Spring Break

We decided to take a mini-trip for spring break this year. Sam only got a couple of days off and we had to photograph a wedding in the middle, so we had to come home for a day. We invited Grandma Bailey to come along, so we had to stick to within a couple of days of Bakersfield.

This picture was taken at Sequoia National Park. There was still snow on the ground, and it was absolutely beautiful. Unfortunately, us beach-living people don't own decent shoes for snow. Meg and I slid through a bit of it in our flip-flops, but Meg decided it was just too cold. But, then we had to make one trek through snow to get to a bathroom. Actually, it was not a terribly cold day and the snow was packed pretty good by previous passers. As long as you didn't break through to a hole, it wasn't bad at all. But, she was complaining about how her feet were just SO painful. I reminded her of the pioneer kids who trekked over mountains through the snow with just rags wrapped around their feet for shoes. She said, "Well at least they had RAGS! That would be better than flipflops!"

See, even at eleven they are still funny. I have a feeling twelve won't be near as amusing, though. And, we won't even talk about fourteen.

Mom and Sam at least had real shoes. This is them checking out a rather big tree.

Happy Easter!

Hanging with The Boys....

My sister Julie is here with her family and some friends this week. She's got two big teenaged boys and a daughter Meg's age. Her boys brought a couple of their friends, and all four of them are staying with me this week. They're all over six foot, so it feels like I'm walking around with my bodyguards. But, it's been a blast. We've shot off potato guns, visited the Aquarium, taken them surfing, played games and watched movies until all hours of the night, mini-golfed, went to the Last Chance Mercantile and bought some vinyl 70's Albums for 50 cents each (Bread, Jethro Tull, Journey, Yes) to listen to while we play cards, took the boys to Mutual to check out the local female wildlife, etc etc. With our family, Julie's family, her friend's family etc, we've been doing dinner for fifteen. Good thing Sam is such a good cook! :-)

Today, half the party wanted to go to Hearst Castle, but Julie and I didn't want to spend the day in the car, so we took the boys, one of her friend's daughters and my niece and and took them all to In N Out and went and to a movie . I love In N Out, especially when you're feeding big boys. No where else can you feed five teenagers, one kid, and three adults for under $30.

When this is all over, I'll need about a week to recuperate.

Which Movie Mom are You?

Which Movie Mom Are You?

My Result: My Big Fat Greek Wedding's Maria Portokalos

Maria Portokalos may not have been the focus of the movie, but that's the only way she would have had it. You, like Maria, are the backbone of your family, but you do it without ever wanting to be the center of attention. You know what we're talking about — your kids always seek out your well-thought-out and sincere advice, and your husband knows who really wears the pants in your house.

You consider motherhood a delicate balancing act — you're strong and tough when necessary, but it's tempered with love and respect. Fiercely loyal, you always act with your family's best interest at heart. And that's just the way you want it.

What are you?
http://web.tickle.com/jumpto?test=moviemomogt&c=50652

My niece Danesa had this on her blog and I thought it was cute. I think the results surprised me a little bit, but it was a fun quiz. They needed to let you pick multiple answers a couple of times, though.....

Just stuff...

A couple of updates on stuff. I'm still sick, although I feel better. Went to the doctor and he says I have a sinus/ear infection. Explains why both ears are totally plugged....I feel like I'm walking around with my head in a tin can. But, other than that, at least I'm not feeling like crap anymore...he gave me some antibiotics, etc.

Ward conferences are over finally. My home ward always starts asking Sam in about February if I've gone inactive. (We are a 80% military ward with a high turnover, so half of them probably weren't here last year this time). I ended up only having to speak once, because I conveniently got sick for the other time. I should plan it that way next year, too. :0) I enjoy visiting the other wards, just hate speaking.

We're starting work on our garden this morning. They have Sam tag-teaming a board right now, so he works evenings until midnight or so. So that gives us days to do other things. We got stuff to add a few raised garden beds, so we're going to try and get those set up and some seeds in the ground today. I'm excited, I always love having a garden, and we've not had the time to do anything about it the last two years.

We had Amanda and her kids for a day last week when they dropped Mom off and it was a blast. I love her kids, they're very sweet and a lot of fun and it was nice to visit with Amanda and Steve, even though it was short. Next time you guys come, we'll find you a real beach. :0) I'll get Sam to give me a couple of pics and I'll post them later.

When we took Mom back to Bakersfield on Saturday, Elvira had got us tickets for her symphony concert. It was wonderful, of course. We took Grandma Bailey and she said she really enjoyed it. Meghan even enjoyed it....I was worried about her capacity to sit still that long, but she enjoyed watching all the instrumentalists (we were on the third row) and the slides that they showed during "The Planets" by Holst.

My sister Julie and her crew are here Saturday for a week, and I'm excited. We don't get to spend near enough time together....if you don't count the daily phone calls, of course.

The weather is perfect this time of year...until about June-ish when the fog sets in. PERFECT time for visitors, hint, hint.

Good News and Bad News

Well, Sam's having a good time with his Mom. He took her into Monterey today and they did a couple of museums and a bit of shopping and got lunch.

I had to stay home, though, because I'm sick AGAIN. This is the third time since Christmas and it's getting REALLY old. I've been hibernating back in the bedroom so I don't give it to Grandma. So, I'm missing out on fun and dominoes and probably "Lost" tonight. (We'll TIVO it, but still). Sam's been very good about doing the grocery shopping and cooking, etc while I lay around like a slug.

The good news is that the guy that interviewed Sam on Monday called and gave him some contract work to start on tonight at a decent rate of pay. He's going to keep him on contract for awhile and if they're happy, they'll put him on as a direct employee, at which time we'll get insurance benefits. Hopefully that'll be before our old insurance benefits run out the end of April, but we don't know.

I feel a little better about our financial status now. I just wish I could be well enough to go celebrate or something.

We're just waiting.....

The interview seemed to go pretty well. I think the guy was intimidated by the amount that Sam usually gets paid for contract work. And, it didn't help that Sam forgot that the guy is essentially a "wholesaler" and has to mark up whatever they pay Sam to make a profit, but still be able to compete with the Pakistani's and Chinese. He thought about that after the guy left.

But, he seemed impressed with Sam's work, was a very nice guy and we enjoyed visiting with him. The company seems pretty solid and has a few really big customers, Intel and Apple among them. He said it would take a couple of days to come up with a formal offer....he was going to call his buddies at Apple and see what the going rate is first. Hopefully, Apple pays GOOD.

So, now we just wait....

Grandma Bailey is here for the week while the Waites do Disneyland. It's lovely to have her here and I wish we could keep her longer than the week.

Happy Birthday, Sam!

Ok, this isn't a great pic of Sam, but he's usually behind the camera, not in front of it.

It's his birthday today and I just wanted to brag on my talented, sweet, very patient and fun husband. He puts up with my cranky moods and Meg's drama queen tendencies with the utmost kindness and patience. He works hard working at jobs he's not all that crazy about and usually hates, just to keep us sleeping indoors and not eating out of dumpsters.

He has a whole fan club at church of the under 4' tall set....mostly little girls. Several of them will just run up and give him a big hug out of the blue. He usually volunteers when they need substitutes in the nursery or Primary, and loves teaching the five year olds in Primary the best. (He'd rather walk through broken glass than teach the 11 year old boys, but wouldn't we all, lol). He keeps most of the ward in emu eggs, so the kids know him as either "that guy with the camera" or the "emu man".

He keeps me mostly sane when we're out of work, assuring me that it's all going to be all right. And, so far, he's always been right . So, I'm hoping that for a birthday present, he'll get a job tomorrow when he has his interview. Although, I'm sure he'd rather have another three weeks off. :0)

Happy birthday, Sammy. I love you, and I'm so glad your mom didn't stop at three kids, (as are the other five who came after Mary, I'm sure). I wish we'd figured out in college that we were supposed to be married, but then we wouldn't have Ryan. So, I guess the Lord knew what He was doing. At least we're together now.