Courtney and Taxes

So the title may be a little misleading as I will talk about Courtney and taxes, but as two separate topics. First up, the first born.

We had been wondering if her agents had been continuing to look for work for her or not since we hadn't heard from them since before Christmas. Well, she had a "fit model" audition today. A fit model is someone who will try on clothing to see how the fit is. This is the last thing done with the clothing before it goes into mass production...kind of like a dress rehearsal for a play. They use the models to see how the clothes fit and see how they feel when being worn. She just tried out for it today so we don't know if she'll get it or not. If she does, it could be an ongoing gig. There were a couple more kids coming in after her. This gig pays $90/hour (with a minimum of 1 hour)! Holy crap, that's way more than I make! It would be cool if she got the job, although driving to East LA a few times per week (potentially) may not be fun, it would be a good experience for her and she would enjoy it I'm sure since she likes to dress up so much. Oh and she has a print audition this Saturday too (which just happens to be Traci's dad's birthday). It is with one of the companies she tried out for before so maybe that gives her a leg up. We'll see.

I may have mentioned this, but we got our taxes done by Traci's cousin Teri on Sunday. I knew we would be getting less back this year since I had less withheld from my paycheck since we have been struggling. However, we are still getting a good return, about what I hoping/expecting. Also, Teri was going to e-file (and direct deposit) for us so we could get it quicker, but the stinkin' site would take Traci's information. She tried a few different ways to see if she could make it work, but it just didn't. So she suggested Traci call the Social Security Administration to see what they had for her name, ssn, and birthday. It turns out they had her birthday wrong! What's up with that. They had her birthday as Feb. 2 instead of Feb. 3. And apparently this dates back to when she changed her name when we got married nine and half years ago! Seriously? I don't get it, nor do I wish to spend the time trying to figure out how that happened. Regardless, we can now look forward to getting some money in a few weeks. (And after that comes my bonus and raise, both in April!)

Work has been crazy busy lately and it's not going to slow down anytime soon. I just accepted an offer to become the Procurement Analyst for procurement dept. So, next week it's off to San Ramon for the week to start turning over my current workload to the other analyst we work with. I fly up Monday morning and fly back Thursday afternoon (and then have Friday off). I think is as long a trip as I've had since working at Chevron. However, I must admit that I'm excited about my hotel because I know there is an In-N-Out very nearby! Double Double, here I come!

A Good Day

Today was one of those days you always look forward too having, but are never really sure when it's coming. Two cool things happened today, although we won't experience the effects for a little while.

First, Traci's cousin Teri prepared our taxes today. We went out to her house in Rancho Cucamonga yesterday to give her all the stuff she needed. Plus we hadn't seen her and Kevin's house before. We also visited for a little while. We don't see them very often so it was nice to visit. Well, she let us know what state and federal refund will be and they are about what I was expecting. I knew it would be less than last year because I increased my withholdings this year so we could have more money each paycheck. We still came out pretty good. It will help us catch our breath financially and should be here next month. (Well actually we won't know it's ours until we check our bank account...the joys of direct deposit.) Our state refund was actually a few hundred higher than last year, which surprised me, so that was good news too!

The other good news was that I got a formal job offer for the last position I applied for. It's a lateral move, but will allow for many additional opportunities in the future. So it feels like a promotion in that sense. The start date is March 1 (next week). However, I probably won't start the responsibilities associated with it until the following week because I will be in San Ramon transferring responsibilities to the rest of the team I'm on now, especially the other analyst for next week (Monday - Thursday). It's exciting as it is the first of what I hope will be many moves within Chevron's El Segundo refinery during my career.

A side note. It's kind of funny that we'll be picking up my parents at LAX next Sunday when they return from Colorado and then my dad is taking me to LAX the following morning for my trip. It's funny how when we go to LAX, the trips seem to come in clusters. Don't know why that is, but it's kind of funny.

It's good to have a good day coming off a busy and fun weekend where we celebrated Courtney's 5th birthday. I don't think I'll be posting any pictures here as I have already posted them on Facebook. Check them out there if you would like.

Sick Again

Well, I was healthy for two weeks after being sick for two weeks. And now I'm sick again. Doesn't it figure. I'm home from work today. (We don't get it off at work unless you work a traditional 5/40 schedule.) I figured with everything coming up at the end of the week (Courtney's birthday, and therefore a Disneyland trip, on Friday and her birthday party on Saturday), I should probably rest up.

I also found another reason to rest up when I spoke with one of my (two) managers today. She wants me up there, San Ramon, for a week to begin transitioning my current duties and responsibilities to the other analyst on our team. Don't worry, I'm not getting laid off. They are assuming that I will be get this last job I applied for, which is a local procurement analyst. Since I already have a training scheduled for next week up there, odds are the trip would be next week. It would be nice to be healthy while traveling.

It didn't help being sick yesterday when I began a 5-week series on the Five Love Languages in our Sunday School class. It turned out well I think. We had 21 people there by my count, which about double what we have typically had on a Sunday. It was fun though.

As I mentioned, Courtney's birthday is this Friday and our first-born is turning 5 already! It's hard to believe she'll be kindergarten-age already. Another milestone to look forward to this Fall. After we pick her up from school on Friday, we'll head down to Disneyland to take full advantage of the $59 "Fun Card" she'll receive since she already has a pass. It will be nice to have her birthday off and it appears we'll actually have weather that will allow me to mow the yard, which I have been unable to do for 2-3 weeks now due to rain...what's up with that?! Then Saturday is the big Hannah Montana birthday party. (Just pretend the Nemo bouncer is really Hannah Montana dressed as Nemo.)

I also mentioned I applied for a local analyst position at work. This is after I was informed I didn't get the first position I interviewed for. I can't complain about not getting that one. The person who got it someone who I respect highly and know will do a great job. That position deals with creating and maintaining local contracts for the refinery. This position I'll hopefully be interviewing for this week, if half that and half analyst, which I do now (except currently I do global analysis for one category and would be doing local analysis for all categories...a lateral move that would allow for additional local opportunities down the road).

If I can figure out how to post a video from our camcorder, I may post a video of Courtney performing to "All for One" and "Fabulous" from High School Musical 2. It's pretty funny as she knows most of the words and a pretty good amount of the choreography from both songs. Quite impressive and entertaining if I do say do myself.

Oh, and from what I know, Susie has not gone into labor. She was due last Thursday and is scheduled for induction Wednesday. Very exciting times as we prepare to welcome Bella into the world. I've been pestering her almost daily about any updates, but gave her a day off yesterday. I'll have to resume today. Hey there's only a couple of days left!

I'm proud of Traci as she strives toward her weight loss goals. She is now down 19 pounds, and has been an inspiration to see going to the gym at least 5 times a week for the past several weeks.

Evolution of Dance

I have a feeling you have probably seen this before. If not, then enjoy, it's pretty good. And now there's a sequel!

Passing Time

I just haven't felt like blogging lately. I've been trying to maximize my enjoyment of the FiOS TV experience. However, life goes on, and upon a brief, and I mean brief, reflection of the recent times, it has been busy as normal.

Earlier this week we got an e-mail from our tax man's wife saying he had passed away unexpectedly. A little scary considering he was around 50. Then just a day or two later, Traci finds out one her sorority sisters from CSUF passed away, and she was 16 weeks pregnant. That's even scarier. They say bad things come in 3's. Upon thinking that, 2 people immediately came to mind. Well, here's to hoping that's not the case. Traci's dad did have a scare the other day at work when his leg gave out due to numbness. He'll be having an MRI soon to find out what's going on there. (On the tax person front, we're having Traci's cousin do our taxes this year since she's certified. Thanks, Teri!)

This past Tuesday was Traci's birthday so we took advantage of Disneyland's birthday offer this year. I took the day off from work and we spent a while there. Very nice...mid-week + off-season = lots of stuff in a little time! Traci and Courtney got stuck under the waterfall going up the first lift when the ride broke down (thanks to some moron standing up near the end of the ride). Nonetheless, we had fun. One complaint about the Disneyland offer, though. If you have an annual pass, you can get a "Birthday Fun Card" which is essentially a gift card, but it can't be used just anywhere. You can't use it on food. What's that about? Anyway, Traci bought a new jacket to replace to the one that got torn when a cast member squeezed past Traci in the restroom a couple of times back. Disneyland wouldn't replace it, although they sent us a $25 check for "goodwill." Having worked there, I completely understand their stance on that, but having heard Traci tell what happened, I know they didn't do anything to investigate probably.

I found out yesterday I didn't get the job I applied for at work. Oh well. At least the person who got it deserves it. If I had to lose out on the job to anyone, I'm glad it was her. However, I also found out there will be another job posting that they want me to apply for that is a cross between the position I lost out on and what I do now. I have higher hopes for this one so we'll see what happens once it's posted.

I've been feeling physically anxious today, for a few hours now. Not a feeling I like. Reminds me a little of the heart issues I had back near the end of high school through the beginning of college, just without the rapid, chest-beating heartbeat. Hopefully this feeling goes away soon. I'm attributing it to writing bills and getting ready for our Sunday School kickoff on Sunday. It's the culmination of our "marketing" effort that I've been heading up since December. We're looking at having as many as 60 people, which is a big jump from the 10 or so we typically have on a Sunday. I'm really looking forward to it, but it's been a lot of work.

Glancing around the house, it appears I am the only one awake right now, so I'm going to take advantage of this and do some more preparation on the series I'll be leading in our Sunday School class (The Five Love Languages) beginning the 15th.

My FiOS Experience So Far

As you may know, we ordered FiOS as soon as it came into our area, which was the first of the year. Knowing that it's new and that many people may be jumping on board with it, I thought I would provide our experience with it so far.

To summarize, it's a pretty good product and bundle package. We have enjoyed having long distance on our phones again (when they've worked). (Sometimes, the cell phones, just aren't the most reliable.) The internet has been good. The TV has been great! That's definitely my favorite part of it so far. We were paying about $80/month for phone (without long distance) and DSL and no cable or satellite. Now we pay about $20/month more and have unlimited nationwide calling and something like 265 channels. Because of this, it may wind up saving us money once baseball season rolls around. Last season, I went to about half (6) as many Dodger games as I do most seasons (12-15). Now knowing that I can watch as many games as I want to at home (read: as many as the better half will allow me to watch), I won't feel the pressure to try to attend so many games, although watching it on tv and going to the games are completely different. But I digress. I have also enjoyed getting back into the WWE and now the option to order the pay per view events like back in jr high with my friends. However, considering they usually run around $50 for a 3-hour event, and the fact that money is horribly tight right now, I won't be ordering many, if any. But the product (FiOS that is) is a very good thing.

The service we have gotten from Verizon has been, well, let's say, embarrassing. And I don't mean embarrassing for us, I mean embarrassing for Verizon. We placed our order on Jan. 3 and booked our installment for Jan. 6. The tech guy shows up on time and gets to work. He was very personable and we liked him. He explained things very well and took the time to answer our questions and be a great service to us. However, when he hit a problem, we had problem #1. He installed the "brain" as he referred to it, outside our kitchen wall and the battery back up unit inside our back door. He then went to the hub to get the signal to be directed to our house, or however that works with fiber optics. When he got there, there were a few other Verizon tech guys who all had the same problem. Verizon had not routed FiOS to that hub! None of those tech guys (including ours) could finish installation. That sucked! Not his fault, but it still sucked.

After calling about 3 times over the following 3 days to see if they (Verizon) had fixed it, they wound up calling a few days later to setup a completion of the installation. They came out and finished the installation when they said they would. Problem #1 fixed, problem #2 created. When I get home, the phones are not working! I spend a half hour plus on the phone, only to have them not fix the problem. They suggested a couple of things, which I tried, but to no avail. After I hang up, I notice the phone line used for DSL running over to the computer still. It wasn't connected to the computer (FiOS was) but it was still connected to the phone jack with the split for the phone as well. I disconnect that and plug the phone back in, without the split and DSL filter (or whatever it's called). It works! Problem #2 fixed!

Problem #3 happened yesterday, and this is a little weird, with pretty much no logic as I see it. (You'll see.) The phones don't work again! What's going on here?! I spend another half hour on the (cell) phone with a guy telling me to disconnect the batter and reset our whole FiOS system. This would have left us without all services for a few minutes, which didn't sound like a good idea to me...too much risk if I screw something up. After me and the guy going back and forth trying to understand what the other was asking. Ultimately, I request a tech to come out and check it out. And now that the problem has been fixed, I'm glad I did, because the guy on the other end of the phone was nowhere near discovering the problem (and there was no charge...I would have been screaming at them if there was). The problem with the phones is classic...wait for it...they never connected the phone line!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! What the?????????? The only way I can figure that happened was because our installation was split over two different weeks and two different techs. But then how were we able to use the phones for the week and a half we did have FiOS?!?!

I've given up trying to figure out what's going on. As of right now, all is good and if there are no more problems, all will be ok. So, in summary, good product, embarrassing service. And we haven't even gotten our first bill yet, which I have heard from multiple sources is an adventure in itself. Stay tuned as I may need to rant yet again.

PS - I'm still sick...completing week 2 of this cold!

Enough With the Germs!

Here I am, day 7 of this crazy cold I have. I first noticed it hitting me, thanks to some mild aches last Sunday night. Now it's a lot of congestion and fatigue. I couldn't really take much time off from work last week because I had so much to do, not to mention an interview for a new position at work. I took a half day on Tuesday and Wednesday, had the interview Thursday. Fortunately, I had Friday off so that was nice although I still had plenty to do. I went to the dentist after dropping Courtney off at school. Then I went up to church to look over the mailing list we're doing to advertise our Sunday School class. Saturday morning I spent cleaning up after Skyler as she threw up at least 5 or 6 times within a couple of hours. Finally today I've had a day where I can relax and just rest. It's been nice so far. Actually, I should get back to that.

We Are Go for FiOS

Well, we finally have fully functional FiOS. I have to say that so far I have been pleased with the products (phone, internet and tv). However the installation process has been less than good. First, Verizon sent the signal to the wrong hub for our house/area so when the first guy came for installation two weeks ago, he couldn't complete the installation. They fixed the problem last week and we had a different guy come out yesterday to finish the installation. From what Traci said, it seems like the guy knew how to hook it up, but didn't know much about the functionality or how to use it, or at least not as much as he seemingly should have. After he leaves and I get home, I can't use the phone because all our phones say "line in use" even though all three were not in use. I call tech support and they are of little to no help. He tells me to try a couple of things with the phones and that doesn't work, so he gives me another suggestion to try once we done with our call. Fortunately, he did give us the number to call to get access to our voice mail, which the install dude should have done. He tells me he can't help me with the finish of the internet installation (although we still had access), which the install dude told Traci to finish by following the prompts on the computer. The tech support guy I spoke to gave me a number to call today for help. After being on hold for a half hour, they inform me that this was not the right number to call for internet tech support. I call the right number and fortunately, that guy was really good and fixed what needed to be fixed. We also found out that the internet security suite we ordered has not been included. (I'll have to check the bill to make sure that they aren't going to bill us for it.) So, long story long the product is great so far, but the installation has been a hassle. (I have to admit that watching WWE Raw last night was pretty cool. With access to over 250 channels in our bedroom, I may never sleep again!) Kind of reminds me of a Weird Al song...

I'll Sue Ya

The Birthday Girl

I just wanted to post a few picture of my big little girl who just turned three this past Tuesday. Traci took these pictures of her on her birthday for her 3-year pictures. I'm too proud of a daddy not to share!




And now for a few pictures from her party last Saturday, which was a lot of fun. Can you tell she was excited for her party?

It was a My Little Pony theme.

She got some pretty cool gifts that she is enjoying every day (except for the kitty in her right hand in the second picture, which she has enjoyed daily and slept with nightly for who knows how long)!


Courtney was happy too because she got to spend some time with her best friend, Kate.

But eventually, the party had to end. She is saying goodbye to her friend from church, Madison.

And finally, I had to post this picture as it is one of my new favorites. All three of my girls inside the bouncer. It is now my desktop background at work.

I'm Still Here

I know this has been the longest time I have gone without posting in a long time, but things have been crazy stressful and crazy busy. Just finally have a few minutes to blog again right now. Between the birthday madness that is this time of year, dealing with our financial issues and prepping our Sunday School for a big kick off (and associated marketing, advertising, whatever you want to call it, within the church, which kicks off this Sunday) on February 8, there has been little time to blog. I did manage to post a song on my other blog last week, though. Hopefully I'll have more time soon, especially to post some pictures from Sky's birthday party this past weekend. Stay tuned.