My new job...

Ok so here's the info on my new job.... It's a "temp-to-hire" job through a staffing agency. If I stay there and they still like me after 90 days, then the company will hire me. The company is called Blackhawk! (yes the exclamation is part of their name). They make tactical gear for the military, government, law enforcement, and hunters. My position will be receptionist that will include some data entry. It's not my ideal job, so it's not going to keep me from looking.

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Second Grade Silly Songs

February 18th, 2011

 

Tristan and his fellow second graders performed some silly songs this past Friday.  Here are some pics and videos.

She’ll Be Coming ‘Round the Mountain

 

On Top of Spaghetti

Toaster Time

This is where the “Hole in the Bucket” song  video would go but I had issues publishing it.  I may try and repost it later when I have more patience.

 

    

 

 

Down By The Bay

Fuzzy Wuzzy

 

Michael Finnagin

John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt

  

 

Thank you from Mrs Edvalson

Latest Update/TicTacSew

The job hunt has been a lot more difficult than I anticipated. I've been seriously looking every day for the past two months plus and nothing yet. I've had three interviews in the past two months and neither hired me.

So I guess I was meant to be a stay-at-home mom. Since I will not have much to pass my time other than caring for Landon and the oh so exciting housework, I decided to open my own Etsy store to sell some homemade creations. I've made some photo pillows in the past so that will definitely be a top product and then I have also discovered homemade appliques which I want to do more of. Today I went and got some supplies from JoAnn's and also got some fabric out of storage so I can get crackin on my inventory.

The Etsy store is called TicTacSew (technically TicTacSew0 since the original name was already taken). I also created a Facebook page so all my friends can keep up to date on my new creations.

There is currently no inventory yet, but stay tuned.

Christmas Cards have officially been ordered.

Picture Joy Christmas

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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.

MOVING SALE - Torrance, CA 90502 - PennySaverUSA

MOVING SALE - Torrance, CA 90502 - PennySaverUSA

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

Park Photo Shoot for Jason's Birthday Prints

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Easter 2010

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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.

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.”

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.

My lil boy has survived his first week of grade school

I can't believe the little baby that was placed in my arms six years, seven months, and twenty two days ago is now in first grade. In the few weeks before school started I'm not sure who was more excited me or him. He didn't use the word excited until the day before. I'm sure it won't come as a surprise to most of my friends that his backpack was packed and ready to go about a month before school started.

The only thing I had put off was purchasing some shorts and pants for his uniform. I wish I hadn't put it off now because I had no idea how difficult it would be to find khaki or navy blue pants or shorts that were not cargo style and were his size. A few days before school started I went to five different stores to find them. The first was Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart had a great selection of the solid color polo shirts we needed and they were only $5 each. They however did not have any shorts in the whole boys section that weren't cargo style. They did also have a great selection of black pants, however, only blue or khaki color are allowed. The next store was Target. They appeared to have a good selection of everything except polos, but I seemed to have arrived a day late, since their shelves were practically empty. On next to Fallas Paredes. Right before we walked in the store I got a big whiff of what smelled like barf. And it didn't go away after we walked in the store. They did have a great selection of everything, polos, shorts, pants, and in all the right colors. The only problem was they weren't the best quality and they seemed to have every size but his. On next was K-Mart right next door. This store also had an unpleasant odor, this time it was urine. And they did not have any uniform selection to speak of. I finally broke down and went to an actual uniform store a few miles away. And man did they have everything. One problem was everything was a little spendier than I was anticipating. I only purchased three shorts at $11 each. Ok so enough about uniforms.

T's first day was on September 8th. I brought him to school and took some pics of him at home just before we left and also some of him at school. Of course we were the first one's there arriving about 15 minutes before school started. We had met Tristan's teacher the week before and he really seemed to like her. But boy did it make me feel old finding out that she went to the same high school as me only graduating seven years after me and here she is my son's first grade teacher. I hung around in his classroom and chatted with some of the other moms as they arrived. When the bell rang I kissed him goodbye.

I arrived at noon to pick him up since the first day is only a half day. I took him to McD's and then brought him to my office for the rest of the afternoon. He played his DS for about an hour, colored for about an hour and then watched cartoons in the conference room for about 2 hours. I was so proud that he was such well behaved while I worked.

The week hasn't gone by without any problems though. The first two days Tristan was "On Green" the whole day long. The teacher created a system of colors each student is on depending on how well they are behaved. Green = good, full access to recess; Yellow = slightly misbehaved, no stars; Red = slightly more misbehaved, 5 min less of recess; Blue = bad behavior, 10 minutes less of recess and note sent home for parents to sign; Purple = very bad behavior, note sent home, and no recess.

Thursday he was on Blue. And Friday he was on purple. I was shocked to find that he had been so ill-behaved. Both Jason and I have given him stern talking to's about how important it is to listen to the teacher and do what she says. Also, for this he is on restriction. He last lost his favorite privileges, his DS, his watch, and Gpa visits for at least a week. And only gets them back if he is consistently on green for a whole week.

As long as we're on the subject of first grade, I thought I'd share a story of when I was his age. I was in Mrs. Gackles class at Indian Mounds Elementary, Bloomington, MN. It was the first day that I had the school lunch (my mom had normally made my lunch). The menu was cheeseburgers I believe. Shortly after lunch Mrs Gackle had to leave the classroom for something and gave us strict instructions to not leave our desks NO MATTER WHAT! It was after she left that I started to feel the cheeseburger in my stomach not agreeing with me. I obeyed her instructions and stayed at my desk and proceeded to puke out my lunch on the kid in front of me. He so happened to be of Asian decent. Where we lived there weren't many minorities so my parents often joked that I was allergic to Asians.

Doctor Visit

The other day I took the boys to the doctor. When I went to pick up the boys from school they were both still napping. Tristan started to cry when I told him that he'd probably have to get a shot. Tristan's stats: 39 pounds & 43.5 inches. Landon's stats: 26 pounds & 32.75 inches. They are both at the 25% percentile for their height and weight (which means that 75% of kids their age are heavier and taller than them) . Basically I have short and skinny kids. I'm not surprised about the weight, but I'm still surprised that they are so short. Both Jason and I are taller than average (I think). At my tallest I was 5'7" and Jason is about 6'1" or 2". It turns out that Tristan did not need a shot (which he was very thankful for). But Landon did. I got to hold him down while the nurse gave it to him in the thigh. I was so proud of him cause he only wimpered for a millisecond. Tristan got to do a hearing and vision test. He did average on the hearing and excellent on the vision test. He also had to provide a urine sample. This was not easy. The doctor's office has a nice size restroom with a regular toilet, a mini toilet, and a changing table. Well not only did I have to hold the cup while T gave his sample but I had to keep Landon from touching the other toilet and unraveling all toilet paper. I needed five arms at one point. And after all that I think T got more pee on the wall than in the cup. And just when I thought the appointment was all over and done with they ask that we go to the lab down the street so Landon can give a blood sample. My heart just about stopped beating as I was thinking in my head about how I was going to keep a very active two year old still long enough for a blood sample. Well Landon was absolutely perfect. Just some minor wiggling that I was able to control with help from Tristan keeping him distracted and only a small wimper when they took the needle out. He actually cried more later that day when I took the band-aid off his arm.

All in all I am the proud mother of two healthy and active little boys.

My Baby is Now 2 - HOLY COW!!

I can't believe it's been two years since my little boy was born. I remember exactly where I was at 12am on July 18th 2007. I was stepping out of my house on the way to the hospital shortly after my water broke at home. And yes, Landon was born exactly on his due date, which I here only happens like 5% of the time. Two years later he's a walking talking little terror of a monkey but I love him just the same.

The day (his actual second birthday) started off with my mom and dad picking up both boys and taking them to the park, Kids Concepts, and back to their house for a nap. This was a present in and of itself to me because it allowed me to straighten up the house and run last minute errands kid-free. Then at six pm guests arrived and the party commenced. It was no huge shibang like we've thrown before, we wanted to keep it low key due to a more limited budget and fewer number of guests able to attend. The kids went back and forth from playing on the train table that we moved to the living room to the swingset outside. Then it was the usual cake and presents. Here are some of the pics:

Playing with Grandpa at Kids Concepts

Playing with all the balloons.

He's not really that tall he was standing on a chair. I had to hold his hands cause he wanted to touch the fire.

Mmmm....yummy cake

Some of our friends who celebrated with us, Hoa & Landen, and MacKenzie & Lacey.

For more pictures, visit my page on facebook www.facebook.com/smurfica5

The Joys of WalMart

So I went to the local WalMart last week to pick up some essentials. After I parked and was less than 20 feet from my car, a very energetic young woman comes running up to me. She had a clipboard and a backpack. I tried to ignore her because I figured she either wanted to sell something or have me sign a petition. She just started walking right along side me and said "Let's chat and walk together." I just gave her a who-the-hell-are-you-look, but it didn't scare her off. Then she went into a whole schpeel about some scholarship mumbo jumbo and I quickly interupted her and said "I have no money on me", which was true, because I hardly ever carry cash, and even if I did I wouldn't be giving it to a complete stranger. She continued on about it being a donation and I said "I still don't have any money on me." I started to walk off faster and I think she finally got the hint. Then as I reached the end of the parking aisle this man walking out of the store gave me an up and down look and made a kissy sound. I was so disgusted and yelled "F**K OFF" at him. By now I'm really in a bad mood and haven't even made it in the store. Then right as I'm about to enter the store a young boy tries to get me to buy a chocolate bar for $3. If it hadn't been for the good deals I got in the store (school uniform shirts for only $5) I would consider never going to WalMart again.

Tristan - Six and a half

Tristan was very excited to here that today he was officially six and a half years old. He likes when there is dew on the car windows and always ask that I right a 6 on his window. You should have seen his face when I added a 1/2 to it. Other things happening with Tristan are:

• 7 weeks till school starts. I need to spend the next few weeks stocking up on school uniforms and all the new supplies he'll need. This will be Tristan's first experience in a real school environment. His first day lets out at noon, so I'm going to take the morning off and drive him there myself, participate in the morning worship, take him to McD's for lunch, and then let him hang out at my work for the rest of the day.


• Tomorrow is his field trip to "Up" at the El Capitan in downtown Los Angeles. He has been patiently waiting to see this movie since it premiered about a month ago. He is doubly excited since daddy will be one of the chaperones. The next and last summer school field trip will be next month to a marionette theater.


• He is not looking forward to next week's yearly dr checkup. I called and found out that he'll be getting two shots. I am going to have to ask that he get them at the same time, cause after the first one he'll be kicking and screaming if he had to get another. And now that I think of it I'll have to ask that they do the same for Landon now that he's in the hitting phase.

First Post

I always wanted to start my own blog. I've used Myspace and Facebook but they don't have very good blogging capabilities. They are more like mini-blogs. Plus I wanted to have a blog that my non-FB friends and family could see without having to be my "friend", like Dad :)

This first blog is also a test to see if a post will show up on my FB page that I attempted to connect.

I'm attaching the most recent photo of myself that Tristan took of me a week ago in Idaho.