Kat's Scribbles

Monday, July 28, 2003

Two Weeks Notice. Unofficially, I only have 2 weeks of work left. My clerkship formally ends on Aug. 29, but my judge goes on holiday on Aug. 8. So really, I will have very little work to do after he leaves. These 2 weeks will just fly by. I have about 15 vacation days left, so I’ll be taking a holiday when he leaves. I have no real holiday plans. I guess the closest thing I have to a holiday is going to the NJ shore (for the second time ever) for 2 days to try surfing. We can’t really go anywhere because we have to work on the house and we have no $$.

The past week has been a bit hectic. We worked on the house everyday until about 11 pm at night; I got a real job (and found out I could keep it); we celebrated my brother-in-law Shawn’s b-day; and then I was sworn in to the New York Bar. My oath-taking ceremony was last July 23rd. I finally got sworn in after a year of waiting! I passed the bar of July 2002; received the results in November 2002; handed in my papers in January 2003; and then got sworn in about 7 months later. It didn’t really feel “exciting” –probably because I was already sworn in (NJ) and it took all of fifteen minutes. The Appellate Court, (located in Brooklyn Heights), was beautiful though. They also threw in a bit of pomp and circumstance. There were 5 Appellate Court judges present and they came out in a procession with their robes and everything. The presiding judge, the Honorable Gail Predente, made a few remarks that were really heartfelt. She said that this day was really a tribute to our parents who were there every step of the way. She was totally right. I owe my parents my life and will forever be grateful to them.

We also went to our friend’s wedding. Our friends Glen and Lizle got married last Saturday, July 26th. They had a beautiful ceremony and a fabulous reception. The reception started at 12 noon and we all had a ridiculous amount of drinks by 1:30 pm. We’re talking champagne, 2 shots, 2 cosmos, and who knows what else before we even got our entrees! We had a great time!

Last, but not the least...we stripped off our carpeting in our house! It was nice to see the hard-wood floors underneath in good condition...I think that was definitely the highlight of my week.

POSTED BY KAT AT 7/28/2003 11:17:00 AM | 1 COMMENTS

Thursday, July 24, 2003

Making Progress. We finally started painting the house. In particular, we have painted the ceilings of our bedrooms and the living room (but we ran out of paint on the living room, so we are finishing today). On today's agenda is painting the walls of the bedrooms. Overall, I guess we're making progress. It's funny though, because I have spent about 10-12 hours in the house since Tuesday, with very little to show for it. Mark also puts in his time after work and does a lot more than I do. It's the little things that take up time such as scrubbing the walls and ceilings clean, and then taping up the walls and the trims for painting prep. Manual labor is a bloody pain. I don't mind so much, it's just that it goes by so slowly and you're just eager to see the finished product already. Plus, it's bloody hot in there!

Also making progress on the job front. I finally found out that I can officially be a Prosecutor. Today, I'm off to fill out documents in order for them to start on my background check (not to mention a background check on my immediate family members as well!).

POSTED BY KAT AT 7/24/2003 09:23:00 AM | 0 COMMENTS

Monday, July 21, 2003

Simple Living. Just came across a blog about a couple who moved away from Los Angeles to the South Pacific Islands. They brought their two young daughters with them. They're recording their experience one photo at a time through their blog, The Island Chronicles.

POSTED BY KAT AT 7/21/2003 01:10:00 PM | 0 COMMENTS

Labor of Love. So this past weekend, the hubs and I went over to our new home for some home improvement. Basically, we wanted to prep the living room and bedrooms so we could paint the walls and strip the carpets. It took us a good long day to take out the wallpaper on only one wall in the living room. We spent a couple of hours to take it off and scrape it. Then another hour or two to fully clean the wall of residue. The hubs also spackled cracks and holes in the wall, and did a lot of sanding. Yesterday, we left the house with it looking like we didn’t do a whole lot of work, even though we spent a lot of time and labor. The good thing with all of this though (aside from making the home a nicer place) is that there is no need to go the gym! Hahaha…

Tonight, we plan on priming the walls so we can start painting tomorrow. Man, I wish fixing up the house would be like the Sims game where you can just point and click and Presto! You got a brand new house, with brand new walls, new rooms, and new furniture!

POSTED BY KAT AT 7/21/2003 09:24:00 AM | 0 COMMENTS

Friday, July 18, 2003

Spoke to soon... Because it looks like I *may* not be a prosecutor after all. I called them up today to accept the offer and told them that I wasn't a citizen. I said I hope it's not a problem. Here's what they said back: "Oh well I won't have an answer for you today. I'll have to speak to the Division [Division of Criminal Justice] and I'll get back to you early next week."
*Click*. And that was that. No words of encouragement, no "great to have you on board", no nothing. I wasn't looking to be coddled or anything, but a nice "thank you" would've also sufficed.

Shites. I'm quite ansty now. I really, really, really want the job. But as a friend told me, "if it's meant to be, it's meant to be. Getting the offer from them is an honor in and of itself."

But this whole waiting game sucks.

POSTED BY KAT AT 7/18/2003 03:17:00 PM | 0 COMMENTS

Thursday, July 17, 2003

I finally got a job! And of course I am blogging about it! I'm just happy that a got an offer first of all. But I'm double-happy because it's an offer for a job I actually want: I'm going to be a Prosecutor!! Cool, no more sending off resumes! I can just enjoy the rest of my clerkship without the pressure of finding a job....No more wallowing in self-pity and whining about how no one wants to hire me....The only thing nagging at me at this point is that I am not a U.S. citizen yet. I don't know if this is a requirement in NJ (cuz it certainly is in NY)...so I am crossing my fingers and hoping my bubble won't burst.

However, I still consider myself very lucky to get an offer at all!! When this new job starts (if I get to start!), I'm chronicling the whole experience...we'll see. I hope I'll go from not knowing anything, to being a seasoned pro!!

POSTED BY KAT AT 7/17/2003 03:25:00 PM | 0 COMMENTS

Sunday, July 13, 2003

Aloha! So my luau turned out fabulously! I was scared the weather was going to be disagreeable, but it was a nice, breezy low 80's with a lot of sunshine. I was also scared about how the turn-out would be, but people came out and trekked to Jamaica --Queens that is! Though I don't think you'd know it if you saw the luau pics. If you don't look too closely, it looks like we were out on an island. A lot of folks wore "island wear" as I suggested, and I handed out leis to all the guests. All in all, there was probably about 60 people at its' peak moment. I haven't thrown a big house party like that in ages; the last one I remember throwing was maybe 3 years ago? But it's great to have a home-bbq every now and then.

Special thanks to Rob J who did all the marinating, skewering, and grilling from dusk to dawn! Special thanks also to my fabulous parents who were kind enough to lend their home for the day, and of course, for contributing all the food and other fun stuff! Lastly, thanks to everyone who came out to celebrate my birthday!

By the way, if anyone has pics, please send them to me! Thanks!

POSTED BY KAT AT 7/13/2003 10:03:00 PM | 0 COMMENTS

Tuesday, July 8, 2003

Confessions of a Shopaholic.

Book shopping. So I just placed an order off Amazon.co.uk. Yes, ordered books not available here in the U.S. This is the first time I’ve done it, and I’m sure it won’t be my last. I can’t wait to get them! Especially since they’re coming from London, my second home! I get giddy when I buy books, I get all excited when I go inside a bookstore. I luurve browsing through bookstores and looking at all the new books, old books, all the displays, you name it. I can easily spend $100+ flat if I don’t control myself. I also like going to the library and browsing away! (Though it’s not quite the same as owning it). At this point, I can’t really afford to keep buying books (no money and no storage space), so I really try to dissuade myself from buying them. Lately, I’ve resorted to hitting me mates up for my Amazon wish list! Yes, I have no shame. Hahah…. I wouldn’t mind spending money here and there on books, but alas, I’m also a shopaholic for other items…namely clothes, shoes, and purses. Bloody triple-threat! I’m hopeless!!

Home shopping. Buying a house versus buying smaller items (like a pair of shoes for instance) are totally different things. For the latter, I get a nice, satisfying, “Cool, I can’t wait to wear these and show them off” –kind of feeling. For the former, however, I get quite worried, anxious, and get that “What the hell have I gotten myself into”--kind of feeling. Well to be fair, I also get that anxious feeling when I see my credit card bill, but the anxiety about home-buying is slightly more overwhelming. We’re supposed to close on the home tomorrow. I pray everything will go well. I just got the bill for the closing costs and let me just say, it’s a killer. We’re talking haute couture clothing prices here! But no, of course the costs won’t end there. Then home improvements costs come in. We’ll be doing the improvements in installments to help ease the costs….but costs are costs regardless!

Baby browsing. One of our friends is expecting their second child. She’s about my age. I’m like, “Whoa! So soon?” I feel like before I have a baby, I should be more “settled down.” In my definition, that means having a home, a good job where I’ve had at least 1 year experience, no major debts, and be at least 28 years old. (Granted, there are many folks out who are a lot less financially/socially stable and ready who do have children and are quite content. I wholly commend you!) At this point, I feel very much carefree still and not at all “grown-up.” Kinda like a kid, but a lot more responsible. But I would like to be mom very soon. I’ve always loved kids and always loved taking care of them. I baby-sat my brother Mikey. I was 15 years old when he was born. And I definitely pitched in to help out. Woke up in the middle of the night for him, changed him, fed him, bathed him. The whole-nine. I also did the same for a second-cousin of mine named Alan. They used to drop him off at our apartment and I would baby-sit him for free. I don’t think I was even 13 yrs old yet, and Alan was about a year old. I also babysat for a lot of different kids over the years. (When you have 2 younger brothers, baby-sitting in inevitable). I think some of my friends (and maybe even the hubs) may think I’m not quite ready to have a baby because I exhibited such “carefree tendencies” like impulse shopping, going out and traveling, etc. But I know I’m more than capable. I just feel like I should enjoy being just the two us for now. And be a lot more ready.

POSTED BY KAT AT 7/08/2003 02:49:00 PM | 0 COMMENTS

Sunday, July 6, 2003

Playing hooky. So last Wednesday (July 2), I played hooky from work and met up with Girlie and Trish at Central Park. We met up as early in the morning as possible and camped out to line up for tickets to Shakespeare in the Park. This year's play, Henry V, is not quite as popular as other productions in the past, which is probably why we were about 30th in the queue. Last year, I remember lining up all the way down and came in, about 400th in the queue! But this year, we got tickets with excellent seats. We just sat, ate, read, and chatted until about 1 pm, when the actual tickets were handed out. After that, we roamed around the city and went shopping! We walked around the Upper East Side, a neighborhood I'm hardly ever in, and went inside posh shops such as Barney's, Gucci, and Prada. So for a brief moment, I forgot about debts and the house and all. When Prada goes half off, you take advantage, I must say!

Girlie also brought us to Toraya, a sweet little Japanese tea shop/cafe on Madison and 71st. Excellent food, and delicious iced matcha (think Green Tea Ice Cream still in tea form). Exhausted, we trudged back to Central Park for the play itself. Since we walked around so much that day, our legs were shot by the time we got back around 6:30 pm. We met up with Luke & Mark for the play. By then, we were so tired, that we could hardly keep our eyes open for the 3-hour + production! Trish actual nodded off for a bit during the play, and I kept putting eye drops for my drying contacts. Note to self: go home to rest before watching the play next time! We didn't get home until almost 1 am!

All in all, Henry V was very engaging. Liev Shreiber (playing the lead role) was excellent! And Bronson Pinchot (Ensign Pistol) was hilarious --he added a bit of Jersey mafia-ish humour to the whole thing. I especially liked the way they modernized the roles and some scenes. I thought it was clever of them to re-create scenes involving battle strategies and making them come to life as modern-day scenes involving executives in a power-point presentation meeting. It's a bit hard to describe, but hopefully you get the gist. Mark liked the nudity.

POSTED BY KAT AT 7/06/2003 03:05:00 PM | 0 COMMENTS