new car smell

As I got into my car after work today, the "new car" fume the car used to boast crept up my nose. At that instant, memories of my three-year-old car came rushing through my head. The most vivid one, though, was that of my Napa Valley years. I laughed at the memory of showing it to my B.E.G. buddies for the very first time. After volunteering to drive for lunch, the guys scrounged the parking lot for "Indiana Jones" (my up-to-now favorite QX4) without much luck. When they realized that the beeping car was mine, they cheered, and jumped right in. After that episode was over in my head, my mind flashed to other memories I had of Napa. *sigh* It makes me sad because I no longer have those times - driving through roads surrounded by vineyards, stopping at random spots such as small villages inhabited by retired elders, and so forth. All those memories and more were running through my head in a span of a few minutes. I left before tears could fall down my cheeks.

I miss being young.
I miss my lifetimers.
I miss life.

Ho ho.

In regards to my previous post - we were able to finish our Christmas shopping on Christmas eve. Even so, I still managed to wrap the gifts nicely and everything just before dinner. =] Anyway...

Christmas was really fun. On Christmas eve, everyone (family and such) came over for some "fine dining" experience - no kidding! My parents treated us to delicious dishes that one might have mistaken came from some fancy steak and seafood restaurant. Mm! We opened presents at midnight, as tradition indicates, and I seriously got more than I expected. & people liked my presents for them. The following day, Christmas day, the family attended mass then went respectively to our destinations for lunch (other side of the family sort of thing). Shortly after lunch, however, everyone met up at my brother's house. There, he and my sister-in-law cooked up some new and classic dishes. More people. More gifts. More fun. More great memories. =)

That was pretty much my Christmas in a nutshell. In just a few days, it will be 2009. I'm still iffy on making a new year's resolutions list. We'll see...

Ho.

I don't usually enjoy looking at my credit card bills, but I feel the agony of having to look at next month's bill. *screaming inside* It seems like there are more and more adults, children, and adults with childlike mentalities to shop for every year. I guess this is what it feels like to no longer be considered a child. I'm an adult, and that actually saddens me. =/ BUT! What I am looking forward to is seeing the faces of my gift recipients (kind of). I hope they like their gifts. Christmas shopping is not easy, you know. Haha.

The annual Christmas party with the Berkz was super fun, once again. Some people had to go home early though due to conflicting hours. GAY, but it all worked out. As always, there were a truck load of food, entertainment, exciting games, fabulous prizes, and tea & coffee to end the night. The Secret Santa thing was hella funny, too. =D I believe I went home at around 2:30 AM, and I don't know what time the rest of the people left. It was such a blast, seriously. 'til next year.

Tonight, Mike and I will finish the last bits of our Christmas shopping. More kids and one childish boy. Lol... Oh! I found a wish list I made a month or so ago. I'll post it later, maybe.

P.S. I went to the mall after work to get a head start. While at Macy's, three customers came up to me, and asked me where certain places were. They mistook me as an employee at the store. Wtf? hahaha!

Home...

for the holidays. =P

I'm still pooped from the So. California trip that Mike and I went on, but it was very fun nonetheless. We did the usual "tourist" thing by visiting and taking pictures in front of random things and places... even if we do it every year. Haha. Unlike last year when we went to just about every major attraction in So. Cal, we only went to Universal Studios, Hollywood area, and of course, Disneyland (an annual must for me). One random night, we just drove around L.A. to look at popular hot spots and homes. COOL! One of the funniest things was probably our quest to finding Sam N.'s home above all A-listers. Wtf, right?! Not a lot of people even know the guy - just his business. Lol, whatever. Anyway, even with my dying legs and aching body, I wish I was still on that trip. It would definitely beat coming home and being back at work so quickly. *sigh...* until next year!

On another note, I have yet to finish my Christmas shopping. I am not even close to completing the list, nor do I even know what to get half the people on that list. *tskk... this is why I love it when people make wish lists. Those are so helpful. I'm digging myself into holes right now, but I'm almost 100% certain I'll manage. Yup! Balancing money isn't fun when you've got more debits than credits. No, no. I wish I took on another job for the holidays. *shrugs* Too late!

MORE PICS AVAILABLE ON MULTIPLY

"Prrreshus!"

2:15PM today meant more than just my sign-off time, and the start of my vacation. It also marked the last time that I will ever work with Ms. Connie again. Ms. Connie is my boss and the person who is responsible for recruiting and hiring me. She is one of the sweetest people I have ever met in my life, and that is no lie. She has a way with people that keeps them wanting to be around her. When she laughs, everyone laughs - it's that contagious. Ms. Connie is also retiring at the end of the week, for which I will not be here for.

I will miss her presence, especially when she calls my name with her cute accent and soft voice. I will miss the times when it's only me and her, and we talk about the most random things. All the life stories, the motivating advices, and endless laughter will all be gone along with her. It's not going to be the same without her. There will be no one to help the team out, to teach us what we need to know, or to back up the rest of the gang.

As I gave her a goodbye hug and a few words of gratitude and good lucks, I felt my tear ducts become active. Because I did not want to be seen crying, I left right away... and bawled in my car instead. I drove to my meeting covered in tears and my make-up was ran down. I didn't care; I only cared that there will be no Ms. Connie next week. ='(

Although she won't ever get to read this (that's probably a good thing ;p), I would like to tell Ms. Connie one more time: I will miss you so much! Please, please visit us every once in a while. <3

I'm sorry for the sappiness. Anyway, I'm off to So. Cal at the break of dawn! Yay!

Quit

Quit yelling because you are embarrassing yourself more than you me. Quit speaking hurtful words because you are becoming the contradiction to the image you want for people to believe in. Quit wanting to put all the power you cannot put upon your younger brothers and sister on me. Quit pretending that you are someone you are not. Quit lying, quit "cheating," quit being in denial of all things. Grow up and grow older.

<3

FedEx Guy

Happy December! :)

A super random thing happened to me today. While talking to a co-worker during lunch hour, I accidentally declined a call from a number that was not registered on my phone. Because it looked familiar, I called it back. A guy picked up, and I asked if someone had called. Here's sort of how our conversation went.

Me: Hi, did someone call this number?

Guy: Yes, I have a delivery for Precious?

Me: Oh! Yea, there will be nobody to sign for it. You can just leave it by the front door, thank you.

Guy: Ok. Hey, are you Reggie's uh...

Me: Sister? Yeah, I'm his sister. Who are you?

Guy: My name is _____ (I forgot). I'm the delivery guy from FedEx; I'm also your brother's friend. So Apple, huh?

Me: Yeah, haha. Well, thank you for calling. I appreciate it.

Guy: No problem. I'll leave it by your front door, a bit hidden.

Me: Great, thanks. Have a good day.

Guy: Alright, bye.

HAHAHA :) That was hilarious to me. I didn't even know that delivery guys make phone calls, but then again, there is usually someone to sign for packages that come or we pre-sign for them. Anyway, that was just something randomly comical to me.

Black Friday

This year's Black Friday was the first in many years that I did not take part of - as a vendor OR as a consumer. To say the truth, it was sort of weird to me, and it made me miss my old job. Working during holiday season was a love-hate thing for me, but I know I almost always enjoyed it. More hours, more money, and people were hella entertaining for some reason. This year though, I will just be a consumer in the midst of it all, and that sounds boring to me for some reason. Haha! Anyway, I am starting to go broke already, and I have only bought something for my mom! I guess I shouldn't have bought myself the things I did. *shrugs* Oh well, heh. =] I'm going to make those the last thing I buy myself until the end of the year or so. Will power, I believe!

So this weekend was not a very good one for my local high school sport teams, or at least the ones that I watched. Someone please find a new football coach for RHS, and report those stupid referees. 4-yd penalty on a face mask though... since when?! Ugh!

Good night, November.

Giving thanks

Pushing aside the turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, cranberry sauce, ciders, pies, and so forth...

I am thankful for:

• My family and their good health
• My friends and their successes
• My boyfriend and the strength we find in one another
• Being able to serve the Lord and His people
  
• Being able to wake up every morning
• Being able to learn
• Being able to afford myself
• Having a place to live in
• Having food to eat
  
• Having a car to drive
• Having a job
• Having something to look forward to everyday

The list goes on and on and on and on and on... =] I am blessed.

Happy Thanksgiving Day, everyone!

Finally.

:)
10,000 mind changes and hours of playing on other people's later, I finally have one to call my own. Merry Christmas to me and my mom. Haha.

Hey!

There are so many things I wish to rant about, but I am deciding to give it another week. If it's still applicable at that time, then I will probably go ballistic about it. Anyway...

On Tuesday, Mike and I went to a HSYG Core Meeting for the first time in forever. I think the last time we went was some time last winter; it will be winter again in a few weeks. =/ Joe, one of the leaders, called me the day before inviting us to his house for the meeting. I semi-accepted before consulting Mike, thinking that he will be thrilled. I was kind of wrong - it took a few minor conversations to get him to say, "Okay." It wasn't like he was not happy to hear what I had to say because he was, but he was just thinking that he wasn't ready for it again. OTHER THAN SCHOOL AND WORK SCHEDULES INTERFERING WITH MEETING HOURS, THERE WERE A FEW DEEPER REASONS AS TO WHY WE STOPPED GOING. I understoood where he was coming from, but I would have felt bad turning down the call. I'm glad we went though because I honestly missed the feeling of being involved. I missed the feeling of serving the Lord in more ways than just your daily offerings. Sadly, we weren't able to make it to Friday's Thanksgiving Feast that we had set up for the youth. I made stuffing and gravy though, and had JR bring it. In a way, we were there in spirit. Haha :)

What did we do instead? We attended to prior commitments we made before the call even came. It was a fun time, too.

Oh! I finally bought a new pair of heels. I haven't bought new ones since a few months ago, I think? I swear Coach shoes are comfortable to my feet, lol. Plus, it was a steal in price for me! :) Really, I felt bad for wanting to buy it, but I have been promising myself and my black pumps an alternate. Haha - plus, Boyf and Mom both like them. *score!* & there goes my pager bonus, cool. ;P

Yeah, that's it for my senseless post. I just wanted to make a digital note of some things, but nothing in particular.

Just to update

I seriously cannot wait until my supervisor comes back to work. We need her! I have been doing a lot more work than what my job description says, and I am not getting paid even a penny more for it. I really don't mind it on most days, but when my own tasks are getting interrupted for another person's, it becomes uncool. *sigh* 2 more days.

Saturday was able to keep me away from my hectic work world though. =] Mike and I spent the day in San Francisco. We saw, honked for, and cheered on Prop 8 protesters. Oh, how I feel sad for them. After that, we pretty much stayed around Fisherman's Wharf. We like acting like tourists in SF just as much as we love the city itself. We spent about one and half hours in Ripley's Believe It Or Not! Museum. The picture to the left is actually of a painting by Sunshine Plata, a Filipino lady who paints using coffee, featured in the museum. I thought that was pretty neat. ;p After getting out, we walked around some more, and watched the Bush Man scare some passers-by. Then, we bought our favorite cupcakes, had dinner at Buca di Beppo, got our coffee, drove around our favorite scenic spots, and finally met up with my brother & friends for a few games of bowling. It was a great day.

Sunday was church, football, and family - the usual thing this time of the year. It was nice to finally see the 49ers kick some butt. Lol (: The end.

Love & Basketball

I failed in attempting to sleep, so I'm going to make digital notes about my past few days. (:

1.
Mike and I celebrated our second year anniversary. We decided that we weren't going to do anything big this time because we're trying to save as much as we can for next month. On a minimal account, we stood by our decision. Basically, after working all day, we went to the city for dinner then got our coffees. Man, we're f'n strong together. =] I love my SF Giants jacket and cutesy card. Ty, Boyf.

2.
Saturday was hella crazy! B2K playoffs - enough said (at least for those who know me personally). We played two games: a nerve-racking victory the first game, and a devastating loss in the second game. Dddamnit to another, "Next f'n time, team!" Take my word for it though - aside from the battle on the court, it was the ultimate battle of the fans. We all rolled deep... us and the opponents. The first game was fun(ny), but the second game was fcking war. The B2K fans met Lisa & friends again. If I had my old blog, I would redirect you to an Aug2007 post. To make a long story short, Lisa & affiliates are our mortal enemy when it comes to basketball. Classless little bitches. =]

Those are pretty much all that is worth taking notes of since last time. Seriously, it was all love and basketball for me... hahaha, no pun.

Change

I had to wait until I woke up this morning to actually realize and soak in what had just happened.

Barack Hussein Obama will become the 44th president of the United States of America.

In addition, he will be the first African-American to be elected to the highest position in the country. I know I did not speak about my vote yesterday, but this will probably give it all away. I have to say that I am proud to be a citizen of this country, and to have been a part of a new historical moment. I could not help but feel overwhelmed about how much this nation as a whole has evolved in a matter of a few decades. Yes we can. (: My vote counted, and I am still trying to grasp the reality of today. A lot of hopes have been sparked, including mine.

Then came this bitter bite of the elections this morning. Prop 8 was passed by California voters. I understand that marriage is sacred, and is shared between a man and a woman. The church said to vote yes on it, but I could not find it in my heart to take away that civil right from my gay and lesbian friends. Everyone deserves to be happy in life, and taking away their right to marriage just seemed so wrong. Unfortunately , California along with many other states in the country felt otherwise. Define equality?

That's my take on the elections for now. History.

I Voted

I've had a fairly busy morning, but the most important thing was that I voted. No, I will not discuss how, who, and what I voted for, but those close to me know how I feel about certain people and things. Have you voted?

Anyway, I have work in half an hour. Yesterday was a super off day for me. I had no confidence in anything I did, and I knew exactly what it was. It's the panic mode some of my coworkers were in yesterday because the boss is on vacation. Seriously, people just need to relax and know that anything is fixable as long as we're not losing profit. I hope things get better though.

Today looks a lot prettier than yesterday's gloomy and wet condition. I like this type of weather - sunny and chilly. It's the best! :)

Lshift

Halloween was cool. Boyfriend and I carved pumpkins just before it was time for the little trick-or-treaters to start coming. I carved Mickey's face, and he carved Yoshi. People liked them, and thought they were very creative. Haha :) More kids came than I expected, but my favorite was a group of youngsters dressed as different Disney characters. They were so adorable! Yea, I'm semi-biased.

Saturday was ugly! It was raining hard, but we tried to stay indoors most times. Basketball was bad news, but celebration still followed for "Babe's Lola's birthday party" (LOL, Maxie ;p). Later on that night, we (plus Jackie & Kevin) watched Changeling. I liked the movie, and I swear I could feel the grief & frustration of Angelina Jolie's character. If you haven't seen the movie, go watch it!

Sunday was the norm - church and family. Yeaaa. Now, I'm off to work to start off my L shift for the week, and the next three weeks. ): Ugh.

Happy Halloween

Unlike other years in the past, there will be no Halloween party for me tonight. Instead, I will be at home passing out candies to decked out little trick-or-treaters. Really though, I'm just too lazy to drive to Davis and Sacramento to party because I have to wake up early tomorrow. Haha - it's all good though. On the brighter note, I will get to see my nephews and niece in their costumes tonight. Yay! :)

My dad just showed me my 11-year-old nephew's report card for the first quarter. He's a sixth grade middle schooler, and he earned straight As with corresponding Os (for Outstanding) for behavior and participation grades. Needless to say, I am very, very proud of him. He's following in my footsteps! Haha.

My dad joked,

"Look at his grades, straight As! He's so much smarter than me - I only had straight Bs."
"Oh, really?"
"Yeah... straight bagsak!"

He explained to me that "bagsak" also meant "fail." LOL. I love my pops.

& so for now, tricks or treats, enjoy your Halloween, everyone!

Raining

I want to get back on track of writing and blogging. I mean I still write offline and on papers, but I kind of miss this online thing. Is it me or is there a writer's block epidemic going around to every other blogger? Hm, weird. Anyway, I converted to a much simpler layout. I thought it might help me want to get back into writing. Haha, cheaaa.

So it's finally raining in California. I swear I knew it was coming before the forecast even said so. It always pours the day before or of Halloween. Agh, this October was hotter than usual though. I hope it doesn't rain this Sunday. Speaking of October, tomorrow is its last day. I kind of want to hold the ATM pager for November, or at least half of the month. I could use some extra money with a trip and the Holidays coming up. Ooh, I hope they'll offer it to me. :/ Anyway, I'm watching Oprah (as always), and the episode's about previous contestants of the show, The Biggest Loser. They inspire me; I want to lose that much weight, too! :P

Kid

This might be a little embarrassing, but I am currently watching Maya and Miguel. I found it on KVIED while browsing through the TV listings. I know, I know... it's a children show, but you have no idea! I used to watch it almost every morning back in high school while I got ready for school - along with Arthur, which I enjoyed a great deal back in elementary school. I was PBS Kids & Nick Jr gal. The N & KVIED channels remind me of my childhood years. HAHAHA :)

Work was SO hectic yesterday. That song, "Manic Monday" by the Bangles was very, very fitting. No kidding! Ah, but freaking BJW & friend, give me my $20 back! Whatever; I already took the hit. *sigh...*

granted

I finally got approved for a leave from work! :) A few tries later, and I was finally granted my request. It's only three days, but I'll take that over nothing. Plus, if I request any more than that, I'd have nothing on my paycheck. Yeah, with the Holidays coming around, that's not such a great idea. Anyway, I already know how my leave will be used, but I'll spill the details later. Oh, and I want a new part-time, a few days a week type job. FNL is no longer cutting it for me. (Yes, I have two jobs.) & people from the school loan department need to hurry up, geez!

SO. Two weeks until Election 08. Are you voting? I swear this election has been so freaking crazy, especially with all the topics that are up for grabs. With all the problems this country is burdened with, many people are just relieved that someone new will be in office. Oh, decisions, decisions. I need to read up on all the Propositions ASAP!

anti-Anthoney

The schedule says I should be at FNL work right now. However, I am sitting at home watching Jon and Kate Plus 8. =) Why?! Because after much contemplation, I decided to e-mail in. E-mailing in is the same as calling in except you send an e-mail instead of making a phone call. I e-mailed in for a few reasons.

1. I wanted to finish my readings before tomorrow.
2. I needed to review.
3. Anthoney annoyed me on Tuesday.
4. I didn't want to work with Anthoney.

Mainly, it was the last two. Anthoney, the new transferred general manager, is very lazy, passive, and dependent. He likes to give all the tasks to other employees, even if he is the only one free. He also likes to talk on the phone with his buddies, and let newbies have excessive access (more than veterans). I didn't want to have to deal with that tonight. Plus, he's very sketchy with everything. He left me out of next week's roster for no reason. When I asked him what that was about, he said, "Uh, because... because... well, I'm not anti-Precious!" Tch, he's freaking dunzo on my list.

On a brighter note, it's an all-you-can-eat spaghetti and meatballs night at Pasta Pomodoro. Everyone should go! :)

One

Sweet Anita came in today, as she usually does. She is the treasurer for the PTA of a local school, and I enjoy giving her my service because she's so bubbly and patient. This morning was no exception, except for one thing. You see.. she usually comes in with multiple transactions waiting to be processed for her and her association. Today, however, she only had one, yet it was the biggest one I have ever seen in my telling life. Yes, even with all the transactions I've processed for businesses. Anyway, the bills weren't too bad because our counters are great, but the checks... oh the checks!... almost drowned me. There were 500+ checks, and I had to verify each one thrice! Can you imagine that? It was crazy. Anyway, everything turned out okay in the end, and all discrepancies were worked out immediately. That set the theme for the rest of the day though because I was dead busy. I even continued working during my lunch break just so I could make sure that everything would meet the deadline. I'm a slave sometimes.

Yeaaa, never again - I hope! I swear a raise would be sweet, especially with all the new "access" I have been given, which are pretty much just more responsibilities. GDI. Believe - a mantra.

Delivered

My DVDs finally came! :) One of the many things that excite me is coming home from where ever I may have been, and seeing a beautiful package waiting for me. It totally eliminates all anxiousness and all that jazz. Ok, so I sometimes get scared that my packages might come while no one is at home, and some mean person will come to the front door and steal them. Haha, thank goodness it hasn't happened. *KNOCK ON WOOD THAT IT EVER WILL*

Some man came to work the other day to cash some bonds. He said that cashing them was the only way he could get money without his wife knowing. !! Why would he hide money from his wife? !! Answer: Because their 7th wedding anniversary is coming up, and he wants to surprise her with something nice. He doesn't want her to question the withdrawal from the account, and have to lie to her before their anniversary. Aw, isn't he sweet?

^postscript: Alicia Keys and Dakota Fanning are on Oprah. I love those ladies!

Angelo!

I'm not a frugal shopper or anything, but I really love finding bargain prices. Sometimes, I am the type of shopper who would return a newly bought item because I found it for a cheaper price elsewhere, or I would just ask for a price match. Haha :] Of course, "sometimes" refer to the circumstance. I mean, I wouldn't do the commute just to return an item, or buy it for the cheaper price. EG: Buying a shirt in SF and finding it cheaper at the local mall. I would not go back to SF to return the shirt because it's a few bucks more expensive. Unless there's a local store to return the merchandise to. Do I kind of make some sense? I'm too tired to fully explain. Anyway, I came about to sharing this nonsense because I bought Sex and the City, The Comple Series DVD along with the movie for $100-something off at Borders earlier. ;p Good buy, right? YES! Except, I found the same (new) items online for $50 less with free shipping a few hours later. What's the better deal? The online deal, of course! I ordered the two items, and as soon as they arrive, I will be returning the first pair of items I bought. Uh yeah, don't mind me.

So...

Miracle at St. Anna is one crazy movie. Because a few hours isn't usually enough to capture the entire feel of a novel, I'm thinking about reading the book. First, I have to recollect myself, and get the actual guts to read through it. I cried during various scenes in the movie, and no, it wasn't the sappy-type cry. ;)

Coco

my MasterCard*

Premium gas fill up: $40
Dinner with a familiar waiter: $35
CA toll for crossing the bridge: $4
Coffee for the heart: $8
A new pair of sunglasses: $600

Spending all of these with the love of your life: Priceless

<3maple.

* If the elections weren't coming up, gas would have probably been more expensive. It's not fun having to pay that much for gas, especially since the Bay Area has the highest average gas prices in the country. >;[ Similarly, I don't like disbursing $4 for toll, but if it means a beautiful California bridge, then sure. Please, Mr. Governor, don't raise it to $5!

On the brighter side, I love random dine outs! Steak, shrimp, mashed potatoes, and a generous plate of ceasar salad? Mmm! [: Oh, Starbucks is love; need I say more?

& yes, I own a new pair of premier sunglasses. My collection is growing, yay! :D They were a late, late but well-deserved (well, at least Boyf thinks so) birthday present. YUPPP, lol.

_{EL FIN.}


^postscript: I finally took my birthday iPod out of the box. Haha ;P

Precious again!

Why create a new blog?

Just because.

Yes, that's my answer - a childish, bratty utterance of just because. However, before you go into judging me, let me try to convince you that it isn't as bad as I might have put it. The old one was full of archives that I have read over and over again. They're practically embedded in my mind - the good, the bad, and the ugly. Since most of them are written in a personal journal and the good times will always be remembered, then it's time to move on. I no longer want to browse through my old posts, only to come across some ugly, evil writing that would turn me bitter. A big no, no nowadays.

Fcuk January 07. Fcuk April 08. Fcuk the bad times. Cheers to the good times.

(Yeah, that probably wasn't a very good idea, but who gives a fcuk right now?!) I don't! Haha. Oh, and this new blog... will most probably stick. ;)