Tuesday at the Library

Today, Izzy and I went to the Beaumont Public Library. They have a class for toddlers to help build the skills needed to learn to read. Izzy and I took two neighbor girls, Allie and Kelly with us. Allie and Kelly are twins, and they are in the 8th grade. They got bored with staying home. So we all went and had fun. They taught the "B' sound and made books today. It was really crowded and it was a madhouse with kids and parents all over the place. It kind of stressed me out. That many kids running around crazy, just doesn't sit well with me. I like some order in the house and that was impossible. I guess all the parents and kids had fun, so I just need to relax and enjoy it too. Izzy and I of course took along walk in the morning before going to the library and when we can home we had a nice lunch. Izzy napped and I completed all my yard work. I really liked getting that done it made me feel so much better about things to know I finished something. After getting done with that, I watched Britty and Izzy play in the pool in the backyard. After Izzy went to sleep and we had dinner. Jack and I meet at Starbucks here in Beaumont for coffee and chatted until closing. Now some sleep.

Tuesday June 26th 2007

Tuesday June 26th 2007
Originally uploaded by carignan.

Izzy is helping to bounce the bean bags. Learning the "B" sound.

Tuesday June 26th 2007

Tuesday June 26th 2007
Originally uploaded by carignan.

Izzy at the Beaumont Public Library at a class for Pre-Reading Toddlers. They do activities to help build the skills needed for reading. Izzy is working on making a book for Debbie.

Monday

Nothing much happened today. Izzy and I went for along walk in the morning with some of the neighbor ladies and kids. After that we played outside in the water until Debbie and Britty got home. Britty is taking some classes at the University of California at Riverside. She is taking a Math class and an Acting class. It's nice to see her taking responsibility of her education. She was thinking about taking a Science class, but she needed a Fine Arts class. It was the first day of classes for her at UCR and Debbie went along to make sure everything went okay. I sometimes forget Britty is only 16 years old. Izzy and I went to Stater Brothers and that is always fun. I bbq'd some steak tonight and it turned out okay. Nothing much else, good night.

Izzy playing with the camera

Izzy playing with the camera
Originally uploaded by carignan.

Trying to look forlorn

My relatives from Iowa and Aunt and Uncle from Monterey Park, CA.

My relatives from Iowa and Aunt and Uncle from Monterey Park, CA.
Originally uploaded by carignan.

Visiting on Sunday, June 24th 2007.

Sunday with Izzy

Today we drove into Los Angeles to visit some relatives. My Uncle Forrest and Aunt Janice live in Monterey Park, just East of downtown L.A. I had some other relatives visiting from Iowa and we had all decided to meet there. We picked up a few pizzas for everyone to have for lunch, and spent the rest of the afternoon visiting. Izzy was a big hit as usual, and was very busy. I didn't have much time to visit, since Britty, Debbie and I had to take turns watching Izzy so she would tear the house up too bad or hurt herself. The house wasn't kid friendly, but everything went well. It's always nice to see my relatives from Iowa. They are from Laurens, Iowa which is in the North/Central part of the state near Storm Lake. My Aunt Marilyn and Aunt Janice are my Mother's sisters. Aunt Marilyn's son Bill, his wife, Kristy and two grown children, Dean and Marie all came together. I hope that makes sense. I really remember all the fun times I spent visiting Iowa as a kid. They are such nice people. I think that people back there are just generally much friendlier. It really made me remember some good things about growing up. It was a much simpler time for me. I wish I could go back and forget about today, just for a short while. It would be so nice to not have to worry about things. I just have to work harder at letting go of things. The drive in wasn't so bad and we didn't hit any traffic. On the way back we hit alittle traffic, but nothing bad. Overall it was a nice day to visit.

Sabbath

I was up early this morning, 5:00 AM, to do my duty and man the Media Shout booth at church for both services. I finally left the church this afternoon at about 1:30 PM. It was a long day. In the service they spoke about addiction, mostly alcohol, among Adventists and how it is a secret disease among us. I think in Adventist culture it is very taboo to even hint at drinking alcohol, let alone having a problem with it. Being someone that has some understanding of this field, some of the things the experts said really made me very angry until they explained them in the second service. One of the people speaking, said that he wished he had been an Alcoholic so he could have a deeper spiritual relationship with God. That sure is a hell of a price to pay. I'm glad I have that relationship with God, but it wasn't something that came without a steep price. I think saying something to our Pastor might have helped to have some things clarified. After leaving I thought about how fortunate I am to be leading such a good life and how hard I've worked for it. It's a never ending struggle for me. it seems like things are are always getting better though, but I still work daily to be a better person. I always try to be the best person I can. For some people it might come naturally, but for me it's a choice I make and strive for daily. I don't think I'll ever stop trying to be a better person. I'm not sure I'll ever be satisfied. Oh well it's not a bad thing to work for. I took a nice two hour nap when I got home and BBQ'd some chicken for dinner. Then a nice bath with Izzy and sometime on the computer.

TGIF and Debbie's Home

Izzy and I slept in late this morning, 8:00 AM. We went for our morning walk and played in the park. Then home for lunch and a nice two hour nap. When she awoke, I dropped her off for a couple of hours with Mimi's daughter Tricia. I had to go to church and prepare the Sabbath presentation. It was pretty simple and I got done quickly. I picked Izzy up and we went home to go play out front with Aubrey, Kimmie and Nick. About 7:30 PM Debbie and Britty arrived from Walla Walla, WA. Then a nice quiet evening.

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MediaWiki - MediaWiki

MediaWiki - MediaWiki I just finished installing Mediawiki on my iMac G3 500mhz Ubuntu 7.04 Server, that I have running in the garage. Not sure why or what I am going to do with it.

The library and swimming!

This morning Izzy and I went to the Beaumont Public Library's Reading Club. It was packed. Izzy was the youngest child, but she did really well. She participated in all the activities, and really had a good time. We'll be going to the Tuesday Reading Club, because it is for younger children. Hopefully it'll be more appropriate for her age group. She had a hard time sitting still for the story, and she really couldn't complete all the activities. She did have fun, so that was important. After we came home, we went for a short walk and had lunch. Then a short one hour nap. When we awoke, we went next door to Aubrey and Kimmie's house to play in the pool. Aubrey, Kimmie, Nick and Izzy played in the pool for a couple hours. She loves the water and always wants to be with the big girls. Aubrey and Kimmie had Cheer practice so we had to go home. Penny our neighbor invited us over for Tacos tonight so I jumped at the chance. It was good. Penny is a good cook. Krista her daughter watched and played with Izzy for a couple of hours. Krista is a first grade teacher and is really good with Izzy. She wants a little girl bad and she loves Izzy alot. Izzy is so sweet and likes playing with her. It was nice to get a short break. We took another walk after dinner and played at the park. She had a tough time going to sleep tonight. She wanted to stay outside and play. Now it's getting late and I have to go to sleep. I have a busy day planned.

First week of Summer

First week of Summer
Originally uploaded by carignan.

Having a good time!