I watched A Christmas Story for the first time this Christmas. I recognized the scene where the kid was kicked by Santa down the slide, but never saw the whole movie. Now I see why this is a classic. I think it has just made my favorite movies list.

It's been a very busy week. I don't even know where to begin. It started with the passing of a beloved family member. We will miss him terribly, though we rejoice that he has finally left this ungodly world and went to be with his Lord. The memorial service and funeral could not have gone any better. The funeral was in Kansas, so we stayed down there until today. We got to have the Armstrong Christmas again. Almost everyone was there. We enjoyed it very much. I know I probably have mentioned before, but I am so blessed to have such great family. Life is so unpredictable and only God knows. It still amazes me how I have come half way around the world and to become part of this family. This week, we have become a lot closer I think. I feel like I have finally opened up myself this past week. It's not easy I must say. I have always had a difficult time having a close relationship with others, ever since I have left home and come to America. Maybe it's because of feeling out of place or being distrustful of others. I know I have a tendency to build up a wall. I don't like people to be able to read me, and I try not to show my emotions mostly by appearing to be cold and cynical. I can be a piece of work sometimes. Gosh! Enough about me already. I know this is not what Christmas is all about, but I can't help to get excited about our Christmas gifts this year. I (and Peter) got a Kitchen Aid stand mixer from mom, a very nice serving bowl from Mark, and free puppy from aunt Mary! His name is Schroeder. He's sleeping in his crate next to my feet right now hee =)

We had lunch with our pastor and his family yesterday. It was good food and great time. We always enjoy spending with them. Also baked some thumb print cookies last night. I used chocolate instead of jam. I love the coconut flakes on the outside. I only baked half batch and saved the other half for my work. Here's a picture of them when I made it last time. Umm...

I got Nintendo DS on my Christmas wishlist this year. I wanna play that brain age game. I was also looking at the PSP system, but I like Nintendo DS games better.

Recently I'm into oil diffusers. They are pretty to look at and smell great. Unlike candles, they don't leave any burn marks and safer. I want this Anthousa blossom trio bouquet set. They are kinda pricey though. I found this other diffusers from Target, and I think they are pretty nice too.

I know my last post probably has offened some people, so I deleted it. I was exhausted from work and needed to vent. I didn't mean it to be hurtful, but I know it did hurt some people's feelings. It wasn't meant to be as hateful as it seemed. Although I was only stating the facts, it was porbably too cruel for the general public. I apologize to the people I offened. One thing I learned is never blog when you are tired.

Oh yay, finally got enough sleep last night. There's no excuse for me to be a bitch today then.

I applied for a part-time job at a department store just for fun. I figured since I only work 3 days a week and love to shop, why not work for it. I can get discount and some extra money. I got a call back yesterday but the HR person isn't there today. Will try again tomorrow.

Looking serious with my work glasses.


Just being lazy lying around the house.


Peter waiting for more sushi to come.

This is our Christmas tree this year. We only have the small one because we threw the big one away almost two years ago when we moved from Traverse City to here. It was a good tree. I always enjoy decorating Christmas trees. It's more frustrating though when you have a cat. Orlando already broke quite a few ornaments. I wanna kill that cat, but it's okay cuz I'm not gonna let a stupid cat ruin my Christmas spirit. Serenity now!!!

Sometimes when a friendship is broken, it's hard to repair. I know we should be more forgiving, but we all know it's not that easy. So even if we can forgive, things are not going to be the same. I'd like to forgive this friend of mine for 15 years. What she did wasn't really a crime, but it's not something I can easily forget. Anyway, I have been thinking about talking to her again, but I don't think that's possible for as long as I still have the hard feelings. I know 15 years is a long time, but if the nature of our friendship is not the same anymore, then what's the point?

On a side note, I quitted YMCA and jointed a new gym called Anytime Fitness. Now Peter and I can go workout anytime we want. We have been going after work. That's the thing about working out in the middle of the night, you get to use the whole gym all by yourself. I can't believe I have been going to the gym for almost a year now. I'm quite happy with the result. Not only my clothes are getting looser, I'm not as nearly dead as I used to be when I walk the stairs.

While browsing online for Christmas trees for one of my friends today, I saw some upside down Christmas trees. I didn't know there were such things. I think they look ridiculous. Do people actually buy that? If you have one, then you must be crazy. Some of our neighbors put up Christmas decorations already. I love driving through different streets looking at the decorations people put up. I'm not sure what we are going to do yet, but I know I will have great time doing it. Last year we didn't get the chance to decorate our house. We were too busy cleaning up this place and waxing the hardwood floor. This will be the first Christmas we spend in our very first house. I'm excited. This is my favorite time of the year. I love the spirit.

My Thanksgiving meal was a success. Now I'm stuffed and sleepy.

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. Most of you probably spent the day with your family and friends eating and drinking. Lucky me, I had to work and had meat lasagna at the hospital cafeteria for dinner, woo-hoo! I hate being at that place on holidays, but that's the way it is. At least Peter was also working. We will have Christmas off this year together. Because we missed Thanksgiving, and we have a free turkey from work sitting in the fridge, we decided to make Thanksgiving dinner for Peter's family tomorrow. I'm looking forward to that. Not so much of the eating, but seeing my family enjoy the food that I cook. At least I hope they will enjoy it.

Tomorrow's menu:
Roasted turkey with homemade gravy
Green bean casserole
Mashed potato
homemade stuffing (Crap! Forgot to get the bread cubes, will get some later tonight.)
Pumkin pie (by Peter's mom)
Dinner rolls (by Peter's mom)

It still amazes me how you can be so close to someone to a point where that person doesn't feel like a second person to you anymore. It's not unusual that my husband and I have the same thought at the same time, but what's so crazy is that sometimes what we think about is so random. Like tonight, we were both thinking about fixing tires with bubble gum at the exact same moment. How did that happen?

This is a lazy day for me. I did my routine work out at the gym today and a little extra running on the treadmill. I'm tired. I also helped Peter to rake leaves today. I was just holding the bags while he did all the hard work. I'm really lucky to have such a wonderful husband. I don't tell him how much I appreciate him enough. I know I don't deserve him and all the nice things I have in my life right now. I truely am grateful. One day all of these will go away. Life is too short, and the ultimate greatest gift we will receive as believers of God is what comes after death, the eternal life in heaven. Nothing we have in this life time is going to be able to compare to that. Therefore we shouldn't devastated with what we don't have, and certainly shouldn't be overjoyed with what we have, rather be thankful.

Sometimes I wish I could open the door and Hong Kong will be on the other side. Why can't they come up with things like that yet? I'm sick of not being able to see my friends or taste my mom's home cooking everyday. Homesick really sucks. I know I have a great family here, Peter and his family are all very nice to me, but there's no place like home. You know what I mean?

We had tradition Hong Kong style hotpot for dinner all weekend. I was stuffed and happy. We saw the Borat movie this weekend. It was the worst thing I have seen for a long time. Yes, there were parts that were hilarious, but it didn't make up for its vulgar language and scenes. The part when the two naked men wrestle and certain things touched has scarrred both Peter and me for life. Overall it was a distasteful piece of crap!

Happy Halloween! What's everyone up to on this day? I'm staying home tonight and plan on going to sleep soon because I have to work day shift tomorrow. I just want a quiet night, and I didn't even give out candies. It's for their own good. These kids are too fat anyway. Haha... meany.

My American life has been uneventful lately. However life back home is a different story. I can't say too much, every family has its own problem. In Chinese culture, you never spread the bad news about your family. I don't know what to do when all of a sudden I'm not just a daughter anymore. Even though I'm a grown adult and capable of handling my own adult problem, when it comes to my parents', I feel lost. At first I was really worried, and it's a strange feeling to worry about your own parents. Then I put my thoughts down on paper, that helped. I don't know if I have the courage to face the problem head on this time. I'm just hoping that this problem is not as big as I'm thinking.

We have been spending the past couple weekends visiting Pete's dad, trying to spend as much time as we can together. Pete's older brother Mark has been coming down from Kansas every weekend as well. It's nice to have a family that stick together through tough times like this and have them with you during your last days. The Lord has been so good to us. The extra time he has given us has helped us prepare for what's about to come. I know we will all be okay. Our hope is not here. Nothing in this life time can satisfy us. I'm just grateful that in such a short life time, we were all brought together as a family. I had never thought that I would have come half way around the world to become one of the Armstrongs. I'm glad I have.

It was a sad day for the physical therapy department. They lost one of their friends and co-workers in a tragedy. It's hard for most people to understand how someone can commit suicide. Most of us fear death, whether is fear of the process of dying or fear of the after death. I'm deeply saddened and troubled by the notion that some people suffer such saddness that will actually make them think it's better to be dead than alive. I can never understand that, but I feel sorry for them. What a lonely place to be.

I think I'm catching a cold. I hate runny and itchy nose. Constant sneezing makes me tired. I have had so many blogs, I can't even keep track. I have many thoughts in my head, but I don't always know how to put them in words. I'm a lady of few words. I don't talk much in social life. Sometimes I don't even like to talk at home. You can imagine how annoyed I get being around people that are always yapping. That's why I like writing e-mail or text mesaaging than talking on the phone. If a friend is having a bad day, instead of picking up the phone and call her, I will probably send her a pick me up e-mail. Sometimes people see that as being cold. I guess they don't really know me then.

We had a lot of fun at Peter's cousin Amy's wedding. It's also fun to see the whole family together whether we enjoy it or not. I love the asian food they served at the reception. I like how they asked each guest to go up to the altar to light a candle and say a prayer for the couple. I think that's a sweet idea. Being married to the love of your life is so wonderful, I feel incredibly lucky to have found mine. When you know he's the one, why waste more time dating? Dating is sweet and exciting, but that doesn't last forever. In a marriage, the man and woman should become one. It's not about losing your own identity, it's about becoming part of each other. Love your wife/ husband as you love yourself.

Peter and I don't take picture of ourselves that often. I stole this one from Wendy. Pete looked tired.

We saw The Departed the other night. This is a remake of a popular Hong Kong movie Infernal Affairs. I prefer the orginal version better. What's with Hollywood? Can't make anything original anymore? Except for a few minor details, The Departed is an exact copy of Infernal Affairs. It's like a rip off. I feel that The Departed is too Hollywood. It got all the big stars, but you don't feel connected to the characters. It's like a freaking Ocean's Eleven. In Infernal Affairs, you actually feel for characters. They may have copied the general concept of Infernal Affairs, but they failed to portray the psychological struggle each character faces. If you like The Departed, then I would really recommend Infernal Affairs.

So long Chichi! I will always remember your meow and that cute little face of yours. Thank you for being such passionate and cuddly cat. If it wasn't because of your inability to use the litter box, I'm sure we would have many more happy years together. I have to agree with Peter though, that is a big problem whether you know it or not. We like to have people come to our house and hang out in the basement. Your poops weren't exactly welcoming to our guests. The worst though was the urine. We don't know how little thing like you could produce such potent toxic stuff. Forgive us for not being able to tolerate that anymore. We've tried, and you know it. Remember the squirt bottle, the nose dipping into your own poop, the kicking and screaming? We still love ya. We hope they can find you a lovely new home, because you are one lovely cat. No matter what will happen to you, it's been fun. Good luck baby!

It's going to be a sad day. Today Peter is going to take Chichi to the animal shelter. I'm going to miss her terribly. I was playing with her outside yesterday. I was blowing bubbles and she was chasing them. She looked confused when she saw the bubbles disappeared. I hope they can find her a good home. I haven't slept all night. The sun has just come up, so I guess it's time for bed.

What a day! I went to this health screen thing at work, and I found out my body composition and was not happy about it. I also found out I'm not 5'5" as I always thought, I'm only a little over 5'3". Then there was some health problem with one of our family members and one of my friends' grandpa passed away suddenly while on a trip. I didn't call my friend right away. I think it's probably better to give her and her famile some times to deal with this right now. I sent her a message though. I never met my grandpa, my dad's dad. In fact, my father never met him either. He died before my father was born. The other grandpa I only met him couple times in my life before he died couple years ago. From what I heard, both of my grandpas were great men. My mom's dad was a well respected teacher. It's too bad I didn't have a chance to get to know them. The only grandparents I'm closed to is my grandma. I was always her favorite. I don't know if she still remembers that. She has Alzheimer's. Last time I was home, I visited her as often as I could. She cried when she saw me. Even though her speech didn't make sense, I knew she recognized me. She kept saying "mui mui" (means little sister), what she used to call me all the time. I hope I get to see her again.

My mom called last night and asked me when we are going to have babies. Our plan is to get pregnant next year. I will be the same age as my mom when she had me. According to Chines zodiac, our first baby will be either rat or pig. My mom was telling me all different calculations for getting either a baby boy or girl. I don't believe any of it, but my mom swears by it. With Peter's new job, our finance has gotten better, maybe it is time to build a family. I really believe that there's never a good time to have babies. Of course you have to be able to take care of yourself first. I think raising children is the scariest thing, but they also bring so much joy. I don't want to miss out on that. To me, being a mom is one of my purposes in life.

We saw Jet Li's Fearless today. I like it better than his other Hollywood movies. The guy he portrayed in the movie, Huo Yuanjia, had very significant influence on martial art. Yes, it is based on a real person, but a lot of the details were fictionalized for the movie. Although there's a message, the fighting is still the selling point here, and it was very entertaining.

After the movie, we had cheesecakes from The Cheesecake Factory. Umm~ Cheesecake.

Three days pain preceptor seminar is finally over. I shouldn't say "finally" because I really enjoyed it. I was exhausted when I came home. I have only slept for 4 hours every night for the past three nights. For people like me who needs at least 8 hours sleep every night, this is just intolerable. I was going to take a little nap, which turned into a 3 hours makeup sleep. It's starting to get cold really fast. Good thing I have a warm body to cuddle with.

I went to M.A.C. today, and there was this boy (I call him boy because he really is just a boy, maybe in his early 20s) who showed me some good techniques. It's a delightful experience when a makeup artist actually knows what he's doing. I have encountered so many that were disappointing. I walked out there with new eyeshadows and blush and feeling pretty good.

I'm in pain class this week. Today was my first day, and it was very good. Also free breakfast and lunch, yay! I got a lot of valuable information today, and tomorrow we are going to do rounds with the pain clinicians. Today Angie, one of the girls at work, gave me a few Paula Begoun newletters. Paula's the author of Don't Go To The Cosmetics Counter Without Me. Angie and I are both cosmetics and skin care junkies. We love to talk about it whenever we can at workl. One of the benefits of being a girly girl. For girls like us, Paula's newsletter is really help, because she goes indepth in the effectiveness of the product, and why it does or doesn't work, or if it's worth the money. We all know how much money we have wasted on products that not only ineffective but also caused problems, right?

About those Origins products I purchased couple weeks ago, here's my verdict:


Modern Friction"Skin-refining Rice Starch, cushioned in cream, shows real affinity for rapidly removing sluggish cells, uneven patches and signs of skin damage and discolorations..."
I like it because it's not too harsh like a lot of the micro-dermabrasion on the market. I'm not sure if it's as effective as I hoped for though as far as the discolorations goes. It does however make you skin feels clean and smooth.


Out of Trouble "Nature’s trouble-shooters, including super-absorbent Zinc Oxide and Sulfur, calming Camphor plus skin-sloughing salicylic acid, rapidly respond to problem skin’s plight with a three-part plan - sop up oily-shine, slough off sticky, dead cells, and sweep away irksome debris..."
I also like this one. Although it's not mentioned in its description, it seems to dry out pimples faster. One thing though, make sure put some good mositurizer on afterward. It drys out skin quite a bit as well.

I had a bizarre dream couple nights ago. I dreamed about being part of the LOTR fellowship. Apparently the lava didn't really destroy the ring. I forgot what we were supposed to do to save the middle-earth, but I remember I was running constantly and chased by dragons. Weird eh?!

I got my bangs trimmed this afternoon. It was nice, but I had to do some touch up when I got home. Then I went to tattoo shopping with Mary Ann. Okay, don't get too excited yet my friends, we were just looking. So far neither of us has any ink on my body yet. I was creeped out by the buzzing sound of the needles. I haven't seen any design I'm dying to have marked on myself permanently, and I doubt if I ever will. I should be extremely picky when it comes to things like that. Don't want anything that will scream "What were you thinking?!" later. There's this little pizza place called Big Tomato. They have a sign that says "lousy service". No kidding. You walk in there, and then up to this tiny counter, no big menu hanging up above, just a stack of paper menus you can pick up at the counter. We had the New York style, which is my favorite, with Italian sausages and mushroom. It was very good. High recommened.

Happy Monday! I'm happy cuz I don't have to work today and I'm going to have my bang trimmed this afternoon, very excited. So you probably notice there are a few cute things added on my blog. Look to the right side. One of them is my blog pet. Yes, I'm dork. So what?! I have a lot more free time than most of you. Well, this little guy eats my blog. Which means it gets bigger the more I blog. Isn't that funny? It can also learn to say some of the things on your blog. You all should get one so our little guys can hang out at each other's home.

Last night was Mary Ann's birthday, and we went to bar to celebrate. It's a sport bar, and it's quite nice on sunday night because there weren't that many people. I'm not a big bar or night club person. I don't drink, smoke, or dance, so that's not really my scene. I met some of Mary Ann's friends. They all seemed really nice, but I couldn't help but feel the gap between us. They all seemed so young. We are only few years apart, but somehow I felt much older. People put on their party faces. Just because we are supposed to be partying, doesn't mean we have to laugh at every joke, get excited and screamed at every drunken moment. Listening to myself, I realized not only am I old, I'm also a partypooper.

I'm spending this weekend alone. Peter has to work. I haven't had a weekend all by myself for a very long time. It's actually kinda nice. I have done a lot of lazying around today. I was going to see that movie The Illuionist by myself, but I lost track of time, maybe tomorrow. I was on the computer all afternoon messing with my blogs. Yes, I'm obsessed. I was playing with my blog pets. Haha... They are kinda dumb, but they are cute and they don't poop on my floor. I'm so hungry right now. We had a good lunch at the Waterfront Seafood restaurant. My tuna sandwich was delicious. I can't wait for Peter to get off work so we can have dinner together. It will be a midnight meal by the time he's done.

Peter suggested if Chichi keeps pooping on the basement floor, we may have to get rid of her. If Chichi's gone, I'm not sure if we should keep Orlando. He will be so lonely. We have tried so many things, but Chichi just won't use the litter box. I would hate to give her away, she's the first cat I ever had. She's so darn cute too. So sad to even think about it.

Work sucked tonight. I was gonna go home early, but then one of the nurses' little girl was having a fever and was in day care. She had to go pick her up, so I said I would stay few more hours. Actually I didn't mind, I was scheduled to work anyway. The sucking part was one of my patients started to have more pain and just out of control anxiety. I spent almost an hour in there total. I had given her everything she could have, I even called the doc for more pain meds. She just had her other knee done couple weeks ago, and she kept comparing this knee to the other one. She just couldn't believe how this one could hurt much more. I explained to her they are two different knees. Then she said she jsut didn't think she should be having this much pain when she's in the hospital. That didn't make any sense at all. We were always told that pain is whatever the patient says. I'd like to believe that, and I do a good job of providing pain relief to my patients, but there's a limit. When you see your patients sound asleep, then you wake them up and ask how their pain is, they still say it's at a 10, you'd wonder, wouldn't you? I think some people are more dramatic than others, just like how we are in life. Yes, we all have different pain tolerance, but I think we all have different ways to deal with pain too. Even though it's the same level of pain, some people tough it up because they know certain pain is inevitable while others choose to scream and cry. There are so many patients who don't know how to deal with pain would tell us to just knock them out with narcotics. We have advanced a lot in medicine, but they still have to cut your flesh open in surgery. If paper cut hurt like hell, what do you think having a big old incision will feel? People need to get real. Things are easlier nowaday, but having a major surgery is no picnic. Don't expect things to be easy especially when it's an elective surgery.We nurses do our best to get you well, but you got to do your part too. Remember, "No pain, no gain".

I like blogging because I have so much free time, and I'm in love with myself. Why else do we want to blog about our daily lives and let millions of people to read about it? (Pardon me for not actually having millions of readers. Maybe just a handful.) Are our lives really that interesting? Do we really think people give a thing about it? Or maybe this is how we feel connected to others. We don't like people to invade our privacy, but we gladly tell them details about our lives on the internet. Aren't we contradicting ourselves here? I guess the only difference is when we blog, we can choose to blog about the things that make us look good. Aren't we a little full of ourselves?

It's been rainning for a few days now, when is it gonna stop? The gloomy weather is kinda soothing, but it also makes me dreary. I feel lack of interest in doing anything, but that's not new for me. I think it's the pace of the mid-west. I'm not used to this slow pace life style. Anyway, I can smell the fall coming soon. That's my favorite season. I love fall and winter. That's when all the best holiday are, halloween, thanksgiving, christmas. I'm getting a little excited for halloween this year. I have a house to decorate and candies to hand out to the kids from the neighborhood. My mood has just been lifted.

Well, saw a few movies this weekend. One of them was Match Point. It's a story about a man climbing up the social ladder by marrying a girl from rich family. Later he was torn between his comfortable life with his wife and the woman he obsessed with. I can't tell you the ending, because it is quite dramatic. Nothing good ever comes with adultery. It always ends in tragedy. An affair starts with betrayal and lies on both sides. How does a relationship last without honesty and loyalty? That's what happens when people just do whatever that makes them happy. We are sinful, since birth. It's our nature to sin. When it comes to that fine line between good and evil, we already have one foot on the evil side. We have to make a conscious effort to do the right thing everyday of our lives. Nobody said it's easy.

The other movie we saw was The Family Stone. It's a big propaganda, just terrible. Boo...

My HKnese, here's my new and improved chinese blog. <http://chenniarmstrong.mysinablog.com/>

I do realize that I look really serious and sometimes angry when I'm not smiling. You know how some people always have this happy go lucky face all the time, well, I'm not one of those. I smile when I feel like it, and my smile is always genuine. I hate it when some people always have this fake smile on their face. I hate it even more when a waiter or some guy at the movie rental place told me I need to smile more. How rude? They don't even know me. Actually I don't even know why they felt the need to say anything. Were they trying to cheer me up or they just felt uncomfortable with my unsmiling face? So then I would have to fake smile in return because I'm nice, but that little moment there end up making my day crappy because they have pissed me off. I'd rather have them ask me if something is wrong, instead of just assume that I'm an unhappy serious person. If they don't care enough to know why I don't smile, or if my serious face makes them feel uncomfortable, then they just need to look the other way. Yes I know, I'm a meany. I know they are just trying to be nice. Sigh... okay I will work on this, dang it!

I just had tostada the first time. It's delicious! Hurray for El Ray!...I was so happy it's pay day today. Bought some stuff from Origins and will rate it later.... I'm beginning to realize blogs are not all that personal. You can't really say whatever you have in mind because it's viewed by many people, especially your friends and families. It really upset me when my mom used to call me up just to tell which words I misused on my blog. She doesn't do that anymore after my silent protest her insensitivity by stop blogging for a while. I think I had made my point.

I thought the sky was pretty the other day. The cotton candy color clouds made me feel like a kid again. I love childhood imagination. No limitation and always happy thoughts. This picture also reminded me of how great our God is. Look at the marvelous things he created. This is only earth, imagine how wonderful heaven will be.

We had quite a few patients coming from ER the other night. 4 of them were hip fracture. Who's going around town pushing down old people? One of mine was this cute little old lady. I told her she has very nice skin, and she really does. She smiled and said, "I wish mine was as smooth as yours". =) She was getting too excited going to a bingo game that night, she ended up tripping over herself and broke her hip. That poor thing.

I like to clean whenever I'm upset, and I did a lot of cleaning tonight. That's my crappy sunday.

Recently one of Peter's friends thinks it's okay to casually tell people to "go to hell". I don't think that's funny at all. It's rude and inappropriate. He should know better. I know my parents will not tolerate this kind of behavior. I think it's sad how some parents care more about their childrens' feelings than their character. I'm glad my parents weren't afriad to hurt my feelings when I was growing up and showed me plenty of tough love.

This is a true story and it happened to a friend of my friend. My friend's friend and her son went to this zoo. Later her son went missing and everyone was searching for this little boy, who was 3. They searched for hours and finally the mother found him playing with dirt somewhere. They left the zoo shortly after. On the way home, her son was talking about this friend of his. The mother didn't pay much attention to this. At this age, it could be an imaginary friend. He continued talking about his friend the rest of the day, so finally the father decided to get to the bottom of this. So he asked his son where's this little friend of his. The son said his friend is in his backpack. When they opened his backpack, there's a baby penguin in there, still alive! The parents freaked out and called the zoo. The zoo people freaked out as well. They came and get this baby penguin right away.

I have been having some back problem lately. This morning it was so bad that I had to call in sick for a few hours. I love stretching, but I'm not sure how much stretching is going to help this pain. I haven't gone to the doctor yet. I don't like taking medicine either, so nothing for me. It's okay! I'm a tough cookie! I was already having a shitty day because of my back pain, so when Peter told me there's only one fudgesicle left, I was screaming, "How can you do this to me? I've only had one. Why are you so selfish? ..." Peter bursted out laughing, "I was just kidding." Oh my! Did I just yell at my husband over some silly fudgesicles? I need to go to bed.

Something that bothers me so bad is that some people can never admit when they are wrong. They can never be wrong. Even when you are not trying to be confrontational, they automatically switch on the defense mode. This is so ridiculous because most of the time it's about something so small that is not even worth mentioning. Why are people like that? It's very frustrating to work with these people. I happen to work with a few of them. Sometimes I think they are very insecure. Arrgh! I can't stand them!

Our hospital has become tabacco free for a couple months. People can't even smoke outside of the hosptial as long as they are still on the hospital ground. I personally don't care either way. It's interesting though to see some of my co-workers struggle through this. During the first month, one of the nurses I work would say she had to go move her car about the same time everyday. It's obvious she's going to her car to smoke. Why did she have to lie about that? It only made her looked worse, a smoker and a liar. Another nurse has gone as far as changing her working hours to accomodate her smoking habit. What kind of life is that when you let cigarette takes control of it?

The other day I was in the locker room getting ready for my workout, when there were a few old ladies, who just got done with their water aerbic, talking about their age. One said she's going to be 85 soon, and the others told her how great she looks being 85. Then another lady said, "I'm only 86." Haha... I hope I can be as adorable and happy as these ladies when I'm that age.

Thought of the weekend: Febreeze extra strength is essential at my work.

I hung out with Mary Ann today, finally girl. We went shopping, but we didn't do too much damage. Mary Ann bought a lot of white things. She's into white lately. Then we went to get carryout from a Chinese restaurant. She only ordered white rice, crazy lady. We will probably go to the work dinner thing next monday. There are gonna be plenty of margarita, yay!

I have noticed lately that many people at work are having money problem. Many of them are working overtime to get through. Which led me to realize that no matter at what stage we are in life, we will always have our own struggle. Some are easier to overcome than others, but somehow we always make it through. So don't give up, hang in there!

Forgetful

The funniest thing happened at work tonight. My somewhat forgetful elderly patient put her call light on. When my nursing assistant went in and asked what she needed, I overheard her saying, "The nurse told me to put the light on when I'm done, but I forgot what I'm supposed to be done with." Haha...

Kimberly

I recently reconnected with one of my college friends Kim through myspace. Our friendship started back in the summer of 1999 if I remember correctly. Although my memory of that summer is vauge, I remember we had a lot of fun together. There's this one time, I went with her to stand in line for Red Wings tickets. I personally am not a fan of ice hockey, and had never heard of Red Wings before that. While we were waiting in line, we were interviewed by the local newspapare. When they heard that I'm from Hong Kong, the next day they had an article saying that I came all the way from China to see the Red Wings. Haha... We had lost touch since she moved away that same year. It was a pleasant surprise when she conacted me again. We have been messaging back and forth. She's living in England now with her husband and is going back to Traverse City for a visit in Dec. I'm thinking about meeting up with her there.

Refreshed and energized

I got at least 8 hours sleep last night. Feeling refreshed and energized this morning, I'm ready to tackle another 12 hours shift.

Lame

It was a long day at work today. My legs got real sore and ah my back, yet I somehow found the strength to go to the gym after work. So proud of myself. Then I was going to get my favorite mandarin chicken salad from Wendy's, but they ran out. So I had chicken caesar salad instead and a baked potato. See all the big decisions I have to make everyday? Aww... Simple life.

Weekend in Minneapolis

I had a fun filled weekend visiting my friend Wing in Minneapolis and met some of her college friends, Tintin, Benedict, and his gf Jenny. I forgot how much fun it is to hang out with Hong Kong people. It was homey being with them. They were the antidote to my homesickness. All weekend I was speaking in cantonese, ate plenty of good asian cuisine, and played the popular chinese game mahjong. It's the most fun I have had for a long time. Wing's friends were very nice to me and made me feel welcomed. Canoeing at Taylor's Fall was fun. Apparently I forgot all my canoeing skill. There were 5 of us, so Wing, Tintin and I were in the same canoe. I sat in the middle of the most because Wing had never canoed before, so I let her had most of the fun. I got wet a few times from her paddling. I hope we can do it again sometime soon. Peter didn't go with me this time, and I think it worked out okay. Being as great of a husband as he is, he never once complains about my friends and I speaking in cantonese in front of him. Although he doesn't mind not being able to understand and join in our conversations, I know it can get really boring. Other than that, I love traveling with him.

Tennis

It was a nice day out today. Although it rained in the morning, it stopped by afternoon and stayed sunny the rest of the day. We went to the farmers market this morning trying to get to the Two Sisters Pantry stand. It's my third attempt. I spoke on the phone with one of the sisters this week and she said they would be at the farmers market this saturday. When I found out they left early because of the rain, I was disappointed. I was supposed to get some stuff for one of the girls at work too.

I was supposed to work for Mary Ann today from 3-7 but I was cancelled. Yay! I didn't work that much this week. I have signed up some extra shifts in the following weeks to make it up. Then I decided to play tennis. I've never played before, so we went to K-mart to get the cheapest racket they got. Peter took me to this hidden tennis court, probably didn't want me to embarrasse him. Haha... Yes, I sucked, but I don't care. We had plenty of laughter though. I was running like a dork. Peter thought it was cute. Hehe... Peter said if I play couple more times, then I can get the pink racket I orginally wanted.

Rediscovering my tune

I have been practicing piano lately. I had abandoned piano for quite some times now, and my fingers have completely betrayed me. They don't move like they once did. They don't listen to me anymore. It's like we are strangers again. After practicing for a little while, they started to dance again, but still very sluggish. Even my piano is acting up. It sounds like it has a cold. It needs to be tuned.

Cutest things

Klutz

Something terrible happened at work today. I fell down in front of my patient. It was a big fall too. I was just walking out the room, and I slipped. As I slipped, it was like a slow motion, I knew I was going to fall and I should have caught myself, but... Instead, I fell hard and landed on my left knee. Ouch! I even knocked down the walker. I scared the heck out of my patient. He asked if I was hurt. Of course it hurt, but my embarrassment was way more painful. What a klutz!

Lazy

I bought some socks this past weekend. The labels said fit shoe size 4-12. How is that possible? Stretchy I guess. Arrgh! Such a lazy day. Work called earlier to see if I want to work tonight from 7-11. I was going to, but Peter said I shouldn't. He wanted me to enjoy my day off and have time for myself. Aww... How sweet of him. I wanna see The Lake House, anyone wanna join?

Photos of the weekend

Farmers Market and steak dinner

We went to the Farmers Market today. The weather was perfect. I was all excited about finally getting some of those key lime cheesecake stuff from Two Sisters Pantry, so I was bummed to find out they weren't there today, boo... Despite the disppointment, we still had a very pleasant time and got some fresh corn, cookies and an anklet.

Going to the Y was a drag today. I wasn't feeling too good.

For dinner, I thought we would have a simple dinner with some steak and corn. I sent Peter to get the groceries. I wonder do all men suck at grocery shopping? Peter almost bought a whole cow home (well, not literally, just enough to feed 6 people) and a grill. He ended up spending over $100. I didn't know if I should be mad or laugh. I guess there's no use at being mad now. We may as well just enjoy it.

Hummer: restore your manhood

Just saw a commercial for Hummer where a man checking out at a grocery store with his tofu, and the guy behind him is buying lots of meat. The tofu guy saw that and then saw a magazine with a Hummer on the cover, so then he decided to go to the Hummer dealership to get one. It ended with a slogan "Hummer: restore your manhood". Okay, so what's the point this commercial is making here? Hummers are only for guys that are insecure about their manhood? Real men don't need Hummers. I guess all the stereotype about Hummers are actually true.

Faith and Reason

Sometimes I like to scream "BANANA!!!"

Tonight I watched a show on PBS called Faith and Reason with Sir John Houghton as the guest. It was very interesting. He seems like a fanscinating person. It's scientific to say "I don't know", and it's important feel ignorant. Isn't it true? Don't we feel most desire to learn and seek the truth when we feel ignorant? I'd like to catch more of this show.

Peter got me a new earphone because Orlando has been naughty and bitting my old one. The new one is more comfortable and has good sound.

Feeling better already =)

Worthlessness

Such a gorgeous day out today, yet my mood is so crappy. Maybe because I chose to sleep in instead of working out. I wasted all day staying inside instead of enjoying the sunshine. Sometimes I wonder if I have mild case of depression with lack of energy and interest to do anything. I hate days like these. Life seems so meaningless when you feel like nothing worths your time. I'm sure I will snap out of it soon.

Rejected

I didn't get the job. This is the e-mail I got from some random people from human resource.

"Dear Yuet:

Thank you for taking the time to apply for the Clinical Nurse position in the Recovery Room Department with Mercy Medical Center-Des Moines.

Your application/resume is no longer being considered in our current search to fill this position, however we recognize the contribution you make to Mercy Medical Center-Des Moines and encourage you to continue to seek opportunities for growth within our system.

Again, thank you for your interest in this position.

Sincerely,

Ryan Mulholland
Recruitment Coordinator
Human Resources"

What? I didn't even get a phone call? Who the hell is Ryan anyway? I didn't think they would send me a generic e-mail. I expected more from them, at least a phone call. It sucks because now I feel inadequate. I have the feeling of being rejected and not being good enough. I know there are people that are happy that I didn't get the job, Peter and my co-workers. I'm sure this happened for very good reasons. This works out better with Peter's new job, and I can continue to work only three days a week. All in all, it's for the better. Besides, it's what God planned for me, so I'm sure it's for the best. Anyway, thanks everyone who has been crossing their fingers for me.

The Devil Wears Prada and 16 Blocks

I wanted to have some alone time today, so I spent the afternoon all by myself. Did some shopping and saw The Devil Wears Prada. I thought it was good. Funny and very stylish. Meryl Streep was so great in it, and I like the opening song "Suddenly I see".

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest

Saw Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest. It was a lot of fun. Davy Jones, captain of the Flying Dutchman a.k.a. the guy with the tentacles beard, is the coolest thing I have seen in movies in a long time. Of course, Johnny Depp, need I say more? Oh and there are these half-man half-fish creatures that are pretty awesome too. Did anyone notice that half-man half-sea snail with his head fell off toward the end of the movie, was he speaking cantonese when he's telling his body how to get back to his head? If you haven't seen the movie, this makes no sense to you I know. By the way, it's a good idea to watch the first one before going to see this one. There are many details that relate back to the first one. The ending of Dead Man's Chest left me wanting more of Pirates. I know my favorite actor Chow Yun-Fat is going to be in the third one, another reason to be excited about.

New haircut

Got a haircut today, you like? I think I look silly. I was talking to my stylist, she and her husband are also an interracial couple. We had a nice conversation on interracial marriage. After that, I went shopping at my favorite store Target. For dinner, Peter made some yummy burgers. Thinking about going to the farmers market tomorrow. Someone brought this key lime cheesecake dip with graham crackers to work the other day. The cheesecake dip was made with this mix by Two Sisters Pantry, so delicious. I know they have a stand at the farmers market, and that's where I will be tomorrow.

Raining dog shit and naked old ladies

What a night of thunderstorm. We haven't had one like this for a while. Trees were falling down everywhere, traffic lights were not working, rain so heavy that we couldn't see the road. Pardon me, but in cantonese we call this "raining dog shit". I like the after storm feeling. Everything is fresh again.

Every time I go to the Y, there are always some old ladies walking around the locker room naked. For some reasons I was shocked by it at first even though I see plenty of naked butts at work everyday. I know I will be old and wrinkly someday, but I will not walk around like that. Now I'm used to it, but still prefer not to have to see it. Sometimes I like earsdropping to people's conversation in the locker room. They usually aren't that exciting, mostly old women talking about their gardens. Speaking about old ladies, one of the gals at work turned 50 recently. It's a tradition that every time someone turns 50, they will put out an empty basket and people will fill it with gifts, usually silly gifts. Like this gal got a thigh master and a calculator that's the size of a phone book with huge buttons on it. The funniest one though has to be this book titled "Sex after 50", and inside is full of blank pages. Haha...

Grumpy

I'm going to be so grumpy these couple weeks because I have to wake up at 6 every morning to take Peter to work. I don't really mind that much because I know Peter would do the same for me. He's already done so much more driving for me than I deserve. The problem I guess is not waking up early, it's I can't fall asleep at 10. Last night I didn't fall asleep until 3 in the morning, which was three hours ago. I wish we had two cars right now. After his orientation though, we will be working the same hours. Things will be dandy again.

I'm a very calm person in general, and I don't show my emotions that often. However, I feel like I'm more real than most people. Some people can have so much emotions but those emotions seem so much to be fabricated. They react the way based on what other people think they should and not how they really feel, as if they are without soul. I feel sorry for them.

King Kong

Peter started his new job yesterday. It was weird to see him at work wearing a Mercy name badge. We had lunch together and I got to introduce him to some of co-workers. We went to bed super early last night, around 9 because Peter had to work at 6:30 this morning. We must have been really tired because we felt asleep with the lamp on. We usually talk a little bit before we turn off the light and sleep, apparently our conversation didn't go very far last night. This morning I woke up and screamed at Peter, "Get Up! You are Late!" Then I realized it was only 2 in the morning. My clock was still flashing 10 o'clock from the power outage yesterday, I thought it was 10 am. Gee, I'm more anxious for his work than he is.

We saw King Kong the other night, and it was one of the worst movies I have seen lately. Yes, the worst. The special effect was cheesy, especially the scene where they were running between the legs of bunch of running dinosaurs. It looked like those things they have in science museum where you can make your own adventure scene in front of a green screen. It's that bad. Also I didn't really care about any of the characters. It made me mad to see Ann crying when they were throwing chloroform bottles at King Kong while it's attacking the other characters and already killed a bunch. What the hell is wrong with this woman? I just don't get it. Maybe she just felt bad for the animal, but they made it look like there's some kind of romantic thing going on. I don't think a gorilla is capable of falling in love with a tiny woman even though it knows kung-fu moves. Did anyone see how it fought the other dinosaurs? The whole movie is so fake and not convincing at all, not that I want to believe it's true. It's not even entertaining. What happened to the greatest director that directed LOTRs? It clearly shows that he has more respect and passion for LOTRs than King Kong. Who wouldn't?

Little update on the job, they are still interviewing people. Already five people have been interviewed and only one position. My chance is getting smaller and smaller. Oh well, I think I'm going to forget about it. This way I'm not going to be disappointed if I don't get it, and it will be a nice surprise when I do get it =)

Silly flower pictures

Found some pretty flowers while out walking today and took bunch of silly pictures.

Dinner with Mary Ann and movies

Finally got together with Mary Ann again. We had dinner together because we both got LC at 1500. How great was that?! One of our nursing assistant was having heart attack like symptoms and had to go to the ER, I hope she's okay. She was still in ER when we left work. Then Peter and I saw couple movies tonight, Three Extremes and The World's Fastest Indian. Three Extremes has three horror movies from Hong Kong, Korea, and Japan. They are not scary, mostly just gross. The first story was about a middle-aged chinese woman trying to regain her youth by eating dumplings that are made with fetuses. Yep, it was pretty sick. I'm sure it will give you something to think about next time you eat dumplings. The second story was kinda dumb, and the third one was confusing. Anyway, I don't recommend it. Not that I think any of my friends are interested, most of them are scared of scary movies. Bunch of chickens, haha... Now, The World's Fastest Indian I do recommend. It is a feel good movie without being too cheesy or cornball. By the way, Anthony Hopkins was very adorable in it. I was cheering for the old man. He came all the way from the land down under to Utah to set the land-speed world record and made friends along the way.

Back again

I'm sick of myspace already. There are too many people on it and most of them are bunch of idioits! Myspace is a filthy place filled with slutty photos and tons of advertisement. I hate it when I get messages from all these bands that got no talent. Okay, maybe I'm a little harsh. I can't believe I'm back to blogger again. This was my very first blog. I've spent all afternoon in front of the computer blogging and customizing. We got rid of our satellite tv, and now I'm surviving on antenna. This is definitely for the better. Now I have no reason to just sit on my butt all day watching tv, I can actually enjoy life more. I'm hoping we can go see Pirates of the Caribbean tonight.

Half empty glass

Well, what can I say about this year so far? It's been same old same. I still haven't heard anything from the job yet. If I do get this job, this can probably be my biggest challenge this year. Sometimes I feel lost in simple life. I get scared when everything is going too well. My current mood: glass half empty. I'm kinda homesick. I have never imagined myself living in America for this long. I have made some wonderful friends here, but oddly enough, I don't have any asian friends, except my college roommate. Even though this place started to feel like home, I still feel out of place sometimes. No matter how nice and welcoming people are, there are certain things you can only relate to your own people. I'm afraid that I may never live in Hong Kong again. Will I be a foreigner for the rest of my life?

Dreams and hope

My mind has been going a little crazy lately. It's like that every time after a trip. I think it's because I feel depressed that the fun time is over. My last trip was to Minneapolis last weekend. I had so much fun that almost made me want to move there. I have been thinking about it, just thinking. I have to consider how our lives will be changed if we move there. We'd like to raise our children here in Des Moines. Our plan of having babies changes every year. We are planning on starting a family next year, but it may change again. I'm scared, but I think having babies will be wonderful even though they come with tons of responsibilities and sacrifices. I know some couples who are married all their lives and never have kids. I hope we don't become like that. Don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with that, it's just not us. We want a nice size family, maybe 4-5 kids and many grandchildren. Haha...

I know we all have different dreams and hope, we all live different lives. What you want for yours may not be what I want for mine. My dear friends, I wish you all the best whether you just want to live in a farm and milk cows, or pursuing the nobel prize.

Shopping day with Mary Ann

I left work early today so I could go shop for gifts for my friend Wing. She's having a birthday/housewarming party this weekend, and we are invited! We will drive up tomorrow and be back Sunday night. I can't wait for this fun-filled-weekend. After I got off work, I called Mary Ann to see if she's free to hang out. I'm glad she was. She's always so nice, and I love spending time with her. We don't really do anything crazy, just some girly stuff like shopping. Sometimes I feel like we are like two old grannies. So we went to her favorite store Maurices. Mary Ann picked out an outfit for me and I love it! Girl, we got to do something less destructive to my wallet next time. We wrapped up the night with a delicious meal at Taki. More sushi adventure for Mary Ann. How come two white kids can hold chopsticks better than I do?!