changes.

I know it has been a while (like months !) since I last blogged, but we have had a lot of things going on that have made me either unmotivated or just plain old busy with no time for it.  The most recent changes are that I was finally hired by San Bernardino county as a Sheriff's Communications Dispatcher I Trainee (what a title !!!) after a six month long process.  I tested for the position on April 30th, got a card in the mail a few weeks later saying I passed and was in group B, received a call  a few weeks after that for an interview which took place on July 18th, interview with my background investigator on August 1st, polygraph on August 22nd, physical and drug test on September 10th and finally had an official start date of October 6th.  It was such a long process and I thought I'd never get hired.  I work four days a week with rotating days of 8 and 12 hour shifts.  Naturally, the 8 hour days fly by and the 12 hour days seem to never end, but I love having 3 days off and really don't mind working weekends.  I prefer to have week days off so I can get things done like banking, doctor/dentist appointments, etc.  The job is definitely high stress at times and there is so much information to memorize but I think I am doing pretty well after about four weeks on the job.  I do dread the day where I get a 911 phone call about a child not breathing.  Fortunately, we don't have to do much on our end other than transfer them immediately to fire/paramedics, but we do have to listen in to make sure the child/adult is breathing, and if not, then we send deputies to the scene to administer CPR if they can get their sooner.  It really is very different listening/talking on difficult phone calls where people are distressed as opposed to watching a TV show or movie and bawling my eyes out immediately.  Thank goodness for that because I was so afraid I'd cry every time we had a sad call.  I'm sure there will be a phone call here and there that will affect me and that I will never forget.  It happens to everyone there at some point so every one knows what you're going through when it happens.  Oh, and did I mention I got to pick my 2 weeks of paid vacation already for next year ?  Totally awesome !  :]  It has been 3.5 years since I quit my job at the blood bank so going back to work has been a challenge for me.  I am so not a morning person (never have been, never will be !) so getting up at 5:15am to be at work by 6:50 4 days in a row is still something I am getting used to.  Or should I say, adjusting to.  I don't think I will ever really get used to getting up that early, especially since I will change shifts every 3 months !  Some mornings I feel like I am regressing instead of progressing but eventually find my groove again each day and don't feel like such a failure all the time.  I have a hard time with not being good at things the minute I start them so I get frustrated when it takes a while of practice to get the hang of it.  I know, I know.... get over it, Jamie !  ;]

Starting this past Sunday, Bud officially went back to work after over 2 years on worker's comp.  Of course, he is back in Vegas.  (At the CA border in Primm, technically.)  He is making really good money but it is stressful for me having to make sure we have either preschool or a babysitter for Brett.  Our little boy started preschool today (sniff sniff....) so he will be going on Thursday and Friday every week with the possibility of adding another day earlier in the week so mommy has a day to herself when she is off work.  ;] He seemed to really enjoy it today and did not cling to me when I dropped him off like I thought he would.  After he had gone to the children's area during church over the past year or so, he started getting used to us leaving him in someone else's care and with other children, a.k.a. "friends."  It was hard for me to drop him off and not cry because he is finally going to school/day care after being home for the 3.5 years of his life.  I know he will love it and he is excited for grandma to pick him up tomorrow !

Here are a few pictures of our little (big) boy from Halloween last night and his first day of preschool today.  My mom and I took him trick or treating at my office where all the dispatchers had bowls of candy on their desks for the employee's kids to trick or treat from.  :]  He was so well behaved there, it was scary.  Everyone loved his costume and thought he was adorable !  How could anyone not ?!  :]

grandma time

Grandma came down this morning to go to church with us, followed by home cooked BBQ chicken for lunch and then shopping afterward.  Bubba just loves to play with his grandma and grandpa so he is always ready and keeps them busy when they are here.  I forgot to change a setting on my camera back to what it was so some of the photos are a little grainy, but still cute. :]  Someday I'll have this camera totally figured out.  Maybe.

"Look... it's my Bubba on the phone."-- Brett

our future star

Brett has been watching baseball games with us and pretends he is playing both pitcher and hitter so I bought him a Fisher Price T-ball kit.  He loved it right away and we had to move it outside to avoid softball size dents in our walls.  Now I just need to get him a baseball glove, but that can wait because there is nothing Brett loves more than to swing a hard object around and hit something with it !

(Please excuse all the glares.... I changed a setting on my camera and it shows off how dirty my lens is.)

bunting already ?

baseball game fun

A friend of mine and I went to the Angels/Royals game last night in Anaheim to see our favorite left handed pitcher do his thing.  We somehow managed to make it from Mira Loma to Anaheim in only 35 minutes by taking the 60 to the 57.  We were pleasantly shocked at how little traffic there was and got there in plenty of time to color each other's cheeks with a red #33 to show our support for C.J. Wilson.  It took two tries for me to get it right on Katy's cheek because she said to do it the same as mine, though it was on her right cheek and mine was on my left.  She ended up with "33#" and we were in tears laughing so hard trying to figure out what went wrong.  (You really had to be there to understand the humor....)  It's a good idea to stick with the same cheek so you don't have a dyslexic moment like we did.  The gates opened less than ten minutes after our arrival and we made our way down to the field level where others were gathered to try and catch foul balls during the Royals' batting practice and hoping to be one of the few lucky ones to get an autograph before the game.  We stood there for about an hour while we scanned the dugout and bullpen areas waiting for that first glimpse of the Angels to merge onto the field.  

My feet were starting to annoyingly protest how uncomfortable they were but I immediately forgot all about the discomfort as C.J. walked by less than 20 feet in front of us to warm up and I went into full on paparazzi mode with my camera.  I have much respect for this man who is an amazing pitcher as well as human being.  He has charity events each year for children's hospitals, is very anti-drugs and alcohol, loves to race cars (I also have an unfortunate need for speed) and last but not least, lets be honest here, it doesn't hurt that he is so darn good looking with a killer smile.  ;] 

Soon after Mike Butcher, the pitching coach, along with Mike Trout, Mark Trumbo, Maicer Itzuris, Albert Pujols, Bobby Wilson, Peter Bourjos, Howie Kendrick and possibly one other I am forgetting, all walked out on to the field to start their warm ups.  I was definitely star struck seeing these amazing baseball players all within yelling distance and taking photos of them.  So many of my pictures have a slight dark spot on at least one side because of all the people standing in front of us and me being so short, but I managed to get a couple of really good shots here and there.  Mike Trout signed a few autographs about 10 feet away from us but we knew we'd never get through the crowd hovered around him.  

Once the game started, we decided to stay where we were and just sit there until the actual ticket holder showed up and gave us the boot.  We managed to see the first half of the first inning and just after texting Bud about sitting in those seats, I heard a gentleman ask "are you warming up my seat for me ?"  We laughed and I said I sure was and that he was very welcome.  So we made our way to a food stand and then to our actual seats which were much higher up.  One great thing about sitting so high up in the stands is you can see the entire stadium !  We had a great time and left in the middle of the 8th inning because my friend had to get up early for work this morning so we listened to the rest of the game on the radio on our way home. 

After I was dropped off at my car in Mira Loma, we parted ways and I ended up taking almost an extra hour to get home because of a freeway closure just past my exit.  When four lanes merge down to one and semi after semi truck are not willing to let you, or even their fellow semi truck drivers in, it makes things difficult.  

(Had to make this one the biggest.... ;)

(Katy's attempt at getting a picture of Trout signing autographs.  Not sure why she couldn't get it to focus.)

(Pretty sure Bud has a man crush on Trout.  Who wouldn't ?  Look at that baby face.  On a pro baseball team and not quite old enough to drink legally yet !)

(The view from our actual seats.  Trout sure loves being on base !)

birthday fun

My parent's birthdays are one day apart so we went to dinner and a baseball game to celebrate.  Slater's 50/50 has a ton of different types of hamburgers and some interesting choices to create your own.  Peanut butter and jelly ?  Asparagus spears ?  Vampire dip (whatever that is)?  Or how about holiday stuffing ?  Yes, as in Thanksgiving holiday stuffing.  I ended up just getting the usual pickles, lettuce and tomato but opted for asparagus spears as well and just picked them off and ate them first.  The 50/50 part is beef mixed with ground bacon.  It tasted like beef and nothing else to me but my husband is nuts over it ! 

The Angels/Giants game we went to afterward was very hot but pleasant once the sun set.  Angels won so my dad was happy !  It's just unfortunate we had to end up sitting next to a tobacco chewer who, before finishing his cup of beer, just spit his very attractive looking spit of chew onto the ground between his feet. 

I managed to get this adorable picture of my parents during dinner.  How cute are they ?!  :]  Going on 35 years of marriage next month and many more to come.

Happy birthday mom and dad !!! :]

*Brett saw this as I was posting it and pointed to the picture saying "I yove you grandma, grandpa !"  :]

friends

My parents had a little party to go to before the baseball game so I hung out at their house with their kitty.  He's my buddy when I visit but when he stays with us for a week while they are in Colorado, he's terrified.  :]  He could not decide whether he wanted to be in or out so I finally made him stay out with me while I fed the blue jay that was staring me down for peanuts.  Apparently this bird is used to my Sammy boy because he could have cared less that he was laying only a few feet away from his peanuts !  I miss throwing peanuts out on the back deck for the blue jays and watching them pick up each shell and shake it to determine which was the heaviest, a.k.a. best one to take.  We used to have to scare off the squirrels but now that they are pretty much extinct up there, it's kind of sad that they are no longer around.