Loss......

Last week  a former co-worker; Paul Downs was killed in an ATV accident. He was one of the really good, decent men in this world. I was saddened to learn of his death. He was only 39 yrs young and left behind a family, how sad. Death comes to us all but it is harder when it is unexpected and so young, so rest in peace Paul till we meet again in the afterlife.......

2012.....

Zac decided he wanted to stay up and welcome in the New Year so we all played couch potatoes until midnight. It was kinda fun snuggling with Zac and Rick. Of course I got a New Years kiss from my favorite man! And then I woke up to a migraine in the early morning hours. Seems like I've been on a bad migraine cycle the last year, getting them about every two weeks if not more. It really bites since most of the meds out there don't work for me and the state of Utah does not stock demerol at the ER's anymore. I tried to explain to a Doc a few months ago that I've been getting demerol shots for years and that it works just fine for me but he told me that too many patients have reactions to it that they deem it not good to keep around..... sigh......

Christmas time.......

there was alot of moaning.... groaning & general whining from students & employees at Jordan District this week because we had to go to work & school until friday the 23rd. Keep in mind that every other district in the state of Utah were done by wednesday...... I would have liked to be done by wed. but hey..... if I'm scheduled to work I go to work! Friday going home my elementary students were so cute...... I had a whole bus full of kids singing Christmas carols the whole ride home! I have really great kids from all three schools!

Santa.... real or not?

One of the advantages of Rick being unemployed is the time he gets to spend with Zac....... the other morning they were having a discussion about whether Santa is real or not. Zac still believes in Santa and one of his friends keeps telling him that Santa is make believe..... so.......
Zac; Dad is Santa real?
Rick; what do you think?
Zac; Dakota says he's fake and your parents buy the gifts from Santa with money from your bank. Zac told Dakota that his parents are broke.....

Rick tried to explain the 'spirit' of Santa to Zac and his response.......
So you've been lying to me for 10 yrs? Rick said no he hadn't and then Zac said.....

So Santa is a ghost?

Out of the mouths of babes!

I heard it on the school bus........

The Principal at Zac's school suggested this title for a blog so I'm going to try incorporating it with this blog....... I hear & see so much entertaining stuff everyday there must be a few good stories out there....... so stayed tuned!

Fake it till you make it........

I had to borrow this from my nephews wife, it goes along with How do you Handle plan B? I really like both those ideas! Thanks Melissa!

I was just reading a bit from my cousins blog..... Anna... she was younger than I growing up but as adults and definetely with the advent of Facebook I have reconnected with many peolple from the first part of my life..... but by spending time on FB I have neglected my blog. I had wanted to turn it into more of a personal type journal but I'm not sure if that's possible..... when you write in a journal you can let out all the things you feel & think, good, bad & ugly and I don't believe it's necessary to broadcast all of that. I've made it a point in my life nto not broadcast alot of the negative things that I have experienced but it's also part of making me who I am.... the good, bad & ugly.

We are now living in West Valley City, Utah. After 5 years in Nevada. It's good to be home & close to our family again but also on the flipside I miss alot of  things about Spring Creek. It was quiet & peaceful and living on 2 acres was really nice. I also really liked my jobs ther4 nit that I made more money than I do here but it was interesting & entertaining & challenging too......

It's been a tough year since we've been back. We moved to American Fork in Michael & Lonaka's basement but that didn't last..... don't know if I want to go into the details about that just yet. Then my wonderful mother took us in..... that was good except all three of us where sharing a room, a big room but one room none the less. In June I sold my Harley and we rented this 2 bedroom duplex in WVC. It is in the ghetto but we're in our own place again and can start rebuilding our life.

wow...

I can't believe it's been almost a year since I posted anything here. It's been a long and trying year for us. We are back in the SLC area and staying with my mother until we can get back on our collective feet. It's been a real blessing staying with mom, she is truly a representative of christ on the earth and we love her tons. I am back with Jordan School District driving as a sub and Rick is looking for a job that will allow him to mtake care of us as he has in the past. Our Bishop in Spring Creek told us we would need to humble ourselves in making the move here but I don't think Rick or I really knew what that was going to entail. we are still learning how much we are going to have to give up to start over and sometimes it is really, really hard. When I get sad or down I tryb to think about how much I love my family and I grateful I am to be close to where they are.

doing my civil duty......

Three weeks later we were a hung jury.... did I mention I did jury duty? I always thought to myself if I ever was called for jury duty I wanted it to be something important, well be careful what you ask for! Lets just say I'm glad it's over and even though it was a learning experience I don't ever want to have to decide something that important again! We spent 3 days going over and over and over the evidence and still couldn't come to an agreement of innocence or guilt...... it was long it, was incredibly stressful, it was eye opening, I learned more about the way our justice system works than I wanted to and 12 people couldn't come to a decision. That was the hardest part of it all, we had to go in that courtroom and tell the Judge, Sorry, we couldn't agree. Of course afterwards we got the rest of the story......
It's been kinda rough around here since Christmas time.... did I mention 3 days before Christmas Rick got layed off of work? His (now former) boss has had it in for him for a year and a half...... and finally got Rick on the late policy, so there he was looking for a job again. Along with all the emotions and feelings and doubts and insecurities that go along with it...... it took 2 months but he got on at Queenstakes, it's a smaller mine but so far so good..... during that time I worked all I could and I think it's turned me into a workaholic! After jury duty I took FCCLA to Las Vegas for a week which was really nice, not only did I get to spend time with Margaret but it was a welcome break form the real world..... then I came hoe for 4 days and took Spring Creek softball & baseball to Needles, CA which is 90 miles south of Vegas. It's been a lot of long driving. We got back from Needles at 5:00 AM Sunday morning and I had the bright idea to stay up and go to church. Normally when I drive like that it takes me at least a few hours to wind down and relax so I thought why not do it at church? I did alright for awhile, then I started nodding off in Sunday school and then I nodded off during the rest hymn in sacrament meeting! I was ready to hit my pillow by time we got home...... WEW!

wow...

I keep avoiding putting up a post because I've gotten behind and then I feel like I need to catch up and then I avoid it since there's so much I could catch up on..... do you see the vicious circle? OK..... 2 weeks ago I got a jury notice and I dutifully showed up and said yes your Honor I can be fair and impartial and WAM! here I am doing jury duty.... so once it's all over I'll tell you all about it. Until then I'm going really nuts because I'm one of those who has to 'talk' stuff to death and I can't!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am living up to the oath I took not to discuss the case w/ anyone and not form any decisions until all the evidence has been presented. nough said (for now). Rick started working at Queenstakes mine yesterday. His boss at Newmont finally got him laid off (3 days before Christmas) this guy had it in for Rick for a year and a half and finally got him on the late policy........ what a shame that Newmont doesn't care that this guy had treated Rick badly for all that time..... lied about grabbing hold of Rick one day and generally created a hostile work environment.............. it really messed up Rick's head for awhile but I'm hoping that being back to work will put that sparkle back in his eyes and the bounce in his walk again...... change is always hard but they keep saying it's a good thing.............. really?

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.