Gratitude: Dave Has A Job

In these uncertain times, I am so grateful that Dave has a job. It pays decently, Dave's able to work in the early morning so he can go to school and spend time with our family, we have full benefits despite Dave only being part time (one of the very few reasons I like the union), and Dave's high enough on the seniority list that he is not on layoff status (where he would have to call in to work every morning and see if UPS has work for him to do...if Dave did not work enough hours in the month, then we would loose our benefits). It's nice to know that we have a weekly paycheck coming in, and that because it's a union job it is hard for UPS to fire Dave.

Gratitude

We are getting close to November where many people like to start listing things they are grateful for. Some like to pick one thing they are grateful for everyday for the entire month. I decided I'll participate in this this year, but I'm going to start today.
Today I am grateful for Chico. Not so much the Hippie Liberal part, but other great things. We would not have been able to take the path we have if we had not moved to Chico. Dave is able to work part time and go to school full time, and I'm able to stay home with our children. Chico is a beautiful town. Bidwell park is beautiful with all it trees and wildlife. There are plenty of trails you can walk or just go for a bike ride. There are many great play structures for our children. The creeks are clean and clear, seriously...you can see the bottom of the creek! Traffic is not like in Sacramento...you can still go somewhere are 5pm! Living in Chico also makes you grateful for what you had in Sacramento...but at the same time you get to experience more local shops and restaurants. Yep, Chico is great!
Note: I've noticed that I'm beginning to have the small town mentality. I don't go somewhere if I know I'll be over in that area the next day, even though it is only 5 minutes away.
Everyday we should remember what we are grateful for, but life sometimes happens and we forget. I'm working on being more grateful everyday.

Star Wars in Concert...

was FREAKING AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We went down to Sacramento this weekend to visit family and deliver things to people (baby swing to sister, infant car seat to sister-in-law, christmas tree to friend, quilts to aunt, etc.) Friday evening as we were driving to our destination for the night, Corrina heard an advertisment for something called Star Wars in Concert thaat was playing @ Arco Arena that night (Friday) @ 8pm and Saturday afternoon @ 3pm. When we got to Corrina's aunt's house where we were staying for the night, her aunt said something about it being a laser light show set to star wars music...sounded cool enough, really tempting. Then Corrina read in the newspaper that it was actually an 84 piece orchestra w/ choir playing John William's music from the Star Wars saga with a 3 story screen that they were playing scenes from all 6 episodes from in chronological order...with Sir Anthony Daniels as the narrator (for those who don't know, he played C-3PO in all six episodes). That sounded super-cool so I called Arco Arena up on Saturday morning to see if there were tickets still available and they say yes there is and the doors open 2 hours early because there was going to be a bunch of displays of things from the movies on display for people to look at. How could you pass something like that up?! This is a once in a lifetime type thing and they are only playing in 55 cities on the tour. So I make the exectuive decision to take the family to it.

(The one time we don't bring our cameras to Sacramento is the one time I wish we had...It was supposed to be a short trip we didn't think we would need them)

It, like I mentioned above, was FREAKING AWESOME! We got our pictures taken with someone dressed like Darth Vader (For those that know what it is, all the characters in costume there were members of the 501st Legion) (awesome!). They had tons of props, including Han Solo in carbonite, various blasters and light sabers, imperial helmets, ewok costumes, Boba Fett costume, etc. (awesome!) They had the voice of Darth Vader (James Earl Jones) be the announcer (awesome!). At the very beginning, they did the THX sound effect and the "20th Century Fox" fanfare (like at the beginning of all the movies) (double awesome!) There was a laser show incorporated into it (awesome!), pyrotechnics (awesome!), humor (awesome!). The music was awesome (awesome!), at times I forgot that it was being played live (awesome!). George Lucas was intimately involved in cutting and editing the video clips for the concert (awesome!). And for the encore, they played again the Darth Vader theme, but louder because they didn't have the video w/ sound effects/dialogue behind them (super double triple awesome!!!) I was half expecting for Vader himself to come out on stage and force-strangle someone :-) And the whole family loved it. Lara was dancing to the music, until she got tuckered out and fell asleep. I am most definately glad we went!

Clarification

Since my last post, I feel I need to do a little clarification. The type of purging I have been doing is beyond the standard purging...you know, getting rid of things you don't use anymore, have outgrown, or are not looking so appealing anymore. Just a week before this purge, I had gone through and done a standard purge...in which we made several donation trips to the thrift store. This purge was a "I'm tired of waiting for the day when I can finally use these things" purge. I went through the baby clothes and kept only favorite pieces (which I may need to go through again now I think about it), removed all the dishes I've been saving for the time when we are settled and start entertaining guests, reduced my Christmas decorations (which we only had 1 1/2 12 gallon bins full anyways), down to 1 3/4 under bed small bins, cut down on travel sized items we've been storing (because we do travel...but we've started using our own things more), removed toys that we don't particularly like, got rid of candles and decorations I use to have out but put away because of the kids, cut down on camping gear, etc.
Whenever we/I have moved before, I usually get rid of a bunch of things while packing, and then more as I unpack. We really are fairly organized to begin with. Everything is neatly stored in closets, bins, etc. It's the stuff that we use all the time that seems to make us feel cluttered (that's why there are fewer toys, dishes and food storage items to be found now).
I don't really see myself as a pack rat, more as a recovering one. I use to keep all the notes people had written me, all the gifts people gave me, etc. I've gotten over that over 10 years ago (thanks Maya!). To me a pack rat is someone who keeps empty pill bottles, closets full of incomplete games and puzzles (or ones that no one has played in years), cupboards full of dishes and empty food containers for storage that are more then can possibly be used at one time or fit in the refrigerator, broken items, outdated items that cannot be used, clothes that are so outdated and tattered that they will never be worn, etc. This is not me...not by a long shot. So maybe to some I may be a pack rat, but I think not, especially now =)
Some people have also made comments to me that after I'm done here, can I come over to their place. I actually love doing that kind of stuff, but I may need a little cash incentive (wink, wink) =)
Anyways, as I told one friend, I have turned over a new leaf. I may not know what that leaf is, but I turned it =)

Is That the Best You Got?!

I am really getting sick and tired of people (especially my socialistic spewing Spanish Profesoras) using the excuse that "The USA is the only country in the world that doesn't have socialized medicine. Even third world countries have it..." So now we are suppose to aspire to 3rd World?! Has anyone pointed out other differences between us and the rest of the world? How about the fact that the majority of research and development of for new drugs/medical durable goods/procedures/etc. are developed here in the US? And maybe companies in the US will stop developing advances in medicine just like companies in other countries have when they switched to socialized medicine? The United States is (used to be) the best country in the world. Shouldn't other countries strive to be more like us and not vice versa?

Bye Bye Boxes

Hi, my name is Corrina and I'm a boxaholic.
Whew! That felt great to get off my chest :)
A few days ago I told Dave I was thinking about going through all of our stuff and purging (by the way...we had already gone through everything a week ago and had a full car load we donated to a thrift store). I told him that I was thinking about letting go of things I've been holding on to for the day we finally settle into a house this time around. I've finally realized that by the time we are at that point, I will probably want something else anyways. So off we went on our great purging adventure.
We've gone through closets, cupboards, storage bins and even the kitchen sink...ok, not really the kitchen sink...but you get my point. We've spent the last 3 days doing this, and we're still not done! We've purged pyrex (3 pie plates because I decided 4 was over kill since we don't use then), food storage containers, Christmas decorations, magazines, toys, blankets...the list goes on and on...and boxes.
That's right, boxes! Boxes, boxes and more boxes. I think that I have moved so much in my lifetime, and know I'm not done moving, that I save the boxes to things we have so we can box those things back up when we move again. To top it off, we rarely use those boxes to put the original items in, we put other things in it. When I was pregnant with Lara, and went on a nesting purging spree, I let go of a few of those boxes. Evidently the boxes I left behind were procreating this past year...because we had a ton of boxes we got rid of this time. This time I said "bye" to all of the boxes...and I can't believe the closet space that we now have open!
So now we continue on our purging spree, simplifying our lives and freeing ourselves of "stuff."

P.S. Mom, don't get mad about the pyrex...because I know you're shaking your head at me. At least I kept the Tupperware this time :)

No Matter What We Think, Still Show Some Class

Today Chicago was turned down for the Olympics. The blog American's Against Acorn posted about this. They also included a picture of Pres and 1st Lady Obama with "I'm With Stupid" photoshoped on the 1st Lady's blouse. At first I started to chuckle, but immediately felt it was inappropriate. This feeling made me think about why I felt that way.
I'm with stupid is a character attack. Obama is obviously not stupid, he went to Harvard and was able to successfully fool a few people into thinking he was the right man for the job of President of the United States of America (sorry, personal opinion there). My feelings towards Obama are purely related to his ability to be the President of our country. Saying he is stupid is not related to his political ability to be a President.
So this is what I have to say: please show a little class, we're better than using name calling tactics. Keep criticism strictly related to Obama's ability to be the President of the United States of America.

Response to Mr. Gruendl RE: Walmart Expansion

Dear Mr. Gruendl,

During the city council meeting on 29 September 2009, in which you denied Wal-Mart’s petition to expand, your reasoning seemed to be that, even though Wal-Mart jumped through the necessary hoops required to receive approval, they did not go “above and beyond” like Costco. I assumed this is the major basis for your “no” vote because you repeatedly mentioned it throughout the meeting. You are trying to require them to go above and beyond the minimum requirements, which make it appear that you are changing the requirements. Who is to say you won’t just do it again next time because; once again, they are no longer “above and beyond” what you are requiring of them?

One of the additional requirements you are now attempting to force upon Wal-Mart is a $1 million wood stove swap-out program for low-income families. When you vocalized this, many shouts of “black mail” and “extortion” were heard amongst the audience members. You did correct us, albeit without evidence or explanation, that it is not, in fact, black mail. On this point I will be among the first to agree with you. According to one online law dictionary, black mail is defined as “the crime of threatening to reveal embarrassing, disgraceful or damaging facts (or rumors) about a person to the public, family, spouse or associates unless paid off to not carry out the threat”. Extortion, on the other hand, is defined as “The obtaining of property from another induced by wrongful use of actual or threatened force, violence, or fear, or under color of official right. Under the Common Law, extortion is a misdemeanor consisting of an unlawful taking of money by a government officer. It is an oppressive misuse of the power with which the law clothes a public officer”. So, Mr. Gruendl, my question to you is, how is your stance of “I will only approve the expansion if you do these extra things, including paying $1 million” not extortion?

Thank you,

Dave Hale
CC: Chico City Council members, Chico ER, Chico News & Review, The Orion, KNVN 24 Action News