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 =)