Merry Christmas

I know not everyone had a good Christmas...some people were stuck thousands of miles away from home without family to spend the day with. Other people spent the day with family and still had a crappy time and felt more alone than ever. I was luck enough to have a good day (mild illness aside). Somehow my brother and sister-in-law managed to find a doughnut shop open this morning and I was able to continue the Christmas cinnamon roll tradition! I got some great presents like laptop accessories and kitchen gadgets. But I got to give some great presents too! My sister-in-law has always been hard to please (long story), but this year I had a great idea that my dad helped me execute and I was able to give her an awesome gift. Of course mom one-upped me with her gift, which made my s-i-l cry! She loved it so much she couldn't even speak. It was pretty awesome to see those to get along so well...kind of a relief really.

I definitely missed seeing my sister, my best friend and her family, and a few others too. Especially those that had a crappy day. Hopefully I will see everyone soon!

Holiday Shopping

Have you ever seen the aftermath of a hurricane? I haven’t personally, but I am pretty sure the mall I went to Monday night would be a good example! December 22nd, with two days left to shop it was mayhem in the mall. First of all, good luck getting a parking spot! I am certain the only reason I was able to find a spot was because I didn’t want one. I really did not want to spend the evening in the melee of Christmas shoppers, but Aggie had some shopping to do… Once inside we hit up the first major store we could find. I think Aggie ended taking pictures to document the aftermath! The line was about 20 people long and the store looked like all 20 had gone on a shopping spree. Clothes falling of shelves, all mixed up in different sections, stuff on the floor, and nothing where it was supposed to be. Oh let the fun of shopping begin… Of course we couldn’t find what Aggie needed in that store, so we walked down to a department store. While passing the mess of kids waiting to get their pictures taken with Santa, Aggie proclaimed his hatred of all santas, kids, and the idiot parents who waited to the last minute to have little Johnny sitting on the pedophile’s lap. The department store wasn’t much better, nor were the other five stores we had to stop in. Walking down the strip, I half expected to have children calling out “chicle, chicle” while their siblings are trying to pick-pocket the crowd! (This is the down side of living so close to a second-world country) Eventually Aggie found some options for his sister, but only after assuring him repeatedly that he was making a good choice (I hope I was right!). Thankfully, this was all followed by a couple hours of me kicking Aggie’s butt in MarioKart! Even Christmas shopping can have a happy ending…besides Christmas, I mean!

Back to the Grind…

I’m one of the lucky ones. Out of the now millions who have been laid off this year, I was lucky enough to snag a decent position and get out of the cesspool that is unemployment. And to date, I think I have landed well. I have pretty cool coworkers, decent responsibilities, managed to get a title bump and a respectable raise. Overall, can’t really complain.

Ok, maybe you know me too well. I can always complain! Not necessarily about work, although I am not stoked about having to work both Christmas Eve and the day after Christmas. Seriously though, I have a job, which is far more than I had two weeks ago. So I will grunt and bear it. The part I can complain about is the fact that I woke up sick this morning! Sparing the details I have a version of the flu that doesn’t affect the head or chest. There are certainly worse things to have! Besides the consequences of this particular ailment aren’t all bad, I mean once the pain and nausea go away. I can also complain that for as much as I would like to be, I am not in bed. I heart bed. I miss bed… Its not Thanksgiving anymore, I don’t have to be thankful!

But I am thankful about a recent conversation with family friends. My roomies and I have a little extra protection from the boys in blue. Turns out they check on us frequently, along with several other friends, just to make sure we’re safe.

Big Little Town Parade

How many Girl Scout troops would you say are in Chula Vista? 15? 20? 25? I think its closer to 100! I think every little girl for miles around was strutting her stuff down Third Avenue that night! Boy scouts are not nearly as well represented, apparently its just not cool. Saturday Morning and I went to the Chula Vista Holiday parade a while ago. In typical small town fashion the celebrities were all of the local politicians and some newscasters, all riding bundled-up on the back of convertibles. Similarly, every high school and junior high school band and color guard were out in force. I am proud to say BVHS rocked and looked like a band should! But then I don’t think they brought along the little kids from the middle school to screw everything up!

Its always interesting to see who is in the parade. Nameless groups get together to wave and toss candy to confused parade watchers. Of course you see some veterans, they know how to represent. But then we were convinced that one particular “float” was a travelling AA meeting…well maybe NA, its hard to tell from a distance. Then there was the guy from an environment activist group who threw his cigarette from the float as he was passing by! Still lit, too. Only you (not environmental weirdies) can prevent forest fires! Lucky, there is not a forest in sight. But what if it rolled down the sewer and torched some noxious potty gas or something?!? Either way, it’s a serious no-no to claim cleanliness and tout concern for the future when you’re littering the streets in front of the same crowd!

We had an interesting night numbing our butts on the sidewalk and trying to get through the throng of people to get back to the car. We did enjoy a little banter with a short-strawed officer on the back road. I think he really was hoping Saturday Morning and I would fight just so he would have something to do. Sorry dude!

Oh yeah, and Ronald McDonald was there...I was more than a little scared!

Want Mail?

www.postcrossing.com

I never get good mail. I get the usual piles of junk mail: coupons I will never use, mail for previous tenants, credit card offers, etc. Occasionally I'll get a bill (I get most of them online) or the bank statement. But real mail generally eludes me. So I found a way to get something interesting in the mail box every now and then. The website above is a neat way to send and receive postcards! You sign up and the site randomly generates a user for you to send a postcard to. Likewise, your name pops up for people in other places to send a postcard to you. So far I have received postcards from India, New Zealand, South Korea, Germany, Finland, and Italy. And I have sent cards to Finland, Germany, China, Australia, Norway, Canada, Estonia, the Netherlands, and Slovenia. Its always interesting to see what kind of cards people want and what they want you to say. I asked for cards of their towns or anything really. My special request for the writing is that they tell me how to say a bad word in their language. So far only one person has complied... Oh well, can't get everything you want! (If I did, I'd be a long way from home with the love of my life and an endless bank balance!)

And by the way, in case you didn't get the hint - I get all excited about receiving mail, so send me something! Or post a comment!

Lost November

I am still finding things I missed in November! This time around it was the electricity bill...awesome! Nothing like a huge bill in December to get you in the Holiday Spirit! I don't remember much of November, but something tells me I wasn't much to remember last month. Between being sick, being a flake, and general nondescript behavior, I wonder if I even existed last month. I am ready to exist again and I definitely need to get out of the house!

This month is off to a better start. I finally have some job prospects! One company is even checking references at the moment. Okay, fine, they are not checking references right at this minute, it is 1am on Saturday morning after all! But they did call my old VP. As expected, he had wonderful things to say. I wish I could work for him again, he's been my best boss so far. And ironically, he wasn't really even my boss. He was my boss's boss, but its all the same, right? Either way, the job front at least has some activity.

The school front has definitely kept me busy. Last Monday I turned in a 2600 word paper on Leadership Models. This week I am working on a leadership profile of a "leader who had a profound effect" on me and who I model my own leadership skills after. Any guesses on who I'm writing it on? Well, let's just say it was a short list to pick from. But I would have picked VP anyway, he was just that good. So far I have it about half designed, the essay that is. This one won't have me completely incommunicado on Sunday like last week's essay did. I was so engrossed I even forgot about football! Turns out, so did my team, so we're ok!

Tomorrow (today) we have another person coming to look at the house. We've already scoped out her myspace and facebook profiles. She may be too much of a party girl...