Chinese New Year was on Valentine’s Day this year – 2/14/10.   In my humble opinion, I think that Valentine’s Day is overrated.  Who likes to be TOLD to appreciate your significant other.  I’d prefer to be shown on a random day, but that’s just me, and not what this post is about.

If possible, I like to go to my Auntie Nancy’s house for our Chinese New Year feast.  Because literally, this lady can cook, and she always makes a feast. If you like Chinese food, you should try to go somewhere to celebrate Chinese New Year and savor the food.  Thank you, Auntie Nancy!

As a child, my father didn’t teach me much in terms of Chinese Culture.  We exchanged red envelopes for Chinese New Year, and learned how to say “Gong hay fat choi” – (It doesn’t sound how it’s typed exactly, but that’s probably as close as I can type it.) which means Happy New Year!  I come from a bi-racial family, and always wanted learn more about the practices and culture than what was typically taught in our home.  (I still, to this day, badger my dad about teaching me the language.)

I wish I’d taken pictures of the meal, but I’ll try and find some of the delicious foods that I ate.

It was fun to hear about the culture and the idea about left overs – my uncle told me that the family would usually fry a fish the night before, leave it out on the table under a screen to prevent bugs from getting on it. Typically, a Chinese family didn’t have a lot of money in the past.  Here’s a quotation from the Boston Globe: “The tradition comes from Cantonese phrases associated with whole fish, that is, fish with heads and tails intact. They mean “happy endings and beginnings,” “everything is perfect , ” and there will be leftovers every year — a sign of prosperity.”    If you’d like to read the whole article: http://www.boston.com/ae/food/articles/2007/02/14/chinese_welcome_new_year_in_a_whole_fish_way/

I didn’t know the fish tradition. In fact, I don’t know many traditions at all. But I love to learn them!
How about you? What kind of family traditions do you have?

I have never met Susan Powell – but that doesn’t mean that she’s not important to me.  She and her family are actually very important to me!
I’ve actually met two of Susan’s wonderful sisters, and her amazing parents.  I know that Susan is also a wonderful person, just from all of the things I’ve heard about her in the past. Mary, one of Susan’s sisters, is actually a friend of mine.

For those of you who do not follow the news – here is a brief thumbnail on what we know about Susan’s disappearance:
Susan was reported missing on 12/7/2009 and hasn’t been seen since.  She leaves behind two sons and a husband (who has been named as a person of interest.)  See the story here: http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/34460904/

Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers, and keep looking for her.
If you are on twitter follow “Find Susan”.

If you have a blog, please post about Susan.

Please keep looking for her!

If you were born in the 80’s, odds are you were probably raised with Mario and Friends.

Remember this?

Of course you do.  There have been many Super Mario Bros. games that have come out since thing (Golf, Baseball, Paper Mario, Super Mario Sunshine, etc.)  but none of them had quite the same feel as the originals.  Now, I know, many of you may feel like Jay-Z :

Hov on that new shit
N***** like how come
N***** want my old shit
Buy my old album

BUT – as fun as the other games were (I love Paper Mario, myself) none have really made ME want to play more than a bit here and there. (I would make Chris play, and I’d watch him beat the significant levels.)  But, Super Mario Wii brought it back: Yoshi, the old school music, similar controls (the wii remote turns sideways and you use the arrow pad and 1 and 2 like A and B) and some of the old stuff back, and brought some new things in to change it up a bit.

There are only a few things that I don’t like so far – the first is the wii remote – it feels a little different than the old controller, but maybe I’m just too used to it? I did play on that thing for years.  Also, either I have seriously rusted on my Mario Skills, or they have made things more difficult. I think it’s probably a combination of both…I also don’t remember you being able to die continuously and “continue”, but maybe I just didn’t die as much in 1, 2 and 3.

I DO really like that you can play up to 4 players, at the SAME TIME.  It does tend to cause some problems, especially if your 2nd player isn’t as good as the first, etc.  If one player gets too far ahead, the other will die, which has caused a few heated arguments in my house. Also, you can very easily shove each other (on accident! I swear!) into lava or off a cliff.  But the more the merrier, right?

Anyway, I love this game. I’m only on world 6, so I’m still hoping that there will be Giant World!  If you have a Wii and you had a NES, get this game.

Titan, my beloved Labrador, is 6 years old.   He hasn’t been “fixed,” the thought was that we’d breed him when the time was right.  He’s a beautiful dog, and very smart and sweet.  

The time was never right. And now, I’ve finally (sort of) come to terms with it that the time is not going to be right for a few years, and by that time, he’ll be too old to do the deed.  So, much to my disappointment, I’ll never have little Titan’s running around (I thought originally that I’d have one of his puppies, and we’d call him Zeus…but then my brother named his adorable Lab-Rottweiler mix Zeus, so that wouldn’t have worked out, anyway.)

So keep Titan in your thoughts on the 28th of January. He’s going to be horrified when he discovers not only is he going to the vet, but he’s getting his teeth cleaned AND he’s getting snipped!

Since I’ve been an adult, I’ve never been one to be “trendy”.  Now, I’m not saying I’m completely out of style – but I’m not anywhere near cutting edge. I bought Uggs last year – I swore I’d never do it. Now that I have – I can’t imagine life without them. I LOVE THEM. Trust me – I KNOW that they’re ugly. I wear them all the time – except summer. I use them to walk the dog – they keep my feet toasty – and to and from rec soccer. I wear them when I know I’m going to be walking a lot – like at the mall or running errands.

Uggs

I even want a second pair of tall black uggs because I wear them so much that my black ones aren’t as fluffy and warm inside as they used to be.

I’ve never been a fan of leggings – but I KNOW I’m going to buy some. The reasoning for this one is kind of ridiculous – I will admit it. I bought these delicius boots – I love them – BCBG Dishy :

I actually had to get them altered to fit me – the shaft was too big (flopping around – about four inches too wide!) and the cobbler did it a little too tight. I have some skinny jeans I’m going to try with them, but if not, I think I might have to get me some black leggings. It’ll look good with a sweater dress, right?  But I love the boots so much I’ll deal with the leggings.

My awesome boyfriend bought me these: Miz Mooz. They’re really fun, surprisingly comfortable, and really cute!  

And for my newest pair of boots: They’re by Kimchi Blue and they’re really adorable. The pair I have is slightly more of a brown color than this – this is listed as “grey.”  I love the little buckle on the side and that they’re a bit thicker in the heel. You’d think that would make them a bit sturdier, but they’re actually quite slippery on tile, hardwood, etc.  They are really cute though and I can’t wait for more opportunities to wear them! 
As you can see – I’ve started quite the collection.  But I never thought that I would buy Uggs.

So, I FINALLY enrolled in school again. I was in school – 2008 – but before then it’d been a couple of years since I’d been in class.  I decided that I didn’t want to do what I currently do for a living..for the rest of my life.  Best way out is to go back to school.

I found out that I need to take foreign language to transfer to a 4-year.  I took Spanish years ago, and am not really interested in retaking it at this point. I am interested in the Japanese culture and I love the way the language sounds – to me (at least in anime) it always sounds happy.

My dad was actually…well probably IS actually a bit offended that I chose Japanese over Chinese. (For those of you that don’t know, my dad is Chinese, born & raised in Hong Kong, came over as a teenager.) I decided on Japanese for a few reasons:

1. The sounds that you make in Japanese are sounds that we already make in English (a, i, u, e, o….and variations of these sounds)

2.  My dad speaks one dialect and another is taught, so he wouldn’t be able to help much, anyway

3. Chris has already taken Japanese, so could help me through the first quarter or two.

So tomorrow I’m heading to the store to get some flashcards and start memorizing the alphabet. Apparently, once you learn the alphabet in hiragana, you can “read” a lot of things. I may not know what they mean, but I’ll be able to sound them all out.

I’m glad to be back in school and hope that it will be a positive move for me. I’m ready to do something else!

One of my neighbors adopted a sweet little dog the other day. She brought him into meet me, and he’s really quite adorable.

  The girl that adopted him decided that he didn’t work for her, and with her dog.  We took him for a walk with our dog, and then took him home for a little bit, so we could see how they did together off leash in the apartment. Now, we have a one bedroom apartment and it is kind of small. But, we walk our dog a lot, and how much harder would it be to walk another dog with our dog? 

But our dog has separation anxiety. Would having a second dog add to that, so it just becomes more anxiety? Or would it help calm him down a little? The second dog, Chip (pictured above) hs been adopted two times now, and returned two times. He’s been in numerous foster homes and has bounced around, so I would assume, even though he’s as sweet as could be, he probably has some separation anxiety of his own. However, he does come with “Barkbusters” training, for his entire lifetime. So…it’s hard to say.

I certainly don’t want to make things worse for Titan – he is our “only” and our “first” so I want to make sure he’s as happy as can possibly be. (We’re going to be starting him on anti-separation anxiety drugs here soon, so we’ll see how that goes. Wish us luck!) But if we can give this sweet little dog a good and loving and stable home – that’d be a good thing, right?  I just have no experience in this, and I KNOW we’d be good for this little guy. But would he be good for our big guy???? That’s the question.

Today my friend tom (www.tomkatsu.net) and I went to the Qwest Field pro shop and stood in line for about two and a half hours…waiting to meet Kasey Keller.  The first 100 people were stamped and let in, and we had to continue waiting outside. (We were the 112 & 113th people).  The people behind us, Julie and Ray, were awesome!  They had special scarves that said “In Keller We Trust” and there was a little goalie glove on one end and “18″ on the other. It was pretty awesome!  Their friend, Joe, also took pictures!

Keller was all business, and we were told, “no posing.” Keller was busy signing and had no time for pictures, because he was trying to fit in as many autographs as possible.  I was a little sad that I didn’t get a picture with Keller…but maybe next time. 

Pictures will be coming soon. It’s getting dusky in my living room, so I don’t want to take and post horrible pictures. I have two Sounders FC jerseys- a Keller 18 one and a blank blue one. I had him sign them both   I can’t wait until next Thursday when I get to wear it!  Which jersey should I buy next year? Freddie Ljungberg? James Riley? Le Toux?

Anyway, I can’t wait to renew our seaons tickets…I can’t believe the season is almost over!

I met an amazing woman yesterday. Her name is Megan. And she has magical hands!

I had my first massage yesterday – a treat for myself after completing the 1/2 marathon. (Don’t ask my time, I won’t tell you. All that matters is that I finished. Next time, I’ll go for speed!) I had a Swedish massage, and it was amazing.

For those of you who haven’t had a massage, go get one, right now. It’ll change your life.

I went to InSpa, and I was a little nervous.  The thought was a little nerve-wrecking…To have someone I didn’t know, massaging my almost-bare body? What if I didn’t like it? What if it tickled? What if they were disgusted by my body and said something mean? (Don’t worry, if you haven’t had one, they cover you with a sheet, and your private areas are covered at all times!) Anyway, my one hour at InSpa was amazing, and I’ve already booked my next appointment, for the end of July.

If you haven’t had a massage, call Megan right now! You’ll feel very zen-like afterwards, I promise.

www.inspa.com

So I have a new favorite on the team. I think that watching international football (my boyfriend is a huge fan, so English premier league & World Cup is on our TV…everyday.) has kind of exposed me a little bit to “real” soccer. Or football, depending on what you want to call it. American Soccer is different than watching international soccer.  I think that, and my BF pointed it out, that in international soccer, there’s a lot of crossing (I am not a soccer player, so excuse me for not knowing the technical terms) up, so that when someone like Fredy Montero kicks the ball, there’s someone who has crossed up the center to kick it in. Also, in international football/soccer, it seems like they are better and quicker at passing, and it doesn’t seem like they pass it back – they actually pass it up field. That’s one thing that is always bugging me at games – I want them to pass it up! I guess it’s some kind of tactic to keep it from the other team, or to waste time. But, guys, pass it up so we can score!

Anyway, the whole point of the post – I heart Kasey Keller. I think that since I HAVE started to watch some of the more experienced teams, I’ve started to realize how lucky we are to have such an amazing goalie.  When I played soccer (I was 12, so it doesn’t really count) I hated being put into the goalie position. It was boring. I wanted to be in on the action. And really – at 12 – who has goalies that are any good? Who has strikers that make having a good goalie a requirement? So I’ve never really appreciated the need for having someone who can get the angles and will put himself out there to save it.

Another thing that I’ve learned about Keller – he puts the team first. It was recently explained to me about “designated players” and how the rest of the team only gets to split about $3million for everyone else’s salary, but the DP has no cap. I think that is ridiculous. Now, Ljunberg seems to be pretty amazing, and I’m not saying that he hasn’t earned his money. All I’m saying is that we have an awesome player that really did take one for the team (since he also has the experience and skill to earn a large salary!). (If I remember correctly, Keller was on premier leagues as well.) So, all I REALLY wanted to do here was recognize Kasey Keller and tell everyone that I think he’s awesome. So, Keller, you’re awesome, and here’s to you!!

PS – anyone know where I can get a Keller t-shirt?