April 1, 2009 by samantha.

Today we had another exciting day exploring Southern California and we visited the Huntington Library and Botanical Gardens. I had never been before and thoroughly enjoyed my visit. The grounds are so big that they are divided into separate gardens.

The Japanese and Chinese gardens were amazing.

I even enjoyed the Desert Garden.

The trails led to a new discovery around every turn. The Huntington also has an art museum. The museum is housed in the former home of the Huntington’s. They amassed a huge art collection. The highlight is the famous Blue Boy. It is spectacular to see in person. Overall, the Huntington is a beautiful place to walk around and soak in the beauty of it.

The fun really started this evening. I borrowed a carpet cleaner from a friend of mine. I was so excited to try it. I went to Lowe’s to buy some cleaning solution and came home ready to clean. After the floor was well vacuumed and the carpet cleaner was prepped, I attacked the carpet. Right now the carpet is drying and I think I did it right. The carpet does look better. Still, I am not too sure that I cleaned the carpet correctly. Thank goodness my carpet cleaner’s owner is coming to check it out tomorrow morning. If the cleaner works well, I think I will have to invest in a Bissell ProHeat 2X.

I cannot wait to see my carpet in the morning!!

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March 31, 2009 by samantha.

With my parents here, I have been running around having fun. They finally arrived Sunday evening, after a couple of failed attempts. To welcome my parents to California, we took them to Casa Guadalajara. It was one of my grandfather’s favorite Mexican restaurants. The food is always good and the live Mariachi band never disappoints.

The plans for Monday were very simple: visit the Wild Animal Park and get back to Redlands as quickly as possible. We wanted to get to the park early so that we could feed the Lorikeets. You have to make it to the park early, before the birds are full, to get the best experience. I have had at least fifteen birds on me at one time, all trying to get to the food. My dad had never feed the Lorikeets before and really enjoyed the experience. The highlight of the trip to the park was seeing the baby cheetah and elephant. They were absolutely adorable.

The cheetah was rejected by his mother and was staying in the nursery.

The elephant was trying hard to follow his mother and not get in trouble.

He was still unsure of what his trunk was for and it kept getting in his way.

The weather was great for walking around the park and just taking in the sights. I have always said that once you have visited the Wild Animal Park all zoos pale in comparison. Other zoos have tried to copy the Wild Animal Park, but they do not even come close.

The goal of getting back to Redlands was successful. Today we did some errands, a little shopping, and caught up. It was a lot of fun. The only disappointment of the day was Chili’s. I have not been there in a while and I was eager to go back. The menu was not the same. My usual favorites were gone or overpriced. As a matter of fact, Chili’s raised the prices on most things on the menu. We were so disappointed, that we left and went someplace else for dinner. Chili’s used to be a safe bet. Oh well!

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March 28, 2009 by samantha.

I should have no right to complain that I am ever bored. Something is always going on.

My parents were supposed to fly out Thursday. They were all ready to go when Mother Nature decided to change their plans. The Gulf Coast was hit with some heavy rain, strong winds, thunder, lightening, and even some tornadoes. Today they finally were able to see some blue sky and are scheduled to arrive Sunday night. All of their fun weather made me miss Florida. California rarely gets fun weather. For us, a Santa Ana makes people panic.

Friday I skipped school to go to Legoland. A good friend of my mine was taking her son and asked me to go along. It was my first time and I was surprised by how much fun I had. Legoland is definitely for the younger kids. I really enjoyed “Miniland”. The Lego architects had built replicas of San Franciso, New York, LA, New Orleans, and Washington DC. The recreation of the Presidential Inauguration was amazing.

They even got Aretha Franklin’s hat! What made the day the most fun was that I got to play with two 4-year olds. Everything is always more fun with a 4-year old!

Since today was my last day of freedom, I took it easy. I fixed my computers, cleaned the house, and enjoyed the calm before the storm. The highlight of the day was participating in Earth Hour. I sat outside, on the porch, with a friend and chatted for an hour. It was surprising how fast the hour went. Did any of you participate in Earth Hour?

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March 22, 2009 by samantha.

One week until Spring Break and I have come down with Spring Fever. I think it is in part to me running around and not having the stress of worrying about being pinked. Yup, March 13 rolled around and I did not receive a pink slip. I thought for sure I would get one and that it would be rescinded. I still think I am in a bit of shock. I have gotten so used to worrying about it, that I do not know how to not worry. I feel horrible for my co-workers that did get pinked. I wish I could do something for them, but what can I do? I did not have long to celebrate because the following Sunday I was off to a union workshop in Newport Beach. The workshop was okay. The highlight was driving a friend’s Prius. I have decided that the 2010 Prius will be mine. I am so excited! On Thursday I chopped off my hair. At the time I thought it was a dramatic change. Now that I am used to it, it does not feel much different.

Friday was exciting. Some friends and I went into LA to see my favorite author, Jodi Picoult. I brought about 8 books for her to sign and sign them all she did!! Of course, I picked up the Jodi Picoult’s new book. I think it save it to read over my break. After seeing the author, we went to El Coyote for dinner. I heard so much about the place and I was excited to go. It was horrible. The service was poor, the food was awful, and the drinks were so bad they had to be sent back. Thank goodness I was in good company. Of course, driving a friend’s Mercedes did not hurt either.

Yesterday was a lazy day. I did some schoolwork and read. Last night, I did head out to the movies to see Duplicity. It was horrible. I was so bored. I was playing on the Internet and sending text messages during the movie. I should have stayed home and finished my book.

Today was the highlight of my weekend. Some girlfriends and I attempted to go for a hike. It rained this morning and we thought it was over. Val was thrilled. We began our hike, up the hill, enjoying the cool air. We did not even make it a mile when the rain began to come down. We decided to turn around. Of course it was too late. We got soaked. Still the little hike we took was fun. I took a couple of pictures. Enjoy!

A wild sunflower that we saw on our hike

I love trees. This one I thought was beautiful. Too bad someone decided to tag it. And do you see Val in the corner?

This is the hill we attempted to hike up.

Posted in School, Friends, California, Val, Movies, Weekends, Rants | 1 Comment »

March 8, 2009 by samantha.

This morning started out as any normal Sunday. Val and I were up early, we went for a walk, came home to make breakfast. When my Eggos were toasting, I headed to the garage to get Val’s breakfast. This is what was waiting for me at my door.

It is a White-lined Sphinx Moth and he is huge! I have never seen a moth that was so big. He was too high up for me to put something next to him so you could get an idea of his size. He is beautiful. Of course I am a big nerd and I quickly fed Val so I could learn what type of moth he was. After I figured that out, I Googled his name. I run outside every hour so just to see if he is still there. I guess they are pretty common out here, but I have never seen one before. Maybe the time change confused him?

Posted in House, California, Val, Weekends | 2 Comments »

March 7, 2009 by samantha.

Look what I came home to on Friday! Not only are they beautiful, but also they make the whole house smell wonderful!

Saturday was a day of exploration. I have heard so much about the Poppy Fields and I decided that this as the year I was going to see them. I was very excited. I expected it to be like the poppy scene from the Wizard of Oz.

I was ready to run through the poppies. This is what we saw. Can you find the one poppy in the first picture?

I spoke to one of the volunteers and she said that poppies are finicky. They come and go as they please. We came during the right season. Next weekend there might be more. It we have a warm spell, the poppies will be gone in a flash. I was very disappointed. To make matters worse we drove two hours to see the poppy-less hills. I did learn that I have no desire to live in the desert. It is horribly brown and bare. I cannot understand why anyone would want to live there.

On the way home, we picked up a friend to go to dinner and invaded Target. And then the scariest thing of all happened. We were walking through the clothes, looking for anything pink, and we saw this:

Yes my friends, Acid Wash is back. This is a sign that times are worse than we thought. The Apocalypse is near.

Posted in Friends, California, Weekends, Travels, Rants | 1 Comment »

February 22, 2009 by samantha.

I am in a sour mood. I had a fantastic time in Portland. I would like to think that I will be moving up there in a few years. The weather in Portland was almost perfect. I visited Voodoo Doughnuts and in a moment of bravery I tried a Maple Bacon bar. Yep, I had bacon on my doughnut.

As odd as it sounds, I do not like doughnuts or bacon but the doughnut was not that bad. It was nice to spend time with my cousins. We talked about nothing and yet the trip flew by. I am hoping to maybe go up in July. I have already looked up tickets and they are cheap! How could I pass up a cheap ticket!?!?!?

Of course, the trip depends mostly on if I keep my job. Right before break I heard that the district had plans to let 66 teachers go. I am 61 on the list. Not a good place to be! I am not too worried. I think I will be okay. I know some teachers will not be asked back and some teachers are taking early retirement. School has to open in August and parents will flip if their are kids crammed into a classroom. If I do lose my job, I have a few ideas to keep me busy and the money flowing in. Getting a new job will be difficult and I do not think I can qualify for unemployment. What stinks the most is that I will most likely be pink slipped. The district is supposed to vote on the new budget with the changes this Tuesday. It may be postponed since California finally voted on a budget.

This weekend was a quiet one. I played with friends, went to the movies twice, and tried some new restaurants. Most importantly, I made sure Val was happy. She has been very lovable lately. Usually, she says hi to me when I walk in the door and checks on me throughout the day. She used to spend most of her time in the backyard or on her couch. Now she follows me around the house and wants to be in the same room with me.

I have no complaints. I like sharing the couch with her. Maybe age is catching up with her and she realizes that being in separate rooms is boring! Getting scratched behind your ears makes it all worth it! Maybe she just really likes the new couch!

Tomorrow I have to return to school. I always like getting back into the everyday routine. Too bad everything it so tense. Teachers are worried about their jobs. The students are stressed. I think they have it worse. They have the stress from their parents worries and then the stress from their teachers. No wonder behavior problems are at an all time high this year. Next year I am sure it will be worse. Parents will probably will be more stressed and classrooms will be crowded due to less teachers.

Posted in California, School, Val, Weekends, Travels, Rants | 1 Comment »

February 16, 2009 by samantha.

Today we headed on another long road trip through Oregon. This time we head south toward Eugene. Back when I was in high school, I came to Oregon to view colleges. Out of all the campuses I toured, University of Oregon was my favorite. I loved everything about it and I was ready to make the move. Unfortunately, life had a different plan for me. Since I was back in the area, I wanted to visit the campus again to see if it was as spectacular as I remembered. I am happy to say that it was. I was surprised by how small it was, but it was still beautiful. It made me think of quitting my job and moving to Oregon so that I could work on my Master’s at U of O.

As we headed back to Portland, we stopped in Salem to see the state capital. I heard about how unattractive it was and I needed to see it for myself. I have to admit it is pretty ugly. It reminded me of a large mausoleum. Finally we made it back to Portland and had some delicious sushi for dinner. It was a great ending to a fun day. Tomorrow I think we are just going to bum around Portland and see some the tourist spots in the city.

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February 15, 2009 by samantha.

My first two days in Portland have been fun filled and busy. My flight up here was quick and it arrived early! It was a good thing since my cousins had plans that started the minute I departed the plane. Our first stop was lunch. They took me to a cute Veggie Thai place that I think was called VegiTahi. I had my favorite soup and some yummy soy chicken nuggets. Then we went up the tram. The views of the city are amazing from the top. Of course the tram ride left us famished and there was only one place to head to next- Saint Cupcake! I had heard so much about this place. I am not a fan of cupcakes, but I knew that I had to try some from here. They were worth the trip to Portland! Delicious! I recommend the Toasted Coconut We came to watch Run, Fatboy, Run. It was hilarious.

Today, we got up early and headed to the coast. The drive was spectacular. We had to drive through the mountains and snow in order to make it to the Pacific. And it was cold!!! We visited Manzanita Beach and lunch at a great Mexican restaurant. I do have to say that they were some of the best Chicken Tacos I have ever had. Next stop was Cannon Beach. There is not much to see at Cannon Beach, but I had read about it and I wanted to see it. I cannot remember if Sea Lion Rock is in Canon Beach or in http://www.oregonstateparks.org/park_188.php, but it really looks like a Sea Lion. I am convinced that some carved the eye so it looked more like a Sea Lion. Still, it is quite impressive. Canon Beach was beautiful. The whole Oregon coast leaves you craving for more. I love beaches that are rocky. I would take an Oregon Beach over a “regular” beach any day! The main destination of the day was Astoria. Any one that saw The Goonies needs to visit Astoria. As a matter of fact, many of the places we visited today just happened to have been in The Goonies! I could happily live in Astoria. It is a quiet little coastal village. We took a scenic drive home, through Washington. We even had to take a ferry across the Columbia River. The perfect day ended at a local restaurant that had some very yummy Broccoli Mac n’ Cheese.

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February 14, 2009 by samantha.

Since I had places to be today, I decided to get up at the usually time and follow the same routine I do on weekdays. Val and I went for our morning walk and returned to the house at the normal time of 6ish. The next step in the routine is taking a shower. Too bad I was unable to open the bathroom door! I tried and tried. My door refused to open. See, my bathroom is small and I needed to be creative in the way I stored bathroom essentials. I found a vanity that has a bottom drawer that was perfect to house the staples.

Last night when I closed it I guess I used a little too much force, so when I closed the bathroom door the drawer bounced back out. This is what made it impossible for me to open the door this morning. Back to 6 AM Saturday morning, I was in a panic. I leave for Portland today and I need to get into my bathroom!! I tried taking the screen out of the for the bathroom window. The window is too skinny to crawl through, but at least I could put something through the window so that I could push the drawer back. That did not work out since the window was locked. I tried using a spatula and a wooden spoon, through the slot under the door, to push the drawer back. Still no luck!!!! By this time I was thinking I was going to have to take an axe to the door! I decided that before I did that, I would try to pry the door open one more time. The door opened like it supposed to. And now it is just after 7 AM and I am showered and packed for my trip.

About the drawer, you found my dirty little secret. As organized as I am I cannot keep this drawer tidy. I figure everyone has at least one messy drawer. I organize it all the time and in a few days it is messed up again. Oh well! I have more important things to take care of!

And Happy Valentine’s Day!!!!

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