the ONE day... in i don't know how long, i decide to work in the office late (instead of working from home) because i have so much crap to do, and there has to be a 5.6 earthquake! that was quite a shaker, especially since i'm in a work building and not on the ground floor. i was swaying for quite some time. i usually sit through earthquakes, but this one was long and large enough to make me almost duck under my desk. being here by myself in the half-dark during that earthquake was quite scary. i was chatting with someone, and this is all i said:
me: omg
earthquake
omg
totally shaking
here
omg
omg
still shaking
hahaha. i could hear stuff falling during the quake. security's come around now, though, checking up on everything.
man. that set me back at least an hour!
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Monday, October 29, 2007
mental health day & pumpkin carving contest
ok, time to post some pics since i'm stuck on this conf call at work that's been going for 3+ hours.
took a much-needed friday off a week or so ago and had some fun in the city.
went to the exploratorium (which i had never been to) & the tactile dome (smelly but fun - though my knee could only handle so much, so i had to stop after two times)
exploratorium had all kinds of exhibits - this one had a clock that would countdown and then capture your shadow. too bad i can't jump.
found a big chair.
walked around palace of fine arts (also which i've never been to)
ate a late lunch at weird fish. good stuff.
hit up mitchell's after lunch.
went to union square between lunch and dinner, though it started raining.
went to dinner at bissap baobab, a senegalian restaurant. more good food.
went to some juice/drink place after dinner, and finally made our way home, only to find this when we got back.
awesome.
on saturday, we had a pumpkin carving contest! thanks to everyone who came & participated. i was quite impressed with the skill of the pumpkin carvers. and SORRY, there was no puppy as the first place prize. and somehow, just somehow... i ended up with MORE crap than i started with. those involved with the trouble-making, just be on the lookout.
some of the carvers hard at work
i don't know why everyone thought the first place prize was a puppy
we found a longhorn necklace. hook 'em... uh. scratch that. go bears. even though they suck.
jean's pumpkin
cindy's pumpkin
front of lawrence's pumpkin
back of lawrence's pumpkin
jimmy's pumpkin
jimmy's prize - my favorite. a foldable neon green nvidia hat! how can you NOT want one?
ok. getting tired of posting pics. but there are way more awesome pics from pumpkin carving (including more pumpkins) on my smugmug.
and here are more pics from mental health day.
took a much-needed friday off a week or so ago and had some fun in the city.
went to the exploratorium (which i had never been to) & the tactile dome (smelly but fun - though my knee could only handle so much, so i had to stop after two times)
exploratorium had all kinds of exhibits - this one had a clock that would countdown and then capture your shadow. too bad i can't jump.
found a big chair.
walked around palace of fine arts (also which i've never been to)
ate a late lunch at weird fish. good stuff.
hit up mitchell's after lunch.
went to union square between lunch and dinner, though it started raining.
went to dinner at bissap baobab, a senegalian restaurant. more good food.
went to some juice/drink place after dinner, and finally made our way home, only to find this when we got back.
awesome.
on saturday, we had a pumpkin carving contest! thanks to everyone who came & participated. i was quite impressed with the skill of the pumpkin carvers. and SORRY, there was no puppy as the first place prize. and somehow, just somehow... i ended up with MORE crap than i started with. those involved with the trouble-making, just be on the lookout.
some of the carvers hard at work
i don't know why everyone thought the first place prize was a puppy
we found a longhorn necklace. hook 'em... uh. scratch that. go bears. even though they suck.
jean's pumpkin
cindy's pumpkin
front of lawrence's pumpkin
back of lawrence's pumpkin
jimmy's pumpkin
jimmy's prize - my favorite. a foldable neon green nvidia hat! how can you NOT want one?
ok. getting tired of posting pics. but there are way more awesome pics from pumpkin carving (including more pumpkins) on my smugmug.
and here are more pics from mental health day.
Sunday, October 28, 2007
Thursday, October 25, 2007
year of transitions
wow, when i started 2007, i didn't know this is how i would be ending 2007. God has taken me on one roller-coaster of a ride!
besides leaving canaan a few months ago, for those who don't yet know, i've also given notice at work. i've given a loooong notice, as my last day is not until jan, but my boss has already announced it to my group, and word has spread fast. people from all different groups have already asked me if the rumor is true. by the time i leave, i'll have worked there for almost six years - crazy! through the almost six years, i've worked with a wide variety of people through various positions, so it'll be hard to say goodbye to everyone.
what next? i plan on taking a break. going on vacation. and then i'll figure it out from there. i thought it would be the perfect opportunity to go on that missions trip that i haven't been able to go on since i started working, but it's kind of too late for any trips that would be taking place in the beginning of next year. also looking into some volunteer opportunities while i'm taking the break. i just don't want to get lazy and sit on my butt day after day, so i need to be careful.
believe me, it took me a long time to get to this point. a lot of praying, asking God for confirmation, and lots of "encouraging" from certain people. i kept thinking of different reasons why i'd want to stay working there (free trip to hawaii, big chunk of options vesting soon, good company to work for, etc), but i finally realized that i just need to draw the line and do it, otherwise i'd never leave. why leave? yeah, ask me personally. lots of reasons.
so. so far in 2007, i've had knee surgeries #4 & #5, left a church, and given notice at work. wow... what more can happen? :)
crazy year.
i'll end with this. from google talk.
thanks mary. at least 46 < infinity.
besides leaving canaan a few months ago, for those who don't yet know, i've also given notice at work. i've given a loooong notice, as my last day is not until jan, but my boss has already announced it to my group, and word has spread fast. people from all different groups have already asked me if the rumor is true. by the time i leave, i'll have worked there for almost six years - crazy! through the almost six years, i've worked with a wide variety of people through various positions, so it'll be hard to say goodbye to everyone.
what next? i plan on taking a break. going on vacation. and then i'll figure it out from there. i thought it would be the perfect opportunity to go on that missions trip that i haven't been able to go on since i started working, but it's kind of too late for any trips that would be taking place in the beginning of next year. also looking into some volunteer opportunities while i'm taking the break. i just don't want to get lazy and sit on my butt day after day, so i need to be careful.
believe me, it took me a long time to get to this point. a lot of praying, asking God for confirmation, and lots of "encouraging" from certain people. i kept thinking of different reasons why i'd want to stay working there (free trip to hawaii, big chunk of options vesting soon, good company to work for, etc), but i finally realized that i just need to draw the line and do it, otherwise i'd never leave. why leave? yeah, ask me personally. lots of reasons.
so. so far in 2007, i've had knee surgeries #4 & #5, left a church, and given notice at work. wow... what more can happen? :)
crazy year.
i'll end with this. from google talk.
thanks mary. at least 46 < infinity.
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
panku & james
these videos of panku & james are so awesome. some are kind of long but worth it.
just go to youtube and search "panku & james" and you'll find tons.
just go to youtube and search "panku & james" and you'll find tons.
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Sunday, October 14, 2007
freedom reigns
ain't no party like a holy ghost party, cuz a holy ghost party don't stop! friday night worship. prayer. mush pot. thanks, guys. thanks, God.
the feeling of freedom is awesome. i feel more free now than i have in a long time. God is breaking me out of this little bubble that has been my life, and at first i was scared, but now i'm excited. i don't have the whole plan in place, but i have steps that are getting me there. i can definitely say the second half of 2007 is shaping up to be a big transition time in my life. God is teaching me to break out of my comfort zones and molds... kind of crazy!
by the way, i was trying to create a secondary gmail account, just for spam and stuff. obviously anything with any combo of my name is not available, so these were gmail's suggestions:
karen.was.chiu7
chiu6108
c.k29256
blue.equal6545990
umm... karen was chiu? i didn't know i got married.
blue.equal16545990?! how do they come up with these suggestions?
and freaking, stinking cal! stupid, freshman mental mistake; throw the ball out of bounds and the game would have at least gone into OT. sigh.
to get over the cal loss, i drowned my sorrows by karaoking. karaoke with jono is never boring. :)
the feeling of freedom is awesome. i feel more free now than i have in a long time. God is breaking me out of this little bubble that has been my life, and at first i was scared, but now i'm excited. i don't have the whole plan in place, but i have steps that are getting me there. i can definitely say the second half of 2007 is shaping up to be a big transition time in my life. God is teaching me to break out of my comfort zones and molds... kind of crazy!
by the way, i was trying to create a secondary gmail account, just for spam and stuff. obviously anything with any combo of my name is not available, so these were gmail's suggestions:
karen.was.chiu7
chiu6108
c.k29256
blue.equal6545990
umm... karen was chiu? i didn't know i got married.
blue.equal16545990?! how do they come up with these suggestions?
and freaking, stinking cal! stupid, freshman mental mistake; throw the ball out of bounds and the game would have at least gone into OT. sigh.
to get over the cal loss, i drowned my sorrows by karaoking. karaoke with jono is never boring. :)
Tuesday, October 09, 2007
mental health day
i'm taking next friday off, because i am in need of a sanity check. plus i'm about to max out on PTO again. it's quarter end, and my current job has nothing to do with quarter-end anymore - yet somehow i still got lectured for requesting one friday off. but you know what, i don't care. i'm beyond the point of giving a damn at this point. and, as i said, i'm about to max out on PTO again, and i'm not willing to lose my PTO.
and cal came *this* close to being ranked #1. that was crazy! good thing ev called to tell me to turn on the tv. i was running around our living room like a madwoman looking for our remote and trying to figure out what channel the stanford-usc game was on. people thought i was crazy. we managed to catch the last 30 seconds of the game - enough to see booty throw an interception to seal the win for stanford. i never thought i'd cheer so loudly for stanford, ever. cal's overrated at #2, but this is a crazy year of college football! gotta love it.
and if you refer someone to a job, don't you think the person should owe you dinner? i agreed to owe dinner to the people who helped with getting the job, but i think it should be reciprocated by the person who got the job. but since it isn't, mcdonald's it is!
and, i need to take a poll: when you hear "one week," do you think seven consecutive days, or can "one week" be interpreted as seven random saturdays or sundays, one per year, over the next ten years?
why do i feel like i'm on the losing end of everything? i need to stop making deals. :)
and cal came *this* close to being ranked #1. that was crazy! good thing ev called to tell me to turn on the tv. i was running around our living room like a madwoman looking for our remote and trying to figure out what channel the stanford-usc game was on. people thought i was crazy. we managed to catch the last 30 seconds of the game - enough to see booty throw an interception to seal the win for stanford. i never thought i'd cheer so loudly for stanford, ever. cal's overrated at #2, but this is a crazy year of college football! gotta love it.
and if you refer someone to a job, don't you think the person should owe you dinner? i agreed to owe dinner to the people who helped with getting the job, but i think it should be reciprocated by the person who got the job. but since it isn't, mcdonald's it is!
and, i need to take a poll: when you hear "one week," do you think seven consecutive days, or can "one week" be interpreted as seven random saturdays or sundays, one per year, over the next ten years?
why do i feel like i'm on the losing end of everything? i need to stop making deals. :)
Thursday, October 04, 2007
guys...
never fail to amuse me.
talking about creating a gift guide for guys on what to get girls:
guy*: make up or chocolate right?
guy: how hard is that?
me: makeup?? i don't think i'd want my makeup picked out by a guy
guy: it's either red or pink
guy: 50/50
me: ahahaha
me: omg
me: yeah good thing this website is not your idea
*guy's identity protected as promised.
but seriously. makeup or chocolate? is that what guys really think girls want? wow.
talking about creating a gift guide for guys on what to get girls:
guy*: make up or chocolate right?
guy: how hard is that?
me: makeup?? i don't think i'd want my makeup picked out by a guy
guy: it's either red or pink
guy: 50/50
me: ahahaha
me: omg
me: yeah good thing this website is not your idea
*guy's identity protected as promised.
but seriously. makeup or chocolate? is that what guys really think girls want? wow.
Wednesday, October 03, 2007
knee woes
now that i've started pt back up, i'm starting to get more worried about my knee. the lumps that were bothering me before are even bigger now, and even more bothersome. my knee's definitely catching, right where one of the lumps is. that catching gets in the way of almost every exercise i have to do.
my thigh is still super, super sore, which is weird because i've never had problems in that area. sometimes my thigh just radiates with pain. my therapist won't give me any additional exercises because the ones she wants to add involve squatting, which is too painful for me to do, and i've historically had problems with squatting since my first surgery.
sigh. :(
my thigh is still super, super sore, which is weird because i've never had problems in that area. sometimes my thigh just radiates with pain. my therapist won't give me any additional exercises because the ones she wants to add involve squatting, which is too painful for me to do, and i've historically had problems with squatting since my first surgery.
sigh. :(
Monday, October 01, 2007
family day
that was a close, but awesome win by cal. they are over-ranked at #3, but i'll take what we can get. lots of upsets this week.
family day was fun - apparently i have 12 members in my family. i think i shocked the registration people when i said i had 12. no thanks to ted, who didn't help me register anyone. i probably have a permanent X next to my name after that, but i don't really care.
the best part of family day, though, was this...
i could not stop laughing for 5 minutes straight when i saw it. i especially love the pink lips and the jewel on the forehead. even better was that jean totally shafted her and ended up with roses on her arm instead of paint on her face.
and THAT... THAT is what made it worth registering 12 "family" members to family day.
rest of my pics
family day was fun - apparently i have 12 members in my family. i think i shocked the registration people when i said i had 12. no thanks to ted, who didn't help me register anyone. i probably have a permanent X next to my name after that, but i don't really care.
the best part of family day, though, was this...
i could not stop laughing for 5 minutes straight when i saw it. i especially love the pink lips and the jewel on the forehead. even better was that jean totally shafted her and ended up with roses on her arm instead of paint on her face.
and THAT... THAT is what made it worth registering 12 "family" members to family day.
rest of my pics