laptop

I just purchased a new Dell Studio 15 laptop. I really don't know if that's better than any of the others but all i know is that it's got 3 gb of one thing and 320 of the other. I need it for school. I figure I need that more than an IPhone, which is what I really wanted to spend my money on but I don't need that phone. I really want it tho. I wouldn't have to have an ipod and a cell phone on the elliptical while at the gym. I should actually consider downgrading my phone. I enjoy the luxury of having a blackberry but i don't really need it. I am not the jet setting professional i dreamed i'd be by now so a regular phone with unlimited texting will do i suppose. 

We just got back from Pete's house where we all played a fun game called Apples to Apples.  I had never played it before but it was fun. It was the perfect activity for this 39 degree night in L.A. I know 39! Wtf? 

BTW I'm really glad Christmas is over. I got to see a few friends while I was at home but not Mich or Monica which sucked but they are busy with babies and weddings so it's all good. I also got to hang out with my mom, and on Thursday night when Jesse came back home and I stayed, I even got to sleep in her bed. Mom bed's are the best! Today is her birthday! happy 52nd birthday momma. not like she'll read this but whateva. 

cold.

It's cold. Work is super lonely but I like it. I may actually get work done. I would rather play games on Facebook tho. I'm currently listening to David Bowie's "Amsterdam" daydreaming about being in Europe with Jesse and working on Support Group stats. Talk about multi-tasking.
I am looking forward to going to San Diego for a few days and hanging out with the family. I still have no idea what we're doing on New Years Eve, but on New Years Day, we're headed up to Maxwell.
I'm trying to avoid getting really sick. I'm super congested right now and it sucks. Maybe I should stay home tomorrow. I never really go home anymore and when I will go home I'll be coughing up a storm.
Anyhow, I should get back to work. Sniffle.

school schmool.

Yesterday was my first day stepping foot on the CSUN campus and it was both exciting and really annoying. Lousy parking, financial aid lines, 19 year olds who think that clothes from the 90's are officially vintage pieces, and too many buildings. The exciting part was that for the first time since 1998 (when i graduated h.s.) i actually feel exciting about what i will be learning. I feel like I'm actually going to benefit from the next 5 semesters and they are going to make somewhat of a difference.  i start in january, but i register tomorrow. i took out my first loan ever. gross. i'm going to try and start thinking about that after i graduate. 

i met an assistant professor/counselor for the urban studies and planning dept (which is my major) and he seemed very stern, very business, but also very passionate about what he taught, which means a lot to me. when i was 18 and sitting in classes at junior colleges from s.d. to pasadena it never really mattered to me whether the professor was really interested in what he was teaching, now it does. now that i am older i can appreciate good professors which degrees, and awards, who are published and well read. before it was all the same. maybe that's why it has taken me so long to get my act together. but whatever, that was then, now i have a fresh start and need to get down to business. i would like to graduate by spring of 2011.

back in l.a.

nyc was fun but boy am i glad to back in l.a. 

obi.

oh obama. please use the 5 bucks that I just donated to your campaign to drink a nice cold beer on the night of Nov. 4th. hmmmm. beer.

6 more days til my nyc trip. oh and not to mention the most important election of my lifetime thus far.

:0)

get the balance right.

I haven't written in a while but here are a few things that have happened since I last blogged. My grandfather passed away, i went on an impromptu but much needed trip to his funeral in Chimaltitan, and spent a few days in Guadalajara. I turned 28, which was not much of a big deal at all, I sat in on a board meeting and found out my employer is headed for the crapper if not the slammer, I got into a car accident, I got a letter from the Dept. of Health that they would like me to go and test for an interpreter position, and I am really loving the idea of interpreting again.

Lots of bad timing has also taken place, like I now have to pay a $1,000.oo deductible, and all I have is 600 in open credit and 720 saved for my new york trip in 2 weeks. this means i better start eating bologna sandwiches right now. money has been a big stressor lately but I just came to the conclusion that there are bigger worries in life. I will keep working and budget more than ever but nothing not even debt is eternal so from that too i will rise up.

Jesse turns 28 on sunday and I want to take him to breakfast and possibly make dinner and invite my family and his and 3 or 4 friends. thank goodness I got him his birthday gift 2 months ago (chargers vs. cheifs tickets) because if not i'd be pissed right now.

I dj'ed last weekend for about 5 hours so I'm waiting for a hefty paycheck. we'll see when that arrives, but that too will go to debt. it's ok though, this too shall pass.

Today I filled out my vote by mail ballot. I got all emotional, I think that in my past life I was related to Martin Luther King, so to see Obama up there, makes me super proud.

valentines day...

also happens to be my anniversary, and today i was trying to remember how it is that we have spent our anniversaries. do i feel like a horrible girlfriend for not remembering 3 out of 6? That goes without saying.

#1 l.a./hollywood #2 dinner with friends in woodland hills ? #3 dinner in pasadena? #4 funny bouquet of flowers #5 dinner at home because we were both totally overworked and I had class #6 houstons. OK. I feel a little bit better now. I try to remember everything that we do because I'm all giddy about Jesse and because I never wanted to be the girlfriend who didn't remember dates and special occasions. But i guess life has been happening and happening so well that all i know is that i shouldn't feel bad if i don't remember everything from the past. OK that didn't make too much sense but I feel better now.

anyway, work is getting better. oh and speaking of work, today while i was at work I got an email from Monica and she wants me to be her bridesmaid! sheesh. as much as i hate all things bridesmaid related things, I couldn't say no to my little "Leroy". i'm totally going to look up some cute dresses because God knows the last thing I need is a teal or pink dress with ruffles in my closet. This also means that I need to lose some weight! I don't want her to have a fat bridesmaid friend in her wedding. I won't allow that. a chubby one yes, but not fat.

ughhhhhh.

What a crappy day today was. work was good until my passive aggressive supervisor decided to finally voice what she thought i understood was coming from her always covert messages. why do people need lists' with information that isn't correct? why would she hand that out at a meeting? why would she give those lists out and say "ok here are your assignments, but some, you may not be able to contact because the info is wrong"? ass. Why!? why? did she keep me 1 hour after i was supposed to go only to not let me stay an extra 15 minutes to finish what i was doing? ugh. I really have to work on letting shit like that go but whatever. This PMS isn't helping me out either.

I should just strive to get fired. If I get fired I get paid unemployment and I can devote more time to selling shit on Ebay and building my mothers tamale empire.

Oh wow. I just got good news via text. Jennifer got a small part in a movie. It's a small part but it's a real movie! She said she'll hire me to carry her handbags for 30 bucks an hour from 10-4:15. It almost sounds like a dream job right now.

the light.

In the past few months i think i've gone through a bit of a transitional period. I know, it's kind of strange when you catch yourself in mid-transition. The growing pains almost left bruises.

I learned that there are more important things in life than holding grudges. I've come to full grips with that I am ultimately in control of my happiness. I've seen the light and realized that I don't need to do what everyone else is doing, nor is there a crucial deadline that I need to meet to reach my goals. I got accepted to CSUN, I'm en route to having a great trip to NY, I met my half-nephew (is that such a relationship? i dunno i guess I still refuse to see his mother as my half sister, but I promise I will work on that), Jesse and I are doing well, and work is getting slightly crappier but I am having a positive outlook and realized that I may as well stick around and get my tuition paid for. Luckily my supervisors are cool, however Administration is a whole 'nother show. Our CEO & CFO need to take a non-profit management course.

I'm really excited about going to CSUN. I think i'm just more excited about actually sitting in classes that I am actually interested in. Urban Planning is going to be good, I know it.

August has not sucked. oh no, perhaps I just jixed it. Anyway we've just gotten back from out S.F./Sacramento/Woodland trip and it was fun and very relaxing. We caught Radiohead and Manu Chau at the Outside Lands Festival on Friday and when we came back to L.A. we caught night 2 at the Hollywood Bowl. Radiohead live, is like nothing else on this planet. To watch each member do their significant part is incredible. Jonny Greenwood. God bless his heart. He's my favorito. So damn creative and talented, and not to mention good looking. Here's a "highlight" video of the show. Enjoi!

pissy face.

I think I annoyed my boss today. She and her male office mate were talking about John Edwards and how it's so unfortunate that this affair scandal came out into the open. To which I replied "well I don't judge him for cheating, he's a man, men cheat. There's no perfect being out there. men cheat, women cheat, people make mistakes". She then half way rolled her eyes and sighed a bit and said "well the majority of married men that I know don't cheat" . To which I thought "not yet sister". I said "well ok, maybe so but people cheat, and we shouldn't judge him and conclude that because he did that he'd suck as a president or v.p. it's his life, Bill did it, and everyone forgave him". From that point on her office mate made a face and she was all pissy faced too so thankfully Jennifer (my struggling actress coworker/friend) saved me from that moment and proceeded to tell me about her monologue. She's taking what sounds to be a very fun and challenging acing class and she was given an assignment to buy a magazine and create a character based on who she thought a subscriber to that magazine would be like. She chose "The Humanist". She developed a very good monologue and is in the process of creating her voice. I'm sure she'll be fine.
This week is Chuy's birthday so on friday after work I will make my way up to the rehab center and celebrate with cans of coke and microwave burritos.

August has been good.

It's super hot today. I wish i had ac but w/o having to pay for the electric bill. I'm currently watching Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations, South Carolina (or maybe it's north, who knows). I just got back from the gym with Kelly but I still have a crappy headache which I acquired at work. We had our first bake sale to raise money for Memory Walk and I think the sugar made me sick.

Anywhoo, I'm happily looking forward to New York City this fall. Richie and I leave 11/4 and come back the 11th. I wish Jesse was going with us but he can't. I'm going to NYC to relax and perhaps get some of it's energy and bring it back with me. I really love that city. I think my top cities are 1. L.A. 2. Tijuana 3. Mexico City 4. New York City 5. Chula Vista, CA. 6. Santa Rosa, CA. So much friggin energy in 13 miles (or so).

This week I have to send out my application to CSUN, and I also have to have all my transcripts sent there. I also plan on hitting the gym 4 times a week. I really need to watch myself, i'm so out of control in regards to health that I can't believe there's actually someone that makes love to me.

OK I gotta go back to drinking water and watching Anthony cook bbq pig.

July sucks too.

however, it is not as crazy as June. I did pass my stats class with a C! There's still family drama but it's gradually getting better. Jesse and I went to Vegas, and were both very unlucky. I lost a total of 320 bucks on slots but I did manage to have fun. I went to the spa, laid in the sun, cuddled, ate a lot! and met up with an old friend from high school.

Tomorrow I got back to work. I really wish I would have won the lottery in the past week so that I could just call in and say "Sorry, but I have become flithy rich and no longer need to work".

One step closer ...

to being finished with Stats. It's been a gnarly 5 weeks. I sware it's been the toughest class in ...ever! I had a test tonight and I think I managed to get at least a C. My final is on Thursday and I am going to do my best to get a B on it. I was daydreaming about being at CSUN today and it really motivated me to try extra hard on tonights test. I know I sound like a total loser, being 27 and not even having my degree and stressing over stats when most people I know are working on getting into grad school or already got out of grad school. Oh well, i'm a late bloomer.

In 2 weeks Jesse and I are headed for a mini-retreat to lovely Las Vegas. I will gamble the anxiety away and leave work far far behind. Work has been sucking a fat one lately but still I try to make it tolerable.

june sucks.

Seriously ,i don't think i can take much more stress. Heat waves, statistics, kidnapping threats, and dj disasters. i feel like every year i have 1 funky ass month. last year it was april. this year it's June. Thank God it's almost July.

who needs mrs.cleo?

Today work sucked a fat one. We were inundated with meetings and started the day with the official news that no-one is getting a raise based on merit this year. wow. Seriously it was like someone stabbed my baby heart out and fed it to a rabid dog and he shat it out in the form of my work ethic. ok so maybe i am exaggerating but really, these fucking gas prices are killing me (not to mention higher grocery and energy bills). a year ago gas prices were shitty, now they are straight up asshole. you probably are wondering wtf i meant by that but whatever you know what i mean. All of the assistants at work are pretty much paid the same (crap) and we all bust our asses, that's not to say that management doesn't but I bet they aren't worried about budgeting shit as much as i am. Also to add to the bullshit they laid 3 people off. Terrible. Yeah they were probably sub-par employees but right now is so not the time to be jobless. So during today's second (over 60 minute long) meeting I asked our CFO if we were going to get cost of living raises (because yes merit and cost of living increases are 2 totally different things) and he answered "yeeeeah. no." alright. ass. So all of the people who were in the room at that time (at least 40) were now extra-bummed, borderline-postal. SO whatever, we got out of the meeting and went back to our desks'. As I bumped the new R.E.M (which is not bad btw) I missed a call. It was my mom. She was about 30 minutes away from my place and wanted to stop by. I asked my boss if I could go and she said yes. It was what I totally needed, a visit from my mom. You gotta love her. It's like she knew i was having a craptastic day and came to bring comfort and realizations that there are more important things in life than merit increases. We had ham and eggs (our favorite impromptu dinner), caught up, went to Starbucks, and drove around looking at apartments. She even made a stop at Old Navy (to kill time before I got home) and bought me stuff. She's awesome and she's always the voice of reason. She said "just keep working hard, after I win tonight's lotto I'll mail you a check". love her.

i passed.

adios Algebra, logarithms, & functions! I passed my final, passed my class, now on to Statistics and CSUN!

tired, stressed, mathmetized.

I'm on the verge of a breakdown. PMS, finals, stats, work, broke, fat, tired, hot. Those are my stressors at this present moment in time. I know that whomever reads this must be tired of hearing me bitch but sometimes I would rather let the bitch out in writing than verbally. 

Too much is going on at this time but if I can just make it past next wed. at 9:00 p.m. I'll be good. I'll deal with my summer math class when it gets here. For now I must prioritize and keep my head on straight.

OK enough. So today I hear from my very good if not closest female friend Monica and she let me know she is more than likely getting married soon. Sounds odd, but what I mean by that is that her boyfriend had "the talk" with her dad and her dad gave him the ok to go ahead and make a woman out of her. I hope things go well for them. I don't know him very well but I'm sure he's a good guy. 

In other news, Kelly's surgery went well. There was a scare at first but I knew things would work out. 

Speaking of working out, I have to go study so that I can watch Work Out at 10:00. Jesse's at the Dodger game but I was responsible and decided to stay home. bleh.

say prayers, send good vibes, please.

my friend is having a cholesystectomy today. 

momma

I got my passport in the mail on Friday which was a lot sooner than I had expected (or was told by the postal worker who processed my passport application). It came just in time to go down to Puerto Nuevo and enjoy some lobster and mariachi yesterday with my family & Jesse in honor of mother's day. The weather was pretty awesome. It was a perfect 72 when we got to Puerto Nuevo. My parents are turning into a cute couple after 36 years. They celebrate their eloping on May 17th. Their wedding anniversary is in August but my mom says the counting began when she left her parent's home. 

"Living in sin", has been better to me than it was for her, however I have been "living in sin" for quite a bit longer than she did. Last night after going back to my mom's house from the casino, Jesse & I headed out to Michel's place and got to spend some time with him & Janelle. She showed me the ultrasound shots of who I am hoping will be named Elliott, Oliver, Gabriella, or Tabitha. She's now 4 months pregnant, and looks cute as a button. 

So here I sit patiently waiting for George Bush to provide my wallet with some stimulation. He was yet to do so, that bastard. I feel guilty even accepting that money. Our country is in such a slump it's gross. 

whoremones

Hormones are a terrible thing. especially those of the contraceptive kind. they make me feel crazy. but then again i suppose kids make me feel just as if not crazier than the hormones. Anywho, today started off pretty shitty (migraine, back to work after a 4 day weekend, too many emails, too many voicemails, too many "so how was your weekend" b.s. convos). I even had a test I didn't know about but i think I managed to pass. 

I am so glad we got this new awesome cable because now I can pause top chef and go pee w/o having to wait for commercials. 

This post is kind of like brain diarrhea so bare with me. My grammar is shit and so are my typing skills. 

I haven't posted much in a while but then again not much has happened. School, work, love, friends, family pretty much have been consistently good. My dad did get pretty sick last week and he scared the crappers our of every one but he seems to be ok. Sober J came to visit, him and Kim bought their first home, and I am very proud of them. I went to S.D. and hung out with Martha which was good for me because she is a very genuine person, not fake, very kind, and funny as heck. I miss having her around. I also took my bike into the shop and got it all ready for the summer! It rides like a gentle pony i love it. I have been riding it around more lately and I even rode it to my Dr.'s appt. yesterday. I added a basket to it so that I can run light errands with it. Gas is way ridiculous, and I can totally use the exercise. I also got my passport, and took my car in to get lubed and the dude there totally hooked my ass up with a free ac service and a new cd player. My car is only 1.5 years old but the cd player has a cd stuck in it and I told him about it and he got me a new cd player. awesome. I love VW. I can't wait till the diesel VW comes out!! ok so maybe that only deserved one exclamation mark.

ok gotta go get my pj's it's top chef time. 

don't trip.

so it looks like we aren't going anywhere this summer and i have come to grips with that. i decided that now is the time to save. the goal is for us to be out of tiny haus and into a new place that we can own by this time next year. the real estate market will continue to go to shit at least until January and by April things should still be pretty low.
i already have some cash in savings and my debt is pretty low. i may have to ask my parents for a loan so that i can start csun in the spring but my job will reimburse me for tuition so then i can pay them back.
lately i've been stuck in a rut. so i gathered my thoughts, and prioritized things and vacation was like 5th on the list (health, relationship, family & friends, saving, vacation). as long as i get a few days to enjoy away from work with Jesse we'll be fine. today i took a mental health day away from work. meaning i took a day off because i am fucken tired. i have a math test today and i'm looking forward to passing it. i'm actually going to pass this math class. 1 more class and that's it!

longest week ever.

shit man. it's barely wednesday!! i'm pooooooped. school is mega wack, work is eh, but home is lovely. i love getting home after a long ass day of b.s. I am excited because the new season of Top Chef starts in 6 minutes.
Today I got my ticket to Sactown. The entire office is headed up there to talk to legislators and hopefully get our funding back. support the cause www.alz.org/californiasouthland click on Advocacy Day. If you donate cash make sure you state it's for Yvette's trip to Sacramento. I'm the only Yvette in the office so they'll know what's up. anyway i have to go get cozy because top chef is moments away!!

over it.

i'm over the fatso feeling, at least for now that is. i am counting down the weeks until SMA/GDL. yeah now there's a slash. I figure they are close enough to each other where we can jump in Paola's car and take a 2 day trip to GDL. Pleeeeeease say yes Paola I know you are reading! If for whatever reason she can't, my dad agreed to meet us down there and show us around. Finally a real vacation away from this town and filled with art, relaxation, food, not to mention the international film festival that will be taking place at the exact same time we are there. Kelly & Vanessa have been sending us awesome postacards from florence, salzburg, and the u.k and each time i get a new post card i travel vicariously though those postcards. man they really know how to do it those two. they saved for months, cut back on nonsense and booked a month long vacation in europe. that takes discipline. perhaps next year we can manage to make it over the pond, for now 11 days in san miguel will do. i think that for my 30th birthday I want to go to Japan. by then we'll be out of this recession and I will have paid off all debts. ok i gotta go play guitar hero, and then visit edzon's dads new restaurant in noho.

work blog

so yeah i'm pretty much sad as heck because i'm fatter than i've ever been. i start going to the gym today and since Wednesday of last week I cut out all fried foods. wish me luck.

ok i'm at work i should get back to numbers and charts. if you feel sad and can't muster enough energy to cry watch kanye west's performance at the grammy's this past sunday. it'll do it fer ya.

bloggity blog blog

so today coachella's line up was announced and it looks rather lame. i mean i love dark side of the moon but if i never hear it performed live i'll be ok. portishead are good but again, i can keep listening to them on cd. i really wanted Bowie, Prince, Gustavo Cerati, Radiohead, Le Tigre, Boards of Canada, or New Order to play. We saw New Order there before but you get what I mean. Cafe Tacuba is great and all but damn they play at every friggin coachella. This year also lacks a lot of hip hop. Cool kids, and Little Brother are not enough, however they are pretty great. Snoop Dogg & Dr. Dre would have been magical! Too Short would have made me pee my pants.
Anyway in other news, we have decided San Miguel de Allende will be our vacation destination this year. July 16-28. I know it's a little yuppy of us but fuck it. The place is nice, it's safe, it's cheap, there's culture, and it's Mexico so we can't go wrong. I will def. be taking some cooking classes over there. I can not wait.

It's raining.

This rain is relaxing. However, I have ants in my pants. I kinda feel like being out. Those ants happen to come into my pants the day after pay day (which is today).
This afternoon after my eye exam (which left me with a debt of 183.00 and a new pair of glasses) I called the sistas (castro sistas) and we went over to EAT and had some breakfast and a good chat about random junk. We also hit up a few thrift shops and I found some good items to kick start my EBay business off with again. I found a great vase, some purses, and a members only jacket which was in perfect shape. Those jackets continue to sell like real fast so I thought what the hell, let's buy you. When I got home, Jesse tried it on and decided to keep it so, so much for that.
I should be reading instead of blogging. My book is sitting on the bookshelf staring me dead in the face. I have about 300 pages to go. I want to read more. I figure it's the adult thing to do and it's great exercise for our brains.
Last night we went to see There Will Be Blood. Daniel Day Lewis is a good actor. He really needs to work on losing his accent though because no matter how much he tries it still comes through. He plays a total asshole (as usual), but he kind of reminded me of my dad, who contrary to popular belief is not an asshole. Anyway it's a long film but it's shot well and the storyline is great. The soundtrack was created by my favorite member of one of my favourite bands...Mr. Johnny Greenwood of Radiohead. I'm gonna look for it on vinyl.
This week is full of good live music. Tomorrow No Age @ the Smell, Monday the Radar Bros. @ the Echo, Tuesday Jeremy Jay @ the Troubadour, and Wed I believe Sean Lennon and Stevie from Belle & Sebastian are playing the Disney Music Hall. This rarely happens anymore.