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Saturday, November 20, 2010
Thursday, August 19, 2010
The Big Move
So it's been almost two weeks since our big move. Here's what the adventure entailed:
Day 1 - Filled up the moving truck and the trailer and took off at about 3:30 pm. It took a few hours to get out of LA because it was a Friday afternoon. We got to Vegas before midnight. The rest of Nevada was so boring. It comes in a close second to the state of Nebraska.
Day 2 - We arrive in Kuna, ID at 2:00 pm (Mountain Time). Jason's parents had plans to go to the annual fire station dinner. The food was so good.
Day 3 - We take Landon to the Toys R Us in Boise to use his gift cards he got for his birthday and we used it towards a John Deere ride-on truck.
Day 4 - We drive to Tristan's new school (which involves passing a cornfield (haha)) and attempt to register him but they are closed for the whole week.
Day 5 - Jason starts his first official day at work at a local Honda dealership. He passed the drug test the day before with flying colors.
Day 6 - The moving truck arrives ahead of schedule. We had to scrounge up the rest of the money we owed them since we thought we had more time, but we pulled it off thanks to a unnamed source.
Day 7 - I take the kids to the best park I have ever seen. It's called Settler's Park in Meridian. It has two playground sections, one for big kids and one for little kids. It also has a music section, artificial rocks to climb, and our favorite part: the splash pad. There is no park in LA that can compare to this one. Oh, and it has ample parking, unlike where we had to park on the street like a Polliwog.
Day 8 - Jason buys a new truck. He almost got a 2005 Dodge Ram 2500 with a lift but I talked him into getting a smaller truck that was more affordable so he got a 2006 GMC Canyon.
Day 9 - We take the new truck to the storage unit to get some of our furniture. It takes two trips.
Day 10 - We wade in the creek (about half mile from the house) and the water is freezing but felt good on a hot day. And then have a fire in the fire pit and eat smores.
Day 11 - Tristan gets registered for school and it took like 5 minutes. We find out his teacher on 8/20. It will be quite an experience for him from a small school in a big town to a big school in a small town. His school is only K-3 but has about five classes per grade.
Day 13 - Took the boys to the Meridian Speedway for some car races. It was lots of fun.
That's about the most exciting things to happen so far. I've taken pics along the way and have posted them all on Facebook.
Day 1 - Filled up the moving truck and the trailer and took off at about 3:30 pm. It took a few hours to get out of LA because it was a Friday afternoon. We got to Vegas before midnight. The rest of Nevada was so boring. It comes in a close second to the state of Nebraska.
Day 2 - We arrive in Kuna, ID at 2:00 pm (Mountain Time). Jason's parents had plans to go to the annual fire station dinner. The food was so good.
Day 3 - We take Landon to the Toys R Us in Boise to use his gift cards he got for his birthday and we used it towards a John Deere ride-on truck.
Day 4 - We drive to Tristan's new school (which involves passing a cornfield (haha)) and attempt to register him but they are closed for the whole week.
Day 5 - Jason starts his first official day at work at a local Honda dealership. He passed the drug test the day before with flying colors.
Day 6 - The moving truck arrives ahead of schedule. We had to scrounge up the rest of the money we owed them since we thought we had more time, but we pulled it off thanks to a unnamed source.
Day 7 - I take the kids to the best park I have ever seen. It's called Settler's Park in Meridian. It has two playground sections, one for big kids and one for little kids. It also has a music section, artificial rocks to climb, and our favorite part: the splash pad. There is no park in LA that can compare to this one. Oh, and it has ample parking, unlike where we had to park on the street like a Polliwog.
Day 8 - Jason buys a new truck. He almost got a 2005 Dodge Ram 2500 with a lift but I talked him into getting a smaller truck that was more affordable so he got a 2006 GMC Canyon.
Day 9 - We take the new truck to the storage unit to get some of our furniture. It takes two trips.
Day 10 - We wade in the creek (about half mile from the house) and the water is freezing but felt good on a hot day. And then have a fire in the fire pit and eat smores.
Day 11 - Tristan gets registered for school and it took like 5 minutes. We find out his teacher on 8/20. It will be quite an experience for him from a small school in a big town to a big school in a small town. His school is only K-3 but has about five classes per grade.
Day 13 - Took the boys to the Meridian Speedway for some car races. It was lots of fun.
That's about the most exciting things to happen so far. I've taken pics along the way and have posted them all on Facebook.
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Friday, May 14, 2010
So I got laid off.....
This all started back in February of this year. I was invited to the CCC (Clear Channel Communications) corporate office for a week long Finance Transformation meeting. I really didn't know what it entailed until I got there. My boss said I was elected by corporate as a "Subject Matter Expert" and that only a dozen or so were selected in all of the finance departments nationwide in a company of thousands. I considered this to be a great honor and was really proud of myself. When I got there and went through these "workshops" I realized that the Finance Transformation that was happening was basically us developing a Shared Service Center where all finance department functions would happen. When we returned my boss ensured me that my job was safe and that they would just train me in other necessary accounting functions, which would help further my career.
And then in mid-April these functions that I currently did (credit and collections) officially transitioned to the SSC in San Antonio. Again my boss (who has since been promoted to Western Regional Finance Manager) told me that I would be trained in other analytical functions and maybe even working on a special project with Marketing.
Then May 13th happened. I'm sure that they messed up with the calendar and yesterday should have been on a Friday. My new boss (the new local FM) asked me to come downstairs with him. At first I thought this was a little odd, and when we walked into the conference room and I saw our GM sitting there and our former FM (now our new regional FM) on the speakerphone. I got excited for a milli-second and thought they might actually be offering me this new fancy position with a nice big raise. But then my former boss (on the speakerphone) started to speak (and I could tell he was reading from a script the way how he sounded so matter of factly and with no pause.
I was told what I already knew, that my main functions at the company were moved out of this branch, but then he said what I didn't expect: My position at the company has been terminated. I was given the option of applying for a job at the SSC in Texas or take a severance package after a certain tranision period. I was so upset. I left for the rest of the day in tears. It makes me glad that I have a short commute and didn't have to travel far to get home and cry with my face in a pillow. Luckily it was Jason's normal day off so he was there when I got home to console me. I wailed for about 10 minutes after I got home and explained to him what happened and then I wiped up my tears got up and updated my resume.
After Jason and I (and also the rest of my family) discussed it, I decided that taking the position in TX (which was not guaranteed) was not in my best interest. It would have been a different story if I was young and single. Jason and I had already been talking seriously about leaving CA for the past few years and in fact had decided about a week ago that we were definately going to do it this summer. The two places we were considering were near Nashville (where one of Jason's brothers lives) or near Boise (where Jason's mom, stepdad, and another brother lives). After seeing the devastation that Nashville went through these past few weeks, we decided it would definately be Boise.
We visited Idaho last summer and we really enjoyed it. It wasn't at all what I had expected. It's much like the mid-west that I left over 15 years ago. I never really felt like I was meant to be in CA. The first year here was a real struggle for me. However, after a short stint in TX back in 1999 I vowed never to leave CA again. But my life is so drastically different than it was 10 years ago, that I think this will be a much more smoother transition for me.
I told Tristan about it last night and he seemed REALLY excited about it. I don't think he realizes how different things will be yet. Landon I'm sure won't notice anything different and won't even remember living in CA.
July will be a SUPER busy month for us. That's when we'll really get a crack on packing things up. And we'll have to squeeze in Landon's bday party and maybe even a going away party in there somewhere. Also, my dad is taking Tristan (just the two of them) to Walt Disney Wworld in FL for a whole week at the end of July. I was T's age the first time I went and have very fond memories. I'm so jealous.
I'm not going to look for work in CA between my last day and when we leave. Since it coincides with the boys getting out of school, I'll just spend the time packing and hanging out with my boys.
So here's the breakdown:
My last day at CCC and also the boy's last day of school - June 18th
Our garage/moving sale - June 26th
Moving day - August 7th
And then in mid-April these functions that I currently did (credit and collections) officially transitioned to the SSC in San Antonio. Again my boss (who has since been promoted to Western Regional Finance Manager) told me that I would be trained in other analytical functions and maybe even working on a special project with Marketing.
Then May 13th happened. I'm sure that they messed up with the calendar and yesterday should have been on a Friday. My new boss (the new local FM) asked me to come downstairs with him. At first I thought this was a little odd, and when we walked into the conference room and I saw our GM sitting there and our former FM (now our new regional FM) on the speakerphone. I got excited for a milli-second and thought they might actually be offering me this new fancy position with a nice big raise. But then my former boss (on the speakerphone) started to speak (and I could tell he was reading from a script the way how he sounded so matter of factly and with no pause.
I was told what I already knew, that my main functions at the company were moved out of this branch, but then he said what I didn't expect: My position at the company has been terminated. I was given the option of applying for a job at the SSC in Texas or take a severance package after a certain tranision period. I was so upset. I left for the rest of the day in tears. It makes me glad that I have a short commute and didn't have to travel far to get home and cry with my face in a pillow. Luckily it was Jason's normal day off so he was there when I got home to console me. I wailed for about 10 minutes after I got home and explained to him what happened and then I wiped up my tears got up and updated my resume.
After Jason and I (and also the rest of my family) discussed it, I decided that taking the position in TX (which was not guaranteed) was not in my best interest. It would have been a different story if I was young and single. Jason and I had already been talking seriously about leaving CA for the past few years and in fact had decided about a week ago that we were definately going to do it this summer. The two places we were considering were near Nashville (where one of Jason's brothers lives) or near Boise (where Jason's mom, stepdad, and another brother lives). After seeing the devastation that Nashville went through these past few weeks, we decided it would definately be Boise.
We visited Idaho last summer and we really enjoyed it. It wasn't at all what I had expected. It's much like the mid-west that I left over 15 years ago. I never really felt like I was meant to be in CA. The first year here was a real struggle for me. However, after a short stint in TX back in 1999 I vowed never to leave CA again. But my life is so drastically different than it was 10 years ago, that I think this will be a much more smoother transition for me.
I told Tristan about it last night and he seemed REALLY excited about it. I don't think he realizes how different things will be yet. Landon I'm sure won't notice anything different and won't even remember living in CA.
July will be a SUPER busy month for us. That's when we'll really get a crack on packing things up. And we'll have to squeeze in Landon's bday party and maybe even a going away party in there somewhere. Also, my dad is taking Tristan (just the two of them) to Walt Disney Wworld in FL for a whole week at the end of July. I was T's age the first time I went and have very fond memories. I'm so jealous.
I'm not going to look for work in CA between my last day and when we leave. Since it coincides with the boys getting out of school, I'll just spend the time packing and hanging out with my boys.
So here's the breakdown:
My last day at CCC and also the boy's last day of school - June 18th
Our garage/moving sale - June 26th
Moving day - August 7th
Monday, April 19, 2010
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
My Boy's Baptism
Valentine's Day was extra special this year. We baptized our boys, Jason and I were confirmed, and we all became official members of our church.
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Clear Channel Outdoor’s Jeff Castel Rides to End HIV/AIDS for Fourth Consecutive Year
This story is about a co-worker of mine. He's such an inspiration...
Clear Channel Outdoor’s Jeff Castel Rides to End HIV/AIDS for Fourth Consecutive Year
Los Angeles, CA – Jeff Castel, Production Coordinator for Clear Channel Outdoor Los Angles, will be riding his bike 545 miles in 7 days from San Francisco to Los Angeles to fight HIV/AIDS for AIDS/Lifecycle 9. This will be his fourth year raising money and awareness for the HIV and AIDS services of the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center and the San Francisco AIDS Foundation.
Castel said: “For the past three years I conquered the exhausting hills and endless miles of road while helping save the lives of those living with HIV and AIDS. Without a doubt it remains to be the most challenging and fulfilling experience of my life.”
The fight to end AIDS is far from over. In the United States every 9 1/2 minutes, someone is infected with HIV. Over 1 million in the United States are currently living with HIV, including 21% who are unaware of their status.
Castel has made a personal commitment to physically train for the 545 mile ride and raise a minimum of $3,000 for those living with HIV and AIDS. Donations are made available immediately to the organizations who provide: community programs, education, low cost or free medical care, pharmacy services and free HIV testing.
You can read more about Castel and AIDS/Lifecycle, view his progress, blog and photos on his personal homepage at www.aidslifecycle.org. Select "Donate" at the top, then enter "Castel.”
Monday, January 18, 2010
Four Christmases
I was a little dissapointed that most of the funniest lines in the movie were all used in the preview but was laughing my ass off at the final scene. Totally reminded me of my dad. You have to see it.
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