We suck at this!

We apologize for the lack of updates and posts that we keep promising, but things have been quite hectic and busy lately. Our musical opens tomorrow night, and tonight is our preview night, so we've been practically living at the theater lately. Throw in life with kids, house work, and job hunting and you have a busy schedule.

Which brings me to today's post, which is about job hunting.

As many of you know, the economy is still fragile, and the one in California is barely hanging on by a thread. After recently becoming underemployed (not enough work at the store for me), I've needed to go on the hunt for jobs. So far the hunt is going well, I have found a treasure trove of opportunities at nearby school districts, which makes for ideal employment. I'd be at work while the kids are in school, I'd have summers off with the kids, and I'd have benefits, which is a must when it comes to my health.

About a week ago, while making a day of the job hunt with my best friend Lucy, we found ourselves stumped at times in the "Special skills" or "Talents" area of the job application. Now what qualifies as a special skill or talent? Here's some that we came up with, that sadly didn't make the final cut to the application.

• Can trip over a flat surface!
• Can handle extreme amounts of idiocy without snapping
• Would know how to survive in the event of a zombie attack
• Really good at playing "Name that Tune" (really I am, ask anyone!)
• Easily entertained by shiny objects
• Creates quadratic equations for fun
• Pro at pretending to be a ninja
• Expert in battle techniques and equipping materia in Final Fantasy VII
• Vast knowledge of random trivia

So there you have it, our special skills, though I don't think they'll help us find a job, well unless there's a zombie attack or something.

Now, when it came to "language skills" we were had contemplated putting:
Fluent in "Nerd," proficient in "Pirate," and knows bits of "Klingon" and "Elven."

But unless some nerdy Klingon pirates were going to send their kids to one of the nearby schools, I don't think it'd be useful.

Sigh.....

Nicole's Update

Hello again! I'm sorry, but no witty title or opening today, as you've probably guessed, we've been pretty busy lately. I had actually wondered if anyone had check the blog recently, and surprisingly, we've had a few people checking each day. So I figured since I had a little time today, I'd give a quick update.

We've been quite busy with having rehearsals nearly every day. I'm happy to report the musical is coming along quite well and we open in 12 days! We are probably going to be taking a break from theater after this production, due to the insanely busy schedule that we have coming up soon.

We have also been busy with our community's Relay For Life, I'm the online chair on the committee and TJ is the team captain coordinator, not to mention our roles as co-captain and captain of our team Nerds For A Cure. More on that at a later date!

 

The kiddos are also keeping us pretty busy, we're busy planning for Anakin's 7th birthday, and we've decided to expand our occasional science lesson and experiment to a month long theme. This month's theme is volcanoes, and by the end of the month we'll construct a volcano and make it erupt. Perhaps we'll post pictures of it!

That seems to be all the updates for now, we'll try to make time for more updates. Thank you for reading this and showing an interest in our lives!

Look Ma I'm Wearing Science!

“Yay I'm wearing science!” - Anakin as he was handed his space pajamas this evening.

Hi everyone, long time no see. Things have been a little crazy the past few days, with getting over illnesses, rehearsing our butts off, and dealing with a dead beat doucheba....uh... I mean dad. Just a quick rant, and then back to the fun, quirky stuff that I love to share.

Obviously, TJ is not the father of my children. We already established this in a different post. This means that we may or may not have to deal with another person when it comes to the children. When it comes to my daughter, I'm willing to go on record as saying that while her father and I may not get along and apparently bring out the absolute worst in each other, he is still a good father to her. He takes very good care of her, and we work together on raising her.

However, the father to Luke and Anakin is not so great. He has not contacted them for over seventeen months, and before this he had even gone fourteen months without contact. He couldn't manage to pay one hundred and forty dollars a month in child support, and owed nearly two years worth of child support before I finally got child support services to go after him. There are many other issues I have with him, but let's not go into them.

Anyways, I warned him nearly a year and a half ago that if he didn't contact or see them that they may not want anything to do with him. So, huge shock, they now don't want anything to do with him. I had nothing to do with that, we've gone about living our lives and they don't want him to be a part of theirs. Recently he's contacted me on Facebook, telling me about his new kid and how all of a sudden he wants to be a dad. Well he didn't tell me he wanted to be a dad, he told me how he was going to take the kids next summer and I had no say in it.

Um what? Excuse me? You miss out on more than three years of the boys' lives, you failed to pay a piddly amount that was to help provide for them, and you're trying to tell me how things are to be done now?

I don't think so.

So since then there's been a lot of back and forth and what basically amounts a pissing contest. Actually what it feels like to me is a basic ignorance or refusal to believe in reason or logic. This is the best analogy I can come up with:

Me: The sky is blue.

Him: No it's not, it's green.

Me: No it's not, it's blue, and it's been scientifically proven.

Him: I don't care, I say it's green so it's green.

Me: Look at it, no it's not!

Him: I don't care what you say, you're a liar!

Me: Really now?

See this is the logic, or what I should say is the lack of logic I am dealing with.

Frustrating isn't it?

Okay back to happy fun stuff! As a proud nerdy mama, I am happy to announce that Anakin has decided to have his seventh birthday at the California Science Center. Not only that but he wants science kits for his birthday instead of DS games. Yup, one proud mama right here!

Just a heads up, we may not post as much in the next coming weeks. “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum” is opening in 23 days and we have been busy with rehearsals. We'll be so busy we have rehearsals nearly everyday, except for the four days that we have off. It's going to be crazy!

Happy MythBusting New Years!

Something I thought I'd never hear a man say...

Nicole: Hey want to watch more MythBusters?

TJ: Wait a minute, I want to do another load of dishes.

You know how in cartoons they have characters with hearts over their heads? Yeah, that's what I think I'd look like as a cartoon right now.

Happy 2011 everyone! I hope everyone had a great evening and made it home safely! TJ and I spent our evening at home, listening to music, playing games, and looking up how much test tubes cost. Yeah, we're weird, I know. The kids managed to stay awake until midnight, it was their first time ringing in the New Year, and it was quite exciting for all of us. The kids had sparkling cider, and TJ and I had Pink champagne. After we were done toasting and were sending the kids off to bed, Anakin looks at me and says “I thought you said we'd have toast?”

So we're spending our first day of the new year in the best way possible, time with each other and the kids, and not to mention a MythBusters marathon on the Discovery channel. However, we felt it'd be a good time to share our 2010 reflections and 2011 resolutions.

Nicole's R&R (Reflections and Resolutions)

In 2010 I learned to always stand up for myself, and what I believe in. I remembered to believe in myself and to always stay strong. Also I learned to be true to myself, no matter what anyone else says.

My resolutions are to keep up my good grades in college, and stay on track to graduate in Spring 2012. I also resolve to eat healthier, be more active, and to clean out my garage by the end of spring. My resolution as a mother is to keep exposing my children to different experiences and keep encouraging them to read and try new things.

TJ's R&R

My reflection for this past year is about trust. It's a very valuable commodity, and one needs to be careful in where it is placed.

My resolution for this year is to work on my listening skills and my confidence and self esteem.

Now back to that MythBusters marathon...