cindy's world

Mine’s broken. If I had doubts before about my ability, I now know.

My girl friend Erin and I met up at Glen Ivy Hot Springs this morning around 10am. Whereas I was proud of myself for getting to Corona at that hour, having finally fallen asleep this morning at past 5am, Erin had already completed like 3 errands before I saw her. We started by caking ourselves with the red mineral clay, chatting on the lounge as we dried, then like two little pots, we sat in the mud water to rinse off what we couldn’t flake off. Then we showered, I changed into my slinkier tanning bikini (earlier, had to wear a black tankini that red clay couldn’t stain), and we explored the grounds, going from pool to pool. First we dipped a toe into the sulfur-smelling outdoor mineral bath, but that was way too hot. We went instead into the adjacent lap pool to bob around as we talked about swim strokes and kicks. Next, we sat in the bubbling indoor Roman bath and enjoyed the hot spa water and jets. Then we hit the steam room. I made a very bad Holocaust-related joke when it got unbearable, and we left and padded outside to explore the nooks and crannies of the outdoor property. On the different levels and terraces, behind various foliage, we found and lounged in a warm, fizzy salt water spa and discussed the California real estate market (as compared to New York’s, Nevada’s and Arizona’s). On a terrace, we discovered and lounged in one of two generously-sized terrace spas. When we craved cooler waters, we drifted lazily on blue foam floats in the large lounge pool. When we left Glen Ivy at 5:30pm, we were pruny but our skin felt smooth and conditioned and we kept talking about how great our bodies feel and how relaxed we are. Seriously, my backaches and sore spots are gone as I sit and type here.

For dinner we hit up Kamon Restaurant in the City of Industry for sushi. As usual, the sushi chefs at the bar greeted me warmly and joked with Erin and myself as they made us great food, gave us a great discount, and complimentary baked salmon. (I tip generously there, and have been going there for awhile.) $26 + tip for sushi dinner for 2, can’t complain. We both wanted something sweet for dessert, so we went to a crepes restaurant in the Hong Kong Supermarket plaza. Horrible service. We never got the water we requested, nor the extra spoon nor napkins (the latter two I got myself from the front of the restaurant). The two crepes including tax came out to $7.04. Erin was covering dessert and she put on the table…7 dollar bills and four pennies. We skidaddled out of there. Then we chatted in my car and caught up with each other’s lives for an hour after I drove her back to her car.

I had a good time. =) And a good tan, despite the continual reapplication of sunblock.

When I woke up on my living room couch at about 2:00 a.m., the house was dark, and the TV was playing a horror flick on HBO called “My Little Eye.” I don’t know what groggy-eyed idiocy compelled me to watch the remainder of this movie. The result is that I ended up scared and in desperate need to “reach out and touch someone”, but I wasn’t gonna call someone at 3am. Next best thing in the 21st century is to log online and hope for the best. And there it was, on AOL Instant Messenger. I made my confessions of fear to a faraway friend and explained my situation…

Me: I keep turning around to watch my back and you know what’s worse than watching your back alone at night?
Me: is turning around and watching your back in a mirror!
Me: WWWAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Friend: at work
Friend: i had a mirror
Friend: attached to my monitor
Friend: so i can always see what is going on behind me
Friend: and if someone is creeping up on me or not
Me: I’ve seen people in the Clerk’s Office with that on their monitors.
Me: But at times like this, you realize the mirror doesn’t help because certain supernatural things don’t cast reflections!
Me: WAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!
Friend: also a good point
Me: I’m gonna cry!
Friend: you will be okay, cindy.
Friend: i’ve talked to the supernatural powers
Friend: and told them that they can have the night off
Friend: so they will not be bothering you tonight.
Me: What about murderous people who are killing people in a secretly bugged, isolated house for a snuff internet site?
Me: (I watched “My Little Eye”)
Friend: oh, that isn’t your house
Friend: i checked.

I like having friends who you can tell have had boyfriend-training and who evidently would make good dads. *sniff*

There really is a lot for me to be happy about. All around I could see close calls, pitfalls I’d almost fallen into at one point. But luckily, I have made some good decisions and am very comfortable in my life right now.

It’s a nice Friday. I’m all warm from my lunchtime workout and the hot shower I had afterwards, I’m sitting in a courtroom where I can do my work at my own pace since we’re not in session right now, and I just finished munching on a fresh blueberry bagel. I look and feel better (well, except for the aches and pains from jujitsu) than I did a few years ago at this time. Today is payday. I ran into a friend I haven’t seen in awhile in the courthouse today. I still have hair. My reporter introduced me to a new killer ab exercise today.

Tomorrow I’m gonna have a girlie day w/a friend at Glen Ivy Hot Springs and we’re gonna sit in mineral baths, whirlpools, saunas, red clay and/or pools all day. In a couple of weeks I’m gonna meet up w/my cousins Diana and Jennifer and we’re gonna go have a nice dinner at Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse in Irvine, easily one of the best steakhouses anywhere. (One thing I realized when the three of us were trying to find a good day to go have dinner is how busy my weeks are and I am so glad about that. I’m not busy doing stuff I hate, or fulfilling obligations to other people. I’m busy doing stuff I enjoy and/or signed up for myself.)

Ahhhhh. *smiling contentedly*

My reporter came in a few minutes ago and told me that a man at the gym was talking about me to her. He told her that I should smile, and that he never sees me smile.
That’s the point! I don’t wanna have to change gyms again! If I don’t already know you, I’m likely not gonna get to know you because I don’t want you hitting on me, stalking me, or interrupting my workout. (Yes, that is the reason I’ve changed gyms like 4 times already. I should post some of the stalker emails I’ve received.) I accept that some people see the gym as a meat market. I’ll just deal with that in my own way: by not making eye contact, not initiating contact with people, eliminating all the idle time I can in between exercises by supersetting everything.

I listed my house for sale with a realtor today. Sometimes you just need a change and the only way to make that change is to uproot completely. I also put in for a transfer to another courthouse. There’s nothing to be scared of, right? I’m competent and I can be social, make new friends, learn new procedures. I will be making a pretty large profit on my house, so I am also going to trade in my car this weekend for something less gas-guzzling, like a Toyota Corolla. Definitely not getting a dark-colored car anymore, either. Something white or beige is good, so I don’t have to get the tinted windows this time to decrease the heat. I think I’ll rent an apartment near the new work location for awhile and save up money to put into new property. That may mean I need to get rid of the cat, but I’m sure I can find nice new parents for him.

You know you’re out of it when you stare quizzically at a bra on your bed because you think it’s a can opener.

I also get the heebie jeebies now when I see the red dot on the inside of my forearm where the blood was drawn the other day. Lying on the cot after the collection bag filled up, all I could think about as they took the two or three vials of blood for testing, was how they took their time changing the vials/bag and my blood had nowhere to go in the meantime, and I could hear my godbrother tell me about his blood donation story and how the nurse must’ve, at this step, caused his blood to flow backward from the tube into his vein and how it hurt his arm. And then my arm started hurting at the needle site, too. *shudder shudder shudder* I almost went into shock at that point. They were pretty good about bringing wet towels for my forehead and neck.

Why’m I all disoriented? Probably because last nite, for the first time, I did forward rolls over my left shoulder, right shoulder, from standing position, and also with a running start. It’s so much easier than the beginner rolls I had been doing with the starting point on one knee with the rear leg outstretched behind me. The standing rolls feel more natural to me, and all I knew was that I raised my right arm, stepped in with my right foot, tucked, and the next thing I knew I was up on my feet again. Woohoo! Also, being able to do that roll advanced me from the anals of the class.

I almost got into 2 or 3 auto accidents today. Normally I’m a very defensive driver and have avoided many accidents that I know other drivers, had they been in my place, would’ve plowed into. But today, I would “wake up” right after a near-miss, and it’s to the credit of everyone else that I haven’t added any new dings to my car.

At jujitsu earlier, I slammed hard onto the mat right into my injured right knee. Good thing I waited an extra day before coming back or that would’ve been one of those horrible semi-permanent injuries. (A heavy-set new guy didn’t know to let go of my gi when he hit the floor and yanked me down and forward and I had to fall on my knee to avoid kneeing his kidney.)

I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I knew something was up the way the universe was trying to slow down my drive all day. Driving to work in the morning, I hit 36 out of 38 possible red lights. Same thing with driving home after work, and driving from home to jujitsu.

Good thing about jujitsu today (aside from the fact that the blackbelt wasn’t there), there was another older blackbelt instructor who is much more technical in his teaching. We split the class in half and one worked on throws and falls and the other worked with the new instructor on drilling blocks, kicks and hits. Yes, we got the full breakdown of each movement. I raved to the regular instructor after class about how helpful that was, and how I had no idea what I was doing until I got the basics explained to me. He seemed happy about my feedback and said he’s gonna have that instructor back for that purpose for us.

Problems:
1. I need a second reason for skipping jujitsu today (the first being that I want to give my body another day to heal).
2. I overate at lunch and therefore need something to balance me out.
Solution:
I drove to the Norwalk Sheriff’s Station after work and donated blood to the American Red Cross.

I almost couldn’t donate because the donor’s iron content needs to be at least 38%. My blood drop floated on the solution, did a little dance near the surface, so they decided to spin the blood to see the exact iron content. 38%.
I met some people my age who work in the next building at City Hall, and we had a good time at the snacks table (where we’re required to sit and hydrate/snack for 15 mins after donating) laughing about all the 80s dance moves, like the cabbage patch, the reebok, the robot, the snake, the smurf, the Kid-n-Play. Gawd, the 80s were not only a fashion disaster, but lame as well.
I glanced at the sign-in sheet before I left and was disappointed to find that none of my coworkers had donated. I tried to get people I ran into as I left to come with me, but even the big burly men who you figure had gallons of blood to spare said, “No, I NEED my blood.”
Learned a few interesting things today. A 3-month stay anywhere in Europe (3 months collectively, doesn’t have to be consecutively) permanently disqualifies a donor from giving blood. I can’t do heavy exercise or weight lifting for the next 5 hours. What a great reason to get out of jujitsu.

Side note: Hey, I just realized this is my 100th blog entry! I’m glad it’s a good-cause post.

At my first American Christmas, age 6 after having immigrated from Taiwan to California, I was given my first American stationery set. Each of the cousins (the kids) were given a white and red plastic Snoopy pencil box shaped like a large round crayon. The red top unscrewed to become a pencil sharpener. The real prize to me was a pad of stationery paper. The background on each pale green half-sheet size page of the booklet was a misty faded photograph of a deep green blade of grass, spotted with small round jewels of dew, and at the tip of the blade clung a large reflective tear-shaped drop. There was something magical about that image. It stirred in my young consciousness some association to a veiled memory that I could no longer identify.

It wasn’t until years later when I learned English that I could read the anonymously authored haiku, printed in white on the bottom right corner of each page:

Dewdrop, let me cleanse
In your brief, sweet waters
These dark hands of life