On September 21 I got an email from the LDS homeschooling group saying that one of the wards was having a fundraiser so their young women could go to conference in SLC, Utah. It would be $20 a family for unlimited miniature golf and water slides.
We jumped at the chance and went. It was about a 30 minute drive with light traffic. We got there at 6:30 pm and left at 9:30pm. The kids had such a fun time. Both Niah and Milo had to be strongly encouraged to go down the water slides the first time with me. After that, we couldn’t get those two off of them. I think they went more times than anyone else. It was awesome.
The kids enjoyed the miniature golf but that was a bit over shadowed by the water slides. Thank goodness it was a warm evening. Afterward we stopped at a Burger King that was down the street. We thought we’d hit the drive thru to make our lives easier. Bad mistake. Here is how it went:
Him: (strong Spanish accent) Welcome to Burger King, may I take your order.
Me: Uh, ya….you have these little cheese burgers, how much are they?
Him: You want cheesecake?
Me: NO! (in a VERY loud VERY clear voice), you have these little cheese burgers called BK sliders. I was wondering how much they were.
Him: Oh (sound of relief) you want cheese burger. Ok…..
Me: NO!!!
Him: Excuse me?
Me: I DO NOT WANT A CHEESE BURGER. Oh forget it. Thanks anyway. (me backing out of the drive thru. Everyone in car laughing (especially Jaime and Alix))
I did end up going inside. My first clue that I was the minority: Only 3 signs were in English. The managers name was Jorge. We finally got the order done and out to the car. We still laugh about it. ‘You want cheesecake??’
On Saturday September 26 the Fremont Main Library was hosting a free text book give away. Houghton Mifflin was giving away free text books to anyone who wanted them. Well, seeings how I’m independent now, I’m in need of text books, especially math books. So I was game. I figured there would be quite a few people there so I showed up 20 minutes early. Apparently the people at the front of the line showed up 3 hours early (I was in the middle of the line up). I could go on for a good 20 minutes but that would not be fun for any of you to read so I’ll sum it up. The people of the bay area are HEATHENS!! They are greedy, ungrateful scavengers. I was SO disappointed. First of all there was a rush on the books. People just grabbed whatever they could get their hands on and then wanted more. They were filling backs of mini vans and SUV’s. They were using their children to get to the front of the line. They stampeded. Finally the workers closed the trucks and asked the people to back away and leave. THEY DID NOT. They stood there demanding more books. Demanding they open the truck so they could get their books. Then the police came. 4 cars, 8 cops. Would the people leave then? NO! They started yelling and arguing about their right to have free books because that’s what they were told (they failed to mention the entire car full they already had). 2000+ books were GONE in 20 minutes! I am NOT lying or exaggerating. It was the worst thing I’ve seen. Worse than Wal Mart the day after Thanksgiving. So why do I know all this? Why didn’t I high tail it out of there when this all started? I was SO MAD at the behavior of these “adults” that I walked up to one of the workers and asked if I could help in anyway. She looked at me a little frazzled and said ‘You could clean up’. Yep, all those “adults” had just thrown boxes and garbage everywhere. So I started the clean up process. 2 hours later when myself, 3 other volunteers and 4 workers were done, I left. What about the crowd of people? The company had to tell them all to move because they were moving the truck and didn’t want anyone to get run over. The people still did not move. I left. I suppose they all moved eventually because I saw a few people walking back to their cars. Did I get any books? Well, in the first 10 minutes of the stampede I managed to grab 4 math books (3rd, 4th, 5th grade and an algebra book), a couple of history books and a couple of work books. Exactly what I needed and exactly what I could use. Too bad not everyone had that same idea. I bet you could find quite a few brand new text books on Ebay.
After getting home from that little episode, I took some time to relax then showered and went to the R.S. broadcast. It was exactly what I needed after such a horrible morning. I was able to enjoy the spirit of the Lord with good people from my stake. It was awesome. I sat next to a friend from anther ward who was due that day. I thought she looked great for being due that day. Well the next day after church I got an email that she had had her baby. An 11 pound 11 oz boy!! I just lost my bragging rights…..
On September 29 they did a “quick scan” on Milo. Which means they do an MRI but instead of putting him under they just have him lay still for 8 minutes. It was awesome. He did a great job. But I had my first experience of having to check the shunt before and after. No big deal but I had to make sure they did it. For his awesomeness we stopped by Gayle’s restaurant before heading back and picking up the girls (thanks Laura!!). We’ll know the results of the test during our appointment with Dr. Sun on October 22.
On Friday October 2 we went to a pool party. We usually have park day with the LDS home schoolers, but instead we met a cabana club that one of the members belongs to. It was so nice. They had 3 different pools. Basket ball court. Volley ball court. Big grassy area with 3 HUGE trees. BBQ pits. It was super nice. It was only $14 for the whole family. It was a perfect price. I love finding fun things for a good price.
This weekend, October 3 & 4, was conference weekend. On Saturday we watched at home. Between sessions we cleaned the front and back yard and the house a little. After second session we put the house back in order and prepared the sandwich fix’ns. We had a couple of families coming over. The men ate first and headed to priesthood. Us womenfolk stayed home with the kids and played and talked and enjoyed each others company. After the “men” got home we ate ice cream sundaes and cookies. It was a fun night. Sunday we spent at Gayle’s. It was wonderful. Unfortunately, Alix couldn’t eat all day and had to drink her poo juice. Yep, Alix is going in for her annual colonoscopy tomorrow. I’ll update you on how that goes.
I think that is all I have to report for now. I hope I did not overwhelm you with all this news at once. Till next time…..
I love the way “men” is in quotations! I just wanted to let you know that I am alive, still reading your posts, I just haven’t had time to comment until now. The next couple days should be slow for me so maybe I’ll even have time to update my blog!