Blonde Story Short

Sometimes life happens all at once.  In fact most of the time it happens this way.  My husband and I think it's best (apparently) to not just have a baby- have I mentioned I'll be doing that soon?- but to also alter our life completely by MOVING it all to... IDAHO. Yup, I'm moving to Idaho. We bought a house, today starts my last full week of work,  and just about everything in life is changing. Let me tell you, moving away from the state you've spent all your life in...is  no small potatoes. Aside from only having lived in two cities thus far *Azusa and San Diego, moving out of California is pretty significant.  I'm not going to hate on this beautiful state, but I will say it is clear that the next chapter for us and our family is meant to be outside of this place. *Okay I usually claim to be from Covina, (Glendora if I'm feeling fancy & San Dimas if "Raging Waters" is someone's only point of reference) but the reality is living on Cit...

If ONLY I was snoring! Though I have completely faked energy and enthusiasm thus far this week...I am exhausted! My recent crafting at home and project-taking-on at work would lead you to believe otherwise.  So tricky. Monday started out alright. For some strange reason I woke up with Gloria Estefan and M iami S ound M achine's "Rhythm is gonna get you" in my head.  I know...what on earth? Gloria is the first artist I ever danced (on stage) to...that's another story, and one that still doesn't explain how her collaborated 1987 hit found its way into my subconscious. Things improved on the way to work- in my own car. I did love the extra A.M. time with the Hub, but I have to say having my ride back is just a real treat. Channel surfing (radio frequencies) is one of my favorite things about driving alone.  I also like talking to myself. A rhythm that really "got me" hit the airwaves just in time for my 8 East merge... Is there anything b...

One of my mottos in life ("mantras" if your verbiage is cooler than mine) is Make it Work .  I attribute this one to my mother, who is the ultimate make-it-worker. As a single mom she did just this! I spent a lot of time, especially in high school, doing a LOT of stuff.  Most if not all of my activities made my mom's time, money and "rides" a must. Side note: Now that I have teens, it is very apparent to me that they never   say "Can you drive me..." they always  say "Can I get a ride ..."  "Heidi needs a ride ..." "Can we give Nick a ride ...." (profound observation from yours truly.  Another quasi obvious one: they say "I was all like" every time they quote themselves) More on teenagers later...and I used to think I wanted to write a book on being a bridesmaid. This material grows by the day! Making it work means being flexible and staying positive. If you went to PLNU or perhaps another institution that fo...

As I've mentioned recently, I've been doing a little "labeling" around Blonde Story Short.  The funnest part about it (funnest not being a real word) is being reminded of what life was like up to six years ago and seeing the patterns throughout my stories.  One label that I couldn't help but create was titled "WHY?" The WHY? posts typically centered around something ridiculous...spilling coffee directly onto the boobs on my way to tutor junior high boys, falling in the middle of a "dance circle" (while doing the "shopping cart"), things of that nature...feel free to check out the 12ish posts labeled WHY?  I have no idea how you do that, but I'm sure Blog spot has a tool for it. Today, as I prepped my 10am morning snack, I like structure okay?, I asked myself this very broad question.  I cut up a half banana and already sliced apples (into now cubed apples) and wondered WHY eating these two half fruits together on a plate with ...

My last night on "Thanksgiving San Fran Roadtrip 2009" was a difficult one. "Okay you're going to go up that hill for about 16 blocks, then over the Golden Gate Bridge.Once you're off the 101, turn right, then left then left again, then right. You'll know what it looks like." Ok. Quick pep talk to self. Map of strange city riding shot gun...always helpful (when you have the where with all to look down while driving crazy roads and can read maps). A sweaty, shaking version of me made it off the freeway. The lefts and rights began to blur, especially without street names. Once in the residential of the destination I was at a loss. Areas like this one tend to have that every-house-looks-identical appeal. I know they have a mini-van in their driveway. There was definitely a fence. And there was trim around the roof and an American Flag hanging...or maybe a festive turkey flag? Mission Accomplished. Arrival at 7pm, ready for screaming children an...

As planned, Monday morning I reinstated my "Triple A," and got 'ol Wanda the Honda back to the shop. Although I am absolutely dense when it comes to space, time and therefore directions, I am very much aware of the distance from my house to the mechanic since 7 miles was this morning's limit on "free" roadside assistance. The total distance was 7.67 miles actually. I don't feel great about it being called "free" since I'm pretty sure I had just read the numbers off my Visa to an agent for the grand total of $67. What are ya gonna do? After checking out some OBcean apartments, I decided one was adorable and the other a dump. I was later dropped off at home by my dear friend who happens to also be a dear mama. My new theory: The only way to house hunt in between jobs one and two on a humid Monday afternoon, to do so with two precious babies in the back seat...mostly because they laugh at your silly jokes and facial expressions. I sti...

For some odd reason every area of life seems to be hectic at the same time. A friend of mine had the nickname "Hectic" for a season of her life. This was mostly because she often found herself out and about (code for getting drunk downtown), where chaos seemed to find her. In the last month I've had my car in the shop (driving rental PT Cruiser of course), been the "squeaky wheel" at work to obtain a bigger and better position (they heard my squeak!), a move approaching in two weeks to which the area of the city I am not even certain, a sick grandmother, and wedding festivities where I will share my professional bridesmaid skills approaching in the next week. So much. No other word can describe it, but hectic. My current roommate was gradually taking her goods and is officially moved out, along with our sofa and kitchen table, as of today. After house hunting online all morning, okay after 11am when I woke from my slumber, I found myself sitting in a beach ...

It happens every year. Mid June hits and I tell everyone I know (it's the external thinker in me) that I just cannot wait until summer. Oh yea, it's just sooooooo nice to have a random schedule, work some days, some nights...no routine, time for the beach.... Ya wanna know what I tell everyone around mid August? That I can't wait until Fall when I can get back into some sort of freakin routine!!! Routine paychecks have something to do with it as well I think. Yea, I'm pretty sure actually. I pride myself on being a spontaneous, fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants, free spirited kinda gal... until I forget to pay a bill, kick myself for not nailing down 1 full-time job (instead of 3 part-timers) and curse my "free" spirit for ending up being not so free! Turns out, all those Type A's (that seem to deserve pony-pulls most of the time due to their freakish desire for control) actually have something goin...it's called a budget, job that provides health i...

As I attempt to survive this summer I find myself filling out lots and lots of paperwork. There is the job application paperwork which includes things like name, address, previous address, address before your previous address, last 100 places you've worked and the skills you used at those places, references from people who cannot be related to you or know you on a professional level, personal level...or any other level... Once you've gotten someone to hire you, you're called a "NEW HIRE." You have "New Hire" training, "New Hire" codes to get into buildings and of course "New Hire" packets of paperwork to fill out. This includes questions like, "During work hours, if you slip and crack your head open, do you want the option of seeing your own personal physician, or will you be okay seeing ours? I don't know, I'll be unconscious wasn't one of the options. Then of course there is the on going document called the...

My aunt passed away last week. She was my mom's eldest sister, the eldest of all 6 kids actually. I got a call from my mom at 6:00 Friday morning. I definitely had not yet gotten up at that point. I had another two hours until work which meant another hour and a half (at least) until I had to roll outta bed. I ignored the first call...standard early morning move on my part. The second call meant business. My mom must have had something important to say, so I answered. She told me the news and I immediately began to cry. I wasn't close to Aunt Pat and could probably count the number of times I've seen her in the last 10 years on one hand. The tears were on behalf my mom's pain, I think. I knew that she was hurting and that most of all my precious grandma was hurting as well. This would be the second child that has gone before her. I hung up the phone, with a plan of a call back from mom with more details awaiting. I stood up and was a little more conscience. By now I wa...

For some reason the word FEAR has come up in an oddly frequent way the last two days. Some of the conversations that the "F-word" has been a part of include (but are NOT limited to): a deep convo with a friend about what can keep us from diving (or flailing I suppose) into life...Fear, an episode of Fear Factor (I work with junior highers who like the idea of people eating tape worms covered in mud, naturally this show comes up), and overcoming the F-word's ability to keep me from surfing in surf-sational San Diego! And there was a lot more where that eFfen came from! I got to thinking today...When I taught Kindergarten (the cute little banchies who thought I was queen of the universe, I loved my job), I would have them line up for recess and they were not allowed to leave the room to head for the playground unless I was in front of them, leading the way. They were okay with it since I'd lead them while singing songs like "I like to move it, move it......

Today is the day my fam and I (including the Bride of course) head up to the site and will attempt to relax. Rehearsal dinner done, tomorrow is the big day. I always think it's so cliche when people call it that. I picture a nerdy guy with huge glasses or a really old grandma with a squeaky voice saying "Are you excited for the BIG DAY?" Then both push their glasses up so that they aren't falling down their noses anymore. Somehow I find myself saying it anyway, it's all the rage. After checking tan and dental appointment off my list I was in the OC ...waiting. Waiting for the MOB (Mother of Bride) to get finish getting ready, hopefully without hurting herself or anyone else in the household i.e me and the dogs. I escaped to get us some lunch, maybe a taco would help? In a fit of thinking ahead (all new to me) I hit Rite Aid to purchase some sleep-aids for the fam (possible Friday night jitters on the agenda) and Excedrin Migraine for me (I can't begin to ...

...between now and the last blog. Trust me I've wanted nothing more than to share my thoughts and recent observations. My journal (the unedited and even more personal version of my blog) has gotten a lot more action lately! My bad. So yes I've still been writing, helpful to keep some form of sanity and YES I've missed all of my blogtastic readers! Got a lot going on in my head and my heart right about now...I feel compelled to go on and on about the last three weeks of life occurrences, but I generally try to refrain from a "keep updated on my life" blog and stick to more of a "huh? that's kinda funny" type of blog. As solely a means of showing how incredibly crazy life has been, I'll give you a brief run down in bullet point form: 1. Cinco de Mayo=White people drinking Margaritas...PB...eery feeling it's 2007 again (my crazy year which included a lot of PB, and I don't mean peanut butter)...seeing one of the old "P4" an...

I think it's actually pretty nasty sounding...hump day that is. I can't resist using it though. It truly is the hump of the week that once you get over, makes getting to the weekend seem far shorter. I'm back at work after having 2 weeks off. And a fabulous 2 weeks they were indeed. I can't help but feel like I'm going through this week underwater. Like I have a snorkel and can breathe and all, but instead of really feeling and experiencing each moment of the day, I'm just sort of...swimmin through it, and looking at fish. I seem to be thinking a lot...weird that never happens. I tend to go in circles, remember my spin cycle allusion? Here's a little sample platter of my wonderment: When do we get to the point in our lives where we are hardcore, bonified over-achievers? Where we actually like going above and beyond (aside from in our relationships, that seems pretty natural) and thrive on our productivity and success? Is it possible that the "yellows...

It's a Monday night bar tending...Since I know Mondays are limited to just a few patrons, I always bring some form of entertainment for myself. I don't do well without stimulation for long periods of time and am forbidden to turn the big screen to anything other than sports and news. I often make lists of "To-do's", life goals, things like that. Although I have quite a few things on both lists, it still only occupies about 30 minutes of my 4 hour shift. Tonight I brought a book, tempted to throw a bottle of nail polish in my purse, I refrained. That's gotta be some sort of health code violation. I'm the ultimate extrovert and at times can 't even stand it! I get energy (and much joy) from people. Most of the time not even a compelling book can compare to interaction with a real human. So, inevitably the book lost my attention when a deep convo with Roberto the cook appeared as an option. Not only is Roberto a precious, precious man (necessary to s...

Getting my computer onto the Internet only took one hour, twenty-eight minutes, and seventeen seconds. Gotta love Jackie at Linksys. Lucky her, getting the graveyard shift at the 24 hour tech support desk, especially when I call! She was so helpful. I'm thinking the questions and way in which I asked them had the potential to get a bit annoying. "So can I take the thing outta the thing now?" "Do you want me to click OKAY after I do that?" (YES. Click OKAY every time Sara) Linksys Jackie told me to delete all other wireless networks from my roommate's laptop (just the word network sounds like I have a faint idea what I'm talking about. I don't) There were like 20 of them. I whispered to the roomie, "You're a wireless whore!" Luckily she gets me.  Since we rearranged our living room 2 months ago, I had yet to get my ancient beast of a desktop back on the world wide web. Let's hope that all the posts in that time weren'...

Recession brings people to desperation. Desperate times call for desperate measures. I can't imagine the choices one would be forced to make if feeding his or her family were at stake. I'm sure that some are desperate enough to do things that in normal circumstances they would be incapable of doing. This is not to be taken lightly. But, on a lighter note, I generally provide one of those, there are also desperate moves that are goin' on during this time that are not a result of survival, but merely something else...which I can't yet put my ring-less finger on. Yes that's right, I'm talking about desperate moves made by men, more appropriately titled, boys. Moves that make me say out loud, "hmmmm?" and also "huh?" I have touched on my "When it rains it pours" theory before. Well it still has yet to be disproved. We got most of the P1-P4's outta there and now there's a whole 'nother team up at bat. I can'...

As I've shared before, I love Algebra..in an almost freakish sorta way. I love how predictable it all can be. There's an established rule for everything. I also really like rules....sometimes. It's the teacher in me, sometimes at odds with the hippie in me, balance is the key right? I love how there's only one answer for each problem in Algebra. There's one rule. Sometimes there's an exception to that rule, but once you've experienced and memorized this exception, you're okay...things are back to being predictable. Life lessons on the other hand, are the contrary; unpredictable, full of way more than one exception to the "rule," and even once you've learned the exception, there are many more to come, more to experience and figure out. More that are unknown, unsafe and can even be devastating. You can't predict when or how you will get hurt, who will hurt you, or on an even more terrifying note, who will love you. It's all...

Why is Routine so hard? Maybe it isn't so hard for everyone, I know some that thrive on it...so why is it so hard for me? I can't even wear a watch without feeling trapped! I finally have a job that has me in a routine. I get up at 7:15 (7:30 realistically), eat a quick bowl of cereal (with flax seed on top if I'm really on the ball that morning), stare into space for a few minutes as I resent leaving my memory foam mattress. Brush teeth, wash face, contacts in (yay for being able to see), make-up on, do something with hair, scan closet for professional clothes (always a struggle not to throw on standard hoodie and holey jeans), ...and out the door for work at 8:00am. Thank God I work 3 minutes away, otherwise we would all be in trouble...and when I say we , I mean me . I stayed home from work last Wednesday since I was starting to feel the relentless I-work-with-dirty-kids-cold. I love, love, looooooved staying home on the couch, sleeping, and spending time with my b...

I had a thought this morning in my mad rush to get ready for work. FYI, I normally roll outta bed at the last possible second, leaving just enough time to look semi-presentable. I had an idea of what I would wear today since the weather finally permits warm dresses! So, I slipped on my paisley frock and was very intentional about the 3/4 sleve brown cardi I wanted from way in the back of my shark's teeth closet (rows that go deep, but are only about 2 feet wide in total, extremely inconvenient). I knew exactly what I wanted, this particular sweater almost always gets paired with this particular dress, I'm a creature of habit (admittingly not always good habits). As I reached back into the back row of the shark's mouth, I initially grabbed a purple pull-over...so not the appropriate brown cardi I had my heart set on. I quickly put it back without hesitation and grabbed for the sweater I really wanted. Generally I'd mull over the purple one and play with the idea...