The Grind

Wow. It's been a long time since you saw me last...

Maybe it's because for the past week, I've been enjoying my new iMac!! I have lots of space to play with, it works quick, is user-friendly, and just...better. The grass really is greener. And it's pretty, too! **bats eyelashes** It's not an important feature, but I had to say it. I know that this Mac will be obsolete in a few months, but at least I don't worry about it choking in a year. I have yet to work through the new features and play with the shortcuts, but it's all good. JP is helping me out with my "switching."

Right now, after a break in the clouds for a few hours, the rain has begun to pound on the pavement again. Yesterday, it wouldn't stop. It's predicted to stay all through Monday the 1st! It looks so depressing =(.

This past weekend I watched Office Space for the first time...definitely on my list of funniest flicks.

There are busy days ahead...I have to get back to writing my papers, and I'm also looking at switching to a new volunteer opportunity to work a few hours a week with oncology research. I have two friends who are getting married 2 weeks apart. For one of them, I'm in charge of guestbook. Oooh, I've been practicing. "Right hand or left??" Haha. My other friend is getting married in Veg@$$, so I have to make arrangements for that too.

Lent is right around the corner, and as a Catholic it's a time to reflect and renew my relationship with the One above. It's forty days that I must set within a deeper context than just simply "giving up" something like chocolate or TV. That was ok when I was 8, but now, if I give up anything, it's with the idea that doing so will make me a better person. I know, self-renewal is supposed to happen all year long, but how easy is it for most of us to take time out 365 days a year to lower the volume of our busy lives to listen to ourselves and the plan that He wants for us? It's something to think about. I'm still figuring it out and letting life unfold minute by minute.

Bored?? Check out this link...I got a 323!! =D

Penguin Toss

Oooooh my feeeeet! **Ouch**

Today I was "at work" but physically out of the office...It was library day! Uh..yay.

Went to Coffee Bean this morning at the Grove, and while I was there I decided to check out the Apple store and get more info on "converting." Yup, my PC's been coughing miserably lately and it may be time to finally put her to sleep very soon. She especially is allergic to opening PDFs...sad. PDF is starting to mean "PC Dys Function." *sigh*

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Then I went to UCLA. Today I felt like it was 1996 and I was a college frosh, getting lost and asking for directions. Except that more people around me had cell phones and I wasn't clueless about the web. I had to do some work-related research at UCLA. Of course, I was also asked to do a favor for my sis and pick up some education research articles while I was there.

Of course, the biomedical library and main library are nowhere near each other. I was happy that I picked UCI about 7 years ago, because I think that UCLA is definitely not a pedestrian's campus. And you Anteaters know that if you keep walking on the one road, you'll never get lost. Even while I hopped on the shuttle at UCLA, I still did a lotof walking...On my drive home, my feet felt swollen. =( And no, I didn't bring stillettos. I picked shoes that I thought were going to be comfortable for a library scavenger hunt. On the bright side, $7 parking and 10 cents a page later, I found all that I needed. Now, to actually start reading.... =/

I saw something at the medical bookstore that only a bio geek like me could truly appreciate...I actually said "Awww" to myself as I saw them...

www.giantmicrobes.com

The Epstein-Barr virus has eyelashes!!

This day's been tooooo long.

"Wanna go to a bangin' party, yo?" - That Boost Mobile commercial with Fabolous in the background is hilarious!

Well, last night Joy (my sister) and I did go to a bangin' party...It was Nalini's birthday up in Burbank, and we ended up goin' home at 3am!! Good people, good music, good times...it was slammin'. Joy got somewhat buzzed, and wouldn't get off the dance floor..er.. carpet, but I guess it was good for her after a long stressful week. What'd I have?? Water, coke, coffee, and cheesecake. But everyone asked me if I had something else to drink. Do I seem buzzed when I'm really sober??

Woke up this morning with tired feet. Didn't get up until 11. My last chance to sleep in until it all starts again tomorrow...*bleh*

I'm out like Janet's boob. See y'all tomorrow. =)

I found out today that JP linked me on his blog...**blushes** In turn, I'm gonna make a plug for his site =) Check "Beyond 4.0" on the link sidebar. If my musings start to bore you and you want something cool to poke through, you can check out all about my man and get plenty of food for thought. Yum.

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Friday with JP was really nice...most of it consisted of a drive south along the coast from Santa Monica (Mmmm...Wahoo's) to Newport ($$BlingBling$$). We drove through traffic through some of it (Well, it was 5pm). What most people probably don't know is that the best views of the coast are NOT from PCH. At least to where we were going. PCH is too inland when you head south, so he found better routes, and it was beautiful...We made it to sunset at Manhattan Beach...sweet! The afterglow touched on an ocean of surreal blue, as if someone painted it there. When night fell, it was so clear we could see all the way out to Malibu. By the time we reached Corona Del Mar, the full moon was right before us. Nothing like watching the light complement the smile of that special someone...

We headed inland to chill at his place, then after looking for late- night munchies without having to sit in an eternal drive-thru wait, he took me back home. Did you know Del Taco made shakes? YUM! When your straw gets clogged with chunks of real strawberry, you KNOW it's good.

Why is this week soooo slow??

It's only WEDNESDAY tomorrow??

Busy day at work tomorrow again...Then Thursday...Then YAY!! Friday...I have plans to be out most of the day *crosses fingers* with JP (my hun). It will be two years since our first date at Huntington Beach. Looking forward to it, but gotta get the work done first...

While he's packed with things to do this semester (he's a grad student), I need to polish a resume to send to a doctor who I'd like to do volunteer research for. It's in oncology, and I hope to learn something new (not just push numbers and stats I don't understand). I also need to get to work on the Down syndrome papers Dr. Baggot and I have been trying to progress on. He's right, the clinical work is rewarding, but can be distracting...

Increase in cystathionine beta synthase causes a decrease in homocysteine levels and consequently a decrease in methio...**RING RING** "Dr. Baggot's office, this is AJ...okay, lemme go get her chart..."

I hope to get some papers ready to be sent out while he is away in the P.I. for the next couple of weeks...

The old slow jam runs through my head "Can You Stand the Rain?"

...Not if you're terrified for 40 minutes on the freeway because of it.

For those of you who know me, you know that I have been actively driving for only a little more than a year now. For several months I was actually commuting on surface streets from Los Angeles to my work in Duarte (for you out-of-towners, that's about 25 miles). It took me about an hour each way. Crazy? Yes. I was that scared to jump on a freeway as a newbie behind a wheel.

Then one day, I was going about 60 mph on a surface street with little traffic, and I thought, why not do this legally? So I jumped on the next freeway entrance and went...I got used to it quickly, and I cut my daily commute time in half. Many of you take driving for granted because you do it so much, and have for many years. I'm not there yet.

But tonight was a real challenge. Driving in pouring rain at 9pm. Not sprinkling. Not drizzle. RAIN. And wind. And flooded streets. And by several big rigs splashing water onto the windshield as I was in the right lane. There was one point on the 210 W where I must have hit a huge puddle. Imagine someone throwing a cupful of water in your face. For that second, you're blind. Same thing...only at 50-55 mph.

Could I have taken surface streets the whole way through?? Would've been worse...streets here in L.A. are so messed up that you can barely see the lines....or the upcoming potholes that'll screw up your alignment - that the city will probably never fix anyway.

It seemed like the longest trip home. As the windshield wipers swooshed to and fro, set in quickest motion, it was as if I heard the beating of my heart.

That's funny, the night I decide to start an online blog for myself, I'm at a loss for words...I should have started it when I seriously needed to get something off my chest.

But tonight, I feel mellow...Where DID the weekend go?? Friend's birthday Friday night, slept through most of Saturday then went out to dinner that night, and today I did a lot of laundry...

Tomorrow the work week starts again. While I enjoy being a research assistant and having a taste of clinical duties...I sometimes feel that something is missing....As if I am called for something greater. Being so long out of school, I actually miss the confines of a university lecture hall, the feeling of being obligated to catch up on reading as dictated by a syllabus (Not that I ever was on time). I miss being intellectually aroused. Once out of a university, you assimilate into a different world...and you truly think about what those years meant. You find how you can relate to less people in this world than you thought.

If there was any reason why I wanted to enter medical school this fall (or any grad program), it would be this...That piece of paper that hangs on my wall means my journey is far from over.