We Got a New Home....Yeah!!!!

Finally we moved out of the one bedroom suite as we bought a home. You have to imagine 2 adults, 2 kids, and 2 dogs in a very small place. It was very hard for Greg to keep his sanity.

We are settling in to the new place but there are still boxes everywhere. The kids are happy with a place to call home, the dogs are happy as they have a yard, Greg is happy as he has his own room(s) (he wants the basement too)....and me...well it's my job to make sure they are happy and stay that way. No...I didn't get my own room, but hey, I am easy to please.

I have posted a couple of videos on our You Tube site. In the meantime, I am not going to lie, I miss my home in Cali. We didn't have that big of yard but the great amenities made up for it...6 pools, a lagoon, and the Olympic pool was heated, dog parks etc. So while I take some pics of our new place I have posted some of our home back in RSM.


Our RSM home


I loved my kitchen




The Lagoon


Just because....

Leaving California

I cannot not write about our journey to New Jersey...that was an ordeal to put it mildly. You ever do something and then when you look back on the event you wonder how you ever did it and how you will never do it again. Well...the trip leaving Cali to NJ was just that.

First it took 3 cars to get our luggage, dogs, crates, and us to the airport. At least the relocation department had us depart from John Wayne so no long lines like at LAX. We had to do some switching around with the contents of the luggage so it met the weight limit. Then trying to get the dogs shipped took another hour as the ladies at the counter had not done a dog shipment before. At this time I don't have to tell you how fussy the boys were getting. Then Greg had to pass the dogs through security before taking them down to cargo. Lucky for us no one was waiting in line so I didn't mind too much that it took so long.

I was able to make arrangements with a cab service prior to leaving that would be able to hold all of our stuff. However, things never go right. I told the service I would call upon landing but they showed up before we had gotten off the plane, which was a bit of a problem as our flight was delayed. On top of that Greg had to wait for the dogs in cargo. People over here are not as friendly as in Cali. Long story short, surprisingly everything fit....even the unassembled dog crates.

We finally made it to the hotel at which point we had to wake the kids up again. The first time they finally fell asleep we landed in NJ an hour later. Then they fell asleep in the taxi and woke up when we arrived about 30 mins later. So now we have 2 cranky kids and 2 grumpy dogs that want out of the crate and about 6 luggages to take to the 2nd floor. So as one of us has to stay with the kids, you can imagine how tired poor Greg was making trips back and forth to get all our stuff to the room. You can see how large the crates were in the pics. Click on pictures to see the rest.

Meeting Santa

We went to an old friends for a Christmas party. Wendy, LaShon, and Jamie used to work with me at Sizzlers....the good old days. We unfortunately were missing Mary. The party was at Wendy's where she had Santa visit with the kids. We all had a really nice time, especially since it had been so long since I had seen my friends.

Holidays 08

Okay, I am going to have to be real brief for giving an update for the holidays. Otherwise, I will never catch up on current stuff.

As all our stuff had been packed up before my return to California, we got to stay with my dad. It was actually quite nice and I think my dad welcomed the noise. The kids would go and wake up Grandpa as soon as they got out of bed. My poor dad never complained once about being woken up at 5:30 am on his days off.

My aunt was visiting from England and we thought we were going to miss her. But I guess it was fate for her as she got to see the family. The last time she visited Ethan was only a few weeks old. I think she enjoyed seeing both kids. Which reminds me I need to give her a call.

I think everyone was happy to have things turn out the way it did. Frustrations aside, it was really nice spending the time with family. Believe me this time was very frustrating asking my sister to help out with last minute things etc, trying to get stuff finalized with the move, taking care of the dogs so they could travel.....a lot of headache and stress. But at the end of the day when you know all the frustrating stuff is still there being around loved ones makes such a difference, on how you handle things...basically on everything.

I will not post pictures here. You can check them out on our Shutterfly site.

My Farewells

December 08

December was the month that was very busy for the whole family. Last year I had sent out a Newsletter in the place of Christmas (Seasons Greetings) Cards. This year was so busy the Newsletter didn't even go out as we didn't have time to do much. It was during this month that we announced our leaving California for New Jersey. I started my new job December 15th, which meant I didn't have much time to say my Goodbyes to everyone. During the first couple of weeks I was able to meet with several friends and colleagues who mean a great deal to me. For the other friends I wanted to meet up with but I was unable to, I am truly sorry. I was planning on meeting up with the rest when I returned from New Jersey for the Christmas Holiday but, as Murphy's Law goes, unexpected more pressing things that effected our move came up. One thing was a gas leak at our home in California which we were able to get taken care of at the last minute during the holidays. What a relief that was.

Here are some pictures of brunch with Brooke, Jennifer, Lori, and Chase. Although, not a drinker, we had to toast to Lee for her birthday. Lee wasn't able to join us as she, too, had a really big move...all the way to England. I was able to meet up with my old Allergan friends/colleagues too. I shall be putting up those pictures later. It was my first time meeting Bayda's beautiful baby girl.

We had to coordinate Greg flying out for an interview before my leaving for my first day at work. My sister, who was a great help through our troublesome month, offered to watch the boys should things not work out for us. Lucky for her Greg was back a day before I left. I started my new job and left Greg with the kids. I have to say he did a great job trying to deal with everything. Greg, while taking care of 2 young boys, was also trying to make sure all the right stuff got packed up, the carpet got replaced etc. He had a lot to do and did a great job I might add. My sister was also extremely helpful and we couldn't have done a lot without her help. Murphy's Law...the packers packed stuff that was meant to stay and left stuff that was supposed to go, but all things considered I am surprised as how smoothly it went.

November 08

November was a good month. We celebrated Matthew's First Birthday. The last time I had seen Jessica was probably 4-5 years ago. It was nice to see her and Mary. We were missing LaShon otherwise it was our old Sizzler team.

The boys got to wear their Halloween costumes again to the party which they liked. Ethan, once again, took his Hulk a little too seriously and pushed Shawn who fell in the mud. Those of you who know Shawn.....he hates (and I mean hates) being dirty. He was quite upset that his Superman outfit had mud on it. See our Shutterfly page for pictures. You'll see that Shawn was so upset that getting his face painted did not help.

Thanksgiving was nice and quite. The family spent it together. I was up early the next day for my traditional Black Friday shopping. I wasn't convincing enough for my sister to join me. By the time the boys had had their breakfast I was done.

The Last 3 Months

Wow....I just checked the date of my last post. It definitely has been too long. Well, by now, most of you know that the family has relocated to New Jersey. Life is busy for the family, but we are trying to settle down. In the mean time, I will break up the last 3 months so you guys will not have to read a really long update.

October 2008

October, of course, is Halloween. Shawn had already been playing on the computer at this time. He had learned to use the mouse on the laptop and was playing games on the Sesame Street web page. So, whenever he has been really good he gets to play for a little while. Both boys picked out their own Halloween costumes. Shawn wanted to be Superman and Ethan was the Hulk. Of course Ethan took being the "Hulk" too serious and would go around saying "Hulk SMASH!!!!" anytime he thought he had become the hulk. I'll be posting some of the video footage on our You Tube site. In the meantime here are some pictures of the boys. Shawn is really skinny and tall so the costume did not fit him right. Ethan's outfit didn't come in his size. So believe it or not I had to use my handy tailoring skills to make the outfits fit. Yes....I actually know how to fix things.