Going Green

Another week and the grass is filling in nicely. Looking out each morning to see the grass is a highlight of the day.

I've been Tagged. The 5

10 years ago I was:

1. Living in Hollister, Ca
2. Planning our move to Singapore
3. Taking care of one child (Allynn)
4. Working at AAA
5. Teaching Primary

5 things on today's list

1. Get kids to bus on time
2. Read homework assignment
3. Pick up Enid from school
4. Participate in online discussion for Education class
5. Get girls to Activity Day

5 snacks I enjoy

1. See's candy - butterscotch squares, rum nougat, California brittle in a custom 1 lb box
2. corn chips with salsa
3. Pepsi
4. string cheese
5. More Pepsi

5 things I would do if I were a millionaire

1. Pay off my house
2. Renew my Disneyland Annual Pass
3. Buy a condo in Anaheim
4. Pay off all debt
5. Go out to dinner

5 places I have lived

1. West Yellowstone, MT
2. San Jose, CA
3. Singapore
4. American Fork, UT
5. Reno, NV

5 jobs I have had

1. Quality control at ICSensors
2. HR assistant IBM
3. McWhorter's - Customer Service
4. AAA customer service
5. Convergys - DirecTV contract

I tag

1. Julie
2. Becky
3. Kathy
4. Jeanna
5. Lisa

It's not easy being green...

When green is the 30 year old olive green stove/oven being replaced by a nice new white stove/oven.

OK, maybe it is when the green is your lawn!!! Seed planted September 4th now looks like this on September 13th. We are so excited!!!!

The Great Reno Balloon Race

The second weekend of September has been The Great Reno Balloon Race http://www.renoballoon.com/ now for 27 years. We attended the first year we lived here and had a great time. That was four years ago, so Allynn talked us into going again. She really had to talk The Dad into this adventure since it entails getting up at 4:00 am to get to the park by 5:00 am. The need for such an early start to the day is going to see the Glow Show and the Dawn Patrol. Both of these are spectacular sights of the fire lighting up the balloons.

Unfortunately this is the best picture I have of the Glow Show, since every time I brought the camera up to my face, Kelsey would stick her face in front. This group of balloons is from the Bay Area. I am sure we may have seen them flying over San Martin and Morgan Hill before we moved here.

After the balloons glow on the ground for a few minuets, each one lifts off into the sky to glow some more. The challenge of the Dawn Patrol is to fly in a formation. These balloons don't have steering wheels, so they have to find wind currents to push them around. There is also the art of adding and releasing hot air from the balloon to move up and down in the sky. My pictures don't really give this event justice, so you are all invited to come experience this for yourselves.

After the Dawn Patrol finished their show, we watched more than 90 balloons get rolled out in the field and set up to take off for the Mass Ascension. After watching a few of the crews set up their area,

(Notice the brown feather looking balloon in the background.)

we hiked back up to the car to watch over the whole area. The announcer mentioned the eagle stands taller than the Statue of Liberty.

The Eagle balloon flew the American Flag just below the basket while Miss Nevada sang the National Anthem to begin the race.

The balloons continue to fill as the Hare balloon takes off to lay down the target. (Rules for the race - Hare & Hound - http://www.renoballoon.com/EventInfo/Competition&Results)
The Hare Balloon sponsored by Wells Fargo.

Eventually the balloons start to pop up off the ground.

And then take off, until they are all in the air.

Once there was room on the ground again, the Energizer Bunny popped up above the trees.

The Great Reno Balloon Race is surely a spectacular sight!

This event is more than just the Hound & Hare event, but this was about as much as we could handle for that morning. We had been up since 4 am and left the park around 9 am. We were hungry, so we went home for some breakfast. Next time, I will think ahead and take donuts and hot chocolate. Yummy!! The kids fell asleep during our 40 minuet ride home. (30 minutes of that was taken up trying to get out of the parking area.) The day was pretty much shot for anything more than watching movies. It was a very relaxing day. Around 1:00 pm I came downstairs to get some lunch for hungry children and found our Kelsey had fallen asleep again.

Certainly not the most comfortable place to sleep.

After this picture she sat up to watch the TV again. I left with Allynn to look for something for Mema at Ross. The Dad came in to check on Kelsey to find that she had adjusted her position and gone back to sleep. Poor baby was very tired. But we all had a great time and are glad we got up at the butt crack of dawn to have a family adventure!

Not just sprinklers - Automatic Sprinklers

With water flowing nicely through the sprinklers, it is now time to smooth out the dirt to make it ready for the seed.

Then it was time to spread the seed.

We then turned on the water to give the seeds a little soak. Our friend giving us a hand said to water them 3-6 times a day for 3 minutes each time. This will keep the seeds moist to "pop the seed"

Now all that is left is to hook up the wire from

the valve to the sprinkler timer.

Prep for the automatic sprinklers

The Dad, Austin, Sydney, and Allynn (Kelsey and I are too smart) went under the house to have a look. The main goal of going under the house was to pull the wire needed for the automatic sprinklers. While they were under there, they also looked at why the tile is cracking in the hallway (missing brace), checked the dryer vent was not blocked (all looks good), and checked why the floor between the master bathroom and hall bathroom is sagging (also missing a brace). That dad feels these things are fixable and will get to them as soon as he is ready. (I think he secretly wishes we get a job somewhere else so he does not have to work on this house anymore.)

I am glad I didn't have to go down there.

Next class

I opened my class discussion for ENG 102 to find that I received and A- for the class. I am very happy with that. I thought for sure I would not get an A on my final paper, but I did. YEA ME!!

Now today I start my next two classes. During the next 9 weeks I will be taking AED 200 and HUM 205.

AED/200 Contemporary Issues in American Education
COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course provides an overview of the teaching profession. It introduces the student to the various issues affecting teachers. Its primary focus will be on contemporary issues teachers and educators face in today’s schools. Throughout the course, all aspects of the teaching profession will be incorporated from the diversity of students in the classroom, to school organization and governance, to teaching philosophies and instruction. This course provides a foundation for understanding the education profession.

HUM/205 World Culture and the Arts
COURSE DESCRIPTION
Culture and the arts play a complex role in enriching the human experience. This course will analyze the social role of the arts in the early civilizations through the present day. Learners will explore the key contributions in visual art, architecture, literature, and music of the civilizations presented in this course. In particular, learners will construct a virtual museum comprised of various artifacts representing several cultures.

I am not sure if I am ready for these to classes, but I am ready to be done with school. In order to be done, I need to keep on going. I have now completed 4 classes. I have 12 more to go including these two I am taking now. These 12 classes will be accomplished in 7 more 9 week blocks for a finish date of February 2010.