live well. laugh often. LOVE much.

so this is what the philippines is like. going around and around and visiting people, and eating, and shopping, and resting, and eating, and resting, and sitting in traffic where it is insanely anxiety provoking. so far so good. we're out our really nice hotel and right now clyde is passed out in his room that he shares with j, neneng and julena are in their room perhaps sleeping, andy, ronald, and j are at TGI Fridays drinking and i'm here in our hotel lobby blogging. our hotel has wireless internet connection and it's fabulous. it's 10:30pm local time, but it's actually 6:30am. i think i'm adjusting fine to the time change, but j and clyde keep thinking about what time it is in the states and whether or not they would be typically sleeping. the flight was long as all hell and i sat next to j who kept whipping out his chili that he had bought at LAX and would only eat 2 bites then save the chili for later.

tomorrow is julena's birthday party at mcdonald's. it will be the 31st here, so i'm not sure what we're doing for new year's eve. i'm sure it will be low-key except for the canon that my cousin plans on firing off. yes, a canon.

we've already walked thru the mall. we had one mission and that was to change some of our dollars into pesos, so we didn't get to do any shopping. but boy, i saw what was in store for me and i'm EXCITED. i could've peed in my pants it was so fabulous. i can't wait to actually start the shopping. my cousin said to hold off from buying too much here in manila because we're going to go to a lot of places and see what kind of deals we can get there and if we still can't find something, we'll just buy it in manila before we leave to go back home.

the heat and humidity are pretty bad, but i know it could be a lot worse. my cousin actually says that it should be cooler than this in December, so lucky us. but it's trippy that people are wearing long sleeves and sweatshirts.

i'm in the hotel lobby on my laptop. i'm gonna go back to my room, but i hope andy and them come back soon so i don't have to stay in my room by myself for very long. that always weirds me out a little. we have free porn in our room, but that won't be very entertaining for me. i hope there's a good movie on HBO.

HAVE A SAFE AND HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!! sorry i couldn't be there to throw my usual new years shindig, but i'm sure everyone will have fun nonetheless.

2006 HERE WE COME!!!

I think that's right. what do i know anyway?

so, i'm pretty much done packing for me and andy. my eyes feel like they are bugging out of my head, but i don't really feel tired. i went to sleep later last night and i know there is gonna be tons of downtime tomorrow once we get to LAX, but i just can't stop thinking "what if i forgot something?" what if there is that one important thing that i completely forget to put in my bag? ugh, i guess if i keep thinking like this, i could drive myself crazy.

i'm actually trying to download more music onto my DJ, so that's why i'm on the computer. once i'm done with this, i'm hitting the sack.

18 days feels like a really long time. especially when you are trying to pack and you have to count how many pairs of underwear you have.

me and julena are still sick. and ronald is getting sick. somehow, i think our first few days are gonna be tough on the 3 of us.

wish us luck and a safe trip!

See everyone in 2006!!!!

i've been trying to stay on a pretty regular schedule even though i don't have a job. the last thing i want is to get into the habit of sleeping at 3am and waking up at noon. now that i think about it, no matter what i do, my schedule is going to be thrown off because of the time change in the philippines. so what does it really matter? anyway, there's only 2 more days till christmas. that's astonishing. how did it go so fast? and, how is there only 4 more days till we go to the philippines and i don't have a single item packed? well, that's not that surprising. it's funny, usually i mentally pack all the stuff i will need to bring with me. all i keep thinking about is the medicine cabinet that i will be stuffing into my suitcase to ward off all possible ailments while we are there. i'm scared someone might not feel good (let's be honest here, i'm worried that I won't feel good) and there won't be a remedy at the little side store to make me feel better. thus, i need to bring all of that stuff with me. it's odd. i can't even IMAGINE what it's going to be like there. it's so unfathomable. maybe that's why i can't sleep. who knows.

andy keeps trying to get me to open our presents early. i expect that every night he will suggest "hey, let's open presents!" and i have to look at his sad little face and tell him "no." luckily, i told him that as of today, there's only a couple of days left. i guess that made him feel better.

i'm sad we're leaving the dogs for so long. fidelis' reoccurring rash is back again, and we just took him to the vet. yet another round of antibiotics and anti-inflammatory pills. that dog can't catch a break. he also had to have some blood drawn so that the vet can do an allergy test for him. who ever heard of such nonsense? if he does end up allergic to one of the items on the test, we may have to give him allergy injections. again, who ever heard of such nonsense? oh, and fidelis actually weighs 95.2 pounds now. must i say it again..... yeah, but wow, we certainly weren't expecting him to weigh that much. i think one day, he just may become clifford the big red dog. and actually be bigger than our house.

i think my theraflu could finally be kicking in. ah, to sleep would be wonderful.

today is going to be a pretty eventful day. i'm going clubbing with my two ex-coworkers tonight, then andy is picking me up and we are driving to arizona in the wee early hours of the morning. i still haven't packed.

i need to finish wrapping the rest of my gifts and then i think we are seriously DONE.

wow, christmas is in a week, then we leave for the phillipines 3 days later. i told myself that i would pack my bag early for the philippines to eliminate any feeling that i've forgotten any of my "necessities."

okay, i woke up at 9am (like an unemployed bum) so i have to start my day now. lots to do!

so, this being unemployed thing feels very strange. it's like i'm just on one LOOOONG weekend. i'm sure that feeling will cease once i stop getting a paycheck. my final paycheck is waiting in the wings, so it still kind of feels like a vacation. it's very odd. i'm not even sure i quite know what i'm doing with myself. 27 years old and lost.... sad, sad.

i honked at this lady today in a green 4runner because i thought it was auntie laila. right when i reached over andy's body to honk his horn (which was at the precise moment that i got a good look at the lady), i looked at him and said "do we know her?!" and i laughed and laughed. it definitely wasn't auntie laila and the woman looked at me like i was insane. andy says i'm not allowed to honk his horn anymore, but really, who can blame him?

this wednesday will mark the 2 week point until we go to the philippines.

we're pretty much done shopping, but i'm waiting for one gift to be delivered. and i can't buy the last one until it is released tomorrow. we've NEVER been done this early. it's amazing.

on my last day of work when i walked out, that morning i got a piece of lead stuck in my finger from a really sharp pencil. i asked my co-worker if it was going to enter my bloodstream and kill me and she looked at me like i was crazy. hey, stranger things have happened.

if you've been an avid reader of my blog, you know that i've been having trouble at my job. it finally came to blows (figuratively) yesterday.

robin, my project coordinator/co-worker, and i walked out of our job. we turned in our keys during lunch and said we weren't coming back. i actually turned in my notice on tuesday, giving 2 1/2 weeks of notice, but a series of events occurred, actually one in particular, and it was literally the last straw.

i have never walked out of a job before, and it is absolutely not the way to conduct yourself in business matters, and as a result of that, i feel like shit. but at the same time, i realize my only other option was to stick it out, with a cowardly, ball-less bastard of a boss until the end. and when you look at it that way, it's not really an option. as predicted, andy was not angry with me for walking out of that place and resigning my extra 2 weeks of pay, but was actually confused as to why i was crying and so distraught. no explanation, really. it was almost like i was finally releasing all of the bullshit that i had been trying to be tough about. this really feels like the toughest decision i've ever made in my life, and i'm sure in retrospect, i will look back and wonder why it hadn't been crystal clear.

i'm going to join my 2 ex-coworkers this morning at 6am before the boss gets in to tie up the loose ends that i can. and after that, at 3pm, i have a job interview.

god has a plan. please make it obvious sooner than later.

today i put in my notice of resignation to leave my job... and i have no job waiting in the wings. i could be unemployed for who knows how long.

and today is my husband's 29th birthday.

it's been an interesting day.

only me... shit like this only happens to me.

so, while we were in SF, i was getting this sharp pain on the left side of my mouth. i figured i had a cavity somewhere, but i couldn't figure out which tooth or if it was on the top or bottom of my mouth. also, i've had this part of my tooth on the bottom right side that was a little rough. i didn't know if it had broken off or if part of a filling came off. either way, it had been there for a long time. so, when i called, i decided to take care of the new pain and the old tooth. when i get there, they are trying to find the new cavity and there is nothing to be found. 3 x-rays and the "cavity" is a no-show. my dentist comes to tell me that often with pains like that, it is due to.... SINUS PRESSURE. bwuh bwuh wuhhh? she even proves it to me, by pressing on this specific part of my cheek. so, i felt sheepish and she went on to fix the tooth on my right side. andy got to be a spectator at this event (because our dentist likes him and he came to pick me up) and i endured and it was finally done. i'm still numb as a mutha fucka, but whatevs. after andy and i get home and eat dinner, i go to look at my new dental work in the mirror. and guess what...

SHE DID THE WRONG TOOTH!!!!!

what the FUCK???!!!! please tell me this story is ludicrous enough to be unbelievable. unfortunately, it is entirely true. andy told me to call tomorrow so they can fix it, but i feel like an idiot as it is. how did this happen? how did i endure an hour of pain for the WRONG friggen tooth. oh lord. it totally figures.

anyway, toto is coming home for 2 days for christmas. oh, the big lug.

I HAVE LOST MY FUNNY. i'm trying to do a new thing this year with my christmas cards and i've been trying to come up with something witty and hilarious to write in it, but i have NOTHING. i'm so good at shit like this... where has my funny gone? oh, i know - my job sucked it out of me.

DAMNIT, i'm drawing a complete blank.... are you kidding me???!!!!???