Christmas.

I can’t say that yesterday was the worst Christmas in my life, but I have to admit, last year was better than this year.

Aside from the fact that I had all my wisdom teeth (4 of them) taken out last Tuesday (and that I couldn’t even chew rice without sauce in it), I spent my first few hours working from 7am-10am and then the remaining 3pm-11pm as well. Of course, the time and a half pay is good, but it’s different when you spend it with people close to your heart.

It’s tradition to us that we celebrate it together - like we did last year. We had dinner together (day before Christmas), and then hung out together the rest of the day during Christmas with the rest of the family at my Uncle’s big house. Foods, karaoke, laughing, stories, picture taking, and more food. Some of our relatives from LA came down to visit, too.

New Year’s day was spent at Long Beach. They called again today and invited us to spend the New Year there. But I have work, and will be working my butt off again for the remainder of the holidays (I believe), so there isn’t a hint of chance that there would be any changes with my Christmas day and New Year’s day.

——————

Other news : Had a not so good news from a co-worker. Will make a separate post (conversation).

——————

I hope everyone else had a good Christmas!

Counting Blessings.

This post is for Dycee, whom I believe will never read this post.

She is the reason why my circle of friends expanded (well, virtually, but who gives a rat's ass?).

Thank you. Thank you for sharing these people with me.

Probably one of the nicest unconscious Christmas presents evarrrr.

*hugs*

Good Morning.

It's almost Christmas.

Yesterday, I worked at the dementia/Alzheimer's area - switched places with one of the employees for assisted living to have someone to pass the medications.

The area was calm and nice, cozy, if I may say.

The activity for the afternoon was putting up the Christmas tree.

I watched the patients in silence as they put the ornaments on the branches. It crushed my heart, and I almost cried.

It was so beautiful to watch them hanging the colorful balls.

One patient said, "I'm done. I didn't put everything up so someone else can take their turn."

Isn't that heart warming?

Chrismas is my favorite holiday ~ well, it used to be. I think it still is. Because the memories of Christmas when I was back home still makes my heart beat fast.

Christmas carols made me sigh as they play on the radio last night.

First rest day!

Saturday.

Today is my first rest day from my 7-day work. I started last Saturday, and I do enjoy what I'm doing.

Working at the retirement facility isn't so much "work", except it is emotionally draining.

I had this conversation with one of the residents two nights ago.

Resident: Do you like to drive?
Me: Yes. But I don't have my own car, yet.
Resident: I should've known. I just gave my car to my daughter in law. I am too blind to drive.

Haha! I would've had my own car c/o the resident - but I can never accept something like that. I don't want to owe anyone anything.

How is everyone doing?

Congratulations!

I recently applied for a job by chance. I saw the ad, and thought "Hey, this is just right down the street, why not check it out?"

I received my interview on Friday, and was called by the employer yesterday to come in today for signing.

Yet, I couldn't enjoy it the way I thought I would.

Brainiacs.

Because I need to catch up with my previous lessons, I started reading my book again. AGAIN. Cover to cover.

Neurological system. I wanted a picture of a labelled human brain so I could visualize what I read. And this is what I found.

Don't forget to read the footnotes. =)

Maybe this doesn't apply to everyone, like myself for example. I'm not a fan of chocolates, so I guess that's too big of a space for me. And shopping? Well, yeah shopping is a girl's best friend. And I disagree with the sense of direction neuron - I have a good sense of direction (and I take the bus!). That's what GPSs are for. =)

Little Musical Dream.

February of 2009, Valentines day. I found myself walking around Pico Blvd taking myself out on a date.

There was a nearby Guitar Center where my cousin lives, so I decided to let my feet drag me there and look at what I can't buy.

I entered heaven with hopes of finding a good item, and I came up with a whole bunch of options. Guitar Center is like the best place to be. Well, next to Barnes and Noble. (I'm still arguing between the two.)

They have this room with the most expensive guitars my hand could lay its flesh on. Most of which are behind glass doors, so it's only my eyes that could lay its senses on. I loved that room, and I grabbed the guitar closest to me. There is a small stool in the middle of the wooden, secluded, air-tight, soundproof room. I strummed a few notes and knew that I was the only one who could hear it. I ended up playing a whole song and singing and humming to myself. That place was dreamy!

I stood up when I notice a couple of people looking in through the glass door. Carefully, I placed the 4-digit guitar on its stand and left the room.

I was on my way out of the abode when I laid my eyes on this specific instrument. It's an Ovation iDea acoustic-electric guitar. It looks exactly my my guitar back home, except it's a little bit more special - by a couple of hundred percent. I held the masterpiece in my hand and touched its curves. Then, I walked to one of the amplifiers where you can test it and tried to play something.

The reason why I liked this piece is because of it's built-in recorder. I write songs and sing them (to myself), so I thought that maybe that special feature would come in handy.

For a $599 guitar (plus tax), I am in a battle of saving up to buy it, or just buy myself a better, simpler beginner set for a lower price. Guitar center is having a sale, and I found this awesome deal. A beginner package.

I've been playing the guitar since I was 9 years old - but it's been an on and off, up and down status. Music has been one of my greatest interest, and maybe one day, I'll find myself savoring the curves of my new baby. =) Wish me luck!

The Golden Rule.

He who has the gold makes the rules. ☻

Looking Back - Waaaaay back.

I stumbled upon an article at Yahoo with 100 Things Your Kids May Never Know About, and I have to say - I do believe kids today may not know about them.

Here are a few (that I am quoting from the text) that I liked:

• Inserting a VHS tape into a VCR to watch a movie or to record something.
• Playing music on an audio tape using a personal stereo. See what happens when you give a Walkman to today’s teenager. (I used to have one before, and I loved my Walkman! I play Blink 182 cassette on it everyday on my way to school. HAHAH!)
• Betamax tapes. - Smaller version of VCR! I wondered what happened to the laser disc movies (two sided)?
• 3-D movies meaning red-and-green glasses. - I love these things.
• The scream of a modem connecting. - From dial up connections. Hahahaha!
• 5- and 3-inch floppies, Zip Discs and countless other forms of data storage. - These things we SHOULD have during computer classes to store our projects and works. I had mine in pink!
• Blowing the dust out of a NES cartridge in the hopes that it’ll load this time. - Hahaha, those were the days! Family Computer!
• Turning a PlayStation on its end to try and get a game to load. - My friends and I would push different buttons thinking that they help in speeding up the loading.
• Not knowing exactly what all of your friends are doing and thinking at every moment. - Everone is Twitting and FB-ing it now.
• Privacy. - Exactly.
• The fact that words generally don’t have num8er5 in them. - I h8 people texting this way.
• Correct spelling of phrases, rather than TLAs.
• Waiting several minutes (or even hours!) to download something. - A 3mb file, 1hour. Lucky if you get it in 30minutes.
• Not knowing who was calling you on the phone.
• LEGO just being square blocks of various sizes, with the odd wheel, window or door. - I love Legos!
• Swimming pools with diving boards. - This was fun!
• Sliding the paper outer wrapper off a Kit-Kat, placing it on the palm of your hand and clapping to make it bang loudly. Then sliding your finger down the silver foil to break off the first finger. - Yeah, what happened to this one? I like doing this.
• Having to manually unlock a car door. - And wait for the driver to unlock the other doors.
• A physical dictionary — either for spelling or definitions. - My grandma and grandpa actually bought me one for my birthday.

Don't get me wrong - I'm not old. I'm only 23 years old, but I went through these things when I was a kid. It was a fun childhood, and I think that kids should appreciate and learn about the "Evolution of Other Things" just to know that they're lucky to have what they have and stop demanding for more. ^^

High End Collections.

Gold - as they say - goes up and down. I heard from work that you should keep your golds and wait until the prices go up - because they are.

See here, this is a really particularly cute gold coin with a Chinese Panda design.

I collect bookmarks. My mom collect stamps. I know other people who collect trading cards, Tamiya cars, Disney toys, signature wallets, and even antique vases.

I remember walking by the mall one day after my class. There is an area by the mall where they sell collectibles. Stamps, rocks, postcards, pictures, coins, envelopes, figurines, and did I mention COINS?

I stumbled upon this gold coin link, and was amused by what they have. They tell you about gold, how to handle them, how to invest, buy and sell, and of course, get these really cool high end collectible gold coins. =)

Looking at the prices, yeah well maybe they're a little bit off the budget. It's the risk of investing in something.

Glowing Clouds

The glowing clouds that has been observed at United States and Europe. Very pretty!

Click image for a larger view.

Source: Wired.com

This is why I believe that nature has so much to offer.

Apollo Celebration.

I was scanning the television for a good show when I stumbled upon this show on Fox News:



They say the government faked this for a few reasons such as:

1. Money
2. Distraction to the audience
3. Delivery of Kennedy's promise
4. Cold war prestige
5. Risk

Source: Wikipedia

Funny, because they also mentioned something about the 911 incident, and that it was an inside job. Another was they said something about Princess Diana's death as well.

What are your opinions about these?

SunBurned

OUCH!

My cousins and I went for a quick swim last Sunday - a post 4th of July celebration. It was fun, until after an hour or so, when other kids finally start coming in the pool to cool themselves off.

These kids starting jumping into the pool, so I kinda thought and hoped that a Community Administrator or some sort would walk and check the pool area and get these kids out before they get hurt. Or even worse - blame the adults in the pool for not watching over them. Eeek!

It wasn't until I got in to the shower did the pain start. I didn't know I'd be taking my tank top off (and show off my big belly) so I didn't really bother putting some sunscreen on my shoulder area. So much for feeling summer-ish.

What are sunburns? They are burns from the sun to living tissues, such as our skins. Too much exposure to the sun can be very dangerous. Less exposure to UV rays can give us sun tan - which people find attractive. But excessive UV rays on our skins? Well, hello CANCER!

My nose is peeling. They peel because they're dead dehydrated skin cells.

Little easy tips for MILD sunburns:

• Topical anesthetics such as Lidocaine or Benzocaine in form of ointments or spray. Available are your local drug store. - Just make sure you are not allergic to any of these medications. Avoid if you are.
• My boss told me to use the aloe vera (gel-like looking in a bottle) to decrease inflammation and soothe the pain.
• Hydrocortisone can reduce inflammation and itching.
• Cold compress (towel with cool water - not iced!).
• Application of a towel soaked with white cider vinegar. Sour, but helpful. =)

Prevention is better than cure. Stay out of the sun to prevent exposure. Wear sunscreen when going out. Eyes are pretty sensitive to the sun, too, so don't forget your anti-UV shades.

Sun tans are summer trademarks. Would you risk it?

Sources:

Wikipedia

eMedicineHealth

Welcome me back!

I'm back! =)