We recently returned from a great family vacation to California. We were there to attend the wedding of a dear, old friend. While there, we took Abby and Kayleigh to Sea World and Disneyland.

Over 1200 photos were taken and I managed to screen out most to come up with 200 to put into a photobook.

Here it is. Click on the picture below to see the book.



This is my job...


There are 10 kids. They are starting an art activity. There are 3 tables set up - one for tracing the images to be colored, one for coloring the pictures, and one for accessorizing the pictures with glued-on accessories/glitter, etc.


I need to buy crayons for the coloring table. How many boxes do the children need? The teacher figures no more than 6 will be at this table at any given time since table 1 and 3 take so much more time, based on her years of experience doing this activity.


I confirm the 6 boxes, I consult other teachers who have done this activity before to make sure I'm not missing anything, and I talk to the children to make sure they understand that there will only be 6 boxes of crayons.


Everyone agrees. 6 boxes will be good.


I go out and buy 6 boxes of crayons.


Turns out these 10 kids like to move together and all 10 hit the coloring table at the same time. Bickering ensues. Tears flow. Blood is drawn.


Teacher smacks me for only getting 6 boxes of crayons, not 10. Look what my ignorance has caused!


Ok, in reality, this is just one aspect of my job and the crayons don't just cost 50 cents at Walmart. They're more like $5000 and require legal contracts and 7 levels of approvals.


BUT, this is just one of the many, many ridiculous examples of what I've encountered over the past year.


Over and over again I've asked why I don't have mind-reading skills or a fortune telling ability. I doubt my qualification for the job because I'm missing these obviously required skills.


There is no additional experience or additional (learnable) skills that would help me out. I think a mixture of bad luck and poor management has given my job the sourness it has become. I like to pride myself in my work ethics and values. I do not sit back or give up until I have done everything in my power to be successful at a job.


In this case, I strongly believe we have a lost cause.


I won't admit to failure because I don't believe I have failed.


It is time to move on, though, and I will mark this job as having been a learning experience.


So, anyone hiring these days? Note: I can't read minds nor predict the future. If you ask for 6 boxes of crayons and I find the request reasonable and there are no contradictions to that request, I will get you 6 boxes of crayons. If that's not satisfactory, then don't bother contacting me.


Wow, it feels like it's been a year since I last blogged.

It's actually only been about 3 weeks.

A lot has happened in 3 weeks, though, and this is what happens when I get overwhelmed with too much stuff I want to share......I end up sharing nothing.

So often I start composing emails, letters, or blog posts in my head. If I don't write things down, the content just builds and builds until I finally give up trying to organize it all into something comprehensible and consumable by another human being.

Maybe I can handle organizing what's been going on over the past 3 weeks though and then try to tackle them one by one while things are at somewhat of a lull. I won't create a post about everything listed here - just simply identifying its occurrence is enough information to capture in many cases.

So, let's see...what are the top 10?

1. Kayleigh started really walking - beyond just taking a handful of unassisted steps - 4 weeks ago and now walks about 95% of the time rather than crawling.

2. We are looking into selling/trading in our truck, Burt (yes, he has a name), and our car (ok, she has a name too and it's Mixie) to purchase a fuel efficient - probably hybrid - commuter vehicle for Paul. Top contender right now, the Lexus CT 200h with all the bells and whistles. We had barely made the decision to try and sell Burt when we found a buyer. He will be going to a friend this coming Sunday! For Mixie, we are probably going to just trade her in. With over 150,000 miles on her, despite her age (2004 model year) it'll be difficult to find a buyer.

3. Paul, Abby, Kayleigh, and I have just returned from a California vacation where we attended the wedding of good friends, Shawn and Lily, visited relatives in Valencia, visited Sea World San Diego, and introduced Abby and Kayleigh to the wonders and excitement of California Adventures and Disneyland! We had an amazing time and I must say that as much fun as I had visiting these places myself as a kid, it is a completely different and much more exciting, special, memorable time going with your own spouse and kids.

4. At the conclusion of the vacation, Kayleigh naturally weaned herself. I am no longer nursing her and this coincided with her ability to sleep through the night completely - from 8PM until 7AM. She still may cry out a couple of times a night, but they last about a minute and she puts herself right back to sleep. Yes! Yes! Yes! We thought this day would never come with this child.

5. We are contemplating what to do about the lawn in our backyard. The sod we laid last year is almost dead, primarily due to broken sprinkler lines (pesky rabbits!) we didn't discover in time. Perhaps artificial grass? There are some very realistic looking fake grass available. But don't kids deserve REAL grass in their backyard?

6. Linda and Vernon had their baby! We are planning to visit this weekend.

7. Sinus infections, double-ear infections, coughs, coughs, coughs. This - in no particular order - sums up the health status of Abby, Kayleigh, and me over the last couple of weeks. Bleh!

8. Went and saw Billy Elliot the Musical at the Denver Buell Theater with my brother, Allen. It was his birthday present. This was a great show and a wonderful adaptation of the film. I didn't think Paul would like it, but was surprised that he did!

9. Many flip-flop discussion on what to do about our careers and our lukewarm feelings towards this house. No conclusions on the career front, but I think we've both decided that we want to stay in this house and we're trying to figure out what changes are needed to improve our feelings towards the things we don't like about it.

10. Part of the problems we have with the house is related to the schools Abby and Kayleigh would attend given our location. We made sure we are in a great school district, but as Abby nears Kindergarten age, we're doing a lot more detailed research and realized we have a ton of options, but none that fit perfectly for our situation. So, wanting the best for our children, how do we weight all of our evaluation criteria to assess the options?

Hmm, that was a good exercise. Now, I just need to do that with the bajillion-item email I've been trying to compose to my neglected friend, Holly, since oh I don't know when!