Last Friday, my husband and I went to see "A Christmas Carol," a play currently showing at Geary Theater in San Francisco. We got a pair of free Orchestra seat tickets that would have costed us $68 a pop. This is not the first time we got free tickets to a live show. Last year, we went to see the "Nutcracker" for free too. I guess we got lucky both times. The original purchasers couldn't make it to the show, so they'd rather give the tickets away than to waste them. So there we were, last minute, watching a show for free. This only means that we are always available to be the backup for any shows out there. If you have any, just let them come our way!

Speaking of luck, I guess we also lucked out on the massive blackout that occurred this past Saturday night. On the busiest shopping day of the season, the power went out. Retailers and shoppers alike were disappointed. Just imagine movie goers watching the movie finale, or people stuck on elevators. How terrible would that be. It only shows how dependent we are on power. Fortunately, our little old house was not affected at all. Our Christmas lights remained lit in the midst of total darkness. Oh, how pretty.

The paths we took...

Wanwanha, wish I could say I've gone as far as you did. But unfortunately I can't. I just keep running around in circles.

Reunion

My 10-year high school reunion is only a few weeks away. Just out of curiosity, I looked through the Evite invitation that has been circulating around. 140+ people are planning to attend the event, along with their spouses and significant others. After browsing the "YES" list of names, it was sad that I was able to only recognize a handful of names. Some I recognized the name, but couldn't recall the face. Some I had no clue that they even attended the school, let alone in the same class! Some people on the "NO" list who couldn't make it to the event managed to drop a note of their recent being -- names of cities, countries of residency, names of spouses, children, profession, etc. It's quite interesting to read about where people have spread to and how their lives have changed. 10 years (from 18yrs old to 28)-- not a extremely long time, but definitely an important time in our lives. The paths we took, the decisions we made, whom we met, what has become of us -- really depended on these 10 years. Looking back at my past 10 years -- wow. I've really gone a long way.

Dreadful Christmas?

When I go around town, there are clear indications that the holidays are near. From the fully decorated store fronts to shoppers with their bags, to the Christmas carols and holiday lights... the holidays are HERE. For the past few years, Christmas didn't give me a sense of excitement as it once did. Sad to say, this year, I'm not looking forward to Christmas either. What happened? Has the "Grinch" inside of me suddenly surfacing? To me, Christmas merely represents increased traffic, the crowded malls and parking lots, the endless search for the perfect gift, and of course, the dreadful credit card bill. It's no longer the happy, go-lucky type of event anymore. Will anything change me? Can anything change me? I want to enjoy Christmas again.... I want to get excited about the holidays again...

This is my first time ever blogging at home, let alone on a Saturday. I have a feeling that the weekends might be the only times I can blog from now on. My assistant has left me for another better paying job (which I don't blame her for doing so), and senior management has yet to confirm if they will ever find me a replacement. Meanwhile, her workload has suddenly shifted onto my lap. Her responsibilities consist mostly of the not-so-likable grunt work -- so I find myself yesterday on a Friday afternoon -- formatting Excel spreadsheets and running reports. It was definitely not fun.

Holidays

Thanksgiving is a always viewed as a "second" to Christmas. The holiday is always tucked behind the back burner and shadowed by Christmas. Everyone just use Thanksgiving as a gauge on how the economy is doing. The news said that retailers took in $12.4 billion in sales on just Friday and Saturday. The first two days is a 6% increase over last year... however, selling on these 2 days don't mean a merry christmas all the way. The discounts helped fuel the good sales. It's the regular selling holiday season that will determine a good or bad year. We contributed to the $12.4 billion by buying a Christmas tree early this year. We finally picked out our first, fresh-cut Douglas Fir at Home Depot. It's exciting to decorate the tree and dress it with lights, ornaments, garland, etc while listening to a medley of Christmas carols. So, ok, it's only November, but with Christmas only 24 days away, we needed to maximize window display time....

So we are also in the midst of writing our annual reviews. After spending nearly 3 hours writing my 5-page merit review, I suddenly had a flashback of my college years. My review felt so much like my Poli-sci papers -- lots of fancy words, but no substance. I had very little to show and to prove that I did my job well this year. Most of the sales forecasting and numbers (as we call them) were given to me. Even if I had to spend hours analyzing data to come up with my stance of how sales would turn out, the numbers would be eventually edited and revised. Regardless of how the business did for the month, I had very little ownership of its success or failure. Therefore, given these circumstances, I was reluctant to honestly take any credit. I know that I didn't do well so I'm not too hopeful on how much raise I will be getting next year. I just know that it's a matter of time before I find another route to escape.