Hectic... ulit

The past weekend was very hectic. Saturday morning, we went to different furniture stores to look for a dining set, living room and bedroom set.

We first went to gothic furnitures. Their furnitures are not expensive, but you can tell that the quality is not so good either. Then we went to lunch... we got hungry because of the heat. Then we went to Seaman's and saw a bedroom and living room sets, but we wanted to think it over and look around more. Next door was Moda. When we walked in, their furnitures were expensive, until we walked around and saw some that are priced ok. We saw a bedroom set so we started asking questions... and then they finally gave us a really good price! $400 less compared to it's original price, and it's better than what we saw at Seaman's. So Joe and I decided to buy it!!!! That's what you call impulse buying. But it's worth it. And then we went to Long Island to look at doors. When we got there, we saw regular wood doors. What we wanted was security/storm doors. So we left. Then we went to Staples to buy more boxes and went home. When we got home, we started packing some stuff that we know we won't be using for the next month. After 3 hours of packing, we went to Church. We got home, did more packing, then had dinner. After dinner, we just rested. It was a very tiring day.



Sunday, we woke up late, had lunch at Pops Diner. I had pancakes, Joe had omelette and Ash had Tiramisu. The Tiramisu was great! I called Aleth if she wants to come with us to look for furnitures. She said yes so from the Diner, we picked her up from her apartment and we set off to Rosevelt Field where there are a lot of malls. We first went to Lowes to look at storm/security doors. It costs $600 per door!!! Then we went to Levitz to look at furnitures. They are EXPENSIVE! Then Jennifer Covertibles and did not find anything there. We went to The Place, a furniture store and didn't find anything there either. So after that, we just went home. WHen we got home, I did more house chores, Joe started going through documents.... and so on and so forth. Gheez... just typing what we did makes me feel tireD!



Tonight, one of the movers I called will come and check the items we are moving and give us an estimate. It seems that hiring a mover is sooo expensive! Then I have to make an appointment with another of Mom and Rajan's agent. We still have to do more packing.



On Wednesday, I'm flying to Florida for a business trip. I'm going to be there until Friday.

Washington DC !!!!

Song: Why Georgia

Artist: John Mayer



So we went to Washington DC the past weekend. We had a lot of fun, but it was tiring at the same time.



June 3, 2005 - Friday

I left work at 3pm so I can pick up the car from the service garage. When i got out of the Subway station, there was a fruit vendor. She was selling cherries. Ash and Joe like them so I bought 2 pounds. I paid $333 for a freakin’ hose change!

But at least the air conditioner works now :)

Then I picked up Aleth from her apartment, and then we went to my house to pickup Tita and Ash. When I got home I told Ash to wash the cherries and take half for our trip and leave half for Joe. Then we gathered our things and took them to the car. We left the house at 4:30pm. We crossed Manhattan and went to Lincoln Tunnel (leaving Manhattan). It took us an hour and a half to cross Manhattan!!! Is usually just takes 30 minutes! It was so damn traffic! It was raining too... (sigh)



So it was raining all the way to Washington DC. After the traffic eased up, I started driving 60 to 70 miles/hour. Most of the cars were only running 50 miles/hour because of the rain. Although when we were near the hotel, it was just drizzling. Anyway, I did not want to get to the hotel at midnight so I was trying to drive fast, but not as fast as I wanted to because we might get into an accident. We got to the hotel, and went in to check in. The front desk were 2 Filipino Women! They were cool. Our room number was 123. :) My sister wanted to be on the higher floor. I really didn't care. Then we went up to our room, freshened up a bit and went to sleep.



June 4, 2005 - Saturday

We woke up at 7:30am. We were hoping to enter the White House. According to the website, it opens to the public from 10am to 12noon, but you have to start lining up at 7:30am. The website is actually vague because it only mentions group tours with 10 or more people, but it doesn't say anything about less than 10 people. So the 4 us left the hotel at 9am, had breakfast and went to the White House. While we were walking, we saw a white house guard and asked if we can tour the white house. He said that we need to get tickets from the state congressman 6 months ahead of time!!!! So we went and took pictures outside the white house. Oh well...



Then we went and bought tickets for the Trolley Tours. Where we can take a trolley to tour around Washington. We can get off at any tour spot and walk around at our leisure. Then we can got on the trolley again after we're done to go to the next tour spot. It was cool! I learned a lot of things, like The Washington Monument's color has 2 tones. The bottom quarter has a lighter shade then the rest of the tower. The tour guide said that while they were constructing the monument, they ran out of budget and World War 2 hit. So it wasn't touched for 22 years. When they resumed construction, they went to the site where they originally got the stones that were used for the monument. Apparently, the color of the stones were lighter than how it was 22 years ago. That was interesting.



When the trolley was going around, one of the things that we saw was a sculpture of the typewriter eraser, which was in front of the National Museum of Contemporary Arts. The Tour guide said that if you mention this to the children right now, they will look at you with confused faces. They will ask what a typewriter eraser is since all they know is computers and printers... .hehehe... at this point, I felt really old.



We finished at 5pm, went back to our hotel and rested. Then at 6pm we left the hotel and got the car from the valet to drive around. We went to Pentagon and to the Immaculate Conception National Basilica. We were not able to get out of the car to get in to Pentagon because they are not open to the public. We just drove around it. Then we looked for the Basilica. When we got there it was already 7:30pm, so the Church was already closed. We just took some pictures outside of the Basilica.



Then we went back to our hotel. We dropped off the car then go and have Dinner. We went to Old Ebbitt Grill. It was recommended by one of my staff who used to work for the White House. According to the hostess, there was a 45 minute wait. So I said that's fine. After 45 minutes, I went and asked how many people are in front of us so we know how much long we have to wait. The lady said that we were next. So we waited in front of them. 20 minutes later, my Aunt and my sisters got tired so they went and sat outside where there were benches. I waited in front of the hostess desk so that they can see me waiting. Then the hostess asked if my name was Ameeh for party of 4. I said, "Yeah". She said that she's been buzzing (these restaurants give buzzers if there is a long wait so that they don't have to call your name) me for awhile. I showed her the buzzer and told her that the buzzer doesn't work. I was pissed!



Anyway, the food was good. Ash and I had the jumbo crab cakes. Aleth had the soft shell crab. Tita had new England clam chowder and salad. The crab cakes were good. Aleth was not so happy about the soft shell crab. Tita Ni said that her food was too much! hahahahah.



We ordered the dessert to go (to take back to the hotel). We paid the bill and went back to the hotel. When we got to our room, ate some of our desserts, we freshened up and went to sleep.



June 5, 2005 - Sunday

We woke up at 9am. We ordered breakfast room service! Cool! Then while waiting for the food, some of us started packing, and started taking a shower one at a time since there was only 1 bathroom. We left at 11:30am to go to the 12noon mass at the Immaculate Conception Basilica. Then after the mass, we went back to Downtown (near the white house) have some lunch. It took us an hour to find a damn parking spot! So we finally decided to just go to a parking garage. $15 for 24 hours. We paid the $15 even though we knew we were only going to be there at least 2 hours. Because it costs $14 for 2 hours anyway, so we might as well lpay $15 just in case we go beyond 2 hours. Then we went to "Ollies". All of the employees there were Filipinos!!! Wow! They were fun. There wasn't much people in the restaurant, i guess because it was Sunday. We all had burgers, fries, some had soda, some had milkshakes. At 4pmpm, we left Washington DC. We hit traffic three times during the drive. First was when we were about to leave the state of Delaware and entering the state of New Jersey. There was a long congestion and we don't know why. The 2nd traffic was when we were getting into Manhattan leaving New Jersey. The 3rd was between Manhattan and Queens at the 59th Street Bridge. I was driving an average speed of 90-100 miles/hour (140km/hour), so we got home around 9pm. FINALLY!!!



All in all, we had fun. I had fun spending time with my sisters and Aunt.

yun at yan...

Song: Anything For You
Remake by: Nina

I called the car dealer this afternoon. The part was not delivered today so I can't pick up the car. We're a little bit worried because we're suppose to go to Washington DC this weekend, and I still don't have the car until now, and its already Thursday. I don't want to book the hotel until we have the car. I'm having dinner with my sisters and my Aunt at Olive Garden after work so we'll discuss it then.

During lunch I called Geico to get a quote for a Homeowner's Insurance. They asked sooo many questions. Until finally they gave me the annual charge for the insurance. They quoted $1779. According to Joe, Nationwide - another company who offers homeowner's insurance quoted $873 only. Geico is almost twice as much! I'll call the other companies tonight to get more quotes.

So I booked my flight, hotel and car for my business trip going to Florida. It's exciting because i booked my hotel with a beach front!!! I just wish I was going with somebody. I'm going to be alone... and I'll be in the Florida office for most of the day. I'm arriving at night on June 15th, and leaving in the afternoon on June 17th. I even have a 15minute free jet skii ride!!!! ugh! Like I have time to do something like that. It's funny because my officemates were telling me to wake up early and go to work late so I can take advantage of the free jet skii ride! hahahaha... yeah right! Me? Wake up early???

OH! For lunch, I went to "Duke's Cafe" where I almost always get my lunch. So I went to the griller again. This time the taller guy spoke to me. While he was preparing the food, he asked why he doesn't see me there anymore during breakfast... I didn't know what to say! I was surprised that he notices me in the morning. Man! I told my officemates here what happened, and they were all teasing me. Lisa (one of my officemates) said that I should've said "because I eat my breakfast with my husband" hahahahah. They were just nice to me because I'm nice to them too. So I had philly cheesesteak for lunch but I only finished 3/4 of it. It was really big!!!!

I can't wait to have dinner at Olive Garden tonight!!! I love that place!!! Food is good and healthy too!!!! Then I'll order desert! hahahahah..

car trouble... site trouble...

I went to get my car’s air conditioner fixed this morning. To find out the source of the problem, they are charging me $195!!!! Gheez! AND! Replacement part is not included!

Anyway, I’m hoping that it gets fixed today and I’ll leave work a little bit early to pick up the car.



Last night, I tried updating my website, and then it just didn’t upload. I wasn’t sure what happened. So I called the tech support this morning. Apparently, I was over the web space limit.

So I had to remove a couple of pages and remove the pictures. The limit was 10MB. When I deleted some stuff, it went down to 5MB. So I uploaded the remaining pages and then it worked. I just wish I had more space! Yahoo Geocities free webspace is 15MB. The good thing about this site is that it’s not searchable by google… heheheh.



I’ll just put the rest of the stuff that I deleted under the Multiply.com site. (9:48am)

“Letters to My Son”

I was looking for a file in my external hard drive when I stumbled into this file. I’m not sure how and when I got this, but it is worth reading…

FALLING IN LOVE
From the book “Letters to My Son”


It is a mystery why we fall in love.

It is a mystery how it happens. It is a mystery when it comes. It is a mystery why some lovers grow and it is a mystery why some lovers fall.

You can analyze this mystery and look for reasons and causes, but you will never do anymore than take the life out of the experience. Just as life itself is more than the sum of the bones and muscles and electrical impulses in the body, love is something more than the sum of the interests and attractions and commonalities that two people share. And just as life itself is a gift that comes and goes in its own time, so too, the coming of love must be taken as the unfathomable gift that cannot be questioned in its ways.



Sometimes, hopefully at least once in your life – the gift of love will come to you in full flower and you will take hold of it and celebrate it in all its inexpressible beauty. This is the dream we all share. More often it will come and take hold of you, celebrate you for a brief moment, then move on.



When this happens to young people, they too often try to grasp the love and hold it to them, refusing that it is a gift that is freely given and a gift that just as freely moves away. When they fall out of love, or the person they love feels the spirit of love leaving, they try desperately to reclaim the love that is lost rather than the accepting the gift for what it was, then moving on.



They want answers when there are no answers. They want to know what is wrong with them that makes the other person no longer love them, or they try to get their lover to change, thinking that if some small things were different, love would bloom again. They blame their circumstance and say that if they go far away and start a new life together, their love will grow.



They try anything to give meaning to what has happened. But there is no meaning beyond the love itself, and until they accept its own mysterious ways, they live in a sea of misery.



You need to know this about love, and to accept it. You need to treat what it brings you with kindness. If you find yourself in love with someone who does not love you, be gentle with yourself. There is nothing wrong with you. Love just didn’t choose to rest in the other person’s heart.



If you find someone else in love with you and you don’t love her, feel honored that love came and called at your door, but gently refuse the gift you cannot return. Do not take advantage; do not cause pain. How you deal with love is how you deal with you, and all our hearts feel the same pains and joys, even if our lives and ways are different.



If you fall in love with another, and she falls in love with you, and then love chooses to leave, do not try to reclaim it or to assess blame. Let it go. There is a reason and there is a meaning. You will know it in time.



Remember that you don’t choose love. Love chooses you.



All you can really do is accept it for all its mystery when it comes to your life. Feel the way it fills you to overflowing then reach out and give it away. Give it back to the person who brought it alive in you. Give it to others who deem it poor in spirit. Give it to the world around you in any way you can.



This is where so many lovers go wrong. Having been so long without love, they understand only love as a need. They see their hearts as empty places that will be filled by love, and they begin to look at love as something that flows to them rather than from them.



The first blush of new love are filled to overflowing, but as their love cools, they revert to seeing their love as need. They cease to be someone who generates love and instead become someone who seeks love. They forget that the secret of love is that it is a gift and that it can only be made to grow by giving away.



Remember this and keep it in your heart. Love has its own time, its own seasons, and its own reasons for coming and going. You cannot bribe it or coerce it, or reason it into staying. You can only embrace it when it arrives and give it away when it comes to you. But if it chooses to leave from your heart or the heart of your lover, there is nothing you can do and nothing you should do. Love always has been and always will be a mystery. Be glad that it came to live a moment of your life. If you keep your heart open, it will come again.