Life is a Pitch: 2015

12/25/15

Christmas Morning

I wish I was video taping or taking notes because so many funny things were said during our present unwrapping time this morning.

First, we had the two missionaries from our ward over for breakfast, they were also here for the presents. They are like family, so it was perfectly wonderful.

The first funny thing was that the missionaries were here last night. We asked them about their favorite Christmas memory. Elder Johnson said he loved all the hand made things his dad, a master carpenter, built for him and his siblings over the years. Elder Fitzgerald said it was a sword his dad gave him. SOOOOOOOO, this morning at like 6 am, Scott woke up and using his master carpenter skills, built them each a sword!!! I didn't get a photo, though!!! (but Elder Fitz, never put his down all morning!!!)

Andrew wanted to play Santa this year (handed out the gifts). Scott and I wrapped together last night, so some of the tags...well, just two, were wrong, so at one point Elder Johnson got one of Bradley's gifts, oops! I feel bad, though, because he gave his to Bradley, so I keep wondering if he would have done that if I wouldn't have messed up the tags!!!

Bradley got a Sharks hat, but he wanted a snapback, not a fitted hat, so that was kinda sad!

Andrew getting gifts was funny because he got them all out of order....he got some playstation 4 games, then a playstation 4 controller, but didnt get the Playstation 4 till the very end. If we were really funny parents, we would have given that to him for his birthday (Dec 27th)...and he would have just had some games and a controller for two days!!!!

Melanee, Dax, and Miles skyped with us as we opened gifts. At one point Elder Johnson was singing the "Hooning birthday song" but making up Christmas words to the tune....and that reminded us that Dax also tries to sing that song at birthdays now. So we told them to have a "rap battle" or "rap off" to see who could sing it better....they did pretty well....that was really funny!!!! Good sports!!!

One of the funny gifts we wrapped for Elder Johnson was a sweet potato (yam)...he likes those??? Elder Fitz got a Star Wars tie. We found it at TJ Max for $7.00, but saw it also yesterday at Penneys for $39.99, same tie!!!

William got a Sacramento Kings hat with the new crown logo, it's really cool!!!

Scott gave the boys tickets to go watch the new Star Wars movie. They are all there now.

We all got new Glende Polaris sweatshirts and wore them for a 2015 family photo.

I got a new camera that should work well for sports photography! I also got some bowls, measuring cups, pillow cases, a SVU polo shirt, and duck napkin rings(???)

Melanee went all out and hand (sewing machine) made everyone gifts....the boys and Scott got ties and I got a hand sewn bag for bringing home groceries (plastic bags are now outlawed in Chico and paper bags cost money). She also got us all San Antonio Scorpions t shirts. We might do another family picture later wearing them!

Scott got some duck/dog/camo pajamas and some shot gun shells.

Everyone seemed really happy with everything. It was a fun morning.

I still wish I remembered all the funny comments!

you can see the sword in this photo

Elder Johnson (we love him a lot)

11/30/15

photos from Red Bluff win

We were hoping there would be professional photos of Bradley's interception...there wasn't...but there were a few from afterwards, when he ran to the sideline and was greeted by happy teammates!

11/19/15

11/16/15

crocheting ties

I am not a crafty crafter type person...but somehow I have a new hobby. I am not sure I like it, but I've promised a few more people ties, so, this hobby is going to last about a week longer, then I'm going to go back to watching sports and taking action shot photos of my kids playing sports.

All this crocheting is hurting the muscles in my forearm. It needs a rest, haha.

This hobby all started out when Scott's mom was here. She was crocheting a baby blanket for Melanee's new baby. One of the missionaries saw her and said that he wanted a tie like that blanket. I said, "I can do that." I don't know what I was thinking!!! I have crocheted before. My mom taught me when I was about 12. I made a pot holder. I still remember that pot holder, It didnt work very well. We got burned when we used it! Guess I should have given up crocheting back then.

So, I thought I could just quickly make a tie. I started stitching the long way....not back and forth, but all the way the length of the tie and back down....it made a super skinny, no shape, long rectangle. It wasnt really going to work. It ended up being a toy for the new puppy.

I started the second effort from the back side, where the rows are straight and skinny. It was working, but taking forever. I had NO idea how to make it wider. A friend of mine came over and gave me some pointers. I finished the first tie at like 2 in the morning after crocheting on it most of that week and at Bradley's soccer game that day. I gave it to the missionary and he wore it at church. I never got a picture that day....which I really regret. I want a picture of him in that tie!!!

I think my favorite one is the white one. I think the grey one has very few mistakes. The purple one is looking good, so far. The striped one with the Neapolitan colors is awesome, but would look better if the sections didnt start in the middle of a stripe. The yellow and red one was a special request from Andrew for Chico High colors, but i didnt know how to tie the yellow and red yarns, so there are some obvious knots. That one is also, too fat, then too skinny.

I have to finish the purple one, make a navy blue one, maybe make Andrew a spotted one, make two little kid ties, one for Miles and one for the little brother of two of the ties, cant leave him out!

11/10/15

warm ups

The professional photographer added some more Almond Bowl photos, from the warm ups...there were 3 of Bradley.

11/8/15

new puppy

I just realized that my blogger friend Martha isn't also a Facebook friend, so she hasn't seen our new puppy Zoey. And I know she likes dogs.

Scott wanted to get a new hunting dog because Sam is getting old. He thinks that in the next few seasons Sam can help train Zoey, so now we have two dogs. We've had Zoey for about 2 weeks now. She's pretty cute and fun. She already retrieves and has even gone hunting and for a swim. Scott loves her.

10/24/15

William Soccer Pictures

I haven't blogged much lately or much about William in a while, but he's playing soccer for SVU. His team is not doing very well, but I think he is having a good experience playing collegiate soccer on the East Coast. They are in Pennsylvania today for a game.

He just sent me these pictures from a few weeks ago. In this first one he had just been elbowed in the throat-

Good action shot-

I've enjoyed watching him on the Live webcasts of the games. I love these photos, too! He said he might send more, so I will share them later if he does!!!

9/29/15

work

Everyone is probably wondering how my new job is going. Well, I love it. It's actually a lot of fun. I wasn't really sure what I was doing at all the first week, but I am getting the handle of it now. I work a 4 hour shift and I can get everything pretty much done in 3.5 hours, so I think I am really fast.
First thing I do when I get to work is gather up the outgoing mail. There are 4 places to get mail. Our building is split into 4 zones. I have to collect mail from each of them. Our building has an upstairs and a downstairs. I walk those stairs a lot! There are actually two sets of stairs, so I sometimes like to change it up, but my favorite is the back stairs. I don't have an office or a cubical or anything, but I kind of do, in a way. There is a "mail room" and that's where I do a lot of my work and there is a "shredder" room, and I spend some time in there, too. I don't have a name tag or name plate or anything, but most everyone else does, so I am getting to know people's names, slowly. I am not sure how many know my name, but they all smile at me. No one talks much. Everyone is always busy working.

After I collect the mail, I usually go do my courier route. On Mondays and Wednesdays, I drive all around Chico and make lots of stops. On Tues and Thurs, I drive all the way to Oroville and Gridley, but only have a few stops. So far, I think I like the Oroville/Gridley route better. They both take about two hours. When I get back I have to deliver all the stuff I picked up to all the workers. I am slowly figuring out where everyone is, who everyone works for, and what goes where.

Then I collect more outgoing mail.

Then I sort all the mail. Then I put things in envelopes and stamp them. If there is more time left, I go shred. And shred. And shred some more. Then I go put all the mail in the mail box out by the road.

I can do it all, the work is not hard, but it's REALLY important, so I really have to pay close attention to every detail and work really diligently and hard.

My feet hurt from wearing dress shoes with no socks. I don't mind wearing skirts/blouses, but I hate all my dress shoes. One lady told me I could wear running type shoes if they are nice, but I want to make sure with the bosses first. They also told me I could wear capris, but I don't think any of mine are fancy enough. They also told me they'd get me a polo shirt with the company logo, but I havent gotten one yet. If I get that, I think that would look good with capris and nice new running shoes, but until then, I will just wear my feet raw in my church shoes. I think my old blisters may turn to callouses some day, right?

9/28/15

my testimony

I don't write very many spiritual things on my blog because I know my dad reads it and I know he is not very religious. But, I've been thinking about it and if I never tell him what I believe, he will never know!

Every time it's Fast and Testimony meeting at church (first Sunday of the month), Andrew tries to get me to go up and share my testimony. I don't go up there very often. I sometimes feel like some of the people bearing their testimony are saying "look at ME, I have a testimony!" I will go up when I get that heart pounding, sweaty, nervous, spiritual feeling, but not just to go up and "brag".

Every time I go up to the podium, I always forget what I want to say, I always sound scatterbrained, and I always wish I would have said different/more things.

I know that I am happy when I am doing the right things, such as reading the scriptures daily, daily prayer, and living my life in a way that would be pleasing to Heavenly Father. I am not ashamed to say that I am a Mormon. I want to be a good example of a good Mormon because so many people know that I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

When I bore my testimony at church on Sunday I tried to say that I know the church is the true church. I know it's the right place for me. I love it. Then I went on to say that my faithfulness will never change but, for sure, my spirituality does. But I think that's when I probably just lost everyone on what I was trying to say. I meant when people say things that I take wrong, when I get released from callings, when things go unexpected, or when I am not doing all that I should to feed my spirit, I can get down spiritually. My spirituality goes up and down, but my testimony is always strong. I want to always feel spiritual, but I don't. It doesn't make me a bad person, or even a bad Mormon, but it is something for me to work on.

Is not being spiritual a bad thing?

How can I be more spiritual?

The scriptures (Matthew 22:37) say that the first great commandment is to love the Lord and the second is to love our neighbors. Those things right there are how I am going to choose to live my life. I want to show Christlike love to all those around me. (Starting with my husband and family!)

9/26/15

more Pro pictures!

These first three are Bradley's BIG hit....not the greatest form, but WOW, what a HIT!

Look at the guy's eyes! And that's the coach watching!

This is Bradley's "clip" or hit to the back, he got a 15 yard penalty on it! OOPS!

9/24/15

my job

I had all of the new employee training for my new job yesterday and I learned that what I do is fairly top secret and I can not tell anyone about what I do, how much I make, anything....so, I guess I learned my lesson about blogging work related stuff once already (although, really, that was a blog from a mom about her child, nothing really work related at all), so no more blogging about my new job!

Back to the sport mom blogging...and maybe pretty soon, some hockey fan blogging!!!

9/21/15

New Job!!!

Not sure how much I blogged about this, but last year, right before school let out for the summer, I got called into the principal's office (that's always scary). Before I went in, I called Scott and said, "I think he's going to ask me if I want to work next year, do I?" And Scott said, "It's totally up to you!" We all know that yard duty is not the world's best job, but I've always liked it. I love the kids. I like being outside. I like having a school schedule, so I'm home when the kids are home. I also knew that I could, for sure, make more money elsewhere. In his office, he closed the door. That made "going to the principal's office" even more scary! Then he handed me an envelope. He said, "We are going in a different direction with our yard duties next year. Thanks for everything, but these papers will help you to collect unemployment." Um, ok, did I just get fired??? Yup, I think I did! Well, not really "You're Fired!", like Donald Trump, but I knew I wasn't working there anymore. It was hard to take. I also knew they had been trying to get rid of me for a while. Each time the school gets a new principal, they always want to hire their own staff. I was a leftover from about 10 former principals. Also, I no longer had a child at that school, so I couldnt work as a classroom aide, so if he got rid of me, he could hire someone as an aide and yard duty and give them 5 hours, with me there still, he could only offer a person 2 or 3 hours and no one would want that!

I had a good summer being unemployed. I went to Texas twice and to the Grand Canyon with my family. I got to relax. I got some house projects completed. It was a good summer, but after school started again, I started to get depressed. I got turned down by Target, by Kohls, by a bunch of other places where I put in online applications. I was getting really down and discouraged. I felt like no one wanted me. I have a college degree, I am smart, but I haven't really had a job in over 20 years.

Last week I had an interview to be a campus supervisor at a junior high here in town. It was for a 1 hour a day position. ONE HOUR....not really even worth my time!!! Gas to get there! But, I wanted a job. I needed a job. Even if it was just to get me off the couch. I thought the interview went GREAT!!! At the end, they said, we will know today and we will let you know, and hey, when can you start?" They also asked which of my references I wanted them to call. They never called either of them, and didnt ever get back to me. VERY discouraging! I couldn't even get a 1 hour a day job with a college degree and 20 years of experience??? Pitiful.

Then, on Friday, I got an answering machine message...I thought the person said, "This is Peggy Carling." I dont know any Peggy Carlings. I listened to the message several times. I looked up Peggy Carling in our church directory. There wasnt one. I called the number back. I asked for Peggy Carling....there wasnt one there, but they did have a Peggy, so they gave me to her. It was the right Peggy. She had said on the message, "This is Peggy calling....." haha! Oh man, hearing loss is NOT fun!

She told me that she heard I had been looking for a job and would I like an interview on Monday! Yes, I would!

I went in today. I have NO idea what I was doing. I couldn't sleep at all last night! I didn't know what to do this morning to get ready. In the office, they had me wait for about a half hour and I honestly felt like walking out the door!

I'm glad I stayed. I filled out an application. I had already sent them my resume. I talked to the two interviewers, honestly answering their questions. At the end, they said that they would let me know...but as I was walking out the door, one went one way and the other and I went the other and she led me to the Owner/Boss's office. The boss then did another interview and told me the whole history of her company and everyone's jobs. She told me all that she would like me to do. Then, she said, "Be here at 9:15 tomorrow."

I got a job!

I got a good job!

A perfect for me job.

I didn't really have any faith that I would get a job. I didn't really think I would be wanted anywhere.
But, I had other's who were very supportive and who would say things like, "there are better things to come" and "I will keep you in my prayers." I think their prayers DID help me! I thanked them all today and most said, "You were blessed!" And I do feel blessed. This job will be wonderful for my family. I will be able to help with the finances and I will be home when the kids are home!!!!