blogging from the baseball game

Right now the River Cats are winning 4 - 1. 7th inning for those following along at home. Honestly not a very exciting game and it is SOOOOO darn hot out here. We are used to evening games where everyone has some shade. The first inning hadn't even ended when I noticed that my thighs were getting pink. Needless to say I made a note to bring sunscreen for the other day games. And to think, I had considered bringing a light jacket! lol!
This weekend has been nice. I am still not used to working so much. Amazing how quickly I got used to not working. But yesterday I got 3 layouts done. They are for LM.....well, 2 are. the third turned out horrible and I don't plan on sharing it. Too bad because there is some cute ribbon on it.
In addition to that, I made it to the gym 3 time (4 days in a row thankyouverymuch), we finally got J's tow hitch installed (kinda), and lmost bought a new car. Yep.......we have been talking about trading in my beloved Santa Fe for something more fuel efficient. Our salesman at Hyundai offered us a sweet deal on an Elantra. So sounds like it might happen.
Back to the game......Robnett just hit a double and sent in 2 runners......and while I typed the next guy brought in 2 more. The score is 8 - 1 3ivercats over the Tuscon Sidewinders.

saving the world......one post-it note at a time!

so I got a Blackberry last week. I was tired of carrying around a cell phone, planner, and iPod and decided I needed to get something that was more portable for my daily commute on the train and getting internet access and e-mail was just the icing on the cake......until now.

tonight I found THE reason justifying my purchase: lists.

no post-it notes gave their lives in the creation of a shopping list today. usually I would have made one at home on a post-it note, put it inside my wallet and gone to work. mid-day I would start thinking of things to add and grab another post-it to continue my list. by the time I actually GET to the store I have usually used up 3 post-its. but not today. this time I was able to get my entire list in the notes section of my calendar. (I couldn't do that with my old cell phone....the notes section was rather limited for character spacing)

and even if I don't make a calendar entry I can still make a list of things....whatever things.....lists of lists if I want......and no post-it notes will give their lives!

p.s. congrats to Fresno State for some seriously awesome baseball! it was a total pleasure watching you beat Georgia! Steve Detwiler.......you are my hero (and darn cute too! lol!)

12 of 12 - the HELP edition!

so I guess I kinda failed this month. I didn't get 12 pictures. but really I failed because the 12th wasn't anything close to a regular day so the whole "random photos on a random day" thing went out the window......or down the elevator shaft........so to speak. that and as a scrapbooker, I didn't want to minimize the event that brought about the one photo I did take. somehow afterwards picture taking wasn't really important.....


this is a photo of the call button on elevator #4 at my office. this is me really trying to remain calm and get a decent photo.......while I was stuck in the elevator for 15 minutes. it wasn't that long of a period of time.....but I was alone......and a little claustrophobic. I started off thinking it was a little funny when I was just stuck there thinking I was at the 8th floor but couldn't get the elevator to open. but when the guy at the other end of that help button said "I'll send someone out" and "push the alarm button every once in awhile so the building knows you are in the elevator" I got a little worried. then when the elevator went to the 25th floor and started bouncing around a bit I got more worried. then when the elevator dropped down to the 22nd and then 21st floor I was as close to freaking out as I could be. funny how something like not-waterproof mascara can keep a person from crying.

luckily........at the 21st floor when I laid on the alarm button, some guy walked by and opened the elevator door. he was so casual about it and I can't figure out how I managed to stand up and walk out of the elevator.

needless to say.....I walked 13 floors down the stairs to get back to my office.

I promise to do better next month.

bookend birthdays.....

things have been crazy around here. trying to get in the swing of the new job has taken quite a toll on my free time. dh is working on taking over making dinners and R is helping out a bit more around the house. thankfully summer is almost upon us and that means that atleast I won't have to do the morning carpool before catching Light Rail to work.

today, being June 2nd is the calm in the eye of the storm. R's birthday was yesterday and D's birthday is tomorrow. we celebrated this year with a miserable day at Great America. it was cold and windy and the boys lasted about 5 hours before wanting to head home. on top of that lunch almost killed us all it was so gross. if anything might push me to becoming a vegetarian......it was that hamburger! all in all we spent more time driving back and forth than we did at the park.

yesterday we went to Melting Pot for the next part of the ongoing party train. we joined a grown up couple for a lovely dinner. thankfully no hamburger there and the food is always superb!!

today was our day to rest from stuffing ourselves and tomorrow we will be off to Red Robin for the last of our great birthday parties. seems silly but Red Robin is our traditional place of celebration. we go every year on Gotcha Day and for birthdays.

D turns 10 this year. it isn't as shocking as when R turned 10. I wonder if that has anything to do with being the second child or because he hasn't actually been with us for all those years? not really sure other than it is still strange to think that he is 10.......

so anyway........hopefully I will be back up to speed and blogging AND scrapping more. I sure hope so!

12 of 12....... the EMPLOYED edition! lol!!

so today was my 4th day at my NEW JOB!!!! I am really enjoying it though I feel a bit scattered right now. it is weird knowing so much and yet so little all at the same time. but......more about that as we go along...... and for those of you who haven't been following along at home.......Chad Darnell started all this craziness!
as is tradition, there is my odometer shot. 1,400 miles in the past month. probably has a little to do with that trip to Reno to see the Gin Blossoms?!?! and maybe that trip to the Jelly Belly factory with Stanley?!?! and maybe all those trips to Periwinkles in Folsom for Webkinz Extravaganza?!?!?! and the several trips downtown for interviews?!?! and well.....you get the point! I will be interested to see what it looks like next month after I am taking Light Rail everyday.......and the boys being out of school.
here is my train stop. exciting, isn't it?!?! today I had time to take this picture because I missed the train. why did I miss the train? well......because I missed one light on my morning carpool taking the boys to school and......
because I have to buy a train ticket every morning. I can actually buy a monthly pass but it is more expensive then buying a ticket every day. crazy, isn't it? I might still buy one just for the convenience. I am SOOOOO not good at walking around with a bunch of $1 in my purse to pay for train fare. luckily, though, I can get transportation expenses withheld from my pay pre-tax! so unlike filling up my tank, I CAN get a little break on my train costs!
me.......on the train......in my business suit........we normally don't get this dressed up but we were having out of town company visitors. the jacket actually came off when I got to the office and never went back on. nice fish-eye kinda picture......but atleast I only have one chin! lol!
staples of my train trips.......my iPod and a book. this is the second in the Dexter series. I think I like the books better than the tv show.....no surprise there I suppose. this morning's music was shuffle.....I believe I got some Yaz, Collective Soul, and Bonnie Raitt. our building.........our nice big ol' new building. course, they are still doing lots of construction on it. in fact, several people opted for an early lunch when what sounded like a jackhammer started going off. though considering how high up we are I am pretty darn sure it wasn't a jackhammer! on my way in to the building this morning, a fellow train rider stopped to take a picture (that I might take in a coming month) and I ended up talking to him as we crossed the street. couldn't help but ask him if he was doing 12 of 12! lol!! (he wasn't .......bummer!)this job feels like a seriously official job. why? because I have TWO badges! not just 1 but TWO!!! one is for the company and one is for the building. sheesh! at my last job we had a code for the building but never ever actually used it. in fact, I think I still have it somewhere! lol!
this is my cubicle. envious, aren't you?? actually.......as cubbies go it isn't too bad. the walls are high enough to offer privacy yet you are close enough to people to be able to get answers without spending all day walking around in circles. good thing when you are the new girl! I am slowly bringing stuff in to personalize my space more. the whole train thing is limiting in that way! oh....and you might be able to see my lunch of a pannini sandwich and some triscuits. tres exciting! lol!
this is the view out my window. technically not MY window......but the window of the cubby next to mine.......or at the end of my walkway. I am close enough to the window that I can get the sun coming in without the glare. and.....with a quick couple steps I can see outside. today I watched a plastic bag get blown up the side of the building from the crazy winds we were having. but......they kept it nice and cool. I hear we are breaking 100 by the end of the week! YIKES!
Light Rail drops me off literally across the street from my office (sweet!) but to catch the train back home I have to walk a whole humonguous block! and this is what I walk towards (though more even keel than this photo might suggest). crazy that I work so close to the capital! that is something I never ever imagined I would be doing.
on the way home I exited the freeway one exit early so I could drive by a gas station. this is one of the cheapest places in the area......and is still 14 cents more expensive than this time last month. so......even if my $4 in train fees is only break even with the 1 gallon of gas I might be saving.......I am also saving a minimum of $7 a day in parking. I think I deserve a nice treat for saving so much money, don't you? lol!!
and what 12 of 12 would be complete without a fully devoted food shot?
like I mentioned before, one of the biggest changes with this new job is dinner. Mondays are still easy since we generally have pizza, but J and R are going to be doing more of the cooking. R was in charge of cooking the pizza tonight. looks good! tasted even better.

and with my days starting at 5am now.....I am exhausted and off to bed.
thanks for joining me this month!

think of 2008 as the year of opportunity....

I have a layout in mind showing the front door of my previous employer. I am going to use the quote "when God closes a door he opens a window" and talk about my old job and how hard it was to deal with the office closing and everyone being laid off. I figure I can have an accompanying page titled something like "hello window" about my fortune in finding a good job so quickly. (not really QUICKLY but in a whole lot less time that I thought it would take)

add to that the timing made it so I was able to take the boys up to see my mom, nana, and stepdad during Spring Break.

add to that my being able to go see the Gin Blossoms in concert in Reno.

add to that the fact that next week I will start getting paychecks from the new job and will still be receiving a little severance from the old job. we have plans to use that money to pay down some debt and trade a gas guzzler for a nice hybrid so that we can start saving more money.

add to that the fact that now I am taking public transportation to work. it is definately an interesting experience but I am saving a couple $$ every day and helping make less pollution. my new employer will also let me do pre-tax withholding for my transportation expenses.....so I will be making less taxes for myself at the same time! lol!

add to that the fact that J's employer has started a nifty new health plan. they will pay our gym membership as long as we go 3 times a week. sounds pretty simple except that I am getting home a lot later with my new job than with my old job. but I figure if I go Sat and Sun and 1 night during the week it will be a lot better than I am doing now. the company they have partnered with is putting in a new club about 1 mile from our house. no excuses!!! I just hope they have a yoga class on Weds at 7pm. life would be pretty darn close to perfect then!

oh yes.....and about that gym......from what I can see from their website, R will be able to use the facilities too. most places say they have to be 13, but it looks like this place goes down to 12. which is good because R really needs to work on some physical fitness!

so......while things looked rather bleak....it seems that 2008 might be a darn good year afterall! now if I can just get back into scrapbooking! lol!

you know you have been married a long time.....

when the places you went to frequently while you were just dating are all gone!

today is J and my 15th anniversary! insane, isn't it? we must have married when we were 13! lol!! but seriously.......we aren't big celebrators but wanted to go out to a kid-free evening at a nicer restaurant. so we started brainstorming.....

our first date was at a nice Italian/American restaurant in Old Town. we knew that night there was something special going on.......we both wanted the garlic bread! lol! it went under many years ago. in fact, we went to its replacement restaurant for our 9th anniversary. it just wasn't the same without the garlic bread.

the next place that would have been appropriate was what I would call a supper club. the place was run similar to the restaurant at a golf/tennis club. a regular meal, some scheduled specials, etc. but they also had a club meal. we joined and would get discounted meals, or meal credits, or something. I can't remember........J paid. anyway, it was special to us because we were regulars.......and because we set the place on fire......literally!! probably our 3rd or 4th time there we were eating bread and chatting and didn't notice that the bread napkin had flipped over the lit candle on the table. it wasn't until a couple across the room yelled at us did we notice! lol!! luckily, no bread was lost. that place, oddly enough and unrelated to us, burned down and a Starbucks currently resides on the spot.

but that still left a wonderful place, near and dear to our hearts. see.....when we were first dating, I worked retail and frequently got off work at 9:30. we had to find a place that served dinner later than most places. Brother Olivers was that place. I can't say the food was amazing or anything but there were always a few things that appealed to us. that and it was a nice relaxing environment to talk and enjoy being together. so Tuesday I reminded myself to call and make a reservation. at 9:45 we never needed one before, but this time around we would be going during a more normal hour. yep! you guessed it.........closed! closed about a month ago. closed and they are going to tear it down and build a Beverages & More. I really should go take a picture of the building to scrapbook before it is gone.

boy do I feel old.........old and married! lol!