Latest and greatest . . .

Things have gotten a little better since I last posted. The pool is still not fixed but parts are ordered. Geoff got his latest info on the pay period transition with the merger and we will get an extra check this month. Happy day with that! And one of my dearest friends is coming into town from Reno with her work on Monday. She will have Monday afternoon and evening for us and then Tuesday she is in a workshop and flies out immediately after. BUT . . . I get to have almost 24 hours with her! I will pick her up at the airport and then we'll take my Maddi to school and then who knows what. She wants to do lunch somewhere that she can enjoy our "heat". She grew up here but has been gone for almost 11 years. Right now the weather in Reno is cold and they actually had snow flurries last week! I'm trying to think of someplace fun that is outside but nothing yet. Any suggestions?
Had our read-thru for Little Mermaid today. The cast is VERY talented and I'm really excited about them. I am actually nervous about MDing this one - simply because there is no written music for it. Only a cast recording to learn from and then the tracks that are (much to my dismay) "sweetened". For those non-theatre people, sweetened means there are voices on the track to 'help' the cast sound bigger. I HATE THAT!! If the cast can't sing it - then they shouldn't be cast but there are no other choices. The show itself is really kinda cute. The writer went on to be extremely famous. . . he wrote JAMES AND THE GIANT PEACH and the new box-office money maker, CHARLOTTE'S WEB, among others. So I'm excited about having the chance to work on this - especially at Hale.
Speaking of Hale, another thing to smile about is that Dave and Corrin have really opened up to me this week. Dave is not one of the easiest people to get to know and EXTREMELY hard to read!! Tuesday night at auditions he was very cordial and sweet and asked my opinions in places that normally he wouldn't. Cambrian says that I have 'made it into the Hale family crew' and that he KNOWS that Dave and Corrin really respect me and my talent. :) Makes me smile!!! I've worked so hard to get here and this point in my life and career. It's not been a smooth road and there have been many potholes. It has paid off!!

when it rains. . . . it sends a hurricane!

This morning my VT companion called and asked Maddi and I to join her and 4 little girls from the ward for a playdate and then lunch at Sonic. Well, I told her I'd come as fast as I could but I had to get a few things done then we'd find out where they were. Maddi cleaned her room and I picked up. Then I showered, did Maddi's hair and got ready. We were just going to make it to Sonic when all of a sudden . . .
I went to the back door to lock it when I saw water EVERYWHERE. I thought it was the sprinklers going haywire, and no biggie until Geoff got home and looked at them because they had turned off until tomorrow. Well, then I saw the trail coming from the pool area too. And I looked closer - the yard was flooded! It looked like I had irrigation; about 3-4 inches!! Then I saw the pool level was low and the make-shift "fountain" happening over by the filter! It was about 5 feet high and gushing!! Worried about how much it was going to cost me - I began to cry. I called my pool guy friend, Bryan, first and he was busy and couldn't talk so I couldn't explain it to him. He said he'd call me back. Well, I had to get Maddi to school -we'd definately missed the bus now! So, I called Geoff at work - hard to reach him usually but he answered quickly today, thankfully! He told me how to turn off the water pump thus stopping the "fountain". I told him I called Bryan and he was going to call me back. Bryan had thought it was a gasket leaking last time he was here - so no biggie Geoff was trying to assure me. He said to let him know. I hung up, now in the van to take Maddi, and called Alison. She understood and was so sweet. She ordered my DP and a corndog for Miss Maddi so it was ready when I got there. She wouldn't let me pay her - so sweet! Only about $2 but that will come in handy!! I rested for a few minutes and visited - so needed! I vented really but she was nice enough to listen and at least 'act' concerned. I ran Maddi to school (a few minutes late but oh well) and then picked up Geoff. We went in the back, now the water had soaked in most of the grass but stil really wet. The pool was filling and we walked to the filter. . . a BIG, HUMONGOUS, ENORMOUS crack down the side! Not the gasket but just old fiberglass that busted! We called Bryan and explained - he was just around the corner. He knocked and went out back to look. He laughed and said "yep, busted". I hate that! I think I'm just emotional with the money spent on the van yesterday!! He took down the part number and said he'd call us. Geoff and I came in and started sorting laundry (I know - we're weird, we think better cleaning) and discussed how we wanted to handle this. Bryan called with the damage numbers and now I just think that God is being mean!! It's gonna run about $800-900 to fix it - either old parts that cost more or new parts that are cheaper but we have to have it replumbed. This sucks!! ARG!!
What am I supposed to "learn" from this?!?!?! First, the van - now, the pool. WHAT NEXT!?!?!

Have wheels . . . .

Will survive!!
I got the van back just before kids got home from school. Not in time for me to pick them up, so they did have to take the bus. Normally not a problem but scouts was today - so Jonathan missed that. Oh well. Next week he can go with Dakota (who turns 8 on Saturday). They will enjoy that for the next couple weeks before Jonathan turns 9 and goes to Bears. My father in law picked Maddi and I up and took us to pick up the van from the shop. Then Maddi and I stopped by Sonic and I was one VERY happy camper with my Sonic drink!! :)
After I taught a makeup lesson, I picked up Geoff. We came home and there were 12 kids (including ours) waiting in the front yard in swimsuits. It was actually very funny! We let them get in and we worked out front. Geoff washed the van and I pulled weeds from around my flowers and put out ant poison. A few of the kids had to head home, but another group showed up so some continued to swim and Kylee and a few of her friends rode their bikes to Sonic for ice cream. They came back here to swim some more while Geoff took Maddi and the boys to get pizza for dinner. I taught 2 more makeup lessons and then headed outside to enjoy my yard and water my flowers that need extra water at night (the drip system isn't that great in the corner lot). After that we tried to put kids to bed but Kylee still had a couple friends over. They were in her room doing their homework. Kylee was thrilled to know that she could help them get it done because "It was so what we did last year mom! Next year at Entz is going to be a breeze!" I'm glad she felt confident to help but I hope she doesn't get a false hope that it's going to be easy! Well, one of the moms came to pick up the extra girls and told us that they were heading to Baskin Robbins. It's their 31st birthday and so all the flavors were 31 cents a scoop today til 10pm. Geoff agrees (much to my dismay because it was 9:15PM) to have me take the kids down there while he finishes the Suns game. We get in the van, about a mile down the road and the mom calls my cell and says there are over 100 people in line. Forget that!! We go to McD's for swirl cones and come home to bed. Great afternoon for my kids and long day for me! Bed will be a welcome sight tonight!!

Mental Health Day

I think they are necessary to anyone - young and old! Maddi was super tired today and since we had to get up early to walk the kids to the bus stop and Geoff left at the same time to walk to where his ride was picking him up, she was extra tired. It took us about 45 min. - to an hour to get the kids to the bus stop and back. Maddi rode her bike and I walked Lady. It was nice weather so that made it nice. She fell asleep about an hour before we needed to start walking to her bus stop. I didn't want to wake her up so I let her sleep and called her in to school. At our house we call them "mental health days". Everyone is allowed one per semester. Maddi hasn't had one since Christmas so I think she deserved it. She slept til 1pm and then we made popcorn and are having it with Diet Dr. Pepper while watching the movie "Little Rascals". I know might disagree with this but I find that sometimes we need a break from reality no matter what age we are. I'm sure teachers take mental health days too! Hoping to hear from the car shop soon!!

Life hands you lemons, you make lemonade and FORGET the sugar!!!!

Ok, so I bought a used van (2001 Pontiac Montana) last fall and I've loved every minute of it! It's been very good to us! Well, we've known there needs to be some work done on it but had hoped to hang on until school got out in 3 weeks. But today it gave up on me. I went to the grocery store and when I came out - it wouldn't start. Frustrated, I called my hubby and he came to help me. We jump started it and got it home, although it did die 2 houses from ours and we coasted all the way in the driveway. Called a couple of mechanics to find out what they could diagnose by our description. Everyone told us it sounded like our manifold gasket that went out. We called AAA and had it towed to the best priced shop and it's there now. They called around 5:30PM to tell us that it was going to cost . . . ready for this? I wasn't! $1080!! AAAHHHH!!!!! Well, our savings does consist of that right now - especially after the move! So . . . Geoff's dad is going to loan it to us and I will be paying him back over the next 3-4 weeks. UG!
I've come to conclusion that this is just a confirmation to me that we need a 2nd vehicle. That will happen before summer is over! We must have a vehicle in case this happens again. Tomorrow Geoff will get a ride with a co-worker and I will walk the kids to the bus and then I'm home most of the day anyway (I don't teach on Wed.) but no car is hard to deal with.
I am trying to make lemonade with the lemons that God is handing me - but I forgetting the sugar!!! ARG!

Life is not what we always want . . .

We moved into our house in Dec., right before Christmas. We love it here and are very happy in our little home. We love the ward, neighborhood and room. Kids like the friends, room to play and the pool. Only one problem - a house is a big expense! We have lived many places and our last home spoiled us. We lived at ASU East in a 4-bd 2-ba house with free cable, free high speed internet and free water. We had only cell phones (because we were hardly ever home) and now reality has hit us. We are paying for the above mentioned items and we have a land line. Our rent at ASU was only $800 (I know, cheap!) and obviously, the payment here is much higher! It all pays off in the end but still not easy to swallow or aceept. We've breen doing a few things to the house as well, like painting, moving cupboards, landscaping, etc. I have hung up some curtains, and painted cupboards too. This month has been the tightest (financially) since we moved in and since the savings is not like it should be - we are struggling. I have a lot of work lined up but it's not immediate. We'll make it - we always do but I hate wondering how it will work. UG!!!!