I am back!!!

I started blogging so I would have somewhere to keep friends and family updated and it was fun but then I just stopped.  Why?? Well life got busy and too many things to write about and not enough time.  Oh, and my notebook was super slow.  So now here I am with a new laptop and kind of inspired to begin blogging again.

So I see it's been a while since I have blogged so let's do a little catching up.

Work - I did accomplish a certification for OHSAS 18001 and recertification for ISO1400.  It felt great to accomplish this as I was able to fulfill my promise to get this done in 2014.  I was offered the opportunity to leave the medical division and return to the aerospace division this year.  I was approached about it in December and nothing happened until January and then nothing until March when I received a call with an offer.  I left the medical division May 1 and started in the aerospace site on May 4.

Life - well the above sums it up.  I had mixed feelings about leaving SD and coming back but the position was very appealing to me and I think it will offer me more opportunities for growth.  Since moving here I don't work 12 hour days as much (I say that because yesterday I worked from 7:45 am until 9:00 pm).  It was month end but I finished all my tasks and this was the first 4th of July holiday I don't find myself working on month end reports etc.
Because I am able to call it a day after 9 hours at work I am now going to the gym to train with a trainer and I love it.  I can't run because of my knee but I am having fun lifting weights, doing squats and just enjoying.  The first few weeks I was sore but now it is better. 
I am trying to find a place to live and call home but that is a bit of a struggle but I now it will happen soon.  IT has to and for the first time I am seriously thinking I should buy a home.  Granted I have had a dream that my home will be 4 -5 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, a nice family / entertainment room , open kitchen, living room and a little office.  Well guess what, it is just a dream in CA on my single income.  So I am trying to create a more realistic dream which is basically a 3 bedroom condo, two bath with open kitchen and living room and a nice little patio.  
Traveling - nothing much I went to Paris again a year ago and it was fun.  I also went to Chicago and that was a blast.  This year I have gone to Vegas 4 out of the 6 months so far.  I was aiming for going every month but it is not realistic
The SD air was good for me.  Since I have been back, I have had sinus issues almost every week.  Yuck!
My knee well it has been fine.  I did fall back in December without my knee brace ironically right after a doctors appointment in which she told me to wear my brace.  I went in because I had strained it to keep from being knocked down and then hit it on an open cabinet.  She could tell it was swollen and told me get the brace back on.  So what do I do about an hour later?  It was raining and kind of dark and didn't realize there was a step down so I fell.  It was swollen but it went away quickly.  I did ok packing up my place for my move and no problems.  However, I am not sure why but last week it started hurting so I have not been doing as much squatting etc.  My plan is to call Dr. Alberton and find out who she thinks I should see up here and give them a try.
On a positive note I had my physical and was told I would be off some of the RX I had because there didn't appear to be a need for them.  So that's an accomplishment.  I was told I should think about getting the following immunizations:  Shingles, Hep A and Hep B.  So a few hundred dollars later I had a red spot on my left shoulder.  It is still a bit sore.
Dating, yuck  I hate being asked about this occasionally so I am just going to put it out there.  I have gone on a site and it has been interesting.  I connected with a guy in SD and he seemed nice but eventually revealed he was in an open relationship.  We were two different in goals and mind set so he thought it was better we went our own ways.  Than there was the guy I met from West LA who we will call Felipe.  We went out to dinner and a movie on my first day of work in Torrance and it was fun.  However,that just fizzled out.  I think our age difference was apparent as he was a bit of the young party phase still.  He was only 9 years younger.  Than there is Honda who is 4 years older and a widow.  We have not met because I admit it I think he seems too old and boring when you talk to him  Not to mention that he plans a whole day and future things and I freak out.  Why, well let's just meet for lunch and see what happens and then plan another thing for a couple of hours but I am not looking for a day date.  Oh and there is Wars guy who is also 9 years younger but much more mature than Felipe.  However, we are both busy so it is a hit and miss.  Then there is Disney - he is an engineer and works for Disney.  This could be promising as he is only 6 years younger and we both are busy with work and are planning to meet after this holiday weekend.  Have you noticed a pattern?  Yes, I don't think I do well with people my age or older and I don't know if that is good or bad.  I do know one thing I am done with Internet dating because this is a summary with simple basic normal mishaps.  I will tell you the real dirt in person.

So there you go, here is a snap shot of what I have been experiencing the last few months.

I took a challenge without knowing what I would be challenged to do. 

Now here I am writing in my blog.  I haven't written for many reasons; my notebook is dying, I have lots of thoughts and ideas but not enough time, I just don't know which topic to pick, and why should I do it when I'm not sure if anyone really reads or is interested.

The one thing I have thought about a lot recently is how much harm is technology doing to our lives.  Think back just say 25 years ago....ok may 30.  I was a teenager and I did not have a cellphone or a personal computer.  If I wanted to reach my parents to let them know I was going to be late or wanted to ask permission to stay out longer I had to do it one of two ways.  In person or on a land line.  Dinner at the dinner table meant we talked with each other about my day at school or just anything.  I often was corrected for saying "hey", "dude" or "really". 

Nowadays, most teenagers or even pre teens own a cell phone, or an I Pad or both.  They are a text away from their parents or god forbid predators.  However, this post is to focus on communication.

Look around you right now.  Are you somewhere in public?  Chances are you see a couple of people with their phones a hand reach away or maybe even in their hand talking or texting to someone else.  If it is a larger group then you definitely see someone in that group texting, or checking their Facebook or Tweeting.  If you are at home what are your children doing?

Not too long ago a friend posted a picture on Instagram about a technology free day.  All the kids in her house had to not use cell phones, I pads etc. for one day.  That's right, 24 hours, the audacity to expect individuals under the same roof to interact with each other.

So my challenge to you is to implement this in your own life.  Maybe you can't start out with a whole 24 hour block but why not try just 2 hours a day.  Surely it can't be that difficult.  Talk to your children, really teach them about communicating and expressing themselves in a personal real way.  After all, it is becoming a lost art.

Trees in the Streets

Last Tuesday while at work the skies became very dark but there was no rain. 

I saw posts on FB that it was raining in La Jolla, La Mesa, and Allied Gardens. 

As I drove home the 15 was backed up as usual but it was close to 7 pm and the Chargers were not playing so I took the 163 and exited on Kearny Road. I then had to go down Murphy Canyon Drive as I was picking up some Thai food. As I drove the street had a lot of leaves on it and then I noticed my first tree that was on the side of the road but didn't think much of it. 

As I drove home on Aero there was traffic again and then I realized a tree was blocking the road. So we were down to one lane to drive around the tree and I noticed more trees were down. I am not going to lie before I saw the tree I was thinking that people in SD were really bad drivers that couldn't drive after the rain. I know I am bad. 


As I was turning into the street that leads to my street; the car in front of me came to a complete stop and my thought was "what are you doing?! Don't stop suddenly right after you turn". Then as he did a U-turn and I kept an eye on my rear view mirror I realized the street was blocked due to a big tree was blocking the street. It was a scene that you normally see on television. 

So I kept driving down my street and noticed that in the first parking lot another tree had fallen into two cars. It was then that I realized that the rain I heard about must have really hit hard with some wind in my neighborhood. 
I entered my parking lot and saw a fence had been knocked down and a tree was being removed by the missionaries and some of the neighbors. 

I was seeing things that I never expected I would see in real life and immediately thought "This is nothing, your cousins in Cabo have  worse situation and you need to count your blessings". So my challenge to you is to pray for those affected by the hurricane in Cabo and if you can help them in whatever way you can.

Challenges

So lately work has been a challenge. I have a re certification audit coming up along with a certification audit for  new program. The weight I need to lose for my surgery was coming off and then it stopped and started creeping back up. I postponed my surgery from October to next year because I don't want to spend 4,500 twice within 6 months. I have a high deductible and out of pocket maximum. I have a non cooperative PC that is slower than molasses and takes 4 - 5 minutes to review a time card every other week I have to review 98. 

So I am trying to get control of each situation one at a time. 

I will do my best for the re certification and the certification it's going to be a lot of work and probably will be working one day a weekend at least going forward. 

I went to see a PA for the weight management program that Scripps provides and it was a good experience. I will be going back for a follow up in 4 weeks. I have also been riding the stationary bike for two days in a row but I will leave that for another blog post. 

Doing the above will hopefully get me on track for the surgery. Waiting until January will allow me to save money and get things at work settled so I can take a full 12 week leave of absence. Yeah, I am taking 12 weeks at least that is the plan right now. I need the time away from work and I want to focus on my recovery. I will work remotely if needed on my new laptop that I should be getting shortly. 

The one thing the PA did say is that maybe I am depressed - we talked about a few things. I wont lie I have been thinking about going to a therapist for the past 8 months but I haven't taken action. So now I guess I need to step up to the plate. 

Texas

I am not talking about the state either. If you know me, you know that is my nickname for a guy named Joe. 

We were able to spend time yesterday in Temecula  and it dawned on me that I had almost known him for five years this fall. 

We met in the most interesting way in October 2009. I have moved away from OC to SD; he was laid off from a job and re-hired at another company. I worked strictly in HR when I was in OC but gained HSE responsibilities in SD. He is an HSE director and gives me advice and help when I ask for it and I am appreciative of his knowledge and willingness to share. He was raised LDS but he has not been active since he was a teenager.

He has been kind and has driven to SD in that crazy 5 freeway from OC to check on me (after my hysterectomy, gallbladder and meniscus surgeries) or just hang out. I am sure that on those times he probably spent more time driving than we did together. 

There was a time where the lines of our friendship were blurred and I thought our friendship was maybe more than friends; but we , I should say he clearly reminded me our lifestyles are clearly different. 

So last night as we sat and talked I realized that I do care about this friend a lot. He has taught me oh so much and I don't know that I have ever really let him know this. So next time he is in town (next month) I promise myself that I will thank him for being a friend.

PB Ward

So I have not blogged for a while because life was just blah and although I had funny things happen or think this is something worth sharing I just didn't have the energy or the desire. Then my one avid reader pointed out to me that I went MIA and I also wasn't posting on my blog (since February). 

PB Ward = Pacific Beach Single Adult Ward. 

I started attending the PB Ward in February of 2011. It was going to be for a year while I established friendships and acclimated myself to living in San Diego. 

So three and a half years later I finally took the plunge last week and transferred my records to my family ward. 

PB was a great ward and I loved every minute I was a member. 

In my short time 

Visiting teaching companions I had two. Both became friends as well as the individuals that we were assigned. They strengthened my testimony about the importance of visiting teaching and also reminded me of how important it is. Some of the sisters moved away and moved back and others just went back to their family wards in the county or across the border/country. 

I had awesome visiting teachers as well. I will never forget all the kindness and visits these ladies served me. 

There were also some amazing RS teachers. The lessons were so spiritual and some individuals really personalized their lessons which really touched my heart. I think that when people are so willing to share about their families they really impact the members.

I am truly grateful for these ladies and all the memories that we made and will last a lifetime! 

Home teachers: I had four different sets and they were all amazing. I learned a lot from these men. These men were willing to serve me and give me blessings when I needed them. I enjoyed that three of these sets were so willing and open to just randomly checking on me via text (I love technology) and this was the easiest way to keep in touch. 

The men in my ward are truly great examples to me and I appreciate that they are diligent, willing to honor their priesthood to serve the sisters in the PB ward.

Friends: Again some of the above fall into this category. PB ward is just full of fun caring individuals. We all come from different places, different backgrounds, etc but we are all striving to live the Gospel to the best of our capabilities. We are willing to serve each other and help each other as we have challenges in our every day life trials and those unexpected emergencies. 

Bishopric: Had two different bishops. They were both very different but both called by God. 

So I would say that one year quickly turned into a longer time. I am so so fortunate and grateful to have had the privilege to attend this ward. 

As I sat there this morning and looked around the congregation my heart filled with gratitude for all the memories and friendships. It reminded me of the following I read in my yearbook one year. 

Friendships are like roses
They both need love to grow
And When I remember the times we've shared, I don't want to go, 
The memories are precious and I will always hold them near

I'm blowing with the wind of change

I said I would start blogging but my notebook is having issues.

This weekend I used the first of my free gifts for the purchase of the time share. So a few of my friends and I went on a two hour harbor cruise, followed by dinner. I have been fortunate to meet some amazing women and even more so to call them friends.

So the change for me is to go back to a family ward. It is odd to hear kids and just really focus on the speakers. I actually knew or recognized some ward members. I was scared to attend OK not scared just nervous.  Waiting to see what this new ward brings.....oh wait I almost forgot I am now a part of the empty nester s FHE!!!!!