I'm a Bengal

I have been accepted at Idaho State University and will begin classes on January 7th (or so). Now comes the joy of applying for financial aid, registering for classes, and balancing the time when I will be at school and Jessica will be at work. FUN!

This news also means that we finally know exactly where we're going to live. That also means that we're moving this weekend. Depending on how efficient we are, this could be on Friday or Saturday.

More news will come later, as I won't spend much time here NOT packing (although it sounds good to me). While you wait, you can laugh at the ridiculously orange school logo.

Note how this particular Bengal has obsessive compulsive disorder, as displayed by his strangely symmetrical claw marks.

East Idaho Trip Update

Since Mike lost his job and decided to go back to school, we've been looking for jobs and apartments in East Idaho. However, we found it very difficult to do this while still living in West Idaho. So Sunday the 23rd, after choir practice, I left Nampa for my mom's house in Shelley. The original plan was that my move was permanent. Mike and the kids would join me later after finishing up the packing and getting Hyrum's school records transferred. I missed my family, but it felt so great to be back in that area again. Since we've moved out here, I feel almost paralyzed by the city. We don't have any friends, I don't know the roads, I hate our neighborhood and am afraid to let the kids go outside. Because of all this, I never leave the house and have become antisocial. Not healthy, I know. There were plenty of things I didn't like about East Idaho, like how people there are cliquish and how every store and restaurant plays country music. Still, East Idaho is home to me, and not just because that's where I grew up. I enjoyed just driving down the familiar roads and visiting with my old friends who have been anxiously awaiting our move back to the area. The feeling of freedom seemed to confirm to me that we were making the right choice. I feel like I can finally get back to being healthy again.

Monday, I found an apartment. I looked at a few places, but for the money and space, the best option was a complex just down the road from the credit union where my mom works. I never would have thought I'd live in Shelley. The problem was, there was a ton of paperwork to be approved to live there. They gave me an estimate of at least a 3 week wait. That meant 3 weeks before the rest of the family could come join me. We decided not to worry about that until we had to.

Tuesday, I found a job... kind of. I applied at a company called Center Partners which is a call outsourcing company I've worked for before. I used to be on the Qwest Loyalty and Retention account, but Qwest has since moved all their call centers in-house. You have to be a top agent in the Qwest general queue before being considered for a loyalty agent position. This all worked out great for me since they said that any accounts they currently have would be a cake walk after my retention experience. They gave me a basic computer skills test and set me up for an interview on December 3rd. I was told that it was mostly a formality, and that I'd be offered a job unless they found something wrong in my past HR records or if I messed up badly in my interview. I was one of their top loyalty agents in both quality and save rate and received more kudos calls of anyone in the center, so I wasn't worried. Then came the bad news. The training class wouldn't start until mid January. I decided to begin looking for temp work the next morning.

My temp job search didn't go as well as everything else had up to that point. I applied for seasonal work at Walmart only to find out that I couldn't work at the Idaho Falls store because my aunt works in personnel there. I couldn't work at the Ammon store either, because they had entered a hiring freeze. I did, however submit my application to the Blackfoot store. I planned to apply at Shopko, Target, and other such stores after Thanksgiving.

I enjoyed Thanksgiving dinner at my Aunt Judy's house the next day. We had a nice time visiting and playing games. Mike and the kids had dinner at my brother James's house in Boise. After dinner, they drove out to Shelley for the weekend.

Friday, we opted to stay out of the after Thanksgiving shopping traffic and submitted applications online instead. On Saturday, Mike got a call from the Ammon Walmart for a job and went to a late night interview. They offered him a position as a cart pusher on a temp/seasonal basis and told him to go for a drug test on Monday. I was surprised since I had been told they had a hiring freeze. However, when he went for his drug test on Monday morning, the store manager told him that the assistant manager had hired him by accident and that they weren't accepting new employees. Still, he did say that he might need someone in the electronics department, so Mike is hoping to get a call about that soon.

Hyrum had Friday and Monday off for Thanksgiving break, but had to be back on Tuesday. So the plan was for Mike to head home after his drug test on Monday. Instead, he decided to stick around until after my interview on Wednesday and take me back with him since the temp job idea wasn't working out. He decided to use his free time to meet with advisers at BYU-I and ISU since he still hasn't decided which school to go to or what to major in. ISU couldn't fit him in for an appointment, so we drove to Rexburg. He got a lot of good information, but now he's even more unsure of which school he'll attend. He found out that he can take his entire first year at ISU remotely at the Idaho Falls campus. That would be really convenient, but ISU doesn't have the exact major he wants most and BYU-I does. I don't really care which school he chooses. I just wish he'd choose!

Wednesday was my interview at Center Partners. I showed up early and was the only candidate dressed appropriately for an interview. I thought I had it locked. The HR director took me back to the call floor and began chatting to me about the people I knew when I worked there 7 years ago and how all the accounts and buildings had changed. We went to the break room where she got me a large cup of hot chocolate, then we returned to her office for the interview. I set my hot chocolate on the edge of her desk while I pulled off my coat. Well, you all know what a klutz I am. Yep, I knocked the hot chocolate over with my coat sleeve. It spilled all over her desk and the 2 inches of paperwork she had piled on it. I quickly ran back to the break room for paper towels and water, and we spent the next several minutes cleaning up the mess and trying to save her memos and reports. The spill narrowly missed an envelope of her kids' school pictures. I felt terrible. She had to sit on her jacket because the hot chocolate had dribbled off her desk and soaked her chair. I must be totally awesome because I still got the job!

We're home now, and it feels good to be back. I'm anxious to move to East Idaho, but my mom's house was just a little too crowded with the 4 of us and Sherwin's son Dale and daughter Donna visiting as well. We're hoping to hear from the apartment complex soon. Until then, we get to do my least favorite chore... packing.

Tomorrow is Emily's 2nd birthday. We'll see if I can find the time to make a video of that.

Happy Birthday, Hyrum!

As I mentioned at the end of my last post, Hyrum's 5th birthday was Monday! I can't believe he's already 5 years old. Wow.


Hyrum and Emily helped Mike make a fort in our living room on Sunday. This was quite a feat since our living room is about the size of a shoe box. After Emily went to bed, Mike and Hyrum put pillows and sleeping bags in the fort and fell asleep watching movies. Hyrum loved it! He's about the only one who did. Well, maybe our cat liked it. Hyrum kept waking up Mike every few minutes to kiss him and tell him he was happy, and Mike ended up with a sore arm from sleeping on the ground. Emily was upset that Hyrum wasn't sleeping in the bedroom with her and kept waking up crying. This, along with Mike's occasional trips to the bedroom to tell me he was sore and miserable kept me awake all night too. It's a good thing Hyrum has school in the afternoon!


Monday, after Hyrum came home from school, we went to IHOP to eat and open presents. Now, this may sound odd to you. Why IHOP? Why not Chuck E. Cheese or some other kid type place? Well, IHOP is most decidedly Hyrum's favorite restaurant. What can I say? Pancakes are one of the few things he'll eat. Pizza isn't.

Here's how things went at IHOP. If you want to see all 7 videos in their full version and with full audio, they're posted on my facebook. Someday maybe we'll get a real video camera instead of one that's primarily for stills. Also, yes. I know the music is weird. I like it.




We had a good time at IHOP despite the waiter who intruded on our table far more often than was necessary. I'll forgive him since he gave Emily free yogurt and Hyrum free ice cream. I only wish I had gotten a video of him trying to sing "Happy Birthday to You." I gave up trying to sing along after the 12th key change. Sorry... I have a hard time not slipping back into snooty music major mode sometimes.


Hyrum got Cooties from Grandma and Grandpa Crooks. ~Sigh~ *gets out the shampoo.* We got him a sweater, a shirt and a Simon game.


We're still looking for a new apartment and job. The trouble is knowing which city to look in. Mike applied at BYU-I and ISU, but we don't know where he'll go yet. Problem is, Rexburg and Pocatello are rather far apart. If Mike does ISU, he'll probably try to take as many classes as possible at the satellite campus in Idaho Falls, but he'll still have to go to Pocatello for a few others. So I guess, not knowing where he'll be, Rigby might be the best place for us to live. It's about halfway between Rexburg and Idaho Falls. But do I really want to live in Rigby again? There's a house for rent in my old neighborhood, only about 2 blocks from where I lived. Feels a little strange. Living in Idaho Falls or Shelley would be better if Mike ends up at ISU. ARGH! I just don't know! All that being said, we're rather optimistic. We're just... a little stressed.


I'll update the blog again when things settle down a bit. Or at the very least, when we have some more definite plans.

Again...

For those of you who don't know yet, Mike lost his job on Friday. Due to reasons we've mentioned in past posts, the company was no longer financially able to retain him as an employee. There's good and bad to this. The bad, obviously, is that we have no income at the moment. The good news is that we're planning to have Mike go back to school! This is also good news for me, not because I'll have to work full time after being a stay-at-home mom for 5 years, but because we're most likely moving back to East Idaho. I've been wanting to move back ever since we left. But, ugh... I hate job and apartment hunting. It's especially hard when we live in another city. We'll probably have to take a few days for a trip out there for interviews and to look at apartments and houses to rent. Mike has already looked at both BYU-I and ISU. He has missed enrollment for Winter Semester at BYU-I, and ISU doesn't list any admissions deadlines. So we're waiting to hear back from counselors from each school. We also need to figure out what will happen with Hyrum's school. I really hope that there's another school he can transfer to without having to retest.

We had a good Halloween. Mom came to visit for Tessie's baby shower which was on November 1st, so she was able to come trunk-or-treating with us and the kids. I procrastinated making costumes for the kids, and had nothing for them to wear. I ended up digging out old costumes from years past. Emily wore Hyrum's dinosaur costume that he wore when he was just under a year old. Mike had to literally cram her into it with his knee on her back to get it to fit. Oh well. She loved it! She was pretty upset when we took it off to put her pajamas on. Hyrum also wore a too small kitty costume from 2 years ago. His wasn't nearly as small as Emily's was. It nearly fit him except that the sleeves were too small. He loved being a kitty. Emily enjoyed petting his fur and scratching his ears. Our friend Phil and his daughter Anna visited as well and joined us in a quick door-to-door trick-or-treat around a nearby neighborhood.

I don't have any pictures of the kids in costume. Sorry. What I do have is Hyrum's new school picture complete with a fake "smile" and messy hair. Enjoy!

Look forward to our next post after Hyrum's 5th birthday on Monday! (hopefully)

If only...

Big changes are happening in the company I work for, and, unfortunately, they're not too great. Where to start...

As I may have explained before, the owner owns two companies: Recreation Idaho and Sunshine Recreation. Both companies in the same business, just separated territories: Sunshine in Utah and, well, guess where Recreation Idaho covers. I was hired for Utah's office work and have never been employed by the Idaho division. However, since the owners' health has decreased dramatically over the past year, I have had a significant hand in the office work of both companies.

The market in Utah is very... "different" from that of anywhere else in the country. The people there care very little of quality and everything of price. Which means that a company that sells quality products and service like ours hasn't ever competed very well. My personal belief is that the teachings of "thrift" to the general population in Utah goes a little bit too far. We got the feeling that the idea of business down there is, "If you can't give it to me for little or no profit, you should give it to me at a loss." I know this is stereotypical, but if the shoe fits...

I would be lying if I said that was the only reason the Utah company failed. I place most of the blame for Sunshine's failure on the messenger of our companies profits and values. The salesman in Utah based everything on discounting to make people happy, rather than being firm on if you want it good and want it to last, buy from us. He has single-handily cause the company no success where so much potential lies.

So, now the owner is closing the Utah operation. It's stayed in the red-ink far too long and it's just not feasible to keep the company open while employing 5 employees. Lucky for me, my integral part in the operations of Idaho leaves me still with a job, although the pay increase I received a few months ago will be limited again. Looks like another hard Winter ahead of us.

However, there is one opportunity to all this that presents itself to us. What if... I became the new dealership in Utah? The possibility presents itself to be self-employed in a very profitable business from now until retirement. All the while presenting a good company name that can last beyond the 2-5 year stints that have fated previous operations in Utah. It's the perfect opportunity. The product is an excellent one, it speaks for itself and is the leader in Playground development, quality, and service. There is little difficulty in targeting your market and advertising to your customers, because they're already looking for you.

So, how could I make a difference where others could not in the past? Well, I won't bore you with the details (although the details is what gets me excited). However, I have to present a plan to the regional manager of Playworld and the owner of our company.

we also have an advantage of being able to go wherever we want to. Boise is not a bad place, but there isn't anything we can think of that ties us down here. It's just a community that we've never really bonded well with. It's not fun having no friends, but it is a good feeling knowing that we can up and leave if ever we needed to.

But then, there is also a reality. As much as opportunities like these rarely EVER present itself to anyone in their lifetimes, the timing is not good right now. Typical Playworld dealers need to front $20k in contract as a dealer. We would also need a minimum of $15k for start up business costs... kind of. You really don't need much money for start up costs, but it would be good if we had 1- several months of living expenses while we get things started up and 2- an operating line for those un-paying or delinquent customers. All I would need is a loan-- oh, yeah. Most banks are freezing loans. Well, maybe I can get one against the assets I own-- oh, yeah. What assets?

Were we in the position to make the step, we would do so. But as it stands now, the step is more of a hurdle. We simply don't have the means to do what we want. I'll keep looking for this opportunity again, and more importantly, planning for it when it presents it's beautiful head again. In the meantime, I'm still going to present my plan to the big guys, just to get some feedback and know what is expected in the future.

Posted thoughts

Been awhile since we've posted, so here's something I wrote to Dan awhile back to fill the void:

I saw something strange on my toilet paper package. It said at the bottom of the package, "24 Rolls/Rollos - 1002.0 SQ FT/PIES²"

The first thing I thought was, Why did they have to put .0 at the end of the number? Couldn't they just leave it as 1002 sq ft? Then I saw that they squared "pies." That got me extremely confused! It's spelled PI -- I can't believe they got that wrong. And why are they using PI in a toilet paper roll formula anyway? Perhaps they measure the size of a roll of toilet paper by taking PI and squaring it... but then there is no associated measurement from the actual roll (like radius to figure out the area of a 2-dimensional circle). The actual equation they intended may have been 1002sq ft divided by PI squared. But still -- PIES? Maybe they meant "Plys" as in "Double Ply?" Man, what a really funny typo!


I found out later that PIES means "Feet" in Spanish... Oh, well.