"There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as if everything is." -Albert Einstein

In four hours and four minutes, I will be heading out to LAX and get on a plane headed to the truly cold Chicago to spend Christmas with my family and relatives. I'm not sure if I'll have internet access while I'm there so I may not be able to post anything new for a week. I guess I'll have to write in a journal instead. I chose "The Great Divorce" by C.S. Lewis as by book for the trip.

What a miracle that Christ is born as baby Jesus to dwell with mankind and be with us! Merry Christmas!

I visited the American Institute of Massage Therapy, Inc. in Costa Mesa Tuesday morning. I was 38 minutes late due to traffic and my unique interpretations of the mapquest directions, but the people there were flexible and welcoming. So far my research into message therapy is intriguing and enticing me. Below are some reasons:

1. You are helping people.
2. Working hours are flexible.
3. You work part-time.
4. You don't have to dress up for work. You need to be comfortably dressed!
5. You can work in a team environment.
6. You build relationships with your clients.
7. I can work at the next Olympics.

The next wave of new classes begin in April so I have more time to do more research and think about it. Practically speaking, I just don't know how I can pull it off financially. The classes are all day Monday through Wednesday which gives me Thursday through Sunday to work and very little time to socialize.

If any of you guys are thinking of getting some Christmas gifts at Borders, here's a link to a 10% off coupon good from December 16 through December 24th.

"It's great that you're trying out all these new recipes but I think you need some supervision." -Susan

Last week, the weather was getting more chilly and the thought of the oven baking warm sweet smelling goodies began to appeal to me. So I decided to attempt baking two simple recipes: Ghiradelli brownie and Nestle Tollhouse chocolate chip cookies. Both of my roommates were at work so I was all alone in the mysterious and uncharted kitchen.

I first took a crack at the brownies since I had a one time experience of making it before about a year ago. In goes the two large eggs, then the sugar, then the vanilla extract...OH NO!!! Why is the vanilla extract bloody red??? Alas, I did not read the label on the tiny brown bottle since I was not aware that there were other types of extracts besides vanilla and had put in a strawberry extract instead. In the end though it didn't make a whole lot of difference in the taste. They still turned out pretty good.

A few hours later, I began working on the chocolate chip cookies so that Susan can have them fresh out of the oven. I followed the instructions closely and could not wait for Susan to get home to see the finished product so I put a batch in the oven, setting the timer for 8 minutes to keep the cookies from getting too hard. BEEP...I take the cookies out of the over and they are still in their original ball shape. Aren't they supposed to flatten? So I took a spatula and manually flattened them. The top didn't look done so I put them back in the oven for another two minutes. They still didn't look done, so I took the spatula again, flipped the cookies, and put them back in the oven. Even after all that, they did not look right. I tasted one and it was not gooey at all. And then...it hit me...I forgot to add the chocolate chip morsels in the mix.

For anyone who is interested, here is my Christmas wish list. If you're going to get me something from this list, please comment anonymously in the comment section so that I don't get multiples of the same gift. Thank you!

1. Silence by Shusaku Endo
2. The Eye Doctor by Origins
3. Any book that has changed your life with an explanation of how it did
4. The Endless Summer, dvd
5. The Endless Summer II, dvd

sitting at the Border's cafe
studying for the upcoming CBEST exam for the very first time
took the mini-reading test
scoring 71 percent
barely passing
hmmm... and everyone said this test was so easy
better make sure i drink some coffee come saturday morning
so i could be awake and hopefully alert

sitting across from me is my brother scott
filling out the employment application form from Seven Eleven
a block and a half away from his apartment
feeling too overqualified with his two masters degrees
when he arrived at the "expected salary" box
decided to be wishful and put down
ONE MILLION DOLLARS
he probably won't get that job

thunder

loud

rumbling

ground

shaking

first i heard

in california

yesterday

reminiscing

electrifying

thunderstorms

of the midwest