Today, I was immersed in work, as I usually am, even more so lately than anything. Looked like just an ordinary day. And I notice one of the managers hovering around Orlando's desk, and Orlando is moving things around. At this point, I'm a little confused, because neither of them is talking, maybe just a short word here and there. I try not to stare, and I keep on working.

But I had experienced this a couple times before, seeing the manager standing stoically by a coworker's desk as they packed their things into a box. But when these things happened, I knew what was going on. You can tell when someone is gonna get the can around here. I had NO idea what Orlando did, or if I even was sure that he was fired. And then he gets escorted out.

I shoot off an email to Sam, saying 'WTF? Am I missing something?', but he's busy working on a project. After a couple minutes though, he turns to me (he's in the cube next to me) with this really confused look on his face. 'Did Earl just get fired?' he whispers to me. I give him the 'I have no fucking clue!' look.

And then the news starts to spread. Orlando was laid off. As was my previous manager, Wayne (not the new one, the one I had before). I'm really confused. We're all really confused. Because the group Orlando was in was barely treading water as it was, to lose Orlando would make it REALLY hard on the rest of the team.

So we're called into a meeting. And our VP says that our company hasn't been making money, and we had to cut some people, and he named people who were let go today. Four people. I work for a small company. That's about 12% of our company right there. He said that we're in tough times, and they regret having to let people go, yada yada yada. It's all understandable. The sales haven't been coming in.

But I don't have to like it.

And I didn't even get to say goodbye. Didn't even get to have one last hug in. One last punch in the arm. One last slap in the belly. I've seriously been on the brink of tears. These guys are like my brothers. We've got a team back here. Every person makes a difference. I'm flooded with a million memories of my dear Earl (which is our nickname for him.) He always went above and beyond. If I would say I was hungry, he'd make a run to McDonalds. If I needed someone to call a client for me when I was away, he called. If I forgot software at work before going off site, he'd drop it off at my house. He's driven my drunk ass home many times. Earl's pharmacy had always taken care of me whenever I was sick or needed a pick me up. His mama made the best Puerto Rican rice and steak ever. He's our Tech Sup-puertorican. We're all pretty bummed. And a little scared for our job security, even though it was mentioned that we shouldn't worry.

Not only are Earl and Wayne gone, but so is Jason. And he's been here longer than me! Who's gonna roll his eyes at me when I find out I have a virus on my computer? And Abie, who was an awesome admistrative assistant, upcoming artist, pool player, pole dancer and all round cool cat.

So sad, so sad.

Man. This sucks.

Jason, Wayne, Abie, and my beloved Earl, I will miss you.

And now, let's have a moment of silence for George, the bunny next door who passed away last friday. Condolences to Melanie, his mama. Luscious will miss the friend he never met, and Ewok will miss the bunny he never chased. He was a good little floppy ear, may you hop around with Milo in bunny heaven!

I've been putting off washing my car for weeks. So I washed it on Sunday.

Lo and Behold, it rains.

You know, the one thing I don't like about Hondas is that the intermittent wiper doesn't have a timing control. You know, where you can choose from several different intervals to have your wipers wipe when you have it on the intermittent speed? Am I making any sense here?

So I'm on the bus, spacing out into my own world, and I look a couple seats in front of me. I see the back of someone's head. 'Dude, that guy has a pretty neat doo-rag on. Haven't seen one tied like that before' So I'm kinda admiring the bandana-type head covering on this person's head, but something just doesn't look right. Then this person turns around.

DOH! It's a nun.

My bad!

A couple days ago, a young girl sang the National Anthem for Portland's Game 3. Near the end of the song, she forgot the words, and stood there alone, close to tears. Maurice Cheeks, the coach for the Trailblazers, walked up to her and helped her finish the song. He then persuaded the rest of the stadium to sing along. He wasn't the best singer, that was obvious, but it took some quick thinking, and a really big heart to go out there and help her out. Things like that just kinda make you're heart smile a little more.

"Perhaps the only positive in the community has been the classy Cheeks, who finally brought some pride to the franchise before Friday's Game 3 when he stepped in to sing and help young Natalie Gilbert, who forgot the words singing the national anthem. The crowd joined in for a rare Blazer moment of pride."

Looked at Noelle's blog the other day, and it was an 'Apolo' anniversary for her. Yesterday was sort of an Apolo anniversary for me, too - the first time I 'met' him. I went back in my archives and found this, which, after reading it and reflecting on where I am now, is pretty hilarious:

http://www.yanowhatimean.com/archives/000326.html#000326

For pics, go here:
http://www.yanowhatimean.com/pics/st/apolo/aao_oakbrook.htm

I can't believe that I couldn't even say two words to the guy. Last month, I was in Bay City touching his arm and interviewing him about what his plans were for the Worlds, with hardly even a stutter. I guess I was basically in shock the first time I met Apolo, and it didn't help me that he was shy, too. Way different from the first time I met Rusty (at the Worlds in Milwaukee), where we talked like it wasn't the first time we met each other. But even with the two different personalities, they're two great guys. And I'm definitely looking forward to the next time I meet Apolo again.

Oh, memories!!!

Well, the weekend is over, and even though my fingers are VERY out of shape, I survived without the internet. And Dave survived without sportstalk radio. Though he kinda cheated when he used my phone to check on sports scores.

Anyway, the retreat was ok. I don't think I can talk much about it, so any of you people out there that might go through it will experience what I experienced. At times, I was bored out of my mind, other times, I found out a lot about me, Dave, and our relationship together that I didn't know before. All in all, it was a good weekend. Some of the sucky things were - staying in dorm room style quarters, where the beds weren't big enough to be called twins, waking up at 7am on a Saturday morning, taking a shower, and feeling the burst of frigid water after someone flushed the toilet, having access to junk food ALL the time (i gained 2 lbs) and feeling like I was in school all over again, and falling asleep during the presentations.

But it was good for me and Dave. It was a good time for us to step back from all the wedding planning and come back to US. Dave and Christine. And the reasons that we got together, and the reasons we've stayed together, and what we're envisioning our future to be. We also got to talk about our families, our values, and, of course, since this was a Catholic retreat, how we would lead our married lives as good Catholics.

During the weekend, we both realized that we had totally forgotten about our 6 year anniversary. Luckily, I was the one that brought it up, and he had thought that it was sometimes in May. I thought it was April 26th. After a heated discussion, we both realized it was April 24th, and that we had both completely missed it. We got a good laugh out of it, since this would be our last 'Day we started dating' anniversary, and we'll be switching over to the 'Wedding Anniversary'.

As much as I giggle, and drool, and joke around about other various people on this blog, Dave's my man. He's the best of them all. He knows me like not many people know me, and he loves me anyway - for all my messiness, forgetfulness, my internet obsessions, the short track activities, he understands that this is my life. He's one of the greatest people I know. He has everything a girl could want, and I remember long ago, thinking that he was too good of a guy to NOT have a girlfriend, so I tried setting him up with a bunch of different people. Little did I know that I was the one for him. I'm the luckiest girl in the world. And he's a pretty lucky bloke, too!

Really looking forward to the wedding.

Just so you know right now, I'll be bawling like a baby the whole time! Who's bringing the tissue?

Here's some pics from when we were lounging outside. There was an airport next door to retreat center (about 30 miles outside of Chicago) so there were a lot of planes flying overhead.

This weekend, me and Dave are going on our Engagement Encounter retreat a.k.a. 'No Internet for the Weekend'. I don't know how I'll last. I'm scared! My fingers will be typing phantom keys. How am I going to update my blog?

Anyway, the Engagement Encounter is requirement that we have to go through to get married in Dave's church. It's kinda like the pre-Canaa that some other couples go through. We spend a weekend watching presentations, discussing our upcoming lives together, and meeting new people. Being both naturally shy people, me and Dave are dreading the group discussions. The location is at a retreat house about an hour and a half from where I live, which is in the middle of nowhere. Retreats always make me feel weird. But it'll be fun to talk about my upcoming life with Dave, we still need to come to a decision about those tents. *wink*

*sigh*

No internet for the weekend! Farewell! I'll miss you all!

I love art. I love downloading art from the web and pretending like I'm cultured. So, I thought I'd share some of my favorites with you, whenever the fancy hits me. *bam* I just got hit with a fancy. Here's a piece of work done by Jack Vettriano, entitled 'Dance Me to the End of Love'. I love paintings of dancers, and this one just looks so elegant, you can almost hear the music playing in the background.

Here's the Friday Five

1. What was the last TV show you watched?
The WGN Morning News. They're the best! If we're not counting the news, then it was Conan O'Brien last night. He's sexy.

2. What was the last thing you complained about and what was the problem?
Hmm...I'm at work. Can I say more than one? Just had a convo where I listed a whole bunch of complaints. I think I complained about it being Friday and how I don't want to be at work today.

3. Who was the last person you complimented and what did you say?
Last person I gave a compliment to? I think it was Dan. He's all dressed up today for a meeting. I think my exact words were, "Wow, you clean up real good. But couldn't you have at least shaved?"

4. What was the last thing you threw away?
An empty packet of hot cocoa.

5. What was the last website (besides this one) that you visited?
rustysmith.com - it's been kinda slow in the forums. Been trying to liven it up a bit.

A couple things have happened the past couple days that I've been too lazy to post about...

Pornstar Good Looking
Only Dan can come up with something like this - "She's 'pornstar good looking'. You know, she's not beautiful, but she's not ugly. She's better than OK. Like the chicks in porn. She could be a pornstar with those looks."

Picking the Tux
Went to the mall with Dave to pick out a tux and add more stuff to the registry. Never got to the registry part because it took Dave almost 2 hours to pick out a tux. Should I be worried that it took my fiance a longer time to decide on a tux that it did for me to decide on a dress? (FYI - he still hasn't made a final pick yet)

More Adventures in Registering
Went back to Target yesterday to add more stuff to the registry. Once again, didn't get much accomplished because we got detoured in the Sporting Goods aisle. Because every wedded couple needs Sporting Goods! We saw the tent section, and since we had never been camping before (well, I went once in 2nd grade) we were enthralled, and WE JUST HAD TO GET A TENT. So we stood around for about half an hour, debating on if we needed a 4 person 1 room tent, or a 7 person 2 room tent, or the 8 person 3 room tent. We decided on getting the 1 room tent. Because, down deep inside, we knew we'd never use it.

More Embarrassment
The 'blue balls' episode from the other day wasn't my first embarrassment of the week. On Easter Sunday, I was in a hurry to get to church, because I overslept. (big surprise!) Anyway, it was a nice day outside so I wore my black open-toed shoes. When I was in line for communion, I noticed that I was walking with a limp. I look down, and I'M WEARING TWO DIFFERENT SHOES. And one had a higher heel than the other. So I bust out laughing at my dorkiness. And I whisper to Fatima, who is in line in front of me, 'My shoes don't match!' She looks down, and she busts laughing, too. So the whole time we're laughing. I can't believe I didn't notice that I was wearing two different shoes - sure, they were both black, but one had a fabric strap, and the other was elastic. And after church, Fatima and Claudine told EVERYONE. Oh well, I guess I deserved it!

A good friend, and all-round beautiful woman sent this to me today.

These are beauty tips by Audrey Hepburn, who to me was a stunning human being. The poise, beauty and class that you saw on the outside couldn't even compare to the beauty and class that she held within. She's definitely someone that I look up to.

So thanks for this email...

For attractive lips, speak words of kindness. For lovely eyes, seek out the good in people. For a slim figure, share your food with the hungry. For beautiful hair, let a child run his/her fingers through it once a day. For poise, walk with the knowledge that you never walk alone. People, even more than things, have to be restored, renewed, revived, reclaimed, and redeemed; never throw out anyone. Remember, if you ever need a helping hand, you will find one at the end of each of your arms. As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands; one for helping yourself, and the other for helping others.

A quick, funny story.

Sam was helping out a client today, and he needed some help from me. I went over and sat next to him in his cube. So we put the client on speaker, and we were talking her through a problem she had. In the program that she was using, there was an icon that I wanted her to click on. So I'm trying to describe the icon on her toolbar, which was a hand holding a red circle, with two blue circles underneath. And I say, 'Ok, click on the button on the toolbar, next to the A-Z button. You see it? It's the one with the hand. The hand and the two blue balls. Blue balls, do you see them? Click on the one with the blue balls.' Then I realized that I said. And I stifled a laugh. And I would have made it and kept that air of professionalism. But I looked at Sam, and his eyes were HUGE. And then he started laughing. And then I started laughing - REALLY hard. So I covered my mouth. And I tried talking to the client, and luckily, she didn't understand what the joke was, and didn't ask. But I had to take a moment, we were laughing so hard. And I tried talking again, and I would start laughing again, after hearing Sam snicker next to me - we were almost crying. Then Orlando stands up from his cube and says 'How am I supposed to work when you're making comments like that, Christine?' and I laugh even more. Lucky for me, this client likes me and has a good sense of humor. And lucky for me, my new manager who was sitting behind us has a sense of humor, too.

Whoo. Good times. Good times.

And if you have no idea what 'blue balls' are, look it up. This is a family show here!

Yesterday me and Dave went to Crate & Barrel and Target to do our registries. We were so lost. Both of us have lived in apartments, but we had NO idea what to get. Neither of us really cook, and we don't know what our place in California is going to look like, and hadn't thought of decorating ideas. So we're standing there in C&B, and we have no idea what to get. We were standing there, trying to figure out what kind of pots and pans were the best to get, or what silverware pattern we liked, or what we wanted the color of our bathroom to be. Target was a lot of fun, because we threw in a DVD and a VCR, and other silly things that you don't normally see in a registry. We were going to scan other stuff, too, like men's thong underwear, Depends, feminine hygiene products, cereal, extra large condoms, hemorroid cream, etc, just so people would be like 'WTF!?!?!?!' when they look at the registry. But we voted against it, because people might actually BUY them for us. By the way, doing a registry is the coolest thing, because you get this little scanner gun, and if you see something you like, you just find the UPC and zap the lil sucker. It's like Christmas. But then again, we wanted to be practical with the things that we chose. We chose a good amount of stuff, but there were still some things that we needed to decide on that we didn't choose. We'll definitely have do another round!

My mom is home from the hospital!

Thanks everyone for your posts, emails, calls, cards and prayers.

Bryan had a $25 gift certificate to Buca di Beppo, and he had said that he was going to take Dan and me out to lunch with it. Then we had found out that he had told Tony the same thing. So last week it was a fight between us to see who would win Bryan's affections, and who he would take out to lunch.

So today, we were bugging him, and he gave up and just gave me, Dan and Tony the gift certificate, and said he didn't feel like going anyway. What a guy. So we went out to Bucca, and we got the table in the kitchen, which is what we consider to be the 'cool' table. We got to talk to the other waiters and the cooks and got to see what all the food looks like. Let me tell you, their lunch portions are HUGE! The meatball they serve with the meatball spaghetti is this chunk of meat that's 1/2 a pound, and their garlic/mozarella bread is as big as a slice of pizza. It's a lot of fun to sit back there, because you get to watch them make the food and get everything prepared, and all the staff is pretty friendly and they answer any questions you have about the food and what's in it.

So for lunch we had bruschetta, ceasar salad, penne romano pasta, meat rigatoni, shrimp parmigianna, and tiramisu. And boy, they weren't shy with the rum in the tiramisu! I swear I got a little buzz after having a couple slices. We left stuffed like that fat piggies that we are. All thanks to Bryan. You are my hero.

It's dark and gloomy outside. What a crappy Monday!

My mom didn't come home from from the hospital yesterday. She's still there. We stopped by the hospital before going to our family Easter party. She's in good spirits, still, but you can see that she wants to get out of there. Our dog Ewok is really starting to miss her. He sits by her bedroom door and waits, sometimes getting up and barking at it. My dad has been with her day in and day out. He's got a pretty nice scam going on with the parking. It's $3.50 for visitors to park, and $1.50 for patients. So my dad goes to the main desk and says that he has an appointment with one of the doctors there, and they validate his parking. Anything to save a buck.

Yesterday's family party was pretty fun. I was misinformed in thinking that it was at Marlon's place. It was actually at my cousin Marian's. (and Michael and Marilyn's). It was good for all the cousins to get together again. Saw Marlon for the first time since he came from the Brazil. He lost a LOT of weight, but is still fun to hug. We played a couple rounds of Boggle (and although Fata didn't want to play at first, once she did, she started kicking our asses). There was a lot of good food - many compliments on the lasagna that I constructed. And pie! French silk pie! Yum! I brought over my DVD's of 'Spirited Away' and 'Drumline'. They all thought that Spirited Away was too trippy for them, but that's why I liked it. There were a good amount of band jokes made during 'Drumline', but I KNOW that deep down, they enjoyed it. It was nice to watch the whole movie WITH SOUND. And hot DAMN! That ending sequence was HOT. That percussion battle was awesome. Badass! Makes me wanna continue my drumming lessons with Ced. And then I can start up with my band again - Low Fidelity. *chuckle*

Happy Easter everyone! My mom should be home from the hospital today *fingers crossed* We visited her yesterday, and she was doing a lot better. It was nice to meet her doctors and to find out that they were such good and wonderful people. When one of them came in, and we were introduced to her, she immediately said, 'Which one is the one getting married? Which one is the one in medical school? Which one is graduating college?' It was amazing that she remembered these little tidbits about me and my sisters that my mom had told her, and it really made us confident that our mom was in good hands. After we told her a little bit about ourselves, she said, 'You know, your mom may be sick, but she's happy. She's so happy about you guys.' *sniff* Aww, thanks. Our parents raised some good kids...that I know for sure. And the road is so worth it knowing that during this tough time for our mom, thinking about us makes her happy, that we're something that carries her through this. She's a tough cookie, my mom is.

Today we're heading out to my cousin Marlon's house for Easter. He's been in Brazil for the past couple months, so it'll be awesome to see him. I love to hug that guy. He's extremely huggable. Though I heard that he's lost weight, so the hugging experience may not be as enjoyable for me. And it's been a while since all the cousins got together. It should be a nice time.

My mom invited Dave's family to join our family Easter. Should be interesting to see them and their interaction with my wacky family. Because you gotta admit, we're kinda wacky. Worlds are colliding! But in a way, it'll be a good thing, because if his family gets along really well with mine, we won't have to decide where to spend holidays, because our families will spend them together. That would be nice!

Here's some pics from when we went to Build-A-Bear. Some may not work, some may not look right, but you can figure out what they look like. I'll fix them later.

[picture errors fixed, and bunny's names fixed - 10:45pm CST]

Thanks everyone for your prayers and your kind words. My mom was only suppose to be in th hospital for anight, but they're oing to keep her for observation and testing until Easter. :( We're going to go and visit her now. Trying to be the positive and chipper, happy one that everyone thinks I am. It's tough.

Today, the bridesmids are getting together to try on dresses. Me and my sisters need some smiles!

A little something to lighten my mood today...

1. Who is your favorite celebrity? Geez, that's a tough one. It's a toss up between Madonna and Natalie Portman. Madonna, because she's constantly reinventing herself, and pushing the limits. Natalie, because she's classy and she chose to take time off to go to school, right at the time when she was really becoming popular.

2. Who is your least favorite? Mariah Carey. So much potential, so much wasted talent. Watch out Christina, this could be you.

3. Have you ever met or seen any celebrities in real life? Yeah. I think my biggest celebrity experience was dancing with Wesley Snipes at Shelter. I've met Michael Rosenbaum (Lex from Smallville), various speedskaters, um, and for the rest, I'm drawing a blank...I've seen a lot, haven't met a lot.

4. Would you want to be famous? Why or why not? There are times when I want to be in the spotlight, and I have dreams of walking on the red carpet, but then there are days where I don't want anyone to notice me and I just want to be alone. But I'm an actress, of course I want to be famous! Why do you think I tricked Dave into moving to LA?

5. If you had to trade places with a celebrity for a day, who would you choose and why? Jennifer Lopez. I'd just love to see what it would be like to be in her shoes for a day, she just has the most interesting life! I've already got the ass for it...

My mom is in the hospital right now. She had a really high fever, and my dad didn't want to take any chances, so he took her to the hospital. They're going to keep her overnight for observation. So can you all say a little prayer for her tonight? Thanks...

Well, I've been wanting to write about this for a while, but it's been so busy with my trip to Cali and all. But I've watched a couple great movies over the past week, and I wanted to go over them...

Old School
I've been itching to see a movie, and it was between 'Old School' and 'Phonebooth'. I was in the mood to laugh, so we went to see Old School. I was thinking it had the potential to be a waste of money, but it was actually really good, and a lot of laughs. I can almost picture Dave and his crew to be pulling the same stunts when they get into that middle age funk. Wil Ferrell is, well, Will Ferrell. Seeing him naked isn't even a shock to me anymore, but he's at a totally different level here. Vince Vaughn and Luke Wilson also round off this pretty funny cast, and they have got some great moments. I laughed. A lot. Dave laughed, too. And he really enjoyed it when Stiffler came in - don't know the guys name, he'll always be known as Stiffler. When he came on screen, the whole audience was whispering to each other 'It's Stiffler!' Poor guy. But he had his typical quirky weird part in the movie. Good movie. Good laughs.

Spirited Away
For a while I had been eagerly awaiting Hayao Miyazaki's followup to 'Princess Mononoke'. Unfortunately, I couldn't find anyone to watch it with me, and then I had forgotten that it was out. Then it won the Academy Award for best animated feature, and it was re-released. So me and Fatima decided to go and watch the matinee on Saturday. We were thinking we would be the only ones there, but once we got there, the place was packed with families. Oh yeah, forgot that the movie was distributed by Disney. Hmm. Interesting. I'm hoping that there's no singing animals in here.

But it was a great movie. Magical. A great fantasy. It's like Alice in Wonderland, anime style. Awesome. It was a great story, multifaceted characters, beautiful landscapes, amazing cinematography, and...uh...singing animals. And a fat radish-god. It's also pretty kick ass that the main character is a girl, and that she's voiced by the very same girl who plays Samara in 'The Ring'.

However, I don't think it's a movie for some kids. For as many cute characters as there, are, and that the lead is a little girl, I think that many of the themes explored are over the heads of children. Also, there are some parts that can be a bit scary, I mean, even I was spooked! The plot is pretty intricate, too, that it could be hard to follow - there came a point near the end where me and Fatima looked at each other with a look of, 'WTF?!?!?!'

But I liked it. Best Buy, I'm coming in for the DVD!

Drumline
I've been wanting to see this movie for a LONG time. When I saw the preview for it during a movie, my jaw dropped, and I said to myself, 'I HAVE TO SEE THIS MOVIE!' The band geek in my jumped for joy. Finally, a movie to make band kids look COOL.

Of course, I forgot to watch it. But lucky for me, it was the movie that was playing on my flight to California. So I plug in my headphones, put it on channel 1, and pump up the volume. And the connection is weird. Every so often, there's no sound. I play around with my headphones, with the jack, no, it's something internal. Nothing to do with my headphones. That's ok, it's only every once in a while. I can still understand the movie. And it's pretty good. And they have some great drumming sequences. I'm into the movie. The talented, but undisciplined drummer tries to survive in the highly competitive drum core. Then 3/4 way through, the sound completely cuts out. I should have seen it coming! So I ask the guy next to me if I could use his connection, but i realize it's on his other armrest. And he says, really condescending, 'Are you sure you have it on the right channel?' - yes, i've been watching it, it's cutting in and out - 'do you have the volume up?' - yes, as i said before, i haven't changed anything. Grrr. I'd kick your ass if it wasn't a federal offense. So i missed the sound for the rest of the movie. :( It sucked! I could see them drumming, but couldn't hear anything! What torture!

Which will only force me to buy it on DVD. One more reason to go to Best Buy.

Speaking of....Harry Potter is now on DVD. Go check it out. Also, in honor of it being out on DVD, I've posted my 'Harry Potter' webcam edition. Enjoy, and revel in my dorkiness!

Well, it was my last night in Thousand Oaks, and Rick, Lanie and Rusty drove up to come and visit. I love my Long Beach homies for coming up to visit me. It's not a short drive! First Rod comes up for a visit, then the rest of the crew. Thanks guys. You're the best. Sorry Thousand Oaks doesn't have much to offer. Dinner ended up being at TGI Fridays. Couldn't really find anywhere else to eat. But it was still fun, of course. Laughs. Lots of laughs. Good times. And I'm happy to know that when we move here, Dave will have people to play basketball with.

Next year will be VERY interesting...

So here's pics...one from my drive to Santa Monica yesterday, the other from dinner...

One of the things that I love about the client I'm at is that they have one of the most awesome cafeterias I've seen. This is the first actual company cafeteria that I've gone to that has fresh sushi! Yum! And a whole bunch of tasty desserts. So today, I decided to try the herb roasted turkey or something like that. It was great. But then I forgot the powers of turkey. By 3pm I couldn't keep my eyes open. I was doing jumping jacks in the bathroom to stay awake. Note to self, NEVER eat turkey at a client site.

The sun is out today, which is beautiful. Then again, it's only 50 degrees. I think it's warmer in Chicago than it is here. Actually, I KNOW it's warmer in Chicago than it is here - it's almost 80 in Chicago. And I bet you the minute I get back, it's going to dip back into the 40's. Damn!

Not sure what my dinner plans are for tonight, because I haven't been assertive and planned anything. I'm a horrible planner. I really need to have earlier notice when I'm traveling so I can actually coordinate people's schedules so I can get together with them. I've got a couple tentative things, but nothing set in stone. I may just end up getting room service tonight. Or maybe I'll just slum it at the mall. Or maybe I'll drive around and take pictures. For sure I'll take some pics tomorrow. For now, I'll post up some of the pics that I took when I was driving to Santa Monica. I'm going about 80mph when taking these, and I'm not focusing the camera (I've got to keep my eye on the road, you know) but I think they came out pretty well.

I've been out of the loop lately in terms of news - Is it just me, or was there an announcement that the war is over? And if so, why?

One thing that I like about Thousand Oaks is the drive. Nice long windy roads with beautiful green hills. I love to drive. I love to go fast. Then again, it REALLY sucks driving in the dark with pouring rain. No fun.

Yesterday's Cheesecake Factory experience was a good time. It was nice to hang out with Rod again. Lots of laughs. Dorks having fun together. And I was loud....pretty obnoxious. But I still want to see that interview footage, Rod! And everyone out there, Rod's losing weight - it seems like the buddha belly may not be jiggling as much as it used to.

Earlier tonight I met up with Walter, who I haven't seen in a LONG time. I drove down to Santa Monica and we walked along the Promenade on 3rd and had dinner at this little seafood place. Had my first raw oysters. Yum. Really great conversation. I have a feeling that I won't ever run out of things to talk about with Walter, he's a really cool guy. Single gals in California, come and get this one - he's a catch. I'd like to call him 'The One Who Got Away'. Or 'The Only Ex-Boyfriend That Still Talks to Me.' Hahaha. But we talked a lot about mine and Dave's upcoming move here, and Walter gave me a lot of ideas of things to do. We're going to be going on a lot of road trips after the wedding! It'll be good for Dave to have a friend here when he moves here in June (I'll be moving here in late August). And I'm going to bake Walter cookies and watch Buffy DVD's at his place. And him and Dave can play basketball, or whatever those guys do when they're hanging out.

So here's some pics:

Am I in Portland? I mean, it's been raining for the past two days. I thought I was supposed to be in sunny California. Grrr.....I want to take pretty sunny pictures! Come out sun, come out!

Yesterday, I met up with Rod and had dinner at the Cheesecake Factory. My meal was only so-so, but of course, the cheesecake was HEAVENLY.

More later....gotta meet up with Wally in Santa Monica.

Had a 4 hour plane ride. Lots of time to update my wedding blog. Haven't updated it since January! Check it out.

Got a lot more to post, but I'll do it after dinner!

I'm so horrible. I've been neglecting my wedding blog. My big project on the plane to LA is to update that damn page. I hope I still remember my password for Blogger!

Met with a florist today. I think the wedding is starting to stress me out. I keep on saying 'I don't care about flowers, I don't care about flowers...' but they're almost a necessity. So here's the numbers, and I'll give you average prices for each - just to give you an estimate of how much this is costing me, because I don't know if I've said this, but I'm paying for a bulk (more than a bulk) of my wedding. *sigh* I'm so poor!!!!

If you're too lazy to do the math, well, it's a little under $2000. *sigh* Well, luckily, I got a pretty good deal, but it's still a chunk of change. Donations, anyone?

Gotta get a lot of stuff done over the next couple weeks, but I'll be traveling a lot, too.

So here's my schedule for the next couple months:
Next week: Thousand Oaks, CA
Beginning of May: Seattle, WA
Mid May: Champaign-Urbana, IL
End of May: Des Moines, IA/Miami, FL/Some island off the coast of Georgia

I'm just rackin' up those frequent flier miles. Anyone know anything fun to do in Seattle? *wink*

I'm in desperate need of a haircut...

Real quick...

Sammy got a new tattoo. To cover up an old tattoo. Because he's married now. To a woman who's name ISN'T the one that was tattooed on his back. So he had to do a coverup. And why get a little one, when you can get the whole span of your back covered? OUCH. But it's pretty, isn't it?

A lesson learned, people!

Going to Best Buy. Wish me luck. Must be strong!

Whoo...back home now and I have a couple minutes before Dave comes over...

I've got more flower pics, but I'll post 'em later...

Lessons I Learned from NYC

• Looking to pick up single men in NYC? Go to the NBA store on 5th and wear a Kangol beanie. Like flies to honey. I even flashed my bling bling ring to make them go away and I got the 'Girl, you're not married YET! I just wanna know your name!' Um, sorry dude, I'll give you a 'Sorry guy, but thanks for asking...' and be on my way. This Filipino guy who worked there came up to me and said, 'Are you here from the Philippines?' to which I replied, 'Um, no, CHICAGO.' Come on brutha, you should know better than that! Then he asked me if I was Filipino, and when I said 'Yeah', he was like 'Yeah, I could totally tell by your nose.' Um, yeah, thanks dude...
  
• I know I've done a job well done at a client when I get a hug from my client. He shook my hand, then did a quick, and slighty uncomfortable yet heartfelt hug, and said 'Thanks so much.' Aww...I have the best clients ever!
  
• One of my favorite lines from 'Hairspray' - "You have acne of the soul". I have had experience with acne. That's a nice burn to use.
  
• No matter what kinda exotic sauces a sushi restaurant gives you to dip in, nothing tastes better than good ol' soy sauce. YUM!
  
• Having sushi 3 days in a row isn't enough to make me sick of it. It just makes me crave it MORE.
  
• I got a lot of exercise in NYC. Walking from store to store shopping. *wink*
  
• One thing I still can't stand about NYC is the trash bags on the streets. They don't have alleys. We have alleys in Chicago. That's where our trash goes. It's nice and hidden where only the bums and garbagemen dare to tread. Seeing trashbags on the street just freaks me out.
  
• Diners. We don't have a lot of them here in Chicago, but there's a ton of them in NYC. I walked into one thinking that it would be a greasy spoon place like Merry Ann's, but they had waiters dressed in tuxes and wine lists. Bizarre.
  
• Rather than getting the $7 muffin in the hotel, go for the $2 bag of homemade cookies at the bakery across the street.
  
• There's a surprising amount of men that you'll find in orchid shows. Or maybe it's just orchid shows that they hold on the concourse level of the Rockefeller Center.
  
• There's a lot of great places to eat in the concourse level of the Rockefeller Center, but no where to sit. I had to almost sign over my firstborn child to get a seat.
  
• Tourists in Chicago come from all over the US. Tourists in New York come from all over the world. Half the time on the street I didn't know what anyone was saying. But it was pretty cool.
  
• As much as that little voice tells you in your head, you do NOT need a pair of white linen pants. And you do NOT need a $200 little black dress. And an orchid tree is NOT going to fit in your suitcase.
  
• Four hours of dinner at a restaurant doesn't seem that long when you're with people that you find interesting, fun, and who you click with immediately. I had the best time at Ruby Foo's, and I haven't laughed that much in a long time.

  All in all, a wonderful time. Thanks to everyone who was a part of it, my clients, Denise, Susan, Michael McKeon, Rudy Galindo, the cast of Hairspray, our waitress at Ruby Foo's, the security guards on 5th avenue, and the cute little Japanese lady that works in the fast food sushi place. As if they care. *wink* Thanks for the good times!!! Hope to come back soon!

  Posted by Yano at 08:10 PM | Comments (6)

Still at work. Haven't had time to breathe, been on the phone with clients and in meetings all day. While waiting, I just updated the links on the right. Still a lot of shit to do, because I won't be in the office next week. There's no way that I'm going to get my NYC expenses done today. Found out that Sam is gonna be about an hour and a half away from me. He's on one side of LA, I'm on the other. We're gonna meet halfway for some sushi. Yum!

Looks like we've had a little blog boom as of late. Everyone and their mama has gotten themselves a blog. So that adds about 10 more blogs that I won't be able to read on a regular basis. Welcome to the blogging world, people. Your lives will never be the same!

Where the hell is Thousand Oaks, California? I've got to find me a map because that's where they're shipping me out next week. It was one of those last minute type things that they always throw at me here. It gets a little stressing, but at least it's CA. I was going to be there for the whole week, but now it just looks like I'm there from Sunday to Wednesday. Supposedly it's 45 minutes away from LAX, so it shouldn't be too bad. Sam's being sent out to Orange County, too, so he shouldn't be too far away, either.

The Yano tour goes on! So who wants to meet up? Mike? Wally? Anyone? The social calendar is filling up. Choose your times now! *wink*

Work sucks when you're in the office for 1 day in two weeks. Everything gets thrown at you at once. Can I get a second to breathe, please?

Because work is kicking my ass right now, so I can't do a NYC recap til later:

1. What was the first band you saw in concert?
New Kids on the Block. And I would see them again, dammit. NKOTB 4-ever!

2. Who is your favorite artist/band now?
That's a tough one...If I could pick a few - Missy Elliot, Coldplay, Norah Jones, and I'm thinking that 50 cent is kinda sexy in a way...

3. What's your favorite song?
Damn, once again, a couple - 'Always' by Atlantic Starr, 'On Bended Knee' by BoyzIIMen, 'You Got Me Up' by Daje, and 'Love Like This' by Faith Evans

4. If you could play any instrument, what would it be?
Guitar. I can strum a few chords already, but I'd love to be able to REALLY play it.

5. If you could meet any musical icon (past or present), who would it be and why?
John Lennon. Just to talk to him. About the music he wrote, and about the life that he led.

Real quick, because it's really late, and I'm really tired, but I had a great time today. It was a tough day at work, but not because I couldn't get the job done, it's because they liked what I did for them, and they wanted me to do more. Wait, that sounds bad. But you know what I mean. (yanowhatimean? har dee har har)

During lunch I took pictures at an orchid show they were having in the concourse level of the Rockefeller Center. The flowers were gorgeous, and if I wasn't stuck on this freakin' dialup line, I would post up more pics. When I get back tomorrow I'll post more pics.

And for dinner, I hung out with two fantastic, wonderful, and fun Italian chicks. I met up with Denise again, but this time Susan, a fellow webmistress and 'enthusiast' joined us. This was my first time actually meeting her, but we had been emailing for a while now. We had dinner at Ruby Foos, this fantastic dim sum/sushi place (I've been eating sushi my whole time here!). Lots of good food and yummy desserts. Non-stop conversation. Laughing. A drink for the Goo. The drinks there were fantastic. Lots of story sharing. We were the last people to leave, for the second night, me and Denise closed the place out. After that, we stood outside talking forever. It was a great night. I'm so sad that I'm leaving tomorrow. I wish I had more time here!

Not much time to write today, but I had a blast! My good friend Denise and I went out to dinner and a show and desert afterwards. We went to see 'Hairspray' which was a lot of fun. Harvey Fiersten was awesome as the mom, and there were a lot of big group dance numbers, which I loved. I had to laugh a little bit when I realzed that the man sitting next to me fell asleep during the first 15 minutes of the show. Anyone who likes a feel good show, go and see that one. It's adorable. Oh, and we saw Rudy Galindo, the figure skater there! He was sitting maybe 5 rows in front of us. And I swear as he was leaving he looked at me. Whoo hoo! Before the show we had dinner at this lovely Italian restaurant, and I had a wonderfully cooked steak. On our way there, we saw Michael McKean getting into a limo. The limo driver said to him, 'Hey, where's Lenny?' and Michael said, 'I played Lenny, the other guy was Squiggy.' I swear, Denise is a celebrity magnet. Afterwards, we had dessert at the Brooklyn Diner, which was definitely tasty, and I admit, I'm still on a sugar high. Throughout the night, we had some great conversations, many times about our favorite subject, but we had a lot more than that to talk about about, too. That's one of the greatest things that has come out of the last year, the friends that I've made throughout my internet romps and my travels. Thanks ST.

Good times. Good times.

Tomorrow, I'll have a drink for the Goo.

Where is Yano Today? New York, NY

I love my hotel bed. It's a king, and its so comfy and my sheets and comforter make me feel so nice and warm I feel like a little bun in an oven. I did NOT want to get out of bed this morning. Another fascinating doo-dad in my room is this control panel next to the bed. When I got into my room, it was lit up and said 'Welcome Christine Feliciano!' It's a radio, an alarm clock, a phone, a remote control for the TV, control for all the lights in the room, the temperature, you name it, this control does it! I think I even saw an option for 'plan my wedding'. I could be mistaken, though.

As much as I like my hotel room, there are some things that suck. It costs $1 to make a local call and .15 for each minute after 15 minutes. Makes it a bit pricey to log onto the 'net. Don't want to use the company calling card too much - got in trouble for that before. So it looks like I'll have to go cold turkey on chat crack til I get home. Also, room service costs a TON! A muffin on the menu is $7. Eggs benedict (my roomservice breakfast of choice) is $19. I don't know about spending that much for breakfast. It's a little insane. And on the counter in my room, there's a whole basket of candy and chips, a jar of jelly bellys, a bear shaped jar of gummi bears (which always remind me of Hot Shots Part Deux) and on top of it all, a bar of Toblerone. Be strong, Christine! Be strong!

Unfortunately, it snowed today. Snow in April! How crazy is that? I hear that it snowed in Chicago, too. I don't think that I've been in Chicago yet this winter/spring to see it snow heavily - I'm always out of town when we have the snow storms. Well, at least I caught the snow storm in NYC. Later on, it turned into rain. My hotel is in a prime shopping spot, so I ran home after work, changed, and went back out shopping. Oh, there were too many tempting things out there! I swear I stood in the store for a couple hours fighting the voices in my head. 'Come on Christine, EVERYONE needs a pair of white linen pants! Get them! Get them!' But I didn't. See? I can handle the pressure. Uh, well, not the pressure to buy 3 tops and a pair of sunglasses. But come on, who can't miss a chance of buying $5 sunglasses?

So tonight, I'll be camped out under my sheets munching on toblerone, wearing a pair of white linen pants with my temperature/light/alarm clock room control in hand.

The Yano tour goes on! I'm in NYC now, in a pretty swanky hotel in Manhattan. Two trips in a row I get a hotel with a bathrobe. I just might start getting spoiled. Landing in LaGuardia was awesome, we passed by Manhattan, and although it doesn't hold a candle to Chicago's skyline, I have to admit that NYC's is quite spectacular. It was great to see, and I gave a little wave to Lady Liberty as I passed by. She's so tiny from a plane! I haven't had a chance yet to take pics, but be sure I'll be clicking away tomorrow!

Finally got my pictures from Bay City up.

Pictures from Bay City

I also added about a 100 or so pics to my SLC gallery. It may seem like a lot, but when you take 700 pics, it doesn't seem like so much.

SLC Gallery

If you want originals, just send me an email and I'll send you a copy. I've already had a couple requests. Thanks to all the beta testers. You can also now right click and save the pictures. Still working on the picture page in general. Look for some great changes in the upcoming weeks.

Today I drove my parents over to have dinner at Dave's. It's always an experience having my dad sit shotgun when I'm driving. I'm a speed demon, and I could see his leg pressing down hard, hitting an imaginary brake, trying to get me to slow down. Lucky for him, I was actually driving slower than usual. And he would always point out the cops, even though it was obvious that they were there. And my mom complained about the music, the type and how loud it was. Fun fun fun!

We went over our guest list again today, but just the people we're inviting. It's pretty tough. We're trying to figure out if we should have our single friends bring guests or not. What do you guys think? Also, we realized that I have NO female friends. Well, that I have a very small amount of female friends. Yes guys, it could very well be a sausage fest at my wedding, but let me tell ya, the single ladies that will be there will be HOT!

Yesterday, I asked Jen to be a bridesmaid, so now my lineup is complete. 8 bridesmaids - Claudine, Fatima, Jaygee, Jen, Marian, Melanie, Nikki and Rachel. Having them there with me will just make that day THAT much more special. Does that sentence make sense?

Wow, the day just snuck up on me. I would have sworn that I started my blog in Mid-April, but I guess it was one day ago yesterday that I started this crazy blog. The page itself has been up since 1995 (I'm sure some of you were just born then) but the blog started up last year. It's hard to believe that it's been up for that long. So much as happened to me in the last year, so much of it has been recorded on these pages. From getting engaged to the return of my mom's cancer, from my trips around the US to my trips to Chipotle, from 'The Purple Planet' to 'Yano What I Mean', this blog has been a place where I could share my happiness, my fears, my sadness, my anger, my obsessions, my silliness, and myself. I never realized that it would reach the audience that it has, but I'd like to thank you all, posters and lurkers, for coming by my humble abode. I'm glad you all come back. I mean, I wouldn't! I would get bored of my chatterings! If you asked me a year ago if this page would still be up today, I would have said, "No chance! I give it 2 months before I get bored of it!" And here it is, bigger and better than ever.

Oh, look at me getting all misty and everything.

Well, happy birthday my blog. I love you.

Yesterday I ventured out from the safety of my cave and away from my beloved computer to re-introduce myself to the real world. It was quite exciting to be outside and being 'social' with 3D people. Just kidding. Um, ok, not really. Went to go play some pool with Ced, Don, Mike and Norina yesterday. For some reason, I played better during the first part of the night, then later I just sucked ass. But that's ok, I still had a great time just joking around and hanging out. Here's some pics that I took (because you KNOW that I'm always taking pictures). The last row are from Mike's camera. And I have NO idea why Ced enjoys taking pictures of his crotch. Everyone needs a hobby, I guess.

On Wednesday night, I went to do some script readings for a friend. I love reading scripts dry. You get the script, you get the name of your character, and you start reading. You don't even leaf through script first before you start reading it. And on Wednesday there were some really good people reading with me. I'm not an actress, I act. I've been in a couple small things, but nothing major. But some of the people I was with are really part of the Chicago acting scene, so it was great to be reading with them, and it was also a lot of fun. I was a lesbian bar owner, a man holding a supermarket hostage, a reporter on call with the police who has aspirations to be a cop, a straight woman in a lesbian bar picking up men that go to lesbian bars, an actor in a discount murder mystery, Wesley Crusher from Star Trek: Next Generation, and tons of other characters. It was really cool, and a very good way to just relax and de-stress. Afterwards, I just sat there as everyone else talked shop about what's going on in the theater scene - what new theaters are opening up, what's going on with the different theater groups, what plays are looking for people, etc. Man, I'd love to be a part of that scene, but with my traveling for work makes it almost impossible to do rehearsals. Maybe when life slows down a little I'll get back into acting. We'll see!

"Hi! My name is Rodney Cajudo and I am a friend of Rusty Smith."

Well, this was from an email I got last year...and looking back on it, it just cracks me up. This email started one of the craziest friendships I've ever had, in one of the most interesting years of my life. There've been a lot of good times, a couple bad times, but through it all, I have always considered him a friend. Things have been really crazy as of late, and not the same as they used to be, but he still makes me laugh, and I know all of the good times will outweigh whatever drama our lives have taken us into. We'll still be friends. I don't give up on friends. I may take a break, but I don't give up.

So thanks Rod, for being my friend. Thanks for everything. Here's to X-Men debates, Dragonriders of Porn gold on gold action, late night bird advice, ABBA nipple dances, screaming about Apolo, triple Jack and Cokes, and football pools.

And the syrup went really good with my pancakes.

Just thought this was cute. My favorite picture of Fata that she just put up on her blog.

All together now! "Awwwwwwwwwwww"

If only sisters stayed that cute and tiny! Muhahahahaha......

OK, I didn't flunk it, but I didn't really read the directions. Anyway, me and Dave went to go and meet with the priest yesterday about the FOCCUS test we took a couple months ago. In the test, they say statements about your relationship, and you can either agree, disagree, or say that you are both undecided about the subject. After a million scantron Psych tests in college, I've always avoided the 'undecided' option in tests. So during the test, I put disagree. Which of course, was a bad thing, because when we reviewed the test, Dave would say he was undecided about a certain thing, and my answer would be 'DISAGREE'. Which made us look like we disagreed about everything.

So there were a couple things that we disagreed on, legitimately. One of them being some of my habits. I know Dave has some issues with how long I spend on the internet. (I do too!) as well as how I approach household duties (the words are NOT in my vocabulary). Luckily, those things were not surprises for us. There were a couple things that I was joking around about, and I actually got reprimanded by the priest, 'Let's take this seriously now, this is a serious time.' Yeah, that shut me up quick. I'm a good. Can't help it.

But luckily, we didn't fail so miserably that the priest felt like kicking us out. He's still doing the wedding, so that's all good with me. When I get home tonight I'll post up some of the questions. They're a riot!

Well, I wanted to take a nap last night, so I set my alarm for half an hour and went to bed. I have furry recollections of hitting the snooze button a couple times, but I guess at some point I just turned off the alarm. Luckily, I woke up at about 4am and reset the alarm to wake up for work.

So after my pleasant 6 hours of sleep, I woke up wide eyed and bushy tailed, and I almost made it to work on time today. Almost. I caught the earlier bus (still later than the one I SHOULD be taking) and when I got to the train station, I saw the train coming in. True, the trains run every 10 minutes or so, but I wanted to make it to work on time. So I dashed down the steps, and flew through the doors. Now, I should have done a Matrix-style leap, tuck and roll onto the train, because I just wasn't fast enough. The doors closed on me. Not in front of me. ON me. I was squooshed in between the doors. Ouch. Luckily, the doors opened again (because I'm sure they were concerned about that little Asian girl that was stuck in the doors) and I got on the train.

On the train I read my book, and I was pretty into it, when I noticed a sound behind me. Snoring. Looked behind me and this dude was snoring up a storm. I mean, this is worse than Christine after too Jack and Cokes passed out on the couch snoring. At first, I looked at the other commuters around me and we passed little smirks. But later, as I was trying to concentrate on my book, it seemed like the snoring was amplified in my head. So I just put away my book and went to sleep. And probably snored myself, too. *wink*

So I totally slacked at work yesterday and I'm paying for it today. I've got three machines hooked up on my desk and I look like an 80's keyboardist the way I'm switching from machine to machine. I'm the queen of multitasking! But I'm curious as to how the gamma rays coming off the screens of my computers are going to influence my latent mutant powers. Still waiting for meypower to read minds to kick in. Maybe after I hit puberty it'll come.

Today I decided that I need to get out more. Been holed up in my room chatting for too long, and it's starting to bug me. So tonight I'm going to visit with the priest. Me and Dave have to go over our tests with him - the one that I know I failed miserably a couple months ago. Tomorrow, I'm going in for script reading, which I haven't done for a LONG time. I love doing script readings. For one night, I'm not me. I'm someone else. It's a good vacation from myself. And Thursday, I'm going to hang out with a friend that I haven't hung out with in a while, so that should be pretty cool. Back out in the 3d world. Hope I don't go into shock. My fingers will be twitching, I know they will!