What I want and what I will get..

Leaf promised me if I got straight A's...not even an A- I could get whatever car I wanted. Like obsessive compulsive me needed any motivation. So I actually looked at cars online just for fun. That lasted about 2 minutes. Cars are so boring. Like I care about them in the first place...I drive a Ford Focus Pete's sake. The last car I bought I had to tell the guy I really did not want an automatic, no power locks or windows, and just air conditioning. The salesman thought I was crazy.

Love is a funny thing. It can just hit you at any moment. Well today I fell in love with a car... I even called Leaf to tell him about it. It is cute, small, fast, and a lot of money. It definitely is a chick car. It is an Mercedes SLK Coup. I am even thinking about buying the dye cast of it so I can dream about driving it to the beach or to lunch.

The reality of life is I will never pay that much for a car....I would drive a Ford Focus forever because I am inherently cheap. I am also a worry wart so I want a bigger car to carry my child in. Practicality calls so Honda Odyssey here I come.

I did consider a Honda Pilot but then I realized I am short and could not lift any child into an SUV everyday. So all those A's for a soccer mom car, I guess I will get used to it.

I cannot think of an appropriate title for this one...

If you did not know I helped coach the girl's golf team at Edison that past two years. This past year not so much since but I showed up once in a while. The girls are some of the best students we have on campus, everyone of them is a great student. They are kind, considerate and hard workers. It is really nice to see a bunch of girls work so hard together. They are kind of a rag tag bunch of golfers none of them played prior to high school and we had girls qualify the past two years for sectionals. They went from shooting 80-90 for 9 holes to shooting in the 50's in one season. The coaches as a group just focus on respect for the game, sportsmanship, and positive attitudes. This season was hard for the girls to maintain this attitude. One girl on the team had to stop playing because her mother had cancer. A few days before the team banquet the girls mother passed. For a sixteen year old girl this an unimaginable situation. No teenager ever considers that their parents will not be there for them. Sadly this was not the first loss for this girl. Just a few years back her father also passed. The girl is an orphan, a ward of the state. She is living with an aunt who just returned from a tour in Iraq but money is tight.

She paid for the funeral using credit cards....how does a 16 year old afford to bury their parents? The reality of the adult world crashed into this young girls life. First, the girl struggled to understand why her mothers employer stopped paying her insurance...they were dropped. Then when the mother went to hospice care she was sent home because they could not afford the cost. The final tragedy was the mother passed in the girls bedroom at 4 am. Everyday since then the girl wakes up and 4 and cannot fall back to sleep. When the coroner came to remove the body...they needed to be paid as well.

So what do you say or do? The head golf coach is a great guy and he has been collecting money for the girl to help with costs. Some people have offered the girl a place to stay, money for school costs, food, and the everyday things a teenager needs. I just cannot stop thinking about the other things she needs...like who will walk her down the isle? Who will buy her flowers for her graduation? Who will be there when she calls home from college? She definitely was cheated.

I see a lot of kids at my school, many who are in gangs, have rap sheets, and are just plain rude. This girl was one of the good ones. The type of kid that makes you want to work at a school like mine. The type of kid you would be proud to call your own. She has a lot of support and I hope it is enough to help her through this. Her life will never be the same but I hope that one day she looks back and realizes how much she is loved and cared about.

Unfortunately, it sometimes takes tragedies like this to remind us how lucky we are to have our families and friends.

I AM DONE!!!!!!!!!

Today I finished my Master's work. All that is left is paper work. I am a little mad because the University of Phoenix does not have honors and I completed the entire thing with nothing less than and A. Not even on A-. Compared to a science degree education is pretty simple....just tons of writing. So that is why there has been a lull in the blog.

I left the last post off with Jack having surgery on his ear....first it is Jack. So in two days he removed the bandages. Everything looked fine the doctor said but this is Jack we are talking about. The same dog that does not potty when it rains or the grass is wet. So a few days go by and I am back at the vet because his ear is full of fluid again. They drained and re-wrapped his ear and off we went. He kept that on a few more days and then I went back and this time they wrapped him really good. Then the bad stuff started. Jack got an infection and he smelled like a brothel after a long day. It was gross. My dad and I removed the bandages(doc's orders) with a crowd of Clendenen's watching and laughing as I gagged. This seemed to do the trick for the smell. Yet another trip to the doctors and some antibiotics and Jack is on his way.

On the baby front I have another ultrasound coming up since the baby was so uncooperative. I was pretty worried and called the Doctor to ask what was going on. She assured me it was routine and that they just need to finish getting pictures. I felt much better a few days later when all the blood work came back for the Alpha Fetal Protein test showing everything was fine on that front too. The other good news is the party in my belly. I have definite kicks that cannot be confused with gas. On a lucky night we can even hear her heartbeat with Leaf's stethoscope.

Other than that I hope everyone had a happy Thanksgiving.

The results are in...

Today was a a big day. I had my monthly check up AND an ultrasound. Peanut is a girl!!!! This could explain my choice of color for every shirt I am buying, everything is pink or burgundy.

I will admit with two sisters and three nieces, a boy would have been fun but what a relief to have a girl. I would have no clue what to do with a boy and all their gross habits...Leaf is bad enough.

So the little lady was not very cooperative today. The ultrasound lady made me do all sorts of things trying to get the pictures they needed. First, I had to come in with a full bladder, then they wanted me to empty it, then I had to tap on my belly, next I had to bend over and touch my toes 10 times....nothing worked. She wanted a nap. You can even see her hands over her head while we were bugging her. Plus, a big High Five for the camera.

Leaf had new students today and was teaching a class so he was late to the appointment. When he got there the ultrasound lady showed him what he missed. It was so fun to watch him see her for the first time. I asked the lady not to tell me what the baby was until he got there. When she told us we were shocked and Leaf fell in love. He tried to claim the baby was beautiful....it looks like an alien to me. Anyhow he stopped by the store on the way home and bought a dress, a "my heart belongs to daddy" shirt, oh...and a token "I love mommy shirt." I think I am going to try to milk all the attention I can in the next few months.

I also took Jack to the vet for surgery to fix the broken blood vessels in his ear. Labs apparently like to shake their heads and this is common. I cried on my way home because he was scared and he has to spend the night tonight all by himself....more tears.

Enough for now.