The Medieval Bestseller

2009-12-01T10:01:00.002-08:00

So my Thanksgiving was good. The Wednesday before Thanksgiving all I did was cook and slice up my fingers. I helped my brother and sister in law prepare two of their 5 (!) Thanksgiving pies: pumpkin and pecan (two of the most easiest pies on the planet). I also helped prep some of their apple pies. That's where I sliced up my left thumb. That was in the morning. Then in the afternoon, I also prepped the appetizers I was bringing to my family's soiree. I cut vegetables, made hummus (lemon and hazelnut...the hazelnut was pretty bad). I also prepped the onion and apple stuff for this appetizer. That's how I sliced up my right thumb, middle finger and ring finger. Mandolins do it to me all the time.

Thursday we woke up early and drove down to my Aunt Sally's house in north San Diego county. We encountered virtually no traffic going down there, which was quite wonderful (the year before I drove there with Gavin from Ojai at a later hour and we almost died from all of the traffic). It was nice to hang out with and see my extended family. I regret that I did not get to see Danny's new house! Overall, my family seemed to enjoy playing the new Beatles Rock Band. Pictures of our food and fun are up.

Friday Gavin and I woke up early again and drove up to Ojai and encountered virtually no traffic getting up there. In fact, they may have put those moving sidewalks on the freeway because we got there in record time. We hung out with his family and had a very low-key Friday. I made a brussels sprout dish that was enjoyed by many, if not all.

Saturday I had close to a nervous breakdown about the stresses in my life. This included my job situation, living situation, wedding situation, Family Promise, and a conversation I had with Gavin's mom about choosing which family to spend the holidays with. Talk to me about any of these things and I will cry. Saturday was not fun. We saw The Fantastic Mr. Fox, which was GREAT...except when the woman in front of me turned back to yell at me for (accidentally) kicking her seat while I crossed my legs during the movie. All tall people will feel my pain. All short people will wonder why I was kicking this woman's chair. Saturday was not fun at all.

One of my problems is that I am a detail person. So, when I get caught up in a time of transition, it's really hard for me to see that anything is moving and will change because all I see are all of the details that need to get accomplish. At this point in my life, it feels like there are too many obstacles in all of the details that I am currently juggling. Life has been stressful and not so fun lately. How I wish I could see the big picture.

Sunday I went to church in Ventura, where my old youth pastor is the head pastor. Church was a breath of fresh air after a difficult Saturday. We came home on Sunday and since then I've been trying to get things in order for my Family Promise meeting this week.

Yesterday I worked at the hospital and then played in my last softball game of the season. I believe we won. I also believe this is the shortest team we have ever played. I hit lots of good hits...that were made into incredible catches. But at least I felt like I played well.

Today I have a bunch of errands to work on, as well as working on the photo album project. One of my clients is asking me to make digital copies of all of their photo albums, which is quite a big project. I am in the middle of album #3 of 7, I think.

2009-11-23T08:33:00.003-08:00

In the past week or two I've seen two new movies. The weekend before this past one Gavin and I saw Pirate Radio. I really enjoyed Pirate Radio and I think Gavin liked it, too. I think what was particularly enjoyable about this film, beyond the good, interesting story and good acting, was the excellent sound track. What an exciting decade to have been alive, huh? For those who are not in the know, the movie is about a group of DJs who lived on a boat off the coast of Britain and broadcast rock-and-roll music to Britain. (Apparently it was illegal in Britain to broadcast rock-and-roll in the country, but the boat was in international waters.) Anyway, part of the story focuses on how the government tries to suppress them. According to NPR, the movie is based on a true story.

Then, this weekend I saw The Blind Side with Gavin. This movie was SO good. I recommend both of the movies, but this movie I especially recommend. Apparently it has at least vestiges of a true story of football player Michael Oher of the Ravens. This movie is about this boy, Michael Oher, who is sort of an abandoned child in the projects. His dad is gone, and his mom is a drug addict. So he lives with a friend's family on their couch. The parent of his friend takes the boy and his friend to a fancy, white, private Christian school in hopes that the school would pick them up as athletes. The school does, the boy is kicked out of his friend's house. Sandra Bullock's family, who is fabulously wealthy, houses the kid for a night because they see him walking around one cold night. They end up adopting him and helping him to succeed. The story is very inspirational (and a tear-jerker).

The Blind Side movie has left me thinking, though. The movie really emphasizes that Sandra Bullock's family takes this guy in because it is the Christian thing to do. And I appreciate that the movie explores the ethics of how they do it, and I felt that the movie shows them as being a really wonderful example of caring for people who are "the least of these." However, the movie also really emphasizes the wealth of this family. They, for sure, had the money and time and energy to take this boy in. And I wonder if it makes it seem like people can only make a caring difference in a person's life if they have the means to do so. I guess I just hope that people don't leave that movie thinking, "Wow, that's great that they were able to do that. I hope other rich families will do the same." I hope people will leave that movie thinking, "Wow, what kind of difference can I make in someone else's life?"

And now, for the fun news of the weekend: Gavin bought The Beatles Rock Band. It is SO much fun to play and, for some reason, a lot more fun for me to play than regular rock band. The graphics/look/style of the game are really impressive. I can't wait to take it down for Thanksgiving with my family and see if we can get Uncle Brad (total Beatles devote) singing.

And now, for the bad news of the weekend: My Sunday softball team lost to the Unicorns, again. They may sound nice and harmless and you may think they look cute in their pink t-shirts, but they are anything but. They are the thorn in the side of The Team. The first time we played the Unicorns they beat us something like 35 to 5. They are so stinking good and, for whatever reason, the Sports Office does not move them up to another division, so they keep on murdering teams like ours. We've never lost to them with that big of a spread since (and we've since become a much better team together), but still. I would have liked to have been thankful for a little Unicorn on a plate this Thanksgiving, if you know what I mean. Perhaps next Thanksgiving.

2009-11-20T08:46:00.003-08:00

Last night I had this great idea for a blog post. As you can probably guess, I have no idea about what it was this morning.

Instead of a brilliant post, I will let you know that I am excited about Thanksgiving. I'm excited to see my family and Gavin's family, yes, but I'm also very excited about the sides. In general with eating, I'm not so excited about the main course and totally into the sides. I love sides: mashed potatoes, green beans, stuffing, sweet potatoes, etc. The nice thing about being in a relationship is that now I get two Thanksgiving with two completely different sets of sides! Exciting!

The sad thing is that we have a whole week to go through before I get to those sides.

I'm trying to decide whether to go to my last volleyball game this Saturday or not. I think I'm leaning toward not at 75%. The thing is that every time I go to volleyball, I am struck with how not nice my team is. People don't say hi to me, invite me to warm up with them, etc. Then, during the game it's major stress. I'm sorry, but I have better ways to spend my Saturday morning than not to be treated nicely and to incur stress over a recreational game. The reason why I am considering maybe going is because a.) my friend Colander will be there, and he's almost always nice to me, and b.) a lot of people aren't going this Saturday, so they need people to come, especially girls. If the couple that's the worst at being not nice weren't going to be there, I'd go. But that couple, I feel, treated me pretty poorly last week. And they'll be there this week. So...that sways me not to go.

I did not paint yesterday. Bad girl. So today I will concentrate on painting and hopefully be done and over with this project. Then I'm thinking of making this for dinner. Maybe. If I can find a ripe mango. This week has been full of trying recipes that I'm not sure how they'll turn out. First I tried the Enchilada Casserole, which I had before but this time I added veggies and used some sort of Mexican cheese that apparently does not melt. It did not turn out well. Then we tried this Fuyu Persimmon Soup. Gavin loves persimmons, so I thought this would be a fun recipe to try. The result is that it tastes a lot like a squash soup (but I guess I'd rather just have a squash soup, know what I mean?). Then last night I tried to make this recipe because we had everything but the cheese (and obviously we needed cheese because we had to use that Mexican cheese that does not melt!) and I thought they were very so-so. Gavin loved them (a grown up Cheezit, I think he said). So, this Carrot & Mango recipe may also be a bust, since I don't feel that my record was very strong this week.

Anyway, so that's my plan for today. This weekend is still forming. I know that Kendra comes in on Saturday night, then her new boyfriend Dustin is coming in on Sunday morning. So there is a span of hours where we will be entertaining them. I may do volleyball or not. We may help friends move or not. I have a Family Promise meeting. I probably will not go to softball. Decisions have been hard for me lately.

2009-11-19T10:17:00.003-08:00

My super-über busyness is now gone. Now I am just at my regular state of busyness, which is pretty busy with some times of rest in between.

So it seems like right now there's a huge trend in cooking blogs to photograph each and every step of the process. (see here and here.) It's interesting to me and very beautiful, but I've just got to wonder--how does what they're cooking turn out to be ok? They must have a photography assistant or whatever because if they're like anything like me when I cook, it's often one ingredient goes in, then another, then another. No time to wait to set up a good photo. Am I the only one?

Anyway, so the other day I was given some guavas by my friend Vicky from her tree. (She also gave me some delicious pomelos!) It was very handy because just the day before I had been looking at some recipes and saw a recipe for Shortbread Almond Cookies with Guava. I passed up the recipe because I thought to myself, "Who has guava?" But now that I had some guava, I found the recipe again and was sad to see that it doesn't call for actual guava, but guava paste. I disregarded the recipe again until I started eating the guavas and discovered that I wasn't the hugest fan of eating them raw. So then I began wondering if whether I could actually make this guava paste with the guavas I had. I googled the recipe and it looked complicated, so I decided not to do it. But then, because it is clear that I keep on going back and forth on this subject, I decided to make it afterall. (And it wasn't that bad.) Fast-forward to the next day, I made the cookies, put them in the oven, took them out and let them cool. Then I bit into one and apparently did not realize that the guava paste centers would be still hot from the oven - I ended up burning my lip. It's been tender for a few days now and now has a little bit of a scab. I still have some guava paste left, so I'm trying to figure out what to do with it.

Today I have planned to begin the final draft of the Easter painting for the Catholic missionary organization. They really, really liked my first draft (a miracle--it was hard for me to get to that point!), so now I just have to alter things slightly, scan it, and send it in. Speaking of scanning, I am in the market for an 11x17" scanner (or, even a 12x18"). These large format scanners are mega-bucks - into the thousands of dollars. I found one on Amazon for only $180 or so and I ended up buying it, but became disappointed with the dullness of the scan. It didn't quite capture the colors represented in my watercolors. Sure, I could have adjusted it a little in Photoshop, but I'd rather just start with a clean scan. So I returned it and am back wondering what to do. Should I spend the $1,000 for an Epson one, or should I try out the Brother 3-in-1 print/scan/copy that does 11x17". That one is only $300, and may work just fine. No one on the comments on Amazon has said about how the scanner works. Most of them are upset with how it prints (my assumption is that they're all using it for photo printing). I wouldn't be interested in photo printing at all, so maybe it'd be ok for me. Not sure, still mulling it over in my brain.

Anyway, there are things to be doing right now, so I'll have to catch you on the flip side.

2009-11-10T10:00:00.002-08:00

So I have about a bazillion things to do this week, from design to writing grants to conference calls to dinners and meetings, etc. I don't know if there'll be much time for blogging at all. Hopefully I'll be able to surface from the madness sometime soon and live to tell the tale!

2009-11-08T12:16:00.003-08:00

Well, blogging on Thursday, Friday or Saturday just wasn't possible. Or, I guess it may have been possible, but just didn't work out.

Thursday I was getting stuff together for the monthly Family Promise (my homeless charity) meeting. And I guess I just didn't feel like blogging. Friday was busier than busy - I worked at the hospital, then raced home for a Skype conference call that started late and actually ended up getting rescheduled, then I hopped into the car to pick Gavin up from the airport. Saturday I woke up early and Gavin and I headed up to spend the weekend with his family in Ojai. Somehow this didn't get conveyed to them, so we headed back home Saturday afternoon and I made us some pumpkin & pear soup for dinner while we watched a movie from Netflix: Confetti. Gavin really liked the soup, I thought it was a little too sweet for my taste and I found that I think I prefer butternut squash in taste and texture to pumpkin.

Anyway, on Wednesday of this week I have to produce a first sample or other ideas for this painting I have to do for the Catholic Missionary organization for their Easter card. It's supposed to be of the women approaching the empty tomb. Boy is this hard. I think it's partly hard because I don't have a firm idea of what I want to draw. It's mostly hard beyond that because drawing the human figure is really hard for me to do, unless I'm doing it regularly. So it's hard for me to envision how the body turns and what shapes it makes, and stuff. I may have bitten off more than I can chew. :(

I think I may take a break from the drawing and instead go and get some tacos for lunch. I'm also debating about whether to get my car washed and to get my nails manicured, since I have a pretty bad hangnail that needs to be removed (I don't think I have that tool). I have basically been thinking about doing those things for the last two weeks, so me thinking about them today could either mean that I just go and get them over with, or put them off for the next two weeks.

2009-11-04T08:28:00.001-08:00

I'm reading a gazillion things right now, but at the pace of a snail. I think this is because I'm only mildly interested in the things that I'm reading. I'd love to read an easy book that I just can't put down. Suggestions? The other day I started reading a collection of short stories by Ray Bradbury because it happened to be close to my bed and I didn't want to get out of bed and look for something different. So far, I am supremely disappointed. In high school I read a few of Ray Bradbury's books (Fahrenheit 451, Dandelion Wine and Something Wicked This Way Comes) and really liked them. I haven't read anything since, but I have this book because there is a short story in there that I am interested in reading. I picked it up and have read probably about 60 pages so far (I have not gotten to my story yet) and I guess I find that Ray Bradbury's writing style, at least in these stories, feels old and sorta childish.

A week or so ago I decided to have some of my paintings made into note cards. I had been thinking about it for awhile, but a stranger sent me an email, asking if she could buy some Christmas cards from me. So, I picked some paintings, made some cards, and then sent them off to the printer. Yesterday I got the cards back from the printer and they look great! Now I just have to figure out a way to get ride of them. I have a couple more orders for cards, so that will get rid of some. I'd like to see if there are small shops that will sell them, but I'm just so bad at self-promotion. At any rate, if it's anything like when I ordered cards before, they will all get used, somehow.

My major project today is to begin drawing the Easter card for the Catholic missionary organization. I'm a little nervous about it (ie, whether or not I can actually draw/paint what they're asking for), but hope that it'll all fall into place. I'm going over to Jenn's to start work on it (she has her own project to work on), and she's a very good drawer, so maybe if I get stuck she can help me out.

2009-11-02T12:07:00.002-08:00

So we tried to keep a tally of the number of trick-or-treaters we had on Saturday night and came up with 106 trick-or-treaters. I think we got more than that last year (my guess is 150) because we had significant periods of time where there was absolutely no one there, or on our street but not coming up to our house; maybe the different groups were giving tips to each other ("That house has no Butterfinger"). Consequently, we have a TON of candy left over. It makes me kind of shudder when I look at it, but I will admit that there are times that I walk by and gently sift through the bowl, contemplating my options. Most time I walk away because I find no real interest (half way through the night I realized we, in fact, had no Butterfinger candies), but sometimes I walk away with a treat.

But the real treat came on Sunday! MLE's mom went out to visit her in Connecticut and came back with a package for me! A beautiful crocheted sack containing my favorite - Wine Gums! Whereas the Halloween candy sometimes repulses me, these Wine Gums are a sight for sore eyes! So delicious!

Otherwise, I have been trying to focus today. I woke up on my own quite early (6:15 a.m.) and have been trying to figure out ever since what to do. What to have for breakfast, what project to work on, what to have for lunch, etc. The only thing I know is that I think I am going to make chicken tortilla soup for dinner. It was also going to be for lunch but, seeing as how it's lunchtime and how my stomach is starting to growl, I think a quick lunch is a better option. After sending out an invoice and looking at Easter art (my God, what have I gotten myself into!), I began work on a web design for my new freelance gig. It's supposed to be hush-hush, so I suppose once the cat is out of the bag, I can tell you all about it. I think next will be either store then lunch, or if I can't stand it, lunch then store.

Gavin is away this week at a conference and when I dropped him off at the airport early Sunday morning, I thought it'd be no problem. Wouldn't miss him, etc. It didn't take more than a few hours when I realized, "Hey, this is lonely." It hasn't helped that my dad is out of town until later tonight, too.

Anyway, I think I better be moving along to figure out lunch. Hope you have a good day!

2009-10-30T08:26:00.002-08:00

In about a half an hour, I will receive a call from Ohio, I think. The Catholic missionary company who's commissioned me to paint their Christmas card appeals for the past few years wants me to do this year's Easter appeal, too! This is very exciting - although at the start of any project (painting, design, sermon, class, etc.) I feel like a total sham, incapable of doing anything of merit. This is probably why interviews don't always go so well. I've never painted anything Easter-themed before, so here-goes. I wonder if they'll ask me to paint the crucifixion. Whereas I don't know if I can paint it, surely my version will be better than this one.

After the phone meeting today, I have to continue to work on logo ideas for my new client, then I have to continue working on this grant that I have to mail in by tomorrow for Family Promise. I spent most of the day yesterday working on it and, after the fact, I felt like a zombie. My first real time doing anything like that. So, I have to finish that today. I also think I may go to return some clothes.

Anyway, no big plans for Halloween this weekend. Gavin, Joey and Carrie are all coming over to my house on Saturday to pass out candy to the trick-or-treaters. Hopefully we'll play a game while we do that, although it has to be one that can be interrupted--we get LOTS of trick-or-treaters in my neighborhood. It's flat ground and the houses are not too far apart, so it makes it easy for the neighborhood children to stock up on candy for the next 10 years. Sometimes I get irritated by the kids who come by without a costume on. Last year there was this kid who was wearing normal clothes and I asked him what he was and he said "a bear." I gave him candy begrudgingly. I am just too nice.

Sunday Gavin flies to South Carolina for the week. He has to take a training class for work. I'm not going to let his leaving stop me from having fun - Sunday I am going to church, then going to a dia de los muertos carnival, then playing softball. A full day!

2009-10-29T07:05:00.002-08:00

If this blog was like an exhibit at the zoo, I suppose it'd be classified like a hippo or something that rarely moves. But only the distinguished zoo watcher will notice this hippo stirring to write yet another blog post. (Here's a tip for the lucky passer-by--better just bookmark my RSS feed in order to get all of my live action!)

I've been thinking about blogging for a couple of months now. I miss it, and I am beginning to not be thrilled with constantly having to express myself on the internet in 140 characters or less (or whatever that ratio is). Is it fun to do so? Yes. But is it substantial? No. Not that this blog was ever really substantial...it is just more substantial than 140 characters. Most of the reason why I stopped blogging is that I just didn't have time for it anymore. When I first started blogging, I blogged at work because I had nothing but time there. Then, when I moved on to seminary, my time was very flexible. Ever since I've returned home since then, I feel like I have no time. Different jobs pulling me different places, my homeless nonprofit taking over my life, and wanting to spend time with Gavin, my family, Gavin's family, and friends. There's not much time after all of that.

Well, my job at the hospital(s) looks like it's winding down for now. And I'm currently, in the wake of the time that that has freed, trying to figure out what to do and how to do it. For this month I am mostly surviving on freelance graphic design projects. Thankfully, I actually have some that are keeping me busy, and I just got a new client, which is very exciting. Part of me is wondering if I should take this opportunity to try to work on my freelance "business" and make it into an actual business. That is a big step and involves a lot of work that I'm not especially thrilled to do. Like look for clients and do business-type stuff. But, I have to say that I love the freedom of working at home. So it may be worth it. Who knows?

So, at least in the near future, I look to have more time. I think I'd like to spend some of that time blogging. We'll see what happens.

2009-07-06T15:56:00.002-07:00

A tradition in my household is to watch the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Competition every 4th of July. Some years there are even phone calls back and forth between various members of my family to comment on the show. I was in Ojai this weekend, so I watched it with my dad yesterday on DVR. If you never have watched the competition, you must. The eating part is a little bit gross (I will admit, but it is at the end, so you can avoid that part), but the commentary leading up to the actual competition is hilarious. I love how the commentators make competitive eating sound so serious, and love the words they use to describe the contestants.

If I had to participate in a competitive eating competition, I think I'd do the best if the food was watermelon. I can eat a lot of watermelon. This was my question for my family last night. If they had to, what would be their food of choice...what food do they feel they could actually be competitors. I didn't get much response. Joey couldn't think of anything and Carrie guessed pie. My uncle Brad thinks he could do fried chicken (and I agree). Gavin thinks he could do pizza, but my guess for Gavin is actually macaroons. I can't remember if my dad had an answer. What would be your food?

This weekend, as I said above, Gavin and I went to Ojai to spend the weekend with his parents. As always, it was a nice weekend. Saturday Bonnie and I went down to the Ventura street fair, leaving Gavin and his dad behind. We have a lot more interest in those things, generally, than they do, so it was nice to be able to go together and to leave them behind and not have to worry about boring them. I bought myself a necklace and two small colored glass window vases, each the size of about a cell phone holder. Bonnie also bought herself a necklace. Then, Saturday night we went over to watch fireworks at Gavin's old high school. Gavin took these photos. Pretty successful! He also took these photos of his parents' dog, Scarlett. I think Scarlett is a beautiful dog. A handful, sometimes, but beautiful.

2009-07-02T07:15:00.002-07:00

Just when you thought, "Oh, here she goes again--a spurt and then stops blogging," here I am to surprise you once again.

Unfortunately, I don't have much to say. My sleep the last couple of nights has not been that good. Anyone have any advice about how to buy a new mattress, or when the best time to buy one is?

I am looking forward to this weekend. Gavin and I are going up to Ojai tomorrow morning sometime and will stay until Sunday. I think we have plans to watch fireworks at Gavin's old high school, but I'm not certain of that. The Greene family is not a planning family. But, I am looking forward to being able to spend time with them regardless of what we do.

Yesterday was awesome mostly because I get to do one of my favorite things: change the month on the calendar. I don't know why that is so fun to me, but it always is exciting to be able to lift the calendar to the next month and see the new design.

Anyway, I should start getting ready for work. Hope you have a good day!

2009-06-30T09:23:00.002-07:00

In rare and exciting news, we won our softball game last night! By like 20. I suppose this team has been on the winning side for many of our games this season, but it was shocking to win by so much, especially considering we lost to this team last time! In other news, my Sunday softball team lost their game, again. We lost to the Unicorns, who wear pink t-shirts with a unicorn on them. Last summer we lost to them by 30 (no exaggeration), so I suppose it was nice that this time we only lost to them by 15. In my opinion it was because the Crippler was throwing the heat. Several strike-outs.

Even though I don't have work today, I have a lot of at-home work to do. Some graphic design, and then I have to start coming up with paintings for the Catholic missionary organization that commissions their Christmas painting from me. Instead of getting right to my work today, I have had a lazy morning. I slept in until 8a, which is kinda late for me, especially on a weekday. Then I've been on the computer a bit and went to the grocery store for tonight. (I think I am going to make this salad for dinner.) Pretty soon I think I'll take a shower, then I'll start working, which may be only a small amount of time because then I have lunch plans at 11:15 a.m. Tough life, I know.

Last night I also had a community meeting for Family Promise. I'll tell you something--I'll love once we're up and running. Sometimes I get frustrated because there's SO much to do in order to get it started. There were only two people who came to the community meeting and, after our presentation, they said they wanted to volunteer for us. That was pretty cool. That was our experience at the community meetings we set up. The city planner said that he did get a couple of emails and a couple of phone calls not in support of the program, and it sort of frustrates me that those people are against it without even hearing about the program. But, whatever. The final decision (about whether or not we will get the place we want to be our day center) will be made on the 13th at a planning board meeting. I am hoping that it will be positive and that I can still go to my softball game afterward.

Ok, time to get started. Have a good day!

2009-06-26T22:19:00.005-07:00

I figure that I've posted 3x in a row - might as well finish out the week with a quick post...even though it seems that no one reads Friday posts...probably because everyone's excited about the weekend.

Anyway, we had the leftovers of the middle eastern stuffed bell peppers tonight (with salt and pepper added this time) and they were much better than last night. No watermelon tonight (because Gavin and I--although mostly me, I'd say--ate it all last night), so I made us salads. I don't know about Gavin's salad, but mine was delicious. Funny, because I also made myself a salad at lunch with approximately the same ingredients and that salad was so-so. But the salad tonight - it could be a contender for best salad ever.

Putting together a salad is something I typically do well...and can figure out with an odd variety of things. I'd love to get to the place where I can look in the refrigerator and put together a meal (and I mean a good meal) with what's in there. Maybe with time.

People around Gavin's apartment have taken to celebrating the 4th of July way early. For the past month people have been constantly setting off fireworks. From the sound of it, some of them are big ones. Tonight I asked him when he thought his neighborhood is going up in flames. Because what goes up must come down, right? Sometimes I tell him that the gang warfare is going on heavy outside. I think he gets the point that I don't exactly like his neighborhood. Or his neighborhood cat that keeps peeing on the vents of my car.

My goal for tomorrow is to do the goal that I forgot to do today: wash my car. It is filthy. Something needs to be done, otherwise I will be a menace driving the streets of Los Angeles.

2009-06-25T21:37:00.003-07:00

3 posts in 3 days? Obviously Jenny's computer has been taken over by aliens.

...or maybe by the procrastinator Jenny who hasn't even put a word together for her sermon on Sunday. I know, I know, there are many pastors who haven't even looked at the scripture yet, but I really like to be done with it all by now. I have read the scripture and I have prepared my research, but I finished it early this morning. I guess I needed to relax today. Good thing that tomorrow I have the entire day off.

Tonight I made Mediterranean stuffed bell peppers for Gavin and I. I got the recipe from a Woman's Health magazine that I took from the beauty shop where I had my makeup done in San Diego. I've always wanted to have a stuffed bell pepper, but I've never been brave enough. Weird, I know. So I saw this recipe where basically you saute ground beef with cumin, cinnamon and garlic, then you mix in tomato sauce, brown rice, raisins and green olives. Since I like all of those things, I thought it would be good. I sorta messed it up because I accidentally put in about double the rice that was called for...mostly because I wasn't thinking. (At first I was halving the recipe but that didn't work, so I kept the recipe as is, but accidentally put in more rice...it was a mini-crisis.) I think Gavin really liked it. I am on the fence. We both agree it'd be better with the correct amount of rice. I liked it, but by the end of the pepper, got really tired of it. It felt like it needed a little more oomph. Like for it to be a little spicier? Or maybe saltier? Maybe just salt - the magazine didn't have me add salt at all, probably because it is a "health" magazine and thinks that salt is a major no-no. Anyway, I served it with watermelon. I love watermelon.

With dinner we watched The Reader (I guess there's spoilers in this paragraph). Although I was distracted by a.) how much I liked how she styled her hair during the trial, and b.) how I feel that they did a horrible job aging her during her imprisonment, I felt that the movie was interesting and thought-provoking. In particular, I thought the anguish that the main (male) character suffered was really interesting - did he support her conviction or not? How do you reconcile someone you love committing atrocious crimes, etc.? I also thought that the ravenous affair they were having was indicative of how ravenous she was to have an education, which for some reason she did not have. Then I read the Wikipedia entry about the book (I didn't know there was also a book) about how the story is more complex in the book. In the movie, I think you can argue that she was a bit...penitent for her actions. But the Wikipedia entry suggests that in the book she's more of a cold, hardened killer who wasn't repentant. I'm a little bit intrigued to read the book, but it gets really mixed reviews on Goodreads. Hmm...I'll have to think about that.

2009-06-24T21:27:00.002-07:00

So I love crisply painted lines. Part of why I am so enamored with my Babolat tennis racquet is that it is painted in these matte colors of a medium blue, black, white and red. Maybe some silver too...hard to say because it's been a few weeks since I've played tennis. But you can totally see a crisp line of where the colors touch each other. Sometimes when I am playing I have to tell myself not to focus on that and to instead focus on the game. I'd like to think maybe that's why I always lose to Colander, but I know that the truth of it is that I have way less talent and athletic skill than him.

Anyway, this weekend for the wedding all of the bridesmaids got French-style manicure/pedicures. I am a huge fan of getting manicures & pedicures (although I am not a fan of paying as much as I did this weekend, but bridesmaids follow directions), but I have never before gotten a French manicure. Or pedicure. I've been interested in the French manicure, but not so much the French pedicure mostly because I feel that looks weird. Anyway, when the woman was first putting on the white on my fingernails, it was all sloppy. I was actually kind of upset about it, but I figured that I would just let it go. Good thing--because I guess the protocol is that they apply the white part kind of sloppy and then take a paintbrush with acetone on it and clear away the mess to make a smooth line. So the paint on the tips of my fingernails is already chipping off, but the smooth, crisp line is still there and I love looking at just that line. It's particularly good on both pinky fingers and both thumbs. This being said, I most likely won't get a French manicure in the future...it's just fun for now to be able to look at that crisply painted line.

On a completely different note, I am watching Ninja Warrior with my dad and Gavin right now and Gavin keeps on making fun of me. When the contestant is close but the time limit is closing in, I get really stressed out and start to cover my eyes. I can't handle it. So Gavin is exasperating it by counting down loudly and getting me all riled up. And i want to marry him, why???

2009-06-23T09:03:00.004-07:00

I am a bad patient. Over the last few months I've had a problem with my blood...basically that I don't have enough blood. It was pretty much a crisis in March (on my cousin's birthday) when I went in to the Emergency Room to get a blood transfusion. So, over the last few months I've been trying to build my blood back up. Ever since the ER, I've been assigned to a hematologist, but I never went...mostly because I don't have insurance and it pretty much sucks to go to the doctor if you don't have insurance, much less a specialist. So I kept going to my regular doctor and she told me to take these massive quantities of iron, three times a day. Then, I went in for a blood count and my blood had substantially improved...to the point where she said, "keep taking the iron as prescribed," and I thought, "Well, I don't want to overdose...I'll just take it when I can"...which ended up being 0-3 times daily.

So, anyway, two weeks ago I was thinking that I really should just go see the hematologist, just to make sure. But I didn't do anything about it because I debated about going to a free clinic on the other side of Los Angeles, or going to the hematologist that the hospital referred me to across the street. While I was hemming and hawing, I happened to be called by the hematologist's secretary, wondering why I hadn't called for an appointment. It's been months, afterall. So we scheduled an appointment for me early this morning. I was really nervous that he was going to be so mean and do all of these tests and things, but he was really, really, really nice. He did tell me that I was a bad patient, mostly because I have avoided seeing the doctor when my blood has been relatively bad and because I told him I take the iron whenever I can...which may average out to being ~2 times a day. However, he was good natured about it and, after taking my blood and doing a test, he told me that I could just stay on the 2/day dose plus eat red meat once a week. That doesn't sound so bad. And, my total cost for the visit plus lab work ended up being just shy of $60. My day has begun with a surprise of a very positive doctor's visit. He did tell me, though, that he can tell just by my skin that I eat too many orange things...carrots, oranges, etc., and that I should perhaps not eat as much of those. I'll try, but I don't know how successful I'll be--I LOVE orange things!

This weekend I went down to San Diego to be in my friend Marian's wedding. I went down on Friday and spent some time with my Aunt Sally, Roger, Keana and Leila. Keana and Leila had their last day of school that day (3rd & K), so there was excitement in the air. I watched them swim in their pool periodically throughout the afternoon, playing with their friends. It reminded me of my summers during my youth, where I would swim and swim and swim for hours. Now I get in the pool and I wonder what there is to do. But back then I remember being endlessly entertained, even though I was turning into a prune. I wish I could regain that. After swimming, we all went out to dinner at McDonald's because Keana was told she could pick anywhere to eat as a celebration of making it through the evils of Mrs. Rose. I remember at one point in my life I would have elected for McDonald's, too. Then later on that night I met up with the bridal party in downtown SD at a cowboy bar called Double Deuce. Double Deuce is owned by the groom's friend, so we were able to have drinks and rides on the mechanical bull for free. I only had half of one drink and opted out of riding on the mechanical bull, partly because I did not want to risk whiplash and partly because I dislike making a fool out of myself in front of others.

Saturday morning was relaxing, spent reading and lounging with my family. Then we all gathered in the cars and went down to meet Danny for lunch and to drive by his new house! Danny bought a very nice house in the Clairemont area of San Diego, and his escrow ended that Friday. Unfortunately, he doesn't get to move in until the beginning of July, but when he moves in, he assures us that he'll have our whole family over. The neighborhood is nice and quiet and the house looks very nice from the outside. Immediately after that, I went down to Balboa Park for the wedding rehearsal. That was the beginning of all the work. We were there for quite awhile, then we went and had a late lunch, then we started in on all of our tasks, including: finishing and printing the (elaborate and pretty) programs, putting together all of the flower arrangements, getting our nails done, putting together the centerpieces, checking into the hotel, etc. I learned how to make very nice flower bouquets, flower wreaths, etc. The woman who taught me was really impressed and seemed to want to go into business with me! (If I lived in SD, I might consider it! It was fun!) However, it all got less fun as the night wore on. Eventually I went to bed at 4 a.m.

Only to wake at 9 a.m. in order to get ready for the wedding - hair, makeup, etc. We ended up going to a salon in Golden Hill, this SD neighborhood that has some really neat, old, funky houses. I only had my makeup done...and somewhat regret it. I expected that I would feel that it was too much (mostly because I wear hardly any, so it's always a shock to see it very done up), but I did not expect that the guy would give me red/magenta/wine eye shadow. Being a white girl, I felt I looked like a rabbit when I was done. But eventually I got used to it and hardly noticed it. The wedding was at 4 p.m., and we were supposed to get to the park at 2:30 p.m. to take pictures. The bride, however, was running really late, so we ended up taking most pictures after the ceremony. There were two ceremonies because the bride is Korean. The first was a traditional, Western-style ceremony. The second ceremony was called a Paebek ceremony wherein the bride and the groom dressed in traditional Korean dress and there was a sort of tea ceremony where the relatives threw dried fruit at them, the number of dried fruit they caught is a symbol of how many children they will have. It was really neat to watch that part of the ceremony. Then we headed up to La Jolla for the reception at Azul Restaurant. Up to that point, I had eaten: one cup of orange juice, one cookie, one banana and a handful of nuts. Now, I don't know if it was that the food was absolutely delicious (it was) or if I was just really hungry (I was), but that food may have been the best food I've ever eaten. And the view at the restaurant, especially during sunset, was spectacular.

All in all, a nice wedding, but I sure am glad that I took Monday off of work. What is it about weddings that make them so draining?! Ok - I have stuff to do before I go in to work this afternoon. Hope all is well!

2009-05-20T22:39:00.002-07:00

I am busy, busy, busy. (big surprise, huh?) Hopefully I'll have some time tomorrow. Or at least this weekend. But I have not forgotten about you, my loyal public.

2009-05-15T07:59:00.002-07:00

I won't go into any LOST spoilers (not like I'd have any to give--I have no clue about what's going on), because I may have readers in the UK who haven't seen it yet, but I just need to ask: is it just me, or is this season filmed like a bad B movie? It's starting to aggravate me.

Yesterday I worked really hard on finishing my sermon for Sunday, and now it's done! Finishing it that early allowed me to go to see Star Trek with Gavin, my family, and Joey's friends. Although I wasn't really interested in the movie, I thought it was pretty good...except anytime time travel is involved, I just get really confused.

Today I have work and then tonight I'll be going over to Terrence & Liz's apartment for a small dinner party.

Saturday I have foregone my volleyball game, since I need to go down to San Diego for my cousin Keana's first communion. Sunday I will preach, then I'll have some friends over for an early dinner.

It's a full weekend.

As is usual, I am really behind on email right now. It's the constant thorn in my side. The worst thing is that I feel like I'll whittle it down to about 75, then the very next day it'll go up to 90+. :(

This just in: the news announced that Mars is giving away free chocolate if you register on their site!

2009-05-12T08:22:00.002-07:00

Now that I'm back to my normal schedule, I have to try to remember to blog more often! Or else my public goes mad!

The painting event was ok. It was definitely an experience and I definitely learned what to do and what not to do in the future. From the perspective of the French store, I did marvelously. They have three or so stores in California and would like to contact me in the future about doing stuff with them. So, that's really great. From my perspective, there are a number of things I'd change or request from the store, but I'd totally do it again. I do have pictures, but I just haven't gotten around to taking them off of the camera. There was also a magazine there, NJ Life, and they were taking pictures. The photographer promised to send me some, so hopefully that'll happen (because the pictures he showed me were really neat!).

The weekend went by quickly, and I definitely had a good time with Emily. When I came back I was in a fog for most of the day - it's funny how 5 or 6 hours on a plane, cooped up, does that to you. I'm definitely feeling more like myself now, except that yesterday when I thought to myself, "Ah, now May is going to be easy!" I realized that I still have a busy end-of-May, and that this weekend will pose no breaks, since I will go down to San Diego to witness Keana's First Communion, and then drive back up and preach the very next morning. Then I have two more weeks of preaching after that.

Anyway, I have a half hour left before I have to go in to work. Better take this opportunity to work on my sermon, or else I'll be frustrated later.

2009-05-08T22:12:00.002-07:00

So I made it to NJ today (Friday). I've been busy this whole week preparing both for this trip and for my Family Promise meeting, which was last night. I did not have much time to do much else.

Anyway, the Family Promise meeting went much better than I expected it to go. I remain amazed at how much has happened, especially right when I feel that all is lost and we will never make it. Another reminder for me that God is good.

The plane ride felt very quick (we actually landed 45 minutes early!), up until our descent, when I almost vomited twice...at that point, it seemed as if we would never land. I have never had that reaction before on an airplane and, let me tell you, it is not pleasant. I had the barf bag in hand as we were going through the rolling turbulence and I turned my air on high and tried to blast it in my face. I think if I would have not been constrained to a seat and not been around a fair amount of people that I would have let it blow. Ugh. I never want that to happen again.

It has been very fun to be with Emily and be able to have girl talk person to person! And hang out (somewhat) like old times. It is also fun to be back in NJ to remind myself just how different it is from my home, a fact that I had forgotten until Tracey visited LA and exclaimed several times each day, "It's so different here!" and "You must have felt so foreign in NJ!" It was also fun to be treated by Emily to dinner in Princeton at a restaurant I have always wanted to eat at, and then to stop by Halo Pub and get a scoop of my favorite ice cream.

Regarding my gig, I left home feeling more confident about being prepared for my assignment, having drawn up nearly 40 drawings (of 6 different flowers), having a finished painting of every flower (and in some instances two finished paintings), but then tonight I worked on painting/finishing more flowers and I finished exactly two paintings in a span of two hours. Two hours is exactly how long I will be painting for at the French place. So, I am back to being paranoid and petrified about tomorrow. Thankfully, I have tomorrow morning and early afternoon to continue to work on the paintings, and will have Emily by my side to help provide assistance and emotional support. Somehow or other we'll make it through this next day. I brought a camera and hope to take pictures, and I will also post pictures of the flowers I have painted. All in good time...must not do that before I do more work on the paintings.

Until later!

2009-05-04T23:49:00.003-07:00

Well, I'm quickly fading, but I thought I'd stop in to post a quick summary of where I'm at.

This weekend was mostly painting, drawing and sports (and allergy attacks). And a preaching bit on Sunday that I nailed. I preached this sermon that I preached about a year ago that I didn't think was very good (after I preached it). But this church needed me to preach on short notice, so I had to pull a sermon out of somewhere and I just couldn't remember what sermons I had preached at the church I was preaching at, so I preached this sermon that I knew I had preached only once before. (Confusing, or what?!) Anyway, I read over the sermon and I thought, "Hey, this isn't so bad afterall." Then I went there and preached it, preached it well, and got nice comments afterward. I suppose the comments are almost always nice (that is, unless you preach in Jamaica, where they're not as concerned with giving nice comments), but I could tell that this particular sermon was the right one to preach on Sunday.

Sports: I will be playing on three different sports teams this summer. One volleyball team and two softball teams. So pretty much Saturday/Sunday/Monday is now a sports trifecta or whatever. I can only say that my body has felt a little sore in a few areas over the past couple of days. I think it should be good, although part of me hates that I've occupied my whole weekend. Thankfully I feel free enough to let the various teams know when I can't play.

Painting: The New Jersey painting gig is this Saturday and I'm getting nervous about it. I am still putting together different flower paintings for the event, which means that there is not a whole lot I have gotten to regarding the extracurricular bits (ie, the more important bits to me - what I will sell!). I'm trying not to get overwhelmed about it, and today I feel like it's not insurmountable, so...hopefully all will be ok. I also have Family Promise stuff to do this week, so it's a bit of a juggling match when I already feel a bit slow and foggy, since I stopped a lot of things the week before Joey's wedding (while the things continued on), so I feel a bit behind and unable to stop and get my bearings on where I'm at with things.

Anyway, tomorrow I have the day off, so I plan on doing solely painting/drawing and Family Promise. I also plan on making this Chicken with tomatoes, apricots and chickpeas dish for dinner. Now I finally know what to do with those apricots I bought from Costco but don't really like (the Trader Joes slab apricots are 10,000x better).

2009-04-30T22:15:00.003-07:00

I am so relieved. This afternoon I set my face toward finishing the corrections on some marketing sheets that I've been working on for months now. The project is for this accounting firm that I design for and they've been busy over the past couple of months, as have I, so I have been slow to send things back. However, I have been feeling the pressure of having it on my to-do list, yet haven't done anything with it lately. So I spent the entire afternoon - a full 6.5 hours - finishing these corrections. I've emailed them off and I'm sure they'll have more corrections for me to do, but for now it's crossed off of my to-do list. Weight off of my shoulders!!

So I still miss my brother. I think whenever I am at my house and my brother isn't here (particularly during the day), it just feels lonely. The silly thing is that even if Joey is here during the day, I don't talk with him very much. I guess it's just the knowledge that he is here. I received a brief email from him today that included a picture from his lunch spot, which was pretty. I guess he and Carrie had just made it to Maui from Kauai.

Tonight my dad made Gavin and I some barbecued chicken that had this lemon garlic...marinade (sorta) along with barbecued corn. It was delicious. You know, I usually do not like barbecued chicken because it's dry, but my dad has been dismantling this stereotype for me lately.

Tomorrow I also have the day off, so I will be focusing on my painting excursion in Princeton. I have to respond to my contacts over there. I already have bought some paper and have looked at the inspiration photos they have sent me (which, frankly, aren't too inspiring) and have already begun doing some drawings. I may have completed about 8 drawings so far. But more needs to be done - I need to practice painting some and figure out which colors I will ask them to buy me.

Anyway, I should get going to bed. Part of what I'll need to do to make it feel like I'm not too busy and overworked this month is to be sure to get good rest!

2009-04-28T17:29:00.003-07:00

So Susan tagged me in the midst of a few busy days last week to post about the Dancing Deer Sweet Home Initiative:

Dancing Deer’s Sweet Home Initiative raises money for scholarships to help educate homeless women and end family homelessness. As a part of this initiative, our CEO, Trish Karter, will be riding her bike 1,500 miles from Atlanta to Boston, visiting family shelters in each city to raise awareness about this issue. She’ll also be recording stories from the women she meets along the way, asking them about their experiences. One question she’ll ask them are what foods remind them of home.(See more here.)

As Susan indicates, I do think I'm caring and I do like families, and I think that Dancing Deer's initiative is a really neat one. And amazing - I get tired just driving 100 miles in a day - and here this woman is bicycling 100 miles a day, 15 days straight. That's pretty amazing and deserves support!

Anyway, I suppose with this tag you're supposed to indicate what foods remind you of home. My immediate family eats out (a lot), so there's not really that much that reminds me of home-cooked food, at least off the top of my head. However, some of my favorite extended family meals are: Aunt Ellie's burritos, Aunt Trisha's baked/smashed fingerling potatoes, and my Granny's rice with almonds in it that is not made anymore (I wonder why?), but was the first rice I tried that I liked (which got me started eating rice).

Now that Gavin and I eat together, we are starting new traditions of food. He makes a yummy carrot soup (that is not much more than carrots, onions, garlic and chicken stock). I also love making these vegetarian enchiladas (although I leave out the spinach). I also make a chicken tortilla soup that is delicious and I will admit that I do make a fantastic salad (with whatever I can find in the fridge).

2009-04-28T17:01:00.002-07:00

So I was supposed to work a full shift today, but almost called in to the hospital to cancel because I am still tired from the wedding. I got to the hospital and discovered that all of the staff people were there today (I usually am assigned there when someone is out), so I bargained to do a few hours of work and call it a half day. I came home, took a half-hour nap (sorely needed), and then I have spent the rest of the day doing various freelance projects. I am feeling a bit better now.

While I was working on my freelance projects, I realized that I never checked to see if this one site I did a design for was actually made into a website. (I was commissioned by a web builder to design something that she could build.) So I went over to the site and see that it's up, and think that it is a wonderful improvement on what their website used to be.

Anyway, I wish I could just push hold on life right now. I feel like several things need my attention and that (once again), my entire May is packed without having even started yet. :(

2009-04-27T17:38:00.002-07:00

So tired.

My brother & Carrie's wedding was last night (rehearsal dinner pics here). Suffice to say, all day today I have been dragging. The wedding was beautiful and I am so glad that now it's over. There have been some intense moments over the past few days, rehearsing and getting ready and dealing with various interpersonal tendencies among people. But there also were sweet moments and exciting moments and fun moments. It was also great having Tracey in town and spending so much time with her, and having the ability to do non-wedding stuff, too. We had a great day on Friday exploring the California coast and practically couldn't stop talking the entire time.

I took Tracey to the airport today and have spent the rest of the day alternating between feeling exhausted, to feeling a little sad. Sad that Tracey is gone, sad that my brother is gone (on his honeymoon), sad that my family has returned home. For all of the frustration and stress that this wedding has brought in the past few days, it also brought people together. I guess I feel a little "postpartum depression" with the end of the wedding, if you will. And if I have it (for what little I have contributed), I can't imagine how Carrie's mom and Carrie herself must feel with the change.

Alas, life goes on, but to experience that life fully, one must sleep. So, I'm going to hit the sack.

2009-04-22T08:47:00.002-07:00

I'm making croutons right now. Mostly because I bought a loaf of bread at Trader Joe's and it went stale almost instantly. Has anyone else ever had a good experience at Trader Joe's buying bread? I have not.

Yesterday was a doozy. I went in to work at the hospital and it turned out that they had so many people working yesterday (with interns and residents and all) that I only was assigned one unit (typically I am assigned two or sometimes more). One unit is a breeze, and if I start visiting people at around 9:30, I can typically finish by 11:15, charting and all. Because of this, I thought I'd be so bored from about 12 noon until 4:30, when I left, but how wrong I was. I had several significant interactions with patients, and was on-call (and was called several times!), and I had some truly weird interactions with some patients.

This one patient, when I left her room, insisted I take this self-published book that she had written on 9/11. The picture on the corner, of course, is of the twin towers on fire and it just felt so weird to take the book, especially because neither of us have any connection to 9/11. I didn't talk with her to find out more about why she was giving me this book because I thought perhaps she's one of those conspiracy theorists. I hate conspiracy theorists and have so little patience for them. So, I accepted the book and moved on. About 10 or so patients after her, I encountered another patient. I introduced myself as the chaplain and he asked me my denomination. Once I told him Presbyterian, he yelled at me, "YOU KILLED MY FATHER!!! I am a Seventh Day Adventist!!" and walked away from me, refusing to talk to me any further. Needless to say, that was quite unsettling, and I will never know what he meant.

Anyway, I ended up being busy until I left. Today and tomorrow will be busy with details, due to Joey's impending nuptials. Tracey is flying in on Thursday afternoon and between now and then, I have to do a lot of cleaning, make some phone calls, flesh out some details and go to three meetings (scratch that: four meetings). And work a 2 hour shift at the hospital so they can take out their administrative assistant for the administrative assistants' day, or whatever. Much to do, but since I want to keep everyone in the loop so that no one feels they don't have an idea of what's going on in my life, one of my first priorities this morning is blogging. Well, not one of my firsts, since I have technically been awake since 6:45a or so (the sun has been waking me up early lately, which is a treasure!).

Well, I should probably get to my tasks. Catch you on the flip side!

2009-04-20T16:06:00.003-07:00

Well, friends, I have spent the majority of the day cleaning. This is a positive thing because it's one of the many agenda items on my list for this week. I was going to hold out for later on this week, but I needed to wait around the house for something this afternoon and I figured that I'd have more time and attention to clean today instead of trying to fit it in among other things on Wednesday or Thursday morning. Some highlights of cleaning today: I rotated on my brown sheets, which I continue to love and adore. I organized four of my cubby holes on my bookshelf, making 6/16 of the cubby holes now completely organized. I also am finished cleaning the shower, which is always the most hated of tasks and now it's done, so that's a highlight! I still need to do major work in the living room and kitchen, but all in good time.

Today I also have been trying to get a handle on what I need to do with the rehearsal dinner. There's a certain member of my family that I'm working with on the rehearsal dinner because it's at her house and every time I talk with her I get so frustrated. Gavin is very good for me because he reminds me that I need to be charitable with her (which is easy for me to forget). So whereas I wish that the week won't go by too quickly so that I can get everything done, I cannot wait for the rehearsal dinner to pass.

Joey and I are trying to figure out how we can see the This American Life thing in the theatre. They are showing it in Burbank, but it is sold out. Plus, earlier that night we have the rehearsal for their wedding. We could make it to one of the farther away showings (Arcadia or Woodland Hills)...but, it'd be cutting it close. Unfortunately, the Encore show on the 7th of May doesn't work for me - that's my Family Promise night. It probably won't happen, but...maybe...

Part of what makes my brother's wedding so exciting is that Tracey is officiating. I'm so excited to be able to spend some time with her in person! She is coming in on Thursday afternoon.

I am also trying to put my mind around what it will take to do the painting thing in New Jersey. Like what I have to prepare for it, what I want to prepare for it, etc. My ticket is already purchased, now I have to figure out how to make this thing worth my while. I think what I am suffering from today, though, is a bit of a paralyzation of all that I need to do (Joey's wedding, rehearsal dinner, painting gig, Family Promise, etc.) and trying to organize a good timing of what should be done when, what is most pressing, etc. Lately I have felt a bit overwhelmed, so it'll be nice to have some large chunks crossed off my list after the end of this week.

Mangos were on sale yesterday 10 for $10. They're not quite delicious yet (although not bad), but I did make my award-winning mango salsa for my prayer group last night. The mango salsa turned out delicious! I love calling it my award-winning mango salsa because it's just a recipe from a cook book that I made for work when we had a salsa contest once. Everyone else made really good, homemade tomato-based salsas and I think mine won because it was both different and fruit salsas are delicious. I think somewhere I have a recipe for cherry salsa that I should try once cherries get in season.

Well...I guess that's all for now. I suppose I should try to at least tackle a portion of the living room before I meet up with Gavin for dinner. I think I need to play Rock Band with him tonight. Rock Band is one of those things that he LOVES and I tolerate, but that is important for me to do with him every so often.

2009-04-17T08:09:00.002-07:00

All right - finally it is Friday. I know this sounds ridiculous, but I have been working for the last 4 days straight and I'm ready for a break. I really don't know how I used to work 5 days in a row. Well, I suppose when I'm doing graphic design it's not that bad, but I think when you're working as a chaplain and have to talk to people over and over and over again sometimes about heavy topics, it becomes very draining. Yesterday it was hard to get my heart into it (probably because Wednesday I had some weird/difficult interactions), so I expect that today I'll also be looking at the clock all day long. I think it might also be that I have been kinda overworked for the last couple of months with work, but then also with Family Promise and also with various wedding stuff for Carrie/Marian/Me. The long and short of it is that I might need a vacation.

Anyway, no big plans for the weekend, which I think is just as well. In fact, I might get started on the things I need to prepare for this upcoming week. For those who don't know, my brother and Carrie get married not this Sunday but the next (the 26th). So, I need to tidy up our house, prepare stuff for the rehearsal dinner, etc. I also would like to get my car washed. I also need to paint...I tried painting on Wednesday night and my results were just "eh." It made me very nervous for this May thing.

I was getting so good at keeping my email inbox between 55-70 and now I'm creeping closer and closer to 90+. Perhaps I can spend some time this weekend cleaning out my inbox as well.

Once again, I finished and reviewed another book on Goodreads. This one called Just Wives: Stories of Power and Survival in the Old Testament and Today. Something that was exciting for this book is that there are no other written reviews, so I feel ultra cool. Anyway, just wanted to give more publicity to this site - I really love being a part of it. You can keep track of the books you've read (and what you rate them), the books you are reading, and the books you want to read. I think that last point is helpful to me, because as I hear of books I'm interested in, I'll add them to my list. That way, next time I am at the library or whatever, I can go on the internet and find a book on my list. And if you're my friend, then you can see books I review and vice versa. It's fun.

Well, I suppose I should iron my shirt, dry my hair, put on my makeup and head in to work. Hope you all have a good weekend!

2009-04-14T15:35:00.002-07:00

It has been a full day. I didn't get much sleep last night and so have been a little tired all day long. At the Seder tonight, Fr. Paul said he also did not get much sleep last night. Consequently, he told us that today while he was in the midst of having a long conversation with one of his patients, that patient got a phone call. The phone call was so long that Fr. Paul fell asleep while in the patient's room and the patient had to wake him up! How embarrassing! (and hilarious!)

Anyway, I got some exciting news a couple of days ago in my inbox. It seems there's a French store opening up in New Jersey (Princeton, actually) and for their Grand Opening (which is Mother's Day weekend), they were hoping to get a watercolorist to be at their store, painting small, simple French countryside flowers for their visitors to get as free take-aways. So, anyway, after a little talk, I've decided to go out to Princeton for Mother's Day weekend. They are paying for my materials, my hotel and food and my transportation to and from the airport, while I paid for my airfare and am doing the event for free. However, I get to sell paintings while I am there and hopefully gain exposure from the event.

I think what is so exciting about this opportunity is that it is yet another one in a long string of events that keep me painting and encourage me to envision what it would be to try to make a living off of painting. Or...at least maybe a more significant portion of my living off of my painting. It seems so impossible, and yet at the same time, I get work and opportunity without even trying for it. Food for thought...

Well, best be getting to bed. Today has gone better than yesterday, and for that I'm thankful.

2009-04-13T21:38:00.002-07:00

So my blog might be colored by my extreme disappointment of this evening, coupled with not feeling well. In general, things are good right now.

It feels like a lot has happened since March. Really, the biggest thing is my health. I guess about a week after I last blogged (my cousin Danny's 31st b-day), I was working at the hospital and they were having a blood drive. I forget if I mentioned, but I had been feeling really weak since last fall. Like *really* weak. At first I just thought I was out of shape (like with tennis and stuff), but then I'd have these days where I would go to the grocery store and would feel faint just walking inside to get an item or something. I figured I was probably anemic, so I started to take more iron by taking a multi-vitamin and trying to be conscious about eating more iron-rich foods.

So, by the middle of March, when they were doing the blood drive, I was feeling better. I was able to make it through some tennis matches and hadn't really felt too bad since maybe January. Maybe February. So, I went over to the blood donor clinic and the nurses measured my hemoglobin and FREAKED OUT. I mean, they freaked out so much that it made me really nervous because I could tell from their faces that things were not good. My hemoglobin was measured at 5.9%, when normal is 10-15%. The thing was that I felt fine, and here they were, telling me I needed to go to the doctor immediately, amazed that I could stand, that they give blood transfusions at 8%, etc. I called a nurse-friend of mine who was working at the hospital that day to check with her if I should be concerned, and I could tell in her voice (although she was calm) that this was really something to be concerned about.

Fortunately, my doctor's office is across the street, so I walked over. Unfortunately, I found that he was on vacation. Another doctor in the office was kind enough to see me as a walk-in, so I went to her and she told me that I needed to have a complete blood count. If the CBC was that low, she said I'd need to go to the hospital to get a blood transfusion, but if it was around 7%, then they'd work with me to see how I could get more iron. So, I went to the lab and a few hours later the doctor called me and told me that I needed to go to the hospital.

So, Gavin came up and he and I went to the ER (this was about 5:30 p.m.). We waited only about 15 minutes and then they triaged me and ran another test to confirm that my count was that low, then I spent the next eternity getting 2 units of blood. My dad ended up relieving Gavin at around 9:30 or 10 p.m. and stayed with me until they released me at 3:00 a.m. They almost admitted me, but agreed to discharge me if I went to the doctor within the week and worked at understanding why I am so low without any reason (the extremely low number indicates that there's something wrong beyond not eating enough iron-rich foods).

I left the hospital with 8.5% hemoglobin and, as far as I know right now, I continue to be stable. I take three iron pills a day, each one consisting of 360% of my daily value of iron. At the start of May, I'll take another CBC and hope that it's either stable or increasing. If not, then there's a problem. If I'm stable, then I just take a monthly CBC to check my levels and can wait to investigate all of this until I get insurance.

So that happened. If you're interested, my total cost for being in the ER that night was $6500. Fortunately, they cut that in half, but that is still $3000. Somehow (really and truly, an answer to my prayers since I owe the IRS about a gazillion dollars this year) after talking with the ER financial counselor, my hospital bill is $400 + a $380 doctor bill + my already-paid $300 deposit.

That, plus what I owe to the IRS, plus my dress for Joey and Carrie's wedding, plus the gift I gave to Carrie and Joey for her bridal shower, plus the bridesmaid dress and shoes I have to get for Marian's wedding in June make March and April very expensive.

Wow, ok...so that was just one (scary) event. I have more to say, but should probably go to dinner bed (don't know why I wrote dinner...maybe I skipped it because I wasn't feeling well???). Hopefully tomorrow I can talk about a venture exciting enough to travel back to NJ in less than a month. Tomorrow is a full day, though, so maybe on Wednesday. Either way, if I don't post anything this week, be sure to nag me on Facebook or whaever.

2009-04-13T17:41:00.002-07:00

A quick post before going to the batting cages. I feel convicted about not blogging mainly due to the fact that my cousin Danny told me yesterday at our Easter lunch, "I feel like I don't know you anymore." Ouch. Plus the Crippler and Tyler have left comments wanting to know my whereabouts, etc., etc.

I will say this for March and April 2009: they have been busy and EXPENSIVE. More about that later.

I'll make it my goal to post something more detailed after my PLAYOFF softball game tonight! Hopefully we'll win. I also hope that my tummy starts feeling a little better...

2009-03-12T07:40:00.002-08:00

Why have I been so silent? Because I have been so busy. Here are the things I've been doing since my last post, in no particular order:

- Family Promise. Last month, Family Promise voted me as President of their Board of Directors. I had sort of been acting that way, since I took charge of the meetings and was involved with a few City meetings and stuff, but it feels a little weird and overwhelming that now that's my official title. I feel a lot more personal responsibility now to get things going. And the thing is that we're kind of stagnant right now. Not really, because we have some exciting movement with the Day Center (we may have found our headquarters), but stagnant in finding more churches to help host and especially in raising funds. We have a snag with raising funds in that the IRS is dragging their feet to give us our non-profit certification and we had to re-file, after having filed last summer. That is frustrating, because it means we'll be rejected from every grant we apply for.

- Joey & Carrie's Rehearsal Dinner. Joey and Carrie are getting married next month and my dad and I are in charge of the rehearsal dinner. Last week I spent a whole day working on it, making decisions, putting together the invitations and booking the caterer. I think now there'll be no more work necessary for it until we get closer to the wedding, like perhaps the week (or maybe even the day) before.

- Preaching. In March, I have three preaching dates: the 8th, 15th and 29th. Last week, amongst everything else I had to do, I also had to write my sermon, which was very stressful. However, fortunately enough, once I finished my exegesis (research document) and started writing my sermon, the sermon just flowed out and didn't take more than 3 hours to write, which is a very short time for me to write a sermon. That was exciting. This week I also have to prepare a sermon, and I just feel so stuck. I finished my research document, and I feel no more inspiration toward the text than when I started, perhaps. My goal is to get started on writing that sermon today because tomorrow night Gavin and I are going out on a double date with a co-worker of his. Saturday is just too close to preaching for me to write a sermon, so I feel like most of it has to be finished today. Hopefully it'll go ok.

- Bridesmaid. This June my friend Marian is getting married, and I am one of her bridesmaids. We're right in the time when dresses have to be picked out, and it is more of an ordeal than I can manage right now. We were going to order online, then we decided to go with David's Bridal, but now we still have to wait before we can order, etc., etc. I will need to get my dress altered - I am right in between two sizes - so I feel a little frustrated that even after ordering my dress I can't quite check it off my list. Also, next weekend we're going to Las Vegas for her bachelorette party, so there have been some planning and consideration things for that.

- My Wedding. Gavin and I and both of our parents have also been thinking and concentrating on when/where to get married, which is kind of hard and remains yet unsettled. We were going to have it at his parents' house, but it turns out the rentals for stuff is pricey, so now we're looking into other venues. We're trying for this fall, but this week something came up that may make us push it back to perhaps January or March of next year. I'm at a point where I just don't care that much, I'd just prefer to have something settled for the date/location.

In the midst of all of this, I continue to work at the hospital a few days per week, in addition to doing some freelance graphic design and painting here and there. Finances aren't the greatest, but I'm still getting bills paid, which I suppose is important. The end of my March seems to be a little quieter than the beginning, both on the work front (I drop down to two days per week at the hospital) and also on the activities front (although all of my weekends are booked solid for March, and many also for April).

2009-02-26T22:55:00.002-08:00

An update! How novel!!

a.) Well those who are on Facebook or who are members of my family already know, but for those who have yet to hear, I have made the über commitment to being environmentally conscious and responsible: I have agreed to marry Gavin Greene. I would like to note that while others may be reducing their carbon footprint in ways like driving less and eating locally, I deserve more credit and should be honored because I am willing to change my name to show my devotion. Few are hardly that committed.

For those who will want to know, Gavin proposed to me the same night of the magnetic dust episode. After the three hours of cleaning (or so) and after watching LOST, he asked me to marry him while we were hugging, saying something like how life is easy but also sometimes life is messy, like the dust we had just been cleaning, then he said that he wanted to spend the rest of his life, the easy and the messy, with me. It was very sweet.

We are thinking of getting married this fall, perhaps October or November, and most likely in Ojai. We'll be going up there this weekend to work through details with Bonnie, who has graciously offered to help us figure it all out.

b.) For those waiting to see pictures of my room redecoration, you can wait no longer. Feel free to browse the (somewhat poor) pictures, complete with commentary and notes on the pictures (if you mouse over). Note that you won't be able to read the notes or the commentary if you view as a slideshow. You'll have to look through the pictures manually to do that.

c.) I just don't understand why in our day and age shoemakers still refuse to make a women's 10.5. More and more women are increasingly getting bigger feet. Why are we still in the dark ages on this subject?

d.) I played tennis tonight with Colander and, for the first time in MONTHS, I was able to play not one, but two sets in their entirety. And although the score looks pitiful to you at 6-1, 6-1, I was impressed that I was able to pull off winning two games. For the past few months I have been feeling weak and dizzy and could not even play one whole set of tennis. I am surprised that Colander put up with me during that time. Tonight I felt better and I'm not quite sure why, but I hope it continues.

WAY too late--hospital shift in the AM. Hope I am able to get some good rest!

2009-02-18T14:04:00.002-08:00

I'm working today at the hospital, but I'm a bit frustrated because nearly all the other staff chaplains are also here. Usually I come in whenever one or more are absent and I cover their units. However, because all are here, I was assigned only one unit today, which I finished in the morning. I have a couple more hours before I get to go home, so I figure that it is time for a blog update.

Last week was incredibly busy for me. A recap:

Monday I worked at the hospital. I was supposed to play softball in the evening but our game was cancelled, due to rain. This was good news to me not only because that day it was incredibly cold, but it allowed me time to work on my exegesis report in order to write a sermon for the following Sunday. However, that day at the hospital, all I wanted was to eat a cookie. I ended up going over to Gavin's on Monday night and I brought with me a bag of chocolate chips. Gavin was sweet enough not only to make me dinner, but also chocolate chip cookies while I worked on my report.

Tuesday I also worked at the hospital. Afterward, I went to the City Council meeting of Burbank in order to support a report they were doing on homelessness, specifically homeless families. The city wants to do something to help homeless families and is considering partnering with various non-profit organizations also in the city. This could be big news for Family Promise, so I had to go to show support. I expected the meeting to go for maybe an hour or so, but there was a controversial issue also on the docket, so even though I got there at 6 p.m., the item number I was to stay for didn't even go on until about 9 p.m. I believe I left there that night at 10 p.m. and the meeting was still going strong. I cannot believe that the City Council members and those city workers that have to attend do that every single Tuesday night.

Wednesday I originally had a day off, but ended up taking a 4 hour shift at the hospital. After working there, I drove home and had some lunch and then went to Pasadena to drop off a color swatch book at the office of one of my clients. I thought it was going to be a quick drop-off, but they ended up pulling me in to discuss the changes they want me to make on the marketing materials I am doing for them. It ended up taking about an hour, I think. Then I stopped by Vroman's to pick up a book and look at invitations for Carrie & Joey's rehearsal dinner, but I didn't have much time because I needed to get back in order to go to a dinner. The president of Family Promise national called me the week before and we organized a dinner with a group from our organization, since she was out here on a business trip. The dinner was great and really helpful, but it didn't finish until late--9 p.m. or so. It was all I had in me to watch LOST and get clothes ready for the next day.

Thursday morning I had an interview for an administrative assistant position. The interview went decently, I think, but ended up taking about 2.5 hours, all told. The process reminded me how much I detest interviewing and looking for a job. But the people were nice enough and I guess I'll wait to hear how it goes. I'm expecting that I won't get the job, since I am actually way overqualified for the position. But, we'll see. Right after the interview, I went over to the hospital to work the remainder of my shift (I went in late because of the interview). After that, I came home and Gavin and I worked on finishing painting the walls of my room. Because my space has been in disarray, so my mind also has been scattered. So, it was nice to paint those walls, knowing that I would soon be able to move everything in place.

Friday I had off from the hospital and all day long I was stressed out, knowing that I still had to prepare my sermon for Sunday. In the morning I worked on finishing my exegesis document, and then I spent all afternoon and early evening writing the sermon. I was quite surprised and pleased that the sermon seemed to come easily as I was writing it all out.

Saturday morning I had to go to a meeting for Family Promise regarding our board. We've had some organizational problems with our board, so we needed to elect new members and figure all of that out. I was hoping it'd be a half-hour meeting, but it ended up being three hours. I was also elected President of the board. While I enjoy all of the people from Family Promise immensely, I left that meeting feeling overwhelmed with the process of starting a non-profit, as well as overwhelmed and exhausted from the week. However, Gavin and I made plans to go to Descanso Gardens and then out to dinner to celebrate Valentine's Day. The thing is that it ended up not being terribly pleasant, mostly because I was in a bit of a cranky mood. Gavin is really good at putting up with me when I get into that sort of mood. We ended up having an early dinner, then I went home and took a nap and practiced my sermon for the next day.

Sunday I got up early and made the trek up to Lancaster to preach my sermon, which just seems forever away. You keep on driving and once you feel like you've driven long enough, you realize that you have yet another 20 minutes of driving (or so). Anyway, I arrived and preached my sermon and it seemed to go ok. The people at that church are very nice and I had some interesting conversations after church, so that was good, but difficult because they're all people I don't know. Then I drove back to the valley, but had a baby shower to go to for Amy and Justin, so I ended up just driving to the destination and staying in my car to rest before going in. Once I went in, I realized that the only people I knew (really) at the baby shower were Amy and Justin, which was fine, but also exhausting. I had some conversations with people I met there, but after all of the presents were opened, I was anxious to get home and rest. So I drove home and rested for a little bit, but had difficulty really resting. Eventually, Gavin came over for dinner with my family and he also helped me complete my room by helping me move my furniture back in place. There are still things to tidy up and get settled, but right now everything is in its place and I feel so relieved to be finished with the part of the room re-order project that is so disruptive.

Monday was a day off, but my body didn't feel the need to sleep in--I woke up at 7:00 a.m. sharp. My dad, brother and I ended up going out to breakfast at a local restaurant. I'm not a huge fan of breakfast (mostly because I don't like eggs and prefer simple breakfasts of fruit and toast or cereal or something), but I decided to get the fruit stuffed french toast. Oh my, what a mistake. I mean, it was delicious, but it ended up being so much food that I was literally full all day long from it and I just couldn't get myself motivated. I don't know if it was because I was tired from the week, if it was because it rained hard all day long, or because of the food, but I just couldn't bring myself to do anything that day. It really felt like a miserable waste. That night I went over to Gavin's and made a chicken tortilla soup (that was delicious) and we watched a movie.

Yesterday I worked again at the hospital, then worked all last night on various freelance projects.

And here I am today. I've had a headache all day long and I'm not quite sure why. I get allergy/sinus headaches, but I've taken an allergy pill today and still it hasn't helped. I am looking forward to getting off my shift and going to lie down. I have some stuff to work on for Family Promise, as well as freelance projects, and I should probably start on my sermon that'll be on the 8th of March. Looking forward, March looks to be absolutely crazy for me. I get tired just thinking about it.

Anyway, that is why I have been too busy to post. My brother was lamenting this past week that sometimes he has a hard time trying to figure out ways to keep himself busy. I have a hard time trying to keep myself from getting busy. I suppose we all have struggles...

2009-02-13T11:36:00.001-08:00

So behind. No time to blog. :(

2009-02-05T09:29:00.002-08:00

The Lesson I Learned

Years and years and years ago I started collecting city magnets with my name on them. Not by my own choice - people just started giving them to me and I kept on putting them on the refrigerator. After awhile, I had many magnets and wanted to figure out how to display them. I thought a lot about it and talked about it with my dad and friends. In the end, I decided to buy some magnetic paint and painted a small area on one of my walls in order to display the magnet. Then, I would have the magnets hold a US Map up against the wall, with each city magnet being in its proper place. Sounds cool, right?

For those who have not used magnetic paint, it's really difficult to paint with. You have to mix it just right, or it'll be clumpy. Plus, it's really hard to lay down flat with paint rollers. And it takes a lot of effort to do it. So the plan was to paint a swatch and then paint green (my room color) back over it. However, I never got to the point of painting green back over it. When I put the paint on the walls, it ended up being really uneven. Some places, although covered in the paint, weren't magnetic enough. Other places were rough and needed to be sanded down. In the end, I gave up on the entire project and have consequently had a 5'x4' space (roughly) on my walls that is this dark grey blob.

Now that I have finished two walls in the new, light grey paint, my attention now is to do the remaining two walls. Then I will do the curtains and finish the room. Well, the magnetic paint swatch is on the remaining two walls. On Superbowl Sunday, I decided that I'd start sanding down the magnetic paint so that I could prep the walls to be painted. In the end, to do just a small portion of the wall took a lot of effort. Because my dad does general contracting, he has all sorts of tools, so while I was sanding I was thinking, "I bet my dad has some sort of power tool - an electric sander - to do this with."

And I was right! So yesterday I asked him if I could use the sander and he got it for me and showed me how to use it and off I went. I wasn't expecting, however, that it would feel just as tiring to use the electric sander...at least I was able to finish sanding the whole swatch in under an hour. Now, when I was using the manual sandpaper swatches, the fine dust mainly just fell straight down. That's what I was expecting with the electric sander and, you could imagine my surprise (and horror) to turn around after finishing the swatch and realizing that the dust from the electric sander was everywhere, swirling about in the room, settling on everything - my clothes, my furniture, my new duvet cover, etc.

This happened just before I had to go pick Gavin up at the train station. He was coming up here to eat Domino's with me (a Family Promise fundraiser) and to watch LOST last night. I jumped in the car to go get him, and as I was leaving to do that I glanced in the mirror and my face had black swatches of dust all over it. I collected him and brought him home and I immediately jumped in the shower.

When I got out of the shower, I discovered that Gavin was in my room, cleaning each item, bit by bit. Sweeping, wiping, vacuuming, etc. Without me even asking him. He helped me to clean up everything in my room last night. It took us about three hours to clean up everything, not counting laundry. Today I have at least 5 loads of laundry to do, not including the stuff in my closet (which I debate whether or not to totally launder as well (a portion of the closet was open when I was sanding).

I have a few bits of rough patches still on the magnetic swatch to even out (manually) before I start washing the walls to prep them to paint. I'll be doing that today, and hopefully washing the walls this afternoon. Then I'll paint in the coming days (and yes, Emily, I'll post pictures!). However, I'm afraid that I'll probably have to wash the two completed walls, since they likely have the fine magnetic dust attached to them as well. This frustrates me.

However, I have learned my lesson. In the future, when using an electric sander, I will ensure that absolutely EVERYTHING is out of the room before I start using it.

I also will never use magnetic paint again in my life.

2009-01-30T10:16:00.003-08:00

Since everyone has been writing their 25 random things about themselves and has been tagging me, I have decided that this is about the noblest way I can spend my Friday morning while I'm still in my PJs. So, here goes:

1. Recently I have been playing this video game called Little Big Planet with Gavin. While I don't really like playing video games, this one's all right...maybe even a little fun. Basically it's like a Mario game where your character goes through this level and collects prize bubbles. The bubbles could contain points, or new outfits for your character, or stickers or whatever. The only problem is that playing for any length of time messes with my brain. Whenever we stop playing, my brain is still looking for those prize bubbles...behind the couch...or maybe there's one underneath the table...or maybe in the kitchen. Plus, I begin thinking that I (and whatever I'm in, such as my car) can bounce off of anything...not good.

2. I really enjoy room temperature water. You'd never know this about me, though, because I always fill my glass with as much ice as I can because I love eating my ice. In fact, I am passionate about eating ice and have preferences with the type of ice that I like and I know the restaurants that we can go to that have better ice.

3. I have a really difficult time falling asleep, in general. Sometimes I think I must resemble a dog because I have to constantly toss and turn until I find the exact right spot to settle down in. Plus, I have to have something to cover me because I need to cuddle with it.

4. I think I am a decent speller, unless the word involves double letters. I never seem to remember which letter gets doubled, or even if a letter gets doubled...and forget it if the word involves several pairs of doubled letters.

5. Tonight for dinner I am having Lynne's Spicy and Sweet Chicken Saute, which is a recipe I got via email from the Splendid Table, a podcast I listen to. It involves marinating chicken breasts in hoisin sauce, soy sauce, honey, jalapeno peppers and vinegar. I made it a day or two ago because it has to marinate. I am hoping it tastes good.

6. I have 267 movies in my Netflix queue. I got Netflix as a gift a couple of years ago and now I'm a slave to it. But I think it's a great deal and it works with my tendency not to be very good at returning things promptly.

7. I would give up MySpace entirely, if it wasn't for a friend or two who blogs on there. I much prefer Facebook.

8. I first started talking to Gavin exactly one year ago on eHarmony. We didn't go out on our first date until the 9th of February, the day after my brother's birthday. Coincidentally, the 9th of February is also the day after Gavin's mom's birthday.

9. I never considered myself popular growing up, but I'd say that I'm pretty popular now as an adult. I'm not sure how that happened.

10. I have some weird food allergy that causes me to lose my voice when I eat or drink certain things. The tricky part is that I have never been able to really conclude what it is that I'm allergic to, other than a fair amount of alcohol. I even went to an allergist to get to the bottom of this, but never got any conclusive results. Mystery.

11. I think it is worth it to spend enough money to get quality shoes that support your feet.

12. I don't really enjoy watching television. I'd rather spend my time doing other things, like going on the internet. I love the internet.

13. I love to eat vegetables. I'm not a vegetarian, but I eat WAY more vegetables than meat because I enjoy their flavor much more. I quickly lose interest in meat.

14. Funny story about being a vegetarian. When I was a little girl (5 or 6?) I decided that I wanted to be a vegetarian, so I declared it to my family. I think this was shortly after I discovered salad, my first great love. My family, being very fond of meat, wasn't fond of my decision, so they would still make steak and call it "watermelon steak," which I believed because we eat meat medium rare, so it was still pink. My dad still laughs about it 25 years later.

15. No matter what time of year it is or what the weather is, listening to the Indigo Girls makes me feel like it's summer.

16. My absolute favorite place to buy clothes is at Eddie Bauer. I love their style and am constantly looking at their clothes that are part of their collection. Consequently, if you're wearing something from Eddie Bauer, I already know without you telling me about it.

17. I can sing some songs on expert on Rock Band. I feel that high school prepared me very well for that game.

18. Lumpy dairy grosses me out.

19. The idea of long hair appeals to me, but I find that whenever I have long hair I almost always put it up in a ponytail.

20. Life-like statues of human beings that are more or less the appropriate size freak me out. I absolutely, positively do not like seeing them out of the corner of my eye.

21. My favorite type of weather is probably the wind. I love it when it's breezy and sunny but on the cool side. Perfect.

22. I'm not really a big-vision person. I'm too pragmatic and do much better at taking steps to enact the big-vision.

23. I LOVE the feel of freshly washed sheets. That being said, you'd expect that I'd wash them all the time. Nope. I wash them probably about twice per month or, even sometimes once per month, or even sometimes once per every two months. I am not a fan of doing laundry.

24. I have always wanted to go on a cruise until recently, when I have heard stories about how cruises can be dangerous because thieves/murderers will go on cruises, push you overboard, and then raid your room. After hearing that, I think I might be too afraid to go on a cruise.

25. (LAST ONE!!) Strong smells give me migraine headaches.

2009-01-28T15:01:00.002-08:00

I don't know what I've done, but somehow I've ended up on a new-age spirituality mailing list. Today I got a catalog from Shambhala, which offers books on relationships and psychology, buddhism and zen, creativity, personal growth, health, literature and much more!

A few weeks ago, I got a packet of helpful binder pages from Enhancing your Mind Body Spirit. They feature headings like Natural Healing (articles are: Giving a Head Massage, Healing with Lavender, Creating Your Ideal Sleep Area), Charting the Future (articles are: Major Lines of Your Palm, Recording of Your Exact Moment of Birth), You, Friendship & Love (article: Contacting Lady Moon to Find Your True Love, Your Special Friendship Number), and Spells and Magic (article: The Magic of Clear Quartz). I have already sent off the article about contacting Lady Moon to find your true love to a deserving friend, but if one of these articles intrigues you, let me know and it's all yours. In the new age community, we are all about sharing insight and wisdom.

Also a week or two ago, I ordered a new pair of Earth shoes. Bonnie and Kendra (Gavin's mom and sister) wear this brand of shoes almost exclusively and talk about how wonderful they are, both in comfort and for your feet. It took long to get them because they had to order my size. I normally wear anywhere between a 10-11 and have found lately that I should just order an 11 when getting dress shoes because 10s usually are too small. Short discourse: why is it that women's sizes are offered in whole and half sizes until you get to 10.5? That makes absolutely no sense at all, especially now that women are getting taller and it is increasingly more common for women to have larger feet? However, the shoes came last night and they're much too big, so I'm returning them to get a size 10. Watch size 10 feel too small. Ah, 10.5 - I pine for you!

Anyway, tonight I'm going over to Gavin's and we'll have some chili that he made last night. I'll make some cornbread to go along with it and maybe we'll have a salad...except I don't feel much like a salad. So maybe we'll just have some cut veggies and dip. We'll probably play Little Big Planet for an hour or two and then also make time to watch this week's episode of LOST! And, I hope we'll also watch last week's episode of The Office, unless Gavin already watched it without me (he's good at doing that...).

Tomorrow's a hospital work day, so I'll probably catch you on the flip side.

2009-01-27T08:55:00.002-08:00

So I've noticed a new trend starting in this area: people bringing their pets shopping with them. During Christmastime/the New Year, I went shopping with some of Gavin's family in Santa Barbara and saw not one but THREE people shopping with their dogs. I just couldn't believe that it would be allowed to bring them into the store. Beyond that, I was furthermore amazed that the people shopping with their dogs would want to do that...I would think that it would make shopping endlessly more complicated, in carrying around various items in addition to carrying around one's dog.

At the time, I thought maybe it was just a Santa Barbara thing and so was surprised when I went into IKEA Burbank this weekend and saw this couple shopping with their cat. Now, when it was just the dogs being taken shopping, I wasn't in support of it, but I wasn't as outraged as I was when I saw the cat. I happen to be a little allergic to cats, so I was thinking to myself that it was quite rude for this woman to bring the cat into the store and to let the cat outside of its carrier. I didn't have any allergic reaction, but my allergy is mild. What about the consideration for others who might have severe allergies who are shopping in the same store? I just don't understand why bringing pets to stores is tolerated.

Anyway, in all likelihood, this is my last week of work. Yesterday it was pretty busy, but that seems to have calmed down this morning. I have started looking at new employment listings, but haven't been inspired to apply to anything as of yet. I was hoping to be able to get three days at the hospital starting in February, but it looks like they can only give me two. So, I have a little bit of worry presently.

My weekend involved me finishing painting the two walls of my room. I also got a bookcase so that I can start organizing books that I've had in a corner for the past year plus now. Now I just have to organize and start settling that half of the room so that I can push everything over and finish the other two walls. Once it will be complete, I will be thrilled! Also, I will be thrilled once the paint fumes go away. I am very sensitive to smells.

Well, I should probably either get back to work or put myself together. One of the two...or maybe both. :)

2009-01-23T09:18:00.002-08:00

Short post, as I only have a limited time left on my computer before the battery dies.

Yesterday I worked at the hospital. It was so-so, but I do like the people I work with there. Then I went over to Gavin's for a dinner with two of his lawyer friends plus one's wife. We had chili (Gavin makes a very good chili) and the basic artisan bread from my new cookbook (which you cannot go wrong with), then we all played Rock Band then, after they left, Gavin and I played a game called Little Big Planet, which we were introduced to by Joey and Carrie that Gavin just LOVES. I like the game and think that it looks really cool...I just am so uncoordinated when it comes to playing video games.

It was a full night. Today I really would like to put the color on my two, primed bedroom walls. That entails me getting out of my cozy-warm bed...which will happen eventually. I really can't wait to see what the walls look like once the tape will be taken off. Then tonight Joey and Carrie are coming over to Gavin's and we'll make homemade pizza and probably play Rock Band...or Little Big Planet, if they bring over their PS3 controllers. Either way, Gavin will be happy. I just hope I won't be super tired from painting in order to enjoy myself.

2009-01-21T08:34:00.002-08:00

Well, seems like 2009 repeats my poor blogging habits of 2008. Here's a rewind of the past few days:

So last week I went to Disneyland with Gavin and his family and my family. It was basically this Christmas present that got out of hand. Gavin was taking Kendra and I to Disneyland for Christmas and I was taking Gavin and then my dad to Disneyland for Christmas. BUT then everyone else was interested in going, which ended up being a lot of fun. We went to both Disneyland and California Adventure (pictures here). Both parks seemed crowded, but the reality was that we either walked on the ride or had to wait 5-20 minutes for a ride. Our two longest lines were probably the Tower of Terror and the Matterhorn, each probably about 30 minutes. Which is amazing for Disneyland. We went on everything we wanted to go on, except for the things that were closed, like the Haunted Mansion.

This was my first time at Disneyland since 2003, probably. And the thing is that I'm probably OK to wait another 5-6 years to go to Disneyland again. By the end of the night, I felt SO sick...and like jelly. The consensus is that Space Mountain (our second-to-last ride) ruined most of us. Some of us (myself included!) couldn't even go to work the next day, we felt so sick.

Friday I did bits and pieces...no real bulk of work. Then I watched some of Joan of Arcadia (Season 2) with Jenn, then later on that night after playing some Rock Band (where I sang on Expert and scored in the low 90s), Gavin and I went to South Pasadena and walked around and got some ice cream.

I can't really remember what happened on Saturday. Kendra left to go back to Iowa, so in the morning Gavin and I hung out with Gavin's parents for an hour while they were down in LA dropping Kendra off. Then I feel like we hung out with my family, but I cannot remember at all anything we did.

Sunday I went to church, then came home and occupied myself with resuming cleaning my room. Eventually, I got to the place where I felt like I could start painting, which was exciting!

So Monday morning I washed the walls of my room and then went to the store to go get some painting supplies. I decided that it was easier to do two walls at a time because then I could just push stuff around in my room. Gavin came over mid-day (it was his day off--federal holidays are great!) and helped me paint. Now two walls of my room are washed, spackled, taped and primered. My goal is to apply the color (a very light warm grey) either on Friday or Saturday. I can't wait to take the tape off to see how it turned out...right now it just looks weird.

Yesterday I worked and then had dinner with my friend Tiffany, which was nice. I was also thinking yesterday that perhaps why I haven't been a good blogger is that I haven't been keeping a list of things I want to blog about...like I used to keep.

That brings us to today! I'm working at home, and think that next week will probably be my last week. I have to get looking for something else, but I don't have very much motivation to do so, partly because I don't know what I want to do and partly because I don't expect to find much. Nonetheless, I have to look and apply. I found a listing yesterday with a job title of "Experienced Applicant." I forget what the job was for now, but the title reflected that they wanted applicants with experience. I read it, however, as they wanted people who were experienced in applying--of which I am. It's supposed to rain this afternoon, which may mean that I won't play tennis tonight (should the rain prediction come true).

Anyway, probably no post tomorrow because I'll be at the hospital, but I will try my hardest to post on Friday.

2009-01-13T08:40:00.002-08:00

So when I took my graphic design job, I knew it wouldn't last forever, and actually, I anticipated it to stop maybe in February or March. The bummer is that yesterday I learned that instead of a couple more months, the actuality is that it will be no more than a couple more weeks, since they decided not to pursue making any more themed designs. So yesterday was really disappointing. Not disappointing because I'll miss the company or the work, really, but I'm just discouraged at having to find another job, especially with the economy being so weak. I think what's SUPER frustrating is that this has been the story of my life since I returned home from Princeton in June 2007. Frankly, I'm tired of it. Gavin, however, is a great support--he says that he views this as a big opportunity for me to find something new. So, if any of you hear of anyone needing a graphic designer, please let me know.

The weather here has been incredible...like late spring weather. It is in the low 80s during the day, low 50s at night. It is also dry and windy. I really enjoy this weather; I like going out in it. Tomorrow I'll get to enjoy the weather at Disneyland! I'm particularly excited that it's warm because we'll be park-hopping between Disneyland and California Adventure, and I'm really interested in going on this one water ride there. With hot weather, I doubt I'll have any difficulty convincing anyone to go on it with me. I'm also looking particularly forward to the Pirates of the Caribbean, the Haunted Mansion and the CA Adventure ferris wheel.

Last night we had our second softball game, which is really our first (since there was a forfeit last week) and we lost big time. It was still a practice game and they usually place teams from different divisions against each other to determine ranking. We had a couple of particularly bad innings, so I thought that the other team was a few divisions ahead of us, but looking at the league schedule that was just issued, they're only one league above us. I never got on base, unfortunately, but I did have two solid hits. The other two hits I had were just awful...I'll need to go to the batting cages to get the hang of hitting again.

Anyway, I think I might work on making some vegetable enchiladas to freeze and keep at Gavin's for quick, but different meals in the future.

2009-01-09T08:17:00.002-08:00

On October 26, 2008, I added the book The Spelendor of Silence: A Novel to my Goodreads "currently reading" bookshelf.* I do believe I took it with me when I went to New Jersey for the Family Promise conference as a book I could read while waiting at the airport, etc. I found the book in my room, and I vaguely remember someone loaning it to me, telling me that I should read the book. Needing some book to take with me to New Jersey, I grabbed that and went.

All along I have not enjoyed reading the book. At one point, I consciously compared the number of pages read (200) to the number of pages total (399) and remember sighing, thinking to myself, "Will I ever finish this book?" It kills me not to finish a book I have started reading. Even if it's a bad book, I see it through. In December, I showed up to work a shift at the hospital and another chaplain working there was surprised that I was still reading the book. "I hate it," I told him. He laughed and laughed at me and told me that if I hated it, that I should just stop reading it. I thought about it at the time, but then decided that, no, I'd see it through. That very day, as I was reading at lunch, a major plot point developed. My reaction: "eh." Too little, too late.

Yesterday, I worked at the other hospital and was surprised to see my book there, waiting for me when I went it. I thought it was in my car. It struck me that it was fairly significant that I had no knowledge of the real whereabouts of the book for at least the last three weeks...and that I didn't care.

This book has really stopped my desire to read. Last night I realized that there are so many things that I'm interested in reading, so many that sometimes I get overwhelmed, wondering if I'd ever have time to read them. If that is the case, why am I concerning myself with reading this book? I've decided to give it up--265 pages in. The question is, what will I read now?

The Weekend
Today I will do some freelance design, get a haircut, buy some tickets for a trip to Disneyland next week, and then hang out with Gavin in the PM...hopefully I'll also decrease the number of emails I have in my inbox (it's problematic again). Tomorrow I will go to see the play Barefoot in the Park with Gavin and his family at the Glendale Centre Theatre. Sunday I have a church meeting to go to.

* By the way, for those not on Goodreads, you should be! You can keep track of what you read, rate things, write reviews, and you can connect with other people. I really do love the site and think you will, too. Sign up! Be my friend!

2009-01-07T07:22:00.002-08:00

So yesterday I had occasion to go to Costco to pick up a prescription. Since I don't have health insurance, I was told that Costco was one of the cheaper places to go to get prescriptions because they have a program to help people to get prescription drugs cheaper. In my reality, I think I pay the same price for the prescription that they quoted me at Target...but whatever.

So yesterday I went and I placed my prescription and I was told that I'd need to wait 45 minutes. Now the thing is that I've always been confused why it takes so long to fill a prescription. I guess I have thought in the past that it takes so long because the pharmacist has to sit there and count the number of pills you'll get before they put them in the bottle. But yesterday I was picking up a prescription that's already self-contained in a box. I know for a fact that all they do is grab the box off the shelf, put a sticker on it, and then put it in a bag and staple it. So why the long wait time? I just don't get it. Thinking that they surely must have misquoted the time it would take, I went back after 20 or so minutes. My prescription still wasn't ready. So, having passed a couch for sale earlier, I went back there and just sat down and made some phone calls, since they don't have a waiting room to wait for a prescription.

And that was my adventure at Costco yesterday.

Anyway, it's almost a year that Gavin and I have been together. For our year anniversary, I was thinking it would be fun to go away for a weekend, and I was thinking Catalina, but I hadn't totally decided upon that. Anyone have a suggestion for a fun, short weekend get-away from Los Angeles?

2009-01-06T07:26:00.002-08:00

I meant to post yesterday, but the day got out of hand. I found myself totally disoriented yesterday in getting back to work. My guess is because I was away for so long and didn't really do anything. I guess I did some freelance stuff in the Christmas holiday, but not very much. Most of the time I was up at Gavin's family's house in Ojai. So yesterday was difficult, especially since this week I have a couple of freelance projects that need to be completed, in addition to my monthly Family Promise meeting, in addition to needing to contact various people either to catch up or to plan for something to happen (eg, haircut). So, I'm not really looking forward to this week flying by.

I had weird dreams last night/waking up. Not bad ones, mind you, because I wanted to continue to sleep to see them through--I just remember them being weird, without remembering any details.

We won our first softball game of the season last night!!! But before you get too excited, we won because it was a forfeit. I don't know if it was too cold for the other team (it's been in the very low 40s lately, which is COLD here), or because they are a new team and didn't know where to go, or what, but we won. Last night's game, though, serves as a way the City ranks teams, so I just hope they don't put us in a tough league.

At Gavin's parents' house this past weekend we did some fun stuff. We went to a butterfly reserve in Santa Barbara, we went shopping in Santa Barbara (and saw Anne Hathaway while we were up there--I probably exceeded my celebrity sightings all year in the last two weeks!), we played this game called Speedminton, which is Badminton without a net, and we played ping pong on their new ping pong table. All in all, though, I was ready to get home--spending a week and a half (essentially) somewhere, out of your own routine, in someone else's house (no matter how much you like them), is a bit draining.

Lately I've been feeling a little sad, maybe a little depressed, and I'm not sure why. I am hoping and counting on it being that time of the month, but I guess I'm discouraged for all of my friends who don't have jobs right now, and discouraged that I don't have a job where I feel like I am using my talent, interest, and education. And I guess I've been thinking about my career future and just can't seem to picture anything being any other way. I hope that all of 2009 won't be this way.

Time for breakfast and to get to work!

2008-12-31T19:08:00.003-08:00

I figure I might as well end the year with a blog entry. I haven't been so good at maintaining regular entries in recent months, so I might as well capture the last moment of 2008.

Gavin and I came up late Tuesday night to his parents' house in Ojai. All day today we have been hanging out with his family. His mom's nephew and his family came out from DC and have been here the whole week. They leave tomorrow. Gavin's older sister Gretchen and her partner Louise are also in town from Connecticut/Rhode Island. They leave on Friday.

This morning we went on a morning hike/picnic/brunch. I went because everyone else was going, but I didn't have that great of a time. I hate hiking, pure and simple. I guess it wasn't that bad, but in the future, I think I'll pass on a hike picnic. After the hike, we came back and put together a shopping list for the store to prepare a birthday cake for Gretchen (born 1/3) as part of tonight's festivities. We went to the store and - lo and behold - I saw Ted Danson. I tell you, Ojai has been all about celebrity sightings this week. We came back and had lunch and Louise and I made a cake (something like a coconut lime cake that's some Malaysian recipe?), then we dashed off to Ventura to go and see the Milk movie. The second we got into the theatre, I realized that I was very, very, very tired. I managed to stay awake during the whole movie, telling myself that I could come back to the house and take a quick nap before the festivities started. However, upon arrival, it was discovered that some of the guests had already arrived. I have disappeared for just a few minutes because I need some downtime. There are supposedly many guests coming over (in addition to our already 11 regulars this week), so I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed about that. My favorite is to have a very low-key New Year's, so I suppose that's not happening this year, but traditions flex when you invite people into your lives. I suppose that during this time of feeling overwhelmed with all of the people around me, that I can look forward two days to know that soon I'll be able to have some quieter days ahead.

So, I have no idea what the new year holds--2009, what will you bring?

2008-12-30T09:05:00.002-08:00

For those who want a glimpse into my family's Christmas Eve, here are two albums for you to browse. I just think this one is so funny. For the story about the bunny, you can see Danny's blog.

A month or so ago I got a new duvet cover for my bed. I am trying to find a picture for you because it is just so pretty, but I might end up being unsuccessful. Anyway, when I got the new cover, I also bought new sheets, in ivory and in a sort of brownish grey. Initially I put on the ivory sheets, but a week or so ago I switched to the brownish grey and I just cannot express my delight in waking up to this color sheets in the morning. I love them so much that the ivory sheets might not go on ever again.

Hot Tip I have found the absolute best bagels in Burbank: at Pavillion's grocery store. Forget the actual bagel stores--those are lousy. While Pavillion's only has about 4-6 different flavors, I have found them to be a little crispy/chewy on the outside and chewy on the inside. Delicious.

Yesterday I was so very good. I worked a half day on my freelance stuff, cleaned the bathroom and the living room AND even made time to go and help decorate the City of Roseville's Rose Parade Float with Gavin's mom and sister Kendra, along with Gavin's mom's nephew and family who are visiting this week from the DC area. Then I had dinner with Joey and Carrie (fresh back from IL for Christmas) and then watched TV and opened the remaining Carrie presents last night. That's a lot for one day, which means I was good and dedicated.

Today I don't feel so good and dedicated. I have TONS of design work to do, which I could and should do this week, since I don't have any other work, but I kinda feel like taking it easy today. And by taking it easy, I really mean cleaning out more of my room and writing thank you cards for Christmas gifts. Maybe I should assign 3 hours of work to myself for the design stuff and then get to work on these other projects that elude me. Tough choices.

Late tonight I think Gavin and I will head up to Ojai to spend New Year's and the weekend with his family. I'm not sure what the celebrations will be, but I hope they will be low key...I don't really like doing anything for New Year's. In years past, I've been sick, so I've taken to watching the Godfather until I fell asleep, and I kinda like that tradition. But, with inviting people into your life, you also invite new traditions, so we shall see what happens.

2008-12-29T08:39:00.003-08:00

I suppose I'm a lot behind on blogging, so here's a synopsis of what I've done:

December 13-23:
Went to various parties and prepared for Christmas. I shopped here and there and also painted a bit for some presents and then eventually wrapped everything. Wrapping is my favorite.

Christmas Eve:
Christmas Eve morning I tried to tidy up the house. Gavin came over and we went to breakfast with Colleen and Jenny. Afterwards, we watched some of LOST Season 4 before Gavin went with my dad to go to the go kart track, which was Gavin's Christmas present. I didn't want to go, so I stayed home and was bored most of the time. Eventually, Gavin and dad came back and dad mysteriously left to the store, while Gavin and I headed up to my extended family's Christmas celebrations at Aunt Ellie's. There we had a delicious burrito dinner and opened presents and had a good time. Gavin took some pictures, so when those are available, I'll post a link.

Christmas & the weekend:
Christmas morning Gavin and I spent time with Dad and Joey, opening presents and having breakfast (french toast). Then late morning we headed up to Ojai to spend the rest of the weekend with Gavin's family. Christmas day itself was a little overwhelming for me, since I met new people: namely, Gavin's older sister Gretchen and Gretchen's partner Louise. Then the next day I met Gavin's cousin and his family visiting from the DC area. So the weekend was filled with a lot of getting to know you talk, which can be exhausting for me. However, doing it in Ojai is nice--it is just so lovely up there. We went for a lot of walks and, one day, when we were walking around the town (showing it to the DC people), we went to this one health food store and spotted Jake Gyllenhaal (who is very handsome in person). Apparently Reese Witherspoon was also in the store and maybe even Robert Downey Jr., but I didn't see those two (although this article supports that claim!). However, at the Sunday farmer's market, I did see Jake and Reese together, but this time they were sort of all bundled up. Even still, Reese Witherspoon is t-i-n-y. This weekend we also drove up to Santa Barbara and enjoyed a hike through this wild Monarch butterfly preserve, which was nice, and then had lunch in the fancier downtown bit, where it was crazy busy with shoppers. To Gavin's delight, we also played Rock Band for hours on end.

This morning I woke up and promptly cleaned the bathroom, all except the shower. So, I feel good about that, but now otherwise smell like bleach and have scratchy skin. My plan for today is to do some freelance work and then to hopefully clean more of the house, focusing on my room and the living room. The kitchen needs a lot of work, but that'll have to be saved for another day. I'd just like to start 2009 with the feeling that I am master of the house, and not that the house is master of me...know what I mean?

2008-12-12T11:24:00.003-08:00

Well, I meant to post both on Wednesday and on Thursday, but the world got the best of me. So I will post today!

Having Fridays off in December has been great. Today I have gone to a meeting with one of my freelance clients, gone to get a painting framed, gone to Costco, volunteered to type in addresses at church for an hour. Gavin's on his way over to watch some LOST, so before he gets here, I hope to...do a lot of things. In which case, I will make this blog a blog of observations I've had recently:

- Costco possibly has the best churros on the planet. I had one today with lunch and it was amazing. When I take my brother back there today to pick up his car with the new tires, I may get another one.

- I heard on the radio today that there are certain carpool lanes in SoCal that will implement this charging system in order to use them. I wonder both how that's possible, how it will be implemented, and what that really means.

- Today I filled up my tank for $1.69/gallon. I think the final bill was something like $19.88. This has got to be the cheapest I've gotten gas since when I first started driving.

- I absolutely hate washing my face during the winter (it's too cold and I hate wasting the water if I wait for it to get warm), so now I've got a collection of zits across my face. Argh!

2008-12-08T11:52:00.001-08:00

Wait a second - how is it already December 8th?

2008-12-08T10:04:00.002-08:00

I also had this weird dream last night/this morning that eventually ended up waking me up super early - 5:45 a.m.

I'm not sure why, but I was in a room with some people and on one of my front teeth, there was a hole going all the way through. Then, someone started complaining about how Catholic healthcare people are all faith healers and relied on miracles and stuff and I spoke out and told them that it wasn't the case at all.

There was more to it, but I can't remember that. All I know is that I woke up troubled. This one's from left field, folks!

2008-12-08T08:59:00.002-08:00

I spent a good portion of this weekend feeling ill. The weird thing is that I'm not quite sure what kind of ill...I just feel generally weak and, if I stand for a not unnatural length of time, I get this weird feeling in my stomach and I get flush on my cheeks and begin to feel faint. It's weird and, consequently, has made me not want to do anything. I think I'll email my doctor about it (to see if it's worthwhile to go in for a check-up, since I have to be choosey since I don't have insurance), but this morning I began wondering if maybe it was that my iron was too low.

I felt this way about a month or two ago for about a week or so, I think, and then it went away. Well, during that time I believe I started to eat more spinach and beans (unrelated to those symptoms). Unclear if I was eating more meat. However, if I think back to what I was eating this weekend, I don't think I was eating many iron-rich foods...mainly non-spinach salads and fruit. Looking at this website, I notice that I have a lot of those symptoms: lack of energy, weakness, pale skin, headaches, pale skin under the eyes, rapid heartbeat, disturbed sleep, abdominal pain.

My plan is to go to Target today to get a multi-vitamin loaded with iron, since in the times when I've gone to the store I can't seem to find an iron-specific one (I've known that I'm a bit lower on iron for a year or two now, in trying to give blood). And also email my doctor. But, I do believe that I've probably got anemia.

I cleaned the shower this morning right before taking my own shower, and now all I smell is bleach. In fact, it reminds me of the days when I belonged to the YMCA and swam in their pool.

I've been very proud of myself--the past two weeks my email inbox average has been steady around 50. With some work, perhaps I can get it down to 30-40.

2008-12-05T11:39:00.003-08:00

Last night was the Family Promise meeting. I just cannot express how much I enjoy spending time with this group and how it's always so difficult for me to come home from the meetings, since my head is always bursting with thoughts and ideas. And I just love, love, love the ecumenism of it.

Tonight I think I'm going to attempt to cook Beef and Scallion Stir-Fry for Gavin and I. I'm kind of excited, kind of nervous. I have never cooked something like this before. And, is it just me, or is the "grain" in meat totally elusive?

I have today off and so far it has been wonderful. I spent the morning working on typing up the minutes to the Family Promise meeting last night. For some reason, this took much, much longer than I anticipated, even though all I had to do was type up my notes.

Now I will start a painting I've been commissioned to do for the holidays. And I think Carrie and I might also watch the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2. I have been waiting patiently for over a week to watch this!

2008-12-03T22:38:00.002-08:00

Late post tonight. Today was a good day. I woke up pretty tired, but got to work anyway. I worked and worked and worked and still had about a bazillion emails in my box from my boss. That sounds lousy, but it's actually good for me because it means that I don't have to wait for her to give me more instruction, which has been a problem lately. Around 10:30 a.m., my Aunt Sally came over. Aunt Sally lives in San Diego and although I saw her last week at Thanksgiving, she had to come up to the area for a meeting, and it was fun to spend time with her. She took Joey and I to the Granville and we had many delicious things because her work was paying for it. This means that we shared sweet potato fries, I had a cup of soup, a salad and an iced tea. It doesn't sound too outlandish, but the Granville gets very pricey very quickly. The bill alone ended up being about $19/person for lunch. So, thank you Aunt Sally's work. Then I returned home and continued working. While working, I listened to the latest Selected Shorts podcast and found the stories this week to be great, especially the first one because it was SO humorous. Then, work was over so what I did was clean the house! This does not sound great, but for me it was especially great because I had a few hours to spare before having to play tennis tonight. The house has been a complete mess lately (especially because I'm not around a lot because I spend a lot of time with Gavin), so now the living room is clean and swept (except that there's a big dust pile--think baseball cap-sized--that I can't get rid of because I can't find the dustpan). I am hoping it stays this way at least for a couple of days. Then, I played tennis tonight with Colander. We haven't been playing regularly and, consequently, I can tell I'm WAY out of shape. We played only two sets and, even though I am out of shape and might as well give up tennis completely, the final score was 6-1, 6-1, which means that I won two whole games. Then I returned home and started responding to a couple of Facebook emails--I am backlogged there, too. All in all, I feel I accomplished a lot today! (And am so excited to be able to sleep!)

Part of what happened today was that a family who had participated in Family Promise in Phoenix called because they were hoping to be able to be in the network here. I felt so badly telling them that we're still at least a year out before we can start. I gave him some information about other organizations I've heard of, and I hope that one of them works for his family. On the other hand, it was really encouraging to talk with someone who has actually gone through the Family Promise program AND who raves about it, talking about how it is hands-down the best thing that their family has done, as compared to six or so other types of programs. So I found that encouraging.

The other day I stumbled upon a website called The Advent Door, which offers theological meditations and art based on the scripture readings for the Sundays of Advent. I like it, but I'm behind!

I bought some fantastic tangerines from the Burbank Farmers' Market this past Saturday. Fantastic. I cannot neglect going this Saturday because I have run out of tangerines and the supermarket ones are disgusting. I also tried a new fruit called a pineapple guava. It was good. Not great, but good. Anyone ever heard of that?

Can I say again how awesome it is to have a clean house?

OH, FYI to those in the Burbank area who read this blog and have small children. My church is putting on this thing called Bethlehem Village this Friday and Saturday (6-8 pm), which basically turns our parking lot into first century Bethlehem. Every half hour there will be a live Nativity scene, then inbetween those times you can go to various booths and get a free ornament or snack or other things like that. It's all free. I went last year for the first time and was sincerely impressed with how well the church pulled it off (I thought it'd totally be hokey). If you have interest in going, go. Gavin and I plan on being there on Saturday night.

Tomorrow I work at the hospital all day and then have my Family Promise meeting. Right now it sounds like a LONG day, but I'm sure it'll be ok. Hopefully my absence from the house won't inspire the others who live with me to go crazy and mess it all up again.

2008-12-02T16:40:00.002-08:00

This afternoon I made a difficult decision: to go to my company's holiday party or not to go to my company's holiday party. On the one hand, I know very few people at the company. On the other hand, it's a chance for free dinner and dancing at a fancy hotel. In the end I decided that Gavin and I would go (and hang out with Terrence and Liz) and then be able to leave whenever we want.

Sunday I watched one of more favorite Seinfeld episodes: the one where Kramer has an intern from NYU. I just find it so humorous that Kramer would need an intern and the ridiculous things that he ends up figuring out to do with his intern. Then I started thinking about how it would be so beneficial for me to have my own intern. Or at least a personal assistant. I no longer have 80+ emails in my inbox (the holiday has allowed me to make it down to 55), but surely an intern or a personal assistant could help me out with keeping that under control.

Lately I've been playing Guitar Hero World Tour with Gavin. Gavin LOVES Guitar Hero and Rock Band and recently just bought an xBox 360 just to play these games. However, yesterday he was telling me how sad he is that he can't sing. Even when it's on easy, it will fail him. It was so sad. And the thing is that I tend to do pretty well when I play Rock Band. Gavin thinks I have a pretty voice, but I think it's more that I have a lot of practice singing, since I sing in church and then I also sing along to the radio. I also listen to the radio and am familiar with the songs of Guitar Hero, whereas Gavin pretty much only listens to NPR. So, I think he's being a bit hard on himself...and I think that if he listened more to these songs on the radio that he might be better at signing them. What do you think?

Wow, it is freezing cold right now. This is when I start cringing about playing tennis so late in the winter -- much too cold!

Tonight I'm going to a Family Promise of San Gabriel Valley. It's another Family Promise that's starting up in the Pasadena area. They're just at the beginning and I guess I've been asked to go to help answer questions and stuff. I just hope it goes ok.

2008-12-01T07:59:00.002-08:00

Well, the past few days have been quite busy. Wednesday Gavin and I decided to brave the rain and drive up to Ojai so that he could spend some more time with his family, including his sister Kendra, who was visiting. We did that, and I decided that I would work a half-day on Wednesday, which I quickly learned was nearly impossible...so I made up the time working on Friday as well. Wednesday Gavin, his mom, sister and I had a South American lunch (delicious) and saw Bolt, which was pretty cute.

Thursday Gavin's family and I headed down to my aunt's house in San Diego. There, we met up with the rest of my family and had a Thanksgiving celebration. The drive down was a long one - it should have taken 3 hours (without traffic) and, although we didn't encounter traffic until the last hour, it took us something like 4.5 hours. It was long. But it was fun to see my family and super cute to see my little cousins Keana and Leila, who put on a dance show for us. Not included in the video was the "Walts #3." After it was all over, Gavin's family headed back up to Ojai, whereas Gavin and I decided to stop driving once we reached Los Angeles, preferring to drive up to Ojai the next morning for Thanksgiving #2.

Friday morning we got up bright and early and drove up to Ojai. I worked a bit, making up the work I did not do on Wednesday, while Gavin's family cleaned the house for their expected guests later on that afternoon (Gavin's dad's colleague and his girlfriend and daughter). Thanksgiving #2 was much smaller (8 people, as opposed to the Smith Family Thanksgiving at 22), so that was a bit different for me. Difficult to disappear if you just need a moment to yourself. Then Gavin, Kendra and I drove back down to Los Angeles on Friday night because Kendra's flight left super early in the morning on Saturday.

Saturday I did not want to drive at all, considering all told between Wednesday and Friday night we drove about 506 miles. I ended up going to the farmer's market, went to see Role Models with Gavin, Joey and Carrie and then Gavin and I made a pizza dinner inspired by a book we saw at Sur La Table while waiting for our movie. It was good. Most of Saturday I guess I was wondering what day it was and why we could do fun stuff like go to the movies in the middle of the day on a "Monday."

Sunday I went to church, then I went to lunch, then I went back to church to see a good friend get ordained, then we had a family dinner.

After such a busy past few days, I'm glad today is Monday and that I can just relax a little. Unfortunately I have a few meetings nights this week, but hopefully I'll feel rested as we enter in this busy, busy time of year.

2008-11-25T08:30:00.002-08:00

It's always a bit tricky for me when I start a blog in the morning and then try to wrap it up in the afternoon. Today is one such day. My morning was fairly free and easy, since I got ahead of myself on work. That allowed me to do some other random freelance things, as well as have a leisurely start, along with a nice warm shower. I love warm showers.

Right now I'm sitting in Gavin's apartment, listening to the loud hispanic music that is being played outside. I had a meeting downtown and, instead of returning all the way home, I decided to take a pit stop here. One of his neighbors really enjoys playing music for the whole neighborhood. I assume this is the same person who, a few weeks ago, played Paula Abdul's "Rush Rush" over and over and over again, since it's at the same volume...which means to say that I can hear all of the words perfectly up in Gavin's apartment. A few songs ago it was "Feliz Navidad" and a couple other Christmas songs, which made me excited to find a connection with another person who loves Christmas music, but that was a short-lived trend and now we're back to hispanic music. If only they'd put in Mariah Carey's Christmas album. I'd be stoked.

This weekend was a bit of a blur. Partly because of all the stuff I did, but also partly because I had a headache for the entire weekend behind my left eyebrow. I developed it around noon on Friday and it wasn't until 6 p.m. or so that I figured that it was probably a migraine. I endured it the remainder of the night at a movie night at Terrence's, but was SUPER bummed that it was there and furious when I woke up the next morning. Unfortunately, there was no time to indulge sleeping it off--I had things to do on Saturday, including hanging out with Bonnie and Kendra, Gavin's mom and sister. We went to this weavers craft fair at some woman's house in Pasadena. Sunday morning I preached at a Disciples of Christ church in Burbank about Family Promise. The service was unique to me in that we had a Thanksgiving potluck during the service, which was kinda cool. As the speaker I had to hurry eating, but otherwise I fully recommend eating stuffing while worshipping. Then I drove down to Cerritos to talk bridesmaid stuff with Marian, Vicky and Tina. Then I drove back up and arrived at the softball game at exactly game time. Even though I hadn't played in awhile and hadn't warmed up, I am super pleased with how I played. I played better in this game than the rest of the season combined.

Right now I'm waiting to see if rain will actually occur. I'm playing Colander in tennis tonight if it doesn't rain. If it does rain, I will enjoy the night in and hopefully do some laundry and freelance stuff.

Tomorrow morning I might or I might not go up to Ojai with Gavin. It is unclear, and I wonder if it will continue to be unclear even tomorrow morning....hmm....

2008-11-21T08:21:00.002-08:00

My shift yesterday at the hospital was eventful, to say the least. I feel like from 1:30 on that I went from crisis to crisis. The main two crises were this pregnant woman who came in bleeding and eventually they had to intubate her and get consent from her family that either they give her a hysterectomy, or she will die. So, there was a lot of time spent with that family. Then I had, actually, a very pleasant visit with a woman just a couple years older than me who is in the hospital for brain tumors. Although the conversation was pleasant, we talked about some really deep and significant things affecting her life. Then, I was paged from that conversation to go work on a trauma, and the victim who came in was a John Doe. He died immediately and, probably, was even dead at the scene (the nurses were not happy that the paramedic brought the patient in). Anyway, through some fancy footwork, the social worker was able to identify the victim and his family came in and went beserk--this was yet one more incident in a long line of incidents that makes them feel almost cursed. It was so, so sad and made me feel so, so helpless.

In the end, I think that this shift at the hospital was very good for me to have, because it reminded me that although things have been overwhelming lately, the things are actually quite wonderful and that the struggle to work them out is worth it.

Last night I played tennis with Colander and it appears that nothing has changed over the past 2 or so months since we've played - he is really good and I really need some work. We only managed to play one set, since I showed up a half-hour late because of the hospital stuff.

On the radio this morning I heard a spot where the DJ was talking to a school principal about schools taking away Thanksgiving celebrations, and why this is. The principal (whose school was not taking away their Thanksgiving celebration) and, I guess, the DJ, too, stated that the point of the original (and subsequent) Thanksgivings was to gather with friends and family. Whereas I would say that I agree that my idea of Thanksgiving means to gather with family and, I suppose, friends (it's more heavily-based on family to me), when I reflect upon what I remember of the original Thanksgiving story, I'm not convinced that the point was to gather with family and friends - was it not a gathering of strangers, coming together to share whatever abundance they had in the bleak of winter? That is a really different idea from friends and family gathering together to celebrate their thankfulness. I think in our day and age, if my recollection is correct, we could stand to re-look at the Thanksgiving story and see how we might gather with strangers to share in our abundance. Just a thought.

Glad it's the weekend (almost)! This weekend Gavin's sister Kendra comes into town, so I have a date with her and Gavin's mom, Bonnie, to go to some yarn or weaving festival or something on Saturday afternoon. Then, I'll preach on Sunday at First Christian Church in Burbank about Family Promise and then will meet up with my friends Marian, Vicky and Christina in order to help Marian plan her wedding (Vicky, Christina and I are her bridesmaids). Fun stuff!

2008-11-20T10:17:00.003-08:00

For the last few days I've been thinking a lot about consumerism and my expectations about how I figured my life would go and stuff. I don't really want to go into the details, other than stating that it is really, really, really difficult for me to relinquish what I have envisioned, including the emotions that are wrapped up in all of it. At the same time, in relinquishing these things, I have felt a sort of peace...but it is a sadness mixed with peace. I'm at a point now where I don't really know what to do with that sadness. And there is definitely a part of me that wishes I could rewind my life a week in order to see if maybe things could have been done differently.

Otherwise, not much to report. Today I have a late shift at the hospital (11:30-8p) and then right after that I'll play tennis. I really dislike this late shift because it makes me feel like I've squandered my morning and can't do that much with it. Likewise, getting off at 8p makes me feel like there's not much time left before going to bed. I am taking on the shift to help the spiritual care team because tonight is their biannual memorial service for those who have died at the hospital within the last 6 months. So, in a very real sense, I am taking one for the team. I am hoping that I won't be too tired leaving work--I've cancelled my tennis match with Colander for the last few weeks. Before those weeks, he cancelled with me, so I haven't really played tennis in a good two months...maybe more. Tonight I will pay for that, I am sure, both in my ability, as well as my endurance.

I bought a new pair of brown corduroy pants and I have been wearing them almost non-stop. I'd link to them, but Eddie Bauer's site doesn't allow that anymore.

I still cannot find my checkbook, which I lost about two weeks ago. This morning I checked the couch cushions on one couch. I still have to check the other couch. I really cannot figure out where it has gone. I might just hae to break out a new one from my stash. If you happen to know where my checkbook is, feel free to leave a comment letting me know where I can find it...

2008-11-19T08:14:00.002-08:00

Sometimes when I am working at home, it's hard for me to make time for blogging because I feel like I have to prove myself as being diligent and trustworthy enough to work at home. The funny thing is that I had no problem with blogging while I was physically at the place downtown...I'd just do it before everyone came in, since I came in so early. This morning I happen to have finished all of my work until my boss gets in (about an hour from now), so I can use this time to catch up.

In short, because I don't want to elaborate on here, the last two days have been overwhelming and intense. Sometimes in a good way and sometimes not in a good way. I kinda feel like I'm still in the midst of it and I certainly would like to come out on the other side.

One of the things that's really, superbly overwhelming to me is that the email mailing lists for Family Promise are not working...and I'm not exactly sure how to fix that. I am thinking of just changing web hosting providers all together--anyone have any good recommendations?

This weekend I preached at a church in the mountains of my presbytery. It's a very small church - maybe the smallest I've ever preached at? - and when I arrived on Sunday I was at first concerned that the sermon I wrote would be too sophisticated for the congregants, based on the Bible study I was hearing when I arrived. I found out, after church was over, that the congregants found the sermon really interesting and I could tell that they were really listening, which was cool. There is this piece of scripture in the New Testament of the Bible that says if you have faith even as small as a mustard seed, you can move mountains. I think I have been discovering lately that a recurring theme in my life is that my faith is quite smaller than a mustard seed, and yet God still works with that and ends up surprising me.

2008-11-14T07:48:00.002-08:00

It has been a quiet week for me, posting-wise. This has been another busy, busy week where blogging necessarily has been put on the back-burner.

I can't even remember what it was at the beginning of the week that kept me so busy, but I know in the last couple of days my mind has been consumed with needing to write a new sermon for this Sunday, when I will preach at a church about an hour away. I was going to preach one of my already existing sermons but, due to a snafu where I didn't read the pastor's email super well, I now have to preach about one of the scriptures through the Lectionary. I was thinking of doing that anyway, since I am interested in writing sermons about the parables, and the gospel lesson is of the Parable of the Talents. Now, if you're not familiar with the Parable of the Talents, just know that it's an incredibly difficult parable to interpret. So, I've been working my way thinking through the text and have surfaced thinking about the parable in a way that is different from the traditional interpretation. Let's hope I can express that well as I attempt to write the sermon today.

Wednesday night Gavin and I went to a Bible Study at a church a block or so away from mine. Both of us thought it was fantastic and interesting. The theme of the lessons is unlearning what you've learned about the Old Testament. I'm almost certain that we'll go back.

Yesterday I worked at the hospital and it would have been helpful to know that it was the Great Southern California Shakeout. Basically, the hospital was out in full force for this disaster drill. It partnered with the high school next door, who had 300 students all pretend to have various diagnoses from the quake, and involved us setting up our triage tents and having people helicoptered in, etc., etc., etc. It was a big ordeal. So big that Arnold Schwarzenegger himself was about 10 feet away from me at one point, being briefed on how we handle disaster. I guess all in all it was a good thing to do and is pretty cool (how I would have loved to be one of those high school students!), but yesterday I was not in the mood for a high maintenance day. It didn't help that I felt sick for about half of the day.

So, here I am this morning. I called in sick to the hospital because I felt sick all last night and woke up feeling better, but not great (ie, I still have a headache). I decided that if I called in sick, I could rest and could work on my sermon for Sunday. Tonight I'll be going to a get-together with other Presbyterians who haven't found a job. I plan on making this salad, and am excited to see how it turns out. I just love fennel.

Well, best get back to resting and writing. Hope all is well.

2008-11-06T09:28:00.002-08:00

This week I cleaned out my closet. It feels SO nice to have a clean closet. Anyway, I mention this because in my closet there is a shelf above the rack of clothes that can hold stuff. For the last 10 years or so, it was holding probably 10-15 shoeboxes full of letters. Well, letters and old pay stubs and notes I passed in high school and old drivers licenses and random pictures and other documents with my Social Security number on them. Boxes and boxes and boxes of this. I couldn't out-right throw out the boxes, in part because of the Social Security documents, but also because I recognized that I might want to keep some letters that mean something to me. So, I decided to go through each box, sifting through to see what needed to be kept, what needed to be shredded and what needed to be tossed. In the end, most of it got tossed (or shredded...I had nearly all of my bank statements from the 2002-2004 period). I now have one half-full shoebox with stuff in it.

It was sort of interesting (but mostly annoying) to have to sort through all of this stuff. There were some people who left me a bit surprised at their writing a handwritten note to me. There were others who I had a lot of correspondence with. There were some people who wrote so cryptically about whatever it is we were talking about, that I can't really figure out what the issue was. And then there were others, like this mystery girl named Christine Garrels, who wrote me it seems at the end of high school. Lots of long letters with extremely creative packaging. The sad thing is that I can't really remember who she is. I mean, if i think really hard, I think I can picture a girl with blond hair...shortish...but, really, it stops there. I can't remember if she was in my grade or if we had classes together or were in a club together, what she did after high school--none of that. It doesn't help that I have a poor memory. I mean, I assume that once I find my yearbooks, that I can look at her picture and some of this information might resurface, but right now it's this mystery. Christine Garrels, if you're out there, we should have a reunion! Contact me!

I think part of me is a bit anxious that I threw away all of this stuff, but right now there's a larger part of me that is so thankful to have reclaimed that space. I was hoping that I could move my suitcase up to that shelf, but it doesn't seem to want to fit up there. So right now it's a mostly blank space, holding some recent software buys and that one shoebox. And a laptop bag I'd like to get rid of.

Sigh. Well, I do believe that now I should set my face toward answering email. Then a half-day at the hospital this afternoon.

2008-11-04T15:50:00.002-08:00

Today has been a kind of lazy day, even though it's a work day. I woke up around 7:15-ish and had no work to do because my boss was absent from work yesterday and I finished all of my work then. So, since she doesn't come in until about 9:15 a.m., I decided to go vote around 8-8:30 a.m.

My polling place was just three longish blocks over and a block or two up, so I decided to walk over, knowing I didn't necessarily have to hurry. I did, however, consider driving so that I could also get a Krispy Kreme donut and go to the store. In the end, I decided that I didn't need a donut (I actually don't even like donuts--it was the promise of sprinkles that captured my attention) and decided that I'd go to the store later in the afternoon. Well, as I approached the polling place, I noticed a line of at least 30 people waiting to vote. I did not get excited about waiting in line. I considered walking back home and coming back later, perhaps with my brother, but in the end I decided that if I was already here and if I had nothing to do at home, I might as well vote. As I stood in line, however, I realized that I stepped in dog poop on my walk. Fun times. One benefit of standing in line--I ran into this woman I knew from church, but hadn't seen in a few years. That was nice.

So, I voted. Along with supposedly record numbers in LA County. I heard a news-flash mid-day that said that by noon 38% of Angelenos had already voted AND that 14% of the voters turned in absentee ballots, so that makes 52%, by noon, which indicates that this will be a record turnout, which is kind of exciting. However, my mind has turned today to the electoral college and realizing that I don't really understand what that's all about and that it seems like it might be the slightest bit unfair for states like mine that are solidly colored. But maybe I'm just misunderstanding it all.

Tonight Gavin will come over and I will make this pasta dish for us and Joey and Carrie. Then we will get free ice cream at Ben & Jerry's. I sure do hope I don't miss the window of opportunity with that one. I love ice cream when it's cold, so it's great that it's been colder these past few days.

2008-11-03T10:11:00.002-08:00

My handy dandy Blogger dashboard reports that I have done 1597 posts; this will be my 1598th post. I suppose if I had been better about blogging in the past few weeks, my number would far exceed 1600! Sadly, however, toward the end of the week I feel more stressed out to get all of my responsibilities done, so blogging goes by the wayside. Today, though, I have much more time to blog, since I'm ahead on my work. In that case, a recap:

Last Wednesday I got my hair cut. The new cut is designed to allow me to grow it longer, if I want, which I think I do. I think that the haircut is just like every other haircut I get, but it occurred to me this morning that I might think that is so because I style it in the same fashion.

Thursday I worked at the hospital, then had a Family Promise meeting. I was not home for dinner, but they made dinner at home without me, including getting a package of those heat yourself flour tortillas from Costco that are just my favorite. They're always so light and warm. Much better than typical store tortillas. These tortillas have become my snack over the past few days.

Friday was Halloween. I worked at the other hospital and finished my work early, so I was able to leave early (by about an hour) because they had no more work for me. It is unclear to me if I will get credit for the hour I didn't work, even though it wasn't my fault that they didn't have anything. At any rate, I think I have decided that I will not work any Thursdays or Fridays for the hospital during December.

After work at the hospital, we gathered for dinner and handing out candy at my house. Joey & Carrie bought 200 pieces of candy and each one of them was given away. We get a lot of visitors. My favorite/most interesting costumes that came to the door were: a whoopee cushion and this kid who came to the door with regular clothes on. When I asked him what he was for Halloween, he said, "A bear." And I said, "No, really, what are you?" And he said, "A bear." One of the other children around him said that his costume got too hot, but part of me did not feel that I should give him candy, even though I did.

Saturday Gavin and I were going to go up to Ojai to spend the weekend with his parents, but ended up meeting them in the morning for a craft fair in Santa Monica that they always go to. Gavin does not like craft festivals (and so finds them boring), but I do like them and Gavin's mom also really likes them. I think Gavin's dad goes just for a ride in the car. Anyway, it was so curious to see that there were several vendors at the craft festival who know Gavin's mom by name. Understandable because they come to this particular show every year and because Gavin's mom is so spunky that she's hard to forget, but it still strikes me as remarkable for them to remember her. We stopped at this one booth where she has bought a scarf and a hat before, this woman who runs a business out of Pasadena called Dancing Threads, and I swear that I know the woman (and even she brought up that I looked familiar), but no matter how much I search my brain, I cannot place where I know her from. But I know I do. I suppose it is possible that she could have been one of my patients at the hospital, but somehow I don't think so.

Anyway, Saturday night Gavin and I stayed out of the rain by making a new recipe (good, but would have been better if we had cooked the chicken properly) and played a card game and watched a movie, which was not great.

Sunday I went to church and had a sort of personal revelation. I realized that I have been feeling generally overwhelmed with responsibilities and bored with life. This is, in part, why I've decided to not work Thursdays and Fridays for December at the hospital. Anyway, I need to look at what I'm doing and figure out how to reorganize my responsibilites so that it doesn't take over my life. I also decided that I haven't changed anything to my room in probably about 5-7 years, which is a long time. So, I decided to get new sheets and a new duvet cover (by the way, if the shopping center I went to is any sort of indication, I'm not sure how it is we're in a recession--the amount of people shopping on Sunday afternoon was akin to Christmas week). I also am going through every nook and cranny in my room to get rid of the things I really don't need that somehow I've managed to keep over the years. I also think that there's a 90% chance I'll paint my room. I also think I will take down and rearrange the artwork I have up in my room. I think and hope that my outlook will change if my physical surroundings change.

So today, in addition to doing work and trying to finish a DVD cover I'm doing for a freelance client, I am going to work at continuing to go through my room to get rid of the stuff I don't need, to make it more spacious and to give me the freedom to change things around if I want to.

Well, there you have it, me in a nutshell, basically. Tomorrow, of course, is voting day. I have wavered about whether or not I will vote, but I have decided that I will. So today I will also spend time reading through the propositions, I suppose. Then tomorrow I will vote, then I will go to Ben & Jerry's for free ice cream.

2008-10-28T07:15:00.003-08:00

Inadvertently went to bed late last night. Feeling sleepy this morning. And not super excited to get working on work.

Last night I decided to finish off the remaining 10 pages of The Friendly Persuasion. My review is the one close to the bottom of the page, marked with 2 stars. Of course, if you were my Goodreads friend (either via Goodreads or via Facebook), my little review would be delivered right to your email box.

I can only remember the vaguest sense right now, but I think last night my dreams consisted of somehow or other going through rooms of people's houses, like on a tour. It had a purpose, but that understanding is long-gone now.

Guess what! Tomorrow is my last day housesitting. I have been housesitting since the end of September, starting on the 24th. A whole month. This might have been my longest housesitting arrangement. The couple I am housesitting for went on a cruise from San Francisco to Australia. I get their email updates and there are a lot of: "Another full day at sea. Jim walked his normal 3 miles around the deck, while Sharon participated in a craft class." Anyway, although it's fairly pleasant to housesit for these people, since the work is not complicated, it's also an exciting feeling to know that I'll be done!

I am very sneezy this morning.

This year I really wanted to carve a pumpkin. It hasn't happened yet. No one around me feels this impetus so, although I don't need other people to accomplish this, I also don't have as much motivation to do it. Maybe when I go over to Gavin's for dinner tonight, I can make this our activity this evening. Tonight I'm making dinner, and have decided to make a butternut squash soup with a side of green beans, since Carrie had some green beans last night at the Outback that were just so delicious.

Finally, I give you this video about the worst best man ever.

2008-10-27T06:46:00.002-08:00

Well, I made it through last week. I returned late on Monday night from New Jersey and the week did not stop for me. Every single day I had something to do in addition to doing my regularly scheduled work, on top of having loads of design work to finish. The activities I participated in were mostly meeting for dinners and lunches and stuff, but it included going to a "Miracle Berry" party held by one of Gavin's former co-workers and seeing the "Catawampus" at the LA Arboretum with Gavin and his mom. I also went to the doctor, gave a sermon at another church in Burbank about Family Promise and went on a tour of the stained glass company.

Whew! Glad it's all over. This week should be a lot easier on me and hopefully will allow me to catch up with some freelance design. Hopefully I'll also have time to download my pictures from my trip. The exciting news about this week is that I am getting my hair cut on Wednesday! Yay!

Good news! I found The Friendly Persuasion! It turns out Gavin put it in the glove compartment of my car. Seeing as how I never go in there, it can be understood why it got lost.

Also good news! I've been waiting to read Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri all year long, and it finally was available to pick up from the library.

2008-10-19T07:57:00.002-07:00

I am so surprised that I haven't had a minute to blog since this past Wednesday night. I have been quite busy since I've come to New Jersey, especially at my conference. Yesterday I was in seminars basically from 10:00 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. (and did not even go outside the hotel until 5:30-ish). So, I've been busy. One thing, though, is that even though I've been here since Wednesday, my body still has not totally adjusted for the time. Last night I went to bed sometime around 10 or 10:30 p.m., which I think is about right. However, it was still difficult for me to get up out of bed before 8:30 a.m. So, who knows what my body will be like when I return home tomorrow night.

Anyway, the Family Promise conference has been good. I have missed the morning plenary sessions (because I just can't wake up in time), but the workshops I've been to and hearing the guest speakers, like NJ Governor Jon Corzine and author Jonathan Kozol. Incidentally, after Kozol's speech, I wanted to be a teacher.

Being at the conference has also been good for my inbox. A few days ago, my email inbox numbered 80+, which is just too far out of control. Many emails had to do with Family Promise stuff I had to respond to. I've taken advantage of my (somewhat) sequestered position and have done a lot of work to get that down to just over 50. Last night I also made some headway on my sermon about Family Promise, which I will give to a church in Burbank next Sunday. I'll need to spend more time tomorrow working on it so that I can hopefully finish it before I come back to a busy, busy week.

Today is the last day of the conference. I've missed the morning worship service and the morning sessions, due to both sleeping until 8:30 a.m. and then having to pack up my belongings so that I can promptly check out of the hotel at noon. I will go to lunch, but will have to leave about a half hour early so that I can catch the 2:27 p.m. train back to Princeton. Tonight, in addition to seeing my favorite NJ family, the Meisels, I will also meet up with some old Princeton friends, which is fun. Tomorrow I will spend a bit more time with the Meisels and also visit the Bonner Foundation, where I used to work, and also work on writing my sermon. I don't fly out until 7:30 p.m. or so, so it will be a long day.

2008-10-15T21:35:00.002-07:00

I've arrived in NJ, but by now (12:35 a.m.), I should really go to bed. Some highlights:

- Looking at the stunning red plush carpet of fall foliage on rolling hills from the airplane window.
- Seeing an amazingly intricate and huge hedge maze on the descent into Newark--anyone know about this???
- Reuniting with Emily in person!
- Going to Manhattan to see a performance of Selected Shorts and seeing Steven Colbert read the final story in person!

Must, however, go to bed. Tomorrow Emily has promised to take me to my favorite bagel place so I can get my favorite bagel ever (cinnamon burst bagel with walnut raisin cream cheese from Bagels4U!).

2008-10-13T21:34:00.002-07:00

Well, I have successfully squandered the entire evening. I intended on using this evening because I have a lot I need to get done before I fly out on Wednesday morning, but instead I did not do anything of that sort. So, I think I'll post a quick blog and then get myself to bed, since I'm feeling a bit tired (my body must be preparing itself for the east coast--I've been feeling tired for at least an hour now and it's only 9:45 p.m.).

Anyway, some thoughts:

- This weekend, among other things, I went to a baptism after-party. At this party there were a couple of hand-held cameras being carried around by a couple different people, each asking me what I wanted to say to the baby once she grows up and watches the video. I had a similar experience earlier this year at a wedding. Now I don't know about you, but I absolutely hate this. I never know what to say and I feel that whenever the camera comes by that I have food in my mouth. So if I go to your event and you have something similar--please don't be offended if I don't say anything.

- Still haven't found The Friendly Persuasion.

- Part of me has been thinking that even though things are really bad in the economy right now that I should consider buying some stock because I have a small amount of money that I could use to do it, if I wanted. But then the other part of me realizes that I a.) don't know what I'm doing, b.) wouldn't have the patience to monitor it, and c.) wouldn't know how to buy and sell stock even if I went through with it.

- I discovered tonight that Dwight from the Office has a blog. I have bookmarked the feed.

- Wednesday in the early AM I board a plane to go back to NJ for the Family Promise conference. I am excited, but you'd hardly know that I leave in a day. Tomorrow I will have to do some serious thinking about what I want to pack and stuff. A brief study of the weather tells me it might be equivalent to here (or a little warmer) and that it also might rain for a couple of the days. I hope I will see some good fall colors.

- The weather has turned cool here. Not cold, but cool, definitely. It has been lovely, especially, in the mornings and the evenings, with a cold breeze. Anyhow, because I get cold easily, I broke out this jacket I bought a year or two ago at LL Bean. I'd post a picture of the jacket, but I don't seem to have any handy and it seemingly is not for sale anymore. It's kind of like a soft-shell jacket (insides are a very nice fleece) and it is both dark grey and this avocado-ish green. I think I'll bring it with me to NJ, so perhaps I'll take a picture of it on so you all can see (or maybe I'll have Gavin put a picture up). Anyway, when I first bought it, I fell in love with it. Partly because I liked the fit (although it sticks a little bit too far up in the neck for my taste) and I also loved the green. I thought it might be a good jacket to have to keep the wind out. I ended up being wrong about that...it's not very effective at blocking wind...nor was it very effective at keeping me warm in NJ. In the end, I never wore it much. However, I took it home to CA with me and this weekend was the first time I gave it a try since then. It turns out that it's very effective at keeping me warm in CA! The only thing is that the jacket gets a lot of comments, and I'm not quite sure why. I think people aren't used to the look...maybe it's an east coast style? Or maybe the green is too green for some people? Not sure. All I know is that I like it.

2008-10-09T22:33:00.003-07:00

Tonight I played tennis for the first time in a month. Well, actually, I played once or twice with the seniors, but that doesn't count because it's nowhere near the exertion of energy it takes to play Colander. We played one full set and one half set. I lost all but one game. In between the first and second set we chatted for a little bit and that was the death of me--stopping for about 20 or so minutes made my muscles get cold and made my lower back so sore...sore even to turn my trunk (which is necessary for playing tennis).

Gavin's dad lent me this book to read, The Friendly Persuasion. Apparently there is also a movie. He lent it to me because one of the main characters is a woman who is a Quaker preacher. I can't say it has been terribly interesting (although there was one particular exchange between the mom who is the preacher and her son about whether or not it is right to fight in war that I think I will reflect upon when I write my Goodreads review), but I can say that I am approximately 10 pages from finishing and have been so for at least one week now. Why haven't I finished it? Because I have lost the book. I'm just not sure where I put it and it does not help that the house is a complete disaster right now AND that I am also housesitting, so there are multiple places where it could be. Wish me luck in finding it.

Thursdays and Fridays in October and November I'm working at any one of three hospitals. I realized tonight when I was driving home from tennis that working two jobs in one week kinda feels like you have two Mondays. I think today felt long for me because it was the first day of my hospital week. I suppose the bonus is that tomorrow will feel like the second Friday in a week.

Tomorrow night I will be taking Gavin to go to an art exhibit at this stained glass studio I'm interested in. The exhibit doesn't appear to be about stained glass, but I am excited to at least visit this place and see what it's about. Later on in the month I'm going to go on a tour of their studio, which I find very exciting!

New Jersey next week!

2008-10-08T08:34:00.003-07:00

How disappointed was I when I called my hair dresser and heard on the message machine that she will be out of town until October 15? Very. Usually I go for a haircut every 8 or so weeks. However, this past haircut was kinda short for my liking, so I wanted to wait about 10 weeks. I had been feeling shaggy, so I counted how many weeks it has been since my last haircut--11 weeks. Since I am going to NJ starting on the 15th and won't be back until the evening of the 20th, this means that it will be 13 weeks before I can possibly get it cut AND I anticipate that I am not the only one who wants to get on the schedule. Sigh.

Anyway, Danny tagged me to post 6 Uninteresting Things About Me, as if she knows the real truth--that I am quite uninteresting! So, here it goes:

1. On the days when I work at home, my average shower time is at 11:00 a.m.
2. For the past week I've had painfully dry lips.
3. I don't like drinking out of plastic bottles because I don't like the taste. This includes everything from a bottled soda to a nalgene bottle.
4. I have never had a pet.
5. I think I prefer powder laundry detergent to liquid because it's less messy.
6. I like to wear turtleneck sweaters.

OK. Now I will tag 6 other people:
Tisra, MLE, Amy, Heather, Josh and Gavin.

2008-10-07T07:34:00.002-07:00

I never got around to blogging yesterday. I jumped right into work and couldn't look back because I had all sorts of edits I had to do on things I've already done. In fact, I don't think I ever got around to doing anything new yesterday. Then, after work, I took a computer break so I could fold laundry (I managed to wash four loads yesterday, which was very helpful because I had exactly two shirts left to wear in my drawer). Then, I had all of these great intentions to work on freelance stuff last night and it was all foiled by going out to dinner with Joey, Carrie, Dad and Gail, Carrie's mom. It ended up being a very long dinner, the most disappointing thing of which was that the food was awful (Frida's in the Americana is disgusting).

This past weekend was great. I spent all of it with Gavin. Friday night we watched TV and made dinner together. Saturday after I finished painting a flower for the Family Promise silent auction, we were going to go to Descanso Gardens and, because it was raining, we abandoned ship and instead went to an art store and then to Costco. Later on that day, we walked to the store, made our very own spaghetti sauce, and watched Young@Heart, a documentary which we were told by Carrie we'd be touched by...a guaranteed cry. So, our game was predicting all of the places in the movie where Carrie cried. Sunday Gavin came to church with me and then afterwards I made him lunch of delicious butternut squash with salad. Yum. Then, we went impromptu to Descanso, which Gavin enjoyed because the lighting ended up being great to take photos. Later on that afternoon, I played softball with the Team and we lost. I have been on a hitting slump and it is ANNOYING.

Eight more days until I'll be in New Jersey! I had some lodging crises, but they're all worked out now.

2008-10-02T21:39:00.002-07:00

Tonight I went to my monthly meeting for Family Promise, where our plans for our first fundraiser were unveiled: a murder mystery dinner. Having gone to a fair number of fundraising teas, I am excited about this change of theme! It'll be an interactive murder mystery (I'm not sure how, exactly, but I know that when you buy a ticket you have to fill out a short questionnaire) with dinner at the Castaway. Gavin and I will be going, as well as my aunt Ellie & uncle Scott, who have said they will buy tickets from me. Should you be in the area on that date and have interest in going, let me know and then I can sell you a ticket.

The hospital "chain" I work for recently bought another hospital in the Valley. Today I worked there for the first time, which was interesting because it used to be a for-profit, secular hospital that never had any spiritual care services. That my hospital bought them and is making them a non-profit, Catholic hospital is a TOTAL switch, but the word I heard around the hospital today has been pretty positive. I'll be working there a few days a month and it'll be interesting to see how it goes. It's already been different for me, in that today one of my units was pediatrics, which I have never done before. Unrelated, my badge picture came out very cute.

Um, I think I might have more to say, but I'm feeling kind of tired right now, so best get off to bed. The heat wave that has hit us here in SoCal has been brutal and I am absolutely HORRIBLE in the heat. I have a really difficult time getting comfortable, which means that it's difficult for me to fall asleep. I hear tomorrow will be cooler and Saturday might even bring rain, which is so weird to me. I hope it's true. One nice thing--this afternoon I felt those lovely Santa Ana winds, which are my absolute favorite.

2008-09-30T07:43:00.002-07:00

Well, I am officially drowning in email. If I am not careful, by this time next week I might be buried in email. Right now I have it down to a "manageable" 67, but earlier this morning I had 11 new emails on top of that. I want to know when it was that email took over my life.

In other news, Gavin took pictures of the paintings I painted for his birthday. Maybe if you're real good, you can click on this link to see what they look like. I sure do wish my scans came out. The detail on these paintings is really good, especially on the broccoli. I was impressed with that broccoli when I finished it.

Uncle Brad sure is chatty this morning. Can't a person blog in peace?

2008-09-29T10:05:00.003-07:00

Hm, well, it appears that I have not blogged since Wednesday. I could have sworn I blogged on Thursday, but I guess I did not make it around to it. Here's a little re-cap of my days:

Thursday
Worked for the first time all summer at the hospital in Burbank. Had a great time seeing all of my old co-workers. Had an OK day being chaplain. Worst part of the day was visiting a family who was losing a young man to...something, I don't know what. When I asked if they might want a prayer (they had made some tough decisions), they asked me my religion and said, "No, I don't think so. We're Evangelical Christians, so we believe that Jesus died for our sins. We'll just pray on our own." It was quite frustrating to me because a.) they never stopped to inquire if that's also what I believed and, b.) I found it frustrating to see a family going through tragic and traumatic events purposefully isolating themselves. Then, Thursday night Gavin came up and we went out to dinner to celebrate his birthday weekend. I took him to my favorite Mexican restaurant in Burbank and then he opened his birthday present* and I guess we watched TV that evening.

Friday
Gavin took the day off, so we went to have a light breakfast in Burbank at Porto's before heading up to Ventura/Ojai to spend the weekend with his family. Gavin's dad's office is in Ventura and his office neighbor is also a lawyer, so we were meeting up for a Friday afternoon lunch before heading to Ojai. On the way there we encountered some traffic. Once it cleared, I was driving in the middle lane (I think there was one lane to my right and two to my left) and I was driving about 60. All of a sudden, this person in a red truck cut me off (actually, it was fairly dangerous) and then, as he drove forward, he made sure to demonstrate to me, holding up a 6 and then a 5 with his hands that I was to be driving 65. I found this to be very off-putting and it really angered me. I really didn't feel like I deserved this "lesson." I was driving safely and in one of the right lanes and know that 65 is the LIMIT, not the minimum. Argh. I ended up being upset about this for at least a whole day because I really felt it was uncalled for. Anyway, after lunch, Gavin and I went back to his parents' house and watched a movie until they got home. Once they got home, we played some games and had some dinner and it was a nice time.

Saturday
Saturday morning Gavin's dad drove us back into Ventura to go to the Farmers' Market to get produce for Gavin's birthday dinner, which we were having that night. At the Farmers' Market there happened to be a balloon animal maker, so Gavin's mom had him make Gavin a dragon for his birthday. It ended up being very cool. Then we got some to-go burritos from a local eatery and went up to the top of some hill in Ventura to eat them, even though it was a somewhat cloudy day. Then, we went back to their house and hung out, playing games, until dinner time, when we had Gavin's official birthday dinner.

Sunday
At the Farmers' Market in Ventura on Saturday, Gavin was hoping to get some good nectarines, a hope at having the last good dregs of the season. It turned out that the nectarines (or were they peaches?) we got were not good at all. So, after a lovely morning breakfast prepared by Gavin's mom, Gavin, his mom and I went to the Ojai Farmers' Market to see if we could find any there. Turns out that I don't think there was even one vendor who was selling any nectarines or peaches. Maybe this means summer is officially over. After going to the Farmers' Market, we poked around the cute little Ojai town center and then made our way back to his parents' house and, after lunch, drove back to Burbank. That night, we had dinner (and ice cream!) with my family and then watched a couple of episodes of LOST.

All in all, a good, relaxing weekend. The good news is that I am almost finished with the changes on that baby website, but I am about as busy as can be. October looks to be a bit rough...

*Gavin's birthday was actually on Sunday, but since I had painted him four different paintings, I allowed him to open one each day. I scanned them in before I got them framed, but the scans ended up being something awful. So, I have charged him with taking pictures of them framed so that you can see how they turned out.

2008-09-24T09:18:00.002-07:00

Well, I've managed to get Gavin hooked on LOST. At least so far. Last night I introduced him to Season 1 of LOST and we ended up watching all 4 episodes that are on the first disc. It was weird for me to watch the first episodes again--the show just looks so different. And it was interesting to see how early some themes in the show start.

The Crippler sent me a news article this morning about a home decoration idea. It seems that this person decorated the walls of his basement with $10 worth of Sharpies. Looking at the results is quite spectacular. For some reason, it strikes me as vaguely French, but I have no reason why I think that. Anyway, I told Chris that if I tried to do something like this that I'd likely start drawing, make a mistake, and then scribble it out...so in the end I'd have a wall full of scribbles. When I first saw it or, really, thought about it, the non-risk-taking side of me (which is nearly 100%) said, "Oh, no--you can't do that! You'll damage your walls!" And then I realized that if you make a mistake or if it all turns out hideously, you can just re-paint the walls. Anyway, there's a bit of inspiration for you this Wednesday morning.

I'm considering going to a Toastmasters meeting today at lunchtime. This woman I play tennis with invited me to come and I figure that it might be beneficial for me. If things don't get out of hand and I remember, then I think I will at least check it out.

2008-09-23T17:29:00.003-07:00

This post sums up my feelings about work lately.

I am working for a different department in the very same company and I feel that they have absolutely conflicting ways about what they like (and expect) in web design. When I started working with my current boss, I really didn't get what she was asking me to do. Eventually, we reached the end of the project, after many, many adjustments (some large, some small) to the original design.

Then, I started working from home and I felt that I finally realized what it is that she is looking for and I did several new web designs with minimal adjustments. It was great. I felt like I no longer had to guess about what she wanted.

Since this past Thursday, I feel that we have returned to my boss being cryptic (again) about what she wants and expects from me in terms of design. It is very, very frustrating to me and, I think, is what is leading me into (yet another) depression/frustration/angst about figuring out what I should be doing for employment.

2008-09-22T13:18:00.002-07:00

Yesterday I swear the weather was almost like fall. Breezy, cool, yellower sunshine. I can't wait until it becomes full-fledged!

Today I started feeling bummed-out again about figuring out my job situation. I mean, although I am enjoying working from home a few days a week, I am frustrated that I can't seem to find anything permanent that I like. My newest idea (that actually has been an idea germinating in my mind for awhile) is that it'd be cool if I could get into stained glass. It seems that my theological training, paired with my design degree and watercolor painting skills might be just up that alley. The problem is that I have absolutely no idea how to get into this arena. And, I suspect that there would be no immediate openings at a stained glass studio...especially not for someone with no experience. So...there you have it.

Heroes is on in just a little bit. Gavin and I will watch it recorded tomorrow. I'm a bit skeptical that it'll be good--I really did not enjoy Season 2.

In other news, I did spend some time this weekend working on some freelance work. Eventually (EVENTUALLY) I'll make it through all of the changes on that baby website.

2008-09-19T10:02:00.001-07:00

Finally--my day off. Yesterday I was completely exhausted. I couldn't even open my eyes past 10 p.m., so I went to bed. This morning I'm feeling more refreshed and not as tired. Part of my day, however, will be doing laundry (towels and sheets and stuff) and tidying up, since we'll have a little game night at the Smith house tonight.

What I should be doing is working on freelance design stuff. I am backed up with the baby website that had a navigation re-haul and there's a bunch of things that I need to do, like create new icons, make new templates, etc. Once I finish that, I have a logo, a DVD cover, another website, etc. Then, I've also got an estimate from the printer to make cards that have some of my watercolors on them. So, I've just got to get to this stuff.

Speaking of watercolors, I painted a few images the other day and scanned them in (without looking at them). Then I went to the framer to get them framed. Then, days later, I opened up the images to place on my Flickr feed and was CRUSHED when I saw that the scans did not come out well AT ALL. My paintings were quite good. I'll have to see if I can take a successful picture of them without glare once I get them back from the framer.

Hey, look at what I just came across. It's this new website called ShortCuts. It's a website that has coupons on it. You register your rewards card on the site and then select the coupons you're interested in and it will automatically associate those coupons with your card when you go to the market. I think this is brilliant! I registered, but was disappointed to see that they don't have many coupons up there. I do, however, think that they might get more because I assume that it's a new service.

Well, I suppose I should get a move-on. Have a good weekend.

2008-09-18T10:09:00.002-07:00

Phew. Big day yesterday.

My Scottish friends Simon and Justin were visiting and yesterday was the day where we "did" LA. Simon & Justin were interested in seeing LA landmarks as well as eating delicious American food. What is American food, you ask? Simple--it's anything that is bad for you: ribs, hamburgers, milkshakes, Oreo cookies, cupcakes, donuts, etc. So, although I ate horribly yesterday, at least we were very active. And, the big surprise was that Gavin took the day off of work to join us!

It started out in the morning, when we left to get donuts. Then we drove up Mulholland to do a hike to see the Hollywood sign. Then we went down into Hollywood to go to Hollywood & Highland so that they could see Hollywood Blvd., the stars on the ground, Mann's Chinese Theatre, etc. From there we took the Metro into downtown LA and walked through the skyscrapers and had an authentic taco lunch at Grand Central Market. From there we walked and saw City Hall, the LA Cathedral and the music centers of LA, including Walt Disney Concert Hall. Then we walked back to the Metro and found my car and then drove along Sunset Blvd., into Beverly Hills. We parked and got cupcakes and then walked along Rodeo Dr. From there we got back in the car, drove along Wilshire to Santa Monica, where we walked down 3rd Street Promenade and along the Santa Monica Pier. The weather at the beach felt spectacular after having been walking around in the downtown area where it was a not-too-bad-but-maybe-too-hot-to-be-walking 80F. Then, Simon & Justin experienced LA traffic as we drove back to my house. Once we got back home, there was some TV watching of the good ol' American show called Wipeout while we all freshened up before going out for ribs that evening. Then, upon returning home from dinner, there was a little Rock Band action (to Gavin's delight). I was exhausted that night and had no trouble getting to sleep.

All in all, a good day. Now it's back to work today, since I switched my day off to be yesterday.

2008-09-16T08:21:00.002-07:00

This morning, shortly after I began working, my computer wanted me to install the latest Mac updates. I did, because I hate it when the little icon bounces until you go through with it. Now I have iTunes 8 and I'm really not sure that I like the changes that they've done. I'm going to have to investigate later when I have time to see if there's a way I can get it back to the way I had it laying out the pertinent information.

Yesterday I got a call from this Jewish family I visited regularly when I was working more consistently at the hospital. The father is back in the hospital for the sixth or so time since all of these medical things started popping up and their caretaker/neighbor called me to let me know that he wanted me to come and visit him again (since in one of the last times he went he found out that I don't work there anymore). I was just so honored that this family thinks so highly of me--a stranger, really, and values my visit with them in the hospital. That made me feel good yesterday.

Well, I have a lot of work ahead of me today, both work and personal/freelance/volunteer work that I have to do. Wish me well!

2008-09-15T09:13:00.002-07:00

Quick post before I finish getting ready for work and head out for a meeting in the office.

This weekend was good, but busy and relatively locally-focused. Saturday I did a bit more house cleaning here and there, but mostly enjoyed a pretty cool day. First, I watched a bit of the movie IQ, which was fun because it was filmed in Princeton, so it allowed me to reminisce. Then I hung out with Carrie for a good portion of the day. First we went to the Farmer's Market and got some produce for the week.

Then we went to my old high school to take a tour of it. The weekend was the high school's centennial and they had all sorts of stuff to commemorate the occasion, including tours of the school. Why would I want to go on a tour of the school, since I "toured" it for 4 years, day in and day out??? Well, you see, they totally demolished the entire school (save one building) about seven years after I've graduated. I've since been very curious to see what it's like on the inside. And, for those curious, it is a very, very, very nice school now. Those kids are lucky. Carrie and I were at least 30 years younger than the others in our tour group (which meant that walking around the school took forever). Best quote of the day was when we went to the cooking/home ec room. One of the women on the tour (class of '58) asked the teacher, "Do you give school credit to the boys who take the class?" Incredible.

Then after lunch, Carrie and I went on a hike in the Hollywood Hills to see the Hollywood sign. She was telling me about a cool place I could take my Scottish friends and so we scoped it out. It was a nice hike. Had it been clear instead of hazy, it also would have been a spectacular view! On our way home we stopped by a pecan brittle place in Burbank that Carrie has always wondered about. If you want to know more about our visit, you can go to Carrie's review (linked above), but all you really need to know is that the pecan brittle is delicious, but sent me into sugar overload after having sampled a few different pieces before settling on White Chocolate Pecan Brittle.

I came home and tried to shake off the sugar overload by taking a shower and napping, but neither really worked too well because I had a massive headache the whole night long. But, I perked up a bit when Gavin came over to help me welcome Simon and Justin. Finally, at around the time I guessed, Simon and Justin arrived from their long flight from Scotland. We sat and talked for a bit, then we took them to Target, since they both had some items to pick up (poor Justin had his bags lost!).

Sunday morning Gavin and I woke up early and made them an American breakfast of pancakes, bacon, fruit and orange juice. We talked a bit more, then they headed off to Magic Mountain--Justin loves rollercoasters and Simon has never been on one. If you're curious about Simon's review, you can read about it here on his blog. They'll be visiting Palm Springs and San Diego and then will return back up to Los Angeles tomorrow night (if all goes smoothly).

Then I went to church and, to my surprise, NBC was there filming because my pastor was saying something about the Metrolink Chatsworth train crash. NBC's camera was situated by where I sit at church and, so I hear, when we had our moment of silence for those involved, the camera focused on me and this other guy. Which is weird not only because I'm not sure what I think of myself being recorded in a moment of silence, but that others during the moment of silence were looking. Anyway, later on that day I heard that it wasn't set to be on NBC local but NBC national. I sure do hope they picked the other guy to show--I had on absolutely no makeup that morning. Even with makeup on I look washed out...

Then I went to a meeting then came home and relaxed a bit before going out to play softball. We all made a ton of mistakes and, consequently, lost the game by a gazillion. After the second inning (we only played 3 to my recollection), I think, the umpire stopped counting the other team's runs. That's how badly we lost. But at the very end I had a great hit as my second at-bat for the game, and losing to this team was much more pleasant than losing to that one team who wore pink shirts and called themselves the Unicorns.

All in all, a full weekend.

OK, time to get ready to go in to work. Hope you all have a good day!

2008-09-12T14:12:00.002-07:00

[Sigh] A late posting today. The reason why is that this morning I got up and worked promptly on the baby products website. There is a big overhaul that needs to happen on that site and I am very behind on it partly because I've been busy and partly because I am overwhelmed with doing it. However, this past weekend I worked on the new navigation and today I began implementing it. There's still at least a few hours of work I have to do on the site, but I'm at least pleased that the new navigation is up AND that I was able to get the PayPal view cart button to work (finally!).

Then I launched into a deep cleaning of the shower. Cleaning the shower is my absolute least favorite household chore to do (I think). For sure it's on the top 5. So I scrubbed and scrubbed and scrubbed with super-human vigor and eventually felt that it could qualify as "clean." Then I cleaned the rest of the bathroom, which is quite easy, then the hallway and have made it mostly through the living room. In between all of this, I have been answering my phone, admiring some new paintings I've done (I'll post pictures soon-ish), making myself a delicious lunch (I've been making some good sandwiches lately...if you're in the Burbank area and want a good lunch, stop by), going through the mail, etc. Really, the theme of today is: working on things I don't really want to work on today (but that have to get done).

This burst of cleaning is because two internet friends of mine, Simon and Justin are headed from Scotland to the west coast of the US for a vacation and they will be staying here tomorrow night and next Wednesday. Neither have been to the west coast, so I've been busy trying to come up with good ideas to take them around the LA area next Wednesday. If anyone has any good ideas of what they should be sure to do while they're here, please let me know. Part of the difficulty I have in living somewhere is that I forget the pizzaz of that place--what there is that's unique or exciting or captures the flavor of it. So, if you have any ideas, give them to me as there is a huge chance that I have not been thinking along those lines at all.

I have a few more hours before Gavin will come over (he and I will be going out with others to help celebrate Colander's birthday tonight) and SO much more stuff to do, including putting together a snappy cover letter for an Associate Pastor position at a church that I would really, really like to work at. I was given the job description yesterday evening and I don't want to put it aside and be too late, know what I mean?

2008-09-11T11:42:00.002-07:00

Yesterday I went over to Gavin's for an early dinner. We ate this, which I made the day before and was really excited about because it smelt SO good (and because I made these enchiladas [sans spinach] a couple of days before and they were amazingly delicious), but in the end I was really disappointed about the casserole because it was too mushy for my taste. Anyway, we've been catching up on the Office, one of Gavin's favorite shows. I have not watched it until he and I started watching it from the beginning on Netflix.

After watching a few Office episodes, I put my foot down and said that we should not watch anymore, despite receiving enjoyment from them. Gavin suggested that we could walk to Target. I wasn't exactly sure why we'd need to walk to Target, but I was game (and decided I could buy a new toothbrush there). "It's a long way," he said cautiously. Thinking that he probably meant that it was a 3-mile walk there, I didn't blink an eyelash. 3 miles is nothing. So we walked and we walked and we walked and eventually reached Target by nightfall. We got there, I bought a toothbrush, he bought a two-pack of black frames for $2.48 and then we headed back and got back to his apartment by 9:30 p.m. We probably walked anywhere from 8-10 miles last night. Whereas I felt fine, stamina-wise, my left calf muscle was cramping up on our way back. Even today it's still cramping up. :( I'll just have to massage it throughout the day and hope it'll get better. Good thing I don't have tennis scheduled for tonight.

This election will sure be interesting, won't it? I really have no idea what will happen.

Oh, my. I have so much extracurricular work to do, what with freelance stuff and painting stuff and Family Promise stuff. What have I done with this morning--squandered my time. I have got to hit it hard this afternoon.

2008-09-10T07:47:00.002-07:00

I had a breakthrough in my working from home yesterday. The woman I'm working with is fairly picky and it usually takes forever to get from initial design to finished page. It is not uncommon, for instance, to have 8+ revisions. Yesterday morning I worked on a design and it was approved (her only one change was to move something up) and finished by the end of the day. Like completely done--so done this morning I have to start on a totally new design.

I do have some bad news--I'm being overtaken by email. Yesterday at one point in the evening I had 70+ emails in my inbox. I've managed to get it down to 51, but it will be a difficult battle to get it down to 0, which is my ultimate goal. Even if I could get it down to 20, I'd be so happy.

This morning I also spilled a whole container of blueberries on the floor. I can't tell you how sad I was to see that go.

Last night if you were here, you'd have laughed at me. After I got home from dinner with Tiffany, I decided that I'd like to call Gavin, so I went into my room, turned on the light switch -- and freaked out. All of a sudden I heard this loud screeching and there was some large object that fell from the ceiling fan to the floor. I didn't catch what it was because I was too busy screaming and running out of the room. It turns out that Joey and Carrie thought it would be hilarious if they put this stuffed monkey that makes a screeching sound on my ceiling fan and rigged it to make the whole scene take place. I was so frightened. They, on the other hand, were delighted with my response.

Carrie also notified me by sending me this article to let me know that Los Angeles and I share the same birthday, albeit Los Angeles is a lot older than me.

In the next couple of days (if I can get my act in order), I'll be printing up some cards with my paintings on them...like 6 different designs. I'm excited about it!

2008-09-09T07:59:00.002-07:00

Day 1 of working from home went great! I mean, there were some initial hiccups with answering email remotely and stuff like that, but it all worked out and I think working this way works well for me. In between waiting for my boss to respond to my emails, I painted. Today I plan on doing laundry and light cleaning in my downtimes.

Last night I had a scare. Gavin and I agreed that after work we'd meet up at his place and have dinner together. Gavin usually gets home around 4:30-ish, I think, so that's about the time I arrived. But Gavin wasn't there. I called his cell, no answer. I called his work, no answer. This went on for the next hour. Very concerned, I called both his mom and his sister to see if they had heard from him because he talks with them daily, but they hadn't heard anything from him that afternoon. Having worked in a trauma hospital, I know the whole breadth of what can happen when one is walking down the street (Gavin walks home from work). I imagined he was walking down the street, listening to his podcasts on his noise-reducing headphones and, as he was crossing the street, some car came and hit him dead. Or, maybe he wasn't dead, but intubated in the hospital where there was no caring chaplain or social worker determined to figure out who he was and contact his loved ones. But then I started thinking that what if he took the subway home, which would have gotten him home probably around 3:30 or 4 p.m. Then, what if he had a heart attack in his apartment and, since it was locked, the only way I would have known is if I would have stayed there for three days and finally smelt the stench of decomposed body. None of these thoughts made me feel particularly good. Thankfully, at around 5:30 Gavin called. It turns out he wasn't dead--he was just in court all day long trying to put this one guy in jail. I tell you, it was scary business.

2008-09-08T07:18:00.003-07:00

Lately I have found myself yearning for Halloween. This is a strange yearning because, as holidays go, I don't like Halloween much. I'm not really in to dressing up much and I am just otherwise not very interested in the "spooky" day. In thinking about why I'm so excited for it to come, the only thing I can figure is that I am anxious for fall to come around and by Halloween, we should be fully enmeshed.

Well, today is my first day from working from home. I'm kind of apprehensive about the situation and I'm not really sure why. Maybe because this is a new venture and I always get nervous when new things happen. One thing is for certain--today I woke up a half hour later than I usually do AND started 45 minutes earlier than I normally do, which means that I'll be off 45 minutes earlier. This is fantastic. One thing that I will have to consider is whether or not I will upgrade to Photoshop CS2. At home I have plain CS, which has suited me well here, but I don't do much Photoshop-intensive stuff. At work I had CS2 and my work was much more Photoshop-intensive and this weekend I discovered how much it bothers me not to be able to have the same functionality in the new version. So....I just have to decide if it's worth it to me to upgrade.

2008-09-05T08:41:00.002-07:00

Quick blog. People are starting to come in AND I've got things I need to finish today because it's kind of sort of my last day here. Kind of. Next week I will work for a different department and I will work from home. So it will be totally different. I will no longer have my beautiful iMac. :sniff, sniff:

My birthday was great! I'm glad I had it. All week long, I've had things that have made my day. Tuesday it was receiving a card from Gavin's sister Kendra. Wednesday it was that Joey & Carrie cleaned the house. Yesterday it was a necklace and a card from Gavin. I can't wait to experience the remainder of the week!

Tonight we will have a family celebration for my birthday at home. Since we go out so often, it's novel for me to eat at home and I really enjoy it. Saturday Gavin and I will be going to a wedding on a yacht in Newport Harbor. I have been looking forward to this for months! Sunday is an after-wedding pool party. Somewhere in the midst of all of that, I have LOTS of freelance work to do.

2008-09-04T08:15:00.002-07:00

Well, it's my 30th birthday and, so far, it's been a good one. I could have used a little more sleep, but after I showered I felt mostly OK with the world. My day was made happier when I received not one, but three phone calls from Gavin this morning (while I was on the train, so they were all messages) singing Happy Birthday, once by himself, once with his mom and once with Kendra. This made my day because yesterday at lunch Gavin tried to tell me that it was my responsibility to call him on my birthday...at least, to call him to remind him to call me. I was not exactly pleased with that response and I figured he was joking, but he was just so persistent about it. In the end, I actually did call late last night and leave a message for him at work, pretending to be his secretary Connie: "Mr. Greene, this is Connie. Your girlfriend called to let me know that she will be very mad if you don't call her for her birthday. So I am reminding you to call her."

Last night I was looking at some pictures Gavin took of me at his parents' house. It occurred to me why people who are not as familiar with me always claim that I look different every single time they see me. Although *I* think I always look the same, it turns out that I do wear my hair a number of different ways and even though it looks the same to me (aka: boring), it could be conceived as being quite different.

Speaking of last night, I hardly got anything accomplished. In the transition from working upstairs full-time to downstairs three days a week, I have been given the option to work at home, and I think I've decided to take them up on that. It'll be nice to be able to multi-task at home. And, while I'm thinking about it, the best thing about last night was that I had left with my dad to go and pick up my things from Michael & Karen's (I was briefly housesitting because Karen went into labor early and had her baby on Tuesday) and, upon returning, found that Joey and Carrie cleaned not only the kitchen but also the living room. That might possibly have been the best birthday present ever--that house was a mess.

Well, on to work. I think after work, but before my meeting, I will get my nails done. Hmm...what color should I get this time?

2008-09-03T08:15:00.002-07:00

So, tomorrow is the big 3-0. Let it be stated that today I feel no anguish about this fact. I have no grand plans to celebrate tomorrow. My monthly Family Promise meeting is that day, so I have decided to go to that and think that my family will celebrate instead on Friday night.

As you know, I will be going to NJ in October for a conference for Family Promise. I'm excited a.) because I really think that Family Promise is one of the most worthwhile things I'm doing with my life right now, but also b.) because I'm excited to go back to NJ and spend some time with my friends there and re-experiencing the fall and stuff. I've signed up with Kayak to get daily alerts about the cost of my (anticipated) flight. Originally it was about $420, but then it went down to $389 and then within a day or two went back up to $420. I was just about resigned to purchase my ticket when I saw this morning that it has gone down again, back to $389. I think now is the time to buy. Now I just have to figure out if the timeframe that I've chosen is really good (Weds. - Mon.), or if I should tack on an additional day or two with the intention to go up and visit MLE and her fam, which is very appealing (and maybe make it Mon. - Mon.). The tricky part is that I will be housesitting during this time (for like the entire month of October) and the people are OK with me going (it makes it cheaper for them because they can get their son to come by and water the plants while I'm gone), but I originally told them only 5 days.

One of the things that I'm planning on doing while I'm there is going to hear Selected Shorts in NYC. Selected Shorts is one of my new favorite podcasts. The format of the hour-long podcast is that two or three short stories are read by someone with some amount of dramatic flair. Usually the stories fit with some sort of theme. The theme for the Wednesday that I will be there is: Three storytellers take on the competitive, convivial, pleasurable, cramped, fun, and stressful world of work. Dark and funny tales that will have you laughing uproariously, by Joshua Ferris (Then We Came to the End), Lydia Davis, and T.C. Boyle. Emily has agreed to come with me and I think it'll be a fun night.

In completely other news, I find it entirely frustrating that the scroll wheel on my mouse at work has all of a sudden stopped being able to scroll down. However, it still works if you want to scroll up. Weird. Even still, I hope they let me keep my computer when I move downstairs to a different part of the company for a three day a week job, which starts next week.

2008-09-02T08:58:00.003-07:00

I just had a conversation with two girls from my office by my cube! Of all of the girls in the company, these two I like the most, so it was really fun for this to just happen spontaneously around my desk. Too bad this is my last week. I mean, I guess it's not my *last* week, since I will be continuing on for the next month three days a week, but I'll be located in a different part of the company, so...oh well.

My weekend was good, even though there were some not as good points. I was just in a cranky mood a lot of the time (poor Gavin--he tried his hardest to make everything work), so some of the weekend was ruined by my bad attitude. We didn't end up going to Santa Barbara. Instead, we stayed the weekend at his parents' house and I had the opportunity to hang out with his mom a lot, which was very nice because I really enjoy her.

I suppose I should actually get to work, now that everyone's showing up.

2008-08-29T08:46:00.002-07:00

For those of you who want the recipe of the lemon pasta, you can click here. Carrie put it on her recipe blog for me. Do not be fooled by the pictures of macaroni and cheese--that's just the style of the blog.

Last night I was feeling a bit tired and definitely not interested in going to a committee meeting I had last night for Family Promise. However, once I got there I became enthused! I just love working on this project to help alleviate homelessness in the Burbank area. I also love that I'm working with people who belong to different churches/synagogues in the community. It's really exciting to work together to make change in our community. Our next big meeting is next Thursday, which also happens to be my birthday. I keep debating about whether or not to go. I enjoy going to the meetings and I feel that they're important and that I would feel out of touch if I didn't go, but at the same time it is my birthday. SO...I'm still on the fence, but leaning on going to the meeting and celebrating my birthday the following day.

Weekend plans. I'm actually not really sure what I'll do...it's a little hazy. Saturday morning I think Gavin and I will take on Joey and Carrie in tennis. Saturday afternoon Gavin might be taking me up to Santa Barbara for a day trip for my birthday. Sunday no real plans. Monday pool party.

2008-08-28T08:15:00.002-07:00

Sorry for the sparse post yesterday. I wasn't bored anymore, but I also didn't feel like I had very much to say. Perhaps it was residual boredom. However, yesterday I managed to entertain myself in a number of ways.

First off, I found a new podcast to listen to at work.* And do I love it! It's called The Splendid Table and the host talks about food. Sounds kind of boring to me, but actually I found it quite interesting. BUT! What I found to be the best thing about this podcast was that at the end she takes listener's calls. This one lady called in about how to make a lemon sauce for pasta. I LOVE PASTA WITH LEMON SAUCE! And, lemon sauce is so rare. So, the host gave her an idea of how to do it. I decided to go home and try it out because it was so simple (I did it from memory--let me know if you're interested in the recipe!) and it was delicious! AND super cheap. Now, to keep myself from being bored at work, I am going to listen to back issues of this podcast.

Last night I also played tennis with Colander. I did not stretch properly before our match, which ended up being problematic in the end, since my back started hurting. In general, I think I am twisting wrong or something because I have this pain in my right lower back. I have been meaning to do yoga to try to work it out, but I am few and far inbetween with actually doing the yoga. Maybe if I were in a yoga class I'd be more likely to do it. For those curious about how I played with Colander, I lost (as per usual). However, my groundstrokes (for once) were fantastic. Too bad that Colander kept on hitting balls either really short on on the line.

Yesterday I got my latest copy of InSpire Magazine, which is the alumni magazine of Princeton Theological Seminary. I grabbed it to read on the train. As I was heading out of the door and getting to my car, I looked at the cover and thought, "Wow, I know that guy!" And then I realized, "Wait, this is an alumni magazine. Of course I know that person." As I was reading it on the train, I was coming to the realization that other people's lives are considerably much more interesting than my own.

Yet, I am proud of myself. For the past two nights IN A ROW, my email inbox has been less than 40 (at 39 messages). This is a huge accomplishment because lately my inbox has been out of control at 55+ emails. Now if only I could respond to my Facebook messages, which sit in my email inbox as a reminder that I need to respond, I could potentially get to below 30 messages (which would be heavenly).

* Sometimes at work I listen to Pandora, but other times I listen to various podcasts. The problem is, however, that by the end of Monday, I've usually breezed through them all!

2008-08-27T08:39:00.002-07:00

Yesterday I hit huge boredom levels around 2 p.m. I don't think I recovered until about 6 or 7 p.m. The thing is that once I get into a state of boredom, nothing--absolutely nothing--sounds fun or interesting or worthwhile. Poor Gavin--we had already arranged to have dinner with each other last night.

This morning I listened to an interesting article on Marketplace about eating locally, how eating locally can promote poverty in the rest of the world. This has reminded me that life is complicated.

2008-08-26T08:26:00.002-07:00

This past Saturday while Carrie and I were on her wedding dress extravaganza, I convinced her to go to the beauty supply store with me to pick up this hair wax that I put in my hair to help it stay put. Long story short, I accidentally left my old wax one in my car all day on Friday and, needless to say, my car smelt great upon my return but I no longer had my tube of wax. Anyway, so Carrie and I went to the store and I figured that while I was there I could also buy some conditioner. The thing is that my hair, being super fine and wavy (with a mind of its own!), does not react well with a lot of hair products. I've found this one conditioner that seems to condition well, so I decided to buy some of that while I was there. When I arrived at the counter to check out with my products, the girl behind the counter looked at my conditioner and she asked if she could show me a different product that might be better on my hair. Intrigued, I ended up buying the travel size of their shampoo and conditioner instead of my favored conditioner and was excited to try these new products out. This morning I am pleased to tell you that I bought the travel size. After using this new product for three days, I am confidently saying that I really dislike how it reacts with my hair. Now I just have to make time to go and buy what I wanted to buy in the first place.

Also, I have good news. This past week I realized my usual Motown "Good Morning, Good Morning, Good Morning, I'm glad everyone's here, you all are so beautiful" train driver was not driving the 7:09 a.m. train. In fact, I also noticed that sometimes when I rode the train home in the afternoon that there was a computerized announcement. I feared that the train driver was fired or something. But this morning he was back, so he must have been on vacation.

There is yet a week and two days before Tracey, Tony and I all have our birthdays. All my life I had never met anyone with my same birthday and then I go to Princeton and meet two others, one (Tracey) even born in the very same year! Tony has yet a few years to go before he turns the big 3-0. Tracey and I will embrace it. Right, Tracey?

2008-08-25T07:55:00.002-07:00

I ended up being sick for most of the weekend. I might still be a little sick now, but I feel a lot better. However, I'm beginning to wonder if the rest of the company is sick or if we have a holiday I don't know about. Sure it's only 8 a.m., but I've been here for the past 45 minutes (or so) and haven't seen a soul! If it gets to 10 and no one is still here, I'm going home. Oh, wait. I think I hear voices.

On Friday I ended up going home virtually right after I posted my blog. I had phases where I felt ok to phases where I felt miserable (so I'd lie down and take a nap). Friday night I spent time with Gavin and introduced him to the card game Guillotine, which he loved (even if I beat him 2/3 times). Saturday I went with Carrie to pick up her wedding dress, which is beautiful and looks spectacular on her. The rest of Saturday I alternately tried to clean while also trying to rest because I was still feeling pretty bad that day. Sunday morning I woke up, made Joey, Carrie and Gavin some blueberry cornmeal pancakes and then we drove down to San Diego for my family reunion. The drive down was very easy and the weather felt so nice down at my aunt's house. I felt fairly fine down there and fortified myself mostly with this dip that my second cousins made that involved mixing Trader Joe's salsa, corn salsa and a can of refried beans. I don't know if I have ever tasted anything so delicious in my life.

It was great being down there and seeing family. We got home late last night, so I'm a little sleepy this morning (and feeling still on the edge of sickness). I've got a full day of work today (well, I don't know if it's *full*) and then I have go to home tonight and do some freelance work. Two more weeks left of this job. And, my birthday is in less than two weeks! The time is going fast!

2008-08-22T08:19:00.002-07:00

Today is a day where I would have taken it off sick (if I had that luxury). Being a contractor, I don't get paid for any sick or vacation days. Yesterday I think I mentioned that my throat was sore. That continues on today, along with a little congestion, occasional sneezes and an overall slight soreness. Actually, in talking with Gavin at lunch yesterday, I realized that I'm not sure if my condition is due to a cold or due to those dreaded end-of-summer allergies that I get. Either way, I don't feel my best. This is not to say that I feel so incredibly sick...just slight enough to be aware that I'm not at optimum (or even normal) health levels.

Although I'm already in at work today, I have been thinking this morning that I might take the afternoon off to spend some time resting, especially because this will be a busy weekend for me. The reason why I will stay until the afternoon is because every Friday we have free lunch at my company. The thing is that today El Cholo is catering the lunch. El Cholo is one of my more favorite Mexican restaurants (it might be 2nd on my list). So if I stay until at least then, I make money AND get free food. I just have to make it to that time. The more and more I think about going home due to sickness, the more and more convinced I am that it is a good idea and that perhaps I should not wait for lunch (despite my longing for it). Maybe I can convince Gavin to take me there for dinner sometime soon, since he only lives about three miles from their LA location.

Last night I played Colander in tennis. Although he beats me every time (with ease), I really do enjoy playing with him. A few games into the second set we stopped playing because I was not feeling well. We ended up spending a good chunk of time talking about, among other things, soap. For any who would have doubted this fact, Colander can hold his own in a conversation about soap.

Since I've alluded to it, here are my plans for the weekend. Tomorrow I will go with Carrie to pick up her wedding dress. Early Sunday morning, Gavin and I will drive down to attend my family's reunion. The reunion actually takes place on both Saturday and Sunday, but it seems like a bit much to go down for both days. Gas and all. Sunday's the more formed reunion day, so we will go to that, probably all day long.

2008-08-21T08:30:00.002-07:00

Well, I don't mind telling you that my throat hurts. It started hurting yesterday and has persisted even until this very moment. So I'm trying to help it feel better by drinking 7-Up. At 8:35 a.m., which feels very wrong, but for some reason 7-Up really does make my throat feel better.

Am I the only one, or has this week been passing so quickly? I cannot believe it's already Thursday. I have a busy and exciting weekend planned, so I'm glad it's passing quickly.

Here's an interesting story: Nigerian faces death for 86 wives. Quote the article, "However, Mr Abubakar advised other men not to follow his example and marry 86 women...The former teacher and Muslim preacher lives in Niger State with his wives and at least 170 children, and says he is able to cope only with the help of God." No kidding. I cannot imagine the stress it must be to have 86 wives and 170+ children.

Um, I suppose I've been intending to post this for three hours now.

2008-08-20T08:16:00.003-07:00

I remember that I had a weird dream last night, but I do not remember what made it weird, so I cannot possibly share that here. I also am not sure if the nectarine I am eating is good, or if it tastes like nail polish remover. You'd think that would be an easy distinction to make, but not so much.

This week my cousins Keana and Leila have started school. Keana is now in the 3rd grade and Leila is starting kindergarten. My aunt Sally sent a brief email with this update (and what their teachers are like, etc.) and also sent along pictures. You can see Keana here and Leila here. (Apparently their haircuts are inspired by Hannah Montana.) My aunt suggested those on the email send a congratulatory email to Leila, but I decided instead to send a card to each, since I think kids might think it to be infinitely cooler to get something in the mail. (Mostly because I think it's infinitely cooler to get something in the mail.) So, I took the pictures that were sent to me and I knocked out the background and created Leila's card and Keana's card. Simple, really. But hopefully they will love it.

Last night I started planning a trip back to NJ for a Family Promise conference. I'm excited to go to the conference, but I'm also very excited to go back to New Jersey and spend some time. I still have some friends located there (and I'm super excited to see them!), but I also really miss the feel of living on the east coast. Although I love being home in California, I most definitely find myself missing New Jersey a fair amount of time. I suppose that's the danger with living in two different places.

Wow, everyone is coming in early today at work. There goes my quiet morning!

As many of you know, I turn 30 next month. Last night over dinner, Carrie challenged me to celebrate my 30th birthday each day in September, since September has 30 days. i told her I wouldn't even know where to begin! So, my dear readers, any suggestions on how I could celebrate my 30th birthday throughout the month of September?