a whirlwind

I am so so so super excited for this weekend. It will be the first time in like 12 days that I'll get to sleep in, stay in my jammies and spend quality time in my apt. As much as I love traveling, sometimes I am quite the homebody. That being said, don't even begin to convince me to come out of my apt this weekend.

In the last 12 days my life has been quite the adventure. At school we are in the midst of getting 5 new toddlers. One every Monday for a month. Whew. The last newbie starts this Monday and while it all is going well. Its still quite the production to get a new friend settled into our routines.

Yesterday, was quite the afternoon. At 4:25 I thought "we are never going to make it outside" 10 minutes later we finally headed out the door. Yay, we can run and shout and be ruckusey outside. 10 minutes after that? the sprinkles started. No fear, we're tough, sprinkles can't get us! 5 minutes after that? the downpour. I quickly maneuvered under the climber to stay dry. The children? laughing and running and dancing in the rain. It was warm outside, so the rain felt great. At this point I decided. Screw trying to keep them dry. We'll wait for it to let up and go

inside and change. Who cares if they all come home in different clothes, at least they're dry!

Due to some earlier puddle adventures, some of our friends ran out of dry clothes. Never fear! Koala Clothes are here! We have a stash of extras. Antonio was given the choice- dark blue jeans or fushia stretch pants. His outfit ended up being- Brown monkey shirt, fushia stretch pants and brown hiking boots. All courtesy of the Koalas. Oh and the outfit topper? While putting on some socks, we found a hair barrette. Of course he insisted on wearing this too. So Brown monkey shirt, fuschia stretch pants, brown hiking boots and blue sparkly hair barrette. Luckily his dad laughed.

The trip out west was fabulous, just slightly exhausting. Solidified my ideas, that I really am an out west kinda girl. I love a desert atmosphere especially the high desert, which cuts down on the plus 100* days. As we were driving to the mountains Jesse stated- isn't it beautiful, we should move here! My response: ok, lets do it! Don't tempt me and my wanderlusty feet! Although, it is true that if we moved to Colorado (or anywhere near there) I would never see him. In the winter he will ski constantly, in the summer- mountain biking off the same mountain that he skiied on. Therefore, I'll be able to spend time with him during the rainy spring, which in the desert I'm guessing isn't long.

Favorite pix from the trip:

We hiked 2 miles up and back down alongside this waterfall. 2 miles is much better than the 9 of our last hike. But in the high altitude still hard to breathe.

Mo Money

I've been a part of several (very different) money related conversations this week. Maybe I'm at that point in life where as "grownups" we sit around and discuss these important topics. Or maybe its the state of our economy. We can't help but bitch.

Its budget time where I work and I have the (un?)fortunate opportunity to speak for the staff at the board meetings. What this ends up looking like? Lots of listening, lots of bitching when I return home and a bit of speaking. I choose the philosophy of speaking few, but powerful words. The current argument? a .5% difference in raises. a) we deserve raises, don't you dare say we don't! b) the .5% difference you're arguing about amounts to like 5 c/hour. Seriously? Seriously.

The big argument came from the fact that few if any folks out there are getting raises. And we're asking for a tuition increase. We have to raise tuition b/c according to worker's comp, i'm suddenly worth a lot more money. Or at least their charging double for me (cause I'm that awesome!) Oh yeah and food. Can't cut out food. That would lead to very cranky children. So in the midst of these rising costs, and a modest raise, we have to raise tuition. Worker's comp raised their rates to cover costs. Grocery stores raised their prices to cover costs. Were raising tuition to cover costs. Get over it

A friend was sharing about student loans and that they're acruing $1000 interest a month. Interest!!!!! The monthly payment for that loan? something like 50% more than I make a month!!!!! How can you not see that something is broken with this system. Now, yes, once he finishes school he will make bocu bucks and be able to pay off the loan. However, someone is making bocu bucks off his interest. And I'm betting its those same damn loan folks that just fcked our country's housing market. ok now I'm angry

And the final financial conversation of the weekend. I was told "not that you dont deserve to make more money, but you did choose your career field" I know that! But that doesn't mean I'm not going to advocate for equal representation! And yes, I chose my career field, but you know what You Chose Me!

I'm not a money minded person. I can handle my own personal finances. Am attempting to understand this joint financial thingy. And can't even begin to fathom a businesses financing.

I'm exhausted and its only 9 am