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.

Twas The Nightmare Before Christmas

Tonight Paul, Ang and I met up with a bunch o people to go see Nightmare at that El Capitan in Hollywood. We also got to see two short animation movies by Burton (i think, pauls the expert on this stuff) We had a great time. The El Capitan had a room downstairs set up with all kinds of stuff from the movie and the new Xbox video game. It was awesome. After the movie we went next door to the Disney Soda Shop and had dessert. I sadly forgot to bring the camera so I have no photos. =( Then a few of us walked over to the Chinese theatre and looked at all the hand and foot prints celebrities have made over the years. It was a good night and we had lotsofun.

The Story of Us

Well usually at this time of the year Paul and I are packing up our camping equipment and heading up to Idyllwild. We did not get up there for our anniversary this year though with me working a long term sub position and Paul having people leave left and right we just couldnt figure out how to make it work. Paul has been working 7day weeks and is exhausted.

For those of you who dont know let me start at the beginning... Paul and I were introduced originally through Moe. Moe and I had gone to Disneyland and Paul happened to be working. So we rode around on the back of the tram a few times while they talked. I said some scarastic comment about sitting well back into your seat and he shot one back at me. (ahh love)

Well we started hanging out about two months after that. It was early October and the show Rosewell was on for the first time, Angela and I were hanging out. I was on bubbs and bored and I noticed that Paul was online so I started a chat with him. I told Angela I felt like playing basketball and for anyone who knows Angela she couldn't play a sport to save her life so she suggested I ask Paul if he wanted to come down and play. He for some unknown reason said yes. So I got my basketball and Angela and I headed over to the court, Paul met us there. About 5 minutes after Paul got there Angela got a call from an ex-boyfriend and decided to talk to him so we were left alone, we shot hoops for a couple hours. Then Paul drove Angela and I over to Dennys where we met up with a group from Biola and Moe tried to introduce me to Paul again I mentioned that he was the one that dropped Ang and I off. Paul had to leave after a few min. because he had Spanish early the next morning (like he ever went to Spanish class). Well that was Oct. 7th.

The next Monday Paul and I decided to go to a church service where we were packed in like sardines and after about 15min. Paul fell asleep. I kept nudgging him the whole time. I found out afterwards that if he was in an uncomfortable position or it was to hot that he falls asleep. That night we talked about going to see a movie. For some reason we both wanted to see The Story of Us so on the next Friday Paul picked me up from work (Chuck E. Cheese) and we went to AMC in Fullerton. Pauls roomie Daryl and some of their other friends met us there. By the end of the movie we were holding hands. We will forever "discuss" who held whose hand. When we stood up we stopped holding hands, Daryl looked at us funny like Paul had forgot to tell him we were dating or something but we didn't even know what was going on at that time. We didnt talk about holding hands the whole way back to Biola.

The next week was supposed to be Torrey which means about half of Biola uses the time off from regular classes to take a mini vacation. Moe, Nick, Paul and I decided to go camping next door to the camp where Paul worked at for a couple summers. Paul and I started decided to talk a walk, he wanted to show me Camp Maranatha and walk around town. We went back into some small shops where there was a wooden porch swing and sat down. Paul tried his best to ask me out, but it came out something like this... we should stop doing what we are doing (holding hands) if we arent gunna be together... you know. I agreed with what he said and so we offically started dating October 21, 1999.

A year later at the very spot where we started our relationship Paul asked me to marry him. (he must have practiced because that speech was well planned.)

Something feels off this October since we havent been up to Idyllwild. We are hoping in the next few weeks when Paul gets some new staff in he can get a little time off so we can go up.

Look what I have created

Tonight was Back to School night. This classroom was bare when I entered it less than two weeks ago. I quickly had to figure out how to set up the class and get prepared to begin teaching 2nd grade at the same time. I am enjoying my long term sub job, although I am exhausted from it. I sort of felt as if I was thrown into the lions den without anything to protect myself with. I now will have very mixed feelings about when I will have to leave the class. I have already become attached to the students. I want to help them all and I dont feel as if I have enough time before I will be shuffled off to the next class to do anything of any significance in their lives. Anyhoo... Back to school night went okay for the most part. About half of the parents showed up and I had an opportunity to talk with each of them individually about what is happening with the class as well as what we are doing currently. I had grades out for them to see, our science project (making grass grow), our social studies project (kites, we are studying Ben Franklin) and a bunch of A+ papers. I am so sleepy now though so it is off to bed.

Adrienne Taylor Collins

Born: October 7th 2005 at 6 pounds 3 oz.

Congratulations Erin and Jon! For those of you who dont know Erin is a dear friend of mine from San Diego. We have known each other since we were a year old. Now 24 years later I am glad that I still get to visit her as often as I can. I was able to meet little Adrienne on the 15th of October. My mom and I had a garage sale and Erin and Jon stopped by so I could meet their newest addition. It was good to catch up for a short while. I am so excited for their family. Congrats again!

Introducing...

Family Affair

The reason for our trip on the weekend of October 1st was to go up for my Uncle Barry's retirement party. It was a suprise party and boy was he suprised especially when he saw my mom and I standing there. We haven't seen my Uncle Barry and Aunt Carol since my B.A. graduation from Biola. It was a great time. I got to meet two cousins that I had never met before, Joy and Ryan. I didn't talk to Ryan to much but Joy and I had a good time talking and getting to know each other. I also met Joys husband and some of their friends and neighbors. I felt right at home there. It felt like Joy and I had known each other for quite awhile. Hopefully we can all get together again soon.

L.A. County Fair

On Sunday the 2nd of October my mom and I finished off the weekend by attending the last day of the L.A. county fair. We walked around all of the booths and ate good food. We also walked through the garden section to get ideas for mom's yard and because there was a Hawaiian themed area and I am really digging Hawaiian flowers right now since we recently visited Hawaii. Good time was had by all.

Regan Library

The weekend of October 1st my mom and I took a trip up to Simi Valley. We drove up to Chatsworth and stayed at a hotel there on Friday night. Saturday morning we got up and went to brunch and then headed over to the Regan Library. We had a nice time. I was facinated by everything there. They had a movie about many important parts of his life. The artifacts were unbelievable. I am looking forward to going back once they finish the Air Force One Wing later this month.

Breathe

Well things have been down right hectic around here. Paul has been working massive amounts of hours. I have been working like crazy trying to get a brand new class set up. So I have finally found an hour or so I can just breathe and relax. I am already becoming attached to my students so it will be difficult if they hire someone from the district and I am moved to another sub job in a few weeks. But that is another post for another time. For now I will try to catch up on the last few weeks.

Quick Update

Wow, we've been really bad at blogging lately. I'm sure Cyndi will post more later if she can, but she is currently working a long term (possibly permanent) sub job for a second grade class that they had her start up when all the other classes were overcrowded.

I've been overwhelmed at work lately. Two of my day staff quit and the other three have all had extended illnesses. Two of those three also had deaths in the family and left on bereavement. My overnight staff has also kept getting doctors notes for "illnesses" but that's another rant. It takes quite a while to find decent people and get them cleared to work in this field so it may not get any better until after the holidays. The kids have been acting up a lot lately too, but thats expected whenever the staff starts acting chaotic. Is it too much of me to ask that my employees actually come to work?