HOLY CRAP

I almost forgot about Xanga!!.. but my xanga is still.. ALIVEEEE

I have been stuck in my room, stuck at home for the last 4 days.. i have enough trouble spending 4 hours straight at home, let alone 4 days.. i've had rashes and hives with my face swelling up to the point where i could barely open my eyes. thankfully, now, im at a stage where the swelling has gone down, the itch has subsided, and all thats left is extremely dry skin which resembles the healing of a bad sunburn.

i have kept indoors for fear of both a recurrence as well as self image. the main fact that the rashes hives and swelling decided to stay mainly in my facial area had me puzzled, and as a result i have remained in solitude, somewhat of a hermit with lots of time to think.

again it goes back to the simplest things which we take for granted, mainly our health. we are almost always healthy, and instead of seeing that as something to be thankful for, we see it as a part of everyday life, so we dont even think twice about it.

i try to remember to be thankful for even the simplest of things. but mostly i am glad that i am recovering, i am thankful for the well wishes, i am thankful for the calls, and especially thankful for the visits. it is extremely nice every time i am reminded that there are those who care, so i just wanted to show my appreciation to all of them.

My Grandpa Emilio the Unintentional Funny Man

One night, we were all in our coquitlam home... the cousins together.. when we all saw our grandpa wearing a baby blue robe that seemed too short along both the sleeves and the overall length. We then commented, telling him that we thought it was a girl's robe. My grandpa replied, "No, it's not a girl's robe, look, its BLUE.".. to which we then replied, "No, grandpa, we really think that's a girl's robe..".. his final answer to that was "No, no, it's a guy's robe.. look, it even has a guy's name on the back, JACOB." How could we argue with that?

We love our grandpa

My Grandma Venus and her English Skills

I remember when i was 12.. in our home on Danube.. when me and my grandma was watching over me, I was running around the house, and she got tired before I did, obviously. She sat down and told me to slow down.. not being able to speak very fluent english, she told me to stop because she didn't have any more "ENGINE". I corrected her politely and then told her, "No, grandma, its ENERGY." To which she replied "Oh, ENGINEER! I got it." She's got the terms down, just not in the right context.

I love my grandma

Keeping an Open Mind and Heart, whilst Subconciously Retaining Knowledge of Risk

I always try to keep an open mind to anything. There will always be risks, but if you dont whole heartedly open yourself to something, you will never fully appreciate the good feelings and enjoyment that come out of any circumstance. Be open, give all of yourself, and just be prepared and know in the back of your mind that there's a chance things might not go as you'd like, but at least you know you gave all of yourself, no matter what the situation is.

A Quote I Almost Forgot

"Don't let your past dictate who you are, but let it be a part of who you will become"

Niagara Falls 2007

May 10 - 13, Conference for work at Niagara Falls, started off okay.. got to the airport late but made it to the plane, Kristy and Regina were already in their seats. there were 2 loud and restless kids behind us who pretty much messed up the whole trip.. but theres always kids on a plane it seems.. what can u do.. met Bob from the island, nice guy.. and my roommate for the trip... then when we arrived at Toronto airport, we saw Nick (from Abbotsford) right away. we got our luggage and got picked up by the discount shuttle for our rental van.

We got to Niagara the first night at about 8pm.. the cocktails and welcome dinner was already underway at Hard rock right beside the hotel.. but it was a buffet so nobody really noticed anyway.. first night.. everyone stays in their own groups.. i saw my old manager from 2001.. finished some drinks, walked around the 'reno' style strip that was open all night, very carnivaly tho.. kinda feels like a new orleans type place (although ive never been there so maybe i shouldnt compare).. anyway.. there was always about 20 places open at 1am..

we slept fairly early tho, jetlag, and woke up for breakfast the next morning at the fallsview restaurant, where the whole floor was the restaurant with an amazing view. our hotel was literally right across the street from the falls themselves.. we had a good breakfast, and went to the conference room where we were welcomed. we then split off to our groups, A B and C.. they split up as many people as they could to get more interaction and people meeting other people.. so our BC group had been split of course. We had 1 seminar, then it was off to some group activities where we were split up even further to meet as many new people as possible, and we had some group building and team building activities at planet hollywood, where we then had lunch right after. It was a chef's hat activity where we would work as a team to earn dollars to buy ingredients and make something from scratch., we got honorable mention which is pretty good out of 17 teams. Everyone at the conference seemed okay with opening up to each other, seeing as how we're all part of 1 big team. We then went back to the hotel, i rested for a bit, and after a guest speaker, we went off to the Edgewater restaurantfor cocktails and dinner. the view was AMAZING because it overlooked both falls and it had a huge patio.

what got me kind of worried was about an hour before the evening, my roommate Bob told me he received a yellow note in his welcome envelope saying 'please join Herb and Rhoda Singer at their reserved table on friday night'.. (Herb and Rhoda, the Founders of the company in TO in 1980).. they own THE WHOLE DAMN THING... so anyway.. Bob asks me to check my envelope.. and lo and behold, holy crap i have one too!!... uh.. ok. sit with the Founder whom ive never met, in a table for 8... there were about 170 people in the conference.. but it turned out well., Rhoda was very very friendly and approachable, and Herb didnt bite.. once i got a couple of drinks, i loosened up a bit.. and by the end of the evening when they did the whole discount colors on the falls (see below), i was relaxed.. the dinner was set menus for each individual person.. so oh man Mr. Herb Singer does not skimp on ANYTHING... great masses of money was definitely put into this conference, and it wasnt even haflway done!..

after the dinner, i was tipsy.. others were tipsy.. we were walking back to the hotel.. i staggered here and there, but thats where i met Amanda, my would-be-guardian for that night, without even knowing it. she was part of my team at the planet hollywood activities, and ever since then she's had a smile on her face everytime i saw her and she was just extremely approachable and had that vibe that just would keep anyone comfortable. so we all went to the hotel to change, and met in the lobby to all go to dragonfly club.. by this time apparently i was really tipsy that i was introducing myself to everybody i saw. i would hav anyway, i just did it louder i guess.. so we all went,. there was no lineup so we were about to go in, but 2 people couldnt, cause of runners.. so we went back to the hotel, the taxi ride back almost made me a little groggier cause i know i shouldnt sit or lie down while tipsy or i may just pass out. but i came back with amanda and waited for her to change her shoes, but i did the stupid thing and lied down while waiting. by the time she came back i was to the point of no return, but she, with so much patience, talked me through it, got me water and powerade, and stood me up and practically carried me up to my room before she went back to the club.. she made me feel so comfortable even to the point of saying 'heck dont worry i know what youre going through dont even feel bad if you have to puke or anything'.. all i can think of to this point is WOW.. how the heck do i go embarrassing myself to the extreme the first day i meet this super nice person.. aaanyway.. when we got to my room, she made sure i was okay before she headed out, Bob was in the room talking to his girlfriend Janine.. and what do i do? i grab the phone and talk to her for a bit.. She was also very nice and understanding, as is Bob... and according to him, i passed out within a few seconds and i was out until the next day. (although i'll never forget cause bob wont let me forget.. 'bros before girls...' (inside joke - u had to be there))

The next day i skipped breakfast.. too hungover.. not good but lots of ppl came back at 430 am, so they were groggy too... we went to the first seminar, had a break where it seemed like everyone was grabbing coffee like there was no tomorrow.. then we went to the last seminar of the day before closing remarks, and i was able to concentrate after having coffee, orange juice, apple juice and advil. by lunchtime i had my appetite back so i enjoyed the buffet of chicken pasta roast beef and steamed fish.. which was great.. then we all rested in our rooms and went back to walking along the falls and around the city again. we had 5 hours of free time and we spent about 3 of it walking, it was worth it tho because the falls took us a long time to walk so that we could see the greatest of angles. (Regina says Screw this! - another inside joke that shouldnt be forgotten)

We then came back to the hotel for a rest, and then it was time for the cocktails before the gala dinner.. it was nice to know that Rhoda Singer now knows me by name without my nametag, and i felt quite embarrassed because when Herb came to talk to me, he actually adjusted my tie for me.. he was nice enough tho to tell me to lose the jacket, i didnt need it (i didnt have room to bring a suit so i wore my long black jacket).. he actually made a joke when he came up to me, asked me.. 'so u headin to alaska or what? whats with the jacket, you dont need that!'... =P great.. nice impression to the founder of the company.. hehe.. The Gala dinner was AMAZING too with butternut squash soup, salad, and a striploin and a decadent dessert for everyone.. another dinner that mustve cost a fortune.. while we were eating.. about 3 times during the dinner, entertainment came out.. via dancers, belly and egyptian.. its really ALL OUT splurging no holding back on ANYTHING... after dessert was James Cunningham.. extremely funny comedian.. ill bet he already has some youtube videos out he's gettin big fast.. i saw why..

That night it was off to the Dragonfly again, but this time when we went there the lineup was so long that nobody really got in.. everyone stood for about 30 mins at the least, then decided to go somewhere else.. i made the wrong choice of deciding to check out the casino right beside it, Bob and Nick didnt stop me.. not that i wouldve let them.. but typical saturday night.. too busy to play.. i played anyway.. lost a little bit.. but nothin to stress bout.. that was the first money ive spent all weekend.. we then decided to head back to the hotel and went to hard rock since there was no cover and it seemed like most of the discount people were there anyway.. most of the toronto and calgary people were there, and it turns out Amanda and them decided to head there because of the lineup at Dragonfly anyway.. so we ended up having a great last night of partying..

Today was the day we headed back.. checked into the airport at 11.. had a nice lunch.. and just spent our time reading and napping at the airport and the plane.. although the plane trip was... how do i put this.. I DONT LIKE KIDS ON A PLANE.. IM SORRY BUT ITS JUST TOO MUCH!!! the flight was slightly longer.. but i knew it wouldnt be as bad as a plane trip to asia.. so i gutted it out. Myomi then picked me up at 6.. we had a nice quick dinner, quick catch up at Lius.. and now i am home.. extremely tired and jetlagged... and going back to work tomorrow.. wooooooo... but it was a GREAT trip..