Well mid-terms are finally out of the way for Ross and I am getting ready to start my 4th week of work. The mid-terms went pretty well but now Ross has to get ready for finals that are coming up in about 5-6 weeks, which is way more stressful than mid-terms...especially since the finals are graded for points! As for me, work is still work. Nothing great. The training was less than effective and I found out how true that really was on Friday when the whole class was thrown on the phones to start answering calls. Even though the time spent on the phone trying to answer questions was less than an hour and a half out of the 8 hour day...no one from the class felt prepared. The training on how to operate the phone system (transferring calls, placing lines on hold, calling other departments, etc) lasted a whopping 5 mins. And what made it even more stressful of an event was all the extra noise and commotion going on due to a baby shower taking place in the next isle. That's right....a baby shower in the middle of a call center with new hires trying to answer calls. To add to all that, the baby shower was for the "trainer" and his wife. So needless to say we were on our own for most of the time since our trainer was busy handing out slices of cake and watching his wife open baby gifts. But, I guess some companies don't put a lot of effort into their training programs. Or maybe I just had higher expectations since I was required to attend a 3 week long training session. So this coming week will probably be more interesting than last week. In the end, I keep telling myself that at least I have a job that is paying more than unemployment and I continue to keep my eyes and ears open for something better to come along. I guess I should get off the computer and get back to reading my book, especially since we are sitting in the school library where Ross is doing some research and I am sure he is going to need his computer soon. Oh, and if you are wondering about the new picture I posted at the top of the page, it is from Disneyland. The bright orange thing in the background is the pumpkin-shaped Mickey ears they have out for Halloween. Right before I started working we got annual passes to park and have made a few trips up there to get away for awhile.

New Job, Mid-Terms, and a Birthday

Well all I can say is that these last two weeks have been quite crazy. Joining the working class again sure felt weird after 9 months of unemployment. For those of you that haven't heard, I got a job as a phone representative at Wachovia Dealer Services (the call center for Wachovia's auto loans). I started on Monday, October 5th, and have been in training everyday since. As of right now I keep praying that things only get better. The training is very unorganized and unproductive. There are 8 new people in the class and the trainer spends half the day on the Internet shopping for a new car and responding to personal emails, text messages, and phone calls. I do nothing but read the news on the Internet to try and stay awake. I don't think I have ever read so much news on the Internet in my entire life. I have discovered that a person can only read so much information, interesting or not, in one day before they start to go crossed-eye. But in the end, I keep telling myself that at least I have a job, it pays more than unemployment, and I will get benefits starting December 1. So things could be worse.

Ross has been busy studying for his first set of mid-terms. Even though they aren't graded for points, they are still reviewed for format and content so he is better prepared for the real deal at the end of the year. Ross found study flash cards to help him better understand the material. So I have actually been learning a little bit myself by reading the questions and scenarios to him and having him answer and explain them. He continues to enjoy his classes and is having fun which is great!

And as many of you know, this was the first year that I celebrated my birthday without the rest of the family. Ross surprised me with a beautiful bouquet of flowers that he hand-picked himself! (see the picture below). Then we had dinner at Ralph Brennan's Jazz Kitchen in Downtown Disney up in Anaheim. After dinner we spent the rest of the evening riding rides and watching fireworks inside Disneyland. So even though I didn't celebrate my 27th birthday with family having dinner, playing games, and eating cake and ice cream (which I miss), we still had a very fun night!

Last Week

Since it's been two weeks since either of us posted something, I guess we should update everyone on the latest. This has been my last week of not working. I officially start at Wachovia on Mon. Oct 5. A little excited to get back into the working world, but I am going to miss all the perks of not working. Anyways, here is a recap of what has been taking place these last few weeks.

The week of the 20th involved getting our vehicles ready to make the trip to the CA DMV. That meant getting smog tests done. My car passed with no problems. Ross' on the other hand....well let's just say that wasn't a cheap trip. A couple hoses had to be replaced before it would pass the smog test. So once we got that fixed, we headed to the DMV on Fri the 25th. That was two and a half hours of expensive fun. So now both vehicles are officially registered in California. We still have Colorado drivers licenses and are going to hang on to those as long as we can since it costs $30 to get a California one, plus you have to take a written test. Apparently California has it's own special driving laws.

After our expensive week of smog tests, repairs, and vehicle registrations, we decided it would be nice to take a trip up to Las Vegas. Thanks to me not having a job, Ross not having school on Mon the 28, Ross winning the last time we were in Vegas, and finding a room for only $19 a night, we left Sun morning to enjoy two days in Sin City. After the boring 4 hour drive, we made it to the Sahara hotel in time to watch the Broncos win another game and then it was off to try and hit it big. Unfortunately we didn't hit the jackpot like Mom did when she was there last, but we were at least able to play all night long. I even had some money left over to play Mon morning before we went to the Titanic Exhibit at the Luxor, which was amazing! We got home Mon evening around 7:00pm and poor Ross had a little homework to finish. But overall it was a nice "weekend" getaway.