On the way to the airport

Snow!Blue Sky
RiverPaul with the Sleepy Hollow Road SignCyndi with the Sleepy Hollow Billboard

Thanksgiving 2005 - Day 4

We got up very early today as we had to drive back to Charlotte to catch our plane back to Cali. When we got up, we packed everything and got it all down stairs. Grandpa got up early and sat and had breakfast with us. Pam and Cindy packed us lunches for the plane with left over turkey and ham sandwiches, chips, apples, oranges, homemade cookies and some tootsie rolls left over from Halloween. We got everything in the car and said our goodbyes. We headed out. We stopped to take a few photos along the way. We got to the airport and had a couple of hours to just hang out. We got some Jamba Juice to tide us over and looked around for some magnets before our flight. We got on the plane at 11am and then got to Vegas at 1:20pm we had an hour layover but barely had enough time to get from one terminal to the one our next flight was out of since we had to take a monorail to it and go through security again. Oy. We had only a 45min flight into LAX. We got to LAX and Paul's mom and Amy were standing there waiting for us. We hung out and waited for our luggage. Which never showed up. For the next two days we played phone tag with the airline and the company that was supposed to be delivering the bag, it rode around in their van for two days! It makes me so mad because Paul's medication was in it and no one would give us straight answers as to where it was or when it would get to us. GRRRR! But the trip was great. We had a nice time chatting, working on puzzles and seeing the surrounding area.

Sites we saw

Here is a ski run just a little ways from the B&B
This is Mast General Store

Here is the Post Offfice inside of Mast General

Thanksgiving 2005 - Day 3

On the day after Thanksgiving we got up at a normal time, 8:30am or so. Had breakfast, took showers and got ready for the day. We started a new puzzle, this one is 1000 pieces and is television stars like the simpsons, mr. rodgers etc. At about 11am Paul, Pam, my dad and I took a drive around the area so Paul and I could see some of North Carolina. We saw some of the local ski runs, the mountains, a store called Mast General Store with a real working Post Office in it. We ate lunch at a local place that had really good food. We drove around a little more looked in a couple other little stores. Went back to the B&B we took photos with each other. Worked on the puzzle. Then headed out for dinner at a place called Nick's I had a really good sandwich and fries. It got pretty cold up there, getting down to about 17 degrees on night. After dinner we went back and worked on the puzzle some more. I wanted to finish it before we left but I got tired and knew we would have a long day ahead of us so... I went to bed. We came close to finishing it. I told Grandpa he needed to finish it and then send me some pictures of it. =)

Puzzled

Grandparents, Dad, Paul and I working on the puzzle
Grandpa and Paul working on the puzzle

The completed puzzle

Thanksgiving 2005 - Day 2

On Thanksgiving Day we slept in. Had breakfast, homemade coffee cake and coffee. We worked on a 2000 piece puzzle that was started last year, the frame was already completed. Had a great thanksgiving lunch with all the trimmings. Worked on the puzzle some more. Sat around and talked. Worked on the puzzle some more. Took pictures of the outside of the Bed and Breakfast. Worked on the puzzle. Had leftovers for dinner. Watched Survivor and CSI. Finished the puzzle and then went to bed. Seeing as I never thought I would have the chance to sit around and work on a puzzle with my grandparents it was a great day! I don't think the shock of us being there had sunk in for my dad yet.

1902 Old Turnpike House

The Entry

The Dinning Room

The Sitting Room

The Loft

Thanksgiving 2005 - Day 1- Updated

A couple months ago Pam contacted me and said she would like to surprise my dad and grandparents this Thanksgiving by flying Paul and I out their without them knowing about it. We had to leave at 3:30am on Wednesday the 23rd so we just did not sleep that night since I was up late packing and Paul did not get home until 12:30am. We hitched a ride on a Super Shuttle and got to the airport early. All I remember from the flight is take off and landing, I slept the rest of the time. Paul got a couple hours of sleep. We drove around downtown Charlotte for a little bit. We were hungry so we stopped off at Wendy's to get a bite before driving up to Banner Elk from Charlotte. We were introduced to a new drink called Cherriwine. It is sort of like a Cherry Dr. Pepper.

Then we headed out for our two-hour drive. Paul drove the first 40 miles or so but was so tired from lack of sleep. Since I slept on the plane, I took over. When we were about 45 minutes from my aunt and uncle's Bed and Breakfast it started snowing on us. I was excited about it; Paul thought it was a bit cold.

We finally got there around 8pm on Wednesday night. Pam met us in the parking lot and said everyone was in the sitting room. Paul and Cindy (my aunt and uncle) met us at the door and started showing us around as if we were just a couple who showed up to stay there for the weekend. When we got to the sitting room my dad and grandma were in there my grandpa was in the adjoining room working on a puzzle. It took my dad a minute to figure out what was happening. He sort of went into shock he just could not believe his eyes; he started to tear up a little bit. Then my grandpa stood up and waited his turn for a hug. It took grandma a few minutes to figure it out because she did not pay us attention when we walked in because she figured that it was just the couple that Paul and Cindy were expecting. She started crying and hugging everyone. Grandpa kept telling me but you wrote us a letter and said for us to have a good time, you did not tell us you were coming! It was really cute.

Then we got to sit down to a homemade dinner, everything from scratch. It was so good, except they seem to like to put mushrooms in things and Paul and I do not like mushrooms, we just did our best to pick them out. The rest of the night, we just chatted a little bit and we went to bed early since we had been up for over a day.

Suprise!

1902 Old Turnpike House This is where we spent Thanksgiving this year.

Happy Thanksgiving!

P & C's day of fun: take two

So it is Saturday now and we are lucky enough to have a second day that neither of us has to work. This is something that doesn't happen very often. We decided to go up to the AMC theatre at the mall Paul's mom works at so that we could go to dinner with the family since we wont be here for Thanksgiving this year. We went to see a double feature of

Jarhead


and Walk the Line.

We had a lot more fun today execpt Pauls work would not stop calling in the middle of the movies. One of the employee's decided to call out for the entire week of Thanksgiving which is very suspect at the moment. Cyndi enjoyed both movies and thinks both should be up for Oscar's. Paul can write reviews later if he finds some time. After the movies we had dinner with the family at Souplantation which is one of our favorite places to eat. Overall the day was better than yesterday but was still not an entire day of fun because of all the stress the calls from work put on Paul.

P & C's day of fun

Today was the first day we both had off in a long time. We decided it should be P & C's day of fun. First we had a few errands to run like getting a credit report for the probation job Paul is applying for and also Paul needed to get his blood drawn. We drove out to Santa Ana and got the credit report which wasnt great but it was good. Then we got back on the freeway when Paul suddenly started to pull over. Cyndi asked whats wrong, what are you doing? Paul said the car wouldn't accelerate so once we were on the side of the freeway Cyndi got out of the car and looked at the tires, sure enough one of them was flat. We had just gotten 4 brand new tires so we had to go back to where we got them from since it would be free or close to free. First we had to figure out how to get there and off the freeway. Paul called AAA and we were told that our coverage had expired which is totally uncool since Paul had gone into their office and tried to pay them, they said we were up to date already. So we called Bradley and he came to our rescue. He left work and came over to where we slowly drove the car to off of the freeway. He called AAA and got a guy to come out. We hung out and talked, listened to his iPod and waited. The tow truck driver showed up and we all went to the Walmart in Buena Park. Since Bradley was so nice to help us out we took him out to dinner at Pat & Oscar's and then walked around the store for a couple hours till the car was ready. Needless to say it was not P & C's day of fun. We will try again tomorrow...

Old Friends... Good Times

I haven't looked at this photo in awhile but here is our H.S. swim photo. I was a Senior and Jyem was a sophomore in this photo. Earlier this week I went down to SD to meet up with a friend of mine from H.S. The last time I saw Jyem was at our wedding. She went into the Army... told me at the reception she was headed off to boot camp. Well it has been 4 years and she is out of the Army now and moving back to SD. Yippy. She was here for a few weeks to find a place. Now she is back in Texas and will be back to Cali. for good in the beginning of December. I am so excited to be able to hang out with her more.

Idyllwild

Saturday we wanted to get out of town for a bit so we drove up to Idyllwild for the day. When we got there we went over to the Idyllwild Pizza Co. their BBQ chicken pizza is so good. Then we walked around camp and met up with Keith. The three of us sat and talked for awhile, then the rest of the family got home and we went up to their house and sat and talked some more. It was a good time. Then we went over to town and walked around. Paul and I visited our swing, we are still trying to figure out a way to buy it from who ever owns it and then get it home so we can have it forever. Once all the shops in town closed we went to a little coffee shop and sat inside and had some chi tea and blended mocha drinks. Then it was time to head home. Hopefully we can go back really soon.

Adios!

I had to say goodbye to my class today. The new teacher Ms. Dennis took over and I was just the "helper" today. Some of the kids are really upset that I am not going to be there any more. One kid even decided he wasn't going to do any work and just keep his head down because he was so upset that I was leaving. I felt terrible. I talked to him about it and hopefully things will go okay next week for the new teacher. I already miss them. Well it is back to day-to-day subbing for me. I am going to need to find a part time job to help with income so that we can pay all of our bills. Oy. Time to track down some tutoring companies.

Trapped!

Help! We're trapped in our apartment! They're painting our complex and are sanding our door right now. We're getting a mix of scraping noises (just like fingernails on a chalkboard), the Russian painter singing, and ranchero music off on the other side of the pool. Make it stop!!!

Visitors

Paul's moms college roomie and her husband came down for a visit we were all invited over to the 'rents house for dinner. We had pizza... sooo gooood! It was a good time of hanging out and conversation. We also got to check out the 4 new recliners that have found a home in their living room. To bad there is no reclining on Christmas Eve.

Hello, Hello

On Tuesday we went with another couple to see U2 at Staples Center. The concert was great and we had a lot of fun. The opening act was Damien Marley and Ziggy joined him to do a few duets on some of Bob's songs. It was much better than the Kings of Leon opening act we saw in San Diego.

Here is the set list:
City Of Blinding Lights
Vertigo / Rockaway Beach (snippet)
Elevation
I Will Follow
I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For / Exodus (snippet) / Could You Be Loved (snippet) / In A Little While (snippet)
Beautiful Day / Many Rivers To Cross (snippet)
Miracle Drug, Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own / Torna A Surriento (snippet)
Love And Peace Or Else
Sunday Bloody Sunday / Rock The Casbah (snippet)
Bullet The Blue Sky / When Johnny Comes Marching Home (snippet) / The Hands That Built America (snippet) Miss Sarajevo
Pride (In The Name Of Love)
Where The Streets Have No Name
One
MLK
Encores:
Walk On
Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses
With Or Without You / Love Will Tear Us Apart (snippet)
All Because Of You
Bad / People Have The Power (snippet)

The only thing I wish that they had closed with Yahweh, 40
Other than that I really loved the show.

Quick Update

I never feel like I have time to blog everything, but I at least like to do quick updates every now and then.....

It seems like things are settling down a bit at work. We're down several staff, but I put together a schedule that seems to work ok with everyones school schedules and family committments. We made offers to 2 people at a recent job fair, but one of them turned it down and the other has so many points on his record that we might not be able to hire him because he won't be covered by the company auto insurance.

I took the probation test for Orange County this weekend. If I make it, it'll be a big pay raise for me and a lot more opportunity for growth. It's a 6-12 month process to get in. Last time I went the whole year and only got through half of the steps before my application expired and I had to start over. Right now they're all on forced 6th and 7th days of overtime and they're opening a new campus in Orange that will need 100+ new staff in January so they're trying to speed up the process a bit. It's all very time consuming and want to contact pretty much anyone I've ever met for my background check. If you're reading this, don't be surprised if a questionaire about me shows up in your mail one day.

I really don't feel like going to work today. At least after my shift is done tonight, I'll have an easy shift full of meetings tomorrow morning and then it's off to see U2 at Staples Center tomorrow night. Woohoo!

My fantasy football team is doing good this year. Last year I went 3-14 and was the doormat during my first year in the league. I'm 5-3 right now and just took out the only undefeated team this week even with my best players out on bye weeks or injuries. A bunch of us from the league got together for lunch yesterday so I felt like king for a day...or an hour at least.