Sundays are the worst day of the week. Sunday evenings are the worst time of the week. Because you know, you just know Monday morning is on the way.
As the Great Dylan once said, "My weariness amazes me." And so, I'm off to bed.
Happy Holidays,
love, Tragic
Sunday, December 18, 2005
Thursday, October 13, 2005
Germs suck!
arghhhhhhhhhhh
Sick again! About three weeks ago, I got permission from my boss to take October 14th and 17th off. (Yes, Tragic is a working girl now.) My plan? To fly back to good ol' San Jose and visit with the family (and of course mi perro, Dodger.) My dad and I, Firefly fans from way back, wanted to go see "Serenity" together. Although I always miss my husband when we are separated, I also had a case of home-sickness. I hadn't seen my family or SJ friends since right after the wedding. Of course I missed Pizza Fresh (The B*E*S*T pizza in the entire world) and Hukilau and Tsuguru.
My sister-in-law, brother-in-law, and little nephew are visiting from Arizona, so Sean and I have been quite busy lately. There was a haunted house, haunted hay-ride, 3-d maze, street festivals, and so forth. Last Saturday we went to the Pacific Beach Street Faire, which was very cool. (also literally, as there was much fog.) My sweetie bought me a ring with a heart shaped amber stone. I bought myself two Chinese-themed parasols which I love. To tell you the truth, the whole inspiration came from a scene right out of "Serenity", the very first two-hour episode. (This was supposed to be the pilot, but FOX executives, showing off their usual stellar stupidity, decided to air the pilot episode last-- after the show had already been cancelled.) There is a scene at the Eavesdown docks where Kaylee twirls a beautiful parasol behind her.
Anyhow, after all this, my poor husband started to feel ill on Tuesday. And then, despite our best efforts, I fell ill yesterday.
(Tragic needs sleep, to be continued.)
x0x0x0x0 Tragic Tuyen
PS. I miss you and love you more than you will ever know, my husband
Sick again! About three weeks ago, I got permission from my boss to take October 14th and 17th off. (Yes, Tragic is a working girl now.) My plan? To fly back to good ol' San Jose and visit with the family (and of course mi perro, Dodger.) My dad and I, Firefly fans from way back, wanted to go see "Serenity" together. Although I always miss my husband when we are separated, I also had a case of home-sickness. I hadn't seen my family or SJ friends since right after the wedding. Of course I missed Pizza Fresh (The B*E*S*T pizza in the entire world) and Hukilau and Tsuguru.
My sister-in-law, brother-in-law, and little nephew are visiting from Arizona, so Sean and I have been quite busy lately. There was a haunted house, haunted hay-ride, 3-d maze, street festivals, and so forth. Last Saturday we went to the Pacific Beach Street Faire, which was very cool. (also literally, as there was much fog.) My sweetie bought me a ring with a heart shaped amber stone. I bought myself two Chinese-themed parasols which I love. To tell you the truth, the whole inspiration came from a scene right out of "Serenity", the very first two-hour episode. (This was supposed to be the pilot, but FOX executives, showing off their usual stellar stupidity, decided to air the pilot episode last-- after the show had already been cancelled.) There is a scene at the Eavesdown docks where Kaylee twirls a beautiful parasol behind her.
Anyhow, after all this, my poor husband started to feel ill on Tuesday. And then, despite our best efforts, I fell ill yesterday.
(Tragic needs sleep, to be continued.)
x0x0x0x0 Tragic Tuyen
PS. I miss you and love you more than you will ever know, my husband
Tuesday, August 09, 2005
Hey you with the wedding dress on, With the white chiffon blowin' in the wind...
I've returned form my blogging vacation. The past month or so has been crazy-busy for me. Along with unpacking all of my belongings in San Diego, I also had to contend with the last few details of the wedding. After waiting almost too long, I placed the order for both wedding flowers and wedding cake. I'd say 95% of my wedding stress was caused by a really mean bridesmaid of mine, whom I actually ended up relieving of her duties. (I'll write more about this later.)
The wedding was beautiful! I couldn't have asked for a better wedding. Everything went perfect (there was only ene tiny glitch in the music.) I just wish my grandfather and my best friend, Dodger could have attended.
Oh, by the way, my mom has started up a new website called: http://shadesofgreen.fotopages.com. You should check it out. ; )
xoxo Tragic Saturn (brand new wife.)
Friday, July 01, 2005
Sandbox Pin Up Challange Pic
Punk Rock Mommy has put together a Sandbox Pin Up challange for female bloggers and here's mine.
XOXOXO
Monday, June 27, 2005
Fire Is Rarely A Sign Of Imminent Safety
After my stay in San Diego, it was time for me to drive back to good ol' San Jo. It was Saturday, June 4th. I'd been back in town to move as well as to take a marriage prep class with a few other couples and the Chaplain. Friday afternoon was spent on the beach, taking it easy.
But Saturday I was headed home to doggie sit, since my dad would be out of town. That morning I woke up with a terrible kink in my right shoulder. After breakfast in bed and a hot shower, there was no improvement. I had to get going anyway. It was already 1pm, and if I waited any longer, I'd be getting home at 11pm.
I sadly waved goodbye to my fiance and climbed into my dad's behemoth of a van. After filling up the gas tank and buying some sunglasses (I'd lost my previous pair) I hit the open road. Although I had horrible visions of terrible Los Angeles traffic, the situation wasn't that bad.
Listening to mix tapes, I quickly zipped from La Mirada to the Grapevine. The radiator and all the other important parts ran wonderfully going up the mountains, although I did shift down one gear. Soon, I was cruising up the fruited plains of I-5, blaring the tape player. Earlier in the day, I'd taken a naproxen to end my hideous pain, and it was actually working.
Feeling still unfamiliar with the van, I decided not to take any chances. I pulled off the freeway at Harris Ranch (Coalinga) and refueled. Not wanting to stop again for more gas, I decide to top off the tank. I went into the snack shop to see if they had any postcards, which they didn't. I'm so used to my sedan that I was shocked, SHOCKED, to return to the van to see it had taken $56 worth of gas! I climbed back up into the drivers seat, turned the key, and merged back onto the freeway. In the distance, I saw some smoke, but it was way off on the left side of the freeway, so I wasn't worried.
Since I had so few audio tapes for this trip, I'd turned off the tape deck. As I drove down the highway, I could hear the wind pick up a bit. Being in such an unaerodynamic vehicle, I also begin to feel the wind batter the van, ever so gently. The smoke in the distance created a beautiful, if not slighty foreboding effect as the sun set. The sunset, bright sunflower yellow where the smoke had not drifted across, soon became a magnificent, menacing volcanic orange. 'If Sean were here,' I thought with a smile 'he'd be snapping away with his digicam.'
After about ten minutes or so, some smoke began to blow my way, but I wasn't really worried about it. The wind was just blowing the smoke from a distant fire in my direction, I figured. Nothing to worry about. Another few minutes went by, but I was still unconcerned even as heavier smoke blew my way. (Yet not enough smoke to hamper my vision.) As I drove on, I made out a strange shape in the distance. I was in the fast lane, or number one lane, and I could swear I something coming towards me. A few seconds went by and I changed lanes just in time to see a newish sedan speed by in the wrong direction. True, the driver had the hazard lights on but I-5 is a major artery from the Bay Area to Los Angeles.
'Holy Crap! What's up with that?' I thought to myself as the car sped along, southbound in the northbound lanes. I refocused my attention on the highway ahead of me, still wandering about the previous aberation.
About five minutes ticked by as I drove on in silence. Then, the smoke became heavy. The light gray smoke which could have been coming from some one's chimney gave way to thick, slate coloured clouds. I gently applied the brakes and turned on the headlights. I could make out the headlights of the car in front of me, for a little while. Once again, the wind picked up. I quickly sped up, and after about twenty dreadful seconds, the blue sky appeared above me.
My relief, however, was short lived. Gusts of smoke battered the driver's side of the van, and caused me to slow down even more. By this time, the red tale lights of the little Japanese car which had been in front of me are gone. I quickly checked my rear view mirror and noticed that there were no cars behind me. In need of advice, I grabbed my cell phone and dialed my fiance. Surely he'd have an idea or two. Having finally memorised his number, I punch in his number, only to get his voice mail. 'Crap,' I thought. With my mind starting to shift into overdrive, I started to leave a very disjointed message. I tried my very hardest not to cry as I talked into his voice mail. The same thought kept recurring to me...
I was alone.
At precisely 7:28:54pm, I place a call to 911. Up until that moment in my life, I fortunately have never had to dial that number. (Even with all the car accidents I've been in.) So you can imagine my surprise when the phone on the other end rings 3, 5, and finally 10 times before I hear a recorded message. My sarcasm begins to kick in, 'What if a crazed gunman was chasing me?' 10 rings is an awful long time to wait. First in English, then in Spanish, that my call will be recorded and that I need to relay my approximate whereabouts. Finally, the operator picked up and asked me to explain the nature of my emergency. As I told her the nature of my problem, and relayed my location, she replied "Yes, we've had several calls of a huge wild fire in that area. The fire department is on their way. I'm almost certain she asked if I could see any flames and at that particular moment, I could not. So she told me to be careful and that was the end of our call.
By this point in time, I couldn't see anything. Blackness descended, as if someone had blind- folded me. I turned in my hazard lights and pulled off to the right hand shoulder. I didn't exactly know what to do, it didn't seem wise to keep going down the highway when I couldn't see anything. As I sat on the side of the road, I heard a 'Woosh' sound.
I turned my head to the left and saw a wall of bright orange. Given the apparent choice of driving into the unknown, or having a full tank of fuel come into contact with a wild fire, I picked the first option. As fast as my fingers could do so, I turn the key in the ignition, and shift into drive. My right foot punched the gas pedal, hard.
As I forcefully applied the gas pedal, I could hear the whine of the engine. (A V-8 engine, but one, nevertheless, with 153,000 miles on it.) In front of me, blackness is punctuated by bright orange swirls. The temperature begins to rise. It feels like I've got the heater on maximum. Sweat drips down my forehead into my eyes. I can hear the air screaming through the wings in front of the wind-down windows. Soon enough, noxious smoke begans to pour in. That's about the point when I started to cough. I felt a tightness in my chest. The wind still battered against me. It seemed like I was in a vortex. Driving in a straight line became a challenge, and the overall effect was that I was a barreling down the center of both lanes. Bright orange flashes flickered in my peripheral vision and sweat stung my eyes. I hoped with all my being there were no cars stopped in front of me, because the spedometer was maxed out at 85, with the needle actually hovering past the last numbers on the gauge. I started to cough more and thought 'This might be it.'
It's funny how fast your brain can work sometimes. In the amount of time it took to have the aforementioned thought, I remembered what it felt like to have a laser treatment. I remembered the pain, the heat of the last treatment I had. The throbbing. The burning. The blistering. And that was only half an arm. With all the force I could muster, I pushed down on that gas pedal. Hoping it would help the van carry me from painful wounds or a horrible, exploding death. Smoke is coming through the vents even though I don't have the climate control on.
After one last bright flash of neon orange, the smoke eased up a bit. I could make out traffic ahead of me and quickly slowed down and pulled into the slow lane. Traffic ahead of me was stopped.
This was about the time that Sean called me. Despite my best efforts, I start to cry, through my coughs, as we talk on the phone. Just as I thought he would, he gives me advice. Since I'm idling on the freeway with a fire nearby, he tells me to turn off the engine. As I talk to him, cars start speeding up the shoulders on both sides as the fire edges towards us in the median. A U-Haul truck blazes by me on the right hand shoulder, probably going about 80 miles per hour.
As I talk to Sean, there is still no sign of any fire department trucks.
Finally, I see one truck edging towards us in the median.
Ever so slowly, traffic begins edging forward. Sean and I say good bye. Those of us who have made it through the fire storm form a sort of convoy. We start of slowly at first, wary of smoke and flames. But after a while, the smoke is behind us.
I count my lucky stars, and, as traffic speeds up, I put a No Doubt tape into the deck. While I try to relax again, the pain in my shoulder comes back. It feels like barbed wire had unspooled in my shoulder.
Oh well. At least I didn't burn to death.
~ Tragic Saturn
(For a different version of this story, read the archives of Doc in the Box.)
But Saturday I was headed home to doggie sit, since my dad would be out of town. That morning I woke up with a terrible kink in my right shoulder. After breakfast in bed and a hot shower, there was no improvement. I had to get going anyway. It was already 1pm, and if I waited any longer, I'd be getting home at 11pm.
I sadly waved goodbye to my fiance and climbed into my dad's behemoth of a van. After filling up the gas tank and buying some sunglasses (I'd lost my previous pair) I hit the open road. Although I had horrible visions of terrible Los Angeles traffic, the situation wasn't that bad.
Listening to mix tapes, I quickly zipped from La Mirada to the Grapevine. The radiator and all the other important parts ran wonderfully going up the mountains, although I did shift down one gear. Soon, I was cruising up the fruited plains of I-5, blaring the tape player. Earlier in the day, I'd taken a naproxen to end my hideous pain, and it was actually working.
Feeling still unfamiliar with the van, I decided not to take any chances. I pulled off the freeway at Harris Ranch (Coalinga) and refueled. Not wanting to stop again for more gas, I decide to top off the tank. I went into the snack shop to see if they had any postcards, which they didn't. I'm so used to my sedan that I was shocked, SHOCKED, to return to the van to see it had taken $56 worth of gas! I climbed back up into the drivers seat, turned the key, and merged back onto the freeway. In the distance, I saw some smoke, but it was way off on the left side of the freeway, so I wasn't worried.
Since I had so few audio tapes for this trip, I'd turned off the tape deck. As I drove down the highway, I could hear the wind pick up a bit. Being in such an unaerodynamic vehicle, I also begin to feel the wind batter the van, ever so gently. The smoke in the distance created a beautiful, if not slighty foreboding effect as the sun set. The sunset, bright sunflower yellow where the smoke had not drifted across, soon became a magnificent, menacing volcanic orange. 'If Sean were here,' I thought with a smile 'he'd be snapping away with his digicam.'
After about ten minutes or so, some smoke began to blow my way, but I wasn't really worried about it. The wind was just blowing the smoke from a distant fire in my direction, I figured. Nothing to worry about. Another few minutes went by, but I was still unconcerned even as heavier smoke blew my way. (Yet not enough smoke to hamper my vision.) As I drove on, I made out a strange shape in the distance. I was in the fast lane, or number one lane, and I could swear I something coming towards me. A few seconds went by and I changed lanes just in time to see a newish sedan speed by in the wrong direction. True, the driver had the hazard lights on but I-5 is a major artery from the Bay Area to Los Angeles.
'Holy Crap! What's up with that?' I thought to myself as the car sped along, southbound in the northbound lanes. I refocused my attention on the highway ahead of me, still wandering about the previous aberation.
About five minutes ticked by as I drove on in silence. Then, the smoke became heavy. The light gray smoke which could have been coming from some one's chimney gave way to thick, slate coloured clouds. I gently applied the brakes and turned on the headlights. I could make out the headlights of the car in front of me, for a little while. Once again, the wind picked up. I quickly sped up, and after about twenty dreadful seconds, the blue sky appeared above me.
My relief, however, was short lived. Gusts of smoke battered the driver's side of the van, and caused me to slow down even more. By this time, the red tale lights of the little Japanese car which had been in front of me are gone. I quickly checked my rear view mirror and noticed that there were no cars behind me. In need of advice, I grabbed my cell phone and dialed my fiance. Surely he'd have an idea or two. Having finally memorised his number, I punch in his number, only to get his voice mail. 'Crap,' I thought. With my mind starting to shift into overdrive, I started to leave a very disjointed message. I tried my very hardest not to cry as I talked into his voice mail. The same thought kept recurring to me...
I was alone.
At precisely 7:28:54pm, I place a call to 911. Up until that moment in my life, I fortunately have never had to dial that number. (Even with all the car accidents I've been in.) So you can imagine my surprise when the phone on the other end rings 3, 5, and finally 10 times before I hear a recorded message. My sarcasm begins to kick in, 'What if a crazed gunman was chasing me?' 10 rings is an awful long time to wait. First in English, then in Spanish, that my call will be recorded and that I need to relay my approximate whereabouts. Finally, the operator picked up and asked me to explain the nature of my emergency. As I told her the nature of my problem, and relayed my location, she replied "Yes, we've had several calls of a huge wild fire in that area. The fire department is on their way. I'm almost certain she asked if I could see any flames and at that particular moment, I could not. So she told me to be careful and that was the end of our call.
By this point in time, I couldn't see anything. Blackness descended, as if someone had blind- folded me. I turned in my hazard lights and pulled off to the right hand shoulder. I didn't exactly know what to do, it didn't seem wise to keep going down the highway when I couldn't see anything. As I sat on the side of the road, I heard a 'Woosh' sound.
I turned my head to the left and saw a wall of bright orange. Given the apparent choice of driving into the unknown, or having a full tank of fuel come into contact with a wild fire, I picked the first option. As fast as my fingers could do so, I turn the key in the ignition, and shift into drive. My right foot punched the gas pedal, hard.
As I forcefully applied the gas pedal, I could hear the whine of the engine. (A V-8 engine, but one, nevertheless, with 153,000 miles on it.) In front of me, blackness is punctuated by bright orange swirls. The temperature begins to rise. It feels like I've got the heater on maximum. Sweat drips down my forehead into my eyes. I can hear the air screaming through the wings in front of the wind-down windows. Soon enough, noxious smoke begans to pour in. That's about the point when I started to cough. I felt a tightness in my chest. The wind still battered against me. It seemed like I was in a vortex. Driving in a straight line became a challenge, and the overall effect was that I was a barreling down the center of both lanes. Bright orange flashes flickered in my peripheral vision and sweat stung my eyes. I hoped with all my being there were no cars stopped in front of me, because the spedometer was maxed out at 85, with the needle actually hovering past the last numbers on the gauge. I started to cough more and thought 'This might be it.'
It's funny how fast your brain can work sometimes. In the amount of time it took to have the aforementioned thought, I remembered what it felt like to have a laser treatment. I remembered the pain, the heat of the last treatment I had. The throbbing. The burning. The blistering. And that was only half an arm. With all the force I could muster, I pushed down on that gas pedal. Hoping it would help the van carry me from painful wounds or a horrible, exploding death. Smoke is coming through the vents even though I don't have the climate control on.
After one last bright flash of neon orange, the smoke eased up a bit. I could make out traffic ahead of me and quickly slowed down and pulled into the slow lane. Traffic ahead of me was stopped.
This was about the time that Sean called me. Despite my best efforts, I start to cry, through my coughs, as we talk on the phone. Just as I thought he would, he gives me advice. Since I'm idling on the freeway with a fire nearby, he tells me to turn off the engine. As I talk to him, cars start speeding up the shoulders on both sides as the fire edges towards us in the median. A U-Haul truck blazes by me on the right hand shoulder, probably going about 80 miles per hour.
As I talk to Sean, there is still no sign of any fire department trucks.
Finally, I see one truck edging towards us in the median.
Ever so slowly, traffic begins edging forward. Sean and I say good bye. Those of us who have made it through the fire storm form a sort of convoy. We start of slowly at first, wary of smoke and flames. But after a while, the smoke is behind us.
I count my lucky stars, and, as traffic speeds up, I put a No Doubt tape into the deck. While I try to relax again, the pain in my shoulder comes back. It feels like barbed wire had unspooled in my shoulder.
Oh well. At least I didn't burn to death.
~ Tragic Saturn
(For a different version of this story, read the archives of Doc in the Box.)
Thursday, June 09, 2005
A Very Long Drive (With The Man I Love)
With the van being all packed, Sean and I set out to San Diego from San Jose. Sean took the first turn behind the wheel as we headed south on that Tuesday morning. We stopped for breakfast at the world famous Casa de Fruta (http://www.casadefruta.com/VISIT_restaurant.html). I ordered the Bacon, Avocad0, and Cheese omelette, while Sean ordered Fish 'n' Chips. The waitress was super nice, she brought me so many water refills, I lost count. Unfortunately, the "cup flipper" has long since retired. Many moons ago, on a senior tour bus trip, my grandparents saw his act and told me about it.
Casa de Fruta is about 12 miles from my mom's house in Hollister. I sent some goodies from the fruit stand in a package to some army aviators, via Books For Soldiers. I still write to one of those guys-- he's happily married to a wonderful woman with two adorable kids. He's in paradise, literally-- when he got back from Iraq he was transferred to Hawaii! (Maybe Sean and I will party crash and stay with them if we go there on our honeymoon!)
After our breakfast, we hit the fruit stand and bought some dried pineapple. That's my favourite. How can anyone say "no" to that super sweetness? (And if you can, I ask, what's wrong with you?) On our drive down, I played DJ. My dad's van has no cd player. We have a CD/ tape adaptor that we use in his car, but the van is just too noisy that we wouldn't have been able to hear it. I've never seen the van so full! It was practically stacked from floor to ceiling.
Since I'm becoming a veteran of this route, I'm learning where the cheap gas stations are. This knowledge was gained after being ripped off several times in the middle of that desolate nowhere along Interstate 5. After filling up the van, I took my turn behind the wheel.
My dad is an avid viewer of "The David Letterman Show", and I remember seeing an episode where Paris Hilton was a guest. Mr. Letterman asked her what it was like driving that huge motorhome around the US. She answered that she was used to driving a Porshe, and driving a motorhome was like driving four Porches put together.
This is how I felt behind the wheel of the van. I'd driven it around town before, even taken it down to Beverley Hills. But never had I attempted to drive the thing packed so full. As we started to climb up the Grapevine, I noticed the wind pushing against us. I slipped the van into second gear and tried not to over react to the wind. Believe it or not, we did lap some cars and trucks going up the mountain. Who's driving makes a big difference! : )
Instead of taking I-5 straight through downtown L.A, we decide to take a chance on 60 East (the Pomona Freeway). I made one lane change to the right, getting ready to move all the way over to exit when Sean says "Oh no, It's a left exit." This means I have to move back over to the left. Once I put my blinker on, though, all the drivers in the other lane seem to ride the bumper of the car in front of them. Freakin' LA! Eventually I make it over, and away we go, away from the horrible Interstate 5 traffic!
S0 it was a bit disheartening to hit an equally large, possibly bigger traffic jam on 60. Faced with the slow-n-go traffic, we decided dinner was in order. I exited on Garfield Avenue, and we planned to grab something at Carl's Jr, or Taco Bell. We drove and drove and drove. Nothing but houses, we'd ended up in a residential area. Finally, we hit an area with shops and cafes. I pulled my behemoth vehicle into a free parking lot, and we made out way to the Eight Cafe. After using the bathroom, we were surprised to discover that everything on the menu, and on the walls, was in Chinese. The waitress didn't know any English at all, except, apparently, for the phrase "Beef Stew!" She said it several times, rather excitedly, as we indicated that we didn't speak Chinese. She seemed truly disappointed when we left.
We left the first establishment, walked a bit, then crossed the street. The second place had menus in English, and we placed our orders. It was only after that waitress brought tea for us that we saw the "cash only" sign. Neither of us had any cash that moment, so, after cancelling our order, we moved along. On the opposite side of the street, we once again passed the Eight Cafe. We saw one huge Asian grocery store, one of those Boba tea places, and quite a few beauty salons. Finally, we saw another restaurant! We were near the Intersection of Garfield and Garvey. The name of the place was Mei Mei Seafood Restaurant. If memory serves, "mei mei" is Chinese for little sister, so I'm thinking "Little Sister Seafood Restaurant. (I could be wrong though!) There was English on the menus and a VISA sticker on the window, so we were set! We happily sat down with our growling empty tummies.
Apparently, when we'd gotten off the freeway, we driven into Montebello's Chinatown. For a girl like me, with a bit of wanderlust, I've always wanted to go to different foreign places, exotic places. As we wandered down Garvey Avenue, I thought "This is probably the closest I'll ever get to the real China!"
I can honestly say that I've never been to a place with a similar menu. For appetizers, there was calamari, oysters, pig ears, and parts of a duck that I didn't even know could be eaten. On the wall were eight by ten photographs of their various specialties. The few I remember include South African scallops, which was in the neighborhood of $30, and some sort of Spicy Schezuan (Hmm, I can't spell that, but I think you all know what I'm trying to say, lol) Clam dish. I believe that Sean ordered Kung Pao Seafood, while I ordered the Seafood with Pan fried Noodles.
MMm! My dinner was so yummy! The sauce went great with the noodles, and helped soften their crunch. My favourite seafood for that dinner was scallops, which I'd never ever had before. Sean and I shared our meals and compared the tastes.
We slowly made our way back to the van with full tummies. Sean volunteeres to drive because we thought that, in order to exit the parking lot, we'd have to make a tricky left turn across Garfield Avenue. Sean snuck us down an alley though, and we went around the block. After getting back on the freeway, we found more traffic. Not as bad as before, but enough to slow us down from time to time. East we drove, until we hit Interstate 15. Although the day had been very long, we finally slipped into the parking place in front of the house. It was 9:30pm.
(for more of your heroine's adventure, please stay tuned!)
xoxox Tragic Tuyen
Casa de Fruta is about 12 miles from my mom's house in Hollister. I sent some goodies from the fruit stand in a package to some army aviators, via Books For Soldiers. I still write to one of those guys-- he's happily married to a wonderful woman with two adorable kids. He's in paradise, literally-- when he got back from Iraq he was transferred to Hawaii! (Maybe Sean and I will party crash and stay with them if we go there on our honeymoon!)
After our breakfast, we hit the fruit stand and bought some dried pineapple. That's my favourite. How can anyone say "no" to that super sweetness? (And if you can, I ask, what's wrong with you?) On our drive down, I played DJ. My dad's van has no cd player. We have a CD/ tape adaptor that we use in his car, but the van is just too noisy that we wouldn't have been able to hear it. I've never seen the van so full! It was practically stacked from floor to ceiling.
Since I'm becoming a veteran of this route, I'm learning where the cheap gas stations are. This knowledge was gained after being ripped off several times in the middle of that desolate nowhere along Interstate 5. After filling up the van, I took my turn behind the wheel.
My dad is an avid viewer of "The David Letterman Show", and I remember seeing an episode where Paris Hilton was a guest. Mr. Letterman asked her what it was like driving that huge motorhome around the US. She answered that she was used to driving a Porshe, and driving a motorhome was like driving four Porches put together.
This is how I felt behind the wheel of the van. I'd driven it around town before, even taken it down to Beverley Hills. But never had I attempted to drive the thing packed so full. As we started to climb up the Grapevine, I noticed the wind pushing against us. I slipped the van into second gear and tried not to over react to the wind. Believe it or not, we did lap some cars and trucks going up the mountain. Who's driving makes a big difference! : )
Instead of taking I-5 straight through downtown L.A, we decide to take a chance on 60 East (the Pomona Freeway). I made one lane change to the right, getting ready to move all the way over to exit when Sean says "Oh no, It's a left exit." This means I have to move back over to the left. Once I put my blinker on, though, all the drivers in the other lane seem to ride the bumper of the car in front of them. Freakin' LA! Eventually I make it over, and away we go, away from the horrible Interstate 5 traffic!
S0 it was a bit disheartening to hit an equally large, possibly bigger traffic jam on 60. Faced with the slow-n-go traffic, we decided dinner was in order. I exited on Garfield Avenue, and we planned to grab something at Carl's Jr, or Taco Bell. We drove and drove and drove. Nothing but houses, we'd ended up in a residential area. Finally, we hit an area with shops and cafes. I pulled my behemoth vehicle into a free parking lot, and we made out way to the Eight Cafe. After using the bathroom, we were surprised to discover that everything on the menu, and on the walls, was in Chinese. The waitress didn't know any English at all, except, apparently, for the phrase "Beef Stew!" She said it several times, rather excitedly, as we indicated that we didn't speak Chinese. She seemed truly disappointed when we left.
We left the first establishment, walked a bit, then crossed the street. The second place had menus in English, and we placed our orders. It was only after that waitress brought tea for us that we saw the "cash only" sign. Neither of us had any cash that moment, so, after cancelling our order, we moved along. On the opposite side of the street, we once again passed the Eight Cafe. We saw one huge Asian grocery store, one of those Boba tea places, and quite a few beauty salons. Finally, we saw another restaurant! We were near the Intersection of Garfield and Garvey. The name of the place was Mei Mei Seafood Restaurant. If memory serves, "mei mei" is Chinese for little sister, so I'm thinking "Little Sister Seafood Restaurant. (I could be wrong though!) There was English on the menus and a VISA sticker on the window, so we were set! We happily sat down with our growling empty tummies.
Apparently, when we'd gotten off the freeway, we driven into Montebello's Chinatown. For a girl like me, with a bit of wanderlust, I've always wanted to go to different foreign places, exotic places. As we wandered down Garvey Avenue, I thought "This is probably the closest I'll ever get to the real China!"
I can honestly say that I've never been to a place with a similar menu. For appetizers, there was calamari, oysters, pig ears, and parts of a duck that I didn't even know could be eaten. On the wall were eight by ten photographs of their various specialties. The few I remember include South African scallops, which was in the neighborhood of $30, and some sort of Spicy Schezuan (Hmm, I can't spell that, but I think you all know what I'm trying to say, lol) Clam dish. I believe that Sean ordered Kung Pao Seafood, while I ordered the Seafood with Pan fried Noodles.
MMm! My dinner was so yummy! The sauce went great with the noodles, and helped soften their crunch. My favourite seafood for that dinner was scallops, which I'd never ever had before. Sean and I shared our meals and compared the tastes.
We slowly made our way back to the van with full tummies. Sean volunteeres to drive because we thought that, in order to exit the parking lot, we'd have to make a tricky left turn across Garfield Avenue. Sean snuck us down an alley though, and we went around the block. After getting back on the freeway, we found more traffic. Not as bad as before, but enough to slow us down from time to time. East we drove, until we hit Interstate 15. Although the day had been very long, we finally slipped into the parking place in front of the house. It was 9:30pm.
(for more of your heroine's adventure, please stay tuned!)
xoxox Tragic Tuyen
Wednesday, June 08, 2005
Graduation Day (Part 2)
Morning came early! I could barely open my eyes. My parents were already up, already showered. I let Sean sleep a little longer and took a shower. After getting done with that, I got dressed, and (with my mom's help) made Sean some coffee.
As usual, with my parents being involved, we were one of the first families to show up for graduation. We parked in the old shuttle bus lot and made our way to the bleachers. Sean bought me an orchid lei, which was absolutely beautiful. I'd always wanted to wear one after seeing them in the past. Sean and I wandered around the mostly desolate Spartan stadium taking pictures. Also, we bought a giant pretzel and shared it. Around 9am, all of the graduates had to make their way to the various staging areas.
Not wanting to leave my fiance, I grudgingly made my way to the Social Sciences crowd. Our of the 29 history graduates, only 9 of us actually showed up for the big university-wide graduation. With it being so early, I fully understood why.
After waiting around for 45 minutes, our group finally began the long march to our seating area. On the way there, we were given our free license plate frames and had our pictures taken (I haven't gotten mine in the mail yet.) Our commencement speaker was Dr. Lily Wong Fillmore ("an international authority on literacy and second language learning and a life-long champion of helping immigrant children with language skills.") After her speech, the honorary degrees were given to Tommie Smith (Bronze Medal, 200 meter dash) and John Carlos (Gold Medal, 200 meter dash.) You may remember them from the 1968 Mexico City Olympics. Both San Jose State graduates, they protested the state of civil rights in the United States by raising black gloved fists during the medal ceremony. Although the political statement was incredibly unpopular in 1968 (some people thought their medals should be revoked), with the passing decades, they earned more and more respect.
At this point, the sun was beginning to sort of come out. It was a chilly, cloudy San Jose morning. We graduates were all getting antsy. The crazy business majors were trying to get "the wave" going. All around me, people were on their cell phones. Phuong skipped graduation because it was too early for her to wake up. Every once in awhile, if I looked around the kid in front of me with the big block head, I could make out Sean and my parents.
But there was more waiting. First, we had to wait for all the master's candidates to be confirmed and hooded. This took forever in the business and engineering colleges.
Finally, it was our turn. The College of Social Sciences went last, but when we were announced and confirmed, we all screamed, waved, and jumped up and down. The communications majors threw confetti!
And just like that, we were officially Graduated!! All of that hard work over all those years finally paid off. I made my way to my family and we made our way back to the car. By the time we got back to the house, my uncle and grandparents were already there. I introduced Sean to my Uncle, but he'd already met everyone else. Also, after a little bit of time, Preyma, my oldest and bestest friend ever showed up. I felt so bad because she had to take BART and then get a ride from her dad.
In addition to my orchid lei, I also got flowers from my dad and Preyma. It figures that with this rapid influx of flowers, the vases would all be in boxes in San Diego. I had to use a water pitcher for one bouquet.
For food, we had my grandma's famous macaroni salad, barnecued chicken and hot dogs, vegetarian pizza from Pizza Fresh (the best pizza in the entire world!!!), and Sean's legendary curry! My maternal grandma absolutely loved the curry, as she has an affinity for spicy food. Don't forget, dessert!
We had a giant chocolate cake with chocolate frosting and chocolate filling! So so yummy! It said "Congratulations for the graduate, 2005!", and had yellow and blue roses on it. As I cut the cake, I made sure that I got a rose.
Around 6pm, everyone started heading home. Sean and I drove Meera to Fremont so she could catch BART back to Berkeley. We were both so tired that night that we could barely stay awake past 10pm.
The next day we'd have to get an early start, because we were driving up to Sacramento to visit with Collin. I was afraid we'd hit serious Memorial Day traffic, but we got off super easy. Sean bought peppered mangos, which I'd never had before. (I'd never even heard of such a thing.) We all went to see "Madagascar," since "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" wasn't showing. It was pretty funny for a kid's movie, can you imagine that Chris Rock is the main character? Afterwards, we went and had ice cream at Marble Slab. The sweets were followed by lots of shopping in these two outdoor malls.
I didn't think about it until after the fact. I could just imagine Sean's son going home with dinner ready. Only, of course, he wouldn't be hungry because he had just eaten a sundae as big as his head. (It was pretty close, actually.) Oops! Anyway, we had a really good time, and like our trip North, we hit very little traffic on the way home.
The next day, Monday, was spent packing up my dad's van with quite a few of my belongings. My dad and I wanted to take Sean to Tsuguru, our favourite Japanese restaurant. But like most of the restaurants we could think of, they were closed for the holiday. We ended up having vegetarian pizza from Round Table, left over macaroni salad, and of course, cake.
Unfortunately, we couldn't have any of Sean's curry, because it met a dark end. My dad was attempting to put it in a container and place it in the icebox when it slipped from his fingers. I was so sad to see the splattered curry, and I felt bad for Sean having put so much effort into it. That night, Sean and I finally got to see"The Grudge," which we'd been trying to see for months.
It spooked me good! Silly me, I thought I was over my fear of the dark.
The next day, we set off on a long drive to sunny San Diego!
xoxoxox Tragic Tuyen
As usual, with my parents being involved, we were one of the first families to show up for graduation. We parked in the old shuttle bus lot and made our way to the bleachers. Sean bought me an orchid lei, which was absolutely beautiful. I'd always wanted to wear one after seeing them in the past. Sean and I wandered around the mostly desolate Spartan stadium taking pictures. Also, we bought a giant pretzel and shared it. Around 9am, all of the graduates had to make their way to the various staging areas.
Not wanting to leave my fiance, I grudgingly made my way to the Social Sciences crowd. Our of the 29 history graduates, only 9 of us actually showed up for the big university-wide graduation. With it being so early, I fully understood why.
After waiting around for 45 minutes, our group finally began the long march to our seating area. On the way there, we were given our free license plate frames and had our pictures taken (I haven't gotten mine in the mail yet.) Our commencement speaker was Dr. Lily Wong Fillmore ("an international authority on literacy and second language learning and a life-long champion of helping immigrant children with language skills.") After her speech, the honorary degrees were given to Tommie Smith (Bronze Medal, 200 meter dash) and John Carlos (Gold Medal, 200 meter dash.) You may remember them from the 1968 Mexico City Olympics. Both San Jose State graduates, they protested the state of civil rights in the United States by raising black gloved fists during the medal ceremony. Although the political statement was incredibly unpopular in 1968 (some people thought their medals should be revoked), with the passing decades, they earned more and more respect.
At this point, the sun was beginning to sort of come out. It was a chilly, cloudy San Jose morning. We graduates were all getting antsy. The crazy business majors were trying to get "the wave" going. All around me, people were on their cell phones. Phuong skipped graduation because it was too early for her to wake up. Every once in awhile, if I looked around the kid in front of me with the big block head, I could make out Sean and my parents.
But there was more waiting. First, we had to wait for all the master's candidates to be confirmed and hooded. This took forever in the business and engineering colleges.
Finally, it was our turn. The College of Social Sciences went last, but when we were announced and confirmed, we all screamed, waved, and jumped up and down. The communications majors threw confetti!
And just like that, we were officially Graduated!! All of that hard work over all those years finally paid off. I made my way to my family and we made our way back to the car. By the time we got back to the house, my uncle and grandparents were already there. I introduced Sean to my Uncle, but he'd already met everyone else. Also, after a little bit of time, Preyma, my oldest and bestest friend ever showed up. I felt so bad because she had to take BART and then get a ride from her dad.
In addition to my orchid lei, I also got flowers from my dad and Preyma. It figures that with this rapid influx of flowers, the vases would all be in boxes in San Diego. I had to use a water pitcher for one bouquet.
For food, we had my grandma's famous macaroni salad, barnecued chicken and hot dogs, vegetarian pizza from Pizza Fresh (the best pizza in the entire world!!!), and Sean's legendary curry! My maternal grandma absolutely loved the curry, as she has an affinity for spicy food. Don't forget, dessert!
We had a giant chocolate cake with chocolate frosting and chocolate filling! So so yummy! It said "Congratulations for the graduate, 2005!", and had yellow and blue roses on it. As I cut the cake, I made sure that I got a rose.
Around 6pm, everyone started heading home. Sean and I drove Meera to Fremont so she could catch BART back to Berkeley. We were both so tired that night that we could barely stay awake past 10pm.
The next day we'd have to get an early start, because we were driving up to Sacramento to visit with Collin. I was afraid we'd hit serious Memorial Day traffic, but we got off super easy. Sean bought peppered mangos, which I'd never had before. (I'd never even heard of such a thing.) We all went to see "Madagascar," since "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" wasn't showing. It was pretty funny for a kid's movie, can you imagine that Chris Rock is the main character? Afterwards, we went and had ice cream at Marble Slab. The sweets were followed by lots of shopping in these two outdoor malls.
I didn't think about it until after the fact. I could just imagine Sean's son going home with dinner ready. Only, of course, he wouldn't be hungry because he had just eaten a sundae as big as his head. (It was pretty close, actually.) Oops! Anyway, we had a really good time, and like our trip North, we hit very little traffic on the way home.
The next day, Monday, was spent packing up my dad's van with quite a few of my belongings. My dad and I wanted to take Sean to Tsuguru, our favourite Japanese restaurant. But like most of the restaurants we could think of, they were closed for the holiday. We ended up having vegetarian pizza from Round Table, left over macaroni salad, and of course, cake.
Unfortunately, we couldn't have any of Sean's curry, because it met a dark end. My dad was attempting to put it in a container and place it in the icebox when it slipped from his fingers. I was so sad to see the splattered curry, and I felt bad for Sean having put so much effort into it. That night, Sean and I finally got to see"The Grudge," which we'd been trying to see for months.
It spooked me good! Silly me, I thought I was over my fear of the dark.
The next day, we set off on a long drive to sunny San Diego!
xoxoxox Tragic Tuyen
Tuesday, June 07, 2005
Graduation Day (Part 1)
Graduation Day finally came! I never thought it would, at times. On Friday, May 27th, the small history department graduation was held. In attendance were 27 out of 28 graduates, family, friends, and faculty. We graduates had to be there an hour early, 3pm. The graduation itself was held at 4pm.
After escorting my family, mom, dad, and grandma, to the engineering building where the graduation would take place– the history building is very old and not at all fancy, while the engineering building is sparkling gem, you can tell what college the university values most– I made my way to Dudley Moorehead Hall. Once I was there I met up with Phuong, *the* crush of two years, and other peeps. After I picked up my gag diploma, we all headed outside for pictures. We had a few taken of the three of us, and then I took several of Phuong and the crush.
I had left my brand new camera with my mom. My fiancé (the most wonderful man in the entire world) had got my present to me a few days early. He had bought for me.... the Harajuku Lovers Camera (HP Photosmart R607)!!! I never ever expected such a wonderful present! In case you are not familiar with it, this would be the camera co-designed by Gwen Stefani and HP. It’s a digital camera that has 4.1 megapixels. I’m not quite sure what that means, but it must be important because it is written rather prominently on the box.
After taking pictures of our own, then we gathered for pictures by the professional photographer. I had opted not to buy a picture because it was a bit too steep for my blood. The photographer made us stand in two different places and kept rearranging us before he actually took any pictures. Plus, he would not let us keep our sunglasses on.
Following pictures, we were once again rounded up by faculty members. For the last time, we sat in DMH 150 while Prof. Underdahl gave us our directions. He was in the military for a long time and taught at a military college. While speaking to us, he proceeded to draw a diagram on the white board on how we would....
1. Enter the Lecture Hall where the ceremony would be held
2. File into rows and seats, in alphabetical order (including contingency plan in case we ran out of chairs)
3. Cross the stage when our names were held
4. File out of the lecture hall.
Despite several diagrams with many arrows in different colors, we still managed to get all messed up. Hey, I was listening to the instructions!
After a very long commencement speech by Dr. Vasquez, our names were read and we crossed the stage.
VOILA!!
We were now officially graduated!! It was a very surreal experience for me. During my long hard slog through academia, I just never ever thought the day would come!
After we left the theatre, Prof. Cirvilerri came up to me and congratulated me. He asked me about my future plans, grad school and so forth. When my parents caught up with us, he told my family about what a wonderful student I had been, and about my incredible presentation on V.I. Lenin. It turns out that he had done his dissertation on Lenin and that I did very good, thorough work. (Sorry, I don’t get to brag very much about academic praise with my measly 3.2 GPA.)
The history department had a sort of picnic/ buffet waiting for us. While my parents and I were snacking (my poor allergy prone mother could only have the lemonade because she was unsure of all the other ingredients) Dr. Reynolds came up and congratulated me. I really wasn’t expecting that he’d remember me, but he did. He too asked about my plans, grad school, careers, etc. I took two classes with him, History of World War II and History of China from 1600. For our term paper in WWII class, I chose to write about the Battle for Stalingrad, because the directions were very vague. Anyway, it turned out I’d written on the wrong topic– I was not the only one to do so. When I got my 30 page paper back, he had written something like "Did you even read the term paper guidelines? If so, it is not apparent. Nevertheless, you have done a fine job which deserves to be rewarded." He game me an A-. I was always sort of afraid of screwing up in his classes after that.
Dr. Underdahl also came up to me to say goodbye and ask about..... GRAD SCHOOL! He even said he would be willing to write me a letter of recommendation. Also, he asked about my husband-to-be. We had been talking once and I had said that Sean was over in Iraq, and it turned out his son had just got home from Falluja.
After posing for a few more pictures with Phuong, Mai, and Lisa B, we had to skidaddle. Sean’s plane was due to land in about an hours time. SJSU is very close to the airport, but the day before my dad and I had been there to pick up my grandma, and it was super busy! Probably because of the upcoming Memorial Holiday weekend. We scored a primo parking place right outside of baggage claim, and walked as far as you can walk nowadays to the terminal. My entire family and I perched on an uncomfortable bench and waited for my San Jose bound Sean.
Finally, after the plane landed, I looked to my left and saw him walking towards me. That’s one of the great things about having such a tall guy– easy to spot! After some kisses and hugs, and don’t forget, pictures, we were off to baggage claim, and eventually a restaurant to feed out hungry tummies.
Due to the varied likes and dislikes of my family, I picked two places to eat: 1. Great American Cheesecake Factory, and 2. Buca di Beppo. Since Sean and I had already been to the Cheesecake Factory (the night we got engaged!), we were leaning more to Buca di Beppo. All the restaurants were packed. I kept seeing people in blue caps and gowns walking around. Sean and I went to the bar and settled in for at least part on the 60 minute wait. I had a lemon drop, Sean had some sort of beer in a very tall glass. After I started to feel the alcohol, we walked around Oakridge Mall a bit.
My poor family waited for what seemed like forever for our table. Then, the hostess called my name and we became the chosen ones, being led to a table. Having never been there before, I did not know that the menu was family style. This means that the portions are either for 3 people or 5 people. We ended up ordering cheese ravioli, spaghetti, and potato gnocchi. The gnocchi was my favourite because it came with mushrooms, artichokes, cheese, and all kinds of other yumminess. We’d also ordered a bread pudding dessert, but our waitress forgot it and we had to get it to go. Keep in mind, we got to the restaurant around 7:45pm, got seated around 9pm, and by 10:45 our dessert still hadn’t come. The food was very, very wonderful, but be prepared that you will face a long wait if you go there without reservations.
Despite her best efforts, my mom had a mild allergic reaction to the garlic bread and had to spend the night. It’s only the second time she’s stayed here since the divorce. She had to take some benedryl and then was too sleepy for the 50 mile drive back home.
I had promised my friends Phuong and Lisa that Sean and I would meet them at a club that night. But we didn’t get home until 11pm. Poor Sean, up since 7am or so, being dragged out to a bar at midnight. He was a good sport though and didn’t complain once.
By about 1:45am, we drove back to my house. We fell into bed and into an easy sleep. Morning came early when my mom knocked on my door at 6:15 to wake us for the big University graduation.
(tbc)
xoxox Tragic Tuyen
After escorting my family, mom, dad, and grandma, to the engineering building where the graduation would take place– the history building is very old and not at all fancy, while the engineering building is sparkling gem, you can tell what college the university values most– I made my way to Dudley Moorehead Hall. Once I was there I met up with Phuong, *the* crush of two years, and other peeps. After I picked up my gag diploma, we all headed outside for pictures. We had a few taken of the three of us, and then I took several of Phuong and the crush.
I had left my brand new camera with my mom. My fiancé (the most wonderful man in the entire world) had got my present to me a few days early. He had bought for me.... the Harajuku Lovers Camera (HP Photosmart R607)!!! I never ever expected such a wonderful present! In case you are not familiar with it, this would be the camera co-designed by Gwen Stefani and HP. It’s a digital camera that has 4.1 megapixels. I’m not quite sure what that means, but it must be important because it is written rather prominently on the box.
After taking pictures of our own, then we gathered for pictures by the professional photographer. I had opted not to buy a picture because it was a bit too steep for my blood. The photographer made us stand in two different places and kept rearranging us before he actually took any pictures. Plus, he would not let us keep our sunglasses on.
Following pictures, we were once again rounded up by faculty members. For the last time, we sat in DMH 150 while Prof. Underdahl gave us our directions. He was in the military for a long time and taught at a military college. While speaking to us, he proceeded to draw a diagram on the white board on how we would....
1. Enter the Lecture Hall where the ceremony would be held
2. File into rows and seats, in alphabetical order (including contingency plan in case we ran out of chairs)
3. Cross the stage when our names were held
4. File out of the lecture hall.
Despite several diagrams with many arrows in different colors, we still managed to get all messed up. Hey, I was listening to the instructions!
After a very long commencement speech by Dr. Vasquez, our names were read and we crossed the stage.
VOILA!!
We were now officially graduated!! It was a very surreal experience for me. During my long hard slog through academia, I just never ever thought the day would come!
After we left the theatre, Prof. Cirvilerri came up to me and congratulated me. He asked me about my future plans, grad school and so forth. When my parents caught up with us, he told my family about what a wonderful student I had been, and about my incredible presentation on V.I. Lenin. It turns out that he had done his dissertation on Lenin and that I did very good, thorough work. (Sorry, I don’t get to brag very much about academic praise with my measly 3.2 GPA.)
The history department had a sort of picnic/ buffet waiting for us. While my parents and I were snacking (my poor allergy prone mother could only have the lemonade because she was unsure of all the other ingredients) Dr. Reynolds came up and congratulated me. I really wasn’t expecting that he’d remember me, but he did. He too asked about my plans, grad school, careers, etc. I took two classes with him, History of World War II and History of China from 1600. For our term paper in WWII class, I chose to write about the Battle for Stalingrad, because the directions were very vague. Anyway, it turned out I’d written on the wrong topic– I was not the only one to do so. When I got my 30 page paper back, he had written something like "Did you even read the term paper guidelines? If so, it is not apparent. Nevertheless, you have done a fine job which deserves to be rewarded." He game me an A-. I was always sort of afraid of screwing up in his classes after that.
Dr. Underdahl also came up to me to say goodbye and ask about..... GRAD SCHOOL! He even said he would be willing to write me a letter of recommendation. Also, he asked about my husband-to-be. We had been talking once and I had said that Sean was over in Iraq, and it turned out his son had just got home from Falluja.
After posing for a few more pictures with Phuong, Mai, and Lisa B, we had to skidaddle. Sean’s plane was due to land in about an hours time. SJSU is very close to the airport, but the day before my dad and I had been there to pick up my grandma, and it was super busy! Probably because of the upcoming Memorial Holiday weekend. We scored a primo parking place right outside of baggage claim, and walked as far as you can walk nowadays to the terminal. My entire family and I perched on an uncomfortable bench and waited for my San Jose bound Sean.
Finally, after the plane landed, I looked to my left and saw him walking towards me. That’s one of the great things about having such a tall guy– easy to spot! After some kisses and hugs, and don’t forget, pictures, we were off to baggage claim, and eventually a restaurant to feed out hungry tummies.
Due to the varied likes and dislikes of my family, I picked two places to eat: 1. Great American Cheesecake Factory, and 2. Buca di Beppo. Since Sean and I had already been to the Cheesecake Factory (the night we got engaged!), we were leaning more to Buca di Beppo. All the restaurants were packed. I kept seeing people in blue caps and gowns walking around. Sean and I went to the bar and settled in for at least part on the 60 minute wait. I had a lemon drop, Sean had some sort of beer in a very tall glass. After I started to feel the alcohol, we walked around Oakridge Mall a bit.
My poor family waited for what seemed like forever for our table. Then, the hostess called my name and we became the chosen ones, being led to a table. Having never been there before, I did not know that the menu was family style. This means that the portions are either for 3 people or 5 people. We ended up ordering cheese ravioli, spaghetti, and potato gnocchi. The gnocchi was my favourite because it came with mushrooms, artichokes, cheese, and all kinds of other yumminess. We’d also ordered a bread pudding dessert, but our waitress forgot it and we had to get it to go. Keep in mind, we got to the restaurant around 7:45pm, got seated around 9pm, and by 10:45 our dessert still hadn’t come. The food was very, very wonderful, but be prepared that you will face a long wait if you go there without reservations.
Despite her best efforts, my mom had a mild allergic reaction to the garlic bread and had to spend the night. It’s only the second time she’s stayed here since the divorce. She had to take some benedryl and then was too sleepy for the 50 mile drive back home.
I had promised my friends Phuong and Lisa that Sean and I would meet them at a club that night. But we didn’t get home until 11pm. Poor Sean, up since 7am or so, being dragged out to a bar at midnight. He was a good sport though and didn’t complain once.
By about 1:45am, we drove back to my house. We fell into bed and into an easy sleep. Morning came early when my mom knocked on my door at 6:15 to wake us for the big University graduation.
(tbc)
xoxox Tragic Tuyen
Tuesday, May 24, 2005
Oi! Oi! Oi!
Well, after an undergraduate career that lasted eight years (*blush*) guess what!!
(waits for audience to quiet down)
Tragic is GRADUATING!! Ah, I thought this day would never ever come. There were times, suffering through inorganic chemistry and pathophysiology, that there was no light at the end of the tunnel. I have to admit that, only after changing my major from nursing to history did the oppressive shroud of academic doom miraculously slip from my shoulders.
As I sit here looking at my transcripts, here's the tally:
total university classes taken: 71
total units completed: 194
overall grade point average (including nursing classes): 2.82
history grade point average: 3.2
finally graduating after eight long years: PRICELESS
My family is coming up for the graduation, as is my most wonderful fiance!
I feel like a kid in a candy store!
xoxoxox, Tragic
(waits for audience to quiet down)
Tragic is GRADUATING!! Ah, I thought this day would never ever come. There were times, suffering through inorganic chemistry and pathophysiology, that there was no light at the end of the tunnel. I have to admit that, only after changing my major from nursing to history did the oppressive shroud of academic doom miraculously slip from my shoulders.
As I sit here looking at my transcripts, here's the tally:
total university classes taken: 71
total units completed: 194
overall grade point average (including nursing classes): 2.82
history grade point average: 3.2
finally graduating after eight long years: PRICELESS
My family is coming up for the graduation, as is my most wonderful fiance!
I feel like a kid in a candy store!
xoxoxox, Tragic
Wednesday, May 18, 2005
Why Is This Century Worse...
Why Is This Century Worse
by Anna Andreevna Akhmatova
Why is this century worse than those others?
Maybe, because, in sadness and alarm,
It only touched the blackest of the ulcers,
But couldn't heal in its own span of time.
Else, in the West, the earthly sun endows
The roofs of cities with the morning light,
But, here, the White already marks a house,
And calls for crows, and the crows fly.
(1919)
by Anna Andreevna Akhmatova
Why is this century worse than those others?
Maybe, because, in sadness and alarm,
It only touched the blackest of the ulcers,
But couldn't heal in its own span of time.
Else, in the West, the earthly sun endows
The roofs of cities with the morning light,
But, here, the White already marks a house,
And calls for crows, and the crows fly.
(1919)
You'll Live, But I'll Not...
You'll Live, But I'll Not
by Anna Andreevna Akhmatova
You'll live, but I'll not; perhaps,
The final turn is that.
Oh, how strongly grabs us
The secret plot of fate.
They differently shot us:
Each creature has its lot,
Each has its order, robust, --
A wolf is always shot.
In freedom, wolves are grown,
But deal with them is short:
In grass, in ice, in snow, --
A wolf is always shot.
Don't cry, oh, friend my dear,
If, in the hot or cold,
From tracks of wolves, you'll hear
My desperate recall.
(1959)
by Anna Andreevna Akhmatova
You'll live, but I'll not; perhaps,
The final turn is that.
Oh, how strongly grabs us
The secret plot of fate.
They differently shot us:
Each creature has its lot,
Each has its order, robust, --
A wolf is always shot.
In freedom, wolves are grown,
But deal with them is short:
In grass, in ice, in snow, --
A wolf is always shot.
Don't cry, oh, friend my dear,
If, in the hot or cold,
From tracks of wolves, you'll hear
My desperate recall.
(1959)
Tuesday, May 17, 2005
Dedication
"Dedication" by Anna Andreevna Akhmatova
Mountains bow down to this grief,
Mighty rivers cease to flow,
but the prison gates hold firm.
And behind them are the "prisoners' burrows"
And mortal woe.
For somewone a fresh breeze blows,
For someone the sunset luxuriates--
We wouldn't know, we are those who are everywhere
Hear only the rasp of that hateful key
And the soldiers' heavy tread.
We rose as if for an early service,
trudged through the savaged capital
And met there, more lifeless than the dead;
The sun is lower and the Neva mistier,
But hope keeps singing from afar.
The verdict... And her tears gush forth,
Already she is cut off from the rest,
as if they painfully wrenched life from her heart,
As if they brutally knocked her flat,
But she goes on... Staggering... Alone
Where now are my chance friends
Of those two diabolical years?
What do they imagine in Siberia's storms,
What appears to them dimly in the circle of the moon?
I am sending my farewell greeting to them.
(March 1940)
Mountains bow down to this grief,
Mighty rivers cease to flow,
but the prison gates hold firm.
And behind them are the "prisoners' burrows"
And mortal woe.
For somewone a fresh breeze blows,
For someone the sunset luxuriates--
We wouldn't know, we are those who are everywhere
Hear only the rasp of that hateful key
And the soldiers' heavy tread.
We rose as if for an early service,
trudged through the savaged capital
And met there, more lifeless than the dead;
The sun is lower and the Neva mistier,
But hope keeps singing from afar.
The verdict... And her tears gush forth,
Already she is cut off from the rest,
as if they painfully wrenched life from her heart,
As if they brutally knocked her flat,
But she goes on... Staggering... Alone
Where now are my chance friends
Of those two diabolical years?
What do they imagine in Siberia's storms,
What appears to them dimly in the circle of the moon?
I am sending my farewell greeting to them.
(March 1940)
Requiem
"Requiem" by Anna Adreevna Akhmatova
No, not under the vault of alien skies,
And not under the shelter of alien wings--
I was with my people then,
There, where my people, unfortunately, were.
(1961)
No, not under the vault of alien skies,
And not under the shelter of alien wings--
I was with my people then,
There, where my people, unfortunately, were.
(1961)
Wednesday, May 11, 2005
How Old Are You?
Hmm.... Let's see....
I remember when sending a regular letter only needed a 25 cent stamp.
I remember buying my very first album, Cyndi Lauper "She's so Unusual" on vinyl.
The first time I saw Star Wars was on network TV. We recorded it on our VCR.
I remember card catalogues, and writing papers for high school without the internet.
I remember when "Ice, Ice Baby" was at the top of the charts. (I was in the 6th grade, baby!)
Along time ago, Michael Jackson was a music sensation with number one albums. When I was in pre-school, I had a red shirt with a picture of him on it.
I remember watching "Magnum P.I." and "the Smurfs" when I was little.
I remember when the Berlin Wall came down, and everyone proclaiming that the world would definitely be a much safer place when the Soviet Union Fell.
~Tragic
I remember when sending a regular letter only needed a 25 cent stamp.
I remember buying my very first album, Cyndi Lauper "She's so Unusual" on vinyl.
The first time I saw Star Wars was on network TV. We recorded it on our VCR.
I remember card catalogues, and writing papers for high school without the internet.
I remember when "Ice, Ice Baby" was at the top of the charts. (I was in the 6th grade, baby!)
Along time ago, Michael Jackson was a music sensation with number one albums. When I was in pre-school, I had a red shirt with a picture of him on it.
I remember watching "Magnum P.I." and "the Smurfs" when I was little.
I remember when the Berlin Wall came down, and everyone proclaiming that the world would definitely be a much safer place when the Soviet Union Fell.
~Tragic
Wednesday, April 27, 2005
I Believe In A Thing Called Love
I've had a busy last few weeks! Let's see, the last time I blogged, I left off with meeting Sean at the airport.
We spent Thursday and Friday nights in San Diego. Friday morning we ate at International House of Pancakes; I ordered the Eggs Benedict, Sean ordered Huevos Rancheros. (If memory serves...) On Saturday, we intended to drive from San Diego to San Jose. Before we left the motel we partook of the free continental breakfast, where I decided to give guava juice a try. I admit to being dubious about this guava juive business, but it was surprisingly good. It made me feel less guilty for eating a huge donut with sprinkles on it. (He had a croissant.)
That morning, we seemed to get an early enough start, but we kept pulling over. We investigated the (seemingly) brand new mall off of I-5 at Irvine. This gleaming outdoor mall also featured an assortment of fountains, which little kids were already splashing about in, even though it wasn't even noon. At my request, we checked out a pet shop where I saw the most adorable beagle and peek puppies. sigh!
As soon as we hit the city of Angels we hit some decidedly unangelic traffic. We crawled along in bumper to bumper traffic, slowly edging through the San Fernando Valley. When we saw the sign for the Grapevine, traffic teasingly sped up, only to disappoint us, once again, by slowing to an ant's pace. Sean, who was driving at this point, decided we should take this opportunity to exit and take 14, which goes through Palmdale and Lancaster. He had friends we wanted to introduce me to!
After enjoying some ice tea and cookies, we were on our way again. We refueled in Mojave and took 58 through Tehachapi, and eventually reconnected to I-5 again.
What could have been a long, grinding drive was nothing but fun. Sean and I were having a ball-- telling stories, making eachother laugh. We were basking in eachother's presence. I kept glancing down to look at my sparkling diamond engagement ring and smiling the biggest smile I've ever smiled in my entire life!
After one or two more sight-seeing detours, we finally rolled into San Jose. My dad finally met Sean and they really hit it off! There are so many great restaurants where we could have eaten, so much yummy food we could have filled our tummies with. So where did I take my fiance? Go on, ask!
I had to take him to Denny's! (shame!) It was the only place open at that hour. I actually drove to Japantown first, and Hukilau was the only place open, and only open for drinks at that. I drove us by IHOP which was also closed. Denny's was the only choice.
After a much earned night of sleep, we woke up and had breakfast. Sean got to experience the San Jose chill I like to gripe about. While I was getting dressed, Sean and my Dad were out in the "library" talking about different books they had both read. It was pretty cool!
Then we all piled into my dad's stationwagon and made the fifty mile drive down to Hollister, where my mom lives. She had made her famous dish, chicken marsala, along with string beans, and scalloped potatoes (from scratch!). My grandparents were also there.
Sean was a hit with everyone! They all loved him. My grandfather told him the story of the Miraculous Mincemeat Pie, as well as some stories about WWII, Korea, and Vietnam. Everyone took a turn and told a few stories. Sean showed off his DVD that he made, as well as some gruesome footage of something called a camel spider.
My mom hadn't had time to make dessert, so Sean and I drove down to Nob Hill and bought Lemon Meringue Pie, as well as Black Forest Cake! yum!
We had to drive back before dark to San Jose. Sean and I had another drive ahead of us that very night. We drove from San Jose to a suburb of Sacramento. It was better to make the drive Sunday night rather than Monday morning. The 680/580/80 corridor is an absolute quagmire, as any commuter in this area will tell you.
Our hotel was a Best Western in Cameron Park. My fiance was particularly impressed that in each room there was a computer with (gasp!) free internet access! On Monday, I would meet Sean's son Collin for the very first time.
Monday morning came, and so did Collin! We took him to breakfast, then drove to the state capital for some fun. Although we did not see The Governator, we did go to a pretty cool mall, a kickass Asian grocery, and the Sacramento Zoo. We all got along really well and had a great time. The day was ended at Costco, then we drove Collin back home to the 'burbs. I just hope Collin liked me as much as I liked him!
That night, Sean and I made another drive. We stayed southbound on I-99 for hours. Poor Sean had to do all the driving that night because I was coming down with something. The original plan had been to drive straight through from Sacramento to Bakersfield. And we almost made it, too. We ended up spending the night in the small town of Tulare, an ag- town. When we drove by the fair grounds, there was a giant neon sign welcoming the International Agricultural Convention. Our little motel seemed to be very near to some very fragrant cows. Neither one of could have cared less, as we were both bone tired.
Tuesday morning, we were both so fatigued we could barely squeak out of our room by check out time, 11am. We ate at Ana's, a small Mexican cafe right across a dirt road from our motel. I had French Toast, and I think Sean had an omelette of some sort. (I could be wrong about that omelette. Huevos Rancheros? Steak and eggs? hmmm, this is what happens when you don't write things down right away.) Feeling guilty about making him do all the driving, I drove down to San Diego.
As we were coming down the Grapevine, into that other world known as the San Fernando Valley, and idea struck us. We took the 210 East and Sean called my grandma, asking her if she wanted to have lunch. Of course, she said yes, as she loves Sean more than she loves me! We went out to Jack's Salad Bowl on Whittier Blvd.
Unfortunately, we couldn't visit very long because we were determined not to get bogged down in the same traffic that we got stuck in when we had been northbound. Without much delay, we made it to San Diego, and then Chula Vista. Since I had an appointment to get my wedding gown altered on Thursday, not to mention Soviet Studies class, I would be driving back to San Jose the very next day.
But something happened when we were in the movie theatre in Mission Valley. I started to feel not so well. 'Oh no' I thought, 'do I have a fever?' By the time we got back to Sean's siter's house, I 'd curled up nearly in the fetal position.
So much for getting my wedding dress altered. Before Sean went to bed, he went out to his truck and dug around for something to help my pain and fever. Since I didn't want to keep my fiance up that night, I slept on the couch. Or tried to.
That's the thing about being sick in a house not your own. You don't know where anything is-- where are the extra blankets? By the time I was exhausted enough to sleep, I'd resorted to huddling beneath the couch cushions to keep me warm.
It wasn't a good sleep though. It was more of a half sleep. When Sean left for work at the crack of dawn, I was still in that half awake stage.
By mid morning, though, I'd moved back into the bedroom and promptly fell asleep. Until 4pm or so. My honey would call me every now and then, to make sure I was feeling better. I called my dad, who had yet to go back to work full time, and asked if he could cancel my appointment at David's Bridal. As soon as he heard my voice he said more than asked "You're sick, aren't you."
The one good thing about my being sick was that I got to stay on in Chula Vista for four more days. Thursday night we ate at a place called Delish Pizza. Friday night we went to Sycuan Casino and played Bingo. None of us won anything, but it was still a ton of fun! At one point, our group of four, including my future sister in law got separated.
Sean and I still had fun though. Even though we were wondering around aimlessly for awhile, we eventually gave up and decided to have dessert. Can you imagine? Cake and cookies at midnight! We went into a gift shop and I found a lucky horseshoe necklace! I'd been looking for one of those for ages, so Sean bought one for me, as well as a medicine wheel to hang off my rearview mirror. Even the ten minute wait for the keys to the jewelry display case didn't spoil our joyous mood.
As it lightly began to drizzle, we went to the patio and enjoyed hot cocoa (me) and coffee (Sean) at 1am. That's the thing about casinos-- reality and normality are suspended. All kinds of people roaming about, gambling, eating, and what not. Our reunited party finally made it home around 2:30am.
The next day, Saturday, was my last day in town. We saw "Sin City" during the matinee. Afterwards, we drove to Frank's house. Frank is an old friend of Sean's. He seemed super cool, he barbequed us dinner, which included steak, baked potato, and grilled corn (yum!). I also met his little, adorable daughter. Her first words to me were "Your hair is pink!" Afterwards, we played Scrabble.
Sunday morning came, and I was so sad to go home. It seemed like I'd just been reunited with my fiance. It felt like only a few days since he'd been back, rather than ten days. But at least we'd be back together again by Friday morning, when we would meet in Phoenix, Arizona.
(But right now I'm missing you so so much! Your absence physically pains me.) I love you!
~Your Tragedy, Tuyen
We spent Thursday and Friday nights in San Diego. Friday morning we ate at International House of Pancakes; I ordered the Eggs Benedict, Sean ordered Huevos Rancheros. (If memory serves...) On Saturday, we intended to drive from San Diego to San Jose. Before we left the motel we partook of the free continental breakfast, where I decided to give guava juice a try. I admit to being dubious about this guava juive business, but it was surprisingly good. It made me feel less guilty for eating a huge donut with sprinkles on it. (He had a croissant.)
That morning, we seemed to get an early enough start, but we kept pulling over. We investigated the (seemingly) brand new mall off of I-5 at Irvine. This gleaming outdoor mall also featured an assortment of fountains, which little kids were already splashing about in, even though it wasn't even noon. At my request, we checked out a pet shop where I saw the most adorable beagle and peek puppies. sigh!
As soon as we hit the city of Angels we hit some decidedly unangelic traffic. We crawled along in bumper to bumper traffic, slowly edging through the San Fernando Valley. When we saw the sign for the Grapevine, traffic teasingly sped up, only to disappoint us, once again, by slowing to an ant's pace. Sean, who was driving at this point, decided we should take this opportunity to exit and take 14, which goes through Palmdale and Lancaster. He had friends we wanted to introduce me to!
After enjoying some ice tea and cookies, we were on our way again. We refueled in Mojave and took 58 through Tehachapi, and eventually reconnected to I-5 again.
What could have been a long, grinding drive was nothing but fun. Sean and I were having a ball-- telling stories, making eachother laugh. We were basking in eachother's presence. I kept glancing down to look at my sparkling diamond engagement ring and smiling the biggest smile I've ever smiled in my entire life!
After one or two more sight-seeing detours, we finally rolled into San Jose. My dad finally met Sean and they really hit it off! There are so many great restaurants where we could have eaten, so much yummy food we could have filled our tummies with. So where did I take my fiance? Go on, ask!
I had to take him to Denny's! (shame!) It was the only place open at that hour. I actually drove to Japantown first, and Hukilau was the only place open, and only open for drinks at that. I drove us by IHOP which was also closed. Denny's was the only choice.
After a much earned night of sleep, we woke up and had breakfast. Sean got to experience the San Jose chill I like to gripe about. While I was getting dressed, Sean and my Dad were out in the "library" talking about different books they had both read. It was pretty cool!
Then we all piled into my dad's stationwagon and made the fifty mile drive down to Hollister, where my mom lives. She had made her famous dish, chicken marsala, along with string beans, and scalloped potatoes (from scratch!). My grandparents were also there.
Sean was a hit with everyone! They all loved him. My grandfather told him the story of the Miraculous Mincemeat Pie, as well as some stories about WWII, Korea, and Vietnam. Everyone took a turn and told a few stories. Sean showed off his DVD that he made, as well as some gruesome footage of something called a camel spider.
My mom hadn't had time to make dessert, so Sean and I drove down to Nob Hill and bought Lemon Meringue Pie, as well as Black Forest Cake! yum!
We had to drive back before dark to San Jose. Sean and I had another drive ahead of us that very night. We drove from San Jose to a suburb of Sacramento. It was better to make the drive Sunday night rather than Monday morning. The 680/580/80 corridor is an absolute quagmire, as any commuter in this area will tell you.
Our hotel was a Best Western in Cameron Park. My fiance was particularly impressed that in each room there was a computer with (gasp!) free internet access! On Monday, I would meet Sean's son Collin for the very first time.
Monday morning came, and so did Collin! We took him to breakfast, then drove to the state capital for some fun. Although we did not see The Governator, we did go to a pretty cool mall, a kickass Asian grocery, and the Sacramento Zoo. We all got along really well and had a great time. The day was ended at Costco, then we drove Collin back home to the 'burbs. I just hope Collin liked me as much as I liked him!
That night, Sean and I made another drive. We stayed southbound on I-99 for hours. Poor Sean had to do all the driving that night because I was coming down with something. The original plan had been to drive straight through from Sacramento to Bakersfield. And we almost made it, too. We ended up spending the night in the small town of Tulare, an ag- town. When we drove by the fair grounds, there was a giant neon sign welcoming the International Agricultural Convention. Our little motel seemed to be very near to some very fragrant cows. Neither one of could have cared less, as we were both bone tired.
Tuesday morning, we were both so fatigued we could barely squeak out of our room by check out time, 11am. We ate at Ana's, a small Mexican cafe right across a dirt road from our motel. I had French Toast, and I think Sean had an omelette of some sort. (I could be wrong about that omelette. Huevos Rancheros? Steak and eggs? hmmm, this is what happens when you don't write things down right away.) Feeling guilty about making him do all the driving, I drove down to San Diego.
As we were coming down the Grapevine, into that other world known as the San Fernando Valley, and idea struck us. We took the 210 East and Sean called my grandma, asking her if she wanted to have lunch. Of course, she said yes, as she loves Sean more than she loves me! We went out to Jack's Salad Bowl on Whittier Blvd.
Unfortunately, we couldn't visit very long because we were determined not to get bogged down in the same traffic that we got stuck in when we had been northbound. Without much delay, we made it to San Diego, and then Chula Vista. Since I had an appointment to get my wedding gown altered on Thursday, not to mention Soviet Studies class, I would be driving back to San Jose the very next day.
But something happened when we were in the movie theatre in Mission Valley. I started to feel not so well. 'Oh no' I thought, 'do I have a fever?' By the time we got back to Sean's siter's house, I 'd curled up nearly in the fetal position.
So much for getting my wedding dress altered. Before Sean went to bed, he went out to his truck and dug around for something to help my pain and fever. Since I didn't want to keep my fiance up that night, I slept on the couch. Or tried to.
That's the thing about being sick in a house not your own. You don't know where anything is-- where are the extra blankets? By the time I was exhausted enough to sleep, I'd resorted to huddling beneath the couch cushions to keep me warm.
It wasn't a good sleep though. It was more of a half sleep. When Sean left for work at the crack of dawn, I was still in that half awake stage.
By mid morning, though, I'd moved back into the bedroom and promptly fell asleep. Until 4pm or so. My honey would call me every now and then, to make sure I was feeling better. I called my dad, who had yet to go back to work full time, and asked if he could cancel my appointment at David's Bridal. As soon as he heard my voice he said more than asked "You're sick, aren't you."
The one good thing about my being sick was that I got to stay on in Chula Vista for four more days. Thursday night we ate at a place called Delish Pizza. Friday night we went to Sycuan Casino and played Bingo. None of us won anything, but it was still a ton of fun! At one point, our group of four, including my future sister in law got separated.
Sean and I still had fun though. Even though we were wondering around aimlessly for awhile, we eventually gave up and decided to have dessert. Can you imagine? Cake and cookies at midnight! We went into a gift shop and I found a lucky horseshoe necklace! I'd been looking for one of those for ages, so Sean bought one for me, as well as a medicine wheel to hang off my rearview mirror. Even the ten minute wait for the keys to the jewelry display case didn't spoil our joyous mood.
As it lightly began to drizzle, we went to the patio and enjoyed hot cocoa (me) and coffee (Sean) at 1am. That's the thing about casinos-- reality and normality are suspended. All kinds of people roaming about, gambling, eating, and what not. Our reunited party finally made it home around 2:30am.
The next day, Saturday, was my last day in town. We saw "Sin City" during the matinee. Afterwards, we drove to Frank's house. Frank is an old friend of Sean's. He seemed super cool, he barbequed us dinner, which included steak, baked potato, and grilled corn (yum!). I also met his little, adorable daughter. Her first words to me were "Your hair is pink!" Afterwards, we played Scrabble.
Sunday morning came, and I was so sad to go home. It seemed like I'd just been reunited with my fiance. It felt like only a few days since he'd been back, rather than ten days. But at least we'd be back together again by Friday morning, when we would meet in Phoenix, Arizona.
(But right now I'm missing you so so much! Your absence physically pains me.) I love you!
~Your Tragedy, Tuyen
Wednesday, April 13, 2005
He's Back! (pt. 2)
The next day went by so slow. My arm, still recovering from being lasered, started to itch. At the drug store, I was extra careful *not* to buy allergy medicine with benedryl in it, because I didn't want to be sleepy on the big day. Despite my best efforts, I still managed to buy something that knocked me out for about three hours. I woke up around three in the afternoon!
I already had my outfit picked out-- I admit to being a total girly girl in this instance. All I had to do was wait.
And Wait.
And Wait.
I was dressed and ready to go by 8pm. Sean was arriving at Miramar around 10pm. After watching the first hour of the season premiere of "Tru Calling", and trying to eat all the food my future sister-in-law put in front of me, I skipped down the stairs and hopped into my car. I'd been assured that an hour was plenty of time to make it from Chula Vista to Miramar.
So you can imagine my surprise when, not 5 minutes after I left the house, my cell phone rang. But you can't possibly imagine my surprise at who was calling me-- from Miramar, an hour early! I assured Sean that I'd be there as soon as possible, and got on the freeway, 805 North. Traffic was moving great for about 5 minutes.
Then it came to a complete stop! For the next 20 minutes, traffic lurched between a complete stop and the neck-breaking, top speed of 10 miles an hour. Each minute that ticked by felt like an hour.
Dammit!
I'd been looking forward to this day since January, and here I was late, and getting later by the second. Finally the source of the traffic jam became apparent. A car in a south bound lane had smashed over the median and into at least two cars-- altogether there seemed to be about 6 cars involved.
I finally got to the terminal to pick up my fiance about an hour late. (What a screw up!) sigh....
But at least he was back! We hugged and kissed, and it was a million times better than I had imagined it. Sean proposed to me on the spot, in front of his boss and a few of his friends. There's a picture somewhere, of him on one knee sliding a ring on my finger. In addition to a lovely engagement ring, I also got a wonderful lavendar stole from Ireland, a box or Irish chocolates, and a bunch of international postcards for my collection.
Since it was in the middle of Spring Break, and San Diego is a college town, most of the hotel rooms in town were taken. But we could have slept in the back of a stationwagon for all I cared.
~Tragic Is Officially Engaged
I already had my outfit picked out-- I admit to being a total girly girl in this instance. All I had to do was wait.
And Wait.
And Wait.
I was dressed and ready to go by 8pm. Sean was arriving at Miramar around 10pm. After watching the first hour of the season premiere of "Tru Calling", and trying to eat all the food my future sister-in-law put in front of me, I skipped down the stairs and hopped into my car. I'd been assured that an hour was plenty of time to make it from Chula Vista to Miramar.
So you can imagine my surprise when, not 5 minutes after I left the house, my cell phone rang. But you can't possibly imagine my surprise at who was calling me-- from Miramar, an hour early! I assured Sean that I'd be there as soon as possible, and got on the freeway, 805 North. Traffic was moving great for about 5 minutes.
Then it came to a complete stop! For the next 20 minutes, traffic lurched between a complete stop and the neck-breaking, top speed of 10 miles an hour. Each minute that ticked by felt like an hour.
Dammit!
I'd been looking forward to this day since January, and here I was late, and getting later by the second. Finally the source of the traffic jam became apparent. A car in a south bound lane had smashed over the median and into at least two cars-- altogether there seemed to be about 6 cars involved.
I finally got to the terminal to pick up my fiance about an hour late. (What a screw up!) sigh....
But at least he was back! We hugged and kissed, and it was a million times better than I had imagined it. Sean proposed to me on the spot, in front of his boss and a few of his friends. There's a picture somewhere, of him on one knee sliding a ring on my finger. In addition to a lovely engagement ring, I also got a wonderful lavendar stole from Ireland, a box or Irish chocolates, and a bunch of international postcards for my collection.
Since it was in the middle of Spring Break, and San Diego is a college town, most of the hotel rooms in town were taken. But we could have slept in the back of a stationwagon for all I cared.
~Tragic Is Officially Engaged
Tuesday, April 12, 2005
He's Back!
Hola! What a busy past few weeks I have had!
On March 29th I drove from San Jose to San Diego, a 7.5 hour drive. I made really great time until I hit Los Angeles. (big surprise!) As soon as I-5 finished its descent into the San Fernando Valley, traffic slowed down. Argh! There was so much traffic I couldn't even make any lane changes in an attempt to take a different freeway, any freeway. I took the opportunity to check out KROQ, a radio station I'd never really listened to before. At least part of the problem seemed to be caused by a broken down big rig in the slow lane, as well as a car sliding off the freeway a few miles south of that. By the time I reached Anaheim, the traffic was moving much faster. I was listening to Gwen Stefani's dance album "Love, Angel, Music, Baby" when I noticed Harbor Blvd. sign on the freeway, and spazzed out like any true No Doubter. ("Remember Harbor Boulevard/ The dreaming days where the mess was made")Unfortunately, traffic once again crept to a standstill by the time I hit 805. I finally got to Chula Vista around 4pm.
That night, I was already under covers when my cell phone rang. My fiance, calling with bad news. Apparently, his flight was delayed and he wouldn't be coming in until Thursday instead of Wednesday. Sigh.
The next day I took my future nieces and nephew to the mall in Mission Valley. We had a pretty good time, hit most of the cool stores, including Hot Topic. My almost- nephew handled the situation well, as most of the stores we went to were girly clothing boutiques.
Wednesday night ticked by ever so slowly. One of the longest nights of my life, waiting for Sean to come home.
(TBC)
~Tragic
On March 29th I drove from San Jose to San Diego, a 7.5 hour drive. I made really great time until I hit Los Angeles. (big surprise!) As soon as I-5 finished its descent into the San Fernando Valley, traffic slowed down. Argh! There was so much traffic I couldn't even make any lane changes in an attempt to take a different freeway, any freeway. I took the opportunity to check out KROQ, a radio station I'd never really listened to before. At least part of the problem seemed to be caused by a broken down big rig in the slow lane, as well as a car sliding off the freeway a few miles south of that. By the time I reached Anaheim, the traffic was moving much faster. I was listening to Gwen Stefani's dance album "Love, Angel, Music, Baby" when I noticed Harbor Blvd. sign on the freeway, and spazzed out like any true No Doubter. ("Remember Harbor Boulevard/ The dreaming days where the mess was made")Unfortunately, traffic once again crept to a standstill by the time I hit 805. I finally got to Chula Vista around 4pm.
That night, I was already under covers when my cell phone rang. My fiance, calling with bad news. Apparently, his flight was delayed and he wouldn't be coming in until Thursday instead of Wednesday. Sigh.
The next day I took my future nieces and nephew to the mall in Mission Valley. We had a pretty good time, hit most of the cool stores, including Hot Topic. My almost- nephew handled the situation well, as most of the stores we went to were girly clothing boutiques.
Wednesday night ticked by ever so slowly. One of the longest nights of my life, waiting for Sean to come home.
(TBC)
~Tragic
Monday, March 28, 2005
Happy Easter
I hope the Easter Beagle was good to you all! My dad and I colored eggs today. This year's dye worked alot better than the stuff I got last year.
Much love to my fiance! I love you, Tragic
Much love to my fiance! I love you, Tragic
Saturday, March 26, 2005
Argh!!!!!
Nothing frustrates me like losing a CD. Nothing. So you can imagine how freakin' cranky I am to notice that I've lost 2 of my most precious cds. No Doubt's Beacon Street Collection, and No Doubt's Rock Steady (the deluxe edition.)
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah! Where in hell could they f***ing be? I've looked everywhere!
~ Cranky cranky Tuyen
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah! Where in hell could they f***ing be? I've looked everywhere!
~ Cranky cranky Tuyen
Monday, March 21, 2005
Countdown
Making Out
No Doubt(G. Stefani, T. Kanal, T. Dumont)
Rock Steady
I'm on the second floor
With a lock on my door
I'm looking at a picture of your face
The last time I looked
You were looking really good
But somehow pictures fade
We're on the phone
We're all alone
And that just ain't good enough
I go around the world
To see your face
'Cause this just ain't good enough
So I'm just kicking it I'm counting the daysI
hardly can wait for us to hang out
I'm really missing it in so many ways
I anticipate us making out
Sip my morning tea
But you're not next to me
Here goes another day
And driving in my car
I wonder how you are
While our favorite music plays
The flowers arrive to my surprise
But that just ain't good enough
And I got the note, it gave me hope
But that just ain't good enough
So I'm just kicking it I'm counting the days
I hardly can wait for us to hang out
I'm really missing it in so many ways
I anticipate us making out
Soon you'll be here with me (making out)
Soon you'll be right here with me
I'm with my friends till the night ends
But that just ain't good enough
And honestly you can trust me
But that just ain't good enough
So I'm just kicking it I'm counting the days
I hardly can wait for us to hang out
I'm really missing it in so many ways
I anticipate us making out
We're getting so close now! Every hour, minute, and second brings us closer together. I'm missing you in so many different ways, but that feeling is being replaced with pure anticipation at seeing you again. Just think, in a few-ish days, we can be eating at Cafe Zucchero, and driving to Hillcrest. And then we'd get lost on the way to the theatre, just like last time. Then we'd have to kill an hour or two by eating sticky rice and mangoes at the Thai place we walked by, since we missed the beginning of the movie.
I've been studying for most of yesterday for the second midterm in African History 105 B. All I really need to do is polish up my essay so I can get a perfect score like last time. What a brat! ;-)
I promise to make a more substantial post by Wednesday or Thursday.
Muchos Besitos, Tragic Tuyen
PS. Your flowers are wonderful and plenty good enough.
No Doubt(G. Stefani, T. Kanal, T. Dumont)
Rock Steady
I'm on the second floor
With a lock on my door
I'm looking at a picture of your face
The last time I looked
You were looking really good
But somehow pictures fade
We're on the phone
We're all alone
And that just ain't good enough
I go around the world
To see your face
'Cause this just ain't good enough
So I'm just kicking it I'm counting the daysI
hardly can wait for us to hang out
I'm really missing it in so many ways
I anticipate us making out
Sip my morning tea
But you're not next to me
Here goes another day
And driving in my car
I wonder how you are
While our favorite music plays
The flowers arrive to my surprise
But that just ain't good enough
And I got the note, it gave me hope
But that just ain't good enough
So I'm just kicking it I'm counting the days
I hardly can wait for us to hang out
I'm really missing it in so many ways
I anticipate us making out
Soon you'll be here with me (making out)
Soon you'll be right here with me
I'm with my friends till the night ends
But that just ain't good enough
And honestly you can trust me
But that just ain't good enough
So I'm just kicking it I'm counting the days
I hardly can wait for us to hang out
I'm really missing it in so many ways
I anticipate us making out
We're getting so close now! Every hour, minute, and second brings us closer together. I'm missing you in so many different ways, but that feeling is being replaced with pure anticipation at seeing you again. Just think, in a few-ish days, we can be eating at Cafe Zucchero, and driving to Hillcrest. And then we'd get lost on the way to the theatre, just like last time. Then we'd have to kill an hour or two by eating sticky rice and mangoes at the Thai place we walked by, since we missed the beginning of the movie.
I've been studying for most of yesterday for the second midterm in African History 105 B. All I really need to do is polish up my essay so I can get a perfect score like last time. What a brat! ;-)
I promise to make a more substantial post by Wednesday or Thursday.
Muchos Besitos, Tragic Tuyen
PS. Your flowers are wonderful and plenty good enough.
Sunday, March 20, 2005
More of the same...
Another one of my wonderful dog. He's such a well behaved fluff ball!
Hmm, this one turned out very blurry here. Before I downloaded it, it was fine. Oh yeah, this is supposed to show my arm six days after a treatment.
Another shot of my beautiful, glorious, amazing stargazer lillies from.... (drumroll please).... my fiance. The awesomest man on the planet.
~Tragic
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