_________ for Dummies

After dicing some veggies to cook for dinner last night, my hands still smell like onions.

I forgot to get something signed by Catherine and it was due today, (plus her and Owen were both gone on Friday). This resulted in driving from school to home to Ricardo to school, trying to make it before 2:00, to Ricardo to Barnes and Noble and back home, trying to get out after rush hour. That was at least an 1/8 of my tank and an hour and a half of driving.

I stopped at Barnes and Noble on the way home because today, I realized at work that I need to know PageMaker, and I don't. At all. Of course, Barnes and Noble has dozens of books about all of Adobe's other programs, but had zero books about the program, and this makes me bitter. So now I am eating a leftover slice of ice cream cake from Sunday.

I have to admit, I love the Dummies series of books. Two years ago, Josh miraculously got them to sponsor our team. They sent us Dummies T-shirts with a list of Dummies books on the back, Dummies keychains, and around 20 Dummies books that were all somehow related to robotics. I started reading "Grant Writing for Dummies" and "Fundraising for Dummies" and ended up holding on to both. It's not like the belong to anyone anymore and I can guarantee I'll be the only one to have ever read them anyway. Both are great - very imformative, yet simply explained.

Tim called me today to tell me he lost his sunglasses and was wondering if I could buy and send him another pair. I'm pretty flattered, actually, that we have a newfound (sorta) brother-sister relationship and he calls me just to ask for things like this. I'm starting to learn that inconvenience is nothing when it comes to family :)

Blehhh my stomach is starting to get angry with me for eating so much.

March Playlist

Here's what's on my current playlist (just to show you how random my taste is):

"She's a Brick House" - Rick James
"Play That Funky Music" - James Brown
"Touch the Sky" - Kanye West
"Can't Touch This" - MC Hammer
"SOS" - Rihanna
"Temperature" - Sean Paul
"Culo" - Pitbull and Lil Jon
"Hung Up" - Madonna
"Sorry" - Madonna
"Everytime We Touch" - Cascada
"Until the Day I Die" - Story of the Year
"Check On It" - Destiny's Child
"Wanted Dead or Alive" - Bon Jovi
"Superman" - Three Doors Down
"Kryptonite" - Big Boi and Killer Mike
"Thriller" - Michael Jackson
"You're Beautiful" - James Blunt
"When the Stars Go Blue" - Tyler Hilton and Bethan Joy Lenz
"Miserable" - Lit
"Wonderwall" - Oasis

Selling the house, mom's birthday, screen names

Today was the first open house we had since we decided to sell the house, and six familes came to visit. The last family was this young couple, the wife's parents, and their adorable three kids who were 4, 6, and 7. That's the perfect candidate for our house. This house is wasted on us - it deserves to go to a family with three or more kids who like to play outside or in the big basement, a couple who needs a study room/office, a dad that likes to work in a four car garage, and a mom that likes the big kitchen and dining room.

My mom, D, and I went out for sushi tonight in celebration of her birthday, and D bought her a Coldstone "Cookies and Creamery" cake (yayy).Tim and I bought her a color printer. We need it bad because our ten-year old HP Deskjet 694C doesn't even have a dsi close to the 1,000s. The color comes out distorted and grainy, the paper gets jammed when you try to print more than two pages at a time (if you try to and the printer doesn't get jammed, it just distorts everything you print), and now a black line prints down the center of each page we print. I ended up buying a Canon MP450 for $99.99 which is a printer/scanner/photo printer with a dsi of 2400 by 1200 (color) and a LCD screen on it so you can view/edit the pictures you want to print. It's also bluetooth compatible, if I ever use that. For that price, I'll take anything better than what we have!I'm thinking that I don't really like either of my two screen names anymore. I've had them since I've started using the computer, and I don't want to deal with numbers anymore except maybe 548 since it has some significance. I want a name I won't "outgrow" that sort of has a ring to it. Something that people will be like "ohhh" when I tell them what it means. But I know I'm thinking about this too hard because really it doesn't matter that much. So here two ideas:
SakerinSmile (based off of the word "saccharine")
SomeSNtimNTL ("some(thing) sentimental" - although it looks like the word "Tim" is in it)

It's like Mos Def (aka Left Ear in the Italian Job). Noone really knows his real name, but he grew up saying "most definitely" a lot so now his name is officially Mos Def. How cool is that?

Blood, 703/548, and Gambling

I spent the whole week wondering why I signed up to give blood at school since I'm deathly afraid of needles. I suspect it has something to do with the way Mike charmed me into it and kept talking to me about it during seminar. But still, I almost cried when I saw the needle Friday morning. It wasn't a big deal after it was in and I was waiting, but it took a reeeally long time, and when it was all over, I felt like I was going to throw up. Next thing I know, my legs and arms started to feel a little tingly, and I was breathing into a paper bag while the lady (is she a nurse? I don't know) put cold clothes all over my neck and forehead. I sort of blacked out into the lady's arms and she shook me and jogged me across the room to a bed. Since I had high heels on and couldn't keep up with her pace, I made a big racket with my feet dragging, and I am so embarassed everyone saw me like this.

Friday night, Lindsey and D came over, and the three of us drove out to Southfield to meet Joe and Stephen from 703, Stephen's girlfriend, and Stephen's girlfriend's friend. I'm hoping Joe and Lindsey will reconcile since he is the nicest guy ever, and she is so lucky to have someone like that who wants to spend time with her. Here's the cute "hopefully-to-be"-couple at dinner ;)Saturday night was Ricardo's Reception and Casino Night. DTC (Detroit Technical Center) Ricardo rented out this big banquet center at Livonia Marriot Hotel. There were like 300 people there and there was a live DJ, catering (a pasta bar where they make whatever kind of past you want on the spot with different sauces, veggies, or meats!), bartenders, and "in-training-to-be-professional" casino dealers. Here's us all dressed up :)
There was a roulette table, two poker tables (where we were), two craps tables, and two blackjack tables. Everything was played with "funny money", and whoever had the most money at the end of the night got prizes. There was also a raffle with some pretty crazy prizes (like a $500 American Express certificate), and a prize to whoever gambled away their money first which turned out to be me! Luckily, Jessi had to take his wife home to their six kids so he gave me the remainder of his and his wife's funny money, and Kathleen gave me $100 of the funny money she hadn't spent.

Lynda got drunk quickly (that's the other thing - we were probably the only two people "underaged" there), and her husband played poker throughout the night. We were at his table when the last round of gambling was called off, so everyone pretty much bet everything saying that whoever won this last round, would have the most funny money in the room. Sure enough, here is Rick counting his chips and Lynda smiling with a drink next to him!
I gotta say, gambling with four buddies you know in a quiet house for $5 is nothing at all like gambling at in a loud room with 10+ players you've never met before and a pro dealer! But I had more fun than I can remember having in awhile, and I'm glad D convinced me we should go :) I gotta say - it's going to be a nightmare for my bank account when I'm old enough to gamble!

Good times, good times indeed.

Before I talk about this weekend...
Today, Claude introduced me to Tracy who now works for John VanAlstyne who is the VP of Bus Dev and Marketing at Ricardo who I had an interview with about a month ago. You with me so far? I thought John had forgotten about the interview, even though it sounded promising when I had talked to him, but I guess he mentioned it to the rest of the department last week. Tracy schedule a meeting with me and John this Friday, and this SAE Trade Show is coming up and Ricardo has a booth and I guess that's something I'm going to be working on with Tracy starting towards the end of this week! And, it looks like I'm going to be a major part of Rinc US's starting newsletter :)

On Friday I went prom dress shopping with Colleen at Somerset after work. Unfortunately, of the two dresses I liked best, one was falling apart and the last size, the other had material so thin it was see through. Finally, we just gave up and went to the food court, and I ate the best salad I've had since the salad I had in New York last year. It's tossed the way a salad should be: the freshest ingredients (complete with meats and cheeses) with your favorite dressing tossed in a clean, large, bowl. Then the DVD of Seinfeld episodes (D burned for me) until I fell asleep.

Saturday was GLR first thing in the morning. D calls at 7 freakin' am, and of course that's nothing to him. And let me just say this. 548 won a Judges award for financial difficulties. I laugh because of all Detroit charter schools and all the teams Ford completely dropped, Northville - where everyone has expensive houses and cars - wins the Judges award for financial difficulties. Honestly guys, that's not something to brag about.

Highlights included:
Lunch with John and Kristin, Kevin, Nitin, Stephan, and D at one of GQ's (and Oprah's) Top 20 Burgers to Eat Before You Die: Sidetrack Bar and Grill. So 19 more and then I can die. The burger was not bad at all with its perfectly cooked meat and toasted bun, but what was better was the Cranberry Walnut Bread Pudding that Kristin and I split.Marty, in his shorts (on the far right, bottom corner), and Lindsey (on the far left, bottom corner) reffing the game and doing the "YMCA" during a break. Everyone else on the field who isn't a ref is a mascot.
Sunday included a massive load of cleaning, saying goodbye to Tim, and spending good times with old robotics kids. Dinner at Red Robin, cruising in D's Cobra, music blasting, and balls blasting out of my RoboPong 2000. Brings me back to the old days which I wish I hadn't taken for granted. Oh yeah, here's his oh-so-sexy Cobra:

What else? Oh yeah, Miami beat the Cavaliers after a couple quarters of trying to catch up with the Cavaliers, and the Pistons are now 50-12 (first in Central) but Denver and San Antonio are just trailing behind!

What a great weekend I had!

Wooow I have so much on this weekend I want to write about. We'll start with Friday evening (after my last post).

After I got home from six hours of driving and terrible traffic to get Tim from Big Rapids, D and I went out for Sushi, and it was the best I can ever remember having! We both started out with Miso Soup and Salad with a peanut dressing. D ordered this amazing sushi that had tempura shrimp, avocado, carrots, and cucumbers wrapped in seaweed and rice, topped with thin layers of eel, and all of that topped with mounds of fresh crab. Mine was crab, avocado, cucumber, and caviar, wrapped in rice and seaweed, and topped with diced, toasted scallops. Mouthwatering, just to think about it!

On full stomachs, we came back here and played poker while I talked to my uncle in Taiwan over Skype. Of course, loser has to buy the other person sushi the next time we go out ;) And of course, I lost :( But I gotta get some practice in before next weekend's Ricardo Casino Night!

Saturday, D's family (plus me and Tom) celebrated his grandma's birthday over steak, ribs, potatoes, rice, and salad. I guess it would have been more polite to get his grandma something since we're always eating her cooking, but at the same time, I hadn't know about this dinner until a day or two before. I wrote her a card and Dusan translated it to his grandma who gave me a kiss on the cheek in gratitude.
Late Saturday evening, we went to Greenbrain Comics in Dearborn to meet one of my personal celebrities: Matt Madden (coincidentially born, raised, and graduated from UM AA). He wrote a graphic novel called 99 Ways to Tell a Story, and for my Writing Center final project, I studied 8 of the 99 and then wrote my own story 8 times with illustrations. When I found out I got an A on the project, I emailed him to thank him for his inspiration. He suprisingly emailed me back to let me know he'd be in the area March 3rd and 4th for something called "Comic Jams". When I showed up, he thoroughly read my book (yess!), gave me insightful feedback about my writing/illustrations, autographed my book, and even drew my character with an object from his book! He announced my book to everyone that was there and it got passed around for about an hour. When I told him we were leaving, he walked me out and gave me a hug like we were old friends :)

I also met Matt Feazell at "Comic Jams" who Matt Madden claims was the person to first inspire him to begin his comics career (they're now old friends). Although Matt Feazell can sketch very elaborate, advanced drawings (I saw him drawing), he is known for his comic "Cynicalman" which is hilarious, cute, and simple. He gave me little Cynicalman minicomics to take home, and I love them so I think I'm going to go buy his comic book.

After church and lunch with my mom and her friends, my mom and I drove around spontaneously checking out condos in the area. I fell in love with this unfortunately-too-small-but-goregous condo complex on Grand River called Gateway Village. I later went to Dusan's and we ended up watching "Princess Diaries 2" and a part of "Shall We Dance?"

Strange tidbits of recent dreams

I was sitting at a bar in a hotel with my brother, and a waitress passes and hands me a pad of sushi order forms and a mini pencil. I begin to order sushi and notice that the form has already been written on, so I flip to the next sheet and start to tally what I want. I look at Tim (who hates seafood dead or alive) to ask if he wants potato skins with sour cream, and he says, "yes." For some strange reason, you can't get a plate of 6 or 8. You can only order 32 at a time, and this pisses me off.

I'm getting dressed up for a dance or a reception something formal. Before I go upstairs to put on this black dress that is so short it makes me uncomfortable, I'm downstairs eating and I hear a knock on the door. It's the Hutchison men (Mr. Hutch, John, and Kyle) and they've been working our lawn. I invite them in for lemonade but let them know I don't have much time to talk. My mom comes over and the five of us are talking when I realize I'm super late. I run upstairs but I can't find the shoes I was going to wear even though there are shoes everywhere: in the laundry basket, in the bathroom, on the floor, on my bed, and in my closet. I hear another knock at the door, and it's D who is all dressed up and had driven the Cobra over so we could ride to the party in style. He announces that we're late and I announce I'm not leaving until I find my shoes. He waits by the door while I run upstairs and find my shoes in a pile of them and I hear him telling me he's going to leave and meet me there so he's not late. I'm angry, and I bend over to put my shoes on but there's a huge ache in my back. I turn around in the mirror and lift my dress to find a large, purple cut straight across my back.

I'm at school in my pajamas because I've literally rolled out of bed and straight into class. I'm reading a book when suddenly, I have the urge to shower so I go to the bathroom and suddenly wonder how I'm going to shower without a shower in the school's bathroom. Several other girls walk in to fix their makeup and I try wash my hands trying to pretend like I'm there for a reason.

I'm sitting in my bed wondering why I feel so pot-bellied, fat when a doctor walks in and announces there isn't one, there's three. "Three what?" I'm thinking, and I realize I'm giving birth to triplets and I'm terrified.