Happy Administrative Professionals Day!

Wow! I got flowers again! My boss surprised me with them a few minutes ago. He's a good boss. Apparently, today is Administrative Professionals Day and so he bought me flowers. It is nice to know that we peons are appreciated. I truly enjoy being a peon. I watch what others go through in their management positions and I have no desire to have to deal with the kinds of issues they deal with. I like being a paper pusher, a people greeter (not at Wal-Mart), a phone answerer, a bill payer, etc...




Aren't they pretty?! The colors really are vivid...the camera here doesn't do them justice.






Aubrey, do you see the vase? Daisies are painted on it. Too cute!
And no the water is not green. The glass has a green tint to it.

Thanks Eric! You're a great boss!

Decisions Decisions

I'm planning on taking a road trip in June. The question is, "Where should I go?" Here are a few of the destinations I'm considering:

1. Astoria, OR & the Coast (I love the Oregon Coast, but I'd really love to see the rivers, covered bridges, waterfalls, etc. along the way to Astoria. Not to mention the Goonies ROCK!)

2. Denver & Boulder, CO (I watched the movie Catch & Release and decided that I needed to visit Colorado. I just found this picture on the internet. It's the Glenwood Springs Alpine Slide...I'll be doing a little research on this. Doesn't it look totally cool!?)

3. Las Vegas, NV (VEGAS BABY! And that's all I've got to say about that!)

4. Yellowstone National Park (Mom, I know you'll be pretty ticked off at me if I go here so I'm keeping it toward the bottom of the list.)

5. Seattle, WA (Sorry, but this idea came from Mom too.Quentin would be pretty mad at me too. He wants to go see Seattle because he's a Grey's Anatomy fan. He's my McCutie.)

I'm most likely going with option #1, but I'd like to hear what ideas you guys have and why. Now, please keep in mind that I'm going to be driving. Let me know what you think...

I Got My Baby Back, Baby Back, Baby Back!

I missed my little dude! He did have a great time at his Grandma's house, but he was ready to come home and I was ready for him to be here. He said he's very anxious to get back to school and see his friends.

While he was at his Grandma's he was lucky enough to get private baseball lessons from Alex and Henry of the Yuma Scorpions baseball team. He was so excited and he learned so much! He has a baseball game tomorrow, so he'll be able to show off his new skills. I can't wait to watch him play! Thank you so much Alex and Henry for taking the time to help him! And thank you to Teresa and Monique for setting it up!

He also got to go to work with my Mom while he was there. When he's at the office he is the official "Office Boy". He runs the copy machine and is the delivery boy for paperwork that needs to get delivered from one office to the other. This time when he got home he showed me all of his payroll income. The little man is learning to save money, so that he can buy things worth having instead of just buying candy or little junk toys that break in an hour. We went to Wal-Mart when we got back to Sonora last night and he decided to buy a Chris Brown CD with his paycheck. CB is his favorite artist right now.

So Close...And Yet...So Far

Everyone has a mental list of things they want to do. Mine is an ongoing list of adventures that I keep adding to and taking away from. For example, one thing on my "to do" list is to visit Hearst Castle. It seems like such a beautiful and interesting place. I mean, how/why do people collect such treasures?! It truly boggles my mind. It's kind of along the lines of the Winchester House in San Jose, but not as weird. (By the way, thanks to Aubrey & Jeff for taking me to the Winchester House for my birthday a couple of years ago...It was another item on the list.)

Anyway, I met Mom in Bakersfield this past weekend so that she could pick Quentin up for Spring Break. I decided that since I was down there, I would hang a left and go to the coast and visit Hearst Castle! One more thing off of the "to do" list makes room to add something new to the list.

So, I finally arrive at the coast and it is as gorgeous as the pictures you've seen. I decide that I MUST stop at one of the vista points and take some pictures of my own. It is a requirement after all that when you're a scrapbooker you have your camera with you at all times. So, I was prepared...or so I thought! Eh, WRONG!

Oh, I had my camera and I snapped three or four photos and all of the sudden I see this red light flashing at me. What the H-E-Double L is going on here I think to myself. Only not so nicely. It's the stupid battery! My battery is going dead! You've got to be kidding me I'm yelling at myself in my head. What kind of sick joke is this?! Okay, fine. I decide that I'm going to the castle anyway. I've come this far, I'm at least going to see the castle and take as many photos as I can before the camera goes completely dead. Eh, WRONG!

I make it to the visitor center for Hearst Castle and the monitors advertising the tour schedules read "SOLD OUT"! In letters exactly like that! This is next to all tours except one. That one tour was at the end of the day and it was only to see the garden and the wine cellar. I considered it for 1/2 a second and then thought that I better not, because if I got anywhere near that castle I WAS going IN! I'm not going to stay in the stinkin' garden I thought...and who gives a rat's patooty about the wine cellar?! I don't drink wine!

So, I wandered around the visitor's center and shot some photos of what I could. Needless to say, Hearst Castle is STILL on the "To Do" list. Here are some of the photos:



The photo above was taken from behind the visitor's center using my super deluxe telephoto zoom lens. The lady at the information desk told me that the castle is a five mile drive from the visitor center.



This photo was taken from exactly the same spot as the first photo...only without the zoom lens. Can you see the castle? Me either. The zoom lens ROCKS!



This is photo of the statue that has a light on it's head. All of them were pretty much the same design. I liked the photo without the light. With the light it just looks like a statue with a light globe on it's head. Hee hee! Yes, I know that's what it is supposed to look like! I mean, it is a light after all. :-)



The detail on this little statue was pretty cool. I didn't get a great shot of the whole thing, so I'm showing you a close up.

I had a good time...dead camera battery and all. At least now I know that I need to book my tour in advance and I'm planning on buying an extra battery for my camera so that I have one charged at all times!

Give Back

I'm in my warm and cozy bed watching American Idol. I'm realizing how completely blessed I am. Tonight's show is their annual charity drive...American Idol Gives Back. Normally, I can't stand to watch shows like this because it makes me so emotional. I can't stand to see the children and families suffering. This particular show focuses on Africa and America. Last year was the first time American Idol did the charity drive. This year they are showing what the money that was raised last year was used for. Things like nets for people in Africa to put around their beds to help protect the families from malaria, mobile health vans that provide free check-ups for homeless and under privileged families in America, after school programs for children, etc. Last year I donated a small amount. This year I doubled my donation. I know that it is still a small amount, but it is enough to make a difference somewhere.

Our families have always been taken care of even when things were tight we all got by. If you'd like to help another family "get by" then click here Give Back and donate what you can. Even though the show is completed they are still accepting donations.

Love you all!

Jenn

Spring Break

Quentin is on a two week break from school. He definitely needed the time off. I could tell that his emotions were about to get the best of him at school and it was time for a break. He is participating in the Spring Break Day Camp program hosted by the Tuolumne County Recreation Department this week and then next week he's going to his Grandma Ginny's in Yuma, AZ. So far this week he's played laser tag in Modesto, went to Boomer's in Modesto (goofy golf, go-carts, rock climbing, etc...), and today the group went to Lodi (pronounced LO-DI or Law-dee if you're Aubrey) to a park that has rides and a little zoo and museum. Monday I gave him $5 for video games at the laser tag place. Yesterday, I gave him $10 so he could play video games and do the rock wall and get snacks and whatnot. Last night he asked how much money I was going to give him for today and I told him $5 for snacks because everything else was supposed to be included. This morning he asked if he could please have $10 for snacks "beause you never know how much snacks are going to cost." I told him okay. Well, about forty-five minutes ago the group leader called me and said that Quentin would like to make sure that I bring him a snack to eat before his baseball game. I told her I gave him $10 for snacks! What did he do with it? She asked him and he said that he bought EXTRA tickets for the rides at the park! I guess you really never do know what a trip to the park is going to cost you!

Bonus!

Okay, if you look in the previous post you'll see that I received flowers for my birthday. If you look closely at the picture in that post you'll notice little purple flowers. I really like them! Well, now that it's been a few days I like them even more! Why? Because little white flowers have begun blossoming out of the little purple flowers! They're bonus flowers! They're the flowers that just keep giving! Too cool!

Here's a photo of the little white flowers in the little purple flowers. I apologize for the poor photo in advance. I don't have the good camera with me...