Wine and Cheese

So I'm not sure if this is a Filipino quirk or not, but my dad used to hate cheese. He says it's probably because he didn't grow up eating foods with lots of cheese. Then I remembered that when I mentioned fruit and cheese plates (sometimes Colleen brings them home from Starbucks after work) to Mark, who grew up in the Philippines, he thought it was weird too. And then I thought, whenever I go to parties at work, everyone seems to know the names of many cheeses, like havarti, gouda, and fontina. I only knew about these cheeses from watching the food network. But everyone at work seemed to know them as household names.

Then my parents went on a weekend trip to Carlsbad, near San Diego. They stayed at a nice hotel where they had free wine and cheese available for guests. When my mom asked my dad where he would like to eat dinner, my dad suggested they have the wine and cheese, because it's free of course. And now my dad loves cheese. "Free food is good food," he says.

Now my dad asks my mom to buy cheese when she goes grocery shopping. One night I got home from class to find my dad sitting at the dinner table with the wine glasses out from way back in the cabinets and a nice cheese platter with sliced pears and crackers. He sliced the cheese and pears himself. "Do you wanna try some wine and cheese, Naning?" So I had a small glass of red wine, which we drank at room temperature because according to the wine connoisseur he spoke with at the hotel, "That's the proper way to drink red wine." Haha, my dad is funny.

My mom recently bought a whole cheese platter with aged cheddar, swiss, havarti, and gouda. We've been nibbling on it here and there. Last night Colleen forgot to put the platter back in the fridge. Xena, always on the lookout for new kinds of food, seized this opportunity to try some cheese as well. Apparently she enjoyed it because she ate the whole platter. And helped herself to some stone wheat crackers and sunflower seeds as well.

Haha, my dad doesn't know yet, but when he starts looking for his cheese platter tonight after dinner I'm gonna have to snitch on Xena.

Walk Power Walk

Cousin Michelle and I have been doing this uber-cheesy workout video called Walk Away the Pounds. It's lead by Leslie Sansone, who looks exactly like Sarah Palin. It's embarrassing (but effective) so Michelle and I refuse to do the workout if other people are in the house, with the exception of Colleen. So when Andrew comes by the house, I make him hide in the room, haha.

Speech Obligation

I never wanted to take this speech class. But because I'm considerably older than most of my classmates, and considerably younger than the much, much older classmates, I haven't been too nervous about speaking in front of them. I guess you could say I'm not intimidated.

But now Prof. Oates has requested that I develop a persuasive speech about changing something in the world to present to the college's accreditation board. I don't think he understands that i HATE public speaking. I can't speak in front of adults who are actually going to listen to what I'm saying! I just need this class to apply for nursing school!!

I want to decline, but I'm not sure if I can. The way I see it, forget all of this "It's an honor to be asked" kinda stuff. I'm going to need much more of an incentive to speak in front of real people. No good.

Oh, and for the object I chose to represent who I am, I used Andrew's suggestion: a box of colored pencils.

Second Date with Physiology

Kicked some major puwet on my physiology exam. 96/90 = 106.7% I love being a nerd again.

Making of the Band

Andrew, Dan, Michelle, and Mark rock out...Guitar Hero: World Tour is here.

The Furminator

We've been thinking about buying this cool de-shedding tool called the Furminator for a while now. When Andrew found it on Amazon for $29.99 (reg. $49.99) we had to jump on it. The furminator website even claims it's "German Shepherd tested." And anything that claims to help with Xena's shedding is worth a shot.

It works. This furball is from a couple sessions with the Furminator.

It's kinda funny because we've been concerned that Xena has been gaining weight as she gets older, especially with her hip dysplasia. So we've been reducing her food. It turns out that a lot of that weight is hair, haha. So now we've brought her back to her usual three cups of dog food a day.

Look how beautiful she is...

Happy First Birthday Princess Celeste!

Celebrated my niece Celeste's first birthday, princess-themed, of course. Good food (mmm...garlic breadsticks), and good fun. Since she was born so close to Halloween, they decided to make it a costume party. This was the perfect excuse for us oldies to dress up like we used to when we were kids.

Andrew, my cousin Dan, and I decided to go as Napoleon Dynamite, Pedro, and Deb. Cousin Michelle came as the Mad Hatter. Cousin Julie was the white phantom, but I think she looked like Danielle from Ever After. My sister came as a Starbucks barista who has to go to work afterward.

My Tito Melvin thought I brought a new boyfriend. Grandma Perla said Andrew looked like a woman.

Student Loan

I have officially paid off my entire student loan from my time at UCLA.

And next year I will celebrate by taking out more loans.

Speech Class

This semester I planned on taking interpersonal communication in lieu of oral communication. The week before school started this fall I discovered that the master's program I'm looking into specifically requires oral communication. I still think that interpersonal is more pertinent to being a nurse, but it looked like I had little choice in the matter. So, I enrolled in the dreaded public speaking class.

So far, it hasn't been too bad. Actually, it hasn't been bad at all.

For our next speech assignment, we were instructed to deliver a speech about an object that represents who we are.

What object represents who I am? Suggestions, please?

Changing of the Seasons

It finally feels like fall. For the first time in a while I had to close the window at night. Adios, Summer! Toe-socks, warm pajamas, crocheting...How you doin'?