My Passport
The picture above was taken on our way to the airport in 2004. (Happy Birthday, Huy!!) It’s crazy that it’s been 10 years since I last renewed and I’ve had a pretty good run! My passport just expired this past January and as I was filling out the paperwork for the renewal I flipped through the pages of stamps that I had inside.
Here’s a list of the places I’ve been:
Costa Rica – June 2004 (my first international trip in 18 years)
Thailand – December 2005/January 2006
Belize and Guatemala – September 2008
Italy – September 2009
London and Paris – September 2010
Phew! What fun!
With this renewal looming for the past couple months, I put off getting my photo taken once again. I FINALLY took my new photo last weekend at Walgreens while I was out running errands and thankfully my hair was brushed and I hadn’t just woken up. ‘Cuz that’s what happened last time.
Back in 2001, I was living at home in Cerritos and I was putting off renewing my passport for several months. My mom was tired of reminding me so one morning she woke me up in a hurry and said, “Get dressed, we’re going to AAA to get your passport picture taken.” I was given just enough time to brush my teeth and put my contacts on. I was still in the t-shirt I was sleeping in and my hair was a mess. The guy behind the camera clicked the camera so quickly without counting or anything and it was done. Unfortunately, when I got the photos, I looked like a refugee with my hair sticking out on one side, my t-shirt collar all crooked and wrinkled, and my face and eyes were swollen. I must admit it was a picture of supreme hotness. At the moment I didn’t really care and mailed it in with my application but later on I regretted not taking a new one. Jes always makes fun of me each time we go through customs and says in a gruff voice, “Let me into your country. I want to eat your children.” Great…he’s so supportive…. I’ve even had the guy behind the customs window make a double-take after looking at my passport! This happened not just once but several times. Wah. Waaah….
So my new photo has been taken and the application is ready to be mailed. Pretty soon I should be ready to travel for the next 10 years with a less-embarrassing photo. And no, I’m not going to post my refugee photo.
Lately, I’ve been feeling my age: I wake up with a sore neck and back every morning; my cuts heal slower; and I realized that my 18-year-old patient is half my age. Oh crap. So, I borrowed my co-worker’s ukelele and I’m teaching myself how to play. It’s a lot of fun and I can play a handful of chords now. I’ve been learning on the internet and got a few copies of different songs from another co-worker who had a book of songs. I still have some practicing to do before I can play for anyone. For now, Jes will have to just bear with me. I just wish I could sing.
Another thing that I’ve been wanting to do is improve my Conversational Spanish. I’ve had the same patient for the last 10 weeks and his mom speaks primarily Spanish. I feel like a retard speaking to her and thought I should brush up a little. So, last night I went to my first class at the City College. It’s Level One and it’s super basic but I still learned a thing or two about cultural stuff for when to use the tu and usted forms. It’s only one night a week for seven weeks. We’ll see if it’ll be worth taking Level Two.
It’s the first day of the new lunar year and we celebrated by having the gang over for hot pot. The babies took turns fussing while Jack was dealing with potty training issues and Koa was on high-alert each time a baby cried. All the activity really made me realize how things have changed for us as a group.
We couldn’t even have all the grown ups seated at the table at one time. Somehow everyone managed to eat dinner and the babies got fed too.
It was all very noisy but pretty entertaining at the same time. I felt like we were in the middle of a sitcom. Rowan needed constant bouncing and entertainment, Reese hung out on Ryan’s lap taking in all the sights and smells, Jack sat on his usual pile of Yellow Pages (with no pants on), Ryan was dropping eggshells on the floor, and Koa had dragged out his bed from the bedroom to show off his humping skills in the middle of the livingroom. Ah…good times…happy new year, everyone!
Here’s picture of the grilled goat cheese sammich made with caramelized onion and fig jam with a hot chocolate. It was my dinner tonight since Jes was not feeling well today. Now, all I need are some friends who will meet me there. Who’s with me?!
Holly is in town for a conference this week so I got to hang out with her on Sunday. In the morning, we went for a little run with the dog and it was a beautiful day in the city. Afterward, we had brunch at Butler and the Chef. In the afternoon, she went to 99 Ranch and TJ’s with me. In the evening, we met up with the Masayas at the cafe that just opened downstairs. It was their preview night for residents and we got to taste all their stuff for free. For dinner, they all came back up to our condo for some beef noodle soup. The day ended with driving Hols to her hotel downtown.
I got some errands done while spending some quality time with an old friend. Aaahh…I needed that.
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