in the eye of Judy Law

Oh, Blog, I'm sorry I've been neglecting you.

Where to begin?

It was around 80 degrees for Thanksgiving. This year, we held the holiday feast at my parents' new place. There were a lot of new faces. People bringing people bringing people. My cousin hogged the TV -- the X Box -- for at least three hours. Straight. I kid you not. I even fed him water through a straw. Finally, my uncle called for a break. He was hungry. I warmed up some ham and macaroni pasta for him. He ate and ate. We talked about what a good student he was. He added 100 plus 1 for me. But he didn't know 100 plus 100. We talked about the different sounds that vowels and certain letter combinations make (such as "ie" or "ei"). I can't remember how I learned to read and spell. It's an amazing process.

Black Friday was pretty boring. There wasn't anything thing this year that I really wanted. S and I went to Harkins (to redeem a free cup with a purchase of a shirt, for S's parents), Bed, Bath & Beyond (to get a bath-robe set for my sister and other stuff) and then Old Navy (for me to pick up a couple of $15 sweaters).

Then we got ready and went up north (North?) to spend the rest of the weekend with S's parents. It wasn't nearly as cold as I thought it would be. I didn't ever wear my jacket. Granted, we weren't outside at night or out very much. Still, it was pretty warm inside and during our sleeps. We ate some good food (S's stepdad is a great cook) and played Guitar Hero. We also went to Sedona to visit a jeweler and Camp Verde for S to do some tool shopping.

We came back Sunday. I took Monday off to catch up on stuff. I did laundry, put up Christmas lights outside, cleaned the front-door path and went shopping.

I'm hoping to run a couple of more errands before work today. Waking up before 11 a.m. sure can be productive! (haha)

Happy December!

I am doing pretty good with last week's to-do list. I've been calling around to find a new dentist since mine is closing his office. It's really too bad. I liked him.

It's hard to find a dentist that still does the silver fillings. I like the white fillings, but my insurance does not cover them (unless it is for the front teeth). With my history, I should find a place that does the silver fillings, just in case. I hope I don't need more fillings, but I may need replacements since I've had cavities filled since I was little.

I still need to transfer photos to CDs to clear my laptop space, but that's not urgent.

My sister is coming over this weekend. She wants to make those photo calendars as Christmas gifts. I have all the photos. (:

You know, I'm just gonna take a stab at this, but I think one of the top reasons brides-to-be get stressed is because of family or, specifically, their mothers.

It is really hard dealing with Chinese traditions versus American traditions.

That is all.

I bought a new dress.

Yes, I "bought" it because I had to pay a few extra hundred dollars to do the exchange! Oh, well. This one is much more glamorous. I love the bodice. The bottom is fine. My mom likes it because of the beading and stuff on the train, so that works. I think it'll look really nice with a bustle. Get ready to go OOOHHH and AAHHHH.

It's November and 90 degrees. Still.

Last week, it was really cold, but then it got warm -- no, hot -- again.

I must say, I like the 90s. Beats being cold!

1. Find a new dentist. I got a letter last week saying that my dentist office is closing because of the economy. The office it recommended isn't considered in-network by my insurance, either.

2. Call my sister to check on her availability for my brother's birthday. Must call, not e-mail, since she doesn't check e-mail regularly (what the heck?).

3. Go to the bank to deposit a check.

4. Call glass company to schedule an appointment. I had my windshield replaced, but some thing else broke during the process. The company ordered the parts and will come out to fix it.

5. Transfer photos to a CD. The hard drive on my laptop is getting too full. Must remove photos and put them elsewhere.

6. Find paper to-do list so I can keep track of what I accomplish.

You'd think I had enough time off this year with all the furloughs and stuff.

Man, I could really use a week off. And soon. Just time to lounge around and catch up on, you know, stuff.

Too bad I don't have enough vacation time left for that.

It's true. I've never carved a pumpkin, until now. S and I slept in today but woke up with a mission: Find a pumpkin on Halloween. Our first stop was Fresh & Easy. No luck. We headed to Fry's but realized that Walmart was on the way, so we stopped there first. It had pumpkins with faces painted already on them (not for carving out though). The backside was blank, so we figured we could carve that side.

We got our pumpkin carved just in the nick of time. The kids started arriving. I ran out of candy. I started giving out chocolate-chip granola bars and mints. And they kept coming. Some of these kids are greedy bastards. I would put out the tray and they would grab multiple pieces. No wonder I ran out so fast. I really wasn't expecting this many kids in my neighborhood. Where did they all come from?!

I AM AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If I'm sitting in the dark (as I am now) and reading, I really don't appreciate it when people turn on the lights and say "You'll go blind."

This happened to me twice at work while I was sitting in the break room. While I appreciate the concern, I think it's also rude to impose like that. I don't go walking around imposing on others.

"You shouldn't slouch in your chair like that. It's bad for your posture!"

"Here, let me adjust your workstation so that it's more ergonomically correct."

The lights in our break room are usually off. You know, the whole energy conservation thing. (Actually, I started turning off the lights when I started working there, but I stopped doing that because someone always left them on anyway. But now, since it's part of a conservation campaign at work, it's OK to turn the lights off. OK, whatever.)

So if the lights are off, I usually leave them off unless I need the lights on. There is some light coming from the opposite windows across the hall, so it's not like it's completely dark. But for whatever reason, people want to walk in, flip the lights on and then chide me for walking around in the non-light room.

If you're Asian, you know what I'm talking about.

It hit 102 degrees on Saturday. It was a record that day. That's still summertime weather. The day before, it was 100. And we went to the fair.

It wasn't quite fair weather, but it was fun. I hadn't walked that long for a while, and my legs were killing me this weekend. (Note to self: It's really time to start exercising again.)

We went with some friends from work. Which meant we met before work. It was bloody hot at noon. We watched American Indians perform while eating some fair food (nachos, Indian fry bread, corn dogs). The fair touted chocolate-covered scorpions this year, but we didn't see that. Louie did manage to find deep-fried Snickers.

We went to the petting zoo, which was a wee bit small. After a couple of hours, some people had to go back to work and the rest.

S and I stayed until about 5 p.m. We checked out some indoor exhibits. With it being so hot out, it was a good idea to stay inside buildings.

My favorite is always the building where people are trying to sell you stuff. It's a great place to go gift-shopping, too. There was a really cool tool that cuts glass and tile so easily. I would never need to use it though, but it looked so easy! And then there was this super glue that was liquid and wouldn't stick to your skin. For $40? No thanks. Then some lady polished my nail and made it all shiny. I didn't bother asking how much that was.

S and I played a couple of games. (In other words, we threw away some cash.) S kept playing the game where you're supposed to shoot out a red star. He got close, but no cigar. I played one game and I won! It's the water-squirting game where you fire water into a clown's mouth. I was the last one to join -- the stupid lady didn't even give me time to get ready before starting -- and I still won. Woohoo. I picked out a red dragon.

I didn't go on the big slide, which is my favorite ride. I'm sure it was burning with it being in the sun all afternoon. We just might go back to the fair for demolition derby, which is S's favorite. We also saw on that there is a blacksmith show, but we missed it. Just might go back for that, too.

Here's the most random thing we saw:

I just pulled out my tomato plant. It was sad. It was still growing new leaves and stuff. I've had it for a year now. I was really excited about the baby tomatoes that had started to come out, but they turned out to be busts. Time to go.

R.I.P.

AHHHHHHHHHH. We were so close. The place we love is already booked. As of last week. Technically it wasn't even booked yet when we saw the place. But another person already called dibs. Boo to that!

Oh well. We have other options.

My original plan was to have dinner at a Chinese restaurant. Doing that would mean splitting the two events (ceremony and reception) anyway.

We need to decide whether we want to do that or pick another day so we can have the ceremony AND the reception/dinner at this one venue.

Decisions, decisions.

In other news, I can't believe I said that it was a lot of work "putting out a wedding," like it's a newspaper.

(For amusement, let me run through it: S is my B slot. I've got no proofer. There's no chase edition. hahahhaha. That was courtesy of banter between me and a metro editor after I said that comment.)

I am so giddy about this!

Yes, it's tiny. But it fell of the stem. The inside was juicy. Not a lot of cantaloupe though.

There are still a handful growing. Maybe those will get nice and big!

Planning a wedding has been taking up much of my mind space lately.

I am feeling the pressure of finding a venue, since our wedding is a year away. It sounds like a lot of time, right? Not when you're planning to get married on a day such as the one we picked: 10/10/10.

One place I called last week is already booked that day.

The first place we visited last week is also booked on that day.

The second place we visited is closed on Sundays.

The third place we visited -- and love -- already has someone who said he wanted that date.

It's like buying a house. Who can put the deposit down first? The venue is giving the man til tomorrow to make his deposit. I have been anxiously waiting for that. Did he already put his deposit down? If he doesn't, do we want to do it? Like, for real? It's a big step.

I'll find out soon enough about our top-choice venue. Then we'll go from there.

Wedding planning sure is stressful. That's why I plan to do it only once.

Is going with an "all inclusive" package more affordable than paying vendor by vendor?

I do not have swine flu. I do not have swine flu. I do not have swine flu. I do not have swine flu. I do not have swine flu. I do not have swine flu. I do not have swine flu. I do not have swine flu. I do not have swine flu. I do not have swine flu. I do not have swine flu. I do not have swine flu. I do not have swine flu. I do not have swine flu. I do not have swine flu. I do not have swine flu. I do not have swine flu. I do not have swine flu. I do not have swine flu. I do not have swine flu. I do not have swine flu. I do not have swine flu. I do not have swine flu. I do not have swine flu. I do not have swine flu. I do not have swine flu. I do not have swine flu. I do not have swine flu. I do not have swine flu. I do not have swine flu. I do not have swine flu. I do not have swine flu. I do not have swine flu. I do not have swine flu. I do not have swine flu. I do not have swine flu. I do not have swine flu. I do not have swine flu. I do not have swine flu. I do not have swine flu. I do not have swine flu. I do not have swine flu. I do not have swine flu. I do not have swine flu. I do not have swine flu. I do not have swine flu. I do not have swine flu. I do not have swine flu. I do not have swine flu. I do not have swine flu. I do not have swine flu. I do not have swine flu. I do not have swine flu. I do not have swine flu. I do not have swine flu. I do not have swine flu. I do not have swine flu. I do not have swine flu. I do not have swine flu. I do not have swine flu. I do not have swine flu. I do not have swine flu. I do not have swine flu. I do not have swine flu. I do not have swine flu. I do not have swine flu. I do not have swine flu. I do not have swine flu. I do not have swine flu. I do not have swine flu. I do not have swine flu. I do not have swine flu. I do not have swine flu. I do not have swine flu. I do not have swine flu. I do not have swine flu. I do not have swine flu. I do not have swine flu. I do not have swine flu. I do not have swine flu. I do not have swine flu. I do not have swine flu.

A cold? Maybe.

(continued from previous post)

...

On Saturday, I went car shopping with a friend who had just moved here. I never got a page that day.

On Sunday, it was back to work. A reporter approached me and asked why I never called S back. I told her that he never paged me. She insisted that she had. I told her, well, if he wanted, he can try paging me again.

He did later that day.

I called after work. He was writing an e-mail to his grandmother. We talked and talked ...

It turns out that he had entered my pager number incorrectly and had been paging something else.

And, as they say, the rest is history.