White Christmas in the Southwest

Happy belated holidays

Happy holidays, everyone. This is the closest I got to a White Christmas.

The only reason I dislike Christmas

Be warned: If you like structure in blogs, stop reading. This is pure cathartic rant. Good for the soul. My soul.

Christmas, accompanied by all its commercial superficiality, will always hold a special place in my heart ... until I have to include baking and Christmas cards in the repertoire.

It's fine when I am the one making all the decision. Things are easy and dandy. But get my dear husband, M, in the picture, and things get really messy.

I don't mind making goodies to give out. But the frustration sets in when
(1) he makes the list and adds people who mean little to us. Give presents and baked goods to those who work well with you all year, that's my motto. But he has to be fair. Even to those who make life difficult for him. I know, goodwill towards men.
(2) Printing snafus. This year, we went to a really cool place for vacation and wanted to include that image for our Christmas cards. The design was ready soon after Thanksgiving. But home printing creates disalignment, which results in me waiting for him to fix the problem. It wasn't fixed until last night.

The week of Christmas. Now there is no way I can send those cards out in time!!!!! I should just send 1/2 priced Hallmark cards in future. You bastards probably throw the cards I send as soon as the new year sets in anyway, right? Never mind, I don't want to know.

I have to be fair. I can't pin all the blame on him. He's driven by ivory tower corporate to the edge. A mere 2 days before we had to leave for Christmas break, corporate had the gall to hand him a last-minute project to complete. He had no time to put out all the fires for me.

Also, those who know me well know I've no patience to spare. Every chore has to be done AT ONCE. I don't tolerate procrastination.

Anyway, I had been baking and sorting for 3 days straight. I have a guest coming tomorrow.

On Friday, we are flying to KC. Oh, I am unemployed hence there's no money coming in. I used Mark's debit card and misplaced it in the process, hence resorting to using my bank reserves for now.

You know what they say, when it rains, it pours.

May you find peace this holiday season, and goodwill to all men. Afterall, Christmas comes but once a year, there's no sense in stressing out.

A new game in town

Maybe those in the know already have gotten suckered into this game Sudoku. You may have seen an entire table at major bookstores dedicated to the method of playing the game.

For those unfamiliar with it, it looks like a crossword puzzle with numbers.

A few numbers are provided in a region of 9 squares within the puzzle. The player must fill in the blanks with well, numbers. The numbers range from 1 to 9. In the puzzle, no number can be repeated diagonally, vertically or horizontally.

Try it at http://www.sudoku.name/play-sudoku-en.php?a=online-games and you'll get the picture.

Try it and see if you enjoy it. Maybe you can offer me some tips without utilizing the tempting "solutions" key.

Be nice to us cos ...

We almost met our makers today.

We were taking a leisurely drive after lunch along the boondocks outside downtown. I, the driver, was approaching the green light. And as I neared the crossing line, two cars from the adjacent streets to my right started to cross, too. One red truck was on the right turn lane. Its driver did a rolling stop and made a sharp right. Meanwhile, another car, which had obviously been idling in the middle lane the whole time during the red light prior my approach, decided to make a run for it.

What transpired next was truly surreal.

I was driving at regular speed toward the car from the middle lane. In a spilt second, I was zig-zagging and steering as hard to the left as possible, while at the same time, keeping my eye on the side of the other car.

The nose of my car was so close to the driver's side of that car I thought I was going to pin M against it. I couldn't remember if we were silent or cussing the whole time the scene unfolded.

I thought I recall that car seemed to slow down or even pause as I was steering to the hard left.

When our cars were parallel to each other, it zoomed off. I didn't feel the contact between the vehicles.

But we pulled into a gas station.

Can you believe we, pasengers and car, escaped unscathed?

Although it would be nice if our car got hit cuz we needed a little detailing work on the back passenger door when I scratched it against a bank drive-through post.

The ugliness at football games

Well, I attended the game afterall. Tech vs OU. And I was glad I went. It turned out to be the best game yet.

The points were close, down to the final seconds. And Tech won. They have a chance to go to a bowl game.

But what made an otherwise great time in the blustery cold were the annoying fans that felt obliged to give a blow-by-blow play-by-play. I'm all for enthusiasm and rooting for the home team. Point your gun-finger salute when the school band plays the game fight song, scream for the touchdown, clap till the hands bleed. That's all fine and dandy. I, afterall, do a great amount of whooping and hollering at plays, good and bad. But I don't do what they do.

At every home game, I've know-it-all commentators in the row behind ours, calling out "Go, D (as in defense)!", and calling out to the quarterback and defensive linemen et al how to play the next shot. I know they are intelligent enough to know the players can't hear them. I know they may be more enthusiastic than me. But do they realize they are plain annoying to those who want to see the game?

Maybe I don't have the spirit for the game. Maybe I'm too uptight. I suppose if everyone behaves civilized like me, the stadium will be as hush-hush as a study hall, and all waves will die. Maybe I'm just a killjoy.

How do you behave/react at games?

And don't get me started on those fellas who upon seeing the good seats available and are yet to be occupied (I had shown up late at a few games in the past) decide to take them until the person who purchased these high-priced seats come by.

No Snowman for Singapore

Oh well, I tried.

I bought this gimmicky Hallmark Snowman gift for the 4 kids back home cuz it'll be goofy to the toddlers and adults. So, I had to buy a steady box to mail it in.

Why didn't I use the moving boxes I have lying around? Because I'm too lazy to cut it down to size.

Anyway, when I went to the post office today to mail it, I was told the cheapest would be Letter Post at $10.50 or so and that takes 4-6 weeks. So much for shopping early. The next cheapest would be about $20.

Well, guess what. The singing snowman costs only $12.95. I simply refuse to pay more in shipping than the item itself. It just doesn't make sense to.

So, now , I'm taking him back to the mall.

Lucked out in Lubbock

Wednesday, November 15, 2006

A few blogs ago, I lamented about the state of rent in little ole Lubbock.

At M's urging, I started rental searching two days ago, scouring the classifieds for the ones in the desirable neighborhood and price range, to boot.

Monday was the most grueling. I jotted down the go-sees, planned my route and schedule, made appointments with Realtors and renters. But I didn't expect it to take all day, drifting in and out of the sun's glare in my ongoing cold headache -- you know, the kind that hits you right on the temples when you sneeze or cough. Include dehydration in the equation, and you get the picture of one pleasant day.

For the first time ever, I ventured out on a mission in yoga sweat pants (thank goodness they are fashionable!) and a T-shirt. Very attractive, huh?

Anyway, I lucked out on a lovely house in a neighborhood not far from the one I'm in now. The price is soooo right, and the interior is superior. It's an old house, evident from the facade and appliances, but the owners had upgraded it to include beautiful wood-paneled walls and new coat of paint. The dining room is even in that rich red. I love it. Just when I thought I was a shoo-in, this girl drove up in her Mustang and strode in. I was to learn later that she had applied for the house before me and she gets first dips. I was extremely emotionally beaten and proceeded to follow through with the appointments I made on the other houses.

They turned out to be disappointing. The interiors are grungy, appliances antique (not in the valuable sense), and I once again felt sucker-punched in every way, physically and mentally.

I drove around town a bit more and chanced upon another house I had seen on earlier drive-thrus. I recalled not getting any calls back about it. Upon further inspection, I realized it was leased by the same Realtors who showed me the first house I loved. I called and managed to secure a callback. It was only 2:30 p.m. when I wrapped up my day of house hunting.

Next, I did the only affordable relaxing chore I could afford - I went grocery shopping. After I had tucked away my groceries, the call came through for that final house on the list. The Realtor could meet me right away. I bolted for the car and was at the site right at the same time he pulled up into the semi-circular driveway. That was another feature I was sold on the house, aside from the location and trees. It was an older house- the appliances and built-in shelves betrayed it, too.

But the bathrooms were the most telling. The master has only a shower that was even a tight squeeze for me. But I was willling to overlook that since the secondary bathroom has a bath tub.

I WANTED IT because (a) I'm tired of looking(b) the house has a neat layout and character(c) it is in a good location I instantly called Mark to take a break from work and come see the place. Oh, I forgot to mention the reason for my haste is because we have to give a 30-day notice to terminate our lease and Monday was our deadline. Oops.

The Realtor kindly left the front door unlocked for us as I went to pick M up. Unfortunately, M did not share my enthusiasm. And for good reasons. I guess in my desperation and exhaustion, I settled for less.

The search continues.

Later that night when we were watching TV, I received a call from the Realtor of the first house I lost.

Apparently, there was some conflict between the Mustang "Sally" and her partner and they had to abandon their "dream house."

The first house is back in the rental market again. I asked if they could show M the house that very night and they obliged. M wasn't too keen about leaving the house. He had a long, tiring day at work and the last thing he wanted was to go see a house.

I managed to convince him that than was better than the next day when he had to make the trek all the way from work.

HE LOVED IT!!!!!! I signed the lease today and the Realtor ran a credit check on us.

And here is why I'm writing this: WE WERE APPROVED a few minutes ago. And the rent is about $305 less than what we are paying now!

Fairweather supporter

So Tech football team blew it. They lost to OSU this past weekend, hence knocking themselves off the bowl invitational.
They were even considered for the Cotton Bowl if they were to win that game.

They are playing their last home game this weekend against OU.

We have the tickets, but frankly, what's the point of attending, right?

There's nothing to cheer towards now.

Christmas display - none too soon

I never thought I'd say this but maybe it's not too soon that stores are gearing up for Christmas now.

Sacrilege?

I came to this realization when I was at Hallmark getting cards (no, not Christmas cards).

Hallmark aficionados know that if one buys three cards on prominent holidays, one gets a discount on their featured holiday item. This year's it's a snoman singing a medley of Christmas classics at a piano with flashing lights. Normally, I don't succumb to such gimmick but for $12.95, I thought I would get it as a gift to my toddler relatives back in Singapore.

In recent years, I had gained four cousins and a niece between the ages of a few months to 9 years.

To return to the point that it's not too early to shop for Christmas, I realized that this is the perfect time to buy since shipping tends to get really costly when I wait till 3 weeks before Christmas.

Bet that escaped your thought, too, right? I had been burned in the past by shipping my gifts too late, and the s/h ended costing more than the gifts combined. Not this year.

I have to be frugal with my money this year due to my lack of employment. So much so that I may have to succumb to sending, egads, e-cards to my friends.

Sorry to be such a Scrooge, guys.

The legendary Bob Knight

OK, he is notorious but if you get a chance to be this close to the legendary Bob Knight of basketball fame, you would gloat about it, too.

M had the AJ's suite tickets to attend the Red Raiders vs. San Jose State game yesterday. We went and were instantly offered COURTSIDE SEATS by his boss (the pub), but on the condition we would return on the second half so a kid and his dad will have their chance, too.

So we took our spots and I took out my cellphone to snap a photo of Bob Knight to prove it. Alas, the picture was really crappy. Heck, the phone's quite inferior with its camera capabilities to begin with. Oh well.

But the highlight is, I was seated directed across the court from the legend himself. How cool is that?

I even heard him bitch at the referee, something about him not knowing the "goddamn rule book!" That's priceless.

Take this job and shove it?

I've been job hunting for four months and am getting really frustrated. A lot of folks just don't care to return phone calls. And frankly, I'm tired of being desperate so I don't follow up on them either.

Anyway, I received a call today from a health club in town. It's a really good one and they are expanding to include a 4th location in Lubbock. And this will be a sales position. Basically what it involves is me showing you the curious "just looking" customer the facilities and hopefully have you enroll in the end. Sounds easy, right? And the perk is even greater.

No, the money's not so hot but I've pretty much resigned to the fact that Lubbock doesn't pay well. I really want the sales experience under my belt and some hot sales numbers so that I can soar to greater heights.

No, the perk is I get to exercise FOR FREE!!!!! I may even regain my svelte figure of the 20s afterall.

So, what do you think? Shall I do it for experience and a little savings money until something better comes along?

Is there a blogger in me?

Monday, November 07, 2005 (from myspace)

Is there blogger in me?

I've never done this. It's actually quite scary detailing my thoughts for all to see. But it may be an exercise in fruition and maybe, I'll find a new calling in life.So, here I am, in little Lubbock, Texas. Four months and counting. And job seeking. And being told I'm overqualified. And being offered pay too insulting to detail -- although in looking back now, I wished I had taken it just so I'm relieved of the boredom. I know my position is envied by those who are slogging hard (M, for instance). I suppose I thrive under stress and sadly, derive my worth from a job well done at work. That's pretty sad, isn't it?