our new job

this post will not be nearly as informative as you or i want it to be, and believe me, we are as frustrated as you are about that.

what we do know:

jeremy and i have accepted a position together as community co-managers for an independent living community for holiday retirement. check out their website - it is awesome!

we will be leaving manchester on may 10 for two weeks of on-site training at one oftheir new england communities and two weeks of sales and marketing training in a hotel. we have given our notice in our apartment butdo not yet know where we are going to be permanently placed. we do know it will be in either maine, mass or connecticut.

cricket has been whispering things to rumper ever since we started boxing things up. stuff like "if they try to put you in the car, run for your life!" and "be careful jumping into empty boxes. they may put stuff on top of you and seal it up."

what we are still waiting to find out:
what our new address will be. we have our lease until the 22nd of may, so we will be able to receive mail at our current address until then. after that we will know where we are moving to and will let you all know (and also set up mali forwarding for the in between time).

where we will be training and if we can take the cats. we can take them once we actually start our job, but they may have to board while we are training. cricket doesnt know it yet, but she is getting her shots updated next week. none of y'all tell her, ok?

everyone has tons of questions but we really dont know that answer to any of them except that we are SUPER excited about our new position together and can't wait to see what the future holds!

our birthday fish

jeremy has always always wanted an aquarium. this year with our birthday money we finally decided to go for the gold. we got a fifteen gallon aquarium and started with 9 fish - 5 neon tetras, 2 blood fin tetras, and 2 lyre tail guppies. we added four more fish to the mix a couple of weeks later. so far we havent lost one and the cats love watching them swim around.

rumper goes and sits by the tank every morning and evening when it is usually time to feed them and waits for jeremy to come. rump likes watching them in their feeding frenzy. if jeremy takes too long to come feed hem the cat will meow and chirp to get his attention. it is pretty awesome.

so thanks to everyone who sent birthday money - we love our new aquarium!

fred's first haircut

BEFORE

when i moved to new hampshire and jeremy was still in los angeles, he sent me a bonsai tree instead of flowers when i got my job. he knows me well because i have always loved bonsai. i named him fred and have kept him alive for six months. since i do not have a super green thumb, this is relly great. one thing i have failed at though is regular pruning. i am supposed to do it every six weeks, but hadn't done it once. so a couple of weeks ago i finally gave him a haircut. the cats were fascinated by the process and fred was thrilled with the result.AFTER

well, that was unexpected

this past weekend was the final weekend of rent at the palace. it was insanely busy and we had great crowds all weekend. monday was my usual day off (and much deserved after the weekend i had). back to work as usual on tuesday. tuesday afternoon i was called into the upstairs offices to meet with the boss. and he said "we are letting you go due to budget constraints." i thought he was joking. i really did. some kind of sick and twisted joke but a joke nonetheless. so i replied in the only way possible: "Are you kidding me?" but the answer was no i wasn't getting my leg pulled; i was getting "let go." and not for any good reason either.

i went downstairs to the box office and packed my stuff. thankfully it was jeremy's day off and he came right away and picked me up. i was crying but managed to hold back the actual sobs until he drove me away. we went home and sat on the couch for a couple hours just staring at each other and wondering what to do next.

bright and early wednesday morning i got up and sat on the couch with the computer and started applying for jobs and unemployment. it is going to be really rough financially for us for the next few weeks? months? until i find a new position. everyone keeps telling me that i will find something soon but i am really worried.

so there goes my trip home in may for missy's wedding and possibly our fifth anniversary trip. so that really sucks.

keep your ears open for any open positions and please keep us in your thoughts and prayers as i look for a new job and we navigate this uncertain time.

rent, rent, rent

since returning home from my little trip to la, life has been pretty normal. we got a few more fish for our tank, including one that has a mickey mouse outline on his tail, which is fun. we've both been working and living life as usual.

rumpleteazer is getting huge - his ears and tail are still proportionately large for his head and skinny little body. we celebrated two years of owning cricket before i left for the oscars and she turns three this month. enough of sounding like a crazy cat lady parent though.

it took two weeks to catch up on all the television i missed while i was gone.. i cantell you that we are love love loving parenthood, and the marriage ref is not living up to expectations. american idol is having a disappointing season and i cant wait til glee is back on the air. i am watching celebrity apprentice for the first time because i am mildly obsessed with bret michaels (not in a crush type of way!)

rent opened at the palace this past weekend and i have never been more excited about seeing a show. we went on saturday night and it was great. i managed to keep myself from singing along to any of the songs, although i may have mooed once or twice. the casting was great and the show is fantastic. yay palace! the full monty is our last professional show of the season and it opens at the end of april. jeremy is learning more about his job every day and hoping to move up in the company soon. there is a lot of turmoil at his branch (nothing that affects his job though) that may leave open positions. we will see where that leads.

oscar week pt 3: the show

thankfully i managed to make it all the way through oscar week this year without having an emotional breakdown like usually happens on friday or saturday as a result of stress and lack of sleep. this is especially good news since jeremy was not around to dry my tears.i even made it through richard's memorial service without crying. i know that if i would have let a single tear escape that it would have been all over. it was a beautiful service and i am amazed at the timing of his death that allowed me to be there for kim, ryan and kay.

the service was saturday morning so i didnt get a lot of sleep before saturday night. by the time i had to be dressed and ready for the red carpet on sunday afternoon i had had about 7.5 hours of sleep in the previus 48. being on the carpet is a high like nothing else though. the press, the celebrities, the energy... it was amazing and definitely kept me awake.

i saw most of the attendees walking the carpet. queen latifah looked incredible. she is totally my grush. ryan reynolds is very attractive, but it a normal sort of way (like the best looking kid inyour highschool class or something). other peoplelook ed less pretty in real life than theydo on scrren, but i dont want to name anynames. i watched the e! best and worst dressed when i got home and they were pretty much spot on there. what actually was the great part of the show was seeing all my press guide friends in the background of their coverage. look! its sandra bullock... and cesario! :) it was fun.

during the show i was in the interview room, which is a room with tons of media members with their computers and voice recorders. when the winners came backstage, they first stopped inthe photo room, where i have been for the last two years, and then came into the interview room where four or six people would get to ask them questions. it was great to see so many celebrities being natural and answering things off the cuff. sandra bullock was especially charming and her comments seem so sweet and kind in light of the massive scandal she is dealing with right now.

after the show i was insanely tired. lance and kris came and picked me up. i fell asleep almost as soon as we returned to their house. it was great to sleep for eight straight hours and while it was actually dark outside.

on monday, my last day in la, i was able to spend a couple hours with kim, drinking coffee and hanging out. i really miss my girls in la!!! she dropped me off at the flyaway and i was off to the races. my trip home to nh was rather uneventful and went quickly, although it was not fast enough for me to get home to jeremy and the kittehs!

oscar week pt 2 - the duby reunion

on tuesday ellen and cara came and picked me up and we went to dubnoff so i could see everyone. after saying hi to lots of people i really missed (and, if we are being honest, a couple i really didn't) it was time to go to the office. yes. is that not the best name for a bar ever? "hey i'll meet you at the office this afternoon." yep. brilliant. we had a drink or two, tons of french fries, and then it was time for me to head down to hollywood and highland for work. it was awesome to see all the girls again!

after another long cold lonely night, i got a few hours of sleep then walked over to IN'N'OUT (YES!!!) to meet the girls again for lunch. not only was i able to enjoy animal fries for the first time in months, it was great to see the girls again one more time while i was in la.

i miss you guys!

oscar week pt. 1

my trip to los angeles started badly. i slept through my alarm and barely made it to the airport in time for my 5:45am flight. if i could time it that perfectly without the heart pouinding excitement and with a shower next time, that would be great. i had a layover in atlanta, and someone took my gate-checked carryon. i wandered through the atlanta airport for huors until someone finally helped me get it back. (generally the united airlines customer service is AWFUL, although there were two notable exceptions to that rule. i am in the process of composing a lengthy letter to someone in charge over there to that effect.)



the flight to lax was fine. kris picked me up and we headed down the 405 towards the valley. it felt like i had never left the city. i didnt realize how much i missed little things about la. (not enough to move back and deal with the crap that made us leave in the first place though). as much as i have mised my friends there, when i saw then all again it was almost like i had never left. there was obviously tons of catching up to do, but none of that awkwardness that often comes after not seeing someone for a long time.

kris and lance were awesome and hosted a taco party at their house that evening. i got to see the stellers and the dronens. it was the first time i got to meet the littlest steller, and the first time i had seen owen since he started talking. he is so grown up! speaking of grown up, miss ashley was so tall too! she and owen played so cute with each other.

monday i took myself on a date to coffee bean (YUM) and started work that evening. i worked over night every night, but managed to make time to see almost everyone dring the days. the first night back at the oscars was cold - i realized that i hadnt packed nearly enough clothes for the trip. thankfully kris rescued me by pulling out their ski bag and loaning me some more layers. i forgot how cold it is in the desert at night, even when it is 70+ degrees during the day!

my little troublemaker

last night i made spaghetti for dinner. jeremy and i were sitting on the couch eating and watching tv. i heard a thud in the kitchen. jeremy went in because i was too scared to look. turns out that rumpalicious had climbed onto the stove and knocked the spoon out of the sauce onto the floor and wasw happily licking away.

he was reprimanded and i cleaned the rug and we resumed our activities. soon, we heard a crash. he had jumped onto the other counter and knocked a waterglass onto the floor. it had shattered and jeremy was worried about rump having glass in his paws. he checked him over while i swept up the glass. i thought i got it all, until this morning when i woke up extra early to go into work for our ticketing system upgrade and found out that there was a huge piece of glass on the bathroom floor. thankfully i didnt step on it. don't know how i didnt notice it last night when i was getting ready for bed.

i think he is going to be either a plumber or a dish washer when he grows up, considering his obsession with sinks, drains, and licking dishes.*

*don't worry - we arent crazy cat people. all of our dishes get washed with soap and water post-rumpy, pre-cabinet.

my birthday

these posts are waaay belated... sorry!

the morning of my birthday, jeremy and my mom woke me up with breakfast in bed. the cats joined us and they sang, i blew out a candle (it was a taper in a candlestick holder and not birthday candles), opened my cards and ate my heart shaped egg over medium. basically it was perfect.

sunday afternoon we had a show at the palace so i went into work for a couple hours. jeremy was also working. when we both got home, we all three got ready for birthday dinner at gauchos, a brazilian place downtown. there were twelve types of meat on giant skewers being served, as well as a salad bar and other sides. (beka: BEEEEEF!) basically, we gorged on delicious food. at the end of the meal, they sang happy birthday to me and jeremy in portuguese and we had our desserts. not sure how we had room for dessert but we did.

that's such a lie. i put my extra dessert where i always do. in my hollow leg. unfortuantely due to lack of exercise the hollow leg is all but filled up. hopefully i can rememdy that in the future, because i do like eating!

SURPRISE! (pt. 1)

on thursday of last week i went to work like usual. jeremy was in training across the street so after work we headed to the red cross to give blood. steph's business, the custom massage, was sponsoring the night so everyone who donated blood got a five minute chair massage and entered in a drawing for a free half hour session at her office. we didnt win the drawing but did help save up to 6 lives - so i guess thats just as good as a free massage.

i helped steph pack up her chair and stuff and she took me home so jeremy could go out birthday "shopping" for me (aka picking my mom up at the airport). when they walked through the door i was very surprised! and also glad that i wasnt naked. ;)

she stayed the weekend to help celebrate my birthday. on friday we went to lunch at susans before i had to work. jeremy had the day off so he and my mom stayed home and baked my birthday cake! on saturday went shopping for my oscars dress. saturday night was dinner and a show at the theatre. we ate at ignite beforehand (where else?) and it was delish as always. swing fever (an orginal palace production) was fun and my mom loved it. the dancers were full of energy and the musicians were hot (and also full of delish food from ignite - it is the neighborhood hot spot). our theatre looks so pretty when it is lit up at night!

valentine's day

for valentine's day jeremy and i both had to work. we got off early-ish on sunday afternoons so we planned a nice dinner out and then a mini-vacation to concord to see the state capitol etc.

we got all dressed up and headed to dinner at XO on elm - a new hipster restaurant not too far from my theatre. dinner was great and after stuffing ourselves we headed up to concord.

monday morning we woke up and had a great breakfast provided by the hotel. since it was president's day the hotel was crawling with ski families fueling up to hit the slopes. i was only mildly jealous of the fun they were going to have that day, but we had exploring to do!

concord (all of new hampshire really) is crawling with historical important buildings. we wandered around downtown for a while and then decided to head home. the cats were excited to have us back (really just hungry) and we settled in to watch the olympics. that has pretty much been our activity for the past two weeks - ff-ing through all the boring stuff and hitting the highlights of the games. summer games are much more interesting in my opinion. :)

january in review

one of my goals for january was to start on my wedding scrapbook. i waited until january 31, but i worked on it! i got several pages completed and, more importantly, now all of our wedding stuff is in one place and easier to find when i want to finish it. i WILL have it done by the end of may.

i never really came up with a mini goal for february, and since the month is almost half over with i guess i won't. i am still diligently working on one of my goals for the year - 500 miles in 2010. i am behind on average number of miles per day i need to make this goal, but i know that in the spring and summer i will put in a lot more time when i can run outside and race again. so for now, walking to work and hopping on the dreadmill a couple of times a week is going to have to suffice.

i am getting excited for my upcoming trip to la. i can't wait to see everyone again, and the oscars are always fun. we are still looking for a dress but i havent hit the bcbg outlet yet. i got last year's dress from bcbg and i love the way their clothes look on me. so here's hoping tilton gives us a winner!

rumpy came through his neutering just fine and, instead of it calming him down, he is more wild and crazy than ever. some days jeremy is ready to just throw him out, but so far i have been able to convince him to let rump roast stay.

we went to our first college hockey game with mark and lanelle this week and it was fun! the team we were cheering for, southern new hampshire university, lost to st anselm, but it was a good time. mark played pro hockey so it was good to have him there to explain more about the game.

we spent the super bowl with people from the palace. colette was nice enough to open her home and a good time was had by all. we were almost all cheering for the saints so it was great when they won too! AND our church in la had made a commercial that won a contest sponsored by doritos and was aired during teh first half. amazing!

Book Review: Children of the Waters

Children of the Waters

Carleen Brice

From the back:

Still reeling from divorce and feeling estranged from her teenage son, Trich Taylor is in the midst of salvaging the remnants of her life when she uncovers a shocking scret: Her sister is alive. For years Trish believed that her mother and infant sister had died in a car accident. But the truth is that her mother fatally overdosed and that Trich's grandparents put the baby girl up for adoption becuase her father was black.

After years of drawing on the strength of her black ancesters, Billie Cousins is shocked to discover that she was adopted. Just as surprising, after finally overcoming a series of health struggles, she is pregnant - a dream come true for Billie but a nightmare for her sweetie, Nick, and for her mother, both determined to protect Billie from anything that may disrupt her well-being.

Though Trish longs to connect with her long-lost sister, Billie's feelings of betrayal are too deep to cross. But when both women are forced to confront their personal and familial demons, they begin to realize that each may have what the other needs. Like "children of the waters" - the Buddhist concept that celebrates those who are always in a state of becoming - they must release the past in order to embrace the future.

my review:

i really enjoyed this book. the characters were real and acted in ways that you would expect real people to act. the relationships were messy and complicated. the story was thought-provoking. i really enjoyed it from start to finish, even though i didn't want to read it at first. it really made me think about issues, and dealt with topics that most people consider to be off-limits in polite society, like prejudice, abortion and the like. really good and uplifting.

Book Review: Mischief Maker's Manual

Mischief Maker's Manual

by Sir John Hargrave

From the Back:

There's ordinary mischief, and there's magnificent mischief. Any fool can create ordinary mischief, but only by reading the Mischeif Maker's aManual can you create magnificent mischief. Never cruel, but always funny and creative, the mischief in this book will change the art of pranking forver!

My Review:

I loved this book! The pranks in it were funny, but not mean, and the tips were great. There are specific rules for mischief, like "Don't be a bully" and "No lasting damage" that make teh spirit of the pranks fun instead of mena. If you have a mischivieous 8-12 year old at home, he or she will love this book. It is geared a little more toward boys, but girls wouldl ike it too. I want to go find a kid to give this book to so they can pull some of the stuff in this book.

Very funny, entertaining, and appropriate for all ages. Check it out here on Amazon.