Today Is Friday…..

Friday excites me.  Friday means two days of not having to work. 

I like my job, don’t get me wrong.  It frustrates the crap out of me sometimes, but overall the place I work is not bad at all.  It pays well, that’s for sure.  And while I do wish that I was a stay at home mom, or rather a work at home mom, this job isn’t so bad.

This weekend shall be fun.  Cleaning, sitting at home, watching the Jets fight for a chance to play in the Super Bowl sounds like fun, right?  Okay so my weekend doesn’t have huge plans, but it does beat the alternative – work. 

Konnor will not be home this weekend.  That is good and bad.  I like to be able to have some toddler-free time, since he can be so rambunctious when confined in close quarters for an extended period of time, but I do tend to miss his royal cuteness.

I plan to finish mine and Justin’s taxes this weekend.  That’s fun, right??  With having Ariana this year, our returns will be hefty.  Which means I can pay people back and get my new camera!  Now THAT is exciting.  I think I have finalized my camera decision, which has changed a million times, so it will probably change again. 

Oh and I think my friend is having her birthday party this weekend.  Perhaps I should verify that so I don’t miss it.  Haha.

Okay okay enough rambling from me for one post.  Notice I said post, not day. 😛

Meet My Other Half…

Everyone, meet Justin.

Justin is my boyfriend. Yes, boyfriend. (no he doesn’t wear these glasses all the time.  they are mine) We are not married.  Marriage is but a piece of paper.  What he is the father of my daughter. The love of my life. 

I don’t give him enough credit. When I talk about him on my Facebook or on my Twitter, it’s generally when I’m angry. Or hurt. Or sad. Really, no one gets to hear about how wonderful Justin is.

He is my other half. The person I was meant to be with. Through thick and thin, we were meant to be. He is the one.

Though I have had reservations in the past, questions in my mind, those no longer exist. We have had good times, bad times, and times where we were on level ground. Despite all the times we have had, he has been there. When I was unable to work while pregnant with Ariana, he stayed. When he was laid off and looking for a job, I stayed. Through my depression this last holiday season, he was there. Holding my hand. And while he never said it, he was cheering me on, telling me it would all be okay.

Most don’t know our story. When we first met, it was online. *gasp* I know. Say what you will, but this seems more and more common as time goes on. Love has no boundaries and sure doesn’t grasp the concept of distance. So, while I was here in Oregon living my life, he was in West Virginia living his.

At first when we talked, it was casual. That time in my life was full of chaos and mayhem, and an ear was all he could offer me. I took it. I told him about life and the choices I was making and while he was mostly amused, you could also tell there was a bit of concern.

We stopped talking for years. Probably 5 or 6 to say the least. We both lived our different lives, on different sides of the United States. It wasn’t until I logged into Yahoo! on my cell phone that we reconnected. He IM’ed me and after a few hours of IMing him while at work, we exchanged numbers.

From there IMing turned to text and text turned to a phone call. The phone call. All night long (and I mean 9pm to 6am) we talked on the phone about everything. You name it, we talked about it. Even before I knew what was happening, we were falling.

Most people are cautious about love. Often holding back, they miss out on some of life’s greatest opportunities. Just getting out of my relationship with my son’s father, I was a little hesitant. But Justin and I were so right for each other.

Regardless of the distance, we made things work. From playing silly Yahoo! games on the internet, to simultaneously watching The Notebook while on the phone, we were a unique pair. I would leave cute messages on his MySpace, and he would send sweet text messages.

To make this long, adorable story short, not three months after we had started talking, and after a mini vacation to the east coast to visit him, he decided to move out to Oregon so we could be together. I took a flight to Illinois where he met me, and we drove the country together, through torrential downpours in one state, to high winds and country roads in another.

February 7th, 2010 marks two years since we made ourselves official. February 1st marks two years since we reunited and started talking again. Today we have a beautiful daughter to share our journey in life, and are closer than ever. Konnor and Justin adore each other, almost as much as Ariana and Justin do.

He picks up the kids everyday after work. Gets up with Ariana some nights when she doesn’t sleep through. He is a good sport about my crazy ideas and even though he is a picky eater, he will try new things that I cook.  Shopping isn’t one of his favorite things to do, but he will do it.  We are a team.

I love his smile.  His sense of humor.  The way he dresses.  His eyes.  When he is happy, mad, sad, upset, or being a pain in my ass, I still love him. 

Despite all of my mood swings and questions with our relationship, he is here. Always. Hopefully forever.

I love him. With every part of me that is capable of love.  Our journey in life thus far has tested us in so many way, and we have made it out on top.

Deeply Inhaling…

Sometimes life sends us on weird, crazy, absolutely terrible paths that seem bumpy and completely impassable.
Truth be told I thought I wasn’t going to be able to get through the holiday blues this year. As each minute drug into an hour which later became a day, I wanted to curl up and be DONE with it all. Things couldn’t get worse. Struggling to get up each day, running away seemed to be my only getaway.
Waiting for the inevitable, I watched the depression blanket my heart. Konnor and Ariana no longer seemed to warm my heart, and I thought for sure I was going to give up. I could see them drifting further and further away. Writing, blogging, photographing were all chores not, not happiness.  No fight left in me, I waited for the storm to pass. Or engulf me into eternal sadness.
As I waited, however, I realized something. My name is Alexandra. The one that ran away as a Sophomore. The same girl that dealt with death, sadness, divorce. I have a mother who has been to hell and back in life, and raising me was far from easy. Emotional as I may be, I am stubborn and strong. Why in the hell am I sitting here, feeling sorry for myself? I have been in worse situations. Now I am a mother, and life has thrown me curves, but those two little faces mean more to me than this world could ever give me.
Standing up and brushing myself off, my determination to get through this darkness in my life started.
Between positive thoughts and a strong support system, I broke through. Knowing that two little smiles, four beautiful eyes, and voices as loud as my own, needed me was what really pulled me. You see, one’s heart is not really able to be full of sadness when you are consumed by so much unconditional love.
Over the last month or so, I have learned that I need to slow down. Take it all in. Realize that I have come so far to get where I am today. Things don’t always go how I want them to, but that is part of life. For a moment in time I forgot the saying I live by: everything happens for a reason. Fact.
And all of a sudden, the little things, which is most important to me, matter again. I have a new appreciation for the world around me. Again, I am happy.

I Came Back!!

After a little over a week since having the teeth yanked (and I took a few days before hand to prep for it), I am back!!  Yay, right?  Lol.  Almost fully off the drugs (pain pills, people!), my head is finally in a clear enough state for me to write again.  That last post……… Totally don’t remember actually writing it, much less posting.  Yikes!

So having wisdom teeth pulled sure does make you feel stupid for a while.  Thanks Mr. Oral Surgeon for contributing to that.  Honestly though, I was out of it for at least a week.  Trying to remember what events occurred is next to impossible.  Including my going to work Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.

Did everyone have a wonderful Thanksgiving?  Lots of turkey, mashed potatoes, and PIE??? Mmmm, pie!  My favorite dish of Thanksgiving is the cranberry sauce.  Yummmmmmy!

Whelp, I have a couple things coming up here.  Couple videos of the monster children, and I *need* to get my Monday Mingle done.  With that said, I’m off!

~Alex

All About Electricity and Outages (Part 2)

Disaster always seems to strike at the wrong time.  Or maybe that’s why it is a disaster.  I mean, who wants to really sit in their house, dead of winter, with no electricity and no heat?  I sure don’t.  Neither do the thousands of customers that are affected by a winter storm.
 

This is why PGE works around the clock during a large outage to get power restored as soon as possible!! We have crews out in the field, working 12-14 hour shifts, fixing lines, removing debris, and replacing poles.  Meanwhile,  there are representatives in the call center taking calls around the clock, also working 12 hour shifts.  It doesn’t matter the time of day, or the year for that matter.

All of that being said, here are some helpful hints as the winter season approaches, and the chances of losing your power for hours (or even days) increases:

• Make an outage kit!!  This should include a flashlight with extra batteries, a battery-powered radio (so you can get updates), a battery-powered alarm clock, bottled water, canned food (enough for a few days), manual can opener, blankets, candles, a lighter, and a first-aid kid.
• Make sure you have cash on you!! You never know what the extent of any winter storm will be, and you may not have access to an ATM or bank.
• Stay calm!!
• If there as anyone in the home that needs electricity to live, consider a generator.  Most electric companies don’t put a house on high priority because there is a medical condition.  (This may seem harsh, but in a large outage, there are lines and trees down and safety is #1)
• If you see a line along the road, in the yard, or anywhere else, make sure no one goes near it!! The chances are it isn’t a “live wire” but you should always assume it is.  Power lines are EXTREMELY dangerous!!  Call your electric company to report any lines or poles that are down. 
• Check on neighbors and the elderly to make sure they are handling the outage okay.
• Turn off all your breakers except one that is labeled for the lights.  The last thing you want is a surge in electricity when the power is restored, possibly causing damage to appliances.

You can find these tips and more on the Safety & Outages portion of PGE’s website, or at American Red Cross.

While I sometimes don’t have all the answers, I have many resources to get the answers I need.  With that, I leave you with the open invitation to email me with any questions you have at JAKA(dot)files(at)yahoo(dot)com.  I will be more than happy to answer questions and/or find the answers.

All About Electricity and Savings (Part 1)

As some of you know (and some don’t), I work for the electric company in Portland, Oregon.  While PGE is a great company to work for (most of the time), the winter season is always the hardest.  Between the holidays and the rising costs of electric bills due to heating costs, it can be frustrating for both customers and the representatives answering calls.

Each year, PGE gives all customer services representatives a “refresher” course on “high bill training.”  We go over a TON of material to help us in answering inquiries from customers in regards to higher bills in the winter.  That’s what I will be focusing on in this post.  Tips on things you can do around your home to make sure you are getting the most for your dollar.

On average, a household’s breakdown of their electric bill is: 60% to heating and cooling, 20% to heating water, and 20% for everything else.  This is assuming they live in an all electric home (no gas).  Ultimately, if your bill is $100, $60 of that goes to heating and cooling, $20 to heating water, and $20 to everything else.

So how do I reduce my electric bill?  Well, there are many ways.  You can visit PGE’s website, and we have an Efficiancy section of the website.   Check out this calculator where you can manually figure out what each appliance is costing you per hour, per day, or even per month!  I use this talking to customers ALL THE TIME!

Here are my quick suggestions (which I have learned from PGE’s training):

• Cover your pipes!!  Cover the pipes used for hot water to keep the heat in.  Use covers for the cold pipes to avoid the water freezing.  You can buy pipe covering (like the picture on the right) at your local Lowe’s, Home Depot or other home hardware store in your area.
• Cover your windows with plastic.  Really.  This helps to keep the heat in, and the cold out.
• Shut doors to rooms you aren’t using.  Leaving doors open will cause drafts in your home.
• Let the sun shine!!  If, by a miracle, the sun comes out, open your drapes or blinds!  The sun is a great, free, way to warm up your home.  Plus, you can turn off lights, and save more!  Double whamey. 🙂
• Make sure your water heater is working properly!! The number one reason that people have increased bills in a short period of time is a malfunctioning water heater. 
• Check for leaks.  There are three places the water heater can leak from:
• At the water heater itself.  Check for water surrounding your tank.
• Leaky faucets in the home.  Make sure there is no drippy, leaky faucets.
• Under the house.  While it sounds like no fun to do so, you should check for leaky pipes under your house a couple times of year. 
• Check the temperature of the hot water coming out of the faucet.  You should set your water in the kitchen or bathroom on hot, and fill a glass.  Using a thermometer, check the temperature.  Compare that to the setting on your water heater.  The recommended temperature setting for any water heater is 120 degrees F.
• Flush your water heater at least once a year.  This is something I JUST learned, and was absolutely horrified to learn you are suppose to do this.  For a how-to on this, check Wiki’s step-by-step guide.  Can you believe there is gunk at the bottom of your water heater? EWW!!!
• Heating elements in the water heater don’t last forever.  Wiki’s How To can walk you through how to test to make sure your heating elements are in working order.  The easiest way to tell if one of them is malfunctioning, or needs to be replaced, is if you seem to run out of hot water faster than normal.  Having no hot water could mean both are out.
• Turn off the lights you are not using!
• A full freezer uses less electricity than one that is not.  Since the freezer will have less empty space to freeze and more food to freeze, the temperature will stay at a lower temperature consistently.

Random facts and things you may not know:

• Most appliances that are plugged in use electricity.  Anything with a little light (microwave w/ digital display, phone chargers, alarm clocks, and yes, even the PS2!) drains electricity.  It may be a little bit, but that could add up to dollars a year!!
• You will stay warmer if your house is arranged correctly.  Keep your furniture where you sit and sleep on inside walls.  Outside walls and hallways tend to be drafty.
• If you have baseboard heating, check your thermostats!!  Most of them don’t have an “off” switch, only a “low” setting.  This means your heat can come on, even if you are on “low” if the temperature in your house gets below whatever “low” means.  It is very inefficient.  I have baseboard heating in my house, and the heat gets shut off at the breakers most of the year to avoid unwanted heat. 
• Older style thermostats are extremely inefficient. It may say that you are heating to 65, but the reality is, it could be 60 or 75!  Home Depot has a great device that measures the temperature inside your home, but you can find them just about anywhere starting at $10!

Oh my goodness, I could go on and on with energy savings tips.  I really had to force myself to stop.  Hehe!

While I sometimes don’t have all the answers, I have many resources to get the answers I need. With that, I leave you with the open invitation to email me with any questions you have at JAKA(dot)files(at)yahoo(dot)com. I will be more than happy to answer questions and/or find the answers.

I Chose This Life…

I was recently asked an absolutely outlandish question by someone I considered to be a friend.  Some may not feel this question is so out of line, but it took me by surprise.

A friend asked me if I would ever give my kids up for adoption in turn for the life of partying that I used to have.  If i regretted my children or the choices in my life.

Perhaps this question was asked because she, herself, has a two year-old.  And maybe she, since she broke up with his father, is questioning whether keeping her child was the right route to take.  Lately, she has been (excuse my language) “whoring around” and partying like we did when we were in high school. 

I was not a good teenager.  Haha.  I think most of my mother’s gray hairs were thanks to me and my crazy days.  Me and this friend used to party a lot, though we never got into any trouble with the law.  Probably should have, but we got lucky.

When I got pregnant with Konnor, of course I stopped everything.  The smoking, the drinking, the parties, and even hanging out with most of those people.  It was all different for me.  From the moment I found out I was pregnant, I went into “mommy mode.” No questions asked, that’s just where I knew I needed to be.  All my life I wanted to be a mom.  Taking care of my younger siblings growing up gave me a lot of the wisdom and strength in mommyhood that I have.

Anyways, back on topic here.  Without hesitation, my answer to her was “no.”  I don’t feel that you should live life with regrets.  You take everything that is throw at you, good or bad, and you grow from it.  Learn from the mistakes you make, cherish the good times, brush off the bad.  Don’t let your past come back and bring you down.  Everything happens for a reason, and that is a quote that I have come to live by.

I know that if I wouldn’t have been stupid and done crazy dumb things when I was younger, I wouldn’t have my children.  I would have never met Justin.  Who knows where I would be and what I would be doing, but I know that I wouldn’t be where I am.  Who cares what my life would have been like if I would have done this or that differently.  Living my life the way I wanted to has brought me where I am today.  I can honestly say that I am happy.  We may not have a ton of money, but we are living.  The kids may not have or get everything they want, but if they did, they would be spoiled. 

Growing up in a family without a lot of money, I can comprehend the value of a dollar.  I can make that dollar stretch.  Not everyone can say that.  That’s okay with me.  Every decision that I have ever made, I can stand by.  I may not be proud of all of them, but they were my own, and I can embrace that ownership.

Okay, rant over.

My Customers…

So I work for the electric company in Portland. While I love how much I get paid, i seriously despise my job. We are the only company for most of the Portland area, so when our customers get mad at us, WE HEAR ABOUT IT!!! While these are few and far between, it does make the job seirously draining.

Just a few moments ago, however, I had a silly customer. He had a simple question which I answered. When I asked him if there was anything else I could help him with, he said:

Customer: There is one other thing I would like to say.
Me: Sure.
C: What did the fish say when he hit the brick wall?
M: I don’t know
C: DAMN!

I don’t know why I found that so funny, but eh. It’s the little things, right?