MY CRAZY VACATION - OUT OF CONTROL, NO DISCIPLINE AT ALL!!

[Picture: These were all of my Christmas presents. ^__^]

Here's my vacation recap:

12/23, SAT, my last working day in 2006. Glad to receive a Christmas present from Stewart. THANKS!! I like it a lot. Who doesn't like Chocolate, right?? Actually, I'm eating chocolate now while typing my blog!! hahaha!! And I would also like to thank David for giving me a gift certificate to eat at Red Robin. (YUM!!) Thank you very much.

12/24, SUN, not got out of bed until NOON. Opened x'mas present before we went to Mom's house. I got a new digital camera. THANKS BABE! Yeah, it's time to replace the old one, it's almost 8-year-old!! Sent out all the x'mas e-cards to friends, we went to Gig Harbor. Had x'mas eve dinner goether. I wolfed down Hawaiian bread with spinach dip, chips, CHOCOLATE, salad and hams. GREAT hams!! We watched a movie 'Click' together. Very nice movie, I liked the messenge behind it- FAMILY IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN WORK.

12/25, MON, I thought we'd spent our x'mas together at the Leavenworth and we wouldn't have any x'mas presents. Well, we still got presents from Mom and Grandparents: lots of cookies, chocolate and snacks. (All are sweet!! hehe) Stopped by the Great Wall Mall and tried to shop for my Chinese snacks. -__- I saw it close right in front of me! They just closed when we got there. -____- I almost cried.

12/26, TUE, nothing special, cooking at home. The kitchen finally smelt like Cherry's cooking again. Shame on me. I was too tired to cook while I worked. I didn't stay longer than 15min in the kitchen. Now, my cooking is back. It smelt SO good when I stir-fried the vegetables with ginger/garlic and oyster sauce. hehehe...

12/27, WED, We went to shop at Ranch99 in Edmonds. We bought a lot of MY favorite food: fish dumplings. I had a feeling that they might not re-order after selling out. It was my favorite food before moving here. I had not had it for 5 years!! Yeah, I can enjoy it again until I eat them all. hehe. Had hot pot for dinner. :-D Super yummy!!

12/28, THUR, Gosh!!!! I got up at 7:30am that day. Then, I went to the PT clinic of the hospital I work at to take their online orientation courses before due date on 12/31. Oh my my my! JR didn't tell me it'd take that long. There were 13 courses. I had to take a pre-assessment before I started each course. If I got lucky and passed the pre-Ax, getting 80%, I could just skip the course (very, very long and detailed) and the post-course re-exam. Gosh, I was lucky, I got a pass in 5 pre-Ax. But, still, it took me FIVE hours to sit in front of the computer to get done. The staff were very helpful, friendly and encouraging: offering me cookies and supporting me mentally. I had eye strain afterwards! Starving too. The staff are so nice. I will work with them eventually someday even though not at this moment. I'm planning to work at the PT clinic after having my kids going to school. (hehe.. I haven't had kids yet. But, I'm planning my path now.)
Made my signature dishes for our dinner: Hot and Sour soup.

12/29, FRI, nothing special, it's too cold to go anywhere. Slacker! I started to keep eating the whole day. OH MY GOD!! I don't want to be a big fat pig. -_-

12/30, SAT, princess Cherry loves sleeping at least 10 hours a day. Once I got up, I couldn't stop eating again. So, to stop myself from eating, I started cooking- making turnip cake. After 3 hours of work, I enjoyed the food I made. Yes, I ate again. But, tomorrow, I'll go ice-skating, I hope I can shed some pounds by falling on the ground. hehe

A relaxing day off

[Picture: I made a quick fried rice for brunch today.]

I went back to work on Sunday (yesterday). Fortunately, the power was back. But, it is still freezing after sunset. I feel so sorry for whoever still living in the dark without power. -_- Today, I slept until almost 11am. Yes, I love sleeping. What is better than staying in warm bed in such a cold weather? I sleep about 8-11 hours a day. hehe... When I got up, I cooked fried rice for our brunch. After lunch, I did some needlework and took a nap. v_v I'll have to work 5 days in a row before having my vacation.

Lotta Love by Nicolette Larson

I listen to FM 95.7 every night while sleeping. This song seems to touch my heart. The melody always brings back my memory emotionally. It is a sad song to me.

Its gonna take a lotta love
To change the way things are.
Its gonna take a lotta love
Or we wont get too far.

So if you look in my direction
And we dont see eye to eye,
My heart needs protection
And so do i.

Its gonna take a lotta love
To get us thru the night.
Its gonna take a lotta love
To make things work out right.

So if you are out there waitin
I hope you show up soon,
cause my heart needs relatin
Not solitude.

Gotta lotta love
Gotta lotta love.

Its gonna take a lotta love
To change the way things are.
Its gonna take a lotta love
Or we wont get too far.

Its gonna take a lotta love
To change the way things are.
Its gonna take a lotta love
Or we wont get too far

After the storm

[Picture from komotv.com: Whipping winds shut down bridges, railroads, presses]

Because there was still no power at work, I was called to stay home. I slept a lot yesterday and today. I feel so lucky that we have gas and power. It was absolutely freezing last night. I was worrying every one of you living in Bellevue and Kirkland!! I hope the power will be back ASAP. Hope you were warm enough. I feel a bit sick after sitting in the cold for hours Friday morning.

Time flies. It's our 5th Anniversary today. But, I still cannot accept what you have explained to me. I have my right to choose if I accept it. -_-

I'm not sure if I need to go to work tomorrow. Anyway, I'll sleep more so that I won't be sick.

Crazy Windstorm

[Picture: Bacon and Cheese Mini Frittatas that I made on Tuesday night.]

First of all, I have to say that I am really lucky that our house is still having power. That's why I can type my blog. It started raining heavily in the afternoon yesterday. When it was around 5pm, it was very bad- wind with pouring rain. I kept seeing ambulances along Rose Hill. Eventually, Steve picked me up after 6pm. But it took us 1.5 hour to go home. -_- It was so frustrating to find out several back roads were closed and we had to detour and drive on roads we never been to. We filled up the tank and went home straingt. The wind was howling the whole night. When I was making our lunch boxes for the following day, the lights dimmed a few times. I was thinking that the power would be out soon. So, I just prayed and hoped that I could finish cooking ASAP. Yep, right after I took a bowl out of the microwave, the power was gone. It came back after a few minutes. I lit the candles and got a flash light. Anyway, we couldn't watch TV or use computer.

We got up at 6am this morning as we expected that the traffic could be very bad. No cable TV was available. All we heard from the radio was about how hard the windstorm hit the Western Washington last night. That was really bad: I could feel our house sway! I couldn't sleep well. There were no traffic lights or street lamps on. It was very dark. When I arrived at work, it's about 7:45am. Shoot, there was no power, it was freaking cold. I was shivering the whole time. I could only depend on the light from my cell phone while going to the bathroom. At last, other coworkers and I could leave because there wouldn't be any clients anyway. I feel extremely lucky because all of the people I talk to have no power at home. And it's going to be chilly tonight., I hope they will be okay.

I'm not sure if I will go to work tomorrow. It was way too cold to stay at places without heater on. -_- I felt so sick this morning - stuffy nose and minor headache. I don't want to get sick. It takes me long time to recover everytime I gets sick.

You Give Love A Bad Name - Bon Jovi

I LIKE THE BEAT OF THIS SONG. BRAVO!

An angels smile is what you sell
You promise me heaven, then put me through hell
Chains of love got a hold on me
When passions a prison, you cant break free

Youre a loaded gun
Theres nowhere to run
No one can save me
The damage is done

Chorus:
Shot through the heart
And youre to blame
You give love a bad name
I play my part and you play your game
You give love a bad name
You give love a bad name

Paint your smile on your lips
Blood red nails on your fingertips
A school boys dream, you act so shy
Your very first kiss was your first kiss goodbye

Youre a loaded gun
Theres nowhere to run
No one can save me
The damage is done

Fleetwood Mac : Dreams

This is the song I listen the most when I drive. I love the lyrics very much.

Now here you go again
You say you want your freedom
Well who am I to keep you down
Its only right that you should
Play the way you feel it
But listen carefully to the sound
Of your loneliness
Like a heartbeat.. drives you mad
In the stillness of remembering what you had
And what you lost...
And what you had...
And what you lost

Thunder only happens when its raining
Players only love you when theyre playing
Say... women... they will come and they will go
When the rain washes you clean... youll know

Now here I go again, I see the crystal visions
I keep my visions to myself
Its only me
Who wants to wrap around your dreams and...
Have you any dreams youd like to sell?
Dreams of loneliness...
Like a heartbeat... drives you mad...
In the stillness of remembering what you had...
And what you lost...
And what you had...
And what you lost

Thunder only happens when its raining
Players only love you when theyre playing
Say... women... they will come and they will go
When the rain washes you clean... youll know

Almost got killed on the road tonight...

[Picture: My Car.]

It was supposed to be my day off today. I got a call to go to work. Fine. But, I didn't expect that I had to work until 2:30pm. As soon as I got home, I wrapped some presents and went to the post office. Everyone was waiting in line. I guess they were just like me - not wanting to call USPS to pick up the presents. It was officially my first time ever driving around the town today. Roads were small and dark. The painted sign on the road faded. And, no one would yield to me. After picking up a few things at the grocery store. Damn, pouring rain and strong wind were waiting for me. I ran to the parking lot and I was soaked. It was really hard for me to drive in rain in the dark. Yep, I almost got killed by a left-turning car. Thanks God for not taking my life. I still need to accomplish a lot of things...

James Taylor sings Fire and Rain

LOVE IT ALWAYS! Hope you enjoy it too. :)

I am an ELF!

Sewing, sewing and sewing. Whenever I am not working on clients these days, I am busy with sewing the Christmas presents for my clients and my husband. I have sewn four neck pillows so far. I have to keep sewing. I usually play my favorite music and sing along after dinner. Now, I am sewing too!! It is fun. I don't have to think too much about my work- which can be mentally tiring for me sometimes. Tonight, we went to buy a couple yards of cloth at the crossroad mall. Then, we had a quick dinner at the Ivar's Seafood Bar. I love seafood. (FREAK!!) I had oyster and chips. Oh my!! I loved it. I always wonder if I was a cat in my previous life because I love seafood SO much. Meow~

Okay, get back to my sewing. Can't wait to see their Smiley faces when they get my pillows. hehe.

Don McLean - American Pie

This is one of my favorite songs since I moved here. Listening to the local 95.7 KJR FM opened the door to the great old 70s songs for me. You will always discover something great by chance if you keep your eyes open.

Doing chores

I had a day off today finally. I feel so tired. I did a bunch of chores this afternoon and made sushi for our dinner. Steve surprised me by getting me some Japanese snacks. Thank you! We watched the rest of the movie 'While you were sleeping'. It is a romantic comedy. I really like it a lot. It looked very cold and beautiful in Chicago in the movie. I hope someday I will go to Chicago.

I'll see the dentist tomorrow. -_- I am NOT excited about it at all.

A new friend

[Picture: Ice cream has been my best friend.]

Yeah, Mandy. She's my new buddy. She's the receptionist and esthetician originally from Hong Kong. I am so thrilled that I have someone to speak Cantonese with. I am sure we will get along.

I saw Denise and Samantha today. They told me that they wondered why I could stay working here. Well, I wonder how I can make it too. Maybe my nice clients are the reason.

Dan came to see me today with his whole body aching. As usual, I used all the techniques I knew to make him feel better. He said that he wanted to marry me because he found my massages were the best he had. Sorry, I can only have one husband and I have got one already. But, thank you for your compliment. I will keep on studying. Well, hope your back and legs feel better.

Terrible Snow Storm

It started snowing on Sunday here. But, we never expect that we had the worst one yesterday. Steve and me drove the truck with a full tank of gas to work. We spent the shortest time ever on the highway to go to work. I saw huge dark clouds in the afternoon and it started snowing heavily at 4pm. Gosh, after I finished my work at 6:30pm, the spa closed. Everyone wanted to go home badly. I walked to Safeway and waited for Steve to pick me up. I had a quick dinner there and talked on phones with mom and friends. It was 9pm when he arrived. Gosh, a normal 8-minute drive became a 3-hour drive. We bought some drinks and he had a quick dinner leftover. We gladly jumped onto the car and headed home. We did not realize that it was just the beginning of our nightmare!

It was five after nine when we got onto the highway 405. We thought we could be home by 12am. Nope. There was an accident on the highway and the road was frozen. Only ONE lane was opened. All of the cars including ours were not moving at all for about 3 hours. Poor Steve had to stay awake and drive. I felt into sleep a couple of times. I looked out of the window and saw many people abandoned their cars on the side of the roads. Some turned off the engine and took a nap. Some drivers felt into sleep and their cars blocked our way. Some people went out of the car to wake up the sleeping drivers. Several cars right next to us had the 'almost running out of gas' signal on. I felt lucky that I told him to fill up the tank in the morning. Seriously, just sitting in the traffic last night used about 1/4 tank of gas. When we got off I-405 and got onto SR-522, it was 3:00AM! There were still a lot of cars struggling on I-405 Northbound. The road was very icy and dark. The road I usually drove at 75mph at night (I was a bad driver, always speeding over the limit 55mph. hehe), we drove at 20-25. When we finally arrived home, it was 3:30am. Some of our trees and plants were collapsed. We had very heavy snow, 6-7 inches. I took a quick shower and went to bed.

Anyway, I was lucky. What would I have to do if I had had driven by myself last night? Abandoning the cars like others? I had no idea. And I did not drive well at all in snow, I could have driven into a ditch. And from now on, if it happens again, I'll make sure I go to the bathroom before getting into the car, get some food and drinks from the grocery store and always have at least 1/2 tank of gas in the car.

I've just moved here from xanga.

I've just moved here from www.xanga.com/ It was too bad that I couldn't share any pictures in xanga. I want to catch every single precious moment in my life and share it with my friends and family. Even though life is not always a bowl of cherries, I am still thankful for what I have and whoever's around me. I love being a sweet cherrypie and an angel to everyone I meet in my life. Yeah, everyone. Am I too generous?