Perks of working for the school district....

I knew it would come to this. I knew I would get so far behind in my blog that I wouldn't want to spend a lot of time catching up on everything. So I guess I will try to do some short ones. A few weeks ago Dave and I went to mesquite for the weekend because Clark County School district employees are given two free nights at the Oasis Resort just for being employees. Since it is only an hour and a half away we decided to take advantage. We left on Friday after work and checked in and had some dinner.


Here we are just being happy we are away from the hustle and bustle of our lives.
On Saturday morning we both had appointments at the spa for massages. I just got one for my neck and shoulders because I had lots of knots in them. I still have lots of knots but I got to experience deep tissue pain for a half hour while listening to soothing music. Dave's masseuse spent most of his hour working on his calves (because he said they needed it) so he was a little disappointed too. Anyway, then we went to St. George to see if we could find some fun stuff to do. We ate at Cafe Rio and then went shopping. Of course we had to stop at Deseret Industries, which Dave loves and I hate. Here are some pictures I took while sitting on one of their couches.

Dave looking for a tie.




Some furniture I though Eliza should buy for her new place down by the river.






My view of the furniture department.







When we got back to Mesquite (by a bunch of back roads) it looked like a tornado had hit and the electricity was out all over town. We found out a huge storm had come through and we had missed it all. The next morning we went to a sacrament meeting there and headed home. It was nice to get away and enjoy the beauty of Mesquite, Nevada.

"We are family...."

Last weekend Dave and I traveled to Utah for a reunion for my family. I always enjoy these but I think this one was especially fun. Mostly because we had the time to just sit and visit with each other. My Mom is almost 90 years old (in exactly one month) and so every chance I have to see her is a blessing, but I also really enjoy my brothers and sisters. It has been quite a while since we were all able to be together.









Here I caught Terry in a candid shot.




















Wendy and Jerry with "Penny".




This was the most popular member of the group. Everyone was vying for the chance to hold her. Thanks to Wendy and Jerry and Dustin and Courtney for bringing her.









Tyler looks like he is having the BEST time!













Now it is back to work. I love what I do but it is hard to go back after having the summer off. Now I remember what it is like for the kids to go back to school.

Rip-off

Memories

I retrieved this from my friend,Jenn's blog....here is a fun little game...Leave a comment on my blog of a memory that you and I have had together. It doesn't matter if you've known me for a short time or a long time--anything you can remember! 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....Don't be shy, this will be fun!

"Let me explain, no it is too much. Let me sum up..."

I have returned! It is hard to believe now that I am back that I was actually in England and Scotland and Ireland for two whole weeks. It was a great trip and I saw a lot and had a marvelous time. I wish some of you had been there! There really is too much to tell it all so I will hit some of the highlights:

Les Miserables in London has to be one of the best. It was unbelievably well done. The acting, the singing, the choreography. Just superb.

We visited Benbow Pond at Hill Farm which is where Wilford Woodruff baptized about 600 people that were in a congregation there, among whom was one of my ancestors. It was a pretty cool experience to see where they lived and were baptized.



Seeing the Paez family at the Edinburgh Castle was so fun. What a surprise. I'm so glad that Jenny has good eyes. Yes I am wearing a big blue poncho but it kept me dry and warm!


We stopped in Preston England to go to the temple there and stayed in the temple accomodations. If you are ever there they are very nice and cost about $9.00 a night and they have laundry facilities which you can use for free. We also ran into one of my cousin's friends and spent a day with her. I love visiting different temples and seeing how they are decorated.




After crossing on the ferry from Liverpool to Dublin and attending a ward in Dublin we traveled down to Kilkenny which is home to the best castle we saw. It has a really nice tour that lasts an hour and is restored to it's former splendor inside and out. It was gorgeous.





We met up with my cousin and her husband who are in Ireland on a mission and they took us to a ship called the Dunbrody which is just like the ones our ancestors crossed the seas in to reach America. They had actors explain what it was like in the steerage compartments and then in the higher class cabins and finally as part of the crew. It was easy to imagine how hard a trip it was.


They also took us clear to the west coast of Ireland to the cliffs of Moher, or should I say the Cliffs of Insanity. It was windy and rainy and cold that day and just added to the atmosphere of the cliffs. This is what I think of when I think of Ireland. They were so cool. There was a lady singing with her harp that had a beautiful Irish voice. It was perfect. The one on the left is Pat, the one on the mission, and on the right is Sande, the cousin I traveled with. They are sisters.


When we left Ireland, we stopped in New York for two days and saw some sights. The Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island were highlights. Definitely awe-inspiring and thought-provoking.



We finished up our trip by going to see Mary Poppins on Broadway in New York. Stupendous! I was surprised by how well done it was. I guess I was basically expecting a high school play kind of performance but it was soooo good. We had seats in the balcony way up but we still thoroughly enjoyed it. When she floated off in the end she passed right in front of us. Amazing!


Well if you made it all the way through you either need to get a life or you are a true friend. Thanks.

Are you jealous?

I will be leaving in the morning for two weeks across the pond, specifically to England, Scotland and Ireland. I am traveling with my cousin, Sande. I seriously doubt if I will put in a blog before I get back as I can't even do it on a regular basis when I am home.

A cute story about Cadence: I was sitting on the couch with her and she wanted to wear my watch. I gave it to her and then she said "Grandma is naughty and has to go to time out." I said, "Why am I naughty?" She explained that I had stolen the watch so I needed to go to time out. She grabbed my hand and took me over to the wall where she has to stand for time out. I stood there trying not to laugh. Zach noticed and asked what I was doing. Cadence explained that I had stolen the watch and was naughty. He kept asking her if I could get out yet. She kept saying, "NO!" Finally he said, "Grandma can get out now." So she came over to me and gave me a hug and said she was sorry (she has to do that when she goes to time out) so I sat down again. About two seconds later she said,"Grandma is naughty again." I think she likes being in control.

A lady of leisure

Any of you who read my children's blogs will probably know all that I put in mine already but too bad. We've had a fun couple of weeks. First of all Audrey got married to Mike Findarle on Saturday the 14th. It was in a beautiful setting up in Midway, Utah. The weather was gorgeous, I even got a little sunburned. The bride was beautiful, the groom handsome, and all went perfectly. The day before I spent mostly with my son, Jacob. I can't remember the last time I went to two movies in one day but we did. We saw "The Incredible Hulk" which I enjoyed a lot. Then we saw "Kung Fu Panda" which was cute but not outstanding in my point of view.

I decided that driving to North Las Vegas every day for work was 1) not fun fighting the traffic and big trucks for my space on the road, and 2) way too expensive with the high gas prices. So, I thought I would try to get a job at a school closer to home. Voila! There was an opening at Del Sol High School which is on Patrick Lane and about half a block from my husband's office (very convenient for lunch dates). I called and got an interview with the Assistant Principal and thought it went well. Then the principal called and wanted to interview me and I thought that went well but she said I would hear last Friday and I haven't so maybe it didn't go as well as I thought. So, I called two more schools today with openings and hopefully by the start of the school year I will have a job closer to home. At least if I don't I still have one that I really enjoy in the ghetto.

Then last week I got to go to California with Dave for his weekly work trip. I spent the first afternoon at the beach, sitting in my chair, all by myself, soaking up the rays and reading a book. It was warm and breezy and soooo peaceful. Then the next day I went to South Coast Plaza and did a little shopping, had lunch, and then we headed home. It was nice to be with Dave, relax, and not worry about anything.

Secret Password

I have to say I am actually kind of embarrassed to write this. And no one will really know if I am writing it or if Zach is. (After reading that last sentence everyone should know it is not Zach because I am not an expert on grammar.) The last post was Zach again because I said I needed to write one apologizing to all of you who thought it was me writing but I never got around to it. That is why I do not have a blog. Another reason is because I am a terrible writer and I hate it. And finally the last reason is because I can't ever think of anything to write about that other people would want to read. I do enjoy reading other people's blogs though.

Anyway, getting around to why I named the post Secret Password, maybe I should have a secret word I put in every blog that I write so that you will know that it is me. But then I would have to let you all know what that word is and everyone knows I would never get around to that and Zach would find out (because everyone else in the family would know) and use it too. Oh well. I guess you'll never know who is writing.

We are heading to Utah this weekend for Audrey's wedding. This one is a small affair with mostly immediate family. We will invite you all to the reception/open house in September.

There are no guarantees that I will update this on a regular basis. Especially once I am back to work in August, but I will try. Thank you to all of you who stuck with me (Zach) and made nice comments.

Not My Blog

I just found out I had this blog about a week and a half ago. My son, Zach, created it for me without me knowing it. He finally told me about it after it had been around for a couple of weeks. He says now that I have a blog, people are waiting with bated breath for my next entry. I seriously doubt that.

I make no promises about how often, or even if, I will update "my" blog. It took me ten days to figure out how to post to it and I still don't know how to upload pictures.

I still know how to punish my kids, though, even if they are adults.

Memorial Day Weekend

We had a pretty eventful week here. Sorry no pictures to memorialize it, but I am sick and don't feel like uploading photos.

We were all sick this past week. First Cadence was sick, then Jack and Amber caught it, who gave it to Zach. Zach was nice enough to share it with Dave, Michael, and me. Eliza is the only one who seems to have escaped the nasty cold.

Audrey came to visit this weekend. She brought her future sister-in-law, Katelyn, who just finished her junior year. They sure livened up the house while they were here. They spent lots of time playing on Zach's new Wi (sp?), swimming, visiting Audrey's friends, and hanging out around the house. Cadence loved having them around. When they weren't within her line of sight, she would constantly ask "Where is Aunt Audrey go?" "Where is Katelyn go?" When we would tell her, she would always say "Oh, ok." And then wait thirty seconds before asking again.

Audrey is funny. She is funny in that she has a good sense of humor, and she is funny in that she has tendenitis and it would hurt her arm (almost to the point of tears, definitely to the point of constant complaint) to play tennis or to bowl on the Wi, but she had so much fun doing it that she couldn't stop. She would play until her arm wouldn't cooperate with her, then she would switch to her left arm, then get frustrated that she wasn't as good, switch back to her right arm, complain about how much it hurt, but continue to play nonetheless. That makes her funny in my book.

Yesterday, for Memorial Day, Zach started painting the kitchen cabinets. I picked out the colors, which proved very difficult, but the green I picked looks pretty good once applied. Zach only got as far as removing the cabinet doors, prepping them, and painting (three coats, including primer) on the doorless cabinets. So right now all my cabinet doors and drawers are in the garage, leaving the contents of my cabinets for all to see and the contents of the drawers piled high on the countertops. I am sick thinking of the complete disarray of my kitchen, but I am looking forward to when it will all look nice and new.

Once the kitchen is done, the cabinets will be sort of a light country green and the walls will also be green, but a much lighter shade. I hope we don't overdo the green, but if we do, we'll have to live with it for a few years. I will make sure someone takes some pictures so I can show you what it looks like once it is done.

Well, I am going to go back to feeling sorry for my sick self with my nose buried in a book.

I hate trying to think of a title

I am surprised I am actually getting around to posting again.  (See delighted/surprised look on my photo below and picture it on my face now.) I really didn't think I would find the time to do this very often. I guess I feel compelled to continue as I see people's comments trickling in, which means my blog is slowly getting discovered by people I know.

Last Sunday was Mothers' Day, and although the best gift a mother can get on her day is rest from the normal maternal labors, the jewelry my kids got me was also very nice. They pooled their money and got me some earrings and a matching necklace. We also got an assorted pack of chocolates from the ward, which tickled my palate while they lasted.

This week was also my last week of school. And when I say school, I mean school, not work. I always have to clarify at home because I work at school. I am taking a Spanish class and a class on adolescent development.

In our Spanish class, we are learning not only basic grammar, but a lot of the colloquialisms too. Some of them are quite tricky to remember. Instead of saying "caught red handed," in Spanish it is "caught with your hands in the flour." This was one that actually made some sense. If you think about how many of these there are in English that make zero sense on a literal level ("tickled pink," "beside myself," "foot in your mouth," etc.) you realize how difficult it is to REALLY learn another language.

For our Spanish final, our teacher didn't really tell us what principles we would have to know, which limited what we had to study to all our notes and everything in the book, so the final was challenging. I am not sure how well I did, but if I report honestly, I am not sure my score will be anything worth blogging about later on. Eliza felt similarly discouraged after taking the test, so we went to Cafe Rio to celebrate being done with the class (she was in it with me). Yes, we have a Cafe Rio in Vegas. We have two, actually.

My Adolescent Development class was less of a challenge. I have had many adolescents in my life, after all. Michael is still an adolescent and living at home. Zach, who is with us now, makes it feel like two adolescents in the home.

I continue to take classes even though I am working because the more education I have, the more they pay me. And I like money.

It is so much fun having grandkids here. We are so lucky to have Cadence and Jack here, and right before they leave, Brody and Bridger will come out with Jessica for Audrey's wedding reception and they will all be staying for two months! I know I already wrote about that, but I am tickled pink about it. (Those of you learning English may not know what I mean by that. Oh well.)

I included a couple pictures of my grandkids. In one, Cadence and Jack are playing in Digger's kennel,  In the other, Cadence is trying on the earrings I had to take off to make room on my ears for my new ones. Aren't grandkids cute?

A More Thorough Update

I know this is going to be redundant after my last post, but some of my family felt left out, and I drafted a letter for the whole family anyway, so I am pasting it here. Also I am proctoring AP exams all last week and this week and have a few (actually it seems like a million) minutes free to write. Since you are wondering, school is great, I love it but am looking forward to having the summer off. I am going to go to the British Isles (England, Scotland and Ireland) this summer with my cousin because my other cousin and her husband are serving in Ireland on a mission and it is a good excuse to go see them.

Zach just finished his second year of law school and has one left. He moved his cute little family down here to live with us for another summer while he works for Woodbury, Morris and Brown. We are very excited to have the little grandkids here for the summer and it's okay that their parents came too. He has done extremely well in law school and I am going to brag a little here: (1) He advanced to the highest level of moot court and was invited to go to the national competition but declined as it is on a Sunday and some other reasons. (2) He ran for articles editor for his school's journal and was elected on his platform of grammar, interpersonal skills and technology experience. (3) He tried out for the school's trial team. Only 10 people in the school can make it and he did. (4) He just had an article published in the Journal of Law, Technology & Policy called Digital Manipulation and Photographic Evidence: Defrauding the Court One Thousand Words at a Time.

Eliza is working at a law firm as well and they LOVE her. She grew to hate the firm she worked at before and after her mission and was glad when the opportunity to move came up. She and I took a Spanish class together at UNLV and we are SOOOO glad that our final is Wednesday and we will be done. It has been a challenging course. She still does hair for family and friends but doesn't want to do it full time. She teaches Gospel Doctrine in her singles ward and we rarely see her as she has so many friends.

Jessica and Adam are still in Georgia with their two cute little boys but we have hopes that when Adam finishes with the Navy in the fall of 2009 that they will be able to move out west. He is being deployed in August for 4 months so we get to have Jess and the boys here for September and October. Halleluyer! We won't know how to be without grandkids by the time November rolls around. She is our creative card and invitation maker and scrapbooker.

Jacob is attending the University of Utah and every time I talk to him he tells me how much he likes Salt Lake City so he will probably be there for the duration. I think he is a sophomore. He is living a couple of blocks east of the temple with a roommate but will probably find a place by himself soon. He was just here for the break between semesters and it was fun to have him. He also works as a valet in SLC at a Hotel and really enjoys that. He keeps getting promoted. You can see him putting around on his scooter if you are in downtown SLC very much.

Audrey is getting married in June!!! She is marrying Mike Findarle whose family lives in Midway, Utah. We all like him a lot. He lives in New York every summer to sell security systems so they are getting married in June so Audrey can go to live with him in NY and then we will have a reception for everyone who wants to join us on September 6th up in Midway. We hopefully will get to have all of our family there except Adam who will be in some foreign country. She is very excited and so are we. She just finished a semester at UVSC studying criminal justice.

Michael is still at home and enjoying all of the advantages to being the youngest and last child (He He He). I can't believe he just took his ACT and SAT tests and will be a senior next year. He will probably go to school at UNLV, at least the first year before his mission because Nevada gives a $10,000 scholarship for Nevada schools if you have a good enough grade point average and so far he does. He works at Sweet Tomatoes (or Souplantation) and plays Guitar Hero or some other video game during his spare time. (Kent even played a few Guitar Hero games when his family was here!)

Dave is still working for Camco and spends a day or two in Calif. every week. For that reason we decided to buy a condo down there in Santa Ana. It's a small one bedroom but better than staying in a hotel room all of the time. He is still loving to fly but doesn't get to do it as often as he'd like. The weather doesn't always cooperate. He is Stake Sunday School president so he has spent the last few months going to Ward Conferences and teaching other wards' gospel doctrine classes.

Well, if you are still reading you are brave.

Yes, I have a blog.

My kids have been telling me they are tired of hearing about stuff in my life either too late or not at all. They have been bugging me to get a blog, so I finally am giving in. I don't expect anyone but my kids to read it, but I am sure they will have links from their blogs, so I think I had better explain why my blog is called "And Then I Found Twenty Dollars."

Our family has developed some pretty weird traditions. We have normal ones, like reading the Christmas story out of the New Testament on December 25, and going to church on Sunday, but we those are not ones I am going to use to title my blog.

We like to tell stories. And, for some reason, a few years ago, we (we, meaning my kids, or maybe Dave) made a rule that if you tell a story and at the end you realize it wasn't going to have the effect you intended (i.e., you realize in the middle of the telling that what you thought was going to be a good story is turning out to be rather boring, but you have to finish because it would be weird if you just stopped talking) you append to it "and then I found twenty dollars." This is supposed to provide the climax where there isn't one otherwise. It is also a way to make someone laugh if your joke falls flat (but only those on the inside will laugh). However, it has turned more into something one of my kids (or husband, or admittedly, I) will say at the end of someone else's statement. It became somewhat of the family catchphrase.

It has become a little less common of late, but I hope to bring it back.

So, to appease my children, I will tell them what is going on in my life.

Zach and Amber and their kids just moved in for the summer because he will be working at a local law firm before he heads back to the University of Illinois in the fall to finish his last year of law school. We are so excited to have them. They are so cute. Kids really do say the darndest things. And Jack is walking now.

Audrey will be getting married in June to Mike Findarle, a man we really have taken a liking to. I think he will fit in with our family.

Jessica will be moving out here with her two kids in September from Georgia because her husband, Adam is getting deployed. He is in the Navy.

That's the big news of the kids.

Dave just bought a condo in Santa Ana. He has been commuting very regularly (almost weekly) to do work in Orange County. His company is going to make payments toward the condo, the same that they are paying now in hotel bills, which will make this investment affordable for us. He is very excited about it and has been working long hours in the garage to refinish a bedframe that he purchased for the condo. He has come home and shown us drawings of the floor plan and regaled us with stories about the neighborhood. It is just a few blocks from the Southcoast Plaza mall, about 3.5 miles from his work, very close to the John Wayne Airport, and has its own clubhouse, tennis courts, and lake. He even hooked up his computer to the HDTV and showed us a slideshow of the pictures he took of it. He has all sorts of plans. We are going to head up to the condo on Memorial Day weekend, assuming it has closed by then, and he and the boys are going to work on it a while while I play with the girls and the grandkids.

I am planning a trip with my cousin to tour the United Kingdom. One of the perks of working at a high school is that we get all summer off to do fun stuff like this!

Well, that's all I'm going to write for now. We'll see how often I am able to update this.