First on the First

Well like most of you, I awoke to a dusting of snow. Nothing major just a dusting. That was around 9 a.m.

Stephanie and I went down to the Kent Station to see Bee Movie and do a little shopping. The movie began around 12:45 p.m. and got done around 2:30-ish. Walking towards the doors I looked @ the ground seeing it was wet said, "Oh, it is raining." Much to my surprise as we got closer to the doors it was snowing like crazy.

I got to test out the front wheel drive of my 40th Birthday Present. My Jetta!!! It handled like a dream. The "skidding" we did was pulling into the our driveway. Which I did on purpose but no major skidding just a little skid.

The snow stopped for awhile until about 5 p.m. when the snow starting coming down in the form of big white fluffy flakes. It is about 8:33 p.m. and it is still coming down.

There are very few things that really tickle my insides. Yep, snow is one of those things. :)

This is our street just out front of our house. My daughter took this photo.

This is what happens when you use the flash on snow. LOL


Bundled up for fun in the snow. :) The hat and scarf are new.

1 of 2: 40th Birthday Celebrations

Oh my gosh! My mom and daughters spoiled me today. First of all, I snuck downstairs and slept on the couch in our torn up basement (while my husband and dad rewired the cable line through another part of the basement wall). While I was sleeping my ham, mashed potato, corn, and crescent roll dinner was being made by them. :) I was in total HEAVEN!!

Then we watched Jeff Dunham video. He is so freaking funny!!! You have to watch this clip on Youtube.com. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FjNse8RDSxs This video is 9 minutes long but it is worth the wait and the watch. :)

Then we had cake to celebrate my birthday. Usually I don't like cake but this is homemade cake and LOVE IT. Look how my mom did the 40

. She did it with the sprinkles. LOVE IT!!!

Then I got to open up an elegantly wrapped gift that went up to my hip. It was freakin' tall. I opened it and got a kick ass telescope. I am such a geek and am looking forward to looking at the moon and stars. You see all the moon photos I have...now I get to see it up close. Now for a clear night. :) Anyone want to join me?

The 2 of 2 birthday celebration will take place on my acutal birthday of December 3! :)

Thanksgiving Eve

I am sure most of you probably had to do some cleaning up today/tonight before cooking tomorrow. I, too, had to some cleaning. Where do I begin? Oh...the piles and piles (more like dust bunny size) of dog hairs. It is amazing how much dog hair there is on our hardwood floors and kitchen lynoleum. I had to swiffer the dog hair first, then vacuum the dirt the dogs bring in, and then mop the floors. UGH!!!

This is culprit to most of the mess. Misty LOVES the outdoors and will get wet and dirty. I even clean her paws off before she is allowed up stairs and she still manages to bring a load of dirt with her. She reminds me of Pigpen from the Peanuts Cartoon.

92.5 House Party 2007

WAHOOO!!! What a fun night. It is 6:16 p.m. the next day and am finally awake enough to begin my math homework. I went with my best-friend Tabitha with whom I also get the pleasure of working with @ Kent-Meridian High School.

I took a BUTT load of 1 to 2 minute video clips of the performers. I am going to figure out a way to compile all the videos together to make on long video. The performers were Coolio( http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=491EFABAB1664AE4 ) , Rob Base and DJ EZ Rock, Naughty by Nature with Special Guest: Toni! Tony! Tone! Candyman made an appearance. He had that one hit wonder Knockin Boots. Oh...Ty Barnette from Last Comic Standing made an appearance as well.

But here are a couple photos from the night. :)


These are 2 dudes that we got talking to outside the Paramount Theater. We all sort of just hung out together. They were sitting behind us during the concert.

New Car for 40th Birthday

With my 40th Birthday coming up (Dec. 3rd) Tom bought me a car. :) There is a long story about why I picked out a Volkwagen Jetta.

There have been 2 cars that I have wanted for a long, long, long time. They are the Honda Prelude and the Volkwagen Jetta. Both cars were first introduced to me by two of my good friends back in the late 80's.

I had wanted a Prelude for so long that nothing else mattered but the time was never right for me until recently. However, Honda is no longer making Preludes which then defaulted to my next choice for a new car. JETTA!!! I test drove a Wolvesburg Edition with manual transmission and fell in love with it but didn't buy it right away. It wasn't until the next day. LOL
The salesmen let me drive my car out of the showroom. It was so much fun to acutally drive it outside for them to fill up the tank, clean the windows, etc. :)

Hmmm.....pet peeves!

We all have pet peeves and I decided to list mine just so that I am not constantly thinking about them. LOL

Here are mine:

1) Drivers not using their turn signal

2) Drivers driving down the middle turn lane just to sit there until it turns green when if they would've waited, to enter turn lane when legally to do so, they could have kept driving b/c the light would be green. :)

3) Co-workers who DO NOT pull their own weight

4) Those who tease others (period).

5) When I repeatedly drop things in a short period of time

6) Those who feel they have to be correct about EVERYTHING!!!

So, those are a few that come to mind right now. I am sure there are more. :)

House Party

First attempt ~ line was busy. Second attempt ~ line was busy. Third attempt ~ line was busy. Fourth attempt ~ well you get the idea. After several attempts the line was ringing and ringing and ringing. It continued to ring until DJ Kaz answered & quickly put me on hold. I heard the annoucement that someone else had won tickets for that hour.
Here I am driving on Hwy-167 Northbound with my phone craddled between my ear and my right shoulder while shifting. I exit @ Willis Street. Turn R at the end of off-ramp. Continue through 2 lights until I am parallel with A&W Rootbeer Restaurant on Willis Street getting ready to turn L onto Central Ave.
I am still on hold when the light should turn green. Now remember I am craddling my cellphone between my right ear and shoulder all while shifting. My destination will Staples at the top of the Kent-Kangely but do I take the easy route? Oh no!! I go my usual which is up E. Titus Street to E. Smith Street and up the hill to Staples.
Once I got to the top of the Smith Street Hill just as I am turning onto Benson/104th Street, Kaz came back on the phone and asked me if I was still holding. I said, Yes and wanted to know why I was holding for so long. Well folks...because I stayed on hold the longest ~ I WON tickets to the 92.5 House Party on Nov. 16th @ the Paramount Theater.


I am so freakin' excited to be seeing Coolio, Rob Base, Naughty by Nature, and Tony, Toni, Tone. Now, I have scanned the photos and put VOID over them so you all cannot print them out to be used for yourselves, but wanted to share my story. :)

First Day of 7th Grade

I am not sure who was more nervous...her or me. I was able to drive her to school this morning. The weather couldn't have been more crappy (pouring down rain) but she still had a smile on her face.

We started with a trip to Starbucks so mom could her fix for the day. Then onto school to get her schedule and find classes. However, when she saw her friends...I was non-existent. LOL

She was really cool about leaving me for her friends. She had a better day than she thought it would be.

I took some photos. She had the clothes, smile, backpack, and shoes. :)

Only 1 Week Left of...

...summer vacation then back to work. What did I do all summer? Hmmm...that seems to be the question that a lot of elementary teachers their students within the first two weeks of school.

My summer began with a trip to Disneyland via plane, train, and autoobile (in that order).

Then Stephanie did volleyball camp @ Kent-Meridian High School.

Then I participated in a week long Special Ed Boot Camp for All @ the WEA Office in Federal Way, WA.

Then Tom and I celebrated our 13th Wedding Anniversary having dinner

@ the Muckleshoot Casino and then staying around for awhile to have some fun.

Then I spent a crazy last weeks of the summer quarter @
GRCC trying to get my assigned class work completed so I

could head off to Seaside, Oregon.

Then I got to have dental and oral surgery on August 22nd. YUCK!!! Skin grafts and root canal. WAHOO!!!

Now, I am sitting around waiting for school to begin. Looking forward to working with my students from last year. :)

What happens when you tell your...

...teenager daughter the word NO? Look at this photo.

She wants to head off to the Westfield Mall and I said, "no." She hates sitting around doing "nothing." Hmmm....she is a lot like me at this age. I never wanted to be home. I had a car to leave and just be where ever but she doesn't have a car on this side of the mountains. Bummer!!!

Look at the sunset photo I got...

...check out the handsome dude in the photo as well. LOL Okay...you cannot see his face but trust me he is good looking. LOL

Now, tell me God does not exist. I LOVE this photo not only because of my husband but because of God's presence with the rays of sunlight. :)

Enjoy!!

Have you ever seen a "BUTT LOAD" of pelicans...

...in person? ...in the ocean?....with seagulls? Well I have and did. I really haven't seen pelicans except in picture books growing up. I may have seen a pelican or two at the zoo but that is probably about it.

So, of course, I took a lot of photos but will only bore you with a couple of photos. Enjoy!!!

What do you get when you take 2 BIG dogs...

a teenage daughter, and her mom and dad to the beach?

You get MASS fun!!! It was actually sunny @ Seaside this year for at least a couple of days. We took Misty and Gus down to the beach and they had so much fun. I wasn't sure how Gus was going to handle the water as it had been 2 years since he had been down at the beach. He was only 6 months when he first experienced the COLD water of the ocean.

Wild Waves

Well, we finally made it to Wild Waves in Federal Way. I bought tickets for $12.00 each and waited and waited for nice weather. Well...the last part of July and first part of August weather has been down right crummy.

Even though we woke up to overcast weather @ 65 degrees outside, we decided to brave it and GO. We all brought our suits just incase the weather warmed up and cleared up but our plan was to go on the rides and then do the water thing.

Well, my daughter and her friend braved the Wild Thing and the Ring of Fire. Both rides go upside down. I am so proud of those two!

Well, to our amazement...the weather turned for the better and my daughter and her friend got to enjoy the wave pool and the slides. :) WAHOO! for them.

College Takes Presidence

Okay...I am in crunch mode for the 12 days. Sometimes I do not know why I allow myself to take more than 1 class during the summer. I always seem to pick classes that require the most amount of work. Reading, Logging onto Blackboard, Math Problems that have a,b,c, parts to them, and writing a lot of papers. UGH!!

Keep my eye on the goal...I will be a Secondary Special Education Math Teacher.

Daughter NOT moving home

Hmmm...just got news (last night Friday the 27th) that my daughter decided not to move back home for her senior year. How do I feel about this? Not sure actually. Relieve? Sadness? Confused? She gave reasons but none that were really difinitive but I will support her decision. :)

She is the one on the right. Yes, those girls are sisters and my daughters. I am a proud mom of a 17 year old, high school senior and a 12.5 year old middle school 7th grader. :) I am the lucky one who gets to be their mom. LOVING every minute of being a mom to these two girls.

3-Day Cancer Walk

You may or may not know this but I am doing a 3-Day Cancer Walk Labor Day Weekend 2007 in Seattle, WA.

I wanted to this last year but didn't have a walking buddy nor a team. This is the year that will challenge me in ways I could never imagine. :) I am totally excited about this experience.

Check out the web site:

http://www.the3day.org/seattle07/venti_americano_addict

Thanks for looking!!

Life in Bullets

• Daily Trips to Starbucks: ~ I like to...no I need to...I want to...I MUST HAVE MY AMERICANO DAILY!!! It is what gets me through the day. :)
• Dirty Dogs: ~ Taking my 80 and 75 pound dogs to Soggy Doggy to be washed by ME and hopefully my daughter. Boy do they STINK!!!
• School : Math 172 ~ Chapter Quiz Wednesday August 1st (which is my wedding anniversary). Education 240 ~ Hecka lot of reading, weekly video viewing, and daily Blackboard Log In. Study for Math Placement Test to see if I can go into the Pre-calculus class to be accepted into a new edcuation program called Math Pipleline Program for ParaEducators.
• Family VacationSeaside (in a couple of weeks). We do this EVERY YEAR!! My parents and us rent a house for a week so we can have a little bit of privacy and we can bring our dogs with us.
• Modifying Parenting Plan: ~ 17 year old moving back home for SENIOR year @ Kent Ridge High School. Why she wants to do this? She wants to get a job and do running start at Highline CC.
• House Cleaning: ~ What is that? Seriously, I find myself cleaning toilets @ 10:30pm. I have to be VERY quiet as my husband is usually in bed by 10:00pm.

That is it...my life in bullets on July 27, 2007