Why is it that people who work out in gyms that they do not own...on machines that are not theirs, do not feel the need or desire to wipte down the machines when they are done sweating all over them!?!? YEW!! It's totally GROSS!! I find it very hard to believe that after one works out and sweats and touches things that don't belong to him, have some inkling that someone else will be touching the same place, that that one person does not have the courtesy of wiping off the areas that have been touched.

Oh, don't get me wrong...there have been times when I fail to bring a towel with me. But then I use my jacket or whatever to wipe down the machine. *sigh* even when there are signs posted...people don't do it. And even when there are towles provided...people don't do it.

Gross.

With the conveniences of the internet, television, and of course, our heater and comfy bed and blankets, Vince and I are determined to not spend our lives indoors too often.

So we got to hang out with friends Anne, John and Kori - the Pickelle family. Nice!! We braved the cold weather and strolled to downtown Burlingame to have dinner together. Downtown Burlingame is a nice nice little area. So cute...and much changed since 1998-ish. Ha ha. The biggest change that I noticed...the HUGE Apple store on the corner of the main street. If you ask me, it just didn't seem right. It was too modern for the area. In the midst of all these cute boutiques, and yes, other inevitable chain stores...the Apple store just seemed out of place. Almost too pristine of a store. But I guess it's nice and convenient for the locals.

We had a great time and tried to devise a plan for the four of us to go hang out next time at a bar. You know, work places and gyms have temporary child care set up. Why not for bars!?!? Our most viable plan...Anne and I will stay with Kori while Vince and John go to the bar and hang out there for an hour or so. Then they'd come back and Anne and I would go to the bar and hang out for an hour or so. *sigh* It probably won't be happening. But at least we have a game plan. Plus, Kori is way to cute too leave at home:


In another effort, we took some time in the afternoon to go...wait for it...





That's right!!! Mini golfing!!! I think it took us a little over a half hour to finish the course. I lost. Partially because I failed to follow through. But I did get a hole in one!! On one of those holes that you hit the ball into some contraption and then it spits out somewhere else. Vince's nemesis...the volcano hole. You know the one. That one that looks oh so easy...but those dang sloppy sides get you every time. Oh...we will be revisiting mini-golf sometime to rewrite that experience. Lots of kids there for birthday parties. Pretty cool.














To help us with our adventures outdoors, I must report that our tv has died. I guess that's ok because we don't pay for cable anyway. But now, no more dvd watching. YIKES!! Still, the tv was pretty old. I believe it was pre-1999.

It has served us well and it probably was just too tired to keep going after being run practically all day everyday since I'm not working. Thanks to the old tv. We will miss you. Thank goodness for tv online. and youtube. But wait...we're supposed to spend more time outdoors anyways!
Here's to the old tv. we will be sad to see you go. And we soon will be utter consumed by lcd/plasma/dlp and screen sizes. Good times ahead!

WOW! IT'S FREEEEZING!!!!!!

I knew it would be colder up here in the Bay Area as compared to the wonderful weather of SoCal...but it is FREEZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I wouldn't believe it when Vince said it would be below freezing here in Sunnyvale. (Still sunny...yet coooold!). I was the skeptic...thinking..."yeh...it's probably that cold in the inland areas...but not here." I could not have been wronger (is that even a word?) (more wrong, i suppose is better). We checked the weather in the early morning...and sure enough...28 degrees faranheit! Wow. It sure made us think we were enjoying a nice snowboarding vacation in Tahoe. But nope...we were sitting in our little apartment with the heater blasting and bundled up.

Why bundled up with heater blasting?? Our apartment, and nice as it is and as thankful and appreciative as we are...really sucks in the insulation department. While outside it may be 46 degrees during the day...inside it's a whopping 50 degrees! awesome! And I am at home...refusing to turn on the heater during the day so as to try to prove a point...to no one but myself...that I can be energy efficient. I win!! Haha. But my feet, hands, and nose sure do suffer. Thankfully, Vince comes home and then we can turn on the heater. Because it makes sense to turn on the heater for two...rather than for just one.

We love our space heater! Makes our sleep much more enjoyable. Let's all stay warm and make it to the spring!!!!

Merry Christmas!! and Happy New Year!!!

Welcome 2007. so far...day 3...2007 has been great! Spent Christmas down in LA and New Year up in the Bay. It was great to see the little neice and nephew again! seems like they've changed so much...and then haven't. i wonder...did i fight like that with my brother when we were that age?? sometimes i think i just ran away or cried or something. Maile seems to be much smarter than i was at her age. she is much more sly and subversive in her "getting-her-brother's-toys-to-play-with" tactics. kudos to little sisters everywhere!!

still...tyler is so lovable. got his own digital camera to use. i'm secretly hoping that he will be the avid photographer in his later life.

and he is quite the master of the timer setting on our camera.


love those kids...with #3 neice/nephew on the way.


even though this christmas was impacted by my grandmother's passing...it was still a good time for all. seemed like family took my grandmother's passing in stride. sad for us of course, but happy that she is in a better place. she is not in any more pain or discomfort. and i believe, while we can never really be ready to say goodbye, we were as prepared as we could be. the occassion brought a gathering of family that has not been in decades. got to see a lot of my cousins i hadn't seen since i was 8 years old. nice to catch up and learn about their lives in chicago, boston, and florida. hopefully, we'll be able to stay in touch as we grow on.

new years...cold cold cold. and i was practically wearing the same thing this new years eve, as last new years eve. sad? frugal? or perhaps, awesome b/c my clothes have longevity! haha. i think more on the sad part. but i was warm. vince, karen, greg and i went up to the embarcadero after some dinner and drinks in awesome SAN BRUNO, CA!!! our friend BART took us smack dab in the middle of thousands of people.




and by the time it was midnite...thousands more people lined the streets at the ferry building to witness the fireworks. fireworks...awesome! someday, i would love to go to the world series of pyrotechincs. haha. we jammed out of there quick so as not to get stuck in the massive stampede of those riding home. i have to say, that the countdown and the anticipation are half the fun of new years. with no second hand letting us know how many seconds were left...seeing the minute hand slowly ease on over to the stroke of midnite and then having the fireworks blast out of nowhere...not quite the exciting impact. missed the loudly counting down of...THREE...TWO...ONE...HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!! but still...fun times for all and no trouble getting home.

here's to 2006...still reflecting on all the events thereof. here's looking towards 2007 and all it has in store for us!! last thought...2006 and my mom's fruit trees have been good to this well fed creature:(picture taken by Tyler Shu)

ooo...wee! google party was fun...when there is hardly anyone there. and by hardly anyone, i mean maybe about 1200 ppl. but spread out...there was easy movement, easy access to any one of the 9 bars and ability to check out the rooms and the little shows. room themes had god and goddess names. very creative.


the food was really awesome! lots of variety.
my favorite...hand rolled sushi!!! yum!! i was double fisting more than once that nite. couple of times with the hand rolls...












then here with mini chicken burgers and shrimp with a remoulade sauce.
YUMMY!! i mainly go for the food, if you can't tell by now.

food from all over the place, pulled pork, jambalaya, tamales, green bean salad, sauteed mushrooms. mmm...just remembering makes me drool..








vince's favorite... mini tacos in the best room of all!!



















although he also enjoyed the flambee'd cherries with vanilla ice cream. the desserts were excellent! mini pecan tarts, delicious brownies (i've discovered that i really like brownies) and all kinds of yummy treats. oo...endless and very decadent.


they also had great music. the reggae band, the jazz trio, dj's playing house music, ethereal sounds...any mood you could imagine.


the decor was great.

here's something from the aphrodite room that i thought was super creative. i don't know, it just was really nice.



















and here, from the poseidon room with an awesome reggae band!
here's one of the eating areas and bars...



















but the best part in the best room...the battle of the low-riding impalas! see what happens when you go early and there's room to battle! we asked if they were going to battle again, but alas...they didn't... possibly b/c there were too many people coming in.

see...TOO MANY people is not good! this room had the best decor...the best music...not too sure what it had to do with gods or goddesses...but who cares! it was FUN!!!





by 10:30pm...it was wall to wall people in the food and bar areas. so we high tailed it outta there. didn't have time or the proper attire to participate in the sporting activities around the party...pool tables, basketball hoops, some shooting game.

last thought: from the poseidon room...that is a real person up there....
happy holiday courtesy of google. THANKS!

*sigh* they are so cute. my nephew Tyler and niece Maile. soo cute.

so three things to share today!

apparently, coughing for an extended period of time can result in what feels like bruised ribs. lemme just say that antibiotics are wonderful. and while i have no more spastic coughing and phlegm...yea!...the soreness in my ribs and the feeling like someone has repeatedly punched me right in my right ribs remains. sad to say that i'll be just walking around and then all of a sudden keel over with pain in the right rib area. *sigh* when will the pain go away? but thanks be to God for His healing power...and for giving peeps the smarts to create antibiotics.

second...i'm such a sucker! i had an interview today at this law firm. small law firm. very informal and what i'm used to. met with two tall male partners and one tall male senior associate. one of the partners read my thoughts when he said "oh look, you're surrounded." so this firm does what i used to do so it was all very comfortable and the interview went fine. (not at all like the debacle interview of the past which someone of you may recall i had). nice little surroundings for an "office." nothing like the concrete jungle high rise i have become accustomed to. but i am a sucker because they were so nice! fun. family oriented. pretty kick back. and i feel bad that i will probably turn them down. sad!! i know! where is my killer instinct? where is my business savvy. oh no. i seem to have locked into my...awww...i feel bad and they are so nice mode. *sigh* but alas, i am very thankful for interviews and opportunities such as these. and very thankful for things to come! ( i know...i can think to myself that it was one of them that punched me in the ribs!)

third...let's party tonite! google holiday party tonite! yea. i wasn't looking too much forward to it. maybe it's the lingering feeling of unwellness...maybe it means i have to put effort into my appearance. but really, i know it's b/c i hate being around crowds and really never feel like being in the midst of what could be over 5 thousand people. they say the venue is about the sizie of 4 footbal fields. theme: googolympics. where is my toga? *sigh* i hate people. not individual people. but big crowds of people. vince and i need to implement the buddy system.

go ucla!

judy

so is it okay to not know what you want to do? yes...i know the answer is yes...it's ok. but it just doesn't stop there, does it?

in the grand scheme of things...life is too short and too valuable to worry yeah? while i know in my heart and in my head that God is in control and has a plan for me, somehow, unbeknowst to me...those thoughts of uncertainty in that plan and fear keep on creeping in.

in the midst of my job hunt, inevitably the questions arise:
1. why do you want to work here?
2. where do yo see yourself in 5/10 years?
of course my enthused answers (paraphrased of course):
1. i LOVE your company, it's a great opportunity and exactly what i'm looking for!
2. working here of course!!
when in reality i'm thinking:
1. you're hiring and i think i fit
2. i have no idea.

i don't know about you all...but, to me, work is just work. i have come to realize that i have no great passion to be doing any certain anything as a career. on the other hand, while i don't really care what it is i do, i actually do care. there are things i wouldn't want to do. there are things i would not really enjoy doing. but then there is this whole world of things that i suppose i wouldn't mind doing if it "put food on the table" and let me have a life. and what do those phrases really mean?

here's the burning question of the day: having gone to law school and been a lawyer...is that something i want to do for the rest of my life? can i see myself not doing that after going to school for it and taking the most horrible test of my life? it was good before and seems cool now...but do i want to do that when i'm 47 years old? i don't know but something tells me maybe not. do i want to work at williams sonoma unpacking boxes for $10/hr...because that surely takes no brain power and lets me have a life (incidentally it could also introduce me to a community of potheads). something tells me that i don't really want that either.

so in the struggle to find some happy medium i may have to think more concretley about staying a lawyer or moving over to something else. people move industries. people end up doing something that they did not go to school for all the time, right? and if i wasn't a lawyer...what would i be? (ooo...re-reading this...i changed it to "what would i do" but i thought i fitting to leave it uneditted as it does really reflect that my struggle might more that just "what to do?")(hmmm...more contemplation required) then there are thoughts on would i or could i go back to being a lawyer if i took a 5 or 10 year detour? what's a girl to do!!!

*sigh* my mantra has now morphed from i HATE job hunting to i HATE job hunting AND interviewing.

i miss you all!

better late than never. many of you may have heard that vince had a little accident in our pool over a month ago. he was doing a flip while swimming, pushed off the wall and unfortunately smacked his mouth on the bottom of the pool. that resulted in a fractured tooth. after many dental and oral surgurical appointments...vince is now the proud bearer of a dental implant!!!

the oral surgeon put the implant in his mouth and the dentist affixed a temporary tooth. it takes four months for the implant are to completely heal...so vince is sporting his temporary tooth while the lab makes his new tooth. come end of january 2007...new tooth arrives!!

hopefully that explains vince's slower than normal eating habits and his fondness of using a fork and knife for all food products and hydrogen peroxide.

i am not a fan of this template. i am quite frustrated in trying to change it though. i picked a new one. i saved the new setting. i republished the blog. yet it is still the SAME template!!!

i give up.

jerk.

so here are some pics from my trip to zihuatanejo. sorry for the poor picture quality. i went more on the low tech high convenience camera for this trip.. i'm sure tina has better...

this was from the plane when we were leaving!! so sad...such a beautiful place to be... it was fun to see two giant cruise ships one day in the bay... gave us some perspective on how big the bay actually was. the weather was perfect...some lightning at night...some rain at night...but hot, humid and sunny during the day!!






we spent one of our mornings or afternoons (we never really knew what time it was) in the central market of downtown zihuatanejo. after perusing the fruit/veggie stands (seeing the most gigantic kiwi fruits and cauliflower ever), and the trinket stands...lo and behold...we come to the raw meat stands!! this was one of many....






here was the view from our balcony/patio. we had a jacuzzi tub and two loungey chairs on the patio...so it was nice to hang out in the patio on the humid nights. only once though...then it was even nicer to hang out in the a/c room.









and here was a view while lounging on the beach... didn't want to be too obvious. didn't get a chance to document his hand-on-hip-looking-
afar-into-the-ocean pose. we were only able to his his catwalk along the beach.






overall zihuatanejo was awesome!





















and the people were beautiful...























but he may have been the most beautiful:


(i got too excited trying to photo him while pretending to photo my friend karen...couldn't focus or get the right amount of zoom) (and if you look really close...you can see his headband)

wow. it's been quite sometime since the start of this blog...and a posting...
our bad.. sorry. i personlly find a somewhat foreign to post...even though i can talk for hours about nothing or about things people don't really care about. something, they just warrant some pondering. there is not a lack of things to talk about. could be anything, yeah?

so then, it's a question of who wants to participate in conversations about anything? with me, at that.

so there you have it...if you want to talk about things...or rather, write about things, with me then cool!!! if not...then that's fine too. it's like i'll never know you were here anyways. i'm not that technologically advanced.

talk soon!

We created this blog to act as a diary for ourselves and our friends. Keep an eye out for our postings!