Someday.....

Flash back to 1992, Darrin & I were newlyweds and had just moved to Glendale CA. I had planned to continue with school there, but the State of California had a big problem: the state legislature wouldn't agree on a budget, which meant they weren't authorizing any funding, and when the fiscal year ended, the state could not spend money.
It was a weird situation. The state was laying off non-critical employees and paying critical employees with IOUs, which the banks were honoring as interest-free loans.
One thing they did was close all state schools to new admissions. Which left only private universities taking new students, and the price tag was just too high.
So I started looking for a job. And I looked and looked and looked. Had 3-4 interviews a week for a good month, and no one hired me.
It was hard! Looking for a job, you're really putting yourself out for other people's evaluation, and to get passed over time and time again was rough on my feelings of self worth.
One day, Darrin tore this headline out of the paper and gave it to me:

He told me I should just persevere and someday it would happen for me. I taped it inside the lid of my jewelry box.
Fast forward to Wednesday of this week. I had just finished teaching a series of private childbirth classes to two great couples, and I came home and was getting ready for bed. My jewelry box was standing open and I saw the headline and thought "My job prince HAS come!" Of course, If my job is my prince, I am officially a polygamist! I have not just one job I love, but two! Teaching at the hospital is fun and rewarding. Teaching at the midwives' college is challenging and interesting. And running my own business doing doula work and private classes is all of the above!
So my Job Prince has come, and I feel so blessed to be able to do work that I love and am passionate about.

Presidents' Day!

We celebrated Presidents' Day by taking the kids up to the state capitol to see the legislature in action. (If you look closely, that's Darrin & the girls at the bottom of the stairs.) You see, Callie was sick the day of the 4th grade field trip and really wanted to see laws being made. And we had time, so off we went!
We looked at the paintings inside the capitol dome:

And Brynn worked on a puzzle where she had to find things in the building:

She was delighted to find Fire Hydrant shaped candy jars outside the House & Senate chambers and galleries!

We took lots of pictures:

We went into the gallery to watch the Senate during floor time:

After about 5 minutes, they started debating the midwifery bill that is before the legislature this year. It was infuriating. While we were there the bills sponsor introduced a substitute bill that goes against EVERYTHING she promised in negotiations with the midwives! If anyone wants to write a letter to their house representative urging them to vote NO on SB93, I would appreciate it.
We then went outside and walked around looking at the newly restored exterior on our way back to the car.
Next we visited the plantarium. The kids loved watching the pendulum:

Visiting the moon:

And Mars:

And the crazy stuff in the gift shop:



And we finished off the day with a dinner at Sizzler, which my kids think is the best meal in the WORLD because they can pick and choose at the salad bar!

Happy Valentine's Day!

This has been a fun week in Kindergarten. Yesterday was the 100th day of school, and they had a big celebration!
They tried to see if they could lift 100 pounds:

And each contributed 100 goodies that were tossed in a sheet to mix them together for a snack:

And took 100 steps to see where they ended up (the school library!)

And as if that wasn't enough, today was ANOTHER fun day in kindergarten: They had a WEDDING! The letters Q and U got married and promised to spend the rest of their days together in words.

Brynn got to be a flower girl/bridesmaid:

Her teacher performed the ceremony:

And then there was wedding (cup)cakes!

It was very fun and I am sure that the kids will remember that for a long time. Brynn's teacher really is amazing - lots of fun ideas and the kids just love her and work hard for her.
In other news..... All the schools in the district had a 2 hour delayed start this morning. We got a call from the elementary school but hadn't heard that Kyra's school was delayed, too, so Darrin dropped her off as usual and poor Kyra was bored out of her mind sitting there for 2 hours! They wouldn't let her go or call home to be picked up, or even go to the library and get a book to read. The few kids who were there were told to go to their regular classrooms, and IF there was a teacher there, the teachers just let the kids do nothing. If there was no teacher, well, chaos ruled.

Callie won "Prettiest Box" in her class' box making competition. She lost the grade level competition to someone who had an amazing box made out of a popcorn bucket and a soda cup. When you pushed the straw down the lid on the popcorn bucket (which was covered with real popcorn to make it look full) opened up so you could put Valentines in. Callie was pretty wowed by that and took the loss well.
Darrin & I went out to lunch after the wedding because it was the only time we could fit anything in this week. Originally I'd planned to meet him halfway between his office and home, but since there was 12+ inches of snow to be shoveled this morning and none of the streets had been plowed, he stayed home to work from here. (Apparently most of the office did the same, and there was nothing to do, so the few who were at work played Tron most of the day....except for the 45 minutes this morning we had no power and the time we were gone.) So we went to a new place nearby called Asian Star. It was VERY good and had amazingly fast service!
Hope you're all having a nice Valentine's Day!

More overheard things

We played "Catch Phrase" during family night tonight. It's a game similar to password. But we ended up doing more laughing than anything!

See if you can guess this clue Brynn gave: It's a thing, when you stick your finger in it, your finger falls off.
(Answer at the end of this post)

(Callie trying to get dad to guess the word "sin")
Callie: If someone does something really wrong, they....
Dad: SUCK!

(Trying to get Kyra to guess "Making out")
Mom: When two people are in the back of a car kissing a lot they are....
Dad: SO BUSTED!

Here's a shot of the yummy brownies Callie made:

Don't you wish you could have had one?

And Brynn's clue? Nobody came close! That clue was supposed to help us guess the word "Tattoo"

Overheard

Overheard while the kids were getting dressed:
Callie: Look at me, I'm pretty!
Brynn: No, I'm the one that is prettyfull!
C: No, I'm prettyfuller!
B: No, you're WRONG! I'm the prettyfullerest!
C: Dad, which one of us is prettyful?
Dad: I don't know, which of you ate the most breakfast?

Yawn!

Kind of a slow, boring week. Really the only thing of note was that we got to see Jenny and her kids as they arrived from Virginia this week. They're moving back and Jenny came out with the kids while Dave is wrapping up loose ends back there - hopefully he'll be out here soon, too.
Our girls liked seeing their long-lost cousins, Brynn especially liked seeing Sydnee. They got to spend a few minutes making sugar cookies together at Grandmas:

This weekend has been nice and sunny (I'd forgotten what the sun looked like) and so Darrin & I took a walk this afternoon. While we were out walking, we came across a fork in the road we were not familiar with. We didn't really know what to do with it, so we ultimately decided.........
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to bring it home:

And yes, that really IS about the most interesting thing I could think about to post. I said it was a boring week!
Next week promises to be more interesting....

Deep Disappointment!

Well, I guess I don't have to tell you that nobody here liked the Super Bowl! We had Spencer, Bonnie, Charlie and Marti over and cheered hard for the Patriots, but they lost! It was painful to watch.
Brynn's sign didn't help:

Nor did Spencer's version of the "Rally Cap":

Or even the "Buffy Ball" trick:

Two words: