School is in, Kaytee is out

I won't tell you what happened.

Kaytee has been out of school the last two days...suspended.

I have an appointment with her school tomorrow morning. So far I've taken away her phone forever and gave her some chores to do, including cleaning off some major bird poop from my car.

On a good note...I have a new phone. My 2 year agreement was up and to keep you from ditching their network, verizon gives a 100 credit towards a new one. Plus I got an additional $50.00 off this phone. The LG dare. sweet. I wasn't sure about a touch screen phone...but so far I love it!

As for work, it's always nice coming home. However, the stress from 2 teenage daughters is taking a toll. I actually spanked (not hard) Megan last night for extreme disrespect and calling me a bad name.

Uh. I suppose it could be worse. It could always be that.

Tomorrow I have to fly down to Fresno so I can start a 4 day trip early Thursday morning. Then I have a 2 day trip before I can come home again. I need the money after my spending spree in Italy.

Yeah, rough life. :-)

There shall be no more complaining from me. No matter what gets dumped my way....I make the choice. I still chose happiness.

Venice

Florence aka Firenze

Pisa & Monterosso

Italy pictures ROME

ITALY

Oh boy! Oh boy!

We are going to ITALY!! Our plans have changed a little. Now the girls and I are leaving this Monday morning. I am both excited and scared. Completely excited to drench myself in art and italian beauty... but afraid of how much it will cost me. The euro is expensive right now and everything is so much more expensive over there. A cheap hotel will still run me over $150.00 a night. Plus train tickets, food and tickets to see everything. I might have to spend a little for plane tickets if couch is oversold. But hey, $120.00 to fly first class is amazing!

I hope I don't spend more than 2 grand!

Check back in a few weeks for pictures!

Wharf to Wharf race in Santa Cruz

Last Sunday (July 27th) I ran the Wharf to Wharf 10k in Santa Cruz.

The weather was perfect. Chilly and foggy. By noon the fog burned off, making it possible for everyone to enjoy summer's most pleasurable pastime...the beach!

The race itself was really fun. 52 bands dotted the 6 mile route and colorful balloon banners marked each mile point.

The only downside was how many runners there were. 15 thousand!!!

Even though I ignored the suggestions of where to line up at the starting line (they wanted you to start with other runners with the same mile pace...6 minute mile, 7, 8, 9, 10...etc. ) I couldn't run at the pace I wanted to because it was just to crowded. At the first turn I even had to stop due to the backup. It was like rush hour traffic! The first half of the race I was pretty stressed out that I would get tripped.

So my time sucked. I made up some of it in the last half. I crossed the finish line at 1 hour 16 seconds.

Would I do it again? Oh yeah. It was fun. You don't do this one for time anyway.

Boston?

Did I mention that I went to Boston?

It was a while ago...June, I think. Anyway- I flew out there for a friend's wedding. Let me just say that I LOVED Boston...at least in the summer time. :-)