waking up

Sunday
1) Not having to “go to church!”
2) Having some new band stuff to upload.
3) Costco trip! What wonderful selection, what amazing prices, what joy of being in a warehouse full of great things!
4) Pizza, Polish, and Drink for $3.78!
5) Kirkland Premium Ice Cream Bar!
6) Costco Rotisserie Chicken (for some Chicken Salad Sandwich this week).
7) Some time to just chill.
8) Harris’ Ranch Pot Roast and Haricots Verts for dinner.
9) New strings.
10) Not having work in the morning.

Monday
1) Having some time to work on some lyrics.
2) Finishing the lyrics to two more songs, sorta.
3) Having Verde with Dan.
4) Frothy Milk Tea.
5) Free Wi-fi.
6) Dinner with Dan to Curry House for a belated birthday.
7) Katsu Curry in a Stone Pot.
8) BJ’s with Nate Jeung and Ted.
9) Jeremiah Red.
10) Vitamin Water.

Tuesday
1) Not having work until 4pm.
2) A nice trip to the gym.
3) Chicken salad sandwich!
4) Kashi granola.
5) Some good lessons.
6) Dad telling me to cheer up.
7) Seeing students believe in themselves.
8) Seeing students get it.
9) Having dinner with K******.
10) Another day tomorrow.

So I just found out:

Each patient suffering from bruised ribs recovers at varied rates. But generally, as with costochondral separation, bruised ribs requires 3 to 4 weeks healing period. Although healing is slow, patients need to do their share to make complete recovery successful. Rehabilitating bruised ribs mean using the lungs normally. Abnormal breathing can lead to pneumonia.

SUCKS!

Friday
1) A long overdue trip to the gym.
2) Being a few minutes late, but more importantly, not rushing to my lesson.
3) S**** is such a good kid.
4) T**** is talented, and he doesn’t even know it.
5) S*** is also very talented, and doesn’t know it.
6) Time to listen to some of my recorded ideas, appreciate them and envision them again.
7) B**** always being eager to learn, and super talented.
8) A well-deserved dinner.
9) Hanging with Dan’s friends and getting dominated at Cranium.
10) Philosophizing with Cyrus until very late at night.

Saturday
1) My students’ first recital!
2) That the recitals went without a technical hitch.
3) Getting flowers from my student. There’s a first for everything…
4) Making back on time for my lesson.
5) E*** always being my most dedicated and hard-working student.
6) E***** although taking tim off lessons, still has passion to learn.
7) A guitar marathon… the verdict: PRS CE 22 will be Nick’s next guitar.

8) Rehearsal nonsense. We had so much gear going (see above).
9) Feeling like we are THIS close to it.
10) 7-Eleven.

Man, I have been so behind. I just forget.

Monday
1) Having a nice comfy bed in SF.
2) Dad making me peanut butter noodles.
3) Beard Papas.
4) Hansen’s Mandarin Lime.
5) Nate Chan’s whitepages.com lead… I didn’t like it, because it kinda re-opened a wound again, but it led me to some new info on my stolen stuff.
6) Not having work on Mondays.
7) Sauteed String Beans, Pork with Hot Peppers, and General Tso’s Chicken.
8) Confirming at night after some research that the person who sold my stolen stuff on eBay is, indeed, my neighbor from across the street. Cops are working on it…
9) Leftovers.
10) Relief that justice will come (hopefully) in a tangible way, and I can witness it.

Tuesday
1) Dad giving me his lunch and then going off to make some for himself.
2) A nice shower before work.
3) Good lessons!
4) Venti Iced Caramel Macchiato.
5) Warm Blueberry Coffee Cake
6) Meeting a new fellow teacher.
7) Jamming along with my students on the new Strat.
8) Getting to do Oye Como Va with a student! It’s challenging, but fun.
9) Chinese food three nights in a row (Nate Chan’s birthday, too).
10) Winning an amazing, sought-after, back-ordered, distortion pedal with Buy It Now a few hours after it was put up.

Wednesday
1) Some nice Lime Grilled Chicken and Focaccia, with free internet.
2) The rental car always gets compliments. It’s really nice to drive and I haven’t had a problem with it.
3) A day filled with terrible lessons. It just shows me how much more I appreciate it when teaching is rewarding.
4) Recording a new piano idea.
5) Knowing that the one student who couldn’t afford lessons anymore was still practicing hard, and will be playing his heart out at the recital this Saturday.
6) Getting off work early.
7) Showing off my Strat to buddies at Guitar Center.
8) Putting a horrible ding into my new guitar… well, not really thankful for that, but I am thankful for what it taught me not to do ever again.
9) Learning how to take my guitar apart to the point where I would be comfortable doing it again.
10) Adjusting it on my own so that it would work better.
11) Prayer meeting at Elton’s.
12) Elton thinking of me when getting dinner… he got me some a beef, chicken, and rice plate from a Hawaiian barbecue joint.

Today
1) Alotta’s!
2) Another great, fun lesson with C******* and D****.
3) Having 4-6pm students cancel, so I could shop for groceries and prepare a good dinner for TNG.
4) Fantasia having awesome Milk Tea and knowing how to make good pearls.
5) Ranch 99 having good deals.
6) Taiwanese Pineapple Buns.
7) Christine being bubbly.
8) Christine introducing me to a new idea… MIXING CEREALS! Honey Bunches of Oats with Almonds + Frosted Mini-Wheats!!!! MADNESS
9) Trying out a new recipe and sorta failing, but learning. I made Braised Pork with Apple Stuffing.
10) Our church family… TNG.
11) The most WTF mind-blowing episode of Lost ever, period.

Friday

1) A chiropractic adjustment.
2) Sombra gel for the pain.
3) Fun lesson w/T****. He’s starting to really warm up to me.
4) Learning how to better communicate with my student (he has autism).
5) Seeing B**** progress so naturally. He has a new electric guitar!
6) Getting paid on time.
7) Stopping by at Guitar Center for some strings. I like those guys.
8) Rehearsal dinner for Dave and Rachel. Saw some old friends…
9) Getting my new guitar from Elton.
10) Playing with my new guitar.
11) Seeing Nate Chan and catching up.

Saturday, the WEDDING!

1) Looking snazzy with the new jacket I picked out with my mom.
2) Making it to the church on time.
3) Having a really nice piano to play on for “Come and Listen” with Erica.
4) Just witnessing how powerful Dave and Rachel’s love is for each other.
5) Being able to keep my cool performing! I realized, I only get really nervous when I play my own stuff…
6) Seeing all of Haven come together to love and support them just like a family. Haven really is a spiritual family.
7) Hanging out with super cool people.
8) Being able to spend some time reflecting and praying. I’ve been having a tough time with this.
9) Doing well with “I’ll Be There.”
10) Dancing the night away…

Sunday

1) Waking up on time at 7AM!
2) Being at LPT earlier than everyone else… it was oddly peaceful.
3) Getting some Starbucks before people arrived.
4) The worship team playing/singing our hearts out!
5) Lisa’s sharing.
6) Everyone else’s sharing!
7) New Haven visitors/friends.
8) Chicken Coop with everyone…
9) Sharing some embarrassing/ridiculous stories of mine. “FU Alex” and “Katsu Curry”
10) Getting to sell my Metal Zone.. finally!
11) Sunday afternoon nap.
12) SFCAC friends getting together for Nate Chan’s birthday at San Tung. Sooooo good!
13) Chatting with Allen Joe. First time in a month!
14) Seeing the family.

Yesterday:

1) Getting into a car crash and not being seriously hurt. It was completely my fault.
2) No one else getting seriously hurt.
3) The CHP officer being nice about it…
4) Feeling like God was warning me.
5) Feeling like God was speaking words of truth to me.
6) Feeling like God was not angry with me.
7) Feeling like God had not left, but recognizing that I had tuned Him out.
8) Praying and talking about the whole ordeal with Janice.
9) Chilling with Erica to kinda wind down.
10) Being able to see that I have limits.

And today:

1) Talking with the claims adjustor… he was really cool.
2) A super nice, very professional body shop lady.
3) Being taken care of at the body shop, Modern Bench Operations… the car is guaranteed to be exactly as it was before or I get to take it back…
4) Being treated with a lot of kindness and understanding at Enterprise.
5) Having a Bright Red 2008 Passat to drive around in the meantime. Leather, automatic everything (even an automatic parking brake)… it has an iPod jack, too!
6) Nate Jeung being with me through all of it.
7) Going to Guitar Center with Nate, seeing some of my old buddies, talking shop…
8) Realizing that I still go the best deal on my midi keyboard a month ago from the guy I didn’t trust 100%.
9) Chilling with Dan & Nate… dinner and a movie.
10) A new day tomorrow.

1) Mom.
2) Dad.
3) Much nicer weather in SF.
4) Burlington Coat Factory. Got a new sport jacket.
5) Wayne got a job! Congrats, bro.
6) Mr. Holland’s Opus. Man, I haven’t seen it since I was a kid, and now I can appreciate it so much more, and even more so as a music teacher, and mostly because I am a broken person who has unfulfilled dreams. What a moving portrait.
7) Dad’s awesome cooking: Ma Po Tofu and Cilantro Beef (originally a Mom creation).
8) Dad giving me food to take home (Chinese Beef Stew with Turnip and Carrot).
9) Turbo Tax online.
10) Pete’s Strawberry Blonde and Farmer’s Garlic Roasted Peanuts.