Rain Train

Yesterday was a cloudy but pretty nice day outside and we had a showing of the house in the afternoon, so I took D to the zoo. Just as we were approaching the seals (the first exhibit) it started to sprinkle. Up went the hoods, not a big deal, we put up our hoods and continued. The rain stopped and we dried off. The polar bears were quite active, the elephants were not. After a snack it was time to head home. D had the choice of seeing the alligator or taking a train ride. He chose the train (high-insight is 20/20).

It was 3:45 and the last train is at 4, so we were catching the last ride. As we stood in line for tickets, it started to rain again. It's OK b/c the train is covered. We get seated on the train - the metal train (it's important that I tell you this) and we're waiting for the last stragglers to get their tickets and get on board. When suddenly....

the sky opens up the flood gates and it is a down pour with high winds. While the train may have a roof, it has no sides - we were getting rained on. Then the flashes of lightning followed by thunder. I immediately had a 4yo scrambling onto my lap. Luckily D has a book called Drumheller Dinosaurs where dino's are the ones making thunder. He was fine with thunder once I reminded him it was just the Drumheller Dino's. So, the downpour continues along with the wind and then....

HAIL It was pea sized, but once it was all over, there was about 1/2 inch of the stuff on the ground. Remember, we're still sitting on this zoo train w/out any sides. We were being hit with hail. Thank goodness it had a roof - that would have been aweful! Once the storm passed about 10 min later, they made us all get off the train....UGH! Now the temps have dropped and we're freezing. Luckily they were giving refunds if you didn't want to take the train - which we decided against. We were wet and cold. D started crying b/c his hands were so cold.

The mass exidous from the zoo was incredible. They had all security and staff out and about making sure everyone was ok. All of us leaving looked as if we had been through a battle. At the Oregon zoo, there aren't many places to go that are covered, so I'm sure that some people got caught out in the open during that storm - those poor things.

Yes, I will return to the zoo. It's one of our favorite activities. We're supposed to get lions this year, so that will be VERY exciting. Next time, I'll be sure to check the weather report first.

The Beach in April

As I mentioned we had GREAT weather when my mom was visiting, so we headed out to the coast to enjoy the beach. However, while I thought we were having great weather, my mom thought it was cold. She just doesn't understand PNW beaches, they're not warm warm, but windy and chillier than inland.

We got to the beach and while D and I played at the water edge, fog rolled in and blocked off the sun. The wind kicked up and off the beach we went. Onto the aquarium. It's fun to touch the various crustations, but the highlight is feeding the seals. On this day, one particular seal enjoyed getting attention and fish by splashing water at everyone. D got the brunt of his wrath!

This was taken after the seal splashing.

Flower vegetable

It's been a while since I've posted, so I need to catch up. Between April 18 and 25, my Mom was in town.

Sunday April 19, we took Granny to the flower vegetable. The tulip vegetable to be exact. What? You haven't heard of the flower vegetable? Well, think in terms of a 4yo.

We took Granny to the tulip festival!! We had GREAT weather for April in the Pac. NW.

Week wrap up - LONG

Like everyone else, this last week was BUSY!! I'll start with last weekend. I went to the beach on Saturday! The weather was spectacular! I even took off my shoes on the sand...and maybe plunged them into the freezing cold Pacific Ocean. But walking in sand barefoot for the first time this year was heavenly!

Fast forward to Monday. We were off to see the Big Cheese - Chuck E Cheese that is. It was Jordan's birthday and what fun we had! Games galore and even an air hockey competition between Sandy and myself. (Sheri - I'm still awaiting pictures) That night was D's first night back in swimming lessons - which he loves. This session we weren't so lucky to be the only student, but the 3 other boys in the class can and do put their heads underwater. Hopefully, this will "pressure" D into doing the same. He's now willing and able to plunge his entire face into the water for a split second.

Tuesday was busy. Had to get myself ready for a worthless "interview" at an employment agency south of Portland AND get D ready for school. I drove 45 min. for a 10 min interview. Grrrrrr. The kicker to the story is that they brought me into the office b/c I had specifically seen an ad for a position I wanted. Having been a recruiter before, I knew that we had posted bogus jobs on the internet to get people into the office and have them prepared if things became available. I specifically asked them on the phone if the position was "real" and if it wasn't then can we hold off on the face-to-face interview until something becomes available. As mentioned, the interview was 10 min and when I asked about the specific position, the girl looked at me dumbfounded. She then stammered and said that she didn't know about that position and it much already have been filled. YEA RIGHT!!
Tuesday night was full of cupcake decorating for D's birthday!

MONSTER CUPCAKES for the little monsters!

Wednesday - BIRTHDAY DAY!!! WHOO HOOO! Cleaned the house and got ready for our friends to come over. Birthday fun was had by all. D was exhausted by the time it ended, but we had swimming lessons to rush to.

The following photos demonstrate how GOOOOD the cupcakes must have been.

We were exhausted that night. Early bedtimes for the both of us.

Thursday - Rush rush rush. I had a REAL interview with a company in Portland at 9am. Got myself ready, D ready and both of us out the door just before 8am. My friend Nikki was going to watch D while I went to my interview. I think it went well. It's for a sales position, not really my cup of tea, but with the economy the way it is...I'll take the job if offered, do my very best and who knows, I may really like it.

D had school on Friday and then we vegged in the house for the afternoon.

No photo's from Easter. The camera batteries died. I mean REALLY died - couldn't recharge them at all.

PHEW!!!

Kitty - the poor thing

D has a new favorite in the house. Since we gave away his favorite dog, Dakota, D has taking a shine to Amos our cat. He likes to cuddle with kitty on the couch, tackles him under the dining room table and HAS to sleep with him at night.

Poor kitty. I know that he wasn't ready for nor did he sign up for this! D MUST sleep right next to kitty. Kitty just can't be in D's room, nope D must be hugging the poor animal. There have been many nights where I go into his room to check on him before I go to bed, and I can't get the door open b/c D has fallen asleep right next to the door b/c that's where kitty was. Probably praying that someone let him out of the torture chamber.

If kitty isn't in D's room, D won't go to sleep. He'll stand at his door and call the cat until I finally carry him upstairs to D's room. Most nights kitty will curl up on D's bed and sleep there all night, but there are times where the minute I open the door, the cat makes a b-line out!!

Good thing Amos is a great cat. He tolerates D and even comes back for more most of the time. When D is sick, kitty will lay next to D on the couch all day. It's also a good thing that cats live a pretty long time - D has at least another 7-10 years of Amos. PHEW!!

Here's hoping

As many know, I've been looking for a job for months without much success. It's not the greatest time to be looking, but I'm in a HAVE TO situation. I've even swallowed some pride and applied to retail companies - BLAH! It seems that the first couple of weeks in April are IT for me - YAY!! I had a 2nd interview at Kohls today - they said that I'm unofficially hired...she just needs to let her scheduler know and the GM. However, Kohls is not my career goal anyways, it would just be a small (very small) income - considering they will only schedule 8-12 hours per week. Hardly even worth it.

Anyways, last week I had an unscheduled phone interview for an internet company. I thought she was calling to schedule an interview, but we ended up talking on the phone for about 45 min! Guess it helped that she is transplanted here from IL as well. She called me back and scheduled a formal interview next week. I also have an appointment with another employment agency next week.

I'm VERY excited about a job I sent my resume to this week. It's a Federal government job to work with teens/non-college bound young adults helping them with their interviewing skills, resume writing and guiding them to seek jobs within their skill-set. THAT'S a job that I would LOVE to do!! I was a former recruiter for a staffing company, so I have the interviewing/resume writing experience. Plus, being a former teacher, I have the experience working with young adults. I REALLY REALLY hope that this job calls me back!!

That's all. Coming up....CAT-astrophy....

Picky children

I'm starting to love and hate the 4yo stage. Love that D can carry on a conversation and is much better at communicating what he wants. Today I had some things to do in the morning, so my friend Sandy offered to watch D. She has twin boys just 6 months older than D, so he has a great time with them.

I picked D up and we were talking about what he had done at their house. Apparently I didn't say the boys names in the correct order b/c suddenly I was corrected.

"No, mom. It's Cole and Conner!! NOT Conner and Cole."
"oh" I replied
Then with a sigh, David shakes his head and said, "Mom, it's not Conner and Cole - that's the wrong way to say it. It's Cole and Conner (pause) only."

Geesh, guess he told me!!