man, december is a busy month. i'm absolutely longing for an evening of doing absolutely nothing...just sitting at home by myself, taking a nice bubble bath, reading a good book, not worrying about making sure i take care of this errand or preparing for this party. my christmas card writing went way down the tube this year. typically, i start writing christmas cards way before thanksgiving so that i can get the international ones sent by the beginning of december. this year it's just not happening. so--if you get a christmas card from me, consider yourself lucky....but don't be hurt if you don't get one...it's more that i'm just plain lazy this year.



i went snowboarding on saturday at crystal with jigna, matt, sri, aileen and gray. it was wet...but it was fun. i just loved being back on the board, up in the mountain, breathing in the fresh frigid air, and enjoying the satisfaction of not falling down after getting off the chair lift. the rain was not cool though..typically, i'd be all upset over the conditions and consider it a bad day...but since this was my first run of the season, I just had a blast. the strangest part was going all the way down to the bottom where there really wasn't any snow left..and all remained were puddles of water. very different feeling to be going through that, hearing a "whoosh" as my board skid through the water.



if you've been reading my blog for awhile (wow, i just realized it's been over 2 years since i first started writing it), you may've heard me talk here and there about how november is always my bizarre month for suddenly meeting someone. i never set expectations..but it happens. anyhow, the difficult thing about that is that i end up meeting someone and then christmas rolls around...which is awkward. i'm left with the predicament of "do i get him a gift? or not? is it expected? would he be upset if i didn't get him anything? what if one person gets a gift but the other doesn't?" it's just an awkward and early phase in any relationship to be bestowing gifts upon one another. plus, if you do decide to get a gift, you have to be careful...because it can make or break the relationship right there. oh yes. for example, i can't, say, get a sweater---that's too "we're in a relationship now and we're serious enough that i can add to your wardrobe". at the same time, i can't get something lame like a CD because then it's like "doh--maybe this is her way of easing out of the relationship..because this is a friendship type of present" (unless of course it's a CD mix). this is a really tricky type of present to get---it has to be one that is sweet, small and personal---one that establishes that you care and hope to continue things...yet not over the top.



i'm pretty excited about the present i got. i've never gotten anything like this for anyone...but this has more of a personal story to it...thus, i'm proud. i just hope he likes it and appreciates it for the sentimentality behind it. oh--so yeah, new guy in my life...but i'm not prepared to publicly write about him yet. if you haven't noticed, i tend to avoid the whole subject of men in my blogs....just don't want someone i'm dating to find out what i think of him through my online journal. anyhow, once things get more comfortable with the guy, you'll start hearing me drop his name here and there in various entries. however, i will say that i am happy and that things are going surprisingly well.



i miss snail mail. it makes me sad that i get more christmas cards from businesses than from friends now.



ack, need to pack for hong kong...this is not a trip to be packing for the night before (that's what i always say)