Catch-Up Like Whoa

Holy cow have I gotten far behind with my blog posts!

Not that I needed to tell you, but am letting you know that I'm well aware of this issue. We're going to jam in the updates by week until I catch-up.

Monday (06.24): Had a bit of a scare when we thought my brother hadn't made it to pick up our dad from an appointment at a hospital that was only a 15 minute drive away. Turns out that waiting rooms without cell phone service are the worst and they really should just page the beeper they give to family members and not just wheel their patients down to the lobby area and give up. Not the best way to wake up.

Spent the rest of the day relaxing and hanging out with a dear friend and ended up at the Hard Rock Cafe and Hooters for dinner.

Tuesday (06.25): My brother is determined to catch me up on this past season of Adventure Time, we indulged in frozen yogurt, and my dear friend and I went a ways away to help her friend work on his costume for an upcoming convention. I have always wanted to work/ do cosplay for a con and this was a mini-dream come true. I dyed the poor guy's hair from dirty blonde to black and he cooked us dinner. Not a bad trade, right?

 He went as Guts from Berserk.

Wednesday (06.26): FMIL headed to visit her family and that left the SO to watch the house full of critters and plants. What a trooper! Spent the morning shopping with my mom before she ditched me at lunch. My brother and I met up with my dear friend at Barnes & Noble and I was surprised to see how many tabletop games they sell now. Playing our new games took up the rest of the day.

Thursday (06.27): My brother and I spent most of the morning replacing doorknobs around the house. It was just a frustrating turned silly time for us.

We met up with some friends at our new favorite comic-hobby store and had a blast picking out sets of polyhedral die. We've come to the conclusion that we'd like to try to learn how to play Dungeons & Dragons together online via webcam. It'll be quite the adventure figuring that out and it's up to me to organize.

Learned how to play "Bang!" the card game. It wracked my brain to figure out how far each player was from me after equipping horses and weapons altered distance, but the deputy was killed two-thirds through the game and the outlaws (my brother and I) ended up winning! Yeah, you can read a bit about it on the Bang! wiki page.

Friday (06.28): Dad's vacation time began today and my brother and I spent a lot of time getting his room in order for our two twenty-something year old cousins that were supposed to arrive at midnight. He would have done stuff sooner except he didn't realize he wasn't going to be kicked out. Silly boy, we're always kicked out of our rooms when any guest come.

We also started packing for our next trip to Orlando. Some friends came over to play more games. I'm just loving cramming all of this time in to do something that I love so much but hardly get to do anymore since I don't have many friends that are interested in gaming where I live.

 Airport's quiet at this hour. Bunch of people sleeping on the benches.

Saturday (06.29): Our cousins' flight was about an hour late after they were delayed in their initial departure due to bad weather. We crawled home around 2am and hung out for a bit getting to know each other as not-quite-kids anymore. It's been 4-8 years since we've seen each other, so it was quite an adjustment. Thank goodness nerdiness and goofiness runs in the family.

Eventually, we headed to Orlando with my brother's best friend in tow and arrived at the townhouse long before my folks were able to join us (midnight). We played some of the new deck card games before trying to involve my folks in a game of Hide and Seek when they arrived. They never found me hiding in the master bath's bathtub and got quite the surprise when they checked out a linen closet to find my brother and his friend lounging on top of spare bedding inside.

Master bedroom. So sweet!

Sunday (06.30): We did the church thing together before the kids headed out to Islands of Adventure amidst pouring rain. My folks went to visit their friends in Little Saigon in town. We had another cousins who works at the park while her boyfriend works at Universal Studios. We bounced back and forth between the two, got to cut a couple of lines between having those connections and knowing when the rain would shorten lines significantly.

 

 My folks like to go to the Mary, Queen of the Universe Shrine.

It was not comfortable spending the entire day either wet or soaked, but we had a lot of fun regardless. Finally seeing Harry Potter World was nice and it was interesting visiting these parks with an older group. We were okay with skipping super long lines of very popular rides or only briefly perusing the shops and merchandise.

 

 
A part of me was pretty disenchanted with the entire experience, but being with people who had never been there before did help.

One Last Farewell

I didn't have the energy to be angry, angsty, or surly today. None of it matter because all I wanted to do was to quietly respect a little girl's memory. It was very grounding to remember that as much junk we deal with on a daily basis, as one Buddhist friend said recently: "It is all just temporary."

There was a staff meeting after school and I got some computer work done for the first time in a few weeks. Then, we came home and solemnly got ready to leave for the viewing. Neither of us felt we would be able to to handle seeing her like this.

Didn't think there was any point in putting on makeup because I knew I'd just cry it off anyways, but I remembered dressing up one day to visit Paige outside of school and her letting me know that she thought I looked nice. Her mom also requested no black clothing, come as colorful as possible because she always loved color.

I wore the top that FMIL got me for Christmas with Minnie Mouse on it. For her Make-A-Wish, Paige had gone to Disney World (her first time on a plane) right after she turned five. They brought back pins for her teachers. I remembered meeting those teachers while they had their pins on (which was everyday).

It took me twice as long to get ready because I kept starting to cry because it kept hitting me what I was getting ready to go do and possibly see. My heart just keeps weeping.

We went with my SIL too just saw Paige's mom immediately. We hugged and cried a little and she looked beautifully pregnant, brave, and strong. I loved seeing the bright colors on everyone. There were conservative looking cowboys and crazy punk rockers who were torn between crying out their broken hearts and laughing while they recounted wonderful memories of this beautiful little girl. It reminded me that there's a common thread in everyone that is just purely good.

They had posters filled with fun pictures and sparkles, people brought potted plants (another one of her favorites versus just cut flowers, she was a fan of gardening), and there was a slideshow playing on the front wall of beautiful pictures with her family throughout her life. That helped so much because it made us laugh and focus on what has been important the entire time.

We did go and see her. I'm glad with the choices that were made. I won't go into too much more detail here to keep this from being so morbid. I really appreciate the loving attention to detail that the funeral home did. They had a locked chest for memories we could write on stationery, programs handed out, everything was just so accommodating of this unique little life. One thing I really appreciate is the permanent website memorial that they set up. There are pictures and memories and songs there... It will be nice to revisit.

FMIL, SIL, and I went out to dinner across the way afterwards to talk more about our memories and life in general right now. We'll continue to visit the family and stay friends, of course. I spent the evening saving pictures from Facebook because FMIL and I felt it would be nice to have a keepsake like that of our own at the house. Gonna go sleep some sadness off or something.

Part Deux

Part of me feels that I should have just waited until tomorrow to post these pictures but I said I'd make an extra post to continue my last.

I obviously took slightly more than these when the family came to visit, but I'm sticking with my "not revealing identities" rule and giving you the rest of the stuff. Minus a few super blurry or detail shots that don't mean much without the personal back stories aka good scrapbooking fodder. I would have taken more if 1) my camera was faster (as in lightning speed) or 2) everyone else wasn't snapping pics on their smart phones.

It was kind of weirding me out to be around others who were doing quick snapshots of moments and quirky places. I've gotten used to being the only one that wants to do that kind of thing. Ended up making a FB group for us to share our photos in and make collection easier. My scrapbooks came up and then out during the first night and I think we may throw together a quick little photo book for this trip as well.

 With the folks in from Minnesota, the SO and I keep talking about relocating there and what we'd find so drastically different, like these mountains he grew up seeing.

This is what kitty thought about our emissions testing results. That's my baby boy.

This was a very watermelon color when it first started the night that they arrived at the household for dinner. We kept looking for a comet streaking by but had only briefly seen it the night before.

This was my dinner on Friday night at the hole in the wall Mexican restaurant. Shredded beef enchiladas thanks to a craving for meat.

This was where we tried to spend time at on Saturday morning and failed thanks to not checking in ahead and realizing their hours had drastically changed. It was almost the thought that counted.

A very prolific Saguaro cactus that greeted us every time we visited the family at the resort where they stayed. So many arms and so old! I have never seen one this thick up close before.

 

This is the view from the hotel's on property fancy restaurant. At least, just from our table Saturday evening. It would have been perfect if it hadn't been so windy! We had to secure all of the menus and napkins down before the flew off into the ponds.

 

The lamb that the SO had with garlic mashed potatoes and asparagus that night.

 

I ordered a grilled pork chop with cauliflower potato gratin. There was some sort of berry and other fruit topping/jam/glaze on mine but I can't remember what that was even two minutes after I ordered it let alone now. It's too bad that the menu on the site right now wasn't what we had. :(

A close-up picture of the fire pit that we sat around after dinner to pass around a few desserts. It was warm, intimate, and fun. 

Presents

Whee!

Sorry, I am so tired. Cold front coming in and it has actually been raining all evening. Kind of bizarre and very reminiscent of my upbringing in Florida. XD Either way, it's been hard for me to sleep with lack of heat. I'll figure that out a solution to that this weekend for sure, lol.

I started getting presents today! One was from a family at school, which was incredibly sweet. I also got a package from my family, which I was expecting but it came early!

It had some earrings my mom had around, new sweaters that are perfect for the holiday parties, a hilarious scarf that is tiger-print and purple (not sure what to do with that one!), a spare cell phone for a back-up (they are pretty sure mine's going to get broken while I'm working with the kids and I may die without having one attached to me- it's a possibility), and my big wish list request- a bigger external hard drive! Dad scored a nice Black Friday deal and it's bigger than I ever imagined getting, so it'll definitely keep me busy for a while. The package was just quirky and just very much like my family and I'm still smiling about it now.

It's a good feeling (smiling so much). I kind of miss it. :P Can't wait to add the earrings to my little collection- it's just what I asked for! Wow, it really is starting to feel like the holidays...

Monday Questionnaire

Really taking the "curling up in bed" seriously after today. My dad did go see a specialist today, there are still plenty more appointments to go and only a baby step was taken today in terms of diagnosis and treatment. Still keeping the spirits up. So...

Fast, fun, and easy: Monday Questionnaire.

1.) Mood:
Exasperated. Between home, the kids, and standardized testing today... Everything else is going to be put on hold while I finally deal with the emotions.

2.) Does the winter season tend to draw you indoors, or outdoors?
Outdoors. Sorta. There are just more events, so that gets me out of the house more. Plus, traditionally, I spent Christmas day at church events and that's a lot of standing and walking around outdoors. I'm usually indoors anyways.

3.) Would you rather wear summer clothes in winter, or winter clothes in summer?
I like wearing a sweatshirt all the time, but I guess growing up in Florida, I'd have to say summer clothes in winter. Flip-flops, a light jacket, t-shirt, and jeans were a year-round uniform.

4.) Current nail polish:
OPI's Glitzerland. It's still mostly in tact after the greater than half dozen coats I put on in a bought of neurosis.

5.) What is your idea of a holiday makeup look?
A festive eye or lip that a bit on the glamorous or adventurous side for a holiday party. Often a metallic eye to balance out the often neutral outfit that can play off of accessories.

6.) Current outfit:
Uh... maybe if you caught me about half an hour ago when I got home from work it would have made more sense. I've shed my lighter wash jeans for some pajama pants but have a slate gray tee on underneath my fluffy pink robe because it is freezing inside.

7.) What is your favorite winter accessory?
This may be the one time of year that I wear a statement necklace to go with the little black dresses I like to pull out for parties. I have many scarves that I'd like to try out once it gets cold enough outdoors. I do love my boots and soft gloves my mom sends me.

8.) You have a free day to do anything you want-- what do you do?
I'd like to spend it going on a little adventure with the SO. I like exploring new places or trying something new with him, taking pictures, eating yummy warm food, and laughing until I cry. I'd probably involve a little bit of shopping for souvenirs or memorabilia and then we can come home and cuddle the junk out of our kitty (who would be mad at us for leaving him at him for so long- but you know he enjoyed napping every minute we were gone). 

9.) What are your favorite holiday decorations?
I'd have to say the lights. I'd love to do one of those musical displays one day. Not as big as the videos show. Plus, I feel that the spots that get lights are places that don't often have decoration during the rest of the year, so it makes it even more special.

10.) Weekly goals:
To make it through with a positive (or at least more positive) attitude, plan ahead for next week's events as much, and maybe get back to working on Project Life while I await more news from my family.

More News

News goes back and forth with my dad and we're trying to stay positive. Got some bad news, but holding our breathes until test results come back and the family talks about treatment-operation options. Welcome to adulthood and tough life junk.

I should stop gritting my teeth right now- starting to get a headache.

Plans are finally being set for all the holiday get-together shenanigans. Details are still hazy and at this rate, will remain so until stuff actually happens. Hm. Hurry up and wait sounds all too familiar. Dealing with student loan crap on top of things wasn't pleasant. Have to wait for answers and results for that too.

As much as I love holiday parties, at this rate, I'm not so sure I could enjoy them very much. Still gonna try and work hard at letting the negativity go. Maybe I could use the festivities to cleanse my spirit and fill that void with celebration of the good things in life.

Going to use this weekend to... oh wait. I was going to say snuggle up in bed and recharge but then I realized I'm double booked each day starting tomorrow. Erp. Caffeinated hot chocolate it is. Craft fairs, crafting, and dinners galore. I hope you are having a wonderful holiday season too.

The Transfer

I accomplished mailing out the cards and gift packages today. I thought hand-making the presents would save me a bunch, but those shipping costs today made it hard to believe. I think it all averaged out in the end, but biting the bullet all at once was hard to swallow. However, it's done and should all be at their destinations in a week's time.

I'd be more elated about that if it were not for a phone call I got from my mom late in the evening, which is a super odd time for her to call me. It turns out that my father was hospitalized today. That's the second time this year, the first time I heard about it while it was happening (they left me out of the loop last time because they felt I would stress out to much during my exams- okay, some truth to that but still...), and like the second time that I ever remember that happening to him.

Without going into it too much just yet, I am finding it hard to... do anything right now while he's going through two blood transfusions. I have a big fear of needles and doctors, so I can imagine this is not very fun on top of the serious issue and pain.

My brother just finished his finals for the semester, so he'll be able to hang out with our dad while we wait for the doctors to come to an agreement over surgery. I may be looking at an impromptu visit back soon.

While I don't have the best relationship with him, it was nice to have a brief talk with him so we could put on brave faces for each other. While it's been a long time since I thought he was one of those invincible-parents, I'm still knee-deep in prayers right now. There's not much else I can do but wait to hear more updates. I worry for my mom and brother too. It's going to be a long night for us all.

DONE! Nearly.

Day 14: I am grateful for mail! Love getting packages, cards, and notes in the mail. It's like a mini-Christmas that can happen at anytime. It warms my heart with the impersonal feeling deeply personal.

Before I go any further, I want to express how ding-dang dumb of me not to hit the publish button on yesterday's post. It was sitting all nice and finished on time and in draft. That didn't process in my head until halfway through my work day. Had to deal with that thought nagging at me for the remainder of the day until I got home from errands. Joyous.

Impromptu surprise birthday dinner tomorrow night, so we had to plan that. The holiday season is in full swing. Already had two party invites for approximately the same time for Thursday, still have no idea what decision is going to be made for Thanksgiving which is NEXT !@#*!#$^-ing WEEK, and I'm personally setting up at least two major scrapbooking dates afterwards while finishing up our holiday cards before the staff party and out of town parties before Christmas.

BAH! How on Earth did 2012 go so quickly?! I have so much that I had wanted to accomplish this year. What a flop. Trying desperately to channel that massive disappointment in myself into productive and peaceful energy. 

Erm. Going back pre-rant... I got the album for my family's mini-reunion vacation scrapbook! Now it's going on 16 months. But all of my precious printed pages are in sleeves with a front and back cover in my hands! I just want to get a special decoration for the front window, enjoy the complete project for a little while, and then ship it off to my folks for Christmas. We're so close anyways, that might as well be their gift from me. I put enough blood, sweat, and tears into it, lol. 

Tried to figure out video narration or somehow digital version to share with my cousins that were featured. Half of which live in Europe and have a vague grasp of the English language. I swallowed my tech pride and made a private photo album on FB for them to see it in "high-res". Merry Christmas to you guys too, lol. 

I'm getting another package on Friday and even though I knew when to expect both because I paid for them and received tracking numbers, it's still very exciting for them to arrive. Still feels like a surprise present. Haven't had a package lost in the mail in quite some time. *Knocks on wood.*

Super in need of a handful of chill pills. Need to refocus on making myself a better person versus projecting my angst onto others. If I can just let the majority of my anger go and be productive in my own eyes, then next year is going to be just fine no matter what happens. *Again, knocks on wood.*

Meet The Folks

Wanted to report that the Skype date with the relatives went well. At least, I hope so. Ugh, that's the insecurity talking. There's no obvious reason to suspect it was anything but otherwise.

From past trips, FMIL has told her family stories about us/ me and they seem to be okay with me. At least, enough to seek me out on Facebook and become friends with me.

The SO made the point that they at least greatly appreciated the fact that they often received updates about how everyone was doing down here through me because I'm by far the most active with social media. I guess that's an okay start... and they did make a remark about that during the call.

We didn't get to see any of the grandkids and about... half of the adults who were hanging out in the pool with said children, but we got to chat with grandma! I would hope so, since the point of the call was to be able to see as many of us as possible on her birthday.

You guys, she is adorable. And a firecracker, lol.

I loved how we were able to chat with her for a bit and then while we were chatting with others, you could see her walking around back and forth in the background. It was pretty comical in an unintentional and sweet way.

Looks like I'm still nervous thinking about the whole matter, but at least it shows that I still care about how his family views me. In my defense, I think I have done a very good job at keeping my crazy nervous energy contained this time around. I didn't freak out prior, I only cleaned up some (after helping clean all this past week), and I didn't break down crying after. Those are huge accomplishments for me!

Sigh. Tomorrow, I'll probably do what the SO predicted: Ask FMIL about what they thought of the call and me. Just for reassurance. >_<

The Family

In a few days, FMIL will be out of town for her mother's birthday.

She and her sisters were hoping for all of the boys to gather together and have a Skype date with the whole gang over there for the occassion. Which is a fantastic idea.

So, after I came home from helping our friend organize her house again, I went about prepping FMIL's computer for the occassion. That and general technological maintenance. It's all set to go now, so I sat back and thought about what was actually going to happen.

I'm going to virtually meet the extended family. Most of them live in the same area and many of them are getting together to celebrate the matriarch of the family. I really hope to save up and meet them all in person some day, especially since it seems that I have a high chance of becoming related to them somehow. You know, down the road. Lol.

I'm friends with some of them on Facebook, we've sent messages back and forth and shared pictures. We've both heard stories about each other, sent Christmas cards to one another, and etc. Yet, I'm getting a little nervous about this milestone of sorts.

Of course, the SO thinks I'm being pretty silly. Especially because I've already interacted with many of his family members on the aforementioned occasions. He's also the type that really doesn't give a flying fig what others think of him. Idk, I'm still nervous because I still feel that it's an important situation.

If we can pull this off, the video call will be insanity anyways. They will have a house-full of aunts, uncles, cousins, their spouses, and the kids.

I think I'm the most excited/ nervous about chatting with his grandmother. A few years ago, she and some of her grandkids assembled an amazing memoir of her life. I've read through it and have referenced it while hearing stories.

I've also done my research/ homework like I do with anything that piques my interest. Sigh. It's probably not that big of a deal for everyone else but me because I'm such an anxious person. I'm sure it will all be fine. Besides, what's the worst that could happen? Uh, not much. :P

Being a couple can be really awkward and weird sometimes, LOL. Oh well.

Yoo Hoo

Another stretched title is what that was right there. :P

It was a bit of a rough day so there's not to much to report on the home front. However, it's my baby brother's 20th birthday which he spent relaxing after midterms last week. He deserves the downtime! Got to chat with him a few times today so that's always great. We kept forgetting things we had been waiting to tell each other, lol.

I also got an update on Kitty and she is doing so well. Our thoughts will be with her at the end of the week while she undergoing surgery. <3

Even more good news today was that my dear friends had finally received their gift and that means I can share it without spoiling any surprises.

Quick, cute, and squishy little owls in their favorite colors of green and pink! Hoo hoo!

I'm not sure why, but I'm currently zoning out and fascinated with RuPaul's Drag Race. Many of these ladies are so gorgeous! Random, I know. :P

Failsafe

When I start to worry about what I might write about, my family seems to swoop in to save the day without even realizing it. Forewarning: this will be a pretty girly post!

It's a belated Valentine's Day gift from my mom, who has been my Valentine for every year since I was nine. No shame- she gives some of the best gifts! The funny thing was, I had partially forgotten that it was on its way because of everything that's happened lately. So, while I was heading out to pick up the mail, there's a package "from" my brother but the addresses are in my dad's handwriting. Family collaboration, right there. XD

I recently told my mom about my new obsession of learning about makeup and my own physical features. Pretty foreign stuff, as awkward as I typically am. When she asked if I wanted anything, I asked about her suggestions and advice on lips (lipstick types and colors), why she uses the brands and products she does (because the only pieces I have were inherited from her), and about an eyelash curler. I have finally gotten brave enough to try again. I sound like such a wimp, lol.

Fast forward to this care package turned haul:
- a thoughtful card
- two sweater tops (violet and burgundy)
- two scarves (silvery lavender and linen)
- an eyelash curler and a mini straight one (I haven't quite figured that one out yet),
- two heavy duty nail files
- toe separators for pedicures
- three lip liners to try that she's not using (clean)
- two lipsticks &
- five nail polishes

Holy cow, right?! On my own, I don't even get this much stuff in an entire year and it was all in this little box. I have tried a lot of the beauty products and it inspired me to splurge a little on a few things when the SO and I were at Target earlier.

The lipsticks had a "Pearl" finish which gives it a silver-frost sheen on my lips and because I don't have any matte finish eyeshadow to balance them out, I found a neutral matte "Creme" finish. I'm so excited that it actually looks nice on my lips and I picked it myself! It's a little dark for a spring color, but I'm easing into all of this business. :P Here's a quick picture I took of those:

Revlon's Super Lustrous Lipsticks in:

Rose Violet (Creme) - Sky Line Pink (Pearl) - Silver City Pink (Pearl)

You can see the bright sheen of the latter two. I was kind of, okay, I panicked a little because I'm a neurotic beast- when the light shades all seemed to have that Pearl finish. The one I ended up getting after a few anguishing minutes of looking at all that they had to offer about three times was one of the lightest Creme shades. 

I did quite a bit of research with reviews and YT videos and found a beginner-friendly mascara to try. With wearing thick glasses for most of my life, it has been so out of the question. I ended up getting a waterproof formula because I assumed I would be a hot tranny mess while I figure everything out. Due to that, I also picked up a foaming face wash that's not only meant to clean but to remove makeup. Hopefully, I can get this stuff off with just a wipe but will have the face wash just in case. The scrub that I recently got and adored isn't meant to get anywhere near the eyes.

Being the impressionable goof that I am, I did a swatch test on my hand with the goodies that my mom sent me.

Pay little to no mind to the polish on my three inner fingers. I just threw them on with no base or top coat (the blue fingernails are still dyed >_<) and they are from the OPI Shatter collection. It's a cool effect that... well, here are the bottles:

Blue Shatter - Turquoise Shatter - Pink Shatter (Breast Cancer Awareness 2011) - Fly (Nicki Minaj) - Last Friday Night (Katy Perry).

I am having too much dorky fun trying everything on, figuring out what they do, how to use it, and things about my features. A whole lotta hot messery up in here. I'm so excited that this has nearly doubled my collection. 

Step by step, I'm turning into one of those girls that has a million of pampering products to put in the bathroom. However, I am being good and it's limited to my little drawer unit and a bin under the bed with minimal bleeding into the communal bathroom. Half a dozen things like shampoo and toothpaste. See? Behaving and finding a delicate balance, lol. 

It really is nice to learn to really take care of myself and pamper myself with a scented lotion or something though. I hope that everyone takes a little time out for themselves each day. Also, bless the SO's heart for humoring me when I gush and think out loud about it all. Ha ha!

006. Ow. *Eye Twitch*

I forgot how I was going to start today's entry, but then I got snagged in the shin by a kitty who doesn't do well at paying attention to people while he's playing. It smarts because it seems to be right in the middle of the muscle.

In other news, I don't think I dislocated my thumb from when I smashed it in a dolly. It may have a hairline fracture but I feel it's healing nicely enough and doesn't look nearly as bruised. However, that wasn't my other news, more of me getting distracted by remembering my other owie, lol. My mom sent me a care package today! Well, she bought the stuff and packed it, my dad sent it out a few days ago, and it just arrived today!

She sends some of the best and fairly random things ever. Some clothes, a special food in two Ziploc bags that came from VN, dressy clothes, egg roll cookies (! YAY!!!), some that flower candy, and fortune cookies! Lol, I had tried a few recipes to make some for the Lunar New Year last month and told her about it. She may have yelled at me a little, something along the lines of: "What?! Why would you waste time and money on that when you can just get a bunch for 2 dollars? Or you could have just told me a few weeks ago and I would have sent you a bunch!"

So... after a little /cower from me, I guess she decided to include them. So I find it hilarious. I may decide to post a picture of the food a little later. Right now, I need some food. T_T

--- Update ---
There may or may not (there was :D) an NCIS marathon being held in the living room. First season on dvd, teehee. Made yummy rice with my recently acquired goodies and ate some fortune cookies. Just thought I'd make a few people jealous. Haha!

On the last stretch with the latest big ol' batch of bracelets. So. Close. /sigh.
Until tomorrow, Adieu! <3