Hmmm...

Okay, okay...it's been forever since I posted. I do have 2 excuses though, I don't have any pictures because I've been forgetting my camera everywhere and we really haven't been doing much! I do have some Easter pictures I'll post soon but otherwise, you'll have to settle for reading about the little things we've been up to.

Budget cuts and Workforce Reductions

My company has been very active during "these tough economic times" restructuring, reposturing, reducing...in other words, laying people off. So far, we've gone through 3 major lay-offs, each one increasing from the last. Our last one was in January which brought the total to over 30% let go! I've been lucky so far that I still have my job and in the past few weeks, employee morale has increased a little bit. Hopefully, that's the last of them for awhile and we can get back to normal.

[April 7, 2009] Padres Game

My company usually gets a ton of tickets throughout the season since we're a sponser at Petco Park and this year, employees could enter to win tickets in random drawings. I happened to be lucky and win tickets to the 2nd Padres game of the season. They were great seats, right across from 1st base, a section away from the Padres dugout and only 5 rows back. We took Ashley to this one and let her bring her good friend Josie from school. Of course I forgot the camera but Ashley and Josie were able to get Second Baseman David Eckstein's autograph before the game. They were so excited! We all had a great time, the girls ate a ton of snacks...seriously, who knew little girls could eat so much, even after mexican food for dinner? The best part was the Padres won against the Dodgers which was surprising since they lost to them the night before!

[Easter Sunday April 12, 2009]

I actually have pictures so I will post in a separate post later.

[April 18, 2009-April 24, 2009]

Jeff goes to Hong Kong/China for the week. Ashley and I miss him a lot. The End.

[April 24, 2009]

Ashley's elementary school had a multi-cultural night. I forget the camera and kick myself.

Okay seriously, the multi-cultural night was amazing. The parents and the PTA organized the night with over 100 families volunteering. 29 countries were represented in booths which had information, crafts, and country (or region) specific mini-culinary delights for everyone to taste. Plus, over 1000 people attended! The best parts were being able to have Ashley taste different dishes from around the world (she liked most but definitely didn't like some), and seeing performances on the stage. They had mimes from France, martial arts demonstrations, our friends from the bus stop performed on the piano, and Ashley's favorite was the Irish dancing (the girl is definitely my daughter).

(For those of you who don't know, I love The Lord of the Dance/Riverdance and have tried multiple times to get Jeff to take me to see them. You can imagine my delight when I saw Ashley enjoying it so much. I'm already planning a trip to see an Irish Dancing concert for when she gets older. The Lord of the Dance better still be performing somewhere!)

The bad part was it was so crowded you could barely get into the booths to see the information plus there were so many countries you couldn't spend too much time at each one if you wanted to see them all.

But overall, it was a fantastic night. Plus, Jeff just got home that afternoon from China so it kept him awake which was the key to getting him over his jet-lag!