I passed!!!

I just got my letter in the mail! It is official. I passed the dispatcher test. This is for Sacramento Fire/EMS.

Next is the interview on the 22nd before I have to do a background and psychological tests.

I am off now to do an interview with SCOE!

Wish me luck!

Hire Me, Please!

These posters can now be seen hanging in our front window at the store.

As we prepare to close our store and shut the doors on our dream we are finding ways to stay sane. Sarah and I have discovered that we are in the mourning process. We are dealing with a loss. The loss of our dream, our daily work, the community we have built. We have faced denial and anger. Now we are dealing.

The job hunt has been long and so far with no avail. I have taken several tests with school districts, the county, city and even for a 911 dispatcher. I will find out results in the next few weeks. I am even on lists for hiring. I have interviewed and had 2nd interviews. The problem? No one is hiring. Government: school, city, county and state are all facing hiring freezes due to the economy.

So this is one more attempt to draw attention. We are hard working, capable, fun loving women who need jobs. We continue to submit resumes and take tests. Even if our attempts do not prove fruitful we will have fun in the process.

Reconnecting in San Francisco

2009 is for self discovery. It is a year for claiming my own destiny.

The first thing I did in this journey is make my husband and my marriage a priority. We are fortunate enough to have family willing to take all 5 of our munchkins on little notice for the weekend.

After dropping them off early Saturday morning we headed on west to the bay. The drive allowed us to talk and work through some things that were on our hearts. We arrived to find our hotel right on the bay. Since we couldn't check in yet we parked and began to explore the city.

Meandering around San Francisco in January is a little chilly. That gave us the perfect opportunity to get a cup of hot cocoa in Ghiradelli square. We took the cocoa with us as we sat on the beach and watched a few crazies swimming in the bay. BRRR!!!

Before heading back to the hotel we had a yummy cup of clam chowder.

We stayed at the Argonot. This hotel was all nautical themed. The lobby was great with a fire, comfy chairs and even a sail boat. Our room was lovely. The king sized bed was the most comfortable I have ever slept in at a hotel.

We didn't stay long after checking in. We had things to see. This time we headed straight for Pier 39. The cold weather wasn't keeping anyone away. We saw and heard people from all over the world. I love the diversity we have in California!

Meandering through the many shops left us cold and hungry. Dinner was at Bubba Gumps. That brought some good and bad. Bubba Gumps is all about the shrimp. I LOVE shrimp! But I am also allergic. :( I was good and had a steak. It was yummy! Aaron of course had shrimp. I was jealous but whats a girl to do.

After dinner we headed back in for a movie in the hotel. I stayed true to me and fell asleep 10 minutes before the movie ended. I wonder if I will ever see the end of a movie!

Sunday morning we took our time getting up and checking out. Then it was back to the wharf for some fresh mini donuts and a Bay Tour. I had never done a tour before. We really wanted to do an Alcatraz tour but they sell out pretty early. The Bay Tour was 1 hour long sailing around the bay. We went under the Golden Gate Bridge, saw Angel Island and around Alcatraz before coming back to dock. What a great tour! I loved all of it: the corny recorded narration, watching the tourists with all their cameras, taking great pictures and sitting next to Aaron.

We finished the day with lunch and began the drive back home. I left Aaron to his thoughts as I slept in the car.

It was a great weekend and a perfect way to start the new year.

We have lost the battle...

and the economy has won.

The past year we have seen sales decline at the store. The summer was particularly slow. We hoped to make it through the Holidays and see how sales reacted to a new President, the High School opening and gas prices remaining low.

However it is not to be. After meeting with our attorney today and speaking with our management company we were assured there would be no bailout, no compassion and no aide for us. So at 2pm we sent out the notice and put up signs.

The entire store is now up for liquidation. We will be closing our doors forever before the end of January.

I am going to miss the friends I have made, hanging out scapbooking, the community! I often joke that West Sacramento is like Mayberry meets Days of Our Lives. Everyone knows everyone, drama is constant. The community pulls together when good friends suffer from cancer, spouses lose jobs, families take in foster kids.

As I fail for the 1st time in my life I take with me the knowledge of all I have learned and the experiences I have had. I look forward the changes to come.

Miscommunications Suck

In my very large family miscommunications happen often. This last one is my last. I am standing up for myself and my children and stopping the hurt. We will not have anything more to do with my extended family. I am tired of being judged for working out of the home, having my kids in public school, not having a perfectly clean house, letting my kids stay home by themselves, etc.

There is no communication. No opportunity to say what you feel without everyone being brought in and things getting blown out of proportion.

It hurts that what could be isn't. There could be large family gatherings, cousins having sleepovers, exchanging emails and phone calls. There could be fun, collaboration of ideas, sharing of talents. Instead it is each family out for themselves.

So now I will join the ranks of others and leave my family of birth and create a family of choice. A good friend told me the best families are the ones who choose to be together.

Coupon Codes

I can't believe that I just made this discovery. I order things online frequently. Between my schedule, gas prices and hauling kids to the store I have found it easiest to order birthday and Christmas presents along with books online.

I was placing an order yesterday and saw that there was a place to put in a coupon code. I notice those at most online sites and feel quite sad that I am rarely ever able to put anything in that box. It is as if someone is waving a coupon or sale in my face while telling me I can't partake in it. So I decided to try something. I put the websites name (can't say what it is because it was for a Christmas present!) then the words coupon code. Wham!!! Up came several websites listing online coupon codes.

The particular site I was using let me put in more than one! I was able to get FREE shipping plus $10 off my purchase. I also got 25% off everything after the first regular priced item. I saved over $40! I was way excited.

So today I had to order a new glass top to our range. The other cracked due to a child's accident and our home warranty wouldn't cover it. The repair man told me it would cost $275 for the part and $80-100 for labor. OUCH! So I decided to look up the part on Sears. I could get the part there for $212 so I put in my cart and on my check out what do I see? A box saying enter coupon code here. So off I google. I found a code that got me 10% off. Yeah! I saved over $20. I am so excited. Sears only let me put in 1 code, but that is OK.

I promptly forbid Aaron to ever to order anything online without googling coupon codes first. :)

Sweet Sisters and chicken bones

Sarah's baby sisters flew in this weekend to support her and our store in this economic time. Tammy came from Idaho and brought her vinyl cutter. Mandy came from Colorado to help. These girls worked so hard. I don't think they got more than 4 hours of sleep on any night.

This display only shows a small portion of the fabulous home decor items we made. We painted boards, decopauged picture frames and sanded till we were covered in saw dust! I love the frames, canvas, tiles, plates, signs and even ornaments. While we were working several regular customers had custom orders. It was neat to see what they came up with.

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After 2 long days of hard work the sisters and I went out to dinner at Chevy's on the river. This is Sarah's favorite restaurant and we know why!

We walked in wearing our grungies from painting and were greating by a very happy manager. Jeff was great. He got us in the mood for a fun relaxing evening. We ordered our food and ate too many yummy chips and salsa. Once our food was delivered we chowed down. I had a delicious chicken summer salad. After eating about a third I took a bite only to find a 2" chicken bone in my mouth. We informed the waitress just so they could be aware. She told the manager and he came down to talk to us.

The first thing he said was "Do you know where chicken comes from? It was alive once and it had bones." He was sassy! I was not looking for anything but he comped my meal anyway. We got to talking and he ended up sitting with us at our booth for about 15 minutes! It was great.

We will definately be back to Chevy's and we will bring friends!!!