Periodically the company give us discounts... 10% to 25%. Some discounts are available just for the employees... Here are some that caught my eye and I thought I'd share :)

Origins.Com
Receive a Free Deluxe 3.4oz. Incredible Spreadable Scrub Ginger body smoother plus, Free Standard Shipping with any Origins.com purchase
Enter code: 04081NJ at check out
Offer Ends: 5/11/2008

EcoBags.Com
(Does not apply to promotional or custom orders)
15% Off your purchase
Enter code: NJ08 at check out
Offer Ends on 5/15/2008

ShoeMall.Com
15% Off your purchase plus Free Shipping
Enter code: NEXJUMP at check out

OMG, I'm a quarter of a century old... And it's snowing - AGAIN. It's a end of APRIL damnit!

I celebrated my birthday this past Saturday. Just had a few people over and hung out. I got MarioKart for my WII and we challenged people from all over the World. My internet has been down because of the weather changes (my rent comes with satillite tv and internet). I feel like I've experienced a whole year worth of weather in a week. Due to the weather changes I know it's going to kill a ton of animals. There's a pair of ducks that walked (yes they didn't fly) from my workplace all the way to the edge of town to this area with ton of construction with a small water hole there. Each time I drive past, they're there... How did I know they walked? For a whole week I had to wait for those idiots to cross the road in different parts of town.


So before the internet goes out again, I wanted to wish everyone a wonderful day. I switched my schedule to help with the evening shift for two weeks. We've been bombarded at work, grrr!

I was speaking with a new client over the phone a couple of days ago. During the call she stated, "You know what? I just LOVE your accent. You're in Canada right?" I tried not to laugh too hard, "No, I'm in Wisconsin"... Then she said, "Yeah, but that's close enough." This isn't the first time I heard this. Since when did Wisconsin become apart of Canada? LOL!

I've been against Canada for a while... They've had it too good for too long. What's appealing is their health care - the government pays for the medical bills. There's hardly any crime. I believe only 65 deaths by gunshot in the past year versus 11,200+ in the US (shakes head in disappointment). Did you know people in Toronto don't even lock their doors? They feel there's no need to. Ah! Canada's just like the US but oh, they don't ever want to be labeled as an "American" that's probably the worst insult you can say to a Canadian... They're so much more patient too... so very laid back. When I speak to a Canadian, they're all about health care. They don't even leave their province without medical coverage. We Americans may laugh our head off but it's quite important to them.

So I've decided that if I don't retire in Mauritius one day, my second choice is Canada...

I've been having pounding migraines these past few weeks. Days when I just want to cut my head off or bang it on the side of a brick wall. As much aspirin I take, the pain wouldn't go away. My health insurance isn't bad but I just haven't found the time to see a professional. Last week, I attended a wedding anniversary for my aunt and uncle in Wausau. The migraine was so severe. When I returned to work on Monday, I read a short article about things that can may have caused headaches or dizziness. The first item was PERFUME. Yikes, I thought to myself... So that evening, I went home and strayed some on because I was going to go out with the husband and his brother. Almost instantly, the headache returned.

I won't even name the perfume because it's so cheap but I like the smell. It's cute and flirty. The thing is, I just bought it a couple of weeks ago and the bottle's still almost full... I can't stand to throw things like that away. Then I remembered a couple of weeks ago I got a sample of "L" a fragrance by Gwen Stefani's LAMB collection. The bottle just arrived yesterday and I had it on all evening. I haven't noticed any side effects and I hope THIS IS THE ONE *crosses fingers*

It's that time to update my kitchen: glassware, bakeware, cookware, etc. So I'm starting small with the glassware. I'm quite picky when it comes to what I want to drink out of. I mean, I have a several wine and champagne glasses - they're fine. It's just I have "normal" drinking glass cups. I like them, but they're outdated and I'm just tired of looking at them... SOoOo plain. Since I do throw several get-togethers here and there, I want my guests to drink from something cute and classy.

So for two-months of searching, I found these cups at KMart (picture may not be from KMart because those idiots took it off their site!):



It was $6.00+ for a set of four. The husband thought they were a little too pricey for drinking cups because our guests have and may break them. So after going to all the 4-5 stores in town (haha), I decided I'll order them online.

Low and behold, I found the same cups on KMart.Com for $1.00 for a set of four, (yay!). They were "sold-out" for delivery. No biggy I thought, they'll do price matches... Or so I thought, because last month I bought a Dyson vaccum at Best Buy, $549.99 however the sales guy said, "Hey, it's only $500 online, I'll give you the better price." And I've bought from elsewhere, they were able to match the price because none were available online.

So I call the KMart.Com customer service and they tell me they DON'T DO price matches because they're different entities. WTF? I understand if the price online said, "Price Online Only" but no where did it mention that. As much as I tried to get that through her thick head, she said they have no way of matching the prices. Then she said something that lit my sparks, "I believe that's a discontinued item." I was so upset!!! I spent 2-months looking for cups and finally when I find the one I desired most, they're not able to give me the price I want and they're going to be discontinued!?

*Sighs* After wasting my entire evening yelling at KMart and looking elsewhere for similar cups, I gave up. Al said I can get my cups this weekend at KMart... But I'm still sooOOoO upset at KMart. Before I hung up on them, I yelled, "KMart's going down!"

I got home from work today, still bummed about about my cups. Al said he's thirsty... I went to get him some V8 Splash, opened the cupboards and there's my SQUARE BOTTOM CUPS!!! Al surprised me with them :) I got my cups, but I'm soOOo NOT EVER going to shop at KMart again!!!

When is it too early to purchase anti-aging creme? Ah, I don't feel old but I certainly look old. Last year Al and I went to do our taxs at H & R Block. The woman smiled at us and asked Al, "So who did you bring today? Is this your mother?"

Al was like, "No" shaking his head. The woman then said, "Oh, I'm sorry. Is she your aunt?" At this point, Al was laughing his head off. He then replied, "No, this is my wife." The woman apologized over and over. I felt OLD, like I'm an old granny old. I didn't say anything because I was in total and utter shock. My mouth must have dropped all the way to the floor. Gosh DAMN Al and his young features. His parents also thought I was older than Al when we first got married... He's 5 months older than I am, grrrr. The other day I went out to lunch with Al's neice, who is 22 and works in the same building. My boss walks by and said, "Oh, does your daughter work around this area too?" WTF?! I don't know if she was joking or serious.

So I've been using Clinique eye cream... and the Netrogena Healthy Skin Rejuvenator. I've been using it for about two weeks now and it does tighten up my skin. It will NEVER take away those words though. I'm so upset.

Any ideas on where I can find the fountain of youth!?

I feel like I've been wearing the same clothes over and over. It feels like years that I haven't purchased something new but honestly, I haven't shopped for clothes for about three months. I'm a little on the edge. The last thing I bought myself was a comfortable pair of black slacks. Okay, first off this place doesn't have any good clothing stores. I would hop, skip and jump to Appleton or Madison but I haven't found a free weekend to do anything! He's already started early spring cleaning and he has a full garbage bag of old clothes we're going to donate to Goodwill. So I'm left with a few good pants, tanks, t-shirts, and of course, work clothes.

I found time to shop two weeks ago but after paying bills, I was left broke. I've never tried online clothes shopping but I'm the type that MUST touch the fabric and try it on before so that's out of the question. I need a new shopping partner. The husband's great at carrying my stuff but not very good at giving me feedback. He choses is words very carefully and even after trying on a ton of things, he tells me "Oh, everything looks nice". Blah.

It bothers me when I'm shopping and see all these little teeny-boopers and 20-somethings who are in their trendy outfits and make me feel less attractive... even less of a woman. I'm in a cubicle 9-hours a day and I don't care about what I look like. I dab a little make-up here and there and my hair is pulled back wearing a white collar shirt and black or sometimes gray dress pants. Urgh! I think I need to cut back on buying gadgets and more on clothes.

I'm going crazy here because there's no where in town that I can get fresh sushi. I can make my own but I want eel and salmon rolls too... There's no fresh seafood here! Grrr.

Please tell me where I can get SUSHI around this place, AH! *pulls hair*

Goodness, it's been such a short week! I hoped everyone had a wonderful, stuffed TURKEY DAY! I just got back from Orlando. I got back in time to spend time with the family and had some turkey/duck/ham. Boy, I'm stuffed! I certainly miss the mid-80 degrees down south but it can't beat seeing the family under one roof :)

Here's some pictures from our little vacation. Enjoy.



Us at "Pirates" the dinner-show. We look buzzed - that's because we had several drinks in the VIP lounge before seating, hehe.





What "Pirates" looks like... It was a fantastic show - highly recommended.


Then... off to Walt Disney World we go!























At Sam's for Turkey Day...





Plenty of food... This year we decided to leave out the eggrolls and eliminated a turkey... So we only had one turkey, two ducks, and ham :) Yum-o!



The brothers :) T: Li Tong and Li Houa B: Hlaus and Bruce



Awwh, snuggling with baby Aikin.



My baby sisters... These two girls growing up too fast :/


And finally, me kissing baby Candice.





There are many other photos and videos... which will be uploaded later. After getting back on Wednesday, spending the entire day eating on Thursday, and shopping all day today (Friday)... I just got home, unpacked, and just got down to type this, LOL. I'm so tired!!! Then tomorrow morning there's the Yang New Year in town and of course, I have to wake up early to go cook with them then dance all night (because the husband's playing for the party)... Goodness, I'm so drained... 

It's been 6 months since I've been here...



One of my favorite restaurants is "Hoa Bien" in St.Paul, Minneapolis. It's clean, inexpensive, plus fast and friendly service. The waiters are most pleasant! I like the fact that they're all dressed in white collar tops and black pants. It makes thing look clean and organized.

The tables are always topped with fresh flowers (as you can see in the picture above). I've been going there for over 5 years and still love the food. It use to be a mom and pop trailer however now they've expanded to an elegnant building, still at the same location. Right on University and Larpenter - close to White Castle and KFC. I even have their number in my cellphone because when I'm close to that area, it's a MUST to get food. It takes them 15 minutes to make my favorite dish!

The dish: Vietnamese Bun (Noodle Salad).




Have any other restaurant recommendations?

Man, I miss my little kids soooo much. Especially this little gal. She's Cha Houa's (aka "Tou") little girl - Candice. She's about 8 months old and currently living in Madison with her grandma, uncle Li Tong, auntie Choua, aunt and uncle Hlaus and cousin Ashlee.



You're probably wondering, "where's mom and dad?" They're in Missouri with her older sister Caren. Her parents are preparing the family for the big move. Half of the family are in Missouri... The other is still in Madison. Having two kids, her parents decided to take the older sister and leave her behind. (I know, it's so sad!) This little booger is the older sister, "the 1-year old giggle machine":



These little ones are already there... And I haven't seen them for a little over a year.



And she's going too (cries)... This is little Ashlee:



It's so depressing that we're all going our separate ways. I asked the husband, "Do you love me? Damn-it, tell me if you love me or not! If you don't, I'm gone. I want to go to Missouri with my family." LOL. I know it's mean. The husband laughs whenever I ask him. Blah-him.

How do you deal with being far from your family???

Most years I start my Christmas shopping early (back in September) however this year, the husband and I decided that we need a year to give ourselves a huge gift: the Orlando trip.  And I had got him a Sony hard disk camcorder. Then I added in the Guitar Hero 3 game to it.  Next month, I'll be adding on the Rock Band system to the many presents I'm getting him.  And I'm eyeing a Coach men's wallet as well.  He asked me, "Do you want to get your Coach purse or do you want me to get your car ready for winter?"  I can hold off on the purse I told him - I love my yellow Lancer more than anything.

Since we're going to be celebrating the Hmong New Year tomorrow, it's a tradition to not spend money for 3 days.  Right after work, I head straight to do a little shopping so I can brace myself for 3 days without spending a dime.  I got the grocercies needed to make my spring rolls then I went to Target.  Gosh damn, those red and green Christmas signs really got to me.  My heart went soft and I broke down.  FINE, I'm going to purchase gifts for other people this year. I can't help myself.  I got the little sister a digital camera.  That's one out of 28 people I still need gifts for, UGH @ MYSELF.  Gift cards for the rest of the family - maybe.

So this is a typical Saturday for me - being lazy in the living room while I wait for the batteries to charge for my Wii-mote. The husband's playing Madden 8 and complaining that he's the only person in the world that isn't going to be at Lambeau Field tomorrow to watch the Packers play against the Vikings.  He's upset that I couldn't work something out with the CEO of my company to get those darn tickets. OH well!

I'm browsing in YouTube.  I can't wait for tomorrow - I love my Sunday mornings more than anything in the world!  Why? Because nothing can go wrong on Sunday mornings...

I had a really creepy dream this morning.  As usual, I woke up at 4AM (the husband leaves to work at 4:15AM) and I came to the living room - slept on the long couch and turned the TV on to Nick At Nite (hey, I like to watch "Fresh Prince of Bel-AIr.. Either that or QVC at 4 in the morning).  I couldn't go to sleep until about 6AM.  That gave me 45 minutes to do a power-nap before I had to really get up and get ready.

My dream: I was sleeping on the couch as normal.  I opened my eyes and saw a figure, wearing a white evening gown with red rose buds.  The figure was standing in the hall and didn't come toward me or anything. I could only see the body. I didn't recall a head or limbs.  All of a sudden, my entire body was paralyzed and I was experiencing a sleep paralysis (the old hag syndrome) right there and then.  Yes, I'm shaman but I also believe in God - I prayed the life out of me and the numbness went away.  I parted my eyes a little and noticed "Saved By the Bell" was on - which is the usual time as it was approximately 6:30AM.  It didn't end there.  As soon as I could feel my body again, the second round of the paralysis hit me. I call this the "after-shock".  It came out of nowhere.  

Finally at 6:45AM, my alarm went off and I woke up kicking and in karate-motion.  I got ready and out to the car. This was at 7:40AM that I realized it was Halloween and perhaps "they" wanted to mess around with me or I was so tired that I was just experiencing the old hag syndrome. Whatever it was, I'm just happy that I have a story to tell :)

I celebrated my Halloween on Sunday.  I took the husband's three little sisters - ages: 7, 6, and 4 - trick or treating.  And I did a little fall-cleaning.  I threw away 8 13-gallon bags of junk and I have 2 shopping bags of "no-longer" need that I will be donating to Goodwill.  I had a productive weekend.