Category Archives: random

Harnessing the Full Potential of our Brain (not just that 10%)*

07 Saturday Jan 2012

Posted by in future, ideas, random

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Remember my post about googling your brain? Oh, you don’t? No worries, here you go.
I had a similar thought the other night.
Here’s what I do at night, when I first get in to bed. I close my eyes, and visualize all the emails I forgot to send or follow up on. “I need to email so-and-so back to confirm our lunch.” “Shit, I forgot to email that lady back about whatever-it-is.” So, in my head, I reply to these emails. What I mean is, I visualize what I will write them back tomorrow. Like, I literally “write” out what I have to email back. Crazy? Probably.
Anyhow. I was thinking, how cool would it be if I could hit “send”?! Like, from my brain. Then I wouldn’t have to freak out in the morning and try to remember all those emails I wrote the night before.
I would love this idea, if it weren’t for the fact that it would require some sort of chip implant in my brain (you know, because aside from that, it’s totally possible). And I just can’t handle that. Chip implants and robots are kind of my biggest nightmare. Honestly. Jeff knows that if he really wants to freak me out, he can mention the latest updates on robot technology. THEY’RE GONNA TAKE OVER THE HUMAN RACE ONE OF THESE DAYS. Mark my words.
So. I’ll just keep being productive and writing emails in my brain. And then forget to actually write them in the morning.

Little Updates: A little bit of this, a little bit of that.

05 Wednesday Oct 2011

Posted by in legal, life, photography, random, updates, wedding, work

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Well, we finished moving and are completely settled in to our new home with Jeff’s parents. For any who were curious, it’s going really well. His parents are wonderful and easy to live with. It was weird at first just getting used to having roommates again, so I can’t make Jeff’s coffee in my PJ’s (underwear…), but all of that is pretty minor. We really like our new room; in fact, we kinda like it better than the room from our apartment! Jeff’s mom let me have the desk they had in the living room, which is pretty amazing. It has little cubbies for all my office/work stuff, and a drawer with a filing cabinet (nerd), and it’s pretty amazing.

I still haven’t quite figured out my productivity schedule. I’m up by 7:30am, which is when I make coffee for Jeff, make sure he’s out of bed and on his way to work. It’s not that he asks for me to wake up and make his coffee, but I just wake up at that time anyway. I can’t seem to sleep in past 7…ever (except for Sunday, but that’s because I was up on Saturday at 3:40am, and was in 100 degree heat all day…), so might as well get up and be productive. Anyhow, I check emails and my reader, maybe listen to a webinar from CharityHowTo or the Foundation Center, pick up the room a little, and then I either procrastinate by working on random projects (like doing cross stitch on an old blanket that’s falling apart), or I try to get some work done on my cases. I really need to get better on focusing on the latter.
It’s been pretty amazing though, this whole, “working on my own” thing. I can meet clients whenever I want, I can work on their stuff whenever I want, I can have lunch with friends whenever I want, I can book myself for volunteer events whenever I want.
I did apply for a part-time volunteer coordinator position at a non-profit that is literally 1.5 miles from our house. It doesn’t pay much, but it would be great to work in something that I really want to acquire some skills and experience in, and also have a steady paycheck while I wait for clients to pay me. The organization looks amazing, and one that I’d like to be involved in over the long-term if things work out, so I’m keeping my fingers crossed.
We were finally able to buy Jeff the camera he’s been wanting (Nikon D7000), and he got an amazing flash and lens for it (we had to return the lens because the automatic focus didn’t work, hopefully we get a new one back soon). He’s got two small weddings that he’s already booked for this month, so we’re hoping that will be an additional source of revenue for us. As for my wedding officiant business, I had one wedding last month in Spanish, and I’ve got two booked for this month. Our free Google advertising dried up, so I’m gonna have to invest some real money into our website if I want to keep getting leads. Seems like it’s worth it so far.
So, between wedding ceremonies, legal cases, wedding photography, Jeff’s steady work…I think we might be pulling it off finally. Which has me really worried. So far, our life has always been a bit of give and take: something great happens, then something else happens to even things out, and we land exactly where we were before that great thing happened. So here we are, not having to pay rent, with some steady and unsteady flows of income…to the point where we can save and invest in things…and I’m honestly nervous about what’s around the corner. I feel like something has to happen to even things out again, there’s too much good going on right now.
I hope I’m wrong. I really, really hope I’m wrong. Because seeing a light at the end of the tunnel is kinda nice.

Letter to Santa Claus, circa 1991

26 Monday Sep 2011

Posted by in Christmas, dad, random, stories

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So when I wrote that I didn’t really have an issue with not having a dad, I must have been lying to my 8-year old self.

My mom recently found a letter I wrote to Santa Clause when I was 8. Warning: it starts funny, and then I make you feel like an a-hole for laughing at my letter. Ha.
I’m leaving in all original grammar mistakes, which are embarrassing, but really make the letter pretty amazing.
11-21-91 (Please pay attention to the date: as of 8-years of age, I was not yet a procrastinator)

Dear Santa I’v made a list of the things I want for Christmas. Ther are some big things I want. (I kinda love how I give Santa a heads up)

1. The icecream maker (not just any ice cream maker…THE ice cream maker)
2. A new bike. (I got the bike when I was in Guatemala…hilarious story to be told someday about how some drunkard tried to steal it from me)
3. Some papper (reguler with lines. Coler, tiping papper) (translation: paper, color, typing. Slightly pathetic)
4. A new book

5. The movie “home Alon (this one is crossed out. I must’ve realized I was asking for too much, and this is what I thought I could live without)
6. The book “Bingo”

7. A blak hat to go out (first of all, I couldn’t spell black? REALLY?! Secondly, where exactly was I “going out” that I needed a hat?)
8. A cook book for kids

9. Monoply for kids

10. A new suite (I would reiterate my second comment from #7)
11. A diyerie with a lock (Diary. A diary. And a lock to make sure my mom stayed out of my shit)
12. Jinga (I think I still own my Jenga. It’s currently in storage)
13. encyclopedia (1) how many 8-year old’s ask for this? 2) I couldn’t spell “black” or “diary,” but I could spell encyclopedia. Interesting)
back —-> (Yes, I let Santa know there was more in the back of the page)
Baby (crossed out)
maybe (crossed out)
Maybe (with arrow pointing back up to the first line) if you can my dad
(you know, no big deal, but maybe, perhaps, if you have time, you could kidnap my dad and bring him to me)

Have a verey nice Christmas.

Love Alexandra Maria Hannson Beltran (I couldn’t even spell my last name right)
My mom told me she felt guilty about never sending the letter out. All I have to say is, THAT’S WHY I NEVER GOT MY DAD FOR CHRISTMAS!

Our Plans were Foiled!

15 Thursday Sep 2011

Posted by in home, moving, random

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Well, you know those big plans we had for the phone book? They were RUINED.

I went to the apartment on Monday to do some cleaning, and after I climbed the stairs I found myself with this:
Seriously. Maybe they read my blog? Anyhow, I was extremely disappointed in their sudden decision to clean up their act. Now Jeff and I will never have a chance to carry out our plans. Which looked something like this:
Jeff’s plan: Prop the phone book against their door (again), with a sign that reads something to the effect of: “Hi, I’m your phone book. Why don’t you love me? Why won’t you bring me into your home?” Or something like that (right boo?).
My plan: Throw it away. Leave a sign on their doorstep that reads: “You’re welcome.”
But now…neither one of these will ever happen. Shame on you, belatedly responsible neighbor.

Packing Day, Lost Count

11 Sunday Sep 2011

Posted by in moving, random

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It’s been roughly two weeks of slowly packing and moving everything out of our place. Yesterday we moved the essentials into the new place, and the only things left in the old place are a couple loads of clean laundry and Jeff’s paintings. Not too shabby.
Here was my greatest moving accomplishment this week:
I mentioned before our obsession with moving things in one trip. And even though this was during the week, so I was moving stuff alone while Jeff was working, this was no exception. So, those two loaded carts up there? Yep, I packed up the truck with all of that, and somehow, precariously loaded them up to these two carts, pushed both of them onto the elevator, and into storage, IN ONE TRIP. Two golf club bags, two bikes, two dinning room chairs, a box, a sleeping bag, and some miscellaneous stuff. I won’t say I didn’t have technical difficulties in getting it done, but I did it.
This is what our storage unit currently looks like:
Crazy that our whole lives are packed into a 10 x 10 storage unit.
Finally, let me introduce you to our soon to be ex-neighbors phone book:
It’s been there for over a month (dare I say more than two?). We pass by it everyday. She passes by it everyday. We even propped it up against her door one day, thinking she’d get the clue that she should pick it up, and nothing. So. We have some ideas. Stay tuned.

Packing, Day 2 and 1/2

06 Tuesday Sep 2011

Posted by in adventures, moving, packing, random

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Well, all in all I think we made some good progress. Took a load to storage yesterday before the BBQ, and I worked on the closet pretty much all day today (aside from going to say goodbye to Uli and Hank for a couple hours). I feel like there are still a TON of odds and ends around the apartment, but I think we’ll be ok.

A couple things that made me really happy this weekend:
1) Jeff and I are great teammates. Nothing I didn’t know before, but it’s always nice to be working with someone you work so well with. No arguments about what is going where, how things should be done, pack this there, no over there, but I want it over here…we kind of work like a well oiled machine. We’re one step ahead of each other…always in a good way. And I can always count on Jeff to come up with some pretty brilliant ideas (I actually had a “Jeff moment” myself today when I came up with a pretty MacGyver move for packing my earrings…suffice it to say it was pure genius), like this one:
You might ask yourself…what is that? Well, Jeff was in charge of wrapping up our dinning room chairs so they sustain minor damage during transport and storage…and after the second one he was getting a little dizzy going around them with plastic wrap. So he asked me, “do we have anything like a Lazy Susan?” Thankfully, in the last five years, someone had explained to me what this was, so I was able to confidently tell him we didn’t. It didn’t matter…he found a plastic-organizer-drawer I had just emptied out that had wheels on it. So, while I turned the chair, he plastic wrapped it. No dizziness. Just some good teamwork :)
2) Second, we’re amazing at packing stuff onto moving carts! The last time we went to storage, there were no carts available, so we carried stuff on our desk chair and just on our own…then a second trip with random stuff, and by the third trip we had finally obtained ownership of a moving cart. So…three trips up and down the elevator. On our way home, Jeff mentioned that we could have made it in one trip if we had the moving cart the whole time…I was incredulous…but then today, we carried a truck FULL of stuff in one trip. It was pretty amazing. Two carts, plus the purple rolly cart thingy pictured above, which we filled and stacked with other stuff. Not gonna lie…it was pretty amazing stacking!
Not so amazing: coming home and realizing the smell of your apartment is gone (you know what I’m talking about…every house has it’s own unique smell…and I miss mine), it now smells like cardboard boxes. Le sigh.
One week from tomorrow will be our last TVN, and a week from Wednesday, we’ll be turning in our keys…

Random Thoughts

04 Sunday Sep 2011

Posted by in home, life, random, work

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Some of you know that I’ve been doing a little legal work on my own: I picked up a couple family law cases, there’s a bankruptcy case on the horizon, and I’m working with a nonprofit (other than Haiti Scholarships) to put together their incorporation and tax exemption paperwork.

I never thought I’d want to really go out on my own; there are so many things to worry about: office space, getting a fax, malpractice insurance, health insurance, guidance, support, expensive reference materials, other overhead costs, etc. I kinda wanted to work for a nonprofit that could really take care of all of this stuff, but alas, I think it’s time for me to strike out on my own.
Which is actually turning out quite nice. We’re moving in with Jeff’s parents in a week, which means I don’t have to stress about making x amount of dollars a month to cover rent. I can take my time in developing my marketing and figuring out what the hell I’m doing.
This brings me to: I need to get my shit together. The problem when I don’t have a job is that I have too much free time. And I’m a procrastinator. I work better under pressure. Which doesn’t happen when I’m my own boss. So. Things get pushed back. Finding something to watch on Netflix or Hulu takes precedence over researching a good online fax provider. Or health insurance. Or finishing those documents I could file today.
So here’s what I need: I need to make a schedule for myself, and stick to it. Even though I don’t have an “office,” I need to set a few hours every day where I make myself sit at my desk, and get work done. It doesn’t matter if the dishes aren’t washed, or if laundry needs to be folded, office hours are office hours.
Ideally, my day would start with some exercise, but let’s be honest about that one…
But after that, I’m trying to figure out what my most productive time would be: should office hours be in the morning, and then I can spend the afternoon taking care of the random projects I like to do? Or should I do that stuff in the morning, and then after lunch have my office hours?
Maybe once we’re settled into our new place I’ll try out both schedules, and see which one works better.
On a completely separate note, and maybe I mentioned this before, I’m thinking of switching this blog over to wordpress. Any thoughts? Feels like a huge change; I think it might work better…I can have different categories, pages, etc. Maybe I’ll become one of those bloggers who makes tons of money and just stays at home and writes about random stuff (wouldn’t that be awesome?!)….ha!

My Day

02 Friday Sep 2011

Posted by in random, updates

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At the beginning of the week, I really liked the idea that I had nothing on my calendar for Thursday, although I know myself better than to think it’ll remain that way (I have been told more than once this week that I’m the busiest unemployed person they know, haha).

So, here’s where I was today:
  • Irvine: my apartment, packed up a few boxes, went through stuff in the garage. And drank my coffee, obvies.
  • Lake Forest: waited around for an empty cart, dropped said packed boxes off at the storage place.
  • Ladera Ranch: went to Brookie’s store to pick up some boxes she had saved for us (thanks, Brookie!).
  • Aliso Viejo: dropped off a table at my mom’s house, and hung out for her a little during her lunch hour.
  • Laguna Hills: checked the PO box. Junk mail.
  • Irvine: home for lunch, prepared my first client bill!
  • Santa Ana: meeting with client’s father.
  • Other part of Irvine: exchanged iced coffee for a donation from the wonderful Ms. Katie, AND got to catch up a little :)
  • Irvine: deposited check, went to store to buy dinner, home to make lasagna (would you believe me if I said I made it from scratch? Who am I kidding, only Isabel can do that…).
I really wanted to add Costa Mesa to my list of cities visited today: 1) I wanted to go to bikram since I missed my class last night, and 2) I wanted to check out the unveiling of 31 Bits’ new Fall line. But alas, staying home after all that driving was high on my priority list.
All in all, a pretty productive day!

Doing the impossible

16 Tuesday Aug 2011

Posted by in church, random

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I went to church with my mom a couple weeks ago. The sermon was about the whole walking on water episode in the bible. The one line from the priest that really struck me, was the following:

“Wouldn’t you like to be able to do the impossible?”

Yeah, I would. I just don’t know how. Any suggestions?

Wrinkles…

16 Tuesday Aug 2011

Posted by in aging, life, random, thoughts

≈ 2 Comments

I’ll start with a quick digression. I’m currently in a car, on our way to Vegas. And I’m typing on my laptop. Don’t worry, I’m glancing around periodically to make sure I don’t miss any exciting dessert hills. My point: technology is amazing.

My grandma’s birthday is this Sunday, and unfortunately I’m missing the celebration…for Vegas (don’t worry, you’re not the first to tell me my priorities are skewed). To make up for it, however, I decided to go visit my grandma, take her out to lunch and spend a few hours going around doing whatever she wanted to do. It was quite the pleasant visit: I took her to JC Penny, she needed to buy a calling card from Costco, so we hit up Costco, we bought some yarn so she can make a baby blanket for Olivia, we hit up Soupplantation (her choice), and rounded up the evening by walking around Old Town Temecula and oogling at the price of “antiques.” All in all, it was a great day.

With one exception.

Grandma got me freaking out about wrinkles!! I’ve never been one to care too much about my physical appearance, much to my detriment, I’m sure. And although I’m on the cusp of 30, I hadn’t started to freak out about the extra lines on my face. Until my grandma mentioned it. “You really need to take care of your skin! You have too many wrinkles for someone your age.” Um….ok? She immediately made me put on some anti-aging, de-wrinkling lotion that probably has more chemicals in it than the stuff I use to clean our kitchen. Then she let me have that lotion and told me to make sure I put it on generously every day. “It’s expensive, but it’s worth it, you need to start spending money on taking care of yourself.” Don’t get my grandma wrong, she’s amazing and she’s not as materialistic as this one incident probably makes her out to be. It’s more funny than anything else.

However, it brings up a subject Jeff and I have commented on several times before, when we see people on TV who have stretched their faces beyond belief, and look horrid: why can’t people just let themselves age gracefully? I wonder when this infatuation started…I mean, it’s not like people around you don’t know how old you really are. Sure, maybe your face looks like your 45, but your husband knowns you’re 55, and your hands show that you’re 55. And people can tell you’ve had plastic surgery. Or botox, or whatever. Wrinkles are part of the circle of life.

I just don’t get it. But grandma made me wonder: am I being too careless in [not] taking care of myself, in my effort to not care about aging? Should I at least do the minimum and put on magic lotions? Or do we, ahem, society, put too much emphasis on de-wrinkled faces? And why? Why does a stretchy, but still older, face seem more socially acceptable than someone who just lets themselves be?

Food for thought.

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