Taka's Band Stand

Blog No. 136: A Random Day

I woke up to this little cutie!:

Lennox, the nephew, and her mom, Audrey, rocking out to the Beatles! XP

I was going to blog today about the awesome Ultimate Frisbee Match with JT, but alas he forgot about me and didn't pick me up...

When all seemed lost, Parkarr called me up and asked if I got an invite from Taka to see her band perform at the church of nazarene in Rio Linda. I didn't really, but they wanted me to go, so I got ready and Parkarr picked me up!

Thing is, we didn't really know how to get there...

I've only been in Rio Linda a few times, so I wasn't really much help. From my house, we ended up on Norwood, then to Rio Linda Blvd, then prayed for O Street. So we didn't get too lost. XP

We've arrived in the middle of the band's set, so we scooted to the front and sat down while they performed:

I got to see her and her bass at work! Yowty was pretty much the male leading vocals/guitarist and King was the keyboardist. I could see King wailing on those keys like no tomorrow! XP

So yeah, what are the chances that the sermon that took place in that church happened to be one of my favorite passages?

The lady there was talking all about how choices matter in life and affect how the soul survives through those choices, blah, blah, blah. She turned on the stereo to pretty piano music as a representation of "God's voice" and covered up the stereo's speakers with a towel, each representing a sinful choice. With each towel, the music grew harder and harder to hear. It's no secret that I'm not religious, but that right there is a pretty cool concept. XP

Anyways... She narrowed in on a specific verse that I recognized after she made the link of choices. It was the verse that I randomly flipped to in the Bible a couple of times during trips

requiring hotels. It was the verse that was on the wedding gift I gave Audrey and John to put in Lennox's room. 

The verse, Matthew 7:14:

"Small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to Life, and only a few find it."

God has a pretty weird way of pointing out the coincidences in my life... If only I believed enough! XP

Then Taka's band did another four songs. Yowty made us stand up and sing, which is also one of the things I'm not really fond of when going to a church, but the band made me laugh a little bit so I played along. King then exploded out of his seat and grabbed a couple of people to hop in front. Apparently he was going to pull me up, but I had a text message... XP

Afterward, we all retired to a nearby McDonald's, where all of us got a soft serve ice cream cone and a meal. I got the McNuggets so I could use my ice cream as a dipping sauce! Taka thought it was weird. XP

And Parkarr took me home!

Angels and Demons & Taken

Blog No. 135: Angels and Demons & Taken

I saw, not one, but TWO movies today, 5/15.

First, I took my mom, (and by took I mean got picked up by my mom and I escorted her), to the movies to see Angels and Demons. I kinda wanted to see it at midnight, but I decided not to, especially when I got lip from my aunt on Mother's Day.

Spoiler's Warning, as usual. 

~~~~~

Movie Review: Angels and Demons

I have not read the book yet, so I don't know all the details, like what'd the movie left out or what changed. All I know is that the book A&D was supposed to be a prequel to the DaVinci Code, but the movie A&D was made into a movie. So the Spoilers warning will count if you haven't seen the movie:

Tom Hanks returns as the know-it-all symbologist who is thrust into a matter of world destruction and peril, where a cannister of anti-matter has been stolen by the "Illuminati," threatening to destroy Vatican City, during a time when the cardinals reside in the conclaves and everone is in the streets to find out the new successor of the Pope. Thing is, the Illuminati has kidnapped the 4 likely candidates for the Pope and would kill off each one every hour until midnight, when the antimatter implodes and destroys Vatican City.

This movie in many respects follows the structure of DaVinci: The plot twists, the puzzles, the metaphoric meanings, etc. Then, in many respects, the movie doesn't follow DaVinci: The time frame is more intensified or streamlined in the movie, it has a focus on the comparison of science and religion as well as God and humans, and it's a little more violent. It singles out the one problem that had put the worlds of religion and science into war, humans are flawed. 'Tis why we are still in wars over religion, why we still fight over scientific evidence.

Some of the visual effects are left to be desired. It may be an account from the trained eye, but I could somewhat tell where they duplicated the people, or when they made the room look big, or how the priest parachutes from the helicopter. That could be just my eye to detail. They also didn't go inside Langdon's mind at all. I kinda liked how we saw what was going through his mind, like in The DaVinci Code where he figured out the combination of the puzzle. Not all of the animation was lost, however; I did like the explosion of light in the sky. It seemed like a huge column of heaven spitting the priest back out of the sky after the explosion. Interpret it as you will. XP

Quick Summary:

Upsides: Very in your head.

Downsides: Very in your head. --->You'll have to see the movie to find out what I mean. XP

I give it a 4 out of 5 Thumbs Up--->If you like DaVinci, then you'll love A&D. 

~~~~~

Then I went home to the apartment for awhile to wait for my sister, brother-in-law, and Lennox. During that time, we saw the DVD movie, Taken.

~~~~~

Movie Review: Taken

I'd consider this purely an action flick. There's some storyline, but it's mainly the character of Bryan Mills kicking ass and taking names.

The storyline: The estranged daughter gets kidnapped, and the father, who used to be a preventer, (whatever that means...), destroys Paris in order to find her. Fin.

It does get pretty interesting because, if you were ever given a chance, you would do exactly the same things he does. With that said, the scenario: unrealistic. It's the whole "the-world-is-against-me" ploy, but he does show a sliver of an affectionate side when his job is said and done.

I can't really describe much anything else here... Except the mom is such a dunce... Geez...

3 out of 5 Thumbs Up--->Only good if you want something action-y. XD

~~~~~

And yeah, that was my Friday. :P

Ciao!

Blog No. 134: Start of Finals

So begins the first day of finals, on 5/14.

Before the Choir final, I did as much Italian homework as I could in the cafeteria. I predicted that if I sat at table with people I knew, it would never get done. I played loner for an hour in the corner of the cafeteria, conquering the table with my italian notes, textbook, workbook, and homework. It took me a minute to realize that I was speaking Italian out loud as I was doing it when a man asked if he could sit at the table... XP

The Choir final wasn't all bad... after the octets.

I needed to sing our favorite song, Witness, with one of every different section of the choir. Piper did not show up because she "had to do her Italian homework." I think she's just chicken... XP

For me, there are not alot of tenors in the choir, so I ended up singing twice. When I sang both times, I felt my voice sliding a little off key, partly because my mind was somewhere else, partly because of King next to me messing me up! But I kinda used Heidi as reference, because she would focus on the people who sang off key or she'd smile whenever she likes what she hears. She kinda glanced in my direction, but I fixed it as she looked over at the altos. She also smiled during the tenor solo part, which was cool. Heidi the Saviour! XD

Then we had to turn in our tuxedoes, music, and what not, so that was thirty minutes of nothingness...

Then we listened to audio tracks of our last concert, which was thirty more minutes of nothingness...

Then we said our goodbyes. Miguel shook mine and Difuentez's hands as he left, and Difuentez, Taka, Parker, and I just walked out. It was funny, because earlier during our hour of nothingness, I was kinda speaking Italian with Miguel, seeing as he is currently taking the Italian 402 class. We basically talked a minute about how tired we were, how I was on the computer and how he tries to sleep early but ends up sleeping later in the day. XP

I was talking to Taka and Dictator Roze about classes, while I was texting JT to see if he would do a summer night class with me, partly to have classes with "my husband," partly to get rides home. Then Dictator Roze heard my complaining and volunteered herself to take me home. No idea why! She lives near ARC, whereas I live in Natomas, which is not near ARC. All I can say is that I'm glad! :P

To Dictator Roze:

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

So yeah...

Then Taka and I rushed to Italian, where we met up with Piper before the Final test. We were all getting prepared. Piper pulled out all the stops in lucky charms; hugged Lomo, rubbed the Dustin Pin, wore the Dustin Pin, while having Lomo in her lap...

I think I did pretty well... Only I remembered on the last question, where it had asked to translate sentences. The sentence talked about sandwiches, so I had put down, "Metto il formaggio nel pomerigio," which can be a sentence...  

Only, it literally translates to: "I stick the cheese into the afternoon."

I needed to say panino NOT pomerigio...

When I handed the test in, Professoressa Martinelli reminded me to sign up for the Italian 402 as I left. I told her I already did and that I was looking forward to it. She said ciao! but somehow I felt it implied that I know you've done well on your test, I look forward teaching you next semester...

Because she's not supposed to say ciao! unless talking with her peers or someone she should talk informally with... Right?

...And I failed the last question...

Embarassment... XP

My Fate

Blog 133: Catching You Up on Some Details

I'm not passing Chemistry. It's not a secret.

For the past 2 weeks, I was trying to figure out how I was supposed to deal with failing. I never failed a class. NEVER. I hardly even fail assignments! Would failing the class prevent me from going to UC Santa Cruz? Would I have to stay another year at ARC? Do I even want to stay another year at ARC? 

So I had made an appointment to see a counselor to discuss my options. The only available appointment during that time was two weeks later, 5/12. During that time, I was supposed to figure out how to prepare for the worst.

The waiting period did not help.

Everything after the Santa Cruz has just been one whirlwind after the other. I try to meet people where they are expecting me to be, but the more time went on the more I started dreading those expectations. I've been noticing that, during the wait, I have been progressively getting sicker and miserable. I've been hitting points along the way recently where I've asked myself, "What the hell was the point of going through all of this?"

So I stopped caring.

It certainly showed today, 5/13, where I have been practicing to  make up the performance in Piano during most of the morning. I was practicing very hard, and got through the song decently about three times. Thing was, when I went up to perform, I just couldn't go past the second measure. My body was not cooperative in bringing forth the music and my mind was pissed off at my body not complying.

"What the hell was the point of going through all of this?"

But then I usually have moments that follow the crapstorm...

I keep telling myself my life could be worse. I could be hurt much worse than this... Of course just saying that brings in more fear of finding out how resistent my body, my mind is to this damage.

I finally went to see the counselor yesterday. I had forgotten that I signed up for Global Economics. I basically signed up for a fallback degree that would utilize the collegiate experience of studying abroad. I was thinking of Spain, but after a semester of Italian I really want to go to Italy! XP 

She gave me three options:

First Option: Retake Chemistry at UC Santa Cruz during the Fall.

It would involve the same courses I would've taken over there, plus Chemistry. This option gave me relief that I could still transfer to UC Santa Cruz. However, with hearing the other options, I really thought out how it would feel like going to UCSC taking my major courses and CHEMISTRY. I don't want to take Chemistry at UCSC because it'll just serve as a constant reminder of my failure this semester.

Second Option: Retake Chemistry at ARC, then transfer to UC Santa Cruz during the Winter.

I liked this idea more. It would give me a semester to redeem myself and buckle down so that I don't screw up all over again. This seemed like the best bet. Only, I didn't choose this option until I heard the third option which, at this moment in time, would serve better for me in the long run.

Third Option: Retake Chemistry at ARC, study abroad in Italy through CRC during the Spring, then transfer to UCSC a year later.

This idea seems the best because of financial reasons. My mom is technically "no longer working" so I'm trying to not spend a lot of money in school. Enrolling here at ARC has been free so far. If I were to transfer to UCSC during winter, I would have to deal with tuition for winter, spring, and the year after, and the study abroad program through UCSC. With the third option, I just need to worry about enrolling in 3 different colleges at once and the study abroad program through CRC, and only a year's tuition at UCSC. I still have to make some phone calls to make sure that this study abroad program is transferrable, if UCSC will defer my enrollment a year, and what I would prepare for going in to UCSC for just one year.

I want to say that the storm is over, but it always ends up just being the eye of the hurricane... I'll just be the fisherman sailing the torrent of the storm, trying to keep dry from the buckets of water splashing and falling on me. XP

Like a Ship That Meets an Orbit

Blog No. 132: Italian Dialogue and Choir Concert

So I had to write a 2-ish minute long dialogue in Italian that I would say with a partner by myself. I tried calling my partner, Kaity, a couple of times and I left her a voicemail, but she never really answered back. An hour of typing and looking through the Italian dictionary later, I wrote a feasible dialogue, one that covered what we've studied most recently, which includes past tense and dovere, potere, and volere verbs.

Fast forward to today, 5/11. 

Today's one of the few days of the year where I have to bring changing clothes, so I brought my garment bag with my tuxedo inside. Most of the day it stayed in the cafeteria because I'm too lazy to lug it around everywhere.

First, I went to my counselor appointment to talk about my future plans and where my options lie for me now. Details of this will be charted on a special blog soon... [TO BE CONTINUED: My Fate]

I walked back to the cafeteria, being late for the last day of Archery. JT gave me lip when I texted him, but he quickly got over it when I told him the reason of my tardiness... I so wanted to go to, partly to glomp JT, partly to shoot arrows at balloons... 

Instead, I went to sectional... But no one was there... So I had a one man sectional that mostly comprised of me catching up on my Piano music. I have a feeling I might be in trouble because of it...

Then Choir was spent preparing for that night. Basically ran through each of the music in succession of the concert. Of course us tenors had trouble singing that high G# in our soli section of Placido de il Mar... 

Piper called ahead to warn Denny's of the mass amount of people conquering their restaurant, but they said that they already knew and have been pretty much counting on it. XP

I had gone to a "tenor sectional" after class, only the sectional consisted of Difuentez and I singing the solo over and over again, while my Evil Twin complained on how Dr. Hughes is treating the class while still commending him on his conducting ability. An hour of straining my falsetto and talking outside of school, so to speak. XD

The Italian dialogue went OK. Kaity was all nice about it, and she basically just had my style of attitude: whatever, man, just go with it. She also thought the dialogue I wrote was funny, seeing as I had her say "My father's a pirate! And whenever he goes out to plunder for treasure, my mom cheats on him with a doctor!"... OK so it didn't exactly say that, but it was implied... XP

I got dressed in the bathroom of the cafeteria to go to the call time for Choir rehearsal. The rehearsal started out OK... Then it got progressively worse as we got on Dr. Hughes nerves. I think he basically gave up on us within the instant people couldn't form a single file line or sit in the assigned rows in order of how we were on the risers. We had to walk back on stage, redo the walk, and sit there in the seats. He got really mad at us. Usually he acted jolly to try and lift our spirits up enough to do better at the concert. This time, something went wrong... The Choir was basically afraid to move until he gave the OK to have a break before the concert.

The concert itself was OK... Chamber did pretty well... Choir did too I guess? All I know is that when we progressed with the program, we kinda sloped downward. For the For Good song from Wicked, Chamber Singers joined us on the risers, making it more and more claustrophobic. There was a head where my folder was supposed to be, so I tried to memorize as the song went along. I was already in a crappy mood to begin with, what with going through life changes in the past week, along with the Wrath of Dr. Hughes... 

I pretty much said the word "ship" where the word was supposed to be "comet"... Not one of my proudest moments. XP

So I stopped caring. 

To add on to the list in the previous blog entry: Partly why I "didn't pass" Chemistry is because of moments like this, where my energy is taken away from me from trying to please everone, where my brain shuts down after a barrel of bricks landed on my head, and where the world hands me more crap to deal with immediately after. Which is why I might not be back in Choir next Fall. 

But then I usually have moments that follow the crapstorm...

We whisked off to Denny's, where we joked around and relaxed. I hung out with Taka, Justin (whom for the purposes of this blog I will call: Jehovah), Sergeant Pepper, Dictator Roze, JT, Josh (whom I'll call Morgan Freeman, even though he's asian, for his Morgan Freeman fetish), Piper, Difuentez, and Parkarr.

JT was being himself, which just means he whored himself out to Jehovah and Sergeant Pepper. Morgan Freeman hid JT's phone, which JT searched for until I called his phone for him 30 minutes later. Taka and I made Margaret Cho references. Then I ate french toast with hash browns and bacon with a cherry cherry limeade. Dictator Roze pretty much thought it was cough syrup, which only dampened my hopes of a good drink with my meal. All was well!

And... Marvelous. :P

The Bane of My Existence

Blog No. 131: OR, Life or Death.

81/110

That's a pretty good, medium score for a Chemistry test, right?

Well, according to the Weissbart, it's not good enough. I needed a "B" grade on my test in order to have a chance of passing with a "C" in the class. Unfortunately, I got as close as a "C."

This is where I look back at my faults during the semester to see where I've gone wrong.

The Faults-I-did-NOT-Overcome-to-Pass-Chemistry List of Shame:

1. I had a somewhat cocky attitude going into the class, remarking that I didn't really need to do all the homework. In retrospect, this kind of attitude only promoted laziness and symptoms of senioritis. NOT a good organization of priorities.
2. I realized that I should not have taken a "higher" level chemistry class when the only chemistry experience I had was Fender Bender. Granted, I wanted to challenge myself and I crammed as much high school chemistry as I could to prepare for the class.
3. Including myself amongst lab partners who did not have an idea what they're doing. My "official" lab partner was not all bad, but most of the time he had cheated his lab results and pulled out his iPhone most of the time to get the necessary answers. It quickly grew to where the people I hung out with in lab were using me as a crutch, which is in no way a symbiotic or healthy relationship to have with lab partners, especially when the crutch is making it up as he goes along...
4. A baby being born during the month of a test isn't always the best thing...
5. This blog being prioritized instead of Chemistry homework most of the time, and for what? Having to write a weeks worth of blogs in a day from procrastinating on them for that long? A prioritizing no-no...
6. Going on a field trip to San Francisco, arriving back 5 hours before I had to wake up to take a Chemistry test. This is yet another example of not getting my priorities straightened out. Granted, the best score I got on a Chemistry test was the test I took after San Francisco...

There's probably more that I'm not seeing, but for now these reasons are plenty enough motivation to reconquer that "not passing" grade! XP

I always wondered where the phrase "The Bane of My Existence" came from. I put it into Google Chrome and this is what I found:

To say that something or someone is “the bane of my existence” means that the person or thing is a constant irritant or source of misery.

As a cliché, “bane of my existence” has lost its edge to a large degree over the years and today is most often applied to something that may profoundly annoy us but is certainly bearable… “Bane of my existence” is now almost always used in a semi-jocular, “what are you gonna do?” sense.

But “bane” was once a very serious word. The Old English “bana” meant literally “slayer” in the sense we now use “killer” or “murderer.” Early on, the English “bane” was also used in the more general sense of “cause of death,” and by the 14^th century, “bane” was used in the specialized sense of “poison,” a sense which lives on in the names of various poisonous plants such as “henbane” and “wolfbane.” From this very litheral “something that kills you usage, “bane” by the 16^th century had broadened into its modern meaning of “something that makes life unpleasant,” or “a curse.”

I always liked the word "wolfbane"... Ever since I heard it said in Harry Potter...

No Other Like Your Mother

Blog No. 130: Mother's Day

Today was a pretty standard day, only a little annoying.

For a couple of weeks, I've been getting pressured by my family to get a good gift for my mom. My aunt had a chance to corner me down, this case while driving me to school for a week, to ask what I got her. I didn't have an answer yet, because I had not gone shopping. She acted surprised, leaning on the side of get off your [arsenal] and get to getting! Of course what no one realizes is that I don't have means to go shopping, nor the time. I gift shop when it's convenient, which is why I got my mom's gift at Santa Cruz.

I went with the reliable choice, earrings. It's always appreciated and she rotates earrings often. Its something I put thought to everytime. As always, she loved them.

[Here's my secret of buying people jewelry: Picture yourself in their shoes and think about what you would choose to get. Basically, when I'm buying jewelry for people, I'm buying them for myself. XP]

But then during the day we didn't do much. 

My sister took me to the apartment, she dropped off the baby so that her and John can see a movie, and I just helped my mom babysit. My aunt cooked hot dogs. Ruben, my marine cousin back from Bahrain/training with the French foreign legion for the month, watched my Final Fantasy: Advent Children movie, which I've yet seen all the way through. And yeah... That's it. Thing is, all that didn't end until 9 o'clock at night, and I still had Italian and Chemistry homework to do, which meant no sleep...

On top of that, my aunt pestered me some more afterward:

"Thanks for the hot dogs!" I said as I casually walk by for ice for a soda.

"Thanks for taking your mom out for the day and taking her to the movies. Remember that?" Subtle sarcasm is left to be desired in this family.

Apparently she expected me to take my mom out that day...?

Right... Me with no driver's liscence OR car and my mom babysitting the baby. How was this supposed to be achievable? 

I hate miscommunications...

Sky High and Pico Hell

Blog No. 129: Piper's BDay Party

Parkarr, Taka, and I were invited to go to Sky High in Rancho Cordova, which is basically a giant room with giant trampolines. Taka was not able to go today, so it just ended up being me and Parkarr going with Piper, Difuentez, and Piper's Mom. Technically it was supposed to be Piper's "Surprise" Party, but when her mom is trying to be sneaky and text Difuentez, she texted Piper on his phone instead. XP

I started my day with my usual peanut butter and strawberry preserve toast, coffee, and Gilmore Girls episode. Then my mom called, saying to get ready because I need to go get See's for all the mothers in my family, seeing as I had time before me getting picked up for Sky High. 

When my mom picked me up, I had worn pants, so she told me to turn around and grab shorts. Weird, but fine seeing as I might change at Sky High today.

Then she drove me to the front of the See's and asked, "You have your lists don't you?" The See's papers my mom and aunt filled out to get boxes with specific chocolate for them. Unfortunately, I had forgotten them. I didn't forget anything else but those papers, yet she still ragged on me for a bit. I had to run in the store, grab a few papers with those chocolates and descriptions on it, and recircle everything they wanted. By the end of it, I had gotten a box of chocolates for my mom, my aunt, my sister, Piper (for her bday), and Piper's Mom (as a thank you/butter-her-up-so-she-could-take-me-home-after-the-party/mother's day gift).

Everyone's chocolates are different. My mom loves her almond and milk chocolates, my aunt with her toffee and nuts, my sister with her coconut and marzipan, and Piper with her caramel and exotic truffles. I guess I have specific ones too: I ostley prefer the Milk Bordeux or anything with coffee in them. XP

While my mom went to the nail shop, I went walking down the Target shopping center, looking for some stuff to get. I walked into the Libby Lu, gagged a little, and walked out the next second. Barnes and Noble is always a place to get a gift. I also tried going to Ulta, but it pretty much ended up like Libby Lu. Then walked through Target and landed in the video games section, where I ended up getting Piper's gift. Then I went to Target's food court, where I had a cheese pizza meal that came with breadsticks.

I walked back to the nail shop because Parkarr was on his way, so I dropped off whatever I needed in the van and called Parkarr where to pick me up. Once he arrived, I gave him my breadsticks. XP

Without getting lost from my Mapquest directions, Parkarr and I arrived in the parking lot just as everyone else did. I gave my gift to Piper. I had inserted the Fruits Basket series that I borrowed after the Santa Cruz trip in her gift bag, as well as The Infinity Concierto book I borrowed right when I first met her last winter. I made her happy and whatnot. I also sneaked in Piper's Mom's gift to give to her. XD

We went inside, signed a waiver, dumped our stuff in the locker, and started our hopping adventure!

Basically our first round of jumping was really tiring. We paid for an hour, but each time we jumped it was like for 5 minute durations. Of course the water fountain was at the other end of the building... DX

We alternated between regular jumping and the dodgeball ring. I was on the team with Parkarr and Piper's Mom, while Piper and Difuentez was on the other side. Difuentez through his first ball at me and I caught it. I was so proud of myself! Then as I tried to use that ball to throw at the birthday girl, someone wailed at me in the eye... XP

The second round of dodgeball had more big kids, which meant the balls were thrown harder. This time, I was the last of us to get hit.

After our hour was up, Piper and Parkarr had a round of DDR, while I tried to win the Nintendo DS on that light stacking game. Of course I didn't win.... But I had fun. XP

Then we went to go out and eat. After a couple of indecisions and filling up Parkarr's gas tank, we landed on the Taco Bell that also doubled as a Pizza Hut Express. We started combining the names: Taco Hut, Pizza Bell, Tazza But, Pico But... Then we just landed on Pico Hell. XP

Then Piper's Mom took us to their house so I can pet the new kittens Alice had birthed. I already had a favorite, because it kinda reminded me of my first cat, Felix. If I were to get one of those cats, I would name it Elphaba if it were a girl and Fiyero if it were male. Of course, I wouldn't be able to take it in unless it was an outdoor adultish cat...

Then Piper's Mom took me home!... And I ended up showing everyone the living room of the house for some reason... Awkward... XP

8 lbs of chocolate for Mother's Day: $108

Piper's video game and gift wrapping: $34

A satisfying meal from Pico Hell: $0

Making a fool of myself during dodgeball: Priceless