I Got a HOLLA

Last night I went to Sis' Friday Night Live Mentoring program to recieve an award. I had no idea what for or why. I was just told to show up by the coordinator. There were lots of other confused adults there as well.

 

It turns out they were giving out H.O.L.L.A. (Honoring Our Local Leaders and Administrators) awards. They kids each nominated several people they wanted to honor. Those who nominated (sometimes a group, sometimes and individual) would get up and talk about the person they were giving the award to and describe that person without giving the name away (well, usually!), then they would name the person, and said person would come up and recieve their award with much applause and hugging. Cool.

Sis got up and told the crowd she was honoring her best friend, her comic relief, the person that's always there for her, who clothes and feeds her and gives her rides when she needs them. And that this was a mother of four and an awesome bellydancer (most of what she said she wrote on the back of my award, that's why I remember it so well). Then I got to come up and accept my award with tears in my eyes. Awwwww. I was so honored to be recognized by my teen!

It was such a sweet and touching award ceremony. Many teachers and parents were honored and the things the kids said about those people were so sweet. They really seem to get the sacrifices that parents make and the extra effort teachers put in to make their lives better.

Various Recent Occurences In My World

Thanks to everyone who commented on the last post. Your responses were really helpful and inspiring. Yes, I (finally) paid my tithing. I know Jesus is not going to pay my car payment, but I really do have faith that we'll be blessed somehow.

I met a "soul sister" (her words) recently through blogland. Imagine coming across another bellydancing LDS mother of 4, with a house full of critters who likes to blog? I was so excited! Check out Shimmy Mom, my new bloggy dance sister!

Oh, and a couple days ago, I was shocked to observe Callie exhibiting some very unladylike behavior towards mama pig (I won't go into details, just use your imagination). I then had the girls bring me both baby guineas and I "compared and contrasted" their nether regions, and concluded that Callie must be male. Ooops! Hopefully we got him out of the cage in time to avoid another batch of babies! Right now Callie and Moe are residing in the old cage, and the girls are in the piggy palace. We need to do some serious thinking about re-homing Callie at this point and we have a nice friend from church who may be interested.

And last night my 2 dance sisters and I traveled to Vallejo to dance at Rakkasah again. We were a lot more confident than last year, and felt we did a good job. Because getting a spot to dance at this festival is a crap shoot at best, we danced at 10pm. It actually was a good time as far as having an actual audience (as opposed to last year), but made for a late night (I arrived home at 1:30am). We had a great girls night out, and really bellydancing is kind of like playing dress-up for big girls, so what's not to love? (I'll hopefully have photos to post soon.)

Well, that's the update!

What To Do?

I decided to pay my tithing this year. I had discussed this with a friend of mine who has a strong testimony of tithing, and it really helped me to decide I needed to do this and it was the right thing to do.

The thing my friend said that stuck with me was that if Jesus Christ has the power to meet your spiritual needs, he most certainly has the power to also meet your physical needs, so that if you tithe and need something, it will be taken care of.

Now, a dilemma. I have my tithing check sitting on my desk. All I have to do is walk it across the street to the bishop. That's it. So easy. But not.

Mike was overdrawn in his account, so I bailed him out, and what with me quitting my job and everything, I'm now stressing out about coming up with my car payment in about a week and a half if I do walk that money across the street and give it to the church like I should.

I really wish I had a strong testimony of tithing right now, and knew that somehow I'd be able to make that payment and pay tithing too. I just don't. What to do, what to do?

This Is A Really Long, Drawn Out Story About Cookies And Old Friends With Many Parantheses and Run On Sentences

Girl Scout cookies are wonderful things. They even bring friends you haven't seen in (doing the math...wait for it...gasp!...30 years?...are you kidding me?!) ok, 30, yes count them, 30 years back into your life. Wow. Amazing cookies indeed!

 

It all started when someone I knew through elementary and junior high looked me up of Classmates. On my Classmates profile I listed being a Girl Scout leader among my activities (even though I'm not right now--I need to go update that profile!) and my friend, in the quest for cookies and wanting to buy from someone she knew so their troop would get the money, contacted me for cookies.

 

Luckily Shelby is active and selling cookies so I responded, "sure...we have cookies, but do you have any idea where we live? You may want to look elsewhere." I figured like most folks she would have never even heard of any of the towns up here in our rural county let alone volunteer to drive 2 hours into what most people consider the middle of nowhere.

 

Surprisingly my friend's grandfather used to own property in this county and actually lived just around the block from us, so she was familiar with the area and even more than happy to drive up to visit.

 

Monday she drove out (in her really cute Mini Cooper) and we had a nice walk around town. She showed me her grandpa's old house and we had lunch and a nice visit. It was really cool. She's even a fan of guinea pigs (of course!). It was great getting to know her again after all these years, and like so many old friends both my sister and I have run into, my friend had very fond memories of my mom (hers involved my mom giving her a hand-me-down "maxi" dress that was my sister's) and how nice she was. (I always love to hear how much my mom's sweet spirit touched people and that she's still remembered).

Funny thing, when my friend met Shelby, she said, "She looks like your sister!" Among family we have always thought this, but then to have it confirmed by someone who hasn't seen my sister since she was a teen was very interesting.

 

At any rate, I'm so glad to have this old friend back in my life. We have plans to keep in touch and get together again soon (I promised to take her on a hike when the dogwoods bloom). And I have Girl Scouts cookies to thank for it!

Totally off topic, but my computer never did spring forward when it was supposed to on Sunday, and then it apparently just realized it's mistake, but instead of springing forward 1 hour, it went 2 hours so that when I glanced at the clock in the corner of my screen it showed I was late to pick up the girls from school and it gave me a minor heart attack! Stupid computer, sheesh!

A Week of Reflection

Well, it's been a full week since I've quit my job at the casino. And guess what? No regrets.

After what seemed like weeks of rain and snow, the weather finally broke, and this was what we saw right out our front door:

(If you want to know why rainbows are so special to me read this.)

Of course we had one more storm which gave the girls a snow day of sorts on Wednesday. The school called a 2 hour late start due to snow, but when Mike drove up the hill to drop them off (they still go to their old school in snow country) they had closed the school because of a power outage (meaning no heat...brrrr).

Since Nat had just taught herself to ride a 2-wheeler (when you're the 4th child you have figure out how to do things for yourself!), she was excited to take a bike ride on this surprise day off. We went to the park and saw how much water was in the creek and the girls rode through puddles. Too fun!

I worked Wednesday, Friday and Saturday evening at my old restaurant job bussing tables, and it was great. Low pressure, fun people to work with and good tips. Totally opposite of the casino.

 

Sis didn't even know I had quit the casino. That's how much I was seeing of her! She said, "I guess I have to read your blog to know what's going on!" Well not anymore, because I'm HOME! Yay!

 

Two of my dance friends and I are gearing up for a big performance on the 14th, but one of the gal's husband fell off a roof and fractured some vertebrae this past week. I thought for sure she would want to cancel with all that stress going on right now, but she was insisting that we still plan to do it. After rehearsal today I got a little insight into why, and now understand that she needs her dance outlet more than ever.

 

After doing the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life for 4 years, and then taking last year off, I decided I needed another cause to put my efforts into. I am now going to do the walk for MS (multiple sclerosis) for my sister who suffers from this disease. I have been really overwhelmed by the generous donations and am so looking forward to the walk at the end of April. (Want to sponsor me? Click here.)

And even though today was "spring forward" one hour, surprisingly I didn't have any trouble getting up on time for church. Of course it helped that shortly after 8am I was awoken by the screams of Nat after she discovered her hamster's cage had been left open and the hamster was MIA.

We haven't seen any sign of Otis as of yet. He apparently survived the plummet from the top of the dresser where his cage is kept, and we think he may have even survived sneaking past the cats and dogs to an unknown hiding place because we haven't seen any signs (if you know what I mean) that he met with an untimely death by one of his predators. Hopefully we'll find him tonight when he starts getting active.

 

All in all, a good week and I am SO thankful to be home sharing all these little day to day things with my family.

This Post is Absolutely NOT About Guinea Pigs

Ok, so I lied.

At risk of losing ALL my readership, and becoming the Guinea Pig Blog, I am going to post yet again about our critters. But wait, before you quit reading, just hang in there and check this out, 'cause at the end I think you'll admit that it's pretty cool.

One sheet of coroplast from the local sign shop (free)

 

Two sets of storage cubes from Walmart ($42)

A patient husband with good measuring and cutting skills

Two "really helpful" little girls

And 4 hours later, you have a new piggy palace!

And a happy pig family! (Their new place is about 3x the size of their old one, and cost less than half the price!)

(Thanks to this website)

 

Feeling Like a Weenie

Well, yesterday was my last day at my casino job...I know, I know, I just started that job and was pretty excited about it. To be honest though, I couldn't handle the hours especially with my commute time added (making my days 10-11 hours long). I need to be with my family. I need to be raising my girls. I decided that was my priority. (And really, at minimum wage it certainly wasn't worth it.)

I'm glad I did it though, because at this point last year I was gearing up for a corrrectional officer position at the county jail, and if the budget hadn't gone south, and the hiring would've moved forward, I might have found myself in a much higher stakes job, deciding I couldn't do it.

 

I was really feeling that I needed to take on the job of family bread winner, but now I see that it just doesn't work that well for me or my family. I've decided instead to keep working at my little tried and true restaruant job that I love on Friday and Saturday evenings, and to find a part time job during the day to supplement. Add to that some serious budgeting and meal planning and couponing and just plain being frugal, and we should be ok. That's the plan as of now. I feel like a weenie, but at least I'm a much happier weenie who gets to spend time with her family!

In other news, here's updated piggy pictures:

Ice Cream at 1 week old

Ice Cream and Callie at one week old. They started nibbling food at 3 days old!

The happy family.

 

I'm getting supplies ready to build a new piggy palace. There's a great site about building guinea pig cages out of corrugated plastic and metal grid storage cubes, so that will be this week's project. As fast as those babies are growing we are desperately in need of a bigger space for them.

And guinea pigs aren't the only ones who need a little face time on the old blog... here's a recent photo of Suey I found on my camera...

She's just too cool!

 

Traumatizing Stories

Does anyone remember those blue books of stories found in doctor's offices? There is one story in particular that traumatized me as a child so I was doing a little searching on the internet to see if I could find it (morbid curiosity I guess). I did find that some others remembered it and were as traumatized as I and that it was from a series of books called Uncle Arthur's Bedtime Stories.

So the story goes (or how I remember it anyway), there is a boy in the hospital for a tonsillectomy and next to him is a boy who was in a horrible car accident and who knows he's going to die and is scared. The Tonsil boy befriends him and they decide that Car Accident boy should prop his arm up to show Jesus he's ready to go "home" (because apparently Jesus wanders hospital corridors at night looking for this universal sign).

Tonsil boy helps Car Accident boy prop his arm up with pillows and the next morning finds him "gone" with a beautiful smile on his face.

I read this in a waiting room when I was probably 8 or 9ish, because I remember reading it by myself and then being scared to death that I might accidentally sleep with my arm up and Jesus would take me away by mistake. That story haunted me for a long time (and made for a series of long nights in uncomfortable sleeping positions to prevent my arm from popping up unintentionally).

The other story that has traumatized me, but this time as an adult, was Love You Forever. The one where the woman cradles who newborn son and rocks him, and you see the years pass until the son is holding his frail old mom as she nears death. Hoo-boy! Now that's a great children's book (I realize it's a beautiful story and all, it's just WAY too sentimental and tear-jerking for my comfort level).

The first time I read it I was volunteering in the kindergarten class and reading books to a group of children. One of them plunked this gem in my lap and I unknowingly started reading. Well by the time I got near the end I was blubbering and trying desperately to get through it, but none of the kids seemed to notice, they just asked why I kept stopping. Lesson learned there. I've always steered clear of that book from then on.

So, has anyone else been traumatized by these stories? Were there any stories from childhood that really scared you?

Little Old Ladies Are Cheap!

At the casino this month we are running a buy one buffet, get one for a penny promotion. People are understandably excited to take advantage of this great deal, so we've been much busier than normal.

Yesterday I was cashiering when a group of 4 cute little old ladies approached with their check. We apply the discount at the register, so they were anxiously waiting to hear the total for their lunch. With senior discounts and pennies applied their total was $18.

They then wanted me to tell them how much that would be split four ways. I announced that it would be $4.50 each. Such a deal. Then they wanted to know if they could apply their comps from their player's cards to the total. Of course! No problem!

I had to run each lady's card through the system and apply their 48 cents or their $1.11 to the bill--finally bringing it down to $15.67. THEN they wanted me to figure out what that would be split 4 ways....um...I'm not a human calculator, nor did I have such a device handy, so I said it's about $4 each. Then they all gave me their money one by blessed one...first a $20 bill that I take $4 out of, then a $5, then a $10, then the last lady only owes $3.67, and I'm praying that none of the others catches on and throws an old lady hissy fit when they figure she is paying $.33 cents less than they did.

Honest to Pete, this was the longest transaction ever, and I wouldn't have minded so much if the little old ladies were a bit nicer about the whole thing, but they were quite indignant about spending their dang $4. I think it would've been easier for one to pay the bill and then for them to work it out amongst themselves...or arm wrestle for it...that would've been fun too.

Oh goodness, little old ladies can be funny...I guess my turn at being old and cheap is coming!

Piggerific

If you are interested in owning a guinea pig, please check out these sites FIRST and read up on their care http://www.cavyspirit.com/ and http://www.guinealynx.info/ .

More piggy goodness for your viewing pleasure...

I love their coloring. They're both a mixture of black and orange in their own way.

Shelby is calling this one Callie, because it's calico. Looks like it will have a little mohawk like Moe.

Here's a view of Callie that shows why Nat originally wanted to call this one Eye Patch.

Natalie and little Ice Cream. She must get her pet-naming talent from her father who had a dog named Ardy Choke.

Awww...

Oh...and another mutant alien trait about guinea pigs that I forgot to include yesterday...they never close their eyes. NEVER. It's so weird. They sleep with their eyes open and even seeing them blink is rare. They can close their eyelids if they want. They just don't. Aliens are among us...

The Cuteness Factor is Off the Charts

I was awoken this morning by little excited voices exclaiming, "They're so fluffy!" and "This one has a little mohawk!" and "Gidget had her babies!"

They are the cutest little things I think I've ever seen. Unlike most rodents, guinea pigs have babies that are fully furred, eyes open, and running around. They look just like miniature adults. And I've read that they will be eating solid food in a few days. Strange.

(Of course this further proves my theory that guinea pigs are some sort of mutant alien critter---my first point being that they have 4 toes on their front paws like normal critters, but only 3 on their back feet. 3? Then there are their strange alien vocalizations: pig squeals, twitters, whistles, squeaks and purring, yes, purring! And now the babies. Weird. They're aliens, I'm sure of it--right up there with the platypus!)

The babies are truly a mixture of Moe and Gidget. Very cool. I was a little disturbed when the girls started referring to the babies as "mine", as in, "Oh look at mine; he's so cute." Ruh-Roh, is all I can say! I'm not sure we have room for 4 pigs! (I was really hoping we would have 3, so that we could find a home for 2 and keep one. )

I can't quite tell yet whether we have boys or girls or one of each. The girls already are thinking up names. Nat thinks they should be named Ice Cream and Eye Patch. (I just love the way 6 year olds name things!)

--Piggy Update--
I went in to get some pictures of the little guys to post here and when I picked up Gidget I found that she had not quite delivered a third baby. It was obviously not alive, so I called the vet and Mike and the girls took her in to have the vet deliver it (because I had to leave for work). I was very saddened that our third little one didn't make it.

The vet told Mike that it was lucky this was the last one and not the first as it was quite big. She also said that she's fairly certain we have two girl babies. That's good news anyway! (And Gidget is fine.)

If you are interested in owning a guinea pig, please check out these sites FIRST and read up on their care http://www.cavyspirit.com/ and http://www.guinealynx.info/ .

Bulging

No baby guinea pigs yet...just one bulging mama pig.

I'm sure Moe is whispering to her in their piggy language, "No! You don't look fat, dear!"

Not sure when the babies will arrive. I read that about 2-3 weeks after you can feel the babies moving they will arrive, but it seems like we've been feeling them for at least a month now. Poor Gidget, I know how she feels!

As for Moe: his surgery went well thankyouverymuch. His days of being fertile are over!

If you are interested in owning a guinea pig, please check out these sites FIRST and read up on their care http://www.cavyspirit.com/ and http://www.guinealynx.info/ .

Moody is Feeling Moody

I had a melt down 2 nights ago after a particularly grilling night at the casino. They were having a big $100,000 drawing so the place was packed, add to that our restaurant's February promotion of buy one buffet, get one for a penny, and you have a recipe for frazzled employees and angry customers. Yeah, fun night.

I got my dinner break that night (just an hour into my 8 hour shift) but there were several girls who didn't. I felt really bad for them. We didn't get any breaks whatsoever even for the bathroom. Then they had only one cashier and she worked her fanny off, and ended up working 2 1/2 hours overtime. I was disgusted by the time I got home about how we all were treated. I know it was an especially crazy night, but they should've anticipated it a bit better and put a few more people on. Sheesh!

Then I have been scheduled 8 days straight (tonight's my last night, finally!) and I'm not too happy about that either. In the last week I've seen my family for about 4 hours each, last Saturday and Sunday, and saw the girls on Tuesday for about an hour and a half. I got to spend "quality time" with Sis on Wednesday going to an oral surgery consultation for her wisdom teeth, but other than that haven't seen my family at all. They're all gone in the morning after I wake up (I usually get in at 12:30-1am) and they're all asleep when I get home.

I just don't know if I can do this. I'm just not sure what my options are though. My greatest happiness in my life has been my kids and now I don't get to see them. To me, that's just not worth it. I will hopefully get to talk to a manager tonight about changing my shift, but if I can't get a day shift I will probably just tell them that I'll hang in there for February and then be on my way---but to what, I don't know...

Fat Pig

When we adopted Gidget to be Moe's companion, the former owner assured me she was infertile, as she had tried previously to breed her. I should've never believed it, because as the following photos show, she is definitely bulging at the seams...


I'm guessing we'll be blessed with guinea piglets sometime in the next week to 10 days.

I've never been an advocate for allowing my pets to reproduce so that my kids can experience the miracle of birth, or for any other random reason, because I think it's foolish to add to the pet population when there are already so many that need homes. That's why I feel a bit ashamed at hoping against hope that nature wouldn't take it's course with our guinea pigs and ending up with a very pregnant Gidget.

So, Mr. Moe has an appointment with the vet tomorrow for some very "delicate" surgery.

Neutering guinea pigs is apparently quite a bit trickier than on a cat or dog, so it requires a vet who specializes in small animals. Luckily we have a local vet who is qualified. Vets generally won't spay females, and even the neutering is very involved and is therefore more expensive which is the reason I didn't get him done earlier.

Thus our adventure into "pig farming" begins. I'll admit that I am kind of looking forward to seeing the little cuties.

If you are interested in owning a guinea pig, please check out these sites FIRST and read up on their care http://www.cavyspirit.com/ and http://www.guinealynx.info/ .

This is How I Entertain Myself at Work

As the host/cashier at the casino restaurant I've learned how to keep the seating rotation for the waitresses, how to greet and seat a customer, how much our buffets are, and on Friday they trained me to cashier. I'm liking cashiering much more than seating, because to be honest, seating is kind of boring and at least I get to use my brain when I'm cashiering.

We have a point of sale computer system that can be a bit tricky to get the hang of because it's extremely redundant, and the casino has cards that most customers have that allow them comps and points to pay for their food. I think I've got it down now after working the weekend, and to my knowledge, I only made a minimum of screw ups.

On Friday though, it was a bit of a slow start, so I found myself with nothing to do but stand behind the register and contemplate life. Then I noticed the pens chained to the counter for the customers to sign their lives away with. The chains were quite long and swirly which reminded me of cursive writing, so I got inspired to write my name with the chain.

I did quite well with my name, so then I thought how cool would it be to write a clever message for the observant guest to read when they approached the counter? My first thought was "Some Pig" ala Charlotte's Web, but I wasn't sure everyone would get it, so I decided on a simple "hello".

I was busily getting the chain to loop in just the right ways when a customer approached. Imagine my chagrin when I realized that they would be greeted with "hell" if they should look down at the counter. I quickly distracted them and plunked their bill folder on top of my chain creation. Whew, disaster averted!

From then on I left writing messages alone and instead decided I would stick to shapes and swirly flowers.

Life on Overload

Well, as I start my new job hostessing at the restaurant in the casino, I am overwhelmed by lots of thoughts. This morning I woke up to a tingling on my upper lip which means a cold sore is on it's way, which indicates to me I'm stressing out.

This past week has been crazy what with attending new employee orientation for two days, training all weekend, still showing up for work at my other job, and trying to absorb all that is new and different in my life over the past few days.

Some of my musings:

Getting used to the casino atmosphere is challenging for me. It's like a whole different world inside those doors. The amount of money that people spend "gaming" is incredible, as the employee perks, expansion of the casino, the large estates on the reservation and the crowds testify. Wow. That's about all I can say. Wow.

I'm currently working swing shift, and started stressing out about that last night. Swing shift will mean that during school days I will have to leave for work about a half hour after the kids are home from school and will get home long past their bed time, so in essence I won't see them at all during those days and I will miss our bedtime reading and dinners together. I'm feeling neglectful as a mother just thinking about it.

I know there are a lot of wonderful opportunities available through the casino career wise, and the elusive medical benefits that I've been trying to find through other jobs.

I know this job is a foot in the door and in 6 months time I can transfer to a different department in the casino so it's just a matter of hanging in there for now and making the most of the time that I do have at home. I think "hang in there" is going to be my new mantra.

I'm truly going to miss my other job at the restaurant where I've been bussing/hostessing/waitressing. It is such a wonderful place to work and I feel like everyone there is family. Too bad they can't offer me anything more than 2-3 nights a week or benefits. Sigh...I know I will have to quit working there soon just for practical reasons. I worked double shifts at the casino and there last weekend and will again this weekend but 13 hour work days are not conducive to sanity.

So I guess I'm feeling a bit insecure, a bit overwhelmed, and a bit indecisive. I know it's normal to feel this way and I also know I'll adapt. All I need is time (and some good cold sore medication!)

Land of the Wee Folk

We were watching the Superstars of Dance of tv just now, and the dancers from Ireland performed.

I commented to Nat that they were Irish and she said, "If they are Irish people shouldn't they be this big?" and she held her hand about 6 inches off the floor.

Then I had to explain that just because they're Irish doesn't mean they're leprechauns!

Fun Times

Our local bellydance performance was really fun. I lived through my solo just fine (a surprise to me after stressing so much over it). I am really comfortable dancing in a group but when it comes to solo work...gulp! Very intimidating.

I kept debating what music to dance to. At first it was "definitely Karshilama", then, "maybe not", then "for sure not", then, "what the heck", so I ended up doing a Karshilama, but the obsessing and indecisiveness were very counter-productive. My former dance teacher always encouraged me to improv rather than choreograph, so I did, and I give myself extra credit for going out on that limb!

(And for you belly dance purists, yes I did do veil work with it, but I needed that veil. I think it's a kind of security blanket for me. It gives my arms something to do, and it's almost like having a swirly, silk dance partner.)

Most dancers don't like Karshilama for some reason. It is a very fast 9/8 rhythm, and there are fun traditional moves that go with it, mostly jumping and bouncing. My former teacher said when she would dance at Greek restaurants the drummers would challenge the dancers to keep up with the Karshilama and only the best dancers had the stamina to last as long as the drummers played (I'm sure my teacher was one of them, because in her sixties she would come and give our troupe a group lesson and kick all our butts!)

At any rate I did it, but realized afterward that I forgot to take off my glasses. Duh! I always dance with my glasses off so I can't see the audience and thus I'm much less nervous. Oh well! I also did a group dance and then later we had a free dance with all the dancers.

Here's a group shot. Amazingly, several of these gals qualify for the senior discount, but you'd never guess it by their energy and talent.

An Exciting, Edge-Of -Your -Seat Update

Well, apparently posting a lot on my blog was not one of my new year's resolutions! There's been a lot going on, just nothing interesting, but I'll post about it anyway, because what the heck, I'm bored and don't have anything else to do at the moment (yeah, yeah, those dishes can wait!)

I went back to the casino for more paperwork, and then was sent home with even MORE paperwork--a 23 page application for a gaming license that every casino employee must have. It's pretty intense. I had to list all my jobs (or lack there of) and residences for the last 15 years. Plus financial info, spouse info, criminal record info (luckily nothing to report there) and much more.

It was a test of my resolve to be employed as well as a test of my memory recall. Maybe that's how they weed out the wussies, I don't know! I go back this coming Tuesday and Wednesday for "employee orientation", and then hopefully they'll put me to work!

Nat and Shel have been getting in touch with their dramatic side and writing plays for the guinea pigs to act out. They did their own version of Rapunzel, and the pigs cooperated quite nicely.

Mike is selling one of his barbecues to help out our financial situation, and looks like the sale will go through this week. He also has his old Landcruiser on the market. He just got a really good insurance job (water damage from a broken pipe) that will be fairly lucrative too. Things are looking up a bit, thank goodness!

My dance friend got us into Rakkasah again this year. There's one day to call in for a spot, and she spent 5 (yes FIVE) hours redialing to get in. Wow! I hope my new job will let me have that day off (it's not until March).

The local dance girls here are all performing on Sunday, and I'm going to go out of my comfort zone and do a solo. I usually just dance with my troupe, but what the hay, I'm feeling pretty confident (or I was when I signed up for it). I finally got around to choosing my music after about 4 days of listening to stuff and decided to do a Karshilama which is a really fast 9/8 Turkish rhythm that has very bouncy (exhausting) traditional steps. No one else seems to like it except me, so I'm fairly confident that my solo will be unique. Most of the Karshilamas I had on cd were somewhere around 4 minutes long, but I finally found one that's only 2 1/2 minutes. I feel confident I can do that without dropping dead, so now I have to decide what to wear...that's the hardest part of performing after all!

That now concludes this fascinating update. You're welcome.

Best Year Ever

I found this in my inbox today, and thought it was just too cute not to pass along (I'm especially looking forward to those thieves):

My Wish for You in 2009
May peace break into your house and may thieves come to steal your debts. May the pockets of your jeans become a magnet of $100 bills. May love stick to your face like Vaseline and may laughter assault your lips! May your clothes smell of success like smoking tires and may happiness slap you across the face and may your tears be that of joy. May the problems you had forget your home address! In simple words ............
May 2009 be the best year of your life!!!

I'm Hired and Surprised All On The Same Day

After three long weeks, and after giving up entirely on the job at the casino coming through for me, I got a call this morning that they're offering me the restaurant hostess job I interviewed for.

I was told I had to come to the casino by 3pm today to sign a contingency letter to begin the hiring process. I wasn't sure why they were so insistent I do it today, but I was excited and eagerly drove over to do it.

When I got there the lady told me this was actually for the drug test, but that they don't tell people that, because some people won't show up, or will want to reschedule for a more "convenient" day.

Well, they sure fooled me! As long as they don't test for high levels of chocolate, I should be okay.

So the process begins...I have more hoops to jump through for them next week, and then some training, but hey, I'm on my way to a second paycheck again. Hurray!

Notes on Christmas

December 23, Christmas Light Excursion
We always go to a certain neighborhood when we visit my dad at Christmas time that's known for it's awesome light display. This year we found a couple new spots too. My new favorite thing is lights synchronized to music.

To me, looking at Christmas lights is the thing that really gets me into the spirit of Christmas. I absolutely love it. I am a cheap Christmas date, for sure-show me some lights and I'm good!

Christmas Eve, celebrate with Aunt and Uncle and Grandpa
I bought a gingerbread cookie kit for the kids since I never had time to bake this year. This also kept them busy while waiting for Aunt Tracy and Uncle Dave to come visit and spoil them all.

Let the spoiling begin!


Christmas morning at home

The big kids' dad came and spent Christmas morning with us. It was really, really nice, and a small Christmas miracle.

Here's a happy kid that got just what she wanted

and here's one that almost got thrown out with the trash

and who knew my son would still want (and enjoy) Legos at age 21? Nat enjoys them too, and here she and Bub build their Legos together.

I "conveniently" had my purse stolen right before Christmas giving the kids inspiration for my gift (a new wallet and purse). See how accommodating I am?

But the best gift of all was just having all my babies under one roof and enjoying each other's company. Moms are easy to please that way.

Articles of Faith Challenge

On Saturday, the Primary president had a small get-together of the kids who are working to get their Articles of Faith memorized by the end of the year so that they can receive their special certificates. Nat and Shel were there earnestly trying to get the last of their's checked off.

The Bishop of the church showed up, because he too wanted to accept the challenge of memorizing all 13 of these basic points of belief of the LDS church (and be a good example to the kids of course). He sat at the table surrounded by little girls and diligently worked on reciting them to the Primary president.

Nat looked up at him and noticed his Blue tooth headset on his ear, and asked him what it was. Before he could explain, she asked him if it was telling him the words. We all had a good laugh over that---the thought of the Bishop having someone on the line feeding him the answers!

The Articles of Faith are not easy to memorize (although thankfully there are songs that make it easier) and the Bishop left still having #13 (by far the most wordy) to work on. About an hour later, we received a call from him however, and over speaker phone, he was able to pass off this last one. The kids were proud of him.

Sick Kid, Warm Dog

Nat has the creeping crud, so I left her home with Sis while Shel and I went to church this morning.

This is the scene as I left--Nat using our "ferocious" pit bull Suey as a lounge while watching tv. Thank goodness for tolerant, cuddly dogs!

The Gift of Music

Two years ago Cam and his dad went around "caroling" as a trumpet and trombone duet. Here they are in front of our house playing Carol of the Bells, which has since become my all time favorite Christmas carol.

Being able to play music and share that gift with others is so incredible (spoken by someone who wishes she had that gift). This really made my Christmas in 2006.


Carol of the Bells-Cam on Trumpet

One Less Job, One Less Paycheck

Well I'm partially unemployed as of today. It was my last day at the printing place. I seriously counted down the days (only 8 more days...only 3 more days, 1 more day to go...).

I have been a printer before. Right out of high school I started at PIP printing running a press and put myself through college with that job. Then I worked at this current printing company some 9 years ago, again running a press.

I know the printing business is stressful. There's always a deadline and there's always a machine that seems to want to work against you making that deadline, but it was something I knew and was ok with, until I came back to work at said printing place. Now I know that I really don't ever need to revisit the printing business as a viable job option again. Ever. If I even think about it slap some sense into me, seriously.

This time when I came back to the printing place, they had gotten rid of the offset press, so I was their Jill of all trades so to speak. They just put me where they needed me. Then I learned that things had gone down hill a bit in the management area, and there was a lot of yelling and blaming and tense feelings as well as very little training.

I thought it was just me, until a gal that's worked there for 12 years confided in me that she planned on working 2 more years until she was of retirement age, but because things had gotten so bad at the shop she wasn't sure she would make it that long.

It was such a relief to walk out today and know I didn't have to come back. But then it was scary because I need a second job still (my restaurant job is only Friday and Saturday nights plus a few events per month). I'm learning that the job market is very competitive right now, even for part-time no-benefit minimum-wage type jobs.

So should I have stuck it out until I had another job? Probably, but already my attitude is uplifted and the stress has melted from my shoulders. What price sanity and happiness? I guess I'll find out!

A Poetic Masterpiece?

This week has been crazy. I've felt like I'm on a treadmill and someone keeps increasing the speed. I've been filling out job applications and updating my resume and bothering people to write me letters of reference all in my search for another job (I gave my 2 weeks notice at the printing job on Monday. I figured I didn't need to be working at a place that made me want to kill myself. Yeah, that's just NOT good.)

So on Wednesday night, after doing my day job and returning at 10pm from my restaurant job, I'm sitting at the computer writing my resume, when Sis informs me that if I'm going to do a senior ad for her in the yearbook, the deadline is the following day. Whoops! I know she really wants me to do this for her, she's been pretty blatant about letting me know, and leaving the form in a convenient spot for me, but in my busy-ness, I had forgotten about it.

So here it is, after 11pm, I am beat, I've got tons of things still to do, but I want to make sure this gets done tonight. I search for inspiration on the internet, and not finding anything that sounds just right, I decide to compose a poem on my own. I really must have been delirious, because I just don't DO poetry.

I start typing stuff out, and finding rhyming words, and before I know it, I'm getting all sappy and sentimental and even tearing up a bit. It's about midnight when I finally finish it. I put my poetic masterpiece in a sealed envelope along with the requisite form and money for Sis to take to school the next day. I give myself a hearty pat on the back and I'm off to bed.

Well the next day after work, I start thinking about this poem and go back and re-read it. It is seriously heavy on the sap...and a little dorky sounding...and well, to be honest it sounds like I was drunk when I wrote it (keeping in mind that I don't drink). Sis is pretty hard to embarrass, but this may actually do it.

I can't print it here and ruin the "surprise", but Sis may come to regret pushing me to do a senior ad for her!

Edit-here it is:

How'd you become so weird, so sassy, so wild?

How'd you become outgoing, opinionated and so confident a child?

How'd you become a grown up instead of a girl?

How'd it happen that the years flew by in a whirl?

The answers it seems, only you know,

So smart, so bright, so ready to go.

I look for my little girl, but I am too slow,

You're already on to the next act of your show.

Time watching you grow has been cherished time spent,

I've sat back and admired your spunk and your talent.

Away you go, your own life to make,

Just remember a piece of my heart you will take.

Note to self: Writing poetry at midnight, when it's not your strong suit to begin with, is a BAD IDEA. (Edit 2025--I don't think it was that bad. I've learned to give myself some grace.)

Scrooged!

Tonight Shelby was involved in a school music concert. Mike and the girls arrived before me and I arrived with a few minutes to spare. I had to park way out on the street, and I tossed my purse on the floor board because I knew I wouldn't need it, then locked my car and hurriedly walked to the auditorium.

Well, this is what I found after the program was over:

A jagged hole where my passenger window used to be, and a missing purse. Dang it! I felt so dumb! I don't think my purse would've been noticeable had I not parked right under a street light. It was really unexpected, as I've never had anything like this happen in our close-knit little community.

Nat and Shel were totally freaked out and started crying. They definitely took it harder than I did.

After the sheriff arrived and took a report, I drove home and immediately canceled my credit and debit cards. My credit card had already been used, but they charged only $1. The credit card lady said it was probably a "test charge" to see if the card was good. Weird. I called the sheriff and told him when and where the card had been used, and maybe that information will prove useful.

Luckily I only had $5 in my wallet and had just deposited the checks that were in my purse. I will notify the bank tomorrow, and am racking my brain to think of what else I may need to be concerned about that was in my purse.

Scrooged! Someone's getting coal in their stocking this year for sure!

Special Visitors

Cam and Cass drove up for the day yesterday to visit. I was able to leave work at noon and they treated me to a picnic at the park.

Then we strolled through town for a little window shopping. Really fun! I love hanging out with these two. They're adorable together.

Shel, and especially Nat look at their brother like he's a rock star. They just adore him and can't get enough of being near him. It's very sweet.

Sis and her boyfriend arrived after school. We happened to have some melty beads out and wouldn't you know all 6 of these "kids" started making things with beads, then Cam got out some Legos, to add to the fun.

I got a kick out of seeing them all "playing together". It kind of reminded me of doing daycare!

But it was also really cool to get a feel for how it might be in years to come when I have a daughter or son-in-law. I could really get used to that!

We'll get to have more fun with Cam and Cass in a couple weeks at Christmas. I can't wait!

Inspiration

Wow! I got to see the likes of Rachel Brice, Zoe Jakes and Ariellah dance tonight. It was fantastic. A different style of bellydance than I practice, but fantastic just the same. A lot of the music was very industrial, I guess you'd say. Lots of clanking and such. The dancing consisted of a lot of locking and snakey movements. Very different, but very inspiring. I think I have a new tribal fusion favorite:

Zoe Jakes

She's just oozing personality and talent. What a treat it was to see her perform.

The cool thing was the performance was fairly local, so nearly all the dancers in our area showed up. As we waited for the performance to start, I made the rounds saying hello, and catching up with women I haven't seen in a while.

It stuck me, that it really wasn't that long ago that I was at a local event seeing a troupe of belly dancers perform, and I was just so in awe of them. I thought at the time how cool it would be to learn belly dance, and now here I am a part of the local belly dance community, and friends with those same women who inspired me not so many years ago.

Wow. Funny what you can accomplish when you set your mind to it. Inspiring indeed.

There's No Such Thing As Too Much Thankfulness Or Too Much Turkey, Right?

Ok, here I go being all thankful again, because it beats being all poopy like I have been (but seriously this is not my favorite time of year -- I hate the pressure of Christmas and I don't like the short days and dark, cold nights...but I digress, oops!)

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving visiting my dad, my sister and my brother-in-law. Mike did all the cooking as usual, and I did the last minute cranberry sauce (or rolls, or butter, or turkey baster) run to the grocery store just hours before the big meal, as usual.

So in honor of Thanksgiving here's a few more things I'm thankful about:

My dad for generously helping me out with Christmas and for refraining from telling me that I seriously need to get my life together one of these years, 'cause I'm 44, for Pete's sake.

Getting to hang out with my incredibly grown up son and his incredibly gorgeous and sweet girlfriend (who totally knows how to tease Mike).

Turkey, seriously I can't get enough of left-over sandwiches.

The weather on Thanksgiving day for being so warm and sunny and nice! Phooey on all you crisp fall day people!

Having 2 1/2 days off of work. Sheer bliss!

Shopping at the mall with my girls (and dare I say I'm thankful for Mrs. Field's and her tasty cookies?)

My dog, because she's so easy to take with us. (Plus also Petsmart, because it's fun to have a place to take the dog shopping too.)

I call this photo "Dogouflage"

Getting to spend time with my sister. and how sweet she is with the girls.