Category: Personal

Christmas shopping is stressful

Personal

The worst part about Christmas is picking out the right gift for someone. My mom’s gift was easy. She’s horrible with directions, and always ends up calling me to help her find her way to her destination. So of course the gift I got for her (and I believe it’s safe to write about it, since she’s too busy to read my blog) is a Tom Tom GPS unit. I researched for a few weeks on pricing, and was dead set on the widescreen version which was almost $100 cheaper on Amazon.com than in stores and other retailers. But the day I went to buy it, it was sold out. FANTASTIC! So I went to Wal-Mart and spent about $130 since it was on sale there, although not the widescreen model.

The hard part now is finding Dad something comparable to the gift I got to my mom. So that means no sox, undies, shirts, sweatshirts.. I need (yes, need, as in I still have to shop for him…) to come up with something that’s going to be resourceful for him. The problem is that my constant nagging for a list from him, has done no good as I have nothing to refer to… He owns his own construction company, but any tool you can think of, he’s got. I think that’s why I’ve procrastinated shopping the past few days (and even right now) is that I have no clue what to buy. Everyone keeps suggesting to finish his company’s website, but I’ve had to put that aside since I’m at a block for it… Maybe a “Under Construction” (lol) animated GIF icon? O.o

My grandparents are quite easy. It’s always a joint gift, and usually my dad goes all out anyway. But my grandma is in dire need of a new coffee pot. She’s had her current one for god knows how many years (probably as old as I am!) so I’ll be replacing that for her.. And then it’s just my two younger sisters (14, and 17.) I’m all for stupid little gifts leading into something better.

Morgan loves horchata so when I was at Wal-Mart the other day I found this package of the stuff that requires only the liquids (milk or water I think) so I got that for her.. Now it’s just a matter of figuring out what else she needs. Or perhaps maid service to clean up the room that literally has no floor since it’s all covered in clothes..?

Nicolle was another easy one. She uses my makeup bag all the time. I get woken at 5:30am sometimes to hear her ask “Can I pleeease pleeease pleeease use your makeup?” To which I yell at her grouchily to get out my room and “No you can’t!” Though that doesn’t stop her seeing as though after the last word is out my mouth I’m fast asleep again. So I’ll be getting her a nice little makeup bag with all the makeup she’ll need, so she can stop bothering me about it.

The other person that I have to shop for is my boyfriend Armando. But he reads atourworst.org so he’s crazy if he thinks I’m gonna write about it. All I know is that I think it’s a super-dooper awesome idea, and he’ll just have to sit there and wait until either Christmas Eve or Day to get his gift. Although I’m sure it’ll be Day since I think he has family plans on the Eve.

So this just leads me back to my dad. He always seems to spoil my mom around Christmas (and us kids.) I just wish I knew the perfect gift for him so I could return the years of lame gifts he’s gotten over the years.

Favorite TV Shows of 2008

Personal

Over the years I haven’t been active with TV series namely because I always forgot about them. I’d watch the first couple episodes and then I’d forget about them until years later. “Hey, I’ve never seen that episode!” Hell, even being on the internet I was lazy with downloading. But this is probably the first year that I’ve paid the most attention to new series and seasons. I think the biggest reason is namely for streaming services being so popular. Hulu, Fancast and Surfthechannel have been the primarily websites I’ve been going to, so I can stay up-to-date! Hell, I think what excited me the most was that Netflix now seems to have current episodes for shows available for streaming. Even more awesome since the new Xbox dashboard has Netflix integration. Woo!

key_art_fringe Fringe – Fox – Action / Drama / Science Fiction
Oh my if there is any show that I need to keep watching, it’s Fringe. Being a Lost fan (and inevitably a JJ Abrams fan), there was no way I would miss it. I think what keeps me enjoying it is not only just the sci-fi aspect (X-Files anyone?) but the fact that Joshua Jackson is great in this show, as is the actor who plays “Walter Bishop.” Gotta love an old guy with witty quips. Fringe definitely keeps you on the edge of your seat wanting more.

key_art_sons_of_anarchy Sons of Anarchy – FX – Action / Drama
Oh wow, I don’t even know where to start. SoA is about an outlaw motorcycle club that seems to loosely use the theme from Shakespeare’s “The Hamlet.” It’s definitely not my usual favorite (hello crime drama and sci-fi) but this has been an intense show. It had a short season (13 episodes) and is already over, but definitely give it a try if you’re looking for something new to get into. Can’t wait for next year!

key_art_life Life – NBC – Drama / Suspense / Crime
Cop dramas really do suck me in. Life is about a framed cop trying to tie together the pieces of the crime that put him in jail for 12 years. The first season goes more into the backstory, where as season 2 starts to really get more into his role of Detective, as well as other characters in the show. I love the eclecticCharlie played by Damian Lewis (Dreamcatcher anyone?). Hopefully the completion of the backstory doesn’t take away from Life.

key_art_kitchen_nightmares Kitchen Nightmares – Fox – Food / Reality
There is honestly nothing better then getting the charm of Chef Gordon Ramsey ala Hell’s Kitchen mixed in with real people. Kitchen Nightmares brings Chef Ramsey to the heart of failing restaurant’s to show them the err of their ways, to help them from their emotional and financial struggle. It helps you to really understand the inner-workings of family-owned restaurants, and also shows you what you never see–their kitchen. You also can’t deny Ramsey’s classic catchphrases.

key_art_my_own_worst_enemy My Own Worst Enemy – NBC – Action / Drama /Suspense
Christian. Slater. That’s all I need to say. I definitely won’t deny that I watched this show based primarily on the fact I’ve harbored a crush on him since Gleaming the Cube. The show started off fantastic–father finds out that he’s a split personality created by the people he works for. It’s sort of plateaued after he’s made of aware of it, but it’s been intriguing to see him deal with “waking up” as his spy alter-ego, and vice-versa. Hopefully it gets better before the season is over.

Aside from those shows I’ve always been watching:

  • ER – With this being the last season, ever!, it was no doubt that I’d watch it. I think what really gutted me the most was the episode when Dr. Green made an appearance. Albeit for a flashback, but it was definitely a fantastic episode, and made me realize how many years I’ve been watching this show. Sad to see it go, but they’ve done a great job. Never cried so much while watching a tv show either (Life After Death).
  • CSI (Las Vegas) – I think the biggest hit I’ve yet had again has been the loss of Warrick in the first episode of the season. I read some spoilers that definitely were not right, so it was a huge shocker to me. This season has been nothing short of intriguing, so I’m hoping that with the loss of Grissom but the addition of Dr. Raymond Langston (Laurence Fishborne), will keep the intesity of the season it had with the original cast. I
  • The Office – For awhile there I felt like Pam was going to stay in New York forever and never go back to Jim. But now we’ve got her back, and hey look, Toby too! Some episodes have been lackluster while some have been hilarious. Honestly, nothing beats the continued Jim and Dwight hilarity. The entire cast keeps me coming back for more.
  • House – Knowing that each episode is going to feature an ailing patient with 25 different prognosis’ sounds like I wouldn’t watch more than one episode, but somehow the show keeps me coming back. I think with the variations on the storylines of the characters have definitely made it more impacting. I definitely can’t deny that I’m on the other side saying “What the hell is wrong with her?!!!” after the 5th [wrong] diagnosis. Damn you Dr. House, damn you.

So what shows you are currently watching, whether old or new. I’m always up for getting into a new show (except Heroes!) so I’m all eyes.

Is It Really December Already?

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I can’t believe that it’s already been almost two months since I last blogged. I honestly don’t know why I lack the motivation to keep writing blogs here, but hopefully I can get back into the groove.

The same design has been up here at atourworst.org , and well I honestly think that was the problem. So I decided to go ahead (and against my better judgement) and put up a new theme (albeit premium, and not something I even did myself.) I’m at a bit of a time constraint and lacked motivation so it was really the only thing I could do to get the ball rolling. It’s by no means permanent but at least it’s somewhat decent?

Christmas is coming up in a couple of weeks, and I really need to get on the ball and get Christmas gifts situated. I’ve got an idea of what to get my mom and dad, so now it’s down to just picking up something for Morgan and Nicolle. Of course I’ll be getting my boyfriend Armando something too, but since I know he reads this, I’ll be damned if I just let you know about my sekrutz. All I know is that I’ve been feeling really.. family-y this season so I’ve been conspiring with my youngest sister to cook a Christmas Eve dinner. We haven’t done anything on Christmas Eve since I was maybe 10’ish? We typically celebrate on Christmas Day.

Well, I think that’s enough for a quick post. Here’s to hoping that I can try blogging semi-regularly. I’ll probably shock myself if I even open up WordPress again this week…

Goodbye Blackjack, hello iPhone

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Well, almost two months into the job and things are still going very well. The only thing I still can’t adjust to is that I wake up around 6:30am every morning, yet I still go to sleep around 12:30-1am. There are days when it doesn’t affect me, but I have maybe 1-2 days a week where I feel completely drained and am constantly yawning and fighting to stay awake.

I’m sure eventually I’ll go to sleep early! In other news with the reliable source of income, I’ve made the decision to go ahead and do away with my Samsung Blackjack and get an Apple iPhone 3G. I just really needed something that was more suitable for me as I’m constantly downtown. I need a better way to stay updated on the go, and because I just want to have an iPhone. I’m going in tomorrow to AT&T to upgrade my phone to get the $199 price for the 8GB iPhone. My Blackjack I actually ordered online from eBay so the last time I had an upgrade was in 2006 and it was with a Samsung SGH-D807 aka the Slider Phone.

Not only am I splurging on that but after talking with Armando I decided that I’m going to go ahead divvy up my money. $250 per check will go to my dad, and $200 will go straight into savings. Then the other money I have is pretty much used for gas, $116/mo train pass, and anything leftover is for anything I want to buy. Which I decided would be mostly electronics ranging from a new HDTV LCD monitor (not sure what size yet), Blackmagic Intensity capture card, possibly a new DSL-R, and then trying to fix up my car.

Originally I planned on saving most of money from each check for a new car, but if I’m going to move downtown I won’t need a car to do the public transit around here (that and I hate parallel parking).

Oh, and aside from work I’ve been working with a fantastic designer, Anthony Bullock on getting together a new design for Holdfire so hopefully once that’s 100% complete (he’s working on the subpage design) I’ll be able to get started on the redesign and relaunch for it. 🙂

Busy Bee

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Oi, so I’ve opened up WordPress several times to update my blog with updates on how work has been, but each time I either forget, get distracted or just don’t want to write about what I’ve been up to. I’m finally just forcing myself to post right now just because I know I’ll keep opening up WordPress every dayl.

I’m currently on my third week of work, and it’s been amazing. I’m not a morning person by any means, but so far I’ve been doing a decent job of waking up at 6:40AM, and being ready to walk out of the house at 7:35AM. This is where it gets a little complicated. There’s a Metra train that runs a few blocks from my house, however, the last exit is about 2 miles from where I work. I’d have to take a 7:27AM train to get to work at 8:30AM. So instead I drive 13 miles east to another station that leaves at 8:08AM and arrives downtown at Randolph/South Water St at 8:48AM. Work is a block away, so pfft to walking far! 😛

Lately I’ve been stopping at the Starbucks at the corner for an iced Chai latte, but that’s a $4.40 expense I’d rather not have. So I’ll make it a Friday-morning treat instead. I’ve got a nice little setup at work, definitely better than the shit I had at the job I worked a few months ago (I mean seriously a 15″ monitor, wtf? 512MB of ram to multitask with Photoshop, Illustrator, and other programs? HA!) My workstation has a 19″ widescreen monitor, and the desktop has Vista Premium, 4GB ram, 500GB SATA drive, 512MB video card, and a bunch of other shit I don’t utilize.

Work is just your standard 9-5pm. I usually go out to eat lunch at Subway, Qdoba, Noodles and Company, and some local dives. Most of that is within 5 blocks of me, but lately I’ve just been wandering around aimlessly during lunch to see what I can come across. Last week I went to the post office at the Aon Center and discovered a plethora of other places I can hit up.

Outside of work I haven’t been up to anything else really, since I’ve just been so focused on work. Lately my only concerns have been trying to redesign Holdfire and atourworst.org, so maybe this weekend I can have one of those done, or near being done. We’ll see!