NYC

I really am curious about the mathematical probability of this happening.

I can tell you that approximately 20,000 students attend Cal Poly Pomona (CPP). If I were being extremely generous, I would say there are 250 in the Theatre program at Cal Poly, either majoring or minoring.

Last year, Aaron and I, both CPP graduates with minors in theatre, planned a trip to NYC with Joe and Nathan, also CPP graduates who majored in theatre. We chose the week of July 27th to August 3rd for our visit.

Sometime in May or June we went to see Nathan complete his senior project at the studio theatre at Cal Poly. While we were there, we saw Carlos and Samantha (also CPP theatre grads). We were making small talk, plans for the summer, etc... and found out they were going to NYC, as well. We asked them what dates. Oddly enough, their trip was planned for July 26th to August 2nd.

Ahem. Weird enough? Now there will be 6 people from the same miniscule department in the same big city at pretty much the same time.

Fast forward. We arrive in NYC as planned, meet up with Carlos and Samantha, as planned, and find out from Carlos that Wahima was getting in the next day. She was actually moving to NYC and had been in Belize for a few weeks spending time with family. What day did she arrive? Oh, yes, July 28th. Are you kidding me?

It gets better.

As we're standing there talking about how crazy it was that Wahima was going to be making her NY debut while we were all there, Joe casually mentioned that he thought Dave and Sio might be there, as well. He wasn't 100% sure, there was a chance they may have been on a plane home when we got there. Yes, Dave is a CPP grad. Sio, his girlfriend, was the only non-CPP person in this story.

Aaron called Dave and left him a message.

The next morning, we get up early to go get Conan tix and we decide to sightsee around Rockefeller center since we're already there. We made our way around and found ourselves in St. Patrick's Cathedral. Well, the guys found themselves inside, I was still outside snapping a bazillion pictures. Aaron came back to get me and was pretty insistent that I come inside.

Apparently, while Joe, Nathan, and Aaron were walking into the cathedral, Nathan turned around to see Dave standing there.

Have you ever been to this cathedral? I mean, it's HUGE. I am fairly certain that the likelihood of 2 people who know each other being in the entryway at almost the exact same time is pretty slim. Not to mention the fact that there are so many other people who we could have run into, but for it to be Dave? Someone we all knew?

Let me insert here that there was also a large group of people who Aaron and I know from Flipside who were in NYC at the same time. We did not once see or cross paths with them.

WEIRD.

Everyone except for Wa met up at a dive bar that night (Monday) to hang out and celebrate the oddity. I think Wa might have come if she felt she could have navigated the public transit well enough. She was pretty far out in the Bronx at the time, so no one really wanted her to risk life and limb to come have a beer. I did get to spend some time with her later in the week, which was great because A., I love her, and B., I needed some time away from those nerd-boys (whom I also love, but who were really geeking out together quite a bit over things I know little or nothing about, ie comic books and video games).

It was a great week. I really do think it was pretty magical how everything worked out. It definitely made it a memorable vacation. That and I absolutely fell head over heels in love with that city and was really wishing I could move out there even if only for a year.

So, that's my "coincidence" story for the day.

The Sound of Music

I've got this thing with music.

I might be crazy, but sometimes I swear the universe points me in the right direction through song.

For instance, when Aaron and I first started dating, we would talk a lot about the Beatles. Not so much because either of us loved them so much, but we would introduce one another to different songs that we did really enjoy. It got to the point where every time we would part for the day, the Beatles would be on the radio in the car. Sometimes, 3 songs in a row - on different stations.

So tonight Aaron was being silly and started humming a little piece of The Safety Dance before we could figure out where to go for dinner. We had no idea where to go, nothing sounded good, but we knew it was getting late and we didn't want to cook. I had to make a quick stop to pick up some coupons from a friend, and we ended up going to this hole in the wall called Corky's that I had never been to.

What song do you think would be playing in the little ma & pop open 24 hours diner with a cartoon looking grandma in the logo? What's that you say, The Safety Dance?

It made us laugh. It pretty much started right as we walked in the door, to eat dinner, at 9pm. What are the chances? Of all the songs that Aaron could pull from the air to hum and make up silly words to while we were being wishy washy about dinner, of all the songs that could play in a restaurant, of all the places we could have gone instead.

Apparently we WERE in the right place at the right time.

Much Ado About Something

The tale of my college education is a sordid one, and I'll give you the brief rundown before I explain how I ended up at Cal Poly Pomona.

I started out fresh out of high school on a mission to go to a Christian college, because my family wasn't particularly religious and I had become a born-again Christian between junior high and high school. I wanted to learn more about the Bible and to learn about science and history and literature through the perspective of a Christian education.

So, off I went, accidentally, to probably the most, or one of the most, conservative Christian colleges I have ever heard of. I had a Cal Grant (read: free money for school), and my parents were footing a good chunk of the bill. But, with the hefty pricetag that The Master's College carried, I was unable to live on campus or even afford an apartment. I lived in a travel trailer on a ranch. Twice a day I had to feed 5 horses and muck stalls. Plus I had to pay my utilities and for gas and car insurance, so I also got a job at Arby's.

Between the living conditions on the ranch and the bubble-like atmosphere of the school, I just couldn't hang.

I came home and decided to go to community college for a while so I could figure out what to do next. Meanwhile, I lost my grant because of inconsistent enrollment in school.

I sort of tried to get a paralegal certificate for a while, because law always interested me, and I just wanted something that paid well and let me have weekends off... but not really.

So I got a pretty decent job at Dave and Buster's, found it more interesting to party on the weekends for a while, then came back to the Lord and got an office job. Then I realized that I really did want to do that whole "school" thing.

I strongly considered moving up to Orland to be with my birth mother and family and go to Chico State. But that was just too far of a move for me. I gave some thought to moving out to LB and going to Cal State Long Beach and living with my cousin out there.

Finally I just dug my heels in and finished up my GE's at Riverside Community College. When it was time to transfer, I was living with a couple friends in Ontario. One of them went to Cal Poly, a school I had never considered for a second. She invited me to see Much Ado About Nothing, which ended up serving a couple of purposes.

Number one, I had no idea that the theatre department was any good at all at Cal Poly. I was pleasantly surprised.

Number two, I saw, for the first time in my life, the young man playing Claudio, whose first name is Aaron and whose last name happens to be the same as mine now.

He graduated the same quarter I began at CPP, and oddly enough about 8 months later we ended up dating at the behest of a couple of friends. Primarily Elizabeth, who is not the grim reaper of matchmaking, after all.

And a few of my favorite people in the whole world I know because of my time at CPP. Ashley, Becca (by proxy), Eliz, Justin, Wa, ACT, Sally, Dave (and now Sio), Joe, Nate, Liz L, Allison... all people I would have been missing out on were it not for my foot shuffling in regards to my education. :)

Maybe that's not all so much coincidence as "everything happens for a reason", and maybe those are kind of the same thing.

Beginning

We'll start with the beginning.

I'm adopted.

My birth mother hid me under baggy clothes while she was 14, and gave birth to me when she was 15. Growing up, I knew very little about her. I had only a think packet of information from the County of San Bernardino with a bio written about her by a social worker. And I knew that my biological father had "had some trouble with the law."

As soon as I turned 18, I started searching for my birth mother. The only information I had was the same info I had possessed my whole life. Her first name and her birthdate. That and some miscellaneous odds and ends, such as she liked to sew and enjoyed rock concerts.

I started with the internet. I found all kinds of great resources for adoptees and families to make contact with each other. There are databases where you can list your information and when people search and there's a match, you can contact one another. I couldn't find her info on any of the sites I searched, so I left my pertinent info on a database and pressed harder on the county to get more info. This was all in November / December of 1998.

The county was a nightmare. They had actually lost my file in a move, so if there was anything more to know, it wasn't able to be discovered by me. The only way I was allowed to get my unaltered birth certificate would be if my mother and my father both signed the same stupid piece of paper agreeing to release the info, which would require them to travel, in person, to a government office and get through the beauracracy to sign said documents.

I pretty much gave up hope. Not completely, I just didn't know what else to do short of begging Oprah to help me find her.

Then one day in July of 1999, I got an email. Some random stranger had been perusing the adoption database where I registered and noticed that there was a match. She believed she had found my mother's info, and she had!

Side note, I really wish I still had that person's info or that email address, because I would love to send her a thank-you card. I'm sure I thanked her via email, but now after 10 years of knowing this part of my family I want to send another! :)

So, that day, July 11th, 1999, I called information to see if there was anyone by the last name in the area. Sure enough, there was ONE listing. I gathered all my nerve and called. The woman who answered the phone said that Charlotte (my mother) was her daughter in-law, and that she lived up in Northern California. She didn't want to give me her number (understandably), so I gave her mine and she said she would pass it on.

As it turns out, Donna, the woman who answered the phone, had no idea about me. Hehehe. Surprise! To top it off, it was her and her husband, Art's, anniversary that day.

My mother and I started emailing and calling and getting to know one another. In August of that year, her and her husband, Tim, and my 4 (half - like it matters) brothers and sisters came down to Southern California for a visit and I got to meet TONS of other family members, go to Sea World with everyone, and introduce them to my family.

What's really odd to me is how fire & ice my "two moms" are. Charlotte loves to sew (and quilt, too), her favorite color is red, and she loves to read. My mom loves to sew (and quilt now, too), her favorite color is red, and she loves to read. Charlotte is a Democrat, my mom is a Republican. Charlotte hates seafood, my mom loves seafood. And the more I get to know her, the more amazed I am at the ways that I am like her, and then the ways I am like my mom from my upbringing.

I know everyone romanticizes adoption to a degree, as if the birth mother gets to handpick who raises her baby. In some cases, yes, and that might explain the numerous similarities in interests between the two of them. But with a county adoption like mine, my mom and dad were basically on a waiting list and I was the one that came along when it was their turn.

It's been a really cool journey so far. I can't tell you how amazing it was to have my mom, who was at first very jealous and insecure about the whole ordeal, invite Charlotte & Tim and the kids over for Christmas dinner a couple years ago. Or to see my mom crying and telling Charlotte that she was so glad that she had me and that they got to raise me. At least I'm pretty sure that was the gist of what she said.

I hope enough of that qualifies as the "coincidence" theme for the week. I wish that Charlotte & Tim & the gang lived closer, because it is so hard to spend good quality time together with such distance between us, but I love them all so much. And except for that whole living closer thing, I wouldn't have my weird little family any other way. I love my mom, and my dad, and my mom, and Tim, and Sara, and Tommy, and April, and Brian. :)

Theme Idea

Yesterday someone commented (in person) about a post of mine from a few months back about my lost and found check from the Good Samaritan FedEx man. It got me to thinking about how many stories like that I have, and how now that I'm a good 5 months into this daily blog venture, I would like to retell some of those stories. They really amaze me, and I hope that they amaze you when I share them. I am thankful for these "coincidences", and just because they didn't happen in 09 doesn't mean I can't be thankful for them still. :)

Today I'll leave it with being thankful for the theme. I know I have at least 4 of these stories, and I'm sure if I blow the cobwebs off of the brain library I can come up with 2 or 3 more. So we'll see if this carries us through to Saturday or Sunday of next week.

You may want to open a nice bottle of wine to sip while reading, because I cannot help but bring out the cheese factor in some of these stories. You have been warned.

Getting Back on the Wagon

At least the wagon is still within reach.

I have once again fallen off of the exercise wagon, but now I've been to the gym twice this week. As far as I'm concerned, that is back on the wagon. Especially considering all of the times I've had a "goal" in mind of going once in the coming week and never actually made it.

It helps a lot that we finally bit the bullet and acquired a gym membership from Costco for Aaron. So Wednesday night we went and he proved who he was and signed his firstborn child over, etc, and they roped him into coming for a "fitness evaluation" today with a trainer. Being the loving and supportive wife that I am I went along with him (okay, okay, so it was really more like I recognized that if I couldn't drag myself to the gym I could always hop in Aaron's car and go with him).

While he was being "evaluated" I got a full 30 minutes of cardio in and then braved a couple of weight machines on the floor. All the while shuddering at the skeezy guys who were noticeably thinking that I was checking them out while I was scanning the room for my husband. YUCK!

I've been losing pretty consistently since I started Weight Watchers, but now it's starting to slow and I think my body is going to stay that way until I start working out. I'm going to go Monday, and I may even head out tomorrow to rent the new Active game for the Wii, since that might be a step in the right direction towards Aaron letting me buy it.

As a sidenote, I would encourage anyone who knows someone who is trying to lose weight to just be supportive and encouraging. Unless there's a real health concern, of course. For me, when people say "oh, why? you don't need to lose" - it makes me feel awkward. The point is, I am not comfortable in my own skin (or my own clothing for that matter), so I feel that I need to lose. Everybody is different, some girls much larger than myself are perfectly happy being that way, at least they don't say otherwise. And I don't badger them about losing weight. But if I someone wants to, whether or not I think they need to, I try to encourage them because it's really really hard to lose. It takes the power to say "no" to foods everyone loves and tries to offer you at every turn, the energy to think before you order at a restaurant, planning for a good healthy lunch and snacks at work, and finding time to work out on top of all of that.

So, I'm just saying. Don't say "why? you don't need to lose!" Try "good for you!" or "you can do it!" or "let's go for a walk sometime!" Exclamation points are optional.

Department Parties

Apparently the people Aaron works with sometimes rib him about me not "liking" them because I miss a lot (?) of functions, parties, etc.

Couldn't be farther from the truth. I adore some of those people, and I haven't met anyone there that I don't like.

So when I do get to go and I'm able to relax and have a good time with them, it's a lot of fun. Gilda even insisted that we bring Scout, and she was great! Very well-behaved and not a pain in the neck.

Plus I kind of get a kick out of seeing a bunch of English teachers get inebriated. I imagine somewhere Urquizu, Taylor, Molumphey, and Padilla are all having drinks together and being actual people - you know, instead of English teachers. It's just oddly amusing to me to think about.

Adventures

I'm just glad I had a couple of factors working into my being able to be very participatory today in some decision-making. :) That's all I have to say about that. It was a fun day.

Relax!

Today I added a new little self-command to my vocabulary: relax!

Which can also be expressed as "fuhgetaboutit" or "chill out."

So today I needed to get out of the office for a bit, I had a volunteer who needed a desk to work at and I needed a change of scenery. Off I went to Staples to spend a reward certificate that was set to expire on Sunday. Woo hoo for guilt-free and cost-free office supply shopping. I got yet one more piece for my desk beautification /organization, and a few things that were a little more needed, such as post-it notes and binder clips and certificate paper.

That situation could have easily turned into me pacing around, trying to figure out how to install Office on the lame-duck computer in the corner (which reminds me, I need to do that anyway so it's more useful for Jane!), and otherwise trying to squeeze an extra-person into the already bustling and busy front-office.

But no, I gave Dawn some work to do (hooray for Dawn!) and headed out to Staples and then to take an actual lunch break, away from my desk and everything!

Then tonight, after getting home around 6:30-7:00, and Aaron not getting home until 7:30, I decided we should go out to dinner - even though we're completely broke as far as the monthly budget goes. Yes, we borrowed a little bit from tomorrow (a big whopping $20), but it was worth it for us to both be able to say, "relax!" It's no big deal, really.

Plus I got the big messes in the kitchen / dining area tidied up and now Aaron is working on the dishes, which I am about to go relieve him from so he can write a test. :)

Now, to those reading this blog who are stressed about no job, no money, no time, no weight loss, or whatever... I say, "Relax!"

5% Off!

It's official. Today I am 5% less of a person than I was a couple months ago! Woo hoo!

I know they say you're not supposed to reward yourself with food when you're dieting, but I say screw that. Food is good. ;) But I was still good. Aaron and I went to the gym so he could complete his membership and I got in a 30 minute workout before we headed over to Baskin Robbins for a celebratory scoop of low-fat Raspberry Chip ice cream.

And it was gooooood. And I accidentally forgot to eat my snacks today, just too busy at work, so I had the points to spare anyway. :)

Today definitely had ups and downs. I was a little ball of emotion because sometimes I just have too much empathy (and my coworker/friend's boyfriend's mom died in a motorcycle accident this weekend), which was surprisingly hitting me pretty hard. Maybe because I knew about the text she got saying the accident had happened and it seemed like no big deal. I don't know, my heart just goes out to people in certain circumstances. Maybe too much and I need to reign it back in. On top of that, I woke up not feeling well, I took Claritin and it made me jittery and weird all day, and my friend confronted me on some stuff that to be honest, I already know most of and am doing the best I can to work it out.

AND I didn't even make it to the semi-finals of the Despair.com caption contest. Oh well, maybe I'll be somewhere on the "best of the rest" list on Thursday.

Ugh.

When I put it like that, today was mostly down. But I am so thankful that Aaron has a gym membership now, and that I have lost 5% of my body weight, and that I have done so while enjoying fantastic things like Raspberry Chip ice cream and the occasional french fry. I will try to end on the life is so good note instead of the today was not so good note. Strike that, reverse it.

First 3-day weekend in 2 years

Everyone looks at me funny when I say I still have to go to work on Monday when it's a holiday like today.

I only work here once a week, people! Of course I have to go to work!

Anyway, today was really nice because I knew the boss-man and lady weren't going to be here because they're at the river. So there was extra-reduced pressure for me to get here by a certain time. I rolled up around 4:15pm and I'll probably leave in 20 mins.

I am so thankful for the extra rest and lounging I got today. :) And when I get home, we'll grill up some tri-tip and onions and a bell pepper for a special Memorial Day dinner.

Entertainment Setup

Thanks to this software called PlayOn*, we are able to watch Hulu content via our XBox360 on our big tv in our living room. We can also watch YouTube, if we still had a Netflix account we could watch Netflix "watch now" movies there, and eventually when ABC gets on the ball, we'll be able to watch episodes of Lost on there as well.

It is pretty awesome.

Today I was especially thankful for it because we watched Johnny Dangerously, Dr. Horrible's Singalong Blog (finally), and started to watch Super Size Me - but we started too late and got too sleepy to stay up and finish it.

I feel like Aaron and I are so "go, go, go" sometimes and it can be so nice to just veg. No housework, no reading, no grading, no thinking, just to become a ball of mush on the couch. It's a brain vacation.

*If you're thinking about downloading PlayOn, I will warn you - it's MORE than a tad-bit buggy, so be prepared for a few moments of banging your head on the remote control if you're going to go for it. But when it works, it's beautiful. It could also be due to my computer being on the verge of dinosaur status.

Shiny Happy People

On my way home from the grocery store today, I forged a brief, but meaningful, friendship with two adorable little girls in the car next to me at a red light near my house.

I think one was about4 and the other 7.

I was just sitting there, minding my own business, when I looked over and they were waving and pointing towards the shopping center across the street. I had no idea what they were trying to communicate, so I started pointing in the other direction just to play along. Then I "scarecrow" pointed both in front of me and behind me, and they laughed.

We sat there and played and I think the mom was embarrassed or weirded out by this little game we had going.

We ended up stopped at one more red light together before I got home, and that time was spent making absurdly funny faces at each other.

It was pretty much the highlight of my afternoon. I love it when kids "pick me" for shennanagins like that. It was really fun and brought a smile to my heart.

Nurturing

I love being able to take care of my dog.

Like knowing when she's pestering me because she wants food, or when she gives a little whine and she's pacing because her water dish is empty, or how she paws at her crate if we've locked her up and forgotten to let her make one last visit to the backyard first.

It makes me feel like I'm good at being that nurturing mother-like person. It's at least good practice.

And it's kinda nice because she's not nearly as demanding as a child would be. :P

Plus when I feed her or give her water, she usually comes back to me and gives some sort of thanks, usually in the form of a lick to the arm.

My mom had a headache

I know it sounds weird, and I am not at all glad that my mom was in pain, but in hindsight I was kinda thankful my mom had a headache tonight when the receptionist at my mom's WW meeting got on my case about trying to weigh in twice in one week (God forbid!).

It's no big deal, really, I was just hoping I was at my 5%. And I wasn't sure how everything was going to play out this week because I wasn't going to my regular meeting in Rancho, so I went and weighed in and left. But since my pass gives me unlimited meetings every month, I thought I could still weigh in on Wednesday and just choose which number I wanted to go with (for my own personal records) for the week.

Anyway, this receptionist just went on and on and on, she wasn't even hearing what I was trying to say, which was basically okay, sorry, I didn't know - can I just step on the scale to see the number and we don't have to write it down on your list or in my book and nobody at WW is going to FIRE you over this. Oy vey.

Now the reason why I'm glad my mom had a headache was because if she hadn't, she probably would have gotten pretty belligerent with this lady. I mean, she really wouldn't stop (the lady). She wasn't listening to me, and she was prattling on and on and on!

I was embarrassed, and I'm really glad that that meeting is not the one I plan on going to every week, because I know at least 2 people overheard the whole ordeal in line behind us.

It gets better, too... at the end of the meeting, she asked the leader if she could make a quick announcement. I wanted to hide under the table. She said, "A lot of people who have the monthly pass think they can weigh in at multiple meetings..." and she went on to explain basically my exact situation, stopping short of turning on a neon sign over my head that pointed down and said "like that girl right there".

Oh, man, I never knew I could want to clock an old lady.

I actually handled myself quite well for my mom's sake, just so she wouldn't have to deal with it when she comes back every week. The two ladies who overheard the whole thing in line were asking me about it after the meeting and agreeing with me that it was pretty much overblown nonsense.

It's funny to me. It really is. It probably wouldn't have been if my mom had been feeling 100% and had gone to verbal blows with the lady. ;)

Sorry

Sorry, Blog, I know I've been neglecting you.

Next week will be better, I promise. ;)

Today I am thankful for GTD - like getting the T-Mobile bill paid for the first time, and set up to pay itself automatically from now on, getting my $1.02 credited on the AT&T account, and (I think), getting our extra payment on the couch refunded from DECEMBER. That baby is no interest for 3 years, so no way am I putting any extra funds towards that!

Of course, now (if we get) that money (it) is going in the Hawaii jar!!!

I love it when a plan comes together

So, a few weeks ago I was fishing for cheap vacation ideas. And an old friend from high school overlooked the cheap part and mentioned that she works for the Ritz Carlton in Maui.

Well, hmm. She thought she might be able to help us get a discounted room for 65-70 a night. And I thought I might be able to get someone to donate some frequent flier miles to help us get to the island.

Neither of those options worked out.

But Vanessa did help me find a studio apartment in a great location that we can get for $50 a night. Yeah! It's got a little kitchen, so we'll be able to save a little bit on food. And I found us round trip nonstop (yes, you can stop going LAX to Hawaii, either Honolulu or Salt Lake City for some odd reason) tickets for $726. Total. As in, each ticket was $363. Yeah, I'm pretty stoked. We were going to try to do a super cheap vacation this year, but when this opportunity came up we just had to go for it. And it's pretty cheap considering what we're doing.

I. am. stoked.

Now I just need to figure out getting us to LAX and back... I'm thinking metrolink coming back at 5:30am on Wednesday morning (yes, I work on Wednesday - that should be fun LOL) , but getting there on Thursday afternoon it might be nice to get a ride from someone.

TV

I am so glad this TV season is winding to a close. I don't even watch that much, but there are a few shows we've been really wrapped up in this year.

P.S. I would be writing a few catch-up posts right now, but my internet is being stupid so I am using my phone. It's difficult.

It's over!!!

So my number one addiction as far as television goes, Lost, is over for the season.

And next year will be the final season.

I actually feel like my schedule is more free now because of it. I think that's kinda sad, but I also don't feel too badly about it because it's one show. And the two others I really care about watching, The Office and 30 Rock, will be done for the season tomorrow, as well. I just don't think 2 hours of TV a week is all that bad. Justifying? Maybe. But that's more because I am a productivityaholic than anything.

The "fish biscuits" we made (pics to follow later), were actually made from this recipe Aaron found for Citrus sugar cookies. They were SOOOOOOOOOOOO good. I think I'm going to have to make sugar cookies that way at Christmas time now, they were just more sexy than plain ol' sugar cookies. And they cooked really nicely, better than the Pilsbury dough. I think they'll be worth the effort.

Clean House

We're having a little Lost party tomorrow night. Well, Aaron's having a little Lost party tomorrow night. He and a few other teachers and a secretary from his school get together every week and theorize and talk about Lost, so he wanted to invite them to watch the season finale.

Which meant I had an awesomely willing helper to get the house all spic and span for them to come over. :) I really try to stay on top of the little cleaning tasks regularly, but sometimes it just feels good to get the whole house clean at once. It's a greater sense of accomplishment or something, I'm not sure why I like that so much.

So yay, my house is clean and I get to play hostess tomorrow night! Word on the street is there will be Dharma Initiative peanuts, soda, water, and fish biscuits like the ones that Sawyer and Kate ate when they were locked up in the Polar bear cages. ;)