Merry Monday

Happy Monday! (Is that an oxymoron? Heh.) Unlike about 78.1% of my weekends, this one seemed to last forever, in a very, very good way. Thanksgiving started perfectly with a Turkey Day 5k (an easy-breezy-fun-run), Friday was a very long day at work (mainly because I was thinking about the people who weren’t at work), but I ended it with a couple of games of pool and Big Buck Hunter (yep) in Uptown. 

Saturday was the loveliest day of all! It started out with a breakfast at Grandview Grill (my new favorite breakfast joint) to reunite with my friends from high school. Then my sister and I headed over to the new Anthropologie on Grand and did a bit of damage. Afterwards, we had dinner at Punch Pizza (also a favorite spot) before buying macarons at Surdyk’s (sub-par) and heading to First Ave. to catch The Pines and Mason Jennings. Mason was amazing, as always. He played a good mix of songs from his latest album, Minnesota, some from the album before that, and some from the 7 albums before that. He threw in a couple of covers too, which I was all for. After the show, we headed a block or two over to Kieran’s to meet my friend David who I studied with in Hong Kong three long years ago. And you know, I might have stayed up until 4am getting beat at card games. 

Sunday I headed to the mall with some girlies to do a bit of birthday shopping (thanks family for having holiday birthdays) and then bolted out of there to go to yet another Thanksgiving dinner, complete with cribbage and football.

Okay, so you might not care about the ins and outs of my weekend, but when I write about what I did, it not only serves as a little bit of a record, but also a moment at least to reflect on it and appreciate it before moving on. Sooner or later though, I’m going to be reflecting on something a minute or two after it happens…hmm…

Anyway, I’m super glad I had a couple of reunions this past weekend and can’t wait to have more over Christmas! But for now, it’s Monday, there’s a LOT to do this week at work (not so much socially), and I am, as usual, tired. 

What should I think about today?

1. Cyber Monday. Some might say I like to dabble in shopping. 

2. Running. I did surprisingly well at both Thanksgiving dinners, only eating one plate, minimal desert, and barely anything else those days. Still, I feel a bit guilty and am going to go running after work.

3. Connecting. Sometimes when I have reunions, I get addicted to the idea of them. Especially because David wants to go to Toronto together to visit all of our HK friends. So now I'm thinking about every possible reunion I can muster up.

Was your weekend long or short? Was it hard getting up for work today? (Yes over here!) Anyway, I hope your Monday is super-cali-frag-i-listic! 

I am so thankful.

Obviously I was going to post today. There are so many things to be thankful for, and since a lot of this blog is dedicated to recognizing and appreciating those things, it's only natural that I write about them today!

Where do I even begin?

For starters, there are things that I am thankful for every day and while I don't discount them, they go into a short list here:

1. Health.

2. My five senses. 

3. Freedom.

4. Shelter, food, clothing, a car, a job.

5. Love and happiness.

Now on to the main event: people. None of the aforementioned blessings would matter at all if it wasn't for great people in my life. And here they are:

Family. I love my family! This year we have the addition of Mr. Kevin and it's pretty exciting to have a new brother. At the end of this year, we'll have yet another addition in the form of an itty bitty baby!

Boyfran. See this post. (Also his awesome, welcoming family!)

The girls. I’ve known these ladies since I was 9 or 10 years old. Enough said.

The girls. These are the people who made college so exciting. We shared school, parties, and Stinkytown Dinkytown. I even got to live with…all of them.

Show-goers. Music is the air I breathe and since I have the need to go to a bazillion shows, it’s been awesome to have accomplices.

HK boyz. These are the people who I spent almost every day of my time abroad with. They are all hilarious and insanely smart. I’ve gotten to see some of them since we’ve been back, but I’m still waiting for a reunion with the international ones.

HK penpals. After three years, these girls still write to me! You don’t know how great it is to get mail from them, adorned with silly Hello Kitty stickers. 

HK people in general. Reunions are my faaavorite and it's super fun to have friends around the world.

Bookclub. My fellow nerds literary aficionados keep my brain sharp and are fun to meet for dinner every month. Still waiting on that magnum bottle of wine.

You. Whoever you are.

Every person has added to my life in such a special way, and I really am grateful for each and every one. (Also the ones not featured here, who I maybe haven't seen in a while). Here is to more communication, more reunions, and remembering the awesome times we’ve shared. Happy Thanksgiving people, you rock my world. 

Do the Write Thing.

I have a strong sense for nostalgia. One of the things I will not let go of is writing letters. I'm not living in the ice age; I spend quite a bit of my time on the computer and a lot of my conversations happen via internet tubes, but I still believe in handwritten letters.


My "grandma" is a woman who lives in Atlantic, Iowa who had the heart and the home to sponsor my parents when they came from Vietnam with little education and a huge language barrier. She opened her life to them and gave them a place to start in an intimidating whole new world.  And this was not a whole new world in the Aladdin-Jasmine sense. This was a cold place where speaking Vietnamese didn't get you far. (Imagine coming from the tropics to Iowa, then Minnesota).


My grandma loves to write letters. Ever since my parents got back up on their feet and ended up relocating to Minnesota, I have seen letters from my grandma on a regular basis. My parents rarely write back to her because they're not the writing type and would rather have a phone conversation, yet she still sends letters, cards and photos. When I learned to write letters, I often sent them to her. Part of me sent letters to make up for what my parents lacked in correspondence, but part of it was because I liked to share thoughts and the idea of receiving something in the mail always appealed to me.


Since my start in writing to my grandma, I've had penpals and written notes in grade school, sent cards to my high school friends when we went off to college, sent cards to my college friends when we went off to real life, and kept in touch with my friends who moved away or who I met in Hong Kong when I studied abroad. (Here's to you, E, J, and D).


There's something about opening the mailbox and seeing a piece of mail that isn't a bill, a credit card offer, a plea for your money, or an inappropriately-sent advertisement for pre-teen clothing. Seriously, Justice, stop sending me discounts. People have a foggy view of what snail mail is. It doesn't take long to write a letter, it doesn't take a lot of money to put it in an envelope and stamp it, and it only takes a few days for most letters to arrive.  The US Postal Service also has a nice way of making sure things actually get to their intended destinations, whereas shipping overseas increases the likelihood that something gets lost occasionally. It's funny too that most people like to receive mail, but most people don't send mail. So where does this mail come from?


It could start with you. One of my resolutions for my Happiness Project (that I started in response to reading the aforementioned The Happiness Project book) is to write a letter once a week. It may seem like a lot, but if I go through my rotation of people I write to, that means each of them might get a handful of letters or cards a year.


Go ahead, do the write thing.

"The better part of one's life consists of his friendships."

I’ve fallen in love again.

This time, it’s with everyone. I have always loved being around a lot of people and at the same time, have loved being alone. But at this stage in my life, I don’t want to be alone. Not because I’m afraid of me or of being bored, but because I can’t get enough of everyone. This might scare you; as a reader you are probably my friend, one whom I've just declared love for.

Friends are amazing because they support you when you are down. They support you when you are up. And they support you when you just are.

People are social creatures. We like to spend time with other people, belong to various groups and networks, find companions and live as families. I plan to research this but for this post's sake, will politely take a rain check.

This is a picture of friends.
I don't know any of them...but they seem fun.

Too often we find ourselves in the situation where we haven't seen someone we care about or would at least like to spend some time with, for months or even years. I am guilty of this and am officially declaring an end to the practice of letting that much time pass before reconnecting. It is an especially difficult reality to face (that you've neglected a relationship) when the person in mind is in physical proximity.

On reconnecting with those who are nearby

This idea came to light when I had dinner last night with my girlfriends from high school. I see them from time to time, some more than others, but when we're all together and having fun, it's just like the old times, but with more wine. I have a soft spot for nostalgia. I often want to be in junior high or high school or college or studying abroad for another day. Since that isn't entirely possible, I can focus on living in the moment, which often feels like much of the happiness I've experienced before. These girls and I have grown together-from wearing slap bracelets to wearing engagement rings.

On reconnecting with those who aren't so nearby

I decided today to go through my phone book and send a text to some people that I hadn't talked to in a while, just to see how they were doing. One friend responded that it was "so good to hear from you" and that made those 5 seconds of texting SO worth it. All of the people I text seemed pretty happy about it. This goes to show that a few seconds or minutes of your time can make a difference in a relationship. It definitely brightened my day.

On reconnecting with those whom you have hurt or who have hurt you

I recently reconnected with a college friend whom I had many disagreements with in the past. But as time passed and ill-feelings faded, I found that there were indeed things that I liked about her. I used to say, "If I don't have enough time for the friends I really want to see, then I shouldn't use the time I do have with her." I've remolded my outlook to first, not be so rude, and second, to decide that people are people and they usually have good intentions.

I also lost touch with another friend from college. We had a less-than-perfect ending and for the past year have text and facebook messaged each other to attempt a rendezvous. It finally happened a couple of months ago and it felt so great to catch up. I will make a conscious effort to keep it going and not have to use the phrase "catch up." We have had too many experiences and memories to not continue them.

My sister was struggling with whether or not she should befriend someone from her past that she felt she had wronged. I told her that the worst outcome would be that the girl would deny the friendship request (interesting how facebook has shaped our lives). The girl accepted the request and I have a feeling that this is only flowing to a better place than where they were before.

On what you can do

I challenge you to make a change in your social realm. Maybe you are a butterfly and you don't have any enemies. But I bet there are at least some people that you would talk to more, given the time and opportunity. Here is your time and here is your opportunity. Send a message. Make a phone call. Make a date. Do something, anything. 

There is a thing called the internet and a thing called a telephone and used separately or together, they have super powers.

I'm in the process of mending what I thought were broken bridges. Turns out, a lot of things can be repaired with an apology, an invitation to make things right again, and perhaps some Gorilla Glue.