Schedule for rest of week:

Tue -- 1:30 to 5:30 pm
Wed -- going over to aunt's in the afternoon
Thu -- Happy New Year! Time for rice-cake soup! One hopes.
Fri -- 1:15 to 5:45 pm, church web-team meeting at 7 pm (tent)
Sat -- 7:15 pm to 12:45 am
Sun -- church at 10 am, then 5:15 to 10:15 pm

So how was that for Christmas this year! I'm happy for the rain, but it sucked that the water mixed with the burnt areas caused mudslides. We spent Christmas Eve/Christmas Day at a cabin in Big Bear that one of my dad's customers lent us. Beautiful place, but we didn't do much 'cept watch a lot of TV. (They have cable.) But it was very low-key. If it didn't rain, then we coulda done some inner-tube sledding. On a funny note, even though the cabin was lent to my dad for us to use, our aunts jumped at the opportunity and "joined" us the day after we left. The kids, I hear, had a blast sledding down the mound of fresh snow deposited in the back yard the night before.

**** FEM ALERT: ALL MEN IGNORE THE NEXT ITALICIZED PARAGRAPH!!! ****

So after a long absence, my "Aunt Flo" is visiting again. For those of you that know of my freaky biology, y'know that she's been visiting only every 3 to 4 months since the beginning. Remember how in the beginning of this year when the visits "normalized" to about every 45 days? Well, apparently, what's "normal" for others is "freaky" for me. Cuz y'know how long it's been since Aunt Flo's come a-calling? Well, I seem to recall a time in late May, and then I was worried that she might come during my sister's wedding in July. Of course, no fear. But it's friggin' December! That's seven months. Some girls are jealous that I only have to deal with this a few times a year, but it's buggin' the heck outta me since I have no idea when she'll be coming, nor how long she's staying, and if it's going to affect me in the future. I mean, even if my mom had it similar, she was only a year than me right now when she got married and subsequently popped out the three kids. I have no idea if this means that I'll be able to have kids in the future. Sigh.

***** END FEM ALERT: MEN MAY CONTINUE TO READ ONWARDS ******

I bet no one actually skipped the above paragraph. :)

I didn't get many presents this year, but that's normal in my family. Besides, I'd rather my parents not waste the money on useless things. However, I did get Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers Extended Edition DVDs as well as Firefly: the Complete Series. I loved that show. But as Robert mentioned, it was too complex to hook a large audience. Pretty much, you had to start watching from the beginning to see the complex story arc beginning for each character, though I thought the individual episodes had enough clever writing to make a complete episode. Anyway, it was one of those series that required a commitment on the part of the audience, and that's somewhat unrealistic. But I can't wait for the feature film!

Finally, other people's blogs seem to include a "Year in Review" so I thought I'd hop on the bandwagon:

2003 began the way 2002 began: unemployed. Well, technically, I was under the employ of Kaplan but just didn't have any classes to teach. I really liked teaching for Kaplan. I would like to go back if something can fit my schedule. I did teach for a hakwon (after school academy) and learned that those places are a bunch of crock. But they did pay so well....

I began attending Santa Monica College, and I'm pretty happy about that decision. Sure the commute sucks and the lack of resources is discouraging, but I've learned a lot and I feel like I'm making some sort of progress towards my career goal.

I got in a car crash in February. Erg. And according to the insurance company, it was 100% my fault. And well, technically it was since the other cars swerved and missed that truck. But hey, is it wrong of me to assume that parked cars won't be parked half-way in the driving lane? I did learn an important lesson, though. Do not ever take your eyes off the road. Especially in a city like Santa Monica.

Funny story, though. I'm deviating from my Review blurb. Today, someone from my church threw a "women's luncheon" at her apartment in Bellflower. We ate ddukbogee, odang soup, kimbahp, and fried mandoo, as well as creme brulee. We played Taboo and had a general good time. I left an hour before my shift, but luckily traffic wasn't too bad. I did, however, have to change in the car and then run to the store. I got there a minute before my shift started. I was able to change my shirt while driving (during the slow moments). As I was doing this, I was thinking what people would think if they saw me. And then I thought if other people also did that while driving. And then it reminded me of an episode of Mr. Bean that I caught on PBS recently, where he actually did change in his car where he placed a brick on the accelerator, sat in the backseat and steered with his feet (it was a mini) while he put on his outfit, brushed his teeth and used the windshield wiper water shooter to rinse and spit.

Anyway, this year I became involved in my church. And when it split away from the korean church last month, I went with it. And resolved to serve the church as much as possible since now it needs all the help it can get. It is pretty tough attending a rather conservative church, and it's been a struggle to reconcile my personal beliefs with that of the church. And while there are some quibbles I have, I do think the Bible is a good guide for life and as long as our motives are Biblical, then it would be God's will. But I need to pray more and study the Bible.

Being involved in my sister's wedding this summer was great, as well as seeing my relatives from Korea. I've gotta figure out when I can visit over there. I also learned how stressful a wedding can be, and I can see the reasoning behind eloping.

And most notably, I started my job at Starbucks. This certainly isn't the most important aspect of my life, but it's the most influential. After all, I spend more time at work than any other activity, except sleeping. And since it's my source of income, it affects the other parts of my life, too. I shouldn't reminisce about my previous jobs, though. With the exception of that brief stint at Disneyland, I've never worked harder for so little money, and I get a bit nostalgic at my Facility Coordinator pay at W&MF at Cal. Sigh.

Resolutions/plans/hopes for 2004:

Grow spiritually.
Become healthier.
Work on my demo reel.
Get a job in the industry. (This is a major hope.)
Vegas trip!
Korea trip?

And finally... God-willing, to find someone whom I could possibly share the rest of my life with. But this isn't that great of a desire, since God knows the desires of my heart better than me, and perhaps singlehood (at least for the time being) is better for me than couplehood. I just have to trust that God is preparing me for that day someday, perhaps never, and I just hope I don't miss it when He's pointing something out to me.

Meanwhile, I hope to become a better daughter, sister, friend, and witness. This part, I figure, I give up all to God, since I haven't been able to do it by myself.

Okay, this has been a long one. Thanks for bearing with me. Happy New Year everybody!