The DDA Trouble Free Zone Part 25

[Tammi67]

Hi, SkinnyJanet!

Funny, but true!

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

Good morning, DDA!

Becky - Although the weather was not totally cooperative, I am glad you got to volunteer at the GS outing.

Hope you are feeling better, Becky! Good luck with the job. It is definitely a difficult decision. I know exactly how you feel about not wanting to stay in retail. I managed a store, then went to another company as an asst., then managed one of those, then went to 2 more companies as an asst. and I never was all that happy. I love being a nanny, if I could just decide FOR WHOM I wish to be a nanny.

What a situation... If it were me, and the jobs were just about equal, I would take the higher salary. Yes... I said it! Happiness in your job can be improved with more money, I am sure.

The problem is that the jobs are so DIFFERENT. I know I would be happy with Family A because it is the exact job I want. I think I would be happy with Family B because it isn't as restrictive as it sounded. It is just a very different environment. The thing is, if I ever want to see any true growth in salary I need to start looking at higher profile families and be willing to give up some of the freedom I am used to. I feel confident that as I earn Family B's trust that they will allow me to go out with the boys, so hopefully it won't be a problem.

we can get coffee now! or lunch... or groceries...

Mmmm. Coffee. Too bad you live so far away!

Aurora doesn't seem any worse than she was, and she might even be a bit better. I told the vet we are just going to monitor her and see how she does. As long as she is eating and drinking and not lethargic I think we can just keep an eye on her.

It is raining AGAIN. Just when we had started to dry out a little!

DS has all of the info for his million $ project. He just needs to split his purchases into major categories and make a pie chart of how his expenditures played out. He spent 1 million dollars and 50 cents.

 

[my3princes]

Ok I am embarrassed to post this 1st picture But this was taken in Oct. last year.....

This was taken today.....

Excuse the look on my face, I was walking & Gary was snapping away lol

This one I am posting, just because I like it

Can you see the difference?

I noticed a couple of differences. The boys are growing and you are SHRINKING. You really have lost a lot of weight.

Elizabeth. If you think you will be happy in both jobs then I would let money be the deciding factor. Otherwise go with you gut.

Becky Go for the GS position. It sounds like something that you would be very happy with and good at too.

Theresa Love the hair

I loved seeing all of the pictures of the DDA families, dance recitals, graduations etc.

Tia, welcome back

I guess that I should wish Marti, Marci and Clare a big welcome back too!! It looks like you had a lot of fun and sun

I know that I am not commenting on a lot, but I was tired last night and didn't take notes as I was trying to catch up. I finally just gave up and went to bed. I am now caught up and apologize for missing anyone.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

Hi, Deb! Welcome home! How was camping? I hope the weather cooperated and that you were feeling well!

 

[my3princes]

Our weekend...

We left here around 4:30 PM on Friday. I had picked the kids up at school and ran to Pizza Hut for 4 large pizzas and bread sticks. That way I had dinner covered for Friday night and lunch for Saturday. I wanted to keep it as easy as possible for myself. We got to the campground about 5:45 PM. Chris and I set up the site and my Mom and the boys ate Pizza then she took Nick and Hunter to candy bar Bingo. Colby stayed with us and finished eating and setting up. It was cold, but not raining. The other Scout families trickled in throughout the night and we ended up having a campfire at our site with about 5 other families. It was really nice and we stayed out until about 11:30. The kids had plenty of other kids to play with and by 11 they were worn out

I woke up at 3:30 AM to the sounds of rain on the camper roof. By 4:30 AM the rain had stopped. We had another brief shower around 8 AM, but it had stopped by the time our mini golf tournament started at 9 AM. We put the kids names in one hat and the adults in another and made teams of 4. It works out well as the kids end up NOT being with their parents so they behave better and don't whine or cheat and the parents can relax and enjoy the game. It was a lot of fun. Chris had the lowest overall score, but his team did not

The campground had the theme of Easter for the weekend with activities scheduled around that theme. At 11 AM as we were finishing mini golf they were having easter egg hunts. We took all of the kids to that. They were surprised to have so many kids show up so I ended up helping them hide eggs and we made a 6 egg limit to make sure that all kids got eggs. They enjoyed that. Then we headed back to our sites for lunch. Each family did their own thing. Then back to the Rec Hall for some cake with the Easter Bunny. The campground had a heated pool so some families allowed their kids to swim. I was not one of those nice Mom's and my kids were POd. Oh well they got over it. While the pool temp was 83 degrees, the outside air was in the 40s, not swimming weather in my opinion. My kids showed up for the egg relay race, but they were the only kids to show up so they won the prizes without doing anything. At 3 PM we had the fishing derby. The pond was surrounded with people. The fishing were jumping and everyone was really excited. The problem was that someone had fed the fish So we fished for 1 1/2 hours and only ONE boy caught a fish. It was a 15 inch trout. No one else caught anything (notice no mention of rain since 8 AM )

At about 5:30 PM we gathered at our site for the group meal. So many people had mentioned that they forgot to bring a dish so I was getting really nervous. I ended up making a croc pot cake, cooking 10 lbs of hot dogs and throwing together macaroni and alfredo sauce. I shouldn't have worried as we ended up with PLENTY of food. Way too many hot dogs. The cake was completely gone though. I was amazed how everyone just disappeared when it came time to clean up though. My mother was a huge help and we made short work of it. Chris started a fire and people started gathering again. The kids played on the road in front of the sites. Since it was only scouting families in that area the traffic was pretty much no existent so biking and frisbee etc was easy and fun. We had planned to do a campfire program around 8:30. The campground was having a dance starting at 7:30 with an Easter Bonnet contest at 8. I threw together an easter bonnet using flowers cut out of wall paper samples and a fishing hat. I talked chris into wearing it (sorry, I forgot my camera). He ended up being the only person with an easter bonnet so we won 3 nights free camping . When we got back the kids did there songs and skits. It was cute. The boys were disappointed that we didn't do their favorite skit from last year so I had the kids do it for us very impromptu. they were a hoot and loved it. Colby even did the dentist part. Too funny. That was followed by smores. It was after 9 by then so some kids were ready for bed. some of the group broke up. Other kids went back to playing which left a nice group of adults around our fire. I made cocktails for those that wanted them and we had a great time just hanging out. It was after midnight before we went in. My kids trickled in before then requiring baths and tuck ins, but that was easy since we were at our site anyway. Other than the cold it was perfect.

We got up Sunday and slowly packed up camp. My Mom helped with the inside cleanup then took the boys to mini golf. Chris and I finished up and chatted with those around us. Very relaxing. We left for home about 11:15 and it had just started to pour. It rained most of the way home, but we drove through it and came home to no rain Apparently it rained at home ALL weekend. We got really lucky. Thank you DDA Pixie Dust.

Once we got home I took a nap as I still had the sore throat and cold. I had to be at work at 4 PM. It was pretty slow which was ok as I wasn't feeling great. Came home and read here for awhile before crashing. I'm still feeling a bit under the weather, but not down and out. I'm working at 5 tonight too.

Now off to build train tracks for the boys.

 

[tmfranlk]

I cannot believe that you could possibly have missed anyone, Tia! What a good recap without quotes!

And thanks for the comments. It is good to see you here posting. I have missed you.

Since it took me several sittings I was afraid the multi-quotes would disappear. So, I had to go the old-fashioned style and make notes. Unfortunately, I forgot what a note or two meant along the way, but I think I caught all the important stuff.

 

[tmfranlk]

Anybody recognize these Disney fans?

YEAH!!! It's Marti!!! And with pictures of friends to share so it's even better. You all look wonderful! I hope you are having a marvelous time.

 

[PNO4TE]

Good morning, DDA!



Mmmm. Coffee. Too bad you live so far away!

Yes it is!

 

[PNO4TE]

Deb - it sounds like you had a GREAT weekend and NO RAIN! YIPPIE SKIPPIE. I wish you were feeling 100% though. Maybe after those train tracks are built you can take another nap.

 

[tmfranlk]

Thanks! I'm sure I won't take 1/2 as many photos in August on a trip that will twice as long.

Would love to see your DL photos!

I'll bet. That's one good thing about having just Terra, I only have to worry about boring one person when I stop for pictures. I'm sure that 4 people waiting on you is a lot more trying. I think that if I could have one afternoon alone in World Showcase, I would be a happy picture taker.

 

[Tammi67]

Deb - your weekend sounded great! I'm so envious! I'm especially glad the rain held off for you. I had been wondering about that.

 

[tmfranlk]

Tia and Becky-I've been meaning to tell you both that the Maha Power EX rechargeable batteries that I bought for my Sony did appear to work better than the Sony batteries. Somedays I took over 500 photos and I never had to change my batteries more than 1 time per day. I did however not take many flash photos.

Here's a link:
Maha Batteries

Did you charge them in your Sony charger or buy a new one? How long do they take to charge? Thanks for the link. I was thinking on this trip that I would need another set or two of batteries before we do any more travelling/camping/etc.

 

[tmfranlk]

Ok I am embarrassed to post this 1st picture But this was taken in Oct. last year.....

This was taken today.....

Excuse the look on my face, I was walking & Gary was snapping away lol

This one I am posting, just because I like it

Can you see the difference?

I was going to comment from the big family picture, but the comparison makes it really noticeable. You look wonderful, Janet!!! Your hard work is paying off.

 

[tmfranlk]

I am starting to feel kind of queasy. Depending on the exact salary offer from the family today, the difference is 35-40% higher than the family from Friday. That is serious money. And the hours are shorter by 5 per week. No, everything is not about money, which we have already established. But it is a very useful thing to have.

I just keep thinking of the comment you made a day or two ago about the lower end salary family. If it is a financial stretch for them, that could cause problems in the future. If you do like both families fairly well, then you can't help buy lean towards the higher salary. If I remember right, you have already been making less than you should because of a bad raise-boss in the past. This would bring you up to where you probably should be, they are a family you like, the hours are less... I think that if contract negotiations go well, you can't help but lean towards the higher-salary family. Either way, good luck this week. I know that things will work for the best.

 

[tmfranlk]

Anne Marie - you have such beautiful dancers. At what age did you start putting your girls in more than one class? I know Alyssa would love tap too, but she is doing so good at ballet that I really want her to stick with it. Being only 5 I don't know if she (or I) could handle more than one class a year.

Does your studio have combo classes? Rachel and Kassie both take ballet-tap. It is one hour every week and they do have of the class on each technique. Kassie is 5 as well and this will be her 3rd class with them.

 

[tmfranlk]

Becky - I hope you are feeling better this morning, and I wish you all the luck pursuing this job. I think it is tailor-made for you and is coming at a perfect time in your career!

I completely agree, Becky! Best of luck on the council job as I think that is just the place for you.

 

[my3princes]

I just did something that I NEVER do. I just called into work sick. I've still got the sore throat, but now I've got a fever and shakes too. I feel pretty weak. If it weren't for shaking I would go to work, but I'm not sure how I'd do carrying the trays while trembling. Thankfully I'm not scheduled again until Thursday so I should be fine by then. I HATE to call in. Now I feel bad that they are going to be short handed.

 

[tmfranlk]

Our weekend...

We left here around 4:30 PM on Friday. I had picked the kids up at school and ran to Pizza Hut for 4 large pizzas and bread sticks. That way I had dinner covered for Friday night and lunch for Saturday. I wanted to keep it as easy as possible for myself. We got to the campground about 5:45 PM. ....

Sounds like an all around great weekend! Sorry that everyone bailed on clean up though. I'm glad that you all had a lot of DRY fun!

 

[tmfranlk]

I just did something that I NEVER do. I just called into work sick. I've still got the sore throat, but now I've got a fever and shakes too. I feel pretty weak. If it weren't for shaking I would go to work, but I'm not sure how I'd do carrying the trays while trembling. Thankfully I'm not scheduled again until Thursday so I should be fine by then. I HATE to call in. Now I feel bad that they are going to be short handed.

I think you absolutely did the right thing. Shakes and trays of food do not mix very well. I would hate to leave them short-handed too, but you've also covered a bunch of short-handed shifts for them. Just take care of yourself and feel better!

 

[tmfranlk]

I think that my mornings just got a whole lot better. It made me so happy this morning to drink my coffee out of my new Disneyland mug. I have been looking for one I like on the last several DL and WDW trips and could never find the right one. As we passed through the DL Hotel on the way to the bus to the airport on Wednesday, I finally found it.

http://www.mouseshoppe.com/custom/productzoom/10816606L.jpg