally suck at Fear Factor, people! Well, after a few chilling nights, the heater got fixed. Thank God and thank Enrique. So what that handy dandy Enrique didn't speak much English and that every question I asked was a timid yes. He fixed it. We're warm. It's all good.


Stressed Out


I was reading sista friend Rycegirlie's blog the other day and I could help but laugh. She was stressing over a school assignment and not that I thought that was funny, but it was more of a "that'll be in in a couple of days." Ever since I started working part-time, I've just been coming home exhausted. As pathetic as it may sound, I really got used to the whole not working thang this past year. My daily routine, aside from the usual cooking and cleaning, was schoolwork in the morning, er, afternoon, and schoolwork in the evening. I'd take TV, eating, reading, and blogging breaks, but other than that, I basically did schoolwork all day. Now that I'm working, I'm having the hardest time adjusting to the juggling act that I somewhat mastered while I was working full-time at Cornerstone. On top of all the papers that I had to correct and lessons to plan, I still found time (in the early mornings) to do my readings and write up assignments. Looking back, I don't know how I did it. Eh, I did it because I had to. In any case, I got off work today at 2pm-ish, unwound at home and watched "Elf" with hubby (ended around 5:30pm), watched the special features on the dvd, and at 7pm got to working on the THREE assignments due at midnight. Five hours seems like a lot of time, but in my world, it's not. When it comes to reading, I can zoom through books in a flash. But books for school is different. In order for me to really understand the concept, I have to read it a couple of times over. Needless to say, I turned in the 3rd assignment by 11:40pm-ish. Score!


Of course now, the coffee that I originally took 4 hours ago to help keep me awake is slowly kicking in now. Shiet.


Gobble! Gobble! Gobble!


Today, hubby is head chef today. He has this whole feast set up for us again. This year, we decided on a smaller turkey 'cuz last year was way too big for just the two of us. Today's menu includes:

- Turkey
- Ham
- Mashed potatoes and gravy (from scratch)
- Stuffing
- Green Bean casserole
- Pumpkin pie (for hubby) and French silk pie (for me)

Coincidentally, today is RyceGirlie's 25th birthday! Happy birthday, sista friend! It's funny and I know that she must be sick of me saying this, but I've always considered her to be a lil' sis to me and now that she's all grown up, I can't help but feel that sense of pride at the young and beautiful woman she's become. I'm thankful that we've remained friends through the years and I'm grateful for how our friendship has developed. Wishing you a happy and blessed birthday! Much love...


Thanksgiving Agenda


It seems that there's just tons of things to get done today. Thankfully, I won't be anywhere near the kitchen...that's hubby's domain for today! Because I'm leaving for da City the day after Turkey Day, here's a list of MUST DOs for today:

- do laundry
- vaccuum
- prepare bills for mailing
- start packing for San Francisco
- start packing the house for the move
- get a manicure/pedicure (hey, there are weddings to attend!)
- call the folks and loved ones
- eat, eat, and eat
- spend time with hubby


Seems like a long list, but now that school is outta the way for a week, I can focus on these things. I'm looking forward to my trip to the Bay. Two of my dearest friends are getting married and I would NOT miss their special day for the world. Unfortunately hubby will not be accompanying me, but hopefully on my return, he'll have moved some of our stuff into our new townhome. This trip back home will be special in more ways than one because it will basically be the last time I visit CA until May. Hubby and I will be spending Christmas here in MN...our 1st Christmas holiday without my family. Hmmm...again, the whole nostalgia was kickin' in and maybe that's why I was crying my eyes out during "Elf." Yes, I cried during "Elf!" Well, considering that I'm likely to cry at any movie, the whole spirit of Christmas really got to me. Aiya! Anyways...let's focus on one holiday celebration at a time, shall we? Hope ya'll have a great Thanksgiving...gobble, gobble, gobble!!!

Christmas is in the air!


If you have visited any of the local malls recently, I'm sure you couldn't help but be bombarded by the elaborate and festive Christmas decor. I actually wasn't prepared because hello, it's not even Thanksgiving yet. But I have to admit, seeing all the lights, the poinsettias, the snowflakes, and yes, even Santa, has put me into the holiday spirit. I even had to pull out my Christmas music so I could bop to NSYNC's holiday cd! Last week at Target, hubby and I even bought our first fake-assemble-it-yourself-and-use-it-again-and-again-every-year tree. I was excited! It comes all perfectly packaged in a slim, narrow box that will never ever, as much as I try, look the same after it's opened. As long as I can remember growing up, our Christmas tree (which I'm betting is as old as I am!) included a color-coded assembly. It's a totally old-school tree, but honestly, it's something that I've wanted for ourselves. During our first Christmas together after our wedding, hubby and I got a real tree. A real, live, pine shedding, make your whole house smelling, don't forget to water or else it turns poopoo brown color, tree. It was SO cool! In all my years at my parents, I remember only one instance where my Ate insisted that we get a real tree. Forget the fact that we never had to take care of one before and had no clue as to HOW to do so. Oh, and it didn't help that each year's location of the tree was always in the same place...in front of the living room window....which is directly in front of the heater. The heater. Yes, our poor Christmas tree that year practically died as soon as we got it! Lol! Well, we learned our lesson...and plus, all the damn needles were major annoyances anyways. But it was nice while it lasted...the same goes for hubby's and my first Christmas together. I say, get a faux Christmas tree and buy the Christmas tree spray or candle to achieve that semi-authentic tree smell. It may not be the same thing, but hey, save the trees!


I've been feeling somewhat nostalgic lately. I guess because Christmas is in the air and knowing that this is going to be THE FIRST time I won't be with my family. Hubby and I will be spending the holidays, hopefully, in our brand new townhome. Plus, it's going to be our first white Christmas! Yes, it will be sad to be away from the folks, but just because we're not together doesn't mean that they're not in my heart, thoughts, and prayers always. Corny, but true. Also, we're hoping hubby's parents and kids will be here to spend Christmas with us. That will definitely be a nice gift!


Thanksgiving


Well, Turkey Day is almost upon us. A time for when people take the day off to spend with family, cook up a feast, eat until they can't eat anymore, and give thanks for the blessings in their life. Some will think that it's odd that there's only ONE day out of the year designated to give thanks...just like there's ONE day of the year to celebrate Christ's birth....ONE day out of the week to go to church, etc. Of course, many of us do all of these things everyday, but I guess I was just reminded of my SFState days where we would celebrate the "Unthanksgiving." By the way...Christopher Columbus didn't discover shiet. Aside from the textbook version we learned in school...why do we celebrate Thanksgiving? Why celebrate when the Pilgrims landed on Plymouth Rock? I mean, we often forget that they took over the land already inhabited by the Native Americans. They brought with them sickness and disease, destroyed all what the Native Americans deemed sacred, and went about trying to colonize the "savage people." Ah yes...the story of colored people everywhere! If ya'll don't know the facts about the actual event, I suggest you do some research and see for yourself that it's not all cracked up to be everything you once believed.


ANYWAYS...I digress. Despite the history behind it, I still love this holiday. I mean, we all get a day off of work and we all get to eat until we can't eat anymore. Turkey, gravy, and pie, oh my! Plus, how about all of them turkey leftovers??? Lol! On the real, I love that people take the time to be with their families on Thanksgiving. People have their own celebrations and their own traditions. What it comes down to is spending quality time together. In this world that we live in today, quality time isn't something on everyone's priority list. It SHOULD be. We often take our loved ones for granted and it almost always takes an unfortunate event for us to realize just how much they mean to us. Do yourself a favor...don't wait until that moment. Be thankful for your blessings each and every day. I know I do.

So Many Things, So Little Time


I swear, there are not enough hours in the day. Today is my day off and I plan on being as productive as possible. Here's my To Do list items for today and tomorrow in no particular order.


- Address Christmas cards. Yes, I have this "thing" where I like to have my cards addressed BEFORE Turkey Day. Call it being anal on my part, but I feel that if they're not done prior to my Thanksgiving deadline, they'll never get done. When I was younger, the day after Thanksgiving was always, always, always THE day to set up our Christmas tree and decorations. It's tradition. If I don't get my cards done, this sense of urgency sets in and I feel rushed to do too many things at once. I can gladly say that I'm halfway done with this project...considering that I have over 80 people on my card list!


- Buy stamps. Yet another anal aspect...I am VERY picky about what kind of stamps go on my personal mail. Hubby couldn't really care less, but I don't like to settle for the generic, plain, $.37 flag stamps. Yes, yes, it's all good to be patriotic especially in the times we're living in, but I have my preferences. The last stamps I got was the Disney collection. Too cute. I always ask for the LOVE colllection, but since the holidays are upon us, I'll have to check out the Christmas ones.


- Hem pants. Ahhhh...the curse of being short. In any other case, I could easily hem up my own pants, but I just bought this Addidas nylon running pants and I don't want to screw 'em up. Maybe it's because we're in Viking territory, but none of the clothes I've been buying fit me perfectly. Back in the day, if something was too long, all we had to do was peg them. Yes, PEGGED pants was totally in! Lol! Other remedies: using rubberbands, pinning, and stapling. Talk about GHETTO!


- Buy LOTTO. We could ALL use the money, can't we??? And why is it that the lucky bastards who always win are some young'uns who don't know what a real working day feels like. Shiet.


- Buy Hard Rock Cafe shot glasses. The soon-to-be-Mrs. Gee has special requested some shot glasses from the Hard Rock over here. Back in college when I got to drinking age, I admittedly got into that hobby of collecting shot glasses. I haven't bought any as of late. The whole drinking thing? I'm over it. Blame it on a night at Miyakes and Q's...ugh. Let's not go there.


- UOP. My new class starts today. It's an 8-week course, but I just learned that we get scheduled breaks for Turkey Day and Christmas. Yay! That means that for most of my stay in the Bay won't have to be spent with late nights on assignments. WERD!


- Dress/Skirt/Shoe shopping. It's about a week before the weddings and I've seriously don't have a thing to wear! I've been on a mission for about a month now, but it's time to buckle down and get something already. If finances are good, I'll be able to get two new outfits for both weddings. If not, well, I may have to wear the same outfit! Is that bad???


*Let's see just how much I get accomplished today.*

Updates


I swear, there are simply not enough hours in the day.


Ever since I started this new job of mine...part-time, mind you...I've been bitching and whining about how exhausted I am at the end of my shifts. Honestly? It's all the standing that I do. After the store finally opened last Saturday, it hasn't been really busy. Considering it is a teacher resource supply store, you know it ain't gonna be bustling with teachers during regular school hours. In the mornings, we usually get a lot of parents and daycare educators. There's about 4-5 of us on duty and there's only so much help "Is there anything I can help you find?" going on, know what I mean? And egads...the straightening. Our store has to be THE neatest in that whole shopping complex. Except for last Tuesday.


Tuesday morning, a lady came in with her young daughter. The kid must've been no older than 2 years old. It still surprises me how parents allow their kids to roam freely around a store. Okay, so it wasn't busy with lines up the ass, but the lady was 2-3 aisles down and the little girl was in the section where she could've easily inserted small objects in her mouth and choked. Well, insert she did, but luckily I was there to supervise her. She was the cutest thing. She'd take balls, one by one, and hand them to me. Before I knew it, the floor was littered with balls rolling here and there. After her mom paid for her purchases, she just told the kid, "okay, time to go." No thank yous for watching her kid. No "I appreciate ya'll for babysitting" 'cuz babysitting we were while the lil' rugrat tore it up. Lol..it wasn't so bad 'cuz she was adorable and we were bored, but still...


I've been having second thoughts about this whole retail thing. The last time I worked retail was at Carlton Cards at Stonestown! And egads, that was 10 years ago!!!
(Whew! Give me a sec to let that sink in...) The setting up of the store was cool. I'm a sucker when it comes to seeing all the new merchandise. It's like Christmas or a birthday where you get to open up all these boxes and see the goodies inside. Sure it was tough, laborious work, but when you walk into the store and see how awesome it looks, there's a certain pride that wells up. They keep telling us that we'll always be different from all the other people who are hired later on simply because we were there from the very beginning when there was no store. When it's slow and we have no customers, we're encouraged to "go play" with stuff. That's the only way we'll get to know the product, etc, and as a former teacher, I tell you, it's educational heaven. I can't even begin to tell you how many times I've commented, "Ohhhhh, I could SO use this in my classroom!" I was seriously comtemplating ditching the whole retail experience, but not only does it give me something to do besides online school and get out of the house, it seems like the closest thing to a real classroom that I'm gonna get to. Plus, the discount will kick in after 30 days. I feel like I do have this slight edge over some other people having been in a classroom for 5 years and can confidently suggest something that'll work, but some of these young'uns are just better sellers than I am. Retail sure ain't for me, but in the meantime, it'll do.


If you're curious as to what kind of store I work in, click the link.

Exhausted


That is how I've been feeling for the past week. I started my part-time gig last Friday. For someone like myself who hasn't been part of the work force for a bit over a year now, it was a major shock to my system physically. Lakeshore is basically starting from scratch- brand new space, brand new employees, brand new everything. Most of what my job entails is putting up fixtures, unloading a 50-foot truck full of a sh*tload of merchandise in heavy ass boxes, putting them on a handtruck or dolly, moving them to a designated area, opening the boxes, taking out the millions of packing peanuts (which have somehow found their way into my pockets!), sorting the items according to section, arranging them onto the shelves according to a "plannogram" or picture, packing the overstock in boxes that have been already broken down that must be retaped, loading them up on the handtruck again, wheeling it through the maze of boxes and bodies, and figuring out exactly where the hell everything goes. Sounds like FUN, eh? (riiiiigghhht...)


On my first day of work, the many muscles that have been dormant were rudely awakened and put to strenuous physical labor at once. I honestly thought that we would have one of those get-to-know-each-other exercises, but from the getgo, the managers and visiting managers from other states were basically like, "Okay, grab a dolly and let's start unloading the truck!" Us workers got to know each other by the many "You got that? Are you okay? Need some help?" to the passing comments of sarcasm like, "And we're getting paid HOW MUCH to do this crap?! What time is our break? You expect me to carry THAT?" All the new hires come from different walks of life. You've got the high school graduates, the college folks, the laid-off, the mothers whose kids just started school, and the grandmothers. Grandmothers. These aren't the typical grandmas who spend the day in the kitchen or garden..no sir! These grandmas are feisty lil' ole ladies with mouths like a sailor or trucker! You always hear 'em complaining about one thing or another, but rather than it being annoying, it's really just hilarious to hear what comes out of their mouths because it's just so unexpected. And why is it that it's always the older women who bitch about needing a smoke? Lol! It's one of those, "Helllloooo? Don't you know smoking is bad for you?" As if I would be the one to say anything....they might kick my ass! lol!


Although it's a lot of work, it really isn't that bad. If Motrin can fix it, then I'm all good. I've been dead-tired each day, got cuts and bruises everywhere, and am in dire need of a back, foot, and hand massage, and using muscles that I don't think have existed for the past year. Man, with all the blood, sweat, and tears (okay, no tears....but blood and sweat, yes.), I better be losing some weight or something 'cuz it's for damn sure that I'm NOT in this job for the money! On the real, my paycheck would be good for groceries, a trip to Target or BestBuy, or on one pair of really nice shoes and a bag. On the plus side, this job thang has pushed me into the much needed routine that I've been bitching and whining about. I actually eat three meals a day, I head to bed no later than 10:30pm, and I'm usually up by 6:30am. Wow, huh? AND, I get home by 5:30pm-ish, eat dinner, and still have time to watch my must-sees on the WB...haha, I planned it that way. I'm sorry, I don't think I"m willing to give up Gilmore Girls and Smallville for this part-time job. Not worth it. (btw: VH-1's Bands Reunited is back! Check it out!)


Other Things


- Elections are over. I have this need to keep a close eye on how the Bush administration will operate for the next four years. This election "inspired" me to be more aware of what's going on. Yes, I realize that I shouldn't need a reason to be inspired to be in the know politically, but hey, it's something that I was never and truly interested in until now. I do believe that we're headed for a major decline in more ways than one and the focus on the blue state-red state issue intrigues me still. We're more of a divided country than we are united. I don't doubt that the president's job is difficult. I mean, c'mon, he's the leader of the free world! BUT, as someone in the position to make changes for our country, it has to be made with two steps forward, not back. In any case and as hubby puts it, no one's got a right to complain unless you did your duty and voted.


- Dress shopping, or rather, 'Mission Impossible.' Why is it that whenever we head to the mall in need of something, we can never find it? It's like there's this invisible force that quietly and discreetly hides that perfect dress or pair of shoes from our viewing pleasure and/or gives the person in front of us the same inkling and desire for it and snatches it just a second before we do. It's a sick and twisted cycle. I even try and psych myself out and try to get into the frame of mind that I don't need anything. But sure enough, the sick and twisted cycle continues. Shiet. This is THE major reason why I don't like to go shopping. Shopping for books, fine. Great. But for clothes? Forget it. Argh.


- This is one of those "you just had to be there" moments. When my sister and her family came to visit MN this summer, my niece and nephew brought this McDonald's fun pack that included lil' plastic replicas of all Mickey D's foods imaginable. You had the big mac, filet fish, quarter pounder, french fries, icy coke, milkshakes, sundaes, and apple pie. Hee hee...did you sing that? No? Okay, it's just me. ANYWAYS, before they left back to CA, the kids were making sure that they had all the pieces. Sure enough, they didn't. Among the missing pieces was a sunny-side egg...y'know, for the big breakfast meal. WELL, I recently brought my Honda to the carwash and whenever they vaccuum, they just leave whatever on the floor on top of the seats. Just yesterday, I decided to put my window screen in the trunk 'cuz, well, I won't be needing that anymore. Sitting right underneath the screen, lo and behold, was the plastic egg! It was THE funniest thing! Lol! Ha, I guess ya'll just had to be there.


- Belated birthday shout-outs to my lil' cousin Anthonette who turned 23 yesterday. Okay, so she's not so little anymore..literally. She stands at a nice 5'7 and was the tallest of my bridesmaids. Sure, it didn't help that she still wore heels! Anyways, hope you had a blast girl! Love and hugs to you always!

Kodak Moments





This was taken in downtown Minneapolis on our way to the Metrodome. The bright yellows are just one of the beautiful colors among many that have been showing up all over MN during this fall. Ain't it purty???






Here's a shot of the Metrodome, home to the Twins and Vikings. It was interesting to watch an indoor game. Surprisingly, it was still freakin' cold because they had the a/c cranked up...retail ploy to get people to buy merchandise, no less. Check out how packed it is!






Okay, so the Vikings got their ass whooped, we were still there to cheer them on nonetheless. GO VIKES!






My first thought during halftime: "Damn, that's a sh*tload of cheerleaders!" Again as I mentioned before, it wasn't at all impressive. I'm not too big of a fan to cheerleaders, although I did enjoy watching "Bring It On." Throughout the game, we watched them do their routines, exchanged looks that said, 'WTF was that?', and rolled our eyes as they did the harlem shake and the like. In any case, this was a good shot of the packed purple and gold stadium.






This didn't quite come out as clear, but the blue gives it an eerie kind of feel. Last year, we took a pic with a Skeletor kind of character, but this werewolf was happy to oblige this time around.






We did our civic duty yesterday. Because we weren't officially MN residents in terms of getting our picture ID, it was quite an obstacle for us to ensure that we were able to vote. I have to say that this has been the first presidential campaign where I found myself glued to the TV. It was tense throughout the night as the votes poured in and somewhat confusing as various channels projected the different electoral votes. It was SO close and I was keeping my fingers crossed. Ultimately, the results came in and much to my disappointment and chagrin, Kerry lost. I just finished watching Kerry's concession speech and I have to admit, there was a sadness welling up inside of me. Well, we're in for another challenging four years and let's just hope that everything fares well for the country.

Weekend Happenings


Saturday: Had a meeting with the loan officer to discuss the impending closure on our townhome. It's all completed and done! All we have to do is wait for everything to be approved, sign our autographs on the paperwork, and start moving in. One killjoy moment was when we learned that the original guy we were supposedly working with lagged on his end of the paperwork and so our closing may be delayed a week or so. Sucker. Hopefully all goes well and in a few weeks, we should have our new place.


It's been a rainy and blah weekend over here. Makes you just want to sleep in until noon and stay underneath the warmth of the blankets. Oh wait! I already do that! LOL! On the real, I'm trying to improve my sleeping habits. They are so screwed and it's taking a toll on me both physically and mentally. Because of the school stuff I have going on, it's not unusual for me to NOT leave the apartment and to lose all sense of what day of the week it is. It's terrible. Now that school is temporarily over, it's the perfect time to venture out. Hubby and I hit a mall on Saturday to escape the blahness of the day. We don't really have a usual mall that we go to, in fact, there was a point when hubby asked me, "Do we like this mall?" and I had to stop and think about it. Oh the deep things we ponder. Ha. For the rest of the night, we made it a Blockbuster night and just chilled at home.


Sunday: Minnesota Vikings vs. New York Giants. Hubby and I went to a football game! Now, I don't consider myself to be a huge football fan, but I was psyched to finally get into the Metrodome in downtown Minneapolis. It's a trip to be indoors for a sports event like this. I found myself looking up a couple of times thinking it should be the sky instead. The place was packed: approximately 64,000 in attendance. An endless sea of purple and gold, people wearing Viking helmets complete with horns and blonde braids, and still others who were pimped all-out in purple from their head to their toes. Literally. Maybe they were trying to be Prince impersonators? It WAS Halloween after all.


Unfortunately, the New York Giants kicked ass. I honestly didn't care either way if the Vikings won or not. Hubby and I kept ourselves entertained by all the hardcore fans and all the freaks were who yelling obscenities to the field. While we enjoyed our hotdog and nachos, everyone was on their feet chanting, yelling, and pumping their fists in their air and doing the referee signal for '1st down' accompanied by the blast of a Viking horn battle cry that sounds oddly like a foghorn. Not being a Viking fan, I had no idea what these people were doing. Then there's the Viking song that everyone sings. Did I tell you about all the beer and alcohol that was consumed during the game? There was a distinct smell in the air, but when the hordes started their drunken serenades, it was just plain hilarious. The Vikings were getting their asses kicked early in the game that by halftime, people started leaving. And they were pissed. By the 3rd quarter, there was a major exodus from the previously mentioned packed stadium. It makes you feel bad for the team. I mean, it's obvious that they didn't have a prayer, but must the fans kill their already crushed spirits? Some hardcore fans were bitching, too, "Y'know, they're gonna come back in the 4th! You're missing a great game!" Well, they didn't and oh well. I want to say that some only stayed to check out the team cheerleaders jumping around and squealing in their skimpy ass fits. Being that it was Halloween, they were all dressed in different costumes. It must've said on the memo: "chosen costumes MUST show as much skin as possible, baring the midriff section, and be skin tight. NO EXCEPTIONS." Don't get me started on the cheerleaders. The entire halftime featured cheerleader squads from different high schools. Whoopee. I'm sorry. I've inherited quite a negative impression of the whole pom-pom waving world. Blame it on the fact that I had to endure my high school years being pumped up by cheerleaders who I just couldn't take seriously. But I digress...


Hubby and I stayed until the very end. By the beginning of the 4th quarter, the stadium wasn't completely empty, but scarce enough. The very few New York Giants fans were really rubbing it in and getting in some peoples' faces. I'm surprised that they didn't get beat. Overall, it was cool to just attend. We got into the game, doing the "oooohhhh-ing" and boo-ing and all that other good stuff. For my second football game ever, I enjoyed myself. My first time I went was with my Dad via his company ticket. It was cool 'cuz we got to hang out in a sports bar before getting shuttled over to Candlestick Park. I don't remember who the 49ers were playing against and I don't even remember who won. It was dope though...not only because it was my first football game, but it was also one of the first times I got to hang out with my Dad.


On a sidenote, we had noticed that event parking is mucho expensive out here. For a baseball game, parking is about $10. For a football game, it can run anywhere from $15-$30. WTF? No way did we ever pay for parking at Pac Bell in the city, there was no way we were going to pay that much to see a team that we don't even love, know what I'm saying? Hubby has a parking permit at one of his client sites and we sucked it up to walk the 6-8 downtown blocks to the Metrodome. Thankfully, it hasn't snowed yet (forecasted for this Thursday, btw) and the walk wasn't so bad. Our legs and thighs were sore by the end of the day though, but I will just consider that as part of my exercise regimen for the day. Ha. The day was not wasted after all! Lol!


Oh well Vikings...maybe next time!


Halloween Tradition


Last year, hubby and I tagged along with Mare and Pare DeJesus to a glorifyingly, or should I say "gorrifyingly" and disturbingly horrific put together haunted house. I compare this house to the efforts put forth by the South San Francisco community that decorates their homes for Christmas. Considering how huge this front lawn is, the family make it into a maze that you have to walk through...complete with fantastically gory scenes, spooky music, eerie fog, and actors dressed up as nightmarish material that can be easily mistaken as something fake and right when you pass by, they charge at you to give you the best heart jumping moment for the night. Now when we went last year, we went at the prime time when it was crowded. The groups of people ahead of us helped us figure out with their screams which were real or fake, but not last night. We went around 9:30pm and there were only small groups left. The night was already foggy and misty, but I have to say, even though I KNEW it's all fake, it scared the bejeezus outta me! Okay, so what if I was the only one screaming. I've got a very vivid imagination. I can't help it if I'm a scaredy cat. The people in charge were probably like, "Hey, watch for the girl...she's a screamer. Make the head pop out. Signal the moving hands. Jump out and reach for her when she passes. You know the drill." In any case, it was a good scare. This house gets bigger and bigger in their gore fest and they've become THE place to go on Halloween. We didn't take too many pics this year, but we got a good one with a werewolf. Maybe next year if I'm brave enough, I'll get one with the dead, white faced lady who growled. She was definitey gives you the willies freaky. Maybe, just maybe. Though we didn't give out any candy (sorry kiddies, the chocolate is mine!), we have found our annual Halloween tradition. How wonderfully boo-tiful!


Stay tuned for the pics.