Adventures in Tie Dye

Yesterday, DD and I tried our hands at tie dying.

Oh What Fun It Was!

Really!

We gathered a couple of old whitish shirts.

We mixed up three colors of dye (yellow, red, and blue) and we went to town.

We dunked,
we stirred,
we even syphoned with a straw.
See....look here....




Here's what DD's shirt looks like now:



And, here's mine (I didn't do the multi-color thing):



It's a very pretty blue. I love it! Only one problem. I accidently got a little tiny bit of red dye on it. DARN! I have to figure out how to hide it. Maybe a little bit of embroidery magic will do the trick....

School's Out For Summer!

Tomorrow's actually the "official" last day of work, but all the report cards are signed, sealed and off in the mail. All the student's new courses are ordered for next year. The only thing left to do is mail the time card (and clean out files - lots of files).

DD had a great first year of high school. She did well in all of her courses and even ended up with some extra credits to her name. Afraid that she would get bored over the summer, she decided to do 2 Summer classes (Music Theory and Spanish 2) and dive into some of her English coursework for next year already too.

With some time off, I hope to be on here more regular-like and update with more stories of our adventures.

Spring Break

Spring Break is only hours away! I can see it from here! I love my job, but everyone needs a break every once in awhile (even from something they love).

And, with Spring Break comes.............

ROAD (FIELD) TRIP


Wonder what wild and crazy adventures this one brings.

IT'S SNOWING!

We woke up to snow flurries this morning! Two days ago it was tank top and shorts weather.

I'm running through the house shouting, "It's snowing, It's snowing!" DD says to me, "You get more excited about the snow than a 2 year old." Hey, what can I say? As long as I don't have to go drive in it, bring it on!

However, it is a major distraction. I have to look out the window every 23 seconds to see if it's still coming down, and I should be concentrating on getting all of this work done by Friday so I don't have to do it over Spring Break.

Yes, It's True!

I finally fixed my photo editing software. YIPPEE!!!! I'm back in business.

Last month, we took a brief trip to Orange County. On the way home, we stopped by the Queen Mary and DD was in H.E.A.V.E.N. She is in love with all things European right now (well, not all things....she would probably pass on pureed parsnips and the like.) The phone booth from yesterday's post is located outside before you enter the Queen Mary.

Here we are lounging on the deck:

Very unflattering picture of me. I should have worn black instead of white. But, oh well. It is what it is. At least my hair looks good. Thanks to DNephew for the best haircut I ever had!

DD also bought a Russian soda (which was fabulous), and she picked up a British newspaper to bring home.

The only bad thing about the adventure that day was the escalator to the main deck was broken and we had to climb about 10,000 STEEP stairs to get up there. What a hike that was!

Back to School

Today's the big day. DD starts high school!

Here she is. All ready to go.


But, I think she probably feels more like this.


Even though she's homeschooled, it's still a big deal. She's going to be doing a different program this year, and I'm no longer her "official, credentialed" teacher. She now has to answer to someone else besides me. And, "gasp", she's going to have to put her name on EVERY PAPER! That's something she hasn't done in two years. She's starting off the school year with a full schedule: Algebra 1, English 9, Cultures and Geography, Biology 1, Spanish 1, Art, PE, 7 Habits of Effectiveness, and Clarinet. She's going to be one BUSY gal!

And, I start back to work today. I will be in training sessions via the computer all week from 8:30 - 5:00 every day. I know there are changes that have been in the works over the summer so it will be interesting to see what my job will entail this year. I am almost certain that I will no longer have to travel to other areas to meet with my students. The other teacher that lived in town here moved away, and I'm supposed to be getting all of her students. It will be so nice to not have to spend so much time driving. No more singing, "On the road again....."

"I Can't Believe It!" Day

Today is a day full of "I Can't Believe It" moments.

Moment #1 - I can't believe it.....Today is the last day of my summer break already. I start back to work on Monday. (Need the money, but don't need the work - I'm sure you can relate. OR If you can't relate, at least you know what I mean, right?)

Moment #2 - I can't believe it....In addition to losing 10 weeks of income due to the state budget crisis, I'm now not getting my child support either. It seems that although the money very well may be sitting there in the state's account, the workers at Child Support Services were forced to take mandatory unpaid days off (furloughs) as well......SO, they are way behind on processing all the disbursements of payments. Now, while the state is making interest on all that money waiting to be sent to the proper accounts, lots of custodial parents and their children are going without. Thank you very much State of California!

Moment #3 - I can't believe it.....My bed, my actual bed, is pictured on The Nester's blog. What you don't know who The Nester is? She's only one of the most famous of all bloggers in blogland. She has a fabulous blog in which she tells all about how she turns her family's houses into homes. Yes, I did say houses. Not because she is super wealthy and has a residence in every state, but because she moves. She moves A LOT. So, she has wonderful ideas on how to spruce up a home, a rental home at that, which you may or may not know that you cannot do any permanent changes to for fear of the dreaded landlord having a fit. Anyway, MY bed is pictured on her blog. Wanna see it? Click here.

Well, it's not actually MY bed, the one that I lay my pretty head down in each night, but it is EXACTLY like my bed. I can't wait to see what she has planned for it in her new bedroom (they recently moved again). I'm sure I'll get some inspiration (aka ideas to steal).

Moment #4 - I can't believe it! My DD, My baby girl, My Buggerboo, is starting high school on Monday. How did that happen? She's only in 3rd grade and still wears cute little Gymboree clothes!

The Library Shelf: Didn't My Skin Used to Fit?

I'm not actually finished with this book yet, only half way through, but I just had to share something.

This book is a total spoof on life after forty, and it is HILARIOUS! Why? Because I can relate to it, if not from personal experience, then from the experience of those around me.

For instance, Chapter 16 is titled "Thanks for the Memory....Loss". The first paragraph on page 70 reads:

"What I don't get is why our memory has to go on the blink at a time when we're given so much to remember. Our doctors tell us to take three of one pill four times a day, four of another pill three times a day and one of yet another every ten hours for twelve days. How are we supposed to remember all that?......"

Well, I think Dear Ole Dad (DOD) has that one all figured out. Just look at this:

Yep, you're seeing it right. He's got alarm clocks lined up, set at different times throughout the day, with the pills he is supposed to take at said times on top of the appropriate alarm clock. Weird or Genius? Hmmmmmmmm..........

When I took this picture, I though weird, but it seems that Ms. Martha Bolton has been contemplating this very thing and put it in her book. LOL

Yosemite - Go Sit on a Rock!

For DD's 14th birthday on July 17th, DSis, DD and I went to Yosemite. Yes, you read that right, on the 17th AND it's now already the 27th (almost the 28th) and I'm just now posting these pictures. Better late than never, huh?!?! You've actually already seen this first one because it is the picture from last week's Wordless Wednesday post.

We left bright and early at 7:00 a.m. in order to beat the traffic, tour busses and the heat, and to maybe get through the gate before the rangers arrived so we wouldn't have to pay the entrance fee. Shucks, darn! We didn't beat any of them.

Once we reached Yosemite Valley, our first stop was Bridalveil Falls. Here's a shot I took looking up through the trees from the trail. It's my favorite picture of the day.


Here, I am with John Muir! I can't believe I hiked all that way, and then found him on the trail. And, he was wearing the BEST boots! (Actually, he is in the Visitor's Center so if you go to Yosemite chances are you'll bump into him too.)


Next up, DD decided she'd try to catch Yosemite Falls. I think she did a pretty good job, and she didn't even get wet!


After hiking up to the base of Yosemite Falls (really not that far and it's all paved so I don't know that I'd actually call it a hike, but we can pretend), we decided to take a nap.

WAIT A MINUTE! That's not us! Just a couple of other people who probably couldn't find a campsite so decided to use a bench instead. And, they really were sound asleep. They even had pillows!

We didn't take a nap, but we did rest for a little while by riding around on the shuttle bus. We rode over to Curry Village where we ate our lunch and treated ourselves to some yummy ice cream. While we were at Curry Village, I decided to catch a bear.


There are a lot of bear in Yosemite. They cause such mischief looking for food that special "bear-proof" trash cans are installed. Well, I don't know if they are really bear-proof, but they are DEFINITELY DSis proof. She needed to throw out some trash and couldn't get the trash can open so she put it on the side and told us that the trash can didn't work. She even told DD that she'd give her a dollar if she could get it open. DD walked right over there, pulled the lid down, threw the trash in, walked back and collected her buck!

For an encore, she tried to hold Half Dome in the palm of her hand, but she wasn't quite tall enough.


I really thought she had grown a lot recently, as she's past me up and is over 5'6" now, but apparently this fireplace was made for Paul Bunyan or Goliath or someone of that stature because DD fit right inside. (This is one of the big fireplaces inside the Ahwahnee Hotel.)


The last stop of the day was a hike to Mirror Lake (aka Mirror Pond) at the base of Half Dome. It was hot! We were tired! Half way there, DSis and I bailed on DD and said we weren't going any further. We went down to the creek instead to put our feet in to cool off.

DD contemplates, "Should I go all the way in?"


DSis and I kept telling her, "Do it. You'll dry. It'll be fun."

So.....Did she or didn't she?











She did....


I tell you if I had a bathing suit on, I would have too! The water was very refreshing!

This brings me to the last photo of the trip.

That's DSis sitting on a rock. She said, "Hey, I'm in Yosemite sitting on a rock. Isn't that what people come to Yosemite for?"

NO, sorry DSis, the slogan is "Go CLIMB a rock." Not "sit" on a rock. But, you're very special and they might consider changing it just for you!

DD's 8th Grade Graduation

DD graduated from 8th grade yesterday. Our charter school/homeschool program held a ceremony for all of the 8th grade graduates in our region. There were about 30 other students along with her. It was a short and sweet ceremony with a couple of the 8th graders speaking, the Head of Schools giving a brief speech and the presentation of the gratuates. All in all it lasted about 35 - 40 minutes.

I just finished looking through the pictures and realized that I don't have any of Grandmother, Grandpa or Dear Aunt, but they were there REALLY they were. Unlike DD's father, who was a no-show. What a piece of work! Seems he hit a deer and messed up the car. That resulted in him being too busy dealing with that to attend his only child's graduation (even though he has another car). URGH! It was probably a much more pleasant time for everyone with his absence, but it's the principle of the thing.

On a more pleasant note......Here are some of the better pictures of the event:

The graduate being a goofball


DD getting her "fake" diploma (I have her "real" one)


Mom and graduate (Yes, DD is taller than Mom now by 3 inches)


DS and DD


And, finally, DS holding Mom's purse while she was posing for pictures with her other students


After graduation, Dear Aunt treated us to a celebration dinner at DD's favorite place, Sweet Tomatoes. YUMMY!