Should Be

I should be working right now. But I don't want to. I would rather lay in bed and watch TV. I don't really have anything to say to these companies. I want to just regurgitate some stuff I read somewhere that they should be doing and call it good. I am on vacation in my brain, but still want that pay check when I get home.

Crap, does reality suck.

Airplane Speech

I'm sitting in the Salt Lake City airport, killing time before the next flight. I am busy mean-mugging this old guy who is talking very loudly on his cell phone. My dad asked if I was going to make another one of my famous "airplane speeches".

One time, my dad, sister Julie, mom and I were flying to Baltimore, MD and we loaded the plane in Seattle headed for Atlanta, GA. There were these three guys, in their early twenties who were sitting three or four seats back from where we were. They were talking so loudly about really dumb stuff, that I was loosing my mind. I really didn't want to listen to them all the way to Atlanta (about a five hour flight). I figured they were excited and waited about ten minutes before I stood up. Julie panicked, and watched me with really big eyes. I said, "Excuse me. Would you please mind lowering your voices as a courtesy to the other passengers on this flight. I can't even hear my sister speaking to me who is sitting right next to me. I would really appreciate it, if you wouldn't mind lowering your voices. Thank you." and sat down. I swear to you, five or six people clapped for me. The lady sitting across the isle from me, leaned over to tell me I was her hero. The guys were very embarrassed and were quiet for the rest of the flight.

I think right now, I will stick to mean-mugging this old guy. But if it gets out of hand, I have no problem reminding people of their manners.

Well, I think I will watch a movie. Our next flight isn't for another two hours or so. Next stop, North Carolina.

Thrilled!

I am really excited. I have been asked to write a monthly article to appear in the local newsletter for the Building Industry Association of Whatcom County (BIAWC)! I have also been asked to write a second article for the Master Remodelers Council, a division of the BIAWC. I am really excited about this opportunity. I never thought I would be a published a columnist at 23. I am exaggerating here! :)

I am not sure if Dell, the current BIAWC president and a good friend of Charlie's was supposed to write the article, but he asked Charlie to come up with one, so of course it got pushed onto me. I was excited to write the article. It was something different than writting a safety plan, or an employee manual, or entering bills into Quick Books. I was asked to write an article on why remodelers/contractors should be charging for an estimate. I did some research (about a day and half) in the magazines we get, and organizations websites (like BIAWC and the nation wide BIA website) and summarised it all into a page long explanation of the benefits of charging clients for an estimate. I think it turned out very well. I was nervous to show Charlie, but he really liked it. Then I emailed it off to Diana at the BIAWC and she liked it so much that she asked if I would write for them all the time. She was amazed how quickly I was able to come up with a article that was, (and I quote), "so professional"!

I also found out that I get a $1 raise today! Oh boy! And I am eligible for vacation pay! Yippee. What a great day this is turning out to be. Tonight, I am driving to Redmond to pick up Joel (who will be starting his first day as a Full-Time Microsoft Employee on Monday), then on to Kent to have dinner with Anna and Robert. Then the four of us are heading off to Puyallup to party it up at Waynes (one of the best bars south of Bham). Then on Saturday it is back to Bellingham to get the apartment cleaned up for Julie (who will be watching the bunnies), get the bunnies all set to be without their Momma, and finish any forgotten loose ends. Then around 6am on Sunday, it is off to North Carolina for the next week.

Well, I better get back to work. Lots to take care of before the big boss man and I are out of the office for a week. Audios.

Busted

Okay, I was just busted, big time. Very embarrassed.

I had two pieces of Almond Roca for breakfast (hence the previous entry) and so I am feeling a bit of a sugar buzz. I get to listen to music when Charlie isn't in the office (the old grump likes dead silence in the office) so while he was out running errands this morning, I am rocking out. I had my music on random and some opera came on. I am trying out all kinds of different music right now, and am loving classical pieces and operas. Anyways, I was entering tickets and acting out what I imagined to be taking place in this particular opera. I was waving my arms around in the air, dramatically dating the entry of the tickets, flying across the room in my office chair as the music builds to file the tickets... you get the picture. I was being a complete dork in what I believed to complete privacy.

Well, to my dismay, I didn't hear the trucks pull in. As I was coming to the rescue of my tickets-in-distress, I finally noticed Dave and Stuart standing outside the office window. They could hardly breath they were laughing so hard. I was so embarrassed. I wanted to die. I wanted to hide under my desk with the papers I need to shred. Good thing Dave and Stuart are my cousins who have known me since birth. But still...

Blogging while on hold

What is the perfect thing to do while waiting on hold... blogging!

This weekend was wonderful. I spent three wonderful days in Friday Harbor with Joel celebrating our one-year of dating. Joel even treated us to hour-side-by-side massages. It was bliss. Even though the weather was cloudy and a bit rainy, it was a lot of fun to walk around, shop, explore, and eat. Except for the headache on the ferry ride back to Anacortes, the whole weekend was wonderful.

I leave for North Carolina this Sunday. I have a lot of reading to do in preparation for the three days of meetings. It doesn't sound like that long, but really, it is. I have to know 10 companies finances, budgets, marketing plan, and business plans inside and out, complete with areas of concern or necessary improvements. It is pretty overwhelming. Oh well. Just another challenge waiting to be overcome.

I have decided that I don't hate flying as much as I used to think I did. I still hate going through security (what is grosser than having to take your shoes off in public with a bunch of other shoeless people?), I still hate long flights (tall person + little airplane seats = grumpy Jess), but really it isn't that bad. I could be taking Grey Hound to North Carolina. Now that would be a lot longer trip, with a lot stranger people, and a whole lot worse overall. In the last nine months I have been to Maryland, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, California, Mexico, Utah, Nevada, Virgina, and New York. I feel like I live out of a suit case.

The other day Joel and I were having dinner with friends in Seattle, and they started to ask when the wedding was going to be. I just jokingly said, "I don't want to married until I am thirty". It annoys me when Joel and I get questions like that. I know they are just asking, joking, acknowledging our commitment to each other... what ever they may be doing. It seems to be an invasive question to ask. What if Joel and I didn't agree on that subject, or if we had never discussed it? What if that question caused arguments between us? Personally, unless I bring it up, I don't want to talk about.

I had the chance to ask a psychic a question not to long ago, and a friend was surprised I didn't ask if Joel was my soul mate. I felt that if you need to ask, you already know the answer. And besides, even if Joel is not my soul mate or if we don't end up marrying, I want to enjoy our relationship for what it is right now. I don't want to be thinking our future too hard. I don't want to be putting time frames, or time limits on what we have. I want to continue to have fun, to love him, to enjoy him, to grow with him, to explore this earth with him, to just be with him. What will happen in the future will happen, but now, I want to enjoy what is right now.

Spirituality

I have been thinking about spirituality lately, mostly my own spirituality. Recently my opinions and viewpoints have radically changed. Not that I have converted or anything. I just finally feel more comfortable with what I truly feel what religion and spirituality are. I believe this has been a journey I have walking for many years, but after a few recent events I finally feel peace, assurance, and comfort in what I believe.

Mexico!

OK, Now that I am at home instead of at work, I have more time to share some of my stories from my cruise around the Mexican Rivera. Oh man where to begin...

The adventures Nichole and I went through just to get to the boat is probably the best story. So, here goes. Our flight left SeaTac at 6:40am on Saturday, so I drove down to Redmond on Friday night after work so I could have one night with Joel before I left him for a week. We got to bed pretty late, but I had my suitcase already packed, and my carry one ready to go. Joel set two alarms and we went to sleep. I remember Joel waking me up, saying "Honey, you need to get up!" I sat up and looked at the clock; it was 6:20am!! CRAP!! We flew out of bed, I tossed some clothes on, and Joel graped my luggage and we went out the door. Joel doesn't even remember carrying my HUGE suitcase up a flight of stairs and tossing it in the trunk like it was a pillow. We drove as fast as we could to the airport, but luckily didn't encounter any police officers.

Nichole had been trying to contact me, as she took the shuttle to Seattle and was wondering where I was. She was trying to hold the plane for me, telling the flight attendants that I had been in a car accident. But it was too late. The ticket counter took my luggage (after I paid them $35 because my luggage was over weight) and gave me a security pass to get through security. Getting through security was an ordeal, apparently not too often do people without boarding passes try to get through. But once I was on the other side Nichole and I started the up-hill battle of trying to get out SeaTac. Thanks to the fact it was spring break, every airline was over booked. Even though we were on the wait list for five flights, everyone was telling us we weren't going to get out of SeaTac that day. By the pure grace of God, I ended up the Alaskan Airline counter. After being turned down by almost every other airline, an angel in disguise found a flight for Nichole and I to Santa Anna, California. Santa Anna is about an hour north of San Diego so we jumped at the chance to get on a plane.

Joel went online and reserved a rental car for us to drive from Santa Anna to the San Diego where (cross-your-fingers) our luggage should be waiting for us. When we landed in Santa Anna we had an hour and forty minutes to make the one hour drive, pick up our luggage, drop off the rental, and get a ride to the cruise ship terminal. It is a good thing that Californians like to drive fast (everyone, including a cop, was going 90-95 in a 60!) cause we had some serious ground to cover. Well, we made it, our luggage was there, and Nichole's grandma picked us up to take us to the cruise ship terminal. We hurried through customs, questionnaires, and other pre-boarding activities. When we finally got on the boat, we left out a huge sigh of relief... with only ten minutes to go!!! And then we were off to empty the mini bar in our room!

Day One: At Sea

We started the day with breakfast in our room (free room service!) on our private deck as we watched the sunrise over the ocean. Then we headed to the pool deck where we laid out and spent the day drinking Miami Vice's (1/2 Daiquiri and 1/2 Pina Colada). It was wonderful, until I realised later that I had burned. Even though I had 60 SPF on, the sun is intensified by the reflection off the ocean and the proximity to the equator. Oops.

Day Two: Cabo San Lucas

Today, we got to swim with dolphins!! It was so much fun! Our dolphin was Monet, a seven year old male who was found injured in the wild. He was a lot of fun. He did tricks for us, sang us a song, let us pet him and even took us for rides. Cool Dolphin Fact - they can sense when a person is pregnant and want to spend all their time with the pregnant person! What a way to find out, if you didn't previously know. We spent the rest of the day walking around the town, shopping, and we even got our hair braided into many tiny braids.

Day Three: Puerto Vallarta

Once again, we had breakfast on our private deck as the sun came up, and then got dressed for a day in town. We had to take a cab into the main part of the city. There was a beautiful white sand beach, lovely stores all over the place, and so much to do. We walked around, shopped, relaxed, and explored this wonderful city. Then we went on an excursion to Los Caletas. This is a place only assessable by boat. When we arrived, we were served an authentic Mexican dinner. It was so good. We ate and ate and ate. Everything was so delicious. Then we watched an authentic Aztecan ceremony. It was amazing! I think my mouth was hanging open during the whole show, I loved it! Then it was a boat ride back to the cruise ship and time to call it a night.

Day Four: Manzanillo

When I woke up and looked out our deck I was disappointed. Normally we have amazing views of the ocean, the coast line, or a cityscape. But not this morning. Instead, it was stacks and stacks of semi truck crates. It was a HUGE shipping yard. Oh well. After a shuttle ride for 15 minutes through the shipping yard, we were taken to the heart of Manzanillo. Nichole and I spent the day exploring the city, and getting lost in a true Mexican town. It was neat to leave the tourist section of the town and walk around in the "local" side of town. It was a mix of buildings I wondered how they were still standing, and new buildings. Laundry drying on porches, children in classrooms located between stores, alleyways with dogs, shrines to Mary, beautiful churches... It was amazing.

Day Five: At Sea

Today was pretty windy and a bit too cold to lay out on the pool deck. So Nichole and I spent the doing activities around the ship (there was never nothing to do!), eating the delicious food, and attending speakers on many topics. Even though we weren't in port, it was a great day.

Day Six: At Sea

It was finally warm enough to lay out in the sun. It was my last chance to try to even out my tan after burning my front side. I laid on my tummy the entire time we were in the sun, trying to make my white backside match the front. Once the sun went down, Nichole and I enjoyed our last dinner in the Vista Lounge and headed back to our rooms to pack up our bags.

Day Seven: Back in San Diego

It was sad leaving what had been our home for seven days. The people were so friendly. All it took was one time meeting you, and they had your name memorized. They would greet you by name when ever they saw you. I miss the sun. I miss the food. I miss the fun. I miss the service. I miss no-work. But it was nice to be home. Nice to be back in Joel's arms. Nice to back in my own bed. Nice to making money, not spending it. Nice to be back with my family. Nice to home.

So there you have it. A very brief recap of my cruise through the Mexican Rivera. I can't wait for my next cruise. People are wrong when they think cruises are for old people and boring; they are amazing! I can't wait for my next vacation.

Back from Vacation

I am back at work this morning after a week of cruising around the Mexican Rivera. It was the best week of my life so far. I feel so suffocated in jeans, long sleeve shirts, and socks. I want to be in a bathing suit and a dress, or tank tops and shorts. The weather was so warm and inviting. I miss sitting by the pool and tanning on the deck, eating extravagant five course meals every night, and unlimited room services. I really miss the sunshine. I am starting to believe I might one of the many individuals who suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder.

I was happy to be back in my own bed though. And my bunnies where very happy to see me too. Jack jumped over Katie and couldn't give me enough kisses. They are so sweet. Julie did a great job of taking care of my babies for me. It was strange to drive a car. I haven't done that in over a week. It seems to take me much longer to get everywhere, since I have to do it myself now. No more having everyone else take care of my every need. Rats.

Well, I better get going. I have a ton of catching up to do at work and my desk is piled with stuff. I will post pictures and stories very soon of my fun in the sun.

Yikes

Oh man, it is only 8:24am and already I have had one exciting morning!

First - I woke up late, again! I have been sleeping through my alarm and I have no idea how. I have it set for 5:45am and the buzzer sound. It is across my room, so I have to get out of my bed to hit snooze. Normally I wake up right before it goes off, but lately I have been sleeping though the obnoxious noise for an hour or so. So I woke up to sunshine and knew right away I had done it again. So I flew out of bed, threw on some clothes (I'm surprised I have clean socks on!), feed the bunnies and raced out the door.

Second - When I got to work, I had to help Charlie jump start the 95 van (I accidentally left the lights on yesterday so the battery was dead. Good thing the '92 van was around for me to drive home), then I had to make a fire cause Lee left after 2ND coating the stairs for a job and didn't start a fire (it helps the product dry faster and since he has already messed this project up several times, we need the darn things dry) but there wasn't any firewood in the shop. So I have take my little cart out back to the wood pile and drag some wood inside for my fire. There must have been some fumes in air, because when I started the blowtorch to start the fire, there was a REALLY big flame. I just kinda stood there for a minute... and then realised I was about to blow my self up. Oops. So I opened the big bay doors and turned on the venting fans (LEE!!!).

Third - I went inside to make coffee and as I was carefully measuring out the amount of grounds, I realised I was half an hour late to call Joel and make sure he was up. He has a big day today, and he was nervous that he might sleep late, so I offered to call and make sure he got up. He is interviewing for a full time position with Microsoft. He is working as a contractor, which means he actually works for Volt, who lends him to Microsoft for a year. At the end of the year, he is forced by Microsoft to take a 100 day vacation before he can start another contract with Microsoft. He is really excited since the full time job with Microsoft will be with the same team he is working with right now. This would be a great opportunity for him and he has studied really hard. I know he can do, but he was pretty nervous. So, half an hour after I said I would call, I called him. He was already up and showered, but he was worried I was sleeping late! Funny boy.

Fourth - Then Mom calls the house and tells me that, and I quote, "Your car doesn't like me anymore." With the way my morning is going (and the fact I have been ignoring a Check Engine light for the past month or so) I was afraid that some thing was really wrong. She had been trying to unlock the car for awhile but the stupid remote wasn't working. This has happened to me before and I just stand there and push it really hard over and over until the darn thing works. But for some reason it wasn't working for mom, and she was cold, and hungry. So I told her to use the key to unlock the car and brace and for the alarm. I walked her through the steps of popping the hood, finding the fuse box for the alarm, and pulling out the fuse. It was nutzy with all the noise of the alarm in the background and trying to work off a memory of the one time I had to do this before. But now Mom is eating breakfast with everyone, and will just use the key to lock the car.

I think I am ready for a nap. I have saved the day four times already this morning. Super heroes have it tough. Well, I better start to see what I can do for today. I have to get the office ready to function without me for the next week, as I leave for Mexico on Saturday!! Oh Boy!!

P. S. I believe it to be some unspoken rule that Chevy Vans (or any construction vehicle for that matter) is only able to receive AM Talk Radio or Classic Rock stations air waves. I found it ironic that no matter which van I drove, that seems to be all the radio can find to play. Oh how true the sterotype seems to be. :)

Have a great day everyone!

Sleeping On It

Sometimes it is amazing what sleeping on a dilemma can do for yourself. I went to bed last night, feeling a bit better but not anywhere near wonderful. I woke up feeling better about my own predicament, easier about a dear one's troubles, and generally at peace with myself.

On a side note...Here is something funny for you all. So yesterday, my Mom was getting ready to leave for a quilting retreat. She and some friends go away to all sorts of resort/retreat like places bringing with them their sewing machines, irons, ironing boards, all the stuff you need to work on a project. It is quiet an ordeal, and she loves going on these trips. So she was backing out the shop driveway (there are two driveways at my parents house; one for the house, and another for the shop) so she was backing her mini van out of the shop driveway and somehow managed to run the mini van passenger side back wheel up the support wire for the telephone pole. She did some major damage to the wheel and parts of the car... dad could hardly get the minivan off the wire, let alone get the tire off (she completely shredded the tire!). So they took the minivan into Charlie's Autobody to see if she could still make the 6hr round trip to her sewing retreat. They said, "No way! That is too far to drive". So Mom was upset that she was going to miss her retreat and wouldn't be able to refunded for it.

I felt bad for her, so I offered to lend her my car so she could go. Yes that is right. My Mom is driving my car to the retreat and I am driving a 1995 Half Ton Chevy Van. It's one of dad's old work vans, it is huge, and a bit ghetto looking because he is trying to sell it. So it doesn't have a company logo on it, it has been sitting in the driveway at the shop so it is dirty and covered in tree debris. I get all sorts of double takes... like "Whoa - A girl is driving that thing!". I just smile and wave at them. I have to park on the street instead of my apartment building's parking lot, cause I can't get the thing in there. I went to Fred Meyer and parked in the middle of no where, cause I have no idea how to park that thing. I have run over, bounced over, parked on, and driven up many of the curbs in Bellingham. It cracks me up to be driving this thing around town. I wonder what people think when they see me. I notice I get a lot more cops following me... maybe they think I am a trouble maker in my ghetto van. Oh - and the van has no guts so I have to floor it and hope I can get up to at least 50mph before I hit the free way.

So if you need a pick-me-up today, just think of me in my ride!