Stuffed

Work today was not as intense. I was surprised that I actually got a little breathing room. I was even contemplating a quick trip to MetroPCS and change my cellphone carrier and phones. Then I realized I still had some minutes to go before reaching my limits, so I will make that change tomorrow instead. Dave Jose and I decided to have Chinese hotpot tonight. It was a good dinner choice in this cold weather. Dave made chocolate chip cookies too. Then we finished his pecan pie and pudding cake. It was a lot of food, and I am still feeling stuffed. Tomorrow is Friday, I can't wait to let go and just relax.

Sylvia's Birthday

It's Sylvia's birthday today. She's been a very good friend, even though sometimes she and I don't agree on certain issues or see eye to eye. True friendship is accepting of each other and embracing each other's differences. I am working on that all the time, because I know I am far far from perfect. I called Sylvia's brother on Monday and invited him and his wife to dinner. I wanted to surprise her a little, since she wasn't expecting anyone but me to show up. She indeed was pleasantly surprised, but wasn't that shocked to see her brother and his wife there with me. We went to Tofu Village to celebrate. The food was mostly decent, if not outrageously good. The restaurant wasn't busy tonight. We found our service to be pretty excellent, and we all had a wonderful time. Sylvia seemed to like the present I got her. I had always wanted to get her a beautiful perfume set, and I was happy to finally make that happen tonight. It's baby pink in color with a sparkling bottle design, and has "crystal" in the name, very fitting for Sylvia's liking and personality. And it's a fresh, gorgeous scent. Hoping to see her wear it some time. Of course, after dinner I came home smelling totally like Korean BBQ, but I didn't want to change or take off my jacket. It's been a dry, windy and cold day. I could've turned on the heater, but that felt like too soon. So I just kept my jacket on and will wait 'til after shower to change into something more comfortable for bed.

Sending Good Vibes

I stayed home and worked today. Caretas was not feeling well, but she still cooked and gave me delicious pasta for lunch. She's very kind to me, always. The winds in LA were insanely active all day. The plants outside moved wildly, so did my blinds inside. Yesterday we had a very hot, above 90° summer-like day, not so much today. It was quite chilly and windy. OK, in LA, chilly is like, 60°... so it's not that bad really. CH and Robert were still having car troubles. I feel terrible. I wish I could help more. I'm sending them good, positive vibes right now. Hoping they will face no more awful rental car issues tomorrow, and continue on their vacation safely and without any stress or frustration.

Back from the trip

I came back from Sequoia National Park last night. It felt wonderful to hang out with CH and Robert. Robert could really drive. The roads in the park were mostly windy and required a tremondous amount of focus to maneuver, and he had no problem staying oncourse and getting us in, out, and inbetween sailingly. CH and I of course had a lot to talk about. There were times I wished we didn't have to bring up work, but it was impossible not to. At least we were doing it at a stunningly beautiful surrounding! We actually saw a mid-size black bear the first day we went inside. And we were all truly mesmerized by the Sequoia forest. The second day we ventured into the park more extensively. The sights in the day were simply breathtaking. The trees were big, majestic and magical. The rocks were forming in various abstract, angular shapes and sizes. We walked down to a calming creek, up to flat white rockscape, and around several beautiful, living or dead, gigantic trees and gorgeous scenaries. It was like experiencing special effects in every step in real life. We felt very fortunate to able to see the world alive in a full, green, view, and to be able to connect with the nature wholeheartedly and intimately. I was so happy that I went and got to embrace this trip together with my good, old dear friends!

Sequoia here I come!

I finished another week of working full-time. Yay! I am tired, but happy. Tomorrow morning I will be leaving for Sequoia National Park. I downloaded a bunch of Frosty Heidi and Frank podcast and made a bunch of CDs to listen to on the road. I got snacks, gifts, and address entered in the GPS. I think besides packing clothes and toiletries I'm ready to go. Hopefully I'll manage to find a few hours of sleep tonight. Usually I don't get to do that because I'm too excited, or worrying too much. I know, I am easily stressed. No matter what, I'm going to forget about working for a couple of days. I will definitely try to let go, and have some outdoor, forestsy hiking fun with CH and Robert.

Fun Weekend

I received the new laptop from work today. It was pretty exciting. Dave was on a roll tonight, he made seriously fantastic Mexican for dinner that blew my mind. The pumpkin soup was ridiculously creamy and delicious. And the main entree, stuffed pepper with pomegranate and tahini like sauce, Yum Yum! He really should write up all these great vegetarian recipes. I probably should push him to do so! The weekend is coming and I can't wait. I'm going to see CH and Robert! It's been more than 2 years since I last saw them. We are going to hang out at Sequoia National Park for a couple of days. I've never been to a National Park, I don't think, and this will be an eye-opening as well as very fun experience for me.

Happy Mood

I have been spending more time with Caretas these couple of days. She knows I'm working at home now and even though we can't go out like we used to, I can stop by and dine with her. When I say I dine with her what I really mean is that she feeds me. There is no doubt in my mind that I am very blessed to be her neighbor and her friend. I cherish the time whenever we get to eat, laugh and gossip. It relaxes and takes me out of my work mode completely and temporarily. It truly is the simple things in life that create those little but necessary sparks to lighten the rather routine, mundane day-to-day living. I suppose today is one of those good days that I am in a very happy mood, and I think very positive thoughts :)

Last 3 Days

Last 3 days have been a fun ride. Friday it was mostly work, and a night out with John Jane and Wayne. We went to Koreatown, thinking that we were going to try this new restaurant that had $10 all-you-can-eat Korean BBQ, then found out there were probably 100 others who were also waiting to get in. So we tried to hang, but the line was just not moving. After 15 minutes of non-activity, we decided to bail and we drove to another Korean BBQ restaurant. By the way, there are so many Korean BBQ restaurants in the area, it's almost dumb to stay at one place and wait more than an hour to get fed. Castle was a smaller, and lesser-known all-you-can-eat Korean BBQ buffet restaurant, but the food and the service were excellent. We had their cheapest combo, and it was great. That was just $9.99 per person too! We had a great time there. Yesterday was Jen and Steve's big day. The wedding went on smoothly, and Jen couldn't look more beautiful. After the wedding some went to the reception right away, some drove to Pasadena for the 2nd reception. I was responsible for the sign-in table and greeting guests. It was an elegant setting, and everyone cheered when the new bride and groom came back. People were laughing a lot, taking a ton of pictures, and definitely drinking non-stop. The food was not perfect, but everything else was. From the speech to the crowds' reactions, from the parents to every friend and colleague, we were all moved by the love and the entire production Jen and Steve were able to pull off :) Congratulations!

Today I slept in mostly. I didn't get up 'til 11 AM. I went to the gym, and came back with a Subway sandwich. It had been so long since I visited that Subway. I ordered something new on the menu, Buffalo Chicken, it was not bad. The rest of the afternoon I napped, made a couple of international phone calls for work, and finally went to have dinner with PK. We met up with Dave Jose Linda and Stephane. Mandarin Deli took care of us and made every dish outstanding. We were very happy to introduce this great small restaurant to the new couple of the group. Later we went to Marie Calendar's to pick up 2 pies, because they were on sale for $6.99 each. We got a pecan pie and a rhubarb pie, and enjoyed them at Jose's place. This weekend was really fun and jam-packed, and I have to say, I wouldn't want to have it any other way.

October

The month has become very exciting. Z leaves tomorrow, then Jen's wedding comes. Work is a little stressful, but I have a lot of support to help me sail through. Next weekend I'm going to see CH and visit Sequoia National Park, so that's another exciting happening. I sincerely didn't expect my October was going to get this eventful. I am glad it is, even though I'm losing my sleep and feeling tired a lot when I'm not in front of the computer. It's going to get less intense I hope, when I'm more used to the schedule.

Rolling my eyes

I never really like people who say, "Oh I'm SO busy!" whenever I ask them how they are. I am secretly rolling my eyes. It just seems so pretentious. It's like saying "I have so much going on at work I really don't have time for you or anything else, well, except for right now." Every time I hear that response I think, "That's just sad! Because you told me that last time too!" I guess I'm jealous? Or I'm dumbfounded? My previous jobs didn't get super busy that often, and when they did, I tried not to tell people or talk about it like it's some kind of news. Some of my friends do though, all the time. Anyway, this last week at the new job has been a little hectic. I am really not familiar with this rhythm. Lots of events happening at once, and many of them require lots of attention, while the rest are merely distractions or of less importance to what is going on with my current training. Of course, I continue to strive for that stance, that I won't say "Oh I'm SO busy" when my friends call me or ask me how everything is. I still think that's annoying and pretentious. And I don't want to feel like I'm rolling my eyes at myself. Other people can do it, but not me. I'm just getting used to a different pace of living. That's all.

Karaoke debut last night

The temperature has dropped drastically in LA this week. There's supposed to be a storm coming tomorrow. I thought I would be looking forward to the rain, but now I am not sure. All this gloominess and coldness make me extremely sleepy. I guess my unwell stomach has something to do with that too. PK was very sweet to invite me over for dinner tonight. We also hung out last night and I made my karaoke debut at Frontera after our dinner. The food there was kind of salty, but the crowds were very friendly. PK sang a bunch of songs, most of them were challenging to sing (and to hear, ha). David didn't sing anything, he was just shy. I found my guts somewhere and sang just 2 songs and I thought they went better than I thought, if I may say so myself, ha. Below are the original versions. It was a fun fun night and a great way to end the weekend!

Eternal Flame by The Bangles:


Straight Up by Paula Abdul:

Stomach not feeling good

My stomach is acting up today. I took some Picot just now and am hoping my stomach will feel less cranky. I don't know why it is so upset. Sigh. It probably has something to do with me overeating at West Coast Buffet last night. Usually I could consume that a lot of food with no problem, but perhaps after a day of running around, driving in the car, and shopping in Desert Hill Outlet and eating food court junk food, my stomach just had enough and decided to quit on me finally today. I am tired also. I finished another round of test this morning and I am just drained. I whine too much! OK I'm going to shut it and get some rest now.

Houseguest

So I was late to pick Z up at the airport. I was more than an hour late in fact, and it took us another hour and a half to come back. I'm drained. Tomorrow is going to be a full day. There's a haircut, car rental, outlet shopping, and probably Chinese buffet. It's nice to see him again. A lot of memories and a lot to talk about between us. I am going to try my best to be a great host, and I will have a good rest when he's gone. Wait, I have a job now. Ugh... no rest 'til next weekend then. Wait, it's Jen's wedding next Saturday. OK. Next Sunday! Sleep 'til noon is a must!

Busy

The last few days have been very different from my job-hunting, uneventful days. So far there has been persistent technical difficulties, a ton of necessary readings, several challenging tests, job trainings, conference calls, never-ending emails, quick change of plans, and more of everything I just listed. It's just busy busy. Of course I think this sudden flood of work is quite overwhelming, but I also find it a little exciting. I am learning, absorbing, and making progress. I do look forward to the weekend though. Z is flying in tomorrow, and I haven't really had time to clean or do anything to the place. Well, I'm sure he'll understand.

Training

I started my training today. It got very busy and exciting. I really don't know how it all will go down, and it's definitely going to get tougher, but so far I feel good to be working and learning. Besides checking in on Caretas I didn't step out of my apartment much, I didn't even go to the gym. Tomorrow I'll have 3 meetings, so it's a little different from my normal, leisurely lived, mellow life :)

Lazy

I took care a bunch of stuff today. It was a productive day. The lunch with Caretas was very sweet. She was in such good spirits! I love when my friends are doing good and feeling healthy. I thought about tidying up my place too, but I got lazy. My apartment seriously needs some cleaning before Z's visit, I will probably do some tomorrow, then a little more on Wednesday. I usually do just the minimum of cleaning. Sigh. I really am not the neatest person.

I found a job

Finally the news is out: I found a job! It is full time and temporary. I feel good about it, but I also know there's a learning curve and definite uncertainties that come with the new line of work and people. Forewarn is forearm. I will keep myself in check, make sound choices, and aim for the best. I want to say thanks to those who listen and care when I struggle everyday and try to figure how to forge ahead. I am truly blessed with love and friendship. This is going to be a quiet, steady step forward. I will enjoy it, learn from it, and smile while it lasts.

Keeping it in

I worked a little today. It was supposed to happen earlier, but he didn't call me 'til 10:30, so I ended up getting there around 11:15. It was good to feel that I was doing a good job. I thought about sharing what was going on with my manager, but I decided to hold back. Sometimes it's better to keep some info to yourself. He did give me a lot of good suggestions, and I am going use them to improve myself and my confidence. I will have another half day of work tomorrow. I am not sure if I'm going to stay the entire 5 hours. We'll see what the boss says.

Yes I can

I'm feeling overwhelmed all of sudden. There's a lot of things are coming together, and moving into place, and I'm feeling stressed about how I am handling everything properly, timely, and mindfully. This is good, I tell myself, it's what I've been waiting for all this time and the next stage is going to be very different and exciting. I just hope I don't screw up... then again, I was not doing all that well financially all year long and I am still walking tall today, so who's to say I can't have another go at this jobless adventure in the future? Seriously though, after all is said and done, I'm proud and happy that I am pacing myself, hanging tough and moving slowly forward. I can do this. Yes I can!