Baby do the CONGA!

After reading my dad's latest post I figured it it was only fitting that I too post some pictures of Lori playing her Congas!!

I thought it was appropiate to use a line from the Gloria Estephan classic "Do the Conga" since she a latina singing about Congas (either dance or drum, it doesn't really matter) and Lori is a Latina playing with Congas. :)

These were a gift from our friends Brian and Andrea Mann who gave us a musical gift which is very fitting considering that they are both musical people... Brian especially. Now that she is crawling I thought it would be a good time to get out her "Go Baby Go, Crawl a-long drum set" (yes that is it's full name) and she was pretty excited about it. She still prefers to push around her "laptop" though(more on that to follow shortly)

In the meantime, you can all be looking forward to uncoming Halloween pictures of our very cute little monkey!! (This might be a good time to supscribe to our blog... see right hand column for more details.)

Time for a change!

Well, after two years, (almost to the day) Jorge has decided that it's time for a change.

We were having dinner with my mom and some friends and while we were sitting there chatting, Jorge mentioned that he needed some new khaki pants, ones that would be good for a job interview. "And what interview are you going on?" "I have an interview Wednesday." (it was Monday) "What? Where?"
And that was how I found out that he had even applied to any jobs, I knew he was "looking" but I had no idea he was APPLYING.

So the next day, my mom and I got him some pants and then on Wednesday he had his interview, and it went well. Well enough that they wanted to meet with him again, and again and again. Four interviews in all. They're a small company and they were apparently looking for someone who would fit in well with everyone. And it turns out that Jorge DOES because they offered him the job this past Friday. Papers were signed tonight so it's official! In two weeks Jorge will no longer working at Hanna Carwash. I think I'm a little more sad than Jorge is but I'll get over it once he's gone.

Now I guess I should give you the details of the job. The company is called Evo-site and from what I can understand they design furniture. Not furniture for your home, but if you have a police station or a control room, they're your guys. So Jorge will be designing furniture, meeting with clients and supervising installations. It's a fairly new company and I think that it will be great for Jorge to be there on the ground floor. He's got such a great way of doing things that I really think that he will enjoy being able to really create the way things will be done. Unlike Hanna Carwash, there is an opportunity for growth and I know that Jorge feels good about that.

There are so many things that are GREAT about this job! First off, it pays more. Not tons more, but enough to make Jorge feel good. Second, it has health care!! Hurray! So now Jorge will be covered and we won't have to pay. Third, and my personal favorite, it is so much closer! Less than 4 miles!! 10 minutes away, as opossed to the 40-45 minutes it takes him to get to Hanna. So I'm thrilled! Oh and I almost forgot, he won't have to be at work until 8:00! He would start work at 7:00 at Hanna so he (and I, because Jorge will sleep through an alarm so I have to wake him up...) get up at 6:00 am. I don't think that we've ever gotten up later than 6:30 since we've gotten married. I can't believe it! It's going to be awesome.

And to top it all off the owner is a Christian!

So I think that's it!

Congratulations Jorge! We know that this was a big step for you! You're going to do so well!
We are so proud of you!

Secret Shopping

No, I'm not referring to going to the mall without telling your husband, I'm talking about the market research tool used to measure the quality of service or to gain other "insider" information that can only be obtained by pretending to be a customer. In my case I was a secret shopper for Chevron's Delo Oil. My job was to, along with another guy, call 105 different O.E (Original Equipment, I believe) Truck Dealers and pose as an owner of a fleet of trucks. This in and of itself seemed funny to me, not that I am completely incompitant when it comes to trucks and all that, but I certainly don't know enough to make someone believe that I am an OWNER of a small fleet of 25 trucks. (25 trucks sounds like a pretty large fleet if you ask me, but I digress...) I was glad these were done over the phone, lets just say that. My goal was to call these places and ask them to recommend an engine oil and hope that they recommend Delo L.E or Delo 400. If they did they would be rewarded with a 25 dollar gift card to Chevron/Texaco gas stations, and if they did not I would send them an consolation prize of a Delo hat. (these are truckers after all.) I was given seven scripts, each specific to the certain kind of truck that that particular company was selling and that was where the fun began...
Here is a sample of a script that I was to repeat... almost 50 times.

Hi, can I speak to a service manager or service writer please? ... I'm looking for a recommendation on engine oil for my fleet. I have a small fleet of 25 international trucks with 15 catapillar 3406 engines and 10 Cummins ISX engines. I am planning to order 5 new trucks with the new MX engine. Is there a single dessil motor oil that will work in my entire fleet and is good to use with Ultra Low Sulfur dissel?

That was mouthfull to say the least, after a while I was beginning to believe this myself. I was on a roll and having fun. But there were a few times when they would ask me a question and I would have to say I was just the the front desk person to explain my incompitance on the subject of which I was supposed to be a pro, this seemed to work, for the most part. One time someone asked me who I was with before they would transfer me to and I stuttered for a while and then answered "Hernandez Trucking" A simple white lie, but it turned out for the best because that company recommended Delo 400 to me and were rewarded.

I really enjoyed calling all over the country and got a laugh when I called Massachusetts. "Fowr suyvice press fowr" It was funny to hear all the different accents all in one day. All in all it was a really interesting job.

*For the record, this is NOT a full time thing, I'm just lucky enough to be able to get a few random temp jobs in order to help out the family. I'll keep you posted on my job situation as well as Jorge's in the next few weeks.

'till next time...

4 years together and Mom's Visit

On October 2nd we celebrated out 4 year wedding anniversary. How did we celebrate? We went out to dinner... with Lori... and my mom. :) It was quite romantic. In all seriousness we were beyond excited to see my mom!! She stayed for almost a whole week, and every second of it was a joy! (and she did babysit on Saturday so that we could officially celebrate our anniversary.)

It is such a blessing to see her with Lori. My mom has easily fallen in to the grandmother role and from what I can tell it suits her. I love watching them together and I know that the older Lori gets, the neater it will be. I never had any grandmothers, so that might be part of the reason why I enjoy seeing them together so much. I think most parents want their children to have close relationships with their grandparents, and Lori certainly does, and will continue to for a long long time.

My mom took some family photos for us. Lori is growing so fast I think it's important to update our photos often.

I was able to take some of Lori and her Grammy...

Ad"ventures" in Etsy.com

What do you get when you cross stay at home moms with crafty entrepreneurs? You get Etsy.com, an online market place devoted to selling solely handmade items. It's not unlike Ebay.com, just without the bidding and second hand junk aspect. I kind of stumbled across this site while looking for my cousin's homemade diaper covers online. She was selling them on Etsy and found myself really intrigued by this creative site with a strange name. (The origins of the name are unknown.)

A few weeks later I had grown tired of looking for Lori's burp cloths because they were stark white and seemed to blend in with everything. I decided that I should sew some ribbon and maybe a soft piece of fabric on them so that they would stand out. They didn't look half bad. So I kept going, I dyed them, got nicer ribbons, and added new fabric. Then I realized that I had an extra Cubs emblem from a T-Shirt that I got for Jorge's T-Shirt quilt and from then on I was ON A ROLL! It took me a while to realize that it might be a good idea to see if I could sell these on Etsy. I love sewing and doing lots (and I do mean lots, probably too many for my own good) of crafty things, so why not try to make some extra cash while I was at it?

The Cubs Burp Cloth

I am yet to make a sale, but that's ok. I was getting discouraged but Jorge has been so supportive that I haven't really considered giving up. For the first time I really feel like Jorge is in this with me and that feels great. I really enjoy the days that Jorge comes home from work and I get to show him my latest project.

So that's the newest with me. I've posted a link to my new Etsy site so that you can see what kind of things I've been making. I'm "looking to expand my repertoire" (don't I sound professional already?) so if you have any ideas I'd LOVE to hear 'em. I'm always up for a new craft project!

Chicago

Now I'm FINALLY getting around to posting the Chicago part of our Wisconsin/Chicago trip... (I'm assuming that all 5 of you readers have been sitting on the edge of your seats, just waiting... well here it is.)

When we got to Chicago we went to a place called Wolfy's for lunch with Jorge's friends from high school and their kids. Wolfy's is a place near their old church, it specializes in Chicago Hot Dogs, and yes there is a difference.

Zach, Naomi, Zayla, Zoe, Jorge, Peter and Dana

After lunch be decided that it was time that Lori took her first trip to Wrigleyville! We took the "L" like any self-respecting Chicagoans.

At Wrigley Field we looked for the brick that my family and I got Jorge for his 32 birthday. It took FOREVER!! But we found it!!




We had Mike take some pictures of us at Wigley Field. He hurt his knee a while back and I felt horrible making him walk all over the place. But he seemed happy to do it, and we loved having him with us.

Mike had to bend down to take this and with his knee injury we was only able to bend down so far... hence Lori getting cut off.
(This did not help the guilty feelings I had from having him come with us.)

Jorge and Mike resting, watching T.V after a long day. Mike was "icing" his knee with frozen peas, and I think Jorge was just sitting that way because it was comfortable.

We met Jorge's dad for dinner that night, so he could meet Lori. Pop, as he is known in our house, told Jorge that he was SO excited to meet her that he had butterflies all day. All of this was such an answer to prayer. We weren't really sure how he would be with Lori. He wasn't exactly the most affectionate or involved father. It might be too late for him to be the dad Jorge needed, but it seems like he might be able to be a good Grandfather for Lori. He told us that instead of retiring this year like he was intending, he's going to work one more year so he can give Lori some money in an account he's setting up for her. We were both very touched by his generous gift, not only of his money, but his time... one whole year of work, just for our baby. Very generous.
I can see a change in the way Jorge interacts with his dad, so it seems like Lori is bridging the gap between them. It is such a blessing. SHE is such a blessing!


Lori was TIRED! She slept through most of the dinner.

The next day both Jorge and Mike were good sports and went with me to 2 or 3 thrift stores so that I could find old Cubs, Bulls and Bears shirts for a T-Shirt quilt I'm making for Jorge. I've been planning on doing this since our LAST trip to Chicago 5 years ago. They both searched the racks with me, it was very sweet. It was a successful trip, I got 11 shirts total. Unfortunately, I still need about 3 or 4 more shirts so I won't be able to finish it any time soon... but hey... more reason to go back right?

New dog, new trick

On August 2, 2008 Lori rolled over for the first time... on purpose. (We knew it was on purpose because she did it twice) She had accidentally rolled over before but this time she meant to. It was a Saturday so Jorge and I were able to experience it together. It was amazing. I was able to film this clip a few days later... after she became a pro at it. She is yet to roll over form her back to her tummy, but she's getting very close now! It could be any day now, so stay tuned!