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Sunday, April 29, 2007 ( 4:19 PM ) teahouse Italia The Boy and I are leaving for a European vacation. We'll be gone for the next week exploring Italy and attending a friend's wedding. No, our friends are not Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes. Yes, they invited us to their wedding, but it didn't fit with our vacation schedules, haha. I really need this, and it will be a chance for us to get away and celebrate our engagement as well. Have a wonderful week, and I'll be back before you know it! # 0 comments Thursday, April 26, 2007 ( 7:00 AM ) teahouse Happy Days Hey, everyone - thanks for the lovely wishes! Wow..I'm pretty sure that was more comments than I've ever gotten on any post I've ever written! I'd estimate that about 100 people (in person, on the phone and online) have said "Congratulations" to me in the past few days. Yesterday, one of my former coworkers called me on the phone and said, "I heard the news! I'm so excited for you, THB! Congratulations!" "Thanks!" I replied. "You must have heard that I got my blue belt! I was so nervous about the test. But I passed with flying colors. And the GrandMaster praised my back kick! It was such a relief to get that over with!"  0 comments Monday, April 23, 2007 ( 12:02 AM ) teahouse Atypical I'd say that in many ways, I'm not your average stereotypical girly-girl. For example: 1. I don't get all teary-eyed when I see babies. Granted, they're cute, and I do want some of my own. But most people's babies look very unattractive to me - they spit up, and cry a lot, and generally smell bad. I don't really like to play with them, and my voice doesn't go up 2 octaves when they're around. I figure that when I have my own, I'll take care of them because I love them, but I'll probably hate changing diapers and wiping up poop. 2. I don't like dogs or cats. I'm allergic to both, and I don't find them cuddly or fun to hold. I'll never be an old woman with cats. 3. Bugs and roaches don't scare me. When I see a roach, I usually calmly step on it and kill it. I'm pretty cold-blooded about it. 4. I'm not a very good cook. I've never cooked up a fancy gourmet meal to impress a guy. I usually just throw money at the problem, and say, "Hey, let's go out for sushi!" I hate to do dishes, too. And my apartment is really messy and unorganized. 5. I don't particularly like shopping. I'll go to the mall when I need something specific. I do have a lot of clothes and shoes, but mostly because I'm so unorganized that I lose everything, and then constantly have to go out and buy new stuff. 6. I haven't had my whole wedding planned in my head since I was a kid. And I haven't had my children's names selected, either. When I get married and have kids, I'll have to start planning from scratch. I have no idea what I want. And FINALLY, the last reason I'm not a stereotypical girly-girl, 7. Over the weekend, the Boy gave me this secret decoder ring and an offer I couldn't refuse, and I've waited until the end of this long-ass post to tell you all. And I'm not sure what the next step is. I think I'm supposed to call the church or something.  0 comments Thursday, April 19, 2007 ( 12:02 AM ) teahouse Asian Guilt It's past my bedtime, but I can't sleep. I've been online reading all of the stories about the crazy kid who shot and killed 32 people, plus himself, at Virginia Tech. I was talking about it to my Asian friends earlier today about it. I read this article about South Korea's collective guilt over the event. We all understood. It's hard to explain. But since Asian culture tends to focus more on the collective than the individual (a glaring stereotype, I know..yet grounded in some truth), I feel the shame that someone who looks like me did something so awful. I feel like apologizing to everyone I know. I asked the Boy if he felt it, too. Here was our ensuing conversation. Boy: Well, maybe when your parents push you too hard in science and math, you just snap? THB: But wait... he was an English major! Boy: Oh. Well, maybe they made him do pre-med? My mom made me do pre-med. That would be enough to send anyone over the edge. THB: That is so not funny. You shouldn't joke about such things. Boy: Eh. Anyway, I have always liked the Hokies. One summer when I was in college, I hung out with some guys from Virginia Tech, and they invited me to a "hokie roast." They explained that the roast would involve the "castration" of a turkey. The schedule in the invitation read: 4:00 Come on over and see the turkey. 4:30 Watch as the turkey becomes a hokie. 8:00 Time for dinner! The "becoming" step involved "castration" of an enormous turkey-shaped pinata with large balls full of candy. I guess you had to be there. Anyway, I hope those guys are doing ok. It's been a tough and tragic week. They are in my thoughts and prayers. # 0 comments Tuesday, April 17, 2007 ( 10:26 AM ) teahouse Pushy Something happened in my martial arts class last night that vexed me greatly. I will share the story and perhaps you can tell me whether I was out of line. So I was in the dressing room before class, and there was this woman who's a 4th degree black belt. So that makes her an official Master. Very senior. There was a third woman in the dressing room, and as the Master and I were walking out, she looked at the woman's purse, and said, "What a cute purse!" And I looked and saw that the the third woman had this little Coach purse that was the same as the one that the Boy gave me for my birthday - it's a little one that you take when you go out. I happen to know that purse cost over $200. So I said, "Yeah, that is a cute purse! I have the same one!" Stupid, stupid. Me and my big mouth. The Master turned to me and said, "That's perfect! I have to go to a fancy dinner in a few weeks, and I can borrow yours! It will go with my dress and shoes!" Now, there is no way I'm lending my nice, expensive Coach purse that I got as a present from my boyfriend to a perfect stranger. Especially when she's all pushy and it's not my idea to lend it to her (nor have I volunteered). I think I was kind of dumbfounded. I didn't know what to say. I honestly think that she didn't realize how expensive and nice of a purse it is. So I did the only thing I could do... I made up a lie on the spot. I said, "Uh..well, I haven't seen the purse in a long time. I think I might have lost it. I, uh, moved a while ago, and I haven't seen it since." She said, "Oh, you moved? When? I thought you've been living in this neighborhood for over a year!" Ugh..crazy cow, with her access to the student's personal files. I just kept compounding the lies. "Oh, yeah, it was a while ago but I'm bad about unpacking...I haven't seen it..." THEN she had the nerve to say, "Well, my party isn't until May. So you have a few weeks to find it. So let me know, ok?" Argh!! Can't a person take a hint? I tried one more time. "Well, it's last season's purse, so I'm sure you can find it online or at the Coach store. It's probably marked down by now!" She actually said, "Well, I could just buy yours from you!" Argghghghg.. So my plan is to not bring it up again. And if she does, just tell her I can't find it. The thing is, she's a Master so I can't really antagonize her. She can make things difficult for me if I piss her off. I hope I did the right thing. Bleh. # 0 comments Monday, April 16, 2007 ( 7:02 AM ) teahouse Passages of Life Over the weekend, I was checking my mail when I saw that I'd gotten a large envelope. The return address was a company I'd never heard of. When I opened it, there was a free sample:  Last I checked, I was only in my early 30s, and hadn't yet hit menopause. How did I get on this mailing list?? The cloth was useful, though. I used it to wipe off my dining room table after dinner. It smelled pretty nice. Maybe I'll buy some more. # 0 comments Thursday, April 12, 2007 ( 6:56 AM ) teahouse Working in the Burbs - Part Cinq Sorry I've been kind of missing in action this week. I have no excuse, except that the job has been really hectic. I've been getting so little sleep, and feeling so out of it, that yesterday morning during the train ride to the office, I spilled coffee all over myself but didn't realize it for about 5 minutes. I kind of dozed off, and the cup in my hand tipped over, but I was oblivious to what was happening. Then I woke up thinking, "Hmm..my legs and butt feel warm. Is there some kind of heater in this seat?" Then I looked down and saw that there was coffee all over my lap and the seat. I had to sop it up with my morning newspaper. What a mess! It was so bad, when I stood up to leave the train, my pants legs were stuck together. It's the chastity belt of the 21st century. I didn't want to miss my stop, so I ended up waddling towards the train doors, hopping forward like the Easter Bunny. # 0 comments Sunday, April 08, 2007 ( 10:52 PM ) teahouse La Le La La...Feelin' Groovy Happy Easter!! Thanks for the get-well wishes, everyone. Yes, there's nothing like confessing pukey/poopie stories to strangers on the Internet. But in light of my illness, I took some time off from work, and slept a lot, and I'm feeling MUCH better now. I got better just in time for the holiday. And it was a great weekend. The Sister came to visit, and we went to mass, and ate a lot, and slept a lot, and celebrated the end of Lent. Speaking of the end of Lent, I'm off to fry me up some bacon... # 0 comments Wednesday, April 04, 2007 ( 4:17 PM ) teahouse Ughhhhhhh I came home from work early today. I seem to have caught a nasty stomach bug. It hit me all of a sudden at work this morning..I was sitting at my desk minding my own business, when suddently, I had to run to the ladies room!!! I sprinted down the hall, but...Unfortunately..well, I don't know how to put this delicately, but... I didn't make it. To put it indelicately... I crapped my pants. There. I've said it. Not so bad, to get it out in the open. I spent a few minutes cleaning up in the ladies room. And then I went outside, thinking it was over. Minutes later, it still wasn't over. But this time, I felt nauseous and dizzy, and I felt the urge again. But this time I DID make it to the ladies room. That's when I decided to go home. Have you ever tried to do a 1.5 hour commute home in the middle of the day in the pouring rain (on a NON-express train) when you've got the runs? No fun. It's like jumping from one lily pad to the next. Or swinging from one vine to the next. You have to time it perfectly. As I learned today. As it was, I barely made it. Curse my unreasonably long commute!! First, I was speeding down the road in my car to the train station. Second, while on the train, I got a seat near the bathroom. Thankfully, I made it home to my own bathroom before I felt the urge again. This whole story would be really funny if my butt wasn't on fire and my head didn't feel like it was going to explode. I'm going to bed now. # 0 comments Monday, April 02, 2007 ( 7:27 AM ) teahouse Buh-Bye! Recently, one night after work, I met up for drinks with C, an old male friend from my college days. He was in town for business for just a few days, and I hadn't seen him in ages. We met at one of these swanky, pulsy bars full of overpriced Cosmopolitans, hot waitresses in mini-skirts and the Wall-Street meathead types who hit on them. Not my scene, but he had chosen it. It was nice to see him, and our catching-up conversation was going well when some girl sidled up to us and started to hit on him BLATANTLY. I swear, she actually uttered this sentence to him at one point during the night. "You're so manly!" The next thing I knew, it was an hour later, and the three of us were standing in front of the bar. I was walking toward the subway, and he and the girl were jumping into a cab together. As it took off down the block, he shouted out the window, "It was great seeing you, THB! I hope you don't mind that I'm running off like this. I'll give you a call next time I'm in town!" On my way to the subway, I actually heard crickets chirping. # 0 comments |
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