annoyed

I am annoyed tonight. About a week and a half ago, this little six year old girl Charlene started playing at our house in the evenings. Our neighbors across the street have a basement apartment and I thought she'd moved in there, but Michelle says she doesn't live there but just visits a lot. (And Michelle probably knows what she's talking about.) Anyway, about a week ago, Michelle's two wheel bike vanished and Michelle said this Charlene took it. I told her to tell me the next time she saw the girl and I would talk to her and get it back. Well, a few days ago (Saturday, I think) she came running and said Charlene was there. I went outside to talk to her and Charlene was pulling Michelle's bike out of her car! That made me a little upset, but she gave Michelle the bike back and I let it go.

Then Monday I came home from work and Charlene was playing at our house. No big deal. The kids were in the back yard and I was in the kitchen doing dishes, watching out the window. Charlene's mom came over (who I'd never met) and I could hear her talking loudly. So I went outside to see what was happening. She complained that she needed to leave and that Charlene didn't want to come. Then she asked me if I could watch her daughter for about 3 hours. It was a little after six, and I said no, my kids needed to be in bed in less than 3 hours. Then she said she could be back in two hours and would I please let Charlene just stay and play until then. I said yes. It wasn't that big of a deal, really. I don't mind having other kids over to play, but I barely know this little girl and I don't know the mom at all. I thought it was awfully strange that she would willingly leave her daughter with a stranger. I mean letting her play at my house when she's just across the street is one thing, but to just leave and not know my name or phone number or anything about me seemed odd. I also felt like telling her that she was the mom and if they needed to go, then she should just tell her daughter it was time to go and make her go. I mean, I know it's not always that easy, but who's the parent here? Plus, I had worked all day and was tired and I'm a week away (about) from having a baby. It seemed all together odd and not very polite to expect a stranger to watch her child. I should probably have said no, and did try, but she was pretty insistent and I am not that great at saying no.

Then today when we got home after work, Michelle's bike was across the street. Now Michelle isn't always great at putting her bikes/trikes away after using them, but her bike was up on our carport when I left for work this morning. Michelle went and got it and brought it home. Then about half an hour ago, I was in the living room and happened to glance out the window. Charlene was wheeling Michelle's bike down our driveway and about to cross the street. I opened the window and told her that is Michelle's bike. I told her that she can play with Michelle's toys when Michelle is outside playing with her but that she can't just come and take Michelle's bike or other things or play in our yard if we aren't home or aren't outside. Then I happened to notice that her mom was sitting there in the yard, watching her. I'm annoyed with the little girl but even more annoyed with the mother. Who lets their child take someone else's bike home with them for several days? My next door neighbor's daughter will occassionally ride Michelle's trike when we aren't outside, but we know them really well AND they always put it back.

I'm going to be more conscientious about making sure Michelle puts her stuff away, but since we don't have a garage, being put away just entails putting them at the top of our carport behind our cars. So during the day when we're gone, they are still visible. We've never had any problems EVER with things being taken before. Arggh!

I have a sub!

What a relief! I shared with a couple people that as of this morning, I didn't know if I had a sub. (And school starts next week.) My school secretary called last Wednesday to tell me that it had been approved by the district to have a parent named Michelle who regularly subs at our school be my long term sub. I just needed to call and verify with her. But the way the message was worded I didn't know if anyone had talked to her yet or if she was available. I called all weekend and just got a voice mail (which only said the phone number and not her name... I got a call today from some lady telling me that my many phone calls were to her phone and that no Michelle lived there!) So I was feeling pretty stressed out that one week before school starts, I may or may not have a sub. But it turns out the school had talked to her and she is available and wants to do it, she just needed to know that she'd been approved. So the vice principal said she has her correct phone number and would call her today to let her know. So hopefully I can get a hold of her tomorrow and get everything totally set in stone. And she'll be wonderful! She has great control/management skills. She'll follow my lesson plans. She knows our school. She is an AWESOME sub! I'm so grateful that it has all worked out.

Just a little side note: Yesterday in Sunday School we were studying Alma 33-35, which talk a lot about praying and the need to pray for your families, fields, flocks, enemies, etc. I was sitting there thinking... how dumb, I've been worried about this sub issue but I've never thought to pray about it. I've prayed that I could get my classroom set up and my sub plans done before little Gabrielle makes her grand entrance. I've prayed that my delivery will go smoothly. I've prayed that the sub will be a good one. But I hadn't prayed specifically about this current dilemma. So I did yesterday and felt much calmer. Then I found out this morning that it should all work out very well. What an answer to prayers. I am so relieved.

sweet husband

As a special treat Wednesday, Alfredo decided to stop by the French bakery The Gourmandise (spelling?) on his way home from work. They have yummy (but expensive) pastries and desserts. He bought his favorite and then 3 things for me. Yum! They were all delicious.

This is my favorite. I'm not sure what it's called but it's like a mini-pie. It has a crust and then a vanilla pudding and then fresh raspberries on top. Yum! I love it.

There was also a chocolate raspberry brownie, his cake (top right... don't know what it is) and a rolled cookie-like thing. I probably didn't make them sound that appetizing, but they are yummy. And quite rich. I didn't finish them until today (although I ate the raspberry one right away!). From time to time he'll surprise me with flowers or treats or a small gift just because, without their being any ocassion. Thank you Alfredo! I love you!

to do list... almost done

A few weeks back I shared my to-do list for this summer. I'm proud to say that I've accomplished nearly everything on my list. I've cleaned and organized every closet in my house, finished 3 1/2 weeks worth of sub plans, gotten the baby's room ready, taken tons of stuff to DI, cleaned and organized just about every room, frozen 20 meals, etc. I've done my back to school shopping (for Michelle and for my classroom). My classroom is just about ready to go. And, drum roll please, I have cleaned and organized my office. Now I won't show before pictures because well, I would be too mortified. I will just say that my office is an office, scrapbooking room, library and dumping ground. And it was embarrassingly cluttered and unorganized. Few, if any of you, have ever seen it because it was such a disaster. But I have worked hard in the past week to tackle my two last projects... sub plans and my office. Alfredo helped with the office, moving things around and stuff. But I am so pleased with how it looks now, especially compared with how it looked before. It's still not perfect, but it is user friendly and good enough for me.

the computer desk/office area... this poor desk is at least 10 years old and was falling apart. We were going to buy a new one, but last weekend Alfredo decided that 1) we've spent money on other things recently, 2) he wanted to get the office fixed up and organized NOW and didn't want to wait to buy a new desk and 3) he could fix this one. Which he did. It actually doesn't look so bad now and overall, I am quite pleased with this room now.

my scrapbookin area with all my materials neatly organized in boxes and drawers... everything now has a place and is in it's place

my bookshelves are still overflowing as you can see... I'm addicted to books. And I really could use another bookshelf (despite the fact that the girls have a bookshelf in their room and the office closet has shelves lined with books and my scrapbooks and I have many, many of my books in my classroom at school)

Side note: The one thing I didn't get done as much as I would have liked this summer was to scrapbook. I wanted to spend more time scrapbooking, but the summer went pretty fast and it just didn't happen. But I'm so pleased with all that I did accomplish.

TTA: Pioneer spirit

Alfredo is a pioneer in his family in many ways. He left home at 18 to come to the United States on his own. He quickly learned English and began studying at the University of Maryland (but never did finish his degree... perhaps someday.) He also is the only member of his family to join the LDS church.

I have many pioneer ancestors. Many of my ancestors crossed the plains in wagons or handcarts. One of my ancestors on my mom's side was a bodyguard for the prophet (I think Joseph Smith, but it may have been Brigham Young.) On my dad's side, we are descended from Lorenzo Dow Young, one of Brigham Young's brothers. Lorenzo was close to the spirit, even as a child. When he was about 9 years old, he had a dream that the Savior came to him in a carriage. The Savior asked where his brother Brigham was. Then He asked where the rest of the family was. Christ said that he wanted the whole family, but especially Brigham. It was such a powerful dream that he awoke and could not sleep the rest of the night. Throughout his life he had many spiritual experiences and did his best to live faithfully and to serve the Savior and others.

I have a binder that contains short biographies about many of my ancestors. I am so grateful for the faith and courage that they had. I know that my life has been blessed because of their faithfulness.

stranger danger

Alfredo has taught the girls not to talk to strangers. He's practiced with them what they should do if a stranger approaches them, offers them candy, asks them to help look for their dog, etc. One day he mentioned this to me and I said Ella was too young to understand. He called Ella over and asked her what to do if a stranger came and offered her candy. She said emphatically, "Say no and run to our house or Jenny's house (our neighbor)." She's repeated this to me several times now.

Well, today my girls went to Aly's house. Someone came to the door that Aly didn't know and Aly said not to open it since it was a stranger. Apparently, Ella heard this and began to cry and shake. She was so afraid that the stranger was there to hurt her. I guess she was pretty upset for several minutes until Aly explained that she just meant it was someone they didn't know and that it wasn't someone dangerous. Poor Ella! (sorry to you too Aly!) I guess those lessons have really sunk in. She must have been pretty upset, because Aly told me about it. Then a few minutes later, Aly's daughter Annie told me about it. Then Michelle told me about it on the way home. Then Ella told Alfredo about it. I can't decide whether it's good that the lessons have stuck or whether it's bad that we have our 3 year old that worried about strangers!

tribute to friends

I just want to thank all my wonderful friends! (And my awesome family too, but they are far away!)

In the last couple of days, I've gotten several calls a day from friends to see how I'm doing/feeling. Several friends have graciously offered to watch my girls while I get school work done. Today I took Aly up on that and my girls had a great time playing at her house this afternoon. It was so helpful. I have the first 3 weeks completely planned, the first 2 weeks or work almost totally copied and my classroom mostly set up now. If my baby were to be born in the next few days, I could go in for about 2 hours next week and be okay.

Not only did Aly watch my girls all afternoon but she baked us homemade bread (It was DELICIOUS!) and made rice krispies.

Carin and I cooked meals to freeze and then traded them so that we'd end up with 16 meals each. That was a huge help.

Shannon, Carin, Jaylynn, and Nene have all offered to watch the girls while I'm in the hospital. My friend Brenda, from work, has called to see how I'm feeling and is really helping me get ready and I know she will help my sub while I'm gone.

I'm sure I'm forgetting others who have called or offered to help. But I just want to say thank you to all of my friends for being so kind and helpful.

It's reminded me a lot of when Ella had her open heart surgery. That was scary, but I remember...even more than being scared... that I was overwhelmed by the kindness our friends, family and neighbors showed. So many people did/offered to do so many kind things. I felt like if I needed anything there was a list of people I could call. Every once in a while Alfredo will say, "Remember that other house that we looked at.... I really liked ______ about it." But I feel so grateful that we bought this house. The house itself isn't perfect, but I can't imagine living anywhere else. (I'm sure we would have made good friends anywhere we lived, but I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE our friends and neighbors here!)

Thank you!