(no subject)
It has been a few weeks since I have updated, and work is extremely slow right now. Things have been incredibly hectic and busy recently. Christmas and our marathon road trip went well. When I got off work the evening of December 19 (the night before we were supposed to leave for stop number one, my parents house), I came home to Chuck already packed. A big storm was on its way in, so we decided to leave that night and drive through the night. We left Seattle at about 8:30pm, during what seemed to be a torrential downpour. Did I mention we were bringing the cat and dog with us? Kitty was pissed to be stuck in her carrier. Ninja just curled up on the back seat where his blanket was and went to sleep.
Luckily, we had bought chains, because we had to chain up at like 2am to get over the pass at Ashland - it was mandatory. The pass was pretty though. So after about 13 or so hours, a drive that should have taken us 10, we got in to Chico. It was awesome seeing my parents. We stopped at the office since they were at work to say hi before heading up the hill. Dad looked awesome, since he has lost like 30 pounds. And mom almost started crying when we walked in. After awhile, we headed up the hill. While I unpacked the car, Chuck let the pets out, introduced all the dogs, and played with them. We finally got a chance to eat something, then we crashed in the recliners for a few hours. The next day I got to go visit some of my friends that I haven't seen FOREVER! That was awesome. And I got to hold and play with my honorary niece, Mel's baby, Mackenzie. Unkie and Jeanne arrived that night, and the following day we had Christmas number 1! We also went target practicing, ate an insane amount of food, and I enjoyed being home.
The next day, on to southern California. The first night we spent at Chuck's swedish grandma's house in Mission Viejo. Mormor was so excited to see us. She made us a wonderful dinner, then sent us off to bed as we had had another long drive. The next day we went over to her cousin's for Christmas eve dinner (they had come to the wedding). We had a MASSIVE swedish Christmas dinner, and I got to experience all of those wonderful foods, including the drink "grog" (don't know if I spelled that correctly). And oh my gosh the view from their house is incredible! Their house is on the side of a small mountain, and they have a view of 3 airports - LAX, ontario, and one other I can't remmeber. So at night, you can see all of the planes lining up in the sky for landing. After dinner, we went back to Mormor's to grab our things and drive to Chuck's grandpa's, Bops, in Laguna Beach. I had never been to his house before, and it was INCREDBILE! On the cliff overlooking the ocean. His house is litterally on postcards. We had a nice time with him. Had Christmas day with him, and another wonderful meal. We walked on the beach Christmas morning. It was a sunny 75*. I'll have to get some pictures up.
Dec 26 we continued our trip by going up the Ukiah. Mom came over to Unkie and Jeanne's so we got to see all of them a second time. Visited grandma and brought her over for dinner. I was so excited that she recognized us! She had a really good day and was very responsive. Got to see Selma and baby Isa.
Next and final stop was Chuck's parents in Arcata. Went out to dinner to celebrate Resa's birthday and had a nice time just relaxing. We went shopping as we had quite a bit of Christmas money. I found a real nice pair of black leather boots so I can walk in the rain up here without my feet getting wet or cold. Set off fireworks for New Years, then left to come home on New Years morning. And lucky me, I got sick. I developed a nasty virus, and was out from work the rest of the week. But I'm feeling much better now.
Philip, my father-in-law, moved Resa to Eugene for school last week, so he continued his way up to visit Daniel in Portland, then us up here. He was here for the weekend, and we got to visit some of their old family friends that live out on one of the islands and we went shopping. Chuck got a late Christmas/early birthday present of a $500 watch that he wanted. Then Philip gave me a $100 bill and told me I had to spend it that night at the mall. Anything that was not spent I had to get back. I was going to get this real nice black coat, but they did not have my size. I was having trouble until I went into this fancy jewelry store. They were going out of business and were having a huge sale. I found these incredible diamond earrings that were marked down from $1200 to $500. They were top of the line. I was really debating about it, then Philip threw me another $100 bill, and Chuck gave me $100, then the lady didn't charge me tax. So I a pair of $1200 diamond studs for $200. I have been wearing them since. :)
Well I think I have updated enough. Our rent went up, but we got them talked down so it only increased by $100 a month. Monday I will put in my application to the nursing program, and I am back at work and my managers love me. Life is good.
Luckily, we had bought chains, because we had to chain up at like 2am to get over the pass at Ashland - it was mandatory. The pass was pretty though. So after about 13 or so hours, a drive that should have taken us 10, we got in to Chico. It was awesome seeing my parents. We stopped at the office since they were at work to say hi before heading up the hill. Dad looked awesome, since he has lost like 30 pounds. And mom almost started crying when we walked in. After awhile, we headed up the hill. While I unpacked the car, Chuck let the pets out, introduced all the dogs, and played with them. We finally got a chance to eat something, then we crashed in the recliners for a few hours. The next day I got to go visit some of my friends that I haven't seen FOREVER! That was awesome. And I got to hold and play with my honorary niece, Mel's baby, Mackenzie. Unkie and Jeanne arrived that night, and the following day we had Christmas number 1! We also went target practicing, ate an insane amount of food, and I enjoyed being home.
The next day, on to southern California. The first night we spent at Chuck's swedish grandma's house in Mission Viejo. Mormor was so excited to see us. She made us a wonderful dinner, then sent us off to bed as we had had another long drive. The next day we went over to her cousin's for Christmas eve dinner (they had come to the wedding). We had a MASSIVE swedish Christmas dinner, and I got to experience all of those wonderful foods, including the drink "grog" (don't know if I spelled that correctly). And oh my gosh the view from their house is incredible! Their house is on the side of a small mountain, and they have a view of 3 airports - LAX, ontario, and one other I can't remmeber. So at night, you can see all of the planes lining up in the sky for landing. After dinner, we went back to Mormor's to grab our things and drive to Chuck's grandpa's, Bops, in Laguna Beach. I had never been to his house before, and it was INCREDBILE! On the cliff overlooking the ocean. His house is litterally on postcards. We had a nice time with him. Had Christmas day with him, and another wonderful meal. We walked on the beach Christmas morning. It was a sunny 75*. I'll have to get some pictures up.
Dec 26 we continued our trip by going up the Ukiah. Mom came over to Unkie and Jeanne's so we got to see all of them a second time. Visited grandma and brought her over for dinner. I was so excited that she recognized us! She had a really good day and was very responsive. Got to see Selma and baby Isa.
Next and final stop was Chuck's parents in Arcata. Went out to dinner to celebrate Resa's birthday and had a nice time just relaxing. We went shopping as we had quite a bit of Christmas money. I found a real nice pair of black leather boots so I can walk in the rain up here without my feet getting wet or cold. Set off fireworks for New Years, then left to come home on New Years morning. And lucky me, I got sick. I developed a nasty virus, and was out from work the rest of the week. But I'm feeling much better now.
Philip, my father-in-law, moved Resa to Eugene for school last week, so he continued his way up to visit Daniel in Portland, then us up here. He was here for the weekend, and we got to visit some of their old family friends that live out on one of the islands and we went shopping. Chuck got a late Christmas/early birthday present of a $500 watch that he wanted. Then Philip gave me a $100 bill and told me I had to spend it that night at the mall. Anything that was not spent I had to get back. I was going to get this real nice black coat, but they did not have my size. I was having trouble until I went into this fancy jewelry store. They were going out of business and were having a huge sale. I found these incredible diamond earrings that were marked down from $1200 to $500. They were top of the line. I was really debating about it, then Philip threw me another $100 bill, and Chuck gave me $100, then the lady didn't charge me tax. So I a pair of $1200 diamond studs for $200. I have been wearing them since. :)
Well I think I have updated enough. Our rent went up, but we got them talked down so it only increased by $100 a month. Monday I will put in my application to the nursing program, and I am back at work and my managers love me. Life is good.