Monday morning, I headed over to VVC, with Alex in tow, to get my transcripts only to find the line wrapped around the building in triple-digit weather. Yeah…Nope, I don’t think so. Instead, we made our way down to lower campus and hung out with Kristy in the writing center until Mary's physical therapy appointment was over. I left my mark on the white board: "Sonya was here (I thought the meeting was on Monday)." Part of the plan to crash to meeting on Wednesday, hoping it was enough of a hint.

Alex went to another friend's house that night, so Mary and I dropped her off, then went back to Mary's to watch movies.

At midnight I got a phone call from Alex asking me to come get her. I knew her friend had changed for the worse since we moved and insisted that they have their sleepover at her grandparents' home. I was reassured that it would only be her and her mom at home so I allowed itbut told Alex if she felt uncomfortable in any way to call me no matter what time it was, and I would go get her. As it turns out, another friend came over, the two friends started fighting and Alex didn't like it. After I picked her up, Alex informed me that on top of that, the hosting friend’s boyfriend was there and…well…yeah, you get the picture. So, that didn't go well, and as proud as I was for my daughter’s responsible actions, I felt bad that her plans didn’t go better than she hoped for.

Tuesday we went to the mall so Mary and I could have pictures done together, then we met my adopted daughter and her family for lunch at Chili's. It was good to see them. Alex wasn't feeling well, so we went "home" to find out she was running a low-grade fever. I drugged her up, and put her to bed. Since we really couldn't go anywhere with Alex's minor ailment, we decided to be vegetables in front of the boob tube.

Part Three

After another night bunking at T's, we got on the road to start our weekend in Victorville. We spent our first night, Saturday, with Mary's boyfriend, Blue, since Mary had to work that night. Sunday, Alex spent the day with a friend while I went to a Star Wars movie party with a few friends from the writing center, where I conveniently found out there would be writing center meeting while I was in town. There’s nothing like English nerd commentators during Star Wars! Incidentally, hero or not, Luke Skywalker is a whiny little brat who wasn’t disciplined enough as a child. Man, does he do a lot of complaining in Episodes four and five. First he’s angry that he didn’t get to know his father, and then he’s angry when he finds out who his father really is. And then there's that Skywalker-Solo-Leia triangle-thing going on. Dude! She’s your sister! Get over it! Shouldn’t the all-knowing Force he taps into give him some hint that his feelings for Leia are somehow…oh, I don’t know…wrong? (Stepping down now).

Part Two

Heavenly and I got to Mandalay Bay, picked up our tickets and while we were in line at Will Call, we looked out and could see the guys sound-checking. Unfortunately, I didn't have the digital camera to get a good picture.

Before leaving Memphis, I called to find out if cameras were allowed inside the venue and was told by some noob that only disposables were allowed in. Great! I bought one and was ready. When we finally got into the venue - the beach area - I discovered that many people had their digitals. Enfuriated, it was then that I realized I could have had better pictures of the concert if I had just risked bringing the digital camera instead of the disposal piece of sh** I had. Vegas wasn't as hot this time, but mostly due to the stormy weather, which nearly ruined what ended up being good times.

The top of the stage has a signal light. Green lights, it was all good and we could go into the water surrounding the stage; yellow lights, we couldn't go in the water because getting struck by lighting was a big risk, but the show would go on; and red lights, we were basically S.O.L., but got a refund for our tickets. Yeah...we all looking forward to that refund. What were the event staff thinking?

We were ecstatic to see green lights upon entering, but after Alex took a short dip in the deeper part of the pool, the lights went yellow and we were ordered out of the water. Many downhearted fans slogged our way out of the pool and up onto the "beach" area, waiting anxiously for green lights as we watched the clouds overhead dissipate. For a while it was like playing Red Light, Green Light. The boys were due to start at 9 p.m., but the minutes ticked by, passing the scheduled start time. They must love us as much as we love them; they seemed to be holding the show for green lights...and their own safety, I'm sure. Around 9:15, it was a go and a herd of fans stampeded back into the water. I took Alex's hand and dragged her to the front where I was right below Roland Orzabal's side of the stage. Everything went smoothly; green lights throughout the show, and a few smiles from Roland, made us completely forget the stress of just getting to Vegas. It was the "Closest Thing to Heaven." Alex had a blast and commented that it wasn't what she expected. She thought it would be boring because “they’re older.” Boy, did she get a rude awakening! Her favorite parts were the beginning -- they opened with "Mad World," which included an orchestral intro before Curt Smith took the stage to finish singing the song, followed by Roland -- and the encore -- "Woman in Chains" and "Shout" -- which is when it started to rain and made the evening seem even more perfect. One of Curt's daughter's came out to sing Shout with everyone, and that was awesome for Alex to see. When the show ended, we drove up and down the strip so Alex could see it lit up: her favorite is the Luxor. Should I be concerned? Then, we ended our perfect evening with a 1:30 a.m. breakfast at Denny's.

Part One
I topped off a long and virtually-but-not-quite-stress-free summer with a trip to Vegas and California. Around May, the month of my birthday, I found out that Tears for Fears would be performing at a handful of gigs between late June and late July. So for my birthday, I talked my parents and Michael into getting me tickets to the Vegas show. Before that, Alex, my 15-year-old, wanted to take a trip back to California to visit with the friends she left behind; except she wanted to go in June, and since I wouldn’t let her travel that far alone - being the paranoid parent that I am - I told her the only way she could go was if she went at the end of July with me because I refused to make two trips back to the High Desert. I left the desert for a reason. While in California, we were also supposed to go to San Diego and visit with some friends there.

One of my best friends, Mary, was supposed to attend the concert with me, but for personal reasons, was unable to make it. Since I’d previously taken my two oldest daughters to see TFF, I thought, since Mary couldn’t make it, that it might be fun to take Alex to her first concert. Fantastic! We planned our trip, flying into Vegas the night before the show, staying a couple of nights with another one of my long-time best friends, Tina, then heading to the High Desert in sunny Southern California. But to get there, we had to fly, and to fly cheap, we had flew standby.

It’s great that we can fly for free through Michael’s benefit package at Pinnacle Airline. Yay, right? Not so much. The downside is that we have to fly standby and we have to fly via Pinnacle or Northwest. So there’s this nifty little airfare called ZED Fare or Flat fare that allows us to fly standby using any carrier – for a nominal fee. So, if you’re current on your airline news, you know that Northwest Airline is having issues. One of the bigger one's being a lack of crew members to fly the planes. This has resulted in numerous cancelled flights. On top of that, current crew members have “phoned in sick” (yeah, right), resulting in even more cancelled flights. Paying passengers on those cancelled flights are rerouted to other carriers and generally take priority over regular standby passengers like myself. This is where my adventures began -- and ended.

I usually get a little nervous before flying, but I’ve never had the experience I had on 26 July. I’m convinced it was an anxiety attack of some form. Before we left, a couple of things were brought to our attention. First, there was the guy in Seattle who missed his flight to Memphis and made a bomb threat. Yep! He was flying Northwest. I didn't worry too much about that; he was angry and said something stupid in front of TSA and now he'll probably go to jail. However, what did have a direct effect on us was the lack of pilots Northwest currently has to fly the planes. I didn't think we'd get a flight out, let alone together. I worried myself into an anxiety attack the likes of which I've never had before and ran to the bathroom across from our terminal where the contents of what I’d recently eaten came back to haunt me.

I'm convinced it was Michael's presence (he can get past security with his badges) in his Pinnacle work shirt that got our seats...together in fact...and we made it to Vegas, got our rental car, and headed to Tina's. We got lost a block away from her apartment, and she had to come rescue us. While I didn't get much sleep that night, my nerves had time to settle before the next evening's concert festivities...

I'm it!

The way I see it, Sofido does count as three people because I feel like being the devil.

I've been tagged by J. Rhodes.

The rules:
Players offer eight random habits/facts about themselves.
If you're tagged, you need to write your own blog about your eight things and post these rules.
At the end of your blog post, you need to choose eight people to tag and list their names.
Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

My Random Stuff:
I can curl my tongue.
I can tie a knot in my hair using only my thumb, index, and “the bad finger” of one hand.
I have three tattoos – five if you count each fish as separate tattoos, but that’s splitting hairs.
My drunk and drugged-out uncle pierced my ears when I was seven with a frozen bar of soap and a sewing needle.
I am incapable of driving a stick-shift – several people have tried to teach me and I just don’t get it. The idea that if a person has rhythm, s/he can drive a vehicle with a manual transmission is inaccurate.
I avidly play World of Warcraft and have a level 70 Night Elf Feral Druid named Badra on the Ravencrest server.
I had a painting in the Del Mar Fair when I was in high school that my teacher put a price on and tried to sell without my acknowledgement.
I’m a 35-year-old Gramms to two beautiful baby girls.

People I'm tagging:
Freddie
Donna
James
Mary
Jennifer
Cathy
Patty
Kristy

It is what it is...that is all

I'm a wintery person, really. Summer disagrees with me on so many levels. While the humidity of the South is better for my hair (it's much curlier) and my skin (it's less dry), it brings out some rather nasty little vampiric creatures that flock to make a feast of me in under three seconds. Michael's answer to this is,"You're just a sweet person." Yeah, I'd like to know what he's been smoking.

Until our most recent rains, the mosquitos left me alone. I thought, Awesome, no bug bites, I'll just step outside and hang with my daddy while he BBQs burgers. Hmmm...no such luck. Mother Nature had other plans for me. I walked out, sat down, starting slapping at those little buggers, and high-tailed right back inside. I'm not sure my dad quite knew what to think. My mother was a little disheartened that I didn't stay out, but she tends to get like that when she doesn't get her way.

We took the kiddies to see HP5 yesterday after Michael, my dad, and my brother returned from letting a little white ball hamper what could have a been a morning better spent doing something else. Or, as Mark Twain supposedly put it: "Golf is a good walk spoiled." But did he really say that?

Anyhoo...I enjoyed the movie; I thought they did a pretty good job sticking to the storyline, considering. I've been informed by my 15-year-old, however, that she no longer wishes to marry Daniel Radcliffe as he's dropped out of school. She's moved on to Rupert, having lost all repect for that Potter kid. Oh, and she didn't like the movie that much for two reasons: 1. she read the book first, and 2. the people who sat behind her were rude, kicking her seat, whispering, crinkling their popcorn bag to much, and ruined it for her. She's willing to give it a second chance, though, when my sister-in-law drags her out to see it again. Little Miss Thang will hardly be kicking and screaming.

After the movie, my brother and his wife took all the kids swimming at the Y. Following that was the cookout where I became dinner for the mosquitos.

Next weekend will be busy as I have testing for four of the five state jobs I applied for, two of which are Parole Officer and Correctional Counselor. After that, I prepare for my trip back to Cali. Well, Vegas anyway, where I'll spend an evening with Tears For Fears. Then, I should be off to Victorville, visiting friends and tying up some lose ends. VVC makes getting transcripts a pain in the arse. I have to be back in time to start Miss Thang's soccer season off with a mandatory orientation meeting for all the parents. Yep, mandatory...I laughed too.

Ahem...On a more serious note, I've decided that I'm not ready to take the GRE, but I can't sit around waiting to be ready, so I start classes at the University of Phoenix in August. I'll now be getting my Master's in English Language Arts Secondary Curriculum, or something like that. It's a long name that I don't intend to memorize any time soon, but it helps me get a job teaching high school. Next year, I'll be better prepared to interview for a teaching position in one of the high schools for Memphis City Schools. In the meantime, I also need to take the Praxis exam, apply for the Title II teaching certificate, and apply to start subbing for my daughter's high school if the state jobs don't pan out, or to set up times to volunteer in her English class. Ooooh, she hates me for that one. Awesome!That's about the gist of my adventures at this point. Miss you all!

So

YAY IM BACK

hey guys...Ive missed you. I couldn't get on for ages. Back in January when they changed the google account thing, I just couldn't log on so I kinda gave up. So happy to be on line again ... so much going on. Right now Im teaching summer school at the palm desert campus...Shakespeare 475 and English 306. Its so amazing but kinda nerve wracking. As for the rest of my life, after August, I have no idea what is gonna happen. Ive put in a few applications here and there but nothing yet. Its scary.

My thesis is written and JR signed off. Now I'm trying to locate the other reader... she has gone awol. It makes me a little nervous as first format review deadline looms. That whole thesis thing? I think I would have taken the exam if I had known what a pain in the arse it was gonna be...actually its pretty satisfying once its done, but I sweated buckets and my fickle boyfriend had an excuse to be even more fickle as I stayed up til the wee hours of the morning battling the Habermas/Foucault debate.

Had a really cool June. I went up to Idaho to direct a production of "the Who's Tommy" It was possibly the most fabulous experience, Ive ever had. I worked with a bunch of high schoolers and college students. We had a rockin' band and the singers were awesome. We also pretty much had a packed house every nite.

Well that's it for now
I'll be back
Fi

Sexy Drood...

In my currently unmotivated life, dealing with kids who always seem to be ill these days, I escape to the World of Warcraft where I have leveled my Night Elf Druid, Badra, to 70 in The Burning Crusade (BC). I also have a flying mount and can shape shift into flight form -- perks of the expansion. Now if I could just earn the 5000 gold to get my epic flight skill, I could not only get an epic flying mount, but I could also begin my quest for the druid epic flight form. You have to love Blizzard: they frown on people (and even ban those who are caught) who spend their hard-earned cash to buy gold while simultaneously promoting it by over-pricing some game skills.

Whereas I was once one of the awesome healers for our guild, Paradox, shortly after the release of BC, I respecced Feral to do some serious ass-kicking. After finding out that there are end-game dungeons that require a feral druid to tank, I decided that I would be one of two druids in the guild to remain feral. I also have pretty awesome damage per second (DPS) in cat form. Some healers, who let my health drop below 40-50%, struggle to get me back up to full health. This is good because it means I have A LOT of hit points. It's bad because, if they can't get my health back up to at least 80%, I die...and that can easily become a 10 gold repair bill.

Another change came when guild drama got out of hand in February. I swear sometimes passions run higher than in, say, Passions. At any rate, devoted Paradoxians, like myself, moved the guild from the Perenolde server to Ravencrest and made a new home. Ravencrest is also a lot less populated and makes for smoother gameplay.

While it is highly addictive, World of Warcraft has served as a relaxing escape from life's realities lately.

I don't regret moving to Memphis; I'm near my family and my husband is closer to his, but the new climate is taking it's toll on the health of our kids. Damian, poor little man, is already allergic to just about everything in nature. He's had tonsillitis three times in about two months. Alexandra is also sick again. Gabrielle had her battle with tonsillitis as well, and is starting to get congested again. I would probably handle it better if health insurance had kicked in when we were originally told it would. Previous experience taught me that most company insurances start after the ninety day probation period; if you're lucky, it starts up right away. It was a rude awakening to find out that our insurance wouldn't start until the first day of the month following the end of the ninety day probation. Yay, right? Because my husband didn't officially get hired until Feb. 3. If he'd been hired at the end of January, we wouldn't have had to wait nearly an entire extra month for insurance. Needless to say, we've had to pay out of pocket for our kids to see a doctor and get necessary meds.

That, in itself, is enough to drive any normal person insane. But for someone like me, who is already paranoid, neurotic, and anxious, imagine the impact this has had. I'm positive that my hair is grayer in the few months we've been here than in the years it took to get the few white wires I had before. But I wouldn't know for sure because I try to keep my mousy brown covered in more interesting reds. At any rate, getting my kids adjusted to Memphis climate and culture, both physically and emotionally, put a pause on my own goals, which are also changing. Reading the most recent National Geographic article "The Big Thaw" doesn't help matters much.

I completely believe in reincarnation, but this starting over business is the pits.

What did I get myself into?