2013 Resolutions

I ain't got any.

Well I guess position myself to not be laid off with my new job.  But I can't make promises with a school district that is $17 million short for next year....let's just say I haven't exactly put my resume away.

Year in Review

So 2012 kind of sucked.

I had to deal with the death of my father and everything that goes along with that.  From the grief to the acceptance of loss and living life without him.  The hardest parts now are when I forget for a nanosecond that he died.  Like I'll want to call him and then I remember.  Other than that the hardest part is seeing my mom deal with the heartache and seeing her try her hardest to be positive whenever she can.  But like always shit could be worse...that's my way of being positive.  2012 did have some good things happen so it wasn't a complete loss.  A list of stuff to remember and some stuff to forget eventually.

-Finding out my dad had stomach cancer and spending most of January in the hospital.
-Getting a temporary per diem  buyer position at Tucson Medical Center, one of the weirdest experiences ever.
-RIP MR. Y, Zac's worst accident ever with the worst timing but luckily he came out of it as ok as we could ask for. As a result of this we asked my dad if we could borrow his truck.
-The decision to move my father to hospice care.
-Our 3rd Wedding Anniversary-February 7th
-My Dad passed away-February 9th.
-My good friend's Dad passed away a week later.
-Seeing family and while during a very hard time sharing laughs and stories and creating new memories. It was fun seeing Zac meet a couple of my uncles and my nephews and nieces meeting their Tio Cesar.
-Going through the range of emotions/hurt feelings/regrets family members have bottled up for years and working through all that.
-Starting the process of closing my Dad's accounts.
-Bringing my mom to our house on the weekends so she didn't stay home by herself all the time.
-My 32nd Birthday/my mom's 62nd birthday-spent the weekend watching Downton Abbey and going to Costco for cake.
-My first round at Tucson Medical Center ended.  I was extremely glad it did.
-Zac graduated with his Bachelors from the University of Arizona.  He majored in Linguistics and Philosophy and graduated Cum Laude.
-Went back to Tucson Medical Center to do another round as a per diem buyer this time with a chance of permanent employment. I had to eat all my words about getting out of that place before and make a good impression this time.
-Experienced first Father's Day without my Dad.
-Went through Birthday Extravaganza month in July.  Gigi's birthday was celebrated as a swimming party at El Conquistador.  Adrian and David celebrated at Peter Piper Pizza.
-Had to go through major rejection when I didn't get the TMC job permanently.  Good...I didn't want to work there anyway.
-Started my new job with Tucson Unified School District as a Purchasing Assistant. 
-Celebrated Zac's birthday.
-Went to Melting Pot and took my mom, her first time ever to one of those places.
-Celebrated my Dad's birthday by going to a Coheed and Cambria concert in his honor.
-Zac started his first semester as a real graduate student, even though he was starting his second year in the program.
-Went through the ups and downs of people close to us separating.
-Went to the funeral of my sister in law's grandmother.
-Watched our way through 30 days of bad horror movies.
-Had our first Thanksgiving without my Dad.  My mom wanted to cook.
-December brought another death in our extended family.
-Spent a very quiet Christmas with my mom and brother.
-Spent December 27th my parent's anniversary transferring the truck into our name and taking my mom to buy a new washer and dryer.

Now it's time to put this stuff in the memories column.  2013 better be a kick ass year.

the weekend getaway

Most people go on vacations or the now trendy stay-cation, I went on a Mom-cation this weekend.  I spent the weekend with my Mommy.  Usually the weeks or weekends that were spent previously out with the moms seemed to go on forever.  The days dragged on and on.  I don't know what changed but this weekend we were busy.  Friday was Dia de los Muertos, so after taking care of some insurance paperwork, and eating some dindin we headed to the cemetery to visit my dad. We brought him some new flowers and cleaned up his flowers and decorations a little. It was getting dark fast so we didn't stay very long.  As soon as we got home we were exhausted and we quickly went off to relax in our own rooms watching tv before finally going to sleep. 

The rest of the weekend was kind of a blur.  My mom is a strict believer in 1st Breakfast and 2nd Breakfast and Linner.  In between breakfasts we would do regular yardwork of watering the plants/trees.  I went out to investigate the god awful smell I smelled the night before. Something had died and I had told Zac I was going to find out what it was.  I did find it.....well parts of it.  Probably 15-20 feet away from where the car was parked I found a cat's tail....some intestines, some vomit, some dog poop, and then about another 5 feet away I found a leg and then another 3 feet away I found a paw.  It was all very gruesome and smelly.  Poor cat. We then headed out to the closest Walmart where we got my mom in for an eye exam.  When the guy was trying to sell the different coatings they put on the glasses he was trying to sell the anti-reflective coat my mom said "I don't need that to see the mop and broom" I busted out laughing while the sales guy was like "what?"  My mom then said "I don't use computers, I'm a custodian!"  I couldn't stop laughing.

This morning we then went out to the yard to finish watering the plants/trees and then my mom was like "lets burn the tumbleweeds" my response...um ok.  So at 8am we started a bonfire in the yard.  We cleaned up a section of the yard from tumbleweeds and burned the shit out of them.  It was quite fun but exhausting.  Afterwards Zac came over in time for 2nd breakfast and fixed the jeep and then we had tacos! Yay tacos!

Well Mom-cation is over and I'm back home on my couch watching Oddities on Netflix.  

Social House

A few weekends ago there was another girl's night.  This time we went to Social House located near to the UofA.  It's supposed to be a gastropub, a fancy shmancy name so they can charge you more for fancy bar food. 

This place used to be called Sam Hughes Place and I went there a few years ago when a vendor took us out to lunch once. I think I liked the food better that time. Or maybe I liked the food better that time because it was free! 

I think I got a burger off the happy hour menu.  It seems that I always order the burger when going to these new places.  For some reason Spiced Venison Carpaccio and Mango-Chili Squid Strips just doesn't make my mouth water like a regular burger does.

This place was alright...the company made it fun.

47 Scott Night

Last night around 6pm I got a phone call from one of my old college pals. Another college pal was going to be in town that night so they wanted to know if I'd be available to meet them at 7:30. Holy Moly an hour and a half to get ready after being outside pulling up weeds. Who am I kidding....it only takes me half an hour to get ready.

We met up at 47 Scott a trendy hipster hangout downtown.  We were seated promptly because the hipsters don't really eat dinner until 10pm. My two friends already had dinner and one of the girls didn't feel very well so they just had drinks. I stared at the menu for five minutes deciding between the $14 bistro salad or the $12 burger.  I was starving and had the burger.  The photo was taken from their website or facebook page so it's a pretty good picture of what my burger looked like.

I asked for well done and I'm pretty sure the waitress probably thought I was lame for not ordering medium or medium rare like how I'm sure the the hipsters order their burgers.  Whatever!    But those bastards didn't give me a well done burger it was probably done how they do it for all hipsters. Why even bother asking me how I wanted my burger! I guess I could have complained but I figured if I get food poisoning I could call out from work. I also ordered a beer.  The first glass tasted delicious. The second glass was overdoing it.  Either it's strong beer, I have no tolerance or Zac roofied me telepathically somehow. 

Like always it was a great time hanging out with my college friends and of course it's always fun trying a new restaurant.  I'm pretty sure I was considered a hipster by association.  It felt pretty damn sweet.  As soon as I left the restaurant though I was back to my boring old drunk self.

This is Halloween!

Yay!  It's getting closer to Halloween!  I love this time of year. It means temps will get cooler, I can wear sweatshirts,  there will be an abundance of pumpkins, and scary movie time!!!! 

The weather has been strange this summer. The monsoon season here was awesome and it was like we had a second spring with many of the plants and trees getting confused with so much water.  All the cacti are pleasantly plump with water and the weeds are extra obnoxious too.  We had a storm move through here a couple weeks ago and with that one storm system everything changed.  It meant there was no need for the swamp cooler to be on all night and the ceiling fans don't have to be on the highest setting.  Really the cool weather means cardigan season!  I love cardigans and sweatshirts!

This time of year means Halloween fun! Fun Halloween themed tv sitcoms...I know I've said this before. It also means Zac's scary movie marathon that I'm oddly looking forward to this year.  It also means PUMPKINS!!!!  I don't know if I'll ever get Zac to go to the pumpkin farm/maze again but those are out there.  I think Buckelew Farm does a scary corn maze which I would be too chickenshit to go through.  Old Tucson Studios does NightFall which would be fun but is a bit expensive. I've only been to it once a while ago but they turn the old west studio into a huge haunted town pretty much.  And the past few years there has been The Slaughterhouse which is another huge haunted house in an actual old closed Farmer John's pig slaughterhouse here in town. There is also a haunted walking ghost tour that goes on downtown.  It would be fun to do that too I'm sure most of it is historical but it would be like starring in your own ghost hunter episode. 

Along with Halloween comes Dia De Los Muertos.  My mom being from Mexico has never really celebrated this with us but it has more meaning to me this year.  It's really a day for remembrance of your loved ones and in town there is the All Soul's Procession.  The procession has become huge thing here in town but maybe I'll do my own altar to my dad instead. 

And did I mention PUMPKINS????  Pumpkin carving, pumpkin pie, pumpkin cheesecake, pumpkin spice lattes and coffee creamer, pumpkin bread and all other pumpkin wonderfulness! 

sad times

Last Sunday we received news that my sister in law's grandmother had passed away.  She was 94, I believe and was incredibly active in her senior years.  She was a foster mother, ran a daycare for many years and an accomplished seamstress and didn't officially retire until she was 88.  My nephews were very close to her spending time with her after school or during the summers.

My mom wanted to go to the services to pay her respect to their family.  This past Thursday we went to Benson and paid our respects to this amazing woman. There were some hard parts to handle.  While I was sad for my sister in law's family it was even sadder remembering my dad's services.  The closing of the casket was especially hard.

After mass we headed up to Benson's newer cemetery which was equally as old as the older cemetery we first found.  The cemetery was hilly and rough.  It was unlike any other cemetery I have ever seen.  Many plots were outlined with a concrete border. While one group of  plots had a 2 feet high slab of concrete covering. Like in the picture but imagine that over 3 or 4 plots.  For some reason that really gave me the creeps. My first reaction was that they didn't want zombies/vampires coming out of those graves....later I thought maybe they didn't want any grave robbing going on. It was just strange.  Why was so much concrete needed? Obviously it still bothers me.

surprise visit!

I had a dream last night that the whole gang surprised us with a visit! Even Jenna was here!  In my dream I found out that Dan got a promotion and pretty much paid for the trip.


For some reason though....Dave and Jenna got a hold of Dan's credit card and were using it to pay for a meal and were also hacking into his account to find out what else Dan had bought and were the ones that figured out originally that Dan got a promotion.


Weird, right?

football fanatic

Yesterday the mister and I went to a little mom and pop diner by our house.  The place is called Chaco's and I was introduced to it when I worked at AMO.  There was a small gathering of AMO'ers that went there religiously, especially on Thursday....carne asada taco lunch special day.  When we walked in yesterday Zac found a table by the back wall and as we sat down we realized it was a Dallas Cowboy themed booth.  The only booth in the whole place with a theme.  It was a little awkward sitting there. Neither of us have any loyalty to a football team so while sitting there we felt like we were sitting at someone's special table.

Would that person come in and say "Hey that's my table get out!"  I highly doubt anyone would do that and I'm pretty sure the family that owns the restaurant decorated the table in response to another customer's teasing.  But still...for some reason I felt wrong.  I don't like the Dallas Cowboys.  Maybe my dad and my brothers didn't like them growing up which created this reaction. I don't really know.  I wonder how people pick their teams and their loyalty. The only loyalty I have is to the UofA and usually when it come to the NFL I cheer for the team that has UofA alumni. Yesterday I told Zac I liked the saints, simply because of their little fleur de lis thing. That is how I pick my teams. 

craigslist amusement

I rarely check craigslist but I decided to take a little looksie just now. I just started checking out the clothing section and I found this ad for a formal dress but the pic is what cracked me up.  Why put your hand over the face and then take a pic? I guess putting a piece of tape or paper over the faces would be too hard.

Mother of Pearl

The 7th wasn't just my dad's birthday but it was also the Coheed concert. It's been a while since we've been to a concert. It's just hard when shows are on weeknights. It makes getting up for work the next day especially hard.

When we arrived at the Rialto we were trying to be a little fashionably late so we wouldn't have to wait in line and so we could have good seats in the balcony section. We were a bit surprised when we still had to wait a little bit in line and even more surprised when the stairs to the balcony were roped off. No sitting in cushy seats for us.

Overall the concert was pretty cool. Except for all the stinky people. And for the nonexistent AC when hundreds of people are spasming (rocking) out.

My favorite people watching moment was watching the group of nerds standing next to us.  It was a group of 5 guys clutching their books and records that they just bought or were hoping to get signed.  Right before Coheed went on stage another guy showed up with his girlfriend.  She looked all prim and proper with her short dress and heels.  Then the first song started and her boyfriend was convulsing in rhythm with the band.  I saw the girlfriend looking around to see if anyone was making fun of her boyfriend.  She seemed surprised to see her boyfriend so fired up.  Well that group of guys rocked hard for the rest of the night.  True fans I suppose.  

Is that right?

It was my Dad's birthday on the 7th.  It was a day of remembrance.  A day of watery eyes.  But overall it was a good day.

My Mom sounded good when I talked to her on the phone. I'm sure she had her tough times throughout the day.

My brother wrote a blog about my dad.  You should read it. Xavier really captures what my dad was like.  Tesotlan

Sorry about the choppiness of this post. 

girls

I always know when Zac is chatting (typing) with his girlfriend.

He types super fast.

He giggles.

And when I look at him he looks guilty. 

I'm glad to hear Dan is still alive and remembers us.

The Melting Pot or The meal that takes forever to eat!

Two weekends ago we picked up my mom to come spend the weekend with us.  We have had a gift card to The Melting Pot for quite some time now but never felt like it was a good time to use it.  Plus this restaurant is way over on the north side of town.  Starting a new job and having my mom with us I figured it would be a good time.  You have to understand my mom doesn't go to many restaurants.  Her and my dad would go to Furr's for a big night out on the town! My mom also has no idea how this fondue thing works so it was pretty fun watching my mom as each course was brought out.

Zac and I had only been there once before a few years ago so we knew how it worked and our first experience with fondue was in Portland which was totally awesome!  By the third course or really the main course of meats my mom was full and pretty much done with this experience and she was ready to go.  We had to tell her we still had dessert to go and she pretty much rolled her eyes at me while saying that she had never taken this long to eat a meal...we were probably there for an hour and a half at this point.  Dessert finally came out and my mom's eyes grew wide.  I hadn't seen her pick up a fondue fork that fast all evening.  I guess when it comes to chocolate there is always room. 

Pros: it's a fun restaurant for special occasions, make up one if you aren't even going for anything special...they give you a fancy chocolate covered strawberry!

Cons: super expensive, you cook your own food, and it takes a long time to go through four courses.

don't look at me like that! Sparkroot

This past Monday I met up with an old friend from my college days.  Every couple of months we meet up or force our Phoenix or out of state friends to come see us. Out of the group of 4 girls two of us lost our fathers this year, one got divorced and one is currently going through her own version of a mid life crisis or so she says. 

Mid life crisis girl and I both live here in town and try to see each other every few months and as a group we all keep in touch through a group site we have on facebook.  This past Monday we met up at Sparkroot.

We usually try to go to new places we haven't been and it usually has to have wine for my friend. Neither of us had ever been so we decided to meet.  I got to the place pretty early and while waiting I called my mom.  I hadn't ordered anything yet and I had my own water bottle with me.  While I was finishing up my phone call I decided it was time to order a drink and maybe something to eat.  At that moment a man passed by my table giving me the oddest look.  Like what the hell was I doing there.  I'm assuming he was a manager because I saw him giving everybody that look and then asking the cashier girl about another customer.  I almost wanted to tell the dude to chill out.  None of these people look like bums just taking up space. My friend finally met up with me and we chatted for a few hours. 

Pros:  downtown so easy to get to,  great place to people watch, pretty cool place to study....as long as you buy something, bathroom was clean.

Cons: Mad Eyes Magee Manager, not terribly comfortable for sitting so long, and when you are there to chat with old friends not having a waitress/waiter kind of blows, good if you don't plan on drinking/eating much or meeting for very long. 

Thunder, you scary!

I will forever be afraid of thunder and lightning.  It's  scary stuff.  But the rain we get is all worth it.  I'm pretty sure we are getting good rain this year because my Dad is causing a ruckus with the Rain Gods telling them how we need it.

While watching the Olympics I figured I'd do a little update. I now have two weeks of experience with this new job.  I am really good at looking at the intranet and reading procedures and policies. Changing my last name has really caused quite a problem with getting me signed up on systems.  Over ten years ago, my first job was as an afterschool tutor for a local elementary/middle school with this school district.  I completely forgot about that until HR called me and said that when I attend orientation I need to make sure my paperwork is all updated with my married name.  Check.  Unfortunately HR didn't tell anyone else to make sure to update my name in all systems to Chapman.  So it has taken two weeks to get everything right.  Thursday afternoon I finally had access to the Purchasing system and so the plan was on Friday to get me started working on live data.  Friday rolled around and the system was down.  What luck! 

At least I've been getting paid this whole time.

Starting this job has been a bit strange for me.  My temporary positions for the past 7 months have left me with a feeling of uncertainty. Like this job will be temporary too.  I tried to get over that feeling and this past Monday I brought in a few of my office supplies I had gathered while working at AMO....like the 5 million post it pads I hoarded. I think I have my little cubicle set up the way I want. I just need to start my stockpile of food so I don't visit the cafeteria every day.  The people are all pretty cool so far...even the lady that wears housecoats and slippers to work. 

Swamp Coolers Suck!

As a little girl one of my goals in life was to live in a house with air conditioning. 

To dream big.

My biggest beef with swamp coolers aside from when they just don't work with humidity is that my parents would turn them off at 10pm.  I would stay awake most nights dying.  I don't think I had a fan in my room for most of those summers, maybe I did when I got older.  But I would try anything and everything.  Wet towels to place around my neck or on my forehead that would just get really warm in seconds.  And I would grab ice bags that would just melt in minutes.

When I moved to the dorms in college I was overjoyed to have AC!  When I moved to my first place with Danielle our electricity bill was ridiculous during the summer because we had AC.

Now I'm all grown up and we have a swamp cooler.  But this time it isn't so bad.  Yeah there are those days and nights where it doesn't seem to work but it's better than nothing.  The key is on those really hot days you pick a spot directly under the breeze of the vent and you don't move.  Moving makes everything worse.  And at night you leave on the cooler and use additional fans at all times! 

At least now I don't agonize that 10pm turn off time.

well that sucks....

Nothing bad happened but I was looking at job postings...it's a habit now.  And I saw that the school district posted two other positions in purchasing that pay nicely. 

I guess I should look at it this way...I'm in and can work my way up, I know what to go after. 

And for Dave...yes the Teso's have been blogging. It's too hot to talk to each other so instead we write.  It's safer that way since it seems like SOMEONE can't be bothered when he is hungry or hot.

like a boss

So a month or so before I was laid off from AMO my VP was laid off. She is pretty bad ass.  She kind of reminded me of a female human version of Mr. Burns from The Simpsons.  She was cool but tough.  Instead of eating regular meals she'd eat those plastic carton things of blueberries or any other fruit she could get her hands on.  She had a thing for classic cars and any day she had her pick of a vintage Jaguar, Mustang and Corvette.  Since being laid off I've kept in touch with her telling her of my bad luck with jobs and then finally giving her the good news that I got a job.  Every couple of days she was sending me job links...even though I was already seeing the same job postings I was nice and thanked her for sending me the links and thinking of me.  When my dad died she sent me her condolences and just recently with the hospital job I told her how another former employee of hers got the job and she was shocked.  She hasn't had any luck finding a job, not that I think she really needs one but I just saw a Director position open up with the school district and I told her about it just in case she was interested.

This morning I received an email from her asking for a letter of recommendation.  A letter from ME?!!! Crazy how things turn around.  I hope I did her justice with my letter.  It was tough writing a letter for a former VP! 

I guess we'll see how things work out.

YOBA!!!!!

What is Yoba doing?


That is the question.

Albino=Yoba?

Slumber Party!

Gigi folding towels.

Friday night was out first little kid sleepover.  My niece Gigi and nephew Saul spent the night with us while their parents went out on a date night and instead of waking the kids up at 1 or 2 am my brother asked if the kids could spend the night.  I'm pretty sure Saul was behind the spending the night idea since he knew that his Tio Zac had a Batman Lego game waiting for him. 

Friday night they showed up with their little backpacks, wii controllers, Candyland game, nintendo DS, My Little Pony ds game, and food from El Pollo Loco.

After eating some chicken, beans, and rice the fun began.  Saul had his eyes set on Batman while Gigi showed me how to play My Little Pony.  After a while we let Gigi play Just Dance and then we started The Princess Bride.  Saul didn't care for this movie it was too boring for him and he decided he was better off going to sleep.  Gigi on the other hand is 4 going 16 and was in love with this movie.  She watched the whole damn movie!!!!! It was 1am when the movie was finally over.  The best part was during the movie and Gigi asked "Who is that?"  Zac answered her "It's the albino" Then  Gigi said "What is Yoba doing?"  We both turned to each other laughing hysterically.  Where did Yoba come from?

Finally the movie ended and I told her it was time to fall asleep. We set up an air mattress in the living room for them.  I didn't sleep very well that night. Between waking up to every sound and letting Daisy out it was a short night of sleep. In the morning after breakfast I needed to wash dishes and to keep Gigi occupied I had her fold the towels.  She told me she knew how to fold towels so I went back to the dishes.  After a couple minutes she tells me she doesn't know how to fold towels.  So I go show her and she is determined she knows how now.  She puts the towels on the floor, steps all over them, and halfway folded them but at least she did some and it kept her busy long enough to let me do the dishes.  Of course after 5 towels she told me she was too tired.  The rest of the morning Zac and Saul played some more Batman while Gigi and I watched My Little Pony shows on Netflix, played CandyLand, and had a tea party. 

It was a fun night but still exhausting.  Daisy was snoring away when the kids left.  She's not used to so much excitement!

"What is Yoba doing?"

They want me...they really want me!

Good news: I got a job. While I feel like it still isn't true since I haven't signed any papers yet and have to wait a whole week to go to an orientation, still I think this is it!

Bad news: The journey really sucked to get here!

Out of the past 9 months I have worked around 6 months starting at Old Navy for a month and two separate times at the hospital.  The first round at the hospital was for about 4 months while one buyer went on maternity leave.  The second round at the hospital was just this past June.  Another buyer accepted a position somewhere else leaving her buyer position wide open. I was called back to train on her last day.  While at the hospital the second time I was told I could apply for the upcoming open position and so I did.  Everyone kept telling me I had the advantage and even some told me all the interviewing was surely a formality.  Well to keep things short, I was screwed and I didn't get the position.  There was a ridiculous amount of drama when I came back in June (mainly about people asking if I really wanted to be there and if I were to get the job would I stay very long) and in the end I lost out to a lady I used to work with at my old AMO job. A lady that was laid off the same time as me and who I thought was pursuing school and a career in nutrition and had landed a job at her gym right away.

I've been going over how I lost the job, what I really wanted and what I've learned for the future.

1) Financial reasons-Since I've started at the hospital there was always talk about being under budget.  Since the hire of a nurse manager to fill the position of a clinical value analyst the budget has been pretty tight.  One position was cut entirely  and there was no room to hire any additional people. When I went back the second time I had one day of training because there wasn't any room in the budget to bring me back sooner.  Really...no room to bring me back for even 2  or 3 days of training? This makes me think that by hiring someone new they can bring that person in at a lower rate.  Also, this new person could potentially take over another position in the near future doing contracts.  They could give this person double the responsibility for the pay of one and get rid of another position.  Otherwise I don't understand why they would hire a new person they could promote quickly to contracts only to have to hire another buyer in a few months.

2)The new person really seemed confident.  When I was told that I didn't get the job the purchasing manager told me that she felt the new person would take the "buyer position to exciting new places and could possibly move up quickly to a Contract Resource Specialist".  What a load of BS.  But since I knew the person that got the job I know a little more about her.  When she came into her first interview she was dressed in a tight short skirt with a zipper going doing the front, a white fitted sleeveless blouse and strappy heels.  To her second interview she wore a suit.  I know who she knows too.  This office seems to cater to people that "know people"  so if she did some name dropping I'm pretty sure she looked impressive.  My confidence was kind of lacking compared to someone that had no idea what the job was really like.  My first interview back in December was with a purchasing manager that retired a month later.  I'm pretty sure I got the job because no one else wanted a temp position with no benefits.  My first round of training consisted of 9 days with a pregnant woman that was not prepared to train anyone. I learned the basics but I was constantly asking questions.  By the time I left in April I was really feeling comfortable.  Coming back in June it took me a week to kind of feel where I left off in April but it was still a completely different position than what I did before. My confidence was always wavering simply because I hated having to ask a million questions a day. And dealing with the warehouse was a task in itself.  While interviewing the second time with the new purchasing manager she said she was confident in sending me to the next interview with the department managers.  The next week I was told that the department manager didn't need to interview me because they already knew me.  So if all they knew was the person they spoke to on the phone then what chance did I have to show them what I knew or impress them in any way.

3)I didn't really want this job and needed a sign but still it sucked to hear I was rejected.  When I left the hospital in April I was glad.  I was annoyed by the people that worked in the office.  I had just gone through the death of my dad and I needed time to veg and process what had happened.  When I was called back in June I told some people that I really didn't want the job but I knew a job was a job and I'm in no position to be picky so I went back in June trying to prove I wanted the job.  At the end of May I had applied for a few jobs and during June I was slowly getting the emails that I wasn't qualified or picked for interviews.  Then on June 22nd I received an email that I was chosen for an interview with a local school district as a procurement assistant.  Then the real struggle began.  At this point I had already done the first interview and was waiting to find out about the 2nd interview.  I decided to keep the appointment that was set for me and then figure out how to tell the office that I was going to be out on the following Friday.  I was waiting to see if the hospital would just tell me if I had the job or not so I could cancel the interview with the  school district but as I wasn't getting a notification for the 2nd interview I thought I really needed to keep the school district interview.  On the 27th I told my supervisor I would be out that Friday.  I went home that night torn about the decision I would have to make or the decision that would be made for me.  Working at a school district seemed more attractive.  I would have a new chance to prove myself.  I would work in an environment that was probably more suited to me.  While the rain was coming down I thought of my dad and I asked him what I should do, could I really be happy working for the hospital if I got that job?   Thursday rolled around and first thing in the morning I was told I didn't get the job.  While I knew this was the sign I had asked for it still hurt.  To work somewhere for 4 months and then to be told someone else had better qualifications is hard to handle.  Being rejected shouldn't be anything new for me since I have a notebook of 50+ jobs that I didn't get but this time it was just unreal.

So the decision was made for me to interview for the school district.  I finished out my day at the hospital and even though they gave me the option to work until the new person started I didn't want to keep working somewhere that didn't want me. On Friday I interviewed for the school district and I tried to be confident and assertive while still being me.  At the end of my interview where they ask you if you want to add anything....I tried something new after asking my questions I closed out my interview stating that even though I had experience as a buyer that each position is different and that I see this as a new opportunity to learn and grow.  I didn't want to come away with them thinking I was overqualified for an assistant position but I also didn't want to seem overly desperate.

Imagine my surprise  yesterday when I opened an email from the school district telling me that I got the job!  While the pay isn't as great as it was at AMO I really do think I'll be happier working for  a school district.  I don't mind going back down the totem pole of purchasing because hopefully I can advance quickly.  AND I really hated wearing business professional clothes.  When I went in for my interview at the district office women were wearing jeans and capris.  Wearing regular clothes makes me extremely happy! So here's to a new start and a new adventure!

OH and I left out after my interview with the new purchasing manager at the hospital I fell down the stairs.  I was ok just had a sore butt for a couple weeks.  I was wearing cheap 1 inch heels from Ross.  For my interview at the school district I wore some Nine West boots with a 2 inch heel and I didn't fall and I got the job.  I really think the shoes did it.  

Fifty Shades of Grey

No not the book.

Although from what I've heard a lot of women like the book.  I read on wikipedia that it originally started out as Twilight fanfiction.  I've also heard that after the first sex scene the rest of the sex scenes are repetitive and boring and you are better off reading the trashy romance novels.  That's ok I think I'll stick with my free ibook novel I acquired recently titled "How to Marry a Millionaire Vampire" by Kerrelyn Sparks.  Here is a just a taste of how awesome this book is:

"Hey, Doc." Tommy sauntered in with a grin. For the last two weeks, the teenager had made a delivery every night, and Shanna enjoyed his adolescent attempts at flirtation as much as the pizza. In fact, this was the highlight of her day, Jeez, she was on the fast track to becoming pathetic.

"Hi, Tommy. How's it going?" She went to the office counter to locate her purse.

"I've got your giant pepperoni right here." Tommy tugged on the waistband of his loose jeans, then let go. The jeans slid slightly down his narrow hips, revealing three inches of silk Scooby Doo boxer shorts.

"But I ordered a small one."

"I wasn't talking about the pizza, Doc." Tommy gave her a big wink and set the pizza box on the counter.

"Right. Well that was a bit too cheesy for me. And I don't mean the pizza, either."

"Sorry." With pink-tinted cheeks, he gave her a sheepish smile. "A guy's gotta try, you know."

"I suppose so." She paid for the pizza.

"Thanks." Tommy pocketed the money.



I told you it was good stuff!

The real reason for my post tonight was that I saw Jaime posted on FB that she has applied for 30 jobs in the past couple of weeks and I just hit 50 since I first started looking back in October.    The past few weeks I've just been feeling unwanted and heading towards the depressing side.  I don't want to leave the house at all, it seems like too much work to leave the comfort of my home.  So feeling like that I knew I had to do something.  I started looking at volunteer sites and although my first choice would be to volunteer at the Humane Society I don't think that would be good since there are a lot of cats there.  I contacted the volunteer contact at the hospital and they never answered my email so forget them. I then found a posting by the Tucson Audubon Society and sent in an application for that.  They are looking for volunteers to do a ton of things from working in their gift shops, data entry, calling donors for fundraising, bird surveying, teaching and so on.  The gift shop and data entry caught my eye.   The other reason T.A.S caught my eye was because the building is on University, down the street from the UofA and is in a building that I always thought was beautiful.  If they let me volunteer there I'll be able to go inside and check it out!  I'm expecting a phone call from them tomorrow so hopefully soon I can work on something that will make me feel useful outside of this house.

Yard Sale awesomeness!

Today we went to a Memorial Day service at the cemetery.  My dad was in the National Guard as a youngin and even though he never really mentioned it much while he was alive the fact that he served became a big deal when he died. Last Wednesday or Thursday my mom saw a flyer at work that had my dad's name on it as one of the few buried in the cemetery that would be honored.  So naturally my mom wanted to go.  The service was short and sweet and I even chatted with a girl I knew from high school. After the service we went back to my mom's house to eat breakfast.  We noticed the neighbors across the street were having a yard sale and after breakfast we went and checked it out.  My mom said the stuff has been sitting out for 5 or 6 days and all the plastic bags that the junk was in all flew over to my mom's yard. 

We went over and were looking at the books then I started looking through the clothes.  I found a brand new Adidas jacket for Zac and then I found a Louis Vuitton purse for me.  The purse was only 50 cents so I snapped it up.  I'm 100% sure it's fake but that is ok with me.  It's still neat and it's insurance for the next time we get robbed. 

A few years ago I received a LV wallet/purse thing as a Christmas gift.  The wallet was wrapped lovingly in kleenex and I even got a free bobby pin.  I figured that was fake and because of its odd shape I never really saw myself using it.  I stuffed it away in my sock drawer.  When our house was broken into and our bedroom was trashed I thought immediately of my little authentic Coach purse I had bought myself.  I checked through all the damage and I was happy to see the Coach bag still there but then noticed the box with the  LV wallet was missing.  The thieves went for the fake over the real thing.  If we ever get robbed again I hope this works again! 

Why won't you just tell me?

So I kept asking Mr. Katohater what he was doing yesterday, mostly to bug and annoy him, and he kept avoiding my question.  He said he was working and when I asked him what he was working on he wouldn't just tell me.  At some point later on when I got bored again that I wanted to annoy him I tried to get a picture of him and his mustache.  This is what I got:

Later I checked out his blog and that is when I found out what exactly he was working on.  NERD! 

Lets all blog about dresses!

I've been wanting to blog about dresses for a while but everyone else beat me to it!  My main reason was with prom happening last month I've seen a ton of pictures posted. Normally I love prom dresses but it seems the fad this year was SLUTFEST 2012!

When I was growing up I fantasized about prom this is what I remember:

Metallic colors, crushed velvet with huge bows.  Whatever the color of dress there had to be a huge bow somewhere on the dress.

I don't have pictures of when I went to prom but the popular style of dress was:

I just grabbed this pic off the web.  Dresses were somewhat simple maybe with some soutache or sparkly adornments.  Dresses that looked like different shades were also popular. 

Then I remember when I was student teacher and chaperoned a prom I was amazed at how tiny the dresses became.  This year I saw a few pics of girls going to prom and in each of these pics the dress was equally as tiny!  Why wear this:

The pic is from Forever21 and although it's on the cheap side and probably proper for clubbing it won't forgive any curves a woman might have and yeah some women no matter their body type like to rock it.  I get it.  But why wear skin tight mini dresses when you can wear this:

Ok so maybe I personally wouldn't have gone so pink...or so frilly but I definitely would stay away from these outfits....it's been done before get over it....stop with the starburst, gum, soda pop, and duct tape dresses!

SNL Digital Short of Got Yee

SNL Digital Short: Gotye Backstage


I didn't know there was a fancy schmancy way of saying this band's name before they were on SNL so even though I know how to say it now I'd rather say it Got Yee or Goat Yee.

This song is also catchy and I liked it when I first heard it but now too many people like it so it can't be cool anymore.  I'll like it again when it's retro.

I'm a housewife again.  I've been baking, cleaning, and making sure I have a 3 course meal set on the table by the time my husband comes home....um yeah that isn't happening....but I am pinning the meals I would make and the stuff I'd do around the house on Pinterest....so that is a start.

Oh yeah I knew there was a reason I wanted to post.  So I decided I'm going to watch 250 netflix  movies while I'm unemployed and I have set up a queue of everything I want to watch to attain my goal.....just kidding....I probably will though just by default since I need to have noise while I'm by myself.

I did watch No Strings Attached today.  It has Natalie Portman and Aston Kutcher so you know it's going to be really good.  It was actually pretty funny and I enjoyed it immensely until all the super emotional girly crap came up.  I realized I stopped watching the movie when it got all serious and started doing something else better like wash dishes.

We are young

 This song always comes on the radio. My favorite part is the Tonight we are young so lets set the world on fire part and that is about it. 


My time as a buyer for the hospital is coming to an end.  After this week I will have 3 weeks left and then hopefully it will be off to the next job or back to being a housewife.

While at this latest job I have come into contact with what one of my friends refers to as office characters or OC's.

Racist Surfer Grandma Chick- while at lunch one day the conversation turned to beauty and skin products.  This lady's comment of why black women don't have wrinkles was "because they come from Africa and are used to being in the sun".  Her heroes are Sheriff Joe Arpaio and Jan Brewer.

I hate everyone and will gladly let you know Lady-This particular lady was my teammate and nice to me even after I asked her a bajillion questions everyday.  Her beef seemed to be with everyone else in the office.  She didn't care much for our direct supervisor and the manager and was so open with me about why she didn't like them that it really surprised me.

Smokey McQuitter- This lady has smoked for most of her life and now has that gross cough that sounds like pieces of lung are making their way out of her body.  She also breathes very loudly so she will never be a good ninja.  Also she likes to tell the same stories over and over.  I know she loves hush puppies and is upset that there isn't a good place in town that serves them.  She also thinks the fish and chips platter at Applebee's is delicious and that servings are large.   I also know when avocados are on sale because of her.

Mr. Ninja Man-This guy is so sneaky you never know when he has arrived or left work for lunch or the day.  He's so good that I had no idea he even worked in this office for 2 weeks.

Ms. Forgets A Lot-Following this lady is like watching a yo-yo. For example she'll ask you about what kind of crackers you are eating....will then ask how many calories...you answer something else like the other flavors you enjoy and then she'll ask you what you are talking about.  She can't seem to follow a conversation at all.  Today she asked another lady how much weight she lost.  The lady responded 50 pounds and Ms. Forgets a Lot says "No WAY, you are lying....you lost 650 pounds?!!!!!!"

Mama Boy Jimbo-This dude took the full time buyer job I initially interviewed for.  He's a nice guy but when he first started in purchasing he would bring food that his mama made for him.  Turns out he lives in the trailer next to his mama's and his sister lives on the other side of mama.  He rarely brings his mama's food now and instead goes out to Whataburger, Eegee's and Burger King on a regular rotation.  My fondest memory of him was when he told Racist Surger Grandma Chick (his supervisor) to ...."chill out babe"!

I work with more people but they aren't as fun to write about.

to a great man

My Dad passed away after about three months of struggling with unknown issues to having a stroke and finding out he had cancer. The last two months were filled with ups and downs waiting to hear good and bad news.  Each week was a another chance of hope.

When the decision was made to move to hospice care he knew it wouldn't be long.  He made sure to tell me he loved me and that he wasn't afraid to die.  That was all I needed.  There were many nights of crying and praying.  Sometimes I was praying for a miracle but most of the time I was praying for strength for myself and my family. 

The past two weeks seem to have gone by really slow.  Each day felt like a week.  It was exhausting.  The sadness, tears, and pain took their turns coming and going.  With all the sadness though there were some wonderful things that happened too.  Family that hadn't spoken in years came together to ask each other for forgiveness and put differences aside.  Family that didn't have to do anything helped us with food when feeding ourselves was the last thing on our mind and helped us with funeral preparations when we ran into obstacles. It was amazing to see family and friends come out to pay their last respect to my father. 

My father was a truly humble man.  He would help out who ever needed help. He gave people 2nd, 3rd and 4th chances.  He was proud of his family and took care of us the only way he knew how.  He was a great story teller and had one hell of a smile.  Even in his last days he was still trying to crack jokes. I love my dad with all my heart.  I was his princess.  I'll never forget him.

stuff about stuff

My dad is slowly getting better after a couple of weeks of procedures and everything seeming to go wrong. This week he starts his second round of chemo and hopefully he'll be able to go home soon. 

Zac seems to be all fine after his accident. It is sad we no longer have Mr. Y but things could have been much worse and am glad things have worked out in that area. 

I started my new temp job at the hospital. Being a buyer at a hospital is a little weird but much easier than my last job.  I don't have to forecast anything I just push orders through.  I'm just waiting now for the girl I'm filling in for to go on her maternity leave.

Other random things....

-The neighbors next door were very quick to put up their Christmas tree, lights, and decorations.  But they aren't so quick to take it all down.  The lights still go on at night and their Christmas tree is still up  in their living room. 

-Zac and I along with my brother are taking turns acting as landlords for the house my dad owns here in town.  While Zac and my brother have done some work on the house, all 3 of us have taken turns asking for the rent money.  Being a landlord sucks.

-Saturday was my nephew Saul's birthday party.  The party was  at a bowling alley and we got there pretty late.  He is 7 now and when we finally showed up at the bowling alley 30 minutes before it was over Saul hugs us and says "you guys finally got here..."  I figured he wouldn't notice since there were a bunch of kids running around but it's nice he did notice. 

Today we had to go over to my parents house in Marana.  My mom was at the hospital with my dad so we had to let ourselves in. We were there so Zac could fix some computer issues so that the roku box would work right.  I got a phone call before we even got there that my mom left some food on the table and to heat it up if we were hungry if not put it in the fridge.  So I'm thinking it's like potatoes or some thing for breakfast.  Instead when we got there it was rice, beans, and meat with potatoes and green chiles....sooooooo goood!  Oh man we stuffed ourselves. Then we got to the hospital where we had donuts and tacos...stuff that other people brought to share with my dad or for my mom to take home.  

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