Currently Playing Destiny Fulfilled By Destiny's Child Soldier see related

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving weekend. The last 4 days passed by too quickly for me.

I absolutely LOVE this time of the year. Maybe it's the tilt of the Earth's axis, the vivid window displays at the mall, or the cute sound of jingle bells, something during the Holidays always make me feel all happy and giddy inside. [o, wait I'm giddy almost all the time ]  No matter how crappy my year (so far) has been, how upset I was or how many petty lil' arguments I've had with the hubby, the last 4 days spent with family definitely made everything all better. There were many instances where I just wanted to get up and leave, but this past weekend (even with sporadic arguments) made me realize the "bigger picture" that I was too blind to see before.  My only regret was not being able to spend time with my side of the family. But I know that THEY know I'm grateful and thankful to have them in my life.

Here's a recap of my weekend:

On Thursday, Alvin and I hosted Thanksgiving dinner for his side of the family. It was tons of hard work but it was all worth it. We stuffed ourselves with turkey with lingonberry sauce, minestrone soup, garlic mashed potatoes, green beans, pumpkin pie and chocolate kahlua pie. We had so much left-overs.
Here's a pic of Jolie with the turkey. Can you believe it's her THIRD Thanksgiving?

Then on Friday, Alvin and his cousin Nick woke up at 5am hoping to get to Fry's to buy a new flat-screen monitor for N. Crazeeee. By 5:30 there were like over 1000 ppl lining up just to get into Fry's. I swear that place is like paradise for computer nerds. They finally gave up and went to CompUSA... They got home around 7:30 and the 3 of us headed up to the mountains to go boarding. I love the mountains...it has such a calming effect.

Nick, Alvin and I  @ Boreal  [recognize something Jennie??! ]

On Saturday, we went down to the city to celebrate Alvin's grandpa's 84th birthday. It's so nice to see so many generations of the family together under one roof. We had dinner at a Chinese restaurant. [Jolie loved the shark's fin soup with a splash of red vinegar...she called the shark's fins "noodles".]  Then we headed back to grandpa's place and had our favorite: Toffee Crunch Cake.

Pic of us with Alvin's grandparents

Lastly, on Sunday, we went to IKEA and got a new couch. Sheesh...anyone who's been to our place know how flat and crappy our futon/make-shift sofa  is. woohoo Not anymore. It'll be delivered on Friday. so excited  

So yeah, that was the update of my long weekend. I can't wait till Christmas in Vegas!!!

p.s. Hey Lil: Remember how you told me to take up something to get my mind off of the mister's busy schedule?!? Well, I've decided to focus on decorating my home and do some scrapbooking. Thanks for listening to me vent and go on n on about my problems the other night. LOVE YA!

To my triple lil, Amy: Happy Birthday sweetie. I know it sucks to have your birthday while pledging.  But remember, I'm here for you and just a phone call away. BTW, I'm so happy you're in my family line!!!

My branch of the (huge and infamous T.M.M.Y.) family line: (L to R: me, Cynthia, Thuc and Amy) a.k.a Divas

*Bomb-ass Family Line* [Sue: aren't you proud?!!?] Top row (L to R): Karen T., Christina L., Teri, Thucster, Sandy S.   Bottom (L to R): Helen, my triple LIL Amy, Cynthia, me, Felicia, Sabrina

I've been grumpy all weekend...

I hate being asked "loaded questions". I hate being put in a rough position. Certain things just have no right or wrong answers. Just live with that!

Something happened last week that got me thinking about the past. Distant past to be exact. Why now?    Is it always true: that everything happens for a reason? Being very comtemplative at the moment... I think I think too much.

On a lighter note: Destiny's Child CD comes out in ONE week. I'm so excited, y'all don't even know!

Currently Playing Lose My Breath / Game Over By Destiny's Child I just love DC3 see related

I voted this morning. Have you?

They say every vote counts in this close-call election. But I still don't get how our vote can affect the president's outcome when it's the Electoral College of each state that decides?!?!  

I swear I knew the answer while in American Democracy class in high school. But my memory is horrible now these days...a sign that I'm definitely getting old!  Please refresh my memory if you can...even the hubby doesn't know.

wow...I can't believe it's already the first of November. I really need to update here more often.
Here's a lil' update on...

Halloween
Jolie went trick-or-treating on two separate occasions. We took her to downtown Davis on Friday afternoon, where stores were passing out goodies to the kiddos and coupons to the parents. I think it's a great way to advertise!

the Upcoming Holidays
Halloween 2004 has come and gone ...and that means, counting down to the Holidays has just begun. For my family and I, the "holiday" usually continues past Christmas. [We still have plenty of celebrations in January: our wedding anniversary, the mister's birthday, Jolie's and my god-son's birthdays] After hosting both Thanksgiving and Christmas at our house last year, I've decided to just do Thanksgiving at our place this year. Plus, we plan to spend Christmas with my side of the family in Las Vegas.

my weekend class
For the past two weeks, I've been taking a First Aid and CPR class at a near-by community college campus. It's quite interesting. It amazes me the difference in the demographics of students at a community college vs. a 4-year university.
The time-change sure threw Jolie's circadian rhythm off. I can't believe how only ONE hour difference can affect my lil' brat's mood for the day.

my political views since TOMORROW IS ELECTION DAY
I'm definitely voting for a change! I know Kerry isn't perfect and has made a few mistakes in his past, and also while campaigning. But I feel that Bush's time is over and that his administration accomplished NOTHING. I didn't need Fahrenheit 9/11 to persuade me. Political issues had been a real touchy subject for our family recently. My in-laws are Republican and of course, pro-Bush and pro-Bush's values. It was definitely hard to keep my opinions to myself. So instead, I nagged the husband about it and he got so sick of hearing me bash on how crappy of a job Bush is doing. [thus, I'm nagging HERE!]

the fam-bam
We're all doing well. Jolie kept getting sick after preschool started for her. She's ok now...but *knock on wood*. She was wheezing pretty badly last week and she had to take albuterol (which is usually prescribed to asthma sufferers). That medicine made her SO hyper! I'm wondering how necessary is a flu shot. A kid in her class got a flu shot last week and it made him sick. Is that common?
The hubby and I are doing well. Things have been great and spending quality family time together has been our number 1 priority. He's gonna be in Tahoe this weekend for a class field trip. I wish I could go but unfortunately, I have my CPR class and in order to be certified, I need to attend all the classes.  BOOHOO I doubt I'll have time to go to the mountains till January.

A weekend with the in-laws...this should be interesting...