Never here

I love my place, but I'm never here...at least I'm never here when my roomie's here. Monday was the first time we've ever had dinner together. Our schedules don't seem to have much overlap. She's up early & sleeps early....and I'm up....late....and get up....late. :)

But I've been unusually busy these last few weeks, so hopefully things are calming down. I've submitted some stuff for my culminating project, so I'm eagerly awaiting feedback from my adviser. But I'm also scared to find out how badly off the mark my attempt was. In the meantime, I should be continuing on with it, but I've been unmotivated this week. I should be catching up on my other class (which I've neglected for a week), but...there's nothing actually due. hehe In fact, today was a super nice and relaxing day where I did practically no work all day. I went to play with my niece, went grocery shopping with my sis, worked out (and listened to part of a lecture), came back & made dinner which I enjoyed while watching CSI on DVD with my roomie, washed dishes, looked through some ads (Safeway, Lucky, etc.), talked on the phone with Bob, updated some expenses on my spreadsheet and now, typed up a blog. It was a wonderfully low-key day. It was so refreshing and, I think, just what I needed. *whew*

Oh and the latest thing I've discovered about being grown up is what a hassle eating is and having to figure out what to eat for lunch and dinner each day. Ugh! It's been a pain (but still, a welcome one). I'm also going to have to keep better track of my groceries because I had to throw out some stuff that went bad AND when I go shopping, I forget what I've got and end up getting stuff I don't really need! So yeah...no more grocery shopping for me for a while...but stocking the pantry does take a bit of effort at first. The other thing about food is that I don't really have a good gauge on how much I actually eat, so I end up getting a lot more than I need and on top of that...I don't really snack much (or maybe I just don't have snacks I really like yet?)...so I don't think I'll be able to buy much snacks cuz they'll go bad or I'll get sick of it before I finish them. Or else Kittoe (Bob's place) will be seeing a lot more of my half-eaten stuff. :)

Setting up my place is lots of Fun!

I'm having lots of fun setting up my new place. It's so great and feels so grown up too. Anyhow, I was inspired last night and I've pretty much unpacked all my boxes except for 2 left. Now, I actually have space to walk around my room and get to the closet. I can even open & close the closet doors without obstruction. YAY! There's something very satisfying about emptying boxes and moving things around so it looks/works better. And at the end of the work, you can sit back and see the difference your work has made.

It's weird. I wasn't really that tidy a person when I was living at home, but I've been pretty darn tidy here. I want to wash the dishes after cooking/eating to the sink is clean, and I'm more aware of untidiness in my place as well. Maybe it's cuz everything's so neat & tidy already and I want to keep it that way? I don't know, but I've never been so inclined towards tidiness before so this is weird. And there's a bunch of things I want to reorganize & clean out (shoes, clothes, kitchen cabinets). So I'm trying to figure out the best way to organize things...which is kinda fun.

But yeah. I think, for now, it's enough that the boxes are almost gone. I think it's time to get back to school work (definitely not as fun)... =P

Moved!

So I moved to my new place on Saturday (Feb. 2). Some friends from my community group (+ Dan) came to help me out for which I'm very grateful! :) Here's some of the boxes that got brought over (the picture below is missing about 13+ more as well as the bed, dresser, bookshelf & desk that were also moved...hehehe). But it went surprisingly quickly. The guys took care of the furniture & boxes and the girls helped me move all the clothes in my closet as is (to save me from additional unpacking).

And here's my bed in my new room! It's a little funny looking cuz I set the timer on 2 sec so I had to jump. (You can't see much of the room, huh? ah well, guess you'll just have to come over some time!) But yeah, unpacking's a slow process and it's quite a struggle to juggle that on top of catching up with school and having to go to work too. *sigh* Vacation is really & totally over for me (not that I was vacationing while I was cleaning & packing, but it was nice to use that excuse to postpone school work). :( Here's what my boxes look like in my new room right now. Look nice, don't you think? Like I should just keep it that way...hee hee You probably can't tell, but that's actually better than what it was when I moved in cuz I've actually done some unpacking...
And after ~7 hours of installation trouble-shooting, and technical support frustrations, Janet (my roomie) and I are FINALLY able to connect to the Internet wirelessly from our laptops!! YAY!!! (Now, I really have no more excuses for not doing homework anymore....) And I'm making my first meal at home tomorrow (steak & potatoes)!! So exciting! And my car's really loving the garage.... :)

cleaning progress

omg! I'm so not enjoying cleaning/packing up my room. ugh! I've sure accumulated a lot of stuff over the years. And I have to look at every little thing and decide if I should keep it or throw it out. If I keep it & it's some sort of information, would it be better to transcribe it and just save it on my computer? I spent all of Monday cleaning and I was soooo drained. On the bright side, I've made a dent in my room. Now, I'll need to look at the closet and my clothes...

But today, I got a break from cleaning in order to deal with applying for financial aid. I talked to a financial aid advisor (finally!) and got the scoop on all the stuff I needed to do to start the LENGTHY process. She was nice and very helpful, but the amount of paperwork I've gotta fill out is *such* a pain.

It also turns out that I didn't have a letter proving my termination from Intel that I'll need, so I had to call and then get put on hold and routed to a 3rd party (apparently this function was outsourced). I was put on hold again, routed a few times (with more holding in between). Then, I was finally told I couldn't be helped. They don't give written confirmations directly to me. So I had to call back to Intel employee services, find out there's a special term I need to use to get the info I want (in the process my call was dropped and I had to call back, get put on hold and explain the whole thing to a new person!!!). THEN, I called the place again, struggled to get the option to talk to a person since I don't have some code I needed and got stuck with their automated operator in a long cycle of frustration till I wanted to kill the thing & the stupid person who designed the system to be so hard on users!!!! Was put on hold again, and finally....FINALLY reached someone who told me I'd need to print out a form, make copies of my driver's license & some proof of address (thank goodness I'm still living at the same place!!), fax it in and wait ~15 days!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

*cry*

Moving day set & school starting

Booo! I can't believe break's already over! :( It officially ends on Wed (the first day of instruction), but since I had to go to campus for an orientation of the culminating experience class (equates to the master's thesis I need to graduate; see the handbook - which I've gotta read soon - for more info on what this is and here's a basic example of what I'll have to do, I'll probably post my progress periodically), I count it as over. No longer can I ignore the impending assignments for school stuff. *sigh*

I'm moving in on Feb. 3! I'm getting soooo excited!!! I dropped by the new place to check out my room again and figure out where I'd wanna place things. I'm totally cleaning this week and then I've gotta pack next week. I'll post pics of my new place & room once I'm settled. Oh!! And if anyone has an extra hairdryer, scale, plunger, toilet bowl brush, dirt devil-type thing, full-length mirror, etc. they wanna get rid of, please let me know! I guess I'm gonna have to do some household-y type shopping.

I'm still working on getting the financial aid too. I finally got a hold of a counselor who will answer my questions, but since today's a holiday, I'll call her tomorrow. I hope the info needed is not as detailed as it sounds cuz that'll be such a pain!

I'm gonna start budgeting this year as well. I started in Nov actually and made an excel spreadsheet for the purpose, but silly me, deleted the whole thing (which took hours of pouring over old credit card statements, receipts, check book, etc. for 2007) in order to make the template for 2008. Cuz I forgot to save it under a different name first. *sigh* All that time & energy down the drain. I'd backed up an older version of it, but I probably won't go back to fill on 2007 again unless the financial aid app really needs that detailed an account of my expenses!! I think I should get one of those budgeting softwares because that'll make things so much easier.

Ok. That's my update. Hopefully, I'll really keep this better up-to-date this year.

Happy New Year & more changes for me

Wow. It's been a Looooong time since I last wrote. I wonder if I'll be keeping this blog at ALL this year. Hrm. Must think about it.

Anyhow. news update from me is that I'll finally be moving out of my parent's place! I can't believe it. I'm totally dreading the packing & cleaning & moving part...but it's exciting to be living on my own (well, with a roommate). I'll be moving to Campbell probably at the beginning of Feb.

The Fluid Diet

I'm on a new diet...It's what I call the fluid diet. I basically only have fluids and fluidy solids. Hot cider, Tea, Soups, Soup noodles, Rice Porridge. Ah! So many choices! And I'll lose weight in no time!

Ok. fine. You guessed it. I'm sick. :(
But I'm pretty convinced that this new diet is gonna help me loose some extra pounds while I'm on it too. Besides, between my burnt tongue (from a very very hot cider) and sore throat, I can't really taste much of anything anyhow. And it definitely feels like a true diet cuz I'm constantly hungry!

Yesterday, I had soup, soup noodle (courtesy of bob), and 3 cups of liquid in the evening. I woke up around 5am to use the bathroom (the obvious result of dinner) and the weirdest thing happened! I was only semi-conscious (who wouldn't be??), but it felt like I had absolutely no control over my limbs. I sorta weaved my way to the restroom, almost falling a few times. Thank goodness the bathroom's right across the hall from my bedroom! It was almost like I was drunk, except my brain was totally aware that my body was having trouble obeying its signals...it was trippy.

Anyhow. Time for another bathroom break and then I guess I'll have another "meal"...

Addictive Games

These are pretty fun and once I get started, it's so hard to stop!!

The ESP Game - labeling images...the words you come up with have to match something your anonymous partner types. Get as many pictures as possible in like 2:00. Unfortunately, you have to sign up for an account.

20Q - play 20 questions against their AI. It's really pretty good! But I've beaten it several times. :) There are several categories of 20Q games too. It's horrible at the Name Game (I think that's a nearly impossible game for it to win). But it's pretty good at Harry Potter. It uses the answers of all players to determine what to expect for each thing.

wedding in the library??

So a while ago, one of my friends dreamt that I got married in a library. I thought that was soooo weird (so did he)...who'd wanna do that?? But that was till I saw a blog post on the beautiful libraries around the world (Curious Expeditions, Sept. 6). I wouldn't mind getting married in some of those (plus, many of 'em are in Europe and I wouldn't mind going there either! hehe). These are two of the prettiest ones (Austria & Portugal) that have a nice aisle and lighting...no seating though..hrm.


This one's got built in seating, but it's only in Boston....

A dialogue

S: (walking out the door) Ok. Gotta go! See you later.
M: What? I thought you were gonna have some soup.
S: Nope. Don't have time. Gotta go!
M: (getting a bowl) What about 1/2 a bowl?
S: No. I'm late. I gotta go.
M: (pouring some into a bowl) Just one sip!
S: (grabs the bowl and quickly drinks) Geez. I'm already late. Wha..(starts coughing)...
M: Don't forget to bring a jacket! (spots jacket on S's arm) Oh. You're coughing. Are you getting sick? Your water bottle is so small. Is that going to be enough water?
S: (finishes coughing) ......No. I choked on the soup. And I can get water at work.....Ok. Really gotta go now. Bye!


My parents are back.


(Thank goodness, still made it to the train on time!)
So yes, I was home alone for 2 weeks. I thought that having to cook, clean and what-not for myself would make me appreciate my mom so much more...and it has. But to a lesser degree than I expected. In fact, it really wasn't all that bad, and I really enjoyed the freedom. Which led me to realize that it's really time for me to move out...as in...I'm really really ready. Not merely to escape the suffocation of the 'rents. But because I've reached the maturity level that sorta requires moving on in order to continue to grow. Too bad I still have at least 8 more months of grad school and the impoverishment that's associated with student-hood before I can do anything about it though...

soooo efficient

So I meant to post this on Monday (when it happened), but I've been busy. Anyhow, here's my story:

My mom's gone for 2 weeks (back now) so I was on my own. On Mon, I had a bunch of stuff on my to do list: laundry, refill drinking water, workout, groceries, hwk, etc. In order to streamline the efforts I decided to start my laundry while i ate breakfast and then put it in the dryer during my workout (so that it'd be dry & ready to be folded when I got back). Then, I'd refill the water and go to Safeway on my way to workout. SOoooo efficient!!

So I put my laundry in the wash, ate breakfast, loaded the car with the water jugs and set off. Half way down the street I realized I didn't bring my workout towel. I paused, conflicted, should I turn back or just use paper towels today? Well, I'm not that far...so I turned back. *sigh* I ran into the house, grabbed by towel and got into the car, was pulling out of the driveway when I realized. omg! I forgot my workout card (can't get in w/o it). Gee. Now was I kinda glad I'd come back for my towel. So I went back in and grabbed it and took off.

Getting the water and safeway were pretty uneventful and I arrived at the gym not too long after (with my towel & my membership card). I jumped on the machines and warmed up. Then, as I sat down to do some weights I suddenly remembered, I hadn't put my clothes in the dryer! DOH!!!!! *sigh* so much for my attempt at maximum efficiency. maybe I should write down each step next time....hehehe

Do you know what RSS is?

If not, watch this very good and short explanation of RSS & RSS aggregators/readers. Just ~3.5 mins.

Library Elf

Have you ever found it annoying to have to check multiple library card accounts for due dates and hold statuses and what-not? (or am I the only nerd who goes to more than one library?) Well, there's a solution now! Many of the libraries in the Bay Area can be accessed through one service called Library Elf! Now I can see the whole list of books and holds I have sorted by due date all in one place. Yay! And you can get notices on holds & due dates & overdues through email, RSS or SMS. You can also modify how early/frequently you get those messages. (Unlike at the library, where it's a set 3 days before the due date.) I'm looking forward to using it from now on! I only wish I could also check my fines and put in requests through it as well! Maybe they'll add those features later. :)

WorldCat

Have you ever wished you could search for a particular book from all the surrounding libraries with just one click? Well, you can with WorldCat!! I recently discovered it myself, and it's already been very useful for me. The confusing part (for me) is that you do the search and select the book before you can actually put in your location info (i.e. zip code). For some reason, whenever I use WorldCat, my location defaults to Hayward....Hope you guys find it as useful as I have.

Human Tetris?!

aliceL just told me about human tetris! hilarious youtube videos...here's one of them...

Warning: be prepared to laf your head off and then immediately go watch the rest of them! hahaha

woe is me!

Ok. Just wanted to whine about my supposedly lighter semester coming up. Take a look at what my next 15-16 weeks will look like! And it doesn't even include study time for the other 2 classes I'll be taking (aside from the internship, which is a class...and unpaid). School starts again on Thur. I can't believe the break was soooo short! It was much much needed though, so I'm really glad for it. Now, back to cleaning my room...



[9/4/07 update] Looks like my Monday tutoring will be moved to Sunday afternoons instead. I can't wait till the end of this batch of tutoring sessions!

Done with Summer School!!

I'm done done done with summer school! Woo hoo!! Now I get 2 weeks to relax as much as I can before the fall semester starts. I'm gonna take 2 weeks off from work too (after tomorrow). Unfortunately, my to do list is already getting populated...but for now (since I *just* finished)...I intend on ignoring all of that and putting it off till maybe next week. *sigh*

Here's my pile of books that I checked out for the last project (which was to summarize 40 children's materials, including books, movies, magazines, etc. with important other details like bibliographic info, genre, age level, awards-if any, etc.). And yup, that's way more than 40 (and that's not even all of them!)...but I'd rather have too much than not enough! Don't worry. I didn't read ALL of them.

Here are some pics from Robin's wedding:

The Happy Couple: Robin & Lun

All my former co-workers who were at the ceremony
Thomas being all artsy
At the end of the night

Wow...Anniversary

Well, I feel like I should post something since yesterday was Bob & my anniversary. Yup, one year of dating. It's been amazing. We've definitely had rough patches, but we've also worked out a lot of issues, learned a lot about ourselves and each other, and shared many sweet times of laughter (at some rather geeky/nerdy jokes), teasing, and fun. Some of these moments were captured on film, so I took the liberty of making a collage in honor of our year together.

Looking back, I have to thank God for being the one to orchestrate it all, and I'm extra thankful that I am able to really give all the credit to Him. I'm even More thankful (if possible) that not only did God make it happen, but that the man He put in my life is such a caring, chivalrous, honorable gentleman who I share many similar values & interests with (except for rom-coms & bball...which we'll be working on! =P).

Ok. I'll stop with the cheese and describe how we celebrated. Though I had 2 big projects due by midnight, I chugged away like a maniac in order to finish by 6pm, shower & get ready for dinner. We went to Le Papillon, which is conveniently nearby. When we first entered, the atmosphere was so cultured and muted, I felt like I had to whisper. At which Bob whispered back and asked if I was gonna be talking that quietly all night! hehehe We of course, dressed up for the occasion. He was all decked out in suit & tie and I wore the beautiful dress pictured to the left. They came out with a few amuse bouches and then the soup we ordered (artichoke cream soup..interesting...except I thought it was brussel sprouts and only wanted it cuz I'd never had brussel sprouts before...but upon tasting, realized it was artichoke and I've had that plenty of times!! Don't ask me how I got them mixed up, I blame the brain-dead state I was in post-project-deadline.) For our entrees, we had deer and halibut. The deer was quite interesting, kinda like steak but a little more gamy and less fatty (therefore, more healthy!). The halibut was alright, but tasted like something I'd had for much cheaper before....hehe And to top it off, we had the Grand Marnier souffle. mmmmMMMmm. So light & fluffy with berries surrounding it. Quite yum.

Dinner took about 2.5 hours altogether and when we got back to my place, we both immediately changed out of our fancy stuff and into more comfortable attire. I even washed off the makeup. hee hee What can I say? I'm a creature of comfort! Then, we just hung out and Bob teased me about my notoriously atrocious memory by "reminding" me of some of our dating highlights. Hmph! As if I'd forgotten Those!! But it was super sweet cuz he rewrote the lyrics to "Do you remember" by Jack Johnson. Yeah, we both found the title of the song to be quite fitting. *sigh* Very romantic.

Anyhow, it's late (making the collage was a spontaneous decision that took a good 1.5 hrs so it's now 2a.m.!!!), time for bed!! Got lots and lots of studying to do for the final 2 weeks of school!

Help Wanted

For my marketing class, I need to collect all types of promotional material that I see in libraries, non-profit organizations, and the private sector. I need to collect book marks, brochures, flyers and basically any printed info on the product/service/company (I think websites count too). Divide the materials into two categories of the best and worst publicity materials. If they're paper ones, I've got to scan them somehow.

Anyhow, I figure a lot of stuff can probably be found online nowadays....and in your wanderings, if you come across anything that's particularly good or bad, please take a picture of it or screenshot it and send it my way! The assignment's not due till July 30...but not sure when I'll get to work on it since I've got 3 other big assignments plus a few smaller ones due before then. So any help I can get on this would be so great. Thanks in advance!! :)