Monday, June 29, 2009

New Car Debut

This morning I took my new CR-V to the car wash for the first time since I bought it last Wednesday. I really love it! The input jack for the MP3 player is great, and there are volume and mode controls for the stereo right in the steering wheel. This is also my first time to have a sun roof, roof rack, and spoiler. Hey, why not?

Sunday, June 28, 2009

My outing to the Arboretum this morning...

This morning I woke up with no plans for the day, but in the mood to do something. What to do? I decided to shower nice and early and drive 15 minutes away to one of my favorite places, the LA County Arboretum in Arcadia. I have a membership, so that means a "free" entry. It was the perfect morning for it!

Just me and my camera taking in the sights, sounds and smells. What a lovely little trip. I walked around for about 90 minutes until the heat began to take over. It smelled so wonderful there this morning and I could go at my own pace. It was also relatively empty, so it was easier to take pictures of some of the more popular spots there, like Queen Anne's Cottage and the waterfall.

Fun! I'm glad I went!

R.I.P. Michael Jackson

I know, I'm a few days late...

But Michael Jackson's death was a shocker. I was on Facebook and some of my peeps were already posting that it had happened while others were saying that it was a hoax. Fair enough, I mean he did lead a very unconventional life.

Whatever anyone's feeling about Michael Jackson, the world still lost an amazing entertainer. I put him in the category of celebrities like Elvis Presley and Judy Garland, who gave everything when they performed until the performer simply took over and the person got lost. The King of Pop is dead, folks. Let's focus on everything he contributed to the music world.

Aside from Thriller, which will always be a classic, this is my favorite Michael Jackson video:


And this is my favorite MJ song. This is a powerful video that I found on YouTube. Hit the full-screen option and the quality is still pretty good:

Saturday, June 27, 2009

Summer Has Begun...



I am now a week into my "vacation." Whew! What a week!

After checking out of my classroom last Friday I went to Claim Jumper with a few of my school peeps. After only being there a short while I got a phone call that the brickwork I was having done to my house was finished.

One thing down!

Next, I focused on getting a new car. My 1999 white Honda CR-V has given me 10 good years and I really love that car, but it was time. I still need to get the body damage repaired from April's blow out and then I'll sell it private party. Meanwhile, it was time to start shopping around. What did I want? Another white Honda CR-V! Hey, if it ain'y broke...

This past Wednesday I gave my mom a perm, helped babysit my nephew for about 2 hours, and then we went car shopping. My mom had heard that Costco, of all places, had a program to help people buy new cars, so we went there first to find out more. We were given a pamphlet of dealerships in the area that they worked with, and, supposedly, gave extra discounts to Costco members.

Honda of Pasadena was the closest dealership that works with Costco, so we made an appointment to go there in the afternoon. We also stopped at a dealership closer to Costco to do some comparing. The salesman at this one (Goudy Honda in Alhambra, CA) was very nice, low-pressure, let me take a test drive, and showed us all the features. Honestly, he deserved the sale if he could give me the best price. It was also at Goudy that I saw a CR-V with a roof rack and spoiler....it sure was pretty!

Next we went to Honda of Pasadena, which is where I ended up buying my car. The girl that helped us there was much less impressive. Maybe she thought that since we were doing the shopping through the Costco program it was a done deal? I don't know. But she was apathetic from the get-go. It was only until we started comparing again with Goudy Honda that she got more eager and tried harder to get the sale. Ultimately, I saved $600 with the special pricing for Costco members.

So, I have a new 2009 white Honda CR-V EX! I love it. It is so comfortable. It also has a keyless entry and a sunroof, which I've never had before. It also came with a 6-CD changer and an input jack for the MP3 player. That and a plug to charge that or a cell phone are on the center console, with another plug at the bottom of the dash.

I'm still getting used to the dashboard and having so much computerized information, but, after 3 days it is feeling more and more like my car. This morning I had to take it back to the dealer to have the roof rack and spoiler installed, which took about 3 hours. Now it looks beautiful AND cool. Here are some pictures off the Honda site. I'll post pictures of mine after I can wash it, but I have to wait 2 days until I can because of the things that were added this morning.

Thursday, June 4, 2009

Another Year in Room 30!

Finally, finally!

Today I found out that I will be teaching 4th grade next year. Fine with me, I've done it twice before. The really great thing, though, is that I get to stay in my classroom--which I love--for a 4th year. Amazingly, despite the fact that I'm finishing up my 12th year of teaching, I have never been able to stay in a classroom for more than three years. And it is more than the classroom, it is almost like I'm finally starting to edge my way up the seniority ladder a bit.

Ten more days left of school now, and knowing what I'm going to teach next year is one more thing to check off the end-of-year To Do List. Now I can start thinking ahead to packing up my room soon and knowing what needs to go into closets and what needs to be stacked by the door, mainly all the 5th grade things that will go to another teacher. I'll be inheriting the 4th grade materials from someone else.

I'm tired, but nothing compared to last year, which was one of my toughest years ever because of some severe discipline problems I had. It just feels good to know that this year has been relatively smooth and that it is winding down.

And, I was musical again on the KSolo site through MySpace. Singing is such a great release for me. Click on the name titles to get whisked to the site for a listen. :-)

THE SUMMER WIND (Michael Buble's version)

DOWN ON THE CORNER