School ended and we left for San Diego the same day. We had one of those great timeshare "villas" for a week . . . but the real purpose of the trip was to go to the US Open with our good friends, Cary and Shirl.
We had been planning this trip for many months, so with great anticipation on Sunday morning of the US Open we headed to QualCom Stadium to catch a shuttle to Torrey Pines. (There were no other options - I dislike shuttle events!)
Now, James and I had been to a few tournaments before, and in fact, James had been to the US Open in Olympic Golf Course several years ago, so we thought we knew just how to strategize getting around the course and see all of the players that we wanted to see.
What we didn't factor into that equation was the thousands of other people with the same strategy! The first few hours we were there the gallery seemed like that at any tournament - LA Open, Buick Open, etc. but . . . when Tiger and the other leaders teed off in the early afternoon, people came out of nowhere. That "run ahead" idea we had became a "crawl" your way the next hole event!
We finally settled on the 17th hole where we stayed for about 2 hours. James and Cary were right out there in the sun - as close to the green as possible, while Shirley and I were content to stand under the shade of a tree and try to peek through the crowd.
We got a few glimpses of the limping Tiger, an "up close and personal" Phil Michelson sighting (where I yelled "Hi Phil!"), and got to watch the swings and putts of a dozen other outstanding golfers.
Although it was fun and we love being with Cary and Shirl . . .
I believe next year we will be watching from the comfort of our family room on our LCD TV getting all of the golf analysis at the same time!
We're back again!!
Friday, June 20, 2008
Saturday, May 31, 2008
We're Back!
Thanks to my sister-in-law, Diana for the great pics and my good friend , Nicole for helping me gain the courage to get these pics on this blog for you. Now that the "computer dinosaur of the year" (me) has started her own blog and posted pics on it, I am feeling pretty confident that you will have something to look at as you read my less than entertaining blog entries!
How is that you look forward to a vacation for weeks or even months and then you are home for a few days and it seems like a year since you were gone????? Well . . . that's how it seems after being home only 5 days from our trip to Chicago and Indianapolis.
We had fun! We landed in Chicago to find that it was in the high 50's and did I pack a jacket? NO! It wasn't down right freezing - but the evenings got pretty cold - way colder than I am used to - so I ended up borrowing my brother-in-laws jacket one evening. Thanks, Jack!
We had fun! We landed in Chicago to find that it was in the high 50's and did I pack a jacket? NO! It wasn't down right freezing - but the evenings got pretty cold - way colder than I am used to - so I ended up borrowing my brother-in-laws jacket one evening. Thanks, Jack!
Highlights of our trip were:
Dinner at the Chicago Chop House - I enjoyed some nice broiled Orange Roughy while the more carniverous travelers in our group had steaks and prime rib. James kind of paid for his big steak with a little gastrointestinal disorder into the night. I'll stay with the fish - thank you very much!
We had after dinner drinks at the top of the John Hancock building. I am a real chicken when it comes to heights - so going up after dark worked well for me. I think it was the 96th floor - I get dizzy just thinking about being up so high - but the city was beautiful all lit up!
The next day we toured the city on one of those famous "Hop On - Hop Off" City tours. It really did give us a good feel for the city and allowed us to "Hop Off" to see Tyrannasaurus Sue at the Field Museum, see the Sears Tower up close and personal and have one of those famous Chicago Hot Dogs. Since I am not a real big hot dog fan I didn't really get what was so appealing about them - but I think James and Jack found them to be pretty delicious!
Diana and Jack arranged for us to have a tour of old Wrigley Field - for those of you who are not baseball fans - it is where the Chicago Cubs play. It was fantastic. I think they said it is the second oldest ballpark in the US - Yankee Stadium being the oldest. Anyway - it was really a great tour. We even got to tour the clubhouse and see the current players locker room.
On to Indianapolis - where we stayed at the Quality Inn - a rather old tired Quality Inn. We laughingly said it was where they put the Q in Quality. It worked out well for proximity to the Speedway and we had an enjoyable day at the race. This year the weather was quite nice and all 200 laps were completed.
We went back to the Indy Speedway the next day and took a 12 minute spin around the track in a small tour bus. We got to see the track from the drivers vantage point at about one tenth the speed. We also visited the Speedway Museum which is very interesting - especially if you like looking at old race cars!
As always the highlight of the Indy trip for me is spending time with my relatives. We all went over to Deb and Dave's for a dinner and generally just spent three hours "catching up" with family news. We missed Erin, Bret, and Grant this year -but really enjoyed meeting Bret's parents. Now I see where Bret gets his humerous side.
See you next year, Indy - hopefully with 2 or 3 kids in tow!
Dinner at the Chicago Chop House - I enjoyed some nice broiled Orange Roughy while the more carniverous travelers in our group had steaks and prime rib. James kind of paid for his big steak with a little gastrointestinal disorder into the night. I'll stay with the fish - thank you very much!
We had after dinner drinks at the top of the John Hancock building. I am a real chicken when it comes to heights - so going up after dark worked well for me. I think it was the 96th floor - I get dizzy just thinking about being up so high - but the city was beautiful all lit up!
The next day we toured the city on one of those famous "Hop On - Hop Off" City tours. It really did give us a good feel for the city and allowed us to "Hop Off" to see Tyrannasaurus Sue at the Field Museum, see the Sears Tower up close and personal and have one of those famous Chicago Hot Dogs. Since I am not a real big hot dog fan I didn't really get what was so appealing about them - but I think James and Jack found them to be pretty delicious!
Diana and Jack arranged for us to have a tour of old Wrigley Field - for those of you who are not baseball fans - it is where the Chicago Cubs play. It was fantastic. I think they said it is the second oldest ballpark in the US - Yankee Stadium being the oldest. Anyway - it was really a great tour. We even got to tour the clubhouse and see the current players locker room.
On to Indianapolis - where we stayed at the Quality Inn - a rather old tired Quality Inn. We laughingly said it was where they put the Q in Quality. It worked out well for proximity to the Speedway and we had an enjoyable day at the race. This year the weather was quite nice and all 200 laps were completed.
We went back to the Indy Speedway the next day and took a 12 minute spin around the track in a small tour bus. We got to see the track from the drivers vantage point at about one tenth the speed. We also visited the Speedway Museum which is very interesting - especially if you like looking at old race cars!
As always the highlight of the Indy trip for me is spending time with my relatives. We all went over to Deb and Dave's for a dinner and generally just spent three hours "catching up" with family news. We missed Erin, Bret, and Grant this year -but really enjoyed meeting Bret's parents. Now I see where Bret gets his humerous side.
See you next year, Indy - hopefully with 2 or 3 kids in tow!
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
And There They Go
Many of you know that James and I have been making a yearly trek to the Indianapolis 500 for the past few years. I never really gave a hoot about that kind of sport at any time in my life, but my husband enjoys it and I have learned to like the event at a certain level.
First of all, I usually get to see my Indiana relatives - who used to be close-by California relatives. They moved to Indiana and then my cousin married a died in the wool hoosier! No chance of getting them back in California now - so I now I look forward to my once a year visit with them. This year we will miss Erin and Bret and most of all baby Grant - they'll be out of town - but we will see my mom's sister Deb and her husband Dave. It is always fun to see them and catch up!
Then we started adding a little more to the trip. Each year we start at another destination for a few days before going to Indianpolis. We've been to Kansas City, St. Louis, Cincinatti and this year we are flying into Chicago for a few days. We are looking forward to seeing Wrigley Field and Tyrannasauris Sue.
Last year for the first time we invited James' sister and her husband along. I'm not sure if we got them hooked on the race or not , but they agreed to come along again this year with us! Last year we suffered through a few hours of pretty steady rain to watch the race. James and I learned in one of the early years not to leave if it starts to rain or even if there is a tornado - so we stuck it out. The race is kind of like the US Postal service - they deliver no matter what the weather!
I constantly get the question - "You LIKE going to car races?" Well, the answer is this - if you've ever been to a big sporting event - World Series, Super Bowl, US Open, etc. - you know what I mean when I say there's just something about the atmosphere at that type of event. It's the guys that have been up all night in the same clothes, drinking beer sitting next to you, the really worn out, cushiony seats that you rent for $7 to keep your bottom from going to sleep on the hard bleachers, the smell of burning asphalt and tire rubber, the black residue on your clothes and skin, the deafening noise of the cars as they race at over 200 MPH -I use ear plugs, which I have to take out each time someone says something to me so that I can hear them, and then when the excitement of the race is over after a few hours we walk what seems like four miles to get back to your car in the rain or scorching heat - that great Indianapolis weather!
Yup, that's race day!
Ask me if I like and I'll tell you the truth - I LOVE IT! We really do have a blast. As the PA announcer, Tom Carnagie says as the drivers head out after the green flag is waved - AND THERE THEY GOOOOOOOOO! So here we come Indianapolis!
First of all, I usually get to see my Indiana relatives - who used to be close-by California relatives. They moved to Indiana and then my cousin married a died in the wool hoosier! No chance of getting them back in California now - so I now I look forward to my once a year visit with them. This year we will miss Erin and Bret and most of all baby Grant - they'll be out of town - but we will see my mom's sister Deb and her husband Dave. It is always fun to see them and catch up!
Then we started adding a little more to the trip. Each year we start at another destination for a few days before going to Indianpolis. We've been to Kansas City, St. Louis, Cincinatti and this year we are flying into Chicago for a few days. We are looking forward to seeing Wrigley Field and Tyrannasauris Sue.
Last year for the first time we invited James' sister and her husband along. I'm not sure if we got them hooked on the race or not , but they agreed to come along again this year with us! Last year we suffered through a few hours of pretty steady rain to watch the race. James and I learned in one of the early years not to leave if it starts to rain or even if there is a tornado - so we stuck it out. The race is kind of like the US Postal service - they deliver no matter what the weather!
I constantly get the question - "You LIKE going to car races?" Well, the answer is this - if you've ever been to a big sporting event - World Series, Super Bowl, US Open, etc. - you know what I mean when I say there's just something about the atmosphere at that type of event. It's the guys that have been up all night in the same clothes, drinking beer sitting next to you, the really worn out, cushiony seats that you rent for $7 to keep your bottom from going to sleep on the hard bleachers, the smell of burning asphalt and tire rubber, the black residue on your clothes and skin, the deafening noise of the cars as they race at over 200 MPH -I use ear plugs, which I have to take out each time someone says something to me so that I can hear them, and then when the excitement of the race is over after a few hours we walk what seems like four miles to get back to your car in the rain or scorching heat - that great Indianapolis weather!
Yup, that's race day!
Ask me if I like and I'll tell you the truth - I LOVE IT! We really do have a blast. As the PA announcer, Tom Carnagie says as the drivers head out after the green flag is waved - AND THERE THEY GOOOOOOOOO! So here we come Indianapolis!
Sunday, May 4, 2008
A New Appreciation . . .
It's funny how you develop a new appreciation for things as your life goes on!
Here's just a few of things I have noticed.
When you are a kid your mom tries to get you to eat certain foods that you are determined are yucky or gross and then as you mature you develop an appreciation for those foods. One that happened to me was AVOCADOS - did I have to learn to like a food that cost $2.99 for one little tiny organic avocado at Whole Foods????
Then when you get to be about 19 you begin to appreciate adults in your life that you thought were really stupid and really didn't understand or know a thing prior to that. I guess this a good thing since we will soon have children and maybe they'll learn to appreciate us before the memory loss sets in and we don't know they appreciate us!
Lately I realize how much I appreciate our good friends. There's a time in your life when you are so busy that you keep putting off time for friends. Well over a year ago we started a monthly game night with friends. This date each month has not been missed once and we truly have a great night each month!
I also realize how much work a blog is to keep up with. I used to get a little put out with my Indiana relatives if there wasn't a new entry everytime I checked their site - now I realize just how hard it is and what a great job they do keeping us up to date on their lives and their adorable, Grant. I wish I could do half as well - I really appreciate their blog!
Lastly, I appreciate my husband. He keeps me laughing and keeps us focused. We have fun just looking for office furniture, he is such an encourager to his new executive assistant (me) and what my job will be, and he is really "getting it" when it comes to what it will mean to have 2 kids in the house. He's gonna be a fun dad. It's his birthday this week and in fact we have his family birthday party at my mom's today!
Happy Birthday, James - I appreciate you most of all!
Here's just a few of things I have noticed.
When you are a kid your mom tries to get you to eat certain foods that you are determined are yucky or gross and then as you mature you develop an appreciation for those foods. One that happened to me was AVOCADOS - did I have to learn to like a food that cost $2.99 for one little tiny organic avocado at Whole Foods????
Then when you get to be about 19 you begin to appreciate adults in your life that you thought were really stupid and really didn't understand or know a thing prior to that. I guess this a good thing since we will soon have children and maybe they'll learn to appreciate us before the memory loss sets in and we don't know they appreciate us!
Lately I realize how much I appreciate our good friends. There's a time in your life when you are so busy that you keep putting off time for friends. Well over a year ago we started a monthly game night with friends. This date each month has not been missed once and we truly have a great night each month!
I also realize how much work a blog is to keep up with. I used to get a little put out with my Indiana relatives if there wasn't a new entry everytime I checked their site - now I realize just how hard it is and what a great job they do keeping us up to date on their lives and their adorable, Grant. I wish I could do half as well - I really appreciate their blog!
Lastly, I appreciate my husband. He keeps me laughing and keeps us focused. We have fun just looking for office furniture, he is such an encourager to his new executive assistant (me) and what my job will be, and he is really "getting it" when it comes to what it will mean to have 2 kids in the house. He's gonna be a fun dad. It's his birthday this week and in fact we have his family birthday party at my mom's today!
Happy Birthday, James - I appreciate you most of all!
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Open House!
If you are not a teacher I am convinced that you cannot come close to understanding what it means to be the day before Open House!
Here's an overview:
You wake up wondering what you did with those stories the students wrote that you so carefully saved last September for Open House in April!
You begin stressing over whether you have enough stuff hanging from the ceiling for the parents to bump their heads on!
You start questioning whether two jumbo Costco-sized anti-bacterial wipes could possibly clean a room that 17 Kindergartners have been in for 7 months!
You re-analyze you lesson plans for the day - maybe this is the day to break out a new DVD!
You are concerned that there is not enough tape and sticky tabs in the world to affix all the projects your class has done to the already tape marked walls and doors!
Lastly, how in the world will you ever be ready for parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles and other interested visitors to come through your immaculately clean, beautifully decorated classroom displaying the wonderful accomplishments of 17 great Kindergartners by 6:30 tomorrow night?
Well, I'm not sure how it happens, but for the past twenty years I've been doing this and each year on Open House Night the room is ready, the parents ooh and ahh, and I actually run home between the end of school and the beginning of Open House to shower, shampoo, and shine!
So it is that this may well be the last Open House I ever do, but I look forward to going to my own children's Open House Night next year, where I will truly appreciate all the teacher did to make that classroom perfect!
Here's an overview:
You wake up wondering what you did with those stories the students wrote that you so carefully saved last September for Open House in April!
You begin stressing over whether you have enough stuff hanging from the ceiling for the parents to bump their heads on!
You start questioning whether two jumbo Costco-sized anti-bacterial wipes could possibly clean a room that 17 Kindergartners have been in for 7 months!
You re-analyze you lesson plans for the day - maybe this is the day to break out a new DVD!
You are concerned that there is not enough tape and sticky tabs in the world to affix all the projects your class has done to the already tape marked walls and doors!
Lastly, how in the world will you ever be ready for parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles and other interested visitors to come through your immaculately clean, beautifully decorated classroom displaying the wonderful accomplishments of 17 great Kindergartners by 6:30 tomorrow night?
Well, I'm not sure how it happens, but for the past twenty years I've been doing this and each year on Open House Night the room is ready, the parents ooh and ahh, and I actually run home between the end of school and the beginning of Open House to shower, shampoo, and shine!
So it is that this may well be the last Open House I ever do, but I look forward to going to my own children's Open House Night next year, where I will truly appreciate all the teacher did to make that classroom perfect!
Saturday, April 12, 2008
The Office
Now, for those you avid TV watchers that watch something other than news, politics, history or science documentaries, with a little sports and HGTV thrown in, you may have seen a program called "The Office".
We primarily watch the aforementioned!
Kayleigh got me to watch my first time ever episode of "The Office" during my spring break. It was hilarious - in a dry humor sort of way! Anyway, it is her favorite show!
Now, I always get a little nervous when someone tells me that I remind them of a character on a TV show, so when my house guest mentioned that, my first reaction was - Ohhhh Noooo!
Fortunately the character that she thought reminded her of me turned out to be ok! Whew!
Anyway . . . our adoption social worker told us we needed to have the kid's rooms ready by June - so it is that we have spent part of this last week looking for The Office! (We need to turn our home office back into a bedroom!)
It may not be quite like the TV version, but it will be "Our Office"! We are pretty excited about it. We finally settled on a very nice, professional office, which will be modified to suit us.
We may never make it to the big screen or even the small screen, but maybe after we have moved in and are settled I can post a picture of "Our Office".
Then for those of you like us who primarily watch news and documentaries you can peer at a little reality as well!
Maybe by then I will have a tranformation and look like the girl in "The Office" that I remind Kayleigh of!
We primarily watch the aforementioned!
Kayleigh got me to watch my first time ever episode of "The Office" during my spring break. It was hilarious - in a dry humor sort of way! Anyway, it is her favorite show!
Now, I always get a little nervous when someone tells me that I remind them of a character on a TV show, so when my house guest mentioned that, my first reaction was - Ohhhh Noooo!
Fortunately the character that she thought reminded her of me turned out to be ok! Whew!
Anyway . . . our adoption social worker told us we needed to have the kid's rooms ready by June - so it is that we have spent part of this last week looking for The Office! (We need to turn our home office back into a bedroom!)
It may not be quite like the TV version, but it will be "Our Office"! We are pretty excited about it. We finally settled on a very nice, professional office, which will be modified to suit us.
We may never make it to the big screen or even the small screen, but maybe after we have moved in and are settled I can post a picture of "Our Office".
Then for those of you like us who primarily watch news and documentaries you can peer at a little reality as well!
Maybe by then I will have a tranformation and look like the girl in "The Office" that I remind Kayleigh of!
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
Our House Guest
This week I have "Spring Break"! Now, I know most of you would think that working at a Christian school I might have had the week before or after Easter off - but no, this year we stayed with the public school schedule - so this is it!
We invited a former student of mine over for a few days. She is a doll! Kayleigh is 14 and finishing her freshman year of high school with a 4.5 gradepoint average. Unbelievable! Back in the "olden days" when I was in high school there was nothing higher than a 4.0 - and I don't think anyone in my circle of friends had anything close to that!
Kayleigh was in my 2nd, 3rd, and 4th grade classes when I taught the Multi-Age class. She was quite a student then as well. It is so much fun to see the great young lady she is growing up to be.
Best of all, James and I see a potential babysitter in Kayleigh. We have even talked to her about going on trips with us, if we should need her.
What a joy she is as a house guest - plus she was a great playmate for me as James is over his head in work! We were able to fit in a long walk through Seal Beach, on the beach, down the pier, a shake at Ruby's at the end of the pier, pedicures, watching two funny movies, playing a game of Sorry, making a great Salmon dinner and the "Perfect Apple Pie", taking a trip out to Beaumont to check on our house out there, going out to two lunches and one nice dinner at the Olive Garden (we stole James away for that one), two dips in the jacuzzi, and lots of girl chit-chat time!
Did I mention she was only here about 48 hours?
Whew, but FUN!
We invited a former student of mine over for a few days. She is a doll! Kayleigh is 14 and finishing her freshman year of high school with a 4.5 gradepoint average. Unbelievable! Back in the "olden days" when I was in high school there was nothing higher than a 4.0 - and I don't think anyone in my circle of friends had anything close to that!
Kayleigh was in my 2nd, 3rd, and 4th grade classes when I taught the Multi-Age class. She was quite a student then as well. It is so much fun to see the great young lady she is growing up to be.
Best of all, James and I see a potential babysitter in Kayleigh. We have even talked to her about going on trips with us, if we should need her.
What a joy she is as a house guest - plus she was a great playmate for me as James is over his head in work! We were able to fit in a long walk through Seal Beach, on the beach, down the pier, a shake at Ruby's at the end of the pier, pedicures, watching two funny movies, playing a game of Sorry, making a great Salmon dinner and the "Perfect Apple Pie", taking a trip out to Beaumont to check on our house out there, going out to two lunches and one nice dinner at the Olive Garden (we stole James away for that one), two dips in the jacuzzi, and lots of girl chit-chat time!
Did I mention she was only here about 48 hours?
Whew, but FUN!
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