Okay, haven't blogged in almost a month...again. I dunno, I guess I'm getting pretty lazy with this whole blog thing. And plus, I don't even know if people actually read this thing. Oh well, whatever. But anyhow...let's see what I can blog about.

Oh yeah, I completed the AFC Half Marathon in San Diego a couple of weeks ago with a crappy time of 2 hours and 51 minutes. I got too lazy towards the last month training for this event. It was too damn hot this summer. So, instead of running, I actually drank more beer and smoked cigarettes. Bad huh? Well, my main goal was to just finish and do it under 3 hours. So I did. I felt fine after 8 miles, but then it got freakin hot so I started to feel a lil lightheaded. Both of my quads cramped up near the end so it was a struggle. But overally, it was a fun experience and maybe I'll run it again next year. I'm doing the Nike Run Hit Remix again, and I'm doing the same training method: beer and cigarettes.

I'm sorta excited cuz I'm finally going on vacation in about a month. This is actually my FIRST vacation taken in a long time. Sure I've gone on snowboarding trips, traveled to Chicago, the Bay, etc. but those were actually long weekends in which I've taken maybe a day off at the most. I'm close to maxing out on my vacation time, so I'm spending a week at Washington D.C. to see my boy Resty get married, and then taking a quick flight up the New York and spend about five days there. I don't have a lot of money, but I figured if I don't go on vacation now, I probably wont have the opportunity to go until next year. Been reading my books on what places to see, so I'm getting really excited.

Belle, Ryan, the roommates and I had a successful mission surprising Lou on his 28th birthday a couple of weeks ago. He totally thought it was someone from the dorm's birthday, but found out it was for him. Seeing drunk Lou is hilarious. A guy as cool as Lou deserves to be drunk on his birthday. Hehe. But it was pretty cool seeing the crew along with some guys from the old Bahia days. It seemed almost like a reunion.

Checked out Incubus again on Friday at Verizon with awesome seats again. How awesome? This awesome!

Karen and I took Lou and Belle again for Lou's birthday and sat about the 5th row from the front. We also saw Shannon Elizabeth just a few rows in front of us. She's still hot and was totally cool taking pictures with everyone, including the staff event crew. I sorta wanted to take pictures when Belle asked, but I had a feeling Incubus was going to start soon (which they did). It's okay, I've seen her boobs. Awesome! Didn't care so much about The Bravery, who opened, cuz I think they suck. But its always cool to see Incubus live. We got VIP parking and VIP passes to one of the bars there. So we got to go in our own entrance and ignore all the traffic. Happy Birthday again Lou, hope you and Belle enjoyed the show.

Congrats to the new Mr. and Mrs Chris Lapaz! The wedding was beautiful and a lot of fun. Got to see a lot of friends from UCI. How cool was it to listen to Iya's dad sing at her daughter's wedding? Awesome and pretty emotional.

What's not so awesome: the 0-2 Michigan Wolverines. I swear they can't stop a spread offense. Man, I knew their defenese was horrible since loosing Lamar Woodley and Leon Hall to the draft, but good gawd they suck! FIRE COACH LLOYD CARR!!! I'm already sick of losing the games that count (Rose Bowl's and Ohio State matches), now I'm just sick of losing!! BLAH!

Yunno what I'm also sick of....fake people. BLAH! After reading Belle's blog, there's a lot of fake people out there that I know of, even at work. So boo on you fake people.

On a happier note. Happy 4th year anniversary to my poopsie woopsie, Karen! HAHA! Damn 4 years already?? Crazy man!! What did Karen and I do for our anniversary? Had Fatburger for lunch with Jenn, Cesar, Belle, and Lou, drove to Torrance to pick up our Nike Run Hit packets, and ate Japanese food for dinner. Random huh? Sometimes stuff as simple as that can be just as special as dressing up, going out on a huge date, and eating filet mignon or chilean sea bass. A King Burger with egg, cheese, and bacon for lunch, and a Volcano Roll, Korean BBQ, and sushi for dinner does just fine! =) Happy Anniversary again! I love you!

Big Brain Academy...

The thrill of victory...the agony of defeat.

Here's to good times!

Greetings from Tucson!! Yes, i'm actually sitting here at the Tucson airport waiting for my flight back to Orange County. "What the heck am I doing in Tucson" you might ask? Well I'm here for a conference for work...its basically for a ticketing/database software we use. Oh wait...I think I blogged about that in my last post. This is my first conference I've ever attended for work and also the first time flying alone.

Anyhow, the conference went really well. Got to see some cool tricks and saw how other arts organizations run their company with the software. It kinda sucked cuz I was staying at an overflow hotel, not the host hotel, which was like about a 40 minute shuttle ride. So that meant I had to wake up earlier and also leave earlier to go back to my hotel. My hotel was ehh..stayed at the Westward Look Hotel, and was no where near as nice as the JW Starpass Mariott, where the conference was being held. The weather is pretty warm and humid. Its their monsoon season, and it rained here earlier in the day on Monday before I got here. So I came to my hotel room and found sandbags on my front doorstep. (My room was below street level.)

Didn't do much the first night, as most of my co-workers were staying at the host hotel. Just walked around the resort, took some pictures, and had dinner. Pretty weird, cuz it was the first time I've ever eaten at a restaurant all by myself. I'm lucky to have great friends I can eat with, hehe.

Tuesday, I checked out the PIMA Airspace Museum on Tuesday where I checked out a variety of historic planes, which they also hosted a catered dinner inside the hangars. They had some cool planes on display including the SR-71 Blackbird, an old F-18 Blue Angel Hornet, an old F4 Phantom, an A-10 Thunderbolt, and the best part was former Presidents' John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson's Air Force One. I got to go inside and take some pictures which was pretty cool. Everything was secured by glass casings, but it was actually pretty cool to go inside it. I wonder if that was the exact one in which Pres. Johnson was sworn in after Kennedy was assassinated. Pretty interesting.

I also took part of the 5K they had here. It was pretty fun, but since the hotel was nestled in the foothills, the path was a little hilly. It was okay going down but coming back up to finish sucked. Oh well, it was fun, and a lot of people particpated.

As i said earlier, the hotel was freakin awesome, and the staff was probably the best hotel staff ever. The people at the front desk, concierge, bell desk, valet people, bus people...you name it, they were all friendly. And the best part of the conferenece was THE FOOD!! Man, for breakfast, they'd be serving really nice breakfast burritos, fruits, cereals, and all, then for lunch we'd have different kind of wraps, hot dogs, angus beef burgers, etc. Even in between sessions, we'd have breaks and they'd have small snacks out there to enjoy. And dinner....awwww man last night was the best! Sea Bass, crab, lobster tails...yummy!! AND every single meal was a buffet! yum! =) oh yeah, and plus the free open bar too, although they didn't serve any hard liquor.

Anyhow, I'm glad I got to take part of the conference. I had a lot of fun here, but i also can't wait to get back home. I didn't actually go into the city since the hotels were sorta far away from everything, but that's okay. There isn't much to see here. Next year will be really fun as they announced it will be in Nashville. It's actually pretty cool now that they're going to smaller cities because if gives us an opportunity to go cities we never thought we'd ever go to. So hopefully next year, I can stay a little longer after the conference and explore the city more. And its all paid for by work!

So now I'm in the airport and I've never seen such a dead airport in my life. I got here and literally walked all the way to the security check machines. I wish John Wayne was like that. Okay, time to board...

First and foremost, congratulations to Jenn & Cesar!



The wedding was beautiful and we all had a blast in San Francisco!

It kinda sucks cuz even after two weeks, I still wish we were still up in the bay. Had a lot of fun, reminscent of Chicago...staying in the city, taking public transportation to get around, eating at local restaurants, just plain having a good time with a group of people Friday was a long day flying in early in the morning, and pretty much did everything the rest of the day...shopping, site seeing, going to warf, and partying up at night. Saturday we all suited up and enjoyed the lovely ceremony and the lovely open bar. I mean...lovely reception. Good times.

And seriously, its not a complete trip if Keno isn't there. I swear man, this guy is just full of laughs and entertainment that he always makes a trip much more memorable! Haha, whether its him bustin a random lyric, making sharp turns in his car in the streets of SF, watching him dance his drunk-ass off, or looking at him sweat really bad (haha), its all good times for me. Cheers to Keno!

Anyhow, my 1/2 marathon training is going ehhhh. I got sick about a month ago, and it threw my training off. Been trying to stay disciplined and focus, but it sucks when the weather is so hot and after a long day of working, you just want to crash and stay indoors. But I'm doing what I can...ran my longest distance at 10 miles so far on Sunday, and played softball immediately after, and now my ankle isn't liking me right now. Oh well. Got three more weeks to go.

Going to Tucson, Arizona next week for a conference for work. Oh yay, more hot weather. I'll be gone for three nights and I think it'll be sorta cool to explore a little bit, aside from the conference. Not too excited tho, I mean the past couple of years the conference has been in Toronto and Boston. Now, Tucson? Oh well...free trip.

I've been in an 80's music mood lately. Just saw Tears for Fears at the OC Fair (for free!) on Sunday, and ever since, been listening to 80's. I have "Mad World" stuck in my head right now, hehe. The concert was cool, although I only knew their classic tracks, which was probably 5 out of the 15 they played. I still like "Sowing the Seeds of Love" and "Head Over Heels." Pretty interesting cuz I wikipedia'd Tears for Fears and they said that the two members had a pretty bad split up, even taking jabs at each other with their solo music, but finally made amends and came back together.

So now, I've been listening to some Tears for Fears and Spandau Ballet. Yes, there's more to Spandau Ballet than just "True." Actually, thanks to my sister, I grew up listening to a lot of Spandau Ballet when I was little. This was before I got into Depeche Mode, New Order, OMD, Erasure, and other new wave bands. In fact my first concert ever was Depeche Mode at Dodger Stadium back in 1990. Still got my ticket...



Depeche Mode is still around, but they're not the same anymore. Ever since one of their members, Alan Wilder, left they don't have that 'sound' that Alan created. Oh well. At least I got to see them right before they started to go downhill.

Okay I'm done with this boring post. Time to run. Boo.

So, how close were we at the Incubus concert??

This close!



Good times! Happy Anniversary, Lou & Belle. I hope you enjoyed the concert!



Here are some other videos for your viewing pleasure...







And here's a pretty cool review of the concert.

It's been almost 3 years. Two more weeks to go!!



(Yes, that's Karen and me screaming!)

Wow, I haven't blogged in over a month. I don't know, I guess I'm just getting lazy blogging. Being in front of a computer all day, staring at sales figures, sending out sales reports, and messing with our myspace page just makes my eyes tired when I get home. And well, to be honest sometimes I don't have anything to blog about. Yeah, my life can get pretty boring at times.

Hey Karen, you're officially in your late 20's! I hope you enjoyed your birthday this year, even though it was a little more quiet this year.

We finally had our housewarming party. Well, it was mostly just a bbq if anything. Had a lot of friends and co-workers over and a lot of food and beer. Too bad I got left with the burnt bbq ribs. I guess next time I should get first dibs on the good ones I bbq'd instead of the dried up crunchy ones that tasted like ash. Oh well, I'm just glad everyone had a good time.

I've been itching to go to San Diego the past couple of months, and I was finally able to last weekend. Thanks to Cat, some of us got to visit Sea World for free. I think we actually spent more time drinking free samples of beer than watching any of the shows. Come to think of it, all we watched was the Cirque de la muuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuer show. We didnt even get to see Shamu! Oh well, whatever. Then afterwards, we hit up this pretty cheap mexican joint for some grub that Jon took us to, and drank more at Jenn and Cesar's. Spent the following day at their wedding shower where we grubbed more.

Been training, well sort of, the past 2 months for the World Famous Camp Pendleton Mud Run which took place this weekend. It was a lot of fun, running and swimming in mud....something I never thought I'd do. We completed the 6.2 mile run in 1 hour 54 minutes, which I thought was pretty good, although we finished at the bottom in our age category. Oh well, I just wanted to finish it. I'm also using my training for the AFC Half Marathon in August which I signed up as well. I figured that if I can't do a marathon before I end my 20's, then I guess a half will do. Lou had a pretty good point, if I maybe do the Disney half and the AFC Half, then techinically that's kinda like doing a full marathon right?! But then again, I sorta don't wanna pay $95 to run around Anaheim, when I can pay almost half of that and run somewhere nice like San Diego. But, I'll only do it if someone in particular signs up. Anyhow, thank you very much to those that pushed me to run, especially Lou and Belle. Running with you guys made the mud run a lot easier for me.

I had a random thought before my 6 miler yesterday as I was riding shotgun in Lou's truck on Barranca.

One summer, John Halog had to get his wisdom teeth pulled out at this dental office on Barranca in Irvine. He was a lil bit iffy about it, so he asked me about the time I got mine pulled out. I told him it's not that bad, they just numbed me up, and sorta crushed my teeth and yanked the root out. Luckily, I only had two taken out. I was a bit swollen, but my wisdom teeth were barely growing, and they didn't have to put me to sleep or anything. So yeah, I told him its not that bad.

So I drove him the day of his appointment, and later on I got a call from the office saying that he was done and ready to be picked up. Once I got to the office, he was in tears cuz of so much pain with gauze in mouth. Hehe his cheeks were soooo swollen. Hehe, the assistant advised me to sorta guide him when he walks cuz he was still sorta woozie. So I sorta just held his shoulder while walking, but he totally just shooked me off. Haha, I guess he was pissed cuz he thought it was gonna be an easy visit, but turned out to be so painful for him. hehe he was really pissed off at me for the rest of the day! I still laugh at that moment.

Hehe, anyhow...Happy Birthday John. You would've been 28th today. Rest in Peace, we all still miss you.

And of course Happy Birthday to John John as well!

Yes I'm still alive. Sorry, I know its been a month since I last blogged. I guess I've been really busy the past month that I haven't really been up to blogging.

I was stressed out last month trying to find a new place to live. And luckily we found a new place a few miles away in Tustin. Wow, after almost 10 years, I'm finally out of Irvine for the first time. Well, I moved home for a couple of months after graduation, but that doesn't really count. Still trying to settle in, had to buy a new washer/dryer and fridge which put a dent in my wallet. But this time around, I LOVE doing laundry. I love our LG set, no more having to charge a stupid card and pray your laundry gets dried. Hopefully by this weekend, I'll have all my boxes put away downstairs and we'll be finally settled. I think the only thing that sucks is the commute to work. Yeah, we live closer, but all the streets and freeways are full. I actually have to backtrack to Jamboree in Irvine, then work my way around the old Tustin Marine base. And plus, they have a lot of construction going on with the opening of The District. So that sorta sucks.

But so far, I love it here. I actually have walking space in this room. Its cool cuz Tustin has its ghetto and its really nice areas. Unlike Irvine, where the most ghetto part I can think of is the Park Watts apartments on Michelson and Culver. Ghetto = cheap.

As for work, its been busy as hell for me. I had this promo we did for RENT, where people would submit themselves singing their favorite RENT songs and then upload it on youtube. The winner got to join the cast for a short scene during the April 27th performance. It was a pretty cool experience, and I even met the winner and took some pictures of him during his rehearsal and costume fitting. Some of the contestants had talents, others just made your ears hurt. Seriously, it'd be like "FUCK! Enough already!"

But yeah other than the promo, I've had other stuff to do. And it doesn't help to have Broadway musicals running back to back weeks. That's when I'm most busy. So I've ended up having to work later than I should. It sucks when you set yourself a schedule to work with, and then all these other people ask, hey can you do this, can you do that, etc. Sometimes I wish I had my own office where no one can bug me. Hopefully I can take a day off next week.

I seriously love my connections. Connections as in getting tickets to various venues, whether its free, discounted, or having to pay but with really dope seats. I got my tickets for Incubus in July booked. AND I found out they're gonna be in Irvine in September at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater. And yes, I have connections to that place also. I seriously need to make a list of all the freebies and hookups to all the stuff I went to the past couple of years.

Got about a month left until the mudrun. Been running a lot, but not as much as I should. After I get settled, I'll be able to run 3-4 times a week. Tomorrow's 6 miler will be the longest run for me. Not too bad tho, since I did 5 last week. Even though I walked parts of it.

Anyhow, have a safe Cinco de Mayo. Hopefully I'll be blogging more often!

I like this version of Belle better.

Brandon's the shit!

Haven't blogged in almost a month. Been too lazy lately. Nothing really new going on. Didn't do much for Valentine's Day this year. Karen and I just went to dinner and watched Music & Lyrics. Pretty good movie, wasn't all lovey dovey or anything. Just the type of romantic comedy I like, not too mushy or anything. Blah! But, it was a simple and nice Valentine's Day.

We're currently in the season of lent, and this year I've decided to give up beef. It was a little last minute, and I just bought a some ham I can make sandwiches with and some fresh pork chops. They claim pork as 'the other white meat,' but I'm still not sure if its actually 'red' meat. So to be on the safe side, I'll just give up beef. At least I can still eat bacon! Mmm...bacon. Oh and carnitas from Little Onion! But I'll try to eat more chicken and fish, cuz so my cholestoral doesn't shoot up. I'm also trying to go to church more often. I've been a bad Catholic lately.

I scored some free tickets to David Copperfield with some friends at the Kodak a few weeks ago. It was a fun show, but still the exact same show I saw him at my work a few years ago. So I wasn't too thrilled. But it was nice day to hang out with friends. The Kodak was actually pretty small...looks a lot bigger on t.v. Hmmmm...I wonder who sat in my seat last night at the Oscar's??

Its the end of February, and it's finally snowing here in California. No, its none of the 'Storm Watch 2007' that the news keeps talking about. But we're finally getting a good significant amount of snow/rain. I'll be hitting up Mammoth next month and I'm excited that they have an 8 foot base, with more snow to come. It's been a pretty dry and disappointing year, snow-wise, so hopefully we'll get a pretty good late season this year.

Speaking of, I bought a brand new snowboard last week. After outgrowing my board and gaining weight, I decided to move on from my '03 Forum Destroyer 148 and bought myself an '07 Burton Elite 155.











I'm pretty happy with the purchase, got it for 40% off. I was trying to stay away from Burton, looking at other Forum boards, and also thinking of getting a Rome or Arbor board. I really like Arbor's designs and how they use this strong Hawaiian wood. But I couldn't find a good deal. So for the hell of it, I did the product selector on burton.com and the results came out with this. After looking at the pretty cool Chicago graphics, I was sold! Can't wait to break it in!

Oh yeah, Karen and I have the Wii now. I'll be picking SSX Blur tomorrow at Gamestop. I've already put my deposit in for Cooking Mama and Mario Party 8. Gotta love the Wii!

Lost = BLAH.

Heroes = Awesome!

The Office = LOVE IT!! That Jan is one horny boss!
"I am taking a calculated risk. What’s the upside? I overcome my nausea, fall deeply in love, babies, normalcy, no more self-loathing. Downside, I date Michael Scott publicly and collapse into myself like a dying star. Why is this so hard?...
....That’s what she said." HAHA! Love it!

Congrats to Yummy Bunny and Choo Choo Bear!! Love you guys!!

I don't know anything about Final Fantasy X, but since I think Incubus rocks, I thought this was cool.

Happy New Year everyone!!

Okay, so I haven't blogged in a few weeks. Just been too lazy and sick since New Years weekend. I think I have a small case of bronchitis cuz this cough wont go away. Maybe I'll go to the doctor again this week. So far my anti-biotics haven't killed my cough yet. So, New Years has been off to a bad start with getting sick and with Michigan losing to USC (again) in the Rose Bowl. Boo.

Anyhow, just got back from Tahoe, and boy was it fuunnn!! Instead of driving like last year, we all decided to fly. We arrived at Sacramento and had to chill a bit since Southwest forgot to send Belle, Lou, and Keno's luggage. No worries though. Stopped by the local REI store for some last minute supplies, and Costco for lunch and groceries (aka a crapload of beer). Once we started getting up the mountain, we can see the thermometer in our Suburban drop to as low as 5 degrees! Got to Tahoe City after the check-in office closed, but the lady working was really nice to still help us out. She was literally out the door, but was considerate to open up the office and check us in (even though I arranged the keys to be left at a drop box).

Got to the cabin, and man it was freakin awesome! It had a garage, 3 bedrooms, a pretty big living room, and a hot tub. It was actually a lot closer than expected, and just down the street from our cabin from last year. We took advantage of the hot tub, while getting drunk at the same time. There wasn't too much snow, but we got to snowboard at Squaw mountain for most of Saturday, while 5 of us snowboarded Alpine Meadows on Sunday. We overdid the beer, but managed to finish about 83 out of the 97 bottles, drank all of the wine, and ate most of the food we bought. Had a lot of fun, got to hang out with good company. Hopefully we can do it again next year!

Earlier today, right before we left, some of the gang were playing around in the snow, sliding down on their little snow sleds. While they did that, I took a short stroll up the street for a bit and just thought about what happened 7 years ago today - the passing of my roommate and good friend, John Paul Halog. I had a nice talk with Cesar the night before while cooking hamburgers for dinner, and we just reminisced that day we all found out. So as I strolled along the street, I just kinda looked up into the clear, blue sky and just was hoping John was looking down at us, laughing and smiling. I've might've said it before, but I think things happen for a reason. And with his passing, I think it just brought a lot us closer as friends. For example, I didn't really know Cesar that well, but it definitely brought me closer to Cesar when John passed. So it was nice to bond with him last night. And today, when Romeo departed ways from us at the airport, I walked with him to his gate...just cuz we went through a lot this day when John passed and I wanted to just be with him as long as possible. Yeah, yeah, kinda gay, but whatever.

I don't really talk about John's passing much, but its probably the worse thing I had to go through. I wasn't use to death or anything like that. The most was my dog in junior high, but that's pretty much it. I still remember everything that happened that week. John started feeling sick around Wednesday. Two days later, I was just about to leave for Oxnard and I asked him if he needed anything before I went. He told me he wanted some crackers and some soup from Albertsons, so even though I was already packed up and ready to go, I still got him his stuff.

Anyhow, I got back that from Albertson's and just asked if he needed anything else. He told me that he was okay and that his aunt and uncle from Long Beach were going to pick him up for the weekend and that I'd maybe see him Oxnard. So I left, and little did I know that would be the last time I would talk to him.

I got a lot of 911 pages that night (cell phones weren't really big back then). But I was half asleep so I didn't really pat attention. It wasn't until maybe I got a third page from Romeo's brother, Tony, that something must be going on. So I called him and he broke the news to me and that was that. The following day, my dad, John's dad, cousin, uncle and me went back to our apartment in Irvine to grab John's stuff to take back to Oxnard. Once I opened the door, I saw the soup he left on the kitchen stove and the bowl he used in the sink. It looked as if he barely ate any of it. I opened the door to our room, and I just broke down in tears.

It's a lil weird because right before he passed, I knew something 'big and bad' was going to happen. The September before, one of my neighbor's father in Oxnard passed away and I thought that was it. Later in December, another neighbor's grandfather passed away that John and I talked about also one day. I thought maybe that was it. Little did I know that this 'big and bad' thing was going to happen with John.

But anyhow, it took awhile for me to get used to. I had planned on taking the quarter off that time just to heal from everything. But I knew John wanted me to continue, so I moved out of our apartment and moved in with Ryan, Lou, and Thano at Campus Village and spent my last few months at UCI with them. It's still hard to think that he's not around anymore. But I still remember his voice and I still remember all the good times we shared. I'll always cherish those. So with that, rest in peace John. I miss you and I love you...

Merry Christms everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas. As for me, it came...and went. It was fun spending time with my parents, and the little time I did with my sister and her family. It was a lot of fun seeing the kids opening their gifts. Our house was clean, and once they came, all hell broke loose....gift wrap, toys, ribbons, boxes...everywhere. But it was a lot fun.

Christmas was a little ehhh this year for me. As I said earlier, its just been exhausting with work, Christmas shopping, that I didn't really have time to soak it in and enjoy it. And it sucked to have to leave Christmas night to work the next day. Well, I only showed up for a couple of hours on Tuesday, but man, there's barely anyone at work, it makes me not want to work. If there wasn't a stupid Broadway musical at work, I'd probably ask for the week off. Oh well...at least there's another three-day weekend. Thank you everyone for the presents...they were really cool.

Went shopping yesterday at Sport Chalet, and bought myself a new snowboarding jacket and a new goggle case. Gotta prep up for the big Tahoe trip. I got a good deal on this Ride jacket. Normally it was $150, then Sport Chalet had a 30% off sale, then I had another $25 off coupon, so I got it for about $80. Not too shabby. The only problem is that I wanted another color. And the only place that had it was back in Oxnard last month when we went black Friday shopping. I've been to 5 local stores (South Coast, HB, Foothill Ranch, Irvine, and Mission Viejo) and none of them have it. I'm still gonna check the Laguna store and the Brea store. If they don't have it, then blah! I'll just keep what I have.

I'm getting pretty excited about the trip. I stopped by the Spectrum after Sport Chalet, and just watched people ice skating on the outdoor rink. Reminds me of the fun time we had last year, ice skating at high elevation at freakin freezing temperatures. What's also cool is that, we wont be working a full week of work until the week after we come back from Tahoe! See...this week is a 4 day work week cuz of Christmas, next week will be cuz of New Years, the week after, we leave for Tahoe on Friday, so that's another 4 day week, then we come back on Monday, which would be another 4 day week. Awesome!

Anyhow, two more days until our after-Christmas party, then we celebrate the New Year and of course, the Rose Bowl game: USC vs Michigan. I can't wait! Happy New Year everyone! GO BLUE!!

I can't believe Christmas is just around the corner. I honestly don't really have that 'Christmasy' feel this year. I guess part of the reason is its been so busy at work, there's not time for me to enjoy it. Then after work, I'm all stressed out shopping for Christmas gifts. And I guess knowing that I have to work the day after Christmas, kinda blows. My sister and her family will be coming up, but they'll be arriving Christmas day, which leaves me just a few hours with them before driving back down to work. So, we probably can't stay up late, watch movies, enjoy some wine, or wake up the next day to do some shopping. Kinda sucks, but I'm making the most of it.

Last week was pretty fun, went to Belle and Lou's place and helped decorate their first Christmas tree in their new home. That night's episode of The Office was hilarious, probably one of the best episodes ever. The following night, Karen and I decided to check out Disneyland. We finally had time to go, but unfortunately it was just way too crowded. Despite the crowd, we had fun. Here are some random shots I took.

Just like Lou, I'm getting really excited for our Tahoe trip this year. I guess anytime I get to fly on an airplane, I get excited for some reason. The cabin I booked is really nice: 3 bedroom, nice living room, 2 car garage, 2 car driveway, front porch, back porch, and a hot tub! I can't wait to get in the hot tub. In fact, I'll probably jump in the moment we get there. Well, probably after unloading, getting anything from the groceries, etc. But I'm exciting cuz I'll be with the best friends in the world. It would be perfect if everyone can go, but its all good. I'm just praying that the weather will cooperate this year, and be perfect so we can all have a blast. And like Lou, I still remember the final run we did at night at Squaw. It was cold, clear, and no one was around. You just feel the cold air breezing against you while you carve down the mountain. It was perfect...until I freakin ate it and busted my lip. HA! Well, hopefully that wont happen this year. There's about four feet of snow at Tahoe right now, so I'm hoping between now and MLK weekend, there would be at least 8 feet of fresh powder. But we'll see.

Been trying to get some last minute health stuff taken care of before my benefits end for the year. Got my new bridge replaced this week (I had a skateboarding accident when I was young), and I'm trying to get my eyes taken care of. Apparently, I have some kind of inflammation in my left eye, which is keeping me from getting a new prescription for glasses. My doctor says it might signs of pink eye, which blows, but we'll see how things go. Nothing too serious though. Stupid eyes.

Anyhow, here are some random shots I took this week at my work and surrounding buildings. I was just killing time before Karen's shift ends. Have a good week and good luck shopping!

Tahoe cabin is finally booked!! Oh yeah!! We've officially booked our flights, rented our SUV's, and now the cabin is booked!

I can't wait! I can finally drink a nice cold beer in a hot tub in the middle of a cold, winter night!

I finally hit the stores today for some Christmas shopping and got some gifts for my nephews and other people. I still have a long way to go, but I'm finally starting. I hope to get some more done tomorrow and hope to be halfway done before the weekend hits. Late night shopping is pretty cool...avoids the crowd, traffic, and long lines at the counter.

Anyhow, weekend wrap...went to the Laker game on Friday. It was a bitch to get to cuz of all the traffic. Even the carpool on the 110 was packed. I parked at the infamous lot and paid freakin $10. It's never been that high ever, but I forgot the LA Auto Show was going on. Anyhow, got hooked up with some suite tickets. Kobe didn't play, but the Lakers still won against the Hawks. I like the whole 'lights out' thing...focuses more on the game. There were only 8 of us in the suite, and they all left early. So Karen and I just took a bunch of pictures.



Saturday, didn't do crap, and Sunday all I did was play softball. We lost again, but whatever. I hate that league. Stupid rules, stupid umpires, a bitch-ass scorekeeper, a fugly field. Hopefully, the Cerritos league in the spring will be better.

Tahoe is getting close and I'm getting excited. I wanna start packing already. More snow is going to drop this weekend also! One more month to go!

Had a good weekend. Most of it was helping celebrate Joe's birthday. Happy birthday roommie! Friday, Cat made some sushi and we had Belle, Lou, and Ryan over. Played a little bit of Scene It and drank sake. Had a lot of fun...but just woke up with a little bit of a headache! Then Saturday, got to see USC loose to UCLA I was so happy. It gave me hope for Michigan to win the #2 spot, but that ended later that night when Florida won. I'm okay with Florida facing Ohio State. At least Michigan comes to the Rose Bowl to beat the living crap out of USC. I can't wait. Then later at night, we surprised Joe at Ocean's in Laguna Beach and finished the night off with some late night carne asada fries again!

I got another gift to cross off my Christmas list. I can't wait to get paid already so I can just get my holiday shopping over with.

I'm getting pretty excited as Tahoe is around the corner and we have a lot of committed people going. We all booked our flights into Sacramento and are ready for people to book the SUV's. My co-worker, Natalie, is coming along and Karen, her, and me keep talking about Tahoe everyday! The cabin's almost booked, just trying to get everyone to decide which cabin they want. Decide people! =)

I really can't wait for Tahoe! Just needs to snow a little more.