Busy Days

The last few days have been indeed busy for me. Maybe not so much busy-can't-catch-my-breath busy, but each day has been filled with at least one thing fun or exciting happening to us.

Saturday morning was the grand opening (?) of the newly renovated Lakewood Sheriff's Station. I don't know exactly how much room they had before but now they have over 20,000 square feet of work space. There was a dedication, ribbon cutting and lots and LOTS of speeches. Got a little too much towards the end, but it was so great to be there and check it all out. We happened to get a VIP invitation (I think because we are the Neighborhood Watch captains for our street) to come and preview it before the public came in.

After the speeches were over and the city council folk, photographers, construction people, etc all started gathering to take pictures. You know the ones with the mayor, and then the mayor with the Sheriff, the the Sheriff with the secretary, the the city council with the mayor and then one without the mayor, then one with Sheriff on the left, the one with the mayor in front of ........ you know what I mean. I walked up to Sheriff Lee Baca to ask if I could take his picture with Jacob and Sarah. He is THE SHERIFF of Los Angeles County. There was a HUGE crowd around him. I thought for sure that I would never get his attention or that he wouldn't be able to pull away or maybe that some official might tell me to go away. I turned around to go take the tour. Lee Baca pulled out of the crowd surrounding him, grabbed my arm and asked me if he could help me. I told him that I was going to ask for a picture of him with the kids so that when Jacob graduates from the Sheriff's Academy (not likely my little fire service engrained boy) I would show it at the graduation party. He smiles and turns to his group of dignitaries and says "wait for me, I am going with them". He makes his way through a little crowd, pulls over a chair, sits down and pulls the kids close. I take the picture and thank him. He introduces himself to the kids and asks them about themselves. He asks me my name and smiles. He goes back to his group and says "ok, I am ready now". He is soooo coool. Ok, I know he is an elected official, but still, how kind of him to take care of us.

Later went to a birthday party and jumped our hearts and heads off in a Cars bounce house.

Sunday, our entire church celebrated the 20th anniversary of our Pastor Chuck and his wife as our pastors. It was a total surprise to them when they walked into the sanctuary and we all yelled surprise at them. It was so funny because the entire church had their eyes on the double doors ready to scream. I was just praying Lenny wouldn't walk through the doors and trip the surprise. He was getting off duty that morning and was due in at any moment. It was very likely that he could have walked in at that moment. Crisis averted though because the Athertons came in to be overwhelmed by it all. So many details of that morning that deserve it's own post. Check back later about it all.

Later went home to spend about another 8 hours on 2 science projects. Got them done but gee howdy it was crazy getting it all together. And, reviewing with Sarah what an hypothesis was was well, a nightmare. I questioned more than once why in the world we were doing this. Then I ran out of glue, tape and and eventually any and all types of adhesive for the display boards. I started crying. I was sooooo tired and worn out. Both kids went over their reports, their experiments and their boards before going to bed. They seem to know what in the world they are talking about. Let's see if they remember when they are being judged next week.

Then Monday was fun. Went to Pole Position in Corona with some good friends. Oh my gosh that was fun. It is indoor racing in these 45 mpg little cars. Super fact and adrenalin pumping to the max. Then went to lunch at Johnny Rebs. Good food. Even the deep-fried pickles were ok. We all went to Starbucks and each of us called the Lemings and told them to meet us there. After about the 5th message, they got the idea that we wanted to see them so they came. It was a very fun day with friends.

I am realizing that while having fun things to do and experience is a blessing, fun is a temporary thing. There is still the house to tend and tasks that need to be accomplished for life to run smoothly. That way, when the fun does occur, I can really enjoy it. Right now, I need to put laundry away and probably clean up after the dog. By the way, still not a lot of progress with the potty training...any ideas for us?