sometimes you feel like aNUT...

mid-October already

2009-10-18T20:10:00.004-08:00

How quickly time goes by without me even noticing until I turn around and it's been 3 months since I was in Vietnam. I still haven't sorted my pictures or emailed pictures to my friends. I haven't blogged about my trip or any of the other things I've been meaning to write about.

And... we're heading into that stretch, that "it's the end of the year, where did 2009 go?" Sometimes it just feels like things are going way too fast and I don't get the chance to just stop and enjoy the moments.

*Blah*

Okay, well here's to efforts of trying again, to be more consistent in blogging. At the very least, I'll start sharing what I've been learning in the book of Romans. Did you know "salvation in Christ" was a 3-fold? I guess I knew about it but never knew it as it is officially laid out. Okay, next time, 3-fold Salvation will be shared, unless someone wants to take a stab at it:

Tense | My Relationship to Sin | From sin's | Doctrine
1.

2.

3.

Good luck!

Holy bill of rights, Batman! - Robin

2009-07-12T21:25:00.003-08:00

I picked this Robin quote b/c it was just July 4th (and I missed it b/c I was in Vietnam... I'll post more about Independence Day and Vietnam later... yes, I still owe the Do It Yourself post on changing brakes, it will be female friendly)...

But I was completely surprised at some recent news and felt like only a quote from Robin (the original Batman & Robin TV series) was necessary. I couldn't think of one off the top of my head so I googled some and found this website... you must read these :)

Click HERE
(disclaimer... I don't know what other content is at this site so beware!)

Okay, still sorting out my Vietnam pictures... hopefully will be done by the end of the week!

Delinquent

2009-05-10T19:45:00.005-08:00

So, apparently, I can't just copy and paste my "English Paper" outline, so I'm having to retype all the things I meant to blog a million years ago. Here goes something much shorter then I intended:

1. WWE - So, I actually went to a taping of Friday Night Smack Down and ECW. That was amazing. I've always been a fan, mostly when I was a little kid, walked away from it while in junior hight through college but it resurfaced after I started working in 2005. Yes, I know it's fake, yes I know it's ridiculous, yes and more yes. My parents were completely speechless that I actually went through with it.

I suppose you would never guess I would go to such a thing. Let me tell you it was an experience. I'm not sure the other people who attended the taping would actually hang out with me on any normal day, but that one moment... we shared something in common.

The guy sitting next to me was hilarious. His son had to use the bathroom very badly but instead of taking his son, he yelled at his son, "I told you to go during the break! Now we're going to miss this. Hold it." Classic... something I hope I never do. He was nice enough to let me take a picture with his son's belt: CLICK HERE

2. Wedding - Carolyn & Jimmy Su: CLICK HERE

3. Hurricane Ike - that whole experience in of itself is a great reminder that God is in control. Whether or not you lost everything or it didn't phase you, He was still in control. I'm sure you could ask, "Well, if He is in control, why didn't He stop it?" or "Why would a good God do such a thing?" I suppose I could ask Him one day, but I think reading Noah's experience in Genesis would take care of the answer.

In any event, while we had no power, I couldn't put down the book, The Same Kind of Different as Me. It's any easy and quick read. It's also really good... about a fancy art dealer and a bum. I even got to meet the co-authors. I even read with a flashlight b/c the book was that good. (I was going to link a picture but I can't find it on Annie's flickr. Ask her).

4. Fantasy Football - so this was the first time I've ever played. It's stressful... even if it isn't for money. I could never imagine playing for money. There are so many factors to consider and so many things out of your control. Like who knew Brady would be out for the whole season with a busted knee? MUAHAHAHA... I'm not a fan of Brady.

Who also knew that Clinton Portis would rock it (yes, he was my pick). Who also knew I could lose by one lousy point. ONE LOUSY POINT THE NEXT DAY. ugh... I don't remember the details. Only that Adam Hwang beat me by one point... Double UGH. OH yeah, and that my sister, who was ranked last virtually the entire season... yeah, that I would be the one to give her, her first win during the season.

Oh well, here's looking to the next season!

5. Skype Stranger - I was introduced to Skype right around fantasy fball 2008. Needless to say, I don't know much about it... b/c at the time, I only skyped with 2 ppl. Well, we were at Adam's place (at what appeared to be a LAN party... but it really wasn't. He just all had our laptops out refreshing our fantasty points) and I was talking about Skype. Jessica didn't like the idea b/c she wasn't into strangers seeing you on a video chat. As I wondered how that could be, a stranger called me on Skype!!! LOL... that was creepy. I've now changed the setting so that only my friends can see my via video. ::Here's to technology::

6. Meily - that's why I named my 8.9 inch net book. Meily does everything I need it to do. ::Here's to fatwallet::

7. David Archuleta vs. Annette Sylvester - All I remember is the dream was weird but somehow I ended up competing against him. I don't remember who won. I do know that my mom and I love his voice and want him to release a Christmas Album.

Hello, Anyone There?

2009-03-09T19:39:00.002-08:00

So, I wonder if anyone still reads this bad boy. My next post will be "Do It Yourself: How to Change Your Car Brakes."

You bet, we did it ourselves and I'm still alive!

Coming Soon!

It's 2009, and Still Nothing

2009-02-17T19:38:00.002-09:00

Wow... yeah, okay... I will need to do a massive update. Perhaps I'll just use pictures :)

Pace Yourself

2008-09-17T19:32:00.004-08:00

Wow, I am so behind :( I'm going to make a list of things I still need to blab about.

In no particular order:
1. WWE
- taping
- w. mania
2. Wedding
- the Su's
3. Ike
- book
- games
- sophie
4. Fantasy FB
- noob
- rivalry x 2
5. Skype Stranger
6. Meily
7. D. Archuleta vs. A. Sylvester

Wow, this is like an outline for an English paper :(

Jury Duty - Long Overdue

2008-07-30T18:31:00.002-08:00

To put you into context, my jury duty date was back in May... I'm guessing the 6th...

Up to this point, I've never been summoned in for jury duty. You always hear the horror stories and the "what to say/not to say," and it wouldn't be so bad if I weren't pressed to close on a transaction this Thursday. My mom, who is a veteran at sitting on a jury, told me wear to park but I'm not great with directions and I'm not great with paying attention. You can't exactly go wrong when you see a big sign at a parking garage that says "Jury Duty. Park here. $7." Although I missed the entrance, I circled back around (I hate the one way streets downtown). As I was circling, I recalled my mom saying they would reimburse me for parking and it should be about $5, but at that point, I didn't care b/c there was that very massive sign.

Anyhow, I frantically hustle to the room b/c the summons sounds quite threatening if you're late. I manage to make my way to this large holding room. There's tons of people in this room and I don't know if I'm allowed to talk on the phone or not, but there are no signs and it's so quiet! (I later find out that there is a large break room, wired to the PA system, that is located adjacent to this holding room. Had I known such a place existed, I wouldn't have scarfed down my chicken and rice with mangoes while I was driving! Yes, it was dangerous but one has to be fed!)

In any event, I"m not really sure what is supposed to happen but a bunch of people sitting there silently waiting. I'm a little bit stressed because I really need to be back in the office, so I'm working off my blackberry when I heard this police man get onto the PA system. He first tells us that they'll be calling names to go to secondary holding rooms. Apparently, it's in these rooms that you may or may not be selected to serve on an actual jury. Prior to calling out the names, he also tells us about parking, the large break room, and how the only channel the TVs will play in the holding room is the Discovery channel. Apparently, CNN wasn't working out.

So as he begins to call names, my heart races because I wonder if I'll get selected. They go through 2 batches and I still haven't heard my name. They let us know that they'll hold us for an unknown amount of time. If by 3pm they haven't called our names, they would release us. So I end up going to the back room and working on some of my Bible study homework. Soon enough I get sleepy and just pass out in the break room. (It definitely reminded me of the AIM reading room at the business school minus the comfy chairs). I was awakened when they got onto the PA and informed us, "thank you for your time, you are free to go home."

Yah, it was pretty anti-climatic, but I'm not complaining. I ended up being very well rested and got a check in the mail for my services. Had I found the parking lot my mom was referring to, I would've been reimbursed for my parking expenses, but I ended up paying about $2 for a nap.

Good times.

Oh June & July, Where'd You Go?

2008-07-27T17:32:00.003-08:00

With all the craziness of the 6th and 7th month, I failed to blog. Much has occurred so I will blog each event one at a time for your viewing pleasure... stay tuned!

Pretty Pretty Doe Eyes

2008-05-25T14:53:00.000-08:00

There are moments in time you wish you could freeze. And when you realize you can't freeze them, you can take pictures to try to capture those moments and memories. Here's to the greatest sister of all times. Thanks for the bestest weekend.

Charlotte's Web

2008-05-25T14:44:00.003-08:00

Last week my sister and I came back from Austin and there are some note worthy items: (1) We left the garage door open all night. Fortunately, we don't live in Vanhdy's neighborhood, so none of our shoes were stolen :) More fortunately, no one broke in, thank You Lord for watching over us (and let's not tell the parents when they return from Israel). (2) I killed a spider!

The thing with the spider is Liem was telling me about Recluse Spiders a few days ago and this one looked just as massive (it was dark). I ran to get a flip flop and at second look, it turns out it was just a huge house spider. I slammed the flip flop down on the spider and baaaaam... all of its guts squirted everywhere. The only thing was, its gusts weren't gushy... they all splattered out in perfect circle-like dust balls. I looked closer only to discover it was ALLL the babies the momma spider had in her belly. LOL... some of those circlular particles started scurrying around and it was really gross. Unfortunately, I didn't think to take a picture, so thanks Wikipedia for the next best example.

Sorry Wilber!

Mr. & Mrs. Kyle Goldman

2008-05-10T16:09:00.003-08:00

It all started when I was in 6th grade. I was put in Coach Jackson's P.E. class. I walked into the girl's locker room and met my buddy Justy Suarez. (Her school locker happened to be next to mine, so it was great to see a familiar face). There was this my-chang girl changing in the same section as Justy and me and as Justy and I were heading out of the locker room she called out, "Hey wait for me guys." Who knew that would be the start of a beautiful friendship. That my-chang girl's name is Kristy Tyler and b/c I'm a Sylvester, we ended up sitting one right behind the other in the gym.

It gets better, we shared the same math class together (I believe it was the last period) and her school locker happened to be right next to the math class. With the nervousness and untrust of being a 6th grader, she definitely rejected the idea of me sharing her school locker with her, but it's all good.

In anycase, as I mentioned above, a beautiful friendship began to blossom and it survived 9th grade year (we won't get into that)... but through the growing pains and all, she is my very dear friend that I cherish very closely to my heart. God used her in a very mighty way in my life and for that, I will be eternally grateful to Him for bringing her into my life. Congratulations Kristy... my beautiful bosom buddy forever!

Writer's Block

2008-05-08T20:13:00.001-08:00

Okay... so I have a lot to say, just don't exactly have the words to express myself. I should put it in a song.

:)

Until we meet again, farewell.

Stick a Fork in Me

2008-04-08T20:47:00.003-08:00

When do you know it is done? When do you graciously or ungraciously bow out? I think that time is now. I'm done.

On another note, jury duty was quite anti-climatic. Post to follow shortly.

Wrestlemania XXIV

2008-03-25T19:56:00.000-08:00

Are you ready? 16-0. Be there!

Playing Ketchup

2008-03-24T19:29:00.003-08:00

Where do I even begin?!!? Let's try to recap:

March 8th - Talida & Tim Wedding: OH MY GOODNESS. Talida, THANK YOU for giving me the honor and the privilege of standing by your side on your day. I still get chills thinking about the whole day! hehe, I bet you are too. AND to all my new friends, I miss yall. I miss our glutton-ness weekend. (Just a little taste of what you missed out on: Sunday, we ate crawfish, went to eat "bing" at JUICE BOX (not the other nastiness you ppl keep insisting upon), some ate "bang-me's" from Don's Cafe, and then Taste of Texas).

March 10th - Now: It's all been such a blur. I had to recover from Talida & Tim's so I took a vacation day that follow Friday.... It was kick butt: made a new friend (WHO DOES NOT HAVE A FACEBOOK (lame), played doubles tennis (and lost... I think my record is 0-9 and I don't think I'm the partner to blame), played a lot of bball (which I haven't in forever), ate at my most favorite Sushi restaurant, and just PLAYED. Didn't think, didn't have to deal w/ unpleasant ppl.... exactly what I needed, refreshment.

Yeah, pretty lame update, but I'm annoyed right now and am so mad I could pour ketchup all over you.

:)

NCAA Bracket Expert Needed

2008-03-17T21:08:00.002-08:00

I've filled out my bracket and need some expertise. Sure it's for bragging rights and nothing monetary, but still... I don't keep up w/ NCAA enough to know what is what. Let me know.

Thanks,
Beef

Chuc Mung Annie!

2008-02-14T22:18:00.002-09:00

HAPPY 27th BIRTHDAY AMBULAR!!!!

Simple Pleasures

2008-02-14T19:46:00.003-09:00

You don't realize it until you get 5 seconds of what you've missed for so long... Zoe, this one's for you. I can't wait.

(LOL, to the other Lanyards, we do a better job of keeping in touch).

Unprofessional

2008-02-13T19:19:00.002-09:00

Somewhere along the way (I'm pretty sure through Mr. McCombs) I was taught the importance of responding to emails. I think the rule of thumb is like respond within 48 hours... I think at work, it's like within 24 hours.

Well I got news for you... I have a stack of emails piled 10 miles high. Yeah, suffice to say, I'm not responding to anything until I have swam back on shore. With that being said, I've learned to priorietize (sort of). lol... I think that learning curve is pretty steep and I'll never get a grasp on it.

Oh well, off to the Big Apple farely soon (Lord willing). I can't wait.

Gansta, out.

Muchas Gracias

2008-01-24T20:33:00.000-09:00

Hola mis amigos. Muchas gracias por todos son esperon que feliz cumpleanos ami.

HAHAHA... I am hoping what I said above was "Hello my friends. Thank you very much for wishing me a happy birthday." My Argentine friends would most likely be rolling on the ground saying, "Please just speak in English."

Anyhow, a many many thanks to everyone who wished me a happy 25! What a mile stone. It's also interesting because in this day and age, facebook or your outlook calendar probably reminded you it was my birthday. I even got well wishes from people who I never thought would remember my name, let alone my birthday. Well, it doesn't matter because I appreciate the fact that you at least took the time out to make a post on my facebook page or send me a text, email, call, etc... I guess I know who my real friends are, j/k.

Again, thanks thanks so much. I'll post about my awesome flowers that were sent to my office by MY TALOOLA and my customer (notice, no bf)!

Selfish

2008-01-15T18:35:00.000-09:00

I think the more I live, the more I realize how selfish of a person I am. Whether this selfish nature is revealed through relationships or just life situations... it's an ugly truth. Last week, I had the joy of getting to know two very unselfish people: Sergey and Ivan. They are both from Uzbekistan:

They have been exiled from their country for the sake of spreading the Gospel. I spent 2 glorious hours talking to them. Talk about unselfish. Unselfish because they (and their families) are completely absorbed with one mission: and it has nothing to do with themselves. So now they are in the USA w/ no money, but they are not without hope. God has provided for them in everyway possible, and I mean everyway.

If you want to know more about their story and why on earth they would risk their lives and their families' lives for this Gospel, please let me know. I would love for you to talk to them in person. In the meantime, if you feel compelled to support them in any way (i.e. financially, prayerfully, etc.) please let me know. I can tell you how to do so and how you will be so blessed.

I live in a nation where I currently (yes, note I said currently) have freedom of just about everything. Oh, Lord... let me be reminded to pick up my cross and follow hard after you.

i am NOT God

2007-12-15T08:44:00.000-09:00

A few days ago, I was reminded that I am not God. It's not that I ever thought I really was, but certain things happend and I am again reminded that I am blessed that He would allow me to be a part of His master plan.

Yes, I'm being vague. But you gotta just take a deep breath and march forward knowing that He is always in control... even when it doesn't feel like it.

Carrie

2007-11-07T19:42:00.000-09:00

I don't think anyone else but me watched the CMAs, but man is Carrie Underwood fantastic. Her vocals are to die for. There's only a handful of women whose vocals could bring me to tears and she would be one of them.

Shortly thereafter, I tried to mimic her performance in the shower.

Newsflash: I don't sound like Carrie. I don't think my voice would sound any better in the car, but that won't stop me from trying to belt out her tunes.

Laser-Assisted In-Situ Keratomileusis

2007-11-03T12:58:00.000-08:00

Yesterday (on 11/2/07), I had custom intralase LASIK completed on both my eyes. Below is a pictoral story of of my experience:

So, I wasn't very nervous or scared leading up to my LASIK date. I had actually been pretty calm and just excited. Well on Thursday night, I just couldn't sleep at all. It felt like I was a little kid starting my first day of school, and when I woke up, I was scurred.

I don't know what I was expecting to happen during the surgery, but I was pretty "panicky." They had to slice my corneas and then use a laser to correct and reshape them, and as they did so there was a orange flashing light I was supposed to focus on. All I could tell myself is, "Annette if you don't focus on the light, you'll go blind. DO NOT MOVE AND FOCUS ON THE LIGHT." lol, I can't say that yelling that to myself made me less panicky, but it did help me focus on the light.

Afterwards, I walked to a private room and kept my eyes closed while waiting for the doctor to look at my eyes to make sure everything went okay. Unfortunately, I had a hyper sensitive reaction that caused mucus to build up in my eyes. That caused them to tear up like crazy and I was unable to open my eyes for the doctor to examine. So in the mean time, this other person was explaining to me my eye drop regimine and I told the man, "Sir, since I have to do the drops when I get home, can you just do it for me now b/c I can barely open my eyes. I don't think I will be able to do it later. They're not opening."

So, he put in the "milky drops" in and then said, just try to open your eyes. Well he had to lift my eye lid b/c tears just kept streaming out and they said my corena looked beautiful and sent me home.

My dad and Liem were there to esort me to the car and boy am I thankful I was one of the first to do the LASIK. I basically came out sniffing a lot (b/c the tears caused so much snot) and tears continued to stream down my shades... if I were the next patient, I would be scared out of my mind seeing someone come out looking all blind.

So I slept with my safety goggles:

(I should mention my goofy father was painting the roof my my window and woke me up.) After I woke up at about 1pm to have lunch and took a picture of my safety goggles and the cool guy shades the doc gave me to wear. I should also add that I couldn't open my eyes very wide, but Liem did good to put my eyedrop regimine in with not much to work with.
So this morning was my follow up and guess what? I HAVE 20 20 VISION!!! (Apparently, this will fluctuate w/in the first few weeks, but I'm looking good. I do have a bloody eye, but that is supposedly normal too!

You remember when Jesus healed the blind man? I can only imagine a fraction of his joy and excitement when he could see. Truly truly it is amazing that God would create me and know me while I was in my mother's womb. Amazing that He has given man the skill to physically fix His creation. All praise and glory goes to Him. Amen and amen.

What Makes for A Bad Day?

2007-10-14T15:54:00.000-08:00

Being sick makes for anyday bad. Working with too many cooks in the kitchen only adds to the irritation. Having to use the restroom for 1 hour + definitely doesn't help. You would think pulling into a gas station would make the situation better. It was a pretty clean gas station and the locks outside the restroom doors looked very up to date. They both said vacant. I recall double checking to make sure I was about to enter the women's restroom. I open the door and lo and behold a man was wrapping up his business. Yes, a man. He apologized profusely but I was so disguested I slammed the door shut and again looked at the signs to make sure I opened the right door.

Because I used to use the facilities so badly, my first thought was just make sure you don't wet your pants. Unfortunately, he must've been smoking pot or something b/c it reeked. So much so that when I got back into the car my mom questioned me about the smell.

This is probably something more humerous, but I just had a really horrible Friday and this was the way it ended. Man, if you're going to use the wrong gender facilities, you could at least lock the door!

Rapture in Matthew 24?

2007-10-04T19:01:00.000-08:00

As some of you may know, I'm in the midst of studying Revelation. (Notice it's not Revelations). There are lots of commentary and views on this last book of Scripture. There are a lot of theories, theology, etc. etc.... however, I am not turning to that until I finish studying through it first. I could talk for hours on the time line I've so far built, but let's get one thing out of the way:

From what I've studied, Matthew 24 is not talking about "rapture." Nor is it talking about "Christians, although it's a popular "Christian belief" that Jesus is talking to "us" and some have been so bold to claim that God has neglected His people (the Jews)... not true God has not neglected His people nor His promises." It is all about the Jews. (yes of course it is important for Christians to understand, but it's all about Jesus' message to the Jews). Furthermore, Jesus is speaking about His 2nd coming but this is after he speaks of "the end of the age." Which in the beginning of chapter 24 is not the same as Luke 21.

More to come as I discover more. My time line of events is looking pretty good. Still more questions than answers, but if I ever figure out how to post my time line, I will.

By the way, the Great Tribulation is not 7 years.

Clear as mud?

Sunday Football

2007-09-23T15:39:00.000-08:00

One of the great pleasures is Sunday Football. It's a great way for me to wind down my week and prepare for the Monday workday. Thus far it's been a pretty great line-up and the games have been fantastic. If only I lived closer to town so I could actually drive less than 30 minutes to throw the ball around with my homefries.

Congrats on 15 Years

2007-09-23T15:33:00.000-08:00

Last week I got to attend a luncheon to celebrate my mom's 15th year working at the Methodist Hospital. Although her original employer was acquired by Methodist Hospital, they still honored the years of service prior to the acquisition. Thankfully, I work close enough so we can carpool and I can zip over for a luncheon.

Do you think we look alike?

Happy Birthday Liem, Part 1

2007-09-11T18:06:00.000-08:00

So this past weekend, we were supposed to celebrate Liem's 25th birthday. Unfortunately, I confused some by saying that we were celebrating his 24th and 1/2 birthday. The thing of it is... he wanted me to call it his 24th birthday because hitting the quarter of a century was too much for him. Anyhow, no we don't celebrate 1/2 birthdays and for those in his age range, we are turning the big 2-5 this year.

Well, most of the folks that would typically celebrate with him were for some reason or another in Austin... so that left the dinner left with me + 5 guys. Let's just say the majority of the dinner conversation was not female-friendly. Don't get me wrong, I can hold up my end in a conversation about sports, etc... but I'm not a particular fan of discussing other things. I'm so distraught over it, I can't remember what it was... I must've blocked it out.

Continuing, we were supposed to go roller skating, but because we pushed dinner back and the Longhorns were beginning to luck out, we decided to go back to Andrew's place to finish the game and for some of the guys to watch the UFC matches.

Yeah, after the UT game, they ALL watched the UFC matches... all those boys. So what did I do? What I do best, sleep. I fell asleep in the lower room where the boys usually play halo. Yes, DUFFY... your yelling woke me up, but I sleep like a rock, so I rolled over (I guess not so much like a rock since I rolled). And yes, SUNNY, you did wake me up a second time, but I just rolled over. It's a no wonder Andrew can't get any sleep with you guys playing halo. I guess I lucked out b/c Cha-zeh wasn't there contributing to the yelling... which is another thing, CHAZZY... how come you don't return anybody's phone call.

Ah well, we will try again this weekend in Austin. Dinner + Roller skating = Liem's Birthday Celebration, Part 2. Come one, come all!

My Funny Friend Lam... CHEN OIIIII!

2007-08-07T15:29:00.000-08:00

Yes, I'm very aware I have not posted about Israel or posted pictures. Note to self: Do it soon. In the meantime, while I'm stalling, I wanted to share a very funny story my friend emailed me. His name is Lam, he's from Delaware. Regardless if you know him or not, it's good stuff (see his lovely face below, and if any ladies out there are interested, let me know). He's in med school... he sets the story up himself. ENJOY!!! (Read the whole thing. It's worth your time).

So, SPs (Standardized Patients) are "actors." They act like they have these illnesses and sickness/soreness, etc to immitate REAL life situations. We, as students, have 2 SPs a trimester. Well..this one SP in my last trimester was a HANDFUL. She wasn't mean, perse...but she wasn't that helpful as an "actress." They're trained by doctors to pretend to be patients. So, we walk in and greet them and such and become "doctors." (we're finally playing DOCTOR now!!) In the SPs, it's only us by ourselves. We're told to maintain a sense of professionalism, have etiquette, be friendly, be empathetic, etc. SO...anything you WISHED your doctor to be, we were told to be that. How are we supposed to maintain professionalism? Through our dress (nice clothes...niiice), our actions (sir, madam, eye contact), and our speech ("So, are you telling me you're hurt near your umbilicus?).

Well, the SP for this day was this woman... (as stated before) and the case this time was "Abdominal pain of some sort." So... I asked her "can you describe to me this pain you have? What kinds of characteristics are there?" And she says "it hurts here...kinda like a cramping sensation" So immediately (i'm not that great of a doctor) i think... menstrual or constipation. SO i ask her "How's your cycle? Are you on now?"..."oh, it's regular...now i'm not on now, i was last week." So...EX THAT!. no menstraul cramps. Now i want to ask her about constipation BUT i didn't want to ask her "are you constipated??" Cause that, doesn't sound professional...at all. So i'm thinking maybe there's an obstruction of the bowel of some sort so i wanted to ask her about her Bowel Movement. BUT! at the time..i couldn't think of that professional term "bowel movement." I'm sitting there just thinking "What the heck was that term?? What is it?!!?" While the lady is talking...i started sweating. Thinking "Shoot, i can't ask her 'how often do you poop?'..that doesn't sound good..i can't say ' constipated...diarrhea...' thats no good" So then i think up of this plan "Maybe i can use code words and still maintain a sense of professionalism" SO...w/ a straight face i asked her "How often do you go Number 2?"

"Number two? What's that?"
"You don't know what number 2 is??"
"No, i don't know what number 2 is. What is it?"
"Its after number 1."
"Number 1? What."
"You don't know what number 1 is?"
"waht's number 1?"
"So you don't know numbers 1 or 2?"
"What are you talking about?"
"POOP!!! HOW OFTEN DO YOU POOOP?!"
"Oh. 2 times a day."

Welll...there goes that air of professionalism... so then, everytthing was going well.. even though that poop incident was goign through my mind...the entire time during my 50 minute checkup all i can think about is "DID I JUST SAY POOP?!?!?!?!?! WHAT THE HECK?!" "I SAID POOP!!" So...I started to sweat (oh so bad)...and to make things worse...i was doing the cardiac exam and pulmonary stuff on the front (and at this point, the gown is removed) so i'm leaning over and i have to put my stethoscope right underneath her left breast and as i leaned over PLOP!! ... a bead of sweat hit her body... d'oh!

So...that's my story of what happened in my SP. AND to make things worse...we're recorded so i get to watch the video of me saying "POOP! how often do you poop!?" and *drip plop plop*. ... but the good thing is at the end of the encounter we get to talk w/ them and they give us some input...so then she asks me "How did you feel? Anything you want to tell me?" ...i said, "Yeah, i'm not sure..but there was this one point during the conversation i felt i was unprofessional." ... "When?" ... "When I asked if you went number 2...and poop." ... "Oh, not at all, you were very serious when you asked so i thought it was a professional question." BUWAHAHAHAHAHA...

College Regrets

2007-07-25T18:58:00.000-08:00

I regret not hanging out w/ the Lanyards more often during our college years. Thanks for teaching me how to take my first Patrón shot... even though it was post college. Salt > Gulp (not sip) > Lime --> Smooth. LOL.

Despite the height discrepancy, Zoe is actually only 1/2 an inch taller than me. This was one of the three questions I answered correctly (out of 10) to see how well I knew her.
Who knew her favorite TV show was "How I Met Your Mother" and she was a Pictionary freak. Now I know.

Congrats Zoe & Law

2007-07-25T18:53:00.000-08:00

Three cheers to Zoey and Law. For more pictures, please visit my flickr.

Congratulations Taloola & Tim

2007-07-08T13:43:00.000-08:00

I'd like to take a moment to congratulate Talida and Tim on their engagement. I don't have a picture of Tim, so here's one of me and Talida.

P.S. She asked me to be her maid of honor. And an honor it is.

Home Alone

2007-06-25T18:32:00.000-08:00

Since my parents are out of town until Wednesday, I'm fending for myself. It's not so fun being home alone. Cooking meals is painful to say the least. For one person, I've used so many pots/pans/bowls AND I get to wash them. At least tonight when I made dinner, I have enough for lunch tomorrow :D

The next thought is, what will you have for dinner tomorrow night? We're out of a lot of groceries, lol grocery shopping... that's a whole other blog. I suppose this is just good domestic practice for the future.

Made My Day

2007-06-13T19:17:00.000-08:00

Random Questions

2007-06-07T21:56:00.000-08:00

Do you ever get friend requests and have absolutely no clue who that person is? Do you go ahead and accept, decline, or just ignore? I also wonder if the requester meant "Annie" and not "Annette."

And another thing... if someone invites you to their wedding, does it mean you're obligated to invite them to your wedding? There are a handful of people I would probably be disappointed in if I weren't invited to their wedding, but others, not so much. I can only imagine how much a wedding costs, plus all the "must" of certain relatives, etc. etc... so yeah, eloping to Vegas seems the easiest. I take that back, just going to the court house seems easier. Don't you get excited now, no wedding bells ringing anywhere near me.

Yes, I still owe a massive Israel blog w/ pictures. It will come.

Back from the Land Flowing of Milk & Honey

2007-05-16T18:59:00.000-08:00

Unbelievable. I have not enough words in my vocabulary to describe my two glorious weeks in Israel. I'm working on uploading my pictures and putting together a digital scrapbook filled with articles, pictures, etc. Until then, I will give a recap as soon as I catch my breath. Here's a picture to tease... I'm standing in Capernaum (Jesus' home) where Jesus often taught in the synagogue. The ruins fenced in behind me is believed to be Apostle Peter's mom's house... the same house where Jesus heals the paralytic.

1When He had come back to Capernaum several days afterward, it was heard that He was at home. 2And many were gathered together, so that there was no longer room, not even near the door; and He was speaking the word to them. 3And they came, bringing to Him a paralytic, carried by four men. 4Being unable to get to Him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above Him; and when they had dug an opening, they let down the pallet on which the paralytic was lying. 5And Jesus seeing their faith said to the paralytic, "Son, your sins are forgiven."

Buried Treasure

2007-04-24T16:12:00.000-08:00

Growing up in church, I would hear various versions of "what's your treasure?" Typically the punch line would be "the Bible should be your treasure." Whoever was giving the sermon or sharing a discussion would say something along the lines of, "If I told you there was a treasure chest of gold buried in the backyard, how many of you would spend countless hours searching for it until you found it?" They would proceed with, "But if we told you there was a Bible buried in the backyard, how many of you would dig for it?" In my head, I've always said, "Of course I would search for the Bible, but I knew in my heart.... YEAH RIGHT"

Well, I've grown up a lot since that time.... as you know I'm going to ISRAEL! I finally got my travel package today. The first thing in my package.... A NEW INDUCTIVE BIBLE!!!! I jumped for joy. I couldn't believe it. There are so many people I long to give this Bible to... so that they can learn to study God's truth and get to know Him personally. MY TREASURE!!! I've never been so excited to see a brand new Bible.

American Idol

2007-04-17T16:25:00.000-08:00

My mom is hilarious. She can't stand Sanjaya (as only I really think his family can stand him as a singer and that one girl that cried). Well, as he was singing tonight she said in Vietnamese, "Yuck, man if I were sitting in the audience, I would stick my foot out and trip him."

AHAHAHAHA. Yes, my mom said that. She's funny.

Israel, Here I Come!

2007-04-13T17:06:00.000-08:00

For those who haven't heard, I'm on my way to Israel from May 2 - 14th!!! You better believe I'm totally hyped to walk the same streets Jesus walked and to hear His sermon on the Mount.... ON THE SAME MOUNT! Okay, this may mean absolutely nothing to those who don't love Jesus and love studying His word, but ever since the 11th grade my life changed when I began to truly study God's word. Later on, I studied through the kings and prophets in the Old Testament. That was when I had a new found love for history because I realized that everything centers around God's chosen people, the Jews!

Yes of course the gospel is now first for the Jews and then to the Gentiles, but still we can't really understand who God is unless we study His character and His relationship to the Israelites. Anyhow, as I'm studying through Revelation, I get this amazing opportunity to go to these places I've just underlined in my Bible.

AHHHHHHHH, I'm just giddy. Okay, so Lord willing, I will be there with tons of pictures and most likely a bunch of tears, humbled that He chose me. HE, "EGO EMI" chose me.... not just for this trip, but for eternity.

Do you know the great I AM?

I will be at the Jordan River!!!!!!!! *YAHHHHHH*

Ungabunga

2007-04-03T18:56:00.000-08:00

I have never been a fan of making my bed. After all, why should you? You're just going to mess it up in a few hours. Well, when I came home and found my bed made, I thought, "ungabunga." I love my bed made. Thanks bed maker. BTW, I just bought a new bed and new bedframe. However, none of my sheets really match... just the way I like it.

My BAD/Funny Work Story

2007-03-27T21:04:00.000-08:00

So sorry it's been so long since I've posted. I've just gotten super lazy, but I'm still chalk full of stories. To get back into the swing of things, here's what happened to a friend at work (I laughed for a good five minutes... very loudly I might add):

So today is my manager’s birthday and I brought her 2 huge cakes and random desserts since I am the only one in her group thus I felt it was my responsibility to treat her to something for her Bday. Anyhow, so she goes to a meeting and informs me to tell people to have cake at 2:30 pm. So I’m like cool, okay I’ll contact people to go to her office at 2.30 to have a mini cake celebration.

So I’m at my desk and I’m thinking, should I send it to just those few employees that are cool with her or the entire department? I decided to go for the latter because first of all, the cakes were huge, and second of all I didn’t want to leave anyone out. So I asked an admin assistant on how to send out emails to the dept and he told me to type in “ALL TETCO”. And I’m thinking.. hmm.. so I do this and I type “ Hey all, come to Andrea’s office for birthday cake at 2:30 pm!”

Little did I realize the email was actually sent out to the nationwide listserve of Duke energy, including Canada. Some small dinky email for some person’s birthday went company wide. Supposedly email sent out to the listserve are restricted to “Duke Energy Leaders” to inform employees of news about the company. So I’m literally thinking crap, but then I was hoping people would understand and just ignore the email. However, this was not the case, because I immediately got a call from HR Houston informing me of my intentions of the email and that I had made an accident.

Then came literally 50 emails from employees around the country who decided to “REPLY ALL” to my email. A lot of them were just “Did you mean to send this to all of Tetco?” or “ You might want to double check who you are sending to.” There were a few funny emails sent back to everyone that only annoyed the entire situation flooding everyone’s inboxes – like “WHOA that must be one BIG CAKE” and “I’m from Canada, so if you can provide me with a company jet I think I can get there in 4 hours.” Or “ Hey is there any cake left? Will it still be fresh when I get there?” and also “I dunno who you are or andrea is but happy birthday anyways.”

I mean for the most part they were humorous but the fact that they decided to reply ALL made the situation worse!! Eventually some top admin executive emailed everyone telling them to stop responding to the birthday email and then the exec wrote me a private email, CC’ed my manager, my soon to be new boss, and co-worker, saying that I should refrain from writing emails using that email address. Not only that the VP of my dept wrote an email telling people to stop replying etc.

Aside from emails – I got at least 20 calls – by the 3rd call I knew any call I got meant someone telling me what I did wrong. Someone said” You know I feel for you all these people making you feel bad.” And “ are you having a bad day yet?”

And here I am reading these emails and every extra reply all email that I got made me want to stab myself. I literally grew a zit from the stress. So HR made me write a correction email to the listserve again telling them of my mistake. I was also scared to face my manager when she got back from the meeting, but luckily she laughed it off and said it was hilarious and that people were being weird if they got mad about it. I was still kinda stressed about it cause it was just too much commotion caused within the company. Everyone was like GOOD ONE Latisha – but Im sure they were thinking “ whew glad I didn’t do that.”

So the birthday cake deal was good everyone came- it was like the biggest turnout for cake ever. And then I refused to go to cake cutting cuz I was still mortified. The emails eventually stopped coming but 2 good emails that made my day were the last 2 I received- I shall share with you:

Latisha,
To err is human. We all learn from our mistakes. Hope the birthday celebration went well.

Cheers,
Stella Freeman (Wang)

And :

Latisha,
What a great mistake. I bet she never got so many Happy Birthday’s in her career…….

So all in all I still consider today a bad day. It’s kind of funny though that some of the responses were from old folks. And I just got a call about 5 minutes ago from a guy from Ohio telling me that my email was cute and how it reminded him of someone who sent out a picture to the whole list serve and shut the entire system down. He said this occurred in year 1995.

Okay that is all – Im going to crawl into a big hole now.
Latisha.

HOORAY FOR 24 Years

2007-01-23T16:58:00.002-09:00

Today I celebrated my 24th birthday. One of my assistants baked me a German Chocolate Cake (oh so yummy) and she put a banner over my doorway with hot pink streamers and all and she cut a spot out for me to walk through. It was quite un-professional looking, (a stuffy banker would say), but good thing no clients came to my office. Thanks for all the wishes.

My Mom Called Me Stupid

2007-01-15T07:23:00.000-09:00

I was toasting a Vietnamese sub (banh mi) in the mini-oven toaster. Well, I typically leave the white wrapping around the paper and just hit the toast button. Unfortunately, I didn't fold down the white paper like I normally do.... I smelt a burning smell and looked over to the toaster. Sure enough there was smoke coming from it. I quickly turned it off and pulled out the tray only to find the white paper caught on fire.

My first thought, "Annette, put out the fire." My second thought, "Take the cloth towel in your hand and smash out the fire."

So, as I began batting out the fire, the flames kept growing and I screamed. My mom looked over and in Vietnamese began with the following translation into English, "I've never in my entire life seen someone so stupid as to put paper in the toaster..."

And as she goes on and on about my intelligence, I manage to put out the fire. Upon doing so and saving our house from being burnt down I looked at her and laughed, "Thanks for helping me put out the fire."

She laughed at me. This isn't the first kitchen fiasco I've experienced with her.

My "Pouch" and New "Do"

2006-12-28T08:53:00.000-09:00

If you recall, I go on some of the most awesome dates... well after dinner yesterday my food baby really exploded. I guess I didn't pay too much attention to it, but the boyfriend did. Let me take you back to the scene

Him: WHOA!
Me: What?
Him: Babe, I could rest my hand on your "pouch"
Me: OMG, like a kangaroo's pouch? hahah... my food baby is huge.
Him: Gym time.

In other news, I cut my hair. I have bangs and the lady said I need to train them to swoop as seen in the picture. I like that, training my new do. For a before pic, please refer to any of the previous posts w/ my face. (minus the Just Add Eyeliner... that one might scare you off). The biggest change is the more noticiable bang action and the more feathered out hair. It took her forever to thin out all my hair)

SHIRTS GALORE!!!

2006-12-24T21:38:00.000-09:00

Thank you thank you to all those who have contributed to my wardrobe. We all know I need some help and at least I now know these shirts are satin and not glossy :D

Apparently, I also Bring Sunshine

2006-12-24T21:32:00.000-09:00

MISS MOO thinks I'm sunshine. BYBFL!!!!!!

Apparently, I Bring all the Boys to the Yard

2006-12-24T19:14:00.000-09:00

Little Miss Sunshine thinks I'm little Miss Bossy. I guess there may be some accuracy to that.

It's called Satin

2006-12-24T18:56:00.000-09:00

In attempt to describe the shirt I was wearing in Call Me Four Eyes, I told Miss Moo I was wearing a glossy shirt. She was quick to tell me it's called "satin."

What would I do w/o my backyard buddy? Here's to Miss Mooooooo.

Call Me Four Eyes

2006-12-16T21:21:00.000-09:00

Ladies and Gents, boys and girls of all ages.... welcome to the freak show. Presenting four eyes:

Spud Ole

2006-12-09T17:06:00.000-09:00

My mom and I spent the whole day shopping and running errands. We finally left the mall and were deciding on what to eat. She was craving a hamburger, so we opted for Fuddruckers. As I pull into the lot, I notice a big "McAllister" sign across the road. I couldn't believe it! There's actually a McA's in Houston.

If you know me at all, I love eating a spud ole, which I previously could only eat when in Austin or Dallas (both cities in which I do not reside). My mom started panicking when I quickly backed out of the Fud parking lot.

Made my day.... here's to my Spud Ole! And kudos to the guy who gave me two stamps for my sweet tea :D

Note: Yes, I know my mom was craving a hamburger, but she finds more joy in eating what her daughter likes to eat. Yes, she looked at me weird as I was clapping upon my food's arrival.

Cholesterol Fighter

2006-12-06T18:31:00.001-09:00

As you may or may not be aware, my cholesterol is super high. It's so high my doctor recommended I speak to a nutritionist because according to him, "I'm too young to be on medication." Well, I'm too cheap to speak to a nutrionist. More or less, I'm pretty sure the nutritionist will just tell me to stop eating fat, crawfish, cow, shrimp, etc. [The fat thing, my sister has been telling me for years].

In efforts to carry away the cholesterol, I tried eating cheerios because in my mind, oatmeal is too nasty. Well, I finished off a box of cheerios, which was pretty disgusting, so I thought I would try my hand at oatmeal.

Day 1: It took me an hour to finish one package. But I wasn't hungry for a long time.
Day 2: I adjusted to the oatmeal and finished it in a reasonable amount of time.
Day 3: One package doesn't hold me down. I get hungry as usual... but not as hungry when I eat a rice krispie treat w/ a glass of milk.
Day 4 - yesterday: Still having oatmeal for breakfast. I still think it's disgusting, but hey... I gotta do what I gotta do.
Today: This is what my oatmeal did to my spoon...

Yes, the spoon is broken into 4.2 parts. A colleague came into my office to ask me a question. By the time he left, the oatmeal had hardened. When I dug my spoon to get a bite, the spoon broke, with one piece flying across the room and landing in my book shelf.

This stuff better be taking away my cholesterol.

Seriously?

2006-12-06T18:31:00.000-09:00

I've been watching too much Grey's Anatomy. I keep saying "seriously." It's annoying me now.

Just Add Eyeliner

2006-12-02T17:45:00.000-09:00

In case you were curious as to how lit up my face was... here is a sort of zoomed out picture. You can see that my right eye is smaller than my left and my left cheek is bigger than my right cheek. I believe my face is unsymmetrical that way normally, but the red puffiness makes that more obvious:

Here is a close up of my eye:

And one day later... just add benedryl and eyeliner. This is me coming out of my dermatologist's office during work. You will notice that my right eye is still naturally smaller than my left eye and my left cheek is larger than my left cheek:

Post Thanksgiving

2006-11-27T10:07:00.000-09:00

I had an interesting Thanksgiving to say the least. Nonetheless, it was wonderful to be able to share it with my family and friends. I have much to be thankful for everyday, and believe you me I am... but it's always nice to get away from the "everyday" life. So I'm back in Houston and I'm not too ecstatic about heading to work on Monday, but I figure, it can't hurt. I did way too much shopping so I ought to keep working so I can pay the bills...

I wake up at around 4am with such itchiness on my face. I didn't think anything of it other than, "You have 2 hours before you have to wake up." Well, when I finally do wake up, I notice my face is swollen. It looks like someone beat me up. My right eye was so massive... I just looked disgusting.

Needless to say, I called into the office and told one of my assistants that I wasn't go to make it. I told her I would try to come in after lunch, but I'm not.

My face has extra puff in it. Mr. Kwan would enjoy the squirrel kid right now.

BTW, I don't know why this is in italics. I tried to un-italize the font, but no go.

Family Times

2006-11-12T18:26:00.000-09:00

We had dinner at a friend's house tonight. Before we left, my dad showered and came downstairs in a pink polo and khakis. He looked so great. So I decided to put on my blue polo. Here we are:

Here my mom is fishing. She's so thrilled she caught such a magnificent fish. She's cute.

So where is Nie Nie? This is all I got:

My Awesome Date

2006-10-29T14:28:00.000-09:00

Nothing sweeps a girl off her feet more than a wonderful date. On Saturday night, my guy took me to Wing Stop. Not just any Wing Stop, one of the most ghetto Wing Stops in Htown. We ordered the "Two Can Dine" meal which included 15 lemon pepper wings, 5 Parmesan wings, a basket of fries, and 2 drinks. [Note: We both wanted to watch the Tech vs. UT game and I was craving some wings]. So while we dined, we watched UT make a come back against Tech.

As I mentioned earlier, we didn't feel too safe in this area of Htown, so we decided to speed on home to catch the last 5 minutes of the game. We listed to it on AM radio and made it home to catch the last 5 minutes. We run into the house only for him to remember the game was on Cable TV, which I don't have. And here is how the rest of my date went:

He: Quick... let's head back into the car.
Me: Naw, I've got a stereo upstairs.
[We run upstairs and I try to find the right dial]
Me: No luck.
He: Alright, to the car.
[We scurry back to my garage and into the car. We get into the car and simultaneously recline our seats].
Me: It would be more romantic if we backed the car into the driveway and rolled the sun roof back.
He: Naw, it's okay. Games almost over.

-End Date-

Tinkerbell

2006-10-29T14:16:00.000-09:00

Which Disney player are you? I took this quiz and it turns out I am Tinkerbell.

Happy Boss' Day

2006-10-16T19:15:00.000-08:00

In case you didn't know, today was "Boss' Day." Well, in the afternoon (admist all the rain and flooding) one of the assistants got my manager a card. She technically works directly for him as the rest of us do, so we all signed the card. After about 30 minutes, my assistant comes to my office and says, "Let's go to John's office to celebrate Boss' Day." [John is my manager]. Unbeknownst to me, I GOT A CARD TOO! My assistant gives me a card and gift and wishes me a Happy Boss Day.

I flip and squeal, "I GET ONE TOO?!?!?" She smiled and nodded. MY FIRST BOSS'S DAY. How about them apples?!!?

House Warming

2006-10-15T15:27:00.000-08:00

I got an invite to my first house warming party from a co-worker. I was pretty surprised that I was even invited. My interaction with this fella has mostly been geared towards: IT related issues. Most noteably, asking him to fix my crackberry and requesting longer cable cords so I could re-arrange my office.

The email ending like this, ".... see yall there, kewl?" I haven't seen someone type cool like that in a long time.

Too bad I couldn't make it.

I present to you... Mr. and Mrs. Tony Lai

2006-10-15T15:21:00.000-08:00

Congratulations to one of my dearest and sweetest. I love you both and am expecting an invitation to invade your house.

P.S. Thanks for the hugs :D

Tweeze Me

2006-10-09T19:54:00.000-08:00

These are the best tweezers ever. You'll never guess who introduced me to them. Check it out:
Tweeze Me

Peyton Manning Not Clutch... Come Again?

2006-10-09T18:00:00.000-08:00

I had an interesting conversation this past weekend. It went something like this:

Me: I love Peyton Manning.
Person: I don't.
Me: (with a shocked look) What? How could you not like Manning?
Person: He's ugly. Have you seen that Gatorade commercial? He's just not marketable.
Me: OMG, I LOVE THAT COMMERCIAL (The one where he's bursting out of a football and drinks Gatorade Rain).
Person: He's just not clutch.
Me: (Speechless and in utter shock). What? NOT CLUTCH? (Still grasping for words). How can you say that?

Thinking in my head: I'll give you that he's not the cutest guy. I'll even give you not marketable, although I completely disagree because I love the Sprint commercial he's in, and I'll even be okay with not liking Manning because he's ugly. Reason being, I originally became a fan of the Eagles when they changed their uniforms to the darker green.

Me: Okay, not clutch? Did you miss the last two games when he was nothing but clutch?
Person: But he hasn't won the superbowl. Just not clutch.
Me: Seriously? Are we debating on Peyton Manning's ability as a QB? (Thinking to self: With 2 seconds left on the clock, my team down, and we have to go 100 yards, I want P. Manning on my team. I wouldn't sweat it b/c I know he would get the ball where it needs to be to win the game. Side: That was a drastic exaggeration in my head, but you get the point).

The conversation ends with me still baffled and speechless. How can you say he's not clutch?

Using another illustration to show how flabbergasted I am that someone could say Manning's not clutch and just b/c he hasn't won a superbowl, he's no good: It's sorta like basketball. I'm not a fan of the Mailman, but he's good. I wouldn't mind having him on my team. He's not pretty at all, and I would say, not marketable, but he along with Stockton, who I think is good have not won an NBA championship. Does that mean they're not clutch? Maybe. I don't remember, but that doesn't make them crap. What about all those young guns who I would say don't contribute all to much and only won an NBA ring b/c they rode the coat tails of let's say Shack and Kobe? I'm thinking of Devean George.

I'm still in utter shock.

Flattered

2006-10-01T18:10:00.000-08:00

Today I wore one of my favorite dresses to church. It's a cream-colored halter with blue-colored large flowers. That description doesn't do it much justice, but I bought it from Ann Taylor and it definitely makes me feel like a lady.

Well, as I was leaving church, this older gentleman said, "Excuse me," so I turned around.
Man: It's nice to see young woman dressing like a lady.
Me: Why thank you. [Thinking to myself, "Um... is this man hitting on me? Couldn't be"].
Man: Are you going to bible study?
Me: Oh, no I'm not. I usually go to Bible study on Thursdays. Are you headed there? [Thinking to myself, obviously not since he's also walking to the parking lot. Oh man, please tell me he's not hitting on me].
Man: So, do you work?
Me: Yes sir, at Amegy Bank.
Man: I work for CVS in the transportation department. That's why I go to Bible study on Wednesday.
Me: Oh, that's nice. [Thinking to myself, so this guy is a truck driver?] Well sir, I have to go now. Have a nice Sunday.

While I was walking away, I must say I was quite flattered. A lady. LOL. He obviously doesn't see me on a normal day. I also wonder if he would've asked to join me in Bible study if I were heading there... although typically, it's Sunday School.

Big Rats?

2006-10-01T16:29:00.000-08:00

So for awhile now my sister and I have tried to tell my dad that we hear this scurring nose upstairs. This scurring noise wakes me up most weekends at around 6am because I'm quite well rested. Well my dad was working on repainting the house and noticed this big gaping hole in the roof. As he began to clear the hole out (b/c there were a lot of pine leaves, a whole trash bag to be exact), this thing hissed at him. He quickly withdrew his hand and went upstairs. He saw this huge rat like creatures running across the attic. So, he went to home depot to buy rat traps.

This morning, he went upstairs to check on the traps b/c I heard them scurrying around again. He climbs up the attic while I'm brushing my teeth and goes, "ANNETTE! LOOK LOOK! It's not a big rat, it's a momma squirrel with a baby squirrel. They think I'm going to feed it. COME LOOK LOOK."

I mutter, "No thanks Dad." [I didn't want to be late for church]. In any case, my dad was so relieved they were squirrels and not rats. He did ask me my thoughts on how we should catch the squirrels.

My thought included: Shoot it.

Customer Parking Only

2006-09-24T15:09:00.000-08:00

Last week while I was working, I got this sudden email:

____________________________________

From: Scott XXXX
Subject: Customer Parking

Annette I believe your gray Pontiac Grand Prix License # XXXXXX is parked in the Customer Only Parking. Please move your vehicle ASAP. Continued parking in this area can result in your vehicle being towed.

Scott XXXX
Facility Manager II
___________________________________

Needless to say, my first reaction was, "What? There was no new sign posted where I normally park." I let Scott know that I drive a Honda Accord.

Hiatus Over

2006-09-24T14:42:00.000-08:00

After over a month of not blogging, I am back. Lots has happened within this 1+ month, so I will do a quick recap:

August 15-19|Summer Camp in California. I had the joy of co-leading 5 ladies who are now freshman in college. It was different being a camp counselor this year because I've never been a counselor with a group of people I didn't know. I must say, it was such a blessing to be there. It was a blessing that God allowed me the opportunity to just 'show up.' I think one of the highlights was me converting my girls into Longhorns :D The USC camp counselors were definitely not feeling that, but what can I say, "HOOK 'EM." One of my not so favoite moments: counselors managing to dunk me into the lake, but not without a fight. Don't mess with Texas. :P

August 20-present|Work. Since my promotion, I've been working my tail off. Typically (for the position I am in), you're supposed to have a little bit more time to learn and adjust to your responsibiliities, but I don't have that. I don't mind because I really enjoy what I do, but it's been tough.

Kase|We have reunited! She works less than 10 minutes from me and has a pretty decent cafeteria. I spent about two weeks just eating with her during lunch and then going to her gym in the basement. We've power walked and once, she taught me some choregraphed moves to Fergie. Let's just say, I'm not very coordinated (so if P. Diddy decides to make a 4th band, I don't think I would make it). BUT nonetheless it was so fun.

Let me take a moment to tell you why I'm such a big fan of Kase. Her personality is infectious and her patience is unmatched. And she's a great wiggler.

Acne|Because of all my travels (from Cali, two week break, Philly, two week break, Cali, and new responsibilities), my hormones have run-a-muck. My entire forehead looks like that of a high school teenager. These pimples HURT. My face is in pain. I was able to go to a dermatologist to get some medication but it makes my face smell like fart. My bathroom smells like fart and so do my towels. Good news is that the medication is working, but the dermatologist said to give it 3-4 months. That was about a month ago. 2-3 more to go.

It didn't help when this kid at church said, "Annette, WHAT HAPPENED to your forehead?" And that's when I said, "Shh, we're praying." *sigh* Kids will give it to you straight.

That's all for now folks.

Ants

2006-08-13T20:12:00.000-08:00

For a few days now, my sister has been complaining about the ants in our house. I hadn't been directly affected by them, so I didn't pay too much attention to the problem at hand. This afternoon, my sister comes home yelling for me to come into the kitchen. Alas, there was a trail of ants!!! Needless to say, I screamed like a little girl. Needless to say, Annie didn't appreciate the squealing too much. I hate ants. I hate all the animated ant movies (although I admit, I enjoyed "A Bug's Life"). Ants are not our friends. THEY ARE NOT PEOPLE. Even in "Honey I Shrunk the Kid".... NOT OUR FRIENDS.

Crackberry

2006-08-13T20:10:00.000-08:00

A few days ago, my boss hooked me up with a Blackberry. It's official, they have 24/7 access to me, but thus far, they've kept it during business hours :D. My friend was right, they didn't hook me up with anything, more like took my life away. Oh well, I'm now part of the proud population that checks email while on the road (but only at stop lights!).

No worries, I won't be addicted to it.

Drool

2006-08-08T18:25:00.000-08:00

I was so exhausted from Philly that I had to take a nap at work. So during my lunch break I crawled into my back seat and slept. It was the best time of my day, but when I woke up, I discovered that I had drooled all over myself.

And Then There was Three

2006-08-08T17:54:00.000-08:00

This past weekend I had the privilege of being a bridesmaid in Bim's wedding. Needless to say, I had so much fun in Philly. It was great to share a very joyous occasion with a very dear friend as well as enjoy the company of old friends AND meet new ones. Kudos to summer of 1998. And now there is three of us who have yet to take the plunge of marriage. Good-bye to Bim.

Here's a dashing photo of the Wedding Party. So many fun stories to tell.... so little energy, so enjoy. Thanks Bim for letting me be a part of your special day.

Kelly Clarkson's Concert

2006-08-01T17:44:00.000-08:00

I've never been to a concert before. When I was reading the website to the Pavillion, it didn't say lawn chairs weren't allowed, so El Ultimo Stud and I got some great lawn chairs from Walgreens for $4/a pop! Unfortunately, we weren't allowed to take our lawn chairs in, so it was a wasted effort. The concert started at 8pm, but we didn't get there until 9pm (typical Asians), but Kelly didn't start performing until a little after 9pm anyhow.

They were definitely a younger crowd with little girls screaming, "We love you Kelly" all around us, but man can that girl sing. I really enjoy her voice and her songs. Very earthy, jazzy, and she showcased some of her new stuff. She definitely just jumped up and down and in circles, but nonetheless, that girl has some lungs!

Overall, I enjoyed the show. Afterwards, we got to meet her and take a picture with her. They were really strict on the "rules of the meet and greet," but she was very warm and sweet. Very down to earth and I hope she stays that way. She's very 'Texas!' She was definitely sweaty after the show and it shows in the picture.

How I Won

2006-08-01T17:14:00.000-08:00

So this is how I won my concert tickets and backstage passes to see Kelly Clarkson. While I was on my way to work, I was flipping through the radio stations when I heard, "Win backstage passes to the Kelly Clarkson concert this Saturday coming up." I didn't think I had a chance to win, but all you had to do was name the three Kelly Clarkson songs they distorted. I recognized the first two songs, but couldn't put my finger on the 3rd song. [Miss Independent, Because of You, and I thought it was The Trouble with Love, but at the time, I couldn't remember "the Trouble with Love"].

We were to call the station in 10 minutes, which was perfect because I was close to work and I would have a chance to google a list of songs. Well, it took longer for me to get to work, so I had to call the station anyway. I didn't think I would get through, but I did. They put me on hold, so I still had a chance to make it to my office, but when I get to my floor they asked my name and for me to guess. I guessed the first two correctly, but spat out "Thankful" for my third song. Needless to say, I was wrong.

Disappointed, I figured someone else would guess by now. However, I didn't give up! I turned on my computer and waited for it to boot up. I called the radio station again, and to my surprise it rang! I didn't want them to ask for me to guess (b/c I didn't have the third song yet), so I hung up. It took my computer forever to load!!!!

Nonetheless, I called again, got through, guessed right, and won!

Thank You Sunny 99.1

2006-07-27T15:56:00.000-08:00

This morning I won free tickets to watch Kelly Clarkson in concert. Not only did I win free tickets, but I WON BACKSTAGE PASSES TO MEET HER!!!!

Needless to say, I'm a bit excited. And yes, I occasionally listen to "soft rock" on 99.1... I got no shame! Music is music :D

CA July '06 - KICK BALL

2006-07-15T11:29:00.000-08:00

Remember back in the days when we would play a friendly game of kick ball on our neighborhood streets? I do. I remember playing boys versus girls on Masonridge Dr. There was black tar lining the streets that formed a cross... this was home base. Conveniently, there were these marks along the curb that would make perfect marks for first through third base.

I also remember Sam, my neighbor who is 3 years my senior, who was HUGE compared to very skinny looking me. Needless to say, the boys definitely had more "umph" in their kicks than the girls. I can't remember if we ever mixed up the teams, but I do remember the only time when I managed to kick a "homerun" [Question: Do they call those home runs? or is that only a baseball thing]. Sam was rolling the ball to me, but his feet were straddled. I'm sure he wasn't expecting me to kick the ball very far and everyone else from his team had moved closer in. I somehow managed to kick the ball through his legs and all the way down the street! Ahh, I remember that as if it were yesterday.

Now to the point of my story: during my visit at Hoi Dong, I had to opportunity to relive my not so glorious kick ball days. Needless to say, I wasn't the MVP of our team. I believe the 11 year old boy on our team was more impressive than me... BUT, my team came out victorious! WE WON!!!!! That deserves a "BUUUUYAAAAH!"

[I'm not that good at winning graciously].

California July 2006

2006-07-15T11:20:00.000-08:00

I took a little over a week off of work to go on a little vacation in California. The first part of my trip (Friday, July 7th to Tuesday, July 11th) was dedicated to something called "Hoi Dong." It's the Vietnamese District's Christian and Missionary Alliance ("CMA" denomination) annual conference. For me, it was a bit different because my 'partners in crime' weren't there... BUT it gave me a chance to meet new friends!

The second half of my trip (Wednesday, July 12th to Sunday, July 16th) entailed visiting family in Sacremento, San Jose, & San Francisco. San Francisco is ridiculously cold for the summer. I had to borrow my aunt's semi-puffy jacket to keep warm.

Random highlights of my trip will follow.

Vacation

2006-07-13T15:54:00.000-08:00

I am currently out on vacation, but will be returning sometime after Sunday, July 16th. For further assistance, please refer to some of my old favorites:

Not my poo

Gansta Pants

Morning Convos

Scary Netters

Beam-bo

Boy in Girls Bathroom

El Ultimo Stud

Welcome Home!!!

2006-07-05T20:47:00.000-08:00

THUY!!! Welcome home from Asia. You got rid of your cell phone, so I can't contact you. CONTACT ME WOMAN.

Note: Doesn't she remind you of Aundrea from MTB3? [The cheeks that is].

El Ultimo Stud

2006-06-27T19:15:00.000-08:00

I found a picture of this stud on the internet. Could you please help me identify him?

Lost: Missing Houston Dynamo

2006-06-25T19:15:00.000-08:00

I lost the picture of Dwayne De Rosario and myself. But I guess not all is lost, I still have his autograph. [See Houston Dynamo post]

Houston Dynamo!

2006-06-15T20:01:00.000-08:00

I took a picture with Dwayne De Rosario. Apparently, he's big time and one of the team's best players. Maybe one day, my picture will be worth a lot.

:D

Go MIAMI!!!

2006-06-15T19:56:00.000-08:00

Butch but Beautiful

2006-06-05T16:35:00.000-08:00

I'm always left breathless when I listen to someone who sings beautifully. It never fails that sometimes, these beautiful song voices don't match the speaking voice. THAT always throws me off. Prime example, Allison Krauss. The first time I heard her accept an award on TV, my jaw dropped in unbelief.

Today, it happened again. I've never heard Rachel Lampa speak, but I enjoy her voice. Today, I heard her speaking on the radio, and again my jaw dropped in unbelief. She's a cute girl and has great range, but man... BUTCH :D

Note: I enjoy butch every once in awhile :D

Eye Candy

2006-06-05T16:29:00.000-08:00

Jason's Bubbies are totally yum! I'm still trying to figure out how to put this one in my pocket.

Plot: What Would You Do

2006-06-04T16:45:00.000-08:00

Here's the Plot:

Boy (Joe) and Girl (Jane) grew up being best friends. They always played together and at around the same time, Joe's father passed away while Jane's mother passed away. Jane's father re-married and you sort of get "Cinderella" plot. (But instead of two step sisters, you get one step sister (Mary) and one step brother (Brad).

Jane is super smart but is younger than Joe by two years. Joe, goes away to college and Jane's supposed to go with him, but step mother prevents Jane from going. This whole time while Joe is away, the steps try to keep Jane and Joe away from each other by not allowing Jane to receive any of Joe's letters. All the while, Brad falls in love with Jane because Jane is kind to him. (Step mother, Brad's real mom is so very mean to him).

Joe comes back to take Jane to college but Mary doesn't want this because she loves Joe. (Note: Mary grew up quite poor and is so jealous of Jane b/c everyone loves Jane). Joe and Jane see each other from afar and run towards each other. (Note: Brad doesn't want them together but what can he do). Jane runs across the street to embrace Joe, MARY RUNS HER OVER IN THE CAR.

Fast forward: There's this big cover up b/c Jane now has amnesia. Brad takes her away. Mary places Jane's wallet on a burned victim in the hospital to trick everyone into thinking she died.

Years later, Joe finds Jane (but Brad renames her to Janie). Here's the questions:

1. If you were Joe, would you keep pursuing your Jane? (She seems happy with Brad and everything in her world seems perfect).

2. If you were Jane, would you want to know the truth? (You have bits and pieces of random memory, but you can't even remember what your parents look like).

Sappy Sap Sap

2006-06-04T14:11:00.000-08:00

Wow, am I a sap for "sappy" movies. I don't know what happened because I used to not cry during movies or root for the "cinderella." But I'm not sure what happened. Maybe I grew a heart... but I'm watching this Chinese movie (dubbed into Vietnamese) with my mom, and I'm a total sob-cake.

Lipstick & You

2006-06-04T12:49:00.000-08:00

So what does your lipstick say about you?!!?

When I look at my many lipsticks, they are a variety of these above shapes. One is "close to the orginal," another is "flat top," and one is "sharp angle curve."

Boy in the Girls' Bathroom

2006-05-21T12:59:00.000-08:00

On Friday, May 19th, I was going to watch Watermark's Farewell Tour. Before going to the concert, a friend and I were going to have dinner at Nit Noi. I decided it would be a good idea to change out of my work clothes, so I proceeded to the lady's room. As I opened the door, I thought I heard a little boy's voice, but when I stepped inside, there was no one there.

The stalls were pretty tight, so I thought I would quickly change in the open space, espcially since I didn't see anyone in the bathroom with me. After I put on my shorts on, I bend over to tie my shoes. To my surprise (more like shock and anger), I find a little boy huddled under the sink. My first thought was, "Great he saw me in my underwear." My second thought, "What the heck are you doing here? Where are your parents b/c I really want to yell at them."

As it turns out, he was hiding from his mother. I should note that it was extremely hot and STINKY inside the restroom. It smelt like hot sewage. I have a short conversation with him trying to figure out how to get him out from underneath the sink, but here his dad calling for him. I seriously wanted to yell at his parents so badly. UGH. What kind of parents let your boy stay in a girl's bathroom unsupervised?!!? AND he was sitting huddled underneath the sink! It was so gross.

I'm disgusted.

My FOB Attempt

2006-04-30T19:17:00.000-08:00

Why can't I look like a FOB? Andrew, who is pictured in the right, says it's because I was born and raised in America. He could be onto something.

P.S. There's a true FOB in the background :D

Suns vs Lakers

2006-04-30T19:09:00.000-08:00

Last Sunday I talked about the Lakers losing to the Suns. Little did I know that prior to Game 4 (played today), the Lakers were leading the series 2-1. Well, Game 4 was ridiculous. I was falling in and out of sleep and thought for sure the Suns were going to tie the series up 2-2 because when I decided to zone out, there were only seconds left and the Lakers were down by 4 or so w/ not very many seconds left.

I was awakened by a phone call asking me, "What's the score?!!?" I suddenly opened my eyes and noticed that the Lakers and Suns were playing in OT!!! You can read about how the Lakers beat the Suns by 1 on some sports website, but man... if I were McNashsty, I would be so angry. HAHA... I can't believe it. Go Lakers. 3-1.

Corporate America (a bit misleading title)

2006-04-30T15:11:00.000-08:00

This Friday I had the opportunity to volunteer at the Boy Scout Clay Shooting Event, a fundraiser for the Boy Scouts. That meant I got to be outside (it was beautiful) and miss work all day. There was free beer and free food. I personally passed on the beer, but if I were a drinking person, this would've been great... and because I could've brought the leftover cases of beer home. [On a side note: I hear the Budweiser Selects are really good].

Anyhow, being a part of corporate America has exposed me to a very new world. One of which is where boys get together and shoot clays (and hunt). While we were volunteering, there was a man named Leon who had a "teaching station." He taught me how to shoot a beebe "shot gun." At least it looked like a shot gun to me. I'm sure that's not what you call it. Anyhow, it was neat because I've never shot anything before (minus a paintball gun, but I wan't very good at it). I was able to shoot a "stand still" target and Leon let me move onto shooting various size cups hanging on a clothes line. The wind was blowing so I was able to work on my "tracking" skills as well. Unfortunately, Leon didn't feel I was ready to move onto the next level... shooting at beebes on a concrete. Perhaps the problem was, I couldn't really see the beebes shooting out of the gun like I was supposed to.

Anyhow, because Leon appreciated my help, he is sending me a fee DVD. Check it out! If you scroll down you can see a picture of Leon. What a sweet old man :D

I also got to meet Antwan Peek (from the Houston Texans). He donated a signed helmet. He's a big guy, but really nice. He's funny too. Leon taught me how to shoot as well, so I got to chit chat with him a bit, talk a little about the draft (although I'm not sure he was expecting the Texans to pick up Mario Williams, at least he didn't allude to it), and shoot some beebes with him.

This side of corporate America is nice.

Stay in School & Kobe Bryant

2006-04-23T16:36:00.000-08:00

As I was watching the NBA playoffs, I saw the Black Eyed Peas do a commercial telling kids to "Stay in School." Their exact message was, "You gotta stick to it. It's hard, but stick to it. Stay in School." My question is, how many of them stayed in school. At least have a GED? Perhaps they all did stay in school... I don't know, but I really wonder if they did stay in school.

And, I was watching Game 1 of the Suns vs Lakers game. I'm not a big fan of Kobe Bryant, but I really wanted them to win. Maybe it's b/c I can't stand McNashsty... but for some reason, I wanted the Lakers to win. Makes me wish we had cable so I could catch all the games, I'm thinking about going to 24 hour fitness so I can watch :D

2006-04-17T19:15:00.000-08:00

What's the purpose of life? Ever wonder? Lots of people I know have very admirable goals for themselves, but really... somebody tell me, what's the purpose.

01:02:03 04/05/06, Don't Miss It!

2006-04-04T20:14:00.000-08:00

For those still awake at 1:02 am and 03 seconds on 04/05/06, take a picture of this historic moment!

01:02:03 04/05/06

a little Aggression

2006-03-26T20:24:00.000-09:00

I don't know how many of you guys like sports, but I LOVE SPORTS. Not only do I love sports, but I love playing sports. Now, I don't know how many of you are competitive when you play sports, but I really hate when people say, "We're just playing for fun." I suppose I'm too competitive for my own good, but when I play sports, I turn into another creature. Yes, I said creature because some sort of valve turns on and I become so mean.

When I watch basketball games and a player gets T'ed up, I always think to myself, "Sheesh, just calm down. You can't do anything about it now, so just let it go." Well, this past weekend during a "friendly flag football tournament," I learned that I would probably get T'ed up (or thrown red flags) if I played professional sports. I'm sure some kid watching me on TV would say the same thing, "Calm down."

Oh... my blood just boils up when I lose (or while I'm playing and things aren't going very smoothly). Aggression just builds up when I play, and I suppose that agreesion gets taken out on the opponent. Note: I did win a good sportsmanship trophy during the summer after the 8th grade during basketball camp. I guess I was much nicer then!

Malena

2006-03-15T04:42:00.000-09:00

Since I'm doing a work rotation Downtown, I've been taking the Metro Bus. Yesterday, on the way home, I missed the bus (but not to worry b/c at my location, they run every 5 minutes during the "peak/rush" hours). A lady pulls up and asks any takers for "228" (that's my bus number). Then two people proceeded to enter her vehicle. Since she was stopped at the light I decided to knock on the window and ask, "Did you say 228? Can I come too?" You should know that on the I-10 HOV lane, you have to have a minimum of 3 people between 5-6pm. She already had her quota, so my little mooching self didn't need to hop on, but she was kind enough to say "sure." As the four strangers sat in the car, no one talked to each other. We just sat back. I felt a little uncomfortable.

As I was sitting in the car, I really wanted to sleep. Afterall the guy sitting in the passenger side fell asleep and then I thought, "What if she was some pyscho and took us somewhere. Or what if my bus isn't really 228... how am I going to call my mom and tell her I ended up in Katy?" It was actually a pretty uneventful ride. We got back to the park & ride and all parted ways. The best thing, I saved myself $3.00 for the bus ride.

That leads me to Malena (I don't know how to spell her name). This morning, as I walked to the bus after parking my car, I noticed a little Beamer waiting by the "Downtown line." (This is the line people stand in so they can catch a ride with cars who only have one person but need the coveted second (or third) rider. I looked in and asked if she needed someone to ride with her to Downtown. She was exhuberant in her response of "yes." Well, you need to be on the HOV lane by 6:45AM if you want to take 2 ppl, but it was now 6:50/6:55. I assured her it would be okay b/c my mom and I are familar with the system. Although I really wanted to nap in the car, Melena and talked the whole way to work.

She was born in Moscow, Russia. Her father is Russian and her mother is from Finland (I really wanted to say her mother is a "Fin" or "Finlian" but none of those sound correct. Sort of like Houstonians are from Houston and Floridians are from Florida, but to me "Floridian sounds weird... okay no more tangent). Her family moved to the states about 8 years ago and she just graduated in Decemeber. She works at Shell as an analyst. At the end of the car ride, we finally asked each other's names. She did ask what time I was getting off of work (I think perhaps she wanted me to ride back with her so she didn't have to face traffic on her own)... but I don't think our schedules will work out.

Thanks Melena for the ride and for saving me another $3.00!

“Bim, like in Beam me up Scotty”

2006-03-08T06:08:00.000-09:00

In the summer of ’97 (possibly one of the greatest summers of my life), I met a quirky (in the absolutely best way possible) gal named Bim. (You pronounce her name just as my title reads). I don’t know what it was but we seemed to hit it off. The next year, I went to Philadelphia to visit her for a week. Our friendship is one of those where you don’t have to have much ‘upkeep.’ It’s not high maintenance and there’s an equal amount of effort on both parts. We’re both extremely weird in our own ways but have the same ‘serious’ qualities. (‘serious’ for lack of a better way to describe it).

Yesterday, I got a package in the mail. She asked me to be one of her bride’s maids! Of course I said yes! One of her other bride’s maid is a gal we met in that very same summer. We’re all great friends, and it will be a blast reeking havoc on Bim’s wedding day in Philly. Sorry, Andy. And for those who don’t know, Bim and Andy met that very same summer. Oh, the summer of ’97. There should be a song.

P.S. If she lets me, I’ll post the bride’s maid dresses she’s deciding between. I am going to try them on and take pictures for her to see! It’s time to chop off the hair so it’ll grow back by August :D

Adventures, Part 3

2006-03-08T05:51:00.000-09:00

Day 3: My mom and I decide it would be better if I take the public transportation to work today. We left the house at 6:30am-ish. I ask the nice bus driver all sorts of noob type questions and take a seat in the Metro. We leave at 6:55AM. I slightly lean my seat back, very aware of the larger man sitting behind me because I don’t want to hit him or bring discomfort to him, but he “punches” the seat. I don’t think he was too pleased with me taking away a little tiny not even noticeable piece of his leg space. Oh well. I get to my cross streets and enter work by 7:30AM!!! Can you believe how quickly I actually got down here? I can’t. Man, this technically means I could probably catch the next Metro, rather than the 6:55 one, which means I could wake up later, which means more sleep, which means a more happy Nutters! (But since my mom and I carpool, I don’t think that will happen. I don’t know when she got into work today, but she usually likes to get there by 7:15-7:30 and she was still on the bus when I walked into my office. I think I will get a mo-ped to scoot myself to the bus station!)

[Mid-Way through Day 3]

Adventures, Part 2

2006-03-08T05:50:00.000-09:00

Day 2: I again had to drive to work because I had to go back and forth to headquarters. This time, I dropped my mom off at the Med Center and then proceeded Downtown. Unfortunately, I got lost. Not a big surprise. No big deal though because my new boss is pretty chill.

Now it’s time for me to leave and go back to headquarters. Unfortunately, I’m not familiar with all the streets that surround the building I am in. I thought I would make my walk to the parking garage by using a back door. WRONG! I walked out became so disoriented, and it was like I was in a whole new world. I’d never seen that side of the world before! Well, I had to walk back into the building. No bueno. Prior to getting into my car, I mapquested directions, but that was not good because I don’t know which direction northeast on Walker is. No big deal because as I mentioned in Day 1, my co-worker gave me excellent directions to getting to the new office. I’ll just go back the way I came (keeping in mind that Downtown is made of one way streets, I’ll just use parallel streets). WRONG! Somehow, I ended up getting to a dead end. I managed to make it back to I-10 without too much of a time loss or waste of gas.

It’s now the end of the day and I still need to get my “security clearance” I mentioned in Day 1. My good buddy was supposed to get me all of this was in the office today and said he would do it for me around 3pm. He forgot. So around 4:30-4:45, I remind him. No big deal, he gets me what I need and shows me how to use these things. (Note, I still don’t know where to park, I imagine the garage is beneath me and tomorrow, I will find a way to get in there!). Well, he needs to program my authority level. Too bad he forgot how to do that. It’s nearing 5pm, and I’m getting nervous because I don’t want my mom to wait on me too long. She’s not a big fan of Downtown, and I’m not by my cell phone. He accidentally gives me authority to the VAULT. Yes, VAULT. I quickly said, “Please remove my authority level. I don’t want it.” After about 15 minutes of pushing buttons, I finally have clearance for our “perimeter.” Basically, when I come in and no one else is here, I can let myself in and disarm my perimeter so I can sit in my office at peace. The great thing is, each person makes up their own security code (unless you have master clearance) and even if you held me at gun point, I still wouldn’t be able to get you into someone else’s perimeter or the Vault. (I don’t know if that’s a good or bad thing, but I vote good).

[End of Day 2]

Adventures, Part 1

2006-03-08T05:48:00.000-09:00

I have now started a new rotation for work. Good bye not for profit; hello private banking (in Downtown)! [Sorry Fung, I really thought I would be down in the Medical Center]. Anyhow, if you know me at all, you know my sense of direction is pretty bad.

Day 1: I actually had to stay at the Galleria location because I was taking recruits around our headquarters. That equates to a free fabulous lunch at La Strada! Afterwards, it was time to head to my new down town office. My co-worker gave me excellent directions on how to get here, so there was really no confusion. Too bad I was toting around a big box of stuff, in heals, in heat. That equates to no bueno. Well, I met my new boss for 10 weeks and got to meet some of the other folks. Since we’re at a branch location, there’s lots of candy and random things (i.e. a place to play golf) right outside the private banking area. (And as always, quick cash for me). I now needed to get a parking pass, keys to our area of this massive building, and a security code. Unfortunately, the guy who can give me all of that is not working today. Looks like I will continue to park in the adjacent garage where it costs $2.50/20 minutes. (Can you believe that? Good thing I’m not paying for that bad boy).

Since my mom and I carpool to work, we now have to figure out a new system. Well, the trolley system (I can’t think of what it’s really called) will take her within 5 blocks of my building. She decides to walk and meet me at the corner of the building since she doesn’t really know which building and where I parked. Too bad I wasn’t paying attention to how I excited the parking garage. I didn’t know how to get us back into it without walking up the exit ramps (in which cars are driving down to exit). I asked the guard standing there, but he failed to point me around the corner and through the building’s entrance. Because then, you can get into the garage via elevators and find the floor in which your car is parked. So what did my mom and I do? Walk up the exit ramps (very dangerous = my mom is not pleased).
Unfortunately Day 1 does not end there. You see, I thought I parked on 4A; unfortunately, my car was not on 4A. Too bad there was also a 4B, which I searched and could not find my car. So we went on 3A, 3B, 5B, 5A, 4B, 4A (yes again, just in case), 2B, and finally 2A. JACKPOT! 2A was where my car had been parked. Again, I can’t say my mom was too pleased.

[End of Day 1]