Don’t you hate when people park in “your spot”? I came back from my Holiday stay with the folks to find a car parked in the exact spot on the curb that my car usually resides. Now, I’ll admit that there are no assigned spots, and it is only curb-side parking, but I have been the only car in our house parked right there for the past few months, so I’ve come to expect that space to be open.

Granted, sometimes a neighbor has a party, or someone comes to visit, and the space is taken, but this spot has been taken every time I come home for the last 3 days. The car belongs to the friend/girlfriend/sister/whoever of the guy in my house I can’t stand—the one who wanted to dictate to me how we should all access the Internet. Obviously this guy is chauvinist to some extent—the first words out of his mouth to me were condescending, so now he’s ensured that there’s no way in hell he’s getting any access to the cable internet. Also, every time I’ve seen him and the girl leave the house, he is the one getting into the driver’s seat. Apparently he feels it is the male’s duty to chauffeur around his woman. Perhaps this can be blamed on his upbringing. I think he is from China, so perhaps that sort of mentality is acceptable there. I find it strange, and anyone who knows me knows that there is NO WAY I’d let anyone touch all my stuff on a regular basis like that. I’m much too paranoid to trust anyone with my computer, car, or whatever.

Anyway, I saw this car when he first moved in, and thought it belonged to him, until it stopped coming around after a week. My hope is that she is only here until New Year’s or so, and that she will soon depart again. If she doesn’t, I will be forced to ask her to please move. The problem is that she parks in such a way that there is JUST not enough room to park in front of her, and I am practically on the corner behind her, left vulnerable to getting hit by anyone who turns the corner too quickly. I will tell you now that if anything happens to my car while it is parked behind her, that she will wish she parked somewhere else! I cannot state enough how much I hate roommates sometimes! (Apparently lots of people share my sentiments, because someone visited my site after searching for the phrase “I hate roommates” Not only are there numerous blogs out there that discuss this type of hatred, but there are people searching websites for this phrase. Just thought I’d share this amusing search, since it relates quite nicely to my tale.)

OK so I know I’ve been slacking lately, but I suppose I have an excuse in that I was home for the holidays. I went home from Saturday to Thursday, and only now had the time and desire to update my page.

Christmas was about the same as always. On Christmas Eve I went to my Aunt’s house, where we celebrated with our large family as usual. On Christmas Day it was a smaller affair, with just my parents, sister, grandma, and cousin Steve. As far as presents go, I can’t really complain. My mom got me a bunch of things I asked for, and some items she came up with on her own, such as a gold bracelet, which is nice. From my sister I got a Guess purse and matching wallet.

I hung out with Martin on Monday when we went to Islands and then hung out at my place and chatted until like 2 am. Unfortunately I didn’t get around to hanging out with anyone else—maybe next time. It’s kinda sad though, because now Kevin and Melany are both back home, so I have less people to hang out with up here. I should probably make more friends. At least I still have a couple people to hang with for the time being.

My weekend was all right. I can’t remember the specifics, and it seemed a littler shorter than usual, but it was all right. It could’ve been a bit more interesting since Steve text messaged me on my phone and invited me to join him on his way to Vegas. Unfortunately, he is there until Tuesday, which means I would’ve had to take off work. Compound this with the short notice, and other things, and there are many reasons why I didn’t go. It would’ve been a lot of fun though—gambling and winning tons of money. :) Alas, maybe next time….

Oh yeah, and today I discovered an unauthorized purchase on my American Express card. It was for some WLI Travel Values or something like that, and the purchase was made two days ago. I know for a fact I didn’t use that card—let alone any other one—on Friday. Also, I certainly would’ve remembered making a $72 purchase. So I had to call the credit card company and report the charge. Now I have to wait for them to send me a new card. What sucks of course is that in the meantime I can’t use the card. I wonder how they got my number. This is the first time someone has stolen my number, and oddly, this is the card I’ve had for the least amount of time. I do make some online purchases, so who knows. I guess it could be worse.

In other exciting news, a few days ago our bathroom got cleaned. It was getting VERY nasty, with giant cobwebs forming everywhere, dozens of spiders making themselves at home, dead ants all over the shelves in the shower, mold taking over the tiles, and just general dirt and grime everywhere. One morning I entered to see a complete overhaul—sparkling sink, shower, toilet, etc. No more spiderwebs or ants! Now I don’t have to feel bad when I send someone in there! ;) I suspect it was Ginny that finally got fed up and cleaned it, because tonight I entered to see a Bathroom Cleaning Sign-up Sheet taped to the wall. Apparently we are supposed to take turns every week. Good grief! Fort the record, I barely make any of the mess. I don’t leave hair in the sink from shaving, puddles on the floor from poor aiming, water and dirt all over the counters, etc. I think things like that should be cleaned by the person who made the mess—not that I’m looking forward to cleaning toilets and moldy showers. I’ve never cleaned a bathroom in my life, and it’s something I’d consider worth paying someone else to do! YUCK!

Anyway, another week is about to begin, and we are that much closer to Christmas. I have bought only one gift so far, and will go shop for my sister very soon. She and I are going to brave the Brea Mall next weekend in search of gifts for our parents since we have no idea what to get them this year. Ahh the Holidays!

Ok so I still haven’t done ANY Christmas shopping yet. I am such a slacker. However, I did go buy myself another cell phone a few days ago. I decided to try out AT&T’s new GSM service. Cingular just doesn’t have very good reception in Whittier, and I don’t get anything inside my office. Also, AT&T’s plan is $5 cheaper per month and included 100 extra anytime minutes, free incoming text messages, and Mmode—should I choose to take advantage of it. So far I’ve been pleased. I like the phone, the phone number, and I get reception that exceeds Cingular’s—like FULL reception in the library! Now the test is if it’s better in my parents’ house. If it is, I’m definitely switching.

The WEIRD part of the new phone though is that I got a phone call before I even gave the number out. Some foreign sounding guy asked for a “Dennis Hughes”. Now, I figure that perhaps someone else had this number, so I was polite and stated that I didn’t know this person, and that it was a private cell phone that he called. So then he says “Hmm, I seeeee”, as if he didn’t quite believe me. He then proceeded to ask me how long I had the phone.

“Two days,” I say.

“So in that time, you have gotten a bunch of calls for Dennis?” he counters.

“On the contrary,” I state, “You are the first.”

He doesn’t seem like he quite buys that either. So he says, “I see. Well in that case, I need to verify your address.”

WTF?!? Verify my address?!?! At NO time did he state who he was or what he wanted, and all of a sudden he wants me to give out personal info?? Perhaps he thought I knew or even lived with Dennis, but this is less likely, being that it is a cell phone and not a land line. So as soon as he said that I snapped back “I DON’T THINK SO” and hung up. Since then I’ve gotten a call a night for the last 2 or 3 days, but no one is there when I answer. Perhaps he is waiting for this Dennis guy to answer. At any rate, I hope he stops calling soon. It’ll waste my minutes, waste my time, and make me have to change my number. I don’t need the hassle of changing the number—especially since it’s a pretty decent one.

Well, we shall see what happens with the number. I just wish this bastard didn’t have a blocked number so I could see where he is. Or at least he could speak when I answer so I can restate that I am not associated with this guy in ANY way. Grr.

On Friday night, Kevin finally took me to dinner for my birthday—exactly one month later. :) It’s ok though, because I know he’s been busy with school and stuff. He took me to some French crepe place called Pacific Crepes. There we each got the dinner special that comes with a salad (yuck), dinner crepe with your choice of 3 ingredients (i picked chicken, mozzarella cheese, and tomatoes), and a dessert crepe (i chose the chocolate crepe).

I was a bit skeptical going to a place I’ve never been, and eating things I’ve never tried before. The place was actually pretty good—I especially liked the dessert crepe. Being that there aren’t many French places in SB, the restaurant was owned by French people, and all of the other customers seemed to know French.

After dinner we went to Elsie’s and he bought me a drink—apparently my night out included dinner and a drink. Since they don’t have any hard drinks, I ordered the much-recommended Pear Cider. It was pretty good. Afterward, we returned to Kev’s, where we caught the end of the Laker game—just in time to see their amazing comeback in the 4th quarter. We talked a bit with Nick as well. In yet another eerie coincidence, Nick actually knows my newest housemate, and has even driven him home. This means that he has been to my house and not known it! It truly is a Small World sometimes!

Anyway, after that, I fell asleep briefly on Kev’s couch, and when he woke me up so he could go to bed, I drove home and went to bed as well. It was a cool night, especially since I so rarely see Kev anymore, and he is going back to Whittier soon. :(

Going back to work after an extended weekend sucks. I had 5 days off due to the Thanksgiving Holiday and a hangover. Martin came into town on his way home Tuesday night and he, Kev, and I went to dinner at Pascucci’s and then to my place for drinking. We shared a bottle of wine at dinner, and then I drank a bottle of Boone’s. I felt pretty sick not long after, and awoke the next morning without much improvement. Standing in the shower confirmed that I would not be reporting for work on Wednesday. I drove home Wednesday night at 9:00 pm, and surprisingly it only took me 2 hours instead of the usual 2 1/2. Who says there’s tons of traffic the day before Thanksgiving. :)

Thanksgiving was pretty uneventful. About 30 of us gathered at my Aunt’s house as usual. My cousin Shirley displayed her new $100K Mercedes that her new boyfriend bought her. My Jetta can’t compete with THAT! On Friday my mom put up Christmas decorations (already), I hooked up my neighbor’s new DVD player, and we all went in their hot tub. They’ve had it for a few months, but this is the first time I used it. It’s pretty cool.

Saturday night I hung out with Kevin, Melany, and her current boyfriend Josh. We dined at Spaghetti Factory, where Josh insisted on paying for all 4 of us. He seemed like a nice guy, although who knows how long he’ll be around! After dinner, all of us (minus Josh) went back to Melany’s and played Clue Master Detective. We hadn’t played Clue in SO long that we forgot some of the details of the game—like when you can declare, etc. I won the first game, and Kevin totally beat us in the second game.

Sunday my mom added highlights to my hair. So now I have a new cut and new highlights. I included a picture, even though I don’t think you can tell TOO well in it. I suppose it’s more noticeable in person. Anyway, I then ate Apple Fritters at Grandma’s and returned back to SB around 4:30. I also arrived with new blankets in tow. My Grandma insisted on buying me a new comforter and blankets. Pretty cool. :) I hope she’ll be ok—as soon as doctor’s give the OK and schedule a date, she will have hip replacement surgery. It’s her choice, because she is tired of being in pain all day, but she is hoping to do it before Christmas, and will miss the normal festivities as a result. We will see what happens. I love my Grandma—she’s the only grandparent I have left, and I’d be very sad if anything happened to her. :(