Couch Potato

How much does it cost to spend time on the couch? After spending $2 on "50/50" and $3 on "In Time" at Blockbuster Express in a two-day period, you start to think that if this goes on for a month period, you'll be spending a minimum of $75. And that is watching only one movie a day and keeping the movie for just one day. Each day the movie isn't returned, you are being charged the same amount it was charged the first day. If the movie got buried under your school books and old gym clothes in the trunk of your car for weeks on end, consider yourself one poor bastard.

So to cut down on that expense, we added a new expense through DirectTv cable to have Showtime, Cinamax, HBO and other channels that provides movies we would've had to rent. The upgrade is costing us another $40 bucks a month which makes the grand total close to $120. That's over$1500 dollars a year.

We've done careful calculation and found that in order to hit break-even point for each month, we need to watch at least 16 movies a month, which averages out to .5 movie per day. So in order to make a profit, we would have to watch one full movie each and every day of each and every month. This means no starting a movie and then stopping it half way through, no falling asleep during a movie, no talking on the phone or doing homework during a movie, no cooking or house chores or sex during a movie, no going a day without watching a movie, nothing. If we missed a movie today, we'd have to watch two the next. If we've powered through three movies today, we are good for the next two days. You get the idea.

How is this cheaper than renting one movie at a time? Well it's not. But one good thing is we are forced to cuddle, all the time, on the couch. DirecTv is charging us a monthly fee to sit on our couch, in our own living room, and cuddle. It's costly to be a couch potato, but we couldn't be happier.

Aftermath

There isn't a richter scale made to accurately measure the aftermath of my previous weekend. A sudden cold-like symptom hovers over me and my suspicion of this cause is a combination of Origine Vodka & Tonic Soda at our house followed by Charlie Palmer and Tin Lizzie Saloon, all of which happened on Saturday, just two nights ago. My head is screaming uncontrollable pain and its heaviness is taking over my concentration. My brain and body are out of commission. Wish I can put up a sign that says, "closed for lunch, will be back a long long time from now".

My day starts out slow, listening to sparrows making music outside, watching the Cooking Channel, and waiting for a potential buyer, Danielle, to come and snatch a few wooden boxes. All sales revenue will be spent at the nearest grocery store today. Her expected time of arrival is 11:30am, which is about an hour away, and my expected sales revenue will be a whooping 75 dollars.

The central heating system has been on auto all morning, set to 75 degrees to heat upthe entire house, yet my hands and feet remain cold and numbing and I am more irratible than ever . I'm in desperate need to break out of this icebox and get outside where it appears nicer and the warmth provided by the sun seems cozy. Perhaps I should run an errand of some sort.

My vision is blurry and my thoughts are hazy as I head out to return a movie, "50/50" at Blockbuster Express located inside of Rite Aid. I am still exhausted! And I still cannot think. My mind is shot down by the residue of liquor intake (known as birthday shots) that occurred two nights ago. I feel weak and my body feels soggy like over-marinate beef skewers.

I'm sitting in class now, and just 48 hours until our first exam, I am trying to stay in tact and alert. I'm eager to go home and lay my beaten body down on the couch and snooze until I feel better.

The weekend was a blast, however, the repercussions are more than I can handle. Nonetheless, I vouch to not change a single thing when my next birthday rolls around. Thank goodness it is more than 11 months away. Thank goodness.

Y-E-S

From a so-called beatlab, inspired by Step Brothers, or otherwise known as Dan's private place for alone-time and secret dances, were tunes of "Your Birthday" by The Beattles, "In da Club" by 50 cent, and "birthday Sex", by Jeremiah, all Deejayed by the master himself, Dan Sheahan. One tune after the next, it travels into our room and gently caresses my ears as I lay in bed unable to wake up. Sitting on the nightstand is the sweet aroma of freshly brewed coffee resting in a pink Pepelepue cup with a swirl of vanilla nut creamer. It is irresistible and the smell is so real I can taste it. This is when I realize that today is a special day.

Today is Thursday and it is one day out of the week that gets stretched like a shrunk knit sweater that has been tossed in the drier for too long. The usual work, then school, then more work routine gets an unexpected side order of Dan's later to be revealed birthday surprise. Rolling up in his driving machine, and parked in the red zone outside my work, he waits patiently as I finish up my last client for the day. With Gulf Stream, a local seafood restaruant with the coolest outdoor patio and amazing oysters on the half shell, as our final destination, Dan insists on making a quick stop beforehand. All trust invested, I follow his lead. Although my stomach is kicking in pain and begging for anything to eat, I remain as cool as a mid-summer's strawberry lemonade. As we head further away from Newport and closer to Huntington Beach on PCH going northbound, my wondering mind is restless and my tummy is now fuming with steam ready for a Man vs Food challenge.

With luck on my side, a parking spot became available upon our arrival in downtown Huntington Beach. Parked on 5th Street, a number held close to my heart, we walk towards the ocean with hands locked tight and shivering every step of the way. Hunger creeps up on me once again, but I refrain from voicing it this time around. As we approach the front of Shorebreak Hotel, he points out the exact spot of our first meeting eleven months prior. The magic number five appears again, all of them are black beach chairs placed horizontally side by side in front of the hotel. Dan was adamant to have me sit in the chair where he had sat the first day we met. "I have two birthday presents for you to open," he says softly. From a black fabric recycled grocery bag, he hands me two wrapped presents, one on top of the other and insists I start with the small-sized present on top.

This little square shaped present was small enough to fit comfortably in the middle of my palm. I felt an immediate connection to the box and felt in my heart this could be my dream come true. As I continue to unwrap and finally open the red wooden box, it was empty, just the white velvet lining glimmering back at me. If this is a joke, it is poorly delivered and nobody is laughing. Feelings of confusion and possibly resentment may be filtering my thoughts. Dan immediately intersects my shocking reaction with a ring held loosely in his right hand and on one knee, he asks me words I will never forget, "Will you marry me?". Without a blink of an eye, tears came rolling down and both of us held each other tight. Catching small gaps of air, Y-E-S! are being whispered under my breath as Dan holds me even tighter.

While time is unmeasurable and bliss is our state of being, the second and bigger present got pushed to the sideline. But eventually, out of the corner of my eye, it catches my attention and excitement fills my body again. This is just the cherry on top - a Blackberry Playbook!!

Tonight I will pack my bag, filling it with only memories of the past, learned lessons, and my willingness to make Dan my priority, I head out to the road of woman hood. I am beside myself and ever so grateful to take on this next saga with my beloved. O

Be Mine

As Wikipedia would have it, Valentine's Day was established by Pope Gelasius I in 496 A.D and named after Saint Valentine, a Christian martyrs. For decades, it was thought that Hallmark created this holiday to boost sales revenue and during this process have created an official holiday for lovers. I haven't done adequate research to confirm which is rumor and which is the truth, but for now, this holiday exists and everyone is buying into it.

The celebration of this lover's day has been bitter sweet for the american culture. Whether your are newly dating or have been together for years, there is a set of unspoken expectations that need be met to validate your love from one another. By unspoken expectation, I mean a romantic dinner, long stem roses, and candy, all in that exact order. It is one day out of the year that if you get it right, you automatically earn the priviledge to screw up as much as you want for the rest of the year. And for the people who are single, the bitterness and unwillingness to accept this lover's day celebration gets expressed via Facebook, twitter, or any modern day social sites. Despising this lover's holiday suddenly vanishes the second a person enters a loving relationship. It's a vicious cycle of love, hate, and celebration.

Yes, in my opinion, it's a twisted holiday and despite the fact that I think all this is B.S, I still adore the gorgeous dozen red roses given to me by Dan today. And for as long as I'm with Dan, I will celebrate Valentine's Day.

Candles

2/12/12

It is 7:52 am, Sunday morning and I am awaken by the blazing sunlight creeping through the seemingly thick drapes embroidered with soft florals. As i lay in bed, three distinct sounds fill the room; at a distance is our magnificent robot that cleans the pool at exactly 7:30 am daily, at the far corner of the bedroom and on the floor is a space heater, and right next to me is Dan's heavy breathing probably due to exhaustion from our continuous home organization that ended just a few hours ago.

Dan is a light sleeper to the extreme and any nano of a movement will cause him to say these words," honey, I love you so much, but...", and after "but" would be something different that he would say depending on the morning. As I lay here quietly, trying my best to refrain from movement under the sheets, thoughts of the last couple of days race through my over capacitated mind. My fingers are becoming numb as I continue to write this blog, but if I move even a smidgen, finishing this blog will never reach the finish line. So I continue to type as fast as i can while maximizing the numbness in these fingers.

I start to recall Dan's move away from his Manhattan Beach home to Fountain Valley where we will join forces. It was last Saturday when Dan and Nate initiated the move by transporting his elegant William Sonoma bed using my dad's minivan. And it was a couple of days ago that we used the same minivan as our logistic means to finalize the rest of his stuff. In retrospect, hiring movers would've been costly, but our bodies wouldn't have suffered from tremendous pains. Salonpas, a sticky patch that gets applied to achey parts of the body, releases heat to reduce pain, just like Bengay, keeps us feeling normal. It was a life saver to say the least.

Today we will wake up to more organizing and more Salonpas. The timer is set for 5pm, this is when we will begin preparation for my birthday dinner celebration that will be shared with my beautiful family. The menu includes 12 lobster tails, beef loin and chicken skewers all cooked on the grill and paired with pasta salad, mixed greens and pilaf rice. And to finish off the night, we will end with a birthday cake, mouthwatering tarimasu from Boulangerie Pierre & Patisserie, a French Vietnamese Bakery.

This will be one achiest, tastiest and bestest birthday I will have!!

A Jewel

2/7/12 Tuesday

Yesterday was more than exceptional, it was a mother-daughter-play-day spent shopping the entire town to gather ideas and to turn concepts into reality. We walked into a store that was taken over by retail items that struggled for liquidation in the past few years. Amongst all the stuff was an item embellished with precious gem to be discovered by us. It was as if it was waiting for us. Placed on a glass shelf, right at eye level, it's noticeable shimmering glow caught our immediate attention the second we entered the store. Without a second thought, I grabbed it tight in my palm and requested every bit of information about this unique piece of jewel. I can't give away what it is exactly, but what I can say is it's a glorious piece of jeweled holder of some sort, that as tradition has it, will be tossed to the next predicted bride at the end of our reception. This sets the complete style and theme for our wedding in June and I have my dedicated mother to thank for. I'm am blessed.

I do

Often Sundays are spent with your kids at the park, brunch with a spouse at a favorite restaurant that serves bottomless mimosas, or laundry and chores around the house. Despite our late night on Saturday, we managed to launch out of bed at approximately 8:30am.

Today will be unlike any other Sunday in my life. There will be no typical house work (just the bare essentials), nor will there be alluring bottomless mimosas. Instead, I will draft the initial concept of a wedding that may have been my dream.

This is where the uniquely awkward inner child of mine yerns to be exposed. The years leading up to this day was not typical of any girl, as there were never an image of a bridal dress, let alone a well-planned-out dream wedding. Let's not let this be confused with the sentimental meaning that constitutes a wedding and the connections and unions brought together by loved ones.

What I'm trying to say is that this precious event is essentially one of the most meaningful events that will occur during the course of my life. And yes, I do want it perfect and flawless, however, the enjoyment of each guest is far more important to me than any perfectly arranged floral arrangement or place cards can ever give. So with that in mind, the physical concept of the wedding can only be experienced and not seen. And each seat at the event is reserved for only the the ones who have impacted my life in someway and hold a special place in my heart.

After all, it is not the material things that make for a perfect wedding, it is the special bond, acknowledgment and happiness that each and every guest will experience. And these things are intangible yet priceless.

This, in-a-nut-shell, is my dream wedding.