Saturday 7/11/09
Happy Birthday to me!! What a gorgeous day it was today! The sun was shining, it was warm, and it didn’t rain at all!! What more could I ask for for my birthday???
As a family we went to the market today. There are a couple little fabric shops there that I wanted to stop by and get some material for my quilting class and for a quilt that I need to finish. I was so glad that I was able to get everything that I needed!! I found fleece for about $1.50/yard. I think I'm going to have to get some more and start a humanitarian project!!
In addition, we got some more fruits and vegetables. At the very end of the trip, Laina wanted to get some flowers so just joking around, I told her to go ask the lady how much they were. To my complete astonishment, she walked up and in a little tiny shy voice she said, “Cuanto es?” I couldn’t believe it. Just for her asking, I HAD to buy the flowers. Luckily they were gorgeous flowers and they only cost $1.50!! They look very nice in our front room in a plastic Rubbermaid storage container/vase!!
To make the day even better, we went to the mall for lunch at Subway where the same guy (Mario….yes, another Mario!!) was working that has been there almost everytime we’ve gone. After we got our sandwiches and I went to pay, he commented on the improvements in my Spanish. The other lady working agreed. If they only knew how much that helped to boost my esteem and keep my going!!
After lunch we ran into a store that sells the rejects from the U.S. We were trying to find a white t-shirt for Cole’s environmental club. Instead we ended up buy 4 “painting shirts” for the kids. They were men’s XXXXXXL shirts from KMart. (I can’t remember how many X’s but they were huge). Apparently they can’t sell that size here since nobody is that big so they were marked down to Q3. (37 cents!!) Yes, I am still buying stuff that isn’t absolutely necessary, just because it is a great deal!!
Later on in our shopping, we ran into kids from Cole’s class, Alysa’s class, and Morgan’s/my class. It was weird to have the kids give me kisses on the cheek like the adults do. I guess it shows respect or something.
We tried to find a pair of dress boots for me to wear. Unfortunately, my size 8 ½ feet are too big!! We only stopped at one place though!
Before we left, we decided to reward the kids for being so patient and let them get a soft serve ice cream cone dipped in chocolate. The ice cream wasn’t very cold so the chocolate never hardened and as soon as we got outside, the ice cream melted everywhere!! I don’t think one of us managed to finish our ice cream without half of it dripping down our hands and all over the parking lot. When Laina was eating hers, she turned her head to see something and one pigtail ran right through the melted mess. So of course she has to turn around the other way to see what I’m yelling at her about and runs the other pig tail through the melted mess!! Oh, what fun!!
Finally home for a break! Everybody was exhausted but we still had to sanitize all of the food from the market!! Cole’s been a great helper for me!! Now if I could just get him to like all of the food that he helps me clean!! He has been eating a lot more vegetables without complaint though!!
We had a pretty late dinner at an Italian restaurant. Everybody was so tired by the time the food got there that they didn’t even finish half of their meals!! YEAH!! Leftovers for tomorrow!!
What a great, busy birthday!! Next weekend, exploring and looking for a cool lake that is around here!!....hopefully!!
Sunday 7/12/09
Yesterday’s great day didn't continue today!! We woke up to no electricity and no water. And, of course it was so late last night that we opted not to do baths even though Laina’s hair was two ice cream glued clumps that were once pigtails!! This was a city wide planned shut off that was in the newspaper but since we don’t get/read the newspaper, we didn’t know about it or plan accordingly! We did our best to comb out every bodies hair but I think that Chris had the hardest time. He hasn’t gotten his hair cut in a while and it is getting pretty long and a little on the untame side!! He was trying everything to get it to stay down! The kids and I eventually left him at home to work on his hair problem while we ran to the church so I could play the piano for the choir practice and prelude. Well, when the power outage is city wide, that means there’s no power to the church which means no power for the digital piano!! The choir ended up singing without the piano and I got to sing instead of play! It is so much fun to try to sing and worry about how to pronounce the words. It is a great opportunity to learn the pronunciations though!
Speaking of pronouncing the words, in Relief Society I was called on to read a paragraph from the manual!! It went much better than it could have been. The teacher is a very nice lady that reminds me of a combination of my second mom growing up, Betty Green and my neighbor in Las Vegas, Mary Peterson. She is really patient and kind and works hard to make sure that I am included. After I finished reading and my face was burning bright red, I got some great comments of encouragement. I have been told that the sisters in the ward are so excited that I am there and that I am trying to learn and to participate. Personally, I just think that I am there comic relief! Even though it is hard sometimes, I am really learning to laugh at myself and just have as much fun with the uncomfortable situations as I can. It really has helped even though sometimes I spent a little too much time giggling rather than learning!!
Alysa was doing a great job of going to her primary class by herself until her wonderful teacher went and had a baby!! Since then, Alysa won’t go to her class and has been going with Morgan (Who goes to the wrong class also!!) We can’t seem to get the kids in the right classes!! I think Cole goes to the wrong one also. Laina goes to the right one but I have to go with her still. Maybe in the new year we’ll be able to get it figured out!
After church, the power and water were still out. It was after 4:00 that it finally came back on. It was like coming back from a camping trip and everybody racing to get showered!!
Monday 7/13/09
I’ve definitely decided that I am not a fan of the 5th grade class!! I can not believe how rude they were today. From what I have heard though, they are like that to everybody and that I shouldn’t take it personally. There are a few kids who are wonderful in the class but the ones that aren’t really make it miserable for everybody else! To make it even worse, I was supposed to (and planned for) teach from 7:20-9:20 then go to recess then switch classes at 10:00. Well, at 10:00 the Spanish teacher asked if she could have a few more minutes with the 4th grade class after recess. I said sure not knowing that a few minutes was going to turn into an entire hour!! I was so ready to pull my hair out before recess started but to then be stuck with that class again for another hour with NOTHING prepared to do was pure misery!
When we finally did switch, the 4th grade class was wonderful. I was dreading teaching the 4th grade class when I first started but my impression of them has changed greatly. They at least for the most part act like they want to learn something!
Chris came home after work pretty late and sick as a dog!! He spent the entire evening/night between bed and the bathroom. I can’t remember the last time he was that miserable!! I tried to ask him what he ate that might have made him sick and he said he couldn’t even talk about food!! Poor guy!
No comments:
Post a Comment