May 31, 2008 at 11:31 am · Filed under daily, meme
Ah, le Saturday! This week, quite honestly, has been a week from hell for both Dave and me. We’re handling it pretty well, and we chalk it up to the universe reminding us that life is short and love is real. We’ve got our health, we’ve got our marriage, we’ve got our love, we’ve got our family, so that’s really all that matters. Everything else is icing on the cake. Still, it seems like each day of this week presented a different obstacle, a different type of “shit” that hit the fan. To put it bluntly, this week really sucked butt. And sucking butt isn’t a pretty thing. I’m glad the week is over. Now we can move on with the rest of our lives and hope next week is better!
We get to see family this weekend, so it’s a good ending to a bad week. Nick is staying overnight tonight, and we’re going to Wii it out like there’s no tomorrow. Mario Kart, Boom Blox, Mario Sports, etc. The Wii is so fantastic — it’s the greatest video game invention ever. I love being able to be active and zombie-like at the same time. Hah! Then 7pm tonight, we go out to dinner with Dave’s dad and his fiance, so that should be good. Good food is always a plus. Mongolie Grill, here we come! It’s one of our favorite places to go to, and it brings me back to the beginning of our relationship when we were still traveling back and forth between countries to see each other. Every time I visited Dave here, from California, we would end our time together with lunch or dinner at the Mongolie Grill place. So that food and that restaurant chain is very special to me. Now, it’s become an extended family restaurant. We go there every chance we get with his family.
Last night, I got a pleasant surprise in my email box. Sylvia Ma, our wedding photographer, just launched her new site, complete with a beautiful new design using flash. After going through it, I realized that our wedding was featured in many of her photos. She took such beautiful photos of our special day last July. I’m so honored to have some of those photos there on our site! Check it out and see if you can find us! There are lots of pictures of the kids too (Chelsea, Reilly, and Jaeden), not to mention a couple of our detail shots, like our rings. She does beautiful work. If you are ever in need of a wedding photographer in the lower mainland area, B.C., definitely go with Sylvia. Great price with fantastic results.
And now, to end this post with our regularly scheduled memes (when I’m stressed, memes are my thing — filling out questionnaires and surveys somehow really de-stresses me).
Another High School Meme:
1. Can you sing the fight song?
Nope. I don’t care for the fight song. I barely even know what it is.
2. Who was your favorite teacher?
Mr. Griffith was probably my favorite. He was our honors Chemistry teacher. He was a cutie, and he was also very nice.
3. What was your school mascot?
The lion. El Monte Lions, woohoo! Rowr.
4. Did you go to the Prom?
Nope. Instead, my girlfriends and I went to a theme park on that day. Hehe.
5. If you could go back, would you?
Not on my life, hell no. High school was hard. The only thing that kept me afloat was the academic part. Everything about high school was hard. I was severely depressed and at times, suicidal. I kept a good front though, since no one knew and even my “best” friends at the time would be surprised to hear me say that.
6. What do you remember most about graduation?
Unfortunately, it was my father screaming at me after the ceremony, because I forgot to put the club on my car. See, high school was hard.
7. Where were you on Senior Skip Day?
I was in school. I didn’t skip. I was a good school girl. 
8. Did you have a job your senior year?
Not that I recall. My parents didn’t allow me to work.
9. Where did you go most often for lunch?
We usually went off campus for lunch — most of the time just across the street to the Tasty Freeze diner. Sometimes to Taco Bell a couple of blocks away. Sometimes we stayed on campus if the campus lunch was good.
May 18, 2008 at 2:21 pm · Filed under meme
1. Are there any causes you strongly believe in?
Free Tibet Foundation, UNICEF, The Lucky Foundation (eventually), World Wildlife Federation, Amnesty International
2. Are you a virgin? If not, how old were you when you lost your virginity?
Yeah, I’m a virgin. Baby Bean is the product of immaculate conception. Hehe. Actually, I gave my virginity to Dave when I was 18. It was never “lost.” I know exactly where it went.
3. Are you addicted to anything?
Love, peace, and rock n’ roll, baby. And food in general. Food is addictive.
4. Are you afraid of ghosts?
Heck yeah. At least with humans, you know their general limitations and physical boundaries. With ghosts, you don’t. They can do anything and be anywhere. It’s scary!
5. Are you short tempered?
I can be, yeah. Though these days, I’m rather calm and level-headed. Jenbug says I’m really very easy-going, so I’m gonna trust her and believe it. These days, it takes a lot to get a rise out of me. It takes even more to keep that rise going. Heh.
6. Can you dance? Do you like dancing?
I have two left feet most of the time, but can find general passable rhythm after dancing for about half an hour and letting my nerves relax. I wish I can dance a lot better than I do. I don’t generally like dancing, but I think it’s more of a self-conscious thing than anything else. Too bad I can’t have a HDMI switch in my brain to just make me a better dancer or something.
7. Do you believe in life afther death?
Sometimes. I don’t find myself having too much idle time to think of such things. I’m more into living the life I’ve got right now. Whatever will come later will come regardless of what I “believe.”
8. Do you believe in marriage? Why?
I should, since I’m married. It’s a psychological and legal thing, I suppose. Marriage just psychologically confirms a whole bunch of stuff for me. A piece of paper shouldn’t say anything, but my and Dave’s excuse is that we’re a little traditional when it comes to that. The whole “meet, fall in love, get married, have children” kinda come in that order for us. To each their own.
9. Do you consider yourself a neat or messy person?
I’m generally a neat person. Sometimes anally so.
10. Do you consider yourself lazy?
I can be sure. Like right now, instead of doing this silly survey, I should be working. But am I? Of course not.
11. Do you have a role model?
I do. Lots of ‘em, actually. I have my supervisors, Sylv (my mother in law), Gran (my grandmother in law), the Dalai Lama, etc.
12. Do you like cooking?
Only when I’m in the mood, which isn’t often these days, unfortunately.
13. Do you like eating out at restaurants?
Other than it costing a lot of money, I LOVE eating out at restaurants! I think it’s such a treat.
14. Do you like going window shopping?
Yup, but I like it more when I’m actually buying stuff. Heheh.
15. Do you like partying? Attending parties? Giving parties?
Nope, sometimes, nope.
16. Do you like to go dancing?
Not particularly.
17. Do you like to travel? Which has been your best vacation so far? What made it so special?
I love to travel! Our honeymoon to the Mayan Riviera in Mexico was the best vacation so far. It was special because it was Dave’s and my first trip overseas together, to an unfamiliar place.
18. Do you read? Has any particular book influenced you or left a life-changing impact?
I read a lot. The Secret Garden continues to be a life-altering children’s novel for me, for whatever reason. I also particularly love politically driven novels, as they make me think and make me question my lifestyle, choices, and viewpoints.
19. Which are your favorite authors?
Linda Lay Shuler, Kathleen & Michael O’Neal Gear, and various others.
20. Have you ever been on a blind date?
Nope.
21. Have you ever been on the wrong side of the law?
Only with traffic tickets. Heh.
22. Have you ever had a narrow escape from death?
Been in a particularly life-altering car accident when I was 16. That was a pretty narrow escape, with the car flipped upside down and all.
23. Have you gone through therapy of any sort?
Yup. I’ve been through mental healthy therapy a couple of times. I can’t call myself a good therapist if I’m too afraid to seek therapy for myself, right? There’s something incredibly comforting about having the permission to spend about an hour talking about strictly yourself and your struggles to someone without having to feel guilty that you’re bringing them down, or being silly, or whatever. In therapy, the client can lead the conversation to what she wants to talk about, and she doesn’t have to feel badly for it. It’s really cool.
24. How ambitious are you?
Incredibly so. Sometimes too much, since I have a lot of crazy out-there goals I’m still planning to achieve in this lifetime.
25. How do you like to celebrate your birthday?
Quietly, with my family.
26. How do you like to spend New Year’s Eve?
Quietly, with my family.
27. How important is money to you?
Important enough to help me pay the bills I need to pay and put food on my table. Outside of that, I could care less.
28. How important is your family to you?
What a silly question. I don’t know anyone who would answer this question by saying family is not important. Family is what drives me, moves me, and wills me to do what’s right. Family is my motivation for everything good, for achieving my goals. Because I want my family taken care of is the primary reason why I want to change the world and bring peace and joy in my community.
29. How long are you on the internet every day?
Oh, goodness, way too long. Probably every waking hour if I could. I’m always on, regardless of doing something else — work, watching tv, eating, etc. Heh.
30. How patient are you?
I’ve grown a lot more patient towards other people, but still am working on being patient towards myself. These days, the only person who can truly let me down is myself.
31. How romantic are you?
I’m a sap. Incredibly romantic, but I try not to let it get to me or let the expectations run too high. I look for the little things of being loved and loving.
32. If you could change one event in history what would it be?
I wouldn’t change anything. Changing anything in history would dictate what is happening today, and that’s a scary thought.
33. If you could go on a vacation anywhere in the world where would it be?
Vietnam. I miss Vietnam.
34. If you could know one historical figure very intimately, who would that be?
The Dalai Lama. I really wish I could just call him up and meet for a cup of tea or something.
35. What did you do during the summers when you were growing up?
Avoid being screamed at. And rode my bike a lot, with my brother and sister.
36. What do you consider the five biggest drawbacks of your personality?
High expectations of myself and my friends (or so I’ve been told), being a hermit most of the time, sometimes being too passive aggressive, impatience with myself, and various bouts of self-consciousness, I suppose.
37. What do you consider the five biggest strengths of your personality?
Loyalty, patience towards others, compassion, motivation/ambition, intelligence.
38. What do you consider your biggest achievement to date?
Creating life.
39. What is the most adventurous thing you’ver ever done?
Taking a leap of faith in forgiving people.
40. What is the most stupid thing you’ve ever done?
Probably talk without thinking first. Sometimes things come out of my mouth that I regret later on because people mistake it for ill intention when it’s really just me being honest and trying my best to communicate.
41. What is your idea of a perfect evening?
Being at home (which is all nice and clean and all the house chores are done) curled up on the couch with a good book.
42. What would you do if your best friend disapproved of me?
Disapproved of who? I’d seriously take anything my best friend thinks into consideration, seeing as how she’s my best friend and her opinion matters. Though, in the end, I do what’s best for me.
43. What’s the best compliment you’ve ever received?
“You’re very kind and I feel comfortable talking to you.”
44. What’s the worst thing you ever did to a friend?
Say goodbye.
45. What’s your earliest childhood memory?
My ears getting pierced. I was talking to my mom the other day and I told her detail by detail images in my head of that day. Apparently, I was only 3 months old, and I remember it almost precisely. She was kind of freaked out. I told her I remember it because the pain was almost unbearable. Heh.
46. When was the last time you cried?
About a week or so ago. I’m so darn hormonal now.
47. When was the last time you felt really proud of yourself?
Everyday.
48. When was the last time you really laughed?
Today. Minutes ago.
49. When was the last time you told a lie?
Umm… I don’t remember. I think that’s a good thing.
50. Where do you see yourself in five years time?
Happy.
51. Which body part are you more likely to notice first in someone of the opposite sex?
Eyes.
52. Which has been your longest romantic relationship, so far?
With Dave. Going on 8 years romantically, almost a year of marriage, 10 years of friendship.
53. Which personality traits do you want your partner to have? Which of these are an absolute must?
I would love it if Dave is less of a procrastinator. Heh. An absolute must is intelligence, which Dave possesses tenfold. And kindness.
54. Which was the last really impulsive thing you did? Are you an impulsive person?
I bought some shirts at the mall on Thursday. I’m not generally an impulsive person, but I can be.
May 15, 2008 at 6:56 pm · Filed under baby bean, daily
So there are a few weird things going on with my pregnancy. If you’ve been pregnant before, or have been close to someone pregnant, you’d know exactly what I’m about to say, probably on a more personal level than others. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I’m talking about the dreaded, forgettable “pregnancy brain.” My short term memory is almost completely shot these days, and I find that I am forgetting the simplest matters, from shopping lists to what day of the week it is, to the big important matters, like clients’ names and which appointment I’m going to next. Here are some awfully dreadful examples, just for your amusement. See, you knew there was a good reason why you keep visiting my site, huh? The public self-humiliation is hard to beat!
- Last night, after washing my hands from going #1 (which happens approximately every 45 minutes it seems), I left the hot water running….. for 2 hours. TWO HOURS!!
- Buying clothes and forgetting that I bought them.
- Putting laundry in the washer, and forgetting to put either detergent, or the water on.
- Washing half the dishes when the phone rings, and then forgetting I was washing dishes.
- Calling a client, letting the phone ring, and then when the client answers, forgetting why I called.
- Putting away clothes after doing laundry, and forgetting where I put them.
- Re-filling the cat food dish, walk away, and attempt to re-fill it again when realizing it’s already been done.
- Shaving one leg, then the other, then attempting to shave the first leg again.
- Telling a social worker one bit of info, only to call two days later to tell her again, the same info.
These are just examples of crazy things I’ve been doing. Dave would come to me and sometimes ask me to remind him what I asked him to do, and I would say, “Er… I don’t know? What was I needed you to do?” He gets off the hook pretty easily this way. Haha. This bugs Jenbug at work royally, because I’m always forgetting conversations we’ve had about clients, or anything really. The only thing I can remember these days are things that happened before the pregnancy. This is all new to me. I used to be able to remember conversations word for word, often being able to repeat them verbatim in court, or memorize my whole 50-hour week schedule without having to crack open my planner once. Now I have to look at my calendar at least every other 15 minutes, in case I show up to the wrong appointment (which fortunately, has only happened about twice during the course of this pregnancy!). This pregnancy brain is out of control!
