Heat Wave

The last two days have been SOOOO hot here. I'm ready to look for somewhere to live in the Arctic Circle! Anyone who knows me knows that I'm not a fan of hot weather. I'm okay until it reaches above 80 degrees. Then I become a sweaty, irritable mess. Today it "cooled off" into the mid-90s. It was still way too hot for my taste. Yesterday, my class went on an outing and we were all miserable. I think everyone was relieved when the day was over and we could go home. We don't have air conditioning in my classroom, so we've been working with the lights off and the fans on since Thursday. My poor students!

The last couple of weeks have been really good. Busy, but good. Two weeks ago, we got complimentary tickets to go see Duran Duran in concert. They put on an awesome show! Lance, Bre, a coworker of mine and I went and had a blast. I didn't think it was going to be as good as it was. Last weekend, I went to see Alicia Keys in concert with a couple of my old coworkers from the Preschool I worked at last year. I LOVED getting together with these ladies and catching up. I feel so lucky to still be in contact with them even though I'm not working with them anymore. So fun!

Mother's Day turned out to be a nice day. We weren't able to do much since my mom had worked the night before and she was supposed to work again that night, but we did find time to spend together. We took her out to breakfast early in the morning. Then she went home to sleep for a few hours before we took her out to P.F. Changs for dinner. After dinner, we went back to my parent's house for cake and ice cream. I must have gained 10 pounds from all the eating we did that day!

This year our 6th wedding anniversary fell on Mother's Day. Since I went to the concert the night before, we decided to celebrate our anniversary last night and today. Last night, we went out to a yummy dinner at Zio Fraedos, courtesy of my parents. It was delicious! We go there maybe once a year and it has always been really good. Then today we went to the Indian buffet for lunch and went to see a movie afterward (Forgetting Sarah Marshall). It was nice to spend the day with Lance and just hang out. Lance bought me some beautiful roses last weekend that have now, unfortunately, fallen victim to the heat. I should have taken a picture of them when he brought them home. I love my hubby!

Here are some pictures from Mother's Day. Of course, I tried to get a picture of me and Lance also, but it didn't quite work. So much for trying!

I love my Mom!

Bre and Mom

I don't even remember why we were laughing!

But we couldn't stop!

I thought my Mom was going to start crying from laughing so hard!

She's still laughing...

Finally!

It takes me "scolding" him to get him to smile...

...and yet, this is what I get. Gotta love him!

Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow

Last weekend, Lance finally decided that it was time to do something about his hair. I never had a problem with it but it was becoming apparent that he was starting to. He started getting pretty self conscious about it years ago when it started thinning out. He has been wanting to cut it off for a while now, but it's always hard to take that step and actually do it since you never know how it's going to turn out. Today, I took the electric shaver and we did it. We cut it off. I love it! It's nice and soft. I'm having a hard time keeping my hands off of it. I think he's pretty happy with it, too.

I'm starting to finally feel a bit better. I've been sick now for a couple of weeks but it got really bad last weekend. I ended up taking last Monday and Tuesday off of work because I couldn't break my fever. They were my first sick days of the entire school year! It has been horrible...fever, aches, congestion, headache. I'm still feeling a bit weak and I still have a cough, so that's a bit annoying. My dad ended up calling my house last Monday evening and he didn't even know who he was talking to on the phone because I sounded so bad! Thanks, Dad.

Our bathroom is almost finished. I'm so excited! My Dad only has one more day to come over, which will be in a couple of weeks, and then it's done. We only have to install the shower walls and change out the faucet. It will be so nice to have our bathroom back again!

Water Weight

Today, while job coaching two students in the dining room of a senior residential facility, one of my students turns to me and, out of the blue, decides to tell me, "Ummm...Kirsti, my mom said that I cannot talk to you about water weight."

Now, I wasn't sure if she meant that she cannot talk to ME specifically about water weight or if she meant ME, the person who is sitting right next to her. It did make me wonder, though, if I happened to come up in her conversations with her mom about diet. I know I'm not the skinniest person around. I definitely have my share of pudge. My student has been very obsessive about food and constantly reminds us that she is on a "diet" even though she is, in my opinion, a very healthy weight and looks fantastic. (I think it's more that her parents want her to make healthy choices, which is great). She has never told me to my face that I am overweight, but she is very intelligent and I wouldn't be surprised if the thought ran through her mind from time to time.

So, just in case any of you were wondering...I'm not pudgy...I'm just retaining a lot of water.

Yeah...that's it!

One Year

Today marks the official one year mark since Lance and I completed the homestudy for the adoption. It was exactly one year ago today that our social worker came to our house and did the home inspection. In some ways, it feels that it wasn't really that long ago. In other ways, I feel like we've been going through this process for a decade. I think that whenever the phone rings with the news that we've been waiting so long for, it's going to feel surreal. I no longer come home and run to the answering machine to see if Susan has called. I think it truly will be a surprise when it happens. It will happen...I just have to remind myself of that sometimes.

I came back from spring break and had a bit of a stressful week at work last week. Now that is over and I can move on to better days. Only 7 1/2 more weeks of work until summer break. Yipee! I applied to work summer school this year. The schedule is really awesome, so I'm actually looking forward to working this summer quite a bit. I'm off work by noon everyday AND I don't have to work Fridays (except for the first week). Woo hoo!

I've come down with a bit of a cold/something annoying this week. I'm not totally sure what it is, but I feel like I've been in slow motion all week. One of my students came in to school on Monday totally sick. He has been sneezing and coughing all over the classroom all week. My teacher and I looked at each other on Monday and said to each other that we were next. We were right. He's sick, too. Two more students have fallen ill this week as well. Whatever it is, it is sitting between my ears and giving me quite the pressure in my sinuses and a slight headache. Whether it is allergies or a cold, I'm not sure. I just want it to go away.

Everything else has been going really well with us. Nothing much new to report. Lance took me out to dinner tonight to a yummy Peruvian restaurant that is fairly new in the area. The cat and dog are continuing their love affair, which includes loving each other more than they love us. Oliver actually prefers hanging out with Willy over us! Whatever. Lance and I were joking the other day that we didn't adopt the cat for US...we adopted him for Willy!

Silly pets.

Back To Reality

I woke up this morning and realized that I have come to the end of my Spring Break. I have to admit that I was pretty lazy this week. Actually, I did a lot this week but I wasn't as productive at home as I would have liked to have been.

I had a doctor appointment earlier in the week. I'm so happy to report that my blood pressure continues to be fantastic! We finally found the perfect combination of meds that have been working perfectly for me, so my doctor and I are very happy with the situation.

I had a massage with Marco this week. That guy gives the best massages! If anyone in my area is looking for a very reasonably priced one hour massage, let me know. I have a couple of his cards that I will gladly hand out.

I went to IKEA with a friend of mine from work. She had never been there before and I was itching to buy a new bedspread for our master bedroom. I think it was probably overwhelming for her (who isn't overwhelmed by the size of that place?) but we got through it. We had lunch there, too. Mmm...Swedish meatballs!

On Thursday night, I went out to see The Spazmatics with my sister, Jon and his brother. Lots of fun! Lance couldn't make it out to the show because he had to work on Friday (they don't start playing until about 10:15pm). I'm sure we'll make it to a bunch of shows this summer.

On Monday, I started tracking the food that I'm eating through a website called SparkPeople.com. My cousin told me about the site last week when I was in L.A. I'm happy to report that I've lost 2 pounds this week (woo hoo!) and I'm finding it actually pretty easy to follow. I'm not really on a DIET (that has always been a scary word for me) but I'm learning to take responsibility for the things that I put in my mouth. I really like the site because it tells you how many calories, fat, protein, etc. I should be eating each day. I plug in what I've eaten that day into the site and it calculates all of my intake. They also gave me a goal weight that should be accomplished in the next year. It was a very reasonable goal weight and one that I feel I can accomplish. Other sites told me that I should be 115 pounds...I don't think so. For me, that's not exactly realistic. We'll see if this website works for me.

Tonight I'm going out to dinner with the director of the preschool that I worked at last year. She's super cool and really fun to hang out with! I'm sure we're going to have a great time. I miss working with her.

I hope everyone has a good weekend!

L.A. Pictures

You can't go to L.A. without going to In-N-Out Burger!

Yummy!

Justin and Jeri...how cute are they?

We love our slushies!

Me and Bre

My dad's siblings

Uncle Travis, Aunt Kathleen, Dad and Auntie Kirsti

Me, Bre and Justin

My little cousin isn't so little anymore!

Mom, Dad, Auntie Kirsti, Uncle Ernie, Aunt Aleta and Uncle Travis

Bre, Me, Erica and Matthew

Me and Linnea (with Shirrell sneaking in)

Justin, Erica, Me, Shirrell, Bre, Linnea, Jeri and Matthew

I love my cousins!

2 Years

Today marks the two year anniversary of Mimi's passing. At times, I can't believe that she has been gone for that long! My mom, sister and I are going to Mimi's Cafe tomorrow for lunch to remember and celebrate her. She loved that restaurant (and the name is fitting, as well). Boy, do I miss her terribly.

My trip to L.A. last weekend went really well. I had a blast going to Disneyland and hanging out with my relatives that I don't get to see very often. We ate a lot, played some games and spent a lot of time taking pictures and laughing. I so wish that all lived closer so that we could get together more often. We all get along so well and really enjoy each other's company. I hope that I'll get to see them again soon.

My grandpa's funeral was sad, but that's usually the case. I volunteered to read Psalm 23 during the service. I was originally asked to sing, but I had a hard time finding a song and since it has been so long since I've sang anything, it was hard finding something that I'd be comfortable with. So when I heard that they were looking for someone to read that passage, I told them that I'd do it. We had a lunch reception after the service was over. I got to meet some family on my grandpa's side that I had never met before, so that was a real treat. It turned out to be a nice farewell to my grandpa.

I'm really enjoying my week off of work. I think I really needed this break (but who doesn't, right?). I'll only have 8 1/2 more weeks of work when Spring Break is over. This school year sure seems like it has flown by. I know there are going to be a lot of changes next year and I'm hoping for the best!

As soon as I upload my pictures to the computer, I'll post them from my trip last weekend. Happy Spring!