Christmas 2007

We had a nice, if fractured, Christmas. I got back from CO on the 20th, and it was downhill to Christmas after that. We bought last minute presents and finished getting ready. On Saturday we went to see some friends from college who are moving to Santa Monica, and the whole family was in town for a few days. We went to breakfast and then walked around for awhile. That's were we saw this tree made of shopping carts!

The Boy's birthday came on the 23rd. He was so happy that day, saying, "I'm a MAN now! Mom, what do you think about your boy who's a MAN now?" We took him to brunch with his friends, since he had to work that night. Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles was his choice. He tried to think of all the things he could do now that he's 18 - drive (hasn't taken the test yet), vote, serve on a jury and help decide someone's fate, and buy things with a valid contract.

He got an iPod from his girlfriend, and he was SO happy. She spent way too much on him, but he loved it. The Girl was jealous.

The next day was Christmas eve, but we tried to celebrate a lot that day, as K (my husband) had to go to work early on Christmas day. So I made a nice dinner, which wasn't too hard. The Girl kept saying we should start, but there was nothing that had to cook all day (like a turkey). We had ham. I also boiled some potatoes (for the Girl to mash), made spaghetti squash (which the Girl LOVES. It's very good), warmed up some tamales, made mole from a jar, and that was about it! K proclaimed it delicious.

Then we went to church, where the Girl had been asked to read something in their Holiday performance. She got SO nervous! Then some little kids lined up to sing, and they were SO, so cute!! One boy on the end barely knew the words, but kindof kept up with the motions. Then another girl who started out in the back row pushed her way to front, like "this is my chance!" She did that every song they sang. They were funny because they were so cute.

K was supposed to open all his gifts that night, but he got sleepy and decided to wait until he returns from work. As is tradition, we all opened one present, with several of us feeling like we opened our best present that night! That's not supposed to happen! The Girl opened the present she was most curious about, and it was an iPod too! From her Grandparents! Then it was the Boy who was jealous, until he determined that hers was 2 Gigs and his was 4Gigs. Also hers was engraved with her name, but he doesn't care about things like that.

Also, K started a NEW tradition of balancing the presents on our head before we open them. Whatever, don't ask me.

The next morning K was gone, so the kids and I got up and started opening presents. Our dog wins the prize for most liking his present, because once we opened it, he couldn't stop playing with it!

Once, when the Girl removed the wrapping paper from one of her presents, she found a Swann's quesadilla box. I said, "Oh, great! Quesadillas!" and the girl said yeah, and put it aside. As if that was really her present! Just kidding, kid! Inside was the station to a Mexican Train domino set.

We all got nice gifts, and people seemed to like what I got them, too. We ate eggnog french toast with syrup and leftover ham, which is just SO yummy! I'll post the recipes soon.

Merry, merry, and Happy, happy too!!!

I'm looking for '08 to be great. Or at least really, really good.

Trip to CO

Last year we bought a duplex in CO, because the prices there were much better than here in California. The down side is that I only have one person willing to help me there, my sister E. I'm lucky to have her help, tho.

Well, the day I've been dreading is here, and the long term tenant in the older (not renovated) side of the duplex got so old that her kids decided it was safer for her to be somewhere else.

So I sucked it up and flew out there for a short week to see what I could accomplish. Luckily my whole family pitched in ("painting party") plus I rented a few teenagers, so we got everything painted over the weekend. The rest of the time I was finishing the trim, staining and sealing, and arranging for new flooring, new countertops, etc. Like I can afford it, right? But what can you do...

It was really nice to have a short visit with people and feel the support of my family. As I said, my sister E has really helped me, but she has issues within the family that make it a touchy situation. In my opinion, most of her problems boil down to anger management, but my other sister, the Social Worker, maintains that she has deeper problems than that.

E is the youngest of four girls: I am the oldest. Historically, I have been the protector in the family, mainly protecting E from my sister the Social Worker, who I viewed as abusive toward her. Now the tables have turned, and E is the one who everyone views as abusive. But I remain the one in the family who is most positive with her (it helps that I live far away), and her help with my duplex has been positive for her as well, as it is something she is good at.

Well, the day we were all to go up and paint, E went "on the warpath", and woke me up with her constant calling. She was having a fight with my Mom, and she kept calling and calling. Not "normal" behavior. I picked up once and tried to tell her she was disturbing everyone, but she told me to mind my own business and I ended up hanging up on her too.

The next night, after dinner, E fell down the stairs and broke her foot! It was all very dramatic, as we were all ticked off at her, and she fell down the stairs! She was crying and yelling, "Someone take me to the hospital! I've broken my foot!" The dog ran downstairs and tried to lick it, then started barking at her. So I tried to keep the dog and my Dad away from the stairs. My sister M, who is almost a nurse, wrapped E's leg in a magazine and Mom taped it with packing tape, and somehow they got E up the stairs and out the door.

So my poor Mom had to go to the ER, after a long day painting and then cooking dinner and doing the dishes. I asked why M had used a magazine as a splint - did she want them to have something to read? She said she'd seen a boy scout do it before.

I turned out that E's foot was indeed badly broken, which she took as a "wake up call" that she should be nicer to everyone. Let's see how long THAT lasts! And, btw, the ER people LOVED the magazine splint, and called it one of the best they'd ever seen!

That was the most exciting part of my trip. The rest was work. And driving. I forget that since my parents live in South Denver, I need to drive an hour to get north of Denver, where the duplex is.

I also made it up to the mountains to deliver presents to my in-laws, who were just back from France and very tired. I stopped by to see J, who earlier this year was diagnosed with colon cancer. Luckily, it turned out to NOT be cancer, but he still had to have his entire colon removed. So he was home in a sweatsuit, wearing a santa hat on his head. He ended up having to tow my car out of his driveway, which was icy.

So the picture I have in my head that symbolizes this Christmas to me, is the vision of J in his Santa hat towing me out of his driveway.

Holiday Party

It's also the time of year for work holiday parties. It's one of the only perks we still get, and I've been looking forward to it. All my work projects fell apart early in the week, tho, and I haven't felt like going in to work all week. So I didn't.

But I went to the party. It was at Red, White, and Blues in Pasadena. I got a drink (everyone was drinking Pom Poms - a drink with pomogranate juice!) and wandered around talking to my friends -blah, blah, blah, la, la, la. Then we sat down to eat. The food was SO excellent - pumpkin ravioli that tasted very holidayish. It tasted a bit like pumpkin pie, nutmeg, cream, and even anise. It was sprinkled with lots of pistachios. Very delicious.

I was enjoying myself, but noticed that the receptionist, who was sitting near me, appeared to be unhappy. "What's wrong, Pat? Why don't you look happy?" I asked her. She just shrugged and poked glumly at her ravioli. She said, "Because I'm not drinking." "Well then, drink!" someone told her.

After awhile, I started asking where Vanessa, the marketing coordinator, was. Everyone turned to me in surprise. "Weren't you at Monday's meeting?" they all asked. No, I can't go to those anymore because I'm somewhere else on Mondays (the computer teacher job.) "Vanessa's gone! The Boss is gone too! Didn't you know?"

No, I heard nothing about it! How drastic! Vanessa was gone the very next day! She didn't even come to the party, which I think is terrible. She should definitely have been invited. I heard they hooked her up with a new job, but still. And my Boss is going back into sales. What?

It seems a manager from another office will manage two offices now, and the Boss will go work in another office. Also, they're going to somehow get by with one receptionist for both offices.

So that's why the receptionist was so glum.

This is very drastic, and has the smell of cutbacks about it. This makes me worry for the fate of the office, as this might be the first step in shutting it down. And who else will lose their jobs because of this?

Well, I guess I won't have to worry about what to do about my Boss anymore...

Hopefully.

At least I had a delicious lunch and two Pom Poms.

That time of year

This is the time of year that mailboxes explode. Today I came home from the store to find this on my doorstep! It's HUGE! Heavy too.

As for my Computer Class job, it's going OK. I've noticed that the school goes thru quite a few teachers. The middle school is on their 3rd teacher so far this year (I think this one will stay.) My little friend who thought I was beautiful is gone, but other kids hug me sometimes. I've had to get stricter for various reasons, but they've seemed to take it OK.

K suggested I try to work more hours there, since it pays well. But I had a nightmare recently that they asked me to start substituting for a teacher that didn't show up one day. I don't think I would like that. 2 days a week I can take.

The Boy got hurt in practice, so is taking a few weeks off from playing with his team. We're still waiting for the results of the MRI. He usually gets hurt every year (broken wrist, stitches), so we're thinking he got it out of the way early this year. One boy got kicked off the team, and his parents are heartbroken. These boys have played together at least 7 years now and the families are fairly close. so a lot of us are sad.

Talking to the mother, I've really come to understand that playing with this coach has killed all the joy of basketball for my son, and her son too. Now I understand that The Boy's been unhappy about favoritism and the unfairness of the coaches mood. I think I understand now how insecure the coach must be, to treat his players like this.

It's very punishment oriented. If a player makes a "mistake" on the court, he's immediately yanked and yelled at. Except if he's a favorite. This does not help a player's confidence. This year some of the seniors aren't starting, because he's trying to groom players for next year. It's like he doesn't care if they have a good senior year or not.

I know that sounds naive, but it's not like they've been winning so much. I've always looked to coaches to nurture my boy, to guide him and help shape him, not tear him down. Is it so wrong to let the Seniors have a good year?

Anyway, the Girl's soccer season is over, but they still practice and will play some tournaments. She's practicing for basketball right now, but that season won't start until January. She works very hard on her homework, but it takes her forever to write something. This is because every time she writes a new sentence, she'll read it over from the beginning to make sure the new sentence sounds right. I can only hope she gets over this someday.