For Cali

Told ya!

Lovin' my grandkids

I spent most of the day at Corey and Nicole's while they put up a wooden swing set. I played with the kids most of the time. Though posting all the reasons I love my grandkids would be impossible, I had to list a few.

Things I love about Tristen (age 4):

The way he spreads his arms out and comes running to greet me.

The gift he gave me which was a printed picture of himself with his name hand printed above it and "I love you" hand printed below it. And he had done it all--all by himself.

The excitement he showed when he got the new shirt I took him from Nan.

The way he wouldn't let me help him when he spilled his bowl of fish on the couch. He's so independent and told me "No I'll get it, I'll get it"

The way he says "cheese" everytime I point a camera at him

The fact that he told me he didn't like otters

The fact that he has had to of thought about otters to know he doesn't like them

The way he wanted to watch a documentary about the universe.

And how excited he got when they showed the milky way.

The patience he shows his little brother

How much he has taught me about the planets

The way he draws all the solar system including details on all the planets

The way he sat and chatted with me instead of taking his Dad up on a ride on the mower

Things I love about Trevor (age 1)

The way he'll aways smile if I smile at him

The way I can get him to laugh by just laughing myself

The way we play peek a boo with his blanket

That he still falls asleep on my shoulder

The way he gives me a kiss

The way he puts the ball over his head to throw it but never really throws it, he walks up to me so I can take it

The way he chases bubbles

The way he loves to be twirled around

The way he jabbers....I wish I knew what he was saying

How his little legs look as he is climbing up on the couch

The way he says "two, whee" as you throw him on the couch

The way he walked out of his pants (don't ask me how he did that...I looked at him and his pants were down past the diaper and as he walked, he walked them right off)

The way he runs faster if you pat your legs like your chasing him real fast

Other things I love about today:

The fact that my husband let me fix grilled cheese for supper

The fact that Coby calls when I am wondering about him

The fact that Corey and Nicole would spend a whole day putting up a swing set for their kids

Nicole's Birthday

This was about a month ago but I had to tell the story. I watched Tristen and Trevor while Corey took Nicole out for her birthday. When they returned, Nicole opened her gifts. Tristen helped! He opened everything for her and was so excited about it. He pulled the paper off and exclaimed "A box" and was so excited about it. It was so fun to watch.

And this is Trevor just hanging out at Grandma's.

My Week in Review

I wrote a post two days ago and lost it as the blog wasn't available. I had no energy to rewrite it. It's early morning and I thought I'd try it now.
My job is so intense...mentally. I can count on nothing being correct in the computer. I went through 15 months of bank statements trying to reconcile one account. And it is near impossible. Stuff isn't in the computer or is in the computer and not in the statements. He wrote checks in 08 and dated them 07. Did I mention there are 5 companies? And to make more confusion some companies share a bank account. One company is in Illinois which means a whole new set of taxes. I come home and I am so tired. I usually am asleep by 9 which is something for a midnight girl. I am hopeful that this will change when I get things paid up and organized.
Well enough of that. Oh wait nothing else is happening here!!!!
It has suddenly warmed up. The day before yesterday I had my top down. It wasn't the first time this year but it was the first time I didn't have the heat on also.
And they tricked Ozzie on Suvivor. I couldn't believe it. I wanted him to win but then when he walked to the jury and gave them the finger this week I was glad he wasn't going to win. Sore loser. But truth is that now one of those women that didn't really deserve it will win and it sorta is anticlimatic. Of all the women I'd like Ceir (sp) to win it.
And today is the first day in 8 years I get a paycheck paid hourly instead of commission. I hope that isn't anticlimatic also.

Rocking and shaking in Indiana

Yesterday morning right after my alarm rang at 5:30, we were sitting in bed when the bed started shaking. I was just about to ask Corey "Why is the bed shaking?", when the dresser joined it. Ok I have been through earthquakes before and when the dresser shook I figured it out. My dresser has a large mirror and lets face it--all kinds of stuff on it! I was waiting for the stuff to come off of the dresser but instead it finally quit. Well now my husband lived through the "big one" in '72 in California when everyone ran from their houses in their night clothes. And he found himself in his boxers. So we woke Chase (had to get up at 6:00 anyway) and told him to get up and get dressed in case there were bigger ones to come. The one we felt was a 5.4 with it originating near New Salem in southern Illinois close to the border. We didn't feel anything the rest of the day however, there were several aftershocks. My mom felt one at 11:00 and Corey felt it in Bloomington.
Here is why I post and fully expect my son to explain this since anything like this he seems to be on top of. Next to my dresser sits a small makeup vanity. It has lots of stuff on it and if you walk by and hit it, everything on it rattles or falls. It is maybe a foot away from the dresser. Why didn't it shake? For that matter nothing else in the room shook except the bed and the dresser. Pictures on the wall stayed steady. For all you earthquake experts out there, there's what I want to know.
Also another interesting point is that when we had one in '87, we were sitting at the table eating and the doors of the cabinets started shaking. We were younger and closer to our California experience so we stayed very calm. This time, 21 years later, we are running around like madmen.

New Job

Well it's been six weeks or so searching mightily for a new job. The mortgage industry has changed so much that I am READY TO RUN. So Tuesday I found a job working as a bookkeeper at Forsyth Brothers. Unfortunately the company had a previous employee that not only did not do a very good job but also stole money. He worked there a year and paid no taxes for the 5 companies this place runs. I started on Wednesday and have been so busy. This is the first job in about 8 years that I won't be working from home. This will be an adjustment. Other than missing the freedom that gave me, I think I'll be ok.
Also it was very important that I took the job that The Lord wanted me to have. I once took a job that I had prayed about and felt awful afterwards. The owner stole my insurance premiums of $1000.00 a month. Anyway, I won't do that again. So it is interesting to tell how I got this job.
I applied through email (as instructed) to this job the very first day I started looking. Several weeks later I was discouraged and was going over some of the many places I had applied, when I mentioned this place. Corey (husband, not son) encouraged me to be proactive and call them. I thought I recognized the name of the person I had to apply to from the mortgage industry. So I called him, he was the guy, and he said to come in that day for an interview. He said that he had gotten 200 replies to the ad and that he had interviewed a few but he wasn't going back through all those resumes. I had brought a hard copy so he didn't have to go hunting for mine. I left and this felt really good. He sounded as if he was going to hire me. Then several more weeks and I called back and they had hired someone else. Then on Monday I got a call from the owner who had found my resume. (see The Lord's hand in this) He wanted to interview me but this time for the position of the guy that had first interviewed me. When I went on Tuesday and found the mess they are in of course, I started the next day. I am happy to be productive again. I was so ready to get out of mortgage. It will also be great to be away from commission and actually be able to budget.

Made my Day

Without even knowing it......Chase made my day. He was putting a mini trampoline together for me.....you know to exercise with. Anyway, I had to give it a try even though I was still on my conference call with my manager and team (happens every Monday at 4:00) and trying to be very quiet. Chase said something dear to my heart. Especially since this summer I will turn 50. Chase said with a chuckle....."Mom, you are such a kid".