Snow in the Desert

 

I think one of the things that I love most about living in the desert~definitely the thing that makes the 120+ degree summers bearable~is how beautiful the fall, winter and spring are. Friday there was threats of 1/2-1" of rain which didn't show up until last night. We woke up to snow on the mountains that can be viewed out of our bedroom windows. Driving down the main highway towards Palm Springs today, the snow was covering all the peaks. It really hits home how extreme the desert environment is. I've tried to explain to a couple people about how severe the weather can become in just a matters of hours~usually they have a blank and confused look on their face like I'm might actually have finally lost my mind. Not living here, it's hard to understand that when it rains, it usually pours. When it pours, it's so hard that the dry parshed ground can't drink the water fast enough, so we get incredible run off which closes down some of the main roads and floods our washes. Two of our golf courses at work are on one of the washes, so I got a phone call at work Friday morning with a flood advisory that needed to be passed along to keep the golfers safe. This was, of course, as the clouds were clearing and the sun was shining through. Waking up this morning though and seeing the havoc the rain had created through the night, I understood the phone call.

So, needless to say, on top of loving the holidays, it's a pleasure being in the desert this time of year. It's a pleasant 60-75 degrees during the day and 28-40 degrees at night~depending on many variables of course. I love the cold. There's nothing like throwing on a sweater and scarf and enjoying the cold while it lasts.

The boys are all doing well. Lani has some big project that he's been working on with his friends. They're covering the cold war and the projects are all being entered in some history fair for Riverside County. Asking him what he wanted for Christmas this year has been like pulling teeth. Mieke (Pascal's mom) got a very interesting Christmas list email from Lani stating "my mom made me send you this....I hope you enjoyed my email." A little helpful~he made a collage of the 4 things he wanted and attached it to the email. Creative. Because he had no suggestions as to what he wanted from us, we'll be sending him to golf lessons out at PGA WEST so he can get instruction from some of the best in the area. I'm hoping this will keep him busy (as if getting a 4.0 doesn't keep him busy enough). Maybe it's not busy we're looking for here, but happy. I would like to see Lani happy and actually excited about something again.

Marcus has his holiday program on the 19th. His very brave teacher is teaching them jingle bells to be played with bells. We keep asking him how it's going and don't really get a straight answer other than he knows the words (kinda) to the song now. We were getting strange variation of the song at first, but I think he's got it down now. His sense of humor is an ongoing thing too. We were stuck in the drive thru line last night and he was complaining about being thirsty. I said "Marcus, I just ordered you a drink, but as you can see, there are people in front of us that need to be served first. What do you want me to do Marcus? huh?" His answer, "panic." He also informed me that "yep" and "yeah" aren't real words...that you're supposed to say "yes". Thank you for that Marcus.

Junior now has too much time on his hands. When I was in high school I had 2-4 hours of homework every night! Does anyone else remember that, or is it just me? 30 minutes~tops! That seems to be the average if he even has homework. It's amazing to me. Regardless, now that football is over, his grades seem to be going back up. He's starting to talk jobs he'd be interested in when he goes off to college. As much as I want to encourage him to follow his dreams into the NFL, I appreciate that he's starting to realize that his dream will be a very long, difficult and lonely road. I know whatever he decides to do, he'll be great at it. Almost forgot, his big news is that he's going to be "the guy" in his friends quinceanera. For those of you who don't know what that is, it's a birthday party thrown for 15-year old girls. The celebrations though have gone a little crazy and are like mini-weddings in regards to cost and extravagance. He'll be wearing a white tux and is learning a waltz with the other 5 couples who are in the celebration. I'm sure I'll have plenty to report back after that experience in January.

So, for now, that's it. Pascal has a new toy, the Nokia N800~a small internet tablet~that for some reason, seems to keep him very happy. He's even planning on driving to Long Beach WITH us this weekend instead of after us...something we don't usually do because our driving drives eachother crazy. He'll be busy playing with his "toy" though, so that frees me up to drive as fast as I want. ;) As long as he's happy, I'm happy.

Go Lani!!!

Report cards and in and Lani has a 4.0! Way to go Lani! We're super proud of you!!!!

Good times with friends!

 

Each week just seems to go faster and faster! We started the week off with Pascal' birthday on Sunday and enjoyed spending the day with Pascal's parents and some new friends. This week was awesome because we got to finish off the week with a day with old friends and a win for the high school team. Marcus, Lani and I joined some of our best friends for a Halloween Party with pumpkin decorating, pumpkin bowling, pin the spider on the pumpkin and lots of other fun activities (thank you Gia for putting that together). The best was relaxing with my friends and catching up with everyone. Friday, Junior's team won (by a lot) and even though he sat this week out with an injury, it still felt great. A couple things I was reminded of this week:

1. you can't control what other people do, but you can control your reaction to the situation
2. it's always best to take th high road, especially when dealing with people who have no class
3. true friends will make you feel better just by being present...strange, but true...they're like a breathe of fresh air

Amber, this is for you:

4 JOBS I'VE HAD
In-N-Out Burger-great experience and great training! Lots of good memories!
Cyberdressforms-the gathering of experience continued
GolfClub.com-from this job I learned that I'm devious and undermining (according to my boss)
PGA WEST--I'm never leaving this job! It's heaven and I'll be there forever.

4 PLACES I'VE LIVED
National City, CA
Long Beach, CA
Bellflower, CA
La Quinta, CA

4 FAVORITE FOODS
anything Mexican
strawberry shortcake
the carnie parties at work
thanksgiving dinner!!!!

4 FAVORITE MUSIC GROUPS
System of a Down
Breaking Benjamin
anything old school
Coldplay

4 FAVORITE MOVIES/TV SHOWS
Gladiator
The Notebook
As Good As It Gets
The Office, Jericho, Criminal Minds & Rules of Engagement

4 PLACES I'D RATHER BE
Wyoming
Iowa (visiting Kelly)
Boston (visiting Jessica)
Utah (visiting Amber--we're comin' in May Amber!!!)

4 FAVORITE BOOKS
anything by Stephen King

Sunday Update

We made it through yet, another week. Can any of you believe the holidays are creeping up on us? We're already talking about where we're having dinner for Thanksgiving and the logistics of our Christmas travels. The year has FLOWN by.

This week was a fairly quiet one...

Lani attended the Prestige Golf Tour junior clinic yesterday and received some instruction from the San Diego State and Minnesota coaches. He seemed really excited about the new tips he got and is anxious to get out on the driving range so he can try them out.

Junior had a great game on Friday. They won 20-7 and he stopped (at least in my opinion) the opposing team from scoring their second touchdown in the last two minutes of the game. That play took him out of the game because of an injury, but he seems to be surviving. We'll be keeping an eye on him for the next couple weeks and hope that those (what appears to be) bruised ribs are not broken.

Marcus had his first run-in at school this week with a little boy who has been making fun of his homemade lunch and me all week. Marcus started complaining that he was too sick to go to school, so I broke down and talked to the teacher about the teasing. They seem to have hugged and made up and we hope that will be the end of it. Marcus seems to be himself again, so for now, we're good.

We're looking forward to this weekend. Pascal's parents will be here to celebrate Pascal's birthday, and hopefully, my parents will be able to make it to Junior's game on Friday. It will be nice to visit with everyone and I'm looking foward to another relaxing weekend at home (again--I get three in a row this month--YEA!).

Catching Up, Finally!

 

What a wild two weeks! We are in the full swing of a "normal" schedule right now and I'm grateful. Each week flies by with work, football practice and just trying to keep the house presentable, not to mention keeping the family feed with healthy home-cooked meals instead of Taco Bell every night!

Two weeks ago, my baby brother tied the knot with my wonderful new sister-in-law, Jenni. I love her to death and had the point out that she's really one of the first of my sister-in-laws that I've actually liked and didn't try to talk my brother's out of. It's not that I'm a bad person, I just think that my brothers deserve someone like my mom--loyal, loving and kind. Needless to say, the wedding was beautiful and it was great to visit with my out-of-state brothers and their kids. It was the first time in 6 years that all 4 of us kids have been together, and the first time that all 6 grandkids have every been together.

Junior has stepped up his football play. He's become extremely disciplined and is being rewarded by playing both offense and defense. He's doing great...I think he may have a few bruised ribs and a sore wrist from the last game, but he played right through the pain.

I've got permission from one of our private golf courses to start taking Lani over to their driving range, so I've told him we'll go this week. There's a golf clinic on Saturday with collegiate coaches and players that we'll be attending too. Lani is always so easy going and never asks for anything, it's easy to overlook his needs/wants. My friend described her kids the other day: the oldest always asks, the 2nd never asks and the 3rd always assumes. WOW! Did that ever describe our situation too! Lani is so passive and quiet that it's going to take some effort on my part to make sure that we are encouraging and enabling his golf interest.

Marcus, well, Marcus is Marcus. He's loving school and doing really well. He's starting to read and is enjoying everything about the experience. We're trying to hang out with our "core" group of MOMS Club friends once a week too as much as possible. It's nice for both of us to be able to catch up with our "old" friends.

I'll update the blog next week after Junior's game and Lani's golf event...I'm sure there will be plenty to tell!

Here's Comes Halloween!

Marcus is all ready for Halloween! This year he'll be going as Jack Skellington from the "Nightmare Before Christmas". The most exciting part for him is that it glows in the dark!

JUNIOR'S TIME HAS COME!

 

WHAT A GAME!!! That's my boy on the outside line, far side of the field, posed and ready to go! Junior earned his stripes this week in practice and not only started in his dad's position, defensive end, but also represented the team as a captain for the team at half time. HE ROCKED!!! His game was on. Not only was he doing a great job of anticipating where the ball was going and being in on every play, but he also he made several great tackles keeping the other team from progressing. He was amazing and we couldn't have been prouder! Although they lost 9-0, Junior made his mark. It only took the other team a few plays to figure out Junior needed to be stopped and so he was up against 2-3 guys blocking him from that point forward. Way to go Junior-your hardwork paid off! There is nothing like hearing your son's name being announced as the one who stopped the play! GO BLACKHAWKS!!!

Whirlwind of a Week!

What a whirlwind of a week! Let's start with the highlight of Lani's week...he's FINALLY starting to take some golf lessons and went out and bought a new set of clubs for himself. Because I work at a PGA West now, he'll be able to use any of the driving ranges any time they're not crowded for as long as he wants...unlimited balls is what they told me. He is THRILLED! (See, the perks of my job just keep getting better and better!) Matt was his instructor and Lani really hit it off with him. There was only one other kid there, so it was basically 3 hours of semi-private lessons out at Tahquitz Creek. Lani has found his new passion, so we're running with it.

Marcus got off to a great start with kindergarten, even held hands with a girl. She's a little cutie and they seem to have really hit it off, although, we still don't know what her name is...Marcus can't remember. His teacher said he's right at the level he should be and is doing great. Every day he comes home with a new experience and story to tell. I think we're having more fun with it than he is.

Junior has hit the books running. Balancing school, homework and sports isn't easy. Welcome to the real world honey! I told him "just wait until you add 'work' to that in a couple years, then you'll really know what 'exhausted' is." Thursday was his first official game. He played very little during the game, but did play most of the "4th Quarter Game" after the game (it's a practice game for the kids who didn't get a lot of playing time). With his personal coach (Nuuvali Sr.) yelling at him from the sideline, he did much better. He had several really good hits and was in on almost every single play. It was amazing to see the huge changes that came with just a little guidance. He may not be starting right now, but I'm telling you all, this kid is one to watch! I don't doubt that he'll be able to live his dream of playing college ball anywhere he wants...he's got the heart for it and with his dad's help, is going to have the skills too. He finished the school week on a horrible note though-the accidental death of one of his freshman classmates, which has opened up a lot of conversation on life and death and the importance of living every day safely to the fullest. It's reminded all of us how important it is to never leave each other angry; to always leave with a hug, a kiss and a reminder that we love each other. I hate that I can't continue to shelter my teens from life, but am glad that we're still close enough that they lean on me for support and advice and not a stranger.

Those of you who know me know that I'm not a horribly religious person, but I find myself praying for the safety of my children more and more as they get older and are experiencing more on their own. Letting go of them to let them learn about life isn't easy. I also find myself constantly thanking God (because that's who I believe is ultimately in control) for my new job that is allowing me to have more time with my children at a time that they need me most--their teen years (and being 5 too--that's not easy either). I can work full time while still being here to help with their homework, attend their school functions, pick them up from school or drop off football stuff that was forgotten in the rush. What a lucky, lucky girl I am!!!

My monkey goes climbing

Marcus' favorite activity (other than Disneyland, of course) is going to the Rock Gym. I'm not sure when this strange obsession started, but he's definitely a natural! His skinny little body has an incredible amount of strength that comes with it; couple that with no fear and you've got quite the little climber. I can see this becoming a serious past time for him as he gets older.

Gang's (almost) All Here!

My long time friend, Shandra, turned 35 this weekend. Her mom put together a surprise party for her. This is some of the "old gang", some even dressed in their 80's gear to celebrate the times. It was fun to visit with friends I hadn't seen in years. A few were missing, but having 6 of us there together was great. A lot of friends have come and gone over the years, but Shandra, Kelly and I have been friends since we were 5, and no matter how long we go without talking to eachother, we can always count on picking right back up where we left off. I think this is the true measure of a friend...

Hell Week

Only 10 more days until school starts! Junior started Hell Week on Monday and has been practicing from 7-9am and then 4-7pm every day...apparently it will be the same on Saturday too! I'm still not sure if Hell Week is referring to his practice, or us driving him back and forth 4 times a day! He was excited and nervous today as he FINALLY suited up in pads and a helmet for the first time in his life. He got registered today and is an official freshman. Lani has taken up redesigning his room and designing houses with some software that Pascal introduced him too. He may have a future in design instead of being an archaeologist! Marcus has been doing "homework" in his workbooks every day in preparation of kindergarten. The boys are enjoying their last few days of freedom and we're looking forward to a steady schedule as soon as their freedom is done!

new to this technology

ok, so as silly as I thought this whole "blog" thing was at first, it hit me today..."what a genius way to let my friends keep track of what's going on with the kids." I guess this is what pascal's been trying to tell me all along. so, here i am, joining the masses and jumping on the band wagon. i'll try to keep things updated as we have interesting new events (i'm sure you don't want to know about every time we leave the house, so i'll try to be selective). i hope you enjoy my adventure!