Framed!

So clearly I'm lazy.  It took me five minutes to do something that should have been done back in October when I received this lovely diploma frame from my former colleagues on my last day of the job.  Well, technically, this should have been done back in March when I received this diploma, but who are you to judge me?  I'm sure there are stuff in your apartment that are not framed and just laying around.  You pot, me kettle. 

So I don't really talk about my educational accomplishments mostly because I blocked it out of my memory.  Talk about PTSD.  I essentially went to school for 10 years to become a doctor and not even a medical one.  I was at the dermatologist on Tuesday and he basically saw me for like 10 seconds and I'm sure I my insurance was charged $550 on top of my $10 co-pay.  Not to mention, I was the one that had to disrobe.  For the amount of schooling I did, I mine as well have gone on to become a dermatologist...I sure as hell not making $560 every 10 seconds!  Then again, science was never my thing, so I'm sure I would not have been that great of a doctor or med student in general or maybe even biology major.  

My journey to a doctorate began in 2006 when I started to pursue my master's degree.  I was working at an college in New York at the time and one of the perks in working at a college is that you can pretty much get a free master's degree as long as it's related to your professional development.  So, higher education was the field of choice.  Now I know when I tell people I study higher education, they think it's so I can teach at a college.  That's not it.  You can teach at a college with any degree you want as long as you have a doctorate in said discipline.  The study of higher education is different.  This degree focuses on leadership, organizational theory, and student development theory so you can examine higher education as an institution.  Bored yet?  Basically, you examine why certain ethnic groups tend to have lower success rates in graduation and what the factors are the influence it.  Or you look at why taking NYU and putting it in the Middle East doesn't work.  Or you can look at female leadership roles in large public institutions or lack there of.  It's basically interdisciplinary.  Obviously, it's deeper than the way I said it, but you get the point.  So in 2008 after finishing and realizing I was at a dead end up job, hopped on a plane to LAX to pursue my doctorate.  I only applied to schools in SoCal mostly because I always wondered what it would be like to live in LA.  I entertained Columbia, but they didn't entertain me.  Sadness.  Actually, hindsight is only 20/20, they pretty much did me a favor because life is so much grander now albeit much more plastic.  I feel as though in the process I earned a Ph.D. in being fake and bitchy and Regina George was my dissertation chair.

I know I'm supposed to write about how amazing my experience was in my program, but to be honest, I was bored to tears my first year.  I often heard or read blogs from my classmates on how great is was that they took core classes that were heavily focused on K-12 education and how amazing it was that they could relate it to their careers or research field of choice.  Clearly, I was not one of these students.  What was so fun about reading and discussing "No Child Left Behind."  I went to public school and I kind of excelled without even trying, no thanks to the disruption of certain classmates, so sometimes, I do think some children need to be left behind...but that's a different story. 

Then there were summer classes.  They were six weeks long, but they were also 6 hours long.  We were in class from 4-10pm which I thought was totally contradictory to educational learning pedagogy.  They were also in the driest classes possible.  I believe it was something statistics-like.  Dying was probably the better option during those two summers where I took those four summer classes.    

Not all of it was bad though, I really did like the higher ed courses, it was the core education classes that I had beef with.  I was also very fond of my dissertation chair.  She was great even though not many people seemed to fond of her.  I think this was due to the fact that people didn't really want to work hard and she demanded hard work and perfection.  One time in class when she was giving a lecture, she scolded one of my classmates for texting in class and he was so furious about it during break.  I thought what was this world coming to if someone gets yelled at in class for texting and blames the professor for it!?!  Like she had no right to tell you to stop?  Hell, I was going to say something about it if she didn't.  I'm not going to lie.  I had a lot of knucklehead classmates where I was left wondering "what depressing shit did you mention in one of your three statement of purposes that got you in the program?"  Or "who the hell wrote your recommendations?" 

So in March of 2012 after re-writing what seemed like 6 versions of each chapter (there were five total), my dissertation was ready for defense.  So why PTSD?  You can't even begin to understand the torture, the writing, the time spent researching, interviewing, analyzing data, the lost social life, and the tears that I cried.  I've had so many melt downs, you'll be surprised I'm not a walking billboard for prozac right now.  This one time, I was sitting on my bed just reading over a chapter that needed revising and I just started crying out of nowhere.  I'm not even sure I was that sad to begin with.  I often ask myself this question and other people ask me as well if I had the chance to do it again would I?  The answer is "NO." 

Run, Beer, Dim Sum

We Run LA

I was so productive this past weekend, it felt like an outer-body experience.  I was able to work a full day Saturday, clean up the animals, do my laundry, drink heavily, and complete two of my goals for this month.

First off - let's discuss this the Firecracker 10K.  I spent a considerable time convincing a couple friends to do it with me.  I was able to get four others which I thought was successful.  There's an art to asking someone to wake up at 6AM and basically run a little more than 6 miles.  You need to bribe them with the beer that comes after the run and then some dim sum in Chinatown.  This only works with non-Chinese folks.  You can't bribe Chinese people with something that they had to do every Sunday since the day they were born.  Dim sum for us is like brunch for white folks minus the mimosas and drag queens.

Now I know I had this goal of finishing under 55 minutes and I trained really hard to make it happen.  However, I ended up finishing at about 66 minutes.  This was due to the fact that I stayed with my running buddy throughout the race.  My original plan was to just leave everyone and go, but I started feeling really bad when I forgot to mention that the first three miles of the race were uphill.  I forgot to mention because I forgot how to read a map.  I just figured since it was gradual as opposed to one huge incline, it would be easier.  While running, I actually thought about the mother of my child (long story for another day) cursing at me as she saw those hills.  So besides a slower friend to keep pace with and unexpected hills there were other factors that disrupted my goal time:

Water Cups
During these races, there are volunteers (usually school age inner city teens from a neighboring public school) handing out water cups.  Sometimes, they hold their cups in the way where they hold it two at a time with their fingers in the cup gripping to keep them together.  When you're thirsty, I guess you really don't have the time to think about whether their hands are clean or not.  I know this will gross most people out, but you need to pick your battles.  So what happens is you run, grab, drink, and throw.  Next thing you know there are hundreds of cups just on the ground.  As a runner and part time environmentalist, I found this to be disturbing.  Who really wants to run in trash?  So I would actually end up running with my cup until I can find the nearest garage can to dispose of the cup.  I drank water about 3 times, so you can imagine how many detours I made.

Views
LA views are some of the best in the nation.  Any canyon/hill you run around, you are guaranteed to have a beautiful view of downtown LA if you can get past all the smog.  So when you're running up hill and you see a view of DTLA, you can't help but stop and have your friends take a picture.

View of DTLA from Elysian Park

Other Runners
There are those who run fast, run slow, run with dogs, or just straight up walk.  The trick is to figure out how to run around all of them with tripping or shoving.  Luckily, because I'm so skinny, I can always squeeze between two people who are in my way.  

Finally, the best part about running is the free swag you get after you cross the finish line and I'm not talking about those lame medals, the water, the food, or the goodie bags.  I'm talking about the socializing around beers.  The only sad part about the beer was that they were serving Mic Ultra.  I guess with all these runners, a light beer made sense.  That and it was also 10AM.  So after hanging around and talking to some friends we walked off to Ocean Seafood for dim sum where we were greeted by a nice hostess.  I'm sure she was the only hostess who knew how to speak English which was why she was the hostess.  Now I don't do this a lot, but there are times when it's necessary to speaking in my native tongue.  Getting dim sum is one of those times.  You see when I show up asking how long the wait is and make small talk in Chinese, I can get a table in 15 minutes.  When the all white group show up and basically just asks for a table...the wait can be about 45 minutes long.  It was kind of like the check-in line for the race.  The LE line had no one waiting, but all the other lines where they weren't some sort of Asian last name...well, that took a while for people to get a pinnie.  Sorry, I digressed.

Dim sum was awesome and I couldn't have thought of a more perfect way to end the day.  Well, another friend of mine came over and asked if we wanted to get foot massages.  I was totally game, but alas, I drove my friends there, so I guess that would have been the more perfect way to end the day...

Malibu. By way of Chicago...

There's something very Bonnie and Clyde about drinking all day on a week day when you actually have a job.  Last month, a friend and I ran away to Santa Barbara for the day and had a great time hiking, drinking, and eating the day away on some random Tuesday and I thought to myself, this would need to happen again!

I think the most fun part besides drinking excessive amounts of wine is the fact that you can do just about anything you want without having to deal with traffic, crowds, and just having the ability to maximize your day.  In order to have a day trip, you only need two things: a car and a partner in crime who has a non-traditional work schedule or is just willing to plan a mental health day. 

Unlike the Santa Barbara getaway, this one did not involve a hike.  There were good intentions to go to the gym beforehand but I overslept and so did my counterpart.  Why I thought I wanted to wake up early on my day off is beyond me.  So off to Malibu we went to begin our day!  The great thing about Malibu is that it's such an easy commute to get to and the drive is lovely, but you end up forgetting you're in LA.  Then again, is Malibu really LA? 

Lunch was at Malibu Cafe.  Quaint little place that happens to be next to a fat camp.  No seriously, it's right next to the Biggest Loser Resort.  I've personally never seen the show, but it basically looked like rehab for overweight people.  You're essentially in paradise.  Ever wonder why rehab facilities are located in amazing places?  It's like you're being rewarded for hitting rock bottom.  After taking some pictures, we went to the restaurant where we were greeted by a girl who really seemed to have hated life at the moment.  The place is cute with outdoor seating, great scenery, ping pong table, pool table, and foosball table.  What a great way to kill time while waiting for your food that's being cooked by your waiter/bartender/cook.  Literally, he was a one-man show.  I thought he was just kidding when he said that until I saw him make our drinks and then fire up our food.  Then again, I ordered a boughy lobster sandwich, so maybe it wasn't that hard to prepare.

Next up - wine tasting...or shall I say wine drinking at Malibu Wines.  Since it was a Thursday, I found the crowd to be very interesting.  There were literally six of us at this entire place.  These two groups of two ladies were just drinking like they didn't have a care in the world.  I was kind of interested in knowing what it was they did.  They were too young to be trophy wives, so I guess the next logical choice would have been strippers.  Hell, if I was a stripper, I would drink all morning as well.  It's probably one of the only jobs where you can actually show up drunk and not get fired.  In fact, it's probably in your advantage to be drunk.

So I'm super competitive.  I mean, not like Tanya Harding competitive, but I like to win in everything.  My motto is why bother if you're not going to compete to win.  It's like people who say "I like to play for fun."  There's nothing fun about losing.  I will take out a five year old kid if I needed to.  So naturally when we play mini-golf, something as to be at stake.  We played for bottom-less mimosas.  I lost by three strokes and I had one of the best mini-golf days ever.  Then I remembered my competition grew up in Indiana and I'm sure there was really nothing to do there besides putt putt golf and bowling.  Then again, when you play for alcohol, is there really a loser in the situation?

The night ended with a dinner at Brangelina's favorite Mexican restaurant in Studio City: Casa Vega.  Honestly, I wanted to go there in hopes that there would be a sighting.  I used to live in the valley.  Like for about four years and would drive by the restaurant every day and that was the first time ever setting foot in the place.  The wait was half and hour, but the food was worth it.  Oh, and their margaritas come in pint glasses.  At some point of the night we started having a conversation with the waiter and an entire story about how we're visiting from Chicago was fabricated.  I'm not even sure why, but we found out that the waiter has a cousin who works for Goya which I'm assuming is based in Chicago.  As Jamie Foxx would say, I blame it on the alcohol.  

Pretty impressive day I would say.  I dare anyone to try to recreate this day on a weekend.  You would never make it out of Malibu with the traffic alone!

How's the whole not being passive-aggressive thing going for you?

Let's put it this way, I've been REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY EXTREMELY blunt (vicious) this month to everyone I have talked to.  I mean like Regina George style.  Here are some highlights...

Victim 1: You inspired me to have Popeyes for lunch this Friday when you mentioned that you had Popeyes for lunch over the weekend.
Me: Bitch please, don't say I inspired you, your fatass inspired you to eat at Popeyes.

Victim 2: I think I'm one of the few white guys with an ass.
Me: Umm, those are love handles.

Victim 3: So which one (Plastics) am I again?
Me: Caty, she's played by Lindsey Lohan.  Which isn't that much of a stretch from your life. 

Victim 4: Did I tell you I gained 10 pounds in the past two months?
Me: You didn't have to, I saw it happen.

Victim 1: Gosh, I weighed myself the other day and I'm 122lbs.
Me: Umm, I'm 6'2 and I weigh 148 and I have about 14 inches on you.  You're fat.  

Some One Line Zingers: 
If we were the plastics, you would be Gretchen.  Please stop talking Gretchen.

You and Nala really are kindred spirits.  You're both fat and like to sleep all day.

Was he cute?  Wait, I don't know what I even asked, they never really are.  

Victim 1: ::Burp::
Not Me: Wow, you're such a catch, how are you still single?
Me: ROFL (I secretly wished I said that first though)

Paraphrasing on Politics (as we're drinking our Starbucks):
This all started when a friend made a really blanket statement about republicans and how they whine.  
Me: Liberals are the biggest whiners ever.  We whine about everything under the sun.
Friend: NO!  Republicans are the bigger whiners.
Me: No, trust me, I know because all I do is sit here and listen to us whine all day.  In fact, the more to the left you are the more you whine about anything.
*Some examples that I did not give out.  "The economy is awful." "We pay too much taxes."  "The price of PBR has gone up."  "I have massive student loans" - side note to that: ain't nobody told you to go get a useless master's degree from an expensive school, that's on you!  "I hate that my iPhone is so slow."  "Send our troops home."  "I can't afford to live in Manhattan."  "I have thousands in credit card debt."  "It's so cold out."  This can go on and on and on...get my drift? 
Friend: Well, I mean, it's not whining when you're trying to fight injustices.
Me: Same can be said for unemployment.  I have to go to work everyday, so how do you think I feel when I have to listen to people complain about how they're not getting enough money for not working at all (I don't believe this, but I like like to play devil's advocate.  Especially to my politically charged friends.  I actually really don't care).  
Friend: It's a bad economy!
Me: Yeah, but that doesn't give them the right to cause me to be late to my job because they're busy occupying some street or another (again, really don't care).
Friend: They're standing up for what's right! 
Me: Yeah, I really don't care.
(Okay, to be fair, this was more about being annoying than being blunt, but seriously, who really wants to talk to their friends about politics.  Or maybe deep down inside, I'm just making fun of hipsters).

Commenting on a friend's facebook photo where she was trying to show off her new straighten hair: "I'm going to like this, but only b/c you look super ano!"

As you can see, Victim #1 gets it really bad (not just from me though).  However, he knows that deep down inside, we all secretly love him!  And I'm not really mean...only this month...

Why did I give up carbonated beverages?!?

Hi my name is John and I'm an addict.  My addition being diet soda.  Originally when I posted this goal, I only wanted to give up diet coke/diet pepsi, but a couple people have pointed out to me that this really includes all carbonated drinks.  Which also includes sugar free redbull!  The challenge for me is not drinking these substances on its own...the challenge is that I tend to like to use these as mixers.  I also don't drink full flavor carbonated drinks, so it's not like that would even be a viable substitute.  I did this in order to be healthy for a month, but I realized that now all I drink are Arnold Palmer's.  I'm not really sure that's any healthier since I feel like I'm going to have a diabetic coma at any point from all the sugar.

I had to find a substitute for mixers.  I love vodka sodas and vodka redbulls.  I love it more than most things in life.  So for the past month, my alcoholism has been reduced to beer and wine or worse as I was to find out last Tuesday at the Ellie Goulding concert - cranberry vodkas.  I had the same amount I would normally drink on a given night - 7 or 8, but this time I found myself drunker than ever.  I'm pretty sure people were afraid of me when stumbling down Hollywood Blvd to go home.  Even the homeless folks left me alone that night.  Turns out the mixture of vodka and all that cranberry which I really only think is .5% cranberry and 95.5% everything else caused me to hug my toilet for a good 10 minutes (it could have been more - this is just a guestimate) when I got home that night.  I also woke up drunk and remembered that I had to go to happy hour before the Clippers/Rockets game and all I thought was FML.  Funny how I'm more worried about a basketball game than the fact that I actually had to go to work.

Hugging a toilet because of ODing on sugary alcoholic drinks is not new to me.  I've done this before like 10 years ago.  Ask anymore who knew me junior year of college and they will tell you I was addicted to two things: Pepsi Blue and Dekuyper Sour Apple Pucker.  I would drink these by the bottle and then just stick a finger down my throat afterwards.  You see at that time, I was also supporting my friends who had eating disorders.  They threw up food, I threw up alcohol.  Talk about solidarity!  I always thought of myself as a good friend who would try to find way to support their endeavors.

Needless to say, I haven't had carbonated beverages in 18 days and I cannot wait until the first of March.  This is a goal that I do not plan on repeating in March or the rest of the year.

Feb. Goal #10: Enter Nemo

(Oh, you can't read that, yeah, neither can I)

Some of my friends who saw goal #10 for this month were suspect.  "Go home for Chinese New Year."  Okay, so I cheated a little bit and actually bought my ticket home in January.  At the time, I really just wanted a "gimme."  Well that and I had other goals in mind but thought that since it was February, I should really not stretch myself too thin.  I'm only human and I can't accomplish everything I set forth to do.  In my defense, even though it was a "gimme" goal, I don't like to count my chickens before they hatch.  I was all like "until my ass lands at JFK and I have red envelopes handed to me by my mother on the 10th" it is not a gimme.

I was working out on Thursday, the day before I was to fly out.  I was working out for multiple reasons: (1) goal #1, (2) I had dinner plans at the Cheesecake factory that night - don't judge me!  Where else can you pay like $10 for a sandwich and still have enough left over for lunch the next day?  And (3) I figured when I'm home, I won't have gym time for a while.  During all this was news coverage on Snowstorm Nemo...I know, they started naming snowstorms all of a sudden.  Hurricanes must feel like they had a part of their identity taken away from them.  And why Nemo?  Last I checked, Nemo was a tropical fish, there is nothing tropical about 30" of snow.  All I kept thinking about while being on that weird stride cardio machine thing was that my flight will not be canceled.  Well, my prayers weren't answer and I think this was due to the fact that I hoped for something else recently and that was given to me so I can't be too selfish about things.  The ordeal that followed really felt like awful cosmic karma for putting down a goal that I shouldn't have used.

I called American Express to see what I can do about my canceled flight.  That was when I found out that your wait time is contingent on the card you have.  I never knew I could have a gold card and still feel like a second class citizen!  I'd hate to see what green, zync, or blue feels like.  I guess it pays to be platinum or black.  In fact I think if you have a black card, they probably call you when a flight is canceled and make all the necessary arrangements.  They told me that I can either re-book for free if I fly out on the 12th (stupid nonsensical date) or I can have a credit that I must use in one year with Virgin America.  I usually fly United, but at the time, Virgin America was cheaper and had the better flight times for me.  Obviously, I was ticked off by my options.  Why would I need to fly out on the 12th and why would my credit expire after a year?  It's not my fault there's a snowstorm.  So I hung out and called Virgin America.  Let's put it this way, I completed my workout during my time on hold.  I had to workout to elevator musak! I'm going to give myself a pat in the back because I never knew I had that much patience.  I guess if you were to look at the glass half full, at least I just wasn't sitting around waiting for someone to pick up.  You try lifting to elevator musak.  Awful, I never felt less pumped in my life.  Usually i think I can do things like lift twice my weight if Ke$ha (yes, I'm aware my gym music is also my club music which is also pre-gaming music and well also my bedroom music - I find it easiest to just have one playlist) was blasting in the background, but on that day, I felt like I was struggling with 40lbs.

After a nice dinner at the Cheesecake Factory in which cheesecake was not ordered - this always happens, you eat the bread and your meal and there's never room for cheesecake.  I'm also not a fat girl, so it was either bread and main course or bread and cheesecake.  You can't have all three in one sitting.  There is no amount of gym time that can help reverse the effects of over eating.  On my drive home, I called Virgin America and finally got through.  Patience is a virtue.  I was able to switch my flight at no cost and will now make it home for President's day weekend.  Quite frankly, I think it's the better deal.  I get to fly a red eye on Valentine's day so I can be surrounded by other single people who just can't give a damn about a Hallmark Holiday and I get an extra day to be home.  Plus, I'm not all that worried because my sister is collecting red envelopes for me.  So the lesson of the day...there is no such thing as a "gimme." 

Feb. Goal #9: Caught Red Handed

It was kind of ambitious of me to try this goal for two consecutive months.  I thought that maybe if I could do it for one, it would carry over to the second month and before you know it, I would stop rolling my eyes. The achievement of this goal in January was always questionable at best.  Carla (a dear friend who can apparently tell when I'm rolling my eyes over the phone) till this day still does not believe that I didn't roll my eyes all of January.  I would have never imagined that I would get caught doing it by someone I just met.

This past Monday, I ran into some of my old co-workers at the cafeteria down in my building and I met the new guy who replaced me.  The following day, I stopped by to pay them a visit at their office as it was on the way to the dentist and I had two hours to kill.  Amber, my ex-work spouse mentioned to me that the new guy decorated his work area and he's only been there for a week.  It took me six months to "decorate" my work space and by "decorate," it really meant Amber putting stuff on my desk and counter.  Personally, I don't decorate work areas, it's just easier that way.  When I left my job, I basically said "peace."  There was no need to clean or throw stuff away, no need to carry boxes full of crap to my car.  It was simple and such a liberating feeling to be so nomadic.  I could just pick up an leave whenever I wanted or well if I were to ever be asked to leave.  I've seen people get fired before.  It's never fun.  Back at an old place of employment in New York, whenever someone was about to get fired, we all had to go to breakfast, lunch, coffee, whatever it was while HR and the supervisor doing the firing would tell that person and they would have an hour to clean while security was watching them pack before escorting them out of the building.  Sorry, I digressed.  So when I looked over at the new guy's workspace and saw that it was fully decorated with posters, pictures, and other things that seem to have meaning, I just said to him "aww, how cute" and then turned to Amber and said "even thought you don't know how long you're really going to be here."  That was when I got caught!  He then said, "why did you say that to me and then turned to her and rolled your eyes?"  Man, I got called out and I only knew the guy all of maybe 25 minutes. 

At that point, I was pissed because it was a failure in a goal, but I also felt liberated.  I did not need to watch what I was doing anymore!  I had a meeting yesterday where some chick just kept talking about her needs even though this was a pretty broad meeting that was meant to talk about updates in policies in general.  Five minutes of her throwing a pity party for herself, I literally just rolled my eyes and let out a loud SIGH...This isn't something new for me, I've done this in many meetings.  I feel like the eye roll really just does wonders.  It's the best body language you can give someone.  It sends a message loud and clear.  That message being "You're an A$$hole."  Just think about it, when you're in a meeting and someone is saying something that is wasting your time or throwing out BS or trying to pass their work off to you or someone else or make statements that seem like they're "do as I say, not as I do," or is completely unprepared for a meeting, or scheduling meetings to have meetings, or tell you how busy they are when they're clearly not, etc, etc...What better way than an eye roll to really send a message?  Quite frankly, when I'm in one or all of the situations I described above, I just roll my eyes because I don't even care enough to waste my breath with a response. 

Cheers to eye rolling!

Feb. Goal 2: X-Mas Decos Down and so went the 49ers

I probably had the most productive Superbowl Sunday in the history of man-kind.  I decided this year to not celebrate the big game.  This was a conscious decision that I'm sure my liver will thank me for in the future considering I drank heavily the Friday and Saturday before.  Plus with the late season collapse of the Giants, I really did not need to pay attention to the game.  While everyone was probably out drinking and rooting on for a team they couldn't give two cow dongs about, I sat at home and packed away the Christmas decorations that have been up for over two months.  I would love to say that I felt the Christmas spirit all the way until February, but it really just comes down to sheer laziness.  I also cleaned my apartment and took care of the pets that aren't mine: housewife points for me!  And as you can see, the animals are now in their rightful place.  Don't ask where they were held while the decos were up, I don't want Sarah McLachlan to get word of this and then have Nala and Boo cast in some commercial with depressing music playing in the background. 

I sat through Beyonce's performance and all I can think of was how I already saw this performance multiple times in the past.  Now I know there were rumors that a reunion would happen, but I didn't think it would because I wasn't sure Beyonce would let the other two breathe the same air as her, much less share a stage!  How nice of her though to let Kelly and Michelle sing back up to one of her songs and then blow a kiss to them good-bye!  I can't even go there.  Quite frankly, it's not really a reunion unless LaTonya, LaTavia, and Farrah all come back.  Isn't it already bad enough that she's so into herself that she would clone herself 100 times just so she doesn't have any back up dancers?  My friend Joseph seems to think Beyonce was doing Kelly and Michelle a favor by letting them be on stage with her.  We got into an argument at the In-N-Out drive though while waiting for our dinner tonight and we even got the order person on the curb involved.  She was probably thinking to herself "I don't get paid enough to deal with this crap."  Well too bad, we all know In-N-Out pay better than most fast food places.  He also tried to sabotage me by ordering diet coke and kept scheming to switch my Arnold Palmer when I wasn't looking or if I looked thirsty.  He be triflin'!  That's a different story for a different goal.   

Don't get me wrong though, I happen to love Destiny's Child.  I even went to their concerts (with Sue: bottom left).  They were around for my golden years in college and a part of me goes ultra sonic when it was summer at the Beach Bar or that other bar in Watermill (I think) where we went dancing and all of a sudden, you hear "Ladies leave your man at home" and I completely lose my shit.  Carla reminded me of that fact while we were on the phone during my lunch break.  I'm sure she may have seen it happen once or twice.  I mean, DC has taught me so much, like how I shouldn't deal with people that won't pay their bills, or how they be a buggin' buggaboo, and all those times Samantha and I did "Say My Name" for karaoke.  Oh nostalgia.  My friend Kaitie (see below middle) even sent a text about the good times of college when she saw DC reunite, so I guess maybe I do need to thank Beyonce after all for having that mini reunion.  That group, along with many others; namely *NSync really just makes me think of the good old days of college :)

*Disclaimer: I do not drink Bud Light anymore, although considering this was back in college and that I wasn't holding a Keystone Light or a Milwaukee's Best, Bud Light is kind of boughy!  Oh and I'm totally not drunk, just tired.  Considering I had my volleyball sweatshirt on, I most likely just got back from practice or a game.

Thank God February is a short month!

January Recap

This first month have been full of successes and failures.  This is the neurotic part of me where you see me begin to rationalize for all my short-comings and give myself partial credit.  I'm like a high school math exam.  Show the work and get some credit even if you get the answer wrong.  So I accomplished 8.25 out of 10.  That's not even an Asian F.  I'm such a failure.  

1. Gym 10 times: It pains me to say that I did not meet this goal.  I only went nine times this month.  In my defense, it wasn't like I was just being lazy, sitting around being fat.  I was actually active a lot this month.  I guess I didn't take into account that I would also have to tackle volleyball practices and hiking.  So if you think about it, I ran/hiked five times this month and also had five volleyball practices in which I was more active than usual because I played at a moderate level.  This means I was active 19 days out of the month - out of 31 days.  I'm going to give myself half a point for this. 

2. Make Coffee Every Odd Day: So I decided that since January has 18 odd days, the goal should really be changed to make coffee 18 days out of the month.  I came to this realization one day when I ended up going to Starbucks on a Wednesday because I thought Wednesday sounded like an even number.  Don't ask me how I came to that conclusion, it was really early when that happened.  Regardless, I did well.  Thanks to only using my credit card for Starbucks transactions, I was able to see that I only went to Starbucks 7 times this month spending a total of $33.55!  Such a major improvement than the 3 digits I used to spend.  However, the goal was for odd days, so I'll give myself 3/4th of a point for this goal.

3. Sunday Funday (2x) Max: Done - It's such a shame each goal is only worth a point. I feel like the harder the goal to accomplish, the more points I should get - or at least even some extra credit...

4. Do NOT roll your eyes: This may be suspect.  I know I didn't consciously roll my eyes.  My friend Samantha said it best, me trying to not roll my eyes is like her trying not to eat.  We've been trying since college.  Although, I will admit, I haven't consciously done it, so I can only imagine that bitch face must have been in full force whenever I felt like rolling my eyes.

5. Runyon Canyon 5 times - Done, well only 4, but I did a much harder, nicer, Santa Barbara hike to make it five.  Sometimes a change of scenery is important.

6. Nala and Boo look skinner.  Mostly because I'm starving them.  I'm feeding them half each day of what I normally feed them.  They're not too happy about this, but I also won't be too happy about it if they end up getting diabetes.  I'm proud to say I think they lost a combined 1 pound.  

7. I'm now always smiling and saying "hi" at bars.  There might not be anything more than a "hi" from my part, but at least I'm not simply ignoring people or giving that "what the hell makes you think you should even be breathing the same air as me" look.  Hopefully this carries into February.

8. Cooked a new dish even though some rude friends of mine thought it was more of a side dish than an main course...#whatever #jealous #haters

9. Go snowboarding - FAIL

10. I still have a roommate and he doesn't live in Oakland!

I can't wait to see what February goals bring...