Dating and stuff

David Hamaker recently decided to move to Sacramento since he has no income with which to pay his rent. He

will be staying over at various friend's houses. But he decided to

give his cat Loki into my care. I already ordered a voucher to get her

spayed for $10 in the mail. I will also be making the homemade catfood

that Alura gave me the recipe for. Cali and Loki have been getting used to each other and Loki is

definitely the dominant one.

I have been working at Charles Peck

Elementary the last three weeks while they wait for the district to

decide on who they're going to hire. They thought they would have

gotten a person working there permanently two weeks ago, but it's

taking longer than they thought it would, so I'll be working there

until they get their permanent employee there. I got to go see the new

movie Puss in Boots, with the character Puss that was first introduced

in the second Shrek movie, but this movie was all about Puss, and

nothing to do with Shrek. It was pretty good. I also got to go to

Comedy Sportz which is like a bunch of actors and comedians compete

for votes from the audience as two separate teams. That was pretty fun

too. I went with Greg, Dave, Amber, Valerie and her daughter Genivieve

and Chad (Who is visiting from Canada).

I've been having trouble with dating. Or rather, it discourages me and I am impatient. I have yet to be asked out by a single member of the church besides David and Ben, but neither of them have the Melchizedek preisthood or have recieved their endowments. So far guys who asked me out: Jonathan Giacomelli, Greg Stayner, And David Humphrey asked me out too when my divorce wasn't final yet, but he got back together with Amber before I could date, and I already knew that he still had a thing for Amber anyway, and since he's not a member of the church, it probably wouldn't have worked out anyway. After I broke up with Greg in 2010, I was single for like 4 months. During that time I did get a member Ben Taylor at a church dance to ask me out, but he didn't go on a mission and hasn't been endowed and doesn't have a testimony and didn't call me back after he called me and left a message and then I called him and left a message. Also, he lives up by apple hill, so it's not like he was widely available. And then I asked out guys at church dances. I asked Greg Blunt, Stuart Hall from Bridget's Davis ward, Aaron James. Then Crystle told me about David and when I requested his facebook friendship, he asked me out. Now that we broke up, I looked for guys on facebook, and asked Chad Riding out, but he was really busy and took a while to respond. He seemed cool, but didn't want to go on more than one or two dates with me. So far, the only guys who didn't like me, or who dumped me were the church guys with testimonies, and the non member guys, I broke up with them. So... should I stop looking at the church guys? Should I go out with whoever asks me? Just because it would be nice to have someone ask me out. Or maybe I should be more proactive and go to all the church activities and firesides and stuff and meet guys there and get their phone numbers like Heidi used to do. I think that last part is what I should do.

I figured I would take this, what I wrote to my siblings on their missions and copy paste it here since I haven't written a journal in a long time. Also I was thinking of writing up a list of simple basic traits I would like to see in someone who asks me out. But I'll do that later. Whoever reads this, I hope you have a great week, and that no one is offended by my bluntness.

I've been working more that the schools have started up. David got a temporary job in Marysville helping his friend Seth remodel his house for minimum wage. He got to go swing dancing this friday, but I didn't know about it until after he had posted it on facebook. Oh well, maybe he didn't think to tell me. Also, I think he was only there for the last hour, and it had a live band that night, so it would have cost more, and I don't like going by myself, and the gas would have cost me some money as well, so I ended up not going even though he said I was welcome to come after I called and asked him about his facebook post. I've been going to four different RPGs lately. Ross has a Deadlands RPG at his place that he GMs every other saturday. Greg tries to have his game every other saturday as well. He's running a D&D setting with the d10 Dave Humphrey rules, but slightly modified even more by Greg. Dave Humphrey is running a game almost every tuesday. Dave Humphrey, Amber and Alura moved to a new place. They are now at the house Alura lived in while she went to Highlands highschool. Dave's sister Delena moved in with them too, since she graduated highschool and is going to college down here. Amber and Dave got Alura's parents old room, Delena got Terry's room, and Alura got her old room back, which is actually bigger than the room she had with Amber and Dave at the two bedroom apartment. I'm going over their house today to hang out and maybe play rockband or some other fun game. Also David Hamaker runs a game on thursday nights online as a text chat thing, since some of the players live far away or out of state. Also, I recently set up a twitter account because I was bored and up late at night. The missionaries in the Napa stake are doing a new thing where they have facebook accounts set up and they are going to see if it helps them in their missionary work. They mostly post stuff about the church, or inspirational talks and other messages.

I hope to write more soon.

Busy Weekend

I've been working at the High school Mira Loma the past two weeks. Last week was Labor day weekend, and I went to the Bay Area YSA Camp Ritchie trip. I had thought David was going to go, since on the facebook event page, he said he was, but it turned out he didn’t have any money for it, so didn’t end up going. I was really sad about that. I didn’t have a ride, and didn’t want to go by myself because of the gas, but at the last minute Michael Colvin and his sister Linda responded to my facebook post on the event wall and they came from Newcastle near Auburn to pick me up. They were from San Jose and were going too, and I was on the way. I was very glad to meet them and Linda was very friendly. I made a few friends while at the camp, four actually including Michael and Linda. The other two were Sarah and Aaron, a couple who were there. Aaron recognized my sluggy freelance shirt, and Sarah was a very short girl with something wrong with her legs. I asked her about it, and she said that she had cystic fibrosis. I got sore legs and shoulders from the wooden plank beds and all the hiking to get from cabin #2 to the lodge or the bathroom. I had fun on Saturday going rappelling with some friendly people who asked me to go with them. I had never done rappelling before, and the only rock climbing I had done was on the REI wall and in a gym. It was really fun. I wonder if I'll ever get the rappelling picture Diana took. I don't know her last name, so I can't really look her up.

I went to Ross's Deadlands RPG on Saturday, and then to Greg's 26 birthday party at his mom's house. I got there kinda late because of the deadlands RPG. Only Greg was swimming. He couldn’t convince Amber, Alex, or Roger to swim. Dave Humphrey went swimming with him though. But he had gotten out by the time I got there a little after 6. I decided not to go swimming and have it be just me and Greg in the pool. Since I dated him last year that might be even more awkward than it normally would be. We had fun inside eating the snacks and talking. Greg’s brother Joe and his baby son was there too. We ate the tasty banana cake Greg made from his mom’s recipe and then we played Munchkin the card game. All in all, a fun day.

My room was kinda messy on friday. I hadn't put away my shirts in like a month. I just kept being too tired or whatever, not caring about it. I ended up putting my clothes away and cleaning up my room Saturday morning. Mom left Thursday evening for a job interview near LA, in Compton. It would be cool if she got the job. Even cooler if the rest of us could get permanent, well paying jobs, right? Randy finally paid me back for the computer he bought from me, but he over paid by $20. Now I can pay my tithing. Or my credit card and gas and give some money back to Greg. David’s sister Kirstin sent me a paper letter with stickers all over the envelope. It was cute. She said we could be friends, so that makes me happy. I had written her a paper letter and an email already to introduce myself. Yesterday at the end of the day, my throat felt a little funny, but I dismissed it. Today when I woke up, I felt my sinuses all clogged up, and then my nose started running, and my throat felt scratchy. I tried to get up and eat breakfast, but ended up deciding that I shouldn’t go to church if I was sick in case I could spread it to others. Kelley Williams from David’s ward in Napa was visiting, and I wanted to be there to say hi and introduce her to people, but oh well. I made some food for Mom when she got back. We only had 5 eggs left, but I made an omelet with what we had. One for Mom, one for Randy.

Letters

It's been a while since I wrote a note. I'm not going to go over everything that happened, I'm just going to copy paste the letters I sent to Bridget and Lance, my brother and sister who are both on their missions right now. You can check out their profile pages for more info.

Mon 06/27/11 01:46 AM

Last Monday I stayed up really late and made waffles in the morning. Randy got to eat some before he went to work at his new job at Ecofirst pest control. Then Darren needed a ride to work, and Mom had said she might give him a ride, but then she got a job, so she couldn't. So I drove him. It was out in North Highlands on Jackson off of Madison. Kinda near where Dave Humphrey used to live. Anyway, as I dropped him off, I saw a little Calico cat in the driveway of the towyard. Darren said that there were a bunch of cats, but she was super friendly and so he got her and gave her to me and I drove her home with her. She sat in my lap the whole time and liked being petted a lot. She ate the tuna I opened for her. When Darren got off work Jared went with us back to his work to try and capture the other cats so we could give them to the SPCA or somewhere to get spayed and neutered. We were only able to catch her tuxedo colored brother. He was friendly once inside the house and he played with her. I decided to call her Cali and him Tux. Mom wouldn't let us keep them, so on Tuesday I went to take them to the SPCA, because they're not open on mondays. But they don't accept surrendered animals or strays, there is another place that does that, and it was on Bradshaw road instead of Florin-Perkins road. So I got the info from the people there and they gave me a kitty carrier box for them. They kept meowing and it was very hot and I got a headache I was so hot and I forgot to get a waterbottle. So Cali ended up peeing on herself and her brother, and it was very unhappy for all of us. Also, when we first picked them up they had the sniffles, they sneezed and snot came out of their noses a little bit. But I think the car ride in the hot weather made them sicker. Also, the other place that accepts animals was closed Mondays and Tuesdays. So I went to check and see if the workers were there like the lady at the SPCA suggested, but no one was there to help. So I went home and rinsed the cats off after they got out of the box and gave them more food and water. Also I got a litter box for them and some kitten cat food and on Monday I had gotten flea shampoo for them and given Cali a bath and Darren and Jared gave Tux a bath. So I told Mom I wasn't going to drive them again in my car because it was too hot, and I don't have air conditioning. On Wednesday after she got off work she kept saying how she wasn't okay with us keeping two cats, and so I asked if that meant she was okay with keeping one. She said yes, and we picked Cali because she was friendlier and more playful and a girl. We took both of them to the SPCA on Bradshaw and gave them Tux and set up an appointment to get Cali spayed. Heidi took Cali to the Vet on Friday because she was still sick and sniffly, and she got all sorts of medicine, to put in her eyes, ears, and mouth. Also I made the cat food recipe I got from Alura on Friday. But Wednesday night I went to Vallejo. Tuesday night was David Hamaker's Dad Ray's 60th birthday party, and that was fun. I came back from Vallejo Thursday night. I helped Heidi force feed Cali on Saturday and today (Sunday) Because Cali couldn't smell anything and wasn't eating on Thursday or friday, so we were getting worried about her. Mom was charmed by super cute Cali kitty. I am attaching a photo of her. I'll write you a better letter later, but you asked how we got a cat, and this is it!

Sun 07/17/11

So Mom got a new computer. She didn't need anything special, so I went with her to Fry's and helped her pick out the gateway she got. I watched season 5 of Doctor Who with David Hamaker at his place on Ryan Kyashima's TV. That's who he's renting a room from now. I liked it. I also looked up and watched season 6 of Doctor Who on this computer. When Mom got the computer I also got a corded mouse and a thingee with fans to put my old laptop on. I tried to install Windows XP on it because Windows Vista sucks and slows it down, but I had to download a copy off the internet, and it was all in dutch. I didn't know it was in dutch until after I uploaded it. Also, it isn't connected to the internet anymore and the old desktop is disconnected as well. ( I got it fixed the next day) I'll try fixing it tomorrow, but I need an english version of Windows XP. I think Ross said he's got one (He did, but it still couldn't connect to the internet because of the drivers missing and problems, so I just put Vista back on it and it is monstrously slow again).

Saturday I went to Ross's Deadlands RPG and we had a training session where we figured out the mechanics of the game better because we really didn't know that much. And the Tuesday before that I went to Dave's RPG with Alura, Amber, Delena, and Tami. It was a fun game and I need to start writing journals again. Unfortunately I had to not attend David Hamaker's online chat rpg because they were at the same time on Tuesday. The house David was in before, the one owned by his friend Jason Pfeffer who lives in another state now, it's empty, but still has some furniture and stuff. Randy's going to buy the mini fridge there and maybe some other things. I still need to find a job for the summer. Stuff has happened since I last wrote to you, but I didn't feel like writing it all and I figured you'd rather have a short letter than no letter. I hope you're having fun!

Sorry I haven't written to you in a while Lance. I usually write to you and Bridget at the same time with the same letter, but I haven't felt like writing up every little thing that has been happening. I watched season 5 and 6 of Doctor Who recently because of David Hamaker, the guy who lives in Vallejo that I've been dating. I also have been watching Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood on Hulu. I wanted to watch the dubbed English version, but they only have four episodes up like that, so I started watching the subtitled ones. I hope you heard about us getting a cat, a cute little Calico kitten. Mom also bought a new computer. Jared and I went with her to Fry's to help her pick it out. I hope things are going well for you. Let us know what you would like to hear of from us so that we can write what you find interesting. I would be interested to hear your thoughts about your mission. Not just numbers and names of things and people you've been working with. How do you feel? What has made you happy and why? What has made you frustrated, angry, or sad? More pictures would be cool too.

7-24-11

Hello Lance. I hope you've been doing well. Try to make real food and not eat just ramen. Or add yummy things to the ramen to make it a real meal. You can add shrimp, chicken or beef to the various flavored ramens. You can also add vegetables. You can get canned fruit, so you don't have to worry about it getting bad. Frozen lasagna is pretty good too. Allrecipes.com has lots of really good recipes. Especially recipes for good waffles and pancakes.

So instead of writing things that have happened I decided I should write about my views on certain things. Or actually, I could copy my thoughts on lessons we had in church. I take notes sometimes if I feel like it and I really like the lesson. Today's lesson was about the talk "What manner of Men and Women Ought ye to be?" We should be even as Jesus, and we should be childlike. Submissive, meek, humble, full of love, patient, faithful and hopeful and all the things Hinkley said in the 6 Bs talk. I added that part about the 6 Bs. I remember when he gave that talk, I was in the youth program, and I actually liked it and tried to remember those 6 things all the time, grateful, smart, clean, true, humble and prayerful.

I made cookies on Thursday, but the consistency was a little off, it was more goopy than normal. I made a double batch. Later I realized the difference was that I hadn't doubled the sugar. But they tasted fine and cooked fine. So I figure it wasn't a big mistake, and this way, they have less calories.

Cali got spayed on friday. She was all loopy right after she got back from the vet. She was walking slowly and wobbly like a drunk kitty. It was funny. Later when she was feeling better, like Saturday evening, she started licking the spot where the incision had been made. They used a staple and super glue to close it up. So if she licks it too much, it might make it less sticky. So I made a paper cone of shame for her. I also tried to go to walmart and buy her one, but they didn't have any.

And all day Saturday I had been at the zoo with Brit and Elijah (a friend from Ross who plays D&D games, he's cool) at the Sacramento zoo ice cream safari hosted by Baskin Robbins. So Brit paid for my $17 ticket and we walked around and looked at the animals and took pictures and it was very crowded because of the ice cream thing. Baskin Robbins gets together with the Sacramento Zoo once a year and they do a fundraiser. They had all you can eat ice cream. They had little booths, and each booth had a different flavor, that they served either in a cone or as a small sundae in a paper bowl. I ate 4 cones and 2 sundaes. I took lots fo pictures with my cell phone camera. Elijah and Brit had better cameras. Well, I think that's all I feel like writing for now, Have a great week!

Dou-la-la: Our nursing saga

Dou-la-la: Our nursing saga: "In honor of World Breastfeeding Week , I thought I would share my saga with you. If I can give even a glimmer of hope to any mom out there w..."