DisneyLand...they think of everything!

J and I set out to DisneyLand and California's Adventure Park on Black Friday, November 27! We thought that this would be a better day to go on because many people were out shopping or still recovering from Thanksgiving and so there would be less people there than on maybe a Saturday or regular weekend! We pre bought the 1-Day Park Hopper tickets through my teachers union for a cheap price and had the fanny pack (that I bought earlier that morning at Black Friday madness) packed up and ready to go.

We set out on our adventure. The drive was about 1 hour up to Anaheim, CA from our house and there was a convenient exit, Disney Way, that took you straight from the highway to the parking garages and resort parking for the theme park and Downtown Disney.

During our experience at Disneyland we had a few Eureka moments and epiphanies. The following is our list of all the amazing things that Disneyland and CA Adventure Park have, as well as our Do's and Don'ts in order to have an optimal time at the most magical place on earth!

Props to Disney for:
-Hand Sanitizer : in the midst of Swine Flu, they had hand sanitizer stations outside every ride when you exited and by all major eating facilities!

-Overall Very Friendly: each employee was super nice and helpful

- Warm Water in bathrooms for hand washing: when we left the park that evening I had to use the bathroom one more time before the ride home. It was pretty cold outside and I was dreading washing my hands with the freezing cold water. But, to my surprise, the water was pleasantly warm and made my hand washing experience much better!

-Photo Passport Card: you can get it for free from any gift shop or an employee who is taking pictures. They scan your card when they take a picture of you with a character or at a prime photo destination. This card has a bar code that links online to their website. When you leave Disneyland you can go home and view all the pictures they took of you during your visit and then have the option of buying them or editing them to say "Merry Christmas" or "First visit", etc. The card is reusable and we can bring it back next time we go to Disneyland to add pictures to our photo passport. The employees will also take the same picture with your personal camera, so you don't have to buy their pictures. Even though, most of the time their pictures turned out better than our camera.

-Fast Pass: Is a must. Basically it waits in line for you, while you can be riding another ride. It is a ticket that you get with your Disneyland park ticket. You insert it into the machine by the ride area and it prints out another ticket with a time for you to come back to ride the ride. When you come back at the later time, you by pass all the waiting in line and go directly to the front of the line for the ride. It is awesome! Great for rides like Splash Mountain, Space Mountain, Screammin' Roller Coaster Ride, and other long line rides.

-Equal Opportunist Employer. I met a Deaf man. He was working in the candy shop and we had a nice little chit chat. He was also fluent in other countries sign languages, such as Mexican Sign Language. It was very impressive! Deaf people can be bilingual too!

-2 people is Best!: We learned that traveling with 2 people in your party is much better than larger groups such as 3 or 4 or 5. Lots of families are bigger and all want to ride the ride at the same time in the same cart or raft. J and I just had two, so when there were other smaller families or 2 or 1, they always needed 2 more to fill the cart, so they would ask for groups of 2. It seemed that we were the only two, always, and we got to cut past about 10 or 15 groups of people per ride because of our small numbers!

-Bobsled Ride at DisneyLand is the best!: This ride is in a bobsled through a dark mountain. You get to sit two to a seat with your partner between your legs on this ride. It's also nice because you get to cuddle up and be close to your loved one and sit in between their cozy legs! The whole ride is in the dark so there is maximum time to sneak a kiss or two!

Do's:
-Bring a fanny pack: it's better than a backpack, because you can keep it on your person/body during most rides. It can slide around to accommodate the different seat straps and safety bars that come down over your lap.

-Bring Snacks and Drinks!: They do allow food and drinks in the park. I wish I would have known that before hand, because we waited in many long lines and I wish I had a snack. It also saves money because you don't have to spend $4 or $3 for a popcorn or ice cream for the kids when they are hungry. Food wasn't priced as bad as I thought, but if you pack from home, there are many places to sit and eat. They also have lockers to put your cooler in if you don't want to carry it around all day. Or you can leave the park (be sure to get your hand stamped) to eat at your car and come back.

-Buy Tickets ahead of time!: saves you time, rather than waiting in line when you arrive at the park to buy tickets. Also, there are cheaper deals online and through companies to save money! If you are a teacher in a union, go through TSA (for California teachers) or other union affiliates for cheap deals. We saved $24 per ticket!

-Hit up Disneyland first in the morning!: (if you have a park hopper pass) Then hit up the CA Adventure Park in the afternoon. You can always go back to Disneyland in the evening to see the parades and fireworks. We learned that more people with small children go to Disneyland and it was a lot more crowded than the Adventure Park. So we suggest going to Disneyland first thing in the morning and riding all the rides, as it will be less crowded.

-Use the convenient Disney Way freeway Exit!: Follow the easy signs from the freeway to the park entrance. They even have convenient ramps to enter back onto the freeway when you exit the park. Make sure if you are going back to San Diego to take the SOUTH ramp and not the North Ramp to LA.

-The artistic designs for rides and props for rides are amazing!: The artists who work for Disney really think of everything. Down to the smallest detail, they design the most amazing art and props for the rides. On Big Thunder Mountain Railroad check out the small little rattlesnakes and turtles that heads move and tongues hiss on the sides of the ride.

-Uniforms!: Disney treats their employees well. Each uniform was very nice and differed for each ride. They all matched the themes and accommodated for weather changes. As the temps dropped in the evening, the workers had coats, hats and gloves that matched with their outfits.

Do NOT:
- Ride any water rides at NIGHT!: In the winter months, when the temps drop significantly at night when the sun goes down it is not the best idea to ride a water ride. You will get soaked and you will be freezing, since the sun is not out to dry you off. We suggest riding most water rides first in the earlier day time when the sun is out! Or to bring a change of clothes.

Overall, we had the most amazing time at Disneyland and CA Adventure Park! We can't wait to go back again! Everything was amazing and perfect! Disney never seizes to amaze us!

Black Friday...never again. Ok, well maybe one more time.

After last years madness at Target at 6am on Black Friday, I swore I would never go out shopping on Black Friday again. We went to target in Chandler Arizona to get DVD's for practically pennies. There was a list that my brother and J wanted to buy so we went to see what we could get our hands on. The place was beyond capacity and people were pushing and screaming. They had these aisles full of DVD's and people were grabbing every which way to get their hands on a DVD. All I remember is screaming, I found "Knocked Up" to my brother and J who were three aisles over, grabbing at DVD's themselves.

When we made it out with only bruises and a bit of accidental assault we found our way to the check out register where we waited for another 20 minutes in line. The total cost of the steal of a deal DVD's wasn't nearly worth the time or suffering we had endured. That morning on November 27th, 2008 I swore I would never participate in Black Friday shopping again.

Well...Never Say Never, because that didn't happen. I ventured out at 5:00am this year for a little Black Friday shopping experience. I wanted to go to Victoria's Secret to get the free bag with products in it if you spent $60. I didn't have a problem spending the money, as I had a list of things I wanted to buy for myself and others for Christmas. I woke up at 4:50 and drove straight over to VS, where it was CLOSED. The store didn't have any hours of when it would be open, so I checked online on some blogs and read some different times people had been saying. The VS I went to was not in a mall, but in an outside shopping center. The shopping center was vacant, so when I pulled up at 5:00am and the parking lot was empty I was upset. I had no idea when they were going to open. I thought maybe 6:00 am, so I went over to the Sports Authority in the shopping center across the street.

Sports Authority opened at 5:00am, so I stocked up on some Door Busters! I bought a bag of 20 Penn tennis balls for the dog for $4.99! A steal of a deal. I bought J a new official size Nike NFL football for $10! And I bought a sleeping bag that could endure 30 degree low weather temps for $9.99! And a fanny pack for our DisneyLand adventures later that day. I was pretty happy with my purchases.

Afterwards, it was only 5:30 and VS probably wasn't opened yet, so I walked over to Target and looked for some door busters. I decided to not impulse buy and there wasn't anything we really needed. Except for the big screen TV that J insists we need. Except he is only buying a Sony Bravia, so those other cheap knock-off brands at Wally World or Target won't cut it. I decided I didn't need a mini slow-cooker or blender or toaster for $5 and $10, I already had all those.

So I drove back over to VS shopping center, and this time saw a few more cars in the parking lot. There were 2 cars parked in front of VS store front, so I got really excited that they might be opening at 6. I waited in my car with the other women patiently waiting in their cars. This time there were some employees in the store working, so my hope went up! Then, 5:59 came, and the doors were still locked. Then, another car pulled up with two girls in it. Then, 6:00 came, and no one came to open the doors. Then, it was 6:07 and still no one opened the doors or went in. Then, I thought maybe the doors were unlocked and I should just go try the door. Then, a couple of ladies came walking by the outside store front and they stopped to peak inside the store. They wandered around the store front, and finally yelled into the windows at the employees to ask what time they open. The lady yelled back 8:00 to make sure she had heard the employee correctly, and then my heart sank and broke into a million pieces. I had woken up at 5:00 thinking a store would be open and then I wasted an hour driving around and shopping to not even get to shop in the original store I wanted. I was pissed.

I drove home immediately, and got back into bed. Then, at 6:30 the alarm went off. It was time to go to DisneyLand. I had not gotten my VS free bag with products and I had lost out on 2 hours of sleep. I was beyond pissed. J promised me that on our way out of town we could stop at the mall and go to the VS there, in hopes I hadn't missed out on the opportunity for the free bag!
Luckily, we made it to the mall by 8:00am and I was able to secure my free bag at VS with all the contents inside! The mall had opened at 6am and so did the VS at this location. Now I know for future reference to go to the Malls instead of the stand alone outdoor shopping centers, because the stores open earlier.

I'm not going to swear I won't go out shopping on Black Friday again, because we all know what happened last time I said that. I also noticed that I was the only person out shopping without a shopping buddy or partner when I went solo at 5:00am earlier that morning. I think my moral and spirits would have been higher had I been with my shopping partner, my husband J, to laugh off the whole situation. Maybe next year....

Sonic Drive-In comes to San Diego

Ok, so the Sonic is not technically in San Diego or Carlsbad. It is actually in Vista, CA, which is about 8 miles or a 15-minute drive from our house. The closest Sonic to us previously was in Mission Viejo, LA area. As I was driving to work yesterday I heard about the new one opening in Vista. I told J... and we agreed on a date night to Sonic to get some tots, a chili-cheese coney and a nice cool slush. We followed the Garmin's directions specifically and made it in record timing. Not knowing what to expect, since they had just opened the day before...we were mesmerized by the amount of people waiting in lines and standing outside the walk up-and-eat area. We drove around the block 2 times and there were signs everywhere that said, NO SONIC PARKING. Then we waited in a line for 10 minutes for a guy to tell us we had to drive to another line where the wait was like 60 minutes for eat-in-your-car service. They had a "staging area" for the drive-thru area, where you had to wait in a line till there was room for you to move over to the drive-thru line. It was insane. We didn't think that many people knew about the joys of Sonic or appreciate it like we do, but apparently we were wrong. Maybe there was a mad rush because it was a new restaurant. No one will ever know.

We were pumped to eat, but didn't want to wait in the hour eat-in-your car line (even though it defeats the whole purpose of the Sonic drive-in). Anyways, we found a parking spot a few blocks away and walked over to the walk-up area. They had 6 different order boxes in place, but of course only 2 were taking orders and working. The lines were 10 people deep. We stood in the line and watched some teeny boppers look at the menu, then text on their sidekicks, then look back at the menu and then laugh about their order for about 5 minutes. Then, they realized you have to PUSH THE BUTTON to order and a person will "talk to you and take your order". (God bless the younger generation.)

We contemplated our options. It was 5:45 pm. Hmm. We eat now at another restaurant or we wait another hour before we even order/get our food. It was tempting, but what was even more tempting was the fact that we hope to be in Texas for Thanksgiving in two weeks and there is literally a Sonic on every street corner and there is not a "staging area" with a 60 minute wait. We decided we can eat at Sonic in Texas and we were too hungry to wait in line. We settled for Wendy's instead.

I think the highlight of the night was at Trader Joe's after dinner while doing some light grocery shopping when the free sample guy came around with the Peppermint JoJo's. The most delicious holiday treat, exclusively from TJ's! We each had two cookies and then went looking for the box of cookies on the shelf around the store. They were no where to be found and after asking two store clerks, we soon learned they were sold out. (But still handing out free samples as a mean nasty cruel joke.) You don't give someone a sample of something and get their hopes up and taste buds happy and then tell them you don't have the product they just tried. The free sample guy did this exact thing to us tonight. So after he apologized, he gave us two more JoJo's each to make up for his cruel mistake. We have to go back tomorrow now, when the shipment comes in to stock up on our favorite minty holiday cookie.

I'm so happy for the upcoming holidays and all the little treats and small joys, such as Peppermint JoJo's, that make the holidays so merry and bright. Yay for TJ's our favorite store, even though tonight they are on my bad list.

'The Heat is On'

I came home to a heated house this afternoon. Apparently after I had left for work this morning, my thoughtful husband decided to turn on the heat. I think he gets cold after I get up out of bed in the morning, so he thought turning on the heat would be nice. And it IS! I'm loving the fact that we can turn on the heat because it chilly outside. I think it is clear though that we have assimilated to act like normal San Diegan's as far as excitement for weather changes. As soon as the temperatures get below 65 degrees, San Diegan's think it is an excuse to turn on the heat and pull out their scarves and jackets! I'm not going to lie, I do. I guess we don't mind so much turning up the heat since we don't have AC at our house so our electric bills aren't high in the summer. We don't mind spending a few bucks in the semi-fall/winter weather to pretend it is actually colder than it really is. I mean we literally just had the windows open in our house yesterday, and tonight the heat is on!!! It is a nice change from the summer weather we have been having. But, I won't be surprise if tomorrow I have to open back up the windows and put on my shorts and tank top because the temps jumped back to 80. It's amazing what a 15 degree temperature difference can do to peoples fall morale!

I'm actually really excited for the 'rainy season'. The chances of rain here are like the chances of getting hit by lightening. My custodian at school told me a few days ago that he has all the sand bags ready for 'Rainy Season' to put outside my room. He said the entrance right outside my room has poor drainage and it tends to flood and water pools outside my door. (most CA schools are open air layouts with each room having an entrance from the outside. the school is not enclosed within a building.) He says sometimes the water runs into the classroom. But, he assured me he had enough sand bags to lay down when it started to rain, so my room would not flood. Maybe I'm not so excited for the 'rainy season' afterall.

Fall is my favorite season by far!

It's been a while since I last wrote. I started working full time and Jahon has been busy with his anatomy class for school and working full time. We took a few trips this month...Dallas for a wedding and Las Vegas for TX/OU weekend. The first day of Fall has come and gone and we are officially in full swing...

Fall is by far my favorite time of the year! I love the changing weather, leaves changing colors, Halloween, Thanksgiving, the beginning of decorations and Christmas displays being put up in stores! I love the heart of football season, pumpkin spiced lattes at Starbucks, pumpkin patches, orange, yellow and red colors all over, apple picking and Oktoberfest! Also, my birthday is in the Fall and that makes it even more special.

Speaking of apple picking, J and I were supposed to go apple picking today out in Julian, CA. It is a little town with many orchards and famous for it's apple pie. It's east of San Diego and famous for apple picking in the fall. Unfortunately, when I called this morning to double check the orchards were open I was told they are officially closed for the 2009 season. Last year, we picked all the way in November, but this year apparently there was a mad rush of people apple picking and the orchards ran out faster than usual. I was so bummed, my perfect Saturday of apple picking ruined. Now we have to wait till the 2010 season, and rest assured we will go early next year so we don't miss the fun! The season starts toward the end of September, and we aren't going to mess around next year! I'm disappointed I can't make my apple pie with all those delicious mini apples.

We did manage to make it down to Del Mar dog beach today to take our love/dog-child Trixie to the beach. It was a gorgeous October day and perfect for the beach, so we drove 15 minutes down the coast to Del Mar. They are one of the few beaches in SD county that allow dogs in the water/on the beach and they can be off leash. So we took Trix and her beloved Frisbee and played in the water with her for a bit. She has made vast strides in overcoming her open water fear....last time we took her she was afraid of the water. She ran onto shore when the waves rolled in and would only go ankle deep. Today, she went full body in, diving her head into the water to get her Frisbee. She loved it, even though she isn't quite the water dog like swimming Labs or Goldens! It was so great seeing her enjoy the beach as much as we do. Unfortunately the drive home smelling of wet dog in the backseat isn't the most fun, but totally worth it!

We also went to the movies tonight on a date. We saw 'Law Abiding Citizen' with Clive Owen. It was really good. We saw the previews months ago and were awaiting the movies arrival. IT was a great thriller and it made some interesting points about the justice system. I am putting it on my list of must see's, and all you Netflix lovers should put it on your que!

We actually took our car out of the garage six different times today. After apple picking was canceled I went to get bagels from the store. Then, J and I went to run errands to finish off our Halloween costumes! We are excited Halloween is on a Saturday night this year, and we are going all out! We are going to be Thing 1 and Thing 2 from Dr. Seuss' Cat in the Hat! We ordered our blue wigs online and J is working on our Thing 1 & 2 design writing. We were on the lookout for Red henley longjohns, but haven't been able to find them anywhere this year. Apparently, manufactures think people want boring long underwear colors like black, white, and off-white. Lame, I know. So, we took the liberty of dying our boring white longjohns Red. This is a little home project that we are currently working on. We bought the RIT scarlet fabric dye and are using it in our washing machine. Hopefully it won't stain the inside of the wash machine or add red color to all future loads we wash, but we shall see. So far so good, except we decided that one box of dye isn't quite Red enough for us. So at 8:50 this evening, we drove literally 70 Mph to make it to Michael's by 9:00 to buy two more boxes of dye. So, round two is in the washing machine right now and we hope that it will turn bright red instead of the washed-out red it was earlier.

Another home project we completed tonight; J and I finally hung window coverings on our largest window in the house. It spans 142 inches wide and the sun pours in ever since our neighbor decided to cut all her shrubs on the side of her house. Now every afternoon we get direct sunlight into our living room for 2-3 hours, putting a major glare on the TV. This is a very bad thing. Try watching football or your favorite afternoon show, such as Ellen or Jeopardy and not being able to see it because of the stupid sunlight/glare. We finally decided it was time to cover the windows. Although, I am a little sad because I can no longer be an exhibitionist around our living room at least I can watch TV without a glare.

And lastly, thank you Longhorns for putting up another win over MIZZOU! Hook Em' Horns! Another perfect Saturday for the books!

My mouth hurts and I'm starving...

Yes it is a Saturday night and yes, I am lame. I'm writing in our blog. But in my defense, I'm babysitting and the kids are asleep so I have nothing better to do. Well actually, I'm slightly procrastinating from working on finishing my thesis. It's partially true what JJab said in the last post. I defended my thesis a week ago Friday, and all my committee signed off on my thesis, except one. I finally got the last signature yesterday, and now I'm finishing up the last edits, so I can submit it next Friday. I cannot tell you how good it will feel to be done with this. I think writing this thesis, editing it, and rewriting it has been the most grueling and stressful process I have ever gone through. A huge burden will be lifted off my chest next Friday when I turn it in to graduate studies.

I'm imagining my life post thesis, and every minute so far is better than the past year I spent working on it. I think my ulcer and heart burn will probably go away too. Finally! :)

So, I'm sitting here watching Food Network and they are talking about hotdogs that can change your whole life. I don't think I have ever eaten a hotdog that has changed my life. I'm not really sure I believe that I hotdog could change my life. Maybe that is because I'm more of a french fry girl myself. Clearly I'm hungry....

I had some outpatient periodontal surgery on my gums this past week. Apparently I have receding gums at the age of 24. I'm not even half way to 30 and my body is already starting to fall apart. The periodontist said it was due to having braces and it's genetic. Thanks mom and dad for this wonderful genetic gift! Anyway...I had to have a little gum graft this past week and now I have 10 stitches in my mouth. It makes things very hard to eat. I have been on a soft food diet for the past 4 days, along with some very strong pain meds. It certainly makes eating interesting, since I can only chew on the right side of my mouth. There are a handful of things I can eat: cottage cheese, yogurt, apple sauce, mashed potatoes, and mac n' cheese. I think I have eaten Panera Bread Broc n' Cheddar soup now for the past 3 days. Everything else I crave. I'm starving. None of the above are filling. It also doesn't help that my "wonderful" husband decides to eat whatever he wants in front of me. I'm sitting here starving and he is eating chips and salsa in front of me. It's torture I tell you. That is when I take my codine and just call it a night. I refuse to be tortured by foods that I can't eat.

I go back next week to get the first set of stitches taken out, and then a week later the rest come out. I just hope they are all gone before I start school, because my smile isn't quite the same, and my upper lip is slightly pursed to the right. I don't want to scare any of the kids on the first day.

Now, they are talking about fried donuts on tv. Time to change the channel. Watching the food network when you are hungry is not the best idea.

As JJab mentioned in the last post I did get a job. I will be teaching Pre-K in the San Diego city schools in a deaf and hard of hearing class. I am so excited to have a teaching job in Cali, especially with the economic situation and budget cuts in education. I have spent the last 3 days in my classroom, preparing it for Sept.8. "Judgement Day". I'm a little nervous about meeting my tiny students, with tiny hands. What if I can't understand their signing, because their hands are so small? That is really the only worry I have. I'm really excited to finally start my career that I have been training for the past 6 years. Pre-Kindergarten should be a lot of fun. Lots of play time for learning, and teaching basics like numbers, letters, colors, and how to write your name! My classroom is filled with toys, and you bet there will be lots of craft projects! I think JJab is the most excited though, because all the boxes of "teacher stuff" I have been hoarding for the past 3 years are finally being moved from our house to the classroom!

On a different note, I just want to give a shout out to my sister, Jordy who is recently engaged to her finance Mr. K Man. They are hoping to wed next summer, and even though she hasn't officially asked me (because she wants to do it in a cute little way, so I feel special) I'm excited to be her MOH, matron of honor. They have slowly started the planning process and I'm trying to help out as much as I can while living in another state. I wish I could be closer during this important time in her life!

Speaking of weddings, this next year J and I will be flying all over the USA, including Hawaii to attend our friends weddings. We are so excited to be able to share our friends special days with them, just as they came to our wedding!

Now I will leave you with a list of things I wish I could eat if I could eat or would eat if I had access to them:

-Stuffed Avacado from Trudy's

-Willie's Queso

-Chips and Salsa (TJ's salsa)

-A tuna sub

-Cheetos

-Fro Yo from Yogurt Planet (tart with strawberries and kiwi)

-Curly Fries or French Fries

-Popcorn from the movie theatre

-any and all fruit

-Whataburger Taquitos

-TJ's pickles

Another Day in the Sun...

Instead of this being a everyday update, it seems more like a every month thing. I promise it will get better. Well lets get caught up, once again.

Jess Jab has finally finished school, all done and off to the real world. She is already lined up to feed the economic machine that is life. Thankfully even in this time of recession she landed a teaching gig in Cali of all places. Lets stop and say "WOW". I am very proud and impressed with this young lady. She starts teaching the little people of today in September, but is prepping her classroom and attending orientation until then. I just hope she loves every minute of it.

Sad Breaking News - At this moment in time both of our soccer careers have come to a halt. We have been cut from our now former team and replaced by full time starters. I guess we will have to find another team for the time being.

Trixie, well is Trixie. She has grown a bond with two new toys. A blue rubbery frisbee and a giant, once stuffed frog. The frog has been gutted by her this past week. She intends on pulling out the stuffing a little at a time and use it has tobacco chew. We also ended up buying her some hiking shoes for our long hikes in the trails. I know, I know...why the hell would you buy your dog hiking shoes? Well, to be honest with you, I have no clue. We both thought they looked badass and we were right. Once we purchase them and velcroed her up, we realized these could also protect her paws. The one time backwards thinking worked out.

As for me, I have just been working and getting ready for another semester of nightschool. Anatomy is next on my agenda, so I have accepted the fact that long nights are in my near future. I have come to realize most professors would like to see students go broke before actually reaching their goal. Three hundred dollars for books, that is one class folks. I didnt even buy all of the recommended books. So I decided to donate myself to my lab class for any further research.

This past weekend, bro-law J Rick was in town, as well as some Zonie(Arizona Natives) friends. We made the usual trip to the Love Boat, recommended stop for any sushi-hound. Also made our way to the Del Mar horsetrack. I always go there with a sense of joy and confidence and end up living with a pit of guilt and empty pockets. We paced back in forth by the microbrew festival debating whether or not it was a good idea to drop 15 dollars for three shot glasses of beer. Seriously, I can go buy two six packs of blue moon and a dozen oranges for that. So instead of the beer, which I rarely drink anyway, I bet more on the horses. Either way you think of it, I lost money.

Sunday I made a huge mistake. Something I know better then doing, but yet I did it anyway. We went to the beach and I put zero sun screen on. I got cocky and thought my 50% persian card would protect me from the voilent rays. I was wrong and today I am still feeling the effects. Only instead of piercing pain shooting through my body when my shirt moves, I itch horribly. I cant stop itching and my skin feels like a fish out of water.

I leave you with the below:

I just heard a quote the other day that kinda got to me. "Most companies pay people enough, so as they don't quit. People work hard enough, so as they don't get fired." Sad but kinda true, especially if you don't enjoy your line of work.
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About 15 years ago when I was in San Fran, I fell for a little trick a street hustler pulled on me. I never really remember how it went until last night. I saw it again. Here it is:

Hustler: "Excuse me, excuse me. I'll make you a bet. I bet you $20 that I can tell you where you got your shoes?"

Me: Pausing a bit, thinking he would never guess it right. "Deal, there is no way you will guess that right."

Hustler: "You got them on your feet."

He was right, so I paid him. I walked away with a lesson learned.
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One last thing. I have officially decided to grow out my hair. So when you see me next, expect a fro.

Should have stayed home

It has been forever and awhile since our last post. We both got caught up in the aspects of life, therefore forgetting the important things in life, this blog. Well back to it and full steam ahead.

Lets get caught up very quickly. I have been working like a child in a sweat shop, plus going to night school. JessJab has been trying to knock down a teaching job. She has been keeping herself rather busy with the never ending thesis, babysitting, and administrative stuff. So she is a Jill of all trades.

We have recently moved. At first the place needed a little bit of love, so we all embraced and had a heart to heart. Still getting a few things laid out and organized. TrixJab has been insane. We have come to believe she is a person reincarnated as a dog.

Last Night: We headed to a friends fashion/modeling (minus runway) show/gathering at a spiffy downtown hotel/nightclub. The one that has drinks that cost $13 a pop. Thankfully we didn't have to buy to many, because; A) we are both cheap dates B) there was bottle service. The party was a collaboration of this girl and this guy. It was cool because "this guy" is our friend, we play soccer with him. So we got to hang with the hip crowd.

This morning: Let me start off by quoting Charlie Brown, "I feel like going home to bed, but its only noon." Not only am I tired from last night, but I have reverted to my accident prone ways.
Today we are not allowed to use our kitchen area at work or go around to the front of our building, due to a live meeting. So we have to use our sister companies kitchen area. Its all fine and dandy by me, no worries here. So I head on over to the other building and come to find I have locked myself out of the office. After about 10 minutes of knocking on all the glass windows someone opens the door. I hop into the kitchen and start filling up my "Mac" cup. Just as I finish filling up the cup, I fumble it. It hits the lip of the water filter and tumbles to the ground. It splashes all over me and all over the floor. Just then I hear the owner of the company. I scrambled to find all the paper towels I could and began soaking up what looks like the aftermath of a typhoon. Thankfully my boss is a down to earth guy. He just said, "Good Morning. Whats up?" and chuckled has he walked away. After I have used precisely 263 sheets of paper towels, the mess is cleaned up. So I began again with my "Mac" cup. Only this time it looks like I am missing the cup entirely. Water flows straight from the nozzle to the floor. So I held the cup closer thinking that I am not lining it up properly. Still water flowed onto the floor. I pulled the cup back to my body to reevaluate the situation. As I do that, the cup urinated all over my shirt and my pants. I have found the culprit. Sadly the cup that has been with me for over two years has bit the dust. That last and most recent fall was its most glorious moment.

With a tear in my eye, I tossed the cup. It was time. I then looked at the new mess I acquired. More bloody water on the floor, in addition to water on myself. So I began again with the paper towels. The only thing positive gained from this mornings events was the humility of it all and a clean floor.

A long time coming

Its been awhile since I have posted, so I decided to deliver a rant today. GO. Work has been what it is, work. It has been nothing too special, but yet I appreciate having a job in these tough times. So I will take what I have and keep riding the wave of life. School has been going well, aced my first test and I just got my score back on my last one. Guess what, I aced that one as well. I don't brag often so I had to throw that in there. Its tough kicking your mind back into study mode after all these years, but I can feel the gears starting to turn again. JessJab has been counting down the days until Austin. Both of us are going to have a tough time spending those three months apart, but we both know that it is important she does this. When she gets back from her thesis writing and curriculum teaching the workforce awaits her. Dun duh duh da. I get to visit Texas twice while she is away, which is nice because I will get to see her, family and friends. I haven't been home in almost two years, so it will be interesting to see what has changed and what remains the same.

Jrick came down to see us last weekend. He has to come down every now and then to clear his mind from work and escape the tiny desert city. He has been blinging in his new ride, so fly! We had a great weekend with him here. All of us went to the best sushi place in town, they have live music and awesome sushi, what more can you ask for. The next day we went for a walk on two different beaches, I think that is one of the main reasons to come visit, the beaches are amazing. Afterwards we went to the local pizza/brewery, to eat and meet up with a lot of friends. Then the finale had to come, oh yes we went to see The Watchmen. I read the book two or three times in my life and I have waited over a year for this movie. If I were to rate it coming only from my perspective it would be 5 stars, but people that have never read the book, then it may sit at about 3 stars. Good ole Sunday had to roll around eventually, we didn't make it to church, I wish we would have but the comfort of the bed took over. When we couldn't take the sunlight anymore and Trixie started to hit the "Panic" button, it was time to get up. Our last soccer game of this session had to be played. Jrick joined both JessJab and I on the field, it felt like high school all over again, besides the fact we are slightly out of shape. To sum up the game, we had the lead for the whole game, 2-1 until the last 5 seconds. The other team tied it up and we walked away with out any ribbons.

Excuse Me...Your Fly is Down

This morning I went to the bank.  I had to wait outside because I got there a little early and the bank wasn't open yet.  As I was waiting this guy walks over and stands near the entrance.   As he walked over I noticed that his fly was completely down on the jeans he was wearing.  Then, we made eye contact to acknowledge each other's presence and I couldn't help but give a goofy smirk as I tried to hide my laughter.  All I could think about was "what should I say?...Excuse me, your fly is down."  

Do you tell a guy when his fly is down?  Yes.  But, what about when it is a complete stranger?  Do you tell him then?  What if he thinks I was looking at his junk when I wasn't.  What if he thinks I'm just trying to start casual conversation or if I like him?  So...do you tell a perfect stranger that their fly is down?  If I did, it would have been awkward, because it was only us standing outside the bank until the doors opened at the bank.  I decided not to tell him.  I assume some other stranger/passerby would mention it, but today it wasn't me.

Next time PLEASE wear a HELMET!

So, it's been a while since my last post.  We have been busy.  Our friends Betsy and Chris, from Texas, came to visit SD this past weekend and we spent time with them.  Chris proposed to Betsy on Friday morning in La Jolla down by the beach after a wonderful breakfast at Barbarello's.   J and I knew about the plan earlier in the week when Chris called to tell us.  I played clueless during the whole event.  I came back later to take a few pictures right after the proposal.  We are so happy for the two of them and were glad we got to be a part of their fun engagement weekend!  

We drove up to the mountain on Saturday and went skiing at Mountain High in Wrightwood, California.  It was supposed to rain all weekend, but the sun came out on Saturday and it was beautiful weather, perfect for skiing/boarding.  It had snowed the night before and the powder was awesome.  J gave me a heart attack when he decided to attempt the terrain park on skis.  He went up a huge ramp and got about 8 feet of air before he crash landed on the slope.  From my angle he hit the ramp and then all we saw were skis going straight up to the sky and J was parallel to the ground.  We (myself, Betsy and 5 other snowboarders) rushed down the mountain to see if he was alive.  He was fine, he said he landed on his butt and was laughing so hard. 

I started cursing him and telling him that he scared the crap out of me and he really could of hurt himself.  My angle looked like he landed on his back and I thought he was seriously hurt.  All the snowboarders were asking "Are you ok man?  That looked bad."  After, we recovered the skis and Jahon made two other skiers crash as they attempted to get the poles J dropped on the top of the ramp we continued skiing.  I made J promise he wouldn't do anymore jumps unless he had a helmet. 

Jabalism

What is a Jabalism you ask?  It's a random term that J and I coined when being completely and utterly dorky.  It is usually a made up word that stands for something that happens in our everyday lives.  They can be nouns or verbs or used interchangeably.  

1. The first Jabalism began when J and I were at the movies and saw Don Cheadle in an upcoming movie.  We began to talk about "cheadle" and how it is a funny word.  Later that night, while watching food networks "Unwrapped" we learned that "cheadle" is actually the cheesy orange residue left on your fingers after enjoying Cheetos.  

2. The second "schmeagle" was born when J was making fun of me one evening for mumbling.  I have been known to talk fast before, but apparently I was talking too fast this time and it sounded like I was mumbling.  He decided to call it "schmeagling", when a person is mumbling, otherwise know as a Schmeagler,  a mumbler.

3. "CaNoodle". verb.  The combination of cuddling, spooning and nuzzling the person that you love.  "My girlfriend and I canoodled on the couch last night while watching a movie."

4. "C-Bad".  noun.  The city of Carlsbad where we live, otherwise know as C-Bad for being awesome and bad a$$.  "I'm up in C-Bad right now at my house, but I'll be down in San Diego later tonight."

We will keep an ongoing list as more Jabalism are created.  

TEXAS It Is

For those of you following my student teaching situation that will begin in Mid March the verdict is in.  I found out on Tuesday that I will be going to Austin, Texas to student teach at the Texas School for the Deaf.  I will start sometime around March 23rd and should finish around the 10-15th of May.  I will be teaching in a first grade classroom with deaf students.  I will also be implementing my own curriculum that I developed as part of my master's thesis.  I'm very excited to get a chance to come back to my old stompin' grounds and work and play in a city I love.  

I can't wait to be in Austin, closer to my friends and family for a few months.  Unfortunately, Jahon will be staying behind and continuing to work in California.  It's not really feasible for him to take a LOA or quit his job to come with me for 2.5 months to Austin, so we will be separated for a while, but I am not worried at all.  J may be a little worried that a 2nd grader might pick up on me while I stay at the dorms on campus.  I mean if you consider going to school basketball games or field trips dating.  J said that he may pick up a Cougar though in San Diego while I'm gone.  I wish him luck, if he meets a nice older woman who wants to take care of him that's fine, because we all know teacher's don't make any money. ;) j/k.  He does have the other girl in his life, Trixie, to keep him company though.  If anyone wants to come visit him too, you are always welcome at Casa de Jabali!

Tissues blow!

Ok, here is my beef with tissues.  Clearly, I'm sick and today I had a very runny nose.  From the time I left my house this morning to drive my commute to babysitting, 30 minutes (from Carlsbad to UTC), I went through 4 tissues.  My nose would not stop running.  So what is it about tissues never being big enough to hold everything when you blow your nose?  It takes two tissues, to collect one nose blow.  They make them so thin, that you might as well just blow it in your hand.  Then, if you fold it in half to be extra thick, you run out of space yet again.  The skin under my nose is practically non existent at this point in the evening.  My poor upper-lip skin, is all chapped and red and burning from the hard paper that has rubbed up against it all day.  Even the tissues with extra aloe or lotion, or the extra soft ones don't cut it.  Being sick with a runny nose has caused me even more pain and discomfort now that my nose is dry and chapped.  

What do you do?  I probably went through a box of Kleenex today.  Yes, a box I bought for $1.09 at Target, not on sale, has now caused me even more pain.  Is there any way around this unfortunate miss hap?  How many people all over the world are in pain this cold and flu season due to insufficient Kleenex?  No matter how much lotion or aloe you put in your tissues, Kleenex, they just don't cut it.  Now not only am I still using the tissues, because if I don't my nose will run everywhere, but my lower nose is bleeding and I have to use lotion and Neopsporin to care for that.  Is there any hope out there for nose blowers?  Will a tissue ever be good enough?

Shower Caddy

Last night, in the shower of all places, I had an epiphany. This wasn't something to solve the economic problem or end the world of starvation, but to truly understand the shower caddy. This is a piece of metal in some cases, encased by a white rubbery, plastic substance. It sole job is to hold bottles, razors, loufa's, etc.. Yet somehow it fails. No matter how many times you adjust the bottles, the whole caddy never seems stable. The suction cups fail to suck and just when you think they are stable, the fail and a nice swinging caddy is what you have. So I move a bottle from this side to the other, no dice. I try and position the bottle dead center to distribute the weight evenly, fail again. I stand back and look at my creation and there is nothing symmetric about it. Dangling there from the shower head, lopsided and unstable. The thing just doesnt look safe. For a split second I thought about getting Bob Vila on this thing and break out the E6000 super glue. Then I thought, do I really want a suction cup glued to a specific piece of tile forever. Hey, I could replace the tile or try and pry the suction cup with a flat head screw driver, knife and a whole lot of patience's.

Seriously, its not worth it. I will just live with the balancing act for the time being.

Daily Routine

- On to the day. Both of us had a tough time sleeping. Jess, mainly because she is sick and for some reason last night I was snoring instead of talking in my sleep. I couldn't sleep because all of the commotion. The morning began as it always does (daily routine), alarm sounds off..."Well it seemed like yesterday, When the world was looking....." snooze, snooze, snooze an additional 30 minutes of sleep please. Then it doesnt even seem like 2 minutes pass, "Well it seemed like yesterday..." OFF. Jess doesnt even seem to be phased as the song echoes through our bedroom. Me, dragging myself out of bed, off to be Trixie's' slave for a good 15 minutes. She does her morning routine..stretch, check the house out, stiff the perimeter of the house, uses the restroom and then runs back inside to wait for her food to be served. Two scoops and a nugget later, she is stuffed and ready to take my place in bed next to Jess. Shower, shave, brush teeth, dressed, kisses good bye and out the door to work.

Well work is work, not much I can say about it. I designed a lot of stuff, wrote some emails and had couple of meetings. Oh yeah, lunch fits in there somewhere. Now depending on what day it is, I could be off to school or heading home. If it is school, then I am stuck there most the evening, taking notes and trying to focus. Since I am more driven this time around, the focus and determination part comes kind of easy. I am getting up there in the age bracket, so I need to knock this school stuff out has fast as I can. If I head home, its Jess and Trixie time. A walk/run is needed and reserved for that time, just about everyday. Trixie averages around 5 poo's a day, so the morning and the afternoon walks/runs are muy importante or this kid may explode. Even though most would despise this time of the day, I actually don't. You see, I get to spend that time chatting with Jess the whole walk/run (the reason I keep putting walk/run is because the hills here are killer, I feel like crawling up them sometimes). We spend this time to catch up and talk about everything, I look forward to that time with her.

When we get back its dinner time. If I am cooking, look forward to a strange concoction. If Jess is cooking, look forward to plenty of veggies and light on the meat. Trixie, is served yet again. Only this time she tries to enjoy her food all over the house, following us with dinner still in her mouth. After all of us have dinner and enjoy whatever was on the menu, it is either time to relax or homework. Soon the bed starts to call our name and we share kisses goodnight. Sleep and cuddles are so nice..."Well it seemed like yesterday, When the world was looking....." SNOOZE.

Time flies when you're having fun

Today is our 6 month wedding anniversary.  I can't believe that 6 months have gone by already as Mr. and Mrs.  Well, actually I can. They have been the best 6 months of my life, our wedding being my all time most amazing day in my life to date. We have been so busy with life and enjoying our newly wed time together that the months just flew by, almost as fast as the holidays come and go.

A recap...J and I tied the knot in La Jolla on Saturday, July 26, 2008.  From there we enjoyed 10 days in Fiji for our honeymoon, then started back to work when we returned.  We went to Kingman, Arizona to visit my brother for Thanksgiving.  We went wine tasting in Temecula with friends at one of the vineyards, Ponte Winery and apple picking in Julian (Trixie came too for the fall harvest). We drove to Las Vegas to celebrate Christmas with Jahon's mom and dad and some family friends and for New Years we drove to Burbank/LA to see our newly wed friends, The Hartford's.  On top of all that, J's dad, Tony came and stayed with us for a week in November, and my brother spent many weekends visiting us in San Diego last fall.  J and I also spent every weekend playing soccer on Sundays at the Water Tower where we are on a co-ed indoor soccer team.

2009 holds a lot in store for us too.  J is currently going back to school to pursue a degree in nursing.  He is taking some pre-reqs at the community college by our house.  I am in study mode as well, as I finish working on my curriculum (part of my Master's thesis) that I will implement at my student teaching this Spring at a residential deaf school internship.  I will be living in Freemont, CA  (NorCal) or Texas or Washington for 2.5 months while I finish my last student teaching requirement.  We are currently waiting to hear back from Freemont, to see if I got accepted to teach there.  I'm not looking forward to being apart from J for those 8-10 weeks, but we can do it. After all, we dated long distance in college, while I was in Austin and J was in Houston.  We can make it through anything!

In closing, thanks to our family and friends who have shared the past wonderful 6 months of marriage with us.  We have enjoyed spending time with each and everyone of you, and look forward to when we meet again.  Thank you J for being my best friend, lover, husband, and companion.  Not to mention we are like peas and carrots, I could never imagine finding anyone else as dorky as I am!  Thanks for making me laugh, it makes everyday awesome!

Game On!

This is our first entry on our blog.  I say "our" because J and myself will be putting up posts and pictures to keep you updated about The Jabali's, otherwise know as JJ.Jab!  We began our lives together as husband and wife last July 26, 2008 and this is our story as newly weds in Southern California.

Today, we began a hike with our dog Trix in the Calavera Hills, which soon turned into a dreaded bootcamp.   It was pretty intense.  In fact, we had to stop a few times to catch our breath as we trekked up the 90 degree incline.  We eventually made it to the dog park, to where we were greeted with "Why are you wearing shorts? Aren't you cold?".  We replied, we are kind of warm from our hike.  "Kind of" was an understatement.

We are now off to go play in our soccer game at the Water Tower.  We are 1-2 this season, which is pretty embarrassing, because last season we were the champions.  We won the coveted "championship t-shirt". We haven't been playing like champs the past two weeks though, because Chargers football playoffs decided to schedule their games at the exact time as our indoor games.  Maybe today will be better.  We will let you know the score next time.  

Umm...yea, we lost our soccer game.  Of course we played the best team today, and of course the weather at the Water Tower was frigid below zero temperatures.  It's weird how the weather at the Tower is either  "my feet are on fire" hot or "my nipples can cut glass" freezing.  There is no medium.  A high note from the game, J almost had as many saves with his legs and butt this game than Matt the goalie had all game.  J was quite the defensive player.  Meanwhile, I was hacking up a lung on the sidelines because I'm getting over being sick.