Growing up through service

I had a learning and growing experience this week. Well it kind of started last week. I was asked last week on Mon about getting some pizzas and drinks to take to a church for the PADS program. What they do is give a shelter for the homeless for the night during the cold season ( they start in Oct/Nov sometime, and end in like Mar or April I think they said) so each night they have a different sleep site and there are several local churches involved who are there to supervise and so forth. We do Tues nights and my ward had the assignment for some food and brothers to sleep over for last week and this week. So last week I brought the 2 gallons of milk, one gallon of OJ and one gallon of Apple Juice (they wanted fruit punch but that's what they had at Costco) as well as 6 pizzas. I was only required to drop off the food but I stayed to help serve for awhile. I was mingling with some of the homeless as well as the guys from my ward who were there to sleep over. I left around 9:15. While I was there, I met a lady who ate a lot, but said she didn't want to go outside to eat (like they request from sanitary, space, and cleanliness reasons) because it was cold outside. I noticed she didn't really have anything. She had on some clothes and a jacket but that was about it. I also noticed her hair was completely matted in the back. She was wearing flip flops and definitely could use a pedicure as well. I felt bad for her. Several of the other people who were staying had drove in. Or they had brought blankets, maybe a sleeping bag etc or they at least seemed to have something of their own.
So this week again on Tues we needed to provide some food and the drinks. I had the 2nd gallon of OJ and AJ from last week. I bought some Ragu spaghetti sauce and penne pasta from Sam's Club and got some more milk and rolls. I cooked it up to bring it back. I also put together a small bag for Margaret (I learned her name this week) I had two brand new beanies at home, I went to the 99Cent store and got a new hairbrush some gloves and a package of hair ties. I wanted to buy some sort of hair detangler and they didn't have any and since I am on a limited budget I couldn't afford to get it elsewhere. So this week I brought them to Margaret. I met her outside as she was walking in, I offered her the bag and she didn't really take it but asked me to bring it inside for her. So I set it on a counter and told her where it was. I stayed and helped serve again and talked to a few people again. It was nice to help others.
So then as I was leaving I said goodnight to Margaret and she asked me to come outside with her for a minute. She told me thanks for the stuff and was asking me about which church I go to and what we believe. I felt like I couldn't really answer her properly. I felt so lame, I think maybe it was because her question was so vague on what we believe and there is so much about it. I told her we are Christian and that we believe Christ died for us and is my Savior. I didn't really go much beyond that. I felt so stupid I don't really know why I didn't say more but I couldn't seem to think of anything to say. So than she also asked me if I knew any Christian beauticians who could help her work through her hair and get it styled better. I told her I couldn't think of anybody off the top of my head. I told her I would ask around and see if I could find anyone who can help her, and if I could I would come back next week (it's not my ward night but I can still go) and let her know. I told her goodnight and reminded her I brought her some warm stuff and told her to get back inside since it was so cold out. I left. I left with a heavier heart than last week. I really want to help her and she really wants some help but I don't know how. I know a few people I need to ask but I think she'll need to go to a salon of some sort and the people I know do hair and stuff but they don't all have a place to work. I really hope I can help fond someone to help her. I wanted to offer to stay and try and work through her hair that night and maybe french braid it or something but I didn't want to hurt her and I know it will take some time. I am going to see what I can do to help Margaret out! She needs it. I know she would feel so much better if she has some help and if she's willing to cut her hair shorter it'll be easier for her to maintain and I know that will be one less burden for her!
I hope that all the people I met at the shelter in the last two visits there will be blessed. That they may be able to find a place to stay and maybe some employment and gain a sense of self back. They are such amazing people who deserve all they can get. One guy last week mentioned if his kids were with him that they'd wash my car for me because it needed it! They all helped set up the pads for sleeping on. I noticed they offered extra stuff to some of the others who maybe needed it. Even though they don't have much they still want to help others. That's how I feel! It's why i would love to serve with Home Makeover! I still haven't heard back from them. I really hope I do get to go! It would be great. I have thought maybe I should've been more enthusiastic in my video. Maybe I should've mentioned my previous service stuff in my answers. I've worked with and walked in March of Dimes, MS walk, Breast Cancer Walk and other things. I had a dream last week (actually a couple different dreams all leading to the same ending) where I was working with Home Makeover.... I really hope those dreams come true. Maybe not in the way it was in the dream but to where I get the end result of getting on the bus and serving!

Extreme Makeover Home Edition

I must say I absolutely LOVE this show! I can usually be found every Sun watching it, and if I am not watching it, it is being recorded so I can watch it later! Most of the seasons in the past I have thought to myself while watching that I would love to email the show sometime and offer to come for the week and volunteer if they were in CA or somewhere nearby that I could go to. Well this season they are all about people "getting on the bus" and volunteering!!! You can actually apply to go for the week and help volunteer building the house! They provide the travel and lodging and even the meals. So today was the deadline for applying and last night I finally got my application submitted! I really hope they choose me! I put down that I am available for all the weeks that they have left so that hopefully they'll choose me for at least one week! I decided to share my kinda corny answers here for you to read!

The application was really basic... they wanted to know 2 questions, they wanted 2 pictures one that is mostly head and shoulders, and one full body picture. Then it was optional that you can submit a video clip up to 90 seconds long. The answers had to be in 255 characters or less also making it even more tricky! This is my application:

Q: "Why should we pick you to get on the bus?"

A: Yesterday is the past, tomorrow is the future, today is a gift so we call it the present. I know the greatest gift I can give is MY TIME to help a family in need and am ready to give it MY ALL. I'm used to long hours and physical labor. I'm ready to serve.

Q:"Describe your personality, and any special skills or talents you have"

A: Hard working, service oriented. Cheerful and energetic. Disneyland, karaoke. I have fixed or installed flooring, faucets, cooktops, toilets, swingsets. I've used most power tools. I can cook, sew and am an EMT. Honest, faithful and ready to learn and work.

-->than they wanted to know my occupation so obviously I put Emergency Medical Technician.

The pictures I submitted are these:

I just now realized after adding the pictures here that I did the wrong one of the full body. The one I wanted was this one:

But it's too late to change it now. It's still a cute one! I just liked that it's a picture of me and it shows my fun personality and that I am ready to work! :)

So here is my video I submitted as well. It may be kind of cheesy as well but I really didn't know what to say but I wanted them to know I really am interested in giving of myself.

So that is my complete application. Well other than my phone numbers, clicking to agree to the terms and conditions and checking the boxes of the dates I am available. Which they said are subject to change. These are the dates as currently set:

Dec 2nd-11th

Dec 6th-16th

Jan 7th-17th

Jan 11th-21st

Jan 27th-Feb 6th

Jan 31st-Feb 10th

It says in the FAQ area that if you are not chosen they will not notify you. So I am hoping to get a phone call eventually for one of the weeks. I have no idea how soon in advance they notify you. I would guess it'd be with enough time to get off work if needed. I also have no idea where I could potentially be sent if I am chosen. I really really really really hope I am! I would love to go do this! I would also love to meet the crew and this season they are also having a celebrity guest every week as well that I could potentially meet! It's incredible! I can't wait!

Why Goodbye

This is from awhile ago... it's a poem I wrote back before I had a blog. I know it's not an update on my life, i know it's not pictures from my birthday or anything else but I was looking at some of my old poems tonight and I felt like sharing this! I have several people in my life who have left and it could apply to. I do know who I wrote it "for" in a sense but I am not going to share because like I said it can apply to many. It's funny how our emotions that are shared in artistic ways like poetry can be that way (at least for me) I constantly go back to one of the few poems I've written because something happens in life that reminds me of that time and the words re-apply!...well here it is:



Why Goodbye?Why does this happen?
Why must it be?
Why do I feel this way?
Why can’t I see?

I know there’s a lesson,
That I need to learn.
Who’ll teach me the lesson?
When’s it my turn?

I thought I was ready.
Prepared to say goodbye.
But I wasn’t ready,
There’s a tear in my eye.

Why does this happen?
Always to me,
Why can’t I learn?
To let things be?

Why do I hurt?
Why do I cry?Why not hello?
Why always goodbye?

Now that you’re gone,
I feel so alone.
You gave me strength,
I don’t have on my own.

I know you’ll be back.
Or I’ll come to you.
This goodbye won’t last.
We’ll make that untrue.

You said it’s not goodbye.
But rather “see you later”
Then you moved away,
My pain became greater.

Now you’re far away.
I’m still here.
Wishing to see you,
Wanting to be there.

When is the time?
When goodbye is finally over,
When will we meet?
And hug shoulder to shoulder.

I don’t like goodbye.
Or see you later.
I wish it was hello.
My happiness would be greater.

That time will come.
To see you again.
I know I will smile,
A big goofy grin.

I know there’s a time.
I know there’s a place.
I know there’s a moment.
We’ll share an embrace.

We can be happy again.
When we meet somewhere,
We’ll create more memories.
We’ll go here and there.

We’ve always had fun,
We’ll have it again.
We’ve always been close.
You’re my best friend.

See you later it is.
See you soon somehow.
See you in awhile.
Wish I could see you now.

I thought I was ready,
Prepared to say goodbye.
I’ll always be ready,
For the time again to say HI!

Miss You lots!
R.L.C.
2-18-2008

long time

I know it has been a long time and I definitely owe my readers an update but right now my left wrist is hurting so bad (for those who may not have previously known I have had 4 surgeries on this wrist) I am typing with my right hand only, which is a much slower process and also means I have been slipping more so more typo's which than need corrected. More typos means slower again.... So I am done for tonight. Hopefully tomorrow will be better but I kinda doubt it, so if nothing else maybe tomoorow I will opt to type through the pain... Afterall I do have lotsa I wanna share!!

Craigslist

So awhile ago I looked on craigslist for something. I don't remember when that was or what I was looking for, but I don't think I found it. Than recently a couple weeks ago I decided to try and look to see about a new computer desk. I discovered there is a lot of things on craiglist. I have found it to be kinda my new favorite website. I check it almost daily now in the "free" section. I did find my desk on craiglist. I bought it though it wasn't one of the things listed as free. But I got a desk I really like for $20. I am happy with it.

Anyway we have been living in this house for 29 years and a few months now... I don't know how new the house was at that time, but we still have the same oven and stove cooktop from when we moved in. The oven is pretty small and I guess the cooktop too. Our cooktop had 4 burners, it's gas and has a pilot light ignition. Several years ago one of the burner knobs was getting to be so hard to turn on and off and it was kinda hard to make sure it was completely off so my dad took the knob off and so we didn't use it anymore because we didn't want to risk any gas leaks etc. Than recently the burner we use most frequently wasn't really lighting very well and we were frequently having to use something extra to light it. So I was doing some investigating and found that the tiny tube thing that runs from the pilot to the burner had a hole in it. So as we would try and start it was leaking. I told my mom we should probably start looking for a new stove because I didn't want to risk any fire/ etc. I love my family too much for that. In the meanwhile I switched that burner with a different one that was used less frequently again for safety reasons.

I was doing some research online. I called the habitat for humanity restore and they only had one gas cooktop but unfortunately it was too small. I looked at Warehouse Discount Centers, Lowe's, Home Depot, Sears online. I found that of course the discount center was the least expensive, But they did have one matching one at Lowe's and Lowe's will price match. the one I found was a basic simple one very similar to what we had and the price was jsut under $250. I wanted to buy it for my mom but I had just paid bills and didn't have enough to do so. Than the thought hit me to look on craigslist. As I said it had just become my new favorite website! So I was looking and in Ventura county didn't find anything. I found a few but they were mostly too small. So I decided to take a chance and check in LA county. I knew that it was a risk and may be somewhere in the San Fernando Valley or I may find something way too far to go but looked anyway.

I was looking on Tues the 8th.... I found an ad that had been posted the week prior on I think the 3rd or 4th and it said they wanted to sell it that weekend. It was an ad for a 36" gas cooktop (which is what we needed) for $100. It said it was a Kenmore and had only been used about 5 months but they decided they are going to remodel their kitchen so they were getting rid of all the white appliances! I figured there was no way they still had it, it said they wanted to get rid of it that weekend which had already passed and stuff. It was in Downey which I knew was only about 50 miles so I decided to give it a shot. I called the lady and she actually told me she still had it! She told me there were some people that she was going to be calling back but than she told me she would wait until the next day at noon to see if I wanted it or not since I didn't live close. So I checked with my mom and dad and we decided we definately wanted to check it out! So I called her back and said I would come right than if she wanted (it was about 7:30 when i was talking to her) or the next day, we decided on the next day.

So on Weds my mom and I and my nephews drove down and we bought it! The lady whose name was Faith... or at least that's what she put on the ad and answered to when I called, but her voicemail on the phone said Diane... anyway she told both my Mom and I that the week before she got a bunch of calls for the stove and misplaced some of the numbers, and the ones she did call back she said they could come the following week to look at it but never set anything up or anything. She said that when I called she felt she wanted to give me a chance and not call any others back. We told her that our stove is at least 30 years old, that my dad is getting VA benefits and my mom is disabled and financially it was tight times, and that our stove was dying. We knew it was meant to be that we were the ones to get the stove from her! She was also selling a refridgerator and dishwasher... I guess she really was remodeling! She said she had the cooktop for about 5 months, it looked brand new, there was a little bit of dirt under the knobs, but otherwise didn't even look used! She had the installation kit and manual stuff still in the sealed package from when they bought the stove!!

So that night I pulled out the old greasy grimey stove and Dad and I were doing some measurements and such. The next day after I got home from my morning institute class we went to Do It Center and bought some supplies we needed to install the stove. This one has a deeper base than our old one so it was going to hit the drawers we had in the cabinet so we got some wood and raised the countertop. Well Dad did that part while I went back to the store to by some adapter stuff we needed because the new gas line didn't fit our old gas valve. I had to go to several stores to find what I needed. The new cooktop has 5 burners. 3 are normal burners, one is a lower powered "simmer" burner and one is a high powered burner for fast boiling! It is a pilot-less electronic ignition. So we had to run power to it. Like I said Dad did most of the installation of the wood to raise the countertop, but I re-installed the counter as well as did the gas line and installation of the cooktop! We worked together to fix the drawer tracks since they were worn out so the drawers would work better. ANyway it took most of the day but it works! No leaks and it looks amazing! I love the new stove! It works great! I am so glad we were able to get what appears to be a brand new cooktop that is way nicer than the one I was looking at from warehouse discount center for less money! This particular one is a $650 cooktop at Sears!!!!! This is how it looks installed!

Old formula

For many many many many years now I have been using Pantene Pro-V 2in1 shampoo plus conditioner. I really like it and it works well in my hair. I have found many other kinds of shampoo's seem to me like they make my hair fall out more (It comes out in my hand while I am washing, I rarely have it happen with the pantene) and some (like Suave) leave me with a really itchy scalp. So I have used the Pantene. I generally bought the regular one and occasionally if they were out of it I would by the one for dry/damaged hair. I figured it doesn't hurt to add more moisturizer! Than a few years ago they changed their formula. The bottles were a little different it smelled a little different but I grabbed a bottle anyway. I didn't like it as much and since they still had the small bottles of what I now refer to as "the old formula" I woudl just buy the smaller bottles. Than i began to notice they were discontinuing them. So I would buy whatever I saw whenever I could find it and wherever. My mom even got me a few bottles somewhere! So we bought what we could find and I had like 5 or 6 small bottles. So now here I am a few years later (It's been at least 2 years.... probably like 3 years really) and I am almost out of my last bottle! It is very sad to me because I really don't like the new formula as much. I did buy one bottle of it recently knowing I am going to need it soon. I used it the other day I figured I would kinda try it out, and maybe work it in slowly like you would do if you are changing the brand of pet food you buy. I only used it that one day! I still don't like it as much! So I guess my plea is if anybody who happens to read my blog is in some little random mom and pop shop or somewhere and you find the "old formula" design bottles whether big or small size buy all you can!!!! Either the regular or dry/damaged! I will pay you back and pay for you to ship it to me! I have checked every grocery store and drug store and of course Wally World and Target in my area but they are all completely out of the "old formula" bottles! I have looked on amazon and ebay but in the searching I did I couldn't find any.... I may look again though! I have included a picture of the old bottle (the smaller size bottle with the blue label) as well as the new bottle (bigger one with the green label) if you do find any with the old design the dry/damaged one is a red label!! Anyway I really hope somehow I can find some more old formula bottles! If not I may have to do some shampoo testing again and see if by chance I can find something else I really like! But I have always loved my Pantene!

No Eggs....

I meant to post this one a long time ago... I have saved this box for quite awhile in order to post it and tonight I finally took pictures and am ready to write my story.... so one day (prob after Halloween last year since it is about that size candy box) I was eating some Sugar Babies. I don't really remember why but I was reading the side of the box.The edges of the box where you open it, it only says Sugar Babies. Than the front and back on the large sides also says Sugar Babies and has the picture. Than on the other two edges one talks about where they were manufactured Tootsie Rolls Industries... etc... than the last side has the ingredient listing. Of course sugar, corn syrup etc... all the normal junk you would find in candy that you probably shouldn't be eating. Than at the very bottom qiote randomly if you ask me it says "Egg may be present" now as I said it is a small box probably from Halloween so I did some measuring and took some pictures to show you what I found.... It's just my opinion and observation but I don't think an egg would fit in the box! :)

About me, and my room....

Well I was just reading through some of my friends blogs and I realized even though I have posted twice this week they weren't much about my life! Things are a little crazy for me> I guess they generally are but maybe it's a little more so than normal right now. I don't recall whether or not I ever posted anything about it but there are currently 10 people living in my house! Half of which are kids... ages 11, almost 7 , almost 4, 3, and 17 months. During the day from Tues- Fri from 8-5 there is also a 8 month old.... so of course things can be a little loud and hectic. School started last week which is nice because it means the 11 and 6 year old are gone most of the day. So that's a bonus. But during the summer look out for fights. Well look out for them still. in the mornings, in the evenings and basically any other time there is more than one kid present in a room at a time!

Luckily I do still have my own room. It is usually kind of a refuge for me. I can read, I can go online to chat with friends, I can email and blog and occasionally I even watch TV or a movie, my music is available to me. Basically I can do anything I want in my own room... well even that depends. I have to usually ask myself a couple questions before any of that comes true.... 1) did I remember to lock my door when I came into my room? 2) Even if I did lock my door was I noticed to have left and come in here? I frequently get visitors to my room, they knock and knock and tell me to let them in. If I don't answer they don't always go away. If it's an adult they just use the key outside (hanging out of reach of children on my door) to open it. Or I find little tiny fingers wiggling under the door. Sometimes I let them in. Other times I ignore them. Sometimes I tell them to go away and they cry but eventually I have peace again. Such is my room!

Anyone who knows me well or for any length of time, usually also knows I am a frequent furniture mover. I like to re-arrange my bedroom furniture somewhat frequently. If it wasn't for my knee injury it would happen a lot more than it currently does. Well I had finally gotten to a point a month or so ago where I couldn't take it anymore and I switched it. But with the desk I had I was having difficulty finding a good furniture layout in my room. It was annoying but I made it kinda work. I wasn't completely happy with it but I was content because it was a change and it worked. But in the meanwhile I have been looking for desks if I drive by a garage sale. I have been wanting to go to the good will and see what I could find. I wanted to find a desk that was not a corner desk so that it would open up options for my room. I started looking on craigslist. Well the other night I finally found one within a reasonable price $20 in Thousand Oaks so it was close enough to get as well. It was small like I wanted (for space) and even has a hutch/shelf on top which was a nice addition because it gives me a space for my printer. So last night I got a new desk and did a slight rearrangement to my room. I am still kinda re-organizing now and looking for space for some of the desk stuff from before since I have a little less storage room now but I am overall really happy with my new/used desk! Woohoo. Maybe I will post a picture sometime! I gotta finish the organizing first :-)

I have been sick for over a week now. It started last week on like Mon or Tues as what seemed to be a sinus infection. By Fri I was coughing and occasionally sneezing. The sinus is mostly clear now but it's been nearly a week (Thurs) and I am still coughing! I really hate it! I am almost debating going to the Dr to get checked. Maybe it would be good because I can get some cough syrup, do they still give prescriptions for the bubble gum stuff? At least I am not waking up with the phlegm anymore! Yuck! I just can't seem to ditch the cough though!

I cannot believe I am turning 30 this month! I have mixed feelings about it really. I do have a lot of friends near my age as well as some younger and a couple that are a little older. But generally I feel kinda on the old side. I know 30 is not old but it's hard to imagine I am going to be 30 since I pictured my life a lot different than it is right now. I imagined being married and starting a family. I imagined being debt free or a lot closer than I currently am. I guess being on disability and unemployment don't help much with that. I know that those things will come and I know I have to be patient I guess it's just hard when something like a 30th birthday is coming up quicker than you expected!

I applied last week for the California Highway Patrol. I am hoping to hear back soon that I get to test for a dispatcher position. I am really hopeful and excited for this potential opportunity. It would be really great in my life right now. It is a full time job with really great benefits. It is a desk job, so my knee could continue to heal and it pays well so I would ideally be able to get out of debt a lot quicker. Than maybe I could find a place of my own. The only downside I can see for now is the application process. It is a timely process. I have applied to test, the final filing date for testing was today. than if accepted to test the test will be in Oct or Nov. Than from there depending on the score of the test I would be put on an eligibility list. Than based on that list they do interviews and what have you. Than I think maybe an orientation and then if I am liked I go into a background check. Which is all a waiting game! So it's a great opportunity but depending on the time for each step I may not be hired for several months still. So I have also applied for the city of Santa Barbara, and have been looking online for other options within the dispatch world. I found an ambulance company in the valley I may apply for, as well as life alert. So I guess my options are not completely limited but I would love to be in dispatch so that I can still feel like an EMT in some sense!

Well I think for now that is my update! I hope this finds all my readers well! Life is crazy but I do love a good roller coaster so it's worth it right??

Finding Prince Charming

I had another fun converstion with Elijah again today. This is what happened this time, Elijah was in the playpen which is currently filled with toys, I was sitting in the recliner nearby. He found a frog stuffed animal....

Me: If I kiss that frog will he turn into my Prince Charming?

Elijah: Yeah

Me: Can I try?

Elijah: Yeah

...he tossed me the frog

... I kissed the frog and nothing happened

Me: It didn't work, where is my Prince Charming?

Elijah: In the TV

Me: He is in the TV? How do I get him out?

Elijah:Go in the TV and get him

Me: How do I go in the TV?

Elijah: Oh (and he looked at me as if he was thinking "Good Question" Than he kind of laughed and said "go in the TV"

Conversation with a 3 year old

I was in the kitchen telling my mom about going to the Hollywood Bowl on Sat... this is what happened.... it may be a little bit off from the actualy conversation but you get the idea.. my nephew is so darn cute sometimes!


Me: Mom I am going to the Hollywood Bowl on Sat with S and a dozen other people to see a John Williams concert.

Mom: Are you sitting in the grass?

Me: I don't know where we are sitting.

Mom: You can usually bring a picnic lunch

Me: Yeah S said to bring a picnic meal and sweater because it gets kinda cold sometimes

Mom: I don't know how cold it will get

Elijah: (3 years old) my mommy got tickets

Me: She did?

Elijah: Yup

Me: Ok I will see you there than

Elijah: Mommy get you tickets

Me: Oh she got me a ticket too?

Elijah: Yup, two tickets

Me: Oh she got me two tickets? So I can bring a date than?

Elijah: Yup

Me: Ok good, will you be my date than?

Elijah: Yup

WOOHOO I have a date!

3rd times a charm!

So several people gave my nephew Isaiah gift cards for his birthday. My sister asked for that because she wanted to purchase a large swingset as a birthday present combined for both my nephews once it got closer to Elijah's birthday. So that she did. I scheduled a time with the elders to come and help with assembly. Day 1: There were 5 elders plus myself. Since there are currently 5 kids living in my house we didn't want to open the boxes of swingset stuff because we didn't want parts to go missing. I got up early that day to prepare for them to come and went through the supplies. Some of the bags of bolts had gotten wet and were corroded :( So because we had to call the company and request replacements we couldn't do too much to start with. They got the glider and the ladder/rock wall assembled. We had worked for about 2- 2 1/2 hours

We waited and the following week we got the fed-ex package for the new bolts. We had 4 BAGS of bolts that were no good (there were a few more that were kinda messed up but not as bad so we used them), we got a package with exactly 4 bolts in it! So we called again and this time they next day air shipped them to us. We got all the bolts we needed. But with all the shipping time it took over a week before we had everything we needed to work again. The next week just two of the elders returned and we worked some more.

Day 2: Elder's Walker, Hall and myself worked for about 3 1/2 hours. I got the slide assembled and we got a good start on the fort/tower thing. They also got the a-frame and swing beam part done.

Day 3: We waited about another week for them to have a day to come back again. They were back on Thurs. They brought the other elders again so there were 5 of us working together again. We spent about 3 1/2 to 4 hours again in the smoldering heat (over 100 that day) and we finished it up! It still needs to be staked to the ground and my mom wants to get playground chips to place around it but otherwise it's done~ I have about 90 pictures in all from the total assembly process. If you are interested in seeing more, just let me know!

Aside from finishing assembling the swingset this week, last night I went and got my haircut again! It has been so hot lately and I have actually been enjoying wearing it down more since my last cut that I decided to lighten it up (by a cut not color)a bit so I can continue to wear it down frequently without feeling as hot! Don't mind the lack of make-up in the picture, I have also had a sinus infection most of this week so I wasn't feeling 100% well either but it's a fairly cute picture of the new do and it's shorter length. I decided to stick with the layered look for now! The picture was also taken on my phone and not the regular camera so the quality isn't as great either, but maybe that's a good thing considering the make-up free illness look! :)

Euflexxa Part 2

... Well Mon was my third and final Euflexxa shot for this round. I am hoping it is my final knee shot period.... but we shall see. This time since Adam was out of town (he is visiting family in Wisconsin for his parents anniversary) Dr Davis gave me the shot. Sorry for the disappointment but there are no pictures. I can say however that it hurt a lot. It was again a super strong pressure and I think as he injected me I made a sound and he questioned me. I told him it was because fo the pressure but I really thought I was going to cry. As I left limping (like normal) I barely made it out of the dr office and across the hall to the bathroom. I got inside and paused a moment. I took a few deep breaths and went to a stall to take care of business. I think I managed to not cry although I was uncomfortable. For the most part it settled down a little while later and that evening although slightly uncomfortable I wasn't in as much pain as last week which is good~!

ANyway my next follow up appointment is on Sept 21st. It is 6 weeks from the 3rd injection. In the meanwhile I went on Weds for a new knee brace. They had one that fit me but it wasn't the complete kind Dr Davis wanted so they ordered that size but with the hinged sides. It came in today (technically yesterday since it's after midnight) but I was in Ventura at the fair. So I will pick it up in the morning. It's not the brace I've been told about for activities post acl reconstruction but it is a support brace. I had asked Dr Davis about that activity brace and he said he wanted me to wait more. I asked him about getting a new neoprine brace, I told him mine was pretty worn out and the velcro didn't hold anymore. I assured him I wasn't wearing it frequently but usually just if I knew I would be doing more walking since that is what aggravates it still. So that's what it is. Except it's got "hinges" on the sides of the knee instead of just the support bars. So I hope it is not too awkward and uncomfy! I will need it for Sat! :) Well I should be getting to bed soon. I have lots to do tomorrow.

Euflexxa

Last Sept I had gotten the Euflexxa injections in my knee. It was to hopefully help make it feel better and I was hoping it was going to be successful. The Euflexxa injections are a series of injections. It is one injection a week for 3 weeks. Obviously it didn't help long term because I had surgery again this year in Feb.... so anyway as I am recovering from the ACL reconstruction I had back in Feb I am still having some problems. On the 4th I had a major issue with it. I had gone in the morning to the car show in Fillmore with some friends. I had known that during classes and such I was getting sore more regularly and so I prepared myself. I brought my cane with me, I took a pain pill before we went and I put on my knee brace. Than after I went to lunch with some friends and came home packed by swim stuff and went to a pot luck pool party at a friends house. I spent a lot of time in the pool and jacuzzi that afternoon/night. I didn't think much of it because it felt fine and I know that in the water there is less resistance. So I figured it was actually good for my knee.

Later on around 11 or so I was getting ready to leave. I had said most of my goodbyes and as I was heading to the door a couple of my friends S & K were sittin on the stairs chatting. I ended up sitting and talking with them for a bit and was sitting sideways on the step. When all of a sudden I got a sudden sharp pain in my knee, it literally felt like someone smacked my knee with a hammer!! I think I kinda made a sudden gasp noise and then just kinda stopped and then started crying almost immediately. It was so bad!! My friends noticed and didn't know what was wrong. The pain basically ended as quick as it came and I was sitting there and it just felt odd. I was afriad to move or to get up because I didn't want to trigger another pain. I was able to kinda explain what had happened to S and K after the initial shock wore off. Around that time one of the guys R from my ward came over and S said "she might need a blessing" I said I felt I was ok but I just wanted to wait to get up. I did turn around though so I was facing the other way on the step to have more knee support. More than anything else after the shock was gone was I was scared. I had never had a pain like that before and I didn't know why it was happening than! Than another friend K walked over. I think he could tell something was not right and was kinda looking at me a little odd. I told him to stop looking at me like that as I was wiping away some final tears. Several minutes later I decided it was time to go home. I planned to ice my knee when I got there and S said she would walk me out to my car. She took my bag of wet clothes so I wasn't carrying it and as I was slowly walking down the steps in front of the house towards my car it was hurting a little bit. We got to my car and I asked S if R and K were the only priesthood holders left. I also knew M was there and I asked if my home teacher B had left (He had) she said "do you want a blessing now?" I said "yeah maybe I should" and she said she would get R and K for me. I said I would come in the house too because I wasn't going to have them do it in the street or in my car. We went inside and she found the guys. Unfortunately though nobody had any oil. So we decided to drive to S& R's house. We caravaned there. K and R gave me a blessing. It was incredible!!! I remember it being incredible and being told what I needed to hear. I also remember during it R telling me to listen to the Dr's orders and obey them. I don't remember much else but that really stuck out to me because I can be pretty stubborn sometimes and I tend to over-do it a bit. After that we turned on a movie, I was pretty tired though and said I was and that I would likely fall asleep. I kinda did. While there and movie watching S gave me a bag of frozen broccoli for an ice pack on my knee. Since than it's kinda a joke between us that whenever we are watching a movie she gives me broccoli!

I already had a scheduled follow up dr appt for the following Mon. I told Dr Davis at that appointment about all that had been happening. I told him I was getting pain still going up/down stairs and how I was still hurting if I walked a lot. I especially told him about my experience on the 4th! He suggested I get the Euflexxa injections. He said that they couldn't do cortisone because it would destroy the graft which was still healing. He said that the Euflexxa would help with inflammation so that may make it feel better and he said it would also actually be good for the graft. I asked him about getting the brace I would be able to wear to be active again and play stuff and he said he wanted me to wait still to get that one. He told me that one thing that would really help my knee would be weight loss. I told him I am trying as best as I can to watch my eating., it's just hard when I cannot exercise much with it. After that appointment knowing I had been through the injections before I looked back on my previous blog post about them. I knew I had some swelling and pain issues when I got them but I couldn't remember the specifics. I started them again this time around last Mon. When I got the injection that day I immediately felt a strong pressure in my knee! It hurt so bad! It was a lot worse than I remember it being back in Sept. I thought I was going to cry, but I stayed strong! The pressure lasted for several hours and then slowly started to dissipate. I was mildly uncomfortable for a day or two and so it wasn't too bad. Than yesterday I went in for shot 2... I told Adam about last week and he said the feeling of pressure is common because of the thickness of the gel and that if the joint is already inflammed it can make it worse when you inject the gel in. So he went for shot 2. It was a strong pressure again but not quite as bad as last week. I left the office limping again. I went to take care of a friends dogs and then to lunch and it was starting to wear off fairly quickly compared to last week. I was actually feeling alright within an hour or so. I was a little uncomfy but mostly not too bad. I thought things were ok. Than in the evening I went to Wally World. I was walking around to get a few things. I wasn't even there that long really because I only looked at stuff on the list and I was getting some small increased moments of pain. It made me shop a little faster and came home. I helped finish dinner and went to FHE. While there I put my leg up on a chair. When I got there because I had been getting a little bit of pain I took a pain pill. I put my leg on a chair and several times during the lesson I was getting iuncreases in pain still. I was kinda trying to breathe through them i guess you could say. When they came I just kinda took a deep breath and clenched my fists a little and waited it out. After the lesson as people were getting close to my leg I was getting nervous. I was afraid someone would touch it and S noticed. I even started to cry a little. I took another pain pill shortly thereafter. A few of us went to the house where S is dog-sitting and were playing games. As we were there S was noticing I was doing my deep breathing again. She was noticing that it was increasing and knew I was in pain. Eventually she kicked me out and made me come home and ice my knee. (well she wasn't here to make sure I did ice or broccoli it) but I did come home and put ice on it. I also took another pain pill because it had been 4 hours from the 1st one. (I can take 1-2pills every 4-6 hours as needed) I usually don't take many pills at all but last night I was SORE!! After about 2 hours with the ice and the 3rd pill I was finally starting to feel better! Thankfully. I think I need to go back and check again what my reactions were last Sept. Because if I recall correctly the 3rd was the worst of them all and if so I am not looking forward to Mon! Anyway at my 2nd injection appt yesterday I took this picture.... it is not for the weak hearted... it is the needle in my knee while Adam was injecting it....

'bout time!

So I know I am late in posting! I meant to post forever ago and I am actually really glad I had written on a post-it what I was meaning to blog because I had forgotten so I needed to find my post it! I guess since there are those 3 things plus new stuff I will make shorter notes on them all to keep it short.

So a few weeks ago I finally got to enjoy the first mandarin from my tree. It had gotten as big as it was going to get and was getting more and more pretty in color by the day. I was kinda checking it from time to time, loosely touching it to see if it was ready to be picked and it wasn't coming off. So I was patiently waiting. Than one morning I was in class when my Mom texted me. She asked me if I had picked my mandarin and I responded that I had not. We couldn't find my poor little mandarin. It was kinda sad really :( but than I don't remember if it was later that night or the next day my sister found it somewhere. It turns out that my nephew Elijah had picked it. I peeled it's tiny little peel off and looked at the tiny little segments I was left with. I shared my tiny little mandarin with everyone. It was really sweet and pretty good. At least I think it was... it was so little I probably could've eaten the whole thing in one bite! I do have many more growing on my tree. So far they are all smaller than the first one. But so far they haven't started changing color yet so maybe they will become bigger than the first one was. I may even get to share whole tiny mandarins with my family this time instead of segments since I actually have many growing!

So in addition to the mandarin's growing on my tree I also recently was lucky enough to get my friend D to come over and help me install a ceiling fan in my bedroom. Several years ago my parents had purchased fans for our rooms but they were never installed. It has been sitting in the closet since than waiting for the perfect moment. Since Nov or so when I switched into the back bedroom again I have been missing the fan (there was one in the other room) and I was wanting to get it installed, especially since it had been so hot lately and it seemed like my room was the worst of it. Probably because I am in the back corner of the house and so I have 2 walls that soak up the afternoon sun! UGH! So he came over and checked a few things out, measured the length of wire we needed etc and we made a trip to the local Home Depot. We gathered the supplies and a few hours later I had a fan again! Woohoo! It's incredible. It really does help keep my room a lot cooler in the daytime. I still use my window fan at night to draw in the cool outside air and all day long the ceiling fan keeps the temerature down! It's incredible. The funny thing about my ceiling fan was after Dhad left I was readin on the box, I had known (as I mentioned) that my parents bought the fan several years ago but I couldn't remember exactly when. This was what the side of the box says:

If you cannot read it it says: "Elegant and efficient: Fan operates on less than ! cent per hour* *based on 1987 national average rate of 7.94cent per kilowatt hour. Actual cost may vary based upon local electric rates." ----I don't know if 1987 was when my parent purchased the fans but it couldn't have been too far after that because I'm pretty sure they update the studies pretty often for energy usage :) A few days after D installed my fan I went over and babysat his kids so he and his lovely wife A could go to dinner and a movie, It felt like a nice way to say thanks for what he did for me!

Also recently in my life, as you know about my heart attacking adventures... I was recently "attacked" as well. It wasn't so bad really. In fact it wasn't even hearts. I was woken up one Sun morning by my sister Rhonda who said "someone wrote all over your car". I got up and grabbed my glasses and checked what happened. They had tied toilet paper on all the door handles, wiper blades and the antenna. Then on all the windows were the names of Disney Characters. The back window said "A Whole New World" It was pretty cool. The only that kind sucked about it was on Fri I had washed and waxed my whole car!!! So I was hoping it would wash off pretty easy and it did! Thankfully! Although I wasn't too thrilled about washing all my windows again! :)

New Post....

I know I haven't posted in awhile! It wasn't for lack of wanting to post it's just been crazy lately! I do have a few things I want to post about and even pictures to add to those posts.... So I will have to try and do that soon! I keep meaning to but keep not getting to! Partly because I have to upload my mom's camera pictures to my computer for at least some of the stuff I wanna share!

On a different non-picture blog related note I am almsot done with my summer semester of school. I have my finals on Mon for both my history classes. So far I am getting an A in both classes. I am pretty excited about that too because I had kinda messed up in my Trig class awhile back and it kinda dropped my gpa a bit :( so now I am bringing it back up again! I haven't signed up for any classes yet for the fall because I am looking for work right now and since I don't know where I will be working yet or what my days or hours will be I don't want to schedule any classes yet. That and the fact I don't have money to pay for any classes if I do register for them! so ummm yeah for right now it is a waitin game for school. But after these two history classes are done I will only need a 3 unit physical science class and a 1.5 unit health ed class and I will be done with my requirements for my associates degree with an emphasis on humanities!!! I could also take one more 3 unit science class for the emphasis to be on sciences but I think I'd be ok with humanities!!! Either way it will be great to say I did get at least one degree in college! Even if it did take me this long! Well I shall be off now! Gotta get some sleep so I can watch my nephews tomorrow! I will try and post pictures and share my other events soon!

Cry In the Shower....

This is a new poem, I started probably a month or so ago and just now finished it. I know it doesn't flow completely well... but I never said I was a professional poet or anything so deal with it!!!!


It’s easy to cry in the shower
The water washes away the tears

You’ll wash away the dirt from the day
You’re left with the hurt and fears

You wonder what to do?
What’s your next action?

You cry in the shower.
Without life’s distraction.

The warmth brings you comfort
The water brings a peace.

Some relief from the hurt.
A moment to be at ease

Life’s full of change,
That is constant and true

No matter the change
You’re either happy or blue

Some sing in the shower
Hum a happy tune

I cry in the shower
Wanting to start anew.

Life in the shower
Is simple and plain

It clears your body
Your mind and your soul

You wonder what you need
So you can feel whole

I often cry in the shower.
It’s time all alone

I choose the shower
The time is all mine

Once cleansed in the shower
You go on with your day

You start all anew
New dirt gets in the way

New pains and new fears
New hurt and new tears

The next time I shower
I’m ready to cry

I’ll cry in the shower
I’m not gonna lie.

It’s okay for me
It clears my head

Leaves me feeling better
Or ready for bed

So cry in the shower
I’m telling you

When you cry in the shower
You’ll be at peace too.




RLC
7-9-2009

Heart Attacking

When I was younger I did a lot of t.p.ing....(I am not really sure the correct way to type that... tee pee is a tent... I guess I could've gone the long route and put toilet papering, but nobody ever calls it that, they say t-p-ing) Anyway I have always thought that was a fun way to let someone know you were thinking of them. Or something of that sort. I have always done it to people I knew and as I got older instead of doing houses I got into the habit of t.p.ing cars,with my friend A. We could sometimes get 4 or 5 people in one night! It was so much fun! We were quite the pros! Every now and again if we really loved you we would even saran wrap it! (takes a lot of saran wrap though) But since I have been in the church I have learned of something else... heart attacking. Now of course I know what a real heart attack is when the heart muscles start to die etc etc... I've dealt with that at work. But to heart attack (in case you don't know) you cut out a bunch of hearts from paper and maybe write on them and stick them on a door or car or what ever to express your love.

This week I decided I wanted to heart attack a guy friend. I will call him Caleb ;-) so a friend of mine S. came over and helped me cut out hearts. We also looked in some books I have and online and found some inspirational sayings, some funny sayings, some friendship quotes, and then a few just everyday stuff like "have a great day" and "smile" etc, even a few jokes or one-liners to make it fun. I wasn't doing it as a romantic thing per-say but again just to let him know he was being thought about.

So I had the hearts and I was ready for the attack. So last night I asked my friend A. if she would be interested in going with my for the attack. She said sure and that she had her niece H. and H's friend K. with her. I said as long as they're quiet that was fine with me. We went about 12:30 and upstairs in the front of the house there was a light on. We decided to wait and come back. We went to a local quarter arcade and played some games and went back around 1:30. The light was still on but it looked like the blinds were now shut. We were hesitant but decided to go for it. We got a few hearts on the car when from over the fence we hear "what the f*$@ are you doing?" we bolted for the car. Our hearts pounding! We get in and A. asked H where her keys were because they weren't in the ignition! As it turns out she had put them on the seat, so as A is trying to get her keys I am crouching down as low as I can into the car so I am not seen if whoever was yelling was coming out in case it was my Caleb. I knew he wouldn't recognize the other girls but he would know me in a second. The nice thing was he wouldn't know her car though! So she gets the keys and we drove off having barely put any hearts on the car. We went to the donut shop and they all got milk and donuts. We sat there as they ate/drank than we decided to do a drive by and see if the hearts were still there. This time I laid down in back so I was hidden. The hearts were gone :(
I was told by another friend that Caleb does have family in town and that he has a brother in the military and so it was likely the brother that caught us. I don't know for sure. I also don't know if he even knows of our heart attacking or not. But I was pretty scared this morning. Oh and I forgot to mention I thought I heard my name as I was running for the car... but that might have been my subconscious speaking in the fear! I don't really know. But it seemed like I got a lot more text messages this morning than normal and every time my phone rang I was afraid it might be him! So tonight I was feeling kinda adventurous and asked A if she was up for a re-run! We went back and the lights were all off now but the car is still basically under a street lamp... we hesitated but we went anyway. My flip flops seemed kinda loud so I took them off near the back of the car. We started our second "attack". We got more hearts on this time and as I was trying to get some tape on the window for A to stick the heart on she took off running so as I was starting to run I realized I didn't have on my flip-flops so I grabbed them and ran. We drove off... after the fact she said she thought she heard something again and that it looked like a light went on in the garage. Anyway I don't think I will be making any more attempts on Caleb's car. So then we still had a bunch of hearts left. We decided we could find someone else to get. We went by my friends house and got a couple on her car and heard someone say something about hearing a noise... so we bolted, we were going to try a friend of hers, but she couldn't remember which street they lived on. Than we went to one of the missionary apartments to leave some on the front door. As we were walking up the steps one creaked... so we bolted.... So we decided to go to another friend of hers and when we pulled up they were in the garage hanging out!!!! SO much for that one! So it seemed like we had better luck with the TP than with heart attacking! We pretty much got caught every time! After that we gave up for tonight!

I still had a bunch of hearts left so when we got to her house and she went inside I got out of my car and left the rest of the hearts on hers! I don't know if she heard me or not. I am hoping not so that she gets a nice surprise in the morning! It was a fun 2 days of attempted heart attacking, and I guess potentially a couple people will get a few hearts to find in the morning! I did kinda do a drive by at Caleb's tonight and the hearts were still there so I think because of last night (it was scary...) she was a little paranoid.. not that we shouldn't be. But this time maybe Caleb will see some hearts on his car and know he was thought of! Or maybe he will have known of the few from last night and know that he was thought of twice in a row... I don't really know. I don't know that he knows or will know it was me. I am kind of hoping not because I don't know how he is going to react or how he reacted before (if he knew) so I guess I will find out at the bbq/pool party later! Well I should be gettin to bed! Just so you know... I don't plan on doing any more heart attacking for awhile!!

Food Blog

The other night my mom made homemade beef and noodles for dinner (even the noodles were homemade) we were sitting at the table and eating like normal. Than my nephew Elijah says "I don't want this poo-poo on my plate" as he was picking the beef out of the noodles on his plate and putting them onto the table. We couldn't convince him that it was meat and ok to eat. He gave it all to grandpa! (well grandpa volunteered to take it of course...)

Last week my friend Caleb gave me a friendship bread starter bag. It was a Ziploc bag that had some liquid-y like stuff in it and a direction sheet. Basically what you do is mix the starter a couple times a day for 6 days, on day 6 (he wrote the date for day 6 on the bag) you have to add some sugar, milk and flour. Mix it all up (still in the bag) than on day 10 (again the date was written already) you put it in a bowl, add more milk, sugar and flour, than you take and put 1c of the mix into 3 one gallon Ziploc bags (to give to friends) and with what is left in the bowl you add more ingredients (all on the direction sheet) and you bake the bread. So today I baked some bread! It was really good! I had debated about maybe using pumpkin pie spice instead of cinnamon in the recipe.. I think I may keep one of my starter bags instead of giving them all away and try that for next time (in which case I will have 3 more bags to give out anyway) Anyway today when I was working on my bread I discovered we are out of baking soda at my house! So were 4 of my neighbors! Go figure... but then my mom went to someone she knows up the street (we really didn't want to go to the store, she had just gotten back from there) who-ever she went to talk to had just bought some today!! Luckily for me! Anyway it sure was fun! And delicious!

Well that's my food blog! In other news I survived my first week back at college. It's going to be a kinda hectic summer school session but I am ready for it. (I hope) I do like my teachers! I was a little drowsy today but I haven't fallen asleep in class which is good! It hasn't been good for my knee though. I park as close as I can to the building I am in, but it doesn't seem close enough, and having to go upstairs for my first class, doesn't help much either. But at the same time I know that I shouldn't be having problems with stairs at this point, at least I don't think I should... The other thing that I think is contributing to it is the chair-desk things. I am a short girl and so the way I have my leg it isn't really comfortable. I need some sort of foot rest or stool or something and that may help, but the back of the chair in front of me isn't really working because it also puts my knee at an uncomfy angle. So yeah it pretty much sucks! I am debating about calling the doctor about the pain since I am not scheduled to go in until July 6th... I did call and get more pain meds and have been taking them too :( which I don't like to do! I really wish it was feeling better still and not seeming like it is getting worse again! It's really starting to make me feel as if I won't be able to return to work on an ambulance! I hope that the CHP dispatch stuff pans out and if not I hope I can find dispatch work somewhere else preferably local. But as of a few weeks ago when I last looked nobody else was hiring for dispatch! I do feel I am where I need to be right now, but I wish things were going a little differently than they are. I am broke beyond measure and don't know when I will get any money for awhile... so it's a little hectic but I am surviving! At least trying to!

First Day Back....

It went mostly well. One teacher seems really strict with her teaching styles and grading and the other is fairly laid back. One has a couple 3 page papers to write (very specifically done with margins font etc) and 2 tests (midterm and final) and the other has 3 more lose styled papers to write and a total of 4 or 5 tests. Plus 2 extra credit papers. I think I like him more even though there are more tests.....

Both teachers seem to be energetic in their lecturing which is nice since it is 2 history classes back to back starting at 8 am.... so hopefully I can keep up in note taking and not fall asleep. I am already behind just a little on my reading, but I am planning to make it up tomorrow afternoon!

I was quickly reminded today how big the campus really is, and just how many stairs there are as you travel across the campus. I was hurting quite a bit today and ended up calling the doctor's office for a refill on my pain meds. I unfortunately ran out just the other day... But I have some more now and I think I will let my teachers know about my situation and how sitting in those desks I cannot really get my leg comfortable. I may have to stand from time to time even if they're lecturing. I am going to try to minimize pain med usage if I can.

This afternoon I got to go to lunch with Collin! It was amazing! Than we came back to my house, looked in the old yearbooks... played Tetris on the nintendo and just visited awhile. We also went by my sisters house for a few minutes! He said he will try and stop by again later this week before he has to leave again! I miss him so much when he is gone! It always makes me feel better to visit with him! Between his visit and unexpectedly staying at FHE longer than I had anticipated is the reason for my being behind in reading. I am off to bed now, so I can get through tomorrow. I will have to catch up on reading and write my first paper... should be loads of fun.... or something like that! :)

College life

So right out of high school I did some college. I went to Moorpark and had gotten a lot of general ed stuff done. I was there from the fall of 97 to fall of 99. Than in Jan 200 I had wrist surgery and have had many since and went to work as an EMT and never really went back to school except for EMS related stuff. I have known for a month or so now that I was going to be running out of disability income on the 19th, I learned yesterday that because my doctor appointment isn't until the end of the month even though my money runs out on the 19th, I cannot collect unemployment until after the 26th when my disability is up. That only being if the doctor releases me to be eligible for work again in any compacity. Than there is a 3 week turn around for unemployment. After the 3 weeks they will either do a phone interview (which she said I likely won't need) and then take 10 days to make a decision and then start paying me, or if I don't need the interview it will still be like 10-12 days before they start processing any checks for me. So I won't have any income until the end of July either way. But the uneployment lady I spoke with suggested I file for a federal grant that is for the uneployed and go back to school. This way I would have the grant money to help me financially. So I signed up again for moorpark college. I applied for financial aid and today I went to the college and spoke with a counselor. I got a copy of my transcript and she showed me what I need to get my associates. I only need like 4 classes! With the classes I have taken and the 4 I need to take I will probably be able to get my associates with an emphasis on physical science or humanities!!

Based on what I need to take and what I would like to take from the options I came uip with a couple ideas on what to register for. Unfortunately since the second part of the summer session starts next week those options were already full. :-( but I found 2 other classes that I do need that will also apply for the associates and so I am registered to take 2 history classes. It will be 6 units of school. One is western civilization 2, which covers from the 17th century until the present and the other is the history of the american woman! I'm not really sure what I have gotten myself into but I know it will be exciting! I will be in class from 8-10:15 than from 10:30 to 12:45 on Mon-Thurs! If nothing else it will get me out of my current late night sleep in habit which I have been wanting to break! I am excited though! I am ready for a change and it will be exciting to possibly by the end of next semester say I have a degree! It's pretty crazy! It's all so last minute and I don't really know what to think but I am glad! I've kinda wanted to go back to school a bunch of times but because of health reasons or work conflicts I never really could and now I am!

In the meanwhile I have applied to test for CHP for a dispatcher position. I don't really know yet if they have accepted my application and if I am going to be able to test but I really hope so. Maybe I will be doing all my testing and stuff for them and able to get hired on about the time I finish school and be able to start working than! It would be amazing if I get the grant and am able to stay up with my bills this summer than get my unemployment (which will retro pay me for the month of July once everything is processed) and then return to a working environment! I really hope it all works out!

I guess this week once I get my check I need to go buy some school supplies... that seems really weird to me, I also need to get my history books! I guess on Fri it will be another trip to the college for me!

Looks like bird poo to me

I recently (a few months back) bought two fruit trees from Costco. I bought 1 mandarin orange tree and 1 Italian lemon tree. They were passed the seedling stage but not full sized. They are sorta small in size still, and still in the pots they came in, I think it is a 1 or 2 gallon size pot. They are doing well and seem to maybe have grown some. After I bought the trees I called my uncle Charles to ask him if they had to be planted in ground or could I keep them in large pots. He told me they would do very well in pots, but not to transplant them too soon, or the root structure wouldn't go right. He said about every year or so they would need to be transplanted. I could watch for the roots to start growing out the bottom of the pot and that was the time to move up in pot size. So that's my plan. Since it hasn't been a year yet and I don't see roots they are staying in their current pots! He also gave me watering advice but I don't want to bore you with all my plant care.... (but feel free to ask if you are curious) The mandarin tree is on the left, lemon on the right.

There has been 1 mandarin growing for quite some time now on my little tree (see first picture below, you can see it and if you look down and little to the left of it, you'll see two other smaller ones) and lately it is getting bigger and more colorful. Well not orange really but instead of dark green like they start it is lighter and a little yellower. We are also starting to see more buds forming on both trees. But recently I also noticed that there were also some holes appearing on the leaves of the mandarin tree. The kind you see on leaves after something has been munching there. I have looked periodically to find the culprit but without any luck. I have noticed a few times some spiderweb like stuff that I have cleared off it and occasionally little black bugs that have not been allowed to stay there! But so far nothing has been big enough to be the hole eating bugs! Ugh..... Both the first pictures are mandarins and the third is a group of lemon buds....

Tonight I was outside on a phone call. I was sitting on a box type thing we have outside and I wasn't really paying much attention. Than I noticed what looked like a huge clump of bird poo on one of the stems for my tree. I got another leaf to try and clean it off and it moved!!! I found a black,white and gray caterpillar on my tree!!!!! It was pretty darn ugly looking! It really does look like bird poo! So then I got a container to put him in (for my nephews and such) and I looked around and found another one. This one was even uglier because he looks slimy too!!! It was incredible! I guess it's a pretty good camouflage because we all thought it was bird poo until it moved. My mom said something about thinking she saw bird poo on it the other day and i said it probably was the caterpillar! My mom and sister and I continued to look and were unable to find any more and it seems they were only on the mandarin tree. I am not really sure where they come from and how they found my tree but I finally found the culprits. I guess I need to pay more attention to bird poo than I thought! Sometimes it lives!

Well I figured I would also post a couple recent pictures. The 3 are from the day before I layered my hair, I had curled it the night before. It was fun! I love curling my hair from time to time. I was also trying out some new eye shadow colors that day. The next two are of my new dress I wore today. I love it. Although the pictures aren't as nice as I would have preferred! It's way cuter in person! I got so many compliments today it was unbelievable!

On other news, although he has been "able" to for awhile in the past couple days my nephew Isaiah has finally decided he likes walking a little more often than crawling! It's so cute! He is still a little unsteady and walks kinda zombie-ish with his arms out in front of him for balance! It's so cute! Well I think I am gonna end here! I'm sure with the pictures this blog is getting a little long! Love to all my readers! Have a great week!