I was so excited this morning for two reasons:
1) I am off of probation! woot woot! (the new employee kind, not the criminal kind)
2) Because I am off of probation, I am going on vacation for a week in 2 weeks!! I'm going to visit friends in Baltimore, Virginia, and DC. I'm going to go back to my old stomping grounds in Baltimore. I haven't been back since I left, and everyday, the anticipation builds. I can't wait to see a city that really did manage to charm me in my 12 months there.

And then my elatedness was shattered by three things:
1) It's Monday, and I have to go back to work after having worked overtime most of the weekend.
2) I have to work overtime tonight.
3) My vacation is not in 2 weeks. It's in 3 weeks.

Yes. Whine whine whine.

Life is not bad at all. I have no complaints. Great weekend including impromptu hang out Friday night with lots of friends, practicing my "juicy voice," lots of eating for New Years, and time with Jessica. I *heart* my sister.

To leave you all with a happy note, one of my favorite photos from the last month:

edit: Stupid Sam. Well, I guess it should be Stupid Ev.

New Year’s Resolutions:
Run a half marathon
Do an American Cancer Society event (Relay for Life, Making Strides..)
Work on a political campaign
Hike once a month
Climb Half Dome
Be nice(r) to DB*
Get my policy paper published in a major journal
Cook at least 3 times a week
Travel to 5 different states (out of country travel will count as 2 states)
Be better about keeping in touch with people who live nearby (but not close), especially those in the 510 and 415 area codes.
Not let DB make me cry at work
Spend more time with Jessica
Read one book a month
Put my monthly gym membership fees to good use
Spend quality one-on-one time with each of my dear friends
See Jason more mid-week
Organize my friends to volunteer at Habitat

*DB: Dirty Boss

Books I want to read in 2006
Christopher Moore, Lamb
Phillip Gourevitch, We wish to inform you that tomorrow we will be killed with our families: stories from Rwanda.
Randy Shilts, And the Band Played On: Politics, People, and the AIDS Epidemic
C.S. Lewis, The last 5 books of the Chronicles of Narnia
Wicked
David Sedaris, Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim
Donald Miller, Blue Like Jazz
Pete Gall, Gall: Five Years of Unfettered Christian Exploration. Somewhere Between Youth Group and the Rest of Life.
Howard Frumkin et al, Urban Sprawl and Public Health: Designing, Planning, and Building for Healthy Communities

30 (no, 18..couldn't come up with 30) things I want to do before I’m 30
(That gives me 5 years).
Climb Half Dome
Hike the Grand Canyon
More graduate school
Work for a non-profit
Get married (before I’m 30, people! Not right away...oh stop all that engagement stuff that’s running through your heads)
Go to other Hawaiian islands
Take another Ohana vacation
Take another LAME trip
Learn how to make a wedding cake/Try to make a wedding cake
Start a Book Club and actually do something with it!
Triathlon (Sprint or Olympic length)
Go to Japan
Go to Greece
Roadtrip with Bev and Janet
Make a quilt
Go to see the Terra Cotta Warriors in Xi’an
See my sister graduate from Cal
Cooking a fancy meal for 10

If anyone wants to do any of these things/read any of the books with me, I'd love the company!!

Beers and Cheers!

Congratulations to Alinna and Hideyo Satake!! Your wedding was oh so beautiful. Some choice memories: Sausage McMuffins, Girls showing our guns, Gum spitting picture, Pizza My Heart, Al and I become very good friends, the hoedown "Have you ever seen a frog kissin' a log down by the bay," Al looking like an absolutely radiant bride, the tears, the vows, the decorated car, dancin' the night away. I can't believe the Spice Girls made an appearance at your wedding! HAHAHA. Like I said, "Hideyo, you've landed yourself in a circle of girls who are really..uh...special."

A more proper post will follow with more pictures. But for now, I leave you with one photo from Al & I shopping for dresses. These ended up being the dresses we got too!

A picture post.

see fun friends play.

see old friends laugh.

see girl friends be girly and stupid and us.

see boyfriend be awesome.

see my one and only (sister, that is).

There are lots of people that I don't have pictures of but would want to put up. I love my friends and family. I am enormously blessed to have people who love me, whom I can love, who are not afraid to be stupid or lame, who understand that food feeds the soul, who believe that sharing is caring, and who are just all in all awesome. I love you guys!

Merry Christmas (I think that means that I'm not posting until after Christmas...we shall see!)

Gobble Gobble

Happy Thanksgiving! Thanksgiving was fabulous this year. How did 4 days disappear so quickly? Recap and reminscing...the weather changed. My scarves have made an appearance. I love the cold crisp nights. Coats, scarves, (gloves soon). Too bad it doesn't snow here. Perfect timing for weather change. our streets in mountain view were absolutely GORGEOUS the past month. Who says we don't get fall colors here? In my neighborhood, we certainly did.

Recap and reminscing (warning: boring):

wednesday night: Went to the warriors-spurs game with Jason, Justin, Alicea, and Hung. 1st NBA game of the season. 2nd in my life. We got our butts kicked. Mike Dunleavy is useless. He was my neighbor when I lived in Oakland. We used to shop at the same Safeway. But, he's not so helpful on the court. I think he shot a whoppin' 2 points. . It's ok...Pistons-Warriors should be less of a "hellacious ass-whooping." Where did Evelyn come up with that phrase? from the guy who was sitting behind us at the game. Who was trying to teach the high school girls he was with about basketball. He explained to them that the game that night was a H.A.W. (too lazy to type it all again). He even said, "repeat after me. [H.A.W.]"

thursday: played scrabble, watched Two Towers, ate a huge meal with my cousins, aunts, grandmothers, sister, dad, second cousins, my mom's cousins kids twice removed by law (i have no idea who they were), stayed up really late playing video games.

friday: soldered. Yes, soldered. Bought a solder and fixed my garage door opener. You can find everything on the internet (and at Radio Shack!). Helped Alinna move. Scrubs and dinner with allen and mel. Almost went to the saratoga get together.

saturday: slept till 11:45. Woohoo! Grubbed with dad and jess. Hung out at my dad's house. Boba with Karen. Dinner with Thomas, Es, Kenn. Lots of laughs. Excited about hanging out with Es more often. we will make it happen!

sunday: slept till Noon. WOOHOO! Pho, Boba, and Ikea. I *heart* the east bay. Also because Jason lives there. =). (sorry. end gush here.) Jason's mom's birthday dinner with enough food to feed 30 people.

And alas here we are. I refused to go shopping amid the madness. I can't seem to handle malls on weekends. I'm very quickly overwhelmed by the crowd.

Time with people. Time to sleep. Time to myself. Time to eat. This is the stuff of life.

Dangers that Lurk
And so, today, it was with great resignation that I woke up and made my way to work. How did I reward myself for such a great feat?

I went to the mall.

It is really dangerous to work a 5 minute walk away from the mall. That's a 45 second drive. Which gave me 58 minutes and 30 seconds to shop during lunch. And I bought a new fall coat!!

I also bought a pair of 7's. I will never wear cheap jeans again. For a girl who wears jeans nearly any moment when she doesn't have to dress up, the fact that they were on super sale at Nordstrom's made them impossible to resist.

It's nice working so close to the mall because then I can hunt for bridesmaids shoes* constantly and get the best deal ever ($20). But, that also means I go with some frequency. At least Target isn't right next door. I'd go there every day.

Ok. I really should do work. That's what they pay me for.

(edit for MonkeyMar: I am a bridesmaid. I don't have any yet. In fact, I don't need any yet. Tee hee).