Thanks to Hope…

In 2000, I dated the first boy who would ever really cheat on me. He was kind, but in the end, he went back to his ex, behind my back. We still went to prom together, but that was the end of that. My senior year of high school rolled around, and I started applying to colleges.

In 2001, I was accepted to my second choice college, with no word from my first choice. By April, I made up my mind to go to School #2, as I assumed I had not gotten in. A week after I sent in my deposit, I received my acceptance letter from School #1. I didn’t have the money for their deposit, and accepted it as my fate to go to School #2. Two of my high school classmates died one month after graduation, and that put a sombre mood on the rest of the summer. In the fall, I started my freshman year of college with a very fun, and slightly flighty, roommate.

In 2002, I wrapped up my first year of college and went back to an architectural firm I had worked at throughout high school. I worked my ass off all summer, working two jobs, and went back to college with some money in-hand. My second-year roommate fell in love with a boy, and in order to hang out with him, I had to be her wingman for his friend. I ended up dating him for 9 months, and fell in love….

…Until he broke my heart and cheated on me in 2003. That summer was painful, and his new girlfriend harassed me (phone calls, horrible AIM messages, calls from her friends, etc) for most of that fall, which led me into a depression. I also moved into a three bedroom apartment with my 2nd-year roommate and a boy from our architecture classes, D. D stood up for me with that ex, and became a hero to me. We fought constantly though, as brothers and sisters tend to do (with similar personalities), and, as a result, 2nd-year roommate and I no longer talk. My relationship with D has become stronger, and he is now considered family.

In the early days of 2004, 2nd-year roommate suggested I seek help for my depression, and I started talking with a counselor at the school. It helped to resolve some of the tension in the house, but what had been done was irreversible between 2nd-year roommate and I. That spring led to a two-week art & photography study-abroad trip to Italy. I fell down some stairs in the hotel in Florence, half way through the trip, and broke my foot (having never broken a bone in my life!) I experienced the Roman Emergency Rooms, and that was rather scary, but overall an alright experience. After I got back from Italy, I started my first summer internship at the firm I am currently employed with, and a month later got my cast off, and went to Aruba! That fall, I started my senior year of college, having finally gotten back on track, gotten my depression pretty much under control, and had Lil Sis at the same college, which was a blast.

In 2005, I graduated with my Bachelor of Science in Architectural Studies (a worthless degree in my field), and went back to the same firm, for my final internship, and the start of graduate school. In December of 2005, my college apartment burned down, one Saturday night, after I had gotten home from work. I saw smoke coming up through my bathroom floor, as I lived on the second floor, and the room  below me was on fire. I went downstairs to see what they were doing (fellow architecture students, and so I assumed they had burnt something they were cooking), and a mass of smoke came hurling at me when I opened the door. Smart as I am, I ran back upstairs to call 911, collect my purse and my laptop (grad student, remember!), and ran back out the front door, only I couldn’t get out, as the fire had spread to the porch. I ran down to the back entry, and found that the boys in the apartment out back had chain locked our door (from the outside), so that no one would walk in on them while they were growing pot. I banged on the door, trying to break it down, and finally one of them heard me. We all got out, and watched as our home burned. It was the hit of the night, too, as party after party got word of  ’those crazy architects who probably burned their home for fun’, and came to watch the action. Lil Sis freaked, I called my parents, and they drove through the night to come see me.

Over winter break of 2005, I was offered a position as a Resident Advisor, so in January of 2006, I began that post, and moved back on campus for the last semester of my college career. I finished my thesis, threw what survived from the fire into storage, and went to Europe for six weeks after graduation. I blogged about my trip here, here, here, and here (sorry, no pictures). I moved into my new apartment, started working full-time, and met another boy, dated for three months, saw Patrick Dempsey in town, and hosted my first Thanksgiving.

2007 was rather slow, and I worked two jobs, fell head over heels in love with The Ex, and he, too, broke my heart. Had a quick rebound boy,  slightly fell for him, he went back to college, and that ended. Saw Oliver Platt at the grocery store, looked into moving to London, thought about living in Dublin, realized both were going to be nearly impossible, and decided to stick around for a bit. Tried my hand at online dating, and had a few e-dates. Made it thought NaBloPoMo in November, got a tattoo with Lil Sis, and moved out of my cozy apartment and into a new one with a roommate at the end of the year….

.. whom was decidedly not such a bad roommate, and we lived together quite peacefully for the next year. In January of 2008, someone found my blog via a google search with an inappropriate title, considering I am not one of these! Heath Ledger died. I got stuck in a rut with my job that spring, and decided to give looking for a new job another try. I went on a date and later found out that all the boy wanted was a housewife, so that didn’t work out too well, got stood up by another guy who was much younger, and much more immature, went on a cruise to the Western Caribbean and had some super cute waiters, got a new second job driving film makers and photographers around, and found out that the new tenants in my old apartment committed a murder. The Emperor gave me my Bitch-O-Meter in April, and in August I went to Asheville, NC for a few job interviews, realized I couldn’t picture myself living there, and so mom and I went to Nashville for the rest of our trip, instead. My first house was completed in November, and I must say, the owners were quite pleased, as was I! I then booked a trip to Los Angeles…

… which was at the start of 2009, for a job interview as a tour guide for Contiki. Sadly, I did not make the cut (nerves, I suppose), and came back to Maine empty-handed. Got laid off in February, traveled to NYC, Boston, and Florida. Dated E for a bit, applied for jobs in Nebraska, then realized we weren’t going to work out, and went back to work in July. Started looking at houses, met The Boy in July, and most of you know how that ended. Got laid off again for the month of September, and in December, Lil Sis suggested that I quit my job and join her while she travels as a nurse.

And that takes me to 2010. I have higher hopes for this year, with a year’s worth of excitement and travel ahead of us!

Here’s the beginning of a slew of super duper old backlog posts.

Chris and I celebrated our birthdays jointly at the Okeeheelee Park with family. It was a hot and humid day in September. But as I had prayed for all day, there was no rain. Another wish granted.:)

Our menu consisted of pancit, menudo, lumpia, grilled hotdogs/ burgers/ salmon/ tilapia, bbq ribs, suman.

And desert was of course, our favorite, ube cake!:)

The boys had a grand time, as usual. It’s always a treat to celebrate milestones with family.

I go home SO soon. Five more sleeps. I have found a sitter for all my work dogs, but not my own dog. I have, however, found someone to look after my cat. I haven’t sent Christmas cards yet, but at least Perfect Husband bought some yesterday. We also trimmed the tree yesterday. Now all I need to do is finish buying gifts, get snow tires on the car, go to two different parties, pack, clean, and try and unearth my Christmas spirit.

In other news, Christmas cards have started arriving and Perfect Husband wants to know why my coworkers from 2006 all know how to spell his name correctly, but one of his own relatives does not. I cannot explain.

Happy 50th birthday, Dad! Any day now, my dad should be canonized for his tolerance and love for my family, which is dominated by crazy ladies (myself included). This weekend, my fifteen-year-old cousin scoffed, “Um, your dad gets out of the car and opens the door for your mom when he picks her up?” “Yep, every time” I said. “You don’t see that anymore…” the jaded teen replied.

She’s right – you don’t. But then again, they don’t make them like Big Al anymore! Potential suitors beware: my dad is literally an impossible act to follow.

Dad – you’re simply the best! Thanks for everything.

Love your favorite daughter,

Pants

Lil Sis called last week with a proposition: travel with her while she takes a job as a travel nurse.

This would involve my quitting my job, and temping for a year, as we travel across the country, spending 13 weeks in 4 cities.

Sound exciting? She wants to start in May, and the cities she’s heavily interested in are: Seattle, Denver, Nashville, and NYC. Those will change as we get nearer to the date, depending on which jobs in which cities are available. They pay for her to move, they give her free housing, and she makes a ton of money. Maybe I should’ve gone to school to become a nurse?

We’d take one car, most likely hers, so mine would either sit at home for a year, while I still make payments, or I sell it to my parents, so they can get my dad a newer car.

I’m looking into temp agencies that are nationwide. I’ve come across ManPower, Kelly Services, and Aerotek, with the advantage to Aerotek being that they place in architectural offices.

Does anyone know of any other temp agencies that are nationwide?

Also – do you think I’m crazy? To quit my perfectly good job, in order to take on temp jobs – if I can even get a temp job? I have no idea what I would do after this year – see if she’s up for another year? Work my butt off to get to Europe? Maybe find a job in one of the cities I just spent three months living in?

No matter how much I resist, my mom is determined to convince me that horrible things can and most likely will happen to me. The innocuous, handy cable guy? Totally capable of knifing me before installing my DVR. If a friend drops me off at my house? He better wait until I get in the door, lest there be a culprit lurking in the bushes.

I’ve managed to laugh off most of the crazy talk, but she still seems intent on sharing every horrific story she comes across.

Today:

Mom: You don’t even want to know what I saw on I Survived.

Me: You’re right… I don’t.

– Cue my mom looking at me with puppy dog eyes. She’s getting restless and I can literally feel the story bubbling out of her. –

Mom: I just can’t believe she lost BOTH of her arms!

Me: Silence. Ignoring her antics.

Mom: Ok so she was hitchhiking right? Like back in the 80s when it was common. She ran away from home and was trying to get back to her family. And this guy picked her up and took her to this remote area. And she was just begging, “Set me free! Set me free!” And he said, “I’ll set you free,” grabbed his hatchet, and he CHOPPED OFF HER ARM! And she’s telling the story now, and wiping away the tears with her prosthetic arm! She was talking about how she begged him not to cut off her other arm. And what did he do?

Me: Cut off her other arm, I’d imagine.

Mom: Cut off her f*cking arm, pants! And with the prosthetic, and the crying! Horrifying! Then, he ended up throwing her down a 30-foot hill! And she had to climb up the hill, naked, because he raped her!

As much as I would have loved to continue this warm and fuzzy bedtime story, I was saved by the bell, er, whistle of my arriving train. Although I’m sure she was just dying to tell me about that one time with the pretty young girl on the train…

Until next time.

Note to self:

Do not leave bra lying around as 19 month old monster might just decide to pour a whole bottle of Yakult into one of the cups…

Should’ve taken a picture.

I haven’t had the energy to write the past few days – it’s only been since yesterday that I actually started to feel better, and all of my free time has been dedicated to sewing/knitting Christmas presents that need to be mailed by the end of the week. I managed to finish the sewing, so if I can wrap up the knitting in the next few days, along with a candy/cookie making session tomorrow, I might actually get to relax for a few moments – which would be very welcome, if short lived.

The girls are feeling better as well, and we conveniently had their check-ups scheduled last Friday so I was able to confirm that they did indeed only have colds, and that the virus was on its way out. I was also able to confirm that Ella is a charming, smart, shrimp, and Sophie is a charming, irresistible, chub. The doctor actually nuzzled her belly – I told you – irresistible! She not only has some, uh, girth – but she definitely has Tom’s height genes, while Ella got stuck with mine (sorry Birdie – I promise I’ll hem your pants for you.) Unfortunately, Tom had a relapse last night and after a visit to the doctor this afternoon, found out he has a sinus infection. But he’s now armed with antibiotics, extra-extra-strength Motrin, a wife that has taken over his dish-duties and supplies him with steaming tea, and kids that supply him with lots of hugs (Porter really needs to work on his fetching-your-slippers-skills – he mostly provides slobber).

We did decide to Suck It Up and go to Baltimore on Wednesday, to spend the day in the city before Alyssa was to fly home (and then drive to Utah the next day for their big return-move). It turned into a good decision. Tom and I were both a little out of it, but the kids had a blast at the train museum, and even more fun at our “fancy” dinner at The Cheesecake Factory. Alyssa was completely enchanted with the restaurant and gave us an entire dissertation on why she loved it. My favorite comments:

• You can tell this is a good restaurant because it’s super busy. (We were one of maybe 5 parties in the entire place.)
• I bet this is a 5-star restaurant – the food is superbly delicious! (I thought that was very Elosie of her.)

We stayed in a Marriott Fairfield just a few blocks away from the inner harbor, and were happy to further impress the kids by giving them a room of their very own (ours was connected and the doors stayed open all night – but it was exciting for them, nonetheless.) Of course around 3 a.m. I did end up joining Ella ,who wasn’t used to the big bed and strange room, and subsequently endured several hours of stomach kicking and random arm and/or foot-in-the-face fun.

We said goodbye to Alyssa the next morning. I was disappointed that our week was mostly stuck in misery, at home, but we also thoroughly enjoyed our temporary status as a family of five. Looking forward to the next time, but hoping it’s snot and cough free.

My mother tried to set me up on Monday morning. He (a teacher) is the son of my 3rd grade teacher, and just moved back to Maine recently. She saw him and his mother a few weeks ago, and he had asked how I was. Apparently this is how it went down.

Mom (calls his work): Hello? Is Teacher in?

College: No, he has the day off today.

Mom: Okay, thank you!

–

5 minutes later.

Mom (calls his house): Hello? Teacher?

Teacher: Yes?

Mom: Hi, this is (so-and-so).

Teacher: Oh, hi! How are you?

Mom: Good. I have a strange question for you. Are you in a relationship?

Teacher: Well, I had a girlfriend back in Massachusetts, but it’s hard to do long distance now, and so that ended a little while ago. I’ve been having a hard time reconnecting with people since I moved back here, as the social scene is not the same as Mass.

Mom: Yes, Lpeg is having the same issue. She is having a hard time meeting people, and I suggested to her that you two might reconnect. If you’re interested, you should send her an email. She knows I’m calling, so she won’t be surprised.

Teacher: Oh, that would be great! Here’s my cell/home/work #’s, and my email, as well. I’ll send her an email this week! Thank you so much for calling, it was very nice talking to you.

–

And she’s done it. When she broached the subject of setting me up on Saturday night, she casually mentioned she would ask his mom the next time she ran into her if her son was dating anyone. She didn’t say she would go straight to the source! And so bluntly!

Granted, she has been after me since we graduated from high school to let her set me up with him….

Guess we’ll see if he emails.

Our first-ever-hosted Thanksgiving dinner was wonderful. We had Alyssa and her whole family, plus my cousin, Christine, and her husband and their son. I loved that we were able to have so much family to enjoy the holiday with. But Friday night, I went to bed with an incredibly sore throat. I was hoping it was due to all the inhalation of turkey smoke. It wasn’t. The entire family woke up the next day, sniffling, coughing and moaning. We were all sick.

This was supposed to be a pretty exciting week – we were going to take Alyssa with us to New York City to see all the Christmas decorations, and to have some cuddle time with my cousin Ruth’s new baby. The girls started feeling better yesterday, but Tom and I were feeling worse, so we had to cancel. And even though we did fit in one trip to a consignment store, on a mission for a particular present, we’ve mostly been holed up, wheezing and emptying boxes of Trader Joe’s tissues.

Today I had had it. I still wasn’t feeling well enough to go out, but we HAD to do something. Alyssa couldn’t go home saying the most exciting thing about her latest trip to PA was getting the mail. So I sat the girls down and declared it Project Time. We were going to make stuffed monster-dolls. I had them draw their monsters on paper (I may have helped Sophie with hers), and then used the drawings as the pattern (with a few modifications – to make stuffing easier). Then we cut the outlines out of felt, and started sewing. Well, Alyssa and I started sewing – Ella and Sophie took a nap. I did end up helping Alyssa by machine sewing a good portion of the doll – she had underestimated the time it takes to sew when you aren’t experienced – but she did the bottom part by herself. By the time I had finished hand-sewing the two other dolls, Ella and Sophie were up and ready to help with stuffing, and gluing on the facial features. Although, Sophie mostly “helped” by trying to eat the felt, and the pattern…and my jeans…and Porter’s ear.

The activity took us an entire afternoon to finish, but the girls love the dolls and it turned into a great distraction for a Sick Day.

(More pictures on flickr)

Tom is grateful his stress-dream didn’t come true – the turkey didn’t fall on the floor.

Ella is ecstatically, supercalifragalistically thankful that her Big Sister is here for a visit.

Sophie is grateful for one particular visitor, who fed her lots of birthday cake.

Porter is thankful for all the extra belly rubs.

I’m grateful for family. Those that visited, those we Skyped with, and those we kept in our thoughts.

Happy Thanksgiving.

The other day, I was watching a documentary on the 1979 baseball season on the MLB Network and the World Series winner of that season, the Pittsburgh Pirates.  Those Pirates were know for its team slogan and team song, the hit song by Sister Sledge, We are Family.   As they were recollecting that season and that team, several times, the man who played the team mascot- the Pittsburgh Parrot, Greg Brown, was interviewed and would comment on the intricacies of that team.   Now, Brown isn’t your typical mascot as he ultimately in later years become an announcer for the Pirates which is probably why he had the clout to be included in the list of people to comment on the team, but just hearing from a mascot for the first time, made me think, what is it really like to be a mascot, from someone who actually was a mascot?

Well, an ESPN article a couple of years ago lays out some of the details and particularly the travails of the life of a mascot pretty clearly.    Patrick Hruby’s article The seedier side of Fur and Fun, documents some of these hazards, risks, health-related realities, and other anecdotes.   Here are some of the highlights and lowlights from the article:

• Heat- Inside a costume, temperatures are routinely 40 degrees higher inside the suit than outside the suit.   Given the heat, most professional teams have multiple people play the mascot and alternate regularly throughout the game for the safety of each person playing the mascot.   Mascots, on average, lose 8.6 pounds per performance—crazy!
• Stench- Performing inside that suit, apparently the stench is out of this world from all of the sweat the mascots lose during the game.   No mascot would use someone else’s mascot suit—they know what the stench is like.   Dry cleaning can’t get it completely clean, particularly the head of the mascot which you can’t just throw in the washing machine.   Sounds like it’s reminiscent of the Seinfeld BO episosde, where Jerry couldn’t get the body odor smell from a car attendant out of the car even after trying all power washing techniques.  He ultimately sold the car.
• Injury- Mascots get hurt.   A study suggested half of all mascots have had a heat related injury, 40 percent had chronic lower back pain, and 20% have had knee injuries while performing.  Their injury rate is comparable to gymnasts, which are the athletes with the highest injury rate.  Now a days, mascots are jumping off trampolines through fire rings and even other risky maneuvers.
• Lawsuits- Mascots and their teams are often sued.  The Philly Phanatic, perhaps the most famous mascot, has had a judgment against him for $2.5 million for hugging some one too hard amongst other lawsuits.

Moral of the story—it’s not easy being a mascot but if you want a quick way to lose weight, try being a mascot!

La primera película nacional que une a los mejores riders de Freestyle de la península. We Are Family une al snowboard, freeski, mountain bike, bmx y fmx, bajo la misma esencia, el Freestyle. Producida por Boston Enjoy Productions con la ayuda de ACTIVE O2.

Buena Vida X  We Are Family… Próximamente!!!

www.Buenavidastreetwear.com

It is a good thing for us to be with the whole family for one day. Put the school things aside, and rest your mind with your family beside you. That is what we did yesterday. Our Tita Richel and Tito Mark had their double birthday party yesterday. It was a night full of fun, especially with the family around. We were quite incomplete, but the party goes on. Here are some pictures of the party. More of these pictures can be seen in my Multiply and Facebook.

The house was full of balloons. Yup, balloons. It was Tita Cha’s idea to put a lot of balloons. Because of that, Tita Richel wasn’t able to sleep on her bed (since it’s full of balloons…)

Vaaiinnn…:)) Tito Mark…:))

The twins Yunah and Ysa are there too. They pop all of the balloons there. Well, it’s a long way. They still have lots of balloons to pop.

Aww….

They also had a game of Pinoy Henyo. It was them whose playing it. I don’t know if anyone got one answer correctly.

KIDS!

Tita Cheska, Tita Wendy and Blessing.

The cake is being sliced. Debut? )

We had this webcam fun too!

This one is quite funny.

Janina’s part is blurred.

Tita Richel’s pose is…benta! Snow effect.

]]> http://kuophoto.wordpress.com/2009/11/14/the-kuykendall-family-by-alice-studio-family-portraits/ Sun, 15 Nov 2009 02:44:37 +0000 kuophoto http://kuophoto.wordpress.com/2009/11/14/the-kuykendall-family-by-alice-studio-family-portraits/

“It’s a small world,” as the old adage goes, & in the case of our friendship with Salvatrice & Brent, it is so true! We were introduced by my husband’s best friend in Las Vegas, Giovanni–who is Salvatrice’s cousin. I had the pleasure of doing their pregnancy portraits (seems like yesterday!), & have gotten to do the annual holiday photo every year since. And just a few weeks ago, we found out that Brent used to play high school soccer with my good friend Anjalé’s husband Kevin! Just two degrees of separation in any direction it seems. Very cool. This year, Little Miss Kuykendall, Daniella, rocked the portraits with her stunning red party dress & hair bow to match. Her big brother Rocco was as fun & dapper as ever! Really, though, with two gorgeous parents, what else would you expect?