[Almost] Banker's Hours

I was going to take the day off today, but decided to go to work since I still have a few things to do before my supervisor gets back from Australia on Friday. I finally got to work at 10:30 am (yup, 10:30 am!), did some filing, had lunch, worked a little bit, then went home at 4:30 pm. I just wasn't into it today. I should've went with my original plan and took the day off and got my hair done or something.

Blah

I don't know what's with me. I've been having a tough time getting motivated at work. I mean, everything's fine when I get there in the morning, but by 2:00 pm or so I get really tired and just feel like taking a nap. Maybe all this extra time I've been putting in at work is starting to catch up with me. To date, I have 40 hours banked. I think it's time to take some time off. ;-)

You know the world is too small when...

...someone randomly stumbles onto your blog and you find that out that you have a mutual acquaintance/friend/cousin.

And what is up with the comments?

First it's there, then it's not... ugh...

Snow update

OK, the snow is official. It has snowed, and will most likely stay on the ground for more than 24 hours. Therefore, snow is officially here. *sigh*. Even though it snowed a bit on my birthday, and there were a few flurries over the weekend, I still didn't consider it "official" snow because it melted right away. Now that it has covered everything, it is definitely here.

Birthday Celebration – Day 2

Irma and Jo Ann picked me up last night and it was off to Gabriella's 4th birthday party. Again, there was lots of food and lots of kids, which is to be expected since it is a kid's birthday. What was really cute was how the kids sang Happy Birthday, first in English, then in French, then in English again (are these kids smart, or what?). We hung out there for a while, then I drove Jo Ann home since she was feeling a little under the weather. Then I drove back to the birthday to pick up Irma and Irene. We decided to go to this Irish pub on Whitemud Crossing, since none of us had been there before. We met up with a couple other friends and did a bit of dancing and a bit of drinking. Based on what happened the night before, my consumption of alcohol was more moderate, since I didn't want to have a "repeat performance". We finally called it a night at around 1:30 am.

Irma drove me home, but when we parked in the driveway, we realized that there was a time change. Hmmm, so we really have an extra hour. Since both of us were still quite awake, we decided to go to Humpty's to get something to eat.

Highlights:
• "Are we there yet?… How about now?"
  
• Irma doing "aerobics"
  
• Irene dancing with the thermostat? hehehe
  
• "I see bald people"
  
• humpty's bangers
  
• (replay) "thanks Irma…"
  
• no Molson Dry for Rick
  
• Irene dancing on the chair
  
• "Wanna see my thong? Wait, where is it?"

Recovering Sunday

After quite an eventful weekend, it was only fitting that I get the required rest that I so needed. So I slept in, stayed in my pj's all day, and vegged. I watched a bit of tv, had something to eat, played on the computer, watched a bit more tv, had something to eat again, and watched a bit more tv. Now that I finally got kicked off the tv, I'm back to the computer. Not a productive day, but hey, I'm allowed to have days like these. ;-)

... continued...
6. Dinner at Bul-Go-Gi House (with Irma, Niki, and Rick);
7. Watched the football game (Edmonton vs. Saskatchewan) with Irma, Rick, and Joi (all wearing Edmonton Eskimo hats);
8. Really loud fan sitting in our row (I couldn't hear myself think. My hearing was a bit affected the rest of the night);
9. Triple play action at the football game: (i) the football game itself, (ii) a fight broke out in the stands between some fans - a few security guards and about 7 cops later, they finally escorted them out, and (iii) some guy tried to run across the field, but was taken down by a couple security guards. With all this action, I wasn't sure what to watch. BTW, Edmonton won. Yay!
10. It started to snow. :-( But then it stopped. :-)
11. My feet were numb after the football game. I couldn't feel anything from my knees down;
12. Went to the usual hang out where I met Sue, Louise, and Lynne;
13. "Kodak moments" throughout the evening;
14. Birthday cake (tiramisu) with sparklers;
15. A shot of tequila + a shot of something else (don't know what it was) + 6 screwdrivers = Michelle being done for the evening (I won't go into too much detail at this point, but let's just say that everything was a bit of a blur).

And now I'm off to Gabriella's 4th birthday (Irma's neice, who shares the same birthday with me). Irma's here, gotta go...

Highlights about my birthday (so far):

1. Irma wishing me Happy Birthday at midnight (last night);
2. Having birthday cake with my mom just a little after midnight;
3. Getting birthday greetings/birthday emails from co-workers/friends;
4. My first birthday lunch of the week (that's right, I'm having a week long celebration ;-) );
5. Getting yellow carnations from a co-worker (which are literally brightening up my desk, I mean my day =P)...
[I'll be adding to this list]

So far, everything is going well. We'll see how the rest of the night/weekend goes. Stay tuned...

"P.S. ... BTW ..."

I had a couple (OK, three) pre-birthday drinks after work. After the day I had, it was much needed. ;-) Plus, I managed to laugh a lot, which totally took my mind off of the crappy day I had.

Plus or Minus 3 Days

That's typically the effects of the full moon. And oh the effects the full moon has had this week...

First of all, it was a busy week. Reports to do, deadlines to meet, etc. Normally, it would just be a hectic week, but for some reason things seem to be falling apart. Alarms going off (because the code I was given wouldn't work), things going missing, phones ringing off the hook, communication difficulties, etc. And of course, it has to happen the day before my birthday, and a week before my supervisor gets back. ARGH! [OK, deep breath... in with the good... out with the bad... I need a drink... oh wait I have one... =P]. Thank goodness I've been going to kickboxing. But really, I can't help but laugh at the whole thing. hehehe ;-)

Blue drink

I'm trying out this new blue drink. Not sure what it's called, but it's good. Hmmm, I might be drinking this on the weekend. ;-)

1 more sleep...

Just one more sleep. Will I make it until then?

Formula 51

I saw Formula 51 and it was OK. It's about a pharmacology graduate who gets busted in 1971 for smoking dope, thus gets his licensed revoked from becoming a pharmacist. 30 years later, he heads to England where he tries to sell this "wonder drug" he whips up, which is supposedly 51 times stronger than anything on the market, but finds himself wheeling-and-dealing with drug dealers. In the end, he comes out on top. The movie had some funny moments, but I wouldn't pay full price for it (good thing I didn't pay =P).

"...the power of suggestion..."

2 more sleeps...
Thanks for the reminder, Irma! ;-) [BTW, I called Joi and yelled at him like you told me to. hehehe.]

3 more sleeps...
*yawn*

Hot beverage for the week:

apple cinnamon herbal tea

Random Thought

Why do they put instructions as to how to make the beverage? For example:

Brewing Instructions
Hot Tea
Use one tea bag for each 8 ounce cup. Preheat cup or pot. Bring clear, cold water to a rolling boil, then immediately pour onto tea. Steep 3-5 minutes, or to desired taste.

Like it's rocket science to make a cup of tea?? "Bring clear, cold water to a rolling boil..." - as opposed to boiling murky water??

It's starting to get cold

The temperature is slowly dropping. I wasn't too impressed when I woke up to a blanket of snow in my backyard. Great. But the sun managed to come out and melt everything. So, we still technically do not have any snow. I'm really hoping that it won't snow or be cold on Friday, since I'll be at the football game. I'll dress warm regardless, but I'd really like it not to snow on Friday. *crossing my fingers*

4 more sleeps...
I can't believe it's only 4 more sleeps...

Another Busy Weekend

Thursday
Irma and I caught up on our Thursday night programming (Friends, Survivor, Will & Grace). Between watching the video tape and the actual show, we got a bit confused as to which show to fast forward? But we managed to watch everything, so now we're caught up.

Friday
After kickboxing, I headed to Irma's (again) for dinner and our ritual Friday. Joi came over a little while later, and Phoun followed suit. We played Big 2, then Clinton showed up with food! Yum! I played a couple more games, then went home since I had to work the next morning.

Highlights:
• diamonds, clubs, hearts, spades...
  
• straight, flush, full house, 4-of-a-kind, royal flush...
  
• "oh yeah, I won..." hehehe =P

Saturday
After work, I rushed home to get ready for a wedding reception at Sorrentino's. I've never been to a wedding reception at a restaurant before, but it was not bad. It was definitely more intimate than having at a hotel or banquet hall. We started off with a salad, then I had the grilled salmon (others chose chicken), and then tiramisu for dessert (yum!).

After dinner, I went to the hockey game where Edmonton lost against Boston 3-4 :-( I thought the first 2 goals scored by Boston could have been avoided. Especially the first one, since it just rolled into the net. Despite the loss, it was still a good game.

After the game, I did a quick outfit change [thank goodness for the MPV and tinted windows ;-)], and went to the usual to meet up with Irma and Maria. We stayed for a couple drinks and called it a night.

Lazy Sunday
Well, not really. I didn't do too much, but clean my closet. I took a few more things out of my closet which (a) didn't fit me anymore, and (b) were taking up space because I haven't worn them in a long time. I was also going to rotate my shoes, but it didn't happen. Besides, I need to get some protective spray for my shoes. Maybe I'll do that next weekend?

Staff Party

After a couple of really late nights, I finally got a chance to sleep in. I woke up at 8:30 am and got ready for my staff party. A bit unusual to have a staff party on Thanksgiving Day, I know, but it was more of an afternoon thing. A bunch of us met at work, where we would be transported by bus to the Molson House. Some people backed out at the last minute, which meant that there were extra football tickets available. So I called Irma right away and asked her to come out. She declined at first, but then called me back to change her mind (good job!).

So the first stop was Molson House, where we had pizza and beer. I don't drink beer to begin with, but since there was nothing else that I wanted to drink, I ended up having a beer anyway. First time for everything right? We had a few card games going, and Irma and I were playing Big 2 with Jevon and Mark. After a few card games and some beers (1.5 for me), we got back on the bus and headed to the football game. Edmonton was playing against Montreal. Even though our group was sitting in the nosebleeds, we still had a lot of fun. We were a bit loud, but it was all in good fun. Edmonton ended up losing 30-48, but that's OK. Hopefully they're in the Grey Cup.

After the football game, we got back on the bus again and headed back to the club for a couple more drinks and a few games of pool.

Highlights:
• Irma a.k.a. sortie de secours; Mich a.k.a. Eric/Samuel (based on name tags that were stuck on the bus)
  
• is it Big 2 or Big 1?
  
• "he/she's my bitch"

Thanksgiving dinner - Take 2

Since we got back from the football game a bit late (plus the fact that we hung out for a while and played pool), I was a bit late for my Thanksgiving dinner with my family. I ended up eating by myself, but it wasn't a big deal. My aunt, uncle, and cousin were over, so it was good to spend some time with them. I didn't eat as much as I would've liked, but we have lots of leftovers, so I'll probably be eating turkey for the rest of the week.

Shopping - Take 2

I went shopping Saturday afternoon with my mom, mainly to show her the coat I saw the other day. She was looking for a coat as well and ended up getting one with the gift certificate she had. I tried on the coat I liked again, and decided to buy it. Technically, it was the last one in my size because the other "size small" was the display one, which everyone tries on. But the best part was when I went to pay for it, and the price came up cheaper than what was on the tag! Yay, even better! So it was the last one in my size and on sale. It was just meant to be. =P

Wedding Reception

I went with Joi to his friend's wedding reception, which was at the Fantasyland Hotel. It was a buffet dinner with tons of food, and they had an open bar. The highlights of the evening were the dance performances. They had Ukranian Shumka dancers do a type of "welcome" dance, and then a Korean fan dance. [The bride was Korean and the groom was Ukranian]. I thought it was cool how they combined both cultures into their program. Joi and I didn't stay too long after, since he didn't know too many people there.

Where's the popcorn?

Irma and I went to our usual hang out, where we chit-chatted with a couple of my co-workers, and then just sat and people-watched. It was funny how we were just sitting there, drinking, and observing the people around us. All we needed was some popcorn, and it would've been like watching a movie or something. hehehe. After about 4 drinks each, we went to Keegan's for some munchies and called it a night.

Shopping - Take 3

After going to work for 45 minutes, Irma and I went shopping again, but this time we had the enire afternoon. So there was definitely no pressure. ;-) I had my "fast" shoes on, so I was totally geared up to go to the mall. We walked for 3 hours straight, and I must say I was impressed with Irma's purchases. I was feeling a little bummed toward the end because I didn't have a single bag in my hand. But I pulled through, when I went into Aldo and bought a pair of brown boots. Yay! Again, they were the last pair in my size, but unfortunately they weren't on sale. I even used one of my "logical" ways of thinking to convince myself to buy the boots, which was: the cost of the boots equaled the amount of what I "saved" on the coat, and since I was willing to buy the coat at regular price to begin with, why not use the money I "saved" to get the boots? I know, I need help. =P [Sidenote: I have to wonder if the sales people at these shoe stores purposely say that "it's the last pair in that size" as a sales tactic? I mean, it always seems to happen whenever I'm shopping for shoes. Either that, or they know about my "logic"]

Thanksgiving Dinner - Take 1

After walking around in the mall for 3 hours, Irma and I had built up quite an appetite. So Irma invited me to her sister's house for Thanksgiving dinner. There was lots of food, lots of people, and lots of kids. The food was so good, and I would've kept eating but I had no more room in my stomach. I had a lot of fun playing with Irma's neices and nephews. It definitely felt like back in the day when Irma and I used to work together in the nursery (right, Irma?!)

Highlights:
• "this message will self-destruct in 5 seconds"
  
• "what flavor of white zinfandel do you want?"

Speed Shopping

I decided to skip kickboxing, after Irma suggested we go shopping. She actually wanted to go shopping tomorrow afternoon, but I opted to go shopping last night after work. As I waited for her to meet me at work, I sat with Rick and had a drink. Irma finally showed up, had another drink, and then we headed to the mall with only an hour and ten minutes to shop. No pressure. We went through the mall so fast that I forgot what Irma bought, if she bought anything at all? I saw a suede coat with fur trim that I really liked. I tried it on and fell in love with it. I mean, it was so me. I didn't buy it though because I still wanted to look around, just in case I found something else I liked. [I don't like buying things and then seeing something I like more, and then having to return the first thing. Too much hassle.]

Girls Night Out

After we went shopping, we got ready to go to the Druid to meet up with Irma's sister and Irene. By this point, we still hadn't eaten anything, so we decided to eat at the Druid and waited for the other two to show up. Once they got there, we had a few drinks and danced the night away.

Highlights:
• "There won't be anyone here. Everyone's out of town, and the only ones that are going to be here are the out-of-towners. Whom we don't seem to have a problem running into..." hehehehe.
  
• American boys - one from somewhere in Colorado, somewhere in North Carolina, and Boston

Snow update

It's not official. The snow has melted, therefore it's not official. =P

Could it be official?

...the dreaded snow, that is. *sigh* One minute it's just wind and blowing leaves and the next minute there's a big snow storm. I was hoping that it would snow after my birthday, but no such luck. What are the chances that it will melt over the weekend? If it melts over the weekend, then I still don't count it as "official" snow. My definition of "official" snow is that it has to stay on the ground for 24 hours for it to be considered snow. (Yes, another one of my quirky theories =P). There's not a lot of snow on the ground, but who knows if it'll keep snowing?

14 more sleeps...
...until I turn one year older...

A Night at the Opera

Irma and I went to see Cavelleria Rusticana / I Pagliacci, two short plays about love triangles. I couldn't really get into the first one, and found some scenes to just drag on (I was starting to doze off). But the second one was better. I guess it was because it seemed more lively, with people in more colorful costumes. Overall, it wasn't a bad opera. I thought it was much better than the one I saw about a year and a half ago.

Dinner with Irma

Instead of going to kickboxing, Irma and I went to Moxie's for dinner, where we would ultimately have happy thoughts and happy moments. ;-) One thing's for sure, we ate way too much food. But it was all worth it, especially since we had the infamous white chocolate brownie for dessert. YUM!!

Minor Case of Road Rage

I was so close to ripping some old guy's head off. Well, not literally. It happened while I was on my way to Irma's place last night. I was getting ready to turn right at an intersection. It was a red light and there was a van in front of me, so I waited for a moment. No big deal. Where I was stopped, I was blocking the entrance/exit to the gas station at the corner of the intersection. Then this impatient old guy in a minivan honks his horn at me, gives me a gesture that I'm blocking his way, and I just look at him. I mean, since when am I supposed yield to him?! He just totally pissed me off, and I probably should have just stayed where I was to annoy him, but I decided to turn into the gas station, gave him the are-you-happy-now hand gesture, and left. I was so close to getting out of my car and reaming him out. But I guess it was better that I didn't, since I just came from kickboxing class. I know I shouldn't have let it get to me, but I was having such an "off" day, plus I was PMS-ing. AAARRRGGGHHH!

New Friday Ritual

Moving on to happier things...Irma and I have a new Friday ritual, which is hanging out at her place and watching Sex in the City [BTW, thanks for the drink Irma. It helped calm me down. ;-)]. Since the weather is getting colder outside, therefore preventing us (to an extent) from going out and staying out late, plus the fact that we both work Saturday mornings, it only makes sense to stay in. This will only be during the winter of course.

Early New Moon Effect

I don't know how else to explain it, but I think I'm feeling the effects of the upcoming new moon (on Sunday). I worked twice as long as I was supposed to because of minor screw-ups. Minor screw-ups are fine as long as there aren't a lot of them (otherwise it becomes time consuming to figure out what happened). I should seriously schedule someone else to work Saturday mornings...

Scrape, scrape

Could the dreaded winter be already here? I hope not. I woke up [very early] this morning, looked outside, and noticed white stuff on the ground. I figured it was frost, but as I looked closer, it seemed like snow (it was too dark to tell). Now that the sun has come up, I'd like to think that this white crystal formation on the ground is just heavy frost. I say this because I just had a hell of a time trying to scrape my windshield. Ugh. Plus, the way I see it, if it doesn't stay on the ground for more than 24 hours, it's not snow.

xXx

After having dinner at Irma's [thanks again Irma, it was delicious! :-)], with Jo Ann, Joi, and Matthew, we headed to the movies to see xXx (minus Jo Ann), since none of us had seen it. I really liked the movie (lots of action, cool stunts). Especially the part with Vin Diesel. Oh wait, he was in every scene. =P I thought the snowboarding scene was really cool!

Half Day

I was actually supposed to take the full day off, but I decided to go into work and do some stuff, just in case I had any last minute questions for my supervisor before he leaves for Australia for an entire month. I'm hoping that everything will go smoothly and that the month will go by quick.

After two and a half hours of work, I decided to call it a day, and do some errands. First on my to-do list was getting my contacts changed. I got them about a 2 weeks ago, but for some reason my right contact lens was bothering me. It's not that it was uncomfortable or anything, it seemed to be the wrong prescription. I wore them for a few days, just in case I put them in wrong or something, but I still got the same effect. The way it sits now, it's like my left eye is further out of my head than my right. I made an appointment with my optometrist, and apparently they ordered the wrong prescription for my right eye. So now I have to wait a couple days for the new ones to come in.

Next on the list was to pick up some toiletries, which took about 15 minutes. The next stop was the travel agency to pick up some travel brochures on a possible trip I might take next year (it all depends on the money situation). Then it was off to Staples to get some office supplies. And after that, I went to Sport Mart to look for some hats, but they didn't have what I was looking for. I was also planning to get some football tickets, but I didn't have the other 2-for-1 coupon with me. So I'll have to get that some time this week.

Lazy Sunday

Seeing as I was out with Irma Friday night, and then out with co-workers last night, I figured I needed a day to myself. So I did absolutely nothing. Well actually, I checked email, talked on the phone for a bit, and then watched about 4.5 hours worth of tv which I had taped because I've been pretty busy lately. So now, I'm caught up with all my tv shows (not that I watch much tv to begin with). I need more days like this...

Out with Irma

After kickboxing last night, Irma and I went to the usual hang out to have a few drinks. To sum up the evening, all I can say is:

• happy thoughts, happy thoughts, happy thoughts... happy moments, happy moments...
  
• snack choice of the evening: chips and salsa OR chips and salsa OR how about chips and salsa (hehehehe)
  
• "I see tall people"
  
• Random Thought: (I may have had this thought before) For people who wear glasses/contacts, why is it that you can't seem to understand people if your not wearing your glasses/contacts? As if you can't hear properly without seeing clearly? I was having trouble with one of my contacts, and even though I was looking directly at Irma when she was talking to me, I had to get her to repeat things to make sure I understood her correctly.
  
• "you're pretty"

Observations at Starbucks

As I was sitting in Starbucks this afternoon, waiting for a friend of mine, I noticed a few things:

• there were 3 types of people: (i) overweight people (as if to suggest that Starbucks will help them shed a couple pounds?); (ii) old people reading; (iii) moms with their kids getting their daily dose of caffeine to help them make it through the day.
  
• coffee guy making lattés, cappuccinos, etc. left, right and center, and has a comical way of announcing when your beverage is ready
  
• familiar looking guy - not sure where I've seen him before (shoe salesman or bartender?)
  
• two 12-year old girls trying to be yuppie-ish
  
• Random Thought: If coffee shop guys work with coffee (and other beverages) all day, do they still get a "coffee break"? Would they still need caffeine to wake them up so that they can make caffeinated (or decaf) drinks for everyone? Just a thought...

I bought a belt
I didn't get the belt that I wanted to get a couple days ago, but I got a casual belt for my jeans. And it was only $15! ;-)

Last minute shopping

Since Irma and I were going to the symphony (last night), we had to do some last minute shopping to dress for the occasion. OK, so we really didn't need to go shopping, but I needed to buy a belt. I ended up buying a skirt instead because I had been eyeing this skirt for a while, and it finally went on sale and it was the last one in my size. Well, it wasn't the absolute last one, but there was only one skirt left in my size. Anyway, Irma ended up buying a nice coat. Good job Irms! :-)

After shopping, we headed back to my house to get ready. Then it was off to...

The symphony at the Winspear Centre

Irma and I, dressed up in our "yuppie-ish" attire, got to the Winspear first. Joi and Phuon were running late, because they were having some communication problems with each other. [I think Phuon was having a delayed reaction to the full moon?]. They missed the first set, but they finally made it. The symphony was not bad. There was one piece which was really mellow, and was putting me to sleep, but then they picked it up. During intermission, the 4 of us went down to the main lobby to rub elbows with the other yuppies. We had some wine, and Irma and I had some dessert. Then it was back to the second part of the show. The final piece was Pomp and Circumstance, a tune I recognized which was a good ending to the show.

Highlights:

• crown imperial (dun da da daaaaaa)
  
• snoring lady sitting behind me (I guess the music put her to sleep)

The Creperie

After a long day at work, me and 3 other co-workers went to The Creperie for dinner. Very good restaurant! We had crepes, of course, and then had crepes for dessert too (even better!). We hung out there for a while just chit-chatting and telling stories, and before we knew it, it was almost 10:00 pm! I noticed the table next to us seemed to be getting a bit louder, as if to compete with the noise we were making. I think part of it had to do with the fact that they were drinking more than we were. Highlight of the night: making music with our water glasses. Rick managed to rap with his.

Quick note

Just wanted to say Happy Birthday to my mom. Not like she reads this, or even knows about this, but I just thought I'd jot it down. Besides, I greeted her already. I'll write more later... (after I get some sleep *yawn*)

Back to kickboxing

After not doing anything for the past month (I've been really busy with work), I finally made it back to kickboxing. And I feel so much better. I'm sure I'm going to feel a little sore tomorrow, but that's OK. Now I just have to keep this up...

Brunch

Starring:
Irma as A.K.A
Matthew as the Australian Boy aspiring to be Barry White
Me as the aspiring Imelda Marcos (whatever!)

ACT 1 - Scene 1

*beep beep ... beep beep ...*

The day started bright (well, not really that bright - more overcast) and early at 7:30 am, with the help of my alarm clock. Definitely way too early for me to be up on a Sunday, especially since I only had 5 hours of sleep from the night before. But Irma, Matthew and I planned to go for Sunday brunch on the Edmonton Queen Riverboat, and we had to be there a bit earlier to get tickets, since we didn't make reservations in advance. My second alarm clock went off at 7:45 am, indicating that I really had to get up. I gave Irma a wake-up call, and started to get ready for the day.

ACT 1 - Scene 2

I went to pick up Irma and noticed we were wearing the same pants (good thing I didn't wear my other sweater). "Here are 2 looks you can get with the same pair of pants - Funky 1 and Funky 2". Then we headed to Matthew's place to pick him up.

Highlights:

• "Did anything happen within the past 7 hours?" (full moon effect)
  
• conversation on being "chipper" first thing in the morning
  
• trying to come up with a theme song ("Love Boat")

ACT 2 - Scene 1

After we bought our tickets for brunch, we had about an hour to kill before we boarded the riverboat. The plan was to go to church, which was a good idea originally, but I didn't feel right going to church in the middle of mass, and then leaving early. So, Plan B was to go for coffee to wake up. So the question is: How difficult is it to find a coffee shop downtown that's open at 9:30 in the morning? You'd think a few places would be open by that time, especially the 24-hour ones =P. But for one reason or another (coffee shop not open, missed the turn to the coffee shop, couldn't find parking, etc), we ended up driving around for half an hour before we finally made it Starbucks near Oliver Square.

Once we ordered our latté, frappuccino, and [half sweet] tazo chai, we sat around and read the paper. Irma had the Front page news and Sunday feature sections, Matthew had the Classifieds, and I had the Entertainment section.

Random Thought
Without getting too psychological (since I don't have a degree in this) or over-analytical (something which I'm very good at =P), do you think that reading a certain section of a newspaper helps to define the individual? I mean, sure people read the entire newspaper, but when you have 3 people sharing one newspaper, does the section that each person takes first, describe the type of person that they are? Pretending that I know what I'm talking about, I would say that Irma is the "up-to-date on current events/informative" type, Matthew is the "practical/bargain-hunting type" (since he was looking at the car section of the Classifieds), and I'm, well, I'm not sure what to classify myself as? Anyway, whatever the case may be, I just noticed that not one of us picked up the same section at the same time. But back to the day...

As I flipped through the paper, a headline caught my attention which read: "So anyway, this guy goes into Starbucks..." It was an article on Seinfeld and how he came up with material for a stand-up comedy routine by observing his surroundings in New York City. Ironic how this article started off with "Starbucks" and I happen to be reading it in Starbucks.

Excerpts from the newspaper:
(at the time, certain parts of the article seemed to stand out to me, I'm not sure why)

• "Is it my imagination, or are desserts getting bigger and higher? Like they're wearing a WonderBra?"
  
• "A bit is a real idea that has some insight. And then you develop that insight into a series of things."
  
• "Relationships don't work. Do you know what works? Potato chips work. Fire extinguishers work. Relationships? They don't work."

While the 3 of us were reading our respective sections, we somehow were having some communication difficulty. Apparently the latté, frappuccino, and [half sweet] tazo chai didn't really help in waking us up. =P

ACT 2 - Scene 1

While we were waiting to board the ferry, we took some pictures. Somehow we got onto the topic of shoes and I was "aspiring" to be Imelda Marcos? Yeah, whatever! =P

ACT 2 - Scene 2

Once we boarded the ferry and got settled in, we proceeded to the buffet table. I was so hungry. The food was not bad, but I found there to be more breakfast food than lunch food.

As we were eating, I happened to notice Matthew's food. There wasn't anything wrong with it, but the way his bacon was sitting on his plate resembled the Loch Ness monster. How that came about, I don't know, but I guess that's what happens when you don't get much sleep the night before.

ACT 2 - Scene 3

Matthew ate the Loch Ness monster.

ACT 3 - Scene 1

After we had stuffed ourselves, we headed to the deck to take in the scenery. It was a bit cold but, it was nice to go through the river valley. The leaves on the trees were just starting to turn yellow, and just being on the water was so peaceful. There weren't that many people on deck, so we pretty much had the boat to ourselves.

Now, being on deck with not too many people around, plus all these "props" around you, and Irma armed with a camera, meant that we were going to have some fun. ;-) We took pictures with these props (i.e. lifesaver, bucket, signs, etc) and were just being goofy. It was a lot of fun!

ACT 4 - Scene 1

The cruise was over by 1:00 pm, and Irma and I drove Matthew back home.

Equation of the day:
Love Boat + Love Stuff (some adult store) = Love Making => Love Child

[Matthew breaks into song, singing Barry White's Can't Get Enough of Your Love.]

The outing ends with laughter. Matthew returns home, while Irma and I continue on with our day.

THE END (sort of)

DaMeesh Productions


Happy Birthday Marose!

Next on the agenda was Marose's 25th birthday. Since we were on Whyte Ave., we picked up some flowers for her and headed to Spago's for more food. I didn't think we'd eat that much, considering Irma and I just came from brunch. But suprisingly enough, we managed to eat more food.

Highlights:

• "Aren't we buying a card?" (after crossing the street, realizing we passed the card shop. Oops.)
  
• crossing the street - take 2
  
• driving through downtown - take 2
  
• "Are you twins? Sisters? Cousins?" [It's not the first time Irma and I got asked this question. Irma, I really think we should just tell people that we are twins. What do you think? hehehe ;-)]
  
• progressive picture-taking
  
• driving down Scona Road - take 3

Walk on Whyte
[take 3]

After all that food Irma and I ate, we decided to go for a walk down Whyte Ave to help in our digestion. We tried to look for crunchy leaves to step on, but the leaves were a bit soggy. I guess we'll have to wait a little while before we can have our "crunchy leaves" moment...

[I can't believe we did all of this on a Sunday]

New term

Filipini. Not filipino or filipina but filipini. That's the term this guy used to describe me. I thought it was kinda cute the way he said it. But now that I think about it, it sounds like some kind of pasta dish or something?

Hockey Game

Since I got free tickets to the game on Friday, Irma and I went to watch Edmonton vs. Vancouver. The game started late (I found out later that it was because of a power outage), but it was a good game. Edmonton won 8-5. Yay! Not bad for a pre-season game.

Mi mi mi mi mi mi mi mi mi...

After the game, Irma and I met up with Joi, Phoun, Jay, Joey, Ali, and Ivy for karaoke. Similiar to last time, we sang anything and everything, from R&B to alternative to OBG's. We sang until 3:00 am, by which time I pretty much lost my voice. I think the last song (Shakira's Underneath Your Clothes) is what did it for me. The worst part was I had to wake up 7:30 am to go to work. Ugh.

Saturday Night Tea

After taking a 4 hour nap (give or take 15 minutes - hey, I had to catch up on my sleep), Irma and I walked down Whyte Ave and hung out at Café on Whyte. We lost track of time and didn't realize it was already 2:00 am! Great, another late night. Maybe if we clued in on the people leaving the café, then we probably would've realized it was late. But we just sat there and chit-chatted and watched them all leave. =P Oops.

My Big Fat Greek Wedding

Since it was cheap movie night, Irma and I went to see My Big Fat Greek Wedding with Joi and Phoun. The movie was hilarious! Just when you think they're going to have a teary-eyed moment, they bust out with a witty line. And as Irma pointed out, no matter what movie we see, there always seems to be a line that we can relate to (in this case it was "Does he have a brother?"). The funny thing is that Irma and I will have a "moment" in the theatre and I'm sure everyone around us is wondering what we're laughing at?

Highlights:

• coming up with other combinations to the title of the movie. Is it My Big Fat Greek Wedding or My Fat Big Greek Wedding or My Big Greek Fat Wedding, etc.
  
• Phoun's drunk
  
• drinking wine may promote the growth of testicles (3 going on 4)
  
• "I hear asian people"
  
• "Here's for good luck forever..." *ptoo-ptoo*
  
• driving in circles in the parkade because "our night is not complete without at least one circle..."

My day so far...

...which has been spent running around. But what's new with that? I have to say though, in a span of 4 hours, I was able to:

• go to the bank;
  
• go the optometrist to get fitted for contacts (I'm wearing a trial pair right now, and they fit fine. It's just a matter of getting used to them again, and stopping myself from adjusting my glasses when they're not there);
  
• pick up my passport (now I don't have to worry about travelling with an expired passport, since this one doesn't expire until 2007); and
  
• take the currency counter from work to get it fixed (it only needed a good cleaning, and the guy didn't charge me for it)

It doesn't seem like a lot, but after driving 59.6 km all over town it's a bit much.

Random Thought

I'm not sure if I wrote about this before, but why is it that when you have the day off, it doesn't really seem like a day off because you spend the day running errands and catching up on things? I know I can have a more relaxing day off, but then when would all this "stuff" get done?

Suddenly Naked

No, it wasn't the state I was in (hehehe =P), but rather the name of the movie I watched last night. It's a Canadian film about a just-turned-40 romance novelist (Jackie) who learns to admire the work of another writer (Patrick, who happens to be half her age), and ultimately falls in love with him. In the beginning, Jackie tries to hide the relationship because she's afraid of what the media will say. But as the film progresses, she realizes that life's too short to be worried about what other people think.

I was never one to watch Canadian movies, simply because (no offense) they're Canadian and they just seemed too "local" for me. But I have to say that I enjoyed this movie. It had a good steady pace and you wouldn't think that it was 2 hours long. If we make more movies like this, I will probably watch them more.

Karangalan ng Lahi (Proud Heritage)

My mom and I went to the Jubilee tonight to watch the Philippine Barangay Performing Arts Society. The first part of the program consisted of Maglalatik/Arnis, Binoyugan, Binasuan, Sayaw sa Bangko, Nasudi, and Tinikling. They had a rondalla piece, which was then followed by Dalagang Pilipina and the Manila Beat - two modern dance performances. After a 20 minute intermission, they continued with Pangalay, Pangalay Ha Pattung, T'boli, Kapa Malong-Malong, Singkil, Boar Hunting, Ifugao, Ragsaksaksan, Dance of the Seven Gongs, and Batad.

It was a very entertaining performance and the costumes were great. I couldn't help but wish that I was a part of the production. Not necessarily performing (although I wouldn't mind), but just being part of something that promotes the Philippine culture here. You don't realize how big the Philippine community is until you have something like this bring everyone together. I suppose it's never too late to be a part of something, but it's trying to find the time to do things which is a bit difficult.

Re-cap of the past 2 days...

Thursday
I had dinner with Jenn and Myer at Dante's. We hadn't seen each other in a while, so it was good to catch up. The only bad thing about the evening was the service at the restaurant. First of all, they put us in the far back corner of the restaurant, underneath a speaker. Then, it took 20 minutes for the server to come by and take our drinks. I asked for pineapple juice and never got one. Once the food came out, our server didn't even ask how we were doing. And our water glasses were never refilled. I was not impressed at all, and was going to speak to our server, but decided not to because I was afraid I was going rip her head off since I was PMS-ing (not a good thing =P). Instead, I wrote her a note on the receipt as to why she wasn't getting a tip. I would've walked out without paying but figured that was bad karma. The 3 of us decided that we're never going to eat there again.

Friday
After work, Sue picked me up and we headed to Original Joe's to meet up with Irma and her co-workers for dinner. We sat there for a while and chit-chatted then headed to our usual hang out on Whyte Ave. We had a couple drinks and then called it a night at around 11:30 pm since I had to work the next day.

Highlights:

• dun da da daaaaaa... (music from imperial margarine commercial) after eating spinach salad
  
• talking to the pole
  
• laughing WAY too much and trying to stop, while someone else is giving you this goofy look
  
• "translation" gesture
  
• Can you do this? Do you see that? Can you feel this?

3000
That's the total number of visits I've had to my site to date.

Postcards

I got a postcard from Joi yesterday, while he was in Singapore. I got another one from him today when he was in Hong Kong. Too bad Joi returned before I got the postcards. =P Oh well. Thanks for the postcards, Joi! :-)

Quack quack...

That's what I heard as I was having dinner. I looked out the window and saw geese doing a "trial run" or something. They did this about the same time last year. And again they were in their semi-V formations. Only this time, there were 2 mini V-formations and a couple other geese who didn't seem to know which group to fly with? Fall isn't official for another 10 days, so maybe they're trying to figure out where to fly to? All I know is, I don't want it to be fall just yet because that means the weather will get colder, which means winter will be right around the corner, which means it will snow, which I don't like. I think I need to move somewhere more tropical... ;-)

Signs

I saw Signs last night at the cheap theatres. The movie was OK, but I expected it to have more spooky scenes than what was shown in the trailer. I thought it would be more of a sci-fi/suspense flick, but I found it to be a bit more dramatic. It was entertaining nonetheless.

Random Thought

Anytime there has been a UFO siting, there's always been the question: "Do you think other life forms exist in space?" The way I see it, anything is possible. But now my question is, What do they look like? Would they resemble humans? Or would they be skinny, with big heads, and big glassy eyes, like how they are portrayed in books? Would they have skin or would they have a reptile-like body? Personally, I think they would be a clear life form similar to the abyss. Simple creatures without any bodily functions like that of humans. That's my take on it anyway. What do you think?

Slack Sunday

I pretty much spent the whole day with Irma yesterday and we did absolutely nothing. Well, in the afternoon, anyway. We got so caught up in our conversation that we didn't realize that it was already 3:30-ish. Had our stomachs not informed us to feed them, we probably would've just vegged all day. We headed to Humpty's for a late lunch and then got ready to meet up with Joi and Phoun. [Normally, we'd go to a matinee movie and then to Café Select, but since Irma and I "lost track of time", we just went to Café Select].

Back to Café Select

Since Joi had been in travelling in Asia for the past 2 months, it was only fitting to meet him at Café Select. It's so good to have him back. And as part of the tradition, we started off with a bottle of chilean red wine (Isla Negra), as well as some munchies. The theme of the night was LAUGHTER!. We laughed so much that my stomach hurt, and Irma's cheeks got sore.

Highlights:

• sitting at the usual spot (it seems every time we go there, we end up sitting at the same table)
  
• of all the times we've been to Café Select, we've never had the same server twice
  
• lemons = profit
  
• acid and pH
  
• banking with the "Bank of Joi" (withdrawals, deposits, overdraft protection, etc.)
  
• "Simon says"
  
• "Don't turn out the LIGHTS!"

I'm sure I missed some things, but you had to be there. ;-)

I'm moving...

...offices that is. Our office right now is not really an office per se. It's more of a desk here and a desk there, separated with a divider, with a whole bunch of boxes all over the place. Basically it's an office/storage room. Not good. But I'm happy to say that our "office" will be moving to an actual office location down the street, which is good since we'll still be within walking distance between the 3 locations. I'm not sure when we're moving, but I can't wait to get out of this office. The new place has actual offices, as in separate rooms. And there's also a common area where they're thinking of putting couches and a juice bar. The new place will be a lot better because (i) there'll be less noise, (ii) not as many interruptions, (iii) it's still on Whyte Ave, and (iv) I have my own parking stall (currently I park in the back alley). Now if I can just get this situation with my employees under control, I'll be set.

It's official...

... I have taken out my fall clothes because IT IS TOO DAMN COLD to wear my summer stuff. I realize we're supposed to have an indian summer sometime later this month or early next month, but I have to face the fact that it's getting cold. But because of this whole indian summer thing, I haven't really put my summer stuff away, thinking that I'll be able to wear them one last time before I rotate it with my fall/winter stuff. So basically, everything is out. I'm not liking this transition thing. I also don't like how you can see your breath in the morning. Yup, it's that cold. I even contemplated wearing my winter jacket and a pair of gloves, but I think it's a little too early for that. As long as we don't get snow, I'll be fine. Hopefully it won't snow until December. OK, that may be pushing it, but I can dream...

STOMP

It was an amazing show! From broomsticks to sand to sinks to basketballs, they managed to make music out of it. I liked how they added a bit of comedy to the show. There was one guy with this huge afro that was really funny. He didn't need any dialogue - just his body language and movement was entertaining [especially the dancing, right Irma? hehehe ;-)]. The performers, who were part of the San Francisco production, also made part of the show interactive, by getting everyone to clap, snap, and stomp in the auditorium. I would definitely watch it again. I think it would be interesting to see the production in another city with different cast members, just to see how the performances differ. If you haven't seen it, I would highly recommend it!

Road Trip III - Calgary (a.k.a. City of Circles)

Irma and I, along with her parents, took a day trip to Calgary. After a long day at work yesterday, I rushed home to pack an overnight bag, and then it was off to Calgary. One thing about driving on the highway is that you get the odd driver who doesn't seem to know which lane he wants to be in. Or, they tend to hug one side of the lane, causing you to drive on part of the shoulder just to give you some space. Hence, key comments were:

• "move over"
  
• "stay in your LANE!"
  
• "...MERGING!"

(you had to be there to get the right tone).

We made it into Calgary at around 7:30 pm, and proceeded to Eau Claire Market, where we took a few pictures and met up with Irma's neice, Elaine. We had dinner at Brewster's, but was disappointed at the fact that the food took too long. Especially since the only meal that would've taken the longest to make was a steak sandwich (cooked medium). After dinner we went to Elaine's apartment. We chit-chatted for a bit and I played with the Tower of Hanoi puzzle. It was 7 disks high and I was determined to solve it before I went to sleep. I'm not sure how long it took me and how many moves I made, but I managed to solve it. Yay!

Today, we started bright and early at 6:00 am. OK, so it wasn't that bright but it was damn early! Irma and her mom had to be downtown by 8:00 am-ish to get their U.S. visa application. We left Elaine's apartment at 7:00 am and headed downtown. We ended up driving in circles for about an hour, looking for 615 Macleod Trail and the "tall skinny men" statues. We finally found the U.S. Consulate General Office, which was in Rocky Mountain Plaza - a building which we had passed several times. Go figure. Once we got there, it took a couple attempts to get to the office. On the first attempt, the elevator stopped on the 8th floor and went back down. We needed to get to the 10th floor. =P. On our second attempt, we were about to go up when a lady on the elevator told us we needed the security guard to take us up. We finally made it to the office on the 3rd attempt with the security guard. Irma and her mom got the forms, and went back downstairs to get their photos taken. We also realized that we needed change for U.S. currency, since the U.S. Consulate General doesn't give change. Huh? You'd think that with all the people getting visa applications, etc., they'd be able to give change. Uh, nope. So Irma and I had to find a currency exchange place. We walked about 6 blocks, got the USD broken into smaller bills, and went back to the U.S. Consulate General office.

All I have to say about Calgary is that it's a non-user-friendly environment.

• Everything in downtown is one-way, therefore there is a minimum requirement of driving in 3 circles.
  
• You need a code to get into the public washroom in the building we were in (342 for ladies, 425 for men).
  
• The café mocha I got was leaking out of the cup, plus it didn't taste good, and I spent $1.85 for a really small cup. I could've paid an extra 2 bucks to get Starbucks or something, except that there wasn't a Starbucks close by.
  
• The convenience store in the building only had one stamp left. [You'd think that he'd get more in as soon as he found out that he was running low?]. So Irma and I went for yet another walk downtown, looking for a place that sold stamps.

Other highlights included:

• comprehension difficulty (and we weren't even using "big words")
  
• cheap-drugs-lost-and-confused moment while walking down 7th Ave
  
• Irma's mom asking "where's the button?", as we were standing on the corner of an intersection waiting to cross the street
  
• bald guy with Roots bag in Sunridge Mall food court was "captivated" by Irma's look
  
• soaking up the sun on the food court patio, not being able to talk properly
  
• Irma's "14" moment

And to think all this happened before 11:00 am. I felt like I had a full day. After we had lunch at Sunridge Mall, we headed back to Edmonton. [Reminder to Irma: you hate Calgary. hehehe ;-)]

Cheap Movie Night with the Yo-Yo's

It was a girls night out with Irma, Irene, Ghie, and Jo Anne. We had some time to kill before the movie, so we went to Jax Bean Stop, where they told me of their camping trip. Apparently I missed a wacky adventure. ;-) Once we were done drinking our tea/hot chocolate/cappuccino, we headed to the theatres. The movie was OK, although there were some parts where I was a bit confused. But that was because my mind has been programmed to foreign film mode, with all these foreign films I've been watching lately. [mental note: set mind back to "normal" mode]. The highlight of the night was the fact that we were experiencing some "hearing impairment/speech impediment" problems. hehehe. =P

Silver for Team Canada

Although I don't know much about soccer as far as the rules go, I have to say that it was an intense and entertaining game between Team Canada and Team USA. Canada had so many chances to score, but the ball just didn't find it's way into the goal. It was scoreless for 90 minutes, and about 20 minutes into overtime, Team US scored. :-( Nonetheless, it was a good soccer game.

I got tickets!

I just listened to my office voice mail (only because I was waiting to hear from my co-worker) and I have a ticket to the FIFA U-19 Women's World Championship. Yay! I've never been to a soccer game, and I'm not really a soccer fan, but Canada and U.S. are in the finals so it should be an awesome game. OK, I should go to sleep now...

It's now September...

I should be sleeping right now, but because I took a 3 hour power nap, I am wide awake. And I'm home on the weekend. Only because I'm trying to get rid of this throat infection and I don't want to do anything that will make it worse. The drugs seem to be helping. I was also supposed to go camping with Irma, but obviously that didn't happen. Maybe next time...

But now that it's September, I kinda feel a little bummed because that means that fall is approaching, which means the weather will get colder, which means my birthday is coming up, hence winter will be here. It's just one big domino effect. I'm hoping that we have a late winter because I don't want snow on my birthday. Ideally, I'd like the month of September to be a bit warmer, but I'm noticing that the sun is starting to set earlier, like at around 10-ish, when in the past it would still be light out until 11:00 p.m. Oh well.

Summer Flu

I hate being sick. And the worst part is being sick during the summer when the weather is so nice. Ugh. I'm not feeling feverish anymore (I took drugs for that), but my throat is so sore, making it difficult to swallow. I guess I should go to the doctor so he can give me more drugs. Normally, I'd just tough it out and drink lots of liquids, eat lots of fruit, blah blah blah, to flush it all out of my system, but I don't think it's going to be that easy this time.

Ice Cream Flavor of the Day

orange sherbert

New Route

My co-worker showed me a new route as I was driving him home. Taking this route will definitely cut down traffic time. I probably saved 15 minutes by going on this new route, and although it doesn't sound like much, the less time I spend in rush hour traffic the better.

Blog Slacker Too busy to blog...

Forgive me fellow bloggers for it has been 4 days since my last post. hehehehe. =P

As much as I'd like to blog, it has been almost impossible to post my thoughts. Reasons being (i) too busy at work to get onto internet, (ii) no access to computer, (iii) busy social calendar hence NO TIME!

THURSDAY
• Dinner at Thanh Thanh Vietnamese restaurant
  
• sat outside and listened to fireworks in the background (they were on the other side of the building, so I couldn't see them)
  
  
  Random Thought
  Do most vietnamese restaurants do the double name thing? I know there's another restaurant in town called Tran Tran. What's with the double name?
  
  
  FRIDAY
• Irma, Matthew and I went to the Fringe to watch Friend or Faux - two plays about friendship - funny! :)
  
• "... girlfriends are like bras, intimiate and supportive."
  
• Irma and I walked around looking for a patio to hang out at. We ended up at the usual hangout, where strangely enough there was another "Irma" on the patio (except she was caucasian).
  
  SATURDAY
  
• Took advantage of the hot weather and went to the park to play badminton. I lost 4 sets to 1 only because the sun was in my eyes half the time. Oh well.
  
• Watched another foreign film called Songs from the Second Floor. This time it was Swedish. It had some funny scenes, but in the end, I didn't get it?

Mission 5: Walk to Dawson Bridge
Status: Complete

Irma and I walked all the way to Dawson Bridge. 30 degree weather, a banana beach booster juice (with energy booster), a green berry hawaiian punch slushie, and 3 hours later, we made it back to Irma's apartment. It was definitely a long walk, but it was good to be outside. Now all we have to do is complete Mission 2, and all 5 missions will be complete. Irma, I looked back on our missions, and we reversed missions 2 and 3. Our list of missions should look like this (not done in this order):

1. The Bridges
   
2. Hawrelak Park
   
3. "Up and down stairs"
   
4. "Blueberry Trail" (I don't know what to call this one - the one you did with Joi)
   
5. Dawson Bridge

So when should we accomplish Mission 2?

Re-cap of the past 2 days...


SUNDAY

El Espinazo del Diablo
I watched the foreign film, The Devil's Backbone at Metro Cinema. I'm not a big fan of subtitled movies (because I find that I don't understand the movie that well, since I'm reading instead of watching the movie), but this one was pretty good. Even though you had to read the subtitles, you could still follow what was going on. I guess you could say I'm expanding my horizons?

Random Thought
Don't you hate it when you have to go to the bathroom REALLY bad, and you're stuck in the car during a thunderstorm? The fact that it was raining, absolutely did not help me. I know I should've used the facilities before I drove home, but I didn't feel like going then.

MONDAY

No Cavities
I had my semi-annual teeth cleaning and I don't have any cavities. Yay! Although, I still have to be a bit more careful when I brush because of my gum recession. But from what my dentist told me, I am getting better. My dental hygenist also told me to get a pulsating toothbrush, which will help prevent me from brushing too hard and at the same time get those hard to reach places.

Fringe Festival
Irma, Irene and I went to the Fringe to (i) check out the street performers, and (ii) find out when to get our tickets for one of the plays later on in the week. As we walked past one of the stages, an acapella group from Saskatchewan/Alberta called Hoja was performing. They were pretty good and sang a variety of songs, from disco to country to OBG.


Highlight (full moon moment):

Irma: I'm having a moment...
Hoja member: I'm having a moment
[Irma, Irene and I burst out laughing because it was like Irma was psychic or something. hehehe :-) ]

TUESDAY

Day Off
To me, a day off means a day where I can run around and do errands and stuff. My to-do list looked something like this:


• Get my dentist to sign my passport application as my guarantor (yes, I'm finally renewing it =P)
  
• Buy scrapbook for Paris photos
  
• Go to Kingsway to check out prices on contacts (because I have a rebate voucher)
  
• Submit passport application to Canada Place
  
• Pick up some flowers for Irma ("Happy Bunch")
  
• Lunch with Irma. Plan A was Mongolie Grill on Jasper Ave. But then we decided to eat somewhere that had a patio. Plan B, Joey Tomatoes. But then we decided we go there too often. So Plan C was to find a restaurant with a patio on 124th Street. No luck. Then we decided to go back to Plan A. After driving around in circles, we ended up going to Earl's, Plan D.
  
• Go to driving range with Irma. Irma wanted to try it out, so we went to Millwoods Creek and hit some balls. I gave her a few pointers, and in no time she was hitting the ball - better than me. ;-)
  
• Dinner at Irma's house.

And I'm happy to say that I did it all.

Quick Post

Just wanted to be one of the first one's to say:

Happy Birthday Irma!!

Undercover Brother

Seeing as I didn't want to stay home again (and on a Saturday night no less), I started calling some people to see what they were up to. First I called Matthew, but he wasn't home. Then I called Phoun, and him and Kai were going to watch it at the cheap theatre, so they invited me to come along. Hey, why not? I met them all the way in the north side and we watched Undercover Brother. That movie was funny! The only thing that distracted me from the movie was the fact that some guy in our row decided to carry on a conversation on his cell phone - twice. Ugh. I guess they don't know about the "Please turn off your cell phone/pagers during the movie" rule in this theatre?

Highlights:

• we came up with new names for each other: Phoun = Undercover Brother, Kai = Conspiracy Brother ("Did you hear that?"), and I'm Sistah Girl
  
• "I see white people..."

And the night continued on...

After the movie the 3 of us headed to Finnigans to meet up with Mark and Jay. They were playing pool for a while and about half an hour later, Joey and Ali came by. Phoun and Kai decided to play a game, but for some reason their game took so long. Partly because Kai kept sinking the white ball. =P. Phoun made some "solid" shots and finally finished the game.

La la la LA la la la la la...

After Finnigans, all 7 of us decided to go karaoke at this place on 99 St (I forgot the name). We got a big room and sang all night long. It was so much fun! And the cool thing was their playlist was pretty current. Unlike other karaoke places whose most current playlists only go up to about 2 years ago, this place had songs like: Hot in Herre by Nelly, Just Like a Pill by Pink, and Don't Turn Off the Lights by Enrique Iglesias, just to name a few. Apparently they update their songs monthly, which is why they have up-to-date music. 3 1/2 hours, a couple of sore throats, and a few sore cheeks later (from laughing so much), we called it a night. Whoa, I haven't stayed out till 3:00 am in a long time. And by the time I got home, it was close to 4:00 am. *yawn*

Key Songs:

• Always - Atlantic Star
  
• That's What Friends Are For - Dionne Warwick, Elton John, Gladys Knight, Stevie Wonder
  
• Sweet Caroline - Neil Diamond
  
• Copacobana - Barry Manilow
  
• Blame it on the Rain - Milli Vanilli
  
• Let Me Blow Ya Mind - Eve featuring Gwen Stefani
  
• Hero - Enrique Iglesias (key line being "Would you dance, if asked you to dance...")

Home on a Friday night

I haven't been home on a Friday night in a LONG time. And now that I don't have any plans (since Irma went to Vancouver for a wedding), I don't know what to do with myself. I was planning to go to kickboxing, but obviously I'm not there. I was hungry and I didn't want to pass out in class, so I went home to get a snack. But now that I'm home, I don't feel like going out again. So much for "staying on track". I thought about going to the Fringe Festival, but it's too cold outside to be walking around. I could call Phoun and Kai, or Matthew, and see what they're up to, but I don't really know what I feel like doing. I've also thought about going shopping, but at the same time I don't want to go because there are too many people and I'll probably end up buying something. Ugh. I don't like being like this. I know I want to be out of the house, but I don't know where to go and what to do. Suggestions anyone??

"OK class, now the next lesson is..."

I was training 2 girls today, and I felt like I was teaching a class. ;-) They were both so attentive, and had a lot of questions which was good. I think that's the best way to learn about the job. I'm hoping they "pick things up" quick.

Back to Kickboxing

After not doing any form of "hard core" activity for the past 2 months, give or take (since I went to Paris, and then the school was closed for 2 1/2 weeks), I finally made it back to kickboxing. And I'm so glad I went. I feel SO much better now. More alert and revived! Now if I can just make it to the gym, I'll be back on track...

Inside Joke/Comment

Only my Panorama ski buddies will understand this: I saw Mr. Six Figures today while I was leaving work. Don't think he recognized me, but then he was with some girl. Possibly the future Mrs. Six Figures? hehehehe. ;-)

Girls Night Out

Irma and I met up with my friend Cheryl, who's been back from Tahiti for a couple weeks now (but is going back for one more contract (I think) at the end of August). It's been so long since I last saw her, so it was fun to hang out with her and her friend Lori. We all met up at The Druid and had a blast drinking and dancing and drinking and dancing and more drinking. ;-) I didn't have that much to drink, but by the end of the night my face was feeling numb. Hmmm, maybe drinks 6 and 7 put me over? hehehehe. =P

Highlights:

• mission of the evening: randomly choose a guy to dance with (didn't happen)
  
• keyword of the evening: peanut butter
  
• lunging and squatting
  
• guys in kilts (who I think came from a wedding that a friend of mine went to)

Random Thought

Why are online quizzes so addicting? What provokes one to do them? Maybe it's to learn more about yourself. But how much can you learn from a limited number of questions? For me, I do it for fun. It's more of an "entertainment" thing for me than anything. Plus, if I'm doing one, it's usually because I'm bored. [I have no life... hehehe. =P]

So, according to these quizzes (with the exception of the first one), I am a camping commando, dare to be different, part full/part empty, marriage material, enchanted explorer/honeymooner, dashing diva, puppy pal, "take your foot off the gas", la-la land lost, selfless saint, true 80's baby, top secret, roomie from heaven, kinda person. In short, "well-rounded". hehehehe. ;-)

What's better than, if not just as good as, espresso chip ice cream?

Espresso chip milkshake. =P

Although Rick over-blended it, so it's not as thick as a normal milkshake. So really, it's more of an espresso chip milkshake drink. Leave it up to a guy to screw up something as simple as a milkshake. Hehehehehe. =P

Sahara Sands

Louise and I went to Sahara Sands Meditteranean Restaurant to use the dinner gift certificate we got last week. The only catch was we could only order one of the pasta dishes. Either that, or take $5 off any other entrée on the menu. I opted to try something else, since I wasn't in the mood for pasta. So I ordered the 1/2 farough (sp?) which is basically a half chicken with grilled veggies and Lebanese bread (which is similar to pita bread). It wasn't bad, but it was way too much for me to eat. I ended up eating half of my half chicken and taking the rest home.

Credit card nightmare

Just when I thought a phone call to AMEX would do the trick... not quite!

I was supposed to go to Hawaii last November with Bern, Bev, and Gary, but due to a family matter, I was called out to PI. Plus, it just so happened that the airline that I was supposed to fly with to Hawaii filed for bankruptcy right after I booked the ticket. Anyway, I've been waiting for a credit on my credit card and six months later, I still haven't received it. I called AMEX to find out what the status of that was, since one of the agents I spoke to 6 months ago said it would take 6 months (or so) to get it straightened out. Well, it's not that simple. According to this other AMEX agent I spoke to, she said that they mailed out letters to cardholders who had Canada-3000-refund-issues and that the deadline to get in contact with AMEX was May 31/02. Huh?!?! I didn't receive any letter and I told her that. I almost lost it, but I kept my composure and explained to her that I didn't want to eat this cost. So now I have to get in touch with my travel agent (who supposedly sent in a claim to AMEX on my behalf), and get the documentation verifying that a claim was sent to AMEX. But even with this documentation, the agent said that there was no guarantee that I'd get the refund, since the decision can only be made by upper management. ARGH!! That sucks! I really really really hope that my travel agent has this info. *crossing my fingers*

Ice Cream Flavor of the Day Week

Espresso Chip (espresso ice cream with flakes of chocolate) YUM!

The Bourne Identity

I went to the movies with my parents tonight (being cheap Tuesdays and all =P -- plus, I was bored), and saw The Bourne Identity. I thought it was a pretty good movie and liked how the movie kept me interested. Just the right amount of action without being too violent. My parents seemed to enjoy it as well, but I kinda felt like the third wheel. Oh well...

[Sidenote: I like Matt Damon better than Ben Affleck. heheheh. =P]

Day Off

I like having a day off during the week because it breaks things up. Although I tend to get my days mixed up (because it's like a weekend for me today), but that's minor. So far, I have:

• gotten my passport picture taken (since I should renew my passport);
  
• looked at getting contacts, but my eye doctor's receptionist was being a bitch when she tried to squeeze me in before my eye doctor went for lunch (uh, I don't want to be rushed into my eye appointment). I even offered to come back another time and she started giving me this attitude and tried to cover it up by smiling? Well, let's just say I'm not going back there anymore. Which means I have to find another eye doctor. Ugh;
  
• bought some hair stuff at Safeway since it was 2 for 1.

And now it's off to my hair appointment...

Austin Powers

After going shopping [I didn't buy much - just a shirt, a sweater, 2 pairs of jeans, and a pair of shoes. =P], Irma and I went to Eaton Centre to watch Austin Powers with Phoun and Kai. This was my second time seeing it, and I still think the second one was funnier than this one. Just my opinion...

Another one of those Café Select evenings...

After the movie, we decided to head to Café Select for the traditional Sunday thing, without Joi (since he's in travelling in Asia) so his representatives were Phoun and Kai. We started out with a bottle of chilean wine (which seems the usual "yuppie-ish" thing to drink), and ordered the tomato and herb fondue and escargots. Yum! Since it was Kai's first outing with us, we had to "initiate" him, by introducing him to the art on display. hehehehe. :-)

Highlights:

• Survivor 1
  
• "What the world needs now, is love sweet love, la la la la la la la..."
  
• Fook Mi, Fook Yu, Fook On, Fook Off
  
• origami with cloth napkins
  
• "Huh? I don't get it..."
  
• playing Big 2 (I kept losing)
  
• Kai realized he's allergic to cats (or is he allergic to Irma? heheheh. =P)

Hey Irma, do you think Kai got traumatized? hehehehe...

Random Thought

Do you notice that whenever the weather is not favorable outside (i.e. raining, snowing, or just plain cold), the day doesn't seem to go as well as it would have, had it been a nicer?

I think it's just been a long week...

I got pictures!

Yay! I got Bern's pictures in the mail today! Yay! :-) I hope you get my pictures soon, if you haven't gotten them already. Now I have the full set with over 300 pictures. Man, we took a lot of pictures... Well, I can definitely say that I'll never forget the Paris trip (especially with 300 pictures to refresh my memory). Not that I could actually forget the Paris trip, but... you know what I mean. I think I need to get a better camera though, since Bern's photos seemed more sharper than mine.

Now the task is to put them all together...

I also got my dinner gift certificate

So I went to that "meeting" to check out what the wholesale travel company was all about. I took my friend Louise with me, since she wants to start travelling. Before we could get our dinner gift certificate, we had to sit through this presentation, where they give their sales pitch on this whole discount travel thing. Basically what it entails is that you pay a one-time fee up front (or you can finance it) and then you can travel anywhere at wholesale prices (for air and hotel), which is 50-70% below retail cost. Since I've done a bit of travelling in the past couple years, I'd say that this would be a good investment for me. Only problem is, I don't have $3,500 to pay up front. Even if I were to finance it over 3 years at a monthly payment of $120, it's just not in my budget, especially after the Paris trip. If I had known about this before I went to Paris, I would definitely invest in it (and maybe I could've gone to London with Bern as well). I'm just not sure how much travelling I'm going to be doing. There is no time limit with this membership, but of course I want to make sure it's worth it. I was so close to signing up, because in the long run, it would make sense. You do save a lot of money. But the issue is having the money to begin with, plus being able to take time off work, etc, etc. I mean, yes I'd like to travel, but I also have to be realistic. [Does any of this make sense?]

Anyway, one presentation, and 2 hours later, Louise and I decided not to go for it. As good as it sounds, it just wasn't affordable for me. And Louise didn't like the fact that she had to decide right then and there. The lady who did the presentation seemed to be a bit upset that we didn't sign up, but she did say that if weren't going to use the service, or if we were unsure, we shouldn't sign up. So we didn't. We did get our dinner gift certificates though. hehehehe ;-)

9C/48F

That's the current temperature here in Edmonton. It's raining, it's windy, and it's REALLY COLD! BRRRRRR!! I almost wore my wool sweater, but there was no way that I was going to give in to this weather. I mean, it's JULY; we're not supposed to have cold weather like this. Granted, we do need the rain (to help prevent those forest fires), but does it really need to be this cold? A trip to a nice warm beach would be good right about now...


Random Thought

Why is it that when it's winter and the weather is below zero, anything above zero is considered warm. But when it's hot, anything under 15C is considered cold (well, for me anyway)? I know, it's about your body adjusting to the environment, but why couldn't you just feel the same way regardless of the season? I mean, 20C is 20C. It shouldn't have to feel different with the seasons. Does that make sense? All I know is, I was definitely made for more tropical weather.


Is this week almost over?

Quite the busy week at work so far. Payroll, inventory, month end reports, bills to pay, etc. And it's only Wednesday! It feels like it should be Friday. Ah well, it'll be over soon...


"You have just received a dinner gift certificate..."

A while ago, I answered some telephone survey thing about travel. Blah blah blah. Then today, I got a call from this guy who works with a wholesale travel company and said I got a dinner gift certificate at some Mediterranean restaurant for answering the questions on the survey. Uh, OK. So what's the catch? Apparently there is no catch. It's not a time-share thing, and I'm not obligated to buy anything either. All they want is my potential future business for my future travel plans, since I'd be getting a discount on airfare, etc (compared to going through a regular travel agency). All I have to do is sit in this "meeting" for an hour (and bring non-perishable items for the food bank), and I get my dinner gift certificate. They'll probably try to sell me something without making it seem like they're selling me something, but hey, I want my dinner gift certificate! =P

Random Thought

Here's something I got from an email:

"How is it that one careless match can start a forest fire, but it takes a whole box to start a campfire?

It's been 1 month...

... plus or minus a week since I've been to the gym. I'm feeling kinda blah, and finding it difficult to get the motivation to go back. I know I should go, especially since kickboxing starts again next week. Any suggestions?

Quick Weekend Post

Friday
Went shopping with Irma. Bought a bag for $5 (yay! thanks to Irma). Made our appearance at Klondike Days. Checked out the Philippine pavilion (which was OK), and went to the casino where I lost $20. Oh well.

Saturday
Went shopping with my brother after work (no Irma, I wasn't at Wal-Mart for 3 hours - hehehehe. =P). Met up with Irma and then went for coffee. Big surprise for me (talk about being clueless...) !

Sunday
Went to Sylvan Lake for Shelley's grad party-get-together thing. It was raining and cold and windy (similar to the Eiffel Tower trip with Bern), so I opted not to go on the water slides. It cleared up for a little while in the afternoon, but then the clouds rolled in again. By this time, we packed it up and headed indoors at the A&W. And just as we were getting ready to leave, the sun comes out again. Some of the people decided to go back to the water slides, but I didn't because (i) by this time, I wasn't in the mood to go, (ii) my bathing suit was in my car, which my parents drove home, and (iii) I just wanted to go home.

I think I'll just relax for the rest of the evening...

Taste of Edmonton

It's that time of year again. Being that Edmonton is the City of Festivals, and Taste of Edmonton is part of that, Irma and I had to make our appearance. ;-) As usual, we had a lot to eat (tomato salad from That's Aroma, seafood skewers from Café Select, salad rolls from Century Grill, crepes from Martinique, and a fruit martini from Mayfield Inn). The food was not bad. Some of the portions were small, but then the whole point of Taste of Edmonton is to sample a whole bunch of different kinds of food. Phoun met us there (thanks to Sweet Caroline) and then we headed to Joey Tomato's for a pitcher of bellini's, a pitcher of sangria, and some crab & artichoke dip.

[Highlight of the evening: RIBS!! hehehehe. :-)]

Goodbye Dear Pam

Miss Princess
that's what we called her
she took good care of herself
always getting her beauty rest,
always primped and fashionable
that was Miss Princess

The Shopper
her forté was the art of shopping
the mall was her territory
"sale" was the magic word
she was the bargain hunter
that was The Shopper

The Person
smart, funny, determined, mature,
one-of-a-kind
she knew what she wanted out of life
with certain "specifications" to be met
that was The Person

The Angel
now she has moved on
to a place where she continues to be Miss Princess, The Shopper, and The Person
although we can't see her
she is still with us

I will miss you Pam. Although it was much too soon to go, I can definitely say that you lived a full life. I know there comes a time when we must move on to another world beyond earth. And sadly so, your's came too quickly. But you are in a better place now, and your spirit lives on through Tarrell. Our love and prayers are with you and your family.

6 months ago today...

...I started working here. Happy Anniversary to me! hehehe. =P Hard to believe it's only been 6 months. Seems like longer. But isn't that always the case? (Or maybe not...)

What's that smell?

Shelley and I were outside briefly when we noticed that someone in our neighborhood was smoking some serious weed. We weren't sure where it was coming from because we couldn't see any smoke, but it seemed like they were burning a massive plant in their backyard or something.

Busy Weekend in a Nutshell

Friday
You'd think that I'd be jet-lagged after getting back from Paris, but I went to work. Later that night, I went out with Irma, Irene, Ghie, and Elaine for Irene's birthday. [Highlight: Irene having a bit of difficulty doing the "shot with no hands"].

Saturday
I had about 5 hours sleep, and got up early to go to work for 4 hours. After work, I rushed home to get ready for the Binibining Pilipinas Edmonton 2002 & Miss Teen Philippines Edmonton 2002 Beauty Pageant at the Shaw Conference Center. I took Irma with me, and we stayed there for 2 hours, just long enough to see the pre-pageant show. We had other commitments that evening which is why we didn't stay to see the pageant. [Highlights: VIP/Platinum status; having champagne and hors d'oeuvres; being "yuppie-ish" ;-)]

After the pre-pageant show, Irma and I went to Mark and Lia's wedding reception (they got married in Cancun 2 weeks ago, and had the reception here). It was good to see Mark again, and it's hard to believe that he's married now. Weird thing was, I saw a couple people I knew, but I didn't know that they knew Mark. Talk about small world. [Highlights: Poon's imitation of Maestro Fresh Wes' dance; trying to do the two-step; just having lots of fun. :-)]

Sunday
I tried to sleep in, but for some reason I woke up at 9:00 am? (I'm pulling one of Irma's stunts. hehehe). I got up, had breakfast, and putzed around with the intention of doing absolutely nothing. Although I was off to a good start (sitting in front of the computer and talking to Irma at the same time), I somehow managed to make plans for the evening. So much for staying home. I went out for coffee with a friend of mine and showed my pictures of Paris. 2.5 hours later, we called it a night.

Finally a moment to myself

It's nice to be able to just sit here, with no one around, and do nothing (well, except blog, but I need to clear my head). Although I have contemplated about going to the gym, I think I'll do that another day…

Au Revoir Paris

We had our last "continental breakfast" (consisting of cereal and croissants), before taking the shuttle to the airport. We had a minor glitch when we got to the airport and were approximately 2 euros short for the fare. But that's their fault for not accepting credit cards. =P

When we went in, there was a huge line at the Air Canada check-in desk. There were all these people with backpacks and what looked like camping gear, waiting to get boarding passes. Great. Of all the days for a group outing, they had to pick this day. I found out later that the group (of 100 people) were going to Toronto for World Youth Day. Anyway, I finally got my boarding pass and had about an hour before heading to my gate. So Bern and I just sat and people-watched.

Record-breaking proposal

While Bern and I were people-watching, this guy who works at the airport sat 2 chairs away from me and just stared over. I looked at him with this "can I help you?" kinda look and he finally said Bonjour. In a span of 3 minutes, I found out the guy's name, age, origin, occupation, etc, and somewhere along the way he managed to ask me to marry him. Huh?!?!?!?! Uh yeah, OK? It was quite entertaining actually.

Je parle un petit peu de francais...

I was sitting next to 1 of the 100-person group going to Toronto for World Youth Day. Her name was Guenaelle and oddly enough we managed to have a conversation. She spoke a bit of english, and I spoke a bit of french. But between gestures and different tonalities, we somehow understood each other.

"This is your captain speaking..."

I don't like hearing an announcement that starts off this way because it usually means that something's wrong. In this case, the captain was telling us that there would be a delay -- for 1 hour. Ugh. Something about the plane arriving late, putting the baggage on the plane, re-fueling, etc. Oh well, at least my layover in Toronto would be 4 hours instead of 5.

Lines, lines, and more lines

When I got to the Toronto airport to catch my connecting flight to Edmonton, there was nothing but lines. First a line to customs; then a line (somewhat) to get you baggage; then another line to re-check your baggage; and finally a line to go through security. I realize it's part of increased security measures, etc. but I just don't like waiting in them.

Miscellaneous highlights/tidbits of info from the trip:

• Top 5 songs of the trip:
  1. Papa Don't Preach - Kelly Osborne
     
  2. Soak up the Sun - Sheryl Crow
     
  3. 1000 Miles - Vanessa Carlton
     
  4. Don't Let Me Get Me - Pink
     
  5. Let's Push Things Forward - The Streets
• renaming roads/places (La Samaritaine = San Martin; Rue de Rivoli = Ravioli Street)
  
• "rippy thing" (used at the Eiffel Tower)

Back Home

Although I had an awesome time in Paris, it was great to be back home. I still can't believe I went to Paris. It was definitely a wonderful experience. Now that I can say I've been to Europe, I feel like exploring the other continents. Gotta save up for that though. ;-)

Acknowledgments

Thanks Gary for introducing me to blogging and ultimately Bern. And thanks Bern for inviting me to Paris. I had tons of fun! :-)

[Lester B. Pearson Airport - Toronto, ON]
[Time: Plus 2 hours]

I've been in the airport for almost 2 hours now, and I have a little over 2 hours left to go. *sigh* Since I've pacing in the airport, I figured I could kill some blogging. The only thing is, this is the most expensive blog I've ever written ($6.00 for 11 minutes! AND this keyboard sucks! =P). Time is running out. Gotta go!

[Paris, France - easyInernet Café on Rue de la Harpe]
[Time: Plus 8 hours]

Day 7 - Free Day

Since Bern and I managed to see and do everything we wanted to, today was a day to just relax and explore. And what a perfect way to end the week off with sunny skies and warm weather (except for the first day, it's been overcast for most of the trip). We had a late start of 7:00 am (since we've been getting up at 6:00 am the past week), and had breakfast. After breakfast, we went to Trocadero to catch a glimpse of the Eiffel Tower from the other side. The view was much better. From there, we went to Place de la Concorde ("What's that pointy thing? -- an obelisque) for some pictures, and then walked to Les Tuilleries for more pictures. We sat under the sun for a while, and I think I had a brain fry (as opposed to a brain freeze =P).

The next stop was the Louvre (for the 3rd time!) to get some lunch [note: cute guy working in food court] and pick up any "last minute" items we may have forgotten to get [like Bern's bag at Esprit ;-)].

Random Thought: Don't you hate it when you think you see a celebrity, and try to point them out to get someone else's confirmation, but by the time you realize who you think you just saw, it's too late? (Did that make sense?) I think I saw Tony Bennett while we were crossing the street from the Louvre to the souvenir shop. It was weird. I was looking down at the time, and as I looked up, I passed by this old guy in a blue shirt. It wasn't until after he passed by that I realized who he was. Bern didn't see him, and I tried to point him out to her, but he disappeared into the crowd. According to his schedule, he was in the UK during the first week of July, so maybe he was taking a break in Paris? I'm pretty sure it was him. Either that or I was hallucinating...

After our "last minute" shopping, it was off to Place de Vosges for, guess what, more pictures. =P We had a bit of trouble finding the place at first because we were going the wrong way ("Uh, I don't think we're on the map anymore."). We finally made it there, took a couple pictures, and sat in the sun for a while.

Le Panthéon

We headed back to the hotel for a "trial run" at packing. Only thing was, they hadn't cleaned our rooms yet so we had to leave for a little while. We decided to go the Panthéon (since it was right there) to take more [goofy] pictures. Bern wanted to check out the little shop (even though there was a sign on the door that said "No Entrance"). So we casually walked in, bought a couple postcards, and ended up walking through the place (as per Bern's suggestion, since we were there anyway...). We wandered through the place and wandered back out. We saved 7 euros by going through the "back entrance" ;-). It may not seem that much, but by that time our funds were at low and we still had to eat. We went back to the hotel and hung out for a while before going out to dinner.

Highlights:

• look at dat; who dat? what dat?
  
• Bern and the ducks
  
• last night for wine

Expired Passport

Bern happened to be looking at my passport when she noticed that my passport expired. WHAT?!?!? I had no idea it expired, and the funny thing was it expired in May! Here I am travelling to Europe with an expired passport. It just goes to show you that all they do is look at the picture to make sure that that is you on the passport photo. Good thing they didn't notice it, otherwise I would've been stuck in Paris.