Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow!

I LOVE the snow. I don't so much like to get out in it and get cold and wet, but I love to look at it. I love the way it makes everything seem quiet and peaceful. I love the way it covers the imperfections and makes everything beautiful!

I don't mind driving in the snow, I kinda like it, and I think I'm good at it. I drive a Jeep Cherokee and it makes me feel like I can do anything. Sometimes I try to slide as I turn a corner and am disappointed. I often watch cars in front of me as they come to a stop and attempt to go again, but simple spin out. I wait patiently (and sometimes impatiently) for my turn and then have no problem at all. Tonight I watched a car attempt to drive up a hill, I pulled to the side of the road and watched as the car went halfway up and backed down again three times. They then turned and drove off in the other direction. I just waited patiently and once they were out of my way, drove up confidently without a problem. Poor little car....

I do get frustrated by others and their stupid decisions. I recently took a trip to Portland to hang out with my two sisters and our two cousins. (That is another GREAT story for another time.) It snowed while I was there, and it made the trip home interesting. The major freeway I took to get out of Portland had not been plowed, and was pretty bad. Not so bad that you couldn't drive a good 40 mph though. However, people began pulling over to put chains on, which wasn't really the problem either. It really got bad, when the big trucks would stop in the middle of the lane (whichever one they were driving in) to put their chains on. No need to pull off the road, please just stop right there. Anyway, it became an obstacle course. It took an hour to drive 20 miles. The only thing that redeemed that hour was the landscape...

And, since I wasn't moving....I had plenty of time to take pictures of it.

To speak or not to speak?

My kids went to the US Nationals swim meet in Federal Way this last weekend. It is a swim meet for collegiate level swimmers and there were some Olympians there. They road separately with friends. When they called after the meet was over to say that they were on their way home, this is how the conversations went:

Me: hey Cass, did you have fun?
Cassadie: Yes, it was sooo much fun......, we got to see........, oh my gosh mom, I'm tired so it doesn't sound like I'm excited, but I really am and I'll tell you more about it tomorrow
Me: sounds great, are you guys headed home now?
Cassadie: Yeah, we left the swim meet a few minutes ago, and Jeff told me I should call you now
Me: alright, so you'll call when you get to Ellensburg?
Cassadie: Yep
Me: Okay, see you later. Love you
Cassaide: Okay, love you too mom
(this call lasted several minutes)

Me: Hey Jarod, did you have fun?
Jarod: Yep (silence)
Me: Are you headed to Max's aunts house now?
Jarod: Yep (silence)
Me: Okay, well, have a good night
Jarod: Okay (silence)
Me: I'll talk to you tomorrow. Love you bud
Jarod: Okay, bye
Me: WAIT! YOU WILL NOT HANG UP WITHOUT TELLING ME YOU LOVE ME!
Jarod: Oh, I love you mom
Me: Thanks bud. Bye.
Jarod: Bye.
(This call lasted about as long as it took you to read it just now!)

It's so funny to me how boys and girls are so innately different. He is a man of few words, the strong silent type. She will talk your ear off about nothing at all.

One-Liners

My children are always saying really good one-liners, and it's usually when they are completely oblivious to the depth of meaning behind what they have said.

Just today Jarod and I were watching a TV show called Wizards of Waverly Place. The kids are wizards in training and the oldest brother finds out that he has finished wizard school, but now has to do an independent study. His sister says "way to go Justin, you finished school just to be awarded with more school", to which Jarod says "that's just like when you graduate from High School". Alex and I had a good little chuckle over the truth in his words. It's good to know that he feels that way....it's just the way things work.

About a week ago, the kids and I were on our way to swim practice. We were driving along behind an SUV with "DO YOU KNOW JESUS?" painted in large letters across the back window. I said "do they think that's gonna convince people to know Jesus?" to which Cassadie said "yeah, do they think they can advertise Him like He's a roll of toilet paper?" Exactly!

This past weekend, Cassadie and I spent Friday, Saturday and Sunday at the Championship swim meet in Wenatchee. It was the championships for Eastern Washington, Eastern Oregon, and Northern Idaho. Cassadie swam so well, I can't believe how hard she works. She really amazes me all the time. The funny thing is that she amazes herself as well. Quite often, after a race, she'll tell me that she didn't know she could swim that fast. One day in practice, she had to swim a sprint, and her coach told her to finish in a certain amount of time. She said she swam so fast she scared herself. She just didn't know she was capable of moving that fast. It's funny!

Anyway, back to the meet. She swam in five events. She swam two on Friday, one Saturday and two on Sunday. After swimming each race, the top 20 swimmers come back in the evening to swim a final race for placement. Cassadie got to swim in three final races, placing in the top twenty in three of her events. She also got personal best times in all five of her events, dropping almost 30 seconds altogether.

Her coach tells me that she's hard to coach, but that it's for a good reason. She's progressing so quickly that he has a hard time, there are just so many little things that she still doesn't know. It's kinda like, what do you teach her next that will be the most beneficial? I'd like to say that she gets it from me, but I know that I am not as intrinsically motivated as she is, or as naturally athletic as she is.

I would have pictures except that I don't remember to take any, as I have mentioned in my earlier post, and I can't seem to find my cable that allows me to upload the pictures to my computer. So, I hope to find my cable, and get some video soon so you can all see how much she really has improved.

You can find anything on the internet...

Birds are funny creatures. Living in Central Washington, I have seen my fair share of cranes, hawks, eagles, and other large birds. Alex gets very excited when he sees a bald eagle. I have to say that it is cool to me, but since I have seen then around since I was a child, the sight of one does not thrill me the way it does him. He is often disappointed by my response to a sighting. I do however, get very excited at the sight of a pelican. We have had pelicans in the Yakima Valley for the last five years or so. I absolutely love to watch a flock of them circle in the sky. It seems so majestic the way they soar; their white bodies contrasting the blue sky. It has become a ritual on the way home from Yakima to see if we can spot them in the river. The kids are very excited, I'm sure as a result of my excitement. Tonight, Jarod saw two of them, and we began to discuss their strange bill. He says that when he thinks of pelicans he remembers the scene in "Finding Nemo" when the pelican scoops Nemo up, gets water for him, and flies with him in his bill. Jarod proceeded to look them up on the internet when we got home, because as he says "you can find anything on the internet." He actually found some crazy stories. One was about a girl who had to get 20 stitches from a pelican ramming into her head while she was swimming in the ocean. Another one told about a pelican eating a pigeon...which I find odd. Isn't that kind of like canibalism?

Don't you every wonder why we do this to ourselves?

For those of you who don't know, I am currently taking classes in an attempt to get my Masters' degree. I'm in a program that requires me to take classes for six weeks over three summers - then I complete a thesis-type project and get my degree. This is my third and final summer (cross my fingers), I am taking 14 credits which mean four classes. I am in class from 9 until 3:30 three days a week. The first two summers it was 16 credits each, six classes, and four days a week. 11 of the credits are from education courses and the rest are math courses. All of this to say, it is an intense six weeks.

I can't say that I was excited to go back to school, but as a teacher, a Masters' degree is really a necessity. Not because it changes my job at all, but simply for an increase in salary. I am technically qualified to teach at a junior college with a Masters' degree, so my adjunct faculty position at Heritage University will be legitimate now. (If you didn't know, I have been teaching there for 2 1/2 years, in the evenings.)

So, do I enjoy going to school? Honestly, sometimes. I do enjoy learning new things, especially math, and I love to be challenged. Although I have recently realized that I do not cope well with too much challenge. I am not fun to be around when I cannot figure out how to do something. The other day, I spent hours trying to figure out a math problem, and when I couldn't figure it out, I literally fell apart. It was quite ridiculous. It was kind of like throwing a handful of rocks at a snow covered mountain, and the last one causes an avalanche. In other words, it was one of several things that caused the meltdown.

It really isn't all bad. Doing math all day is fun ( I know I'm a nerd), and the people are great. I enjoy my time with them, although it seems short. I have made good friends.

Why do I even own a camera?

I have found that some times I wish I were creative and could take great pictures like my amazing sister. Most days I am okay with the fact that I did not get that gene. I spent Memorial Day weekend in Vancouver with my sisters and we had a blast. The drive to The Couv was amazing...the wild flowers were in bloom, the trees were all green, the sky was a beautiful clear blue and the mountains were gorgeous. I kept thinking that I should stop and take a picture, but couldn't bring myself to do it. I knew all those cars I had just waited sooooo long to pass would get in front of me again. So, there are no cool pictures to document my beautiful drive that weekend.

The last weekend in May, Cassadie and I spent three days in a park at a swim meet. Hanging out with great people, having lots of fun. I got my camera out several times because I saw something I wanted to take a picture of, but by the time I got it out, there was not picture to take, I had missed the moment. Why didn't I just keep it out?

I just spent the weekend at graduation and graduation parties...did I take my camera? You guessed it, NOPE!

Do you ever see something so crazy that no one will ever believe you, and maybe you're not even sure you really saw it. The kind of sight you would love to get a picture of, or have someone there to witness. The other day, on my way to work, I saw one of these crazy sights. A gigantic metal fish on a Semi-truck trailer. It was the length of the trailer, and as tall as the truck. It was actually quite beautiful. I found myself wondering if I should turn around and chase it down just to get a picture of it. Then I remembered, I don't take pictures, and it would probably make me late for work.