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September 28, 2005, 9:00 pm MST
"Come on over to me, girl, touch my life" - Touch my Life, Big Mountain (?)
Long time, no post, I know! Well, here I am, and busier than a bee. But I did take some time to put the pictures from Sedona over Labor Day Weekend up on the web. Check them out! :)
So... let's see, the bridal shower weekend has come and gone. It was a big relief, because I was really worried about not having things planned, etc. They both seemed to go well, and everyone appeared to have a good time. :) Then this past weekend, I held a BBQ for some of the Field Engineers who are visiting from Japan for a month. Quite a few people came, and I prepared quite an extensive menu, especially considering I don't normally feed 15 or so people, and considering that I don't normally cook. :) On Friday, I go straight from work to the airport, and back to San Jose again for the weekend. No time off this trip, 'cause I'm saving it for the actual weddings. This weekend is Shirley's Bachelorette Party! It should be a lot of fun, with dinner and a slumber party with the girls. (No, guys, we don't have pillow fights in our underwear, no matter what you think or hope!) I'm looking forward to losing sleep over FUN stuff for a change instead of over work or stress.
Yes, the weddings certainly are fast approaching. And if it's coming this fast for me, imagine for the girls! :) And tomorrow, one of the brides-to-be has a birthday! Sara will be turning 26 years old, yay! I'm hoping to squeeze in some time to see her this weekend, even though it's going to be mostly for Shirley.
Anyway, that's about it. Hope everyone's doing well!! Sorry for the short posting... one day, I'll spend more time on this site, I promise.
August 21st, 2005, 7:19 pm MST
"If you're not the one, then why does my soul feel glad today? / If you're not the one, then why does my hand fit yours this way?" - If you're not the One, Daniel Bedingfield
Another weekend is coming to an end, and though it's sad that it's over, at least I didn't get called! (Yet, at least.) I got the bridal shower invitations for both Sara's and Shirley's weddings done. I think they both came out really cute, and they're all addressed and complete with cute Disney stamps to get them to their destinations. I was going to plan more of the games and stuff that will need to be planned for the showers, but I didn't really know where to start, and got distracted by other stuff that wanted to be done, so the rest of that (finding and ordering favors, planning games, thinking of prizes for the games, etc.) will have to wait. I managed to go to Michael's to find some cheapish frames for the 8x10s and some 4x6s that I got printed from the Budapest/Vienna trip, stop at Home Depot to buy a flat-ended shovel for cleaning up my yard after storms and a ceiling fan for my room (yay! Finally!), send off Sara's invitations, finish a collage of old family pictures that I had started earlier this year, start a cross-stitch for Jonathon's cousin's second baby (due around April of 2006), scan and print out some old high school dance pictures, fix a hole in Jonathon's pants, pull weeds in my front yard, clean up the latest storm mess in my front yard, watch a few movies on TV and on DVD, pick up Ben from the airport, grocery shop, and play with Wicket for a couple of hours. Right now, I'm watching Titanic and contemplating eating a bag of gummi bears.
Anyway, that's about it, I just wanted to touch base and let you know I'm still alive. I can't believe it's the end of August already -- next thing you know, it'll be the holidays!! Work has been busy, but productive, and my other teammate gets back from vacation tomorrow (poor him!), so I don't feel as hesitant about walking into the office. :) I hope all is well with everyone!
August 4th, 3:13 pm MST
"It's you and me / And all other people / And I don't know why / I can't keep my eyes off of you." - You and Me, Lifehouse
Hello, everyone, and first: Happy 26th Birthday to Bobby and Bryan! Bobby's birthday was Monday, August 1st, and Bryan's is today. Happy day to my favorite boys in LA, and the ones I have the most memories with!!
Second, in case you haven't noticed, I have posted Budapest pictures on my site!! I know, shocking! And only a month late! I haven't finished the page for the Vienna pictures yet, but better than nothing, right? :) Check out my Pictures page and check out the pictures. Feedback is always welcomed!
Not too much is going on. Work is a little (haha) stressful with my only other teammate on vacation for 3 weeks -- just me and my team lead holding down the fort. I need to learn to deal with stress better because I really freak out when things are overwhelming. It's like it's compounding within me. And I'm not even 26 yet! Maybe it's time to take a little better care of me.
Shirley was here last weekend! We had a good time (well, I did, and I hope she did, too!) and got to relax a little, which we both needed. I had my appointment to get my bridesmaid dress altered. I think it's going to look super cute when it's all done!! I'll get it back at the end of September. We also saw the new movie Must Love Dogs with Diane Lane and John Cusack (cutie!). Such a cute, funny movie! Good date or girls' night movie. It's not too mushy, either. Hilarious. Two thumbs up.
We've been having some huge storms around here, too. Driving home is a bitch on those days, where we're pretty much crossing rivers of rushing water while driving down this one street to my house. I had a couple messes to clean up (actually one was cleaned up by one of my anonymous neighbors, thank you!!), and have come to the conclusion that I need a flat-ended shovel. Big milestone, I know. :) The list of joys of being a homeowner is growing ever longer. :) Next, I think, is a wheelbarrow, which would mean I need overalls and red plaid bandannas to put in my pigtails.
I think this weekend will be some more watching Party of Five: Season One on DVD and relaxing (hopefully). Yay for not being on-call after tomorrow!! I was called on Monday and it sucked. I had forgotten how bad it sucks. I hope it'll be a quiet weekend with sleep and no stress. FYI, if anyone wants to start a "Buy Jennifer a New Night Guard" Fund because I've almost ground through my current one, please feel free!
July 9, 2005, 7:49 am MST
"Love forever, love is free / Let's turn forever, you and me." - Feels Good Inc, Gorillaz
Well, I'm back in Tucson, and I couldn't be happier about it! I had a really nice time in Budapest and Vienna, but there's just something about being away from home for that long that's exhausting. Two weeks of living out of hotels and bags, eating out at restaurants for every meal, and not understanding the local language (especially in Budapest) was enough for me. I thought I would kick the jet lag by this morning, but I guess not quite. The trip back was much better than the trip there (about 17 hours, I think), with all the flights on-time. I got back to Tucson on Tuesday, the 5th at 6:15 pm.
The rest of the time at work wasn't too bad. We worked one weekend day that first weekend, but it wasn't as hectic as I thought. Thursday, the 30th of June was our last day (the only really late day for me), so we got to spend Friday sight-seeing and souvenir shopping in Budapest, after sleeping in a little. Saturday, Nick, Justin, and I checked out of our hotels in Budapest and drove out to Vienna, about 3 hours away. We stayed there till the 4th of July, when we drove back to Budapest, stayed a night there, and flew out on the morning of the 5th. The weather was great the entire time we were out there, except one day (Saturday) when we were driving to Vienna, when it rained. Our full day of sight-seeing in Vienna that Sunday, though, was a gorgeous, sunny day, so no complaints here. :)
I'll be working on resizing pictures and trying to fix up that pictures page that I couldn't upload the pictures to from Budapest. I can't guarantee it will be too soon because I have a lot of wedding things to take care of, and next weekend, I'll be in San Jose for some wedding stuff, too. But I'll try my best to at least get the good pictures up soon.
Anyway, I just wanted to touch base and let you know I'm back safe and in one piece. I also got a new cell phone number -- finally accepted the 520 area code, but only to get a 23% discount through Cingular. :) If you didn't get my mass email with the new number, email me and I'll send you the new number.
June 23, 2005, 3:20 pm, Hungarian time (6:20 am MST)
"La La La." - Some Hungarian song on the radio
Hello from Eastern Europe! I've been in Budapest/Vac for almost exactly 3 days now, and so far, so good. I'm glad I'm not driving while I'm here, it's absolutely crazy here!! And there are 5 other young people here from the San Jose and Tucson IBM sites supporting manufacturing here, too, so it's been a lot of fun. I tried to upload the pictures I've been sending out to people via email, but for some reason (maybe firewall here at work or something), the pictures didn't show up. :( So now the index page shows that there are new pictures but the pictures and the page didn't show up. Sorry! Don't mean to confuse you. Besides, if you read this page, you probably got the email anyway. :) I'll put the pictures up when I get home.
Work has been fairly slow, thankfully. Almost too slow, to the point where staying awake is difficult, especially after lunch. :) It's been a bunch of us just hanging out in the room by the lab, with a bunch of other lab people from manufacturing, and we're a loud bunch, us Americans. It looks like we'll have to work one day this weekend, too, but oh well, what can you do.
My trip will be outlined a bit more in detail when you see the pictures when they're finally up, I think. But suffice it to say, it was a loooooong trip to get here. Door to door, it took something like 27 hours!! There were some delays and even a missed flight, but we (and our luggage) got here in one piece, and that's something to be thankful for.
The hotel I'm staying in is pretty nice. The bad thing was that it's a smoking room, but the smell is pretty much gone now -- I guess my stink has overcome the smoke smell. :) It's very livable, even for 2 weeks, and I don't spend much time there except to sleep and get ready for work anyway. Breakfast is included with the room, and is great for me. Pastries, rolls, cereal, and yogurt, with juice, milk, and coffee as beverages. It's within walking distance to a lot of things, especially shops, so that's fun. And I can see the Danube River from my hotel room which is kind of neat, too. :)
The IBM site in Vac (about a 30 minute drive from the hotel, if you don't get lost or stuck in traffic) is shared with another company, and is just a manufacturing site. It's in this rural area with lots of trees, fields, and a little town. It's really pretty. Budapest has a LOT of buildings (mostly tall) and is very crowded. The streets are narrow, and filled with little tiny cars, with the occasional bus, van, or normal-sized car. The buildings seem to crowd around the streets, and everything looks old. There's a lot of graffiti, too, which is sad, but kind of just adds to the personality of the city. Lots of people just walk around all over the place, and it's never empty on the streets.
Next weekend (the weekend of the 4th), we're going to go to Vienna and check stuff out. I'm really excited about it! I hope it'll be good weather. I think we'll stay from Saturday through Monday (the 4th) and come back to Hungary 'cause our flight leaves the 5th at 10:20 am.
Anyway, I'm off for the day. Hope this will post!!
June 19, 2005, 3:31 am, AZ
"So I walk up on high / And I stepped to the edge / To see my world below / And I laugh at myself / While the tears roll down / It's the world I know." - The World I Know, Collective Soul
It's 3:31 in the morning, and I'm sitting in my house watching Sex & the City: Season 6, Part 1, Disc 1, drinking soda, and putting more songs onto my iPod mini. I'm trying to stay up all night like some people told me to do (Justin & Noel, this means you!!) before my big journey across the country and the Atlantic. I set off on my trek tomorrow morning... Justin should be getting here around 6 am and Mitch will be driving us to the airport at what I fondly refer to as "the asscrack of dawn," which is anything before 7 am, in my book. (In case you were wondering, 7-8 am is considered just the "crack of dawn.") I'm pretty nervous about my journey. I think I calculated that I will be travelling for about 21.5 hours or something insane. I just can't grasp the concept of travelling for so long that you don't arrive till the afternoon of the next day!
Anyway, don't want to freak myself out this soon, so let's talk about something else. We had our first block party this evening, and it was actually a lot of fun! Most of the people who showed up were the same that showed up to Rick and Jean's Holiday Party, plus a few others from up the street. Our half of the street is definitely cooler!! It's so different than the block parties we had on Weybridge, where it revolved around the kids. Here, there aren't too many kids, so it was more of a "drink outside and talk to your neighbors" thing. Then I came in and started packing.
Oh, and Dad, if you're reading this, Happy Father's Day! I won't be turning my cell phone on so I already talked to him today -- but still wanted to get a shout out to him, the best dad in the world! :) As your gift, I am leaving the country for 2 whole weeks! :)
So Jonathon will be watching the house for me, as will my wonderful neighbors, and Dexter and Dinglehopper will probably party it up in here while I'm gone. I just have to stay up another hour, then I can jump in the shower and finally pack the rest of my stuff that I'll need in the morning. It's really a pain trying to decide what I'll want to wear for the next 2.5 weeks. I can't even decide what to wear *tomorrow* most days!!! Oh well, I'm sure I'll survive with whatever I have packed right now. I'm starting to get kind of nervous and queasy. I hate flying. I would rather stay here, but oh well. Maybe it'll be great!
Anyway... that's about it, I guess. Another couple of episodes and I'll hop in the shower. I can't believe it's already time for the trip!! I'll try to post again while I'm out there, otherwise I'll hopefully have some pictures to put up on the site. :) Wish me a safe flight(s) and that I'll be able to sleep most of the long flight.
June 8, 2005, 2:39 pm MST
"Baby, my baby / It's written on your face / You still wonder if we made a big mistake." - Incomplete, Backstreet Boys
Long time no write, and it still won't be a long update. :( Sorry. Work is crazy, and I even have a business trip coming up in about a week and a half. I'll be out of the country for 2 weeks! I had to get a passport and everything. Yes, Jennifer is stepping out of her comfort zone in order to further her career. :) Actually, I think my career is doing very well on its own, but I figured this wouldn't hurt. The job is still so stressful, and getting moreso. But hey, it's a job, and the people I work with are cool, so so far, it's worth it.
I recently updated the pictures website, if you haven't checked it out already. Just some things going on here and stuff. The weather has been really great in Tucson, with only about a week of really hot weather (and early on in the season, considering, too) so far. It's been mild in June so far, but I'm sure July and August will boast the monsoons as usual. There was already some thunderstorming over the Santa Ritas for about a week, and a huge storm that Sara and I were caught in over Memorial Day weekend at the mall, but otherwise quiet. Electric bill is starting to rise, though, with the increased use of the AC.
Anyway, I'm still alive, and I'm busy working on Sara and Shirley's wedding stuff, so don't worry about me out here in Arizona! I'm perfectly happy out here in the desert. :)
March 17, 2005, 10:19 am MST
"You're dedicated / You took the time / Wasn't long till I called you mine." - Since U Been Gone, Kelly Clarkson
I KNOW. I still haven't put up pictures from Donna's wedding. I'm sorry!! I don't think I have too many good ones anyway. I also haven't put up pictures from the Ventana Canyon hike that I did with some guys from work a few weeks ago, and certainly not the pictures of wedding and bridesmaids dress shopping with Shirley this past weekend. What can I say? I'm a busy girl.
Work continues to accummulate somehow, and another release is coming up shortly. I've been working in the office more than the lab this week, and though I miss the girls I worked with in the lab, it's also kind of nice to have my space to sprawl out, and to have the bigger monitor instead of my laptop monitor. :)
Okay, so what has been going on since the end of February? I guess not much. Like I mentioned, one of the weekends, a few of us from work went for a hike in Ventana Canyon, which is up in the Santa Catalina Mountain Range (Northeast Tucson). It was really pretty, and even though we got rained on on our way down, it was still a good time, and ended at this restaurant called Sauce, with delicious thin-crust pizzas and eventually a nice hot shower at home. Shirley was here this past weekend visiting, and we found her a gorgeous wedding dress!! Even though she was only here for a short time (Friday night till Sunday late afternoon), we got a lot done, and had a lot of time to spend relaxing and catching up. We've both been so busy at work, and her especially with wedding stuff to boot, it was nice to do some girl talk, gossip, and sip some margaritas while we watched a movie. :)
I'm also looking forward now to my trip to San Jose in April! I can't wait to see Sara's wedding dress that she picked out, and try on the dress that she wants us bridesmaids (especially the maid of honor) to wear! I also want to see the veil that she wants, to see if I can make it or not. Another thing I'm excited about (which is kind of silly) is addressing invitations! :) Shirley's sending save-the-date cards, but they'll probably just address those themselves. Her invitations sound really nice and I can't wait to see them! And I think Sara and Mike will start looking at invitations after they finalize their church (already have the venue).
Anyway, I should be getting to work, so just wanted to check in. :)
February 21, 2005, 3:12 pm MST
"What goes around / Comes around / What goes up / Must come down." - Karma, Alicia Keys
Last week sucked. I was insanely busy all week, but it felt like an eternity. And to make things worse, Friday, I worked my first "2nd shift" which ended up being till 1 am -- and followed it up with my 7th work day in a row on Saturday from 9am - 7pm. The bright side was that I had all day Sunday to run all my errands, do some laundry, pull some weeds in my yard, and clean part of the master bathroom. I really miss those weekends where Saturday was errand day and Sunday was relax day. Now I just don't feel rested after any weekends. Even if I don't get called in, I'm tense, just thinking about the phone ringing.
But I shouldn't complain. I'm not even working nearly as long as some of my other colleagues. I don't know how they do it. I'm always so exhausted every day, and even more exhausted every morning. Today was especially hard to get up. I have this upcoming Friday afternoon off so that we can head out to Phoenix to catch our flight to Sacramento for Donna's wedding! I know this weekend is going to fly by, which is sad, but we *will* get to see both our families. We're staying with Jonathon's mom to save on hotel, and of course we'll get to spend most of the weekend with my family for the wedding and the day after. Yay!
I talked to Sara for a while on the phone yesterday, and I'm getting really excited about all the things I'll get to do for her wedding from here! Things like writing out the invitations, keeping track of the RSVPs (maybe), working on the favors, and possibly working on her veil. I love doing that kind of stuff! Shirley's off in Taiwan with Tony and her oldest sister looking for (and hopefully finding) the perfect wedding dress and getting pictures taken for the big event in October. She'll be coming to visit soon, and I'm excited about that, too. :) Looking at bridesmaid dresses, hanging out, it will be fun (if work doesn't get in the way)!
Yesterday, Michael's was having a sale, and cross-stitching kits were 25% off! I found one that fit all my requirements: cute, fairly big (so it'll take some time), and will look cute somewhere in the house. Ever since I finished the ones for the babies, I've been kind of missing it, and also have been getting kind of bored at home when I'm alone, so I'm really excited about it now. :) Here is a picture of what it looks like. Anyway, so if I ever get around to putting up the hanging thing that Jonathon's mom gave me that I was thinking of using as a headboard in the guest room, it'll go really well because they're both fabric, and I think they'll have similar colors. And even if it doesn't go, it'll look cute somewhere in the house. Too bad it's another odd-shaped one, 'cause custom frames can be pricey.
There was a big thunderstorm and hail in Tucson on Saturday. I watched some of the thunderstorm after I got home from work Saturday night. It was pretty cool. I think it's supposed to rain again later this week, too. I don't mind it, I think it's nice, and plus I guess we're in a drought right now, so every drop counts!
Anyway, that's about it from here. I hope you Californians are staying somewhat dry, and drive safe in the rain. :)
February 8, 2005, 2:50 pm MST
"All you'd ever hear me say / Is how I pictured me with you / That's all you'd ever hear me say." - Since U Been Gone, Kelly Clarkson
I could really use a weekend. You know, those two days that people a long time ago used to get to relax and take some time off work. I mean, two days -- that's asking a lot! Apparently I can't even get ONE off. The last two Saturdays, I've been called and asked to log on from home. And Sundays are normal work days now, with just as many hours as any other day. The only difference is a free lunch, which usually ends up being eaten while working.
So I still haven't had a chance to get the gravel for the side yard, which kind of blows. With Jonathon going to school on Saturday mornings and then working Saturday evenings, even when I don't get called in, it's hard to do. This Saturday, though, some guys from work and I are planning a little hiking trip in Sabino Canyon, then lunch in town. If it rains, maybe lunch and a movie. The group of guys I hang out with at work are a lot of fun. A couple of them came over on Sunday for the Superbowl (though I had to work till 7-ish anyway). We had fun playing games till 12:30. It's nice to feel like we're starting to make friends out here.
Jonathon has become a trainer at Chili's. It's really fast, but I think he does a good job and they recognize it. He's been really busy with school full time and work, and with me working so many hours and so many days a week, we don't get much time to do anything other than sit around and do nothing together. Oh, well. At least we're saving money that way.
Last week, I finally bought a wireless router and set it up. I think I'm still more excited about the "router" part. I've had a hub, but never a router, so I've never had two computers online at a time. Well, I didn't HAVE more than two computers at once before, but now, with my desktop, laptop, and work laptop, it's pretty cool. Yes, I even tried sending myself an email from one machine and read it from another! :) I'll eventually get excited about the wireless part, I'm sure. So far, I've only used it in the office and once in the living room. It was pretty cool.
I also got an external ZIP drive on eBay for cheap, so I can finally get my pictures from my last year and a half or so of college onto my computer and maybe get some printed. Lately, I've been working on getting pictures put into albums instead of photo boxes. Most of my ones from the last 4-5 years were taken digitally, so I got lazy and didn't print them. I should get around to it.
I'm almost done with my 1040, which is exciting. I kind of want to finish it tonight (and maybe also my 540 for CA and 140 for AZ) so I can see how much I can expect to get back. I got a lot of deductions this year, with the moving expenses and the house. Pretty exciting. It'll help me pay off some of my CC bills. Some, but not all. :(
My old officemate Jude (who also came to Tucson last year) and I are going to be in the same team again!! We're in the same department, but this evening, I think my new team lead will be taking over his team, as well. There's going to be a lot of reorganization this year, with lots of people retiring and planning ahead for IBM's plan to move out of the Cottle Site in San Jose (and others quitting, like our colleague Steve). It'll be a sad year, I think, now that I'm finally getting to know everyone and feeling like part of the team. Hopefully my core friends here won't be leaving any time soon!!
Anyway, that's about it from the Wild West. 2½ more weeks till my cousin's wedding, I'm really excited about that! :) And 2½ weeks till our next ship date, as well. :( I hope everyone is doing well out there. :) BTW, my ferball.com email address no longer works. Please email me at my new email address jennshioya@gmail.com from now on. Thanks. :)
January 28, 2005, 2:31 pm MST
"It's been awhile / Since I could / Hold my head up high." - It's Been Awhile, Staind
Time might fly when you're having fun, but it also flies when you work your ass off and have no fun, too. Unfortunately for me, the latter is my case. Work has been getting more tolerable, as things usually are for me when I know what I'm doing, and am feeling confident that my code is stable. It's nice that it's Friday, and for me, the end of a "short" week because last weekend, I was asked to work on Saturday, which I hated. Not only was that my 7th day of work in a row, but it totally threw me off my schedule! My new team lead wants 4 of us to switch off supporting on Saturdays, and as much as I hate working 7 day weeks, if it's just once a month, I'll take it so that I can work Sundays the other 3 weekends of the month.
So let's see... how has my year been going so far? The den/office is looking a lot more homey, with two desks that fit in there quite well together. And there's still plenty of room, even with the bookcase and some odds and ends. It was nice working from there this past Monday. That was when I figured out the mystery of The Gravel in the Pathway. I used to sweep the path to the front door so that the gravel from the landscaping wasn't all over the place, but it keeps coming back, and I didn't know how. Well, apparently, the neighborhood kids who live in or are going to a house down the street from us (basically next door), they come running down the connecting street and are too good to follow the sidewalk around my property, so they just run through my yard, kicking the gravel and such, and occasionally knocking over the little solar lights that light the pathway. Kind of sucks, but who am I to complain? We used to play hide and seek in people's yards all the time. But that doesn't mean I won't take advantage of a chance to scare one of those kids as they're running through. :)
Scout died last week. :( I don't know what happened. One night, she was out begging for food and running in her wheel as usual, and the next night, she was in the upstairs room of her and Lyra's house and wasn't moving. :( We buried her next to Evie in the backyard. She was my favorite, and died too young. :(
The weather has been kind of cool lately, compared to the mid-70s we were getting about a week and a half or two weeks ago. It's been rainy off and on, and the sun is definitely warm, but the wind is always cold. I don't mind it, I think it's nice, and the clouds make for gorgeous sunsets.
And the best news: Jonathon's cousin Rick and his wife Maggie had baby Kylie Dawn Mulvaney on Sunday, January 23! She's a healthy little girl and Jonathon and I can't wait to meet her in person. :) Welcome to the world, Kylie!
Well anyway... this weekend will be on-call Saturday, work all Sunday. Saturday (tomorrow) morning, I might run into town and get some stuff while Jonathon's at school. Just another weekend. I hope things are well with everyone! Just wanted to check in and say I'm still alive! :)
January 4, 2005, 1:26 pm MST
Happy New Year!!
Has anyone seen my vacation? I seem to have lost it. It must have slipped away a little early because I know it couldn't already have been 11 days that I had off. I mean, I was just here yesterday, or maybe the day before at the most. Right? :( Anyway, if anyone finds my vacation, please let me know. I'd like a chance to finish it.
All kidding aside, I had a great vacation!! I didn't get a full half-day off on the 23rd of December like I had hoped, but we did get out a little early, and that was nice. I got a head start on my vacation that way. I did a s@$% load of cross-stitching while I was at home, and tried my best not to leave the house at all when possible. Friday (Christmas Eve), I watched the whole Lord of the Rings trilogy (theatrical version, not extended) while I cross-stitched. Saturday, I flew to LA and had a great time with my dad's side of the family! It was great to see everyone, and baby Sammy is SO BIG. We ate the whole time, did a white elephant gift exchange, and just hung out. I got home (Tucson) on Sunday around 2:30 pm and sat right back into the butt-mark that I've imprinted in my couch and cross-stitched some more.
Monday, I decided that maybe I should venture out to return some clothes I bought that I didn't like, and head over to Sam Levitz, because all afternoon on Sunday, I kept seeing "Clearance" commercials about a sale that ended on Monday. I've been looking for a few pieces of furniture, and I would have liked to wait for Jonathon, but I figured it would be good to look at the sale. So I actually changed out of my sweat pants and thermal shirt into jeans and a t-shirt. I returned my clothes at Old Navy (lucked out finding a parking spot), then went to Sam Levitz. I found two nice things, one that I don't really need, but will fit nicely in the den with the desk that I bought there. :) The desk looks pretty nice -- it's a bit deeper than other desks like it, but it's still your standard "college desk" with the hutch and all. This will be good for Jonathon's schoolwork. We haven't put it together yet, so we don't know if we'll put the computer on it or if we'll leave it on the little computer stand thing that I have it on right now. Depends on how much desk space is left. The other piece I bought is a craft table. It's basically a desk (sans hutch) with nifty drawer things, plus the back of it has an extension that can be lifted up. Plus the whole thing is on wheels, but it's like a full-size desk. It's all put together and fits nicely under the window. I was planning on using it for keeping my cross-stitching and art stuff, and also for a place to keep my laptop or work from home (so I don't have to use the TV trays as my makeshift desk anymore). The wood on both furniture pieces are a little darker than the cabinets in the kitchen and stuff, but they match each other, which is nice. I'll put up pictures after we build the desk and have the den cleaned up a little.
Tuesday night around 10 pm, Jonathon's flight finally came in. During the day, I sat around, tried to build the craft table myself but couldn't (but at least I got it out of my trunk!), and cross-stitched. I got to open some presents that Jonathon's family sent him home with, which was a lot of fun. Wednesday was an errand day, starting off with getting an oil change for my car, grocery shopping, and building the rest of the craft table. Aaron's flight was supposed to come in that night around 10:30, but it was cancelled and he ended up having to stay in Phoenix for the night. :( He and Rich both got in to Tucson on Thursday morning/afternoon, and we just hung out, played some poker, had some drinks, and watched Tombstone on DVD in preparation for our drive down there the next day. Friday (New Year's Eve) was Tombstone after a yummy breakfast. It was so much fun!! We saw the OK Corral gunfight reenactment, as well as tons of historical sites. We had lunch at Big Nose Kate's Saloon, then went to get pictures taken, where you dress up in Old West costumes and stuff. It was the highlight of our day! The pictures came out really good. The boys dressed up in cowboy stuff (Jonathon was the "gambler," Rich the "sheriff," and Aaron wore Morgan Earp's outfit) and I got to wear the costume labelled "Crazy Horse Lil" that had some frilly stuff and even a feather for my head! Aaron graciously offered to get it scanned in high quality and send it on to us resized, so I will put it up here when I get them. It was an awesome souvenir!
That night, we just BBQed and drank, like any other New Year's, I guess. :) Most of us got to bed around 5 am, and we woke up around 3 pm. We just ordered a pizza from Domino's and watched movies (5 of them, to be exact) all day on the 1st. Sunday was more of the same, until it was time to take Aaron to the airport. After dropping him off, the three of us went to Chili's to eat a cheap meal and to get Jonathon's schedule for the week. We went to see Life Aquatic which ended up being a really funny movie with a lot of famous people (Bill Murray, Owen Wilson, Cate Blanchett, Jeff Goldblum, etc.). I was still tired from the night of partying (I'm not who I was back in college, that's for sure) so I went to bed early, while the boys stayed up and played some GTA:San Andreas. Monday, we went and dropped Rich off at the airport at like 6:15 in the morning, then went back to bed. Jonathon had to work, but I didn't, so I slept in till around 11, cleaned up a little (Aaron and Rich aren't messy houseguests), and went back to work on my cross-stitch. I got a chance to catch up with Sara on the phone, and Jonathon just worked a lunch shift, so we watched some movies on DVD before getting to bed at a decent time. And now here I am, back at work.
I'm glad we had yesterday off, so the week will feel faster. I'm also going to be working from home on Friday because I'm getting some more service done on my car. I'll be dropping it off on Thursday evening and picking it up Friday evening. As long as no one has a problem with it (management), I should be okay. So that will make my week feel even shorter, since I won't have to come in to the office. I'm looking forward to spending some time with just Jonathon this Saturday, when we both have the day off. As fun as it is to have friends over and stuff, Jonathon was gone or we had guests for almost the whole time I was on vacation, and it would be nice to relax at home with him again. Plus I got some gift cards for Christmas that I'm eager to spend. :)
Oh! And some happy news: my cousin Donna and her boyfriend Lemuel are getting married in late February!! Congratulations to you guys!! They were engaged a few weeks ago, and I couldn't be happier for them! Yay! Another wedding in the family!! Now we just need another baby to keep Sammy company at these celebrations! :)
Anyway, back to work. Happy 2005, everyone!!!
December 20, 2004, 11:00 am MST
"It's funny / I remember back one year when Daddy had no money / Mommy wrapped some presents up and stuck them under the tree and said some of them were from me / 'Cause Daddy couldn't buy 'em / I'll never forget that Christmas / I stayed up the whole night crying." -- Mockingbird, Eminem
Well, it's a sad quote of the day, but only because I listened to Eminem's new Encore CD on my way to work, and because it's almost Christmas. Nothing is sad in my neck of the woods, so don't worry. :)
5 days till Christmas, and 3 days till we ship! We actually seemed to have shipped to a customer on Friday, they sent out pictures and congratulatory notes and stuff. I even got a letter from the VP of IBM's Storage division on Saturday, actually signed by him. Sadly, as much as I shook the envelope, no check fell out, so I guess it was just the letter. *sigh* Things are pretty calm here, compared to the relative chaos that was last week. Many team leads and managers are out on vacation, abandoning us Thursday, which is the big day. I don't really mind. We've dropped off the radar, and that's always a good thing. And I'm hoping that we'll get out early on Thursday to kick off my vacation till the 4th!! Anything to prolong the ecstasy! Because after Christmas break is a long, holiday-less stint till Memorial Day. Jonathon's been itching to get out somewhere for a weekend, or even a long weekend. He really wants to check out the rest of Arizona, and I admit that I would love to take a weekend (2 whole days off!!) to drive up to Sedona, or even the Grand Canyon or something. Maybe in the spring, when it's supposed to be nicest anyway. Everyone is always so suprised that I haven't even been up to Kitt Peak or Mt. Lemmon or even Tombstone yet, since I've been living here since the end of March. But hey, do you realize that I work 6 days a week? Thanks.
I'm really excited because I get to see my family on Saturday! I'm flying out to LA on Saturday morning/afternoon and coming back to Tucson on Sunday. I wish I had a little more time, but oh well. Better than nothing. It'll be fun, and I'll get to see my cousin's baby, who's almost 2 already!! I'm really looking forward to seeing my dad and sister, even though I just saw them over Thanksgiving. I'm also looking forward to having some time to do nothing at my house. Jonathon leaves for Sacramento on Thursday (I take him to the airport on Thursday morning) and comes back in the afternoon on Tuesday, I think. So I'll have a bunch of days to hang out at the house, maybe do some cross-stitching, watch TV, and veg. I'll probably do some cleaning, though the house is looking halfway decent. We have guests flying in next week that we're really excited about, but they're both just guys, and I don't think they'll care much about a sloppy house. :) I do want to clean, though. It's a new house, and I'd like it to look new, and I really should probably vacuum anyway. Also, I'll try to put up some new pictures (including Bryan's new VW R32) while I'm on vacation. But we'll see how I feel about turning on a computer while I'm relaxing. :)
The weather has been great as of late. This weekend was in the 70s, and the weekend before, it actually reached into the 80s! Alas, that great weekend was spent Christmas shopping, then working. This weekend was running a few errands and enjoying some of the weather, and then work yesterday. I got to leave a little early to go to a neighbor's holiday party, though, and that was really fun. We met a bunch of our neighbors from our side of the street, and they're all really nice, fun people. Many are from Minnesota or other colder-wintered climates. And all were older. But they were a fun bunch.
Our Christmas lights are up on the house, too! Jonathon put them up last week. It took him an entire day, but everyone complimented him. It looks really great. It's all straight (like I told him I wanted it) and the way he handled the extension cord dilemma is ingenious! No ugly cords strewn on the roof or anything. All tucked under the eaves and all set up at one outlet on one timer. :) Almost 300 feet of lights (around the perimeter of the roof). I'll put up the pictures soon.
I have tomorrow afternoon and all day Wednesday off of work, I'm very excited. Tomorrow, I get my Christmas present from Jonathon early, which is a performance software download for my car! I'm also going to talk to them about getting a Dinan cold-air intake as a Christmas present to myself. Wednesday, I'm going to catch up on sleep and do nothing. :)
Anyway, that's about it from my end. I hope everyone is having a nice holiday season, and may all your holiday shopping be done!
December 8, 2004, 10:47 am MST
"Have a holly, jolly Christmas / It's the best time of the year / Oh my golly have a holly jolly Christmas this year!" -- Holly Jolly Christmas, The Snowman from Rudolph
17 shopping days left until Christmas! And, since our ship date was pushed up to 12/23/2004, 15 days left till ship day! I'm not sure when the code cutoff is, but I've heard rumors that it's this Friday. I've been done with my code for a while, with a few minor fixes that I've provided, but now it looks like there's one change that they're asking several of us to make for the December ship date. There's a meeting today at noon about it, I hope it's not too much of a hassle.
I haven't done hardly any Christmas shopping, it's really a shame. And I'm totally uncreative this year, so I have no ideas for most of the people on my list. :( Gift cards for everyone! Haha, just kidding. The weather has been pretty chilly, and we even got snow on the foothills closest to my house! And there's still snow on 3 of the 4 Tucson mountain ranges, so it's so pretty to drive to work and see the snow-capped mountains... like being in Tahoe or something!
Oh, and how could I forget, the great news: Jonathon got accepted to U of A here in Tucson starting January!! He got into the School of Engineering for Civil Engineering, just like he wanted. We're really happy, especially Jonathon. :)
Pictures from my Thanksgiving back home were posted earlier this weekend, if you haven't seen them. The car show is the main event, and there are some nice pictures of us Bruin Alumni from the 3rd annual Friday After Thanksgiving Day.
We have our Christmas tree up in the dining room, so that it's visible from the street. We went to get it on our way home from the airport when I got back to Tucson on the Sunday after Thanksgiving. :) We didn't waste any time! It's nicely decorated, and it's really big -- 7½ feet tall! So including the stand and the star, it just about touches the ceiling. :) I love it! I also have a few other Christmas decorations around the house. It's nice to have more space because in the apartments, I had almost too many decorations around. Now, they're all safely dispersed throughout several rooms in the house, which makes it look better.
Anyway, that's about it from this end. I'll try to write again soon! Hopefully work will stay a little less hectic like it's been, at least till my vacation starts! Be safe in the winter weather!
November 15, 2004, 8:39 am MST
"On the way down / I saw you, and you saved me from myself / And I won't forget the way you loved me." -- On the Way Down, Ryan Cabrera
Another "weekend" gone. 18 days till our product is released, and things are definitely intensifying. Augh! But I guess it's not too bad. The only thing is that now I think I'm catching Jonathon's cold that he's just getting over. I have kind of a sore throat -- not a full-fledged one yet, but getting there. At least I don't feel sick yet.
This past weekend -- well, Saturday -- was fun! Jonathon switched shifts so that he could come with me to the local BMW CCA chapter's "Clean Car Show" at a park in Tucson. I made cupcakes with the BMW Roundels on them, and people really liked that. :) There were some really nice cars, including a 2001 M3 in light blue!!! Apparently, it's a color only available in Europe, but this guy requested it and they special-ordered it for him and sent it over. I was totally drooling. I totally wanted a light blue car (for obvious reasons), and this was the perfect light blue, too!! Anyway. I voted for this 1972 2002 that was in fantastic condition. The funny thing was that the rims and the seats looked *just* like my old '83 320i!! I guess not much changed between 1972 and 1983... except my 320i's speedometer only went up to 85, while the 2002's went up to 120 or something!! :)
Before the show was cleaning the house, and after the car show was shopping at Target, picking up a pizza, and relaxing at home. Target started out as just a trip to buy a couple necessities and Eminem's new CD Encore, but damn Target for having such cute Holiday stuff!!! I bought a new set of flannel sheets for the new bed ($20 -- great deal!), some more Christmas decorations, some more things for the guest bathroom now that we have a new decor, a couple DVDs, and other odds and ends. Like Jonathon said, it feels like every Saturday night, we're unloading my trunk that's full of Target bags. Sheesh. Oh, and we also went to Michael's for some Xmas stuff I wanted to pick up to start making them for my department at work.
Yesterday, I worked in the lab from 10 till around 5:30, then went home to clean hamster/rat cages and started making the ornaments that I'm making for my co-workers. They're really cute this year. I picked out snowflakes. They're kind of a pain to make, but I'm getting pretty good at it. I was a little congested yesterday, but no sore throat.
On the bright side, I got paid this morning! This is good, because my mortgage payment is due on the 1st, not to mention I shopped this weekend. It's really cold and windy, especially up at the house. It's super windy today, to the point where I had trouble getting out of my car at work. I don't mind. I like the cold. :)
Anyway, I have to get to work and hustle over to the lab. I hope everyone had a nice weekend, and San Jose, I'll see you in 8 days!! :)
November 7, 2004, 1:56 pm MST
"Let the rain fall down and wake my dreams / Let it wash away my sanity / 'Cause I wanna feel the thunder, I wanna scream." -- Come Clean, Hilary Duff
Work, work, work, work, work, run errands, work. That's my past week. But yesterday, Jonathon and I were able to run errands together! We got a lot done, and we bought quite a bit of stuff for the house while we were out. There was a cute tile mosaic table on sale for $20 that I bought for the back porch (by the master bedroom), a new DVD tower that can hold our entire collection, a shoe rack for the laundry room, a new shower curtain for the guest bathroom, and a few odds and ends. We also went to go see The Incredibles at the mall, which was a really cute movie! Pixar is awesome! Also, we saw the Episode III trailer, which was an added bonus. All in all, it was nice to spend a whole day with Jonathon for a change.
We ended up choosing a simple, white shower curtain with a bit of texture. We figured that way, it would be easy to change the bathroom between seasons, or if I got bored of the way it looked. Also, it was difficult because the color of towels I have for guests are yellow and purple. So anyway, for now, we just got teal mats for that bathroom, and I'll just be putting holiday towels up for now anyway, so it's good.
Anyway, Just wanted to check in. The weather here is great, and work is stressful, and I can't wait till Thanksgiving weekend, so I can be in the Bay Area again!!! Take care.
October 31, 2004, 7:39 pm, MST
"So I'm counting the tears till I get over you." -- 'Til I get over You, Michelle Branch
Last night, probably around 11 pm, my darling Evie passed away. She had been acting a little strange, and I think maybe she had a stroke, but I don't know if a stroke could have killed her. She had been quarantined in our room for a few nights to separate her from the hubbub of the nocturnal zoo and to keep her a bit warmer. I don't think you'll remember, but I got her as a gift for my 23rd birthday from Sara, and she was a tiny baby at the time. I wish I could have done something for her to make her more comfortable. I loved her so much, and I'll miss her coming to greet me when I went to play with her or give her a treat. :(
As of last night, we're on a different time than California. It's 7:44 pm here, which is 6:44 in California. Don't forget this if you're going to call me at night!! Tonight, I've had quite a few trick-or-treaters. 16 so far, to be exact. (Yes, I'm keeping track.) I haven't had one in a while now, which is good 'cause I'm starting to run out of candy. Three little kids came barrelling into the house to look at the "fishies" (i.e. our pet tortoise), but oh well. :) It's been cold lately, especially at night, so I think the kids and parents are heading home early.
Yesterday, Jonathon brought home the perfect frame for the poster he bought me for the master bathroom. He put it up last night, and I took a picture this morning (with natural light coming through the glass block window). I'm going to put it on the pictures page after I update this. I really like it, and I think it really makes the bathroom look fantastic!
Anyway, I hope everyone had a great weekend, and I'll write again soon, hopefully.
October 25, 2004, 3:42 pm, MST
"How do you know everything I'm about to say / Am I that obvious / Or if it's written on my face / I hope it never goes away." -- Pieces of Me, Ashlee Simpson
One month and one day later since my last update, and one year older. Happy birthday to me (two days ago)! So I'm officially in my mid-twenties. There's no denying it. And, like my friend Wendy reminded me in my card, "late-twenties can be grouped with late-twenties-early-thirties." Great, thanks a lot! :) Well, being 25 and feeling 25 are two different things. So I'll just go on pretending that I'm not really already a quarter century old. :)
Time is really flying. End of October? Psh! My job is keeping me insanely busy, and the rush of houseguests have stampeded on through, with the last of them leaving this morning. (Hi, Mom and Nani!) Now, it's time for us to catch up on laundry, and pick up where we left off on the decorating/getting settled. It's been so fun having so many great friends and family visiting and coming all the way out here to see my new home! But now I'll find out what it's like at home by ourselves. :)
Well, my birthday weekend just passed, and I had a great time! Jonathon's mom and grandma came to visit from last Thursday through this morning. They showered me with birthday and house-warming gifts, totally spoiling me. :) Mostly, we hung out, shopped, and relaxed, but I had a lot of fun. I hope they did, too! They seemed to really like the area of the house, and we had great weather here -- rain on Thursday night, cooler temperatures during the day. My actual birthday was spent opening presents, shopping (including picking out a great ceiling fan for the living room) and with an early dinner at Joe's Crab Shack. Then Jonathon had ordered me a Cold Stone Ice Cream Cake with our favorite: Cherry Loves Cheesecake! (Formerly known as Chocolate Cherry Cheesecake Chill.) Mmm.
Sadly, not much else is going on at all here. Work sucks up all my time and energy -- I'm glad I don't have kids to take care of, I don't know where I would find the energy for that! I did get a new workstation for work, though, and I finally got done with my T20 Thinkpad and was upgraded to the T41. Woo hoo! Haven't gotten my wireless fixed yet, but hopefully one of these days.
Okay, and I know I keep saying this, but I promise, I'll have pictures up soon, now that the parade of visitors has subsided. I took some really gorgeous pictures of the sunsets here lately, which are just spectacular. The camera can't possibly capture the exact beauty, but hopefully it'll be close. Also, I'll take some pictures of how the inside of the house has turned out. I get a lot of people asking me where my pictures are. I promise promise promise, it'll be soon, in the next week or two.
So with that, I'll leave you, and check in the next week or so for some pictures. I apologize for the delay. Work really has a way of sucking away time. :( Thanks for continuing to read this site!! :) Take care!
September 24, 2004, 4:29 pm, MST
"Not see? because of night perhaps? -- why day / came back again for that! before it left / The dying sunset kindled through a cleft." -- Robert Browning, Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came
Okay, okay, so I was a dumbass and after I had updated my page on my computer two weeks ago, I forgot to upload it, and so now it's all outdated. Now it's Friday and I really should post, even though I still have no pictures for you. :(
I've been busy with work and some visitors coming through Tucson and stuff. And of course, Survivor: Vanuatu started last week, so we're having fun with that. As for the rest of my free time, aside from my still-6-day workweeks, Stephen King's seventh and final (?) book in the Dark Tower series came out on Tuesday, so I've been quite preoccupied with that. I'm happy that it's Friday, and that I have tomorrow off. I have to go in to town kind of early for a weekend (10 am) because I got a flat tire on Tuesday after I went and bought the new book. My first flat tire! :( I'll be happy when I get my one Dunlop replaced with my new (and matching) Yokohama tire, which will be the right size for the rear. Then I'm going to treat myself (and Falcor) to a car wash because while Mr. Clean's no-dry car wash thing works really well and everything, the air in Tucson is still too dry so that the water will still evaporate before you can get to spraying it down with the no-spot water.
The weather has been really nice here lately. Last Saturday, it rained quite a bit, and ever since, it's been considerably cooler. By cooler, I mean the daytimes up to the mid-90's, but the nights are almost-chilly low-60's. It's nice not to have to walk outside in the dark to get the mail and sweat while you're at it. :)
I can't believe it's almost the end of September. Here, it's dark by 6:45, like, dark-dark, not sun-just-went-down dark. We don't change the time twice a year here, so it'll be interesting. I guess by late October, when the west coast (or the rest of the country, for that matter) gains an hour, we'll be sitting in pitch blackness by around 5:15 or 5:30 pm. Weird. And it never stayed light out too late here, either. I guess 'cause we're so far inland from the west coast. I'm excited about October, not just because of my birthday, but because I can start putting up my Halloween decorations that I bought at Target. :) Yay!
Anyway, just wanted to tell you I'm alive out here! I'm still enjoying Tucson/Vail, and while work is long and sometimes boring, I still like my job, so that's good. :) Take care, everyone!
August 19, 2004, 1:14 pm, MST
"We the blast mastas blastin' up a jamma." -- Hey Mama, Black Eyed Peas
Has it really been a month since I've updated the Expressions page?? I'm so sorry! It's kind of weird how working more hours and more days per week can make the time feel like it's going by slower. Maybe it's just me. In reality, time is flying by incredibly fast. Less than a week till I move into the new house!!
But first, let me start with the past weekend. I haven't put up pictures or anything yet, but my cousin Chika's wedding was absolutely gorgeous, and so much fun!! She and Phong looked so happy and great together, and all my family from my dad's side of the family attended, so it was a lot of fun to all get together again like we used to every Christmas. Jonathon got a chance to meet everyone for the first time, and he also had a good time at the wedding. Hopefully I'll get some of my pictures up soon, if they came out okay. Otherwise, maybe I'll post some that my dad took with his fancy camera. It was a really great wedding, and a really fun weekend. Congratulations, Chika and Phong!!
Monday, my treasured day off, was spent driving back from LA to Tucson with my dad, and Erika and Chris in her car. It started at 5 am, when Jonathon, Erika, and I woke up and got ready to leave. We picked up Chris at 5:25 and got to my aunt's house to help my dad load up the car at 5:30 on the dot. After some stops to eat, pee, get gas, and a botched attempt to find a nearby Starbucks, we got into Tucson city limits around 4 pm. We stopped by the credit union to get a cashier's check for the appointment with the title company on Tuesday. Oh, on the drive back, I managed to get really scared that there had been miscommunications and that they didn't figure out my loan stuff right, but it was all for nothing, as it all worked out.
Tuesday, I had a half-day (the perfect way to start a week after a long weekend) because I had the final inspection at the house at 1 pm, and then an appointment at the title company to sign all sorts of paperwork at 4 pm. Jonathon had training for his new job at Chili's, but Erika, Chris, and Dad accompanied me to the inspection, and helped out a LOT. I think the super was probably thinking, "There are the most anal people in the world, all collected here under one roof." But hey, I want my house to be perfect when I move in (and even if I find more stuff in the next year or two, I can still get it fixed). After running around putting blue tape everywhere, we went home to wait for the next appointment. Jonathon got back in time for this one, so it was me, Jonathon, and Dad for the title appointment. I think I signed my signature more times just for things related to this house than I ever have in my entire life combined. But I was done around 4:45, with a very anti-climactic feeling. I guess it won't feel real till Monday, which is when I do the final-final inspection (to make sure all problems were fixed) at 3, and then walk over to the office to actually get my keys and garage door opener at 4!! That's the fun part.
I ordered my blinds on Tuesday night, and the estimated ship date online was 08/26. But today, I got into work and saw that most of the order had already shipped and they're estimated to arrive on 08/21... this Saturday! So I'll have to run up to the house to get my "Sorry we missed you" slip and go pick it up at the FedEx place. I guess it works out 'cause I'll be able to put most of the blinds up right after we move in this way! :) Now I just have to get the vertical blinds for the sliding glass door (Home Depot), and wait for the other two blinds (the picture window one and the narrow window by the front door) to be delivered.
Erika seems to be enjoying Tucson so far, and Chris, Dad, and she all seemed to really like the house. :) Chris leaves for home tomorrow :(, but then Sara arrives in Tucson on Saturday evening! I work from home on Sunday, and then I have a half day on Monday before I leave to get my keys!! The half day on Monday is a good thing 'cause otherwise, how will I be able to sit still and work all day?! And then I can spend more time with Sara, too. :) Jonathon starts school on Monday, but it's at night. Hopefully he can be there when I get my keys... it will be a momentous occasion! :)
Anyway, lots of stuff going on, but no pictures up recently. Maybe after I move, or maybe this weekend. And I'll have most of next week off (hopefully I won't get called in to work...) to get things straightened out at the house!! :) Yay!! I hope everyone's doing well, and I'll try to update again soon!!
July 18, 2004, 2:55 pm, MST
"The monsoon starts in Tucson when the daily dewpoint average is 54 degrees or greater for three consecutive days." -- National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration, www.noaa.gov
July seems to be passing me by almost as fast as June did. Or maybe this is just what time is like when you're forced into adulthood? I'm not an adult yet, am I? What makes someone an adult? It can't be just age, 'cause I know plenty of people who are old enough, but too dumb to be adults. Anyway, I'd rather be a kid, or at least a "young adult" if that's okay.
So the monsoon season seems to officially be here! Most mornings, I wake up to blue skies with big, billowy clouds and dry heat. Most evenings, I drive home into ominous, dark clouds with spears of lightning that flash across the sky a few times every minute. I've also witnessed more than a few "columns of rain," as I like to call them. It's basically a cloud that looks like someone stuck their finger in it and smeared it all the way to the ground. You can't see anything behind the curtain of rain, and it's not usually a huge curtain, just a drenching one. It's amusing to me that this rain column seems to be avoidable if you really wanted to. If you see it coming, just stay out of its way. If it's over you right at that minute, stay in your car or your house or whatever for like ten minutes, and it'll be moving on before you know it. There have been several great lightning shows in the past week, with flashes lighting up the sky every few seconds. Last night, there was really strong winds and lots of lightning, and just this morning, I was woken up at 6 am by pouring rain (which is rare). But by 9 am when I left for work (it's Sunday, I slept in a little), it was sunny and dry. Really weird.
This weekend, I went to the MVD to turn in my California title on my car, which I just received in the mail on Friday. I turned it in and paid $4 and got my Arizona title, which now tells me that I own a 2001 BMW 30C. Is that what happens when cars depreciate? One minute you could be driving an Accord, and the next, a Ccor? Learn something new every day.
Now that we're fast approaching the last month of building for my house, I'm starting to stress out about stuff: appliance purchasing and delivery dates, measurements for window coverings, cash for closing and lease breaking at the apartment, scheduling friends' visits (to help move and for fun stuff), getting utilities to be turned over into my name, starting services, accommodations for visitors, vacation schedules at work, etc. etc. etc. I do this every time, and maybe I do more worrying than I need to, but I just know that with the amount of worrying that I do, things usually work out, like the move to Tucson. Sure, maybe I could worry less and things would still happen, but better safe than sorry, especially in this case. :) I like to stress about this stuff, but I just don't like stressing about work, which I've been doing, too. Let's just say, I'm glad I got fitted for a night guard before I left California.
I got some paperwork in the mail on Friday that finalizes my closing date and the day I get my keys. Everything is on schedule, which is great! I took pictures yesterday and posted them. I also went to get a Tucson Library card because I finished the 6th book in Stephen King's The Dark Tower series and the 7th and final book isn't out yet. I decided to stay with the Stephen King theme and check-out The Stand, which I've never read or seen. My dad liked the mini-series that was on TV years ago. I just know it's about some crazy flu thing, probably something like Outbreak. But that's all I know. It's weird, I hate scary movies (something I just recently came to terms with), but reading scary books is okay. That's not to say I don't leave a few lights on in the apartment when I'm trying to go to sleep sometimes after reading something scary, but I guess the element of surprise isn't as shocking in a book as it is when you're watching a movie and some freakish monster comes jumping out of nowhere at you. Grumpy keeps me company when I read my scary books at home, though lately I've been leaving my books at work so I can read them at lunch. It's nice to "get away" from work for an hour in the middle of the day so that I break up my day a little.
I'm getting really excited about my cousin Chika's upcoming wedding!! I'm so happy for her and Phong, and weddings are just such great occasions to begin with! I'm also excited to see Sammy, whom I haven't seen since Christmas. He'll be just over a year and a half, so I'm sure he's totally adorable and babbling on and on. And of course, I'm most excited to see my dad and sister again. I'm even looking forward to the drive back from LA to Tucson. At least I won't be driving, or not the whole way, anyway. :) My sister might be moving out there with me at that time, and if so, we'll have two cars caravanning out there. Really, right after my cousin's wedding is when the insanity will begin, with constant visitors and planning and packing and cleaning until the beginning of September. But I'm going to try to take 4 days of work off once I get my keys so I can get settled in. :)
Anyway, that's about all for now. Work gets me exhausted, and one day off isn't nearly enough to feel well-rested for the next week, but I'm making do. I keep looking ahead to the fun stuff coming up in the next month and a half, and that keeps me going. :) And Jonathon will be back in exactly two weeks (if all goes as planned)! So I'm really excited about that, too. Take care, everyone, and I'll keep trying to get a picture of a lightning bolt! :)
July 7, 2004, 3:47 pm, MST
"Tap on my window / Knock on my door / I want to make you feel beautiful." -- Maroon 5, She Will be Loved
I hope you had a good 4th of July weekend! I had a wonderful one. I went up to Sacramento, where I spent time with Jonathon and his family, and on Sunday (the actual 4th), Rich, Aaron, and Prateek came up from San Jose, and Jason and Annie came up from Davis to BBQ with us and Jonathon's family. Of course, after the BBQ came fireworks and drinking and poker. It was a really fun time, and the weekend was way too short. :( I also got to meet Maggie, Jonathon's cousin Rick's new wife! She's really nice, and even though we didn't really get a chance to talk much, it was nice to finally meet her and get to know her a little.
I got my hair cut while I was in Sacramento. It was really long... almost halfway down my back. I just kind of wanted a change, and it was getting so long (and I never do anything with it) that it would get funky creases in it from where I would lean back on it or something. And nothing could hold my hair up well 'cause it was getting so heavy. So now it's still long, but shorter: about an inch or two past the shoulders. "Still pony-tail-able" is what I asked for. And layers in the front, as usual. No "Cousin It" for me.
My house got its cabinets late last week! There are already pictures up with that. I found two mistakes by the builder, as well, and I already spoke to the superintendent and he said he would get them fixed. I'm trying to refrain from going to the house this week and wait till Saturday because I don't want to go and be disappointed if nothing new has really been done. My friend Kurt says the kitchen countertops should be next. That was one of the biggest upgrades that I made, and was the one option that led to all the other decisions that I made for the interior (gray carpet, tile, wood for the cabinets, etc.), so that's really what I'm looking forward to most. I guess in general, I just want to see if the choices I made for the interior really look good together. :)
I'm really glad it's a short work week. And I'm wondering when the monsoon season will start. It's definitely cloudier than it's been since April, but still hot and dry. Anyway, I just wanted to update a little. I hope everyone has a good short week!
June 29, 2004, 4:07 pm, MST
"I've got the time and I'm wasting it slowly / Here in this moment I'm halfway out the door / Tell me what is this thing that I feel like I'm missing / And why can't I let it go?" -- Stacy Orrico, More to Life
Taking a break between meetings. Tuesdays are definitely meeting days, and today, I have 5. Just one more, though, and my work has subsided for now, while I wait for everything else before my stuff to get tested, so it's not too bad. I also have the long weekend coming up, where I'll be heading to Sac-town and won't be on-call like I was last weekend, so yay!
So where was I when June up and disappeared?? I can't believe tomorrow's the last day of June already!! Time is flying by. My house has doors now, and the stucco is complete. I took a few pictures when Bryan and I went to check it out this past weekend. He was visiting from LA and we had fun exploring the Colossal Caves and watching a couple movies. Dodgeball was as funny as I expected, and Fahrenheit 9/11 is one I would highly recommend, too. Take it with a grain of salt, even a big grain, if it's your fancy. But it still really makes you wonder what's really going on out there in Washington DC.
Bobby also bought a new car! So I'll be posting the pictures he sent me on my "Cars" page, hopefully tonight. Whenever I do that, I'll put up my new house pictures. We'll see what time I get out of here tonight... hopefully on time so I can go grocery shopping and still have some relaxation time before going to bed at a decent hour.
And speaking of cars, I wrote my last check to BMW today! It's a good feeling, I almost didn't mind writing the check for once. Hopefully, the next time I buy a BMW, I'll have enough money that I can just put down a wad of cash. I've always wanted to do that. :)
I also relocked the rate on my mortgage today. I was able to relock it once within the last 60 days before closing. Dad recommended I lock today 'cause I guess Greenspan was talking to Congress today and tomorrow, and rates were expected to increase. I think I got a pretty good rate now, and I'm glad I don't have to worry about watching the rates now. All that's left to do is wait and save up some more money for closing costs and the 0.875 points that my good rate is costing me. :)
It rained a *little* late last week, Sunday, and yesterday. You can feel a little bit of the mugginess, and you can definitely smell when rain is really near. Everyone says the monsoon season starts in July, usually after the 4th. I guess it's pretty close. Rain or not, it's still pretty warm, but still nothing unbearable. And the clouds just make the sunsets sooo pretty!!
Well, that's it from my neck of Arizona. I'm going to get ready for my 5th and final meeting of today. Hopefully I'll get to put the pictures up tonight, so keep an eye out! :)
June 9, 2004, 3:26, MST
"And every time I see you in my dreams / I see your face, it's haunting me / I guess I need you baby." -- Britney Spears, Every Time
I took a last-minute trip to LA this past weekend to visit Bobby and watch Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, which was an awesome movie, in my opinion! I like the 3rd book the best anyway, but even with my hopes raised, I was impressed. I enjoyed the dark humor and the intensity of the movie because it matched the book really well. However, like the book, the movie would not be available for my kids to watch until they were well over their nightmare stage!! The dementors creeped me out! But I liked the hinting of Hermione and Ron falling in love. You can tell from the books, but it's so cute to watch them on the screen. :)
The rest of the weekend with Bobby was really fun! We test drove the cars that he's trying to choose from because he wanted my opinion. I personally liked the Volvo S40 the best. I think it's between that and the Acura TSX right now. We also had dim sum with some of his old co-workers, and managed to watch another movie, as well. (The Day After Tomorrow.) On Sunday afternoon, I rescheduled my flight to Monday morning instead of Sunday evening because we wanted to catch the second movie. We hung out and watched TV and stuff the rest of the time. It was a great trip, and I'm glad I decided to do the last minute trip. :)
Tomorrow, I have the frame-walk with the superintendent. This should mean that the electricity, phone lines, plumbing, AC, all the stuff before the drywall should be finished. At the last meeting, they told me that after this frame-walk, the put up the drywall and the house really nears completion, just not as many major changes like I've been seeing recently. I'm wondering when the house nextdoor was started. At any rate, my house is about 2 months away from completion, if the projected date is accurate. It's starting to get really real! I'll take pictures tomorrow and post them soon, maybe this weekend.
On Friday, when I left work to go to the airport, it was 109 degrees. And it really wasn't bad at all. It's nothing like 109 degrees would be in LA or San Jose. LA actually was a little muggy this weekend, and I could definitely feel it. I think my skin handles the Arizona climate better. And I definitely didn't miss the LA freeways. Could it be that I'm turning into a real Arizonian?? Anyway, the temperatures here aren't anything to freak out about like I originally thought. And after 100 degrees, it doesn't feel that much different anyway. What's 115 when 109 isn't that bad? By the time I get out of this freezing building anyway, I'm welcoming the warm air. It's usually around 95 or 100 when I get out at 6 pm. Just when it gets a little too warm to walk in, I arrive at my car. Not too bad.
Today is the birthday of two of my friends, and both of them are named Paul. :) Happy birthday to both of you! I'll post again soon if I get a chance. Take care, everyone.
May 23, 2004, 4:37 pm, MST
"I'm sorry that I hurt you / It's something I must live with every day / And all the pain I put you through / I wish that I could take it all away / And be the one who catches all your tears." -- Hoobastank, The Reason
Wow, over a month! I feel really bad. But not really because I've at least been updating the pictures. :) At any rate, I should still feel more of an obligation to post here, since I'm paying for the domain name and all. (Though, thanks Joe, for hooking me up with the web space!)
So let's see what's been going on. The house is steadily progressing. As you can see from the pictures, the foundation has been poured, and I've already walked on it (though I was too late to leave any permanent inscriptions or footprints in the concrete). The wood for the frame is already there, and I'm guessing that they'll start the frame sometime this week. I'm hoping so because Sara will be here on Friday (yay!!!) for Memorial Day weekend, and it would be great if I could show her the framed house, since she's too late to walk through the model. I learned at my pre-construction walk-through that after the frame is going to be the plumbing and the electric guys that will come in and get all that stuff in the walls before the walls are really there. Then, I'll walking through the house with the super again before they put up the drywall to make sure that things are in order before the walls go up. I'll probably use that opportunity to take some pictures so I know what's going on back there. Oh, and the date that I'll get my keys has actually been moved up! The tentative date right now is August 23rd, which is right after my cousin's wedding in LA. :) My dad and sister will probably drive out from LA with me and do the walk-through with me. :) Yay!
The next couple of weeks are critical picture-taking days, and a lot happens in this short amount of time. After that, at least on the outside, things will slow down a little. I've been watching the house nextdoor being worked on, and they're at the lull-stage. The roof tiles are up there, and the walls and stucco and everything are done, but not painted. I'm sure lots of interior stuff is probably going on.
Speaking of interior stuff, back at the end of April, I picked all my design center stuff for the inside. Typical stuff, like carpet, tile, grout, cabinets, kitchen counter, lighting packages, sinks, appliances, plumbing fixtures, etc. etc. It was fun, and I think it will look nice. :)
I've been working a whole lot. 6 days a week, usually around 10 hours a day, sometimes more, sometimes a little less. At least I'm enjoying what I do, which is a great realization that I've come to in the past few months. Remember back in my sophomore year at UCLA, when I was really considering changing my major? (If you don't, read my April 28, 1999 entry.) What if I had? What would I be doing right now? I don't know what else I could do and enjoy. Drawing? I don't think that can afford me the kind of lifestyle I've grown accustomed to, especially when you take into account the fact that I'm not really that great at it. :) I guess things happen for the best, and even if they're not for the best they could possibly be, they still end up being pretty okay in the end.
Something else that's crazy is the utterly dreamlike feeling I have when I think about how fast all this Tucson stuff has happened. I think about February, 2003, when I was looking into condos in the Bay Area and being so frustrated with the insanely high prices, and thinking that I probably will be renting an apartment for the rest of my life. I think about the summertime at the Newhall house, coming home to a stifling house and going out to bars and Cluck U with Jonathon and Rich on the weekends, and thinking that this was the way it was going to be for at least a few years, and being happy about it. Even Thanksgiving time, I didn't even have a clue about the fact that I would be in Tucson in four months. And here I am! Living and working in a totally different state, with no one from my past with me, my car wearing a cactus license plate, and just living my life. I'm a California girl all the way. I miss it, I miss my friends and family, I miss the ocean and the weather. But I like it here, too. At least I'm going into the summer with an open mind, and at least I haven't hated it so far that I just want to cry and move home to Dad's. It was really daunting at first. But I'm proud of myself for doing it. :)
That's about it from here. Just work, taking pictures of the house, and waiting. The rates have been locked in, and can't be changed till 60 days from closing. I still have a bit of reading from the house people about the area, HOA stuff, things like that. But I have quite a while to let all that digest, and the last thing I really want to do after work is read. :) It's bad enough I have to cook! Anyway I hope everyone is doing well, and I'll try to update here more often, as well as the pictures page. :)
April 17, 2004, 9:46 pm, MST
"I'm going under / Drowning in you / I'm falling forever / I've got to break through." -- Evanescence
Just wanted to write a little blurb to say that I've updated my pictures page. I have some of the first pictures from Tucson, Arizona. They're from the Saguaro National Park, so don't think this is, like, where I live or anything. :) I also posted some pictures of my new house! Yes, I have bought a house here in Arizona (Vail, to be exact), and it will be built sometime in September if all goes well. I'm so excited!! So please go to my pictures page and check out the pictures I've posted and tell me what you think!! :)
I'm getting adjusted to life here. The people I work with are a great group of people, and really fun. It's kind of difficult working with my team since everyone is in San Jose, but the groups that our team works with are here, which makes that stuff a little easier to deal with. I like the apartment a lot, and I'm happy with the area and stuff. So far, the weather has been great, even though I don't get to see much of the day since I'm working. But I do get to see beautiful sunsets after work, which, by the way, are so beautiful that I might say that no matter how hot it could get here, the sunsets are worth it. And the mountains, too! They're sooo pretty. But ask me again in the summer when it's hella hot, and maybe I'll have changed my mind. :)
Anyway, that's really all the news I have right now. Oh, and the fact that my hamster (one of the babies that my sister gave me back in March) had 9 babies on April 3rd! :) They're two weeks old today, and next week, I'll have to take them to the pet store to be sold to other families. :( I want to keep them all, but 14 hamsters would just be crazy. Oh! And next weekend, Bobby will be visiting!! I'm really excited that he'll be able to come visit before he starts his new job at Raytheon in LA! Yay! Maybe he'll get to travel to the Raytheon here once in a while! That would be really cool. :)
Well, I hope you're having a good weekend! I'll be at work tomorrow, but I'm on a programming roll, so I'm not too sad about it. (And free lunch!) Have a good week!
March 31, 2004, 8:49 pm, MST
"Here we are now / Entertain us."
A new Expressions page for a new part of my life. :) Finally, here I am, writing from my new home in Tucson, Arizona. I can't believe I've only been in this apartment for like, 3 full days. But at the same time, I can't believe I'm actually supposed to live here. I can't believe that when I drove away from the Bay Area, that it wasn't just for a vacation or a road trip. It was to move out here!! What am I doing out here?? How am I going to make it in this kind of heat for any extended amount of time??
In all seriousness, it's not too bad, but I think it would be a lot worse if I had come out here alone. Having Jonathon here makes me a lot safer and not so lonely. He's been excited about this move, so it's good to have a positive person around to try to convince me that this was for the best, not to mention, there was not much I could do about it (other than be unemployed). :)
It's really pretty out here. Oh, but first I'll start with our drive out here. We left on Saturday after an unbelieveably busy Wednesday night, Thursday, and Friday in Santa Clara. Movers packing, loaders loading, trying to get our stuff packed into our cars, cleaning the duplex to be presentable to our landlords.... It was really crazy. I've always had the luxury of having some overlap time between apartments to bring over things and not have to do everything all at once, but not this time, and this was such a big move to boot! But we made it. We drove from about 8:24 am until 7:00 or so pm on Saturday and spent the night in Blythe, CA at the Holiday Inn Express. The next morning, after packing and gassing up, we left Blythe at around 8:21 and got to our new apartment in Tucson at around 1:00 pm. Then we went crazy shopping at Target, Petco, etc. and passed out pretty early.
Since getting to Tucson, it has been nonstop organizing, shopping, and on-our-feet. Our stuff with the movers still hasn't arrived, which totally sucks, because I had wanted this week off so that I could be putting things away and figuring out where things are going to be put and stuff. Instead, we've been making do with paper plates and plastic utencils, with nothing to sit on but the floor, and nothing to watch but our hamsters and snake. As I type this, I'm sitting on the floor of the second bedroom, with the keyboard on my lap and the monitor on the floor. Jonathon is laying beside me, watching our pregnant hamster make her nest. Yes, you read me correctly, we have a pregnant hamster on our hands. Luckily, we've already found a pet shop that will take baby hams at 3 weeks old. But that's just one of our many escapades so far here in Tucson, including dealing with the MVD (which is just as bad as the California DMV, in my opinion) and the heat that's already here. (It was really hot the first few days, but today, it rained and cooled off. The forecast for the next week looks pretty similar.)
Otherwise, we're getting our new couch delivered tomorrow, so at least we can watch the hamsters while sitting on something comfortable. We're hoping (praying) that the driver of our truck will call tomorrow so that I can at least have all day Saturday and Sunday to unpack stuff. (Our driver took almost half a day just to load the truck with our stuff that was already packed into boxes and ready to go! So I'm not expecting him to be any faster at unloading a truck.) The latest they're supposed to deliver our stuff is Saturday... which would only give me Sunday to unpack, and then Monday I go back to work. :( Blah!!!
Anyway, I just wanted to touch base and let you all know I'm here safe and sound. I'll be putting up some pictures soon, including one of what they call speed bumps here in Tucson. :) Take care, and keep watching this website for pictures! I miss you all!!
