December 30, 2003
I hope everyone is enjoying the holidays. I've been taking time off from just about everything and relaxing for a change. I've even cut down on my work schedule for the holidays. I'm only working 2 days this week after only working 2 days last week. Usually, I work one week or the other so I can cash in on a big paycheck, but this year I needed the time off.

I'll try to put up some pictures somtime this week of some of the stuff I've done in the past 2 weeks.

Congratulations to the new set of parents that gave birth to a little girl yesterday!!!

If you still have money after Christmas... GAP sale...and a 15% off coupon. Note the $10 hoodie... but if you snooze you lose.

December 18, 2003
Item #2 crossed off my big items to buy list. Yup, on the day that I post that I'm in the market for ReplayTV/TIVO, a really good deal just falls into my lap. I am now a member of the ReplayTV community, and after a day of recording shows, I just realized that I'm not going to be watching TV the same again, especially with my screwed up schedule. I really didn't expect to buy this thing so soon, especially a day after spending big money on a DVD burner. In fact I was in a debate over what to buy first, and now I just ended up buying both. But I got lucky with my deal, I could explain to you all how I got it REALLY CHEAP but I'd just be boring most of you with some stuff you probably don't care about. Let's just say I'm capitalizing (along with a few thousand other people) on a little loophole from ReplayTV's marketing. I may even buy another one today. Next on the list: portable DVD player.

Sure is a good thing I did my Christmas shopping early this year (although, I'm trying to finish up today and tomorrow on a few people who I just can't figure out what to buy).

December 17, 2003
It's just a slow day, with nothing really to say.

I bought a DVD burner yesterday (crosses item off top of list), I just hope I don't eff up my computer installing it. Next up - ReplayTV/ TIVO.

Something for Michelle Branch fans - picture 1, picture 2 (pg-13 stuff from maxim, so be advised those of you at work). Hmmm, being on the cover of maxim, I'm still not sure if this is a good thing or not. It isn't exactly working for Christina Aguilera.

December 16, 2003
Thanks to everybody that came out saturday night to my "surprise" birthday party. Although I suspected something was up a week ago, it was still a surprise to see who would be there. But there were too many people being too careful with what they say to me that it became obvious that something was going on. And anyways, you can't fool me, I'm untouchable. But seriously, thanks to everyone that stopped by and thanks for all the gifts. It was all good. I can even see that some of you have been paying attention as my list is now a little bit shorter. Thanks again everyone, it was a fun time.

The End begins tonight at midnight. The final installment of the Lord of the Rings opens at midnight tonight, and early word is that it's the best of the trilogy, one that people are proclaiming the best trilogy ever made (I'm a Star Wars fan though, so it's going to be hard for me to say that). I'm excited but I'm going to have to wait until the weekend to check it out.

Vote for Manny Pacquiao, the Filipino Boxer, for HBO Fighter of the Year!! And if you haven't heard of the Destroyer yet, just keep an eye out for him. Make sure you vote for the Pac-Man and tell others about it, he's in the lead right now.

December 12, 2003
The students at ODU are finishing up exams this weekend, so it's been a little bit busy for me at work. And graduation for the fall semester takes place sunday, congrats to the select few who survived, including a certain homegirl of mine.

Only 2 more shopping weekends until Christmas.

My DVD pick of this week: Charlotte Sometimes.
It's for the artsy crowd though, so not all of you will enjoy it. It's a minamalistic story of 4 asian americans and their relationships with each other. There is very little dialogue, but that only makes each line spoken even more important. There is also very much meaning in the silent and awkward pauses of the movie. That's what I like so much about it. It's the kind of movie that believes the audience actually has a brain. It moves very slow though, and that may turn people off, but for people looking for something different, check this one out.

I've sort of created my holiday work schedule, but due to some drama with other people at work, it may change. With all the people coming into town, I'm trying to keep myself open to anything, so hopefully I'll know by next week what days I've got free.

December 11, 2003
Yesterday I was at the Dollar store to pick up some wrapping paper and stuff (don't worry, nobody is getting presents from there) and I noticed that they now have a freezer section. They've got all sorts of frozen foods now. It may not be the best kinds of frozen foods, but it's stuff that I eat and it's stuff they have at the grocery stores for more than a dollar. They had sausages, tv dinners, frozen burgers, etc. Now I know it's not the best of diets, but it's something I can have every now and then and it fits into my budget (barely, even). I love to cook, but I don't cook to eat. I usually just do it to pass the time and it usually takes a few hours. But every so often I get hungry and I need something to nuke and eat in less than 5 minutes.

Christmas is only 14 days away. Don't forget to hook up your mailman. Especially if you're in the 23464 zip code and your mailman is a filipino guy. Homemade cookies are good (but no raisins though). Gift certificates to restaurants are good too, make sure it's enough to take a family out on.

December 9, 2003
I went on a shopping splurge this past weekend, some christmas presents, but mostly stuff for me. What sucks though is that while I was shopping, I ended up losing my check card somewhere. I don't know if I forgot to get it back from the cashier at some store or if it fell out of my pocket or something. I already closed the card and I have a new one coming, but losing it just sucks. I did get a lot of good deals on stuff for me though. Usually around Christmas time, I only buy presents for other people and I usually walk away from good deals on stuff that I want, but I did a lot of shopping early this year, so now I'm getting the benefits of all the Christmas sales for myself. So with all the sales and the internet coupons I collected, I got me a Redskins jersey for under $20, some sweaters and hoodies (it's been COLD lately) for real cheap, and some other clothes.

This morning though, I was sent out on a shopping errand for somebody. Basically because there was a 6 hour sale (from 8am - 2pm) and since most normal people work during those hours, I was sent to do the buying at a department store after I got off of work at 8am. One of the things I was to buy was a crystal vase that was 60% off (and then I had another 20% off friends & family coupon). So I get this vase, after opening its box and inspecting it and making sure it is without cracks and blemishes. Then I decide to walk around the section with all the crystal and glass stuff because there are a lot of good sales and stuff. I'm being real careful not to knock anything over and I end up picking up a bunch of other glassware stuff.

So now I've got more that a handfull of fragile stuff in my arms and I just want to pay and get out of there, but at the cashier there is a mother and daughter who decide to buy $1000 worth of merchandise (since they had the same 20% coupon). And the whole time they are just talking and talking to the cashier about Christmas, the weather, and everything else. So instead of just standing there waiting for them to finish, I decide to just do more walking around in the glassware section. Again I'm careful not to bump into anything while I'm carrying a load of stuff and I'm doing a good job about it. I know I was being risky about it but I didn't break anything. So I see this woman and her daughter finally wrap up their conversation and so I head over to the cashier. I take my heavy load of stuff and lift it up to put on the counter. While doing this, the box with the crystal vase I was there to buy, slides off the top of the pile and falls 5 feet and just crashes onto the floor. Everyone in the area can just hear the now hundreds of pieces of glass rattle around in the box and the cashier just gives me an ugly look. Oops! Good thing they had more than one but damn, how embarassing.

December 4, 2003
New Pictures Here!!
It's a new format, so let me know if you can't see them.

Redskins Trip 11-16

Arnold's B-day Party from November 8.

76ers vs. Hornets at ODU back in October.

Some general Pictures from random occasions.

They are only going to be up for a month, unless I hear from people who want them up longer or shorter.
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Some good deals are going on this weekend:

DeepDiscountDVD.com has a good deal going on but it ends tomorrow. Take 20% off entire purchase with the codes dvdtalk, OR usatoday, OR dvdsale, OR KLSX, OR WCKG. What makes this a good deal is that DeepDiscountDVD.com is already one of the cheapest DVD websites on the internet. I already buy most of my DVDs from here.

Macy's - Friends & Family (This time it's for Macy's East stores). 20% Dec 4 - 7.

Foot Locker - 30% off Friends and Family. Dec 4 - 7. If the link on the coupon doesn't take the 30% off at checkout, try code FF3D50. (I know that works because I just used it. Basically it just took off shipping and tax, but I bought stuff that was on clearance online only. The stuff I wanted wasn't sale priced at the store).

Reebok Outlets - 30% Dec 5 - 14.

Timberland - 40% off Timberland stores, 30% off Timberland outlet stores. Dec 5 - 7.

Banana Republic - Friends & Family sale, for 25% off at the store you need a special card with a special number on it from someone who actually works there. Or you can shop online and try code BRFRIEND for 25% off. Dec 5 - 7. (I'm not sure about this, but it was printed in the Wall Street Journal last week. Worth a shot if you're gonna shop there.)

Have fun shopping and don't forget about ME.

December 3, 2003
I've been really busy at work this week. It seems that since the University was closed most of last week, everyone decided to do everything on Monday and Tuesday. After relaxing last week, I've been working non stop the past 2 days.

Speaking of days off last week, I hope everyone had a safe and happy few days off. It's back to work and it's hard to get back to a regular schedule. And just when you start getting back into the routine, the Christmas holiday kicks in.

I proclaim this week Jessica Alba week. I just can't get enough, especially after checking out her "Diary" on MTV yesterday. I'm still undecided if I'm going to see "Honey". "I said I want Honey, Honey Daniels!!"

22 shopping days - I'm making my list, are you checking it at least twice?

Tomorrow - New Pictures (hopefully).