the other half of my heart

I have been missing my other half like crazy bonkers over the past week! Adam and I have barely seen one another with our opposing work shifts and him working twelve hour nights and boy, have I realized something...I would never want to have a long distance relationship. There are some couples that are perfectly happy having separate lives at times and actually need time away from one another to make it work. Adam and I are not one of these couples. It's not that we are dependent on one another, but rather both our days seem more complete and happy when we get to spend time together. Thus, this week has been very difficult and trying. I've never been in a relationship where my partner missed spending time with me as much as I missed being with him. It has always been one sided. Not with Adam:) He does his best to keep communication lines open when we aren't together and actually tells me that he misses me. I don't think he realizes how much I love him for that. He really is the other half of my heart and not having him around to share in the little moments good and bad in daily life is no bueno. I will be a much happier lady when he is finished working twelve hour night shifts and we can go back to having our little bit of time every night after the day is done to just.be.together. I'm pretty sure that's what love is :)

(PUNNY since Adam makes Oreo cookies at work;)

good ol' fashioned marathon

 

Every year since my brother, Caleb, has had a big kid job, he asks me what I want for my birthday:) I think it's sweet that he wants to get me anything at all. I'd be good with a hug from my baby brother, who is now much taller than me:) I gave him some gift ideas aka movies, shows and other odds and ends I'm into right now and he did what Caleb does...he bought me all four seasons of Modern Family:) Now that Modern Family is on like Friends, every night for about three hours straight, I've been watching a ton of this crazy, awesome families' shenanigans and loving every minute. The place I was house sitting/pet sitting at last week didn't have cable so I brought my Modern Family collection over and made it through two in a half in less that a week. Now that I'm back in my own casa and have had endless amounts of time just hanging around not feeling well I am now on the fourth season:) This show is one of the best newer shows out. The blended family and storyline consisting of diversity of lifestyle within one family makes for a quirky, eccentric and realistic look into what a family truly is. Families aren't perfect. Sometimes life within your family is messy, but when it comes down to it, family is there for you, loves you through it all and will always give you another chance. This show is relatable, which makes it a winner in my book. I can see myself watching Modern Family like I watch Friends...anytime it is on, no matter the episode. So thanks little brother for all my Modern Family episodes to watch while laughing hysterically and thinking about our family :) "When life gives you lemonade, make lemons then life will be all like whaaaaaat!?" HA! Thanks Phil Dunphy



Schmadam's 31st birthday

Today, the love of my life, Mr. Adam Sapina, turned 31:) Since this is the first birthday that we have spent together and actually been in town for, our first year together we were on a Mexican vacation with a bunch of friends and last year we celebrated his 30th in Las Vegas, I wanted to make it extra special. He also has had a pretty crappy birthday week working twelve hour night shifts at work and he needed something to celebrate. I did my best to make this happen :)

My super secret squirrel birthday plans for Adam included: making him mini cheesecakes-6 since his birthday is on the 6th of December:), I also made him a turkey bacon weave (he is trying to be heart healthy;) that I cut into a heart, and decorated his house with birthday streamers while he worked all night. Needless to say that he was quite surprised when he walked into his house at 6 a.m. :) I think I was successful in making him feel special and loved today, which was my whole intention after all. After he woke up for the day around 2 p.m. I brought him a coffee and let (made) him open his gifts! I love, love, love giving gifts! Adam is so fun to buy for too. Before he had to go back to stupid work at 5:30 p.m., I took him out for a sushi dinner at Sushi Mazi on Division and 22nd around 4:30 p.m. This was our first time eating here and let me say that we were impressed! We splurged and ordered a lobster roll that was A-mazing!!! Seriously, if you go eat at Sushi Mazi order the lobster roll :) Adam even had some left over pieces of our four rolls to take with him for his mid shift dinner later, bonus!

All in all, under the circumstances of having to work almost 13 hours of his birthday I think Adam enjoyed his special day :) I know he loved hearing from friends and family through out as well. He is a very loved 31 year old! Happy birthday babe, you are amazing and deserve the best :)

Timber sighting (a player, not a tree)

I'm a Portland Timbers' fan, no getting around it. I went from being absolutely positive I would never be a soccer fan after baseball (aka the minor league Portland Beavers) got kicked out-pun intended;) by major league soccer (aka the Portland Timbers) back in 2010 to having my mind and feelings about having a local soccer team drastically shifted by one, passionate super fan (aka Adam Sapina:) It didn't even take Adam a whole season to help me see just how beautifully awesome and skilled the game of soccer is. I'm glad I was able to change my mind about having and supporting a soccer team in Portland for two reasons: (1) I love having a local sports team in addition to basketball because I'm a sports enthusiast and (2) things probably wouldn't have worked out between Adam and I since he is such a footy maniac! Seriously, this guy lives and breathes soccer. I would have been the MOST frustrated girlfriend :) It is SO much better this way, as something we can share in together!

Keeping in mind how big a fan of the Timbers I have become...you can imagine my giddiness when Sam and I walked into Gymboree class, (something I was NOT thrilled about given the fact that I'm still feeling blah and the people that run these classes tend to annoy me to no end) take off our shoes, stuff everything in the tiny cubby holes provided and are waiting for class to start...we were 15 minutes early, when who should I see chasing their little daughter out the class door, but Timbers' midfielder Jack Jewsbury! It was an odd feeling of recognition at first, I glanced up, my brain made a facial 'a ha' connection and I started thinking, "where do I know that guy from? Did we go to high school together?" and then CLICK, connection made. That's a Timber standing right there in front of me in regular clothes doing regular "cool" nanny kid funtivities like me! I sat on the bench with Sam wondering if it would be rude to say something to him for oh, about three seconds where in I made eye contact with him- he was now sitting on the purple bench across from us trying to wrestle his toddler into her shoes and jacket, and said, "You guys had a fantastic season this year! We are big fans!" I know what you are thinking..."Rachael, that is astute and well thought out!" lol. What!? I was thinking on the fly and honestly this is the closest to a celebrity or professional athlete that I have been where I could actually try to facilitate a conversation! He looked at me and replied, "Thank you, and yeah, it was a great season. Shame that it came down to that last game and we just couldn't pull it together, but I was pretty happy with how this season went." Yep, Jack Jewsbury talked to me. I proceeded to tell him that overall the season felt like a huge win for Portland to which he said that he was excited to see what next season would bring. With that he was up and chasing his daughter again and out the door shortly after before I could say nice to meet you, thanks for making my day, but at least I flashed my pearly whites during conversation, so hopefully he already knew that :) What an interesting turn of events in the "exciting" world of being a nanny on the Westside HA! This would never happen on the Eastside:) I should have asked him for a handshake, a hug, or even a picture or autograph! Oh well, the memory and my blog thoughts will have to suffice :) Maybe we'll see him at Gymboree class again someday! GO TIMBERS!

it's like that camel always says

How many of you thought this post was going to reference Joe Camel in some way? Hope I'm not the only one who still remembers that cigarette smoking camel that was such a good role model for young impressionable minds :) Wait a tick...no. That's not right is it?

However, Joe will not be the topic of discussion today. Instead, I'm referring to the camel from the hump day commercial on the telly :) British folks have much better words for everyday things than we do, on a completely unrelated note. The camel from the commercial is everyone's favorite fuuuuunnny camel. If you can watch that commercial and NOT laugh, I applaud you. Not really, but you can imagine I am. For those of you who haven't seen it, crazy as that may seem, the whole commercial is a talking camel that walks through an office of workers calling out to them and asking them what day it is. It's ridiculous. Oh and awesome. Youtube it.

Today is Wednesday, also known as hump day because for most this is mid-way through another long week and just a hop, skip and a jump to the weekend! Those who work the weekend probably don't consider Wednesday to be 'over the hump day.' This is true for Adam this week. *Sigh. Working night shift and twelve hour shifts is no bueno. Especially on his birthday week! I'm still bummed that this was the week he had to take a turn filling in for lack of numbers. He is a trooper though (and so am I :) well, for the most part anyway.

I have been sick for a week today. I am not one of those people who gets dragged down easily when they are sick. If you work with kids, you are simply not allowed to get sick, let alone show you are sick or take a day off! Heaven forbid!! Even more so as a nanny, I have to literally be on my death bed to attempt to call in sick. Parents gotta get to work to make that cheese! (that's cheese as in slang for money, I don't work for actual cheese makers, that would be AMAZING though!) Normally, I just get your common cold, but this cold has and continues to hit me hard and directly in the face day after day! My only small window of non-awfulness is in the middle of the day when my Dayquil is still in full force. I'm still taking vitamins, trying to rest and not overexert myself...I'm still jazzing, but not as super high impact as I normally do due to the wheezing that commences. I'm eating when I feel hungry, which is not often. Signs Rachael is not feeling up to par...she has little to no appetite. I hope you're taking notes;) I did get to sleep in my own bed and be back in my own house last night with my bunnies, which felt amazing and cozy. It's funny how much I missed being back in what is familiar after only a week away. I'm pretty sure Falcon and Panda had fun at my parent's house, but were happy to be home as well. I'm sure I looked hilarious on the drive home with my jeep packed full of bunny cages! I just want to feel better enough to celebrate with Adam for a few hours in the middle of the afternoon on his birthday Friday before he has to work. Outlook not looking bright on that front:/ I should probably make sure I have plenty of Dayquil on hand to make sure I'm in good girlfriend birthday form.
I hope your hump day is progressing well friends!

Just one of those days

Today, I am having a "what the heck am I doing with my professional life" kind of day. I do not enjoy these days. I probably have one at least once a month give or take the time of year. These days come more frequently during hiring months for teachers. It's December, not so much a huge hiring month unless a teacher is leaving for maternity leave or retirement. Maybe it's an early-thirties-lack-of-job crisis. What ever you want to call it, it is bumming me out today.

In the past seven years since I finished my undergraduate education at WOU, I have had about two years 'official classroom' experience. I've substitute taught on an off during these seven years as well, but apparently substitute teaching does not equal classroom experience. Wouldn't it be nice if say two or even three years of subbing was equal to one year of 'official classroom' experience?? I would be sitting pretty then. SEVEN years is along time to not have a classroom job of my own.

I guess that if I break down the seven years it looks something like this: substitute taught as well as taught fitness (added PE class for the masses as I like to call it) for the first year, moved to Thailand and taught English to students of varying ages, levels and abilities for the next year, pretty much full time substitute for the next year and a half while I attended grad school, landed a part time temporary ESL instructor job for half a year during this time, went back to subbing yet again (not voluntarily, still trying desperately to be hired on fulltime) and realized that I couldn't take the stress of unguaranteed substitute work any longer so I became a part time nanny to supplement my income for a year, became absolutely exhausted, frustrated and a bit disheartened to answer the same question as a sub- 'Still haven't found a teaching job yet Rachael? I'm glad we still have you for a sub' that I had to step away from subbing except in the rare pre-planned case with teachers I call friends and took on another family to nanny for during the seventh year. I feel better when I lay it all out like that. It makes me look like less of a giant failure.

This is not meant to be a poor Rachael post. Honestly, I just feel better venting my frustrations about not being hired as a classroom teacher in Portland every once in awhile. Helps to get rid of negative-down-on-myself energy. Last year, I was offered two jobs teaching in Vegas, but the year had already started (it was October) and the timing just didn't seem right. Some days, I think that I should have taken one of these. I've been offered a few teaching jobs at smaller schools locally, but these jobs would have been hardly different than what I am doing now, working with infants, for less money. Thanks, but no thanks.

When ever I'm feeling bummed about not having a teaching job, I try to list out all the things I DO have and when all is said and done, I'm thankful for what I have in my life:) I'm lucky that I have my health-since I still don't have health insurance, for a family and boyfriend that loves, supports and makes me feel as though I am anything, but a failure-it means more than you know, for enough money to have a roof over my head, a car to drive, and the ability to live my life mostly how I would like, for two rabbits who let me snuggle them on bad days, and for regular work and paychecks so that I don't develop an ulcer due to stress. I'm pretty lucky I guess :) Maybe it is just going to take me a full decade to land my dream job...I guess I can try for three more years. After that though I'm embracing a nomadic life or moving away again to teach in another country :)

week long blogging hiatus

I've worked so hard to keep up with my daily blogs since September. However, over the last week I've been house and doggie sitting in Milwaukie for some neighbor friends and frankly, I've been without an internet connection. Apparently it is quite hard to maintain a daily blog when I have no internet connection and a week away from work. I often blog while kiddos are napping :) I'm just about finished house and doggie sitting (I'm presently at Adam's house spending some time with him before he starts a crazy work week) and ready to get back on my blogging!

Last week was kind of a blur. I slept away from my own bed, home and even my rabbits, who stayed at my parent's house down the road from where I'm house sitting. I also started feeling sick Wednesday night, lame :/ I'm still currently trying to kick this head/chest cold.

Thanksgiving was a wonderful day:) I really have so many things in my life to be thankful for. Adam and I got to spend time with both of our families on Thursday, which we haven't gotten to do the past two years, so that was a bonus. We spent the early afternoon with my mom and dad and the early evening with Adam's mom and dad:) Good times were had by all and we ate two delicious meals prepared with lots of love :) I can't wait for our parents to get a chance to meet, I really think they are going to get along famously :)

                                      

Adam and I both had Friday off of work so we got to sleep in and enjoy the morning together. Then I headed to jazzercise, even though I still wasn't feeling stellar, while Adam ran home and started prepping the meatballs we were bringing to the Civil War party at Kasey's house later that afternoon. Watching the Civil War between the Beavers and the Ducks turned out to be much more exciting than I thought it would be! There were quite a few of us that made the trek out to Kasey's house in St. Helens: Adam, myself, Greg, Andrew, Keli, Joe, Missy, Charles, Scotty and Bowlsby. Everyone brought a yummy dish to share while we cheered on the Beavs in the final game of the season. If you weren't watching, boy did you miss out on a close game! It came down to a nail biting end with the Ducks winning by only one point. *Sigh. Would have been a great win for the Beavs, but I was happy they showed up to play and even brought a running game! Who knew they even had a running game??!! Sure didn't have one during the season:)

I spent Saturday being sick, lazy and napping on the couch with Adam taking great care of me while we watched game after game of close and amazing college football games! Seriously, every single game we watched came down to the end and was within a point or two. Fantastic football Saturday. That evening, I was able to rally enough to shower, put real clothes on and walk up the street to attend Martha's annual Hottie Toddy holiday party with Adam and my parents. We had a few hot beverages, some food and good conversation with neighbors and then bid our adieu. It was a fun time :) Adam and I also had plans to meet two friends for beers at Cascade Barrel House a little after 8 p.m. On our way there, we had a bit of trouble with a duck fan with MAJOR road rage, but Adam was able to handle the situation without it resulting in me calling non-emergency 911 or having to throw down. This guy seriously had issues. I'm very glad it didn't come down to a face to face confrontation. The sour beers and fun company at Cascade made up for the duck douche trying to man handle us off the road with his car. Thanks Veronica and Matt!

Sunday was another day spent lounging and relaxing trying to kick this cold. Adam has been amazing! He has taken such good care of me. I'm so lucky to have such a caring and loving boyfriend :) I'll be spending this month treating him even more awesome than I already do since it is his birthday month! In fact, it's his birthday week! Adam turns 31 this Friday :) Unfortunately, he is working twelve hours night shifts at work for the entire week. MEGA LAME. I will be doing my best to make sure he has a wonderful birthday week (and month;) despite his awful work schedule. Happy 4 days until your birthday babe!!!

Cheers to being back on the grid and back on my blog!