Daphne's Adventures

Announcement

2009-09-01T13:42:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone. Just a quick announcement to say I'm back from Sydney, and I'm engaged. Woohoo! Sorry that the news is coming via blog, I'd love to call each and every one of you, but this is the quickest way.

Much love,

Daphne

Off to Sydney Again!

2009-04-06T22:02:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone. I'm leaving for Sydney again to visit Aussie Man. I'll be gone for about 2 weeks beginning this weekend. Work has been so hectic that I'm more stressed right now than excited. I don't think I'll be able to relax until I'm on the plane or when I land in Sydney.

We had some layoffs at work recently. It's been sad to see some of my good friends leave, and there's pretty much only me and two other guys left from my group that started oh, almost five years ago. Crazy. I remember starting with 20 or so people, and although I'm used to seeing many trickle out of the firm, it's never been because of layoffs. These are scary times man, and my thoughts and prayers are with all my friends and family who have lost a job recently.

I really hope I have a good time. I can't wait to meet Aussie Man's family and friends. I'm also hoping that I'll be able to stop by my firm's local office in Sydney to get an introduction and get more information on what I need to do to move there. Oh but I don't think I've updated you on the latest. So my dearest friend Natalie was supposed to accompany me on this trip. Well she's going through a tough time at work, and couldn't get the time off needed (even though our tickets are non-refundable, her witch boss wouldn't let her go). So guess who invited herself to go instead of Natalie? My mother.

Yes, that's right, my mother. I know I know. Trust me, I did NOT invite her. She sorta invited herself in her usual signature passive aggressive mom-style. Admittedly I was being a brat about it at first. Because umm, hello, how are we supposed to have any alone time while I'm there? Sigh. Well, Aussie Man, being the patient and understanding man that he is, talked it through with me, and he seems to think this is really a blessing in disguise. He said she can meet his family and feel more comfortable with this whole moving to Australia idea I'm determined to pursue. I guess when I put myself in her shoes, I can't be upset anymore. How would I feel if I had a daughter who lived at home all this time, then all of a sudden meets some guy halfway around the world and announces she wants to move there? I'd be pretty sad, which is how my mom must be feeling. So, I've decided that I'm going to make the most out of this situation, and not just think "don't let this ruin your vacation," but see it as a way to make mom happy.

Anyway, I hope this blog finds you well, and that you are healthy, happy, and peachy keen. Ciao!

Should I be Worried?

2009-03-25T17:30:00.000-07:00

I'm unassigned for a few days this week. I can't recall ever being unassigned at work since my staff year four years ago. I guess it shouldn't come as a surprise, given the economic turmoil, but honestly, it IS a surprise to me. And it's frustrating. I hope this isn't sounding like complaining, because I thank God every day I still have a job. I just dislike that everyone is on pins and needles right now, wondering who is going to get cut soon. If the firm is smart, they will cut people based on performance, not recent chargeable hours. Because believe me, I've been begging for work to do. Yes, begging. Even begging people in the LA office for work. And apparently I'm not the only one. We have so many people wandering around the office unassigned, trying to beat their high score on minesweeper. So basically I have to get in line.

Then there was that talk I had this morning with HR re: my possible transfer to Sydney. This is the response I got. "I contacted someone from that office and she said they're going through the same thing as we are, so I'm not too optimistic about getting a transfer soon."

Well spit. Now what do I do? I really really don't want to have to move to a new country AND get a new job outside the firm. That's too much change for me to handle. I'm not ready to leave, not when I'm this close to making manager. And I'm not a risk taker. My cousin recently moved to another state without having secured a job first. Thankfully she did find a job within a month, but man, talk about being ballsy. I can't see myself doing that.

So here I am, sitting in the office, doing my ethics exam. Another disappointing and frustrating task. It's a freakin take home exam, 50 multiple choice and I needed a 90% to pass. I just got an 82%. How lame is that? The worst part is that the results don't tell you which ones you got wrong, so what if I go back and change answers to questions that were already correct? Oh man.

That's it. Screw this worrying. I'm going to yoga.

Book Review: Bloodfever by Karen Marie Moning

2009-03-17T13:02:00.000-07:00

Maybe it's been awhile since I've read Darkfever or the fact that I haven't read paranormal in awhile. Maybe I haven't read any reviews on this so I'm out of the loop. Because I just read Bloodfever and I'm so lost. Lost and confused and frustrated. What the heck is going on here?

I'm too lazy to look up the summaries on Darfever, but from my recollection, MacKayla went to Ireland to find clues about her sister's death. She meets some random guy Jericho who owns a bookstore but who also knows a ton about the Fae world. We don't know much about him and the guy barely talks. They're both looking for this Fae book that holds some kind of power. Mac runs into a death-by-sex fae while trying to escape these shadow things. Then she faces the Lord Master or whatever he's called at the end of the book, Jericho saves her, and that's where Darkfever ends. Right?

So now Bloodfever picks up right where DF left off. As far as I'm concerned, there wasn't much progress made since the last book. MacKayla is still wandering around looking for clues on her sister's death. Jericho won't tell her anything and she's still running away from shades and creepy Irish men. I'm sorry, I'm trying to get into this series, really I am. I just can't. It's moving so slooooow. I don't even really like Jericho much. Isn't there supposed to be some intense sexual build up between the two? I don't really see it. She's too young for him and he just does whatever he wants with her, making her go with him to shady auctions and tattooing her while she's unconscious.

Bleh, that's all I have to say. I'm not feeling it. Again, maybe it's just me. Does anyone else think I'm totally crazy and this book is super fabulous? I'd love to know.

It's Happening

2009-03-16T14:55:00.000-07:00

I've been having some pretty serious conversations with Aussie Man lately. Before I go on, I want you to know that I've been praying a lot about this as well. Not the kind of prayer where I'm saying "God, please make this happen, find a way for us to be together." More like asking God to help me follow what He has planned for me, asking for strength to accept His will if it is not the same as my desires, and praying that I will not be tempted by fantasies and projections in this relationship.

So as I was saying, these serious conversations all have to do with who will end up moving where. I know it's a big move for me to go to Australia, considering all my family lives here, but without going into too much detail, I've decided that I want to make this work, I need to be close to him, and I want a change of scenery in my career. So yah, I told my parents about this some time ago, and yes they're a bit sad but I think they support me. Okay, that's fine. Up until today this was all just talk and ideas floating around.

Well I spoke with HR this morning. To my surprise, people here are very supportive of me making the move and in a matter of less than an hour, I've been given instructions on what I need to do to get this ball rollin. I need to a) update my resume b) get in touch with someone in the Sydney office who can meet with me while I'm out there in April c) find out what the opportunities are and d) see what my alternatives are if I can't make a transfer with the firm. Obviously I'd like to stick with the firm, so I can get sponsored with a work visa, but who knows with the economy if they even have opportunities there.

Anyway, after I got out of that meeting with HR, I felt both excited and scared. Like wow, is this really happening? I could potentially be moving to Sydney within the year, how crazy is that?

Wedding Fever

2009-02-15T22:24:00.000-08:00

My brother got married yesterday. Well, technically he was already married on paper since last August. So what I'm referring to is the actual church ceremony. Which is great news, considering my parents didn't want to acknowledge he and his wife were married until it was by a priest.

It's been a roller coaster of emotions in my family for the past several months. First, there was the announcement back in August 2008 that they were getting married. The setting: after dinner in a Chinese restaurant. Normally it wouldn't be a big deal to see my family in a Chinese restaurant. But you see, my brother never takes us out to dinner. So when he and my sister-in-law (hey, I might as well get used to calling her that now) randomly announced that they wanted to take the family out to dinner, we were all very suspicious. Oh, and by "family" I don't mean just the five of us. I mean like.. cousins, grandparents, you know... a small gathering of about 20 people. I remember the week leading up to the dinner my mom made a comment to me along these lines.... "I hope they're not planning to make some crazy announcement like they're getting married, because I'll have a heart attack in public."

Yah, not exactly the way I'd want my parents to react if I ever announced I was getting married. Judging from that statement, I advised my brother to tell my parents in private first. Shortly after that, I found out that they had actually eloped and got married in the courthouse, oh about.. a year ago. I won't bore you with more details, but let's just say that I talked my brother into telling my parents the whole truth, and well... I don't think I ever want to see my parents that upset again. To make amends, my brother and SIL decided to go through the marriage course at our church. After a few months of these courses, answering questionnaires about their views on marriage, raising kids, finances, etc. and meeting with the priest, they finally set a date. January 2009 they announced that they wanted the wedding to be February 14th, Valentines day. One month. That's all we had to put together this wedding.

I must say, I was expecting it to be a disaster. Let's face it, one month in wedding time is like a blink of an eye. I was a bridesmaid and normally I would've loved to help with wedding preparations, but work is so busy right now. I barely made it to David's Bridal on the weekdays since it closed at 9pm. So really I had only a few assignments. Try on dress, order dress, try on shoes, order shoes with dye to match dress color, show up at wedding. I really didn't get to see the rest of what SIL was planning for the big day. The wedding ended up being really beautiful given the time and budget we had. Friday night, right after the wedding rehearsal and before I went to bed, I had a good cry. I think I was finally able to let go....of.... I dunno. I wouldn't say it's anger, or bitterness. But I'll be honest, there was always something about their relationship that I didn't like. I was really judgmental of her, of their relationship, of their secrets they kept from my parents. It's something I'm not proud of. I mean, who am I to judge? But I think that night as I cried myself to sleep, I think I finally made my peace with all this. Instead of being sad (which of course a part of me was) that my brother was leaving us, that he would never sleep in this house again, I felt this great abundance of joy in my heart. Joy that my brother was happy, that he was able to make peace with God, my parents, himself.

So I am happy to report, that the story has a happy ending. It was a great celebration, and I'm blessed to have been a part of it. Now of course the relatives are all taking bets that I'm next (my brother and I are the oldest of the cousins from both mom and dad's side) and since I'm a girl, I can't help but get all excited at the thought of my big day. God willing, I hope that I can have a beautiful wedding with all my loved ones present. When I was younger, or even not that many years ago, I always envisioned my wedding to be this big grand thing. Very fancy, very elegant. Now that I'm older and gaining more perspective in life, I realize that while those things would be nice, more importantly, it's the family and friends, and God's presence that I want most. In the end, nobody really cares about how much you spent on your dress, your hair/makeup, your table centerpieces. I want the focus to be on a marriage, as opposed to a wedding. Still, it doesn't hurt to start putting together pictures for my slide show. :)

The End of an Era

2008-12-19T11:23:00.000-08:00

If any of you subscribe to my blog, you're probably surprised to see me blogging again. That is because I have some very important news to share.

The "End of an Era" in the subject line is simply this: After four long years of work and study, work and study, I am happy to announce that I finally PASSED all my CPA exams! Yup, I just checked my last score this morning, and I can't tell you how happy I am that I've passed.

Actually, I can tell you. I was shocked. Completely speechless. I thought I had majorly bombed this last exam. It was with a shaky hand that I scrolled down the webpage to check my score. I probably stared at the number for a good 10 seconds before it sunk in. Then of course I did the only thing I could do to express how I was feeling. I cried. Simply balled my eyes out with tears of happiness.

Do you realize what this means? It means I can blog again, read again, play games again, see my friends again, have a freakin LIFE! And of course, I need to say THANK YOU to all my friends and family who have supported me, put up with not seeing me, given me emotional support, etc. So yes, this is an end of an era... the era of Daphne being a hermit and studying her ass off. And the beginning of a new era.... Daphne gets her life back!

It's great to be back!

-Daph

Ironic

2008-08-03T11:12:00.000-07:00

So after weeks/months of not seeing him... guess who finally makes an appearance at church the week after coming back from Australia? Yup, the infamous Greek Boy. Funny, for once I didn't get the butterflies in my stomach, or the same giddy feeling of knowing he sat right behind me. Nope, nothing.

My how things change. I guess that's a sign that I'm totally head over heels for my Aussie Man. I'm sorry that I've been MIA since I got back, but rest assured, I am alive, well, and very happy. AM and I have been emailing almost every day, some days more or less depending on how busy we are with work. I'm finally used to the time difference, and I think it's good that we're limited in our chatting times. We both said we didn't want to let our relationship to get in the way of our commitments (e.g. family, work, friends). We decided to do a weekly call on the weekends and so far we've had two phone calls.. the first about 2 hours long, and last night which was about 3 hours. I can't tell you how happy I am before, during, and after these phone calls. It just never seems long enough, I swear I could talk to him for days.

Anyway, we had a lengthy conversation about us and decided that we both want to give this "thing" our best shot (Thing meaning relationship... it took us awhile to even say the word relationship). Despite the long-distance we both feel strongly about each other and I really feel that it's rare I connect so well with someone like I do AM. So I'm following my heart on this one and just going with the flow. I'm so excited he's visiting in Dec/Jan. I can't wait!

So again, I apologize for being MIA these days.. and I apologize in advance if I start getting too sappy about AM. I just can't help it... I didn't think I could be this happy again.

Aussie, Aussie, Aussie!

2008-07-21T20:04:00.000-07:00

G'day mates! I'm back from Sydney. Wow. That's all I can say. Even better than my last trip in 2006. Partly because I had already done the typical touristy things in '06, hence no pressure to do/see everything, and partly because World Youth Day (WYD) was AMAZING. I can't even fully describe in words how much the experience meant to me. It was a combination of fun, excitement, energy, deep spirituality, and the best chance to meet people from over 140 countries. Yes, that's right... 140 countries. I can't even name 50 countries in my head. I'd say the event had about 250,000 - 300,000 people, and the closing mass with Pope Benedict had about 500,000.

Here's a breakdown of my trip:

Thursday night (LA): Got upgraded to business class, so I actually enjoyed the flight to Sydney.

Saturday morning (Sydney): Arrived about 6am. Took the train directly to Circular Quay, and my hotel was about a block away from the train station. After checking in our bags, we (my friend L and I) walked around Sydney and ate breakfast at a local cafe. Then we met up with Kat from Blogland, at the Temple of Love, an interesting but tasty chinese restaurant near Darling Harbour. Kat is a sweetheart, and her children are adorable. We then went to the Lindt chocolate cafe for hot cocoa and then took the bus to an area south of Sydney. We parted ways and L and I went to register for WYD. After registering we checked in our hotel, freshened up, took a nap, then met up with Grace and her friends. We had tapas at a Spanish restaurant, followed by clubbing at the Ivy till about 2:30am (a big feat for me to stay up that late). Met some random Aussie at the club and don't ask me how it happened, but I let him kiss me goodbye. These aussies sure like to kiss.

Sunday: Slept in, had lunch with L and Grace on a small cruise ship that took us from Darling Harbour to Circular Quay. Great view of the Harbour Bridge and Opera House. Then went to mass at St. Patrick's followed by a nap, and then dinner with a friend of my dad's.

Monday: Went to the Wildlife Park, followed by lunch with an aunt. Then we toured the Opera House, and Hyde park/St. Mary's Cathedral. Bought a bunch of WYD gear. Went to see Mamma Mia! the movie that night.

Tuesday: Opening mass for WYD. I have never seen so many flags from so many countries in my entire life. The crowd was amazing. The energy, neverending. It was freezing cold the entire time, but well worth it.

Wednesday: Morning, watched The Dark Knight. Followed by more WYD events, including workshops, outdoor concerts, and conferences. I really enjoyed Christopher West's session on Pope John Paul II's Theology of the Body. Excellent talk.

Thursday: Papal arrival. I got a glimpse of the Pope in his "Pope mobile." It was such a blessing to see him and I truly felt his holy presence.

Friday: Stations of the cross (basically, a reenactment of Jesus' suffering and death on the cross). Followed by more outdoor concerts.

Saturday: The Pilgrimage walk. We walked for about 5 miles or so to the Randwick Racecourse, where thousands of pilgrims would camp out for the night in anticipation of Sunday's closing mass. Unfortunately, L and I had to leave Sat night since our flight was early Sunday morning. It took us about 2 hours to walk there and 2 hours back. Crazy huh? But sooo worth it. I think about 500,000 attended the closing mass.

So to sum up WYD... I highly recommend it to those young people who want to make a deeper connection to God and to Catholics around the world. There is NO experience like it. I think there were more people there than the Sydney Olympics.

Now for the news I'm sure you're all dying to know. I met someone.

Let me start by saying, that it was totally unexpected and my feelings for him are strong. I don't know what's going to happen with us, but I'm pretty sure he likes me too. Physically, he's NOT my type. At all. He's not someone I would've seen down the street and thought, oh hey he's cute. So the fact that I miss him so much seems to be an indication of how much I like him.

So the basics. I met him at registration on Saturday while waiting in line. He's 3 years older, he's a lawyer, and he works for a rival Big Four firm. When I first met him, I wasn't attracted to him or anything, we just made small talk, joking about how long the line was taking. We ended up exchanging business cards and mobile numbers. I stashed his card somewhere in my purse, not even thinking that we would meet again. But he ended up inviting L and I to meet up with his group, since he knew we had no big group to hang out with.

L and I ended up meeting up with him every day for the rest of WYD, and I guess with each day, the friendship grew. He makes me laugh, he jokes with me, and he's also very spiritual. We had many discussions about our Catholic faith, and it made me realize how important that is to me. My ex, Benny, was not Catholic, which didn't bother me much. But now that I've been to WYD, I can honestly say that in my heart, I want a good Catholic man in my life.

I don't know how it happened, but things started getting flirty between us. Just little things, like giving me hugs, warming up my hands when it got cold, text messages to me saying "Good morning gorgeous." Stuff like that. During our final night, when we were attending the evening vigil we traded beanies. He said he liked my beanie, and I said it was from my brother, who gave it to me after visiting Japan years ago. He said his was from his visit to Japan also, and so we traded. The next day he texted me saying he was glad we swapped beanies because it was like I was still there with him.

So the only bad part, is that he lives in Sydney. I miss him already. We're already exchanging emails and I'm already thinking of doing a rotation to Sydney. Talk about a new motivation to pass my CPA exam. I will keep you all updated as things progress, but I just wanted to share with you guys that I'm so happy right now. I haven't felt this way in a long time (what, 6 years maybe?) and it feels wonderful.

Australia!

2008-07-10T09:50:00.000-07:00

So I know I've been a lazy blogger, and haven't posted a thing in ages, but it's not going to get any better.... because I'm leaving for Australia today! Awwwwww jyyyyeeaaahh, later suckas! I'm not bringing my computer either so I'll have to tell you all about it when I get back. Or come back, and be too lazy to type up everything that happened, in which case you'll just have to call me or visit me to find out details.

I'm meeting up with my dearest pal Grace, and Kat O+... should be tons of fun.

Bye all, I'll miss ya!

-Daphne

Back from D.C.

2008-07-02T09:33:00.001-07:00

I'm back from my much needed time off in D.C. (don't get too excited over there). Went to visit an old friend of mine, Nicole, who I've known since I was probably 11 or 12. Never went to school with her, but we used to go to the same church growing up. Anyway, since I lost my camera on my last business trip, I have NO pictures. Sorry! I do have a few salsa dancing pics, but nothing to get excited about. Here's a brief summary of my trip.

Friday night: Flight was supposed to leave at 10:55pm. Got delayed until 12:20am. Changed departing gates about 3 times. Finally left LAX around... oh I dunno... 1am. Grrr

Saturday morning: 10:30am. Nicole picked me up from the airport and we met up with her friends at the nearest IHOP. Mmmmmm breakfast. Went back to Nicole's place and took a shower/changed. Left around 4pm to stop by Safeway and pick up chicken and beer for our tailgate. Drove to the Nissan Pavilion to see Dave Matthews! Traffic was horrible, had to cut in line since our lane was merging. Gave two bottles of beer to the jeep next to us in exchange for cutting-in-line privileges.

At the Dave concert: Tail gated with cold chicken and beer. Yum. Watched the hotties in army shorts toss the football around. Once inside, bought a margarita. The show was awesome! This is like my 4th Dave Matthews concert and by far my favorite. The venue was great. Except all three rows in front of us, nobody was dancing or even standing up. Bunch of lame-os.

Sunday: Slept in. Went to church with Nicole and her friends. Had Thai food afterwards. Drove out to the boonies of Virginia (or was it Maryland?) to visit another friend of Nicole's from her little Catholic college days. This girl literally lives on a farm. We played some bocchi (sp?) ball on the grass (since what else do you do on a farm?) and ate some fajitas.

Monday: Slept in. Stupid senior manager calls me asking why I'm not online. Because this is the first time I didn't bring my computer on vacation you bastard. Now leave me alone! Took the metro to downtown, ate at Rosa Mexicana (very good guacamole), then walked around to do

some sightseeing (e.g. Washington monument, capitol, etc.) 8-10pm - had a Bachelorette party. No not the real kind, as in, watched the TV show. Graham Bunn is a hottie.

11pm - went salsa dancing for the first time. My favorite dance partner was James the cop. Hot. You can see my arm in this pic.

Tuesday: Had coffee/breakfast with Nicole then went to the airport.

That's about it, if you want to see a few salsa dancing pics, send me an email :)

Thank you all....

2008-06-24T21:17:00.000-07:00

For the birthday wishes! I couldn't have asked for a greater group of friends. I was honestly very bleh about turning 26, so I wanted things to be low key this year. Surprising, I know, considering how much of a ham I am. Hey, I'll admit it, I'm an attention whore. In the past I've always wanted to make a big production out of my birthday. Not this year.

Friday night I spent the evening dining at Roy's with my parents, my friend Natalie, and my brother Doug and his gf Janice. I was given a special menu that said Happy Birthday Daphne! and my brother brought me flowers (nevermind that that was probably Janice's doing).

Then Saturday I spent the day with Rowena and Holly. We went out to lunch, had margaritas (I only got through half of mine before getting loopy), then went to the naughty toy shop. If you're wondering whether or not I bought anything, shame on you! You know I wouldn't do that *gives innocent look* Let's see...oh yes! Then we went back to Holly's where I passed out and took a four hour nap (not exaggerating). Holly made me meatloaf for dinner at my request (don't laugh, I'm asian, I never get to eat that at home) and we watched 27 dresses before going to bed.
I seriously had an awesome weekend. Yesterday my wonderful boss hosted a happy hour at his favorite "cougar bar" near the office. Bitter Bro couldn't make it, which really bummed me out. So basically it was four girls, plus my boss.. the one tall white dude in the group. I bet anyone looking at our table thought he was big pimpin. Actually, I KNOW that was the case because when he had to go, the two guys on the other end of the table were asking us where "that one dude" went off to and if they could join us. I would've said yes had they not been old and no where near cute. That's basically how I could tell we were in a cougar bar, I swear we were the youngest ones there.

So that about sums up my birthday, again thank you all for your wonderful words and wishes. Mwah!

-Daphne

Ups and Downs

2008-06-18T23:33:00.001-07:00

Today was like a giant rollercoaster for me. I'll spare you the details behind the mini fires I had to put out for work related problems, but the one DOWN I'd like to share is that I got my exam score back. Keep in mind that I needed a 75 to pass. And of course my score was a 74.

Oy. That's painful. Like someone ripped my heart out... with a dull spoon. For those of you who know the history behind my now four-year battle to pass the CPA, you know that my previous "failing" scores haven't been that painful, mainly because I walked into those tests knowing I was unprepared. This time, the failed score really hurts. Yes, a little more study time might've helped, but that's not the point. The difference is that I truly felt that I was prepared. Failing this time did not make me think "I know I could pass it if I had more time," but rather "Wow, I am dumb. Let's face it, I just really suck at accounting." Really guys, I have nothing left to give. I feel like my motivational spirit has just floated out of my body.

Anyway, let's not talk about that anymore. In other news, I just finished my last day of training staff. I have to say, I love training! It's so fun and gives me the opportunity to teach others. I know it sounds weird, but I actually like presenting in front of the class. Here are a few highlights from the training:

The Business Card
One of our case studies involved me playing the role of a client, while the trainees had to interview me in groups and ask accounting questions. At the end of one of the interviews, a staff thanked me for my time and handed me his "business card," using the back of a Banana Republic advertisement with his own writing on the front. It had his name, and below it "Call me :)" I didn't see it until after the group left, but when I looked down at the card in my hand, it just really made me laugh and brought a big smile to my face. Very cute.

The Pick Up Line
Similar to "The Business Card" described above. My role playing fake name for the case study was Philippa Schaefer. At the end of the interview, one of the staff got up, shook my hand, and said, "So... is there a Mister Schaefer?"

The Night Out
So last night I hung out with a few of the staff from my office, Denver, Honolulu, LA, etc. They wanted to go out drinking with me since it would be my last night of training and also because they knew my birthday was Friday. We met at the lobby of the hotel, where I had my first drink. Walked over to a restaurant nearby and I had two more drinks (not my choice, they kept ordering for me). They brought out a dessert and sang for my birthday, which I thought was super thoughtful of them. By then I was in a super happy Daphne drinking mood. Conversations from that point went like this:

Staff: I just bought a house

Me: Wow, congratulations that's awesome. So who'd you buy a house with? Friends from work? Current roommates?

Staff: Umm, my wife

Me: Oh, yes, that's a logical choice. She would make a good roommate.

Then we all ended the evening by heading back to the hotel, where I finished up my fourth and final drink, along with a few sips of Jack and Coke, which I'd never drank before. If anyone knows me well, you know that that's 3.5 drinks too many. But I survived, and man, that was good times baby.

OMG I'm a Loser

2008-06-16T21:49:00.001-07:00

I just spilled white out on my leg! OMG, who does that? I'm so annoyed. I just got out of the shower, changed to jammies, and rubbed lotion on my legs. Being the loser that I am, I decided to work a little bit, and ten minutes later, ack! White out accident! Ugh, that's what I get for having the cheap-o brush kind, instead of the fancy white out pens. ::Side note:: I remember in junior high you were "cool" if you had the white out pens instead of the bottle. Sad huh? ::End Side note::

So of course by the time I run to the bathroom the white out is 90% dried up. But nooo, I had to make it worse by trying to rub it off, thus spreading it further along my legs. Do you remember that Friends episode when Ross is trying to remove his leather pants, but keeps making it worse by adding lotion, baby powder, etc.? Well, that's me right now. I can't get this stuff off me! Help!

Daphne

Birthday

2008-06-10T14:47:00.001-07:00

Today is Benny's birthday. Wonder if I should send him a text or email or something. Would that be weird considering the last time I talked to him was June 20, 2007... before he was dating someone new? I guess it doesn't have to be weird unless I make it that way.

And speaking of birthdays.. mine is coming up too... June 20. I'm getting so old. Why couldn't time just stop when I was 24? That was a great age. I'm one more year closer to 30. Cripes. I don't even want to do anything this year. Last year I threw myself a pirate party, which was really fun... but too much work. So this year, I am going to do nothing. And you know what? I'm totally fine with that.

A few updates

2008-06-02T23:59:00.001-07:00

Hey all. Just an FYI.. I'm in training all week for work and I have no internet connection all day. So I'll be MIA for a bit in blogland.

In other news... I'm going to DC at the end of June to visit a friend and see Dave Matthews. Pretty excited about that.

And in even more exciting news... I'm going to world youth day 2008 in Sydney Australia! I'm soooo excited because this is a once in a life time opportunity. The event only takes place every 4 years and by then I'll no longer be a "youth." Although, I heard next one is in Madrid, so I'll probably try to pass off as a youth anyway. I just booked my plane ticket, registered and booked lodging.

Then on Sunday after mass I found out from talking to Greek Boy's parents that he is going to WYD as well. Hah, go figure. For once I can plead the 5th and say I had no idea he was going and no, that's not the reason I decided to go.

So we'll see if I even run into him among the hundred thousand attendees. If I do, I swear, it's a sign. =)

Reason #14 Why My Job Sucks

2008-05-27T10:46:00.000-07:00

You'd think nothing would come out of asking fraud inquiries from your client right?

Wrong.

Me: Have you been pressured to record a transaction which was not proper, or record a journal entry which did not reflect the actual nature of the transaction?

Client response: Yes, but nothing material and more conservative if not precise.

*headdesk*

Me: Do you understand the Company's policy with respect to reporting a potential fraudulent or illegal act?

Client response: I'd have to say no, I'm not sure exactly. We might have an ethics hotline?

*headdesk*

Colters' Woman on Book Binge and New Reviews Soon!

2008-05-26T16:49:00.000-07:00

Hey all. Holly and I did a joint review of Colters' Woman by Maya Banks on Book Binge. Go check it out.

Also stay tuned for my next guest blogger appearance on BB as I review all four books in the Psy/Changeling series by Nalini Singh (my new favorite series). Probably next weekend after my exam. I'm very excited since I'm absolutely addicted to this series.

A worse crime than gas prices

2008-05-21T22:53:00.000-07:00

So I tried Pinkberry for the first time this month and have already been back about three more times in less than two weeks. Not because I love it, but because I seem to be hanging out with different people who have each suggested going there. If you're wondering what Pinkberry is-think trendy Golden Spoon that serves tart yogurt, in a store with bright colored plastic chairs and modern decor, and shelves of useless asian household items that look like toys. For inexplicable reasons, I am drawn to this place, and it's driving me nuts that I'm contributing to the growing success of this chain, when I can think of several reasons why this place is sorta lame.

Let me start off by saying that I actually like the yogurt. It's a unique taste- sorta tart, but cool and refreshing. Or if you wanna go by the description on their website... it's "soft swirls of chilly bliss with a distinct pouty peak." It's also light for a dessert (half a cup is about 70 calories). You can eat a large and not feel like you've just consumed a double fudge chocolate cheesecake. Plus the toppings are pleasing to the eye- kiwis, strawberries, bananas, etc. They make it look fresh, but who knows, they can be out of a frozen bag. You can also put captain crunch, granola, fruity pebbles, and almonds. And it's simple- three flavors of yogurt to choose from: original, coffee, and green tea. But here's where it starts to score negative points. You'd think coffee flavored yogurt would taste like it sounds right? Not at Pinkberry. It's still tart. Wtf? Tart coffee? I'm sorry, but that just goes against nature.

Try some coffee Pinkberry. I'm telling you, it's fun. It's like at first you reject it because the concept is so freakin nasty. Then you keep tasting it, as if you want to reconfirm your original assessment, that yes it's freakin nasty. By the third lick, you're half laughing half cringing because the taste is so freakin nasty but not as bad anymore.

Anyway, let's talk about the price. How much does a cup of "chilly bliss" served by a smart-mouthed teenager cost you? I'd say $5/$6 easily. Here's why. A small size is (off the top of my head) $2.50, but each topping is $0.95. Jump to a medium and it's $3.50. The best deal would be the $4.95 medium size which includes three toppings. I went there after lunch today with two coworkers, and we spent $16. Isn't that sad? When I was given the total I did my normal Daphne thing and joked to the cashier saying they were criminals. "Yet people like you keep coming back all the time and we keep growing." Umm okay, apparently homie didn't want to reciprocate the humor in that. I can't believe I got owned by a Pinkberry loser.

My staff is already suggesting we repeat today's Pinkberry adventure tomorrow. He's so obsessed that he even looked 'em up to see if they are franchising. In case you're wondering, no they're not. But I've been thinking.... is this just another fad? Like boba? I think boba died around the time that it was no longer just an "asian thing to do." And remember Krispy Kreme? I swear, once that was brought over to Southern California, we just butchered it. Leave it to Southern Californians to make foods like smoothies (Jamba Juice), donuts (Krispy Kreme), and yogurt trendy. Oh and FYI, Pinkberry is currently only in California and New York. Again, two trendy locations, where you not only have to be trendy in what clothes you wear, car you drive, or music you listen to, but also food. Because God forbid you're caught walking around the shopping district drinking a Juice it Up instead of Jamba Juice.

Bowling Fun

2008-05-21T08:28:00.000-07:00

Our office had the annual bowling event for charity yesterday. Once again I've proven myself to be a horrible bowler, as evidenced by my newest nickname - Morse Code. Basically that means my scoreboard consists of mostly dashes (i.e. gutter balls). But despite my lack of bowling skills, I had a fabulous time. Even Bitter Bro showed up; the equivalent of a "celebrity guest appearance" in our office. He almost never goes to firm events.

I don't know how often you guys go bowling (I rarely do), but do you ever notice how funny it is to see guys who you'd think would be good but end up sucking at bowling? One of my office crushes, who I like to call Zack Morris, was in the lane next to me. I was pretty excited to have a good view of him during the event, but let me tell you, his bowling style is hilarious. It's like he'd throw the ball, and upon releasing, his body would sorta stagger forward, like he's about to fall. Every single time. Totally cracks me up.

I'm not sure whether to feel like it's cute, or it's scoring him less points on the masculinity scale. Maybe it's the romance reader in me, but even though I don't expect all men to be athletic or good at sports, they have to at least look like they can be good at it. Or am I being too picky? As Bro would always say, "Daphne, three words. Lower. Your. Standards."

Of course they're scissors!

2008-05-15T13:50:00.000-07:00

QUOTE FROM THE MOM:

This is my kindergartner's artistic rendering of a pair of scissors. I wonder what his teacher thought. I allowed myself just a small smirk when I saw it. I waited until he was out of the room until I started crying from laughing so hard. WELL, OF COURSE THEY'RE SCISSORS!

Only My Mother

2008-05-12T21:14:00.000-07:00

Would suggest I move out... next door.

I know I say this every year, but I really think this is the year that I'm going to be a homeowner. A few weeks ago my dad and I started house hunting and I almost ended up buying a unit for a newly built condo. I didn't go through with it only because the 2br 2 ba unit I wanted was the last one available and already sold to a couple signing the paperwork (they ended up getting the financing approval too).

Probably a good thing though for it woulda been crazy had I bought something on my first day of house hunting. Anyway, the reason I think this is the year, is not so much that I'm dying to move out, but I just feel that it's time. The market seems to be in a place where it's a good time to buy, I've saved up enough since working the last four years, and my parents want to make another investment for tax benefit purposes.

But only my mother would suggest this bogus idea, to live next door. I guess my neighbors are moving out, and have had an open house sign for quite some time. We initially knew their selling price was over half a million, and well, that's just too darn much. I stopped seeing the open house sign and apparently the decision is now in the hands of the bank who will choose the highest bidder. The highest bid right now is $440k. So here comes my mom rushing in the house to inform me she just spoke to the neighbor...

Mom: Daphne. I think we should buy our neighbor's house.

Me: What? I'm not living next door.

Mom: Why not? You already live in the next room.

Me: Mom, that's different. I'm not going to move out only to live next door.

Mom: Why? It's a good place to raise your kids and start a family. Plus when you have kids it will be easier for us to help babysit.

Me: Dude, I'm not going to have kids any time soon. I'm not even dating.

And so on it went. I mean, I kind of get what she's saying in the long run... but dude. It's Next. Door. You know I'll end up having no privacy, so what's the point in moving out then? N. O. Not going to happen. They can buy the place if they want, but I'd rather rent it out and continue living here than tell everyone that "I'm moving out" and later confess it's next door.

Feeling Guilty

2008-05-09T17:57:00.000-07:00

Today is my dad's birthday, and it's mother's day weekend. But right now I'm totally annoyed with both of them. Horrible, I know.

Let's start with dad. Okay I've been on "vacation" all week, but I'm not really out of town. This week was supposed to be my study week, but I ended up working all day Monday/Tuesday and a little Wednesday morning. Wednesday I was pretty tired mid afternoon so I took a nap. Dad comes home at 5, sees that I'm asleep and goes "Oh you're on vacation? Why aren't you studying? When's your test again?"

Oh you did not just say that to me. What, you think that I've been bumming around all day sleeping? I'll have you know that at 7:30am I was already studying, watching 4 hour lecture videos about pensions and leases and other boring crap. You think I LIKE having to use my vacation time to study? Why would I waste my vacation time like that and then not do anything all day.

Then there's mom. So she and dad decided to take today off so they could hang out in LA for dad's birthday. Mom asks if I want to go. No thanks, I need to study, and besides, I wasn't aware of these plans. I know we're supposed to do dinner for dad's birthday, but that's it. And she proceeds to give me that "oh okay" look (but inside she's all upset that I'm not going). Hello! Would you have been upset if I was at work like a normal work Friday? I don't think so. Geez. Then she asks if I can coordinate dinner plans with my brother and his gf. I ask her if she and dad have ideas. She says the restaurants in the shopping area they are at in LA. I said okay so we'll meet you there for dinner then? She says no, they'll go home first by midafternoon.

I told her that seemed kind of a hassle to drive down then back up to LA again. So she said fine we'll just eat around our neighborhood. Okay fine by me. I relay the message to brother and gf. Dinner 7:30 not LA. Mom and dad get home in the afternoon and ask what the plan for dinner is. I said, well pick a place, I have no preference, what does dad want? Now here's typical mom response: Well whatever you kids want. Okay fine then, I'm picking Bucca Di Beppo. Mom: Oh but isn't that in Orange County? Me: Yah so? Mom: I thought you didn't want to drive far that's why you rejected my idea of dinner in LA. Me: No, I just didn't think it made sense for you to come home when we could've driven up there to meet you for dinner. Mom: Oh well, ummm Bucca? How about Woodranch? Me: Okay fine.

Then I take her to the eyebrow lady because she wants to try threading. The lady threads her eyebrows and hands her the mirror afterwards. Mom looks at it, doesn't say anything, and I pay, we leave. In the car...

Mom: So how come she didn't remove some of the hair here so it would be shaped more like this?

Me: Well if you wanted it shaped that way why didn't you say something?

Mom: Well I don't know what shape I want, I just want it to look good.

Me: Well why are you complaining about it now when we already left?

Mom: I dunno. I just assumed it's fine since you didn't say it looked bad.

Me: Yah but mom if you know what you want, just say it. That's why we pay them to do it. Like cutting your hair. You can't just say "make it look good" then complain later when she didn't layer it like you wanted.

I swear I hate her passive aggressive crap. It's like I make a decision and without having to explicity reject it, she implies that she doesn't agree with my idea. I know her game now. She says one thing, and basically she's not asking "well what do you want?" She's really saying "I need your confirmation that you agree with my idea."

Okay that's all. I'm done venting.

Auditor Angst

2008-05-07T20:40:00.000-07:00

Since I've been studying like crazy all week, my blogging has taken a backseat. I did however, come across this article that I found quite entertaining and since I can just copy and paste, here it is (with my comments on the side)

Want faster, cheaper audits? Your auditor humbly suggests you avoid last-minute data dumps and other less-than-helpful practices.

Alix StuartCFO Magazine
May 1, 2008

Want to drive your auditors crazy? Try this: First, meet with them ahead of the annual audit and agree on a date when your work papers will be ready. Then, when they arrive for the audit, tell them you're "almost ready" and hand over just enough material to keep them busy until lunch. Repeat as necessary. Later, suddenly remember a contract or revenue-recognition problem that you haven't previously discussed (the more complex, the better). Finally, as the deadline nears, demand a 24-hour turnaround for the 10-K draft and complain loudly when the auditors tell you it can't be done. (So true. story of my life)

This scenario may sound like a joke, but in fact auditors say it's exactly what many CFOs do every year. Michael Deutchman, managing director at Los Angeles–based accounting firm Kabani & Co., says he dreams of walking into a client company where "we can test the records and see right away that they are what they're supposed to be."

But in reality, he laments, "there aren't a lot of CFOs who run companies that way." More often, says Ben Neuhausen, national director of accounting for BDO Seidman, "the client takes forever to pull together documentation, and then they present it three days before audited financials are due to their lender, or a week before the 10-K has to be written. Somehow they think the auditor will work a miracle." (Hmm, it's good to know I'm a miracle worker. Move over Helen Keller)
The miracle is that despite the chronic unreadiness of auditees, the relationship between auditors and their clients is actually improving. Most auditors — more than 60 percent of those recently surveyed by CFO — say they have a better relationship with clients today compared with three years ago, when the pain of Sarbanes-Oxley compliance was still raw. (Yah three years ago, exactly when I first started. If I could go back I woulda done grad school right away to avoid that junk) In part that's due to new interpretations from the Securities and Exchange Commission that loosen the strictures of Sarbox, leading most auditors to feel they can offer more guidance — "the fun stuff," in the words of one senior manager. New guidance about how internal controls must be audited, in the form of Auditing Standard No. 5 (AS5) from the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB), has also made things better.

Still, ask auditors what keeps them awake at night (actually don't ask me) and client-related issues will top their replies. More than half the nearly 100 auditors surveyed by CFO said that unprepared clients create high levels of stress. One-third said the same of clients who are difficult to work with. The hassle from clients, in fact, far outranked other strains, such as the pressure to generate more revenue. (also known as working 60 hour work weeks but only charging 40 to stay in budget)

No one expects a return to the cozy pre-Sarbox days, when auditors were practically an extension of the finance team. But, auditors wouldn't mind a little more cooperation and appreciation. "The ideal situation would be clients who understand their own accounting (sigh, if only) and make the time to get us what we need," says Bruce Rosen, partner-in-charge of assurance services at New York–based auditing firm Eisner. How often does that happen? By way of reply, Rosen laughs — and laughs some more.

If you're interested to read the rest, click here, though I don't see why anyone would be as nuts as me and would actually want to read more.

Wolfen by Madelaine Montague

2008-05-04T18:36:00.000-07:00

As engrossed as Danika generally is in her work, even she notices the underlying hostility with which the locals in the small northwestern town regard her and her research. She notices the biker gang that arrives shortly behind her even more. With their long hair, tattoos, and piercings, the rough group of bikers aren't the sort of men she's ever had contact with-and shouldn't want to have contact with-but they don't seem to grasp that they're not her type and she isn't theirs.

Being in the erotica category, I guess you can say this was a long but interesting read. Danika is sent to a small town to research the unusual behaviors of wolves terrorizing the residents. Her first day in town and she is confronted by five hunky and intimidating bikers, who she assumes are gang members. She makes her escape to her cabin out by the woods, only to discover that the bikers are taking up residence next door.

What she doesn't know is that all five bikers are actually wolfen, a species of sorta half-human/half-wolf. Not werewolves, mind you. Apparently wolfen are different. Anyway, they too have their reasons for being in a small nowhere town; for they are all alpha males from their own packs, sent by the Council to uncover the rogue wolfen terrorizing the town. Half the town has been infected, but Danika is still safe, and the men intend to keep it that way by guarding her.

The only problem is, each one is attracted to Danika and despite their wolfen laws of no mating with humans, each try to claim Danika as his own. The part that entertained me the most was the fact that you have these tough biker men constantly fighting with each other in the woods to establish who is the best alpha and can therefore claim Danika. Then one by one each of them manage to break the rules and sleep with Danika. Each time too she would suggest a condom and the wolfen would just toss it aside. Ummm yah. I don't think Danika was a prude, but she's described as being kind of a geeky researcher, just a plain Jane. I thought it was hilarious that she would just easily sleep with five different guys.

Now the best part is the ending of the book when surprise, surprise, Danika finds out she's pregnant. The wolfen doctor who examines her says he hears at least three heartbeats, meaning she's carrying a litter of pups. Hah! Who is the father of each pup? No idea. Oh and by pup I mean she's gonna have half-wolfens, so they don't really come out looking like wolves, but when they get older I guess they can go through the transformation like their fathers. So here's the funny part, she gives birth to all three, and each one that pops out, the men would sniff the pup and that's how they know which baby they fathered. So she had three different pups by three different biker men. Hah!

Anyway, this was just a random read, and if I were to rate it on its erotica-ness, not very high actually. It was pretty tame. Storywise it was pretty out there and far fetched, but you know? I sorta enjoyed it. Not sure if you would too, but I'm giving it a 3 out of 5.

Oh dear...

2008-04-22T21:50:00.000-07:00

I'm obsessed with Ash again. So ever since I realized that Ash's book is coming out this year and I wasn't caught up to speed in the series, I've been reading Devil May Cry this week. Honestly, I totally forgot about most of the storylines in the previous however-many books. Something about Daimons, Dark-Hunters, Apollymi, blah blah. Whatever. And in DMC, the story is about Sin and Kat, which yah, it's alright, but whatever.

I'm not completely done with DMC (so please don't spoil), but let me just make this one quick comment on Sin: Is it just me or does he totally not live up to the expectation as laid out in the beginning of the book? He's supposed to be "crazy as hell... he's a vicious bastard who tolerates absolutely no one near him..." etc. Umm, he didn't seem so badass to me. Am I right?

I have nothing against Kat, I actually like her and I found it funny when Sin got mad at her for not telling him the truth about how he lost his godhood powers; she basically just shrugged it off and said big deal, then told him to go man up. Correct me if I'm wrong, that's how I interpreted it, but that is freakin hilarious.

Anyway, on to Ash.

Dude. I remember loving him in the beginning of the series, then sorta feeling meh about him after those stupid bed games Artie would play with him. But I'll admit, I'm loving him all over again. I can't believe Kat is his daughter though. That's not how I would've wanted it to be, but oh well, cest la vie. He's no different, except for the fact that he's now like this... hot dad.

I have issues. I really do. I think about Ash, and I swear I get a tingle down my spine. :) Oh be quiet, you know what I'm talkin about.

Label making fun - Bro style

2008-04-17T16:25:00.000-07:00

So I bought this label maker the other day...

Basically it's to label our audit files, instead of looking at my ugly handwriting. Also makes things look more professional ya know?

After showing it to my team I put it back in my supply box. Just now I turn it back on to show my team member how to make a label for a binder. And what does it freakin say across the screen in all caps letters?

"FOR THE LOVE OF PETE [INSERT PETE'S LAST NAME]"

No Monster = Desperate Times

2008-04-15T21:42:00.000-07:00

Bro is a big time creature of habit. Just as I can easily predict what he will order for lunch, I can almost always assure you that he will be opening a can of Monster energy drink shortly thereafter. Any type of caffeine injected beverage will do, but basically Bro cannot live without caffeine. Today neither of us brought a Monster to work, and after lunch we were both majorly sleepy. I finally caved in and made some Earl Grey tea, while Bro tried to look for a soda machine.

I guess he couldn't find one because the next thing I knew, he was popping open a can of Sunkist that was already sitting in the room. After a few minutes he asked, "Do you know if soda has an expiration date?"

"Why?" I asked. I've never even thought about that before, and actually have no clue.

"Well, do you think it's safe to be drinking this, considering there's a picture on the can of Sam from Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers?"

Okay Bro.... a couple of things...

1) Sunkist? I don't know anyone who drinks this stuff. It's okay, I guess. If you're, like, 13 years old.

2) According to my trusty friend, IMDb, LOTR: The Two Towers came out in 2002. Let's do the math. 6 years.

3) I looked it up. Drinking a carbonated soda 6 months after the "expiration date" should have no adverse effects. Typically these expiration dates are in fact "best by" dates, meaning that is the date you want to drink it by for optimal flavor. Typically sodas will retain their structure and flavor for years after the "expiration date".

All I gotta say is, if you end up calling in sick tomorrow or end up with a bad case of diarrhea or something, I will never stop teasing you about it.

So Many Books So Little Time!

2008-04-12T23:36:00.000-07:00

I just realized that there's a lot of anticipated "blockbuster" books to be released this year. And you know what? They're all in the paranormal genre. Here we go again, another year of non-stop paranormals. I'll have to admit, I never thought in a million years I would like/get addicted to paranormal romance books. Holly talked me into it and I slowly got hooked. For awhile I was non-stop SK, KMM, and JRW. Then I got tired of it, deciding it was time to get back to normal human-human relationships. :)

Anyway, I know everyone knows about these upcoming releases, but in case you don't here they are and let me just say, I can't wait for these to come out!

Title: Faefever
Series: Book 3 in the Fever Series
Author: Karen Marie Moning
Release Date: September 30, 2008

Why I can't wait: Okay, so I haven't read the second one yet, but I did enjoy the first one. I think KMM is just a great writer. :)

Title: Acheron
Series: Book 12 in the Dark Hunter Series
Author: Sherrilyn Kenyon
Release Date: August 5, 2008

Why I can't wait: Okay, so I haven't read Devil May Cry yet (book #11). Like I said above, I reached a point where I was tired of paranormal for awhile. But I will definitely read it now and get caught up because hello! It's Ash's book. Ash. As in... Acheron Parthenopaeus. 'Nuff said.

Title: Breaking Dawn
Series: Book 4 in the Twilight Series
Author: Stephanie Meyer
Release Date: August 2, 2008

Why I can't wait: Because I want all the characters to be redeemed. I want to stop hating Bella for being dumb, Jacob for being a jerk, and Edward to get his happy ending.

Title: Lover Enshrined
Author: J.R. Ward
Release Date: June 3, 2008

Why I can't wait: Well, actually I can wait. Hah! I swear this series is so hokey, I don't know why I keep reading it. Despite the suckiness of the last book, I still want to read about Phury's story. But what's up with this cover? Is it me or does it look completely CGIed?

And the pranks continue (part 2)

2008-04-10T21:55:00.000-07:00

Dang. I can't freakin believe this. Not only did my attempt to get back at Bro today fail, but he also got me...again.

We have a meeting tomorrow in the office and Bro asked me to draft an agenda for the meeting. As I opened up MS word and began typing in a header and bullet points, I soon realized that this could be my chance to get back at him for yesterday's little stunt. With a fiendish gleam in my eye, I hit "Backspace" on the keyboard, and replaced some agenda items with silly phrases/inside jokes we say. I told my other team member about my scheme, and said I'd CC her on the email so that Bro wouldn't suspect it was a prank.

Unfortunately the plan backfired after I sent off the email. I guess Bro was super busy today, because I know he would've IMed right away after seeing the agenda. Here's how it was supposed to work: I send him email, he opens agenda, we all get a good laugh out of it, and then I resend him the real agenda. But then he IMed me saying he wouldn't get to it until the evening. Well, hells bells. Talk about major set back. I knew if I sent off the real agenda without him seeing the first one, he would just assume I was sending an updated one and not bother reading the first. So basically I had to tell him about my failed plan when I insisted he open the email. "Hah. Nice try, but it would've been better if the element of surprise wasn't dead," he said.

Less than an hour later, he "forwards" me an email with documents the client sent over. I start opening the attachments, and then I get to a "revenue recognition" word document. Open and.....

*sigh*

So the guy in the picture is someone from work who supposedly thinks I'm cute, but a) he's not my type and b) he's in a different dept. which is, how shall I put this... lower ranked than me. Bro teases me about it all the time because he says I'm a rank snob. Whatever, fine, I'll admit it. I just can't believe Bro caught me off guard... again. And I'm telling you, one of these days one of us is going to get in trouble when one of these files gets sent to the wrong person, or worse, a client.

So let's go over the status again:

Bro - 2
Daphne - 0

Fool Me Twice? Shame on Me!

2008-04-08T20:11:00.000-07:00

If you ever get the chance to work with me, you'll quickly realize that you can pretty much find out all there is to know about me in two consecutive weeks. That is, if I happen to like you and don't think you're a total douchebag to work with (in which case I won't talk to you at all). See the problem is, I'm very good friends with my boss, Bro. ::Side Note:: The "Bro" comes from an inside joke, and basically we sometimes just call each other Bro. Yes, even though I'm a girl he'll call me bro. Don't ask ::End Side Note:: So naturally he knows a lot about me, including my Benny story, Greek Boy, and office crushes.

A few months ago, I told him about two crushes I had in the office. Not serious crushes, but just like "Dude, I think so and so is good looking." Plus both of them are married anyway. So crush #1 sent Bro a Christmas card and Bro thought it would be funny to paste my head over crush #1's wife and cross out her name, replacing it with "Daphne." I'll have to admit it was funny, and I didn't even protest when he pinned it on the wall above his desk. But I guess we never expected that one day someone had to clean out the conference room and pack up our belongings, prank Christmas card included. I have no idea where that is now, and if another coworker finds it somewhere, I plead the fifth!

Let's move on to crush #2. One day I'm working away, minding my own business. Then Bro IMs me and sends me a word doc that I thought was related to accounting guidance or something. So I open it and Bam! It's a freakin big office badge picture of crush #2 in the middle of my computer screen. Good thing nobody else saw my screen, and yes, it was freakin hilarious, but dammit, he got me good. He even went through the trouble of pulling the pic from the database, pasting it to a word document, and then naming the file something I wouldn't suspect. Either he's really clever or just has too much time on his hands.

So let's fast forward to today. In one of my recent posts, I mentioned my newest favorite homie in the office, British Pete. Well of course I don't keep my mouth shut, so most of that stuff I blogged about, I also told Bro. After all, Bro is the one who scheduled Pete and I on those assignments. So a few weeks ago, Bro, Pete, myself, and some other peeps were working in a conference room. I think I was frustrated about something because at one point I blurted out "Oh for the love of Pete!" It all goes downhill from there. Bro says out loud "For the love of Pete? Don't you mean for the love of God? I've never heard of that before." He then IMs me from across the room...

Bro: "Was that a freudian slip?"

Me: "No, it's an expression. I know I've heard it somewhere."

He then says out loud "You probably meant for the love of Pete [insert Pete's last name]" Umm, He-llooooo! Can you not say that when Pete is sitting right next to me? The whole team just started laughing, including myself, but dang, I was embarrassed. I turned to everyone else in the room, including Pete and asked "Haven't you heard of that expression before?" They all said no (sigh, freakin boys) and basically thought I made a freudian slip as Bro had suggested. ::Side Note:: I later called Holly that evening, who confirmed that she had heard of the phrase before, so take that you dumb boys! ::End Side Note:: The joke then became "Next thing you know Pete will start saying for the love of Daphne!"

So today I'm sitting in the office, being a good worker-bee, when Bro IMs me, sending me a "technical memo" I have to read. Well first his instructions were to drop it in the server (think of like a shared folder that everyone on your team can access). So I really didn't think to open it and read it, since I wanted to save it in the proper file and drop it in our server. I told him I dropped it in, and that probably indicated to him that I hadn't read it. So he IMs again asking me to read it and give him feedback. Well ugh, I didn't really feel like reading a technical memo, but fine whatever, he's the boss. I open it and here's what's inside the word doc....Well, it didn't have the big smiley face, but I didn't want to put up Pete's real pic. Anyway...Freakin A, he got me again! Why do I keep falling for his stupid pranks? I'm going to get him back one of these days.

TLC show - 10 years younger

2008-04-01T17:45:00.000-07:00

What the heck man. I'm watching some random show on the TLC channel. At first it just appears to be a regular makeover show, but here's the premise: they find women that look older and frumpy, give them a makeover to make them look "ten year younger" and when the transformation is over, they put the woman in a glass box (think a phone booth without the phone) and ask random people on the street how old they think the woman is.

See I have no problem with makeover shows. The woman was thrilled to find out people thought she was 36ish when she was in her late 40's. But here's the problem - I only caught the tail end of the show. Then a second episode began right after. Here's what I didn't know. They do the glass thing before the makeover, so that people on the street can comment on how old and frumpy the woman looks. And here's what makes it awful, they show the woman clips of what the people say. "Her skin has all these brown spots, reminds me of my grandma." I swear when the woman saw/heard that, she looked like she was going to cry.

She recovered out of it by putting on a fake smile and saying "Well this is why I need to start paying attention to my appearance now." I mean geez... did we really have to show her the clips? That sucks man. Why not just say, we polled a bunch of people on the street and they guessed your age is between this and this. So let's give you a glamorous makeover, suga! Nope. Instead - check out all these people talking smack about you. They said you look beat girl. Beat.

Eh whatever. I'm still watching anyway. I wanna see how she turns out. :)

Meant to be

2008-03-27T13:38:00.001-07:00

Meet British Pete, my latest team member on a new assignment. We traveled to Texas two weeks ago and we're in Oregon this week - all for work of course. Aside from the fact that he's a momo and I'm not, or the fact that he probably thinks I'm a crazy senior to work for, I simply adore him. I'm telling you, it's somewhat creepy how compatible we are. Here's a list of reasons why I adore BP...

1) He doesn't drink or smoke. He did once have a creme brulee where the alcohol wasn't completely burned off and it made him loopy.
2) He's got an annual pass to Disneyland. When I asked what his favorite Disney movie was I totally guessed Lion King and he said "How'd you guess?!"
3) He loves Harry Potter, and since he's got the British accent, he can do the voices pretty well. And speaking of HP, you know how they had prefects for each Hogwarts house and a head boy? Well, he told me in England he was a prefect and a head boy, how adorable is that?
4) He's 30 (my new rule is to "date up") and he doesn't let anyone pressure him to get married even though he's got a million nieces and nephews.
5) He turned all red when I told him Holly said he was a hottie
6) He likes to eat pho (vietnamese noodle) for lunch and aside from the fact that i've never seen a white person eat this, he put his lime in his soup. I swear I thought I was the only one that did that.
7) He opened a can of cherry coke to which I said "you can't drink that, it has caffeine"... to which he shrugged and said "you can't always follow the rules"... what can I say? A girl can never resist a rebel.
8) We were talking about pretending to be food critics from Zagat next time we go to a fancy restaurant for dinner. I chose Patricia for my snobby food critic name, and when I said "How about your name?" we both blurted out ROBERT! And then silence. Because it was just creepy that we thought the same name.
9) He looked so triumphant when he won our little bet where he claimed Sandra Bullock starred in Demolition Man before Speed and I thought the opposite.
10) Did I tell you he's fluent in Korean too? It's cute.

I'll be back with more later.

I'm Stealing MM

2008-03-25T22:49:00.001-07:00

Mwahahahahaha! And they lived happily ever after...

Stephanie Meyers Tour Dates

2008-03-19T21:07:00.000-07:00

This is mostly for Mormishmom and Rowena, since I know you guys live nearby, but obviously if anyone else is interested you should definitely check it out. Got this from her website, which includes tour dates for other states like Arizona, Utah, Colorado, Texas, etc.

Thursday, May 22, 2008, 6:30 p.m.DISCUSSION AND SIGNING

Borders — Torrance, CA3700 Torrance Blvd., Torrance, CA 90503

Phone: 310/540-7000

TICKETS AVAILABLE MAY 6th!

Ticketed event held at Torrance High School Auditorium, 2200 West Carson Street, Torrance, CA 90503. Ticket price includes $10 admission fee and one copy of The Host. Tickets are available at Borders Torrance (3700 Torrance Blvd., Torrance, CA 90503; Phone: 310/540-7000) beginning on May 6th. Call Borders Torrance for event guidelines and details. Please do not call the event venue.

Back from the Wedding!

2008-03-11T23:06:00.000-07:00

Alright, I know y'all are asking about Holly's wedding and want to see pictures and hear stories and all that good stuff. I've been buried with work since I got back, so I promise to make up for it later in the weekend with a play-by-play account of the weekend. I just want to let you know I am back, still out of town on assignment, but back nevertheless. I had a great time at the wedding and congratulations again to the bride and groom!

Someone please buy me this book!

2008-03-05T21:36:00.001-08:00

Okay I took this idea from my friend Natalie, but I seriously want to read this now.
He's Just Not That Into You by Greg Behrendt and Liz Tuccillo. I've been reading excerpts from it online, and each scenario is both funny and eye opening to me. Before I share with you the big eye opener for me (since you probably didn't hit that link anyway)... I want to preface it by saying, this is the end of my pursuit of GB. I sent him a message and a week later, even though I know he's seen it, has not replied. And I'll admit... I was feeling embarrassed, sorry for myself and feeling like I won the biggest loser contest (no, not the weight loss one). But this passage has finally helped me get over it.

The "Maybe I Don't Want to Play Games" Excuse

Dear Greg,
This is dumb. I know you're not supposed to call guys, but I call guys all the time because I don't care! I don't want to play games. I do whatever I want! I've called guys tons of times. You're such a square, Greg. Why do you think we can't call guys and ask them out?
Nikki

Dear Nikki,
Because we don't like it. Okay, some guys might like it, but they're just lazy. And who wants to go out with Lazy Guy? It's that simple. I didn't make the rules and I might not even agree with them. Please don't be mad at me, Nikki. I'm not advocating that women go back to the Stone Age. I just think you might want to be realistic in how capable you are of changing the primordial impulses that drive all of human nature.
Or maybe you're the chosen one.

Men, for the most part, like to pursue women. We like not knowing if we can catch you. We feel rewarded when we do. Especially when the chase is a long one. We know there was a sexual revolution. (We loved it.) We know women are capable of running governments, heading multinational corporations, and raising loving children — sometimes all at the same time. That, however, doesn't make men different.

IT'S SO SIMPLE
Imagine right now that I'm leaping up and down and shaking my fist at the sky. I'm on my knees pleading with you. I'm saying this in a loud voice: "Please, if you can trust one thing I say in this book, let it be this: When it comes to men, deal with us as we are, not how you'd like us to be." I know it's an infuriating concept — that men like to chase and you have to let us chase you. I know. It's insulting. It's frustrating. It's unfortunately the truth. My belief is that if you have to be the aggressor, if you have to pursue, if you have to do the asking out, nine times out of ten, he's just not that into you. (And we want you to believe you're one of the nine, ladies!) I can't say it loud enough: You, the superfox reading this book, are worth asking out.

HERE'S WHY THIS ONE IS HARD, by Liz
Well, it's obvious. Are you telling us that we have to just sit around and wait? I don't know about you, but I find that infuriating. I was brought up to believe that hard work and good planning are the keys to making your dreams come true. I spent my life making things happen for myself. I worked hard for my career, and was quite aggressive about it. I called people, made appointments, asked for favors. I took action. But now Greg is telling us that in this situation, we are supposed to do absolutely nothing. The guys get to pick. We're just supposed to put on our little dresses and do our hair and bat our eyes and hope they choose us. Why don't you just tie my corset too tight so I can faint in front of some man who'll scoop me out of the way just before the horse-drawn carriage runs over me? That'll get his attention.
Really, in this day and age, the hardest thing to do for many women, particularly me, is nothing. We like to scheme, make phone calls, have a plan. And I'm talking about more than just making sure our hair doesn't frizz. Most women who date, I would guess, don't have men throwing themselves at them every night of the week. Sometimes there's a long stretch during which nobody's asking us out. So when we see a guy that we feel might be a romantic possibility, it's even harder for us to take a backseat. That opportunity might not come back again for a long time.
But guess what: My way? Has sucked. Hasn't worked at all. I've never had a successful relationship with a guy that I've pursued. I'm sure there are many stories out there to the contrary. But for me, those guys end up getting back together with their ex-girlfriend, needing to take some time for themselves, or going out of town for business. Usually it doesn't even get that far. They usually just don't ever return my phone call. And let me tell you, that didn't make me feel very in control of anything.
Since I've been implementing Greg's handy-dandy "he's just not that into you" philosophy, I've been feeling surprisingly more powerful. Because if the men are asking you out, if the men have to get your attention, then you, in fact, are the one in control. There's no scheming and plotting. And there is something great about knowing that my only job is to be as happy as I can be about my life, and feel as good as I can about myself, and to lead as full and eventful a life as I can, so that it doesn't ever feel like I'm just waiting around for some guy to ask me out. And most importantly, it's good for us all to remember that we don't need to scheme and plot and beg to get someone to ask us out. We're fantastic.

And let's not forget that my last relationship, although it lasted for five years, in the end it failed... and now people are telling me after the fact that they always felt I loved Benny more than he loved me, because I was the pursuer back in college.

But wait now, let's throw in another variable into the equation. I'm really considering signing up for an online dating thing. No not myspace, sillies, I'm talking legit stuff. i.e. Match.com or eHarmony. Now is that still considered being an aggressor?

Alcohol + Cucumber = ??

2008-02-27T22:10:00.000-08:00

Since my boss will never take the time to blog about this, I'm going to borrow his story and share it with you all. One afternoon we all ditched work early and went to a local restaurant/bar for some drinks. Someone ordered a Hendrick's Martini, which nobody else had heard of.

Basically it's an unusual Scottish gin with botanicals you'd expect to find in gin (i.e. juniper), but also has infusions of rose and cucumber added during distillation. When the martini was ordered, my coworker specifically asked for slices of cucumber to go with the drink as a garnish or whatever. I tasted it and surprisingly, it wasn't that bad. I'm sure if I were more tolerant and appreciative of a fine alcoholic drink I would even say it tasted fabulous.

Apparently my boss, "Bitter Bro" thought it tasted good because the next time he went to the grocery store, he went hunting for a bottle of Hendricks. Aside from his usual purchases of Monster energy drinks in a 24-pack, and cases of beer, he grabbed a bottle of Hendricks. Ah but wait, you can't forget the cucumber for the enhanced taste and garnish! So he grabbed a cucumber and proceeded to check out. You know how men are, if they're by themselves at a grocery store, they are likely to have only a few items with them. In and out, that's their motto with shopping of any kind. I think BB finally realized at the checkout that his purchases might've looked strange to the dude standing behind him. Tons of alcohol... and one giant long cucumber. Hmm. I don't care where you're from, that's funny.

Updates

2008-02-24T21:40:00.001-08:00

Sorry to leave you hanging on my last post about Greek Boy. I got so excited that I spent the rest of the evening pretty much ~~stalking~~ browsing his profile. Let me recap how I found him. Prior to all this, I only knew certain things about GB: his first name, his parents' first names, and that he had tried to join the seminary after college. Not a whole lot of information huh? I don't know what compelled me to do it on Friday, but I just pulled up Google and randomly typed in his first name and the college he went to. I know that sounds crazy, but he went to a relatively small, Catholic college that most people have never heard of. So it's not like I'm searching for a "John from NYU".

I scanned through the search results and surprisingly found a link that displayed a lot of information about him back when he was joining the seminary. I now knew his full name, age, and hobbies, etc. Immediately I click on Ctrl + N (for you newbs, that's the shortcut to open a new window browser) and pull up the Facebook site. I typed in his full name and even though there were several search results, I knew right away his was the first result. He's got some great pictures ranging from childhood through the present, and I almost felt guilty...like I was intruding on his personal life (which is pretty much what I was doing, but hey... not my fault he didn't set proper privacy settings).

Anyway, just judging from his profile, comments from his friends, and what he does for a living, I'm convinced that I'm completely and utterly infatuated with him. He has a set of loyal friends locally, as well as many from across the country. He seems to like the peacefulness and solitude of surrounding himself in nature, and he's very spiritual. I'm pretty sure he's no longer on the path to becoming a priest, and I'm dying to know what made him change his mind. If you ask me, it would be a disservice to all womankind if he did go through with it. And now I'm not just saying that because of his looks. I genuinely believe he would make a great husband/father to some lucky woman. Seeing his devotion to God and the work he does for society, it honestly makes me want to be a better person. Not just in the hopes that I would impress him some day, but more in the sense that I want that kind of peace and happiness in my life. But I'd be lying if I said I wasn't interested in having his babies. *wink*

If you're wondering whether or not I'm going to initiate something (i.e. add him as a friend, send him a message) or just keep being a weirdo stalker, well it's sad but true: I'm too chicken to say I will be doing the former. For one thing, he'll wonder how I even found him considering I've never even said hi to him at church. Second, I wouldn't be able to show my face in church again if I got rejected. Third, I doubt he would even know who I am if I messaged him. Eh, I could go on, but you get the point. All I know is, I need to either shut up and initiate something or just move on and get over it.

Diary of a lonely day at work

2008-02-21T10:12:00.000-08:00

For the second week in a row, I've been working by myself. Last week wasn't so bad since I was at my usual client spot close to my office, and I was still able to come home every night or hang out with friends after work. This week is different. I'm out of town in the desert, staying at a beautiful vacation resort with a 10 minute commute to the client. It's great, don't get me wrong. I can work at my own schedule, eat when I want, play music, and be really efficient in my work.

At least it started out that way. Today is Thursday, and I think I've reached my limit. I've been sitting in this windowless stuffy room all week, eating by myself, and working on stuff that is neither new to me nor challenging. I realized that outside of chat, emails, and a few phone calls, I've had very limited contact with other human beings. I speak to Bill (my client) sometimes, but he's about 60 years old, almost legally deaf (even with his hearing aid), and prefers I shoot him an email instead of speak to him in person (otherwise he has to read my lips as I'm talking). I'm going bloody mad here. Like freakin Shawshank Redemption.

It's going to be another loooong day...

9:22am - Just rolled in to work. Why so late? Because I freakin locked myself out of my hotel room this morning as I was putting some shoes in my car. I know what you're thinking, just walk ten steps to the front desk and get another key. Yes, thank you for pointing that out, I'm not that lazy ya know. I'm staying at a vacation resort remember? So my little "walk" to the front main desk is actually a 10 minute hike up this hill. Had I been in my gym clothes still I woulda just jogged up there like I've been doing all week, but unfortunately I was already in my work clothes and pumps.

9:35am - After booting up my computer and checking emails, I realize I should greet Bill (the client) good morning. I walk over to his office and he's not there. Apparently he's moving to another office so it's going to be awhile before he even gets set up and sees my emails I had sent him last night.

10am - Finished eating my bagel and went to the kitchen to rinse my plate. What's this? Free product makeup samples sitting in boxes? *gets excited* Since none of these say Age Defying on them, I assume none of these old timers need any of this. I ~~steal~~ grab about 6 of them and head back to my desk.

10:41am - Bill walks in with a stack of support. I try to make small talk. *In a loud voice* So... where'd they relocate your office? Bill: Yes I'll be in my office. Do I speak normally or talk slower? No wait, when people read lips you should speak normally right? Me: No, your NEW office. Where did they move you? *as I try to pantomime the entire sentence with my hands* Bill: Ohhh I'm in that corner to the right. Me: Okay thank you *as I nod and smile and silently wait for him to walk out*

11:12am - I'm listening to KFRG online. They're playing Kenny Chesney's new song Shiftwork. If someone were in the room with me I'd say out loud 'Wow, this song is both catchy and extremely corny.' SHITwork? Oh my bad. He said SHIFTwork. Darn.

12:28pm - Sent the client an email hoping they won't throw tomatoes at me for pointing out an error which will make them do more work. Now is a good time to get lunch.

1:26pm - Done with lunch and I'm now stuffing envelopes. Thinking about how I'll have to run by the post office later to get stamps and mail out, and the added side trip I might make to Coffee Bean to get rid of this nasty envelope taste.

2:03pm - There's about 15 people next door gathering for a teleconference. They borrowed every single chair in this room, making this place look even more abandoned and prison like. I now have to close the door to drown out the noise, thus further limiting myself to outside contact with the world.

2:34pm - Finally, some gossip. Natalie is at the office IMing me about having a crush on the guy across her cubicle. I shake my head as I give her advice on how to just simply ask him to join her for lunch one day. And then I realize that I'm one to talk.

2:49pm - On my way to the post office.

3:17pm - I'm back. With 26 additional stamps and a tea latte. Yup, I follow through with my plans. I said Coffee Bean and I meant it.

3:21pm - Joe (other client contact in LA) replied to my email. Whew, no tomatoes. Good to know not all clients yell at me. Guess all my novice style flirting paid off.

4:19pm - Oh. my. Holy. Mother. I found him. I found Greek boy aka Church Crush online. All work must cease at this point.

Fake excitement

2008-02-20T09:04:00.000-08:00

My brother's gf Janice told me some big news yesterday. She and my brother Doug have decided to get married in August 2009.

Notice I didn't put an exclamation point there.

Janice then asked me for two favors 1) that I not say anything to my parents until she and Doug tell them in August (so that by then they can say they've officially known each other for two years); 2) I be one of her bridesmaids.

Now of course this was all told to me via online chat, since those two never call me just to chitty chit chat. So when I said "Congratulations!" what I really felt was... no way, are you kidding me?! And that bothers me. What is wrong with me? This is supposed to be exciting news, and I know I should be happy for him if this is what makes Doug happy. But honestly, my first thought was How can you afford a wedding when you can't even pay me back the rest of the $472 you owe me for that dang TV?
If you ask me, I think they need to be a little more stable first before they can commit to something like this.

Or does it not matter since they already live together anyway? It wouldn't really change things much except that they'll be husband and wife, and she'll be my sister-in-law. So here I am scratching my head and trying to sort out the conflicting emotions I'm having. I guess I can't pinpoint the 'disappointment' or whatever you want to call it to one single thing.

I initially blame it on their financial status, saying they can't afford it. But like I said, it's no different than them living together now. So does that mean I don't like Janice? Possibly. I've said it before, I like her as a person, but I sometimes don't like them together. Or maybe it's because she'll be taking away the last link my brother and I have. Alright, I'm not saying I'm a psycho sister that needs to be numero uno in her brother's life; really I'm not. But I will admit that ever since they've been together I've felt he's placed all priorities on her. Would I feel this way even if I wasn't the single one now and I was still in a relationship? Honestly? Yes.

And then here's the last part I wanted to share, and please correct me if I'm totally being a snob.... but I asked her how he proposed and this is what she said: Basically he didn't really propose they just talked about it and she said don't bother with a proposal since he had already once proposed to her when he was drunk. Okay, I'm sorry but to me, that's just wrong. Call me old fashioned, cliched, whatever. I want my future husband to propose to me.... and that's after he's spoken to both his parents and mine for their blessings.

So there you have it. I guess I need to pencil in August 2009 on my calendar now. She's already starting to ask me questions on how to go about planning the wedding. As if I have time. Great, just great. And since I'm a freakin pushover, you know I'm going to help.

August Series by Lora Leigh

2008-02-19T15:05:00.000-08:00

I'm guest blogging over at Book Binge. Please check out my latest review on the August Series books by Lora Leigh. Yes, oldies but goodies. Except I didn't think they were really goodies. So I guess they're just oldies.

I'm Back Jack!

2008-02-13T17:02:00.000-08:00

After a whole month of work/sleep/work... I'm back to a more manageable work schedule. I know you all missed me. I don't have much to report, but after working my butt off I've kinda been spoiling myself with little "yay me" gifts. Our team had a day off to go to Club 33 at Disneyland, then I went to an Earth Wind and Fire concert and California Adventure with my mom recently. I also just bought George Strait tickets for next month, and I'm thinking of buying Guitar Hero III for my Wii. My manager/boss just got one and he says it's so much fun.

Which brings me to the following picture I received from a friend...

So that's the Guitar Hero for the Wii that I want, but obviously the focus of the picture is not the guitar. What's up with the nekkid dude you ask? Well, you'd have to know my boss to appreciate the humor in this... but I kid you not, this dude looks EXACTLY like my boss. And how weird that this picture gets sent to me at the same time my boss gets his GH3? Isn't that sick and wrong?! LOL Like great, just what I need. Can you imagine seeing a pic of your boss naked? *shudder* Yes, I've just planted the seed in your brain, I'm sorry.

How bout..... mmmm NO

2008-01-09T21:33:00.000-08:00

Just got this friend request/message in my inbox from some random person I don't know:

hello lady ,ich komm aus libanon und ich bin 31yahre alt , ich mochte dich gerene kenen lernene.....hello i kom from libanon and i am 31 years old i like kontakt with you.........

Ugh. Nuff said.

New American Gladiators!

2008-01-06T22:34:00.000-08:00

I think I might've caught the tail end of the premiere of the New American Gladiators, and I must say... I love it! This show is so hilarious. Of course you'll never beat the O.G. (is OG an outdated term?) AG with Larry Csonka as the host, and gladiators such as Nitro, Zap, Laser, and Gemini. But this new one is just as entertaining, and pretty much the same deal (minus the total Fabio meets Conan the Barbarian look).

Again I only caught the tail end of the program, but I saw the females compete in the last 2 events. First was the pyramid: contestants climb to reach the top of the padded pyramid while the gladiators try to stop them from above.

Ouch. That's gotta hurt. And geez, talk about impossible. How are you supposed to dupe the gladiator when you're attacking from below? Did we not learn anything from Star Wars episode III: Revenge of the Sith, when Obi Wan kicked Anakin's ass because he had "the high ground"?

And then there was the final challenge: The Eliminator.

This is the ultimate timed obstacle course with fire and water. Contenders ascend and dive off of a 10-foot platform, swim beneath a flaming surface and climb a cargo net to pedal cranks high above ground. The contenders then pedal to a beam they must traverse across, then leap off and sprint up the Pyramid to a giant zip line that drops them at the reverse escalator. At the top of the reverse escalator they race again to crash through the finish line.

Again, I only saw the female contestants do this. But man oh man, this eliminator is freakin awesome! Did you read the first line? Fire and Water. Swim beneath a flaming surface? Oh snap... that right there could be a potential lawsuit waiting to happen. Shoot I need to go up for air, oh crap, my head's on fire! Crazzzzzy! I love it. One of the girls was a really buff African American, Koya, and the other was a fit, but comparatively tiny asian woman, Venus. As soon as they got out of the water, I could tell Venus was struggling. She looked like she was going to pass out. Koya had a big lead, but when she got to the reverse treadmill, she just could not make it to the top. This is what I love about the show... the suspense, the thrill of seeing the underdog catch up. Venus surprisingly caught up and won the eliminator, leaving Koya sadly dangling from the rope on the reverse treadmill. It was the funniest thing I've ever seen, and I swear I hurt my side laughing so hard. When Koya finally made it to the top and busted through the barricade, she looked like she just collapsed and fell face first down the mat. Classic.

Keep your eye out for this show, it's freakin awesome!

Tears of Joy

2008-01-02T21:20:00.001-08:00

I already broke another new year's resolution. I told myself I would stop being a crybaby. Well I just finished crying, but for once they were tears of joy. I just checked my score for my latest CPA exam, and I passed. I don't know why, but as soon as I saw it, I broke down and started crying. Tears of joy, at least. Thank you Lord! I'm halfway there... two down, two to go. You have no idea how happy I will be when I'm all finished. I'm going to throw a big ass party, and you are going to be there to celebrate with me, okay?!

Happy New Year!

2008-01-01T22:41:00.000-08:00

Happy 2008 everyone! I can't believe how the time flies. It's already January, so this pretty much means I'm going to be very behind on my blog postings from now until end of March or even April. So sorry in advance! Anyway, I usually never make formal resolutions, but I do have one for sure this year: to be a better friend.

I know I'm busy all the time, but so is everyone else; and often times I feel like my excuses for not keeping in touch are lame. I'm checking my personal emails less often, and now that I think about it, I'd probably save more time by just picking up the freakin phone. I have first cousins who live around the corner from me, about twenty houses down, who I see once every two months or so. Very sad. I have all these online/blog friends who live across the U.S., some even in Canada, Australia, etc. The closest one to me is Rowena, who lives about 20 minutes away, and gosh, I barely see her (sorry I'm such a bum Wena!).

So that's my wish for 2008. For all of my friends (you know who you are), I just want you to know that even though I don't say it often, I really am thankful to have you as a friend. Even though I don't call, or respond to emails right away, please know that I am still here for you. Time is precious, so let's not waste it.

Alright enough mushy stuff. Speaking of friends, you ever have that one friend who you suspect is only your friend when her other "real friends" aren't around to hang out with her? I've got this friend who I love to death, but with her, it's always a toss up. You never know what mood she might be in, and believe me, you don't wanna be around her when she's crabby. When it's just us (this girl, me, and Natalie), we have a great time, and laugh till we cry. But she's also got this other friend.... and the only way I can describe this other girl... is that she is the "sex and the city" friend. The let's go scope out the hotties in clubs/bars/etc. friend.

Here's the thing: I don't blame my friend for wanting to hang out with this girl in that context, since I don't do any of that clubbing type stuff anymore. But I feel like my friend is just living vicariously through this other girl. Whereas sex and the city (SATC) girl would probably end up having a one night stand, I really believe my friend wouldn't go through with it. But she wants to live that "exciting" type of life and be like her friend. Hey, what she does on her own time with SATC girl is none of my business. But I don't like it when she becomes this totally different person when, on that rare occasion, we all happen to be hanging out together (SATC girl included). It's like I might as well not even be there, she completely ignores me and Natalie. Whatever. I've sorta just come to terms with it, and I don't let it bother me. I think it hurts Natalie a bit more, and that's what makes me sad. Natalie is probably one of the most selfless people I know. Always thinking of others before herself. Nat, if you're reading this, don't let her get to ya okay?

Help, I'm in a Reading Slump!

2007-12-26T22:19:00.001-08:00

Ugh, I'm in a reading slump again. Every book I pick up, I put back down 2 seconds after reading the back summary. Nothing is capturing my interest these days. Which is ridiculous considering I've got over 100 books sitting in my TBR pile (to-be-read for you non-book bloggers). Last two books I read were really old historicals by Karen Robards. They were VERY late 80's/early 90's ish, but not that bad. It was like watching a reality show that involves people bickering over stupid crap, but you keep watching anyway because you just want to know how it will finally end.

So after those two books, I'm pretty much at a standstill. I know Holly gave me some cookbooks to read (thanks Holly!) but they're pretty blah so far. One was just downright dumb, The Renegade's Woman by Nikita Black. Talk about lame. (Side note: If you click on that link, apparently 4 customers on Amazon gave it a 5 star rating. *rolls eyes* End Side note) It was a western historical cookbook, and I've never read this type before. Honestly, there's something not right to me about making an erotica set in those times. Then there was that one scene with the berries on a stick. Umm yah, I'll just leave it at that and let your creative mind stew for a bit. Now I'm in the middle of another one, and it's pretty lame too. I'm to the point where I don't even wanna finish it, and I can't even remember the title to warn you that it's lame.

So please, someone, anyone, help! I haven't read anything good in so long. And by so long, I mean a good solid four days. Pretty sad huh?

I Am Legend

2007-12-26T19:23:00.000-08:00

I hate scary things. Happy clowns, evil clowns, dolls, snakes, etc. I am a chicken when it comes to scary movies. The kind of scary that has things popping out of nowhere. If it's rated R, forget it. No way I'm watching that. PG-13 is the max rating I will take. I think the last scary movie I saw was AVP (not the one in theatres now, the PG-13 one).

I only survived AVP because it had so many corny scenes. Like when the predator made the woman an official warrior or whatever by scraping her cheek with the poison tip and someone in the audience shouted "suck his dick!" Or how about the movie Deep Blue Sea? Supposed to be scary, but with LL Cool J in it, it wasn't so bad. Anyway, the point is, I get scared but it only lasts during the movie. I know that stuff is fake, and I never let it get to me after the movie.

Until I saw I Am Legend this weekend. Holy crap, this movie was scary. I only saw the one preview for it, and I seriously didn't know it was a "zombie" movie. I won't spoil it all for you, but let's just say there were a lot of jumpy scenes, and I spent most of the movie covering my eyes/ears. When my cousins took me home, my parents weren't there and I was actually scared. I flipped on all the light switches and turned on the TV in my room. Today, I got home from work and same thing, no one home! With the wind howling outside, I was even more frightened. Oh boy. I need to get over this before I'm afraid of my own shadow.

Really though, it's a good movie. And Will Smith's acting really stands out. I don't think I'll be seeing another scary movie for awhile, but I'm glad my cousins dragged me out to this one. Go see it!

Free Rice

2007-12-19T21:14:00.000-08:00

Check out this cool site. Test your knowledge of vocabulary words, while helping a worthy cause. For each definition you answer correctly, United Nations will donate 20 grains of rice to help end world hunger!

December Update

2007-12-16T20:46:00.001-08:00

I'm getting complaints that not only have I been slacking on blogging, but all my latest posts are me bitchin all the time. So believe it or not, but I'm not going to bitch in this post. I'm actually happy for once, and it's because I had a great weekend. Pretty much started the weekend off Friday night, when I went to the Laugh Factory in LA to see none other than Dane Cook. Oh my Lord, I love this man. Love love love him. I didn't go to his Rough Around the Edges tour showing in Anaheim last week, only because the seats I would've had were crappy and not worth the 50some dollars.

Instead, the Laugh Factory had him headlining for some charity event, and it was only $25 plus a 2 drink minimum. My wonderful friend Siao called me just a few days ago and asked if I wanted to see Dane. So despite the 2 hour drive from the OC to LA, I was pumped up and excited. This was even better than watching him in a big arena, because he was literally like 30 feet away from me. If you're not familiar with Dane Cook's standup, it's pretty much him talking about every day stuff that's nothing new or exciting. I'd say it's more of his delivery of the content that cracks me up. He is definitely MY kind of humor. And I love that he's a big geek too. He makes a lot of gaming/Star Wars/movie references that only other geeks would know. So I was star struck all night, but unfortunately I didn't get a picture.

Saturday was a relaxing day, just read all morning, finally got up to do errands, then got ready for my Firm Holiday Party. My brother met me there and I came separately with some gal pals from work. This year was different. No casino night, live band instead of DJ, and only one line for food as opposed to the international style buffet. But oddly enough, I had a BLAST. The night went by so fast and it was great catching up with coworkers and friends I haven't seen in awhile. My bro and I were able to bust out a couple of swing dance moves, and he was content with the unlimited supply of alcohol at the open bar. I think the highlight of the evening though, was when they announced the winners of the raffle prizes. This year, everyone got 5 tickets each, and you could drop your tickets into various boxes of prizes. I distributed mine as follows: 2 for iPod, 2 for Day Spa Package, and 1 for season tickets to LA Galaxy. As they announced all the winners, I coulda swore all my prizes were announced so I started to walk away. Then all of a sudden I heard Daphne! and I could not believe it. I NEVER win raffles. Never. I didn't even know what I won, I was just so shocked that I heard my name. I went up to the stage and whispered to the announcer, "Wait what did I win?" I won the Day Spa Package. Can you believe that? So freakin awesome.

Another Freakin Idiot

2007-12-10T18:33:00.000-08:00

So there's this transfer staff from the Miami office. He's originally from SoCal, and more specifically my city. He was assigned on my job a few weeks ago, and I only worked with him for about 3 days. It's his second year with the firm, so of course, he thinks he's the shit.

While having lunch one day, the team was talking about buying snacks from Costco for our audit room. He assumed that I was the person requesting the dried mangoes, because ya know, I'm filipino. I said I hate it when people assume that I love dried mangoes because of my ethnicity. We all laughed at the time, but I kinda meant what I said.

Later that day he made a comment implying that I must like Black Eyed Peas because again, I'm filipino. I said "Okay it's not funny. I meant it at lunch when I said I don't appreciate stereotypes like that, especially from people I don't know that well." Seriously, it's not that I don't have a sense of humor. It's just that there's a time and place for comments like that, and I don't think it's appropriate at work. And even more inappropriate with people you just met for the first time.

Flash forward to today. There's this all-day conference tomorrow in Dana Point, which is about 1.5 hour drive for me. This guy emailed me last week asking if I wanna carpool with him since we both live in the same city. I said sure. I sent him a reminder email to meet up at my house at 6:45am tomorrow. He said yes, followed by this...

Ok. See you tomorrow. Would you like me to bring a bag of dry mangos for you tomorrow?

Normally I would let that slide, but this really pissed me off. I replied back with... [name of douchebag], I know you don't mean harm by it, but I really take offense to comments like that. I believe I made that clear when you were here at [client]. Please refrain from saying those things to me in the future.

Okay, just as I was typing this blog he replied:
I had to put that in, but alright that's the last time. Sorry if you were offended.

I guess I'm not as pissed off, but seriously now. What is wrong with people these days? Where are we hiring these idiots from? I swear. I'm getting bitchier every day. But you know what? I'm tired of people pushing me around.

Thoughts on an Office Memo

2007-12-07T12:54:00.000-08:00

The following email was sent to all personnel in our local firm office. [content edited to remove names/specifics] Yet another reason I think HR has way too much time on their hands. I am now going to ~~entertain~~ bore you with my thoughts (mostly sarcasm) on this email....

I am proud to announce the opening of the first Study Room in the [SoCal area] Office, and perhaps the first in the Pacific South West (PSW) sub-area, and maybe the entire firm. Wow, this is big time. The concept of a "study room" being the first in the PSW, and maybe the entire firm. No, no. It could very well be the first in-office study room in the UNIVERSE.

The idea was the brainchild of [John Doe], an [audit] Staff in our office. Brainchild huh? Someone's bustin out the thesarus...

Like many, [John] found it challenging to balance his work responsibilities with his studies (...upcoming CPA Exam) and thought how beneficial it would be to have a room within the office that could be designated as a study room where he could study before and after work. It's called a conference room people. We have plenty on all three floors. Or how about, study at home? The library? Starbucks? I'd also like to point out that we have several single person work stations (think of a bigger phone booth) where most people go to make personal phone calls or work for a few hours.

In [John]'s case, he prefers to study for his upcoming exam for a couple hours before his engagement team arrives in order to have quiet time to study before a good day's work. Which I'm assuming is between 6am and 8:30am. Are you saying that our office is packed with people during these hours and you can't find a single room to study quietly? He presented his idea to [partner in the firm], who asked for my assistance in identifying and preparing such a room. Preparing how?

Effective Monday, December 10, Room F804 (the old tax assembly room on 8) will be our Study Room. The room has a table, chairs, a telephone, and a data cable with hub to accommodate up to 6 connections at once. A room with table and chairs? Genius! Why didn't I think of that? And not 5, but SIX connections? I'm bursting with excitement. Because everyone knows you can't have quiet study time without 5 other people sharing an internet hub with you. The room will be available to anyone on a first-come, first-served basis with no reservations needed, however, please keep in mind that the purpose of the room is for quiet, study time, as opposed to a meeting room, lunch room, or break room.

I believe this Study Room speaks to the firm's commitment to our people, especially to those studying for the CPA Exam or any other certifications [our] people are trying to achieve, and shows how [the firm] is dedicated to our personal and professional success. It's a room people. How about you stop working us to death so I can actually have time to study? A big thank you goes out to [John Doe] for his suggestion. I'm embarrassed for John Doe. Please let me know if you have any questions or additional suggestions regarding our Study Room. I just did.

OMG stupid facebook

2007-12-05T13:06:00.000-08:00

Can someone please tell me why I just got a friend request from Benny's mother!? Benny. My ex-boyfriend Benny. WTF!!!! And how does she even know about facebook? My mom doesn't even know what myspace is. Do I accept or ignore? Help!

Spoiled

2007-12-04T19:08:00.000-08:00

Spoiled is newest nickname for my new annoying 'boss'. Spoiled has one level of seniority above me. I've got a lot of pent up anger in me from November, so I have to release it before the holidays.

Dear Spoiled,

Can you please tell me why you think it's fair that it takes me about an hour to get here and I show up by 8:30 while you live about 5 miles away and you get here past 9am every fuckin day? Are you working from home in the morning? Because that's fine with me. Oh no wait, you just showed me the "Spoiled - gets a hole in one" news article from the morning paper. So I guess you're playing golf every morning while my ass gets here to work. Because that's what we're getting paid to do right?

Now I know you've had a "rough year," with all the issues on such and such job and yada yada yada, but that was when? April? May? You then took an extended break/vacation and now it's December and you still act as if you're burned out. Well excuse me, but you're not the only one who has had a rough year. Tough shit. Either shut your yap or quit already. What about the former people on this team who quit because of your shitty attitude? You think I like joining this team, trying to fill in the shoes of a "superstar senior", who happens to be a friend of mine, and then find out later the reason she quit the firm is because she couldn't stand you?

And quit promising to get work done if you can't deliver. I'm tired of hearing "Don't worry I'll take care of that..." and then from my staff "Well I didn't finish that because Spoiled said he'd take care of documenting it..." If you say you're going to handle something, handle it. And what does that even mean anyway... handle it? Are you going to discuss it with me, but then expect me to finish the documentation, or are you going to take some ownership for once and actually open an excel/word document?

You know what the problem is? You're spoiled. You've been on this job since you started so you've paid your dues right? And by now you should just be answering high level questions and let the rest of the minions do the nitty gritty work, right? Don't think I'm just pulling this out of my ass, because I'm not. You even told me you were pissed you didn't get your early promotion to manager. You know what, being on the "best job in the office" does not translate to you being the "best senior in the office." You only get early promoted if you deserve it. Do you think you deserved it? Really now.

Which brings me back to your attitude. Come on, level with me. Just tell me the truth. You don't give a shit anymore do you? Wah, look at me, I didn't make manager, this stupid firm sucks. Why bother working. Wah wah. Well they can't kick me off the team so I'm just going to play my rank card and do come and go as I please.

Stop. Complaining. You. Lazy. Tard.

Yes, you're lazy. That combined with not giving a shit really helps productivity. That explains why Daphne and the manager are busting their asses every night while you can come early, leave late every day. I'll be back for more. Don't think this is the last you've heard of me.

-Daphne

Passive - Aggressive Crap

2007-12-03T20:14:00.000-08:00

Well I hate to start off my return to blogland (after being M.I.A. for the last two weeks) with a ranting post, but I must get this off my chest. I was supposed to go to Disneyland this past Saturday. Yes, I know I've been there about 5 times already this year but my brother, Doug, was performing that day. He and his gf are on this dance swing team and every year the team performs at the Carnation Plaza at D-land. This was my brother's first D-land performance, so naturally I wanted to come out and support him.

I've known about this D-land trip for about two months now, and my other cousin Kat expressed an interest in going. I don't get to hang out with Kat as much as I'd like to, so I was looking forward to her going. The other friends going were two other couples, so you can imagine how reluctant I'd be to go if Kat bailed out on me. Sure enough, the night before I call Kat to find out she's broke as a joke and is no longer going. Well fine, I figured I could still go anyway, and just hitch a ride from Doug.

So Friday night I'm about to call Doug to ask for a ride, when suddenly I get this text message from him: "Hey can you bring me my jacket tomorrow to D-land?"

Well, spit. Does that mean he thinks I'm going to still drive to D-land by myself and bring him his dang jacket? Seriously. Who does that? Have you ever seen someone drive up to the D-land parking lot by herself? Yah, and let's not forget the ridiculous parking fee (what is it now, $12?) So I give Doug a call immediately:

Me: "Hey."

D: "Yo, did you get my text message?"

Me: "Um yah about that. I don't think I'll be going anymore."

D: "Oh why not?"

Me: "Well Kat isn't going anymore so I don't wanna drive there by myself."

Okay stop for a sec. This is the part where he's supposed to logically say "Well, why don't I just pick you up and you can ride with us?" No. This is what happens next:

D: "Oh. Hmm. Okay. *exasperated sigh* I guess I could swing by the house in the morning and get my jacket."

Me: "Yah just swing by the house. Okay see you in the morning."

So I was pretty much fuming mad after that call. Mad at Doug for being a selfish prick and then mad at myself for being all passive aggressive. I mean, maybe he didn't understand me and thought I didn't wanna be at the park by myself. If I had just blurted out "So can I ride with you or not?" would he have said yes? I feel like it was too late to ask since he was sorta implying that I had to drive myself to bring him his jacket.

Saturday morning. Daphne wakes up extra early at 7, so she can get up and be ready in case Doug changes his mind. I'm sitting in the kitchen with my dad drinking coffee. Doug and his gf come in. He greets us then gets his jacket from his room. Okay, you'd THINK he'd see that I'm still capable of going, but does he offer me a ride? No. Not even a "Hey so are you sure you don't want to go? It would mean a lot to me if you could see our performance." Nope. Nothing. Nada. Zilch. Just says okay well see you later and leaves.

So basically I was having one of those days where I was just feeling sorry for myself. Again, it was very passive/aggressive on my part, and I HATE p/a behavior. I get that enough from my staff at work. Oh well, I guess when it comes to my brother, I should set the expectations low. *sigh*

Building a Gingerbread House - Tip #1

2007-11-24T21:57:00.000-08:00

When building a gingerbread house from a store-bought kit, before leaving the store, remember to read the label of the box that tells you the kit does not include ICING. *sigh*

13 Things To Be Thankful For

2007-11-22T15:03:00.001-08:00

13 Things to Be Thankful For

1) My Faith

2) My Health (including my vision, hearing, ability to walk, and just waking up every day feeling comfortable)

3) My Family

4) My Old Friends

5) My New Friends

6) This country and the people who help protect our freedom

7) My parents, who let me live at home and don't charge me rent (Thanks Mom and Dad!)

8) My job. Yes, I complain a lot, but when I think about the people who get laid off and struggle to find work, I realize I need to shut my mouth. I also need to include the few people at work who care about me, and help me get through the tough times of the year.

9) Internet. Without it I would never have met my wonderful friends from The Sanctuary and now Blogland. Plus, without internet, how else would I get my fill of eye candy emails?

10) My brother, who annoys me half the time but who is still one of my best friends.

11) Authors, bookstores, romance books and ebooks. All have opened my eyes and helped me turn the TV off.

12) Ceramic iron hair straighteners. If you saw how my natural hair looked like, you'd know why.

13) My small sufferrings and heartaches in life. They've helped me be strong and appreciate what I do have to help me get through them.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!

Will It Ever Cease Being Funny?

2007-11-20T22:25:00.000-08:00

This is what happens when you work with an all-male team of auditors: You hear what should be a totally offensive/ inappropriate/ I-can-get-you-fired-for-saying-that joke. And you laugh. Because sadly, you find it funny too.

Now don't think that I encourage inappropriate behavior at work. I'm a pretty easy-going person, and I like to bring my sense of humor and outgoing personality to my jobs. If there's one thing I can't stand, it's jobs where everybody is so damn serious, it's like working with robots. I'm so not about that. But I know my limits. I conduct myself in a professional manner with my clients, whether in person, phone or email. With my team, I tend to be a tad more casual. I laugh with them, make fun of them, and let them make fun of me. It's the Daphne style of working.

Alright, we get it Daphne, now hurry up and tell the joke. Okay, I'm getting there. So every day around 3pm, my team and I go downstairs to get smoothies and mochas. We all place our orders and step aside to let the two ladies prepare our beverages (and by 'prepare' I mean they try to imitate Starbucks and write down shortcuts for our orders on the plastic clear cups, but still get confused with our orders anyway because they make it blended when I said over ice, add whip cream when I said no whip, etc.). While we're waiting, we always glance at the food/drinks sold in the little refrigerated section below the counter. Just your average stuff: fruit salad, yogurt parfaits, little desserts, Arizona Iced Tea, Vitamin Water, Monster Energy drink, and what's this?................

BAWLS.

A 10 ounce blue bottle of Bawls contains 66.7 milligrams of caffeine.

Bawls is a popular carbonated beverage made with guarana berries (Guarana is a natural source of caffeine found in the Amazonian rainforest), that hit the market in 1997.

You can't see the cap of the bottle, but it says "Fueled by Bawls."

To the makers of Bawls: Thank you for providing us a source of entertainment in our otherwise dull accounting lives. Because of your product's name, we can say things like....

Hey there's only two bottles. Someone must've wanted to drink some Bawls yesterday
Mmm.... I want some Bawls in my mouth
I want to drink every drop of those Bawls
We should get a 4 pack, because you can't have an uneven number of Bawls

I'm pretty confident that the makers of Bawls are turbo-uber geeks from gaming land. Who else would come up with an energy drink named Bawls? I also did a search in Google and I swear most of the images and references to Bawls came from places like hardwaremods.com, lanparty.com, geekday.com, you get the idea.

You'd think we'd get sick of saying these phrases over and over, but sadly we don't. I "LOL" every day when my manager says it. Then of course came that fateful day when he actually bought one of the bottles so I could try it. "Take one for the team Daphne and let us know how the Bawls taste."

So I did. I held that bottle (which by the way has a bumpy outer texture... mmm... bumpy Bawls....) and twisted the cap off. Cold, whispy white smoke started rising from the bottle (mmm... smokin Bawls....) and I quickly took a sip. Hmmm not bad, but not great either. Sorta like a sweeter/less carbonated version of Sprite. Followed by:

So, you like the taste of Bawls eh?
So Bawls taste sweet huh?
Dude, Daphne loves Bawls

I ended up draining the rest of it because it ended up tasting nasty when no longer cold. And that's the story of how I tasted Bawls. You'd think it wouldn't be funny anymore, but this joke has no expiration date in my book. I crack up every time my manager says Bawls jokes. If I were a better role model for my staff, I would hold in the laughter. But I can't, and I don't want to. I guess that's probably why this morning I received an email notifying me to do the firm's annual "Preventing Harrassment in the Workplace" training module.

Another CPA Exam

2007-11-18T19:26:00.000-08:00

Alright, I'm taking a quick "study break" to eat dinner, and blog for a bit. Tomorrow (Monday) I have another section of the CPA exam to take. I've done nothing all week/weekend but work and study. I had to miss three birthday parties and a wedding this weekend to get my studying done. (Side note:: my mom was bummed I couldn't go to the wedding because the bride and groom are both young lawyers and supposedly they invited a lot of "single lawyer friends":: End side note) Sucks, but it has to be done. I'm sick of this exam cloud hanging over my head for the last three years. This is THE year I'm going to pass.

The only times I left the house were to eat (although my parents were kind enough to bring me home lunch and dinner Saturday) and go to church this morning. Speaking of church... Greek boy wasn't there as usual, but my dad told me after mass Greek boy's dad suggested to my dad that I be a Eucharistic minister (aka person who distributes communion at mass). I seriously laughed when dad told me that, because, well... you kinda have to be "holy" to do that (like Greek boy). But I guess that's a good sign because Greek boy's dad thinks I'm a good girl. *evil grin* See, strategy is working... win GB's parents over.

My studying is fueled by a lot of caffeine. But surprisingly, I haven't been drinking coffee. My new favorite drink is Rose Milk Tea. What does it taste like? Umm... milk tea.. with rose petals in it. Because that's what it is. I swear. Here's a picture:

If you're sitting there thinking, "that's effing gross Daphne!" well then, either you don't drink tea at all, or you haven't tried this. It's very aromatic, and soothing. A bit on the sweeter side, but it's great because I don't have to add anything to it. Still not convinced? Why, does the image of a flower in your drink scare you? Well, just remember that tea is made from tea leaves. Hah, so there.

So anyway, please keep me in your thoughts and/or prayers. I know I'm capable of passing this test, but I've had a busy work schedule in the last two months. Hence, the cramming. I'm going to need all the help I can get. And speaking of help, here's a little prayer my mom (bless her heart) stuck on my desk this morning:

Prayer Before an Exam

O wise God, I pray that my mind might be rested, my body energized, and my spirit inspired for the exam I must write.

Grant me peace and assurance so that I might do the best I am able, regardless of what that might be.

Be with my fellow students and may I be a good example to them, offering reassurance and confidence regardless of how I feel.

May I be honest and insightful, and able to give a true record of what I have learned. In the end, may any disappointment be born with grace, and any joy accompanied with humility.

I write this exam with Thee, O Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

Alright, I'm done with my study break. I'll be back to work Tuesday, and possibly Wednesday. I'm sure I'll have something to post about the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday, but until then... have a great week everyone!

-Daph

Since I'm Still Awake... This is How I Feel

2007-11-15T00:10:00.001-08:00

I just had one of those days today where I almost had a meltdown.... this is totally how I feel right now.... (long video but very good)

13 Things I Want For Christmas

2007-11-14T22:08:00.001-08:00

Christmas. It's here before ya know it!

13 Things I want for Christmas

1) Books. Of course.

2) CDs... like... Carrie Underwood, Rascal Flatts, etc.

3) This blanket from Bath and Body Works

4) My brother to pay me back in full the $800 he owes me

5) The Orange Box

6) Dane Cook. His DVD. Or see him live. Or both!

7) More personalized stationary

8) Another winter coat. Black.

9) To spend lots of time with family and loved ones.

10) To get my hair straightened again

11) My brother to pay me back the $400 he owed me from like 2005

12) Did I mention books? Okay, maybe ebooks then.

13) To see Greek boy at Christmas eve mass. And sit next to him. And talk to him after mass.

Decadent by Shayla Black

2007-11-14T12:10:00.000-08:00

Kimber Edgington is a virgin with a crush-on a pop star with a penchant for threesomes. Determined to prove that she's woman enough for singer Jesse McCall, Kimber turns to bodyguard Deke Trenton for sexual education...lessons that include his super-sexy friend Luc. Though she's saved herself for Jesse, Kimber soon learns that he's not the man adept at stoking her aching, endless need. That's Deke, and he can't resist when Kimber begs for more-and more.

Ever since I read her first book, Wicked Ties, I've been waiting for this second one to come out. You don't need to read WT to enjoy this one, but for those of you who did read it, you probably remember Deke Trenton as the third in Jack and Morgan's menage. While WT was primarily focused on BDSM, Decadent is targeted toward threesomes (Two guys, one girl).

If you're in the mood for a steamy erotic ("cookbook" as I like to call it) where you're not too concerned about superb plot and storyline, Decadent is right up your alley.

Kimber is a virgin saving herself for her long-time crush, Jesse the popstar (think Justin Timberlake). He's known in the tabloids for his wild sexual escapades and threesomes, and Kimber feels like she's not experienced enough to light his fire. She turns to Deke, who years ago worked for her father and protected him. Now of course Deke has always lusted after her but also held back because of her age. Kimber is older now and bravely asks Deke to "tutor her" in the ways of menage.

Deke is living with his supposedly sexy cousin Luc, who is a chef. Now you're just going to have to take the author's word for it and believe he's sexy, because other than that, I don't see any reason to be excited over a gourmet chef. Luc overhears Kimber's offer to Deke, and immediately walks in and offers to be her other "tutor."

There's lots of sex right away, and I'll admit, it's pretty hot. There's just one little catch though... Kimber doesn't want to lose her virginity because she's saving herself for Jesse. So they have fun in "other ways." Kimber is up to the challenge and manages to be a good student for Deke and Luc's sexual cravings.

She then takes off to try out her newfound sexuality on Jesse. She attends one of his concerts and backstage feels very uncomfortable with the atmosphere. It's like one big drug and orgy fest in the break room and Jesse's drummer offers to be her third. But I guess the difference between the drummer and Luc is that this guy was a total jerk and treated Kimber like a piece of meat and nothing more. Meanwhile, Jesse admits that he only wants Kimber in his life because she's always been the "good girl." He needs her to correct his bad boy ways. Kimber says no thanks and leaves Jesse.

Only to return to Deke, who at this point still hasn't taken Kimber's virginity. He's afraid that once he does, he'll fall in love with her and won't be able to let her go. Another weird thing about Deke, is that he can't have sex without Luc being present. I think there's a scene where Luc goes to the bathroom to dispose of the condom and Deke shouts "Get back in here!" I think the explanation was that Luc is the gentle one, and he doesn't want to ever be alone with Kimber or else he'll be too rough on her. Whatever.

The story then gets a bit lame because someone blows up her father's house and now Kimber's life is in danger. The trio head over to Jack/Morgan's place in the the swamp (remember from Wicked Ties?) where they can protect Kimber. They have more sex while they're there, and Deke finally takes her virginity.

The stalker/killer finally gets busted in the end (pretty obvious who the killer was), and Deke overcomes his fear of having sex alone with Kimber. Hah! So Luc is out of the picture now and Kimber and Deke live happily ever after.

Again, the story isn't the best, but there's still plenty of steamy sex to make up for it. I'd give this one a 3 out of 5, simply because it was enjoyable as a whole.

Only My Mom

2007-11-11T19:57:00.000-08:00

Would give me this....

In case you can't tell off the bat what this is, it's lip balm. And in fine print it says "St. Anthony Pray For Us"

If I remember correctly, he's the Saint you're supposed to ask to intercede with God for the return of things lost or stolen. Car keys, your favorite sweater, your sunglasses, you name it. So I asked my mom why would St. Anthony be on the cover of a lip balm? So I can lose it and then have to pray:

Something's lost and can't be found
Please, St. Anthony, look around.

She said, "Well, he also helps you find a spouse." I'd never heard that before so naturally I looked it up online. I should've known mom wouldn't just make that up, since I found this:

June 13 - St. Anthony of Padua was born in Lisbon, Portugal and is the patron saint of Portugal. Because he's considered a matchmaker, young people write to him on St. Anthony's Eve, asking for help in finding a spouse. Young men will present a pot of basil concealing a love letter or poem to the young lady they hope to marry on this day as well.

So maybe mom is giving me the lip balm in hopes that I will find a good man and my lips will be ready to go when I do. Haha! Seriously though, I looked up that website on the lip balm. You can get all kinds of lip balm with your favorite saints, Jesus images, angels, etc. I swear, mom would buy a chainsaw if it had St. Anthony on it.

Read Along?

2007-11-08T23:12:00.000-08:00

There's a fairly new shopping plaza near my office that I absolutely love because there's a new Borders inside. I stopped by after work today, with my 20% off coupon in hand. As I entered the sliding doors, I noticed the clearance section out front had some hardback Beverly Cleary books on sale. (::Side note:: I was pleasantly surprised, considering most of the clearance books on display are lame, like How to Make A Friendship Bracelet book that comes with real string. ::End side note::) Now, if you don't know who Beverly Cleary is, she's the author of the famous Ramona series for children.
The book shown here is one of my absolute favorites. Better yet, the book on sale for $7.99 was a hardback Special Edition. I couldn't find a picture of the Special Edition version I saw on the clearance rack, but it basically had the words "Read-Along Edition" on the cover.

Read-along edition? What the crap does that mean? Can someone please tell me what the difference between a RAEdition and the original version of the book is? Isn't that what we're doing with any book... reading along? I know the Ramona books are read out loud by teachers in many classrooms. So is this what RAE is implying? I still don't get it. I opened the book to see some cute illustrations and HUGE print. It was almost blinding. Guess that's what happens when you're so used to reading tiny font on a laptop the size of a sheet of paper.

I guess the RAE means that the font is larger so that children can see the words better and read along side you? Well then, why didn't they just call it Large Print Edition? That makes more sense to me. Am I the only one who has never seen the phrase RAE or thinks it's weird? I don't even know why it boggled my mind so much that I had to go home and blog about it.

13 Qualities I Want in a Husband

2007-11-07T22:23:00.001-08:00

Thirteen Qualities I Want in a Husband

In no particular order. If there's a ** next to it, that means it's a MUST. Otherwise it's just a preference. I'm trying to keep this list specific, and not list down the generic things like "trustworthy, honest, caring, sense of humor, handsome, intelligent." I don't think people are as interested to read lists like that. Been there done that. This list is tailored for me, Daphne.

1) Taller than me. It's really not that hard considering I'm 4'11". **

2) Does not smoke/do drugs. **

3) Knows how to dress. I'm not saying super metro or that he needs to wear expensive brands. I'm talking about basics. Like knowing how to put on a tie. Or knowing that you don't wear white socks with black shoes.

4) Is Christian. Note that I didn't say Catholic, which is what I am. Although I would strongly prefer him to be Catholic, I'm not making that a must. But I am pretty religious and it plays a big part in my life. I'd rather have a good Christian than a bad Catholic. **

5) Isn't in that stage of his life where he's "figuring out what he wants to do" or can't seem to find any career path suitable to him. Nope, sorry. Daphne is not going to go there. I'm not trying to be an elitist. But I just don't want a man who is like my cousins, who will forever be waitressing while taking one unit a semester at a junior college that they should've been done with three years ago - all because they don't know yet what they want to do with their lives. **

6) Is somewhat geeky. What type of geek? The Star Wars loving, video/computer game playing, knows how to build a computer, and knows what I mean when I say things like l33t, w00t, pWn3d, etc. type of geek.

7) Puts family on the top of his list. I don't think I could be with someone who hated his parents (unless it was reasonable, like they abandoned him or something). And I also don't want to date someone who won't let me spend time with my family. **

8) Knows how to have a good time once in awhile with close friends, but is kinda over the whole clubbing/bar scene.

9) Wants children/is open to the possibility of children. I bring this up because my boss was suggesting I go out with his younger brother who is my age. I clicked on the link to his myspace and the guy said "I don't want children" in his profile. No thanks. **

10) Is clean and has good table manners. Yah, this one is kinda generic but it still amazes me how some guys still chew all loud with their mouths open. Or throw their clothes on the floor and leave dirty dishes in the sink. Seriously now. That's a sign of laziness.

11) Is not in major debt. School loans, fine. But being in debt because you HAD to have a new BMW or plasma tv. Nope. No, I'm not only after the richie riches. But after going through all the crap that I do with my brother, I just can't imagine going through it with a potential husband.

12) Gives me some alone time when I need it. Whether it be me wanting to read instead of watch tv with you, me wanting to have a girls night out, or me wanting you not to touch me because I'm on my rag. **

13) In the dating phase - respects the fact that I still live at home, and even if I did move out, no I'm not going to live with you before we get married. (Yes, call me old fashioned, but it's my preference) **

Date with Dance Class Guy

2007-11-04T20:11:00.000-08:00

So I just got home from a date with this guy from dance class. "Dance Class Guy," or DCG for short, picked me up at 4:30, and it's now a little past 8pm. That was probably the earliest date I've ever had. I thought maybe we were going to hang out for awhile, then have dinner around 6 or 7. No, we pretty much went straight to the restaurant since he said he was used to eating dinner early (I think he said his parents eat dinner around 3 or 4pm). Thank goodness I didn't eat lunch today or I woulda been too full to think about eating at such an early time.

We went to a Japanese restaurant because he said he loves Japanese food. Apparently, he lived/studied abroad in Japan for 2.5 years. I'm still debating on whether or not he really meant it when he said Japanese is his favorite food, since he ordered the chicken teriyaki, while I got the real stuff (and by real I mean raw). We chatted about his studies, and I learned that he's trying to get his teaching credentials and eventually teach Chinese. SoCal is one of the few places where you will meet a Hispanic guy who loves Japanese drama shows and speaks Japanese and Chinese, but then doesn't even speak Spanish. Anyway, after dinner we went to a coffee shop and chatted some more. I guess it's a good thing I'm home so early, since tomorrow is Monday and DCG was nice enough to allow me some down time tonight.

So here's the deal. He's got a lot of good qualities to him. He works hard, studies hard, and is fun in dance class. He chews with his mouth closed, and opens all the doors for me, including the car door, so I know he's got manners. But.... I'm not really attracted to him. There, I said it. I admit it. I mean, I already knew I wasn't attracted to him, but I still agreed to the date, since he's not a creep and I do like chatting with him in dance class. But now I'm getting the sense that he really likes me and is attracted to me. So we'll see, I'll go with the flow for now, but if I'm not feelin it still, then I'll just have to let him know that I'm not interested in more than friendship.

So I think I covered the key points to the date. If there's anything else you wanna know about DCG, ask away.

Last Halloween Story and the Crushes are Back!

2007-11-01T15:20:00.001-07:00

So last night was the third and final Halloween party I went to this year. I got the invite from a boss at work and even though there was no alcohol (my boss is a LDS), I knew a bunch of coworkers would be there, so I figured sure, why not?

I wore my peacock costume again. Might as well use it up since I might be too fat to fit in it next year. The party was a bit dull at first, since I got there so early and the only people there were married couples and their babies. But since my coworkers were there I was still enjoying myself. The place was well decorated, there were lights, a fog machine, a DJ, and lots of goodies to eat.

I think after about an hour the party shifted gears and the older married couples were replaced with younger people. The dance floor started filling up and you know I got my groove on, especially to Thriller. At one point I asked my coworker Will, and his wife Mormishmom, "So can you find out who the single guys are?" Of course I was being half serious when I said that, but shortly after I said that, a group of maybe two girls and like four guys walked in. Lemme tell ya, some of those guys were cute. Will of course, notices right away and points out the group of guys coming in. One particular guy caught my eye because he was wearing a bright orange astronaut costume. OMG, guess who Mr. Astronaut was? None other than Rob.

For those of you new to reading my blog, Rob is basically this LDS guy I had a crush on this summer. I got over it since 1) the last time he invited me to a function, he ditched me the entire night 2) He would always invite me to Church activities, and never anything outside of it 3) It just can never be since he's an LDS and I'm Catholic

So anyway, we both saw each other and were shocked. It just never occurred to me that he would be there, even though my boss is a LDS. I greeted him and of course started rambling like I always do. Then I quickly turned to Will and my other coworker John and said "Quick, keep talking to me so I don't look like a loser in front of Rob. I need to pretend I'm popular." Yes, I actually said those words.

As I'm talking to Will, John turns to me and says "Dude, Daphne. That guy keeps looking over his shoulder and glancing at you." Will nodded in agreement and added "Yah, he's checkin you out."

Ohhhhh HECK YAH! I am not gonna lie, people. I was lovin it. LOVE. ING. IT. After that last event where Rob blew me off, I was totally relishing this ego boost moment. So from then on I was having a blast... dancing the night away and talking to random people. Finally I went over to Rob and he said it was a "pleasant surprise to see me," shortly followed by "So, what are you doing next weekend or the weekend after that?" I told him I was busy. He wasted no time with his next follow up question... "Or do you want to come see me give a talk at my church in three weeks?" Ummm, no thanks. Ugh, he just doesn't get it.

So yah, the party was a blast and I would've stayed longer but eventually the cops came to shut the party down since neighbors were complaining. I said goodbye to my boss and a quick "Good seeing ya, take care" to Rob. Hah! Let that stir around in his brain for a bit. Daphne the tempting yet forbidden fruit. I love it.

And speaking of tempting yet forbidden, guess who I also just saw tonight at mass? That's right. Church crush Charlie! Oh thank you Jesus. It's been over 3 months since I last saw him at mass. And to think I almost forgot it was All Saints Day (holy day of obligation). Thank you mother for calling me at work and reminding me to go. And I'm so glad that I had a few minutes to swing by home and freshen up. I wasn't lookin too hot today after last night's Halloween escapades, so I changed my outfit, fixed my hair, and reapplied makeup. When I got to the church, it was packed but I spotted my mom and dad and a space next to mom. Well I didn't realize until later in mass that Charlie, his mom, and his younger brother were sitting behind me. Oh boy, thank goodness my skin tone is darker, otherwise you woulda seen me blushing brighter than a tomato.

Even months later, he still looks good. Holy dang, you better believe I was praying hard at mass, mostly saying "Thank you Lord!" over and over in my head. Ahhh, I'm such a freak.

13 Songs That Make Me Think About Stuff

2007-10-30T22:05:00.000-07:00

Whether it be from my computer, mp3 player, or radio, recently I've noticed that several songs have made me think to myself "Aww, that totally reminds me of [person/place/event]" I think I have enough songs to be able to compile a list, so without further ado here they are:

1) Redneck Yacht Club by Craig Morgan - reminds me of when I first started listening to country music. I think this was the song that made me love this genre.

2) A Hard Days Night (or pretty much any song) by The Beatles - reminds me of being a kid and singing all the Beatles songs with my brother and cousins. We used to choreograph something for this song, I can't remember exactly, but I know we did. Also reminds me of road trips to San Francisco.

3) Slide by Goo Goo Dolls - reminds me of high school, and driving around with my best friend Moo to all these random places so we could get extra credit for physics, english, chemistry, etc.

4) Bizarre Love Triangle by New Order - reminds me of New Year's Eve parties with my family. Man, we used to throw these kick ass parties every year and we'd always dance to this one.

5) Crash Into Me by Dave Matthews Band - this song used to almost always make me cry. I can't really explain, it's just one of my favorite songs ever.

6) Every Morning by Sugar Ray - reminds me of my dad. He used to sing this all the time and I'm pretty sure he didn't even know what the lyrics meant. But he cracks me up whenever he sings this.

7) Too Close by Next - reminds me of the Aloha dance senior year of high school. That was my favorite dance of my whole high school career, even better than prom. Probably because my cousin and my brother and his best friend were there and we took a group picture that I'll always treasure.

8) By Your Side - Sade - reminds me of my college freshman roommate, Raven. She didn't have a computer and I let her borrow mine, and I noticed she would always download a lot of R&B songs in her "Raven's music" folder.

9) Without Love from Hairspray soundtrack - reminds me of Rowena. Because we'll never get tired of that song.

10) Shake it Off by Mariah Carey - reminds me of Isabel. I don't even know if she's mentioned to me that she likes this song, but for some reason I always think of her when I hear it.

11) You Shook Me All Night Long by AC/DC - reminds me of Holly. And DW. And DQ.

12) Good Directions by Billy Currington - reminds me of Georgia. And my friend Patti who lives there.

13) The Girl from Ipanema version sung by Frank Sinatra - reminds me of late night studying. And rainy days. And winter time.

The Halloween Party in AZ

2007-10-30T21:06:00.000-07:00

So this is a follow up to my post yesterday. I know Holly shared a bit on her post that I felt a bit uncomfortable at the party. I'm not gonna lie, because it's true. I wouldn't exactly say that I didn't have fun or that I wanted to go home or anything, but it just wasn't a) in my comfort zone b) what I was expecting c) what I normally do when I go out anyway.

I guess I have to start by saying that I rarely go out to bars, clubs, adult parties in general. I didn't do much of that in college either. I'm also a big time light weight. Don't believe me? Ask Holly. One drink and I'm usually out. Even at Holly's last sleepover I could barely keep my eyes open past midnight. And if you wanna know how often I drink, well that's probably like once (as in one drink) every two months. Mostly it's because I always have to drive somewhere, and just like my mom says.. I don't want to DUI (she says it like it's a verb).

I also don't smoke. Now don't get me wrong, many people I know smoke, including my brother, his girlfriend, and Holly, to name a few. When I'm with someone who smokes, it doesn't bother me if I can just step away and let them do their thing. But places like Vegas casinos? Bleh, I get really irritated by that smell and I might even get light-headed if extremely smokey smelling.

I mention all of the above, so you can understand why this party wasn't happenin for me. The party was supplied with a keg of beer, and lots of Jell-o shots. All of this I was expecting, but man those Jell-o shots were strong! I started the evening off with two consecutive shots, which made it harder to finish my one ~~glass~~ plastic cup of beer. Then when most of the guests started to arrive, I noticed one thing right away. All of them smoked. Pretty much everyone there except for Holly's sister, Drama Queen (aka DQ). So that's why I kept to myself within the garage, because everyone else was smoking outside the garage area.

Then there's the fact that I was at a USMC base. Everyone was nice but let's face it, marines just flat out intimidate me. I was already feeling uncomfortable in my peacock costume, because it reveals more than I care to let people see. But I honestly felt like a lamb in the lion's den. I just felt so awkward and small and not very confident around the guys. I know I could've made a better effort to just strike up conversation, but ever since I've been single again, I just panic every time I'm confronted by a guy. Believe me, I suck at confrontation. If you don't believe me read this excerpt from my MM save me post:

Then... as I was walking to find Holly at the bar, some guy stopped me in my tracks and said "woa, where ya off to? what's your name?" Eeek, I panicked. I didn't want to give out my real name, and I wasn't quick enough on my feet to think of a fake name, so I glanced around really fast, saw MM, and blurted out "MM.... save me!" Yah, real slick.

So that's pretty much why I felt uncomfortable. You're probably wondering "well what did you expect the party to be like on a Marine base?" Honestly, I didn't even know it was on a Marine base until we were almost there. (Sorry Holly, if you had mentioned it to me and I just spaced out). Not that that matters, I still would've gone, and it was pretty much what I was expecting: great music, lots of booze, and people having fun. What I wasn't expecting, was my reaction to it all. So I guess it's just me. Again, possibly it's just not my cup of tea. But like I said, I had a good weekend anyway, and I'm glad I had the experience.

Busiest Weekend Ever!

2007-10-29T12:20:00.000-07:00

I can't believe I even have the energy to type up this blog because I'm so dang tired today. Here's the lowdown on my weekend:

Friday night I left work at 7:30, which is pretty late for a Friday and went straight to this Halloween party at a friend of a friend's house. I had my costume with me at work, because the place was far and made no sense for me to drive home then drive all the way back south. So the party was pretty low-key, the house was decorated very well. Cobwebs everywhere, fog machine, DJ, pumpkins, halloween kitchen stuff, halloween bathroom stuff, you name it they had it. The hosts even bought several pictures in frames that look like normal people then turn all creepy when you walk by (like haunted mansion in Disneyland). There was a ton of food and booze (a keg and all kinds of hard liquor). Then there was a pumpkin carving contest which I only watched from the sidelines. Apparently it's a big deal every year b/c people went all out, bringing their own carving tools, pre-drawing crazy designs on their pumpkins.

I sported my peacock costume, and felt very self conscious. But everyone said it looked cute so I stopped feeling paranoid after awhile. So that was Friday and I didn't stay too late, since I wanted to be home by midnight.

Saturday morning I got up at 7:30, showered, packed my bags, then drove over to Holly's. We left for Arizona before noon, and stopped at a Sonics for lunch. Ok, I've never been there before, but dude that place rocks! I sooo want one near my house now. We arrived at the USMC base around 4 (I think), where we settled in, I showered and got ready for the Halloween party.

At this point I think I want to save the party for another post. (sorry, but I'm rushing as it is to type up this blog). I'm guessing I went to bed around 11pm or midnight on Saturday. Sunday I woke up at 9 (I think) and we just chilled/recovered from hangovers. We left AZ around noon and got back to Holly's mom's place around 4:30. I left right away, and with traffic, got home around 6:30pm Sunday evening. I had 15 minutes to change until my best friend "Moo" came over. We left my house at 6:45 to drive up to the Nokia Theatre in LA to see the Sugarland Concert. I had a pretzel and a beer, and was ready to pass out. The preshow was Jake Owen, followed by Little Big Town, and then Sugarland didn't come on until 10ish. I think I got home around midnight last night. Concert was great, but not the best. The venue was more of a performing arts type of place and nobody around me stood up even during the faster songs so I was sorta just rockin in my chair. But yah, love me some Sugarland and Jennifer (lead singer) can SING!

Alright I'll continue this post when I have more free time. Ciao bellas!

13 Things that Annoy Me Today

2007-10-25T13:05:00.000-07:00

I need to vent. So here ya go...

1) I still haven’t finished Virgin River. This is probably a record for me, the longest time it’s taken to finish a book. Every night I try to read and every night I barely make it through one chapter.

2) The fact that Robyn Carr is guest blogging on Book Binge and I still haven’t finished VR (see #1)

3) The fact that my mom is almost done with Whispering Rock (third book in the VR series) (see #1 and 2)

4) Smoke. In the air I breathe outside. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, read Wendy’s post on the SoCal fires.

5) All that ashy stuff floating around and settling on top of my car (related to #4). Then me opening my car door and coughing because said ashy stuff is all up in my face.

6) Status meetings every freakin day. I swear I spend more time doing administrative stuff for this job than actually doing the job. I spend more time than I like updating the stupid excel file showing the status of each thing, open items, where each hour of my time went for the week.

7) Driving home any time after 9pm and still being stuck in traffic because they’re doing construction on the 405 freeway and they block off three left lanes of traffic.

8) Stockings. I buy a pair they rip. I buy another, they rip. I wear them today and find a huge rip down the back left leg. Only to realize that I’ve got hair stubble (yah yah, gross I know, whatever… hush) so do I leave them on or take them off?

9) This dang staff who keeps tapping his foot because he’s listening to music on his headphones. And even though I told him to leave one ear free in case I call out his name, his music is so dang loud he never hears me.

10) Finding out your good staff is calling in sick and being stuck with staff (see #9) who I don’t know what work to assign them since I wasn’t here the last few days.

11) My boss pointing out to everyone that last night I was looking for a Heifeweizzen (sp?) on the drink menu under “H” because I didn’t know that it was a type of beer, not a brand. Dude, I get it. Now shut up. Not everyone cares about beer.

12) Me not winning the 24 hour fitness membership card (good for one year and worth over $800) through our office United Way campaign. Then seeing a list of people who did win and knowing some of them have never seen a gym in over 10 years.

13) My brother. Who hasn’t paid me back any (yes, any) of the $800 he still owes me.

New Client, New Costume, New Experience

2007-10-22T09:28:00.000-07:00

Sorry I haven't updated in awhile. I've been uber swamped at work, mainly due to a new assignment for me. I've pretty much revamped my entire schedule, replacing three of my clients with one big client. It's pretty exciting and scary at the same time. But so far I like it and I know it'll be good for my career. So that's the short of why I've been missing.

Anyway, this weekend I picked up my Halloween costume. After several years of not dressing up, this year I said to myself "Dammit, I'm dressing up and I'm gonna go to a party for once!" Sure enough, I just recently got invites for three different parties (one being with Holly in Arizona) so it pretty much forced me to go costume shopping this weekend. Here's what I got...

Now I wanna note a couple of things. 1) The Halloween costume store was super packed and I seriously didn't spend more than 15 minutes in there. So once I grabbed this one, I pretty much didn't wanna bother searching anymore. 2) The front of the package said the model in this pic was 5'3" and I'm 4'11" So I figured, okay it looks kinda short on her, but maybe it will cover more of me when I put it on. 3) Small/medium is sadly no longer my size. This is what I ended up buying but I swear this costume is so tight I can barely breathe. Or is it supposed to be that way?

So I tried it on when I got home, and I swear the thing barely covers my butt. If it weren't for the peacock part in the back, I swear I would feel so naked and self conscious. I might have to wear bloomers underneath (bloomers are what we called the black bottom underwear thing back when I was in colorguard in high school). And the top corset part? OMG I can barely breathe it's so tight. And so low cut. Aww man, why didn't I just go for the Alice in Wonderland costume? Oh well, there you have it, my costume.

On another random topic, I went to Disneyland yesterday and let me tell you, it was not fun. Never ever go to Disneyland when it's windy. It sucks. I spent half the day walking around like a blind man because I kept getting leaves and debris in my eyes. Apparently there was a fire somewhere in Orange County because I could smell the smoke in the air. When I went home to shower last night, I rubbed a Q-tip in my ear and when I looked at it, all this black sooty stuff was on it. Gross! So yah, that was an interesting experience, but now I've learned my lesson.

More Daphne to Love

2007-10-16T21:40:00.000-07:00

Got this from Holly and since I haven't done one of these in awhile I figured okay why not.

1. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE? Not to my knowledge

2. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED? Like a little cry? When I read HP Deathly Hallows.. like ball my eyes out? At Holly's house that time we had our foursome

3. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING? No, it's worse than a boy's

4. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCH MEAT? I like Holly's answer so I'm gonna say the same....Hard salami. No comments from the Peanut Gallery please.

5. DO YOU HAVE KIDS? No

6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU? If I were a boy, yes. If I were a girl.. hmm.. maybe

7. DO YOU USE SARCASM A Lot? All the time. I need to cut back on it especially at work

8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS? I think so. Hahaha

9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP? Nope, but I might be inclined to skydive

10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL? Kashi

11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF? Only my dance shoes, but regular sneakers? Heck no I chuck that off my foot when I get home

12. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG? Emotionally? Yes. Physically? Nope.

13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM? Pistacchio

14. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE? Posture/maneurisms, their face, then the way they talk.

15. RED OR PINK? Pink

16. WHAT IS THE LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF? That I lack confidence and put too much pressure on myself. Also that I'm too afraid to stick up for myself sometimes.

17. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST? K don't throw tomatoes at me... but I miss my ex. It's pretty much like losing a best friend.

18. DO YOU WANT EVERYONE TO DO THIS? Sure, why not?

19. WHAT COLOR PANTS AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING? Light brown khakis and black boots.

20. WHAT WAS THE LAST THING YOU ATE? Chow mein

21. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW? Jumpin Joz.. they're a big band music group for swing

22. IF YOU WHERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE? Periwinkle. Because I like to say it.

23. FAVORITE SMELLS? Food when I'm hungry, and of course that earthy man smell that you read about in books. LOL!

24. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE? My client. Nothing exciting. Before that, Holly last night.

25. DO YOU LIKE THE PERSON WHO SENT THIS TO YOU? Holly? Meh, she's aight.

26. FAVORITE SPORTS TO WATCH? USC Football... and pro football. Tennis, and figure skating.

27. HAIR COLOR? Black. I never color it

28. EYE COLOR? Dark brown

29. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS? Yup

30 FAVORITE FOOD? Chips and Salsa

31. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS? Happy Endings. I HATE scary movies

32. LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED? The Holiday

33. WHAT COLOR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING? Turquoise

34. SUMMER OR WINTER? Summer. I hate cold.

35. HUGS OR KISSES? Hugs.

36. FAVORITE DESSERT? Ummm... vanilla bean ice cream

37. MOST LIKELY TO RESPOND? Don't know, guess I will have to wait and see.

38. LEAST LIKELY TO RESPOND? I dunno, but I won't be offended or anything.

39. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING NOW? Virgin River by Robyn Carr

40. WHAT IS ON YOUR MOUSE PAD? I don't have one. This is a laptop.

41. WHAT DID YOU WATCH ON TV LAST NIGHT? Nothing.

42. FAVORITE SOUND? Laughter

43. ROLLING STONES OR BEATLES? Beatles

44. WHAT IS THE FARTHEST YOU HAVE BEEN FROM HOME? This question sounds weird.. but I think I know what it's asking...Australia

45. DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL TALENT? Not really.

46. WHERE WERE YOU BORN? Manila

Gen Y

2007-10-16T08:32:00.000-07:00

I've been getting really annoyed with Gen Y kids these days. I realize I'm being a total hypocrite because technically, I was born in 1982, so that makes me a Gen Y kid. Whatever. This post is mainly referring to people younger than me at work. The staff in our firm who are either right out of college or have gone through one year with the firm. I could go on and on about work related issues of why I'm annoyed with Gen Y kids, but instead I'm going to focus on one specific topic - Gen Y's who live in the Orange County (the OC).

I've never lived in the OC, but now that I work here, I realize that the culture is so different from how I grew up in LA county. Take my friend Alex, for example. Last night we were driving home from swing dance class, and he turned to look at me, saw the sweater I was wearing, and said "You might want to put that thing in a shredder. It makes you look like a hobo." I just shrugged and said "Meh, I'm not trying to impress anyone at dance class, and I sure as hell ain't trying to impress you."

Then we got back to my house (where his car was parked) and we were talking about text messaging. Well apparently my phone doesn't have all the neat gadgets his does because he said my phone was old and I needed a new one. Hello! I just got this phone less than a year ago. And to finally seal the deal and kick me when I'm already down, Alex finishes with "Yah, you live at home, your car is old, your phone is old, and you wear hobo clothes. You must have a lot of money saved up." I guess I was tired because it didn't really sink in... until this morning.

I swear I woke up this morning just feeling angry. Not the way to start the day. I realized, hey wait a minute, that was pretty insulting and mean of him to say all those things to me last night. How dare he! Sorrrrreee if I don't drive a new Audi like you, or drive a BMW like oh I dunno.. at least five other staff I know in our office. Seriously now, is there something I don't know about the staff pay? Should I quit and get rehired as a staff? How can they afford beamers? Answer... they don't. Their parents help them out. Which is fine, I'm not pissed about that. But I am pissed that these kids have pretty much lost touch with reality and what is considered "poor/ghetto" to them is not to most others. And meanwhile I look like a square to them because I'm saving money rather than living it up. How does that make sense? That is classic Gen Y right there.

So yah, I'm really pissed and hurt by Alex right now and I think I'm going to ignore him for awhile. I think in general I'm just so sick of the whole OC culture and snobbish attitudes. This is yet another reason why I don't want to move here.

Tea for Two and Two for Tea

2007-10-13T19:37:00.000-07:00

Dude. I'm seriously addicted to teahouses now. Ever since my good friend Patti, from Georgia, took me to one in her town, I've been trying to find similar teahouses here in SoCal. Well, some of my girlfriends and I checked out this place today, called Sussex Teapot, and it's pretty good. It doesn' t have any of the hats and fur coats that the other place had, not to mention the southern feel to it, but it was still cute and located in a quiet/quaint little area.

The four of us had the Afternoon Cream Tea - which is pretty much a pot of tea, tea sandwiches, and scones with jam and cream. The great part about being four of us, is that we each got a different sandwich, and the lady serving us was nice enough to divide the sandwiches for us. So your tea sandwiches arrive with some chips and salad. The tea I had was vanilla, and it was oh so scrumptious. Sure, I had to pee several times this afternoon from drinking cup after cup, but it was worth it. And the scones... yum! Just the right size and very good with cream/jam. All this for only $13.50 per person. I think that's well worth it.

So anyway, we're gonna try to make this a once a month thing. I swear I'm getting old because when I tell other people I'm going out for tea, they kinda look at me like I'm a freakin loser. And you know what? I really don't care. The girls and I usually do a monthly happy hour after work too, where we bitch about work and kick back a few drinks (well, they do, not me). So this is pretty much the same deal.. but instead of cursing and being loud about our work venting, we're doing it in a more refined way. *smiles*

Does anyone else like having tea parties? And if you're from SoCal, know of any good places?

Fhat the Wuck?

2007-10-11T21:43:00.000-07:00

So I'm sitting here looking at my blog, and out of the blue I decide to look at my profile, since it's been awhile. I realized that there's a random question that blogger likes to throw at you, and you can keep getting random questions spit out at you as long as you save your profile each time. Well, I click on Save Profile and here's the random question I got:

For your birthday, your aunt gave you a maple syrup dispenser shaped like a rooster. Please write her a thank-you note:

WTF dude! Or as my brother would say... fhat the wuck. Seriously, out of all the questions I thought I would get, this was so not what I was expecting. Anyway, I briefly typed something up (if you're interested click on my profile at the sidebar). What I want to know is... what would YOU write down as your response?

Desktop Meme

2007-10-11T21:03:00.000-07:00

Got this from Holly. I really don't think my desktop is interesting, but here it is....

I have few icons, because that's just how I like it. I hate cluttered desktops and seeing people save everything to their desktop and never deleting/moving it. You can't read some of the print, so here's what the icons are (Clockwise from top left): My documents, My pictures, EBWLibrarian, My computer, My network places, New Folder, Recycle Bin, Mozilla Firefox, and Shortcut to Music. The background pic comes from this site. This is where I usually get my desktop themes.

Here's how you play:

A. Upon receiving this tag, immediately perform a screen capture of your desktop. It is best that no icons be deleted before the screen capture so as to add to the element of fun. You can do a screen capture by going to your desktop and pressing the Print Scrn key (located on the right side of the F12 key). Open a graphics program (like Picture Manager, Paint, or Photoshop) and do a Paste (CTRL + V).If you wish, you can “edit” the image, before saving it.

B. Post the picture in your blog. You can also give a short explanation on the look of your desktop just below it if you want. You can explain why you preferred such look or why is it full of icons. Things like that.

C. Tag five of your friends and ask them to give you a Free View of their desktop as well.

D. Add your name to this list of Free Viewers with a link pointing directly to your Desktop Free View post to promote it to succeeding participants.

So, I am going to tag: Anyone who wants to do this.

The list of Free Viewers so far is:

* iRonnie - I Set No Corner
* Thess - Thesserie
* Rebecca - Skippy Heart
* Knoizki - A Dialogue With K
* Beng - Kauderwelch
* Tina- My Good Finds
* Rachel - Heart of Rachel
* Alice - Hello, My Name Is Alice
* Julia - Julia's Books Corner!
* Darla - Nichtszusagen
* Marg - Reading Adventures
* Holly - What Were You Expecting
* Daphne - Daphne's Adventures

13 Reasons I Think My CoWorker Might Be Gay

2007-10-10T21:34:00.000-07:00

So there's this new guy I'm working with. Totally nice, funny, sweet, hard working, etc.... and I think he might be gay. Now seriously, I have no problem with this, and his sexual orientation has no effect on how I think of him as a worker. But it's not like I have a gaydar on me and I don't think it's one of those things you just flat out ask. I've only been working with him for 3 days, but so far I've got a good list of reasons why I think he might be gay (which again, I'm not saying is a bad thing)...

1) When I tried to give him a high-five today, it was a light tap and he almost missed my hand.

2) He likes talking about celebrity sightings. You know, So and So was dining at the such and such restaurant in Beverly Hills.

3) The other guy working with him tries to sit as far away from him whenever we eat lunch at the cafeteria.

4) Today he told guy from #3 above that he wanted to "wrestle" with him. I said "What? Wrestle? You mean like thumb wrestling?" Nope, he meant real wrestling. Hmmm. Riiiiight.

5) He asked me where he could find the closest Bed Bath and Beyond.

6) He loves shopping at Target.

7) He constantly plays with his class ring on his finger.

8) When we mentioned going to Happy Hour on Friday at a dive bar that had waitresses dressed in bikinis, he seemed to no longer be paying attention to the conversation.

9) He wants time off next month because his "best friend" is visiting. He never says my friend, it's always best friend. Do guys really use that term? (Other than MM Holly *snort*)

10) He asked me where the good Thai restaurants are because he loves Thai food.

11) When he's about to write down notes on his pad of paper, he crosses his legs.

12) He's got a lot of bright colors and variety in his wardrobe. Not just plain white/light blue dress shirts.

13) Said the jambalaya looked pretty good, except he wouldn't eat it because it had sausages in it... and he doesn't like sausage. Umm hmm. Riiiiight.

Lover Unbound Review

2007-10-08T18:02:00.000-07:00

So I finally finished this weekend. I gotta say, it wasn't THAT bad. I'll explain in a minute. But first, let me get to the obvious bad stuff... Vishous storyline. I can't go further without spoiling anything, so stop reading if you don't want to hear spoilers.

In Lover Revealed we saw hints of V possibly being gay or bi or just straight up confused. Here we pretty much confirm it... not only is he in love with Butch, but he straight up admits he wanted Butch physically. *ahem* And I quote...

As V ignored the jab, he found himself focusing on Butch's lips. In a very quiet voice, he said, "You know... I totally wanted to have sex with you."
"I know." Butch's head twisted around, and their eyes met. "Past tense now, huh."

Well, spit. That pretty much seals the deal right there. Now here's the thing. I'm not bothered by the fact that V said that, or feels that way about Butch. What bothers me is that we're then supposed to believe that he just got over these feelings because of Dr. Jane Whitcomb? I really don't think so.

While I don't have anything against Jane, I just didn't feel the chemistry between her and V considering a) she's described as manly looking *gag* b) she thought V and Butch were lovers, and what? she just brushed that aside? *rolls eyes* c) her retarded oatmeal story didn't seem comparable to his story, so I don't know see how that 'connected them' *rolls eyes again* d) it was hard for me to believe she didn't have any problems with V's dom-style sex

So basically, I was pretty meh about V's storyline, and I'm sure everyone else has beat that gay/bi/Butch thing to death, so that's all I'm going to say. Some other quick things I didn't like about the book: 1) Wrath again being totally useless and not helping anyone out. I swear all the guy ever does is call meetings together, where he takes off his wraparounds and massages his temples because he's frustrated. 2) Z seems kinda different than how he was in his book. I can't put my finger on it, but it's just in the way he's sorta become a father figure to John and how whipped he is by Bella. *shrug* 3) John bitchin about 'when am I going to go through my transition?' and then finally does, but still acts like a freakin pussy. I swear his storyline is partially what kept me reading only to find that I'm still frustrated with him.

Let's get to what I did like about the book. First, I liked that there was no stupid Mr. X storyline crap. I usually skip those parts so I'm glad I didn't have to read that. Second, I really like Phury's storyline. I'm upset with him that he caved in and experienced his first with a prostitute, but at least he pulled out. Hah! The one thing I'm afraid of though, is that it's sorta becoming a theme of JRW.... to introduce her characters as being in love with someone else, then giving him/her their own story and forcing us to believe he/she now loves someone else. Let's recap for a sec.... Marissa loves Wrath, now she loves Butch. Butch loves Marissa but drinks V's blood and knows V loves him but apparently doesn't care. V loves Butch, now he loves Jane. Phury loves Bella, then he'll love Cormia. Hmmmm.. I see a pattern here. Why don't we all just have one big orgy and drink each other's blood? *sigh*

So there you have it. Sorry I'm all over the place with my thoughts, but just had to jot them down before I move on with my life and forget this book completely. Again, wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, only because for some weird reason, despite everything, I still like V. Go check it out for yourself. I'm giving this one a 3 out of 5.

Alex is Awesome

2007-10-04T19:30:00.001-07:00

I don't remember if I've blogged about my friend Alex before. He's a really cool staff in my office that everyone seems to know, even if they've never worked with him. Like me. I've never worked directly with him, and sadly, don't think my schedule will allow me to in the future. He's super hilarious and always makes those comments that are borderline funny and OMG-WTF-I-can't-believe-you-just-said-that-at-work.

Let me briefly set up the premise before I share our conversation. We're chatting online, talking about people at work who we consider true friends, or just coworkers, and nothing more. He jokes with me, saying I'm just a coworker, not a friend. I told him that considering he knows a lot of personal stuff about me I wouldn't normally share with anyone, and we haven't even worked together, I think of him as a friend.

Me: "I wouldn't have told you all that stuff about me after Monday's dance lesson if I didn't think of you as a good friend." (We're taking swing dancing classes in case you're wondering)

Alex: "haha, yea...well i feel good that you told me...i guess that means that you trust me...even though I told people that we danced...VERTICALLY!!!"

Me: "Vertically? Huh? I don't get it." (I'm thinking maybe he said that on purpose?)

Alex: "What kind of 'dance moves' would one do while being vertical...?"

Alex: "Come on.... you got this...."

*snort*.....I guess he didn't say it on purpose

Me: "Sweetie."

*pause*

Me: "I think you mean horizontally."

*pause*

Alex: HAHAHA

Alex: "You are correct my friend...wow, that ruins the whole joke."

Me: "Yah... and you had it in all caps too."

I'm tellin ya. Alex is awesome. Even if he tells people we did the vertical mambo.

(Note: conversation copied and pasted from my chat window, with edits to correct spelling [his, not mine] and punctuation)

Speakin of dancing... Alex sent me this video this morning. I normally don't laugh at this kind of stuff, but most people think this type of thing is funny. So here ya go. If you enjoy it, great.. Daphne showed it to you... if not... it's Alex, not me.

Another Awkward Conversation

2007-10-04T07:57:00.000-07:00

Don't you just love it when a perfectly pleasant conversation turns awkward in the space of a heart beat? I must be weird, because I love love love it when I'm chatting with someone and all of a sudden there's this awkward pause. And everyone knows that something not quite right just happened with the last few words spoken.

I just recently met this new staff in our office, I think you spell his name Angad. Anyway, he's really good friends with another staff, Sam, who I absolutely adore. Yesterday I was walking around the office, when I ran into these two guys. And so begins the conversation:

Me: "Hey guys what's up?"

A: "Hey there."

S: "Heyyyy what's up buddy!?"

*insert random work talk*

Me: "So are you guys working together, because every time I see one of you, the other one is there too. You guys are like... "

S: "Two peas in a pod?"

Me: "Exactly."

*we all chuckle for a bit*

A: "Yah, Sam likes to come bug me and we'll just walk around the office for a bit and see who's around."

Me: "Yah I do that sometimes too when I need a break. Which reminds me, I need to get back to work."

A: "Me too. It's all Sam's fault. I'm busy workin while he's just up here jackin off."

Me: *pause*

S: *pause*

A: "And by that I mean the other meaning of 'jackin off'"

**Sam and I start crackin up**

S: "Dude, you can't dig out of that hole now."

Me: "It's okay. I have no idea what that phrase means."

A: "Yah right."

Me: "So let's talk about something else before we all get fired."

S: "Okay. We played softball the other night. It was Angad's first time. He held the bat weird because he's used to playing cricket in India."

A: "Yup. I held it like this..." *he then demonstrates* "So you DO know what cricket is right?"

Me: "Yes."

A: "Really?"

Me: "Um, yes."

A: "Okay because most people don't."

Me: "It's okay. If anything, we're the weird ones who stole the name futbol and changed it to football, but we're not really using our feet."

S: "Why are you saying 'we'?"

Me: "We as in us Americans..... Oh, what I can't say we because I'm asian? I'm American too ya know."

*we all start laughing again*

Oh I love these two guys. I'm sure I'll have more funny stories with them.

Lover Unbound in the hizzzouse

2007-10-03T11:21:00.000-07:00

Dang. I'm uber swamped today at work and we have a lame ass "town hall meeting" in 10 minutes, so I can’t write much. Just wanted to share that I finally got a hold of Lover Unbound. Oh dear, here we go right?

I went to Borders twice over the weekend and they were all out. Frustrated (since I had my coupons) I decided to let it go. But after meeting the blog girls I was dying to read it and find out for myself how lame it is. I finally caved in last night and went to Barnes. I got the last copy they had! Woohoo. Go me.

As I paid for my merchandise, the woman at the register said "What is up with this book? Everyone’s been buying it." I said "Yah I know. It’s gonna be really bad but I’m dying to read it." She’s like giving me this look like ummm okay, then why are you reading it if it’s bad. Because I want to, okay? Anyway, as it turned out, I had a gift card still from my birthday in June, and I bought the book and still have like $6 left on my card. Awwww jyyyyeah. Yes, I put the J there on purpose. Aww jyeah.

So even if this book sucks, I didn’t really have to pay for it. Alright I’m outta time. Later everyone. Have a great day.

SoCal Blog Meet

2007-09-30T21:10:00.000-07:00

Saturday Rowena and I drove to Victoria Gardens to meet up with Holly, Rosie, Wendy, Lori and Nicole. I already know Holly Wena, but this was the first time I met the other girls. We met up at Borders and most of us bought the new Lisa Kleypas, Mine Till Midnight. Then we headed over to Cheesecake Factory for lunch. This isn't the first time I've met "online friends" in person, but it still amazes me (in a good way) how books can bring different people together.

We talked briefly about our lives and of course, about books. I think my favorite conversations were 1) Rosie's Lover Unbound rant, which I now want to read simply because I want to see for myself how lame the book is 2) Wendy's rant on The Dark Highlander. I swear the look on Wena's face when Wendy said she didn't like the hero of Dark Highlander, Dageus, was priceless. Although, I was surprised too. I mean, how can you not like Dageus? Haha. Sorry, off topic I know. Anyway, after lunch we headed over to Nicole's van to check out the collection of books the girls brought. Sadly, I left my stack of books I was going to bring (including Wena's cookbook that I keep forgetting to send her) and I feel so awful that I forgot. Not that my collection is any good, but you never know if you have that one book someone needs. So sorry girls, I'll try to remember next time.

After our meet up, Wena, Holly and I went to Jamba Juice since we were all thirsty and had a long drive ahead of us back to Holly's place. Not that it's a big deal or anything, but this was the first time Holly tried Jamba Juice. Can you believe that? I know Wena and I couldn't. So then we got to see Holly's new SUV, and I'm so jealous because it's new and shiny and is way cooler than my car. We drove back to Holly's place for our girls' night slumber party. I reallly wanted to take a nap, but I started looking at her book collection again, and by then the other guests arrived. So it was me, Holly, Wena, Holly's sister, mom, grandma, and soon-to-be sister-in-law. We had a wonderful Italian dinner of spaghetti, italian sausage, garlic bread, and Spumoni ice cream for dessert. That was the first time I met Holly's grandma, and I seriously love that woman. She busted out the Rummikub and we played that game for hours. I started getting tired because I'm weaksauce like that and my contacts started drying out. So I wasn't able to stay up later and play drinking games with the girls. Oh well, I still had a great time. Honestly, those are the kinds of evenings I enjoy, just hanging out at a friend's house, playing board games and chatting. I'm so not about making a big production of hanging out. I like to go out every now and then, but it's so much more relaxing to be at a friend's house, in comfy clothes, with music and good food.

I also want to add that Wena and I listened to my Hairspray CD like ten million times, which is fine by me. I had a fab weekend so thank you gals!

13 Words/Phrases I Use Because of Work

2007-09-27T12:41:00.000-07:00

I've never really used these words/phrases before until I started working. Some of them drive me nuts (like who says that in "real life"?) but I guess they've become habit; a standard in my every day vocabulary. Do you use any of these words/phrases?

1) Cognizant (i.e. "So we need to be cognizant of this accounting issue when speaking to them on this conference call")

2) Out-of-pocket (i.e. "I've got a meeting from 2-4, so I'll be out of pocket during that time")

3) We noted that (i.e. "We noted that this increase was due to...")

4) Mitigating (i.e. "We need to find a mitigating control for their lack of approval on forms")

5) w/o/e or w/f/r (stands for without exception and waive further review)

6) Appears reasonable

7) Defeasance (i.e. "The defeasance of this bond took place in August")

8) Pro forma (i.e. "Can you get a pro forma of last year's document?")

9) Haphazardly (i.e. "We haphazardly selected two items to test")

10) Clerically tested/accurate

11) Foot (i.e. "Can you foot this schedule?")

12) Immaterial (i.e. "The $3 million variance is immaterial to our testing scope")

13) Touch base (i.e. "I'm calling because I wanted to touch base with you on this scheduling conflict")

My brother is an idiot...

2007-09-26T10:27:00.000-07:00

but I'm probably an even bigger idiot. Let me explain.

My brother Doug has major issues when it comes to money. "Issues" meaning... he doesn't have any. I swear the guy lives off every single pay check, and it drives me nuts that he's always asking for $20 here, $10 there. I even get the "yah can I borrow twenty bucks because if I get it from the ATM I'll be overdrawn." Hello, you're 27, how can you possibly live like that? It boggles my mind.

Anyway, yesterday he messages me asking for a big favor. Right away I knew it had to be about money. Here's how it went down:

Doug: "So there's this LCD TV I really want but I don't have enough credit available on my credit card, do you have enough to cover $800?"

Me: "Umm, yes."

Doug: "Do you think you can buy it online and I'll go pick it up?"

Me: "Can't Janice get it for you?" (Janice being his gf who he's living with)

Doug: "No, she doesn't have credit cards. And she tried applying for a circuit city card but got denied."

WTF! How does Janice have a 9-5 job and not have a CC? Freakin lame

Doug: "So I can pay you back in two checks. One this Friday, the other next Friday."

Me: "So why not just buy it then if you're gonna get paid in two weeks? Is this some kind of special deal that ends today?"

Doug: "No, I'm just not doing anything today and I really want to pick it up."

At this point, I'm furious. I decide to try another tactic and message Janice, who is also online.

Me: "Hey Janice you know anything about my brother buying an LCD? He's asking me to buy it online right now."

Janice: "Oh really? I know he's been wanting one for awhile and I'd rather he hold off, but I have no control over it, if he wants to get it then it's his money."

Okay, no help there.

Me: "Well, I have to let you know that I think this is a really bad idea given that you guys are always strapped for cash. You guys should be using that money for rent. And Doug still owes me $400."

Janice: "$400? For what?"

Me: "Oh this is back from 2005. I wrote him two checks. Whatever, I don't expect to ever get that back."

Janice: "Well I'll make sure he pays you back for the TV and the $400."

You better, or I'll kick both of your asses.

Doug: "Oh nevermind, I just found out you can't order online and me pick it up. What time will you be home tonight? We can go to the store and I'm cooking dinner."

Well I'll be damned. It's been 3 months since he moved out and now he decides to invite me over to see his place. Freakin idiot.

Me: "I won't be home until ten, tomorrow I'm busy until ten as well, Thursday I'm having dinner with Nicole."

Doug: "Aww okay. I guess I can wait till next week then."

(30 minutes later)

Doug: "Hey I found the TV on amazon and it's $200 cheaper. Can you buy it for me?"

I'm tired. I'm cranky. I have no time for this crap. Go away. *headdesk*

Me: "Okay, but I'm putting a disclaimer. I am 100% against this purchase and I think you need to be using this money on things you actually need. And if you want to order this online and the tv gets damaged for whatever reason, you're still paying me back or I will hunt you down."

Doug: "Okay, duly noted."

Here's where I'm guessing Janice told him about our conversation earlier because he adds:

Doug: "Hey I realize I'm asking for a lot..."

Me: "It's not about the money, you know that."

Doug: "Yah but I promise I'll pay you back. And I'm hopefully getting this job that will pay me $4k a month (before taxes)."

Dude, whatever. Freakin retarded. And I'm ever dumber for buying the dang tv. I'm such a softy.

Finally, a change in scenery

2007-09-23T23:50:00.000-07:00

I've finally updated my blog template. I can't say that it's exactly how I want my blog to look, but hey I did it all by myself and I did it while I was watching Family Guy. I still gotta work on a few kinks, but I'm pretty pleased so far.

Speaking of Family Guy... holy hell, that Star Wars episode was by far the greatest thing I've ever seen on that show. Did I ever mention that I LOVE Star Wars Episode 4? As in, I can probably recite the whole movie for ya. I love just about anything and anyone associated with Star Wars. And that's probably the main reason I love Family Guy as well. If that makes me a geek, then so be it.

O Brother, Where Art Thou?

2007-09-19T15:16:00.000-07:00

So Doug's (my brother) birthday is coming up in October. I was originally going to get us Rascal Flatts concert tickets since we had a blast going last year, but unfortunately I was in Atlanta last week when they had their concert. I got an evite the other day from a coworker of mine, inviting a bunch of work people to the USC vs Stanford football game on October 6th. It would cost roughly $60 a person, including ticket, donation for the tailgate food, and parking.

I figured this would make a great birthday present for Doug, since he's always wanted to go to a USC game. His college unfortunately didn't have a football team, so he's never experienced the joys of college football-get-wasted-at-the-tailgate-before-the-game fun. Neither of us have been to a pro football game either, since LA doesn't have a pro team. So I left Doug a message telling him to keep Oct. 6th clear on his calendar because I was taking him to the game for his birthday.

Well, he just messaged me:

Doug: "Hey so are you just buying those tickets just for us?"

Me: "Well, I'm getting them through a coworker who is organizing a big tailgate and has a block of about 50 tickets."

Doug: "Oh. Well I was wondering if I can bring my girlfriend."

Yah, okay. Honestly, I'm upset. I mean, ever since Doug moved out 2 months ago with his gf, I haven't had any brother sister time with him. He hasn't even invited me over to see his new place! That is so wrong. I really just wanted this to be me and him. I know for a FACT that his gf doesn't like football, and she could probably care less about USC. I'm starting to wonder if he would've invited her to the Rascal Flatts concert too, even though I know she has no idea who they are.

So me of course, being the chicken that I am, said "Well, I don't mind if she goes, but I'm sorta buying these tickets as your birthday present, so would you mind paying for her then?" He said fine.

Okay, so much for that. I was hoping he'd say Oh nevermind then. Wishful thinking on my part. Seriously though, is it too much to ask that I get to hang out with my brother once in awhile? Don't get me wrong, I don't dislike her, but I do dislike them together sometimes. For one thing they're too PDA, and I just don't like that she's become the center of his universe. Not cool man, not cool.

Do you think I'm just being selfish? I probably am. I mean, it's HIS birthday not mine, and if he wants her there, then I should understand right? Yah, I guess it's one thing to say it but another to really mean it. Which I don't. LOL

All American Girl and Ready or Not

2007-09-17T23:02:00.000-07:00

All American Girl and Ready or Not are both by Meg Cabot. Since I read these back to back during my trip to Atlanta, I decided to review both at the same time.

This is the first Meg Cabot book I've ever read. I'm surprised I haven't read anything else by her, considering she's the author of Princess Diaries, one of my favorite Disney movies.

This book is clever. Each chapter begins with a "top ten reasons" list from Sam's point of view that lead into the chapter. The book is written in first person, and now that I think about it, the only times I normally read first person are in these Young Adult type books. This style works well for Cabot in this book, as it delivers a story from the perspective of a teenage girl.

I guess what I enjoyed about this book is the innocence of it all, the honest emotions of Sam, and the young love that blossoms between her and the first son, David. I enjoyed reading about Sam's family, including her snobby sister, and the other secondary characters like Susan Boone were described so vividly, I can almost picture them in my head. Sam's worries and troubles in life aren't very applicable to me now, but back when I was in high school, oh yah. I can totally relate to what she was going through, and I think that's why this book works so well for most women, no matter their age.

Sam envies her sister for having a rebel artist boyfriend; she feels embarrassed and hurt in art class for thinking her painting was the best, when really it wasn't; she realizes that being popular isn't always the best feeling in the world; she is naive about David's feelings for her. All of these emotions I can relate to, and I think that's what sucked me into reading nonstop.

I highly recommend this book to your friends, sisters, mothers, etc. I'm giving it a 5 out of 5. It's too bad that I can't say the same for the sequel, Ready or Not.

In this sequel to All American Girl, we find Sam a year older, still dating the President's son David, and still learning art/life lessons from Susan Boone. The basic storyline to this one is simple, Sam thinks David wants to take their relationship to the next level, and worries if she is ready or not to have sex.

**SPOILERS AHEAD**

Let me start by saying that the first book was amazing, and would've been fine if left alone. I'm very disappointed in the way this one turned out for many reasons. One, I feel like it was forced, that we didn't HAVE to know more about how Sam continues living her life. She saved the president in the first book, and found the love of her life David. In this book, I really didn't see anything develop between her and David, and their sudden decision to have sex was just jumping the gun if you ask me.

Two, I'm very disappointed that she ended up having sex with David in the end. Disappointed for two reasons. One, I had my mom read the first book, raving that it was something funny, romantic, yet CLEAN that she would enjoy. This second one was the complete OPPOSITE. Everything was about sex, from Sam's art class, to her discussions with her sister of condoms, sperm foam, and masturbating in the tub. When I was done with this book, I told my mom she should trust me on this one and just not read it. Second, I'm disappointed in Sam as a character. I thought for sure she was more level headed than this. I'm not saying I'm shocked by the whole premarital sex thing (considering I read a ton of romance books). I'm just shocked that SAM succumed to it. She's only what, 16, 17? She just didn't strike me as the type of girl who would do it under those circumstances.

The fact that she and David had sex in Camp David, while the President and his wife (David's parents) were probably a few doors away. Eeew. Not cool. Plus, Sam went barging into David's room to tell him she wasn't ready, and she just all of a sudden makes this complete 180. Argh! WTF is her problem?! I don't get it.

Third disappointment: Sam still complaining about how her life sucks (at this point I thought, shut up already), all of a sudden caring what other people think about her (being called a slut), and how she as an artist did not know what "life drawing" was.

Fourth disappointment: The corny cafeteria scene where everyone chants "I'm a slut." Okay, that was lame with a capital L. That would so not happen in real life.

I think the only thing I liked about this book, is that Lucy (Sam's older sister) redeemed herself in my eyes. She not only dumped her loser boyfriend Jack, she also fell for the nerd, Harold Minsky. I thought that was adorable, and it showed that we really should not judge people by what's on the outside, Cliche I know, but still, it was a good message. And while I think it was inconsistent of Lucy's character to also make a 180 from the first book, I'm glad she became less annoying in this book.

Even though I'm disappointed, given that I loved the first book so much, I'm not giving up on Meg Cabot. I just wish she hadn't wrote this one and distorted my whole image of Samantha Madison. This one gets a 2 out of 5.

Back from Atlanta

2007-09-16T22:05:00.000-07:00

It's good to be back. Well, sort of. I'm glad to be back to the less humid climate and glad to see my family again. I'm not really prepared to face the flood of work and emails I'll be catching up on this week. I tried to check my work emails a few times, just so it would'n't overwhelm me Monday morning. However, it's Sunday night and I know I should check agian, but meh, I'm feeling really lazy right now. Not a good thing considering I have a conference call first thing in the morning and have no idea what I'm going to say.

So to sum up my vacation, I had a blast. I didn't do as many activities as last year, but I'm actually glad it ended up being that way. Sometimes you cram so much into a vacation, that it ends up being more tiring/stressful than just relaxing at home doing nothing. So there was plenty of down time in this trip, and believe it or not, I actually was able to finish 6 books this past week. Not bad huh? Here's my list of reads for the week:

All American Girl by Meg Cabot
Ready or Not by Meg Cabot
Brazen by Maya Banks
See Jane Score by Rachel Gibson (a reread)
She Did a Bad, Bad Thing by Stephanie Bond
The Long Hard Ride by Loralei James

Okay, so two of these books were cookbooks, and number 5 is one of those thin Harlequinn series books, but still, I think 6 is a decent number for a week.

Anyway, here's some of the places we went on our vacation: Braves Game Saturday night. They won the game, but we had already left after the 7th inning. I was just there to scarf down on hot dogs and fries. Sunday we went to church in the morning, and met a filipino couple (around my parents' age) who joined us for breakfast, and gave us some pointers on where to go. They got along well with my parents and we ended up having dinner with them Monday night. We also went to the World of Coca Cola. You'd think that would only take about 2 hours, but we were there for a long time. There was a lot to see and we spent over an hour at the gift shop, trying to figure out what to bring home to friends/coworkers. That night we had dinner with my friend Patti, and her husband Adam, at the Atlanta fish market. It's very similar to McCormick's and I ate way too much as usual. I was worried Patti and Adam wouldn't have much to say to my parents, since they (my parents) are more conservative than most people I know. It ended up being great though, and my parents now adore those two, saying they are a "beautiful couple."

Tuesday I went to Patti's and we had a tea party for lunch after picking the girls up from school. I've never been to one of these, and it was awesome. We got to dress up in girly furs and hats, and drink tea and eat scones and mini sandwiches. I'm going to google this some day and see if we have any around my area. We also went to a fondue place one night for dessert. We basically had 3 lbs of fruit per person, and it was insane. I've never had so much fruit in one sitting in my life. What's worse, is that it's about $25 per person, so you basically HAVE to stuff your face with fruit until you feel like it was worth the money.

Then to top it off, the owner of the place came to our table, and proceeded to tell us the whole history of chocolate. He was a nice guy at first, resembling Colonel Sanders, but then he just got... creepy. He kept saying I was his new girlfriend, and I should move to Atlanta to be closer to him. He then said if he were to get married again, he would marry an asian. Ok, red flag. Can we say old man pervert? Eww. I just laughed it out, even though I thought it was kinda creepy. I should've known he was creepy, the dude has live alligators in his fondue restaurant.

I didn't get to see Patti's new boat, but anyway the weather wasn't so great for that either. It kept raining every hour or so, but it would still be humid, and there were many cloudy days. In addition, Patti got sick and lost her voice by Friday, and I felt bad that she was even trying to entertain me when I knew she probably just wanted to be resting at home. Thursday night we went to the Punchline, a comedy club in Atlanta. The headliner was Bill Burr, and he was hilarious. Patti and I had a good time, despite the waitress spilling beer all over this guy next to me and getting some on my back and hair.

Friday, my parents picked me up from Patti's (they went to Alabama the day before) and we went to the CNN building and took a tour there. To my surprise, it wasn't boring at all. We then ate at a Cracker Barrel (they don't have these in California). I love southern food, but man, eating it for an entire week for both breakfast/brunch and dinner must've made me gain 5 lbs.

I had a fabulous time, and I'm really considering moving to Georgia. Not now, but maybe in two years, we'll see where I am in my career and what my options are.

Off to Hotlanta...

2007-09-07T15:18:00.000-07:00

In case you don't know where Georgia is... here's a map.

I'm off to visit my dear friend Patti. I'll be back on the 15th. I'm bringing my laptop but I'm hoping I won't have to check work emails that much. My flight is leaving tomorrow at 6am, and I haven't started packing, so I gotta jet. Toodles everyone, have a wonderful weekend and a fabulous week.

13 Foods I Wish I Hadn't Eaten This Month

2007-09-06T08:57:00.000-07:00

My current audit engagement is a pretty big job. We have a big budget so we run through pretty much all our meals and snacks. I usually don't eat a lot of snacks or sweets, but for some reason, junk is all around me these days. Maybe it's also the fact that I work with mostly girls on this job, and girls just love having sweets. I prefer salty foods, but you know what they say... When In Rome. So here's my list of things I wish I hadn't eaten this month. I swear I've gained at least 5 pounds since being on this assignment....

1. Donuts - every Friday we buy them for the client and I of course grab either an apple fritter or those chocolate glazed ones.

2. Breakfast burritos - I've probably had about 4 of these in the last month. They don't look that big, but each burrito is so dense. It's got bacon, cheese, eggs, and breakfast potatoes. Weirdest part is that we eat them with siracha hot sauce or sweet and sour sauce. LOL

Don't let this picture fool you. This isn't what my breakfast burrito looks like. I'm talking about the kind you get from a ghetto hole in the wall place.

3. Pumpkin cream cheese muffin - from Starbucks.

4. Pumpkin spice latte - also from Starbucks. Just the color of the drink alone lets you know it's not a low-calorie drink.

5. Cold Stone ice cream - we bought this for the whole team one day to celebrate the intern getting an offer with the firm.

6. Haagen Daaz bar - Dark chocolate with chocolate ice cream. Had this during a meeting in the office.

7. Nestle Toll House Ice cream cookie sandwich - Found a stash of these in the client's freezer yesterday. This is the day AFTER I had just consumed #6.

8. Caramelitas. My staff Amanda gave me the recipe for these. Excellent.

INGREDIENTS

CRUST:
1 ½ STICKS BUTTER
¾ CUPS BROWN SUGAR
½ TSP BAKING SODA
¼ TSP SALT
1 CUP FLOUR
1 CUP COOKING OATS

TOPPING:
1 CUP CHOCOLATE CHIPS
1 CUP REESE PEANUT BUTTER CHIPS (OPTIONAL)
½ CUP WALNUTS
¾ CUP CARAMEL ICE CREAM TOPPING
3 TBSP FLOUR

9. Raspberry Chocolate Bar - from Corner Bakery

10. Golden Spoon - yes, it's fat free, but it's still Golden Spoon. Plus I put yogurt chips in it.

11. Bacon Ranch Buffalo Fries - From Charley's Subs. It's pretty much what it sounds like. Fries covered with ranch, bacon bits and buffalo sauce.

12. Happy hour food - I've been going to a few happy hours after work with colleagues and we eat a ton of crap. To name a few... quesadillas, $2 cheeseburgers, spinach artichoke dip, chips and salsa.

13. Starbucks. Every day. I really should stop. It's hurting my wallet too.

So, what's on your list?

I hate you all...

2007-09-05T11:31:00.000-07:00

No not really. But I'm in a really sh*tty mood today. I've got a major deadline this Friday for my audit client and I have to get it done so I can leave for my vacation... stress-free. At least that's the goal.

Anyway, this is why I'm pissed off. *warning.... lots of rambling ahead* I'm a morning person. I know most people aren't, but I am. I get so much work done in the morning, b/c I'm awake, focused, and I always outline my list of things to do for the day. I normally pass by Starbucks before work, but I never really eat my muffin or whatever it is I have for the day. I know breakfast is the most important meal but I'm always so busy in the morning I let that muffin sit there until 3pm.

My staff however, seem to think about lunch as soon as the morning starts. Most auditors in my office eat at 11:30 to avoid the crowds, but whenever I'm busy I sometimes lose track of time. Every freakin day, around 10:30am, one of my staff will always ask "So what're we doing for lunch today?" For this particular job I'm on, we normally order food in every day. It's all paid for, so our choices aren't limited to fast food... however, we always pick the same places in the area. We normally eat Corner Bakery, CPK, El Torito, etc. And every day I tell my staff the same thing, I don't care, just pick a place, print out a menu and pass it to me so I can put my order down. Seriously, I'm not trying to be a bitchy "boss" but dude, they all know I never have time to go out to eat. I don't mind if they go out and eat, just bring me something back. But why oh why is the whole lunch selection process so difficult?

It annoys the hell out of me that this guy asks what's for lunch every single day... at freakin 10:30am! Dude, I'm still drinking my Starbucks at 10:30, how can I possibly think about lunch right now? Why don't you shut up and get back to work? The firm doesn't pay you to talk about lunch for 30 minutes every single day.

Now my dear friend Natalie knows this story, and how annoyed I get by this staff. So she IMs me at exactly 10:30 today saying "What's for lunch?" I thought, dude that's so not funny and she replies saying "LOL - Sorry, I was just trying to annoy you."

WTF, you're trying to annoy me? Why oh why? You KNOW how much I can't stand that question. So I proceed to tell her that she's my friend and I love her to death, but if she were sitting next to me at the moment I woulda throttled her. The moment I start telling her this... my staff blurts out "So what's for lunch today?" At precisely 10:35am (he's off by 5 minutes today). OMG, I'm seriously going to shoot all of you. I hate you all.

Anyway, I guess Natalie felt bad about pissing me off so she sent me an email with the subject "SURPRISE" and the following picture...

Natalie, if you're reading this... you KNOW I don't hate you, and I was just annoyed and I needed to vent. I'm sorry. Hope you forgive me. And it's all good now b/c you sent me Zack Efron, who is FREAKIN HOT. Thanks. I lub u babe. Just don't ever ask me what's for lunch again. Please.

Read much?

2007-08-30T22:13:00.000-07:00

The gals at Book Binge asked a great question: Do you have friends/family who read as much as you do? Or are you the only person you know who has a serious reading habit?

Funny they should ask, because I was just thinking about this at work today. I've been nagging one of my coworkers to read SM's Twilight for some time now. She said she will, but it's going to be awhile before she finishes, since the book is so thick. Then my boss said something like "Well how long did it take you to finish Daph?" I said, "Me? I dunno, two days? But that's only because I was so into it and couldn't put it down. I don't normally read that fast when I'm busy with work, I think I only read about 50 books this year."

After that comment, the rest of my coworkers stared at me as if I just said I won a hot dog eating contest. They all chimed "No you didn't, that's impossible." Ummm, NO, it's not. The consensus around the room was that most of the staff read an average of 1 book a year, and the higher executives read maybe 4? Pretty sad if you ask me.

Now don't get me wrong, I'd be lying if I said I was always a book lover. It came in phases. As a child, I loved reading Ramona Quimby, Roald Dahl books, Babysitters Club, and Nancy Drew, to name a few. Then in junior high/high school I stopped reading for fun, probably because I was too swamped with other homework and frustrated with required reading that I just didn't have an interest to read for pleasure. This pretty much lasted throughout college, and finally I discovered romance books about two years ago. That's a different story, for another blog post (I'm now wondering why I never blogged about it).

So I guess other than my "book friends," (you know who you are) I really don't have friends who read as much as I do. Most girls my age read a ton of magazines. One of my clients had an accounting manager that subscribed to every girly and celebrity gossip magazine out there. People, Cosmo, USWeekly, etc. That's not really my cup of tea. The only times I read those are when I'm at the dentist office or someone else's house and there's nothing else to read on their coffee table. My parents read quite often, but mostly religious stuff. My brother reads more than the average person. Before he got together with his recent girlfriend, he used to do the weekly Borders trips with me. Ah, I miss those days.

13 things to do before my Atlanta vacation

2007-08-30T21:33:00.000-07:00

13 things to do before my Atlanta vacation

1. Finish my audit. I pretty much need to be done by Sept. 7th and I'm leaving the next day for Atlanta. Talk about cutting it close. :(

2. Change my voicemail and out of office email reply. Last time I took a mini vacation I forgot to do this, and that was disastrous. I also have to remember to tell people I just flat out won't be checking my emails, so they'll get off my back.

3. Get a haircut.

4. Download some ebooks to my ebookwise. Gotta love the ebookwise reader. Now I can save some space in my luggage.

5. Confirm flight and hotel reservation.

6. Buy a new phone charger. All I have right now is my car charger. Dang, if I don't get a home charger, I'm screwed.

7. Call my friend Patti. I'm going to Atlanta for the first few days to hang out with my mom while my dad is at his work seminars, then I'm off to see Patti. Still not sure what day I'm going to see her though, or what we're gonna be doing (besides bookshopping of course).

8. Submit my timesheet for the following week. I always forget to do this for week vacations. I can't afford to be on the late submission list at work.

9. Find baseball tickets. I think there might be a Braves game the Sunday I first arrive. I should look that up and see if I can still get tickets.

10. Buy Katie a birthday present. This is Patti's daughter. I totally missed her birthday a few weeks ago.

11. Buy Madeline a present. Patti's other daughter. Just because you know how kids are, she might be upset if I bring a gift for Katie and not her.

12. Open all mail and pay bills.

13. Do laundry and pack.

Homework Assignment: Favorite Book As a Child

2007-08-28T22:35:00.000-07:00

I've been out of school for over 3 years so no, I'm not talking about a real homework assignment. This is actually a fun contest created by my dear friends at BookBinge. The task is to tell readers what my favorite book was as a child. I'm not quite sure what age range qualifies as "child", but I'm hoping it includes age 13. Why? Because I was exactly that age when I read one of my favorite books of all time... The Giver by Lois Lowry.

In a world with no poverty, no crime, no sickness and no unemployment, and where every family is happy, 12-year-old Jonas is chosen to be the community's Receiver of Memories. Under the tutelage of the Elders and an old man known as the Giver, he discovers the disturbing truth about his utopian world and struggles against the weight of its hypocrisy. With echoes of Brave New World, in this 1994 Newbery Medal winner, Lowry examines the idea that people might freely choose to give up their humanity in order to create a more stable society. Gradually Jonas learns just how costly this ordered and pain-free society can be, and boldly decides he cannot pay the price.

Out of all the required reading throughout junior high and high school, I remember these were the type of stories I actually loved reading. Stories that involved glimpses into the future and perspectives on society, humanity, love and hate. I was debating on using either Farenheit 451 or 1984 for this entry, but those were read in my freshman and senior years...much later than when I first read The Giver. So I'd like to think of The Giver as the book that "started it all."

The protagonist in this story, Jonas, is just a child. Yet he faces challenges and decisions that are beyond his years, which is what I think makes this story so powerful. Jonas basically lives in a community of "Sameness" - there is no color, only black and white (think of the movie Pleasantville). Everyone lives by strict rules, and by Jonas' age, either you are given an Assignment, or you are Released from society (which if I recall, pretty much means you're killed). Instead of receiving an Assignment, Jonas becomes the "Receiver of Memory" and meets The Giver, an old man whose primarily role in society is to retain memories of the past. The Giver begins to transfer memories to Jonas; memories of war, love, suffering, and color. These memories are a shock to Jonas, who struggles to understand that there can actually be a world/society different from what he's known since birth.

Jonas now realizes why society is kept from these memories, but feels that it is better to know the truth and have a choice in life than to be ignorant in a Sameness world. He and the Giver then make plans to break free from his society, in order to change the world. I won't spoil the rest for those who haven't read it, but I highly recommend this book. It's written in such simple style, yet every chapter is thought provoking. I remember after first reading this, I was more ooohed and ahhhed by the fact that Jonas was given the memory of color and could now see colors while everyone else only saw black and white. After reading it again I realized the story was so much more than that. As a teen I know Sameness was so important to me. It didn't matter what I thought of something, if it was what the popular kids did/wore/said/ate I wanted to do the same. Jonas' new outlook on life was pretty much the same for me. I realized that being the same wasn't always the best way to go. Now that I'm older, I also realize that this book has taught me the classic lesson of "better to have loved and lost than not have loved at all." So in many ways I feel like I owe The Giver a great deal for shaping me into who I am today.

SM Book Signing

2007-08-27T21:38:00.001-07:00

So Stephanie Meyers had a book signing this weekend at a nearby Borders. I heard about it through Rowena of course, since she's always on top of things like that. When I called the bookstore Saturday morning, a store rep said they were expecting 1,400 people there. Hmm... I wasn't sure if I should believe her... after all, I went to the midnight Harry Potter opening and I'm pretty sure it wasn't 1,400 people. And yes, SM is very popular now, but I can't imagine it would've been as crowded as HP was. Anyway I asked Wena if she could check out the crowd later in the evening (the book signing started at 7pm) and text me.

Sure enough, Wena's text said that it was a madhouse over there, and it was only 5pm. I guess I wasn't surprised, but a part of me was still disappointed. It's that same illogical part of my brain that always hopes I can leave work early without anyone noticing, or hopes the lines won't be long at Disneyland. So I called my other friend, Mormishmom, told her the situation, and said I was still down to go since I had nothing better to do. We figured it'd be pointless to get there at 7, so we arrived around 9pm.

I was expecting a ridiculous line spilling out into the parking lot, but when we got there, we found a ton of parking spots out front. Hmm, strange. MMM and I walked in and saw no sign of a crowd in the bookstore. Okayyyyy. I was beginning to think we were either at the wrong Borders, or the event was earlier than I thought and it was over. As we were about to head out and give up, MMM saw a flash of light from the back of the store, and immediately we ran toward it. Success! Stephanie Meyer was there, signing away books like an assembly line, while her "people" stood by, packing the rest of her stuff up. I swear, MMM and I got so lucky because there were maybe 6 people left who wanted their books signed. I tried calling Wena again but she didn't answer. I wasn't sure if we were still allowed to approach her, so MMM went to check it out and then she started yelling "Daphne, get over here!" I busted out my 3 books, Twilight, New Moon, and Eclipse, and handed them to SM's assistant. She flipped them open to the front and slid them along the table to join the rest of the assembly line. I swear SM must've had carpal tunnel by the end of the night, because man was she signing fast. I was able to get my Eclipse personalized, so I can't complain there. After MMM and I got our books signed we received I love Edward pins (it was either Edward and Jacob, and I couldn't bring myself to ask for both since I figured we were lucky to even get by). I'd say after me, there were maybe 2 other people who got their stuff signed, then SM got up and was escorted out of the store. Talk about LUCKY! Five minutes later, and we would've missed her. We got our books signed and waited approximately 2 minutes in line. :) I felt awful though because I had to call Wena back right away saying nevermind don't come anymore.

Now, I must apologize to my friend Isabel, because I promised her I'd get her a signed copy of Twilight. Yes, I know, I'm fired. Let me explain though. I actually couldn't find my own copy of Twilight that afternoon, and since I was going bonkers looking for it, I decided to screw it and just go to my local Borders to buy another one. When MMM were driving to Borders, she only had Eclipse with her since she read Twilight and New Moon from her library. So as we first walked in Borders, we thought maybe we could buy the first two and I could get Isabel her copy. We changed our minds and decided to first find the line of people. So as it turned out, had we stopped to buy those books first, we woulda been toast and SM woulda left by then. So Isabel, I am really sorry, but I hope you understand that I was under a time crunch.

One more thing I'd like to point out for those of you who are curious... I didn't really get to say much to SM. All I said when I approached her was "Thank you for signing my books, I love your stories and your characters." She said thanks and that's about it. Honestly, she seemed kinda tired to me (heck, I would be too after signing books for 2 hours straight) but she was still polite and I appreciated that. There was one girl who asked SM's assistant if she could apologize to SM. Then she shouted "Stephanie. I'm sorry about that comment I made." SM said "What comment?" Girl said "About Seth. I didn't mean it and I'm sorry I asked that question." SM just gave this look like.. ummm okayyyyy and politely said "It's okay." Now I have NO idea what that was about but MMM and I exchanged looks and were trying so hard not to laugh. It was hilarious.

So overall, it was a fabulous experience... but I'd say only because MMM and I got so lucky. I've never been to a book signing before, but if you ask me, I was expecting it to last longer than 2 hours. So I feel kinda bad for the people who were waiting in line since 4 or 5 in the afternoon, while I got there at the end and waited 2 minutes. I woulda loved to get a pic with SM, but I guess that's pushing my luck. Morale of the story though... sometimes it's good to listen to that illogical part of your brain that says it never hurts to try.

Yee haw

2007-08-23T10:01:00.000-07:00

So last night was the first time I went country line dancing. Went with two of my coworkers, Amanda and Janelle. It was a pretty long drive for us, about 40 miles from work. I know you're thinking "isn't there some place closer?" and yes, you're right. There are closer places, but we went to this particular one because we had heard it was opening night. Plus our local country music station morning DJ was going to be there. I figured cool, we might get free prizes and such.

We arrived there and fortunately for me, the dancers were doing the electric slide. This is probably the most basic line dances I can do, I mean.. come on... it's electric! We do this all the time at weddings, cheesy birthday parties, new years eve. You get my drift. So it was a good way to shake off my first-time dancing fears.

After the first dance we went to the bar to get a drink, sit down and watch the other dancers two-step. I was the DD for the night, so I only ordered a sprite. I was sitting down with Amanda, watching Janelle smile politely at the old man twirling her on the dance floor to a pace not matching the beat, when all of a sudden the waitress came up to me. "There's a man sitting at the bar over there who wants to buy you a drink. What would you like?" I blink a few times, then finally point to myself and say "Who ME?" I mean, I was seriously shocked because a) I thought that only happens in movies b) If anything, I would think Amanda would get the offer since she's way prettier/stylish than me. So, I'll admit. It felt good. I was like WOW this is crazy. But what was I going to say if I wasn't really drinking that night? Do I just say, sure I'll have another sprite? Hmmm. So I told the waitress to tell the guy thank you for the offer, but that I wasn't drinking tonight (and I still had a full glass of soda). She left to deliver the message, and meanwhile I felt a little paranoid from then on. Like every time I would get back on the dance floor I thought, oh gosh is he watching? who is it? is he cute?

There were some serious hotties there, but sadly the only ones on the dance floor were the older folks. One guy, who I nicknamed Tall Boy, was like 6'10" and holy momma he was fiiiiine. Anyway, after another session of fast-paced line dances that I failed to pick up, I finally flagged down the waitress again and asked who the drink guy was. She had an "I'm sorry" look to her as she told me it was a guy who looked to be in his 50's. Okay, I'm not trying to offend anyone, but that's like my dad's age and I'm sorry, but that is just NOT okay with me. Yuck. So whatever, I still had a good time, watching Janelle and Amanda ride the mechanical bull, and we got to see our favorite morning radio DJ. I noticed he had no ring on his finger, and I'm slightly obsessed with him now. I mean, the guy can dance, and he actually stood next to me during one of the line dances. I was a little nervous but he is so fun and easy going.

Old man ended up approaching me and revealing his identity. He gave me some compliments and I politely said thank you. But once he started asking "where do you live?" and "can we exchange numbers?" I was like... ummmmm no. Haha. Dangit... why can't I ever get a normal, young, good looking man to hit on me? I swear, I'm a weirdo magnet. Despite all that, I had a blast and I'm sure I'll be adding country line dancing in addition to my swing dancing routine.

13 Things I Miss About School

2007-08-16T00:04:00.001-07:00

13 Things I Miss About School

1. Kindergarten nap time. I can't believe I hated nap time as a kid. Silly me.

2. Cheap lunches. I remember those little blue booklets full of lunch tickets in elementary. Can't remember the exact amount but it came out to like $1.50 per day. Junior high and high school were upgrades to real brand name foods, but still cheaper than what you would pay at the actual place. I think my grande lattes at Starbucks cost more than these meals did back then.

3. Recess. Dodge ball. Monkey bars. Pogs. Jacks. Crossfire. Hand ball. Jump rope. Good times.

4. Shoe box dioramas. I just remember loving these types of projects. Pick a book and depict a scene using arts and crafts and a shoe box. Too bad all I read now are romance books. I don't think it would be appropriate to make a diorama for "those" scenes.

5. Before and after school activities. In high school I did colorguard, yearbook, school plays, and culture club dance rehearsals. So pretty much zero through seventh period. Nowadays I'm lucky if I can squeeze in ONE non-work related activity in my day.

6. Walking to campus. Mostly referring to college here. I got plenty of exercise walking on campus grounds. Now I barely make it from the parking lot to the office without sweating and losing my breath. Sad.

7. College hotties. Where did all the good looking boys from college go to? Well, wherever they are, they're sure as heck not in my office. I spend most of my day at work, and alas, no hotties. *sigh*

8. Choosing classes and times. I wish I could just pick and choose what times of the day I want to work and what times I want to take a break and read, eat, sleep, etc. If I could I would get all the work stuff done in the morning (I got used to all 8am classes in college) and by afternoon be done and spend the rest of the evening relaxing.

9. Lockers. I did the typical girly decorate your locker thing. I had a mirror and a Pochaco fold out case thing that hung on the locker door. Not to mention the locker was the best place to post up your fav magazine cutouts of celeb hotties.

10. School dances. Sure I never had dates 75% of the time, but they were still fun. Less dangerous too. Nowadays I can't stand going clubbing, it's such a production. And there's so many weirdos out there.

11. Talent shows and plays. I loved watching these because it would bring out hidden talents of your fellow classmates, and show you different sides to their personalities. Plus being a performer was always fun. The rehearsals after school, bonding with people you normally wouldn't hang out with, performing choreographed dances. Loved it.

12. Living on campus. College was probably the best four years of my life. Mainly because I lived away (but not too far) from home. When you have good friends that live in the same building as you, it's just so much more convenient to hang out. I miss being able to call up a good friend, and grabbing a snack in the wee hours of the morning.

13. Student discounts. Oh wait, that's not entirely true. I still use my college ID to get student discount at the movies. =P

Raintree Haunted

2007-08-14T22:28:00.001-07:00

It's been a long time since I did a book review. I admit I've been too lazy to write book reviews, mainly because I've enjoyed most of my recent reads. After all, (in my opinion) it's so much easier to write bad reviews than good ones. I find that either people don't review bad books because it's not "worth their time," or they do review them because there's more substance to discuss. I fall within the latter. With that said, I hope you will understand why all of a sudden I'm reviewing Raintree Haunted by Linda Winstead Jones.

This is the second book in the Raintree Trilogy, the first being Raintree Inferno by Linda Howard. I had read many mixed reviews (mostly bad) for RI, but honestly I didn't think it was that bad. RH takes place at the same time as Dante's story, except this time we meet Gideon Raintree - a homicide detective who can talk to ghosts and channels electricity through his body. Gideon is teamed with a new partner, Hope Malory - a strong woman driven by logic and reason. The whole story basically revolves around them trying to solve several murder cases believed to be committed by the same murderer, while simultaneously "falling in love."

My first big gripe about this book, is Gideon. I'm sorry, but this guy is just a big time loser. He harnesses electricity but not once did I see him actually use this power to save anybody. At the very end I was expecting him to kill Tabby (the killer) by electrocuting her. Nope. She first escapes Gideon's interrogation by consuming a poisonous pill. Gideon knows she isn't dead, since he hasn't seen her ghost, but he just lets the ambulance take her away. Yah, smart move buddy. No surprise that Tabby shows up later and this is where I thought okay now he's gonna take her out with a lightning bolt. No, wrong again. Hope shoots Tabby in the head. *rolls eyes* Wow, your powers are so cool Gideon. Not.

I think the only thing his powers were good for was to give Hope orgasms by putting his hand to her abdomen and sending a tiny jolt of electricity to her. Oh please. So speaking of Hope, let's talk about my second gripe. Other than her name Moonbeam being corny, I didn't think she was that bad. I liked that she didn't trust Gideon in the beginning, and that she was on an equal level with him (partner versus victim he's trying to save). However, is it just me, or did she give in way too easily to Gideon's charms (no pun intended)? For someone so strong, independent, and distrusting of Gideon, she seemed a bit trampy once she slept with him. One minute she's suspecting Gideon of being a dirty cop, the next she's having sex with him. Hmmm.

Lastly, I had issues with the Emma storyline. Emma is Gideon/Hope's future daughter, who appears as a spirit to Gideon in the beginning of the story. She warns daddy to stay away from the "bad lady" and says she is arriving soon. Okay Gideon, get a clue... she's calling you daddy and telling you she's coming soon at the same time you meet Hope and instantly want to jump her bones. You don't think there's a slight chance that Emma might be conceived when you have sex with Hope? Ugh. I was seriously annoyed reading Gideon's reaction when he realized Hope was wearing his fertility charm and that she might be pregnant. He handled that about as well as Faith Hill reacting to Carrie Underwood winning the country music award. "You're pregnant," he said sourly. pretty much says it all. Again, I say.. Gideon is a big time loser.

Well, that's all I have to say for this one. One more book to go in the series. I'm not really expecting the third to be a blast either. The first book was corny but entertaining, now it's just going downhill. I hope I'm proven wrong by Raintree Sanctuary. So my fellow readers, this one is getting a 2 out of 5 rating from me.