Career Day

Today was Career Day at Jamie's school. The kids were supposed to dress up and Jamie chose to dress up as a counselor!
How freakin' cute is that??

Happy Birthday Bill!

Today is Bill's birthday, he is 52. As I think about it, I am reminded that my high school science teacher (and great friend!) lost his battle with cancer at the age of 51 in 1999. It's weird to think that Phil was younger than Bill when he died and puts a lot of things into perspective for me today. Life is short, tomorrow is never guaranteed, each day is a gift, never let the opportunity pass to tell those you love how you feel! Happy Birthday Bill, I love you!

2nd Grade Spring Program

Jamie's class had their Spring Program tonight. Their class and four other second grade classes combined for tonight's program, the remaining classes will have their performance tomorrow night. I'm glad they split it up because there would have been too many kids up there...it was hard enough to keep track of where Jamie was. The kids all came in singing a song in unison but then each class was split out and did three songs. I think the kids that weren't in the front performing also sang along. Jamie's class sang, played kazoos, danced, and played spoons. Each kid also read a small part. It was entertaining, to say the least!

SSS (Soccer, Science Saturday)

Yesterday, Jamie had his first soccer game of the spring season. The game had barely started and we hadn't even gotten settled into our chairs before Jamie scored the first goal! He scored three goals, total, and also had a couple of assists. The wind was blowing and it was SO cold...Bob Irvin was there and had a device to measure wind chill, it was about 30 degrees with the wind chill. BBRRR!!! The kids were bundled up, though, and running around, so they didn't notice the cold too much. I had fun playing with my camera...I never left my chair and got quite a few nice shots.

We went to Science Saturday after the soccer game. They had already done an experiment and were inputting data into a computer when we got there, so Jamie jumped right in and started working with Tory. Their data and graph showed that the heavier an object was, the closer the pivot point (to move the object) should be to the object. They used their information to lift objects and people with a beam and pipe fulcrum.

We ended with noise...everyone was told to find some kind of noise making object in the room and we were divided into three groups. The kids took turns being "conductors" and leading the different groups in the noise making. Next week is the final Science Saturday of the semester. I have my city league volleyball tournament, Jamie has 2 soccer games AND Bill will be out of town, so I don't think we'll be able to go. Dr. Emmons expressed concern that the program may not be renewed for next year. He has to make a presentation to the board this week and isn't feeling overly optimistic. I sure hope it gets renewed, in one form or another, because it has been a great experience for Jamie!

Technology...Can't Live With It, Can't Live Without It!

I had serious computer "issues" yesterday. My anti-virus program did an automatic update and I lost my ability to connect to my home wireless network with my laptop. I thought I was losing my mind but did a Google search and determined that it was a legitimate issue with the most recent McAfee update. Grrrr! It was initially an easy fix as I was able to do a system restore back to before the update occurred. Then...well, let's just say I should've left well enough alone... I (correctly) figured that the updates would be downloaded again and I'd soon be in the same situation so I decided to uninstall McAfee completely and install a different anti-virus program. Sounds easy enough, right? Well, I don't know what happened but after uninstalling McAfee, I was not able to connect to the internet at all...not even directly with a cable to the router. My knowledge of such things is minimal, at best, and I was so frustrated by this point that I just broke down in tears!! As a last resort, I tried one more system restore which was, thankfully, somewhat successful. My computer is functioning and able to access the home network and internet but, I don't know what my anti-virus status is. The McAfee icon is back on my desktop but doesn't open and I have a huge warning flag that says my computer is not protected. I assume that my files have been corrupted so I've tried going to the McAfee website to download the program again. I keep getting an error message that either there is a problem with my internet connection OR the McAfee download server is unavailable. My internet connection appears to be working and if there are others like me who have experienced this problem with recent updates, I can see where their server could be unavailable. So, I am treading lightly and hoping that my computer doesn't get attacked. I know that I used to function just fine without a computer and the internet but, I just can't imagine it!!

Pentax K-x is here!!!

I had serious doubts that an order placed yesterday afternoon at Amazon.com could really be shipped in one day to little ol' Alamosa, but UPS delivered it at about 6:00pm!! I already love it! I have much to learn about digital SLR but am excited about the possibilities. I went to our library today to find books about digital SLR's. They didn't have anything and only a few on digital photography in general. I'm disappointed and will probably try to find more relevant books on eBay or Half.com.
Here are a few experimental shots I took tonight. These are all shot without using the flash! That's the great thing about digital..I can experiment to my hearts desire!

Today was the 9Health Fair in Monte Vista. I volunteer every year as a phlebotomist and draw blood for the health screens. It is such a great deal for people to get lab work done, I know that I take advantage of it every year.
It was cold & windy today with snow all around us...one lady I drew this morning came from the Zapata area and she said they had 6 inches of new snow. Bad weather and cloudy conditions canceled the Planetarium viewing for tonight. I don't know if Jamie will have soccer tomorrow, who knows what the criteria for canceling is with our Parks & Rec department! I'm really not looking forward to sitting in the cold and rain/snow but, I do want to experiment with my camera and shoot some soccer action shots.

New Camera is on it's way!!

So, I did it! Amazon has the Pentax K-x on sale for under $700 and I just ordered it. Signed up for Amazon Prime trial so I could get next day shipping for $3.99...we'll see if the camera actually arrives tomorrow like the website states. I had to choose the Black model as it was the only one that came bundled with the two lenses (18-55mm and 55-300mm). I'm so excited!! Jamie's school program is on Monday night so I'm looking forward to using it for that. And, of course, for the wedding over Memorial Day weekend. I also purchased a 3 year extended warranty. I usually don't purchase the extended warranty but after the experience with my last camera, it might come in handy. Hope I don't have to use it but, it'll pay for itself if I have problems within 3 years.

More from the Pool

Here are few more pictures from yesterday's fun day at the pool. These were taken with my cell phone, which actually has more mega-pixels than my very first digital camera did. Gotta love technology!!

If you look closely (and know what you're looking for), you can see the Sand Dunes in the background, behind the diving board.

Early Release Pool Fun!

Today was the final Early Release Day of this school year. These days are scheduled periodically for staff development and the kids are happy because they get a half day off of school. Last year they did Late Start, who knows what they'll do next year!

Wednesday's are Parker's day to come home with Jamie and I've been picking them up at school so that they don't have to spend an hour on the bus and can get right to the business of playing. Jamie woke up this morning and decided that he wanted to go swimming since he had the afternoon off so, I picked them up at noon and, after a few errands (including Frostys at Wendy's), we headed to Hooper. It was a great day to be at the pool, not too breezy and not too sunny. And, not too crowded...especially after the Sargent School swim classes left. One of Jamie & Parker's classmates, Anne, was also there with her older brother. They all had fun swimming, jumping off the diving boards, playing football and basketball.

There is only a little over a month left in this school year. Jamie's second grade year has flown by. He has had a great year and we are looking forward to "looping" with Mrs. Price for third grade.

S-A-T-U-R-D-A-Y

It rained all night last night so the first day of soccer was postponed because the fields were a mess. Jamie didn't mind, though, because it meant that he was able to go to Science Saturday. Today's topic was Simple Machines and they used wheels/axles, levers, inclined planes and pulleys to move heavy objects.

They used wheels/axles to make a "conveyor belt" to move Cameron across the room.

They used pulleys to pull themselves up a rope.

They used a lever to move Dr. Emmons car.

They used pulleys and an inclined plane to pull Dr. Emmons car from the parking lot, up onto the sidewalk and grass.

Bill had a craft show today at the Elks Lodge. He only made two sales but had lots of fun anyway. Today was also the Spring Thaw volleyball tournament at Alamosa High School. I wanted to play but knew that Bill would be busy with the craft show and figured that I'd have to take Jamie to his soccer game and wouldn't be available. After Science Saturday, Jamie wanted to hang out with Bill, so I spent the afternoon at the high school with all of the crazy volleyball people. I got bleacher butt from sitting all afternoon but it was fun seeing everyone. I definitely want to play next year!

More Birthday Pix

Here are some of the photos my friend took at Jamie's birthday party. Thanks Lynn!

Celebrating Eight!!

We had Jamie's birthday party this afternoon at the bowling alley. Nine friends came to help celebrate and everyone had a great time!

The bowling

The cake

The presents

The haul

I'm still using my mom's camera and am not getting very good shots. I cannot figure out how to get good results in low light with her camera. It works great for outdoor shots but I've experimented with every setting and almost all of my indoor/no flash photos are blurry. If I use the flash, everything is washed out, I just can't find a good compromise and it's driving me CRAZY!!!! My friend, Lynn, took pictures today with her Canon SX20 IS (YAY!!) so I'll probably post more photos from the party later.