Kids are too cute. I have been telling my students that I suspect that one of them has a cat because I am very allergic to cats and I feel the symptoms of my allergies every morning.

Last week, a student wrote me:

Dear Ms. Park,

I love you. You are the best techer in the wrold. I have a cat and she likes to jump on me so I think you are alrjick to me. I will not pet her in the morning because I have to go to school and I know that you are alrjik to me.

Love, Tianna

We Survived Hurrican Marty (and we didn't even get a stinkin' t-shirt.)

We got back on Tuesday night and boy, does it feel good to be back on American soil. When we were in Los Cabos, I couldn't wait to come back and write all about the horrors of living through a hurricane- oh, the rains and winds.

I wanted to write about how I thought we were on the sinking Titanic when a hotel worker came knocking at our door at 3:00 in the morning to tell us to get our blankets and pillows and meet in the basement theater, how I cried when I found out that there were no more calling cards in sight, how we drank pina coladas after pina coladas to escape the misery of the humidity and lack of electricity, how we bought an outdated September 8th issue of People for $9 so we could have something to pass time with, how we waited at the airport for six hours on Tuesday with the hope at a slim chance of getting on any earlier flight. To anywhere. Just out of there.

But, now I can't. Just the thought of our "vacation" makes me re-exhausted. I'll tell you all about it over a cup of latte one day.

I don´t know where to begin. I know I`ve been MIA and this is why: Jason and I are stranded in Los Cobos, Mexico. There is a hurricane, Hurricane Marty, and he would not let us leave on Sunday. We will be back Tuesday night if we are lucky. I had to call in sick for Monday and Tuesday, Jason had surgeries he had to cancel. All the people in the hotel are crowded around one main room, sleeping and waiting for Marty to pass. I feel helpless.

Susan posted this on her site the other day:

"watched "once upon a time in mexico"... pretty funny...wasn't expecting it to be funny... there's one line that i thought was hilarious. if anyone watches it, guess which one, you think, that i thought, was funny. :)"

I just knew, KNEW, that we would think the same line was hilarious, even though we did not watch the movie together. I was so excited to guess which line she had in mind so I posted it on her comments...and I was right!! What can I say? The Park sisters have always thought alike. We have to same stupid humor that most people find, well, just stupid...hahaha.

Now, if you've seen the movie, which line do you think it is?

This is fun!

You will never believe this. After all the packing, loading, unloading and unpacking nonsense has subsided and I’m just starting to get comfortable in my new home, my mom *now* wants to move. She is entirely convinced that the condo she bought will never ever see the high asking price as it does now. Goodness gracious.

So, she is already on a hunt to find a buyer and looking for a place to buy. Late afternoon, I was at home by myself. I as sitting at my desk, when I saw a shadow walk by in the hallway from my peripheral vision. My heart nearly stopped beating for a second. I turned around to find some real estate man with crossed eyes looking about the place, as nonchalant as could be, without any care or apologies to almost have been the cause of my sudden untimely heart attack.

Speaking of which, a student asked me today if she could go to the nurse. I asked her why and she told me, while holding her right hand over her left chest like we do every morning for the pledge and with the straightest face imaginable, “Cause I am having a heart attack.”

Jason is on vacation this week and just left for Vegas with his cousin. Truly, I don’t know anyone who works harder or longer than him. The hours are horrendous and the job itself is so stressful. I don’t know how he does what he does.

Tomorrow is Wednesday. Have much to do at work. Need to get over that week hump. Thursday and Friday should be a breeze. Already looking forward to the weekend.

I just came across an old CD that I burned awhile back, and damn, I must say, it has the best songs: Rump Shaker, Daisy Dukes, Paperboy, etc. I love old school rap. It’s the best.

Lastly, I was unable to attend Misun’s Birthday party this Saturday, but I wanted to wish my unni a HAPPY BIRTHDAY! I worked with Misun at the advertising agency that I used to work at. Seriously, I had the best co-workers there. Each and every one of them are such great people. I couldn’t have been luckier with a better first job straight out of college. Anyways, I am not sure if Misun reads this. Jenny, you have to show her!

Have a great hump day! At the end of the day, you will be at the top of that hump!

I am so upset. I just checked Sharon Osbourne's website to find that the taping that I suffered through will not be aired. What a waste of freakin' time. So, the "taping" that I attended was apparently practice for Sharon, which was the buzz around the studio audience at the actual taping. I feel used.

Borderline OCD

After school, I was at my desk when my phone rang. It was my mom telling me that she did not go to work because she was sick. Though I was planning on going elsewhere, I thought that it is my daughterly duties to go home and watch after her. I pictured her in bed with a fever or cough or an 24 hour something or another. I was wrong. When I got home, she was up on her feet and full of energy. There were boxes surrounding her in the living room and I knew that she had been on a cleaning binge all day.

I ran upstairs to my room to find that everything had been reorganized, the wires were rewired, books were neatly placed according to size, all the items inside my desk put together into neat, perfect files. Now, some of you might like the idea of a personal maid, but I, on the other hand, felt violated. Don’t get me wrong. I have nothing to hide. I just don’t want my mom looking at all my receipts and seeing what I spend my money on. I don’t her to peruse over my credit card bills. I don’t want her to see letters that were written and never sent. Things like that.

On top of that, she decided to discard personal items of mine that I still need and want! Items such as: a make up pencil sharpener, my remote for my TV, my nail clippers, all my small samples from Sheseido. I won’t say much about this except that I was peeved to the nth degree.

I am 25…going on 26…(making me 25 and a half!). I am a full-grown women and I don’t need my mom to clean up after me. I didn’t ask for it and I don’t want it. I am perfectly content with my slightly imperfect, mismatched drawers. I don’t need my clothes to be folded like they are on sale at a retail store. This is me. This is how I live my life.

If she had told me before that she did not like the order in which my room had been presented the last week, I would have made an earnest effort to do something about it. Had she even told me this morning as I left for work that she would be reorganizing my room, I wouldn’t have been so shocked when I got home. As a matter of fact, she specifically told me that my room was “clean” before I left!

I feel like all this housecleaning happened behind my back. Now I have to pick up all the pieces and put my life back together.

How come rich folks who happen to be wierd are called eccentric, and poor people who are wierd are called crazy? Just a thought...

Friday night, I took Jason to Campanile on La Brea to celebrate his birthday a day early. I researched various restaurants and Campanile was lauded in Richard’s 1997 Zagat Guide (a little outdated but I figured, “How much could have changed?) for its splendid food and décor. I didn’t want to travel too far and since Jason lives in K-town, it seemed like the perfect choice.

We were seated right next to this Korean couple. They were an older couple and by the looks of it, they were on their first date. They talked really loud and I felt like I was eating dinner with my aunt and uncle in Korea. I am sure that they did not realize that Jason and I are Korean because I don’t think they would have talked in great detail about their recent divorce and how their children and other family members are taking it if they thought that we were. His loud guffaws while attempting to be extra manly and this lady’s annoying “fake Korean women voice” (You know what I’m talking about.) totally ruined the atmosphere for me. I wanted to say something in Korean just to startle them into silence, but Jason asked me not to.

The bread was hard, cold, and even charred. Jason and my dish tasted too alike to be two fully separate dishes. I wasn’t impressed at all.

So, the next night, Richard cooked for the fam a seven course sampler at my aunt’s house, which was 100 times better than Campanile. He made seared tuna with mango sauce, swordfish with fresh herbs, deep fried ice cream, and more. Richard definitely has a knack at cooking and we were all very impressed by the smorgasbord (I love this word!) of dishes.

So, there you have it, it was another weekend of eating, eating, and more eating!

I am slowly unpacking and getting settled into my new residence. I can’t believe how much crap I have. It truly is a travesty beyond words. Moving has really made me face and evaluate all the junk I have accumulated over the years. And it is a sad sad picture.

I realize that I don’t have to make one single purchase this whole entire year and still survive with all the comforts that I am accustomed to. I can’t quite explain it, but I have multiples of everything. Just to give you an idea: 10 new toothbrushes, about 5 tubes of Shesaido face cleanser, 5 bottles of lotion, enough paper to last me a lifetime, enough pens and pencils to last me and my children a whole lifetime, 10 packs of unopened index cards, around 30 bags & purses, 20 board games (some of which I have only played once), approximately 100 greeting cards, 6 graphic calculators (I kid you not-six! And I still barely passed Calculus!), and oh my goodness…so much more!

This whole year, as I think about the extra hour commute to and from school in the name of saving money on rent, I hope that I have the sense to curb my spending in the least. If not, it’s time to see a financial planner. Or a shrink.

I have a cool little setup at school that I am proud of: a laptop with Internet access (not email, Friendster, or AOL IM though…damn!), a laser printer, and a copier. That’s a lot more than other teachers, but it is all things that I have brought in myself.

My brand new printer was giving me some problems today and I am not happy one bit! Is anyone out there a Mac expert by any chance? Could you please help one technologically retarded teacher?

First day of school went smoothly. It always does cause the kids are shit scared. Actually, I was the one having nightmares that I didn’t get to school on time. I think all teachers have had this dream at least once in their career.

Just came back from dinner celebrating Richard’s 19th birthday. Yes, my baby bro is 19 years old. I am so full, dead tired, and anxious about tomorrow. I plan on waking up at 5:00 AM. I want plenty of time to get up, get ready, and grab a cup of coffee at Starbucks before heading off on the 105 and 110. I also have some copies that I have to make once I get to school…rats. I think tomorrow will be a hectic day! But at least school ends at 1:10!