Is It Naptime Yet

I stayed up till 2 am Thursday night making this:

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Why did I stay up so late? Because it was fun and I was excited. FYI I never stayed up till 2 am making the costumes, why because those were not fun, they were a burden. I also started it at 10 pm, so I knew I would be up late, I just didn’t know how late. I think I’m a slow seamstress and I will never hire out my talent because I take too long.

Two of Kate’s color’s are teal and brown, I’m hoping she notices that I chose these fabrics deliberately.  I’m undecided whether I like so much of the print, it looked great on the bolt, but I just couldn’t see it the other way around. It does remind me of some 70’s kitchen and it’s growing on me more as I look at it.

Also, I have one more sewing project to add to my list. Lilah wants to give Eden a Jasmine dress up outfit and guess who will be making it. I think it will be cheaper than buying a Disney one, and I can make it a little more modest.  I probably won’t have it done by Eden’s official birthday, but I know I can have it done by her birthday party. I figure it’ll probably be her Halloween costume too, that’s if it doesn’t get too worn out by then.

I’m in the beginning stages of planning Eden’s birthday party. I have 3 weeks to plan it and get Eden the perfect gift. The problem being, the perfect gift for her is locked in a vault and not being sold, at least you can’t buy it from stores.

What? Why would someone lock something in a vault for limited release when there would practically always be a demand for it? It’s Disney and they’re dumb and Eden is obsessed with Aladdin. I’m going to do an Aladdin themed party, any suggestions on games are welcomed, and we would like to give her the DVD Aladdin, but it’s not being sold and we debate whether we want to spend $30 on a DVD that’s worth $20. I did find one site that had Aladdin, but I worry that it’s a counterfeit Asian copy, something everyone who resales the DVD claims they are not, and we figure if we’re going to spend money it’s got to be the genuine article. We’re not rushing out to buy anything just yet, hello E-bay, but I do only have two weeks till her actual birthday and it would be nice to have a present for her.

So if you know someone who no longer wants their Aladdin DVD or tape, we’d gladly take it and give it to Eden. Then we could give my parents back their copy and help Eden have the perfect birthday present.

Since it was so long ago that I posted the details of Day One and Day Two of our trip to Cathedral Gorge and the pictures for Day one, you can go back to the links I just provided to refresh your memory or  just enjoy Day two of our Memorial Weekend Trip.

Friday Morning: Our hike to the caves.

Zarina hand in hand with Lilah, which was very common the whole trip.

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Eden stayed back with us, though I think she’s running a little bit to catch up with the Parks and Lilah.

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The girls, Lilah, Zarina, and Eden.

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The Blake’s. (We were hiking, I’m not trying to look fashionable.)

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Entrance to one of the “caves”.

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The girls with Jon. The “caves” were really passage ways that had been created from the silt being worn down by water and wind after the prehistoric lake dried up. So they were open on the top and at least ten degrees cooler than outside in the open desert.

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There were a lot of narrow winding spaces.

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Eden had fun fitting in one…

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…so did Jon.

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This is the view from higher up. We went climbing after we hiked in the caves.

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Eden looking up at Mommy.

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I took a rest and Jon took the girls climbing. He had a lot of patience and was the perfect teacher.

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Lilah holding her Daddy’s hand after a hard climb down. Eden was just chilling at the bottom waiting for them, she had climbed down earlier.

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Jon offering his hand to a worried Eden. (I just loved the previous two pictures. I love seeing Jon helping his children, something he is always willing to do. )

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Friday Evening: On our way to dinner.

The sky in one direction. It was very ominous.

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180 degrees the other way it looked like this. (This was at a gazebo that had been built when it became a park in the 1930’s.)

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Lilah and Jon discovered the gazebo on their hike.

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Some antelope we encountered between Caliente and Lund on our drive home Saturday.

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We thought they were cool.

This concludes our camping trip with Andrea, Brien, and Zarina. It only took me over a month to post the pictures of our second half.  We plan on seeing them once more this summer and we can’t wait!

Thursday

Our Explorers.

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What we did while they explored. He was reading I was relaxing.

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A sweaty, happy hiker.

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A happy Zarina with a happy Lilah.

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A beetle. They were our regular campground visitors and they were around 2 inches in length. The girls were fascinated with them.

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Cousins.  Zarina loved sitting on the bench next to Lilah and Eden.

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Friday Morning

Jon and the girls hiking. What you can’t see them?

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They made it to the top of that dirt hill, but not up the cliff wall obviously. For some reason I didn’t take a picture while they were sitting there overlooking their achievement.

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Zarina walking around with her blanket and Spock bear.

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Why are you following me strange lady? It was morning and she was grumpy, hence the blanket and bear.

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Happy she’s with her daddy, but still unsure of me.

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Still not sure of me.

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Yay! A smile. She does like me, even if I don’t have my children around.

Summary of Day One
Summary of Day Two

I know my life is so exciting that I’ve already done 4 posts in one day, but this is the last one because I think it’s fun, or you might get a kick out of my big head.

Lilah fell asleep for the last half hour of Little Buddha and wanted to finish watching it today before I mailed it off. I didn’t have time till it was 2 and I wanted to watch it with her in case she had any questions or comments on what went on. I thought putting it in the mail at 2:30 would be fine because our mailman, or lady depending on the day of the week, comes between 2-5 pm, though usually not until 3 at the earliest. I got our Netflix together and the Neilson’s TV survey we had just finished and walked over to my mailbox to mail them. As I was approaching the mailbox I heard a horn honk, and even though I’m not exactly looking hot in my yoga pants and pink t-shirt and I haven’t been honked at in like 10 years, I thought it was just some random car honking as they went by and then I realized the car had pulled up behind me. I looked and it was my mail lady. She had already come but saw me heading to the mail box and was willing to take the mail I needed to be mailed. The Neilson’s survey was not saved, but already in the box, but I was able to save the Netflix which means we should have one for Saturday rather than Monday. I just love my mail lady and maybe I’ll pay more attention to who honks at me next time, though I’m not sure it’s gonna happen again anytime soon. 😉

As far as I can tell we’re not getting callbacks to be in the play. I haven’t received any e-mail and tonight is callbacks. The Lee’s received a phone call on Sunday and though they plan on telling most through e-mail I figure they would have done that yesterday. I really wish they would send a ‘thanks for coming but you’re not in the play’ so I can have some closure. We were 65, 66, and 67 in the process so they had a lot of people this year. I don’t know how anyone could not want my girls to be in their play as munchkins, but I am partial.

I am also so disappointed, I’m sure more so than the girls will be when I tell them.

I really went out of my comfort zone to audition. I thought there might be a chance that we didn’t get in, but Judy kept saying they try to take everybody so I had hope that it would be true. I prepared the girls that we might not be in the play,  but I didn’t prepare myself. I feel like a young girls dream as been smashed, so I’m very sensitive and acting a little young and am very sad. I was up last night crying at the disappointment for about an hour. I really wanted this for Lilah and I really wanted to become a part of a wonderful community of people.

I might try to see if there are smaller things that Lilah can be in. She really wants to be in a play or on stage and I want to encourage her to get out there and do things.

There’s always next year for the girls. Maybe one year older and being less bashful will help them both, if they both want to audition again.

Note:

I just told Lilah. Her first reply was she must not have done good enough, and of course I comforted her and said she did wonderfully. She cried for a few seconds and was sad, but then her remark was, “Now we can have a party at the McKenna house?” The play would be intensely practicing around Lilah’s birthday and I had told her a party was not going to happen this year. We’ve done a pool party at the McKenna’s house the last two years, really Zurflueh, McKenna is the wife’s maiden name and the real estate team Carolyn works for. Carolyn house sits for the Zurflueh‘s and they’re out of town each year around Lilah’s birthday and they’ve let us, along with Carolyn who has to help with the fiasco, have a party there for Lilah’s birthday. So I’m happy that she can look forward to a party, at least a small one, if it helps with the small disappointment of not being chosen.

We made popcorn a week ago to eat while we watched Nature. This is what the girls were doing for the entire three minutes it was popping. I only got the last minute of it.

I’m excited for a few reasons.

1. Our anniversary is coming up. 7 years I’ve been married to Jon. Plus, we don’t have to pay for a babysitter since a friend is holding her daughter’s birthday party Friday night and has told the adults to go out and have a date.  It worked out perfectly!

2. My niece Shauntae is coming to town and I get to see her! Well, she’s Jon’s niece and he’ll get to see her too when we go to lunch, but I’m excited to get to see her while she’s here.

2. My brother Scott and his wife Fallon are coming town soon too. It’ll be fun to see them and have the girls see their aunt and uncle whom they haven’t seen in two years.

3. March is becoming a very busy month with one of the Homeschooling groups. We’re going to the Shark Reef and the Dolphin Habitat, all for only $6 a person for each exhibit and 4 and under is free, so I only have to pay for Lilah and me and Lilah has been asking to go back to the dolphin habitat so this will be exciting for her.

I’m really looking forward to the next 6 weeks!

I’m listening to Saturday Night Live and the Jonas Brothers are performing. Whenever I hear they’re on I always want to listen and I think they might be good because, I mean c’mon millions of young girls love them, but I hear no talent, well no true talent. I mean they can sing and play guitars, just not very well, at least not very well live and that’s where I measure true musical talent. And the song I always hear them perform is just stupid. I think if I had a daughter who was into them and listened to them nonstop my ears would start bleeding.

They’re just not that good.

And now my other thought deals with cash checking places. I was heading towards the freeway and while waiting to make my right turn onto Charleston I let a car pull into the lane in front of me. It was a nice new, at least 2008, Camry. This person was leaving a check cashing place in a brand new car, and this particular drive only leaves the cash checking place so I knew they were coming from there. Then as I looked into the drive I saw an Hummer H2 or Hummer H3 at the window of this check cashing/ advance place. I hate to say it but if you’re driving a new car or especially a Hummer, I hope you don’t need cash advances, and that you have some sort of savings, c’mon you have at least a $30,000 car and you need to cash your check at a check cashing place. That’s sad.

I just don’t get it.

With the recession going on and life as my generation knows it changing, lots of economic turmoil is to be found.

Right now Nevada is facing it’s highest unemployment rate since 1983 at 9.1%, well above the national average of 7.2%.

With unemployment and business being down for downtown, the state of Nevada’s income has plummeted and the state budget has changed dramatically.

The Governor, whom I greatly disagree with, proposed his budget to the legislative earlier this month and the legislative will begin voting and deciding what to do come February.

Governor Gibbons wants to kill education for K-16 because he promised no new taxes, but he’s willing to “tax” state workers by proposing a 6% income decrease. This includes teachers, state employees, college employees, university employees, legislators, and himself, though I could care less for him.

Of course his proposed income decrease would affect us, but also his cut to higher education which would also mean a 50% cut to the higher education system that my husband works for.

Governor Gibbons wants to kill higher education in the state of Nevada.

But I am so thankful for a democracy and that he is not solely in charge of Nevada’s future.

Of course the fact that Jon works and is attending a public university greatly concerns me. Since he’s not yet finished with his master’s, but his program could be cut and he might not finish his masters concerns me. The fact that he may not have a job in a year and a half concerns me, but what mostly concerns me is that the Governor was not willing to step up and say, even though now we are facing a hardship we need to step up and continue to help the government so the government can help you. We need to tax the people, or some of the big businesses who have come here because of our tax breaks and grow up as a state and say yes we want a bright future for our children not, I promised no tax increase so I’m suggesting we do nothing and just kill education. I want our state to be less educated and kill our future.

The state services and education services are not businesses. Cutting costs won’t help us if it kills the opportunities for others.

The following is somewhat harsh speech given by Chancellor Rogers on the State of the System. I encourage all to read it or listen, at least those who live in Nevada, and I encourage all to write to their legislators to tell them we are willing to spend on our children.

The time is difficult and I’m not saying this just because I want my husband to stay employed, I’m saying this because I want my husband to continue his education, and still be allowed that opportunity in this hard time.

I’m saying this because what we need is more support for our education system,  our children’s future, and our future. For without an educated population we will fail and just become buildings in the desert.