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