T.J.'s 18th Birthday...My Baby Bro all grown up

So today was T.J.'s 18th birthday and we had a celebration shindig at my parents' house. It was nice and intimate with our lil family. We had good Hawaiian and Chinese food, may sound like a funny combination, but it was sabroso! Hehehe. I still can't believe Teej is 18. Mannn...it seems like such a short time ago we were laughing forever during our short grocery shopping trips trying to make it up and over the hill without stepping on the gas, and hiding under blankets when we were little. Lots of memories. My parents got a pretty cool cake too.

Handsome brother. Hehehe. My parents went to Goldilocks (the Filipino bakery) to special order this and they said they had 4 cashiers lined up to help them pick which picture to put on the cake. Can you tell it's his senior pic? Hehe. Can't believe he's graduating already. Before I know it, he'll be on his mission! He's grown up to be a pretty good guy though. I love him with all my heart. Just as Jubie and I were best friends growing up, so have T.J. and I been. I don't know if it's that 6-7 year age difference or what...but we definitely have an awesome bond. After cutting the cake we each took some time saying what we love about him, and afterwards he told us how appreciative he was of all of us, and he even started tearing up with my parents. We just missed Jubie & James and their kids, but T.J. mentioned Jubie too and their walk on the beach and how she lectured him. Hahaha...sounds like my sister. Funny thing is they called not even 5 minutes after we were talking about them.

Speaking of my sissy...I miss her. Last night I put on the PJs she game me last year "So cute it's tiring." Hehehe. And today I was wearing the earrings that match the pair I gave her. I miss shopping and stuff with her. I know, sounds so dumb, but it's not about the materialistic...we always talk when we shopped, and vent, and look for cute stuff for each other. It's a bonding experience. I think most women would agree. Lol. I hope they come up for Christmas...I dunno if James is going to have his back surgery, but I hope that everything works out and I get to see them sometime within the next few months.

Church was fun today. Spiritually uplifting and all. I shared my testimony before the end of Sacrament meeting and had the whole congregation cracking up because I said they were "old." Lol..you had to be there. I didn't mean it in a bad way, and I'm sure they understood. They are such a lively bunch! I love when they share their comments and experiences - they have such a sense of humor and wisdom too! It was a compliment...something I aspire to. Hehehe...aspire to be old, funny, and full of wisdom. I am going to miss that ward though, but I'm sure we'll grow to love the other Castro Valley ward. We meet in the same building so I'm glad we still get to see the great friends we've already made. It's a bummer that we moved only 1 block out of the ward boundaries, but hey, the church leaders made boundaries for a reason, and we have to follow their counsel. One thing I love about the church, it's the same no matter where you go, and it's for sure that you'll find good people. Plus, we already know a few families in the other ward, and they're sweet too.

My hubby's waiting for me to spend quality time with him. We're gonna watch Chronicles of Narnia! Ooh we saw This Christmas tonight, it was a really great movie, you should watch it. Very warm-hearted, good family movie. Here's a few more pics from tonight before I go.

My first blog...no introductions, just me

Well this is nice, I finally started a blog! Funny word. Anyhow...still settling in to our new home. Can't stop being grateful for this place. Last night we got our Christmas tree and started decorating! It's pretty. I took lots of pictures too. I have been waiting to get a tree since summer. Hahaha. I love Christmas!

So I finally started cooking again since we moved, made my hubby a chicken noodle casserole to enjoy. He actually took real food to work today, in comparison to frozen or microwaveable that he's been dealing with since before the move. He's been so good, always treating me like a princess. I don't think I've done laundry in months, Rigo has taken it on as his chore. And now that we have a bigger, nicer place, he's even more committed to keeping it clean. The only chore he doesn't like doing is dishes, but he still does it. It's nice to have an understanding husband who helps clean and cook (well, you know, throw things in the oven and fry stuff up, oh but he can make yummy steak). I know a lot of men don't help around the house much and depend on the women for that, actually I was having this conversation with my sister. So we're lucky the hubbies help. Rigo says I'm the princess, and when I have a daughter, I graduate to Queen. Hahahahaha.

Anyhow, I'm not looking forward to going back to work tomorrow. But at least I have a 3 day weekend to look forward to . Then back to a 6 out of 7 day stretch. Don't get me wrong, I love my job, I love being a nurse and helping people, but it's exhausting. After the 3rd day, I'm pooped. Running around like a chicken without a head. Being an RN is not just physical, it's mental, and emotional as well. Most jobs it's one or the other, but as a nurse, you have to multi-task continually. And after the shift, you're still not done. But that's why nursing care is 24 hours.
Monday was just a horrible day. After calling in sick all last weekend, I thought "Well, I'm feeling a little better, I'll go to work." Boy, I would have rather worked a nice weekend than having such a bad day. None of us got our 15 minute breaks because we were so busy. The Transitional Care Unit can be compared to the spinning door of a fancy hotel. Patients go in, and go out. Constantly. I received a patient from the Critical Care Unit at 1700 (5 o'clock) and at 1900 (7 o'clock) they were writing orders to transfer the patient to the Medical/Surgical floor. What a headache. Literally, 2 hours! Poor patients. And, this patient wasn't even stable. Actually, all 3 of my patients were having low blood pressure, like in the 80s. And here, management and supervisor trying to push us to transfer out our patients so that we can admit all the ER patients. WTH?! So they can crash on the floor. So much pressure...I've realized that they don't see the patients as human beings, all they cared about were numbers, budget, blah blah blah. So if I transfer my patient out and they code on the floor, what happens? I'm gonna be on the spot and they'll be asking me why I let the patient go to to floor. Anyhow, bottom line, I kept my patients, had the doctor cancel the transfer orders, and my patients blood pressures went back up to 100s by the end of shift. Thank goodness. It's funny because you would think I would be frustrated dealing with patients, but in this case I was frustrated with management. What happened to customer service and good nursing care??

Anyhow...back to life. I pulled out all my old photo albums and labeled them so that I can be more organized cuz I have a ton of boxes filled with pictures that need to be put in albums. It was actually nice though because I got to see pictures I haven't looked at in years and reminisce a little. Before I went to work, of course. But I'm going to work on it again, it will be my next big project. It'll probably take me months, but that's okay, I like stuff like that. Just like scrapbooking. I don't remember how long it took me to do my wedding scrapbook. A year or so, I think.

I'm planning on taking my little brother to the mall today so that I can buy him his birthday present. I really wanted to get him something that he can use when he goes on a mission, but when I asked my brother-in-law (who just got back from his mission in Colorado less than a year ago), he said the one thing he would have wanted was knowledge. Which I obviously can't gift wrap. I thought of getting him a journal and engraving "Elder Rieta" on it so he can aspire to be a missionary, but maybe that will be Christmas. If my sister doesn't steal that idea. We'll see. I miss my sister. She's closer than she's ever been down in San Diego. Which is much better than Arizona or Oregon, but now I have my family to take care of and visiting is just such a challenge. I miss my lil nephews and my beautiful niece Ysella who is growing way too fast. Jubie told me that she liked her name because it was like mine, but I think James will say otherwise. Hahaha. I still claim she was named after me. I mean, come on, who wouldn't want to be named after me? Hehehe. Jubie used to call me "Riesela" when I was younger. You know, just adding the 'a' at the end. So she always liked that name. Therefore - Riesella - Ysella...ok, I'm done.
I can't wait to have my own baby so I can come up with some crazy name... hahaha my poor children. J/K. Anyhow, I have to get ready so I can visit my parents and pick up the stuff Jubie sent for me, since Rojohn took the baby stuff. Hahaha...it's okay, I'm not pregnant yet. I'm just grateful to have a sister who's sweet and caring enough to give up clothes (and I know she was keeping some of them for sentimental value, plus she's a pack rat like the rest of us Rietas). I'll just borrow them back when my baby comes. Besides, sharing is caring (plus, that's what family is for! hehehe). And I know I'll have plenty of clothes when I have a baby. I mean, you should see my closet. And my dresser. And under my bed. Ok, you get the picture. Well that's all for now.