Cha-cha-cha-changes

So I decided that with my family obligations, I can't keep fooling myself that I'm getting anywhere with the actuarial exams.

When I broke the news to my work, they didn't immediately make things easy for me. They made it sound like I had until May to find a new job within or without the company. Ughhh. Not exactly the best time to be unemployed.

So, I put out some feelers with my peeps around the company and got a few calls and an interview right away.

Eva came out for a week and was here during the thick of it. I interviewed for this awesome position on Monday and it went so well that they asked to talk to my supervisor and have me call-in interview with the VP.

This makes my supervisor and her boss nervous, because my plate at work is very full until at least Christmas, so they will have a lot of work to reallocate if I go right away. I think they thought it would be harder for me to find something in this job market. So, they make my job more secure and offer me something indefinitely. This will make it easier to push the salary negotiations with the potential offer and not accept it if it isn't a good move (it was going to break even or a little net negative considering transportation and daycare additions to expense.)

So now that things are feeling a little more stable, I feel like I can post about it. It was pretty hairy for a while.

In other news, aside from pulling my hair the whole time preparing for the job interview and stressing, it was AWESOME to see Me Sista. We scrapbooked, went shopping, had a dinner party, chilled out, and saw a dodgers' game.

Then, the day we took her to the airport to fly back, Mark and I left for our monthly couples retreat. (I decided to take days off every month so we can hang out and be married -- we NEVER see each other and it sucks.) We drove out to Palm Springs, caught an art exhibit, ate some good food, stayed in a not-suckin-hotel and Zola and I even got to swim in a real swimming pool at the hotel. She was so cute in the water, kicking and swimming. Didn't like the back float, but loved the doggie-paddle.

Anyway, I'm off to a BBQ to welcome Mahi's mom from India and then the week begins. Hopefully I'll have some more info about the job prospect soon.

Going Private

Email me or PM me in Facebook if you would like to be made a reader.

I'm sure you saw this coming.

tgi summer-fun-a-rama-DONE

So, I am finally getting around to bringing you up to speed on weeks 11, 12 and life since the conclusion of the whole festival of fun.

Week 11:
We got our craft on, cycled twice, took pics at the hollywood sign, went shopping at melrose AND sunset, went to California Chicken Cafe, got pictures taken at JCP for both Chan and Zola, and went to "Make It Funky" street festival with DJ's, live bands, cool crafts, street artists, etc. Awesome. Again, so inspired I could die.

Week 12:
Breakfast at Charlies Diner, Padres vs. the Dodgers at Dodger Stadium, Marmalade Cafe and shopping at the Grove, Cycling, Assembling the crib/packing, Dinner at Madhuri's LOST season 1 marathon, Venice Beach, Hiking Topanga Canyon, and finally a tearful goodbye at LAX. We definitely miss our Cha-nanny-gens.

Technically, Week 13 was pretty crazy too. I took 2 days off work so Mark and I could have a weekend together in Santa Barbara. We had reserved a campsite at El Capitan State Beach, but couldn't hear each other over the generators, traffic, and someone drove by in a golf cart. That was the death-knell for our 45 minutes of camping. We went home, drank several bottles of wine and talked into the night.... and spent the next day lounging at the beach. It was nice.

I have caught up on everything, including sleep, since we assembled the crib and have Zola sleeping in her own space now. Ahhh, the bliss of being able to ignore her in the night while she tosses and turns and gets herself back to sleep.

My exam season is well underway, and I am studying for half of part 3 (of 9). It's going okay, but I'm not getting my hopes up on passing or anything. My new job is starting to feel like an old job, and I'm more often working than wondering.

And it is hot in California... so summer is not quite over. Let's hope I don't have any more fun.

week 10 of summer-fun-a-rama

Monday: Cycling

Tuesday: Went to Amoeba and Target. I got the Beatles "Love" album and this rug.

Wednesday: Cycling with Madhuri -- GREAT INSTRUCTOR. I think I lost 20 pounds in this class.

Thursday Night: watched Pleasantville and went shopping and got Zola one of these:
Friday night: Star walk on Hollywood Blvd, Paquito Mas for burritos

Saturday: Went to Chinatown and stumbled upon the 2nd annual renegade craftfair... I went to this last year with Steph and it was so awesome that I practically RAN there when I realized what was going on!

Holy crap, OMG, wow, best day of the year! Got INSPIRED!!!!

We came home, ate and relaxed for a while and then dropped the youngun off at Madhuri's so we could go to a concert at the El Rey to see Pinback. The music was pretty down tempo, but it built up and we rocked out and had an excellent time!

Sunday: Slept in a bit. Went to see Inception. BEST MOVIE this year. Go see it, Internet. You must. Then we came home, took a nap, watched Rebel Without A Cause, and then went back out on the pretext of helping Scott do something and wound up trying to figure out why Hollywood Blvd was closed down with the red carpet out. We never did figure it out because whatever it was had just ended and they were packing up. However, it was a good excuse for an ice blended coffee.

oh and here are some random pics from the past few weeks

week 9 of summer-fun-o-rama

We are definitely winding down (running out of fun-ds) from our Summer-Fun-O-Rama. The run down from last weekend to this weekend:

- Live Jazz at the Los Angeles Contemporary Museum and picnic with a bunch of friends.
- Madhuri's house for lunch, Getty Museum (Gerome Exhibit) with a live band. I just love this painting that we saw. It looks like a photograph!- Pizza and a movie night.
- Chana got a job in the mornings for the hours that we don't need her to do childcare. She is working at a gift shop on Hollywood Blvd that is owned by a couple of friends of mine. We got her oriented with the bus and navigating the city by herself. She's a brave and independent person and it's fun to share her "firsts on her own."
- We went to the Dodgers vs. the Cubs game at Dodgers Stadium with Farhan and Christine, got some Dodgers Dogs, and watched some slaughter on the diamond. (Cubs suck! Sorry, Farhan. But you know it's true.)
- Went to tea at Madhuri's place. Chana got to try Indian snacks and Chai.
- Went shopping at the Beverly center, a "7-story" mall in Beverly Hills. Got a cute owl necklace at Forever 21 that will make Stephanie weep.
- Scrapbooked like crazy, opened the box to my new Cricut (thanks Mom & Dad M for the wonderful bday gift) and cut up some paper like crazy. I'm in love with scrapbooking again.
- Saw Tiffany for a couple of hours.
- Went to a surprise baby shower and Indian party for Archana, a mutual friend I met through Madhuri.


Phew. Do you still care? No? Okay. I will stop blathering.

tales from the scale, volume 1

Let's take the starting point that I just had a baby....I'm not posting any "before" pictures or anything, but I'm sure you know where I'm at, Internet. We've been together long enough to know this much about each other. You know what I'm talking about.

Well, Dr. Oz just told me that the worst day to start a diet is Monday or Tuesday because you have all week to fall off the wagon before you get into your routine. I'm sorry, Dr. Oz. I completely disagree. All that free time to munch and lounge on the weekend... I do my best work on the week days because I hardly have time to fall off anything.

So, yesterday I finally went and renewed my gym membership. I didn't get a fabulous deal or anything. I could have haggled a little more, but I got the guy down to the point that I had budgeted for - so that's what matters. And including the unlimited daycare, it's still less than I was paying for the past 10 years (which was too much.) I get to bring 2 guests with me every visit, so free-loading workout buddies are welcome! By the time the guy finished my paperwork, I only had 15 minutes left before the childcare closed, so I ran a quick mile! Go me! Then, we went to a clothier (sounds nicer than Ross, doesn't it) and I got a work out outfit that doesn't make me look like a tube sausage. Why is it that athletic attire is always made "form" fitting as though the people working out don't have a reason to need to?

That's hot.

Chana is into fitness, so we are planning to go every other day at the minimum to take in a class or swim some laps or something. I'm going to make her cycle with me, because that's where all the fat burning happens for me. Once I get into the habit, I'm somewhat of a gym rat. And I get really warm fuzzies about life in general from all that seratonin. I'm really looking forward to it. The fun starts tonight. Not the average summer-fun-o-rama.

Oh, and did I mention... bank of america lets you download transactions into excel and do data analysis on how you are spending. I am embarassed to share this... but, we ATE (as in food purchases/restaurants) $1,500 in food last month. I think it's time to work out, don't you?

light and dark

Roger and Aubri were here to drop off Chana for a few days last week and we filled our days with Yogurtland, Six Flags, the beach, and walks in the city. As usual, it was a blast to see them. Chana came with us to Arizona to drop off Stephanie and enjoy a laid back 4th of July. Our traditions are nothing compared to the Moroni 4th.



We've just been grillin' and chillin' and enjoying family. We talked Stephanie into getting her pictures taken with Zola by suggesting a punk rock / Twilight theme.

But we also had a few "cute" ones taken in normal clothes.

week 5 of summer-fun-o-rama

It seems like I have more and more to say and less and less time to say it in. You will have to live with a few pics and short, informational sentences. You will have to live without my magnificent humor until Zola goes to college.

Last weekend Stephanie, Caleb, Zola Jane and I went to San Diego. We loved gawking at those poor caged animals, trashed a hotel and made fun of people gutting fish off the pier at Imperial Beach. We had a pretty good time, ate ridiculous amounts of sugar and watched hotel tv until the wee hours.

Caleb flew home Tuesday, and since then Stephanie and I haven't really done much. It's been a more relaxing installment of Summer-Fun-O-Rama this week since Stephanie has "been there, done that" for most things. On the week days, the most exciting thing we have done has been walk to blockbuster for more "Curb Your Enthusiasm."

Friday night we went to the Grove. They had a live band and some of the kid-faces of Disney were there. We met and got Zola's picture with Vincent Martella, the voice of "Phineas" on Phineas and Ferb and plays "Greg" on Everyone Hates Chris.
Stephanie is trying to "friend" him on Facebook. He messaged her a few times to figure out who she is (and remembered getting the photo) but I told her not to be disappointed if he doesn't friend her. She is friends with a band we went to see last year at the El Rey, and I guess they message all the time, so maybe Vincent and her will be laughing about this post together in a few years when they get married. Who knows.

Saturday early, I took Zola to get her pictures done. I've tried to do it every month on or around her birth day. I skipped 6-months because we took family self-portraits in Arizona. But, it seems like so much has changed from the baby who just laid on her back and smiled.


She was COMPLETELY ADORABLE in this photo session. After that, I took her to get her ears mutilated. We can now start the gender training in full. Next week, I am going to bind her feet.

Afterward, Stephanie and I went back to the Grove. They were doing a "Hawaii" event with hula, music, and free food, drink, lei making, etc. We toured Kauai while we waited for our showing of TOY STORY 3 in 3D... very, very worth seeing. We took Zola to her first movie in the theater and she was very well behaved. I was worried because people in LA are serious about their movies. She appeared to love the movie as much as Stephanie and I did. She laughed, she cried... and so did we. (Although we did it at appropriate moments and no one shoved a pacifier in our mouths.)

I think the big plans for today are to go hear some DJs perform at a public park and do some household maintenance. If we don't buy groceries soon, Stephanie will be forced to eat the baby. She's sweet, but I don't think it will work. I'd never be able to figure out if the sides should be savory or not.

dry heat

I had some time off and some plans that fell through, so we went to Arizona on a whim.



While we were there, we took some family pictures of ourselves in front of the same plant that we got married in front of.
And Zola Jane got to go swimming for the first time. She didn't love it at first, but it was so hot that I left her in the water for a while to cool off and she "warmed up" to it. Love my puns.

Oh, and by the way, we decided an hour before we left to come back to kidnap Stephanie. Yay... extra kid!

lucky number seven

Here is my turd. She is seven months old this week! This is the last picture ever taken of her hair before it retired and moved to Florida.

I love this head chopped one for two reasons:
1. you can not see her chopped off hair.
2. it looks like it was taken with a 110 camera in the 70's and could be any of the 5 pictures taken of me when I was little (ninth children never have millions of baby photos of themselves. It's a well-documented fact. Don't worry mom, I'm not hatin'.)

The pic above is what I call her "Lindsey Lohan" smile. She has that grin on her face because she knows that her panties are showing in both of the remaining pictures and she doesn't care because she is hopped up on girlie-girl.


There you have it. Seven months.

Just kidding. I can think of more to say. I'm not just going to punctuate the images. Anyway, you don't get to hear from me that often anymore 'cause I'm off living the sexy, glamorous life of a hollywood starlet (now that they are all pushing forty and pumping out offspring.)

We have a young fella, Caleb, living with us for a few weeks to help out with added childcare need while I'm getting acclimated to my new job. He's absolutely precious. He is in the kitchen as I type, Internet: making me a smoothie. And when I got home, I could make out the distinct aroma of lysol. Utah churns out the most polite young people.

We have been fully launched into our annual Summer-Fun-A-Rama. Shopping at the Beverly Center, China Town, Melrose, Hollywood Farmer's Market, the Fairfax High Swap Meet, Amoeba Records, Hollywood Boulevard, and so on... We've gone to Friday Night Jazz at the LA Contemporary Museum, the Lake Shrine Self-Realization Center Garden, saw a Dodger's game, eaten tons of Indian food, rode bikes down Venice (with baby in a trailer), walked the Santa Monica Pier, and lounged on a Malibu beach. The last is the only one we have a picture of!
Whew. I'm out of breath. That's a lot of fun.

transition, people

I start a new position at work on Monday as part of a standard educational rotation program for studying actuaries to make our brains explode. I will miss my supervisor and coworkers a lot... it's been a good three years and I really enjoy the group I'm leaving. Onward and upward...

We have a series of teens coming for a few weeks each during the summer to help offset childcare and the added burden and pressures of starting a new job while still on the double shift of having an infant up most of the night. The first young California dreamer gets here on Saturday and we have some fun stuff lined up. I think you can expect another "Summer-Fun-O-Rama" (see June 2008 in my archives to relive the excitement of previous installments!)

I looked back at 2009 and realized that even though we had a Summer-Fun-O-Rama, I was too busy writing about my pregnancy. I guess becoming a mom does make you a little more boring... No wonder I don't get many comments anymore... I'm sorry, Internet. I've let you down!

I will *try* to stop blathering about the baby. Tomorrow.

--She's making these gutteral sounds and I am trying to train her to make them right after I say "What does a zombie say?"
--She giggles crazy when you say "tickle, tickle" or "I'm gonna get you"
--She puts her arms out to say "hold me" when we get home from work.
--She sits with her arms forming a tripod.
--She has good fine motor skills with her fingers... meaning she can pinch (while twisting... the delicate skin in your armpit) and pull your beard or try to gouge your eyes out now.
--She likes to eat paper. She has a method where she soaks it in drool until it becomes soft pulp and then she gums it into little pieces and swallows it until she chokes loud enough for you to realize that a piece of paper fell on the ground too close to her. I think it's organic, right?

almost six months

It's crazy how time flies, isn't it? Zola is going to be 6 months next week.

We are all settled into the rhythm of parenthood and are enjoying it completely.


She started getting a flat head, so we have to position her on her side more. While she falls asleep, she is sort of compulsive about having something in her hand to play with... she would prefer to hold mama or dada's hand... but we are trying to give her a pajama-time routine that doesn't have us sitting by her side for hours... so she gets this light-up/song playing seahorse instead. It's soft and she likes to pet it and the tunes start her eyeballs rolling up into the back of her head the minute it starts to play. She's a good sleeper and gets tired around 6pm... which is just a half hour after I get home from work :(. I wish we had more time to hang out.

I am sure you will agree with Mark that she has entered her "ugly phase." Clearly, she is hideous.

snack-a-lack-a

I'm not sure what snack-a-lack-a means. But, it's my latest word. I say it every day at least 50 times. It is a noun, verb, adjective, and expletive and it pretty much says it all. I finally got around to locating the pictures we took last weekend of Zola Jane having a sand picnic at the beach. We forgot to tell her that just because it exists doesn't mean you can digest it. She thought it was so tasty, though. She came back for seconds and thirds.

I can relate because I just had some fast food sushi for dinner.

We can now push her around in a new stroller! Thanks Mom & Dad! This stroller looks pretty average, but we test drove a lot of different strollers and this one has the best of everything. We surprised ourself, because it's a little bigger than I thought we would like. But Zola spends about a quarter of her life being strolled around, so we thought, "what the heck."

Plans for this weekend? Maybe I'll go for a long walk.

matrimony

I went to Utah for a long weekend to attend DJ's beautiful wedding. It was a quick trip, but I really enjoyed it and Zola Jane got buried in attention from all her Cousins and Aunts/Uncles. I started calling Roger her "Dad away from Dad" because he is definitely her favorite person in Utah (no offense to everyone else... it's just a fact. Ha ha.)

Zola Jane got her pictures taken with Jailyn, her cousin who was due on the same day but born three weeks or so apart. It was so interesting to see how much different the two girls are... and look at all of Jailyn's hair! How wonderful. She is also much taller than ZJ.




How did this cute one taken at home get in here? Oh, because it's so cute who can resist. She's grabbing at those feet constantly. And so am I. They're irresistible.


Marilyn looked lovely. She had little strands of golden tinsel sparkling in her side-swept hair and a contagious smile all day. The evening before the wedding we got to hang at her bachelorette party where we dipped strawberries into a chocolate fondue fountain and talked about how exhausted we all were. What work weddings are!


I hijacked the rings for a few shots with their beautiful cake. I just loved the figurines. Such a fun touch to the fireman theme.



The cousin in the middle is Wyatt. He is a few months older than the girls.