Christmas in Oregon

God is good. That's about all I can say. It's amazing how things work out sometimes. Two days before Zach and I were to head to the Salt Lake City airport (5 hours away), Utah got hit with a massive storm. The pass we had to take through the mountain range was closed and snow was the forecast for the Salt Lake Valley. I decided to book a hotel in Price, which is the city leading into the pass and headed there Tuesday night, hoping the snow would melt. When we arrived in Price, the restrictions for the pass were chains. All I have is studs on the car. We prayed and a miracle happened (at least in my book). When we left the next morning, the forecast was for rain in the lower elevations and snow in the mountains. Yet the only rain we saw during the 70-mile drive through the mountains was at the very beginning and the very end. The roads were dry or slightly wet -- the snow that had plagued the pass for the past few days had "magically" disappeared. What I thought could take us up to 4 hours took only two. We arrived at the airport at 11 a.m. with a departure time of 3 p.m. It took us longer to find a parking spot than it did to get through security.

Zach brought me an early Christmas gift -- a little grey tabby kitten. He was almost hit by a car and Zach's sympathetic nature took over. I am a sucker for cats, so I turned out the be a complete pushover. The only problem was that we were getting ready to leave for two weeks. Luckily our neighbor has volunteered to watch over him for us. The little guy is really cute and twitches a lot in his sleep, so we named him Twitch. He appears to be about a month or so old. Not really sure.

Here in Oregon, it's been pretty uneventful, which is probably a good thing. We're staying with grandma and grandpa. Grandpa Charley just turned 94 and Grandma Fauneil is 82, so not sure how much longer they'll be around. If it wasn't for the two of them, we probably would've stayed in Utah for the holidays or gone to Vegas. Jentzy turned 19 on the 23rd and I took her to get a new cell phone. My brother, wife and two girls came to visit --which was a lot of fun. I haven't seen my one niece, Hannah, for almost two years, and have never seen my just-turned-1 niece, Emily.

We celebrated Christmas Eve with Dad, Sandy and Brian. I got dad an "I love my Ducks" shirt, which was a big hit since he's a pretty rabid Beaver Believer. He's a good sport, though. The most memorable part of the day, though, was when Zach opened his present. Zach had forgotten to email or text my dad what he wanted for Christmas. When dad called, I told him Zach wanted an "Iron Man Gym". I knew what I was talking about and just assumed dad would understand what I was talking about (the whole common ground thing). I even told him you could find it at Wal-mart. Well, Zach opened his present and instantly a weird look came on his face. He held up a pair of black boxer briefs with the image of the DC hero Iron Man on it. Not knowing that Zach and he were on a different page, dad told Zach how he had gone to Wal-mart and asked the clerks for any and all Iron Man stuff (both he and the clerks assumed they were talking about the comic book hero). Zach then pulled out two more pairs of Iron Man underwear. By this time, I knew exactly what had happened and how our communication breakdown came to be. I started laughing my butt off, while Zach graciously thanked dad. After I explained to dad the miscommunication (and how it wasn't anybody's fault), I did what any good mom does -- posted the incident on Facebook.

Overall, we got several cash gifts and gift cards, which is probably good considering how much the airlines charge for luggage. Jentzy got a lot of jewlery stuff, as she has decided to take up a new hobby. We spent Christmas day with grandma and grandpa. I helped cook dinner, then the kids and I went to see the new Tron movie in 3D. I'm spoiled now, don't think I can go back to good ol' 2D.

Now that Christmas is "over", the kids and I are being mellow. Planning on going to another movie today, Tomorrow, Zach and I will take Jentzy back to The Dalles and we'll stay the night at the Fiegenbaums. Hopefully, we'll get a chance to see all of our friends. Zach is going to go rabbit hunting with a former neighbor that he did odd jobs for. We'll come back to St. Helens Tuesday and chill until Thursday. We plan on flying out about 3 p.m. That works well because it's Dad and Sandy's anniversary and they plan on going to the beach for a few days.

It's been an interesting year with lots of changes. Not sure what 2011 will bring. But whatever comes our way, we'll deal with it. Happy Holiday to everyone.

Reading Endorsement

As a condition of my employment, I have to get a reading endorsement. It's not that bad of a thing -- I was already working on it in Oregon. And, it's always good in the educational field to get as many endorsements as possible. Plus, my district is currently paying for the classes -- $45 per class (3 graduate credits). What a deal! You can't beat that. The only problem is that the classes are every Wednesday from 4:30-8:30 on the EdNet system until NEXT Christmas. Aye aye!

Tonight is the last class for the second course. This class has been easy and hard. The only "assignment" was to read 100 books. Yes, I said that right, 100 books. And, while the grade school teachers mostly read "picture books", I read mostly novels. So, if you're looking for a good book in a variety of genres, I'm the person to ask. And, I read all 100 books while teaching full time and directing a musical. Thank goodness I only have one child right now. Whew!!

My next class starts in two weeks and it's a writing class -- my specialty.

Zach's wrestling season

Zach completed his first full wrestling season (despite a two-week respite for his infected knee). Overall, he did fairly well. He won some, he lost some. The coach said that Zach wrestled wonderfully in practice, but when he got to the matches he got "stage fright". Once he gets some more "mat time" he'll do better. The official school season may be over, but Zach is going to do "Mat Club," which begins in February. He should be a "pro" by the time he hits high school next year.

Will Roger Follies

Wow! What an experience! I have been involved with drama in one way or another for the past 25 years, but directing a play is something completely different. The musical Will Rogers Follies: A Life in Revue went much better than I anticipated. Of course, the rule with musicals is that they don't come together until opening night. "Mom Adams" you may have said that more than 20 years ago, but it still rings through.

During the course of the four-night run, we had more than 750 people attend. We didn't keep ticket stubs, so we aren't exactly sure. We're waiting for final bills and such, but it looks like we actually made money -- about $1,000!! The local newspaper gave us a beautiful front page picture and a double-truck (2-page color spread). Too bad it came out after the play was over, but free publicity is free publicity.

I'm so glad that Debbie Christiansen and Lynnette Adams of EOTS (Edge of the Seaters) Theatre Company asked me to team with them. I couldn't have done this on my own! There were so many little things that I didn't know about. Plus, Lynnette's 30-plus years of drama teaching experience was a godsend. Too bad all "new" teachers can't tap into resources like this.

The play wasn't without problems, but thankfully I have AMAZING techs. If there's a way to flunk Michael and keep him around next year, I will!