It's My Birthday!!!

What a great day it has been! I went to work today even though in years past I have taken my birthday off. I had some paperwork to turn in and a meeting to attend this afternoon. When someone has a birthday it is tradition for them to wear the "Goofy Hat" and a huge pair of orange of orange sunglasses. Today it was my turn to wear them. It is a fun tradition.
When I arrived home this evening Tina and Hope were starting the BBQ. Tina had made a very spicy seasoning and a bleu cheese sauce for the steaks she had bought. It was all incredible! We had dinner outside on the deck. After that we went to the diversion dam to walk and be together. On the way home I noticed the lights were on at the bandstand at the river park. The community band hosts weekly concerts each Monday night during June, July and August. Tonight was the first of the season. We went and saw some of Hope's friends from her school who play in the band. It was a great way to end the day! I am so blessed.

Weather today-chance of showers all day and about 85 degrees. There was a south wind blowing on the way home. What a great ride.

-Norm

Busy Schedule

What a busy time it has been lately! This week seemed more packed then most. Wednesday night was Open House at Vista. It was well done. The theme for the evening was Renassanse. Hope and the Vista band opened the evening. They sounded very good.
Thursday evening was Open House at Jackson Heights. It started off with a hot dog dinner sponsored by PTA. The remainder of the evening was spent in Grace's class and with teachers coming to Tina and I to say good-bye. When began getting involved at Jackson Heights I prayed that God would use us there. On Thursday night the Glenda (the Office Secretary) came up and gave us hugs. She then told us that we were a "God Send" to the school and thanked us for all we have done. I thought back on that prayer that began 8 years ago. He did use us there and will continue to until we move. I have grateful to be used.
Friday evening it was early to bed. On Saturday and Sunday I was parking gate director for the Nitro Nationals Drag Boat races here in Red Bluff. Both days I had to be there by 5:00 Am with parking starting at 6:00. The spectator gates opened at 7:00. Tehama County Search and Rescue parked the cars and we collected money. I came home on Saturday and fell asleep.
Sunday afternoon we were done at 3:30 Pm. It felt good to go home. It was 90+ degrees both days. I came home and mowed the lawn. I think I will eventually have to get a new mower. Our old one is barely hanging on. After the mowing I set up the sprinklers and came inside to take a cool shower. I fell asleep last night with the water still running. Tina woke up at 3:00 Am and shut it off.
Today has been spent getting up late and going to Tina's parents. Her aunt and uncle were up from Stockton so they had a barbeque. The girls and I went over. Tina hurt her back on Friday and has been down all weekend. It feels good to have the Boat Drags behind us. That will probably be the last time I will do that. I had a good crew and he laughed quite abit.


Weather today was great. I barbequed hot dogs for dinner (twice). The dog ate the first batch and a few pieces of tri-tip after I set them on the counter. I was not happy. We have had a couple people interested in our house. As our agent says "it only takes one". Tina has finished school and the girls have two more weeks left. I hope it doesn't take all summer.

-Norm

PTA Appreciation

Last Monday evening was the final JHPTA meeting of the year. I had taken Hope to audition in L.A. so I wasn't able to make the meeting. When we arrived home, there were a number of gifts and boxes on the living room floor. Hope asked "What are these boxes"? Tina said JHPTA suprised us with a moving/appreciation party and gift cards. She said it was a nice time. I read the comments and couldn't help but think about the changes and improvement that have been made by a small group of parents. I remember my first meeting, we met in a kitchen and there were five about of us there. About 45 minutes into the meeting someone finally acknowledged me and asked me who I was. Later on as President, I vowed to not let this happen to anyone else and make these meetings more family friendly. Board Meetings were held at Burger King so the kids could play while we met. We led this group for four years and helped make the school a better place. Playground equipment, a marquee sign, enclosed bulleting board, reflection arts program, addressing school safety issues just to name a few things. Our children's lives were enriched through our involvement. It feels good to be noticed and appreciated. While I was at the school the other day, Grace and I went to the playground. We climbed on the equipment but what I enjoyed the most was my ride on the swings. This was something we thought kids should have. Through a matching grant from WalMart we accomplished this goal as well. The ride sure felt good.
Weather today: 85 degrees and beautiful. I love this time of year because you never know what your going to get. This weekend looks to be clear and in the lower 80's. I see a scooter ride shaping up for later on today.

-Norm

Los Angeles In A Whirlwind

Earlier this week Hope, Grace and I went to Hollywood. Hope recieved a casting call to audition for the new American Girl movie. We left home at 3:30 Am on Monday and arrived in Hollywood at about 11:30. Once there we went to an information table in front of the American Girl store. We had about 3 hours before they would start taking the J-Q group. The lady said we should get in line about 1:30. We went to lunch and got in line to wait at about 1:15. The line was already about 2 blocks long with the A-I group. At about 230 they by and seperated out the two groups. They started taking girls from our line at about 3:20. It seemed to go pretty quick after that. The audition part took about 10 minutes, then we had to wait until 8:00 pm to hear whether Hope will have a call back. We decided to stay in the area until 9:00. We went to Beverly Center, the largest mall I think I've ever been to. About 8:45 we still hadn't got a call. We were all very disappointed. At this time, we decided it was time to head home. I drove for about 2 hours until we reached a rest area and parked. Next thing I knew it was 7:30 Am and we were being awaken by a Rest Area worker emptying a trash can near our car. It was a long ride home, thankfully Hope was in better spirits.
On the way home I was thinking about dreams. We really do not have any control over what our children's dreams are. We bring them into the world and they are our dreams. As they grow they also develop dreams of their own. We assist them with acheiving those dreams. This is a little of what I did this weekend. I got to be the dad helping my child get a little closer to her dream. I guess that is one of my dreams as well.

Weather today: I rode the motorcycle yesterday and today with just a sweatshirt. It has been great weather! Not to cool and not to hot. Beautiful.........

-Norm

Big Work News

I returned to work today. Before I had even climbed out of the car this morning, I had a group of clients greeting me and welcoming me back to work. There were hugs all around! Once inside I caught up on all the behavioral issues, production status, and how all my staff were doing. I Following that it was up to the front office to let them know I was back. I went into the Manager's office and she said she wanted to let me know she had gotten the Director's position. I am very excited for her. She will be in charge of the entire County Department of Social Services. It is the largest department and the most employees in the County. That is a huge responsibility. I wish her well. I was asked by a few people if I would be applying? A huge no! It would take me away from the clients I serve each day. Besides, we are making plans to head to Knoxville. Our plans are bigger than here.
Tina went and got the air conditioner on her car fixed today. She is gone to school this evening so I haven't heard how things went with that. Well, that's all the news for now.

Weather today: Very, very, very windy. Chilly and some sprinkles.

-Norm

Sick At Home

On Sunday morning while listening to the pastor I started feeling sick. It was not because of the message but because I was catching a cold. I came home from church and have taken it easy ever since. I did not go to work yesterday or today. While at home I have been doing alot of sleeping and watching DIY Network and HGTV. I really like these two networks. With our house up for sale, it is giving me some ideas about what to look for in Tennessee.
Well, Tina took her car in the other day to have the air conditioner serviced. For $120.00 she had the freon topped off and it was working fine until Saturday. We had to go to Chico and it was about 85 degrees. It was then we learned the A/C had stopped working. I came home early on Friday to sign some payroll papers for the Round Up Association. They told me at that time I could expect a check on Monday or Tuesday. I checked yesterday and it was not ready. Today Tina took the car into Bob's and they told her it would be $200.00 to fix the A/C. Wow! About 1:30 today I received the call that a check was ready. Tina went a picked it up and when she came back, the check was twice as much as we expected. We have enough to pay for the A/C. God has provided! We will also be able to buy our Disneyland tickets! I am also feeling better but still coughing occasionally.
Weather today: It rained quite abit today and we'll be having thunderstorms for the next few days. I think I will be driving the car for the rest of the week.

-Norm

Spring Break For Cowboys

What a busy weekend! On Friday morning I had to be in Redding early to attend the Christian Businessmen's Commitee Leadership Breakfast at the Holiday Inn. It was great! A customer had purchased an entire table and invited us to go. The keynote speaker was Joe Kemp, former San Fransisco 49er. He delivered a very challenging message. Following breakfast I visited a couple of my crews and went back to the O.C. to review timecards. I left early that day.
I received a call a few weeks ago about my interest in parking cars at the Red Bluff Round-Up. My answer at that time was I'd have to check with PTA. At our monthly meeting it was confirmed PTA was not interested. They found another group to park cars and I was asked to supervise and teach them how to do it. We were responsible for the front lot at the Tehama County Fairgrounds. I had coordinated parking at the monster truck nationals and the rodeo as well. I know how to coordinate both front and back lots.
I arrived at the fairgrounds on Friday at 12:30 Pm and the crew started showing up at 3:30. We parked cars until almost 8:00. On Saturday is was extremely wet weather and very windy making it a pretty nasty time. Sunday was quite abit dryer, but parking cars difficult while trying to dodge all the puddles. We started at 10:30 and ended at about 2:00 on both Saturday and Sunday. When we finished I went inside the rodeo grounds to releave Tina of her ushering duties. By the time Sunday evening arrived we were both pretty tired.
I am taking the rest of the night off. Grace and I went for a very long bike ride tonight, that was the only thing I had planned.

I think tomorrow I will mow the lawn.

Weather: a fantastic day. The ride to work today on the scooter was a little chilly, but the ride home this evening was great! I received a few waves from riders going the other direction.

-Norm

It's Listed

Well, we are finally in position to list our house. We chose Cynthia Allen from Culp Diversified Properties. We listed it on Friday. Tina and I have been scoping out homes in Knoxville. We found one that is over 2,000 sq. ft. and almost half the price of what we are asking. It looks beautiful in the pictures. We will be able to pay off debt and our home here. I have found a few jobs that look similiar to what I am doing now. I am getting the resume packet together. It is all so exciting.
On Thursday on my way home I was stung by a bee. I was riding the scooter and had gloves on. The bee went under the strap on my glove and stung me on my right hand. It swole up and I had to go to the doctor. They gave me antibiotics. Today it is finally looking better but it is still itchy. I think I am allergic to bee stings. Definately something I am going to watch out for.
This week we are going to Yosemite. I haven't been there since I was a kid. We will be staying just outside the park. Everybody here is on Easter vacation. I am taking Wednesday, Thursday and Friday off. It should be alot of fun! This is our last California attraction we have been wanting to do.
Jimmie Johnson won Martinsville today!!! He rocks!

Current weather-75+ degrees and beautiful. We need rain and that may happen this week.

-Norm

The Pirates Are Coming (again)

The Second Flood of 2007

We arrived home from Disneyland last Saturday. We pretty much took Sunday off but did go see Bridge to Tarabithia. It was very sad, not your fairytale Disney ending.
While we were away a guy from our church repaired the ceiling in the back bathroom and replaced the laminate flooring in our hallway. It was nice to come home and have it all done. On Monday night I climbed into the attic to measure to see how much insulation I needed to purchase. I got the measurement and put the ladder outside. I leaned it up against the house just outside the sliding glass door.

Tuesday morning just after I got to work Tina called stating there were puddles of water in the kitchen. I left immediately to fix whatever was going on. I discovered the water spicket for the washer was leaking and the tub to the washer also had a slight leak. I also think a hose was leaking. I have since replaced the water spicket and fixed the leak. I went back to work.
When I arrived back that evening Tina asked if I left the water running in the back yard. I hadn't, so I went to look. The ladder I had leaned up against the house had been blown over by the wind and hit the outside water spicket. Water was spraying up toward the eaves of the house. I shut the water off and called Richard (the guy who fixed the bathroom and flooring). He came over and capped it off. I couldn't believe this all was happening. The washer water spicket was still leaking. I later replaced it with Tech-tite spicket. It works well.

This weekend we went to Sonoma and San Francisco. We went to take a look at Grace's mission. We all worked on the Sonoma Mission, so we all went to see it. It was a great weekend away. We did wine tasting in Sonoma and toured the mission then we drove up to Rohnert Park to spend the night. On Sunday we went to a couple cheese factories and purchased a bunch of Brie. Excellent! Then it was on to San Francisco. Lunch at the Boudin Bakery at Fisherman's Wharf. We purchased some sourdough bread and took a drive down Lombard Street. The city was very beautiful on the way out and the weather was perfect. Hope and Grace put their feet in the water down by the wharf.

It was time to start home.

Weather today: 68 degrees and beautiful. Unfortunately most of my day was spent inside.

-Norm

Our Last Day

Sadly, it's our last day at Disneyland. We have gone on every ride icluding the Tower of Tower and Screaming Over California . The Tower of Terror is a ride that we could only go on once. If I would havedropped one more time I think I would have lost the soda I had before the ride. We did ride Space Mountian, Pirates of the Carribean and the Haunted Mansion about three times each. Last night we went on both tracks of the Matterhorn. It was great even in the rain! Today, we will ride everything we can. The park is open until Midnight and we will be staying until it closes.

Weather today: 58 degrees and partly cloudy in southern California.

-Norm

L.A. Here We Are.....

We are here at Disneyland! We left home on Friday evening and headed to Santa Cruz staying at the Ramada. It was nice. On Saturday morning Tina and I headed for the Salvation Army to buy some clothes and shoes. We also took the girls to Marianne's Ice Cream. Tina went there when she was a little girl. We spent a good portion of the day at the Boardwalk. While Grace and I were riding the Tilt-a-Whirl, I threw up. It was so embarrasing. I ended up tossing my shirt in the garbage. We drove to Santa Maria were after a long search we finally found a hotel room. Sunday morning we got up and started our drive to L.A. We are finally here! On Sunday night Tina and I went to a local Wal-Mart. We found a Disney section with stuff half the price that we would pay i the park. We scored two t-shirts, a coffee mug, autograph book, and a few bags for the girls.
Yesterday was our first day at Disneyland. We went on quite a few rides. The Dream Parade was great! The fireworks were incredible! To complete our day we got dinner at In-n-Out right down the street from our hotel. Day was at Disneyland was a dream come true.

And Away We Go......

Soon we will be heading off to Disneyland! We will be spending five wonderful days at Disneyland Resort. We will also be going to the Boardwalk in Santa Cruz. A week full of rides, motel rooms, and time together as a family.
Well, the house is on the mend. We are going to have to replace some sheetrock in the back bathroom and the laminate flooring in the hall. Fortunately, our insurance will cover these expenses. Last Friday night I spent quite abit of time in the attic pulling out all the old insulation. Saturday we drove to Sacramento to purchase the new flooring. Sunday was a day of rest. Tina and I went to the movies and Long John Silver's for dinner. I had Monday off so after I took the girls to school I dropped the car off a Bob's Tire. They are doing some front end work and replacing some sensors. While they had it apart they discovered the seals were leaking. They also needed to replace a part. The part alone is $500.00 and it needed to be ordered. They will be doing this work tomorrow.
The reminder of Monday was spent painting and trying to rewire a light and wall switch. Still working on the switch. This has got to be one of the most frustrating things I have done in awhile. I really don't like electrical work.
Alot has been going on and we have been very busy. I will be the Case Responsible Person (CRP) at work tomorrow. Everyone else will be at trainings. I need to be there early so I must go to bed.

Weather today was a mixed bag. Cold this morning, cloudy later in the day with sprinkles. Warmed up to a balmy 55 degrees. It was pleasant this evening.

-Norm

I Fixed It....

A couple weeks ago the timing belt snapped on the Volvo. I have been riding the scooter back and forth to work since then. I now have put over 10,000 miles on the scooter. I researched how to replace it on the internet. I also tried to find a book but there wasn't one available in town. There are a couple great places to find Volvo repair info on the internet. I started this project yesterday and ran out of daylight and steam. I put the new belt on and put most of it together. I hopped in and turned the key but it didn't start. I was a little disappointed. But I will try again tomorrow.
Today following morning worship I came home and started back at it. At about 2:30 this afternoon I climbed in and it started!!! I had to take everything apart again and checked the Top Dead Center (TDC) marks. I also had to take the #1 plug out the find TDC. I think I was 180 degrees out on my first try. I called Steve and he walked me through some troubleshooting. It works and it sure feels good to have it done. I did it myself! Tina and I took it for a spin to the store. All's well!!!
We are going to dinner this evening with the Greer's. They are going to Haiti this week and we are celebrating the return of the Volvo. This should be fun!!!

Weather today about 55 degrees and beautiful. No rain in sight, but we are now ready for it when it decides to.

-Norm

What's Been Going On...

To update everyone on our accredidation. On Monday I had the honor to taking one of the surveyors around to the various crews we have. Her name was Anita. She is from Illinois. We had a very nice time. I so enjoy showing off the crews and our program. On Tuesday we visited people who are in indiviual placement. That was fun. On Wednesday morning we visited a couple more crews we weeren't able to visit earlier. We were joined by the other surveyor, Larry. He was from Kentucky. As the morning went on we discussed Tennessee and our moving there. It sounded like our idea is a good one. Later that afternoon we received our Exit Review, it was very positive. The CARF surveyors can not tell you the final outcome. We must wait until we receive the report from the home office in 4-6 weeks. I am sure we will get the maximum 3 years. I really enjoyed these days, but boy were they exhausting! It felt very good on Thursday to be totally done with CARF.
On Thursday evening Grace had her first band concert. She is playing percussion. She did a great job! I am so very proud of her.
Friday evening was Family Movie Night at Grace's school. We watched CARS. It was the first night we used the new sound system. Everything went great and there was less things to set-up. That alone is a major benefit.
Yesterday was spent working on the house. We are turning in the water damage to our homeowner's insurance. It is just to bad to do ourselves. We repainted all the heating vents. They look brand new! I also had to fix the leaky toliet. The stopper was leaking causing it to run all the time. It is alot quieter now. I also screwed down the 8x8 planks that border our deck. It looks so good now.
Today I put new framing/molding around a door in the playroom. It definately looks much cleaner. Just needs paint.
The list of stuff to do is getting alot smaller, only a couple more things.

Busy, busy busy.

Also today our church voted to purchase a house next door. The is a home that has been landlocked. All surrounding property is owned by the church. It is a good deal and I cannot wait to see these fences come down.

I was speaking to my friend Dave (a fellow Volvo owner) about the fuel problems. He thought it might be a fuel sensor. The same thing happened to him and that was the culpret. It's about a $40.00 part. Let's hope that's all it is.

In case you haven't noticed I've added a few new links to the right. A couple are disability links and some coffee links. Enjoy.....

Weather today had been 60+ and beautiful. The ride to church was in the low 30's. Chillyyyyyyy.

-Norm

12 Hour Day!!!

Today I worked a twelve hour day. Most of the day was spent restriping the work areas. I also spent some time getting caught up on paperwork. We are in CARF mode. Commission for the Accredidation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF) awards programs a certificate of accredidation. The maxium is a three certificate. We have an excellent program and I am excited to show it off. I will be a tour guide of sorts for one of the surveyors. It should be fun!
Back to today, I had one instructor call in sick so we had to cover his crew. Another instructor called me at about 11:00 Am to let me know her father had passed away and she needed to leave. It was an interesting day. I am thankful to be home. I am battling a cold. It will feel good to take some medicine and go to bed. I get to sleep in tomorrow. I need it.
The house battle also continues. I will be taking the carpet out tomorrow and probably going to replace the foam pad. That should be fun.........

Weather today was excellent 60 degrees and not as cold at night. Suppose to be windy tomorrow.

-Norm

Water, Floors, Crawlspaces and Stress

Most of the day today was spent under the house repairing a waterline. The waterline I cut yesterday was the wrong one. It was the coldwater line to the sink in the front bathroom. I thought I was cutting the line to the swamp cooler. That line is attached to the sink line, only it is in the wall. I capped the swamp line up in the ceiling. A place I didn't want to cap it. I will be watching this. To repair the line I cut, I purchased a techtite coupler and a techtite cap for the swamp cooler line. Once I got everything in order, it was not that diificult. It just required a few trips in and out from underneath the house. It feels good the be done that that part.
It looks like we are going to have to take a drive to Sacramento. The laminate flooring in the hallway took the brunt of the abuse. It is swelled at the joints. The flooring is still available through Lumber Liquidators. Add this to the list of things still left to do before we sell the house.

Weather today-very, very, very cold. I am beginning to doubt this whole global warming thing.

-Norm

Our Own Series Of Unfortunate Events

Yesterday I had to work. It was an interesting day. The O.C. is only open on weekdays, but yesterday I had to conduct a CPR training. I hate working on the weekend and so did just about everyone in my two classes. Yes, I did two CPR classes training twenty people all together. I came back into town and headed to the church to play drums for a benefit concert to help Laurel go to the D.R. When I got home I was totally bushed.
This morning started out as usual Sunday morning. I got up took a shower and headed off the the church. After we got done with the music part of worship, Hope came in and said I needed to leave now. When we got in the car Hope said that there was water in the back bathroom. I had driven about 1/4 mile and the car stopped. We pushed the car. I thought it might be out of gas so I ran across the street and bought a gas can and gas. I put gas in the car but still it wouldn't start, all this time I wasn't sure what was happening at home. I ran across the srteet and called Tina to tell her I couldn't get home but was trying. I tried to explain how to turn off the water at the street, but she couldn't get it. I asked her to go to the neighbor's house next door to ask Mark if he would shut it off. Next time I called Grace said mom was coming to pick me up. Tina explained to me what was happening while we were behind the world's slowest drivers. They apparently were not trying to get home to a flooding house. By the time we arrived home the water was off. Poor Grace was handling everything like a trooper. I scanned the house to discover it was a copper pipe in the attic. This was the line to the swamp cooler. I headed back to the church to see if I could borrow Bill's wet/dry vacuum and picked it up at his home. We cleaned things up and put a blower on the carpet.
Steve and I headed to check out what was happening with the car. It was discovered that the there was something going on with the timing. Possibly the belt or chain. We had to rent a tow dolly to get it home. We rented one from UHAUL.
The car is now home. Tina and I head off to Home Depot to get a cap to cap off the copper pipe. Home Depot didn't have any the size I needed so we bought a coupler to cap it with. We got home, I changed clothes and headed under the house. I cut the line and discovered the coupler was the wrong size. I headed back to HD to discover they were closed. The perfect ending to crappy day.
There is nothing I can do until morning. Home Depot opens at 7:00 Am. Hopefully tomorrow will be a tad bit better.

Current weather-It has been cold. 25 degrees at night. This is the reason for the broken pipe. It has been about 55-60 degrees during the day.

-Norm

Paying Bills

I hate paying bills! I mean I really hate paying bills! It seems that money goes away quickly. Sometimes there just isn't enough to go around. It does feel good to them paid and know where your standing. Sometimes it means I do without. Sometimes that can be a shakey place, other times it's a good feelin'. The mortgage is paid, the car payments made. We do have food to eat and the house is warm. I have come to also realize that I don't like money either. I know we need it to get by, but I don't like it.
-
Whew glad to get that out!


Tonight our family took communion. It was a time of scripture reading, prayer, wine and crackers. We all shared what we are thankful for and a wish. It was really special.

Weather today: a mixed bag. Rained alittle. Fog happened. Clear sky. It is cold tonight. The next few days are to be clear and sunny. My plans are to powerwash the deck and stain it while the sun is shining.

-Norm

Current Flix

We have watched a number of movies lately. Some on dvd and a couple at the theater.

Recent views include:

Pirates of the Caribbean, Curse of the Black Pearl and Pirates of the Caribbean, Dead Man's Chest- not only are both of these are on the list due to Tina being a fan of Mr. Depp but I really enjoyed them. We watched Curse on New Year's Eve. I think it interesting how the writers can mold a story around a ride at Disneyland.

Little Miss Sunshine-This was an incredible film, but be prepared for some strong language. It was funny. I think I might have lived parts of this movie! The shooting style reminds me alot of Napolean Dynamite.

Lady In The Water-I am struck by this movie. It takes a community and confession to complete this task. M. Night always puts together a good movie. There is always so much written into them, you almost have to watch them a few times.

Talladega Nights-Funny in parts. I think Will Ferrell is better in skits(i.e. Saturday Night Live)

Night At The Museum-History does come alive. It was great to see Dick Van Dyke and Mickey Roonie on the big screen again. Great movie!

Happy Feet-Good movie, but some of the musical selections chosen are not appropriate for children even though it is marketed as a children's movie.

I am getting the itch to watch The Matrix series. Don't be too suprised if I post something about that in the near future.

Weather today-chance of showers and a Winter Snow Warning. I drove the car today.