~A Bitter Swallow~

The kids started school last week. Did I blog about that already? My brain is frazzled and I don't remember. In any event, it went okay, despite my absolute screw-up regarding all facets of the busses. *Sigh* It's better now, I think. Both kids enjoyed thier first week, even though I am not enjoying having to get up at 6am to facilitate thier morning routine. But, it gives me time to facilitate my exercising, which I have been building into my morning routine. It isn't nice, and I really hate myself for it. But, I'm hoping that with time I'll love myself for it. We'll see.

In celebration, we took the kids to the Woodland Park Zoo this past Saturday. It was an okay trip. It started early, and rocky, but we made it through. I spent the day feeling pretty 3rd-wheelish, but overall I think the kids had a good time. It may have run a bit long for them, but it's a learning experience for us next time. As in- next time, PLAN. It's too big to just wander at random. You really need to have a route plotted. But it's a great zoo. We got season passes, so we can try again another time.
Sunday continued Pirate Days in Port Orchard. Well, I guess it's technically known as "Murder Mystery Weekend", but really- we're all there for the pirates. While we missed the big fun stuff that happened on Saturday (while we were at the zoo), we came down Sunday and got to see the children's costume contest, as well as the pet costume contest. It was really quite cute, and I completely agreed with the judge's choices. There were some pretty fantastic costumes. Judging by the attire worn by the adult party-goers, I am rather disappointed that I missed the adult contest. While we were there though, we got a program for an event in Oregon this coming weekend, which we just might go to after I get off work Saturday.

So, another week has started, and is now about half-over for me, which I am thankful for. I enjoy my job, but I need to readjust to this morning wakeup stuff. I'm still trying to track down what time my son's bus arrives in the morning, but other than that things seem to be going smoothly. Tonight is his open house, so I'm planning on stopping by the office and seeing if I can get time verifications while I'm there.

So this past week was our Spring Break here. Dustin's mom came up from Arizona, so we got to play tourists in Seattle. She got in last Saturday, and since she got in late, the kids and I were already in bed when she got to the house.

We woke up extra early (for us), and drove the 3 hours down to Portland. There, I got to meet Dustin's cousins. One was back from college in California, and the other was on leave from the military. Super nice people! I had a great time. We had planned on meeting them at the Spaghetti Factory at 11:00am. We got into town just before that, and in time to discover that the restaurant didn't open until noon! So we gave his uncle a call, and told them the news. Meanwhile, we had meandered a bit, enjoying a break of sunshine. I was desperate for some coffee, and we found the most fantastic little coffee shop nearby. Vaulted ceilings with Roman architecture, and even a mural on the ceiling! His family met us there, and then we walked back over to the restaurant for lunch. College cousin had a 1:30pm plane to catch back to California to resume classes, so her and Uncle left, and the rest of us went back to their house to hang out. Plenty of conversation and laughs. We may have even convinced Military cousin to convert to Everquest 2 when he comes back! Then we made the drive home, since I had to work the next morning.

Monday we hung out around the house, and caught up with Dustin's mom. I had to work that morning, but only until noon, so that was nice. We did a little bit of shopping, his mom and my daughter did some scrapbooking, and that's about it.

Tuesday we went to the Point Defiance Zoo. We got yearly passes again, so we can go throughout the year. It was a bit chilly out, but still a good time. We weren't able to see the tiger though, since he refused to come out of the trees. But we got to go behind the scenes of their woodland talk area. That was fun. We got to feed grubs to an anteater. You wouldn't guess how soft their mouth is! The kids spent some of their money in the gift shop there.

Wednesday was another day of rest and shopping. I believe that is the day it snowed. Yuck!

Thursday we went over to Seattle to the Pacific Science Center. Since it was my brother's girlfriend's birthday, we also took them, along with her daughter and niece. It was a lot of fun. But horribly crowded! I've never seen it so crowded down there! They were having their Spring Fling, so they had all kinds of activities going on. Not to mention it was Spring Break, so the place was overflowing with kids and parents. I think the Butterfly exhibit is my favorite there. We took in an Imax show. It was my first, and the kids' first. It was awesome. We got year long passes there too. Definatly plan on going back soon- if only for photo ops of the butterflies!

Friday was more shopping. My daughter still had money left over from her birthday last month, so we took her to go spend it. We also went out to breakfast, which is always nice.

Saturday was sad, as Dustin's mom had to leave, and it was back to work for me. Of course, the sun was out in all It's glory, shining magnificently. It made it hard to work! Same story today- well, minus his mom leaving, since she's already home.

I work a few hours tomorrow, but then have the rest of the day off. The next few days are suppose to be beautiful, last I listened to the news. That was this morning though, so it could have changed. This is Washington. But I plan to spend the next few days out in my garden finishing up the beds, and getting stuff started and planted. I am excited to get it going.

I also want to rip up all of the dead and overgrown brush in front of the house. That is where I'd like to put in the flower garden. It is a overwhelmingly daunting task though. I will need to either rent some heavy duty machinery, or hire someone to come out and do it for me. Either way, it's going to cost money that I don't have at the moment. Oh well, time to pinch some pennies and make them multiply!