Disneyland

Look at the excitement on those faces! Only minutes until we get into Disneyland.


Thunder Mountain Madness!


Getting ready to do some Autopia driving.


Natural reaction to Tower of Terror

Trick or Treating at Disneyland. I'm Grumpy and Ryan is Disneyland.

Taking a break in Mickey's really comfortable plastic chair.

Working Girl

This post is poorly written but please forgive me, especially those of you who are grammar freaks. You know who you are.

I think I'm going to like my job. My schedule is kind of weird during the day but I like that I'm not doing one thing all day. I do reading with a few 2nd and 3rd grade kids but I also go into classrooms to "sub" when teachers are doing their planning together. I help out in kindergarten with letters on Mondays for an hour. Kind of sad that some of these kids don't even know their letters yet. Not even the letters in their names. I don't have to be to work until a little before 9 and I'm done at 3. So I start after the girls do and end before them. Nice. My only problem today was with Roze one of the other women I work with. We had a planning meeting with Karen (my boss basically) and we have grades that we help out in once a week. Mine are 3rd, 6th, 5th and 1st. Perfect because Hanna is in 3rd and Grace 1st. Well Roze has been in the school for about 2 months and apparently has been in Grace's class for a week or so. I asked for Hanna's class and got that, then I asked for Grace's. Roze asked me which child was mine and I said "Grace". She said she didn't know who that was because she hadn't go to know their names yet. Then a minute later we were going over the classes again and I asked Roze, "Would you mind if you traded with me because my daughter is in Knott's class?" She said, "No. I've already learned their names and Mrs. Knotts has shown me how her class works." Can you believe that?! I didn't even know what to say. I could tell Karen and the other woman I work with felt really bad. It's so stupid because we just go in the class once a week for 45 mins and babysit. We don't teach or plan lessons etc. I was really upset. The other woman told me when we were alone that she would have traded with me. I can tell Roze is just going to be "one of those woman" that is hard to work with if you don't do it her way. So after school I talked to Karen about it and she told me she felt bad and would try to switch us after Christmas break. I didn't want her to switch us now because I don't want Roze mad at me already. I'm sure I'll have more stories about sweet Roze.

Ok one of my pet peeves around here is teachers who don't speak proper english. The 2nd grade teacher I was observing today kept saying "I says". I swear if my kids grow up with a Utah hick accent I'm going to lose it!

Pictures of Disney are coming.

My feet are sore!

It's the end of day two and the only complaint I have is that my feet are super sore. I told Ryan we should bring a pedometer next time so we can see how many miles we walk. I get so hungry because we are burning so many calories.

The fires have not affected us at all which is good. It was quite windy on yesterday but today there wasn't any wind at all, which is good for those fighting the fires. It's been hot but I like the heat. There is smoke in the air which makes it look kind of "nuclear winter" outside. The first day I thought I could smell smoke but today I didn't notice it.

Disneyland itself has been perfect. Small crowds means hardly any lines at all. I think the longest we waited was 30 minutes for the new Finding Nemo ride (which wasn't that fabulous in my opinion) and we waited maybe 25 for Splash Mountain last night. Most of the time we walk right onto the ride without waiting at all. Tomorrow is our last day and I talked Ryan into making reservations at the Blue Bayou which is the restaurant inside the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. It's pricey but it's something we've always wanted to do and I can pretty much talk Ryan into anything at Disneyland. It's his happy place. We're also doing the Mickey's Halloween Treat tomorrow night at California Adventures. We brought the girl's Halloween costumes to wear for it.

Today when we were walking out of Toon Town I saw Hanna's music teacher walking toward us. She was so excited to see us she wanted to take a picture with Hanna. Grace was too shy because she didn't have Mrs. Siggard last year in kindergarten.

Tomorrow we'll get in all our favorite rides before we go home. Hanna's favorite is the Grizzly Rapids ride in California Adventures. She gets soaked every time. Grace's favorite is Splash Mountain. I'm a Hollywood Tower of Terror fan myself. Ryan is a traditionalist and his favorite is Thunder Mountain. He also like the Buzz Lightyear ride because he kicks ass at it and enjoys humiliating us.

I think it's time to take an Advil and try to sleep through the pain.

LA's Burning!

Ok LA isn't but Malibu is and basically we can see this wall of smoke coming off the hills. Ryan took a picture from our car but we didn't bring our cable to put it on the computer. It's kind of apocalyptic. The wind if bad also and we've seen 4 or 5 semi-trailers blown over on the side of the highway. I wonder how it will be in Anaheim and if we'll see the sun at all this week? We got to our hotel yesterday afternoon and Hotels.com hadn't send our reservation in. I reserved it over a week ago so it's not like they hadn't had time. I'm not to happy with Hotels.com right now but it all worked out. Our $37/night casino room in Primm wasn't too bad actually which means no visible bodily fluids left behind. I've paid more for worse. Our (borrowed) navigation system says we have 48 miles until we get to our hotel but we're starting to hit that infamous LA traffic which means it could be hours until we get there. We might hit Balboa beach today depending on the weather/fires. If not we'll just walk around Downtown Disney. Tomorrow we go to Disneyland!

Later Suckas!

We're leaving for California and Disneyland tomorrow. I don't think I'll be doing any blog posting since I'll be having too much fun. It snowed here today and it's supposed to be in the high 80's in L.A. Sounds perfect! I'll be thinking about you all when I'm sitting on the beach getting a tan.

Employed or Dying?

My friend karen used to tell me that when she went back to work after being home for 15 years, she felt like she had a terminal illness. That the day she went back to work was the day she would die. Now I understand. This morning I felt nauseous and so anxious I had to take half a Xanax which I only use when I feel "A Big Freak Out" coming. I met with the principal and fascilitator at today and they were very kind and understanding of my craziness. I'm going to work Monday, Wednesday and Thursday. I will cover teacher's classrooms when they are at staff development and I'll do reading recovery with 2nd grade students. I cover for Hanna's teacher which is fun. It's not my dream job but I'll be in the school with the girls and it's only 18 hours a week. I told the principal that my goal was to teach here someday (look at me, self-promoting!). I'll start on the 29th and hopefully it will be Xanax free. I'm feeling good about it but it's hard to give up all this freedom. Just in case you're not familiar with Utah's public school system, I will not be making the big bucks so don't come begging for money.

Hanna got a haircut

We were trying to grow it out but she has the type of hair that gets stringy when it's long. So she and I decided to get it cut. We drove to Amanda's in Heber today and she gave us both lovely haircuts. Hanna thinks she looks fabulous and so do I.

Believe in Your Dreams!

Pregnancy & Infant Loss Awareness Day

Today is Pregnancy & Infant Loss Awareness Day. On Saturday it was the Utah Share Walk and while I didn't go to the walk, I met up with some of my Share friends after for lunch. I'd met four of the women before but sadly there were two new women there. Each of us has a story that we probably don't tell to many people and it is wonderful to sit at a table and know that you are not making anyone uncomfortable by sharing yours. They ask me about Evie and want to see her pictures. They tell me she was beautiful. I mainly talk about my experience with Evie but I do think about my four miscarriages before she was born. I tend to block those out and focus more on Evie but at the time they happened, they were just as devastating. All the hope you have only to be cut short. It's just all bad and I struggle with the memories on a daily basis. We were asked to share our stories on this day, to let other women know they aren't alone. The other day I was waiting for someone at a department store and happened to wander into the baby clothes. I picked up a 6-9-month-old sleeper and held it next to me. I should be holding a baby that fits into that sleeper. Instead, I held a baby who fit into the palm of my hand. I've been pregnant seven times but I only have two living children. That's my story. Things You Shouldn't Say She must have been special for God to take her. You'll see her again someday. At least you weren't that far along. At least you have two children. Everything happens for a reason. She's in heaven and perfect now. What I Wish Everyone Knew I think about her every day. She was alive for a few minutes after she was born. It's ok to ask me about her. My miscarriages were as emotionally and physically painful as losing Evie. Having two living children doesn't make this easier, just different. I'm still mad. I want to be told I did the right thing or don't say anything at all. We can't/won't have any more children.

Pumpkin Patch

My mom and I took the girls to South Ridge Farms in Santaquin so they could pick out a pumpkin. It's a yearly tradition we have and we always stop at the Red Barn for ice cream after. This year they had these super yummy apple cider donuts that I got because I'm not much of an ice cream eater. If you live in Utah you should check out this place out for the ice cream and really good fudge.


Waiting for the wagon ride with Grandma.


Grace took a long time searching for the perfect pumpkin.


Found them!


Evidence that I was there.

John Williams would be proud

"Stacy have you thought about what your talent might be?"

"Well I've heard that playing the trumpet is pretty easy. Maybe I"ll learn how to play the Star Wars theme on the trumpet."

"Good, but I think it needs a little something else."

"You mean maybe an interpretive dance solo?"

"Getting there Stacy, getting there."

I was a trumpet section leader and I can tell you I've heard 12 year olds play better than this. Didn't anyone think to tune her trumpet before she went out on stage? As horrible as the trumpet plalying is, the dancing is even worse.

I think work is making my life dull

Since I started subbing 2-3 days a week I feel like I don't have interesting things to write about. Work seems to be making me dull. I'd love to regale you all with stories about hilarious incidents in my daily life but there really isn't anything noteworthy. I have been unofficially offered a tech position at our elementary school and I think I'll take it. They came to me and at first I wasn't really into the idea but after another craptastic day subbing, I decided it was worth considering. I'll only be working 3 days a week as a reading tutor. It doesn't pay much but what job in education does? It will give me a foot in the door and hopefully lead to a nice cushy 1/2 day kindergarten job. I haven't worked for pay in over 13 years so I'm a little nervous. Oh this does remind me of story! Hanna's room mom finally tracked me down (after leaving 3 long messages) and asked me if I planned on helping out in the classroom. I told her I didn't think I could do it this year. She said, "That's fine. You're in the school a lot subbing so your kids can feel your presence." WHAT THE @*$#! Thanks for the validation psycho. Only in Utah would you get a crazy comment like this. So if I was a working mother who wasn't in the school my kids would be suffering and I'd be a crappy mom? Sigh.

My mom made the ultimate sacrifice and rode the bus to come see us, arriving today. She left on Friday. Haha! Just a little bus humour. It was 17 hours though but she didn't seem to mind. I didn't tell the girls and they were very surprised. I was subbing in Hanna's class today and my mom just showed up. I wish I could have captured the look on Hanna's face. She said, "I keep thinking this is just a dream." So we're going to party it up for the next few days.

Is this true?

My thirteen Ebay auctions ended last night and I did quite well. It's always the same thing where things I don't think will sell, sell for a lot and the things I think will do well, don't. I copied my information for my auction template from a friend because I thought it was worded so well. Last night I get a message from the person who won an auction:

"I think I read that you ship to military personel at no charge??? Is that not right?"

Are you smoking crack?! I support the troops and all but this is money and I needs money! I write him back and ask him where he got this idea. I then go to the item description and sure enough, the person who I copied the information from, says she will ship to "those who serve our country for free". Of course this guy won my old winter coat which I was charging $10 shipping for. I wrote him back and told him it was my mistake and I would ship to servicemen/women for free. I haven't heard back from him yet.

So last night Ryan and I are talking in bed and I'm bemoaning the fact that this has happened to me.

"I'm so mad this happened. Can you believe this?"

"Well yes."

"What does that mean!"

"Things like this always happen to you. If there is some way to make things complicated, it happens to you."

What is he talking about? You mean the time my cell phone bill was $100 because I thought I had mobile to mobile but really I didn't? Or the time I was charged $170 for a $20 hat I bought at Hollister? Or the time I tried to win Ryan an iPod doing one of those internet offers and ended up with a Disney Movie Club subscription, a dozen credit cards and no iPod? Maybe he's right, I am like a modern day Lucille Ball.

Audrey Elizabeth is here

Kristin, my good friend/ex-neighbor who abandoned me and moved to Missouri, had a baby girl on Monday. Kristin told me she was "almost 9 and a half pounds!" and had a lot of hair. The hair thing was important to Kristin because her other three kids were bald until they were 2ish. Kristin birthed this baby the natural way or as I like to call it "the crazy way". Now when women sit around talking about their birth experiences Kristin can feel superior to them all just as if she had birthed a baby while crossing the plains. Kristin sent pictures of baby Audrey today and she looks very sweet. Congratulations Bates family!

Don't hate me for this but I was desperate

1. The phone rings, who do you want it to be?
Someone telling me I'm the long lost daughter of Oprah and she's leaving me all her money.

2. When shopping at the grocery store, do you return your cart?
50/50 but I feel guilty when I don't.

3. If you had to kiss the last person you kissed again, would you?
Definately

4. Do you take compliments well?
Negative but I'm working on just saying "thank you"

5. Do you play Sudoku?
brain hurt bad. Yes I've tried.

6. If abandoned alone in the wilderness would you survive?
Unlikely, which would make my grade 9 Wilderness Training teacher cry. Sorry Mr. Pilling.

7. If your house were on fire, what would be the first thing you would save?
The family of course. My computer (for the pics and journals) and my photo albums.

8. Who was the last person you slept in bed with?
Ryan

9. Who do you text the most?
Karen is the only person I text and I do it about once every 3 months because it's not part of my phone plan.

10. Favorite children’s book?
Hard to choose. I like the Stinky Cheese Man because it makes kids laugh. Julius, Baby of the World is awesome.

11. Eye color?
bluey grey.

12. How tall are you?
5'1ish

13. If you could do it over again, start from scratch, would you?
hmm sure. But if I could, I'd skip that part where I worked at Wendy's in Laramie, WY for a year.

14. Any secret admirers?
They wouldn't be secret then would they?

15. When was the last time you were at Olive Garden?
Amanda's birthday? Mayish? Ryan hates the Olive Garden. I admit it's not my favourite but I love those breadsticks.

16. Favorite ex?
Yikes! The only two I really talk to are Dan and Darin. I think I "dated" them each for about one minute.

17. Where was the furthest place you traveled?
Tennessee but I'm saving up for Europe in 2009.

18. Do you like mustard?
I have developed a taste for it.

19. Do you prefer to sleep or eat?
wow! I love them both but eat wins.

21. Do you miss anyone?
very much.

22. Can you do splits?
Not any more.

23. What movie do you want to see right now?
Knocked up and Superbad. I'm feeling the comedies lately.

24. What did you do for New Year’s Eve?
We "partied" at home. I'm sure I was asleep before midnight. Oh wait! I got super wasted on Margaritas, threw up then passed out.Ha! I'm kidding parents.

25. Do you think The Grudge was crappy?
Wouldn't know but I suspect it was super crappy.

26. Do you own a camera phone?
yes but I never use it except when I see a girl at Seven Peaks who has a haircut I like. Then I make Amanda go over to her and ask if she can take her picture.

27. Was your mom a cheerleader?
negative

28. What’s the last letter of your middle name?
A

31. Do you like care bears?
I've been known to. I still have my Birthday Bear from the 80's.

32. What do you buy at the Movies?
Tickets and if Ryan isn't with me I might splurge and buy a diet pepsi but then I have to pee. In Canada I buy kettle corn at the mall and sneak it in.

33. Do you know how to play poker?
no

34. Do you wear your seatbelt?
Yes my car beeps if I don't and it is really irritating.

35. What do you wear to sleep?
undies

36. Anything big ever happen in your CITY?
Have you BEEN to Santaquin? Oh! Gary Coleman moved here and then he cut Karen off in his truck that he has to use a ladder to get into.

37. Is your hair straight or curly?
Straight.

38. Is your tongue pierced?
Nope.

39. Do you like Liver and Onions?
I've yet to taste liver.

40. Do you like funny or serious people better?
I enjoy people with a sense of humour.

41. Ever been to L.A.?
yes and going again this month.

42. Who is on your mind right now?
What I'm going to do tomorrow. Thinking about products I'd like to purchase.

43. Any plans 4 tonight?
I'm Tivoing "The Hills" and will watch it after Ryan goes to bed because he is embarrassed by me watching it.

44. Whats your fav. song at the moment?
When I'm running I'm liking the Von Bondie's "Come on, come on"

45. Do you hate chocolate?
I can get into it but I don't have to have it. I like really good, smooth chocolate. I'm a chocolate snob.

46. What do you and your parents fight about the most?
Wearing my hat at the dinner table.

47. Are you a gullible person?
Dan Webster once told me there were alligators by the spill gates and I believed him. Does that answer your question? (ETA:The spill gates are on a creek in southern Alberta. I don't think an alligator has been withing a thousand miles of it)

48. Do you need a boyfriend/girlfriend to be happy?
I'm satisfied with a husband.

49. If you could have any job what would it be?
Something that allows me to travel a lot and make a lot of money. Mrs. David Beckam.

50. Are you easy to get along with?
haha! Depends what day, if I'm hungry and who you ask. I don't get offended or mad easily.

51. What is your favorite time of day?
I guess I like evening.

52. Are you generally a happy person?
I try to be but I'm not known for my sunny personality.