The chore begins!

Is it possible to really not have much to report, even though you feel like you can't keep up with everything that's going on? It's been crazy! Cam doesn't start his summer skateboard camp until next week, so this last week it was a typical break week in determining where he would go for each day. We took it in stride considering it won't be an issue any longer! He's spent quite a bit of time at Grandpa and Grandma's house this week and absolutely loving it. Went to the neighbors one day, and Bryan was off on another. Not too crazy, but it's all about planning and coordinating nonetheless. The gas prices are freaking ridiculous. Bryan's day consists of driving a diesel truck and pulling a trailer, so you can imagine what we're paying for gas. I saw a comic strip come through email the other day about a newly engaged couple talking to another couple and the woman says, "And we're registered at Chevron, Mobil and Arco." No kidding. Well Bryan got some sort of a chip for his truck that has improved the gas mileage incredibly. (Apparently the old one he replaced it with wasn't doing crap). Anyway, he's getting 17+ pulling the trailer which is about 5-7 more than he was getting. Every bit counts!

Speaking of saving gas, I am officially a telecommuter! Friday was my last "real" day at work. You should see my desk ... it looks like I was canned and I can only imagine what some of the people on my floor will think when they come in on Monday. Most of the employees are International Military counselors, so their hours are 8pm -4 am, or 12am-8am, so they're usually gone when I come in. You should see the office floor here. Monitor, keyboard, mouse, laptop, docking station, headset, phone ... the list goes on. Our project for the weekend is finding a desk where both our home computer and my work equipment can coexist. That should be fun. There were so many hiccoughs this week regarding our phones, internal systems access, etc. and each not coming through until the last minute, that I couldn't be excited for the change. I think now that I'm home, and know that I don't have to make that drive into work on Monday, I can actually breathe. There was a horrible accident on one of the freeways on Thursday, (that involved a pedestrian, not a vehicle) which ultimately closed down three others. Needless to say, what should have been a 45 minute commute turned into two hours. I will NOT miss that.

My 3rd week of class is about over - on to week 4. I cannot believe there are only three weeks left. Unbelievable. And I know I said this after receiving my Bachelors, but I'm really done this time. :) Graduation is July 19th ... so for those of you who need to "get away" for a weekend, perhaps this is the perfect time. You don't have to go to the ceremony, I'll waive that expectation, but the party will be nothing short of one major celebration! (Okay, this invitation goes out to everyone other than the Keene family, since that is the due date of numero uno son/grandchild, J.T.! Yay!)

Well I'm sitting here with my almost empty coffee cup, and still in my pajamas. Cam spent the night at Grandma and Grandpa's, Bryan's at work, and I'm attempting to get my you know what into that office to start. Feel free to join me. Or call. Calls would be good. Then I would HAVE to put it off for a bit longer. I do need to so some laundry. And there are some nasty leftover s in the fridge that could use my attention. Maybe I should do that first. Probably should check into my classroom also. Now that I think about it, I might be better off waiting until Bryan gets home to start. I'm sure I'll need his help moving something anyway. One step at at a time.
I'll start with another cup of coffee ...

2nd grade awards

Cameron is no longer a 2nd grader - I cannot believe my little baby will be in 3rd grade next year! He had a fantastic year and worked so hard. His teacher and principal couldn't stop saying how intelligent the 2nd grade class was and I have to agree. These are some bright kids that will go on to do amazing things. Academically he is above where he should be. But just as important, if not more, he learned so much about respect and self-control. These qualities will get him far. The picture above is him with his trophy and one of his awards. The trophy was for Bible Memorization - each month they have a different scripture to memorize and recite back to the teacher and class. He perfected this each month. I don't know how many times I would say to him "Let's practice your scripture, go grab your paper ..." and his response would be, "Oh, I'm already done with it for this month. I said it to my teacher in class already." And sure enough, he would know that scripture like the back of his hand. His other awards were for his reading program that he aced through, his citizenship in class, and of course, his moving on to 3rd grade award. Very proud of him!

KTR1

I really hope you can see this. It was Cam's first day in the KTR1 (Kids That Rip) class ... and according to Bryan, he ROCKED it! These are clips of him coming down off the mega ramp and landing the jumps. (This is what he fell on a few weeks ago. He said he needed to face his fears.) Damn Skippy he did!

WHY GOD MADE MOMS

These are answers given by 2nd grade school children to the following questions. They certainly come up with the darndest things! And I can definitely attest to that. Cameron brought home some of his schoolwork/projects from throughout the year. One of these is a journal they wrote in. He already gave me permission to share some of his entries. I'll probably post them over the weekend. There are some that are absolutely priceless. Some of them are so from the heart and touching and some that are downright hilarious.

Why did God make mothers?

1. She's the only one who knows where the scotch tape is.

2. Mostly to clean the house.

3. To help us out of there when we were getting born.

How did God make mothers?

1. He used dirt, just like for the rest of us.

2. Magic plus super powers and a lot of stirring.

3. God made my Mom just the same like he made me. He just used bigger parts.

What ingredients are mothers made of?

1. God makes mothers out of clouds and angel hair and everything nice in the world and one dab of mean.

2. They had to get their start from men's bones. Then they mostly use string, I think.

Why did God give you your mother and not some other mom?

1. We're related.

2. God knew she likes me a lot more than other people's moms like me.

What kind of little girl was your mom?

1. My Mom has always been my mom and none of that other stuff.

2. I don't know because I wasn't there, but my guess would be pretty bossy.

3. They say she used to be nice.

What did mom need to know about dad before she married him?

1. His last name.

2. She had to know his background. Like is he a crook? Does he get drunk on beer?

3. Does he make at least $800 a year? Did he say NO to drugs and YES to chores?

Why did your mom marry your dad?

1. My dad makes the best spaghetti in the world. And my Mom eats a lot.

2. She got too old to do anything else with him.

3. My grandma says that Mom didn't have her thinking cap on.

Who's the boss at your house?

1. Mom doesn't want to be boss, but she has to because dad's such a goof ball.

2. Mom. You can tell by room inspection. She sees the stuff under the bed.

3. I guess Mom is, but only because she has a lot more to do than dad.

What's the difference between moms & dads?

1. Moms work at work and work at home and dads just go to work at work.

2. Moms know how to talk to teachers without scaring them.

3. Dads are taller & stronger, but moms have all the real power 'cause that's who you got to ask if you want to sleep over at your friend's.

4. Moms have magic, they make you feel better without medicine.

What does your mom do in her spare time?

1. Mothers don't do spare time.

2. To hear her tell it, she pays bills all day long.

What would it take to make your mom perfect?

1. On the inside she's already perfect. Outside, I think some kind of plastic surgery.

2. Diet. You know, her hair. I'd diet, maybe blue.

If you could change one thing about your mom, what would it be?

1. She has this weird thing about me keeping my room clean. I'd get rid of that.

2. I'd make my mom smarter. Then she would know it was my sister who did it and not me.

3. I would like for her to get rid of those invisible eyes on the back of her head.

Caught on Tape!

I'm moving up with my blogging! I think I've finally figured out how to use my new video camera, download the video clips, AND edit them! I know. Impressive. (Is this where a Masters Degree gets me?) Wow. Okay, so I'm no Steven Spielberg, or even Isaac Lamb, but it's a start, right? :) If this works, the video clip is of Cam skating during one of his lessons. Bryan was playing around with the camera and I messed around with it a bit. Disclosure: What you are about to see is NOT very exciting, and the tricks are NOT cool. This is per Cameron. So I promised him that we would work on videotaping the cool stuff he does and not the "crappy" stuff. Hopefully you can see it! (By the way, he moved up in his class! Yay! He is so excited! He'll start in the Kids That Rip (1) class tomorrow. (Not sure if there is a way to mute the blog music so you can hear the video music ... I'll work on that one.) :)

Update: I removed the video clip because apparently it was a big white square. Not sure how that happened, I could see the clip when I logged into the site last night. At any rate, I'll work on it!!