A Grand Wedding

Yesterday, September 29, my good friend Paige married Israel Mosqueda. They have been together, really, for about 10 years. This is remarkable, since they are only in their 20's.

Paige is such a good friend, and such a beautiful person, I want to honor her marriage in my blog.

I have known Paige for 8 years. All that time she has loved Israel. She said from the beginning of our friendship that he is "the one." I wondered about that, but she has never wavered in her devotion to this nice young man. Paige attends to details very well. Her wedding did not provide the exception to the rule.

She of course, is The Beautiful Bride. (I hope to share a couple of pictures in one of my future posts).

We attended this gorgeous wedding. It was Em&M's first wedding that she will remember. It was the longest ceremony I've ever attended, and we arrived just as the processional ended.  It appeared to be a High Mass at St.James Cathedral in Redondo Beach. A picture perfect day gave us a picture perfect and loving ceremony. The girls held out very well until the last 15 minutes--Emily said, just nearly outloud, "mommy, I'm bored. I want to go home now." Little did she know there would be six more hours of additional boredom for her.  Sarah mentioned that she doesn't want her wedding to be "such a fuss, nor so long droning and boring!"

Whew! That means I may not have to save $100k for her wedding! Other guests and I estimated that this one cost the parents about $75-90k.  Watch out, Daddy! 8^) (I kind of like the ad that popped up while posting to you: Hawaii Wedding from $599)

The reception, located at the Palos Verdes Country Club, continued the beauty and elegance of the occasion. Cocktails and hors d'oeuvres provided refreshment while we waited to enter the grand ballroom, which offered us a spectacular panoramic view of the South Bay to the north. Gifted with a clear night, we could see the skyline of downtown Los Angeles, and all the way to the Santa Monica Mountains, from sunset until very dark.

I (thank you Mom) suggested to Sarah that she bring a deck of cards. My mom, funny but practical lady that she was, always brought a deck of cards to receptions. She figured someone would get bored and play a couple of games. I used to think it was kind of, um, rude. However, now that I'm a mom, and find receptions kind of boring myself, applaud the practice. Sarah and Emily had a great time playing 21, War, Slap Jack, and I don't know what other games with Jim, my other college friend Wendy's husband. He seemed perfectly happy to do that with the girls. I think they went home with a new crush each.

Graciously, Paige allowed photographs (by the official photog, even) of Emily and Sarah with her. (Hopefully one will trickle down to me sometime before the end of the year).

However, before the cake was served, the girls had reached their limit of endurance. Emily really wanted "to go home now." Sarah, who, unable to find her coat earlier froze in the air conditioned ballroom, and began her "I'm cold, I'm tired…" tradition of whine. As soon as the cake came to our table, I (just wanting to taste it) had a few bites and then began the ritual of gathering things, saying good bye and actually driving the 45-minute ride home.

Neither girl offered a comment of "I want a wedding just like Paige's." This of course, brings me great relief to know it. Their father also feels gratitude for that. We will always appreciate Paige and Israel for that! (grin)

I know other things I want to write about the wedding, the day, etc., but I need to move some furniture and rearrange some bedrooms to feel a little bit ready for my new job that starts in a week.

Toodles

 

Got My Orders

Well—today in the mail I received my paperwork to become a State of California employee.

Yes, if I haven't already told you, I have decided to accept Cal State's offer of employment.

The package I received contained a letter welcoming me to the university, and other paperwork explaining the benefits I'll receive while employed there.

It also included memos regarding two mandatory orientation meetings I will attend.

I'd say I can't wait, but really I could put it off for another month or so. However, one week from this Monday, I return to the working world after a 13 year (ok, 12 years 11 months) absence.

What I did throughout September so Far

 

School started for the kidlets!! First grade for Emily and Fifth grade for Sarah! I hear people saying all the time, "I can't believe how fast these kids grow up" and don't really see it, but now that I'm a parent, I understand first hand!

They both love their teachers; I completed several hundreds of forms; they were all ready early on the first day and just as cute as can be. Of course, their photographer mom did not get pictures. Oh well. We'll get school pictures in a couple of weeks. I always buy the package, then procrastinate about sending them to people, so I don't know who will or will not get their most recent pictures this next time.

Emily started piano lessons—she just thrills that she knows some notes now and loves to practice!

I've been on several interviews this month. Some interviews were for the City of Cypress, where I live, and a few for Cal State University at Long Beach. I interviewed three times for the same position in the Extension Services part of the University. I may have sent you my detailed dilemma asking for your advice on the subject.

The school offered me the position, at the highest salary in the range, and it does sound very interesting.

Meanwhile, we gave Sarah her own bedroom. I have had it with that d**n playroom! It exists no more. It now very nicely performs the function of being her bedroom. She is happy; Emily is very happy; there is peace once more in the Mankey Kingdom. However, the garage still looks like the latest junk sale location, and there are finishing touches needed. Next week my assignment is to get as much of that done as possible.

The girls again have way too much to do. Soccer for both, piano for both, Academic Chess for both, Girl Scouts for both, band for Sarah. I don't have time for a job!

My, oh my, I have written quite a lot tonight, haven't I.

More another time, I guess.

What we did last summer

Yes, it is indeed fall now, but I still want to say that even with very little pay, we managed to have a great summer. We weren't especially busy, just doing summer things as a family, grilling dinners, playing with water balloons, taking pictures; we just did family things and actually got some time to be bored.

The bestest and most fun thing we did last summer was to take a trip to Lake Tahoe. Not just any old trip, no, no. We camped! We sort have started a tradition with two other families of camping somewhere for the last week of summer, just before the kids all go back to school. Last year it was Big Sur. Scott had to work so only the girls and I went, and we tent camped! That was a great time! Yes, I really did like sleeping in the tent!

So this year the location was Lake Tahoe. Our friends all own their own trailers, and pulled them up the mountain road. We are renters. I didn't want to tow a trailer in the mountain roads, and I googled and yahoo'd the internet for someone who might tow one for us. I found the greatest guy—Ed Acker—he had three trailers from which we could choose to rent, and he offered to deliver it for us!

He graciously delivered, hooked up and stabilized the trailer, and stuffed it with everything we could have asked, for a very comfortable stay. We got the Potomac, which was perfect for us. He even brought chairs with footstools for the "patio" outside…complete with rug! We were the envy of all the families camping around us!

But, that wasn't the highlight. We did so much—we had so much fun—it nearly was a recuperation to come home. We cooked our own dinners, each family taking a night for the main dish and the others doing the sides. And there wasn't a bad cook among us.

Plus, we went horseback riding (yes, I did it too). The kids and I took a 2 hour ride through some of the natural woods and near the lake. It was so very picturesque and peaceful. I was at the end of the line of horses, and when I could get mine, Hansel, to slow a bit, I got some peace and quiet of my very own. We were very tired and dirty after the ride! I thought I'd be sore "in the saddle" so to speak, but thankfully, I wasn't. Not even the next few days. It's a good thing too!

The next day we went to the beach in search of some parasailing activities for the kids. The parasailers weren't out that day because of storm predictions. However, the boats were renting, and the kids got to do those darling pedal boats in the lake. It took a few boats, but finally they found one that had a rudder that really worked.

The storm clouds gathered, the winds picked up, and suddenly a swarm of tiny little bugs attacked us, in effect chasing us off the beach. We all ran in big raindrops to our cars and went back to camp. The kids got to play in the great playground, and the parents just rested at the trailers.

On the next day, we went river rafting. We drove around the lake to Tahoe City, near where our friend has her rental cabin (that I got to drive by and check out all their improvements after we rafted). Each family had our own raft. The river was a tad higher than two years ago when I last visited. The rafting was great fun! We kept bumping into each other; when one family got stuck on a rock another would help them, but then that family was stuck on the rock. The third family would come by, and either help family #2, or just go by waving! We splashed the other boats, had little races, saw some stunning-beautiful riverside land, plus the mountains provided a gorgeous backdrop. At one place where we all stopped, my darling husband pushed me into the river. It was so refreshing, even if it was cold, that I didn't mind at all (sort of a backfire on him, because I got him back but good!).

It was the best, most refreshing, most delightful, mind-restoring day. That afternoon, at sunset, my oldest daughter took me on a small hike to show me the back view of the sunset. As the sun went down, we looked east, and saw the mountains change to all varieties of pink, purple, even some yellows. She took some great pictures of it, too.

The next day, we all needed a rest! The guys took the kids on a hike, and the moms got to rest at the campsite. We only had a couple more days to stay before we had to return home. Friday was our last day there, and we drove out to Virginia City. I shot great photos of old run down barns (my favorite subjects), some of which were barely recognizable, and some of which looked as if they'd been around for 100 years or so. We toured a silver mine, looked through stores; I did a little Christmas shopping, and took a bunch of pictures. We attended a "shoot out" that promised to be very lame. It rained on us, and no matter where I sat, even under the tarp they put up, I got soaked by the rain. I didn't care. Really. The show was a lot more enjoyable than I expected—there was a little audience participation; we were supposed to cheer the good guy and boo the bad guy. We got a little confused, and began to cheer the bad guy! The guys in the show didn't quite know what to do with us. So they just went along with it. They put on a pretty entertaining show.

That night we chose for the all-out buffet at the top level of Harvey's (across the street from Harrah's, and owned by the same company). It was not difficult to overeat that night! We got there at just the right time, too, because we saw one of the most stunningly gorgeous sunsets ever. I shot many, many pictures, too. It thrilled me that I got some great shots over the lake of the sunset.

Saturday morning, we watched as everyone packed their trailers, cars, put away all the toys. We put our luggage in our car, and were ready to go.

The drive home was nearly uneventful. We had to stop a couple of times to re-load the bicycles on the bike. We stopped at our friends' aunt to help load some furniture they took home, and then we stopped one more time at Harris Ranch, out in the middle of nowhere, to have dinner. Dinner was great, and I got a head start on some more Christmas shopping.

So, we got home, late in the evening, tired, dirty, happy and refreshed. It seems so long ago, now.

 

Partial update

It's been quite awhile, and there is much to write-

 

What we did last summer,

What I did throughout September so far,

How Scott did get a job

My carpal tunnel surgeries

However, well, there really are reasons I haven't posted. I wasn't able to type very well, I was tired from the pain meds, I'd look at the pc and get overwhelmed, since there were so many other things to write, pay, send, yada yada, and I'd have to go take a nap. After I got my real work done (which really never was quite "done"), it seemed there was no time for the blogosphere.

So—I'll try to do several posts at the same time. But they will be individual posts, just on the same day. (ok, since I started this on the 17^th of September, I guess they will be on different days.)

I'll start with the shortest one.

Scott got a job!! The end. Kidding…He works as a contractor at Boeing in Long Beach, just 15 minutes away. The benefits package appeared at first to be great; now it doesn't exist. It's ok, though, we have a plan that I'll write about further on a different post fairly soon.

A description of my carpal tunnel release surgery:    For many years, I've been warned by several different hand specialists that I'd probably need this surgery. This year, I had noticed that the feeling in my fingers had significantly decreased. I'd type, and my hands would go numb within just a few minutes. I'd drive and just holding up my hand on the steering wheel caused pain and tingling in both arms. I'd hold the steering wheel with one hand, let the other hand hang down and shake it to get some feeling back. I'd do the same thing for the other hand. Carrying things was especially painful. Any time I had to curl my fingers to carry a bag with a handle, for example, my fingers would hurt and tingle.

Long story short, this year a surgeon said that the next thing to happen would be that my hands would lose muscle tissue. Muscles don't regenerate. Once you lose use of your muscles, there goes the usefulness of your hands. He stated my condition was "severe" and that I'd most likely lose muscle soon. He convinced me to have the surgery.

We did the left hand first, which didn't seem so difficult. I didn't need a lot of pain meds, but it was nice to have them, "just in case." When we did the right hand, it was very different. First of all, I'm right-handed. I found out just how right-handed I am!

((((((( Ten on Tuesday Update: 10 Things You've Been Putting Off )))))))

1. Cleaning the Garage
   
2. Getting my master's degree
   
3. Journaling
   
4. Reading my "get out of debt" books
   
5. Going through my dad's things
   
6. Sewing projects
   
7. Hanging pictures after painting the house, um, 3 years ago
   
8. Changing my parents coinage into dollars and getting a CD account
   
9. Finishing my 2dd's rooms
   
10. Reorganizing my closet for work

Ten on Tuesday

Ten on Tuesday Update: 10 Things You Do When You Have Nothing Else to Do

 

 

Hmm…I truly believe I have never had "nothing else to do!"

 

1. Play computer games
   
2. Play Zuma the video Xbox 360 game
   
3. Read
   
4. Sleep
   
5. Sew
   
6. Needlepoint
   
7. Browse travel web sites
   

   Almost there…
   

8. Walk the dog
   
9. Water my plants
   
10. Talk on the phone
    

 

So these are really things I do to avoid what I'm supposed to do.

 

 

 

 

Scattergories

Lifted from Leah, who got it from someone else:

The idea is to answer the question with a word that starts with the same letter your name does.

What is your name? Charmaine

4-letter word: Chap

Vehicle: CLK-Class Mercedes Benz (ok, corvette)

TV Show: Cheers

City: Chicago

Boy Name: Charles

Girl Name: Christine

Alcoholic Drink: Champagne

Occupation: Char Woman

Something you wear: um, clothes?

Celebrity: Charlese Theron

Food: cherries jubilee

Something found in a bathroom: chapstick

Reason for Being late: coffee spilled on me and I had to go home to change clothes

Cartoon Character: Charlie Brown

Something You Shout: "CHANGE YOUR ATTITUDE, YOUNG LADY!!"

Another Ten on Tuesday

10 Cities where I could live:

Colorado Springs, Colorado
Estes Park, Colorado
Lake Tahoe, California
Vancouver, BC, Canada
Angel Fire, New Mexico
Bozeman, Montana
a suburb of Paris, France
Mount Vernon, Washington
San Diego, California
Durango, Colorado

It might be interesting to look at: findyourspot.com to see what cities they recommend for your choice of living areas.

Un-Labor Day

Labor Day Part Deux

 

Labor Day's over
the dogs are all eaten

The parents all feel

As if they've been beaten

 
 

They took the day off

From work for some play.

Then cleaned and cooked

And did housework all day!

 
 

So now is the time

To return to routines

To work, to school,

To accomplishment dreams

 
 

It's back to school day

And moms may be glad,

A home with no kids

And even no Dad!

 
 

Next stop: October

And then Halloween,

With witches and goblins

Ghoulish play to be seen.

 
 

Until then my friends,

I'll go back to my day

Reading and writing

No more time for play.

 
 

There'll be dishes and sweeping

And homework and soccer

Then dinner and bedtime

Where are those new Dockers??

 
 

What fun it will be though

To see the kids grow

To learn, to reach, to

Surpass what we know.

 
 

Happy New Day!

 
 

Charmaine

Belated Labor Day Post

 

Well, I know it's not Labor Day anymore, but our power was out, so I'm posting this today…along with the follow-up from the next day.

 

HaPpY LaBOr DaY!!
(This is not as good as my dear uncle's poetry, but I tried)


Go ahead, eat those dogs and burgers,
scarf the potato chips
finish the onion dips...

Try not to burn down
the forest in your back yard...
We hope that
it won't be too hard!

Labors aplenty await us all,
from school starting
to the first day of Fall

Up to Halloween
and then to Gratitude,
when starts the holiday
shopping attitude!

We'll have a New Year,
we'll think it went fast,
we'll look at our labors
and days that have passed.

But today we eat and celebrate
the fruits of our work
the joys of the summer
and each little perk.

Happy Labor Day All!

The Mankeys

Let There Be Light

Electricity!! We have light!!

Monday, our holiday, we didn't have power when I wanted to enter the following to my blog. So here it is, a little late, but a newer entry will come soon:

 

HaPpY LaBOr DaY!!
(This is not as good as my dear uncle's poetry, but I tried)


Go ahead, eat those dogs and burgers,
scarf the potato chips
finish the onion dips...

Try not to burn down
the forest in your back yard...
We hope that
it won't be too hard!

Labors aplenty await us all,
from school starting
to the first day of Fall

Up to Halloween
and then to Gratitude,
when starts the holiday
shopping attitude!

We'll have a New Year,
we'll think it went fast,
we'll look at our labors
and days that have passed.

But today we eat and celebrate
the fruits of our work
the joys of the summer
and each little perk.

Happy Labor Day All!

The Mankeys