I finished the Bunny Window - well almost

The endless fall project for my niece Emma is almost complete. For some reason this window has taken me months to finish and not weeks like it should have. It might have been that some of the cuts were hard, or that by tuesday night I am worn out after racing after the little ones, teaching swim lessons and then getting up to the studio. It was almost complete last week however as I was showing it off - Rita noticed that there was a crack in one of the side pieces. So this past week it was break it out, recut, wrap and put it all together again. Had a little help getting the rings one and I did not have to pull my hair out trying to do it.


On Wednesday I got out the great box I had for it and turns out the rings make the box to small - so off to the post office I went looking for one a little larger - the ones there were the same size as the one I had... so they lady at the post office was like go down to the UPS store and have them pack it and then come back and we will mail it for you- well that would have been nice except those crazy people in there wanted to charge me $31 to pack it up. I wanted to say do I have stupid written across my head or I am made of money... so now I am on a search for a box that will work, if not I might just wait till May and take it with me when I go to the beach with the family.

Emma's new room is under construction anyways so its not like there is any rush - even more so since it was going to be a gift for her nursery but when the studio was closed when she was born there was a hold on the project from the start.

So whats the next project? Not sure - I did notice that I cant find any of my cuff links so I might just have to make a few pairs - so that means some fusing... but I have a few free form ideas floating in my head so it might be a freestyle project with squares of clear glass with patterns. But we will see - I have had some requests for a turtle window too.

a replacement job

So out goes the gap and in comes the swimming. Coaching makes me happier. Sometimes you take a job because it pays well and at other times you take a job because it looks better on the resume and sometimes you take a job because its something you really want to do and it makes you happy- and that is what this one is all about. I really do love being a pool deck as a coach - someone for the kids to look up to- teaching them something that I love. And with this maybe I will get some wahoos out there and swimming with me. The pay by the hour is better than Gap but the hours are less. It still gives me the flexibility to teach swim lessons on Tue & Thur and the possible weekend days too. But I am already out at Lee on Wednesdays for pilates so now i get to be out there for 2 reasons. Ok that is if I get up early enough on Tuesday and long on to the site and get into the class for the next set which starts in Jan.

Thanksgiving is tomorrow. I cant believe that another year has come and gone - this time last year i was making paper turkeys and waiting till 6 pm on wednesday night to leave school and start the needed break - Can it really be time again to get up before the sun does and go shopping after a night of to much food and drinks. I am thankful that I am lucky enough to keep landing all of these part time jobs that are keeping me afloat... I am thankful that my sisters are all coming to visit but know at the same time it will make my life crazy for a few days.. Caroline offered me her BIG ass car to drive if i need one while they are here - so I will wait and see what happens once they get here.

So I am posting this later than I thought I was going to...This morning like most after thanksgiving I got up before the sun did - TARGET here we come - it was not that crazy in there at 6 am - got some birthday and a few christmas gifts out of the way. So it was a good day shopping. J and A went to Walmart at 5 am and said that it was down right crazy in there and it was a good thing that I was not there because I would have left due to all of the people. for some reason we then ventured into Curcit city and after about 15 min I had to leave due to the crowds - it was wild in there. the shopping day ended around 11 and was followed up by thanksgiving left overs and a good nap... Happy Holidays - get to shopping and dealing with families...

10 year is enough

So after 10 years of being a GAP girl I am turning in my name tag and taking the 10 year watch and walking out of the store right before another holiday season. I HATE the new store manager- she is very negative and 2 faced - and i just dont enjoy going in anymore. In fact i have started to hate saturday nights knowing that I should be calling in to see if I am working on sunday or not. Beth the bitch told me that for me to stay that I would have to work on weekend night - now I might just be down right crazy or she is because the last time I checked Sunday counts as a weekend - but not according to her - that for me to stay there that I have to work on a friday or saturday night and increase my hours if i wanted to stay. now that I am working 5 part time jobs I just dont have 20 hours in my week to give to a place that pays the least and only gives me watches every 5 years and to many clothes in my closet. I have had mixed feelings about it for a while and I wanted to wait for the 10 year watch - I do have to say that I like the new watch - even though it needs a link taken out. SO I am saying good bye to the discount - which might be hard in a way but then again there is not much in the store that I would buy if I did not have the discount - so for all of you who have taken advantage of the friends and family day cards in the past - you will just have to pay full price from now on or make new friends working in there.

Its not like they do markdowns like they did in the past but I know how it works that in time everything gets marked down if you wait - and are willing to look for it. And I did buy a big gift card that I can use to buy things in the coming months. Most of the time I think I buy things in there because of the discount and not any other reason.

So some of you might be asking what is going on with 5 jobs, well now that I gave up gap its 4, and since swim lessons are on hold till the end of Jan that takes it to 3, which will soon be 2 after the next fused glass class. but those 2 will rebound - and I am going to go talk to a year round swim program tomorrow about coaching for them 2 days a week. hopefully I will be back on the pool deck sooner rather than later. Even more so since Dina called me today to see if I could go in and coach for her today - but I had to go to the Gap so I could not do - but from now on I will have my sundays for the first time in 10 years to do what I want and not have to think about it a week in advanced...my i will go to the galleries and see new shows, or hang out in the markets or i might just sit on the sofa and watch tv, play on the computer and talk on the phone.

so I will have to watch the money during the holidays - I did get a flight home - it was cheaper to stay for a week so I am going home for 7 days. I might really be crazy in the end - but even more so when all 4 if the sisters come to DC for some holiday shopping and some wine tasting in early December. Yes all 4 of them are coming to stay with me for the weekend. We will be on the go for most of it and I am going to try my best NOT to have to go to tysons while they are here but I dont think i will get that lucky. so here is to the 5 of us in DC- watch out here come the rowlands...

I love Wolf Trap, I hate ChickenMan

I will say it again, I love going to Wolf Trap for concerts. One of the main reasons would be that when they say that a ticket is $22 that is what you pay, if you go to the box office and pick them up - its not $22 plus this fee and that fee to make the ticket $35. Ok so sometimes it is just down right HOT but the fact that you can bring in your own food, wine, and beer saves you a ton. The people watching is always a trip and running into friends, a plus. The lawn sometimes gets a little over crowded, like last night when you couldnt find even the little patches of ground between blankets to walk through but it is always great - and even better when the sky is clear. I love it that I have found the back way into the bathroom for shorter waits, and even more so that last night it took us yes, 2 minutes from the time we got into the car to route 7. knowing where and how to park and pulling right out is the key to all of the pleasures of Wolf Trap.

I think out of the last 8 summers that I have been in DC i have seen the Indigo Girls play all but one summer, and there is only one request I want to see them play ONE TIME when they skip playing chickenman - I hate that song- it is one of the only songs of theirs that I completely HATE it goes on and on and there is just no point of the song. Last summer I was about to have my show without the song and then someone requested it. They have so many other songs that they could play. I do have to give them a hand this time for having an opening band that was good and reflected their own music and was not just noise. But I have to say that maybe we are all getting older because that was an odd mix of people at the show. Ok so a couple got engaged at the concert and there was a bit of people watching of odd looking couples, as you ask yourself HOW did that happen. This show used to be 90% female at every show but last night, it was such an odd mix, more like 60/40. We had one of the odd looking couples come and sit in the small space between our blanket and the ones next to us - and they wanted to know why this was such a crowded concert - I wanted to say well it is sold out. They left half way into the headliners- I was glad to have her and her husbands ugly feet off the corner of my blanket. I love a good summer concert even more so when it cools off just a bit when the sun goes down.

so till next year at wolf trap i will pack up the shower curtain (to keep your blanket from getting wet) and wash the tacky bright quilt that was passed on to me (you cant miss it) and wait for more great outdoor concerts and cross my fingers that next time I will not have to hear ChickenMan again live.

Job search again

So I had come full circle and had decide that I would return to the school where I have been teaching this year after so many changes have happened in the last few months.  And then last week i find out that they are not going to renew my contract as full time for next year - I was offered part time but as you know I am not married and not going there anytime soon - I kind of laughed and said do food stamps come with that.  They are not willing to work with me and let teach in the morning and let me have my afternoons free to go do swimming - they also want me to do afternoon day care - and that is something I do NOT want to do. I helped my mom with her daycare business for years and I want to TEACH and not babysit. So I get to start the job search all over again. At least this time I have one year experience under my belt, I know what I want to do, I have some lesson plans set and others that I still need to work on - it is spring break this week and I should be doing grades right now and lesson plans for next week but with this blow of the no contract I have to say it is hard to right now to want to go over and beyond for someone who has kicked me to the curb in a way.  And here they are asking about an Art curriculum - and I ask how will you ever get one if you cant or don't keep an art teacher for more than a year and here you are on your 4 th art teacher in 4 years.

I also believe that Kindergarten and First graders should have fun in art and that they should be able to define art as what every they want and not what someone tells them what art is.  Yes they should be exposed to art but they should be able to make there own definition of what is great art.  I have 3 parents who have made me dread teaching the first grade class - they have never come to see me teach they are basing my teaching on what their first graders may or may not tell them, or bring home.  But I have remember that these are just 3 parents out of 180 kids who come to my class.  I have had many come to me and say that their kids love my class and that it is the one class that they talk about at home.  I will admit I am still learning a lot - and it really has taken me the better part of the year to get to this point - that I know which classes like to do what - what levels they are and how to keep them busy - some of the kids would love to come to my class and just use the free draw books every day and sit and draw from them.  there are others who just want to make paper airplanes.  So for now I will try and enjoy the last of the cold days of spring break (what happened to Tuesdays weather?)

As for glass the studio is still closed - and I should be sending glass out to my alum show next week-  hopefully we will be up and running in the studio by May...

How do you end the year in a bang and a depleted bank account?

Well I topped off Christmas for myself this year. My mom told me that my list was just bad… ok, so really with after 10 months of not having a job and trying to stay away from the malls and realizing how little you can live on/with, I guess I just did not need as much or it might be that I just don’t have the room for much. Then again there are a lot of things that you can by in the big city that you can’t always get at home, and then there is the whole other issue of getting it back to DC. So right there you have limits. So I did what I said I was going to do but it just took me a little longer to do it… On Friday I started the day out with a trip to the DMV - yes, Over due- Yes, there was a long line but I was surprised when they called my number when I had been there a little less than an hour (ok, so there were 16 windows too). I made it in and out of the DMV in about 1 ½ hours. Not bad to title & tag the car and get a new DL-– which I have to say the new id photo is a BIG improvement over the old deer in the head lights from the last one I had. So what should you do after you spend your morning at the DMV - I headed to the Apple store. Yes you heard me I went with the AOL stock money and bought a new apple Laptop and printer/scanner/copier. Now if this one will last as long as the other one that is sitting on my desk at home (years in the making,– which I bought used from a friend) I figure I will get my money out of it. It is beautiful and well over due and I love it. Plus I have crack like addicting games on there too which suck away time like never before they might be a bad idea but for now they are fun that is if you don’t have anywhere else to go. So I have stepped into the land of the computer age… but I did not stop there – to all of you who I have dropped calls with or had my phone shut off and power down you will be happy to know that I also upgraded and renewed my phone Yes I ended the day with a new cell phone so it was a day off all new things and a lot less money in the bank account when it was all said and done.

Happy New year everyone… may 2007 be better than 2006, we all need a little luck… and to all of you who have announced that you are getting married this year – it’s a damn good thing that I have a job - and yes I am willing to wear a bridesmaids dress for some selective few…that really means I like you if I am willing and happy to wear a dress and stand by your side while you kiss your single life away… all I ask in return is a good party.

Glass Shows should have better Directions

The table fee should have been the big red flag on if we should do this show or not, $45 was low but it was at a school, a school where I thought I would want to teach and had heard a lot about. Well let me just say there are 3 schools with in 5 miles of each other that have the same name. Little did I know that the school that was having the show was the public school and not the private that I thought it was. So on the Saturday morning of the show, I drove directly to the school thinking I am so on top of things here. I knew something was going to happen (the lack of sleep from the night before- after going to the el Vez Christmas Show was going to kick in soon) There were no cars parked in the lot- RED FLAG- so I call Madeline asking it was at this school right. As she runs around trying to find me the answer (cause the piece of paper I have does not list an address- just an email and no one is answering the phone) my little helper with me is getting a little irritated with me. Some one drives in and I follow them to ask about the show, they send me to the next campus – still no one is there and I cant find the gym – someone comes to the front door to say are you looking for someone and I told him I am looking for the art show – when he informs me that I am not the first person there today looking for the show – which is at the public school further down 123. So I call Madeline again and ask her to see what she can find out and she gets online to have it crash, then she go old school and gets out a good old paper map and talks me the rest of the drive to the school – oh but that was not the end of it, I pulled in to a school 2 blocks early following the signs for something else, it was the 4^th location before we found the right school with the art show going on. I made a little money, traded some glass for some dips, rubs, and mixes. met another glass artist (who also got lost and went to the private school that morning too and was about to give up), who was then told by a complete stranger- who was also selling things- that her posture was putting people off and that she should stand up straight (little did this nosey lady know that other glass artist had had 3 back surgerys in the last year). So I at least got a good laught out of that. Would I do the show again - not sure - I made money but not that much - at least I am getting good at the set up. I think for now I will stick to the basic and keep working on the stained glass windows... another one which will soon be finished if i just put the rings on and take it to the newlyweds. (i will post the picture one day)

A year Later...

A year ago a big door slammed in my face and with that a few little doors opened and there was a lot of change that took place – so as I pass the one year anniversary of the AOL lay off I look back at all of the changes and things that happened over the year.

For Jobs:

I was unemployed

I worked in a glass studio

I was a substitute teacher

I was a swim instructor

I was a Swim coach (go Wahoos)

I was an art teacher with CHAW

I was a stained glass and Fused glass co-instructor

I continued to work at Gap

I babysat

I gained plaster 101 flood damage lessons

I pulled up carpet

I laid tile

I helped someone move

And in the end I started teaching full time as an Art teacher

Some of the things that happened over the year:

I had my house flooded by a former roommate Jann)

I had 2 of my tires slashed by a friend'’s neighbor (may)

I had 2 wrecks in one day in July (I think I am finished with the bad luck)

My side view mirror had a battle with a trashcan and lost

My Antenna fell off the car (after a battle with a tree last may)

I have had 2 roommates move out and 3 moved in and another 2 are moving out

I became an Aunt again - this time I got a Niece

The glass studio closed for the summer and then was extended to the spring

I went to the beach twice

I loved Coaching Swimming

I was asked to be a bridesmaid (I accepted this time for 10-07)

Gas prices went well over $3 and stayed there for awhile (not fun when unemployed)

I did start driving less

I loved my 3 mile drive to work this summer

I had a lot more interviews than I ever had before:

In one I was not sure if my car was going to be there when I left.

I was offered a teaching job that required a bouncer in the room ( I turned it down)– I am not ready to save the world yet.

I got an interview for the pool in a " hour access, 24 hour psycho" t shirt

I did not have to interview for the summer coaching job

I was offered a year round coaching job that I had to turn down due to Tuesday nights in glass and that I could not leave school and get there on time. (I miss swimming)

I was offered the full time job in the glass studio in MD, but the drive was to long and the pay was to little with no health insurance.

What I miss about the old job

I miss the free gym

I miss the flex hours

I miss getting to wear jeans every day

I miss free coffee from Fatima on Fridays

I miss my friends

I miss the options of what to eat, in what cafe, at what time (I don’t like having to pack lunch every day)

I don’t miss the work

I don’t miss the 1 hour plus drive home at night

Do I miss the free t-shirts and food - not really

Some how in the mess of all of this I have managed to send in my last car payment J (ok so I have to take what would have been next months and fix the side mirror and the antenna)

I still run into old AOL people those who are still there, those who left before me and those who got kicked out with me.

To the ones of you who are still there it is hard at first but life gets SO much better after you get kicked out the door.

And with my AOL stock that I had to sell (and then watched it go up $2) I am going to by a MAC to replace my 11 year old on and make a good investment.

So thank you AOL for the 5 years I was there and the friends I made and the lessons learned but most of all thank you for giving me my life back, for getting me back into swimming, and for Laying me off - Cause I am a much Happier Person than I was a year ago.

Summer is over almost I have a job and a tan

Well I have made it - made it for 10 months in the month to month slow and low pay check to pay check in the "unemployed" time of my life... and as much as it has sucked at times - I really have enjoyed the time off - not sure if I am ready for the 40 hours a week in one place yet but I am looking forward to the paycheck that will come every 2 weeks with a set amount and not the guess and the waiting game that I had this past week - when my paycheck took a detour out to Dulles from alexandria and back- like I will ever skip getting a paycheck from the pool on a saturday again.

I have one week left before I start the new job... not sure how I feel about all of it- there are going to be a lot of challenges and changes coming soon... but I am reaching out and taking a few things with me to make my room feel and look like me... I found a great rocker at an estate sale a few weeks ago ( I still might paint it) and then on a trip to the home depot I found this great color block rug with a sample area cut out of the rug - it was like a $200 rug they gave me for $50 - so I have a nice little area for a reading or resting place for my kids- wait who I kidding for me...I have a few books on order that should be here this week - so I can start with some lesson plans and growing list of things that I need to find and get before school starts... I can make it through the first 4 days - then I get a 3 day weekend and 4 days and a short weekend and then I am off and running for the rest of the year... I have 2 set vacations but I get a 3rd one in the summer too ...

so I have to look at it as having more time off than I had at AOL... it is good to be out of that place, they are getting ready to lay off again- this time the rumor is something like 5000 people - so it is going to hit hard in this area - but life gets better after that place- it might not be easy at first but I have to believe that they did me a favor by sending me out the door -if they had not I would not have ended up coaching again , or teaching swim lessons or art... I have to thank them for giving me my life back - for making me decide that the sitting behind a computer day in and out gave me no satisfaction in life and that in fact I was bored, depressed and down right unhappy for most of the last year I was there when I was not in the gym or going to the gym...in the funny little world that I live in, one of the guys that was hired with me at AOL and laid off a year before me - well I ran into him at Nordstrom’s rack the other day- and I have to say it was nice getting to say that I just landed a job after 10 months and that I would be starting at the end of the month. To all of you who are still there I hope that you will get to leave on your own time and they will not force you out but if they do - know that there are longer days outside of the office, that you can go home before 9 pm and have a life, and that life does get brighter and better after a layoff...

I cant wait till I get that second pay check and know that I can go shopping at the grocery store and buy what I want and not just what is on sale... maybe I will eat school lunches and maybe I wont, maybe I will get up on time and make my own lunches or just end up with eatting a pack of nabs for lunch if it comes down to it.... I have to get by AOL and take back the fridge- I am moving into my classroom and it will be like my second home for the coming year- so I have to make it me...


oh and for those of you who know about the flood and the plaster - round 2 has started- FRED you are NOT a plumber and listen to the one you called and go buy a new potty cause the plaster in my room has taken another hit... yes the roommate upstairs reported an issue with the running toilet that I guess wanted to come for a visits down my entry way, bucked plaster in the walls, there goes my nice white walls....

the beach was nice this year - we walked away with out any major fight and we were all on good behavior with Ashley’s baby on the way - any day now I will get to post on a new little one when he/she gets here...till then we have to wait a little longer for baby D...

1 art class, 2 swim practices, 2 wrecks, 3 resumes and interview number 4 and counting

Why is it that Tuesdays have started to be the day that things start to go wrong... OK so the layoff happened on a Tuesday, and so did the endless day of the leak in the house. But how did I have 2 wrecks yesterday, please note I have not had one since I was 16 and I had 2 with in an 8 hour window yesterday. Not to worry I am fine - the bumper on my car might be another story - it is attached to the car but there is some green paint from one car and some damage from the rear end hit I took too.... OK so here is what happened....Got up early for swim practice all is well, come home get a package for my mom ready to send out (the humming bird that I finished as the studio closed) Headed out to the school again to talk to their communications director - their latest offer is part time art- part time graphics and the salary is up to something that I can live off of...I am still sending out resumes and such...so I leave the school and I want a coke and I need to stop at the bank so I stopped to deposit a check, get a coke and head home - no it did not go that smoothly- as I was backing out of the bank on a hill I hit a woman in a 94 Toyota (just very happy it was not a 04) I t ed her right at the tire and the base of the door. She was nice about it - exchanged info - and called my dad (he is my insurance agent)...stopped and got some lunch , dropped off 2 resumes at local schools and then home to get my things for art class...made it to class on time and in one piece...the kids wanted to do the same thing as last time so I let them and the ones who wanted to bead, we started something new....I could feel a killer head ache coming on....I made it through class, stopped at 7-11 for an treat, then off to the post office to mail the humming bird to my mom in memory of Mimi who died 7 years ago this week and the letter of interest about another job. Where I ran into one of my swimmers and her mom - gave them a ride up to the pool...practice round 2, HOT HOT HOT my head is pounding - hot I am in pants - I finally make it to the dressing room and then dive into the water... cooler now but still hot... after that is over Dina and I go to starbucks to get coffee and work on the relay carnival line up... I have to go to AC Moore to get art stuff for class before the sale ends- so off king street I go...I make it there get what I went for- head back towards my house in hopes of going to the library to finish up the line up to send it to Trina- NO GO...

I stop by 5 guys and get some fries - I eat some of them there in the parking lot and head out....make it to the top of the hill right before the 395 split and I am waiting for the red light to change and BAM... I get hit from behind- I had ketchup in my hand which is now all over my dash, in my hair, up my nose, all down my shorts and my t-shirt, in the speakers, on the seat and the carpet- more of less everywhere - Didn’t I think that little bit of ketchup could spread like that- Note there is another wreck across the street and this is what the ASS who hit me was looking at and not on his side of the road- so it is 8:10 this is my second hit of the day and I am having a pounding head - it is HOT out and I get to deal with this - NOT HAPPY.... I get out of the car as the EMTs show for the other wreck and they come running over to me asking were the blood was coming from - ok you can laugh, I was later - its ketchup from what should have been my fries...I had it all over my face, chin and neck- the cop later asked if I needed something to wipe it off with and then tells me that what ever I had in the car did smell good...as part of the report he asked where I worked now I can tell you right now I can type out chinquapin but I cannot spell it without righting it down - the cop was like I am not going to spell that one- then asked about swim lessons for his 5 year old....we wait for the police to do a report since they are already there.... I am cleared to leave at about 8:40 - come home to take a shower, to call my dad again- and when I get to the ketchup part he is laughing so hard-Some days you have to laugh at things like this that seem so unreal cause if not you are going to bawl your eyes out- it’s like the day when Courtney was a senior in high school and her car got hit 2 in one day when no one was in the car - the 2nd time that day it was by a cop- this is not the first time a R had been hit with in 24 hours. Called and made a report about the wreck - finished up the line up for the meet this weekend and made it to bed before midnight - I think I was asleep before I even got into bed (I kind of like it when I fall to sleep that fast) ...another bad Tuesday over with and I did not have glass class to tell all of the adventures too - and if I had been at class I would not have been in wreck #2... oh well that’s my life- and another great story to add to the list. So now it is Wednesday and it is one of those HOT HUMID and Hazy July days when you walk outside and it takes your breath away and you will need 3 showers before the day is over. We have a swim meet tonight so that will be just to much fun in the heat...but we had 4 new swimmers join this week - we got the 8 & u girl who we needed for a relay since our other one up and moved to NYC after the 4th - and turns out she knows my college roommate Emily ( Small world)... And for all of you who know about the gold dress I would like to report that shoes have been found to top it off...the deal was I wanted some for less than I paid for the dress - I now have GOLD flip flops type shoes with about 1/2 inch heal and they are TACKY to top off the dress lets just hope I can walk in them and not fall over.

3 flats, 2 job interviews and they found my USB

Have you ever had a weekend that you were waiting and wishing for Monday morning to arrive. Lets just say that I am glad that the weekend is over... Saturday morning after teaching swim lessons I head out in the dulles are to go meet J&A for lunch...I meet them at Nordstrom Rack, headed to Red Robin for lunch. Where the food was good but the service was poor and in the end the manager offered us free lunch - which would come back to bite us in the ass over and over- as we headed out of the parking lot J said the car was pulling, got out to check the tire, which was low...So off we went to find air...You know that the first one that you go to they will not have a working pump...So by the second gas station we found a working pump, fill up the tire - no there is a crack, tried a patch repair kit- no luck, tried fix a flat-no luck, tried electrical tape- no luck, tried duct tape- no luck, tried the spare -no luck-- why cause there is a lock key on the tires so that you have to have a special lug to try and get the tire off and the one that J had did not fit...So after 2 hours we head out to walk to my car about 1.5 mile away. At least my car was close, we get to it and decide that we need some retail therapy... So it is time to shop... So after shopping we head to the house were the neighbors are blasting their music at 11:30 at night... Police are called, they come to tell them to turn it down and the neighbors talk back to the cop. They turn it down, the cops leave, they turn it back up, by 3 am they are called again.

With one flat that needs a lock key to change it and the dealership service areas are closed on Sunday we head out to put a new note on the car that we will be back when then dealership opens on Monday. I had called Gap to say that I would be in later but I had to deal with a flat tire. We walk out and at the bottom of the stairs the left side of my car was on the ground, some one had come and stabbed my tires... I was not going to work... We called cops again, they came and took a report and the madness started. Called Mel to come and help and with her Costco card she was a big help. We jacked up the car took of the first tire, all is well...jack up the back take off the back tire - but the break was on- had to release the break and when we did it rolled and the car fell off the jack.. s%%^&(*^&... jacked it back up got the back one off (note that if you ever do 2 on one side, put the spare tire on the first one and then change the next one) and it rolled again...f%*^%...J was like I will take care of it, you go get the new tires and come back...So Mel and I head off to costco get 2 tires, tp, paper towels, a new tool kit, gum and batteries head back to the house with the fixed tires. By the time we get back to the house J has found someone who has a professional jack and he is helping with the car...Toni was great - he helped level out the car, get the tires on, and sent us on our way to get the tires balanced and set on the car...So back to Costco I go with the card in hand to get 2 more...Cause you know the assholes who did this had to get the good tires on the same side so that I could not really us the other one... plus they had over 60,000 miles on them - so I am all balanced in the tires and not so balanced in the wallet, cause I bought 2 and J got the other 2 cause the assholes saw her get out of my car and thought I was the one who lived here.

A week later I am going to finish this posting---

The cars have been better. Swim team starts tonight. Interviews went well last week - One I turned down, the school would have been a nice place however I think it would be a high stress environment and sent them a note that at this time it was not the location for me. the second interview was far better however it will start out as part time - but everytime I talk to the principle she wants to add more hours and is willing to work around coaching/ or swim lessons. So I will wait and see what they can offer me -- I have another interview tomorrow and another one next week (that was moved from tomorrow).

Hope that everyone had a great long weekend - believe it or not I was not the first person in the outdoor pool in fact I have not been to the pool yet - I think with coaching I will get my fill in for sure this summer. And yes I will stay safe.