Christmas Times 2011

I didn't get to fly home for the holidays this year.  Since I work at a grocery store, it is pretty much impossible to get time off during the holidays.  It was crazy busy on Christmas Eve and jam packed in the deli, but everyone was in good spirits.  The store closed early at 7 pm so most of us were off at 7:30 then it was straight to Pony (haahaaaaa I just used "straight" and Pony in the same sentence) for fun times with my friends.

For Christmas Day, Simon and I went to the movie theater and saw Shame.  It was a disturbing and amazing movie.  I was recuperating from the night before with a giant icee.  Then it was a quick walk with the dogs and off  to another friend's house for Christmas dinner.  I didn't prepare very well and had to go shopping at a 7-11 for my meal contribution.  The healthiest things I could scavenge were bags of Baked Lays and Smart Pop.  They didn't really have any furniture in their house so we had the dinner party on the floor, which was awesome.  We watched Muppets Christmas Carol and Babes in Toyland, but I kept falling asleep during the movies.  I didn't get home until around 3 am.  I didn't realize I had missed some phone calls from my Dad.  He decided to call me again at 7:30 am because he's a weirdo.  All in all, the holidays weren't so bad this year :)

Booked my flight to SoCal in February!!!

Virgin America Reservation  Who's Flying Traveler(s) Frequent Flyer # Seats Jameeley Pineda 11A,6F

Where You're Going Date Flight From To Stops 22-Feb-2012 VX 780 SEATTLE, WA (SEA) 07:10 AM LOS ANGELES, CA (LAX) 09:40 AM 0 29-Feb-2012 VX 797 LOS ANGELES, CA (LAX) 07:15 PM SEATTLE, WA (SEA) 09:55 PM 0

And again...

I didn't get that job I applied for :(

a lifetime of student loans here I come

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More Duke and friends

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Duke and rosco

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Presents from Richard in Hawaii!

Maui Golds are my favorite...

Lots of days off in a row - what!

I got way more time off than usual this past week and of course I stayed super busy.  I had Thursday, Friday, Sunday, and Monday off.  On Friday I had an interview for a really great nonprofit and I am actually very excited about the work that they do.  They're a great values match for me and the position actually matches my experience and education.  I should find out this week about how that went.  If I do get it, my life will get a whole lot easier and happier.  After the interview, I had lunch with my friend Annie to discuss life things.  Then I swung by Uwajimaya to pick up some groceries.  For dinner, a bunch of friends and I headed over to Annie's. She made some extremely decadent miso glazed black cod.  It was the best thing I've had in a while.  

On Saturday morning I went to my Pilates class.  I am trying to commit to a more regular exercise regime, but I'm not that into these classes.  It feels more life physical therapy than a workout and i don't ever break a sweat.  Most of the time we're just breathing and trying to flex each abdominal muscle one at a time.  At 2 pm, I was back at work again for the rest of the day.  

Sunday was another day of awesome fun and friends.  I met up with my buddy Mike for dim sum in the International District.  We haven't hung out since my birthday so it was great to catch up with him.  At 3:30, I went with a couple friends to Ikea.  I had to return an ugly green throw.  We farted around there for a while then had some hot tofu soup at the Great Wall Mall.  It was great!

Monday was mostly me catching up on chores and life administration.  Duke and took him for a walk around Seward Park.  It was gorgeous.  He gets nervous around other dogs when he's on a leash, but we've been working on it and he has been doing much better.  

Post Thanksgiving Catch Up

I haven't spent Thanksgiving with my dad in a few years now.  This year I couldn't get the time off since I work at a grocery store/food coop.  Obviously, it's the busiest time of the year.  Unless there is some drastic employment change, Christmas will be the same story.  It's disheartening.  There is a lot wrong with the holidays, but I will show up for the food, the more awesome members of my family, and the homies.

I ended up spending Thanksgiving at my friend Norman's Party.  (I know it's a problematic holiday that exists in direct contradiction to the genocide of first nation people.  I go back and forth about whether or not to celebrate it.)  This was probably the gayest Thanksgiving I have ever been to.  It was awesome.  the spread included such delights as proscuitto lollipops, wasabi deviled eggs (my contribution), little smokies wrapped in bacon and caramelized brown sugar, fancy cheeses, cava, a turkey basted in white wine and butter, the creamiest mashed potatoes, boeuf bourguignon, a bloody mary bar with bacon vodka and homemade everything....MMmmmMMmmmm...  The company was great and there were dogs EVERYWHERE.  It was fantastic!


P.S.
I'll try to be more active on my blog so that you don't think I'm dead.

Today is my Friday!

This is the last day of my 9 day work week. Yay! I have the next two days off. For Thanksgiving I'm going to my friend Norman's. Friday is set aside to chill with my buddy, Annie. We might make it a Korean spa day. This is going to be a much needed respite.

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Busy November!

I have really been neglecting my blogging duties.  This fall has gone by so fast.  I can't believe it's almost Thanksgiving!  I've been working a lot lately (I got scheduled for 9 days in a row) and my next day off isn't until Thanksgiving Day.  I can't help but whine about this.  Customer service work is always so draining for me.  It's hard not to roll my eyes and make bitchy comments when I'm feeling burnt out.  I can hang in there, I think. It's almost over. My coworkers are all pretty awesome and that helps.

This year I will be spending Thanksgiving with lovely friends.  Since I work at a food coop, it's really difficult to get any days off during high volume holiday shopping times.  After missing out on American holiday festivities last year in Barcelona (even if that meant my ritual holiday grumblings) I'm a little sad that I am going to have to spend it away from family and old SoCal friends again.

In other news, I got approved to increase my dose of testosterone from 25 mg to 50 mg.  I'm healthy and much happier with this treatment.  Since starting hormone therapy, I feel a lot more sane.  Some have even called me "friendly" and "bubbly".  I know, right?  It's just further confirmation that hormone therapy is the right thing for me to do.

I recently visited SIOM, another acupuncture school in Seattle.  There program seems really great and I am very much considering attending there. I have also started the enrollment process at South Seattle Community College so hopefully I will be able to start doing my prerequisites as early as January 2012.  This whole acupuncture thing is coming along slowly, but surely.  Despite grumblings about work, I'm fairly happy with where I am at.

Packing my lunch for work :)

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Halloween fun times!

On Saturday my friends and I got dressed up and went out for the Halloween festivities.  Maxx was a hamster, Annie was a rabid raccoon, and I was a crazy cat lady.

I didn't get off of work till 11:30 pm so we had a late start.  We started out at Baja and that was wild, as usual.  We stayed till close and at one point the staff ran around open pouring tequila into everyone's mouths.  After Baja, we headed over to the not-so-racist Halloween party.  It was great to be in a space filled with awesome QPOCs instead of drunken white sorority girls dressed as Pocahontas.  We were only there for a hot minute then headed over to the International District for some food.  Surprisingly, there are very few places open late in Seattle.  Purple Dot was too crowded so we opted for Honey Court.  It was crazy in there!  The servers were actually running full speed across the restaurants trying to do their job. I had some insanely good curry chicken noodle soup.  We didn't get home till after 4 AM.  Fortunately, I didn't work till 3 pm the next day.  Unfortunately, I couldn't sleep in past 9 AM.  Work was brutal.

Monday I had off from work so I met my friend Jace for lunch and then later that night went out for my friend, Elroy's, birthday. Tonight I am going to my friend Simon's birthday dinner.  I just finished making braised eggplant for my party contribution.  I always forget that I am a social creature.

so tired!

Today at work they are remodeling the kitchen I am working in so things are crazy at my job.  I adore all the awesome people I work with.  They definitely help make the process easier!

Before I went to work I did picked up some pumpkins to carve for Halloween (the most awesome holiday EVER).  Saturday night I'll be attending a not-so-racist Halloween party.  I'll have to come up with a costume before I work tomorrow.  I get off at 11:30 pm and will probably go straight to the party after that.  For actual Halloween, my roommates and I are planning on staying in and handing out candy and doing witchy things like reading our star charts and playing with a Ouija board.

I'm going to finish my glass of vermouth and go to bed.

Birthday present from Rae

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Parts 2 and 3 of the Birthday Weekend

Despite the huge disappointment of Saturday, I still had a pretty good birthday.  I spent all of Saturday moping and listening to Ani DiFranco then my friend Annie came over that night.  She had a grumpy day too so we went to Trader Joe's to be grumpy together and spoil ourselves with treats.  That was awesome.  We cheered each other up and bought a bunch of good stuff for Sunday brunch.  After shopping we came home and watched Avatar.  It has all of the messed up racist undertones of Ferngully, Dances With Wolves, and Disney's Pocahontas.  I had to keep reminding myself to just look at the pretty pictures and not listen go the terrible dialogue.  

When people came over for brunch on Sunday they brought over a bunch of goodies (i.e. ice cream, fancy juice for mimosas, vegan and gluten free cupcakes, coconut adobo, etc.).  It was really chill (which is what I like) and I got to spend time with lovely people that I don't see very often.  I was very satisfied with how that went and I felt much less like a friendless loser.  Also my dad called me at midnight at the official start of my birthday so that was nice.

Monday, the official birthday, I had a super slow morning.  First, I had a Skype appointment with my therapist to get my head shrunk.  Second, I gave myself the biweekly T shot.  Then, I made my way down to the Olympus Women's Spa in Lakewood.  My time is limited there since I am not on testosterone.  Once I start getting manly, I won't be able to go.  There is free entrance on your birthday until 2012.  I bought myself a body scrub so I could be manhandled and sanded down by a burly Korean woman.  Now, I'm smooth as a baby's bottom.  After spending several hours soaking and laying on hot stones, I stopped by the Korean market for some grub.  Bliss...

Ice blocking canceled

I had to cancel the event due to lack of participation. Today sucks.

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Birthday Blues

So, I planned a 3 part birthday extravaganza for myself: ice blocking on Saturday, brunch on Sunday, and the spa on Monday.  I don't think anyone is really going to come to any of it.  All the cool people at my job are working this weekend.  I have a friend in Oly that was supposed to come, but his dog just died.  Some people are out of town.  Most of the people I invited didn't bother to even say if they were going or not (which means they're not going).  Some people had to cancel last minute.

Getting stood up is something that I am extremely sensitive to and this is going to be that but times a million.  Normally I don't plan anything more than a drink for my birthday because it doesn't set a very high expectation and it is pretty low stress.  Last year for my birthday I celebrated it with a bunch of lovely expats that I was just getting to know and was also missing all the homies back in the U.S.  I couldn't wait to come back and hang out with all of them and I got a lot of messages of love and support.  Now that I am actually back stateside, people don't seem very interested in me, which is really twisted.

I haven't actually done any of my birthday stuff yet so this is probably premature disappointment.  I guess I just feel very unspecial at the moment.  I almost wish I was in a relationship so that someone would be obligated to spoil me and give me awesome surprises.

Newish job

So, I moved into a new position last week at the food coop which means a $1 raise.  Instead of bagging groceries I am working in the deli now.  The people are still cool in this department.  The best thing about working in this store is all the employees and their awesomeness.  That is definitely one of my top requirements for good working conditions.  I'm still getting used to all the new things I have to do.  They have also put me on the closing shift which means I work 3 pm-11:30 pm.  Since I am such a morning person, I thought I would hate it, but I actually quite like the hours.  It gives me all of this free time during the day to do whatever I want.  Also, I won't be as affected by the shorter day hours.  I used to hate going to work in the mornings when it was dark and then leaving work when it got dark again.  This will help with my seasonal depression.  My benefits should also kick in soon which I am really excited about (how adult).  I need some new glasses, a physical, pelvic exam, etc.

I do miss my other position a little bit, especially working with the customers (which is surprising).  It was a daily source of entertainment - people do such weird things all the time and it's fascinating.  I like to make up stories and develop people's characters based on my limited interactions with them at the check stand and what they buy.  In the deli, there is much less interaction, so the customers aren't as entertaining.  I do get to shoot the shit more with the deli people which is really fun plus I hang out with all the snacks/samples.

Freshly weeded

My lovelies are growing! I can't wait to eat my babies. Bwa hahah!

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Execution of an innocent

I am feeling incredibly sad right now and disappointed in our "justice" system.  Thou shalt not kill.

Repeal of "Don't Ask Don't Tell"

One soldier's response. I can relate.

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Puyallup Fair!

This last Tuesday and Wednesday were the first consecutive days off I have had since July so I decided it was time to live it up.  I went to the Puyallup Fair yesterday with my friend Simon.  I got a rad 2 for 1 admission off of Groupon.  Fun times included: petting zoo with baby ducks, rabbits, goats, and sheep; fancy horses; froyo; RIBS; a brick of curly fries; old-fashioned wooden roller coaster; Bingo!; winning at balloon darts; live shows with teenage rock stars; candy; fudge; turkeys; peacocks; weird pigeons; swollen udders; cow snot rockets; and miniature horses that were not all that miniature... 

And then after the fair Simon and I played with nail polish :)

Detention.

Oso escaped from his crate while everyone was at work.  Casualties: 2 GF double chocolate cupcakes and one white bath mat.  Duke was a suspected accomplice.

Shame corner.

9/11/11

It has been 10 years since 9/11 happened.  That also means 10 years since I started my senior year of high school.  I remember getting ready for school and hearing what was happening to the twin towers.  I remember panicking that my relatives that worked in NYC were in danger or dead.  I remember panicking because I knew that meant war and that meant my dad would have to go.  For weeks several students at my school stayed home because they looked Middle Eastern or Muslim and they knew scared, ignorant people would do stupid things.  That made me even more scared for my dad too.  

During a 15 minute break at work, I saw this "ironic" cover of the Stranger.  I get it, the twin towers made up of "freedom" fries.  It's not funny.  I can't appreciate the self-congratulating, pseudo-complex, hipster humor that leaves out the actual complexity of 9/11 and doesn't actually push the boundaries of anything.

Butt buddies!

Blogging mishaps

I was recently without internet for a few weeks so I tried doing some blogging on my phone.  The problem is that I accidentally posted things on my old travel blog.  Whoops!  Go here if you are interested in reading any of those posts.

I am finally connected and back in the modern world and will be blogging like normal again :)

Visitors!

My friends Jen and Martha visited me in Seattle this past weekend.  I met the two of them in Barcelona last year.  Jen is Canadian and Martha is English.  They recently got married on Vancouver Island and are spending the summer in B.C.  They will be going back to Barcelona in the fall for another year.

This was their first time really hanging out in Seattle and Martha's first time being in the U.S. at all.  On Sunday our first stop was Molly Moon's in Wallingford so they could try some of that salted caramel ice cream (to die for).  After that we went down to Fremont and I showed them the Troll.  On the way to the Fremont Sunday Market we checked out Pie and a cool vintage store.  We had lunch around there and picked up some red gold nectarines (they were perfect).  It was hot so we hung around Brouwer's instead and had some pints until it cooled down a bit.  I wanted them to see a really cool view of Seattle so I took them up to Gasworks Park.  Despite the hills being littered with goose shit, the park was lovely.  For dinner, I took them to Teapot where they had their minds blown by some awesome vegan Asian food.

Monday was Jen and Martha's anniversary and I had to work.  They hung out downtown and did more touristy things like visit the EMP.  They took the bus that day and were totally freaked out by all the weirdos on public transit.  Apparently we Americans look bigger, tougher, and rougher.  We met up at Columbia City Ale House after my shift for dinner.  The food was decent, but I had forgotten how ridiculously expensive they are. I had a salad and a gluten free beer and it was almost $20 with tax and tip.  There probably won't be a next time there soon.

On Tuesday we said our farewells and they headed up north.  I don't know when I will ever get to see them again so I was absolutely delighted that we got to spend some time together. Jen was my first friend in Barcelona and I met Martha soon after.  I think it's really fantastic that I have a global network of awesome people in my life.

Return of the Internet

I am in the process of switching from Comcast to Centurylink. My service should be up and running by August 30th. Woohoo!

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Pritchard Beach Duke Walk

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LIFE!

My babies are growing!

Super duper week

Monday was my first T shot.  I messed up and didn't put enough in the needle so I had to inject myself twice.  I'm not afraid of needles to it wasn't that bad.  I haven't noticed any differences yet, but it has only been a week.  I also had an interview at a local food coop for a position in the deli.

Tuesday I had another interview with a nonprofit that wants to promote leadership in marginalized communities.  

On Wednesday night I picked up Yuh-line at SeaTac, hooray!  She recently graduated with her Masters and came back to the Northwest to hang with her loved ones.  She accidentally booked herself a flight to Seattle from NYC instead of to Portland so I had to pick her up and drive her down.  Her family was visiting from China, so it was a pretty big deal that she get to see them.  Here is an extra serious photo of Yuh-line...

This weekend was Gender Odyssey.  I got up early Friday morning so that I could volunteer with the shuttle service.  I have volunteered/attended the last three conferences and it is always an amazing experience.  This year I was more excited to see the regulars than to attend the actual workshops (which were great).  By Saturday I was feeling a little run down and decided to stay home and resist whatever bug has been floating around.  

Sick face

Duke was having sympathy pains.

Jace and Michelle crashed at my place that night since they were up from Olympia for the conference.  We went out for some delicious Ethiopian food at Altaye and split a quality bottle of wine.

I woke up on Sunday still feeling like crap, but I decided it was totally worth it to go to the last day of conference.  I went to two of the best workshops I have been to in a long time and I got to say goodbye to all the wonderful people that come to the conference.  

To finish off the weekend, my roommates and I got free tickets to go see Planet of the Apes and drink a giant Icee.  It was weirdly inspiring in a revolutionary/animal rights way.  

My first T shot

Was TODAY!

Dropping off Auntie Linda at the Victoria Airport

This is the teeniest, least crowded airport EVER.  

Things in Victoria

I had my heart set on going to Wu Hsing Tao for acupuncture school upon returning from Barcelona, but since I am still unemployed and most definitely not financially stable that is not happening in the near future.  I decided to see a couple of schools in Victoria: Pacific Rim College and Oshio.  They're both really cool, but very different from each other.  One quarter at Wu Hsing Tao is about $6,000.  One year at either of the Victoria schools is about $7500.  The price difference is ridiculous.  This isn't really any sort of plan, just some thoughts and possibilities.

While I was off looking at the schools, Tita Baby and Auntie Linda went on a hunt for the coveted LANZONES.  They found some in Chinatown for $8 a bundle.  Filipinos, be jealous.  For whatever reason this stuff is not imported into the U.S.  Hah!

I also took a couple touristy photos of Auntie Linda:

Quick pick-me-up

I was feeling blue about my ridiculously unstable life...then I remembered this...YES

Sittin' by the dock

My "Check Engine" light had been on for about a month so I took it into the shop bright and early Monday morning.  Duke and I hung out around downtown Sidney for a few hours waiting for it to get fixed.  It was finally feeling summery.

I had to miss my bi-weekly therapy session on Skype, which was unfortunate.  Timing was an issue, plus, I didn't have anywhere private to talk.  Before coming back to the U.S. I was having weekly meetings with my therapist and it's been hard to adjust to the lack thereof.   Money and an appropriate space haven't been available as regularly as before.

When we returned to the shop, they told me rats tried to eat my car.  Oh well.

Butchart Gardens with Auntie Linda

Auntie Linda and I went to the Butchart Gardens on Saturday evening.  The last time I was there was 2002 with my high school homies.  It was hard not to run over the screaming children and oblivious, gawky tourists with Auntie Linda's wheelchair.  Also, just because a place has ramps does not mean it is wheelchair accessible.  That was an unexpected workout!  Despite the crowds, the fireworks display was pretty cool and the gardens were beautiful.  I don't have a grownup camera or actual photography skills so my pitiful photos will just have to do.