Originally, Saint Patrick’s Day was created in celebration of the famous Irish patron saint who, according to legend, drove all the snakes away from Ireland.  I guess St. Patrick had almost a superhero persona.  Although analyzing that legend now, I figure the the alleged snakes “he drove from Ireland” probably were just a metaphor for evil.   “Evil”, in the Catholic sense, equating the original pagan religions of the Irish people.  Therefore, Saint Patrick is basically the guy who converted most of Ireland from Paganism to Catholicism….and for that reason we celebrate in his name by having the biggest drinking day of the year according to national statistics!!!!!!! How that translated into guiness beer and Irish Car Bombs, I have no idea.

Anyways, nice little historic rant to open today’s blog. On that note, I can’t wait to get back in school. I used to love writing research papers, as nerdy as that sounds. My original major in my first year at college was journalism even.

Today I have a shit load of things to do. I’m meeting my best friend on her side of town in a little bit to get our hair done. She convinced me to go to this place called “Horacio’s”, which she has coupons for. I have to admit, the name makes me a little nervous, plus we have never been there before. But, we’re getting a good deal and I’m just getting a trim and coloring my hair darker. Maybe putting some light brown highlights in. I hope a flaming homosexual South American man with the biggest lisp (like Fez from That 70’s Show) does my hair. I haven’t been to the salon in a while so I can’t wait.

After that, I’m just running some errands like picking up some shoes for work and stopping at the post office. I think I might even practice squirting later and get it on camera. I did my cam show last night and I swear, I must have been asked every 2 minutes, “Do you squirt?”……Plus I’m asian, I should be able to do it on command dammit! Haha….What perverts we all are.

HAPPY SAINT PATRICK’S DAY!!!!! STAY SAFE AND ENJOY EVERYONE!

Honestly, I wish I had an awesome story like I was off, scaling the Himalayan moutains….. or in the rainforests of Brazil, discovering the cure for cancer.

The truth is, I have been working nonstop to pay the bills and getting caught up in a lot of personal issues. Not to mention, getting weighed down by the sagging economy. However,  I think there is a low point everyone has to get to before they realize that the power to make certain changes  lies only within themselves. And dwelling on the negative only creates more negative.

Anyways, enough of my self-motivating banter. I’m back and working towards better things to come. I hope you guys didn’t miss me too much!

Look for updates on the site soon and hope everyone catches my cam show tonight!

So of course, by this point I’m freaking out! I called the clinic back and told them she was bleeding an alarming amount! The girl on the phone told me to bring her back in immediately. I was glad to have gotten a hold of them since they were scheduled to close in 15 minutes. I wrapped Brownie up in a blanket and raced up the street to the vet’s office which was luckily only 2 minutes away. A few people were in the  lobby picking up their dogs after their surgeries, so it must have been surprising for them when I came rushing in with Brownie in my arms, almost hysterical. She was still bleeding and half of the towel had already been spotted with dark red pools of blood. They took Brownie into the back while I waited impatiently in the lobby. After a few torturous minutes, a vet tech came out and without even saying anything to me, calls the emergency animal hospital and tells them about the situation! Keep in mind, I still had no idea what was going on and was close to tears. Finally, she ends the call and tells me the vet that performed the spay wasn’t even there! He left to get a root canal!!!!! Another vet tech asks me accusingly if I had left the dog alone and suggests that Brownie jumped up on the bed and might have done some internal tearing!!!! Brownie was way too drugged up when I brought her home. There was no way she could have done any jumping! I wanted to slap the stupid bitch!!! Why did they even tell me to come in when the vet wasn’t even there!??? The phone rang again, and the same woman that had just made me feel as af I were to blame, yells out to the other girl not to answer it. All the other clients had left and I noticed they were shutting off lights in the back and gathering up things. I guess I had interrupted the end of their work day!!!!! One of the girls hands me directions to the emergency vet office and tells me they are expecting me!! All they did was wrap gauze around her little belly, but at least someone carried her to the car for me! I was shocked with their careless attitude towards me and my dog!

A few minutes later, I got to the emergency vet safely and they took Brownie in immediately. I waited just a little while before the vet came out to tell me what was going on. Apparently, Brownie was freezing cold and her gums were almost white!!! Her body temperature was only at 94 when a normal dog usually maintains a body temp between 101 and 102!!!!! Basically, she was suffering from hypothermia…..maybe a side effect of too much anesthesia, is what they told me. They also performed an untrasound that showed a few pools of blood in her abdomen which meant that she was hemmorhagging underneath the crappy suture job they did. Her blood cell count was still normal though so they put her in a heating chamber and put a few staples into her belly to reinforce the stitches. They advised me to leave her there for the night for observation and periodic blood cell checks. If it dropped too low, they would have to reopen her up to see what was going on. Really at this point, I had no choice. Brownie is one of my kids. The vet also told me after reading the spay and neuter clinic report that they had given her a basic, bottom-line pain injection that wasn’t even a steroidal non-inflammatory reliever, so they gave her something a little stronger for the pain. I was appalled to say the least. That’s the last time I visit that spay and neuter clinic. Cheap assholes.

So finally, they got her stablized and I was able to leave for the night. All I could do was hope that her blood count would maintain normalcy so I wouldn’t have to put her through another surgery. They told me they would call me with updates throughout the evening.

I got home and tried to sleep, but everytime the phone rang my heart would start racing. Luckily, no calls from the vet, and when I called them this morning around 6 am, they said she had been eating and was looking a lot better. She started maintaining her body temperature on her own and her blood cell count had remained the same throughout the night. THANK GOODNESS! I picked her up around 9 AM, and her tail is wagging again and you can tell she is just happy to be home. I have to go back to the vet in 2 weeks to get her belly staples removed and hopefully there will be no more complications. The vet said that it could have possibly been due to the fact that she was just in heat, or it could have been a crappy spay job but I’m sure he doesn’t want to point any fingers since I bet the spay and neuter clinic sends him a lot of business. Overall though, I was pretty happy with the service the emergency vet provided. Everyone there told me how sweet and adorable Brownie was, which doesnt surprise me at all. She is an amazing dog, and I don’t know what I would have done if things had been worse yesterday. The receptionist even knocked off a few charges from my bill when I picked up Brownie this morning. She told me that she understood how upset I must be since I only expected to have to go through a routine surgery and ended up having to spend about 4 times as much! Totally appreciated!!!

Finally in other dog news, I  adopted out Brownie’s last pup just a few days ago! The vet that had been seeing her for her regular vaccinations surprised me and called to adopt her after her past appointment! I don’t think I could have found her a better home! At least I know that she will always he healthy!!!! I dropped her off the other morning at a house right around the corner. The vet has a few other small dogs, mostly chihuahuas, a couple of horses, and acres for the animals to roam! I am so happy! It’s just kinda weird knowing it’s all over now. Those puppies were basically my life for the past 4+ months. I loved them all, but I am so excited that they will all have great lives. Plus, I can pretty much see any of them whenever I want.

But seriously…..NO MORE DOGS!!!!! In fact, NO MORE PET DRAMA AT ALL PLEASE!!!!!!

Since I don’t have many new things to report besides the usual work woes and pet updates, I thought I would search for journal topics online. I found a whole list….about 200 random topics to rant about.  I remember in my junior year of highschool, I loved our daily journal assignments in english class, since our teacher gave us a different topic everyday.  So, I thought I would randomly allow my mouse to land on one of the topics listed online and write about it today! I know you’re as excited  as I am!

31. Fears I used to have

I remember being pretty fearless and independent as a young child. I was never afraid of the dark or sleeping alone it seemed, but that all changed when my older sister made me watch  “A Nightmare on Elm Street”, the first horror movie I ever saw! Totally cheesy now, but as a six year old it totally traumatized me! From that point on, I slept in my parents bed everynight until I was about 9. I remember not even wanting to fall asleep unless one of my parents was actually in the room with me! I would pull the blankets over me, thinking the less of myself that I exposed, the safer I would be! Not very fun in the Hawai summers!  My only comfort was knowing that we didn’t live on Elm Street!

I guess that fear subsided with age. It seems so silly to me now. And I don’t think my older sister even has any idea of  how much that movie impacted my young life. LOL. I guess a lot of scary movies were influential when I was young though. I had a fear of swimming in our condo’s swimming pool alone after watching Jaws also!

I guess my only fears now are wasting my life and losing people I love. I think everyone shares those feelings most of the time too. I guess those are just typical worries rather than fears. My knees get a little wobbly when I’m looking down from heights, and flying makes me a little nervous sometimes too. I don’t have any strange fears and anxieties, like a phobia of clowns or inatimate objects, like those crazy people I see on talk shows sometimes.  I always wonder how those fears even develop within a person’s psyche. I’m grateful for that, and at least I don’t have to worry about Freddy Krueger coming to kill me anymore!

…I really enjoyed writing something new in my blog. I’m thinking I should do this everyday.  Here are more example topics they have listed:

1. Did you ever stick up for someone?   
2. Describe your neighborhood bully.   
3. Did you ever hitchhike?   
4. Did you have a paper route?  
 5. Write about a babysitting experience.  
 6. Describe a great fort you built or a great game you played as a child.   
7. Write about an enemy who eventually became your friend.   
8. Did you ever fall through ice?  
 9. Write about a time you cheated and were caught.  
10. Write about a privilege you earned.  
11. How did you get along with your cousins?  
12. Write about the stray animals you brought home.  
13. Describe an event that made you realize you were growing up.
  14. Did you ever send away for something that turned out to be a disappointment?
 15. Did you ever prove yourself to someone older?

I hope you guys like reading as much as I enjoy writing!

More random topics to come!

Work has been pretty crappy for the past week, for me at least. Seems like a ton of girls have been coming in lately. It was pretty nice during the holidays when most of them were on vacation. I’m still waiting for all the conventions and sports events like the FBR open and the NBA all star game, when hopefully we”ll get business from all the out-of-towners. Everyone is terrified with the way the economy is going.

Today is also Chinese New Year….so HAPPY YEAR OF THE OX!

For all of you that don’t know, people born in the year of the ox are said to be:

Dependable, calm, methodical, patient, hardworking, ambitious, conventional, steady, modest, logical,

resolute, tenacious. And can be stubborn, narrow-minded, materialistic, rigid, and demanding.

Hmmm, sounds pretty similar to the traits for the Western sign of Taurus. 

When I was a kid, my parents would take me to China Town in Honolulu every Chinese New Year to see the dragon and lion dances. It was actually a pretty terrifying experience when I was very young, all the noise, crowds, and especially the menacing look of the lion…even if I knew there were people underneath. Then to top it all off, my mom would always hand me a dollar to offer to the mouth of the lion for good luck. My dad would carry me on his shoulders right up to the front of the crowd and I would throw the money at the person inside the lion’s head, rather than handing it to him, because I was so freaked out!!! I think I came home crying on a few Chinese New Years!!! I kinda wish I could go check out the festivites at the Chinese Cultural Center tonight, but I have a cam show this evening! Hope nobody misses it!

They’re speculating on all the talk news programs how long this honeymoon period will last. It is true, Obama has become a huge celebrity. I don’t think America has been so infatuated with its president since Kennedy. I wonder how scared Obama is right now. If he is at all. How does one person handle that kind of pressure? I don’t think I ever could. But probably only because I wouldn’t want to. If anything, I would have to admire Obama for his courage. I hope that he has as much integrity though.

Anyways, speaking of politics…..I watched a documentary on Kim Jong Il, the North Korean dictator, and his father and predecessor, Kim Jong Sun, yesterday morning.  Did you know that Kim Jong Il’s name translates to “dear leader” in English, while his father’s name means “our leader”. The North Koreans are fed complete propaganda from the moment they are born, even tall tales and myths of their dictator. For example, children are told that Kim Jong Il was born on some sacred, supposedly magic mountain, and are taught to sing songs about him. They are trained to view that crazy tyrant as a father and their nation as a family.  And if that isn’t evidence enough of what a  wack job he is, I also learned that Kim Jong Il absolutely loves American cinema, action movies, and musicals!!!! After pouring money into producing North Korean movies for his own entertainment, he grew dissatisfied with the actors and directors he was using. So instead, he had his favorite actress and her director husband kidnapped from South Korea and forced them to make movies for him for years before they finally escaped back to South Korea!!!!!!! WTF!

I wonder if his closet is just full of a bunch of those military suits he always wears???? Kinda like on the old Snoopy cartoons when one of the peanuts would open their closets. You would think he’d be into fashion if he’s so into American movies.  And let’s not even talk about the glasses. HAHA.

Pretty interesting stuff. I knew a little about our strained relationship with North Korea, but I had never learned that in depth about their insane ruler. I love watching shows that profile serial killers. I guess Kim Jong Il is not that different. HA!

Blah, I have to leave for work in a little while. I hope this rant on politics wasn’t too much of a snooze fest to read!!!!!!

BUT if you DO want something to read that will totally suck you in….try White Oleander by Janet Fitch. I just started it last night but I’m already 200 pages in. The writing style is just so seductive and the story so poignant. I’m totally hooked. I bet I’ll be halfway through by the end of the day if work is slow.

Anyways, today is going to be just another one spent trying to get way too many things done. I have so many things online I’m trying to catch up with, including a cam show tonight. And in the meantime, have to run some errands this afternoon. And don’t forget laundry and preparing dinner later. Sometimes I wish I could just go back to being seven years old again, just for one day.  The good news is that I feel pretty amped about going back to work tomorrow. Sometimes, you just need a few days off to do other things.

Cardinals are in their final game this weekend to dtermine whether they go to Superbowl. I was just discussing with a friend the other day the coincidence that the Cardinals are suddenly doing phenomenally better this season after their home state hosts the most successful Superbowl in years…….

Or is it really a coincidence????

Haha,  just leaving you to ponder some silly football conspiracy theory. Until next time, kids….

The only thing I usually notice right about the time of the full moon is bad drivers and a lot of accidents. But maybe it’s only because I’m looking for it subconciously. Arizona does have a higher than average number of accidents per year….

But! Did you k now that more murders and crimes are committed during nights of the full moon…it’s a fact! At least that’s what I’ve read in a book. If the full moon has enough power to control the tides of the oceans….then it definitely has to have some kind of influence on our psyches and moods. Aren’t we made up of 70% water??? .

Haha I must be in a weird mood also given the tangent that I have taken this blog on.

I sat next to the college football quarterback of my school in ethnic studies class one semester and had absolutely no idea who he was until I saw him on the local news one day. I”m getting more into football the older I get. Could be the place I work, or because I live in Arizona now which is the only place I’ve lived that has their own professional team. (One for every major sport even!) What I still don’t understand is why they even call it football. The term “football” should be reserved to soccer, and a whole new name should be coined for it. Well, at least I think so.

Anyways, it’s just another Sunday around here. Doing the usual this weekend and just working. I took the last remaining puppy, Houdini, to the vet yesterday to get her the third set of vaccinations she needed. I think she has 2 more visits after this. All of her siblings were also there with their new owners for the low cost clinic so it was a little family reunion. Awww. I actually just contacted a rescue in town  that specifically places dogs with well-suited owners about putting her profile on their website. I can just keep her until she is placed and whatever money they make from her adoption can be kept by them. So in a way, it would be like making a donation to their cause. I think it’s a good idea. I’m still waiting on hearing back from them though, so hopefully they will agree. Houdini just turned 3 months old but she is already about 10 or 11 lbs, but she is very smart and almost housebroken as well.

Hope everyone is enjoying their weekend!

New Year’s eve wasn’t very eventful. Some friends came over for dinner and drinks and we actually watched the ball drop at Time’s Square on Dick Clark. I was pretty mortified when I saw how he looked. He must have had a stroke recently. I’m just so used to seeing the same Dick Clark that never aged as I grew up. I guess it was just kind of a shock to see him like that (even if he’s in his eighties). Plus, I guess it just kinda reminds me of how old I”m getting.  Hmmm, seems to be a recent topic lately after my birthday, haha.

But anyways, I wasn’t too disappointed that I didn’t go out to celebrate since I fear drunk drivers and just the number of police on the road every New Year’s eve.  I still can’t believe that it’s even 2009 already. I didn’t even think about any new year’s resolutions, besides trying to get more things done in the day and perhaps eating better.

I started the new year with a bit of good karma that came back to me, at least I like to think so. Right before Christmas, I lost my work pouch with all the money I had made that day in it. I thought I had packed it in my bag before I left, but apparently I had left it in the dressing room. Needless to say, I was pretty bummed, especially after I tore the house apart the day after searching for it. Christmas and New Year passed and I had already stopped thinking about it. Just wrote it off and vowed to never be that careless again. However, yesterday my best friend texted me from work that she had the money I lost. Come to find out, a girl I hadn’t seen since before she left town for Christmas had found the pouch, and knowing it belonged to me, stored it in her locker to give back when we saw each other again. She didn’t even get back to work until yesterday and had completely forgotten about it also, but gave it to my best friend for me when she opened her locker and remembered she had it!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was in total disbelief!!! That place never ceases to surprise me with how nice everyone is, and how completely opposite it is from what I imagined working at a club could be like. I have faith in strippers once again! Haha, just kidding but it goes to show that we don’t all fit the stereotype.

I think 2009 will be a good year. Screw what the news media says.

Christmas was pretty quiet around here. Just hung out with some friends at the house and had a little dinner party. I made a beef roast with mashed potatos, vegetables, and a spinach salad. I think the best gift I received was a wine preserver which sucks the air out of a wine bottle after you seal it, handy stuff. The two days before Christmas kicked ass at work also, which was a nice holiday surprise for me.

Hope everyone had a great Christmas with their families!!!

Although, we got over a foot of snow about 2 hours north of Phoenix. Have I also mentioned that people drive like idiots here when we get any kind of precipitation, and it also floods in a lot of places. Temperatures should be back in the mid 60s by the end of the week though.

The annual work Christmas party is this Sunday night. A bunch of us are getting together for a dinner party beforehand also. I can’t wait! Last year there was an open bar, a psychic, caricaturist, karaoke, a raffle, and casino. Plus little people dressed as elves serving drinks. I wanted to take a picture with them last year but we weren’t allowed to bring our own cameras. There was a professional photographer there that told everyone we could see the pics on his website for purchasing in a few days but I don’t know anyone that even saw those pics! Hopefully, they let us bring our cameras this year. Maybe the psychic will actually tell us good things this year also. It seemed like she told all the girls that saw her last year that we will not meet our true love for a loooooong time (20 years for me)…or not at all!!!! One girl even came back to the dressing room and started crying because of it! I just dismissed it as a grumpy scam artist tarot card reader that was pissed off that she was working late reading a bunch of dancers’ fotunes! Haha. I got invited to our bartender’s annual party on Friday night also but she goes with a theme every year and this year it’s a pantsless party…obviously meaning nobody is allowed to wear pants. She told me she’s wearing big bloomers and an apron. It should be fun to see what everyone wears at least. I have no idea what I should wear. A diaper and go as baby new year?????? Haha, yeah right.

Both he and Brian Johnson still look exactly the same as the way they did in the 80s. They played about a two hour set, including all their big hits like “TNT” and “Shook Me All Night Long”, and some songs from their new album in between. I think it must have been the biggest concert I’ve been to, with over 50,000 people. I guess Janet Jackson at the MGM Grand in Vegas being the second biggest. The crowd was mostly people around my parents age, but there were even kids and quite a few people my age as well. There was an old guy next to me that had brought his teenage son and I couldn’t believe that his son actually fell asleep during the concert! Meanwhile, his dad next to him was rocking out and even toook his shirt off near the end of the concert….so maybe it’s good that the kid was sleeping instead of getting embarrassed by his Dad. Haha.  There was a giant 3-D looking AC/DC train in the background of the stage where the huge screens were, and near the end of the concert a huge blow-up woman emerged on top of the train and her giant knockers kept getting bigger and bigger!!! One of my friends next to me was like, “Look, she works at our club!” Hahaha! Nothing less than what you would expect at an AC/DC concert. All of their songs were written to be played in bars and strip clubs it seems! I did the air guitar all night and lost most of my voice due to singing/screaming. It was sooooooo kick ass! Now I need to see Billy Idol and Madonna live! Michael Jackson would be awesome too but fat chance of that ever happening.

I bought a crate for the puppies the other day also and have found another prospective home for one, maybe both of them. A girl that just moved out here from Colorado that also started working at the club tried to get in touch with me yesterday about her interest in the dogs but I guess I will talk to her today when I go in. It would be nice to find homes for them soon since I know the longer I keep them, the harder it will be to let them go finally.

Not much going on this weekend, just work and the usual. I still haven’t gotten any Christmas shopping done, and I’ll probably do it last minute again like I do every year. Beats getting trampled to death at Walmart though doing it early! Which by the way, I think is absolutely disgusting. Last time I checked, I thought Christmas was about the goodness of humanity.

I wasn’t originally going since tickets were already sold out by the time I got around to getting some (dumb move on my part), but one of my friends knows someone who gets free event passes all the time from his job, so a group of us are going with me included officially as of this afternoon! I am sooooooo excited! Especially since I NEVER thought I would get the opportunity to see them in my lifetime ever!!!!!!! I hope they play “Girls got Rhythm”!!!!!!

Okay enough gloating. Like I said, I have just been cleaning the casa all day, including doing the laundry. FUN FUN FUN. It never ends around this place. Just a quiet night at home tonight with some Blockbuster. I rented Wall-E, which I’ve heard is excellent. But, I guess I will see for myself.

AC/DC is in about 48 hours!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I got my Christmas tree up finally also! It’s a fake 6-foot evergreen but looking at it still makes me feel all festive and fuzzy inside.  I felt pretty lame wrapping up some empty boxes to make fake presents so I could do a photo set next to the tree, but you can’t set the scene without presents under the tree! It was fun decorating though. I even put on some corny holiday music while I put the ornaments up. Look:

I still miss the smell of a real evergreen but at least theres no maintenance and pine needles to clean up. I haven’t even put a Christmas tree up in years, so it was fun.

Tonight, my friend Angie is “forcing” me to sleep over at her house. Haha, I shouldn’t say “force” but I promised her I would sleep over at her new apartment when she moved in and that was months ago. She’s been ragging on me about it ever since. I’m not really one for sleeping over at people’s houses, but according to Angie’s logic, since she has slept over at my house countless times, I apprently owe her. She gets really excited about stuff like that. Haha, so girly. I, on the other hand, hate taking showers at other people’s houses, and she has 3 cats and 2 ferrets…neither of which has a smell I  care for. But who am I to talk, I just opened my house up to a pregnant dog then 5 puppies! Plus it makes her happy. We’re going to Kona Grill for drinks and appetizers when she gets off work too….and you know I can never turn down eating out with friends….especially at Kona Grill! I love their seared ahi!

I guess it’s just back to work for the rest of the week. I want to shoot another video and photo set today before I go out with my girlfriend, so I definitely have things to keep me busy.

I think there were 8 of us all together but still had copious amounts of leftovers. I gotta say I was a bit disappointed with the stuffing since it wasn’t homemade…but who am I to complain. There was a TON of other great stuff. One of my neighbors, Ben, even made lil’ smokie weenies wrapped in bacon and sprinkled with brown sugar, or as I like to call it…a coronary on a toothpick. Delicious though!

Anyways, that’s enough about food for now. Like I said, I’m still full from all the eating on Thanksgiving. Afterwards, I just watched the Philadephia Eagles kick the crap out of the Arizona Cardinals and took my stuffed self to bed around 930.

The puppies finally got their first round of shots and exams yesterday . I only spent $18 on each, which I was grateful for. I took them to a low-cost clinic they hold at the animal feed and supply store right across the street. They’re all really healthy and ready to leave anytime. They’re going out into the yard for the first time today when it warms up a little more. I can’t wait to see how they handle it. Two of them peed themselves at the vet visit yesterday because they were so scared.

Finally, in my last news bit of the day….I’m going to get off my ass and call the dentist tomorrow to schedule a consultation so I can get the ball rolling on getting my invisaligns. I decided against metal braces simply because I don’t want the discomfort and hassle. I would probably hate the way they look also. The last dentist I went to in Vegas said my teeth would probably be straight within 9 months to a year with the Invisalign. I can’t wait! I know I shouldn’t care but I guess the one insult that bothers me the most is when someone says anything about my teeth. I wonder what it will be after they’re fixed. My height??

Other than all of that, just working a lot like usual. Things seem to have picked up recently though, especially since the heat broke but we’ll see how it goes around Christmas. It was a little slower than average last year during the holidays. I can’t believe it’s right around the corner once again! Where the hell is time going these days???

 I am in charge of bringing sweet potatoes, but I am also going to bring an extra ham and a pumpkin pie. I can’t wait! I really hope the stuffing is homemade also!!! I am still in total disbelief that the holidays are here again! It’s actually really cloudy and rainy today so it’s starting to feel more like the winter is coming. It had been pretty warm, still in the upper 70s and low 80s, just this past week. I love the winters in Arizona! They almost make up for the summer! I guess it’s cool to see the changing of seasons for Thanksgiving though. I only got to see that once when I spent the holiday in upstate New York. Every other Thanksgiving has been in Hawaii or in the desert!

I finally bought myself a little camera to carry around in my purse. My best friend got me a westcor card for my birthday so I decided to use it to put some money on a much-needed digital camera. I ended up spending about $150 of my own money, but I think I invested pretty wisely. It’s a 12 megapixel Kodak with a 5x optical zoom and even HD video capability. It was the only one I found with HD video, actually. Originally I went to Circuit City where I first saw it. All of the Circuit Citites in AZ are going out of business so cameras were all 10% off, but they only had one left and it was the display. Plus, it didn’t come with the box or accessories. So, being the cautious Asian consumer that I am, I decided to check Walmart before making a purchase. As it turns out, the same camera was being sold for the Circuit City “sale” price at Walmart, and it came brand new in the box. Thank goodness I decided to wait.

Well I guess I can’t brag about my new camera without putting up some new pics I took with it….and of course what better photography subject than the PUPPIES….hahahaha

As you can probably guess, they are becoming a bunch of little terrors!!! At least they have learned to mostly use the puppy training pads to use the bathroom, right before they decide to tear them to shreds!!! I love them all though!

Both boys and one of the girls are leaving next Tuesday after I get them their first shots on Saturday. So we will only have 2 girls left. I am happy though because they are going to good homes. The 2 boys are going to a friend’s sister, who is a total animal lover. They’ll be sharing a home with a little dachsund and an 18 year old cat!!!! The little girl is going to an older friend of a friend who already has another dog and cat as well. She is on disability though and doesn’t work, so she spends a lot of time with her pets. I’ll also be able to see them pretty much anytime I want. I don’t think it will be hard to find a home or homes for the remaining two.  I am just relieved that 2 will be a lot easier to handle than 5!!! I can’t believe it’s been almost 2 months since they were born.

Anyways, I hope everyone enjoys their Turkey Day as much as I will! HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

We went to our favorite authentic Mexican seafood restaurant where none of the employees even speak english, but dinner was pretty awesome! I had shishkabobs with shrimp, peppers, scallops, octopus, and fish. A lot of people cower at the thought of eating octopus, but I love the stuff! My dad used to cook it on the barbecue, wrapped in foil, when I was a kid. I guess you have to grow up eating weird stuff to really like it. A lot of people can actually tell you how old they were when they first tried sushi. I, on the other hand, have no idea when the first time was.  I was way too young to even remember. One of my biggest annoyances is people, expecially kids, that are way picky eaters. I guess it’s just the way certain people are, but I don’t think I ever went through a phase where I didn’t want to try or eat certain things. Maybe it’s just because I’m Asian. Haha. You know how we like to eat everything.

ANYWAYS…..

Popped in for my cam show this morning but nobody showed up within the first 15 minutes so decided to get on here instead. I’m hitting up work at 2 this afternoon for a few hours, then probably having a nice dinner at home (swordfish), and catching up some more online.

My birthday is in 2 days….YIKES!

a) Working my butt off to pay bills. Thank GOD I am finally catching up from being behind for a month or two. Everyone knows the economy sucks, but it seems like work has been picking up…probably due to season being back in and all the “snowbirds” making their return to Arizona.

b) The puppies are getting huge! I would say they are about 3 or 4 lbs each now, about 4 times the size they were when they were born. Plus their eyes and ears are finally open,  and they are running, playing, and chewing everything in sight! A friend and I made a 5×8 playpen with an old rug as the floor and walls out of some scrap wood, high enough that they can’t get out…yet. Mommy dog has stopped feeding them as much and they have started to eat canned puppy food. They’re a little over a month old now so I’ll have them for about a month or two more. So far I have confirmed homes for both boys and one of the girls, but like I said before, I’ll keep them as long as I have to. I definitely only want to give them to people I know or their immediate friends or family. Some new pics…

I have to admit, they’re A LOT of work, especially as they get bigger. I wake up to their crying around 6 am everyday, which is usually a sign that they’re hungry. I also clean their little area twice a day, when I wake up and when I get home from work. I imagine that having kids is like this times 100! I actually went out and bought a carpet steam cleaner, mostly due to their shenanigans, but I had been wanting to get one for a while. I got a Bissell Quicksteamer, which is small but works pretty well. I spent the whole day yesterday cleaning the entire carpet and I am LOVING IT! The carpet looks like it did when I first moved in. l adore those little puppies  but I also can’t wait until they’re no longer my responsibility….I’m going to miss them though.

Halloween has come and gone. I dressed up as a nurse at work but didn’t do anything that night, sadly, since I had to attend traffic school at 7 am the next morning for the speeding ticket I got recently. What a lame experience that was!!! It was at the Comfort Inn, in a little conference room. About 60 people packed together for 5 hours staring at a projector and listening to an instructor tell us how life-threatening drving a car is! At least we got to see some gnarly crash videos and learned some scary facts. For example, about 120,000 red lights are ran daily in Phoenix and more than a third of Arizona drivers are without insurance! Apparently, Arizona is also one of the most dangerous states to drive in with more traffic fatalities than the national average. I guess the class did it’s job to scare the crap out of me and make me drive like a paranoid grandmother! But at least I’m not speeding anymore. Especially since they have installed traffic cameras on all the major freeways here recently that pop you for going 11 mph over or above. BOOOO!!!!

 I can’t believe I’m seeing Christmas stuff everywhere already! We haven’t even celebrated Thanksgiving! Speaking of which, I cannot wait for!!! I would have to say that of all the holidays, Turkey Day is definitely my favorite since I LOVE LOVE LOVE to eat! Plus I guess it was a big deal when I was younger and the family got together. My favorite Thanksgiving food is probably homemade stuffing, with yams coming in a close second. I think this year, my friend Angie and I might get together and cook for whichever of our friends that want to celebrate and eat with us. My parents don’t do anything for the holidays anymore since the kids are old, which is why I’m not going back to Vegas.

Today, I’m hopefully catching up on everything online, maybe take the adult dogs to the dog park before sunset, then doing a cam show later tonight and getting on the private cams afterwards to make some money and maybe meet some online friends??

Oh yeah, in other random happenings and newsbits…

I was at SuperWalmart the other day, getting my nails done in the salon there. I had just finished up with my nails and was about to get a pedicure when an announcement came over the speaker for everyone to evacuate the store immediately at the nearest exit. All of us looked at each other in confusion, when a lady came in and said a robbery or something had happened in the parking lot and the guy had run into the store so the police were trying to flush him out. Thank goodness my nails were dry! So I paid the little Asian lady quickly and walked out to the parking lot with a swarm of over a hundred other shoppers. I was surprised to see about 30 cop cars surrounding the place as soon as you exited the store, and officers everywhere!!! The crime scene tape was even around the area, and the police helicopter was circling above! I just hopped  in my car and got my feet done at another salon down the street, after waiting a while to get out of the Walmart parking lot in the middle of all that chaos of course! Later on the news, I heard the real story of what happened. Apparently some crazy looking dude (they showed his old mug shot) was running from the police, ran into a house near Walmart and stole their car, then drove to Walmart where he got out and ran into the store! I don’t know if he was armed or not, probably though since he had stolen a car! LOL, crazy shit! Oh, and get this…..the guy got AWAY!!!!!!!! Which raises that age old question….how many Phoenix cops does it take to catch one squirrelly asshole?????

GOAL: Write my blog everyday in the AM before I head to work!

xoxo

I have been slacking online though, so BIG APOLOGIES! I am trying to find a balance, and more energy and time.

Elections are in a week! I unfortunately will not be making it to the polls, since I failed to register on time. I am SICK of hearing people squabble about politics though! I heard on the news that they are actually preparing police forces nationwide in anticipation of riots after the election winner is declared. I also just saw 2 white supremacist kids on the news that were arrested for conspiracy to murder a bunch of African Americans, leading up to the assasination of Obama if he wins the presidency.

I don’t recall this much controversy over any other election, even the big Bush/Gore fiasco in 2000. Maybe I just pay attention to the news more now. Another sign of old age????

Speaking of old age, my birthday is in about 3 weeks. No plans as of yet and not really going to anticipate any. I’ll probably just end up going to dinner with my girls from work. Oysters anyone??? I don’t really want to go party it up in Scottsdale, which is what we do for everyone’s birthday. I just went to my girlfriend, Paige’s Halloween/birthday party on Saturday night and literally needed 2 days to recover afterwards. I knew I shouldn’t have challenged my tequila hangover phobia. Haha.

Anyways, the puppies have opened their eyes. Although I think their vision is still improving. They can still barely walk but they’re getting better everyday. Some of them have actually started stumbling out of the box so I have to get them a new enclosure soon,  probably just a cheap kiddie pool from Walmart. I guess I don’t need to reiterate that they are too damn cute!!!!!!

Halloween is in a few days! I still haven’t gotten a costume, although I don’t think I will be getting into any mischief that night anyways. I have a nurse outfit from Frederick’s that I could probably wear at work. Not very original, but everyone loves a sexy nurse!