Before I forget....last time we visited San Diego I kept a written journal as we went. I didn't do that this time so I'm going to leave a basic outline here until I have time to add more detail, along with pictures, in the near future (I hope....since we are leaving in less than 2 weeks on another little jaunt to MT/ND)

Day 1: Sunday, June 8:  Airline flight to San Diego, met at the airport by my brother, who had prepared a smoked turkey dinner for us

Day 2: Monday, June 9:  A stroll up and down San Diego Harbor and a tour of the USS Midway, the aircraft carrier, now a museum. The arrival in town of my brother and sister-in-law from ND.

Day 3: Tuesday, June 10: Our trip to Sea World. Then we went to Ocean Beach to eat at Hodad's, one of the places featured on Food Network's Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives. The burgers were GREAT!

Day 4: Wednesday, June 11: To Qualcomm Stadium to go through Security and board the bus for Torrey Pines for a practice round of the US Open Golf Tournament (got some pics of some big time players!!!)

Day 5: Thursday, June 12: Up early and to Qualcomm Stadium to go through A REALLY LONG security line and board the bus for Torrey Pines and the first day of the US Open....a long day capped by a steak dinner

Day 6: Friday, June 13: Everyone slept in, my brother took the day off, and we headed out to a late breakfast, followed by a trip to wine country and some wine tasting. The day ended with a delicious seafood dinner

Day 7: Saturday, June 14: My brother- and sister-in-law left to continue their trip by car....we headed to Balboa Park and visited a couple museums there (the Air and Space Museum and the Automotive Museum) and strolled through the park to see the sights, including the rose and cactus gardens. We also visited the oldest mission in California.

Day 8: Sunday, June 15: A relaxing day spent re-packing,  watching the US Open, then heading to the airport to fly back home,  touching down at 12:15 AM, then driving home.

OH, AND BY THE WAY, BE SURE AND CHECK OUT COURTNEY'S MYSPACE MUSIC.....listen to her own songs and BUY THEM!!!

peace

We are leaving this afternoon for San Diego! Look for us at the US Open on Thursday.....

reports will be forthcoming when we get home

peace

 

 

somewhere in a Veterans' Cemetery in ND.....

 

RIP, Dad

 

peace

Mother's Day has come and gone. My family gave me a new camera, and it takes wonderful pictures! Any flaws or blurriness in any of my pictures is due to me  and not the camera!! Here is a beautiful sunset over the Mississippi River across the road from our house.

The weather has been challenging around here, and in the rest of the country as well. This afternoon there were tornadoes in the Twin Cities area, with devastating results. We thank God that we didn't have to experience that in our own little corner of the world. but we did get a major hail storm. Here are just a few pics.....Look at the size of the hail that fell

This is the broken window in our dining room

And some of the hail that fell on our deck

Aside from the broken window (just the outer pane was broken so we got no water in the house), there are major holes in our siding, dents in the trim, dents in the kids' vehicles since they must park outside the garage, and a broken taillight in my husband's work car. We are certain we will need a new roof as well. We will be calling the insurance adjustor to make a claim. We are just one family of many who suffered damage just in our town, and in this larger area. But again, we are fortunate not to have suffered the devastation that those who live in other areas endured because of tornadoes. Our hearts and prayers go out to them.

peace

 sleeping with the window open

 hearing the birds chirping in the morning (because the window is open )

 seeing the green green grass

 seeing the leaves on the trees

 having my family home for Mother's Day

 having no commitments for the weekend (except for lectoring at mass tonight)

 having Aaron's graduation/open house announcements mailed!!!

My week at work:

 continued to work on record keeping and year end processes

 took care of some files

 had lunch with the Faith Formation director of the parish that we will soon be twinned with. We had a good conversation about each of our programs, and what the future might hold. Of course, we don't know what the future will hold, but the conversation has begun.

 attended the annual diocesan retreat for parish faith formation staffs. It really wasn't much of a retreat....there was some prayer and reflection time after lunch, but mostly it was a fun presentation on the use of media with young people. Got some great resources.

 Coming up this week:

An appointment with the diocesan consultant for persons with disability differences to discuss a young girl we have in our program.

A meeting with the person who does our website to get my own page set up and learn how to update it myself

 

Courtney moved home yesterday for the summer while she tries to secure an internship (required for her degree) and find a job to earn some money before she leaves in the fall.

Tomorrow is Mother's Day of course and right now we have no specific plans. I told my family I didn't want to go out somewhere to eat (restaurants get SO busy on days like this) so we will get some nice steaks for the grill. I would like to find something to do, however, to get us out of the house. I plan to have FUN!!

Happy Mother's Day to all those mothers out there!

peace

Today was First Eucharist for 28 of our kids. The weather cooperated and it was warm, although windy. I got several thank-yous and compliments from parents on this year's program so that always makes me feel appreciated. When I got home the boys were out hitting golf balls for the first time this year. The sprinklers were running as well! Looks like summer might actually be on the way. I cleaned up the kitchen and started the laundry. It's time to get motivated and get some things done around here that have been put off. Somehow nicer weather makes that not so difficult.

Tomorrow is a day off, although I will probably be working on graduation announcements.

Courtney will be moving home on Friday for the summer. I guess life as we know it will be different for the summer, and then of course, totally different in the fall when both kids move out.

Yesterday we drove into Minneapolis for a birthday party and watched kids ride ponies up and down the alley. There were lots of little kids there and they were, shall we say, not exactly quiet and well-behaved.  Fun was had by all, and the cake was delicious! We really need to get together with these parents and have an adult night out. 

On the way back home we stopped at Texas Roadhouse for dinner, but the wait was soooooooo long that we didn't stay. And it was quite early, we thought....5:15 pm. I was disappointed since we had never eaten at one before and was looking forward to trying it. So we traveled down the road to eat at one of our normal standbys. We made it home and that was pretty much the end of the evening.

peace

Today I had my picture taken for the parish's 50th anniversary history book and the pictorial directory they are doing this summer/fall. They turned out okay I guess, and as the title infers, I had a pretty decent hair day, despite the fact that it really needs a color right now.

This week at work I've been working on my year-end record keeping in the computer program I use. Luckily for me I had made notes on these processes at my last job and brought my files with me so that is helping me. I'm posting the final attendance in preparation for adding the year's information to the kids' permanent records. I will be promoting the kids to the next grades and wiping out this year's class information. I will also set up the fund information for next year's registration fees. Registrations are already coming in for next fall's programs, and nothing can be entered until this year's information has been closed out. But...I won't be entering anything anything until after July 1, since that is when our new fiscal year begins.

Saturday morning we will have practice for Sunday's celebration of First Communion for 28 of our kids. After that we are heading into Minneapolis for a birthday for a couple little twin boys! And there will be pony rides! (depending on whether it's raining/snowing AGAIN. ) Once Sunday's First Communion celebration is over, my responsibilities will be drastically reduced...it will be a matter of finishing up some filing, cleaning out and organizing supplies, and ordering in next year's materials. Whew! I am ready for my vacation.

Aaron has pretty much made the decision on which college he will be attending in the fall so now it's just a matter of finalizing some of the things that need to be taken care, first and foremost, his housing application. At this point, his scholarships cover one third of this year's costs, and hopefully there is at least one more scholarship to be awarded. We wait and see...  This decision has alleviated quite a bit of stress for all of us. Now it's time to get those graduation/open house announcements out.

peace

The grass has greened up. The trees are budding. The river is quite high right now. The swans are long gone. Could it be? Has spring sprung? I thought it already had, but last weekend we woke up to snow! At least this weekend, they are only forecasting rain.

Tomorrow I must go and get my picture taken for the church history book. Joy.

Now, I'm off to get some cinnamon bears. Not really .

 

peace

I got my crown today ....well, my dental crown. I had struggled with a sore tooth for quite awhile. It had gotten so bad that I could pretty much only chew on one side of my mouth, but I kept thinking I could wait until my usual 6 month check-up, so I put up with it. That big day was about three weeks ago. I had my check up and scheduled my crown work, and today I received my permanent crown. Even with my temporary crown, my chewing was much improved, so I'm hoping now that everything will be back to normal.

It seemed that I was fairly busy at work today, even though looking back it seemed I didn't really accomplish anything major. But sometimes there are lots of little details that need to be taken care of and today was one of those days that was perfect for that.

peace

AJ and I will be heading in to St. Paul on July 19 to see Neil Diamond. He begins his summer tour there. Tickets went on sale this morning and I was online waiting to purchase them. He has a new album coming out next week. He will also be on American Idol this week. We have actually seen him in concert twice before, both times in Billings.

Another event we will be purchasing tickets for will be the Star Wars exhibit at the Science Museum, also in St. Paul. That should be fun as well. I suppose we will be getting four tickets for that....we will take the kids.

Yesterday was my "first First Communion" in my new parish as Faith Formation Director. We had practice on Saturday morning and the liturgy yesterday at noon. There were 30 of this year's kids at this celebration. Next Sunday we will do it again for the remaining 28 kids. There was also one older girl who chose to receive her First Communion separately at the 10:00 am regular parish liturgy. So in all, 59 kids. I think the largest group I ever had in my previous parish was 36, so this is a little different. But it seems easier, simply because the pastor takes a much more hands on approach here and pretty much directed the practice. And since it was my first time here, it was much less stressful for me. I always look forward to these sacramental moments with the kids...these "firsts" are some of the best things about a job like this.

Last weekend we were in Moorhead/Fargo for two of our daughter's  musical performances and a college day for Aaron. On Friday night we attended Courtney's jazz choir concert. You can hear one of their songs here   and her solo   here   Both thoroughly enjoyable

On Saturday AJ and I headed over to NDSU for a college day for Aaron. We got to tour the engineering complex as well as most of the rest of the campus, meet some of the professors, and eat a college lunch. I hope in the end he chooses to attend there because it is a very good engineering school, very well respected, and the cost is reasonable. Besides that, it's close enough yet far enough away from home!

Sunday found us back at MSU-M for Courtney's senior recital. She shared her recital with another soprano. They alternated sets, then closed the performance with a duet. I thought she was wonderful! Of course I'm her mother and I am allowed to think that.

After jointly serving a simple cake and punch reception with the other mother, we headed out for home. AJ had to get to Duluth for a conference yet that night. So it was just Aaron and I at home the rest of the week, until AJ returned on Thursday afternoon. Then Aaron left for Colorado on Thursday night for a band trip and returned this afternoon. Even though I was busy at the church this weekend, I had enough free time to do some chores around here and feel as though I am pretty much caught up. That allowed me to pretty much take today off and relax, do a little reading, watch some HGTV, and buy my Neil Diamond tickets!!

peace