Sarah's Birthday - Shawn's Promotion - Kids Departure

Shawn's 8th grade promotion was on Thurs - June 11th.. it was a beautiful night and a very nice ceremony. So proud of him... I only got this one sucky photo before my camera died!

He opted out of the class trip to Magic Mountain and somehow he and his friend Caleb talked Caleb's mom into taking them to Knotts Berry Farm for a day and talked me into letting Shawn cut a day of school... They had a great time :)

Sarah celebrated her 12th birthday with a few friends on the last day of school... The afternoon started off a little rough, but then one of the little girls suffered a hideous bloody wound on her leg while chasing a boy around the pool area and the trauma of it all seemed to bring them all nicely back together and it was peace and harmony and a great time for the rest of the night! And yes, the injured little girl turned out okay.. no stitches required (no skin left to stitch)..

Shawn & Sarah departed for 2 weeks with the grandparents on Sarah's actual birthday - June 15th. I took them to Ontario airport to put them on a flight for Sacramento. I was shocked to find out that once they are 12, they no longer considered unaccompanied minors and can just check in and get on and off the plane with out any adult anywhere!!! So, technically, I could have just dropped them at the curb :) But I went in with them anyway - this time.... The airline guy showed Sarah how to get her ticket from the machine and check her bag, then I let her find our way to the gate... That was fun for her... she was so excited to get on the plane with just her brother.... he thought it was pretty cool too... and on the other end they found their way to baggage claim where the grandparents were waiting... I felt a little okay knowing that Shawn has his cell phone -- but so freaked out that given the opportunity, they could just jump on a plane and hit the road anywhere at any time! Good thingthey don't have any money :)

Anyway, Sarah will be in Auburn with Mike's mom Dianne for 2 weeks and a couple of my friends will pick her up to hang out a little and Shawn and Mike's dad David are hitting the road for a trip to Canada... a literal road trip, camping on the way... Both should have a great time and I will have some great peace and quiet..

Summer Time

Well summer's upon us and the weather has been soooooo fabulous here in the desert... not so much this past weekend in Redlands where it was freezing! The kids had a soccer tournament all weekend... lots of fun and great games... Shawn's team came in 4th and Sarah's didn't really come in any place, but they had a great time :)

Shawn has his promotion ceremony for 8th grade this Thursday... I'm so proud that he worked at getting his grades up this last quarter... although I noticed it really didn't take him much effort.... so it seems that it would be easier (on me at least) if he would just stay on top of things from the get go :) I'll have to continue to encourage that option next year. I can't believe he's going to be in high school!!!!

Sarah turns 12 on Monday and both kids are leaving with the grandparents for 2 weeks... Sarah will be hanging out with her grandma and the golden retriever in Auburn, while grandpa, Shawn and the Alaskan Malamute take a road trip to Canada.... I so wish I was going! It's sooooooo beautiful there! Don't know what I'll do for 2 weeks with no responsibility --- and peace and quiet... I haven't been alone that long in I don't know how long maybe since before I was married....no wait I lived with my mom before I was married... so that would be never!!! I've never been alone for 2 weeks... I probably won't have a clue what to do :)

Been a long time....

Wow I haven't been on the blog in ages... just busy... Both kids are in Select Soccer, so they've still been practicing and playing weekly - One more tournament to go and we're done!

In April we went to Auburn with Mike and Melanie (kids dad & step mom) to visit the kids Grandparents. I stayed with Tami one night and Cynthia then next. Cynthia & I met up with Denise for a visit in Colfax. It was a great time... much too short of a visit. Oh and we did a totally fun treasure Easter egg hunt on Easter for the kids :)

Sarah on grandpa's eBay find

Be-headed statue - hiding place for eggs

Sarah & the old Fiat aka hiding place

Shawn up in the library - yet another great hiding place

Over the rest of Easter vacation, Shawn spent a couple of days with our cousin Matthew, Auntie Dee Dee and Amy at their timeshare in Carlsbad...

And then the highlight of Shawn's life - which he actually missed a soccer game for (which is unheard of for him) ---- I took him and his friend (and met another there) to the RC Car Expo in Pomona. They were sooooo excited and giddy I thought they were going to come out of their skin... It really made me wish I had a hobby or something (anything) that made me that excited!

Shawn got measured at the doctor's office the other day and he's 5'6" now!!! Sarah's not far behind... her legs go on forever.... not sure where she got those!

Jim's been back and forth to Tunisia a few times over the past few months -- he's there now, so I'm bored without him :(

That's all I can think of right now!

Nobel Prize Winner's Message: The Economy Sucks (tell me something I don't already know)

Last night Jim and I were fortunate to attend a lecture and dinner that was part of the Desert Town Hall Lecture Series... held at the Renaissance Esmeralda. The speaker was Nobel Prize wining Economist Paul Krugman... I thought we were going to gain some great insight on the state of the current economic crisis and when we could expect the start of a recovery... what I got is what I already knew... The economy sucks... its going to get worse before it gets better and there's no real indication of when we might pull out of this. He also stated that its really important for everyone to continue spending and quite hording their money... and when asked where he's keeping his money these days... he said he has a lot of cash - Ya, probably hording it in his mattress like anyone else who has any money left! The least he could have done was end with a joke! Still it was a very enjoyable evening and the lamb was exquisite!!! I do have to say the highlight of the evening was picking up the car from valet.... there were probably 500 or more people at this dinner who all needed to get their cars from valet and the young blond valet guy was hysterical - with mic in hand comically announcing each car and its owner as it arrived.. I think you may have had to be there - but trust me, it was a hoot!

Trouble in paradise....

Okay..... I haven't been on in forever because I've been a little stressed out!!! I'm still working at La Quinta Resort, but they've been cutting so many jobs and have cut our hours back and I've just been freaking out! Ya, I know - what's new? Anyway, its still sooooooo amazingly beautiful at the resort and I just recently noticed that we have a bunch of purple and white orchid trees on the property! I had no idea we even had orchid trees in the desert!!!!

Anyway, with my cut hours, I have to take a whole extra day off each week, which may sound great in theory, but when its without pay - its a huge problem :( And of course during this personal economic crisis I have to have a dental crisis - of which my portion costs as much as a house payment! And this week I took off Wednesday off and didn't do much of anything except a few errands and of course laundry and go back to work on Thursday and get a call in the morning (couldn't have happened Wednesday when I'm hangin at home) that Shawn is sick... so off I go again... to the ER again for head trouble (loss of peripheral vision, numbness in face and hands, sever headache, loss of balance).... which they say is just a post-concussion migraine... from the "minor" concussion he got way back in December...and could happen for up to a year or longer after the initial concussion... and they did tell us he could have headaches for a while after he first got the concussion... and he's had plenty of headaches since then, just none for about the past month and none nearly as bad as this one! I'm hoping this was just the grand finale freak headache.... and we're done with it :)