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!!

Posted in Friends, House, California | No Comments »

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!

Posted in Babies!, California, Travels, Family, Rants | No Comments »

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?

Posted in California, Friends, Weekends, Travels, Family, Rants | No Comments »

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 8, 2009 by samantha.

Usually when I go to San Diego for the weekend I have nothing exciting to report. To be honest, most trips to San Diego are quite boring. I go down to spend time with my grandmother. I know she appreciates the visits and I do enjoy spending time with her. I spend the day watching movies, reading books, and running errands that are just excuses to get out of the house. The nights are spent playing cards and watching TV shows that I would not watch on a normal night. Of course, this weekend followed mostly the same routine. Thankfully the weather had plans of its own.

My grandmother lives on the golf course. The view out the back window is green and tranquil on most days, interrupted by the occasional golfer.

Yesterday we had a tremendous amount of rain. At one point, we had hail!

When we went to look out the window, we saw this!!

There was a river of serious rapids running past the house. The house was safe and we had no concerns of the rapids coming to get us. Still, it was an amazing site. California’s weather is usually boring. For once, it was exciting and worth talking about!

Posted in California, Weekends, Family, Rants | 1 Comment »

January 18, 2009 by samantha.

Well, I still have no hot water. I am getting used to taking cold showers. Hopefully the water heater will be fixed Tuesday night. The part is on order from Whirlpool and I have a six o’clock appointment with a plumber. I cannot complain about the lack of hot water, but I really miss it. I am looking forward to having a nice, hot shower someday soon!

Today, some friends and I went to Train Days at the San Bernardino County Museum. It was more fun then I could have imagined. I had never been to the museum and I was much nicer than I expected. The museum was filled with model trains. People were dressed as conductors. Kids were wide-eyed with excitement. It was great.

I am sure most people missed one of the funniest things that I saw at the museum. A lot of the model train displays had oil wells. Many of the oil wells were working, pumping up and down. But one in particular had two Arab Sheiks observing the well. I found this so wrong that it was funny.

Am I the only one that find this funny?

Posted in Friends, House, California, Weekends, Rants | No Comments »

January 11, 2009 by samantha.

First and most importantly, the parents are gone and far away in Florida. They left Saturday morning, very early, and I have been enjoying my solitude since then. Still, I have them to thank for a fantastic trip to France, a great Christmas, and my new couches, coffee table, end tables, and lamps!

Since I can never remember which is the family room and which is the living room, I call the two rooms the TV room and Val’s room.

Here is how Val’s room used to look.

Here is how it looks now.

Here is how the TV room used to look.

Here is how it looks now.

Here is the lamp I instantly fell in love with.

And I am sure you are worried about what happened to Val’s old, ugly couch. Here it is waiting to go to the city dump. It did a great job of serving Val’s needs and she will miss it. I am so happy to get rid of it.

Posted in House, Europe, California, Val, Travels, Family | No Comments »