2010 Christmas Card :)

Noir Stars Christmas

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Fighting

Many of my friends know that I am absolutely addicted to Mixed Martial Arts. Unfortunately, I've had far too many injuries to be able to compete and train for such awesomeness ( anyone willing to give me two new wrists, knees, and achilles??). I'm an avid follower of the UFC and catch Strikeforce when I can. I just recently finished two books by two amazing fighters- Forest Griffin and Randy Couture that I really enjoyed.

Anyway I watched the Ultimate Fighter last night (as always) and was complaining here and there about Josh Koscheck and his antics when I decided to log onto Facebook. A friend of mine posted a very disturbing video of a fight in downtown San Jose that left me completely disgusted. It was a video from Halloween night (so glad I'm past the days of going downtown to waste time-- clubs, bars). A man was running around starting stuff and another man was filming it, it cuts forward to about 5 minutes later and the trash talker is getting BEAT. He was knocked out and people continued to kick his head. At one point they stole his shoes and his jeans.

I woke up this morning and saw that a bunch of my friends had re-posted the video and were saying that the man DESERVED to get beat up. I really don't understand what this society is coming to. None of my friends were THERE and they saw the same thing I saw on video, yet they believe someone deserves to get beat up and kicked around while they're unconscious? From what I saw on the video the guy was probably drunk, just running his mouth and struck a nerve with someone which then lead to an entire group of people to circle him and kick his butt. Knowing my friends, I know many of them (whom DID comment that he deserved this) who have started trash talking out of drunken stupidness just as bad or worse than the man who got beat up and they didn't get into fights.. if the tables were turned on them, they'd be the ones laying on the ground unconscious while the guy filming runs his mouth, but yet they don't seem to see anything wrong with this video. Hmm.. something is not right.

I've never punched anyone, but have been assaulted. I was not drunk so I can't say I've felt what this man was going through. And my assault lasted all of about 45 seconds, but it was enough to make me feel violated and scared for my safety. I was lucky that it was in a public area where there was security, police, and my friends nearby. Luckily, my knight-in-shining-amour of a boyfriend ran down and helped me up and away from the person who attacked me, but in the video NO one ran up to try to get the people away from the man laying on the ground. The person with the video camera LAUGHED and said "he's dead." How is that funny? I just don't get it. At the end of this video there are two females trying to get people to get away from this man, but no one was there to try to stop all of this when it was happening. I don't consider any of this a laughing matter.

I'm reminded of a now pretty popular video of former UFC hottie and now Bellator fighter Roger Huerta. This video was posted on TMZ and shows a man punching a woman in the back of the head in Austin, TX. This man walks off and Roger is suddenly shown on camera going after him. The video gets a little sketchy and people claim Roger is one person and then he's another in the fighting scenes, but what impressed me was that Roger didn't know either of these people. He stook up for the woman because a man should never hit a woman. The man got his butt handed to him. I still haven't heard of any charges being pressed against Roger. I can't imagine why that man would want to punch a woman, but I hope she's learned that she needs to stay the heck away from him! 

& just because I think Roger is a beautiful specimen of a man here is a picture:

Some might find it interesting that I'm actually very against violence, yet I adore MMA. I just don't see why or how it would ever be necessary to try to kick someone's face in when they're completely drunk and obviously not realizing what they're saying-- or they're just putting on a "front" of being something they're not (which is SO common when people are drunk). I watch the UFC religiously. I have my favorites and hope for knock-outs, but with them there is medical personnel nearby and it's a controlled environment. I do get bothered when it seems like the guys are just laying on top of each other to show dominance, but there isn't much action, but that's the sport. I've seen guys get knocked out-- SCARY knocked out and enough blood that I'm near barfing, but I just love watching these fighters duke it out. I don't think I've seen many street fights in my life- maybe 2? I don't run with crowds that fight and try to stay the heck away from them. I'm not interested in them and wish there was a way that they could all be prevented.

This was more of a post of me blabbing.. if it doesn't make sense, please forgive me ;)

Random

So today I went ahead and finally watched Julie and Julia. I was up at 545am and figured it was pointless to stay laying in bed trying to sleep. Luckily there was something decent to watch on tv!

I've come to realize that I need to get my hobbies in order- I like resin and have a TON of it but rarely use it so I think I should just devote a couple weeks to using ALL of it and making gifts for friends. Also my goodness I purchased an entire Yudu screen printer and have used it three times-- for sure need to use that.. lets not even talk about my fabric-- I have bought so much on a whim and now I don't know what to do with it. So I've decided it's time to use all these damn craft supplies..

July Update

Well it's been a while.. a LONG while since I last put anything up.. so this will be a jumbled mess of words thrown onto blogger.. I'm pretty stressed out. I still do not have a job and am not sure what will happen in regards to my unemployment-- there is a vote stuck in congress and hopefully they sign it because who knows how else I can pay my credit cards, court fees, and car payment. I've been pretty down in the dumps over that. My whole life I've been the one everyone has known they can go to for help and venting and things got flipped on me.. I had to ask for help and it hurts my pride. I'm trying to go back to court.. waiting to hear if it's worth it from my attorney. I have too many restrictions with work so even if the economy was okay who knows if I could get a job. I took a month off of making crafts and am planning on sewing again this week. On a more productive note, I'm going to the gym again and burning calories like no tomorrow-- but then I get stressed and can't pass up an Oreo. I know I'll be okay, but right now things just suck. I'm off to bed...

Allergies

Dear Allergies-- Please go away and leave me alone!

Giants Bag!

I'm going to the San Francisco Giants game on the 23rd and never know what purse to take.. I knew I had Giants fabric laying around from back when I was in college.. back when I was in a sorority (wow!). So I dug it up and made myself a cool purse to wear to games.. soo excited! I posted it on my facebook and my friend Krista said she wanted one so I whipped one up for her.. it's not as big because I'm so LIMITED on the fabric. I have gone EVERYWHERE searching for it.. no luck. Serves me right for not buying much of it.. I bought it at Walmart for $4 a yard in 2004!! Here's the pictures--

Etsy

So i finally started my Etsy! I don't have too much up yet, but I've made two sales. Tonight will defintely be a craft-ing night.


http://soccerfren.etsy.com

YuDu Disaster!

I was beyond excited to get my Yudu.. unfortunately it didn't come with EVERYTHING!! So now I'm waiting to hear back from the seller :(

Survived!

So my car, whom I call Hunter, is going to make it afterall. We had some issues because he decided to let his crankshaft BREAK while we were in Castro Valley for St. Patrick's Day. I had major anxiety and was having crying fits that I'm broke and can't afford a car.. and that I'd be trapped at home (which I am right NOW).  So Friday before Todd and i headed up to CV to house and dogsit for his parents my mechanic called and said it would only be $1500.00 AHH! I had told my father that if it was more than $2,000 I'd can it and get another car. I was at the point where I almost wanted to just get another car and live off top ramen for a while (which many people know I lived off of for FOUR months lol). But that was good news.. I decided that I'd get him fixed and once I get a job I will be able to buy another one and sell this one..

So this weekend was pretty fun. We were in CV the whole time! We got there Friday and went to The Cheesesteak Shop. YUM! I had never had a Cheesesteak and oh my gosh I could go for one right now. We also experienced poor Sally (the family doggie) being beyond depressed that her parents were in Tahoe.. Hmm.. We also went to Sato Japanese Cuisine in Pleasanton-- my favorite and ended up at our friend Jimmy's house hanging out..Saturday was rather interesting..We went to sleep at 6am and Sally would NOT let me sleep.. so I got up at 730 and slept on the couch. By 10 Todd was awake and watching the Manchester United game.. then we ate, showered, and took off for Lucky to get food. We prepped Rock Cod, Yummy Rice, Asparagus, and Rolls for dinner. We were super anxious  because we ordered the UFC fights :) While we watched tv (before the fights) I made Funfetti Chocolate Chip Cake Cookies for Todd's grandpa.. he has a sweet tooth and is now living at a retirement facility so I thought that would be something to raise his spirit. So all was going well and all of a sudden BOOM the sewage in the house got messed up and it was NASTY. We ended up calling a Rooter place and they had it fixed so we could relax. We did get to watch MOST of the UFC fights but it kinda sucked having to get someone to come out and fix the place..All that mattered was Georges St. Pierre beat Dan Hardy to me :) We passed out and didn't wake up til NOON on Sunday.. well that is when I woke up. Apparently Todd had the same issue with Sally and ended up sleeping on the couch. I woke up at noon and stumbled around til I found him.. we couldn't shower because the stupid water heater wasn't working.. haha. So we did what we could and took off to China Garden-- YUM! We ate sooo much there-- Honey Walnut Prawns, Pork Fried Rice, War Wanton Soup, and Seasame Chicken and then boxed it up to take to both his parents and his grandfather-- yes there was THAT much food. After hanging out with his grandpa we headed back to his parents house and watched the Sharks game.. eventually ended up back in SJ at Pita Pit and Safeway grabbing dinner (yummmmm Pita Pit) and Wine and Cheese for a snack. :) It was a blast overall.. but I'm glad to be back in  my own bed!

**also I won a YuDu screenprinter on ebay.. That is what happens when I watch a freakin' infomercial LATE at night and go "I want that" then bid on it and go "oh shit I won.. I have to pay now.. crap!" So I'll test it out this week...

Anyway.. right now Todd is at the gym and I'm stuck at home.. no car til hopefully Friday/Saturday.. It's my parents 30th wedding anniversary and they cleaning the back yard lol.. I wish I had my car.. soon I will..

Car Problems..

I have to buy a new car.. hello depression :( I also had a bunch of setbacks today after talking to my lawyer.. grr..

Arrived in Lake Tahoe.. Its beautiful

Absolutely having a horrible day.. My vacation to Lake Tahoe is not coming soon enough.. Details to follow

Ooohh Tuesday

We woke up today and were in search of the Chelsea-Inter Milan Soccer game.. we watched parts of it, well Todd did, I remained on my laptop drooling over pictures of Lake Tahoe and preparing myself for Friday. Friday is a BIG day! I have my job interview at 9am ::crosses fingers:: and then we leave for Tahoe. I really want to go to Squaw Valley because I'm an Olympics Freak and I want to see their museum. I also discovered recently that my ringer won't work on my Palm Pre.. so tomorrow I MUST go get it fixed. I had to take my old brick of a phone (HTC Mogul) out of what I thought was permanent hibernation in case they can't fix my Pre before we take off for Tahoe-- at least I'll have a phone..


Accomplishments of the Day:

• Went to the Gym
• Grocery Shopped

• Bought Guinness (Happy St. Patrick's DAY!) I'm making Guinness Brownies so I needed the beer for them :)
•  Made dinner for my parents, Todd, Santos and Merraya
• Watched the Sharks get destroyed by the team I cannot stand (Dallas Stars)
• Made some jewelry

Now I'm off to bed.. I have SOO much to do tomorrow.. gnite and good morning to all!

Success

So even though I haven't been feeling so great.. I've gone back to the gym and now I feel WONDERFUL! I day dream about the elliptical.. that's a serious issue huh? Well that's my quick little entertaining update..

Semi-Unproductive Friday

So we ended up staying up until about 3am this morning.. We watching "Law Abiding Citizen" and I made my mom a cute little felt teddy bear.. Nothing too exciting. We woke up at about noon which was WAY late. I ended up making scones for us and then Todd made Grilled Cheese Sandwiches-yum! We cleaned the spare room and were lazy most of the day. I'm still a little under the weather and my achilles is still bothering me so we'll head to the gym tomorrow.. nothing too exciting to report tonight..

Crafty Plans

So Todd is at the Sharks game.. (SHARKS are not doing well.. dummies) and I feel crappy.. so I decided to go on craftster.org which is like my DRUG.. I love love love that site.. and decided to make a list of stuff to make.. here goes..

• I want to make a couple passport holders for my friends that are either going out of the country soon or seem to fly a LOT-- got the pattern from 

http://buttnakedbaby.blogspot.com/2008/01/gift-for-new-year.html 

I like her tutorials and ideas a LOT..

• I also have a LOT of quilts I have on my to do list..
• I like this style because it's more random (picture at right and link to the tutorial below)

http://sugarnspicecreations.blogspot.com/2009/09/scatter-sunshine-scrappy-quilt-tutorial.html

• I also want to make some purses and pillows which I almost always make when I'm stressed

•  I also have been jewelry making a LOT and I want to continue making resin jewelry, scrabble tile jewelry, and glass tile jewelry.. soo much to do :)

So it looks like I have my free time set up for a while.. 

Update

Right now I'm a bit stressed out. I need to find a freakin' job! I'm on unemployment because I was laid off in June, but I'd much rather be working. I have one potential job opportunity that I got good news about today, but who knows? If all else fails, I have been setting up a back up plan.. I make jewelry-- bracelets, necklaces, etc and I might open an etsy shop. I might open one regardless because it really helps me de-stress myself.

I have actually been going to the gym again! My wonderful boyfriend, Todd, and I go to the gym pretty often. We need to go MORE often but since I'm in insomniac he ends up staying up with me and then we wake up at about noon.. horrible! The good news is I get to reconnect with Liz because she's a trainer at our gym. We could go to the Bally's near us, but we prefer the one on Hamilton. I'm a cardio freak. I am on MY favorite precor for at least 40 minutes every time I go in and then get on a bike for about 20-30 minutes. I've already found that my heart rate is getting healthier as well as my breathing. Soon I'll be able to add more to my workout and get myself back in decent shape.

Today my achilles was bugging me and my stomach is not doing so hot so we skipped the gym. That means we'll go Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Maybe we'll give ourselves Monday off and then workout through Friday...

Friday we leave for LAKE TAHOE! I am so excited. I cannot begin to express how anxious and excited I am to go to the snow with my parents and Todd. We all went last year BEFORE Todd and I were officially dating and we all had such a blast. I'm happy that I finally have my dream boy ;) and that we can go on vacation with my parents and have such a great time. I have daydreamed about Tahoe for MONTHS and that is no lie. I was worried I wouldn't be able to go, but I will be leaving Friday morning and coming back Sunday night.

Today I got a great surprise in the mail-- THANKS VIV! She sent me the coolest stuff-- this snazzy Australian hat for my parents, a cute stuffed animal/doll, a sooo cute Duck kitchen timer, and these cool magnets that I am sure will bring good luck :).

Hmm what else? My phone has given me so much grief! I got a Palm Pre on January 31st and it was all fine and dandy and then I went to update it, but it crashed. I was phone-less til Tuesday AND now I updated it correctly. Well I won't say correctly.. it froze during the update and then I took out the battery (which they say NOT to do haha) and then it installed correctly- or so I thought.. NOW my camera won't work! It's so frustrating. I also lost a lot of phone numbers, but HEY at least my phone works..

Well, my tummy hurts so Todd is making me soup to see if I start feeling better. I had big plans for tonight, but looks like I'm gonna have to stay in :(.. Todd is off to the Sharks game tonight with his brother-- They better not be bad luck... I'm off to eat some soup..

xoxo, Rita

I'm backkk

So I figured I might as well re-start my blog back up.. I have nothing better to do-- right? lol. Anyway, I went back and read through the crap I had posted on here-- wow! I was so lame.