i was super productive today. after work, i
* went to the dentist
* checked on squee
* went to the pharmacy
* went to costco
* went home for a bit, then
* did laundry at the baby-infested laundromat down the street

tomorrow, after work, i
* need to get a manicure/pedicure
* check on squee
* finish packing
* make a happy airplane bag
* i think i’m forgetting something, but i’m not sure what it is.

…and i know that i’ve been pretty obsessive about the state of my finances lately. being able to buy a house is very high on my list of priorities, as is being able to afford the wedding of our dreams. after the wedding my list will include buying my husband-to-be his first motorized vehicle. i’m also pretty lucky that my husband-to-be trusts me to handle all of this.

so, i need to get this of my chest: my credit cards are at zero. and, if things to as planned, we’ll have 15k for our march ‘09 wedding, 35k for the down payment on our home by december ‘09, and my husband-to-be’s vespa by august ‘09.

i freak out about a lot of things, and money is one of the ones that i freak out about often. but when i look at things in perspective, like, how all the bills are paid, and money has been put into savings, and there’s still money leftover, i know that i’m doing right with myself and the trust that my partner has given me.

with all moves come purges. the question is, which charity gets my good stuff that i don’t need/want?

los angeles mission, covenant house, or beyond shelter?

they’re all really great causes, mostly for the homeless. covenant house is aimed at homeless youth, beyond shelter is a homeless women’s shelter, and the mission is for anyone who’s homeless. my sellable stuff is going to out of the closet and a lot of stuff is going to the kids at work.

but really, covenant, beyond shelter or la mission?

so, every time i make resolutions that revolve around set in stone goals, i always fall flat on my face. things like, lose those last five pounds, blah blah blah…so, with that in mind, here goes:

1. just be healthier. not lose weight, not stop eating red meat, just be healthier.
2. drink more water.
3. live debt free.
4. be the best person i can be, every day, to all those around me, all the time.

after almost six weeks of really disliking my job, i have finally had a good day.  it’s what i was expecting when i agreed to take it.  i had very good communication with my main cow-orker, and i let her know that i thought she was very difficult to read (i consider myself to be a good judge of poeple’s emotions and feelings), which was really bothering me.  plus, there was a lot of work to do today, which made me finally feel useful.  i was feeling very useless, and redundant.  i actually believe there isn’t enough work for two people.  definitely too much work for one, but not enough for two.

i also taught a class this morning, which always makes me feel good.  and i played softball after work.  i also did something kinda bitchy intentionally.  someone’s been parking poorly at work, and i blocked his car in for being a bitch.  he’s a custodian, who gets to work early enough to have better parking, but choose to park in a tandem spot, wasting two spaces.

movie night consisted of buckets of fried chicken and fixin’s from kfc, and watching eight ninths of the william shatner roast on comedy.

yesterday was a movie night field trip–little miss sunshine was so funny, i cried.  jnb3 was howling next to me, and laughing with me at inappropirate moments.  bless his heart.

disneyland was sunday, and that awesome too.  and saturday was the cactus show and dinner with banana (aka sanfranann).  i’m very lucky to have good friends who are taking good care of me while my love is away.  i love you, and we’ll be back together soon.

anyway, good day.  finally.  i’ve been waiting for this.  for too long.  i’m expecting more of this.  not hope.  expect.

salty and i had a date in little tokyo today. we tried out one more of mr. gold’s essential 99. today’s pick: haru ulala, an izakaya restaurant.

on our menu:
grilled japanese peppers with ginger and bonito flakes
grilled miso flavored rice balls
black pork sausage
grilled yellowtail collar
soba noodles in dashi broth
fried shrimp with spinach
fresh oyster nigiri
fried shittake shrimp balls

i think i may be leaving things out, but i’m full, and happy, and my wallet doesn’t hate me (i made two bucks off of the ‘how much will this cost’ bet).

so, i’m weening myself off of high fructose corn syrup, and i’m trying (though unsuccessfully) taking food colorings out of my diet too (not that there’s anything wrong with them, but i don’t think my food needs any coal tar in it). but i need to wage a different war on sodium lauryl sufate (sls). it’s the additive that makes stuff foam it’s in a lot of things like soap, shampoo. my problem is when it’s in my toothpaste and mouthwash. i’m among the 15% of the population that has an allergic reaction to it. it’s causing canker sores.

i’ve done a lot of research about it, and most of it points to the sls additives, but other causes are stress (hello!), menstrual cycling (check!), nutritional deficiencies (got them too), genetics (dad’s been known to get them), and taking nsaids (take them too). as far as i’m concerned, i’m their fucking poster girl.

so, yesterday, at our monthly trip to whole paycheck foods, i found a new toothpaste that i don’t mind the flavor of. i got the powersmile with coenzyme q10. it cost a lot ($5.50 a tube), but if it means i never get another canker sore, that’s worth it. plus, it takes like 2 months to finish a tube by myself anyway (salty said he won’t be sharing it with me.).

so, in short, i’m not a health freak. really. i’m not. but i take vitamins (multi, c, Ω-3, garlic, condroitin, gingko biloba, and i probably should add a b complex and l-lysine), i buy special soda that doesn’t have corn syrup, i have special toothpaste, and i try to drink 1.5L of water a day. i’m really not a health freak.

for the first time in 25 years, i finally have matching furniture.

if you are fortunate enough to live in los angeles, and fortunate enough to be alive today, you will notice several lovely things:

1. no rain.
2. nary a cloud in sight.
3. the current weather, as of 10:04 am, seems to be about 67°. the high, for later will be about 79°.
4. singing birds.

sometimes, i get so wrapped up in my work and getting things done, that i forget the profound peace that is around me. true, i live in the thick of the city, but i also have my own private piece of heaven carved out of her that i can retreat to, and find solace in. i took today off to mentally recouperate. last night, i came home, sat on the couch for a little tv, and promptly fell asleep. i woke up enough to realize that salty had gone to bed (this is about 5:00 in the afternoon, btw). crawled into bed with him, and slept the whole night through. i had woken up briefly at about 9:30 and noticed that he had gotten up, but didn’t muster enough energy to join him. he came back two hours later. we both woke up chipper at 6:00 the next morning.

good times, ‘yo. good times.

it’s actually been a hell of a month. events stacked on top of events. it’s been exhausting, and because i’ve missed so much time from work, i can’t actually take a mental health day. i’m so glad i have a holiday tomorrow. if it weren’t for three-day weekends, i’d be pretty fucked right about now.

highlights:
* happy bunny keyboard stickers on my lappy.
* muji mini stapler from the moca ecstasy exhibit.
* daikokuya pork bowls
* shabu shabu (after 2 years, salty and i finally did it).
* my retroactive raise coming in.
* my new manhattan portage laptop bag
* getting two bouquets of flowers for valentine’s day–one for tuesday, and another for the following friday.

overall, it’s been a good, high-low week/month…