Yeah.  You see the title? That's what I experienced today.  I'm an energy drink fiend but today as I walked to grab a can of monster to keep me company in the final stretch of 4 work hours, I saw "Drank": An antienergy drink.  

Now I've heard of this thing before, it's been on cnn and stuff portrayed as a joke product but lemme tell you.  It is not a joke.  Half way through the can I had to get up and walk around the library (where I work) to prevent my self from Zzzing off on the job.  Why I drank the other half I have no idea.  I'm just happy I got home awake and alive :D   

So yeah.  I'm not gonna drink it again unless I actually have a legit reason to relax (instead of trying it just for the hell of trying it).  By the way, it's not an illegal substance or anything, I bought it at my campus ministore thingy.  Although the overt reference to 'purple drank' is pretty obvious >.>

 And what did I do today? 

Read, play poker, chat, eat chinese food, listen to pandora, send txts, contemplated my 21st birthday, studied my kana cards... ummm.  Yep I guess that's about it.  They say what you do the first of the year you'll do the rest of the year... and for some of these things I would agree.  But I hope I don't eat chinese food all this year :/ *can only take so much orange chicken*

I had some marvelous mental breakthrough right before I feel asleep last night... but now I can't remember what it was... and that's frustrating. /fail

Lets see... what should happen in the new year?

Goals:
Weigh 140 lbs (not by getting fat, by going to the gym and doing what I've been doing to get me to 130) 
Hit my $10k goal (I've learned a lot about smart and dumb investments this year and in the last 4 months I've been in the green every time)
Rebuild relationships (I've broken some promises for the wrong reasons and have a lot of makeup work to do to get back to where I was)
Be able to have a simple conversation in Japanese (Should be much easier once I get into Japanese 101 in the next Fall semeseter)
Rebalance life (My priorities have kinda  bounced around the past year and they really need to settle down)

Post more on LJ (It was an ok year for posting... but I know I can do better :) )

Uh sure.... Every Christmas we open stockings before breakfast.  Then we eat breakfast. Then we open everything else. The end.

Don't think there are any specific 'family recipes.' My grandma just watches the food network to see if there's anything interesting she can do.

:( 

Haha! I wouldn't say I expend as much energy looking for the gift as trying to figure out what the heck these people want. I've got too many friends who take the approach of "I'll like whatever you want to get me."  Really? You will? Playboy subscription it is. Or... how about a lawn mower? I end up having to get a gift card which is just lame.  Maybe chocolate is the answer to everything...

Good: I'm not in school... winter break is here!
Bad: I'm at home, and my younger sister has decided the car we share is basically hers.
Bad: I ran out of things for this list.

Eh there are pros and cons.   Pros: Presents make me happy. Hanging out with friends makes me happy. Being able to relax without school pressure makes me happy. Cons:  I know I'll be home for 5 weeks.  Which means I'll probably have at least 1 argument, be prevented from leaving the house on time at least twice, and have to tolerate stony conservatism an indefinite number of times.

Eh, I think it really depends on the family, and the in-family dynamics. For example, my grandparents are pretty conservative and like the usual way of doing things... aka go to college, get a job, get married, have kids, retire, die. So they have certain 'expectations' and I'm sure I'll start hearing little hints of things if I'm not engaged in the next decade.

It also depends on the person. If you're someone who doesn't really need that sort of love and attachment that a partner and children bring, then fine. Then it's fairly easy to blow off your parents and grandparents pleas for you to reproduce.

And um... I don't really think it ostracizes anyone? At least I can't think of any of my peers who would ostracize someone just because they aren't in a relationship or don't want kids? I mean.... it's their choice, and it's not a choice to base your opinion of them on.

Is the pressure worse around holidays? Idk... maybe because many people visit with family over the holidays... I guess it could create pressure.

So yeah... the answer to everything is basically "It depends."

Another year has past. One of living, loving, losing, and most importantly, learning. It was a good year I guess. I definitely made some mistakes, but I generally learned something important from all of them. Only have one real regret (I hate regrets btw) and I'm still living with the repercussions of all that jazz... but yeah, overall it was good. I spent a lot of time with people I genuinely care about and made some great new friends. Made some money, lost some money, made some more money, lost a little money.... then made a bunch and continuing to make a bunch. Should keep going for a while now.

Next semester's gonna be a bitch though. First time I'm done 17 credits, and somehow I need to get the point across to my boss that I can't work as much, if at all. I told her that and she told me I'd 'figure something out.' But that'll get taken care of soon I guess...

Anyway lets see.... things that have happened this year.... I guess my favorite part of the year was 6 weeks in Japan. That was one of the best experiences in my life and I'd do it again and again in a heartbeat. The most physically challenging thing I did was hiking 40 miles of the rocky mountains in New Mexico... and I'd do that again maybe in like 3 years. The most emotionally challenging thing was breaking up with my girlfriend of over 2.5 years... and then asking to get back together with her -->still unresolved. (note to self, don't EVER do that again) The biggest argument/battle of growing up against my parents was a combination of me wanting to go to New York for one weekend with friends, getting shot down for that, but managing to get them to be ok with 6 weeks in Japan. I'd say overall that was a victory. Biggest mental challenge? Idk, I don't rate those. So... yep.