Panacea for Boredom

SUCKS!

2006-08-08T21:09:00.000-07:00

I got an email a few days ago from Jay and FB saying Jake was out in LA and wanted to meet up in WeHo at They Abbey. I cleared with Jason, so all I needed was someone to watch over Lily for a few hours while I met up with the boys for ONE drink.

I had everything prepared.. Lily was fed, bathed, and was already asleep. I cleaned the house and even folded a load of laundry. All I needed was my sister to come home. So I waited.. and waited.. and waited. Normally, she comes home around 7:45 or 8ish, but of course, the day I wanted to go out, she didn't come home.

So it's currently 9:10 or so and I'm blogging about how bummed I am because I couldn't go.

Boo.

Work

2006-07-22T11:52:00.000-07:00

So I was initally told I would be a Project Coordinator for Countrywide in their training department. Yeah.. my recruiter dropped the ball on that one. So instead of training, I am now working in the Human Resources Department for their Wholesale Division.

I am so bored. Seriously.. SO bored. It's a lot of busy work that can be time consuming and draining, but I am sooo not challenged. I had no idea this is what it would be like working in an office environment m-f 8-5. Don't get me wrong though, I LOVE my schedule. After a few years, getting up at 3:30 am only to return home after 10pm or so got really annoying, but work at the Bean was at least somewhat mind-stimulating. There's something to be said when you're placed in a position where decisions are made because you said so. It's nice. The environment is the way it is because YOU made it that way. If things are messed up, you fix it, because it's your responsibility. If things are good, you AND your team made it that way. I miss the training. I miss facilitating classes. I miss going through walkthroughs with the construction team and telling them they needed to fix a cabinet because it wasn't done to my standards. I miss the bakery case Nazis. I miss having water fights in the back rooms with my kids and telling them they need to clean up when we're done. I miss having the kids come to me and ask advice on life and actually listening to me. I miss going to lunch with my kids and telling them it was okay if we were gone for 1 1/2 hours and that the staff would be fine without us. I miss seeing my team grow from "how do I do this?" to "it's okay.. I got this one.". I miss the ever-changing environment. I miss the comfort of knowing certain kids would always be there with me on the days I needed extra help.

Yeah.. I don't really get any of that working in Human Resources.

On the other hand however, I know I get to go home when the clock says 5:00pm. I know I don't have to work on Saturdays and Sundays. I know I don't have to drive to Beverly Hills to teach a class because the facilitator that day called in sick. I know I don't have to deal with DMs who hate women in management positions.

It's a huge give and take when it comes to work. Hopefully in time, things will change for me at Countrywide and I'll start seeing things in a different light.

Wish me luck.

I'm Not Dead

2006-07-13T23:16:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone!

I don't really have time to blog, but I wanted to say hello to you all and I'll write something soon!

p.s. Why did I want to go back to work??? I think I'm regretting that decision! :)

The Arboretum

2006-06-26T12:26:00.000-07:00

We went to the LA Arboretum and Botanical Gardens last week. Aside from the 90+ degree heat and the miles of walking we did (well, maybe not MILES, but in the heat, it felt like it at times), we had a great time. I had no idea it would be that huge. The Arboretum is 127 acres in total. I think we covered about .05% of it or so. :) It's a great place to relax, have a picnic, stroll, enjoy the environment, and see the many many many peacocks strolling though the park. And now, the photo montage..

The day just wouldn't be complete if FB weren't there. :) Unfortunately, Jay was off working. We did get to see him later that night, though.

We walked over a mile searching for this waterfall. From the description, it's supposed to be very awe inspiring and beautiful. It was pretty, though I think natural waterfalls are better. :) Lily seemed really intrigued at the rushing noise the water made. She stared for quite some time, and I think she was hoping she could hop into the water like it was her bathtime.

Ahh.. the koi pond. Kinda stinky, but still pretty cool. We saw tons of little baby fish and what looked like tadpoles in the pond. Blue and orange dragonflies were buzzing about. Lily liked the orange ones. :)

Lily and her Daddy. Who knew Lily was so tall???

More later. Hope everyone had a good weekend!

Professional Vomiter

2006-06-17T17:20:00.000-07:00

I accidentally clicked on the link that brings me to my profile and noticed something interesting.. it said that my occupation was "professional vomiter". At the time, it made sense, considering my morning sickness was HORRIBLE(!!!!), but now it just makes me seem like I'm bulimic.

I'm trying to think of something clever to write, but I'm a loss for words right now. I'm still giggling at the bulimic thing.

I am on my way to Jay and FB's place to celebrate Jay's birthday. Stupidly, I forgot to mention it last week, so this is my lame attempt to telegraph it.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JAY!!!

See you tonight!

lots and lots of love from me and your girlfriend :)

NOW A Warning???

2006-06-14T14:44:00.000-07:00

I LOVE finding new things to entertain me. Today, I received a comment from PJS, from NOW A Warning??? , and was curious to see what he was all about.

The first picture I saw once I clicked on the blog was from Mommie Dearest, a favorite of one of my best gay friends out in Seattle. Once I saw that picture, I had to read read read. I encourage you all to read, too. :) Hope you enjoy!

BTW, Jake, you are awesome!

moving again?

2006-06-13T16:07:00.000-07:00

Jason has stumbled upon a difficult situation with work. In a nutshell, he hates it and wants to leave. Not just leave work, he wants to leave.. California.. in a week.

When he initially brought this to my attention, I thought he was nuts and was making some really lame joke. We agreed a long time ago that we would move, but I wanted Lily to be at least 1 year old. (she'll be 1 on December 27th this year) However, now that the whole work thing has come up, he finds no point to be in California anymore. We've already decided we were going to move to St. Louis, Missouri. I wanted to live in a city that wasn't too small, still industrial and fun, someplace with culture, and a good education system. St. Louis' real estate is still affordable, and Jason could buy another apartment complex for investment. This is all planned. I already agreed to it. What I didn't agree to was that we were going to move.. like.. now.

I'm a planner. I always have been. Ask FB.. he knows I'm very meticulous about cleanliness and order. I like order in the home, work, wherever. Asking me to pack up EVERYTHING (including Lily) and moving to a city I've never been to before is A LOT. In fact, I've downright said no.

I want to see the city before we move. I want to find a place to live, not just drive out there with a U-HAUL and find someplace to live when we get there. That makes no sense to me. When asked where we'd stay, he said, "Oh.. we can find a hotel or something.. or we could live in a mobile home." A what??? Did you just say we could live in a mobile home? To clarify, he didn't mean a mobile home in a trailer park.. one of those manufactured deals that actually look like homes. He meant a MOBILE home, like a Winnebago.

I don't think I'm being ridiculous, a word Jason has used frequently in the past week to describe my behavior. Is it really that much to take the time to see the city, find a place, get it set up, THEN move?

Arg.

Who's Your Daddy?

2006-06-02T22:02:00.000-07:00

Here's an amusing story for my lovelies..

The other night, Jason was on the phone with his devil mother while he was out running errands. I had expected Jason to return in maybe 30 minutes or longer, but instead returned in 10. He had this really angry look on his face which really scared me. I thought to myself, "Did I do something wrong? Did he find the new pair of jeans I just bought and tried to hide from him? Shit." I quietly asked, "Honey, what's wrong?" to which he replied...

"I just got off the phone with my mother and now I'm so angry I don't think I should be on the road."

"Oh god.. what did she say now???"

"She said she received a copy of Lily's birth certificate and wanted to let me know that I wasn't on it. I told her that I knew and that Armi was REALLY angry with me because I wasn't there to sign the paperwork at the hospital. I couldn't leave work and.. well, yes, I know. We're going to get the paperwork fixed and blah blah blah. Do you know what she said to that??? She said, 'Well maybe Armi didn't want you on the birth certificate because she's not sure if you're Liliana's father or not.'"

"And what the hell did you say to that?"

"Nothing."

"NOTHING??? Are you shitting me? You said nothing???"

"No.. I just hung up on her. If she calls, don't bother answering the phone. I've had it."

THE END

Costco=Mo'nique

2006-05-30T20:52:00.000-07:00

So funny story...

My sister and I were shopping at Costco the other day for some random things we prefer to buy in bulk, like toilet paper, baby formula.. you get the point. Costco is also a great place for getting your film/digital prints done while you shop. The print quality is pretty cool, and the photos are bordered, which I love.

Anyhoo, it took an hour for the photo service to be done, so my sister and I took our time shopping and paroozaling the beer and wine selection. As we were turning the corner, I heard this really boisterous laugh and couldn't help but look up. Right before me stood Mo'nique, the comiedienne from "The Parkers" and the host of "Showtime at the Apollo". (yes, I watch bad TV when I can't sleep.) I looked at her and said NOTHING. She looked at me and said, "Hi.. how y'all doin' now?" I said, "Great, thanks! You know.. you look really good! You look different from what I imagined, it's soo not 'Fat Chance' style!" She laughed and said she wished more people thought like I did.

Yes, I'm a nerd.

I guess she's been working out a lot, and taking her health more seriously, especially since she gave birth to twins not so long ago. She said she appreciated the compliment.

But I will say that it was a pleasure to sorta meet her. I haven't made it a secret that I'm a little annoyed at how difficult its been for me to lose my baby weight. I've actually been darnright bitchy at times. (ask Jason!) Mo'nique puts out a confident self-image and preaches to women that a little cushion is okay, just be healthy. And on that note, I'll be going to they gym now. :)

The Many Faces of Lily

2006-05-12T13:55:00.000-07:00

I love the fact that Lily is so much more interactive than she was at birth. I remember thinking to myself, "hmm... so what do I do with the baby now..." When babies are born, you feed them, you change diapers, bathe them, and let them sleep. The rest of the day is kind of a blur, because "playtime" really isn't playtime. Playtime at that age is you trying to find ways to avoid crying at all costs. I am soo glad that phase is over.

Nowadays, I can actually talk to Lily. It's a modified conversation where I say, "So Lily, how's your day been so far?" and she'll gurgle some noise back and laugh at me like I'm a dork (which really isn't that far from the truth).

The other day, we drove out to Torrance to spend the afternoon with my cousin, Melissa. Here are a few photos I snapped while she was talking to Lily.

Here's Lily thinking, "What on earth is she saying?"

"Oh.. that's kinda interesting.. keep talking."

"What the heck is up there????"

"You're so funny."

Oh, and she just woke up from her afternoon nap. Have a good weekend, everyone! :)

OUCHIE!!!

2006-05-09T23:28:00.000-07:00

I had a cavity in one of my top molars a long time ago. I think I had it filled when I was 15 or so, perhaps even earlier. Anyway, if any of you have had a filling for a cavity, you know how the process goes.. the dentist drills a hole where your cavity is, then covers it with the "filling".

Unfortunately, my filling fell out right when I got pregnant, (which is about April, 2005) leaving my tooth with a big hole. I didn't want to get it fixed with the novacaine and all, because I didn't want any of the anesthesia to affect the baby. A few days ago, the tooth broke in half. Oh my god, it hurt. Actually, it still hurts. A lot. Ow.

So I made an emergency appointment at the dentist, and arrived promptly at 10:00am. I was given a few options as far as what I can do with the tooth, but the most logical thing to do was to extract it.

My dentist prepped me and told me what to expect, then began with the 3 shots of novacaine. (ahh.. novacaine.. my friend.) After the anesthetic took into effect, he proceeded to push my gums back to expose the base of my molar. Okay.. a little uncomfortable, but I was fine. After he tried to pull on the tooth, it started to hurt. After 15 minutes of pulling and twisting my tooth, it hurt more. 30 minutes later, my frustrated dentist asked if he could take a break. Frustrated myself, I agreed. 5 minutes later, the senior dentist walked into the office and tried. 45 minutes later, she excused herself and the original dentist came back in. Both dentists worked on that one stupid molar for another 30 minutes, then decided that it would be best to surgically remove it.

Another 30 minutes.. another 15 minutes.. a scalpel cutting my gum to expose the roots of my molar, a drill comes out to break off the tooth from the roots of the tooth, an exclamation of "whoa" from both dentists, and a HUGE plier-looking thing to extract each root from the gum.

After a few more x-rays and a prescription for pain killers, I asked the dentists why did they say, "whoa" earlier during the extraction. They said, " Normal teeth have 2 roots, perhaps 3. You had 4. What made it so difficult, was the fact that your 4 roots were all facing different directions and was hugging the bone in your jaw. Can you lean back again because we have to move your jaw bone back into place."

A day later, and I'm still hurting. Holy crap.. that was only the first stage of getting the whole tooth thing fixed. I have to wait 4-6 weeks to get the gum healed and then come back to get the rest of the work done. Eew.

Did I mention it hurt?

Aunt Flo

2006-05-05T23:03:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure if I'm going to get my period or not. It's been over a year since I've had one. What I do know is that I have cramps and I've been really moody lately. This is what happened to me when I thought I'd have a random conversation with my Mom today:

Me: "I think I'm going to get my period. I have cramps. Where's the Tylenol?"

Mom: " Leg cramps? YOU BETTER NOT BE PREGNANT AGAIN!"

Me: "Were you even listening to me???" (I gave her a "you're a weenie" look and walked away)

So this is sooo not helping with me being moody. Apparently EVERYONE thinks I'm pregnant again.
See the sad cow? Arg again!

ARG!

2006-05-05T22:48:00.000-07:00

I must apologize for the recent blogs, as they haven't been the nicest things to read. However, this blog is a somewhat diary of mine, so I'm continuing with that theme.

I evaluated my checking and savings accounts and decided that after a year off of work, it was time to return. I've been job searching for a week now and it's been interesting. I posted my resume under Monster.com and the amount of inquiries I've received is amazing. I've received offers to be a training specialist, an HR Rep, a Loan Processor, a Regional coordiator for training and hiring (lets's hope I get that one), and a slew of restaurant management positions. I'm hoping to start soon.

I'm a little sad about returning to work because I'll be spending less time with Lily. I still can't believe she's already 4 months old. She's fun to play with now and she giggles at me all the time. I'm soo in love with her, and it's such a wonderful feeling seeing her grow and develop every day. I'm afraid she'll have some milestone while I'm at work and I'll miss out. :(

I've also been on a search to find someone I can trust to watch over Lily while I'm at work. I've had several suggestions from LOTS of people, but my Mom seems to think Lily is HER daughter and is insisting on having my Great Aunt fly from the Philippines to live with us and have her be Lily's caretaker. I'm a bit hesitant about this idea for a few reasons, those being:

1. She's old. I want to be comfortable knowing that she won't fall or trip while holding Lily, or that she'll have enough energy to keep up with her.
2. Old= old school style. How children are raised nowadays is very different from how they were raised in 1940. If I see her doing something I know my doctor has told me not to do, I'm SOO positive she'll take offense and consider it as me being disrespectful to my elders.
3. It's been a LONG time since we've had someone from that generation living in the house. The dynamics of how the house will be run will be completely different, and I'm not sure how Jason will react to having a 70-year old Filipino lady who speaks very broken English in the house and taking care of his kid.

Am I overthinking? Arg.

It's an Epidemic!!

2006-05-04T23:36:00.000-07:00

I don't know what's going on, but for some reason, the women surrounding me are starting to go crazy. Okay, it's a little bit of an overexaggeration, but it's a good way for me to express my frustration.

Last week, I had my Aunt bluntly tell me I'm a fat cow. A few days ago, I had a VERY unpleasant conversation with Jason's Mom.

Let me preface the following with this..

Jason's Mom is a sick woman. I am NOT saying this to be mean. She is a compulsive liar and has been diagnosed as being clinically depressed. She is supposed to be on meds, but refuses to take them because she feels she's a perfect human being. In reality, she's been verbally abusive, as she told all her children that they would grow up to be nothing and no one would ever love them. She was physically abusive to her children. Jason recalls seeing his brother and sister pinned to the garage door with a car and his Mom behind the wheel. AND she was sexually abusive, where she made her daughter watch her as she openly masturbated in front of her.

So no, I'm not being mean.

Last week, she drove down to LA from Monterey, CA and gave us no prior notice to her arrival. (Who drives 250 miles without giving us a warning??) She knocked on the door, and I didn't answer. I think I was too shocked and scared to answer. I didn't want to be in the room with her without anyone else there. After she waited for 15 minutes at the door, she finally drove away. The next day, she showed up and unfortunately, I was not able to hide again.

Jason answered the door and let her in. She immediately requested to see Lily and I slowly gave Lily to her and Jason and I watched nervously and hoped she wouldn't flip out and go crazy. Luckily, her behavior was somewhat normal, and she returned Lily to me with no problems. After an hour (though it felt like 10 years), Jason had to go to work and I had to leave, as I had plans with my sister, Myra.

Foreward to the next day, as she called me on my cell phone. I was actually busy that week, because my Aunt (a very cool one) had her 50th high school reunion in Las Vegas. After the reunion, she with 5 other classmates in tow, stayed at our house. I was the cook, the chauffeur, the cleaners, and personal secretary to 7 women. (and yes, I still had to take care of Lily) So when I saw her name pop up on my caller ID, I didn't answer. I had no time until the party train left which coincidentally, was the same day Jason's Mom left for Monterey.

She called Jason when she returned to Monterey and yelled at him for 45 minutes saying what a bitch I was and "that woman does NOTHING all day and can't pick up the phone." I'm sorry.. I do nothing??? Regardless of the party train, I'm still quite busy with Lily and I have very little time for myself. Jason tried standing up for me, but it was pointless, as she continued to yell yell yell. After a while, I was really annoyed and frustrated, so I decided to talk to her myself.

This is a a brief synopsis of what happened:

Jason's Weenie Mom: "I tried calling you ALL week."

Me:" Yes, I'm sorry, but I was really busy."

JWM: "How could you be so busy.. it's not like you go to work, or go to school. I raised 3 children and still had time to pick up the phone."

Me:" Really.. you had a nanny who took care of the children, and a maid who cleaned the house. That really helps with time. Oh.. you went to school to finish your GED and went to USC through the completion of your doctorate, right? Hmm.. as far as I'm informed, I heard you were pretty absent during their childhoods. But please, correct me if I'm wrong."

JWM: (silence) "I just wanted to schedule an appointment with Liliana."

Me: "I'm sorry, but it was a really bad week. I had to take care of a lot of things and without prior notice, I couldn't squeeze you in." I tried explaining what I was doing that week, but she cut me off and said...

JWM: "I'm feeling you're ignoring my phone calls."

Me: "Sometimes I really don't get to the phone when I'm with Lily. Jason gets angry with me all the time when I don't pick up the phone. I'll try harder to have it on me."

JWM: "I'm feeling you're ignoring my phone calls."

Me:" Okay...sometimes, I admit, I don't answer your call."

JWM: "And why not?"

Me: "Do you really want to continue this, because I'm really tired and.."

JWM: "Yes, I do. You are trying to keep my grand daugher away from me and I want to know why!"

Me: "Honestly, you're not very pleasant to talk to. I am physically and emotionally drained after I talk to you. You yell at me and tell me I'm raising my daughter incorrectly. You yelled at me when I said Lily was watching TV and didn't give me a chance to explain she was watching a Baby Einstein video, a video designed for a baby's visual stimulation and brain development. You talk about random things that I have no interest in and you demand a conversation."

JWM: "This is ridiculous. I do nothing of the sort."

Me: "uh huh. Okay.. I need to go."

JWM: "NO! While we're on the phone, let's get everything out in the open so I can clear the air."

Me: "I really don't want to have this conversation.."

JWM: "NO! YOU ARE ACTING AS IF I'VE DONE SOMETHING WRONG AND I WANT TO KNOW WHY! I'VE RAISED 3 CHILDREN AND I KNOW WHAT I'M DOING. YOU CANNOT KEEP MY GRANDDAUGHER AWAY FROM ME!"

Me: "You raised 3 children? You know what you're doing?? What about the time you told Jason (at 6 years old) was retarded, or the time you openly masturbated in front of (Jason's sister), or the time you forced (Jason's brother) to masturbate in front of you? YOU ARE DISGUSTING and that's why I don't want Lily to spend time with you..."

There was more to the conversation, but I'm tired of typing now.

In the end, she had nothing to say because she knows it's true. Any mother with a brain wouldn't let someone with that kind of track record anywhere near their child.

She hasn't called me, nor do I expect her to. We are content in knowing that we're doing the right thing, family or not.

What bothers me is, that although she's a loon, she's still Jason's mom and even with everything she's done (oh.. BELIEVE ME she's done SOOO much more), he still wants a mother, even if it's her. And he's sad.

Help!

A Quick Rant

2006-04-27T15:52:00.000-07:00

Last night, my Mom returned from a 5-day vacation in Las Vegas. Her sister had her 50 year high school reunion at one of the hotels (which I hear was a total blast). The had so much fun, they all decided to extend their vacations and stay at the house. Accompanying them were my Uncle Sebastian and his wife, Auntie Bella.

I arrived at the house and greeted everyone, to which Auntie Bella said, "Armi... are you pregnant again? You really look like it!".

What a bitch!

Myra (my cool sis) took me to Nordstroms last weekend because she said she'd buy me jeans for my birthday. I've actually been wanting a pair because my old ones don't fit anymore. (ugh) I found these AWESOME pair of Joe's Jeans, but was kinda hesitant about trying them on because they were $195.00. I didn't want to have Myra spend THAT much, but she suggested Nordstroms, so we went. She actually suggested trying on the Joe's Jeans because she loves hers so much.

So I walked into the dressing room with the jeans and tried them on. They didn't fit. Actually, they would've fit, but the c-section belly flap just got in the way. (BOOO!!!)

I KNOW I don't look the way I used to pre-pregnancy. I KNOW I haven't gone to the gym as much as I should, but hell.. it's hard to go somewhere with Lily in tow. (The gym only supervises kids who are 6 months+.) I am very aware of what I look like.. the jeans told me so. My mind tells me I'm fluffy when I look in the mirror in the morning.

So I'm sad.

Did I mention my Aunt is a bitch?

The Ipod

2006-04-25T22:11:00.000-07:00

So my sister just purchased this $400.00 Ipod that's actually pretty cool. She's been uploading all these random CDs that simultaneously upload onto the computer. As I type this lame blog, I'm listening to one of the CDs she uploaded today. What am I listening to? NSYNC. I was trying to concentrate on reading a serious email I received from an old CBTL friend, but I had to read it 2x's just to understand what it said as the terrible sound of Chris Kirkpatrick filled the room and distracted me. Eesh.
On a side note, Jay and FB gave me this NSYNC booklet with stickers in it. That gift ranks up there with the faux piece of blonde hair they gave me for my birthday last year. :) Gotta love it.

Ignorace

2006-04-18T18:16:00.000-07:00

A few days ago, I found my Mom reading the newspaper and drinking a cup of coffee at the kitchen table. As I was preparing Lily's breakfast bottle, she mentioned to me that in an article she was reading, the author had said the movie, Brokeback Mountain really isn't that good of a movie. The article had also stated that it was vulgar and tasteless to even produce such a movie.

I asked my Mom if she agreed with the article, and she said, "I don't know... maybe.". How disappointing. As smart as my Mother is, she really is stupid sometimes. I'm not sure if it's because of her age, her ethnicity, or how she was raised, but it really was so disappointing to realize that although she works in a hospital with so many different kinds of people, she's still closed-minded in some ways.

I try to be very respectful of my elders. I was taught values and ethics from when I was born. I know the cardinal rule is to "do unto others as done to you". However in this instance, I kinda slipped a little bit.

I told my Mom that the person who read that article was probably some crazy Christian who still thinks that people who are gay are going straight to hell because of the Bible's Leviticus 18:22 stating it to be an abomination. (We've all heard it a million times before) Granted, she doesn't think all gay people are going to hell, but she does think there's something wrong with it.

I also told her I was appalled that she still thinks like that considering she's been living in Southern California for almost 40 years, especially since we're surrounded by such a diverse population.

I do appreciate the fact that she LOVES Jay and FB. She's known FB for what...13 years now, and she's always happy to join us in chatting, eating, or singing karaoke. :) (Jay, she wants to bust out the machine again!)

I just hate the fact that she assumes all gay men (or women for that matter) are all sexually promiscuous. I honestly think she imagined the movie like this:

(scene) 2 men on a mountain
man 1: "hi.. I'm gay."
man 2: "let's go up there and have butt sex!"
man 1: "fun!"
(end of scene)

This brought on a 1/2 hr conversation, at which either of us really found a happy conclusion.

And then my sister came home...with a the "Brokeback Mountain" DVD in hand. Let's see how this goes.

The Family

2006-04-13T00:05:00.000-07:00

I spent the day with my boys the other day and I forgot to blog about it. We actually didn't do anything too special, just some lunch in Chinatown and some shopping in "beautiful downtown Burbank" (Remember that line from Can't Buy Me Love with Patrick Dempsey?)

Anyhoo, Lily and I had an awesome time and as you can see in the picture, she loves her some Jay and FB.

Thought I'd share...

Me, Busy?? Never!

2006-04-11T13:17:00.000-07:00

A little bit of sarcasm in the title for y'all. :)

Though I've been absent from blogging for what... a few weeks now, I wanted to update you on what I've kept myself busy with. And now... the photo montage.

This is the beautiful face I wake up to. Right now, she's twiddling her thumbs and thinking, "hmm.. what should I make Mommy do today?"

"Daddy... I don't want to go for a ride on the doggy!!!"

Ginger is thinking, "Damnit.. don't put the baby on me!"

I see Jason trying to entertain Lily with funny faces. Do you see the "Daddy is so odd sometimes" look she's giving him?

"Mommy can you change my diaper... pretty please?" The innocent look she has is just too funny.

I'll post more later.. when I have time, that is. :)

What is that???

2006-04-09T05:31:00.000-07:00

Okay... the picture really isn't the best, but I'll describe what it is. If you squint and look above the car, you'll notice there are 6 antennae. They are all really really thin, so it's hard to see. (Sorry.. I had my sister, who was sitting in the back seat with Lily, take the picture for me.) My question:

1 antenna.. sure, you need it for your car radio. 2 antennae.. sure you need one for your radio, one for a TV or some other electronic device (cell phone, whatnot). But 6? Who needs 6? And for what????

So let's say the person NEEDS all 6. I'll accept that. The car however, is a Kia Rio. Now step back and look at the big picture. A Kia Rio with 6 antennae so it looks like one of those scary things from The Matrix or a oddly shaped cell with 6 flagellum.

I just thought I'd share something ridiculous I saw...

You're Confusing Her!

2006-04-03T18:22:00.000-07:00

As many of you already know, I have some issues with Jason's Mom. Mind you this is not just a typical "my mother in-law is a jerk" kind of issue. She REALLY is a jerk. I'm actually using the word "jerk" though I could use more vulgar words that would be more appropriate.

The other day, I was stuck in traffic while driving to The Block at Orange . Nothing was on the radio, no stupid people to stare at in traffic, Lily was sleeping, and I had to pee. I was really hoping for a distraction when Jason's Mom called me on my cell phone. Normally, I would just ignore the phone call, but since I was bored and needed to get my mind off of "I need to pee.. I need to pee..", I picked up the call.

The conversation started off like it normally does, she does the "hi.. how are you" and I say, "fine.. you?" then she continues with the ho-hum blah blah blah about her life and tries to bring your mood down to the pit of the earth so you feel like you want to die at the end of the conversation kind of talk. At the end of her sob story she asked, "So.. how's Liliana?" and I responded with, "Lily is great.. she's trying to roll over and she giggles and coos and.." and then she cut me off mid-sentence with, "You know, Lily is NOT her name. Her name is LILIANA." (No shit, Sherlock.) She continued with, "...I don't think it's right you call her 'Lily' and not 'Liliana' because you'll confuse her."

WTF???

Okay... (deep breath) At that specific moment, I really wanted to tell her to kiss my ass, but I witheld and said, "You know, that's funny because growing up, my Dad called me 'Mina' and not Armi, but when people came up to me and asked me what my name was, I knew what to say. My little sister's nickname was Sari, but she knew that when she went to preschool, 'Sarah' was the name she wrote on her papers." She said, "Well, if that's the type of thing you want to teach her, then fine. I guess that's just the kind of mother you are.". My response... "Oh, by the way, Jason told me that when he was a child, you called him 'Jay' to distinguish his name from his brother, Justin. Did that confuse him? Did he know to respond to Jason, or was he confused??? And isn't your real name Terri, not Lynne? Are YOU confused with your name?

She then had a lack of a response, so she opted to get off the phone. After we hung up, I THEN told her to kiss my ass. Too bad she wasn't there to hear it. Boo.

The whole point of this conversation was conpletely ridiculous. If I want to call my daughter, "shitface" I can call her "shitface". She's MY daughter. Granted, that would be cruel.. but you get the point.

I'm Still Here...

2006-04-03T14:59:00.000-07:00

A thousand apologies to those few who still click onto my blog page. Yes, I'm still alive. I am however, VERY busy and it seems as if the hours in a day are no longer 24, they are 20, 15, 12...

I have so many things to write about, I've just been lagging. I'll work on a good one soon!!!

Hugs,
Armi :)

If you have time..

2006-03-20T10:25:00.000-08:00

I was bored.

What I Learned in Catholic School

2006-03-18T15:24:00.000-08:00

My best friends are gay. The majority of my friends in Long Beach are gay. (Fact: there are more gay people living in Belmont Shore per square foot than in San Francisco) Regardless of their sexual preference, I've found the most wonderful people to surround myself with. They make me laugh so hard I cry. They're supportive. They're intelligent. They are cultured and are always willing to teach me something new every day. They're open-minded and accepts me for who I am regardless of how stupid I can be sometimes.

The following was sent to me via email from one of my old employees in Long Beach. We both were raised in Catholic families and attended private Catholic schools from 1st to 12th grade. He's an awesome guy and thought I'd enjoy it, as I hope you all too.

Dear President Bush,

Thank you for doing so much to educate people regarding God's Law. I have learned a great deal from you, and try to share that knowledge with as many people as I can. When someone tries to defend the homosexual lifestyle, for example, I simply remind them that Leviticus 18:22 clearly states it to be an abomination...end of debate.I do need some advice from you, however, regarding some other elements of God's Laws and how to follow them.

1. Leviticus 25:44 states that I may possess slaves, both male and female, provided they are purchased from neighboring nations. A friend of mine claims that this applies to Mexicans, but not Canadians. Can you clarify? Why can't I own Canadians?

2. I would like to sell my daughter into slavery, as sanctioned in Exodus 21:7. In this day and age, what do you think would be a fair price for her?

3. I know that I am allowed no contact with a woman while she is in her period of menstrual uncleanliness (Lev.15: 19-24). The problem is how do I tell? I have tried asking, but most women take offense.

4. When I burn a bull on the altar as a sacrifice, I know it creates a pleasing odor for the Lord (Lev.1:9). The problem is my neighbors. They claim the odor is not pleasing to them. Should I smite them?

5. I have a neighbor who insists on working on the Sabbath. Exodus 35:2 clearly states he should be put to death. Am I morally obligated to kill him myself, or should I ask the police to do it?

6. A friend of mine feels that even though eating shellfish is an abomination (Lev. 11:10), it is a lesser abomination than homosexuality. I don't agree. Can you settle this? Are there 'degrees' of abomination?

7. Lev.21:20 states that I may not approach the altar of God if I have a defect in my sight. I have to admit that I wear reading glasses. Does my vision have to be 20/20, or is there some wiggle-room here?

8. Most of my male friends get their hair trimmed, including the hair around their temples, even though this is expressly forbidden by Lev. 19:27. How should they die?

9. I know from Lev. 11:6-8 that touching the skin of a dead pig makes me unclean, but may I still play football if I wear gloves?

10. My uncle has a farm. He violates Lev.19:19 by planting two different crops in the same field, as does his wife by wearing garments made of two different kinds of thread (cotton/polyester blend). He also tends to curse and blaspheme a lot. Is it really necessary that we go to all the trouble of getting the whole town together to stone them (Lev. 24:10-16)? Couldn't we just burn them to death at a private family affair, like we do with people who sleep with their in-laws (Lev. 20:14)?

I know you have studied these things extensively and thus enjoy considerable expertise in such matters, so I am confident you can help. Thank you again for reminding us that God's word is eternal and unchanging.

LOVE LOVE LOVE Ben Stein

2006-03-11T17:53:00.000-08:00

I'm a huge fan of Ben Stein. His game show (unfortunately isn't on anymore) was fun, and really made me think about retaking a history class when I was in Long Beach. His humor and wit is awesome, and I LOVE intelligent men.

The following was written by Ben Stein and recited by him on CBS Sunday Morning Commentary, Sunday, 12/18/05.

Herewith at this happy time of year, a few confessions from my beating heart: I have no freaking clue who Nick and Jessica are. I see them on the cover of People and Us constantly when I am buying my dog biscuits and kitty litter. I often ask the checkers at the grocery stores. They never know who Nick and Jessica are either. Who are they? Will it change my life if I know who they are and why they have broken up? Why are they so important? I don't know who Lindsay Lohan is either, and I do not care at all about Tom Cruise's wife.

Am I going to be called before a Senate committee and asked if I am a subversive? Maybe, but I just have no clue who Nick and Jessica are. If this is what it means to be no longer young It's not so bad.

Next confession: I am a Jew, and every single one of my ancestors was Jewish. And it does not bother me even a little bit when people call those beautiful lit up, bejeweled trees Christmas trees. I don't feel threatened. I don't feel discriminated against. That's what they are: Christmas trees. It doesn't bother me a bit when people say, "Merry Christmas" to me. I don't think they are slighting me or getting ready to put me in a ghetto. In fact, I kind of like it. It shows that we are all brothers and sisters celebrating this happy time of year. It doesn't bother me at all that there is a manger scene on display at a key intersection near my beach house in Malibu. If people want a crèche, it's just as fine with me as is the Menorah a few hundred yards away.

I don't like getting pushed around for being a Jew, and I don't think Christians like getting pushed around for being Christians. I think people who believe in God are sick and tired of getting pushed around, period. I have no idea where the concept came from that America is an explicitly atheist country. I can't find it in the Constitution, and I don't like it being shoved down my throat.

Or maybe I can put it another way: where did the idea come from that we should worship Nick and Jessica and we aren't allowed to worship God as we understand Him? I guess that's a sign that I'm getting old, too. But there are a lot of us who are wondering where Nick and Jessica came from and where the America we knew went to.

In light of the many jokes we send to one another for a laugh, this is a little different: This is not intended to be a joke, it's not funny, it's intended to get you thinking. Billy Graham's daughter was interviewed on the Early Show and Jane Clayson asked her "How could God let something like this Happen?" (regarding Katrina) Anne Graham gave an extremely profound and insightful response. She said, "I believe God is deeply saddened by this, just as we are, but for years we've been telling God to get out of our schools, to get out of our government and to get out of our lives. And being the gentleman He is, I believe He has calmly backed out. How can we expect God to give us His blessing and His protection if we demand He leave us alone?"

In light of recent events...terrorists attack, school shootings, etc. I think it started when Madeleine Murray O'Hare (she was murdered, her body found recently) complained she didn't want prayer in our schools, and we said OK. Then someone said you better not read the Bible in school . the Bible says thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal, and love your neighbor as yourself. And we said OK.

Then Dr. Benjamin Spock said we shouldn't spank our children when they misbehave because their little personalities would be warped and we might damage their self-esteem (Dr. Spock's son committed suicide). We said an expert should know what he's talking about. And we said OK. Now we're asking ourselves why our children have no conscience, why they don't know right from wrong, and why it doesn't bother them to kill strangers, their classmates, and themselves. Probably, if we think about it long and hard enough, we can figure it out. I think it has a great deal to do with "WE REAP WHAT WE SOW."

Funny how simple it is for people to trash God and then wonder why the world's going to hell. Funny how we believe what the newspapers say, but question what the Bible says. Funny how you can send 'jokes' through e-mail and they spread like wildfire but when you start sending messages regarding the Lord, people think twice about sharing. Funny how lewd, crude, vulgar and obscene articles pass freely through cyberspace, but public discussion of God is suppressed in the school and workplace.

Are you laughing? Funny how when you forward this message, you will not send it to many on your address list because you're not sure what they believe, or what they WILL think of you for sending it. Funny how we can be more worried about what other people think of us than what God thinks of us.

Pass it on if you think it has merit. If not then just discard it... no one will know you did. But, if you discard this thought process, don't sit back and complain about what bad shape the world is in.

Some food for thought. :)

My Humps

2006-03-07T11:28:00.000-08:00

I'm on this "going to the gym" kick. I've gone to the gym everyday for the past 5 days, and not planning on stopping.

I used to be in really good shape. I've always kept an active lifestyle, whether it be through taking dance classes, teaching dance classes, going to the gym... you get the point.

Then I met Jason.

Don't get me wrong... I love him to pieces, but MAN, that boy can really make you lazy. He LOVES chocolate, which in turn, makes me eat chocolate, too. He used to be in really good shape too, (he used to run 5 miles every day, then went to the gym to left weights) but then we got really comfortable and we stayed home and cuddled and ate out a lot, and I got pregnant and blah blah blah.

So because of the lazy phase and then getting pregnant, I'm left with a body that has lost alot of its muscle mass and it's turned into fluff. Not only that, but the C-section flap that's now called my stomach is really.... well... ugly.

And now that I'm getting some energy back, I've decided to start going back to the gym (consistently) and taking a few dance classes here and there. Last night, I took a kickboxing class, and it kicked my ass. I used to have really good control of my kicks, but since I lost alot of my flexibility and musculature, I couldn't kick for shit.

My alarm went off this morning and "My Humps" was playing on the radio. I tried getting up, but my humps hurt so much, I just layed there and giggled till the song ended. "What'cha gonna do with all that junk, all that junk inside that trunk?" I'm gonna stretch my junk cause it hurts like hell, that's what I'm gonna do with all that junk, damnit!

Forget it Jake, it's Chinatown!

2006-03-06T07:44:00.000-08:00

Last weekend I went to Chinatown with Jay, FB, my little sister, Sari in the hopes to find cool clothing at "Forget it Jake", the boutique owned by Andrae Gonzalo. I was looking to buy one of those "IM SO LA" shirts he sported on the show.

While in Chinatown, we decided that we were going to have some yummy dim sum and boba. Instead, we ended up running late and ate at the courtyard where the restaurant was because it had already closed. Boo. Oh well.

So off we were in search for Andrae. We walked for what felt like a mile (we walked from the beginning of Chinatown all the way to the other end) to where we found the address of the store. Yes, we saw the address, but no store. WTF??? My little sister googled the store on her phone, and called the number. A familiar voice on the phone answered on the other end, and it was Andrae. She tried really hard not to say, "Where's Andrae?" (in the Tim Gunn voice). Anyhoo, he told her that he had to close the store when he left to film the show. Then we realized, that one episode when Andrae cried for 10 minutes on the runway, he said he was sad because he had to close his shop. So yeah.. the trip was taken in vain. We didn't get the dim sum we wanted, and I didn't get to buy the shirt I wanted, either.

Jay realized we were only a few blocks away from Olvera street, so we ended up walking a bit further and had some churros.

Churros make everything better. Then Jay mentioned they opened a new Portos Bakery in Burbank. So we ate there, too.

I find it funny all we did was eat all day, but in hindsight, I had a great time. :)

Nick Verreos

2006-03-01T10:33:00.000-08:00

I've been watching A LOT of Project Runway lately. It's been looping on the Bravo channel for weeks and weeks and weeks. Sadly, I must admit that although I've seen all the episodes, I'm still intrigued each time I watch.

I'm not jumping on any bandwagon here, but I LOVE Nick Verreos. I googled him and found the most interesting things about him. I didn't know he taught at FIDM, the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising in Los Angeles. I was actually there on Valentine's Day, because Jason thought it would be cute to bring me to their boutique where all the students bring their work to be sold. Nice thought, though it ended up being alot of Forever 21 and Charlotte Russe clothing that was donated or damaged. Unfortunately, I'm not that good at sewing, so repairing clothing was not an option. While I was there, I wanted to sneak a peek in the school, but the school had MAD security, so if you weren't faculty or a student, then you really couldn't be there. Boo.

Wow... tangent.

So anyway, my favorite of all the designers is Nick. I think his clothing is awesome, though with my leftover pregnant fluffiness, I'm not sure his designs would look all that great on me. I found that his clothing is sold in these really expensive boutiques in Silverlake and Beverly Hills, so I'm probably not going to visit.

I did find out that my 2nd favorite designer, Andrae Gonzalo also has a shop in Chinatown, which I'm planning on going to this weekend. I want to buy one of those "I'm So LA" shirts he wore on the show.

Anyhoo... call me a fool, call me obsessed, but it's really because I'm cooped up in this house. :)

The Man in the White Coat

2006-02-28T19:50:00.000-08:00

I took Lily to the Doctor's office for her 2 month checkup. (Yikes, she's 2 months already!) I had my list of questions I needed to ask, one of them being when she's going to get her shots.

The beginning of her checkup was pretty standard... she weighed in at 11 lbs and 4 oz, so she gained 3 pounds in a month and a half. She also grew an inch and stands (or lays down is more appropriate) at 22.5 inches.

When the rest of the exam was over, I asked him about the shots and a nurse came into the room with a tray of 4 syringes and needles.

I was sooo not prepared for what was going to happen with the shots. If any of you have been there with children receiving shots, you know it isn't a happy thing. In fact, it's heartbreaking. The doctor told me that we could administer the shots 2 ways:
1- He gives her 4 shots (one at a time) and she cries for a longer period of time
2- I hold her thigh and he gives her 2 shots at the same time. Essentially, she'll still get 4 shots, but it'll be faster and over a lot quicker.

I opted for #2.

For those who haven't met Lily, she's a VERY happy baby. She talks and coos and pretty much allows anyone I allow to hold her without getting really fussy. She has these great big expressive eyes and shows she's really interested in her surroundings. Everyone tells me I'm sooooo lucky for having such a content baby. They say I have it easy. Honestly, I think I do, too.

So when the doctor asked me to hold her thigh, I did. He placed one syringe in each hand (wow... talented) and inserted both in her thigh at the same time. Lily screamed bloody murder. IT WAS THE SADDEST MOST HEARTBREAKING CRY I'VE EVER HEARD. It was so sad, I was tearing because she was so sad.

Then he asked me to hold her other thigh. (SHIT!)

So I did. And teared up more.

The exam was over, and I was very glad. I held Lily for about 10 minutes to get her to calm down, though I was still a little bit emotional still. Her crying was so exhausting to her she knocked out for the next 4 1/2 hours. I gave her a little baby tylenol for the pain, and she was good.

Once I got home, I called Jason at work and told him what had happened and how sad it was to see her cry and wail the way she did. While I was telling him, I got a little emo and teared up again. As he tried to comfort me, I told him in tears, "Next time she gets shots, you have to be there so she doesn't hate me for bringing her to the man in the white coat!!!" He laughed.

Continued...

2006-02-25T20:23:00.000-08:00

I typed an entry a few days ago and forgot to post it. Oops. I've been all over the place lately, dealing with health insurance paperwork, fraudulent purchases on my credit cards, a recent death in the family (previous post), and to top it all off, Lily caught a cold and I don't know where from.

A few random thoughts:

People who make fraudulent purchases on other people's credit should be shipped to a remote island with only dry granola.

I hate filling out paperwork that makes no sense.

I'm tired of people dying in my family.

Babies with colds are NOT happy.

Flashbacks

2006-02-25T20:21:00.000-08:00

I drove out to Upland yesterday with Sari and my Mom. Our grandfather is home on hospice care and we're preparing for his death.

It's really sad for several reasons... I took a step back and looked at everyone at the house. I started having flashbacks of what it was like when my Dad died. Everyone came to the house and tried to keep us company or to distract us from feeling so glum. We all had our "turn" in visiting our grandpa and saying our respected goodbyes. I told him the same thing I told my Dad, "If you want to go now, then go. Don't wait around for us, because we'll be okay. We'll take care of each other..". I think that's the thing about Acosta men; they're not the greatest at showing feelings, but when it came down to it, they provided and protected their family.

My Auntie Darlene kept asking me, "So is this what it was like with your Dad?". Yes, it is. In the end however, I was glad I was there for my Dad... I was holding his arm when he took his last breath, and I wouldn't give that moment away for anything in the world. I'm hoping she finds the same peace and closure I did.

To Snowboard, or Not to Snowboard...

2006-02-16T21:37:00.000-08:00

So everyone and their mamas (not mine, though) are going snowboarding and I'm jealous. One of the reasons I love winter (besides the fact that I like the clothing better during the colder season) is the SNOWBOARDING!!!

Last winter, I got to go all of twice, which sucked ASS because I was swamped with work at the Bean. (miss you guys, by the way) My homo in the closet asswipe DM had me training 2 MITs (yes, two), teaching Coffee and Tea classes, doing audits in San Diego to Manhattan Beach, writing his GM evaluations (which aren't even my responsibility) all during the HOLIDAY SEASON. Boo on him. I hope karma is totally kicking his ass, by the way. Anyhoo (random rant), so I remember thinking to myself that NEXT winter season, I'll go back to normal and go at least a billion times like I used to with my sisters and homie for life Derek.

Then I got pregnant.

So now, everyone is going snowboarding without me. I've been invited, but I feel so guilty for leaving Lily. Sh*t, I feel guilty for going to Target without her. I went to Home Depot with my sister the other day to get some paint and we were gone for maybe 2 hours or so and I started to get antsy because I missed her.

It's amazing the reaction I get when she sees me, though. It's funny.. sometimes people will want to hold her and if she's uncomfortable with them, she'll get a little fussy. When they return her to me, she gets quiet and snuggles her head into my arms (or breasts if she's hungry). It's cute.

The season will be over sometime in March (pending on the weather), and I've promised myself that I'll go ONCE, which will probaby be at the end of the season when the snow is all man made, slushy, and just crappy.

Boo.

Bagels=Brian McKnight and Cingular=Ricky Bell

2006-02-11T20:04:00.000-08:00

The other day, Jason and I went to Western Bagel in Northridge. I was in one of those blah moods because I barely got any sleep due to the little kid who wanted to eat almost every hour. Anyhoo, so I stood at the counter for what seemed like a hour (more like 10 minutes) and I realized I forgot to get one of those ticket number things. I would have remembered it had this really tall black guy not blocked the ticket dispenser. He was mid conversation with this girl so I tried to go around him and grab the ticket, but my blahness got in the way of my coordiation so I ended up bumping into him. Oops. I said, "excuse me.. sorry!" and gave him my "my bad" smile. He looked at me and said, "Sure, no problem." I looked at him for a sec, thought to myself, "hmm... homie looks like Brian McKnight" and then dismissed the thought. As I was paying for the bagels, these older women were staring at him as he left with his bagel. I thought, "staring women..." then asked them, "That was Brian McKnight, huh?" and one of them said, "YEAH, AND YOU TOUCHED HIS BOOTY!" Hilarious.

Yesterday, I went to visit Jason at work. One of his employees was selling a phone to a customer, and he caught my eye. I thought to myself (alot of thinking, huh?), "Hey... that guy looks like Ricky Bell." This time however, I didn't dismiss the thought and found myself dumbly staring at him. Jason caught me staring at him and thought that I thought he was hot and had the nerve to check him out in front of him. (Yeah, whatever.. I just had your baby, nerd!) Homie bought a phone, and left. I asked Cesar (the employee helping him) what that guy's name was. Cesar said, "Ricardo..." I said..."Was his last name Bell???" and he said, "Yeah, why?" Okay, not to be one of those really lameass people, but DUDE!!! That was Ricky Bell from New Edition and the short lived BBD (Bell Biv Devoe). Yes, some people may think I'm a total retard for listing to them, but their music ranks up there for me. (I was listening to them when I wrote my last blog, in fact.)

The part of the story that kinda sucked was that when I tried to explain to Cesar who he was and why I was so excited, he looked at me and said, "Who's New Edition?". That made me feel old. I asked him, "How old are you again?" He's 20. Whatever... your music taste sucks, that's all. No soul. Boo.

Anyhoo, I was just excited to learn he lives in the neighborhood and helped Jason's region that one step closer to his sales goal. :)

REALLY... How Stupid Are You?

2006-02-10T13:19:00.000-08:00

Okay... I know I'm a little late on posting a comment on this picture, as it was taken almost a week ago, but again, I'm busy as hell and I do what I can do when I can.

As the title states, "REALLY...How Stupid Are You???". I really question this one. We all know she's not the smartest woman in the world, marrying a man who left his other (who was 7 months pregnant) and then proceeded to have his child. She ranks on the stupidity chart amongst Sheryl Crow (though I do like her music) who dated Lance Armstrong after he left his wife and children for her WHILE HE WAS STILL MARRIED. (But that's a whole other story.)

Britney states, "I was terrified that this time the physically aggressive paparazzi would put both me and my baby in danger." She added, "I instinctively took measures to get my baby and me out of harm's way...

So you jump into a car and speed away without putting your child into a car seat and you yourself don't put your seatbelt on. Yeah... that's smart.

And now the news in my neighborhood...

An employee of the Toys 'R Us in Porter Ranch, Calif., a suburb of Los Angeles, told TMZ that Spears and her assistant were there on January 15 to purchase a car seat and a stroller. The employee told TMZ the manager installed the seat in the assistant's vehicle.
Since the windows are heavily tinted, it's unclear what Spears did once inside the vehicle. But as the door shuts, the baby is clearly on her lap, and not in a car seat.
The Toys 'R Us employee did not know if his manager removed an old car seat before installing the new one. If he did not remove an old one, it raises the question -- how was the baby secured on the ride to the store?

I do know that it takes me at least 2-3 minutes to get my baby properly installed into her car seat... Does that girl just not learn???

There's a video out there under AOL and TMZ... if you search for Britney, you can watch the video.

I hate stupidity. Boo.

Blackmail

2006-02-02T15:44:00.000-08:00

I took pictures of Lily taking her first bath. I might have a biased opinion, but I think they're adorable. :)

My sister laughed and said to me, "You took blackmail pictures???" I said, "Blackmail pictures? What do you mean?" (I had planned on scrapbooking the pics.) She said, "You can use them later when she goes on dates... just say, 'You want to see naked baby pictures of Lily?' (your date) just to make sure she's good."

I never thought of that, though it's a good idea. Ha ha. :)

Nesting

2006-01-31T20:06:00.000-08:00

I can't help it... as I've said it before, I'm very particular about cleanliness and organization. You can ask Jason, any family member, or former employee of mine. I had a place for everything and systems for organization. Some feel it borders OCD, but eh, that's just me.

When I found out I was pregnant, that cleanliness kicked into overdrive due to that whole "nesting" thing. I cleaned and cleaned and cleaned, and nothing ever seemed that it was clean enough. Yes, I got on Jason's nerves, but hey.. at least the house looked good.

I let down on that whole cleanliness thing after I had Lily. I was still in pain from the C-section incision and needless to say, very busy with Lily so I had no time. Now that it's been a month since the delivery and I'm kinda getting into the swing of things being a mommy, that nesting thing is kicking in again.

Today, I woke up feeling great and took a look at my surroundings... it was okay. Was I satisfied? No way. I started the laundry, got out the broom, a bunch of rags, glass cleaner, wood cleaner and polish, and the vacuum. After I started cleaning, I turned on the vacuum and IT WOULDN'T WORK! It was like all hell broke loose. I had a cow and yelled at Jason to fix it. He stared at me and had this odd grin on his face. I asked, "why are you looking at me like that?" and he responded with, "umm.. you're yelling at me for a vacuum. Take a nap."

So I did. :)

I felt better and refreshed so I thought I'd attempt to do more cleaning. I avoided the vacuum for obvious reasons and finished my work for the day. Jason came back from running errands and said to me, "hey... the place looks good! But... why didn't you vacuum?" I gave him a "you're stupid" look. Turns out, he fixed the vacuum while I was napping.

I'll vacuum tomorrow, in addition to more laundry, washing the dog, cleaning the bathrooms... blah blah blah.

Fun with Pictures

2006-01-24T17:50:00.000-08:00

Hello, baby! With the little spare time I've had since the 27th, I've been trying to upload pictures from my digital camera. I was a little sidetracked from that project because Jason's weenie Mom broke my camera while I was in the hospital. Yes, the camera I bought days before my baby shower was broken. Very bad timing. Boo. Luckily, Jason fixed it not too long ago. Hooray!

Lily wasn't too thrilled to take pictures at the time. She has my nose. :)And my hands. :)

I'll post something real later. Hope all is well...

2006-01-03T15:17:00.000-08:00

Greetings, everyone!!! :)

I have had a very exciting holiday season...

I am ecstatic to announce that Jason and I have a new addition to the family, Liliana. Liliana was born through a last-minute cesarian section on December 27, 2005 at 11:47am.

I had originally gone to the hospital that day to see if Lily had decended. After the ultrasound was performed, we saw that she indeed was in a transverse position so a C-section was necessary. After consulting our doctor for a date, he paused for a second and said, "You know what? Since you're already here, why don't we just do the C-section today... say.. noon?". I was like, "What?? Noon, as in... today.. in an hour and a half?". And yes, that's what he meant. Jason went on a mad dash back to the house, grabbed our overnight bag and made our obligatory "We're having the baby now" phone calls. I called FB immediately and let him know that he needed to get his ass in gear and on his way. He actually was at the hospital within 15 minutes, which is scary because his commute should have been about 30 minutes (God love him...).

So these are the photos that were taken at the hospital. They should tell you the story of how the day went....

This picture is obviously Pre-Op. I'm nervous because I'm walking into the Operating room about to get my epidural block.

FB is always there to make me feel better... We capture the moment with a fun picture. :)

Jason and Mom got dressed for the occasion. They both were excited and nervous to be in the Operating Room.

This is one of the Lily's first pictures. She's a little cold and grumpy being out of the womb. She weighed in at 9 lbs. 9 oz. (yes... she's BIG).

Groggy Liliana

"What's going on??? Where am I???"

Sleepy Liliana...

"Long day...I'm going to sleep."

Jason and I want to thank everyone for all your warm wishes and comments. I'll be a busy gal so I won't be checking in as often (obviously), but I'll keep you updated. Hope everyone is doing well!

Love,
Armi :)

Now What????

2005-12-22T21:36:00.000-08:00

I went to the Doctor's office today to check out any progress baby's made. According to the last visit, baby was in the right position and had already begun to descend. (hooray!)

Today however, was a different story. We started the checkup normally... the Doc took my blood pressure and it was good. I had no sugar or protein in my urine, so that was good, too. He then checked the heartbeat of the baby, and for some reason, could not find it. Let me tell you all that when your doctor tells you that he can't find a heartbeat, you start to worry a little bit. I think he saw the look on my face so he reassured me and said this happens sometimes (though the look on HIS face told me otherwise). I inquired why he had the funny look on his face and he said, "Well, I think the baby changed positions, and that's why I couldn't find it. That's odd... the last time I saw you (which was 6 days ago), the baby's position was right where it's supposed to be. Today, however, the baby seems to be transverse.". I said, "Transverse... as in sideways.". He said, "Yes, sideways." So he felt up my belly and yup, he was right... baby is laying down across my belly. Once he figured that out, he then found the baby's heart. (phew!)

He then sat down on his chair with an obvious sense of seriousness. He told me, "I have to tell you this because I'm a little concerned... when this happens, the likelyhood of you giving birth naturally is about 5%. If the baby doesn't change positions within the next few days, then most likely, you'll have to have a C-Section." Eew.

I don't mind, I suppose, because I guess it's planned and this way I'll know what to expect, pending everything goes the way it should. But this sucks... the recovery time required will double and surgery wasn't really on my itinerary.

My friend told me something funny when I gave her the update. She told me, "Well, look at the positive side of things... now that you know when you're going to go in for surgery, you can have your hair and makeup done and your pictures will come out great!".

Yeah.. I guess.

Let Me See You Esther Rolle!

2005-12-21T19:37:00.000-08:00

I was watching The Food Network (big surprise) and became quite sleepy as Rachael Ray's 30 Minute Meals show came on. I drowsily listened as I drifted off to sleep....

Somewhere in the middle of the show, she made a salad out of bitter greens, the most prominent ingredient being escarole. Yes, I was sleepy, so I misheard her thinking she said "Esther Rolle" (a favorite of the famous Jay.) the awesome actress who played the mother on the popular show, Good Times.

My lack of consiousness set off a random set of thoughts I'd like to share with you. (Keep in mind I was very sleepy, but also had Jay in mind.)

Jay has this awesome trait of making you laugh and laugh till your stomach hurts and eyes water. We associated Esther Rolle with SEVERAL things, one of them being "tootsie roll", namely that TERRIBLE song that came out in the early 90's, "Let me see you Tootsie Roll! (Esther Rolle) To the left, to the left, to the right, to the right.. now dip baby dip... dip baby, dip." Yes, I know stupid, but it does make you giggle. What's worse, is that I had a routine to that song when I was in High School.. eek.

There was also the original Tootsie Roll commercial with the owl. "Everything becomes Esther Rolle to me!". We imagined Esther changing from a tree to a tootsie pop back to Esther.. so on and so forth. Again, stupid, but we always laughed.

So in my state of sleepiness, I imagined Jay singing me a song about Esther Rolle. I drifted off to sleep, with a funny smile of my face. :)

I'm Done!

2005-12-19T18:16:00.000-08:00

Hooray!!!!!

I'm officially done with my holiday shopping and sooo glad to say it. My awesome friend, Michael Ivey drove down from LA to visit the baby in the belly and we decided to paroozle the mall for any last minute gifts we needed to buy.

It was okay at first, then I realized how violent crowded stores can be. I'm very aware of my body and how much space it takes, especially since I have the medicine ball strapped to my belly, so I try to step out of the way when others aren't paying attention and whatnot. Sheez... with all the teenie boppers out of school and roaming free, it was damn near impossible to do so. Oh well....

So to all who haven't finished their shopping, GOOD LUCK!

I Never Say No to Shopping...

2005-12-16T18:17:00.000-08:00

If you know me, you know that I NEVER say no to shopping... unless I'm dying or something of the equivalent. Lately, with my uncooperative body, I've strayed from the usual "let's go shop!" attitude. Today however, I told Jason I'd go shopping with him because today was one of the only opportunities he's had to get some shopping done for his family. BIG MISTAKE.

We decided Cost Plus World Market would be a great place to start. I personally like that store and can find really cool cooking/baking supplies there. Jason wanted to buy some wine and cheese to send out to his family, so off we went. I was actually excited to go because I was feeling pretty good, and I didn't have to waddle around. (I look like a penguin with a medicine ball attached to my belly). Things were going great at first... Jason found really good wine and beer, we found cheeses and crackers, I found REALLY good candy. I was about to show Jason the huge box of Ghiradelli chocolates they had on sale (yummy!), then some lady pushed her cart into my back. I yelped like my dog does when she gets scared. Then I had another one of those false contraction things again that hurt like a bitch.

It was okay at first, but the pain kept lingering on for what seemed like an hour. Luckily, we were by the Holiday Tablescape display, so I had a comfy chair to sit on. Normally, I'd be okay, but the lady who hit me didn't say anything... not even an, "Oh.. sorry". So I got mad. Actually, I got really mad. Not only because she hit me with her cart, not only because she didn't apologize, but with the trail of events with the cart and contractions, baby moved and made it hurt for me to walk, causing me to turn into the penguin with medicine ball.

So what did I do? Was I mature? No. I took the cart, found her, and hit her with my cart. She looked back at me with huge eyes and expected me to say something, but I stared back at her with a "What, bitch?" look. Jason was so embarassed, but had to laugh in the end. Normally I'd blow it off and call the lady a weenie, but today was different.

In hindsight I suppose I could have handled the situation better... :)

Almost Done!

2005-12-15T12:53:00.000-08:00

The Update

So the bun in the oven has about a week and a half till he's off to the cooling rack. My back is killing me, and my kidneys hurt from all the kicking. I think baby likes kicking the squishy kidney. Perhaps I will take up that habit when I'm done with this pregnancy. :) I could make a sport out of it.

Bad Dream!!!

2005-12-12T20:12:00.000-08:00

Matt, from the awesome blog, Chip Chat reminded me of that horrible horrible dream I had the other day, so I've decided to share with y'all.

This is how it went....

I was sitting at home, watching TV with my doggie, Ginger. I felt baby kicking me, which is very common nowadays, so I thought nothing of it, until Ginger started barking at me and freaking out. I didn't know what was going on, because normally she's really tame and just kicks it with me. I looked around, thinking maybe there was a bug on the wall or she had to pee or something, then I looked down at my belly and saw how it was moving. Baby was kicking so hard, you could see his/her footprint bulging out of my belly. I was like, "What the hell??". I sat still, in shock, not knowing what to do. After the pain subsided, the FOOT BROKE THROUGH MY BELLY! Out was a tiny foot and blood gushed onto the floor. I flipped out. I screamed and woke up, also waking Jason up in the process. He asked me what was wrong... if I was in pain...if I needed to go to the hospital... and all I could say was, "He kicked me so hard his foot penetrated through my skin and I was bleeding and I think I was gonna die and it hurt and now I'm freaked out and I don't know what to do and...." that sentence went on for about 2 minutes and Jason stared at me until he laughed.

I ended up going back to sleep but only with Jason's arms around my belly just in case baby tried to kick his way out. :)

I'm on Lockdown!

2005-12-12T19:29:00.000-08:00

Today was window installation day. I had no idea how much work goes into installing/replacing windows. On the other hand, I had forgotten how many windows are in this house. (18, + 2 sliding glass doors)

Since I was the only one home, for the exception of my dog and 2 cats, I was the designated one to let the window men into the house. I woke up bright and early at 6:30am and the work commenced. I was shocked when I saw 3 truckloads of men! (Maybe getting up that early wasn't that bad of an idea.) Each one greeted me at the door and went to work.

So yeah, I woke up at 6:30am, and they left at 7:45pm. Holy crap.. who knew it would take THAT long with THAT many people working on windows?

I had my whole day planned today. I was going to wake up, get ready for more holiday shopping (almost done!), do some grocery shopping, walk the dog, clean the house, get my car washed, and make dinner. Yeah... I woke up, made some coffee, and was banned from leaving the house because everyone else in the family had to either be at work or had some other prior engagement to attend to. Boo. So now everyone is back in the house and I still can't leave because my Mom has forbidden me from leaving the house after dusk. (Why... because the vampires might eat me???) Normally, I'd just go, but she's been so protective lately, especially since I'll be giving birth within the next 2 weeks, so I stayed.

Yes... I'm bored, but at least the windows are nice. :)

What Time is It???

2005-12-09T05:23:00.000-08:00

I don't know why I'm up at 5:23am. I suppose it would make more sense if I just got up, but that's not the case. I can't go to sleep and it sucks. You'd think I'd be so extremely tired that I'd have no problem falling asleep, right? I've been tossing and turning in bed trying to fall asleep but baby is kicking and kicking and it's making it a bit hard for me to do so.

I'm not even sure if I'm typing in coherent sentences. Am I?

The computer monitor is kinda blurry. Eesh.

On a related note, my Doctor told me that baby's due date is pushed back to the 28th. I understand it's only a 4 day extension from the original due date, but I'm getting really antsy and well... tired, which brings me back to... "why am I up at 5:27am?".

Random Photo Blog

2005-12-05T22:01:00.000-08:00

So I've been doing alot of cooking lately, which you can see in the following pictures. FB and J6 came by the other day to check on me, and we ended up having this whole food montage thing that night. I don't recall eating that much in a VERY LONG TIME. Enjoy!

Our theme for the evening was butter. I know, it sounds interesting, perhaps even disgusting. We, on the other hand, had a blast. When you get the 3 of us in a kitchen, it can get very dangerous.

We started out with a yellow BUTTER cake. We topped it off with a chocolate frosting that had BUTTER in the mix. Jay tried flipping it prior to frosting the cke, but it broke in half. It ended up looking like the next picture. :)

It looks funny, but OH MY... it was SO GOOD!!!

This is my creation. I was watching the Food Network (as I usually do) and got this really awesome roasted chicken recipe. I made it earlier that week while I was on the phone with FB. He heard the crackling noise as it was cooking in the background, so I decided to make it again that night. Yum...

Please note that it requires a stick of BUTTER per chicken. You make this BUTTER rub with rosemary, dill, and Italian parsley and rub it all over the chicken skin, under the chicken skin, and some on the inside. It has lemon, an onion, garlic, salt, and pepper stuffed on the inside to keep it moist. Food Network kicks ass!
We also made garlic mashed potatoes with BUTTER and dinner rolls baked with BUTTER. My sister made a salad with NO BUTTER, but grabbed some fresh avocados from the tree in the backyard. The avocados tasted like BUTTER. :)

We thought about adding BUTTER to the rice, but we thought that would be pushing it too far.

My sister made this kickass homemade gravy from all the chicken drippings and BUTTER that was cooked off of the bird. I enjoyed it thoroughly.

I shop at the Asian market every once in a while because you can find the best snacks there. I bought a bag of Shrimp Chips (they were my favorite when I was a kid) for FB because I know he doesn't eat when he's at school. He thought they were disgusting. Oops. I went back the other day and found a bag of Cheese... uh... CHIZ Curls. They made me laugh. I love the fact that they used the accent. I picture my mom saying "chiz" when I see the bag.

Oh, and in case you're wondering, the Chiz Curls are good. They taste like Cheetos. :)

I was playing with my digital camera because its still a novelty to me. This is my belly last month. I've grown significantly since then.

And finally, a picture of my Jason and our puppy, Ginger. She's almost 1 year old now. Cute, huh? :)

And that concludes my photo blog....

Remember... BUTTER makes everything better. :)

Forgive me Father, but you're an ass...

2005-11-29T13:28:00.000-08:00

My nephew had a big week last week. He celebrated his first Thanksgiving with the family (though he's still too young to eat real food), and he was baptized.

We entered the church and noticed the huge amount of people present. It seemed as if there were 10 children being baptized instead of the 4. (I guess the kids had huge entourages.) :)

Naturally, when family and friends gather around for a celebration, they talk. In church, with all those people present and the really good acoustics, the chatter seemed a bit loud. Not obnoxiously loud, but people were obviously talking.

As the priest and his Baptismal Coordiator were setting up, the priest said, "May I have your attention, please?". A lull came over the group. He then continued by saying:

"I went on a trip recently with a group of Muslims to a mosque in the Middle East. When we entered their place of worship, I was astounded by their behavior. They were so quiet and reverent... they showed respect to their God and his house. I find it very amusing that when Catholics enter their house of worship, they talk. Don't you?"

I didn't know what to say. I was speechless. What few words I mustered were:

"Dude... you're an ass!"

Now granted, that probably wasn't the best thing to say in church, but I was really appalled at what he had said. I understand the point he was trying to get across, but that was kinda mean.

I attended 2 private Catholic Schools in my life. One from grades K-8, and the other for HS. I actually enjoyed attending church, because Fr. Mike (we always went to his mass because he actually spoke to the families and his homilies made sense... he didn't preach just to preach. He talked about everyday life, things he saw, what he thought... he talked about the kids at the school and how he was proud of this one kid who shared his lunch with another who forgot his and blah blah blah... He was cool. Before mass began, he made a point of it to have everyone introduce themselves to the people surrounding them so they could all meet. He thought it was important that people know their "family" within the Catholic Church. Before we knew it, everyone knew everyone and mass became a fun event to attend. Kids actually wanted to go to mass, especially if it were with Fr. Mike. He left the church I grew up in, and I believe he's teaching somewhere in Ireland now.

Anyhoo, so to Father Whosamawhatsit:

Sorry you think its lame people were gathering in your house of worship. I now feel that if I ever go to church there, I won't participate or speak out loud, because you might think it's rude. I won't look at the people who surround me and I won't greet them during the sign of peace, because that might be deemed as inappropriate.

Oh, and your homily sucked, too.

From California...

2005-11-29T12:53:00.000-08:00

My friend sent this to me and it made me laugh. I think maybe 2 of my faithful readers (thanks, guys!) are from California, so I hope this gives you a little giggle on an otherwise boring Tuesday. To everyone else... I hope this doesn't confuse you. :)

I'M CALIFORNIAN THAT MEANS...
-I'm Mexican or I've dated one
-Our chics are way hotter then yours
-I have eaten tri-tip and know what it is
- I cuss a lot.
- I say "like" and "fer sure" and "right on" and "dude" and "bro" and "hecka" and "hella"; and I say them often.
-I replace adjectives with "hella" and "hecka" to express myself.
-All of those "Happy Cows" come from California.
- I know what real cheese & avocadoes taste like.
- I don't get snowdays off because it only snows in Mammoth, Tahoe, and Big Bear.
- Summers are really hot, and winters are really cold. That's the way it is.
- I go to the Beach - not "down the shore".
- I know 65 mph really means 80+.
- When someone cuts me off, they get the horn and the finger and they accept it and give it back, because that's the California way.
- I've been to "the City" aka "Frisco" aka San Francisco and have eaten fresh clam chowder out of a sourdough bread bowl.
- The drinking age is 21 but everyone starts at 14 (legally 18 if you live close enough to the border).
- My governor can kick your governors ass.
- I can go out at midnight and wear a t-shirt and shorts.
- I might get looked at funny by locals when I'm on vacation in their state, but when they find out I'm from California I turn into a Greek GOD.
- I can get fresh and REAL Mexican food 24 hours a day.
-we have thee best natural tans
- All the TV shows you "other" states watch get filmed here.
- We have In-N-Out (Arizona and Vegas are lucky we share that with them).
-I have the most representation in the House of Representatives, which means MY opinion means more then yours, which means I'm better than you
-All the porn you watch is made here, cause we fuck better and thats how it is.
-The best athletes come from here (except hockey players so not the best athletes)
-sunglasses can be worn everyday of the year

Sooo Full

2005-11-25T07:08:00.000-08:00

It's early Friday morning. Why am I awake????

Jason had to be at work at 7am, so he woke up at 5ish. The cats were running around and my fat cat, Stitchy jumped on the bed and decided he wanted to step on my nipple. Ouch.

The phone rang at 5:30am. Nobody responded on the other end. That's stupid. Why call at such an ungodly hour to not say anything? Boo to the person who called.

As Jason prepared to leave the house, he knocked over a vase and it tumbled into the sink. I giggled because he tried so hard not to wake me up. He then walked over to kiss me and the belly goodbye.

I tried going back to sleep, but the Lilo jumped onto the bed and stepped on my other nipple.

So here are my random thoughts for the morning:
-Why are the cats suddenly stepping on my nipples?
-I think I'm still stuffed from eating so much yesterday (oh.. but it was sooo good). Who knew fried turkey was so good?
-How come everyone in the house left before 5am to go shopping and didn't wake me up? Rude!
-I love how Jason wakes me up in the morning just to kiss me and the baby goodbye.

Hope everyone had an awesome Thanksgiving. :)

Holy Cow!

2005-11-22T13:26:00.000-08:00

So I've come to a realization that I only have 5 more weeks of being pregnant left. I've been soooo uncomfortable lately, and sleeping (or trying to seems more accurate) is getting more and more difficult by the day.

My body hurts... my hips are widening, and my belly is getting bigger and bigger. I went Thanksgiving grocery shopping at Gelson's the other day with my sister and noticed that people kept staring at me while I walked by them. I was confused. Did I have a booger hanging off my nose or something? Am I having THAT bad of a hair day? Then my sister told me that they're staring at my belly because it looks... well... huge. I didn't really think about that, until I saw a few pictures of me...
Yeah, if I saw the lady with the watermelon under her dress, I'd stare, too.

Yes, I'm Asian

2005-11-14T21:45:00.000-08:00

My sisters and I were at a Chinese restaurant and noticed the family sitting behind us were taking pictures. We thought it was actually kinda funny because we came to a realization that Asian people always seem to have a camera on them.

Coincidentally, I (being Asian myself) also had a camera on me. :) We decided to go with the flow and take a picture of ourselves at the restaurant, too. It was good times.

We even got pictures of someone's ass in the background.
This is just a random photo of a sign that was posted on the side of my neighboring Taco Bell.

I get really annoyed when people don't utilize proper grammar, especially when it comes in a corporate email or something. I had this District Manager who refused to use spell check before she sent out emails. I'd edit them and send them back. It was an assholeish thing for me to do, but again... it was my pet peeve. I don't know why it bothers me so much... it just does.

I bought this book, Eats, Shoots and Leaves by Lynne Tuss. If you share my opinion on grammatical/punctuation errors, this book can be really entertaining. If not, then you probably just figured out I'm a huge dork. :)

Lazy Monday....

2005-11-14T13:15:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone...
I just found the data transfer cable thing that came with my digital camera, so here are a few pictures I've been wanting to post for a while.

These are random shots of my baby shower....
This is a picture of Jason putting his cucumber in the stockings as he prepares for the penis game. Good times. :)
You can see FB waaay in the back. He couldn't control his cucumber...er... penis. :)

Oh look, Jason is winning...

We got lots of presents . :)
As you can see, Jason wasn't as excited to open all the presents as I was.
I'm off to go shopping in Camarillo today... more random pictures to come! :)
Happy Monday, Everyone!

Funny...bitches.

2005-11-09T17:03:00.000-08:00

My sister took these pictures while we were at C&O's Trattoria for my sister Myra's birthday. I thought they were funny, so here you go...

Everyone had a good time eating and drinking wine except for me. You can see my little sister gleaming with joy as she gets tipsy. Jason thought it was just fun to stick his head in the picture. Nerd.

Toothpaste=Shit?

2005-11-07T22:50:00.000-08:00

My boyfriend pointed out a very disgruntling commercial to me the other day... Have any of you seen the adult butt wipe commercial where toothpaste is used to simulate shit? Charmin, the toilet paper brand I normally use has come out with wipies for adults! This is actually a cool idea, because I am a neat/clean freak, however the commercial was soo disturbing to watch.

In the commercial, a hand is displayed with a significant amount of toothpaste on it. Regular toilet paper is used to remove the unwanted toothpaste, but it leaves this slimy green sheen on the hand. To remove the odd looking green substance, they use the Charmin wipies to FULLY clean the hand.

My notes:

If you still have shit on your ass after you wipe, then you need to wipe your ass more than once.
Please use more toilet paper. Do not reuse the original sheets. (they did that on the commercial)
I will never look at toothpaste the same EVER again. And the fact that I normally use striped minty (green) toothpaste just made it worse because now I think my toothpaste has the same consistency as my poo.

Thank you, Charmin company. You suck.

Apparently, I'm 30

2005-11-04T18:51:00.000-08:00

So I was checking out Miss J's blog and found this to be very interesting... Personally, I think I'm pretty mature, but 30????

You Are 30 Years Old

Under 12: You are a kid at heart. You still have an optimistic life view - and you look at the world with awe.

13-19: You are a teenager at heart. You question authority and are still trying to find your place in this world.

20-29: You are a twentysomething at heart. You feel excited about what's to come... love, work, and new experiences.

30-39: You are a thirtysomething at heart. You've had a taste of success and true love, but you want more!

40+: You are a mature adult. You've been through most of the ups and downs of life already. Now you get to sit back and relax.

What Age Do You Act?

Hey...That's not Cool

2005-11-03T21:36:00.000-08:00

I used to hate cats. REALLY hated them. Growing up, my family had dogs, fish, and a turtle here and there.

I had a friend who had a few cats. For some reason, all of her cats were assholes. They weren't playful or friendly, and they smelled funny. Don't get me wrong... sometimes a fish/turtle tank can get a little stinky, and a dog can get really smelly sometimes, too, but at least they weren't assholes.

Up until I started dating Jason (which seems like forever now), I never really gave cats a chance. He was the complete opposite when it came to pets. He grew up with a cat that remained in his care for about 15 years. He would tell me stories of how she was so sweet and was quite honestly his best friend growing up. So when we decided to take the plunge and invest in a pet, I was very hesitant about getting a cat.

We used to live in this TINY apartment in Long Beach, so a dog really wouldn't be feasible, so I gave in and we ended up adopting our kitties, Lilo and Stitch. They are the most wonderful furry beasts, and I've never regretted getting them.

Stitchy can be lame sometimes, because he loves eating my plants and has this thing for opening packages that aren't meant for him (he loves bags that come from Macy's most).

On the other hand, he waits for Jason in the morning to wake up and head butts him as a morning greeting. See, it's cute.

Lilo is technically my kitty. She's always been attached to me, but ever since I got pregnant, she's been like guardian for me. She sleeps on my belly when I'm in bed, and when I wake up, she massages my belly with her front paws. She watches me brush my teeth, and sometimes jumps in the shower with me in the morning. Adorable...

So I'm online looking for pumpkin carving ideas, and I randomly find these pictures:

I know I'm probably just really sensitive and all, but dude.. those pictures suck!

Happy Birthday!!!

2005-11-02T17:43:00.000-08:00

My favorite sister, Myra is celebrating her 29th (gasp!) birthday today.

Happy Birthday, Myra!!!

I woke up, took her to lunch (at our new favorite place, Corner Bakery), went to the mall for some shopping, drove her to the bank, then to the post office, (chauffeuring is also a requirement when you're celebrating someone's birthday) then bought her ice cream at Cold Stone Creamery . As we were driving back home, we stumbled upon this awesome jewelry store and I ended up buying her a pair of earrings she thought were cute but didn't want to spend the money on.

We'll be having dinner at C & O's Trattoria in Marina del Rey. Apparently the food there is super fabulous and I'll be spending a pretty penny for everyone's dinner.

It's only 6:00pm and I'm EXHAUSTED!!! Wish me luck and lots of energy (because I surely need it!)!

Happy Halloween!!!

2005-10-31T14:49:00.000-08:00

Happy Halloween, everyone! All I've been hearing all weekend is "Are you going to WeHo?". Unfortunately, I can't go, but wish everyone the best in their Halloween adventures on the Blvd. Every year, there's always a really cool story of how someone saw an old friend they haven't seen in years or how had a great time drinking or how WONDERFUL all the costumes were.... If you go, I'm sure you'll have a great time. Have a drink for me. :)

As for me, my plans consists of carving a last-minute pumpkin for my boyfriend who volunteered to work the closing shift so his staff could go out and have a good time tonight. (He's so adorable sometimes) Other than that, I'm on candy distributing duty, as that's pretty much the only thing my pregnant ass can tolerate.
I made a pumpkin like this last year and it freaked my Mom out. I thought I'd do it again. :)

I will be spending a few minutes paroozaling the candy aisle very soon... sooo tempting...

So yeah.. have fun! Can't wait to hear about the festivities! :)

Does Everyone Have One of These???

2005-10-28T13:51:00.000-07:00

Okay everyone... prepare for a bitchfest.

I have this sister. She's the oldest of 4. I'm not sure if I put too high of an expectation on her, but everyone but everyone seems to agree with me, except for my Mother.

I blogged about her a very long time ago. I think it was one of my very first blogs, in fact.

So my sister and I have this strained relationship. She's always been kinda...mean, for lack of a better word. As far as I can remember, she's always been my least favorite sister for several reasons.

I can vividly remember taking a bath with my 2 older sisters when I was about 1 1/2. Myra was almost 4, and Rachel was about 6. Rachel turned on the hot water and decided it was too hot and jumped out of the tub. Myra did the same. I, being too little to know how to get out of the tub myself, was left inside. I screamed because the pain was WAAAY too much to handle. My Dad tried getting into the bathroom, frantically yelling for Rachel to open the door. She locked it because she was afraid she'd get into trouble. I suffered 2nd and 3rd degree burns on my feet to the middle of my calves. I can still see scars and random patterns on my skin because of the burns. Rachel never said sorry, or at least never said it to me.

One spring afternoon, I found out that if you throw semi-wet dirt onto a brick wall, it sticks. I was fascinated. I thought I discovered something scientific and amazing. I called my Dad to go to the backyard so he could see what I did. He was amused. I got this lecture on rain and soil and how one affects another and it changes composition. I thought my Dad was a genius and we had this bonding thing that continued till I entered high school. My Dad told Rachel what I learned and how proud he was of me. Rachel then went into the backyard and threw a rock at my eye. I bled and was sent to the hospital again. I had to wear glasses after that incident. I believe I was just entering 1st grade at that point.

Growing up, I had this fascination with cooking, mainly because it was fun and I liked to eat. My Dad was an AWESOME cook. We often cooked together, then ate our experiments together. I got chubby, then I got fat. For years, I was ridiculed about my appearance. I stopped cooking with my Dad and told him I didn't want to cook anymore because I was told I was ugly and fat. He was hurt, and then one day found me crying because my sister was demeaning me again. He figured out why I didn't want to spend time with him in the kitchen anymore. Rachel got into trouble again. She then made sure that I knew that she was always better than me, whether it be in academics (though my GPA was always higher than hers), appearance ("you are so ugly.. no wonder you like that ugly outfit") or affection ("we love the dog better than you"). I went into this phase where I wanted to crawl into a hole and die.

Around 7th grade, I got into dancing. I loved loved loved loved loved it. I ended up slimming out and my appearance changed. Boys liked me. I was popular. I tried out for Drill Team at my grade school and made it. I was captain. Rachel was in Drill Team at her HS. She told me my team sucked and hers was better. I was proud of my achievement till she told me that.

I tried out for Cheerleading when I entered HS. I made the cut. I found out that the Drill Team at the HS was terrible, and that was where the girls went when they didn't make it on the Cheer squad. I thought it was funny how I was hurt before. I was on Cheer and then Songleading when I entered the Varsity Level. I kicked ass. FB was my biggest fan. :)

Growing up, I gained a sense of self-confidence. With little burbles along the way, I grew up to the person I am today. For someone my age, I think I've accomplished alot. I'm educated and funny. I have a personality that can adapt to several environments. I've been financially independent for years, which is something my sister has never been. I climbed the corporate ladder and made a great living for myself. I still get job offers, even though I'm pregnant. I found someone who loves me for me, and I'm very happy.

Rachel dated someone for 4 years who is not only younger than me, but maturity-wise is about the age of a fetus. He does drugs. He stole items from Rachel to sell for drug money. She has spent more than $20,000.00 of my parents' money in college tuition, and just received her AA in music this past spring. She has now chosen to go back to school for nursing. She accumulated THOUSANDS in debt, and has been bailed out my several family members, including myself. She is now attempting to build her credit once again by charging up her credit cards. She moved into my cousin's house and created havoc on the family by creating mess and charging bills with no way of repaying them.

Today, she needed work done on her car. She brought her car to a repair shop, and brought my Mom with her so SHE can pay. She is now on her way out, with a check in hand for $300.00 from my Mother. My sister Myra just gave her $200.00 last Saturday. I refused when she asked me for money, as I am trying to save my money for baby expenses. She told my mom I gave her attitude and was snippy with her. I was scolded by my Mom because I "wasn't respecting my elders". My jaw dropped. I stared at her for a while, and walked off. I am now venting on my blog with the hopes that this will give me some type of consolement.

I just overheard that she will be borrowing my Mom's brand new Acura TL because she doesn't have a car to drive while hers is in the shop. She will be bringing my Mom to work tonight, apparently.

So I ask you... am I mean? Am I really THAT insensitive? On that note, I ask for your response... HELP!

Ultrasounds= Butt Cracks

2005-10-24T12:38:00.000-07:00

Okay... so I really think I just wasn't destined to know what the sex of baby is. The first time I went to get an ultrasound, we tried for 45 minutes to see the sex of the baby. All I saw were kicking legs and a cute behind.

I had another appointment scheduled last Friday. I was really excited because it would be my 2nd try at trying to see the baby's "stuff". Unfortunately, the ultrasound machine had just started malfunctioning the day prior and was in the process of getting repaired as I was standing in the hallway. I glanced into the ultrasound room and saw the repair man bending over and showing a great deal of ass crack.

Why is it that every time I have an ultrasound, all I see is butt????

Drink Up!

2005-10-18T19:20:00.000-07:00

After talking to friends and reading everyone's blogs for the weekend, I have come to a realization of how much drinking I am missing out on! :(

Matt S. from Chip Chat had this AWESOME weekend partying it up at his school's homecoming. Sounded like it was waay too much fun. Jealous.

Sarah, my little sister is never one to pass up a drink. Here she is, drinking her favorite beer, Red Stripe.

My friends back in Long Beach had this BBQ thing going on and since I was under the weather, I sat at home and blew my nose till it got really sore. They called me in the middle of the fiesta to tell me how much they missed me, though. They, of course, were drinking.

Instead of feeling bummed out (oh those horomones), I decided that I'd take a break from cleaning and do some scrapbooking. While I was sifting through old pictures, this was the first one that I found in my photo box. Go figure, huh?

Thought I'd share the giggle. :)

Tiles

2005-10-18T14:48:00.000-07:00

So my Mom is the coolest, (ask Jay... he loves her best when she's singing karaoke) but her decorating style is a little bit...umm... terrible. We've been doing alot of work around the house (I am SO TIRED of cleaning!), which has been fun (picking colors and frames, molding and wood types, furniture...) but OH MY, it's been really hard for my sister and I to convince her that "no Mom, that forest green would not look nice next to that brick because it would look like Christmas all year round" and "Mom, I don't think that WHITE WHITE carpet in a house that usually has alot of people coming would be good, unless you want me to shampoo the carpets every week... maybe a paler tan?".

But it's been fun nonetheless. And besides, when Jason (my poo poo head) and I buy our own house (which apparently is coming faster than I thought), I'll have a better sense of decorating style for our own place.

I caught a cold this weekend... I'm bitter. I LOVE the rain. It's been really nice to have a change in the 100 degree weather pattern we've had lately. Jason and I go to sleep cuddling and listening to the thunder. I wanted to wake up and semi-frolic in the rain, but I'm already stuffy and sniffly, that I'll have to postpone that for the next time I'm not sick and/or pregnant. Oh well.

Hope everyone had a good weekend!

Paint Fumes... Breathe In!

2005-10-14T08:26:00.000-07:00

Wow... The paint fumes wafting in the house are incredibly potent right now and I'm feeling a little... umm... icky.

The painters came to the house 3 days ago to start working on the house. I'm really hoping the work is completed soon. The original plan was to have the 1/2 of the house that was affected by the water damage fixed, but my brilliant sister thought that since we were going to have the house fixed, then have the entire thing fixed. Umm... okay.

The Original Plan:

fix the baseboards
replace the damaged wood floors
repaint the rooms with damaged walls (3 brm, 1 ba)
repaint the hallway
replace water heater

The New Plan:

paint the entire house (both inside and out) Mind you this really isn't that big of a deal, but since the fumes are bugging me, I've come to a realization that the house is 3500 sq ft, not including the guest house in the back.
refinish all the flooring (all common areas are wood floors, and I'm not looking forward to the fumes from the wood finish)
remodel the kitchen
get new furniture for the guest bedroom and my little sister's room
get rid of old furniture and knick knacks and donate to Goodwill/Out of the Closet.

Normally, I'd think this would be awesome, but HOLY HELL, I forgot how long it takes to pack up donation stuff, move boxes, set up new rooms, etc... (not to mention the physical effort). It's been about a week, and we're sooo not even close to getting all the boxes packed and moved.

I'm thinking it'd be best if I hid in the guest house in the back... what do you think? :)

Is That Like A Shoe?

2005-10-12T10:30:00.000-07:00

Short and quick one for today because the house is in the process of being fixed from the water heater fiasco a few weeks ago. I'm glad the work is actually in progress now, because I started to get a little worried the place would look like crap during my baby shower.

So my little sister wanted to know how much she walked throughout the day for exercise purposes, so she asked my Mom if she could pick up a pedometer at the hospital. (My Mom is a nurse and gets stuff from the hospital ALL the time... individual packets of tylenol, syringes, whatever). This is how the conversation went:

Sari: "Mom, can you get me a pedometer from work?"
Mom: "Is that like, a shoe?"
Sari: "Umm... no." and continue to giggle hysterically for about 10 minutes as my Mom was confused as to what was so funny.

My Mom is a really smart woman. She's been a nurse for over 40 years, and has a Masters Degree in Nursing. Sometimes, her "FOB" just gets in the way and she ends up sounding really lame. We often laugh at her during these moments. *If you have a parent with an accent, I'm sure you've imitated them, full accent and all, for entertainment purposes.

And that's been the punchline for anything funny these past few weeks... just thought I'd share. :)

You Do What????

2005-10-11T15:31:00.000-07:00

So my little sister has me really interested in this myspace thing. It really is a great way to look up people of your past, or get to know others as they are now. (FB and I had a great day looking up people we hated in high school. We were hoping someone in particular would end up being a crack whore or something, but unfortunately, he ended up being the same... stupid and self-centered.)

Anyway, so I was looking at a friend's profile, and looked at their friends' profiles, and found someone I've known since the 8th grade, but haven't heard from him since we graduated. I noticed the picture right away because...well, he looked really hot. His picture was black and white, shows only torso up, but he was naked. Not trashy at all, actually. It was actually like those really cool pictures Jason puts on his blog, Jason's Room. So I clicked onto the picture and read his profile...blah blah blah. He's the lead personal trainer at a gym, which makes sense, and then I see this company below called, "LaBareHollywood" . I think to myself, "what's that?", so I googled it and found out its a strip club. We now talk every once in a while, and I even promised one of our mutual friends that we'd go watch him at the club sometime.

I know this really isn't a big deal, but doesn't it kinda shock you to see how people have developed or matured since you last remember them? It's always interesting to me to see what we've become. Anyway...food for thought.

Have a wonderful Tuesday, everyone! :)

Hooray for Digital Cameras!

2005-10-09T17:31:00.000-07:00

One of my big purchases to prepare for the upcoming baby is a digital camera. I've been putting it off for a while, but the other day I just couldn't resist.

I strolled into Best Buy with my sisters to buy the prizes for my baby shower games. While I paroozled the store, I ended up stopping at the digital cameras. I found the one I wanted and made my big purchase.

To commemorate the purchase, these are the stupid pictures I've been taking to practice and understand the functions of the camera. Enjoy! :)

Lilo gets caught trying to steal my purse. She denied the incident, but the incriminating photo cannot be challenged.

Stitch doesn't like taking pictures, so here he is giving me stink eye.

I came across this old old old old old photo of FB and I. This is our 1996 homecoming picture. We had this purple theme going on... purple dress, purple tux (how hot is he in this picture!), and he had purple streaks in his hair (though you really can't tell in the picture).

I am amazed at how flat my tummy is. Damn! I can report however, that my breasts have grown due to baby weight. Asian genetics... boo.

We had the best time that night, though. Good times. :)

So hooray for my digital camera!

Damn Damn Damn....

2005-10-08T13:34:00.000-07:00

So I was driving this morning, and saw steam coming from the hood of my car. I think to myself, "don't panic..." so I pull over and lift up the hood. My radiator or one of the hoses connected to it has a crack and coolant was spraying onto the hot metal thingies, thus the steam. Boo.

Anyhoo, so I know this one place that my mom brings her cars to and they treat her well and blah blah blah... I drove my steamy car to that place only to find its closed on the weekends. WTF??? Boo!!!

Luckily for me, my sister just bought a new Accord and hasn't sold her old Prelude. My little sister drives a Tundra, which costs about $75.00 to fill, so she took the cheaper Prelude, and I get to drive the Tundra, which is almost about empty. Yeah me.

So happy Saturday, everyone! Hope yours is better than mine. :)

Glucose Tests Suck!

2005-10-06T21:03:00.000-07:00

If you've never had the opportunity to take a glucose test, then I must say you are missing out. I, on the other hand, have had to take them not once, but twice. I took one last week and apparently my blood sugar level was "slightly" elevated, so today, I took the extensive glucose test to ensure I don't have gestational diabetes (shit!). The test this morning required me to do the following:

-fast for 12 hours, for the exception of water, as baby kicked the shit out of me because he was hungry. Could you imagine how hungry I was? I was so grumpy this morning!
-drink this nasty sugar drink that tastes like the thick syrup you put on snowcones (and the receptionist asked me, "would you like orange or lemon lime?" Like it freakin' matters... they both taste like shit!)
-draw blood on the hour, every hour for 4 hours (I am sooo over needles right now)
-could not leave the building for the entire time. Had to sit in the waiting room and listen to kids wail and scream bloody murder as phlebotomists poked them with needles.

So I drove home, had some juice and some fresh baked bread my Jason made and passed out. Lovely, huh?

Anyhoo, I'm over being bitter with it, but dude...what a crappy way to start off my day.

*Oh, on a side note... I'm listening to Zack Hexum right now. If you haven't heard of him, or listened to his music, you should. He's a friend of my little sister's, and usually I wouldn't care about that fact, but his music is actually really good.

Currently listening: The Story So Far By Zack Hexum Release date: By 15 June, 2004

Stupid Doctors Suck

2005-10-04T15:48:00.000-07:00

So you all heard about my scary experience with the "no wash the hands policy" doctor I had a few months ago. If not, please check it out.

Because of that scary incident, I vowed to NEVER go back there ever again. I have since found this really awesome doctor who makes me feel comfortable, and is (gasp!) hygenic. Love love love him to death. Anyhoo, I thought I was out free and clear from Dr. Stupid, but I had to get my paperwork faxed over to my new Dr. so he could see all my medical records when I was down in the LBC.

Dr. Cool Hygenic Man's secretary called Dr. Stupid's office for about 3 weeks requesting my medical records, and because they couldn't speak English, or because they were just plain lame, they never faxed over my paperwork. No big surprise.

I got a phone call from Cool Secretary and she told me that instead of waiting for Dr. Stupid and his Stupid Staff to send the records, she thought it would be best if I just took EVERY SINGLE TEST FROM THE BEGINNING OF MY PREGNANCY OVER AGAIN. Holy shit. It agged me, but whatever... just as long as I take care of my baby, it's all good.

So I trek on down to the hospital, and find out they have to take a billion vials of blood (which ended up being about 9), a cup of pee, and I had to take my blood glucose test again. Boo. 3 hours later, I went home thinking that was the end of Dr. Stupid, so I was content. :)

I got a phone call about an hour later saying that there was one more test that couldn't be duplicated because it was supposed to be taken at a specific timeframe of pregnancy, and I needed to pick it up those results from the original doctor. Apparently, it's illegal to fax those records, even with a records release form. So lucky Armilish gets to drive down to Long Beach tomorrow to pick up my medical records, something I should have done in the first place.

In hindsight, I could have gone down to Long Beach in the first place and avoided having to take 3 hours worth of tests.

Stupid stupid stupid...

You're Ashy!

2005-10-03T22:01:00.000-07:00

So with all of the fires in Chatsworth and such, the entire valley has become this snowy ash bowl. I walked outside the other day and noticed white and grey ash floating in the air. It was on the ground, in the trees, ON MY CAR, in the pool...everywhere. I got into my car and turned on the AC because its a billion degrees in the valley, and ash blew into my car from the vents. Smart Armi. Word of advice to you all: Don't go to Long Beach State because you will learn nothing. Just kidding.

Anyways, I'm waiting for a good opportunity to use the ash in a ghetto joke of some sort with lotion in the punch line. Too bad I'm not feeling very creative.

Are We Really THAT Old???

2005-09-15T13:43:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I got to spend the day with my favorite people, those people being my sister, FB, and my boyfriend (the poo poo head). We really didn't do anything spectacular, but after thinking about it, I had a really good day. At the end of the day, while talking and playing Tetris on that damn Nintendo, I've come to realize all the things FB and I have done throughout the years. He brought on this thought when he kept on saying "we're so old...oh shit... we're so old...".

So FB, this is for you...

Remember when we met in HS and immediately got along REALLY REALLY well? Regardless of my cheerleaderness and "hi...I'm in this club and this club, and I'm in ASB...." you still didn't think I was as stuck up as I could have been. :)
Remember when my stupid boyfriend at the time cheated on me then dumped me for the druggie bitch and I was so scared he gave me a disease that you ditched school with me to go get tested at the hospital?
Remember how we ate breakfast at Carl's Jr. and you made me laugh so hard I forgot why we ditched school in the first place?
Remember when we found out we were going to dance with each other in "Anything Goes" and how excited we were to rehearse together?
Remember the time you put high heels in your shirt and poked me in the side with them when we had to do the lift in the dance number?
Remember how I fell off the end of the whip and rolled into a tree? (ouch)
Remember when you put my makeup on for "Guys and Dolls" and used blue eyeshadow to make me look like a whore?
Remember how I tried to make your nose look huge when you were Harry the Horse, and you had to fix it because all I did was make it look like you had a black eye?
Remember going to homecoming together and having SUCH A GOOD TIME? *you were the best date, by the way.
Remember our matching purple outfits?
Remember going to Albertson's after the dance to get ice cream and asking the gorilla why he was buying so many bananas?
Remember coming out and my response was, "umm.. yeah, I know."
Remember going to Disneyland for my birthday with everyone and getting our indian names?
Remember the trip we all took to "Bob's Classy Lady" and seeing that stripper's vagina move like it was talking?
Remember how you drove out from Valencia to Torrance to help me on my shift because 3 of my baristas called in sick?
Remember going to "sushi happy hour" in Redondo Beach and eating till "we got our money's worth"?
Remember my reaction when I saw your muscles after you were working at the metal shop for a while?
Remember how you took MY COUSIN to see Tina Turner, and I was like, "what the f*ck?"
Remember how you made it up to me and WE got to see Tina Turner together? :)
Remember the time you told me that you lost your virginity and I was like, "WHAT??? HOW??? HUH???"
Remember clubbing in WeHo at Axis and getting so excited we got to dance on the platform?
Remember the man offering you a dancing job with the banana costume?
Remember how we used to play Bingo with the drag queens?
Remember cake and coffee at The Abbey before it became a bar?
Remember how excited I was to get my own apartment and us breaking it in with our first commemorative dinner?
Remember the time we discovered Nad's????? (ouch ouch ouch ouch ouch)
Remember the time we went exploring in Belmont Shore in the hopes to find gay people?
Remember the time we finally found them???
Remember how much we laughed at the Margaret Cho shows?
Remember how our vocabulary consisted of only Margaret Cho imitations?
Remember how patient and understanding you were when I thought Chris was the best boyfriend ever, then being so direct so I could really see how stupid and blind I was?
Remember my reaction when my my sisters were like, "I miss *** (Your name)...Oh, he's coming over? Yeah!"
Remember sitting at the window seat at the Belmont Coffee Bean and seeing Jason's ass walk by?
Remember how I flipped out when I lost my job and you told me they were stupid and everything was going to be okay? Oh... you were right, by the way.
Remember how I flipped out when I found out I was pregnant and you flipped out, too?
Remember how fun it was to eat chicken and waffles???

My list could go on and on, but I'll stop now. Throughout the years you have been a rock to me. Had I not met you in HS, my life would really be different. I don't think I'd be as cultured or intelligent...I don't think I'd be as open-minded as you taught me to be...I don't think I'd have a very good fashion sense, or healthy hair. :)

You are my best friend, and I hope you know that regardless of how lame people are, I'll always be there to listen and remind you of how much better of a person you are than them.

Happy $1.00 Chicken McNugget Day!

2005-09-13T11:44:00.000-07:00

Yes yes yes, it's Tuesday again, and do you know what that means??? Yes, it's

Chicken McNugget Tuesday at McDonald's!!

My boyfriend was famished this morning and couldn't decide what he wanted to eat. I randomly asked him what the day was (and I don't even remember why), and he responded, "ummm.. Tuesday.". He gasped and his big blue eyes widened. At that moment, I realized, "Oh shit, he's gonna want to get more of those damn nuggets."

Funny story:
A few weeks ago, my boyfriend REALLY wanted CMcNugs, so my sister and I trekked out to the local McDonald's to get a 6 piece. When we got to the drive thru, my sister decided she wanted some, and I wanted a chocolate cone. So we ordered 3- 6 pc CMcNugs, and a chocolate cone. We paid, and drove up to the second window to pick up our order. We received the 3 packs of CMcNugs, and no cone. The window person said, "Did you get your order?". I said, "Not everything.". He said, "Oh... hold on". We waited 5 minutes and got another bag of 5 packs of CMcNugs, and still no cone. I said, "umm.. I'm waiting for my cone...". We ended up going home with 8 packs of nuggets and a cone for $4.00. Wow...

So we got home, and I ended up having a few nuggets. My sister ate her 6, and

MY BOYFRIEND ATE THE REMAINING 39!!!

Okay... that's just gross. He struggled, but got through it, and swore he wouldn't have anymore till his arteries cleared up.

Have any of you seen "Super Size Me"?

It'll make you NEVER want McDonald's... until you crave a Big Mac or something a few weeks later. Watch it... it's funny and gross all at the same time.

Hey... my boyfriend's home... and no, he didn't get McNuggets. Good Boy. :)

Alphabet MeMe

2005-09-12T12:58:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone, and Happy Monday!

I actually had nothing interesting to write today (well, not as of yet), so I decided to fill out the Alphabet MeMe, per the request of the supercool Matt S. Oh, and thanks Ceiting, for reminding me to fill this sucker out. :)

Alphabet MeMe:

A - Age you got your first kiss: Oh that memory... I was 15. :)
B - Band listening to right now: Black Eyed Peas (they're fun!)
C - Crush: Real ones, or the kind that will never happen, like my Diego. What am I talking about? That'll probably happen sometime when I'm in my 30's.
D - Dad's name: Pablo, Paul, Dad... depending on who he was talking to
E - Easiest person(s) to talk to: FB, Brendalicious, Marky Diva Woo
F - Favorite Food(s): Japanese! I miss sushi soooo much. :(
G - Gummy bears or gummy worms: Gummy Bears. It's fun to bite their heads off. Is that weird?
H - Hometown: Northridge, CA
I - Instruments: Brief (stress on the brief) time when I had to learn how to play the accordion (thanks, Dad), a little piano, and the bells when I was in choir in grade school.
K - Kids: Got one on the way!
L - Longest car ride ever: 24 hours to Spokane, WA. I would NEVER recommend this drive to ANYONE with sane mind. I just about went nuts on that drive with my poo poo head.
M - Mom's name: Lourdes (never Lu, Lulu, or something like that, because my 4'11" mom will kick your ass)
N - Nicknames: Mina, Mae, Amri (stupid telemarketers)
O - One wish: so many to name....
P - Phobia(s): Spiders, heights, being in creepy dark places alone
Q - Quote: "Friends are like melons. Shall I tell you why? To find a good one, you must a hundred try. -Claude Mermet
R - Reason to smile: feeling my baby kick
S - Song you sang last: My Humps, Black Eyed Peas
T - Time you woke up today: 9:35am
V - Vegetable you hate: arugula
W - Worst habit(s): Burping so loud, it scares my boyfriend. (hee hee)
X - X-rays you've had: none to the day
Y - Yummy Candy: Ferrero Rocher and Almond Roca
Z - zodiac sign: Taurus

What's a Happening, Hot Stuff?

2005-09-11T12:45:00.000-07:00

So I have this thing for Diego Luna. I think he's hot. I've seen him in TONS of his films, thanks to my friend, Brendalicious.

I haven't seen him in anything lately, though I found out he's in the process of working on 3 films. Yeah! :)

I was bored the other day (big surprise), and saw that "Dirty Dancing 2: Havana Nights" was going to be on, so I forced my sister to watch it with me for the umpth time. Each time I watch it, I think to myself:

If you're going to play a Cubano in a movie, you need to work on your accent. I think of all the accents in the Spanish language, the Cuban accent is the hardest one to decipher. When he spoke, I understood everything he was saying because it was very... Mexican.

This guy was WAAAY Cuban in the movie. His accent forced me to read the subtitles when he spoke. :)

I loved "Y Tu Mama Tambien", and I should watch it again soon. (If you haven't watched it, please do so. )

I want to take ballroom dance classes again. (When I have time and a better suited body, of course.) Those few semesters at CSULB were soo much fun, and I loved making fun of those people who thought they were the sh*t but really sucked ass. (Like those dumbasses who tried out for "So You Think You Can Dance" and didn't know what an 8 count was. LAME!)

Patrick Swayze is scary tanned in that movie!!! Please stop tanning, because you're starting to look a little leathery. Oh, but your dancing is still freakin' awesome. Good cameo.

Homegirl's dad in the movie (John Slattery); he's supposed to be a proper businessman and a good husband/father, though I keep thinking, "hey... that's Will's brother (from "Will and Grace"), and he slept with Grace. It seems wrong to see him with Sela Ward in the movie...hmmm...

Diego is saying, "watch my movies.... love me...."

Hope you all had a good weekend, everyone! :)

So Bored, it's Sad...

2005-09-10T22:46:00.000-07:00

I'm so bored, it's really sad. It's so sad, that my blog title makes no sense anymore. This blog was supposed to be my "cure all" for the boredom that I was experiencing now that I've stopped working, but lately, I can't think of anything to say/do except pick my butt and clean everything around me.

Tonight, my little and older sisters had the night off, so we decided to trekk out to LA and go to Canter's Deli . I haven't been out there in quite some time, so I was kinda excited to get out and do anything other than the aforementioned. If you haven't been there before, it's this awesome place that has really good sandwiches, soups, pastries, bagels... deli food. I had matzo ball soup and a reuben sandwich. I am happy. :)

So anyways, like I said, I haven't had anything interesting to write, but everyone likes food, so I figured I'd share. :)

Happy Weekend to all!

Labor Day!

2005-09-05T10:20:00.000-07:00

I was thinking to myself today, "Why should I be celebrating Labor Day?" Have I been laboring over anything lately? Have I been laboring at work? No. I think the only productive thing I've done lately is clean the house, which has been pointless because of all the water damage all over the place. Hmm.. oh well.

Regardless, the family has decided to have a celebratory BBQ at the house today. For those who are far away and have no place to go, we'll be setting up a plate for you. :) Anyone local, come on by! Bring your swim trunks!

Happy Labor Day, everyone! :)

Cute Stuff I've Noticed Lately...

2005-09-01T18:03:00.000-07:00

My boyfriend has been fixing all these random things around the house, like the electric gate that covers the house, the water heater, etc... In fact, he's seemed happy to do it, which is really sweet. (I'm so emo right now) He's in the process of installing new closet and bathroom doors for my mom's bedroom right now. How manly!
My dog, Ginger is a really adorable puppy when she wants to. She barked at me when I went swimming because she thought I was drowning. (I'm really not a bad swimmer) Now that she knows I'll be okay when I swim, she just waits for me to get out of the pool. :)
This is a picture of her sleeping in my sister's room. She's actually not allowed to be in there, but oh well.

My Mom has been cooking up a storm lately. She stopped cooking food food a while ago (because the "kids" weren't at home as much, so cooking was kinda pointless), but since I've moved back to Northridge, there's been food every single day. I wonder when I'll get tired of Filipino food again.... it feels like I'm 12 and my parents are forcing me to eat...hmm...now I'm having flashbacks of being a chubby kid. Okay... that was a random thought process.

My boyfriend took me out on a "date", something we haven't done in quite some time. It was really low-key and casual, but it was just the two of us (so rare nowadays) and the whole point of it was to enjoy each other. We went to dinner, talked talked talked, flirted, took a stroll around the neighborhood, and asked me if he could get to 3rd base at the end of the evening. Dork.
My cousin Mike, who always seems to make really annoying things funny. For example: we (the fam) were pretty annoyed when we found out my oldest sister's boyfriend called my little sister at 3:30am because he didn't recognize the number. He apparently thought my older sister is/was (whatever) cheating on him and decided that 3:30am was a good time to do it. (hello, are you still in 8th grade???) **There's more to the story, but you get the jist. Mike caught word of this, and made a joke of it which we all repeat on a very frequent basis.
My sisters are planning my baby shower and I really don't have to do anything as far as planning or whatever. I've become so accustomed to being the planner or organizer that this baby shower makes me feel kinda out of place. It's sweet everyone is putting in effort for me... its so rare to be able to just lay back and relax. **Note to self: If I can get this kind of treatment without getting pregnant, must put it into use much more! :)

On a side note, I'd also like to point out the "oh.. that's not cute" stuff I've noticed lately:

Hilary Duff and that dude from Good Charlotte. They scare me.
The scary dude that parks his car across the street and doesn't move. FB: Be afraid... he's waiting for you to park your car so he can sleep on it!
People who have gross feet, but inisist on wearing "tsenelas" aka flip-flops or sandals. I don't know about you, but really... is it THAT hard to scrub off dead skin and cut toenails? Sooo not cute. To the lady who grabbed the shoe I was going to try on at Macy's the other day, please get a pedicure. You NEED one.
Learning my favorite bagel joint in Santa Ana had cockroaches.
Learning the Subway at Main Place Mall has cockroaches.
The dog poo I almost stepped in the other day while trying to do my 30-minute walk around the neighborhood. **People, please please please pick up after your dog when you walk them!!!

I think that's it for today. :)

Water Damage Sucks, But FB Saves the Day!

2005-08-31T13:07:00.000-07:00

This past weekend was totally shi**y because: (oh yes, there's a list)

the water heater got mad at me and died
as it was dying, the water heater decided to leak a billion gallons of water into the house
we have no hot water (and have been taking cold COLD showers since the death of the water heater...which isn't TOO bad, considering it's so freakin' hot in the valley)
water damage everywhere.... the wood floor is buckling, rooms on half of the house were flooded, water damage in the walls (oh my)
found mold in the walls as the water damage man came to pull off the baseboards
also found that we have subterranean termites on that side of the house, too.

What next????

I didn't know what to do to cheer me up, so I called the bestest homie ever, FB. I told him what's been happening, and we decided to make a play date out of it.

Has anyone watched AVP, or better known as "Alien vs. Predator"? Please don't. We thought it was way too stupid, but watched the movie in its entirety. How sad were we???

We went swimming, or floated in the pool, to be more honest. We purchased some fun noodles around the 4th of July and they've turned out to be the best investment EVER. Too much fun. Damnit, I should have taken some photos of us in the pool...oh well, maybe next time. *note to anyone pregnant: fun noodles can make your swimming experience soo much easier; great workout for your legs without the strain on your abdominal muscles.

FB and I had this thing for Cappuccino Blasts back in high school. We used to get them ALL THE TIME when we had really fast metabolisms (oh.. back then). We've gotten over that phase and now are on this Ice Blended phase, which probably won't phase out for quite some time, though I do have some personal beef with the Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf (but that's a different story altogether). Oh yeah, so we got Cappuccino Blasts and went grocery shopping, because my poo poo head (formerly known as the devil) wanted to make this fig-bleu cheese-bacon thing that actually came out pretty well.

We ended up having a really good dinner with grilled tri-tip steak, rice (because no meal is complete without it... so filipino), a good salad with my homemade balsamic vinagrette dressing, and poo poo head's fig creation. Yum!

We decided to talk about our blogs and the people FB's met, and I mentioned I clicked on Chip Chat (a cool blog you must check out, by the way) and read about his experience playing old ass Nintendo games. I then remembered we still have the original Nintendo in our entertainment room, and we decided to play Super Mario Brothers 3. Our crazy asses played that game from 10pm to 3am, and we didn't even win. Boo.

Now my sleep schedule is totally off, but I had such a good time hanging out with my boys. Oh, and I forgot about the water damage... until I had to take another cold shower.

Eew... You're Gross

2005-08-25T14:04:00.000-07:00

Since I moved to the valley, I had to find a new OBGYN Dr. When I made an appointment with a long-standing doctor within the city I live in, I breathed a sigh of relief. (Finding doctors is a bitch, by the way)

So I went to my last appointment, very happy and excited to meet the doctor who will be taking care of my medical needs for the next 4 months. Cool, right? Oh so so so so wrong. I entered the building, which was very nice and upkept pretty well. (They got 1 point for that.) The door was locked at 2:00pm, and my appointment was at 2:00pm. (-1 pt. They apparently ran late from their lunch break) The office doors opened up at 2:15 (ugh!) and I waited another 20 minutes to be called in. *So what was the point of making my appointment at 2:00?

I entered the office, was greeted by a woman who spoke english with a REALLY thick accent.

*Note I grew up in the San Fernando Valley, and I understand accents, especially Spanish/Mexican accents. The majority of my friends were Mexican. Their parents spoke Spanish to me, and I conversed at a quite comfortable level. I also took 7 years of combined HS and college-level spanish classes, so you might understand why I was so taken aback when I didn't understand her very well.

I wasn't being a jerk. I really wasn't. But for some reason, I just didn't have a good feeling so far about this doctor and his staff. The lady then began to ask me the normal questions like, "do you smoke, do you take drugs, do you drink alcohol, etc..." She asked me when the last day of my period was. I gave her my response, and she didn't understand me. I then told her, "el 21 de marzo". She started speaking Spanish, and asked me if I could speak in Spanish for the remainder of the visit, then it would be helpful to her.

Helpful to her? Mother sucker, are YOU here for the appointment, or am I? Shit.

She asked me to pee in a cup. The cup wasn't the plastic kind you normally get with the label and stuff. She gave me a paper cup you usually use when you get water from a public water cooler. I went to the bathroom and did my deed. I wanted to wash my hands because, well.. it's just sanitary. They had no paper towels to wipe my hands, and I had a cup of pee to hold.

I thought to myself, "I wonder how long there's been no paper towels. Now I have to touch the handle. Did other people wash their hands, because if I touch the handle, then I'll be touching the pee handle. Shit!

I told her there were no paper towels in the bathroom (in Spanish, of course) and she was like, "yeah, so?". Holy hell! How unsanitary are you people at a DOCTOR'S OFFICE????

Okay, so I waited in the room for another 30 minutes because the doctor wasn't in. Mind you it's 3:10pm and my appointment was supposed to be at 2:00pm. The doctor came in, didn't greet me or say hello, just looked at the papers and said, "your first time here?" I said, "yes", but really thought, "Yes, and it'll be my last, too." He asked me other questions in a curt tone, and at the end of that, he said he'd check the hearbeat of baby. Okay. So he got the fetal heart montor, lifted my shirt, and I said, "umm... can you wash your hands first?" He gave me the dirtiest look. I was like, "Eew... You're gross!" He washed his hands, and proceeded with the procedure, but was an even bigger weenie than before. The appointment was over soon after, (thank God!) and I left thinking that I'll NEVER set foot in that office again.

I found another OBGYN and will be seeing him soon. Wish me luck.

Oh, for your viewing pleasure, I've attached a diagram of how to properly wash your hands.

Oh, and if you don't have time to do this, then you can always use:

I Saw a Butt

2005-08-22T12:15:00.000-07:00

I had a pretty good last week, so I'm hoping to repeat the same this week. I'm hopeful on this not too hot Monday. :)

Last Tuesday I had my first ultrasound which was mind-blowing and a huge reality check for me. I think after seeing the baby, I've come to realize how odd, yet amazing it is to have the little sucker growing inside my achy body. I've also learned a little about the baby in the brief hour and half I had to see it on the monitor:

Baby likes to play... The lady who was performing the ultrasound had a difficult time with baby, as when she found baby, he/she moved to another place to migrate to. She followed baby around and around for about 45 minutes and just laughed because she said baby is now playing games with her just so he/she could make her job more difficult.
Baby is a smartass (already???)... Not only was it difficult for the ultrasound tech to get a good picture of baby due to its antics, she also noted how difficult it was for her to get the baby to flip around and show it's stuff. When she got a good view of the baby (and it's genitals), baby would close it's legs and not open them till the end of the procedure. I saw baby kick me with closed legs, and I saw baby flip around and show me his/her butt. I did not see "the stuff". Oh well.

So in the meantime, baby will be called baby, and I'm stuck thinking if I should start utilizing those greens and yellows for decorating.

Notice my well-manicured thumb... :)

Wow... I Figured it Out!

2005-08-15T14:00:00.000-07:00

As I was scrolling through other blogs, I saw that other bloggers had a Site Meter, to which I was very jealous of. I thought it would be funny to see that I get maybe 1 to 2 hits per day, to whom I can accredit to J6&FB. (Thanks, guys.)

While talking to FB, a man who is not very computer saavy but sooo talented otherwise, he told me how easy it was to setup the site meter... After an hour (easy my ass!) of me clicking and huffing out of frustration, I finally figured how to set it up. Hooray for me, with a sad realization of how lame I am, too. Oh well.

I'll be off to take a dive in the pool with FB in a while. FB: if you're reading this, thanks for being my 2nd hit for the day and bring some sunblock...it's hot here! :)

Presenting... the New Jay Six!

2005-08-14T21:57:00.000-07:00

This blog is dedicated to my friend, Jay of the famous J6 & FB: Hot and Fresh (almost) Daily . He told me that if he ever became a Hello Kitty queer, he'd be the penguin guy. So Jay, here's to you, my penguin friend! If I ever refer to you as Batzmaru, you'll know why.

Kitty Kitty...Hello Kitty!

2005-08-13T08:23:00.000-07:00

If you're a girl, and I guess perhaps some boys, you probably purchased some Hello Kitty paraphenelia, whether it be a pen, stationery, crack pipe, whatever. I went to the the Topanga Plaza for the first time in several years the other day and made a pit stop at the Sanrio Store. As I entered the store, I was greeted with overwhelming pastel plastered everywhere... on the walls, on the floors, in the displays, behind the counter... you get the point. I had no idea there was THAT much Hello Kitty and Friends stuff you could buy! Did you know Hello Kitty has toilet paper? You can buy a 12-pk of 2 ply toilet paper with Hello Kitty on the sheets. I never imagined myself liking Hello Kitty so much I'd want to wipe my ass with her.

Anyhoo... FB, the devil, and I were paroozaling around the store, when Hello Kitty's video came on. Did you know Hello Kitty also has her own video set? She's like the Olsen twins! She makes movies that only comes out on video! The introductory music was a cute little ditty that repeated, "Kitty kitty... Hello Kitty!" Needless to say, FB and I found it to be really funny when the devil found the music to cause his ears to bleed. Funny...

So I got really curious to see how much crap you can find on the fabulous Miss HK, and this is what I found:

Hello Kitty likes to go to the beach. I think her pasty ass needs to put on some sunblock.

Also known for keeping up with her traveling, Hello Kitty also likes to go to London to visit her best friend, Madge. She especially likes public transportation, and prefers taking the pink double decker bus while in the city.

Miss Hello Kitty also loves sports! She went on this trip to Aspen, Colorado last winter not only for the fun, but to also advertise her new snowboard line.

If you are also wondering how she gets the extra cash to do these types of things, remember she is the highest grossing product in Japan's toy history, now expanding to bigger things. Do you know how she manages her kitty cash? With her own freakin' Hello Kitty Credit Cards, of course!

"Kitty Kitty... Hello Kitty!" That stupid jingle is still stuck in my head. Boo.

A Little Housekeeping...

2005-08-04T17:15:00.000-07:00

You might notice I added 2 sites to check out on the sidebar of my blog. One of them is my little sister's MySpace thing, which I find to be very amusing. She's quite entertaining, actually. If you have the time or the patience, check it out. :) My Sister, the Weirdo That's not the official title of her page, though that's what I came up with, so that's what I'm calling it! Oh, in case you're wondering if she's really a weirdo, she kinda is... but aren't we all? The picture is of her... eating. She likes eating... alot. She has this habit of trying to eat whole pieces of things at once. I think the photo is of her eating an entire piece of tres leches cake from a cubano restaurant in Orange, CA.

FB, of the famous J6 & FB did a little guest stint on Breakast at Tiffany's, a new site I just recently started reading. I was quite impressed with the writing done on B at T's.... even with my lack of patience and being uncomfortable, I sat at my computer and read that blog for a while.

Happy reading, everyone! :)

I'm Driving the Bitter Bus

2005-08-04T16:32:00.000-07:00

I had a rough night last night. I got into an argument with the devil for lots of random things. Yes, we've all had our disagreements with our significant others, but last night really got to me. We recently moved back to the valley (which is pretty bad in itself) but for good reason. I want to be surrounded by people who know and love me, who will take care of me and advise me when I wigg out with baby. Having baby be the first for me, not only am I anxious and excited, but scared sh**less.

The devil wanted to discuss finances and whatnot, so we can get better prepared with the monetary future with baby's arrival. I thought we'd be discussing a savings plan and perhaps a college fund. His idea of financial planning was looking into purchasing a building for baby so he can have income in the future. WTF??? You see, the devil is ALL about property investment. "I want to purchase this apartment building, or this home in Spokane, WA or Moses Lake, WA or even St. Louis, MO." The problem with these purchases is that in order for us to purchase them, we'd have to be on a plane destined for these locations, none of which I want to be in. I don't know anyone in these areas, and don't think much of them at the current moment because they don't offer any of the things I want at the current moment, like SECURITY or FAMILY or a SUPPORT SYSYEM. Who would want that when they're pregnant? Am I really that crazy to want STABILITY? The worst part about it, is that no matter what I say, all he thinks about is the financial aspect of having the baby.

**Don't get me wrong, I completely understand the financial hardship of raising a child.. my parents had 4 and I watched them work their asses to give us good lives. (thanks, Mom and Dad... I miss you)

Anyway, long story short, he ended up leaving in the middle of the night and was nowhere to be found until about 2pm this afternoon. I am bitter and frustrated and unsure of what to say. I was recently reminded of something stupid this guy had said in an interview.

When questioned what he thought of Brooke Shield's bout with post partum depression, he responded with something like it being in her head and that all she needed to do was take vitamins. Are men really that stupid and ignorant? Do they really have the inability to understand that it takes not only financial responsibility, but emotional support to raise a child? I mean, how many children are out there who had all the money in the world growing up, but had no guidance or love? Did they turn out the greatest? I think not.

So this is where I'm at today... I'm left with stupidity on the brain. Yes, I slapped on the hat and hopped onto the bitter bus.

Lazy Lazy Lazy

2005-08-02T18:51:00.000-07:00

I woke up today feeling somewhat refreshed. I thought to myself, "I'll get up, get the back house set up, walk my required 30 minutes, make lunch, do laundry, wash my hair....." you get the point. I started by getting up and opening the front door to retrieve the newspaper. Once I opened the door, this massive heat wave attacked me and that feeling of refreshment went down the toilet with my morning specimen. The following is a list of "did you knows" about heat and it's effects on people.
Did you know...

obscene heat gives pregnant people headaches, no matter how much water you drink
heat makes you want to lay down in the "my cat's a ho" position all day long
heat makes you lazy and want to do nothing

I have more to add onto the list, but I have a headache, and I want to lay down with my cat and do nothing.

Back at Home

2005-08-01T11:22:00.000-07:00

After 4 days or so (holy hell!) of moving boxes, I can say that I am officially out of my Long Beach apartment. It's very sad to say, but I am almost relieved to let it go.

I've come to a realization that what I want out of my life now is simplicity. While we were cleaning up our dinner plates last night, I asked my sister if I should cut my hair. It was a very Steel Magnolias moment. I remember the scene quite clearly, for I've seen the movie about a billion times, thanks to grade school summer vacation boredom. Julia Roberts just had her baby Jackson, and she had the need to make things as simple as possible for her. Too bad she died soon after Dolly Parton gave her that crappy hair cut. I have no ill feelings for Dolly, though. I figure she's southern and had a hair salon in her backyard, so I'm sure she did what she could. So yes, simplicity.

Long Beach was just too much work for me for some reason. I had no motivation when I was there. I would sleep in for hours upon hours, which wasn't too bad because quite honestly, I've been getting on average about 3 to 4 hours a night when I was working so much. I became so lazy, all I wanted to do was watch TV and nap. Every once in a while, I'd eat or poo, but other than that, that's what I did.

Today I woke up at 9:00am, which is something I haven't done in quite some time. I made some toast, had some juice, fed my cats, and I'm ready to go off and start working on the house. I'm very excited to be back at home. :)

Cute... Sometimes

2005-07-26T12:11:00.000-07:00

I woke up this morning to my Super Cats walking on my legs. They usually greet me and the devil in the morning by jumping into bed with us. Our alarm clock has been replaced by cats licking their respective owner's nose. It's actually cute when you think about it.

I was bored and decided to try out adding pictures to my blog for flare, so here is my first attempt. Here is a picture of the devil being greeted by one of the Super Cats, Stitchy.

The Name Game

2005-07-25T22:17:00.000-07:00

The devil and I have been trying to figure out a decent name for baby, but with no luck. It's etched in stone that if we're having a girl, she'll be Liliana. If we have a boy, he'll be ______. Nice name, huh? :)
Because we are indecisive and have spent the majority of the time cancelling out each other's suggestions, we call upon all of you for name suggestions. Here is our goal: to find a name for a boy that is somewhat unique (not too common, like Michael or John. If that's your name, no offense.), has a good meaning, and doesn't rhyme or correspond with words that will make him cry. For example: Zack sounds like sack, which will lead him to be called ball sack. I don't know about you, but I don't want my child to come home upset and sad because they kids at school refer to him as testicle. (hee hee... testicle)
So there you go, everyone! We're open to comments and suggestions, so think think think!

The Big 5000

2005-07-25T22:08:00.000-07:00

My friends have this awesome blog. If you read mine, you should check theirs out. You can find it at: www.jaysix.blogspot.com. It is sooo much better than the crap I write onto this one. Today, they celebrated their 5,000th hit on their blog so I wanted to send them a big "Hoo Rah!".
I will be asking them for help on pictures and general setup so mine will be much more interesting to read. Be on the lookout... mine will be somewhat decent in the near future. Till then, have a beer (or 4 like my little sister) for me and enjoy your day!

Super Cat

2005-07-17T22:55:00.000-07:00

I've been really uninspired lately, and really haven't had anything interesting to write about. Today, I wracked my brain and came up with nothing again. Frustrated and a little annoyed, I sat at the computer and played Spider Solitaire for about an hour. Sensing I was bored, my two cats jumped onto the desk and decided they wanted to type out a letter to a friend by the name of "an fasujigzvn". The letter said, "io uw0-7896530-5938u30346253i0 kmvgde"ML kr n/ML:"DJB j iklfj tg".

I then thought to myself, if my cats can type out something so imaginative as that, then why can't I? Is it because my brain is slowly deteriorating? Am I in need of Ginko Biloba? Have I watched too much stupid TV? Did the nurse take too much blood at my last appointment? Has the Devil's lameness start to rub off on me? As I try to find an answer to these questions, I'm left at home, bored with my Super Cats.

Drama with Mama

2005-07-12T00:40:00.000-07:00

I had planned on bumming around today to keep myself entertained. As I was driving to Arby's for my craving of a lifetime, I received a phone call from my Mom. The phone call started out like they usually do; the how are yous were exchanged, as well as the what are you doings. Mom's response however, was different. She replied with, "I'm trying to sleep outside." What??? "Why are you sleeping outside?" "I got locked out, and I can't sleep because the dog keeps licking my face." My poor Mom! My Arby's craving was never satisfied because instead of getting my sandwich, I drove my ass to Northridge to get my Mom in the house. When I arrived, I found her in the backyard, drinking a bottle of water, eating peanuts, and reading the newspaper. She tried sleeping on the bench earlier, but the 95 degree heat wasn't letting it happen. She even tried using a bag of orchid bark as a pillow. Anyhoo, after a shower and a nap, Mom was very happy and very grateful. :)

Holy Crap, it's Hot Here!

2005-07-08T13:30:00.000-07:00

I've been in Northridge the past few days to fix up the back guest house. Went to The Home Depot with my peeps to get supplies, like paint, brushes, caulk (ha ha FB), random ish like that. It was yesterday when it dawned on me how hot it is here. Oh my gosh, I thought my ass was going to melt off. (and anyone who knows me knows that's damn near impossible)

With the imfamous FB around, it was difficult to get any work accomplished, so it's quite sad to report that with the past 2 days here, this is what we did.

Ate adobo/rice/egg for breakfast
Went to get coffee/boba
Ate at Las Fuentes
Went to 2 IHOPs and and Denny's in search of funnel cake (the devil had a craving)
slept (alot)
went swimming with BF till it got really dark
learned you can make a floatation device out of pants (devil has alot of random information from being a boy scout)
renamed the puppy Whitney because she acts like she's on crack (crack is whack, by the way)

I'm wondering if this is how life goes in the Valley... if it is, I've been missing out working so much in Long Beach. :)

Mission Impossible

2005-07-03T13:50:00.000-07:00

Let me start by saying I love my family. My sisters and cousins are my best friends. I love hanging out with them because they're funny and make me laugh. We know almost everything about each other and still love one another regardless of our faults and annoying habits.

With that in mind, we've been going back and forth calling each other these past few weeks because there is a particular subject we think is sad, yet really entertaining to hear. My sister is dating this really really stupid guy. So stupid in fact, he doesn't know what the word "heir" is. He doesn't understand the idea that someone can be "Mexican American" or "African American". He steals for weed money. He has no job. He is disrespectful to my sister and our family. He never pays for anything, especially when he's out with my sister. He says he composes music, but the music sounds like a movie score from a movie I recently watched. He comes to our family parties, eats, and never says, "thank you".

So I was having this conversation with my Mom the other day, and she said in her fobby-motherly tone, "Why don't you talk to your sister; get some sense into her." I thought about it, for about a second or two, and decided that if I did, my sister would probably lose it and try to ball change and kick me like she tried years and years ago. (I still find that fight to be so humorous...who tries to kick someone with a pointed toe? Besides, her turn-out was terrible, and the thought of people who dance and think they're good but really suck always makes me laugh.) Anyhoo, after discussion of who should talk to her, she decided that my cousin should be "the counselor". It was then my responsibility to talk to my cousin and get her to talk to lame-o. Score for me, the Impossible Mission, should she choose to accept it, is now on the hands of my cousin. Ha!

We all think my sister is lame. Don't get me wrong; we all love her very very much (even with her crappy turn-out), but seriously... this has to stop. As I was driving with my sisters, M said, "You know, it's not that she's lame, it's him. You know you pick up the habits of the people who you hang around with? She's picking up his stupidity." What genius! A new perspective, but still supports the "oh my god, he has the IQ of a toenail" theory I have. We'll see what the results of our Mission Impossible are....

*On a side note:
I feel badly for writing this, but on the other hand, it almost feels like therapy for me because I don't feel so bad about talking so much crap about her and her stupidity. It also cuts down the money I'm spending on my phone bills. :)

Top 10 Cool Places/ Things to Do in the LBC

2005-07-01T17:07:00.000-07:00

I was thinking about my favorite things in Long Beach, so I compiled this list so I don't forget about them when I move away. If you're ever in the area, make sure you go to at least one of these stops!

The Queen Mary at Halloween Granted, I get scared pretty easily, however I almost peed in my pants when I went a few years back. The QM is already haunted, and they let you know which areas have paranormal activity.
Belmont Shore This area is probably one of my absolute favorite places to go. It's like 3rd St. Promenade in Santa Monica, but less crowd, cheaper, and the people there are more tight-knit. Belmont Shore is also known for it's gay-friendly atmosphere, so if that's your bag, go!
The Creperie Cafe and Bistro Holy Cow... the food here is AMAZING!!!! If you go for lunch, you need to try a lunch crepe (I personally love the French Riviera). It comes with a salad and the portions are good. Garlic fries and the iced tea there are especially good there for some reason.
Sweet Jill's My little sister insists we go to Sweet Jill's when she's craving dessert. Jill makes the BEST cinnamon rolls, cookies, lemon or lime bars, and pastries. A word of advice: NEVER GO WHEN YOU'RE HUNGRY! YOU WILL SPEND TOO MUCH MONEY!
Long Beach Harbor/Vincent Thomas Bridge This area is kinda cool to drive by, just because it's where Nicholas Cage jumped Eleanor over a million cars. You go pretty high up, so if you're scared of heights, be aware.
The Japanese Gardens at CSULB If you appreciate this kind of thing, the gardens here are beautiful.
Naples There are canals and waterways where you can go on gondola rides. The Luigi man dresses up, sings, and you get wine and cheese during the ride. Cool date thing... very popular, but expensive.
Pine Avenue If you want to get drunk and shake your booty cheeks, then this is the place to go. Pine Ave. is filled with clubs, bars, restaurants, little cafes, art galleries, the list goes on...
The Pike Newly refinished, the Pike is like Pine Ave, but it's more of a Universal City Walk type-esque place. It's next to the water, so the weather is better there, too.
Shoreline Village Shoreline Village is a little area by one of the marinas in Long Beach. There are more restaurants (geez.. you think there's more to do in LB than eat, huh?) and shops that sell random crap. There's a store where you can get really good saltwater taffy. Must go. After you eat, there are scales where you can weigh yourself so you can see how fluffy you got. (The scales were actually there so you could weigh your fish or whatever it was you caught that day, but I never see any fish there.....) Bring the kids for a ride on the merry-go-round, or if you're drunk enough, it's fun for adults, too!

I'm Not a Clean Freak, I'm just Anal

2005-06-30T11:12:00.000-07:00

I've been in management for the latter part of the past 6 years or so. Because of this, I've become accustomed to having things my way. Take it as it is.

I've been going through this somewhat nesting phase the past day or so. I've had this incessant need to clean EVERYTHING. Keep in mind my living space is relatively small, but there are tons of things here and there that needed improvement. So my goal has been to improve my living quarters simply because it makes me feel more comfortable there. This task shouldn't be so hard, right? Wrong... so so so wrong.

My boyfriend is, to put it lightly, NOT CLEAN! He has this "organized mess" theory that works for him. According to him, if you pile random things into a stack on the floor, then he's cleaned. (This is another one of his endearing qualities that make him the Devil again.) I was blessed with an opportunity to clean the apartment the other day when he went out for a few hours to run some errands. So once he left, I busted out my handy dandy vacuum and made a few laps around the place. I looked around the corner and saw my carpet shampooer thingie (that's the technical name) and noticed it was sitting on a cloud, the sun's rays were shining directly upon it, and random choir voices were singing. I had no choice but to fill her up and go. The devil has been trying to stop me from cleaning because he says he doesn't want me to strain myself. (Personally, I think it's really because he feels bad I'm cleaning and he's not.) The shampooer has been banned because he thinks the cleaning solution is bad for me and Lucifer Jr, but I think that's lame; it's just soap. So there I was, shampooing the carpet and pulling up the most disgusting stuff. I was quite content till the Devil came home. He, of course, tried to stop me, but to no avail. I was determined to finish and be happy knowing my feet would be walking on a somewhat cleaner surface.

I forgot about my baby kitties and how they also have this incessant need to clean. I noticed one gingerly walking across the floor and wondered why. I thought, "oh shit.. the floor is wet. Oops..sorry kitties." Then the Devil spoke and said, "if they start licking their paws, they might get sick from the soap in the cleaning solution." I really thought nothing of that, because they're supposed to have such strong stomachs, being scavengers and all. I mean, if they can eat dead birds and insects, they why couldn't their stomachs tolerate a little soap dilutied in a ton on water?

I had forgotten about that mess and have been quite content with the carpeting. It looks fluffier and the stains have been removed. :) Then earlier today, my cat randomly meowed. It sounded kinda painful and I inquired why. I looked over and found Lilo standing in the bathroom, tail quivering. She had this really odd look on her face, which concerned me. I walked up to her, reached out to pet her, and... she farted. Loudly. I was taken aback by the sheer force of the gas her little 7-lb. body had produced. She meowed again, ran into the litterbox, and took the biggest crap. Oops.. so maybe their super stomachs couldn't handle the little soap.

I'm still going through the nesting phase, and doubt it'll stop anytime soon. To be honest, I've always been somewhat of a clean freak, but it was easier before because the Devil wasn't there to distract me. Maybe that's the key... send the Devil away so I can make me a happy home.

If it's a Boy, We Will Call Him Lucifer Jr.

2005-06-29T16:05:00.000-07:00

I've been going through this really odd series of emotions the past few days and I must say, it's quite scary. I recently hung out with 2 of the best and most genuine people I have ever met in my entire life. We've been friends in excess of 10 years, in fact. I felt joy and elation once they walked into my apartment. I laughed while impersonating Cher in the kitchen while the smell of curry chicken filled my 400 sq. ft. apartment. I had some of the best apple pie I've consumed in quite some time. I was surrounded by my friends and family, and to top it off, I kept all of that food down. Score!

Yesterday, I went to the Dodger vs. Padres game with a few of the LBC homies. Had a Dodger Dog and some nachos with gross cheese. Laughed when a guy ran across center field in the middle of an inning and was tackled by the park police. Thought the center fielder (#7) had a great ass. I did my share of walking to and from our BFE parking spot to the stadium. I got home in time to see one of my favorite "Will and Grace" episodes while eating a fudge pop. Again, I kept my food down. Score again!

Today, I woke up on the wrong side of the bed. Not only did oversleep, but one of my cats had run around my bedroom and knocked over a pile of clothing I had just folded the day before. I had these really random stomach cramps that signaled I needed to poo, but my body is not allowing me to do so. My boyfriend woke up and was grumpy because his suit pants did not fit as well as they had used to. The tightness of his pants were appparently caused by me, which in turn, also causes stupidity. He came home from a positive job interview and will receive a confirmation of a position at a mortgage and loan company in Orange County. He also was offered a position as an apartment manager that offers a free apartment and a good wage. He felt like celebrating with a sandwich, something that did not seem appealing to me. Because of my opposition to a stupid sandwich, I was then deemed prissy and difficult. At that point, I had lost it and decided I hated my boyfriend and I wanted him to die. I was carrying the Devil's baby. I might as well plan on naming the baby Lucifer Jr.

My cousin called me in the middle of my "I hate you" tantrum and laughed. She told me that she had done the same thing, and quite frankly, it's a common thing for this to happen. She said several of her friends said their husbands/boyfriends didn't understand their emotions or feelings, and at one point or another, they all wished death on males. After thinking about this coversation with her, I decided that there are a few things I will rely on during the remainder of my pregnancy: Cher impersonations with my uberfriends, an occasional hot dog, the affirmation that I am much more superior than my devil boyfriend, and the fact that the baby is half me.

Rolling in the LBC

2005-06-27T17:21:00.000-07:00

It's amazing how perspective changes when you look at things in hindsight. I've been really antsy lately because I've been wanting to move. Today, my boyfriend officially gave notice to the property manager of the apartment building we live in. I was excited to know that our move is certain, however I realized at the same time how much I've grown to love living in Long Beach.

I drove for 10 minutes and I was at the beach. Granted, it's still Long Beach, but I could have driven the same distance and made it to a cleaner Seal Beach. I went to the beach this morning, and I saw the building Johnny Depp (hi.. he's hot) was arrested in the movie, "Blow". I went to 2nd street and had a REALLY good crepe for lunch. I went to Beanland and got a free drink. These things may seem pretty lame to you, however these are some of the everyday things I see, have been accustomed to, and enjoy on an frequent basis.

I know I'll miss living in the area, especially since I've been here since the fall of 1996. I've met a slew of people here, including the man whose baby I am carrying. I matured here, and experienced a lot of really good and really bad shit. Because of my decision to move to the LBC, I can honestly say that I'm not a kid anymore. Weird.

Welcome to my blog, bitches!

2005-06-26T16:26:00.000-07:00

Welcome, everyone! I'm learning how to do this blogging stuff with my friends from the valley. Hope all who takes the time to read this enjoys what you see and you don't hate me in the end. :)