The Little Things

I am a very sentimental person. It's the little things that make me happy. Despite being completely exhausted after coming home from a night out with friends, I stayed up until four in the morning going through my closet and sorting through some of the stuff I had stored in there.

I have a box where I keep all the notes,cards, and letters I have received over the years. While sorting through some of my boxes, I decided I would open up that box and read some of the things I had saved. Suddenly, I wasn't tired anymore. I read through some happy, sad, funny and all memorable notes from my loved ones and was filled with an amazing warmth. memories and milestones came flooding back.

In my box, I found a little fluorescent pink friendship ring that my friend had bought for 10 cents and given to me years ago. We had been so proud to wear those rings around and wore them everywhere we went for several weeks. I found a note written to me by one of my best friend's meant for me to read if I ever felt down telling me how much I meant to him. I also found a guitar pick that had fallen out of Bertrand's pocket on his first visit to Davis to see me before we started dating. I'm not really sure why I chose to save that at that time, but finding that little pick now has so much meaning and I am so thankful that I chose to hang on to that and put it into my special box. I've been having some restless nights of sleep lately but after going through that box of special memories last night, I had one of the most peaceful and rested nights of sleep in a long time.

I am not a good boycotter

After the travesty on American Idol when Jennifer Hudson got voted off, I started to have my doubts about watching the show anymore. But when my all time favorite (and local!) Bay area girl, Latoya London got voted off, I declared that I'd be on strike. No more American Idol for me. How could America vote for such terrible singers and let go of such talented people? Surely, I couldn't support this show by helping their ratings anymore. Tonight is the 2 hour season finale. I washed some dishes, cleaned my room, petted my dog...anything to not watch that show. But 8:15 rolled around, and my weakness took over and here I am remote control in hand waiting to see who the winner will be.

No, I am not winking at you

My face is itching me like crazy. A bug bit me right on the eyelid and the little bite is starting to swell up, probably from my constant scratching. I'm trying really hard not to scratch it but instead keep twitching my face. The thing with me and itching is, once it starts, I start to itch all over. Thank goodness for the Hydrocortizone in the medicine cabinet.

Must be something in the air

This morning I was awakened by my cell phone to hear the news that yet another one of my "couple" friends got engaged last night. Within the past three days, I have heard the news of three engagements. One of the announcements was from a friend who we had seen just nine months ago and who was single at the time. Somewhere in that nine months he met someone, fell head over heels, and then proposed. Crazy. Last night a group of us went out last night for some late night food and drinks and were actually talking about how it felt like, everyone was suddenly getting married all at once. I guess the timing is just right. Little did we know that the reason one of the couples wasn't there was because they were in the middle of getting engaged themselves! Really, it must be something in the air.

Born on the same day

Last night at dinner, there were a couple of other groups around our table with little kids. The table right across from us had two little girls about the same age doing little ballerina dances together. A lady at the table behind us started talking to the little girls and one of the fathers said, 'Yeah, they are best friends, born on the same day.' How cute is that. The parents of these two little girl appeared to be close friends too. I would love it if one of my close friends had a baby the same time I did, and if the kids ended up growing up as best friends. That would be so cute. But I guess being able to do something like that would take some planning, and that could get a little uncomfortable. Both couples would have to conceive a baby at the same time. Can you imagine calling your friend up and saying, "Ready? Go!" Yeah, that'd be a little weird.

Midlife Crisis?

While filling up my car at the gas station today, I saw a black sports car pull up on the other side of the pump. Rap music was blasting from the speakers with the bass booming like crazy. As I was cleaning my windshield I was half expecting to see some young guy with baggy clothes to be on the other side (talk about stereotyping). Instead, when I went to put the pump back into the holder I looked right into the face of a fifty something year old man with a head full of white hair. I gave him a big smile and he smiled back while he did some head bopping.

Blogger Launch Photo Essay

Jason Sutter made a beautiful photo essay of the Blogger Relaunch. I love it.

Pretty Blogger

Did you see the new Blogger? Blogger.com has a whole new look and added a ton of new features, just for you. In celebration, Kimbalina.com has also had a little makeover.

Start Posting Mister!

A year ago, I managed to talk Bertrand into starting his very own blog. Of course him being him, he didn't want to use any blogging service but instead wrote his own program to do it...all those 4 times he posted in an entire year.

Lessons learned

I've always been really close with my parents. I've always felt comfortable talking to them about almost everything. Through the years, my relationship with my parents has changed from being just a parent-child relationship, to a really close friendship. My friends have also found counsel in my parents. It's not a rare thing for me to come home and hear my mom talking on the phone with one of my friends, counseling them through their problems. Sometimes it's kind of weird thinking that I can share some of the stuff that I do with them. When I moved back home after graduation, we had a few rough months getting through the transition and re-adjusting to me being back in the house after being away for years. There were a couple of times when I was packed and ready to move out and start my apartment hunting. But things have settled down since then, we have reset our boundaries and things are working out really well.

In the past week, I have learned so much from my parents. As much as I hate to admit it, sometimes they just 'know' the right thing to say at the right time. Through the comfort and support that they showed us this week, I think that Bertrand and I have learned a lot from them as an example of love. Today is my mom's birthday and this Sunday is Mother's Day. This year, Mother's Day has even more meaning to me than it ever has before.

Family Reunion

My family is having a big reunion to celebrate my Grandfather's 75th birthday this weekend. That means another trip to Southern California for me. Luckily I really enjoy driving otherwise commuting to work and as of lately, to L.A. would be pretty sucky. Family reunions are always fun although loud and a bit stressful. They have been the same as long as I can remember. My grandfather is on a 'fish only' diet, where the only type of animal flesh he eats is fish. As a result, when the family gets together, we all have this huge 'fishfest'. All of the aunts and uncles sit together at the dinner table while the rest of us, 90% of whom are over 20 sit at the kids' coffee table in the other room. One day when I'm married and have kids, I'll probably still be stuck at the kids' table. After dinner, everyone will gather together in the living room to either talk about who's getting married next, who's having kids next, or who is going to retire next. Let the interrogating begin!

Not a good day

I got my butt kicked in Puzzle Bobble by Steve and Tine, got cut off on my drive home, and then got splattered with egg shells, banana peels, and rotten jalapeno when the trash bag ripped right as I was lifting it into the dumpster.