E-Day

Woke up at 6:45 am this morning so we could vote early... anticipating long lines and such (for me, I needed to go so I could get to work on time). So Scott wakes up Bethany, Scottie and Mark and they actually are wanting to get up and go! So we all go down to our local polling place. There we find we're in the longest line, based on our last name, about 30 people--the longest line I've ever stood in to vote. One by one we check-in with that name that no one can seem to find on their list and finally get our ballots. While we were waiting, I realize and then ask if Mark and Scott have ever voted for a President before, and turns out this was the first time for both! Because they didn't have enough booths, and the ballots were the kind you draw the line in for your answer (not punch or electronic), everyone was encouraged to get a black pen and go anywhere to fill out their ballots to help speed things along. The coolest part? Our family went to do this altogether, and (I think) we all voted pretty much the same. (Except Bethany--she wrote in her candidate!) Wish Amanda and Jo could've have been there too! I proudly wore my "I Voted" sticker all day...

Ah, the Newport life!

Had to work this past weekend at our annual physician conference - this time at The Island Hotel in Newport Beach (last year was Dana Point). This hotel was formally the Four Seasons, which I supposed is a pretty big deal--I really wouldn't know! But it's new owners were pretty fabulous, in fact it was the best treatment we've received as long as I've been involved in these things. And the price was right--deep discounts! Wish I could have enjoyed the room I was given just a little more. The hotel event coordinator upgraded my room to a 2 room suite with a corner view of the ocean and the mountains on the 6th floor. Beautiful. Scott and Scottie came over on Saturday afternoon and got to enjoy the room a little more than I did. (I did sneak in the sunset between conference and dinner Sat night, which was nice.)

My job? Point person/coordinator for the conference with a pretty heavy agenda. Worked my butt off prior and while I was there; thank goodness there was 3 of us! Got an average of about 3-4 hours sleep for the past 10 days. AND had to work on Monday. But it came off without too many problems and I got OT and DT to boot. Will come in handy with Scott still looking for work....

This conference is a pesonal challenge for me, because it seems so much bigger than I'm really capable of handling. It seems I have to work twice as hard (and long) just to make sure it's OK.

She's back!

Thanks to Scott, she's been resurrected! I was ready to call the junk yard and have them haul it away.

2 years ago when Bethany got her car, we didn't have any more room to park her in front of the house. Since we don't have a driveway, only an alley, we parked 'er on the backyard slab. There she sat--lonely and neglected. The spiders were her only friends. I think all the kids learned to drive in her, except one, but they all hated to drive it because it wasn't cool....it was the family van and who wants to drive a family van when you've just received your driver's license? So Scott charged the battery and Viola! She started on the first turn after sitting soooo long. I actually love that van, except when the air conditioner went out, then the heater, which we never seemed to have the money to fix. HOT in the summer and BRRRR in the winter. Oh yeah, I think the CD player is broken too. I wish the picture above was the real deal, just a pic of what it looked like when we bought it. She certainly isn't perfect. The paint on the roof is completely gone, the dent in the side is still there (won't say how that happened), still doesn't have heat or air, needs a couple of motor mounts, and the interior is showing it's age. But it's clean--spiders gone-- paid for, and runs, and it will come in handy with Jo and Amanda coming next month. I've even offered to drive her again (am I nuts?), just because I don't work that far from home. Thanks Scott for not giving up on her.

Here I am (for real this time)

Hello! All of you bloggers out there might find this very amusing, but I can't tell you how many times I've jumped on this thing trying to post a dang blog, but couldn't figure out how to do it. Today I decided I was going to figure it out... 3+ hours later, here I am! AND I just figured out how to post a blog, which is what actually took me the longest to do (not real user-friendly in my opinion blogspot! And I consider myself computer savvy. Hmmm... maybe not). My daughter Amanda at least figured out how to connect everybody to her wonderful xanga site a couple of years ago, even though she doesn't have this vehicle to use. Then when my daughter Bethany started an account, I thought I'd better try again. Well now that I am here, I hope to use it, at least a couple times to start. I really have enjoyed reading about everyone else's lives, especially the VH family. You all inspire me...

Where to start? Not sure how I'll use this thing, but I'll bring you up to speed on the family for starters... and go easy on ya from hereon out!


*Scott and I just celebrated our 28th anniversary and his 50th birthday in July. Even with Scott still looking for work (anybody hiring out there?), I managed to surprise him with a dream trip to NYC and also to see David Wilkerson at Times Square Church. NYC was the dream part, the trip itself was on a shoestring budget, considering the current circumstances we're in. I cashed out some PTO and used an unexpected bonus at work to pull it off. Our flight was reasonable, and our lodging was unique... I found a room for rent through craigslist.com that only cost $90/night--the guy we stayed with was a little weird, but the accomodations were better than a Motel 6. Considering we were only 4 blocks from Times Square in the "Hell's Kitchen" district it was a great deal, plus we lived for a week like New Yorkers. We walked or used the subway system, we did alot of free site-seeing and window shopping. But even though we were on a tight budget we had fun, and got to see a whole lot of NY! On Scott's 50th, we walked across the Brooklyn Bridge. Tho' we haven't had a family vacation this year, last year we had a wonderful famly 2 week vacation in England with Amanda and Jo, and got to see Bethany sing in a huge festival in Wales. We're really looking forward to family reunion in Arkansas next year!
*Amanda (26) and Jonathan are coming back to the U.S to live, if you haven't heard already--they land in 6 weeks! They've been married and living in England for 2 years now, and will be staying in our guest house behind us until they figure out where they'd like to put down some roots. Jo intends on finishing up flight school and Amanda hopes to ultimately get that music job. Both have jobs waiting for them when they come, which is a relief in light of our current economy. Our whole family is so excited to see them come home. She's got her own link under the Greatest Family in the World blog, so you can check in with her there...

*Bethany (23) is busy, busy - working, going to school, singing, dating, skydiving... we hardly see her these days! Tho' I have to say the past few months have been great, because she's been making a real effort to be around more when she can. Finishing up her bachelor's in Communications at Cal Poly Pomona, singing with 2 fantastic groups a chamber and jazz ensemble at Mt. San Antonio College, and taking singing lessons to boot... this girl has had at least 2 fabulous trips a year for the past 5... lots of wonderful places she's seen. She traveled to Europe last year, and to Canada this year. Next year, she'll be NYC in the Spring, and Washington DC. Also dating a great guy, Brandon--someone she knew in high school, but recently reconnected with.


*Scottie (almost 21) is in the same boat as his daddy, looking for permanent work, but in the meantime doing side jobs here and there. In January, he took a four month job in Seattle, refurbishing a Residence Inn with a contractor friend. Great experience for him - got to learn a new trade, something I think will help him in the future. Also learned what it's like to live on his own and do his own shopping and cooking, etc. while making some decent money.. even got to take his dog Kuzko with him. He hopes that another job like this will be coming through in the next month or so in San Jose or Denver, not sure yet. I was so proud of him this week--he had been saving his tithe money, not sure where he wanted to give it since we don't have a home church yet. He ended up giving a substantial amount of money to my dad's ministry, His Nesting Place in Long Beach, a pro-life ministry and home for women and their children. My heart swells with pride of his faithfulness to give back to the Lord.

*Mark (19) is also going to school full-time at Mt. San Antonio College; this is his sophmore year. He is playing his bass trombone in 2 music groups, jazz and chamber and taking some of his required classes for his AA degree. Earlier this year, he played in Hawaii with his jazz band and at the Disney Hall in L.A with his chamber group. He started a part-time job a few months ago working at a very popular frozen yogurt shop nearby and was recently promoted to Shift Supervisor. We rarely see Markie these days--he is always doing something or going somewhere!

Ok that's enough for the first post, I'll try to keep them a little shorter next time!