Disney Photos

Finally some Disney pictures:

My newly learned trick -- take a digital picture of where you parked:

On the tram to the main entrance:

Our "enchanted moment"

Me and my honey at the Happiest Place on Earth...

Eric & Leah outside Pirates of the Caribbean:

Two manly-men....Derek & Captain Jack Sparrow:

"Dance the Magic" - a mini pre-parade of dance troupes dancing down Main Street to the song "Footloose"

Parade Time:

Some Disney characters:

Here are the princesses...thinking of you, Aubrey!

Disneyland

Saturday, Derek and I got to go to the Magic Kingdom, the Happiest Place on Earth....yep, Disneyland. This was a dream come true for me as I realized I had never ridden an actual roller coaster with my husband (if you don't count almost 2 years of marriage).

So Saturday morning, we woke up early (amazing how easy it is when you want to go where you're going), and met up with Eric and Leah in Santa Clarita. Then we all carpooled down to Anaheim where Jenna treated us to some free entry tickets (THANK YOU, JENNA!)

We headed straight for Space Mountain and from there, it was a blast! I will hopefully post a couple of pictures when I can pull them off of our camera (our computer is being a pain in the backside by promptly shutting down everytime I turn the camera on when it's plugged into the USB -- so I'm looking for my card reader, but heaven only knows where I last put it!) But truth be told, it was pretty hot during the day and so we aren't missing much seeing Michelyn all hot and sweaty.

The four of us did get treated to an "Enchanted Moment"....we had lined up for lunch at the Tomorrowland Terrace and got offered a 'reserved' table where servers would bring us our food - complete with a linen tablecloth, linen napkins and condiments inside of little glass sealed jars. It didn't cost any extra so we were game! Apparently this year's theme is "Year of a Million Dreams" so they do fun little stuff that they call "enchanted moments" throughout the day and throughout the park with random people.

The rides as always were fun. I noticed that because of the fastpass system, most of the waiting is done outside - which wasn't so bad when there was shade. But for a couple of lines, there was no shade just folded up umbrellas that they wouldn't open because of some 'wind advisory.' We mostly didn't have to wait more than 30-40 minutes even without fastpass. The only 'bad' line was for Indiana Jones as it was the end of the day and for a couple of hours it was shut down, so they were trying to jam tons of people through the ride when it re-opened. One of the rides I really enjoyed, surprisingly, was the new Finding Nemo Submarine ride. Granted, I haven't been on the subs for ages, but I thought they did a great re-imagining of that ride!

After 11 hours of walking, our poor little feet were tired. So after some shopping (Michelyn got a great new sweatshirt) we all decided to head home...humming various themes from the rides. Can't wait to go back!

Garden School

Saturday, I got to go along with Launa to Garden School - a series of classes in a variety of gardening topics. This weekend I got to learn about houseplants and plant propagation. Very interesting! And I got to bring home a baby Pathos (basic houseplant) that I'm going to try to grow from a clipping. It was held on the campus of Soka University - a beautiful campus in Aliso Viejo. It totally got me in the mood to start gardening at home now the weather is changing!

Courtesy of Launa's fresh herb garden, I got to bring home some fresh cut cilantro and lettuce for the pigs to enjoy....look at them munch away!

Isn't is supposed to be Spring?

Here's a video clip of our freak mid-March snow:

Kaiser

Today ends my first week at my new job....Kaiser Permanente....and it's gone well I think....

Monday, I visited my 'old haunts' by attending a general orientation meeting in Pasadena! Drove by the condo on Marengo for memory's sake...

The remainder of this week I've been in my new office in Bakersfield. Just today I got my password to log on to my desk computer....but next week is when I'll be attending more training about different things, like the software for the electronic medical records.

Everyone has been tremendously nice and welcoming and I've gotten to sit in on a couple of group sessions -- they have some really talented therapists here! I'm excited to be part of the team...

Goodbye Gifts

It has been a 'good' goodbye to my friends and co-workers at Children's Bureau. Even though there have been times of stress because of the job, the wonderful people who I have come to know are who I will miss the most. I had a great group of therapists and behavioral staff on my team! As tokens of appreciation, I made for them a menagerie of 'thera-pets'...little crocheted buddies to keep them company while I'm gone...

Wednesday was the last staff meeting I would be at, so I brought them then - I even made some Heavenly Hash to go along...

I also got to celebrate with a cake, some flowers, a wonderful card....and most sentimental to me, this awesome plaque! I was so taken by surprise at their thoughtfulness and caring....I will miss them deeply!

Winding Down

This is my last week at Children's Bureau...and it is sad to say goodbye to some really great people I've worked with. I've been taking things home from my office and today people were saying how it's starting to look empty. I've come to the conclusion that I'm going to try my best to get things in good as order as I can as I leave, but then I'm going to have to walk away and trust that the remaining loose ends will be taken care of by my colleagues. I'm coming to terms that my fantasies of leaving everything 'perfect' as I walk out the door are just not going to happen...it's probably a chance for me to grow a bit in this area.

As luck would have it, I've come down with a bit of a cold yesterday and today - I liken it to cramming for finals and then coming down sick right afterwards in college. My sinuses are hurting and I'm really tired. I think this weekend I'm going to try and get a lot of rest to gear up for Kaiser. I can't believe that starts on Monday! I was so happy to hear from the Kaiser credentialing department that I officially "passed" credentialing and I'll be getting a confirmation letter in the mail....so watch out Kaiser, here I come!

Ouch

Well, as I make my way closer to my new Kaiser job, I've had to get up to date on vaccinations, etc. Today I got three shots in my arms! I got a Hepatitis B vaccination - optional, but what the heck, I'd rather not worry about contracting that disease! I also got a TDaP - Tetanus plus Diptheria and Percussis - yep, I'll be vaccinated against those ugly diseases too, although this is the one that will make my arm sore! The one I was totally surprised by was a measles shot! Now you might be asking, like me, didn't I have that in an MMR shot like when I was two or something? Yep, I did, but for whatever reason, sometimes they wear off with age (just what I needed to hear as my birthday is in another month) - and my blood level was 0.83 when you need at least 1.00 to be considered "immune". Go figure! Well, to all of my little nephews and nieces who have had shots/vaccinations...Auntie 'M empathizes.....

Kip's 40th Birthday

Another fun weekend with family. Saturday, Derek and I trucked down to a 'surprise' 40th birthday party for Kip. The theme was western!

Red Rock Canyon

Derek and I have been working so hard with our jobs that we realized we haven't seen much of the great outdoors lately. So Saturday we packed up the pups and journeyed to Red Rock Canyon for some fresh air - about 25 miles north of Mojave

Our attempt at 'family photo'...Shasta with her ever present tongue....and poor Monkey who has a hard time showing up in pictures...

Can you see the two people on the left of the picture? That's how huge these cliffs are!

Valentine's '08

For those of you who have known me for quite a while, you know that Valentine's Day has not always been my favorite holiday...I think there are some years when I even wore black....hey, I know it's childish, but when relationships are few and far between and the ones that happen seem to start after or end before the holiday of love....it can get depressing.

But, God truly is a redeemer...this year I got to spend my second Valentine's Day as Derek's wife...and how sweet and precious it all is! My wonderful husband, who is so incredibly busy (and so over-worked and over-tired) found a way to leave his class of 'hellions' (and I say that fondly!) to come over to my work and in person deliver flowers! I was so shocked (and so happy) to see him in the middle of the day! And needless to say, I think I was the envy of the office with my beautiful pink flowers! Thank you, honey!!!

A Snow Day

After 1 1/2 years of living in Tehachapi, Derek and I finally got our first 'snow day'. We woke up to 4-5 inches of snow with our cars stuck and the 58 freeway closed early in the morning. It's been snowing off and on all day and so we both called into work have been working from home.





Here is our beautiful, snowy backyard...you can barely see the dogloo next to the tree:

There's something neat about seeing snow piled on the fence rails:

Seasonal Creek

Saturday night and Sunday we got quite a bit of rain. Here's our "seasonal creek" out back - it's turned into a babbling brook!

Derek's handy work - some racks for our new supply of wood:

"Snain"

This is my new word for the Tehachapi snow/rain combo we've been getting. I know, many people might believe it would be called 'sleet', but I felt creative. "Snain", I've decided is much less heavy then ordinary sleet and perhaps a bit more whimsical as it wafts on the breeze/wind....(plus,it helps ease my guilt when we have to go to work and leave the pups outside in it).