Big Hair

Yup, I had BIG hair in high school. Don't believe me? Take a look below. Yes, it's high, and big, but I would LOVE to have it back now that I know what I would do with it. Oh well. Thank you 1989, for the laughs.

Mesa High School, 1989

Image from Amazon.com, here.

I just finished 'These is My Words' by Nancy E. Turner, a couple of weeks ago for my book club. Which, if you don't belong to a book club and you love to read but have a hard time making time to do it. What happened with me is that a few of the Mom's from Joe's football team and I were talking about how much we always wanted to be on a book club, but we didn't have time to read a book in just a couple of weeks or even just a month. So, we started our own. We meet every two months, and each month the hostess chooses what book for us to read and a restaurant for us to meet at. We decided on a restaurant, again to make it easier on us. We didn't want to put added pressure on the hostess to have to clean their house and make food, etc. So now we enjoy a breakfast, brunch, lunch, or even dinner out, and chatting with friends. It's been so much fun, and I have read books that I would never have read otherwise. It doesn't have to be a chore to read!

On to 'These is My Words'. I admit, at the beginning I wasn't really into the book, but as it went on, I had a hard time putting it down. I have included the editorial review from Amazon.com here:

"Based on the real-life exploits of the author's great-grandmother, this fictionalized diary vividly details one woman's struggles with life and love in frontier Arizona at the end of the last century. When she begins recording her life, Sarah Prine is an intelligent, headstrong 18-year-old capable of holding her own on her family's settlement near Tucson. Her skill with a rifle fends off a constant barrage of Indian attacks and outlaw assaults. It also attracts a handsome Army captain named Jack Elliot. By the time she's 21, Sarah has recorded her loveless marriage to a family friend, the establishment of a profitable ranch, the birth of her first child?and the death of her husband. The love between Jack and Sarah, which dominates the rest of the tale, has begun to blossom. Fragmented and disjointed in its early chapters, with poor spelling and grammar, Sarah's journal gradually gains in clarity and eloquence as she matures. While this device may frustrate some readers at first, Taylor's deft progression produces the intended reward: she not only tells of her heroine's growth, but she shows it through Sarah's writing and insights. The result is a compelling portrait of an enduring love, the rough old West and a memorable pioneer. First serial to Good Housekeeping; author tour; Literary Guild and Doubleday Book Club selections. (Feb.) FYI: Selected as the March 1998 Good Housekeeping "Novel of the Month."

Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title."

I hope you give it a try.

The Renaissance Festival seemed much bigger this year. There were a lot more shows, wish I had seen more, and more things to do. Joci loved Twig the Fairy and we found the sweet lady playing her little harpsichord, which she let Joci play with her. Joe really liked the dragons and pirates, although, not as much as two years ago. We spent most of our money on drinks, water, sodas, shipwrecks, etc, and bought the kids a few items. We were there for about six hours, wow! The kids were well behaved (thank God!) and we all had fun. The only thing I don't enjoy when we go is the big jousting tournament at the end of the day. I know a lot of people like it, but for me, it's kind of boring.

Hope you enjoy the pictures and video half as much as we enjoyed our day!

Insane Week!

Photo courtesy of Family fun, here.

This last week has been a crazy one, full of ups and downs:

-Monday went really well, actually. When we all got home, the kids sat down and did their homework while I made dinner. Dinner was the low point, what sounded great, turned out, eh. Pork tenderloin with sauted spinach on polenta rounds. Polenta was plain, even though I tried to elevate it, and so was the spinach.

-Tuesday, WOW! I had a really, really rough day at work. I found out that I will have the opportunity to share my knowledge with and train a new member on my team that has a much higher job description than I do, again. After that, I will be doing the more pedestrian things, and they will be doing the more 'glamorous' stuff. I was a bit upset, to say the least. That night Joe had a basketball game, so I picked up Jocelyn and we went to the Boys and Girls club where Joe goes after school and plays basketball. Joci was a little, ahem, annoying. She wanted to be with Joe, constantly hugging him on the sideline or going over to him if he was throwing the ball in. Then I would have to get her, and she would throw a fit. After the game we went to Rubios for Fish Taco Tuesdays, and again seemed to lose control of the kids, not badly, but enough to warrant 'looks' from other people.

-Wednesday was my work from home day, and I definitely needed it. I was still hurt from the goings on at work, and then had an error that I made pointed out to me, which made the whole thing worse. Right before I went to pick up the kids, Joe's teacher called and asked if we might bring in our Tortoise...the next day...I of course agreed. Joe told me he lost his lunchbox, and so we ran to Walmart to buy a new lunchbox and a traveling box for Moto Moto, our tortoise. I took the kids to pizza, and had to take Joci outside to discipline her for really bad behavior in the restaurant. That night after I drilled holes into Moto Moto's traveling box I talked with Jon on the phone and he gave me a pep talk that I really needed, during which I cried and sobbed and felt bad for myself and the wreck that I'd been with the kids while Jon was out of town and I was having a work crisis. Went to bed early, exhausted.

-Thursday was a little better, but I was still feeling hurt from the work situation and generally exhausted from all the stress. I left my cell phone at work. Of course, when I'm stressed, I seem to find more and more and more things wrong. Like the house being a wreck, or the kid's behavior, etc. That night, I opted to heat up a frozen dinner for the kids. I don't like to do that when Jon is gone (I like to cook things he doesn't like), especially since we ate out two other days, but I was tired, and went with easy. That night each kid had a meltdown. Jocelyn had hers on the way home, and I did not handle it well, at all. Then, Joe had his when I asked him to feed the dogs just as his favorite tv show came on. It was a big ordeal, and I ended up putting him to bed early, a whole 1/2 hour early, but you would have thought it was the end of the world.

-Friday is my second work from home day, little did I know it was going to be another doosy. Thankfully, work went really well. I got a couple of larger projects done and had little involvement with others, so I was able to put my nose to the grindstone. My parents, God Bless them, took the kids for the night and let me have some time alone, which I spent looking for Logan, our white lab, who got out at some point when I left the garage door open. Logan is Jon's dog and has a history of sneakily getting out when we aren't watching. I knew Jon would be really mad. I decided to go to a reflexology place to help with the stress and maybe help me to relax. Um, I don't even know how to explain what the hell went down there. It was just...weird...to put it mildly and I will never, ever go back. So I went home, made myself a little dinner and then went to pick Jon up at the airport.

-Saturday. Really awesome day except my parents decided to tell us now that they will not keep the dogs for us while we are in England. Which, I do understand, I'm just angry that they changed their mind after they told us they would do whatever it takes to help us. (Lightbulb moment, now I know where my brother gets this behavior from) So now I have to find a place for both dogs, if we get Logan back, which we still haven't heard from him even though he has a chip. Which, who is going to want a gimpy old Boxer? Everyone wants puppies. After we picked up the kids, we went to the Renaissance Festival which really was a lot of fun and a much better ending to the hellish week I had had.

At this point, I do want to point out that while all of the above does indeed, suck, I know, KNOW, that I am very fortunate within my life. I have a family that loves me and is healthy, and friends that are supportive. I actually have a job that I like to do, at a time when many people aren't able to work. I have a nice place to live even though it usually looks like a tornado has hit it. And, I live in a place that I am free to share all of the above and more. I have a blessed life, and I know it, but that doesn't mean I can't feel sorry for myself now and then, too.

I hope you all have a great week this next week. I am hoping that it will be much better. In fact, I know it will be as Jon is home and he is so amazing at helping me to juggle it all.