The LaGreca Family

At the beginning of the month, I mentioned the fact that I lost my job at HSBC after 4 1/2 years. And then we left for Buffalo 2 days later. (BTW – here is the link for the Buffalo album, I finished posting the last of the pictures).

While we were on vacation in Buffalo, I received numerous voicemails and emails from recruiters and friends on job postings all over San Diego. What a blessing! Although, I have to admit, it was very hard to keep up given the 3 hour time change AND the fact that I was trying to have a vacation..and help take care of a very busy little boy! But, all worked out ok. I had a phone interview while we were out there and it went well. We got back last Wed., I finished my last day at HSBC on Thursday (it was so hard to walk out of that building and know that I was never going back), and on Friday morning, I had an interview with Peregrine Semiconductors. I actually know someone that works there, which is fantastic! The interviews went very well, and they called to offer me a job on Friday afternoon. I accepted this week. The “new chapter” begins on Sept. 15th! I am very excited about the job. The company is hip/modern. The VP of Sales (the guy I will be reporting to) is very nice. I think I will fit in well.What a relief to have the job search behind me (and I hadn’t really even started!!) It’s been a whirlwind!

Ok, onto more excited news. (Only parents will appreciate this). After months and months of searching on Craigslist for a stroller, we finally bought one….on sale at REI. I was SO excited! Some of you may have heard about this stroller…it’s amazing – the B.O.B. What a joy to push! I actually WANT to get up in the morning and go for a walk with the boy, because the stroller is THAT nice! (If you are not a parent or have not heard of this stroller..just disregard this part of the post…it really isn’t that exciting). Here it is….the orange & brown B.O.B, I just love it!

Nicholas is obviously as thrilled about the new stroller as we are:

Last Friday afternoon, Bethany and I (a mom friend I met at support group last year) took the boys to La Jolla Shores to play and enjoy the sites. (I just love living in San Diego). There is something SO great about watching little boys play outside. They really, really love to be outdoors. Soon, both of these boys (Erik and Nicholas) will be running around on the grass, kicking a soccer ball, wrestling with each other….are we ready for this???

Nicholas has brought new meaning to the term “Double Fisting“!! I know I have posted a picture of chicken bones before, but I can’t help posting another few. We gave him 2 chicken bones the other night, and he was in heaven!

More pictures coming your way soon………we have a fun-packed holiday weekend planned, so stay-tuned!

We were supposed to fly home today….but, we are still here. On Friday morning, after checking in for our Saturday morning flight, we decided to see if Southwest would extend our trip and put us on a flight next week. Once again, Southwest Airlines comes through for us, and books us on a flight Wednesday morning – and better yet, there looks to be open seats so we will probably get a row to ourselves (very helpful with the boy).

My 2nd thought about “vacation with a baby”: Mom always needs to be prepared for anything…and if she isn’t…there is always Target. It has been a MILLION times colder than we ever thought it could be in Buffalo New York in August. I packed mostly summer clothes & summer PJ’s for Nicholas..and it turns out that he needs warmer PJ’s and long pants (and he actually could have used some socks, but we have just gone without them).

Since my last post, rest assured that the eating has not slowed down. That’s what we do here..everything revolves around the next meal and the next dessert. Joe is in heaven.

I posted a bunch of new pictures in the Buffalo, NY Vacation Album. Take a look if you are interested. Here are a few of my favorites.

We made it to Duff’s for lunch one day and Joe got Wings AND Beef on Weck (2 favorites in Buffalo). Nicholas was really enjoying all the video games around…I think we need to start collecting quarters now.

We thought we would test out the whole “person in a costume” thing while we were at the fair. Nicholas was not excited. I don’t have high hopes for Mickey Mouse now…..so sad.

Ok – time for Mommy to save Nicholas. I love that Joe is still posing…in hopes of getting a nice picture.

“Nick News” – hot off the presses…it looks like Nicholas is going to have 2 more teeth very soon….finally! He has had his bottom teeth for almost 3 months now, and no real signs of the top 2 coming in. Well, I think we are just days away from seeing a top front tooth! Here is a great picture of the growing bottom two.

In honor of the 2008 Summer Olympics, Nicholas has been practicing the butterfly. Watch out Michael Phelps..we are planning to attend the summer games of 2028 to watch Nicholas beat Phelps’ gold medal record.

Joe’s cousin Mary was teaching Nicholas how to Mail-Order shop the other night. He really enjoyed the magazine, especially the $11.95 alphabet train.

I just read this on a friend’s blog and who doesn’t LOVE a game? I guess it’s not really a game..but kind of. And, what’s even better….it’s a game that requires people to leave comments on my blog. Just what I love! Read on…

**Memory Lane** The tag that gets everyone involved. Here’s how you play:

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn’t matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember.

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory of you.

It’s actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I’ll assume you’re playing the game and I’ll come to your blog and leave one about you!

Yah!! I can’t wait to see what everyone comes up with

It’s really hard!

Just when you think you have things under control….what do you do? You go on vacation and mess up the entire schedule/routine. And not just a vacation in the same time zone – we are 3 hours off PST. Ouch! Our plan was to keep Nicholas on CA time….well, that was out the window on Day 2. Keeping him up late (10pm EST) wasn’t hard since we were already out anyway – and his normal bedtime is 7pm-8pm PST. BUT – what we didn’t think of was the sun coming up. Nicholas thought it was time to get up around 6:30am EASTERN TIME. I will let you do the math on that one..it was very painful for Mommy and Daddy.

I don’t have a lot of time to write, but I am trying to upload some pictures to keep you all updated. And hopefully, that will make it easier when I get home.

A couple of other things to note about our trip so far:

(1) You know you are in Buffalo with the LaGreca family when dinner is served on this plate:

(2) There really is nothing like Niagara Falls. And we got to bring our friends, Kristi & Sishir, for their first time! (Of course, it was Nicholas’ first time as well)

-And we went on the “Maid of the Mist” – Nicholas’ first boat ride! (Yes, I was a little nervous)

(3) Kan Jam – a fun game you can only play when you have a big enough backyard. I am guessing they don’t even sell it CA since all of our houses are squished together!

(4) Donuts….cake….pastries….chocolate….custard….I could go on an on. They are serious about their sweets here.

(5) Thunder & Lightening. Holy cow. I wish I could have caught last night’s storm on the camera. It was unbelievable! Joe was running from the front door to the back door to watch. I think it started raining around 7pm last night and it’s 3:30pm the next day…it was still raining 5 minutes ago. No wonder everything is green here.

(6) And, in case we didn’t all know this before..Nicholas loves the water. He is a little fish.

(7) We caved…..Joe and I finally caved….Nicholas had his first ice cream at the Fair. If it was going to be before his 1st birthday…this was a good time. The Erie County Fair is a summer memory for Joe’s many visits to Buffalo. You can imagine how the ice cream went over with the boy…..after all, he is my son…

As most of you know, today is my 30th birthday. And don’t worry — it’s not the “forbidden subject” around me. I like turning 30. Joe planned a fabulous weekend for us. He arranged to have Nicholas spend the night at Grandma & Grandpa LaGreca’s Friday night (my 1st night away from him!!!) Joe had reservations at Chez Loma in Coronado (cute little French bistro). Yummy. And, it was so nice to enjoy a meal together without worrying about the little dude (as much as we love him, it sure is nice to have one night off). After dinner, Joe arranged for us to spend the night on a sailboat (a good friend of ours’ boat). FUN! We walked around the docks and hung out on the boat. It’s great to wake up to the calm water and the overcast bay. just as we were getting up, Miller arrived with her boyfriend, Rick & we all went to breakfast (what a GREAT surprise!)

Around 1pm, we headed back to get Nicholas and found a house FULL of people – a surprise birthday party for me! Cake and ice cream for everyone! It was a great weekend. I enjoyed having some quiet time with Joe..and I enjoyed having a house full of people – the perfect mix on my birthday.

Like I said, I like turning 30. And, as one of my good friends said “it beats the alternative.” A good way to look at it (if you are having a hard time with a birthday).

So – that is the new decade……..wondering what the “new adventure” is? Unfortunately, when I got into the office this morning there was a very big announcement waiting in my inbox. HSBC has decided to shut down the Auto Finance division as of August 11th (Next Monday!). I will be out of job in a few weeks. Joe and I are heading to Buffalo on Wednesday morning for a week and a half. I will probably come back, finish up a few loose ends at the office, and then my 4 1/2 years at HSBC will come to an end.

It was a sad morning. My heart goes out to all my friends at work. Luckily, Joe forced me to get my resume updated a few weeks ago and I have already talked to a recruiter. I know I will land on my feet, and until then, I get to spend some time with my boys….the new adventure begins…