Today is the fortieth day after my mother’s death. In our culture, it means something - having a prayer service. As to why, I’m not really sure. The only thing I can gather is because the 40th day after Easter is the Ascension, when Jesus ascended into heaven. I went scouring around the net and found this:

The fortieth day marks the end of the soul’s sojourns on earth where it visits the places and people it knew when it lived in its body and begs for prayer during this basic transition phase. During that time as well, the soul is shown heaven and hell as it prepares for the time when it will be assigned a place in the “forecourt” of one or the other until the Final Judgement when Christ will return again in glory to judge the living and the dead.

If I had known my mother was sojourning around earth all this time I would have looked out to say ‘HI’.

So tonight we’ll have a mass in her honor, and then go about our regular family New Year’s eve party at Marlon’s place.

A new year is coming, and so comes a whole new chapter in my life.

Happy New Year’s Eve everyone! It’s back to the LBC for me tomorrow!

Tags: Daily by Yano
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Just thought I’d give you all a collection of my favorite pictures from this year. I’ve taken most of them, but one or two were taken by others. A new year’s resolution many years ago was to take more pictures, and I think this year I’ve really lived up to that. My camera, “Cammie II” is always in my purse, which is actually a camera bag. And I don’t care that people always make fun that I dn’t have a real purse. There’s just so many beautiful moments that I see that I love to share with my camera, so I need to have her around all the time.

So enjoy my pictures. I’m sure you’ve seen them all before, but it doesn’t hurt to see them again!

Coming next year: Christine’s artsy photo gallery

Tags: Pictures by Yano
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Hmm…this is going to be a long one….I mean, I’m going to be going over the enitre YEAR here. You may want to print this out and take it on the train home so you have something to catch your drool as you fall asleep…

So anyway, with the coming of the new year, I’ve been really thinking about this past year, and how much of an impact it’s made on me. So much has happened in the last 12 months, good and bad.

Truthfully, this can be listed as the worst year I’ve ever had, from stresses at work to little dramas in my life to my mom’s sickness and death. It’s been hard.

But on the flip side, this has definitely been the best year of my life, from planning the wedding to moving to California, to meeting all the amazing people in my travels to getting married. It’s been a blast.

So it’s been one hell of a rollercoaster year emotionally from the highest high (getting married) to the lowest low (my mother’s passing). I don’t think I could have gotten through it if not for the help of friends and family, and in a little way, this blog. It’s helped me vent out my frustrations, share my joy, and give me something to do when I feel like I’m going crazy.

So looking back, trying to sum up the past year, weighing the good and the bad, there is one word that I think sums it all up, that I found myself using often in the last few weeks. Blessed. I have been blessed this year.

…Blessed to have met and married someone like Dave. Someone I love, respect, adore, admire and who tolerates my crazy antics. I have seen a part of him that he doesn’t show to the world, a silliness and a goofiness that he shares only with me. He is definitely the love of my life, and I’m so lucky to be with him, and he’s lucky to have a chica like me! Oh. And he’s got a hot bod, too.

…Blessed to have been brought up with the love of my mother and father. Although I lost my mother this year, I know I was lucky to have had her in my life. Not everyone grows up with both parents, and I know I was fortunate to have them both take such an active part in my life.

…Blessed to know that my mother passed knowing that I loved her. In the movies, people always have regrets because they never get that last moment to say goodbye and I love you. But my mother passed knowing that I loved her, knowing that many people loved her. And I realized before it was too late what a remarkable, strong woman she was.

…Blessed to have two sisters that I adore. I may not get along with them all the time and maybe once in a while have urges to push them out of my car as I’m driving, but I love them. I’m not as good of a big sister as I’d like to be, but they’re both wonderful sisters….most of the time.

…Blessed to have a huge family that I can rely on. Ever since birth I have been enveloped in the love and support of my extended family, and although I’m not related to most of them, they are closer than blood to me. They have been there for me through everything, always there to be by my side, to make me laugh, to cry with me, to just sit around with me and do nothing.

…Blessed to have friends that are just kick ass awesome. My wedding was the best day of my life, not just for the fact that Dave is now my slave husband, but also for the fact that I got to spend the day with my best friends. We had so much fun and the day was that much more memorable because they were a part of it. I’m so lucky to have friends that are so understanding of my inability to keep in touch, reply to emails or return phone calls. Because I suck as a friend. But the friends I have are the best, because even though I suck, they still stand by me.

…Blessed to have made such wonderful new friends this year. Whether it be by people coming by this blog, or through my short track escapades or through comic books, I’ve met a lot of new people this year. And I would have to admit that some of these people I have grown to consider to be my closest friends. It’s amazing how many incredible people I’ve met, and how these friendships have grown throughout the year. Too bad these suckers don’t know what a sucky friend I am yet. That is the final test of my friendship!

…Blessed to have had the crazy experiences I’ve had this year. Aside from getting married, I had some really incredible things happen to me this year. Doing interviews in Salt Lake City with Olympians, working at the Aspen booth at the Chicago Comic convention, meeting Jim Lee, driving cross country to live in Long Beach, actually having friends to visit when I travel to different cities, going on my very first cruise, blogged for 24 hours and made lots of money, was upgraded from fan to webmistress, my first live Christmas tree, and so much more! If I stop to think about it all, I think my head would explode!

…Blessed to be employed. As much as I bitch and moan about how sucky my job is, I know there are people out there who don’t have jobs. So I know that I should appreciate mine. Even though I’m grossly underpaid. And overworked. And underappreciated. And feel there is no place for advancement. And I feel my company might fold over. But hey, it’s a job.

…Blessed to be loved. One of the things that I had said during my mother’s eulogy was that if you give love, you’ll get love in return. And as much as I could this year, I have tried to show people love, to share love, to inspire people to enjoy life and love it. And I have felt it in return. Sure, there were times that I wasn’t too loving, but that’s something I need to improve on. And although sometimes the love that I gave to people wasn’t returned, there was never a point where I didn’t feel loved. And I didn’t spread love to get it back, I shared it because I love to see people happy. Making people happy gives me a little high.

So yeah, that’s my review on the year. It’s actually shorter than I anticipated, but then again, it’s about time for me to go home from work, so you lucked out this time!!! (until I get home and post more)

2003, thank you for all the experiences. Each one has molded me to become the person I am today, good and bad.

2004, I can’t wait to see you. I’ve got a lot of big plans for you!

Tags: Daily by Yano
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Here’s another ¿Yano Asks You a Question? It’s a little more involved than the previous ones. Feel free to write an essay.

What was the best moment of 2003 for you?

On a side note, I’m so proud that I know how to do the upside down questionmark. How do I do this remarkable feat, you ask? Well, I hold down the Alt key and hit 0191. Poof! The upside down question mark. Learn something new every day! Amazing!

Tags: Questions by Yano
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Get it? No? I know…I suck. Anyway, looks like the Bears sacked coach Dick Jauron…

Coach Dick Jauron fired by Bears

Though he didn’t have the best of records, I really liked Jauron. He had a quiet intensity when coaching from the sidelines. He was a good speaker, and I felt that he was a good coach. If anyone, get rid of the offensive coordinator, John Shoop. Ech… I think we have horrible offensive plays, and I see Shoop on the sidelines, and I know he’s to blame.

Poor Jauron, he had nothing really to work with in terms of quarterbacks, and he did what he could. Look at what he did with Miller years back…Miller really came out and shone when we had that 13-3 record. But with Miller gone, who did we have left? Kordell Stewart? Chris Chandler? It’s not Jauron’s fault that our QB’s weren’t up to par. He did what he could. Jauron was fired because they lost a lot of games, but considering that they played ‘away’ all season last season, I think he’s done pretty good. The players hated playing in Champaign, they never got used to the field there. And the players respected Jauron, you could see it when they talked about him.

And now, he’s gone.

In a little way, I feel like this is just General Manager Jerry Angelo’s way of flexing his muscle. Jauron wasn’t someone he had hired, so if he gets rid of Jauron and brings in a winning coach, then he’ll look good. But that’s the thing - can we have a winning coach with the team that we have right now? I dunno. It takes a while for a coach to get in sync with a team, to earn their trust, to learn each player’s strengths and weaknesses. It will take time. And truthfully, I felt that Jauron could have done that, given time and if he had a better offensive coordinator to work with.

Oh well….goodbye Mr. Jauron. May you go to a team who’s general manager treats you better.

Tags: Daily by Yano
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I’ll just steal a pic from Melanie’s site of the drunkards of Saturday night…

Tags: Quickies by Yano
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Well, I am so exhausted right now, and I had this huge, detailed post in mind to go over what happened yesterday and today, but I’m really pooped, and I’ve got work tomorrow, so I’ll give you a summary. Which will still probably be pretty long. *wink*

Anyway, after slacking off for most of the day yesterday, my cousins Melanie and Marian met up at my house and we headed over to hit the bars on Division. I was going to be the designated driver, but then Dan agreed to come and drive us around. Which made me a happy girl, because that meant that all of us could drink without worrying about who was driving home.

I don’t usually go to the Division bars, but every once in a while it’s a nice change of pace. When we got there, there wasn’t much parking left, so we went further down the street and found a nice spot. I looked at the sign right next to where I had parked, and it said ‘No Parking’. I told Dan about it, but then he corrected me - the fine print said ‘Between 6am and 9am’. Oh. OK. And underneath it was the standard ‘No Parking if there’s more than two inches of snow between 3am and 7am.’ Or something like that.

So we went to our first place (we were planning on hitting most of the bars there) and had a couple drinks, watched people sing karaoke, and played a couple games of pool (which my team consistently won, even though I played like crap for the first half). The main object for the night was to get my cousin Marian to meet some men. She’s been single for a bit, and she just wanted to have some fun. The first place was a bit dry of any good prospects, so we headed to the place next door.

This place was definitely more lively than the first, with girls dancing on poles and a sausage fest near the bar. We stayed here for the rest of the night, drinking, dancing, and for Marian, meeting a ton of cute guys and talking and dancing with them. The girl was a magnet, and I was quite proud of her abilities. She was on fire! The music was great, so I got some good dancing in. There was one guy that tried hitting on me, but I flashed him the ring, and he got all sad, so I had a talk with him about how to pick up a girl, because he came on way too strong. It was a nice conversation, and my little pep talk gave him the courage to go and hit on 30 other girls. OK. He would have done it without my pep talk.

So we had a great time. A lot of good laughs. We were ready to go home at around 4am. We left the bar a bit tipsy, and Dan was our pimp. We started walking back towards the car, and there was a point where Dan and Claudine were standing on the sidewalk. I looked next to where they were standing and didn’t see any cars. Dan looked really confused, and he was reading the parking signs. “Fuck!” he shouted. “Don’t tell me we’ve been towed!” I said. But indeed we had. After closer inspection, the parking sign said that if there was 2 inches of snow OR between the hours of 3am and 7am there was no parking, not the combination of the two! We seemed to have missed the ‘OR’ part of the whole thing.

So we asked the cop that was patrolling the street where they towed the cars to. He gave us an address and we all piled into a cab and went to the impound lot, which was on Lower Wacker, a creepy, scary place at night.

When we got there, the guy told us my car wasn’t there, but was actually somewhere on the south side. So once again, we piled into a cab and went there (after going to the ATM to get the wad of cash needed to get our car out). And there were quite a few people at this lot. We waited in line for eons and more people piled in, most who had gotten their cars towed because of the snow parking signs. It was like ‘Club Impound’ in there…all we needed was a DJ and some strobe lights. But I guess this has been a problem for a lot of people.

Finally, we got our car back, and when we got home, at around 5:30am, we were completely exhausted, too tired to make our much anticipated White Castle run.

So the lesson here, kids, is always read those signs, even though you see them every day, make sure to read the fine print!

Tags: Daily by Yano
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Reading Pleasures

None

I really haven’t had time to read. Once I do, I’ll review something here!

song stuck in my head

‘Seven Nation Army’ - White Stripes

This song has a awesome bass line. I’m a sucker for rock songs with good bass lines. Another song that has a great bass line is ‘Are You Gonna Be My Girl’ by Jet.

at the movies

Return of the King

Well, since I’ve seen this movie twice already, I’ll make this my movie pick. I feel like I’ve been anticipating this movie forever, and it definitely didn’t let me down. It was epic, beautifully filmed, and I’m happy with the way that the plot went. All the good stuff that people say about it is true.

However, it wasn’t my favorite of the three. That would have to be the first one. I usually like the first movies of trilogies just because they introduce us to the characters and the plot of the story. However, three did a great job in searching deeper into the relationships between the various characters. But the last installment to the trilogy didn’t wow me, as I wished it would. To me, no battle in ROTK beat the awestruck feeling I felt when I watched the battle of Helm’s deep in Twin Towers. Then again, maybe I’m just used to it now. But nonetheless, the movie was good. I loved it.

Though I could really have done without the pretty eyes that Frodo was giving everyone. By the end of the movie I was snickering every time Frodo would look at Sam. And I’m not really going to give anything away here, but that scene where the hobbits are on the bed, and Gimli walks in? I just about died. I could hear Dave whispering, ‘The dwarf is in on it, too?’ I know that hobbits are happy, loving people, but it was a little much!

comic you should be reading

Wolverine: The End

With ‘Origin’ Marvel told us about the beginnings of the mysterious Wolverine, with a lot of big surprises. With ‘The End’, Marvel fast forwards way way into the future with Wolverine’s last story. How will he ultimately meet his demise? What are the last days like for a man with a natural healing factor? I don’t know if this series will answer these questions, but I hope it does. So far, we see in Wolvie’s future that he lives as a hermit, but that he has some contact with humanity, so fortunately he hasn’t turned into a rabid animal up in the Canadian wilderness. This is definitely something to read if you’re a Wolverine fan!

yummy for my tummy

Ghirardelli Chocolate

Dan gave me a 10lb block of Ghirardelli chocolate for Christmas. At about 270 calories per 1 ounce square or something like that, I should get my ass back in no time!

addiction

Exhaustion

I’ve been so busy lately, I haven’t had time to myself. Hopefully after the New Year, things will slow down!

Tags: Reviews by Yano
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This week’s Unconscious Mutterings

1. Seeker:: Quidditch

2. Mirror:: Wall
3. Fire:: Flame
4. Goblet:: Gold
5. Empty:: Nest
6. Secrets:: Victoria’s
7. Defense:: Shield
8. Hatchet:: Bury
9. Vapour:: Mist
10. Ministry:: Halloween

Tags: Weeklies by Yano
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Sitting here during my day of doing nothing and watching “The Sound of Music”. This movie is the shit! I think I can watch it over and over again. It’s one of my favorite movies. I love the singing, the music, the story, the romance…and Julie Andrews is the best.

Why don’t they make musicals anymore? The last good musical was ‘Moulin Rouge’, but it didn’t have the same feel as these good ol’ musicals of yesterday.

I love the part when they dance The Ländler. Would you believe that me and Angelo broke down that whole scene, taught it to 6 couples and did it for a fashion show? Hop, skip! Hop, skip! I think it was one of my best scenes ever. I think I can still do the dance today, given that I have a partner who knows how to do it, too! I miss the days of coordinating and choreographing!

Tonight, I dance!

And here’s a little something for you out there that love The Sound of Music, and also the X-Files, as I do…

The Sound of Krycek

Tags: Daily by Yano
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