So exciting!!!

The restaurant in my office building, The Nozy Cook (or the Cozy Nook depending on who you ask), is now serving burritos. Uh oh I know where all my lunch money is going now! They have a vegan version, and also a bean/cheese version that I add tomato and stuff to. I'm also addicted to their breakfast burrito (or "crackito" according to Natalie) that has eggs.

Yes their beans are vegetarian too! I made her go through her entire bean cooking process with me just in case she didn't fully understand the concept of vegetarian. (A la "You don't eat meat? OK, I give you lamb.")

Did I mention I love Mexican food??

This is especially exciting considering I have implemented Nozy Cook boycotts in the past for the following reasons:

• Charging extra for ketchup to put on my veggie burger.
• Continuing to add mayo to my veggie burger even when I specify "NO MAYO ANYWHERE ON THE PLATE"
• Always charring the broccoli on my baked potato, even when I ask for it undercooked. I don't like burnt broccoli thanks.
• etc, etc, etc.
  

Shout out

I'd like to say what upppp to my 3rd loyal reader Jamie. She has a super cool blog here.

Be prepared for a ton of wedding posts

Matt, Aimee, my 2 loyal readers, this blog might start to realllly bore you. =)

I'm reading this blog - www.thebrokeassbride.com. Broke ass = my wedding budget too!! Check out some of her wedding photos. Wow. Gorgeous. Love the colors. And she won the services of her photographer! I emailed the photographer to see if he wanted to shoot my wedding for free too. Everyone send me your bloggy vibes that we get a 5 star photographer for a 1 star price.

Wedding research - the beginning

I can't believe how much weddings cost!! I'm starting my research, and it's really really ridonkulous. For the ceremony alone:

church 500 (700 for non-parishioners, but as of last night we are official members! meaning we get personalized donation envelopes instead of the generic white ones, don't be jealous)
priest 100+
church cantor 150
church pianist 150
altar servers 20
mandatory church wedding planner 150
mandatory marriage prep class 75 (or 250 for a weekend retreat, no thank you)
mandatory personality test 75
marriage license 50

Are you kidding me?? And it looks like there isn't much we can do to save on any of those costs if we want to get married in our church.

Let's not even talk about the reception. I'm starting to get quotes on those...and wow...just wow. I had no idea what things were going to cost, but after reading sooo many wedding blogs (I've found some good ones that I'm following regularly now, very helpful), I'm apparently looking at pretty average prices. The average price of a wedding is $25,000.

Re-read that...twenty. five. thousand. dollars!! I can buy Mac 625 bags of his specialty cat food for that amount = 1875 months of cat food = 156 years of cat food = I could feed 8 cats for their entire lives.

We're hoping to come in waaaaay under that average cost by limiting the guest list. Other options would be to have a lunch reception, or a reception with cocktails and hor d'oeurves (I didn't look up how to spell that word and I think I got it right, so proud of me, spelling bee champ in 4h grade!), or a Friday or Sunday wedding. But that's not us. And above all, we want to stay true to ourselves and throw the party we want. And if that party can only be for X amount of people instead of 200 people, then so be it!

Something I'm really looking forward to is several DIY projects. Invitations, centerpieces, place cards and table numbers, decorations...oh the possibilities!!

Mac is totally going to be the ring bearer.

Laziness

Thanks to my wonderful fiance, we get to sleep in our bed tonight!

For the past few nights, we slept in our guest bed. We (AKA Michael) did many many loads of laundry over the weekend, but we didn't have time to fold it, so it sat in a pile on our bed. Then *I* had the brilliant idea that we didn't actually have to fold 10 loads of laundry if we slept in the guest bed! Brilliant, or lazy, it could go either way.

I woke up this morning to our real bed freshly made with clean sheets, and all the laundry folded and put away. Amazing.

Please tell me I'm not the only one who is this lazy! There was just so much going on and we were so tired after work last night to fold laundry!

Randomness

I'm so ridiculously happy!!! It is not an exaggeration to say I thank God every day for all of the wonderfulness that he has given me.

I'm going to wear more dresses this summer. I'm self conscious about bruises and cankles, but I'm going to get over it and look cute in dresses! I'm wearing a dress right now actually.

My older seeeester got married yesterday!!! I'm so excited for her. She is having a BBQ/non-traditional reception with all their friends in September to celebrate. The BBQ is totally their style and I'm so excited for it.

Mac is deathly afraid of my vacuum. However, I have all the windows open right now and TWO neighbors are vacuuming and he isn't afraid of that. He did, however, jump about a foot in the air when my phone fell two inches from my laptop to the couch. He is a crazy kitty and keeps us laughing every day.

Speaking of cats, my friend Kim lost her cat Chester recently. SO sad. I cried. Please see the following SAT-style description of how awesome Chester was...

Kim : Chester :: Lauren : Mac

I'm pretty much non-stop looking at invitations and colors and dresses and everything wedding related. We're hoping for next summer. The only detail we have planned so far is that it's going to be as small as possible. Seriously...small. The thought of a huge event stresses me out. But the problem is...Michael has a huge family! It will take some creative planning, but I'm soooo excited about the planning! You should see the monster of an Excel spreadsheet I have going on right now.

It's a gorgeous day and I'm going outside to take advantage of it!

My favorite movie is the Lion King.

I've watched it literally one zillion times. I can quote the entire movie while watching it.

Michael and I have been saying this scene from the Lion King all weekend.

Betrothed.
Be-what?
Betrothed. Intended. Affianced.
Meaning...?
One day, you two are going to be married!

When I grow up...

I want to be a party planner. Or wedding planner. Or something of that nature.

It seems fun. And I'd get to plan the crap out of parties. Which I love. (Hello, Michael's birthday trip to Paso!? That turned out to be a complete success!) And I wouldn't be stuck staring at a computer all day. And I'd get to interact with people other than dorky engineers and geologists and scientists.

Seriously, if you got the engineers and geologists and scientists all in one room, I could pick out who belonged to which category, just based on appearances. And I could, to 98% accuracy, pick out which discipline they belonged to...eg, I could take all the scientists and classify them as chemists, biologists, etc...

I don't think I'd ever have enough guts to change careers like that. Or money to start my own biz. Or any clients. And then I wouldn't be able to say that I'm saving the world, which is a huge plus of my career.

That is kinda what I do now as an engineer. Except replace "party" with "soil vapor and groundwater treatment system."

I got my C card!

I ramble when I write long posts, it’s just what I do! And I didn’t proofread this post, because it was too long, so hopefully you can decipher my retahded English skills. I also started writing this on Easter, and continued writing over the weeks following, which is why the timeline is a little effed up but I'm not going back and changing it now because I know you're smart enough to figure it out. =)

The Easter weekend was very special for me. I’ve been in RCIA, with Michael and his mom as my sponsors, since last October. At the Easter Vigil, I was confirmed and received my first communion. Back in October when I started RCIA, I didn’t think I would actually convert, I knew I had many questions and I wanted to learn more about the religion because it is important to Michael and I wanted to support him. When Michael and I talked about religion, he always made sure to tell me that I didn’t need to be Catholic for us to get married…we talked about how we wanted to have similar beliefs so we wouldn’t confuse the bejesus out of our bebes. And we did have similar beliefs. Now that I'm Catholic, I really don’t believe anything differently than before. I've been searching for religion for nearly 10 years now, and I've formed my beliefs…by becoming Catholic, I found a community where I can practice those beliefs. It is an amazing feeling…for 10 years I knew I wanted to be part of a religion, I knew I believed in God even though I was not taught that as a child (my mother is an atheist and looking back I think we were taught that there was no God, look at it through science, God can't be proven so you would be stupid to think there is a God, etc). Anyway, 10 years is a long time to be searching for something that you know you want, something you know you need, and not knowing what that something is. It is an amazing feeling to finally know what it is!

So like I said, I didn’t know back in October if I would convert. I kept asking questions and getting great/intelligent answers, and being involved in intelligent conversations about religion, so I kept going back. And somewhere in the middle of RCIA I realized that I had found the something I had been searching for. Something that gives me strength to deal with the lows in life, something that helps me celebrate the highs in life, an outlet to help me be thankful for all that I have and for the amazing world around me…also something that connects Michael and I and brings us closer together, and will continue to do that for the rest of our lives…and something that I can hopefully pass on to my kids.

Before Easter Vigil, everyone in RCIA said what they were thankful for. I'm so grateful to have Michael, whose love is never ending and is so supportive of me, and a relationship more wonderful than I ever could have imagined. And I'm grateful for Michael’s mom, who is like a mother to me, who is one of the most giving people I've ever met, and is a role model for what I want to be like when I am a mother myself. My sponsors were perfect because both Michael and his mom are examples of what a real Christian is (Lauren history: I grew up in a TX town where many people called themselves Christians but I don’t think they actually knew what that meant, and my family was hurt many times by their ignorance and unkind actions, so I always had a dislike for Christians until I moved to CA and saw that people can be Christians AND nice people), and their (Michael and his mom's) example helped lead me to the Catholic Church.

So now that Easter came and passed, Michael and I have still be going to church most weekends. I’m not going to be one of those people who thinks they HAVE to go to church every Sunday or I'm going to hell. It’s just a calming and almost meditative experience for me, so I like to go as much as I can to sorta take a deep breath and relax from the craziness of life.

I just had a great talk last weekend with Kari’s mom, who has studied many different religions. I really admire her for that! I don’t think anyone is right…I don’t think anyone is wrong…I think religion is a personal choice and we are all going to the same place, no matter if you pray to a Christian God, Hindu gods, or you don’t pray at all. I want to use my religion to be a better person in this world, not to worry about what is going to happen after I die.

I hate that some people assume I became Catholic so Michael and I could get married. Several people commented "Now that you're Catholic, there must be an engagement coming up soon!" Uh no, I did this for me, not him, thankyouverymuch.

Creative!

I made this diaper cake for my wonderful friend Candice, who is due this summer. I had so much fun making it I had to post it here! I used 140 diapers, rolled up, to make the "cake" and decorated with pink and brown ribbons and bows and flowers and fun baby things like a rattle and pacifier holder. I'm definitely not the uber creative type, but I love to exercise that side of my brain when I have the time. My next project is sewing nursing covers. (I think 99% of my friends are prego right now. =) I started making my first one, which was turning out really cute, and my sewing machine died! It's old and can perform two whole types of stitches...I bought it for like a dollar on ebay to see if I would get into sewing, and if I should invest in a more expensive machine. I will buy a better machine at some point in the near future, but for now I'm borrowing Kim's, who doesn't use hers. It has 25 stitch functions and is way more fun than my old POS! So anyway, I'm sewing these nursing covers, even though I'm pretty sure all of my friends already have nursing covers...but hey, maybe they need two! I'll post pics when they're completed. I have a list of things I want to sew...like matching boxers for Michael and I, how cute/make ya puke a little bit in your mouth are we?!

Another angry post

My little sis told me my last post was a bit too angry for my blog, but I've felt angry all week (ohhhh let me tell you, Michael has enjoyed that...not!!), so here is another one.

I'm at Subway today, ordering a sandwich. Two guys come storming in...both early 30s-ish, white, major attitudes. (Not that I'm racist against my own race, but they reminded me of the spoiled brat frat boys I went to USC with who thought they were better than everyone else because their daddies have money.) The guy says to the entire restaurant, "Is that someone's HONDA?" No answer... He says louder, "Hellllllooooooo, is that someone's HONDA??" A second guy replies it's his. The first guys says, "You're bumper is touching my VIPER!" Long story short, they go outside, the VIPER guy pulls his VIPER forward, and realizes that there is, in fact, no mark at all on his VIPER. And then of course there was engine revving and peeling out as VIPER guy drove off.

1. We don't care what kind of car you drive. You could say "you're touching my car" and that would have the same meaning. But no, you decided to announce to Subway that you drive a VIPER, and try to make the other guy feel less than you for driving a Honda. You do realize you're at Subway, right? Home of the $5 footlong. Maybe if you go across the street to the fancy and expensive steak house, you'll have more luck impressing people.

2. Maybe you should have thought to pull your car up to inspect for scratches BEFORE you go shouting for the Honda who hit you. Just an idea...

3. Unrelated, but VIPER guy's buddy was wearing a sleeveless T-shirt. Really? Gross.

Next week, I promise happy posts, with possible topics being animals, vacations, and/or my C card.

Dear old people, stay away from my computer, thanks.

Stick to your type writers.

Did you know that MS Word has this awesome function that allows you to automatically create a table of contents?! If you create headings throughout the report using a number format instead of typing them out manually, you can generate a TOC and then you don't have to go through a 500 page report and manually type all page numbers into the TOC, and then re-enter them manually when the pages change, and then re-re-enter them when the pages change yet again!

Another tip...you don't need to create 1,000 files for one report. Instead of creating separate Word documents for the cover, TOC, section 1, section 2...references, you can put them all in the same document! You can manipulate the headers and footers by inserting page breaks. A drawback to creating 1,000 files for one report: you have another 1,000 documents when you pdf the report. And a draft pdf. And a final pdf. And separate files for each of the 10 appendices. Ahhhh!! If you condense your shit a little, then when I have to go back to reference your 5 year-old report, I don't have to spend an hour just searching for the correct section. Uh. Maze. Ing.

Come on old people, I know you can do it!

This has been my world this week

I get in the elevator to go home after work, another guy gets in after me. We are both texting/emailing on our phones, totally oblivious to the rest of the world outside our phones. After about 2 minutes, he all of a sudden says, “is it just me or is the elevator not moving?” We had both forgotten to push the lobby button. Oooppss! We were both like, OK let’s not tell anyone that just happened.

I’m at Joann buying fabric, and there is no line to have my fabric cut, and there are two ladies behind the counter waiting to cut fabric. I put my fabric on the counter, and the lady asks if I’m ready.

Lauren: Yes

Joann lady: OK. Please take a number.

L: What?

J: Please take a number.

I look around to make sure I’m not cutting in line. There is definitely ZERO line. There are definitely TWO ladies waiting to cut my fabric. I take a number from the wheelie thingie anyway…

J: Number 8!

L: Yeah, right here…

J: Great, how can I help you?

Seriously?? I thought that kind of thing only happened in movies or sitcoms!

Hi fishie!

Recently I was walking in the grocery store parking lot, and I crossed paths with a bird. I said, "Hi birdie!" Like I'm 5 years old or something, haha, but I'm totally OK with being a dork like that. It reminded me of the time Rich and I were snorkeling in Hawaii...this was one of my first times snorkeling, if not THE first time. So I'm swimming along, saying "Hi fishie!"..."Oh, you're such a pretty fish!"..."Want some food fishie?" Rich swims over to me and says, you know people can hear you talking through your snorkel, right? HAHA!

An extension of my previous post

Like I said in my last post, M and I are starting to pray before we eat dinner. Last night was the first night that I attempted to say the prayer. And it's hard!! I'm not an overly creative or elaborative (ha like the word I just made up??) person, so I didn't get much further than "Thank you Lord for this meal and all you have given us." Apparently I need practice.

More birthday postage!

I was dreading this birthday, but it ended up being one of my best birthdays yet. It was literally like 3 weeks of celebration. Maybe 29 isn't so bad after all. =) I was surrounded by friends and family that I love dearly, including the loves of my life M&M. I'm so thankful for all that I have. It's easy to compare my life to others and say "I wish I had that and that and that," but when I start feeling like that, I try to realize what I DO have compared to people who are less fortunate. That is something that Michael and I are doing during Lent. We didn't give up anything. We are also making budget rules for ourselves...so instead of "spend less money on dining out" I'm going to limit myself to buying a mocha latte only on paydays, etc. Yes peeps, that is every other week. After looking at my Quicken I couldn't believe the amount of money I spent last month at La Muse buying mochas!! Completely unnecessary, especially during this economy crap. And, we are cooking more at home. Our RCIA leader suggested that we take that even further, and each time we cook a meal, hold hands and thank God for the food and all we have.

Anyway, back to the feeling super fortunate thing, by making this conscious effort to realize exactly how well off I am and not focusing on what I don't have, it makes me want to do something for others. I don't really know what I would do though. Maybe even something as simple as a donation to our church. I'm officially accepting suggestions!

Gum

I have to buy the Costco sized thing of gum because I literally chew like 8 pieces every day at work. I ONLY chew dark blue extra...except lately I have been incorporating a little Orbit Wintermint into the mix.

Thank God Chase is taking over

I bank with WaMu because it’s convenient. There is a branch downstairs from my office, so it’s easy to go to the ATM or go inside. Hopefully Chase will bring some much needed changes.
I tried to make a $85 purchase yesterday, and my card got declined. I use Quicken religiously, and I know have more than 85 fucking dollars in my account. Michael had to use his debit card to pay instead.

I call customer service. CSR#1 informs me that he can see the attempted transaction, and my card got declined because there was a problem with the merchant’s terminal, not my card. “Michael’s card worked just fine, can you explain that?” He repeated the same thing. “Is there a way to prevent this from happening in the future?” He repeated the same thing, and added that my card is fine so I can expect to be able to use it anywhere. “But it didn’t work fine at this location, so how do I know it won't happen again?” He repeats what he has already said…again. This is going nowhere, so I hang up. I go to the ATM and pull out $100 to repay Michael.

I called CSR#2 this morning to get someone else’s opinion, but don’t tell him I called yesterday. I explained the situation, and he says there is a hold on my account due to suspicious activity. Hmm, interesting. “I called yesterday and someone else told me something completely different, can you explain why?” He said he did see that I called yesterday, but today there is a hold on my account. Apparently the $5.40 pending charge from Netflix on my account that I have been charged monthly for about 3 years is suspicious. Okkkkaaaayyyyy. He transfers me to the fraud department to lift the hold.

I explain what happened to CSR#3. She doesn’t see a hold on my account. There is no report of suspicious activity. She says she will verify the $5.40 pending charge just to be extra extra safe and will put a note on my account that I called.

What. The. Fuck.

If only there weren’t a WaMu right downstairs! I would switch to BofA in a heartbeat.

Happy Birthday Lauren!

It's going to be a great year!

(Even though I'm old...)

Happy birthday Mac!

Today is Mac's birthday. I can't believe he is 7 already!! We bought him the automatic little box as a combo Christmas/birthday present, which is probably more a present for us than him. =)

I've had a headache for a week. I think it's a migraine but I'm going to the doctor to find out for sure. It has really sucked and I've had problems sleeping, which means Michael has also had problems sleeping. Sorry baby!!

I didn't give up anything for Lent. I wanted to, and I tried to think of something, I just couldn't think of anything good/possible/meaningful. I'm still thinking about it so I might start it a little late. I want to learn more about it and fully understand it before I partake, and not simply do it just for the heck of doing it.

I'm so excited to go to Boulder this weekend! Yay skiing, hiking, picnicking in the mountains, shopping on Pearl Street, birthday dinner, and meeting my dad's new girlfriend! I automatically like the new girlfriend for the sole reason that she is not the horrible bitch that was the previous girlfriend. No really, some of you guys met her, you know it's true!

I know my blog sucks, I'm OK with that

I mean, I don't know, I'm vain. I write about me, all me, all the time. I could probably write about some of the complex shit that goes through my brain all day long, like what if aliens are watching us, and how many Earth-like planets are out there besides us (I read a CNN.com article on this topic this week, and it was fascinating, but of course not enough information to satisfy me. They made a comment about something to the effect of, life could be sustained on another planet if there was water. Isn't that kinda human-centric? What if aliens living on planets in the Milky Way don't need water at all, but are actually made of 99% mercury, or even better, 99% of some substance that humans don't even realize is real. I start thinking about stuff like this, mostly what is out there, where the universe ends, and where we came from...and it frustrates me that I will likely never know the answer.)

Anyway! Back to me!! Me me me. I've had a killer migraine for like 24 hours now, and the only migraine medicine I had expired in 2006, but I still took it and it worked only a little. Enough to make me not want to shoot myself in the cabeza. Luckily Michael is on his way home from the Rite Aid right now with new migraine medicine so I should be better soon. Point being, I've spent a lot of time today lying in bed, in the dark, with minimal sound, which has given me time to think and think about posting more pictures on here. If you actually get to the pictures after reading the entire intro, you deserve a cookie.

We have 2 of these lovely white, tall, rotating fans. They do not have remotes, as we are keeping the fancier fan that has a remote for ourselves. If you want one or both* of them, they're yours. Otherwise, Goodwill has yet another donation coming from us.
*Did we promise one of these to Michael's old roommate? I can't remember. If we did, then you may only take one.

First Ash Wednesday! I know Ash Wednesday isn't exactly a picture-worthy holiday, like say Christmas, but I like pictures, and in my opinion, first things are picture-worthy. So this is Michael and me in his car after my first** Ash Wednesday Mass.
**OK I went to Ash Wednesday Mass with Michael last year, but I didn't get ashes, nor was I in the process of becoming Catholic, so it didn't really count.


Cooooold chillin'

Recent-ish

We're getting all settled into our new home. It's very comfortable, and homey, and wonderful...now we just need some guests. =) I can't wait to bbq on the patio. And have pool parties. And I want to have a PJ party hahah...hanging out with friends in comfy clothes, watching movies, ordering dinner, etc, sounds awesome.

This is how behind I am in technology...we just got a DVR! Granted, it's for our old, bulky tube TV haha. I was opposed to getting one because I didn't want to have an excuse to waste any more time than I already do, but I love it. I'm recording all kinds of crap! I actually was saying "taping" instead of recording, until I realized how 80s that sounded...I'm not THAT old! We got the FIOS tv and interwebs...it's fast, I'm impressed.

I'm going to Boulder in a few weekends to visit my sister, meet up with my dad and his girlfriend, and go skiing for my birthday. I've been wanting to go skiing all winter and have just now gotten the opportunity.

Recent pics, in no particular order...

Mendez wedding number 1 of 2. Can't wait for next summer!

Mac was so cute the other night and curled up on me while I was laying on the couch. Sometimes he turns into a cuddle monster and I was stoked to get a few pics.
PS. Those pants are lounge pants from Target, who recently started carrying tall sizes in athletic wear. I have another pair of Target's long yoga pants. How stoked am I??? I've never had a pair of pants like that weren't major high waters. If I could, I'd wear them all day, every day.

Mac as a baby! I think I had just woken him up from a nap.

The disaster that was our apartment on move in day.

I made dinner a few nights ago, which was a great accomplishment for me. It's a tomato eggplant sauce over whole wheat pastas. I'm getting better in the kitchen...I think those lessons from Michael's mom while cooking together for my Grandma Ebdon party helped.

The picture is a little dark, but these are the gorgeous flowers Michael gave me for V day. His mom the professional flower artist arranged them. It's roses in the back, and flowers in the shape of a heart in the front...what a cute idea, huh!?

A non-post

I'm making a list of blog topics. When I'm out and about I think about stuff I want to write about, but can never remember when I actually get time to write. I'm a list person, I don't know why I didn't think about this earlier!

Ramble on Rose

Yay we move in less than a week, and I can't say how excited we are!!! I probably already mentioned this, but the condo we're renting feels like a real HOME, not a crappy apartment for college students. Neither of us can stop talking about it and how we want everything set up and how we want to decorate, A special shout out to all of our friends helping us move for the THIRD time in SIX months. You guys rock. Seriously. What would we do without you?!

My little sister got laid off a week ago! They let the newest people go. However, I think it's for the better. She hated her job, and she was better than her job, and she has been interviewing for a month or two. I know she is going to find a job soon, and it's going to be a better match for her than the last job, and she is going to actually enjoy work and her coworkers. Only great things in store for her.

Speaking of little sis, she sent me an ice cream maker as a (very early) birthday present. I got her one for Christmas, and she's been having so much fun making ice cream, she gave me the same one, ha! I made cookies and cream for my first batch. Delicioso, although I can improve it next time (chocolate, then mint chocolate chip). Unfortunately, the ice cream maker is now packed and ready to be moved (see picture below...)

I just finished a huge project at work. We had to write a big report that was commented on by several different parties and revised, ohhh, at least five million gillion times. It is such a relief to have it done, and also a huge sense of accomplishment after working long and hard on it.

Here are some random recent pics:

New Year's Eve


Packing packing packing packing packing!

Casey - Tom - Lauren - Michael


Don't be jealous because my friends' babies are cuter than your friends' babies. Oh wait, the only people reading my blog are my friends...in that case, your babies are the cutest!

The front of our condo building.
(OoOoOOoohh look at all that street parking available, now no one has to be scared to come visit us due to lack of parking!)

Mac reading his Bible by osmosis.

We're moving!

We finally found an awesome apartment. SO EXCITED!! Great area of Belmont Heights, 2 bedroom, parking, pool, dishwasher, super cuteness... We are signing the lease tomorrow and moving in 2 weeks!

Living room

Dining room

Kitchen


Master bedroom

I love bullets!

Wow, it's been forever! Here is an update on my life, bulleted, in no particular order.

• I found someone to take over the lease at my old apartment. I thought it would take months but it only took 2 weeks!
  
• I moved in with Michael into his apartment. Yes, that means I have 2 boys as roommates, 3 if you count Mac.
• Speaking of Mac, he loves having so many roommates. More people to give him luvs.
• Christmas was great. I ate tamales. I accidentally got one with chicken, and I threw up a little in my mouth. Santa Claus was very generous. Michael and I sent out our first Christmas card. I felt bad about not calling everyone I needed to call on Christmas day.
  
• New Year's Eve was a ton of fun. Dinner, wine, company...all amazing. The band...not so amazing, even after consuming more alcohol than I have since college.
• Michael and I found the cutest apartment last night, and I really hope they take us. It's actually a condo, with a pool, hard wood floors, big kitchen, dishwasher, balcony, parking is plentiful, they don't discriminate against cats! I really can't wait to move and have more room. Hopefully we find out soon.
  
• I joined Twitter. I tweet. I just like saying that.
• Work is great. Very busy. I'm glad I don't have to worry about being laid off.
• Or is it layed off? I never really got the difference between those.
• My new year's resolution is to stop saying well, just, and like so much. Totally unnecessary words 97% of the time.
  

What I'm thankful for

My two boys (seriously, it doesn't get any cuter than this!)


Great friends


Amazing family

Only a little stressed...

My apartment manager called me yesterday to say they found someone to take my apartment. It happened so fast that I wasn't prepared. The new tenant wanted to move in by December 1, but that is impossible. So December 7 is my last day! And Michael and I are hoping to move into a new apartment starting January 1.

This is what I have going on through the end of 2008...

• MAJOR cleaning of my apartment and Michael's apartment...both are disaster zones
  
• pack up everything in my apartment
• move all my stuff into storage and be out of my apartment by December 7
• find somewhere to stay temporarily for the rest of December
• weekend trip to Paso Robles
• annual USC friends' Christmas dinner (at Michael's apartment since I'll be homeless!)
• not to mention Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's Eve. When am I supposed to relax and enjoy the holidays?!
  

I'm very stressed out about how Mac is going to handle the move, especially since he will be in limbo with me for a few weeks. I know he is going to be so happy once it's over because he'll have both mom and dad home all the time. He will be getting SO much more attention.

For the past week or two I've been working hard on my Grandma memorial dinner, and it turned out SO wonderful. I feel like I was able to say goodbye to Grandma in a fun, awesome way. And I learned a few things in the kitchen!

Cat allergies

A helpful note for anyone who suffers from cat allergies (or dogs or rabbits too)...

Allerpet/C rocks!! It's a liquid that I put on Mac using a washcloth once a week. Although not his favorite activity, he is getting used to it. I don't like, dunk him, just get him a little damp. I've been doing this for several weeks. Michael stayed over last night and didn't have to take ANY claritin or theraflu...without the Allerpet, he would have to take 2 or 3 claritin to be able to breathe.

So seriously, if you have to deal with pet allergies, get this stuff!

I think Allerpet/D is for dogs, and Allerpet/R is for rabbits...fancy.

A whole post dedicated to peeing in a cup

I have always be horrible at urine tests. I have trouble with public bathrooms in general because ew! Add the pressure of a nurse waiting right outside for me AND trying to not pee on my hand, and it becomes nearly impossible.

One time in Hawaii, I was in the doctor's bathroom for so long that Rich came looking for me. The nurse announced to him and a very full waiting room, "We're just waiting for her to urinate!"

Yesterday was my annual physical for work. They tell us they are required for our own protection since we can be exposed to hazardous chemicals at contaminated sites, but it's really for their own protection so we can't sue them 20 years from now for causing us to get cancer. I'm fine with this because I get out of work for a few hours. Except the dreaded peeing in a cup.

I came prepared with a bottle of water and tried to envision myself peeing without problems. I drank nine 8-ounce glasses of water in 3 hours. But when my big moment arrived, my pee did not. I explained to the nurse that I'm fine with having blood taken but not at peeing, which is funny because my older sister is the opposite since she has the PTSD from being poked a zillion times as a child when she was diagnosed with diabetes.

It was so embarrassing...I kept telling the nurse that I was not successful, refilling my water bottle, then waiting more. As I'm waiting, I see several men go into the bathroom to do urine tests. The same bathroom I'm supposed to use?? Men peeing all over MY toilet seat?? I had to request another "less used" bathroom.

Lauren: Can I use that bathroom at the end of the hall?
Nurse: Do you feel that bathroom has better vibes?
Lauren: Definitely.
Nurse: Whatever helps you pee.

Finally...success! The nurse cheered. Literally.

Election stuff

I felt very emotional on Tuesday evening. I was SO excited to vote. I've actually never voted for president before. So the first time I voted for president, it was for an African-American*. I can't even express how exciting it is to have our first black president...that my kids won't be able to say they remember a time when we'd only had white presidents.

However, I'll admit I felt disappointed that when we crossed this huge barrier, it was for an African-American, not a woman. Sexual discrimination is closer to my heart because it is something I have personally experienced. I've had people tell me I can't do certain things because I'm a woman...I've never had anyone tell me I can't do anything because of my skin color (unless you want to get into the time I lived in Hawaii, but that's a different story). Like all of those black people who cried because they were able to vote for our first African-American president, I wanted to have that same opportunity to vote for the first female president. Nonetheless, it's a huge hurdle crossed, and it opens the door even more to electing our first female president.

I felt better about that issue when I put things in perspective of my future children, not just me. My future bi-racial kids will be able to identify with someone who holds/held the most powerful position in the world. As some of you may know, I always said that the only way I was ever having kids was if they were black...because as everyone knows, black kids are WAY cuter than everyone else. I suppose I'll settle for Hispanic kids...=)

Another emotional thing was seeing Prop 8 pass. As I'm feeling so proud of Americans for electing a black president, I was absolutely and completely disgusted by Californians passing Prop 8. I felt physically ill.

But Prop 2 passed, which as a vegetarian, is another issue close to my heart! It's a small step, but still a step forward. Now, everyone become vegetarians! =)

*Disclaimer: That doesn't mean that I necessarily support everything Obama stands for. I don't want to get too political on my blog, but I will say that I was torn because I wasn't stoked on the positions of either McCain or Obama.

Sad

My grandma passed away last night. =( She was sick and in pain for a while, so it's comforting to know she is at peace and in a better place. I scanned some favorite pictures.

Grandma with my mother as a baby


Grandma with her 4 children


Grandma and Grandpa


Grandma with me as a newborn


Grandpa, sister Jennifer, Grandma, me, my mom


From left to right, Grandma, my godmother (I think??), and my mom with my sisters and I on the day we were baptized. What an embarrassing picture, thank goodness I grew out of that ugly phase ha!