Saturday, May 01, 2004

hello everyone.
it's saturday again.
i had an all day conference today and yesterday (and it was so nice outside i was so fidgety!)

matt and i are really into this band called ambulance ltd (check out their music here: http://www.ambulancenyc.com/) the clips are really short, unfortunately, and you have to click exactly on the 56k part. they're going to be in san diego either may 7th or 11th, and we're in!!!

we just had a perfect night.
we took a picnic (roast beef sandwich, hard boiled eggs, bread and gouda cheese, strawberries, and soybeans) to sunset cliffs and talked and laughed for so long. matt said, "we're on the edge of the earth" and i loved it. because we were on the edge of a cliff and it felt so great to picture a map of the us and think of us on the very end of the country.

"we're at the top of the world
here tonight
we gotta lot of time
and it sure feels right"
--juliana theory

that's all for now
have a great sunday everyone.

Thursday, April 29, 2004

hello everyone.
it's thursday but it feels like friday since i have a conference tomorrow and will not be attending school.
i feel sort of weird, though. extra tired, fake sore throat on the right side only, and slightly nauseous.
i haven't called off sick even once this year and i don't plan to do it during these last 6 weeks of school.
oops, that is, except for when mary comes into town and i decide to go camping with her in encinitas and
find that i just can't make it in to work that morning....

not feeling guilty at all, either.

i think probably my biggest pet peeve is someone who acts like they work so much harder than i do and assume that my job is easy just because i'm not complaining. (it's always people who complain about how busy they are, how hard they work, etc.) i've had a couple of comments come my way in the past few weeks, so i've been really bothered by this lately. it was really weighing on me and in my head i kept thinking of everything i do everyday, ticking off each event and getting more and more upset as i tried to justify myself in my head in imaginary conversations. so ridiculous! the enemy knows exactly how to get us to feel bad about ourselves...

but, so perfectly, i had a time of refreshing in the most unexpected venue...
remember that fun hiking class i went to last saturday?
well, the teacher was a totally cool lady who obviously had a great style of teaching (taking people outside to teach actual history/outdoor education) and was explaining her philosophy on teaching teachers. "you have one of the hardest jobs in the world and most people have no idea how much of yourselves you put into it, etc etc etc." which was nice to hear for once.

i know, i have a perfect school schedule and lots of time off, which i focus on. but i do put so much of myself into what i do, every day. i'm always "on", always performing, always thinking of how i can be more effective, always managing behavior without showing frustration... it can be exhausting. but even now that sounds like complaining, which i never want to do.
because i love what i do.
because i'm fulfilling God's will in my life.
because i'm using my gifts and being obedient.
because i normally don't desire affirmation from a person.

so strangely enough, at this outdoor education class that i was taking for credit, i received the refreshing that i had been needing.
just a reminder from the Lord that he knows what i do, he knows what i'm feeling, and now get on with it!
and back to the easy yoke of giving and flowing in my gifts of teaching and compassion and mercy---and not focusing on myself.
(and ignoring the weirdness of others who want to make me feel bad for being relaxed and confident).

at the end of the class the lady read, "thoughts of the dying person", which is why i'm taking a day off to be with mare.
one of the thoughts was, "i would play hookey more and worry about work less."
so that's what i'm doing! guilt-free, too!
and looking forward to a great night with a great campfire, hot dogs, wyder's pear cider, s'mores or chocolate eclairs, snow patrol, ocean, stars, and palm tree sky...

since justin's blog about the sad news at BGHS, i've just been thinking about how the enemy tries to stop us from fulfilling the will of God in our lives, but the holy spirit is so powerful in us that it is nearly impossible--as long as we are listening and being obedient. justin, you've had to struggle with your health and pain in your physical body in these past few years more than most people will ever have to deal with in their lifetimes. and you could have easily been selfish or full of self-pity and stayed in PA when you received the call. but you were obedient and put others above yourself (during maybe one of the most difficult times of your life) and were a broken vessel, out of which flowed the life of God.

i always think of this song "run" by snow patrol as if God were singing it over us:

light up
light up
as if you have a choice
even if you cannot hear my voice
i'll be right beside you dear


sorry for the emo blog
God's just dealing with me on some things right now

good night.





Sunday, April 25, 2004

finally a blog.
first of all, happy birthday to casey!!! yes! now you're as old as me!

welp, lots of things to catch up on here...
last weekend in cleveland was so great! on friday my plane arrived and mom/dad/ryan picked me up and took me back to the hotel where a sleeping michelle and sleeping hannah baby were. then they woke up and i held that sleepyhead girl and kissed her on the head. then i held hannah. ha! anyways, she's so cute and sweet, especially when we put her on the big bed and she just sat there by herself, flapping her arms around.

the wedding was nice (except for the screaming child whose parents refused to remove him from the sanctuary) and graig and melissa were so happy. we all missed mary henry. but like matt reminded me when i got home, we'll have forever with her in heaven someday. our family had so much fun at the reception with yummy food, drinks, and fun dancing. i think the highlight was when dad did milli-vanilli-type chest slams with graig during the song "jump around". i'm still laughing thinking about it.

it was so good to see the good family--i miss you guys already! but i'll see you in a month and a half!

when i came home, matt had sweet surprise waiting for me--a new ipod, with an armband that i can wear when i run.
and a perfect extra gift--he loaded up all 15Gs for me with the music that i love! (yet another example of the little effort i am required to put forth for fantastic music!). speaking of which, snow patrol may 8th!!! and then lassie foundation (or is lassie foundation first? i can't remember...) yay!!

oh, and also, the shins are playing in san diego june 5th, mary, if you want to come down a day early...
we will be there for sure!

on tuesday this past week i came home from a run, feeling great, and matt wasn't home. so i got in the shower and by the time i was out, matt was running down the steps saying, "i'm taking you on a date!" yay! and then he took me to ocean beach and we had a campfire and grilled hot dogs and just sat there chatting and listening to snow patrol on the ipod speakers. we watched the sun set over the ocean and then came home and hopped in the hot tub--ahhh.... so fun to have a date randomly in the middle of the week. and even more fun that it was a beach campfire!!!

last night we had a martini party here at our house. we had all different flavors of martinis to choose from (blue raspberry, bikini--pineapple/coconut, chocolate, grapetini, watermelon, sour apple, lemon, vanilla sunrise, etc...) and yummy food and good friends. people didn't leave until 3:00 am. of course i had fallen asleep on our living room floor by then. come on now! i'm not a college student anymore. i was impressed that our "older" friends (and realtor), dan and deb, made it until 12:30. when they left, i was ready for bed but felt that i needed to be sociable, as i was one of the hosts!

justin, to respond to an earlier post: i wasn't actually kidding about all things bright and beautiful--and then i said the same thing to matt and he told me it was the luxury guy--ha!!! are there any more songs (besides the 3 songs you sent us?) you should check out camera obscura--girl singer with sort of a sweet voice, acoustic guitar, mild drums and piano. and i was sad (yet i laughed at parts) to read your most recent blog about your health issues. know that i pray for you always.

there was a thick fog when i woke up this morning at 7:00, but now it's completely sunny! another beach day for us! well, whenever matt gets up that is.

what a beautiful piece of heartache this has all turned out to be...
-over the rhine



Thursday, April 15, 2004

yes!!!
new music from the justy boy!
i really am into sondre lerche, rocky votolato, and all things bright and beautiful (doesn't it have traces of luxury?).
modest mouse is always good.

and on that note, in response to mary's blog, yes, my music collection requires very little effort on my part. because matt is such a music hound, he automatically and constantly plays music that he loves, therefore i get exposed to it and love it/like it/ or hate it. and even bands that he researches and doesn't like, he'll say, "i'm not really into this band but i think you would like it." additionally, if i do hear of a band i want to check out, i just have to tell matt and suddenly we have the mp3s on our computer. yes, it is a nice, musically filled life!!!

and we got a fun easter package from kevin and emily! apparently the delivery person didn't want anyone to see the package and steal it so he hid it under a huge bird of paradise plant on our front porch. this caused us not to be able to find it for awhile either!!! ha! but now we have it and are pigging out!!!! yum yum yum.

matt and i went to the farmer's market yesterday and just walked around. cutie dogs everywhere! and the ocean within view...

well, i must straighten my hair before i depart for work!
have a great day everyone!
can't wait to see the goods tomorrow!!!!!

Wednesday, April 14, 2004

i came in to one of my schools today to find out that some neighborhood kids had stolen a car and crashed it through the fence and into my former speech room. so weird!

it's wednesday and i'm discombobulated because of spring break and my training on monday.

last night i was flipping through the channels and saw that the shins were playing on "gilmore girls" --what? how? but they were pretty great! and then just the regular music of the show included "the new pornographers"--how did those people get into some good music, i wonder...

today i read a book that my mom read to us as kids, called "pretzel", about a weiner dog who is really long. does anyone else remember it? so fun!

welp, my next group of kids is coming, just thought i'd update while i was thinking about it.

Friday, April 09, 2004

hello everyone--
just enjoying the brothers talents (justin's crutches page--yeah, we'll take a dvd; and michael's new song--so perfect! your lyrics are pure poetry-with all of your songs, not just this one).

yikes-scary rattlesnake stories from michelle and mary--did that incident make you really on guard for the rest of the hike? once i was hiking and i kept hearing rattling sounds, but i thought it was an insect, because it kept happening throughout my 3 mile hike. then when i got to the end, i saw a nature sign that said to beware of rattlesnakes. ignorance was bliss, for once.

i'm finally getting my hair cut today--time to chop the mop!

i met matt for lunch yesterday and his building is sweet--not to mention the building next door with the basketball courts up high on a hill. then we had lunch at the nearby mall and had a good chat. yay! it was cloudy so instead of hitting the beach, i came home and cleaned up the house. i also explored home depot for backyard ideas and i found some cool patio stones (some that look like cobblestone and some that look like pieces of slate). i love just wandering around in that place, getting ideas. then i made a fantastic dinner of shish kabobs, couscous, and bruschetta--so yummy i can hardly believe it!!! i know i've made a good dinner when matt can barely move afterwards :).

i'm pumped because snow patrol is going to be in san diego next month--and for only $8! usually matt and i will get into a band, only to find out that they just played in san diego a couple of weeks ago.

have a great day everyone!

just because i'm sorry
doesn't mean i didn't enjoy it at the time
-snow patrol

Thursday, April 08, 2004

i just went out to water my plants and saw that my lime tree is blooming!
yay! hopefully that means we'll have limes by early fall!

i'm going up to meet matt for lunch at his new place of employment, so that should be fun.

and it was fun reading blogs from grammy, ryan, michelle and emily!!!

spring break is coming to a close, but that is okay with me. i ease back into it on monday, with an all-day training (every once in awhile it is so good to just receive from someone else instead of giving myself all day long) and then that friday off, to fly home for graig henry's wedding!
so my first week back from spring break is only a 3-day work week, which is not bad. then only 8 weeks left until summer break--yessssssss! can not wait!!!!

Wednesday, April 07, 2004

happy birthday mom edwards!!!
what a fun surprise present from dad!!
have fun on your camping trip.

oh yeah, i forgot to say that on our way home from mary and casey's we stopped in santa monica for some shopping and starbucks. which, that starbucks was so cool. a ton of (music) listening stations around and a cool bar up front where you could sit and make your own mix and then burn it on to a cd. very fun! i forgot for a second that we were actually in a starbucks.

yesterday, my first day home for spring break, i had a perfect day. first, i slept in until 9:15--yes!!! then i went for a great run on sunset cliffs and came home and tried to do some ab work, but very sadly, i was still sore from my workout with mare--ha! mary, please tell me you are too, so i don't feel quite so fat and lazy!!! then i went to encinitas for the afternoon and read my james michener book, hawaii. since it was the middle of the day on a tuesday, i nearly had the beach to myself. after a few hours, i went back up to the car and found that it wouldn't start so i called matt and he came to rescue me about an hour later. he instantly got the car to start, of course! then we decided to go into some surf shops around the area and got him some new shirts for work and some board shorts for me.

today i got up early with matt and we took the car back to the shop (a part was just loose, and no charge to fix it!). i had a great walk on sunset cliffs a little while ago and later i'll go to the farmer's market in OB. i probably should be cleaning this place (we always trash it when we get back from trips!) but i just don't feel like it, gosh darn it! maybe i'll get the bug later.

welp, i'm out!

Monday, April 05, 2004

wooo!
the slacker is back!

it's been awhile, but i suppose no one will accept the excuse that i've been busy.

i thought not.

welp, anyhoo, matt and i returned from a fun visit in chowchilla, with mary, casey, and mom and dad edwards!
(just and mikey, we missed you guys). i am very sore right now from a morning with mary involving running 3 miles and doing push-ups, crunches, soccer situps-ouch!, and walking lunges. hopefully, i'll be recovered enough tomorrow to do it all again. if i did that workout 3x/week for about 2 weeks, i bet i'd see a big difference! we'll see how the motivation goes, though...
let's see, highlights...
-an excellent dinner of freshly caught (thanks to casey!) salmon--so yummy.
-hilarious game of wiffle ball with a giant bat and ball-nonstop laughing (dad, matt, and bo whipped us girls!)
-cutie bo trying to run with a giant frisbee in his mouth
-just chatting and talking and shopping and eating with family...ahhh....

ryan! i'm so glad you had fun at the blackjack table--that is fun! sounds like you stayed in a sweet place, too!

yes! spring break time for me!!! hooray!
i'll spend as much time as possible at the beach, of course.
but also in the plans are: haircut, painting the kitchen, some spring cleaning, and boring finance stuff.

i'm looking forward to being in cleveland in a week and a half and seeing the good side of the family!

you're the only thing that i love
scares me more every day
on my knees i think clearer
--snow patrol

Saturday, March 27, 2004

good morning.
i'm going to a class all day today to get a 1/2 of a graduate credit.
not too bad, eh? i don't have time or committment to do the "sit in class 3 times/week for an hour for 15 weeks" to get my credits so i'm slamming them out of the way like this. plus, it's only $15, which is not bad for college credit. yay! hopefully it will be an interesting class. if not, i'll cancel the other 2 that i'm signed up for by the end of this year.

the sun is shining already--i hope it doens't turn out to be a good beach day, or i'll be ticked!!!

matt got his first paycheck yesterday!!! hooray!!!
now we can breathe (and spend!) a little easier...

last night matt and i went out to walgreens, which was hoppin at 9 pm, surprisingly. anyways, we went to purchase a heating pad because unfortunately, i think i have a superficial blood clot in my leg again. so we brought it home and matt got it out of the wrapper for me and i picked it up without paying attention and then started gagging! ha! the material on the outside of it feels like the car ceiling interior (and the good family knows how they used to torment me by scratching their fingers on the ceilings of our cars and drive me crazy!!! i still have the emotional scars!). it was a rather funny scene, matt saying we could take it back and me saying i wanted to conquer it. i did end up conquering it, but not without squealing and gagging some more. we all have a little bit of sensory defensiveness, whether it be hearing nails on the chalkboard, touching cotton balls or cotton at the top of a vitamin jar (gag just thinking about), chewing yarn, chewing tin foil, hearing fork scrape on a plate (michelle good), etc. so in ryan style, i'm taking a survey of everyone's worst sensory overload nightmare.

have a good day everyone, i must be going!
tracey

Wednesday, March 24, 2004

yes!
it's wednesday!
seven more days until spring break, people!!!!
and we'll be seeing the sanford part of the family, as well as babu and mama matthew.
quality time will be spent (at sonic, i'm sure).
dad, make sure you bring all the stuff for your tanzania deal--i can't believe you haven't blogged about it yet!
we want details!!!!

i finally got to see new videos of sweet hannah! she is sitting up and being bald and cute!
i can't wait to see that girl in a few weeks!

nothing much new here, really.
just doing the norm things.
actually, i'm taking a "class" for graduate credit, which is a cool program for educators to research and implement new materials/techniques, etc. it requires 15 hours of out of work preparation, which is nothing, really. i have 5.5 hours logged already for this week, and it's something i've been wanting to do forever, but haven't been motivated. my project involves creating activities for children with language disorders based on children's literature (that corresponds with california literacy standards). i'm pretty pumped! plus, it adds up for salary advancement (which is a ways off, since i need 14 more credits to hop up to the next level). but either way, it feels good to be researching and being creative and using my brain instead of doing the same old same old.

i'm going to paint our kitchen this weekend. i've been wanting to forever, but haven't been able to decide on a color. i think i've finally settled on a deep red color (cherry cobbler, to paint freaks)--it was between that and purple, and matt preferred the red. it seems like it will be pretty bold, but the amount of wall actually being covered is not that much, with cupboards and appliances and all.

matt is out returning a video and picking up postage stamps (and hopefully some cookie dough!). and i'm listening to the song matt and i danced to at our wedding, which i loved, because everyone was silent (and doesn't it seem like people rudely chat throughout the dances at weddings nowadays?) and the world stopped and the best lyrics of all (which have nearly been fulfilled) filled the place:

we don't need a lot of money
we'll be sleeping on the beach
keeping oceans within reach
(whatever private oceans conjure up for free)
i will stumble there with you
and you'll be laughing close with me
trying not to make a scene
etcetera whatever
i guess all i really mean
is we're gonna be alright
yeah, we're gonna be alright
you can close your eyes tonight
cause we're gonna be alright...

-over the rhine

and God is always good, because we are alright! :)

Thursday, March 18, 2004

yay! lots of blogs to read today!

i stayed late at work (5:00) so i could get my office rearranged. i forgot how heavy office furniture is. hmm. no matter, i'm a professional heavy item lifter after our riduculous concrete-moving weekend! it felt really good to get it all done and have the space look bigger and more organized.

matt is a basketball zombie now. but he made skyline dip, so i'm going to go invade his space!

some messages to fellow bloggers:
michelle-i too, am watching american idol. however, i have nothing to compare it to, since i only caught about 2 total episodes before. i also like the pen salesman kid. a lot of them of pretty good! i agree, leah is horrible--i'm so glad she got voted off last night--she never should have made it as far as she did. i like fantasia's personality more than her voice (although her voice is good, it's not my personal favorite style--but most of them aren't!). i love that redhead's voice but there's no way he's going to win... unless the only people voting are middle-aged women!!! anyhoo, it should be interesting.
mike- you go ahead and grow that hair out, girlfriend!
mare-such a great picture of casey and his doggy friend bo in front of that lake! that's a frame-it-and-put-it-on-your-desk type of picture. i can't wait to get a real dog (funny enough, we also have an ipod dog!).

i would write more but i'm hungry.
so farewell people!

Tuesday, March 16, 2004

why must we clean every single day???
that's one of the major things i am looking forward to in heaven--never having to clean again! also, seeing jesus is going to be good, too. :)

i enjoyed reading the new blogs today--michelle-nice one!
i wish i could hear baby hannah sqealing as she puts herself to sleep!
i'll get to see her soon enough. hopefully uncle matt will, too!

matt and i have been researching wood floors, since his allergist recommended them. i think we would have installed them someday anyways (they look so nice and they increase the resale value of your house), but it's more motivating to do something about it now. well, not now. but as soon as we have some cash saved up and as soon as we have a more permanent status for matt's job. so apparently i've had wood floors on the brain because i had a dream about them last night. such a weirdo!!!

anyhoo, i've been running again. i've been working it in slowly, a couple of miles, 2x/week. and i feel really good! i'm still going to my physical therapy appt on march 30th, though. but my next goal is the mission bay triathlon (500meter swim, 15k bike, 5k run) in october--anyone else want to join in on that one??? i thought about doing something in cincy this summer, michelle, if you want to get in on that. i'll do some more research.

i think we're going camping in joshua tree this weekend, so that should be great. we went about this time last year with joel and the andy's and had such a fun time. joshua tree was pretty desolate, but it had some amazing rock formations that i'm looking forward to climbing on (not hardcore, though). oh yeah, i had a graduation party for one of my girls today (when i met her last year, she couldn't say her "r" sounds so she said, "my name is tewwa nova (terra nova). my mommy says it's special because it means 'new ewth' (new earth)." ha! total drama queen in a way that entertains me every time!!! anyways, her parents came to her graduation party and we started chatting about things and they were saying that they bought property up in joshua tree. very cool. but even better is that they have a buffalo that lives there, too! apparently, he is wild but he just hangs around their yard, chewing on plants and staring at them with giant eyes! i hope i see him when we go!

welp, i must get back to the neverending lifelong job of housework.
have a great rest of the week everyone!

Monday, March 15, 2004

hello gang!
and happy belated birthday to justin!!!

somehow i have mustard on my shirt and i know i didn't eat mustard today. hmmm... maybe it was transferred in a messy child hug!

anyhoo, glad to see that mary is not joining the ranks of ryan good- blogwise, i mean!
also, i must know how the clay aiken concert was! ha! that's got to be worse than hootie, seriously!!!

this past weekend matt and i helped our friends transfer concrete from their back yard to a uhaul. we were machines!!! by the time we were done loading, the uhaul was seriously lowered and the top portion of the tires were nowhere to be seen. so the four of us hopped in the front of the uhaul, ready to ride to the city dump. as we were driving away, we heard a horrible sound of tires scraping on the bottom of the truck. this would be our background noise for the rest of the trip. our excursion also involved hitting a giant pothole, having a guy pull up and tell us that our axle was about to snap, and having the lady at the dump weigh our vehicle and say, "oh my god!" apparently, we had 6 thousand pounds of concrete in that deal! we really were praying the whole way that we would make it unharmed and that the truck would be unharmed. which was what happened, thankfully. after burning the brakes and the tires, of course!

we're still so sore!!!! i've got to get a workout like that in more often!

welp, i have a dentist appt to pick up my nightguard so i don't grind my teeth into oblivion. farewell.

14 more days of work until spring break!
(let the school countdowns begin, mare...)
tracey

Saturday, March 13, 2004

hello there everyone!
it's been a good week.
first of all, we made it through the 2nd week in march!
only 3 weeks to go until spring break-yeah!
hopefully up to chow town by then. but we sorta have to wait and see how flexible matt's job will be about letting him have a day off only 3 weeks into his employment.

this week was full.
the other night we watched "american splendor", which i loved.
definitely on my top 10 in my year in review.
great acting, very witty, different, interesting, and so weird that it was true!

i got to talk to rydogg also, since his family left him for clay aiken! :)

then on thursday night, matt got the fever for shuffleboard (bar shuffleboard, that is!) so we called up our friends sue and tom and asked if they wanted to join us. which, of course, they did. so we grabbed a bite to eat at this mexican restaurant that they just fixed up in OB--yummy and cheap! and then we just walked across the street to a place called bullfrogs, where we played shuffleboard. unfortunately, my teams lost both games. mostly due to me. darn it!

then last night, matt and i were able to do what we've been wanting to do since he was laid off in november!
we went out to dinner at ortega's and then went to a real movie in a theater! :)
we finally saw mystic river, by which i was unfortunately depressed and disappointed.
only in the story line and expansion of some events, though---the acting was fantastic.

so today we're going to help our friends marni and ed with their backyard. apparently, they had a huge concrete slab in part of their backyard, where the former owners parked their boat. so our friends rented a jackhammer and went to town on it. and today we're going to help them clean up the thousands of pounds of concrete--yikes!


Sunday, March 07, 2004

we had a nice 80 degree day today so we went to the beach and relaxed!
everyone was out, all pumped up that it was so warm...
there was such a great, summer-carefree-feeling all day long.
supposedly it is going to be in the 80s this week so now i'm really going to feel like working!!!
oh well. poor me. ha!!!

last night we went to our friends house and made homemade pizzas and played games (scene it and catch phrase). we now have our own version of catchphrase, which started after matt began yelling, "monkey" for his answer every time. so now we have monkey catchphrase, where you have to make up a scenario involving a monkey for each of your clues. it's quite hilarious, actually.

i think our pilot light went out because we have no hot water, so matt's trying to wrangle with it upstairs.
we both need to take showers before we go to church tonight, which starts in 40 minutes. hmmmm...
and then we're having dinner (italian, of course!) at our friend desiree's house while we watch the season premiere of "the sopranos".
so it should be a great evening...
have a great week everybody!

Friday, March 05, 2004

wow, what a week!
God had the perfect job waiting for matt this month!
he went in for an interview on monday and was hired on tuesday!
hooray! it's a 3-month contract, with possibility for permanent, depending on the higher-ups.
whatever it ends up being, it's a very prestigious company that will look great on his resume.

look it up here at: www.illumina.com

and then he has two more interviews this week, that he's going to for the practice/for if this really is temporary and he can look these companies after the contract is over.

so God is good, as usual!!!

march is always my most difficult month at school, mostly because there are no days off or holidays to look forward to (unless you count st. patrick's day, which i don't, because it's in the middle of the week and we don't even get a day off school--waaaah!!!!).
but i've made it through the first week, so that's not so bad!

so i'm going to graig henry's wedding in cleveland on april 17th! yay!
matt made me get the ticket, because even though we're broke, it is a really important event to me.
graig is like family. for those of you who don't know, his mom, mary, was my mom's best friend. and she went to be with the Lord a few years ago.
and i've grown up with the henry family and considered them family, and i have a personal day yet to take, so i'm going, gosh darn it!
and it is going to be such a PAR-TAY! i really am excited. plus, i get to see my baby hannah, too!!!!

welp, i'd better get going to school.
have a great day, people!!!

Saturday, February 28, 2004

i just won a free lunch at fred's mexican restaurant!
yay! i entered a contest a long time ago and i actually won.
now i'm going to try to win TLC's home sweep, where one winner will get their whole mortgage paid off--yeah!!!

i had an insane day of cleaning and laundry. one nice thing about having kids is that someday they will be old enough to have chores and they can help me...

matt and i went to the beach today to relax and read. we do that all the time but hardly ever end up reading. we just start chatting and looking at people and watching the ocean. the ocean never gets old! no matter how many times i've seen it, it still draws me in.

we also ended up looking at all the pups at dog beach, like we usually do when we're down that way. i get pumped up for when we have a dog someday and can take him there to swim and play. we saw a dog who looked like reeces but was black and had a little more of a beard! we always see bo bear dogs there (and i'm now noticing them in a ton of commercials, too!). someday. me. doggie. happy.

we're going to rancho's tonight (my favorite: lentil, avacado, and cheese burrito) with some friends and then back to our house to play some games. we may try to bust out catan, but we'll see what the mood is like. if everyone is horsing around, it's not really the game to be learning or explaining, eh?

matt has an interview on monday, so that's good news. he had a phone interview last week and now they want him for a face-to-face. everyone keep him in your prayers!!! it's a temporary position but temporary $ is better than unemployment $. plus, scantron started out as just contract work as well, and that turned to permanent. apparently a normal practice of hiring in the tech writing field.

it's march on monday--how did that happen??? march is not my favorite month, mostly because we have zero school holidays during those 4 1/2 weeks. today i found an old calendar (2002) and was laughing because it was when i worked at wauseon and i had recorded every day that we had a 2-hour delay or snow day! so fun, waking up in the morning and turning on that TV to see wauseon and evergreen (for mare!) were cancelled! this past week we had quite a bit of rain for several days in a row. one morning it was particularly heavy rain and one of the teachers said to the secretaries, "shouldn't school be cancelled by now?" ha! she was joking, but i was thinking the same thing as i was driving in...

welp, i've got to get ready for our night out on the town!

Wednesday, February 25, 2004

yes, i know i love little people, but that guy who was the littlest groom was, in true form to all other reality tv bachelors, not the brightest penny in the bank. oh well. matt explained that those are the only kind of people they can get to do those shows, anyways...

well, we had our first "winter storm" of the year! we went to bed sat night and it was pouring and it continued off and on through monday afternoon. so of course, it has been all over the news. but now everything is nice and green and pretty! always amazing how that happens!

here's the so simple recipe for fruit pizza:
1. get a pkg of pillsbury sugar cookie dough and roll it out to about 1/4 inch thickness on a cookie sheet (sprinkle flour on the cookie sheet and the dough, so it doesn't stick to the rolling pin--or sometimes, i just push it out with a big spoon or my hands). it will most likely take the shape of a large oval or tapered rectangle, so don't stress if it doesn't look like a perfectly squared off rectangle.
2. bake as directed
3. stir together 8 oz of cream cheese (softened) and 1/2 cup of sugar. then spread it evenly on the cooled cookie.
4. top with any kind of fruit you want.
5. snarf it down wildly!

have a great day everyone!!!

Monday, February 23, 2004

just a quick one to vote on my favorite pics of hannah for the contest:
i like the one of her in the basket and the one of her on the counter the best (where she has that little toy in her hand). (but it's hard to choose, they're all so cute!)

have a great day everyone!!!