saw ocean's eleven sunday night with justin which i really enjoyed. they didn't stick to the original movie but they didn't bastardize it--they made it better. see, the beauty of the original was because it was a rat pack movie (perhaps one of the first) but the storyline was fairly simple for such a complicated robbery. the remake modernized everything. what i liked most was that they kept a lot of major elements of the original and twisted it so it still captured the essence: the idea of shutting off the electricity, the heart attack, the boxing match, etc.

Just got back from Crystal Mountain where I had my first run of the season---boy, it felt great. Snowboarding came back to me a lot faster than I expected...it helped that Justin was learning to snowboard so I could board conservatively next to him. But by the end of the day, the whole big group of us all went down together from the top, including Justin...so it was awesome. The snow was a little packed so conditions weren't optimal...but there was a ton of snow and it was a lot of fun. I love being out in the snowy mountains during this time of year---it's so beautiful. It definitely confirms why I love living out here so much.

man, i've barely had time to myself this week. i was hoping to really get going on my Christmas cards this week and it just hasn't happened. I'm so frustrated----see, normally I like to print out a picture and insert it into some of my cards..especially for friends that I haven't seen in awhile..with my coolio printer for my faboo digital pictures. I finally ran out of ink and whipped out, proudly, my backup new print cartridge--only to find out that that the freakin' blue ink is messed up. I have no choice but to go out and buy a new cartridge. Makes me mad. I bought that cartridge eons ago trying to plan ahead...but I wish there was a way to test that first.
But I'm going to stay in tonight, make myself a yummy dinner, watch a movie and write Christmas cards.
Last night, Phoebe and I tried holding another Smith alums event...and we got lots of responses and were expecting a decent turnout...but once again, it was just me, Phoebe and Susan. We went to the SAM to see the Annie Leibovitz exhibit "Women" (what a Smithie event huh?). I was so tempted to buy the book for it but held myself back to check on Amazon today--and sure enough, I found a Used version from a seller who had overflow, so it was practically new--and it was only $18.90 (compared to $49 at the exhibit). Score. I love SDP. Afterwards, we wandered down to Art Walk in Pioneer Square where I randomly ran into Jocelyn...haven't seen that girl in so long since she's started law school. Anyhow, we went down to find Rachel but to no avail...hungrily, we found a yummy Italian place and had dinner and chatted until 11:30pm. [sigh] Great evening.
I've done all my Christmas shopping online so far..it's too convenient..and so are credit cards. I think I'm done though and am going to start doing old school Xmas shopping this weekend...so hard to come up with thoughtful gifts...

i get sick a lot. I've been sick for the last week or so. i had a bad head cold...and just as i was getting better, i got a flu shot. now i think i'm sick from that cuz' i'm just achy and weak and have constant headaches..plus, my throat kills me.
this last week, i started holidizing my apartment for the first time ever--it's actually a lot of fun. got a small little fake xmas tree and have been stringing up lights and boughs of fake holly.
work has been crazy...maybe that's why i'm sick...i've been so stressed out. hopefully, this week will start calming down.
javier beamed me a few games to my palm pilot and i've been obsessed with this one--bejeweled--ever since. i'm constantly playing it!!!!
thomas left this morning to york,pa for a business trip...now i've got some free time to myself ;-)
need to get started on my christmas cards...

argh. i'm sick again. my immune system sucks. i've gotten sick 3 times since august. my glands and sinus started feeling a little swollen early yesterday...by the evening, i was not feeling well and shaking. now i'm staying at home, drinking as much OJ as possible to shoo away whatever i have.
i've decided to have a holiday party--a white elephant one where there's anonymous gift swapping...it'll be fun and i can't wait! project for the next month: decorate apartment for the holidays. this'll be my first apartment party. yay!
i forgot to mention: i've got a new gadget to add to my collection. when i went home, my dad surprised me with an early christmas gift: the samsung i300 pda mobile phone. it's actually pretty cool and much smaller than the kyocera one that came out earlier this year. the width is about the size of a regular cordless phone that you'd use at home so, ergonomically, it's quite comfortable. i love the color screen---i downloaded the latest version of Launcher III, which is the palm interface that i live by (it's shareware now damnit...oh well, definitely worth the $10) and was able to colorize each of my tabs. The best part is being able to call directly from my address book. I always had problems synchronizing numbers between my cell phone and pda...often, the most up-to-date numbers were just in my cell phone as i always had that on me. And then, the phone still comes with all the usual great features: voice recognizition dialing, speaker phone, recording conversations, wireless web, etc. Speaking of, I was able to download the Blazer software for the wireless web interface to improve upon the current look for cell phones--that text only version. Because my screen is larger and in color, I can literally go to any website now, regardless of whether it's written in hdml or whatever and see it. crazy. i wonder what sort of future pda phones there will be and if it'll catch on. I'm definitely excited about this device.

I've been doing the usual since coming back to Lawrence: Thanksgiving a the Wongs, singing karaoke with Jed at Duffy's, getting coffee with Dan at Java Break, watching a late movie with Matt McGuire, braving the crowd at Oak Park Mall, eating dim sum at Bo Ling's, wandering through the Plaza, etc. It was really nice hanging out with Dan the other night--we stayed up til 5am talking...can't believe he's going to get married next summer. well, i believe it... but it's weird. he'll be my first ex-boyfriend to get married. jed's got a new girl named amy...seemed sweet but a little overly sensitive. god, it was weird being at duffy's...saw all sorts of random people from high school: david morrisey, aaron butler and meredith wales were also there.
time has flown by so fast..and i leave tomorrow. there's still so much i feel like i want to do. [sigh] wish there was more time to be at home.

okay, it's been a long long while since i've written here (as someone in lawrence recently reminded me)...i don't really have an excuse except for that work has been killing me. work work work. what a boring theme in my weblog. and given, i know people who work many more hours than i do....but still.
now, i usually dodge writing about my dating life for i don't want someone whom i'm dating to find out what i think about them via the internet...but i feel good about this one. i met him at that halloween party. i actually met him first way back on the salsa cruise in july....and things are going damn well. we're gettin' along just dandy--it's the month of november! did i ever mention that? i have this weird thing with the month of november. no, seriously. i don't know why. it's always an inside joke with my closest friends...and it's purely coincidental...but for some reason, november seems to be my month. since graduating from high school, most of my relationships have started in november--the one exception was last year, when matthew and i broke up in november; however, sophomore, junior, senior and first year in seattle-- each year, in november, i met somebody. and i try hard to not anticipate something happening each november, like this year, but somehow it does. my first date with thomas was on november 2nd technically. it's odd. and random. anyhow--so point is, wahoo--dating life is picking up again.
i'm actually back in kansas now for thanksgiving break--arrived back home only a few hours ago...and haven't been back since turkey break last year. boy, it was nice to get away from the craziness of work...but i digress. at KCI, while waiting for my suitcase at the baggage claim, i glanced to my left and realized I was standing next to carol schaeffer--this girl that was in my high school that i haven't seen in 6 years! talk about a small world...we were on the same flight coming from denver, where she currently lives. and furthermore, matt watkins, another classmate, was picking her up. it's so surreal to come back home and run into people from the past. we chatted briefly, trying to come up with names of former classmates and updating each other and what we currently know about them.
then the 45 minute drive back to lawrence...the old alvins is now some health food merc store...and the total fitness/former hillcrest theatre apparently burned to the ground! how sad. i went to that theatre all the time as a child. and home--well, my parents always have new fun toys that they're crazy about.
ack. my dad's telling my grandmother about thomas. eeks.
okay. i'm tired.