Follow Up
to "Miserable Monday Madness"

I wanted to follow up on the previous post of April 22, 2009.

1) So far, the migraine was a one-time-only event. I think it was due to some weird Thai food I ate the day before.
2) I did well on my final and I received an A- in my Financial Management class. Yay! (Who knows how I would have done if I had presented the final without a migraine?)
3) I got my tuition reimbursement. Double Yay!!

Viernes Negro

Strangely enough, an influenza derived from pigs ruined my wedding. I found out about it last Friday. I must be one of the few, privileged, wannabe brides who can actually say that a short-lived, quasi-pandemic called "swine flu" ruined my wedding. The wedding was ultimately canceled because the Iberostar Tucan resort, which was itself unaffected by the illness, was forced to suddenly close down due to low occupancy rates, since nobody wants to travel to Mexico because of the swine flu scare. With the resort closed, the wedding was no longer.

I cannot tell you how much distress planning a destination wedding has caused me. When I received the final news from the Mexican resort rep, I felt like a cosmic force had punched me in the stomach and taken the wind out of me. It was like I had received the final blow, meant to knock me out, after a long, hard struggle with wedding planning, coordinations, an unexpected economic recession (which affected guests ability to attend), and difficult travel agents. I spent 1.5 years researching and planning and piecing everything together only to have a global, pig-induced pandemic ruin everything. All of this for a wedding that I initially swore would be easy to plan and drama-free. I cannot imagine a wedding filled with more international drama than mine. And the worst part is: I got no satisfaction from it, whatsoever; the wedding isn't going to happen.

My misfortunes, however, do not end here. On the same day that I found out about my wedding, I was laid-off from my job. The economic recession took my job a month shy of my third year anniversary with the company. The company was forced to downsize because too many of its clients went out of business without paying their mounting bills, among other business-related calamities. Just when I thought that the recession was starting to get a little bit better. Just when the rate of job losses in the country was starting to decline. Just when I thought the worst might be over, this happens. I cannot say that the news was totally unexpected, given the economic circumstances, but I was not entirely psychologically prepared to be working one day and not the next.

To top things off, on the Friday that all of these events occurred, I was in the middle of battling a horrible cold. I have been sick and unable to breath through my nose for about a week now. I usually never get sick with colds, much less colds that last over a week. I went to the Dr, to make sure I didn't have swine flu (with my recent string of luck I would not be surprised if it were) but it wasn't. Its just a cold. I probably got sick because of all the stress I've been dealing with as of late.

So, here I am. Unemployed and weddingless. You would think that I would be more upset about it all, crying and depressed and stuff, but I'm not. I'm actually fine. I'm a little more resilient than what I thought. I feel like I have been given a new chance; I now have a second chance to plan a better wedding (with less international drama) and find a better job. I feel upbeat about my prospects and I am grateful for all the free time I can now enjoy.

For The First Time

I never really thought that having a sister was something that I was "missing out" on. I've always enjoyed the fact that I only have a brother and that most of the family in my life are guys. Today, for the first time, I really wished I had a sister. Someone who isn't a guy, who isn't too sick or too tired or too busy to hang out. Someone around my age who loves me unconditionally and who I could talk to about things relevant to my life. Someone I can count on to be there for me. Somebody to do silly, girly things with. It sucks not having a sister.

Great Bridal Shower Idea!

At my bridal shower a table was set up for guests to write Haiku poetry on origami paper. The instructions for writing Haiku and folding the paper into different shapes was provided...

These were the two that I loved the most:

A MORNING COFFEE

FOG AND SUNLIGHT WRAP AROUND

A DEEP BREATH OF PINE

BALD SPEECHLESS EYES WIDE

BABIES LIKE SMALL ALIENS

HIDE THE LASER GUNS

Today I was Showered with Love

Kentucky Derby

I went to a Kentucky Derby party this afternoon. It was a swinging good time. Everyone was dressed up for the occasion and, of course, wore big hats. I love big hats. There is something enchanting about a well worn hat. There were also Mint Juleps, the quintessential Kentucky Derby drink. 

Unfortunately, I lost all my bets. I thought Mr. Hot Stuff would win . How could a horse loose with a name like that? But I was wrong... Mine That Bird won. Mine That Bird had 50-1 chances of winning. Who would have guessed! There were at least 100 people at the party and only ONE person bet on the winner. 

May is for Yay!

May is one of the most most awesome months of the year. I'm so happy we are in May already. I couldn't wait for it to arrive. Yay! It even rained today, which I think is wonderful. I love the rain. Rain cleanses the earth, takes away the bad and helps beautiful things grow. April brought with it so much bad, what with the pig flu and all. May represents a new start. I am ready.

First Chickens, Now Pigs

According to both CNN news and BBC online, there is a new outbreak of the flu: the Swine Flu. Swine flu typically affects only pigs, but some sick pigs gave it to humans in Mexico... and now there are sick humans spreading the pig disease everywhere. The influenza is particularly worrisome because humans have no immunity to it; it is a completely new strain of flu that the medical world knows nothing about. There are 68 people dead in Mexico already, mostly in the capital region. There are reports of cases in California and Texas of the same strain of the flu too. WHO officials are worried this Swine Flu may become a world pandemic.

Schools, museums, libraries and universities are closing in Mexico's capital region to help contain the spread of the influenza. In other words, Mexico is shutting down.

This is devastating news. If the disease is not contained, many people could become sick, die and -of course- my Mexican wedding will need to be canceled.

Here are links to online articles: CNN. BBC.

I can't help but to think that if there were more vegetarians in the world this never would have happened, because we would not need to raise so many pigs for slaughter. I'm also worried about people eating pig meat that was unknowingly contaminated with the flu. I'm sure that can't be healthy either. Does Mexico even have pig-meat control for this type of disease? I doubt it...yet more compelling reasons to not eat meat. I'm sure PETA is having a field day with this outbreak.

Beware: McDonald's Iced Coffee = CRACK!

I have reached the conclusion that McDonald's Ice Coffee must be laced with crack-cocaine for it to be so addictive. Once you have had one you are hooked. Once you have had one you will crave its sugary goodness, especially on hot days. Once you have tasted the coffee, full of sweet, sweet caffeine, there is simply no way you can resist having another.

Reasons why this beverage should be considered an illegal drug:

1) The burst of energy you get from this beverage is outstanding. Forget Redbull or Monster or other energy drinks. They are child's play. Have a McDonald's Ice Coffee and you will be jittery with energy for hours.

2) You will get a (sugar) high out of this world.

3) Its cheap and easy to obtain.

4) They sell it on every corner. 

5) Its only a matter of time before some young kids OD on McDonald's ice coffee and die from a heart attack. 

6) It is highly addictive.

7) There are withdraw symptoms if you try to break the habit. These withdraw symptoms will appear if you have tried the beverage as little as two days consecutively.  The symptoms include tiredness, fatigue, irritability, inability to concentrate and a massive headache. The headache will be so bad you will think you have a brain tumor. 

I know all of these things from personal experience and in-depth research into the subject matter. 

You have been warned.

Miserable Monday Madness

I admit that voluntarily eating a homemade plate of black beans for breakfast and another plate of black beans for lunch did not contribute to my overall well-being on Monday. I probably should have foreseen that. But, it wasn't like I had much of a choice. Beans were all I had so beans I ate. Aside from the two culinary indiscretions and the subsequent intestinal calamity that they engendered, these are the elements of Monday that made my Monday miserable:

1) Normally I like my job and work is OK. However, work was particularly tedious on Monday and I had to stay working late to complete a task that ultimately proved not necessary to complete. Because of my commitment to work I was running late... and almost didn't arrive in time for my final exam later that evening. I hate being late, especially when it is for something important. Tardiness really stresses me out.

2) There were problems at work associated with my tuition reimbursement. I followed all of the necessary instructions to receive the reimbursement... Apparently, some paperwork that I had turned in was now "missing". Confusion followed. Nobody knew what, where, when or why. This caused me a fair amount of distress.

3) I had a horrible migraine all day long, which progressively got worse during the day's course. By the end of the day I could barely keep my bloodshot eyes open. My head hurt so much I felt nauseous. Tylenol did not help.

4) I had a big final exam for my Financial Management class at San Jose State. The exam started at 6:00pm. I was under a lot of pressure to perform well on this test. I had studied for it all weekend.

5) I arrived at San Jose State to discover that the vending coffee machine was broken. This vending machine is NEVER broken at school. I was counting on this machine for a much necessary pick-me-up. But -of course- the one day I decide that I'm going to use it, when I could really use some caffeine in order to help me get though this test and possibly help alleviate my headache, it was not working.

6) When I arrived to my classroom I was met with an unpleasant surprise: the air conditioner was out of order. We were in the middle of a heat wave, with temperatures around 42C. I had to present my final after a long and stressful day at work, with an upset stomach, a migraine, and oppressive heat. I felt like throwing up several times during the test. I could barely concentrate and I ultimately do not think I did very well.

In conclusion, my Monday was a disaster on many levels. I hope to never repeat it.

Yay for Car Maintenance!

Finally, after months of procrastinating about getting my car tuned up, today I did it. Today I took my car to the service center to get its tires rotated and oil changed. My little toyota feels happier, or maybe its just me...

Buffets, Easter and New Diet

I have no self control when I'm hungry and there is a delicious buffet available. And even if I am not hungry, if there is a buffet available I can't help but to eat. I simply can not get enough if the food is good! Here are some examples to support my claim.
Example #1: A couple of weekends ago I accidentally ate fowl at a buffet because I was so carried away in the heat of eating that I didn't realize there was chicken in the curry. When on my second plate of the curry I realized my mistake. It caused me much embarrassment.
Example #2: Last weekend I went to a buffet brunch and totally stuffed myself.
Example #3: Yesterday I went to an Indian buffet and drastically overindulged in naan bread, garbanzo beans, curry and samosas. When I left that Indian restaurant I was so stuffed that I could not walk straight. I was walking like a 9 month pregnant lady with swollen ankles, holding my belly as if it were a soon-to-rupture-food-baby.
Yesterday I realized that there was a destructive eating-pattern emerging in my behaviors. I realized that I have a problem. A problem of buffet-proportions.


Then... Today was Easter. In my family, Easter is known as a Thanksgiving-type celebration that involves bunnies and chocolate eggs instead of turkeys and pilgrims. In other words, its all about the food. I tried to control myself a little better today than yesterday. But Easter is a holiday; how can you expect to have self control about delicious food and buffets on a holiday? There were artichokes and barley and squashes and cheeses and breads and crackers and fruits and salads and grilled vegetables and lots of deserts. All of these items were worthy of eating by (even the pickiest) kings and queens. Certainly the Easter Bunny would want me to feast?!!? Against my better judgment, I had second helpings of homemade pies and scrumptious upside down pineapple cake.


Unsurprisingly, now I feel sort of disgusted with myself. I feel too full. I am gaining weight. Something needs to change: This Easter was my LAST buffet overindulgence. As of this very second I am starting a new diet. My diet involves avoiding buffets. And, if for some reason I am forced into a buffet-situation, I will only eat ONE plate. Just one. One plate should be more than enough for me.

Feeling Better

I had a great weekend.