April 22, 2003, 10:53 am
"I see skies of blue / And clouds of white / The bright blessed day / The dark sacred night / And I think to myself / What a wonderful world." -- What a Wonderful World, Louis Armstrong (?)
Happy EARTH DAY!!
Indeed, what a wonderful world we live in, where we have loyal troops who willingly travel across oceans to defend our country and other citizens' freedoms. (Yes, there is a controversial topic. No, I will not get into it here.) What a wonderful world, where we can leave our garage doors open on accident and someone comes along, not to steal our belongings, but to close the door for us. What a wonderful world, where we work hard, but play hard, and have a choice in how we want our futures to be. What a wonderful world. And the Earth is our world, which is why we need to protect it. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle!!
My tongue is currently at about a pH of 0. I just had about 3 servings of mini Shock Tarts, and my tongue hurts. The stupid thing is, I did this yesterday, and my tongue hurt until I went to sleep! Nevertheless, when I got back to work this morning, here were the rest of my mini Shock Tarts, waiting to be consumed. And here I still sit, trying to decide if I should just finish them off now, despite the pain in my tongue, so that the same thing won't happen 3 days in a row, or if I should let my tongue heal a bit for the rest of the day. Decisions, decisions.
Yesterday, my acquaintance-friend (not quite a "friend" of mine, but definitely more than an "acquaintance") James of the Kerckhoff Clan started as a co-op in my department (but for the CAD team). I'm telling you, he grew since I last saw him, but then I think I saw him last at the Kerckhoff Reunion in February of 2002. Anyway, today, if the weather permits, I'll be helping him take my old couch from the apartment to his apartment that he's living in for about 5½ months. BTW, he needs a roommate, so if you know anyone who needs a place to live for a while (and they can always take over the rent after), please email me.
Easter was a lot of fun! We went up to Sacramento to spend the weekend with Jonathon's family. We got to see his grandma in action with her husband Gerald, dancing up a Country Western storm on Saturday evening. We saw his cousin Eric's new house, which was really nice and he's really excited about it. We played with little Mo' and Bobbi (the mini Schnauzers) and spent time to watch Red Dragon with Jonathon's mom Saturday night. Sunday, after Brunch, we had a BBQ dinner at his aunt & uncle's place, where we met his cousin Rick's new girlfriend Heather. We got home by 7 pm on Sunday evening and relaxed before going to bed in preparation for another week. *sigh* We did get some really nice gifts for Easter from his family, they're so sweet! And chocolate/candy galore. It made coming back to this week of work harder for me, but at least when I go home, there's chocolate waiting for me. :)
Anyway, it's almost lunch time, so I'm going to get ready. I hope everyone has a wonderful Earth Day, especially the Earth! :)
April 16, 2003, 8:45 am
Hi, me again. :) I took some pictures last night after I got my new camera battery, so here they are! Enjoy! Now it's time to work for me. :) Have a great day.
April 15, 2003, 11:28 am
"It's not just what you say to people / And it's not the way you look at me / It's the way you present yourself for all your worst critics to see." -- Head-On Collision, Newfound Glory
Well it's been a while, and I apologize, though no one has been asking for more updates, so maybe no one cares. ;) The Relay for Life is over now, and I must say it was quite a success, though there were some very, very rude, obnoxious people camped next to us. I decided to post the thank you letter that I sent out here so you could see how successful we were (as a team and as an event) in raising money for the American Cancer Society. Thanks, everyone!!
Also, since my last posting, we have moved to a new residence as of April 1. We now are renting a duplex in Santa Clara with our friend and Jonathon's co-worker, Rich. It's a quaint, cozy little two-bedroom one-bath place (read: old, small), with hardwood floors, ceiling fans, and a washer/dryer. :) It's conveniently located close to work for the boys, and against traffic for myself, and now I'm getting better gas mileage on my commute to work. My commute is about 15-20 minutes, which means I get to listen to about 4 or 5 songs instead of my usual one. Waking up 20 minutes earlier hasn't proven to be a problem, any more than getting used to the time change has been. We're finding that hardwood floors significantly cool down the temperature of the house, and I've taken to wearing my light blue fuzzy slippers at all times when I'm not on my way out the door. (I have to be careful not to wear them to work one day... I'm not used to wearing shoes inside the house yet.)
Easter is almost upon us, and we haven't even dyed eggs yet!! With Jonathon's hectic work and full-time school schedule conflicting with my typical 8-5 work weeks, Thursday nights are the only nights that he gets back before 10:15 pm, leaving little together time, and even less "alone" time to just be with each other because we've got a third roommate. As I had feared, this might put a little tension on our relationship, but all on my part, because I'm needy. :) Overall, it's been fun so far, and other than nearly burning off my eyebrows in a fireball from the gas stove and not having moved all our things from the other apartment yet, things have been going smoothly. Jonathon and I will be going up to Sacramento for Easter this weekend to spend it with his mom and the rest of his family. I'm looking forward to going, but I'm also looking forward to a weekend where Jonathon doesn't work, and we get to stay home. We have yet to experience that yet because we had the Relay for Life the first weekend, then Jonathon worked a sale this past weekend with Rich, and this coming weekend is Easter.
Anyway, other than hectic, life has been tolerable, and I get to go to another Middle School Party tomorrow afternoon. This time, I'm organizing it. I have little plastic colored eggs with candy in them for the girls, and it looks like a lot of the mentors will be able to attend, as well. I have a small presentation prepared, and another one for a certification meeting on Thursday. All this visibility is starting to wear me out. My face hurts from smiling all the time and my brain hurts from worrying about how to answer spontaneous questions.
Anyway, I hope everyone has a Happy Easter (as my sister said it, "Like it means anything to us") and I'll try to get pictures of our new place up soon. I just ordered a new battery for my camera, so I should be able to take some pictures once I get that in the mail. :) Take care!!
March 27, 2003, 10:20 am
"Go shorty / Iss yo berfday / We gon' party like / Iss yo berfday / We gon' sip Bacardi like / Iss yo berfday / And you know we don't give a $%&^ cuz iss yo berfday." -- In Da Club, 50 Cent
Another month is lost forever, and I didn't update at all. My apologies! So the mad dash to pack has begun, even though we have over a month to move everything over. As of the first of April, our address and primary residence will change, "our" being defined as Jonathon, Rich, and myself. Hopefully, and we're waiting on the call about this, we'll get to start moving stuff in over the weekend. The landlady and the lady in the next unit (a mother-daughter team) said once the check for $2400 (first month's rent and deposit) clears, we can get the keys, and the check has cleared on my side already. :)
Other than that, I've just been playing "Kingdom Hearts" and "The Sims" on our PlayStation2. Sometimes I fall asleep on the couch while Jonathon plays, too. Work is hectic, and I feel tired real easily while I sit at my desk. Ironically, I feel great between when I get off work till around 9:30, and then it's a struggle to keep my eyes open.
So I'll be moving stuff in this weekend with the help of my dad, his girlfriend, and my sister on Saturday, and Sara and Mike on Sunday. I think I need cars to help take over the small stuff the most... i.e. clothes, boxes of frames, books, etc. Since Jon and Rich have next week off, they'll be renting the Uhaul and taking the big stuff over there, like the TVs, bookshelves, and other furniture. And we'll actually start sleeping there and really living there on April 1, then the cleanup of our current apartment will commence.
In the meantime, we are still collecting money for the Relay for Life. Well, at least I am. My grand total is up to $955.42 right now, and I have more money on the way. It will bump me up over $1000, which was the goal of a whole team of 12-25 people, so I feel pretty good about what I've raised. :) I've also been handing out flyers to people who are interested in checking out this little Italian restaurant in Santa Clara that has decided to donate 20% of proceeds on the 2nd and 3rd of April all day of people who come and dine. A bunch of us who are going to be participating in the Relay will be getting together at the restaurant on one of those nights to hold a small "meeting" to collect money, and to get more money donated, too. :)
That's about it from over here. Take care, and come see our new place! Let me know if you want to stop by! :)
February 25, 2003, 4:47 pm
"Please tell me everything / That you think that I should know about all the plans you made / When I was nowhere to be found." -- My Friends over You, New Found Glory
Ah, the last week of the shortest month of the year. Soon it will be March, and two months to find a new place to live. Looks like renting will be the agenda, as my monthly payments wouldn't afford much since I would put $0 down on a condo/townhouse. Not to mention work sucks and who knows if I'll have a job to whine about in the next few months. Dad's right, don't want to risk that, not with Rich and Jon depending on me for a place to live, if that's what it came to. So the search is on for a nice place to rent, Santa Clara/San Jose/Cupertino/Sunnyvale/Mountain View area. A house, preferably, so Jon can have his yard to tend to, and me and Rich can have a garage and driveway.
The itinerary for March? Not too much. Just a weekend trip to LA with Jonathon to see baby Samuel and some of my family, then hang out with Bobby and Bryan and Amber for a night on the town. I'm really looking forward to spending some friend-time in LA again, I've missed it a lot. The social scene sure kicked ass down there.
Then April. The first weekend in April, and my mom's would-have-been 52nd birthday (April 5), I'll be participating in the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life. It's a 24 hour event from 10:00 am April 5 to 10:00 am April 6th. There are teams set up of 12-24 people, and one person from each team has to be on the track (Spartan Stadium) at all times. It's a fundraiser, of course, so if you are willing to sponsor myself or Jonathon, whose idea it was to join his friend's team, please let me know and I'll give you details on how to do so. Also, if you would like more information on participating in this event in your town (there are Relays for Life worldwide, so search for it!), please go to the American Cancer Society's webpage at www.cancer.org.
Okie doke. That's about it from over here. I hope things are good with you, and thank you for being a loyal reader. It makes my $37/year for my own domain name worth it. :)
February 7, 2003, 3:27 pm
"Why don't you and I get together / Take on the world and be together forever / Heads we will, tails we'll try again / Why don't you and I hold each other / Fly to the moon and straight on to Heaven / 'Cause without you they're never gonna let me in." -- Chad Kroger and Santana
Hello again, and now we're into February of 2003. Amazing. So I've lived away from my dad's house for over a year now, and so far, so good. Three more months here, and I'll be moving on. Where to, I'm not sure. I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.
So I would like to announce the newest addition to the extended Shioya Family, Samuel Koji Reyes-Mitsui!! He was born on January 30th at 3:30 am, weighing in at a whopping 8.6 pounds! (My poor cousin Waka!) All parties are happy and healthy, and I can't wait to meet him in person!!
I had kind of a crappy week, for whatever reason, and I'm very glad that it's late Friday afternoon. Jon and I will be going to Sac-town this weekend to visit his family, and on Sunday, we'll be going hiking before heading home to San Jose. Valentine's Day, which I knew Jon would have to work, is shot to all hell because not only does he have to work, he has to work LATE. Late means till 10 pm, meaning I won't see him until 10:30 or so. It was a shame we weren't really going to be able to have a nice dinner out (too expensive, and Valentine's Day is a Friday this year), but now we can't even have a nice dinner at home together because I'm not waiting till 10:30 for dinner!! I know, every day really is Valentine's for us, at least so far. But it still would have been nice to spend time with him alone and know that none of his friends would call, knowing that that night is meant for us. Now, instead of spending Valentine's with me, he'll be spending it either alone or with Rich, if he stays late and keeps him company. And I'll be spending Valentine's watching anti-Valentine shows on TV because my friends will be out with their Valentines. Oh, well. It's just a Hallmark Holiday anyway. I hope I get a card!
I've recently started to force myself to read and learn more about financial stuff 'cause I'd like to know more about all these details that go into taxes and all that. I guess I just want to know what I'm paying for and not get shafted. So I got a book called "Personal Finance for Dummies," which goes hand in hand with my "Investing for Dummies" book that I bought a while back. The Personal Finance one seems helpful so far, and the guy who writes it throws in humor and colloquial terms, so it's fairly entertaining reading for an otherwise bland subject. I feel so old reading about stuff like this. It sounds so grown up, and here I am, drowning in the middle of it and struggling to understand when and why the boat sank. It's weird, I used to think I'd be bored when I graduated from school and started just working 'cause I'd have nothing to really do after that other than go out. And I can't afford to go out anymore. But there's always stuff I have to do that I don't even want to do! Like read about this stuff. Understand this stuff. Eventually, I want to start writing a book, but I need to have a topic or something first. I would love it if I could make some extra money writing books in my spare time. I just don't know if I have the talent or know-how to do it. Anyway, I don't have the time just yet. I'll think about it. It's always good to explore new money-making opportunities.
Anyway, I'm heading back to work. I have about an hour and a half to go. Have a great weekend, and take care. Thanks for reading! :)
January 24, 2003, 1:15 pm
"When I look in the mirror and the only one there is me / Every freckle on my face is where it’s suppose to be / And I know my creator didn’t make no mistakes on me / My feet, my thighs, my Lips, my eyes, I’m loving what I see." -- Video, India.Arie
Back again, it's been awhile, sorry. I'm at work, but it's a FRIDAY and it's AFTER LUNCH, so I'm not too pouty. My brain is starting to wind down a little, in preparation for a pretty male-dominated weekend. ;) Tomorrow is an errand running day (although we were hoping to go hiking again), complete with Costco, Radio Shack, and probably Albertsons again. Tomorrow night, it's off to Chad and Heidi's house for a BBQ and Ghost Recon on our PS2. Sunday, of course, is the SuperBowl, and we'll be hosting a small gathering (BYOB) at our place. The most I've prepared for the game is find out who the Raiders will be playing. (Thanks, Vincent! :)) I don't like the Raiders, but I guess since Jerry Rice is on the team now (another new fact to me) I'll have to root for them. Plus it seems like they'll probably kick some serious ass.
Last weekend, I cleaned out most of my childhood room. No, my dad didn't kick me out, contrary to even my own belief when he first told me what I had to do. Looks like he'll be re-carpeting the house, and I just had too much junk in my room that he didn't know what to do with. Turns out I didn't know, either. And it's hard to throw things away. It's really amazing, I've been living on my own for almost a year now and I haven't needed any of this so far, but I couldn't just throw everything away. I really am a pack rat. I had enough stuff there to still be living there! But I got rid of lots of stuff regardless, and found some memories I had forgotten about and brought them back to our apartment.
One of the things I came across is my set of class pictures (1st-6th grade) and all my student ID cards (1st-12th grade). And there were a bunch of other old pictures that I found, too, and they're always fun to look at. I even came across pictures of two of my boyfriends in 8th grade (my first and second boyfriends... 8 day and 10 day relationships, respectively). It's funny because I was looking at my first boyfriend (Evan Sylvester) and he actually reminds me a lot of Jason. Blond hair, green eyes (Jason had blue, but whatever), same nose, same lips, intelligent. I wonder what gives people certain preferences when it comes to being attracted to someone? Then my second boyfriend was Nick Sosa, the typical player, even back in the 8th grade. Dark hair, brown eyes, athletic, not the brightest thing in the world, but he had something really attractive about him. I guess it was charm. I think throughout college, I kind of flip-flopped between those two types. It's kind of weird how that works out. Now I'm with a shaved headed (black hair if he didn't), hazel-eyed, charming, intelligent teddy bear that I've been good friends with for going-on-18 years. Life is so fun!
Anyway, I should get back to work since I'm sure my co-workers will be back from lunch soon. I hope everyone has a good weekend, and I hope your team wins the SuperBowl, and I hope I get to sleep in a lot!! :) Thanks for reading!
January 3, 2003, 4:08 pm
"You better lose yourself in the moment / The moment you own it you better never let it go / You've only got one shot / Do not miss your chance to blow / 'Cause opportunity comes once in a lifetime." -- Lose Yourself, Eminem
So 2002 has come and gone with not much hurrah on this end. A quiet dinner with my family, followed by a not-too-raucous shindig at our house, 2003 was welcomed with some toots and poppers from the patio of apartment #25 at midnight. (And there was much rejoicing. "Yay.") With the reminiscing completed as of my last posting, maybe a look into the future is necessary, to get a glimpse of what 2003 might have in store for us.
To start off, here are my few-yet-attainable resolutions for the year:
And now to highlight the two happiest events of the coming year to touch my life personally are the weddings of Mike Dalton to Candace Johnson and Foster Brereton to Michelle Silver! Mike and Candace will be wed on July 12, and I don't believe Foster and Michelle have set a date yet. I suppose pretty soon, babies will be the happy news in the Kerckhoff group, right, girls? *wink wink* :)
As far as an outlook for my career, things are a little wobbly right now, and I'm not happy about it. The signs that have stood proud reading "IBM" here in South San Jose's Cottle Site have been replaced by signs that now read "HITACHI." There's much hustle-and-bustle going on around the site, with buildings getting fresh coats of paint and tents being set up to welcome the new employees (IBM Heritage employees) of the Joint Venture, and I'm sure we won't be invited to those festivities. After all, we just pay the rent here. And if the economy doesn't pick up soon, more and more of us will be laid off like it has already been happening in the Silicon Valley. Let's hope for a better year, fiscally.
But home is where your heart is, and I still have a home. I still have Jonathon to lean on, as well as friends and family who will never leave my side. So with that, I'll say a Happy New Year to you all, and I hope you all take this opportunity to to make it the best year you can.
December 30, 2002, 2:47 pm
"Don't be fooled by the rocks that I got / I'm still, I'm still Jenny from the block / Used to have a little, now I have a lot / No matter where I go I know where I came from." -- J. Lo
Two more days till 2003, I can't believe it. I mean, who would have thought this year would happen the way it did? Last year at this time, I never would have thought that I'd be broken up with Jason, let alone back with Jonathon. Last year, I didn't know what it was like to live completely on my own, or live with a boyfriend, and now I've experienced both. I've been self-sufficient for just about a year now, so I guess it's not just a fluke that I just happened to manage to take care of myself and make ends meet. Well... I guess ends aren't necessarily meeting since I have a huge credit card debt. But I'm definitely working on it already, and it's a top New Years Resolution, too. I've made it through a lay-off scare at work. I got my first raise ever. I've finally gone on a nice, tropical vacation with a significant other. I've had my flings and dates in the mix, as well. Yes, it was a busy year, and though it feels like just yesterday that we were gearing up for 2002, a lot has sure happened.
Aside from the future, my week off from work was fantastic!! We went to LA and had a great time with my dad's side of the family, eating a yummy Korean BBQ meal and stuffing ourselves like crazy, doing a white elephant gift exchange, being loud at my aunt's house and eating some more. My cousin Waka and her boyfriend were there, and I got to feel the baby kick and move! It was the first time that I can remember feeling anything like that... I'm sure I felt my sister inside my mom, but I was like 4. And speaking of babies, quick digression, Damien and Melissa had a healthy baby boy! His name is Derek Joseph Ramsay, and he was born on Christmas Eve. They brought baby Derek over to see us, and he is just the mellowest, sweetest baby ever!! Soooooo adorable!! Hopefully I'll get a chance to put pictures of him up here soon, when I resize the ones that Melissa sent us.
Anyway, so Christmas Eve, after Jonathon got home from work, we headed up to Sacramento to Jonathon's mom's new house! It's such a nice house, big and spacious with high ceilings and 3 large bedrooms and everything! I think she'll like it just fine. And even little Mo' seemed to love having all the space to run around in, not to mention the big backyard he has now! We stayed there that night after hanging out and talking to the grownups and Rick for a while, and on Christmas morning, we all headed out to Jon's Aunt Patti and Uncle Richie's house for gifts and breakfast. The number of gifts was staggering. Their large living room floor was *covered* in presents, and even stacked, at that!! We still managed to open them in about 45 minutes, though. :) Jon and I made out like bandits, with gift after gift being handed to us and Jon's two cousins and Josh and Dana. We absolutely loved everything, and didn't even need to exchange anything for sizes or anything!! And it seemed like everyone loved what they got, as well. It was a good Christmas. That night, after the drive back to San Jose, we met with Rich and went to see Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers and enjoyed that thoroughly. I'd like to see it again before it leaves the theaters for sure.
This weekend was mostly Jonathon and Rich trying to get the MSD that I got Jon installed on his truck. The installation itself wasn't the problem. It's the extra part that's necessary for his truck that they didn't know about that was the problem. Luckily, Jonathon got the part today and will hopefully be able to finally finish installing it tonight so that my car can sit in its garage again tonight. :) And in between all the family and holiday stuff, we managed to hang out with friends who are in town *and* spend some alone time together, even though he had to work most of the week. In all, it was nice not having to go to work and do whatever I wanted. :)
And now, less than 2 hours before I get to go home, and a half day at work tomorrow, and then it's the New Year!! I'm having dinner with my dad, Hiroko, Erika, and Byron (Hiroko's 14-year old son who's in town from Colorado for the holidays) as tradition, and then just hanging out at the apartment with Jonathon. A few people who also want to stay off the streets and out of trouble might also stop by to ring in the New Year with us. And I'm very cool with that. Then it's a whole new year to start, with Jonathon taking a full load at school and working, both of us trying to budget our earnings wisely, me trying to pay off some serious debt, and a change of residence in May. Besides, I'm retiring when I turn 24, just like my dad!! Oh wait. He worked 24 years before retiring. I always get that mixed up. :p Haha! And for other people, there's even more stuff! Mike and Candace, as well as Foster and Michelle will become husbands and wives, Waka and Ivan will become parents, some friends will turn 21 (or older, haha).... And I'm still sure that this time next year, we'll be saying the same things, like, "Who would have thought this is where we'd be in December, 2003?" and stuff. But whatever happens, I'm ready for it. Because I've got a great and loving boyfriend to face the world with, a good job to depend on (well, "depend" might not be a good word for it, but whatever), and lots of great friends to enjoy the year with. (Aww.) So Happy New Year, everyone!! And make it a good and safe one. :)
December 19, 2002, 5:03 pm
"It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!"
One more day of work and I'm off for 9 glorious days!! And tomorrow will just be like the last minute taking-care-of-business thing, I'm sure. Setting up out-of-office mails, forms, status reports, the usual. I just wanted to write really quick and say Happy Holidays to anyone who still reads this site, and hopefully over the week off, I'll get those Hawaii pictures up on my site! Seems like anyone in California is having a hard time staying dry, so drive safe and BE WARM!! After the hail and the freezing temperatures, if it keeps raining tonight, it might snow!! LA, here I come (in two days)!! :)
December 12, 2002, 11:30 am
"Take my hand / Live while you can / Don't you feel your dreams are right in the palm of your hand?" -- Vanessa Carlton, Ordinary Day
Aloha! Okay, you don't know "weird" until you've been to Hawaii, where it's a constant mid-80 degrees and sunny and tropical, during the holidays. Our hotel had a 12 foot Christmas tree (dusted to look like snow and everything) in the lobby!! Everywhere we went, Christmas carols were being played on the speakers, only with ukuleles playing the melodies. Christmas lights were everywhere, and "Mele Kelekimaka" or whatever was seen on sides of buildings and on houses on every street. You could see Christmas trees in living rooms of homes, and it was very festive everywhere -- Samoan Santas sitting at their stations outside the Lahaina Safeway, ringing their bells for change, Christmas tree lots set up in parking lots, it was really unreal. Jonathon and I got our ornaments for this year from the little store in our resort. It's an Inside-Painted Glass Ornament. They both have Hawaiian scenes on them (Jonathon's has a sunset, and mine is a daytime view with a rainbow and everything), and both say Hawaii on them. They were intricately painted on the INSIDE of the ornament through the little hole that the hanging part is on top of. Hand-painted, of course. Amazing. They're on our Christmas tree now with the rest of our generic glass ornaments from Target. :)
So our trip was amazing! I haven't had the time (or energy) to resize the digital pictures to put them up yet, but soon, I promise. We also took about 2 rolls worth of pictures with disposable cameras. They didn't come out as well as we would have likes, but what do you expect from disposable cameras? We also have a luau picture of the two of us that came out very nicely that we'll hopefully find a cute frame for so we can display it in the apartment. We snorkeled, drove the infamous road to Hana, explored a lava tube cavern (Ka'eleku Caverns), hiked 4 miles (round trip) to see a 400 foot waterfall (Waimoku Falls, 8 miles south of Hana), went to a luau, hung out in the town of Lahaina, and walked on the beach in the moonlight (which I've been dying to do with someone I love since the first time I went to Hawaii 9 years ago). The weather was fantastic! Apparently, weather forecasters in Hawaii are just as bad as here on the mainland because everyone was talking about a storm that was coming in over the weekend. The off-shore storm kept Jonathon from scuba diving, but at least we got to snorkel for a bit our first day there. Then on Saturday, while we were traipsing our way around the east side of the island (in the glorious Hawaii sun), apparently it rained on the west side (where we were staying). But by the time we got back that night, we saw no traces of any storm, and went about going to dinner and walking through town. Sunday we stayed on the west side of the island and enjoyed more beautiful, sunny weather while we shopped and befriended some nice locals. As one of the locals put it, "You guys could be Hawaiians, except for that horrible mainland accent, yeah?" In fact, some people, like this cashier at the ice cream parlor, flat-out asked if I was a local, or from Hawaii. Hey, man, I'm not tan enough for that!
And on Monday, we arrived back at SFO half and hour early and in drizzly weather. And back to work on Tuesday, and it's been back to (reality) routine since then.
Other news: Oscar will be returning to Miami on Saturday. :( But he's just finishing his last semester at school, then he'll be back in July-ish of 2003 to start his new job here at IBM. :) My sister has one more final next Tuesday and will be back in town to spend the holidays. Dad, Hiroko, Erika, and I will be heading down to LA the weekend before Christmas to see Dad's side of the family including my very pregnant cousin Waka (whose English name is also Jennifer). Jonathon's mom bought a house in Sacramento and will be moving in very soon, yay! If anyone wants to buy a very nice condo in a nice little area, she's still trying to sell the condo she and Jonathon have lived in since 1996. She is the original owner, and it's in south San Jose (near my house) across the street from Lake Almaden. Spacious two-bedroom with high ceilings (as it's on the second floor), two full bathrooms, one car garage and outdoor parking for another car. Let me know if you or someone you know is interested, and I'll pass on more information. (Not like anyone reads this page anymore!!!)
Anyways! Get ready for some rain (finally!!) and happy shopping! :( I don't want to shop!! But only 12 shopping days left, so better get crackin'!
December 4, 2002, 2:19 pm
"And as I look up into those eyes / His vision borrows mine / And to know he's no stranger / For I feel I've held him for all of time." -- Vanessa Carlton, Ordinary Day
Day after tomorrow at this time, Jonathon and I will be just about arriving in beautiful Kahului, Maui, if our flight leaves SFO on time (8:00 am PDT)! Hawaii is 3 hours behind us, so it's still 11:20 am there. Then we'll be picking up our rental car at the Hertz booth and driving to Lahaina, where we'll be staying three nights at the Royal Lahaina Resort. That's the first hotel my family and I ever stayed at in Hawaii, only we had a cottage instead of a tower room. No worries, we'll be out and about exploring the island or sipping Mai Tais on the beach most of the time anyway! I'm sooo excited about the trip! While I'm not looking forward to leaving the apartment at 4:30 in the morning Friday to get to SFO in time, I'm not going to complain too much.
The apartment looks and smells like Christmas now! The decorations (patio lights, inside lights, stockings, and a few garlands) have been up since before Thanksgiving, but now we have a Christmas tree, too! All decorated and lit, reindeer tree skirt and all! And holiday colored mini-Reeses and holiday mint M&Ms are available on the counter for those of you who might want to stop by. :)
Anyway, it's tough to concentrate on work when a tropical vacation is right around the corner, but I have to try. Take care, and I'll write again when I get back home. :)
November 11, 2002, 3:56 pm
"'Cause when there's you / I feel whole / And there's no better feeling in the world / But without you / I'm alone / And I'd rather be in love with you." -- Michelle Branch, I'd Rather be in Love
Happy Veterans Day! And Happy Birthday to Meghan, who turns 23 today! Yesterday was also Erin Wright's 19th birthday, so Happy Belated to you, babe! It's been a quiet day. I wish I didn't have to work, but oh, well, c'est la vie. I had a great weekend, though, so I'm happy about that.
The rain is gone again, but hopefully the cold nights will stick around. It's November, for pete's sake!! I really can't wait till Thanksgiving comes. 4 day weekend, food, friends, family, and fun! Then after Thanksgiving, I get to send out Christmas cards and we get to pick up our Christmas tree!! Yay!! My first Christmas away from my dad's house, and my very first Christmas tree! I'll have to get some cheapie ornaments to be space fillers, but I want to start getting a special ornament every year, and then every year, I'll have more and more. I guess that's generally tradition everywhere else, but we never really did that at our house. So I can start now. Better late than never! :)
Tonight, we'll probably put up some more wall decorations in the apartment. I don't know what to make for dinner tonight, but I have to stop by Albertsons and Aaron Brothers on my way home, so I'll have a little bit of time to think about it some more. I need to clean Evie's cage tonight, too. It's getting a bit stinky.
I'm really looking forward to the day after Thanksgiving, too. Bobby, Bryan, Meghan, and Terrence will be meeting up with me and maybe Jonathon to hang out while everyone's home for the holidays. Bobby's already met Jonathon, but the rest of them haven't, so I thought that would be fun. Plus I wanted Jonathon to meet the people I made friends with while I was in LA so maybe he can see a little bit more about me and how I was during college, and how it affected who I am now. Besides, they've all heard about him since I've known them anyway, so it's only fair. Haha.
Anyways, I hope all is well with you. Thanks for still reading, and please remember that the holidays are a good time to get back in touch with long-lost friends! :) So if you're a long-lost friend who stumbled upon this website, email me and say what's up! :)
November 7, 2002, 4:31 pm
"Come and shake your body baby, do that conga / No, you can't control yourself any longer / Feel the beat the rhythm is a'getting stronger." -- Gloria Estefan?
The only reason I have that song stuck in my head is because there was a party here at work for the whole division, and all the managers that got suckered into costumes had to dance the conga. It was a pretty fun party, lots of people showed up, Oscar and I played in a foosball tournament and lost BIG time (5-0... completely shutout!! Jonathon is going to be so disappointed!), and there was food, beer, wine, and entertainment. There was even a No-Talent Talent Show. So it killed two hours of my day, and now I'm waiting for it to be time to go grocery shopping. Then at 7-ish, Sara will come over to have pizza with me and watch the 200th episode of Friends!
So the rain has finally arrived!! It started last night, and it's still going. Just a little while ago, I heard lots of thunder and pouring rain on the roof from my office! We went to look out the window and it was just SHEETS of water pouring down. "When it rains, it pours." Like the salt advertisement. I put my new K-mart flannel sheets (white with light blue snowflakes on them!) on my bed and I had the comfiest night's sleep, listening to the rain drip down the gutter. :)
And tomorrow's Friday!! :) I'm very excited about that. I'm not sure what we're doing this weekend. Jonathon and I were tossing around the idea of driving up to Sacramento for the weekend to see his family, and more importantly, his mom's dog, Mo. I gotta admit, even I miss the little guy. And going somewhere for the weekend always makes the weekend seem to last longer and seem more worthwhile after it's over.
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets comes out on the 15th!! A bunch of us are going opening night, and I'm soooo excited!! I want to re-read the book, but I have a deadline for my cross-stitch coming up, so I'm trying to work more on that. I'm like, MAYBE halfway there. Sheesh!! Maybe it'll be ready for Christmas, 2003. Haha.
And speaking of holidays, I'm really excited about Thanksgiving 'cause on the Friday after, I'll get to see Bobby, Bryan, and Meghan!! I don't know what we'll do, but it'll just be so good to see them again!!
Well, I'm going to pack up and head out in a minute. I can hear the rain again, and I'm really going to regret leaving my umbrella at home at lunch when I get out to the parking lot. But I'm so glad it's the rainy season again!! :) Stay warm and dry (or at least just damp instead of soaking)! And drive safe in the rain!!!
October 24, 2002, 9:53 pm
GO GIANTS!!!
This is my first posting since I turned 23 years old yesterday. Yay, me! I had a fantastic birthday, the best I've ever had, I'd say. Click here to see pictures of the newest addition to the family: Evie, a baby black bear hamster! Sara got her for me for my birthday, and she made sure she was sweet and playful like Josie was. I didn't think I would find another sweet hamster like Josie, but just as I had given up hope, Evie came into my life, almost exactly a year after I had gotten Josie! It's nice to have a hamster in the house again. :)
Last night, a bunch of my friends came to celebrate my birthday with me at Mountain Charlie's Bar in Los Gatos. It was so nice that so many people came for me (though I'm sure an excuse to drink was something that helped lure them out, too), and it was a lot of fun. Even some karaoke-ing happened, and I vaguely remember being dragged up on stage by Wendy and Hai to sing a trio version of Avril Lavigne's Complicated. And I also remember quite clearly that we sucked hardcore. Good thing it was late in the night, so hopefully most of the people there were too drunk to care. :) They even got the whole bar to sing happy birthday to me while Jonathon lifted me up so everyone could see me. Crazy night. Tons of fun. :)
Anyway, just touching base. It's finally cold now!! I'm so happy. And the time change happens this weekend... an extra hour! Woo hoo! Take care.
October 13, 2002, 4:10 pm
I have finally made a change to this webpage of mine, isn't it about time?? The 'C' on the front page's 'FERBALL.COM' is now dedicated to cars! The 'C' will now take you to a page of links that lead you (so far) to a popup (like the ones for pictures) of Jon's truck and my car. Hopefully I'll soon have other people's car pictures to put up here, and I figure I'll probably put up pictures from car shows I go to and stuff. We're going to the one at Moscone Center again this Thanksgiving, so I'll have some more soon. :) The neat thing is that the popups have the specs of the cars, too, so it's not all just pictures. I just kind of threw it together for now, but maybe I'll make little images of the cars and stuff to make the page more fun and lively or something, we'll see.
Anyway, 10 days till my birthday! And I'll be the big 2-3. I hope everyone's doing well, and please keep checking back to see if I've made any progress on this page. :)
October 2, 2002, 3:17 pm
"Next to her cheap silicone I look minimal / That's why in front of your eyes I'm invisible." -- Objection, Shakira
SO... my job security wasn't so hot yesterday, but right now, it seems to look like what's going to happen is that our department will be moved to IBM Global Services. That means, while I might be on-call during most of my non-business hours, I would still have a job, at least in theory. Yesterday was a little crazy in that I woke up thinking just another day at work and went to bed thinking will I get moved to IGS, Tucson, or lose my job?? But today, the Tucson thing seems to be a little less plausible, and losing my job may not be something to worry about just yet. We might get moved temporarily to another building across site, but that would make me closer to my other friends in buildings 50 and 51. Then we'll probably be moved back across the parking lot from where we are right now. The buildings on site will be owned by the new IBM-Hitachi Joint Venture, so us IBMers who are left after the changeover will be leasing buildings from them. It will be a weird sight in San Jose when the black sign on Cottle Road doesn't read "IBM" anymore. That has been there since 1951.
I'll be making presentations for the eMentoring program that I'm leading here at IBM starting next week. I'm a little nervous because I wasn't aware that volunteering for this meant that I had to present stuff in front of people. But at the same time, maybe getting some visibility will be good for me, so that people will start to see how much work we really have been doing, and will have to continue doing, to ensure that this program remains a success. This opportunity has kind of been making me feel like maybe I should be going into an HR or Community Relations type field because I love working with the employees, the teachers, and other outside people! And I love the organizing and keeping lists of who's done what and who still needs to do this and stuff. Hmm, possible career change if my job ends up dying on me? We'll see.
My birthday is in T-minus 3 weeks and counting!! Today is Josh's 23rd birthday (happy birthday!), and Sara's 23rd was on Sunday, September 29th. My cousin Tadashi's 24th is on Saturday, and his sister's 23rd is on the 11th, and my dad's mom's 83rd is on the 17th, and my mom's dad's is on the 18th. Man, what happens in January that everyone... uh... conceives then? Weird.
Welp. Time for another meeting... so I'll talk to you soon, and thanks for continuing to read this page. :) Love you!
September 20, 2002, 2:29 pm
"But I do know one thing / Is where you are / Is where I belong / I do know where you go / Is where I want to be." -- Where are you going, Dave Matthews Band
Hey, how's it been going? This past month has flown by... it's almost the end of September, and autumn starts on Monday! :) Too bad it doesn't feel like it, with temperatures in the 90's again this weekend. :\ As predicted, I stressed out about September 11th for nothing, but I'm glad I worried and nothing happened instead of not worrying and something happening. My financial situation has proven grim... well, I think I should rephrase. I guess it's grim to me because I had my sights set too high, but it's not necessarily grim to everyone else. I guess thinking I could save up for a condo or house in a couple of years while paying outrageous rent was a little overboard. So I felt disheartened, but maybe I really shouldn't have. I don't know. But I've started pinching the pennies, poor things, and hopefully I'll at least be able to start paying off my debts so I can start building up my savings.
I'll get to see my aunt and uncle tomorrow at my dad's house (and get a free dinner to boot!) so I'm pretty happy about that. It's been a while since I last saw them. I think I missed them the last time they were in town. And I'll also get to see Hiroko and... Dad... haha. So that should be fun tomorrow evening.
Not much else has been going on. I've just been working and hanging out as usual. Just about a month left till my birthday, that's kind of exciting. Not that I'm turning some special age or anything, since nothing happens at 23, but I just love that feeling where you wake up and know it's your birthday, and all day, just knowing it's your day, I don't know, it still gives me that warm fuzzy feeling like when you're in elementary school and your mom makes a whole bunch of something like cookies or cupcakes to take to class and everyone sings Happy Birthday to you and you just feel special. :) I'm getting all giddy just thinking about it.
Anyway, I just wanted to touch base and say hello, and I'm still alive. I hope everyone stays cool this week, at least up here in NorCal. This better be it for our Indian Summer, man!! I don't want a repeat of this in October!! I want cool weather and rain!! :) Have a great weekend!
August 24, 2002, 11:04 pm
I bought a CD-RW drive for my computer recently on buy.com and installed it successfully, so now I don't have to tie up my phone line for hours at a time to upload pictures to my site!! Now I can just burn them and all the other necessary files onto a CD-RW and take it to work and upload from there! So in two days (well, today, for you loyal readers), you'll be able to see pictures from Hot August Nights, 2002 in Reno, Nevada!! You can go to the pictures page or just click here and it'll take you there.
So lately, I've been somehow running low on money, and I swear I haven't been any more frivolous with my money than I have been up to now, so I don't really know what the deal is. I decided to see a financial advisor because IBM pays me back for most of the fees, and what do I have to lose? The chick seems to be a flake, though, already double-booking me with another couple for our first REAL meeting after the initial free one, and of course, I was sent home, even though I must have gotten the appointment first. We'll see how it goes. I don't know how I could go about asking for my check back anyway... which actually reminds me that that might be why I'm low on cash this paycheck. Hmm, some financial advisor.
The weather has been fantastically autumnal lately, and I'm absolutely thrilled! After the feverishly hot months we've had with no rain all summer, I am so excited for fall to get here!! Right now, I'm sitting by my bedroom window with it wide open, and a cold (not just cool) breeze keeps wafting in, and even though I'm a little chilly in my tank top and pajama bottoms, I'm reveling in the chill and I just can't wait till the rain comes back!! I'm eager for October to get here, 'cause then it's my birthday and Halloween, and the time that I really like where it's overcast most of the days and you can smell rain in the near future when the clouds start settling in. :) :) It makes me happy just thinking about it!
I've been diligently working on my last cross-stitch kit that I have, but I also just ordered two more cross-stitching projects for the holidays. I decided that, on top of my old childhood Christmas stocking that my grandmother made me (I love it because it's HUGE and you have to put lots of stuff in it to look un-stingy), it would be nice to have a new stocking to hang up in my new apartment. So I found a really cute one where it's all there in a kit and you do this little cross-stitch for the pattern, AND you get to personalize it with your name!! :) Yes, I know you're thinking, "But you don't even have a fireplace!" Well, I figure, an oven's pretty close, and it even has a little fan over it like a chimney. :) Or I can just hang it on my window with a suction cup. I'll deal. I can't wait to get a little Christmas tree and some ornaments!! Maybe even a REAL tree, just a little dinky one. :) And I also ordered a doorknob hanging of a Santa or something, maybe for the front door, but since I don't have doorknobs, I might just hang it on the wall or something for the holidays.
Anyway, I'm going to go and burn this CD now, and then maybe I'll get to sleep. A nice quiet evening for me after quite a late night last night, and recuperating all day today. It's nights like these that I miss Josie. I miss hearing the little thump when she ran into the walls in her ball, or feeling her bump into my foot when she comes to say hi. (BTW, it seems I haven't mentioned this, so I thought I should... I returned .rat to Petco 'cause she sucked.) Anyways... have a good week! :)
August 5, 2002, 8:11 pm
"Why you gotta go and make things so complicated / I see the way you're acting like you're somebody else gets me frustrated / 'Cause life's like this you / You fall and crawl and break and you take what you get and you turn it into / Honesty, promise me you'll never let me find you fakin'" -- Avril Lavigne
Hello again. I've finally gotten around to putting some more (recent) pictures up. Slowly but surely, my friends... slowly but surely. And surely I'll have tons of pictures to put up from Reno's Hot August Nights, which I'll finally be attending this year!! The baccanalia begins Wednesday night whenever we happen to get to the Silver Legacy, where we will be staying for 4 fabulous, crazy nights! But that's being saved for later.
I put up some pictures from July of this year. Just some friends and me hanging out, having a good time. Work has been decent for me, though the 3 month summers are greatly missed. I don't have much time right now as I'm just online to upload some pictures, then I have to log on with my laptop from home so that I can get some work done around 9. Hopefully this uploading won't take forever... damn dial-up.
So take care, and enjoy whatever summertime you have left! For the Bruins, you have another 2 months or so, but people like my sister have a mere 2 weeks! HA HA! Go Bruins! :)
July 25, 2002, 1:24 pm
"Goodbye to you / Goodbye to everything I thought I knew / You were the one I loved / The one thing that I tried to hold onto." -- Goodbye to You, Michelle Branch
Josie, my angel of a hamster, passed away on Monday, July 22. She was honestly the best hamster that I've had or have even heard of. She never bit me, never peed or pooped on me, always wanted to come out and play, and loved people! She had a great personality, and all of these things -- in case you never had a hamster before -- are extremely rare in hamsters. I don't know that I could ever have another hamster again, just because it could never be as good as Josie. I miss her so much! :(
So while I would never have another hamster again (well, at least not now...), I *would* have another pet... which is why I'd like to introduce my new pet, .rat (yes, that's "dot rat"). She's an 11 week old black and white rat. She has a little black dot on one side, so I'll call her Dotty for the most part. But you know, gotta throw in the geekiness somewhere. :) Yes, I know, you're thinking, "Ew, gross!!" That's what everyone has been saying. But they're really cute, especially to people who like mice and hamsters like me. All rodents have cute faces. And rats are smart. You can train them to come when you call their name or potty train them. Sara's living proof. She's the one who talked me into it. And so far, I'm happy. She's really cute and playful, but still a little nervous about coming out to play. Apparently, though, they need lots of interaction, so it would be fun to have a needy pet instead of a solitary one. Sara's will sit and hang out while she watches TV and stuff, so hopefully Dotty will be affectionate, too.
Well that's about all the news for now. Have a good weekend if I don't post before tomorrow!
July 12, 2002, 8:16 am
"So take it off like your home alone / You know dance in front your mirror while you're on the phone / Checkin' your reflection and tellin' your best friend like 'Girl I think my butt gettin big!'" -- Hot in Herre, Nelly
Good morning! I got in to work today, and so far, I'm the only one in my department here. Then again, today there are only going to be two people here (including me), so it's not too surprising. At least there aren't any production problems. :) So I thought I would try updating from work, just to see if it's worth doing more often. FTP-ing from the command line is my strong point.
So I made it through a week of work after essentially 11 days of vacation. It was tough, but I did it. :) And now I'm being rewarded with a payday, hooray!! Man, I need money so bad! So this is good timing. Summer is financially draining! All those cute outfits and the night air being so warm that I can go out in shorts and a tank top till the wee hours. But I'm not complaining (except for the fact that the Brit gets soooo packed).
So I'm hoping the heat wave has passed. I don't know if you've heard, but Monday-Wednesday were record heat days. Into the hundreds, and it would be like 80 degrees till like 11 pm!! No joke! But yesterday was a little muggier, and today seems cooler, at least compared to the other mornings. Hopefully I won't have to keep the AC on just for Josie during the day too much longer.
Anyway, I just wanted to touch base. I hope everyone in the Bay Area is staying cool. Have a good weekend!
July 7, 2002, 1:54 am
"Boy, what you been eatin'??" -- Will Smith as Agent J in Men in Black II
What have I been eating?? Boy-food, that's what. I just polished off a bagel that I made into a make-shift pizza with two beers. And if that's not boy-food, I don't know what is. And on the 4th of July, I had steak in both my meals (steak and eggs for breakfast, filet mignon and swordfish for dinner). That's pretty manly, too. But no complaints... I mean, boys like food, so I guess it's only obvious that they would like good food.
Anyway, my 4 day weekend (which I actually treated as an extended 11-day weekend including my Hawaii trip) is pretty much over; all that's left is one day left to sleep in (which I will), and it's back to the normal (boring) routine. But I guess that's life, and hey, at least I'm enjoying it.
I hope the fourth was great and safe for everyone. I'm going to go ahead and make sure I get these pictures posted now, so keep in touch, and take care.
July 2, 2002, 8:48 pm
"It's not having what you want / It's wanting what you've got." -- Soak up the Sun, Sheryl Crow
Back from Hawaii, and back to work. Good thing it's only two days of work (really one and a half) and then a 4 day weekend! The pictures are here and they're fantastic! There's also a picture of my new tattoo, which can be seen here. The trip is all deatiled out on the picture pop-up, so read on there.
I am also working on getting the picture of my sister's graduation up (finally). I promise, very soon!! And I keep finding more and more pictures on CF cards and on my computer and ZIP disks that I never got around to putting up online because I didn't have internet access from my apartment for a while, like the trip to Reno with Jason in December and the KerckhoffPatio reunion in February!! I will work on those, too, I promise. Damn dial-up!! Damn it to hell!! If I had a ZIP drive at work, I would put them all on disk and ftp from there, but of course, I don't have one. Or if I had a CD-R, but I don't. I don't have the moola to get a new computer (yes, even though it's so cheap right now), so that's out of the question, too.
Anyway, I hope all is well wherever you might be viewing this from, and I'll be updating again as soon as possible. :)
June 12, 2002, 6:12 pm
"I wanted to fly so you gave me your wings." -- Breathless, Michelle Branch
So it's been awhile... my bad!! :) It's been hectic, and I don't go online at home much -- do you blame me after working hard all day in front of a computer?? Anyway, I have lots of pictures to get up on the web, but I know that Meghan's wedding pictures were most important, so that's where my priorities stood. I'll put up more pictures after I get around to resizing them.
So I haven't been laid off from IBM in the big layoffs. To quote my boss, "You guys are safe... for now." Gee, thanks for the words of encourragement. :) But I'm not complaining, I'm busy spending my money (including my raise which kicked in last month) frivolously on things I don't need at all.
Other news: Jason and I have broken up a while back, and I admit it was completely my own issues that led me to this decision. However, I have faith that things will work out one way or another for us. Something like what we had doesn't happen once in a lifetime for some people, let alone twice. I just needed my time to live the way I want to live, be in my 20-somethings. And getting my own apartment and being totally self-sufficient financially and stuff is the main culprit of this break-up. I won't ever have another time in my life where I can live on my own, do whatever I want to do, and not have to worry about anyone else (family, husband/boyfriend, kids, etc.). And I want to make sure I live it up, explore, whatever you want to call it. Jason is being the sweetheart that he's always been to support me on my decision, and I'm thinking that maybe we're the right two people, just at the wrong time in our lives (me in my career, him still in school). Anyway, not to sit here and explain myself to you. ;) Don't worry, I think we'll be just fine.
Work and sleep used to be my entire schedule until about 2 months ago (sleeping at 9 or 9:30 pm can be tiring!), but I've finally shrugged off that habit and have started living up my life as any 22 year old should. Fact of the matter is, I feel just as tired going to bed at 9:30 and waking up at 7 as I do going to bed at 2 am and waking up at 7:15. So here's to having a night-life!
Otherwise, there really isn't anything going on.in my life. Josie is still the sweetest hamster in the world, and my car is still my dream car (except for the really scraped-up rim). My apartment is perfect, and my bills are expensive. Not much change happens in my life, and I guess I kinda like it. Helps me deal with all the drama in my life. (hehe) I hope everyone is doing well, and once I get a non-AOL connection on this computer (hopefully this weekend), I'll post more, I promise!
Oh, and last but not least, my sister Erika will be graduating from Santa Teresa High School tomorrow evening!! In August, she will be going off to the ever-prestigious UC Berkeley to study Genetics and Plant Biology! I'm really, really proud of her, and I know she'll be fine at Berserkley. :) I guess now I'm the dumbass of the family 'cause my dad went to Cal, too... I just went to lowly UCLA. Too bad UCLA IS THE BEST SCHOOL IN THE WORLD!! :) But yeah, I guess Cal's alright. ;) Congrats, Erika!!
Countdown to our family trip to Maui: T-minus 2 weeks and eagerly counting!!
January 15, 2002, 7:35 pm
Please check out the pictures of my apartment (the outside) here!! :) Otherwise, not much going on. Work and figuring out what to move/throw away. :) Jason will be here soon. :)
January 6, 2002, 7:26 pm
Happy New Year!!
2001 has gone -- and has taken Jason away with it. He left this afternoon around 4 pm. Since then, I have managed to wash my car without losing any appendages to frostbite and have enjoyed a delicious meal of a teriyaki bowl combo at Jack in the Crack. :)
So I'm hoping to eventually get the B in ferball.com to link to a page devoted to BMW's and the R to be the Reminiscing page. Soon. And maybe I'll even do a slight redesign on the pages... give it a more consistent look. But I'll have to come up with a template first, so don't hold your breath. It will, of course, be light blue in some way, shape, or form.
Jason took me to see Beauty and the Beast on the IMAX theater at the Tech Center in downtown San Jose yesterday. It was soooo cool, definitely a great experience. And I got this neat movie poster that I framed... along with the Spiderman poster that I decided to keep instead of sell. It was difficult to find a 27" x 40" frame, but Jason and I managed. :) It looks really nice. Jason and I also almost finished one of those photomosaic puzzles last night... but part of it is damn-near impossible. Once it's finished, I'll seal/glue it and frame that, too. I'll have tons of cool things in my apartment when I finally get it!! :)
Speaking of, plans to move out are still around March... I should have my dad paid off by this month, then a month to save a month's worth of rent or so, and off I go. I can't wait!!
Anyway, one of my resolutions is to update this site more (along with revamping it and killing the old links, like the school ones and such), so keep an eye out. I hope everyone is still sticking to their resolutions (it hasn't even been a week yet, guys!), and take care.
December 24, 2001, 12:41 pm
"On Dasher, on Dancer, on Prancer, on Vixen! On Comet, on Cupid, on Donner and Blitzen!" -- The Big Man, Santa Claus
As Jason would say, "Happy Merry Christmas Eve!" I guess it's been a while since I posted, and I'm sorry to those dedicated (i.e. bored-at-work) people who have been waiting. How has everyone been? I just got back from LA yesterday (just went for the weekend) and it was great to see family and stuff. Now, Erika and I have the house to ourselves until the day after Christmas... just a quiet holiday for us. Jason and Chris will come over, and we're planning on watching some holiday videos... such as The Grinch, The Night they Saved Christmas, A Muppet Christmas Carol, etc. We'll probably build another fire like last night, too, and drink some hot chocolate.
Jason and I also went to Reno last week. It was a great time, and I'll post some pictures when I have a little more time. We lost more money than we bargained, but it was a fun trip, for sure. We also took my car in to get the subwoofer fixed, and have a few things set, like automatic door locks after 2.5 mph. So now everything's cool. :)
Anyway, there's honestly not much more to say. I will post pictures soon, I promise. Have a great holiday, everyone, and I will post more often in 2002, it's a New Year's Resolution. :)
December 9, 2001, 7:32 pm
One more week of work and I get a week off!! Yay!! And Jason will be here on Tuesday, which will be nice, too. :) My weekend was good. Don't want to go back to work, though. I got to see Bobby on Friday and Saturday because he was here for an AMD interview in Sunnyvale. :) It was good to see him and spend time with him.
Nothing else is really going on over here. I washed my car yesterday and managed not to drive it last night, but then I had to drive it today, so it got the bottom half of the car wet. I cleaned Josie's cage and bought her a little play area (see the pictures here!). I also finally posted pictures of the San Francisco car show over Thanksgiving weekend here! Take a gander. And have a good week.
November 25, 2001, 7:57 pm
"MAN!" -- Jason, after I belched
One more month till Christmas! I hope everyone who still reads this had a good Thanksgiving!! Everyone else can kiss my ass.
November 8, 2001, 9:28 pm
"Tz tz tz... tz tz...." -- Josie, my black bear hamster
Two more weeks till I'll be stuffing my face with turkey after a long, hard morning of looking at gorgeous cars! Yes, the annual Shioya family tradition of going to the San Francisco Car Show in Moscone Center will continue this year, making it three years in a row. :) Then it's off to my aunt's house for a yummy meal, made especially to stuff us like the turkey we'll be feasting on. :)
Other than that... nothing. Boring. Work. Jason and I just planned a trip to Reno over our Christmas break, so I guess that's exciting, but it's not for a while, so it'll be exciting later. :) It's finally getting cooler (especially at night) so that's exciting. I love seeing the frost on the rooftops in the morning.
But that's it. Until the holidays, that is. I just thought I'd post and clean up a couple dead links and such. Not too many people have been signing my guestbook, so I guess there's really not too much reason to post (*hint hint!!*). Hope everyone's doing well, wherever they are.
November 4, 2001, 6:32 pm
"Jason, watch out. The more cartoons you watch, the lower your IQ." -- My dad to Jason when we were watching Fern Gully in the family room
Monsters, Inc was soooo great!! Even the little short film that Pixar puts at the beginning of their movies was hysterical and totally adorable. I won't say much about the movie yet 'cause Gavin will kill me, but trust me, go out and see it, it's worth whatever you have to pay and any line you have to wait in. Oh, and for people who wanted to go to see the Star Wars: Episode II trailer, it was totally lame. Short and not much of an ooh-ahh appearance. Sure, I'm not a huge-huge fan, but, well, if you want, go ahead. The Harry Potter trailer, on the other hand, was spectacular.
Jason and I (re)built my "Forbidden Corridor" Harry Potter Lego set this weekend. It's so cool! Then yesterday, we went to Valley Fair with a lack of anything better to do, and saw a kiosk selling Harry Potter Legos!! I have already ordered the Hogwarts Castle (backordered), plus it's way inflated prices at the mall. Despite the high prices, however, we proceeded to buy the Hogwarts Express (with Platform 9 3/4) set and Hagrid's Hut. :) If it wasn't for the limited space in my room (actually, I think I outgrew my room about 10 years ago), I would just buy all of them now 'cause I know I won't be happy till I do. But I'll wait till I get my own place before I do. Maybe. :)
Jason loves my Josie. And Josie seems to totally love Jason. When she's in the ball running around, she almost always comes back to Jason. We spent a lot of time with Josie this weekend, letting her run in the family room while we watched movies and stuff. We also bought her a new wheel (metal this time, we learned our lesson) and a new glass aquarium instead of the wire cage. :) She loves it. :)
Anyway, other than that, nothing much. I just added a new guestbook, and I think you should definitely sign it. Please. It doesn't take long, and I would appreciate it if you signed it really quick so I know that people still read my page. :) Take care, and I will try to post again soon. :)
October 28, 2001, 4:53 pm
"I can't deny it / I'm a f***in' rider." -- Fabolous, feat. Nate Dogg
Sorry it's been so long!! I really would like to say I haven't posted because I've been too busy, but that's not the case. Nothing really happens when you're away from school and just work all the time. Last weekend was absolutely amazing, spending the weekend up the coast with Jason, and also celebrating our 6 month "anniversary." Now I also have a new pet Josephine, and pictures of her, my sister's new pet, our weekend, and my UCLA DIPLOMA can be seen here. :)
Jason is coming back up for the weekend next weekend so we can see Monsters, Inc together. It looks soooo funny. I saw Don't Say a Word yesterday with Sara, and it was a good movie. And Harry Potter comes out soon, I can't wait!! I can't believe it's November already, practically, and the time change will be more evident tomorrow, when I wake up and it's not dark, but when I leave work and it's already getting dark. I washed my car despite the forecast for rain (YAY!!!!) because it was filthy from the drive up to Mendocino, plus I wanted to vacuum and put in my new rubber floor mats to protect my nice ones. All is well, and at least now, even if it gets rained on, it won't leave spots of dirt all over. :)
Anyway, take a gander at those pictures when you get a chance. I hope everyone is doing well! :)
October 14, 2001, 3:53 pm
"'Cause you're everywhere to me / And when I close my eyes it's you I see / You're everything I know that makes me believe / I'm not alone." -- Michelle Branch, Everywhere
New stuff!! I got my clear lenses and other accessories for my car in the mail last week, so my car is looking pretty pimped out!! :) My clear lenses are fully installed and still functional, and damn they look good. You can check them out here and see for yourself. I approach my car in a parking lot and feel tingly when I think about how this car that I've always wanted is all mine. You have no idea how badly I've wanted a car like this, exactly like this. I'm 1000% satisfied with it (and I think anyone who's driven it will know why) and I've waited a long time for it. The money I'm dishing out for it isn't even a big deal because the way I feel knowing it's MY car is totally worth it. And it always will be. It looks exactly the way I've wanted it to look. And I'm so happy that I did it all myself!
My birthday is fast approaching (*hint hint*)!! Not a big birthday... but it's been a long year. I feel like I've been 21 for a long time... but I guess a lot has happened, i.e. Jason, graduation, starting my career, getting my car. I'm so excited about next weekend, and even this week, when Jason drives home for a long weekend! :) I'm taking the day before my birthday (Monday) off, so that'll be nice, too. :)
Other than that, I guess that's it. Be sure to check out the pictures I posted. I hope this weather turns into "fall" weather soon. I'm getting a little sick of the high 80s and low 90s. I want it to be sweater weather so I can buy more cute sweaters for the winter. :) I hope everyone's doing well. Take care. :)
October 8, 2001, 9:12 pm
"H to the izzo / V to the izzay / Fo' shizzle my nizzle / Used to dribble down in VA." -- Jay-Z
My trip to LA has come and gone, and my weekend consisted of 10 hours of driving for 43 hours spent with my baby. And while some citizens of the country were apparently preparing to attack Afghanistan, we oblivious people headed out to the bars to carouse with our friends, enjoying good drinks, good music, and good company. It was an effort well spent because just seeing everyone back in our natural Westwood habitat was very comforting. I know I'm missing out on a lot of stuff by not being in LA with everyone (well, not everyone), but I guess I've already put in my 4 years and that's that. Anyway, the pictures from Saturday night are now up, and I hope you'll check them out for sake of seeing how much fun we all have. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm dead tired from the weekend and washing the bugs off my car, so I think I'll go to bed now. :) LA peeps, I miss you, and I hope to come down again soon (especially to see the finished "barquarium" at Bryan and Nick's apartment!)!!
October 1, 2001, 7:48 pm
"I've got toes / In different area codes (area) / Area codes (cooooodes) / Toes / I've got toes." -- Me and Kelly in San Francisco on Sara's birthday
Hello, everyone, and welcome back to my page. :) My friend Sara's 22nd birthday was Saturday, so I put up some new pictures for your enjoyment. There are a couple cute ones of all 3 of us (Sara, Kelly, and me) that you would like. :) We went to San Francisco for the afternoon/evening and had a yummy dinner and Ghirardelli ice cream for dessert. All of that with both *NSync CDs thrown in the mix? Very worth the drive. :) Sunday was then full of shopping at Valley Fair with Sara, then dinner with my family. Also, on Friday, I got to hang out with a friend of mine who also works at IBM, Kurt. I met him at the interview invitational we went to back in the end of March, and we were also at the same orientation session because we just happened to start on the same day! :) He works in another building, but we meet up for lunch occasionally, so on Friday, we went to get a quick dinner, then played pool for a couple hours, then got a drink at the Brit nearby. His apartment is amazing (the new Palmia apartments off Cottle, if you guys know where that is) and now I'm determined to save up enough money now and move in by March or so, but we'll see how that goes.
Nothing else is really new, as usual. Work is laid back. I get to see Jason on Friday, and I'm VERY excited about that. I'm also excited about the drive down... even though my car bra seemingly won't make it here in time (it's scheduled for delivery on the 8th, the day after I get back), it will be fun to go on a solo road trip. I loved making that drive from SJ to LA, even without AC and cruise control in my old car. So it will be fun to go faster in my new car. :) And the night atmosphere will be fun, too. Less cars.
Anyway, that's about it for now. I'll post the new pictures now, too. So check them out. :) Take care.
September 23, 2001, 7:44 pm
"I can pee standing up." -- Andrew, Jason's 3 year old second cousin
Well, my time with Jason has come and gone, and now I'm back to having a relationship with my cell phone. Jason should be getting back to his apartment in Westwood any minute now because I talked to him a little while ago and he already passed Magic Mountain. It's reassuring to know that his car has made it without any problems. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it's not a lemon, otherwise, I'll be putting a lot of miles on my car, especially now that I've decided not to fly to LA anymore.
Speaking of my car, as my friend Joey said, its "accident hymen" has been broken. While I was at dinner with Sara and Kelly today, someone scratched my car. It looks like the bumper of a car (probably an SUV) hit my rear driver's side bumper, fairly high up, because it was black stuff (which my dad and I originally thought was the black of MY bumper under the paint and almost shat a brick) that came off after some vigorous rubbing of this buff/wax stuff that my dad has. The bitch of it is, I was thinking when I pulled in, "Hmm, I should pull back out and park in that spot 'cause there's a curb on one side, so less chance of getting dinged," but then decided I'd be too anal in front of Sara and Kelly, so just parked in the spot the right of the curb spot. Well, I guess if I parked in the curb spot, the car on the other side of me would have been hit instead of mine. :( I keep imagining some guy with a family pulling into that spot, hitting my car, then thinking, "Shit, I better not stay parked here" and pulling out and leaving. If anyone sees a black bumper with silver paint on it, please do me a favor and puncture its tire. They didn't leave a note! I mean, it's not like I would have gone after them to replace my whole bumper if they had, it's just the principle!!! :( What an awful day. The only nice thing was hanging out with Sara and Kelly. That took my mind off Jason driving far, far away for a while.
Well anyway, now that Jason's gone again, I'm sure I'll be posting more often. Sorry I've been slacking. I guess life will start getting "back to normal," or as normal as things can get. I hope everyone is holding up, and remember what I said about black bumpers with silver paint on them.
September 13, 2001, 8:55 pm
"We stand united. We will not tolerate terrorism."
So how do I address something as horrendous as what happened on Tuesday? I don't know that there even exists a way to express the feelings I have. Never have I felt so sad, angry, and vengeful as I do now, and all because of things that have not really happened to me. The heart-wrenching stories I keep hearing on the radio or TV or reading on cnn.com, the awful pictures and footage they keep showing on every channel, they just shock me to no end... and bring tears to my eyes every time. Thankfully, Chrissy is okay. She's in NY for grad school at NYU and for the hour or so that I couldn't call through to her cell phone or even to her parents' house was so nerve-wracking. But all is well, and as far as I know, while some acquaintances and such are stranded in different places, everyone is okay. That's something to be thankful for right there.
Now, I know you've heard this billions of times before, but please, donate blood if you can. Or, I know that the United Way has "The September 11th Fund" started. I know everyone is just shocked about what's been going on, but the least we can do is let people know that we care, and try to help.
My heart goes out to all those hundreds of thousands of people who were in any way affected by the events of the past terrible Tuesday. And as an American, my heart goes out to all other Americans who I know are grieving on the outside while boiling on the inside. I'm not even religious and I'm laying in bed at night praying for justice. I have faith that something will be done to avenge these innocent deaths. I love you all, every one of you who might be reading this. I wish I was in Westwood with everyone again so that we can all be together for support and have everyone close enough to hug. I have never felt so vulnerable and mortal in my life. Please, take care of yourselves so that one day, we can all meet again.
September 4, 2001, 7:20 pm
"Thanks for calling The Hose Shop. For all your hose and fitting needs." -- Erica about the place she works in Santa Cruz
Sorry for the lapse... I haven't updated in a while, I know, but there just really isn't much to be said on a day-to-day basis anymore. Alas, my life (is this it??) has settled into a seemingly mindless stupor, filled only with minute-counting at work and sleep-chasing at home.
But this past weekend, however, was a totally different story. After a two-hour flight delayed an hour and a massive headache brought on by a screaming baby with incompetent parents, I finally found myself back in Jason's arms where I (in my opinion) truly belong. For once, we had longer than just 47 hours together, and we were sure to spend every possible moment together (without sharing every bodily function with each other) to make up for all the time lost during this torturing summer.
So Friday night, I arrived at the SeaTac airport at just about 11:15 pm. After getting back to his apartment and stuff, we went up to visit Gavin and Mike at their apartment, 3 floors up and about 6 doors down. Erica was visiting and had just gotten in when we arrived, and we laughed and talked till about 2 in the morning, when I was ready to pass out from exhaustion. Saturday morning, fairly early, Jason and I got up to rain. It was wonderful. The smell of the fresh rain and the sound of the dripping from the balconies above were so beautiful, I can't wait till it starts to rain here! And Washington really is beautiful. We stayed in and watched videos, ate Eggos, etc. We also stopped by the mall nearby, just to walk around a little, and we did a little snack-shopping at the Safeway down the street. We visited with Gavin, Mike, and Erica again for a bit, then when they went off to dinner, we stayed at Jason's and just vegged a little more. Sunday was a beautiful, warm sunny day. Jason and I headed into Seattle and eventually made it over to Pike Place and the pier where the Seattle Aquarium is. We went there the first time I went to visit him, but I wanted to go again, and since it's free to Microsoft people and their guests, Jason didn't mind. :) Right after that, we went down the street to the next pier where they had a Ferrari concourse going on! Since Jason's favorite car is the 360 Modena, it was very convenient, and we even got a picture of Jason by his beloved car. :) We saw Mike, Erica, and Gavin there, but headed in separate directions. We walked around Pike Place, through the farmer's market looking place, and some other little stores. We went back to Bellevue to relax for a little while, and then we went back up to Mike and Gavin's to go to Claim Jumper's. Dinner was great because of the company, and the filet mignon was good, too. :) I borrowed Mike's guitar that night, and we retreated to our respective apartments for the evening. Watched more videos in front of the warm fireplace and went to bed. Monday, we woke up to rain again, but just a little. Cleared up by the afternoon. We walked to the park nearby and took over the grown-up swings for a while, then walked to the marina that was right down the street, too. I didn't know Lake Washington got that close to Jason's place! Then back to just watch some TV (A Baby Story and Trading Places on TLC, hahaha) and be together for the last couple of hours. At 6, we called Mike and Gavin to say goodbye (because they weren't there!!! I hope you feel guilty!!) and left for the airport. Of course my flight was right on time and I was in the back so I was one of the first to board. Another teary goodbye, at least on my end, and then back to San Jose. At least I'll see Jason again on Saturday when I pick him up from San Jose International at 10:30 am. :) I can't wait till the 700-mile distance is behind us! 350-miles just doesn't seem so bad anymore.
Anyway, I'm going to try to get those pictures from this weekend up now. I hope everyone had a fun Labor Day weekend. I'm so glad tomorrow's already Wednesday!! See? Just getting rid of a Monday makes everything better! :)
August 21, 2001, 9:36 pm
"I'm down." -- My dad trying out his new vocabulary word
I just finished resizing and detailing 48 images so that you, the reader, can see these awesome pictures that my dad took on his climb up Mt. Shasta. Notice that I'm writing "Mt." instead of "mount" because I HATE THAT WORD!!! Anyway. :) You've got to see these pictures!!
Things are alright here. It's strangely fall-like here in San Jose, with chilly night air and foggy mornings. I love it. I missed the fall these past 4 years, and I'm looking forward to the REAL autumn in October and November. :) At least I won't be trudging through puddles on campus anymore. :)
Okay, it's getting close to bedtime. I need sleep, and I still need to talk to Jason before I go to bed. So it's off to upload I go!! Make sure to see the pictures. Take care! And Mike and Gavin, enjoy your new apartment!! :)
August 15, 2001, 7:48 pm
"I heard you got a hotel room, you little slut!" -- Jason's Uncle
Jason has come and gone. *sigh* It was a really good weekend. I finally met his real dad, had dinner with my family (triple date... see the pictures), met Sara and Mike for lunch, and had dinner with his family. Sometime in there, we managed to catch American Pie 2. Great movie, by the way. :) We stayed in a hotel in Mountain View so we got our alone time. It was so nice waking up next to him, but Sunday night was hard being alone. The airport has become my favorite place on Fridays and my least favorite place on Sundays. All in all, it was a great weekend. And most of you know this, but I now have in my possession the most beautiful ring I've ever laid eyes on. It's a biased opinion because, well, it's mine, but it's a symbol of just how serious and beautiful Jason and my relationship really is. Wearing a ring on my left hand really makes a difference, maybe 'cause I've never really worn a ring on that finger. But sometimes, just knowing that ring is there helps me get through a day without Jason.
More importantly, my dad made it to the top of Mt. Shasta today!! He left at 5 am from his camp and got to the top, just about 14,000 feet up. He said it was icy and dangerous, a lot worse than Mt. Whitney (which he climbed 3 summers ago), which was more like hiking than climbing. Mt. Whitney I guess was a couple hundred feet taller than Shasta, but Whitney is still the tallest in the lower 48. I'm glad my dad's safe, and I sure he'll sleep well tonight up there on that mountain. :)
Anyway, that's all for now. Keep in touch, everyone. I know everyone's moving around the country soon, and this is the moment of truth, to see who really is going to keep in touch. Something tells me Gavin and Mike will, but who knows about everyone else?? I love you guys!! Keep in touch!!
August 9, 2001, 7:24 pm
"It doesn't matter because her stupid opinion doesn't count." -- my sister Erika about some lady on the news
As of today, I've been at IBM for exactly one month. I can't believe it!! But at the same time, I can't decide if I feel like it's been a lot longer or a lot shorter than a month. :) The orientation thing seems a long time ago, but then again, I've only seen two paychecks. :) That's what matters most, of course. :) Actually, I really enjoy working with my team, plus I'm doing work and learning like crazy, so I'm really happy with everything right now. Except for Jason being far away, I've had a really good month, as far as working, getting my car, and being happy. :)
Work was busy enough for the time to pass by at a decent speed today. Hopefully the same will happen tomorrow. :) I learned some Kornshell today... met with my manager to see how things were going and stuff, too. It was cool. And I had my own office (and tomorrow, too) 'cause my officemate took today and tomorrow as vacation days. :) Woo hoo!! Not like it makes much of a difference. :)
Stay cool and don't leave your kids in the car like and idiot.
August 8, 2001, 9:05 pm
"Time is passing so slowly now / Guess that's my life without you." -- N*Sync
It's so hot!! You want to hear something crazy? I had this new nail polish that I bought today, and I went to take some garbage out first, so I set it on my bed for a minute and went downstairs. I come back and there's purple nail polish all over the bed and shards of glass everywhere. All over my purse, my hands-free headset, and my sheets. It wasn't in the sun or anything, but I can't think of anything else that could have made it explode.
Work has been pretty good. I've had stuff to do every day, so the days actually pass fairly quickly. Nothing to complain about, so it's cool. The AC's been out, so it's been uncomfortably warm (like, to the point where I get sleepy after lunch), but whatever. They'll fix it soon, I hope. I guess anything's better than being outside. :)
Other than that, nothing much. Stay out of the heat.
Mileage update: 1,060
August 4, 2001, 11:10 pm
I need to clarify some things. It occurred to me recently that some people do not quite understand Jason's and my situation. And for a long time, I really didn't find it necessary to try to explain this situation to anyone because it's our relationship. But I've found out that it's not going to work this way. I need to ask you to put yourselves in our shoes (if you're in a relationship). Just for a minute. Just humor me. Let's say that you're not in the same city or state as your loved one. Let's say that you'd gotten used to seeing them every day, and all of a sudden, you had to start a 1½ to 2 year long-distance relationship. And let's just say that you severely miss them every moment you're away from them. Now, I know it's hard for some of you to take that without vomiting, but that's one of the reasons I need to be sitting here explaining this. Some of you think it's so "gross" or that our feelings are enough to "barf" over. I've laughed about that, and it's funny, and sure, you think we're disgusting and face-sucking and whatever. But I'm getting to the point where I'm sick of it, and I'm just going to say, if you don't want to hear about us, don't read this webpage. I would hate for you to force yourself to read this webpage as a loyalty gesture to me. Heaven forbid. If you continue reading this page, then you're obviously not completely offended by what's on here. So don't complain, okay? If you don't like what you're reading, stop reading, you know, like you did in school.
And another thing, and this is quite serious. The things I write on this website are my true feelings. I don't post them here so that I can set myself up for topics of conversation or anything, although if it happens, that's fine. But I do this because in the past, people have liked the things I write. People have told me that they like what they read and they appreciate reading this. And I like posting things when I know that people are reading it and enjoying it. If things have changed that much and you guys don't like to read it anymore, I will be more than happy to stop posting my feelings on here. I'm not trying to set myself up as a target by writing here. You have to understand that anything and everything I write here is from the heart and meant for my friends and family. Please, again, put yourself in my shoes and think about how you would feel if you were talking to someone about your true feelings and they made it their topic of humiliation.
Now, some of you readers know me well enough and long enough to know that what I have with Jason is the best thing to ever have happened to me. Maybe some of you are in relationships that are just as perfect as ours and can understand just how hard this long distance thing is on us, or can at least relate to how difficult it can be. But a lot of you can't, and a lot of you don't think that we're that serious, whether it's because we've only been together for a short time or because you just don't think we're meant to be. I'm going to tell you that you're just going to have to wait and see. You don't have to believe us. I'm not trying to make everyone believe us. But this is something that is more important to me than anything else, and if it's one thing I ask of everyone, it's to just leave us alone. Don't comment on if you think that we're wrong. Don't tell me that we're disgusting or too cute or whatever. I love Jason so much and I have never felt like life was so good to me until he came into my life. I'm not exaggerating when I say that. Some of you know the hell I have gone through in my life and can see that this is the kind of life that I have never known. I have never been so happy. But then, shouldn't I be able to tell people how I'm feeling? Maybe this is what Mary meant by "We're so glad that we're not the 'new couple' anymore." And if that's the case, then we definitely need a newer couple. Because I don't want to be in the spotlight if it's going to be like this. It's not that I don't want feedback on things that I write or on the pictures that I post or anything like that. I just mean that I'm sick of the teasing or talking-behind-our-back that goes on. It's hard enough to have a long-distance relationship. Some of you even feel like they're not worth the trouble. But we do. Having friends like you are important to both of us, but friends like you should also care about how you make us feel. Please use your (good) judgement and take our feelings into consideration before ridiculing us. You can take that to mean whatever you want. But please stop commenting on our relationship, and I'll stop writing about it if that's what you want. And if that is what you want, then I'm sorry I've gone on this long, but from now on, at least tell me that you don't want to read it, otherwise I'm wasting my time. This page is for the reader just as much as it is for me.
On a lighter note, I went to Marine World today! :) It was fun, but I got sunburned. :( I haven't burned in a long time, but what can you do when you'watching seals flip around in the water and the sun's beating down on your neck and back? The rides were awesome, too. I had a really good time with Sara, Kristina, and Brooke (both 11). :) That Brooke LOVES her cotton candy!!
And I hit 1000 miles today!! You know what's sad? When it was 1001, I looked at the dashboard, so the display showed: 001001, and i was like, "Aww, that's 9 in binary!" to Jason on the phone. Ha ha. Gotta love the nerdiness.
Well I'm beat. So Happy 22nd Birthday to Bryan, and I'm off to bed. I hope you understand that what I wrote today is nothing that I want to get you angry over. I just feel like maybe I should check in and make sure that I'm not turning people off from my webpage by things that I'm writing and stuff. Please, let me know what you do/don't like about my webpage. Either on the discussion board, or just email me.
August 1, 2001, 8:12 pm
"It's the first of the month." -- Bone Thugs N Harmony
Happy 22nd birthday, Bobby!!
Today was a pretty bad day, other than the fact that the world is rejoicing over the 22nd anniversary of Bobby Brill's birth. So I don't think I'll write about it.
I just noticed I have 3 soft, furry keychains sitting on my desk. What are the chances??
Anyway, just wanted to touch base. I'll write again soon.
July 30, 2001, 9:30 pm
"Moneymoneymoneymoney... MONEY!!"
I'm hella moving out in a year!! I got my second paycheck, and I just figured out my finances and budgeting and stuff for the year and I should be able to afford a studio ALL TO MYSELF!!! How awesome would it be to walk in the door and have everything in there be mine?? And at first I was thinking a studio would be too public, but then I thought, any visitor who'd be there would be visiting ME, and not a roommate 'cause I wouldn't have one!! So yeah, that'd be dope. And Jason could live with me during the summer, so that would be awesome. :) I'm so excited!! I talked it over with my dad and he agrees that it all works out, and I should be able to do it! New car, a year till my new place, I can't wait!!!
Nothing else going on. Work was alright... went by fast 'cause I was coding and stuff. And Jason sent me stuff from Microsoft, so now I have a Visual C++ reference to help me do the harder stuff. :) I love you so much, Jason!! :)
Well I guess it's bedtime. Good night, everyone! I'm going to go dream about my new place with my queen size bed. :)
July 29, 2001, 6:03 pm
"Guess what." "You love me." "Dammit!!" -- A typical conversation between Jason and me
Nice, relaxing weekend. :) Friday night, I saw Final Fantasy with Shirley, the girl I interned with last summer. We had watched the trailers since last summer and were so looking forward to it, but the plot and stuff sucked. The company was what I enjoyed most, and catching up in person is a lot better than just emailing all the time. :)
Yesterday, I shopped for birthday gifts for two special someones. :) Valley Fair was crazy as usual, but I managed to find a nice, safe parking spot, so I was okay. :) I also bought myself the Disney edition of Monopoly (we don't own Monopoly since Erika and I were really little and had no idea what the concept of the game was... in fact, I really didn't understand it or play it right until I went to Seattle early in the summer), and when I was at REI visiting some old friends from when I was a cashier, I ended up buying a new windbreaker jacket kind of thing. I saved $20, though, so that was pretty cool. Then I rented some videos and watched one before talking to Jason and going to bed around 2. Today, I ran a couple more errands that I forgot to do yesterday, then visited with Jodi's mom and then Sara and Kelly at Sara's house. Now, I just finished eating dinner and am going to start video #2 out of 3. Jason has a headache right now and is taking a nap. Poor baby. :( I had a headache yesterday, too. I don't know why. But a nap helped.
Let's see, what else? I got this tire cleaner for my tires. Looks nice, but now I have to wash the wheels to make it look really nice. The brake pads make them look so dirty after such a short time!! Good thing I don't mind cleaning them. :) I'm going to upload a few pictures from my camera now, and I'll put them on the web. There are some random ones, like me and Jason when he was visiting, the roses he sent me for our 3 month lunarsary, and me and Shirley at dinner on Friday. Go to my pictures link or click here to see them. :)
July 25, 2001, 8:35 pm
"So I'll just hang around and find some things to do / To take my mind off missing you." -- "Gone," *NSync
I saw the best concert in the world on Saturday. *NSync can perform so well, and I don't care what you think of them, everyone, even guys who were there because their girlfriends made them were enjoying the show. The effects were awesome, the songs were fantastic, and the atmosphere was amazing. Me and Kelly had a blast, and all in all, it was a really amazing night of entertainment.
Other news: I've finally started to do some real work at work. I'm writing a program for the team and my mentor is really, really helpful. My group is awesome to work with and just banter with. I really lucked out, and I try not to take anything for granted.
Not much else is going on. I miss Jason terribly as usual, and I haven't gotten my cell phone bill yet, but when I do, I'll probably be out of commission for a good 2 days. Hopefully, since I've started working, I'll have a cheaper bill starting next month... I have 300 anytime minutes and unlimited nights and weekends, so you can imagine how much we talk on weekends and nights. :) I can't believe it's only been a week and a half since I saw him last, and I still have two and a half to go. :( But I shouldn't go on about that because I've already complained enough about it.
That's it from my neck of the woods. I hope everyone's doing well, and I'll see you around, hopefully. Miles on my car: 461.
July 17, 2001, 10:26 pm
"[I've] got a fast car." -- Tracy Chapman
So this is it. My life is complete. I have the perfect job, a perfect boyfriend, and now, the newest addition to my perfect life: my perfect new car!! Check out the pictures (and commentary) here.
My job is going well. I'm having actual work to do, and it's nice, for a change. The more work I have, the faster the day goes by and I get to talk to Jason again. :) Speaking of Jason, he was here in San Jose this past weekend, and it was absolutely wonderful. I met his family *shudder* but I survived, and we spent the entire 47 hours together, never leaving each other's side (except for bathroom breaks). But while I know I have no reason to complain, 2 days is far from enough Jason for me, especially after 3 weeks of being apart, and 4 weeks before I get to see him again. He's coming down again from Seattle on August 10, but only for 2 days again. I'll fly up 3 weeks after THAT to see him in Seattle one last time on his last weekend over Labor Day weekend. Then he'll be in San Jose for 2 weeks!! :)
What else? I got a free BMW hat, floor mats, and keychain. I bought a cool, simple, IBM T-shirt for $4 today at the promo sale, that and those bouncy balls that Microsoft gave out at job fairs, only I got a blue one with "IBM" on it. :) Not that I can afford ANYTHING anymore. But Jason bought me a pair of shoes I wanted, so at least I have cute shoes to go with my new car. :)
Anyways, I'll be around, driving. I'll try to update again soon, but having this awesome car in the garage makes it hard to concentrate on anything else. :) Let me know what you think on the discussion board (like Bryan did, hehe).
July 11, 2001, 7:25 pm
"Workin' 9 to 5." -- some old song
My first "real" day of my career as a software engineer. Long, eventful, and filled with way too much information to be considered tolerable by my brain. I met about 40 people and where their offices are in relation to my office and toured around 5 or 6 related buildings and learned (rather, was told) what was done there. I got about 6 passwords (and only one login... I haven't decided if it's a good thing or a bad thing because now I can't associate a login with a password), 2 keys, instructions to record 4 different outgoing messages, 1,000 facts about what my team and I will be doing together, a list of 500 things I have to do to finish up the "new hire" process, and a partridge in a pear tree. And I set up my awesome laptop and docking station. I already have something to do, but it's only something the co-op (who's leaving) is supposed to do, and it's really just menial stuff. I get to learn stuff now, and I think I'll be getting to teach myself Perl like my officemate is doing because he's just kind of putzing around at this phase.
My hours are about 7:45 to 5 or so. At least it was today. I can show up whenever, but my dad goes in around 7:45 anyway, so it works out. My department went out to lunch today and it was fun. It was weird, like, I was sitting there looking at the different conversations that were going on, and I felt both like I have known these people forever and that I could be comfortable there for a long time. Strange sense of calm. Weird.
Anyway, more importantly, Jason is coming on Friday night!!!! AUGH!!!! :) I'm so happy!!!!!!! We get to spend the whole weekend together!!!! And my car should be in in the next week!!!! AUGH!!!!!! :)
Enjoy the weather and have a good rest-of-your-week. :)
July 9, 2001, 7:58 pm
"We need to make sure that we connect the sellers and the buyers so that we can take their money." -- Cannot be Disclosed
Today was my first day of work. It wasn't really work, it was a boring-ass orientation (what's an "ass orientation"?). 9 solid hours of the same 24 people, talking about "teamwork, teamwork, teamwork." There was also stuff about diversity (gender, race, physical qualities, etc.), filling out forms, and getting our badges. I got one of those nifty little things that have the retracting string to attach it to, too! Woo hoo! I didn't get one as an intern... I guess I finally earned my wings now. My dad was so cute, after orientation, I was walking to his (ahem, "our") building to go home, and I met him on his way to another building, so he introduced me to 3 of his co-workers with this big smile on his face, "[Insert Name Here]!! This is my daughter Jennifer, the one I've been telling you about!" It's nice to know that I made him proud, and when he tells me that he's sure my mom would be so proud of me, too, to have done this all even when she wasn't here to help, I think maybe she would, too.
AND the ship that was bringing my car to the US docked today!!!! Now there's a slight chance that, if nothing goes wrong and there isn't much to take care of in Oxnard and such, my car might get to the dealer by this weekend, like Sunday!! Then Jason would be here and I'd be so excited that he could ride in the car with me. :) He could come with my dad and me to get it, even. :)!!
Anyway, I have to go check and see if our DSL is hooked up yet, and that entails me going to my dad's computer in his room, so that's all for today. (Notice, also, that I started a new "Expressions" page since I figured this is a new part in my life. :))
