I actually really like the rain, but I feel like we haven't had a break from it in forever. Luckily, it looks like we're going to be getting quite a bit of sunshine next week. I'm very much looking forward to that.
Everything here has been going well. The teacher that I'm working with will be going out on paternity leave any day now. His wife was actually due yesterday and as of last Thursday was dialated 1.5cm. He'll be taking about 3 weeks off. I'm so happy for them! What a fantastic addition to their family. I've been picking up extra hours at work as a job coach after school. This means that I accompany students to their job sites and make sure that they are getting the job training that they need to hopefully become independently employed someday. This year I am doing two days a week (and every other Tuesday) and working with a total of 6 students. Usually I am paired up with students that I already know and are in my class, but this year I am working with quite a few students that I had never met. I have some very high-functioning students who I can see become fully employed after some training. They actually make my job pretty easy because of how capable they are. This has been a nice way of making some extra money this school year.
Lance is doing well. He is looking forward to the comic book convention that is coming up in a couple more weeks. It is held every year up here in the Bay Area. Lance and I have been together for over 10 years and I've been to all but two of them. We may try and work it out so that we can go to the convention in San Diego this summer, but we're not sure yet. I've never been to that one but I think it would be a lot of fun.
I ended up getting the stationary bike that I had been wanting. It is so great! I love it. We have it in the living room so we can watch TV while riding it. I've been doing 3-6 miles a day on it, which is more than I thought I would do.
My Dad is still working on our bathroom but our bedroom is now complete. The new paint looks sooooo amazing! It's fantastic what just paint can do to a room. He won't be able to come back and work on the bathroom again until the end of February/first part of March because of other obligations and a weeklong vacation with my Mom. It is really coming together, though. I can't wait until it's all finished!
That's all for now! Happy weekend!
Saturday, February 2, 2008
Sunday, December 30, 2007
Busy, Busy, Busy
Hello everyone!
I hope that everyone had a nice holiday. It has been really nice having last week and this week off. It has been pretty crazy around here, but thankfully, we have found some time to relax and spend time with each other, too.
We had our traditional Christmas again this year. I spent the night at my parent's house on Christmas Eve. We stayed up until pretty late in the evening playing Mexican Train (Jon kicked everyone's behinds this year) while eating WAY too many Chocolate Chip Jubilee cookies that my sister made (grandma's recipe). It was a really fun night. On Christmas morning, Lance came over pretty early and we opened presents. This year, we decided to do Secret Santa because some of us were a bit short on money. We revealed ourselves to our secret person and opened our gifts. My mom's "stocking stuffers" ended up not quite fitting in our stockings, so we ended up getting pretty spoiled anyway. My dad made is usual OUTSTANDING breakfast and then we headed out to a matinee. This year, we saw Charlie Wilson's War. We all really enjoyed it. We went back to my parent's house for a fantastic ham dinner. Everything was really nice and we all had a really great time spending time together. It's really fun to have a family tradition.
My dad started working on our master bathroom last week. Basically, our shower was starting to fall apart. As much as I'd like to say that this was something that we just wanted to do for the fun of it, it turned out to be something that we couldn't ignore. In the master bath, we have a stall shower (no tub). The people who lived here before us put in a really cheap shower and not long ago, it began to peel and chip and the back walls started to peel away from the wall. There was also a water leak which started causing mold to form in the bottom corners of the shower on the wall. Not a pretty sight! This bathroom also had a vaulted ceiling which made it almost impossible to put in a fan. Because of this, we constantly got water dripping from the ceiling after one of us took a shower. Pretty yucky. So, my dad closed off the ceiling (making it flat), put in a new shower, and is going to be putting in new floors (tile). Today he also added crown molding and a new window casing. It is starting to look amazing!!! I can't wait for it to be completed. Oh...we're also painting the bathroom and also the master bedroom. Lance has been dying to paint our bedroom since we moved in 2 years ago. My dad has done an amazing job! We're so lucky that he is willing and able to do this for us. We're really grateful!
Lance has been doing well lately. Some of you might already know, but for those of you who don't, we think that he may be dealing with seasonal affective disorder. It has been apparent for the last few years that something with him changes during the winter months, but this year has been especially hard. After both of us did a little research, we have decided that SAD fits him better than anything else. (Depression didn't end up fitting him at all). The lightbulb moment for me came when I would come home from work after dark and he would have almost every light on in the house and he told me that it "made him feel better". He has had a few bad days but mostly good ones. According to the websites that I visited, it said that SAD usually starts in October or November (his started in early November) and lasts throughout the winter months. So, hopefully come February or early March, he'll be feeling more like himself.
We're making some progress with Oliver (the cat) and Willy (our inside dog). We knew that it would take a while to get them used to each other, but lately, Oliver has shown that he is no longer afraid of the dog. In fact, yesterday he was so comfortable with him that he decided to fall over on his back with his bell exposed and started to clean himself. All this while Willy was only 3 feet or so away from him. Lance has said that a couple of times, they have played "kissy-face" (as he likes to call it) and will go out of their way to greet the other one. One step at a time, but we're definitely making progress.
I've decided that in the next week or so, I'm going to be buying a stationary bike. It is really hard for me to go on walks with Lance and Argos as my back starts to hurt like crazy after about a half a mile. Last summer I was told that I had a bulged disk in my lower back, so I'm sure that's contributing. I know that I need to do a bit more exercising and since I don't go to the gym anymore, I thought this might be a good investment. Lance and I went the other day and picked one out that we like. I got a few gift cards and some money for Christmas, so they will cover most of the cost to buy it. I'm really excited and can't wait to use it!
I think that's pretty much it for now. Our Christmas pictures didn't turn out this year, so I don't really have anything to post. Please check out our Christmas video below if you haven't already! Lance will be in the next one...I promise!
I hope that everyone had a nice holiday. It has been really nice having last week and this week off. It has been pretty crazy around here, but thankfully, we have found some time to relax and spend time with each other, too.
We had our traditional Christmas again this year. I spent the night at my parent's house on Christmas Eve. We stayed up until pretty late in the evening playing Mexican Train (Jon kicked everyone's behinds this year) while eating WAY too many Chocolate Chip Jubilee cookies that my sister made (grandma's recipe). It was a really fun night. On Christmas morning, Lance came over pretty early and we opened presents. This year, we decided to do Secret Santa because some of us were a bit short on money. We revealed ourselves to our secret person and opened our gifts. My mom's "stocking stuffers" ended up not quite fitting in our stockings, so we ended up getting pretty spoiled anyway. My dad made is usual OUTSTANDING breakfast and then we headed out to a matinee. This year, we saw Charlie Wilson's War. We all really enjoyed it. We went back to my parent's house for a fantastic ham dinner. Everything was really nice and we all had a really great time spending time together. It's really fun to have a family tradition.
My dad started working on our master bathroom last week. Basically, our shower was starting to fall apart. As much as I'd like to say that this was something that we just wanted to do for the fun of it, it turned out to be something that we couldn't ignore. In the master bath, we have a stall shower (no tub). The people who lived here before us put in a really cheap shower and not long ago, it began to peel and chip and the back walls started to peel away from the wall. There was also a water leak which started causing mold to form in the bottom corners of the shower on the wall. Not a pretty sight! This bathroom also had a vaulted ceiling which made it almost impossible to put in a fan. Because of this, we constantly got water dripping from the ceiling after one of us took a shower. Pretty yucky. So, my dad closed off the ceiling (making it flat), put in a new shower, and is going to be putting in new floors (tile). Today he also added crown molding and a new window casing. It is starting to look amazing!!! I can't wait for it to be completed. Oh...we're also painting the bathroom and also the master bedroom. Lance has been dying to paint our bedroom since we moved in 2 years ago. My dad has done an amazing job! We're so lucky that he is willing and able to do this for us. We're really grateful!
Lance has been doing well lately. Some of you might already know, but for those of you who don't, we think that he may be dealing with seasonal affective disorder. It has been apparent for the last few years that something with him changes during the winter months, but this year has been especially hard. After both of us did a little research, we have decided that SAD fits him better than anything else. (Depression didn't end up fitting him at all). The lightbulb moment for me came when I would come home from work after dark and he would have almost every light on in the house and he told me that it "made him feel better". He has had a few bad days but mostly good ones. According to the websites that I visited, it said that SAD usually starts in October or November (his started in early November) and lasts throughout the winter months. So, hopefully come February or early March, he'll be feeling more like himself.
We're making some progress with Oliver (the cat) and Willy (our inside dog). We knew that it would take a while to get them used to each other, but lately, Oliver has shown that he is no longer afraid of the dog. In fact, yesterday he was so comfortable with him that he decided to fall over on his back with his bell exposed and started to clean himself. All this while Willy was only 3 feet or so away from him. Lance has said that a couple of times, they have played "kissy-face" (as he likes to call it) and will go out of their way to greet the other one. One step at a time, but we're definitely making progress.
I've decided that in the next week or so, I'm going to be buying a stationary bike. It is really hard for me to go on walks with Lance and Argos as my back starts to hurt like crazy after about a half a mile. Last summer I was told that I had a bulged disk in my lower back, so I'm sure that's contributing. I know that I need to do a bit more exercising and since I don't go to the gym anymore, I thought this might be a good investment. Lance and I went the other day and picked one out that we like. I got a few gift cards and some money for Christmas, so they will cover most of the cost to buy it. I'm really excited and can't wait to use it!
I think that's pretty much it for now. Our Christmas pictures didn't turn out this year, so I don't really have anything to post. Please check out our Christmas video below if you haven't already! Lance will be in the next one...I promise!
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Saturday, December 8, 2007
Denial
Okay, so I'm in denial about two things specifically right now....1) that it has been so long since my last post and 2) that we only have 17 days until Christmas! What the heck! Is that right??? Time to screw my head back on.
These last few weeks have been busy! Thanksgiving, a trip to Tehachapi for a baby shower, Lance's birthday, my birthday, my nephew's first birthday party...all in the last 3 weeks! I need a break as much as the skinny girl on Survivor needs a sandwich. Oops...that last one just snuck out. I'm a bit tired and I'm being rude.
Last night, I had the best time with my sister. Bre invited me to be her date for an 80s themed holiday party. She works a second job in the afternoons at Expression College and they put on the most rockin' holiday party! The highlight of the night was dancing to the sounds of The Spazmatics...an 80s cover band that dress as nerds but play their instruments like rock stars! This was the second time I had seen them live and they were fantastic! I completely *geeked* out when Bre told me they were playing. I'm a huge fan. I've included some pics of our photobooth fun and our favorite Spaz!
Some other fantastic tidbits from my neck of the woods...my dad has lost a bunch of weight and is on a mission to become a much healthier human being. I'm sure our doctor is going to be really happy with the results when my dad goes back to see him in another 5 months. As for my mom, she has stopped smoking!!!! It has been over a month now and she's doing really well! Not one smoke. My sister has now completed her last class for her A.A. Degree. Working two jobs and going to school wasn't fun for her, so she's really happy to have that done. As you can see, we are all crazy proud of each other!!!!
That's all for now. Enjoy the pics!!!!!
Sunday, November 18, 2007
Boycott Jiffy Lube!!!
In my last blog, I mentioned that I had gone to Jiffy Lube for an oil change. I have been going to Jiffy Lube since I started driving and have never had a problem. As it turns out, my good luck has ended.
After getting my oil changed that Sunday, I started feeling that my car seemed sort of sluggish for a couple of days afterward, but I didn't really think anything of it. That Friday, I drove to my parent's house after work and as I was climbing a hill near their house, I was unable to accelerate at the rate that I was used to and I noticed that smoke was coming out of my tailpipe. To my knowledge, that hadn't happened before I noticed it right then. My heart started racing, so I pulled to the side of the road and called my mom. I asked her to come out to meet me and follow me back to her house because I wasn't sure what was wrong with my car. None of my dashboard lights were coming on, so I was a little confused as to what was happening. As we were pulling back out onto the busy road (with a speed limit of 45), I couldn't get my car to accelerate faster than about 30mph. It scared the heck out of me.
I called the Scion dealership when I got to my parent's house and they suggested that I have my car towed there so that I wouldn't cause any more damage. To make a long story short, Jiffy Lube didn't just overfill my oil, they put in TWICE THE AMOUNT that should have been in there, causing my spark plugs to be fouled out. They changed my spark plugs and did a throughout inspection to make sure no more damage was done. I am so grateful that there wasn't any more damage or more serious damage, but I am really soured now about Jiffy Lube. (The one good thing about that night was a funny ride with my tow truck driver.)
I have now contacted Jiffy Lube's headquarters and have filed a complaint. I am also faxing over a copy of my invoice from the dealership so that they can reimburse me the $164.42 that it cost me to repair my car. As it turns out, the dealership offers oil changes at just about the same price as Jiffy Lube, so I will be taking my business to them from now on.
I'm actually a bit sad that I won't be doing business with them anymore, as they are close to my house and have always been pretty quick to get me out of there. But, it means more to me knowing that my car is in good hands, though.
Lesson learned.
After getting my oil changed that Sunday, I started feeling that my car seemed sort of sluggish for a couple of days afterward, but I didn't really think anything of it. That Friday, I drove to my parent's house after work and as I was climbing a hill near their house, I was unable to accelerate at the rate that I was used to and I noticed that smoke was coming out of my tailpipe. To my knowledge, that hadn't happened before I noticed it right then. My heart started racing, so I pulled to the side of the road and called my mom. I asked her to come out to meet me and follow me back to her house because I wasn't sure what was wrong with my car. None of my dashboard lights were coming on, so I was a little confused as to what was happening. As we were pulling back out onto the busy road (with a speed limit of 45), I couldn't get my car to accelerate faster than about 30mph. It scared the heck out of me.
I called the Scion dealership when I got to my parent's house and they suggested that I have my car towed there so that I wouldn't cause any more damage. To make a long story short, Jiffy Lube didn't just overfill my oil, they put in TWICE THE AMOUNT that should have been in there, causing my spark plugs to be fouled out. They changed my spark plugs and did a throughout inspection to make sure no more damage was done. I am so grateful that there wasn't any more damage or more serious damage, but I am really soured now about Jiffy Lube. (The one good thing about that night was a funny ride with my tow truck driver.)
I have now contacted Jiffy Lube's headquarters and have filed a complaint. I am also faxing over a copy of my invoice from the dealership so that they can reimburse me the $164.42 that it cost me to repair my car. As it turns out, the dealership offers oil changes at just about the same price as Jiffy Lube, so I will be taking my business to them from now on.
I'm actually a bit sad that I won't be doing business with them anymore, as they are close to my house and have always been pretty quick to get me out of there. But, it means more to me knowing that my car is in good hands, though.
Lesson learned.
Sunday, November 4, 2007
My Weekend and Some Random Thoughts
I don't know about the rest of you, but daylight savings sure threw me off today. Instead of gaining 1 extra hour today, I feel like we gained about six. In some ways, I'm grateful for the longer day, but I'm getting to the point now where I'm ready for the day to end.
I'm also ready for the cold weather to finally hit us this winter. It has been pretty warm these last few days and according to the forecast, it's supposed to be like this until the end of the week. Don't get me wrong, I like pleasant weather. I'm just ready for it to feel like winter.
My Uncle Chuck's funeral service was held yesterday at a church that he had attended for the last 8 years. It turned out really nice and there ended up being more people there than I anticipated. There were more than 20 people there...I think I counted around 24, which included my family, Jon's parents, my parent's tenant and quite a few people from the church. My mom, aunt, and Lance were among about 9 people who got up and spoke about him. Even though he didn't have many great relationships with people in my family, I'm glad that he found some friendships with people from his church and that he found a way to keep himself busy. I knew he was at the church a lot, but I didn't realize just how involved he was there. I'm glad that he was able to keep himself busy in that way.
Some other random thoughts about my weekend:
I went to Jiffy Lube for just an oil change today and I ended up spending $100. How does that happen???
Lance and I went to the Indian buffet. Three words: butter chicken rocks!!!!!!
Petco gives you FREE STUFF when you adopt an animal. Adopt, people...adopt! =)
One tall beer makes for a happy husband.
Don't pet cats on the butt for too long....they don't like it.
Is it Friday yet????
Okay....that's all for now. The Amazing Race is on tonight. If you haven't seen it, please watch it. It's fantastic! I sit there and dream of going to all the places they get to go. One day, right? =)
Goodnight my friends!
I'm also ready for the cold weather to finally hit us this winter. It has been pretty warm these last few days and according to the forecast, it's supposed to be like this until the end of the week. Don't get me wrong, I like pleasant weather. I'm just ready for it to feel like winter.
My Uncle Chuck's funeral service was held yesterday at a church that he had attended for the last 8 years. It turned out really nice and there ended up being more people there than I anticipated. There were more than 20 people there...I think I counted around 24, which included my family, Jon's parents, my parent's tenant and quite a few people from the church. My mom, aunt, and Lance were among about 9 people who got up and spoke about him. Even though he didn't have many great relationships with people in my family, I'm glad that he found some friendships with people from his church and that he found a way to keep himself busy. I knew he was at the church a lot, but I didn't realize just how involved he was there. I'm glad that he was able to keep himself busy in that way.
Some other random thoughts about my weekend:
I went to Jiffy Lube for just an oil change today and I ended up spending $100. How does that happen???
Lance and I went to the Indian buffet. Three words: butter chicken rocks!!!!!!
Petco gives you FREE STUFF when you adopt an animal. Adopt, people...adopt! =)
One tall beer makes for a happy husband.
Don't pet cats on the butt for too long....they don't like it.
Is it Friday yet????
Okay....that's all for now. The Amazing Race is on tonight. If you haven't seen it, please watch it. It's fantastic! I sit there and dream of going to all the places they get to go. One day, right? =)
Goodnight my friends!
Thursday, November 1, 2007
Ready For The Weekend
I'm not sure about everyone else, but I sure am ready for the weekend. I'm not totally sure why...nothing happened this week that makes me need a break. I think I just need one. With the weather getting a bit colder, it is getting harder and harder to wake up in the morning and be motivated to go to work. The thought of turning off the alarm clock and sinking back into my warm bed is becoming more appealing. I'm really looking forward to the holidays and to putting my Christmas tree up this year. I'm really ready for winter.
Everything has been going pretty well with our new kitty. Oliver is adjusting quite nicely to the house and to us. I can't say the same about how he's adjusting to the dog just yet, but with time, it will happen. We have been keeping them apart at all times, although they have been able to smell one another through the door and whatnot. Willy is very curious, although not aggressive, with him, but Oliver sees the dog and hides. I can't say I blame him. We took Oliver to the vet yesterday for a check up and the vet just LOVED him! He wasn't concerned at all with where he was. Actually, he was more concerned with cleaning himself on the seat and the counter than he was with checking the place out. He really is a very sweet, loving boy. Ollie is such a mellow cat and just seems to be happy to be in the company of people who love him. I'm so glad we were able to give him a good home.
My Uncle Chuck's service is going to be held this Saturday morning. My mom and aunt scheduled it to happen at the church in Concord that he was attending. Lance and I will be going along with a few family members and some members of the church. My mom and my aunt will be scattering his ashes in Tomales Bay sometime in the near future. My mom told me that for the last few years, my uncle had been saying that he wanted to go to the beach. So, they thought that putting him out in the ocean would be something that he would have wanted.
Halloween proved to be pretty quiet this year. Last year, we had a handful of trick-or-treaters that came to our door. This year, we had one. One little girl came with her mom. That was it. I was feeling a bit sad for Lance. He was really in the spirit of the holiday this year and really was the one who got out the decorations and urged us to go buy some candy for the kids. I really wish that it would have panned out better for him, especially with all the effort he put into it. I guess we'll just try again next year.
I hope that everyone had a happy and safe Halloween!
Everything has been going pretty well with our new kitty. Oliver is adjusting quite nicely to the house and to us. I can't say the same about how he's adjusting to the dog just yet, but with time, it will happen. We have been keeping them apart at all times, although they have been able to smell one another through the door and whatnot. Willy is very curious, although not aggressive, with him, but Oliver sees the dog and hides. I can't say I blame him. We took Oliver to the vet yesterday for a check up and the vet just LOVED him! He wasn't concerned at all with where he was. Actually, he was more concerned with cleaning himself on the seat and the counter than he was with checking the place out. He really is a very sweet, loving boy. Ollie is such a mellow cat and just seems to be happy to be in the company of people who love him. I'm so glad we were able to give him a good home.
My Uncle Chuck's service is going to be held this Saturday morning. My mom and aunt scheduled it to happen at the church in Concord that he was attending. Lance and I will be going along with a few family members and some members of the church. My mom and my aunt will be scattering his ashes in Tomales Bay sometime in the near future. My mom told me that for the last few years, my uncle had been saying that he wanted to go to the beach. So, they thought that putting him out in the ocean would be something that he would have wanted.
Halloween proved to be pretty quiet this year. Last year, we had a handful of trick-or-treaters that came to our door. This year, we had one. One little girl came with her mom. That was it. I was feeling a bit sad for Lance. He was really in the spirit of the holiday this year and really was the one who got out the decorations and urged us to go buy some candy for the kids. I really wish that it would have panned out better for him, especially with all the effort he put into it. I guess we'll just try again next year.
I hope that everyone had a happy and safe Halloween!
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