The Eve of Christmas Eve

Saturday was my cousin's graduation. I'm actually not really even sure it's my "cousin". So it's my grandma's sister's son's son. So our dad's are cousins. So what does that make us? I don't know. He'll just be cousin for now. We were all wondering what his major was and where he went for college because none of us were really even aware that he was in college. Haha. Anyways, I found out on Saturday. But let me back up and start from the beginning. 

So of course, I had to drive home Friday. The drive went smoothly. I only minimally fell asleep during one short part of the road. I know, I know...I surprised as to why I'm still alive too. So I was under the impression that my brother, my dad, my mom, my grandma and I were ALL going to my cousin's graduation together. Let's call my cousin, Henry (which is actually his real name)...anyways, so I get home that night and they tell me that my mom actually is not going. My brother is going back to school to work on a video. So I'm going to be going with my dad and grandma only. Don't get me wrong, I love my dad and my grandma, but REALLY?? JUST THEM? My dad doesn't ever talk to me and my grandma gets really annoying. She's so detached from society and the world, in general, that it's very hard to connect with her. And rarely does she say something that is actually politically, socially or in any category, correct. Let me remind you that she's the one that thought a mixed race person literally has HALF their face white and HALF of their face black. *shakes head

That night we had hot pot! I was so happy! I love hot pot!! My brother for some reason was very upset and didn't even talk to anyone throughout the entire time we were eating. I asked my parents if they got Henry flowers and they both realized they had forgotten. So after dinner, I went out, by myself, looking for flowers. Why I went by myself? Well, my brother was upset and he was sure not going to get into a car with me when he's upset. When he's upset, she just throws his hissy fit and doesn't do anything. My mom was washing the dishes and my dad...I don't know what he was doing. I spent like >30mins looking for the perfect bouquet but everything was all "Christmas/Holiday" bouquets right now, so I ended up getting him a "Feliz Navidad" bouquet. It came with an ornament. Haha. 

When I got home and showed my dad the bouquet, he was just silent. That usually means he hates it. I showed my mom and asked her why dad didn't like it. She said "Your dad hates two colors, Black is the first one and White is the second one. They both represent death. You bought a bouquet that has white flowers in it". OMG. Seriously?? After >30mins of looking, I picked the WRONG bouquet?? Well, too bad dad, you should have came with me! So he eventually warmed up to the bouquet but he still wasn't fond of it. 

The next day, Saturday, I had to wake up early, around 5:30am to get ready. Our goal was to leave around 6am but we left a little after....grandma is slow. We still ended up making good time because we got there at 8am. His graduation is at 9:30. So the gates to his "college" was closed. We drove around looking for a place to eat breakfast. Mainly for my grandma and dad because, if you remember, eating is the first thing I do when I wake up, so of course I ate already. My grandma was looking for a bao place, but of course, there weren't any. And she wasn't going to like American bakeries, so my dad suggested getting some pancakes for her since it's soft and she would be able to eat that. We found IHOP, but my dad was looking for a fast food place, something where we could get take out and eat in the car. I don't know why, he's weird sometimes. He'd honestly rather in the car than sit down and eat comfortably on tables and chairs. So we then found a subway, but then we didn't think my grandma would like it, so we settled on.......can you guess? A McDonalds. So I ordered a deluxe breakfast for my grandma and my dad. Immediately after I ordered, my grandma points at a breakfast sandwich that she spotted on a wall poster and asks me to order for her. I was trying to tell her that the deluxe breakfast has something close to that, but she was insisting I get that for her. (Like a little kid). I was about to order it but the food we did order was ready for us to pick up. So fast! I guess that's why they call it "fast food". 

My dad told me not to order the sandwich since my grandma probably wouldn't be able to chew through an English muffin. So my dad and grandma just shared a breakfast platter together and I just watched them eat. We managed to waste enough time, then started to head back at 9:00. When we got there, we didn't realize it, but it was JAMMED packed full of people! The school is sooooooo small but I bet there were close to 1000 people there. I found my cousin and congratulated him! He looks really good, he lost a lot of weight! So I've only seen Henry like a handful of times in my ENTIRE life. But I remember he's always been kinda chubby. But this time, he looked really thin. Henry brought us over to his mom and his brother, Edward. And Edward's MIXED RACE girlfriend Megan. What a surprise, her face was not half black and half white! So you know how I've only seen Henry like a handful of times? Well, I've seen Edward even LESS than that. I was so eager to chat it up with Edward because I NEVER see him. And it was nice to meet his girlfriend! 

So I'm rarely home, and we rarely talk about Henry or Edward. So when I get information about them, it's been trickled down many grapevines and maybe after the information is a few years old, I finally hear about it. I just recently heard that Edward was dating someone. Now when I talked to Ed, he told me that he's been dating Megan for 4 years now! Four YEARS! And I just recently heard about it! And then I find out they have been living together for TWO years now! Wow, how time flies and how information just bypasses me. Anyways, so it was nice catching up with Ed. Although I ended up talking to Megan more than Ed. Megan's really nice, I like her. Wouldn't mind having her join the family. 

I don't know if you call it "bravery" or "stupidity" but I asked Megan and Ed "So, you guys thinking about marriage soon?" And before I could even finish asking my question, Ed screams out "YES!". "A little over excited there Ed? o.O" I asked him. And he responded "I've learned, through time and after making many mistakes, to NOT hesitate when people ask that question now", and he proceeds to turn towards Megan and give the biggest smile. I thought that was so funny! 

So as a side bar, I shared this with my BF that night on the phone: 

Me: and then Ed says he's learned through time and after making many mistakes to not hesitate when people ask that question now! It's that funny? 

BF: huh? what?

Me: Did you hear what I said? He's doesn't hesitate when people ask him if they are getting married!

BF: Ok...so?

Me: Well, I think that's funny. 

BF: so you are saying I should hesitate?

Me: No...I'm saying you TOO will learn not to hesitate! MUahahhahaha! 

BF: *silence - I'm assuming he's making a weird face as I evil laugh

Ok, so that conversation didn't come out as funny as I thought it would. Happens a lot to me now apparently. I always say "oh yeah, so this is so funny but......" and after I'm done telling the story, no one laughs. Or maybe there is a pity laugh, but it's nothing flattering. It's just they don't even try to pretend it's funny because it's so not funny. Ok, I diverge. 

So, like I was saying, I found out during the ceremony that he actually went to a religious school  and got a "masters" in becoming a priest or a minister or something that trains you to become more religious. I don't know, I wasn't completely understanding what was happening. Mainly because there were a lot of hymms being sung, prayers being said, and "Amen's" for me to pay attention. I could feel my brain melting and my eyes glazing over. Every once in a while Henry would look over and I would catch myself rolling my eyes or making a stink face. I think it's great that these people have something they are so passionate about, but it's just not for me. Some things that they said during the ceremony makes them sound crazy! They sound like they are in a cult and they are brainwashed or something. 

"Don't forget you are always a slave. You will always be a slave to God" 

"Don't even feel prideful, always be humble, you are here to serve others, and in doing so, you are serving God. Your life's purpose is to serve God, do his bidding"

Something about brainwashing people to think they are slaves sounds very bad to me. If God is truly all that great, he wouldn't want us to be slaves right? Sure, we can praise him and think great things about him, but why would he want us to be slaves??? There's just so much negative connotation associated with that word. 

And then there were the hymms. Those hymms are so gory and violent, how can anyone pair such beautiful melodies to those graphic words? 

There was almost a full hour of students taking the stage sharing their testimonies with everyone about how God has changed their life. Sometimes when people talk about how God has given them so many things like strength and courage and integrity and greatness...blah blah blah, it makes me skeptical. How much of that is actually "God" helping them and how much of it is just a placebo affect? The human brain is a power tool. Just like placebo drugs can work to cure illnesses sometimes, why can't the same thing be happening with religion?? If you believe in it hard enough, you start to convince yourself that there is a greater being out there helping you and guiding you. Because you are so convinced of this, you start to feel it and sense it and believe it. And then you start to accomplish things you weren't capable of before, because before, you didn't have this "magical" force driving you. Before, you didn't rewire your brain to believe in yourself. Don't get me wrong, I'm not discounting religion, but I'm always a skeptic when I hear people's testaments about how religion saved their life. But think about it, how much of it is really placebo and how much of it is really "God"? I guess we'll never know....one of the big mysteries of life. 

So after almost DYING sitting through 3 hours of a religious fest, it was finally over!! We took some pictures with Henry and we then we were ditched. So they weren't really ditching us on purpose but that is what happened. So Ed, Megan, and their mom took a really late Friday night flight down and then had to fly back up to SF that afternoon at 4pm. So realistically, they had no time to hang out. By the time the ceremony was over, it was just about time for them to head to the airport or at least get ready to head over. So we just left them be and I suggested that we go eat together, the three of us. 

Just when I was at a loss, Nano calls me. She used to live around the area that we were in, so I asked her to suggest some places for us to dim sum at. We get to the place she suggested and it was PACKED. We had to wait a while to get seated. I swear dad is turning into my cheap aunt because as soon as he found out that the dim sum there was on the pricey side, he didn't want to eat anything at all. All the dishes he would normally get, he passed on. *rolls eyes* Just like my cheap aunt. So I just ordered whatever I wanted to eat, and my grandma did the same thing too. So we were done eating, I just paid. Well, I felt like it was the right thing to do, because how often do I get to take my grandma out? And then second of all, my dad never has any money. He always takes like an hour to look through his wallet to figure out if he has money. So, to be efficient, I just paid. I honestly could probably pay like 5 bills in the time he finds $1. Yes, that's how bad it was. As I was growing up, going out with my dad, it was always a hit or miss whether he had enough money to pay for what we were buying. I learned really quickly that if I wanted to buy something, I bring my mom along. 

So after dim sum, I took my dad to 85degress, that really famous, overrated Taiwanese bakery. Which reminds me of Din Tai Fung, which is also overrated and famous and Taiwanese. Wow, what a coincidence. And then we went home. 

I noticed something during this trip. My grandma will almost always never offer to pay for anything. I don't expect her to pay for anything, but it seems like it would be nice to at least just pretend to offer. Like my other grandma. Like at McDonalds, she just walks up to posters and points to things and says "I want that". Then at dim sum, she just gets whatever she wants, even if she's the only one that likes that dim sum item. And then when the bill comes, she just sits there and pretends she doesn't see it. And during the rare times when she does go out and she does want to buy something, she'll ask how much that item is ahead of time. After we tell her it's $9.99, she'll seriously just bring a $10 bill and expect that to cover the item. There's many times when she's done that and then it rings up with tax and it's like $10.89 and she doesn't have any more money than $10, so I just pay for it. This has happened many times. Oh well, I don't even know why I'm ranting about this because either way, I would have paid for her. I don't expect her to pay for anything, so ranting about this is all together pointless. So back to the story. 

When we got back home, I had to take a big fat nap because I was so tired. I woke up and ate dinner. Then my dad found 2013 TVB awards ceremony online and I ended up watching that the rest of the night. It was interesting to watch but nothing notable. 

Sunday is always rushed for me. I'm trying to get ready to go back to work and for some reason it's always stressful for me. I don't know what happened this Sunday, I want to blame it on PMS, but it's not. I took a nap right after breakfast and my mom woke me up a hour into the nap to talk to me about random stuff. Hmm...that must be it. I don't like getting woken up when I'm sleeping, I usually throw a fit. Anyways, I  got mad and packed up my stuff and said I was leaving. It was only maybe 12 oclock then? My grandma and my mom were shocked I was leaving so early. I usually start to get read to leave at 12 and then realistically leave around 3 or 4. So I started to drive off like a maniac because I was so upset (over NOTHING). There was this merge area onto the freeway, and thinking back, I was probably the one that was in the wrong, but at this merge point, this car almost hits me. So I honked at that car like a maniac. It wasn't a short honk, it was a LONG, I'm tailgating you HONKING. And then I switched over into the next lane and he moves over into the same lane right in front of me but REALLY SLOWLY! So then I chased him for a while honking and honking. Then I moved over one more lane and sped past him. Thinking back at my terrible road raging behavior, I'm very ashamed. I don't know what got into me. Ten mins into the drive, I stopped for gas. Just to realized that I left my credit card at home. So stupid, so I drove back home and just stayed there for an hour to calm down, and then finally left again. This time, I was more tranquil and I wasn't acting all crazy. Maybe I have anger management issues at heart. Or maybe that's just what happens when you wake me up from a nap. Either way, it was a terrible way to act and I hope it doesn't repeat itself. 

So I got back to my work apartment safe and sound. There was a package waiting for me at my doorstep. Probably been there all weekend long. It was my from my BF. When I opened it, guess what? TWO TY BEANIE BOOS!! Just like I had guessed he had gotten me!!! 

So he said he ordered me this one: 

 <---ADORABLE!!

But this is what arrived: 

 and  <--eh..ok..not super cute

They came with a note that said that adorable reindeer was out of stock so they sent me another reindeer and an extra ty beanie boo hoping that it would be ok that they sent me a different ty beanie boo. 

They aren't as cute as what my BF ordered, but I guess they are part of the TY beanie boo family now. We have Kurtis, Ulli, and now these new additions. We already named them. The dog is named Max because my BF finds that name very appropriate for a dog. And then colorful reindeer is named Aly, short for "Alpine" which is the name tag it came with. I did some research online and it appears that the ADORABLE reindeer is really named Alpine and this colorful one I got is suppose to be named "Comet". So I'm confused. I don't know what it's name is suppose to be. But it's named "Aly" now. 

How did we go from having two kids...I mean pets.......or maybe I should just call them "co-owned" stuffed animals....how did we go from having two of them to four?? This group is growing so fast. Before I know it, I'll have a whole room devoted to these adorable stuffed animals. It's weird how I've always been a practical person but yet, I'm at the mercy of these impractical, but ADORABLE, stuffed animals. I guess everyone has their krytonite. LoL. 

I found out something crazy at work today. That new doctor that moved here that lives in my building, he had a bladder bleed last night! So he had to go to the hospital. But when he was there, he found out there's only ONE hospital in this whole town and because there is NO competition, they only accept CASH and NO INSURANCE! Isn't that CRAZY?!?! So he decided to wait and be examined back in Orange County, where he's from. The more I find out about the health care here, the more worried I am about my health! I hear all these stories from my co-workers about how due to poor health care and negligence, all their loved ones end up passing away. Like my one co-worker whose mother died of lung cancer because the health care providers failed to schedule them in for a chest x-ray even though she called a billion times to try to get herself scheduled into the clinic. And then there's my other co-worker's niece who threw up for over a week and after a few emergency room visits and being dismissed as nothing, she lost too many electrolytes and fluids and DIED! This is CRAZY! OMG, if anything ever happens to me here, I'm either going to end up with a hefty medical bill that I can't pay or I'm going to die. Neither sound like good choices to me. So let's just pray I don't get some sort of EMERGENCY type sickness here, because I think I'd rather just die than owe even MORE debt. 

Whoa, my HK Aunt just called me and we just chatted for like an HOUR. OMG. She sure can talk. She's so nice. She called to say Merry Christmas and then preceded to talk for another hour. Haha. I miss her, she's nice. She's doing well. I'm glad she didn't die on us. For a while when she wasn't responded and we couldn't find her, I really thought something terrible happened to her. But I'm glad she's ok. Good to hear from her and hear her voice. She's always so interested in my life, like I'm her daughter or something. Haha. 

I'm a little sad to say, my Universal Studios annual pass is expiring :( Oh well, it was a good run. Besides, I went to that place with my ex so many times, it just reminds me of him now. It's probably better it's expiring and that I don't go and don't think about going anymore. 

Oh my gosh, I've been blogging for like 3 hours now. It's because I keep getting interrupted, I'm eating, people call, etc etc. And this is a long blog too. Ok, my tummy hurts, I should call it a night. 

(Early Merry Christmas!!)