April 2008 – akaemi.com
 

Month: April 2008

happy anniversary concertTo celebrate the fourth year of our married-ness, the husband and I embarked on a road trip to wild West Virginia.  West Virginia wasn’t really our goal (though it is a state neither of us has visited) – it just happened to coincide with a Carrie Underwood concert.

Admittedly, there are at least 8 locations closer to us than Charleston, WV to see Carrie Underwood on her tour.  Unfortunately, we missed the debut of ticket sales for Baltimore, MD (an hour away), Charlottesville, VA (2 hours away), Hershey, PA (2 hours away), Wilkes Barre, PA (4 hours away), Roanoke, VA (4 hours away), Pittsburgh, PA (4 hours away), Bethlehem, PA (4 hours away), and University Park, PA (4 hours away).

And so the husband joined the Carrie Underwood fan club so he could be FIRST to buy tickets for the Charleston concert.  After releasing the first set of seats offered, he snagged the best tickets I have ever had to a concert.  On the floor, row Q, right along the catwalk that Keith Urban sets up for all his shows.  Awesome seats.  Too bad country music isn’t my favorite …

So what with all the mold ‘remediation’ that we had done in the master bath and living room ceiling, we need to get the bathroom brought back to a usable state.  Because no shower and only half a floor does not a usable bathroom make.  Especially when there are little bitty nails (or staples?) sticking up through the floor plywood.

We got estimates from two different remodelers.  We had them each give us the cost to ‘restore’ the bathroom, and the cost to ‘remodel’ the bathroom.  The full remodel price from each company sounds about like what I had decided to spend next year to remodel the bathroom.  The restore price is half the cost of the remodel price.

I think probably we’ll bite on the full remodel.  Because, well, we were gonna do it next year.  (Oops, maybe I didn’t tell the husband that yet …)  It just woulda been nice if we had budgeted for a bathroom remodel this year …

I have been successful at life.  I went to college, I got a degree, I got married, I bought a house.  I certainly worked hard to accomplish these things, but my success really boils down to two easy steps.  I have applied these steps to many facets of my life, and I have found them to be quite useful in accomplishing my goals.  What are these magical steps?  I will give them to you FOR FREE!

1. Find out what is required.

2. Do what is required.

And that’s it.  You can apply them to big things.  You can apply them to small things.  Applied repeatedly, you will find success.

For example, say you wanted to go to college and obtain a degree.  What is required?  Money, getting accepted, and fulfilling the degree requirements.  Those are big requirements, so you can break them down further.

How do you get money?  From scholarships, grants, loans and relatives.  Each one of those can be further broken down:  How do you get scholarships?  Find them (from the internet, library, or guidance counselor) and apply for them.  How do you get grants?  Fill out the FAFSA.  How do you get loans?  Apply for them at a bank.  How do you get money from relatives?  Ask them.  And be prepared for laughter …  Now that you know what to do, do it.

How do you get accepted?  Fill out the application and send it in before the deadline, with all essays and transcripts as required by the application.  Where you will get accepted will depend largely on your grades and test scores.  Now that you know what to do, do it.

How do you fulfill the degree requirements?  Get the list of classes required for your degree.  Also note any requirements not related to classes, like community service or portfolios.  And then do it. 

And that’s it.  Success it two easy steps! 

hawaiian?

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People will occasionally stop me and ask me what I “am.”  They can tell I’m not a straight-up caucasian, but they can’t quite pinpoint what my “mix” is.  There are those who wonder if I’m part hispanic, but most who venture a guess posit something in the asian family.

The most common guess is Hawaiian.  The first time I was asked if I was Hawaiian, I was 15 and knew nothing of the islands.  I was taken back at the question; not because I have anything against Hawaiians, but because all I knew at that time was what I had seen on tv:  native Hawaiians in grass skirts dancing the hula at a luau.  And, well, while native Hawaiians are not tall – as I am not – they are also somewhat thick and stocky.  Which I am not.  (Nothing against stocky, that’s just not my build.)

A few years later, I moved out to DC for the summer after my freshman year of college.  And I worked with a Hawaiian.  Who was Chinese.  He lived in an apartment with 5 other Hawaiians.  Who were all Japanese and/or Chinese.

After that summer, I realized that whenever someone asks if I’m Hawaiian, they don’t mean a native Hawaiian.  They just mean was that where I was born?  I still have never been to the islands, but I imagine it’s a jumble of all kinds of asian-ness – with some caucasian thrown in. 

So, no, I’m not Hawaiian.  But I imagine Hawaii to be a place where I can find many who look a lot like me.

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