My husband and I are leaving for Seattle this weekend.  We're DRIVING there, then flying back.  This will be our Spring Break vacation.  I don't know if my butt can handle 18hours, let alone 5 hours of sitting as a passenger.  I don't know about you, but it's so hard for me to fall asleep in the car.  I'm a control freak, so I have to stay awake with the driver. 

We haven't planned out everything.  I like to plan a little, and leave a little bit open ended.  Are there any suggestions you can give us?  We're driving through the I-5.  We definitely stop at Harris Ranch off the I-5 for steak and prime rib.  We're staying in Shasta over night.

What else is there between Los Angeles to Seattle? 

Friday...It's about time!  I'm hoping those parent conferences will jet by.  I scheduled all the Spanish conferences for today.  There's no budget for Spanish translators, so I've asked my TA to work for me under-the-table. He agreed to do it.  Now I have to figure which giftcard to get him.  Maybe iTunes?  I don't know yet.

Whooohooo!  I ended parent conferences early today.  I love these kind of days when all I have to take home is my car keys and my purse.  No papers to grade, no laptop to drag around, no extra errands to run after work.  I am a free woman!

The nicest part is that I was able to spend time at home reading my magazines before Erwil gets home.  I subscribe to Real Simple and In Style.  It's almost the end of March and I still haven't read the newest issue.  I found some great recipes to try out in the last issue of Real Simple, not to mention some new ideas on how to clean the house!

I'm trying to fight the urge to be lazy tonight.  I worked so hard on finishing the mural posters at school and then went home after all the teachers left.  Again my car was the last one out of the teacher's parking lot.  There are those days when I can be such a workaholic in the classroom, but once I get home I don't want to do anything else!

As I was driving home I decided to take a different route home.  I was listening to classical music along the way and passed by some shady neighborhoods and some really nice neighborhoods around Long Beach and Los Alamitos.  Classical music and nice suburbs with homes for sale.  It makes me wonder if my husband and I should just do a little "window" shopping, not to buy a home but just to see what's out there.  We have a pretty decent 3 bedroom town home now, but eventually we'd like a place where we don't have to pay HOA's and share walls and parking lots with other neighbors.  Eventually...*letting out a sigh*

It was nice to just daydream after a long, tiring day at work.  I can hear my husband washing dishes downstairs.  I'm thankful that HE'S willing to wash dishes tonight.  SHHHHH!!!  =)

Ok, back to finishing up my homework!

March is definitely called "March Madness" for a good reason or two. 

1.  Classroom Life
I've been cramming a lot of teaching into my students.  Lots of projects, back to back district assessments, essays, reports.  The past 2 weeks I have done nothing but grading all the things that I assigned.  There's so much progress I see from most of the kids.  I've finished a couple of gifted and talented referrals and those kids successfully made it into the program.  Unfortunately there are still a few students who lag behind the rest, no matter how much I try to motivate them.  Parent conference week for the 2nd reporting period begins tomorrow.  I'm looking forward to meeting with the parents to share the positive news about their children.

2.  Professional Development
I just signed up for 2 more college courses this spring.  It's pretty much my way of clawing up to that 98 units so that I can finally max-out on my salary scale.  My husband is very supportive in this endeavor of mine.  I feel that I have to max-out on my salary scale before we can begin having a baby.  I've been taking salary credit classes since 2006, but not quite this aggressive!  The classes requires me to give up my Saturday and Sunday afternoons to go to class and finish whatever homework is assigned.  I will be so relieved to get all these units out of the way, so that it no longer interrupts my weekends. It's such a struggle to keep up with the work, especially because I help out with the church youth group on Friday nights from 7-10pm, and then Saturdays from 9-11:30am, and then church almost all day from 9-12:30pm. 

3.  Car Issues
Erwil's car was in the shop for a week.  My car has issues with power steering fluid.  Let's just say that it's is good to have some money saved up for these unforeseen car repairs.  It took a good chunk out of our savings account to have both cars repaired.  Thank God, Erwil has his old Honda Civic.  We've been managing to get around and do what we need to do with 1 good car.  Those Honda Civics are built sturdy! 

4.  Family Time
Erwil has been so patient and helpful.  Even though so much goes on during the weekdays, he still manages to take me out on "dates".  Sometimes our "dates" could be as simple as going to Walmart or Costco.  Sometimes it's as simple as walking to the post office, or browsing through books at the bookstore.  Today, he and I went to The Reef in Long Beach for a Sunday buffet.  I had a pleasant time with my husband, even though it was a windy day at the port of Long Beach.  We even looked around the Queen Mary.  Afterwards, we got home and took a nap.  We really needed to catch up on rest, since we both have been working late and lacking sleep.  Afterwards, we did a little bit of shopping for necessities at Walmart and Albertson's grocery store.  Then he took me out again to my favorite spot around the neighborhood--Tutti Frutti frozen yogurt!  I indulged in my 16 oz. cup of NY Cheesecake flavored frozen yogurt topped with peaches, strawberries and granola. 

What really makes me enjoy his company is how much we talk pensively and humorously, and how we get to pray together as a married couple.  Today at The Reef we were seated by a large glass wall with the view of Downtown Long Beach's skyline.  It was nice being there with him!  Then today, we had a really good time fellowshipping at the frozen yogurt place.  I'm thankful knowing that I married the right guy!

I've been pretty good about not vegging out in front of the computer screen these past month.  No, I don't know the latest update on the whole Chris Brown and Rihanna drama.  No, I don't know what other big American companies are in financial trouble.  No, I don't know what your status is on Facebook.  No, I choose not to stay on AIM or GoogleTalk chatting online.  No, I am not checking out bargains on the internet.  I simply have chosen to limit the time I spend on the computer to 30 minutes a day max!  I feel great!  It is like climbing Mt. Everest for me!

My husband and I are doing much better.  We are slowly getting back to speed with daily routines.  We had a miscarriage in February, then we experienced the flu, followed by a never-ending bad cold.  Our family and friends really helped us pull through with prayer and care.  I felt encouraged when fellow Xanga readers sent me encouragement.  I just felt that I needed more time to let go of my sadness. We're so blessed to arrive at this point.  The doctor found nothing for me to worry about on the last ultra-sound.  Everything looks healthy, no abnormalities.  He said to call him again as soon as I get pregnant again.  There's no rush for us.  We've only been married for 5 months.  If it happens again, it happens again!  I just have to thank God for His involvement in all of this--from the time we got pregnant, to the time I had a miscarriage, and the time now that we are relying on Him for strength and goodness. 

When I said "slowly" getting back to routines, I mean really slow!  I'm really trying to slow the pace of my life down, just for my own sanity.  Meanwhile, I feel the world around me just keeps spinning faster.  It's just so much easier to explain by numbering down: 

1.  Both Erwil and I have been staying at work pretty late.  We both have big projects to handle around this time of the month.  I am looking forward to meeting a few parents to report the progress of their child this 2nd reporting period.  (Notice I said "a few"!)  Open House is just around the corner.  I have to tidy-up my classroom!  Since getting sick, my priority hasn't been too much on the cleaning and organization of posting up student work.  Erwil's been going to work early and staying at work longer.  He has even brought the company issued laptop home and worked on some stuff at 3am.  Sometimes I stay up with him and have taken on some of his small chores, just to give him moral support--bring him a snack, make coffee, shoulder massage, washing dishes and taking out the trash.  We have been eating everything take-out because I don't have the time to cook! (I'll explain this more under #3)

2.  I am also dragging myself to finish up the final 18 units of teacher coursework with Vanguard so that I can max-out on that lovely 98 units on the pay scale.  I'm trying to max-out before I hit 10 years of teaching experience.  How in the world does a teacher finish 98 units in one lifetime?  We make it work, but it's not so easy in the time management arena!  I'm not complaining about it because I really thought about finishing up these units in school administration back in the day.  Now that schools are facing this budget crisis and administrators are being pink slipped and rushing back into the classrooms faster than bolts of lightning, I am not regretting the decision I made to stick with teaching in the classroom at all. But let me tell you that I regret not finishing this before getting married!

3.  I know that Erwil loves it when he comes home to my own cooking, but I'm glad he also understands that I can't always do this.  I felt guilty for being a "bad wife".  I discovered a good, cheap Filipino restaurant, Vietnamese restaurant and we frequent the Mexican food shop nearby.  I'm not too terrible with picking up a styrofoam box of food for the two of us.  At least I would never resort to frozen Swanson meals from the microwave, although it has crossed my mind a couple of times.  Erwil's not the cook, but he is the grill master.  I reassure him that when summer hits, we won't be bringing home too much take out food.  In these penny pinching times, I really give my mother and father props for always having a home cooked meal, even if it's just corned beef hash, rice and steamed veggies.  How did they snag the time to do that?  That Baby Boomer generation is so different from my generation! 

4.  Doing God's work is a full-time deal.  I've been helping the church youth director out this past year and it does take so much of my own "free" time.  Some would assume this is only a Friday, Sunday thing, but it's not.  I've been building relationships with the high school girls mostly and we're getting deeper into our walk.  I have been lifting each of them in my prayer and just being a listening ear.  I really love our time of sharing and discovering Biblical truths.  It's not always feely-good Christian stuff that we've been digging into either--much more like a transition from the "milk to solid food" (1 Corinthians 3:2) type of study.  A lot of my own time reading, memorizing and studying God's Living Words have "pierced my soul" (Hebrews 4:12).    I'm growing in Christ and pursuing holiness just as much as they are in this discipleship group.  I'm thankful that my husband supports me in participating in the church youth group ministry as the Great Commission commands to MAKE disciples.  I'm just getting a glimpse of that Romans 1:1 where Paul describes himself as a servant of Jesus Christ.  I'm nowhere even near what Paul did for the Early Church.  I haven't even made anywhere close to it! Here I am knowing and feeling the weight of a tremendous need to grow as an earnest Christan and to serve God as Jesus Christ modeled,  and how Paul and so many others pursued.

5.  Thank you for praying for me and Erwil.  I really appreciate what you did when words do not seem enough to convey your thoughts and feelings over what we experienced in February.  Like I said, these days are few and short.  There's so much work to do for God.  We're thankful that God's sustaining us and making the past experience a means of sanctification for us.