We enjoyed a nice, but very windy Sunday. I don't think I have ever seen the wind blow like that in Arizona before. Kansas yes, Arizona no. While I was waiting for H's meeting to finish at church this afternoon, an elderly couple were trying to get into their car. I almost thought I was going to have to help push them in. The wind was taking them in the wrong direction!! I did get a good start on my new book Her Mother's Hope by Francine Rivers. I love it! I will definitely be trying to find more time to read it this week. I go in spurts with reading. I will read several books and then won't pick up another book for 6 months or so. I hope to read more of her books this summer.
After a great church service tonight, we did some shopping at Walmart. And of course I forgot something. Nothing makes me more frustrated with myself than when I forget something from the store. I wish I could say it was age, but I have been doing this for some time. I guess there will be another trip later this week. It is becoming a Sunday night habit to stop at Chipotle for dinner. Unfortunately, it is not always Sunday that we have this habit. You would really think that after 7 years of eating Chipotle that we would be sick of it, but I think I love it even more now. Right next to Chipotle is Five Guys. This one has not opened yet, but we ate at a different one last week. It was good, but I still have to say that my dad makes pretty good grilled hamburgers.
I decided at 9 tonight to try a new recipe for chicken spaghetti. I don't think it's too bad. I would probably add more cheese next time. Tomorrow looks to be a busy day, so having supper all ready is great.
I guess it's time for bed. Hope everyone has a super Monday.
C.

A Little of This and a Little of That

Wow!! I guess April flew by! I have been a little blog in-active lately. I hope to do better this month.

I can't believe we are down to the last four weeks of school!! I ordered Painted Lady caterpillars a few weeks ago for our AVID classes to do some inquiry lessons. As of yesterday, they are all in their chrysalises. So, hopefully by next week we will have some butterflies. I did a form of this lesson over 10 years ago and I forgot how much fun they could be. Again, I'm not really teaching them anything new, but rather reinforcing inquiry skills they have already had in their classroom. In a few weeks the incoming 3rd graders will be coming over to tour the intermediate building. I have been asked to explain to them a little about AVID. I'm trying to think of a cute, clever, but short way to do that in 5-10 mins. Hopefully some idea will pop in my head soon!

I will be done with my second class from NAU this coming Tuesday night. This one has been so much easier than linguistics. The following Tuesday I start my ESL assessment methods class. It will be my first online class I have ever taken, so I'm looking forward to it. It only lasts about a month, so by the end of June I will have my ESL provisional certificate.

On a sad note, my father-in-law was recently diagnosed with lung cancer. He is currently undergoing chemo every three weeks, so we would appreciate your prayers. Cancer is a cruel disease that knows no boundary whether it be a child or an adult.

I thought I would share something funny before I close. I usually wear glasses most days to school, but this week I have started to wear my contacts. I can't count how many kids were looking at me funny trying to figure out what was different about me. When they finally did the next thing they said to me was, "You look so much prettier now." I guess it's time to reorder some more contacts!!

It's time for Saturday house cleaning. Hope everyone has a wonderful day!
C.

I can't believe that my spring break is almost over. As usual it went by too fast. I'm afraid Monday morning will be here before I know it. I had the hardest time sleeping in this week. 7:30/8:00 was as late as I could go. But I bet on Monday morning when the alarm goes off at 6, I will wish that I could sleep till noon. I don't understand it.

We attended our church's Good Friday service tonight. They had two, so we decided to attend the later one at 8. It was really good. They are planning 10 services on Easter!! I can't even imagine it!

The last few days have been spent doing a few of my favorite things. I went shopping with my Mom on Wednesday. Love THE LIMITED. Waxed my car on Tuesday. Yes, I did say wax my car. Had lunch with a friend today at the Elephant Bar. Yummy Yummy! I even found time to do some work for school.

I think we are going to head out tomorrow for a "little hike," so I guess I better get to bed. Hope everyone has a wonderful Easter!

C.

Day One Of My Spring Stay-Cation

I'm not sure how this really happened, but somehow I was talked into hiking the Bell Pass yesterday. It was a whopping 7 miles with 2 of those miles being straight up. It took us a total of 6 hours from start to finish. Our energy bars kept us going, but I was really looking forward to my Chipotle later. It was my prize for my hard work. :) I have learned that hiking in the desert is really unlike hiking anywhere else that I know of. I lost track of how many lizards we saw. I guess they enjoy 80's degree too. The wildflowers were great too! It's too bad that in a few short weeks they will be gone and so will some of the spring color of the desert.

I'm not sure if this is a sign of our age or not, but we had to rest before we went to Chipotle. Kind of sad I know. On a positive note today, I am not sore at all!! I'm ready for day two!
C.

Well, it's finally spring break! I guess we are going to do a "stay-cation" and find some fun things to do around Phoenix. Years ago on my spring break, I would always go to Arizona. Now that I live here I'm not sure where you go. California? My weekend started with a much needed trip to my hair dresser. Mandy had a baby in February, so I had actually gone 8 weeks since a cut and quite a bit longer for highlights. Let's just say between the noticeable gray hair and the mullet that appeared to be emerging, it was becoming a scary sight.

This is a great time in Arizona to find things to do outside before it gets too hot. We found a small craft show to walk around yesterday. I bought a cute beaded bracelet there. I probably own more bracelets than any other piece of jewelry. It was a small fair, but still fun to walk around. We also stopped by Holland Boone. I had never been there been there before. They seem to specialize in pewter decor from serving plates to wall decorations. They had a lot of other cute stuff too. Everything from Italian pottery to Mexican glassware plus quite a bit of seasonal decorations. I will definitely go back there again.

I guess it's time to have some lunch and get ready for church. I hope everyone has a great Sunday!

C.

I had a great day with my family today. It really made me wish that this week was spring break for me. The weather was so nice! I guess I have something to look forward to in a couple of weeks. Our day started at 9:30 and didn't end until 8:30 tonight. I think everyone is tired from a full day of shopping. We started our day at Dunkin Donuts for free coffee Monday. I, however, was more interested in the donuts which I might add were fantastic. I did find a couple good shopping deals. I think my most interesting was the KU shirt at Old Navy! I can't believe that I could get anything KU in Arizona!!! Now if I could only find some Wichita State things here!

We had a mini shopping timeout and played a few games at Dave and Buster's. It's good to know that if the teaching career does not work out, I do have some skeeball talents that might come in handy! haha Everyone came to our house for dream pie tonight. We definitely love our desserts! I should get on the exercise bike, but I think that will have to wait for another day.

I'm looking forward to my special lunchtime visitors tomorrow. :) Hope everyone has a wonderful evening.
C.

Well, we are having a very busy, but fun few days with my cousins from Kansas. They came in last night and will be here through Wednesday afternoon. Today's highlights included a great Sunday lunch compliments of my mom, an abbreviated hike, Sunday night church followed by banana splits at my brother's. I'm actually a little tired tonight! Tomorrow I am taking a personal day, so we can have a fun filled day shopping. I'm looking forward to going to the H&M store. I have heard some great things about it, so I'm anxious to see for myself. The temperature is suppose to be 79, so it should be a beautiful day. I think we will be having dinner at our favorite Hawaiian restaurant in Arizona, Rumbi! It is a lot of fun when friends and relatives come visit! I know I must put on at least 5 lbs!

Hope everyone has a wonderful Monday!
C.