Merry, Happy Christmas!!!!

Merry Christmas everyone! Growing up before I moved to the States, we used to say Happy Christmas, so forgive the confusion... if it's confusing in my brain, I chose to spread that to you guys =p

We had a great time last night/this morning! We brought our Maryland gift-unwrapping madness to Houston. Every Christmas eve, my siblings and I make a whole production of unwrapping gifts. My brother and I are usually the Maître D's, and we hold the floor distributing gifts, describing the wrapping and making silly comments. It's awesome! They were going to just open gifts today, but of course, as we started our silliness, they could only follow suit. Make others as silly as you: Mission Accomplished!

We got some really nice gifts from our hosts (My brother's in-laws) bought us earrings and cuffs and my brother & his wife MMS (whom I just call my sister now, lol), bought me something I really wanted and didn't think I would be getting as a present. I was saving up for it, or was going to start saving up for it after tax season ha ha! I was completely surprised!!!! The entire time I'm thinking they're getting it for someone else... sigh, they got me good! They planned the whole thing with my hubbs I'm sure of it! Thank you guys ... sniff!

The rest of the time was spent laughing and playing with new toys.

Today, we slept in a little bit and brought a few things back to my brother's house. Since they're still waiting for their belongings to be brought here, (Santa must have been otherwise occupied) we've all been staying at their in-laws. We went to MMS's other older brother's house for Christmas dinner and laughing and so on. We stayed for quite a while ate a lot of great food and went home to pass out again. We camped out at the new house though it's still empty, but it's so much fun planning where all the stuff will go when it arrives tomorrow!

Until next post, Merry/Happy Christmas everyone and hope you have as much fun as I am having :)

You... Are... Here!

Since my last post, we drove about 7 hours to Hagerstown, MD where one of my sisters lives with her hubby and 2 adorable daughters. We rested for about an hour, munched on some delicious chicken and then cookies for desert, laughed, caught up, dropped off Christmas gifts for our Secret Santa and hit the road again around 8:30pm. It was ENTIRELY too short. I miss them all so much!!! Miss you Slice! Can't wait to see you on the way back. Save us some peanut butter cookies  :)

Then, we ventured into West Virginia. That portion of the trip was rough and very intense. The fog was heavy and the road was very windy so it was intense... after getting out of the mountains, we had to stop for the night. My poor baby was exhausted from gripping the wheel for a few hours! We found a hotel close to the Kentucky border and crumbled like rocks for 4 hours.

Then, we "stopped" in Louisville, Kentucky. I say "stopped" because we never really got out of the car because of the rain. We did drive around the city enough for me to take pictures of the convention center, some landscape including tons of bridges, the Slugger Museum and Factory which if you didn't know, is that building with a giant baseball bat leaning on it (very cool!) as well as Slugger Field, and the KFC Yum! Center, which is their newest arena. I love the name!!

The rain persisted for a little while then slowed on our way south west toward Nashville, TN. We decided to drive past Nashville because we would be getting there around rush hour traffic and nobody likes that... we circled around and headed straight to Memphis. By then it was dark and I didn't get any pics, but I will on our way back home.

From there, I  mostly slept and hubby woke me when we reached a border so I could try to take a pic of the sign. I was so ready to get out of the car and we still had LOTS of driving to do, baah... I barely remember seeing the "Welcome to Arkansas" sign, but I know I posted our whereabouts on Facebook each time we got somewhere new, lol.

After 33Hrs 25minutes of driving (mostly under rainy and foggy conditions), we have made it to Houston, TX. It's very different from Dallas. I've been there once, years ago, and once we'd landed, we had LANDED in Texas! Cowboy hats, horse shoe ties, boots, thick accent and all :). So far Houston is not feeling like Texas except that everything is humongous, of course, haha! There are tons of open spaces and land everywhere!!!!! My husband is talking about buying some of that land and building rental properties, LOL. The weather is slightly warmer but still gray and damp. We'll see about the rest... Stay Tuned!

Road Trip!

It's here! The day I've been waiting for for weeks is finally here! We're taking a road trip south west to Houston for the holidays and I can't wait to see my brother, his wife (aka my second twin), and my adorable nephew and nieceJ-squared :)

No more driving angry, sitting in rush hour traffic, phones to answer, badges to make, taxis to call, and especially no rude people to deal with for TWO WHOLE WEEKS!!!!! All smiles!
Right now it doesn't look exciting because it's cold and raining but there's a long way to go still and it's already dying down. Stay tuned for our little adventure.

Tick-Tock!

Is it my turn to go on vacation yet? Geeeeezzz!!! I know, I know... Only another day and a half before I can finally go on my two-week vacation. I've been accused of being impatient and I think over the years I have made some efforts. I mean seriously, I don't even look at those people anymore when they say that ;). Clearly, it is never going to be one of my skills and I have decided that I don't need it. What's the point? Someone tell me, please! People wait forever to do things while they could have done so much more during that waiting period, right? Exactly! I know they say patience is a virtue, and if it works for you, then hooray! I am not one of those people and I will never be.



I countdown to everything so I can feel like something got done once the meter shows "zero days left" and I can fulfill my dream of accomplishing a whole lot of things over time, ha! So when is that day coming??? Baaah!

I have also decided to not give anyone at work my attention when they insist on being rude or ignorant or plainly arrogant. I have zero patience for that kind of lame-ness. Working with a bunch of guys has its advantages and its drawbacks. The biggest advantage is that they think I'll just break down and cry whenever they ignore me. Well, they will be surprised. I come from a very large family and if you couldn't get your voice heard, you didn't get heard. That's right! Watch out boys... Hurricane AJ is coming! Oh what's that? You are someone's pet and can't be touched, HA!!! We'll just have to see about that. I love a challenge :p

'Twas the Weekend Before Christmas...

What a weekend!!! My boss's boss had a holiday party that we were invited to and it was amazing! Lots of food, drinks, fun people to laugh and chat with and we had a great time. I even lost my husband for a while when he went to get more drinks in the man cave and stayed for an hour chatting with people. He must have been having a great time too, ha! :)

Today we went bowling with some more great people and the youngest of their boys schooled us on how to bowl with the small balls and pins, ha ha! Three slow steps, and release the ball as slowly as possible hehehe! Great fun there too! Now we're having pizza and watching a few shows under warm blankets and waiting for time to meet with another great friend for a drink.

This was exactly what I needed to forget about the madness that happened at work Thursday and Friday. Annoying people who think they run the world because they now have a temporary door to shut people out at work. Enjoy it while it lasts little one, it's only a matter of time until you're back on your butt... Yes, I said it. If you'd been nicer, you wouldn't have made my blog but oh well, there it is. Bah, no need to ruin my great weekend mood. There will be some changes soon and I am so glad I have the best of back-up to make it happen... upper management. Take that kiddo~!

Steady As She Grows!

There are now SEVEN countries in my blog audience. We're growing people!!! I haven't checked on this for a little while now, so I was really excited to see where I stand at the moment. I think it's so great that random people around the world are reading my random blog, ha ha! So exciting! I hope I can make someone's day or at least make someone smile :)

A friend of mine keeps finding these amazing snack recipes that include Nutella. Now, if you know nothing about me, know this. I am INFATUATED with Nutella!!! I grew up eating it and it basically never left me. I go days without it sometimes because I can't bear the thought of having Nutella bread without my sisters... pffff! Who am I kidding? LOL, I eat as much of it as I am able and whenever someone brings me a REAL one from Europe, I try to make it last by eating some only 2 or 3 times a day ;p. Life is good.

As for my other adventures, I had a second round of interviews for the position I mentioned before. I hope it's going my way, but I keep seeing people coming in to interview for it and well, a girl can't help but get nervous (slightly). I'm trying to stay positive and focus on something else. Anything I could do to sway the decision in my favor was done in interview, so there really isn't anything more to do except wait. Ugh, the wait is the worst part of job application. I am grateful that my waiting is done while I already have a job and not at home twirling my thumbs. I would be going crazy! (well... crazier, ha ha).

Ummm... I still haven't found fun places to visit on my road trip. Who knows of something fun to see in Knoxville, Nashville or Little Rock??? Which reminds me I have to start packing... SIGH!

Mission Accomplished

Yay, classes are OVER! Oh my goodness, this was the longest session ever and no matter how you look at it, I absolutely hate accounting... H-A-T-E  IT!!!!!!! Thankfully, I won't have to worry about any more classes until January baby, woohoo!!!

The rest of the weekend was great though. Hung out with my girl Noushka and watched Crazy Stupid Love. Hilarious stuff! And I was oh-so-proud to see a familiar face in the movie. My favorite of ANTM cycle 11 Analeigh Tipton was in the movie as the nanny,which is one of the main characters. Take that Tyra! Just kidding... you're fierce too, ha! Yes, I secretly watch the show for the photo shoots and for Nigel Barker... Rrrrrrrrrr! hahaha :)These were some of my favorite shots of Analeigh.

    

Later last night, I went to meet up with some fun ladies for a Christmas potluck. We had a bunch of laughs and lots and lots of delicious food. I think I ate so much that I even woke up full, if that's possible, hahaha! That was just the way I like spending my weekends :)

Today, after the annoying final that took me forever to complete, I made quick chicken that we had with left-over plantains and buffalo wings. Yum-Oh! Then we watched the finale of the Amazing Race and I am SO upset at the winning team, ugh! I wanted anyone but them but oh well, they fought hard and I guess it's true what they say: "it's not how you race, it's how you finish" or something... boo! Annoying. Hopefully, the finale of the Next Iron Chef won't be as aggravating. I am pretty satisfied with the top 3, so I won't lose my voice screaming at the television. Now, it's onto my last full work week before our super long drive to our Houston Holiday :)

Off we go!

Personal Bubble

I came to work on Monday to find a bunch of stuff moved from my desk and other random things missing. I just have to say this.Why do people insist on moving things that do not belong to them? I mean, seriously... what's so hard to understand about this being MY desk? My business cards are here, all my stuff is here, you cover ME so why in the world would you think it would be okay to grab random things from my desk without asking and take them to some undisclosed locations? Where are my scissors? my extra roll of tape? my steno pad? my blue pens??? Why are things I put on one side always somewhere else when I come back to work the next day? Really, people! Get with the program. Stay out of my desk drawer and don't touch my stuff!!!!

On another - not so happy - note, someone thinks it's normal to talk to me every morning right in my face. I can't get away, there is nowhere to go because it happens while I'm sitting down and there is no way for me to avoid it. She's one of those who gets way too close to talk to people; even people she just met. I know you know who I'm talking about... It's the same thing everyday. I have resorted to pretending to look for something in a drawer further away behind me. Since she can't climb on the desk to talk to me, it's the safest distance. Ugh... what's the matter with people???

Finally, (because the week couldn't possibly get any better from there), I hate doctors who smile at you while telling you that they have no freaking clue what's wrong with you. After spending four hours at the ER Tuesday morning, and dealing with needles and random tests of my kidneys, lungs, gallbladder and whatever the heck else is in there, I am told everything is fine BUT "take these antibiotics just in case"... In case what???. I hate hospitals, I hate the ER, I hate hating things. Thank God for my adorable hubby though, he really keeps me from losing my mind in this world! Love you babe!

A name is a name... is a name.

I have decided to change my blog address. I didn't realize I could do this until this weekend when I was making some edits, and well... I forgot to mention it. Maybe there are only 2 other people reading me, so it shouldn't be a big deal but just in case, I thought I'd mention it :)

I figured I would save the other name for when I find something more serious to blog about, like when I start my design business or something. I could wait until then, but I don't want anyone to "borrow" my name and make it unusable for me, so there!

Multi-tasking

The last few days have been extremely challenging: physically, morally, emotionally and any other kind of "ly" you can think of. I am completely exhausted and can't believe the weekend is already over. Back to it again tomorrow. It will be another busy week. More interviews to conduct, maybe a second round of interview for myself, final exams and maybe some vacation prep. What can I say? I'm Superwoman =).

I am kinda looking forward to planning out the vacation super long road trip. Maybe we'll find the country's spiciest chili or the largest ice cream scoop or some other random thing I can blog about. I think the largest ball of twine is out of  the way, however... how dare it! What other fun stuff is there to see off of I-40 between Southern Virginia and Dallas?!?! I'll have to Google that, but If you know of a place I should check out, let me know :)

Alpha Oscar Kilo

I have decided that I am obsessed with military radio talk. I really am... I use some of it at work to make things lively when I have to communicate with security officers over the radio and I have to say it is super Foxtrot Uniform November! I have no idea why I love it though. Only a few people I know are in the service, and it isn't used around me at all other than in some TV shows and movies I watch like S.V.U., CSI, G.I. Jane, The General's Daughter, A Few Good Men... Go figure!

I had a good day at work today. My first round of interviews went well =D (fingers crossed, people!) and I didn't have too much work the rest of the day. Slept about 3 hours when I got home from work, so though I feel wide awake now, I will probably pass out as soon as my head hits the pillow. I need beauty sleep now because I have my next interview tomorrow (so exciting!!!). Oh, I am also conducting two more interviews tomorrow which for some reason makes me more nervous than being interviewed. yes, I'm weird! This is great to add to my resume though, I think I'm doing well and I'm learning a lot :). Let's see how it goes!

Interviews & Stuff

I conducted my first interview yesterday! It was a little intimidating and my stomach was clenched the entire time but man, oh man, was that exciting! I felt like such a grown up!!! It was like being able to call the shots for once, even though I really can't call any shots here yet, ha! It was great though. I have to interview 2 more people that I know of, but maybe there will be more, who knows?

I found it easy enough to stay on cue and not go into "friendly" territory and chat away, because the guy was a little stiff and serious like a perfectly pressed uniform. He was nice enough though, but again, I have NO say whatsoever, ha ha! All they want is my feedback, so that's what I'm giving them :)





Since that part of my morning was good, it was only normal that the other part would be completely demented. Ugh! Ask me why I found duplicates of everything I had already done, and none of what I needed my replacement to do? Yeah... I don't get it either. That's my work life! It's almost as if my aura attracts the least effective people possible and puts them on my path. Like, they have no choice but to be as lazy and as uncaring as they can possibly be. They don't even care that they DON'T CARE! Wow! My late friend LL would say "it's a Travesty!" in a very high-pitched voice with a strong Long Island, NY accent :) and it sure is!!! She loved laughing and loved those goofy non-motivational posters. So LL, here's to hoping I made you laugh wherever you are up there :)

Birthday

My birthday was Saturday after Thanksgiving and for once, some of my friends were in town and available to celebrate with me (since it didn't fall on the same day). We all went out for dinner and drinks, then a few of us had a night cap at another bar closer to home. I am now best friends with this amazing drink called Bikini-Tini (Cruzan Pineapple and Banana Rums, Pineapple Juice and Remy Red). It was SUPER delicious :)
I had a great time so thanks for coming out amigos!

I watched a bunch or random movies this weekend, all very different from each other and did enjoy that too. Maybe I should start a movie-review page of my own since I almost always completely disagree with movie critics... how does one become a movie critic? I wish I were one. Can you imagine? Getting PAID to watch movies? Hellz yaaa!!! I'd watch all mine at I-MAX! 

Anyway, now it's Monday again, and I have that "why did I come in to work" feeling because I was so wired I only slept 3 hours. Yikes is right!

Aaah, the sweet smell of Mac n' Cheese!

I made my first Thanksgiving dinner as a married woman today :) Wasn't much since there are only two of us, but I made everything from scratch. Seasoned backed chicken in vegetable oil, 3-cheese mac n' cheese and a medley of steamed vegetables. For dessert, I made a moist yellow cake served with diced pineapples and tangerines, with a little cool whip on top. Did I mention I made that from SCRATCH??? :D It was delicious! My hubby is passing out as I type, so my job here is done... ha!

I am exhausted but also very happy that I didn't burn anything or mess anything up :) After we've napped and rested our bellies, we're putting on our sneaks and going to attempt to grab some deals at Walmart and the outlet close-by. Neither of us have ever been for Black Friday, so if we have to get trampled, at least we were well fed before hand :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving is always a bitter sweet time of year for me because I celebrate my birthday in the same week. It should be a culmination of happy events, right? WRONG! I hate sharing my birthday with anything, or anyone else in the world... If you know nothing about me, remember this: I LOVE MY BIRTHDAY! I was raised abroad, so when I relocated to the states in my mid-teens, it was a blow to have no one available to celebrate it with me because they were all traveling home for Thanksgiving weekend. Say what? You're not going to be in town? WTH??? Who is this turkey and what does he have that I don't? Sigh... I thought I'd get over it eventually... still waiting for that to kick in.

I don't exactly know when I turned into this psycho birthday-infatuated fruitcake, but at some point I realized I really enjoyed celebrating it and enjoying feeling wiser and older... well, mostly older :p. Most women don't, and they don't even acknowledge time passing and are 28 every year, but I don't mind the changes that come with age. The random aches and pains that come out of nowhere, taste buds changing, eardrums getting sensitive... all of which I think I am WAY too young to experience but what the hey... if you haven't lived, what's the point right? At least it finally gives me a reason to tell someone else the dreaded sentence my mom used to tell me "when I was your age..." HA! who's the smarty-pants now???

We're supposed to spend this Thanksgiving with family friends in Boston but it's our first one as a married couple. Yikes, I'm MARRIED! It still shocks me to hear it, say it, write it. I'm thinking we should have our own little one at home but who knows if I can muster the strength to cook all of that?!?! Oh, well. I mentally wish a very Happy Thanksgiving to everyone I love & like in this world but if you forget my birthday this year, I will hunt you down and slash your tires =D

Coolest Gift

This week, I received the most unexpected surprise at work. I had helped another department for a large partner meeting a couple of weeks ago. KH from that department, thought to come down and say thank you with this amazing business card holder... how cool is that??? :)

The person who ran the meeting on the other hand, though her name is the same as mine, insists on calling me "front desk person" in her emails... yeah, lovely! Hahaha...

Thankfully, I had Friday off and was able to relax and hang out with friends. Went to a movie and had the most amazing time. We stayed up until 4 am, drinking and laughing. Those are my favorite times!

Today, I am finishing homework for one of my business classes, lazying around the house and maybe going to buy new work clothes in the evening. That is if I decided to get out of my pj's at all ;)

Two-Face

I'm starting to seriously wonder if I can read people as well as I thought... My boss, whom I had accepted as an over the top buddy, has started acting more like a boss lately. Hmmm...He is also all-caring about my feelings at work all of a sudden, asking how my days are going and if I'm still happy here. Weird... nice, but weird.


Yesterday, he said he wanted me to help him interview candidates for a position open in our department. Seriously? I've never been on the other side of an interview room before. I wonder what that will be like and if I'll let all that power go to my head? I can't actually believe he is considering this... that he's going to let me do this! Don't get me wrong, I'm psyched but half the time, he acts like I don't belong in the Security department because I'm a receptionist, even though I have access to all security files and that my title actually INCLUDES "security", but whatever. He usually spends half the time explaining to people why I'm not "really" security and mostly fall under the HR umbrella, then turns around and says to me "Of course, you're security. What do you mean?". The other half, he spends acting like he's ready to fire me... I guess things are about to change around here.

I should be happy. I did ask for more responsibility (what was I thinking?) and more things to do within the department (whyyy???). So, now he constantly calls to get my opinion on things and tries to "help" me do my job. Sighhh! I should have left it alone and coasted through like everyone else does around here. On the bright side, I don't have to do anything in a rush. Most of those projects will take months, so I can take my time and do a little bit everyday. So friend or foe? You never know which side of the coin you'll get. I still think I'll watch my step.

Sick

The worst part of living up north again is when fall and winter are fighting over who should show up first. Already had a first snow and ever since, the weather can't decide what it wants. It's super cold one day, then warm enough for my neighbor to crank up the grill and barbecue in shorts... all these changes are now making me sick somehow, which does not make me a happy girl!

I spent all of yesterday evening and last night in pain, laying on my couch under mountains of blankets. Finally fell asleep around 3 am, and woke up at 9:30 in pain again. My entire body feels like I was ran over by a truck or something and I could barely muster the strength to finish my Accounting homework. Hoping to have a better night sleep and hopefully a good start to the upcoming week!

Newbie

Someone suggested that I put my random thoughts "on paper" and start a blog. They apparently can't get enough of my foolishness. I tossed and turned about it for a few days, forgot about it, and then was reminded this week that I should get cranking on it, so here I am.

The issue really was figuring out what to write about. There is a whole lot of silliness in this big ol' head, and whenever I let it loose, one of my sisters says "You're SO random!". So it only makes sense that I would just pluck from that randomness and give you whatever comes out... you've been warned!

I always seem to be the last one to know or notice things around me. How did this happen? I used to be up on entertainment news, music, movies, TV shows and the likes. Now, I find out through Facebook that the feature I thought was an amazing new thing on my computer, has actually been available a whole operating system ago; that the posts I like and comment on are actually song lyrics from bands I've yet to hear of; and that all my high school friends up and grew up without me and become politically savvy...

Perhaps I should spend less time catching up on what's happened and focus on what's actually happening now.