An Inefficient but Fun Day

Rat B thinks that I am the most efficient Rat b/c I am always on my computer...whether I'm at school or at home. So when she e-mailed today and got no (immediate) response, she started panicking and e-mailed, "You haven't been as efficient in terms of responding to emails this weekend..whats up?"

I cracked up about that!

Today, I was AFK from about 2 PM (and I woke up at 12 PM). I went to Costco, and it was a hectic and crowded as usual. I have to admit that I'm the type that will find an empty aisle (i.e., electronic toothbrush aisle or dishware) and ditch my cart there....but at least I don't leave it in the middle of a busy aisle! Now that drives me bonkers.

Anywho, I got most of the stuff on my list and continued to shop for Holidays from the Heart. I walked past a dude that was older but looked kinda young for his age (possbily b/c he was dressed all trendy) and I happened to make eye contact w/ him b/c he was in my line of sight as I looked at products at my eye level.

A few minutes later, I was back in the clothes area, shopping for Holidays from the Heart again when I looked up to cross an "intersection" and he was there and he said, "hello." I rudely ignored him (I tend to rudely ignore people who have no good business saying 'hello' to me, especially in a store) and kept walking past him.

A few minutes later, I saw him again while I was checking out the books section! I was pretty creeped out by then.

I went to the candy aisle and called my brother up and said, "I think there's a guy following me." As I walked down the candy aisle, I looked towards the end of the aisle, where it's one of the 2 HUGE aisles leading to the open area of cashiers, and The Stalker was looking down the candy aisle, but I don't think he saw me b/c I ducked behind a person.

I quickly rushed to check-out and left. Few, no abductions here. I'm safe.

As I pushed my cart to my car, I noticed a cart behind a car, and I thought about BSILF and her husband. I mean, for reals, how annoying is that and how annoyed would I be if that was my car, right?? Anywho, I walked past it -- with the intention of picking it up when I returned my cart. A lady across the way walked her cart off.....and stashed it with the lone one. When it was my turn, there was a man returning his cart...who just walked right past the THREE (duno where the 3rd one came from). Fine, I stashed my cart (the fourth) and by now, the car owners were back so I politely said to the two older ladies, "These carts aren't mine" DUH! Sometimes I say the stupidest things. "But I'm going to move them out of your way."

I must have forgotten how weak I am b/c goodness gracious, 4 stupid carts were soOOooOO heavy!!! I swear I had to like back off, get a running start to gain some momentum, and then push w/ my whole body!!! I duno how those guys really do it. Even when there's two guys.

I pushed it past about 7 cars -- and had to kind of push them out towards the middle a little and then back closer to the cars b/c one car was really sticking out -- when a parking lot cleaner guy saw me and said, "Here, I'll take care of that." "Thanks." I think the couple sitting in their car in the handicapped spot was like laughing at me, too. =P

I'm sure I was a funny sight. That was my work-out for the day.

I rushed back home to meet my bro, and we visited our Genius relatives and had tons of fun. :) Older Genius Cousin got accepted into Harvard Law! The last I heard from him, he was only toying w/ the idea of applying. Next thing I know (like a month or two later?), he's already accepted. He is applying for a joint JD-MBA program so if all goes according to plans, he'll be back in school next Fall. Younger Genius Cousin is also in the midst of finishing up his college applications. I was so thrilled that he IMd me the other night to ask about UCSD; thrilled that I could actually talk to him as if I actually know something. Heehee. :) I told him to go to Revelle b/c that's where all the nerds go. Hahaha! He didn't like that, but he still put Revelle as his #1 choice. Good boy.

Their doggy Cookie is 9 years old and recently showed signs of arthritis in her hind leg. :( I didn't realize how adorable she is. I guess it's because I don't see her enough. She has the nicest, softest fur, too. I secretly think that Genius Uncle must use super expensive doggy shampoo or something. Haha!

All in all, it was a really nice Sunday evening with the Genius Relatives and Cookie. It will be nice to see them again around Christmas.

Post-Thanksgiving

I pretty much have a six-day long weekend. Yah!
Thanksgiving was a blast. I got to spend it with my Dad and bro and BF! This year was a little different since Pastor Aunty just moved up North, Dentist Aunty just got a vacation house in Lake Arrowhead, and Ama is up North with Pastor Aunty. So, Dad invited us over for a non-traditional Thanksgiving dinner.

First, BF and I stopped by Future Best Man's house, and then my bro picked me up to go to Dad's for our Thanksgiving dinner. His roomie and my dad cooked a fabulous Chinese dinner with lots of seafood, which I absolutely love (and Dad knows that). We also had a Chinese Turkey.

The first time I ever had a Chinese Turkey was when I was 7 and we lived in Temple City, two blocks away from FBM's current house. I remember the few days before Thanksgiving, my dad had me sit on his lap (as usual) and he explained to me that this year, we would have a Chinese Turkey.

"Dad, what's a Chinese Turkey?"
"You've never had one?"
"No."
"Well, you're in for a surprise!"

When Thanksgiving came, he revealed the Chinese Turkey. It was a roasted duck from Sam Woo. LOL Dad is forever the family prankster, from when he was a little kid, putting frogs in his sisters' shoes...all the way to today.

So, we had a Chinese Turkey this year, too. :) We had a special treat from FBIL; he sent along a casserole dish of his yummy yummy mac & cheese! That was such a nice surprise b/c I told FBM before I left his house that he didn't have to save me a whole plate of food, just save me some of his mac & cheese.

Afterwards, Bro dropped me back off at FBM's where we hung out a bit and then I got a platter of traditional Thanksgiving food: turkey, mac & cheese, mashed potatoes, corn, etc.

Many years ago, when Pastor Aunty still lived in SM, she had us sit around in a circle and say what we were most thankful for that year. Although she only made us do that once, I always think about that time. Even though we didn't have the usual huge family gathering, I am still thinking about all of my family members. I am thankful for the love and support I have from all of my loved ones.

This Thanksgiving was also the first time I got to (kind of) spend it with BF. :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Refresh: Pixillated Rebirth

BF completely re-designed his website today. This time, he went for a clean black and white motif. Although I liked his first version (simple and clean), I like this one even more because it exudes a little more of his personality (in the design border)...and it gives him more credit (i.e., lists more of his clients). ;)

Check it out and leave comments here. www.pixillated.com

As his Executive Personal Assistant, I (begged him to let me) proofread his site b/c it was laced w/ bad grammar...only b/c he pulled his 4th all-nighter in less than 7 days. Utterly insane and he's not even on street Rx. I'm not sure I made the "About" spiel better; it was tough keeping it balanced between preserving his personality and still giving off the impression that he is a professional and takes his career seriously. I don't think he's read it yet, but my changes are published anyways. Ha!

The other 3 all-nighters were spent creating a bangin' site for Op. He's waiting for the final word before it goes live, but as soon as he gets the green light, y'know I'll be bragging about it for him! I'll also have a random tidbit -- that totally caught my interest (one of those, "What a small world!" phenomenons).

P.S. This AM, as I showered, I thought about creating a blog for BF to talk about his work. I think that idea is spawned off of my anticipated separation anxiety from not getting to update the NSSLHA website any more (not that I want to do it forever). Speaking of that, I better go finally post for Holidays from the Hearts!

Lil F is a Winner!!!

I just checked my e-mail and got a private message from redearslider.com. It's official! Lil F is a winner!!

From www.redearslider.com~

We have a new winner! This was easily our best collection of submissions. I would like to express my thanks to the judges and photographers. As you will see, it was a very hard decision and Chanel No. 13 came through, with X3Shift right behind. GPRenegade also received well-deserved attention, but we have always limited ourselves to one winner.


The Gallery page is updated here @ http://www.redearslider.com/index_gallery.html.

.·:*¨¨*:·. .·:*¨¨*:·..·:*¨¨*:·. .·:*¨¨*:·. .·:*¨¨*:·. .·:*¨¨*:·. .·:*¨¨*:·.

The last time she was a Finalist, I told BF that our turtle is a celebrity, but he didn't believe me. Here's proof. Ha! :) I am so proud of my baby. (I am such the crazy beauty pageant mommy.)

The National Anthem

I'm (slowly) working away on my AAC project while BF is slaving away on his work, too. Despite the intense production taking place, we have the Pacquiao -v- Morales match blaring from our screen. (As a former boxer, BF is a big boxing fan). I'm not so much a big fan of potential TBIs and BF potentially getting a voice disorder. I'm not sure which one he's louder at -- Lakers games or Pacquiao matches.

Anywho, the match got my attention when I suddenly heard a male singing the National Anthem. I even took my earphones off (blaring loud Incubus), turned around, and watched the rest of the rendition. It was a Marine singing and wow, his performance floored me.

It made me realize how much I love hearing the National Anthem sang by a talented singer. It also reminded me of the last time I went to the Dodgers game w/ my family and a 12 y/o sang it absolutely beautifully. I think the National Anthem is the #1 song that makes me tear up (or at least gives me chills) when it's sang just perfectly.

I know, it's Thanksgiving this week, not the 4th of July. I don't care; I was listening to Christmas music last month! :)

Back to work...

P.S. Y'know how it is at the end of the quarter ~ the randomest, sappiest, and funkiest thoughts come out.

Can-do Tude

For the very first time, I went into clinic with a lot of confidence. I'm not sure why, but I will say that for the first time this quarter, I did NOT have a meeting with 2T. Perhaps my can-do attitude of "I don't care what she thinks any more" was a contributing factor, too. Whatever the reason, I felt really good about today's sessions. For the question,"What are one or two things you learned about yourself?" on both of my session evals, I simply wrote, "I can enjoy my clients while still working hard with them."

Both of my sessions went well (IMHO). Miracle was so motivated today b/c her "reward" was making a real PB & J sandwich. :) She also drew me a picture. On top, it says, "Dear teacher | I wish you can be a mice" (Don't ask b/c I don't know what that means either.) Then below the drawing of me with 3 fingers between two flowers encased in a huge heart with some "Chinese characters" is "I love my teacher." That is so sweet! I told her that next time, I'll get her candy canes. She has supposedly never seen/had a candy cane. I don't know if I believe her, but I already bought a dozen strawberry flavored candy canes tonight.

As for the Riddler, he was floored when he saw my Queen CD. I made him "sign" a contract that said, "I, [the Riddler], will: bring the CD back next Tuesday (or give her $2), talk sing-songy and with lots of expression at home and at school, and bring back my homework on Tuesday. 2T came in and busted up my contract-composition (we were past our 50 minute session), so I forgot to write, "Will say, 'it HAS.'"

(BTW, it was his idea to bring it back next Tuesday and to give me $2 if he doesn't.) Honestly, I really did have a lot of fun with both of my kiddos today and for the first time, I really feel like I have made progress with my kids over the course of this quarter (even though my report will say, "goal not met but significant progress was made"). For the first time, I really feel like I did things my way. It's a good feeling. I am still so proud of my kiddos, too.