Let the Moving Begin

Things are happening. This morning I go to pick up the keys to our new place and we can start taking loads over. I have somewhat ambivalent feelings about the move. Not excited to leave the current place but excited to save money. I'm more focused on the actual physical process of the moving than the end result of being in the new place. At this point I'm happy to get started and ready to be done. The house is definitely smaller than the one we have now and the layout is really different, so I've been having trouble in my mind figuring out how to arrange things and what will fit where. We'll just have to start putting things in and see where they fit.

I think the things that I will miss the most about this house are the covered porch, the gaming room, and the central air. But it's always liberating to downsize. I'm excited to have a smaller house that's easier to clean, to leave more things in storage, and to finally have a dishwasher.

In other exciting news, I had an unexpected surprise yesterday when my boss pulled me in his office and told me I was getting a raise! Not due for a review or anything. Just, a 'we're really glad you're here, you're doing a great job, and we want to give you more money,' kind of thing. There's nothing quite so strong of an affirmation as putting your money where your mouth is, particularly when it's in my pocket! It's also nice to know that the long hours I've been putting in have been worth it. With our new employee that we just hired (She's great!), there are a lot of exciting things happening for us. In a stagnating economy, it's nice to be with a company where business is booming and significant growth is happening, and it's exciting to be a part of that success.

Given the savings we're about to incur on our new rent, and factoring in my raise that just went into effect, we'll be netting almost a full grand in monthly income to our favor. Given the circumstances, I finally caved and allowed Don to do something we haven't done in a very long time... order Cable television. Soon to be installed in our new house, we are about to be the proud hosts to 200+ digital channels including On Demand Options and TIVO capabilities. If you don't hear from me for a while it is because I have fallen into the abyss of the Home and Garden Channel.

Approved!

Just heard from the landlord that we are pretty much approved for the new place. He just needs to call to verify our employment. We can come by tomorrow to pick up the forms. It will be sad to leave our current place and a major pain in the @$$ to pack. But can you imagine what we can do with an extra $750 a month?!

Stress

We really have been living the good life since we moved to California. Something of a "Honeymoon Period" you could say. It's the happiest Don and I have ever been. We've been inspired and satisfied by our work. We haven't had to worry about finances. We've established great friendships. We've enjoyed the environment and the culture. We've basically been worry free for a while now. Oh, how I wish that feeling could last forever. I really had forgotten what it's like to be burdened by stress, anxiety, doubts, and burdens. But we've had plenty of them in the last couple of weeks. It really is true that what women want most in life is security. That doesn't mean to me that we have to make tons of money (although I won't turn it down if it comes my way.) But I'm not good with the unknowns. I hate being in limbo. I hate uncertainty and not knowing what my future holds - especially with something as large as where I'm going to be living next month. Not that there isn't excitement in it too. But I prefer the stability of the even keel rather than the huge peaks and valleys of the emotional tidal wave we've been riding this month. Stress sucks. It messes with your head. It messes with your heart. And it really messes with your sleep. But, really after a whole year of bliss, I guess I can't complain too much about our minor struggles in the grand scheme of things. Life moves ahead and we are just along for the ride. We might as well try and enjoy it as best we can.

Small Steps

If we are going to be moving, there is lots to be done. Still waiting to hear on the application if we were approved or not. Tonight I've decided to spend working on our home office. My desk needs some major cleaning and there are lots of things to throw out, recycle, donate and shred. There's nothing like the giant task of moving to motivate you to pair down and simplify your life. It's actually quite liberating.

Cooling Down

Also, I forgot to mention... We have been having a lovely heat waive. 4 days last week with highs over 110F. Things have finally cooled down. The high today is only supposed to be 85! I may celebrate by doing errands tonight which I have been avoiding since it was too hot to get in and out of the car.

This one's for you, Grandma

I realize the blogs have been few and far between. Work has been busy with not much "down time." But here's an update for our loved ones so you still know we're alive and kicking. I need to remember that even when I don't have time to launch an extended detailed monologue, short posts with the basics are still acceptable.

So, yes, we are alive, and some pretty big things going on. Our lease expired and it was time to renew. The landlord decided to raise the rent which made us a little bitter. Given the fact that we had good payment history and that property values were dropping while our expenses are going up, we just couldn't see how she could justify the increase. Also, with the economy in such a bunch, we just don't feel as stable as we did a year ago this time. So it got us to thinking, and we decided to at least look around and see if there were any other reasonable options that might save us a chunk of change. Well, long story short, in less than 24 hours, we found a 2 bedroom house in our direct neighborhood for significantly less. $750 a month less! Sure there are a few downgrades, and a little less space. But still has the essentials and really, plenty for the two of us and the dogs. This has been a nice place but more than we need. So we applied and will find out later this week if we were accepted. Can't imagine why we would be declined. And if accepted we will be moved in to the new place by the end of next month.

Also, at work, our new hire starts next week. It will be a lot of time to get her trained but she seems pretty bright and I think she will do well. So maybe some day down the road I will actually be able to work a normal schedule. In the meantime, I may have to put in some extra time this weekend to get some more training materials put together.

The 4th of July is coming up and my sister Kristy is coming to visit! I can't wait to see her and to plan some fun things while she is here. We will most likely host a BBQ on the 4th. We also want to do some hiking and go to the beach. Also, I'm looking forward to the 3 day weekend!

Finally, we just found out that Don's short film from the 48 hour film project won the viewer's choice award for their group! Way to go Babe! This means they make it to the next round and could potentially win some prizes or at least some notariety! They are working on a director's cut of the film. As soon as it's ready they'll post it on YouTube and I'll put up the link for it.

80's Gothic Skate Night

Here are a few pictures from our recent skating outing. I haven't been skating since I was a little girl. It's a lot more difficult when you are thirty. The balance and coordination were much easier when you only way 80 pounds. Plus, it hurt less when you fell down. Go to my Webshots Album for more pics.

New Photos / Old Photos

Better late then never. Here are some pictures from our girl's weekend to wine country last November. My camera had a glitch and I lost about 300 pictures that I had taken. Now I know better and unload them more frequently. Anyway, Paige just recently brought me copies of the pictures she took from that weekend. Here are a few sample pics. The rest you can view in my Webshot Albums.


Here we are at the start of our road trip getting so happy to be getting out of the city!


A lovely viewing stop along the way.


A picture of Camille and I in front of Edna Valley Vineyards. Let the wine tasting begin!




Bottums up!


Statuette and I guarding the grounds of Hurst Castle!


The most beautiful outdoor pool I have ever seen in person. I want to swim in it! Check out the webshots album for pics of the indoor pool!

Roots

Over the past weekend, Don spent 48 hours in a film competition which left me to entertain myself. So Saturday evening, Paige and I decided to get together and do something. Since she has headshots coming up (very expensive headshots), she needed to die her hair to cover up her roots and grow out. So I invited her to bring the die over and we could watch movies and hang out during the dying process. Well, to make a long story short, we never got around to the actual hair die part, but we certainly did get down to our roots. While looking through our DVD shelf to see if we had anything interesting, Paige got super excited when she noticed that we had a couple seasons of our mutual childhood favorite cartoon "Heman and the Masters of the Universe." As soon as I mentioned that watching those cartoons always makes me want to color in coloring books we had sealed our fate that that was how we would spend our evening. So off to Target we went to pick up some new coloring books, coloring crayons, and of course a nice little stash of junkfood for our childhood flashback playdate. Even though many of the crayons from our brand new box we discovered to be broken upon opening, and the coloring book selection was nothing like it was when we were kids, we still ended up having a quite enjoyable evening. As Paige mentioned, coloring in your 30s is so much more satisfying than when you were a kid. You can actually stay in the lines and the finished product is much nicer!

Out of Place

This morning, on my way to work, I saw a Toyota Camry with racing stripes on it. Does that sound out of place to anyone else?

Speaking of out of place, yes, I am working on a Sunday. I don't plan to make a habit of it, and in fact, I'm not actually working on "my work." Meaning, the active deals and stuff that I have sitting in my inbox, I am purposefully not going to touch today. What I did come in to do though, is to put together a training manual with sample documents, forms, and procedures. No one has ever taken the time to put together any kind of resource for new employees and since our staff is growing, I wanted to do that now. It will help A LOT with the training process in the coming weeks and months and save me lots of time in the long run. So, yes, I am giving up one Sunday to do this project. And truth be told, there is something rather peaceful that I relish about being here by myself, in the peace and quiet, with no distractions, no phone interruptions, no salesmen at my heals with their emergencies that need immediate attention. Just me, my Starbucks, and my NPR. It really isn't the worst way to spend a Sunday.

Ready...Set...Relax

As you can tell by the lack of posting, life has been a bity busy and chaotic lately. Both Don and I have been working long hours at work. My work is in transition and currently and have slowly been learning how to and who to delegate certain things to certain people to carry over until our new crew is up to speed. Of course in the meantime, I am carrying the brunt of the load, in certain areas at least. So long hours, a bit of stress, having to make some of my first major middle management decisions. All of it is pretty exciting and I'm happy about where we're going but putting that much energy and time into my professional life has put my personal life temporarily on hold. Haven't seen too much of Don in the past few weeks and the dishes and laundry have suffered tremendously.

Enter Katy and her 28th birthday to the rescue. Katy and Jeremy have a timeshare that allows them to book and stay at a certain series of hotels in a number of different touristy hot spots. For her birthday weekend she decided to book a trip to Solvang. Off we went for a very exciting trip and chance to get away. Although I missed my dogs we had a really fabulous time (the six of us - me and don, jeremy and katy, matt and camille.) Solvang is an adorable little danish town in Santa Barbara area. We had some fun in the pool, ate a lot of good danish food, and did a lot of wine tasting. Don and I are going to be a bigger wine cabinet now! While I admit it took a little while to get detached from thinking about all of the things I "should" be doing at work and at home, I'm excited to say I did finally achieve a state of relaxation, free from worry and obligation. It was a very fun weekend with good friends, good food. A true vacation.

Now that I'm back to work, I have my priorities for the week laid out and am making a point to get even better at delegating so that I can stick to my regular hours. Wish me luck!

Mother's Day

Dear Mom,

Children so often get the benefit of praise from their parents, but it's not often the other way around. Of course, when you are little, parents are all-knowing people who don't need feedback because they're just doing what every parent would automatically do. As you grow older though, you come to understand how hard parenting really is and that, unfortunately, not all children are as blessed to have parents as wonderful as I do.

Well, Mom, I don't think a parent could have done better by a child. When I look at my life and how happy I am, all of the things I am most thankful for come from you ...

... a happy marriage... Seeing from your's and Papa's marriage, how two people can be so committed to each other, love and value each other so much, stick together through tough times, treat each other with respect and honesty. I'm so thankful that I get to spend the rest of my life with my best friend at my side and to know that this is the most important thing in life.

... security ... I know what it means to come home to a house everyday where I am loved and well cared for. It is a good feeling to know that whatever happens in life, even in the worst of circumstances, I'll never be homeless, destitute, or alone because I will always have friends and family who will support me and see me through to better times.

... compassion ... I'm grateful for inheriting your sense of empathy and compassion for others who are struggling and have not yet found their way in life. Because of you I am able to see the best in people rather than focusing on the worst.

... success ... For all of your confidence in me, for everything that you invested in my opportunities and education, for raising me with the belief that I could achieve anything I set out to do.

... health and wellness ... For teaching us about nutrition, feeding us balanced meals, learning about hunting and growing our own gardens, and supporting healthy activities like basketball and volleyball.

I really couldn't ask for more than that. I love you and thank you for making me the person I am.

Oh, and just one more thing. Thanks for passing on your great genes in the looks department!

Happy Mothers Day.

LARP-ing Wiener Dog

Stands for Live Action Role Playing. Which basically means running around and hitting each other with foam swords. It was quite the entertainment at Don's Bday BBQ. So much fun, that Seumas even got into it. Check out the hilarious video.

Happy Birthday, Honey

Happy birthday to my wonderful husband who crosses the bridge to a new decade today. 30 years old! I love you baby and I look forward to seeing where we end up by the time the next decade turns over. I'm sorry we couldn't make it to Washington like we planned. But I promise a very special birthday celebration right here in California. We have made special reservations for tonight for a really cool event but I can't tell you about them yet because Don doesn't know where we are going. It's a surprise! And then tomorrow we are hosting a lovely BBQ in our backyard. The weather is cooperating beautifully with highs in the 70s to low 80s. If only we didn't have to squeeze a trip downtown in sometime this weekend to pick up Don's mini from the dealership due to getting a tire replaced that got damaged the other day. Oh well, at least the house is MOSTLY clean and all we have left to do before the BBQ is a little light picking up and some grocery shopping. And I plan to take a half day from work today so I should be able to get most of that done and then have all weekend to celebrate.

In other exciting news, we finally got a doggie door installed in the back and some temporary fencing to keep the pups in the backyard (since there is no separation in the gate/fence between the front and back yard.) So we are trying out this new venture. It is pretty fun to see Cordy's and Seumas' little walnut sized brains trying to figure out how the thing works. We had lots of practice last night coaxed by many treats. Seumas is much brighter than Cordy. She can't figure out where exactly to push on the door to get it to open. So she stands by and watches Seumas and waits for him to get it propped open a little and then plows him over and rushes ahead herself. Come to think of it, that is pretty clever. Maybe she is the smarter one! I promise some action photos soon of the dogs using their new exit along with pictures of our BBQ and Don's birthday weekend.

Memoirs of a Geisha

I finally finished the book yesterday afternoon. And wow, the payoff was good, though not what I was expecting. A very good story from start to finish which swept me off my feet. Feeling somewhat saddened that the story was over, I immediately went to the video store to rent the movie. Don watched it with me. It was a good movie, though not nearly as powerful as the book, and a little less satisfying. Don really enjoyed it since he was able to watch it as a stand alone movie, as opposed to myself who was comparing it to the story in the book. He particularly appreciated all of the symbolism they were able to portray cinematically such as water imagery, etc, which I confess I missed much of focusing on other things. In my case, much of the movie felt a bit rushed and a little more shallow than the depth of layers and emotions the book was able to bring out. Still, it was interesting to see what kinds of adjustments and changes they made from book to movie to convey the same story. In the end, I recommend both but the book is much better.

So after finishing such a satisfying book, I'm now on the hunt for the next interesting read. Perhaps a new book club is in my not to distant future.

Reviews Continued

The next review comes with a disclaimer. ***WARNING: Book may be hazardous to your sleeping patterns.*** O.K., now that we've got that out of the way, I wanted to share that I am currently reading Memoirs of a Geisha. This book was highly recommended by my friend Katy who leant me her very own copy. We have been in the stages of planning an adventure for our gaming group based off of the world of Serenity/Firefly (movie/tv series) and I was thinking about creating a character who was a registered companion. Katy mentioned that there were many similarities between the ways of the Geisha and those of a Registered Companion and so it might be interesting background reading for me. Boy was she right! Interesting indeed! So far I am only a third of the way through the book but it is quite the page turner. The book takes place in Japan during the Great Depression. It is a very compelling tale of a young impoverished girl's plight through being orphaned, indentured, and her rise to status through her training as a Geisha. It is not an easy life and one wonders how such a young child can bear the burdens she is given to carry. With so much tending toward the dramatic, it is building up for an expected major payoff toward the end. I hope I will not be left unsatisfied.

Additionally, with Don being gone this week at the Gamma Trade Show in Vegas, my sleeping patterns have been odd with Cordy and Seumas as my bedmates. Cute and snuggly as they are, I can never quite sleep as soundly as I would like to through the night when they are in bed with me. So I have been waking up in the middle of the night and having trouble falling back to sleep. Well, last night, rather than lie awake with the boredom of my own thougths which usually tend to drift back towards work, I decided to pick up my book and read a chapter or two thinking it would put me back to sleep as reading usually does. Wrong! Not this page turner. 75 pages and 3 hours later it was 3:00 a.m. and I had to force myself to put the book down and go back to sleep. This morning, I was so tired in the shower that I accidently tried to wash my face with conditioner! Well, I may be a little groggy, but at least my skin is well moisturized!

Reviews

I started a new television show called The Riches last night on Netflix. It is a series starring Eddie Izzard and Minnie Driver. I found the show one day when I was IMDB'ing Eddie Izzard to see what projects he had been up to lately. When I read the show's synopsis, I was curious. It's about a con artist family (that's right, mom, dad, three kids) who decide to give up their nomadic life and gypsy ways to pull off the biggest con of all - staying rooted and living the life of a "normal" (on the show called "buffers") suburban family. Well, I have to admit, that based on the concept of the show and the cast, I expected the episodes to be mostly comedic in nature. So I was pretty surprised when the Pilot ended up being much more serious in tone. The whole setup for how they end up in their situation is actually quite serious and a little disturbing. After watching the second episode, it's clear that the series is a drama in nature, but will have the opportunity to work in lots of elements of circumstantial comedy. It's still good and very interesting, but far different from what I was expecting.

I have more reviews to follow but work that I need to get to so check back later for updates.

Plus One

Today I found out some news from my boss that actually comes as very good news. Eventually, we will be adding another full time person to our office to do similar work as I do. I am a bit relieved actually. When I was hired they let one gal go. Two of the office personnel are transitioning into other sales related roles. Which just leaves me and one part time person. I haven't been here long enough to get a grip on the kind of volume we will be handling, so it isn't so much that I was worried that one and a half people couldn't handle the volume. But this definitely puts us in a much better position to grow. Mostly, though, I am relieved to know there will be another full time me because that gives me a lot more freedom scheduling wise and to take vacation days, etc. Don't know how soon that will be happening... sometime in the next six months or so. But I feel good about where we are as an office and where we are headed. All good signs I'm still in the right place.

Organization Sensation

Wow, this has been a busy week. We had a rush at work this week for the first three days. Lots of credits, approvals, documents, and fundings! Then my boss and one of our lead sales guys went out of town. It took me a day and a half of long hours to catch up, but catch up I did. Today I had no new items coming in on my desk. It was the perfect day. I had the opportunity to go through all of my files, organize them, and create checklists for future files that will keep everything organized and make things go much more efficiently from here on out. My Type A personality is supersatisfied. I feel like I finally have a work flow and a system that makes sense. Now I can look in any file, know where everything is at, look at my list and see exactly what's missing and what still needs to be done. Think of how much time it will save!!! Did I mention I'm glowing. Come on, other Type A's out there. Can you not identify?

It has been a busy week at home too. Don and I applied for Life Insurance this week through Thrivant Financial Aid for Lutherans. It turns out that our rep is a close friend of one of the guys I work for. Small world. Anyway, part of the underwriting is that you have to go through a medical exam and medical history to determine how healthy you are and how much of a risk you are. So they sent a "portable nurse" to our house to draw blood, weigh us, measure us, and take down our medical history. Kind of nice that they come to your house. The results of our check up will determine what our premiums will be. Don is more expensive because he is a boy.

Everyone at my work has been sick with a superbug and so far I have been lucky enough not to catch it because I had a small cold a couple of weeks ago. I have been struggling with allergies though. I've started experimenting with different over the counter allergy meds - benadryl and all clear. They make a huge difference however they also knock me out. Last night was gaming night and I couldn't stay awake. I conked out at 8:30! If anyone has tried any allergy meds that work and don't drain your energy, I'd be open to hearing about them.

Demo Blog

My coworker Bill is trying to figure out how blogs work. This is a demonstration for him.