What I've been up to

Had a most excellent time in Louisville... here's some of the things I got to do:
- Go to Louisville Sluggers Museum and take the factory tour
- See Thomas Alva Edison's Louisville home
- Go to Schimpffs Confectionery in Jeffersonville KY and got to tour the candy shop
- Go to Dillards (my aunt in Oklahoma always talks about shopping at Dillards- we don't have one in California, but my mom wanted to tell my aunt she had done that)
- Go to Bob Evans to eat- the food was alright and pretty reasonable for the price (I tried tilapia)
- Went to Bardstown KY (a really old, historic city and saw buildings from the 1700s)
- Toured the Maker's Mark Distillery
- DIpped my own bottle of Bourbon
- Drove on the Bourbon Highway
- Went to the Jim Beam Distillery --- notice a trend? haha
- Talked to the wives and men of my dad's Army unit

Subbed several days- I worked everyday last week and am working 2-3 days this week- that's a nice $1,000 or so for me. Had the worst kids in the school- and they're only 7th graders. They were 6th graders last year and rotten then. What are they going to be like next year?

Went to the Irvine Spectrum with a friend

Went to the LA County Fair with my mom and her friend Linda from work. Linda is a nut, but I love her. We grazed our way through there eating just about everything unhealthy.

Went out on a 15 foot boat with my friend Mike yesterday. We went around Balboa, Newport, and Huntington Beach. It was a lot of fun. Got a little burnt. Did some playing in the water.

Bourbon Trail Kentucky

In Louisville KY/Clarksville Indiana for my dad's Army Reunion. Got to go to Evansville where my dad grew up and see the town, see his cousin and wife, the Louisville Sluggers Factory Tour, all the Victorian houses in the area. Today we hit up Bardstown and saw the many old buildings. To get there we traveled along the Bourbon Trail, and since we were doing that, of course we had to buy souvenirs.

We'll see if this is drank before I get home or not...

I got to hand dip the bottle myself. And my mom, the nondrinker didn't turn me down from buying it. AND I even did the bourbon tasting at the distillery.

Long time no post

I've been BUSY!!!

I subbed 4 days last week and had 3 finals at school. I subbed at my mom's school each of those 4 days. It was fun stuff, especially PE. I love subbing for PE because it is such an easy task. It was a bit warm out, but I got to work on my tan. I got nice and tan. My legs could use some more sun, but I was pretty white before. I made $500 last week. Not bad. Most of the days I wasn't planning to sub until I got calls from the office manager at my mom's school begging me to come in because there was a shortage of subs each day.

My finals went well. My grades should look like this:
Spanish 101: A- (though I'm sure it'll be a "B" because the teacher's grading is shady)
Women's Studies: A-
Media and Politics: B+
I got at least a "B" on the latter 2 finals. The "B+" in Media is ok. I am not going to complain.
The B's unfortunately bring down my GPA. I am wanting to get at least a 3.5 overall GPA before I graduate. It is a 3.41 right now I believe. I'm not sure if a 3.5 is possible, but one can hope and try.

I sat through a 3 hour graduation for my 2nd cousin on Sunday at CSUSB. Isn't it a shame that my second cousins are my age? HAHA. The president does not know when to shut his mouth. He rattled on and on. The first hour of the graduation was nothing short of an advertisement for the campus. That's not what a graduation is about. It is about celebrating the students and their accomplishments. Then as each kid crossed the stage he took at least 10 seconds to stop and talk to them. It did help to get photos of my cousin as she went across the stage, but 3 hours for a graduation for 300 kids? Everyone was so restless and most left after their kids name was called.

Yesterday my cousin who graduated, her boyfriend, and my cousin Chayna went to Disneyland. It was so crowded. I renewed my annual pass however. I just bought the basic one with 165 blockout dates for $129. It was cheaper to buy an annual pass though where I can come back at least once more and it is paid for. It is now $91 for a 1 day park hopper pass at Disneyland. Parking was $15. Going once more will pay for my pass.

The day was quite fun though despite the crowds and only getting on 4 rides. We got to talk, catch up on family gossip, and stuff like that. My cousin Chayna kept saying over and over how I look anorexic. NO!!!! I DON'T. She says I look like I lost 40 pounds since she last saw me. She obviously doesn't know what 40 extra pounds looks like. Let me set the record straight- I used to weigh about 160 at most. I had a 34'' waist. I started going to the gym and toning up. In the past year I've gone from a 34'' waist to a 30'' waist. I now weigh 145 pounds. I was not fat before.

So what do I have planned in the near future? Buy an iPhone. I love my Macbook Pro, my Apple Router, my Airtunes that broadcasts music wirelessly through the house. I love the Apple logo. I'm becoming an Apple brand whore. I have already sat money aside to buy the phone and will probably be there on the day the phone goes on sale waiting in line to get mine. Yes. Sad. I know. How do I justify buying one? I am worth it. I rarely spend money on myself, but this one time I'm treating myself and going all out.

Buy a car. I have quite a large sum of money sat aside for a car. With gas at $4.60 a gallon I'm looking for something small and fuel efficient. The small part doesn't go over well with my mom, but she won't be driving the car. I'm looking at a Honda Civic or Mazda 3. I LOVE the Mazda 3 and it is much more comfortable than the Civic, but the new redesigned 2009 model does not go on sale until November unfortunately. A local Nissan dealer is clearing out 2008 Altima Hybrids that retail for $25,000 for $20,000. That is very tempting as it is a bigger and more fuel efficient car. Fuel efficiency in the era of $5.00 gasoline is important to me. I would have to take out up to $5,000 on the loan for that, whereas I should be able to pay the Civic off almost completely. The Altima is actually more fuel efficient than the Civic. Decisions. Choices.

Spring Break

What a marvelous 2 week event. I was blessed to have 2 teachers this quarter who decided to give us our finals a week early, so I had no finals during finals week.

Here is what I've done so far:
- Subbed a couple days
- went to LA with friends for dinner and a night on the town
- spent the night at a friend's house and played computer games
- went to lunch at Olive Garden with my parents
- went bowling with my friends and played 6 games- my best score was 130
- watched lots of "Law and Order"
- found a new DSL provider for us since we're tired of Earthlink- now it is just a matter of calling and setting up the service
- Took my car in for service; forgot to get an oil change, though
- went to the dentist and had no cavities
- switched banks- ALTURA SUCKS
- today I'm going to weed whack since my dad can't do it anymore since the motions hurt his back

My whereabouts lately...

Haven't really talked about my life lately, so here is a rundown of what I've been up to.

Spent my first week of Christmas break working at the high school and hanging out with friends.

Spent Christmas Eve at home with the family where we had dinner, then at 9p.m. I went over to my friend John's house to hang out and exchange Christmas gifts. We watched "Remington Steele." HAHA... fun times.

Christmas Day we opened up presents (that's a first) considering we always opened up gifts on Christmas Eve every year I can recall. My mom however, didn't want to feel like Christmas was just any other day since we had a small 4 foot Christmas tree and other things this year that didn't make it entirely feel like Christmas.
At 10a.m. Christmas Day we were invited over to my aunt and uncle's house in San Bernardino. It was great. We ate, talked, opened presents, and played football.

Spent the days after Christmas break helping my parents file a lawsuit against the architect designing our house. We've been in this with the architect 2 1/2 years. TOO LONG. That took a lot of time and investigating.

Spent time backing up my old Dell so I could get my new Mac, which I got on Tuesday. Not sure I like it so far. It is so much different and is definitely going to be a learning experience. I was just tired of problem after problem with Dell. Spent today backing up my Dell.

Being Mr. Organized and Mr. Ahead of the Game I began looking at Spring Break ideas like the Bajamas or a cruise. It is pretty reasonable since my Spring Break is prior to the big travel and Spring Break getaways, but I don't have any friends who would be able to go that have the same break. I also worked with my friends to plan a trip to Chicago this summer. YAY! I have always wanted to go to Chicago to see the tall buildings, architecture, and everything.

My 21st birthday is rolling around. In fact, it will be here Tuesday. I spent time planning the day. Breakfast at IHOP, lunch at TGI Fridays (and we'll be in time for drinks during happy hour- we'll see if my mom will buy me a drink... hehehe... my parents don't drink at all and my sister is very against it), and then dinner at an expensive, upscale Spanish (not Mexican) restaurant. I have always wanted to try Spanish food, so I'm looking forward to it. Due to limited funds due to school staring back up for my sister and I, money for the lawyer, car repairs, and stuff of that sort it will most likely just be dinner at the Spanish restaurant and I'll be content.

Now that I'm almost 21, I think a trip to Vegas is in order. Again, that is being pushed into February because of limited funds on my end- not my parents. I bought my laptop, which was a big portion of my spending money. My parents aren't gamblers, so they have no want to go to Vegas. That means a trip to Vegas with friends which I'm trying to coordinate. I'm also trying to save for- who knew it is nearly $100 to see the Blue Man Group? Then $120 or so per night for a hotel, $75 or so miscellanenous spending, and then money for the slots? It is about $500 I'm planning. Right now it looks like my friends Kelly and Jason will go with me. My sister is giving my parents bad ideas about me like I'm just going for the showgirls, to drink, and get drunk. She is far from the truth- I'm going for a relaxing vacation, to spend time at the spa (just kidding), have a drink by the pool, play a slot machine or two, but the biggie on that list is to see the Blue Man Group and hang out with my friends.

KNOTTS BERRY FARM!!!

My friend Gaby and I chaperoned a trip to Knotts Berry Farm for the kids we tutor. We didn't have to ride the bus, so I drove... here's some highlights from the trip. This was seriously one of the best nights I've had in a long time. We had tons of great conversation, lots of alone time (relatively speaking- we were in line with others, but just her and I), and of course the rides. We got on 10 rides... all the roller coasters we wanted and more. Gaby is one of my best friends and we don't get enough time alone together to talk and catch up, so this event was AWESOME.

Friday was condom day in my human reproduction class- the teacher went condom crazy and gave out hanfuls to everyone. I don't need them and so put them on my front seat with the plan of throwing them out. When she got in my car, I said to her "let me move my condoms" and she began laughing hysterically and said how she was not sure she wanted to ride with me anymore since I may have all these dirty things lined up. Then she went on about her being a girl, me being a guy, stuff happens when you're alone like in a car. Cars are the perfect place for something bad to happen. That was a good source of laughter for 10 minutes and we both talked about how we're a bit inexperienced with those... hahaha.... It was awesome, she was taking them out unrolling them and saying she'd never felt one before. She was asking if I'd ever used one, stuff like that. For the record NO... there's been no need.

I am always cold. I freeze easily... or used to. The weather was cold when we arrived, but I warmed up and shed my hoodie by 9:00p.m. That is very unusual for me.

I don't usually scream on rides, but Gaby told me to. I did. She got a big kick out of that. I do scream like a girl. I was amused that Gaby giggles on the rides. It is too funny. She doesn't scream. She giggles. She's special.

While in line for Silver Bullet, there was a guy and his girlfriend making out and really getting into it. His hand was up her shirt- you could see everything including her belly button and bra. He was playing with her breasts. She was a hot girl, I'll admit, I didn't mind the show, but Gaby did. She told me how disgusting that was. We're not students- we're tutors, so technically we have more power over these kids and I did look a good 5 years older than he did. I decided to exert my authority and went up to them and said "aaaaaaaaaaaahem... this is a school function, so try to keep it PG." The guy looked at me obviously embarrassed and didn't say anything. I think his girlfriend was more embarrassed. They did stop.

We got to talk about everything in lines and the lines were long enough we got plenty of talking in. We talked about work, school, family, friends, life, and more.

I enjoyed singing in the car to every song. Gaby likes my singing or so she says. My rule is if you're in my car, you have to hear me sing. I have no problem belting out in song. I do a dang good job, if I do say so myself... "I hope you know, I hope you know that this has nothing to do with you, it's personal myself and I we've got some straightening out to do and I'm going to miss you like a child misses their blanket cuz I've got to get a move on with my life..." you get the picture... I'll sing anything including Fergie's "Big Girl's Don't Cry."

I didn't get to bed until 4:00a.m. even though the park closed at 1:00a.m. No. Don't get any dirty ideas. Between 1 and 2a.m. Gaby and I drove home. Between 2:00-2:30 I was in the Jack in the Box drive through getting a big cheeseburger. From 2:30-3:30 I was talking with my mom about her bad experience with her school on that field trip. I didn't see her at all that night even though we were on the same field trip. Then I had to bathe and get ready for bed between 3:30 and 4 cuz I can't go to bed dirty.

My trip to Mississippi

Downtown New Orleans

House in 9th Ward and church with the soggy carpet in 9th ward

Picture of me flying over Mississippi

Bottomless and topless dancer sign on Bourbon Street

Never got around to telling about my trip to Mississippi to see my best friend, so here it goes.

July 31

Leave Ontario at 8a.m. and have a nice flight to Oklahoma. I talked to the guy next to me who was from my area. Had a 2 hour stopover there, so I enjoyed Sonic (which we don't have in Cali). Then I got on the plane and flew down to Houston. The Houston airport was HUGE. I had to walk about 1/2 mile, go up 3 escalators, and take a tram to change terminals to get to my flight. As I walk into the other terminal I hear that my flight to Mississippi was delayed 30 minutes. 30 minutes turned into 45, 45 turned into 2 hours. We were delayed 2 1/2 hours because the plane was coming from Dallas and was grounded in Dallas due to the weather. Made it to Mississippi at 11p.m. instead of 9p.m. 

August 1 

Went to the Jackson Zoo with my friend and his girlfriend's family. Small in comparison to any zoos I've been to. I also think there were more plastic animals than real animals.

August 2

Went to New Orleans with my friend and his mom. It was a 2 1/2 hour drive. It was fun to get to talk and catch up in the car. New Orleans was so amazing. A mile away from downtown or so it looked so unkempt. Grass needed mowing, buildings in need of repair from Katrina still. Got to see (AND EXPERIENCE) Bourbon Street. Lots of porn shops, lingerie shops, shops offering lap dances, bars, entertainment, it was interesting. I'm keeping quiet about all that went on. HAHA. 

Also got to see the 9th ward. My goodness. It was amazing. We walked in a church that had been destroyed from the flood waters and 2 years later the carpet was STILL wet. STILL. I could see where the levee was and everything else. Some houses were swept off their foundations, others were badly damaged by the water. It was amazing to see that people live in such impoverished conditions- it is just something I don't see everyday. People were living in the houses that were damaged by the floods and still had the markings that the houses had been searched after Katrina.

August 3

Went flying with my friend, his dad, and sister. It was mucho fun. I like flying in the smaller planes as opposed to the large planes because you're closer to the ground and can see soooooo much. It was fun that we could all talk to each other through our headphones. I felt like a copilot. Heh.

August 4

Went kayaking down the Okatoma River in Mississippi. It was a manmade river and was only 2-3 feet deep in some places. My kayak overturned a couple times trying to avoid people who took a canoe and were scared of going down the waterfalls, so they'd stand in the driver and step down the waterfall area. (They were small 3-4 feet waterfalls).

August 5

Went fishing, didn't have much luck. The fish were biting, but not catching. I tried. My friend only caught 1 fish. His dad didn't catch any either. We talked, played lots of Phase 10, and ate that evening.

August 6

Left Jackson Ms. at 6:40a.m., went to the other Houston airport, caught my flight to Oklahoma. Met a longtime friend and neighbor in the Oklahoma airport... what are the chances of that?! Also got to meet up with my cousin Amber, which was fun. I think this was the first time we saw  each other in 2 years or so. So we got to talk and catch up on all the family drama, my sister, random memories, and other fun family stuff. I enjoyed it. Then the fun ended and I had to come back to California and the hot icky dry heat.