FallingLEAVes of Sunshine

SOOO.... the lead sales associate (Mariam) has been gone since before Thanksgiving on a leave of absence. Hooray! Let's all throw a party! Well, she wasn't supposed to be back until almost the end of this month. Unfortunately, she came back early and came back to work on Sunday. Boo! On her second day of work, tensions are high and so are emotions! My boss (the store manager) came in and asked how were things going. I told her, that was yet to be seen. Later when I talked to her on my way out, she said she could sense that things were tense. First, let's start with the whole "I'm not capable of being in petite" attitude Lesa has towards me. Every time. I was already in petite and Sarah was in front. So Mariam was supposed to be in front right? Not according to her. She sends me up front with two bags of shipment (which by the way, I only finished like half of one) while she rings people up. When I went on my break, I told her that I had TWO customers in the fi...

That's what a customer said to me today. "I don't care." What didn't she care about? That I was helping another customer! Here's how it happened. This lady, we'll call her Ruby (first name that popped in my head. No offense to any Ruby's out there), comes in and shops around. She selects several pairs of pants. I started a room for her and continued to add things to her room. By the time she was done, she must have at least 25 items in her room. I checked on her a few times and took things that she didn't need. I was also helping another customer at the same time. My other customer finished first and I was ringing her up and opening a charge. Ruby tells me she needs another size in a certain pant. I tell her that I will be with her in a moment. While she is in the fitting room and I am at the register, she calls out that she needs help. I tell her we will be right with her. When I finish up with my customer, I go in and she tells me that she has be...

... But wait! My cousin does! Can't wait for THE SHOW

I saw Chloe yesterday. She looks good! It was good to see her participate in the Sunday school Christmas Program. I wish I could've been there. It was the first Christmas Program I have ever missed in all my years of going to Sunday School. I thought about that while I was at work. This was my first Christmas Program I didn't go to. It's been quite a few years since I've been in one (Sunday school wise I mean). But that's part of growing older. And quite frankly ... I don't like being up on stage anyway. Still ... my favorite programs had to have been "The Case of the Missing Christmas" and "Lone Star Gulch." Team in Training!!! 12-8-07 Yay!! We just finished 10 miles today...we are now officially in the double digits!! Wooo hoo!!!! Go Team in Training!! Chloe met the team along with Danya our other honored team mate. They were there to cheer us along. We have walkers, runners and cyclists...we all made it! Our entire team is up to 124 thous...

Randy Wolf ... Padres.... say it isn't so! Okay, I discovered this bit of news while checking for MLB News on my phone. My reaction: "No!!!!!" Well, I really wanted Randy to come back to the Dodgers. However, at least he's staying in the NL West. So hopefully (if he stays healthy) I can see him pitch in Dodger Stadium more than once this year. And I'm hoping to find a way to get him to sign my scrap book. There's an article that I saved that I would like him to sign. It's interesting when I check my stats, that most of the people who read my blog are referred to it from a google search. Does that mean the majority of the people who read this thing are people I don't know or don't know me? Is that a good thing? Well, seeing that no one comments on anything ... I guess I'll never know the answer. How long do these people stay on anyway? Does my blog answer whatever it is they were googling for? Anyway, with the holiday season almost over (okay ha...

Update on Chloe 11-30-07 Chloe did not make her numbers today ...the hospital just called and she is a bit short at 682. They will take her blood again on the 7th and see if she can start on Thursday the 8th. Please keep praying...we are well on our way. Just a little bit more...and we will be there. God is in control and He knows best....and this is all in His time not ours. With much love and thanks!!! Karla Prayer Request for Chloe....11-27-07 3 days ago Please pray that Chloe makes her numbers on Friday's blood draw. If she does, she can start her next phase Monday the 3rd of December. She needs to be greater than 750... Thank you all for your prayers... Love, The Diemer Family

I don't know how many of you watch "Criminal Minds" but I started watching it a couple episodes ago. Why? I was waiting to see the episode that they filmed on my street. It aired yesterday night, but I missed the first half. As I was watching it now, I recognized the house where they filmed instantly. I looked in the background and lo and behold ... there was my car! If you didn't know where to look or what to look for, you'd miss it. And then, after Frank Muniz' character flips out in his apartment, the scene goes to the police department. As they're panning in, guess who's on one of the officer's desk? Tommy Lasorda! Not the actual Tommy, but the bobble head they gave away on his Bobble Head night. Cool huh?

Warning! If you don't want to get depressed... Don't ... Read ... This ... Entry ... Spoiler ... Space ... Included ... What do you do when you .... .... feel like your life has spun completely out of control and you have no clue how to pick up the pieces? .... have been stuck in a slump so long you don't know how to get out? .... should have grown up a long time ago but don't know how to now? .... can't go forward, you can't go backwards, but you can't stay where you are? .... are too embarrassed to talk about what you're going through? .... not sure how you got where you are, but don't know how to get away from where you are? .... don't know which way to go, which way is up, or which way is down? .... want to throw your hands up in the air, bury your head in the sand, or just simply give up? .... can barely put one foot in front of the other, get out of bed in the morning, or don't even know why you keep going on? .... don't know any ot...

Update on Chloe...........Headed back to the hospital!! :( 11-20-07 So we thought we had a day off today but the hospital just called and Chloe is in immediate need of a blood transfusion, her numbers have dropped to 240 and I am praying that we are not going to spend Thanksgiving in the hospital. Also, we have made plans (bought plane tickets) to go up to Portland for Christmas to be with our families and we are asking for prayer that it will all work out. We really need to be with family and our dear friends this holiday season. We thought we would wait until summer to see everyone when we move back but the closer the holidays get, the more we want to go "home" for Christmas. It's just not the same without family especially since David was deployed to Iraq last Christmas and it's been two years since we have been up to Washington to see his family for Christmas. Do I sound desperate? I am! We NEED to be "home" this year. Thank you for praying for the Lord...

My average readership jumped up this week. In fact, I had two record high days of twelve hits each. I think that's the most hits I've had ever. And I was starting to think no one read this anymore. Okay, so I still think that. But at least now I do know that people do stumble across this blog once in awhile. There were some posts that I really wanted some feedback on, but no comments so no feedback. It's interesting to know that I get a lot of referrals from google searches. Too bad I can't seem to use google search to find some old friends.

For those of you who are unable to see Karla's Bebo, here's the two most recent entries on her blog. I know Stacy put some updates on her blog once. I also have a picture of Chloe from Sunday. And for those of you who are unfamiliar with this ... Chloe is a sweet little girl who was diagnosed with leukemia in May of this year. It's been a rollercoaster of a year for Chloe and her family. But God is faithful, and God is good (all the time). I'll try to post more updates for those of you unable to get onto Bebo. Let's all keep Chloe and her family in our prayers. From Karla Update on Chloe 11-06-07 The latest on Chloe is that she did make her numbers on Friday!! Yahoo! Not only did she make the minimum 750 but she soared past that all the way to 1892!!! Wow!! We didn't get her numbers until Monday morning, if we had known that, we could have gone to church Sunday!! She was able to start part two of her Standard Delayed Intensification Phase yesterday. We were at t...

We were at Barnes and Noble yesterday and I walked by the Sports section and a book caught my eye. According to Brandon, I just about cried (just like Angelina when she found these pair of shoes at Ross). I looked at several books that I liked. However, when I got home, I realized I don't remember what book it was that caught my eye! I was sleep deprived. In fact, I haven't had a sleep deprived weekend like this one in awhile. Friday night was a get-together at Nina's. Because I'm not "allowed" to sleep over, I got home around 3 AM. I got on my computer because Nina wanted me to upload some things onto her *new* Ipod. Turns out my Itunes was outdated and when I updated it, my Quicktime was outdated so I had to update that too. I woke up around 10:30 (thanks to my sister) after getting to bed around 5:30. Had a long full day/ LOL we played Taboo (boys vs girls, it was five vs two at first). Nina and I (and Gail later on) beat Daniel-Brandon-Harold-Kevin. One of...

My internet has been funky for the last couple of days. Remember a couple entries ago about friends who don’t keep in touch? Okay, it’s been a long time ago. (Seen June 10, 2007 - Don't know what to say) Anyway, I went to an event last week and another one this week that brought up a lot of old feelings and memories. And on top of those, I was looking through old e-mails and journal entries. The first event I went to was a marching band competition. It brought back a lot of memories from my three years of marching band. Then there was running into the current music teacher at my high school. I did end up going to the home coming game after all. That also brought back memories of all those long, boring football games that I had to sit through during those three years of marching band. But, this isn’t the first football game I’ve gone to since I graduated. I went to Homecoming two years after I graduated. I think. And I wanted to leave because of all the emotions I was feeling at the...

I just don't know any more. It's been two years. Exactly two years since i last heard from this friend. While writing in my journal i used my phone to look up when was the last time i heard from this friend. The last e.mail i received was two years ago. But apparently someone else i know may have my friend's current e.mail address. Which makes me wonder. If this friend could keep in touch with my other class mate why not me? And more than anything i wish i had more than a blog to use to share how i am feeling. I wish i had something other than a journal to express everything i feel in. Because guess what? Even though i can write down how i feel it's not enough. I need someone else to share this with. Someone who won't make this all about them. Someone who won't make me feel like they're better than i am or i'm not as good or good enough. Because i want to be able to share what i'm feeling without it turning into something that's all bout them. I...

For a long time now, I've been wondering what happened to the marching band at my high school. After I graduated, my band director stuck around for two more years before moving on. If what I found online is correct, he has moved on from where he was after he left Marshall. Anyway, since he left in 2004, Marshall (my high school) wasn't able to hire another band director till 2006. During those two years, instruments were stolen, everything was put into storage, and the music program was gone. Alumni like me wondered what was going on and if there was a band anymore. Well, I don't have to wonder anymore. Tonight, I was supposed to take my brother to Marshall at seven. I didn't get home till eight. He said he didn't want to go anymore. A few minutes later, he changed his mind. I am so glad that he did. Talk about timing. When I dropped off my brother, I noticed the band room was open and there were some guys leaving. To be honest, the person who I guess was the music ...

And boy were the crazies out today. It's been crazy people at work week or something. For example, today, one lady came in asking about a package she just ordered. Literally. She must've just placed the order on Saturday and they told her it wouldn't arrive in the store till maybe Saturday. And she comes in today to see if it already arrived. Then she asks about another order that must not have gone through. The entire time my boss is trying to take care of this and order it for her, she is muttering about not coming to this store anymore because she can't seem to get helped right. Now, this other lady was at the register when I came back from my break. Tracy (my former store manager who is now one of the assistant managers) was dealing with her. My store manager already tried to deal with her, but handed her off to Tracy. The customer was returning several items. But she wanted the return in cash. However, she used a merchandise credit to pay for part of it. So, she co...

Finally. There is some Todd Agnew sheet music available online. I tell ya. Todd Agnew is one of the hardest musicians to find sheet music for. I've been waiting for over a year and a half now for sheet music for his Christmas album, "Do You Hear What I Hear?" During the summer, they re-released his CD and for a whole lot of money it came with the sheet music for the CD. However, it was more than I was willing to spend. Finally ... the sheet music is also available now on MusicNotes.com, which is where I purchase the majority of my digital sheet music. I am so excited. Now only if I can scrape together enough money to buy some songs that I will probably never sing ... but what else is new?

... I went to a marching band competition! A couple weeks ago, Heidi told me her high school was hosting a band competition on October 28th. I told her I would request that day off so I could go. Then I realized, I was going to have that day off anyway. It was the last day of my one-week vacation. I was so excited. I haven't gone to a band competition ... I think since the year after I graduated. I went to several competitions during that year. But after that ... I don't think I went to anymore. This competition brought back a lot of old memories and emotions. But I'm glad I'm not in high school anymore, on the field competing. But seeing those bands on the field ... I remember some of those emotions you get when you're on the field ... getting off the field ... circling up after a performance ... The best part of all this? Heidi's solo! Yup, our little Heidi had a solo during her band's field show. The best show? It was definitely Thousand Oaks High School...

What I mean by that is ... I'm missing another memory card. It's bad enough that I'm missing my 1 gig memory card from my previous digital camera. When I got my new one, I got three 1 gig cards. Now one of them is temporarily misplaced. Where is it? If I knew, it wouldn't be temporarily misplaced. I need one of those big cases that holds multiple memory cards. How many? Let's see... I have two of those PNY 1 gig memory cards left, 1 512 mb SanDisk card, then the 32 mb Canon card that came with the camera, and a 2 gig mini-SD card. On top of that, I have two 1 gig cards misplaced. Then I still have my 256 and 512 compact Flash memory cards from my first digital cameras. In case you haven't noticed, the CompactFlash cards are becoming more and more obsolete. When I was considering replacing my first camera, I wanted to get another one that used CompactFlash. However, I discovered most cameras now use either a SD card, memory stick (if it was Sony), or another kind...

Since I last posted. Only one post so far this month, huh? Wow. I think part of it was I didn't go online for a couple days. I had some things last week that I wanted to put down on my post, but by now they're all gone. How about them Rockies? Anyone out there following the Rockies now that the regular season is over? Amazing. Anyone in my area venture to the Glendale Galleria this week? How many of you turned around as soon as you saw the line to get in? Not to get into the mall... to get into the parking lot? We got a notice a while back, maybe a week or two, about the construction they were going to do on Glendale Galleria Way. We had no idea it was going to be like this! It has been incredibly insane and ridiculous. When I went to work on Monday, I was fifteen minutes late because of the parking situation. There were two entrances open on Columbus (I discovered that when my usual two entrances on Broadway were closed and I had to drive around the mall) and a huge line to ge...

But it comes close. I know we're not supposed to hate. I was putting some of my stuff away and noticed that I was missing some things. I asked my mom about it and she said my "sister" took two boxes of MY stuff home with her. MY STUFF. I can't even call her "sister". These were MY things that she felt she was free to take to wherever it was she was living. Without asking me. She doesn't even live here anymore and she feels that she can come in here, ringing the door bell like everyone's awake rather than sleeping at two in the morning. I am so angry. There's a lot of negative stuff in between us. A lot of negative history. To make a long story short, my blood pressure goes up every time I hear her bedroom door creak when she was living here. When I heard her come home last weekend, my heart beat started racing. I can't explain it. I can't explain how I feel. That's just it. I rather we go our separate ways and never have to see each o...

To say the least, both the Dodgers and I got off to a bad start at the beginning. Who goes first? Me or the Dodgers? Well, the quicker one to tell will go first. Things looked very bad when the Dodgers trailed the Giants by 4 runs and it was only the second inning. Then things started looking better when the Dodgers offense got sparked, including a home run from yours truly, Russell Martin! He's just one shy of being the only other catcher besides Ivan Rodriguez to go 20 / 20. Things were looking up when we had the lead, but it didn't last long. The Giants tied it up in the next half inning and it remained tied well into the tenth inning. Russell got up to bat in the bottom of the ninth with the bases loaded. Here was his chance to make something happen. When nothing happened and he walked away with another strikeout, he struck the ground with his bat. It sounded like he might've cracked it. That's okay, because it made it easier for him to break his bat once he got int...

My internet has been down since Saturday and I am very grateful to have it back up. I went back the next morning to get my tickets taken care of. The guy changed my tickets from Wednesday's game to Thursday's. Unfortunately ... the Dodgers haven't won a game since ... well ... we got swept at home again. Let's just leave it at that. Here's the one memorable thing I got from tonight's game, besides my fleece blanket. Sherisse and I went to get food and it took about an inning and a half I think to get our food. We get back. I take a couple sips of my soda and set it down at by feet. Since we were in the first row (in the upper reserve level) we had no cup holders. This kid from three/four rows behind me decides to climb down to get out. I don't know why he decided to climb over the seat next to me when there was more people in my row then the row behind me. But when he stepped down on the seat, it came down on my leg, squeezing my knee in the tiny gap between...

How many of you have purchased your tickets at ticket box office at Dodger Stadium? How many of you have had problems purchasing tickets there? Because it seems like every time I purchase my tickets there, I have one problem after another. The first time, they sold me two tickets more than I needed. I didn't catch this till much later on when I was totaling the tickets and the prices and it didn't add up. Then when I realized they sold me two extra tickets, the numbers added up. Though I wasn't too happy about it. The next time, I was halfway to my car when I realized I was SHORT two tickets. Thankfully I didn't get too far and was able to run back to the window and retrieve the other two tickets. This last one however... I bought my tickets today for next Thursday's game. Just as I was getting ready for bed, I took the tickets out to look at them again. I had counted them at the window when the guy gave them to me to make sure he gave me the right number of ticke...

Is really ridiculous became I'm a mall employee. Well, I work at a store in the mall which makes me a mall employee. Anyway, they sent out a notice to all the stores about the parking policy. There are two parking structures at the galleria. We, as mall employees, are required to park on the roof of both structures (one having three levels and the other having six levels). This includes our days off, when we are not working at the mall. I don't like this rule at all because when I go to the mall and shop, I am a patron. Not an employee. And I do not like parking my car on the roof level on a hot day. Even better ... what about when I want to go out with my friends to the In and Out that is by the six-level parking ... after mall hours? The mall closes at nine except for Sunday, when it closes at seven. HOWEVER, In and Out doesn't close till like one in the morning. What if I wanted to go to In and Out after ten or eleven? Am I required to park on the freaking sixth level th...

So, on Tuesday, after I got off work, I drove down to Office Depot because it's only a block away from work. I went to go see if they carried the disposable fountain pens that I told Daniel about. They did. But they didn't have any out. To not waste my trip, I walked around and around. And I ran into Jack and Sol. Funny. I ran into them last week at Wal-Mart, too. Anyway, I ended up finding a all-in-one printer that was on sale. My printer hasn't been working for over a month and I've been wanting to print stuff out. Since this one was on sale, I decided to go for it. My wallet may be hurting later (it was on sale for 39.99). I get to the cashier to pay and pick up the printer. The lady tells me that I will need a USB cord for my printer. I told her I had one at home. She said, the one I have at home might not be the same one. She gets a cord for me. I look at it. I tell her I think it's the same one I have at home. She tells me to buy the cord because I will need i...

Last week, I went to Burbank airport to pick up Gail. It's a small airport, so I made my first round and didn't see her. I got back in line to go around again. This time, Daniel told me she was sitting on a bench in front. I stopped in front of Southwest and looked for her. The traffic guy kept blowing his whistle and motioning for me to move on. I finally moved on when the P.A. made an announcement that there was no waiting allowed at the white curb, only immediate pickup. Mind you... it takes about ten to fifteen minutes to make these rounds. And it's after ten on Saturday and I just got off work. So, I make another round. This time I spot Gail, honk to get her attention, and move over to find somewhere to stop. Unfortunately, it was almost the same spot I was at before. And quite a distance away from Gail, who has been having trouble with her back lately. So, I wait for her and the same traffic guy whistles and motions. He starts walking towards my car. Gail sees him, he...

If you knew how lonely my life has been, And how low I've felt so long. If you knew how I wanted someone to come along, And change my life the way you've done. CHORUS: Feels like home to me, feels like home to me, Feels like I'm on my way back where I come from. Feels like home to me, feels like home to me, Feels like I'm on my way back where I belong.

Why do people look at me and assume different things? Yesterday at work, this guy was there with his wife, two kids, and either his mother or mother-in-law. His two girls were a newborn (relatively new anyway) and the other girl was somewhere between two and three would be my guess. Anyway, I talked to the little girl because little kids are fun to talk to. Especially when they have a baby brother or sister along. The dad asked me if I had any kids. What is with this assumption that I have kids? Do I look like I'm the kind of person to have a gaggle of children waiting for me at home? It's funny because when I'm with Nina, Harold, or Kevin ... someone assumes that they're my kids. It's interesting since there's a six to ten year age gap there. And I have mentioned this a few times, that customers are always asking me if I'm filipina. A couple weeks ago, Angelina, Timmy, Daniel, and others were watching "24". I wasn't there, so I don't know ...

Okay, I'm not just talking about the lack of the Dodgers' offense. This is just something that's been stewing around in my head. How many times have you said something and then followed it immediately with "no offense" hoping whatever you said didn't offend anyone in present company? And how many times does what was said actually hurt someone in present company? Does saying "no offense" will soften the insult? Does it soften the hurt? Personally speaking, it doesn't. I have been present when someone said something directed to me that was hurtful and added "no offense" at the end, thinking to avoid insulting me. But it did hurt. I didn't like be insulted, even though that person added "no offense" at the end. So, maybe instead of tacking on "no offense" after something that is possible hurtful or offensive is said, we ought to be more careful about what we say. Or ... instead of taking "no offense" as an...

Since I have last posted about my last Dodger game, I have gone to three more. Two losses and one win. The two losses were against the Giants when they were last here in town. That's five straight losses, folks. But the tide may have changed because they finally won! They won tonight's game against the Nationals. Though it got a little dicey when Lowe gave up three home runs, giving him four earned runs. However, our Boys in Blue came back to score five runs to win the game. This was fun because we went with Roxie and Jon, who brought their girls to their first game! Natalie is around four, and Julia is eight. Memorable moments? Well, right before Matt Kemp was doubled up at second on Kent's line drive, he almost got tagged out at second. I was excited to see Ethier and Kemp in the starting line-up. Though I would've preferred Gonzo over Pierre... we had two foul balls hit up to our level. Considering we were in the reserve level, that's saying something. all three ...

Hmm I pre-ordered Todd's newest CD (release 7/17) way back in May. I forgot all about it till I was going through my e-mails and found the e-mail about it. I checked my account, and it said it has been shipped. I don't remember receiving it. Hmmm. Frustrating. I wonder where that package is. I haven't seen it around the house. I've already sent an email asking if I could get more information about when the package was delivered.

Our neighbor across the streets comes out and starts saying, "here kitty-kitty" repeatedly. I don't think she even owns a cat, or the cat she's calling for. I think she's just feeding a stray cat in our neighborhood. It's quite annoying. And believe me, we've got lots of stray "kitties." I find at least three in my backyard every week. Umm... Yeah... I noticed I haven't posted in awhile. Well... let's see... I've got a week of vacation time left and I don't know when to use it. I was supposed to use it for Youth Camp, but got a late notice from corporate that I'm not allowed to use it at the time. Now I have that time and I don't know what to do with it. I have two plans. Plan A is to use it during the weekend of Sacrament Combined Meetings. But I am still on the fence about that. I have about two weeks to make the decision. Plan B is to use the vacation during the week of my birthday. And that'll probably be the lates...

Six minutes and 1.3 miles. That's how far the next Andre Ethier signing is from my house. And I'm working that day. The same time he's signing autographs is the same time I'm supposed to be working. Isn't it funny how I don't work when the signings are like 30+ minutes away? Actually, now that I think about it... all those signings I've been to... I did work that day. But it was the closing shift. But when THIS signing is only SIX minutes from my house, I work. HMMM ... isn't it ironic? ARGH!!!!!

Even the earthquake this morning/last night was kinda quiet. If you haven't heard about it, there was a 4.5 magnitude earthquake just before 1 AM last night. I was in bed, trying to fall asleep, when my house shook. It wasn't a big shake and didn't make a lot of noise like the Northridge Earthquake (which I still remember). My brother didn't feel anything, but he wasn't really awake at the time. I just asked my cousin about it, and she said both she and her sister felt it. It was a small tremor. Didn't do much. I looked it up, and it happened about 30 miles away from here. As for this week, it wasn't as eventful as the previous week. Though sometimes I just wish I could hide under the covers all day. Let's see... quite update of this past week?? Sunday I discovered my cousin Serei (who lives with us) started assembling a computer desk he thought I wasn't going to use. I bought this computer desk last year with hopes of replacing the desk I have now. ...