October Happenings....

Well, here I am again, another month has gone and it’s that time again. (Yes Rich, I got your email but I was going to do it anyway, I promise!) Our month started off with Conner losing his football game, which according to Bruce was the coaches fault and not the kids. Apparently no adjustments were made and the ones he did make were the wrong ones…I didn’t get to that game, I had to work, but it was dad’s turn to turn up!!! Then we ended the week with a Friday night visit to the Charles’ which is always fun. Those boys are growing so much especially little (well not so little anymore) Cooper. He’s talking now which is just sooo weird considering he was born the day before we arrived in the US. Anyway, seeing them was a great way to finish the week and start the month. Our Saturday was fairly normal and boring as we cleaned the house as usual and also wrote last months blog….pretty early hey!!! Sunday was our big day; we got up and headed up to Napa for our lunch at Dawn Marie’s. (Dawn Marie is one of those lovely United airlines attendants’ that helps us get home when she can) anyway, her daughter is currently living in Sydney and she was home for the first time. Her parents were down from Portland so we got to meet all the family at once. Anyway, the ride up was nice, the boys did well and Jamieson didn’t get sick which was a first…. We had a great lunch and Dawn Marie has a great family and some cool friends, parents and Alicia is a really great girl. It was a gorgeous day so we all sat outside and talked and drank and ate and talked. Her friends were mostly ladies that she fly’s with, and by watching them it looks like they have HUGE fun working together. We also met a real rocket scientist, which was really cool!!! Dawn Marie is currently trying to figure out if she is going to move to Australia; at the moment she spends half her time there. The Australia leg is all she does so she’s in Sydney 3-4 days of the week. With her daughter living and working there now, it’s kind of a one sided decision, it’s just red tape. The boys were amazing, charmed the pants off everyone and behaved fantastic! We had a fantastic day. The next week rolls around and I geared up for a big couple of weeks ahead. Conner had a verbal presentation for his Mt Everest report that he’d done and got and A+. I did up the movie night flyer, we settled on Nim’s Island (with Jodie Foster), that’s really all there was which was a bummer. I was hoping to get Kung Fu Panda, but couldn’t get the multipurpose room for the nights we wanted. Conner had a football game, which they won, and Conner got a catch/ touch down, so he was happy. Work was kind of quiet, sickness started to settle in with a couple of the people and a couple also had time off so the office was quiet, which is sometimes a bonus cause you can get stuff done, but if you need some help it’s a bit of a pain. I’m enjoying my Tuesday’s off, parent helping is as usual, but the teachers enjoy the help. Our weekend rolled around and Bruce started his Saturday up and out of the house early to a funeral home in Napa for an angel delivery. The boys and I stayed at home and I cleaned the house a little, in the afternoon once Bruce got back, I went out and got some groceries and brownie stuff to take to our dinner at Andrea’s. Funnily enough there is something that I did want to share which I realized when I was at the store. While I was there I got a little peckish; as you do; and picked myself up a Kit Kat… for 49c!!! Yes, no typo.. 49c. I’m guessing at home at the moment you’re probably paying $1.50?? Let me know how close I am. For some reason it just occurred to me that day at that time. I drove home and had to put it on my calendar so I wouldn’t forget to share it with everyone. The boys got haircuts, much to their disgust, while I cooked some brownies. We got to Andrea’s around 5.00. Roberts parents and sister were over from Denver and let’s just say, they’d been there for a couple of days 24-7 and they really enjoyed the semi break and attention obviously being on the friends that sound different and seem kind of interesting. Robert’s family were lovely people and his sister was celebrating her 50th birthday, so we had dinner and cake and they had a few drinks and before we knew it; it was 11.00 and the kids were laying on the floor, very tired!!! It was a nice night, good food and good company as always, I think Andrea and Robert also enjoy the company seeing as how it’s just he two of them. Kids definitely spark up the life!!! Sunday turned into a quiet day, I went out in the afternoon and grabbed a couple of presents that I had coming up and had a look around for some Christmas presents. Bruce and the boys chilled out at home, Sunday football, come to think of it, Saturday football…so weekends are pretty much football if the TV is on. Bruce did speak to Al on the phone for their usual I think bi weekly phone call. I had a headache coming on and later in the day (it was getting cold) Bruce and Jamieson went out to see Trevor’s baseball final for a couple of hours and Conner and I chilled out and I tried to get rid of the head ache. Another Monday rolls around, Movie night around the corner, CJ football finals coming up, they keep winning. Our Oktoberfest invites went out for Friday night, (which was this weeks social event that I was in charge of) Conner’s had his football game, which they won, he played ok, disappointed he didn’t get to play as much as he wanted to. Conner was actually home sick on Wednesday, headache sick, I think it was actually tired, Bruce said he slept all morning and half the afternoon and after that he was just fine. Conner had another game on Thursday; they had to win to make the play offs, which they did. I did get some pictures, and we tried to get video footage, but 10 second plays a few times looks just pitiful. Thursday was the day I received an email with a really special attachment, and I can tell everyone now, I got permission. BACK STORY - Last month I got my usual email from my girl Miss Kristy (Orange) I was reading as per usual and then to my absolute bliss I read the words “I’m having a baby”!! and Mick too, sorry mate. Yes, I screamed out to Bruce and had that big JOKER grin, ear to ear. She has without a doubt been put on this earth to be; apart from a lot of other things, firstly A MOTHER!! She took special care of my boys at crèche while they were there, which is how we met and why we are friends to this day and forever. Anyway, it’s happening and I could not be more happy!!! Bonus for me, I get to go and look at little baby clothes again. OOOO Osh Kosh, Calvin, Polo, Levi’s and the Belinda & Bruce staple present – baby’s first pair of Nike’s. YEAY!!!! I just wish the Aus$$ didn’t take a dive, it just means I have to buy more pressies. Back to the start of the paragraph, the October special email I received was baby’s first picture…sooo cute and clear!!! Don’t you love Technology? Friday rolled around, work was usual, Paula and I did a Costco run for our Office Oktoberfest, while we were there, we did Movie Night and Halloween party shopping too. Our lunch ended up being a little strategic session, trying to figure out the best way to deal with the work downturn etc, the same problems that all businesses are having. Some decisions had to be made. We arrived back at the office with all the goodies, after stopping at the house to drop off movie night stuff. I was in and out of that office all afternoon getting stuff ready and picking up stuff, not overly productive work wise for me, the joys of being social director I suppose. Anyway it ended up being a fun night. We had a few people from the other offices come in for a drink, which was cool, and all of us stayed until around 8.00pm, it was nice just to all sit down and chat. Another weekend rolls around, it was the weekend basketball was starting so here we go again. Bruce had a delivery to make in a place called Grass Valley, so Conner went with him for some company. Jamieson went to a Food Festival with Mario and his family so I had the house to myself. What do you do when you have the house to yourself, Clean of course!! Sad I know!!! I called home and talked to Mum and Dad, I must be getting older, talking to my father about the economy, interest rates, politics, I’m a grown up!!! Bruce told me to put that – he isn’t a grown up, so I’m not allowed to be either. Nothing has changed as you can tell; I still have 3 children!! We finished our weekend on Sunday with Bruce heading up to Citrus Heights (Other side of Sacramento) for an angels delivery then a little family shopping trip to see if Jamieson could spend some more of this birthday money. Which he did, with a new fish tank for his room, and I got inspired and bought a couple of Christmas presents. We got home and later in the day Jamieson and I walked up to the Tennis courts for a hit. I have to say, he’s got some skills. He can really hit the ball, I was really surprised at how good he was considering he’s never played before really, not since we’ve been here at least. I tried to teach him to top spin a little to stop all the lobs but he concentrated so hard on doing it, it stuffed him up, so I told him to forget it. He’ll get it!!! As you’ve probably noticed with Bruce doing all the deliveries, Angels is going really well. We are now in Raley’s supermarkets around California, starting to get into UPS Stores around the country and the funerals are doing ok and growing as well. It’s keeping him really busy. The next week was the doosey that I had been spending a lot of time planning for. Work continues on, same clients (pains at times, but who isn’t). One big change at work was we let 2 people go on Monday morning, ah the economy change, gotta love it. Tim took it really well; he met with me and gave me an update on where all his projects were at before he left. Kelly, didn’t take it well, which was understandable, she started with the company not long after me. She was upset, but grabbed her stuff and left, which is pretty much what we expected. So that was a day, which just sucked…so now my job was to move their stuff, go through computers, emails etc to pass onto the planners that inherit their projects. NOT FUN!!! It felt really weird, like I was snooping. I spend half the day at school doing parent helping and then processing all the Movie Night tickets. It’s not the biggest we’ve had by the numbers but that is to be expected when there is no really great movie out to play. Justin and Jeremy came over as per usual, Lexie and Millie came over for our weekly coffee. I left work early on Wednesday to finish the ticket processing and went home to the four boys and finished a lot of the organizing of volunteers, shopping list for concession stand etc; all the fun function stuff that has to be done. Thursday afternoon was going to be a squeeze, Conner had his football semi final football game, luckily for us it was at Stone Lake. The game was awesome; they were behind 6 and with 2 mins to go they caught it in the end zone; all tied up. The parents went NUTS!!!!! OT started with me looking at my watch, they went into the rest of the game with each team having a possession. Jordan (quarter back) ran it through for the touch down and the other team had their possession and didn’t convert, WE WIN!!! We ran home, and I picked up all the stuff and I ran back to school to set up. It doesn’t take long anymore, I’ve done it so many times and I know the janitorial staff it’s all done in 15 mins. Paula arrived with the pizzas, the concession stand opened and everyone started coming in. Overall, the night was a success, and we were even home at a reasonable hour. Friday was a busy one; I worked until around 4.00pm, headed home. Bruce did a Costco run for me to get some more stock for the concession stand. Conner came over to the school with me and helped set up, Bruce and Conner followed not long after in the car with the drinks, Paula arrived with all the pizzas and my volunteers were there (I got some new ones, one was a pain in the butt!!!) 100 + people 14 pizzas drinks, lots of candy and popcorn later the movie was playing and it was nearly over again for another 6 months. Overall it was a successful event, everyone had a good family night out, there were some funny parts of the movie which got some laughs and there were no grade 6er incidents like last time. We packed up and was out of there not too late at all, thinking about the next day. (Paula’s Halloween party) Bruce and I fell into bed after a busy and emotional week and slept like a log!! We were up and out to Paula’s around 10am in the morning. They had been up and out to the supermarket early, half the food was done; the kids did some of the gross food, peeled grapes etc for the haunted house. Bruce and Conner started putting the black walls up in the garage while Paula and I finished the food prep, once that was done, we joined him in the garage and continued with the maze. Paula took off to Justin’s soccer game and Bruce and I finished up the maze and put the skeletons etc out, 3 hours later we were ready to go. We went home to shower and get ready for the rest of the day, Bruce and Jamieson dropped us back at Paula’s and took off for Jamieson’s basketball practice, Conner and I pottered around and Paula got ready for the party (costume). The kids (36) arrived at 4.00pm on the dot, which was a bit of a pain because we still had some stuff to do. The kids started their crafts Halloween door knob which gave us a chance to set up a little more. It was a nice day so having it in the court was fantastic. They went through the games in the court, mummy wrapping (Yes I got wrapped up in toilet paper) pumpkin bowling, stuff the pumpkin (relay race pouring a cup of popcorn into a hollowed out pumpkin until it was full) and pumpkin throwing. Half way through the party, Bruce dropped Jamieson off and picked Conner up and off they went to basketball practice. Still all those kids, and oh my girls…I’m glad I had boys some of those girls (it was like they were 13 with the whispering and the talking about each other) I’m glad I’ve got boys, although it looks like their mothers have no idea. The other interesting thing was the mothers, the couple that stayed just stood around talking to each other, no help AT ALL, not even an offer. Astounding!!!! They were all gone by 6.15pm, (who knew 2 hours could feel so long) and Paula and I did a quick clean up and we sat down with a drink and just relaxed and chatted about our week. Bruce and Conner arrived from basketball and we had some spaghetti for dinner while the kids had some more pizza. Steve arrived home from his football game, we had a quick chat and took off around 9.30pm, all exhausted. It was all over and now it was time to take a breath and move onto the next thing, Halloween and Paula’s birthday next week. Woke up to a nice Sunday morning and so what did I do for my relaxing day off, cleaned the house!! Pretty boring, but I can’t relax when I know it hasn’t been done, much to Bruce’s disgust. We cleaned but had a quiet day, it was nice to be home and not have anything to organize. The last week of November came and went busy as usual. Bruce is really busy with the angels, getting lots of people excited about it and seeing all the possibilities. Not sure if I mentioned it before we are turning the angels into a Mexican version, so there is translation to get done and the angel will be changed to their virgin saint ‘Guadalupe” and it’s expected to be big, but we have a bit of work to do before they come out, but I just wanted to let you know that it’s in the works. It will definitely rock in Mexifornia (California) and Mexas (Texas) – 44% of all 41 million US Hispanics live in these two states (yes – that’s more than the population of Canada or Australia!). We had a great week to end the month. On Monday Bruce and I booked our tickets for the New York trip, great deal on the plane tickets, so that’s all done and we are going Dec 2-9 whooosshhh!!! We will be spending our 10th Wedding anniversary at New York City, what a cool story that will be. We carved pumpkins (or the boys did) they had a really fun time and did it all themselves, they did a really great job. Tuesday Conner had his Football final for school, it was at Stone Lake so not far to go. They started slow and found themselves behind, but they dug in and came back got the win!! The boys were so happy, it was a great experience for Conner to be involved in and he had a great time. The parents were a little out of control, it was known that the Ref from the other school, I think I’ve spoken about him before was going to be there so everyone was a bit worried. To his credit, Mr G stepped up and didn’t let him get away with any of that crap. There was one incident where the principal had to get involved and I think got a little upset with his parents telling them to calm down….we moved on and the boys won. My work was getting frustrating, going through filing that hadn’t been filed, and finding things that hadn’t been done, I gave Jonathan a couple of laughs with my little tantrums every now and then. Isn’t always the way, when people leave is when you find out what they are really about. Thursday was Paula (and Aflie’s birthday) Bruce called Aflie and had a birthday chat, they are all doing well and the boys are growing) Paula I think had a great day. She got some flowers from the guys at work, we took her out for lunch and Steve took her out for dinner then they came over to our place for a brownie cake and a birthday drink. I think she had a great birthday, just a great day all about her, which is all you want when you get to certain age I think. Happy Halloween! (RAINING ALL DAY) We ended the week and the month with our Master Mind group meeting at Denny’s and make some structure changes, which should help us get more out of it. It was a good constructive meeting and everyone left feeling positive about the new direction. Work was work, still sifting through stuff, moving people into offices etc, it’s getting boring, I need something to liven up the workload. I got home around 5.00, we had something to eat and the boys got into their costumes and around 7.00 Mario was dropped off at the house and we started to walk around the neighborhood in the partial rain. The boys had a great time, rain or not, Conner’s mask got HOT so he had it on for some of the trip and just had the hood on for the rest. An hour later we arrived back home, Jamieson grabbed and bag and went off for a sleep over at Mario’s. The sad thing was, that usually we get some trick or treaters after we get home, but I think because of the rain but the time we walked home, there wasn’t really anyone left on the street at all, only a few knocks on our door for treats this year. It was a nice way to spend the night, walking around the neighborhood seeing people you don’t usually see and watching kids just running around is just a fun thing to do and see. Well, that’s what happened for the Hultgren’s in October this year, it was a busy month, which always makes the days, go quickly and you sit down at the end thinking where did those 30 days go??? I hope everyone is well and getting ready for the Christmas season, here we have Thanksgiving coming up before the Christmas stuff so that’s something to look forward to for November. Have a great month, you know we will whatever we do, it’s always a good time at the Hultgren House!!