Wildcats

Road Trip Sunday!!!

On Sunday, my besties and I headed back to our old stomping ground...Chico, California.  Now, we didn't go to school together, in fact we were all there at separate times, but the one thing we had in common was our food and drink places.  So on our little trip down memory lane, we decided to do a food and drink crawl to commemorate one of the best times of our life.  We had planned this trip around going to the BMU (bookstore) to get shirts for college day at school because every Tuesday we have to wear college wear at school, so we used that as an excuse to go.  Say it with me....business trip.

What started out being a "business trip", soon turned into "Heather needs to forget about the email she read from a parent on Friday night" trip.   It was ugly.  U-G-L-Y.  I guess that's the plus side of contacting your child's teacher over email is not having to rant and make accusations to their face.   You can simply do all of that from the comfort of your home and not deal with the implications of your words.  Sooooo, with that being said...Sunday's agenda changed for me in a good way...toasting the day away with friends who will tell me off to my face if they needed to.

Matthew said to me before I left..."You going to that Chico University?"  He's ten.  He's cute.  He'll learn the university/state school logistics later.  But I quickly corrected him and explained the correct pronunciation of the college.  He wanted pictures of a college campus that wasn't UOP and I was happy to oblige.

Our first order of business was lunch.  Back when I was living dollar to dollar, dinner out was a splurge!!!  And this was the place I usually saved my money for.  Madison Bear Garden.  AKA...The Bear.  The chef salad used to be $5.95, which hello...was five times the cost of top ramen, making this the equivalent of steak to me.  On Sunday I paid $9.99.  My first thought was...who can afford this???  And then I proceeded to watch the four girls in front of my pay by Visa or American Express.  I felt so old.

Heaven in a bowl.

Business trip complete.  Now truth....I am a teacher on a teacher salary, so I waited until we went to Wal-mart and got two shirts for the price of one.  This just confirms I have been living with my husband for way too long.   

And the apartment.  University Village.  I so wanted to run up the stairs and knock on the door and ask to look around, but then I would have been one of those people and so I got back in the car, settling for a stalker picture. 

Food stop number 2.  Jon and Bon's.  Quite possibly the best frozen yogurt ever.

A drive through Kelly's old apartment complex.  The funniest part of the day was driving through town listening to Kelly and Lynn name all the different places they have lived.  I believe we learned that Lynn lived in SIX different places in TWO years.  Really, I have never laughed so hard turning on all these random streets and someone saying I lived down here on the corner.

Gone are the days where random volleyball games are started with shirtless boys running around.  That's all.  Just that little observation.

On to the good stuff.  Operation: What Email?

Best. Bar. In. Chico.

Confession time....we spent the most time here.  We had no place to be and it was happy hour.  When you can get a "tea" for $3.00, you sit down and stay a while.  And let me say that I don't condone drinking in the middle of the day...ever.  I believe there are twelve step programs that target that exact problem.  However, I made an exception.  A big one.

Toasting time.

MGC.

See that drink right there in front?  The rootbeer tea?  That one had a name attached to it. 

 

 

 

Remember that time we drank during the day and forgot we were middle-aged women with children?

 

And finally...dinner.  Hula's.  Was not leaving town without coming here.

I miss this place and wish we had one close by!

 

 

What a fabulous day.  Much needed break time and these ladies know how to make me laugh, period!  Perfect day.

 

Time Management

Is it wrong to want to request that all sports be played during summer?  During summer, I can't schedule enough for my boys to do so that they stay busy and don't kill each other.  I feel we did nothing this summer except swim at our friends house and count the hours in the day.  Now that school is back in session, I am suffocating because it seems like I need to be at ten places at once.

This past week was chaotic.  And my husband still insists on riding his bike to and from work daily.  That's all.  Just that tidbit of information for you to think about while reading below. 

 On Monday AND Tuesday both boys had either games or practices...at the same time at two different locations.  Again, with only one parent with a car.  Enter the saying..."It Takes a Village."  Luckily we know several parents on each team because I was activating the phone tree in a very big way.  On Wednesdays now, because Rich thought we had an hour an fifteen minutes of uninterrupted time to spare, he signed the boys up for Catechism.  So I have a fifteen minute block of time in between my staff meeting to get the boys to St. Anne's, and then a fifteen minute block after Catechism to get Ryan back across town to practice. 

Thursday I had a doctor's appointment at the same time Matt had practice.  Of course.  And practice is right down the street from our house.  So...it was decision time.  Do I cancel the appointment and make sure he makes it to practice okay, or do we leave him home and teach him to lock up the house and go on his own?  The latter won.  Of course he was thrilled!  It was only going to be for an hour, but at the same time...it was an HOUR!  I must have asked him a thousand times if he knew everything he needed to do and never looking up from his homework, he always answered yes.  I couldn't take it, he acted like this was no big deal and I was freaking out.  So I said, "Listen, I don't feel you are really listening to me right now and it is making me rethink this.  I'm just going to write down all the steps I want you to do before you leave, okay?"  He replied..., "Mom!  I've got it.  Just go!"  I looked at him and said..."I know, I know, but just look at the list before you leave.  Please."  I grabbed Ryan and dropped him off at my Dad's and headed to my appointment.  While I sat there for an hour, I texted Rich three times to call home and see if he was okay.  Rich replied, "I'll call once and he is fine."  By the time I got back into the room at the doctor's, my blood pressure was elevated enough that the nurse looked at me and said, "Well, that's not exactly a safe number, is everything okay?"  Whatever.  I'm not explaining the past hour to her.  I looked at her and said..."I'm fine. When exactly will the doctor be in here?"  By the time the doctor got in and went over my chart she said..."What's up with the blood pressure?"  I said, "Nothing, I just left my son alone for the first time for an extended period of time and I am worried about him."  Her response, "How old is he?"  I said, "He's ten."  She looked at me and said, "Heather, cut the cord already."  I get points for not replying with the first thought that popped into my brain.  I calmly smiled and said, "Can we just get this over with?"  By the time I got home, Rich was already down at practice with him.  I walked in the door and looked down and found the list that I had left with each thing checked off by him before he left. Baby steps. I am not ready to cut the cord, but I may entertain the idea of letting go a little more.

Oh...and side note.  I miss my nice camera,  It hasn't worked in a while and I miss it like crazy.  I want to share pictures of the boys during soccer season, but I would be embarrassing them to no end if I walked out to the edge of the field to get a better shot with my phone.  More pictures to come soon, I'll try to zoom in.

Just where did July go???

All of a sudden, I blinked and July was gone.  This was the quickest summer in the history of summers. 

July started off with the annual pilgrimage to Fresno (moi excluded) for fireworks and some much needed playtime.  This is by far Matt and Ryan's favorite time of year.  The countdown that begins about a month before going is hysterical and its all things Fresno and fireworks and cousins.

The definition of summer.

My sister and her family were here for an extended trip this summer...a whole month.  She is such a tease because right when it felt like it was just normal to have them around, they left...reminding us that they reside on the other side of the WORLD.

We fit in some visits with family while they were out here.  Here is my cousin Heidi's kids, Rylee and Lindsay.  It was a perfect day to be up in Sacramento to play at the park and hit Fairytale Land. 

 

We also just hung out at Nana's a lot! 

I went to a production out at Jesse's Grove, which is a winery here in town, of Wizard of Oz because my former student was the lead role of Dorothy.  It was an amazing performance and as a proud teacher I could have burst into tears several times throughout the night because she was just that good.  She is a natural talent and I loved every minute of it.

And then we took our annual "I need school clothes" trip to Vegas.  Doesn't everyone head there for school shopping?

Road trippin' .  I hate driving.  Have I confessed that before?  I hate it.  And when it took us ten hours to get home because of a huge accident, my hate hit an all-time high. 

At our favorite Mexican restaurant Border Grill.

The dudes.

So grateful to our Mom who watches the kids while we get to go play.

Maybe my favorite picture of the trip.  My two husbands.

And this happened.  Lynn hit a jackpot on a penny slot and we celebrated.  And celebrated.  Then celebrated some more.

These next few pictures are proof we were here for a while and made friends with our cocktail waitress.  Why I feel the need to document this is beyond me.  But oh well.

And this was when we finally made it to dinner that night.  At 11:15pm.  It's amazing we were able to actually order dinner because at no time could we actual focus long enough to read the menu.  This was a fun night.  If I remember correctly.

In all of our years going to Vegas, this was by far the best view from our room.  My first thought was...I wish the boys could see this view. I'm sure it will still be there to see in 20 years when they finally come.

 

 

 

Perfect night out. 

 

Lunch at Tommy's before we left.  Don't we look relaxed?  That's because we have no idea that a ten hour drive is in front of us.  I hate driving.

 

 

And then back to reality.  UGH.  The first day of school.  I mean....THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL!

The conversation I had with my sixth grader on the first day of school....

Me:  Hey big 6th grader!  Big class on campus now.

Matt:  My last year being on campus with you.  I have waited so long for this.

I'm going to take that as love.  Pre-teens show their love by insults, right?  It's either except it as love, or cry myself to sleep.  So...love it is.

The day before they left.  :(   Annual cousins pic.

This makes my heart swell.

So it's back to school for us.  Soccer will be starting soon for both boys and flag football for Ryan.  I love when school is back in and that's when the hectic sports schedules begin.