Dolcetto o scherzetto?!!

(Trick or treat in Italian. hahaha!)

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

The Play of the Game =)

Lakers got their first win of the season! Woo hoo!! And this play, well, it was the play of the game for me. I was cracking up so hard I was crying! Freakin' Lamar! Sasha's still in his warm-ups! hahaha!!

triglyceride [trahy-glis-uh-rahyd]

the chemical form in which most fat exists in food as well as in the body. They're also present in blood plasma and, in association with cholesterol, form the plasma lipids

Synonyms include: everything that tastes good and that I love to eat =(

About 3 1/2 weeks ago, we had health screenings at work. A few nurse practitioners come in every year to take our blood pressure and do a non-fasting blood test (a pin-prick on the finger). The results of the blood test are read by an ultra cool, handheld contraption that I've seen in our medical journals; then following it is a private consultation with a nurse practitioner who goes over our results.

My results were...horrid. The main concern was my cholesterol, which was the highest I'd ever seen it! Avoid dairy products and fried foods, the nurse advised. No cheese and no red meat. She said Avoid. A few years ago, my doctors said Cut down, and now I'm being told to AVOID. This is probably my 7th warning about my health, and sadly it wasn't until a few weeks ago did I take it seriously. It's the fear. I've had to SCARE myself into better eating habits.

So for the last few weeks since then, I've been avoiding fried foods and dairy products like crazy. The very sight of a slice of pizza with all that cheesy goodness laying on it didn't make me hungry. It terrified me.

This past weekend, I went to see the doctor for my cough and asked them to take a real blood test. Two tubes they took, and today I spoke with the nurse from my doctor's office. "Is it my cholesterol?" I asked. "No, your cholesterol's fine!" Hmmm, THAT'S new. "So what's wrong?" I asked. And then she said it, "Your triglycerides are way too high," she warned. I told her that I was 3 weeks into all the warnings she just gave me and she asked, practically pleaded, for me to continue.

No fried foods

No dairy products (including cheese, milk, dairy-based salad dressing, etc)

No red meat, but more fish and chicken (grilled, baked or boiled of course)

No alcohol.

Reduce intake of foods high in sugar (cake, cookies, candy, soda, etc)

Reduce intake of starches (rice, breads, pasta, potatoes, etc)

So, here I go. It's not even a question of how long I'm going to last on this diet this time. Now I feel like I absolutely have no choice but to change my way of living if I want to continue to live at all. WISH ME LUCK!!!

gadget [gaj-it]

A small specialized mechanical or electronic device; a contrivance; a device or control that is very useful for a particular job

Synonyms include: apparatus, appliance, contraption, gizmo

Every time I hear the word gadget, I want to channel the Little Mermaid, "I've got gadgets and gizmos aplenty. I've got whosits, and whatsits galore. You want thingamabobs? I got 20! But who cares, no big deal, I want moooooore!" Anyhoo, yes, I've gotten a couple of gadgets the last few months. My first one (attained for freezy by way of a super quick turnaround rebate) was an iTouch, which I got when we bought my sister's macbook from the Apple Store. Oh, I am so very fond of it. It's got a calendar, internet access, GPS, and can hold photos and music. It's basically an iPhone with no phone and no camera. I look like such a spoiled brat at work, with my Nano and my iTouch. It's like having a spare mp3 player, what can I say?

And then, for what feels like forever, I've been wanting to buy my own digital SLR. Everyone's been on my case about getting my Macbook Pro, and I can't say I didn't start to really want to get on the Mac bandwagon. Getting my own SLR, though...I just really wanted it already. Each time I worked a gig with Ja Tecson Photography, I felt like I had to relearn so many camera basics because I'm just not used to using it. I always have to refamiliarize myself with adjusting settings and all the buttons - aaaaah!!!
So I shopped around, did my research, and asked reliable sources (thanks James and Ja!) for their thoughts and expertise. On Friday, after work, I went straight to Best Buy, who, in my findings, offered the most for the least. It's not the big bad 5D, but for my amateurity (word? no?), the 40D will do...for now. What a major purchase this was for me, but I know I will reap the benefits when I upload the first picture on the computer and it is crisp and sharp!This is my Merry Christmas/Happy Birthday/Happy Valentine's Day/Happy St. Patrick's Day/Happy Easter/Happy Groundhog Day/etc. present to myself. I'm so in love with my camera right now. If I wasn't scared that it'd fall on the floor in the middle of the night, I'd sleep with it! hahahaha! I've still got my Sony point & shoot. I'm never getting rid of that, for sentimental reasons. It still takes good pictures. We'll use it when I need something pocketsized =) Soooo, screw the Tiffany ring I wanted...I GOT ME A CANON BABY!!! Who's up for a photoshoot?...except Ate Tin-Tin. She keeps offering herself as a subject!

HAPPY, HAPPY

BIRTHDAY

MOM!!!

Happy Birthday, Tatay!!!

Joe and Riann call my grandfather Tony Soprano. hahaha!

Freakin' Random!

Tin just called me at work from school...

"Ate, I just saw William Hung."

"What?"

"I just saw William Hung," she repeated.

"What the hell would William Hung be doing at CSUN? Didn't he go to UC Berkeley?"

"Dude, I'm so delirious right now, but I know that was him," she said.

So I looked it up and lo and behold... William Hung goes to CSUN now. HAHAHAHA! That's freakin' hilarious.

Geez FINALLY! Basketball season is starting!!! I typically don't even watch the preseason, but I feel like I've been waiting since that heartbreaking Game 6 that I just can't wait until next Tuesday when the W's and L's start to count. So far it's been exciting and I absolutely can't wait to see how everything is going to turn out. Teams have upgraded, purged, reassigned positions, etc and they are ready to get on with it...as am I.

This year is going to be all about DE-FENSE! clap-clap! DE-FENSE! clap-clap!

Happy 30th, Jason!!

More commonly known as LUSTY!!!

Happy, Happy Birthday

ATE!!!

CONGRATULATIONS, BEV & JA!!!

Have fun in Mexico!!!

( I'm messing around with photoshop. The only tools I know how to use, however, are masking and erasing. hahaha!!!)

loyal [loi-uhl]

faithful to one's oath, commitments, or obligations; faithful to any leader, party, or cause, or to any person or thing conceived as deserving fidelity; characterized by or showing faithfulness to commitments, vows, allegiance, obligations

Synonyms include: faithful, allegiant, devoted

If you ever want to see a bunch of 30+ year old career women and mothers act like 11-year old girls, all you have to do is attend a New Kids on the Block reunion concert. I only say this because, well, I am one of those 30 year olds who screamed (or maybe squeal is a better term) like a little girl.

Iya and I were email tagging from work the morning that the tickets were going on sale and long story short - she bought a slew of tickets for friends who were interested. We heard about the comeback a few months back and I have to admit - I was excited. As pathetic as that sounds, you have to understand how much of a fan I was...20 years ago (yikes, i just threw up in my mouth). I'd been a fan of New Edition (their second album was the very first tape I ever got!) and The Jets (remember them?!) when I was a 3rd and 4th grader. It was fun, catchy all around pop music. What's there not to like when you're 8 and 9 years old?

But Hangin' Tough was released soon after and well, call it good timing: Adolescence, meet Boy Band. Suddenly I am talking mom and dad into buying me every magazine with them on the cover (which was mostly everything. Personally, I thought that the poster quality of Bop and Big Bopper topped all the rest, even the iconic Tiger Beat, which is why I took mostly those home after every grocery store visit). I used to check the TV Guide every chance I got to see if they'd be appearing on TV (before TiVo and the DVR existed), I bought all their albums (before iTunes even let you check their songs out). I was part of their fan club, and bless family and friends who gifted me with NKOTB paraphernalia on special occasions. Talk about precursor for the far more severe *NSYNC era. But it just didn't matter, because man did I love them. There was one summer where I spent a few days at my cousin's house (remember, Pin?) and we all just watched (and performed with) the Hangin' Tough live concert video. hahaha!!! My favorite was Jonathan Knight - the quiet, shy, mature, mysterious one.

What I was NEVER able to do was attend a New Kids concert. I was young and mom and dad weren't down to go with me so that's one thing I regret. That's why this reunion tour meant so much - it was my very first New Kids on the Block concert. How could we not go? Iya and I were both like, "Oh man, I hope the concert doesn't suck." HAHAHA! We were not only satisfied, we were all kind of impressed. They can still sing well, the dancing is still there (their choreography isn't strenuous anyhow) and they can still get an entire arena of fans to go buckwild!

The SECOND the lights went off, the intensity of the evening enveloped us whole and for about 2 hours, it was just Donnie, Jordan, Jonathan, Dannie, Joey Joe and and a few thousand of their most loyal fans. Everyone was singing along as the guys sang some old favorites as well as new ones. We performed right along and it didn't matter if you had a front row seat or was a touch away from the Staple Center ceiling. It just mattered that we were there. As a true fan, you can't ask for much else.

The concert was perfect until the last number when the guys donned Celtic jerseys for "Hangin' Tough." I get it, you wrote it for the Celtics back then. But to have KG and PP appear on the big screen and then to come out wearing THAT in the home of the Lakers? BAD IDEA, boys. We'll let it slide this time...only cuz we love you so much.

Thanks for screaming with us, Arlene, Liz & Kathy!!! That was so much freakin' fun! Maybe we'll meet again for another concert =)

Dude, Ate - Nokia Theater the day before Thanksgiving? Hmmm, we'll see...

Thanks for getting the tickets, Iya!! (Iya and I literally talked about the concert and the guys for like 2 days. hahaha! Can we say boyband starved? hahaha!!)

NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK CONCERT TONIGHT!!!!

WOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

Happy 81st Birthday

to my wonderful Grandmother who never ever lets us go hungry!

Love you, Nanay!!!

Happy Birthday, Ben!!!

Happy Birthday, Mary Anne!!

New Kids On The Block - Single

groupie [groo-pee]
a young person, esp. a teenage girl, who is an ardent admirer of rock musicians and may follow them on tour
Synonyms include: fan, follower, fanatic

Oh man, I feel like a 12 year old little girl again...but damned if this song isn't catchy! CAN'T WAIT FOR THE CONCERT!! =)