I was just thinking about Christmas since it is now that time of the year. I will not be able to travel home for the holiday so I have been thinking about family traditions. Every family has them, what they usually do during the holidays. I'm just going to list some memories I have from Christmases past.
When I was little and lived in Montana I remember each Christmas Santa would come to our back door on Christmas eve and deliver our presents. When ever any of the older kids at school tried to tell me that Santa wasn't real and that it was just my parents I could tell and show pictures and prove they were wrong because I saw Santa each year and both my parents, and he always brought me the present I had asked for. Once we moved to California Santa didn't come to the door, he would come at night while we were sleeping and we would find our presents in the morning.
My family every year would go out Christmas Caroling to friends and coworkers of my dad. My mother would make grandma's spice cake and we would give a loaf to each family we caroled to. We really only knew a few songs and would always sing the same ones. We never tried to be professional nor did we sing parts we just kind of gang sang. Just like a bunch of kids would do when asked to sing. One of the funny things about our caroling is that when we went out to sing to my dad's coworkers we always seem to go to a wrong house. We would go to the door ring the bell and start singing, the people would come open the door and look at us listen to us sing and thank us for being there. We would give them the loaf of spice cake and then turn and leave. We as kids didn't know until after we left the door that we just sang to a house where we didn't know anyone. So that seemed to be the running joke every year that we would sing to a wrong house. It didn't happen every year but it did happen more than once.
We always went on Christmas eve to our friends the Uribe's because they would make homemade tamales and they always asked us in after we sang to eat. They were the best tamales I had ever eaten. They were a great family. Mr. Uribe worked at the elementary school as a custodian and I would always walk up to him and say Hola, como esta? and he would always answer back to me in Spanish and I would then say No, No, No that's all I know hola, como esta and he would laugh. I always enjoyed that family.
After caroling we would come home and then read the story of Christ's birth. We always had a cardboard nativity that one of the kids would put together as the story was being told. My dad would read from the Bible of the Saviors birth and we always talked about what the true meaning of Christmas was. It wasn't about Santa Claus it was about the Savior.
My mother always loved having a flocked tree and all growing up we flocked our own. We would go and buy the tree and then buy the flocking stuff. We would get the lights out and cover all the bulbs with foil and string them on the tree. Then my dad or brothers would proceed to flock the tree. Now when I say flock the tree I mean by the time they were done the tree looked like it was in a blizzard. Once the tree was flocked and the flocking was dry we proceeded to go around the tree to find all the lights and take the foil off so the light could be seen once they were plugged in. Rarely did we find them all, so often we would find a light covered in foil while the tree was in the house. By the time Christmas was over and we were taking down the tree and removing the light strings we usually found one or more lights still with foil on them.
Come Christmas morning all the kids were always up long before my parents usually around 6 am but we were not allowed to wake our parents up until 7 am. Do you know how long a wait that is in kid years? it was almost unbearable but we always waited. Once our parents were up they would go in to the living room where the tree was, plug in the lights and then set up to get pictures of us coming in to the room. While they were doing that we were allowed to check our stockings. We always got an orange in our stockings every year along with candy and other items. The orange was there because my mother would not let us eat any candy until we had breakfast and if we ate the orange that was good enough and we could then eat some candy.
Opening presents was not a free for all in our house. My mother would sit on the floor in front of the tree and hand out the presents one at a time. Making sure everyone got a present to open, going in order from oldest child to youngest and then the parents and we would all had to wait our turn to open our presents. That way we all saw what each and every present everyone got. It also made it easier for them to take pictures and get our expressions as we saw what was in the wrapped present. Later as we got older my mother moved to the couch and then as the person who just opened their present was done they were in charge of getting the next present for the next person.
My mother got really frustrated with us when it came to the presents because we were really good at guessing what our presents were before we opened them. One year my mother devised a plan to keep us from knowing which presents under the tree were for which kid. If we didn't know which box was ours it made it hard to guess the present by the size, shape and weight, which was usually how we figured it out. My mother put numbers on the boxes and only she knew which number went to which kid. This system only worked one year. Her system was like this my oldest brother was number 11 because he was the first child first boy, my sister's number was 21, second child first girl and so on.
Well that's Christmas as I remember it from my youth. If I remember more I will add to this posting. Christmas is always a great time of year and it's so fun to see all the lights on the houses. I hope everyone has a great Christmas.
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
I'll be on the balcony if you need me.
I live a rather boring life which is why I don't post very often. However when something does happen in my life that I feel is worth writing about I sit down at my computer and type up, as best I can the event to share with those who actually read my blog.
OK so I'm at home and I have a computer that someone asked me to fix and I start looking at it and I could see there was a lot of dust caked to the power supply fan. I decide to take it out on the balcony and blow out all the dust and dirt. I took the computer outside with a can of air, turn and close the door to keep the dust outside. I begin to blow out the dust until the can was so cold I can hardly hold it and it wasn't blowing very hard. So now I have to decide to either wait for the can of air to warm up or get another can. I decide to go back inside and get another can. I turn to go back into my apartment, and reach for the handle to open the door. I give it a yank and the only thing that moves is my hand off the handle.
Some how the door locked and I was on the outside with no way to get back in. I know what you're thinking no problem I can always call for help with my cell phone, well wouldn't you know I also left my cell phone on the table inside my apartment. To make matter worse my apartment is on the second floor so I start looking around trying to figure out how I can get out of this predicament. Now if you have seen any of the pictures I've posted of myself you know I am not a small woman, it is safe to say I am a LARGE woman. So although in my younger days I could have easily made the jumped, however a person of my age and size that jump would have been followed by a trip to the hospital for at least one cast if not several.
Now let me explain what my balcony over looks. I have a lot of trees behind my apartment, nice for privacy but a problem in this situation. There are other apartments behind me but they are across "the creek" or in reality the drainage canal. So seeing the neighbors is difficult, and I am looking at the backside of their apartments and to make matters worse it's 9:20 am on a Tuesday so of course no one is home or on their balconies. I tried to think like MacGyver and see if there was any way I could get off the balcony without causing myself harm. I took down my cloths line and thought I could tie it to the post and then use it to climb down to the ground. The first problem with that idea was I don't know how to tie a knot that I could trust not to come untied as I dangled off the side of the balcony. Another problem was I had no idea how to climb down the side of a building using a nylon rope, and those were the simplest of my problems.
Here are a couple of pictures of what the view is like from my balcony.
So I began to call out "HELLO?" to see if anyone was within ear shot. No luck there so I went to my storage closet to see what I might find in there to help signal some one for help. Found paper, no pen, found durflame logs and I did have a lighter to light it but I thought perhaps starting a fire would only make things worse. I wasn't having any success with the closet, and why should I obviously I was not having a run of good luck or I wouldn't be locked out of my apartment on the balcony.
I tried to get the attention of my downstairs neighbor, that is if there was someone home and I didn't know if there was, but I was unsuccessful with that attempt, although I just about pulled her wind chime off when my cloths line got tangled up with it while I was waving the rope for attention. I kept looking around hoping a neighbor would come home and I might be able to get their attention.
The trees near my balcony are not big trees so getting out to one of them and climbing down was not an option either. I caught a glimpse of a neighbor as they went into their apartment but wasn't fast enough to yell and get their attention. I was beginning to wonder how long I would be stuck out there. Thoughts of spending days on the balcony with out food or a coat or anything warm crossed my mind. Then I thought surely I would be able to get someones attention by this evening but if it was after the office closed how could I get back into my apartment.
I decided to sit down on the railing where I could kind of see the neighbors door who lives across the walkway from me and hope today is not the first day that they don't have 50 people coming and going to that apartment. Well I sat and waited, and waited and listened for voices. Did you know when you are straining to hear a voice you can really hear a lot of what is going on around you. I tried without success to send the squirrel that ran up a tree next to me for help but he would have none of it. I was stuck there until my luck changed.
So I sat looking into my apartment at the TV that was still on watching ER without being able to hear very well, although if I had tried I probably could have heard it better but then I wouldn't have been listening for the sounds of people outside. I started to think surely there is someone who is home in one of these apartments, and they will come out on their patio to smoke or something so I can finally get someone to help me. So I sat and waited.
Then I heard people talking I jumped down and looked around to see who I was hearing. I saw a couple coming out of their apartment and I started to yell to them. Now I could see them as I knew where they were but they were having a hard time figuring out where this voice was coming from. I was madly waving my arms hoping they would figure out where I was. When they finally saw me I asked if they would call the office and tell them I had locked myself out on my balcony and need to be let back in. They asked if I knew the phone number for the office, which I didn't. (Mental note memorize office phone number.) They went back into their apartment for what seemed like forever but was really only a few minutes and came out still on the phone with the office. They said the office would send someone over right away. I thanked them for their help and watched them leave. Then I waited again for help to arrive.
This picture is looking in the direction of the apartment from which the couple came. As you can see it's hard to see their front door.
Now the complex is not a large one so it seemed to be taking longer than I thought it should for help to arrive. I began to wonder if those people didn't just pretend to call the office and then tell me help would be coming just so they could leave. What a dirty trick that would have been. Waiting and listening for footsteps. I thought I sure hope he doesn't knock and wait for me to answer the door as that was the problem I couldn't get inside to do so. Finally the maintenance man arrived and came into my apartment. I waved at him sheepishly through the sliding glass door from the balcony and he came over and let me in, My Hero!
He checked out the door trying to figure out how it locked me out in the first place. Funny how things never do what they did when a person who fixes things looks at it. He tried several times to shut the door and get it to lock but it never did. I had no idea how I did it and believe me I will never go out onto my balcony and close the door all the way again. I also intend to keep my phone with me. I was stranded on my balcony for a little over an hour which really isn't that long but can feel like forever when you feel trapped. I think I will look into getting one of those emergency ladders you hook to your window ledge and get 2 one for the window and one to keep in the balcony in case I get locked out again. Believe me if it can happen it will happen to me. And all this because I was trying to help someone out with their computer. You see no good deed goes unpunished.
OK so I'm at home and I have a computer that someone asked me to fix and I start looking at it and I could see there was a lot of dust caked to the power supply fan. I decide to take it out on the balcony and blow out all the dust and dirt. I took the computer outside with a can of air, turn and close the door to keep the dust outside. I begin to blow out the dust until the can was so cold I can hardly hold it and it wasn't blowing very hard. So now I have to decide to either wait for the can of air to warm up or get another can. I decide to go back inside and get another can. I turn to go back into my apartment, and reach for the handle to open the door. I give it a yank and the only thing that moves is my hand off the handle.
Some how the door locked and I was on the outside with no way to get back in. I know what you're thinking no problem I can always call for help with my cell phone, well wouldn't you know I also left my cell phone on the table inside my apartment. To make matter worse my apartment is on the second floor so I start looking around trying to figure out how I can get out of this predicament. Now if you have seen any of the pictures I've posted of myself you know I am not a small woman, it is safe to say I am a LARGE woman. So although in my younger days I could have easily made the jumped, however a person of my age and size that jump would have been followed by a trip to the hospital for at least one cast if not several.
Now let me explain what my balcony over looks. I have a lot of trees behind my apartment, nice for privacy but a problem in this situation. There are other apartments behind me but they are across "the creek" or in reality the drainage canal. So seeing the neighbors is difficult, and I am looking at the backside of their apartments and to make matters worse it's 9:20 am on a Tuesday so of course no one is home or on their balconies. I tried to think like MacGyver and see if there was any way I could get off the balcony without causing myself harm. I took down my cloths line and thought I could tie it to the post and then use it to climb down to the ground. The first problem with that idea was I don't know how to tie a knot that I could trust not to come untied as I dangled off the side of the balcony. Another problem was I had no idea how to climb down the side of a building using a nylon rope, and those were the simplest of my problems.
Here are a couple of pictures of what the view is like from my balcony.
So I began to call out "HELLO?" to see if anyone was within ear shot. No luck there so I went to my storage closet to see what I might find in there to help signal some one for help. Found paper, no pen, found durflame logs and I did have a lighter to light it but I thought perhaps starting a fire would only make things worse. I wasn't having any success with the closet, and why should I obviously I was not having a run of good luck or I wouldn't be locked out of my apartment on the balcony.
I tried to get the attention of my downstairs neighbor, that is if there was someone home and I didn't know if there was, but I was unsuccessful with that attempt, although I just about pulled her wind chime off when my cloths line got tangled up with it while I was waving the rope for attention. I kept looking around hoping a neighbor would come home and I might be able to get their attention.
The trees near my balcony are not big trees so getting out to one of them and climbing down was not an option either. I caught a glimpse of a neighbor as they went into their apartment but wasn't fast enough to yell and get their attention. I was beginning to wonder how long I would be stuck out there. Thoughts of spending days on the balcony with out food or a coat or anything warm crossed my mind. Then I thought surely I would be able to get someones attention by this evening but if it was after the office closed how could I get back into my apartment.
I decided to sit down on the railing where I could kind of see the neighbors door who lives across the walkway from me and hope today is not the first day that they don't have 50 people coming and going to that apartment. Well I sat and waited, and waited and listened for voices. Did you know when you are straining to hear a voice you can really hear a lot of what is going on around you. I tried without success to send the squirrel that ran up a tree next to me for help but he would have none of it. I was stuck there until my luck changed.
So I sat looking into my apartment at the TV that was still on watching ER without being able to hear very well, although if I had tried I probably could have heard it better but then I wouldn't have been listening for the sounds of people outside. I started to think surely there is someone who is home in one of these apartments, and they will come out on their patio to smoke or something so I can finally get someone to help me. So I sat and waited.
Then I heard people talking I jumped down and looked around to see who I was hearing. I saw a couple coming out of their apartment and I started to yell to them. Now I could see them as I knew where they were but they were having a hard time figuring out where this voice was coming from. I was madly waving my arms hoping they would figure out where I was. When they finally saw me I asked if they would call the office and tell them I had locked myself out on my balcony and need to be let back in. They asked if I knew the phone number for the office, which I didn't. (Mental note memorize office phone number.) They went back into their apartment for what seemed like forever but was really only a few minutes and came out still on the phone with the office. They said the office would send someone over right away. I thanked them for their help and watched them leave. Then I waited again for help to arrive.
This picture is looking in the direction of the apartment from which the couple came. As you can see it's hard to see their front door.
Now the complex is not a large one so it seemed to be taking longer than I thought it should for help to arrive. I began to wonder if those people didn't just pretend to call the office and then tell me help would be coming just so they could leave. What a dirty trick that would have been. Waiting and listening for footsteps. I thought I sure hope he doesn't knock and wait for me to answer the door as that was the problem I couldn't get inside to do so. Finally the maintenance man arrived and came into my apartment. I waved at him sheepishly through the sliding glass door from the balcony and he came over and let me in, My Hero!
He checked out the door trying to figure out how it locked me out in the first place. Funny how things never do what they did when a person who fixes things looks at it. He tried several times to shut the door and get it to lock but it never did. I had no idea how I did it and believe me I will never go out onto my balcony and close the door all the way again. I also intend to keep my phone with me. I was stranded on my balcony for a little over an hour which really isn't that long but can feel like forever when you feel trapped. I think I will look into getting one of those emergency ladders you hook to your window ledge and get 2 one for the window and one to keep in the balcony in case I get locked out again. Believe me if it can happen it will happen to me. And all this because I was trying to help someone out with their computer. You see no good deed goes unpunished.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Well it's been a wild few weeks for me, actually a wild year. I have posted before that shortly after moving back to Ca. for a job I found out that my job was being out sourced and I would be unemployed and with me just recently moved and signed a year lease for my apartment. That was back in March that they told us we would be losing our jobs shortly and yet here we are now in November and although the job that brought me to Ca. has not ended yet there is a light at the end of the tunnel. No 60 day notices have been given yet, at least not in my department but I was worried since I've been through this before 6 years ago and it took me almost a year and a half to find a full time job that time. And even then that job paid a lot less then my last full time job and I had to move it with an older lady to take care of her just so I had a place to live. Then I move back home with my parents, very depressing when your older than a teenager.
Anyway I have been really stressing over finding a new job before my old one ends and I end up on unemployment and with no job in sight. I have been search the Internet, going to job fairs and even used a fax out your resume website which was not producing much in the way of a new job. I finally applied to one particular company several times for different jobs and finally talked to a recruiter.
Long story short I got an interview and then 4 days later a second and was told they would call me on Friday just 3 days after the second round of interviews. So all day Friday I waited, and waited and waited, the call never came. I thought well I must not have got the job which put me into a depressed frame of mind. Around this time I also got an email from an old friend I hadn't seen in 10 years who was going to be in town on Saturday and wanted to know if we could meet up at the mall. I wanted to see her and so I agreed. Although Saturday I was still not feeling much like being around people and almost canceled but I ended up going anyway. Well I got to the mall and called her to find out where they were so I could join them. They had not gotten to the mall yet and she told her husband I would be calling any minute because I'm always on time or early and she is always late. So I talked with her a short time then found a seat to waited for their arrival. Keep in mind she lives near Modesto and I live in the Sacramento area.
While I was waiting I got a call from work, they told me the swing shift operator was sick and they needed me to come in early. I told them I would come in early but it would be about an hour before I got there. My friend finally arrived and although she had a bit of a wardrobe malfunction with her pants, (that's another story in its self)we talked and laughed and had fun walking around the mall for the 45 minutes I had to spend with her. I was trying to be less moody and more fun and turned into goofy instead. Her kids liked me for who doesn't like a goof ball.
I went to work that night and worked 14 hours (usually I work 12 hours) and again had to go in early Sunday night to cover for the sick coworker, another 14 hour day later and it's Monday morning. I again have to go in early to work Monday night for another 14 1/2 hour day. I got a phone call which woke me up and it was the company I was waiting to hear from, with an offer of employment. So I went into work that night submitted my notice to them that I would be leaving. I will be starting my new job December 2nd. I just got the offer letter delivered express and will be filling out the paperwork and returning it tomorrow. So needless to say I am excited about what the future holds. What a relief to finally have the looking part over and now the new adventure of learning a new job and all that it entails.
Anyway I have been really stressing over finding a new job before my old one ends and I end up on unemployment and with no job in sight. I have been search the Internet, going to job fairs and even used a fax out your resume website which was not producing much in the way of a new job. I finally applied to one particular company several times for different jobs and finally talked to a recruiter.
Long story short I got an interview and then 4 days later a second and was told they would call me on Friday just 3 days after the second round of interviews. So all day Friday I waited, and waited and waited, the call never came. I thought well I must not have got the job which put me into a depressed frame of mind. Around this time I also got an email from an old friend I hadn't seen in 10 years who was going to be in town on Saturday and wanted to know if we could meet up at the mall. I wanted to see her and so I agreed. Although Saturday I was still not feeling much like being around people and almost canceled but I ended up going anyway. Well I got to the mall and called her to find out where they were so I could join them. They had not gotten to the mall yet and she told her husband I would be calling any minute because I'm always on time or early and she is always late. So I talked with her a short time then found a seat to waited for their arrival. Keep in mind she lives near Modesto and I live in the Sacramento area.
While I was waiting I got a call from work, they told me the swing shift operator was sick and they needed me to come in early. I told them I would come in early but it would be about an hour before I got there. My friend finally arrived and although she had a bit of a wardrobe malfunction with her pants, (that's another story in its self)we talked and laughed and had fun walking around the mall for the 45 minutes I had to spend with her. I was trying to be less moody and more fun and turned into goofy instead. Her kids liked me for who doesn't like a goof ball.
I went to work that night and worked 14 hours (usually I work 12 hours) and again had to go in early Sunday night to cover for the sick coworker, another 14 hour day later and it's Monday morning. I again have to go in early to work Monday night for another 14 1/2 hour day. I got a phone call which woke me up and it was the company I was waiting to hear from, with an offer of employment. So I went into work that night submitted my notice to them that I would be leaving. I will be starting my new job December 2nd. I just got the offer letter delivered express and will be filling out the paperwork and returning it tomorrow. So needless to say I am excited about what the future holds. What a relief to finally have the looking part over and now the new adventure of learning a new job and all that it entails.
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Identity theft is one of the biggest problems facing everyone these days. I've had a paper shredder for years until about a year ago when the one I had finally died. Although it should have been higher on my list of things to get I just let my papers kind of stack up until yesterday. I had been researching different shredders and I wanted to find one that works both on several pages at once and would do credit cards as well as CD's if I need to destroy them as well at a good price. I checked several stores and hadn't decided on one yet until I saw this one at Target.
On the box if you look closely shows you that the papers are shredded to very small pieces. That sold me on this shredder. I brought it home and started eliminating my papers that I didn't want to just through into the trash. As I was going through my stacks of envelopes and I found one from Sears, which had an old credit card in it. So I decided to she just how good this shredder works. I have a before and after picture of the card.
Before Shredding
After (dime added for size perspective)
I just love this shredder, I don't think I will have any trouble with anyone getting any information from what I shred. This machine makes keeping my identity safe, and fun!
On the box if you look closely shows you that the papers are shredded to very small pieces. That sold me on this shredder. I brought it home and started eliminating my papers that I didn't want to just through into the trash. As I was going through my stacks of envelopes and I found one from Sears, which had an old credit card in it. So I decided to she just how good this shredder works. I have a before and after picture of the card.
Before Shredding
After (dime added for size perspective)I just love this shredder, I don't think I will have any trouble with anyone getting any information from what I shred. This machine makes keeping my identity safe, and fun!
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Who is the gymnest
I went to Utah last week for a family emergency. My mother went into the hospital with blood clots in both her lungs and the little band aid station they call a hospital in Kanab had to send her to a larger hospital which brought her up to the Provo area. I was there staying with my brother and his family. One of the nights I was there after dinner Rachel was standing in the kitchen swinging between the island and the counter. She was swinging her legs up and back, so I told her to hold her self up and put her legs out straight in front of her. She tried but was unable to keep her legs up in the air straight in front. Adam also tried as well as little Sarah,(with some help from Rachel) then Matthew said he wanted to try. Well he propped himself up with his hands and swung his feet up and out in a perfect L shape holding his legs up and straight out. We all clapped and cheered for Matthew who just looked at us like what's that big deal that was easy. My brother said "I know who I am going to sign up for gymnastics" Here are some pictures of the kids.
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