Thanksgiving 2013

Hoover Dam

For Thanksgiving 2013 I traveled to Oklahoma City where my brother lives. Our parents also joined us. I had not seen my brother since 2009 since I didn't come back to the US the entire time I was overseas and he didn't have enough time off of work to come all the way over there to see me.  On the way to the Las Vegas airport the lady who took me stopped at the Hoover Dam so that I could see it. I flew out Tuesday after school and got into OKC after midnight. 

As my brother drove me back to his place we did a 2a.m. tour of OKC. It was really nice as no one was out, so we were able to take our time and look at things without traffic trying to rush us. Wednesday we all went shopping for groceries to make Thanksgiving meal and we went out to eat at Cafe 501. I got to meet my brother's girlfriend for the first time. After dinner she came over and hung out with us so we could visit and get to know her better. Thanksgiving we made food and went to see Catching Fire, the second movie of the Hunger Games trilogy. After that we went to look at this road that has trees lining both sides of it and they do a cool job of wrapping the lights around the trees. 

Pop's Route 66

The lights on the trees change colors. There was also a really cool house that had a huge light display and the display was choreographed to music and the people had one station on the radio so that people could sit in their vehicles and watch the display. Friday was my parents' 38th wedding anniversary.  First we went to see where my brother works as he got a new job in the last few months. 

We also stopped at Pop's an old gas station that they added a store with over 600 types of pop, along Route 66. We got a 6 pack of different types of pop to try. After that we went to the Oklahoma Museum of Art. I wasn't very crazy about the art but got to see the Chihuly display. He does awesome glass work.  That night we went out to watch an NBA game. 

Chihuly

My first time seeing a professional game of any kind. We watched the OKC Thunder and California's Golden State. Thunder won by 1 point at the last second in overtime. It was a pretty intense game and it was awesome. 

NBA game

Saturday my mom, brother and his girlfriend had to run an errand, so after we had lunch at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art's cafe my dad and I walked along the river walk downtown and then over to the Oklahoma City Bombing memorial and took a look at that. There were some park rangers there that talk to people and tell them about it. One guy was very knowledgeable and I learned quite a bit.  That night we ate at West restaurant. It was pretty good food. My brother knows the chef from when he worked at his previous job. We met up with my brother's girlfriend and her sister also came, so we got to meet her as well. After that we went and looked at some lights especially this one house that had their lights set to music on a station on the radio. It was pretty cool. 

City walk

On Sunday we went to my brother's church and then we had lunch at Republic Gastropub and then my brother had a soccer game. It was part of a tournament. We went and watched him until my parents had to take me to the airport. I had a great time and it was nice to see my brother again. 

Part of OKC Bombing Memorial 

Looking Back at 2013

2013 has been a very challenging year. With just the way things worked out I spent Christmas 2012 and New Years 2013 by myself in Indonesia. It was a very long and boring holiday break. The house that I was living in had some problems and so I spent most of the break putting up with that as everyone else was on holiday. January I was back to school and gave notice that I would not be returning for the 2013-2014 school year. February I went with some colleagues to Yogjakarta for Chinese New Year, while there I got word that my grandpa was in the hospital and not doing well. Not long after I got back I got in a small fender bender on the way to work. In March I started looking for a new job and my grandpa died so I was up in the air about whether I wanted to continue to live overseas or come back to the US for a couple of years. I had left fairly quickly when I got the job in Malaysia and my parents packed up my house. I only had two weeks from the time I found out about the job until I got on the plane and left, so I had left many things undone and hadn't been back to the US the entire three years I was overseas. It was hard when my grandpa died as I had not been able to fulfill my promise the previous summer and come home for a visit after two years overseas because I only had two weeks in between the two jobs to move from Malaysia to Indonesia. I then promised to come up summer 2013. The day he died I got a card from him and my grandma in the mail saying how excited they were to see me summer 2013. It was very hard to be overseas and not be able to go back for the funeral. Luckily we have the Internet and Facebook, so I was kept in the loop as much as possible. Spring kept me busy with my job I had in Indonesia and looking for a new job, plus trying to figure out how I was going to move my stuff or what I was going to do with it. I got a few job offers overseas but I decided that I should return to the US for a couple of years. All of the new jobs started quickly after my job at the time ended and it wouldn't be enough time to come home to see family and deal with many of the things that had been waiting to be taken care of while I was overseas. So, I decided to start looking for a job back in the US. Overseas it is quite common to do Skype interviews, but back in the US most people want to interview in person so that made it quite challenging. I did some Skype interviews, but most of the people had a hard time with Skype. I came back the end of June and continued applying and looking for a job. I had some interviews and accepted a position at my current school the end of June. I went to Jackson Hole for a week vacation the beginning of July. Got back and tried to go through everything in storage and tie up loose ends in a week before I was off to my new job as they started the end of July. This first semester has been very challenging. The school is making lots of changes and many things have changed in the three years I was gone. There is lots and lots for me to learn. Planning periods are very short, so I spend many hours outside of teaching at school. I switched positions the middle of second quarter as another teacher left and they thought I was the best person to step into that role. While I do enjoy my new teaching position very much, it has been a challenge trying to figure out what the previous teacher did and make sure I am covering everything. Plus, doing sub plans for the long term sub in my old position and other things that person needs help with. It has made for very long hours, usually until 9p.m. every day and most of the day on Saturdays and Sundays. (There is lots more to it than that, but I don't want to share everything.)  Part of me still feels like I am in a foreign country as I still am mostly connected to people through the Internet still. I am school most of my waking hours so I haven't really met people outside of work. Thanksgiving was great though because I got to go to Oklahoma City and see my brother, meet his girlfriend and our parents also came. I hadn't seen my brother since Christmas 2009. Christmas break I came back to Wyoming to see my parents, brother and only living grandparent, my maternal grandma. It has been a very relaxed Christmas and after three years away I am glad to be spending the time with my family. I also got to see my best friend and one of her sisters, who I haven't seen them since 2009 either.

Cowboy boots and Tattoos

I grew up in Wyoming and so there was lots of cowboys and Western wear. I went to the Rodeo once when I was young with a friend of mine. I don’t remember what happened except that I was traumatized and have never been to one since. I did like to go horseback riding and wished that I could have had a horse when I was growing up. I was never interested in wearing any western wear. I also am not a country music fan. I wasn’t crazy about it growing up, but grew to like it even less in college, but that is another story. This summer though I have taken an interest in western wear. I started this summer by buying a western hat, not really a cowboy hat, more like Indiana Jones’ hat. Later I did buy myself a fancy cowboy hat and a cowboy belt buckle. I am saving up to have a belt made to go with the buckle. Or, it is more like I can’t decide what sort of design I want on the belt. It will probably take me awhile to decide. Of the designs so far, they all look so cool, but I also want something that is unique to me.

Anyway, I went into Boot Barn the other day for something that they didn’t have and ended up looking at boots. I have worn boots over the years, mostly plain black or brown, but have also worn Harley Davidson boots. I need some new boots and decided to look at what they had. I bought my first pair of cowboy boots. When I was looking at them I asked the lady why are there so many designs because when you wear them under your pant legs people can’t see them. She said she buys the boots for herself and it is kind of like her secret. She might show them to some people. It made me think of my tattoos. I have tattoos, but most people don’t know it. They are always shocked when they find out. I don’t have them placed where they are visible all the time like many people. I have them so that I can enjoy them, and I can show them to people if they are special enough to me. So, I totally get her thoughts about the cowboy boots. I ended up buying a pair and they are so comfortable that I can’t believe it. I may not want to ever wear anything else again. I have never had shoes or boots that were so comfortable. I went back today to look at another pair that I had seen the first day. They are also super comfortable but they are more money than I have ever spent on shoes in my life. I get that that pair is hand made and so way more work is put into them than some of the other boots I looked at while I was there.  I have never been a shoe person, but I have been looking at the wide variety of boots out there. I can see how they could be addicted having different designs to wear for different occasions. But, in a similar way to tattoos I am not going to be rash in my decision. They may not last forever like a tattoo, but with the cost they are going to be worn a lot, so I have to make sure that I really like them.  I have wanted another tattoo for a few years now but I can’t decide on a design. It takes me years to make that decision, and I might put it off for a little longer because I might get another pair of cowboy boots. They might not represent the story I am looking to tell in the tattoo, but they are definitely not permanent, so I don’t have to be as committed to them like I am my tattoos.

So, I've decided I really like cowboy boots. They may not have fit in my life before but they fit in my life now. I am glad I am always evolving, changing and open to try new things. 

Appreciation

Over the last few years I have learned more about appreciation and things I have taken for granted.

Hot water & showers- I grew up taking showers with hot water and for me it was just a given. When I moved to Malaysia I rented a room with bathroom in a boarding house and it did not come with hot water. I took cold showers for the first few months and it was so hard. Even though later in the day supposedly the sun would warm the water, since most people’s water tanks were on top of the house, the water was never warm. Plus, for many years now I have taken a shower in the morning, to help wake myself up and so that I am clean for the day. Taking a freezing cold shower each morning was hard. I was eventually able to convince my landlord to let me buy and install a hot water heater at least for the shower. Even though I am currently back in the US, I am still super grateful every morning for a hot shower. Besides hot water, I am grateful that I can take a shower. There were a couple times in Malaysia and once in Indonesia where I did not have water at all. In Malaysia I kept a plastic garbage can full of water (I bought it just for that purpose) so that I could at least take a scoop bath for the day. The one time in Indonesia I was able to go to the club where I worked out and used their locker room there.  When I went on the school’s week camping trip I was able to take a shower every day. It was cold water, but for a week it was doable because I was at least able to clean myself from all of our daily activities.  I thought that once I returned to the US that I would never be in a situation where I could not take a shower, but not longer after I moved into my current apartment I was. There were some issues with my shower and in the attempt to fix the shower the maintenance man did not read the directions. So, I was left without the ability to take a shower. The good news is that I was able to wash myself in the sink, but it just doesn’t quite do the job of a shower and since I was starting a new job, it wasn’t exactly how I imagined showing up to work. No one seemed to be the wiser though. Obviously I have never had to go weeks or months without a shower, but I know from just these few times how grateful I am that I can shower and be clean every day. I know that many people can’t and I am sure there are people out there that would gladly take a shower, even a cold one, so that they can be clean.

My own vehicle- Not long before I was supposed to get my learner’s permit I saw a horrific accident and thought I would never drive, but my parents made me learn anyway. After I turned 16 and had a license I was responsible for getting myself to my activities. I was very much used to that freedom when I moved to Malaysia and no longer had a vehicle at my disposal. My first year there I rode the school bus to school with the students because I lived in what was considered a small town in Asia (but a large city by US standards) and cabs were rare and difficult to get ahold of. Where once I had ridden a bus and thought it was normal, it was hard to go back to riding a bus and being on the bus driver’s schedule. Many times the bus driver was late and I had to wait and wait. Sometimes the bus driver didn’t show up at all and then I had to walk to school and I would be left arriving at school dripping sweat., not exactly how I wanted to start my day. If I wanted to do anything socially I had to rely on someone else to pick me up and then take me back. There was a small group of expats and only one other woman worked. So, if there was any social event the other ladies would not feel obligated to go home at a decent time since they didn’t have to get up the next morning for work. The second year I was able to find a lady and hired her to take me to and from work. That worked a little better. Still didn’t help much with things socially. Sometimes I would call for a cab and there would be all sorts of excuses like that isn’t too far, just walk (but it was too far to walk) or it is raining, so just walk. In Indonesia I had a vehicle again and I was very grateful not to have to rely on others to get me to or from work. Also, my social life was much more active and I could run errands whenever was convenient for me. There were also tons of cabs everywhere, so if there was a place that I couldn’t drive to myself it was very easy to get a cab. I was always willing to give rides to others who didn’t have a vehicle because I knew how it was to not have a vehicle. Towards the end of my time there my vehicle was in the shop for a week and I had to rely on a cab company. It wasn’t one I had used before and there were good most morning, but in the afternoons they would never come to pick me up. The last morning of that week they told me they had no cabs and that they weren’t going to have any available anytime soon. The good news is that I was able to get another cab, so that I could get to work. Back in the US, I have a vehicle again and I am so glad to have one. I am grateful for the freedom it brings me to run errands when I need to and get to work on time and leave work when I am done and not when someone else is ready to leave.

A home- Back when I was 28, my dad built me a custom built house. It was something that I had hoped that he would do for me someday, but I had no idea that it would work out so soon in my life. I enjoyed my home very much and thought I would live there for a very long time, but my life path changed and I went off to pursue my dream of teaching overseas. When I lived in Malaysia I rent a room with a bathroom in a boarding house. It was about the size of a dorm room and the landlord was pretty strict. I had to be quiet at all times and couldn’t have any company over. I went between sitting on my bed, to the computer chair to the little rattan chair beside the bed. I wasn’t allowed to cook, but I was able to have fridge and microwave, so I could make a few simple things like bowls of vegetables and sandwiches. (All of the other residents had vehicles and were single men, so they were used to eating all of their meals out.)  I also wasn’t allowed to come down to the kitchen if they had company or eat in my room, so sometimes that made the weekends very long when I was so hungry waiting for the company to leave. Many times I wished that I was back in the US in my nice, comfortable home. Although, I was grateful that I at least had a roof over my head because I know that some people don’t. In Indonesia I was in a townhouse that was brand new. It was much better than my room. It did have some problems with leaking when rainy season started and that made it kind of hard to constantly be cleaning up all the puddles. There were also some issues that it had like toilets that leaked and showers that leaked. It was hard to be patient because I was there an entire year and except for the first three months there, I had those problems the whole time and they got worse as time went on since they weren’t dealt with by the people who were supposed to take care of them. Now I am in an apartment complex. Part of me feels like I am back in college because of noisy neighbors, a tiny kitchen and having to use a laundry room to do laundry. I am grateful in both the house in Indonesia and now here that I have the ability to cook and bake again. Neither of them may have the kitchen I had in my home, but having a kitchen I can use is pretty nice. One of things I love to do and use as a stress reliever is to cook and bake. Not being able to do that for the two years in Malaysia was tough. It was hard to eat pretty much the same thing every meal for two years. All of these have taught me that even though I am grateful for a roof over my head that I should have appreciated my home even more. I am not doing my goals in the order I thought I would and I may never have a home again, but at least I got to live in it for a year.

Climate- I knew from my times visiting my grandparents in Minnesota and a trip to Wisconsin once that I wasn’t really a fan of humidity. I was told that the climate in Malaysia was much better and that I really wouldn’t mind the humidity. I didn’t like the heat and humidity the three years I was overseas. I disliked sweating and smelling every day. I didn’t like wearing wet clothes. Also, it took a long time for them to dry. I have sensitive skin and I had even more problems over there with the constant sweating.  Now that I am back in the US I appreciate the dry climate even better. Even though it was hot this summer it is now going to fall and things are getting colder. The other morning I was able to go for a very invigorating walk and breathe all that fresh air. I like being able to be active and really having to be active before I sweat, not just standing still. I also like the fact that I smell better because I don’t sweat all the time. I know that some people don’t like the cold, but I love it. I love wearing sweaters, slippers, hats, scarves and gloves. Being able to cuddle under tons of blankets to sleep. I didn’t sleep as well on top of the one bottom sheet over there as I do here under a couple of blankets. It is also nice to not have to run the a/c at night when I am sleeping. I could look out the window in Malaysia or Indonesia and think that it looked beautiful out, but when I went outside it never was. Here I can look out the window and think it is beautiful outside and when I actually go outside it really is beautiful. I like that I can also open the windows and get fresh air that isn’t hot and stuffy.

I am not saying that the US is better than Malaysia or Indonesia. There were lots of things that were great over there too. Over there I was able to do much more traveling around the countries that I lived in and to other countries that I wanted to see because things were so inexpensive and it was easy. Since I am back in the US I have realized that there were some things that I didn’t appreciate as much at the time when I was over there. I accepted a job and now I know some things I didn’t at the time I accepted the job. One of them is that I was able to live pretty comfortably money wise on my salary in both countries and have money to do some traveling.  Now I am in a position where I am barely able to make ends meet. So far I have been able to pay each bill and not have any debt, but I can see how if I get my haircut or do social things that it would be easy to do. I love to travel and there are several awesome places in the state that I live in that I would love to see, but right now all traveling is out. I always thought that with a college degree that I would never be in a position that I was living paycheck to paycheck just trying to take care of the essential bills. I can see how easy it can be for people to go into debt. Another thing I took for granted was planning time. I have always had at least 60 minutes of planning time, but in overseas sometimes I would have two hours total during the day so that I didn’t have much work that I had to take home or many days that I had to stay super late. At my current job I have about 30 minutes while my students go to specials, if I don’t have meetings. So, almost every day I stay late. I can see if I didn’t have to stay late or take work home I could get a part-time job to help make some extra money. Definitely thinking about getting a summer job to help make extra money for next year, so I can breathe a little more.

I have more I have been thinking about, but this is quite a long post, so I will quit there for now.

Cries in the Night

I was super tired Thursday night October 3, 2013 so I went to be early around 8:30p.m. I woke up the next morning slightly before 4:30a.m. to use the restroom. When I got back in bed I heard this knocking on a wall and then I heard a man calling for help. I lay there for a few minutes and he kept calling for help. I couldn’t tell where the man was. I knew that the people in the apartment below me were two ladies and it wasn’t them. I don’t know who is in the apartment to the right side of me, but it didn’t sound right next to my head. I knew that there was an older man on the left side of the ladies underneath me, but I didn’t think that it was that man. I got up and went out to the living room and I could still hear the man. I have really good hearing, so I knew that just because I could hear this guy didn’t mean that he was in the apartment complex I was in, he could have been outside or in the one behind me. I hear the family in the apartment complex behind me all the time. I opened the window and I could still hear the man. I couldn’t decide whether or not I should call out, “where are you?” I know there are some homeless people that hang out at the park across the street and that it could have been one of them. At one point it sounded like the man was walking away. I couldn’t decide what to do. I went out my front door to listen but I couldn’t hear anyone.  I thought about calling 911, except that I didn’t know where the man was located. I knew I couldn’t go back to sleep though. I also thought about the shows I had watched where they mentioned that if only someone had called 911 the person would still be alive. I didn’t have a phonebook to look up the regular number for the police but I finally remembered I had gotten a book from the chamber of commerce and that they might have the number in that book. I did find the number and called the police station. I told the man that answered that I could hear a man calling for help, but that I had no idea where he was located. He took down my information and told me he would send some officers to check it out and if they had any questions they would contact me. I got dressed and probably five minutes later three officers showed up at my door. They had walked around but the only lights they saw one were mine and they hadn’t heard anyone crying for help. They asked me some questions like how long had I heard the cries, where was I when I first heard them. I invited them in and at first they declined but eventually they came in and asked me a few more questions. They told me that they would hang out for a few more minutes and if I heard the man calling for help again that I should call them back. I told them that I knew the guy on the bottom floor on the left side was an older gentlemen but I didn’t know who was on the right side and that the people under me were two women. They woke up both the guy and the ladies under me and I felt bad about that. I sat in my chair out in the living room for about another five minutes after they had left, debating whether I should try to go back to sleep before I had to get up and get ready for school. I finally decided that I would at least lay back down on my bed until it was time to get up. As soon as I got back to my bedroom I could hear the man calling for help again, but this time it was weaker. I got up quickly and went out my front door.  At that same moment one of the ladies from downstairs was coming out of her apartment and I asked her if she could hear him too. She said that she did and she had called the officers back to tell them that it was the man in the apartment next to them. He was an older gentleman. She went down the sidewalk a little to see if the officers were able to get in and help the man.  They were able to do that. She said that it was lucky that I heard him and that she hadn’t heard him before the police woke her up but after she was awake she had listened for a few minutes and then was able to hear him from her bedroom, but it was very faint. After that I went back into my apartment because I knew there was nothing more I could do. A few minutes later the lady from downstairs knocked on my door to tell me that the police had called an ambulance for the man. She told me that normally she is a light sleeper but was so exhausted that she hadn’t heard anything. She said that their dog hadn’t even barked. She told me again that it was lucky that I had heard the man calling for help and had called the police.

I am so glad that I did hear the man calling for help and that I called the police so that they were able to get him the help he needed. It is scary to think that since this is an old man that lives alone that it could have turned out much differently for him.