Back to Work

The center opened again today for our summer session, we are running for 10 weeks from 9-1 and 4-6, which makes for a long day :( I will be working M/W while Terri will be covering T/Th. However we are both taking 2 weeks off each in Aug for a much needed Family Vacation.

Today was hectic at the center with last minute parents enrolling their students for summer, with some being new and needing assessments and several calls made to non-shows reminding parents that we were expecting them (some still came in others lost their time today). Other than that things went smoother than expected.

Our family had a new addition this weekend. the girls have been asking for their own pet for a couple of months now, we started the process with them wanting a hamster , I told them that hamster bite so they opted for a rat until they held one and found out they have pokie feet. Then we did more talking and researching which lead to a Genie Pig until they noticed they too have pokie feet as well. Then it was to Leopard geckos which we bought got home only to discover that even after a couple days to settle down that they were very aggressive toward handling. So they went back and we sat with an empty tank for a week while we thought and talked about what we wanted to do/get. We decided to head down to Pet Kingdom by the Sports Area where we talked the staff about what we were looking for and the young guy helping us reccomended a Bearded dragon. So he introduced us to their young dragons (about 6-8 weeks). I was amazed on how docile they were, they allowed all of us to handle them including Audrey (yes we were amazed she even wanted to hold them). They just hung out with us for the entire time we talked about them and care ect.. We already had most of what it would need form the geckos we just needed a couple different things. The girls picked their new pet and we picked up the few new things he would need. He is doing amazing and the girls love him.

here are a few shots of him with Kass on Sunday:

HUBBY IS HOME!!!

Yeah Doug is home for the weekend!!! We are looking forward to a great Father's Day weekend together!!!

My Haircut adventure

So not the best picture (I find it really hard to take my own picture). As my friend Jenn has pointed out it the "the Kate". Which it is, I'm not a viewer of the show however I have wanted to do something different with my hare for the last 3 cuts and just haven't been able figure out what I want, until I saw her picture in a magazine the other day. Her cut was exactly what I was looking for long in the front to shape my face and short and messy in the back.

Now to the exciting part (well sort of) my hair cut experience yesterday. I went in and we talked about what I wanted, Megan laughed cause she knew I was going to want to change it up since I have had the same cut and color for almost a year new LOL. I wanted to keep my color (Auburn and blond) I have (I get complements on my color all the time) so she mixed and put the color on and I sat while it did it thing. Then it was time for the wash, she washed my hair and we went back to her station when we discover that my hair was RED it was a cross between a pinkish red. It was a huge surprize since she used the color we have used for the last year. She did my cut while we let it sit and decide what we were doing to do with it. We decided to put brom over it so it was color time once again. It did help darken it but it is still diffent redder than it has been in the past (the picture doesn't really show how red it is) . But I still love it!

Summer Here We Come!

We hosted a pot luck BBQ this Sat so we could get together with our friend. A great time was had by all the adults got to eat, drink and catch-up while the kids got to play (aka: wear them selves out)
Rich, Stew, and Pat talking with Jenn and Josh






My hubby dancing to the music (nice moves hun)

Audrey actually smiling in a picture
Miss Madi checking out the slide, deciding if she is interested or not.
Kassidy sticks a pose.
The girls catch up (maybe w should have moved those chairs once the sun came out)

I Have Big Kids Now!

Where does the time go? It seems like just yesterday that I was a brand new mom trying to figure things out with Kassidy when we brought her home from the hospital. Now I am a veteran mom (diffidently not a master though) who just installed 2 booster seats into her car. Where does the time go? The girls love their new rides. They had to get in to test them and we then had to test them by driving around the block.

Inspirational me?

One of my closest friends, Amber, recently blogged that I am an inspiration to her. This was very touching, she made me cry when I read her blog. Her post has really stated me thinking about myself and what I do as well as how others see me. I get so caught up in daily life that I fail to see myself and the things I do as big things in my life.

I have been told by several people that I do to much for others and don't get anything in return. However they fail to see (and sometimes so do I) that helping people is who I am and what makes me, me. I get so caught up with work and not getting paid enough, as well as those few difficult students that I forget that I am changing over 100 students and 20 young adult lives through doing what I do. It is NOT just a job, I CHANGE LIVES. Some days I wish I had a 9-5 job that brought in more money and that I could leave in an office for the night and the weekend, however I have done those and I was sooo not happy.

I couldn't just do a marathon for myself, I was drawn to help others while I helped myself. I would rather give away things that we no longer need to those who do then sell them, and if i do sell them it is only b/c we really need the money. It tears me up to see homeless people with signs, I want to give them all money but it saddens me that you don't know which ones to trust, I do give them food if I have any to spare or buy them food if they are outside somewhere I am in purchasing it.

Helping: it is what I do and who I am. I am a nurturer, I don't think it is a bad thing, I think that one day when I need it most someone will be there to help me.

We Say Good-Bye

So I have officially lost a part of me to the Rock and Roll Marathon, even though it has been 2 weeks the causality is still due to the Marathon. I said good by to my poor toe nail yesterday :( . A new one has already started to replace it but I will always remember that I had a marathoner's injury for my first marathon.

Post Marathon Loss.

So I will be morning the loss of a toenail in the next few days :(. I formed a blister on the 2nd toe of my right foot during the marathon and it pushed up on my nail up and separated it from the nail bed and now it is hanging on with less than 1/2 of it's nail bed. So I think it will be saying good bye soon. :(

Another Week Alone

*Note- venting included*

I'm playing single mom once again, Doug is gone again for the 6th week AND I HATE IT!!! If one more person tells me "at least he is working" I think I might scream! Yes I am happy he has a job and I know there are many people without jobs right now but I feel I have a right to be not thrilled about him being gone.

We all miss him, the girls ask for him every morning and evening. Their routine is changed with him being gone and they act out (like kids do). Our evening start late by the time I pick them up after work and take forever doing it by myself, we also add calling daddy on my computer which doesn't work half the time and the other half it take 3 tries to get it working, therefor they go down later and with more crying than usual.

I stay up later with no desire to go to bed and when I do I sleep horribly and wake tired to a crying toddler who wants her daddy.

I just got the news today that they have about 2 more weeks to go, not the news I wanted to hear today. I willl be happy when this is all done and we can function again as a family.

Part of my Mommy jobs tonight was to put together the wagon we bought earlier today. I am pretty proud of myself (even if I put the wrong washers on the wrong parts, not the big of deal), here are the results:

The girls and I are planning on testing it out tomorrow morning by going for a walk.

Rock and Roll Baby!!!!

Well I did it!!! All 13.1 miles and I Rocked them!!!

Waking up at 3 am after tossing and turning all night was not my idea of a good start to my day however after splashing some water on my face and getting dressed I was pumped to start my day. I arrived at the exit for the parking lot that the particpants were parking in to find it backed up and stopped on the freeway (it was a good thing I gave myself a 15 minute cushion I used it all to get in the parking lot). They shuttled us in city buses to the start line where i found my team and visited, stretched and got pumped up for the the day. We then lined up in our corrals (yep I said corral we all joked that we had become horses) Our walk team was in the back corral 23 (they line us up according to estimated finish time) My partner and I lined up with my team, ready to get started. This is what it looked like from the back of the pack.



The start was great it took us 10 minutes to get to the start line (they had mentioned this to us). Then we were off and walking. The start was great, we were off to a great start. We were pacing at a 15 minute mile, which is fast for us so we slowed down, then it was time for a potty break, which after we were thankful for those first 2 fast miles since it took us 8 minutes in line for the potty. We were off and walking again, we passed through Balboa park, by the zoo, and into down town. where we caught up with a couple of our mentors, we decided to check in with them and they said we were doing great on time. We slowed our pace and continued on with them We passed Petco and onto Harbor Drive. One thing I noticed with walking the course is that the crowds were long gone by the time we arrived, however the bands and the cheerleadering groups (especailly the male cheerleaders dresses in drag) were still there cheering us on and it always seemed to come just as you needed that boost.

I met up with my Dad at mile 7 for a quick change of socks and a retape of my foot. This process took longer than desired and it took me a good 30 minutes of a very fast pace to catch up with my walking buddies again. However it was just in time to start the dreaded 163 segment of the course we had heard so much about. And boy were they not kidding. It was hard long slow hills that were on a killer angle, which of course I never noticed driving it every week the zoo.The 163 was tough on my hip and knee and just when I was getting really woarn mentally who would appear but those Drag Cheerleaders once again. They made me laugh and cheered us on and my spirits were lifted again only 1 mile left till we were doen with the 163 part of the course, I know I could mek that. As we exited the 163 I heard the crowd once again and they were there for us. It was the TNT walk team cheer crowd. YEAH!! Just over 3 miles to go. Friars was much easier than the 163 and the crowd was great. We pugged along and before I knew it our coached were in view at mile 13!!!

Then I see Lance and Audrey I brushed the tears from my eyes and she came out and held my hand and we walked. Then there was Kassidy running out to me (fighting back the tears again)



there was Doug and my mom taking pictures and Jenn (which was a wonderful surprize for me) and Gina (who had already crossed the finish line).





I left Kass with all of them and crossed the finish line with a huge smile on my face!!! YES I did it!!! My clock time was 3 hrs 57 minutes. My accual walk time was 3hrs 27 minutes at a pace of 17 minutes 27 sec.



The experence was amazing and I am planning on doing again soon!!!

I could not have done this without all of you, my friends and family with all the love and support you have given to me. I cannot thank-you enough, SO THANK-YOU, THANK-YOU, THANK-YOU for donating, pushing me, listening to me, reading my blog and all you have done to support me in my journey!!!!!