Happy New Year

This has been a very exciting year for me, both personally and professionally. I switched jobs and started working for a high tech company which turned out not to be the best decision I have made but I did learn a lot and I worked for the best boss anyone could ever ask for. Personally, I met some great people through some activities I was involved in and I made at least one life long friend. I also bought a condo this year and I love my new neighborhood. And hopefully around this same time next year I will have my masters and I will be done with school.

Overall, it has been a great new year and I hope this year was as great to you as it was to me.

Here’s my wish for all of you in 2006:
A year of happiness, opportunity, peace, luck, love and the power to make your positive dreams come true!

I am jealous

I am jealous of those interesting people that always manage to find something interesting in their lives to write about. I have nothing...so I write about nothing.

I could write about how I gained 4 lbs since I have been jogging but that won't be interesting.

I could write about how I really hurt my back, that would be interesting but it would also be embarrassing.

I could write about everything that is going on at work but I am afraid that would only manage to depress me and you.

Other than that I don't have anything new to report.

Ohhh, My Back

I decided to escape my family after two days. My plan was to spend Saturday, Sunday and Monday with them in Fort Worth but after Saturday and Sunday I packed my overnight bag and I came back home. No drama, I was just tired of sharing a bed with my little brother (or not so little, he is 21) and not having a moment of piece and quiet.

Yesterday I went shopping with my friend Juan and I got a great coat. I also found a really great pair of shoes but they only had the left shoe so I didn't get them. Later Chico, Juan and I went to see Memoirs of a Geisha. I was very disappointed with the movie. I was expecting it to be better because the book was so great but they left out so many of the good parts. I truly don't believe that anyone who hasn't read the book will enjoy the movie but Chico has a different opinion.

I am in so much pain right now. My back is killing me. I am not sure what I did (I do but I don't want to air out my dirty laundry) to deserve this. It hurts to walk, it hurts to sit, it even hurts laugh. I think I need some strong pain medication but I don't want to go to the doctor for back pain. I think I will just wait it out and hopefully it will go away in a few days.

Note to self: Don't try that again.

Christmas with the family

As always, Christmas was a big production. I won't bore you with to much details I will just say that kids performed, adults played games, and like the last few years we had a kareoke contest (which I did not win even though the judges were my parents) all in all we had a great time.
The picture above is of the gifts when I got to my sisters house. I was the first one there so by the time everyone else arrived there were a ton of gifts. I left my sisters house around 2:30 in the morning and the kids had opened their gifts and the adults hadn't even started.

I got some good gifts this year. My favorite was the one that my mom gave me, she made me a quilt that is just absolutely amazing. I love it and it is very warm.

I hope the rest of you had a great holiday!

Did you like your gifts?
What was the best gift you got?
Is it really the thought that counts?

Persona non grata

I have become a persona non grata at my previous place of employment. I received an email from one of my ex employees who informed me she was in trouble for communicating with me and was asked to cease all communications. I originally thought one of the analyst who I have also been communicating with told my old boss because she has been known to have loose lips but my employee told me her new boss had been reading her emails.

Can you believe it? She was reading her emails.

Her new boss also use to work for me and when I left she was promoted. Before I left I, along with the 2 other managers in the department, strongly discouraged my boss and my director from promoting her because of her lack of social skills and her negative attitude but apparently they didn't listen. Now they have people who want to leave because she is a complete and total Bitch and she lacks the basic social and communication skills the rest of us learned at the age of 5.

So...now that I know I am not suppose to be communicating with them I am dropping off Christmas cards at the security desk and I am sending them all an e-card. I am doing it because I too can be a total and complete Asshole but most importantly I am doing it because I worked there for 7 years and I made some good friends while I was there. If my old boss or the Bitch have an issue with me they can take it up with me directly and leave the people that stayed behind alone.

The greatest love story ever told

I saw King Kong last night with my friend Juan and the movie is amazing. It is action packed and I was scared so many times that I thought I had peed in my pants (no not really). I never saw the original movie so it was all new to me and in my opinion King Kong is the greatest love story ever told. Speaking of Love, I love Adrien Brody. Well I love his nose. Some of you know I have a thing for noses. No, I don't go home and masturbate thinking of noses but I think a guy with a great nose and good check bone structure is HOT. And by a great nose I don't mean small and slender, I mean big, crocked, or somehow different. I know, I am weird but I love noses...what can I do. On a side note, you also get to see Adrien shirtless and it made me fall even more in love with him.

On a totally different note:
I just paid $296 for my school text books. Why are books so expensive? I have decided to take 2 graduate courses this coming semester instead of three since things are a bit uncertain with my current situation. I also decided to take both classes online so I won't have to drive to class in case I have to move cities or states.
If all goes according to my plan I will be done with my masters in 2006. I can't wait to get it over with. I am still considering going to law school but I have to study for the LSAT and bring my LSAT score way up before I get to excited about getting admitted into law school.

On a completely totally unrelated note:
I get to go home tomorrow at 10 a.m. I am excited. I am going to go to lunch with friends and then I may go watch Brokeback Mountain. Not sure of the plan yet, I am just excited to be going home early.

If I don't get to write or read your blogs before the Holidays have a great time and enjoy every minute you spend with your friends and family.

I don't mean to brag

but although I never cook I am pretty good at it. My friend Kathy and I meet at my place for lunch about once a week. Normally we order food but last night I decided I wanted to cook lunch for us. So I started cooking and it turned out delicious. I baked pork marinated in lemon and basil/cilantro, I also made some couscous, and some rice pilaf. So today we met at my place for lunch and we had a wonderful lunch with great food and even better company. True to our tradition, Kathy brought the dessert, an Italian cake from Neimans. I don't mean to brag but the pork was heavenly...the couscous was divine...and the rice pilaf was so so.

One of these days I may cook for you :)

On a side note: Thanks for your help Joey Destino. I can now insert hyperlinks without appearing as if I had meant to do bullet points. Check out his website, great pictures but even better stories. (I am still trying to figure out who HSNB is.)

Oh what fun it is to ride.....

(I bet some of you were thinking dirty thoughts)

on a one horse open sleigh...

I am almost done Christmas shopping. I almost wish I didn't celebrate this holiday!!!! (notice the exclamation marks...I really mean this) I always feel obligated to get people gifts even if I don't like them just because they got me something. I wasn't planning on getting anything for my co-workers because I just started here and I really don't know them to well but they all got me something so now I have to do the same. I was thinking about going to Bath and Body Works and getting them a basket with goodies but I just remembered of a suggestion that was made by

Shigeki

about getting them

chocolates

and I may do just that.

On a positive note, I am almost done Christmas shopping. I need to buy a gift for my parents, my little brother, and 4 other miscellaneous gifts. I know what I am getting everyone though. GIFTCARDS! I know it is impersonal but my parents would really appreciate a gift card rather than buying them something they will need to pack and take back with them to California. My little brother is so picky that I just don't know what to get him and the other 4...well...I just can't think of what to get them. So tonight I am going shopping and I will be done.

On a side note - does anyone know how I can get rid of the bullet when I insert links in my post?

My Friends are Drunks

Last night there was a holiday/anniversary get together at Havana for the non profit that I use to be the president of. My friend Chico and I were only planning on staying there for a little while because we had other things to do but one thing led to another and next thing you know it is midnight and we are still there. I was planning on taking a cab home because I rode with Chico but his roommate took me home at a little past midnight while the rest of the crazy kids stayed behind and kept partying.

Around 9 a.m. this morning I sent three of the guys that stayed till the end a text message and this is how the conversation went:
Me: I drank to much. I may still be drunk.
Friend 1: I ha8 life right now.
Friend 2: Me 2 i am home rt now.
Friend 3: Oh me too. Just waking up.

I had a 2 hour meeting with my boss and I kept thinking...I am going to throw up, I am going to throw up. Luckily I made it out of there without throwing up but I almost fell asleep in her office.

I have a BIG decision to make this weekend and I was planning on thinking and drinking my weekend away but after last night I decided to speed up the decision making process and avoid the alcohol.

I am not as young as I use to be.

The Elephants

Ever since I moved to my new place I have been speculating about what my neighbors,

The Elephants

,are doing when they make all of the noise. First I thought they were training for a marathon because they walk from one side of their home to the other all day long, then I thought they were bowling because I would hear something drop and roll, I later found out that they had a dog. Last night I got to see this dog. I thought it was a BIG dog like a German Shepard, a Bulldog, or something along those lines but last night I got to see the dog that makes most of the noise (the humans are still the ones training for a marathon not the dog). Guess what breed this dog is? Go on guess.


Ready? It is a pug. A freaking pug. How can such a small dog make so much noise? It seriously sounds like he is dropping a ball and rolling it across the floor. I now have to come up with a plan to make this dog disappear.

One of the guys did apologize for being a heavy walker (I didn't say anything). We were all leaving our homes at the same time and he asked me if the noise was loud.

Nothing New to Report

I wish my life was more interesting but unfortunately I have nothing new to report.

I did start jogging last night. I went for a jog in my neighborhood around 9 p.m. and it was nice to do something physical again. I am committing myself to jog 3-4 days a week. I only joged about 1 mile last night but I want to bring that up to 3 to 4 miles a day. We will see how it goes, I need to loose about 5 - 10 lbs. which is not much and shouldn't take me very long to loose them provided I stick with it. I am also going to start trying out gyms in my new neighborhood this week. There are some really nice gyms a few blocks away but I don't really feel like paying $68 to work out. Although this gym has some really great amenities like... they wash your car for you, they have a full spa, they have two heated indoor pools, all kinds of classes, and did I mention they wash your car for you?
But still, I am not sure I want to pay $68 when I can go to another gym a few miles away and pay $30 (but they don't have as many classes and they don't wash your car for you).

I am also considering taking a karate/Tae Kwan Do (sp?) class at a place two blocks from my house. I think that would be interesting and I have always wanted to take a class like this. Well, I have always wanted to take boxing classes but since the karate school is so close I think I will give that a try.

Work sucks right now. It is very stressful and I am actually busy. We just received news yesterday that they are moving my department to another building about 15 - 20 minutes away. I am not really happy about that because I live less than 8 minutes from work right now.

That is all I have...send good thoughts my way.

Warning: Do Not Leave Candle Unattended

I am so glad they put that warming on candles. This weekend while I was unpacking I came to a box of candles so I decided to light one up. As the day progressed I kept doing other things and later while I was on the phone with my cell phone provider my smoke detector beeped once, at first I didn't pay any attention because I was trying to take care of an issue but then it beeped again, and then it just kept beeping so I turned around and I look at my coffee table and there on top of my favorite tray was a little fire caused by the candle I was burning. The fire was self contained in the candle holder that came with the candle. Well, it was self contained until I tried to put it out. First I started to fan it with some files laying on the floor, then I threw a glass of water and that only managed to make the fire bigger and the candle holder shatter. After all was said and done I had wax all over the tray, pieces of glass everywhere and a horrible smell in my new place.

To make things worse, I screamed like a little girl while I was on the phone with my cell phone provider. I will say, that was the best service I have ever had from Cingular, she had to call me back several times to take care of the issue and each time she asked me if I was okay and if my place had stopped smelling. Because of this I am nominating Alex Mendoza with Cingular for Best Customer Support of the Year.

And yes, the smell is gone. It is now safe to come and visit me.

Winter Mess

What would you have done if you didn't have to work today?

All week the weather reporters have been forecasting a winter nightmare with sleet and snow covering our streets. It was suppose to happen yesterday and we I was hopeing for the worst but all we got was some sleet that didn't stick and cold weather. Normally when it snows or sleet in Dallas/Fort Worth the city is shut down and hardly anybody has to go to work. I wanted to take the day to rest and read a good book but instead I am at work. I did wake up late though, I decided I would take an extra hour of sleep just in case it was bad and I didn't have to come to work but living a few minutes away from work doesn't give you much of an excuse.

I hope you guys enjoy your day!!

Unpacking Sucks

How long did it take you to completely move in to your current place? And by completely I mean how long did it take you to unpack all of your boxes and place everything where it belongs?

I think it is going to take me months. I am to busy in the afternoons to unpack anything so I am going to have to do it over the next few weekend. Every time I open a new box I take the stuff out and I put everything on the kitchen table and I pray and hope that by the time I get home the little elves would have put all of my stuff up. Do you remember the story of the elves that made shoes while the shoemaker and his wife slept? What was it called? Well, that is exactly what I want, minus the

shoes

. Actually, if they made me

shoes

I would probably be happier...I can worry about arranging my stuff later. Once I am done decorating I will post some pictures.

My drive to work

Today was the first day I drove to work from my new home. My drive has been reduced from 1 - 1.5 hours to...drum role please...8 minutes. 8 minutes, isn't that great? That is 8 minutes from the time I close my door to the time I open my office door. I even stopped at the cleaners to drop off some clothes. Incredible.

I even woke up an hour and a half later than I use to so hopefully I won't be sleep deprived anymore. Life is GREAT!

Move & My New neighbor's

I finally moved in this weekend and my new place is slowly getting to feel like home. The movers brought my stuff on Saturday morning so I had most of the afternoon to unpack and arrange. I made the guys from the moving company move my furniture several times before I was happy with the location. Actually, it really wasn't me, my friend Kathy was passing by and she came in to help me out. I had no clue what I was going to do with my furniture...thank goodness she has a nack for decorating.

I spent all day Saturday unpacking and decorating but I still have a long way to go. My furniture is a little to big for this place but I am managing to make it work. It is hard moving from a house to a condo...don't ever do it....although there are advantages. I will give you my final verdict in a few months.

Last night I had a few friends over to keep me company for a little while...that little while turned into hours, and hours. I have never drank so much beer and eaten so much pizza in all of my life. We had a great time but I was exhausted from unpacking all day. Needless to say my Sunday was pretty much wasted. I didn't wake up until 11 and by the time I decided to get out of bed and going it was way late. I did manage to go back to my old place and picking up some more stuff that I needed. As of now all of the stuff I brought back with my is sitting in my living room...maybe I will get around to putting it away this week...maybe.

I met some of my neighbors and one of them pointed out where all of the gay people live...apparently there is a lot of us in my little community. Hopefully they are all not full of drama. I can already tell I am going to strongly dislike my neighbors from upstairs. They are load but I am not sure it is their fault. Every time they take one step I can hear them and it is driving me crazy. I have never been in an apartment type setting so I have never had to deal with this sort of thing. I should have thought about that before I purchased this place. I am sure I will get use to it but sometimes it sounds like they are bowling up there. My mother came over last Thursday to help me do some stuff and she things I am exaggerating and my friend Juan things I am being a bit to dramatic but it does bother me. Right now I can hear their t.v. and it is loud. But I probably shouldn't complain to much because we were here until 3 or 4 a.m. last night laughing and being loud. Maybe with time I will get to know and love my elephant neighbors.