Sunny Days

We are basking in 86 degree weather here in NorCal. Life is really good. Farmers are dusting for molds, mildews, and critters. Every single blossom in the known universe is blooming. The strawberry stands have opened with their first picks of the season. Life in NorCal is REALLY good. Now if we could just settle that pesky terrorist thing in our little burb of Lodi. Life is interesting.

Yahoo!

I passed the typing test! Yes, God answers a lot of parking lot prayers. He certainly answered mine. I now have a fatty application to fill out which includes 5 pages of information about me. Sheesh! I'm boring for Pete's sake. (By the way, who is Pete, anyhow?) I am just glad I banged out 56 wpm with 6 errors which made 50 wpm and to quote the very young, very tall, very skeptical, HR person, "Wow, you did exceptionally well. You qualify for any of our Administrative Assistant positions." Hmmm.....Do I qualify for yours, toots? I digress. I am making progress and also running out of suits to wear to the HR place. My doctor friend tells me to "dress professionally" as does the CFO who is a family friend for this organization. Ummmm.....I'm a teacher. I dress wash and wear, chalk proof, paint proof, snot proof, white board proof, and well you know. It's been a real stretch, this suit thing. Anyway at flippin' 53, I am giving it the old college try. (What in the heck is a college try?) Maybe I'll have a new career with suits and a new reinvention of myself with better pay and benefits! Praise God!

Day 4 and no rain. We have cloudy sunshine, but we'll take it. I've been walking my feet off while I've been on vacation. I walk in the morning and the early evening. I am weighing in today. It'll be a scary because I've been cheating with black licorice. I hope I'm down something. Do you think God answers weighing in parking lot prayers? Oh I certainly, pray He does.

Sunshine!

It has finally happened. We have now had sunshine in NorCal for three straight days with temperatures in the 70's. Believe me after the drenching we received on Easter Sunday, we were very concerned that there was never going to be a spring. With the sun, and just 2 days of it at that, the Chardonnay vines have all leafed out, and all my wonderful strawberry fields are in full bloom. Everyone I meet has nothing but positive comments about life and the weather. It's refreshing. I am officially on Easter vacation from my school site and I've been doing a lot of driving to Stockton and therefore I see much of the countryside and vineyards around the area. It has been heavenly. I've also been looking for a new job and applying many places. I need medical benefits and working in a private school that is considered a ministry work site, I receive no benefits at all. I figure the time is now while my brain is still semi-functioning to change careers. I will miss room 9. It's been a haven and a super fun place to be for 15 years, but my dad always taught me to reinvent myself, keep learning, keep changing, and keep up. Okay Pop, I'm trying.

The saga of the surly teenager continues, but that's another story. We've committed our lives, funds, and support to UOP. How in the heck are we going to pay for it? I have no clue. I sure hope I get a fatty well paying benefit laden wonderful stupendous job. Okay, I can dream!

In the meantime, the birds are singing. My hummingbirds are at my feeder in mass. The Mister has been cleaning the yard in anticipation of the teenager's graduation. The Mister has had the pressure washer out, and oh my gosh, I have to take a typing test today at 3:00. How am I ever going to crank out 45 wpm at flippin' 53? The last typing test I took was in college. Oh my gosh, what have I gotten myself into? Was that the most grammatically incorrect sentence or what? Where is my oldest when I need him the most? Oh, yeah, he's lauging somewhere in the lone star state. Happy sunshine, you all!

30 years

The Mister & I officially celebrate 30 years of being married today. Yes, in typical fashion, it was a non-celebration. You would think that after 30 years we would be standing from the rooftop and dancing on the tiles. No, not us. We had planned a night out yesterday, because Saturday we took the drive to the City and watched the Giants beat the Braves. It was a beautiful day after much rain. We sat in the bleachers near centerfield and literally had a very close encounter with Andruw Jones of the Braves and Steve Finley of the Giants. It was fun and as usual my Mister brought his extra large bag of peanuts to share with the fans around us. That's the way he makes friends and starts conversations at ball games. He's not a baseball fan and only goes because I love the game and he loves the garlic fries. The sunshine was fabulous, we found a very easy parking spot, Barry made 2 running catches, and it only took us an hour to pay the toll and cross the Bay Bridge. The Giants won and that made it a super day. Now, to be honest, we had bought a seat for the teenager. He didn't go with us because of some other "movie- making -project-where-he-needed-50 of his closest friends to help him video the movie and subsequently edit in Graphic Design this week." Okay, yes, he knew about it, no it's not due yet, and no I do not understand his ADHD logic, other than, who wants to go with mom & dad when you can have 50 friends, air soft guns, vineyards, no plot or design, and a video camera. That part I get. Needless, to say, I was a little perturbed, especially after the game and his day & evening rolled into an extended night. Sunday, of course, he was sick with a bad cold, crabby, and mad at us because I feel he needs to ask permission before he borrows our things. Wow, did that set the wheels in motion for venom. There is nothing more poisonous or more scary than teenaged venom. To make the Sunday perfect after his teenaged surliness spewed forth, he took my laptop and proceeded to rant at me for screwing it up because it had seemingly crashed. Because, of course, "It was just fine when he used it." I pointed out that when we returned from the City, he had left the lap top on and with his MySpace open, his AIM window on the screen, his MSN screen on the screen, and his friend had left all of his info up on our PC. Of course, more venom ensued, so the Mr. & I literally left the house so as to not get in his way. Hey wait a minute, isn't this my house? Needless to say, after a trip to Costco, the Mister and I read the paper and talked and stayed out of the teenager's way. Today was work, a sick teenager, more rain, and home to a doctor's appointment with the teenager, cleaning, etc. I guess I'm blogging to say, it's a good thing the Mister and I have been married as long as we have because no matter what the circumstances are we can either laugh, commiserate, encourage, empathize, or choose to go on. April 10, 1976 saw us married on a rainy day with a bazillion things that went wrong. We committed to each other that day for better or worse, sickness and health, good days and bad, and even teenagers. Hopefully, tomorrow will be better. I love the Mister and he loves me. It's all good.

Wow, what a week!

We had sun today! NorCal was ablaze with color, sparkly dew drops, and all the Misters of the neighborhood with their lawn mowers. It was a good day.
By the way, the icon, the poet of the Boomer generation, the original, Bob Dylan was superb. Monday night at the arena with Bob Dylan and several grey haired former hippies was a trip and a half. Using the Mr.'s fancy mini and very accurate binoculars, I have come to the conclusion that Bob Dylan is really a Hobbitt. No kidding. His movement is definitely most Hobbitt-like. What a Monday. Tuesday, and Wednesday saw more clouds, more rain, and more rising rivers.Today was a brilliant day of sun. Tomorrow more rain. The best part of today was actually weighing in. I've lost another one half pound or as my counselor says, "2 sticks of butter." Yay, I'm on my way. She did remind me not to go into starvation mode and to eat my entire 1200 calories. It's a stretch for me, but if it keeps me losing and eventually becoming much healthier and away from all my meds, I'm all over those 1200 calories. So far, a very good week.
If the rain holds off, the Mr. and I will celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary on Monday. Wow, now that's a milestone for 2 boomers from the 50's, 60's and 70's. We haven't killed each other and we're still laughing at the mundane and the silliness of life. He's still my really good friend. I laugh at his corny jokes, and yes, he still thinks I'm cute. Ah, it's a good week......

Rainy Days & Recess

Yes, it rained again here in Norcal. I definitely am rusting. Furthermore, my 4th graders are not coping well with their forced inside play for recess and PE. They are getting just a tad squirrely to put it politely. In an attempt to boost their spirits and turn their brains back to learning, I introduced Tall Tales and how to recognize them, tell them, and write them. The fun part was listening to Robin Williams narrate a Pecos Bill book. I now have a classroom of budding tall tale authors. Sheesh, that was close, I almost had to build an ark. Next I divided the class in teams for my spring time class activity of Baseball Trivia. It's a classroom behavior modification teaching game I've developed that is a lot of fun and involves a lot of hands learning from all my students and Kingsize candy bars on my part for the winning team. They were happy. Whew, I dodged one more rainy day bullet. Now what shall I do for tomorrow? I wonder if I have any more tricks up my sleeve. I'll need them, because the tv weather guy says we are going to have 10 more days of RAIN!!!!! Rusting, rusting, rusting.....

Blowin' in the Wind

I'm going to see the living legend himself, the Jester, on Monday night. The thought of not seeing Bob Dylan at the Stockton Arena was a little too much for my flippin' 53 brain, so, today on the way to my teenager's swim meet in Concord, I dialed my crazy concert, Disneyland, "Let's go to Ikea", friend and said, "Why aren't we going to see Bob Dylan?" Well we are now going. Mary is taping the final game of the NCAA finals and we will hit the parking lot at 7:00p.m. I cannot wait! Oh yeah, it rained again today in Cali with scattered sunshine. I'm still a little rusty but a whole lot happier, just like a "rolling stone..." Yeah, I'm going to see Dylan!