I love live music...especially good ones

I've been really into the Indie Rock Folk music lately. It started when I went to see a Sara B show at the Wiltern. I love these small venues so much. It's so intimate that it just makes you love the artist even more afterwards. I went to see Meiko perform at Hermosa Beach a few weeks ago. She was good, but not amazingly good as Sara though, but good, nonetheless. Before she went up to perform, I saw her hanging out amongst the common folk chatting with some people. I wanted to say hi but chickened out. I don't know, I just felt I would seem like a dork had I gone up to her to say hi so...I didn't. Oh well. Here are some pictures. (I also had planned on going to the OneRepublic concert last month but due to the fires I didn't. Darn it! They played at the Hollywood Palladium. I've never been there and it would've been nice to check it out.)

Over 14 Years!

I'm off from work today, but I'm pretty busy. Right now, I have some time to blog since I'm waiting for the cleaning people to finish. It's nice having someone do the cleaning for you. We get really busy and hardly have time to clean. So you can imagine how ragged the house quickly gets especially with us making a mess, along with a toddler, a hairy dog, and a molting bird. Eww. Anyways, I thought I would post some pictures from a holiday party I went to this past weekend. Amita, our gracious hostess, invited us over to her house. I met up with some girls (...ahem, ladies) I have known since high school. I've known them for at least 14 years and have actually known Amita for even longer. We did the math one day and realized that it's been over 20 years since we first met. Yikes, I feel super old now! We try to get together at least twice a year. I'm glad that we still keep in touch. We're all pretty much the same, but just slightly different, in a good way though.

Give it back 10-fold

Rude people annoy me. Basically, the people I’m referring to are those that never say hi to you in the hallways or wherever you may be, when you say hi to them first. These are the people who give you this look, like you’re beneath them or something. I never got that. If someone said hi to me, I wouldn’t just look at them. I would at least acknowledge them in some way or another. It could be a hi or a smile or a nod or even a smirk (if someone’s kind of creepy). Haha Just something. I understand that there are bashful people. But I can generally tell those people over the a**holes. And I usually excuse them for that. Nevertheless, I’ve found a way to treat people like this. Maybe it’s called payback or maybe it’s just giving them a taste of their own medicine. For instance, when someone starts giving me attitude, I give it right back and then some. And you know what? When I start treating them like sh*t, I notice they turn around and start treating and speaking to me much nicer. I wonder why? There’s this, hmmm, ok a d*ck at work. He’s this blow hard bible thumper who acts like a jerk whenever you don’t agree with him. He’ll say crap about you behind your back and is one of those people that never say hello. Anyways, every time I happen to pass him in the halls, I usually give him a pissed off look and look away. If he happens to be walking with someone, I usually say hello to that person by name and ignore him. Or I’ll be walking around the office, saying hello or making small talk to everyone, and on purpose, I’ll ignore him and not even make any eye contact (just that look of being pissed off). I passed him in the hall today and I did what I usually do. And guess what? He actually said hello to me and I kind of just muttered a muffled hello under my breath. Haha, it made me happy. My motto is, respect everyone and treat people the way you want to be treated yourself. If someone is disrespectful toward you, do the same thing back to them but 10-fold. I can be a jerk myself, but I know I’m a work in progress. So if I treat you badly, just slap me upside the head (figuratively now), and I’ll try to straighten up. :)

Barely conscious

I like my iPod Touch alot. Right now, I am actually very sleepy and would occassionally go in and out of consciousness as my eyes are getting heavier and heavier. And yet, I somehow can still manage to blog about absolutely nothing. Ok, I closed eyes and am now partially awake. Nick is having some drinks with friends and I'm at home with the wee one. We take turns going out now and again. And tonight is his night. Uhhhh I just zoned out right now. Maybe I should just put this dang thing down and sleep already. Huh, nighty-night-night...night....zzzzzzzzzz

Simply Amazing

I went to the Wiltern this past weekend to hear and see some AMAZING music - Sara Bareilles and her opening act, Raining Jane. I absolutely loved it!

Here are some pictures of Raining Jane.



Raining Jane's 30-minute set was incredible. If I had to choose one song out of that set, I would choose "Desperate Sails." OMG, acoustic guitar, beat drum, cello, and a sitar! This video is not from the concert, but one from Youtube.


Then after that, there was Marc Broussard. He was good, but it wasn't particular my type of music. After 30 minutes, Sara Bareilles came out to play! I don't have the words to express the shear joy and amazement I had in listening to her songs. I was over the moon though. Here are some pictures:











The videos here are ones that I actually did take:
Sara Bareilles singing "Between the Lines"


Sara singing a cover of Counting Crows' "Sullivan Street"


Sara singing "Gravity"

"No Monkey Business"

Nikki's favorite saying for the last 2 weeks is "No Monkey Business!" At first, Nick and I couldn't decipher what was coming out of mouth. In the beginning it sound more like "No monkey please." But that didn't make much sense. Then we listened closer and it started to sound more like "No monkey biz" like show biz. We figured the teachers at her school must have told her that or told the kids that. Nikki's gotten a few incident reports for some of her shenanigans so this does not sound too far fetched -- getting told no monkey business at school. I know we didn't teach her that nor any other people that look after her. It's pretty cute though, and she loves saying it. She scrunches her nose and closes her eyes and says these words with such vigor.

I'll be nicer...promise

Three weeks ago, I hadn't cried as hard as I did in a long time. We decided that it was time for Scoobie to be put down. At 14 years old, she had hip dysplacia, incontinence, cataracts, loss of hearing, and was in pain. She began to stumble and looked like she had a stroke. She looked paralyzed and had stopped eating. Even when we tried to force a little bit of food in her, she wouldn't take it. We first noticed this on Sunday. We began observing her Monday and then Nick called and said that it was time. He didn't want her to suffer and asked that I take her in to the vet to be put to sleep. I asked him to think about it and to make sure that this should be done. He said she was old, didn't look well, and wasn't eating. We made an appointment on Tuesday. That day, I left worked early and on my way home, I was thinking about Scoobie and I couldn't help but cry over her. I had known her for almost 10 years. She was our first baby. She was always so loving and protective. She loved Nikki and was gentle with her even when Nikki tugged at her tail and poked her eyes.

When I finally got home that day, I went to Scoobie and said my farewells. I took my camera and took my last photos of her. I sat there with her, petting her and gave her some cookies, which she ate. I looked at her more closely and she began to run towards the yard and when she came running back to me, I thought, "Wait a minute, she looks pretty good." What happened? Her head was still tilted to the side, she still kind of stumbled but she didn't look as bad as she did a few days ago. She was taking food from me and was walking around. Soon after, Nick texted me, "Kiss Scoobie goodbye for me." I texted him back "She's eating" and then I called him, sobbing and telling him that Scoobie appears to be okey. I didn't know what to do. We decided to call the vet and ask that she be checked out before we do anything else.

I put Scoobie in my car and we went for a ride. She perked up and looked around and stuck her nose out the window. She has always loved car rides. We got to the vet and she was checked out. The vet was very gentle with her. After he completed his examination, he said that Scoobie is having problems maintaining her equilibrium and is dizzy. It seemed Scoobie had an ear infection that was causing effects similar to vertigo. So it was just an ear infection? Well, not to take it too lightly, Scoobie had to be sedated in order for the doctor to clear out the waxy buildup inside her ears and he can check out her ear drum and ear canal more closely. I had to leave Scoobie at the animal hospital over night for her procedure. The doctor said that that appeared to be the main cause of her dizziness, ill-feeling, and no appetite. Oh my gosh, what a relief? That whole time we thought Scoobie was a goner....it was just ear wax! :)

I picked up Scoobie the following day. I had called earlier and asked that Scoobie be groomed. When I got there and I saw her, she looked beautiful. Her coat was shiny and she looked very sweet. She still wasn't feeling well, but was on track to recovery. We left, with antibiotics in hand, and headed home. Scoobie was welcomed home by the family and we now have a better appreciation of her.

I Guess I Had Some Time

I ended a friendship several months ago with someone I had known since high school. We had at one point in our lives called each other the best of friends. But how can supposed best friends, who had known each other for almost 15 years, end a friendship in such an abrupt and callous manner? Perhaps we weren’t all that close to begin with.

The end was near when I had to ask why she hardly called or emailed me. It always seemed like I had to be the one calling and making the effort to go out or to chat. Apparently she had already taken the steps to pull away from the relationship long before I had known there were any serious problems. When I questioned her, I found out I had treated her badly and disrespected her numerous times. She claimed I didn’t listen to her and that I saw her problems as juvenile. She claimed I didn’t give her enough praise for her accomplishments. This grudge that she had with me went back several years prior to this. Not to sound totally clueless, I really was not aware that I had hurt her the way she said I did, by the words I used or the lack thereof. When I asked her to explain, I did try to be open-minded and hear her side out. I tried to understand why she was so hurt. I tried to explain the reasons behind much of what I had said and what my intentions were (if I can even remember). But despite the apologies it still didn’t feel like she can let it go and thoroughly forgive me. Why did she wait so long to say all of this now? Why did she have to bottle all of this in, when it probably could have been resolved or at least efforts to resolve it could’ve been made right then and there. I don’t know, maybe I made it too hard. Maybe there were other issues beyond what was said. Maybe it had something to do with other people.

I’m not a person who finds enjoyment in ripping people apart. I try to be empathetic and I try to be a good friend. I might be sarcastic and like to joke around, but I genuinely do try to treat people the way I’d like to be treated myself, out of respect and kindness. When it’s time to get serious, I get serious. In a way, it seemed whenever I talked about good things that were happening to me, I sometimes felt like she’d get uncomfortable. I sometimes felt like she thinks I am showing off or that I actually think I’m better than her. For most people that know me, they know I am pretty modest. I don’t often toot my own horn. I know people who brag about everything and anything under the sun, but I’m not one of those people. I don’t feel I need to do that to prove my worth. With her, I felt I had to talk about the bad things happening to me in order to have a connection with her. Sure, like any normal person, everyone goes through challenges in their lives. I know that. But it seems I needed to have MORE drama in my life to somehow relate to her more. I’m not saying she has a lot of drama in her life, but I’m saying that in order for us to connect more, I needed to be more of that type of person.

Why am I writing this for people to read? Why am I still hung up on it? I feel the way the friendship was ended left things still unresolved and unfinished. I took the chicken shit way out of it. I essentially emailed her a Dear John-esque letter saying that we were better off no longer speaking to one another. I decided to go ahead with it because it was more difficult to hold on to a friendship with someone who I felt no longer wanted to be friends. I’ve always had that in me, I suppose. When I can sense that a relationship is one-sided, I get out fast and usually without looking back. It would have been nice to get a response back from that email though, but maybe it was just too difficult. The letter (email) was not written angrily or maliciously. It was written out of respect to let her know that it would have been difficult to continue to be friends after all that has happened and I didn’t want to be fake and pretend that things were okay. By this time, we were different people too. Why did we become friends anyway and what were the things that made us look for each other and need each other for comfort and support? Maybe it wasn’t there anymore and we didn’t need each other the same way we did. And we had other people in lives now to fill that void.

The purpose of this blog is partially therapeutic. I would have wanted to get at least one response back or at least have it acknowledged in some way or another. Maybe again we weren’t seeing things the same way and maybe she wanted to begin working on mending this friendship and I just ended it. I don’t know, these are all assumptions. Maybe that’s just it; the flaw in our friendship was lack of communication and assuming the wrong things with the other person.

A couple of pictures of the Little Lady in my life

Nikki at 20 months old. She's at her Grandparent's house hiding behind the sofa with that mischievous grin of her's.



Nikki, again at Grandmama and Grandpapa's, on a hot day. She was running around with a bathing suit and shoes and socks. She likes to scream and yell out "WOOOOOWWWWW!!"

Relaxing in the new pool

I called in sick from work today. Nikki passed her cold on to me so I've been feeling kinda blah. I don't feel horrible, just kind of yucky so I decided to just stay home and take it easy. I haven't taken a sick day for AGES so this is a pretty good day to take off, since I took care of things that I needed to take care of at work. I thought I would blog about the pool remodel. We have completed it! We changed out the copper pipes with PVC, replaced the coping, tiles, and plaster.

Before the Remodel



During the Remodel


Remodel Complete!




Pool at Night


We're pleased with the new pool. We've taken several dips in it already. Nikki loves splashing around and I'm trying to get her to float on her back. She's still a little scared but enjoys being in it. It's great when you want to relax and just do some laps and float in peace. I might go in a little later when it gets warmer.

Fourth of July

This year we went down to the park a few minutes from our house. It was just a hop skip and a jump away. We set up camp earlier in the day and laid our blankets and lawn chairs to claim a spot. My family came and so did Nikki's pal Lexi and her mom Wendy. It was so much fun seeing Nikki and Lexi having a good old time. That's what these holidays are all about --- family and friends, childrens' laughter, seeing them happy and running around, and enjoying the outdoors. This is the first year we did this and maybe we'll make it one of our annual family traditions....and the more the kids, the better!

As the fireworks show ended and Nikki woke up from it (she saw half of the show), she said, "Nice lights!" That made it all worth it. What more can a Mom (and Daddy) ask for?

Just hanging out....for now

Nikki's taking her mid morning/afternoon nap and so I have some time to blog a bit. Nick is getting his Father's Day massage and we're waiting for him to get back so that we can go to lunch. Before Nick left, we met with a pool contractor to sign the paperwork for the pool remodel. I think I may have posted once before about the pool being a pain. Well, the time finally came when the pool just got the best of us. After all, it is 25 years old and when it's time, it's time. We're excited about getting it remodeled and using it. Hopefully, everything will work out just fine and we can use it without having to worry about another pipe springing a leak. It seems to always happen around summer time too. Go figure.

It took a couple of weeks to finally decide on the contractor and there was a little bit of a bidding war. I was going to go with this other guy and although I don't think I was obligated to stick with him, since we hadn't signed any contract, I changed my mind and went with this new one that gave me a better quote and more features. Soooo the first guy got all, well, not really offended, but thought we had made a verbal contract and he felt that it wasn't done right. I felt kind of sort of bad, but afterall a "buck is a buck." I hope I don't get bad karma for this.

I haven't been on here for a while....

It's been a while since I last posted. I almost forgot how to get in here. Anyways, what have I been up to? Well, Nikki is 15 months old now. She's a lot of fun and from what I can tell so far, she's got a goofy sense of humor. She's silly, she likes laughing at herself and others, enjoys it when you joke around with her, and loves it when you smother her with big kisses. Nick and I love her so much. Actually, we sometimes argue over who has kissed her more times. Frankly, I think I've kissed her about 20,000 more times than Nick has. :) Nick is still busy with work and school. As far as the latter one is concerned, I think I'm actually starting to see a light at the end of the tunnel. I don't know how it would be with him out of school. Weekends with no studying? I don't know if I can handle him being home more. :) Kidding...I can't wait for that.

As far as work, since moving to the Air Quality section, I've found it to be so much more rewarding. I'm learning, I'm being challenged, I'm doing work that is meaningful (well, at least to me anyway). I'm so busy, that I no longer even use my MP3 player anymore (and this is a good thing). I hate being bored and doing the same old thing over and over again. I hate days that seem to never end. I love it that my Franklin Planner has tasks and todo lists written all over it.

I feel comfortable in my skin. Sure, there are days when I feel like crap, and I would love it if I can lose 10 pounds, but for the most part, I like me. With all my faults and everything, I like who I am. I love my Fridays off, because it allows me some time to do stuff that I want to get done (ie. errands, housework, relaxing, and maybe even a nap). Nikki keeps me busy and Nick is awesome about taking her out to give me a break. Those breaks bring some sanity back and allows me to decompress a bit. I like my freedom and when you have a rambunctious little one running around, you lose most of that. But I appreciate my breaks, my quiet moments, and I love my family beyond words. So far things are good.