Rain Rain Go Away

I think this has been the coldest June in a while.... I mean I know I live in the mountians but it's even cold down in civilization!

Been working a lot of dance schools lately - good money for 3 days of work. Once June is over though its slows down.....

I have an interview wednesday at Bain & Co as a receptionist (in NYC) - it is a maternity leave position full-time for 4 months. Would start July 15th and go through October. My only concern is marching band starts up in Sept.... I am not willing to give that up, so I am going to be upfront and let them know about this. I would have to leave the city no later than 1pm, rehearsal starts at 3:15p.... it would be twice a week.... not sure they will be up for it, but we shall see.

Since I am going to be in the city that day, I am going to have lunch with some of my old co-workers from AXA. Should be nice, now that I have been gone for a little while I am hoping that I won't be as bitter, but my feelings are still not 100% normal about my losing my job....

Other than that, Adam heads up to Santa's Village Theme Park in New Hampshire to work on some video stuff. He leaves tomorrow and is back on Wednesday. Then he should be done for the season, except for a few quick "weekenders" up to CT that I am going on.

Time to do a dancing school recital! Whoopie!

Because it's raining, I leave you with some nice sunny pictures of NYC I took a few years ago....

Trump International Hotel, NYC


Central Park, NYC

California Pics!

Okay so I know it's been a few months, but Adam finally removed the pictures off the camera from our trip to California.

Here are a few samples, more can be found here

Update

Wow.... I am sorry for not updating! It has been a very crazy month of May.....

The biggest thing that happen (which I believe most of you know...) is I lost my job. Yup. "job elimination" is what they like to call it. Ever since the layoff's that happen in Dec '08, there as been rumors flying around that there was going to be another HUGE cut coming. I was so lucky to have made it through the first one, so I thought well my job is safe.... for now....

I came to work as usual on Tues April 28th and noticed that there were a lot of people from our Jersey City office. Not a huge deal, because they come often to the NYC office. So start talking checking in with people, and they are saying "oh I have mtg with my manager, not sure what it's about, maybe I'm losing my job...." The first thing I always do (did) was check my calendar for the days activities. And I noticed that my usual 1 on 1 mtg with my manager was moved from Wed afternoon to Tuesday morning 9:30a (by this time it's about 8:45am) So I go have my mtg and play stupid asking how's it going, yada yada. Then BAM! "I am sorry to tell you that you no longer have a job here, your position is being eliminated" - I then get whisked away to meet with a "Career Consultant" company who there to assist in greiving, and assist in finding a new job - don't really remember what the guy said, because well let's face it I was still in shock that I didn't have a job anymore. I stayed the rest of the day to pack up my things - I didn't have to leave that day and not come back but I sure didn't want to do work!

So I took the Wed and Thurs off to sit at home and figure out in my head what happen (still haven't figured that out and it's been a month!)

Friday May 1st started my "Notification Period" of 10 days (not including Sat/Sun) where technically they could ask me to work. Thank god my boss is a nice lady and didn't require me to do so. I came in on that Friday to finish packing and get my severance package at some crazy long meeting where they stick all us "job elimination" people in a room..... take about awkward. After that I left.



As soon as this happened, Adam was leaving to go to CT then going to Buffalo, NY for a gig he and his buddy Jeremy have been working on for Months. Adam is working for a company RWS & Associates as a Sound & Video Design for theme park shows. So that was a kicker for me, because he and I never got really talk about what happen and what's going to happen. He of course was super supportive and knew that this was tough on me.

Adam is now back and isn't going away again anytime soon :)

So what am I doing? A couple of things:

1 - We have decided that I am not going to pursue a full-time job
2 - I am going to work part-time
3- We are seriously going to start trying to have a family

About a month ago, I started feeling like I needed a change. I wasn't sure if it was a professional change or a personal change. Then all of a sudden this happened....

I have taken part-time work up at William Paterson University (My alma mater!) working their auditorium backstage. During the summer they have a lot of rentals (mostly dancing schools, for end of the year recitals) and need assistance. So that will cover me for the summer :)

I will also still be involved (even more now) with Ramapo HS Marching Band, which will carry me through the end of summer in winter.

That's about as far as I have gotten in the plans of work. Adam & I talked about it andhe feels that we will be just fine.....that is what I am worried about.... not being fine.... not being able to pay the bills, not being able to pay the mortage..... what happens if we lose the house? These are the questions I dealt with through the month of may (and still are dealing with).... Adam keep reassuring me that things will be fine. So I am putting my trust in him, and working as much as possible to help bring in money.

I am getting a severance package of 10 weeks of pay, which brings me to the end of July with what I like to call the "phantom income"

I do have to admit it is really nice not working.... not waking up at 4:45, driving to the bus and sitting in traffic into the city..... but I do miss working. When I worked I knew that I was contributing to our family..... that is why I am doing part-time work also gives me a chance to actually be a housewife too - cooking, cleaning, taking care of the dogs, laundry.....

It's definitely a change and a big question mark on the future but am ready to jump into it feet first.....

wish me luck!


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In other news, Koda is getting SOOOOO big!! And is growing by the minute! She is such a sweet girl and couldn't be more happy with her! We start obedience on June 20th through the end of July. She already knows how to walk very nicely on a lease, and she can sit :)

We like to call her our little mountain goat....



I'm most excited to head up to Eagle Rock with the family for my brother's bday celebration in a couple weeks :) Koda will be joining us, Adam has to work so he and Casey will be staying home :(

Tomorrow I am meeting up with my mom for lunch and to give her the carpet cleaner that we have had for a very long time!

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SO the month of may has been a crazy one but hope that it will slow down.... I promise to update more regularly!

Time to be a housewife and make dinner!

New Purchases :)

Mom and I had a great time at the new Jersey Shore Outlets. I was given a budget and was very proud that I came in WAY under :)

My purchases included:

New UGG boots!



Got a great deal on those :) 50% off! Can't wait till next winter wear them - although I could of worn them this morning - it was quite chilly!

I also picked up a couple pairs of capri pants from Anne Taylor Loft, along with a cute pair of slip on sneaker/boat shoes!

I have been looking for a rain/trench coat for the spring time especially since lately we have been having a ton and half of rainstorms (like today!). So we went into every store and finally came upon Banana Republic and found this:



The one I purchased looks very similiar but is black with a white pattern. It was 40% off. I wore it today and love it!

It was a gorgeous weekend, so yesterday (while Adam worked on Theme Park stuff)I took Koda for her first real walk up and down the street. She did great! She can walk really nice on the lease, no pulling except to go sniff stuff. But other than that she walks perfect next to me. Can't wait to start taking her to training in a few months!

Adam leaves Thurs night for Frontier City in Oklahoma City. He is working on Sound/Video Design for several theme parks this year and this weekend he embarkes on his first trip to many parks this summer.

Since he will be out of town, my two bestest friends (Becci and Shelly) are coming up to hang out on Saturday! I am thinking about taking them to the Warwick Drive-in to see Monsters vs. Aliens - I can't wait! The theatre is literally 5 mins from our house and has about 4 screens and is one of the only ones left in New York State!

Other than that, life is good, and can't wait for it to stay warm for more than 2 days....

Amazing voice

This is from the British version of America's Got Talent... amazing...

Unfortunately they have turned off the embedding figure - click here to view

enjoy!

6 months Old

I know I promised pictures from California, but just haven't gotten around to pulling them off of the camera yet!

So instead you get a picture of Koda!






This was taken this morning by Adam - today marks her 6 month bday!! I can't believe how time has flown - she is getting so big and couldn't be any sweeter! House training is going well, she still has an accident here and there, but usually it's because we aren't paying attention to when she tells us she needs to go.... oops :)

Saturday Mom and I are heading over to the new Jersey Shore Premium Outlets. Completely excited to not only going shopping but to hang out with my mom :)

Alright I should work - I promise I will get California pics up soon!

Have a good one :)

Update

HI! We are still alive!! I promise!

It just has been a crazy few weeks and just haven't had the time to sit down and post :)

So what's been going on? Let me tell ya! March 20-24 Adam and I made a little trip out to California with the Ramapo-Indian Hills District Concert Band. Yes... we were chaperones! This is the school Adam works for full-time and is the same school I teach Marching Band at. I have a TON of pictures, but haven't had the time to get them off the camera.

I will do a nice long post of all the exciting things we did - highlights: DISNEYLAND! which included Magic Kingdom, California Adventures and Downtown Disney. We also hit Huntington Beach and did a bus tour through Hollywood, Beverly Hills, and other places.

Adam is keeping busy with the Ramapo and Indian Hills Musicals, plus I am sound designing a show up at William Paterson University...

So needless to say we are ships passing in the night (or morning). But spring/summer is always like this for us, so we get use to it and now it'll be over be we know it!

Koda is doing well, getting very big and still her sneaky-i'm-going-to steal-everything-in-sight kinda pup! Casey is doing well. She did have a tick on her the other day (when we got back from Cali) but Adam was able to pull it out and she is planning on have a lyme disease test down this month.

Other than that, been working hard, and not having much free time.

Pictures to come!!