"I'll take 20 ketchup packets, please" (and fine print)

It was probably around 7:30 or 8pm last night when Jeff and I were finally making our drive to In n Out for dinner. We were both STARVING. After deciding we were both on the same page as far as wanting to avoid the uber brightness of the place, we decided to eat in our car.

So there we are, STARVING, finally digging in to our burgers. But unless you're one of the few people who only eats their fries until they're done with their burger or vice versa (I've actually met someone like that), you like to enjoy your burger and fries at the same time. Which leads to.....ketchup packets. I mean, seriously, who uses just one? So why not make them bigger?! If you ask for a side of special sauce, they give you a HUGE packet of special sauce...why can't ketchup come in THAT size instead of torture size packets? Instead...I have to put my hunger aside to open 4 or 5 tiny packets...and then proceed with my meal. Gah.

FINE PRINT: my apologies to [Courtney] for using her name without permission in one of my earlier blogs. It will never happen again. Except for this one. Sorry. Public apology: check.

News Updates

Ok, I was going to write separate entries for these, but thought that might be a little over the top, so I'm just going to mix them all in one blog; I leave it up to each of you if you want to follow the links for more information. The first link is my original blog post, the second is the updated link :)

1) Honduras. The ousted president is finally leaving his hiding in the Brazilian Embassy and says he is leaving the country. I think after four months he finally got the message that he's not going to be reinstated.

2) The suspects in the murder of Attorney Rosenberg are being put on trial. We'll see if they ever get a conviction.

3) This one's completely new. Since the CICIG began, one of the issues it was tackling was charging ex-president Alfonso Portillo for money laundering. Like probably most Guatemalan presidents, Portillo had prepared his post-presidency life by stashing away at least $6.5 million through American banks. There were claims that some of this money came from funds that were supposed to provide snacks to children in the public school system, as well as from the defense budget and who knows where else. Anyhow, the CICG tried as much as it could, but Portillo's legal team kept objecting and interfering with the CICIG's attempts to move the legal process forward. Portillo's extradition to Guatemala from Mexico was first requested in 2005, and the CICIG joined the proceedings in 2009.

Now things got a little more complicated. The US issued an arrest warrant for Portillo this month, since the money laundering was done through US banks, and he was actually arrested before trying to flee the country. The issue now is where Portillo will stand for trial. Although Portillo initially argued he fled Guatemala to Mexico because he could not get a fair trial there, his legal team is now claiming that he cannot be extradited to the US to stand trial because he is currently facing prosecution in Guatemala. Huh. Furthermore, there are allegations by Portillo that the arrest warrant was not property issued because Mexico did not provide the necessary consent, since they were the ones that originally granted his extradition to Guatemala.

Phew. Quite a mess, huh? We'll see what-if anything-happens with this one.

Things I Dislike, Yet Love

Okay, Expat Mom took this idea from another blogger, so I thought I'd try to spread it around some more too.

1) My first is a complete replica of Expat Mom's. I hate it when Jeff is doing a guys night, but at the same time, I really enjoy being home alone sometimes.

2) Going out out. I know this is just a sign of me getting old...but I've always hated having to get ready to go out. I'm not much for makeup or shopping (shocking, I know), so having to pick through the clothes I have and try to look half decent is not my idea of fun. But once I'm out, I love being with Jeff and friends and enjoying social time outside of someone's house :)

3) Being busy all the time. I can already tell you what Jeff's thoughts are on this: you do it to yourself! Yes, I do...because I love being busy. I get frustrated sometimes because I overbook myself and don't really have freetime or time to myself, but I would hate it more to NOT be busy.

4) Having a full time job. I really enjoyed my unemployed time--aside from the stress of not having a job or money-because I got to spend so much time at home and with Jeff. Now that I have a full time job (which includes the occasional overtime and Saturday shift), I feel like I barely get to see Jeff. I'm so exhausted when I get home that we've barely eaten dinner when I'm already falling asleep. On the other hand, I'm really enjoying my job right now, I'm learning new things every day, and getting to know the people I work with.

5) Working for other people. Another concept I've adopted from Expat Mom. I would love to work for myself because I could make my own hours and do my own thing, but I'm honestly not ready for that kind of responsibility. I like that I just have to do what I'm told right now.

I'll add more later if I think of them. Leave any "dislike/love" of your own in the comment section :)

Texting Etiquette

"Good."

"Ok"

"No"

"See you then."

This is NOT good texting etiquette, people! (Unless you're Jeff's dad and you text "Ribs," in which case we will drop what we're doing and come over for dinner). I have confirmed with several sources (ahem, Jeff, Travis, Courtney...), and you can't just leave a text hanging like that, or even worse, end it on a period. That's just wrong. I know that in your mind it sounds perfectly normal, but in text tone it's just not. My theory: all texts must include at least one exclamation point and/or happy face (note: the happy face can be a wink, :P, or any denomination of a smiley face: :) :-) etc.).

Furthermore, if your text is more than one sentence long, you have to mix up the exclamation points and the smiley faces, and use them repeatedly. For example:

"Hey! I'm doing great, how are you? Can't wait to see you on Sunday!"

"We missed you last night :( When do you come home?!"

Live and learn folks.

INTRODUCING: Jeff's Corner!!

Hello all. As most of you know I am Alex’s husband Jeff. After weeks of seeing Alex writing her blog it made me want to start my own. But knowing me, I would probably only write on it once a month. So Alex had the idea that I just do a kind of, ‘Jeff’s corner’ in her blog. Perfect! So here we go. Hopefully the network picks me up and this show doesn’t get cancelled after one episode ;)

Beer. The world’s oldest and most widely consumed alcoholic beverage

(thanks wikipedia). Some hate it, some love it, and some weep at the realization that a local seven eleven is supplying a night of unexpected quality (thank you seven eleven for steering away from your affordable yet flavorless beers of past). I am obviously the latter. A self proclaimed “beer snob.” Of course I realize that tastes differ so I try not to be too hard on the average American beer drinker. But the days of Coors, Miller, and Budweiser ruling as the mainstays of beer are drawing to a close. Now I see beer drinking going the way of fine wine. With thousands of breweries across the nation, people will start shopping for types of beer instead of brands, giving large bottles of hard-to-get and well renowned beer as gifts. A walk down a well stocked beer aisle can be just as culturally stimulating and wallet draining as most

wine aisles (almost). We don’t have a four story beer tower holding almost 10,000 bottles. Yet. But there are options. Hundreds of options. Even local grocery stores are branching into micro brew territory. It pains me to watch

people debate a beer decision while only looking at the far end of the aisle. Branch out! At first it might seem too bitter, or too strong. But with the amount of choices, you’re sure to find at least one NEW beer to drink. And that usually leads to another, and then in no time you’re in a whole new world of flavors and choices.

So here's a short(ish) list of beers that I can personally recommend. Some light, some dark, some just plain mean. And a hint for sampling beer. Drink more than one sip. A lot of times I try a beer with one sip and its always different after two or three. Especially if you’re in the middle of drinking something else.

For branching out from fizzy yellow beers-

• Sierra pale ale. It’s my go-to light beer. Not too expensive, not too strong. But a great amount of hoppy flavor

• Fat Tire Amber Ale. A great amber beer. Again, its not gonna knock you out with taste but it’s really good. This was my kick start into the world of good beer.

• Blue moon. Not one of my personal favorites but it seems a lot of light beer drinkers go to this for a change. Its a Belgian white so don’t be alarmed by the cloudy appearance. And try a slice of orange in it.
• Pyramid Hefeweizen. I may get bashed by fellow snobs. But I think this is one of the better Hefeweizens out. Inexpensive and available at local grocery stores. A slice of lemon and its a great fresh beer. Good with fish, like grilled salmon.
• Newcastle. I know I know. I think 90% of the US population hates this beer but I like it. Especially after a few days. Personally I like to buy it and let it skunk up a bit in the fridge before drinking. It’s just TOO smooth when it’s fresh. But that’s just me.

And on to the slightly stronger beers (aka The STONE section).

And I don’t mean stronger in any real way except light beer drinkers tend to not like them right away.

• STONE PALE ALE (my absolute favorite) Its a pale, light beer, with an amazing amount of hoppy flavor. HOPS is a flower used in beer as a bittering agent. And the bitterness in beer is measured in IBU scale. International Bittering Units. So a normal bud light kind of beer is maybe 8-12 IBUs. Stone Pale is 41 IBUs.
• Mirror Pond from Deschutes Brewery. 40 IBUs. So tasty.
• Black Butte Porter, another deschutes beer. This one is dark and smokey and delicious.
• STONE Levitation. This one is a bit friendlier on the alcohol level. 4.4% so more drinkable than the rest Stone has to offer.
• STONE IPA. Well color me delicious. It’s got more hops than needed and its just scratching the surface. FYI Drink this AFTER drinking pale. Or a pale just won’t have enough kick.
• Guinness. MMMmmmm. I seem to go through a Guinness phase about once a year. Try a black and tan. Pour a little more than half a pale beer like Harp into a glass. Average speed don’t worry about head. It will help separate the two. Then over an upside down spoon SLOWLY pour Guinness on top.
• Ale Smith IPA- My favorite IPA that I don’t drink nearly enough of. Time for a trip to BEVMO!

And lastly, Mean beers. Well, it depends on your standards.

• STONE Ruination. This is the mother of Hoppy beers while retaining a really drinkable quality. It is 7.7% so quite strong. And 100+ IBUs. I think anything beyond 100 IBUs is not really important because at that point its just freakin HOPPY. Your wife will not appreciate this beer. Or your bowels. Just FYI. Ask Alex.
• Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout. This is Naked and crying in the shower beer. There’s a reason it only comes in four packs. At 9% Its black like Pat Robertson’s soul. And thicker than Snookies layer of spray tan. But at the same time very good.
• STONE “OAKED”Arrogant Bastard. Its strong and really really good. 7.2% so not an all nighter. Well unless you’re a fan of Adventures en el cuarto de bano.
• The Abyss, Its just a mean imperial stout. Comin in at 11%. Its smokey as hell but a fine beer to sip on and share with friends.

Well there are WAAAAY more beers that I could list but these are just a few to get you started. Hopefully you’ll wonder down to the unknown area in the beer aisle next time.

Help us find a home for Tana!

Tell me she's not adorable?! Julian's parents are unfortunately having to move out of their place, and they can't find an apartment that will allow them to take Tana with them. She's been in the family forever, and they would like to find her a loving home rather than having to put her in a shelter. Please help spread the word! Send to friends, relatives, co-workers, etc., let's find her a good home!

A little bit about Tana: she's ten years old, no major health issues (she can't see too well from her left eye, but c'mon, that only makes her more lovable!), and she's great with kids. She's been around Julian's nephew since he was born (I think he's about 4 or 5 now), so she's definitely kid friendly.

Tana's also had some obedience training, so you wouldn't have to worry about that either :)

Julian's parents need to be out by February 6th, so please spread the word as quickly as you can.

As an added bonus, Julian is willing to provide food and vet for any loving household who is willing to take her.

If you are interested, please leave a comment below or email me, and I will put you in contact with Julian.

I can't stress enough how much Julian and I would appreciate your efforts in spreading the word and finding someone who is willing to take Tana in. Thank you in advance for your help!

My Week in Review

I have it on good authority that this week was pretty crazy (Pat--I'm writing this on a Saturday morning, so it doesn't count-not a drinking night). I got to spend quality time with a few amazing people, and I also felt like Jeff and I both suffered the wrath of the Storm of the Century that hit the Southland this week.

Monday:

Daniel (very good friend of mine) and I had been trying to schedule a lunch date last week, and due to my work schedule I had to put it off for today. Neither one of us remembered that the weather forecasts for the day were less than amenable to driving in the rain. After talking Dan through some directions and getting him to my parking lot, I had to physically make it down to his car so we could go grab lunch. Well...it just so happens that around 1pm on Monday, it was raining harder than it had been raining all day. Just to give you an idea of how bad it was: some of the guys from work were standing outside in the covered walkway looking at the rain and taking pictures of how ridiculous it was. And here I am, in my heels and work pants, thinking of the endless journey from our walkway to Dan's car. Everyone thought I was crazy for going out in the rain, but what could I do, Dan was waiting downstairs, and if he had faced the rain to get to my office, I was gonna make it downstairs! Thankfully, one of the guys from the office manned up and walked me to Dan's car with his umbrella, so damage was minimal. We made it to Tokyo Cafe, and wouldn't you know that minutes into our meal...the sun was shining. I mean, really? Talk about timing.

Wednesday

I was at work trying to figure out what of the 10 things on my to-do list were most important, and therefore I should focus on those for my last hour of work. I looked at my phone and saw I had a missed call from Jeff which was interesting--Jeff's not a phone person, he's a texter. He eventually called again, only to tell me that his car had gotten flooded and he was stranded. I left my to-do list untouched, said a quick goodbye to everyone, and headed toward the scene of the crime. By the time I got to Jeff and his car, there was no sign of a flood, no rain, no water pouring down the street...just a cop car, Jeff's stranded car, and another stranded car on the other side of the street. Not much of a crime scene, eh? See, what happened was that Jeff got off work just in time to drive down Barranca during the 10 minutes the street was flooded, therefore getting his car stuck and left to the mercy of a good samaritan who pulled him out, preventing more damage to his car than there already was (a good 3 inches of water INSIDE his car). Good timing yet again!

Thursday (almost done..promise)

We had to drive to the Riverside Courthouse, and it was just constant rain all the way there. We did what we had to do inside the courthouse (literally 10 minutes), and when we came out, the sun was shining! So I'm thinking it's gonna be a smooth drive back to the office. Uh, right. I swear we drove through a hurricane. The water, rain, and the river that everyone was driving through was insane! Of course, when we made it back into Orange County and our office, it was barely sprinkling. Amazing.

Friday

I actually have no complaints about Friday! Naomi came and met me for lunch, which was so sweet of her. I met Naomi while I was working for a temp agency after I took the bar, and I'm so happy we actually kept in touch! It took having Naomi around for me to finally go into this little shop down the street from my school that I had always wanted to go into but never did. Mind you, I've worked and studied in this area for the past four years, and I just never made the time. So, thank you Naomi :)

In a long, roundabout way, that's my week in review!

Deja Vu

So about two and a half weeks ago, my boss had me go to the Santa Ana Federal Courthouse and the Riverside Bankruptcy court so I could scope out the area and know where I was going and what I needed to do when I finally went on my own. Although the Santa Ana court is closer, it was a little more difficult because the bankruptcy court is only one of the many things in the federal building (in Riverside, the whole building is dedicated to bankruptcy law).

I get to the Federal Courthouse in Santa Ana, and I'm trying to walk and act like I know what I'm doing...you know, look like an attorney! (The idea that I'm actually an attorney is still shocking to me.) Anyhow, I think I walked around looking like an idiot for a good 10 minutes before I finally realized where I should be. And all was well.

My next field trip was to the Riverside Courthouse. Other than being late and basically missing all the confirmation hearings, I found my way rather quickly.

As I was walking down the steps of the courthouse to the parking lot, I had this strange feeling that I had lived through something like this before.

Ahhhhhhh, college!

My memories flew back to the first week in my Santa Rosa dorm at UCSB, with all the madness and excitement of orientation, cramming all my belongings into a tiny room, and meeting the people that would become some of my best friends. The Sunday before classes started, several of us scouted out the location of our classes. That's right...a bunch of 18 year olds, excited about starting the college life, looking at their schedules and looking helplessly for Kennedy Hall or Buchanon or whatever it may be. See, we didn't want to look like we did in high school our freshman year on the first day of class...so we took preventative steps and did it on a Sunday when no one could see us walking around with a print out of our schedule and puzzled looks on our faces!

And now I'm doing it all over again. I'm entering this new career where I pretty much don't know what I'm doing, but I'm trying to be proactive so I don't look like a lost freshman!

Music Video: DeVotchKa

This is another find that I owe to German, so a big shout out to him for providing me with amazing new music. Their name is a little deceiving-I was pretty sure they were from Russia or had a Russian affiliation until I did some research (on Wikipedia, I should say) and found out that although "DeVotchKa" is Russian for "young girl," they are actually from Denver!

So, without further ado, her is DeVotchKa performing one of my favorite songs, Undone:

Here is another video of theirs that looks really cool:

People, it's called punctuality.

Warning: this is a venting slash rambling blog.

Last week I began to tutor two amazing children, who are taking Spanish in school and their parents want them to get a little extra help on the side. The money's good, and the family is amazing. These two little kids honestly make me smile every time I see them. The only thing is that with my original 9am to 6pm schedule, tutoring put me back a few hours and I didn't get home until about 8:30 or 9 at night. That's a long day! So I thought I would go in at 8am on the days I'm tutoring (Monday and Thursday), therefore getting me home an hour earlier :)

Anyhow, today as the holiday of Martin Luther King, Jr., my students had the day off from school and tutoring as well (if only I had the day off from work too....), but I still went in to work at 8am instead of 9am. I can't even describe to you how excited I was at the prospect of getting home by 5:30 pm instead of an hour after that (my usual time), or even later if I had actually been tutoring. I even texted Jeff and we made huuuuuuge plans to cook dinner together.

Stoked. I was STOKED!

Some of you might say, "it's only an hour difference, what's the big deal?" The big deal is, kind reader, that there is a huge difference between getting home at 5:30pm and getting home at 6:30pm. By 6:30, I'm hungry, I'm tired, and I don't feel like STARTING to figure out what to do for dinner. At 5:30, however, the evening still has endless possibilities!

So let me just tell you how disappointed I was in myself when I remembered that I had told a co-worker that I would talk to her client today at 5:30pm. See, I've only been on my new schedule for a week, so I thought I was still staying until 6pm when I originally gave my co-worker the thumbs up on this. I wanted to shoot myself today for being so stupid. But I gave my word, it was my fault, and so I stayed at work an extra hour (without getting paid overtime, by the way). And you know what? I stayed for absolutely nothing. 5:3o came and went, and the client wasn't there. Apparently he had left his house at 5:20 in Costa Mesa, thinking that with traffic and rain he could be there in 5 minutes. I told my co-worker the information she needed to tell the client, and I threw in the towel at 6. It just irks me when people can't stick to appointments. Jeff can tell you how I'm continually rushing him out of the house every time we have to be somewhere because I hate being late (even if it means feeling awkward once we get to our destination because we're the first ones there...).

I hope this client sleeps well tonight, and never knows how they ruined my early-dinner-at-home tonight!

"Hey alex, why don't you just go in to work at 8am everyday and stop complaining?" To which I have a very well-reasoned and logical answer: see, I keep telling myself that on the days I go in at 9, I have time in the morning to go to the gym! HA.

Charity of the Month: Invisible Children

Picture taken from http://en.kindernothilfe.org/

Did you know that up to 66,000 children were abducted in Uganda over 2 decades of conflict? The statistics of "children soldiers" around the world are mind numbing:

• 2 million children killed in combat
• Over 1 million orphaned
• Over 6 million seriously injured or permanently disabled
• Over 10 million left with serious pyschological trauma.

The conflict in Uganda stems from confrontation between the government of Uganda and the Lord's Resistance Arms ("LRA"). There has been progress through peace talks, but the LRA has failed to enter into any formal and lasting peace agreement. Meanwhile, the people of Uganda are still struggling to make ends meet, after they were displaced and found far away from their homes and livelihood. 1.8 million people were displaced, and about 1 million of those remain in Internally Displaced Persons ("IDP") camps. These camps are not your idea of fun. They are overcrowded, dirty, and dangerous.

With these statistics in mind, we turn to our charity of the month: Invisible Children. I first became aware of them through a fellow lawstudent, Darrell. He was promoting an Invisible Children movie screening that was being hosted at our school. I remember going to the movie screening with Jeff. And I remember crying as we walked back to our car. I felt so helpless. I still don't understand how there are situations around the world, like these children in Uganda, and the world doesn't stop it. Sometimes I wonder: if more people cared, and if more people were AWARE, would that make a difference? I'd like to think that the answer is yes. Sorry...I'll stop ranting and get back to Invisible Children :)

The organization focuses on making documentaries, but it goes beyond that: they raise money to build schools and provide scholarships for Ugandan children, to offer them hope for the future. I hope you guys check out their website. You can support Invisible Children by buying one of their cool documentaries and bracelets, and by spreading the word!

Not as Invisible as I thought!

I had to go to court for the first time last week. Well, technically the second time, but my first trip to see the Bankruptcy Trustee was so minor that I don't really count it. Anyhow, I was standing in line, holding my client's ID, SSN, and payment, trying to figure out exactly what I was doing, when someone next to me asks: "Did you go to Chapman?" I was a little taken aback, since I was out in Riverside, not Orange County. So we did our introductions, exchanged nervousness since it was his first time at a bankruptcy hearing too, and wished each other well.

It wasn't until later that I realized why I found that interaction so strange: I never think anyone really notices me. I don't think I have any self-esteem issues or anything, I actually think I'm pretty well adjusted and confident for a single-parent, single-child background. I just feel like I'm always under the radar...why would anyone recognize me? I know I would recognize most people that graduate from my school in my year, since it's a relatively small class, but why would anyone recognize me?! :) I guess I'm not as invisible as I think!

Guatemala: Suicide or Murder?

Back in May, 2009, the country of Guatemala was pushed into a social and political crisis: an attorney by the name of Rodrigo Rosenberg had been killed while riding his bicycle. Days after his alleged murder, a video surfaced in which Rosenberg stated that if he was dead, it was because the president of Guatemala, Alvaro Colom (among others), had ordered his death. The details are pretty intricate, but the main facts are that Rosenberg had been dating a woman, Marjorie Musa, who was killed along with her father. Rosenberg was allegedly investigating their murder, and in his video he stated this was one of the reasons why the President and others wanted him killed.

Needless to say, the country went into a downward spiral of chaos. People protested, vigils were had, Facebook groups were created, the President was asked to step down, etc., etc. As all things in Guatemala, things calmed down after a few weeks and not much was heard after. The Guatemala Commission Against Impunity ("CICIG") was now in charge of the investigation, and was promising to bring justice and transparency. The CICIG was created a couple years ago, and is a joint enterprise between the United Nations and Guatemala to try and combat impunity, largely by having an investigatory body that is not affiliated with the country of Guatemala, and thus less susceptible to corruption. Indeed, the head of the organization, Carlos Castresana, hails from Spain, and many within the organization come from a variety of other countries. Thus far, the CICIG had been steadfast in changing legislation and recommending crucial changes to the judicial system. Although it has tried to implement change, it has constantly had to go on an all-out war to achieve anything, since most people who have to approve anything this commission does are happy with the way things are done in Guatemala. Up until recently, the people of Guatemala were generally optimistic and hopeful about the presence of the CICIG and the work it was doing.

However, the CICIG has recently lost much credibility within the Guatemalan public. This is because they recently reported their findings on the Rosenberg case, in which they stated that Rosenberg set up the assassination himself--orchestrating his own death. This news even made it to the New York Times. I checked out the CICIG's website (which for my luck was not in existence when I was writing a research paper on the commission!), and found a powerpoint presentation on their findings. Granted, it's all in Spanish, but they seem to have done quite a bit of homework to come to their conclusion. I honestly don't know who to believe. The report states that Rosenberg was depressed because of the murder of his girlfriend, and because his wife was threatening to take away visitation of their children. Granted, some people get so depressed they decide to kills themselves, but to go the extra mile and orchestrate your own assassination to involve the President of the country, with a plot that was pretty intricate and involved at least a dozen different people? It's hard to believe. I think Rosenberg would have had to have some strong feelings against the President in order to give his own life to bring the President down.

I applaud the CICIG for actually doing an investigation, which is a step further than Guatemala would have done without the CICIG, but I still wonder if the investigation has any merit to it.

Office Space Update

So, it actually happened a lot quicker than I thought it would: I got an office! It did make things around the office a little awkward for the first few days or so. See, initially I thought they were going to make new offices in the big open space they had in the back , rather than move anyone around that was currently in one of the 3 offices they have. But I think converting the open space to office space was a little more costly than they wanted, so they ended up kicking out the 3 guys that had offices, and putting them in cubicles in the back, and giving me an office to share with the paralegal that's training me.

So here I am, fairly new to the firm, still learning the ropes, and already managing to get three guys kicked out of their offices so I could get one. I'm assuming they all got kicked out so it wouldn't seem personal if they only picked one of the guys to lose their office. Things seem ok, but I'm sure I wouldn't be happy if I was one of the people that lost an office to the new girl...attorney or not.

Anyhow, here's my office! And to make matters even more comical, they decided to put my name on the door to the office. Mind you, I share this office with the head paralegal who is the one training me, who's been there longer and works his butt off...and his name didn't get put on the door...that created quite a string of non-stop jokes with everyone.

Kinda cool though! And finally, after almost 5 years, my UCSB diploma finally got an actual frame, and both that one and my Chapman diploma will be going up in my office on Monday!

Where I thought I'd be and Where I am :)

I remember being about 7 or 8 years old, a couple of the few years I had my very own room (which I rarely used because I would crawl into my mom's bed at some point during the night), and always thinking about the future. When I was 7, I wanted to be 10; when I was 10, I couldn't wait to be 15; when I was 15, I couldn't wait to turn 18, and then 21!

I would fast forward to the future, and I would think: my best years are going to be in my mid-twenties! I mean, I'll be over 21, so I can go out with my girlfriends, I'll probably be living somewhere like New York City, working somewhere cool, and I'll get all dressed up and beautiful (like a dress and heals, not jeans and a cute top), and go out for drinks with my girlfriends for happy hour, and we'll flirt with boys, and everything is going to be perfect (think maybe Samantha Who meets Sex in the City).

My reality: so much better. For one: I hate getting dressed up, my daily make up is basically mascara. For another, by the time I'm off work I don't want happy hour: I want to go home to Jeff and figure out dinner. I also found out in college that as much as I liked going out with my girlfriends, I was terrible at flirting! I definitely think these are some of the best years of my life: Jeff and I are figuring everything out, and enjoying every second of discovering our future and its possibilities together. It's nice to look at where you thought you'd be in life when you were little, and realizing that it's nothing like what you expected, but still so much better.

Alcohol maturity?

The priest during the sermon this morning was talking about maturity. Granted he was talking about spiritual maturity, but he used a few hooks before getting there. One of those was related to alcohol, how we start to enjoy the sip of a good beer, or good wine.

I've always thought it was funny how I transitioned in my alcoholic preferences. I'll share with all of you that I was a late-bloomer on the alcohol scene. I actually didn't drink at all in high school, and didn't have my first [mis]adventure with alcohol until the Summer before I went to college (I still owe Daniel for taking care of me that night as I spent some quality time with the toilet). I stuck to hard alcohol my first years of college, and despised beer. I mean, every time I even attempted to take a sip from a keg at a party, I think I gaged a little--that could've been just because it was PBR...

My last year at UCSB, however, I started to enjoy beer. I'm not sure if it was the Imperial while I was in Costa Rica, but I remember that from that point forward, it wasn't as repulsing to me as it used to be, and I could actually enjoy my red cup of beer at the NAK parties.

Wine was my next step into alcohol maturity. It wasn't until law school that I started trying different kinds of wine, and actually finding something I liked and enjoyed.

Nowadays, hard alcohol is out of the question for me (that includes irish car-bombs). I still love beer (especially since Brooke and Jeff have introduced me to the finer flavors), but it's sooooo filling! So these days, I rather enjoy a good glass of Malbec. It's been a long-and sometimes tiring and exhausting -road of discovery!

Yeah...we got suckered in...

"Dear Sears shoppers, for a limited time only, we are offering free samples of upcoming QVC promotional items! Just look for the blue light in the men's department, near the escalator, we will be starting in 2 minutes!"

2 minutes. That's how close my mom and I were to getting out of Sears on Saturday night. And then that came on the loudspeaker. Among the racks of coats, jackets, and dress pants, I sneak a look over at my mom to gauge her interest at the announcement.

"Just one more minute and we will be handing out FREE samples of our promotional QVC items, just look for the flashing blue lights!"

Uh oh. Let me explain something: for one, everyone loves free stuff. Everyone. And my mom loves QVC....a lot. Because I love her dearly, and because she'd been running around with me for a good hour dealing with my pickiness in choosing a new suit for work ("too baggy...I don't want black....I don't want a skirt, I want a pantsuit...too old-lady like...etc., etc., etc.), I thought I'd give in on this. "You wanna go, don't you?" I saw the look of curiosity in her eyes. "No, no...it's ok." A sigh of relief! We only had a couple more racks to look through before we gave up on Sears and moved on to the next location.

"30 seconds everyone, come start lining up, we only have a limited amount of free samples! Just look for the flashing blue lights!"

I think it was the blue lights that got us. "Let's just go see if we find the blue lights..."

So we went. And we got played. We got the chef knife, we got the garnishing kit, we got the steak knives, and the other knife...all for the amazing price of $29.99! Expect cool-cut fruit soon...unless they're not as amazing as they made them look! ;)

When is the future here?

I feel like I've constantly been working towards somethings, towards a future that will mean I'm finally done and I can finally begin life. Crazy, I know. I think I'm a type-A personality in some respects, with my lists, agenda's, constantly planning, constantly doing. I went to college because it was something I thought I had to be crossed off one of my lists, and I went to law school because I thought my college degree wasn't enough. I struggled financially through college, and lived vicariously through other people I knew-the clothes they bought, going out and spending money every weekend, not hesitant to go out and eat all the time, etc. (I was fortunate enough to save some money and take a few trips in college with great friends however, and I'm glad I didn't have to live vicariously through anyone for those!) But at that point in my life, I still felt like I was paying my dues. I didn't come from a privileged background, and I knew I had to finish school to get somewhere. But I finished school, and I finished law school, and I feel like I'm still living vicariously through other people.

Which brings me to a topic I've been wanting to raise for a while: jealously. It first came up when I wrote my blog entry about not finding a job, and I got an email from a reader asking if it was wrong to feel jealous when she heard that a friend or an acquaintance got a job, while she kept searching. My response in summary: no. I had the same feelings myself: Jeff had to tell me that I couldn't get upset every time someone I knew got a job. But I feel that jealously, to a point, is a part of nature. And I'd like to think that my jealously is harmless. I don't hate my sister-cousin Vanessa because she got to travel to Guatemala for the holidays and travel to Tikal, Antigua, etc. But I will admit I'm jealous. I think I've looked at her pictures about a dozen times already.

I keep waiting to reach a point in my life where I'm not struggling anymore, where the income is coming in, and I'm saving money and able to buy and do the things that everyone else buys and does. I have to remind myself that it's all part of life, that I am living life right now, that I should embrace it and stop waiting for something else. I'm also not so naive that I don't realize this might be a feeling that we all have for the rest of our life: we'll always want more, we'll always want to be somewhere else, we'll always want to achieve the next best thing.

It should be known: I'm not unhappy with where I am in my life right now, not in the least. I love coming home to Jeff, I love my family, and the friends I'm blessed to have. I know I have so much to be thankful for, and I am :)

Where is Everyone?!

So the commute to work the last two weeks has been amazing. I've been making it to work in 15 minutes, rather than 30. I figured it was because of the holidays, and was expecting the normal traffic today. I had planned on leaving early in anticipation of this, but I ended up running late and left the house with coffee in hand at my usual 8:30 am (I could have left early if I had not waited for my coffee to finish brewing, but that's basically suicide as far as I'm concerned).

I was expecting the normal pre-holiday clutter right before Jamboree, but to my surprise, I breezed onto the 55, and into the parking lot at work without really having to stop or slow down at all.

Huh.

So...where is everyone? Are people taking extended vacations? Or is this a result of the 10% unemployment rate? Not that I'm complaining...I'll test the waters again tomorrow before deciding to sleep in a few minutes...

Thoughts on Avatar

SPOILER ALERT! Do not read if you have not seen the movie and intend to watch it, as I may or may not give some stuff away.

I will confess that I originally had not desire to watch this movie. I'm not much of a sci-fi fan, so I wasn't really intrigued when I saw the preview in theaters. But after it came out, everyone, I mean E-VERY-ONE, was talking about it! I don't think I've ever heard so much positive talk by so many people before. Everyone kept talking about how amazing it looked yadda yadda yadda. Some people did mention that there wasn't much in the way of the actual script, which confused me. The whole reason I usually go to watch a movie is because of the actual story, but here are a handful of people saying that the movie was amazing, even though the story was so-so. Curious.

Anyhow, Jeff really wanted to see it, so we had a couple discussions on whether we were going to go together or if he should just go with the guys. I was torn. I really didn't want to spend $12 on a movie I didn't REALLY want to see, but everyone was talking so much about it, it had to be good--and what if I was missing out on watching the best movie ever made?? So I gave in and we ended up going yesterday with Jeff's parents (thanks again!).

A couple things: 1) we didn't see it in 3-D, and as soon as the movie started we realized this was a mistake; and 2) we went to Foothill ranch, and the theater was tiny, so I feel like we got jipped on that one too.

Overall, I thought the movie was great. Jeff and I are actually really torn on whether we should go watch it again in 3-D (thoughts?). Thankfully Jeff's parents paid for the first round, so we wouldn't really be paying twice to see the same movie...or that's what I tell myself ;)

Here are the only issues I had with the movie:

1) As I've gotten older, I've realized (with the help of Jeff), that I hate when characters are over-scripted. I'm not sure that's the right term to convey my feelings: the good guys are too good, and the bad guys are too bad, it's just not realistic (I know, I know, its a movie and it's not supposed to be real, but still...). So every time the general came into play, I was really annoyed. He actually reminded me of the GI-Joe cartoon, but in real life. I mean, what guy would really go through all the trouble this guy went to try and destroy something he really had no vested interest in? Just to blow things up, I guess.

2) As Jeff put it: it's kind of a combination of Dances with Wolves and Fern Gully: the last rainforest. As people who saw it before me warned (aaaaaand as most movies), it had a very predictable plot.

With those two issues aside, I'm glad I went to see it. It's crazy to think that pretty much everything you saw on screen was fake! They did a great job at creating an entire planet out of someone's imagination, complete with their own language and everything. All in all, I'm glad I saw it, and I'm still debating on whether Jeff and I should go see it again in 3-D to get the full experience.

My Office Space!

As promised. So, as I mentioned, I'm currently working out of a cubicle. Not very glamorous for an attorney, but it's a job! I am trying to make the most of it, and as the only girl working among a bunch of boys, I must say it IS the best decorated!

Yes, I do have the mandated picture of Jeff and I, along with my much-needed cup of coffee. It's also a bit hard to make out in between the computer screen and the green mug, but it IS one of my prized possessions: my Initech mug that I got from Dana Lu (based on the movie, Office Space).

So, they promised me that this was only temporary workspace and that I would be getting an office soon. It'll either be one of the offices that's currently occupied by someone, or they'll be converting this space into offices:

We'll see what happens!

Nice BMW Drivers Wanted

I think it started with my first car: a 1980-something 3-series BMW with faulty electrical wiring, a faulty odometer, and a non-existent gas gauge, to mention a few. Being as faulty as it was, I continuously looked forward to what my next car would be, and set my eyes on the prize: an upgrade to a more-modern-looking 5 series! My desire for this car was so well known that my college roommate even snuck out a fold out magazine poster of a 3 series (thanks Belv!) from her job, and yes, I hung it up in our room (I was young, ok?).

A few years down the road, my friend Brooke told me she didn't want me driving a BMW because people who drove BMW's were jerks. I thought she was kidding--but after our conversation I started paying attention and realized she was kind of right! With a few exceptions (Franky and Courtney being two of them), I've realized that BMW drivers are pretty crappy, and they are slowly breaking my resolve to own one myself someday.

It's a good thing I've also set my eyes on a Maserati! (one can dream...)

Welcome 2010

It's that time of year when everyone looks back at the year that has passed, and makes resolutions for the year that has come. I've never been one for New Year's resolutions, mostly because I know myself and I know I'll never follow through with them. I don't have the discipline or determination to follow through with things like going to the gym, or eating better. It's just not in me! But alas, this year, like every other, I will still try to lie to myself and say that I will try to go to the gym on a regular basis...we'll see.

As far as saying goodbye to 2009, I have mixed feelings about the fateful year that has ended. There were so many epic moments of my life that happened last year, like graduating law school, getting MARRIED, passing the bar, and starting my first "real" job. But 2009 was also one of my most challenging and difficult years. It's been one of my most stressful years, since I was freaking out about finding a job basically all year long (let me tell you, that's a long time to stress about the same subject), not to mention studying for the bar. I hated the uncertainty of 2009, not knowing what was going to happen with bar results, or where I would end up working. And there are also the financial difficulties that Jeff and I had the last few months of the year; they were like nothing I have ever had to experience before.

All in all, I have a lot to be thankful for in 2009, but I'm definitely looking forward to more stability in the coming year. I'm also hoping to have a better grasp on where I'm going with my career by the end of this year. I think that's one resolution I WILL be able to keep.

Happy New Year's everyone!