Extended Vacation...

Woohoo, extended vacation!! Okay, so here's the story. I went in Friday to fill in the HR paperwork and then, my new boss informs me that I have to pass a medical exam. It's just standard procedure (since I'm going to work in a hospital) and I can't sign anything before going through it. He actually didn't know I had to, until he called HR to get the paperwork. HR has already called me and set up an appointment - this Tuesday afternoon, but for now that means that my vacation is being extended... probably a week. Woohoo!!!

Yesterday was a quite busy day... but I'm proud to say that my to do list is almost totally completed :) I might try to go to the video rental store... I feel so bad :( Otherwise, this week, I'm going to focus on reading and watching the Olympics and cleaning my room.

Seriously, I just want to be reading, but so far, I keep getting distracted. I started The Wedding Officer by Anthony Capella, The Wild Road by Marjorie M. Liu, Oceans by Fire by Christine Feehan and have all put them down :( The worst is that I've been buying lots of books, so you'd think that something would catch my attention... but no :( Sad. The good news however is that I got some new coupons from the bookstore! Remember how I complained that I lost my coupons from the bookstore that I've received when renewing my I-Rewards card? Well I was paying for m newest books and complaining to my friend who was accompanying me and the cashier just gave me a new booklet :D and the best news? The expiring date is November instead of August LOL :)

Oh and yesterday? I went to Elixor - I guess the Quebec's version of Cheesecake Factory :) LOL :) Although I have to say, there's not as many cheesecakes... but hey, we have a Cheesecake Factory :) What can I say?

Almost over...

Sigh, Thursday night already... that means my vacation is almost over :( The worst is it seems that the next few days are going to be even more busy :( Let see... Tomorrow, I'm supposed to go fill the HR paperwork for the new job (finally!), lunch with a friend, some shopping and perhaps a farewell dinner. Then, on Saturday I have to go to the temple and to work... Sunday, might go to an amusement park - which I don't really enjoy (I don't like rides), but I will go to hang out with friends... and oh, tomorrow, I have to go to the passport office. Since it's the last day, it's going to be my last chance.

Here's my to do list and its status:

1) Visit the professor (master supervisor)
2) Take pictures for passport
3) Passport
4) HR paperwork for job next week
5) Video rental store...
6) Catch up with some friends...
7) Send a package to Holly

I'm going to do no. 3 and 4 tomorrow, so that is soon to be crossed out... and unfortunately, I think that no. 5 won't happen. Sigh. Too bad. I kind of feel bad because I have tapes and dvds from the rental store... it'll be easier to go though, I think, once I start my new job since it'll be quite close. Ah well...

The worst thing though is I haven't been reading T_T How sad is that? 2 weeks and I think I read 2 or 3 books. Pathetic, I'm telling you. At least, I've been buying new books... Hopefully, my reading mojo will be back soon and I'll have tons of reviews for you!!

So that's it for me. I'll try to blog more... but I have a question... where is everyone? It's been sooo quite on blogland :(

Oh by the way, Olympics? Sigh... still no medals for Canada, but hopefully this week-end. Otherwise, it's fun to watch... but I think I'm overdosing, LOL :)

Vacation week no.2

Hmmm, do I count the week-end in my vacation days? Nah... So day 6 of vacation. So far, my vacation has been relatively calm without much happening, except for yesterday... more to come on yesterday.


so yeah, the vacation has been very calm and uneventful. I'm still glued to my tv watching the Olympics. Canada still has no medals. Are we going to get any you think? Vietnam has 1 in weightlifting which is wow!! LOL :) Ah well, since Canada isn't doing well, I'm rooting for other countries... China, Japan, Australia, Germany... Sorry my southern neighbors, but you don't need cheering LOL :) (Not that China needs it, but since I'm Asian... and it's the host country...)

Okay, here is a quick to do list for the week... just a reminder for me:

1) Visit the professor (master supervisor)
2) Take pictures for passport
3) Passport
4) HR paperwork for job next week
5) Video rental store...
6) Catch up with some friends...
7) Send a package to Holly

Hmmm, I feel like there's something missing... but for now, I guess it's enough...

Okay, so what was so exciting for me yesterday? I got to hang out with Ames!! Yay!!! She was in Montreal to attend a wedding and swung by yesterday afternoon. We hung out and caught up a little bit. She showed me her newest toy, her Sony e-reader. Very nice... Then we went to eat a light lunch and... what do you think we did? Of course, book shopping! LOL :) I brought her to a UBS where she found some books that she's been looking for a long time :) Then we went to Indigo and Chapters downtown. Of course, I'm the one who ended the evening with more new books. You know Ames, she has a better will than me when it comes to books. She was also able to find 2 books I've been looking for a while in Winnipeg: Crazy for You by Kate Angell and The Secrets of Rosa Lee by Jodi Thomas. Ames and I also both bought some jewelry :) It was fun to get to see her again this summer, even if it was only for a couple of hours :)

Since Ames was able to find two books I've been looking for every time I go in a UBS in Winnipeg and she was able to find some books she's been searching high and low for in Montreal... I've been thinking of opening a new blog... a place where people could put up titles of books they can't find anywhere near them. I know that there is ebay and paperback swap... but both are not very convenient for Canada... Would you be interested in such a blog?

Anyway, I have to go mow the lawn! Talk to you later!!

Adventures to the bookstores

Hi everyone!

Miss me? I've been on blogland, lurking around and commenting... but for some reasons, I just couldn't blog. Whenever I sat down to write a post, I didn't know what to write or how to spin it... then when finally something came to mind, well it was lack of time... but here I am, catching up on the whole week-end! :) So bear with me, this might be a tad long.

Let's start with my adventure to the bookstore. If you've been on Canadian blogs (Ames, Cindy, Kristie and Chantal are the ones that come to mind), you'll know that Chapters Indigo were holding a double discount week-end. That means we were saving 20% on all the books bought instead of 10%. Seriously, who can resist to such a sale? So although I went crazy last Monday, I still went and bought more books this week-end.

So my adventure started early on Saturday morning when I checked online for books availability in the bookstore. Again, since I bought so many books in the past week, I didn't have much that I needed/wanted to buy except for new releases. To my utter joy, two bookstores already had received the new releases coming out on June 1 and 3... unfortunately, those two bookstores aren't my favorite ones... So my two choices were Indigo downtown and Indigo Brossard.

Here's my quirk with both bookstores... I used to love Indigo downtown. It's two floors and it's big and spacious and the selection is quite good. Problem is, it's also very busy and I think, recently, under-staffed. So for the past couples of months, although they get the new releases in advance, it always takes a while before they shelve the books. You also get the same problem with Indigo Brossard, except that it's smaller and the selection... well sucks compared to downtown. Ironically, they're always the first bookstores to get the new releases... I don't understand that. So my plan was to go to Indigo Downtown... because although it takes a while for them to shelve the books, they usually put them on carts or in boxes... so at least, we can look for the books we want... as opposed to Indigo Brossard where they keep all their stuff in the backroom and you have to ask the clerks to look for it. Then, there's always the "I'm sorry, but the book is not released yet" excuse or the fact that they couldn't find a needle in a stack of hay if they tried.

Anyway, here was my list:

Damien by Jacquelyn Frank (May 27, many copies)
In Twilight's Shadow by Patti O'Shea (June 03, 3 copies)
Tall Tales & Wedding Veils by Jane Graves (June 01, 4 copies)
Moose by Stephanie Klein (May 27, 4 copies)
Night Keepers by Jessica Andersen (June 03, 5 copies)
Through the Veil by Shiloh Walker (June 03, 7 copies)
How to Knit a Wild Bikini by Christie Ridgway (June 03, 3 copies)

My plan was to go to Indigo Downtown after work at the Fathers' place (9pm).

Lesson no. 1: do not go to the bookstore at 9pm on Friday or a week-end night anymore. Not only was it raining, but it took me 20-30 minutes to find parking space. Ugh. Lucky for me though, the spot I got was a good one, but still... with gas price so high, the last thing you want to be doing is circling around in the dark with reduced visibility due to rain and people jay-walking, looking for a parking place.

By the time I made it to the bookstore, it was somewhere along 9.30pm... that meant I had 30 minutes left to find all the books I wanted and I knew, I would have to search for them, so I hurried. I looked at the table of new releases and guess what? Lover Enshrined was there. Unfortunately Lover Enshrined I wasn't looking for. Damien* was the first book I picked up.

*Sidenote: Damien is the last try I'm giving to The NightWalkers series... If this book is no good, I'm not picking them anymore... unless Noah is the last book of the series...

Then to my great joy, they've already put out Night Keepers by Jessica Andersen on the shelves! Wow, that was a pleasant surprise! However, that was it... So still 4 books to go and let see, 3 carts and 7 boxes on the floor. I have to say, the nice thing about going so late to the bookstore is that there's less people and less clerks. So when you search through the books, people don't look at you weirdly (other customers) or annoyingly (clerks). As to my habits, I went to the carts first. Those carts are always packed full! Skipped the places with hardcovers and trade-size paperbacks. Lift, pull out, push back... nothing... look at the boxes, guess that's my only option. Oh a box with ROMANCE on it... look into it and see a yellow cover... and yes, found How to Knit a Wild Bikini. Three to go now... look in the box next to it, voila Through The Veil! I'm on a lucky streak! and since I've looked through 2 boxes already, why be shy? So looked through the others, move some of the boxes so I could get a look at the ones under... however, seems like my luck ran out. I went through the carts again just in case... and found Fire Study. Although I owned it already, I didn't have any keepsafe copay of it, so I bought another one.

They announce that the store is closing in 15 minutes. I decided to ask the clerk if perhaps she's seen Tall Tales and Wedding Veils or In the Twilight's Shadow. I mean, both covers kind of stand out so perhaps, perhaps she's seen them... but it's useless. The clerk takes a look at the release dates for both and tells me she can't "look" or "give" them to me since they are not "released" yet. Hmmm, I do my best not to point at Lover Enshrined on the new release tables or at some of the books I'm holding myself... but ugh. On my way to the cash, I quickly remembered Moose... which was in the biography section.

So I went to pay. Cindy mentioned that she bought her books on Friday so didn't get the 20%; however, the cashier told her to bring back the receipt on the week-end so she could get the missing 10%... so I tried and ask the cashier if I could get the 10% on my purchase on Monday.... but no :(

So at the end, I went home and was quite exhausted... and while searching the carts, I broke my nail... so injured as well... and disappointed because I couldn't find Tall Tales and Wedding Veils and In the Twilight's Shadow... those were the two books I was really looking forward to... TT&WV because it sounds funny and that's what I'm in the mood for and ItTsS... well it's by Patti O'shea, one of my favorite authors...

Of course, I couldn't let it go and on Sunday morning, at 9.10 (this time, am), I called Indigo Brossard and asked them if they had the two books. Of course, I knew they had them... the real question was, could they find them? Well the answer: they found one, Tall Tales and Wedding Veils. Sigh. So I went and at the same time, I bought some travel books for a friend, but still no In the Twilight's Shadow... which I'm definitively going to buy today... cos then, there'll be no excuse!

So that was my week-end adventures to the bookstores ^_^;

by the way, here's an update on my To Do List:

1. organize all my books and clean up my chaotic room

2. sign up at the gym

3. return one of the cell phone

4. get a hair cut

I'm still not done with my room, but I did clear out a path from my bed to the door :P That's a beginning, LOL :) and I add the haircut... my hair is quite long now and it's annoying me.

Okie, well this post was long :P I'll stop here... Oh and we're already in June... so I should have my list of monthly reads up soon.

ps. Kris, they got the cellphone on Saturday :P So either way (date of shipping or date of delivery), I was okay :)

September Reads. to do list and my craziness continues

Hello everyone!

how was your week-end? :) I know a couple of women who enjoyed themselves in South California... definitively jealous... because my week-end couldn't compare to them at all :( It was quite a relaxed week-end, but a lonely one :(

Okay, where to start? LOL, my craziness also known as my book shopping adventures... So as you can see in the previous post, I went a bit crazy buying books last week... however, there was one I was looking for and couldn't find... Mine Till Midnight... I was going to go buy it at the bookstore closer to my house; however, it's not that close... so when I checked Chapters/Indigo online on Friday and it said the bookstore in downtown had it, I again gave rendez-vous to my sister at the downtown bookstore :P Got there and it wasn't on the shelves... it wasn't on the cart either... so I started eyeing the boxes of new arrivals... hmmm, they weren't opened. So I asked a lady to check and then, she said "The book is only released on October 2, can't do anything, you'll have to come back." Grrr... I hate it when it happens!! You know they have the book, but they just won't get it for you. Fine! So I left... with two books LOL :) I got Light Me Up by Katie MacAlister which is the 3rd book in the Aisling series as well as In the Bleak Midwinter which is a recommendation by Keishon.

Then, on Saturday, my parents went to the temple for an association meeting. Before my mom left, she was like: "What am I forgetting?" They left and unfortunately for me, she indeed did forget something... a huge caldron of sweet soup (kind of dessert)... seriously, how did she forget it, I can't imagine... because it was in the middle of the kitchen and it's HUGE! So yep, I had to bring it to her to the temple. Ughhh... I really didn't want to go, it's Saturday morning... But then, I cheered up! Since I was out and it was 10am, I could swing by the bookstore and get Mine Till Midnight.. which I did... and this time, I got myself a nice clerk... because again, it wasn't on the shelves, but she went to the back room and got it for me! Nah! Seriously, I think the rule should be the same everywhere... but then, I'm happy that some bookstores don't mind selling the books early.

So that's about it for book shopping... unless you want to hear about my manga shopping? LOL :) The plan this week is to try to restrain myself and NOT buy any. However, that should be easy, because most of the books I wanted, I already got. Maybe me plan should be NOT to step in a bookstore LOL :)

Okay, about my to do list:

1) Clean my room - it includes vacuuming.
2) Box/shelve my books.^^;) Best would be to purge a little too.
3) Update my blog (the books on the sidebar ^^;) and change the template
4) Work on reviews
5) Work on ________________ (it's a surprise... kind of)
6) Clean my hard drive
7) Catch up on my manga and anime

Everything is halfway done :( I did clean my room and vacuumed yesterday evening... however, it's not sparkling clean... but hey, there's more space to walk around!! and less risk of falling over something. While cleaning, I put all my books in the boxes or somewhere... unfortunately, I didn't have time to go through them... so no purging done. Maybe this week. As for the blog, well yay, I have the sidebar done, but euh, no change in the template... which I knew wasn't going to happen... however, I have some ideas about it :) So as soon as I have time, that's going to be a goal... I always admired ppl who had extra reviews saved so they can post one everyday... definitively not my case... so no reviews ready :( as for no.5, well, it doesn't exist anymore. Ames and I were going to start a new blog for buddy reviews, but then, we decided against :( but I think it's for the best that we're not starting a new blog... cos just maintaining our own takes so much time. As for cleaning my hard drive... well I did try yesterday to back up my files... however, how long is it suppposed to take to back up 30Gig? Cos it kind of stop at 2% :( So I give up and decided to back up my stuff manually. So that's the plan for tonight. Finally, catching up on manga and anime... I decided to give up on last season of anime. The new season seems to be starting this week, so it'll be easier. Only need to download a couple of eps. of Nodame Cantabile, as soon as my hard drive has space, and for manga, I'm pretty much up-to-date...

Now, my new goal is to have my guest blog post for Book Binge ready... still no topic though ^^;

and finally, here are my September reads:

1) Caressed by Ice by Nalini Singh: A-
2) Unforgettable by Julie Ortolon: B
3) Fangs for the Memories by Kathy Love: B
4) Nobody's Darling by Teresa Medeiros: B
5) Madame's Deception by Renee Bernard: B-
6) Bloodstone by Gwen Hunter: D
7) Project Date by Kathy Perry: DNF
8) Die For Me by Karen Rose: B+
9) Dead Girls are Easy by Terri Garey: B
10) The Firebrand by Susan Wiggs: B
11) It's In His Kiss by Julia Quinn: B-
12) The Wedding Party by Robyn Carr: B
13) Empire of Ivory by Naomi Novik: A-
14) Agnes and the Hitman by Jennifer Crusie and Bob Mayer: A-
15) Curveball by Kate Angell: B
16) Special of the Day by Elaine Fox: C-
17) Just Wicked Enough by Lorraine Heath: B+
18) Sex and the Single Ghost by Tawny Taylor: D
19) If His Kiss is Wicked by Jo Goodman: B-
20) Mine till Midnight by Lisa Kleypas: B+
21) Sexiest Man Alive by Diane Holquist: C

So the best books were definitively Caressed by Ice, Agnes and the Hitman and Empire of Ivory. Honorable mention goes to Curveball for some reason :P and I've just realized that the number of reviews this month is pathetic... sigh. Okay, I'll definitively try to improve!

So what were your best reads?

This week To Do list

Hello everyone :D

How have you been? My week-end was quite dull, but relaxing. I work from 8h30 am to 9 pm at the White Fathers place... Got two visitors and not even 10 phone calls the whole day. I had time to catch up on my chinese tv series (yep, I have access to TV) and read Agnes and the Hitman, which I've already reviewed :) LOL, it's so funny, because each time I show up at the Fathers' place, I have at least 3 bags: my purse, one bag of tapes and one bag of books :P Then, I slept half of Sunday and read, the other half. Very dull indeed... very lazy also ^^; See, I've been meaning to reshelve my books for, hmm, 2 months now? I've also wanted to clean my room, because it's a huge mess... also, can't really reshelve my books without making place in my room first. In addition, my room is driving my parents crazy... they've been nice so far, but I know that soon, they'll run out of patience.

The problem? Well I work on the week-end... albeit, not a lot, but enough that I don't feel like spending Saturday morning cleaning. I want to do it when I come home from work during week days; however, now that I have to pick up my sister in downtown... i get home later, around 4.30pm... Then, I usually have a book I can't wait to finish or blog-hop or have a headache like yesterday :(

This is the reason I've decided to do a list... So the following should be done by Sunday, midnight:

1) Clean my room - it includes vacuuming. (ugh)
2) Box/shelve my books. Best would be to purge a little too.
3) Update my blog (the books on the sidebar ^^;) and change the template
4) Work on reviews
5) Work on ________________ (it's a surprise... kind of)
6) Clean my hard drive (I bought an external hard drive a 1.5 month ago ^^; It's out of its box, but that's pretty much it
7) Catch up on my manga and anime

Doesn't sound too much right? So hopefully, I should be able to make it ^^;

Sigh. (LOL, can't help it!)