March 12, 2009

  • I know…it’s been a very long time

    What happened last year that I didn’t have time to writeon xanga?

    I have no good reason except maybe I felt uninspired and got bored hearing myself. I finally decided to log on today and read what everyone’s been doing and thinking….and wow! A lot of changes and fun events for many of them.  As for me, it always seems like it’s the same thing. I know it isn’t. That I do fill my days with a lot of activities, but I haven’t been thinking too much about anything.

    Did a lot of reading last year. Still doing that this year.  I was heartbroken for a brief period last year…and then I got frustrated and ended a relationship (but as usual…is it really over if we’re still in touch). The only difference now  is that I don’t care as much.  It’s been so busy that I honestly feel I have no time to sit and just enjoy what’s going on. 

    Work has been very busy and stressful. I work in admissions, but I’ve been pulled to another office to help with their workload because the new computer system is taking more of an adjustment than what we expected. It’s good to be busy and I totally enjoyed it the first week it (the computer system) went live (prior to that, we’ve been in training galore…and got paid for some overtime..yay), but now on the second week, I miss my desk..my computer, my time to do what I need to do (but can’t right now because it’s so darn busy at the other office that I can’t even check up on my emails).

    We’ve been asked not to take more than 7 days of vacation for the next two years because of this new computer system. For this reason, I can’t go to Dubai, France, Italy and Philippines for the next two years! I’m totally bummed about it, but I’m still making plans to travel to HI in late July, NY in late August, Monterey in April (road trip with my girlfriends), Vegas in October (this is a maybe) and San Francisco sometime before the end of the year. 

    I’m not dating. I don’t know what happened, but I’ve lost interest in finding a relationship. I think I’ve given up. When I’m ready, I’m sure I’ll start putting myself out there again, but right now…not doing anything really.  I’m just working. Going to the gym…heck not only 24 hour fitness, but Bar Method…and soon Bikram Yoga. I think this year, I’m just really trying to focus on getting healthy. For that reason, I’ve finally decided to make some big item purchases. One was to buy my waterproof digital camera. The other (which I will do later on today) is buy a mac and printer so I can finally start tracking my calories daily! I have not owned a computer in a decade! Yes, it’s been that long. I never needed one after college and I was working so much that I was always near a computer.  But now, I realize I need to track my progress even on weekends (and I no longer work weekends)…so that’s that. 

    Other things that happened…last year, my grandfather’s brother died. This past Monday, my aunt died from cancer. Her funeral is this Friday.  I was really shocked because I just saw her two weeks ago. She just got out of the hospital because she was doing better…she looked so strong, but I guess…not. I accept death..I know I will die someday, but it is still hard for me to deal with it sometimes. I think of my aunts who died young. Died from cancer. The children they left behind, the spouses they left behind…and what are they doing now. 

    I actually did a lot of walking last year. My coworker and I made Thursdays our working/hangout days since we’re both off. For that reason, I saw a lot more movies the past year than I’ve seen in any given year prior to that. 

    A lot of wedding last year. Between March through early May, my weekends were filled with bridal showers, bachelorette/bachelor parties (I was “Best Maid” at my friend’s wedding to his boyfriend..so I planned the bachelor party) and the weddings were every other week! It was a busy year for weddings!

    Last summer, a lot of pool parties at the house. I had taken a week off from work (after cancelling Paris) and was fortunate enough to have a few girlfriends who had the summer off or weren’t working at that time.  So my summer was really special and fun.

    Had a crazy lying roommate. A serious con artist. Had another roommate that we wanted to kick out as well. Now the roommate situations are way better than before!  We all get along and life is so much better!

    Well, it’s going to be 2:30am soon, I better start my work stuff before I leave for the day!  Gym right after work. Then going to the Grove to watch the Watchmen (the graphic novel took awhile to read), have lunch and then buy my mac!! Should be a good day.

September 11, 2008

  • Thoughts on the Article Below

    L.A. County considers  hiring a permanent watchdog for troubled hospitals

    The plan comes on the heels of news that 11% of King-Harbor hospital workers had undisclosed criminal records.
    By Garrett Therolf, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
    September 10, 2008
    http://www.latimes.com/news/local/los_angeles_metro/la-me-employees10-2008sep10,0,1372925.story?track=rss

    The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday considered instituting a permanent, independent investigator to keep watch over the county’s troubled hospital and clinic system.

    The proposal came a day after new disclosures about the le vel of incompetence among employees at Martin Luther King Jr.-Harbor Hospital, 11% of whom had undisclosed criminal records. 

     
    The investigator job was proposed by Supervisor Gloria Molina, who said trouble at King-Harbor developed in part because officials with the county Department of Health Services kept problems secret from the board.

    “I think what we have is lousy management,” she said, “that for some reason is frightened of telling us the truth or doesn’t have the ability to tell us the truth and conjure up all kinds of interesting stories to tell us to keep us blind to the real facts that are going on. So I’ve just about had it.”

    The board directed county Chief Executive Officer William T Fujioka to return next week with a proposal outlining how an independent investigator would operate.

    Molina suggested that it might be modeled on Special Counsel Merrick Bobb, who is charged by the supervisors to monitor and investigate the Sheriff’s Department.

    “We have a . . . safety net responsibility for healthcare, and I’m troubled every single day by the fact that we may be losing control of the administration of that safety net,” Molina said.

    “It isn’t the fact that we don’t have money, although that is one of the issues, and that we don’t have dedicated employees.”

    The decision came amid significant public outcry over Monday’s disclosure that a high percentage of King- Harbor workers have criminal records and performed poorly on tests that evaluated their competency to treat patients.

    According to a report by the county’s auditor-controller, 152 employees among 1,356 reviewed at King-Harbor had criminal records and the quality of nurses at King-Harbor was poor compared with other medical facilities in the county system.

    “It sends the terrible message that minorities and poor people do not deserve the highest standards in staff medical care,” said Earl Ofari Hutchinson, president of the Los Angeles Urban Policy Roundtable.

    “King should not be a dumping ground for incompetent employees and those who commit crimes.”

    The full extent of the problem is still unknown.

    Fujioka and John Schunhoff, the interim director of the Department of Health Services, on Tuesday continued to refuse to reveal the full extent of the incompetence and crimes among King-Harbor staffers.

    When they first discovered the problems with criminal histories, Fujioka and Schunhoff did not immediately disclose the news to the public.

    Fujioka orally communicated information about the crimes to the supervisors, and Schunhoff omitted the information from public records that described the county’s response to human resources problems at King-Harbor.

    Fujioka later acknowledged a portion of the criminal discoveries when asked about them by The Times.

    The review that discovered the criminal histories and incompetence came in response to an article in The Times that King-Harbor workers were not fully vetted as promised when the hospital’s inpatient services shut down last year.

    Federal regulators forced the closure after determining that minimum standards for patient care were not being met.

    garrett.therolf@latimes.com
     
    My thoughts about the article above was the simple fact that it all comes down to money.  King Harbor is a county hospital and thus doesn’t get enough money because majority of their clientele either don’t have insurance or it’s medi-cal and that only pays a certain amount per diem per patient.  (note: I am not blaming the patients for being uninsured or having sh*tty insurance…I personally feel our goverment has allowed this to happen…allowing companies to play around with employees “hours” so that they don’t get any benefits. I mean, there are companies out there where employees are screwed over because they maybe working close to 20-40 hour weeks, but aren’t considered part/full-time because they are “per diem” and they set their schedules around…just to make sure they don’t get benefits and they make more profit).  Gone are the days where companies and employees had loyalty for each other.
     
    So if a hospital’s source of income are coming from patients who don’t have much to give, they have to cut cost some place. If you’re a nurse/doctor/technician/technical support staff, you can find yourself in a situation where other hospitals/companies are willing to pay you more and give you more because they have more insured patients AND private donors.  So a hospital who’s on a very tight budget (yes, I’m sure all hospitals are on a tight budget) and potential employees asking beyond what the hospital can provide, well….you still have to hire people out of those that actually apply to a county job (and they may not be the doctors/nurses/etc ranked top 10% because they can’t afford them nor are many applying for a lower incomes). 
     
    Although someone has a conviction, it should be handled on a case-by-case basis. Just because this hospital had employees with criminal records doesn’t mean they can’t have a job. If they were convicted of theft, of course don’t give that person an accounting position. If convicted of murder…hopefully they weren’t given a position where they had to work with patient care.  I think the article needs to go more indepth.
     
    What convictions did these employees have and what job responsibilities did they get?  It looks like 65% of those wth conviction had crimes not related to their job. It also looks like 10% of convictions were dismissed by court and 20% were still in-process.
     
    I don’t think many employers would hire doctors/nurses/etc (who have direct contact with a patient’s care) that have been convicted of murder. Yes, I’ve heard horror stories of nurses telling a bleeding patient to “wait in line”. When that happens, it’s because of low morale, poor social skills/customer service training, not enough emphasis is placed on patient care.
     
    One thing I know, if you want an employee to be apathetic to his/her job…it’s easy to do. First you don’t give credit where credit is due. You don’t reward/treat your staff as equals and you make them feel like you think they’re stupid (honestly, you don’t have to have a degree to know when you’re being fed bullsh*t). You don’t listen to their frustration, or if you do listen, you do nothing about it. You don’t pay them the competitive rate…and it becomes a bad virus that spreads. Maybe a small percentage of the hospital’s problem might be an employee’s past. However, when there is no sense of purpose, responsibility, acknowledgement….and you see management getting paid the big bucks to really do nothing (cuz you know that the ones below them are doing the hard labor)….then you get apathetic employees who don’t care, who are burned out because they’ve probably been treated like sh*t  from management and patients….and you have a budget that maybe way below what other hospitals probably have because of the clients’ insurances (or lack thereof)…what are you going to expect?
     
    Sure you can hire a watchdog…but wouldn’t it be better to just hire new management and fix what’s wrong. All the watchdog will do is watch.
     

September 8, 2008

  • past the 1/2 way mark

    I know…it’s been a long time. I was dealing with a lot of crap for awhile. I had to cancel my Paris trip and I was heartbroken.  I went from crying often to finally getting back on my feet and handling business. Now things are okay. I’m still working like crazy. Found an online website that provides penpalship around the world — which is something I’m truly enjoying. I’ve been reading (a lot). Currently reading Randy Pausch’s “The Last Lecture”. I still have a ton of books to read though (and I’ve added “Kite Runner” on my list since I was moved by the movie).

    I am dating someone. After a lot of disagreements…I finally came to the conclusion that we both want the same thing, it’s just we’re having problems with the “terms/definition”…so I told him to call it what he wants to call it…and I’ll call it what I call it b/c in the end, we both end up in the same spot…and so far, so good. Things are good with this man…and he says he loves me, I’m just waiting to see more of it…but so far, it’s promising and yes, I’m still holding my breath before I can exhale.

    Currently: I have a huge arse zit on my face. Normally, I wouldn’t make such a big deal out of this, but seriously…it’s HUGE!!  It’s the size of a quarter (well, it was the size of a quarter). It started way under the surface of my skin. I felt the bump, it hurt….one month later if finally “surfaced”….and although my doctor said she can lance it, she didn’t think it was a good idea since it’s on my face…she said, “If it was anywhere else on your body, I’d lance it, but since it’s on your face, I’m going to have to get a referral for you to see a plastic surgeon”. Yes, you read it right, a plastic surgeon. I kinda have to laugh b/c I never imagined visiting the plastic surgeon! I mean, yeah I think about it and jokingly say I’m going to go for lipo one day or a boob job once they start sagging…but I was joking…and now I’m actually going to one so that s/he can remove this ugly zit off my face and not leave too much of a nasty scar! Thank goodness for these doctors (hahaha).

    The only other trip I have plans for this year is New Years…and I hope to celebrate it with my friend Michelle in Oahu!! That’s my update so far.

March 19, 2008

  • i’m actually awake

    another work day…or night…or whatever you want to call it.

    i was finally getting some zzzz in here at work then the phone rang…and now i’m up. i haven’t made much progress since my last entry. i re-ordered the futon, but now waiting for the delivery. i bought the sourveniers for the bachelor party, but i haven’t done anything on it yet. i was going to do a lot of it this Thursday, but my boss asked me to come in for 4 hours in the afternoon. I had plans…but I could do it later (i told myself). i did do my flash cards for school, now it’s just finding time to go over them.

    i had a chat w/ parisian…and from my understand, this summer will probably be the last time i will see him. although he is willing to move, he wants a place like paris…basically, where people speak french. i already know that I can’t permanently move to Paris. i like visiting it and the thought of it as a vacations spot is nice, but i don’t see myself moving there. but such is life….i am just going to enjoy the summer for what it is.

    i’m quite surprised with this attitude i have. it’s kinda nice…not having to worry or think things over and over and over. maybe it’s because i have so many things happening that i just don’t have time to really stay on one subject for too long…

    so….is wearing black to a wedding okay? especially during the summer? if i had money,  i’d so get a cook and a stylist…i will so need those two…and a maid (hahaha)…and a fitness trainer….yeah, i’d like that alot! but i don’t…so i’m kinda in the dark with dressing myself. i’m one of those fools that don’t really know how to layer. quite honestly, i don’t have time to care! lol. i wish i had a body type where whatever i wear looks good! i’m in the camoulflage mode right now! hide every inch of me! lol.

    okay..i’m hella tired cuz i’m writing nonsense….LOL. going to try to get some zzzzz…

March 11, 2008

  • Dang….time really is going by fast…

    So much is going on around me….I’m trying to stop and take it all in, but I feel times’ pressure pushing me. Next thing I know it’s another day. Another day of work. Of school. Another night job. Another short weekend. Another “i have to do this”, but when the day comes “I’m so damn tired” approaches instead. Pushing me further and further from what I have to do.

    I accomplish a few, but I go backwards so quickly. So it seems.

    6 weddings! 5 in two months! WTF!! i’m wedding-out and i haven’t even gone to one. but i have to buy gifts. I’m in charge of one. I have to make the souveniers…I have to make reservations. I have to save money. I have to…have to…have to…do everything. Where the heck do I find the time to get the gifts? where the heck do I find the time for me?

    I want to buy a house. My cousin is going to buy a house with her sister. I wish I had a sister sometimes. But what happens when her sister is engaged? What happens then? But I want my own place….I don’t want a roommate…I want guests. i want privacy…i want to be with family.

    I need to buy my ticket to Paris. But I keep forgetting the credit card….i need to buy a futon b/c the one I ordered didn’t make it…instead of automatic refund or exchange, I have to go to the store to handle it in person…what is this all about?

    I have homework. i have to make flash cards, but I don’t have time. I have to see the doctor this week…I have to pay for my car registration too….i want some salad…should i get nutrisystem?

    I’m looking online….my coworker is gone. it’s sad…what happened? what happened? why is the other so fake? Why is she two face? why is the two face….well…the other two face is pregnant….what?? ugh….why?

    My thoughts are going going going…I like him, but he’s far….i like him, but he’s not attentive. The other one makes me smile…the other one is easy to talk to.

    I hope to find a conclusion. A sound mind. A sitting area to stand on…..I hope to accomplish it all…let go of the ones that don’t matter…take care of the things that do.

December 11, 2007

  • It doesn’t feel like the Holidays

    I love the holiday season. Especially Christmas season. I love seeing the decorations, seeing the lights and grand x-mas trees. But this year, it doesn’t feel like the Holidays for me…..at least not yet.  Maybe it’s because I have only 1 day off this year –> Christmas Day! I have no clue why we have to come in on the 24th when most of the building is closed, but we have to come in….so what am I doing? I’m coming in.  At least it’s not going to take out from my PTO. Also, I haven’t gone shopping yet.  I have the kids: Hailey, Mikey, Macelda’s two girls, Isaiah and Sophia to buy for.  I have the immediate family: my bros and parents. I have the secret Santa w/ my cousins.  I have to buy for Trisha and Nicole….and this year for work, I’m baking…so i gotta buy at least the ingredients, right??? 

    The only thing is…when do I have time to shop? I seriously don’t.  I have a minor surgery coming up this Thursday. I just spent over 1K on car repairs this past week (just when I thought I was in the clear with bills!!) and every freakin’ Thursday is seriously filled w/ some sort of medical issue. Dentist appointment, another doctor’s appointment for annual check up…ugh!!

    Plus I have gained the weight I lost!! Which bothers me sooo much b/c I always seem to gain during the holidays!! But I will lose it….there’s no other option for that.

    I realize I’m a very private person. I know…weird that I’m writing on this online journal in which random stranger can read my entries….but I really hate it when people just give private information about myself.  Like this past weekend, I didn’t go to this party. I told my friend I wasn’t feeling well (I gave the actual reason) but instead of telling mutual friends that “i wasn’t feeling well”….the news spread to the specific health reason.  I don’t know why I’m this way…I don’t even like telling my boss about my health issues….so yeah…i’m weird like that.

    When my boss at USC was in the hospital, I didn’t feel it appropriate to tell everyone the real reason. I just wanted to tell people that he was in the hospital and recovering okay. Of course once he said it was okay to tell people, I told people. 

    So I’m thinking…besides France in the summer, I think I will schedule a trip to Hawaii for winter…and I’m thinking of taking my family with me….but we’ll see.  I’m due for a Hawaii trip…i’m due for something amazing to happen!! seriously!

    We found a roommate. This time female! I got tired of having guy roommates who don’t clean up after themselves. So yeah….and now that it’s just me and my cousin, it’s easy to see who’s messing what! hahaha.I hope the housing market keeps going down so I can freakin’ buy an afforadable house!

December 4, 2007

  • Driving to work tonight I was thinking about a moment in my life where I was in so much emotional pain that I wanted to die.  I had no intentions of killing myself, but the pain I felt inside was so strong that I seriously dropped 20 lbs in a month.  I remember crying myself to sleep every night and not being able to function at work.  I remembered that one incident and even though it was a long time ago, I still felt that pain like it was yesterday.  When I really have to stop and think about it, it amazes me how one person can hurt someone that deeply. The disregard that person had for my feelings. The utter hate that person showed to me through actions that still leave a sour taste in my memory.

    I realize I’ve come a long way. It’s been many years ago since that event. I have been wiser with my choice of friends. Learned that it’s okay to walk away when you are hurting.  Greatful that I am still optimistic enough to feel that there is someone there for me. 

    I’ve been working a lot lately. Trying to workout. Trying to find “me” time.  I’m not getting any younger and although i don’t feel my age, I do feel my time is short on this earth and I definitely want to find what makes me happy.  Money makes things easy, but having all the money in the world definitely wouldn’t make me happy.  I think having love…having someone to share my life with, a good challenging job, great friends, loving family and the funds to travel the world would definitely be my ultimate goal. For many people, it’s work. To be at the top, but that’s never been me. It’s definitely not a bad thing to want to be at the top of the ladder with work, but it’s just not for me.  Having been a latchkey kid and not hearing my parents say “I love you” for majority of my young life…I always knew that’s not what I wanted for my kids. Maybe I take after my grandmother. She was the matriarch of her family. She worked, but she made sure that everyone knew she loved her kids (and grandkids) even more. They came first.  I know my parents love me, they say it now.  The way I see it, they worked hard for the big man to support their kids, but at the same time they also lost a lot of “quality” time because they were so busy working for the big man who in the end didn’t give much back.  Don’t get me wrong, i don’t want a low paying job. I was a starving student once and living paycheck to paycheck is not fun (can’t really enjoy life either when there’s luxuries you want but can’t afford or heck paying the bills so there’s a roof over your head). I definitely don’t want to go backwards either.  

    The way I see it, I have a great job right now. It’s challenging. It’s not always the same thing every day. I have responsibilities i enjoy having and I’m rewarded accordingly with my salary and what-not.  I may not be mingling with the CEO, but I’m happy.  So I got the job thing. I got the friends thing. I got the family thing. Now if I can just figure out how the heck do I start working on the love thing.

    I don’t know what the future holds for me and Parisian guy, but I’m keeping that open.  So far our chats online have been very promising, but I think I will know for sure when I see him again in June. I’m keeping my options open.

    So the holidays….this year I think the only gifts I’m buying are for my immediate family and the annual x-mas santa that we have with our clan. For work, I’ll be baking this year.  no little trinkets. the funny part about me giving trinkets (i.e. drinking menu cards, ornamental soaps, etc) is that I don’t like getting trinkets myself.  I tell my friends every year that I don’t need candles, lotion from Bath & Body, basically anything that’s going to collect dust.  As I get older, it’s about spending quality time versus getting gifts (gifts are fun and all, but right now, I don’t need anything that I can’t buy myself).  I have enough purses, shoes, lotions, make-up, etc. etc. that I can ever want right now (well, I wouldn’t mind some corningwear products…but I digress). So this year, it’s a nice lunch/dinner w/ my friends. I think it’s better like that.    

November 20, 2007

  • Feeling a whole lot better

    I finally snapped out of that mood I was in a few weeks ago. I went out two weekends ago. It took every energy for me to get my arse out of the house and at one point I wanted to cancel and stay home, but I’m glad I didn’t.  I’ve been working non-stop as well. One of my roommates, Jack, is leaving the end of this month and we’re not sure if we want to rent out the room or not. I’m honestly tired looking for roommates all the time and I actually do want to keep the room and make it into a study for now. I wouldn’t mind if it was just me and Ivory renting the place. We would avoid so much crap if that were the case.  Decisions decisions.

    My trip to Europe has been postponed to June. I want to take French I class before I go and finals end June 2nd. So I’m hoping that I’ll be able to finish before that.  I’m still debating about Madrid.  My friend Paras will be living there and I feel I should totally just stop by and visit him before I head to Paris and visit the friends I made in Paris (not to mention my Parisian guy).  Speaking of Parisian guy, things are going well. The more we talk, the more it seems we agree on the basics.  I really can’t say where this is going to go.  This is a new experience for me. I never thought I’d be in this position. I mean, when we met, I did not even think we would keep in touch, but it’s been how many months and we’re still talking and learning more about each other.  There’s still that communication barrier and my goodness, I don’t know how my friend Jenn did it, but I guess when you really want to understand someone, you will put in the effort. It gets a bit frustrating, but at the same time I’m picking up French along the way. It’s still difficult for me. It would definitely be easier for me if he spoke Spanish (hahaha).  Don’t ask me what the future holds for me and Parisian because I don’t know. All I can say is so far we seem to both be open minded and want to learn more about each other. He does want me to go to Algeria with him and meet his family…I’m not too sure about that yet. I told him not next year, but maybe the following year. I want my trip in June to be a chance to get to know him better and see if there is something there. If the ”sparks” are there just like the first time we met.

    Then there’s hapa. I was so unhappy with the way things were going between us. I finally came to the conclusion that I had to make a decision. To continue being unhappy or to just end it. I told him all I wanted was friendship since he could not give me more. Truth is, it’s hard to ignore that I was getting more affirmation from a guy in another country than this hapa guy that lives like 15 minutes away from me!  The moment I told him I wanted just friendship with him, the usual stuff happened. Texts messages wishing good night, etc. etc.  He even responded to an email I had sent three weeks prior to him responding! It’s just too late now.  I really don’t know what he’s thinking with him writing me while he’s on his business trip in China.  Telling me to be good…blah blah blah.  Deep down I just have to ignore that stuff and keep it limited to friends. He is buying me another purse and matching wallet but this time around I plan on paying him back.

    Work has been going well. Life is good.  There is this coworker at work though that is having major issues. I’m sorry but I hate people who can’t follow through consistently.  I hate it when people give excuses why they can’t do a certain thing. If you can’t do it, say you can’t do it. That’s all you need to do. I hate the “i’ll get back to you” and you never do. That’s just bullsh*t and honestly, I don’t think I have to repeat myself over and over again. If you can’t put the sense of urgency and deadline in your work ethic, then don’t go blaming me that I’m micro-managing! Ugh!  I know she’s pissed and probably thinks I’m treating her like a little kid, but sometimes when one doesn’t want to listen and can’t meet expectations, then one must usually end up explaining it to them as if they were a child. Especially if the behavior supports it. I wonder if she realizes how contradictory she is. She leaves a certain coworker alone every day for 45 minutes. The day that she is asked to sign a patient in, she waits for her ”student” to come back to lunch (so her student can sign the patient in) and explains she can’t leave the colleague (the same person she leaves alone every day for 45 minutes) alone at the work station and thus can’t sign the patient in herself. If you are scared/uncomfortable going up, just say so. Goodness. Don’t give excuses that past behaviors prove to make you a liar.

    Well…I’m going to take a nap. It’s quiet here and I have a long day ahead of me….

November 1, 2007

  • wow

    November already? Damn…it’s gone by so fast!! I was suppose to work last night, but my coworker Katie agreed to cover for me. Instead of going to WeHo for some walkin’, I ended up with my friend Kat at our favorite Korean spa. I was just going to pay for facility usuage, but when I got there…I really wanted a back massage…so that’s what I got. I got a scrub and a back massage and I am still loving it today!! The scrub can hurt so much, but once you are done, you just feel so clean and I so needed all those dead skin cells sloughed off.

    I am not going to Vegas afterall. I decided I’d save more money just going to San Diego with my friend Karol to visit our friend Michelle and her newborn (and the rest of the family of course). We plan on cooking dinner for them that Friday night!

    Tuesday…well, sleep won over working out! Yesterday….spa won! Today, I am so going to force myself to go to the gym and do the weight class even though I am feeling hella lazy right now.  I have one hour left. 

    I have not texted hapa boy since Sunday and have not seen him online, etc. I am a bit relieved. I’m so over this and things with Mr. Paris is still going well.  My friends are “concerned” with this whole thing. I find it amusing b/c really…why? It’s not like I’m leaving for Paris tomorrow…and it’s not like they have not met him. All of a sudden they are concerned about me?? It’s a bit silly in my opinion.

    that’s all i have today…hope everyone is doing well!

October 24, 2007

  • Spending time and money

    So I’m back from New York. I had a blast! It was more than I ever expected it to be.  We didn’t do a lot of the touristy stuff — like see the Statue of Liberty or go up the Empire State Bldg, but every day was a busy fun filled day.  We stayed in Midtown Manhattan at this hotel called Sherbourne. Just about 2 blocks from Chill Lounge and Wet Bar on Lexington (I keep forgetting if 48th or 38th was the cross street).  We did the Sex and the City tour, went to Babbo, Serendipity 3, Magnolia’s, Lombardi’s Pizza, Guggenheim Museum. Saw the famous bull near Wall Street area, got a caricature drawing, saw 3 plays, gave my left over metro card to a mother with child….and basically spent more money than I expected because the shopping is so awesome there! How can you say no to shopping when there’s no sales tax on shoes and clothing! Loved it!!

    Now that I’m back, I’m working my arse off to pay off the bills…and boy, it’s plenty. Not to mention that the holiday season is coming up and usually around this time of year is when most of my friend’s start throwing birthday parties and parties in general. I definitely need to cut some spending somewhere. I guess I’ll have to start with the eating at home thing! The problem?? I don’t have the desire to cook! But a girl’s got to save where she can (at least until the bills are paid in full) — which I’m hoping will be next month.  

    In December, I have all that shopping to do, but I’m going to ask my friends to do a Secret Santa thing instead cuz it’s just cheaper that way.  Seriously, at this point in my life, I really don’t care to get gifts. I’d rather be taken out to a nice dinner.  I have such little space left in my room, that I really can’t afford to get any more trinkets, lotion, etc. etc.

    I hate cutting this short, but I gotta go…