It's been busy, busy, busy around here, as usual.  I've been doing lots at the new job.  I had 6 hours of orientation on Wed and then had to go in yesterday for 4 hours of computer based learning: The rights of the elderly, elderly abuse, workplace hazards, safety on the job, etc, etc.  I also had a trip to the dentist.  I've done everything this week EXCEPT for trip preparation- I was so sure it would get cancelled.

So now I'm running around like a chicken with it's head cut off.  We're leaving in a few hours.  YIKES!

I'm excited, nervous and a bit scared.  Also hyper and exhilarated.

Wish me luck!

Have a great week, everybody and I'll see you next week!

A month sure goes by quickly!  Jeepers, sorry, friends.  I'm trying to be better, but I'm not doing very well.  I am reading your xangas though.  I'm putting my replies here though, this time, because I feel like crud and I'm going to bed when I'm done!

Melissa- that's great about your new class.  What are you going to be teaching?  How is your regular classroom going this year?

Slynnie- I can't believe you're a college girl now...  How's life on campus?

Moe- jeepers I miss chatting/shopping with you on IM!  I've been keeping you in thought and prayer through the bad times.  Your pluck amazes me.

Nik- I thank you so much for the pictures.  They are absolutely gorgeous and I love them!  Now that I'm a working girl, I'm gonna try my best to be there to hug you in person on your most special day.  Congrats on the new job and I hope you LOVE IT!

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And what's new here?  Tons.  Sadly, I did not get the radio job.  I've been bummed about that for a while.  Happily, I just found out I got a new job.  You are "looking" at the new Activities Director at Hearthstone Nursing Home.  I'll be doing some pre-job training/testing this next week and will officially start the new job after I get back from vacation.  I'm really excited about it and more than glad to get out of WalMart.  I really like a lot of the people I work with, but as a cashier, you never really spend any quality time with anybody.  You're either at the register and busy, or standing in front of your register, bored and waiting.  They stagger break times, so you really don't get to say more than a few words in passing.  Too much idol chatter is frowned upon.  You spend hours just bored stiff, waiting for customers with nothing to do but stand at attention while you wait, or you're extremely busy, which is fine for passing the time quickly and nice to chat with folks as you check them out, but it's hell on your back with all the constant lifting and bending.  There is little inbetween time.  It's feast or famine usually.

At Hearthstone, I'll be working full time, 8:30-5 each day.  I love the hours.  I'll have time to get the kids off to school and a few minutes to myself to finish getting ready for work.  I'll be home in time to make supper and spend time with Tom and the kids.  I won't be missing school events.  It's not Monday through Friday, which is the downfall.  I'll work Sunday thru Thursday with Friday and Saturdays off.  As most of you know, church is important to my family, and Sunday is usually Tom's only day off- so that part is difficult.  Our church doesn't offer services other than Sunday and there are no affialiated churches nearby that do.  So I'll have to be (pardon the pun) "religious" about going to Wednesday night Bible study.  I've not done it this year, as I'm usually working.  But that will be a chance for me to challenge my brain and absorb the word.  I often spend Sunday's keeping Joey in line anyway, so don't always get a lot out of the services.  But I'll have to give up choir- which stinks big time.

Pros and Cons.  But beggars can't be choosers, right?  Maybe the days off can be changed a bit once I've established myself.  If not, I'll have to make due. 

There are three activities peeps at Hearthstone (including me).  The main Director does mostly paperwork and sets up the activities.  The two director Aides, me and another girl, whose name escapes me at the moment, Amber maybe?  Anyway, Amber and I will be in charge of carrying out the activities schedules with the residents.  I'll be concentrating on one wing, and Amber on the other.  Her wing includes a lot of the Alzheimers and heavy care patients and mine more of the self/minimum care residents.  Activities are varied.  There are 10 point pitch card tournaments weekly, so I'm required to learn the game.  Crafts, exercize groups, trips to WalMart (NATURALLY) and the beauty shoppe, and other places.  There is a monthy lunch at one of the local restaurants, trips to the local playhouse, going to church and mass for the Catholic patients and lots of other stuff- but you get the gist.  I will be busy from start to finish each day, but I'll be using mind and body, sitting and standing, working and playing, and interacting with people beyond "How are you today?" or "Check or debit?"  Yep, I'm pretty happy about the job.  The facility is only a couple of years old and state of the art in it's design.  They used the latest technology in planning the place to give the seniors the best experience possible in a care facility.  The place is simply gorgeous.  Lots of dark wood and stone, fireplaces, beautiful artwork on the walls.  There is nothing hospital like or anticeptic at first glance.  It's high-end condo/home like and only upon closer inspection do you see the other stuff, like body lifts in each room, wheelchair accessable showers and countertops, emergency call buttons and anything else you might need to assist a senior person best.  I think I'll put Tom's and my names on the reservation list now!

I was forced (yes-FORCED) to shop for some new clothes.  No jeans and t-shirts at Hearthstone.  Business casual is the requirement.  I had NONE of that.  I have WalMart khaki and navy, two pants and two shirts.  I never got more, knowing when I started there that it would be short term (not quite this short, but whatev).  I had to go to Lincoln yesterday on my day off to take Trev to the Pediatrician.  His ADHD meds weren't working anymore and his mid semester grades... well, they sucked.  Big time.  Sure enough, the doc confirmed that Trev has grown and put on quite a bit of weight since the last adjustment.  So it makes sense that the pills were no longer as effective.  So we upped the dosage.  Then we hit the mall.  We only went to JCPenney.  We didn't need to go anyplace else.  I got Trev a pair of church pants and a shirt and a pair of grey cammo pants and a casual shirt, and two bags of socks.  Then it was my turn...

Thank goodness for the sale racks!  I bought three pair of pants, navy, black and burgundy, two gorgeous blouses, one burgundy and the other teal, a nice pullover shirt, a sweater set and a stunning dressy sweater in black and creme that will be perfect for dressier occasions at work and church.  A good start, eh?  I can fill it in with the few semi dressy things I've already got for church.  I really didn't have much though.  I don't ever wear dresses or skirts unless someone dies, gets married or baptized- and not even then.  My flat feet don't do heels and dresses and skirts just don't look right without heels.  I like my pants. 

We're only 16 days away from Disneyland!  Whoo-hoo!  I want it to be here already, but I know once it's here, it'll just fly by.  Anticipation is the majority of the trip, usually.  But I've been anticipating this one since June- so I'm ready to go!  Joey asks for the countdown number every day.  All three kids are psyched.  Even Tom is expressing some excitement, but his is more mellow.  He's a worrier, and with the Crohns, his worries are compounded.  Changes in his schedule tend to trigger Crohns attacks and he's spent more than one vacation holed up in a hotel room in pain while the rest of us explore.  If the Crohns itself behaves, then the arthritis that accompanies the Crohns will tend to flare, and walking becomes very painful.  Neither of those scenarios floats with a Disneyland trip.  So I know he's worried about that- and the worry itself can trigger an attack.  It's such a catch-22.  You really just can't win with Crohns.  You can just expect the worst and hope for the best.

Apart from that, I have my own worries, that perhaps I've crammed too much into a short space.  Figuring this is a once in a lifetime thang, I took advantage of a change in flight times (we're not getting into LAX at 10:30am as opposed to 6:30pm) to add another day of activities.

This trip has changed half a dozen times since I booked the flights.  Delta has changed our flights so many times, I no longer can even tell you a number.  A dozen times would not be an exaggeration.  I had to get on the phone and fight with them when at one point we had a 10 hour layover in Salt Lake City.  I said I had a special needs child who would be doing well to handle the 4 hour layover going home.  I booked the flight knowing that, so I'd deal.  But for them to change the arrival flight layover from 1 hour, to six hours, to 10 hours, was not acceptable.  So they moved the SLC flight, bringing us into LAX around 9am, but leaving us with only a 30 minute layover.  Great in theory, but what if the Omaha flight ran late?  What if my kid had to use the bathroom?  I felt that was pushing our luck.  I don't have a ton of flying experience, but in the few experiences I've had, running late is more the norm than on time.  So they changed the layover and flight again, at my request, to the 10:30am flight, giving us just under a 2 hour layover.

We've also changed hotels a bunch of times.  I had us at the Fairfield Inn across the street from Disneyland.  Then, when I got my job, I figured we'd splurge and stay at the Disneyland Hotel on property.  Then, as the trip got closer, finances didn't improve as I'd hoped and I changed us back to the Fairfield Inn.  The Disneyland Hotel was $600 more than the Fairfield.  I was silly to think about even trying- but I'm not known for being practical and logical- that's what I have Tom for.  But he doesn't vacation plan.  He wouldn't leave the livingroom other than for work and church if I didn't force him to.

So then a couple of weeks ago, my brain kicked in to gear and I thought, "Duh.  My daughter works for Hampton Inns.  Doesn't she qualify for an employee discount and certain hotels?"  So I called her hotel and spoke with Sergio, who gave me the website and all the info.  I knew there wouldn't be a chance of an employee rate at Disneyland.  I knew from my own experience at Marriott and my friends at Hyatt, that usually the resort hotels don't offer an employee rate, and if they do, they're usually very limited and often discounted but still exhorbitant.  But I hoped to get us a good rate in Omaha, near the airport.  Hampton Inns are part of the Hilton chain.  So Kaylie can get $29 at other Hamptons and $39 at other Hilton brands.  Sure enough, I found a hotel in Omaha at the $29 rate.  Then, just for kicks and giggles, I checked California to see if there was anything remotely close to Disneyland and what the rate would be.  To my surprise and shock, I found a brand new Hampton Inn just 7 miles from Disneyland, offering the $29 rate!  Scha-wing!  Needless to say, I booked it.  So we'll have a total of 6 mights hotel, including a big free breakfast, for under $200 including tax!  I used that money savings and got us the Sea World tickets.

Staying at the Hampton meant we had to rent a car.  Tom and I had been hoping to do the trip without a rental car, not wanting to drive in unfamiliar big city traffic.  But we'd gone back and forth about it, because renting a car was cheaper than taking a shuttle from the airport to the hotel, or riding the Disneyland Express Bus.  We were signed up to take the Disneyland Express, a luxury bus with TV's and a bathroom.  But staying at the Hampton and going to San Diego made us change things- AGAIN.

I think we're done with the changes though.  Knock on wood.  I'm tired.     

Here's the itinerary (God willing):

So we'll leave home on Friday the 26th and drive to Omaha and stay at the Hampton Inn by the airport.  We'll take the shuttle to the airport Saturday morning at about 4:45am to prepare for our 6:20am flight.  We layover in Salt Lake City for just under 2 hours and with the two hour time difference, arrive in California at 10:30am.  We'll get a rental car and drive the 30-45 minutes to the hotel and do early check-in.  Then, as soon as possible we'll drive to Disneyland and spent the afternoon and evening there.  The park is open until 1am.  But I double we'll stay that late.  In theory it's nice.  But by the time we'd get back to the hotel and get to sleep, it'd be 2am or later, which is 4am in NE time, which would mean we'd been up for 24 hours.  Methinks that's not possible for Tom or the kids (me?  No problem).  I'm hoping they'll all nap on the flights, so we can enjoy most of the evening and stay until 10:30 for the fireworks, leaving right after.  But we'll see...

Sunday we'll sleep in and then take advantage of the free hotel breakfast.  Then we'll go to the parks and spend all day and night- or at least until we're tired.  Again, I'm hoping everyone can stay awake long enough to see Fantasmic at 10:30.

On Monday we'll be taking the rental car and driving 90 miles to San Diego to Sea World.  This was my vacation add in.  Kaylie and Joey are really excited to see the dolphins.  Kaylie has collected dolphin figurines for years, and Joey is learning about them in school.  Tom is a science and marine animal buff anyway, so I know he'll love it.  I want to see Shamu.  Trev just wants to enjoy his days of no school, ha ha!  We'll also be spending time at the ocean on Monday, as the kids have never seen an ocean.  Very cool!

Tuesday is our last full day in CA.  We'll be at Disneyland all day.  Then we'll take a short break at the hotel, put on our Halloween costumes, and head to Disney's California Adventure park.  We have tickets for Mickey's Halloween Treat, a special, limited ticket event.  Basically it's a Halloween party with all the Disney characters there, in costume.  There are special character photo ops, access to all the rides, and trick or treat and craft stations to visit.  You leave loaded up with candy and prizes.  I figured it would be the perfect way to cap off our vacation.  I'm not a Halloween fan.  But I'm cool with this as it's not actually Halloween night (which is a Satanic holiday) and the kids won't be in scary costumes.  Tom will be Captain Kirk from Star Trek, Trev is going to be a football player, Joey wants to be some Star Wars character (go figure!).  Naturally he can't be Darth Vader or Anakin, or an easy character.  He wants to be a Gungin warrior or something weird like that.  I'll have to research it to see if it's even something we can do!  Kaylie is undecided yet.  Her last thought was Alice in Wonderland, because I refused to let her be an Albino person or anything I deemed "weird".  I'm torn between two different things.  You'll just have to wait and see on me...

We fly out of LAX at 1pm on Wednesday.  We've got a long layover in Salt Lake, nearly 4 hours.  Thank goodness SLC airport has several "playgrounds" within it's airport.  Yes, playgrounds!  I'm sure we'll be making use of one of them!  We get back to Omaha around 11pm NE time.  We'll take the shuttle back to the hotel and spend the night there again.  We'll be home Thursday afternoon.         

Okay.  This is Lisa, saying, over and out!

My computer is crazy slow today- and I have DSL.  What's up with that?!

As you might have guessed from my absence, I've become a working girl.  The last two weeks have been crazy between training for my cashier job and getting the kids back in the routine of school.  Kaylie and Joey started last Wednesday and Trev just started today.

With mom back in the work force, we're all going through a rough transition.  Everybody is used to me being able to do anything, and at any time of day- or night.  That's just not the case anymore.  Kaylie is the worst.  She comes to me at 10pm and wants me to throw in the load of clothes that she forgot she HAD TO HAVE.  Or I get home and she wants me to run her to WalMart to get something that she absolutely needs.  Ummm yeah.  I've had to firmly inform her that after working 8 hours at WalMart 5 days a week, I'm not going to come home from WalMart just to turn around and go back to WalMart so she can shop!  No sirree, Bob!

I need to get a giant planning calendar for the wall and some colored markers so we can keep track of everything and everybody at home.  My work schedule will vary a bit, and with Tom's schedule and two different school schedules and sports events, etc, we're going to have to become very organized and very fast, for all of our sanity.  Trev has been informed he'll be Joey's babysitter on occasional Monday nights when I work and Tom has golf league and Kaylie has volleyball.  He'll also babysit on most Saturday's when Tom, Kaylie and I all work all day.  But he's thrilled to know he'll be paid to babysit and he likes the thought of a regular income.  I've also told the fam that they need to keep a running WalMart list that I can take with me to work, or else call my cell and leave messages when we run out of snacks or toilet paper, etc, and I can pick them up after work, because I refuse to go back to WalMart once I've left it, except in the case of dire emergency.

My doggies, Kasey and Bristol, are taking my working hard.  They sit in the window all stinkin' day, waiting for me to come home.  And they cry.  Bristol cries so loudly that you can hear it outside.  I'd hoped that adding Bristol to our family would change Kasey's mourning practices whenever I leave.  But I think all it did was give him a partner in his grief.  Where is Caesar, The Dog Whisperer when I need him?

This is short but sweet, by Lisa standards.  Gotta get ready to leave for work in 30 minutes.  I'll be glad when my feet, calves, back and right arm/shoulder, get used to this job!  At night my feet ache so badly that sometimes I'm fighting tears.  I'm come to hate 12 packs of pop and beer cubes.  They're evil.