Beware of Traveling Ghosts

On Tuesday I got back from having a lovely holiday with my dear dear Ashley. Lemme tell you about it!

We started our journey on Saturday morning. Ashley's little boy, Ben, had only been to Disneyland as a baby so he had no memory of going to the park so it was supposed to be a surprise for him. Me having a terrible short term memory managed to say "Disneyland" about 10 times on the drive there but luckily, Ben was too consumed with the I-pad to notice. Since Ashley and I don't get to see each other as often as we'd like, there was a lot of chatting going on in the car, so much chatting that we missed our exit to get onto I-8 and had to drive about an hour out of our way. Oops! We stopped for Chipotle in Yuma and I managed to eat most of my burrito without getting carsick! WIN!

We stayed at her mom's boyfriend's house in San Diego and they had a gorgeous view (I saw tons of Anna's Hummingbirds and a Rufous Hummingbird too). That first night we decided to go shopping and got crazy lost. Her mom let us borrow her GPS and it had an Australian accent that was impossible to understand. Ashley got so stressed out trying to find Target. It was kind of hilarious (wouldn't have been if I was the one driving). When we got back home we ate fajitas, watched 10 billion episodes of "The Big Bang Theory" (one of my fave shows) and got to see Jupiter with a bitchin' telescope--yes, it was worthy of the word "bitchin'". The kitty who lived in the house was a sweetheart and we made friends very quickly. His name was Izzy and he had the cutest little fangs :3

The next day we had waffles then went to La Jolla Beach and saw the seals. It was super duper cool! Here's some pics!

The last time I saw seals was at Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco when I was a wee lass. The seals at La Jolla looked so happy just soaking up the sun. There were lots of baby seals too that were sooooo cute! Loved it! I did a bit of wading too because I can't get that close to the Pacific without at least putting a toe in but I zoned out for a minute and my pants got all wet. Rats! We had sammiches for lunch then I took a big girl nap. When I woke up Ashley and I decided to make Pina Coladas (I don't normally drink but I was on vacation so I thought what the hey!) We went to this Vietnamese grocery store by her mom's house to get the ingredients that was so cool! They had stuff from all over Asia. We got a kick out of all the bizarre snax they had (ie: cuttle fish chips, pizza-flavored seaweed, milk-flavored Hello Kitty chews). I got some red bean moichi since people are always eating it in the mangas I read but it was too weird for me (Dad liked it). I had two Pina Coladas and they had no effect on me. Hmmm...


The next day we went to Disneyland. The story we had told Ben was that first we were going to the World's Biggest Grocery Store (he hates grocery stores) then to the Natural History Museum (boring!). He totally bought it...he bought it a little too much. When we got to the parking lot of Disneyland we asked him where we were and he said, "The museum!" When we got out of the car we thought all the kids in princess costumes would give it away but he still didn't catch on. We kept waiting for him to realize where we were and freak out but he never did. Even when Ashley bought his park ticket he was totally oblivious. Finally she shoved a map to the park in his face and made him read it. We got to see the lightbulb turn on in his head for about 2 seconds but there was no freak out. Later he got pretty excited but not what we'd been hoping for.

Our first ride was Splash Mountain and at first he liked it but after the big drop he HATED IT. He said, "I don't want to go on that again for the rest of my life!" He's a funny kid, he didn't really want to go on any of the big rides even though he was big enough to. Ashley and I had to go on Space Mountain and the Matterhorn by ourselves. I was sure he was going to like Indiana Jones but he didn't like that either! The only rides he seemed to enjoy were Pirates of the Caribbean, the Haunted Mansion, the Tea Cups, Star Tours, and It's a Small World. Strange...

I made the mistake of asking if he wanted to check out Tarzan's Treehouse, which turned out to kill my knee again. My knee had never fully healed from my Florida trip and going up and down 200 stairs killed it. By about 5pm my knee nearly gave out completely. I had to limp the rest of the day but I still had fun. We got in the front on a lot of rides too. Space Mountain was probably my fave this time since Big Thunder is closed until November. I got a lanyard (finally) for my pin collection and a Donald Duck pin. I also got Ashley and I some mini mouse ears that were so cute! We got so many compliments on them. This trip I actually watched the fireworks show and it was AWESOME! It was narrated by Julie Andrews and they did a different theme for all of the big rides. For example, they projected ghosts onto the castle for the Haunted Mansion and shot off green and purple fireworks while playing audio from the ride. I got so excited when a live actress dressed as Tinkerbell flew all around the castle. At first I thought it was a puppet but then when she did a flip I was like "WHOA! That's a real lady!" It was great! I highly recommend watching the fireworks show in front of Cinderella's Castle. Oh, and one more notable thing, I saw barf for the first time at Disneyland! In the 28 years I've been going to Disneyland I've never seen barf. Mind you, it wasn't technically in the park but it was right outside the gates. Pretty wild! Anyway, here's some pics from our day at the park:

Grumpy Cats

The last day of our trip we drove down to Newport Beach but it was so windy and cold that we only stayed about 5 minutes. We got grilled cheeses for lunch then were back on the rode by 1:30pm. Ashley and I listened to Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone on the drive and now she wants to read the books this summer. YAY!

So in conclusion, I had a great trip and am looking forward to going on more trips with Ashley in the future since we travel so well together. 

Oh, and I have another interview on Monday so wish me luck on that!

Happy Friday! 

Donny, you're out of your element

So...I didn't get that job but whatever, man. I was pretty bummed about it for a few days but I'm over it. I have to remember my mantra: "Fuck it, Dude." Although I'm not a religious person, I'm still a firm believer that everything happens for a reason. Everything in this life is interconnected and that job wasn't on my path. Something will turn up and even if the job I do end up getting isn't the best job ever, there's something (or someone) that I need to learn/meet there. Looking back on my job history, even though all the jobs I've had have felt pointless  and even shitty at times, I gained something from all of them. Let me illustrate that for you:

*Toy Store: first job where I met my best friend and soul twin, Ashley. Also learned a valuable life lesson, working SUCKS.

*The Hotel (I won't name names because I'm now aware that companies use search tools so they can find any and every post ever that mentions their company's name. Cool, Big Brother!): first full time job where I got over a lot of my shyness and fear of people. Before I got this job I couldn't even order a pizza for myself! Even though this job felt absolutely soul crushing at times (all the time) I grew a lot as an individual. I also learned that the more money you have the more of an asshole you become (for the most part).

*Another Hotel: I learned to get verbally abused by strangers without crying! I also learned that I work very well with males. All the dudes I worked with at the hotel were true blue. There was no drama or cattiness between myself and my male coworkers. They always had my back.

*Baby Store: I learned that I'm more intelligent than 90% of the human population. 

*Student Paper: I learned that I'm able to meet deadlines and have leveled up to Responsible Adult. Also gained validation for making comics for over a decade.

*Educational Store: Gained more people skills and realized that I have a likeable personality! Major bonus points for the old self-image! Made lots of friends, including another one of my bestest friends,  Heather, and also noticed that I'm a fast learner (wasn't aware of that up until this point). Also, through the support of a coworker discovered a talent I didn't know I had! Opened up an online craft business as a result!

Craft Store: Met lots and lots of great people and instantly made friends in a new store and a new city. Was surprised how everyone liked me even though I felt shy and boring. Got more skilled at making small talk with strangers.

So as you can see, skills and friends were gained from all of these employers even though they weren't "prestigious" jobs and I hated most of them while I worked at them. 

Yesterday I went on a bike ride with my old man and he really helped put everything in perspective for me. He said, "If you really look at it, your life is pretty great. All you really need to be truly happy is a job you can stand and a significant other. Two things! How many people can say that? Most people need two things and then a hundred other things to be happy!" And I realized that he was right. If I had an okay job and a man who loved me, I'd be the happiest girl who ever lived! Over the years I've gotten to the point where I like who I am and I've found people and hobbies that bring me joy. All that's missing is a bearable job and a babe. What gets me down the most is how hard it's been finding this man. But, as long as I believe that everything happens the way it's supposed to, I have to believe that he'll come into my life when he's supposed to. When the planets (and myself) are in perfect alignment that's when he'll find me. Gotta stay POSITIVE!

 Back to the topic of working, although they're not that lucrative (yet) my embroidery hoops have been selling like hotcakes lately! Here's some of my most recent work:

All of these hoops have been shipped off to their new homes and that makes me very happy. It's cool to think that my work is all over the continental USA and also on a few other continents as well. 

Oh! And more good news before I get back to the job boards today, this Saturday I'm leaving for San Diego with Ashley! She's taking her little boy to Disneyland for Spring Break and asked me to come along. Even though I know I just went to Disney World a month ago and I really should be saving my money, how often to you get to go to Disneyland with your best friend and only have to pay for your food and ticket? Not very often. 

Okay, back to the grind for me but hope your Thursday is a good one! 

Take her easy!