Rehearsals, travelling, etc.

I'm ashamed that it has been this long since I wrote anything. That's crazy and mimicks the craziness around here.

We've had a great month of events. We were able to travel up to Stephanie and Todd's about 3 times in 6 wks. Jim and I both had a great time with them. They love to find good things to eat and playing with the kids is always a treat. Jim had his birthday on the 14th and we stayed up in Avila Beach at the Sycamore Springs Mineral Spa & Resort. It was so relaxing there with a private jacuzzi on the patio was just what we needed.

Marilyn had us over for lunch after Callie Shae was blessed and the entire Sincock family was there with all of the kids. I hadn't seen that many kids in one room in a long time. It reminds me of how much fun we would have getting together with all of Dad's family and our cousins. They were all older than us and were much more skilled in teasing than I. I guess I learned from the best of them. haha

Harborlites had a coach fly in from Canada so we had a marathon rehearsal schedule last weekend. Friday night 7-10pm, Saturday 9-5pm, Monday night 6:30-10pm and Tuesday 6:30-10pm. In between that I drove to Palm Springs on Sunday and spent time with Mom & Dad and was able to see my friend Laura (who I worked with at Dr. Shibata's office) and her family. Her twin boys are getting so big now. They are 10 mo. old and adorable. One of the boys is starting to walk and cruise around with the help of the furniture. They are both sooooo cute. She was able to get her braces off and Dr. Shibata adjusted my retainers. Mom and Dad made tacos like old times - it was great.

I've spent this last week catching up on sleep from all the rehearsing and giving my vocal chords a rest. They do get overworked. People in the office kept saying I was coming down with something. I just said, it's my voice and it will be back and full strength by Friday! haha

I've paid the bills and I'm getting ready to take the dogs on a walk, then clean the house. Yeah! I finally have a day at home.

Finally the pictures!!! :)

A big congratulations to Marilyn & Greg on their new baby girl - Callie Shae! She is soooooo beautiful - I just love her!


My 20th high school reunion was a blast. It was a lot more fun than I thought it would be. I was able to see a lot of people that I hadn't seen in 20years!!!

My hair is gooooooooooone!!!

Yesterday I had an appt to get my haircut and I knew I was going to have him cut it shorter. When he did, I still felt like I wanted more taken off, so I did it! It is much much shorter. It feels good and it takes hardly any time to fix, but this seems like a drastic change that will take a few weeks to get used to.

Jim is in the garage making room for the new car. We decided we needed a car with better gas mileage that will ultimately save us a lot of money. It's a Corolla S metallic gray and is pretty fun to drive. It seems like it floats over the road. I'm used to a much heavier car. The best part was that we went through Costco and they have a program that allows you to pay $300 over the dealer invoice price. They also threw in the extended warranty to 75K miles and the interest rate was 1.9! Unreal!

I've been having fun riding the motorcycle to work and back. The cost savings and getting me concentrating on not getting killed allows time that I'm not spending on worrying about work, etc.

One of the assistants in our office retired last Friday so we'll have a week in between having the new assistant start. This past week was soooo crazy. Jim was losing sleep last weekend knowing we were going to short staffed by 2 mgrs. and then we get there on Monday and another assistant is out with the flu. There was only 3 of us in the office until Wednesday. I kept telling Jim that the first 3 days of last week felt like 3 weeks! It's nice to have a calm weekend. The next few weekends are busy with reunions. The Orange Stake YOuth is having a reunion on 7/5/08 at 8:00pm at the Orange Stake Center and then the following weekend is ELMO's 20th high school reunion. I can't believe it's been 20 years!! Time does cruise by.

I do have a new calling, but they haven't officially sustained me yet. I am the relief society pianist and possibly a member on the compassionate service team. This will get me practicing the piano again.

Have a great week everyone!

Lots of singing and riding!!!

Harborlites had a weekend coaching session which means we were rehearsing Friday night from 7-10pm and then again on Saturday 9-5. I have been carpooling with a couple of ladies from the chorus and thought that Saturday would be the perfect day for me to ride the motorcycle to rehearsal since the traffic would be relatively low at the times I would be riding. It turned out to be a lot of fun, but I can see that I'm going to want a bike that has a little more power soon. The downside to it was that I got sooooo hot. It was about 105 yesterday in Anaheim Hills where we rehearse. I can't believe what a difference being closer to the water makes.

Once I got home I jumped in the pool to cool off - wow that felt good! This past week has been a busy one. Poor Jim has had 7 night meetings in 9 days! He's sooooo pooped. We have 2 people in our office quit and the one lady had her last day Friday and her Mom passed away. She had been sick for a long time, and it is very sad. Her Mom was only 52! It's just heart-wrenching to imagine what that must be like. The other lady is turning 69 next week and will be retiring. So, next week we won't have 2 of our managers there either - it will be interesting. Jim said, "It's going to be a busy week" and I'm wondering how will it be different than any other week at this place?!

We are in a new ward now - Los Alamitos Ward and the bishop conducted 50 interviews last Tues & Wed to hand out callings. I didn't get the person's message on the phone until Wed night at 10pm. I had to call him and let him know I wasn't trying to dodge a calling, but I hadn't been home after work and forgot to check messages. Oh well. So, I guess I'm due to get the "bottom of the barrel" stuff like the asst to the asst librarian. Actually, I would love that I think - keeping that place organized would be fun! We have so many people in our ward since the split, that we have people sitting in the cultural hall each week. They called about 10-12 people to the Sunday School Board. I don't want to be late to church so I can hear all these new callings given out each week.

The Los Alamitos Primary Pres. had all of the Seal Beach Primary Pres. come in last week and had the kids sing to us. We were all crying by the end. They also gave us a plant and had the children all sign handmade cards - sooooo sweet. Of course, we had to visit both jr. and sr. primary. The jr. primary sang A Child's Prayer and we were all crying, so we picked a much happier and light hearted song for the sr. primary to sing to us. It was very nice. I will miss those kids terribly. Relief Society here we come!

I'd better get ready for church.

Joey's Graduation!!

Well, Joey did it - my oldest nephew has graduated high school. It was great to be able to go and see how excited he was. I remember having that feeling of total freedom and now seeing him have that feeling, but knowing that it is so temporary and fleeting, was pretty interesting to me. What he doesn't know is that there will come a time in his future that he will wish he still lived at home, had Mom cooking for him, had a loving audience of his siblings watching and idolizing him, and the list goes on and on. haha Of course I'm half kidding, but believe me, I've had those moments of wanting that time to be back and feeling that freedom again. Yes, some of you may say that I have all kinds of freedom now, but the freedom that comes when you're being supported by your parents is PRICELESS!!!! We all felt the world on our shoulders because we had to get a term paper done???! Wow, that was major - haha. Or getting all of the housework done before we could "PLAY"! Maybe all that has happened to me is that I have taken for granted all the playing I've been able to do and I really need to start counting my blessings and realize I've got a lot of freedom and I should be enjoying it MORE.

Enough of that! I was able to carpool and pick up Mike, Danny & Chad on my way to the graduation. It was a lot of fun and I think all of the guys had fun playing with every button, switch and doo-hicky in my car. I could hear so many things being pushed and tinkered with it was like having a bunch of little kids with me. haha. April had a bunch of grinders for us to eat and then we came back afterwards and had cake and icecream. She put in her wedding video to Bryan back in 1988 and we got a kick out of seeing Mike and Danny as little Primary kids. I guess they were 8 and 10 at the time - so funny!

Grammy's birthday was on Thursday and it was nice to go over and see her. Marilyn and her kids were back from Maui and were able to come over along with Mom. We had fun seeing the kids and watching Cooper try on Grammy's wig and actually enjoy having it on. I think he's going to want longer hair one of these days. Cooper teeth are so cute and so big for his little mouth! It's soooooo funny to watch him. Then Brandon put the wig on and grabbed both of Grammy's canes and played like he was an old lady. Funny!

I'm sooooo glad it's Saturday - I've been needing a day off since Tuesday. Had a rough night on Tuesday with a migraine and then waking up at 3am with the worst cramps since being a teenager! It was the kind of pain that makes you throw up and just double over. After taking 3 motrins to cut the pain in my head, it didn't even touch the cramps. Took another 4 and I was starting to feel better.

Today the babies have hairdo appointments and Jim and I are going to look at a property to manage in Arcadia. We're hoping to be back before noon so I can take over a treat to Grammy and get my nails done. I'm going to a wedding reception later on tonight for the brother of my good friend Sheila (who I worked with in the Primary presidency). I'm looking forward to seeing them. Her Mom is soooo sweet too and always is so nice to me. They're a great family!

Have a great weekend everyone!

We have a new WARD!

Start breathing folks, yes I'm writing again. Our stake re-organized several of the wards and actually disolved 2 wards including the Seal Beach Ward. It was kind of sad but we found out that most of our existing ward would be in with the Los Alamitos Ward. We have lost all of the Leisure World members and the members living down in Old Town Seal Beach. Today was the first day in our new ward and they had to open up the back partition into the cultural hall. I actually remember visiting Steph's ward in Rancho Santa Margarita that was like that. The ward clerk counted 326 people in sacrament meeting!!! That is unheard of around here. The bishopric was on alert and told us were the classes were going to be and that they would be playing it by ear. I think they were worried that the Relief Society would have to meet in the chapel!! We didn't have to end up doing that, but every last seat was filled. It's an exciting change and I've grown accostomed to change in the past 5 years, but a lot of people are sure missing their friends.

Does anyone remember when the Orange Stake split and we were in the "New" Orange 4th ward? I was dying to walk by the Primary room to see how things were going and they had about 25 kids lined up with their backs to the closets in the hallway while they readjusted all the chairs and rolling chalkboards for the Senior Primary. It looked a little chaotic so I turned back and headed to Relief Society where I belonged. It's a strange feeling going to R.S. after being in Primary for so long.

Last night Jim and I had the opportunity to attend the Masters of Harmony (men's barbershop chorus) perform at the Walt Disney Concert Hall in downtown LA. I had never been to the new facility and was so anxious and excited to go. They were combining with the Univ of Michigan Men's Glee Chorus which performed the first hour then the Masters of Harmony. It was a fabulous show and we were in the 3rd row really close to the stage. The acoustics in that building are amazing and the feeling there is really nice. There were some similarities with the new Segerstrom Hall near So. Coast, but it didn't have the pretentious feel of all the marble, etc. It was very comfortable to be there.

We have been car shopping for a hybrid car that will lesson the gas bill every month. We have had good luck with Toyota's in the past and are looking at the Camry hybrid. It says it gets 35 mpg which is great. My motorcycle is in getting tuned up and ready to go. I figured out a route that would avoid the freeway and would be less dangerous to get to work. With the gas prices this high, you have to do something!

Hope everyone is doing great and had a wonderful Sunday!

It has been sooooo long.....

Can you believe I'm writing something. It will probably take a month before anyone will check this because I've been so terrible at keeping up with this. I feel like I don't have time to use the bathroom sometimes let alone type up an entry.

I did just put together a slideshow on smilebox for our Japan trip that we took in 2006, but I didn't like the music I picked, so I need to change it.

Went to stake choir practice this morning which is always fun for me. It is next Sunday and will be really nice.

Work is going ok - it's about draining all of our energy because it zaps you mentally and you're left coming home and ending up in a clump on the couch just staring at the tv. You don't even realize that you're watching anything. Does this sound familiar to anyone?? I guess the tv is a way to stop thinking about all that is going on at the office, but what I should be doing is getting outside and exercising. I've been really bad lately. That is going to turn around. I'm heading outside right now to walk the doggies.

Little Missy was able to dodge surgery this past week. The surgeon did a mylogram on her spine and said that her discs were fine, but that she has meningitis. It's not the bacterial kind that humans get, but it causes the membranes around the spinal column to be inflammed, thus causing the pain in her back. The dr has put her on a steroid treatment and will see her in a month to check her progress. They think that she will be just fine and will only have to treat her with a low dose to maintain.

I'm off to walk the babies around the neighborhood. Hope everyone is having a great Memorial Day Weekend!

Sick again, ugh!

I can't believe it's been so long since I last entered a blog and that I'm sick again. I was sick 2 weeks ago with the stomach flu and now I've gotten a cold. I'm thinking being around a bunch of people at the Regional Convention in Phoenix or maybe even the plane. Airplanes are known for their contamination in the air. I should have been downing the airborne, but I was feeling so good. Why don't I learn those lessons and just take it once a week whether I need it or not.

Went to work this morning and had Jim bring me home around 10:45. I need to just lay in bed and stop worrying about what's going on at work. It will all be there tomorrow too. I have a theory that I've been getting more sick lately because of the stress at work. It's a killer - I've heard it everywhere.

Jim and I are still enjoying ordering the netflix. I don't know why it's so much fun to get those dvd's in the mail. It's also entertaining looking up old movies that you haven't seen in years and putting them in our "que". I think Mike and Danny have signed up too. Maybe you are all doing it and I'm way behind the curve on this one.

A little side note on Harborlites (Sweet Adeline Chorus)- we had a great rehearsal last night and the feedback from our performance in Phoenix was awesome. We really are top notch. I've been carpooling with 2 ladies that live in Rossmoor and Long Beach and as we drove up we were almost late and the one lady was saying how she couldn't believe we would have rehearsal after an all-weekend event and I just said, we're champions and there is a reason we keep at it. Then, she said (jokingly) that I had been brainwashed too. At that point, I ended it with, "I love winning - it feels great!". We all agreed.

Teeth Unveiling!!!

Wow, what a relief it is to have those nasty, metal, torturous little buggers off my teeth!!! I got them removed last Friday. The lady that I used to work with at the Ortho office was there with her twins that we were able to see for the first time. She has since moved to Ogden, UT and it was great to see her. We all had lunch with Dr. Shibata after the appointment. I took a bite into the garlic bread and my teeth actually work again. They were able to go right through the bread! It's amazing what you take for granted.

I only have a few minutes, but I wanted to post the before and after pictures. Going to the dentist this morning for a cleaning - that will feel good! I had tried to see "past" the braces to see how they would look, but they looked a lot better than I had even guessed.

Hope you all have a nice weekend. It's Thursday isn't it???

BEST NEWS IN A LONG, LONG TIME!!!

It is official - I will get my braces off in 12 days! I'm on countdown. The day after my last ortho appt. I woke up early in the morning just thinking about how it will be without them! I can't wait.
This was a picture I found before the braces.

We are still working way too hard, but things are starting to get a little better. Going to Morro Bay and Arroyo Grande last weekend was really nice. It was so strange to be in Stephanie's town and not being able to see them. They were up north visiting family, so I'll have to take another trip just to see them.

Hope you all have a great week!

Looking forward to a day off!!!

We have been working way too much and I'm so excited to be having President's Day off. Jim and I will be heading up to Morro Bay for an overnighter. It's unfortunate that Steph & Family will be up north, but we will plan another trip just to see them really soon.

Mr. Peanut & Missy went to the dr.'s on Friday. Peanut has a cyst on his side that has filled with fluid, so they gave us an estimate to have it removed - 1,000 big ones. Mom just told me about Golden State Human Society in Garden Grove that would give us a break on the price. We'll be checking that out next week. Jim came home on Fri to take P'nut to the vet and noticed that Missy's left eye was closed. It turns out that she scratched the cornea somehow and now we're treating it with antibiotic ointment. It looks much much better this afternoon and she's keeping it open most of the time. Poor baby. We don't know how she did it.

Friday night was fun - I ended up being invited over to Mike and Danny's house to have homemade chicken soup that Mom was making and I brought the movie "Invicible" to watch. We had a great time. I'm loving the netflix that I joined recently. I get so excited to see those red envelopes in the mailbox - it's a kick! haha It was also great to have Mom spend the night too. It's always fun. Thanks Mom for doing my back and feet!!

Jim and I just got back from shopping at Costco and Kohl's and seeing the movie "Definitely Maybe". It was the cutest movie - I would recommend it to everyone. What a nice day it has been. Was about 68 today with the sun shining. I'm looking forward to getting out of town even if it's just overnight. I'm anxious for Jim to see where Steph lives. I just love that little town and I know he'll love it too.

I just got an email from Brenda (Anderson) Sibley and she said that Brent Brague is planning a Orange Stake Reunion on July 5th this year. Should be a blast! Hope you all are having a great weekend.

Love you all!

Back to a better reality!

I have experienced a real change of mood and direction this week. Well, actually it was on Tuesday. Monday at work was one of those days that all I could think about was how I was going to escape and run for the hills. I had a horrible attitude and it felt like everything that was going wrong or that seemed difficult was absolutely insurmountable! I think I mentally hit rock bottom because I woke up on Tuesday with an entirely different feeling - I felt a lot more like myself and was starting to keep things in perspective. You know, just realizing that this is just a job-it doesn't define who I am, and the work will be there tomorrow too.

Ultimately, I hit the gym and not just to walk on the treadmill or do the elliptical for 30 min., I did the kickboxing class (which nearly killed me-hahaha)! It was really hard to get right back into the swing (and kick) of things, but I felt exhilarated afterwards. Even this morning I felt like I had a lot more energy.

Jim is attending a board meeting tonight for a new association that we started managing as of Jan 1st. It's not very far from here, but because it's the first meeting, it will probably be around 3 hours long. We have been getting into watching the Australian Open tennis lately. Some of the matches are really exciting. There was a guy from Cypress that started a match with an Australian guy at 11:40pm and it went until after 4:30 in the morning!!! It was crazy. The Greek guy from Cypress had his own little cheering section that was getting into in the stands cheering and taking their shirts off and waving them around. The Australian won and the crowd went nuts. It made me want to attend one of these tennis Opens one day and be there in person.

Only 2 more days until the weekend. I'm looking forward to going to see a show on Sat. night - they're highlighting Andrew Lloyd Weber's music - should be great. Oh, I signed up for netflix and we love it. It's a lot of fun to look up some of the old movies that you haven't seen in years and have them come in the mail.

I love Sundays!!

We had a great Stake Conference today. I'm sure a lot of you Southern Californians did too. It was the same broadcast from Salt Lake just for So. Calif. Stakes. I took quiet a few notes which I jotted down in my planner so I would have it with me to look at over and over. Great advice on marriage and the relationships between husband and wife.

I'm getting some much needed rest today and have spent this Sunday just having it be quiet. Jim has really been a huge help to me around the house and we've been folding laundry together which really makes it go fast.

The past few weeks at work have seemed almost unbearable, but I'm starting to feel a sense of calm because it is only going to get better and better. I had about 17 voicemails on Friday afternoon that I didn't have time to call back. I didn't leave the office until 7:00pm!!! Ok, I need to stop being negative about everything and really turn to the positive. I'm getting the work done no matter what it takes and that will make me happy in the end.

Our new primary Presidency met today for the first time and planned some activities for the kids and our next Board meeting. I really love the other ladies that I work with - they really are great!!

Tomorrow night is a Harborlites rehearsal night and I'm planning on getting back to the gym starting on Tues. night. The planning has to start with what foods I'm keeping in the house. I hope to report on this blog next week of my success at attending the gym!!