Once again

It seems that I update my blog while sitting in a hotel room on trips but not at home where the action really is. So once again I'm in Reno, this time Spring Creek girls basketball has a tournament. It's been very cold in Spring Creek this week...... we've been building up to the cold for the last few weeks. Wed. morning it was -26 at 6 AM when I went to work and half of our busses gelled up (that's when the diesel is so cold it gels instead of being liquid) between all of the drivers we got everyone to school..... one of my elem. kids got on and asked me if his tongue was bleeding, I told him yes it was and he told me he had stuck it on a rock. I told him it was NOT a good idea! Silly boy! There were three kids who did that in the last week. So now I'm home, got back fairly early, I was home by 8:30 last night (sat the 12th) I started this & didn't get it finished before I left Reno. I got to dead-head home since all the girls parents had come to watch thier games. I made good time considering the weather. Rick and Zac had the tree all set up when I got home and we got most of the decorations put out. It is beginning to look like Christmas at our house. The tree smelt wonderful when I walked in the door. Later while Rick and I were laying in bed watching TV we heard this loud noise...... it was the sun cover on the front porch being crushed by the snow. We have about 18 in. total from the storms this week and this last one was very wet snow, it broke one of the poles. Rick did get it back up today (sunday) but we'll have to beware through the rest of the winter! It is so nice to be home........

$25 in the hole..........

Thought I'd let you know how Friday went for Rick & Zac. Rick tells me he's $25 in the hole as he had to buy Zac a new game and I was the one who made the promise to Zac but do you think he'd wait till I got home? Of course not and quite frankly Rick says it was more than that after a trip to the grocery store where Zac talked him into choc milk and a lunchable and crushable yogurt..... the container crushes so you don't have to use a spoon, neat marketing technic huh?Oh yea and $20 to the babysitter, so Rick figures HE'S out about $70 bucks, talk about inflation! A couple of weeks ago Zac's best friend Kaylee got a diary from her school book order and ever sine then Zac has asked for one for him too so when we were at Walmart Rick & I found him a really nice 400 page journal and Zac had a good time writing his first story tonight and then making Rick and I rating it between 1-100, of course we both gave him 100 and he told us if he added it together he'd get 200........ hmmmmm I think that has something to do with school grades? You think? Yes definitely!

No babysitter friday

Most Fridays Rick doesn't work & Zac gets to come home from school instead of going to the babysitters. Lately Rick has been able to pick up overtime on Fridays which is very helpful to us in the budget department right now. Last night my work called and asked if I could do a last minute overnight trip....... Spring Creek girls soccer to Fallon for regional tournament. Of course I said yes after calling Shari our babysitter since her husband doesn't normally work Fridays either so she isn't available then but Brooks (her husband) is/was working also (am I rambling?) OK so after all that rambling I'm in Fallon with soccer, Rick is working and Zac unhappily is at the babysitter. Oh he'll be fine and he has a new book he's been reading non-stop for 2 days and he can play with Drew, Shari's son and I even tried to bribe him with a new game if he'd have a good attitude about it all. We'll see what the results are when I talk to Rick later.

Halloween & the rest................

Last week was crazy at work...... lots of driving, lots of miles and I missed Halloween, which I didn't mind too much as it's not my favorite holiday but Zac gets so excited. I have a rule about Halloween costumes, I never buy (or make) one till the last minute because invariably Zac changes his mind at the last minute and true to form he did. He had talked about a number of different costumes and even wanted to split his face so he could be 2. So Thurs he decided to be the grim reaper and wanted Rick to run right down to Walmart and buy the scythe that goes with the costume. Rick talked him out of it and sat. morning the made one. It turned out really, really good. Rick did a great job with Zac's makeup, when he sent me a text sat. afternoon I couldn't tell if it was a mask or makeup. So off they went first hitting the trunk or treat at the church then on to the convention center where local merchants had set up and last but not least trick or treat alley (as we call it) Zac decided to change the time honored phrase from trick or treat to trick or die in keeping with his costume. One goody giver told him it should be treat or die but Zac was steadfast in his change. They left me voice mails detailing their excursions with Zac adding sound affects for background ambiance! At the convention center Zac tapped his scythe on the wooden floor with each step and when they got to the last 'booth' the lady told Zac she had been waiting for his arrival. So another Halloween successfully put behind us!

Hmmmmm............

I'm really tired today. Took Elko High School Soccer to Reno yesterday. While we didn't leave too early I got up at 3:30 AM to spend some time with Rick & not have to hurry to get ready for work. I got Zac off to school and headed to work. Did I mention we had our first winter storm yesterday also? I didn't think it was that much of a storm but it made a lot of people uncomfortable about traveling. My theory is you have to respect the weather be it snow sleet or hale or heat of summer, not be afraid of it.................
anyhow we made good time & the roads weren't really that bad. But the Lady you was driving the relief car to pick me up later was not comfortable driving in the bad weather and she ended up dropping the relief driver & heading back to Elko instead of waiting for me which meant I had to ride the bus home which really, really sucked. I got home around 3 AM which also meant I'd been up for almost 24 hours with only a couple short cat-naps. I almost didn't get Zac off to school this morning but his friend Kaylee called to give him a ride to the bus stop and he had just enough time to get dressed & have breakfast & go. Then I had a safety meeting in town so I brushed my teeth & hair and went. Does all this tell you I'm really, really tired? No I haven't had a nap yet but I can more or less sleep in tomorrow or go back to bed after getting Zac off to school cause I don't have to work till tomorrow night when I will be the relief driver for Spring Creek cross country.

Blogging

So Zac had fun last week while he was home sick (he NEVER gets sick) watching me play on facebook and adding a blog entry.... he was really intrigued and excited to see some of the stuff you can do on the internet................
I have to add that I really enjoy reading the family member blogs and keeping up with what is happening in other families lives................. I am not as creative in my entries as I read in others blogs but I really am doing this for me mostly....................
we have a family newsletter that my sis in law has devoted many years to that I also really enjoy getting every month.................... (do you read our blogs Betty?)
It amazes me the communication that is available now that wasn't in years past..................
I always laugh when I tell people we got our first computer just so I cold email my sister at work all those years ago.............................
Now look at me..................
blog, facebook, myspace (although I don't really use myspace)............................
I am truly grateful for my internet connections..................

comments............

So Zac is excited to see who & what comments are made about our blog posts so don't be shy, leave us a comment!

Sage School Carnival

Friday night was Zac's school carnival.................. needless to say it say it was both successful & fun. We (Rick & Zac) made brownies for the cake walk. One of Zac's friends ended up with them which was also pretty cool. Zac's friend Kaylee went with us and the two of them ran all over the school playing the different games. Their favorite game was the bowling game, Zac said the bowling balls felt real. Zac tells me the teacher had a disco ball on her desk that was really cool when it reflected the light all over them room, she had both a plain and colored disco ball. While Kaylee & Zac were enjoying all the activities Rick & I entered the drawing fundraiser, it raises money for a schloraship in memory of one of the kindergarten teachers daughter (Zac's k-teacher as it turns out). I ended up with a Spring Creek high school goodie bag. I split it with Rick...... he got the t-shirt, I got the hoodie, he got the spirit towel & baseball hat & I got the scarf & pom poms & seat cushion........ it ended up being a pretty fair trade off except Rick thought he was going to steal the hoodie until I explained to him it was too small for him but just right for me! Zac came home on a huge sugar high that I thought was going to keep him up all night but when he crashed he crashed hard.

So Zac has been snuggling in bed with me this morning as Rick went in to work for some overtime (which we badly need right now) and he's been watching me play on facebook, he really likes my 101 collection, which is a funny collectors application. I think it really shows how much of a collector I've morphed into when I get satisfaction and joy from sending images back & forth between friends just to get all of them................... oh my.

Yesterday was a beautiful Northern Nevada fall day and the three of us went for a ride on the motorcycles. Zac had decided to grow his hair long so he could 'flip' his bangs but in the last few weeks has changed his mind again and declared it was time for a haircut. So one of our stops was the hair salon in Walmart.............. I wouldn't let them cut my hair but it's hard to screw up a little boy cut and the wait wasn't too long which was/is amazing so haircut he got................ gee a picture would probably be perfect inserted here, I guess we'll have to take one to post! He aslo added some new pokemon cards to his collection, can you believe they're popular again? I remember my nephew Ryan collecting them 10 yrs ago............... wow, the power of good marketing. It amazes me sometimes. Zac would like me to announce that he is up to 173 cards, a tin to store them in, a game mat and other assorted pokemon paraphernalia. He and his friends have fun at school playing pokemon.............. I have no idea how it's played except that the cards each have different powers & talents &................. well you know (maybe!)

So anyway Zac & I are enjoying a quiet morning hanging out waiting for football to start and missing Rick while he's at work................ how has your weekend been?

Drive, drive, drive

Fall keeps trying to come to town, it's beautiful out today 70 degrees outside and has the 'fall' feel to the air. I'm sitting here in bed trying to wake up after getting home at 2:00 AM, went to Lovelock last night to pick up the Elko HS Soccer team. They played at Reed HS which is in Sparks, which is adjacent to Reno (they're right next to each other). Zac is settling into 3rd grade, Rick & I are fighting to the fight to get him back into a school routine. He seems to think that he ought to be able to run & play everyday after school instead of reading or doing school work, it's our own fault, we let him slide during the summer and now he just doesn't understand why he shouldn't be able to still go run & play! (big sigh) He's definetely got the Clarke genes............. stubborn as the day is long. So here I sit finally waking up, but what do you expect getting home at 2 asleep around 4:30, I managed to wake up to get Zac out the door for school, although he did most of the getting ready himself which is good that he's getting better on that score. So life is getting back to the school type routine for the Clarke family.

Let the games begin!

No it's not an Olympic year but with the amount of traveling the kids do here it might as well be. It's the end of the second week of school & so far I've taken volleyball to Winnemucca for a tournament, cross country to Fernley and now football to Reno to play Wooster High School. We left yesterday at noon. There were three major road construction areas and it was HOT! I think I lost about ten lbs. in sweat............. when we stopped in Winnemucca for lunch I got a Mountain Dew slurpy and I almost couldn't drink it fast enough before it melted, but it sure was satisfying! We arrived in Reno at 6:45 PM and went straight to Meadowood Mall for dinner then it was off to Galena High School so the varsity team could watch Galena and North Valley HS play..... didn't get to the hotel till 11:00 PM. We left the Hotel at 9:00 AM for breakfast and then to WOoster HS so they could prep for their game................. WEW! did you get all that? Me too. Now I'm gonna take a nap (they're not just for 4 yr olds you know) so I won't be too tired to drive home tonight..................... 300 miles and i'm sure it will be hot again. Meanwhile Rick & Zac are doing guy stuff together, Rick started getting the pool taken down for winter (can you believe it's on the way?) and Zac has a b-day party for one of his school buddies this afternoon. Hopefully my blog doesn't sound too much like a travel log but that's what our life is like someitmes, oh well, enjoy.

good intentions

So every year, every month, every week I vow to be better at getting my paperwork done for work, on time and turned in when it should be................... so this morning I'm doing my paperwork and turning it in. I get burnt out fast when it comes to paperwork! Sometimes I get to where I'm going so much that it gets piled up & when I get back so late and am so tired I tell myself I'll do it in the morning............... oh well another school year is here and I vow to be better at getting my paperwork turned in on time! Last weekend I took SCHS & EHS volleyball to Winnemucca for their tournament............... last year I took SCHS and they were so excited to see me, that's one of the things that makes my job fun, when the kids are happy to have me take them where they're going. This friday it's Elko football to Reno for 2 days. The nice thing is because there is no school friday they are leaving at 1 PM so I won't have to drive all night and we'll get there at a decent time. I'm also going with one of the newer drivers and she's never done an overnighter. She wants to go with someone else her first trip so I can teach her the ropes.............. so it might be fun and or interesting. I guess I'll find out this weekend!

Dad the early years..........

Aunt Janet emailed me this pic of dad. My nephew Trent (Michael) started a Howard Glad Clan page on facebook, he then asked me to help administer it since I showed an interest in keeping it active. So I requested stories from family members about dad and she also sent me this pic...... cool huh? I asked her when & where it was taken & now I'm waiting ot hear back from her so I'll let you all know when I do. I'm really hoping that family memebers will make the time to visit the family page & make it a place where we can keep in touch with each other.

Summertime Blues

Wow, I can't believe school starts monday. It's been a hard summer. Working for KT is hard. It's the hours more than anything............. typicaly I get up between 1:30 & 2:20 AM then I'm home around 8:00 or so and back to work in the afternoon depending on if I'm picking up a 10 or 12 hr shift, meaning the 10 hr miners get done at 4:00 PM and we have to leave to pick them up by 1:30 or 2:30 PM and the 12 hour shifts are later........ totaly confused? It's not hard to do but I've always worked split shifts, KT's is just extreme split shifts. I don't think you ever get used to sleeping 4 hrs. at a time so I'm always sleeping it seems. I keep vowing to be better at this blog and I keep neglecting it. I'm doing it more for myself than anything else as I'm not really sure it's getting read and that makes it easier to ignore or put on the back burner............... so once again I'm going to try and be better....................................
WEW did you get all that?

Summertime

It has finaly begun to feel like summer in Spring Creek. It's been in the 80's for the last few weeks and the rain is dried out & gone. But that's OK Zac has been enjoyiing his swimming pool..... did I mention we got him a pool for his birthday? He's had most of his friends over to swim and his friend Kaylee (who lives right down the street) has been here almost everyday. I don't mind though, it gets him outside doing something other than playing the video games that he so loves.

I also now am legal to ride my motorcycle on the road, I passed my written test, I was nervous after missing the first question but all turned out well, I missed 2 out of 25 (you're allowed to miss 5) and am happy that I don't have to be worried while riding about getting stopped.................. next will be the road test but I'm still hoping to get into one of the new rider classes since you get your license at the end of it. I have to thank my Aunt Mavis for showing me all those years ago that girls can ride too! And Rick is just tickeled that his wife rides, he likes to show me off.

So, so far we're having a fairly quiet pleasant summer.................... how's yours?

Love to hate them...... computers

During my May trip to Vegas with Carlin track my computer started acting weird..... the power plug died again! So for the last about 6 weeks we have been computerless since the desktop was and still is having issues. Go figure. Last weekend Rick in all his inventive smartness he fixed my laptop woes with a $5 part. I am so blessed to have a wonderful husband that can do just about anything he sets his mind to. THANKS HONEY! so we've been cleaning and organizing and starting to get rid of the junk that accumulates in life. the rain has dwindled in the last week and a half and the skies are sunny once again in Northern Nevada. I've been busy with hazard certifications for KT and driving again to the different mines, getting up at around 1:30 AM most mornings. Today I did a Cortez run then had a class for the new motor coaches that will be arriving in the next month. It was actually interesting and informative even though I've been driving school busses with the regeneration systems for the last year. I told the MCI rep that they should do a similar class for the schools. probably won't happen, oh well. So hopefully I'll get back to some regular posts.... I really would like to.......................

Rick's Rocker

Last year the hunt began for a new motorcycle for Rick. He has always been a biker guy and a few years ago he sold his to put hardwood floors in our West Jordan home. I thought it was a great sacrifice and one he chose to make but he missed riding his motorcycle. So we went looking. If you haven't heard the story go back and look at my post from last summer to get the 411 (as they say) Anyhow Rick has been looking and found a Harley Rocker that he decided was his dream bike. Low and behold (like the catch phrases?) he saw one at our local GMC dealer if you can believe that. He also played hooky today after working 30, 12 hour days. He decided he deserved a day off. To make this long rambling story a bit shorter we came home with his burgundy with black flames 2009 Harley Softail Rocker. He is thrilled and I don't have to worry about birthday, fathers day, christmas, anniversary, valentines and any other holiday gift for the rest of his life! The pic's where mostly taken by Zac to keep him occupied while we did paperwork and all that other fun stuff that comes with this kind of purchase. Hey we're trying to do our part for the economy! how about you? Oh yeah and by the way the Sportster is now officially mine!

Northern Nevada & Gardening

Since we've been renting the last 3 yrs (can you believe we've been here 3 years?) I haven't had a garden and my attempts to grow tomatoes in pots was dismal to say the least. I was so excited that our yard has stuff planted and I've been enjoying walking the yard to see what is coming up in our new yard. So far I've found numerous clumps of bulbs. Pink hyacinths and various tulips. Zac spotted yellow & red tulips at the property line by the road. The rest aren't blooming yet but it's fun to see what was planted by others. At the fence line between us & the neighbors to the north (which I refer to as up because they really are up from us) there are numerous bushes that I haven't identified yet and some of them are very, very prickly. Maybe I should say thorns because they really are sharp thorns. I've been lazy of late but I really need to get out there and start some pruning and taking out the volunteer tree's which is kind of hard to do since there are so few tree's in this area. I also have the task of identifying them! Oh yea and the pine tree's lining the driveway have bird nest's in them! Haven't heard any chirps yet but I'm keeping an eye (or ear) on them. I sure hope we have baby birds in them............... what fun that'll be!

time passes

I can't believe how fast time goees by. It's been a crazy year and a hectic spring, with the weather go back & forth so much it's hard to tell if it's spring or still winter. But we're hanging in there and trying to do all the things that need to get done!

View from the drivers seat............

After having a really nice visit with Courtney and the kids last wed it was time to head back to Spring Creek. I had taken the Elko HS band to the airport for their trip to DC for the Cherry Blossom festival. And since I was dead-heading home I took the opportunity to go visit Courtney & kids. Mom also stopped by for a bit and I took as many pics as I could. Finaly it was time to head home and I was getting abit tired so I came up with an idea to show whomever what it looks like form the drivers seat when traveling, so i poiited my phone in different directions and snapped! It was kind of fun and helped to keep me awake................... so here's my abstract version of the view from the drivers seat......................

I went back Sunday to pick them up but because there were 3 busses it just wasn't feasable to go early and visit, but I take it where I can get it! The kids are getting So BIG! It was also nice to see mom who we don't get to visit with nearly enough (wel that goes for all the family) I'll get the pics I took of me, mom, Courtney & the kids up soon!

Dogs & chickens

So far this Reno trip has been fun..... until I got the phone call from Rick this morning. Once again Chance & Seven had managed to escape & run the nieghborhood, infortunately Seven cmae home with a chicken in his mouth! Rick got the chicken away from him & got both the dogs in the house. Shortly a local deputy sheriff showed up at the door. The fine for two unlicensed dogs running loose is $268! And that doesn't count what the owners of the chickens will want for reimbursment...... or vet bills. Rick was going to go talk ot the owners. I am so angry that I might just go home & shoot the dogs myself. We knew it was only a mater of time when the dogs would run into some kind of trouble when they escaped. I really thought however that they would get run over and killed by soemone. This is just unbelievable, I am so angry and upset that they did this! I had such a nice day in Virginia City yesterday. It's a quaint historical town. They've turned the historical buildings into lovely shops with all kinds of stuff. They're a number of 'rock' shops, Virginia City being the first mining town in Nevada. It was very interesting to learn about Boulder Tourquoise, it was originaly found in Elko. No 2 pieces are exactly alike. Unfortunately I didn't purchase a piece of it, but I did find a number pf pieces that are very lovely. I bought a beautiful necklace & earring set and 10 rock 'marbles'. I picked ones that I found interesting.

One of the leather stores was having a winter clearance sale (maybe it was 2 shops) I found Rick a new mototrcycle jacket for only $45! he was thrilled that I got it for him. I also got myself 2 leather bomber jackets they were buy one get one free, who could pass that up? SO yes I spent way too much money but I felt like I was thoughtful in my purchases and looked for things that I really liked and fairly priced, now does that sound like good justification?

Whining

Needles was certainely a long trip. I missed Zac's Dr. Suess program thurs. night but Rick videotaped it for me and it was fun to watch. Zac was so cute!
It's been a hard spring traveling. I haven't been home when Rick's been off for weeks. And I have to go to Reno fri. to pick up the FFA group that I took there tues. night. It was an out & back and we left Spring Creek 2:00 PM tues. so by time we got to Reno & I dropped them off I didn't get home till 4:00 AM. By then I was wired so I just stayed up to get Zac to school and then I went to sleep. I woke up at 1:00 PM and couldn't believe that 5 hrs had passed, it felt like I had just went to sleep 5 min. earlier. I rolled over & went back to sleep till Zac got home from school.................... what a day. And to top it off I have to go back to Reno next week for 3 days! I'm almost tired of traveling. Actualy I'm tired of missing my husband & son. And to top it off we haven't been to SLC to see the kids & grandkids since Jan. OK so I'm whining! and rambling! I haven't got to enjoy the nice weather yet either! I want to get out in my yard & garden! I want to walk my dogs, I want to go for a ride on the bike with Rick! He's had it out the last 2 weekends and I haven't got to ride!
Alright enough whining for now.

traveling

Here I sit in a motel 6.............. well it doesn't quite rhyme but I'm in Needles Calif. for the Colorado River Softball tournament with Spring Creek High School. OK so the girls are here to play, I'm here to drive them around! Needles is approx. 2 hrs south of Vegas and 550 miles from Spring Creek and it looks like we won't be going home till sunday instead of sat. night which is what I had been told. I'm a bit ticked off that I wasn't told in advance. Seems like I've been on the road a lot lately, Vegas last weekend, Vegas the weekend before that and Sun Valley, Idaho with Jackpot the week before that! So now I think I'll take a nap before I have to go take them to lunch between games!

Wow.......

I can't believe it's been a month since I posted anything. It's just been crazy all winter! I went to Vegas last week with the Elko HS DECA group, it was only 6 kids can you believe that? But there were 600 kids at the casino/hotel we stayed at for the competition. Since the kids were staying where the event was I didn't have to do anything till it was time to go home. Margaret & I had a really nice visit, we really didn't do anything but she took wed. off so we could just hang out together. I was really exhausted by time we got home thurs. morning at 4:30 AM, drove all night to get home but we actualy made really good time since we were traveling at night. I slept most of the day and when I woke up thurs. afternoon low & behold I was SICK! I spent the rest of the weekend in bed with Rick taking good care of me..... and he & Zac made me a really great choc. cake friday for my birthday! So now I'm off to run errands so I can go back to Vegas tomorrow with the Spring Creek HS cheerleaders for their competition.

New Year

So I know I haven't been really good at keeping my blog up to date the last few months. I had a hard time emotionaly at Christmas time this year. We didn't get to go back to SLC for the family party. It's the first time in 17 years that we missed it and it really had me bummed out. It's funny cuz Rick is usualy the one to get emotionaly wierd at that time but this year it was me. Go figure. I know the New Year is a time for setting goals & resolutions but I haven't been one to do it. This year I decided that I'd set one goal. Get back to walking the dogs on a regular basis. I figure it's an easy one to keep up on and maybe I won't fail. What is it about failure that keeps someone from doing something?

I got a phone call at 4:00 fri. morning. Could I take Elko HS girls basketball to Reno for 2 days? Hmmmmmm let me talk to Rick & call my babysitter, she isn't normaly available on fridays but she said yes she could watch Zac. rick was working overtime you see. So here I am at h=the Airport Holiday Inn, hanging out watching a movie thinking about a nap before I have to drive all night. Well almost all night. we should be home by about 1 or 2 AM. That's better than football when you don't get home till 5 AM.