daily december 31

what pearls of wisdom can i write on this the last day of 2010?? in approximately 2 hours and 20 minutes the new year will be here.

2010, while not all sunshine and roses, was a great year. it brought changes. changes that made life better.

i'm wishing and hoping that more positive changes come in 2011 and more possibilities abound.

may everyone be blessed this new year's eve.

see you in 2011!

Daily December 30

Even though it's technically already the 31st, I don't care. I haven't been to sleep so it's still the 30th. had lots of fun at dinner tonight with Anna, Lois, Kristin and Will. more later...

Daily December 29

busy day off! i...

• slept in :)
• paid some bills
• put together the stand for the tv trays while i stretched my new shoes
• waterproofed my boots
• had lunch at benii for evelyn's farewell
• stopped by kmart and walked out with only ONE bag
  
• baked cookies and a sad looking mocha roll (that brief power outage messed me up)
• went to the deacon's house and kicked back with some friends

jacob and lucas came by for a visit. jacob said, "nini, i haven't seen you in SO LONG!"

Seriously. I guess four days IS a long time to not see someone when you're only four years old. He sang. He danced. He made us laugh. "Ark the Arrow Angels Sin..." totally will never forget that!

Daily December 28

I had a meeting this morning and everyone who was supposed to be there forgot. Sigh... still, it was a productive day. I have another one scheduled for Thursday and left instructions for my office tech to email and call those people. Let's hope she does it.

I went to the gym after work thinking I would be doing Body Combat. Nope. It was Body Pump and the class was full. I don't do crowded classes. So, I did the cycling class. I made it through 45 minutes before I started to feel nauseous. It was HOT in there. Plus, I haven't taken a cycling class in almost 2 years. I'll regret it tomorrow. Good thing I'm off.

Daily December 27

Another schedule adjusted day! YAY! Did I spend it sleeping in?!?! NOPE. I brought my car in for service and got laughed at because I've only put 1,000 miles on my 4runner in the last 4 months. Had to tell the guy I drove another car as well.

I rode the shuttle home and we jumped in the other car to head to the Continental city ticket office. All for a PIN. Which we could have done online. Sigh.

Then we hit the grocery store. Only went in for chicken wings. Ended up with a cart full of stuff and $200+ poorer. At least I don't have to shop before the new year. Score 1.

I had an appointment at the foot clinic and then tried to shop at Ross. Big mistake. There's really nothing good left. Stopped by Ben Franklin Crafts and bought cool bags to put homemade goodies in. My best girls are getting homemade treats and coffee GCs. I'll do that on Wednesday.

Tomorrow is a work day. Gotta set that alarm.

Daily December 26

Recovery mode. Sigh. Eating lots of good food sure catches up with you. I think I'm still in a food coma....

Still have to upload pictures from yesterday's family lunch and pictures to get from Uncle Tim. He had the foresight to bring his tripod. I forgot. Anyone with kids knows that none of them would have stood waiting for cameras to be swapped out of the tripod. I'm sure he has some good ones.

Daily December 25

Merry CHRISTmas from my family to yours!

Daily December 24

Merry Christmas Eve! I was one of those crazy ones who went shopping today. But, I wasn't shopping for Christmas gifts. In fact, I ran into a friend who was shopping for last-minute gifts. She took one look at my cart and figured out pretty quickly that I was doing run-of-the-mill shopping.

I had good parking karma...nice spot not too far from where I usually park in the Kmart lot.

I so-so pharmacy karma...there was one person in front of me, but my mom's prescription wasn't ready. My friend Jason wasn't at the checkout counter so I couldn't get the prescription done quickly.

I had good checkout karma...the person in front of me was wheeling his cart away when I pulled up.

Then I ventured to the grocery store. Found what I was looking for and then some. Why does that always happen!?!?!

I spent the rest of the morning prepping ingredients for tomorrow's stuffing and making baked sushi for our Christmas Eve dinner.

I got an unexpected gift today. Something I wasn't expecting. It made me feel like a total heel that I forgot and then remembered and promptly forgot again about making a card for someone. But, the words in the card... sigh. Grateful for those words. So grateful. And blessed.

Daily December 23

Shhh....I'm at work. Lots of folks out with schedule adjustments. It's quiet and boring. The thing with getting ALL your work done by 5pm everyday is not having anything to do on slow days. The down side to being efficient. Sigh. Bring on 11:30am...we'll be partying. Then we get to go home!

Studio Calico is having a giveaway...but first we must blog our SC wishlists! What don't I have that's SC?!?!?

• Clock, tweet and star rub ons
• Jenni Bowlin Inks in chicken feed, soap powder, stick candy, chili powder and malted milk
• Martha Stewart vintage doily punch
• Fiskars Cloud punches in XL and LG
• SC Natalee stamps
• Tim Holtz non stick snips
• January's Betty Crocker add on (It IS a wish list after all)

Daily December 22

Flex day for me today. Got up later than normal...7am! Ha ha ha! Went shopping with the Cooper-Nerds and the mother unit. We bravely trekked to Ross and the Mall. Got some great deals at Ross and now I'm 99% done with shopping. There are some things I need to get but, I can get them AFTER Christmas since those gifts will be given on the 29th. A reprieve!

We tried to have lunch at Benii, but it was too full. We ended up at Aji Ichi. Then we came home and I started baking and wrapping work gifts. Haven't even thought about wrapping the kids' gifts. Sigh...

Daily December 21

happy birthday to me! i didn't charge my blackberry last night. i didn't think i needed to...but i was wrong! i got a ton of facebook notifications for birthday wishes. i prayed nothing would happen between work and home as i drove. i should either put my charger in my bag everyday or buy another charger for my office.

having to work today wasn't so bad. i was in at new staff orientation for 2 hours and stayed another hour talking to a co-worker about ideas and things coming up in the new year. my co-worker cheryl was off today (schedule adjustment from all those crazy extra hours we worked), but she came in to turn in her SA form and have lunch with me!

i have 3 days of extra hours to use up...seriously. I'm off tomorrow and two days next week.

dinner was waiting when i got home and my mom, auntie binkie and i actually had dinner together. i usually eat alone.


a picture of me on the 16th anniversary of my 21st birthday... do the math!

Daily December 20

Quick post tonight. Finally got that grant done and sent today. Picked up John Bryint from school. Interesting conversation... did you know you could get younger?!?!? Out of the mouths of babes! Came home to shower and change for CES's christmas party! Most of my favorite people were there. It was nice to sit down and break bread with them again and laugh and tell jokes. Oh, I miss them!

Daily December 19

Today was a day for catching up. On today's list I had

• laundry
• picking up more Christmas gifts
• buying a rotisserie chicken for lunch
• writing Christmas cards
• uploading pictures from the past week
• putting together pages for my December Daily album
• making some sort of box or bag for the office assistants' gifts
• printing some pictures
• making a layout or two

What did get done?

I did 3 loads of laundry and then it rained. Lucky for me, it didn't last long. The clothes are still hanging outside. The towels will have to wait...good thing we have a closet full of them.

I managed to cross off 10 more things off my list that appears on day 7. Still have several more to do...where to find the time!?!?!

I bought the chicken for lunch and ended up walking out of the store with a whole lot more.

I finally wrote out and addressed my Christmas cards. They'll get in the mail tomorrow.

I got the pictures from the last week uploaded. Sigh...so much to go through (and edit a few).

I got the office assistants' gifts all done! I used my trusty cricut expression and the Tags, Bags, Boxes and More cartridge and managed to use up a few sheets of old paper.

What didn't get done?

The December Daily stuff, the picture printing and the layouts.

Still, I consider the day to have been a productive one.

Maria and the boys came by. I made some cake mix cookies using red velvet cake mix, a stick of butter and two eggs. I got the recipe from my friend Teena. I have some left, but the bulk of it got wiped out in a matter of minutes. May have to try some other flavors.

This picture will appear on today's page of my December Daily.

Daily December 18

Today was a busy day. Car wash from 8-12 followed by work from 1-3. In between, I managed to get lunch at Taco Bell and pay the power and water bills. Tomorrow I plant to SLEEP IN and catch up on my December album... oh yeah, and write those Christmas cards........

Daily December 17

Working on the work MacBook. Easier to post from here since it's out and on. I. AM. WIPED. OUT. Three days of working AND Christmas programs. Sheesh! I have a ton of pictures to upload and go through some time in the distant future. Have SO MUCH going on... hoping that I don't have to appear in the office this weekend.

We had an emergency conference call this morning for this grant we've been writing. OY VEY. In the midst of it, my 9:00 appointment showed up! Double OY VEY. Talk about quickly switching gears and switching right back!

We got a bit of a reprieve during lunch. Our office tech, Tia, is moving to another house...still in the 'hood, but not a part of our house. Sniff. We had lunch at Benii...spider roll and tofu salad. I was in heaven.

Cheryl and I went across the street to the main university campus to check out some classrooms and the lecture hall for a fair we're doing in May 2011. Then we made a quick stop at the grocery store for banana split stuff....part of Tia's send off.

Then I headed to Jacob and Lucian's Christmas program. His class was 2nd to last... seriously!?!?! I should have brought my computer in so I could work before he appeared!

Daily December 16

I find it ironic that I'm working on a grant that I will never ever qualify for. This grant will never benefit me or most of my family. But, it's part of the job...well, mostly.

It was one of those late nights last night. I thought the Bishop Christmas program would be short since it was only K-4th grades. I. WAS. WRONG. It ran 1 1/2 hours! I was starving by the time it ended. We ended up at KFC for dinner. Oh joy. I can still smell the oil on my beloved Coach purse. Since dinner was late, I was up LATE. So not a good combo for writing all day. I hope that tonight's 5-8 performance is shorter!

Daily December 15...Ode to "Home Alone"

I'm sure you're familiar with the Home Alone movie series. Sometimes I feel like having a "Kevin moment." You know, the classic hands on face scream.


I took this in my office after another one of those meetings I attend. And, the simple fact that I'm blogging at 2:28pm tells you just how I'm feeling right now. Is it Friday yet?!?!? Because Friday means that all the MCH stuff will be OVER for us. DONE. Then I can learn all about my REAL job.

Daily December 14

2nd Christmas card arrived today. Those Minnesotans are sure on the ball! Found some awesome pictures of our Minnesota family. Sure do miss them!

Spent the whole day writing and reading and writing... nothing exciting.

Daily December 13

Got a surprise call this evening from my friend Rosita AKA Mama Sita. It was so good to hear her voice and talk with her. Once the madness and newness of this job has died done, we'll get together.

Spent the entire day in a meeting about last week's stakeholder's sessions. Now the writing begins!

daily december 12

Just jotting down notes so that I can do a proper page later...

Took out the tree today and put it up. I wrenched my right arm getting the decorations out from the top of the closet. Ow!

Finished making the Christmas cards today! WOO HOO!!

The boys came and we lit the tree for the first time. Had dinner. They colored while I took a shower. We made ornaments and watched shows on Disney.

Daily December 11

This little rascal had his school Christmas program this morning. As expected, there were crying toddlers, antsy three-year-olds, pre-schoolers and kindergartners. He was singing and dancing and following along...most of the time.

He was amazing.

At first we only saw his shoes. When the opening songs were done and the curtain opened up again, he was standing smack dab in the middle of the line...right in front of me. I forgot my zoom lens and had to make do with the Tamron 17-50 f/2.8, but I did have my point and shoot so I used that to do video. Besides, they were moving to the beat of the music. It was hard to get a good shot! Those 3-year-olds are wiggly to begin with so the dancing made it that much harder.

I took some pictures of my December Daily pages and compiled them into one sheet using Jessica Sprague's inspired cards from her Inspiration Everywhere class.
1. Front Cover 2. Opening page (Ali Edwards) I might change the "31" to "25". 3. Manifesto (Shimelle's Journal Your Christmas 4. 12/1 picture 5. 12/1 story 6. 12/1 story continued 7. 12/2 opener (KI Memories sheer) 8. 12/2 story 9. 12/2 story continued left out 12/3 opener 10. 12/3 picture 11. 12/3 story 12. 12/3 story continued
1. 12/4 opener 2. 12/4 story 3. 12/4 pictures 4. 12/4 picture 5. 12/5 opener 6. 12/5 story 7. 12/6 opener {missed the 12/6 story) 8. 12/6 placeholder for my Christmas cards 9. 12/7 opener 10. 12/7 story...actually my Christmas lists
11. 12/8 opener 12. 12/8 story

I've done up to 12/10, but those pictures are on another template. I forgot AGAIN to take a picture of a layout I did....several weeks ago. It's still sitting on my table.

Daily December 10

I've been getting these daily emails from Reverb 10. I thought today's prompt was considerably apropos to what has been happening in my life.

Prompt: Wisdom. What was the wisest decision you made this year, and how did it play out?

Without sounding like a broken record, I believe that the wisest decision I made this year was to change jobs.

I love teaching. I enjoy seeing the faces of my students as they learn and process what they've learned. I love the little notes they would write to me. I love the little gifts I'd get every once in a while.

BUT...there's always a BUT.

I was starting to feel the burn out. I dreaded the alarms going off in the morning. I dreaded the ringing bell that signaled the start of the day, the end of recess and the end of lunch. I relished 1:55pm because it meant the day was almost over. These were not good things to be feeling as a teacher. Teaching was not something I wanted just to tolerate. I wanted to keep loving it.

Then, an opportunity landed at my feet. I've known about this job since the beginning of August. The job didn't actually get posted until mid-September. Even then, I dragged my feet filling out the application.

WHY?!?!?

I wanted to be sure that this was something I could do. Could I leave the classroom? Could I leave the friends I've grown close to the last 4.5 years? Could I, without guilt, leave my students?

So, I prayed. Auntie Patty prayed. My friend Rosita prayed. I found it very fitting that the day of my interview happened to be the day that the traveling statue of Our Lady of Fatima came to our church. I knelt in front of our Lady and asked for guidance. If the job was meant for me, to let it happen. If not, I would be satisfied with not getting it.

Then I waited.

I got the call on November 5, 2010 while John Bryint and Jacob were making their usual ruckus in the living room. I gave notice the following Monday that my last day would be November 19, leaving a few tears behind in the principal's office.

So, here I am two weeks into my new job. I still haven't figured out exactly what my job entails. I suspect it's a bit of everything and a lot of somethings. I've questioned whether I've made the right decision...out loud, too, with my boss Elaine within in ear shot. As she said, "this is for you. Your professional development.

She's right. This IS for me.

I say, it's about time.

Daily December 9

First Christmas card of the season arrived today!

Worked at the office today. It felt like I hadn't been there for a LONG time. We got new chairs, but I have yet to sit in mine since I spent the afternoon in a meeting. We're getting ready for our last stakeholder's meeting tomorrow. Cannot wait till it's over...for now.

My friend Cheryl and I tried a new place for lunch today...Pochon Chicken. We had some good chicken wings!

Daily December 8

Today is the feast of the Immaculate Conception, a local holiday for us. I had an appointment with my doctor. Perfect timing since I've been sick since last week and I've been thinking an ear infection is inevitable.

It sucks to be me right now. I do have an ear infection...in both ears. I'm also not slightly anemic as the nurse led me to believe three weeks ago when she called. I'm extremely anemic. If this had been 20 years ago, I would have been given a blood transfusion. Oh did that bring tears to my eyes! The thought of someone else's blood in my body skeeves me out. Instead, I walked out of the clinic with a prescription for Bactrim (for my ears) and iron pills which I have to take 3 times a day WITH orange juice for a month. I'm not a big fan of juice so this will be a stretch. Wondering if I heard any good news today?!?!? The rest of my lab work was awesome. I don't have high cholesterol, diabetes, kidney or liver problems. Small consolation.

Daily December 7

Saving my spot to come back to it later. Exhausted...

Daily December 6

Daily December 5

I started out the morning eating pumpkin crunch for breakfast...no judging. Got ready and went to Mass. I truly do prefer evening Mass. Came home to make lunch...honey soy chicken, brown rice and salad. Played around with pictures in photoshop for my DD album.

The picture for today will have to come later...it's nothing festive. Just a quiet afternoon at work (WORK?!?!?) getting ready for tomorrow's big meeting. I skipped dinner. Good thing we had popcorn.

I'm ready for bed...gotta get up EARLY.

Daily December 4

It was a busy day! Quick run to the bank and Kmart. And when I say quick, I mean that I didn't browse like I usually do. I got the three things that were on my list and that's it. That might be a good thing, but I forgot to check on a few things (they weren't on the list). Sigh. I was asked to read at a funeral Mass. That was all good and well, but little did I know that other people were asked as well and my being there was redundant. So, I went home and did laundry. Fun.

I had my first taste of weekend working today. I spent a few hours making tables for Monday's meeting. We're not done...work again tomorrow afternoon. On the plus side, the extra hours we work during the weekends are hours I can take off during the week. Nice. I never got time off for doing stuff during the off-hours outside of the classroom.

After work, I went to my cousin Maria's house. She had invited some of her friends from work for dinner and dessert. I "made" sprite and a bag of ice. Hahaha There was more than enough food so I didn't feel bad. Plus, everyone knew I just came from work. I got a couple of pictures of the food...missed the dessert completely since it was on the other side of the room.



You can see the baked brie that Kebrina brought...yum! The salsa and pico de gallo are missing from the bowls. There was another plate of cheese and crackers, a pan of baked sushi, the mini quiches, chips and salsa and shrimp kelaguen (picture below), which deserved to shine on its own. Any Chamorro worth his or her salt knows how important the shrimp kelaguen is. I could have eaten the entire bowl!



So, what's in this bowl of ambrosia?!?!? Shrimp, lemon juice, hot peppers, green onions and coconut. I have some stashed in the fridge. Midnight snack?!?!


I've debated some on whether or not to include this next part into the DD album. Facebook really does have its merits. But, oh, what a way to find out about the death of a friend.

Photo credit: Fr. John Whitney, S.J., Search Retreat

Fr. Roger Gillis was one wonderful man. While I never took a class from him at Seattle University, I still consider him to a great professor. You see, instead of teaching me the finer points of Fine Arts, he taught me about life and living. He was instrumental in my involvement in Campus Ministry. I met him through the Search retreats sponsored by CM. It was to my great benefit that I went on my first Search Fall quarter of my freshman year. It gave me that much more time to spend with Uncle Rog. In many ways, I equate my growth in spirituality to Search and in turn to Uncle Rog. It was only recently, through Facebook, that I learned of Uncle Rog being sick with cancer. Then, today of all days, I learn of his passing.

He was truly an inspiration to all. I am blessed to have had him in my life. I know he's dancing in heaven as I write this. I also know he's looking out for me. Dance on, Uncle Rog! I'll miss you!

Daily December 3

I wish I could say that I'm getting used to my job. It's never dull, I can say that much! I switched gears so many times today that I feel like I could win the Tour de France. I jest!

Being the new kid on the block, I can get away with not knowing everyone. We had lunch away from the office...at one of the hotels to celebrate a few birthdays and a promotion. On our way out of the restaurant, I cam across this:



and it became my picture of the day. This fireplace is the only kind of fireplace you'll find here. Then you go outside and it's sizzling hot. My co-worker mistakenly read an email from our boss so we worried about getting in "trouble" until I grabbed her phone. Turns out the boss needed to get INTO the office NOT us having to get back to the office. Good thing, too, because for some reason traffic was BAD at 1:30.

I spent the rest of the afternoon going cross-eyed, fixing grammar and punctuation on a report for my boss. OY!

Daily December 2

I'm seriously going to try to blog about December. That way, if I forget something I'll have it on my blog. I have not even begun to think about decorating the house for Christmas! The office is already being decorated...office assistants rock!

My day started out in a frenzy. We had a conference call at 8am that I forgot about. Luckily, it's easy to drop into a conference call since the person on the other end doesn't know who came late! I did a lot more reading, some more research, more reading. Got info about the conference in February. Figured out how to do my time sheet (foreign to me). More reading. Lots of nose blowing...I need another box of tissue! I got my word ID and business cards. That sounds so grown up! I have business cards!

Came home just in time for dinner and a little visiting with Luke and Jake.

Happy December!

Today marks the first day of December. Only 20 more days until my birthday and 24 until Christmas!

I met with my boss for a briefing on what I'm supposed to be doing at this new job. Do I know what I'm doing now? Not exactly. But, I have a clue. Overwhelmed would be an understatement here! I have my first work trip to look forward to in February and now I have an excuse to buy those faux Uggs from Nine West. I would be my luck that they sold out of my size! I also had a meeting at 1:30 that I found out about at...1:30! It was okay, though. I sat in on a meeting yesterday and so I had a bit of a clue of what was going on at this meeting. Afterwards, I researched public laws on the internet... uh yeah.

I came home to find my brand new stove in its place! It was supposed to be delivered yesterday, but they brought the wrong color. I told the salesperson I wanted the one with the black top. I realize now that the black topped one was stainless steel. She should have known that the black one was actually stainless steel. I kept telling her, "I want the black one, not the white one. The black one." Even after she made up the invoice, I asked again if it was the black one. She said yes. I was pretty clear, yes? Do you think she got that I wanted the black one!?!?!? Oy vey. They wrote on the new invoice that I asked for stainless steel. Uh, NOOOOO...I asked for black. It's not MY fault that they didn't make it clear there were only two colors--white and stainless steel. Anyway, meltdown averted.