Good News/Bad News

The good news is...

I got a much needed pedicure today. It's just so relaxing. I love it. I have pretty toes for school next week.

The bad news is...

I found this spider in a plastic container, at school. I was pulling out some magazines, and saw this thing. I screamed and ran around in a fit. The teacher next door came over and looked at it. We thought it was dead, it being so still and all. When I finally calmed down and went to finish removing the magazines, the thing MOVED, quickly! I screamed all over again. My neighbor came to my rescue, by taking the container outside and dumping all of the contents, including the spider, onto the ground. It crawled away. Gross. I HATE spiders. They freak me out.

It's Official!

Well, it's official!

Riley is a 7th grader! He has the ID to prove it! He had orientation this morning, from 8-12. I dropped him off, and he looked so small to me. I got a little misty, but Starbucks helped, and a visit with one of my favorite parents from my sweet class last school year, also helped to perk me up. I picked him up right around 12 and we went to lunch. After lunch we headed back to the school for MAZE DAY. That was crazy. We didn't take long enough to eat, so we had to stand in some big lines. The lines to get a card for pictures, and then take the pictures, were confusing, and looooooong. The schedule line was super long too. It took us about an hour to get through all 9 stations. I paid for all kinds of things. In the end though, he's all set! He has his schedule-two honors classes (pre algebra and science), his first choice elective (arts and crafts-yeah, he's my kid), World History (doesn't that sound fun?), English, and PE last period, which works out well. All of his classes are pretty close together, so he should NEVER be late. NEVER. This, of course, would never occur to Riley as he is a devout rule follower. We found all of his classes, the nearest water fountains and bathrooms. He's pretty excited, and I never thought I would say this, but I am too! I was super nervous about this Jr. High, but it's going to be fine. He met some nice kids today-and a super cute GIRL. He even met some kids from my school (my school also feeds into this Jr. High), including one of my former students. Excitement is all around!

Friday we find out who will be Quinn's teacher. Talk about someone who is excited for school to start-oh man! That boy can't wait. "How many days mom?" "How many days mom?" "How many days mom?"

Random Sunday

I had no plans to leave the house today. I wanted to just hang around, work on cleaning my side of our office, read a little, facebook, play Words With Friends, etc. So I settled in to stay home, but around dinner time, Kevin asked if I wanted to go to a new burger place for dinner. This place, called Five Guys, opened here, and people have been comparing it to In and Out Burger. NOTHING compares to In and Out, but I was willing to give it a try. It was SUPER freaking crowded over there, so we ate at the very slow, non-crowded pizza place next door, instead. The comparison will just have to wait. Oh man, now I'm hungry for In and Out!

I took this picture yesterday, in the Ahwahnee Hotel. It's with my iPhone, the Hipstamatic app. I just love that app.

This is what Owen did today. He loves this spot. He can sleep the day away here, on the quilts, and mostly the dog never notices.

I worked on this today. I am going through all of my magazines, ripping out the things I like, and recycling the rest. Actually, I am going to take them to school for projects. I am going to put all of the loose articles/ideas into an idea binder, by subject and holiday. Ambitious? Some of the magazines I am keeping intact though, because I love them.

Quinn did this today. He practiced kicking his soccer ball at the orange cone his coach let him borrow. Doesn't he look fast in this picture? Kevin took both boys to the park today, so Quinn could practice. He also got Riley a hair cut.

This is what Riley did today. He ate a giant piece of pizza, and enjoyed every minute of it. We are firm believers in pizza the size of your head around here.

My MIL sent me THIS LINK the other day. This happened at the Mountain Winery on Thursday night. We were last there on Tuesday night. I am glad we weren't there on Thursday, when some man decided to commit suicide by jumping from the roof, to the stage, while the band played. Horrible. Read the article. So sad, and yet, so selfish. I just can't stop thinking about what this guy's decision did to the minds of the concert goers, and the band, who only wanted an entertaining night out. I'm sorry he died and everything, it's tragic. I'm sorry he had a troubled life, but come on! This was not the answer-for anyone.

Yosemite

The four of us headed out this morning, for Yosemite. It's about 3 1/2 hours from here. We dropped Maya off at doggie daycare first. She wasn't sure she wanted to stay, but she did. It was a crowded day inside the park. We think we'll go back in the fall, when everyone else has gone back home.

I took this picture with my iPhone, with the Hipstamatic app. I feel like Ansel Adams!

We stopped at a lookout of Half Dome, and this bronze model of Half Dome was there. It was pretty cool to see all of the different looks it has, from all different sides. There is a trail that goes all the way to the top.

The boys, with Half Dome in the background. It was kind of overcast, but quite warm-hot actually.

Some tall trees.

This was taken at a scenic overlook called Tunnel View. It was jam-packed with people. I am not even sure how we didn't get any strangers in our pictures-must have been my elbows keeping them at bay. JK. We just had to take fast pictures.

Kevin at the Tunnel View.

That's Bridal Veil Falls, from Tunnel View. I zoomed in on it. Gotta love 12x zoom. I do! Plus, you can go right over people's heads!

It was a very nice day. We spent a lot of time in the car, but we really could not beat the scenery. We want to go for a night or two in the fall, so that we can hike some of the trails.

Maya had a great time at doggie daycare-she got a very good report card. Boy was she happy to see us! She's completely passed out on Kevin's lap right now.

If you want to see the rest of our pictures, CLICK HERE.

Finishing Up Summer

Sadly, our summer is coming to an end. It's such a bummer. I will be fine once the year gets going, but right now, I am dreading it. This week has been all about appointments, and school clothes/supplies shopping. The boys are all set. A few new shirts and some shorts. They both have shoes already that are fine, and I refuse to buy pants right now. It really annoys me that everything in the stores is long sleeves and pants. It's still warm enough to wear shorts until November.

I got some Stella & Dot jewelry for my back to school. I LOVE the long coiled bracelet.

I also got back to school shoes! No, I didn't need new shoes either, but MY feet aren't still growing.

Today was the end of swim classes for the boys. They LOVED them. Both are SWIMMERS now! I was very pleased with this swim club. They were awesome at teaching arm strokes. After swim, we headed out to see the optometrist. Riley failed his vision test at the doctor's office. He is nearsighted (like me), and so he's getting glasses. We picked out some very stylish black frames. He looks really good in them. He's excited to wear them too. Now all four of us wear glasses. We pick them up September 2, so stay tuned for pictures.

Cyndi Lauper Flop

Kevin and I headed back to the Mountain Winery to see Cyndi Lauper, last night.


It's such a beautiful view.


The concert was horrible. Just horrible. I really, really like Cyndi Lauper, even when she was a nutcase on the Apprentice, but this show sucked. She has a new album, a blues album. I get that. I knew she would play stuff from it. I didn't count on 90 minutes of blues, and really long stories and song intros. When people in the front began screaming out for Girls Just Want To Have Fun, she got really cranky. She said it was HER time to have fun. Alrighty then. She went out for an encore, and came back and sang Change of Heart (but she seemed pissed off to sing it). Then she sang Girls Just Wanna Have Fun. Kevin and I headed out at this time, sure that was the last song. She did sing Time After Time after that, and I believe one other song to end the show. She only played four of her hit songs! Four. I was really disappointed. I think a lot of people were. I expected her to play the new stuff, with old stuff mixed in. You know, like every other band does! The word diva comes to mind. She really can sing though, and she is passionate about blues. I guess I lack that passion.


Oh well. It was a date for us, and the views were beautiful, COLD, but beautiful.


Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Manic Monday

I picked up my classroom keys today. I thought about it and thought about it, and decided to just go and get them. I didn't plan on going until next week to do anything about my classroom, but I may have changed my mind, after seeing my classroom.

Oh look! Some low life scum torched our play structure...

BOTH of them. See that blue thing? That USED to be a twisty slide. There used to be a green, double slide on the other structure. It's really annoying, and who knows how long it will sit like this before it gets replaced? I doubt we'll have a new one by the start of school, and that's just horrible for the kids.

This is the reason I may have to work in my classroom sooner than expected. Was there a poltergeist here? How am I going to get all of those desks off my desk? I especially like the hula hoop bag at the very top.

Oh look, more desks up high. I have never returned to school with my furniture this way. My crap is all over the place. It does not make me happy.

This makes me happy though. Quinn and I got ice cream while we waited for Riley to finish his Scout meeting. Quinn actually had two scoops!

I am still madly cleaning things out around here. Working on Quinn's room. He got a new shelf. I actually bought this for my classroom, but it's too tall, so I swapped it for Quinn's lower shelf. See those blue baskets on the bottom shelves? Those were the BIGGEST pain in the ass to build. I uttered all kinds of colorful words trying to put those damn things together. I got it though. I won.