Got to go to church home group tonight and need to pack for tommorrow and need to find rides to and from airport.
Lent- tentatively giving up (although I am not at all catholic> clothes shopping, daytime television, daily chocolate indulgences, and caffienated soda.
I am attempting to slam pack 3 different daily devotionals in for the next 40 days and am doing 2 and a half church groups.
I saw Passion of the Christ last night. It was very brutal, and although I love the concept of using mass media to share it to the publics and ignite interest in the Jesus phenomenom, I admit I'm a bit disappointed that the focus was so much on the killing of Him with far too little insight to the life of Him. Ok, got to go eat. Hasta!

Friday night- Remedy with Amanda and Talia. Eliza was go-go dancing for the night. Met a guy and got a date and topped it off with 4 thirty am crepes to die for.
Saturday night- Date was lacking. Ditched out early and my ex and I went out dancing downtown.
Today- Just church and shopping to redecorate bathroom and kitchen. Also finalized plans to head to Seattle next weekend to pull Carrie out of her slumpy slump and get her out and about again. Happy Happy!

Happy Bean Day!



So let's see. I'm 26 so that makes Bean 28. I'd like to say that having known Bean all my life, that she is the most spectacular and unique person in all my family and possibly even all of NYC. Happy Birthday!

So I am really regretting not moving in with the Louie family 3 years ago. They have this wing of the house that they offered me, but they wanted me to commit sight unseen. It would have been perfercted with a large walkin closet and family room, access to the backyard along with a separate front door entrance. Now it just used as a toy room and craft room and game closet. And knowing them I would have probably been paying pretty minimal rent for this. Too late now. And I have my house now, but it would have been fun because the Louie's have every fun gadget and gismo and movie and game system known to man and I would have had access to it all. I just wouldn't have had a stove or oven, but now I am realizing I don't really need those things too often. Oh-well.

Kitty's Close Call
There has been so much rain today and you know how us Californian's overexaggerate all poor weather conditions. There was emergency alerts on TV for thunderstorm advisory. And there was a significant amount of wind and rain. But I was indoors all day long with no good window views to really comprehend the magnitude of this storm. So when I come home at 9-thirty tonight I go to check on my pets... K Meow and my mom's dog, Mali, are both in the backyard. Mali's kennel has collapsed. Her blanket is out in the rain and all wet. Her little doggie jacket is soaked. Her food is tipped over and empty. And she's coughing. K Meow's food is soaked and soggy. The wind knocked over the little table that serves as a porch to her kennel and the kennel door has blown closed so that she is locked out. Her other kennel is accessible, but soaked. Kitty is very wet and the whole situation cringes me with guilt for putting her outdoors in the first place. I go back and forth, drying the dog's blanket's, restoring their food, rebuilding kennels, resetting their beds with dry blankets, tying doors open, creating better waterproof awnings, etc... all the meanwhile getting soaked beyond belief. As I am wrapping that all up, I witness Kitty fall into the hot tub, which is filled with cold green algae water. She's quick to jump out, which I am relieved to find out she can do. I've had this fear that she may fall fate to the hot tub and end up drowned like that poor black squirrel that I discovered at christmas time. Well, that water is just disgusting so I brought her in and bathed her and she is drying in my room. I'm sure she is glad to be back inside. But what if she got fleas while she was out there and is now depositing all her little friends onto my bed. I don't think I can put her back out tonight so does that make me mean to leave the dog out there? Maybe I let Mali into the garage just for tonight. Either way I will definately empty the hot tub tommorrow.

Best Valentine's Ever!
There was no man wooing me and no flowers delivered and no poems recited, but this was I think the best Valentine's Day I've ever had. Carrie and I got up early this morning and started off the day with relaxing spa pedicures. We then drove over the hill to Capitola, but we stopped first at Gayle's Deli & Bakery for some scrumptious treats. I basically indulged every craving and impulse I had all day long. We got 3 desserts to share and take home. And we walked around enjoying the sunshine and shopping all day. I bought a bunch of good smelly stuff... scents are a new obsession of mine. And then I got my favorite ice cream to eat on the beach. Then we headed out to downtown Santa Cruz to check out some of my favorite shops (Urban Outfitters, Santa Cruz...) and I discovered so many great new stores today. I wish I had more time and lived closer to this little strip. It is very much like the cute quaint willow glen downtown area except bigger and better and with a Berkeley twist of being hippie filled. After all that walking around town, we headed home. But not before we hit up Willow Street Pizza in Los Gatos. And the great surprise was that our favorite S'mores dessert is back, but unfortunately we were too full from a day of impulsive gluttony to partake. Perhaps tomorrow.



Last night was a blast. We went out with Shawn Silvera and crew down in Santana Row. He introduced me to this great fruit infusion drink that basically is all vodka. It was so good and I normally hate alcohol, but I really couldn't taste it. If I was ever to get drunk, it would be off of that stuff... easily.

Make Me Day
Wish me a happy Make Me Day! What's Make Me Day? Well, it's the day my parents got busy and made me. That's right... date of conception. We celebrate it like a 2nd birthday. I get presents and all. And when I was younger, the fam would always take me out to dinner. But I phased out of that when I started to have boyfriends. It was a good tradition that I should have kept in tact, but that's ok. I had my best friend this year and I don't think I've ever loved a guy as much as I love her. (PS- we are not in any way, shape, or form at lesbian.)

So I just walked in the door to find a care package of Valentine's cookies, brownies and chocolates. And I was expecting to be left out of the whole Valentine's whoopla. No, they weren't from any suiters. It was a goodbye gift from the San Diego Marriott, but it came in a real cute picture box that I could possibly regift to someone who doesn't read my blog. I hung out with Humaro after my advocacy training. Yep, we are still friends and completely platonic... for now. I think he was kinda wanting to hang out for Valentine's despite the breakup, but no go because Carrie's in town for the weekend. Amanda, Carrie and I all just left our guys weeks before Vday so we are going to try and rally people up to hang out and do something really fun and exciting to keep our minds off of it.

So I took a moment to catch up on other people blogs this morning only to find that my roommate/tennant Melvicious Melanie has been writing smack about me and my desire to help children in the system. Don't think this won't go unchallenged, but it is so late at night right now and I'm exhausted and dirty and need to hit the shower and then hit the sack. Night.

Wow! Court! Parents being escorted in from the state pen in shackles, or they don't show up at all for this important hearing that may determine whether they get their child back or not, unexplained burn marks on an infant that pull baby and the 2 siblings from the home... if someone would just fuss up to what happen and who was responsible then they would get them help to reunify, but because they are playing dumb and innocent, their children will not return until they can identify the problem and fix it... and there was this cute young single guy who was in the process of adopting his sister's daughter because the sister had lost her parental rights... that was the hottest thing ever.

Cynthia and I took Allison to get her one year pictures taken. I got her this little Noah's ark toy with all these animal figurines. And a book. And lots of hugs and kisses. After work I stopped at the fabric store to splurge on a bit of fabric. But my sewing machine is on the brink so maybe I use Cynthia's while the baby is napping. If I don't have your address, email it to me. Just use the "Lizard Mail" link on the side here.

She's Back!
Brianna's has come home finally. She's my invisible roommate who has basically been gone since June. She has been having back to back to back health problems and has been consistently in the hospital, in surgury, or under her mother's care. But finally she is home. She is still in pain though and their are surguries still pending for the future so we are totally still keeping her in her prayers.

So I had every intention of snowboarding Mammoth for the weekend, but now my VERY best friend, Carrie is contimplating coming to town. I was looking to escape town for the valentine's weekend, but now I guess I will stay here, admit that I'm alone and seek comfort in celebrating Vday with my favorite girl.

Friday night was Titus' art exhibit opening at Anno Domini Gallery. All these people I know becoming big time artists... so exciting... First Sherry and now Titus. I had seen his work before in his art studio, but never knew the background of it. He actually takes these old paintings that capture black history and then takes just one image out of it and paints it onto white boards. I had only seen his work out of context without any background info. You don't realize that the surreal twisting body of a lady when in context is taken out of a painting of a women who was been hung. It was amazing. And it was such a great big party... like a big reunion of everyone from our Blackford campus church. I saw all the old faces and old friends and old foes.

Saturday was reunion again at a candle party at Emilie's. My dear little Nina is 8 months pregnant. I was this girls sunday school teacher and youth pastor. She is all grown up now. My goodness, how time flies. All those yummy smelling candles got me into a good smell obsession. Last night I had every candle I owned burning bright. Today I invested in incense and holder.

Tomorrow is my dear little Allison's first birthday. I got her this Noah's Ark toy with little animals in pairs. But first thing first. I have court in the morning. No trouble... I'm observing the children's dependecy court as part of my training to be an advocate. Just when I rid my whole closet of all business clothes, I am forced to dig them out again. I'm sure it will make for a very interesting morning. To watch the fate of children and family's decided before your eyes, to hear of the horrors that have brought them to this point, to look into a case and find sympathy or repulsion and to pray that this child will be okay. In the 3 hours I am scheduled to observe the court, we will speed through approximately 15 cases. Such a small amount of time for a judge to weigh and measure each case.

Utopia Update
1. I started the new job as a nanny yesterday. It has rained non stop so no adventurous outings. Only my second day in and I am tired of baby's book selection. I must find the nearest library to the house ASAP!! Otherwise, everything is great. We have naptime from 10 to 12 (Yes, I sleep too so don't call between these hours). Then later she naps again and I watch Days of our Lives and then read. Right now I'm reading Someone Else's Child. It tells the story of some Bay Area foster children and outlines the growth of Child Welfare in the US and primarily in the county. Eventually (like next quarter) I will go back to school to get my degree in social welfare or some other related major.
2. Carrie finally ditched that Dodge Stealth of hers from back in high school and upgraded to a new Jeep Cherokee Limited in Black. She is sticking with her family's tradition. Yeah!!! Her new realization of the day: Even when she's good, she's B-A-D!
3. Mom broke into my house today to clean it. And she brought me a new lamp. I went out and bought a new bigger TV that will actually fill my entertainment center without leaving 10 inch gaps on all sides. The small TV got moved to my bedroom and the gigantic old school TV from the 60's got sold for $10 in last weekends garage sale.
4. Speaking of the weekend... I'm so fine with being single again. I have too many projects going on right now to be dating anyways. I had a guilt free dinner with Kelvyn on Saturday and then mustered up enough energy to "swing through" a party my friend was having. But I ended up staying for hours. While I was there, I met this girl who has been a Child Advocate for 2 years. I don't think I have mentioned that I am in training to become a court appointed special advocate for children in the system. I think I will be taking on a focus of pregnant teenage girls in the system. They usually get their babies taken away from them once they check out of the hospital. It is very difficult to find a foster home to take both mother and infant. And their child becomes part of the system and they have to jump through all the hoops to get them back and prove that despite their own issues of abuse, they can break the cycle and become good parents. One day when I am a wealthy philanthropist, I will open a group home in this county that takes in only foster girls who are pregnant or have children.