getting around...

oh, please do not take a negative connotation from that title. this is just a little piece on what and how i can still get around and get things done even with my wheelchair.

first off, the wheelchair needs care so get an available ryan of your own to assist

secondly, you may need an assist out of your home. this ramp is what has been working for me.

oh great, now that you're out of the house where the heck are you going to go? well, fear not. just use your county's paratransit services to take you where you need to go (i.e.: shopping, hospital, work, etc.).

last but not least, handicap people are not all helpless like our general logo makes us out to be; we gotta keep our heads up and think about what we CAN do.

Rum Cake

doesn't that cake look amazingly scrumptious?

ry made his first rum cake last night and i have to say, i want more and it's only 10:36am. this work may be the onset of many more culinary delights when we get our hand mixer. i can't wait!

Merry Christmas Everyone!

The Christmas setup to the right was just a prelude to something I haven't experienced in a very, very long time. A peaceful family gathering. Well organized with a Santa passing out presents and everyone opening their gifts one by one giving appreciations for their presents.


I had a rough childhood growing up and this Christmas is one of those things I had hoped and wished for. When I say rough, it's not that we were lacking presents to go around or anything. It was the environment and family interactions. I'm pretty sure I got to see the police a couple times and one of them was for a domestic dispute.


Now knowing that something like this is real is sooo amazing to me. I wish my little sisters could have been there to experience this.

this layout with all the pictures is not the most ideal but i wanted to be sure i've documented these wonderful evenings.

to the geek who has everything

what the heck are you supposed to get for them if they've purchased most of the reasonably priced wants for themselves already? although we are geeks, there are other things that peak our interests... hockey, rodeos, red bull air races, snowboarding, skydiving, beaches, snow, etc... thing is, i can't narrow down to something i know he'll love and will want to keep.

we searched for presents for eachother 'til Christmas eve. then i had to admit defeat because there was nothing i could find that seemed like a suitable present for him. it's not like i don't know him we've been together for almost a decade already. it's just that i like to be practical.

during my last minute present run on Christmas eve I had a nice chat with ry where i checked to see how his search had been going and he admitted to not being able to find a present either. this is when i began discussing how i miss being able to bake and how a hand mixer would be awesome; that prompted him saying how much he'd love to make ice cream again but would need a mixer as well. EUREKA, we found something for the both of us, we'll buy the handmixer that we've both been wanting as a present to eachother, from eachother. :D

the best seats ever...

with a whole lot of hard work, Ry was able to get me in the most awesome seat in the whole arena for the SJ Sharks vs NY Rangers game. no net to get in the way, no one in front of me to block my view, and friendly, knowledgeable fans next to me. what else can a girl ask for? oh yeah, a win. we got that one. Sharks 3 - Rangers 2. :)

good Lord, is that red popcorn?

why, yes it is. it's ketchup seasoning on some microwaveable popcorn. i can be a bit daring sometimes.

the popcorn isn't as bad as you might think it is. pretty tasty but i can't have too much of it and the seasoning is really overwhelming on my senses.

now, who the heck would think about creating that seasoning? Canadians of course. they're also the ones who bring me scrumptious dill pickle potato chips. O Canada... my friend says that they serve the seasoning in the Canadian movie theaters to go with their treats. are we, as americans, missing out on something? we can't have that, can we? haha... competitive American mind at work. :)

i wish i had more time to update this blog with everything that has been happening lately; but, i don't have much time left in my lunch and i'd like to use that time to reply to my hubby's letter.

bye-bye for now.

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Now playing: Carrie Underwood - All-American Girl
via FoxyTunes

meet the in-laws' in-laws

i've now met my in-laws' future in-laws. it was a great thanksgiving. it's the first thanksgiving in a very long time that i had some pancit and lumpia on my dish during a holiday. oh yeah, the add-on in-laws are filipino. not like it really matters but i've been apart from most my family for a while and i'm excited to welcome a new part to my family. possibly a part that may be able to help me learn about my family's home country.


i'm not in it for the filipino food... i can get a whole lot of that from friends at church and restaurants in the city i grew up in, daly city. the local mall was lovingly called serramanilla (serramonte) because of the amount of filipinos in that area.

as you could see from the image on the right, we had LOTS of food. it was more than enough for twelve people and one of us is pregnant. uh, not me. it's my sister in-law in the back left of the photo. we got to pass around the ultrasound pictures and those of us who don't have the best eyesight in the world got to guess body parts. yep it was fun.

i get to be a tita / auntie in five more months. YAY... i'm real excited about that.

Merry belated gobble gobble everyone!

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Now playing: Gin Blossoms - Hey Jealousy
via FoxyTunes

what's wrong with my voice?

there's nothing really wrong with my voice per se; however, from working in call centers for almost a decade, i've spoken to loads of people and a couple things have stayed consistent.

1) guys asking me out on dates or for contact information.
2) people who call the companies' 800 numbers and thinking that they've reached an erotic hotline of sorts.

i've always been told i had a nice voice but i don't want to have a MA kind of voice. maybe i can take up voice acting to gain better control of these chords.

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Now playing: 03 - MIKE DOUGHTY - Madeline And Nine
via FoxyTunes

fun memories

i feel like i've been in a pseudo coma for i don't know how long.

i woke up the other morning coming from a dream where an old, old friend was playing the guitar. eleven years ago i lost contact with that friend and because of that dream, i remembered his name. so, i jumped on facebook and found him; hopefully he remembers me, i'd love to send him a thank you.

i also remembered an old nickname, boorivka (burr-if-kah). hehe.... yes, i was called "mole" and it's not 'cause i'm a little rat. i was called that because of the mole on my face. you'd think i would've been called something else since my "anita" has the same amount of syllables.

oh the picture above is of me and my cousins. from left to right there's mary, me, joseph, and sarah. i actually remember that day and what's on my lap. someone had given me a cabbage patch kids tv tray.

i'm patiently going to wait for more memories to randomly come my way. this is fun. ^_^

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Now playing: Tech Itch - Stack (Hive Remix)
via FoxyTunes

mixed blessings

i've been stuck in a contemplative state for a couple days now.

see i got 2nd degree burns (warning: this pic is UGLY), on my thighs, the other day when preparing some Kraft EasyMac for myself in the office. evil!

kraft easy mac - single servings that includes a portion of macaroni and a mixture of processed cheese and milk powder. Unlike the boxed version, it is designed to be prepared using only water and a microwave in 3 minutes and 30 seconds. Instructions are included on each individual packet. Recently, Kraft released new additional flavors and sizes of Easy Mac, meant for varied appetites (the original version is small enough that a standard serving for an adult consumer was actually two packets).

now, if i had sensation like the rest of the world out there i would've been crying, popping the painkillers, and insisting to leave work to head to the hospital. well i'm not normal. i sat through the rest of my shift with the burning sensation, went to he mall, had dinner with a childhood friend, hung out catching up on old times, and went to sleep. i saw a little bit of the damage when changing to the PJs but it's amazing how it looks the next day, in the daylight when you're actually awake. thankfully i had already had the morning off for hospital appointments; but, after nurses who were treating me for other issues saw the burns they had to check with the doctors to verify that i could receive my treatments.

the first nurse set me up with an appointment to see the minor injury clinic because she was worried about me. i may have flabbergasted the doctor because i wasn't requesting a prescription for the pain. it feels like lil tingles to me for such a big icky wound. the poor doctor kept returning to check, double-check, and triple check my answer to the pain killers.

i feel the pain but i don't belive i'm feeling the full-extent of it.

1. i've broken a couple wrist bones when i was a child and still went to class to take a test.
2. i fell, broke a rib and returned to work right after. only going to the doctor because my chest was moving all funny like.
3. i've broken a leg and still kept on trying to walk. i actually went out to dinner and followed that with some sleep to see if the leg would be better in the morning. nope, it was broken and i got it casted.S

those are just a few incidents where having a good sense of pain can come in very handy.

i don't blame this all on ms. part of it can very well be from how my father raised me to deal with pain. i.e.: as blood is pouring down my leg for a cut i was told to make/use a tourniquet and go on with whatever i was doing, it'll get better. he was a military man trying to raise his eldest daughter as a son. wheee!

is it a blessing to not feel the brunt of these thorns at my side or is it a curse because the pain is a good indicator of when i should seek professional help?

good handicap seats?

it was ry's birthday yesterday and i guess the ticketing agent wanted to be nice and upgrade his seats for his birthday. not only were they upgraded, they were wheelchair accessible.

i haven't had seats with this great of a viewing angle since i worked for the sf ballet and was given center balcony seats to see othello with my best friend.

note: i didn't zoom in for this picture. this is how the game looked from our seats. :)

oh, here's the game recap:
Sharks Remain Unbeaten at Home, 3-1

--

if you're wondering how i'm holding up from the past weekend -- i'm working on getting through it. i believe it takes time and prayer, not memory loss to make it through.

Prayer does not change God, but it changes him who prays. ~Søren Kierkegaard

how'd my weekend go?

it had an upside.

i got to see family that i haven't laid eyes on since '94. yep, that's way long ago and it's not like they live in another country. they're in SoCal.

the '08 halloween week summary

i love going to hockey games and if you haven't noticed, i'm a san jose sharks fan. :)

the picture to the right is from a game against the pittsburgh penguins where we won. :D

i wish i was at the last game against the detroit red wings 'cause we wont that 4-2. :D

why do i enjoy hockey? i like the skill and the fights.

to those of you who say hockey is brutal and unsportsmanlike, just remember, there are penalties in place for fights. for goodness sakes, we even have penalty boxes.

---

“My friends and I are crazy.
That's the only thing that keeps us sane.” ~ Matt Schucker

citywide blackout at my house due to stormy weather in the sf bay area.

that's an assumption, i really don't know what 'caused it because it was not mentioned in any of the local papers. it was pretty bad though. banks, malls, and el camino lights were all dead or tweaking.

this wouldn't bug me much except i was dropped off at the mall in the hopes of getting some important errands done, i.e.: ring finger sizing and work outfit shopping.

why the rush for this? well, i've been engaged for 4 years and we'd like to get my practice band replaced because we love its original style so much and we both need the bands to get married. i'll leave out the story of what happened to his ring as well as what happened to mine. yes, they're different stories.

---

today is halloween and i am doing anything but having fun. tomorrow is my cousin's funeral. i love my cousin, he was my male geek counterpart in the family and he will be missed. i wish i had gotten to know him a bit more but just from reading his blog, i know that we were very similar.

we'll be taking an 8 hour drive to southern california to make it to a funeral at 8:30am. yeah, we're not expecting to arrive at the hotel until 1:30am at the earliest.

my hope is to console the family and hoping that their experience with me and the cancer i had might help. i don't know how it can help but i'm praying that it will.

this is halloween, this is halloween...

This is an early candy tribute because we will be unable to take on the candy passer outer duties next week due to outside circumstances that we need to attend to.

geek and geek?

this pic is of me and my hubby at my exes' wedding reception.think i can replace the vow of man and wife with Geek and Geek?

is this what i've been reduced to? i kid, i kid. :)

Who am I?

> Just like everyone else out there I've got a cornucopia of experiences that make me an individual.

What makes me happy?

> LOTS of things, thank God.

What's my occupation?

> I've been in the IT field for quite some time (8 years) although not as long as my hubby. Darn the dot.com layoffs. I've loved tech since I was a little kid playing with Dad's engineering tools and testing equipment. I'm not going to be leaving the tech world anytime soon. Having the IT exec husband kind of secures me in that respect. I just need to figure out where I really want to go with all this experience.

What are my plans for the future?

> Walking, dancing, horsebackriding, skating (ice & roller), boarding (snow & boogie/water), getting wed in church, buying a shot at a home, batting cages, walking my dog, and starting a family.

What am I doing right now?

> Lots of rehabilitation to get my body restored close to what it once was. Lots of praising and thanking God for giving me such an awesome mate, pulling me through this mess I've fallen into, and for making me strong enough to be able to make it through.

Where do I live?

> I live in the burbs but I spend lots of time within inner city SF. We initially moved to this side of the bay thinking it would be safer than our old spot and it is; however, that doesn't totally get applied to our old and current stomping grounds.