Wow, this has been QUITE a week...

Anyone who said that "vacation" and "relax" are basically synonymous has not followed me around the last few days.

It's been a week of highs and lows and some unexpected adjustments.

I had to do something that I have, never, ever, in my life, done before, which was sever a friendship. I won't go into details, and that person may even stop by here, but it has been very hard. And trust me, this was not an easy decision. It has required a lot of strength and brought a lot of thought and tears, and yet I know it was the right thing to do. Still, that knowledge feels harsh, which lapses into guilt, but I still know it was right. What does Dumbledore say in Harry Potter? "The time will come when you must choose between what is right and what is easy." That is the choice I was faced with, and it definitely wasn't the easy one.

So, that has been a cloud that hung over me the last few days.

And with that, there has been so much else going on. I got my 1999 Honda CR-V back from the body shop today and now it is ready to be sold, although I won't get really assertive with that until I return from my trip to Utah in 3 weeks. $6000 if anyone is interested. There, that's my sales pitch for the day.

Yesterday I babysat my nephew from 9am until 7:45pm. I love that little guy, even though he is getting to the age where the refusal of things is the new fad. Didn't want to bathe (I got him to,) didn't want to get dressed or have his diaper changed (he did,) didn't want to eat (eh...he ate a little,) and didn't want to nap (I TRIED, and the best I could get was maybe 1/2 hour in the car.) Yep, he's a willful little boy, but still sweet and a lot of fun. His new thing (besides not wanting to do those basic things) is to JUMP. Everywhere he goes, he wants to either run there or jump there. It's pretty cute. I don't know where he finds the energy!!

There is also the constant hubbub of having painters in and out of the house from 7:20am until almost 5pm every day. And now I'm house-sitting for my mom, which means another dog and cat to look after, flowers to water, and mail to collect.

Today I went to my mom's house and ended up falling asleep in her room. I had gone to water, which I did, and keep her dog company a little, which I did, and I think knowing that I could completely relax there--with no painters--my body just gave in and I ended up sleeping for 2 solid hours.

Tomorrow will be another full day of painters, house-sitting, going to the car wash, and then driving out to Burbank to the Walt Disney Studios. I had some concert tickets for this Saturday which I cannot use, as I will be visiting a cousin in San Diego, and after days of trying, I finally found someone to take them at a reduced price (who works for Disney and I offered to drop them off.) Well, at least I'll only be losing $40 (ouch, that still feels like a lot) instead of $120--which IS a lot.

I'm glad that there are things to keep me busy, but not too busy. And little by little the cloud from the other day will lift and life will fall into a new pattern of normalcy. Live and learn, I guess.

Happy 4th of July, Everyone!

It's here, that day when we think about our country and try to focus on the many great things that it means to be American. Yes, America is not perfect, and may not even be the shining example that it once was to the rest of the world, but I still think we're pretty darn lucky to live here.

No matter how you slice it, we have a lot, and enjoy freedoms that many people in other countries will never know. Happy July 4th everyone, and a special shout-out to the people in my family who serve in the military: Monica, Robby, and Luis. Thank you!

Painting Progress...

The painters have been working diligently at my house for about a week now. One of the reasons why they do such a good job (they painted my mom's house 3 years ago) if because of the amount of prep work that they do. And that is all they have been doing this week: sanding, sanding, and more sanding.

Outside the little bay window in my bedroom you can see the layers and layers of paint that have been put on this house over the years, including a turquoise color several generations ago. After all, this house was built in the 1940's.

The hard part about having people working at your house is that it is difficult to be completely at ease. I'm not used to that, because my house is such a sanctuary to me. Still, it needs to be done and they do a great job of cleaning up at the end of each day. And each day begins at about 7:20am.

Today I took my 1999 Honda into the body shop so it will be fixed up for sale. $750 out of my own pocket--ugh. Two insurance claims running simultaneously--ugh. Although, I have to say, my insurance company has been really great. I'm just anxious to get the car sold. Not so anxious that I won't hold out for a fair price, mind you, but still anxious!

Other than that, it has been a quiet day. Quiet days are good. We like those.

AND, I ALMOST FORGOT: Today is the 4th anniversary of when I moved into my house in 2005. Wow. And I love it as much, if not, more, than the day I moved in. Hurray for being a homeowner! And hurray for having my job stay secure so that I could continue to be one...

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?

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:

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.

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

Down to the Wire!

Wow...summer is so close I can almost taste it!

This is going to be something of a working weekend. Report cards, which we do online, are going to be my priority today and tomorrow. I also have some essays to look over that will go into my students' cumulative folders. Ugh...those folders...I always put them off because they are the hardest and most tedious part of the end-of-year things that need to be done.

At home things are rolling along. I'm trying to not let the housework go by the wayside while so busy with schoolwork. Ramius the kitten is getting very, very active! Sometimes too active, but I tell myself it is the kitten phase that he will eventually outgrow. *fingers crossed!*

My mom is redoing her backyard and building a gazebo. It is SO pretty! I might have to start saving my pennies. It is expensive, but not impossible. And I already have the brick patio where it would go, so there would be no need to lay a floor for it.

And, although it has been a while, I've gotten back into a singing mood this week. Here are 2 songs I did on MySpace's KSolo site last night and one from SingSnap. Two of them are "summer themed..." Could that have some hidden meaning? LOL

SUMMERTIME

THE SUMMER WIND

(click the titles to hear them)

OK! Time to play "catch up!"

Yowza, I've never gone this long without adding a new blog. Sorry about that. I even received an email from a friend asking if everything is OK. It is. I'm OK, just busy, tired and ....you'll see!

CARMEL

After planting a yard full of spring flowers and hosting Easter at my house, my mom and I drove up with my dog, Bailey, for 4 days in Carmel. This is the 4th time we've been there. We always stay at the Cypress Inn, owned by Doris Day. It is my favorite vacation spot for many reasons. The people who travel there are all so nice, you're by the ocean and in a forest at the same time, you can take the dog and they're allowed almost everywhere, and it is so beautiful.

THE BLOWOUT

Despite the long drive to Carmel, we've never had in incident. So, I guess we were due. On the last day, I was about to load the luggage into the car and it had a flat tire. Grrr....so I called AAA and they came and fixed it. Problem solved, right? Wrong.

We drove 130 miles and steering wheel began to shudder. I thought we were just on a textured surface. Then we heard the sound, the grinding sound that tells you something is seriously wrong. We had a blowout on the tire that was fixed. Maybe it was brittle from being the spare and sitting in the sun, I don't know.

Luckily, I never lost control of the car. We were on the left lane at the time, but there was a shoulder there. AAA came again and rescued us. The tow truck driver had to lift Bailey into the cab of the truck because I couldn't do it. My mom was a wreck, Bailey was nervous but trusting, and I was a little numb.

Even though we had that major setback, it could've been so much worse. There were no injuries and we were back on the road for home in 3 hours. It was a Sunday and the tow truck driver knew where to take us, and the tire shop even stay open 45 minutes late to take care of us. This was in Atascadero, CA.

Getting home felt SOOO good that night! The insurance will pay for the damage to my car. It is no one's fault. Now I just have to get the time to take my car in for repair. I'm going to have to wait until school's out, which means another 4 weeks of driving it around like this.

I'm getting a new car this summer. It's time. Mine is 10 years old and has 94,000 miles on it. I love CR-V's and will probably just get another one.

OPEN HOUSE
The week after Spring Vacation ended, we had Open House at my school. I know, nice timing, huh? My kids worked their fannies off doing research papers for Open House, which I still need to grade. A lot of preparation went into that night. I wish we had a better turn out from parents and administration.

MOM'S NEW DOG

My mom, who has been working with a Golden Retriver rescue organization, finally found a dog that fits her busy lifestyle as a retired person who babysits her grandson. Brinkley is a great dog. He's about 8 years old, and was surrendered by his previous owners because they couldn't take care of him anymore. He and Bailey get along just great and he's wonderful with my little nephew. My mom is thrilled with her new canine companion and he gets a lot of attention everywhere he goes!

TESTING
Yep, there's more!

State testing at school has been going on for the last 2 weeks. It has been very tiring, especially because I test my kids in 2 groups per day. They recommend that for the upper grades because we have so many kids.

And, speaking of lots of kids, I got 2 new students during testing. Fortunately they will not be tested. I do have 2 make-up sessions with a child who went home ill the other day. I hope to start those tomorrow if he's there.

RAMIUS
And there was another furry addition at my house...

Eight days ago I was coming back from a sushi dinner when I heard this desperate meowing coming from the front of my house. I thought one of my cats was stuck somewhere, but when I approached the front, I looked down and saw a little white kitten. He was screaming his head off, not because he was stuck, but because he was in dire straights. Filthy dirty--almost brown, bony, red-eyed, scared, hungry, and flea ridden.

I brought him in and fed him and that is when I saw the fleas. There were HUNDREDS of them. I took him into the bathroom and scrubbed him down in the sink with Ivory soap. He was too worn out to put up much of a fight. That got rid of most of them. I also put some topical solution behind his neck to kill the rest.

Over the last few days, Ramius the kitten has become healthier, cleaner, and I'm keeping him. He's very sweet, uses the kitty box and the cat scratcher, and cute as can be. The other animals are adjusting to having him here and, although it was completely unplanned, he's been a great little addition. We went to the vet on Thursday for his vaccinations, de-worming, flea pill, and some tests to make sure he's healthy inside and out, since we don't know his history.

Look at the difference in 8 days!
And in case you're wondering about the name, Ramius...I let a good friend name him. The name is from Sean Connery's white-bearded character in The Hunt for Red October. I like it. The name seems to fit him.

SO, ANYWAY....
That is what has been happening around here. And things promise to get even busier because school is heading for the home stretch. Report cards, more testing, organizing the kids into their classes for next year, picking a grade, packing up the room, and updating all of the kids' files--my LEAST favorite end-of-year activity...these are the things that I have to look forward to in the next 4 weeks. So, if you don't see another blog for a while, you'll know why!

Easter with My Family

This year, Easter was at my house. It was a lot of work, but all worth it. I put in all new flowers and got the house all spruced up inside and out. My mom was the "food committee" and she also worked her little patootie off.

We had a wonderful time, the food was GREAT. We all ended up gathering in my backyard and enjoyed the PERFECT weather for around 4 hours.

Here are some photos of my kooky family. We laugh, we love, we eat! We're not perfect, but we sure do have a lot of fun!

Some things to look forward to.....and the "day after" the happy news...

As wonderful as yesterday's news was about my job security, it was also a bit surreal. I was thinking about it later. I'd carried around the burden of possibly losing my job for so many weeks that I almost didn't know what it was like to live without it. I'll tell you what it is like: WONDERFUL...

Last night I slept better and more soundly than I have in ages. I hadn't even realized the way the job stress had affected my sleep. This morning while I was getting ready for work I thought to myself how at that time yesterday I was gearing up for a day of preparing for today's sub, and how I had planned to leave so early to attend the RIF (Reduction in Force) hearing; it hardly seemed possible that I would be able to miss it.

At school our morning schedule was a little bit different, simply because teachers that do not have their own classrooms were needed as subs to fill in for those who DID have to attend the RIF hearing. I feel awful for my colleagues who had to go and whose jobs may still be in jeopardy. And, there is still the slim possibility that I could be bumped to another school (slim,) and to another grade level in another classroom. I'm just going to take one thing at a time and just be grateful for the fact that I HAVE A JOB. I have a job, I have an income--that's all anyone can ask for these days.

Next week my mom and I will drive to Carmel and spend 5 days/4 nights days at the LOVELY Cypress Inn. I can't wait. You can visit their website HERE. It is, literally, my favorite place to visit. I knew that it would be great to go there knowing that the RIF hearing was over, but now there is the added extra of going and knowing that my job is secure. That is certainly more than I could've ever hoped for. We'll have a great time, we'll take my dog, the hotel is stunning and the people so nice. It will be a wonderful break from everything as I head into the homestretch of the school year.

Life is good. I'm still amazed at yesterday's incredible news. What a miracle that was!

HAPPY, HAPPY NEWS!!!

After 3 long months, I learned today that I will not be losing my job at the end of this school year!!

Learning about this happy news was completely unexpected today. I expected to be preparing for my sub tomorrow, as I got ready for the school district's RIF (Reduction in Force) Hearing that would be taking place.

Instead, the vice principal and secretary came to my classroom shortly after recess and hand-delivered a letter from the superintendent telling me that my notice of possible layoff had been revoked, that I will be offered a certificated teaching position for next year, and that I do not need to attend tomorrow's hearing.

The relief I feel is indescribable! I've lived under this cloud of stress and uncertainty since the third week of January, and it has affected me greatly. And, despite the outpouring of support from family and friends, being in that state of limbo for so many weeks is exhausting.

And now it is over. I still can't believe it! I am SOOO thrilled and grateful to have a job!

3 Witty Comics in a Row...

On my homepage I have it set to show 3 silly comic strips. I thought all 3 of today's were especially good. Click on the picture to see them full-sized and get a little chuckle yourself...

Field Trip to the Music Center in Los Angeles

Today was Field Trip day at school. It went fairly smoothly.

Last year I made the decision to skip the field trip because I had too many unruly kids. This year I have 90% of the same kids as last year, but the most difficult ones have gone their separate ways and have been replaced with very sweet kids.

We were invited to take part in the Children's Festival in downtown LA. We were given a DVD to use to practice this dance called Rocka My Soul. Today we took the bus downtown and navigated our way through crowds of hundreds of kids from other schools. It was very well organized. There were many volunteers who helped us and one very nice man gave us a tour of 2 of the 4 theaters on the Music Center property.

We got to go inside the lobby of the Walt Disney Concert Hall, we sat inside the Ahmanson Theater, and then the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion is where the performance we were to see was going to take place.

The performance was by Ailey II, a west coast offshoot of the Alvin Ailey dance company. The performance was fantastic--just long enough so that the kids didn't get bored. Just cultural enough to expose them to something new, and just jazzy enough to really keep their attention. Thanks to YouTube, I was able to find some videos of what we saw today:

This is part of a dance called "Revelations" that was actually choreographed by Alvin Ailey himself in 1960:


The whole performance had the kids mesmerized and I'm so glad that they had the chance to experience something like this.

When the performance was done, the kids went outside and had a change to get in circles and perform the dance that they had learned, which was done to the same song as the closing number in today's dance concert.

Afterwards, the teachers made the command decision to get as all back to school and then eat lunch, even though it was around 1pm. We were worried about not getting back on time. But we did, and broke out the lunches with minutes to spare before the 1:50 bell.

The weather was good, the traffic was kind, and the kids did great. You never know how things are going to turn out on field trip days. But today was smooth, just the way I like them. Yay!

Pink Friday...Could-a Been Worse...

Pink Friday in CA. The day that thousands of teachers received their "pink slips." (Notice of possibly not being rehired the following school year...)

I was one of them.

I've known about this day since January and had mentally and emotionally prepared for it. And now it has come and gone.

What I didn't realize is that this was a state-wide day of support for all those teachers. At my own school, every staff member, and even the administrators, were wearing pink.

Still...there is hope. These are just "warning letters." These are not "you're laid-off, go start looking for a new job" letters. I'm hanging onto that glimmer of hope. And I could very likely be safe when final decisions are made in May at my district. I understand, this is all about covering the bases and the whole "procedure" of things. Along with those "procedures" are some upcoming meeting and even a hearing, that people like me are encouraged to participate in. Fine. I'll jump through their hoops and not let it consume me. That's all I can do.

Thank goodness for my family and friends, near and far. They have been so supportive.

The ones who really surprised me were my students. My little 5th grade munchkins who I have now been with for 2 years.

I'm a big believer in being very straight with my students. It is the way I was raised and, frankly, I think they appreciate being in the loop and being respected like that. So, they have known that my job was in jeopardy. I wanted them to know because, let's face it, it is HARD not to let those kinds of things affect me and, possibly, affect my teaching. So, we've talked about it.

On Friday we were getting in shape for an upcoming physical fitness test, so I wore sweats so I could go running with them. Our wonderful stock & materials lady, Ms. Yvonne, had cut out a bunch of pink hearts and put pins on them. I wore one and brought the rest to my room for my kids to wear. Hearts. PINK hearts. Surely few of them would want to wear one.

We ran out. They all wanted to wear one.

The real surprise came at lunch.

I had been checking my box at recess and then at lunch for my "letter." I just wanted to get this next grisly step over with. Then it occurred to me that something like this probably had to be given in person.

After lunch I brought my kids inside for their water breaks and a story. They were all giggly and secretive and they had something for me:

FRONT:
INSIDE: (I couldn't believe they would do all this....)
All of the class had signed it. They even hunted down a few former students, some of the ELD kids from my morning group, and had signed the names of the kids who had moved away. The funny ones? Check out the "signatures" of Harry Potter, Roald Dahl (they know he's my favorite author,) and Barack Obama!! As they explained it, "Yeah, Teacher, Barack Obama flew down in Air Force One, signed your card, and went back to Washington DC!"

BACK:
What can I say? I couldn't help but be deeply touched. They don't realize what a thing like that means to a teacher.

When the kids were in the library I went to the office and, finally, collected my letter. All the fear and anxiety wasn't there, as I expected it to be. I took it, I read it, and that was it. I picked my kids up from the library and we went and listened to our choir sing some songs from The Sound of Music. They did a great job!

After school I went to the district office and dropped off some paperwork to get the ball rolling with all of this "procedure" stuff. Then I came home, went to the cemetery with my mom and nephew...it had been one year since my grandpa had passed away...and then to the mechanic for my car's check up.

The night passed nicely and quietly, and I was calm over all this job business. Me. Calm when I've received a letter like this. Who would-a thunk it?

The irony is that, despite the "letter," my day was actually pretty GREAT. And that was my Pink Friday.

My Birthday Weekend...WOW!!

I had such a great birthday weekend, it almost made me forget my newly acquired age! And, because there are so many things to share and so many different things that made it special, I'm going to break this entry up into parts:

The Birthday Wishes
What can I say? It is really nice to be remembered on your birthday. Last year, my birthday was very much downplayed because Tito, my grandpa, was at the end of his life and all attention was on his care--as it should be. I didn't mind. He ended up passing on March 13th. My birthday consisted of my mom and me having a quiet dinner in her family room, watching a movie, and my blowing out a candle on a little cupcake.

Like I said, I didn't mind. All of us were focused on Tito at the time. But at the same time, it sure was nice to receive so many birthday wishes this year! Cards, emails, about 35 "Happy Birthdays" from different friends on Facebook, and 2 song dedications. I'll talk about those in a bit... :-)

The Family Party
I have made no secret that my family is, well, AWESOME. We have made it a tradition over the years to rotate homes every month and celebrate the birthdays in that month. Whoever can make it, can make it, but we always have a good time. Sometimes we sit around the fire pit outside, sometimes my uncles will bring their guitars and we'll sing, sometimes we'll have deep discussions about life. With the passing of both grandparents last year, our conversations have often turned to some of life's deeper subjects: mortality, the importance of family, the transitory aspect of material things, always trying our best to uphold the traditions our grandparents began and honor their memories.

This past Saturday we gathered at my Uncle Ruben and Aunt Alicia's house. Their house is awesome...all spread out and filled with Uncle Ruben's art. The group was small, only 9 of us, but we had fun. At our biggest, we number around 18 people. The dinner was yummy, we had pie a la mode for dessert, and we hung out in the kitchen and living room. Baby Alexander was the star of the show. I can't think of a better way to spend my birthday evening than with family like that.

Here are some pictures:


By the next morning, I lined up some of my birthday gifts and took a picture, still feeling the love:

Left to right:
A card from my good friend and co-worker, Nancy (accompanied with some chocolate chip cookies--yum!), a card and a really pretty anklet from my dear friend Eric, a card from my Grandma Chevalier, a card from my mom. Also, a gift card to Borders bookstore from my brother, flowers from my mom (also theater tickets and a visit to the mechanic,) and a reproduction of a painting by Uncle Ruben.

Like I said, I'm really feeling the birthday love this year! It's been very nice and I feel so fortunate.

The Song Dedications
As I've posted here several times in the past, one of my relaxing hobbies is karaoke. It's a lot of fun for someone like me who really enjoys singing and doesn't have a lot of opportunites (or time) to perform in public, which I'm not really interested in doing anyway.

My friend, Eric, who also does karaoke, and I have birthdays one day apart, and we were thinking, wouldn't it be fun to each request a birthday song of the other person? As it turns out, we each chose a song that the other did not know. He wanted me to sing To Sir With Love from the Sidney Pointier movie, and I requested an Elvis song called A Thing Called Love, because I knew that it would show off his very nice lowwww voice, which it did.

And, since MySpace and Blogger links don't gel very well together, all I can do is post the names of the songs with links attached to them.

So...click on the song titles if you wish to hear them...

Eric's birthday song request, sung by me: TO SIR WITH LOVE

My birthday song request, sung by Eric: A THING CALLED LOVE (and I'm just going to do a little PR for him here and encourage you to click on some of his other songs, because he is an excellent singer...)

Fun! We are arguing about who did a better job, but since this is my blog I'll take the lead and say that he did awesome!

And then, out of the blue, my friend, Steven, (my duet partner on You Don't Bring Me Flowers,) did a birthday song for me too--a great surprise. He did Barry Manilow's Mandy. You can click on the song's title and see it. Yes, "see," because he does the whole video singing thing (very well, I might add.)

Some additional fun and misc:
The weekend was so good and fun that, in the process, I sort of shelved the fact that a cold was coming on. Last night with the lost Daylight Savings hour I could not fall asleep. That, coupled with the fact that I'm sick, was too much. I awoke feeling l-o-u-s-y this morning. I hadn't really planned to call in for a sub today, but it was necessary. I hope my kids are kind to her and that the plans I emailed to our secretary at 7am this morning were easily understood and followed.

And, let's end on another fun "note..." On SingSnap, which DOES let Blogger embed their codes, Steven and I did 2 more duets these last couple of days. They are too fun, even though the sound quality isn't great. We each picked a song and, poor guy, I ended up picking one that he didn't know, but he recorded it anyway, like a champ.

So, we did A Little Fall of Rain (my choice) from Les Miz:


And We've Got Tonight (his choice.):

We're both pretty happy with this one. All in good fun!

And, in the words of Inigo Montoya from The Princess Bride, "Let me esplain...no, there is too much...Let me sum up..."
Naturally, there are some people who I especially miss at a time like this who are no longer with us: Tito, Tita, my dad, and Brad, but I could almost feel their love trickle down through everyone else's. I get a little misty looking at all their names in that list--and I don't want to end on a depressing note, because this weekend has been anything BUT depressing. :-)

I'll just recap by saying what a great birthday weekend this was--one of the best in recent memory. I've been very honored and humbled at the attention I've received. I have felt truly, truly blessed, lucky, and happy.

Thank you to ALL who had a hand in making this a very special birthday. You're very important to me. Love and gratitude to you all!

A New Step in the Karaoke Thing...

Check this out! I have a karaoke bud on MySpace who suggested that we try a duet. He's in Michigan and I'm in California. On another site called SingSnap we did it. This is our first attempt at this. Fun!

Fun With Xander...

This afternoon I had the wonderful opportunity to babysit my nephew, Alexander, for about 2 hours. I have to say, I'm getting a lot better at this, and I do love spending time with him.

We came to my house (after I put out the confused dog,) and just played. I gave him a little bowl of Corn Flakes--because we are always trying to get him to eat--and he sat on my knee and we played with the webcam for a few minutes while he tried to feed me Corn Flakes that he's already put in his mouth. (Fun!)

Then we sat on the floor and looked at a book, played rolling a ball, stacking little plastic donuts on a plastic base, and then I turned on some music and he started swaying back and forth. When I started to keep the beat by patting my knee, he came over and started patting my knee! It was too cute.

I can't think of a better way to spend a couple of hours.

All I Know...

I was looking through the songs on the Zune marketplace when I came across this wonderful song by Art Garfunkel. It is so pretty! I just wanted to share: