Hooray for Chris!

A couple of months ago Chris took a test for work. His score determines his eligibility for promotion, and the better his score, the greater his chances. Well, he got his score back today, and combined with his other scores he is now definitely able to be hired as an Assistant Chief at headquarters. He will put in for the promotion next week and it will be a few weeks after that before they make their decisions, but we should be here permanently by August or September. Way to go, Christopher!

Summer Kids Movies

Do any of the movie theaters in your area offer free summer kids movies? Back in Yuma our theater offered 10 movies for $5, or $2 each movie, but you had to go on the same day of the week for each movie. Out here, the theater has 2 free movies per week, both offered on Tuesday and Wednesday. Free is a pretty good deal. Today we saw "Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium". We hadn't seen it before. It was okay. Not my favorite, but it had a good message: believe in yourself. Hailey sat and watched it without problem, but Mia was a little sleepy towards the end. Anyway, I'm glad we have summer movie offerings out here. It's nice to have something different from the everyday stuff to do.

So, what do you do to make the summer more interesting for the kids? And how did you like "Mr. Magorium" (if you've seen it)?

5 Things

A few weeks ago my sis-in-law "tagged" me to do this. Yes, I'm only now getting around to doing it. Oops. So, without further ado, here goes:



5 things


5 things I was doing 10 years ago:

1. I was working for Creative Touch Interiors in San Diego.

2. I was living in my grandfather's house rent free while he lived with my parents. (Those were the days...)

3. I was teching the Sunbeams (3-4 year olds) in church.

4. I bought my first car. (Used, but new to me.)

5. I was spending a lot of time with my family and in-laws. (Sunday dinner, anyone?)



5 things on my to do list:

1. Figure out how to rent out a house.

2. De-stress.

3. Schedule dentist appointments.

4. Get back into scrapbooking (once I get all of my stuff from Arizona).

5. Write.



5 favorite snacks/food:

1. Smoothies

2. Nielsen's Frozen Custard (nope, none of that out here)

3. Creme brulee

4. Lobster and crab legs

5. A really good steak



5 things I would do if I was a billionaire:

1. Buy my own jet so I could visit family anytime I wanted to.

2. Hire a personal chef.

3. Take lots of vacations.

4. Randomly donate money to good causes and people.

5. Be more generous.



5 bad habits:

1. Staying up late.

2. Letting paperwork overtake my computer desk. And my dresser. And my counter...

3. Being a dreadful pack rat.

4. Spending too much time on the computer.

5. Being late.



5 places I have lived:

1. San Diego, CA

2. Provo, UT

3. Yuma, AZ

4. Arlington, VA

5. Salem, OR



5 People I'm Tagging (Yep! You guys gotta do this now)

1. Kim

2. Anna

3. Tami

4. Cate

5. Janelle

Hailey's Art

One of Hailey's favorite subjects in school is Art. She's drawn some good things. I've even posted some of it. This week she brought home her drawing book from school. She has some good stuff in it, but we think this one is her best. She was sure to tell me that she drew this inside her classroom without a flower to use as a guide. I think she's done a fantastic job.

New York, Part Nine--Letterman and Rupert Jee

At last, the final part of the NY trip.

Of course, we are big Letterman fans. We only get to watch every now and again, but we think he's pretty funny and we really like his Top Ten lists (usually). Well, Letterman has made Hello Deli a regular hot spot on the tourist circuit, so we had to stop in and give it a try.

As it turns out, the sandwich we got was actually quite good. Apparently Rupert Jee has a good little deli, and being right around the corner from the Ed Sullivan Theater hasn't hurt any.

Here we are with a very obliging Rupert Jee.

Before we went to NY, I emailed the Late Show for tickets. We hadn't heard from them so we figured it wasn't going to happen. Then on our second day there the Late Show called and we got tickets. Apparently the writer's strike had kept them from taping, and our last day there was the first day they were back to it. Anyway, we showed up at the theater early and stood in line for a bit. When the line began moving the lady at the check-in desk asked us if we were excited to be there and what part of the show we liked the best. Chris told her he liked Paul Shaeffer. Anyway, she told us that she was going to put us in a special group. Well, that group just happened to be seated in the front row. So lucky us got to sit in the front row for the taping!

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The guests for the taping were Jim Carrey, promoting his new film "Horton Hears a Who", and Paula Abdul. It was a fun taping, and we had a great time being there. The CBS Orchestra was really great--our seats were right by them!

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Well, that concludes our New York trip--finally! We did go to a few other places that we didn't chronicle here, but we will get a slide show of those pictures up later. So, if you are ever in the NYC area, or need a great place to vacation, be sure to check it out. You will not be disappointed!

Indiana Jones

Okay, so I had mixed feelings about going to see the new Indiana Jones movie. After all, I expected so much from the Star Wars prequel and was, in all honesty, disappointed. I was so worried that Indiana Jones would have the same fate.

On Saturday night we went on a date night (thanks, Anna!) and saw The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. As far as Indy movies go, this was up there with the rest of them--mostly. I loved the chase/fight scene in the jungle; the fight in the diner was great; I loved that they used the original Marion; I loved that they used the same map and airplane to show where they were traveling; I loved that Indy was 20 years older in the film so Harrison Ford wasn't pretending to be 20 years younger; I loved the humor--very Indiana Jones; I even liked Shia LaBeouf (even though I still see the goofy Disney kid when I look at him). It was fun, it was exciting. I did feel that it was a little long, but in contrast, Chris couldn't believe it was already over. The only thing I wasn't thrilled about was...(if you have already seen the movie or don't mind a spoiler, highlight the following area to read the rest)... the alien thing. Leave it to Spielberg to bring in the whole outer space thing. I really liked the premise of the movie, but really. Aliens? I could have done without that. It seemed a little like Indiana Jones meets Independence Day. (Spoiler end.) But even with that, I still liked it. It had all the elements of a good adventure, including Harrison Ford. Yeah, he's getting older, but I still love him. :)

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So, I give it 4 stars out of 5. How did you like it?

Amy's New 'Do

So for my birthday last month, Chris set up a consultation for a hair stylist at Red Door Spas. We discussed cut and style, and I also consulted with a colorist. Anyway, it took over a month to get an appointment with both the stylist and the colorist. Yesterday I finally had my appointment. I got a single-process color and partial foil highlights. And of course my cut. So, after months of bemoaning my sad lack of style, here is my new look.

I like it so far. In certain lights the highlights look a little orangy to me, but Chris assures me that they look light brown in natural light. Anyway, it was a totally expensive appointment that I probably won't repeat again, simply because of the cost. But it's fun to have a new style anyway. Thanks, Christopher!

(This isn't a great photo--it's hard to see the highlights and the full style of the cut. I'll try to get a better photo in the next few days.)