Ruby Tuesday - Hanging With the Diggles

Here are some Ruby Tuesday shots from my trip. There are glimpses of red, not super bold-splashes. I hope that is okay. I just wanted to take part, since I have not in so long.

Below see Sarah shooting baskets with red on her hat, shoes, and hoop. Check out her hands. She has worked hard with her coach learning how to shoot properly. I love the way the one hand is sort of floating and any second that bowl is going to go "swish."

Greg in far background, Casey blurring by, Chance resting on couch, and my brother-in-law Matt, giving me a look. Red candle and clock on the table beyond Matt. Sorry this one was pushing it, but I love the action here and my bil's look.

Check out Trin's shades! Her new room is so pretty with big windows and a window seat. This was inside, no lights on, no flash, (that I remember) just pretty light from the windows.

The Little Mermain hanging with the gang. It looks like the Cabbage Patch dolls is singing. Also Trin's room.

Trinity and Sarah in the game room. Sarah asked for fruit and it makes me happy when my kids request healthy snacks. I'm not sure if you can see it, but the dot on Trin's nose is a rhinestone sticker. Her "nose earring."

Boy, I miss those guys!!

If you'd like to see more Ruby Tuesday photos or if you'd like to jump into the fun yourself, you can find it here at Work Of the Poet.

On A Clear Day

Bay and I took a ton of pictures of Trin last weekend. She's so darn cute. That's Bay up at the top, taking shots of Trin skipping. I took them from the bottom of the drive. She's so cute. So bold and confident. This one has a "Keep on truckin'" posture to it. Remember that? The "Keep on truckin'" guy - I think he was a pimp or something, back when pimp did not mean dressing fancy. For some reason I have him lumped together with "Bad, Bad, Leroy Brown." He was the "baddest man in the whole damn town......badder than ol' King Kong.....meaner than a junkyard dog......" How did I get started on this.........??

Sarah is getting more comfortable with the basketball every day. Here she is wearing one of the boy's hats, dribbling the ball.

And Casey takes a shot. Look how long his hair has grown. He's getting so grown-up.

And here's Sarah again. She had another game today. I wasn't able to go, I was taking care of something with Bay, but Mom went. She loves watching the girls play. Sarah says that they won. I'm in this one, can you see me?

Okay, it's late and I'm off to bed. Happy Sunday to you......it'll be Sunday in only a few minutes.

Work and Decisions

I was so going to try to get back into the habit of writing everyday again, but I blew it. The time that I don't have is really beginning to get to me.

I decided that I'm going to give notice at the school on Monday. I will still work as a substitute and I talked to one of the second grade teachers about volunteering in her class, so I can still see Sabrina and Reece and Austin. No Nevah in there or Logan, though. Nevah is in a different class and for some reason she was out of school almost all week. I spoke to her teacher about it today and she laughed it off. The attitude of the teachers is one of the reasons that I made this decision. I don't want to work with those people anymore. I like my team, but hearing the teachers call students "stupid" or hearing my principal's attitude about a male student's struggle to figure out his sexuality , well it's just not an environment I want to work in anymore. If I could do anything about it, I would, but instead I'm called one of the "Lunch Nazis."

If I'm not working at the school, it will give me two more hours a day to finish my other work and maybe I can start taking photos again. I got so excited by the prospect of taking on more and more writing jobs that I......well, I kind of over-extended myself. This adjustment and the fact that I will still be working at the school at least a few days a month make this a very good compromise.

I feel some guilt about leaving the school, especially after writing it out here. I know that the kids need adults that they can count on and talk to, but I have 4 kids of my own, on my own and the way things are now, I'm too tired too busy to give them the attention that they need.
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I took some photos of my family. Here are a couple that have Bay in them. Doesn't Greg look "pensive" sitting on the bench. Chance is the blur. I used a no-flash setting and I got a lot of blur photos, which I like for some reason. I'll show one with my brother-in-law, Matt soon. Robin is to the right, doing something with her camera.




They are showing me Chance on the camera. Isn't Robin's new house lovely? It has lots of big windows and a great front and back porch. We had such a good visit. I wish we were there right now.

Clouds on the Road

Hello. I didn't realize that it had been that long since I posted, but it's been since the 8th. Wow. I went on a roadtrip with the kids. Here we are heading to Bakersfield. I took these while driving, but it's not as crazy as it sounds. I used an automatic focus and I didn't look through the viewfinder - just pointed and pushed the shutter button. I really wanted to catch the clouds. The middle of California, down through the valley, along I-5 is not usually very pretty. The pollution is icky and the view is .......not very view-y, but if you make the trip during Feb-March, you have the chance to catch these incredible clouds and a view that goes on and on and on....

I got these colors - sort of purpley and rainbow-ish from shooting through the window, I think. I like this one with the rearview mirror, because I'm goofy that way.

I will write more tomorrow. I got behind on my work, during my trip. I couldn't get my computer to pick up my sister's wireless signal and she shared her computer with me, but all my photos and stuff were in my own computer. I have to say, the break was nice. I love spending time with my sister's family. I show you some photos of the kids tomorrow.

Happy Tuesday evening to you!

Speedy Weekend

This was a super speedy weekend.

Friday night, Max started throwing up. The teenagers were bickery until late, which stressed me out and kept me up. I finally fell asleep, then Max started throwing up around 3am - okay, I guess that makes it Saturday officially - and I had to change all his bedding. I went back to bed and read Revolutionary Road until I fell asleep. Sarah woke up early and ........well I gave up and got out of bed.

Mom took Sarah to basketball, along with her friend Kayla, and they came home very excited. Mom said that it was one of the most thrilling things that she had ever watched. Really, watching these girls get out there and get after that ball, it really is thrilling. She was still talking about it today.

Mom stayed to dinner and we watched "Nancy Drew," with Emily Roberts. I fell asleep during the movie and woke up crabby. Put everyone to bed, woke up early again. Sarah went to a movie with Kayla's family. I got brunch for me and the teenagers. Max appeared about 90% recovered. (yea!!!!) Sarah came home. We watched tv and I took the teenagers down to work out at the gym. We came home, ate dinner, and then I cut Greg's hair.

That was my weekend. I worked in between doing things. Oh, and I put up a personal ad for my mom. She came over with the cutest new 'do. She had highlights and a great cut, so I had to take her photo. Lets see if I can add that photo on here. Okay, as you can probably tell, it's at the top. I can't control where it goes in this writing box. Kind of frustating. She looks cute, though, doesn't she? :D

National Wear Red Day

It was party day in Sarah's class! Woo hoo! What do you think of her tasty jewel? Here's some of her loot. Lots of SpongeBob in there. Is SpongeBob the acceptable cartoon for 5th graders? Can you read that SpongeBob card? It says that it's from "Yo." Silly kid. That cracks me up. She got a lot of candy, including big Smarties. Have you seen those? Part of the reason that I like Smarties is because they are small. Why mess with a good thing?

Below are our National Wear Red Day outfits. When I put on the shirt that I planned to wear, I noticed that the shirt's sleeves were ripped. Darn! So, I had to wear a tank top, which was covered by a hoodie at work.

We had rainy day recess today and the last recess kicked my ass. I got upset, which doesn't happen there very often, but sometimes, as I've mentioned, the kids are cruel to each other and it bothers me. A lot. One boy, Cyrus is a large boy, very tall, but he's very gentle and soft-hearted. His family is Samoan and they are all very tall. Cyrus has been my height (5'4") since he was in the 2nd grade - he's in the 4th grade now. Today was his birthday and he was very excited, but that didn't last long. I stopped to tie a little kid's shoe and in the time it took me to do that, an older child pushed him down and kicked him in front of a big group. No one in the group helped him. I took their ball away, because we have a strict no-bullying policy at our school, and the kids would come up over and over and tell me lies or basic BS trying to get that ball back. I'm so tired of children looking me in the eye and lying to me.

I was so stressed out that I felt like I was going to throw up for the rest of the afternoon. I usually love my job, but sometimes I hate it. Today was a hate day. I blame the Valentine's Day candy.

Here's Sarah in her red. She's so cute. She loves this new top. It has a girlie looking skull on the front side, but her long hair is covering it up.

We just got back from Sarah's basketball practice. She is improving so much. I probably say that all the time, don't I? I'm very proud of her.

Bay and Greg are at a Chili Cookoff. I wish that they were home, in the next room, because this week wore me out and I'd love to go to bed early.

I wish you a wonderful weekend.

Rounding it Up

We have had some Spring moments here in Chico, California. See above for an example. That pot of pansies sits on the table on my patio. When I take product photos for my blogs, I put them next to the flowers.

I took a run with Bay in the park and.......did I already mention this? I might have mentioned this....... anyway, I could feel the pollen in the air as I ran. It doesn't feel good going down, super-sweet. We have crazy pollen here - I never even know that I had allergies before living here.

Tomorrow is the last day of my current mandarin orange giveaway. If you'd like to enter, please do so. I don't have a lot of entries, so your odds of winning are really good.

Also, I was able to put my first post up at Pretty By Nature today. I'm very excited to get into that one.

If you are taking part in Wear Red Day and you post your picture, please take part in my little Wear Red Event. You can see the details here. The girls and I are going to do it and I'm hoping that we won't be the only ones.

Okay, it's late. I'm sleepy. More tomorrow.

A Happy Family

I finally put my first Girl Looks Swell post up. Just a quick intro, but I'll be back soon with more beauty information. Right now, Bay and I are using Mannatech skin care products and I want to be able to share both of our points of view. Hopefully I'll get her intro up there today, as well.

I'm going to be hosting a Wear Red event tomorrow for Heart Truth. If you'd like to take part, it's posted at my Veggie Chic blog. If you wear red tomorrow, please take your photo, then post it on your blog or your flickr account and then go back to Veggie Chic and leave a link in the comment section. I really, really hope that I'm not the only one who does it.

I wrote about Valentine's Day for Dating Dames today. I had a boyfriend for Valentine's Day last year. I was pretty happy on that day. This year, no boyfriend, of course no official ex-boyfriend either, since I still haven't spoken with him, but that's no longer of much importance. What I'm focusing on now - a happy family. We are happy!!! I'm pretty darn giddy about it.

I mentioned that to Bay a few minutes ago. She wants to give the whole of the credit to Greg and while I do think he has brought a lot of it on, I know that much of it is Bay. She's made great strides lately. She's been honest about some of what's going on with her and shedding some light on it, getting out from under the oppressive weight of secrets and lies, well, it's pretty darn liberating.

We rejoined the health club last night. Greg, Bay, and I all ran last night, but in the park, not at the gym. Greg went with his buddy - I went with Bay, but she had an asthma attack. I ran back to the car and when I drove up to get her, there was Greg. I told Sarah that it was like his Bailey radar was on high alert and he was drawn to the spot were she sat waiting. Out of all the places he could have run, well, the coincidence of it, finding her about 2 miles from our house, pretty interesting.

I have to get to work now. It's going to be a rainy day recess. Wish me luck, please!

More Cuties and I Love TV, Maybe Too Much

I'm holding another Cuties Giveaway. It will be up tomorrow morning at www.veggiechic.com, if you'd like to enter. I'll be giving away 5 - 5lb boxes of Cuties mandarin oranges.

I was home from work today. I got sick in the middle of the night and I still don't feel well. I was able to eat - I made banana pancakes - but the smell of the pan is hanging in the air and it's making me feel ill again.

I watched the return of Chuck and Heroes tonight. I'd given up on Heroes, so I'm not totally clear on how they left it brefore the break. I missed 2 or 3 episodes. This episode, if feels like a good start.

Now Medium. I can't remember how long I've waited to see this show.

It's embarrassing how much I enjoy my tv shows.

Sarah's Saturday Game

Sarah had a ballgame yesterday. She's on the left here, making a drive down the court. This time she's in the middle, at the back. She was trying to stay on her man, the girl in the black shirt in front of her. The red shorts, that girl was fast!!! She would snatch the ball away and then take off. She did this over and over and over and even though she was on the other team, it was so exciting to watch a young girl that in control of the ball.

Here the girls are coming out after a break. Sarah is in the blue shorts on the left. Next to here is Haley from our school. I sat next to Haley's mom and I heard all kinds of comments about her from the parents sitting behind us. They seemed to resent that she is tall and a good player - their child was on the other team. I try not to be judgemental, but I think that people should shut the hell up sometimes. She is an 11 year old girl and you never know who you are sitting by. The other coach kept yelling, "Get the big one! Stop the big one!" At the end of the game, she fell and skinned her knee. The Big One is still a little girl.

This little girl stayed up on these mats all game. She must be someone's little sister. Looks like a pretty good spot. :D

Look at the girl in the red below - she's so fast that she's she's see-through. Watching these games is so exciting. The ball changes hands constantly and the girls play a very dedicated and focused game. It's hard to think that these are just like the 5th graders at school. I know that when Sarah plays at school, she doesn't use this same focus. I know because her teacher came to seek me out and complain about something she did during PE the other day. (Sarah said, the boys kept saying, girls are too slow, girls are no good, so she just quit playing). I wonder if it has something to do with competition in a safe environment - no boys on the team, no worrying about how they look to others - that allows them to just go all-out and passionate. Whatever the reason, it's glorious to watch.

I hope that Sarah continues with her love of basketball. This is the most fun I've ever had watching a sport and I want to celebrate with her, celebrate her effort and the skills that she is learning. I want her to know that I see real improvement each time she plays or practices and to see that much improvement in only one month of learning something is huge.

I think she's going to love these photos. I hope she loves these photos.