Don't be a Patsy!!!

Luz send me a hillarious anti-drug commercial.. check it out you won't be dissapointed, I couldn't stop laughing at work...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqyh0fE9G04

Peace out ya'll!

Christmas Ahoy!

We are amidst my favorite season of the year, Christmas. I absolutely love Christmas. And although I can't say I get excited as I was when I was a kid, I still love the spirit of the season. When I was younger I remember waking up early on the cold Portland mornings to get ready for school, walking outside my room and seeing the Christmas tree with all its light and smiling. Seeing that tree, big, lit up made me instantly happier. Then I'd go to school, where we spent the majority of those December days making gingerbread houses, Christmas wreaths, and sang Christmas carols in order to get ready for the big Christmas pageant.

And oh gosh do I miss those days. But I can console myself in the fact that despite not participating in those activities, that I retained the best part of Christmas which is spending time with my family. And since I missed Christmas last year due to my trip to India, I'm much more excited this year than I have been in past year. I also have so much to be grateful for.

I have a job, albeit not my dream job, but its a job that pays well. I have friends that would do anything for me, which I'm also grateful for. I have a wonderful family that has stood me when I was an insecure, shy bookworm and watched me grow into a confident, intelligent independent woman and proud of me for it. I also have a man in my life that loves me, and despite the bumps we've had in our relationship, and have high hopes that the end of the road of my life will lead to him.

Regardless, despite the fact that I can't do all those fun things I did in elementary school, there are things I just won't let go of:

• Driving around to see Christmas lights, including Christmas in the Park in San Jose (which I did this weekend).


• Buying lots of presents for my family/friends.


• Watching as many cheesy Christmas movies as I can, including my favorite ELF with Will Ferrel.


• Singing to my favorite Christmas songs at the top of my lungs in the cars.


• Eating Emily's "famous Howard cookies." I would do anything for those cookies, and she knows it.


• Smiling at Santa Clause when I see him in the mall even though I know he's not the real deal.

And to further get myself in the spirit I have bought a mini Christmas tree and put it in my room to bring back some of those feelings I used to get those early cold mornings in Portland.

See the pic below:

Quarter Pounder with Cheese, Please!

Today I went to McDonalds and had a quarter pounder (with cheese) and some fries. It's been ages since I can even eating a hamburger but as I was driving home, that's all I could think of.

I had a shitty day, and I mean really shitty. And as I've worked the last few years to cut out my bad habits (including emotional eating), all that was thrown out the window, and all I could think about is doing something that would provide me some immediate gratification and make me forget about the shitiness that went down during the day, most of which is inconsequential to the greater story that is my life.

And oh boy, do I regret it. Although I spent the last hour at the gym trying to undo some of what I did to myself, it's not the fear that I'll wake up tomorrow and break out my "fat pants" when I get dressed to work, but it's the scary thought that I've reverted back to my toxic habits. Although I guess they do say the first step to addressing a problem is acknowledging you have one.

I'm still regretting it sitting here, but I must admit, putting it all in the open does feel cathartic.

Let's hope tomorrow goes better.

Night, y'all.

Paying an Overdue Bill with a Sider Cartoon

Hi All,

My brother just send me the link to this and I thought it was hilarious, and wanted to share the hilarity with everyone else. It's a bout a guy who tries to pay an overdue utility bill with a spider cartoon.

Read it, and you will NOT regret it!

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=665847

Enjoy!

Nina

Such a Long Time....

It's been a while since my last blog and a lot has happened since then. Given that my work software is currently frozen and I'm waiting it for to restart, I thought I'd finish updating the blog which I had started yesterday. So here is a quick rundown of things that happened in the last few weeks and my thoughts regarding them.

Halloween

I had a blast on Halloween, I dressed up as a bumble bee and went out with my good friends Jared and Martha and a few of Martha's coworkers. We tried going out to downtown SJ, but it was crazy. The club we were originally trying to get into had a line around the entire building, and given our impatience in standing in really long lines, we decided to go else where. Although amongst all the people, it was really cool seeing every body's costumes. There were a lot of people dressed up as the "joker" which I expected. One of the places we went to however, there was a guy who liked exactly like the joker from the last Batman movie. I have to admit, the coolest costume was my friend Jared's. He dressed up like a Spartan warrior, and others admired his costume when we were out as well. It wasn't as fun as when we went to the Castro district a few years ago and he was dressed up as Batman and got his ass cheeks pinched, but it was still fun. We ended the night by going over to a bar in Campbell that we actually went to last year. It's small but a fun place. Overall, it was really fun, and nice I didn't have to go back to work the next day. Here are some pics:

2008 Elections

This year was a historic year for the elections, which I found very exciting. Although I live in California, I still vote in Washington, as that is where I am registered still. Given such, I was unable to vote on any of the California propositions, but was sad that Proposition 8, which no along allows gay people to get married was passed. It was a sad day for the equality of humans. On a brighter note, I was happy that Barak Obama got elected into office. I left work early that day, around 5:30 go to home and watch as all the votes started to pour in, as they did starting at 5. By 7, Obama's election into the office was all but sealed, but the 8 o'clock push of the wonderful states of Washington, Oregon and Washington sealed the deal. It got a little emotional watching Obama deliver his acceptance speech. Although I may not agree with every single of his positions regarding the economy, taxes, etc, I think that he will bring a well needed "change" to the oval office. Amongst it all I was impressed about McCain's concession speech, as well has how beautifully ran his campaign was. I have a lot of respect for him and look forward to seeing what is in store for the country.

PwC Grinch

All PwC employees got an email last Friday saying that the firm has decided to cancel both formal and informal Christmas Parties this year. They tried to console us by the fact that they would give $1.5 M to charity (half of what they spend on the xmas parties), and keep the other half for themselves. Also they would be giving us an extra paid holiday (which we've gotten off the last three years since I've worked for the firm). Given those circumstances, the consolation prizes were weak. Not to say we shouldn't give to charity, but I don't see why we can't do both. PwC is not hurting by any means, as they have been engaged to audit the Government bail out plan (were talking about millions here), and amongst the banks that have gone down, all of those that aquired these banks are PwC clients, so were talking even more millions in dollars in revenues.

PwC is not hurting.

However, PwC employees work hours and hours of overtime with no overtime pay, and our year end bonuses are not close to compensating us for our time. However, the Holiday party is the one time people look forward to, when people bring their significant others so they can meet all the people they spend so much of their time with. Honestly, it something I look forward to ever year. I was especially looking forward to it this year because Gary was going to go with me, and I wanted him to meet all my coworkers. Not only that, but they are starting to cancel other extracurricular types of gatherings , which also find ridiculous.

Luckily, I've already starting talking to recruiters that are going to help me find a job in southern California when I move down next march, and I couldn't be happier. I am done with PwC, giving them so many hours of my life, with absolutely nothing in return.

SF ZOO

Last weekend, Gary came to visit and we decided to go to the Zoo. The weather was a little drizzly so there weren't too many people there, but it was fun. We saw Lions, and tigers and bears, oh my. Ok sorry, I had to do it. We spent about 2.5 hours there, which was the perfect time as far as I'm concerned. Gary loved the lions, and I thought the Gorillas and the Giraffes were the coolest. There as a portion called the "insect zoo" that was a little barn of insects and glass boxes. I refused to go in there. I told Gary he'd have to pay me $100 to go in there for five minutes, because I have no interest in seeing those things. Other than that it was pretty fun.

After the zoo, we went to Union square to walk around for a little bit, and then when we got a little hungry, we went to Buca di Beppos for a little six month anniversary dinner. It was YUMMY. One of my friends, Mike, met up with us for a little bit,which was cool. Mike and Gary get along really well, so I'm glad that he came by. After that, Gary and I went to Ghiradelli square to share a warm brownie sundae... mmmmmmm. :)

The next day we just hung out at home. He was supposed to leave on a 3:10 flight, but I wanted him to stay longer. So I called Southwest to see if I could change his time, and they changed it to 7:1o for FREE! I was so happy! I'm glad that I called or I would have been sad the rest of the day. Those extra four hours really make a difference when you only see the person every two weeks. However, when I go visit him in two weeks, I'll get to stay down there for 8 days, which I am SO excited about. My parents are also going to visit me while I'm down there so they can meet Gary's parents and sister. That should be fun also. Two weeks away, well more like 12 days... and the countdown starts! I always have so much fun with him, and I'm happy that I get to spend his birthday, thanksgiving, and other fun stuff with him that week.

Alrighty, back to work! I hope everybody has a good week! :)

I love the fall.......

I love the fall, the weather cools down a little bit, we get to break out the boots and mittens. Although this is usually the case, I went down to LA where it was in the upper 80s most the weekend, and most the girls wear boots for fashion reasons instead of utility.

Anyway, the weekend was really fun. I got in LA late Friday night, so all we did was get some frozen yogurt and called it a night. On Saturday, we hung out at Gary's parents house and had some yummy, yummy lunch. His mom is a fantastic cook. I also got to hang out with his sister, who is very sweet. After that, we headed to Riverside and went shopping for a little bit.

Then we were off to the hoe-down! The hoe-down is a tradition that a friend of mine, Jared, has been participating in with his family for years. He had told me about it a few years ago, and it sounded like a lot of fun. It was basically a fall festival themed around the Sleepy Hollow story including the headless horsemen. They had hayrides, AMAZING apple cider (the best I've ever had), a play about Sleepy Hollow, dinner, dancing, and a few contests. Gary and I had a great time. At the end, they had a guy come out in a horse dress up at a headless horsemen and throw a flaming pumpkin. It was pretty awesome. Gary LOVED the food, I honestly don't think that I'll hear the end of how much he liked the food until we go next year. Anyway, it was fun and it was cool that I got to experience what Jared and Martha had told me so many times about.

Today we had lunch with my friend Jamie and her boyfriend Ryan. It was a lot of fun. The boys watched Sunday football while Jamie and I chatted for a few hours, it worked out perfectly. It was awesome to see her. I'm excited that when one day I move down there, I'll already have friends there.. and hopefully a few more depending on how things go with some San Jose friends that might be looking for a new geographical location to reside in.

Anywhoo, after that I was on my way home again. It's always hard coming back when I see him for a weekend, knowing it will be two weeks before I get to see him again, it's so hard. It's harder knowing that I have to go to work the next day the weekend, because let's face it- most of us work for the weekend (please mind the terrible reference to the 80's song).

Alrighty, that's all I have...Halloween is on Friday, where I get to debut my bumble bee costume, it should be awesome. Then thanksgiving where I will pumpkin pie it up, black Friday where I will elbow some grannies to save two dollars on socks, holiday Christmas party at the tech museum where I will attempt to hide my holiday weight, and then the best of all, Christmas. My favorite holiday. Friends, family, and presents, oh my. It will be wonderful.

Alright it's well past this old lady's bed time....

Hockey Hoopla

I haven't been to a lot of hockey games, but I sure do enjoy going to them. Although I admit I enjoy the games more when there is fighting involved, even when there is not, they are a lot of fun to watch. Last weekend, I went to a San Jose Sharks/LA Kings with Gary. It was a blast! Gary is a big Kings fan, so when they came to SJ to play, he wanted to go see them. Although I am not a strong Sharks fan, I rooted for them anyways to tease Gary. Also, I think that Sharks are a lot cooler mascot than the Kings. I'm sorry, but that is a LAME name for a team, although I guess I've heard worse, like the Montreal Canadiens. Um, really? That's the best you can do? Oh yeah, Sharks won! :)

Anyways, enough about hockey. The rest of the weekend was good. I've really come to appreciate weekends where no work is involved. I have really come to enjoy my personal time lately and really come to dread going back to work on a Monday. These Sundays are the worst because I know it will be another two weeks before I see Gary again. And although work does serve as a good distraction, it still sucks. My stress management skills surely need some fine tuning. Actually; its not even that- they need to exist. I think a lot of the stress that I get from work I create myself, becuase I'm scared to fail, scared for my team to fail, scared to let down the people that I respect. So there's where the pressure comes from I guess.

Alright well this was a random post. To end it, I shall list the things I am excited about to end it on a posistive note.

I'm looking forward to:

• Haloween! I'm going to be a bumble bee! I have a super cute costume. Oh, and the fact that I won't have to go to work after, makes it that much more fabulous.
• Boots! It's getting more chilly and that means I get to break out the boots, jackets, scarves and mittens!
• Thanksgiving week! I am going down to OC for 8 days. During these days, I'll get to see my parents, celebrate Gary's birthday, have my first thanksgiving with Gary, shop on black Friday, and start xmas shopping.

Of course Christmas too, but its much too early to get excited about that. Ok time for bed, and dream about debits and credits...