Dreariest summer in Seattle? Yes, but I'm ok with that.

This lack of summer in summer is pretty terrible.  We've only had a handful of sunny days which is kind of depressing; all the more reason for me to continue my vitamin D supplements.  Despite it being dreary, it has been very drama-free so far.  That I cannot complain about.  Things are pretty stable at the moment and that feels nice.  

Summer quarter has started and I am on my last round of prerequisites for SIOM.  I've gotten all A's so far in Anatomy and Physiology, Biology, and Nutrition.  Hooray!  A&P was by far my favorite class, but it was a struggle to keep afloat while working full time.  Right now I've got my second quarter of A&P and chemistry.  It's weird to have to retake chemistry and biology when I took high level classes in high school.  The classes in high school were definitely way more intense.  I could have gotten college credits for them, but I had a streak of nervous breakdowns towards the end of high school and was incapable of following through with testing.  I've been reflecting a lot on how much better my mental health is now which of course means my relationships with people (esp. family) are much much healthier.  

I also bought one of these:  

It's too expensive to drive my car everywhere.  I work downtown for the moment and parking is a killer.  The bus also gets expensive and stops running before my night class finishes.  Unfortunately the bike keeps stalling whenever it's stopped at a light so it's not ready as a commuter vehicle quite yet :(  My roommate, Maxx, and I are working to get it fixed up.  

Here is a picture of my face approximately 11 months on T.  I don't think I look too different, but the reviews are mixed!  The most dramatic difference is how much happier I am with myself  :)

Neglected blog is a great way to avoid studying

It's been ages.  Since the end of March I've been taking double the  credit load, one of those classes being anatomy & physiology. I started a new job.  Goodbye  upscale hippie food store, hello again nonprofit admin world.  I truly miss the camaraderie and health benefits from my old job, but it is nice to have some financial stability, at least until school starts.  This has all been murder on my schedule.  I have almost no social life.  Some days I leave the house at 7 am and don't get home until almost 11pm.

Nothing juicy has really happened.  I stopped trying to date and closed my okc account.   Here's why:
1) There are exceedingly few options for a brown tranny.  It's killer on my self esteem to constantly get rejected or to never be in the realm of others' sexual orientations.
2) My schedule is horrendous
3) Most of the times on a date I think about how I'd rather spend my precious time with my nearest and

That's all kind of a bummer, but in reality I have a good chance of straight A's, I love my living situation, and I'm almost in acupuncture school. 

New job!

Until September 2012 I am the new Government Affairs Coordinator for Washington Health Plan.  Hooray! I am going to miss my PCC co workers.  It will be scary to go without health insurance again.  I will have to continue eating my vegetables and exercise more.

So Cute! "It Get's Better" for parents of gender non-conforming kids

Reflecting By the Pool

Today is my last day in socal.  I'm at my dad's new house in Torrance soaking up as much sun as I can.  Apparently it's snowing in Seattle. Hopefully that means happy fun snow times and not dysfunctional airport. 

Most of my time here I hung out with the family.  I missed out on all the holiday gatherings so it was nice to see everyone again. Dad and Auntie Linda too Angela and I out for sushi and a movie.  In an even more epic gathering, the Pineda nuclear family sat down together for dinner for the first in 12 years.  No one had to call the cops.  We even ran into my old swim coach/science teacher at the restaurant.  

Richard flew out from Hawaii for Lauren's wedding so we got to hang out too.  That included all sorts of shopping, swamp people, and eating.  He's all mushy for some awesome lady pilot which was pretty cute to see.

Lauren's wedding was really beautiful and it went smoothly.  She had it at the Richard Nixon Library.  It was a mini reunion so I got to see high school buddies and some of their parents.  Everyone is so grown!  I felt a little odd being single, queer, and not-a-doctor, but I dressed up fancy and had fun. 

My flight is tonight at 7 which means I'll head to the airport at about 4:30.  It's been lovely, but I'm looking forward to Seattle and continuing my odd little life.

OMG!! So nervousexcited!

Dear JP,

I am pleased to be sending you a letter of invitation from Craig Mitchell, our academic dean.  The interview will be on March 3rd at 10:30 am.  

The interview will be held in our library in suite 101, which is the door to the right of the elevator on the 1st floor.  Please know that since this is a shared building, we do not have signage outside.  There is a sign for "444 Ravenna Office Building" over the ramp to the visitor parking area.  Here is a link to a map:http://g.co/maps/xxgyc

Please let me know if you have any questions.  We looking forward to seeing you.

Best regards,

Thuy--Van Vu

Application submitted

I finally submitted my application for SIOM yesterday.  I'm so nervous!  They better let me in.

Maxxwell's Platinum Birthday

Last Friday night was my roommate Maxx's birthday.  The theme was platinum.  We spent 4 hours at the mall before the party.  I died a little inside, but it was worth it because we all got awesome outfits (I finished my shopping within the first 15 minutes).  He rented out the top floor of Waid's for his party.  Despite the fact that the party happened to be in the middle of techno night, it was awesome.  Stiff drinks, rad friends, and gay fashion.

At one point during the night someone got shot outside the club (no one from our party was involved).  Fortunately, it was not fatal.  We didn't even hear it happen because the techno was blasting so loud.  It was pretty scary when I learned about it.  There have been a lot of violent crimes in Seattle lately that have come pretty close.  It was strange to have that violence juxtaposed with Maxx's celebration which continued until closing.

Maxx had A LOT of fun.  I carried him back to the car and helped him barf when we got home.   The next morning we went out for hot pot at Seven Stars Pepper.  Lunar New Year celebrations were happening in the plaza at the same time so there were lots of firecrackers and dragon dances happening.

I'm really proud of my sister

She is an awesome LGBTQ ally.  It makes life easier.  That's all.

Also, this is a super cute allyship video:

New Year's Eve at the Dirty South Bunda Farm

I finally have photos from  New Year's Eve up!!!  Click here to view more :)

Technologies are back!

I was without a computer for the past couple of weeks because my laptop died (probably the battery) and the hard drive on my iMac needed to be replaced.  Now the iMac is back and function again.  Yay!

Snow!

I had to walk to work yesterday because it was to icy to drive.