Mischievous Muskrat

Muskrat definitely is no longer "homeless".


Trying to be cute so she can stay indoors.


Getting so comfy...


"Whatcha lookin' at?"

Friday The 13th- the curse?

Every year I kind of dread "Friday The 13th". There always seem to be things going wrong on this day for me. It's not that I am superstitious about it. Instead, it is often after the incident occurs that the realization kicks in that it was "Friday The 13th". No exception this time, only that it came early in my book! (Gosh, I hope nothing else goes wrong to follow up). I am convinced that this date is just not a lucky one for me. The number 13 itself isn't so bad, as most would think. The problem seems to be the combination of the 13th of a month landing on a Friday. Sigh...

I was locked out of my apartment last night. So I take it that nothing more negative (I pray) should head my way... Since it had been raining on and off the past week, I jumped at a chance to do all my laundry when the sun peeked through. It was actually a pretty nice day- in the day time, that is. I hogged up the laundry room, planned to do about 4 loads and was thinking once I'm done I can sort all of my clothes (a pending project sitting on my to-do list forever) to donate and reorganize. I also wanted to spend a day or two getting all my work clothes ready for my new job on Monday. It was great to avoid fighting with other tenants over the washers and dryers in the late afternoon... I took my sweet time and thought I can go about my day as planned and on schedule. Well, plans never work out as they should, especially mine! I should have learned this years ago.

I came back to my apartment to drop off a load that was done, but because I drove my car around to my parking spot from my garage, all that was in my mind was hold on to "car keys". So when I came back out to go to the laundry room, I grabbed nothing except my car keys. Stupid me. What was I thinking. Lately I've been lame... just a week ago I flooded my bathroom because I forgot I was running a bath! Thank God there were no real damages. Anyway, once I closed the front door I knew I was in deep poo poo. I had no wallet, no cell phone, no garage remote, nothing with me other than my car keys. I guess that was better than nothing.

In the end, after having no sound solution and with no luck in getting in touch with the Apartment emergency number, I got Shaun (a neighbor/friend/apartment manager's son) to help by opening a small kitchen window for me to climb in. He always told me it's good being a small girl. I did the same few years ago when I locked myself out too. I'm paranoid now that someone else can do the same if they wanted to break in! Shaun says they'd have to be skinny enough. I suppose, but I'm still concerned. Note to self: find security solution for this. Anyhow, I guess I should be more concerned about how to have a sane mind in not repeating this again.

I am so sore from all the running around and the hauling of my loads of laundry after I got back into my apartment. Then when I headed back to the laundry room to get my last 2 loads out of the dryer, I found out some idiot took out my clothes and tossed them all over the top of the dusty dryers because they wanted to use the machines. I was so pissed. My clothes were just washed and dried and they had no courtesy at all. Couldn't they wait? I don't care how long the clothes were sitting in there, you don't touch other peoples' clothes! That's just a big no no! I would never do that to someone else. But after this, I think I should change my mentality. There's no sense being courteous when others aren't. I grabbed my clothes and left. By now, it was almost 10pm and I was starving. If I wasn't so famished and tired, I probably would have thought about doing the same to them. Some people are just idiots. I don't want to be nice any more!

Looking back, I think I should consider the positive aspects of the incident. I should be grateful that at least I had my car with me. I'm glad at least I was able to find Shaun for help. At least I'm small enough to climb through the kitchen window. And, I'm grateful that at least it's done and over with. I hope this incident was IT for the early Friday The 13th curse I seem to fulfill every time it comes around.

Market Run (99 Ranch)

After a quick ramen dinner at Tamaya, we hopped over to the market to grab some groceries. My fridge has been pretty empty for the most part for days and other than some junk I been debating to throw out, I have no food left.

I bought just one of this fruit to try. I just learned that this fruit which looks like an orange, is called "Minneola Tangelo". It's a hybrid between a tangerine and either a pomelo or a grapefruit. Interesting looking, wouldn't you say? I hope the one I selected is sweet!



I thought this picture was kind of funny. I was trying to pick out a cabbage when the produce guy came with new boxes of the fresh green ones. Of course then I waited until he finished placing them because I wanted the greener, newer, fresher ones. So, the guy had to move all the old yellow cabbages to the side, to make room for the green ones. He was piling the old ones on one by one by smashing them down like they are some huge softballs. I guess he wanted to make sure they stayed in position. It was hilarious. He looked mad though. Sis said maybe the boss made him work overtime. The dude damaged the pitiful looking old cabbages even more than originally were. The might as well just toss them out, no one will buy them now. Poor cabbages... I bought one newer, green one. =) I wished I had the nerve to snap a picture of this dude while he was "doing his job".



I might not be a Food Network chef, but... I do know what bananas look like! These are Pomelos, aren't they?!



OK, I may be Chinese, but these "Chicken Fingers" are just absolutely grotesque! Completely disgusting with the finger nails and all. I almost had a heart attack when Sis showed them to me.



I wish they had better quality produce at 99 Ranch. These pomegranates don't look so pretty, do they?



I want a new camera.

Why I need Rain Boots!

It's been raining on and off since Thursday. I've been paranoid that the ceiling in my apartment will leak again. I know it probably should hold up since they put up a brand new roof last January. But still... I worry because I went through hell last year with the lack of urgency from the apartment management when the ceiling was falling apart due to heavy rain.

I am sort of stranded when the rain starts pouring down hard. It is always completely flooded at the bottom of the stairway. Those damn roofer never cared to install another pipe long enough for the water to deter straight toward the opposite grassy area. Instead, the drain pipe is installed in the direction that crosses the path of my stairway. So, going in or out of my apartment is a pain when it rains. The apartment management is a pain too. They just don't care when I complain.

So... I've been looking for a pair of rain boots to transport me to and from my garage. Sigh...



I do enjoy the rain... other than when I get wet and that it causes traffic jams, etc. But for the most part, it is a nice feeling to curl up with a good book or sleep in when the rain is pouring outside. I may even enjoy a walk in the rain, if I had some decent looking rain boots to keep my feet dry when walking through the flood at the bottom of my staircase!



I did order a pair of rain boots. By the time they arrive, the rain might have already stopped. Oh well, I'll be ready the next rain then. There's no way I'm going to risk getting my leather platform heels wet again!

Making Too Many Lists

I don't know when was it that I started a habit of making lists. Maybe it was when I worked in VOIP. It was necessary I suppose when multitasking. Anyhow, such a good method turns out to be not such a good thing for me now. I missed the whole point of making lists! It should be just a "list", one at a time.

I have a habit of making a list, not following what's on that list... doing maybe just a few things on it... then making a new list, while holding on to the original list...crossing off maybe another few things, then re-do that list and so forth. I end up with tons of paper lists...a small pile of them! Then I get frustrated in sorting through them, I'll turn to my outlook, input all the TO DO items there, thinking I'll just compile and consolidate ALL the items/tasks/errands/appts. etc... in one place...then I'll be set. Well, that doesn't work either. I keep items in pending too long and continue to change the due dates! Oh gosh... I'm annoying myself. I even had a PDA at one point and sold it because I frustrated myself for not following what I set out to do. Should I just relax, not be so uptight, and just go with the flow of things? No more lists? But I can't operate without seeing what I need to do in writing. So such a good habit turns out to be a bad one for someone like me? Am I just a procrastinator and that's that, nothing will change my behavior, that's why I can't follow lists I created for myself?

Although it is frustrating, I find myself getting on top of things FAST when need to, like the very last minute before that something absolutely needs to be done. What kind of person am I to do this? Sigh.