Carpet Cleaning!

Yesterday I took the day off for another dental appointment. My friend, Jeff, came over and cleaned my carpets as well! We made a deal: I pay for the rental and he does all of the work (and he used the machine on his place too. It was a SWEET deal for me.

Right away when he came over he noticed that the battery in one of my fire alarms was beeping...I must confess that it had been beeping for over a week...Jeff couldn't stand it for two seconds! It was nice to have a guy around to change the battery. I AM capable of doing it myself, but it was sort of an experiment because I figured he would do it if he heard it go off! :)


The process took several hours. Jeff put this spray down and then he put this saw dust material on the carpet and used the machine to brush/grind the material into the carpet. I went to my appointment and came back and he was still hard at work.

Then he left to go to his place and then he came back several hours later to vacuum it all up--he really worked diligently. I was getting hot just watching him work! He even took out his crevice tool! I love a man who can use a crevice tool! :)

Now my carpets look brand new! After my exam I am going to do a thorough dusting so that it completes the finished look!

Root Canal - Again

Whelp, I had to get another root canal today. I went back to Dr. Shams to check on the pain I had a week ago. The antibiotics he had prescribed to me really helped out, but I was still experiencing pain and Dr. Shams felt that I should have a root canal.

My last root canal was in February and it was a breeze in comparison to this one! The last one had less infection and only one canal. Dr. Shams pumped me with tons of novacaine and I still felt pain. Even after the root canal I felt pretty intense pain due to the infection. Dr. Shams prescribed me a different antibiotic as well as a Tylenol-3 prescription, although I haven't taken the T-3 because it makes you drowsy and I needed to stay awake so that I could finish the Regulation simulations I needed to finish in order to print out the performance summary I need to get a free retake.

I was able to finish the simulations--yay! I was also able to read one section (of seven) while in the dentist's office! I was joking with Dr. Shams that people don't like the dentist and taxes and I was combining the two--facing fears! :)

Leslie's Birthday Dinner

Tonight I met up with a group of people to celebrate our friend, Leslie's, birthday. We went to Buca di Beppo's which I always like. I was craving their Apple and Gorgonzola salad (with Feta instead of gorgonzola cheese) since the last time I had gone to Buca's. It is such a fresh salad and they do not overdo it with the dressing.

Leslie doesn't really like a lot of attention so she doesn't really celebrate her birthday, so most of her friends were surprised she was having anything. Of course, it wasn't her idea--it was Nicole's, which was nice.

Here's Nicole and Lisa: Leslie and Heather:
Leslie is a huge Lakers fan, so she wasn't without Laker gear!We had tons of food left over! We packed up the vegetarian dishes for Leslie and gave the chicken to Bryan (he's our starving student! :).

I ended up running into a blast from the past: Collette Temblador. She and I used to attend catechism together, so I've known her since we were 5. We used to be best friends, way back when. I have so many memories of her. Her 9th birthday party she had a Michael Jackson look-a-like, which was so cool back then (it was before he got weird). She and I were also in drill team together and she hosted a sleep over that my sister, Erika, still mentions to me (while Erika was sleeping, a group of girls put mustard in her hair and she's been traumatized every since!). It was nice to see Collette again. I can't believe how time flies!

Cook 'n' Stuff

I guess I was pretty productive today. Started my day doing laundry and while I was waiting for it I got some studying in and I did do the dishes that had been piling

As a break from studying (after the laundry was done), I went to Bed, Bath and Beyond to find a neck massager because I woke up with the stiffest neck! I ended up getting a shiatsu massage pillow. I do not like the feeling of vibrations, so this was perfect because it kneads your muscles instead. I also ended up getting my birthday gift for my friend, Leslie there as well.


I then went to Trader Joe's to pick up some food so that I could prepare it for the week. I decided to make a beef stew using my crock pot. I just threw in stew meat, a mix of onions, celery and carrots, and also an array of colored potatoes. I added some spaghetti sauce and some water and viola! Crock pot cooking is so easy! I wanted to make some chicken as well, so I cooked up some sun-dried tomato and basil chicken using my grill pan. It is delicious, because I was craving meat so I had some before I made my salad.
I made a beet and fat free feta cheese salad. I got the inspiration from Sammy's Woodfired Pizza and I make it on occasion. I just chopped some beets and added some feta. You could also add some italian dressing, but I had it plain. The beets kind of reminded me of my mom. She really liked beets.


It really hit the spot and motivated me for another couple hours of studying!

Audit Exam

I took the audit exam today. I woke up, showered (to wake myself up) and then studied for several hours before heading to the test sight.

This testing required 2 forms of identification, a picture to be taken and several index finger scans before I headed into the exam room.

I actually finished the exam an hour earlier than I had allotted to me. Don't know what that means, especially since a guy told me he took the whole time to finish his exam. Can't really say much else about the exam, except that my brain was fried afterwards!

My friend, Alice, picked me up later and we went for a walk on the Strand. It was so nice to get outside and exercise! This past week I haven't done anything but work and study so it was nice to get moving! It was nice to hang out with Alice too!

Next on my plate--the Regulation exam on May 1st. I still have some homework to do before I do the final review. I'm taking tomorrow off, though!

Andy and Jenn's Engagement Party

The happy couple:
Lisa, Jenn and I before heading to the yacht:
Yesterday (after studying in the morning and afternoon) I went to Long Beach for an engagement party for Andy Steip (Brian's brother) and his fiancee, Jenn (who is a friend of mine). They are both in my bible study on Wednesday nights. The party was at my friend, Nicole's (she's a bridesmaid) parents house and on their yacht. The Detjen's were so nice to host the party. It was great to see everyone and we all had a fun time, even when the water was so choppy we were flung about! We ended the cruise with a champagne toast and prayer for Andy and Jenn.

Here's Jenn with Scotti and Rich (her soon-to-be in-laws): After the yacht tour a bunch of us went on the duffy (think Jungle Cruise). I really should have gone home to study, but I'm way too social for that! It was a fun cruise, even though we couldn't go to Naples. We weren't able t go all the way because it was high tide and the water was too high for us to pass under the bridges.

Bryan, Jenn and Ross laugh away!
I drove home and made it back at about 9pm. I studied for an hour longer and that was all I could do. :)

First Day Back at Work

Yesterday was my first day at my new contract job. I was grateful that I didn't have any problems getting to sleep the night before and I had a great night's sleep. I am sure it is the residual effect of the boot camp I did Saturday, coupled with the hike I did on Sunday!

I woke up with no problem (unlike this morning...where I put the snooze on for 15 minutes) and was on the road by 7:30am. I was expected to meet with Mike Dowd, my new manager, at 9am so I gave myself ample time to get there. I parked in visitor parking and went to the 37th floor to meet Mike. I have to tell you-- 37 floors is a long way up! My ears were clogged from the change in altitude! :)

Mike is a really nice guy and I found out he lives in the South Bay as well. It seems as if several people here do. Mike explained their complicated entity structure before lunchtime so I could let it soak in. I had parked in the building, but apparently employees park across the street, so I was given a temporary badge and 2 hours worth of validation so that I could move my car. Well, what I didn't realize was that my car was not parked on the parking levels P1-P3. I assumed that I was on P1 because I was only one floor from the lobby, but after 25 minutes of trying to find my car, a security guard told me that visitor parking was on the other parking levels C, A or B. I got to my car on level A and drove out of the garage (after paying $8.50 because the system only gives you 12 minutes to find your car or they charge you.).

The new garage is nice, and it is great to have a brisk walk to the building to and from work. After I dropped my car off, I had only a little time to find the Century City Mall food court to eat a quick lunch. I ate in record time, I think and barely ate anything because I was running out of time. I definitely see an advantage to a salaried job! As a consultant, I have to log my time.

In the afternoon, Mike gave me real work to do--to start working on a spreadsheet. I was thrilled because first days are usually filled with "read these financial statements" or "go over these policies and procedures" (and don't worry, there was some of that), but it was nice to do some real accounting. I was afraid I'd be rusty, but it's like riding a bike! I am having to adjust to working with two monitors, but it has it's advantages.

I left work at 6pm to fight with rush hour traffic, which actually wasn't as bad as I expected. My friend, Alice, told me it was because of spring break. Goody, something to look forward to! My commute this morning was a little over an hour to drive approximately 16 miles (a distance in the opposite direction takes a half an hour). Let's hope my commute home will not be longer than an hour. That's a lot of time to spend in your car!

I am very grateful to having this job and was just thinking today that my time out of work was very beneficial to me (not too much stress in terms of feeling the need to urgently find a job). The time helped me travel more, de-stress from my previous job and recently, it's helped me study for my exams. :)

Easter 2010

Although it took me 15 extra minutes on the snooze, I woke up and made it to the 6am sunrise service. Man was it early and pretty cold! I was able to meet up with a group. The service was pretty good...the pastor talked about the resurrection, but also intertwined the story of Nicodemus.

After church a group of about 16 of us met up at The Corner Bakery for breakfast. We all had a great time. I was able to catch up with a few people, which was great since some of them actually go to a different church. I didn't get home until 10am, which is amazing! What a great time of fellowship!

I drove to Palos Verdes to have lunch at Scotti and Rich Steip's (they are my sister, Erika's in-laws). Andy and Jenn (my bro-in-law's brother and his brother's fiance), and Katie (bro-in law's sister) were also there. Scotti served ham, scalloped potatoes and asparagus. It was delicious.

During a conversation with Rich, while I was mid-sentence, I started having problems focusing on what I was saying because I started getting dizzy. It wasn't until about 30 seconds later that Rich and Scotti noticed that we were experiencing an earthquake! A 7.2 earthquake hit Mexicali, Baja Mexico and it is unbelievable to me that we felt it so far north. Of course, people in Vegas and Phoenix also felt it.

After the initial excitement, Scotti and I decided to go for a hike. We went to the Del Cerro Park hike, which had significant fire damage (you'll remember pics from a previous post) the last time I was here. There has been so much change! There on acres of wildflowers that have grown over a good portion of the previously damaged areas, although there is still a comingle burnt trees and the wildflowers.

Here's Scotti with the mustard flowers in the background:
And here I am:
A few more views:

Howl at the Moon

Last night about 12 of us drove to Universal City Walk to celebrate Nicole's birthday at the piano bar Howl at the Moon. She had won VIP entry (which included 2 low-priced drinks and a buffet).
Here's Stephanie, me and Nicole:
The atmosphere is really fun...Nicole was asked to go up to the piano player and he began to sing "an 80's song" but it was the "Oscar Myer Weiner" song and he started getting raunchy with it (which I definitely didn't appreciate) so much that Nicole ran to the other piano player to sit next to him! That was a smart move! I brought my camera, of course, so Jenn and I had some fun with it:


There was a tv film crew at the bar. Apparently TLC is filming a "reality" show about a girl who lost 100 lbs and they gave her a "trunk lift" surgery in exchange for filming her story. It's funny how they call it "reality tv" yet she came up to the stage 3 different times to get her "Thank you for all the support" speech just the way the production staff wanted it. I was so glad that they stopped at 3!

There were a few people there that I rarely get to see, so it was nice to chat with them. I ordered wine because the first two drinks were only $1, but I didn't care for it so I only had a few sips. I did have about half of Nicole's blended drink which tasted just like punch (Nicole gave it to me because she thought it was too sweet) and I got a little tipsy for a little bit (not the whole time).

From left to right: Kaitlyn, Este, Lisa and Nicole:

Bryan drove my car there since I really didn't want to drive to L.A., so we left at about 9 upon his request. I was so happy for someone else to drive, but it was a little odd sitting in the passenger side of my own car! Before heading back, we stopped in at YogurtLand where Bryan tried about 15 different flavors before settling on red velvet cake batter, strawberry and vanilla.