Friday, May 29, 2009

The only constant...

Change is becoming my best friend, which is really ironic since I've always hated it.

Right now, the administrators and a few teachers are deciding on a proposal for the future of our school. I have no idea what this means for our small part of the school. Regardless, our board member wants to tear the school down in a year, which means we either save our small school by moving to another site or our staff and students will be dispersed to the four corners of SDUSD. So I guess we have some work to do.

Devon has been a wonderful addition to the household. He's great with the kids and is working hard to re-learn math so he can pass his proficiency exam for his diploma on June 20. He's eager to find a job and start earning some money, but he has to wait for his ID to come in the mail. He has an orientation for a job-skills program on Monday. He's doing all the right things. I'm very impressed.

And of course, the school year is racing to a close. I will be saying goodbye to my beloved Class of 2009. In the meantime, I am getting the Class of 2010 ready for senior year by working on personal statements.

Oh yeah, and every day our house looks different. I'll post pictures again tomorrow.

Yep, Change and I are great buddies these days.

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Birthday Pictures

Here are some pictures from Boo's birthday party. Fun!!

The boys had a great time in the pool!
Caleb's goddad made a BEAUTIFUL "rocket ship!" Notice who's driving it! ;)

Band Concert




Last night was Nikki's first band concert. She got to play "Star Wars" with the high school band. She did so well!!

Dining Al Fresco

Nikki decided we should christen the new dining area today since they added railings. It was fun!
Eating dinner. Gloria found it quite tempting. ;)
The view from the new dining area.

Ice cream for dessert.
The back of the house.
The view from the master bedroom. It's getting exciting!!

Expanding and Shrinking

Yesterday, we came home to find the downstairs completely framed, and even covered. It is quite magical to leave in the morning and come home to find one's house looking COMPLETELY different than it did when one left eight hours earlier.

So the house is expanding. But in the meantime, our usable space is shrinking. Yesterday, our contractor told us that we needed to remove all of our fragile things from our shelving unit because they are going to be ripping the stucco off the back wall of the house today (!!). Devon was kind enough to assist me in this matter. We also took down pictures. But my house was already full, and now I have pictures and breakable things to store. And I imagine that this is going to get MUCH worse before it gets better!

Our school gets out in three weeks, but during the first week of summer vacation our kids both still have school. I think that is a great time to PURGE. We have GOT to get rid of the STUFF that fills our house (and mostly our garage)!! In the meantime, know that if you come visit me you will be escorted through a maze of piles strategically arranged throughout the house. Don't judge me.

Saturday, May 23, 2009

Busy, Busy, Busy!

Why are we busy??

Devon arrived yesterday. We spent the evening rearranging the already-rearranged furniture to make a little space for him to call his own. He is so glad to be home, and we're SO glad to have him back!!

Caleb turned five today. Happy birthday, Boo!!

This morning, they began framing our house. We now have a bottom story. Yeah!

This afternoon, we went shopping because Devon needed clothes and Caleb needed to pick out the fun stuff for his birthday party.

Tonight we are going to prom #17.

Tomorrow is Caleb's birthday party!!

But I'm not complaining because it's all so GOOD!!!! :)

Monday, May 18, 2009

Pictures of the Graduation

Here are the pictures!

Snipers ready to take us out...

Michelle Obama.

The REAL reason for all the hype. Stephanie graduated!!!!
Congratulations to Stephanie and UC Merced's inaugural class!!

Saturday, May 16, 2009

Road Trip

I'm writing this in Fresno. Yeah, I know. Here's why.

One of my alumni, Stephanie, is a member of the inaugural class at UC Merced. She graduated today! And Michelle Obama gave the keynote address! So Nikki and I took a road trip. FUN!

I'll post pictures tomorrow, when I have access to my card reader. In the meantime, I hope you'll take the time to read Michelle's speech. I found it to be VERY inspirational. That, and seeing Steph receive her degree, made sitting in the 105-degree heat for four hours worth it!

Now I'd better get some sleep. I have a LONG drive ahead of me tomorrow!

Sunday, May 10, 2009

Happy Mother's Day!!

We had a great one!

Breakfast in bed (please ignore folded laundry on dresser):


Presents with a Twilight theme:


And a great afternoon at the beach with my parents:







Hope yours was great, too!!

Saturday, May 9, 2009

An introvert in an extraverted world.

I'm typing this while my AP Psych students are doing a practice FRQ, so I only have ten minutes to get this out!

We were just talking about introverts and extraverts and I think I know now why I am such a bad mom. I am an introvert, and both teaching and parenting require extraversion (is that a word???). So I deny my need to go hide in a corner and be alone all day and then come home and deny it while I'm with my kids, so that I have nothing left by the end of the day. Or maybe that makes me a bad wife? Or just dysfuntional?? And I'm pretty sure it explains why I never want to go anywhere on the weekend, even though I have fun once I get there. It definitely explains my fantasies of Scott taking the kids AND the pets somewhere for several days and leaving me all alone in my house.

Maybe I should call up Thoreau and see if his cabin is available...

Friday, May 8, 2009

Expanding, but temporarily!

I don't generally write about drama outside of my immediate family on here because it's not my place to put it out there, but if you know me well you know that my nephew has had a rough go of it.

Until a year ago, Devon was raised by my parents. He's now 19 and has spent the last year bouncing around in Texas trying to find a place to fit. He ultimately gave up and decided to come home. My parents are quite done raising children after two generations and have been enjoying their time together, just the two of them, as they should. However, this leaves Devon without a place to stay until he gets on his feet here in San Diego.

So next week, Devon is coming home. He wants to finish high school, get a job, and find a place to stay. All of these are admirable goals, and he seems to have learned some things while he was gone. So Scott and I talked, and he agreed that Devon could stay here until he gets settled.

I called Devon today to let him know. He had never even asked for this, but he was so grateful for the offer. He almost started crying in relief.

I am prayerful that this is the right choice for everyone. We are pretty good at establishing boundaries, and we intend to do so when he gets here. However, we do have young children and limited space, so there isn't much room for error on his part. He seems committed to making this fresh start work. So if you have some room on your prayer list, please add Devon to it. And us. This has to work.

Thursday, May 7, 2009

It must be love...

Meet my new dishwasher. On Tuesday, I came home to find our favorite contractor (who is also Caleb's goddad) still here, just finishing up the installation. We were so excited, both to see him here and to see the dishwasher fully functional.

It's the best! The refrigerator is louder than the dishwasher now. It was worth the wait!! :)

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Sleepless

One of the many exciting aspects of the remodel is the stress it is creating for our pets. The rest of us are doing just fine, but the animals are, well, not.

Maggie, our 14-year-old golden retriever, is a compulsive digger. We have given up trying to do anything with the back yard other than grass, and she spends her days tunneling to her heart's content. However, she is now locked in the side yard all day because, shockingly, the contractor doesn't appreciate her help rearranging HIS tunnels. Since we started construction two weeks ago, she is noticeably stiffer in her arthritic old joints. I'm hoping that once the concrete is poured, she'll get more free time in the back yard. She is also baffled by the disappearance of our back slider, which was blocked off for construction, and can't figure out that she needs to go through the garage to get out to the back yard to go potty. She is deaf and partially blind, and it's so sad to see her try to go to the slider, hit the wall, and turn in confused circles until we are able to catch her and guide her in the proper direction.

Lydia, the cat, was immediately distraught when they demolished our deck. She's an inside cat and that was her only outside time. Now she is confined to the house. She growls at the workers the entire time they're here. She was already neurotic, but I'm certain that once they start messing with Nikki's bedroom, she's going to come unglued. She expresses this by using the carpet as her litter box. NOT pleasant, and not acceptable if we're going to be spending a lot of money on NEW carpet!

Gloria, our little mutt dog, is the least upset by the changes since she spends her days asleep under our bed. But yesterday we had our new dishwasher delivered (YAY!!!) and something happened. I noticed that she didn't come tearing down to greet me when I got home like she usually does, but I figured she thought I was someone else. By seven last night, it was clear that something was wrong with her. She was favoring her left front leg and was whimpering as she leaned on me while I sat on the couch. By 9:30, I was concerned. We went to bed and put her on the bed with us. At midnight, I woke to find her completely inconsolable. She would lay down, cry, get up, move to a new spot, lay down, cry, get up, etc. After 45 minutes of this, I took her to the emergency vet clinic. Two hours later, she acted perfectly normal while the vet examined her. When we got home at 3:00 am, it was a repeat performance. So we will be going back to her usual vet today for a cortisone shot so she can have some relief from the pain. The big question is what happened to her?? Did the delivery men step on her? Kick her??

I feel pretty confident that the rest of us can come through this unscathed, but I'm really worried about the animals...