Archive for January, 2008
January 7, 2008 at 6:27 pm · Filed under interests
A friend of the family is going through some hard times right now… We’ve been hearing a lot about how she is doing in the hospital, and that her family is thinking about nursing homes. Choosing one is so difficult, and such a hard decision. You want the best care for your loved one, and you realize that she can’t get that care living on her own, so you have to make that decision. At Better Caring, at least you can get all the answers you need, and know that they will cater to your concerns. It’s a site where you can even search for the best care home for your loved one. I think it would be a good site to pass on to this family friend of ours. It beats staying in the hospital and getting average, non-personalized care. Finding the right nursing home is like finding the right home. It matters.
January 7, 2008 at 12:39 pm · Filed under interests
We saw I Am Legend last night, with Will Smith. Oh, what a fantastic movie!! I think we will have to own that DVD eventually. It was very well done. It made me cry, jump, and I even had dreams about it that kept me up for like, 3 hours last night. Yeah, kind of silly. I don’t remember a movie that last made me do that. I was very good.
Okay, so, if you haven’t seen the movie, and you are planning to, don’t read any further than this. I will now discuss the events in the movie, and there will be SPOILERS. Read: SPOILERS AHEAD!! So don’t blame me if I ruin the movie for you. 
Okay?
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SPOILERS AHEAD!!! You’ve been warned.
I cannot, for the life of me, get over the fact that Sam died. That one part, I cried and cried and cried. I was so devastated. It was good for the movie and good for character building for Will Smith, but seriously, that really broke my heart. I mean, that was his only friend, for cripe’s sake! And what an awesome friend! I was so sad. 
I was so devastated.
And why on Earth did Will Smith’s character have to sacrifice himself in the end? I didn’t get that part. He could’ve pulled the plug thing on the grenade and throw it through the crack of the glass, and then climb into the cubby hole with the girl and the boy. Dave said it was to guarantee that the grenade got everyone away from the cubby hole, since those zombie freaks were obviously more intelligent than everyone had assumed (they band together, they have a leader, they planned traps, I mean, come oonn!). It made for a good ending for the overall story, but it was very sad and it broke my heart too.
Do you think there will be a sequel? I have a feeling there may be one, except Will Smith can’t be in it, so I’m not sure exactly how it would be done. I was impressed with Smith’s performance. He’s gone far since the days of Fresh Prince. Heh.
January 5, 2008 at 6:30 pm · Filed under daily
Ah, a new, crisp, fresh theme. This one isn’t one of my own, but I fell in love with it when I found it, so it will be up for a while longer. 
Just trying to fix a few things in it, before I can truly call it home. So bare with me while the construction takes place. I’m having Ms. PHP/WP/MT-Guru (aka Ciana) help me with it, so things should be in tip top order before we know it!
Also trying to work on another design/theme for blathersnort, but seeing as how I’m very lazy, I’m not sure when that will be up and running. Heh. I’m gonna go lie down and have a little bit of a nap. I spent a lot of the day tidying things up and doing a bit of laundry, and now I feel completely exhausted.
Edited: Whoops. Nevermind. Decided to go with a design/layout of mine. With Ciana’s help, we’re just tweaking the last bits of it now. Please be patient!
January 4, 2008 at 10:03 am · Filed under thoughts
We had our Vietnamese wedding ceremony on December 30, 2007, at my parents’ house in North Carolina. It went very well. It was really amazing how differently everyone dressed (especially the bride and groom!) when it came to these types of celebrations. While everyone was still pretty “formal,” there were less suits and cufflinks among the men, and less high heels among the women. Culture and tradition play such interesting roles in celebrations of life changes, don’t they? We were all pretty much barefoot, since the ceremony was in my parents’ house, in their formal living room and dining room. Some of the men, including Dave, were in Vietnamese gowns, so ties and cuff links were not necessary. Regardless, the the ceremony was fun, beautiful, and a riot. There were lots of love and laughter, and even tears from some people. We had a good time.
January 4, 2008 at 9:56 am · Filed under daily
The other day, I finally enrolled in prenatal yoga classes. I’m so excited!! I start on Tuesday in two weeks. It’s just once a week, but I’m so excited to do another yoga class that I can hardly wait. I miss going to yoga since I found out I was pregnant, since some of the positions in regular yoga were not suitable for pregnant women. I rather have someone teach me which positions are suitable than risk doing the wrong ones myself at home, so I’m very excited about this.
I think towards mid 2nd trimester, I’m going to look up couples birthing courses for Dave and me. We haven’t decided how we want to deliver (naturally or C-section), but I would like to be prepared for all courses of action. Now that I’m less tired and have a bit more energy (still not as much as I’d like, but at least I don’t want to fall asleep every 2 minutes anymore), I can concentrate on preparing for this lovely little Baby Bean some more.
The tummy is still growing, though on some days, I hardly see the bump at all, and on other days it feels as big as a house. Isn’t that funny? I’m going shopping with Jenbug today, for maternity clothes, so I’m excited to actually have pants to wear that don’t dig into my growing tum. I only have two pairs of pants that fit me now. Oi!
January 2, 2008 at 11:42 pm · Filed under interests
When I was younger, I took a few lessons of piano. Boy did I really, really enjoy them. I was only able to take a few because my family ran out of money when we had to move away, so I wasn’t able to pick up on anything and I hardly remember what I learned today. However, I do remember that I picked up the Piano lessons & piano chords very quickly, and my teacher was very happy with me. After that, I always thought I’d go back to these lessons one day, but I never got around to it. Life got in the way, I suppose.
So now, every time I hear anything about playing the piano, I get just a little envious. I like to keep up with Play Piano’s free email newsletter, and maybe one day I will actually be able to afford to take piano lessons. Even if just for a little while.
January 2, 2008 at 11:35 pm · Filed under heart
You know, the weirdest thing about friendships, at least for me, is that they are so unpredictable. While I’ve found some pretty secure (or so I feel, anyway) relationships to be involved during these last couple of years, there seems to always be those few straggling ones that take me by surprise on how they turn out. I am not one for drama, and over the years I’ve learned that there are ways to avoid drama. I used to thrive on them (it takes a long time for someone to finally admit that, y’know, but I’m a better person for realizing it now), and I used to be afraid of change, especially in friendships. Now that 2007 is gone, I think of the couple of friendships that have changed their courses in my life. I became closer to some of my acquaintances, and become more distanced with some “close” friends. I don’t know what makes friendships come, go, or stay, but I think it’s time for me to just stop analyzing them. The truth of the matter is: when they take that much time analyzing, perhaps the friendships aren’t meant to be.
I am grateful that right before 2007, I reconciled with an old friend. Someone I was very close with, in fact, from a few years ago. I am surprised that this happened, but I take what I can get, and I try to just go with the flow. There are things I can control, and there are things I can’t. I can respond to what people say and do, but I can’t control what they say or do in the first place. I’m glad reconciliations are still possible in my life, and I look forward to them. However, I think the reason why this particular reconciliation was possible was because I stopped analyzing, I stopped dwelling, and I finally moved on. I stopped being angry. And then suddenly it just fell right back into my life. Perhaps it will never be the same, but at least the good feelings are thriving, versus the angry ones.
And then there are those others which I have decided to stay away from. When it becomes too hard, when I feel like I’m trying too hard to connect intentions with actions, I find that I just have to let go. Sometimes letting go of something means letting go of a person. I suppose 2008 will bring many more emotional changes and lessons in my life. I suppose there is still more to learn. 2007 was a great year. So many people showed me what love means, so many people showed me they care. I can’t help but compare these actions and these kind gestures to those who say they love me but rarely give me the time of day. And when I do these comparisons, I think, “Why am I spending all this time dwelling on who DIDN’T do something, versus spending more time on those who DID do something?” And so, the decision was pretty clear: spend more time and energy on/with those who can share my life, and less with those who don’t want to or can’t for whatever reason.
So I suppose the only resolution I have for 2008, which I will make official, is to appreciate those who show me love on a regular basis. Tell people I appreciate them more, and mean it. Be there for people, because they have been there for me — through all the great times as well as the bad times. Say goodbye to old ghosts, and learn to live with new spirits. I visualize an awesome year with lots and lots of love and genuine happiness in my life, in my family’s life, and especially in Baby Bean’s life.
January 2, 2008 at 4:18 pm · Filed under interests
We’ve been daydreaming a lot about our first home. Not sure when we can surely make that happen, but at this rate, prospects are bright and it looks pretty feasible. We both make pretty good money right now and it looks like in the near future I think I will be in for a higher-paying job. Not sure when, but eventually, I’m hoping. That would put us in a really good place with Baby Bean and getting a home for ourselves. We’ll have to think about mortgage loans and how much we can afford and how much equity we have and all that stuff. I think I’m actually talking out of my bum right now, but at least we have two real estate agents in the family and both of them will be very helpful when it’s time to buy! It will be so awesome to buy our first home together. Ah, a garden, and a back yard, and a new kitchen, and some pretty tiles. Yum!
January 2, 2008 at 4:06 pm · Filed under thoughts
Wow. This holiday season was so crazy and busy. I’m kind of sad that it’s all over with because it was very fun and it all went better than I thought. However, I’m also a bit relieved because it was so busy and now I finally have some time to breathe. The best part of this holiday season is that I got to enter my second trimester by the end of the year. What a great, lovely, wonderful way to end 2007. Plus, 2007 ended with a little baby bulge, and that was one of the most exciting surprises ever.
I’m very happy to start 2008. I suppose day-to-day, it doesn’t really matter seeing as how nothing really physically changes other than that one number in the year. However, it’s the emotional change that we all put on ourselves. A brand new start, a brand new year to do some things differently, or to keep doing what we’ve been doing. A brand new way to forgive ourselves, and others. A brand new way to love and to find love. It’s the emotional changes we are always after, and we look for every excuse to make them. We look for every excuse to “start over,” despite how trivial it is. We put our value on the concept of a brand new “year,” but we take what we can get, and darn it, I’m going to take it.
January 2, 2008 at 3:45 pm · Filed under interests
A lot of my friends are into servers and getting their own SSH or Telnet servers running, either for their own personal usage, or for a business they are looking to start. Over the years, I’ve heard through their experiences how hard it is to get a secure product when looking to buy servers. It’s hard to find a dependable company willing to offer all the things you want for an affordable price. While I don’t know much about owning a Secure Server or how to run one, I can definitely appreciate the work and effort that goes into securing one for business or pleasure. Pragma Systems finally offers exactly all of these things! I can’t wait to tell my techno buff friends!
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