Day 71: light sedation is kind of nice

**Possibly a backblog to come later as it's 3 am and I may not be coherent due to a combination of drugs and exhaustion...

I had minor foot surgery today. Just something small that would need only a stitch or two supposedly. I was supposed to have local anesthetic only, but after remembering the pain of the needle going into my other foot last year for another thing, I was a little apprehensive about having to go through it again. Enter my awesome doctor who gets the in-house anesthesiologist to lightly sedate me so I won't feel a thing! I wasn't supposed to pass out really, but I was pretty tired to begin with so I did and was a little loopy for a while. I DO remember waking up in the middle of it and asking for my phone so I could photoblog, but they were a little too busy to accomodate me... On the bright side, before I passed out, the anesthesiologist let me take pictures of him sticking the IV in and stuff. :)




Such good service! They're so nice to me!

I was done before I knew it, and left with my cousin Jenny and her son Matty to go get her husband Gil and hang at their house, which was totally such a blessing they were there because I was suuuuper loopy for a while afterwards.

Drugs can be so awesome.

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Day 70: "Hey cheer up. You still have pretty hair."

I love my cousin Sharon. I haven't had the easiest of days today, and even from far away, Sharon knows just what to say to make me feel better.

I wasn't wrong when I said I believed that psalm that says, "God is close to those whose hearts are breaking." At just the right time, I get people like Sharon and her sister Jenny and Jenny's husband Gil, who somehow know just what to do to cheer me.

Best line of the night? Sharon, whose first text said, "Hey cheer up. You still have pretty hair."

Hahahah love love love

Day 69: Vincenzo's first ever fruit roll up

One could say Vincenzo is a worldly man. He grew up in Italy, moved to the US, married a beautiful Peruvian lady (twice! To the same lady of course), and they look like they've done a bit of world exploration... I probably don't know the half of how interesting his life must be so far with all the experiences he's had all these years, but I can say that his life truly did not begin until today. After all, you have not lived until you have a fruit roll-up. :)




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Day 68: I is tired

...which means you get a random last minute photo taken on my way home.

What? At least I'm consistent. Just not at effort. :)




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Day 67: call it the mcghetto

Really??? Really McDonalds??? This is how you make a Big Mac???

Day 66: They Came, They Saw, They Conchord. :)

I love how my friends humor me...

So... one of the awesome parts of my neighborhood is that it's where Flight of the Conchords was filmed... and somehow I have a hard time finding people who are as excited about that little tidbit of information as I am... until yesterday!

I completely forgot that Stephen and Luca are FOTC fans, and they got so excited when I showed them the episode where Bret and Jemaine discover hair gel and they're standing super cool on a corner and then I told them that...well... that's MY corner! Sort of... It's in my neighborhood!

Anyway. Today was such a beautiful day, and who knows when I'd have the two of them in my neighborhood again, so I had them pose in positions similar to the ones in that part of the episode...

There was a grumpy Chinese man sitting in the corner blocking where Jemaine had stood, and he did not want to move, so we had to make do with grumpy Chinese man. hah You can't really see him, but his head is there a little bit in the shot...



I <3 my friends. They're so willing to appease me.

***For your reference, here is the shot we were trying to recreate...



Aww, have I mention how much I love my friends? hahhaha

Day 65: Strolling down a Japanese memory lane...

Soeren is here from Germany just for the weekend, and Stephen came up from Virginia. Together with Luca, that rounds up our little Japanese reunion...

You probably don't know what I'm talking about. And by "you," I mean the collective void. And my three known "followers." (Hellooooo guys!!!)

Anyway.

Soeren, Stephen, and Luca are guys I studied abroad with in Nagoya in 2004. Together, we took on Japan, made a bunch of awesome memories, and, as it seems, forged the kind of friendships that span distance and time. It's been six years since we've all been together in the same place (though I've been able to see everyone separately at least twice at some point during the six years), but it feels like we were never apart. I love it! We spent an entire day singing our little hearts out (while sometimes simultaneously talking and catching up and laughing) in a small karaoke room. Soeren had to leave early this morning, so we basically had less than 24 hours to cram all that stuff in! Talk about awesomeness in concentrate!

Also loving how we mostly don't seem to have aged much either....wonder if it will be the same in the next six years...(probably not. The other shoe is bound to drop at some point.) And hopefully, it won't be another six years before we all get to see each other at the same time...

So yeah... this is the three of my boys at the 34th street train station waiting for the F to take us all home, at which point, I just had to take a moment and soak it all in...:)




**Side note: I find it so interesting how I spent the first part of my life being almost completely surrounded by girls allllll the time, and now, I'm spending this part of my life being almost completely surrounded by boys alllll the time. Kind of balances out, I suppose. :)


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Day 64: Spring is upon us...

...it must be, if it's still light outside when we leave the office now...

OR.... we just left wayyy earlier today than we have been... yeah, that's probably it.

Brandon and I left work at 5 today! It was AWESOME!!!!

I love when it's still light out!!!

Day 63: Never Leave a Banana In Your Backpack...

...and no, that is not a euphemism for anything. I am serious.

So to remind you... on Sunday, I did the MS Climb at Rockefeller Center. (66 flights in 24 minutes was a new record for me!) Well, the NYC Chapter for the MS Society was kind enough to sponsor this event and to support the climbers, they had these breakfast stands where they handed out water and bagels and bananas and potato chips and protein shakes... Well, I took a banana, a bottle of water, and a bag of potato chips... In the midst of taking pictures and finding out my time, and everything, I didn't get a chance to eat, and when it was time to go, I just stuffed everything in my backpack and later went to brunch to celebrate another year of having done the climb.

I completely forgot about the stuff I left in my backpack until I was riding in the car to work yesterday with Rich and he was asking the lady at the McDonald's drive thru if they sold bananas... When I got home, I KNEW I should have cleaned out my backpack, but decided to put it off, meaning, another day for my banana to ripen in my backpack. Oh lordy.

I was going to stage making a face for today's picture where I took the banana out, but it turns out, that the actual reaction I had when I pulled it out for real is much much more interesting and honest. hahahah

...Oh mang, it was disgusting. Well, it wasn't half as bad as I expected (thank goodness it's winter and not summer), but it sure was mushy! And smelled like... mushy banana, which I didn't seem to like too much...

SO...yeah... Never leave a banana in your backpack.

Day 62: if you donate, I bake. That's the deal.

I am not fond of baking any more. There is too much cleanup and I am always just too tired, and my state of mind is just so different from where it used to be when I used to bake regularly...

But for certain people at certain times, I will bake.

Today's recipients worthy of my efforts are my coworkers and boss. After having so generously donated about $800 to my MS Climb, the least I could do was bake some pecan tarts for them. So here I am. Slaving away.

If you're worth it, I will bake for you.




**That's me chopping freaking pecans because my magic bullet (kitchen appliance, not lady toy) broke down on me...

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Day 61: Chasing light

I'm so intrigued by light. And so lazy by lack of internets at home...




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Day 60: the shady bodega is gettin' fancy!

Yup! Today, while waiting in line to buy our drinks at the shady bodega near work, Rich and I discovered fancy m&ms!!! Coconut and Strawberried Peanut Butter (two separate flavors, not one; that'd be gross)!

I couldn't help but buy both just to test 'em out. But of course I bought a bag of regular peanut butter just in case it was a bust...


...so it turns out, both are kind of weird. I can't decide which tastes worse. Some people prefer coconut to strawberried peanut butter and vice versa, but I guess I will have to concede that Rich's dad and Brandon are right: you shouldn't mess with m&ms. Plain and peanut. That's it. Maybe peanut butter is okay too (in their opinion. I already consider it the triumvirate of m&ms). You can also make them weird pastel colors but that's about it. Never mess with the flavor... Doing so is like blasphemy and the result is an abomination...

Epic fail, m&ms! Grrrrr

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Day 59: Joyce vs. Rockefeller Center

Today, I did the MS Climb to the Top event at Rockefeller Center. I did it last year, and it was such a good experience that I thought I'd try my hand at it again. This year was with a little less enthusiasm last year though. Only two of my original twelve members of my team decided to join, and they were having trouble raising the minimum needed to climb; not to mention I just didn't seem to have the time or the energy to train...

It seemed a little tedious to have to wake up so early in the morning just to arbitrarily climb 66 flights of stairs... but... I figured I should press on. When you think about all the people who are afflicted with MS or any other decease that makes you incapable of doing minor things that we take for granted, you can't help but realize that every step we take, every move we make, every single day (I totally sang that entire line to the tune of "Every Breath You Take/"I'll Be Missing You" by Sting/Puff Daddy) is a blessing.

So I am proud to say that I conquered Rockefeller yet again. And this time, four minutes faster than I did last year. WHAT!!!! Not bad, considering I took the escalator pretty much every chance I got! ahaha

The elation I felt when I got to the top is captured pretty well with my cousin/teammate Cheryl, here:




She is soooo gonna end up on another MS pamphlet. :)

Day 58: Am I not justified in saying this kid should be a model?

Woke up early this morning to go with cousins Jen and Gil-bart so we could drop Sharon and Daj off to the airport...

Sharon was all geared up for Guam in a sundress and sandals, with her shades on... which Daj promptly stole so that he could look uber-cool. I love how he has mastered that hardcore, too-cool-for-you, "WHAT" look.

God, I'm gonna miss this kid for the month or so that he's gone...

It's not even just that he's so damn cute... it's that... well...he's one of the reasons I've been able to laugh so much in the past few months. Without even realizing what he was doing, he's lifted my spirits so many times... There was this one time I had had one of those really trying days, and was crying with my face in my hands, and he tapped me on my leg to get my attention. I looked down, and the boy had a plastic black cauldron for a head and he was kind of giggling a little underneath it. It was the silliest thing, and I couldn't help but laugh through my tears. It's kind of amazing how such a tiny person can do so much for you...

It surprises me every time when he just can't seem to stop hugging and kissing and tickling me; and how happy he seems to look when he sees me come through the door. I love that he reaches for me, and not just because I have anything to offer... It's so gratifying... An older person loves you because they choose to love you. Everyday, it's a decision. But someone as young as Daj... He loves you because it's an instinct. There's no other way to be... and when you're part of what he loves... it's one of the best feelings in the world...

Day 57: I'm going to miss my Daji-daj

I haven't been away from this boy for longer than ten days and now he's going to Guam for over a month!! :( I'm going to miss my Daji!!




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Day 56: Snow makes me contemplative

There's just something so cleansing about snow. If you walk outside while it's falling, it just makes you think about stuff. If you're like me, it's a good feeling to be out there, having the snow hit your face and just letting your mind wander...

My cousin forwarded an email to me this morning... she told me that reading it had made her think of me... I can't say I hadn't read it before, but it doesn't make it any less powerful... it's what I thought about on my walk home tonight... There's a part that says, "I believe two people can look at the exact same thing and see something totally different." People may look and see a sidewalk lined with trash... but to me, I see the lights from the lampposts and how they hit the snow that's covered everything.... I feel like everything is like that. Where one sees an eyesore, the other may see beauty. Where one may see pain, the other may see a lesson. Where one may see weakness, the other may see strength. Where one may see an obstacle, the other may see a possibility. And where one may see anger and revenge, the other may only see love and forgiveness... My astrologist cab driver told me last week that life is not always about being objective so sometimes I need to be subjective. After all, we only live life as we see it...




Posting the email Sharon sent me for your pleasure:

*************

A BIRTH CERTIFICATE SHOWS THAT WE WERE BORN
A DEATH CERTIFICATE SHOWS THAT WE DIED
PICTURES SHOW THAT WE LIVED!

I BELIEVE...
THAT JUST BECAUSE TWO PEOPLE ARGUE,
IT DOESN'T MEAN THEY DON'T LOVE EACH OTHER.
AND JUST BECAUSE THEY DON'T ARGUE,
IT DOESN'T MEAN THEY DO LOVE EACH OTHER.

I BELIEVE...
THAT WE DON'T HAVE TO CHANGE FRIENDS IF
WE UNDERSTAND THAT FRIENDS CHANGE.

I BELIEVE...
THAT NO MATTER HOW GOOD A FRIEND IS,
THEY'RE GOING TO HURT YOU EVERY ONCE IN A WHILE
AND YOU MUST FORGIVE THEM FOR THAT.

I BELIEVE...
THAT TRUE FRIENDSHIP CONTINUES TO GROW,
EVEN OVER THE LONGEST DISTANCE.
SAME GOES FOR TRUE LOVE.

I BELIEVE...
THAT YOU CAN DO SOMETHING IN AN INSTANT
THAT WILL GIVE YOU HEARTACHE FOR LIFE.

I BELIEVE....
THAT IT'S TAKING ME A LONG TIME
TO BECOME THE PERSON I WANT TO BE.

I BELIEVE...
THAT YOU SHOULD ALWAYS LEAVE LOVED ONES WITH
LOVING WORDS. IT MAY BE THE LAST TIME YOU SEE THEM.

I BELIEVE...
THAT YOU CAN KEEP GOING LONG AFTER YOU THINK YOU CAN'T.

I BELIEVE....
THAT WE ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR WHAT
WE DO, NO MATTER HOW WE FEEL.

I BELIEVE...
THAT EITHER YOU CONTROL YOUR ATTITUDE OR IT CONTROLS YOU.

I BELIEVE...
THAT HEROES ARE THE PEOPLE WHO DO
WHAT HAS TO BE DONE WHEN IT NEEDS
TO BE DONE, REGARDLESS OF THE CONSEQUENCES.

I BELIEVE....
THAT MY BEST FRIEND AND I CAN DO ANYTHING
OR NOTHING AND HAVE THE BEST TIME.

I BELIEVE....
THAT SOMETIMES THE PEOPLE YOU
EXPECT TO KICK YOU WHEN YOU'RE DOWN
WILL BE THE ONES TO HELP YOU GET BACK UP.

I BELIEVE...
THAT SOMETIMES WHEN I'M ANGRY
I HAVE THE RIGHT TO BE ANGRY,
BUT THAT DOESN'T GIVE ME THE RIGHT TO BE CRUEL.

I BELIEVE...
THAT MATURITY HAS MORE TO DO WITH
WHAT TYPES OF EXPERIENCES YOU'VE HAD
AND WHAT YOU'VE LEARNED FROM THEM
AND LESS TO DO WITH HOW MANY
BIRTHDAYS YOU'VE CELEBRATED.

I BELIEVE...
THAT IT ISN'T ALWAYS ENOUGH,
TO BE FORGIVEN BY OTHERS.
SOMETIMES, YOU HAVE TO LEARN TO FORGIVE YOURSELF..

I BELIEVE...
THAT NO MATTER HOW BAD YOUR HEART IS BROKEN
THE WORLD DOESN'T STOP FOR YOUR GRIEF.

I BELIEVE....
THAT OUR BACKGROUND AND CIRCUMSTANCES
MAY HAVE INFLUENCED WHO WE ARE,
BUT, WE ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR WHO WE BECOME.

I BELIEVE...
THAT YOU SHOULDN'T BE SO EAGER TO FIND
OUT A SECRET. IT COULD CHANGE YOUR LIFE FOREVER.

I BELIEVE....
TWO PEOPLE CAN LOOK AT THE EXACT SAME
THING AND SEE SOMETHING TOTALLY DIFFERENT.

I BELIEVE....
THAT YOUR LIFE CAN BE CHANGED IN A MATTER OF
HOURS BY PEOPLE WHO DON'T EVEN KNOW YOU.

I BELIEVE...
THAT EVEN WHEN YOU THINK YOU HAVE NO MORE TO GIVE,
WHEN A FRIEND CRIES OUT TO YOU -
YOU WILL FIND THE STRENGTH TO HELP.

I BELIEVE...
THAT CREDENTIALS ON THE WALL
DO NOT MAKE YOU A DECENT HUMAN BEING.

I BELIEVE...
THAT THE PEOPLE YOU CARE ABOUT MOST IN LIFE
ARE TAKEN FROM YOU TOO SOON.

'THE HAPPIEST OF PEOPLE DON'T NECESSARILY
HAVE THE BEST OF EVERYTHING;
THEY JUST MAKE THE MOST OF EVERYTHING THEY HAVE.

********

Day 55: FOTC was filmed in my 'hood!

So one of the best things I love about my neighborhood is that it's where most of Flight of the Conchords was filmed. Like the episode where Brett and Jemaine discover hair gel. That was MY corner! The shady deli? That was MY shady deli!! And the bar where they always play? That's like, a block away from me! I got so excited when I moved here and figured that all out with one of my roommates... :)

Gotta love New York!


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Day 54: Rainy Days and Mondays Always Get Me Down...

Don't know why but today is just such a blahhh kind of day. :-/ maybe it's the rain...or homesickness? Hrmm.









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Day 53: When all else fails...

Self-portrait!

Was too tired and preoccupied to whip out the camera today... still am, so... there ya go... hahah

Day 52: Get Yo' Hairdid

I was a hair model today for pin up school. I didn't get paid or anything, I just got to spend a few hours learning how to do my hair in different ways (I'm going to have my hands full experimenting with hair styles for a while) while someone makes my hair look pretty. :)

The pin up thing is still pretty fun. I think I like just looking like a pin up. The photo shoots are cool but I just feel way too awkward sticking my ass out all the time and making that puckered up face. My face is just too flat and weird looking in that pose.

My teacher is pretty freaking cool, and she knows a lot about the whole pin up culture. It's so glamorous and old school...

Here she is showing a comb out...




You'd think with four curling irons, one straightener, and a blowdrier, I'd be done with buying more hair appliances... NOPE. Hot rollers next! :)