Embrace the Unexpected

January has not been my favorite month. I hope it's not a precursor of what 2010 is going to bring for me. Sure the beginning of the month wasn't too bad. I was sick for a while, had to go to a work conference 2 weekends, but got a 3 day weekend. But this week has been downright bad. I found out my grandma had a stroke last weekend. Thankfully she's ok and recovering nicely. And to top it all off I got the wonderful notice at work that Friday is my last day. Due to the wonderful mismanagement of California's money the state funding that supplied most of our kids at work is drastically cutting back and my employer no longer has the money to pay me. I can't say I'm that surprised. I have never been incredibly busy since I started, but kept hoping that the numbers would pick up. On Friday when the director asked if I was free to meet with her and the lady from HR on Monday I tried not to think too much about it. My three month probationary period ended last week and I wanted to make myself believe that we were just doing our review at the end of that. But I think deep down I already knew what they were going to say. So I guess it was good that I had some sort of mental preparation for Monday. But it didn't make it that much easier. I managed to hold it together while I was in the meeting but then when I had to go back to my office and tell my co-workers, I kind of lost it. Now I can't remember the last time I cried in front of anyone. For some reason it's just not something I do. But the tears came whether I wanted them to or not. But I pulled myself together and got through the rest of the day. Today as I had to start telling my kids that it was my last week it really started to become real. I don't have a full caseload right now, but I'm sure gonna miss my kiddos. They are just so cute. But I'm sure that life will turn out for the best. It always does. I guess that's what makes life interesting. So if anyone knows of any occupational therapy jobs (pediatrics ideally, but I'll consider other things right now) I'd love to know about them. At times like these I'm thankful for the perspective I have and also for my laid back temperament that allows me to not freak out. For now I guess I'll just embrace the unexpected and run where ever it takes me.

Holiday Weekends

The best things about this three-day weekend:

~Pho with Martha, Emily and Nick on Friday night
~Beginning Ratatouille after dinner
~Tennis with Nick Friday night for 20 minutes because the lights turned off on us in the middle
~Tennis with Shana Saturday morning
~H1N1 flu shot (take that, immune system. I'm not getting sick with that.)
~Target with Allana and Martha where I bought some really cute new shoes
~Quaint little bakery on Westwood with Martha, Allana and Emily where I got a wonderful piece of cheesecake (the only thing it was missing was a graham cracker crust)
~Stake Conference Saturday night which I went to wearing Martha's clothes because I was too lazy to go the 8 blocks home and change into my own clothes. But I got to wear the new shoes!
~Watching the movie Leap Year with Shana, John, Dan, and Ruth-Ann (which is really quite slow and I would say is a rental, not a theater movie if you wanna see it) with only 10 other people in the theater. But we got in basically for free so it was worth it.
~Being so tired after the movie that Shana and I found everything hilarious and just laughed out loud in the street
~Stake Conference Sunday morning where we got to hear from the general authorities
~Hanging out with Jessica at home
~Talking with Mom (Dad hadn't made it home from church yet, so hard to catch on a Sunday now)
~Watching the Princess Bride at Martha, McKenzie and Allana's
~Playing Mario on the Wii with Martha, Nick, Emily and Brian
~Finishing Ratatouille
~Going running in the rain (yes I think I enjoy running more when it's raining, too bad it doesn't rain much in LA)
~Getting pizza with Allana (our government holiday tradition)
~Shopping (it wasn't quite as fun as it could have been because I was looking for something specific, which I didn't really find)

Wow that's quite a lot for one weekend. Maybe that's why it was so great.

I've realized that I only post when I take pictures. Well I haven't taken any pictures lately, so I haven't written much. I looked at the calendar at work today and realized that January is half over. Where has it gone? The first week was spent just getting back into the swing of things. My much needed couple of days off left me not wanting to face reality again. But reality came and I guess is here to stay. I lost another roommate this month. Sara up and moved to Utah to live in the condo she bought there. I'm excited for her but sad for me. So for now it's just Jessica and I in the apartment which is kind of strange. I can't get too used to it though as we're getting new roommate(s). More updates when that is final. Some of the highlights of the past few weeks...the amazing weather that LA affords that allows me to play tennis at 9:00pm in 60 degree weather in January. Can't really beat that. I am going to play more this year. That falls into the Physical Activity category of my new year's resolutions. I actually made some this year, which I haven't done for several years. Half my weekends in January are/will be taken up by a Sensory Integration course that I'm taking for work. It's Friday-Sunday and then Saturday-Sunday two weeks later. I felt like I was in school again, but I actually didn't mind it. Maybe it was because I knew there wasn't going to be a test. Or maybe it was because I'd gotten so good at being a student that it was like coming back to a familiar role. Hopefully weekend two will be just as informative. January brought cold #4 since I started working at the pediatric clinic. Those kids are walking germs. Somehow the immune system is gonna need a boost because I'm not gonna make it through the winter if I'm constantly sick. Any tips? Well enough ramblings from me. I better find something to do on this fine Thursday night.

Danielle's Wedding

The second weekend in December I went up to Sacramento for my cousin Danielle's wedding. My parents came down from Oregon, Grandma came from Utah, and Glen came up from the Bay Area and we all stayed at Dean's house. It was quite a party. I flew in late Friday night after work and my flight was late so it really was pretty late. When I got to Dean's house they had a wonderful dinner of grilled portabello mushrooms for me. They were amazing. The actual day of the wedding was pretty cold and rainy. The power even went off at the temple right before the wedding. But everything worked out Danielle and Russell got married. It was great to be able to see all the family and be there for her wedding. They had a reception after the wedding which was fun times seeing the family and eating wonderful food. After the reception we hung out at Dean's house and did some Christmas shopping. Dad, Dean, Glen and I hit up the Jelly Belly store there and had lots of fun. They let us have unlimited samples! I would avoid ones such as dog food and skunk spray (yes these are real Jelly Belly flavors now) but I would recommend Dr. Pepper, blackberry, and pear. Fun times with the family. I see a pattern in family gatherings, there is never a lack of good food. Sunday before we headed home we went to hear Brett, Danielle's brother, give a talk in church before he headed off to the Missionary Training Center to serve a mission for our church in Argentina. I'm glad we got to see him before he left. It was nice just to get out of LA and have a fun weekend with family as well.

Gingerbread House Pictures

Steven made a BYU house with an Oregon State Beaver being hung over the pond to celebrate BYU's win over OSU in the Vegas Bowl.



Dad decided to make his house a reflection of the times and his was in foreclosure.



Glen's house.



Laura making her house.



David and his house.



Nathan surveying his house.



I decided to go with a Christmas color theme for my house this year.



Susan's house.



Steven making his house.



Dean's house.



Carolyn's house.





Mom's house



Laura's house.