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.

Christmas

To say I was ready for a vacation would be an extreme understatement. By the 23rd I was counting down the hours until I could be done with work and come home to pack. After 4 hours of sleep I got up at 3:30am on Christmas Eve and Jessica dropped me off at the airport (what a great roommate!) My uncles were flying in at the same time I was so I met up with them and my dad at the airport and was welcomed to Portland by the freezing air that rushes over the walkway to the parking garage. Ahhhh the fresh, brisk air of winter in the northwest. Somehow I always forget how cold it is up there in the winter. We hurried home by way of several stores, picking up last minute Santa goodies. When we got home we were greeted by a rush of not so small anymore children welcoming us home. Everyone was home this year except for Thomas who is on a mission in Colorado Springs.

One of my favorite family traditions is making gingerbread houses. My mom hand makes every gingerbread house and then we all get to decorate one. This year there were a total of 12 houses to be decorated, one for each of us. We spent Christmas Eve day decorating and eating way more candy than is good for anyone. Then that night we went Christmas caroling and delivered houses to friends in the area. It was absolutely freezing for this soft California girl, but it was a lot of fun. I got to see some people I haven't seen in a long time and just spend good time with my family. Here are some pictures of the houses we made. Everyone but David agreed to give theirs away. Maybe next year he'll be old enough to want to give his away!

***For some reason I can't upload my pictures right now, so look for gingerbread house pictures in the next post!

Christmas day was fun as usual. The kids got up at who knows what time, but I stayed in bed until 7:30 when David was just dying to be able to open his presents. Somehow I neglected to take any pictures on Christmas, so the gingerbread houses will have to do for now. It was nice to just be able to hang around the house and have fun with the family. We also go to talk to Thomas. We only got a few minutes each but it was great to say hi to him and see how he is doing. He's hanging in there right now. Thomas never says much, but it was fun to talk to him anyway. Mom delighted us the whole weekend with a gastronomical feast. She seriously is the best cook ever. Between the waffle cones, blueberry coffee cake, delicious ham dinner, berry and cherry pies, mouth watering soups and much much more it was a weekend of constant indulgence.

The rest of the weekend was spent around the house mostly. It was too cold for me to really want to do anything else. I could not have had a better time. It was so relaxing and fun just to hang out with the family. Monday came much too soon and I found myself packing again. This time I wanted nothing more than to not get on that airplane. But I finished packing and we headed up to Portland to see a few sights before my uncles and I headed back to reality. Somehow this year I wasn't excited to come back to LA like I usually am. Maybe I didn't spend enough time away from it or maybe I'm just not that excited about LA anymore. Only time will tell I guess. Even if it was only a few short days break it was great to get that time to see family and also remember the wonderful miracle that Christ's birth brought to each of us. It truly is a season to rejoice.

Christmas RSVP

Most of the time I think of an RSVP as a courtesy to let someone know I'm coming to their event. Lately I have been RSVPing to events just to make myself go. I'm not one who will just blow off something I've said I'll do, so when I want to go to an event I'll RSVP as a way to make sure I go no matter how little I want to go at the time it happens. Take Friday...

Long day at work. I was going non-stop and then at 5:00 when I was finally finished with everything I needed to get done for the day I still had to plan for Saturday. Yep that's right, I worked on Saturday this week. By the time I got home on Friday night the last thing I wanted to do was go to a Christmas party. But since I had RSVPd that I was going, I forced myself to at least look somewhat presentable, found a white elephant gift, and Jessica and I trudged off to the Ohio House Christmas party. Both of us had agreed not to stay too long, but you all know how well that works once you get somewhere.

We walked into the Ohio House and were handed a playing card and told to keep it for later. We spotted two open chairs on the far side of the room and promptly sat down. The room was probably 3/4 full and people were talking and just hanging out. We started talking to this guy sitting next to us, Ted. Somehow the conversation turned to where our ancestors were from and Ted said he was part Mexican. Jessica surmised that he must have been from the American colonies down in Mexico because he didn't look 1% Mexican; she was right. So then of course we asked if he was related to any Calls (my family members that were in the Mexican colonies). And would you believe it, he is. I really think that in any large gathering of Mormons I will find someone related to me. We figured out that we are 3rd cousins (we have the same great-great grandparents--not sure if that really is 3rd cousins, but that's what someone said).

About this time everyone was getting settled and the white elephant gift exchange was about to begin. I had been kind of lame and looked in my bathroom and found some bubble bath and an exfoliating glove that had never been opened and figured that would be good enough. Little did I know, these people went all out on white elephant gifts. The way it worked was that each card we were given had a double and it was placed in a container and they were drawn at random to figure out which order we went in. We then proceeded to find ourselves a gift and sit on Santa's lap to tell him what we really wanted for Christmas since only a few lucky souls probably got anything they wanted that night. Then we were informed of the second function of the playing card. The red cards went to the girls and the black cards went to the boys. At random times during the gift exchange Santa would pull two cards and these lucky people would get to stand under the mistletoe and steal a Christmas kiss. Needless to say, this added a whole other aspect to the night. As the game unfolded there were quite the gifts...a guitar (sadly I didn't get this one), several snuggies, Obama chia-pet, pasta maker, massage gift certificates, and my personal favorite...a hamster. Yes a real live hamster complete with hamster ball and something that may have been food. I think I would have died had I picked that one. Jessica brought some butt enhancer shorts that someone had sent to her work and no one wanted. And the rule was that if you got an article of clothing as your gift you had to wear it for the rest of the night. Poor Darby, she picked that one.

Now you may be wondering, what happened with the mistletoe. Every time Santa would pick two people Jessica and I would look at each other just hoping it wouldn't be one of us. But as fate had it, near the beginning the Jack of Hearts, my lucky card, was called. I struck out on the first guy because he had a girlfriend, but the second one was none other than my long lost distant cousin Ted. We were all laughing over in my corner because they all knew that we were related. But being good sports we took our quick kiss under the mistletoe and that was that. I must say that I enjoyed the party just a smidge more after that was over because I knew my card would not be pulled again. Let's just say there were quite the kisses in the course of that evening. But I think it added to the festiveness of the night.

I came away with water globes (little glass globes that are tapered at the end and you put water in them and stick them in your plants and they gradually release water into the soil). Don't worry, I didn't know what they were either when I opened them up. But considering that I keep forgetting to water my lettuce and peas, maybe it was a present I could actually use. Jessica and I left about 11:30 having been thoroughly entertained. White elephant gifts, mistletoe, Santa, Christmas music, treats--how could you go wrong? So I guess I will continue RSVPing to make sure I don't miss out on all the fun there is to be had not sitting at home.