Snow Days

Eagle's Nest, Hart's Ranch, Pagosa Springs, CO.....

We had to find snow for Christmas, but somehow we found too much. Coming up on Friday, we hit a snowstorm in the pass from Chama to Pagosa Springs. Slid off the road in the Suburban, and we had to put on chains to get off the pass. One of the chains was too loose, it snapped, and shredded the back left brake line. So, we found ourselves stranded in the pass, no brakes, in a snowstorm, no phone service....Thank God for OnStar and Exxon TravelClub. OnStar works fine, and they patched us through to Exxon, who sent a truck to pick up the Suburban (couldn't tow it!). My mom, Hannah and I drove her car (front wheel drive) on down the mountain, in the snowstorm. The towing company got Morgan and Caleb to the repair shop - 6 PM on the Friday before Christmas, to look for a part that normally doesn't fail. The only replacement they can find is in Michigan, and can't ship until Thursday - wow.

We unload the Suburban, make two trips to the cabin and settle in. Morgan and I risked a trip to the store for some food, and called it a night. Saturday morning the roads were better, and I found a 4 wheel drive Tahoe for the week (talk about blowing the budget!), but the guy at Enterprise went above and beyond to get me this car....he was awesome. Morgan drove to Durango and picked up my Dad, and we're all set.

Sunday - ski day - up the pass to Wolf Creek - by now the road isn't too bad - only about 5 miles or so of packed snow and ice. Hannah skiied all day, and Caleb and Morgan learned to snowboard. Morgan says he's not too old to learn, but he's too old to recover from the injuries! (Yes, he fell, a lot!)

Monday - Morgan and the kids skiied, and Mom and I went to Durango shopping. We had fun - and bought lots! Caleb had one bad fall getting off the lift, and he's got a sore arm still. Have to get the doc to take a look when we get home. Morgan skiied with Hannah all day. My dad cooked, and the Hagerty's came for dinner. Took pictures in the snow with all the girls - I'll post those later - they turned out great!

Tuesday - Christmas! Slept in a little, then opened presents. Morgan took my dad back to the airport in another snowstorm - which ended up being a problem. United cancelled his flight from Durango to Denver, then the next flight was delayed over an hour. He ended up missing the last flight to Houston, and had to sleep in the Denver airport. On Christmas. Snow is beautiful, but enough is enough.

Wednesday - The snow has stopped for now, so my mom, the kids and I went shopping in Pagosa. Found some more cute things, and a room for Thursday night, since we now know the part for the Suburban won't be in until at least Thursday afternoon. Also heard that it is supposed to snow all day on Thursday. Lord, I hope the roads are clear by Friday.

Tomorrow we'll move to the Pagosa Lodge, and see if it snows again. Hopefully the brake line will come in, and the car will be fixed. If the snow stops, we'll get out Friday morning early headed home. Praying for clear weather all the way home. I've seen enough snow!

For 2008, I'm thinking Disney World and cruises!!!!

Kentucky

Can't believe it's November already...guess I'm a little behind in updating this thing! Morgan and I had a great time in Kentucky for the ICHF Anniversary. The weather was unbelievable - and the leaves were actually different colors...I think Morgan was ready to move there on the spot.

Magic for Spring Break!!!

That's right, guess who's going for Spring Break with the MOUSE!!!

It has been so traumatic having Andrew down there without me, that my mom and I have decided to take him for Spring Break '08...we just can't miss out on the fun!

Little Things...

Add up. Really.

I'm not feeling quite so overwhelmed right now. I'm not going to say "anymore," because that implies the feeling is gone for good, and I'm not sure about that. But for right now, I think I've gotten a handle on things.

Both of my assignments for the A&M class last week were turned in, and on time! What I don't understand is only 3 of us in the class managed to do that - the other 5 were late with both assignments. Why?

My UofH classes are both OK right now - when papers start coming due it might be a different story. But I've been able to keep up with the reading, and the classes have been really fun so far.

I've also managed to get 2 of my Disney posters framed and hung in the living room - that's something I've been putting off for over a year....ugh, but it's done! Now Morgan is making me frames for a couple of other posters I have, and Laura and Hannah are going to Hobby Lobby today for frames for some great prints I have. (Yes, also Disney!)

It's like checking things off the list, and yes, they are little things, but the stress relief adds up!

Oh, and the big thing - Felix seems to be going somewhere else! Why, why does my tournament always have to be during hurricane season??? And of course the newscasters have to try to make it a story - "it could still turn and come this way!" I guess they need something to talk about...

Possum!

Ok, I'll get to the animal story in a minute....

You know that place between excited and exhausted? That's where I am right now. I had my Issues Management class tonight - which I absolutely love. This is really what I so want to do. We talked about Michael Vick (there's some brand equity down the tubes!), Shell's dominance of Deer Park, Exxon, Disney, Mattel (big story there, but handled really well!). Anyway, the class was awesome, but after lecturing my heart out all day, and stressing over other stuff, I'm so tired I can't think straight. Driving home I realized that my shoulders really, really hurt, just because of stress. Not good, with a long semester to go.

So, I get home and sit down to eat dinner. Snuffy (the dog, for those of you who don't know him) is sniffing around the window behind me like crazy...It's a big picture window looking into the backyard. I thought he was trying to get into my purse, which was on the floor there, so I turned around to shoo him away...and...who are you? Pink pointy nose....white fur...beady black eyes? Oh my! A baby possum was on the window sill, sniffing back at Snuffy! They had a great staring contest for about 3 minutes, then Mr. Possum turned and climbed down. I still don't know why Snuffy didn't go out the dog door and chase him! (And I'm really hoping he doesn't decide to come IN the doggie door...yeah, I need something else to worry about!)

Andrew, Sit Down!

Oh dear Lord, this is why children are for young people! So Hannah is babysitting Andrew tonight. We decided to go to dinner at Chili's first. Hannah and I thought Morgan should sit next to Andrew (that probably wasn't very nice - hee, hee, hee). The next hour consisted of Morgan saying "Andrew, sit down. Andrew, don't color on the table. Andrew, sit down. Andrew, stop. Andrew, please sit down." It's not that he's bad - he's just 2.

And he's smart, and curious. He likes corndogs at Chili's, but he likes the hot dog separate from the "wrapper". So when you cut it in pieces, he has to poke each piece of hot dog out of the center of the wrapper. Then he had broccoli, but Morgan's corn on the cob looked better....
Then we went to Starbucks. There are no pictures of that excursion, but fun was had by all. (Well, maybe not the other patrons - Andrew wanted to play with the stuffed animals they have on display for Arctic Circle.)

Next, Target, where we ran into Andy Stubbs shopping with his family and getting ready to leave for college. I finally figured out that Hannah and Andy have the same thing going on - they both look like they are about 11 years old. Why are we sending these babies off to college??
Right now, Morgan is helping Andrew put all of his crayons back in the box (pointy side UP - that's a skill you have to LEARN). He just wanted to color on the paper, and somehow ALL the crayons were dumped on the couch. Wow, I just heard the phrase "Andrew, don't EAT the crayon."

OK, I better go help out!

Time....what is it good for?

Grrrrrr! What was I thinking? Ok, obviously I wasn't thinking when I signed up for a Monday night class. I can't take class on Monday night, I have to TEACH a class on Monday night. That's when we have the PSAT prep class. And I can't afford to give up that $$. Soooo, when I finally realized that (about 3:00 this afternoon, yes, after I already wrote the first paper!), I went to see the dean of graduate studies. That was interesting. Anyway, the upshot is, I switched to a Tuesday night class (Issues Management), and as long as no one in real power "catches" me, I'll probably be ok. Technically, I should be taking the Comm Theory class first, but I'll just have to take it next fall.
Then, the dean introduced me to their guru of PR - that was great. She still has her own agency, and I talked with her about the program I'm doing - MA in PR and certificate in IR, and she had some recommendations. She agreed that this is the right way to go for marketability to the companies I'm interested in, but she said I'll need a language. So, what do you think? Dust off the high school French? Try something new? All 3 of my kids speak German, but I don't know if I want to work in Germany....And the Disney park is in France...Of course, she suggested Chinese - Oh my!
Anyway, then someone in my PR management class tonight had the syllabus for the Tuesday night class I'm switching to, and I think it's going to be more fun! There's only one major paper, and two presentations. I like that a LOT better! I just wish I didn't feel like I'm playing catch up all the time.

Sick Baby

So school /work started today for all of us in Deer Park. Thank goodness for a "work-day" to ease back into things. Inservice tomorrow - are we excited?

Spent part of the day playing doctor - no, not that way! Andrew has a virus, probably his first ever since he doesn't go to daycare, and his mommy is worried. So who does she call? Her mom...No, a fever of 102 isn't that high in a 2 year old. Yes, I'm sure. Ok, he threw up his Tylenol, stick with water for a while, try Tylenol later. Yes, it's going to take 2 or 3 days for him to get better, not hours. No, really. Poor baby - I remember those days, but I don't really want to relive them!

As soon as I get to the other computer, I'll post a picture of Andrew feeling better...

Here I Go Again...

So, school started last night. For the first hour, all I could think was..."I can't do this again. I've forgotten everything I ever knew, and I'm never going to get it back. " But then I started to breathe, and I realized that 12 years of dormancy probably hasn't melted all my brain cells. I made it through one master's program, I can survive another!

The papers worry me a bit - I really haven't written a paper, and certainly not a 20 page paper, in about 12-13 years. And with debate, and the tournament, and travel, it is going to be challenging. Time management, that's going to be the key! Oh, right, that's the thing I keep making New Year's resolution's about. Hmmm....No time like the present. Let's see: lesson plans, host tournament, write papers, go to class, clean house, cook meals, do laundry, exercise(?!?), teach students...no problem!

I think I'm tired already!