Okay, so, I know I'm not the most consistent about blogging. It's tough to do when I don't have internet access from home anymore!

The madness at work that is known as ExamSoft has started and it will continue until the end of finals, which is December 21st. I'll probably be able to blog more during finals 'cuz all I do is sit in my office and wait for the phone to ring, which means that someone in an exam room has problems with their laptop, which means that I have to run downstairs as soon as I get the phone call.

My weekend was awesome! My friend from work, Jessica, came over on Friday night and we watched "The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring" and it was her first time (as well as my roommate, Tara's) watching the movie! It's such a great movie. Then afterwards, Tara and I finished watching "The Matrix" (it was her first time). Man, I tell ya, that girl lived under a rock until now! I thought I had but she takes the cake! And she hadn't even seen "When Harry Met Sally" before so we watched that too!

Suffice to say, I got very little sleep because I had to be at the Burke Williams at The Block at 9am for my 10am appointment. Man, is that place nice! I was so relaxed after my deep tissue massage that I just wanted to sleep! But, Dorcas (aka D-Dub) and I had already made plans to hang out so we met at Main Place for lunch. But first, I had to find something to get for Micah for his birthday. (I can't believe he's already 2!!!) I wound up getting him a Bob the Builder interactive book and a Curious George alphabet book.

After lunch, D-Dub and I were trying to decide what to do and I suggested we hang out so I could knit (because I am now obsessed with knitting) and she wanted me to teach her how to crochet (yes! Got another one!) haha =) so we stopped at Tall Mouse and she bought some crochet hooks and yarn and we went back to her place.

After that, I went over to Cindy and Elijahs's house and we went to Sam Woo for dinner to celebrate Micah and Uncle David's birthdays. (Grandpa and grandson were born on the same day, 55 years apart!) Wow, I didn't realize just how incredibly obsessed with Thomas the Train Micah is! Yikes! Rebecca and Emmanuel had given Micah a Thomas the Train set and as soon as he saw it, he freaked out and was like, "Thomas, Thomas, Thomas!" Cindy and Elijah wouldn't let him play with it and he got upset. Man, dinner was good! We must've had like, 8 or 9 courses!

I went home with Cindy and Elijah and hung out, talking about stuff that was going on and I asked Elijah what he thought about a situation I have been facing in my fellowship group with regarding to leadership and Elijah's got some interesting ideas with regard to church and community and how the two go together and how many churches approach the two in a very fragmented way. (i.e., church and community don't necessarily mesh.) They went to bed (of course, they're parents of a 2 month old and a 2 year old!) and I stayed up knitting and ended up watching Saturday Night Live (which I don't usually watch) because Nia Vardalos, star and writer of "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" was hosting. SNL is very hit and miss, I found. I'd say that the majority of the sketches weren't very good.

I went to church on Sunday morning at Lighthill (Elijah's the pastor there) where Mike and Nancy shared about their recent trip to China for a 5 week missions trip. Out of what they shared, I have decided that I am going to spend the majority of the money I would have on Christmas presents for friends and family on things I can buy for people in 3rd world countries who are needy...far needier than any of us is and ever will be. If you're interested in more information, see the World Relief Catalog of Hope page. You can e-mail them or call them for a catalog.

After that, Rita and I hung out for almost 11 hours, crocheting/knitting and talking! Can you believe it?! We didn't even turn the TV on! That's what was so cool about it....we just talked the whole time! I've really enjoyed hanging out with her and getting to know her better. She and I were both involved with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship while we were in college in Claremont (she, at Claremont McKenna College, graduated '97, and Scripps College, graduated '95, for me!) We met towards the end of 2nd semester of my senior year. It's kinda funny how we met...I had put together a Scripps Fellowship Remembrance night where we invited alumnae back to celebrate all that God had done on our campus. The fellowship grew from 7 people my freshman year to over 20 people my senior year and it was very clear to me that the hand of God was solely responsible for that.

Anyways, the Mark study that Rita was in was making up for some missed studies and they had used one of the classrooms in the Humanities Building at Scripps, as were we. Well, they were walking past and heard a bunch of worship music being sung and were like, "Worship music? Let's check it out!" So, we had a bunch of CMCers crash our celebration but it was cool. =) Rita told me that she walked in the room and was like, "2 Asian American women leading worship? Awesome!" (It was Renee and me leading.) So, that's how I met Rita and on the boat on the way out to Campus By the Sea (located on Catalina Island, owned by IVCF) for our annual 1 week summer conference (which took place the week after school got out) and got to know her better on the boat ride to and from. Then I ran into her that following Christmas at the Carpenter Christian Bookstore in Torrance, and saw her again 3 years later at a mutual friend's wedding and reconnected.

It's kinda funny because up until now, we've had these small contacts but never for any extended amount of time, and now, she's joined TNT and she's also in my Bible study and we've been hanging out quite a bit! That woman cracks me up! =) But she's got a definite heart for the Lord and for missions and so desires to be where the Lord wants her. I don't doubt that our paths crossed and we had that instant click so many years ago for a reason. Who knew that our paths would cross again and that we'd be in the same Bible study and fellowship group? The wonders...

I think I must be going through something, emotionally, that I'm can't quite put into words. I think maybe some of it is that I'm tired and getting to the point where I feel like I need to hide. So, I find myself bailing on commitments I'd made to hang out with people because I don't feel like doing anything but going home and sitting in front of the TV and crocheting or knitting. Okay, maybe it is just my obsession with knitting and crocheting. I tell ya, it's all I want to do, all day! Yikes!

I think I'm also having to re-evaulate a lot of my friendships, or those that I thought were friendships. Perhaps it's more an issue of my definition of friendship. I don't know. But I've been feeling like some of my friends aren't really friends anymore.

There are people in my life, like Christine, Emma, Alice, Tatiana, Jessica, with whom, for various reasons, I don't have regular contact. (All but Jessica live out of state...Illinois and New York and Jessica lives in South Orange County and has 2 kids!) and that's okay because of those circumstances. Besides, we've reached a level in the friendship where not having regular contact doesn't mean that something is wrong with the friendship. And Cindy and Dorcas I've known for like, eleven and a half years and well, we've gotten this far so they're stuck with me! hahah =) Cindy, especially, since she married my cousin, Elijah, and I am godmother to their 2 kids! =)

But, there are other friendships where I don't feel that security. What am I to do about that? Friendships are 2 way streets. I can only meet halfway and if they don't, there's nothing I can do about that.