Do yours here!
Monday, July 30, 2007
Tragedy
It's been a pretty tough weekend here in Phoenix.
On Friday, two news helicopters crashed while covering a police chase. Hubby works for Phoenix PD, so right away he called me to let me know. All we knew is that it was a Channel 3 helicopter and a Channel 15 helicopter. We don't watch channel 15 all that much, but we have strong ties to Channel 3. In fact, the first theme song my son recognized after he was born, was the 'Good Morning Arizona' them song. We watch it every morning, including the segments on the helicopter with Bruce Haffner. That was our first though, oh god, Bruce! But then Bruce came on the air, and we pretty much knew it was Scott Bowerbank. And his photographer was Jim Cox. While Jim didn't get on camera much, his name was always mentioned as the photographer in the helicopter. Watching multiple hours a day, day after day, you get to 'know' the on air personality. It has hit us hard.
The suspect who started the whole thing was caught, and the Phoenix Police Chief said that they will prosecute him for the four deaths.
Then, that same evening, a Phoenix Police Officer was shot and killed by a suspect in a check forgery scam. This hits hard because Hubby works for the Police Department.
Finally, a man was killed while he tried to do an exorcism on his 3 year old granddaughter! Good lord! We made national news with that, and even Geraldo!
We have a lot of good things in our valley, but the last couple of days have been hard on us...
On Friday, two news helicopters crashed while covering a police chase. Hubby works for Phoenix PD, so right away he called me to let me know. All we knew is that it was a Channel 3 helicopter and a Channel 15 helicopter. We don't watch channel 15 all that much, but we have strong ties to Channel 3. In fact, the first theme song my son recognized after he was born, was the 'Good Morning Arizona' them song. We watch it every morning, including the segments on the helicopter with Bruce Haffner. That was our first though, oh god, Bruce! But then Bruce came on the air, and we pretty much knew it was Scott Bowerbank. And his photographer was Jim Cox. While Jim didn't get on camera much, his name was always mentioned as the photographer in the helicopter. Watching multiple hours a day, day after day, you get to 'know' the on air personality. It has hit us hard.
The suspect who started the whole thing was caught, and the Phoenix Police Chief said that they will prosecute him for the four deaths.
Then, that same evening, a Phoenix Police Officer was shot and killed by a suspect in a check forgery scam. This hits hard because Hubby works for the Police Department.
Finally, a man was killed while he tried to do an exorcism on his 3 year old granddaughter! Good lord! We made national news with that, and even Geraldo!
We have a lot of good things in our valley, but the last couple of days have been hard on us...
Not that I would...
... but with the following conversation as an example, I could never get away with an extra-marital affair.
LG: Guess what Daddy?
Hubby: What?
LG: Yesterday I walked into Bible School all by myself! Mommy sat in the car and made sure I got in ok because she was running late and had Baby L in the car.
Hubby: Really? (With that look at me that said 'Reeeealy')
In my defense, it is only two doors that he has to go to to get into the church. And he is five...
LG: Guess what Daddy?
Hubby: What?
LG: Yesterday I walked into Bible School all by myself! Mommy sat in the car and made sure I got in ok because she was running late and had Baby L in the car.
Hubby: Really? (With that look at me that said 'Reeeealy')
In my defense, it is only two doors that he has to go to to get into the church. And he is five...
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Need an Optician?
I got this from a friend in mind in Vegas... it is too funny! Be careful in front of children!
Sunday, July 22, 2007
I'm Done... But No Harry Spoiling
I just finished. When you're done, let me know, I'd love to get others opinions on it...
Thursday, July 19, 2007
Music
In my tagline, I mention music. I'm not a huge fan of music of all genera's like Desert Songbird, but rather, I play the flute. I'm now 30 and I started when I was in fifth grade (that would make me about 10 or 11 when I started). I've played almost continuously in that time span.
I started in beginner band, and I wanted to play the flute. B A D L Y wanted to play the flute. Why? You may ask. Because the daughter (OK this is where it gets tricky, follow me here) of the woman who my father is married to and broke up my parents marriage, played flute. (At the time when I found out she played the flute and I started to want to play, my parents were not divorced.) With the divorce and my mom having to go back to work - she had been a stay at home mom - there wasn't a lot of money. So, after renting a flute for the first year, to make sure that I was going to stick to it, I was granted the use of the flute that belonged to.... I think you get the picture.
So years pass and I go through grade school band and Jr. High band. I even went to all district in eighth grade. I wasn't a great player, but I played well enough. Then I started high school and marching band. That summer I decided that I wanted to be in Symphonic Band. That meant an audition and I had to be good. So I started lessons. All well and dandy. I didn't get into Symphonic Band. There wasn't auditions, and freshmen didn't get into Symphonic Band. But I continued lessons, and I got better for it.
The Feb of my freshman year we went to NAU for the Solo and Ensemble Festival. With my flute teacher we had prepared a solo and one of my girlfriends from school played piano as my accompaniment. I had worked hard for this, and was scared sh*tless. First time I'd ever performed in front of a judge. He had a copy of my music and listened for my tone, my tempo, if I followed the key signature and a whole host of things that you do as a musician.
I got a '3'. (1 being the highest, 4 the lowest) I was devastated. But it was fun to play in the snow and it was my first time at NAU and my first time to be on a 'field trip' with (in essence) no chaperones.
I got my 'baby' the next year, when I turned 16. My open holed flute. I was ecstatic. Granted it was only a solid silver head joint and the rest of the body and keys silver plated, but it was MINE. (Shortly after I got mine, one of the other girls got her flute, and not only was hers solid silver, but her mouthpiece was gold plated! pphhth). About this time I got into the church choir. I found out that I love performing, especially with a microphone in front of me. I wound up playing in church from that point on until I was pregnant with my son, about 10 years. I've also played in church on and off for the last five years, depending on the director and what my schedule is.
College brought two years of marching band at NAU and a two semesters of a non audition band. It was great for me. I went up as a freshman knowing nobody, and after an afternoon, knew not only a whole section, but was planning parties with that section and other sections. I had 100 new friends.
As I moved towards my degree in hotel management, time and credits became an issue and band moved out of my life. However, during the summers, I still played at church.
After I got married and was living in Las Vegas, I started to wonder if there wasn't a group out there of people who played because they liked to. Not professionally, but the band geeks from high school and college who had real jobs in the real world. Yes they did! But I didn't qualify for residency for UNLV and I wasn't about to pay out of state tuition for a band class. Good thing I didn't, because we wound up moving home in May.
Once back at home, I knew where to look. I found that GCC had an evening band class that was a community based band. The first class I took was the first class for the director. We had about 25 people there. I had a blast! That was seven years ago. With the exception of two semesters off because my teaching program met on the same night, I've been there eight years. We're almost at 100 people and each semester finds us tackling bigger and better pieces of music.
When I talk to my mom about the music, she has told me that she never imagined that I would have done what I have done with that flute. She made me promise that when I 'grew out' or 'gave up' on the flute I would sell it. I promised her, but had no intentions of selling that flute. Nor will I. Maybe some day Baby L will decide that she wants to play the flute as well.
I started in beginner band, and I wanted to play the flute. B A D L Y wanted to play the flute. Why? You may ask. Because the daughter (OK this is where it gets tricky, follow me here) of the woman who my father is married to and broke up my parents marriage, played flute. (At the time when I found out she played the flute and I started to want to play, my parents were not divorced.) With the divorce and my mom having to go back to work - she had been a stay at home mom - there wasn't a lot of money. So, after renting a flute for the first year, to make sure that I was going to stick to it, I was granted the use of the flute that belonged to.... I think you get the picture.
So years pass and I go through grade school band and Jr. High band. I even went to all district in eighth grade. I wasn't a great player, but I played well enough. Then I started high school and marching band. That summer I decided that I wanted to be in Symphonic Band. That meant an audition and I had to be good. So I started lessons. All well and dandy. I didn't get into Symphonic Band. There wasn't auditions, and freshmen didn't get into Symphonic Band. But I continued lessons, and I got better for it.
The Feb of my freshman year we went to NAU for the Solo and Ensemble Festival. With my flute teacher we had prepared a solo and one of my girlfriends from school played piano as my accompaniment. I had worked hard for this, and was scared sh*tless. First time I'd ever performed in front of a judge. He had a copy of my music and listened for my tone, my tempo, if I followed the key signature and a whole host of things that you do as a musician.
I got a '3'. (1 being the highest, 4 the lowest) I was devastated. But it was fun to play in the snow and it was my first time at NAU and my first time to be on a 'field trip' with (in essence) no chaperones.
I got my 'baby' the next year, when I turned 16. My open holed flute. I was ecstatic. Granted it was only a solid silver head joint and the rest of the body and keys silver plated, but it was MINE. (Shortly after I got mine, one of the other girls got her flute, and not only was hers solid silver, but her mouthpiece was gold plated! pphhth). About this time I got into the church choir. I found out that I love performing, especially with a microphone in front of me. I wound up playing in church from that point on until I was pregnant with my son, about 10 years. I've also played in church on and off for the last five years, depending on the director and what my schedule is.
College brought two years of marching band at NAU and a two semesters of a non audition band. It was great for me. I went up as a freshman knowing nobody, and after an afternoon, knew not only a whole section, but was planning parties with that section and other sections. I had 100 new friends.
As I moved towards my degree in hotel management, time and credits became an issue and band moved out of my life. However, during the summers, I still played at church.
After I got married and was living in Las Vegas, I started to wonder if there wasn't a group out there of people who played because they liked to. Not professionally, but the band geeks from high school and college who had real jobs in the real world. Yes they did! But I didn't qualify for residency for UNLV and I wasn't about to pay out of state tuition for a band class. Good thing I didn't, because we wound up moving home in May.
Once back at home, I knew where to look. I found that GCC had an evening band class that was a community based band. The first class I took was the first class for the director. We had about 25 people there. I had a blast! That was seven years ago. With the exception of two semesters off because my teaching program met on the same night, I've been there eight years. We're almost at 100 people and each semester finds us tackling bigger and better pieces of music.
When I talk to my mom about the music, she has told me that she never imagined that I would have done what I have done with that flute. She made me promise that when I 'grew out' or 'gave up' on the flute I would sell it. I promised her, but had no intentions of selling that flute. Nor will I. Maybe some day Baby L will decide that she wants to play the flute as well.
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
The Good News Is... The Bad News Is...
The Good News Is: Hubby got a new position at work and works days! With weekends and evenings off!
The Bad News Is: I have the kids all day to myself and I'm not used to it. Also, we now need full time day care, instead of just part time!
The Good News Is: We found a babysitter!
The Bad News Is: We're out $200 a week for child care.
The Good News Is: The Monsoons are almost here, it's raining! (Well, sorta)
The Bad News Is: I haven't been dry in days.
The Good News Is: Bible School has started for Little Guy and he's out of my hair for a couple of hours each day!
The Bad News Is: I have to have the whole house (well, Little Guy, Baby L and me) fed, dressed and out the door by 8:30 to get to the church on time.
The Good News Is: School starts in a month, Little Guy is so ready to be around kids his own age.
The Bad News Is: Summer is over! My school opens up next week and I have to start going back to get my (new) room in shape. It'll be the first time since March 2 that I've been back to my school to work. Yikes.
I've enjoyed having almost five months off of work/school. With Little Guy I was chomping at the bit to go back to work. I couldn't get a schedule down, and didn't really do anything because I was going back to work. With Baby L, well, I now have a 5 year old to entertain in addition to taking care of an infant. Time has flown, and both of them have kept me busy.
I never thought I'd hear myself say I wanted to be a stay at home mom, but in some ways I think it might be nice. I'm getting a bit of cabin fever, so I know it's time to do something, but I think a lot of it has to do with trying to keep Little Guy entertained. There isn't a whole lot of kids to play with, and it's hard to keep him occupied. It would kind of be nice to see how it would have worked out staying at home with Baby L while Little Guy goes to school, but it isn't in the cards for us to do that. And I think it's best for us all. We get so much of each other during the summer, that maybe we need the time away from each other during the school year.
The Bad News Is: I have the kids all day to myself and I'm not used to it. Also, we now need full time day care, instead of just part time!
The Good News Is: We found a babysitter!
The Bad News Is: We're out $200 a week for child care.
The Good News Is: The Monsoons are almost here, it's raining! (Well, sorta)
The Bad News Is: I haven't been dry in days.
The Good News Is: Bible School has started for Little Guy and he's out of my hair for a couple of hours each day!
The Bad News Is: I have to have the whole house (well, Little Guy, Baby L and me) fed, dressed and out the door by 8:30 to get to the church on time.
The Good News Is: School starts in a month, Little Guy is so ready to be around kids his own age.
The Bad News Is: Summer is over! My school opens up next week and I have to start going back to get my (new) room in shape. It'll be the first time since March 2 that I've been back to my school to work. Yikes.
I've enjoyed having almost five months off of work/school. With Little Guy I was chomping at the bit to go back to work. I couldn't get a schedule down, and didn't really do anything because I was going back to work. With Baby L, well, I now have a 5 year old to entertain in addition to taking care of an infant. Time has flown, and both of them have kept me busy.
I never thought I'd hear myself say I wanted to be a stay at home mom, but in some ways I think it might be nice. I'm getting a bit of cabin fever, so I know it's time to do something, but I think a lot of it has to do with trying to keep Little Guy entertained. There isn't a whole lot of kids to play with, and it's hard to keep him occupied. It would kind of be nice to see how it would have worked out staying at home with Baby L while Little Guy goes to school, but it isn't in the cards for us to do that. And I think it's best for us all. We get so much of each other during the summer, that maybe we need the time away from each other during the school year.
More Pictures
My baby turned 4 months old last Saturday, and we got some pictures taken. I hope you enjoy, I certainly love showing them off!
Babies, Babies, Babies
My sister had a baby girl about ten weeks after I had Baby L. For Fathers Day we took the kids to Kiddie Kandids for a photo shoot. This is the result:
Tuesday, July 3, 2007
I'm Recovered?
Well, the garage sale is over. We made a good chunk of money, enough to buy a new desk, which was our goal. What surprised me was what people bought. With the exception of a coffee table and an arm chair, none of the furniture sold. Whoda thunk? The baby clothes (of which I had 12 Xerox boxes full of) just really sat there all weekend. However, the baby/toddler shoes flew! I had a set of glass wine glasses with a 'gold' rim that sat there, but the margarita glasses went the minute we had people. The baby toys, now they FLEW. We had a bin of little stuff, priced them at a quarter a piece and we darn near sold them all off.
We sweated our butts off, and I swear to whatever deity you want, we are never doing this again. Our garage is still as cluttered as ever, but a WHOLE bunch of stuff is now out on the driveway for Upward Foundation to pick up. And on Friday, we take the baby stuff and maternity stuff to the Crisis Pregnancy Center.
I had two minds about the baby clothes. If I sold them for .25 - .50 a piece, then they probably would have flown. But the clothes are in good shape. I can write them off for a whole lot more than the .25 - .50 I could have sold them for. It was a matter of instant gratification vs delayed gratification (on our taxes in April). Plus, they were good deals for the $1 that I had them listed for. There were a couple of people who came by who recognized what a good deal it was, but most of our shoppers were Hispanics. And if it was more than a quarter, they weren't interested. So... there you go. I wasn't going to drop the price any more, and I'll have delayed gratification.
A word to the wise, don't have a garage sale in June...
We sweated our butts off, and I swear to whatever deity you want, we are never doing this again. Our garage is still as cluttered as ever, but a WHOLE bunch of stuff is now out on the driveway for Upward Foundation to pick up. And on Friday, we take the baby stuff and maternity stuff to the Crisis Pregnancy Center.
I had two minds about the baby clothes. If I sold them for .25 - .50 a piece, then they probably would have flown. But the clothes are in good shape. I can write them off for a whole lot more than the .25 - .50 I could have sold them for. It was a matter of instant gratification vs delayed gratification (on our taxes in April). Plus, they were good deals for the $1 that I had them listed for. There were a couple of people who came by who recognized what a good deal it was, but most of our shoppers were Hispanics. And if it was more than a quarter, they weren't interested. So... there you go. I wasn't going to drop the price any more, and I'll have delayed gratification.
A word to the wise, don't have a garage sale in June...
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