I remember when I was younger when I USE TO ENJOY THE HOLIDAYS.
The past few years I've found myself enjoying it less and less. Since I had Hayden, the holidays have much more of a significant meaning but it doesn't make it any less stressful.
Last Christmas was Hayden's very first. This year I'm actually looking forward to the 25th. I'm excited to take Hayden to sit on Santa's lap for the very first time. I'm excited for him to wake up on Christmas morning and open all of his presents. I know he still doesn't understand the concept of it all or even grasp it but it is still exciting as a mother to watch your son tear into all the fun stuff.
When I was growing up, we use to travel to Houston every year to spend time with family for the holidays. To be honest, I'm sick of driving back and forth. Planning, packing up everything, loading and unloading the truck, the stress of holiday traffic, grocery store chaos... do it year after year, I've had enough. The past three years we've spent Christmas at home. This year will be no different. I've invited my dad who lives in Houston to come spend Christmas with us. I so hope he takes me up on the offer. It would be awesome to have him and his fiancee here with us.
Now that I have my own family, I have absolutely no interest in traveling for the holidays. My family is in Austin and Houston. Jon's family is in San Antonio and Cuero. So it makes sense to stay put instead of traveling all over trying to make everyone else happy.
I finally put up our Christmas tree. I was dreading putting it up for the sole fact that I know Hayden would have his grubby little paws all over it all day everyday. I was right on because he loves pulling stuff off of it. I think he's learned his lesson now that the tree has fallen over on him twice. Thankfully he was never hurt both times. I'm sure it was scary having a big green thing with shiny, sparkly things with lights falling on you. Good thing its a small skimpy tree because I'm sure it could have done some damaged to my little man. I also just finished putting up the lighted garland around our front door. I think thats as festive as its going to get outside. See is how we need to purchase all new outdoor lights since the rest of the strands crapped out on me. I don't have new lights in our budget so it will have to wait til next year. I may find some good deals after the holidays and snag those for next year. Here's hopin! :)
I'm slowly checking people off my xmas shopping list for the holidays. I just have a few more people to shop for, finish up Hayden and finish up Tina then I'll be done. Wahoo!!
Lots to be thankful for this year... for so many reasons.
This year, I've promised myself I will NOT be the grinch....
♥ X's & O's ♥
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
A good day gone bad!
I'm still on an adreinaline rush while I sit down to compose my thoughts from today.
I'm trying to wind down my reeling mind to begin but can't find the right words.
Here we go...
I decided that I would volunteer at the Baca Center and help serve our elderly community. My day started at 9am when I walked in. I wash my hands, grab an apron, wad my hair up and shove it in a hair net. (all protocol for sanitation) I was immediately hurled into the whirlwind of all the activites. Cutting up turkey, slicing bread, you name it, it was being done. Before I knew it, it was noon. You'd think we were serving the Pope or the President because everyone was on point, dressed up, everything was so nicely arranged. Three lines were formed. Over 200 senior citizens were in attendance. It was a terrific turnout!! One by one, every man and woman were served quickly and efficiently. Althought I personally served maybe 80-100 people, I knew none of them, but their smiles will be forever etched into my heart's memory. The only thing I dislike about volunteering at the Baca Center is that when you get to know some of people you see regularly, its really hard to hear that their time has come. Its the hardest part of it. I was so happy and so thankful to have been able to serve the community the amazing feast for Thanksgiving. Alot of the residents do not have families to spend the holidays with so for them, the Baca Center is their family. Its a really neat way to give back and I enjoyed every moment with them this morning. I finished my time there around 1:30pm and headed home.
On my way home, I stopped at our manager's office to drop off a few keys from the previous week that we did work on. Only to find we had a list of stuff for other properties that needed addressing. *sigh* It never ends. Don't get me wrong, I'm grateful and don't mind, but sometimes its nice to have a week break. Ha.. no such luck today!!!
Wow... I'm still in disbelief thinking about what took place this evening...
So we stop at property #1 to remove the refrigerator. Success!!
We head to property #2 to install the refrigerator we got from property #1, FAIL!!!
I call our mgr, its a no go, doesn't fit. He informs me he has another property that needs a fridge, so we load the fridge and head to property #3.
We get to property #3, unload the fridge. Keep in mind, we have no one to watch Hayden so he is tagging along, as always. We get the fridge into the property, WTH.... is this really happening?? Yep, you guessed it, doesn't fit! FAIL!!!!!
So I call our manager, obviously pissed at the world, Hayden's screaming in my arms, I can barely make out the address he wants us to take this retarded refrigerator to so I tell him to txt it to me and we'll take care of it.
We get the address, loadup this ever so stubborn refrigerator and goto property #4. Before we unload it, I told Jon to go inside and measure the property. Well this would pose as the only problem at this property. Each property has a lockbox with a special code that unlocks it for the key to unlock the property. We put in the code to get the key and unlock the property. Everything unlocks like it should. But the door won't open. The door was locked from the inside. (It was a deadbolt that doesn't have a key and just locks from the inside for security) Well that was red flag #1! Keep in mind this is a vacant property and there is NO electricity and its already dark outside. The street is dark, there is no neighborhood lights. And its in the ghetto. FML!! So Jon goes into the backyard to see if he can unlock the backdoor. Same problem. He notices the window over the kitchen sink is slightly open. Red flag #2!! So he thinks nothing of it and crawls in the window to open the property. He unlocked the front door and told me okay lets load this fridge. I immediately stop him and tell him that we're calling the cops to have them clear the property. We later find out that this property has been vandalized before. So we call Austin Police Department and they dispatch an officer to the property. He shows up within 4-5 minutes. Thankfully! My heart was racing. This whole time, Hayden is in our truck, doors locked with me. The officer calls for backup. Another patrol car shows up within 5 more minutes. They enter the building with guns drawn, flashlights, shouting "Austin PD!!!" They search the entire property, bedrooms, bathrooms, closests, upstairs, downstairs. As they were about to walk out of the property, putting their guns back in their holsters, one officer looks up and spots the attic, they draw their guns again, pulling down the attic stairs, shouting "AUSTIN PD.... ANYONE THERE?!?!?!" Surely I thought they were going to be removing someone in handcuffs. But no one was there. What's scary about it all is that there was a blanket and pillow up in the upstairs bedroom, some crackhead probably got in there and that was his or her safe haven when they needed it. SCARY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So the officers latched all the windows for Jon and secured the property. They left, Jon and I got the fridge down off the truck and installed it. But boy was my ass in a hurry to get out of there!!!!!
I'm glad that today is over and I'm glad to be home safe and sound.
On the way home, Jon and I talked about us having a cell phone on us at all times, especially when entering a property, vacant or not!
God was definately good to us today!!!
I'm trying to wind down my reeling mind to begin but can't find the right words.
Here we go...
I decided that I would volunteer at the Baca Center and help serve our elderly community. My day started at 9am when I walked in. I wash my hands, grab an apron, wad my hair up and shove it in a hair net. (all protocol for sanitation) I was immediately hurled into the whirlwind of all the activites. Cutting up turkey, slicing bread, you name it, it was being done. Before I knew it, it was noon. You'd think we were serving the Pope or the President because everyone was on point, dressed up, everything was so nicely arranged. Three lines were formed. Over 200 senior citizens were in attendance. It was a terrific turnout!! One by one, every man and woman were served quickly and efficiently. Althought I personally served maybe 80-100 people, I knew none of them, but their smiles will be forever etched into my heart's memory. The only thing I dislike about volunteering at the Baca Center is that when you get to know some of people you see regularly, its really hard to hear that their time has come. Its the hardest part of it. I was so happy and so thankful to have been able to serve the community the amazing feast for Thanksgiving. Alot of the residents do not have families to spend the holidays with so for them, the Baca Center is their family. Its a really neat way to give back and I enjoyed every moment with them this morning. I finished my time there around 1:30pm and headed home.
On my way home, I stopped at our manager's office to drop off a few keys from the previous week that we did work on. Only to find we had a list of stuff for other properties that needed addressing. *sigh* It never ends. Don't get me wrong, I'm grateful and don't mind, but sometimes its nice to have a week break. Ha.. no such luck today!!!
Wow... I'm still in disbelief thinking about what took place this evening...
So we stop at property #1 to remove the refrigerator. Success!!
We head to property #2 to install the refrigerator we got from property #1, FAIL!!!
I call our mgr, its a no go, doesn't fit. He informs me he has another property that needs a fridge, so we load the fridge and head to property #3.
We get to property #3, unload the fridge. Keep in mind, we have no one to watch Hayden so he is tagging along, as always. We get the fridge into the property, WTH.... is this really happening?? Yep, you guessed it, doesn't fit! FAIL!!!!!
So I call our manager, obviously pissed at the world, Hayden's screaming in my arms, I can barely make out the address he wants us to take this retarded refrigerator to so I tell him to txt it to me and we'll take care of it.
We get the address, loadup this ever so stubborn refrigerator and goto property #4. Before we unload it, I told Jon to go inside and measure the property. Well this would pose as the only problem at this property. Each property has a lockbox with a special code that unlocks it for the key to unlock the property. We put in the code to get the key and unlock the property. Everything unlocks like it should. But the door won't open. The door was locked from the inside. (It was a deadbolt that doesn't have a key and just locks from the inside for security) Well that was red flag #1! Keep in mind this is a vacant property and there is NO electricity and its already dark outside. The street is dark, there is no neighborhood lights. And its in the ghetto. FML!! So Jon goes into the backyard to see if he can unlock the backdoor. Same problem. He notices the window over the kitchen sink is slightly open. Red flag #2!! So he thinks nothing of it and crawls in the window to open the property. He unlocked the front door and told me okay lets load this fridge. I immediately stop him and tell him that we're calling the cops to have them clear the property. We later find out that this property has been vandalized before. So we call Austin Police Department and they dispatch an officer to the property. He shows up within 4-5 minutes. Thankfully! My heart was racing. This whole time, Hayden is in our truck, doors locked with me. The officer calls for backup. Another patrol car shows up within 5 more minutes. They enter the building with guns drawn, flashlights, shouting "Austin PD!!!" They search the entire property, bedrooms, bathrooms, closests, upstairs, downstairs. As they were about to walk out of the property, putting their guns back in their holsters, one officer looks up and spots the attic, they draw their guns again, pulling down the attic stairs, shouting "AUSTIN PD.... ANYONE THERE?!?!?!" Surely I thought they were going to be removing someone in handcuffs. But no one was there. What's scary about it all is that there was a blanket and pillow up in the upstairs bedroom, some crackhead probably got in there and that was his or her safe haven when they needed it. SCARY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So the officers latched all the windows for Jon and secured the property. They left, Jon and I got the fridge down off the truck and installed it. But boy was my ass in a hurry to get out of there!!!!!
I'm glad that today is over and I'm glad to be home safe and sound.
On the way home, Jon and I talked about us having a cell phone on us at all times, especially when entering a property, vacant or not!
God was definately good to us today!!!
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Up, up, and away!
Hello!
I've had alot on my plate the past few weeks so the past few days, I've decided, I'm going to deactivate my facebook account for a while.
People that care to communicate know how to get ahold of me.
If you need to talk to me, txt me or call. If you don't have my number then shoot me an email: Kristen_Trevino05@hotmail.com.
I will be updating my blog on a regular basis when I can. Its how I compose my thoughts and its great to go back and look at what we've been thru and how much we've grown.
I hope everyone has a very Happy Thanksgiving and if you are traveling like we will be, please drive safely and buckle up! All the idiot drivers will be out in full force. :)
I've had alot on my plate the past few weeks so the past few days, I've decided, I'm going to deactivate my facebook account for a while.
People that care to communicate know how to get ahold of me.
If you need to talk to me, txt me or call. If you don't have my number then shoot me an email: Kristen_Trevino05@hotmail.com.
I will be updating my blog on a regular basis when I can. Its how I compose my thoughts and its great to go back and look at what we've been thru and how much we've grown.
I hope everyone has a very Happy Thanksgiving and if you are traveling like we will be, please drive safely and buckle up! All the idiot drivers will be out in full force. :)
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