I'm returning to my blog after two long cold strains and a family visit. I'm just grateful it wasn't the flu with asthma complications! The only thing I missed out on was a large peace meditation my mom invited me to with "Swamiji" who flew in from India. I have never heard of him before but he got my critical, sarcastic, Capricorn brother to meditate now! hehehe He wasn't very happy about going either at first. I got a kick out of HIM trying to reveal meditation to ME. I didn't want to diminish his lightbulb moment by telling him, "Uh yeah I've been doin it forever and have suggested it to you in the past...remember"? I just confirmed that yes meditation energizes you when your mind is free of thoughts (esp. negative ones) and clutter.

My family came down for my cousin's 11th birthday to do the 2-day Disney thing. I got him an IPod like his big bro. He wanted to go to "Islands". Here is little "Nick Cannon". His big brother was teasing him cuz he still likes teddy bears. His 14 year old brother is at the age where he's embarrassed by everything and has instructed his mom and brother to walk away if a girl he knows approaches them anywhere in public. He was invited to his first date/dance with a girl from his sister school and when her parents picked him up he was "humiliated" because his younger brother ran out of the house to see "what kind of car they had". Turns out they borrowed it for the night. hehe

It looks like three new novelas are coming to Fox, CBS, and ABC this summer BUT will be in English! That should be interesting! I remember watching my first Spanish novela in 1994 called "Marimar". I have never been a fan of daytime soaps or Desperate Housewives so this might be the "something different" I'm always searching for.

Can't believe I spent ten bucks on a December French issue of "Marie Claire idees" magazine. They have the cutest stuff in that magazine! So much inspiration BUT frustrating because it's hard locating the stuff inside. After 2 1/2 hours at the bookstore my friend treated me to one of my favorite top ten treats..... Rojak and Malaysian coffee at the Malaysiannnnnnnn restaurant. I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE Rojak! It's a fruit salad made with mango, papaya, pineapple, cucumber, hicama, fried tofu, red chili, and crushed peanuts in a delicious medium hot Tamarind sauce! The coffee is great too...it's so rich and thick like middle eastern coffee BUT comes with a bottle of frosting.
ARGGG! Blogger pics/images STILL NOT working!

I received updates on my cousins today. I'm glad to hear my cousin is doing well at his new Jesuit school. I was worried about him because it was his first year attending a Catholic school and freshman year at that. He is also a minority at this predominately upper-class white school. Hates reading too. Well it turns out he's doing great with a 3.8 GPA and is an athlete. I don't know why I was worried, he was student body President at his old middle school. Has lots of friends including a new batch of kids that came from Katrina. He's an Aries....they always want to be first. He announced he wanted to become an attorney and wants to go to West Point! I don't know how I feel about the West Point part though. Maybe he wants to be Prez of the U.S. someday....maybe that's what he has cookin in his head. hehehe He's pretty much a quiet kid too so we really don't know what's goin on with him. I have been lurking around his MySpace page so I have a little clue..... 300 girlfriends and fetish model clubs! Little girls proclaiming they are in love. Oh brother! All of his teachers have instilled in him to stay away from the girls! I have too!

His younger brother is doing well also in grammar school. He's really PO'd his mom put him in Kumon after school. He's the artist, the crazy one, so I don't think he's crazy about the extra math. My youngest cousin, well my cousin's baby is healthy and doin great. He's doin better than expected and can't keep the smile off his face. He emailed me some pics. and is planning his first trip to Disney this summer.

My friend took me to Chinatown Friday so I could get that memorial Maneki Neko and I ended up buying a bunch of goodies. I love this building and its colors! Went to the Phoenix Bakery for some butterflies-they shrunk! I bought some of my favorites, Botan and White Rabbit candies, Bin-Bin crackers, dried fish, {POWERFUL} diet tea, bok choy, and garlic peanuts. I was inpired by this funky paper too. It's a memorial offering for a male. There's a sports car, gold watch, electronics, cell phone, on it with a shirt, pants, and shoes inside. Maybe I'll take it to the temple to burn as long as I don't burn the memorial temple down! I usually take candy offerings for everyone. Someone always offers my favorite Bin Bin crackers at the temple.

Today I checked out a new Armenian market to see if they had anything interesting. I was told they had "Rose" flavored ice cream there but I ended up getting side tracked and got some other things like tea. The tea I found is fabulous and I don't know what the hell it is cuz the packaging is in Arabic. It was the last box. I now know why! Got some delicious date bars, flat bread, plump dried cranberries, a beautiful string cheese rope, tomatoes and basil leaves.

I was thinking about the backlash recently (this is in California too! go figure?) over a new Mexican market opening in a Newhall neighborhood. I was amazed at the gall of the prejudiced residents speaking out live on TV... it was just like watching a John Waters movie! "Boss Hog" said, "We have no use for these kind of markets in our neighborhood. We don't eat tripe!" Well, I'm sure his fat ass goes to Taco Bell though! LOL Amazing!

Tomorrow I'm goin shopping for a memorial Maneki Neko for my kitty. I'm thinking gold. Guess Blogger's not uploading images tonite......