Sunday, September 30, 2012

Beach

Today was the first time I took Kaitlyn to the beach. I know, why did I wait so long when I live so close to the beach?  The answer is, I have no idea what took me so long. It has been so long since I have been to our local beach that I almost forgot how to get there (drive down one street till I hit the beach) and almost forgot to bring quarters for the parking meeters.
Well we made it there just fine, I did not make any unnecessary turns resulting in us getting lost. I had a lot of stuff to carry so Kaitlyn walked (holding my hand) all the way to the spot we claimed as our own. We had to climb down a lot of stairs, I should have taken the ramp, but Kaitlyn did great.
Turns out Kaitlyn is a fish like me. She wanted to be in the water the entire time. We only ended up staying for one hour because I got tired, LOL. I had to hold her hands the entire time she was in the water because even the smallest wave seemed to knock her over. We were only ankle deep... Overall it was a great day.
I cannot wait to go again :)

Monday, September 24, 2012

Happy Birthday Kaitlyn

Today Kaitlyn turned two. She is such a cutie! Here are some pics from today - her birthday:
Early this morning right before leaving for work/daycare
After work/daycare playing with her new birthday present - I think she likes it.
My little baby is no longer a baby. sniffle sniffle

her likes:
TV show: Yo Gabba Gabba
Songs: Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and Wheels on the Bus, she sings along to them as best as she can and does hand motions to them as well. Very cute!
Colors: Purple and Yellow are still the only crayons she grabs to color with.
Drawing skills: She now does more rounded scribbles where as before it was just back and forth scribbles.
Toy: a stuffed monkey from Build a Bear that she named Pizza. Pizza is her best friend, he helps her clean up, rides in her rhino with her, eats bananas, she cooks pretend meals for him, and he loves to watch tv.
Skills: She loves to jump. She has a bounce house that she loves and a trampoline that she loves. Her new trick is to try to jump over something or from one spot to the next.
Games: I got you is her favorite game. Her and David play it together. It is hide and seek with some chasing involved.
Books: She still loves Potty by Leslie Patricelli and even reads along with me. She like Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you see? and The Foot Book by Dr. Seuss. Her good old favorites still get pulled out every once in a while: Sally Sheep, Dolly Duck, and Happy Hen.
She still loves shoes but is very particular with what she will wear. It takes her time to get into a new pair and she does not like to mix things up much, as in a different pair of shoes to match an outfit. Her pink glitter shoes are worn with everything.

2nd birthday party

Saturday was Kaitlyn's 2nd birthday party. It was a hot and muggy day so in addition to the jumpy I took the water table out. That was a great idea. All the kids loved it. Here are a few pics of the decorations:
The cupcakes I made:
And the birthday girl:

Kaitlyn had a blast with all her friends and cousins. I wish we could do a party once a month just for her to get to play with everybody.
Today is her actual birthday! I want to go to Disneyland!!!! Instead I am stuck at work and Kaitlyn is at daycare.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY PUMPKIN.

Thursday, September 20, 2012

Cash Gifts

While I am not the only one to admit I absolutely love getting cash as a gift now that I am older; I do have to say the strings attached to it kind of suck. What I mean is when a dear family member gives you cash then tells you "this is so you and David can go out to dinner" or "Make sure you get yourself something special".  Why does there have to be a specific reason to give a person cash? Can't a cash gift be given and received without expectations on where it will be used? The absolute best part of all of this is when the giver calls the recipient and asks them if they used the cash for dinner or something special yet. I am not one to lie but I might have to start strengthening that skill. The guilt I feel when, lets say, my dad calls and asks about the dinner David and I were suppose to use my cash gift on. When I tell him we have not gone yet, the truth, and leave out the part where I actually used the cash to buy Kaitlyn something for her birthday. The disappointment in his voice says it all, "well make sure you guys get a chance to go out, some place special'.

Now let me explain why I love getting cash as a gift. Cash is amazing, it can become anything you want it to become; a nice dinner, new underwear, electricity, water... what ever you want within reason.

Here is what actually happens when I get cash, it goes directly in the money hole with the rest of the cash I have on hand. Once in the hole it is used to pay bills, buy gas, buy food, or what ever else happens to be needed at the time. Most of the time when I am given a cash gift there is nothing in particular that I want for myself. So why should I have to spend it on a nice dinner when I have a large credit card bill that I want to pay off? Why do I have to be obligated to spend it on something frivolous when there is something more important or needed at the time?

Here is my unsolicited advice to you:
**When giving cash as a gift never say this is for such and such. It makes the receiver feel crappy when they have to spend the cash on necessities. Never call the recipient and ask if they used the cash yet or what they used it on.
**When receiving cash as a gift always say that you used it for such and such when asked (if it was supposed to be use for something specific). Learn how to lie and say how nice such and such was then thank the person who gave you the wonderful gift and be done with it.

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

IOU

So a while back I received an IOU from my school program for $250 towards teaching supplies. It expires in May of 2013 I believe. There are no restrictions listed on the IOU. Well I contacted them asking if I could use the IOU towards the purchase of the IPad I am currently borrowing from them (they said they would sell them to us at a "used" price). The answer to my question was that I cannot use the IOU until I secure a teaching job and that it is only to be used for items to aid in teaching... WTF??? I already bought about $250 worth of stuff in anticipation of getting a teaching job. Now I am stuck footing that bill that I thought would be covered and I am sure by the time I do get a teaching job the IOU would be expired. What a crock of poo poo. And why the hell can I not use it towards the IPad if I turned in receipts to cover the $250? So I have to receive a check from them and write them out a check at the same time? That seems a little ass backwards to me.
Maybe he read my question wrong. Maybe he thought I would use the IOU without turning in receipts? - That cannot be because I clearly stated that I do have receipts already.
I should have re-worded my email I guess stating that in stead of the program paying me back for my receipts that the $250 owed to me be applied to the price of the IPad instead.
What ever, I cannot even use that damn IOU anyways. SUCKER!!!!!

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Halloween

Here it is the end of September and I still have no clue what Kaitlyn will be for Halloween. Last year I had her costume already by this time. This year nothing really stands out as a cute costume for a 2 year old. I almost cannot wait till she can tell me what she wants to be.

Few ideas: Giraffe, Horse, Minnie Mouse.

It will probably be Minnie Mouse that wins. I already have a dress us costume that I got from Target that would work. It is not a nice Halloween costume but it would work. If my mom lived close by she could make a costume for Kaitlyn. She needs to hurry up and move closer!

Monday, September 17, 2012

CSET take 4

I took the Geo section of the CSET on Saturday. This time they offered it as a computer based test instead of paper. AWESOME. The testing location is closer to my house and you can pick what time you want to take the test.
Old way vs new way
1) OLD: Leave the house by 6:45 to 7am to make sure I rived at the testing location in time. Test starts at 8am but they want you there by 7:30 to check in. --- NEW: leave house 30 min before test time (my test time was 10:15am), arrive with plenty of time to go over notes before walking in.
2) OLD: Test ticket always listed "limited parking so get there early to secure a spot." I hate parking. It is one of those things that has to go perfectly for me or my day is ruined. If there is no designated parking and I have to find some place else to park I get stressed out. I don't know why this is but I have to deal with it every time I go anyplace new where parking could be an issue. --- NEW: "ample parking available"  AWESOME! There were so many parking spots I got to pick one that I liked best.  LOL.
3) OLD: Wait around outside till they let us in the testing room then sit through 1 hour of instructions, check in, and calculator checks. Store personal items in a pile at some location in the room away from us. --- NEW: Walk in, check in - 5 min tops, locker assigned to hold personal belongings. Walk over to testing room, calculator check, ear plugs issued, quick run down of rules, then walked to computer station and test begins. Total time combined 10 min  :).
********
I absolutely love the new testing system. Everything was very smooth and quick. No lagging behind or driving forever to get there. They even supplied the #2 pencils and scratch paper pad. The only difference I see is with the new way you are only allotted 2 hours for each section of the test. The old way you could take up to 5 hours to complete what ever test or tests you were working on.  This was not a problem for me though. The computer keeps a list of the problems you completed, total number of problems on the test, at running timer telling you how much longer you have left, and a warning screen pops up when you have 30 min left. I ended up finishing the test right when the 30 min pop up happened.

How did I do?  Still don't know - the only thing I wish the new computer testing did was give you the score for your multiple choice questions.  I understand the constructed response need to be graded by a live person but at the very least it would ease my mind to know how many of the multiple choice I got correct. What would be even better is if it told you the multiple choice score and how many points you need on the constructed response to pass based on how well you did on the multiple choice. I bet in the future that will happen.

Leading up to the test I was having a very difficult time focusing on studying. I don't know why, normally when I sit down and start studying I focus so much that I loose track of time. I even took part of Friday off work in the hopes that I would be able to focus on studying. I managed to make it though my worksheets just once, I wanted to go over it at least twice, even better three times but I do think it was enough this time. When taking the test I jumped right to the constructed response section to get them out of the way. I am confident that I did two of them perfectly and another one of them possibly perfectly or pretty close to it. I absolutely did not know how to do the last one (there are a total of 4 constructed response). I wrote down what I did know about the problem and drew a graph... that is about it, maybe I will get 1/2 or 1 point with that but I am not concerned about it since I knew the other three problems.

I left the test center very confident that I passed this time. We shall see.

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Why would you tell me that?

The other day I went out to lunch with a coworker of mine. A really nice lady to hang out with. I cannot remember how the conversation started but I said something about how I use to like the movie Train Spotting before I had my daughter. I saw it again after I had my daughter and did not remember there was a part where a baby dies in the movie. It was a big mistake for me to watch that part of the movie since now I cannot get that part out of my mind. It greatly affected me now that I have a child. Before having Kaitlyn I was able to see stuff like that and disconnect from what happened. Now days I am completely connected and for some reason I feel the pain as if I was the child's mother.
Notice I did not say what specifically happened in the movie, rather talked about how hard it hits me now when I see stuff like that.
Well, my lovely coworker decided to share an experience she had watching a video where a child died. She does not have a child of her own but she is very sensitive and loves children as deeply as a person can for not having one. Instead of focusing on how it affected her she went into great detail every aspect of the video. This also was not a movie, it is something that was caught on tape in real life. I did not say one word while she gave me graphic details of how the two year old little girl died. Horrific to say the least.
Now I cannot get that out of my head. It keeps coming back to haunt me just like Train Spotting does. I did not even watch the video and yet I still hurt for that little girl.

PSA: Please do not ever feel it is OK to tell somebody graphic details about something that is similar in any way to what they just said really upsets them.

That is all!

Monday, September 10, 2012

Liana's Bat-Mitzvah

We were invited to my Bosses daughter, Liana's, Bat-Mitzvah this weekend. I have never been to one before so I wanted to go check it out.
The Temple was beautiful, the ceremony was long. David even wore a kippah during the ceremony since my boss told him he had to in order to enter the temple (this was a lie but I will keep my lips closed). Liana did excellent. Through out the ceremony they sing passages from the Torah. Here is the short short version: There was an hour long per-ceremony before the "good stuff" took place. This is the main part of the ceremony: they opened the ark in which the Torah scrolls are kept, took one out and placed it on Liana's shoulder, she made a pass around the temple holding it, then sang some passages, then put the scrolls back.
There was a luncheon held afterwords that we had to miss so we could pick Kaitlyn up. I am kinda bummed about that but after a 2 1/2 hour ceremony I was ready to get out of there anyways.
Later that night was the after party. A dinner cruse/party. It was a blast. I need to get some of the pictures from David so I can post them. I only have a few goofy ones on my phone. The theme was casting party, there were mock movie posters up around the boat staring Liana and fun flower centerpieces that looked like popcorn and movie film. As we walked onto the boat we were handed some funny sunglasses:
Later in the night was black light party and dancing, we were given glow necklaces, finger lights, white gloves, and some flashing sunglasses.
Overall it was a very fun party and I was so worried about being cold... It was so freaking hot since the boat was enclosed in glass! I was drenched in sweat by the end of the night.
Here are some other pics from the night:



Wednesday, September 5, 2012

job burn out

Have I ever mentioned how much I HATE my job? This is not the field for me. When I decided to go the accounting rout I figured I would be playing with numbers all day instead I am the go to person for every stupid little thing that comes up. Insurance too high? Ask Christina to get a quote worked out. Such and such is getting married? Have Christina order them a gift even though she has no idea who they are. Light bulb out in the mans bathroom? Call Christina to get it fixed. You were not paid overtime? Go talk to Christina. Toilet is clogged, better tell Christina! All general office complaints come to me, heck I even order the office supplies.
Last time I checked the accountant does not handle any of this shit. That is the job of the office manager. I am in no means an office manager. I have NO employees under me and I make way less than any other "manager" in the company, I am talking HALF as much. Not that I feel I need to make more to do all this shit, I just don't want to do it period.
Give somebody else a raise and change their title to office manager so I can sit back and play with my numbers please.
I hope I like teaching, I know there is a lot of prep work I am fine with that.

I guess it does not help that I had a crappy start to my day.

Bla start to the day

Well today started out crappy. My neck and back have been bothering me for over a week now and this morning was no different there... I got out of bed went strait to the bath room to brush my teeth and wash my face. Kaitlyn decided that she was going to pound on her bedroom door the entire time I did these two things. (David is trying to sleep in the room two feet away... sorry about that). Once I rushed through those things I opened the bedroom door to see my cutie pie smiling at me. I asked her why she banged on the door instead of opening it as she ran by me to get the IPad. IPad is her obsession! I know she can open the door, just last night she opened the bathroom door while David was in there. She randomly opens the bathroom door all the time. Her bedroom door is exactly the same as the bathroom one.
Next, I go in the kitchen to let the dogs out and Kaitlyn runs to the fridge wanting to feed the dogs. I told her it was not time yet, lets get dressed first then we will feed the dogs. She started crying... I walked away and went to get dressed. I cannot handle tantrums that early in the morning. Soon enough she came in the bedroom looking for me once she figured out that nobody was listening to her cry.
It was time for Kaitlyn to get dressed. I let her pick her top today, she got a kick out of that. Then when I put her up on the changing table to get her dressed the crying started again. I was getting frustrated and asked her why she was crying. This was met with more crying so I thought I would tell her how cute she was and give her a kiss. The kiss only led to even more crying. I hurried up to get her dressed. Once she was dressed I sat on her bed for a second. She walked up to me crying and snuggled while crying for about 5 min.
I have no idea what the problem was. I swear she cried from the moment she woke up till we walked out the door. And by that time I was highly irritable and ready to snap.
I park my car in the garage, it fits, but there is a ton of random stuff all around it... One item in particular drives me insane, the damn car jack. It is in my way, it is in Kaitlyn's way. Every single time we are trying to get in the car she trips over it, I knock the handle down, I kick it... One day I moved it out of the way. It was wonderful! I could freely walk around the car and not trip on anything, not have a handle in my way. That lasted for about two days then magically it reappeared in the same damn spot again. URG!!!!
Remember I was highly irritated already this morning. Well that damn car jack was in my way again. While trying to maneuver getting my purse, snacks, backpack, and diaper bag in the car with Kaitlyn standing in my way every move I made the damn car jack got in my way again. This time the handle had me stuck with my back pack and diaper bag between the car door and Kaitlyn. The car door semi closed onto Kaitlyn's head in the process of me getting unstuck, luckily it did not hurt her and she did not even cry. Seriously that car jack is going to get picked up and launched into the street one day (sorry David). Why does it have to be right there? WHY??????