Softball playoffs
Last night was my company team's playoff game against one of our fiercest competitors - not only in softball, but also with regards to what both our companies do. And we pulled it out in the bottom of the last inning! They tied it up in the top half, but we got a couple base hits, some walks, and we scored the winning run. 16-15! I love winning. Next week is the championship game, but since the team we're playing is not equally matched with all the other teams in our league(they should be in a better league), we'll probably lose. But we'll see. The win yesterday was our real 'championship' game anyway.

Give Blood, Save a Life
I donated blood today at lunchtime! It feels good to donate blood and know that it'll help someone out there. I have lots of it, so why not give it away! Last time I donated was in February. I think I'm getting used to it now, except that it takes me a lot longer than some people to fill a whole bag. Like this one lady walked in about 20 minutes after me, but she finished 5 minutes after me! I guess my blood doesn't flow as quickly as others.

Revisiting the piano
I ordered the sheet music for 100 Years by Five For Fighting, and I got it in the mail yesterday! I tried to play it, and I spent over an hour practicing. It felt good to play again. I'm gonna master that piece, and maybe even memorize it :) I wonder if I can sing and play at the same time.... I guess one thing at a time...

I listen to it at least 5 times a day on that link I posted before. But now I can listen for the specific piano parts that I can't quite get when I play it myself...

A Walk To Remember marathon
Driving home after work last night, I started feeling like I wanted to watch the movie A Walk To Remember. I think my train of thought went like this: saw lotto million dollar sign -> thinking about how I'd spend the millions if I won -> thinking about things I'd buy for my family, Alan, his family -> thinking about Auds and Ben -> thinking about Ben's hospital bills -> reminded me of how Mandy Moore's character's home-care was paid for by Shane West character's dad.

Hmm... really random I know, but I love that movie! And of course, it got me crying while I was watching. I think I needed a good cry.

But then after that, I looked at the special features menu and they didn't have any short clips, just the whole movie with two different commentaries. I was doing laundry and waiting for the clothes to be done, so I started the one with Mandy Moore, Shane West, and the director talking over the movie. And I ended up watching the whole thing again :)

I think I want to read all the Nicholas Sparks books, and also see the new movie based on his book The Notebook.

Eyes going bad
I went to the optometrist on Saturday morning, and she said my prescription changed -0.75 in each eye! Gosh, I already had bad vision and now it's worse. I can definitely attribute it to working in front of a computer screen for 8+ hours, without taking many breaks. She suggested I look away from the screen every fifteen minutes and take more breaks. Fine by me! :) Oh, and to wear my glasses to work sometimes... Don't know about that one, unless I get new ones.

Party Party Party
I went to a bridal shower on Saturday, where we ate good food, played games, and celebrated with the bride. We built her 'dreamhouse' out of newspaper, and our team won! We answered questions about the bride, she answered questions about the groom, played the clothespin game (couldn't say 'wedding', the groom's name, couldn't cross our legs or flip our hair). Yup, I lost that one when I crossed my legs. Habit, I guess.

Sunday was my good friend Tanya's graduation party at her house in SF. She got her Master's and now is going for a PhD! She's so awesome! I don't think I could take that many more years of school. So much yummy food, and catching up with friends.

Engageds
Two other couples at Tan's party are engaged, and I was talking to the brides-to-be about wedding planning stuff. I had fun talking about different ideas with them. It's funny how my sets of friends are different: most of my friends from the SCU crew are married, none of the Berkeley crew are even thinking about this stuff, and a few others are engaged. It's a different dynamic with each, and it's cool :) Anyone else wanna chat about being engaged? Ms. Luzon? YJmima? :) I'm enjoying my engagement. It's going by so quick though. Only 6 more months!

You better watch out, you better not cry...
...you better not pout, I'm telling you why ...H&M is coming to town!

Yay! My favorite store in New York is coming to San Francisco! I can't wait! Thanks Shirley for the link!

Yummy Thai food
Had lunch with Rex today in Alameda at this Thai place on Park Street, called Amarin Thai. I had the Thai BBQ Pork, which was really really good. I inhaled it (aka vacuuming my food). Although it was good, it still doesn't beat Thai Basil's BBQ Pork in Durant Square in Berkeley.

Random
Anyone remember days of sleeping in, doing nothing, watching TV, and 'looking for jobs' while collecting unemployment checks? How I miss those days... :) Seems like a lot of people I know have collected unemployment. Who hasn't these days?

'Drrty Girls' after the 2004 Camp Pendleton Mud Run

The mud run was actually a fun time. It wasn't too hard (maybe it's b/c we walked a lot of it, and our team wasn't as hard-core as others. It was good to have all of us girls together :)

Wanna see more pics?

Ok, so I got over the 'abandonment' thing on Monday. I'm better now thanks. :)

Giants are on top!
Finally, the Giants are in the lead in our division! After a slow start, we're starting to get our rhythm back again. Beat LA! Beat LA! I hate the Dodgers. :)

Island BBQ
I had dinner with my friend Audrey last night at B. Padilla's Island BBQ on B Street in San Mateo. I had the Honey BBQ ribs. Yum. The place is run by Filipinos, and I actually remember my mom sent out an email about this place a while back, saying to go eat there to support them. But I think I overheard one of the waiters say that that it was gonna close soon.

Josh Groban!
This past Sunday, all lawns seats for concerts at the Shoreline or Concord Pavilion were on sale for $20 (including fees and tax and parking). I finally bought Josh Groban tix!! yay! I'm excited to see him sing.

Airports suck...
...when you're the one being left behind. Let's just say that after a whole weekend of being with your whole family, it sucks when you have to bring them to the airport and say goodbye. I guess it's exciting for the people who are going off to a new place, but for me being left behind it sucks.

Abandonment
I'm feeling a weird sense of abandonment right now. It's really weird. And this weather isn't helping very much.

That's all for now. I'll blog more later when I feel better :)

Pigs In A Blanket
Yesterday Heidi made some pigs-in-a-blanket and they were actually really good. She made them with Vienna Sausages instead of regular hot dogs. I easily gobbled down 5-6 of them. Yum.

Middle aged?
The other night, I was watching TV with my dad and he started to mention how I should be careful and not do things that are risky, i.e. the mud run, because I'm getting older now. Actually, he said that I wasn't a teenager and that I was 'middle-aged'. When did 25 become 'middle-aged'?

To top it off, I was watching Bridget Jones' Diary and Heidi said that I liked it because that movie is for 'middle-aged' people. I thought middle-aged was 30s?

Weekend plans
My whole family is back for Father's Day weekend, and we're gonna hang out. Probably go to the new house and paint a little and then on Sunday have a Father's day lunch. Happy Father's Day to all your dads!

Eventful weekend
I had a pretty busy weekend this past weekend! Friday, we went to Loan's birthday party at her house in San Jose. Really good food, and lots of it! BBQ short ribs & chicken, spring rolls, fried chicken, salad, and lots more... and cake! It was nice hanging out with friends, and we gathered all around our friend's newborn, little baby Tyler, since it was his first public outing. Funny how people act differently around babies... they become all sweet and mushy.

Rent-a-car
Saturday morning, I dropped off my car at Serramonte Body Shop to get it fixed from being rear-ended. State Farm said they'd pay for a car rental, so I got one - the same exact one that I borrowed when I went to San Diego last weekend - a Chevy Cavalier. But instead of the nice silver one I got before, this time I got a really bright red one. It seems like I'm driving more slowly now, since I've heard that people in red cars get noticed by police more often.

Covad company picnic
Afterwards, Alan and I went to his company picnic at Baylands Park in Sunnyvale. We got there really late - 1:15pm! - and it started at 11am. When we got there, there was no more food, except for drinks and cookies! We saw a sign that said - lunch will be served from 11:30-1pm. We were sooo hungry. Oh well. We stayed to watch the picnic games, and we got some good ideas for our own annual picnics :) And we watched the clown/pirate do a magic show for the kids.

Visiting Ben
After the picnic, we headed to Redwood City to visit Ben in the hospital. I thought it was a great visit - he was awake for longer and he actually was interacting with us. He even cracked a few smiles here and there, and made a couple of joking movements of his own. It was really great to see him like that - same old Benji as before. I'm glad he's getting better.

More birthdays
We went to Alan's high school friend's mom's birthday dinner right afterwards, where there was still a lot of Filipino food, so we chowed down. And then right after that, we went to Jane's birthday dinner at Cha Cha Cha in the Mission district. We waited about 1.5 hours to get seated, but we had lots of sangria in the meantime =) For dinner, we had plantains, potatoes, jerk chicken, calamari, and of course.... the mussels, my favorite dish there! Then we headed over to Monkey Club, where some old college friends were celebrating birthdays too.

Sunday - home day
Sunday, my family came over to our new home to visit. The first time for all of them to see, so we gave them the tour. =) They brought over some food for Goldilock's and we ate, while sitting around our TV watching the Giants game. It was good to have people over. We're gonna love hosting parties at our house =)

After they left, Alan and I went back to work, painting the walls. We made some good progress, but there's lots more to go. One day at a time...

Drrty Girls
That was the name of our team for the mud run! We had a really good time doing the run - Johanna, Rowena, Eileen, Jane, and me - and we actually finished the race.... although it took us a while. It was fun though - going through mud pits up to our knees, climbing over 5-foot walls with mud on both sides, crawling under ropes in the mud, going up a hill that was all mud, and running (or walking) up 'Suicide Hill' which seemed like a never-ending incline. But it was fun, and I'm glad that we all stayed together. Can't wait til next year!

Dick's Last Resort
For dinner, the Santa Clara crew went to this place in downtown San Diego's Gaslamp district called Dick's Last Resort. It was a ribs place, but the it was really fun b/c there was a live band inside and everyone was throwing stuff all over the place at everyone, like napkins and little wads of paper. We started getting into it and started throwing things at other tables, but it was fun b/c you're supposed to do that there. Pretty interesting place, I got a little tired of throwing stuff though, and of being thrown at while eating.

Rock Bottom
Went to this bar/club place called Rock Bottom down the street after that. Only $5 cover and good music. The Berkeley crew showed up too, so it was fun with everyone there.

Moving Out
On Sunday, Alan and I split from the rest and went to UCSD to help Heidi start moving out of the dorms. We ate lunch at this really good Thai place in La Jolla called Royal Thai Cuisine, and then went to rent storage space for all her stuff over the summer. She rented a 5'x5' closet, so we went back to the dorms to get the heavy stuff, like her fridge, microwave, boxes of books, keyboard, and her 2 TVs. I think she moved the rest of her stuff yesterday. Can't believe her first year of college is over.

Benji
Yesterday, Alan and I visited Ben at the hospital since he was moved to a closer location. He looked really good physically - he was moving around a lot and his face wasn't swollen anymore. I think he recognized Alan - when his mom asked him if he remembered Alan, he nodded his head. He didn't talk at all though, and he looked sad or frustrated. We didn't stay for long, just stopped by to say hi. It was good to see him doing better. He even raised his hand to say bye when we left.

My new favorite song
I love Five For Fighting's new song 100 Years. Kinda puts our mortality in perspective and makes me realize we only have just about 100 years in life and it can go by so quickly. I just went here to watch the video, and the video is awesome too. I love the piano, and I wanna go find the sheet music to learn to play it.

Check out this cool site that goes along with the song! I like the different icons that go along with different time periods in your life, and how you begin in a rocking chair and end up in one too.

Praying for Ben
I'm still praying for Ben to get better. Keep him in your prayers too. We all thank God that Audrey is ok.

Mud run
We're all going down to San Diego for the Camp Pendleton Mud Run. Hopefully it goes well and I make it through the whole thing!

Have a good weekend!