crossrhodes

Enough sad news for now about death and grieving. On a different note…

Time to make the doughnuts!
Err, pretzels. James started his first job last week. He is the big dipper! That’s right, he dips the dough in some kind of concoction before they bake in the oven. He insisted it was a hydrogen peroxide dip. (huh???) Then again, he’s still in training… on the job AND in grown up life. Suddenly buying the $30 game or $20 novelty item doesn’t seem so urgent when it will cost him a day’s work… maybe two… we have yet to see his tax deductions.

Oh, and he finally got his Xbox 360! Every day since Christmas, that’s all we’ve heard about. “Can you log me on ebay?” “Can you sign in to this?” He put his name on a waiting list at a gamestore for a used one. Last night someone traded in an unopened Xbox for cash (sounds fishy) but he got it brand new under $300. He’s been in a good mood since :)

Also last week, my sister and family came home for good! We missed them for two Christmases in a row when they lived in Maui and then San Francisco. After they had the baby, they realized how much family they were missing. Now the little cousins (my brother’s and sister’s kids) live only a few minutes away from each other, except James. We’re still over an hour’s drive. I’ve been trying to convince them to move closer to me. But if you can’t beat ‘em…

As the saying goes, you can take a girl out of North Jersey, but you can’t take North Jersey out of a girl :)

I was tasked by family to create a photo display of my lola for her viewing and funeral. This is what I came up with. I wish I had more time to decorate the board some more but I only had a day to pull this together. You can see each page in detail here.

Afterwards, the pages will be transfered to a scrapbook album and photobook copies may be printed for family members if they wish. Each page is titled with my grandma’s roles in life as a woman of God, daughter, sister, wife, mom, grandma, great grandma, teacher, musician, homemaker, etc. Thanks for looking.

Don and I both lost a grandparent this week. His grandfather and my grandmother passed away within 2 days of each other. And this is all I have to say…

We little knew that morning
God was going to call your name
In life we loved you dearly
In death we do the same

It broke our hearts to lose you
You did not go alone
For part of us went with you
The day God called you home

You left us beautiful memories
Your love is still our guide
And though we cannot see you
You are always at our side

Our family chain is broken
And nothing seems the same
But as God calls us one by one
The chin will link again

-Poem from PeaSoup

I just finished organizing my binder and paperwork for this semester. I’m all set for school except I still don’t have books for half of my classes :) I did, however, complete all the semester projects for my computer class in one day. They were a joke! i.e. creating a resume in Word, basic balance sheet in Excel, and a 1 table/10 item Access database.

It’s an intro to computers class required for my major. (I suppose if I’m going to be working on x-ray machines, they want to make sure I know the basic concepts of a computer.) I tried to test out of the class or find out how to apply my 10+ years of technical experience for credit, but no one at the school would get back to me! And then I missed the deadline to drop with 100% refund so I got stuck with the class. The good news is, it’s distance learning online so I can work on my own pace. Now I’m just waiting for the CDs required to take the exams and I’ll be done in a week. Then I can focus on my biology courses. *sigh*

I really am inspired to cook again since my trip to California! Tonight I tried to replicate the meaty carne asada burrito I had at Alberto’s in Chino. I came pretty close… Alberto would be proud! The only problem was that I couldn’t find tortillas bigger than 10″ in diameter to neatly tuck in all that meat. So I left one end open with stuffing oozing out of it. Next project: taqueria-style carnitas and fish tacos de baja!

P.S. Baja Fresh is building a restaurant next to my craft store. I can’t wait for it to open! Some people like to sip their cappucino in the fiction aisle of Barnes & Nobles. I dream of browsing the scrapbooking department of an arts & crafts store with a warm fish taco on hand :)

Click here for recipe.