The Salsa of Love, Loss, Work, and Play

I didn't get called to sub again today. While I like lounging and having more time to do homework, I really would like to work a bit and make some money. I'm worried that maybe since I've probably been added to the bottom of the list and no one knows me so they won't request me, that I won't get called much. If I don't get a job at all this week, then I will have to go bother these people again.

Nonetheless, today was a good day to not be working. I had an eventful, busy, emotional, sleep-lacking weekend and didn't do much homework either. So, it is good that I had a day off to recuperate. I still have a bunch to do, but at least I got to sleep in a bit and I'm not exhausted from working all day.

I had a practice salsa fiesta Saturday. It went so well!! I was thinking it would be super simple, but then Pam got involved and wanted to add some dishes and make it more authentic (which was cool) and then Ellie invited a bunch of her family, on top of the friends I invited, and soon we had 2o people. The more the merrier! I had a blast! Pam and my friends helped with all the cooking (actually I did minimal amounts of cooking, I mostly directed and facilitated the cooking). We made chicken enchiladas, Spanish rice, refried beans, Mexican salad (i.e. salad with lots of lime juice), chorizo and eggs, and had some canned tamales and fresh salsa and chips for pupus (appetizers in Hawaiian) and some Coronas and wine and cinnamon caramel cashew ice cream with fresh strawberries for dessert. Delicious! And it is so much fun to cook with friends. :) You'll have to check out the photos on my flickr site.

The emotional part of the weekend was that I've been thinking a lot about my parents recently. It is mostly just missing and reflecting on the changes of my life and how that impacts my future. Also, how it makes going back home for the holidays this year different than in the past. I've been thinking about it more because of it coming up in conversation with people here. I guess I'm usually pretty upfront about it, like it is just another important event in my life that I don't want to hide away, but I also don't want people to feel really bad for me or feel like I'm mentioning it just to get attention or sympathy. That's not what I'm looking for. I just think it helps to understand who I am. But with these other interpretations, you start worrying about censoring yourself. And I don't want to.

So, besides love, loss, work, school, and play, I don't know if I can cover much more in this entry. This was an all-encompassing blog entry. I'll try to come up with comparable ones later this week. :)

Smiles for everyone!!