i finally got my car back on tuesday afternoon. during the early portion of tuesday, i was productive - as i was not at all productive on monday. siobhan and i went to michaels in lynnwood, and then spent a long time at 99 ranch - asian grocery superstore. siobhan made note of the wide aisles, so that on a busy day, all the shoppers would not be pressed against one another. it was beautiful. the store was all nice and new and smelled good - no weird food smells. i'm adding 99 ranch to my list of happy places, right up there with best buy, target, and ikea. i could spend hours there.

also on tuesday, our volleyball team, 3 ugly ones [questions about the team name may be directed to one of our team captains, ryan] had a potluck dinner celebration for a fun and fairly successful season. we ate japanese chicken curry, teriyaki meatloaf, asparagus, veggie platter, a pork dish, thomas kemper soda, and chocolate cupcakes with mint chocolate chip ice cream. 'twas a feast. then we played apples to apples - a fun word association game. i have a feeling that not everyone was as enthused by the game as i and some others were. but that's ok, in my mind i like to think that everyone had fun. there were some awkward patches though...i think we were maybe a little confused about social interaction rules outside of volleyball.

on a different note, the oc is great. great, i tell you. as are all the other shows i watch :D

sometimes, when i least expect it, i am assaulted by my childhood. i'm thinking of suing.

i stopped by fred meyer to pick up the aquaphor mentioned earlier and i passed by the shoe department when flashes of memory hit me. i used to go to freddy's as a kid with my family, back when british knights and la gear were the must-haves. i just remember how much fun it was to be there and how excited i was whenever my parents asked if we wanted to go to freddy's [this was of course, before target.] it was a family event. just like going to k-mart and jefco, which became best, which went out of business and became uwajimaya in beaverton. i miss being little, being bratty kids with my brothers and begging our parents to buy everything...and then some - ok, that part still happens. i can't wait to go home for thanksgiving. as i get older, all my memories get glossed over with happy powder, which basically means that i forget all the things that used to bother me and just remember the good feelings. because really, that's all that matters.

breaking news: eczema has claimed its lastest victim - me. i went to see my doctor this morning and apparently the dry, cold weather in seattle has caused an eczema epidemic. aquaphor is my new best friend. and it should be yours too if you're prone to dry skin and chapped lips. my consolation is that i was able to dodge eczema for a good 22 years until now. not too shabby.

i am so excited not to work for the next two days. i hope to use my time off wisely. this means not sleeping until noon and then being unproductive. i hope to finish off a couple of knitting projects, send out two care packages, paint some frames, and perhaps even make a few christmas cards. ambitious, i know. last year, i purchased a whole slew of card making tools, thinking that i would save so much money by making my own cards instead of buying the boxed cards from the store. obviously, i didn't really think through my plan logically. but, if i make my own christmas cards for the rest of my life, i will have achieved my original goal of saving money.

this weekend was filled with busyness. mindy and wendy visited, so of course there was lots of food and hanging out with lot of people. good fun. we all went to see love actually. i loved it. it's the best of all my worlds - it's british AND a romantic comedy with the likes of colin firth and hugh grant. what's not to love? i think that i shall see it again. plus, i really want to watch elf, with will ferrell. it looks like a funny and lovable movie.

my friend che is in west africa for the next two years volunteering with the peace corp. she just sent an e-mail because of an emergency tea shortage. [she loves tea] and she mentioned that in cape verde, they have my most favorite sandals/flip-flops in the whole wide world - havaianas. these are sandals made in brasil. i think she's sending me a pair! i have my beat up old gray ones from my summer 2000 trip to brasil and my blue ones with the flag of brasil [from one of the students at english camp]. i love these sandals. i am, however, a little sad to find them appearing all over the place, like at urban outfitters, or in magazines like Us. i'm happy for their success, but sad it's becoming a trend/fad. i liked having them to myself and the other SAM alums - and the millions of people in brasil. the best part is that your feet don't get stinky - unlike say...teva sandals...

anyway... so this weekend as wendy and mindy come and visit, we're going to put together a care package and send it to her. i'm thinking since she's gone for 2 years, we'll be sending her supplies often. :)

our volleyball teams last round of play-offs was tonight. we played the top team in the first set of games and though we didn't win, we made them work for their win. all in all, it was fun and i feel ok about losing to them. they were nice, and that counts. the second set of games was junk. we won, but we so totally should've won a lot faster than we did. at the end it looked like we were going to lose, but somehow, we pulled a win from out of somewhere. the cost of being 3rd place? my whole person feels achy and in pain. as somebody commented, i cleaned half the floor. gross.

but earlier today, since i didn't have to work, i went to target and best buy, my happy places, and picked up finding nemo, legally blonde 2 [it's cute and funny...seriously], and the new sarah m. cd. i also got an update on my car, parts are still not in, so i'm driving the camry for another couple of days. the man at lexus of seattle, let's call him mark, keeps saying he'll keep me updated, but not once has he called me. every single time, i've had to hunt that man down to get a progress report, and still he can't explain to me why the transmission broke. essentially, i have to stalk him to get some answers, which turn out to be pretty lame - "Well, don't worry about why, it's covered under warranty so it's fine." uh no. it is not fine. i want a reason, so that i can know how to not let this happen again [as if it were actually under my realm of control]. if i were a confrontational person in real life, some of my annoyance would be communicated to mark of lexus. but since i'm not, i say "thank you" a lot and am very accomodating - i might as well offer to bake him cookies and muffins. boo.

it sucks to pull up to the gas pump and realize you don't know how to get the gas tank door thing open. then after you figure it out, it sucks again when you realize that the actual gas cap is giving you trouble too. i was at costco, gassing up the rental camry when all of this occurred. during my search for the right lever, i popped the trunk open a couple of times and had to get out to shut it. i think the other gas patrons may have been wondering what i was doing. i called cora for assistance since i know her fam has a camry. i even had to scramble and consult the owner's manuel [which i prayed to be in the glove compartment] while inching forward in line. i'm such a tool.