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 :)