August is like the Sunday of Summer

It's been a great summer, and far too long since I've updated!  It makes me sad to notice that it's getting darker earlier and that the kids' school stuff has claimed residency all over my dining room.  It's hard to believe that summer is nearly over.  It seemed to last an eternity when I was a kid!

It's still in the 90s here and far too humid to be outside.  The upstairs of my house is too warm to make sleeping comfortable, but we're thankful for the ceiling fan!  I think the area where I live has some of the most extreme weather in the country.  Thankfully, we didn't break 100 degrees this year, even though we typically do.  Winters drop down below zero by 20-25 degrees.  I'm trying to enjoy the heat while it lasts!

Steak, Lobster, Escargot, & Ice Cream!

Even though it wasn't in our budget, we found a way to take the kids on a family vacation this year!  We technically hadn't been on a real vacation in 3 years.  (I do not count driving to New Orleans for a wedding a vacation!)  I knew the only way we could go was to go on a cruise.  Trying to feed and entertain this family for a week, after paying for flights and hotel accommodations, was definitely something we couldn't afford.

We chose a 5-day cruise on Royal Caribbean out of Miami.  We stopped at Grand Cayman Island and Key West.  I'd never been to either port before and really enjoyed both!  The ship was a little disappointing as far as things to do, but I still had a great time.  Big Sis was caught right between the little kids and the teens.  I wish there had been more for her.  She's a trouper though.  Baby Girl had a blast in the little kids club!  The boys didn't do much aside from eating.  They were disappointed there wasn't basketball or putt-putt golf.  The teen club fell a little short too.  You get what you pay for and the smallest boat in the fleet was all we could afford.  I read several books and had lots of fun!

She was voted
Queen of the Night!

Right before we left for the trip, I quit Hubby's side job.  We had talked about quitting part of it because it was getting unreasonable.  We had been cleaning an apartment job for 3 years and never got an increase of wages.  One of the owners did nothing but complain about our work, which was very degrading to us.  He kept demanding more and more out of us and was never happy.  For what we were getting paid, it was ludicrous.  We cleaned the laundry rooms and parking lot areas once a week.  It took the Hubby and I and both girls 1 to 1 1/2 hours to finish the job well.  Afterward, we always went to our favorite pizza joint.  What we got paid was $3 short of even paying for our dinner.  Yeah, not worth it.

Anyhow, when Hubby got home, I nervously proclaimed, "I quit your job."  He asked, "Which one?"  (He knew we were only talking about cleaning and mowing the apartments.)  "All of them," I answered.  He wasn't too happy.  He was hung up on the money and didn't see how we could afford to quit.  It turned out to be the best decision ever.  He ended up being so relaxed on vacation and mentioned time after time that it was perfect timing.  Whew!!!

We got home on a Sunday and he started his part-time job with the police department on Tuesday!  His training officer is an army vet who we suspect to be part robot!  He's amazing and a perfect fit for Hubby!  He loves this job so much and is finally living out his dream!!!  He's realized, even though pay is very minimal as a part-time officer, that he's making very close to the same as the jobs I just quit, doing something he loves!!  I am so thankful, I can't even put it into words!  And you should see him in his full uniform!  He's quite dashing!!!

THEN- since there weren't enough changes in our lives yet.  I went out and got me one of them there jobs!  I signed up to be on the sub list as a teacher's aide at our home school district.  The woman who interviewed me laughed and said that I had quite an impressive resume'.  Most people applying for this job don't have teaching degrees.  I explained that this is exactly what I want right now.  I haven't worked outside the home in almost 18 years.  To go back full time could possibly kill me.  I still have all those responsibilities, kids, and side jobs at home to manage.  Most teacher aide positions here are 4-5 hours a day.  I think that's great.  The pay is absolutely insulting (minimum wage) but it's more than I'm making now!  I would enjoy staying on as a sub for a while, but they let me know that I would likely get hired right away.  She said she may call as early as the first day of school and will probably call most days.  Yikes...makes me kind of nervous!  I'm a little rusty...

So, school starts in 4 days.  I need to get my act together in case I have to go to work!!!

Seasons Change

Written in September of 2014, I'm going to post this one too.  I actually had the pictures placed and everything....I'm not sure why I never actually hit the "Publish" button!  

It's been months since I've posted, and let me tell you, that break did me good!  I had a restful summer and really tried to enjoy each and every moment.  My urgent demands took a hiatus and I was a little bit lazy.  I really feel like my stress level declined and I think I've made a new vow.  I'm not going to allow myself to take on that much again.  I have always been a people-pleaser and I have a hard time telling someone no.  But at the rate I was going, I was going to eventually explode.  That's not good.  So I'm gonna chill a little and try to enjoy this thing called life.

Things that have changed since my last post:

~ I have thrown a couple great birthday parties.  Big Sis turned 10, a noteworthy milestone.  She had over a group of friends and I hosted her Mustache Bash!  I set up my photo booth, made some awesome decorations, and planned a scavenger hunt.  The worst part was that I got quite sick that morning and had a hard time pulling it all off.  She had a blast though!

~ Baby Girl turned 6 and had a Minecraft Birthday.  If you've never seen it, you won't appreciate it.  It's horribly ugly.  But she loved every pixelated image and enjoyed eating the grass, sand, and mushrooms.  She also broke her arm in late June and learned how to ride her bike just days after getting her cast off.  She is one neat chick!

~ Son #2's Destination Imagination team made it to Globals in Knoxville, TN.  It was an amazing trip and we has some awesome experiences!  The Chinese kicked our tails and we scored pretty low, but the kids had a blast!  If we ever make Globals again, I will make Hubby go with me.  Traveling and rooming with other DI moms was kind of difficult for me.  I was at the mercy of what everyone else wanted to do for a full week.  I missed my family!

~ I did get to travel with my family as we drove the SUV through 6 US States! My cousin got married in June.  I got to cross 3 new states off my bucket list!  We visited New Orleans while down in the deep south and saw all the Duck Dynasty stuff.  The weather was surprisingly chilly but the wedding was beautiful!

~ Two great friends had babies and I had a large part in those baby showers.  One of the showers was done in a moose theme and I slaved away decorating moose sugar cookies.  We ate chocolate "moose" and some of the best shower food I think I've ever had!

~ I bought a Silhouette Cameo.  Yeah, I'm trying to get crafty.  The funny part is, I have found the one crafty bone that is deep within my body.  Honestly, I actually bought it for the above mentioned shower.  We needed a moose cutout for the centerpieces and I had been wanting one anyhow.  (Boy, it sure would have made the mustache party easier....I cut out dozens of mustaches by hand!)  I had the photo booth buy it because I'm going to use it to make stick props (I paid $35 for the last set I bought!)  A friend of a friend was selling hers at a reduced rate because it was overwhelming for her.  Since then, I've been making some cards and I'm really enjoying it!

~ I now have 4 kids in school!  Baby Girl started Kindergarten a few weeks ago and all my kids are grown up.  If you must know, I did cry.  She did great though and hasn't given one objection!  All my other kids were very young (and small) in their classes.  It's kind of nice having a kid who is the oldest.  I'm thrilled that it's going so well!  I started a new tradition of taking her picture every morning on the front porch and texting it to Daddy and Grammy.  I'm kind of loving that.  Big Sis was accepted into the accelerated program in middle school!  She was right on the borderline, which means she's going to have to work very hard.  Because of that, we've decided to take a year off Bible Quizzing to focus on her studies.  Although both things are extremely important to me, I realize that getting her started on the right track in education will help her in the long run.  Plus, she's rubbing shoulders with the cream of the crop rather than the kids who only go to school because they have to.  I hope she can keep up!

~ 5 lbs. (well, maybe a little more).  That's about how much I've gained.  My skirts are getting a little tighter and I've got to nip this in the bud before it gets out of hand.  I worked way too hard to lose this weight and I'm not going to get fat again.  My 20 year class reunion (wowzers!) is this weekend, and I still look good enough.

~ I sort of got a new job!  Yes, I'm still running the photo booth.  I haven't had very many jobs lately, but I  haven't really been working it.  Hubby owns 6 rental units and, up to this point, has had them managed by an outside company.  The company was doing a horrible job and was quite dishonest at times.  We couldn't take it any more so we fired them.  I took over the management of the properties.  It was totally overwhelming at first because I didn't know what I was doing.  But I'm getting the hang of it now.  I just wish I could make these lousy tenants pay!  We've already had one eviction and had to clean horribly disgusting stuff out of someone's apartment.  I don't know how a person could move out and leave all their crap behind!  The last few tenants that the management company put it were hoodlums.  They weren't doing background checks.  We have two great new tenants and two bad ones that will probably be skipping town soon anyway.  People amaze me.

Things that have NOT changed since my last post:

~ People are still self-centered jerks.  I got confronted by someone who asked me why I stopped following them on Instagram.  Seriously.  Then this person proceeded to make snarky, vague comments about me on my friends' pictures.  Silly me, I thought MY Instagram was for MY enjoyment and pleasure.  I thought I had the right to stop following someone who posted 22 photos (the majority being selfies) in one day.  Next time I'll be sure and ask permission before managing my own social media.

~ Couponing and saving money.  My kids have even given me a new nickname, which is a combination of my actual name and the word "cheap."  I adore it!  My grocery stockpile is bigger than ever and my grocery receipts say I've saved over $2,800 in the past twelve months!  We got rid of our satellite provider and are really enjoying the $100 we save every month!  I've missed television very little.  We eat at home more often and have found little ways to cut costs.  It sure adds up when we start listing the ways we're saving!

~ Son #1's attitude.  He's still a bit of a punk.  I'm ready for this stage to pass, and I'm being as tough as ever to keep him on the right track.  Tell me my efforts will eventually pay off!  He's officially taller than his mom and he'll be able to get his temps next month!  Eek!  He's in such a hurry to grow up.  I wish he would just slow down.

~ I'm still trying to be Super Mom.  But my definition of Super Mom has altered slightly.  Super Mom is someone who is NOT always stressed.  Super Mom doesn't yell at her kids all the time (I'm really working hard on that one).  Super Mom doesn't have to impress all the other moms with her actions.  She simply has to do what is best for her family and herself.

I wish you all a Super Mom kind of day and urge you to regularly examine your priorities.  Too many people in this world have their priorities mixed up and they're living for the unimportant.  I'm trying really hard to make sure I'm living for what's important.  Keeping it real...

I Heart New York

Hubby and I were supposed to take a couples' trip to New York with some friends of ours.  That didn't quite work out and we ended up going alone.  We made a great trip out of it and had a blast!

We stayed at The Manhattan at Times Square hotel and had a view of the Times Square ball!  I would recommend this hotel to anyone travelling to the Big Apple because of its great location.  It's easily accessible to some of the most popular attractions without the high cost of the most popular hotels.

One thing I wanted to do in New York was spend some serious time photographing the sights.  Last time we were there, I took a small, borrowed camera that I could fit in my purse.  This time, I took The Beast and carried it around my neck for three days.  (If you must know, my back did ache for a few days afterward.  Ridiculous.)  Hubby supports my photography hobby and was more than patient every time I wanted to stop to shoot something.  I've been wanting to hang up some of my own work in our house, and what better than New York photography?  When we fixed up Son #1's room, we decided that black & white urban shots would look perfect in his industrially themed room.  Now I have the photos...I just need to find the frames.

We ate some serious pizza in New York.  The day I craved a bagel, there was not a vendor in sight for blocks.  I finally asked a local what the deal was and he explained that bagel carts are only available Monday through Friday.  Shaft!  We saw and heard Cher sing (very briefly) outside the Today show.  We also ran into some sports guy that I recognized from TV and Hubby went nuts over.  I have no clue what his name is.  He's the sportscaster who wears the crazy suits & ties at basketball games.

We spent lots of time in Central Park.  I love it there!  I enjoy the street musicians, the stunning trees, and the calm, green grass in the middle of that bustling city.  It's really kind of mind blowing.

Every neighborhood you go to has some sort of activity going on.  We enjoyed checking out some of the less touristy sights and getting the feel of what New York really is.  We got lost on the Subway, walked countless miles, did a little shopping, and paid far too much for a bottle of Diet Coke.  It was a fantabulous trip!!!

The Rules of Vacation

I recently vacationed at Disney World, where apparently the rules are different than those of real life. I am going to share the top ten rules with you today. Pay attention because you are about to learn some great things here.  (If you do not care for sarcasm, please skip this post as it is absolutely dripping with it.)

1. If you feel that you are personally more excited to get into the park or an attraction than those around you, it is OK to push and shove others. I guess we all revert to our childhoods when we go to Disney, so that's perhaps why adults behave like children.

2. If you are on a motorized scooter, for whatever reason, you own the world. You do not have to stop for other people. You can and should run them over whenever necessary. Hubby got hit by scooters twice with no apology following. Maybe tall, skinny guys are worth more points in the game of Scooter Frogger.

3. If you don't speak English, you don't have to wait in lines at all. Since you don't know how to speak their language, the citizens will assume you also don't know how to stand in a line. This goes for all beverage machines, restrooms, and character greetings.

4. Speaking of beverage machines, it is perfectly acceptable to stand at one as long as you want, as long as you are:
A. Washing out your cup
B. Trying to decide what you want
C. Mixing flavors to figure what tastes best, dumping, and trying again
D. Making up your coffee or tea.
It does not matter how many people are in line behind you. It also doesn't matter if there is a large, empty counter next to you for the purpose of steeping your tea. Stay in front of the machine. All those other suckers can wait.

5.  If you park your stroller outside an attraction, do so at your own risk.  It WILL be in a different location when you return.  I think they give away a prize at the end of the day to the family who spends the most time looking for their stroller.  The 15 minutes I once spent put me only in fourteenth place, compared to the twelve hours spent by the winners. 

6.  Disney World, the family vacation capital of the world, is a totally appropriate place to wear your thong bathing suit, your too-small string bikini, or your tight, revealing workout clothes.  Don't be bothered by all the children running around you (whose eye level happens to be right at your buttock area).  They certainly won't notice your bare, naked butt cheeks staring them right in the face.  (I actually took a photo of once such person with my cell phone to send to my sister-in-law.  I, in good conscience, could never post that photo here.  After all, I am not a pornographic blog.)

7.  When the Disney employee at an attraction tells the crowd over and over and over to go ALL THE WAY TO THE END OF THE ROW, they do not mean you.  They're talking to the 247 other people in the room.  You may stop right in the middle of the row and make everyone else step over you.

8.  Bring a wheelchair or motorized cart.  It gets you into the front of every line.  No, you don't have to be injured or handicapped to use one.  When your friend gets tired of walking, get out of the chair and let him sit in it for a while.  As long as one of you is using the chair, you can skip all lines.  (Yes, we totally saw someone do this.  Then we saw the guy walk for ten whole minutes to get somewhere he needed to go.  Maybe he was miraculously healed all of a sudden.)

9.  Do not shower before coming to the park.  It's hot there anyway, so why bother?
Funny story about this one.  On our bus ride to the park one morning, we were standing next to a man with major B.O.  It was gagging me so badly that I had to cover my mouth and nose with my shirt.  Halfway through the day, we were waiting in line for Nemo.  I mentioned to Hubby that it must be really hot because everyone here seems to smell so bad.  As I was turning the corner, I noticed the same guy from the bus!  He stank at nine in the morning and still stank at two.  Amazingly, I remembered his smell and recognized him by it.

10. If you're walking in a large crowd, it is totally acceptable to stop in the middle of the walkway to:
A.  Look at your map
B.  Discuss with your group where you want to go next
C.  Fumble through your bag, looking for something
The people who were forced to stop right behind you don't mind waiting on you.  They are actually quite interested to hear where you're going next or what you found in your bag.  Never move to the side of the road to accomplish these tasks.

-AND-

11. (Since I numbered wrong the first time...) NEVER give up your seat on the bus. You got there first, so you earned it. Pregnant women and old people are on their own.
It's unreal how often I saw parents allowing their small children to occupy seats when other people, who would really appreciate the seat, had to stand. Hubby and I each held a kid any time we sat on a bus, but usually ended up giving our seats to others. Each of my boys ended up holding one of their sisters so we could take up as little room as possible. Standing on a moving bus, while holding my 3-year old was nearly impossible. It surprised me how few people offered to give their seat up.

If people could just learn to follow the same rules I try to teach my 3-year old, the park would be so much more enjoyable for everyone else there.  People are just naturally rude, I guess.

Dream Vacation

I titled this post "Dream Vacation" because that's what I'm doing right now- dreaming of vacation!

Spring Break for our kids is just around the corner.  Hubby gets limited vacation time at work and none of it is paid time off.  Taking a vacation for us is a big financial burden.  That's problem number one.

Problem number two has to do with me.  I'm one of those parents who doesn't allow their kids to miss school for vacations.  Maybe it's the teacher in me or maybe it's actually my laziness coming through.  Making up a week's worth of schoolwork when you're in middle school is not an easy task.  Two of my kids achieved perfect attendance last year and the third only missed one day.  Because of my unwillingness to pull them out of school, our vacations are limited to summertime and Spring Break.

We've been wanting to go to Disney World for years now.  The last time we went there, 7-year old Big Sis looked like this:

~May 2007~

Back then, the boys were in Kindergarten and 2nd grade.  I didn't mind pulling them out at that young of an age. 

Have you ever searched for a Disney vacation in the months of March or April?  Forget about it!  The prices skyrocket during those months.  For our family of six, it would cost in the neighborhood of ten grand for a Spring vacation.  Yeah, seriously, $10,000.  I decided to come up with a list...

Other Things I Can Do With $10,000:

• Buy over 250 pairs of shoes
• Go on 5 regular, non-life-changing vacations
• Put $2,500 in each of my kids' college funds
• Build an addition onto our house (I'm thinking master bedroom & bath)
• Eat at Chipotle 4 times a week for two years
• Pay someone to clean my house for four years
• Pay my house off a year sooner
• Buy Hubby a used car or put a serious down payment on a new car
• Give my little cousin a seriously awesome wedding gift next month

As I was typing out this list, not only was a salivating, but I began to question myself.  No, ten grand is way too high of an estimation.  There's no way it would cost that much.  I decided to go to Disney's website and plan my trip, just to prove to myself how much it would really cost.  Yeah, I was off by a couple grand.  I was underestimating!!!

A week's stay at a moderate resort with tickets for 7 days would cost us $11,398.24!  That does not include dining, airfare, or ground transportation.  For funsies, I decided to see what the whole package would cost.  With flights and the dining package, it would cost $16,932.68!

I guess instead of this:

We will be doing this for Spring Break this year.

That's just as much fun, isn't it?

San Francisco

I know vacation pics tend to be boring so I'll only share a few.

Baby Girl's first plane ride.   Can you tell how pumped she is?  She wouldn't sit with the Captain to get her picture taken so he took our picture in his seat.  That was my first time sitting in the cockpit of a plane!

The kids really enjoyed watching the seals at Fisherman's Wharf!

We ate dinner at The Stinking Rose.  It was a really neat experience!  If you don't like garlic, you probably won't like this restaurant!

The Redwoods in Muir Woods were spectacular!

I loved this tree at Stinson Beach so I had to capture its photo.

Tuckered out

This is the Bay Bridge, not Golden Gate.  I just really liked the photo.  I may frame some of these to display at home.  What do ya think?

This was taken through the window of a moving train.  I can't even imagine how beautiful the photo would have been if I was standing still and NOT looking through glass.  For some reason, they were not willing to stop the train every time I wanted to take a picture.  I don't understand why...

We had an awesome time and I cannot wait to go back again soon!

What a Day - Update

Today is Tuesday and I haven't found time to sit down and blog until after 9:30 at night.

We arrived home from our trip last evening, dropped our bags in the living room, and headed to my niece's birthday party.  Afterward, we crashed in bed (my own wonderfully, comfy bed) and tried to sleep off the jet lag.

This morning, the kids began their first day of school.  Our district just built a brand new middle school (which both my boys attend) so they delayed the start date to allow time for its completion.  It's gorgeous.  We woke up at 6:45 and Hubby headed to the store for groceries.  Getting home late last night, we didn't realize that we didn't have milk for breakfast or bread for lunch.  I packed lunches, curled hair, ironed clothes, and chauffeured kids to school.

After that, I got a quick breakfast of a donut and hot tea (our daily breakfast in San Fran...if you're ever there, be sure to eat at Happy Donuts!).  I headed out for a chiropractor appointment and then to Target to let Baby Girl pick out her birthday present.  She turned 3 while on the big Choo Choo so she hadn't had a party yet.  Then off to the grocery store again to buy food for the week and ingredients to make her cake.  She wanted a green cake.

I texted my family and said we were meeting at Chuck E. Cheese at 5:00 for her party...sorry about the late notice.  I have a wonderful family who showed up with smiling faces and gifts.

We got home about an hour ago, put the kids in bed, and received some bad news from my parents.  (An acquaintance of ours was just taken to jail for the molestation of his own granddaughter.  How horrid is that?) 

So now I can sit down and tell you about The Trip.  Oh my, The Trip.

It started off great...we flew from home to San Francisco, stopping briefly in Denver.  No problems.  I didn't beep at airport security (hurrah!) and we got seats together on the plane.  San Fran was awesome from Tuesday night through Friday night.  On Thursday, however, my uncle received an email that our train trip home was cancelled.  Again.  We weren't even surprised this time.  We learned through this process that Amtrak is made up of the grouchiest people ever.  I think they're in training for the DMV.  As soon as they hit the maximum grouchiness level, they are promoted to the Dept. of Motor Vehicles.

To make a long story short, we were able to arrange for the train to take us from San Fran to Denver.  There was a break in the rail in Nebraska from the recent crash so Denver was the end of the line.  We accepted that arrangement, although not happily.  We paid over $2000 to purchase air fare from Denver to home.  We lost the money we had spent on our second flight arrangements...the ones from Chicago to home.  If you were wondering, no, Amtrak does not take responsibility for our financial losses.  At this point, our family is at about $6000 for this trip.  Can you imagine what we could have done for $6000?  But when you're stranded on the other side of the country, ya gotta do what ya gotta do.

Anyway, the train trip was beautiful.  If I wasn't so tired right now, I would post my pictures.  But I haven't even taken them off my camera yet.  Maybe tomorrow.

So, I made it...I'm home.  We didn't crash, we just lost a truckload of money on the deal.  I loved the trip and would have given it rave reviews if it wasn't for the DMV hopefuls and the fact that one of my kids may not get to go to college now.

Good night, all.  I hope the rest of your evening is simply splendid.  (We met some Australian people on the train who were spot on marvelous.  They've got me talkin' all kinds of proper and stuff.  Well, just a wee bit.)

Oh What a Day!

Obviously, you all know how excited for vacation I was...I've talked about it almost constantly!  Well, the unimaginable happened.

We were scheduled to leave Monday morning.  My bags were packed, my snacks were stocked.  My laptop was loaded with movies and the kids' backpacks were filled with toys.  I had my final To Do List, which included things like bring the camera, toothbrush, and cell phone charger.  We were as giddy as children on Christmas Eve.

Around lunchtime on Sunday, we got A Call.  A Bad Call.  Amtrak had cancelled our trip because of this:

My aunt, who is taking the trip with us, called me sobbing.  Sobbing!  I had to break it to my kids that we weren't going on the Big Choo-Choo.  Talk about utter disappointment!  We all stood as if frozen in time, unsure of what to do next.  We had a flight TO Chicago and a flight home FROM San Francisco.  What good was that going to do us? 

My uncle immediately got on the horn with Amtrak and tried to fix things.  They offered us the same trip a week later.  That was no good because it was the kids' first week of school and Hubby had to go back to work.  He doesn't have a normal kind of job where he can switch vacation.  He picked this week nearly a year ago and that's that. 

My kids were fighting tears but I told them we would find something to do.  We had flights to Chicago...we could go there but just couldn't get back home. 

My uncle was on the phone for a little over four hours while my aunt and I paced with nervousness and tried to decide if we should continue packing, along with intermittent crying.  Eventually, he got our trip turned around.  We would fly to San Francisco on Tuesday evening, spend only two days there, and take the trip back home.  It was less than ideal, and there were change fees involved, but it was something.  So now we had Monday and part of Tuesday with nothing planned but I was OK with it.  At least we would still get our train trip.

Who knows, maybe there was a reason we weren't supposed to be on either of those flights or on that train.  Obviously, you've seen what trains can do.

I'm writing this post a week ago while still anticipating the trip.  I hope I'll return back to tell you all about it and won't end up sitting on a sideways train.

Getting Ready

Very soon begins our family train trip across the country!   Along with my family of six, my aunt, uncle, and 16-year old cousin (their nephew) will be joining us.  I simply cannot wait!  We've been planning it since February and it's hard to believe it's finally here.

I am a list maker.  I've been making my Choo Choo list for over a week now.  If I don't work from a list, I will forget so many things.  We will be leaving the house around 4 AM so I definitely won't be thinking clearly.

Camera charged, memory card clear - Check!
Half of my closet squeezed into a small carry-on bag - Check!
All my liquids packed into the one giant suitcase we're paying to check - Check!
Travel documents printed - Check!
Movies loaded onto my laptop for emergency boredom situations - Check!
Running shoes packed, in case I feel the need to jog down the beach - Check!
The rest of my family's things ready - Um, definitely not Check.

I still have a lot to do.  I started with myself first to try to figure out what we're actually going to need.  It's hard to comprehend that we're going to California and it will actually be colder there.  Something's just not right with that thought.  So I've packed a t-shirt for each day and different cardigans I can throw on top when I remember how chilly 60 degrees feels.

I love taking trips but planning them makes me absolutely crazy!  I will be thinking of you all while I'm seeing this for the first time:

Remember that show Full House?  That's what I always think of when I think of San Francisco.  They showed a shot like this in the opening credits.  That's back when the Olsen twins were cute and not...well, I'll just keep my mouth shut on that one. 

Niagara Falls

I had the wonderful privilege this week to travel via train to Niagara Falls with the kids group from my church.  How awesome is a church that rewards their students with a trip like that?  I am very blessed to be a part of it!   There were 53 of us in all and we had a fantastic time!

The day started at 3:45 AM when we all met at the church to drive to the Amtrak station.  A wonderful gentleman from our church and my sweet Hubby drove all of us up there.  Then Hubby headed straight to work, returning home at 8:30 PM.  He was just in time to pick us back up at the church and have his dinner at 9:00.  What a trooper!

We were only able to view the Falls from the American side since the kids didn't have passports.  I had only been to Niagara Falls, Canada before so seeing it from this side was like being there for the first time.  It's much less commercialized in New York and there are beautiful parks to enjoy.  There isn't a good view of the Horseshoe Falls from there but you are able to get much closer to the action.  We walked up the steps right next to the Falls, getting blasted by the spray the entire climb.  It was a refreshing break from the 80+ degree day.

We walked on trails, rode the trolley, went onto the observation deck, had a picnic in the park, and paid $10 for 2 ice creams and a Coke.  We boarded a charter bus back home where all the kids powered down and slept.  We stopped at a souvenir shop and then Cracker Barrel on the way home.  It was a perfect day with no injuries, no sickness, no fights, and no problems.  We were very fortunate!

Making Money in Vegas

Very few people could probably say that they made money in Las Vegas without gambling.  We did.

We are not gamblers but signed up for the gambling cards at a couple different casinos.  They gave us discounts on food or other perks.  One of the casinos gave us each a $5.00 credit for gambling.  I would have just let them go to waste but Hubby wouldn't hear of it.  He put his card into a slot machine and lost the five bucks in a matter of minutes.  Then he inserted my card.  On the first pull, it made $4.00.  So he cashed out and walked away with a hefty prize. 


Outside Planet Hollywood, there was a free Press Your Luck game station.  Do you remember that game show?  "No Whammies!  No Whammies!"  We played twice.  Hubby got one Whammy and a $20 dining voucher for Planet Hollywood.  I won a free drink and a ride on the Eiffel Tower.  I was excited about the ride, but that quickly faded.  It was only for one person.  So we got the clever idea to sell it.  We met a nice family from Mississippi in the Paris hotel.  We sold them the voucher for $10, which saved them $5.50.  Then we walked to P.F. Chang's and found some people waiting in line.  We sold the food voucher for $10 also.  I just gave away the free drink coupon.  It was late the last night, we had just eaten, and were leaving early in the morning.  So we didn't want anything to eat or drink.

Also in Vegas, we participated in one of those time share demonstrations.  We knew it would be long, but really started regretting that decision about two hours into the presentation.  They tried to make you feel guilty that you didn't want to spend time with your family on vacation.  Do you not love your spouse and kids???  The annoying thing was that a speaker spoke about certain points.  Then, a video went over the same exact points.  Then, our representative went over those same points a third time.  If they would have cut out all the repetition, the presentation would have only lasted an hour. 

The funny thing was that the original purchase price was cut by 60-70% by the end of the presentation.  The only way I was able to end the conversation was by telling them that my grandma owned two time shares with the same company that she couldn't get rid of.  She's offered them to me for free and I turned her down.  The man shook my hand, stood up, and walked away.  I wish I had thought of that an hour sooner!

But as we were enjoying dinner the next two nights for free, we were thankful for the time we spent in the horrible sales pitch.  My steak was mmmm-oh-so-good!

So, all in all, we made $100 from the time share pitch, $20 from Press Your Luck, and $4 in the casino.  We walked away $124 richer...all without gambling!  Pretty good odds, if you ask me!

Vacation Sights

Here are some interesting things we saw in Vegas.  I grouped them into collages for easier viewing.  (Click on any of the images to enlarge.)

We saw some beautiful sights and famous landmarks:

Some beautiful and yummy food:

(Check out those gourmet apples!)

And many more interesting things:

We also saw some celebrities:

Earnie Shavers - a boxer who was known as the hardest heavyweight hitter ever.  He and Hubby hit it off and he even gave us a business card with his personal cell phone number.

A few of these pictures are not real...can you tell which?  (Ha ha.)

And a defensive end for the Pittsburgh Steelers, Brett Keisel.  We don't have a photo of this but we (Hubby, not me) did talk to him.  He's the guy with the crazy beard.

So as you can see, we did a lot in three short days.  It's a trip I'm sure we'll make again!