Marching on..

March is here and it's time to start finding out about high school. It's the strangest thing to me to not know where or what to do about high school. The pressure to make a decision that I can't make because nobody has gotten back to me is super frustrating.

Here's the run down:
Applied at 2 private school, neither of which I can afford to send my child too. Keeping my fingers crossed that one or both will say yes and give me lots and lots of financial assistance. Now here's the kicker...one school definately has a much better rep than the other but my little sporty spice may not be able to play sports all 4 years at that school and since we will be tapped out paying tuition she won't be able to continue to play competitive sports outside of school.
One school will give us an snswer this weekend, one we won't find out until middle to late april.
In the middle of all this, I have turned in a lottery request for a charter high school that is on the way to my work from our house. It would be convenient and I believe that she will be successful there, but it's a brand new charter school (converting from an established public high school) and we are waiting and waiting for a timeline on the lottery. This is totally unknown when they will get around to enrollment. I have emailed and left messages and no response. It's super frustrating. Not one returned phone call does not sit well with me.
I also applied for a transfer to a local(to my work) public high school. Good school, relatively safe as far as public goes and close to work. I missed their freshman orientation, which sucks, but I know many people who's kids are attending this school and they have many positive things to say. I did email the principal, but once again, no response to my email.
on April 1st I'll be able to request a transfer out of my district to another public school. I did email a vice principal at our local HS to find out about a freshman orientation, information on the school etc. and NO return phone call.

I'd love to say the non responsive public high school are just because their public, but in all fairness I left a message for one of the private schools to check on some paperwork and NEVER receive a return phone call or email either. Eventually their list was updated online and my question was answered but I was never told to check online.

This whole process is SUPER FRUSTRATING. I can only hope that whatever happens it will be fine for tay. She will get the grades she needs to go to USD, her preferred school as of today LOL.

updates in the new year...

Another year and my updates are few and far between. Oh well.

So lets go:

Christmas and New Years were mellow and fun. A little let down after spending thanksgiving in Hawaii. All I did during my time off was search for flights back while seeing no dinero in the bank account.

In January we returned to work and school. It's now time to get ready to welcome a new group of students for the 12-13 school year and I'm pleased to say that we are quite busy. Double the applicants for the next year. Everything is buzzing around the school. The building is coming along. There are doors on it now! I'm still quite hopeful that tay will have some classes in the new middle school before she graduates.

January is the start of a very busy season for taylor. Tay is currently writing her biggest project to date. A term paper on Cerebral Palsy. She is very interested in the subject which is helping keep her focused. She also started up soccer again, getting ready for state cup. Her first game isn't until March, but it's the knock out phase. You must keep winning to stay in the race. She also started up volleyball again. This time with a new club.


I'm pleased to report that her new team is doing quite well this season. They are an area team and have placed first at each of their 2 tournaments. Meanwhile, they played in a non-league tournament and came in 3rd. She has really connected with her team and I can only hope they continue on playing some great volleyball.

We have just finished the application process for high school for tay. We have applied to only one private school and turned in our lottery request for the local charter high school. Keep your fingers crossed or she's going to a crappy hs in our city. At least they have good football, some years.

No big trips coming up. Saving up for HS and all! We are planning a quick trip to Disney in March and a trip to Reno for Volleyball in April. Otherwise it looks to be a very mellow 2012.

Happy Valentines Day!

Finally...Aulani Vacation Arrives WooHoo!!!

Who: Me, Tay and Tori (her first visit) When: Thanksgiving week.

Long Flight overGirls Got Lei's upon Arrival

Snorkle PoolMain Pool with Ewa Tower in background

Hot Tub overlooking the lagoonFrom the beach

Sharks! J/KEnd 1st night in the hot tub

Character BreakfastPineapple Time!

Look at those nuts!They finished under 1 hr in the rain!

Lazy RiverStarlight Hui

watching with friendsArizona Memorial Museum

Tori getting rushedTay can fit in this bunk

End of Bowfin sub tour Scenic overlook

Just another day at the pool Our pool view

Tidepool at sunset menehuene trail

Turkey Day! Birthday Bfast view AMA AMA

Grand Villa wouldn't upload. I'll try on another page.

Aloha..and other things

Gearing up for winter around here. It's been cold for cali and I miss the warmth so we are going to head off to hawaii for some sun and fun. I am very much looking forward to vacation but until then I need to get some crap done around my "hoarders style" house. Well that's how I feel anyways. I'm starting to amass quite the collection of plastic, paper etc. Things that need to be recycled, thrown out, cleaned up in general. We've just been going going going for so long that sometimes I just want to chill out and relax and not do those basic housekeeping tasks. BUT this weekend is it! I need to get some crap done. ( I needed to restate for my own help LOL).

Tay has completed her try-outs and for the first year of trying out for different clubs I was both frustrated and pleased with the process. I had several people tell me that I need to be patient and wait for the phone calls but I was so used to them calling that night. It was very frustrating. I know now that when it's time to find out about high schools, I'll be a big stress ball too. Tay has picked a team that I know she will grow on and luckily 2 of her teammates from last year are also on the team. She is very happy about that. Now I just have to figure out how to pay for VB, property taxes and still have money for vacation. I sure hope that money tree in the back yard is fruitful this year.

School is going. Conferences just happened and I was pleased with the outcomes. We had a conference with one teacher that was hard, but hopefully will help both of them (teacher and student) work together better. Although, I was already let down by the teacher this week. Sometimes I don't understand who is the adult and who is the teen?

I will post some pics from our hawaiian getaway when we return. Aulani looks amazing. I can't wait to check it out in person.

Last year in Middle school really feels like preparing for college

So another long awaited update......

School has started up and sports are in full swing. We have not been getting home until after 8pm nightly. It's exhausting, truly!
Soccer is going well. For her 1st year in competitve they aren't doing too bad. We lost to a team that I'd hoped they'd beat but only so I could smirk at someone. Probably why we lost, my bad karma. This should have been our year at school volleyball, but our team just can't communicate. We have some great skilled players who just don't trust each other. It's too bad. But comp clinics are going great. Tay has been doing clinics at UC Berkeley and loving learning from college players. They run a great clinic. She has also been taking some weekend clinics with her old club and another club she is interested in. It's going to be a good tryout weekend. Tryouts for VB are on the same day as our last soccer game. And while tay was not going to do bball, her math teacher is coaching and has talked her into playing. I'm a little bummed as I was looking forward to going home right after school.

School is going well so far. We had the "talk" about taking school seriously. She really wants to go to private school for high school and she needed to pull up some grades. They weren't bad, but she just needed to be stronger. So far so good. Everyone is impressed, but we've also learned our lessons and told her we're proud but it needs to continue. I'm even more impressed with her time management skills. She gets started on homework as soon as she has a free moment and continues with out wanting to watch tv or go play. The only bothersome thing..which is totally teen, is the skype. First kids couldn't use the phone to call their friends, only text. Now they want to skype their friends, not call or text. Soon phones will be obselete. UGH!

We are knee deep into the private high school application period at this time. Narrowing down our choices to a couple of local schools. Hopefully one or both will love to have my adorable child. If not, I'm screwed. I can't send her to either of her home high schools. So I have to put my eggs in the transfer basket and hope it comes thru. I'm staying super positive that she will get into one of the high schools AND they will give me enough financial assistance to send her there.

On the homefront....
My health concious lifestyle is meandering along. This week has been off a little due to a side trip to disney, but I am keeping my eyes open and owning my lazyness. The cats are still fighting and driving me crazy.

On the vacation front.....
While tay was on a school trip, her mom, uncle, and great aunt took a trip down to the house of mouse. It was so fun to go without kids but also with my two favorite adults. I love spending time with my aunt without our kids and any opportunity to spend time with my brother is amazing. Our next trip is to Aulani on Oahu. We are looking forward to going back to hawaii. I will post lots of pics of that trip in the future.

That's all for now. Enjoy your fall!

Where did summer go?

Obviously, I am slacking on the blog. Let's face it the sole purpose is to blog the vacation fun...life is not as exciting.
This summer has flown by. We normally vacation during the school year because I work during the summer and it's actually my busy season. It's quite hard to find time to take off during the summer. This summer I had to find time. I was going to max out on my available vacation time and I am not the person who will lose out. I was able to eek out 2 weeks of time off early in the summer. One week was a staycation. Just hung out at the house. I had high hope of super cleaning and organizing but I think I needed to just chillax. The second week off was to go with the cousins to look at colleges in southern california. It was a fun trip and we got to see some friends down in sc. Lot's of great schools but OMG so expensive. My tay needs to buck up her grades so she can get some $$ off tuition. It was a great experience for tay at her age. I recommend anyone with kids close to entering HS go with a senior to look at college. It will really put into perspective what is necessary for your younger child to succeed at in HS.
Tay spent her summer hanging out at home in the beginning and volunteering at a local summer camp at the end. She went to volleyball camp with a bunch of friends for a week in the middle. She has been having a great time working at camp. She has been doing such a good job that the camp director actually told me she is hired as a CIT for next year. I'm so proud that she took the inititive to volunteer and she was so excited when he offered her a job. It's not a paying job but it will look good on her resume. Everyone needs to start somewhere!
Tay is also in high gear for soccer. They have started their tourments and are doing well for a small team. She is having fun but it is very busy. I recently realized that we will have no weekends free from Labor day to Halloween. Thats ok though, it's good for tay and it gets my fat ass off the couch!
Speaking of fat asses...yes I'm still large and in charge. I really don't want to have this body size but I am quite simply not motivated. Well thats not quite true. We came back from vacation in july and I refused to go to the grocery store. I was quite pissed that a week and a half before I had spent quite a bit of money on food and it just went to waste. Our schedules didn't get us home to have time to cook. I came back from vacay and thru out probably $100 of fresh food that went bad. I was so angry that I told tay we are eating what is left in our house. No grocery for us until it was gone. Well I am proud (or embarrased) to say we did it. Cleaned out our house and I only had to buy milk.
Our fridge was so bare I could clean the entire thing and put everything left on one shelf. Sad but true. After my fridge cleaning tay and I headed to safeway to restock. She was actually happy to go to the store, a chore she normally hates. I had a huge list and a big intention to cook. Not just cook packages, but really cook. BUT my biggest intention was for me to go carb free. I have done the carb free before and it was easy and great. Without even trying I lost almost 30lbs just eating white flour fee. I also pared down my non natural sugar too.
So after spending too much money and buying very little crap (tay needs snack stuff) I came home and started cooking. 1st thing was to make tay homemade chicken strips. Which she hated, of course. I'm can't eat because of the light breading so now what do I do with them? I can't throw out perfectly good food, but neither of us are going to eat so i'm perplexed. They will sit in the fridge while I decide.
2nd thing was parmesean crusted zucchini which was awesome! I was so in awe, I decided to attempt a burgandy sauce with mushroom to go over my steak I was grilling later. It didn't go as well as I hoped and I did have to add a teaspoon of white flour to get it thicker. BUT it was good. I also roasted some potatoes. However I didn't start cooking until late as I was fighting a migraine and my neighbors invited us over for smores while i was deep in my cooking. So day 1 was a bust on my white flour/refined sugar. I didn't eat too much but I did have some. and BTW smores rock. I haven't had them in a while but man they were good! I came home from the neighbors and ate my steak and mushrooms. YUMMY.
So today I start again. This morning I fried up some bacon and made a crustless quiche for breakfast. I threw some fresh tomatoes and sour cream over it and had a wonderful breakfast. Made with no white flour or refined sugar. For lunch I'll have left over steak/potatoes and zucchini and for dinner maybe the final or maybe I'll grill some chicken or maybe a salad? Who knows but I have enough for anything. Keep your fingers crossed that I will be able to keep myself full without the useless crap that keeps my gut big.
Hope your summer ends on a high note! I look forward to a new year, which will be tays final year at my school. We have alot of highschools to look at and lots to do to find the right place for her. Wish us luck.

Been a while, but summer is here!

So it's been a while since I've been on, getting the end of the school year finished up. So here's my updates....

tay has ended 7th grade. It was a rough year but she made it through. She has accepted that school is just going to get harder..just as life does..and really wants to go to a specific private high school so she is going to be working hard towards that goal next year. I can't believe that I have to start applying for high school for her next year. Crazy!

She finished out her volleyball season and had a great time. She does love the competitive sport but wishes that her team was more competitive. There were some new girls on the team and they never quite got that competitive edge to them. I was disappointed and expressed it to the coach. It is quite expensive to play these sports and you just want to see the team as a whole building up towards something. Tay did improve quite a bit and while she is not the tallest kid..she loves playing the net and has an awesome jump. She is also quite the libero. We are on the fence for next year, but I'll probably have her try out for more than just her reqular team. Just to see what is out there.

She recently tried out for a comptetitive soccer team and made it. It is very exciting for her as soccer is her first love. I like this team because they play local teams only. No extended travel. Plus they are offering a free soccer camp over the summer. Mommy loves her freebies! This soccer team will play all the way thru december so this ought to keep us quite busy.

She is also looking at going to a few camps but we will see how the money tree shakes down. Right now the fruit is not in season. LOL.

We have adopted a new cat, renamed from baby girl to cookie, and she is driving me crazy. She is so mean to my cat and she misses the litter box ALOT! I have to remember that she was not treated very well at her last home but she's working my last nerve. I am trying to break her this weekend and it isn't going very well. I have moved the litter box outside and sent her out to do her business. Keep your fingers crossed she doesn't have an accident tonight. Oh and did I mention she has no teeth and has to eat soft food. UGH! Such a softie, I know.

Job is going well. Just completed my 14th year and got my super 14 award at this years graduation ceremony. This year I helped the parents organize graduation and got a taste of whats to come next year. I think I might spend the whole year crying. oh well. Due to my lack of vacation last summer I MUST take time off this summer even though I am broke. So I will spend some time organizing my house and hopefully have a garage sale later in the summer. I will also be travelling to so cal with my cousin and aunt to look at colleges for her. From malibu to san Diego. Although I think my aunt is more interested in disneyland. How to explain I don't have the $$ for disney. Still working on that!

On the personal front...I'm still fat. I own it and I would love for a magic pill cause this eating right and excercising thing is really not working for me. I never really got back into the gym after my injury. I do walk while tay is at soccer and log in every good and bad thing I eat. I have good days and bad. I know it's a mind set and while I wish I was in better shape, I have very little incentive mentally to get off my ass and do something about it. Oh except for living longer blah blah blah.

We are still on for our hawaiian vacation this fall. I guess thats another reason to drop some poundage. I'm ready to go back to hawaii. it's been a while and I've missed it. I'm excited over the hawaii property. It'll be nice to be able to get last minute airfare and free hotel.

That's it for now. Hope you all have a great summer.