Ricci's baby shower went great today! Just 5 girls showed up in addition to Ricci and me, but it was perfect--we're all the same age and had fun talking and hearing from Ricci what it's like to be pregnant. There was just the right amount of food and, even better, no weird silences or awkwardness since we mostly all didn't know each other.

In preparation for the shower, we got all the house stuff back in place last night, including all the stuff on the bookshelf, dining room things, couches, pictures/sconces, etc. The only snag was the dishwasher: because the new floor in the kitchen is slightly higher than the floor was before, the dishwasher no longer fits. Jon made sure the washer feet were screwed in so the washer stood as low as possible, used his Dremmel tool to file down the screws and things that were highest, even sawed off some of the protruding wood underneath the counters--all to no avail. So we might have to get a new one (no big complaining here--the dishwasher is really old--but it worked just fine! We had actually been planning on getting a new stove/oven first, since it is electric and when we took it out we saw that there is actually also already a gas hookup there!).

We might go to Macaroni Grill tonight... I can't wait for an Insalata Rossa!

We went and saw Scott and Kim and baby Samuel last night. He is so cute and little! And he can already move his head around--just like Sierra could. Sierra came in with Glenn and Kathy after a while, and she sat on my lap and helped me hold "Baby Yam." She was cute--gentle mostly but kept wanting to point out where his eyes were (and thereby accidentally poking him in the eye). Kim had him with no medicine at all--she is awesome. I wonder if I will be able to do that (one day!)--I hope so. I don't know if I'm a wimp or not. Can't wait to see them again!

Oh, and the house is coming along. We have our fridge and stove back, and our couches, new rug, and coffee table. Tonight is the dishwasher, dining room things, and odds and ends like lamps. Phew! I had already gotten used to how things were, so this morning I actually walked out to the garage from the kitchen to get milk for my cereal, and then I remembered the fridge is in the kitchen.

UPDATE: the baby was born today at 11:58! Welcome, Samuel Glenn. 8 pounds, 14 ounces, 21 inches long, and baby and mom are doing well. Kim did in fact have a successful VBAC with no medicine (eek!). We're going to go visit tonight.

Peeves, of the pet variety
I was thinking today about the phrase "pet peeve" and how accurate the "pet" part of it really is. A pet is an animal one chooses to own, then nourish, love, and watch grow. We foster the continuation/growth of our peeves when we make them our pets. And when it comes down to it, they are choices. A pet peeve isn't "that there is evil in the world;" a pet peeve is "that some people always use apostrophes in the wrong places" or "that people drive so darn slow on the freeway." So yes, there are annoyances out there in the world, but it is my choice whether I take those peeves on as my pets. Do I foster the growth and continuation of my peeves, or do I allow a spirit of love and understanding to supercede?

Here are some of my pet peeves that I should throw away (or "take to a farm with lots of land where they can run free, play, eat, and sleep all day"):
-grammar/spelling in other people's writing (still may correct it when asked, but it is not something to be annoyed about)
-freeway driving: it's OK if someone is going slow in the left lane; I can pass on the right and avoid thinking anything mean about the other driver
-other people's chronic lack of punctuality (OK, this will be a hard one to throw away, but I know I can certainly improve my attitude toward these people and be understanding about whatever circumstance caused them to be late)

What about you? What pet peeves do you think you can "take to the farm"?

pet peeve
n. Informal
--Something about which one frequently complains; a particular personal vexation.
--A particular or recurring source of irritation, as in My pet peeve is that neighbor's cat running through my herb garden. [Early 1900s]
--n : an opportunity for complaint that is seldom missed; "grammatical mistakes are his pet peeve"

Still no baby! I'm praying for Kim. 10 days late has to be frustrating, since they have been looking forward to a certain date (8/8) for 9 months, and then it passed and... nothing. C'mon, baby Samuel!

The tile is finished. It looks really great. We had to let the grout dry overnight, and tonight we will put the sealant on it, but that's it. I started cleaning everything that was left out in the kitchen, since it's now all dusty from the tile and grout particles.

Having this minor disruption to our lives for the past 1.5 weeks has opened my eyes to the fact that doing a remodel/addition would be this experience times 100. If this was an inconvenience, then the addition would be like a 6- or 8-month ongoing disaster. But... I still want to do it. Financially, it's still wise, even though that's what is hanging Jon up: one of his buddies/coworkers who works in the construction industry said it would definitely cost more than what we've been informally quoted. In my mind, though, even if it cost twice what we've been quoted, it would be a good deal. But I have been thinking and rethinking everything because of this minor tile deal. Is this something we want to do? Is it worth it? Comments/advice? (By the way, I uploaded some digital pics I took of the proposed floor plans. They're big so I won't put them on here, but e-mail me or ask in the comments section if you want to see them; I'll give you the URL. I'm also not sure about "disclosure" or whatever and if it's OK with the architects for me to share the plans, so I'll share sparingly I guess.)

The tile guys are at the house today finishing. I am relieved and excited! Time to have my stove and fridge back! I hope the dishwasher will hook back up correctly (Jon and Chris had a lot of trouble removing it, and when it did come out, water spouted everywhere because the valve didn't close when shut off).

The baby shower I'm throwing for a friend is this Saturday, so I'll spend the next couple of evenings cleaning up and getting the food items ready. But I'm also supposed to go over to our pastor's house tomorrow evening to show him how to use PowerPoint, and then there's music rehearsal on Thursday night. And tonight is partially full because of a flute lesson... so that leaves Friday night to get everything ready! If worse comes to worst, we can do the shower in the yard.

The tile guys came on Saturday at 6:00 a.m. and worked their hinees (sp?) off until 5:00 or so, but they still didn't finish. They're supposed to come back tomorrow. It looks good though!

We saw "The Village" on Saturday. Because I had heard so many poor reviews of it, I was actually pleasantly surprised. I liked the overall themes, including man's inherent sinfulness (even when outside "evils" are eliminated).

Still no baby born for Scott and Kim! She was due August 8. Since she's trying for a VBAC, they were going to let her go no more than a week late and then induce her this past Saturday. But she went to the doc on Friday and was told everything still looks good, so they'll let her go and see if she can start labor naturally before the 20th. I really hope she can.

Frustration at work
A coworker has really been getting on my nerves. This isn't annoying salesperson--thank goodness (she's gone)--but it's someone who sits basically right next to me in our little "pod." At first, it was personality stuff, and now that I'm annoyed at those things, little mannerisms and "lower level" things are bugging me too. It's all going downhill.

Personality things:
-She is such a complainer. I now know I can't recommend any restaurants to her anymore, because she comes back to work after going to the restaurant whining about how much she hated it.
-She is overweight (probably "obese"--since it's over 30 pounds) but still goes to the vending machine several times a day and eats candy. Now that she's "on a diet," she complains nonstop about what she can't eat anymore. She has told us her goal is to lose 30 pounds by the middle of December, and if she does, her big "reward" is to go out for a big meal at Chili's. Hello!--that is not a "reward"--that's really a punishment since you'll be working against what you've been working toward for months.
-She'll turn around and start right in on some conversation she must have been having in her head and expect me to know what she's talking about. It's like she's rereading an e-mail I sent her yesterday or the day before or something, so she'll turn around and say something like, "Yeah, with that you're going to have to find out what the answer would be from Customer Service."
-She doesn't listen and always interrupts.
-She is annoyingly protective of and anxious about her 21-year-old son. She calls him all the time. She talks about how she can't go to sleep at night until he gets home, because she's so worried. She hears sirens on the street near her house and assumes it's because her son has been killed in an accident.
-The only change she is willing to go along with is one she suggests. I created a style guide for our department and did a reworking of all of our AutoText to update grammar, punctuation, etc. I also fixed consistency in spacing (some sentences had 2 spaces after periods, some had 1, some even had 3--I went with the Chicago Manual of Style, since that's what our company supposedly uses, and corrected everything to 1 space), and she is still complaining about that 9 months later.

Mannerisms:
-She talks weird. She halfway smiles whenever she talks (not bad I guess), so when she says her Ps (like in "park" or "apple"), her upper teeth touch her bottom lip to make the sound (instead of both lips coming together to form the sound).
-Whenever she gets up from her chair, she does this annoying little "grunt" thing. I know she has back pain, but jeez!

OK, and now it's time for me to do what would help me: begin praying for her. Anyone else have ideas?

No tile guys yesterday or today. And apparently, not tomorrow either. Bummer! The worst is having no stove, dishwasher, or kitchen counters. At least the fridge is hooked up in the garage.

Tile guys, won't you please come and finish what you started?

Weekend in review
What a busy weekend! We stayed up SO late on Friday night ripping up floors and baseboards. I'm glad Chris and Sabrina came to help--for hours. And we didn't even finish--by 1:30 a.m., we realized it wasn't worth it to try to get up the remaining flooring in the kitchen and bathrooms, so we left that and went to bed (good idea, since we had to get up at 5:00 a.m. for Jon's day).

Then Saturday was the racing day (see pictures in post below). We had to drive up separately (I had to wait at the house for the tile guys to show up so I could show them what we hadn't gotten done, where the tile was, etc.). I got to the speedway before anything really started, though, so I'm glad I didn't miss anything. First, they took the 7 men in Jon's class out in a 15-passenger van to ride the course and show them where to take the turns (Jon said they took the turns, in the van, at 100 mph!). Then, they got in the cars and drove 10 laps (or more?) behind a pace car to get a feel for the track. Next, they went into a classroom for a 45-minute to 1-hour session (not so exciting for me sitting outside in the hot!). After the class time, they had another driving session, this time with no pace car. They started out in a Nascar start formation and did a few pre-planned formation changes they must've talked about in the class. Then they had several "free-for-all" laps where they could drive at their own pace and pass each other if necessary (the instructor communicated with all drivers through the radio earpiece they all wore). Then it was time for another 1-hourish class session, and then one more 25-minute driving session. This is the session where I really saw Jon get comfortable in the car (at least that's what I could tell from how fast he was going). I know Jon had a really great time, and I loved watching him. His best lap (according to my wrist watch and out of the 6 or so laps I timed): 55 seconds (around the 2-mile oval course). :)

We got home around 2:15 on Saturday to see the progress on the tile: not as much as I had hoped, but it looks good and the guys did get up the floors in the kitchen and bathrooms. I rrreally hope they come tomorrow and can finish.




Saturday night we went to Scott and Kim's. Scott showed us the house addition/remodel plans he had drawn up. Oh my gosh, they are awesome. I mean just awesome. In addition to adding the second story, there would be a lot of reconfiguration on the first floor... which means a lot of disruption to our lives--for many months. We're still talking/praying about it, and Jon wants to see how much we'd get approved for (we'd do a HELOC--home equity line of credit), but after seeing those plans I am so gung-ho for this!

Pictures from Jon's racing day
First: Jon finding the certificate for the racing day in the shorts pocket: "Whaaaat?"

Learned a new (to me) word today, but I'm not very sure if I like it. I guess it's slang, but still....

Natch.

As in "natchurally"?

Jon and I went to Home Depot last night to pick out grout for the tile tomorrow. We got a good matching color. Since we aren’t going to be home tomorrow, the installer guy came over this morning at 7:00 to go over what needs to be done. We have our work cut out for us tonight though!!! We’re doing as much of the prep work as possible to reduce the time we’ll have to pay him for, so we’ve been ripping up the carpet and baseboards. But tonight we have to scrape up the floors (VCT) in the kitchen and both bathrooms; clear all the furniture; pry off all the baseboards, door casings, and wood on the floor that held the carpet; remove the stove, refrigerator, and dishwasher (going into the garage I guess for now); get up the rest of the carpet in the living room area; AND get to bed at a “reasonable” time since we have to get up very early tomorrow. We thought we might not have to scrape the kitchen and bathroom floors--we thought maybe they would lay tile over them--but the guy basically shot that idea down this morning. Oh, and it sounds like he won’t finish with everything tomorrow, but that’s OK. I think he would come Monday/Tuesday to finish, so we wouldn’t have to go too long with partial floors. At this point, I don’t care if it takes a week!!!--just give me my tile! :)

At some point, we hope to meet up with Scott and Kim for at least a little while tonight, because 1) Scott is done drawing up our house plans! and 2) Kim is due on Sunday so this’ll be one of their last restful Fridays for a little while.

Our house
I realize I'm going out of order, as I sort of already mentioned the "remodel/addition" below, but I don't think I ever wrote about it. I'm stealing the text below from an e-mail I just wrote to a dear friend (hi Nell!):

We’re thinking about adding on to our house. Currently, it’s a one-story, 2-bedroom, 2-bath place with a teeny kitchen. We’d be adding a second story with 2 bedrooms and a bath. That may include some restructuring of the downstairs to create a little bit larger kitchen and/or dining area, but I don’t know. Our friend Scott and his dad are architects, so Scott came over last week and took measurements of the house so he can draw up some plans. This would be a very smart move for us financially, as having a 4-bed, 3-bath house would mean we could stay/fit in the house a lot longer AND even if it cost us 5 times what we’re thinking our budget will be, it would still be smart because we’d still be paying way less per month than if we sold our house and moved to a 4-bed, 3-bath house in the same area. Home prices are astronomically high here, and though we felt we paid a lot when we bought ours, its value has gone up a lot since we bought it. So that’s our fun news, and I’m really excited about seeing the architectural plans. I do know, though, that doing a major remodel like this effectively takes over your life for 6 months, but now is the time to do it when we don’t have kids.

Jon's birthday
It went pretty well last night! Ray, Colleen, and Jennifer came over around 6:30 and we barbecued some of the albacore and yellowtail Jon caught deep sea fishing a couple of weeks ago, and I fixed corn, vegetables, and French bread. We had Colleen’s poppy seed cake and coffee afterward, and then Jon opened his presents. He got clothes from his family, a Home Depot gift card from my parents, and earlier in the day Scott gave him a new tape measure and utility knife (boys!!!!). Then he opened my gift... 3 Old Navy shirts and a pair of shorts (he really loved the shorts). After he finished, he said, "Thanks everyone!" because he thought that was it. I said, “Check the shorts,” since he hadn’t noticed the little car that was in the pocket. He found the car and said, “Oh wow, what is this, a little GTO?” It was cute--I think he was confused but trying to sound excited because maybe that was my gift to him--a little Hot Wheels car. I said, “Look in the other pocket.” He reached in and pulled out the certificate for the racing school, which I had paper clipped to a brochure about it. He opened it, looked at it for a second, and asked, “What is this?!?” I told him he will be spending this Saturday driving stock cars in a racing school at the California Speedway. “Whaaat?” he asked. “This Saturday? But what about the tile?” So that was the only downer--that he was concerned about the tile. I think it’ll work out though. Even if we need to postpone the installation one week to 8/14, that day would still work. I took a couple of pictures last night and will post them once Jon can fix the USB port thing on the computer so I can upload the pictures.

We had a good, busy weekend. On Friday, we went down to where Jon's family is staying and had pizza and cake for Jennifer’s 14th birthday (we got her a necklace and cute little pad of paper in the shape of a purse when we went to Solvang and also a little photo album). We left around 9:15 and met up with Neil and Casey to see “The Manchurian Candidate” with Denzel Washington. I found it entertaining but a little “out there” (the events seemed plausible through most of the movie, and then things started getting weird and too unlikely). I also thought the whole political agenda was very obvious and overdone. I am interested in seeing the original movie though (with Frank Sinatra). Then on Saturday, I went and got my hair done while Jon helped our friends Dustin and Lissa move into their new townhome. We got some work done in the yard/house after that (Jon started ripping up our carpet and baseboards in preparation for the new tile that is being installed this Saturday, and he spent a while getting up that ugly wood floor at our entryway), and then that night we went out to dinner at Wood Ranch with newly engaged Steve and Chelsea. We went to Steve’s place afterwards and played a very fun game called Hoopla (an offshoot of Cranium). Then on Sunday, we went to church and then straight to the Angels game with Rob and Kristen and their daughter Skyler. It was rrrrreally hot until our seats were finally covered in the shade after maybe an hour and a half. The Angels won and we went home and rested before leaving for Jon’s basketball game at 5:30. We arrived to find out that his game was really at 5:00, so Scott and Kim came over to our house, and we had dinner out on the patio (and Sierra watched the humming birds--it was so cute). Then Scott and Jon took measurements of the house so Scott can draw up plans for the remodel/addition! Yesss!!! And that was our weekend.

Countdowns
Jon's 27th birthday: 1 day
Baby shower I'm throwing for Ricci: 19 days
Trip to Germany: 32 days
Bridal shower I'm throwing for Katrina: 54 days
3-day cruise to Baja: 74 days
Katrina's wedding: 82 days

I'm so boring.

We're going to the place my in-laws are staying tonight for Jennifer's 14th birthday. And tomorrow Jon's helping our friends move from their apartment to the new townhouse (I say Jon's helping because, though I will be there too, I doubt I'll be much help with the heavy lifting). Sunday we're going to an Angels game with Rob and Kristen. Our weekend is full, which is nice, but it means we won't get the things done around the house we need to.

Oh! And finally--the date is scheduled for our floor tile to be installed (in the whole house except bedrooms). It's next Saturday, 8/7. This has been almost a year in the making (since buying the tile in November and having to wait until June to get it).

Jon went to lunch with our friend Steve this morning and got asked to be a groomsman in Steve and Chelsea's wedding in May '05. He's also a groomsman in Jeremy and Jennaya's wedding in December '04. I think Jon has probably been in at least 10 weddings. People just love him (including me). He is just such a great guy friend. I'm very glad he has so many guy friends, too (and not any girl friends). :)

Our dear friends' daughter finally said my name. I know she has said it before when I'm not around, but I've never heard it. It came out "Deedee" and was so cute. I love her. Her little brother is due 2 weeks from yesterday!

We've gotten a lot of yard work done so far this weekend, and I'm proud of Jon for making our grass look so nice. With this last round of grass seed he put down in some patches yesterday, it'll be looking wonderful. We also got a new fern and potted it, and Jon bought some of the drip irrigation materials to put in some more places. Some of it requires taking up the brick in our patio, laying the tubing, then putting the brick back, so I'm very thankful he's willing to do that work since I'm not good at remembering to water all of our plants. The drip system is excellent for me (just turn on the faucet, let the system do its job, and remember to turn it off in 5 or 10 minutes. Saves water too). We're slowly but surely learning how to garden! Next on my list is transplanting our bougainvillea from where it is in the backyard to behind the fence in the alley by the garage. I think it looks messy where it is, and the plants in the alley were just annuals that died (white alyssum). This will be an interesting task, though, because I don't think bougainvillea takes kindly to being moved. We'll see.

Countdowns etc.
Jon's 27th birthday: 12 days
Baby shower I'm throwing for Ricci: 30 days
Trip to Germany: 43 days
Bridal shower I'm throwing for Katrina: 65 days
3-day cruise to Baja: 85 days
Katrina's wedding: 93 days

Mood: thoughtful, "listy" (want to make lists)
Music: City on a Hill (I think this is the original one)

A good friend asked me yesterday how I'm doing. Not as a wife/employee/friend, etc., but personally. How I'm doing personally. How am I doing personally? I realized that I really do define how I'm doing by external things ("How are you doing, Katie?" "Great! Jon and I are doing really well, my job's exciting and wonderful, and I'm having a good time working on the house"). I also realized that that is completely backwards. Ashley put it well when she said basically we should be focusing first on our walk with/faith in God, reading His Word and spending time praying, etc., and then use that as a lens through which to look at the rest of our lives.

I've felt far away from God in the past months (feelings aren't all important, I know, but I just remember much more of a closeness that isn't there now because I'm not spending time reading and praying). It's like everything's going fine and great in my life... I like my life. But how much better would my life be if I were in the Word daily and looking at things through the lens of my faith in Jesus Christ?

We had a fun, nice, busy weekend, which included dinner out with Jeremy and his new fiancee, lunch and new condo viewing with Katrina (my college roommate) and (her fiance) Phil, a surprise 30th birthday party for Rob, a terrific church service including a message from 1 Samuel, and normal things around the house including completion of a 5-hour editing job.
 
Oh, and I'd like to echo Lori's comments: I hate the new "user-friendly" blogger setup.

I'm trying to create one of those borders across the top of this page (to the left of the "archive" stuff), but I am HTML impaired. Can anyone help? I tried it, but it wouldn't stay at the right size or would change places if the window minimized. I don't know how to do tables or anything.
 

 

Oh well, no big deal if it doesn't work.

Our friend, Jon's former roommate, Jeremy, is engaged (finally)! When Jon told me Jeremy was engaged and that he had talked to him on the phone, I asked, “Who’s he engaged to?”
Jon said, “Oh, I didn’t think to ask.”
I asked, “How long have they been dating?”
“I don’t know that either.”
“When’s the wedding?”
“I have no idea.”
Ha! Do guys even talk? We're going out to dinner with them tonight. I don't think we know the fiancee, but I'm looking forward to meeting her.

OK, this is rather juvenile of me, but I just read these in the archives of someone else's blog and found them so hilarious!

WOULD YOU RATHER...
eat a shot glass full of live wasps OR eat a shot glass?
shave your mom's bikini line OR your dad's butt?
be ruled exculsively by your heart OR exclusively by your mind?
only be able to tell lies OR have to scream out every true thought that crosses your mind?
take back one thing you said or did OR say one thing you never said or did?
have a small butt on your forehead OR two little feet dangling beneath your chin?
walk around all day with a dead mouse in your butt OR a dead frog in your mouth?

We went to Inka Mama's today for a coworker's birthday, and it was really good (Peruvian food)! I got the Salpicon de Pollo, a delicious salad with chicken. I can't believe I've never been to this place before. I counted the salad as 8 WW points, but it might have been even fewer--excellent!

The shower on Saturday for Kim went well. I think 18 people were there, and I realized that that is about the maximum seating capacity in our house (including bringing in extra chairs). 15 would have been a little better, but we all knew each other so sitting close was OK. Kim got some really cute things for little Samuel. Oh, and I liked the cucumber sandwiches I made but decided I'll make them on Ritz or Wheat Thin crackers next time instead of the cocktail rye bread. And I don't need to make quite as much.

Here's one of the things I got for Kim (it's a hoodie robe & washcloth set):


The rest of the weekend went by really quickly. Jon had a work event he had to attend for most of Sunday, so we didn't have our usual church-lunch-relax day. But we did go out to dinner with Scott and Kim on Saturday night, which was good since we hadn't seen them in almost a month (they were on vacation for most of that).

I don't like stirring up controversy. And I'm no (academic) theologian. But some Christian doctrines/theologies get me so upset and frustrated and flustered, especially when I think about how many people believe them. It makes my heart ache. And I don't get upset because the beliefs "sound wrong." No, I've read and researched (the Bible and various commentaries by authors on different sides) and prayed, and I know what the beliefs are. I hate arguing about it--no one I've talked to about it has ever changed his/her mind (plus I get flustered and know in my heart what to say but it doesn't come out clearly. Jon's much better at this--keeping a clear head in any situation). I just hate the idea that these beliefs are perpetuated in schools and churches and evangelism.

Countdowns etc.
Baby shower I'm throwing for Kim: 3 days
Jon's 27th birthday: 27 days
Baby shower I'm throwing for Ricci: 45 days
Trip to Germany: 58 days
Bridal shower I'm throwing for Katrina: 80 days
3-day cruise to Baja: 100 days
Katrina's wedding: 108 days

Mood: content
Music: Next Door Savior ("A Collection of Hymns") I really like Fernando Ortega and especially love "How Deep the Father's Love."

Having such a nice weekend makes it difficult to come back to work! We had a great 3 days. My boss let everyone go home 2 hours early on Friday, so I ran errands and got a bunch done before Jon got home. On Saturday, we went to breakfast at Ruby's and then mostly did work around the house and waited for my lovely washer and dryer to be delivered. We also went to Ellie Vreeland's 2nd birthday party. (Will we invite a whole bunch of adults to our children's birthdays? I'll have to think about that one.) On Sunday, we left the house at 9:00 a.m. to get down to Lantern Bay Amphitheater in Dana Point, where Coast Bible held its 4th of July church service. The service was excellent. It was followed by a great church picnic. We left the picnic around 2:00 and went to a few stores to find the right hook-ups for the washer/dryer (we had some already, but they weren't long enough to do what I wanted to do, which was make the washer go on the left and the dryer on the right. Our house was built for it to be opposite, but that would mean the washer and dryer doors would open toward each other, instead of away from each other). Then we went to the Rileys' house for another 4th of July picnic at 3:00 and stayed until 8:00! By 8:00, I was getting anxious to try out my new machines, so Jon took me home, hooked everything up, and I had fun. By Monday, I was searching around the house for things to wash. :) On Monday, we also went out to brunch at Denny's, and we got the house nice and tidy for our mid-day visitors: Al and Janet Richer. Al and Janet are missionaries stationed at the Bible school Jon went to in Wisconsin. They were out in Scottsdale, AZ, visiting their son and decided to "swing by"! They'd never been anywhere in California besides LAX, so we took them to Laguna Beach and walked around, then we ate at BJ's. I'd met them once before. It was fun watching Jon reminisce. They ended up staying the night on our air mattress--we were glad to have them (and help them save motel money!)!

Introvert/Extrovert
Something I've known about myself for a long time but only recently was able to put into words is the fact that I need to be alone to re-energize. I guess that means I'm an introvert, but I don't know if I understood all of the implications of that word until recently, when some people we know were having a rough time and had to live with us for a while. I'm accustomed to getting home from work around 5:30 and having at least an hour--often more--to myself to veg, read, watch TV, clean, and start thinking about what to make for dinner before Jon gets home. I didn't realize how much I need that, and it took me a little while with these people living with us to realize why I was so down/depressed and tired--no alone time meant no rejuvenation!

Jon is an extrovert and almost always would rather spend time around other people, not alone. I think he tries to understand me in this area, but it must be hard for him since he really can't relate. Thankfully, being with Jon is just the same for me energy-wise as being by myself. I guess that's because I don't feel like I have to constantly make an effort to fill up silences or entertain him or even to put on a happy face if I'm not happy. Thank goodness for my husband.

We're going to see Spider-Man 2 tonight. Sam on channel 5 said good things about it, so I'm looking forward to it.

Ricci should be here any minute to have lunch with me. I hope she's "showing" (5 months pregnant)!

Overwhelmed
I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed. I took down my wall calendar here at work to write in what's going on in July, August, September, October, and things are already too full for my liking. Most of the things are fun things, but I get overwhelmed thinking about all the planning I have to do for them.

July:
3-attending birthday party for friends' 2-year-old (no planning)
3-staying around the house until the new washer/dryer are delivered
10-throwing baby shower for a friend (still need to organize/plan for food, furniture rearrangement and getting more chairs)
sometime-need to coordinate with tile guys (when installing? Do we need to buy the grout and stuff ourselves? What about the baseboards and carpet--will they take those up or do we need to?)

August:
7-doing things for Jon's birthday (August 3) (everything's set)
21-throwing baby shower for a friend (still need guest list from her; will buy materials and make invitations and need to plan the rest of the stuff. Thankfully, all the guests will be different from the July shower, so I can do the same foods and decorations; will probably even make the same invitations since her baby is also a boy)

September:
3-12-going on trip to Germany (packing and getting ready for trips like this sometimes make me anxious. Will need to get a little something to bring to our friends)
25-throwing large bridal shower for a friend (have started planning this one but am frustrated with the lady who offered to help and offered her backyard/garden as location. Respond to my e-mails, lady! I will do invitations, games, vases for flowers, one food dish, coordination of other helpers, more?)

October:
15-18-going on cruise (this doesn't make me as anxious as the Germany trip because it isn't as long, but it is the weekend before this next thing)
23-bridesmaiding in wedding (need to decide if dress fits OK or if I should get it altered...it's borderline and looks OK if I stand up super straight, which I never do. Need to find out which days I'm going to have to take off work for pre-wedding activities. Gift? Shoes? This day is also Lucy's 18th birthday)

Random thoughts
So things are actually setting in that annoying salesperson Kate is actually gone. Her last day was about 2 weeks ago. I'm loving this. I'm no longer wondering if I really want to answer my phone when it rings. My heart no longer drops when I receive a new request and wonder who the salesperson is. This is great!

Our floor tile finally came in. We bought 700 square feet of the stuff back in November (that's right, 7 months ago) and were told it was out of stock but would be in by January. Obviously, January came and went, and so did February, March, April, May... In May we went in and picked a new tile that was more expensive (but we didn't pay anything). That one was out of stock too, but it just came in this past week. They're delivering it for free today... I'm not too impressed with their customer service. But pretty soon we'll be able to get rid of our 1977 brown carpet. Yay!

I still can't wait to do laundry. The washer and dryer are being delivered on Saturday.

My husband is working so hard. It's definitely wearing on him that the company isn't doing much better. He's putting in all this work without a whole lot of "return on investment." :( I made some of his favorite food (my meatloaf, which I never had growing up but which isn't too bad, and my mom's potato casserole, and salad too) last night because I see how hard he is working and I love him.

Lucy
I just found out that Lucy did get into the school she wanted to go to! She applied last year to James Madison University (JMU) and George Mason University (GMU), but George Mason was just because she felt like she had to apply to more than one; she really wanted to go to JMU. All of her close friends also applied early decision to JMU and got in; Lucy got deferred/put on the waiting list. :( So she applied at the regular application time and again got put on the waiting list. If you know Lucy, you know that she doesn't get very emotional or too attached to anything; she's so easy-going. But she really wanted this. Only last month did they find out that her high school was reporting her GPA incorrectly (some of her honors classes in California didn't transfer over correctly to Virginia), so the high school did contact JMU to let them know of her higher GPA, but still nothing. Housing applications were due to the school for Fall '04 students last week, so when that date came and went, I think Lucy just resigned herself to being happy about GMU.

Then today, she got a phone call: she's in! JMU, here she comes! I'm so excited for her. She's going to major in Political Science, thanks to an amazing teacher this year at her school.

Well we did it... we bought way above what we were planning for the washer and dryer, but I am so excited. I love them. And we got 12 months 0% financing plus free delivery and $250 in (possible) energy rebates (possible because they're first come, first served).

Whirlpool Washer:

Whirlpool Dryer:


I can't wait to do laundry!

I'm sitting here during my favorite time of week! Friday late afternoons are the best... just an hour left of work (um, and blogging counts as work), plans for a relaxing weekend, sleeping in on Saturday.

I bought a print of "America the Beautiful" by Wendy Wegner last week, and I got a frame for it this week. It has all of the colors I like (reds, blues, and greens), but this is the first "folk" kind of art I've gotten. I'm going to have to get used to it! I got a very simple dark wood frame for it and hung it above the couch in the living room (took down all the other stuff that was there except for a plate).

Countdowns
Baby shower I'm throwing for Kim: 15 days
Jon's 27th birthday: 39 days
Trip to Germany: 70 days
3-day cruise to Baja: 112 days

So, we need a new washer and dryer. My parents gave us their old ones when we bought our house, because they were moving across the country and wanted new ones themselves. So these 20-year-old machines have been working just fine (though only one cycle--out of four--on the washer works, and only two work on the dryer). I think the machines crossed the line, though, when the dryer door broke, and now we are using a cardboard tube to hold the door closed while clothes dry. It's kind of ghetto but funny. Sears has a 12-month, 0% financing deal going on right now (and free delivery), so I think we're going to head over there this week to check out our options.

Dream sets below!

Noooooooooo!

Which "Saved By The Bell" Character Are You?
I never wanted to be Jessie! And I've never been addicted to caffeine pills. :)

Thanks to Lori for finding this quiz.

We saw "Shrek 2" this weekend and really enjoyed it. I think the first one was better overall, and I don't remember as much adult humor being in the first one (Pinnochio: "I'm wearing women's underwear." [nose doesn't grow] Gingerbread Man: "You really are wearing women's underwear!" Pinnochio: "No I'm not!" [nose grows] Gingerbread Man: "It's a thong!"), but it has been a while since I've seen it.

Including the movie, we had a good weekend. I met with Katrina (college roommate; soon to be wed friend) for lunch on Saturday. And we went to Scott and Kim's for a Father's Day barbecue.

No appreciation
That's what our department gets. The CEO sent out a company-wide e-mail today to thank some people for the success we had at a trade show this week. Now I personally didn't do anything for the show, but 3 of our department members did weeks' worth of work on it, developing custom collaterals, presentations, tabletops, etc. But because some other people in our company, whose position titles and department titles have changed to be internal (no longer Marketing!--their department is now Employee Development), have held onto the task of actually attending the trade shows because it's fun and they didn't want to give it up, they get the thanks. The CEO didn't even mention our department, let alone the 3 girls who did so much work. "THANKS again to [employee #1 who didn't do anything] and [employee #2 who didn't do anything] for handling the AHIP exhibit preparations," he writes. Grr! Yeah, folks, our department is relatively small (17 of us), but we do a lot and no one even notices?!

Countdowns
Next haircut: 2 days
Baby shower I'm throwing for Kim: 23 days
Jon's 27th birthday: 47 days
Trip to Germany: 78 days
3-day cruise to Baja: 120 days

Current mood
Bored but worried about work I'm avoiding

Listening to
Bebo Norman, "Myself When I Am Real"

VA trip
Our trip was short but fun, relaxing, and good. We got in late on Thursday (plane got in around 9:30 p.m. and we rented the car and drove 3 hours to Lynchburg). On Friday, we tried (unsuccessfully) to get up early to adjust to the VA time and then spent the day helping with last-minute preparations for the party that night (80th birthday party for both of my grandparents). The party was good and was much better once the thunderstorm came along and cooled things down (it was so humid...made me appreciate CA). All of Nannie and Pop's kids and grandkids (I guess meaning those hosting the party) had nametags so the guests could know how we were connected to Nannie and Pop. I was "Meg's Katie" and Jon was "Meg's Katie's Jon."


On Saturday, we slept too late again and got up in time to have an early lunch and go to Lucy's high school graduation. All I have to say is "bless you" to my parents for sitting through three of those things! The ceremony was in a big auditorium, and people clapped politely when their child's name was called. Then Lucy's name was called, and Greg let out a big holler. It was quite funny. Jon, Greg, and I went to Dairy Queen after the ceremony and then headed back to my parents' house to pack up our things, because we were going to spend the rest of our visit out at Hanshill (the house in the country). We did have Lucy's graduation dinner at the house first, and that was one of the nicest times--out on my parents' screen porch, with good food and candelight. My parents gave Lucy a computer for graduation; Greg gave her a custom-made necklace (with a diamond from a great-grandmother's piece of jewelry); Jon and I gave her a computer videocam, a new Bible (with red and oragne suede), and a devotional book. Congratulations, Lucy!

On Sunday, Greg, Lucy, and I played tennis at Hanshill (Greg beat Lucy and me 6-2, 6-4, despite his tendency to do double-hitties). Then the guys shot guns (shotgun, .357, and a pellet gun). Nannie and Pop came out for dinner. It was a fun day, mostly spent relaxing and talking. We stayed up to watch the Lakers-Pistons game, but I went to bed at halftime (Jon came down to the cabin with me, though, to kill all of the camel crickets I could find, and then he went back up to the house to watch the rest of the game).

On Monday, it still wasn't hot enough to go swimming in the pond or clear enough to go for a good drive, but we had a good time relaxing around Hanshill. Mama, Lucy, and I paddled around the pond in the boat (well, they paddled while I kept my eye out for spiders, because I'm a wimpy city girl). Jack (the dog) tramped through the woods and kept up with us; he scared a huge frog into the pond. Jon waited on the dock with a gun, hoping to see something to shoot (a dove, a beaver) but with no luck. We had Silver Pig barbecue for dinner, and that was very fun. We laughed pretty hard at Greg's impression of what he would do if he went into Daily Bread, the place Mama volunteers at that serves lunch to the homeless, to try to get a free lunch. "I carry boards..." (I guess you had to be there.) He also gave a good impression of the ladies at the hamburger place that stays open 24 hours: "Cheesy, all the way, going!" That night, Jon again humored me and came down to the cabin to kill all the new camel crickets. I am so glad I married a husband who not only isn't scared of all those bugs, but also who doesn't get annoyed that I meticulously search a room and point out all the bugs for him to kill!

Here's a picture of a camel cricket (they are so gross):


On Tuesday, we left Hanshill at 6:15 a.m. to make it to Dulles in time for our 11:15 flight. We made it with plenty of time to spare. Our flight got in to LAX a little early (around 1:00), and we got home right at 3:00 to a clean, empty house!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I unpacked, did 3 loads of laundry (after Jon fashioned a little thing to keep the broken dryer door closed), went by Sears to pick up our finished 2nd anniversary pictures (and bought a new skirt and shirt while I was there!), did the week's grocery shopping, cleaned the windows in the 2nd bedroom and put up the original curtains (the toile ones--I had made some darker denim ones to put in there for the past 9 weeks), and had dinner with Jon (he did hamburgers on the grill and I did the fixings and some fruit for fruit salad). We ate while we watched the Lakers lose the last game of the finals! It felt great to get that all done, and we went to bed easily at 9:45 or so. I feel completely back on CA time--I woke up once at 4:30 this morning, but then slept until the alarm went off and got up at 7:00.

Bored at work with random thoughts
The last couple of weeks were so busy at work that this week is dragging! Yesterday, I got a lot of things done that had been put on the backburner (oh how I hate that cliché, but, well, there it is in my writing). But I also did some Internet surfing, which I do all the time at work but I know is so stupid since my employer has access to my computer over the network and knows everything I do on it! I remember someone saying that the president of our company joked last year that the most visited website of 2002 was Monster.com (job website)... which is funny since our company is really great and I think we have above average employee retention/tenure rates.

I wish this weekend's trip to VA were a little bit longer. After the parties/graduation festivities, there will really only be 2 days of regular visiting. But I guess that's better than nothing. I realized this past weekend that I only talk to my dad once every few months. That isn't good. My mom and I talk most every day over e-mail (though only every couple weeks on the phone). And I don't really talk to Greg and Lucy very often either. The problem is that we aren't phone people. None of us really likes talking on the phone (I passed that phase in junior high).

I have been having pangs of wanting to be pregnant. I guess it's because it's happening all around me with our friends (many on their second child already!--Scott and Kim's 2nd is due August 8; Rob & Kristen's 2nd is due in October or November; Fred and Susan's 2nd is due September 15; Ricci and Joe's 1st is due November 1). But then I do remember how much I enjoy all the time Jon and I get together, and all the fun little trips we're taking this year and the things we get to do on the spur of the moment. And all the Saturdays I get to sleep in. So I can wait.

Mood: Antsy
Music: Chris Rice, "Run the Earth, Watch the Sky"

Leaving
Our trip to Virginia is the day after tomorrow. We'll be gone June 10-15. My grandparents' 80th birthday party (combined party for both Nannie and Pop) is on Friday, and Lucy graduates from high school on Saturday. I wish we could stay longer, but missing 4 days of work is a lot for Jon! I'm really looking forward to going out there though... too bad we'll miss corn on the cob (too early)!

I'm leaving after work today for our church's weekend Women's Retreat. It's up at Forest Home this year like it was last year. Last year, we had a neat set of 3 nice-ish cabins, but I don't think we got those this year...so bunk beds, here we come! I’m not expecting too much out of this weekend, really. The one last year was OK, but the most fun part about it was that my good friend C went, and she and I got to know each other really well. She was supposed to go this year but dropped out a few weeks ago, but Amy and Lissa (the only other 2 marrieds without kids besides C and me at church) are going. The 3 of us are driving up together this evening after work. But the retreat itself was just OK last year--the girl who led the music was all about making sure we heard how pretty her voice is (she brought a microphone even though there were only about 20 of us there) and the teaching was very shallow (more just a lot of stories and no meat). We’ll see if it’s better this time.

Wonderful news!
Annoying salesperson took me aside yesterday "to talk." I thought, "OK, she's either going to lay out all the things I did wrong on her last proposal, or she's going to talk about one of my coworkers and didn't want them to hear it." But no! She told me that she has submitted her 2 weeks' notice! What?! Yes! I said, "But you're doing so well here!" (and she is--she's the #3 salesperson in the company). But, apparently, this new "opportunity" was too good to pass up. I had to make a conscious effort to stop smiling and act disappointed. This will make my working life a lot nicer. :) :) :)

Our trip
We had a great weekend!

Saturday - We left around 10:30 from our house. Because we hit some traffic, we stopped in downtown Ventura for lunch at the Busy Bee Cafe. Then, we continued our trek up the coast and made it to Buellton (where we stayed) by 4:00. We unpacked and relaxed a bit, and then we headed into downtown Solvang (a 5-minute drive from our hotel). We walked in and out of the gift shops and enjoyed the nice weather. We went back to the hotel to get ready for our dinner reservation at Mattei's Tavern, a really neat restaurant with delicious food. We decided to take the long way to the restaurant since we had extra time, and it was worth it!


This dinner was our all-out anniversary celebration, so got all we wanted: good glasses of wine, a delicious baby greens/poached pear/candied walnut salad for an appetizer, fantastic entrees (I got the 6-ounce filet and potatoes au gratin with caramelized onions; Jon got the Copper River salmon with rice pilaf and tomatillo salsa), rich desserts (warm, rich chocolate souffle cake for me; strawberry shortcake for Jon), and coffee.


Sunday - After sleeping in, we went to Solvang and ate at the Belgian Cafe so Jon could have strawberry crepes. I had a great omelette. Then it was on to more window shopping. In one of my favorite stores, I got a pair of little stud earrings (cheap!) and a cute Americana wall hanging to put on our front door for the summer (it says "Let Freedom Ring" and has a little bell on the side). Next, we drove the long way to Gainey Vineyard and made it just in time for the 1:00 tour of the winery. We also bought some swiss cheese and did the wine tasting after the tour--a fun first for both of us.


After finishing at Gainey, we decided to explore the main road, so we drove for a half hour or so and ended up stopping at the La Purisima Mission. Although I wasn't dressed appropriately (I had on newish sandals that got really dirty since there were no paved paths), the mission was very interesting. I especially liked seeing the different living quarters--the guest room was by far the nicest, and, surprisingly, the priests'/fathers' rooms were among the most sparce (or the sparcest?). After the mission, we continued driving to see what Lompoc was like. It wasn't much. So we kept driving and hit the ocean. We took a nice walk on the sand and decided we were exhausted! We drove back to the hotel and rested. We chose to go to dinner at the nearby sushi place, and we were pleasantly surprised by how good it was (one giveaway was that there were mostly locals there). I'll definitely get the Volcano again if we are ever back in Buellton. After dinner, we did more exploring; Jon enjoyed racing around some corners on the back country roads, where we passed no more than 2 cars. To close out the night, we went to Andersen's Pea Soup for coffee and dessert. What a fun day!


Monday - We got up a little earlier this day to pack and check out, and then we went to the Greenhouse Cafe at Petersen Village (in Solvang) for breakfast--yum! We got in the car to head south by 10:30, and we missed all the traffic! We even made a pit stop in Ventura to visit Jon's grandpa Ray for an hour or so. We made it home by 3:00.

We had such a great trip! Thank you for planning it, Jon. :)

Our trip is here! Our trip is here! I'm really looking forward to this weekend away with my husband. I got him a couple of little things for our anniversary, and I know he'll enjoy them.

We leave tomorrow morning and will be home Monday afternoonish. Yay!

OK, so I did go with the Orange County thing. I couldn't help it--the only decent shirt I had that was clean was red, and it matched Jon's Hawaiian shirt so nicely.....


I look like I'm growing out of his back. Where's the rest of my body? :)



I got a 5x7 of this one to put in our wedding album for our 2nd anniversary.

Last night was lovely. My flute student cancelled her lesson (last-minute, which means I still get paid), and Jon had a work event to attend, so I had a free night. I went to the Spectrum, bought a nonfat mocha, and went into Barnes & Noble. I found White Oleander, one of the books I'd been hoping to read, and sat in a comfy couch and read the first 40 or 50 pages. (It was really great.) I really needed some alone time like that; I went home feeling refreshed and relaxed, and woke up feeling the same way this morning! Thank goodness for books.

So my friend C is having "personal problems," but I don't know what they are. I'm not sure how that makes me feel. I mean, she's one of my best friends and I'm one of hers. It isn't that I have anything to do with her problems (and if I did, I think she'd tell me)... I think it has something to do with people at church (which people? I don't know) and so she doesn't want to get me involved in whatever issues there are. She says she's working through them. But... what are they? I just feel like, if we had been hanging out as often as we used to before she got the new job and became so busy, I would know what these things are that are going on, because we'd be talking daily like we used to. Well, whatever the issues are, I do not need to know specifics in order to be praying for her and the others involved. I just wish things could go back like they were with us.

In other news, this week was busier than I had even thought it would be, but it's wrapping up nicely today. I'm looking forward to our pictures on Sunday and want to think about something Orange County-ish for us to wear (you know, matching shirts and jeans, or Hawaiian something or other with surfboards)--not. But I do think we should match better than we did for last year's pictures.

What am I doing not posting for a week?! Wait, I know... I'm busy. One of the other proposal writers is on vacation this week, and I'm her backup, which means I have basically double the workload. I'm plowing through it and getting it done, but it doesn't leave much time for meandering around the internet.

As long as we don't get super sunburned on our day trip outing with friends on Saturday, Jon and I are getting our Sears pictures taken on Sunday after church (a new tradition I started last year--pictures at each wedding anniversary to be put into the album I made). And then next weekend (May 29) is our anniversary trip! Woo hoo!

This site predicts your ideal job from your name. Ha.

Katherine Page Varela, your ideal job is an Insurance Fraudster.

Jonathan Shane Varela, your ideal job is a Human Shield.

Books
I love making lists. And today's list is going to be about books...

Books I've recently read and liked--in order of favorites
Stones from the River by Ursula Hegi. Liked this one so much I'm leaning toward reading it again.
City of Light by Lauren Belfer. Set in Buffalo, NY in the early 1900s. Industrialization vs. nature.
No Great Mischief by Alistair MacLeod. I want to re-read this one too. It's my most recent read, so still sinking in.
The Sweet Hereafter by Russell Banks. Intriguing; about a bus accident and our need to place blame...
Midnight Champagne by A. Manette Ansay. Didn't like this one as much, but I think I would still like to read another by this author.

Books I want to get and/or read
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon. I've never read this author, but the description intrigued me. I'm very into reading new authors right now.
All by Ursula Hegi, including The Vision of Emma Blau, Floating in My Mother's Palm, and Salt Dancers.
White Oleander by Janet Fitch. Didn't see the movie but have heard good things about the novel.

2nd-anniversary trip: 19 days
2nd anniversary: 22 days
1 year of employment at current job: 23 days
Trip to Virginia: 33 days
Jon's birthday: 85 days
Trip to Germany: 116 days
3-day cruise to Baja: 158 days

My husband is so cute.
It's 4:30 and my work phone just rang. "Beech Street. This is Katie," I said. "You have a nice flag outside of your work," he said. I turned to look out the window, and there was my sweet husband in the car, just coming by to say hi. He never gets the chance to do that--he works way more than I do and none of his stores or his office is close by. He's only been to my office once. So there he is, still sitting there, waiting for me to be done with work in 20 minutes or so. I love him.

We're probably going to go out to dinner tonight with Scott and Kim, and I'm looking forward to that. They are our closest friends.

What a busy week this has been. I mean, well, I guess it hasn't been that busy, but yesterday it was and so is today. Since I was doing OK workload-wise yesterday, I offered to help another proposal writer by taking over one of his proposals since he has a bunch right now. I maybe should have kept my mouth shut, because I came in this morning to find two new short turnaround requests for me from my own salespeople. So instead of working on the big project I have to have finished in 2 weeks, I have to work on these little things due Monday. It's frustrating that the big work has to be pushed aside for the littler work that someone somewhere along the line just "forgot" to send on time. At least it's mostly enjoyable work. And it's always satisfying to send that finished project out the door.

Weekend recap
Friday - My dear husband took me to California Pizza Kitchen, my favorite lower-cost sit-down restaurant. We went over to Chris and Sabrina's house after that and watched Cheaper by the Dozen (very cute).
Saturday - I attended the annual Women's Luncheon for church. It was scorchingly hot, so I'm very glad they had umbrellas over the tables. I wasn't really in the mood to go to the luncheon, but I did get to wear one of my favorite dresses that I haven't worn in a very long time because 1) it's for warm weather and too fancy/cute for church and 2) at the last appropriate function for it, I was too fat. But Saturday it fit me like the day I bought it (probably in 1999 or 2000). Later that day, Jon and I used our remaining free movie tickets to see Jennifer Garner in 13 Going on 30. I really enjoyed it and liked seeing her in a completely different acting format. We also went to dinner and coffee that night with Neil and Casey.
Sunday - We heard a good message on discipleship and "running the race." I sang backup for the special music selection. A bunch of us went to lunch at the mall food court, and then Jon wanted to get home to catch the rest of the Laker's game. I took that opportunity to go to Robinsons May to find some shoes on sale! I had been needing some shoes to wear to work, and I found some great stuff. I should probably get rid of a couple pairs now, since I am a shoe fiend and have too many for our closet. At 6:00, we drove back down to church for a "young families" meeting with the pastor. We made it home just in time for our favorite show, Alias. Jon says the ratings are bad on the show, though, so it probably won't make it after next season.

The weekend is here!
Thank goodness. I had a semi-annoying day with semi-annoying salesperson (I say semi because things have been better since we had our little "talk"), but it's now coming to a close. And my favorite time of week is here--Friday evening, with 2 days full of possibility ahead of me. And the promise of a good message on Sunday to reenergize me for the next week.

I was reading the blog of a friend of a friend of a friend, and one of the authors (bloggers? posters?) posted how annoying it is that people think they're cool when they link to "other i-want-to-be-cool-and-emerging-altenative-christian bloggers that they have never met or had any kind of ongoing conversation with." And, well, I don't link to other blogs, but I have been reading these people's blog for the past couple of weeks even though I have no idea who they are. I don't know...they just interest me. But I wouldn't say I know them. And anyway, this blog (mine) is not meant to be a forum to show how cool I am. I mean, sometimes I wish no one had the URL to my blog because it's just for me to keep an account of what's been going on, how I've been feeling. A place to rant if needed. (And well, I might as well say it, I think you're the only one who reads this blog, Ashley, but I don't mind that you do at all. Heck, I created it because you asked.) So I guess I'm saying that I don't think I'm one of those i-want-to-be-cool-and-emerging-alternative-christian bloggers. I think I'm one of those i-hope-you're-only-reading-my-blog-if-you-know-me-but-don't-judge-me-by-this-because-I-don't-write-anything-philosophical bloggers.

Things I'm looking forward to: (Things to which I'm looking forward...)

2nd-anniversary trip: 32 days
1 year of employment at current job: 36 days
Trip to Virginia: 46 days
Jon's birthday: 98 days
Katrina's bridal shower: 116 days
Trip to Germany: 129 days
3-day cruise: 171 days

I read this post today on a blog belonging to someone I don't know. It has put a whole new perspective on things going on in my life and how I treat those close to me. It also makes me miss my family, though they're only a phone call away. But even more immediate, it has made me think about how I'm thinking about (not even talking to or treating--that stuff on the outside has been OK) the people I see every day (morning and night) right now. I would have to live with a lot of guilt if something happened to one of them and I had to remember the bad things I thought about them. I love them, but do I show them that? Or do I just show them the absolute minimum amount of courtesy that is necessary for the situation? I could definitely be doing better at being Christ-like right now!

We had a nice weekend here full of glorious weather! The weather prompted me to get some plants at Home Depot on Sunday (though I went to the Silvercreek Nursery close to our house first; it was the second time I've been there and the second time they've had cruddy customer service, so I left). I spent a couple of hours pulling out some old, overgrown stuff in the bed at our back patio (up against the house, in between the sliding glass door and the door into the garage) and planting the new cyclamen and begonia. It all looks so pretty now! I'm no green thumb, but it was still fun.

The rest of the weekend was mostly spent hanging out with Scott and Kim. Kim and Sierra had been gone for over a month (to Ohio to visit Kim's sister, who had her first baby). Overall, it was a nice, relaxing weekend.

Oh, and Jon told me what we're doing for our 2-year anniversary! On Saturday, May 30, we'll drive up to Solvang and stay there Saturday night and Sunday night (I have Monday off work since it's Memorial Day). It's going to be so wonderful--I'm really looking forward to spending the whole weekend together.

Which Strong Bad Character Are You? Strong Bad You are so....Strong Bad-ish.

Click Here to Take This Quiz Brought to you by YouThink.com quizzes and personality tests.

OK so I've been reading through other blogs of random people I don't know (linked from blogs belonging to friends of friends, etc.), and I'm noticing how dull I am! At least how many dull things I have to say...nothing witty, nothing enlightening. No cool title of my blog. But, well, nothing out of the ordinary or exciting really happens in my life (I'm not in college or Scotland or living on my own or having poop fill up my garage). Well, that's it for today. ~K

Which poem are you? Sonnet 17 by Pablo Neruda Aw, you're a romantic. You believe in true love and all that sort of stuff. How cute are you? To you, love is incredible and amazing.

Click Here to Take This Quiz Brought to you by YouThink.com quizzes and personality tests.

Well, things have calmed down at work, and I have much more time now to post. And I have a personal/work victory to report: last week, I scheduled a meeting with annoying salesperson Kate for this past Monday. In the meeting request, I wrote that we should meet to discuss "some ways we can improve how we work together"--so she expected something. I wrote out the 3 main issues I needed to discuss (I have to write these things out or else I become flustered and usually start crying), and off I went on Monday morning! Things went VERY well! Here's what I came away with (these are the notes I brought over to Kate's office but now with post-meeting additions; Kate asked that I send her a copy of this so that she could remember):

Multiple drafts
▪ Sending multiple proposal drafts back and forth is not the most efficient use of our time. When you send me a draft that is not as updated as the one I’m working on, I have to go back and forth between documents and try to update from one to the other.
▪ Solution: one draft. That is, we have an initial meeting to go over what needs to be done on the proposal, including reports to request, people in other departments to go to, etc. (I will schedule this meeting on our calendars within 1-2 days of receipt of the proposal.) Then I work on the proposal (with input from you as necessary question-by-question) and send you my final draft when I’m done—with plenty of lead time for you. Then you work on your input/changes and get your final draft, including executive summary, cover letter, etc. to me at least one day before the proposal needs to be mailed. No more changes should be made after this. This will give me time to make edits, ensure that the proposal follows our department style guide, add in formatting and page breaks, and print and bind the proposal.
- The edits are very important to me. Proposal writers get audited each month on at least one RFP each, and the last RFP of mine that got audited was one you and I did together; because of all the typos and small errors (which, for the most part, were entered last minute), I got docked enough points that my proposal fell below the department standard. This reflects poorly on both of us.
- We will consider our “due date” of the proposal one day before mailing, so that we can work with that as our deadline.

Telephone & time management
▪ It’s a waste of both your time and mine for you to be typing on your computer/doing other things while I’m on the phone with you.
- I could be working on things I still need to get done for you or other salespeople.
▪ It is not necessary to call immediately after you send me an e-mail. I will read the e-mail immediately. Say anything you need to tell me in the text of the e-mail. Calling me just wastes more time.
- You are concerned that I will make assumptions or inferences. Solution: I will always reply to those e-mails and reword what it is I think you want me to do. If I’m wrong, then we should talk on the phone.

Duties that are not the proposal writer’s
▪ Making copies, printing non-proposal documents, training on computer programs
- While I am happy to help, the proposal writer is not the one who should be doing these things. It wastes my time and takes time away from proposals for other salespeople or from your own proposals.
- Solution: Tiffany. From now on, I will copy Tiff on the proposal files we send out, so that she can keep the files on her computer. I will help her if necessary when she needs to print/bind extra copies of things.

Things I (Katie Varela) will keep in mind and work on:
▪ Not making assumptions
- I will think outside the box and not assume that, just because we don’t have data “available,” I can’t get it somewhere. I will identify data that doesn’t seem to “fit” exactly what we want and either find out if we can get the right data or get a good explanation about why we can’t.
▪ Being proactive
- I will be more proactive at the beginning of the proposal process about going to outside departments and subject matter experts (SMEs) to get data reports and answers to other questions.


So I will report back here on whatever progress is made! :)

Sorry for the no blogs this last week. LOTS has been happening! This was a busy week at work and home too. But we're doing well!

Easter is here already! I don't even know what we're doing on Sunday. Everything is kind of in disarray as far as family goes... Ray and Colleen will be basically homeless 2 days after Easter, so they're packing like mad and definitely won't be having Easter dinner at their place. It looks like it will fall on us, which I would be excited about if I had had time to plan. I'm sure we'll just do something easy, but "easy" means not very Easter-y. I've heard the Costco hams are good.

BUT, regardless, the real reason for Easter is what is important, and no matter where (or if) we eat, we will all be rejoicing in Christ's resurrection.

This weekend was uneventful but nice. I'm here at work with a frustrating keyboard--the space bar keeps sticking, and I have to backspace and fix it at least once a sentence! I won't fix it anymore. We'll just have a continuousstreamofonewordfortherestofthispost. Just kidding.

Jon had to work late on Friday, so we missed our Bible study, but it was nice to relax at home anyway. Scott came over and we watched Open Range, which I bought for Jon on DVD as a surprise with a Costco coupon.

On Saturday, Jon also had to work (his company and the one that owns it just moved into the new building, and Jon and one other guy did all the computers and networking), so I did things around the house like laundry and cleaning. But that night we went to Macaroni Grill (the insalata rossa is my favorite!!!! And the bread there is to die for) and to a movie. We saw Tom Hanks' Ladykillers and were a bit disappointed. The 100+ times that the f-word was said were absolutely unnecessary, and that alone ruined the movie for me. Hanks' character is funny and interesting, but not enough to redeem the film. We hadn't realized it was by the Coen brothers... Anyway, we won't be buying this DVD. ;)

On Sunday, we went to church and heard another great message from Arch and went to the food court for lunch with friends. Then it was off to the big sale at Old Navy! I got 2 new shirts, and Jon got about 8 or 10 new shirts--all for $10 each or less. After we headed home with our booty, we helped Jon's parents pack and move for a little while before Jon had his basketball game. Despite their efforts to prosecute their landlord for not reimbursing them for the $8,000+ they have put into their rented house, Ray and Colleen (and Jennifer) have been ordered to move from their house by April 12. This couldn't have come at a worse time!--Janel is coming for a week with baby Seth to visit April 13. I'm not sure what's going to happen with that, but even more important in everyone's mind is where the Varelas are going to move to. I think someone at church has already offered an "extra place," so we'll see.

I realize it looks like I don't like my job if you read the posts below, but the funny thing is that I love it! Kate is the only thing/person that/who stresses me out, but even when I'm working with her, I still enjoy the proposal process. So I do love my job. ;)

Have Awana (I'm a listener--I listen to the kids say their memory verses) and music rehearsal tonight at church, which always makes my Wednesdays very long (work 8:30-5:00, rush home to eat a quick dinner, Awana 6:15-8:00, rehearsal 8:00-9:15 or 9:30).

What I Do
by Katie Varela

Job Summary according to Beech Street:
Responsible for preparing proposals for existing and prospective clients, evaluating client requirements and coordinating/updating information. Will provide assistance to sales personnel including preparation of "Requests for Proposals" (RFP's). Screens RFP's for specific and/or unusual requirements; inform department manager of special needs. Performs word processing of rough and final draft or various materials involving varied and specialized proposal requests. Requires an Associates degree or equivalent work experience. Two years in a healthcare environment preferred. Must possess excellent written and verbal communication skills. Requires a working knowledge of Microsoft Office (Excel, Word, PowerPoint) and 40-wpm typing.

Job Summary according to real life:
Responsible for preparing proposals for existing and prospective clients, evaluating client requirements and coordinating/updating information. Will provide personal assistance to sales personnel, especially lonely 45-year-old condescending cat owners, including preparation of "Requests for Proposals" (RFPs). Screens RFPs for specific and/or unusual requirements; informs department manager of special needs. Performs word processing of rough and final draft or various materials involving varied and specialized proposal requests, including making copies, downloading files, teaching basic computer skills, and answering 25 to 30 calls per day from said cat-owning salesperson. Requires an Associates degree or equivalent work experience. Two years in a healthcare environment preferred. Ability to be subservient, submissive, and patient preferred. Must possess excellent written and verbal communication skills. Requires a working knowledge of Microsoft Office (Excel, Word, PowerPoint) and ability to teach said programs to stupid salespeople and 40-wpm typing.

Hello again. I have some interesting news to report on the work front:

On Friday, Kate sprung a good deal of work on me at the last minute (her exact words on the phone: "We are going to do a proposal, but trust me, you aren't going to have to do any work"). I came to find out yesterday that she has known about it for 3 weeks but just didn't do anything about it until Friday, even though this work is due today. Because she knew I would push back and remind her of our department and company turnaround standards (in this case, at least 10 business days), she tried to push some of this work off on someone in another department who knows basically nothing about proposals (she just changed positions from accountant to client relations manager, both unrelated to proposals). Once I realized what was happening, I tried to make the girl (Martha) feel better for not knowing how to do anything, and I told her that it's my job, not hers, so if Kate asked (told) her to do anything else, just direct her to me. By the end of the day, I got a call from the boss of Martha's boss (Carol) saying she was so sorry about the mixup and the last-minute work. That's when I found out it had been in Kate's hands for 3 weeks, but she hadn't done anything about it. Apparently, Carol and Kate got together 3 weeks ago and Kate decided they wouldn't do a proposal for this prospect; she'd just "write a letter." Of course, that would have been too much work for Kate (a 2-page letter? No!). I told Carol that this is something I have come to expect but am not going to continue to put up with (and Kate knows that, which is why she didn't come to me to do the work like she should have, even if it was last minute). I also told Carol the proposal would be a good one and I'd get it out on time. I could tell she was upset with Kate. That made me happy! The more advocates I have, the more people see what Kate is really like, the better I feel. I do not want to get Kate fired, but I do want people to understand that I'm working hard! I also think that the more people who understand what Kate is like, the more likely she will have her blinders removed to see that she treats people like dirt.

Nothing too new going on this week at work. I just finished some not-in-my-job-description work for salesperson Kate, so I think she'll be off my back for THAT kind of thing for a few days (we'll see).

Last night we went to Jon's parents' house for dinner (yum!), which we have done on most Mondays for the past couple of months.

Tidbit: I will be going today or tomorrow to get a passport picture taken, as my passport expired in February 2003, and I'll need the new one before September! :) ~K

Weekend
Our weekend was very nice. On Friday, we had 2 couples from church over for a "Salt and Pepper dinner." The church organizes host homes and who will go where, and at our house we had Neil and Casey Anderson, who we already know, and another couple, Brent and Orchid, who I'd never talked to before. They were very nice and we had a great time. The wives even asked for the recipe for the taco soup I made! ;)

On Saturday, I went to Casey's for a baby shower for another church friend, Liz. I gave her the CUTEST little girl bathing suit (0-3 months size--so teeny!). Then Saturday night, Jon and I went out to sushi at his favorite sushi place (I Love Sushi in Costa Mesa--very good and relatively inexpensive for good sushi). We also rented Runaway Jury but weren't too impressed with its very liberal message ("guns and gun makers are bad!") or its portrayal of jury duty. Having just served on a jury, I kept thinking, "That isn't really what it's like..."

On Sunday, we attended a great church service (Arch's message on Jesus' words, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken me?" was very good) and went out to lunch at the mall food court with everyone afterward. The rest of Sunday afternoon I spent finishing up 3 editing jobs while Jon went to the driving range, and then we went to Jon's basketball game at 7:00. Both Jon and Scott had incredible games; they had 18 and 19 points, respectively.

And that was our weekend!--basically all play and no work! :) ~Katie

I haven't written anything about my "weight loss journey" in here, but I think I should since it has been such a part of my life for the past 9 months or so.

I wasn't overweight growing up, but starting in college (when I no longer participated in organized sports and also had cafeteria food every day), I did the rollercoaster thing--up 10-20 pounds or so during the winter, down 8 to 10 pounds in the summer. I hovered somewhere between 135 and 145. For my 5'5" frame, I think around 130 is really optimal. I got to a great weight--probably around 132 (I never weighed myself)--for our wedding, and in the year after we got married, I gained just under 30 pounds. I don't feel like I "let myself go," but with adjusting to married life, cooking for two (instead of eating my mom's healthy cooking), working in a job I disliked (until May 2003 at least), and all in all loving food and eating, those 30 pounds flew on me so fast I didn't even realize it was happening. I hated looking at myself in the mirror. When we went to the beach with our church friends on Sunday nights beginning in May 03 for cookouts, I wore regular clothes while most everyone else wore swimsuits. I was not as good of a wife as I could have been--feeling bad about myself often put me in a bad mood or made me snappy towards Jon. I get embarrassed thinking back about how I was. I am embarrassed that I let myself gain so much weight, when I have always wanted to look great for my husband. It isn't about looking great for other people, it's about my husband and being desirable to him. Here is sort of a "before" picture of me (I don't have many!)--this was actually taken when I had already lost 8 pounds.

Exactly at Jon's and my one-year anniversary, June 2003, I went back to Weight Watchers (I had done Weight Watchers with my mom a few summers before with just about 10 pounds to lose, and I lost the amount and then stopped going, since my mom was paying for it). I just love WW! It is such a healthy, balanced way of eating and thinking. I don't feel like I'm "working" to get the weight off; I just need structure, and then I'm on a roll. I got down to my WW goal of 140 at the end of October. My personal goal was 132. Here is an "after" picture of me--much happier and with my new hairstyle (a reward for losing 28 pounds)!

I am most thankful for Jon, my wonderful, supportive husband who never said anything demeaning about my weight and who always told me I'm beautiful. Now he DOES call me "Skinny Wife" though! The other day when we were out to dinner, he even told me he thinks I'm thinner now than I was when we got married--which surprised me because I didn't think I am. But I guess I am!

Here's a link to my weight loss chart, which I last updated in December when I reached WW lifetime status. I have since kept watching what I eat (I don't think that will ever end--it's a "lifestyle change," not a diet) and have gotten down to my personal goal! Now that I've started to go to the gym again, I think I will make it down to 2 pounds below my personal goal to end up at a nice round figure (but not a nice round body!), which will also put me 10 pounds below my WW goal (a good buffer so that I will remain at lifetime status).

Feeling better about myself and my health has been such a wonderful change. This is not about all of that new age, self-esteem, "you need to love yourself" mentality stuff--this is a health thing: a healthy mentality and attitude toward food (it is not a bandaid or comfort to run to when sad/happy/bored) and a healthy physical body. I am definitely a better wife now, and that is what is most important to me. I am back to being more outgoing and friendly with our friends. I am also proud that I lost weight the "right way"--not by giving up an entire food group or losing weight at a too-fast rate, but by balancing what I eat and adding physical activity into my day to lose weight slowly but steadily. This is something I can stick with forever! :)

Nothing much going on this week, but that is nice. I've been having fun looking on Better Homes & Gardens' website (www.bhg.com), especially at the decorating gallery. I like adding rooms to my "favorites."

Last night Jon and his dad drove to Ontario to sign some papers... There is a good chance the Indian tribe the Varelas are part of may be federally recognized. They are Vuyume (I forget how to spell it), part of the Chumash Indians. Pretty cool! If they do get federally recognized, they may get some land, but we'll see. It has been in the works for a while, but it still may take some time.

Jon and I have instituted our new weekday "get up a little earlier" morning plan, and so far we're sticking to it. I really like it.

Monday - Bible study on own
Tuesday - gym together
Wednesday - Bible study together
Thursday - gym together
Friday - sleep :)

For my "on own" Bible study, I've been going through Beth Moore's study on the Old Testament tabernacle (I think the study is called something like "Woman's Heart, God's Home" or "My Heart, God's Home"). I really like it.

OK, that's it for today!

This has been a very busy week at work, which is why I haven't posted. Annoying salesperson Kate is monopolizing my time, something she seems to be very good at doing. Oh wait, my phone's ringing again...and it's her.

I'm back, after having explained to Kate over the phone how to do a Ctrl+Find. She thinks of me as her personal assistant, but no, I am her proposal writer. I write proposals for her. I do not train her on computer programs. I do not make copies for her. I do not call other employees to ask them questions for her. I do not stand by at my telephone waiting for calls from her every 15 minutes. As a matter of fact, I have 6 other salespeople for whom I write proposals.

OK, I feel a little better now. And I'm glad it's Friday! As for plans for the weekend, I think we'll mostly be relaxing, especially since the weekend after this one will be much busier: hosting a Salt & Pepper dinner at our house Friday 3/19, going to a baby shower Saturday 3/20, and more I'm sure that I've forgotten. I do have at least one editing job to work on this weekend, though, so that will take up a bit of time.

Oh yeah, and we bought tickets to go to Germany in September! We will be visiting Jon's best friend Nate, and Nate's wife and daughter Louise and Ellie at the military base in Wiesbaden. We are so excited! The trip is September 3-12. Jon even found a decent price for a non-stop flight on Priceline (cost less than a flight with one layover on Hotwire!). Yay! :)

I had such a great time with the family here!
Thursday - After the family's flight got in late, I thought they would be too exhausted to do anything. But apparently, absence from good Mexican food--and the need to have it if it is within a 100-mile radius--will overcome most anything. So we went out to Javier's in Laguna Beach for dinner (YUM!). Greg nearly fell out of his chair with the first tortilla chip.
Friday - I worked on Friday, so Mama, Greg, and Lucy met with friends during the day. Then we went out to dinner again! This time, Jon took us to his favorite sushi place in Costa Mesa (I Love Sushi). It was REALLY good.
Saturday - After Jon got home from playing basketball, we all went out again, this time to Ruby's. After breakfast/lunch, Mama and I made the other 3 sit outside (in the gorgeous weather) while we shopped a little dress shop. I got a cute skirt (denim with red/pink on the bottom). Back at home, we put taco soup together in the crock pot for dinner (had we had a meal at home yet? I don't think so!) before heading out to Fashion Island. It was nice just to walk around, see the shops, and spend time with Mama and Lucy.
Sunday - We all met up after church on Sunday at the mall food court for lunch. We went into Williams Sonoma for Mama (salt and pepper shakers) and Old Navy and a dress shop for Lucy and me (I don't think I'd ever done so much shopping in my life!). I got a shirt that matches my new skirt from Saturday. That night, Mama, Lucy and I went to Jon's basketball game (they won), and Scott and Kim came over afterwards with all of us for dinner. We had burgers on the patio and then roasted marshmallows in our little fire pit.
Monday - I took the day off from work, and we went to A's Burgers for lunch (fried zucchini!), then to the beach to walk around. We got some cold coffee drinks (it was in the upper 80s!) and also went by the grocery store to get some things for dinner. Before heading home, we dropped by the pound by our house and saw some of the cutest dogs. I resisted temptation and remembered that Jon and I work way too much to be able to treat a dog the right way (what dog wants to spend 50 hours a week alone in the yard?). So we headed home. We had stirfry (turkey, veggies, rice) and fruit salad for dinner, then we had coffee and roasted some more marshmallows.

From my description, it seems that our long weekend revolved around shopping and food! But really it was about spending time with Mama, Greg, and Lucy and having fun. I'm really glad they could come out and stay.

Mama, Greg, and Lucy had some flight mishaps today (thankfully while the plane was still on the ground), so they're arriving about 4 hours late--after 16 hours of travel for what should normally take more like 5 non-stop or 7 to 8 with a stop. Poor family! But I'm still so excited for them to come. And their late arrival actually means I'll be able to leave straight from work to pick them up, instead of having to take a long lunch, pick them up, then go back to work.

I'm most excited for the family to see the new things we've done to the house... the guest bathroom, kichen, master bathroom, patio furniture, etc. And of course, Greg hasn't seen any of it. I can't wait! :) ~K

My mom, Greg, and Lucy are flying out tomorrow to visit. They'll be here Thursday (3/4) through Tuesday (3/9). I can't wait! We don't have too many things planned except to hang out and have fun. Greg has never seen our house before--this is his first time back in CA since they moved in December '02. I'm taking Monday off from work, which will be nice. They're staying at our house on an air mattress and couches--bless them!

You are Rerun!


Which Peanuts Character are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

Mammoth and other news

Our trip this past weekend to Mammoth was a lot of fun. The drive up there on Friday was even longer than I had anticipated since I'd never been up there. It took us about 6.5 to 7 hours. We ate dinner right when we got there at Berger's, and I had some really good chili. Then the 5 of us (Jon and me, Scott, Kim, and their daughter Sierra) found our 3-bedroom, cozy condo. It was just as the owner had described: "all 70s'd out." On Saturday, we went sledding, ate lunch out, and Kim and I watched as Scott and Jon tried to start a fire using wet wood. Once they conquered the beast, we watched a movie, had dinner in, and played Settlers until 11:30 or so. Sunday we went out to breakfast at The Stove, packed up, and headed home (another long drive). It was nice to relax, not have anything planned, not have to do anything around the house, and just hang out! And we even got home in time to see most of the Academy Awards and drop a couple of loads of laundry into the washer.