(Almost) Best Birthday Ever! (Part 1)

So, aside from last year's birthday where I was baptized, this years birthday was the greatest! I really had such a great time!

As mentioned in a previous post, we went to San Francisco. We got to do nearly everything I wanted to do: The Golden Gate Bridge, the Walt Disney Family Museum, a sightseeing tour of the city, and the sea lions, plus more! It was great, and to top everything off the weather was nice and cool. I got to wear a sweater the entire time. I was loving it!

Golden Gate Bridge

Lombard Street

Sightseeing Tour

We stopped at this pub for Dinner after our tour. I had Corned Beef and Cabbage and an Irish Coffee. Mmm!



Wine Tasting at Boudin's Sourdough Bread Factory. =)

Sea Lions!

Maple Bacon Apple Donut from Dynamo Donuts!

Chinatown!

We stopped at Fog City Diner for breakfast before heading home. It was good!

Avoidance...

Gah! So homeboy who likes me at work is stepping it up and I'm getting increasingly annoyed. (Background here, here, and here.) We had an awkward lunch the other day--I even went back to my desk halfway through it--but he still persists. *sigh*

I finally had come to the conclusion that I just needed to be straight up with him and tell him that I don't see him as anything more than just a friend. I had numerous pretend talks with the mirror while getting ready for work, trying to figure out how to say it with tact and finesse and regard for his feelings. Yes... I do care about his feelings. I know what it feels like to have someone not feel for you as you feel for them.

Well, right when I got myself pumped up for it, the Holy Spirit told me something: Don't do it.

Huh?

Don't do it. Your instincts, as right as they might be, are not enough. He hasn't verbalized anything. His bruised ego might cause him to lash out, denying that he even liked you in the first place, which will make you look like a conceited jerk. Then there is also the chance that he will tell others you work with, thus making you look like a conceited jerk to them also. No bueno.

Ooooooo. Good point, H.S. Good point.

So, for now, I'm just going to avoid the issue until and unless he brings it up. All I can do is just turn down all of his invites until he finally gives up.

Please let him give up, Lord. *sigh*

Speaking of fun times...

This weekend Katie, Sandy, Tirsa, and I are going to San Francisco to celebrate my birthday, which is Monday by the way. I'm excited.

My main reason for choosing San Fran is because I've been waiting for the Walt Disney Family Museum to open and I've been wanting a good reason to go up and see it. I'm uber excited about that. I love love LOVE Disney and I'm a history person, so seeing personal artifacts and Disney movie artifacts is what I call fun times, man. I can't wait!!!

We also plan to do a hop-on/hop-off tour of the city. I'm looking forward to that also because it's been over 20 years since I last really saw the city or been on a famous San Fran Trolley. So that should be cool.

We also plan to try and hit up some good restaurants and maybe a bar or place we can get some good wine. You know, that adult, sophisticated stuff.

Overall, it should be a nice time. I'm just glad to get out of town for a bit too. Yay traveling!

Dun dun dun!

So next Monday is my 29th birthday. I can't believe this is my last year in my 20s. I can't believe that I'm still single and childless. I can't believe how much I've changed just in the last decade. It's all a lot to think about.

Do I laugh? Do I cry? Do I roll up in a fetal position in the corner and lose my mind because I'll be an "old spinster" soon?

Meh. I'll wait until my 30th for all that.

Instead, maybe I'll resolve to have as much fun and crazy (but not too crazy) times as possible while I can still get away with it. Maybe I'll resolve to hunker down and really start serving the Lord with my extra time instead of being selfish with it.

One thing I'll triumphantly be able to say before I turn 30 is that I will have paid all my debt off. Yay!!!

Okay, 29, let's make this a good one!

Growing a garden...

So, out "garden" is growing. We started with some Tomato and Bell Pepper seeds. We have not added some Jalapeno plants, and we are attempting to grow an Avocado seed. For now, everything is hanging out in my bathroom, were we seem to get the most sunlight. In a couple weekends, we plan to actually plant them all in the yard.... well not the Avacado seed. Apparently it needs to sit over a cup of water, looking like it's dying, before it will actually sprout a root and then we can get ready to plant it. Even then though, it takes some years before it's a full grown tree that produces fruit.

This stuff takes a lot of work, but we are willing to do it because growing our own is going to save us some money and is obviously more healthy. I hope this works. Thank goodness for the Internets (lol) because it is where we are getting all of our advice and education on growing a garden. Can't count on my dad to help us. (I swear that man!)

I'll keep you posted on the progress with pictures and blurbs and such....

Fake Dates and Frustration - Part 2

Okay, I meant to update this more quickly, but it got away from me. It’s not really all that fresh in my mind anymore since at least one issue has been resolved. Plus, a weekend full of relaxing and tanning at the pool and the beach kind of makes little dramas seem so trivial all of a sudden. =)

Anyway, I’m just going to try keep it short and sweet… and simple. Try being the operative word...

I begrudgingly went to the game. Just as I’m parking, dude tells me that he forgot the tickets at home. I wait 40 minutes for him (missing Loney’s homerun!!! Grrr!) and then to add insult to injury discover that I’m waiting in the wrong area and have to hike all the way around the entire stadium to get to homeboy because he has my ticket. I’m not happy and I’m sweaty. I just want to get in, get some water, and watch the game. Of course, just as I suspect, it’s just him, another couple (who thankfully I know from work), their baby, and me. Yay… A double date! <-- That’s sarcasm, if you couldn’t tell.

I barely spoke to dude and was happy the baby was there because I paid all my attention to her, giving me a good reason to ignore him under the guise that I’m just mesmerized by the baby. When the game was over we parted ways and I could tell that he was a little upset that no attention was paid to him. I’m sure he thought it was because he “messed up” with the whole ticket situation. Nope.

The sad things is that it was a good game and I had good conversation with the other two and would have had a great time if it wasn’t for the fact that I felt tricked into the whole thing. My thing is, if you want to ask me on a proper date, do it the right way. Give me the chance to say yes or no. Don’t make it out to be some innocent little outing. I don’t appreciate that at all. It makes me feel like I have no control over the situation. Not cool.

With Sandy, like I said, feelings were rustled up towards all who continually flake on me. I was at the breaking point and the point of no longer just being annoyed but being disappointed and slightly angry. Sandy picked up on it and last Tuesday sent me a text message asking if I was mad at her. I told her I would email her because I didn’t want to try to have this conversation over text. I should have just called her, but what’s done is done.

I basically told her that I was tired of being flaked on (saying yes when you really mean no or are not sure, among other things), that I had never done that to her, that she was making herself look bad, that I was “over it,” and that I felt I had a right to be upset. Sandy replied thinking that I was referring to the Dodger game and swearing that she never said she was for sure going. She was defensive and clearly hurt.

The next morning I read her reply and decided that emailing and texting was a mistake and that we needed to talk. I didn’t go to work that morning because I wanted to talk, so I called her and was surprised that she ended up really hearing me out and agreeing that I was right and she needed to make a change. It ended up working out and I was glad that we were able to be honest with each other and talk it out without it escalating to some ridiculous fight. (Wow. I guess I am growing up.)

So, yeah. At least one of these issues was resolved. Now I just need to figure out how to deal with the other. Thankfully, it seems that homeboy may have gotten the hint because he has hardly spoken to me since, but I do know how men are. If you don’t tell them a solid “no, I’m not interested,” they always hang on to some kind of hope they might have a chance. I don’t want him to think that. It’s a waste of his time and that’s not fair to him. Plus, I just don’t want to be put into anymore of these situations or to start hating this guy because of all this undue pressure. I just hate letting people down. I know how it feels…

There you go. I hope it was worth waiting for. Although, I would blame you if it you didn’t even care to begin with. LOL!

This so wasn't short and sweet, was it?

Thoughts on Anne of Green Gables

As you know, I picked up Anne of Green Gables (AOGG) and have been reading it for a couple weeks now. I finished it today. LOVED IT!

Although I'm generally a crier, not too many books have made me cry. In fact the only time I can remember crying on a book is in Lord of the Rings: Return of the King when (SPOILER ALERT) I thought a certain mischevious Hobbit who's name begins with a "P" gets killed. Turns out he doesn't, but when I thought he was a goner, I cried my eyes out.

And yes, by way of the previous paragragh, I have now revealed how much of a nerd I really am. Judge me if you will....

Anyway, AOGG, made me cry right there at my desk at work. (Yeah, I know I shouldn't be reading at work, but what they don't know won't hurt them. lol)

It is now one of my all-time favorite books.

Up next: I think I'll go ahead and purchase the other books in the Anne Series. I must know what happens next!

Fake Dates and Frustration - Part 1

I’ve had a rough week.

Last week I was invited by my co-worker to go to Sunday’s Dodger game against the Cubs. I had reservations about going because, as I’ve written about in the past, I do not like him the way I’m sure he likes me. I felt less unsure when he mentioned that “they” had gotten tickets and he had an extra. So in my mind, it was a group outing, with no pressure.

Then the weekend rolled around and out of no where, homeboy sends me a message saying that he already picked our tickets up and would I be willing to pick him up and we ride together. Sounds harmless, but I immediately felt like this guy was trying to figure out a way to get me alone. I was not down with that. In fact, it irritated me. I started feeling like this guy was turning this into a date against my will.

Well, right before he texted me all that, my sister Sandy had called telling me that she had heard that I was going and that she wanted to go to the game SO BAD. She wanted to know if I would drive with her so that we could both save money on parking. I agreed. So when dude asked if I could get him, I was relieved to have an honest reason why I couldn’t.

Well sure enough, Sandy didn’t end up getting tickets because her fiancé had to work and she cancelled on me, which made me upset (I will get to that in a minute). So now I felt like I was stuck. I didn’t want to look like I had lied about my excuse, but I also didn’t want to tell him that I was freed up because I DIDN’T WANT TO HAVE TO BE ALONE WITH HIM outside of work. (Going to lunch on a workday is a lot different from being alone with someone on our free time.) I was extremely frustrated, but I finally just decided that I would try to find some way out of it or just show up and then tell him that she flaked.

That Sunday morning we were going to a Bridal Expo for Sandy. I was not in the best of moods because I was dreading this baseball game and I was upset with Sandy because after her revelation that she was not going to the Dodger game at the last minute, it rustled up feelings of resentment towards her and many others who have frequently flaked on me. I’m just tired of being flaked on! (See my post titled Flake-ademic, which details my feelings towards flakes in general.)

To make things worse, I fully intended to get drunk off of some free champagne at the expo so that I could use it as an excuse not to go, but God didn’t like that one (rightfully so), because when we showed up we discovered that there was no free alcohol. Mind you, we’ve been to several of these and they all had free champagne, but of course this one didn’t. Ay ay ay!

So, I was now frustrated about this wannabe date, Sandy’s flaky ways, and the absence of free liquor. Needless to say, I was not the nicest person in the world and Sandy did pick up on it.

To be continued...

13 de Marzo

16 years ago today, the Cuban government murdered 35 people trying to escape on a little tug boat. They literally sunk the boat with men, women and CHILDREN inside. How dare they try to leave, right?

Do you think the media talks about or remembers things like this? Heck no. Nothing to make Fidel look bad.

Sickening.

Read more here...

The REAL enemy...

It’s amazing to me how people continue to try to paint Christians as violent and intolerant…. Sometimes even as murderers. They love to site the Spanish conquest of the America’s in the name of Christianity, as well as the Crusades, as proof that this is true. Um, yeah. The Spanish wrongly killed and raped in the name of Christ. Wrongly! The Crusades took place because the Muslims were encroaching on and trying to take over whole countries to spread Islam (which is what they are back to doing), including the historically Jewish and Christian holy land.

Now we continually have Muslim extremist groups murdering innocent civilians, yet NO ONE will call them violent or hateful. In fact, they (including our President) call them the opposite. They have the nerve to call them peaceful.

What is going on here?

These people hate America, hate Israel, and kill in the NAME OF ALLAH (see the recent Uganda/World Cup bombings). Yet, Christians are the bad guys, right?

Please.

Our God, THE GOD, is a God of love, who has never commanded us to kill each other in His name. He commands us to love our enemies and to pray for them. He commands us to love one another and to treat each other the way we want to be treated.

Where is the disconnect here?

Lord, hurry up and come back. This place is getting way too ridiculous…

I'm scared.

I admit it. I'm scared to go to the "down there" doctor.

(Sorry if this is TMI. You can skip this post if you want. lol)

I've never been to the OB/GYN. I'm still holding onto the "V" card, so I've felt strongly that I don't need to go until I'm married and doing "the deed." I just don't want anyone but my husband to be the first one to venture down there. It's a conviction that I've had.

PLUS, my mom traumatized me when I was about 8. She took me to a doctor's appt. and failed to mention to me beforehand that the MALE doctor was going to have me get naked and then do a BREAST EXAM on me. It was one of the worse experiences of my life. I remember pleading with my mom to not have to take my clothes off, but she insisted. Thanks to that stupid ordeal, I can't stand the idea of a doctor messing with my private areas.

Well, now these ovarian cysts come along. I've been dealing with them for like 2 years, but lately they seem to be getting worse. I won't get into the details, for those of you who are still with me. All I know is that not only do I have increasing discomfort, but my hormones are completely out of wack, which is really irritating because it wasn't until I was around 26 that my hormones finally started to become normal and now they are right back to making me nuts. *sigh*

I'm really starting to get to the point that I just want to suck it up and go to the doctor to make sure something truly bad is not going on down there. I'm just scared because:

- It's SCARY. I know it isn't any woman's favorite kind of appointment... there is discomfort involved.

- See my previously-mentioned horrible ordeal.

- I don't want them to mess around down there only to discover that it's just the cysts and there is not much I can do for them other than to go on Birth Control.... Which I already know! I would be royally pissed if I put myself through all that to find out something I already know.

- I don't want to find out something horrible.... like Cancer or something. Or worse (well for me, it's worse), that I can't have kids. (Tearing up just thinking about it.)

*Sigh*

I don't know what to do anymore. I'm tired of this!

Lord, help me! I don't know what to do anymore. Maybe I just need to bite the bullet, drag my sister with me for moral support, shut my eyes, and lay on the stupid table already.

Great, now I really am tearing up. Poo!

Injustice in Cuba

Growing up as a Mexican-American, I've always been aware of the "issues" that Mexicans have with other types of Latinos. I pretty much was of the belief that many of them looked down on Mexicans as uneducated and who knows what else. When I went to College and took Chicano Studies courses, I was somehow conditioned (more like brainwashed) to think that Puerto Ricans and Cubans were nothing like us Mexicans and that the media and world really needed to understand that. I literally got upset when Jennifer Lopez, a Puerto Rican, got cast in the role of Selena, a Mexican. "Don't they know that the the Island hispanics are way different from the central-/south-American hipanics? We don't even look alike or talk alike." Geez! (LOL)

So needless to say, I really never cared too much about the affairs of the island brown folk, including Cubans. (But I sure did think that Che was some great revolutionary... I guess because my professor looked at him as a South American and not a Cuban anyway.)

Well, now that I've been de-brainwashed, I've done some REAL learning and discovered that Che Guevara and Fidel Castro are no kind of heroes. They are/were evil, sadistic, murderous men who only care(d) about control and power.

I've done so much reading on Castro's Cuba and the plight of the Cuban people and it makes me sick! (Check out this blog for daily updates on what's REALLY going on in Cuba.) As a Christian, I can't stand back and ignore the injustice and inhumanity in that country. What's worse is that our media and government want to turn a blind eye to it all and start buddying up to Castro, even offering to end an embargo that was specifically designed to prevent American dollars from funding that horrible regime. They are trying to paint him as some kind of great leader who has provided his people with the best that socialism has to offer.

WRONG!

The Cuban people are starving to death. Their "free" medical care consists of run down clinics with no access to medication. Their old are dying in assylums, surrounded by their own feces. Their education solely involves indoctrination and propoganda. Their once-great universities are vacant and boarded up. Their prisons are full of men and women who's only crimes are speaking out against the injustice. And the list goes on and on.

Can you blame these people for getting in little make-shift rafts and risking shark-infested waters to get here and get OUTTA THERE?

We have to do something about this. It's not okay. These aren't just "those other latinos from the islands." These are our fellow human beings and children of God. They deserve better than this.

For now, I signed this petition. You should too...

Feline, Film, Fireworks, and Flattery

Quite a weekend. Quite a weekend.

FELINE

I left work early on Thursday and headed straight to my dad's because I had a dentist appt. in Diamond Bar the next day. I get there and find Gatito on the floor in a very sad state. That's when Mom tells me that he got out the night before and when he came back that morning, he was visibly shaken and injured from fighting with the stray neighborhood cats. I lean down to check him out and he's completely rigid and not very happy about me inspecting his injuries... his numerous injuries.

He's obviously beat up, but something isn't right. I finally decide to take him to the vet. We get there and the first thing they do is take his temperature.

104 degrees!!! Yikes.

Then the doc comes in and starts pulling out chunks of hair where Gatito's been injured. Underneath that hair are deep puncture wounds already filled with puss. I got him there right on time. The doc tells me that if I had waited each one of those puncture wounds would have turned into a giant absess. Yay!

So Gatito got left at the vet to be sedated and have his wounds cleaned to avoid infection, and then he came home the next day totally high and wearing a cone. Way to go, Gatito. Hope you learned your lesson, although I sort of doubt it....

FILM

Saw Twilight: Eclipse on Saturday. Not bad. I'm not a Twilight fanatic or anything, but I do enjoy the movies. What can I say? I love a cheesy romance story.... even if it involves the undead. lol.

The thing I really like about this one was a small message it conveyed on how special it is to wait until marriage before doing "the deed." Bella wants to get it on with Edward, but he tells her that he's "old fashioned" and would rather marry her first. All the girls in the audience were like, "Awwwww." I was like, "Amen!" =)

FIREWORKS

Fourth of July was boring for me this year. Didn't go to any BBQs or other events. Katie and I just climbed up to the roof, talked about our lacking love lives, and watched the fireworks show from Hanson Dam. Meh. Nothing exciting.

FLATTERY

Speaking of my love life, while up on the roof I expressed a few frustrations to my sister about it. I just feel so lonely lately (it doesn't help that I had a dream about someone from my past that I wish would have been real). I feel like I learned so much from the last failed attempt, but haven't been given any kind of opportunity to put into action what I've learned. Plus, I can't help but feel completely horrible about myself when no one worth my time is remotely interested. I was just venting about my slight frustration toward God. (Yes, I admit it, okay! lol)

Anyway, yesterday we head to WalMart for some household items. As I'm standing in an aisle telling Tirsa a funny story, this guy, who clearly has mild cerebral palsy, but was actually pretty high functioning and not horrible looking, approaches me. He was like, "Excuse me. Excuse me."

At first I thought he was trying to get to something behind me on the shelf, so I move out of the way. Then he says, "I don't mean to be rude or anything."

I'm thinking, "what is this guy about to tell me."

He then says, "You are the most beautiful girl I've ever seen."

Oh my. All I could do was smile and say Thank You. He then asked if he could give me his business card so we could hang out. I didn't want him to feel bad, so I sort of lied and said I had a boy friend, to which he replied that "he" was a lucky guy, and then he threw in a "God bless you." Cute.

I have to say that was the most flattering attempted pick-up I've ever been subjected to. I was not interested in the guy (and not because of his disability... I have a cousin with the same disability and I've never treated him any different from anyone else), but I give him a lot of props for being so bold, but not sleazy about it. It really was cute.

I really think that God used this guy to remind me that He is listening and paying attention. There are decent people out there who find me attractive and who are willing to be bold enough to let me know. There is hope for me. =)

Thanks, Lord, and please bless that guy. There is someone special out there for him too...

Now I get it!

Jesus condescended to come down from His throne in Heaven, became like us, and died for us. It’s amazing. I know this truth and I appreciate it, but there is something I never really thought about.

He came down to be man, like us, in all its pain and hardship… pain and hardship that man created in the first place. Jesus would not have had to die if it wasn’t for our sin, which is the the sin of Adam & Eve’s disobedience to God. Death, pain, suffering, etc. all come with being man because of the decision that they made in the Garden of Eden.

So Jesus had to die because of that sin. In order for Him to die, He had to become man. Becoming man subjected Him to all the pains, suffering, trials, and such that we have to go through and which are a result of the very thing He was trying to fix. So not only did He have to fix our mistake, but he also had to suffer the results of our mistake to do so.

That is so deep. It drives home even more just what He did for us. Before even dying for us, He still had to suffer the discomfort of living on this earth in the midst of fallen man. Wow.

What a Saviour! What a love! Thank you, Lord.

I’ve always known that He suffered the same temptations that we do and could totally relate to any earthly pains we may have, but just now I truly UNDERSTOOD it….

Tomatoes and Bell Peppers

First off, Happy July!!! This is my birth month, so please feel free to celebrate. lol. In case your wondering, this is my 29th.

Anyway, I'm so excited for something else.

About 2 weeks or so ago, my sister and I purchased some tomato and bell pepper seeds at Michael's (hey, they were only $1). When we got home we immediately opened them up and planted them according to the instructions.

To my shock and amazement (no, seriously), they actually started sprouting!

This is like a miracle for me because I am a total plant killer, which bugs me. I hate being bad at things! For some reason, I just cannot keep plants alive. In the past, whether I've planted seeds or planted already-grown plants, they've never done anything but wilt away. =(

Somehow, though, I have been able to get these seeds to actually grow. It's like a little miracle from heaven.

So, now let's see if I can actually keep them alive and producing REAL LIVE fruit/veggies. Can't wait!

Maybe my plant killing days are coming to an end. We'll see....