Thoughts for the Week

1. If I were a kid with a lengthy wish list, I might be feeling a bit glum right now. But no, there's nothing more that I need. I'm content and cozy and feeling rather safe and warm with the people who have let me change over the years. That's more than enough.
2. Music saves me. And how the hell does I-Tunes manage to randomly select the exact song I need to hear at precisely the right time? One of the great mysteries of life.
3. We're constantly presented with choices. Flats or heels? Coffee or tea? White or wheat? For the bigger ones though, you have to listen to those around you, consider their input, then make the best decision for yourself and hope for the best. It's daunting and terrifying at times, but your heart knows you best and will help you out.
4. Our soulmates are those who hold up a mirror to us and show us what we don't necessarily want to see about ourselves. They can be the most difficult people to be with for this reason, but they're aides in our growing processes. We have to be cognizant of what we're supposed to learn from them, otherwise we miss the lesson and we'll have to do it again later anyway.

Thoughts for the Week

Eh. At least it's over.

Tales from Mexico

Back from the sun and the warmth of Mexico to heavy rains and record-breaking flooding in the Pacific NW. Mexico was amazing from start to finish - a few stressful moments in there; however, nothing uncharacteristic of any holiday, really. It was wonderful to lose my grasp on time and responsibility and do exactly what I felt like doing, exactly when I wanted to do it. Days spent lazing about on the beach and drinking poolside pina coladas; warm, sultry evenings of indulgence on outdoor patios. There was late-night dancing in the middle of a crowded city square - with passersby wondering just who on earth we were. That electric shock machine - what was that?! I think we all lost a year or two off our lives because we were too damn stubborn to give in to the electrifying pain shooting up our arms, as it meant losing the challenge. Tequila shots and boas(?). I'm still beaming with pride that my man successfully downed a pint in one long gulp without spilling a drop. (I helped him to the car later.)



My girls and I, reunited, were just like old times - as if not a single day had passed since our days in London town. Singing at the top of our lungs in an Irish pub to popular songs performed by a local band, tossing back tequila shot after tequila shot ("Queremos ver si Amanda es amiga...!"), and dancing until our legs felt like jelly. Such fantastic times!

Mexico City itself was quite polluted and poverty-stricken, and I wasn't too taken by the city initially - but having the fabulous tour guide that we did, we were able to experience all the best the city had to offer, which the ordinary tourist would certainly miss. Then it was off to Cuernavaca to explore the cathedrals, then Taxco, a lovely little village where we were nearly stranded on account of the tour company deciding they simply didn't want to carry on to Acapulco. Ana and I threw a nice big fuss, so they sorted us out with first-class bus tickets and a private van to take us to our hotel, which - by the way - was magnificent. We actually weren't sure we had the right place at first. The next couple of days were spent playing in the water on wave-runners and water skis, snorkeling (mildly disappointing as the water was very cloudy and all we really saw was each other), and riding out on a little boat to catch a front-seat show put on by the world famous cliff divers. Like I said, the trip was not without its ups and downs, like when Adi's tequila caught up with him and he had a rather miserable morning and I got to play nursemaid, or when that guy charged us 270 pesos for three pina coladas, or when I donated my sweater to the cabbie, then gave the same cabbie 400 pesos instead of 40. Oh, and then there was the 24-hr flight delay on the way home; but we ended up getting free flights out of it, so it all paid off, which means our flights to NYC will be free. Hey, things happen for a reason.

It was an emotional goodbye for me; good friends are hard to come by and I certainly cherish mine. I'm broke now, so won't be traveling anywhere again before NYC...and then everyone will have to come and visit ME!

Have you got any soul?

“Have you got any soul?" a woman asks the next afternoon. That depends, I feel like saying; some days yes, some days no. A few days ago I was right out; now I've got loads, too much, more than I can handle. I wish I could spread it a bit more evenly, I want to tell her, get a better balance, but I can't seem to get it sorted. I can see she wouldn't be interested in my internal stock control problems though, so I simply point to where I keep the soul I have, right by the exit, just next to the blues.

--Nick Hornby

Thoughts for the Week

1. One man's pessimist is another man's realist.
2. The weight of the world's problems can be overwhelming and suffocating at times. It all can make you feel so helpless; however, you have to accept the yin and yang of life and know that your power in changing things will always be limited. In the meantime, enjoy your family, appreciate your freedom, respect your Mother Earth, vote, and know that you should never take a single day for granted.
3. Don't rely on another to do a job for you. You're better off acting as the only one in charge; that way you'll be pleasantly surprised when someone steps up to help out, rather than being disappointed when they don't.
4. Little kids should never be given whistles as toys. And if they are, they should not be allowed to stand directly below my window. My annoyance with other people's children is further evidence that I am nowhere near having children of my own. Then again, of course, my children will be different than everyone else's and will never be given whistles. Ever.
5. On that note, one should practice love and patience for all mankind, in order to "be the change you wish to see in the world" (Mahatma Gandhi). This applies to even those neighbourhood children who annoy the hell out of you.
6. I never know what I'm going to write before I start this blog, but it's funny how reflecting back on the week brings to light the many lessons I'm exposed to on a daily basis. Hmmm...not to mention the many things I've got to work on....

Thoughts for the Week (last week, that is)

I'm late with this this week, but hey, I'm trying:

1. First impressions aren't always right on. Most things/people/places deserve a second chance. And in some cases, three and four and five chances. But ok - six chances at the very most, because let's face it: at that point, it's just a losing battle.
2. The best friends are the kind who you can go years without seeing, and when you do, it's like you only just saw them yesterday and you pick up right where you left off.
3. The best friends are also the kind who you don't really have to explain yourself to because they already know.
4. There is no such thing as being "too professional" for an interview. And if anyone ever tells you this, spit in their eye. Or at least fantasize about spitting in their eye. Because they're stupid.
5. It's a good sign when you go away from home for a few days and you're just as excited to get home as you were to leave.
6. There is no such thing as a "chance meeting." Strangers drift in and out of the picture for a reason, whether it be guidance or direction, or as a type of awakening. Sometimes we need our thoughts or feelings confirmed - and it's nice to run into someone who seems to just get it.
7. There IS such a thing as too much peanut butter jelly time.

Thoughts for the Week

1. Be careful who you trust and/or believe. People sometimes act like they know more than they really do.
2. Instinct is highly underrated.
3. Everyone should come up with a soundtrack for their lives then ask themselves why they chose those particular songs. I find it puts some things in perspective.
4. Ten years ago was ten years ago. You don't live there anymore. Move on.
5. Your family consists of the people who know all the things about you that most people don't. That's why they're so damn hard to be around sometimes.
6. Coffee makes me more tired;
7. And on that note, I love Eggnog Latte season.
8. Sometimes your hero of the day is the last person you expect; for instance, a psycho-conservative, xenophobic, Bush-lovin, Hilary-hatin army guy who disagrees with you on most everything. Because he just might surprise you and rig a drawing so that you win the prize, simply because he knows you need an extra reason to smile.

i want to be a part of it....

So I'm back in the blog world. Let's be honest; I'm sick of MySpace. It bores me. I am no longer driven to blog there. So we're going to revisit the long-ago-abandoned blog I set up here well over a year ago when things were very serious and stressful and I needed an outlet for the preservation of sanity. Maybe this will motivate me to write a bit, as I haven't been doing enough of that. Well, unless you count translating laws and rules regarding retirement plans for state workers. Thrilling material, I assure you.

So the latest is that my trip to NYC is coming up in two weeks. Two weeks?! Doesn't seem real. I was beginning to think the world stopped somewhere outside of Puyallup, and if you go beyond that, you'll just drop off the edge into oblivion. It's been a while since I've been anywhere besides the western half of the U.S. Actually, the NYC excusion in 2006 was the last time I was anywhere east of Evanston, WY. Not to say this part of the country isn't lovely; it is. I'm just ready to broaden my horizons again.

Not only am I going to be in a fabu city, but I will be seeing some friends from London town whom I have not seen in a ridiculously long time. We will be convening for a long weekend of tearing up the town, and I am predicting total misbehaviour. Although the trip feels somewhat last minute, the decision itself took all of about five minutes to make once the suggestion was thrown out there.

This was more or less the way it went:

Me: "I wish I could go to New York."

Mariana: "You should!"

Me: "Hmmm...ok!"

Ok, so what's even better? "Can it get any better, really?" you say. Yes, it can! Adi and I will be joining Miss Mariana and Miss Ana in Mexico for even more fun just two weeks following the New York trip. Hooray! I've never been to Mexico, apart from the one day jaunt across the border into Ensenada, which I would say doesn't qualify as it's more of a garbage pit than an actual town. That's a whole different story.

So needless to say, I'm very excited for these upcoming weeks. Things are looking good.