Missing my grandma

Well, it's been a tough few weeks for me.

I keep thinking of things I would have normally shared with my grandma, had she been here. It's not that I don't know she's watching over me, it's just...well, it's not the same.

I know that she's in Heaven with Grandpa & my puppy, Hunter, but especially today, I just want her here . I want to tell her about the big snowman Robert, Ashley & I built. I want to tell her about the books I saw at Costco that reminded me of the last one she & Grandpa bought me. I want her to see how big baby Tristan is getting.

At any rate, I know where she is, I just miss her a lot.

Dreary days....

Well, as most of you know my grandma passed away on Sunday morning, November 30th at 3:15a.m. This is truly a blessing, as she is not in pain anymore.

Honestly, I'm not struggling with tears or a flood of emotions, but I am just so tired lately! I think my body is trying to fight off some bug or other, because this morning I woke up all congested and feeling like crud. It even made me late to work. Ugh. I hate that. Generally though, I am just really stressed about school and church stuff. It's not that I have too much to do, it's just that I'm under a time crunch, and I'm not feeling great, which adds to my stress.

I was also recently informed that my dad needs to move out of his house, because my uncle wants to sell it, so I need to find time to help my dad with that.

It's just a really not-so-great time for me right now, and I want to just stay in bed all day, but I can't. I can't let others deal with my responsibilities, I can't push things off on others; I need to live my life and fulfill my commitments. Normally, that's no problem for me, but I just feel like I've been given too much to handle in a short amount of time.

Don't patronize me!

As most of you know, I work in a construction plan center. I have worked there since my junior year of high school.

That being said, I would never claim to "know it all," or even pretend that I do. There is much about this business that I still don't know or understand, but I'm willing to learn and be taught about it. Generally, I do anything that's asked of me within reason, and I find something to do if there's nothing for me to do. If I can't, I go home.

So. I'm the one that sits up front in our office. You'd think that I'm just a receptionist, but I'm not at all. I rarely answer the phones, if ever, and I don't really carry messages. I'm responsible for signing for packages from UPS, Fed-Ex, USPS, and any couriers that are bringing us documents. I manage all the documents up front, and make sure that contractors/ couriers sign out for what they pick up, and keep track of it all electronically as well. I sheet list, and do the planholders lists. (Yes, I realize you might not understand all that, but I'm just saying what I do). And yeah, it's not the most important job ever, but I do value it, and I do my best every day!

Now, I realize that most people could easily knock off several I.Q. points and assume I don't have a brain in my skull since I sit up front, because after all - I must be stupid, since I'm a receptionist.

But, contrary to that belief, I would like to think I have enough brains to know what I'm doing. If I don't, I ask. I'm not above being humble, ever.

Yesterday, someone came in and had 2 sets of documents to be posted to their website that my company manages. This guy, who has never seen me before, had the audacity to assume I was a moron.

"Now, you know where this goes, don't you honey?" I realize I can't convey tone, but he was patting his documents and tilting his head to the side and speaking as if I were 3.

Since those who are reading this blog know me, the worst thing you can do to me is belittle and patronize me.

All I said was, "Yeah. I'll take care of it. Thanks."

Turns out, my boss heard the whole thing. I know she tells me all the time that most people will assume women know nothing about the construction industry - and I'm no feminist - but it still cut deep. I don't care who you are, what you do or whom you're speaking to: Keep your assumptions to yourself!

In conclusion, you're barking up the wrong tree if you're going to walk up to anyone, and patronize them. If anything, assume they've been put there for a reason. Additionally, you are welcome to visit the complaint department if you have a problem with this approach.

It's a mile outside of the radius of wherever I am.

My dream....

Well, for the last few days I've not had an alarm set on my phone. Partially because I wake up at the same time every day regardless of what rings or if I have commitments. This morning, however, I woke up at 5:30 like usual, and decided to let myself sleep a little longer.

I had the strangest dream.

It started with me, at a fair or carnival or something. I was getting beat up by a kid that was twice my size.He cussed at me, and kept hurting me everywhere I went. So then I walked around this track, and there were buses everywhere. Apparently, it was my first day of school, and I was in junior high again.

My dad was there, and some of my friends from MJHS. Dad was apparently teaching again, and I'm a little confused about what happened, but essentially, I had to get on a bus to drive 10 feet to the school and stop. Then, I was suddenly in the band room, helping my dad out on piano for the jazz band. I'd forgotten I needed to be in class, and I didn't have a backpack, a schedule, or anything I needed.

I started panicking, ran all the way back to the bus which was now about a mile away. I got there, realized my stuff was in my dad's car (somehow), ran back to the band room, got the keys, DROVE the car back to the school - since it was parked 2 blocks away, go figure - and then I woke up.

I better make sure I'm ready for the first day of school this quarter!

What can you do in a day?

That picture is of Blaine Larson and me. I met him at the fair on Thursday night!!


I have had a lot of people ask me how it is that I do everything I do. Really, it doesn't seem like too much to me. It just seems like life.

But, after doing what I've done today, I thought maybe I should explain a little bit how I get through my day.

Honestly, it all starts with organization. I could never function without a few basic things:
1) A FULL night's rest - which is at least 7 hours to me.
2) My day planner, "To-Do, Doing, Done" List, and calendars - Yes, I have MANY forms of organization, but without it, I would not know what to do. They all serve a special purpose, and each has helped me tremendously.
3) Email - I really don't have a ton of time to talk on the phone and have coffee for hours on end, so it's nice to have email available to me to just get tasks completed - i.e., asking simple questions to people, letting people know my plans, explaining how to do something, etc.
4) A sense of accomplishment - If I don't remind myself how much I've accomplished, I will honestly feel worthless, lazy and wasted.

That being said, here is my very basic routine:
* Write down what needs to get done, ASAP
* Prioritize tasks
* Remind myself what needs to get done
* Understand that not everything can be completed in a day, and move on
* Try not to sit down for hours at a time (MySpace, Facebook, Blogging, IMing, etc. can all be time-consuming, and honestly, they usually cause more trouble than they're worth).
* Utilize every moment I can
* Conserve
* Be honest with myself - I better be clear on what I need to get done in a day, without being unreasonable, or I'll end up stressed, crying and probably getting less done than I'd hoped

Specifically, here is what I do:
1) My day planner is ALWAYS with me. That way, I don't have to waste time and paper with Post-Its and ultimately forget to update the planner. I write down everything as it comes: due dates, special occasions, birthdays, dates, outings with friends, sports events, homework, etc. This is pretty much my all-around portal for life.
2) My To-Do, Doing, Done list is on my wall right by my bathroom. It has multiple colored Post-It notes. Each color signifies importance, from pink (most) to green (least), it has each task I need to get done. (matches my day planner). When I'm working on something, it's in the "Doing" column. If I haven't gotten to it yet, it's in the "To-Do" column. I move tasks as they need to be, and I leave them in the "Done" column for at least 24 hours.
3) My calendars - There's a dry - erase board on my room that basically just contains all of my commitments for the week - school, work, AWANA, piano, choir, etc. The calendar above my computer in my office pretty much mirrors that, just so I don't forget commitments when I work from home.

So.

When I have a plan for a day, I tend to stress a bit more, because I have to work on a schedule, which is pressuring. But, if I have a lot to do, it's easier to get more done, ironically.

You'd be surprised what you can do in 3 minutes.

Nuke some food. While you do that, do the dishes. After the dishes are done, pause the microwave, stir the food, and restart it. Wipe the counters, get all the trash off the dining room table and wipe that down. Food's ready. Eat.

Ta-Da! You've just cleaned up two rooms.

15 minutes? Easy.

Sort your laundry, start a load. Put the load in the dryer on a fluff cycle. Stack the laundry baskets. Make your bed. Pick up the clothes on your floor. Get the laundry out of the dryer, fold it, and put it away. Stack that basket on top of the rest.

Another room done! AND your laundry is getting done, too!

An hour? Piece of cake.

Switch loads of laundry. Fold the load in the dryer and put it away. Stack the basket. Check over the house for dishes, trash and clutter. Put it all away. Clean the bathroom. Vacuum your car and wipe it out.

Check that out - a whole day's worth of work...done in an hour and 18 minutes!!

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how I git r done!

My heart goes out to her family...

So I don't know if any of you follow local news stories at all.

One that caught my attention early in 2007 was about a young girl, 16 years old. She told her parents she was going to a sleepover on New Year's Eve. They never imagined her life would end before they'd see her again.

She was given drugs and ended up suffering in horrible pain and seizure. She begged her friends for help, her mother, to call 911, but no one did anything. She died that night.

The person that was responsible for all that, one of her so-called "friends," was only sentenced to 2 years in juvenile detention. She's 19.

I cannot imagine what the 16 year old's parents are going through. But I just read this morning about the sentencing, and I can't help but feel for them.

Apple Crisp and bittersweet memories

So, last night Corinna made apple crisp. We make that a lot in the fall and winter times, because it warms the house to open the oven after it's done baking, and it smells REALLY good. It just reminded me of cooler weather, and cozy nights.

Then, this morning, I was reading an article in the Everett Herald about a puppy named Hailey that had to be rescued from the bottom of a pass with her owner, because they were hiking and Hailey fell. She just went off the trail and slid about 500 feet. Her owner was horrified. He thought he was watching her fall to her death. Now, this is a big dog. It's a chocolate lab retriever and weighs about 100 lbs.

Search and Rescue saved both their lives.

Hailey is now recovering from surgery on her broken leg.

But it really made me miss Hunter. Sometimes when I'm at mom's the house just seems so huge that I walk across the cul de sac and ask the neighbors if their golden retriever, Angel, can come over and visit. Sometimes, Angel just comes over on her own. It's so nice to be able to snuggle a puppy.

I just miss Hunter. And I wish my parents would consider getting another dog.

You don't know irony until you've read this!

So.

My grandma is in the hospital currently. Don't worry; she's okay. Just needed a little R & R with 5 star service! :) No, really, she had a heart attack and is recovering now. But she's going to be fine.

So yesterday after work, I drove up to the Colby campus to see her. I was in the room with her chatting with Auntie Sue for a bit, and then I went down to get some coffee. I came back up about 20 minutes later and the swallowing therapist was in there with Grandma. (She had choked a bit earlier this week, so this gal was just checking to make sure everything was okay).

Grandma was listening to the lady talk about how to chew, not to get distracted, not to mix different consistencies, etc. Now, this is a pretty soft-spoken lady, and Grandma is without one of her hearing aids currently.

So the next question was, "Dorothy, do you cook often?"

Grandma's face turns a shade of red I've rarely seen on a rhododendron.

Then she says, "NO! I do NOT think I would like a cocktail very much!"

I was CRACKING UP LAUGHING!!

Oh, I just thought I had to share that with you guys that read my blogs. :)

Thank you, Lord, for letting me be present to see that hilarity!

Vacation 2008, Richland/ Tri-Cities, WA Day 1

Vacation 2008

Grandma’s house

Day 1: July 24^th 2008

This morning started out a little rougher for myself than I’d planned. I was planning on waking up around 7 or so to get in the shower and get ready to go. In order to be completely ready, I needed to get to get showered & dressed and get everything downstairs that was coming with me, go to Fred Meyer to get an inverter for my laptop so I could watch DVDs on the way to Richland (I can’t read in the car, because I get carsick), get some coffee, and get my Japanese book.

I ended up waking up around 7:30, so not a huge setback, but I was still disappointed in myself.

à I need to interject something here: I JUST realized that I’d COMPLETELY forgotten about my Nano Kitty ALL DAY. I was thinking about waking up this morning, and the kitty usually wakes up around 7:30 or so, and I woke up, fed it, played with it….and that was it. Until NOW. I can’t believe it’s not DEAD. It’s 21 years old now, and weighs 13 lbs. Anyway, I just took care of it, it’ll be good until morning. ß

So. Back to this morning. I was up a little late, got in the shower, and got myself ready by about 8:45. (That included getting everything ready to go, checking e-mail, making sure school stuff was all in order, etc.) I left the house, got all my errands done, and was back in time to eat some cereal and meet Dad, totally packed & ready to go. (If you know my family, you know that’s a rarity. If you don’t, please take my word for it – this was a momentous occasion!)

We hit the road and were on the freeway by 11am, just like Dad had planned. The ride over in Dad’s new car was pretty neat. It’s a 2009 Hyundai Sonota, and it has all the options possible. Including a navigational system. (Yes, I tinkered around with it.)

Around 1:00, we were in Ellensburg. Pretty decent time. We decided to eat something quick, since sitting down to eat was going to be a long wait. It turned out to be an awful decision that had a silver lining. We all decided on good ol’ Mickey D’s, but there were two busses (literally) that had dropped off about 100 Japanese exchange students in McDonalds. I couldn’t believe it! This is going to sound racist, but I’m Japanese myself, and I’m not racist, so here it is: IT WAS AN ASIAN INVASION, I TELL YOU! LOL!

Anyway, so Dad suggested we try Burger King. There we went. (All 500 yards). We walked inside – same scene. It was like Groundhog’s Day. So, as a last resort, I said we should just go through the drive-through. That worked – until we had to wait an extra 5 minutes for my brother’s burger. Yikes. We wasted about 30 minutes getting “fast food.”

Now the silver lining: My stomach was not overturned by that food. I was amazed. I usually can’t eat it without being violently ill, but I’ve been fine.

We arrived here in Richland about 3:15pm. That’s pretty good, I think! We lounged for about an hour, just chatting and getting settled in, and then I decided to get online to do some homework. Problem: There’s no available wireless internet at my grandma’s. So, Dad drove me down Gage Blvd. to Starbucks by Albertson’s. No luck. I’d have had to pay a pretty penny to get online EVERY DAY I’M HERE. I’m not cheap, I’m value-oriented. Therefore, Starbucks was NOT an option. We were told to go to “the smoothie place, which is about 3 minutes further down Keene Blvd. No problem. We got there, but the little café thing was closed, and it took a few more minutes to find “Smoovies,” but when we did, it was really cool.

It’s similar to Jamba Juice’s selection, but much more variety. Plus they have some food items and such that you wouldn’t find anywhere else. The whole operation is in what was originally intended to be a home, (about 1800 sq. feet), but it’s brand-new construction, and the house is actually just a big hang-out place. There’s free wi-fi (yay!), Rock Band, Guitar Hero 2 & 3, DDR, a ton of board games, a movie room (big screen, of course), and a HUGE table for me to spread out all my school stuff and git-r-done.

I was there for about 45 minutes before the nice girl behind the counter had a few guy friends come in. They introduced themselves to me (I thought it was a bit weird, but it was really nice of them), as Tony, the girls’ boyfriend, and Keith, Tony’s roommate. They asked what I was doing calculus for on such a beautiful day on this side of the state, so I briefly explained about the online class, and my going to UW. They mentioned they go to Western, and then they retired to the room behind where I was seated to play some Rock Band.

About 15 minutes later, they invited me to sing. It was really fun! We did a song by Bon Jovi, and I attempted a RadioHead song, and then the girl (I still don’t know her name!) had to go back to the counter. But I had to get back to work. So, I forfeited the guitar I was playing to Tony, hopped back up to the table, and finished up everything I could before my dad came.

We got back up to Grandma’s around 6:45, ate some dinner, and then Dad & I played cards for about 45 minutes or so. I actually beat him at Rummy! We were all going to play Hearts, but Grandma was tired, and Dad & Tristan washed her car instead. I just sat inside and watched TV.

So, here I am. Watching Deadliest Catch. As if the 48-hour marathon last week wasn’t enough! J I’m pretty sure I’ve seen every episode from whatever season is on currently.

Well, I’d better sign off for now. This won’t be posted for about another 11 hours or so, but it’s 11:00pm, which is my typical “night-night” time. I get the spare room, so I’m going to go get ready for bed, set up Gilmore Girls on the laptop, and wait for Robert to call to say good night.

I’ll write more tomorrow. Good night!

Rainy day = no motivation

I woke up at Mom's today, and the rain outside was so loud, I had to shut the window.

Talk about disappointment.

Tomorrow is the 4th of July, and it's also Robert's birthday. I was hoping it would be nice and sunny, and that we wouldn't have to wear rain coats to have fun, but it really didn't look that way as of a couple hours ago.

It's stopped raining for now, but I still have no desire to get moving and go to class today. But, I'm not a skipper, either, so I have to go. How convenient it is that Starbucks is on my way... :)

Anyway, I've still got to clean Mom's house today after class - ugh. I was supposed to start last night (hense me staying up here), but Mom & Perry were busy around here, organizing things so I just stayed out of their way. THEN, I was supposed to start early this morning, but my stupid cell phone alarm went off at 5:45PM yesterday. Somehow, it got changed from AM alarms. Oh well.

There was some drama up here, too: Mom stuck her hand in a box and almost pulled out a mama mouse and 10 little baby mice! Lots of screaming and hours later, she was finally calm.

Yeesh.

I hope the 4th isn't as crazy as today.

Formal Sunday, preparing for summer quarter

Well, last Sunday was "Formal Sunday." We haven't had one of those for a long time. A bunch of us girls dress up in formal dresses - mine is from New Year's Eve 2005 - and go to church all dressed up!

This time a bunch of guys did it, too! It was a really fun Sunday, but I was glad to get back into my jeans.

The first picture is of my best friend, Tiffany, and me, and the other one is everyone who was dressed up! Ian, Stephen, David, Ryan, Stephen, Candace, Jen, me (melon in the middle), Tiffany, Ashley, Daycia, Corinna, Philip, and Stephanie. Robert was in that one, but he ran out after the first couple photos of the Yost family's photo shoot.

Anyway, yesterday Robert & I celebrated one year of being a couple. It was pretty low key - a movie in, snuggles and 7th Heaven season 6. :) He's really such a great guy, I am blessed!

I also worked on school stuff yesterday and today, getting more paperwork in order, printing syllabus for Calculus, organizing my backpack, etc. I still have a lot to do before the first day of school on Monday, but a lot of it can't be done unless I'm on campus.

Well, that's it for now! Talk soon!

It was time...

Well, since my aunt and my cousin have been blogging for some time, I decided it was time I use a blog site that was separate from the various social networking sites I belong to. Hey, not everyone can be a MySpacer or a Facebooker.

Today was the last day of finals for UW. I can't tell you how relieved I feel at this moment. My course work is all done, and the pressure is off...for a week or so.

I'm going to school full-time this summer. Part of that is choice, most of it is need. I won't bore you with details, but I'm taking Pre-Calculus online, Macroeconomics and Clinical Psychology.

That being said, I know you'll ALL understand my communications via email and this blog in lieu of extra long phone calls.

I think I better go get food, since I put it off for too long. Robert will be here soon to hang out, so that's happy news for me. I just want to kick back and watch a movie.

Have a good rest of the week, everyone!