Category: Hobbying

Hobbies and extracurricular activities

Greased Lightning

My week came at me fast and left just as quickly.

It seems like yesterday when I was just here, happily typing away, telling you guys about our hike at Holy Jim trail.

Here we are, a week after.  Went by me in a blink.

Inauguration Day was also our 7th wedding anniversary.  It was a new beginning for the country I live in and quite a momentous moment in my marriage.

Last year, people said that America would rather elect a woman than a black man as president.  Here stands Barrack Obama in front of millions, the day after MLK Day, swearing on Lincoln’s bible to serve this country.

Last years, some people we knew said that Brandon and I might just be better off without each other.  Here we are, sharing our special anniversary dinner and having come to enjoy our married life more than before.

The president and we were out that night, celebrating our success.  And in a way, savoring this moment when we throw it back at the non-believers.

The morning after, life is back to normal for everyone.  Mine was the early morning meeting day, under new management by the Executive Assistant.  The impending 3-4 days of rain triggered major allergies for me and I spent the entire day, through the morning meeting AND lunch time staff meeting sneezing my head off.  An afternoon nap when I got home helped hold me together enough to go to my first yoga class.

And the yoga class was just what I needed.  It was a beginner’s Hatha yoga class, all poses and breathing.  Quite meditative to begin with and the instructor ended the session with deep relaxation.  Lights dimmed and everyone was cozy under a blanket–or my case, my towel and sweatshirt.  Breath and relax, the instructor said softly.

After a while, my nose decided to start running.  As I raised my hand to touch my nose, I suddenly realized that I cannot feel my body.  I mean, the entire body was so still and so relaxed that I panicked a little and jerked my legs just to make sure they’re still there.  So much for deep relaxation because after that point my heart raced so I couldn’t quite get back into it.

Thursday at the office came and went so fast I didn’t even remember what I did all day.  The evening, however, was on interesting experience: my first Flamenco lesson.

Problem #1, I showed up with sneakers and soft jazz shoes when I should’ve brought heels.  I couldn’t hear myself and the feet movement without heels definitely wasn’t working out in my favor and therefore Problem #2 of me messing up the footwork the entire hour.  But then, that’s not counting #3 issue of my previous ballet training kept my arms not quite in the Flamenco formation.  It was instintive reaction as I concentrated so hard on getting the footwork right.  #4 is the beat which apparently started at 12 instead of at 1 and I can’t quite pick it out of the music just yet.  (I tried to employ the Strictly Ballroom strategy of listening with my “heart” and not my ears, but closing my eyes mean I can’t see the instructor and therefore have absolutely no clue what I was doing.)

And finally, Problem #5, Flemenco is fucking hard.  LOL.  It’s not just the feet, it’s the arm movements AND the hands too.  Not to mention the exagerrated posture, chest and chin high, shoulders back.

Suffice to say, the next morning, I really couldn’t quite slouch.  My muscles just wouldn’t allow me to.

Friday work day also flew by.  The surprise of the evening was that my carpool/bus buddies decided to go for a quick drink before dropping us all off.  I had a few glasses of wine and pieces of sushi with the gang and quickly dashed off afterward to see “Underworld: Rise of the Lycans” with Brandon.

Saturday was half spent sleeping in and a little bit of errands before I settled in to cook for the potluck with my bus buddies.  The rest of the evening was laced with wine, lots of food, and fantastic company.  The potluck was much better than the party right after we got off the bus!

And now it’s Sunday again.

Tomorrow we start all over at the office.

WTF. Seriously.

Where is my first month of the new year running off to?

A spot that changes everything

Those who have been following my Twitter might have seen the drama of Friday.

2 weeks ago, Brandon went to the dermatologist to have a few spots on his face checked out.  While there, the doctor insisted to just look him over and took a biopsy from this spot on his back.  Friday was his follow up appointment and it turned out the one on the back is well on its way to become a melanoma.  To be on the safe side, the derm scooped out the skin around the area and sent that to the lab as well.

All I got from B in the office was a text saying that “the derm is taking a chunk out of my back. will call when done.”

Was I freaked out?  Hell yes!  Not to mention that when they biopsied him a few weeks ago, the boy almost passed out at the end.  You see, Brandon does extremely poorly with needles.  Pain he can handle.  Needles, not so much.  And here he was, getting a chunk cut out of his back and he was going to drive himself home?

I drove in to town with my carpool on Friday, so I texted him to hang out at the doctor’s office and let me know when he was read and I’d come him.  About 15 minutes later, he called back.

“I’m on my way home now,” he said.  “I’m driving as fast as I can before the drugs wear out.  I will have an inch and a half scar on my back that you’ll need to help me with. Oh and I have to take your parking spot because of the stitches, I can’t close the garage.”

Hoorah, Marines.  You guys are one odd breed.

I know we probably overthink this a bit.  It’s not even a melanoma yet but we were *this* close.

Obviously, when anybody comes close to the word “you have cancer”, doesn’t matter how far or how close it is, it’s still scary.

I did what I can do at the office and thanks the stars Nhien is a angel and let me run home for the afternoon.Mr. High Pain Threshold over here wasn’t in much pain.  He’s just a little sore.  We just had lunch and took a nap together.

He didn’t quite say it, but  I can sense he’s a little freaked out.  It sure as hell scares me. (But I’m not telling him that.  So. Shhh…)

Saturday came and it was like a brand new phase of our lives has begun.  We went out shopping for some frivolous items, hoping to pick something up from Circuit City’s Going Out of Business Sale.  Seriously, NOTHING was on sale except for the big screen TV and a few printers.  We came out empty handed.

Then we went ahead and picked up a humidifier for Brandon’s sinus and the Keurig Mini single cup coffee maker for our odd beverage consumption behavior.  For me, a one-cup-a-day decaf drinker.  I used to have 3-cup maker but it was such a waste.  For Brandon, he likes tea but is too impatience to wait for water to boil and for tea to steep.  With this machine here he’ll have his cup of cha in no time flat.

I baked in the afternoon to take my…well, Giada’s…famous Hazelnut Crunch Cake with Mascapone and Chocolate to Lupe’s birthday party that night.  What a party that girl threw for herself!  Brandon surprised everyone by actually being at a party.  (He hasn’t been to one in a while.)  And I surprised everyone with having had 2 sparkly cocktails and 2 shots of Patron and still walked out of the house on my own will.  Hahaha!

And of course, yesterday at Holy Jim Trail down in Trabuco Canyon.  My neck is still a little stiff from getting tossed around in the car getting to the trail.  Something about not being able to control my limbs as we bounced down the bumpy, gravely road gave me the giggles.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIon_P03kEE]

Our hike was also fun as we made our way to the waterfall twice because we forgot to look for the geocache.  This is where I found my first ever geocache!  I’m not telling you where it is though.  🙂

Holy Jim trail 2009 B and O (46)

What’s so extraordinary about this weekend after the almost-melanoma?

We were out doing things.  Instead of him behind his computer games and me watching a movie or geeking out.

We were out.  Doing something fun.  Something new. Enjoying our lives outside our geeky little bubble.

We–well, I–even started a conversation with Nora about going to Italy next year instead of going home.  My dad will try to meet us in Venice, he said.  Brandon has no objection to going along with that plan.

It’s a little push from the Universe right there, that little spot on his back.

That thing I do

I have been staying up passed my bed time this week.  Case in point, see time stamp.

It seems I just have a lot I want to do and I’m excited about all of them.  I’ve been busy updating my experiences at the Temple and at the food blog with my cooking binge.

I can’t tell you enough how much joy cooking give me.  Now even more joyous that Brandon has the monopoly on dishes.  It was like a runner’s high for me.  I feel awesome having cooked something we can both enjoy.  So I’ve been indulging in that little slice of quality kitchen time.

(Aside: Oh yeah, after almost 7 years of marriage, we finally figured out one of the reasons we occasionally resent each other is because I left the dishes piled up and he kept postponing the laundry.  Somedays I took on both duties, even.  It turns out he’d rather do dishes and I rather do laundry. Big. Obnoxious. DUH!)

And that little cooking high launched me into this creative spurt.  The blogging.  The girls movie day out on Saturday was great, and so was meeting new people at Tweet Up on Sunday.  I’ve signed us up for yoga which we missed last night (damn bus was late).  Flamenco class at Moondance is next Thursday.  I’m thinking of joining another Twitter friend for Capoiera sometime after that.

The more new things I started to do, the more things I want to do.  I barely want to sit down and watch TV any more.  But hell, there’s a LOT there I want to watch too.

And all the while trying to ignore the piles and piles of paperwork building up in my office, the looming tax lady appointment which is all about these files being organized.  Small stacks of clutters threaten to take over my office again.  And my commute clutter collector is getting out of control.

Like Sheryl Crow said, “It’s such a thin line between the things you want and the things you have to do.”  And I’m straddling it.

I’m doing what I want to do and here I am guilty about things I have to do not getting done.

Work has been super busy and stressful.  But I decompressed…and napped…on the bus on my way home.  By the time I walked through the door, I’m an Energizer Bunny all over again.

But my energy is not for the cluttered office or housework.  It’s for this new found joy in doing new things.

Some of that bounce in my steps hit a containment wall here and there.

For one, Brandon’s grandmother passed away late last week, following her husband who passed away in September.  He’s dealing with that in his own way.  And bouncing through the door wanting to do all sorts of crazy things probably is not what he needs.

But then I got a little frustrated with all the energy trapped inside.  Some evening, I just let that drained out through mind numbing goodness of television.

Today wasn’t a good TV day. (Well, not counting Gil Grissom’s goodbye episode…which I will watch tomorrow.)  So I finally got to the piano.

Brandon–or my neighbors…or any human being–didn’t need to hear my goat-being-slaughtered impression as I wailed through a handful of broken balads and clumsy banging of the piano.  I was nice and warmed up by the time I got to my rendition of Avril Levigne’s “When you’re gone.”

However, being as rusty as I am with the piano currently, I slammed on the wrong keys and lost my concentration, and therefore lost my breathing as I just coming off a belted D and gearing up for the E.

Hence, I squeaked in the middle of the E.

And proceeded to choke on that missed breath.

He got such a good laugh out of that one.  And so did I.

We got through another day.

Tomorrow, a new adventure.

Delurk! Delurk! Delurk!

Hey, you.  Yeah, YOU!  De-lurk.  Now!

Delurking Day is when you, my readers, reveal yourself.

Leave a comment here to say hello to the world.  Some of you are here all the time but never left a comment.  Some just dropped in on accident, you too can show yourself.  This would be the day to do that and show the blogosphere–and yours truly–some love.

And thanks to Rude Cactus for letting me in on this great day!

Now….a quick weekend recap.

Friday party with Candice the Goodbye Girl. Tequila stained clothing included.  Saturday at Slumdog Millionaire with the girls.  Sunday Tweet Up Long Beach morning of photography and Golden Globe evening of fun.  Hooray for Wall-E!  Hooray for Mickey Rourke!  Hooray for Slumdog!

Okay. Now you can delurk.  Tell me about your weekend.  Or share your Golden Globe reaction.  Or just say, “Hi”.

Go! Go! Go!

Life on Mars

I watched “The Martian Child” this morning.  The Martian Child thinks he’s from Mars.  Others think he’s weird but his adoptive dad goes with it and accepts him anyway.

I’ve always seen myself as an outsider since I was a kid.  True, there were worse cases of “odd girls out” than how I feel, but I have never felt 100% belong anywhere.

A part of me is always the odd girl out somewhere else.

The geeklet among the “normal” people. But not geeky enough for the full-fledge geeks.

The film snob among the mainstream Hollywood crowd.  Not into the real artsy films but apparently snooty enough to piss people off with my film criticism afterward.

The blogger among the “internet is for email and browsing” mass.  Us bloggers hung together against those who think we waste our time.

The one with the funny grammar and an accent among natives.  At least I’m funny.  That should count for something.

The “Western” one among Thais.  Well, may be this one I’m actually happy about sometimes.

The wayward alcoholic among those who don’t partake.  Because I enjoy alcohol, does that make me a bad person?

The classless act among those carrying Coach and donning Armani.  I’m not materialistic but apparently that’s not a virtue for some people.

I’ve always known that I am a Jane of All Trades, Master of None.  That alone already put me at odd with the rest.

I find acceptance in each of the little circle, but I don’t think there’s a circle that would accept all of my trades.

Damn.

Being a Martian gets pretty lonely sometimes.

Onward to 2009

Not resolution.  Goals.

Back in my Taekwondo days, our master had us turn in our 10 goals for the year and recap what you’ve accomplished the year before.  Guess I’ll start that tradition here on the blog this year.

1. Explore Kung-fu.  I did like Taekwondo but as strange as this may sound I’m looking to do something more flow-y.  Dance-like.  Capoiera would be cool to explore too.

2. Drink more water: one glass in the morning and one before bed.  Ah, the yearly goal.  I tend to give up after trips to the bathroom in the middle of the night or the inconvenient urge on my bus ride home.  But I’ll continue to try!  I’m pretty sure I’m a walking mummy, completely dehydrated.

3. More guitar/piano/singing – at least twice a week.  I went months without touching the piano.  Not good for me.

4. Read more books – One book a month at least.  Last year was a major disappointment for me when I look back at my reading list.  Pathetic!  Then again, that is what happened when I’ve found new TV shows and we got us a laptop.

5. Add yoga to the routine – at least once a week.  Brandon loves what yoga does for his back.  So we’re looking into a community class.  I have a few DVDs here at home.  We just have to get ourselves onto the mats.

6. Take a language class.  One needs some Spanish to live in California.  It’s about time I get with the program.

7. Cook one new recipe a month.  I haven’t been cooking much lately.  If I do, it’s usually the old favorites.  Time to get my cooking skills improvement back on track!

8. Fix them teeth.  Nobody told me I have to wear my retainer for the rest of my life.  My bottom teeth are already back to what my dad called a family trait of crookedness.  The top is starting to morph.  And that’s not cool.

9. Fix them eyes.  It’s been years since I’ve stopped wearing contact lenses.  I’ve grown to really love wearing my glasses.  Again, another family trait.  I’ve been waiting for the technology to be able to correct astigmatism too.  Now that it can, maybe I don’t have to be so blind after all.

10. Keep up with whatever is working well.  A few things I started last year have turned out to be the best things that happened: my dance classes, treating myself to a Starbucks latte once a week (no limit on the iced tea though…), having finally figured out that I like doing laundry and Brandon would rather do dishes.

How about you?