Anny’s World

Of all days…why did I have to go read henry’s blog: www.xanga.com/htyped

A girl asked a guy if he thought she was pretty: he said…no. She asked him if he would want to be with her forever….and he said no. She then asked him if she were to leave would he cry, and once again he replied with a no…..

She had heard enough. As she walked away, tears streaming down her face the boy grabbed her arm and said…. You’re not pretty you’re beautiful. I dont want to be with you forever. I NEED to be with you forever. And I wouldnt cry if you walked away…I’d die…

Tonight at midnight your true love will realize they like you. Something good will happen to you at 1:00-4:00pm tomorrow, it could be anywhere aol, yahoo, outside of school, anywhere. get ready for the biggest shock of your life. If you break this chain letter you will be cursed with 10 relationship problems for the next ten years. If you post this in 15 min you’re safe….

I am very fortunate to work in a very nurturing environment that encourages growth for all their employees if they so choose. Wells Fargo has a statement in their mission called PACA (People As a Competitive Advantage). It enforces that the team members who work for the company are the competitive advantage that makes Wells Fargo stand out from other companies. I don’t know how the rest of the bank is, but working in ATM Banking has provided me with a great learning experience that will forever influence my life. This year, we were given the opportunity to take three courses: Strengthfinder, Diversity training, and 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. Each training course has added tremendous value and shaped my life into wanting to be a better person.

Strengthfinder was the first class we took. We took a questionnaire and were told our top five strengths. The main theme states that people are most effective when they know/understand their strengths and thus are able to use it to exceed in their undertakings. In the past, concentration was placed on weakness where people were told to improve their weaknesses. This, however, is very inhibiting because there will always be things people are not good at. Trying to concentrate on those weaknesses will create a self-fulfilling prophecy, where the person will keep thinking that they are not good at it, do things that support the claim and then will eventually become discouraged to improve. That’s why knowing and concentrating on how to improve strengths is key, because a person will already be good at what they do and will be able to use it to their advantage. Now…because everyone has different strengths, team settings are improved when all the members bring together all their strengths and the team will be maximized to the strongest abilities all the members will contribute. This leads to the second training course we took: diversity.

Each individual brings their own diverse background into all the things they do, all the relationships that they form, whether at work, with friends, significant others, etc. Diversity is not necessarily cultural diversity, but it includes culture, sexual orientation, hair color, attitude, smoker/nonsmoker, basically any attributes you can think of that will warrant difference in people. In the past, especially in the US, because there are many cultures, there was a move towards the melting pot concept, where all the cultures were mixed in and there will only be one resulting culture: the American one. However, maturity kicked in and people started realizing that it’s the differences and diversity in everyone that enhance every situation. So, instead of the melting pot, we now have the fruit salad, where there are different fruits mixed in to make a all-encompassing yummy salad.

I think I’ve talked enough for the night, but I haven’t even gotten into the one class that has really shaped my life: 7 habits. I’ve mentioned it here and there in some of my other entries, but I haven’t really dwelled into it. I wanted to talk about the two other courses we took first because it will lay a good foundation to get into the 7 habits discussion, which will come later…

In my entry about frogs and toads, Steve had written a comment about the difference between frogs and toads…then the next response is from Frog Expert with email kermit@muppets.com:

Whats the difference between frogs and toads?

Frogs go ribbit ribbit
Toads go croak

Whoever wrote that….YOU CRACK ME UP!!!!

I have to thank these four beautiful girls for constantly being by my side. They have made every single one of my birthdays more and more memorable. Not only did they take me to my fav restaurant, Fog City, they also took me to watch a musical, and gave me a new iPAQ. THANK YOU SOOOOOO MUCH!

We went to watch Moving Out, the musical with Billy Joel songs, today. It was different than other musicals because there were no dialog and the dancers weren’t singing. There was one main vocalist who sang the songs the entire show and then there was some major hardcore dancing, which probably would have had to be toned down if the dancers had to sing. Although it was different than other musicals, I loved it! The dancers and musicians were all extremely talented. Of course I loved the dancing a lot more but because of the music, it makes me want to go on a stage and dance…puha ha…

Quite a few people lately have been concerned about my single status and have told me I should get into a relationship. My response to them has been: “You know the saying that you have to kiss a lot of frogs to find your prince. Well, I’ve kissed way too many frogs and the next guy that comes along has to be my prince or else I don’t want him.”

I shared this with Becca too and I was kind of almost relieved that she went through the same experiences as me and told me that they were not frogs, they were actually toads. So I guess I’ve kissed some frogs and 2 toads and I’m just really tired from it now.

Plus, telling me to get into a relationship is easily said than done because it requires a guy to be interested in me, which is very rare.

But even if a guy does become interested, I feel really sorry for him, because those frogs and toads I’ve kissed have become ghosts of my relationships past that will forever haunt me.

It’s really funny how those past relationships still affect you and haunt you today. There were the good aspects, like the memorable trips, warm feelings, flirting, foreplay…and the list goes on. But what really haunts you are those bad and/or unfinished relationships.

One of my boyfriends had used a saying on me, “We’ll see,” when I asked him to attend this event with me that was one month out. And when I gave him crap for it, he told me that what if we weren’t still together in one month. We did end up breaking up before the event but because of him, all the relationships I had after made me very skeptical about planning things in advance with my significant other. If anyone told me we should do something during some time in the future, I would agree, but my mind would actually be thinking, “We’ll see.”

Another bad experience that haunts me is one that I was scared to be myself because the guy was very judgmental. On my webpage, I had said that during the last episode of Sex and the City, Carrie said that the most significant relationship you have is the one with yourself…if you find someone to love the you YOU love, well that’s just fabulous. On that instance, the guy made me so scared to be myself that I had completely lost the me that I love and I was trying to change myself into a me that he would love. And even to this day, I’m still scared to be me.

I don’t blame those two toads from my past, because in all aspects, it was all my fault. And I believe in Karma. I do admit that I have hurt some really nice guys that have treated me like a princess, but since I have a tendency to like those not-so-nice boys, karma really kicks in. Plus, I do have other experiences that were pleasant and that after each, I learned a lot about myself and what I want.

This entry was very personal and I don’t mind sharing my feelings with the whole world, but the point of it is, next time anyone asks me about getting into relationships, I’m just going to tell them to come read this entry and hopefully, they will just not bother me anymore and realize that I really just want to be single.

I did not want to turn 26…but I have the bestest friends and family in the whole world to grow old and as Roomie put in her blog, grow UP with…I think I like the sound of that better. Growing up. After reading her blog entry, tears started coming down my eyes: www.sandybox.net
Date wrote me an entry too: www.xanga.com/kiss513

I know life has its ups and downs, but I think I’m the luckiest girl to be so well loved by everyone around me. My family, my pledge sisters + date, my friends at work + their dogs and babies, my lil sis, my dormmates, paphis and all the rest of my friends who have stayed in touch. I can’t ask for anything more…Having them by my side makes all the problems in life seem to disappear. To all of you guys, I am forever grateful and just know that you are all very well loved by ME!!!

(In case you didn’t get it, it’s a pun from Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle)

It all started early Wednesday morning, last week. We were supposed to leave my place at 8am to go to work, but due to traffic and a freeway mishap, we didn’t leave until 8:30ish. Then when we got to the parking lot near Pac Bell Park, the shuttle to take us to financial district takes off as we tried to chase it down. Luckily Wendy lived right on the corner so I called her and she picked us up and dropped us off on Market. (I missed my 9am meeting that day, and then I missed my 3pm meeting that day cuz I was so out of it.) That night we took Marco and Jill to the Giants Game and left to go to LA at 11:30pm. During the drive, we called 20 of our coworkers and sang Barbie Girl on their voicemails. (I mean, that wasn’t us…)We didn’t get to my parents house until 4:30am. Then we woke up at 8am Thursday morning. Nicholle went to LAX to pick up her friends from Illinois. I had to work from LA that day and the next day. I pretty much hung out with my family and relaxed and was spoiled by my parents the entire weekend. My mom had cooked my favorite soup and had it waiting for me when I came home. One night, we went to eat at this expensive seafood buffet at a country club. And I had mentioned in passing that I wanted this dessert and she cooked it for me on Sunday. Nicholle had a lot of fun hanging out with the SD Chargers and doing the tourist stuff (Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills, Hollywood Walk of Fame, Kodak Theater - yes she visited where Ryan Seacrest hosts AI, Universal City Walk, Redondo Beach, X Games).

I had told Nicholle that we should leave Sunday morning at 10am, but I got a call from her on Saturday night that we needed to take her car in because all of her lights (engine, battery, whatever, etc.) came on. So Sunday morning, my brother drove me to her hotel. We went to Autozone and they checked her battery which was low, but good. They said it was probably her Alternator and that unless we want to drive back up to SF without using the radio or air conditioner, we should get it replaced. Luckily Pep Boys was open, so we went to Pep Boys, they said they would take an hour to check the car, then 1-3 hours to fix the car. We dropped Nicholle off at her hotel and I went back home. I had a really nice lunch with my family and that was when my mom cooked the dessert for me. Nicholle got to go to the X-Games that day. Then at 4:30, we went to pick up her car and left LA. Traffic inside LA on 405 on a Sunday late afternoon was as always a pain. We stopped by In ‘N Out, almost got ran over by a Big Rig, gave some guys the middle finger, and managed to make it back to Emeryville at 11pm. Then she had to drive back to Dublin. She crashed and still hasn’t cleaned out her car…

So, I guess the week started out very tiring, and White Castle-esque, but we weren’t on any types of anything. It’s gonna be a long week cuz I have something planned every night this week. Today, I was a BO bitch. Tomorrow, I’m having dinner with one of my dormmates. Wednesday, there is some surprise waiting for me that I’m supposed to be blindfolded (I hope my roommate is kidding). Thursday, I’m meeting up with my IMC group. Friday, I am having dinner at my fav restaurant, Fog City, and going to go see “Moving Out”, the musical with Billy Joel songs. I can’t wait!!! Puha ha…Saturday, I am definitely gonna crash…so if you don’t hear from me until Sunday, you know why!!!

To Do and Not To Do…with an 11-year old boy

Not to do:
-Don’t teach him the loser cough
-Don’t tell him not to learn Nicholle’s bad habits of the loser cough because he’ll use both, the ‘bad habits’ comment and the loser cough right back at you
-Don’t take him to Hooter’s
-Don’t lie…to ellaborate…don’t tell the Hooter’s girls it’s his birthday
-Don’t sit there and laugh…when a Hooter’s girl comes and picks him up to drag him to the area where they were singing Happy Birthday
-Don’t sit there and laugh harder…when he runs back to the table, and then two more Hooter’s girls come, one drags him by his arm, the other drags him by his leg while all the other guys are screaming, ‘pick us up like that too’
-Don’t sit there and laugh even harder…and take pictures when they put him on a stool and sing Happy Birthday to him and then kisses him on the cheek
-Don’t call his mom, who is at a Senior Manager’s retreat to tell her that her son is not talking to you, because all of Senior Management will know the details of the night and will call you “child corrupter” for the remainder of the week
(Pictures from Hooter’s will be coming soon…they need to be scanned…but don’t worry, we are not showing the pix to the boy until he is old enough to want to brag.)

To do:
-Apologize to him profusely and remind him his family mission is forgive and forget the past, present, for a better future
-Apologize to his parents profusely
-Take him to a Giants ballgame to redeem yourselves
-Let him get whatever he wants…coke, popcorn, garlic fries, $10 chicken, keychain

JT’s butt…

Barry…and his squad

I was very diligent and doing my work today…but my coworkers on the other hand….

Nicholle decides to draw a picture of me using paint…

Then Keely sends me a picture telling me it’s a cartoon version of me…

At least both versions of me are better looking than Nicholle’s self portrait…

Oh, and then what was funny after all this is when we went to the Tea Garden Boba Place, the owner pulled out a magazine and keeps insisting I look like this girl on the cover…

Gosh, I already have a big enough head, it doesn’t need to get bigger…puha ha..

“Fail to Plan, Plan to Fail” - Slogan from Hillary’s event planner

“The key is not to prioritize your schedule but to schedule your priorities.” - Steven Covey

“Things which matter most must never be at the mercy of things which matter least.” - Johann Wofgang von Goethe

All of these quotes apply to Habit #4: Put First Things First…

I guess I wanted to talk about it today, because after learning how to schedule my priorities, I’ve been feeling less and less stressed and burned out. I have my list of prioritized daily tasks. As I finish each item, it feels good to check them off each day. When I don’t finish something, I don’t stress out about it, but draw an arrow and carry it to the next day. With all new stuff that comes, I just write it in the task list and determine the priorities and then schedule to do the high priorities first. Today, I actually left work at 5 and was not thinking about all the stuff I needed to do or finish, because it was all written down! So I thought I’d share that.

okay, enough about 7 habits…I am going to Giants game tomorrow night, then heading to LA afterwards. Yes, I know, the drive will be a bitch and I will be in maniac driver Nicholle’s car! But we went to Ranch 99 today and got tons of snacks and we have tons of CDs to sing to in the car so hopefully at least one of us will be awake to drive to LA. I’m gonna be working from home in LA on Thursday and Friday so hopefully I will be able to update my blog. puha ha…thanks roomie!!!

okay, nicholle was complaining her pix ain’t on here and Rick’s pic was on here, so here is one:

I bet Frank’s gonna come complainin’ he’s not on here next….
Here’s a pix of me, shelby, and my big sis from last week…