So, here we are again. A New Year. Woo? Here is to hoping that 2009 is better. *why does it feel like I say that every year? Oh…right…I do*.

I hope the Holidays were good for all. They were odd and crazy around here. We decided instead of doing a bunch of shopping, to spend a week down at my Mom’s and take the kids to Disneyland, as none of them (nor Dan) have been. Because of that, I decided to not fuss with Yule decorations…so it never really “felt” like Yule. No baking, no tree, no…anything really. Well, we DID get slam dunked with a buncha snow - kinda odd for Eugene in December…but it was cool - for the first day. :) I ended up having to work from home most of the week before my vacaction, because Eugene isn’t really well prepared for such weather, and doesn’t really fix the roads when it DOES happen. So, the main pipeline (Beltline) to Springfield where the Symantec office is, was pretty much an ice rink. That led to my nearly having 3 full weeks off…which I MUST say…was nice…but is ALOT of time to spend cooped up with three kids and a bored husband. ALOT of time. ALOT.

Our trip went well for the most part. We took off early afternoon the 17th, with the first stop being Redding for an overnight bunk with my BFF. It occurred to me during the drive, that I’ve now known her for TWENTY years. 20! T.W.E.N.T.Y.!!! Holy Cheese. I AM OLD! The drive took about twice as long as I had hoped for, as just past Grant’s Pass and the Siskyou’s Pass were full of snow flurries, icey roads and TONS of Semi’s. Talk about white knuckles. Oye. We got to Redding in one piece, had a quick snack, cocktail (god I needed that Oatmeal Cookie!) and chat, and hit the hay.

The next day was the long haul to San Clemente. We got a fairly early start, and it was mostly uneventful until we got closer to L.A. The weather held beautifully, and traffic was light…so that rocked. Once we got past Modesto, things got weird for a bit. There is a HUGE LONG stretch that is basically an old sea bed I think - its a basin of sorts. Straight shot for miles and miles. Generally unpoliced, two lanes each way (stretch of I-5). I got in the fast lane, got up to about 75 or so, slapped on cruise control, and settled in for a boring 2 hour stretch. Then, cars started zooming around me, tons of them. THen the flashing of brights and the motioning for me to move to the slow lane began. WTH? So I move over to the slow lane (need I mention its a 70MPH stretch) and am slowed down to 55-60 - due to Semi’s. F That. Back over in the fast lane, as its now mostly clear - and cruise back up to 75-77 or so. No go. Again I am being zoomed passed, honked at, flashed - generally annoyed. Screw this! I take off Cruise - pedal to metal and I am pacing these morons at 85-90. Seriously. Fine, they wanna speed? I will just stick with the pack and make it to Mom’s house early. Nope. Wrong, try again. I only stay at this speed for maybe a mile, and all of sudden - break lights everywhere and “The Pack” is now crawling along at 65MPH. WTH??? I slow down as well, of course, and then the cycle starts all over again. I played this “game” for TWO HOURS driving through the Basin. o.O Drivers are idiots. Just find a nice, consistent speed - and DRIVE. SHEESH!

Though, I did totally make Haley’s day at one point during “The Game”. I had this moron chic behind me, flashing me - urging me to move over or speed up. Trouble was - I was only one car length behind the guy in front of me - and was lined by Semi’s in the slow lane. She did not seem to grasp the concept that I was not going to squish my SUV between semi’s - NOR tail the guy in front of me. So….I crept up next to the cab of the semi I was next to - so he could clearly see me, and started pacing him. Totally locked the nimrod behind me right where she was. MAN did that piss her off! The arms flew, the lights flashed and you could tell she was kickin’ a fit - dumb ass. Don’t freakin’ flash me when I have NO WHERE TO GO! I did this for a mile or so, until the pack in front of me thinned out - then I slammed on the gas and flew off down the road. Haley and I had quite the laugh. :)

The Grapevine was nice and icy. I hit a patch or two going down - thankfully I managed to stay in MY lane and so all was good…but that road at night, with ice? NOT recommended. Finally got to Mom’s about two hours behind schedule, due to a small “Navigation” error by Dan - but that can easily happen in L.A., so many freakin’ splits, freeways and traffic….YUCK!After a late dinner and some staring at the TV with a glass of wine, we called it a night. The rest of the week was filled with family get-togethers, shopping, baking, cooking, LOTS of wine, Wii playing, crocheting (I was trying desprately to NOT go out and smoke…had to keep the fingers busy) and lots of driving. It was a nice reminder why we left California, and why I would never live in LA. You have to drive fifteen forevers to get anywhere, and your entire day is commanded by the clock. Had to be “here” at “this time” and “there” at “that time” and…bah to it all.

Friday after Christmas we went to Disneyland. It was a 12 hour day PACKED full of walking, rides, and really - not too many lines. There was GADS of people. I mean TONS. More than I’ve ever seen at any of the parks I’ve visited. I don’t suppose that it was helped by the fact that USC was there celebrating the Rose Bowl that was coming (and that they won! WOOO!) AND it was a Holiday Week AND the nicest weather that LA had all week…but still! It was FREEZING most of the day - so lucky for us, lots of walking helped keep us warm. I’ve never been to any of the parks at Christmas, and I am glad I did for this trip. The park has always been pretty - but they really do go ALL out for Christmas! Soooo many lights, garlands, trees and wow, the Castle at night - utterly breath taking. Claire got to meet her Idol, Tinkerbell. It was a very cool moment for her, and really touching for Dan and I. For weeks, all she could talk about was wanting to go to see Tink, and when we finally got there, after a near 40 min wait - all she could do was stare up at Tink in utter reverance and awe. She slowly nodded to Tink’s questions, and finally after a bit of encouragement, musterd up the strength to use her arms and gave Tink a big ole hug. I could see on her face that her mind was racing with the thought of “OMG, you really DO exist!!!”. It was very cool. :) We hit all the “big” rides, except Splash Mountain. However, considering the tempature and the fact that Splash is a log ride…I am ok with having skipped it. ;) The Haunted House was very fun, having been completely redecorated (inside AND out) with a Nightmare Before Christmas theme, of which I tried to take pictures of - but pretty much failed miserably at. Space Mountain and Thunder Mountain will always be my favorites, but the “new” Indian Jones ride was VERY cool. I am happy that we waited in line for over an hour for it (that being hte longest wait we endured, thanks to smart planning, fastpasses and some sheer dumb luck - like a 10min wait for Pirates!) and highly encourage anyone who goes to the park to seek it out. VERY fun stuff. We ended our night with a Space Mountain run that left us pumped up, even at nearing 11pm, caught a few fireworks - did some shopping and trucked back to the car.

The next morning, we packed the Escape to the BRIM. I do mean full. I had a hard time finding nooks and crannies to shove feather pillows into! We got a bit of a late start (trend!) and headed out of LA - or tried to. It took, again, about two hours more than I planned for to even GET TO the Grapevine, dumb LA traffic *stabs* and even the Grapevine was slow going. The weather was better this time through - so hooray for that. The Basin was even MORE boring on the way back, although the same idiots I delt with on the way down seemed to be absent on the way back…hooray! We started hitting bad weather about an hour outside of Redding…so we ended up getting into Redding late…again, despite all efforts to make up time. Bah.

We still ended up having a nice visit with my Sunny and had the “luxury of being able to sleep and visit a bit more the next morning - as we had just the “short” leg to Eugene left. After a nice brunch with them, we packed up for the final time, and hit the road. Weather was once more NOT our friend. I think Haley got some footage of the fog in the Siskyous with the Flip camera my Mom got for Dan, I will have to try to get that up on Youtube and post a link here. It was actually pretty creepy looking, because it was so thick, you could not see where the winding road of you was headed. Yuck. Not too much ice, just snow and fog, and of course, Semis. We hit snow, ice, freezing rain, torrential DOWNPOUR, wind and I am quite sure sleet…all on the way to Eugene. I am grateful we are not in Hurricane Alley. We got to Eugene just about dinner time, mostly as planned, and after a quick stop to Wally World to grab some needed supplies - we were finally home. YAY!

The house felt so weird after having been gone for nearly 10 days, but MAN it was GOOD to be home! I am quite sure our pets were glad to see us too! I am also glad, despite bored kids, that I had the foresight to take the following week off. We pretty much were a family of bums that week - but it was MUCH needed bummage. Now, everything is “back to normal”, which is good…but also kinda depressing. I spent so much time NOT working…I really wish I didn’t have to do so altogether. LOL!

Come March 15th, we will be here (click on the picture to be redirected to my Flikr Album - which has a ton more pictures!):

*dances*

3 bedroom, 2 bath, TWO CAR GARAGE, LOTS of updates, appliances, hardwood floors, heat AND air conditioning, walk in closets, LOTS of nice extras…like a window seat! I think I might faint! Yes, its a rental, but its gorgeous, I am friends/co-workers with the home owner, its in a great neighborhood….and MAN are we gonna have one heck of a move in party!!!

Maybe THIS year I will put aside more time to actually update this darn thing!

My current excuse? I’ve been “deathly” ill since Christmas Day. I reckon I am about two steps away from a major sinus infection, but having no insurance and very little cash available for out of pocket doc visits is keeping me from finding out. So, I suffer through, with the help of Rite Aid and lots of sleep….well, relative amounts of sleep.

Work has been downright boring. I won’t have any major product launches until probably Feb., so that has left me with little to amuse myself with as I’ve pretty well cleaned up, sorted and tidied all that I can. Bother. I have instead been spending oodles of time on the Etsy store whilst at my ‘day job’. *shrugs* Atleast it’s something to keep me from losing my mind entirely - due to boredom?

The Holidays came and went rather quickly. With Dan’s work situation we really didn’t have a ton of funds to deal with, not that we ever seem to at Yule, but even more so this year. We did spend some time with our close friends here in Eugene, which is always a bonus! There was much food, laughter, goofing off and lazing in front of the roaring fire. So, I guess I really ought not to complain too much :) We are really so blessed to have found such fast and true friends here in Eugene! Erin and Rachel are just amazing! It often feels that we have known all of them for eons! I think that is one thing we were kinda worried about when we moved up here. We knew NO ONE. Not a soul. Not being very “active” or “social”, we knew it was going to be tough going, making some networks and such. As always, She looked after us and our path ran smack dab where it needed to be! I honestly don’t know how we would have survived the year without the four of them!

Dan has scored a part time job! Its good timing too, as his unemployment funds ran out about two weeks before Yule. Yikes! He will be working -apprenticing for a local Bronze Caster, working mostly in the wax dipping room. He seems to be really excited. This is the first “non office” job he has had in a LONG time, and he seems to be jazzed. He won’t be making buckets of money, and its part time to start…but it’s a foot in the door! We will take it! He starts next Monday, so we will have to report later, as to what all it entails and the like.

He has finished all the “steps” needed to satisfy his legal issues from this last summer. Counseling is done, community service is done, he’s begun small baby steps in communicating with Thomas and he has a job now! The only thing left to do are to pay the court fees, continue to meet with his Parole Officer and wait the 2ish years needed to get his Felony moved down to a Misdemeanor. Its been a long road, but he’s kept his chin up and is doing the best he can. I am very proud of him.

Thomas is still down with my Mom and Step-Dad. He was originally going down for the summer, partially to get him with some “new faces”, as regards authority figures, but also to allow Dan to come home so he could be with me and the girls. He ended up staying there and will continue to until the end of the school year. My parents enrolled him in a private Lutheran school, and he seems to be thriving. I speak with him often, and he is enjoying himself, learning alot and having a good time. He’s learning Spanish and taking violin lessons! He’s recently made the cut for the local boys club basketball team, so he is jazzed about that. He’s become quite the little sports dood. My step dad is a huge USC fan, so Thomas has become a little Trojan himself. Although, he does still root for the Ducks as well…so I guess we can let him live ;)

It’s been weird not having him around. I am still licking my own wounds as regards the summer’s “issues”. I do miss him; I think of him, I wonder what he is up to. I am also concerned about him coming home. My Mom and Dad have quite the income, compared to our meager budget. He’s been able to do, see and go to quite a few places that I would not have been able to duplicate. His Christmas seemed quite “healthy”, and his Birthday was as well. How am I supposed to be able to “compete” with that? I worry that he will get back here and be miserable, because we are on such a limited budget - food stamps - for crying out loud!? :( I guess we just take it one step at a time. There is also the fact that he has been completely engulfed in the Christian Religion. Mind you, I am VERY tolerant of ALL religions, and will gladly see to it that he gets to go to whatever place of worship that he desires….I just wonder if HE will be as tolerant of the fact that I do NOT want to go with him, and that I am NOT a Christian. I guess the biggest thing I worry about is that he will get here and then want to leave. Probably more paranoia than truth….but its there.

The girls are doing just fine. Haley has been driving me bonkers. Gotta love Winter Break. She, like all teenagers, has good days and BAD days. For the most part its mostly been me not feeling well…but MAN. Sometimes I just want to bang my head on the wall and kill my Mother for placing the “I hope you have FIFTY JUST LIKE YOU”, curse on me. ARGH! She was a big help with the Holiday cookie and baking rounds, as always, and didn’t complain a stitch at the meager amount of gifts under the tree. A co-worker of mine had need to re-home his young female guinea pig, so that was our Yule gift to her. Her name is Whimsy. She is quite cute. She’s a long hair “silky” breed. Mostly black with a very defined white stripe down her nose and a healthy patch of white on her back. Claire calls her a porcupine. ROFL! Haley had a concert at the local amp theater in early December with her Concert Choir group from school. She got all gussied up, looked and sounded like and Angel :) I cannot believe how quickly she is growing up!

Claire has been just fine. Due to budget constraints she is pretty much home with Dan full time. Although with his new part time job coming up, she will be headed back to Lori’s soon. The terrible three’s are what my kids do best. Never mind the two’s. Those are a cake walk. My kids save it up for three. OMGoddess. She is NON stop! I swear we should have named her Dennis. She gets into EVERYTHING. I know its curiosity and testing of boundaries…but sheesh! She’s smart as a whip, picks up and retains info very well and quite quickly and has a really strong vocab. We need to start working on shapes, numbers and colors this year and get her ready for preschool. She’s got a good grasp of them, but she guesses alot, time to get a bit more consistent with the “guesses”. :)

The jewelry business is going very well. We did quite well for our first “year” (not quite a full year, but close enough) and are thrilled to have had such positive results! We hope to do more shows this year, perhaps as often as every 6-8 weeks, goddess willing, and continue to grow our Etsy store. I’m still kinda astounded by the whole thing. It seems like just yesterday that I was learning the basics of making a necklace, and now here we are, full fledged (mostly) business! Dan and the girls have been quite patient with me, considering I spend nearly all of my “non work” time working on the store. Its either shooting pictures, processing pictures, listing items, tweaking items that are already listed, making even MORE items, prepping or DOING shows….and the list goes on. Its been really satisfying to have something “I” own and control. I would LOVE it if I could stay home and do it full time, but I reckon we are a good two years out from having that be a reality. Mind you, I do intend on making it a reality!

I am hoping that I will atleast get word one way or the other about the hiring freeze at Symantec in the next couple of weeks. The fourth quarter has just started, so there is a glimmer of hope. If it’s a no go, then I will have to tough it out to April for quarter 1 of the 2008 fiscal year. *sigh*. Man do I need a vacation and a trip to the dentist!!

Well, speaking of work, I suppose I ought to go do something productive….

I hope you all had a safe and happy Holiday season!

Well Dan and I had a successfull blitz of a trip to Eugene! There were adventures and mayhem, but will have to tell those stories another time.

Biggest news? I got a job at Symantec! HOORAY FOR INCOME! :) I am supposed to start Wednesday, if I can get all the prep paperwork done, what with the Holiday and such.

We have a hotel lined up, and are headed out of town at the crack of dawn tomorrow, with kids and trailer and cat (unfortunately Blackberry the hamster went to the big hamster wheel in the sky Monday) in tow! YAY FOR ADVENTURES!

We are not going to have access to the net for some time, and in fact, I’m losing my comcast email, so I will have to get a Yahell one set up. If you dont get word from me as to what it is, leave a comment here and I will get that info to you :)

Welp, lots to pack and such, love you all and thanks for the support, prayers and kind words!

Ciao!

Yes I know, its been THREE MONTHS….

Been busy. Deal. :) Oh, ok…I DO feel a bit bad. But honestly, its just been a mad house around here as of late. I will try my best to recap. Heck, I’m even uploading pictures to ofoto as we speak! If you typically get my ofoto emails, you will get a notification in…about 2 hours…as I’m uploading aprox 100 or so pictures and have to edit/label some :) If  you DONT get the notifications, but would like one, leave a comment and I will fling one your way :)

Lets start with the kids. They are alive too :) Even with the recent spike in Sacramento of over 100 degree days, all is well. They both had a good end to their school years. Haley managed mostly A’s and B’s with a C in PE. Go figure. Though we think the only thing that caused that was a bad PE teacher communication about what she needed to reach regarding “the mile” that they had to progress on. She’s fit and such, and participated so thats all I care about. She is turning into a gamer/geek like her parents, but still likes outdoorsy stuff, so thats just fine by me. She’s SOOOOOO PRETEEN. It slays us. She’s a bubble head. Gets that glazed over, spaced out look? You know the one. *head desk* Though I have to give her props, as she’s basically caring for Claire while we are at work, and is doing ok at that. So hooray.

TJ. He’s almost 9, and acts every bit of it. He’s funny as hell, but whiny at times. He’s also bored out of his mind, because there are not many kids here this summer. Lord knows Haley can only take so much of him, so he spends lots of time alone on his scooter or heelys. Atleast he’s not one of those hyper (mostly) destructive, kind of boys. Yanno, the kind that like to find sticks and beat the shit out of trees, or that like to see if they can fly out of trees? So far, no broken bones. About the only thing he breaks are shoes. I swear, he needs steel toed, velcro closure sneakers. *hmm* I wonder if there is a market for thouse….

Claire is a joy. Trying at times, non-stop motion but SO full of love it hurts. She’s going to be 2 on Wednesday, can you belive it? I cannot. Her favorite word is NO. Big suprise? Hardly. As Dan has said, “It must be hard to be Irish and 2″. No doubt. She’s acquired an opinion, likes and dislikes; but more importantly, the ability and desire to VOICE them. Loudly. She’s fallen in LOVE with the pool. Seriously, she’s like the best pool toy ever. She ADORES to be tossed around in the pool and giggles like mad when we do so. She started by hanging out in this floaty boat thing, sportin’ water wings. She then decided no boat, but how about wings and a “noodle”. Then the next week it was, screw the noodle, I just want to splash around with my wings. Now you can’t stop her. She paddles around, treads water, can find the edge easily, and will “fall in” on purpose while sitting on the edge and turn right back around and swim to the edge. Dan and I will toss her in the air and let her cannon ball a few feet away. Because of the wings, she pops right back up. She knows how to hold her breath and blow bubbles :) Such a little fish.

We have another child (cat) as well. WE were adopted by Keiki about 2 months ago. And for those non-hawaiin speaking folk, its pronounced kay-kee and means “little one” or “little boy”. :) He’s a kitten still, about 10-11 months old or so I would think. He has that long legged/tailed “teenager” look about him. Totally a lap cat and “talks” ALOT. He just appeared one night, kinda skinny and with no tags. Didnt see any signs around, and no one around looking for him so we let him stay. :) Gonna get him neutered this month, and make sure he’s up to snuff on shots and all that jazz. He’s hysterical. Likes to flop on the sidewalk in front of you when you are leaving, as if his cuteness will make you change your mind. He’s part guard kitty as well. Likes to hop from one empty flower box (along the wall of our patio) to the next like a rabbit, poking his head up to make sure that no unauthorized partys come near without him knowing it. Very fun. :) I dont think I have any pics from the camera of him, just my phone, but will try to snap a few and load them up :) He’s gray/brown striped (tiger-ish looking) with white markings and gorgeous yellow eyes :)

Dan and I’s business is going great! I had sent out an email about what we are doing to quite a few people, but because it had so many links I dont know if it ever made it out to anyone. Was sorta bummed about that. Oh well. Its a company called Cyberwize, go ahead, look’em up :) Yes, its Network marketing, but unlike any other company I’ve read or heard about. We are getting so much support, general business training/knowledge and such, its nutz! We love having our own “thang”, that we can do together, with no pressure to any friends or family and it takes next to no time to start seeing payout! We are not 100% focused on it quite yet, as we have bigger fish frying with work/moving, but we have already seen some profits, love the products and are just generally having a blast! :) If you want more info you can visit: www.teamtrescott.cyberwize.com to find out about the Company and what Dan and I “do”. Or if you are interested in what we are selling you can visit our most popular site: www.teamtrescott.healthywize.com. We have several product lines, but this is the one that has the most to it. At the very least, if I could ask you to go to this link: www.teamtrescott.shopwize.com and book mark it. Its a web portal that will take you to dozens of popular shops, like Overstock.com, 1-800-Flowers, Target, Wal-mart and tons more. Its no different than going to those sites directly, other than whatever you purchase (non of your personal info is shared with us) we get a commission off of, just because you used our portal! :) Plus its kinda a nifty way to see what other shops are “out there” because there were even a few I have never heard of that had some really nifty stuff and great pricing :) Our portal also offers discounts/deals from time to time as well, so you might be able to save on shipping, or get an extra discount by going through us first :)

Speaking of work. Well for those that don’t know, Dan and I have decided to leave California. We’ve been doing research and reading about the Eugene OR area for about 6 months or so. We visited www.findyourspot.com  after hearing about it from a HP co-worker, and found that we had a good match to Eugene or Boise. My sister lives in Boise, so that would have been cool, but there was not much for Dan’s line of work there, as compared to Eugene, where there are several colleges (such as University of Oregon….GOOOOO DUCKS!) We finally decided about Feb. or so to make a push for it, and started more hard core job and housing searching. We actually spent last weekend up there, just he and I. It was a great trip, had a few amusing bumps, a slight run in regarding the hotel room rate with Orbitz (had to end up speaking to the CEO of Finance to get a freaking refund!) but other than that, enjoyed EVERY FREAKING MINUTE that we were in the city. Its gorgeous. Not even gorgeous does it justice really. Its green. Its beautiful. The people are amazing. Its just….well, home. We knew it the moment we drove off the freeway and towards the downtown area. Right now the plan is to move up end of August. Dan and I put our resignations into Spherion/HP on Tuesday when we returned to work. We are working on getting a 3 bedroom 1/5 bath townhouse for, get this, $730 a month! Currently for our Roseville 2/1 we are paying $1015/month. INSANE! :) We made a few contacts/friends at two of the local temp to perm agencies, and have jobs in Springfield at Symantec lined up. Springfield is a sister city to Eugene, and takes about 10-15 minutes from about anywhere in Eugene to travel to, so thats a no brainer. The jobs at Symantec are starting anywhere from 13-18 and hour from their website. The gal seemed pretty confident that she could both of us in somewhere around 16/hour. *blinkety* So freaking cool! We had worked out a possible budget, based on $1000 rent a month (plus all the other monthly expenditures) and had figured we would both need atleast 14/hour to be comfy. So if the townhouse and jobs pan out as they are looking like, we will be SOOO much better off! Even if they dont, there is NO shortage of similar priced housing, and tons of jobs. So we are confident beyond measure, that this is the step we are suppose to take. Dan also applied for an opening at the Eugene Library. Its a Librarian Asst 4, which is one step under Librarian 1, but still, if he could get that (wage similar to Symantec) he could easily work his way up. We visited the Library while we were in town. Its got to be one of the nicest either of us has ever seen. Three floors, one whole floor for fiction, another for non, and downstairs is the kids area and a massive reading/research area. They even have a little cafe in front. Very nice :)

We started packing yesterday. Ugh. If it were not for my friend Connie, I would not have gotten nearly as much done. I hit some sort of emotional wall yesterday when I started sorting/repacking stuff we had in storage. I guess its got to do with the fact, that of all the moves I’ve done, this one has been the most long drawn out & planned one. I dunno. We are trying so hard to do this move the “right” way. Trying to think of all possible outcomes, scenarios, road blocks. Trying to plan it to have as little impact to the kids, to us, and to our stretched finances. Being totally excited, ready and anxious, yet scared to death that we might fail. I dunno. I KNOW its the right move. I can feel it. I just need some finality to some of it. Maybe once we get the ok on a new place, or some solidified leads to jobs…I dunno. Its gonna take every weekend between now and then to get it done, thats for sure. We are going to get rid of most furniture, and are trying to pare down what we have accumulated as much as possible. In fact, I’m even going to have a garage sale between now and then! *deep breath*. Keep us in your thoughts? :)

Hmmm what else. OH YES! Weight loss update :) I’m down 40 pounds, so close to my halfway mark for the year! (goal was 100 pounds lost before end of year). Not sure I’m going to make goal, as I’ve hit a plateau the last 2 months, and now with the move….meh. Atleast I’m not gaining it back? I dunno, will keep plugging away at it. Dan on the other hand…my god. He’s lost nearly 90 pounds in the last three months! He’s looking FANTASTIC! He doesnt fit in most of his clothes, but for now our work is not really picky, so he can get away with the “baggy, gangster” look. Gonna have to invest some money in a new wardrobe pretty quick, thats for sure! Althought most jobs in Eugene/Springfield are bus. casual, so thats a help. He’s feeling great, gotten some energy and mobility (not that he was bed ridden or anything) back. I’m so very proud of him! He’s gotten a clean bill of health and a hearty congrats from his doc, so hooray! :)

I cut my hair. Drastically. I had 14 inches lopped off, and donated it to Locks of Love. It was down nearly to the small of my back or so, and now sits just at my collar. I LOVE it! Its sooo nice, especially with the heat! I also had Connie put in a bit of a red tint. Though its been about a month, and its faded. Might have to redo that this next weekend. I so love having redish hair. I get tons of compliments when I do, cuz its such a drastic thing with my blue eyes :)

I think thats it for now. I will leave you (if you are still reading) with a list of funny things that Dan and I wrote down, concerning our trip to Oregon.

Interesting things to know about Eugene/Oregon:

* Oregon likes to announce what sorts of things are off the side of the road, such as “ROCKS” or “DEER”. Why not boulders, or gravel, or Rock Slide Area?

* In Oregon, the most common thing to ask or say to an “out of towner” is something to do with the heat/weather. Considering their average high for July is around 92, this was quite  humourus to us.

* Apartments in Oregon have no Central Air, only Central Heat, or wall heaters.

* Everyone in Oregon is sincerely friendly. And no, we are not talking about the kind of friendly that’s holding a blunt object behind its back.

* Oregon is the state of Camoflauged Citys. (When traveling the I-5 corridor, you have to REALLY look for the cities, as they are “buried”/surrounded by groves and groves of trees.

* If you don’t like trees, dont move to Oregon.* If you don’t like plentiful bodies of water (all types), don’t move to Eugene.

* If you like hippies, move to Oregon.

* Even the dogs in Eugene have dreads.

* If you want to get a job, July is the perfect month. (Encompasses the 30 days after the annual Fourth of July/”pot head” festival, after which the hiring pool drops to nill, because no one can pass the UA screen.)

* If you really MUST have Starbucks, Eugene is not the most convenient of choices. Dutch Brothers Coffee run Eugene. I think I saw just one, in all of our running around/exploring in Eugene/Springfield.

* “Oregon is Beer Educated”. This quote came from the local newspaper, but its true. There are TONS of local micro brews, pubs, wineries and all sorts of cool things.

* There are apparently no tame fish in Oregon, only “wild”.

* They really like pancakes in Eugene. (tons of pancake joints - erm…pancake places)

* In Eugene, business casual is defined by one of these two phrases. “No flip-flops” or “Wear only your best Birkenstocks”.

* While in Oregon, you cannot pump your own gas. (Law passed in 1974)

* When purchasing gas, and you have told the attendent a specific dollar amount to put on your credit/debit card, make sure he does not walk away.

* Eugene is a parallel universe to Tallahassee, FL. (Driving around, neither Dan or I could get over how similar its laid out, looks and feels)

* In Eugene, the preferred mode of transportation is a bike. However, all drivers use their blinkers, wear their seat belts, and even obey traffic laws and abide by the posted speed limit.

* The fine for not wearing your seat belt in Oregon is $97. Why not $95 or $100?

* The average commute in Eugene/Springfield is 15 minutes. No, really.

* When using Orbitz, read the fine print, or make sure to have your Military ID readily available.

* In Oregon, hotel maids are fluent in English, and probably sunburn easily.

I’m here to report (for those that knew/are following) that Dan’s surgery today went excellent!

He was in surgery for about *counts on toes* 3.5 hours or so. After some recoop time in ‘Recovery’ it was up to the surgical ward and nap time. He slept most the afternoon. Most memorable comments were “someone beat me up” and “my butt hurts” (due to akward position post operation).

The doc (I just met today) was fantastic, communicative and positive. He relayed that surgery had gone “as planned” and there were no unexpected bumps or complications. In fact, whilst scoping about Dan’s innards, he found a belly button hernia and was able to get that fixed up while he was there.

When I left tonight, Dan had gotten up (with assistance) and was resting nicely in a bedside chair watching House. He is in good spirits, pain has subsided alot (just a dull ache now) and is not having to use his pain pump too much. Doc says if all continues to go well, he could be home as early as Thursday! Hooray for feather pillows and no nurses coming in just as you fall asleep!

All in all, we are relieved, thankful, supported and blessed beyond measure! Thank you all for your love and support, both for Dan, and for our Family.

He will be home for several weeks recooping further, but hopefully by early/mid May, should be back to full speed :) If anyone wants info as to how to contact him, just reply here and I will get ya whatever you want/need.

:)

I’ve had an EXTREMELY long, rough and stressful week. You know, the kind that leaves you jibbering to yourself in a corner? Yeah, that kind. *shudder* I dont really want to talk about it right now, except to say that it became very clear that transfering WITH my current job is looking more like a faint dream instead of the clear possibility that the H.R. gal left me thinking it was.

In other words, and to sum up, my Boss? Jackass.

On to better news. Due to the fact I am utterly wiped, I’m going to be LAZ-E and post what he did, for those that don’t get over that way :)

Dan (TomasSilverloc on LiveJournal):

“Well…haven’t talked much about my gastric surgery since there really hasn’t been much to talk about…but all of that changed last week. First of all, I got my benefits package for the new benefits cycle and come to find out, Pacificare was no longer a option and this was a problem since if I didn’t have Pacificare, there was no way I could afford the surgery. So I went to the surgeons office and talked to the people there and they said they would see if it was possible to fast track me to get the surgery. Well..they could..partly because I had lost 10lbs and was continuing to lose weight (which was the one thing holding things up…losing 20 lbs).So…fast forward to yesterday, got a call from the surgeon…my current insurance approved the surgery..which was great..though I was still unsure about if I could even do the surgery since I wasn’t sure what insurance I could get to get aftercare. My choices were limited to SRC Base PPO, Atnea, and Kaiser Permanente…which Atnea and Kaiser were out of the question to start with since the surgeon was not a member of the Kaiser HMO and they didn’t have a contract with Atnea. So today I drive up to Auburn to talk with the insurance person at the surgeons office. I guess my Irish luck is with me right now, the office will take the SRC Base PPO.

So, there you have it! Surgery is literally weeks away! Everyone at our office, both that have had this done, or just are our personal cheering squad, are excited, happy and holding us up emotionally as we get ready to embark on this adventure. I’ve really been quite amazed and thankful for the VERY vocal support from them. Being that we both work in the same office, and spend nearly 12 hours a day, five days a week there…they really have become a second (odd, granted) family. I know that they will do all they can to help and be sure Dan and the kids and I have and manage everything we need and need to do.

Hooray for support systems!

My mom has also been very vocally supportive of Dan’s decision. Its been sorta odd for me to witness, as I have very clear memories of her difficulty with my OWN weight. But hey, people change, and this is definately a change we need right now! We dont really have any family in the area we are actively involved with, so having the love and support from family ‘afar’ and the more present and accessible support from our co-workers is what is getting us through and I have no doubts that it will continue to do so.

Thanks guys…and continue to keep Dan (and us) in your thoughts, meditations and prayers…they are most appreciated!

VEGAS!

As promised, the “full” account of our adventure to the “City of Sin”. :)

We left our house Saturday the 18th, headed for San Clemente. This is where my Mom and my Step Dad, Allen, live. We made most excellent time, and as an added bonus, I didn’t have to kill any children! I do all the driving around here, so I was pleased that we had mostly good weather (few rain storms here and there) and that traffic was not too insane. After a nice stop at a mid-way point at Red Robin for lunch, it was back on the road. Originally we had planned to make it to my Mom’s by 5pm in order to have a brief visit with my Grand parents, whom I’ve not seen in…*counts* about 7 years or so. Unfortunately, due to a somewhat delayed start and a few extra breaks to “run the baby” we did not make it there until about 7:30. My Grandparents apparently did not want to drive home in the dark (they live in the desert about an hour North East of my Mom) so we missed that opportunity. We arrived safely at Mom’s and got all the luggage and kids drug in for the night.

It was great to see Mom. Their house is absolutely GORGEOUS! I’m SO happy for her! I told her that while the style was polar opposite of what I recall growing up, it literally ‘oozed’ her. You could feel how much love and time went into each room, each piece, every square inch. We had a nice dinner and watched some Olympics once the kids were down, and just chatted. We’ve not had much of an opportunity in the last few years to get to know Allen, so it was nice to just hear of their recent stories and what not. They are planning on building a “summer home” on their property in Utah. A cabin. We saw pictures of the property and heard adventures of fishing/paint balling trips. Good times. They plan on building the cabin over the next few years, and it will be fully equipped to house my family as well as my sisters, complete with kids room, so that we can all get together and have fun. I really look forward to that! Plus, the property is in SUCH a pretty area of Utah. Up in the mountains close to a National Forest (dont recall which) which has areas for quadding, a river and lots and lots of trees and green :)

(more…)

I’ve got a few things to post, but I’ve been dog ass tired.

Soooo to tied all you luverly peeps over, I’m gonna steal a page from my Husbands LJ book and ask the following:

“As many of you know Dan and I will be going to Vegas and I was wondering if any of you would like a small souvenier from Vegas. If so, just make a post here with a idea as to what you would like.”

:) So far we have had requests for Poker chips, post cards, shot glasses and the infamous request from -theewhoshallremainnameless- of “One of those flyers that the Hookers hand out on the strip”  

So really, as long as it don’t cost an arm and a leg, and isnt illegal *ponders* the sky is the limit :)

Dan and I are finally going to take our “HoneyMoon”. Now that I am not pregnant, nursing and we will have “extra” fun money from our Tax Refund, we decided to take an adventure!

*dances*

I am so excited I cannot even see straight! We will leave Roseville Saturday the 18th of Feb., and drive down to my Mom’s house in San Clemente. We will visit and stay the night. Then, the next morning, we leave THE CHILDREN *HEEEE* with my Mom and Allen-Dad and take off for VEGAS!

*bounces*

We’ve got an upgraded room at the Mirage, overlooking the famous Volcano! King size bed, gorgeous bath, WONDERFUL view! This hotel has more restaurants then we have meals…INSIDE! *ish such a dork*. *bounce. There is an Tropical Atrium (free!), the White Tigers from Siegfried & Roy (we will be careful to go AFTER they have had lunch…) and best of all, its right in the middle of the strip. So we can literally park, drink, gamble and have FUN!

So far we are planning on seeing the following *sights*

Art Exibits,  Botanical Gardens and Water Fountain at the Bellagio

The inside of The Venetian

All the Mirage has to offer (Dan wants to see Dolphins! :) )

The Star Trek Experience at the Las Vegas Hilton

We are having our “anniversery” dinner at Emeril’s Delmonico

I am sure there is a host of other things we will want/see to do. We have a good portion of the day Sunday, through most of Tuesday before we head back to San Clemente to get the kids. We will stay another night with the ‘rents and then head back to Roseville on Wednesday, leaving only TWO days to work! Somehow I am sure I will end up working Saturday…but who the hell cares, I’m going to VEGAS BABY! Yah! (Austin Powers style). Heh.

As quite a few of you know, I lived in Vegas for a few months before moving out to Florida. However, I only went to the strip twice. Really only once, as the other time was only to Quark’s bar in the Hilton. I’ve driven up/down it a handful of times, but thats just NOT the same. So to say I am excited, is a complete understatement!

I just booked the hotel tonight, and got a fanTAStic rate to boot! Mirage is a 4-star hotel. Most of the hotel’s in its range as regards attractions/dining and such are running in the high 190’s to low 220’s per night. We got two nights at $169 each! We will even get a 10% AAA discount! :) *soooo pleased*.

Anyway, if you can think of any other MUST see’s, please, give me a poke! We are wanting to relax a bit..but mostly we are there to have a hell of a time and forget our daily stresses for a couple of days! :)