Hitting the Books

This is how I feel lately...



Up to my eyeballs in text books.



I'm shocked and overwhelmed with the workload at Sac State mainly because I've doubled my regular school load.



But it's only two years. I can push through. And I really do enjoy it.

Let me rephrase.

I enjoy MOST of it. Business Statistics does not fall in that category.

Chalk It Up!

Over Labor Day weekend we went to Chalk It Up! at a park downtown. The sidewalk squares bordering the park are "sold" for a fundraising event to raise money for children's art education.


It's held annually and I've wanted to go for many years. We finally did.


Some were done by local sporting groups or businesses.


Many squares were beautifully decorated.


This man was creating from a photo of his daughter.


The details were wonderful.


I can't imagine creating this on a smooth surface, let alone the sidewalk.


After walking the perimeter of the park we hung out at the playground where Carley played.


And Josh climbed the trees.


It was a nice family outing.

Weekend Visitors

Over the weekend we had very special guests.

My mom and dad, Dave, came to visit. They haven't been to our house in nearly two
years! It was a short visit. Short but terrific.

Over the course of the weekend, from Friday afternoon until Monday morning, I only took one picture. One! I think something is wrong with me.

I blame the homework. The mass amounts of homework I have weekly has made my head mushy.

Here is the picture. The one and only picture.

Dave was giving Carley a hug goodnight the night before they left.

To make up for the lack of pictures, I'm posting a few from our trip to Carpinteria.

Walt's cell phone is waterproof up to 30 feet. The kids and I played with it in the pool at Gemma's condo.







It was a lot of fun.

Back When It Was Summer

The week that the kids started school but before I had, my friends and I took a little day trip into the Sierras to visit Cody Lake, a small, unpopulated, mountain lake..


The lake isn't well known and directions aren't easy to come by. I was the only one of us who'd been to Cody Lake before and it'd been probably 5 years so it took us an hour to find the trail head.


But we found the lake. And it's gorgeous.


There is a view of Pyramid Peak across the lake.


There are a couple Boy Scout cabins near the lake. I don't think they're used very often.


The cabins are dwarfed by the beautiful mountain of granite behind them.


We swam a little.


We picnicked a little.


And we walked to the other side of the lake.


I'm so glad Wendy and Christy took the time off of work to do this in the middle of the week. It was a relaxing and refreshing day. Something we all need now and then.

First Day of School, Again

This was my first week of class at California State University, Sacramento. CSUS. Sacramento State. Sac State. The University for Big Dogs.

Okay, no one calls it the University for Big Dogs. In fact, it's mascot is a hornet named Herky. But I feel like a big dog now that I'm at a State University.



I'm also a bona fied dork. I had Walt take a picture of me on my first day of school.


Unfortunately I wasn't all spiffied up with new clothes like the kids.

Us mothers typically have other priorities for the precious commodity called the Dollar. Priorities like my new gargantuan tuition.


Thursday I went to school a little early so I could explore the campus and take a few pictures.

The campus is loaded with trees. There are over 3000 trees! Right now it provides ample shade but soon it will provide a fall spectacle.

One of the things I love about being at a university is the buildings. They are so big and have really cool local names like Tahoe Hall, Placer Hall, Mendocino Hall.


This one is Mariposa Hall. The building is designed to look like a cruise ship. It's hard to capture a shot of it with all the wonderful trees around.

There is five flight staircase with a glass wall on one side. I heard there was a great view from the top. I climbed all five flights and found there was only a view of tree and building tops. Maybe in the winter there will be a view.


On floor four or three there is a balcony. Or maybe it's a patio. All the glass is mirrored like this. And to attest to the bona fide dork statement, I quickly snapped this shot because I wasn't sure what was on the other side of the glass. If it was a class, I'm sure they got a giggle.


Another great thing about the CSUS campus is it's close proximately to the American River. This is Guy West Bridge, a bike and walking bridge that crosses the river at Sac State.


This is the inside of Tahoe Hall. When I first headed to class I thought "blech, how boring" about the building from the outside. As soon as I walked inside I was pleasantly surprised.

Seriously, I think I'm the giddiest Junior transfer student at Sac State. I'm telling you! I dial it down for campus to make sure no one knows just how excited I am to be there.

It's taken me many years to get to this point but I've earned it, baby.

Morning Sky

It wasn't even 7:00 yet but I was up browsing my usual Internet sites when I heard the garbage truck. The trash can! I ran outside and rolled it to the street and this is what I saw.



What a beautiful morning sky. If I hadn't forgotten to put the trash can on the curb last night, then I would've missed this beautiful morning view.



Sometimes we get stuck in our busy life routines and forget to slow down to appreciate the small things of life. I'm glad I got a reminder of that this morning.