What to do on a Saturday?

Another free Saturday! My National class ends tonight, but I already turned all my work in so I'm done. My new National class starts Monday morning. The class I'm taking at the local community college is all caught up too!

It's a beautiful day. It will warm to 72 degrees. We'll probably make a trip to the garden center later. I want to get some plants in the ground. We also have a ton of yard work to do. Normally Andrew helps with that but he is in Disneyland for the day. The 8th grade class takes a trip each year, you know, sleep on the bus Friday on the way there, spend all day at the park, and sleep on the bus on the way home.

Jessica has her second behind the wheel driver's training during Spring Break. She needs us to take her for some more practice. Today would be a good day, and if she lets me I'll get a picture of her driving her car. She's so cute in it.

Steaming Mad!

My minivan was keyed tonight in the Subway parking lot. I am so angry I cannot see straight!

I stopped with Jessica after her game (8pm). She opened the car door too wide and hit the door of the car next to us. The people in the car were very upset even though they had no damage to their car. I checked and they checked. They threatened to call the police, to which I replied "there is no damage, they won't come, there is no basis for an insurance claim". The man would not calm down enough for me to talk to him so we walked away. I told him I would be in the Subway when the police came, knowing full well the police would not come, but I needed to exit the situation, which I felt was escalating. We were alone and the parking lot was fairly empty. When we came out they were gone and my car now has a key mark from the front passenger door to the rear window.

Should I have done something different? I don't know. It was dark and we were alone. Our safety comes first. Of course Jessica feels terrible about it. I told her it's just a car and to place such value on a car, like the other people did, means priorities are not in the right place. The funny thing is...their car was a cheap Mercedes, worth less than my minivan (which has all the bells and whistles). My thought is... if you do not want anything to happen to your car then don't drive it.

Bailey and Sisko

Like peas and carrots....Sisko actually thinks Bailey is his mom. He often tries to nurse on Bailey, but she barely tolerates it. Although I understand why he thinks she is his mom, whenever he is naughty (as kittens are), Bailey scolds him right along with us. Supercute!

A sad thing happened...

I was heartbroken to hear that one of my favorite actresses died today. Natasha Richardson fell while skiing and suffered a brain injury which caused her death. Married to one of the best male actors, Liam Neeson, Natasha Richardson will be sorely missed in the Stolzman household.

Pool Problems!

This is my very large cement pond. As you can see there is no water in the pond. The cover we use to keep debris out of the pool came off on Saturday, and sure enough, the pool was a thick, murky mess! Joe decided to drain the pool instead of the endless filter cleaning the mess would normally require. When he got to the bottom he discovered cracks in the plaster. Ordinarily this would not be a problem, but it looks like some of the cracks might be going through to the dirt. The pool body is about 2 feet thick. A call to the company that built our pool will happen tomorrow. The only thing is...if they have to redo the plaster and decking it could take 6 months. We're hoping the cracks can be fixed, sealed, and re-plastered just as easily as gutting the whole thing.

Spring flowers

Spring is days away but don't tell my flowers. The Freesia's are in the sheer descent planter box (the pool waterfall) and the two potted plants are at the bottom of the stairs. Once the porch is put back together they will be moved to underneath the porch patio cover. The potted plants tend to dry out more than those in the ground and prefer afternoon shade in our hot climate.

Andrew

Wrestling season has now ended. This picture of Andrew was taken 3 weeks ago, the day after his 14th birthday. He is the one on top (yes, his arms are muscular, as is the rest of him)

I Forgot To Say...

I hope everyone is scrolling down to look at the "Places to See" picture as well as the National Geographic "Picture of the Day".

My Free Saturday!

Tomorrow is the first free Saturday I have had in a long time. With the exception of going to a crab feed in the evening with friends, I have one glorious day to myself. So, what do I plan to do with the newfound freedom? CLEAN THE HOUSE! The dust bunnies are so large they now require names and the bathrooms are like a locker room. Everyone will pitch in (me most of all) but dare I complain? No! because then I would have to take my car to get the smog check, the oil changed, and the male cat to become and "it" cat. I would much rather pop in my earbuds and put on an apron than run car errands. ugh.

So, you might ask...what am I doing on Friday night? Homework I might say. While I don't really understand why I have to take a class about why I learn (I just know I do learn) it is required. "Introduction to Interdiscipinary Studies" is the most boring textbook I have ever read. And the really neat thing is that in February of next year I get to take the same class again, as my 8 week capstone class. Not looking forward to it.

Oh yeah, I also have to turn in the Girl Scout cookie money and figure out how to add cool graphics to this blog.

Why a Blog?

Cyber space will have to forgive me. The learning curve on how often to blog and what to blog about has been set too high! I cannot imagine anyone is interested in my boring ole' everyday life.
Unlike other social network sites, there is no real feedback on a blog so I have no way of knowing if anyone is reading. Having said that...

Saturday was Andrew's last tournament, and he did not qualify to move on to the TOC finals in two weeks. I did not want to say it to him...but I'm kinda glad. It is very hard to watch someone physically hurt your own child. A boy did an illegal free-style move on Andrew that left him laying on the mat gasping for air. I was so mad I wanted to jump up and smack the kid. While I managed to restrain myself, Joe was not. He expressed his displeasure to the kid and yelled at the boy's coach. Even though wrestling is a very rough sport, it is also controlled and has rules. These rules are designed for the protection of the wrestlers and rule-breaking can cause injuries. In any case, he is fine today, just a little sore. I gave him some Tylenol and rubbed sports creme on his back. The other reason I'm glad it is ending is with the exception of one or two weekend's, I have not had a free weekend since August. Really! And while the next several weekends are not really free, I will have time to do something for me for a change:)

Now that my weekends are clearing up my weekdays are cluttering up....Jessica is on the High School soccer team and their first game was this last week, but at least they don't play on weekends. Yeah!

Joe and I took them up to the fancy-smancy Roseville Galleria today. What a mall...Tiffany's, Louis Vitton, you name it, all upper end stores. We do not normally shop there (it takes almost an hour to get there) but we had to go to Fry's to get a bulb for our tv and the kids had Christmas gift cards to spend. They managed to spend $300 between the two of them at American Eagle and Aeropostale...thank you everyone for the presents! I love that they get stylish new clothes that are already paid for.

So, the rain continues but the ants are gone. March has usually been a very nice month. I think I will get out the summer clothes next week and perhaps get a pedi. My prediction is that by the end of this month we will have reached 75 degrees at least once (I sure hope so or I might have to move to Arizona).