Happy Birthday Dave!

Happy Birthday Dave! I'm not even looking at the calendar or clock, but I know it's an ungodly hour and some day during a week in June. No, really, I know it is now the wee hours of Wednesday morning and as has been rapidly becoming the norm, I'm late!

We were in Las Vegas over the weekend celebrating Dave's 50th birthday (6/26) and returned home late yesterday, er, uh, I mean Monday. There were no hangovers during the long weekend, but plenty of alcohol and late nights to be sure. We had an incredible time with a group of friends dining, dancing, gambling, sun bathing, lots of eating, country dancing and Dave, James, Lisa L, and I even rode the bull at Gilley's! Heather and I went to The Price is Right Live! and I won a $223 dollar jackpot with a .30 bet on a penny machine! Talk about a hoot!

Now it's back to reality and that spells H-O-M-E-W-O-R-K for me and just work for Dave. As it is with any vacation, there is plenty of laundry to do, groceries to buy, mail to sort, calls to return and the list goes on and on and on and on...

With that, I want to leave you with a funny quip from Mason. "Mom, I can't shower or my tattoos will come off." Me, "You smell bad, you must wash your parts." Mason, "MOM! I CAN'T! MY TATTOOS WILL COME OFF! I can't use soap where I have a tattoo." Me, "You don't have tattoos on your feet, in your armpits, in your butt crack or between your legs, put soap there!" Mason, "Oh, I didn't think I could wash separate parts."

Have a great rest of the week and I'll see ya when I see ya! Oh, and I'll post some pictures from our trip on my blog this weekend - I'll send the link for those of you who care to see.

Apparently, I do have time.

"Live with intention. Walk to the edge. Listen hard. Practice wellness. Play with abandon. Laugh. Choose with no regret. Continue to learn. Appreciate your friends. Do what you love. Live as if this is all there is."-Mary Anne Roadacher-Hershey

Well, I would if it weren't for statistics! Over 30 hours in homework and I've just started week 3...I guess all those times I said, "I don't have time." (to work out, to visit, to clean my house, etc) I lied. Ugh!

Have a great week and I'll catch up next week. We are headed to Las Vegas for Dave's 50th. I spent all weekend getting my stats homework done so I can do next weeks homework before we go. I can't even imagine how the next three days will unfold!

Tuesday Tip?

Hello Friends,

In light of my recent tardiness, I may have to rename my Monday Motivator to something like, "Tuesday Tip" or "Wednesday Whine." Maybe I could name it as I manage to get it out each week! Laughing! I suppose that I make it happen at all some weeks is a feat in itself.

My statistics class is giving me a run for my money. I should see if I can calculate the odds that A) I will pass B) I will fail or C) I will pass with a grade that makes me feel like I failed. I have spoken with a half a dozen friends at school and each one of us was told by our counselor that for our math requirement, "Take Statistics, it's a breeze!" Did they take this class? A breeze? I think not! In any case, expect a "Tuesday Tip" or a "Wednesday Whine" in the coming six weeks. I'm not even through week two and I've spend 19.87 hours on homework! That is not including 3 quizzes and the practice test and Exam 1 I will take Wednesday. Yeah, this sucks.

Mason shot his series of commercials last week and it went GREAT! I was so darn proud of him, he was professional, courteous and took direction like a champ. The casting company that booked him has a great track record of posting commercials on their Facebook page in addition to their You-tube channel. I will be sure to send a link when it's up.

Finally, we spent a fun day on Sunday in Alameda with Al. Mason and I got some new head shots and spent a little time at the beach. It was absolutely spectacular, warm and sun shiny, it made me sorry I moved away...It was so pretty Mason commented that we should vacation in Alameda. I agree! Until then, I have to get back to homework. Have a great week and when you have to do something you don't particularly want to do, think of me and 10-12 hours of statistics homework a week! "I think I can. I think I can. I think I can. I think I can. I know I can!"

June Rain

Welcome to a rainy Monday in June. I read this weekend that June 4th is historically the most likely day in June for CA to get rain and in some cases, lots of it! Just from my memory alone, I can remember more than one Poobah that had rain and for those of you who recall, Poobah was always the first week in June. It was for that very reason that we pushed it out to the third and fourth weekends as the dates worked year to year. I have certainly felt the lack of planning and excitement of not having a Poobah this year and I might add, it is both sad and validating that others in the group didn't manage to pull it together as they said they would. I've known all along what a task it is to put the camping trip together and that would be proved by the mere fact that a group of at least six people who said they would work together to do it for this year did not manage to pull it off. I guess there is a part of me that after more than 20 years would have like to seen that it meant enough to the rest of the group to make it happen. So it goes. On the bright side (isn't there always one?), instead of Poobah, we have Las Vegas on tap for Dave's 50th birthday this year - or as Dave is calling it, "Vegas Poobah." There is a group of us going and I just know we are going to have a great time!

Until then, summer school starts this week and though I only have two classes, they are Comm 2 - Argumentation and Statistics (on line). I knew I was taking on a challenge as the courses are each a 16 week curriculum condensed into only 8 weeks and the Stats class will be an extra challenge being on line. It will be up to me to figure it out and make an incredible amount of homework and 2-3 quizzes happen each week with an exam every two weeks. It was not lost on me that my professor made the course available more than a week early and "highly encouraged" us to get started, keeping in mind that our summer break was only 2 weeks. Yikes!

In addition to school starting, I am working like crazy to get my RiverLights Originals art work printed and framed as it all needs to be hung by the end of this week for the Summer Art Walk in downtown Auburn on June 14. Of course, that is the same day as Mason's dance performance (Mason has been taking Hip Hop dance lessons) so Dave will be there with him while I am meeting and greeting Art Walk goers. I was glad to know that Mason will have a second performance on Saturday the 16th, so at least I get to make it to one. So much for the lazy days of summer, it's crazy busy around here! I hope you have a great week and don't forget to vote!