solve [solv]
to find the answer or explanation for; clear up
Synonyms include: answer, determine

For the last couple of weeks, I've been helping (trying to anyway) my sister get through her algebra 2 class. I told Tin to take advantage while I know what I know because if she ever gets to calculus, I'LL BE COMPLETELY USELESS. She called me from a friend's house today asking for help with a word problem. I had to call in for re-inforcements. Haha! A bunch of smarties worked on it: James, Chef, Iya, Bobbers, Kuya Oli and Tita Irene hahaha - thanks for the attempts and for the solution ! It's nice to know I always have back-up.

Polynomials, F.O.I.L., radicals...what the heck is a real number? A REAL NUMBER? As oppose to a FAKE one?! Sometimes I forget how much I loved math. It used to be one of my FAVORITE SUBJECTS for sobbing out loud! I wanted it to be part of my career! But then came calculus, physics, chemistry and FORTRAN classes all at once. That marked, as Grammy Kay would say, sad times...

Iya sent me the forward below and it made me laugh out loud. I don't know how many times I wrote stuff down on a test just for the sake of writing something down. Partial credit is like gold when you're trying to get a passing grade. But I was NEVER this creative:

*****

*****

*****

passion [pash-uhn]
any powerful or compelling emotion or feeling; a strong or extravagant fondness, enthusiasm, or desire for anything
Synonyms include: desire, affection, dedication, vehemence

I feel like each day since the year began produces more troubling situations than my mind can figure solutions for. I've come to rely on any and every sign of hope that good fortune lies somewhere beneath the jinx that is my life these days. It's disconcerting to be loving every breath I take one minute, and then wishing it would stop the next. When and why did the aura of contentment and optimism reduce itself to the dim and dreary cloud of haze that it is today?

I've been asking myself that a lot, thinking that if I knew how I got here, I could just as easily figure a way out. Immediate, but temporary, bouts of gratification and inspiration are plentiful. But something in me is still lacking, missing almost, and it's taken the death of a beloved priest to tell me what my problem is.

Fr. Lawrence was a pastor at St. Robert's in Burbank, and to have known him to any degree is to have known a real man of the Lord. It wasn't just because he wore the "uniform," could say mass or transform the bread and wine into holy body and blood. Any priest can do that. But Fr. Lawrence, in his most notably red, curly hair, possessed something that a lot of lost individuals seek without realizing: passion - Passion for the role that you're born to play in life, passion for the lives of the people you affect, passion for the heart and the soul that you've been blessed with, but at times are too afraid to use. THAT is what's missing these days for me and for a few people I know.

For many of us, the zeal for life's many opportunities peaked at the very beginning, but has since sunk into deep valleys of complacency and sheer boredum. The passion, you could say, has passed and we are left asking the following questions: How do I get it back? Or do I still have it, but misplaced it for the time being? Is it even retrievable or must I seek new sources?

In the end, whatever we decide, it doesn't really matter. All that matters is that the choices we make, and the bases for which we make them are heartfelt and true. Like Fr. Lawrence, who shared his life with us, we too can have a passionate spirit that will not only save us from that which we find cumbersome or mundane, but will provide us with the warmth of knowing that this is what we love to do, this is what we're here for.

Have fun in heaven, Fr. Lawrence. Thank you for everything.

commute [kuh-myoot]
to travel regularly over some distance, as from a suburb into a city and back
Synonyms include: drive (Yup, that's basically it for me.)

I'm so over this drive. 2 1/2 hours to get to work this morning because of the huge truck that rammed through the center divider on the 101. I'm ready to move back/somewhere where there's efficient public transportation...

NYC...

DC...

Boston...

Heck...who wants to move to London with me?!!!

I would like to MIND THE GAP!!!

Happy Birthday Sexy Jean!!!

Happy Birthday, Chrissy!!!!

Happy Birthday, Eeedweeen!!!

Happy, happy birthday Larnie!!

(Aaaaand KICK!)

nap [nap]
to sleep for a short time; doze
Synonyms include: sleep, break, respite

Ok, I know this is awful, but I took a picture of my parents asleep during mass! hahaha! I swear they do it for an average of 5 minutes every other Sunday! It's hilarious and Tin and I always catch them. Oh man...

Speaking of naps, I should get to bed now. I worked from 7:40 to 5:40 today, with no lunch AND I took work home! I'm sooooo exhausted! Everything seems to be due all at the same time! It's all good - overtime! I'd rather not ask to work overtime though because it's so hard for me to believe that I can't accomplish what I'm supposed to in the 8 hours that I'm given.

Okee, bedtime...

Bye (AGAIN!) Chef!

Take care and remember, don't make any friends!

miss [mis]
to notice and feel the loss of
Synonyms include: feel loss, long, yearn

When something or someone special is taken away from you, to say you feel bereft does not suffice. It feels more like a part of your being has been spitefully snatched and you are left with nothing more than what you can remember.

When something or someone special is taken away, brought back, then taken away again, to say you're furious is not enough. You curse the world that blesses selfishness with the most precious of gifts from heaven.

To say that you feel sad or lonely when you lose someone special is an understatement. No word in the English language could possibly define the unbelievable sorrow that your heart must handle.To say that you feel too helpless to do anything about your loss would not be sufficient. It feels more like a hopelessness that situations (which could've been improved if both sides of the party would find their conscience) will just never resolve themselves.When you worry about the well-being of another who is far away, you worry wholeheartedly and the same prayers are said over and over again.

We miss our little boy...

Please don't forget us, Kelsoe...

sweet tooth [sweet-tooth] (what the heck?!)
a liking or craving for candy and other sweets
Synonyms include: craving, obsession (sometimes!), appetite

I LOOOVE chocolate, and one of my favorite brands is Cadbury. Unfortunately, Cadbury products are not as abundant here in the states as they are in other countries, like Canada and the UK. When we were in Cambridge for 2 months, I loaded up on all the Cadbury products that I saw! It was terrible but OH SO GOOD! hahaha!

There's this one chocolate bar, actually it's more like a stick of chocolate, that they used to stick in the middle of a scoop of ice cream in England. OH MAN! I think Andrew had one almost every other day! hahaha! And a few months ago, Jovi brought me a Time-Out bar that her mom brought back from Canada (James and Fantone - HOOK IT UP!).

And now that it's Easter time, my favorite item of all is out!!!

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!
...aaaand scene...hahaha!