this mercury retrograde is starting out gnarly.

first, we arranged with the movers to come at 8:30am on the 26th, so my mom and i booked last minute tickets to fly to la on christmas morning and start packing. she wanted to get everything done so we could make a late afternoon flight home and catch the warriors game that night. so i booked the tickets and the car rental online, but somehow, i got the dates wrong and booked the return on the 27th instead of the 26th. human error...totally my fault.

so my brother had to call the airline and change the tickets and at first they said all flights were full for the 26th, but he got us on a flight. when we got to la, turns out that i did the same with the car. since i went through hotwire, they said the extra day was non-refundable.

but i asked to speak to a supervisor, and i explained that i understood that this was their policy and i totally knew it was my fault for mixing up the dates, but it was christmas and this was my first time using hotwire. that especially in a bad economy, it's easier to retain a customer than gain new ones, and i would really like to have a positive experience with hotwire. i told her that if she charged us, it was cool, but asked if there was anything she could do, any other options. she ended up refunding us for that extra day, which was incredibly nice of her.

we got to my place and we only had a limited number of boxes that we brought down last time, so we filled them up and went to bed early to prepare for the big day.

the arrangement with the movers was that it was all-inclusive, so they were supposed to bring boxes and supplies and help us with everything. but when 9am rolled around and they still hadn't shown up, we called them and they said they were on another job and would show up around 1pm. we called their boss and she said not only did they not have supplies on the truck, but that they were stuck in a city 3 hours out of la and would make it when they could. we freaked out because we had a 4pm flight. she said just to buy the supplies and she would reimburse us. so we went out and got everything and started packing up.

the movers didn't show up until 3pm. we didn't get everything out until 8pm. i had to run out and get food, and a lot of places nearby were closed, so i went to this really good lebanese restaurant around the corner. they'd just expanded so the guy taking take-out orders was new. first, he helped this woman behind me first, which was irritating because i was in a hurry. then he lost my order, so it took 40 minutes (i asked him to check on it and he said, "i told you already it would be at least a 15 minute wait." i told him that people who came in after me already had their order and he just says, "oh really? i'll check on it as soon as i'm done putting in this order." he was such a douche.) then when i finally got the order, it was wrong. i almost felt like he was messing with me because he could. so when i got back, the movers were just sitting there waiting, and they took their food and left.

michael had told us that the last flight out was 9:30, so we called the airline on our way to the airport. we were told that the remaining flights had been cancelled. while my mom was calling airlines, i called the rental company to see how much it would cost to change the return location and just drive it up to san jose. it's a 5-6 hour drive. it was $155, but i told my mom (who had to make it back for a wedding the next day), the unused tickets would be credited, so we would actually be saving money by driving. so we decided to drive. which was ironic, because i'd sweet-talked hotwire into cancelling that last day, but we ended up using it anyway.

the movers forgot to take this antique chinese lantern with all 4 seasons depicted on glass panels that has been hanging in my office for good luck since i moved in, so i was psyched that i would be able to take it home. but it hangs from the ceiling, and while trying to get it off the hook, two of the glass panels fell out and shattered. i was really sad, but my mom said that sometimes broken glass is exchanged for safety from major catastrophe. the chinese always say that...sometimes minor losses (like losing money, etc) prevent you from having something really bad happen (like a car accident), so it's like paying off the universe. so we left la by car around 8:30, figuring we would get home around 2am.

the drive was good bonding time with my mom. she and i are like sisters, so because we're so close, we have an intense, close relationship, but it's overall a wonderful relationship. we're very lucky to have each other. i've always told her she should write a business book for (minority) women, because she naturally approaches everything like a war general. that if she read sun tzu's art of war and saw how similar their thinking is, i could help her write a business book based on her personal philosophy and it would be really successful. you just send free copies to asian-american business associations around the us to create buzz, and also have it translated to chinese for distribution in chinese- speaking countries. she's kind of low key though, so she always says, maybe. i wish she would do it. i would love collaborating with her. i've always wanted to write some kind of self-help, empowerment book, and especially something to do with art of war, because when i read art of war and machiavelli's prince, i felt like i knew all this stuff already from living under the wisdom and outlook of my mother.

she fell asleep around 1am, and we were about 100 miles away from fremont. it was raining and i started getting really tired. i'm a very responsible driver but it was a struggle. i was especially dejected when i thought we were closer to home than we were, and i realized we were still somewhat far out. so i must have gone faster than i realized because i just wanted to go home, when i looked and saw flashing red lights behind me. i usually get a bolt of adrenaline when i get pulled over...i had a really, really bad experience with a racist police officer once...but i was so tired, i didn't even react, just woke up my mom and told her i was being pulled over.

the police officers were really nice, saying that they clocked me at 90 in a 70, which is possible because i'd been bouncing between 75 and 85. we told them that we'd missed our flight and were just trying to get home, and they were actually really nice about it, but they still gave me a ticket. i haven't had one in a while though, so i can just do online traffic school, and it won't go on my record.

afterwards, my mom kept saying how courteous and handsome those two officers were...they were smiling and chatting with us, and overall really pleasant. she asked me if i would ever consider dating a police officer and i told her, never. if i knew a guy is a police officer, i probably wouldn't even want to really get close to him, afraid i would have feelings. i already get stressed when i know a loved one is taking a plane somewhere. i wouldn't be able to deal with wondering, every night that my boyfriend or husband is working, whether or not he'll come home. if he's safe. nothing against police officers, but i want someone who works a low life-risk occupation. i want to spend a long time with the one i love.

we finally got home around 2:30am, exhausted. my dad had waited up for us and had hot soup waiting. he was in a particularly sweet mood. i think it's because of the weed i gave him on christmas eve that helped him open up his thinking about things. the family got split up on christmas eve because i was going to cook and everyone on both sides of the family was looking forward to it, but my dad didn't want my mom inviting her family over to the house so forbade the party. he wanted to go out to dinner. but my aunt said she would host, so i ended up cooking at her house and my mom's side of the family came over, and my dad took his side of the family out. it really sucked, and made me sad as well as my relatives on my dad's side who were looking forward to my cooking, but as everyone said, "what can you do?" a lot of people know about the rivalry between my dad and my mom's brother. but i think my dad was upset about it, feeling kind of betrayed. he barely talked to me most of last week, and he and i (and he and my mom) had a few bitter exchanges. but when i got home from my aunt's party, my cousins and uncles on my dad's side were there, and they were asking about this special tea i made with my tincture, so i gave it to them, while my dad wanted to try smoking it. he said he'd tried it 30 years ago while in the military and nothing happened. it was a good experience...i'm a very good guide, making sure positive energy flows, and overall, it was a beautiful night. lots of happiness, lots of love. i think whatever happened, my dad's attitude has been much calmer and happier since that night. i hope he gained some perspective on life and the bigger picture. i wrote about it, but i saved it in drafts so maybe i'll post it later.

overall, the whole expedition had lots of kinks that i attribute to mercury retrograde, but what's most important is we got home safely, and everyone is happy. this is only the beginning though, as the retrograde officially started yesterday and ends on the 16th (giving it an extra week if you're a gemini or virgo). so everyone, be aware. back up that data, double-check all paperwork and plans, watch out for miscommunications, beware of delays and try not to sign contracts.

outside of that, happy holidays.