Last Minute Details

2008 is coming to a close. Do you have any resolutions for 2009?

I resolve to not make resolutions :)

I actually wouldn't mind going to bed right now. Last night I stayed up till 5:30am finishing up an overdue project. Nothing to do with work or anything like that. See, for a few years now, we (we being my college friends) have made a mix cd for halloween or some other event. I've made the last 3 cd's. It's pretty time consuming. Because of that I hadn't had time to do it 2 months ago, but I REALLY wanted to do it before the year was out. So, I took a couple of days off from my movie obsession and dedicated myself to getting it done.


I finished it all last night, or this morning actually. Here's the track list:
1. Common - Universal Mind Control
2. Busta Rhymes Ft. Lil' Wayne, The Game & NAS - Don't Touch Me
3. John Legend Ft. Andre 3000 - Green Light
4. Estelle Ft. Kanye West - American Boy
5. Ludacris Ft. Cris Brown & Sean Garrett - What Them Girls Like
6. Robyn - Konichiwa Bitches
7. Hyper Crush - The Arcade
8. Pink - So What
9. Electrovamp - I Don't Like The Vibe In The VIP
10. LMFAO -Lil' Hipster Girl
11. Lady Gaga Ft. Colby O'Donis - Just Dance
12. Lauren Mason - Haterade
13. Black Milk - Give The Drummer Sum
14. Marco Polo Ft. Masta Ace - Nostalgia
15. Snoop Dogg Ft. Lil' Kim - Sensual Seduction
16. Jazmine Sullivan Ft. T.I. & Missy Elliott - Need U Bad
17. Mr. Evil & Sean Paul - Back It Up
18. Common - Sex 4 Suga
19. LMFAO - I'm In Miami Bitch
20. Freezepop - Thought Balloon

I'm happy it's done and now I'm tired.

Windshield Goes Green

Today I went to one of the many malls in search for new computer speakers. On my way to the mall, it was raining. It's been raining everyday for about 2 weeks now, so today was no different.
The drive was nothing out of the ordinary until...

...a piece of a tree branch fell and smacked my windshield! Thank goodness it wasn't the whole branch, it was just about 12 inches long, soft and full of greenage. This all happened really fast so it's safe to say it scared the F*CK out of me. **SMACK** Of course since it was raining, I had the wipers on and the branch got stuck on the left one. Great! It wasn't enough to just scare me, it also had to block my view.

There really wasn't a place I could stop and remove it. Plus, the rain had picked up and I realized I'd also left my unbrella at home. So I waited for a red light and tried to remove it without getting out of the car. That didn't work. I used the wiper as little as possible and wouldn't you know it, the branch fell off when I reached the mall.

Just another random act to add to my list.

Excuse me, do you work here?

It started when I was a teenager and now that I'm in my thirties, it still happens: I always get confused for a store's sales clerk instead of just another client.

A few days ago I went to Borders to buy the remaining books of the Twilight saga. TANGENT: I finished New Moon and am starting Eclipse. There seemed to be a lot of spanish paperback versions on the table, so it took me a while to actually find the english versions. I even went upstairs to check out the display they have in the children's book section. Yeah I could read them in spanish, but it wouldn't be the same. I don't know how long I was there. I guess long enough for some random stranger to believe I worked there.

"¿Tu trabajas aqui?", said the randon lady as she point at me and at the store. I smiled, said no, she walked away and I thought, "Are you serious?"

I only thought that because of the way I was dressed. Anyone who's ever been to a Borders knows the employees wear a black shirt that says Borders. I was wearing a blue t-shirt that says "Textually Active", jeans and flip flops. How did I resemble a Borders worker that day??

The confusion doesn't end in Borders. I get it a lot at clothing stores (Old Navy, Gap etc), supermarkets, but mostly...at Kmart. Yet another place with distinctive employee attire. Kmart employees don lovely red vests with store logo nametags. While it is true I know my way around the store having to go there so often, I have yet to receive an unofficial red Kmart vest for loyal patronage.

So I wonder why I confuse folks. People see me and must think, "That girl works here." What is it about me? Am I THAT approachable or am I THAT common looking? Is it because I walk with my head up and make eye contact instead of looking down and pretending the sidewalk is my friend? Maybe it has nothing to do with me. Do people just not pay attention to their surroundings?

Me?....Reading?

I don't consider myself a reader...of books. I do try. I've bought books, start reading them and even if they hold my interest, I'll just put them aside indefinitely. I think it all goes back to being forced to read crappy SRA's in elementary school and the never ending summer readings. I was the type of kid who instead of just reading the book and getting it over with, I would figure out the least amount of chapters I'd have to read per day. That way I didn't spend all day reading and was out and about enjoying the summer. Of course that doesn't make much sense either because a simple book would take me all vacation :) Whatever.

This past month I've read more books than I have in other years. A grand total of 2! I finally finished Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides. This book I started, I don't know, more than a year ago. It was just so blah at the beginning so I left it aside. When I finally got halfway, that's when it started to get good. I made myself finish it so I could start reading Twilight by Stephenie Meyer.

Twilight I had to read. I'd heard and seen how obsessed people were with the book and knew the movie was coming out soon. So I wanted to read it before watching the movie. I finished it in like 3 days. And have joined the obsession thank you very much.

I'm now more than halfway done with New Moon (the 2nd book of the Twilight saga) and have just bought Eclipse (3rd book in the saga). You might ask why I just didn't buy all of them together. Well, that was my plan, but you wouldn't believe how hard it was finding an english paperback copy of Eclipse. I don't want the hardcover books. I'm ok with paperback, but for some reason Borders only had the spanish version in paperback. They finally got some english versions and now Breaking Dawn (4th book in the saga) is the only one I'm missing. I was going to buy it today too, but deja vu! Paperback is only available in spanish. So I'll wait.

Oh and yes, I did see the movie already :)

Update Of Sorts

I always tell myself that I'll blog more frequently and it doesn't happen. I haven't written in a while because I've just been too tired to sit and write. We'll see if I get better at this.

Update then.

I stayed up till 3 something in the morning watching the US election. It was exciting to see it all unfold and right after Obama gave his speech I was out cold. I was soooooo sleepy, I just passed out.

Work had been kicking our asses, but now we're on a Thanksgiving break.

My PC is all sorts of f*cked up...so I bought a MacBook (of course now I'm poor). I've joined the other side. That's not to say that I won't try to fix my PC. I'm maybe 80% certain it's fixable, so I have a full day of tinkering around with it to see what happens. I'm not stressed about it because like a good PC owner, I had already backed up all my important docs, pics and general files. That's why I haven't even touched it in about a week. It's just sitting there in a state of limbo waiting to be reformatted. 

Election Night

I typically stay away from politics. It's not that I don't like it, it's just that people get so idiotic about it that I prefer to stay in my room. The fanatical part of politics, people who follow one party just because their family does instead of using their own brain, and blind hatred of folks who don't share the same views is what I hate. I don't need to see people flicking off the tv just because someone from a different party is being interviewed.

I am watching the US election though. I am interested in knowing who will win. If you believe in the Redskin Rule, then Obama will be the clear winner. I am getting sleepy and there's a full day of work ahead of me tomorrow, but I'm staying up as much as possible. We shall see.

A Change...maybe...

Life has been so up and down lately, sometimes I don't know what to make of it all. In all honesty, sometimes it makes me feel a bit insane.

Since my last blog, I'd been bombarded with unnecessary stress. I don't typically sweat the small things, but when people around me constantly compare, judge, scold or whatever, I'm forced into the middle of it and brings me down. There is always a better way of communicating your issue or point of view and no need to demoralize the other person.

I'm realizing that I've become (or am becoming) more sensitive to events which normally I would've never given a second thought. Now, I don't know if that's just a sign of getting older or a side effect of my surroundings. Not that I was a complete insensitive ass before, but it definitely was a hell of a lot easier to not give a damn...to say, "fuck it" and not skip a beat...and overall smell the bullshit a mile away and not let it get to me.

Like I said, life has been pretty up and down. I definitely have to find my middle ground faster so I'm not bogged down by crap for too long. And just put things into perspective....be mindful and thankful. Some of you friends out there know what I'm talking about and I completely appreciate the talks we've had.

Thank you, "RD", "SASSAS", "TG", "CBC", "BMcD", "JDV" and "CLD".
HOLLER!!!

Busy Weekend

This past weekend was pretty damn busy which is unusual for me. My weekends have turned into subdued, stay at home and watch movies kind of deals. But this weekend was busy.

Saturday, I woke up early as always because apparently I'm physically uncapable of sleeping past 6am anymore. So I got up ate breakfast and got ready. I had the day all planned out. Since I had to run errands, I would do that in the morning leaving the afternoon free. So by 8am I was at the ticket counter of Coliseo Roberto Clemente to pick up my race package. I decided to get it the day before because Sunday would've been hectic. So I did. Then I ran errands in plaza for a couple of hours and went home...only to realize I had to return to the mall.

By the time I got back, it was time to get ready for "C's" Bridal Shower. It was like nothing I'd ever seen before. Everyone was in good and high spirits. The party was a great time. Food, pink champagne, one beaming bride to be surrounded by her giddy friends and even one tupee wearing lounge pianist. What more could you ask for? :D After the shower I went to a birthday party and got home around midnight. It was later than expected, but I went straight to bed to rest up for the sunday race.

Sunday, Race For The Cure. Of course I didn't sleep in because...I don't know. I can't :) I tried to nap during the day, but I just kept getting interrupted. So 4pm came around and "A" and I went off the the race. There were so many people there. I didn't see the other people I knew who were going to be there till the end of the race. It was an awesome race. I mean, running is a sport for crazy people. Why in the world would you put yourself through being in pain, out of breath and wanting to vomit all at the same time?! It's great ;) Now, I'm not sure how the timing thing works. I know there's the chip that keeps the "official" time, but I run with my own watch. I start it as soon as I cross the starting line and stop it when I cross the finish line. By my watch I ran the 5k in 30:13. "Officially" my time was 32:27.

So my weeked was pretty busy and tiring. Today I was still exhausted and just wanted to be home all day.

Crayola Is Determining Your Future

This morning I came across an article that about how there's a new way to determine what career fits you best. Instead of taking the regular questions test, it's all about colors. You choose your favorite and least favorite colors. This is supposed to categorize your personality I guess and give you the best careers for you.

So I took the color test (of course, for the full results you have to pay). Here is what it said about me:

Best Occupational Category
You're a CREATOR
Key Words: Nonconforming, Impulsive, Expressive, Romantic, Intuitive, Sensitive, and Emotional

These original types place a high value on aesthetic qualities and have a great need for self-expression. They enjoy working independently, being creative, using their imagination, and constantly learning something new. Fields of interest are art, drama, music, and writing or places where they can express, assemble, or implement creative ideas.

CREATOR OCCUPATIONS
Suggested careers are Advertising Executive, Architect, Web Designer, Creative Director, Public Relations, Fine or Commercial Artist, Interior Decorator, Lawyer, Librarian, Musician, Reporter, Art Teacher, Broadcaster, Technical Writer, English Teacher, Architect, Photographer, Medical Illustrator, Corporate Trainer, Author, Editor, Landscape Architect, Exhibit Builder, and Package Designer.
CREATOR WORKPLACES
Consider workplaces where you can create and improve beauty and aesthetic qualities. Unstructured, flexible organizations that allow self-expression work
best with your free-spirited nature. Suggested Creator workplaces are advertising, public relations, and interior decorating firms; artistic studios, theaters and concert halls; institutions that teach crafts, universities, music, and dance schools. Other workplaces to consider are art institutes, museums, libraries, and galleries.

2nd Best Occupational Category
You're a PERSUADER
Key Words: Witty, Competitive, Sociable, Talkative, Ambitious, Argumentative, and Aggressive

These enterprising types sell, persuade, and lead others. Positions of leadership, power, and status are usually their ultimate goal. Persuasive people like to take financial and interpersonal risks and to participate in competitive activities. They enjoy working with others inside organizations to accomplish goals and achieve economic success.

Well. Like all these test, I think you have to take them with a grain of salt. Parts of the results I like...others I'm not so sure it hit the mark. For all that are interested, here's the article:
http://msn.careerbuilder.com/custom/msn/careeradvice/viewarticle.aspx?articleid=1614

Just remember, sometimes colors are just colors.

Stop, Go...Stop...TAPON!

That's how traffic was this morning: Stop, go and just plain STOP.

I left the house at the same time I always do, 7am. By 7:15am I was on 177 next to Hogar Crea. That's where traffic just wasn't moving. At the time I had no idea what was going on and since my car's radio isn't working it's not like I could've turned the news on. I knew something was going on because traffic on the other side was flowing and we were the only one's not moving. So after about 10min of just sitting there I put the car in park, sat back and waited. The man next to me just turned his car off.

Little by little we started to move. As soon as we started going down, I could see in the distance that NO ONE was being allowed to go straight. Traffic was being diverted left and right. I saw 3 ambulances and numerous police cars drive up in the half hour I was stuck in traffic. When I finally got to work, I heard there had been a bad accident down the way. It wasn't till I got home in the afternoon that I finally saw on the news what had happened.

It's awful.

VMA '08 Snore Fest

I'm sure lots of people saw the VMA's last night. I started watching it. I admit I wanted to see if Britney was going to crash and burn. Don't deny it...that's a big reason why lots of people were watching. Turns out she didn't even perform. Looking back the promos never say that she was going to perform, but it sure was insinuated.

Britney was all normal which was good to see, but 3 VMA's wins for Piece of Me? Ok, then. After it was clear that Britney wasn't performing, I dvr'd the show and went to bed. It's so much better being able to skip over crap. I did enjoy Pink and Christina Aguilera's performances. They both kicked ass, but Pink is looking a little like Tabitha Coffey these days though :)

As far as the hip hop men go...pull your damn pants up! I know, I know...it's the style, the fashion...however, there's no need for me or any other viewer to be seeing your ass or you underwear.

Possibly one of the best parts of the whole show was Russell Brand. To me it seemed the crowd wasn't really getting his style of comedy at first. He was hilarious and saved Paris Hilton. Who knows how long she would've stood there in silence before realizing she was looking at the wrong teleprompter!

Overall, the show was a snore fest for me. I'm glad I dvr'd it and didn't lose any sleep over it.

90210

I just finished watching the new 90210. Hm.

It's the same sort of premise as the original. 2 teens move to Beverly Hills from farm country. Not original and the children composition isn't original either. The family is made up of a daughter and an adopted black son. Yeah ok, South Of Nowhere anyone?

All the girls are bitchy and back stabbing each other from the start. Another South Of Nowhere (and typical teen drama staple) storyline is how the popular girl used to be best friends with the out-cast edgy girl, but now they're sworn enemies. The guys...well, they're guys. There doesn't seem to be a dorky David Silver. All the guys are confident and boastful, even the tv crew is cool. Everything is bigger, more expensive and revamped...even the Peach Pit is all new.

The 2hr premiere seemed rushed to me. I was entertained, but the storylines went fast. It was great seeing the revival of Kelly Taylor and Brenda Walsh though. It's very Degrassi of them to be on the show and gives it credit. Will we be talking about this 90210 the same way we do the original? Will there be another "Donna Martin graduates!" chant everyone remembers? I guess we have to wait and see.

Knees a Bugging

I just woke up and my knees hurt. *That's a great sign of getting older* Seriously though, I have a friday tradition with my sister-in-law "A". Well, we've only just started and this was our 2nd friday, but we're still calling it a tradition. After work we go walking nearby. The trail back and forth is almost 5mi and takes us about 2hrs at a moderate pace.

I've noticed that I'm more tired afterwards than when I run. My knees also hurt. They don't hurt at all when I run. Isn't it supposed to be the other way around? I've always heard how running is bad for the knees and what not. It's odd. At work I'm typically walking all over the place and going up and down stairs, so it's not like I'm not used to the movements.

Maybe it's because we walk a longer distance at once than what I run.
Maybe it's because we don't stop until we're done.
Maybe I need to stretch more :)

¡TAPON!

¡Que tapon carajo!

I was driving home tonight after my exercise walk and took the same route I always take. I hit traffic at Las Cumbres which struck me as odd since I've never been stuck there before. Sure there's always traffic towards Caguas, but it was almost 7pm...traffic should've been over by then. No.

It took me more than 20 min to get from Las Cumbres to the highway entrance/exit. When I finally make it onto the highway, I see that the newest movable Jersey wall is in effect. I don't know why they put that on the right side of the highway, but it's there. Essentially all they did was temporarily eliminate the emergency shoulder lane. Why?

Ever since the traffic laws have gotten stricter, I've rarely seen anyone attempt a shoulder run. If this is going to be a common thing, then I hope no one has an emergency during that section of the road...because there is no shoulder to stop at and they'll be surrounded by irate PRican drivers. I know this is a long weekend and people are most likely leaving the metro area hence more traffic, but I'm sure this latest wall shifting has something to do with the increase in traffic as well.

One Of Those Days

Is it completely wrong that I'm waiting for it to be 8pm so I can go to bed? :)

The day wasn't a complete disaster. There was a bit of everything going on as usual. At the beginning of the day I had one of those kids who thinks they're better than everyone else talk back to me. And if that isn't bad enough, they did it infront of someone else who felt it necessary to point it out (as if I hadn't hear it). So that wasn't good. Then of course there was another kid who was completely grateful that I took out the time to write down and explain the info they missed since they were late to class. I got a hug and a kiss on the cheek for that one. So that was nice.

2 polar opposite reactions in the same day.

Ugh.

And My Time Was...

...33:46:00

This is the fastest I've ran a 5k. I was just trying to get in under 48min which is around what I did last year at this same race. And checking out my time from last year's Race For The Cure, I took 2 minutes off that time. So I guess this is all an improvement. I don't really see myself getting any faster. I'm all about slow and steady :)

Can't Find My Sleep

It's 3am and I can't sleep.

I could feel it in my body after the race that I was going to be so tired I'd get no sleep. I'm not sure I can explain it aside from saying I felt wired. Sure enough, I went to bed and couldn't fall asleep. I have to be "up" in 3hrs, so I should try to get some sort of rest. That's probably not going to happen, but I decided not to get angry about it either. There is little I can do about it. I can go back to bed and stare at the insides of my eyelids and not sleep. Or I can sit here and blog about not sleeping. I could take a pill, but it's too late to do that. I'd be nonfunctional at work if I do that.

Being at work after a night of staring at the ceiling is always a challenge. Mostly I just want to kill someone :) We'll see how that goes!

5k Completed!

So I survived the 5k. Hoooooray!

I went with my brother "A", sister-in-law "A" and co-worker "J". We were all standing around anxious for the race to start. That's when all these other people who said they weren't going to do it arrived. I was surprised because the whole month was them saying they weren't going to sign up. Well, they didn't, but ran/walked the race anyway :) I ran as much as I could before walking. I made it half way and then felt like I was going to throw up. That's when I gave myself a break and walked for a bit. After that it was stop and go till the end.

This is my second time around running this race and I did so much better this time. I can't say for sure what my time was. Yes, I did have a stop watch. The problem was that after I crossed the finish line, I pressed the button and it didn't stop. So I have to wait for the official results to be posted, but it should be less than 35min.

Some people don't notice others around them since they get into the runner's zone. Me, I still observe everyone. There was one man running next to me that was growling. I guess that's how he pumped himself up, but it was weird. He was obviously covered in sweat and I guess drinking water or creating saliva because the growling turned into a semi-gurgling sound. I thought he was going to pass out...but he didn't.

All in all, it was a fun afternoon. Time for a shower!
OH! I forgot to mention something. "A", "J" and I decided to stay in the back at the beginning of the race. We didn't really want to be sandwiched in with all the real runners. Anyway. So we're standing in the back and I see this group of 3 or 4 people just pop open a few Medalla's. What?! Who chugs a beer right before a 5k?!? Only in Puerto Rico, I swear.

5k Ready?

Am I ready for the 5k tomorrow?

If this was taking place a couple of months ago, then I would say, "hell yeah!" But as of right now, the answer to that question is, "fuck no!" Oh, I'm still going to go and run as much as I can, but there's no way I can run the whole thing. I've kept exercise as an important part of my life, but recently it's just gotten harder to incorporate. Since work started up again, it's rare that I don't feel exhausted in the afternoons with tons of desire to go running.

I know I have to stop making excuses and just get it done. I intend to fully start up again this coming week with a 5k introduction. What a great way to start! I'll keep bugging "C" to see if she'll join me in on the trails, but I know she won't. I'm hopeful to get her out there at least once a week. We'll see.

The race will be fiiiiine. I don't intend to kill myself and try to run the whole thing. I'll be walking along with the other tired people when I'm out of gas. I have no problem with that.

Testing...1, 2...

Here's the deal: I got tired of my blogging stopping grounds and decided I needed to check out other services. I'm not sure what I'll end up doing, but for now I find myself here.

Interested in my 3 year old blog? Read me: http://suzy.dabu.com