Car stickers

I know that it's suddenly a Thing - people with families (or not) are putting little decals on the back of their car/SUV/semi/whatever as cute representations of their families. I've always enjoyed seeing them, but I've been slow to join the pack.

Until...

So a friend of mine at work was pulling up as I was leaving, and I spotted some Star Wars decals on his car - him as Darth Vader, his wife as a female stormtrooper, and two mini Princess Leias as his two daughters. I just loved them, so I googled them when I had a chance and found them. There were tons of great options, and then I scrolled down to the bottom of the page and saw another link for a different set of stickers. 

I sent the sites to Jenny, and we both liked this other set. I ordered them, received them yesterday, and now my geeky heart is filled with pride whenever I see them.

May I present the best family windshield decals ever :

Edit: Newly updated here!

Current mood: Bouncy

Being Happy - Enthusiasm

I noticed an interesting thing not long ago. Part of living a happy life involves being enthusiastic about the things we love, right? Well, there are two ways to generate enthusiasm:

1. Do something you love.
2. Anticipate doing something you love.

We don't always get to do the things we enjoy. Just ask anyone stuck in a job they hate doing just so they can pay the bills. But I recall the long times where I was in one of those jobs, and I would get excited as I thought about my plans to go to school and become a counselor, writing a story, or whatever. It helped me to get through that tedium until now I'm doing something I love in both of my jobs, not to mention my hobbies, and other projects I have going on.

In other words, I constantly find reasons to be enthusiastic about things, either now or in the future, and it makes me happy. I teach new contractors coming into the Service Desk to do tech support for our clients, and I tell them that while being a contractor does really stink because of the lack of benefits, they have a wonderful opportunity in front of them to do something they really love after just a year or so. When the job gets tough and it feels like they are slogging through each day, anticipate something wonderful, and they'll perk right back up!

Anticipation is a fabulous attitude to help us get through hard times. What is Christmas Day without the anticipation for it through the month of December? My anticipation over moving into our new house gives me a huge smile and a bounce in my step. It's gotten me through a lot of trials. 

Anticipation - one of the big secrets to daily happiness!



Current mood: Anticipatory

Terminators!

OK, so it wasn't quiiiiite a dream about Terminators. IRL, I've begun taking the Dale Carnegie course on communication, and Monday night was my first class. When I got home that evening, I dreamed I was in the class with Linda Hamilton, who was the original Sarah Connor (and also Chuck's mom in the TV show Chuck, but that's not relevant - interesting, but not relevant), and for some reason, the two of us were standing in front of the class acting out some scene from the Sarah Connor Chronicles. 

I should note that while I've heard it was an excellent show, I've never seen a single episode, though I know a little bit about it.

The scene we were playing was with me being John Connor and her being Sarah (natch). I was telling her that I wanted my own Terminator to help me out! She said some other line (something like, "Yes, and here comes one now!" though I can't recall exactly what it was) and looked around, obviously expecting something to happen. Nothing did. So she said it again, looking around again, and still nothing. She said it a third time, and now everyone in the class is looking around, wondering what is going to come next, when Summer Glau, who played a terminator in the show (and also the part of River Tam in Firefly - both shows died an early death, sadly, but that's not relevant - interesting, but not relevant) ran in. She had short hair (like almost a pixie cut) and was apologizing for not running in earlier, but something had prevented her. Everyone cheered and clapped, and I found out it was all a setup for Summer to meet the class, with only Linda being in on it.

So, not quite as epic as my last dream, but funny and interesting and cool. Maybe now that I am trying to record my dreams, my mind is retaining them better? 


Current mood: Amused

Life's not a beach

*sigh*

Sadly, we did not get to go to the beach on Saturday like I was hoping. I had thought it was 1 1/2-2 hours away, but we didn't bother to Mapquest our way there until Friday night, where we found it was 3+ hours away. Since I wouldn't get back from my client until 11am, and since neither Jenny or I are good night drivers, AND since we couldn't stay the night due to obligations Sunday morning, we were looking at a 6 or 7 hour round trip for 3-4 hours of beach time. 

No thanks.

Luckily, I start some external training tonight (the Dale Carnegie communication course), which counts for work hours, allowing me to take off 2-3 Fridays/month for the next 3 months! We'll make a beach trip in April! 

Current mood: Disappointed

Lucky Me!

So the downside to working two jobs and never getting even a single day off (Sundays are not days off for Mormons), aside from the building exhaustion, is never getting to spend any real length of time with my family. However, March has been a very light month for me, counselor-ly speaking. I've had my major clients out of town for 3 weeks, some other clients who were moving anyhow leave earlier than planned, and then other clients cancel due to vacations and such. 

I'm not worried about the money - anything I make from being a counselor is icing on the cake - so to suddenly have a month where I get to spend more time with my family is great. Heck, I actually had a whole Saturday off last week! Ecstacy, I tell you. I spent most of the day with Jackson while Jenny was off doing other things, and we had a blast moving small rocks from the bed to the floor in a glass lid for a couple of hours, and then going to a playground for 2 or 3 hours, and then reading books and putting him to bed, all just Him & Me. 

It was great because I hardly ever get to spend long amounts of time with him, and he's been mad at me lately, pushing me away and going for Momma instead. After Saturday, he's coming to me again. Yay! I love my baby so much!

And this Saturday, I only have one appt from 9-10:30, rather than my usual 7:30-5. Glorious freedom! We may go to the beach for the day. Looking forward to it! Since Jackson loved the beach the first (and only) time he went before, I'm sure he will love it again, as will his parents. Ahhhh..... relaxation on the beach. There really is nothing quiiiiite like it.

Current mood: Optimistic!

In Honor of Pi Day!

Since today is 3.14, I present you with this:

Current mood: Geeky!

House!

So it is official - we are buying a house. It's outside of the city limits, so we are getting a USDA loan (30 year, no down payment required, 3.75% interest) and will likely need very little if any cash on closing. It adds 10-15 min each way to my commute for both jobs, which is a minus, but it's on a cul-de-sac, the neighbors all know each other, gated neighborhood, reasonable utilities (in Texas, that's a big deal), and reasonable mortgage payment.  We've got 2800 sq ft, 4b/2.5 bath, with a nice, open feel.

We are closing the first week of May, while our lease runs out at the end of May, giving us all month to slowly move in and get settled.  We are both immensely pleased with how it's all going! 

Stone front with double car garage.

Awesome kitchen! Lots of counter space, which is fantastic since we love to cook and entertain.

Nice yard with covered back porch.

Current mood: Jubilant!

A New Move and Theme Song

So I have another blog over on LiveJournal, but since Wendy's blog is on BlogSpot, I decided to start one here. I'll most likely just keep them both going, copying and pasting from one to the other, but if it gets to be too much of a hassle, I'll switch over here. Maybe. It's still all up in the air.

But in the meantime, just to make some sort of overlap and kick things off, I'll copy and paste my latest post from my LJ account. I *am* sad that BlogSpot does not have the Mood Indicator that LJ has, but I may just add that manually. :)
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I have decided that in the spirit of Kronk, my new life theme song is Sing, Sing, Sing. Exuberant, energetic, delightful! I've always loved it before, but since I've been listening to it like crazy for the last few days, I love it more each time I hear it.

I told Jenny that I would love to get an East Coast Swing dance instructor to help us come up with a routine for this song, not for any particular event, but Just Because. It would be super fun.

Wheeeeee!

Current Mood: Swing Dancing-ly Ecstatic!