It's been quite a year...

A year ago...

-I was making twice as much money as I do now

-I did not have a Bachelor's degree

-I was in my 17th year of retail management

-I had a total of 3 days off from Thanksgiving to Christmas

-My mother was in hospice & expected to not survive the year

This past year I realized my dream of getting out of retail management & doing something that I already love immensely...teaching. It has been a scary career move that I still question in the wee hours of the morning, not for happiness (I am) but for the strain & risk to my family.

Simply put...I work twice as hard for half the money now...but my perks included the last two weeks off with my family & that is a better than even trade...at least for me!!

As I review the many changes my family & I have experienced I take comfort in the words of Henry Commager, an American Historian of last century...

"Change does not necessarily assure progress, but progress implacably requires change. Education is essential to change, for education creates both new wants and the ability to satisfy them."

My change in life began with, involves, & will conclude some day with education. This year alone I must pass my educator certification exams, complete my Master's, & begin teaching the 6th grade in the fall.

It should be another interesting year...

Wildcard Weekend!

My Colts have secured the #5 seed and will travel to San Diego this week to play our nemisis the Chargers on Saturday. I hope my boys can get it done...

Man's Work

She looks impressed...

I seriously underestimated the down-side of teaching & having 2 weeks off for Christmas...the honey-dos!! Last Saturday I worked on the yard all day & felt like a wet noodle by the end of the day! Luckily I was able to recover on Sunday by going to church all day...the church of the NFL!!

Anyway...I was like Paul Bunyan all day...ripping out 5 trees (size does matter!!) & cleaning up the mess. Next up...get rid of the grass so we can put in gravel...can't wait!!

Rock band

Momma is enjoying her superb vocal efforts!

Look at Yesenia's concentration!

Tammy takes a break for the camera...

The first game my kids requested for our new PS3 was Rock Band 2...and Yesenia's ears have not been the same!! As I write this my girls are drumming, strumming, & signing their hearts out...even the dogs have left the room!

My fatal mistake was getting this game for the PS3 which is located in the living room & my big-screen. I have been forced to watch TV in my bedroom...Daddy's not happy!

Christmas Dinner

My mom & dad hosted dinner this year & it was an awesome dinner. Yesenia & I really enjoyed being able to have a great family dinner without all the work & clean-up. Mom & dad did a fantastic job and the ham was scrumptious. It was really nice to have mom feeling so well & able to spend time with us. Reflecting on last year I realize that so much has changed for the better...good times!!

Christmas

We had a nice holiday again this year. Steve & Corey came over to share the day as always & we had fun opening the presents. The girls talked us into opening the presents on Christmas Eve & it was fun to "mix it up". We splurged (what recession?!) & got a PS3 & Wii this year...more on those later!

All in all...a great day & very relaxing holiday since I didn't have to work at all last week!!

My two cents...

http://www.barefootsworld.net/motherasked.html


I got an email with the above poem from an acquaintance the other day.

These type of emails really piss me off...so I wrote him an email that went like this...

What do you mean by support? Support the actual troops with care packages, our love & thanks for being in harm’s way? Or do you mean support the war in Iraq in general?

The first meaning is absolutely correct. Our troops make great sacrifices to protect us and they are much finer men & women than I could ever hope to be. I think it is cowardly to live in comfort & peace and slander those soldiers that stand upon the wall providing us those freedoms.

I assume that the creator (& all of the people that forward it) of this message mean the second for one simple reason…those acts of cowardice are very rare in today’s society. What the war protesters did to returning vets in Vietnam was unequivocally wrong and society as a whole has recognized that…welcome home events for our troops today are peaceful and joyous…rightfully so.

Are their exceptions? Absolutely. There are outliers on both sides. I have received emails arguing to just nuke the Middle East & get it over with…obviously not an option God would favor.

I normally do not respond to these types of emails…just trash them and move on. However, as we start a new direction in American foreign policy (I’ll leave it to the individual to decide the wisdom of the direction!) I wanted to finally get this off my chest.

Many of…OK, probably most…of you that read this will disagree with my reasoning and opinions. That’s fine…I respect you for that and I am glad that we live in a country where we can disagree publicly without censorship.

An interesting note…the email shows 9 US Presidents who had American troops involved in major combat operations (I have no idea why Clinton is there? Somalia? Why him & not Reagan [Granada]? Curious)…of those I can recall only our current President & Johnson facing major (or any) opposition to the war we were involved in during their terms.
I find it interesting because those two wars are the ONLY ones we started…

Make no mistake...the troops did not choose to invade Iraq...our civilian leadership at the time did. Simply put…I can disagree with a war and still support the troops.

Please STOP implying that I am less of an American than you because I do not support a war that we are fighting!!

I've been lazy...

After the end of my fall Master's courses last week I realized that the blog has been neglected...sorry. I uploaded a couple of posts I had saved but not published...it took me awhile to get the photos uploaded.

Anyway...here are a few shots of our foggy morning the other day.

I know, I know...only someone in Yuma, Arizona would actually take photos of fog!! What can I say...it was a long summer....

My Colts!!

I haven't mentioned my Colts much in my blog...they weren't exactly lighting up the NFL early in the season...but they are now 9-4 and should make the playoffs. They will have to go the long road as a wildcard but you never know...another Super Bowl win?!

Here's hoping...

Stephanie's Birthday

The day after Thanksgiving we had a birthday party for Stephanie...she's 19 now. We had mostly family over and it was alot of fun. My buddy Loren came by & we played drinking games...Kings, Bitches & Beer Pong.

I haven't played drinking games since high school but it was actually fun.

Of course...no one under 21 consumed alcoholic beverages!!

Thanksgiving

We had mom & dad over along with Steve & Corey for Thanksgiving. It was a great day with the family and I really enjoyed it. Tammy & I went to the store the day before & got all the syupplies in the morning. We thenm baked all the pies & stuffing that afternoon. Tammy wants to be a chef when she grows up (she's really going to be a lawyer) & had a blast helping Yesenia & I in the kitchen .

This was the first holiday I didn't have to work since I left high school & it was a special time for me. The pay for teaching is lousy but this holiday made up for it!