Have a fabulous New Year's Eve and 2009!!!!!

I don't think I will have the time to post for the next few days - just like last week, it's going to be a very busy week for me!

But, I just want to take the time to thank all of you who have been reading my blog: I must admit my writing is not perfect (grammer sucks), but it has been a great joy for me to get to meet and know each one of you who have left me all kinds of comment on my blog. Thank you sooooooo much!

I'm so glad that I started this blog because I got to meet you!! How cool is that? I truly cherish the friendship that I've found here on blogsphere. I hope that we get to know more years to come.

Please know that I wish all of you the best of luck, health and love in the new year 2009. You deserve it!! And I hope that you will keep coming back here to see me.

Thank you so much everyone and have a wonderful New Year!!

w/ Love,

Maki

ps. Be safe and stay safe - don't drink too much!! :)

My Belated Holiday Greetings with an Award

Heeeyyyy everyone!!!!!! How is it going???????

I'm so sorry, I did not get to wish all of you a Merry Christmas and Happy Hunakkah. Did all of you have a good Holiday?????? Did Santa bring you something nice?

Well, I had all the intention to post something before Christmas, but I got too busy with work (it was crazy) and last minute Christmas shopping and preparing for the big day... So, I was going to post an entry this weekend, but I had two girls night out past Friday and Saturday night as well as taking my girls to a museum in Tampa this afternoon. It's been almost a week since the last Tom Cruise post which I believe is my longest time without blogging since I started.

This may sound strange to you, but I've missed all of you who take the time to read my blog and I've missed reading yours as well. It's been only a week, but I feel like I've missed tremendous amout of what's happening on the other side of the world called blogsphere.

I have so many stories to share, but before I do, I want to say that my dear friend Laura over @ My Thoughts - Uninterupted gave me an awesome award called Honesty Award on Christmas Eve (which I didn't know until Friday and it took me two days to post this).

The honorees are to: a) first list 10 honest things about yourself - and make it interesting, even if you have to dig deep! B) pass the award on to 7 bloggers that you feel embody the spirit of the Honest Scrap."

Wow, I'm so honored to accept this award, Laura!!! And I've always wanted this award - you've made my day!! Thank you!!! So, here is 10 honest things about myself.

1.) I am afraid of public bathrooms. I talked about this before, but I absolutely hate going to a public bathroom. I would hold 12 hours if I had to, just avoid using the public bathroom. Now, my daughters can't hold it, so I have to deal with my phobia when they say, "Mommy, I have to go pee-pee." I can't even grab the door - I have to have toilet paper in my hand and grab the door... I'm totally afraid of Toilet Germs.

2.) I love to sing. I'm no American Idol, but I love going to a Karaoke bar and sing although I haven't been able to do it for the past a year and a half since I left Hawaii. I usually sing in the shower or in the car with my daughters now because I don't have a good Karaoke buddy. I'm accepting the application to be my singing buddy, if you're interested. You know where to reach me!

3.) I love to dance. Honestly, I thought I was going to be a professional dancer when I was a little girl. I used to take classic ballet, modern ballet and jazz dance lessons. I dance with my girls everyday listening to all kind of music which relieve my stress!

4.) I am a strong believer of "A smile could heal a million souls." I try everyday to find laughter in my life. Even when I have a tough day at work or at home (especially for the past few weeks), I try to smile.

5.) If I am interested in something, I pursue it and I don't even know when to stop. The good example: My blog. Well, I did stop for a week, but it was holidays for christ sake.

6.) I love buying makeup/cosmetics. I buy the stuff because I need them, but sometimes, I buy them just because I want it. I have so many lipsticks or eyeshadows that are not conventional color, but pretty to look at. The packaging of the item also plays a huge role to get my attention to buy them. I love, love makeup and Sephora is one of my favorite place to shop.

7.) I joined my gym to gain some muscle. I have always wanted to have more fuller arms and toned thighs. Also, having two kids, I need to tone my belly.

8.) I love to eat. I can out-eat my husband and he tells everybody around him that I eat more than he does. I can't stop eating if there is somethig in front of me. There is no way to stop me from eating. I treasure food and I love it!!!

9.) I can fold up my eyelids - yes, it sounds gross and my dad got really upset when I showed him the trick when I was little. I showed it to JT a few months ago for the first time and he kind of freaked out. Would you like to see me do it? LOL

10.) People watching. There are so many interesting people in this world. Some people make me laugh or angry or simply amazes me by observing them at my gym, work, restaurants, bars or on the streets. I don't mean to stare, but I find myself doing exactly that. I need to stop staring. But I must admit, it's fun some times.

Okay, now I need to pass this award to 7 people. However, I am going to pass this award to three people.

MJ over @ Note To Self
The Rambler over @ My Rambling Thoughts
Dorkys over @ Dry As Toast

I will choose the rest of four bloggers and will post them soon!

I hope all of you had a wonderful holidays with your loved ones!

My Favorite Man In Hollywood

Tom Cruise. He is one of the reasons why I wanted to come to America. I used to put his posters on the wall and fall asleep while looking at them. I was 11 or 12.

Many people don't like him these days since the couch jumping incident on Oprah a few years back or being a lead Scientology member, but I've always been a huge fan. I have talked about him briefly before on my old post here.

I don't think he is crazy (there were times I thought he was having a middle life crisis), and I don't think he is a bad person like many people would like to think. I honestly believe he is genuinly a nice and kind man. He is one of the people whom I would like to meet in person before I die.

Last week, he was on Letterman and seeing him on TV kind of made me realize how much I used to love him when I was younger. Tom Cruise has always put a smile on my face every time I see him on screen or TV.




{He did "Craziest Things People Say About Tom Cruise On Internet"}

So, today, I would like to share all of Tom films that I have seen. There are some popular movies that he's in that I haven't seen such as "Risky Business" and "Vanilla Sky" - but I think I covered most of his films. I must admit, he's in some cool movies (and a few cheezy movies). The list goes on and on, but maybe you'll find some of his movies that you liked and thinking, "Hmmm, he is not that bad.."

I can't wait to see his new film "Valkyrie". And make sure to see him in the "Tropic Thunder" - you'll fall in love with him!!





a target="_blank" href="http://photobucket.com/images/born%20on%20fourth%20of%20july">

Gates of Heaven

I can't keep being angry and sad over JT losing the job forever. Thank God, I still have my job!!! Now we have to be positive (even it's really hard...) and believe that things will get better. Have faith and be strong (Umm, but it's not easy I know!). Thank you all for your kind and warm comments.

Well, today (actually it's past 2am here) is a very sad day for another family in FL. The little girl Caylee Anthony had been missing since past summer, but it was confirmed that the remain that was found last week was indeed hers.

My bloggy friend Rachel over at LIVIN AND LOVIN also posted about Caylee as well as I posted about her dissapearance a while back here. Rachel and I both live in FL and we're both mothers to the cute little girls. Her daughter is 3 just like Casey and my Soapy will also be 3 soon.

It is heart breaking and upsetting to know that someone could cause such damage to a tiny life, defenseless little soul. It is even more upsetting to know that her mother Casey might have killed her. Okay, we all say one is innocent until proven guilty, but seriously, do you honestly believe someone else could have done it?

When you become a mother, you will do anything to protect them. You would even throw yourself in front of a moving train for your child. [Your parents know this.] This is why when I hear the news where kids go missing or murdered by someone, my heart breaks. And if I learn that a mother would harm her own child, my blood starts to boil. There is no excuse for a mother or father to take her/his own child. I do not need to hear their excuse why they did it. They are the most selfish people and they deserved to be punished severely.

As my husband and I watched Caylee's news on CNN, our daughters were chasing each other and running around the house. They were giggling and so happy together. I thank God that they are safe and healthy. And I wish Caylee had her chance to live her life to fullest. The real sad part is that she is gone, but the good part is that she is no longer being stuffed in the bag and floating in the lake alone. She is home now. May God rest her little soul...

Also, this holiday season, I want to say all the parents and families whose children are missing still today to never lose hope. I pray for your child's safe return.

And my friends, have a wonderful weekend!!!!

xoxo

I Showed My Cheek And Life Punched It.

JT came home early today.

He got laid off - right before Christmas. Is this fair???

JT and I have been through a lot and pretty much there is nothing we can't handle together.

But, losing a good job is very tough, especially in the time like this..

JT is pretty optimistic and he's trying to calm me down and cheer me up, but I think I should be the one doing the job.

Truthfully, I don't know what to do... It's not his fault, but I just want to find a huge sandbag and totally go crazy on it.

Please God, tell me what a F's going on???

Watch out, a cute boy is in the house!

Yesterday, I talked about me having a night out with my co-workers last Saturday. I also mentioned about us having a wonderful dinner at the restaurant in the hotel, comped by the casino. And the dinner was one of the hightlights that evening.

I was playing the game nearly three hours, so I asked the pit boss if I could get voucher for dinner. Usually you have to play at least three hours in order to get compted there. Since I was winning, the boss figured, "Let this girl eat and get drunk, so she'll lose some money..", so he okayed and gave me a $170 voucher for dinner. The only place that was open (it was already 11:30pm) was a Steakhouse called COUNCIL OAK. The restaurant was awesome.

It was really beautiful inside and candles were lit all over the place. It would have been a very nice romantic dinner if I was there with JT.

Anyway, we were the very last customer there. We ordered a bottle of California white wine called Conundrum which was recommended by the waitless (She was a good sales person and I'll tell you why later) and enjoyed oyster, shrimp cocktail, filet mignon and lobster. Everything we had was fantasic.

We were chatting away and sipping wine how wonderful the night had been, when this guy who's extremely good looking shows up, holding beer in his hand. We were sitting in the booth and he didn't see us at first and I could see that he was just looking around to see what's so great about the restaurant. Then he realized we were right next to him and he looked kind of surprised.

Somehow he looked at me - so, do you know what came out of my mouth?? I said, "Would you like to join us??" with a huge smile on my face (I was a bit tipsy, but honestly joking). He posed for a second and we all thought he was going to say, "No, thank you" and walks away, but instead, he said, "Well..why not, right?" and sat next to one of my co-workers.

I am telling you, he was really cute and lil drunk, just like us! And I can say this for all my co-workers, their eyes were beaming too!! All of us was kind of excited that he chose to stay. His name is Drew and visiting his friends and family in Florida. We talked about silly stuff, but he was genuinly a nice guy. About 15 minutes into it, his cell rang.

Drew: "Hello... Where am I? Well, I kind of decided to walk around and I am at the restaurant next to the bar... I will be there soon, okay?"

I knew then, it was his girl calling him. He said, "Well, it was pleasure meeting you, ladies. I will be at the bar if you would like to join me," and left our table.

All the girls started screaming as soon as he dissappeared from our sight, "We can't believe you asked him to sit with us!!" They couldn't believe it, but I'm sure they're glad I did! The girls were ranting how handsome that guy was - it was like sitting with Brad Pitt, they said. I think that's an overstatement.

But really, I was just joking when I asked him to join us. I didn't think he would sit with us. Besides, three of us are married and one is in a committed relationship, so I thought what's the big deal?

I am the kind of person who like to meet people and get to know them. We live once and our life is too short. I think it is nice to be able to meet random people and have a conversation even it's just for 5 minutes.

When I went to work today, the other co-worker "C" who couldn't come with us asked me, "So, I heard you asked a guy to sit with you guys and he was really cute? K said it made her night!" C is married, too, but she was like, "Damn, I should have come!!"

During our lunch break, all of us agreed that innocent flirtation is perfectly okay even you're married. And I think so, too. I always believe that as long as you're just window shopping, there is nothing wrong with it. And I believe it's quite healthy human nature. But do you agree or would you totally disagree?

When I told JT about the cute boy, he kind of laughed it off - he knows I love him which I hate to admit, but it is true. LOL. That's what it counts; the trust. Without the trust, nothing works in the relationship. And I love the fact that JT trusts me.


PS. The wine we had at a restaurant was $67. I really liked it, so I went to look for the same wine today and I found it, only to realize it only costs $23 at the store. Ha! The hotel serves it for triple of the amount. Isn't it crime or what?

House always, or at least usually wins

So, I went out with all the female co-workers Saturday night for the first time. Destinaion - Hard Rock in Tampa. It was supposedly pre-Christmas party, but I don't think it was. It was more like a gambling party.

Honestly, I really had a blast. It's been well over five years since I gambled. I love Vegas and I used to love going there pre-baby times, but it's kind of hard these days because I have two little girls.

Anyway, I played Mini Baccarat (which of course is my favorite card game). I had $400 to start with (four of us chipped in $100 each and I played for everybody) and it went pretty good at first, bringing it up to $2400 for playing 2 hours. Okay, here is the thing. If you're a smart person with decent brain would grab that $$$ and go home. Honestly, that's what you should do or would do.

Now, Maki and the other girls with alcohol in their system decide to take a break, go to a fabulous steak house in the hotel comped by casino, go back to table thinking we can win some more $$$.... Ding Dong! A HUGE mistake.

I was debating at first whether to go back to play or not, but I chose to play some more as my co-workers watched from behind. I played for another hour and in the end, $2400 was down to $1200. I was pissed. So I decided to grab that $1200 chips and cashed in.

In the end, me and the girls didn't lose money. Actually we had $300 extra in our wallet than we started. But if I had thought straight and had not being greedy, I would have $500 more in my wallet. That would have been so much better.

If I think about it, I was more a cautious player before. Once I start to lose, I used to be able to pull myself out from the table.

JT told me before I went out, "make sure to leave the table when you are ahead." I should've listen to him!! JT hates to gamble. He doesn't believe in it although I am thinking he doesn't like it because he tends to lose $$$ when he plays. I am sure if he wins, he'd love it!

Anyway, what I always realize while playing at casino - you play for fun. I can totally see why people get addicted, but I think money is too important for me to waste like that. It's nice to be able to go to a casino and play once in a while. Tampa Hard Rock ain't Vegas, but it was kind of close enough. I really enjoyed the night with my co-workers and I feel like it brought us closer than before (may be it wouldn't be so, had I lost their money. Haha).

So, do you guys love gambling? Have you won or lost any significant money? What is your favorite game???