Day 49: No Computer

Rawr!  We drove out to Best buy in Lees Summit and they were CLOSED!  I called ahead and the recording said Saturday until 10pm - we got there at 9:30 after Eric got off work.  Apparently they had special hours this weekend...great.

Other than that - I spent a few hours setting up my classroom today and we made a dinner menu for the week. 
Sunday: Wraps
Monday:Hamburger Helper
Tuesday: Spaghetti
Wednesday: Leftovers
Thursday: Pizza
Friday: Hamburger Helper
Saturday: Sandwiches

Day 48: More Riding

We've decided to replace my laptop - which has a broken fan or something that makes it incredibly loud/overheats, and a dead battery so it has to remain plugged in at all times.  The best time to do this you ask?  The "Back to School" tax free weekend in Missouri! 

Mom, Alan, and Eric rode their bikes - with me on the back of Alan's, out to 135th and State Line where Mom swears there is a Best Buy on the Missouri side.  Well, she was wrong, but we had a nice 35 mile round trip on the bikes!  Eric is doing really well riding, and he's starting to feel a lot more comfortable with it.

Another day without my beloved camera - but here is a picture of me on my old motorcycle in 2004.  A purple 2002 Honda Shadow Deluxe.

Day 47: Bikes and Ice Cream!

Today Eric finally got to ride the motorcycle!  He waited patiently for mom to get home from work and was on the road within minutes!

I met him over at his parents house, where he was showing it off to his parents and Shannon.  As he was sitting on his bike he began looking toward the ground on both sides of his bike and said "You let me ride without a bell?!"  I had indeed forgotten, and we proceeded to drop the bike back off at Mom and Alan's house and headed directly out for me to buy his bell.  You see, it is very important for a biker to have a bell from a loved one fastened on his bike close to the ground...


Many of us have heard the story about Evil Road Spirits. They are little gremlins that live on your bike. They love to ride, and they’re also responsible for most of your bike’s problems. Sometimes your turn signals refuse to work; your battery goes dead, the clutch needs adjustment, or any of several hundred things that can go wrong. These problems are caused by Evil Road Spirits.
Evil Road Spirits can’t live in the presence of the bell, because they get trapped in the hollow of the bell. Among other things, their hearing is supersensitive, so the constant ringing of the bell and the confined space drives them insane. They lose their grip and eventually fall to the roadway. Have you ever wondered how potholes are formed? The bell has served its purpose.
If you pick up a Guardian Bell of your own, the magic will work, but if your bell is given to you, the power is doubled, and you know that somewhere you have a special friend helping to look after you.
So, if you have a friend who doesn’t have a bell, why not give them one? It’s a nice feeling for the recipient to know you care. The bell, plus a good preventive maintenance program by the bikes owner, will help eliminate Evil Road Spirits.

Eric right before his first ride - this is him backing it out of the garage and into the driveway.  Yes, he did wear his helmet while riding!

As we were arriving back in Eudora, we saw LOTS of people at our local Dairy Queen.  Eudora is a very small town, so this sparked my memory that today was the day that all proceeds from the sale of Blizzards would go toward a charity for the Children's Mercy Hospital.  Eric and I headed over and he got the Double Fudge Cookie Dough Blizzard, and I got the Xtreme Chocolate Blizzard.  What a delicious way to help kids!

Day 46: A Big Day!

Yesterday was exciting!  At our garage sale, Alan had his "extra" motorcycle on the curb for sale.  Someone ended up interested and bought it on Tuesday.  He turned around and asked me to bring Eric out to Olathe on Wednesday morning.  While I was at work with Jack, they went out to Freedom Cycles in Missouri and BOUGHT a cobalt blue Kawasaki Vulcan 900.  This is Alan's secondary bike, with the purpose of letting his friends and family members ride with him.  My impression is that Eric got his motorcycle license last August, and has not ridden once since then.  I think Alan is excited to have more people to ride with, and doesn't want our financial plans to get in the way of Eric actually learning to ride. 

Eric had to, as you probably guessed it, leave for work right after they left the dealership.  So I went to hang out with Alan after I was done with work - and I got to go for a ride with Alan before Eric ever rode the bike!  I was wearing shorts and flip flops, so I went up to Ashley's room and stole a pair of jeans [I squeezed into her size 7's!!!] and a pair of socks and shoes from Mom.  The ride was a bit scary because I haven't ridden for at least three years, probably closer to four or five years.

I'm sure I'll be getting my motorcycle license back soon!

I also went with Mom and Alan to the Apple Store - they wanted my teacher discount and I wanted the "buy a computer get an iTouch free" deal.  Mom got a new 27" Mac, which is WOW huge and fits her desk hutch with no room to spare.  I bought the iTouch and we'll get the full rebate in a few weeks - woo!

Day 45: Salmon and Penne in a Vodka Cream Sauce

While Eric was at work, he found a full salmon fillet discounted and was excited to cook a fancy meal.  His first meal on our honeymoon was a fantastic salmon and bowtie pasta in a vodka cream sauce.  His grocery store didn't have the bowtie pasta, so we improvised.  It was fun to cook together - sauteing garlic, chopping tomatoes, simmering sauces.  The picture doesn't do it justice because it was taken with my phone.

Day 44: School School School!

Eric and I have a lot going on in the area of school right now.

He's working really hard to finish his Associate's Degree from JCCC this semester.  He'll be taking Criminology, and Technical Writing I online, and Religions of the East, The Business of Games, and Lifetime Fitness II at the JCCC campus.  Thirteen credit hours along with part/full time work will be tough, but I know he can do it!  Even though he'll graduate in December, he will be attending the graduation ceremony in May.  Mark your calendars for May 20, 2011!

I'll be taking three Special Education classes at KU this semester.  One online, one at the Edward's campus, and one on the Lawrence campus.  Then I've got three classes for the spring semester and the capstone class next summer.  If all goes according to plan, I'll be graduating with my Master's Degree in Functional Special Education next spring.  For me, the traditional walk down the hill will be on May 22, 2011.  The actual School of Education convocation has not been scheduled, it will be on the 20th or 21st - but they only issue 2 tickets per student [what?!], so you don't need to mark your calendars for that!

With my camera in the shop - you may experience a few pictures from our past.  This is my and my mom graduating in the same weekend in 2003.  She graduated with from JCCC with the degree she started on when she was pregnant with me, and I graduated from Olathe East High School.  Now I look forward to graduating alongside my husband!

Day 43: No More Camera!

Today was an errands day right from the start.  Eric and I slept in and when we got up, he had to go straight to work.  I headed out to Olathe and took 2 truckloads of leftover garage sale things to Goodwill.  Then I went to Best Buy to deal with a few things.  My iPod Touch has a small crack in the screen, so I was going to use my extended warranty to get that replaced.  I'm only 7 months into the 2 year warranty, and it will only replace the iPod once.  So, we're going to wait for awhile on that in case we drop it and shatter the screen or in case the crack gets worse.

Next I had to deal with my camera.  Since July 23rd, there has been a black spot on the lens that has left a spot on all of my photos.  This was out of the 2 week return/exchange period, but the camera does have a 1 year manufacturer warranty.  So Best Buy took my camera and will have it back to me, all fixed up, within about three weeks... Yes, I have to go THREE WEEKS without a real camera!  Yikes!

Back to the camera phone it is!

I also went "Back to School" shopping and got some new pants and shirts, yay!