Friday, May 30, 2008

Construction is Underway

I am soar and tired of moving dirt and we are not done yet. I had this great idea that we would change the brick wall in the front yard from a low flower bed to leveling out the yard. I wish I could pay someone to get it done! This is backbreaking work! But it is coming along.

We rented a rotor tiller to break up the dirt. Then we started moving it to fill in behind the new wall. Jason tilled the backyard too and a lot of that dirt will be moved to the front yard too.

I am excited for it to be done!

NO NO NO!!

Gas is now over $4 a gallon and I am worried it will put a crimp in my sitting at the lake plans this summer. Between gas and paying to park, we may have to be happy with the plastic pool in the backyard. However - according to The Dad, that may not happen either because he does not want to pay for the water to fill the pool.

I have a new plan, hurry up and get the yard done. Then we will have to water it and we can run through the sprinkler. That could be fun!

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Time to go home :(

We got up Thursday around 8 am and he wanted to eat at Denny’s so we went there and had breakfast and then went to California Adventure where we didn’t wait in any lines there either. He was so excited he was tall enough to go on California Screamin', which is the big roller coaster that goes upside down. He thought that was great. He also got to go on the Orange Stinger which is where he sits in a swing and it spins around. This was the first time he was tall enough for that ride also.

The weather was nice for the first part of the day but then it started to rain. But it was not going to deter us from having a good time. We bought rain ponchos and kept on going. It wasn't too bad standing in line in the rain, but when we got on Big Thunder Mountain with it still raining, my face was being pelted by the rain. I did not anticipate that. It was still fun!

Austin missed the girls. Every time he did something, he wanted to call them and tell them how cool it was. He didn’t really know what to do with himself by himself. He decided next time he wanted everyone to come. I had fun with just him. Jason’s mom sent some birthday money just before we left, so he was able to get a new shirt. He wore it as soon as we bought it and then wore it to school the next day. I will have to take a picture.

Strange weather in Southern California that day. As we were driving back to the airport, we heard on the radio that two tornados had touched down east of the airport we needed to get too. Traffic was really slow and I thought for sure we were going to miss our flight. Thanks to the weather, our flight was delayed too, so we made it home save and sound.

We were so tired.

An Astro-Blaster Time!!

Wednesday morning we got up and had breakfast and went into the park. What a beautiful day! It was not hot and it was not cold, it was just right. Disneyland didn't open until 9 am so we were able to get up and take our time getting there. And it was awesome. There were hardly any lines. The first ride we went on was the Astro Orbitor which is like the Dumbo ride only rocket ships. It moves a little faster and you feel like you are going to tip out when you go up and down. It is fun.
The longest ride we waited for was Splash Mountain for 45 minutes. Austin had a little bit of a hard time waiting but it went fast. We talked with the people in line who were from Australia. They had decided they needed to come to America to help stimulate the economy. I thanked them! Then they told us about their plans for their trip. It sounded like a trip I would like to take sometime! Once we got on the ride, I tried to explain to Austin that he was going to get wet. He didn't believe me. Sure enough, he got DRENCHED!! A huge wave came rolling in the side he was on and he was wet. For the next hour I had to listen to him get mad at me because he got soaked and I only got sprinkles. I thought it was funny! That was the only ride we had to wait in line for. Everything else we pretty much walked right on. It was a great day to be there!!

We made sure to ride Astro Blasters and then we emailed the picture to The Dad. At one point the ride stopped so we were able to get really good scores. That was fun!

It closed at 8 pm but about 5:30 pm Austin was done. He had ridden everything he wanted and wanted to go back to the hotel an go swimming. So we did. On the way back to the hotel, we stopped and got a Subway sandwich for dinner and then went swimming. Then our friend Larry called and asked if we wanted to go see Iron Man. I thought for sure Austin would fall asleep and didn't really want to buy him a ticket, but Austin reminded me that it was his birthday and that is what he wanted to do, go see Iron Man. It was a pretty good movie - I enjoyed it. Austin was asleep before the previews were over. He woke up just in time for the big fight scene so he feels like he saw the movie. Silly boy!

We contemplated staying up to see Indiana Jones at 12:01 am but he was still really tired. So we went back to the room and went to sleep.

Glad there was a Pilot!

Our landing in Las Vegas was VERY bumpy! The wind was blowing so we had a ruff time coming into the airport. We had a lot of sided to side and up and down. Austin thought it was pretty cool. I was a little nervous. There was a church group of kids that were about 11 years old that were really loud. Their leaders were not much help in calming them. Some of the other passengers were a bit annoyed. The actual landing was really pretty smooth.

In Las Vegas we were supposed to be there for just a few minutes while people got off and then on again, but we ended up having to change planes. So we had to hurry off to get to another gate. This time when the pilot was greeting people, he had strange fake teeth and thick bottle bottom glasses on. Austin was confused. "That guy didn't look like that before! What is wrong with him?" I tried to explain to my newly turned six year old that it was funny. Austin did not appreciate the joke, he just thought the guy looked weird. So thanks to the pilot and his "joke" Austin asked every few minutes if he still looked like that even when he was flying.

Since the landing had bumpy in Las Vegas, they warned us that the flight might be bumpy into Ontario. Then Austin was concerned about the bumps even though there weren't any. It ended up being a rather uneventful flight. As we landed this time, Austin says rather loud,"I thought they said it would be a bumpy ride." Oh the joys of being 6.

We headed out of the airport and got our rental car. Thank you Uncle Jarred for the car. They even gave us a free upgrade to a small SUV. It didn't matter to us what we drove, we just needed it to get us to Disneyland. The drive was pretty uneventful. I was a little nervous about driving on the Southern California freeways, but it was about 10 pm by the time we got on the road so it was smooth sailing into Anaheim.

We checked into Super 8 and slept pretty well!

Pilot, we don't need no stinking pilot!

Austin and I had a great time on our Birthday trip to Disneyland!! It was great. The big part of the gift to Austin was that he got to go on an airplane for the first time. He was so excited!! He could hardly wait to get on the plane. We ended up at the airport about an hour before we boarded. He kept watching out the window and asking if that plane was ours. When it finally got there, he wanted to be first in line. Unfortunately, Southwest gives you a number in line so he had to wait, we were A60 and B1. It was great. The pilot was greeting people as we boarded and asked Austin if he was ready for a great trip. Austin told him it was his first time and the pilot took him into the cockpit and let him check things out. My pictures are not great because all I had was my phone, but what a great experience for him!!!

Monday, May 19, 2008

Also

With June 4th the last day of school. I am thinking that June 5th we will be found sitting on the beach at Sand Harbor!!!! The water will still be pretty cold, but it will be a great start to the summer.

It's a Good Day

Today I woke up happy, inside happy. I haven't felt happy for about a week and the end of last week was horrible!! But today I am happy. Jason and I sat down and evaluated our "plan" and I feel we are back on track. We have been hugely blessed. Somehow, somewhere, money keeps coming in to take care of our needs.

Jason has passed his state insurance exams and is now working on getting the actual license he needs to be a Farmers Insurance Agent. He is really pretty excited about this prospect. I also applied to some school district positions with hope to get something part time to supplement our income. Jason is still looking for a full time job and has had a few interviews. Now we just need him to get picked. It is starting to feel like school sports. Everyone is there standing in a line and you don't want to be the last one picked. I think that is why he wants to have his own business. Then he gets to be team captain!!

Another reason I am happy - Tomorrow Austin and I go on our Birthday trip to Disneyland. He is so excited and has planned what rides to go on first. He has also never been on an airplane. I think he may be most excited about that. He has also planned out our food for the day and a half we will be gone.

For breakfast he would like to eat at the hotel at their free breakfast. We are staying at Super 8 this time, so the breakfast will most likely be Costco muffins, OJ, and cold cereal. Good thing he is 6 because that will be a great breakfast.
For lunch he wants to take bagels and cream cheese with ham. This way he can eat in line.
And for dinner he would like us to get pot pies to put in the microwave. He then turned to look at me and asked "the room will have a microwave?" He is thinking of everything.
I am really looking forward to spending time with just him. I am a little nervous about driving in Southern California by myself, and we are getting a compact car. I am sure it will be fine but I haven't done much freeway driving for over 5 years. Good thing we won't be in any hurry!

I do need to still get my homework done before I go and there is always laundry to be done.

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

School

School is school. I now remember why it was so easy for me to stop going after I got married. I am taking two classes right now. One is a general class teaching me how to take classes online. I am frustrated at the slow pace of this class. The assignments are tedious. I feel that most of the information is common sense, but I am coming to the realization that many people do not use their computers as often as I do. Which brings me to my other class which is a basic computer knowledge class. This one is also bothersome. The Dad keeps telling me to not over think the assignments, and that I am probably putting more into it than others would be. I then remind myself that taking these "easy" classes are a good way to ease into taking classes again.

Good news though, I have 14 units towards the 64 units I need for my AA in Education. I actually have 28 units between West Valley and San Jose City, but only 14 transfer. That means I don't have to take any more math!!!! Well, until I decide to really go back to school in two years and get the engineering degree. I am still thinking about that. Once I have the AA I will be able to get a substitute teaching license here in Nevada. That will be helpful!

At least I am 3 weeks into the 9 weeks of these classes. The time is going by pretty quick. This week I am trying to get two weeks of work done since I am going with Ohtee on his birthday trip to Disneyland next week. We got the kids a trip to Disneyland with just mom in February before all this no job stuff happened. I am looking forward to the happy distraction.

Friday, May 9, 2008

Posting just to Post

It is now May 9th. the weather is finally getting nice. We have been working on our front yard a little bit. I have been in school now for 2 weeks. The Dad still does not have a job, even though he has had MANY interviews. I don't have lot of great things to talk about so I will leave it at that.