I told Jack if he would get the bird in a bag I would vacuum today for him. Ugh! I fear now that they have had a taste of a bird, it will never end. We shall see.
I took Millie and Brinley to Target to shop. After our shopping spree we ate lunch at Red Robin. We then took Brinley home. Once we were home, I tried to power wash the back porch because it was so dirty. Unfortunately, our power washer wasn’t in working order. I ended up having to drag the hose from the front of the house to the back. When I finished, I sat down for the afternoon. I was tired. Elise came over later in the day and stayed for a bit. We had a bit of wine, causing me to have to go to bed a bit early. I went to bed before the kids. I decided that was a very poor decision as I am the only responsible adult around from Sunday to Thursday. So no more of that sketchy behavior.
Monday morning I had a meeting with Jack’s Honors Algebra I teacher and the department head. It was a bit of a pointless meeting, but it did give me some insight to tell Jack he would just have to learn to maneuver around teachers he didn’t understand or particularly care for. I got to school in time to do my duty. When school started I gave my students a survey about me which depressed me. It is required of the district, clearly used to make a teacher feel even more horrible about themselves. My teammate asked me if I read the survey to the kids. It seems I was supposed to. She told me some of the verbiage is always confusing to the kids. So I erased the results and decided to give it to them the next to last day of the quarter. I can’t imagine the results will be much different.
After school, I took Millie to gymnastics. Jack had his first basketball playoff game, so I headed to that game. They won 57-8. It was quite the blow out. He played more than half of the game and he was pleased with how he played. When we got home, he showered and ate leftovers. I went to get Millie and she had McDonalds for dinner. She showered when we got home and went to sleep on the sofa. Russ was in town for the evening, so Jack and I went to my mom and dad’s to see Russ. Millie had fallen asleep on the chair so we left her there. When we got home I made her get up and walk upstairs. She is too heavy for me to carry now. On the way to her room I discovered she still hadn’t picked up her clothes off the bathroom floor from the previous night, and had added this day’s clothes as well. So I made her pick everything up and put it in the laundry basket a whole 5 feet from the bathroom, if that. She huffed around, said she hated me, and called me ‘bruh’ a few times. She is such a pleasant child at times. Jack went to bed just before 11 pm. I fell asleep on the sofa and then woke up to go to bed. Sometimes I wish I had better bedtime habits. Oh well!
Tuesday I took the day off as my newest brace face was getting her bottom braces on at 11 am and we were going to go to breakfast with Uncle Russ, Grammie and Pop.
Volleyball practice had been changed to Tuesday this week because they had their final tournament in Anaheim at the weekend. I ended up taking Gavin and Jack to volleyball because Carter and Owen were sick. I decided to go to Sam’s to shop. Millie called me while I was gone and was in a lot of pain. I called Grammie and Grammie came to her rescue. I felt so badly that I wasn’t there. She is usually fine on these volleyball nights, but having her bottom braces put on in the morning created the pain. She also knocked off two brackets, which I know upset her. I was a bit irritated with the volleyball clan as well. The whole reason I drove a lot during the first part of the quarter was so I wouldn’t have to do so during basketball season. In the end, I ended up driving almost half of the practice days, even though there are four families involved. I know it is petty, but it still irritates me.
Wednesday Stuart came home early and we both took Millie to gymnastics. Then we went and had a quick beer before going to Jack’s basketball game. He didn’t play at all. It was playoffs, and we suspected he wouldn’t play. They won the game, and then we took Jack to dinner. While we were there, he started to reveal information to us about one of the basketball players that is also in his science class. It seems this kid is harassing Jack for playing volleyball. He seems to be putting him down and demeaning him whenever he gets a chance. It’s almost made Jack hate basketball. That was discouraging to us and we decided that after basketball season was over we were going to speak to Jack’s counselor regarding this. I’m not normally one to call someone a bully, but I think in this case we might be dealing with that. We all knew assholes in high school as well as junior high who behaved this way. It’s just not tolerated anymore, and we are going to get to the bottom of it. We picked up Millie after we were finished eating with Jack and we went home to feed her.
Thursday Stuart brought me lunch. I went home right after school and we headed to Jack’s tournament game. Getting Millie out of the house was a pain. But she needed to go with us because I needed her to ride back with me from the airport once I drop Stuart and Jack to fly to California. Stuart had a big talk with her about her behavior. He told her that she needed to start to appreciate her family and be responsible for the words and actions she displays toward her family. He told her that her life would have been much different had she not been adopted by us. She has a tendency to make comments about how we treat her differently because she is adopted. What she doesn’t realize is that we probably give her more of a ‘pass’ because of that fact. We dropped Jack and Stuart at the airport and headed home.
Friday morning Millie wouldn’t get ready for school. It was a repeat of so many other days before this one. She really may be the death of me.
Remember that time you sent your son to a volleyball tournament and forgot to get his haircut? He had to put it in this tuft in order to see. He spent all of Friday playing volleyball. Stuart informed me that he was on fire the entire day. I was able to watch his matches as one of the parents was live streaming the games. They won all of their matches and didn't lose one set.
After school I dropped Millie at the house and did some returning of items and bought some Christmas gifts. Friday evening I hung out with Millie. We watched Dancing with the Stars for a while. Elise came over for a bit, but didn’t stay long.
Saturday morning I was up at 5:10 because the dogs were barking. I sat in the living room and drank a couple of cups of coffee. I woke Millie at 6:30 am as this day was her mock meet. She was so pleasant and excited. I wish every day was competition day. I was supposed to go to a breakfast at my principal‘s house, but decided against it in the end. Millie did really well in the events. She did fall off the beam while doing her back walkover. She saw areas in which she could improve and was excited to start the season.
We watched Jack’s matches again and then were convinced to fly to Orange County to surprise Jack for his last day of competition. Who does this? Because our tickets were bought just a few hours before our flight we didn’t get to sit together.
Once we arrived, we got a Lyft to the hotel. We sat in the bar and had appetizers and beverages. Jack had gone to dinner with some of the boys. 
When Jack returned he was shocked for sure. It was so fun to surprise him like this. We had decided that we wouldn’t miss the money we spent in five years. We might miss it next month, though. Ha!
We went up to the room around 10 pm. Elfvis made it to Anaheim. Millie asked him right before we left Arizona if he would be coming with us. He showed up in the shower on Sunday morning.
Sunday the day started at 5:30 am. The boys had to be at the court at 8 am. The process on the last day of the tournament is that when they lose, they are out. Well, this team didn’t lose. Their set record for the entire tournament was 18-1. They only lost one set the entire weekend and it was in the last match. They won the gold!
They played so well. It was so exciting and I was so happy Millie and I flew over.
Jack won the MVP for the entire tournament. We were so proud of his efforts.
Of course, when we got home we were told that Moose had the squirts the whole time we were gone. So that was fun. We think he gets anxious with change. What a high maintenance puppy we have. I got laundry started and took a shower. I came downstairs and watched television for a while. Stuart went upstairs, took a shower and went to bed. He was getting up at five to drive to Gallup.
Monday morning Millie got up fairly easily. She had lost her phone the previous day because of behavior in the hotel room. Clearly we have found her ‘currency’. So now that we have discovered what means something to her, it’s easier to curb her behavior. I took Jack to school and then came back to get Millie. She continued to ask me when she would get her phone back. I told her she would get it back when I felt she was being respectful of the adults in her life, and wasn’t trying to manipulate the situation. So that should be about seven years from now.
We did a lot of fun stuff at school on Monday. Queen Creek is pretty open about being able to celebrate Christmas. After school I took Millie to gymnastics. Grammie and Pop picked Jack up from school and dropped him at the house. Jack decided that he was going to go to basketball practice at 3D Hoops. Pop was going to pay for it. Jack was actually very excited about it. He had tutoring prior to that, and I had to take the dog to the vet for his latest appointment. When Jack got in the car to go to tutoring he continued to complain about a headache. I was sure he was just exhausted from the weekend. I ended up picking Jack up early from tutoring and calling Pop to tell him Jack wouldn’t be going to basketball that evening. I assured Pop that it had nothing to do with basketball, but had to do with the fact that he had a raging headache.
Stuart was ever so kind to purchase me a new garland to go up my staircase. The old garland had blown out some lights. What Stuart did not realize is that one of the strings he ordered had clear lights, and the other one had colored lights. I did not notice this until I had them up and had put batteries in them. They made a hell of a mess and I ended up having to take them off anyway. I boxed them up, put them in the car and started the return process for Amazon. Oh well, the thought was there. I picked up Millie from gymnastics and took her through McDonald’s. Jack took a bath when I got home and Millie showered. They both went to bed rather early.
Tuesday was more fun at school with some holiday themed review work for math and reading. After school on Tuesday, I took Millie to the orthodontist to have her brackets fixed. He brought me back to show me that Millie was not brushing properly. That was not a shock to me. I told her she needed to change her habits in order to not have nasty teeth once these braces were off. She accepted it rather well. I think her not having her phone for the week has given me some great insight as to what choices she is making and how those choices are very deliberate. Once I had Millie back home and both kids were fed, I headed to meet Sue for dessert. She had received some news about a family member that was very sad and I just wanted to meet up with her to be whatever support I could be. It’s never easy to know what to say or do to help people during sad times life throws at you. But it was very nice to sit and have some dessert and a chat.
Wednesday Stuart ended up coming home from New Mexico. The weather was terrible and his principal granted him two days paid to write reports and sort out some data for their school. So Stuart decided he could do that from home. He wasn’t due to be home until Friday evening, so we were thrilled to have him home early. After school my mom had picked Millie up to work on a gingerbread house. Then when Millie got home, Stuart and I took her to gymnastics. We then decided to do some shopping and have dinner.
Thursday I got an email from a parent telling me her daughter had never had such bad grades in math and it was her favorite subject, so she was unclear as to why her daughter was doing so poorly. I agreed to meet with the mother after school on Friday. I also had agreed to meet with another mother on Friday morning about her son’s grades. Parent meetings used to intimidate me, but now I welcome them. It’s funny after 31 years, nothing surprises me or intimidates me anymore. Thursday after school I went home and went through some of Jack’s study guide with him. The boy never studies! His grades are not bad, but they’re also not as good as he is capable of. This is very frustrating for a teacher. Millie, Stuart, and myself went with the Hills to eat dinner and then see the lights on Comstock Street in Gilbert. Apparently they used to be amazing, but this year they were a little bit lacking in luster. Jack went to basketball skills training with Pop and then was home before we got home from the lights.
Friday morning my meeting with the parents was actually quite nice. His mom harped on him about his responsibility with his grades. It was refreshing to know that she wasn’t blaming me. The meeting after school wasn’t as productive. The mom couldn’t understand why her daughter was missing some short answer questions on a computer program. The harsh reality is her daughter didn’t do them. Her daughter also lied about it. But that wasn’t revealed in the conversation. It was determined, by the mother, that the system must have had a glitch. Oh, right, your daughter is the only one who’s program had a glitch. She was the only one who did not answer the written questions. But, I can see, it is definitely a computer issue, not! That meeting only went till 3:30. The mom was irritated that I don’t give homework. Yet the mom also expressed her inability to help her daughter with math. So I am going to give homework to your daughter and you’re not going to know how to help her. Then she is going to practice incorrectly? And somehow that’s OK with you? I said to the mom that I do not give homework and I will not give homework. I philosophically don’t agree with it. And the mom said, ‘I don’t agree with you.’ So then I proceeded to tell her that she was welcome to give her daughter homework herself if she wanted to. After that meeting, I came home and announced to Stuart that I would be retiring in the summer of 2024 when I would have 25 years in the state retirement system and my 80 points. Teaching is not what it used to be and in a year and a half I don’t have to do it anymore. Any teacher with less experience would have crumbled with this mother, and that is not okay.
Once I was home, I was able to relax a little bit. We ordered Chinese food. Stuart and Mitch had driven to Gallup early Friday morning and came back the same day with our new/old Bronco II. It seems Stuart needed some kind of a project.
Stuart, Jack, and our neighbor, Mitch, are going to restore this automobile.
Saturday morning I was up at 6 AM. Millie had gymnastics and Jack went to study with Carter and then ended ip spending the night. Stuart and I went to Melinda and Jeff’s for dinner. Millie didn’t want to go so we left her at hime. When we got to the Reynolds’ house all their kids were there. So Abby Tawney went to get Millie.
Friends keep me going. I have known these ladies for 22 years, but have really appreciated their friendships more in the last two years.
Sunday I picked Jack up at 8:30 am as Lauren was coming over to tutor Jack one last time before his semester final on Monday. Stuart and I went out for a bit of shopping and at about 1 pm we had a happy hour call with our English and Irish friends. It was so good to catch up with them. We still lament over our expat life in the UAE and talk about how much we miss it.
Sunday evening the Hills came over for dinner. The kids put together their gingerbread houses.
Monday was a full day of school for Millie and I. The day seemed to drag on. Monday Jack had basketball and Millie had gymnastics. Stuart and I decided to go to dinner before picking Millie up from gymnastics. Once we were all home, everyone did their normal routine before retiring for the evening.
Tuesday was our last day of school and it was a half day. After school we had our staff holiday party at Creek Side Taco Shack. We had a gift exchange and got to know each other a bit better. It was actually quite fun. Only Merkel and I were there from the 5th grade team.
Not sure what is wrong with my eye, but this was the only picture I got from the holiday party.
We went to Pratt Brothers Holiday lights on Tuesday evening. Our friends John and Jenni were characters in the light show. We got two VIP tickets, which was good because it was quite pricey for no more than it was.
John and Stuart used to teach together. He was a hilarious as Officer Cheer at this event.
This is Jenni, John’s wife. She was the Cheery baker. They are such a fun couple.
The Hills and three of the Greens went as well.
The kids got to decorate cookies, have hot cocoa and make s’mores.
Wednesday Stuart and I got up and took Jack to school, then headed to the grocery store to get our food for Christmas dinner. When we got home we picked Millie up to go to Sam’s. We ran into Millie’s friend Brinley. Millie ended up going over to her house and spending the night. We allowed her to skip gymnastics, which we never do. Pop picked Jack up for basketball around 6 o’clock. We did very little that evening. I wrapped a couple of presents because they arrived from Amazon.
Thursday I took Jack to school. I then went with Sue to her drumming class. It was so much fun. We weren’t aware that it was Christmas wear themed, hut at least we were merry and bright. We also weren’t aware that the television station would be there filming. Clearly, it was an epic day to sow up to class. It was so fun, and actually harder than it sounds.
After drumming, we went and had breakfast. I nearly got hit by another car on the way. It was a very frightening experience. Once I was home Stuart and I decided to go have some lunch before picking Jack up from school. We seem to eat out a lot during the holidays. Once we had Jack, we then picked up Millie. We just chilled at the house the rest of the afternoon.
That evening, we went to the Glendale lights, which was a free event in Glendale Town Square. 
Prior to that we ate at Haus Murphy’s, which is a German restaurant. The food was amazing! The beers were big! We ended up stopping at a gas station to use the restroom on the way home and decided the west side of Phoenix will never be our home.
Friday we did some last-minute Christmas food shopping and then Friday evening we went to the Hurley’s for a Christmas party. It was a great deal of fun. We played Left, Right, Center and I was one of the last two standing, but in the end I did not win. Boo! But Stuart and I did have some epic onesies, as did Vicki and Ryan. We named ourselves the Gilbert Gansters.
Saturday morning we got up and went down to Grammie and Pop‘s house to have the kids open their Christmas presents. Once again, Jack and Millie were spoiled.
We then did a zoom call with the entire Pennell family. My parents, as always, wrote us a really sweet little poem.
My dad got my mom this beautiful blanket that stated that he made a choice to love her all those years ago. It was so sweet we all cried, even my dad.
We went home and continue to clean the house and get it ready for that evening. Grammie was bringing over chili and tamales for Christmas Eve dinner. Then Grammie and Pop were spending the night so that they could be at our house on Christmas morning for Santa gifts. They got to our house around 4:30 PM.
We had dinner and played some dominoes. The kids then went to bed. We waited for a little while, and then decided that we would all go to bed as well. I ended up sleeping downstairs with the dog because I knew that they would cause a racket with my mom and dad in the guest bedroom downstairs. So I slept on the sofa. It isn’t the best sleep, but it seemed most practical. Try as we may, we can’t crate train Moose. He just whines or poops or pees. He is totally house trained and knows how to use the dog door, but in a crate he has no options. Poor dog.
When Millie woke up on Christmas morning, she was crying because she had such a horrible headache. She had not felt well for the last four or five days. She ended up taking Tylenol and then going back to bed. We all got up at 7 AM and saw what Santa brought Jack and Millie. Millie got a Jetson electric bike and Jack got a voucher to go see a Suns game.
We wore our onesies again. Millie opened her presents laying down. She just couldn’t stand sitting up. Poor dear.
Oh, did I also mention that we decided to move our living room into our dining room and our dining room into our living room?
As you can see, all the dogs wanted to help with the unwrapping.
Once all the presents were open from Stuart and myself to the kids, we cleaned up the carnage and got ready for Christmas breakfast. Stuart made ham, scrambled eggs, and biscuits. Once breakfast was over Grammie and Pop went home to take a shower. Grammie returned around 1:30 PM and Pop followed shortly after that. Stuart was making Christmas dinner for our family, my parents, and the Hills, our next-door neighbors. It was a delightful spread as you can see in the picture below. Stuart doesn’t do anything halfway. I so appreciate his ability to cook and make it look lovely.
We all ate ourselves into a slight coma. The kids stayed around for a while and watched television. Grammie and Pop left around 5:30 PM and the Hills stayed for the rest of the evening. It was a great Christmas!
The kids’ table.
The adult table.
On Boxing Day we got up in the morning and the Hills came over for breakfast. Elise and I decided to make a Goodwill run. She had never shopped at a Goodwill. We came home with some bargains. In the meantime, Jack and Stuart worked on the Bronco. Jack decided he would be in the Firestone Calendar as seen in the picture below.
When I got home from shopping I ended up taking a nap. Christmas wore me out. That evening the Hills came back over and we had bubble and squeak, which is a traditional Boxing Day dish made out of the leftover vegetables from Christmas Day. The night ended early as everyone was tired.
Tuesday morning we got up and puttered around the house.
Tuesday evening we went to Ken and Maytee‘s for dinner and then went to see the Mesa Temple lights. It seems they have not done these for a number of years, due to the remodeling of the temple and Covid. They were pretty spectacular. My favorite was the white Mary and white baby Jesus. When will people learn that Jesus was born in the Middle East, therefore more likely he was very brown?
The manger with the sweet white baby Jesus.
This served as our Christmas photo.
We were going to go ice skating but Ken said it was sold out. Millie was very irritated with me as she has been asking to go ice skating for quite some time. So I promised her we would go on Saturday with some of her buddies from school.
Wednesday morning, I woke up on the sofa, because when we got home from Ken and Maytee’s, we discovered that Moose had pooped all over his crate. It seems that crate training is not going very well for him. However, the night before all the dogs had gotten out of the kitchen area, which we have blocked off with a fence, and into the living room, and had taken a poop in there. Oh these dogs! At any rate, I decided that it was easier to sleep downstairs on the sofa than to crate the dogs and have to clean up all the poop. I also didn’t want to have to take a shower with Moose again as I had the previous night. I lounged around for a little bit in the morning and then Stuart and I decided to go grocery shopping for our Friday evening activity, which was making pizzas in our new pizza oven. We then headed to the RV to get our metal table to put the pizza oven on as well as search for Millie’s grey sweats and AirPods we assumed she left in the RV. We found the AirPods, but no luck with the sweats.
This is Jack installing the new shocks on the Bronco. He seems to really be enjoying this project.
Around 2 PM I went and picked up all of Jack’s little buddies so they could come to our house for a sleepover. There were five stinky teenagers in all. They played around the house and then at 5 PM I took them to Fat Cats to play mini golf, bowl, and eat dinner. It turned out that the bowling was a bust because it was a 90 minute wait. So instead they decided to play in the arcade. I picked them up at 8 PM and we headed back to the house.
Here are the treasures they won at the arcade. Awesome!
Again, I slept on the sofa. We decided that the following evening we just take our chances with the dogs and leaving them downstairs on their own. I am not sure of the answer, but I am almost sure it is not to crate Moose at this time. I can’t clean the crate every day. Ugh!
The boys stayed up until around 1 am. They were up around 8:45 the following morning. I was going to go with Stuart to get some parts he needed from Auto Zone, but in the end I got a message from Owen’s mom that she needed to pick him up early, so I stayed home. Once Owen was gone, Stuart and I took Moose to get his last booster for a while. We also made appointments for our other two dogs to get their rabies shots and we booked Moose’s neuter appointment. Once we were home, Jeremy picked up Carter and Gavin, and Jack and I took Alex home. We then hit Sam’s Club to get gas and buy fireworks. Although Bailey is terrified of fireworks, we bought a bunch. Makes sense. We were given some tricks from the vet, so are hoping that works.
Thursday evening Mitch, Elise, Stuart and myself decided to go to TC’s Pub and Grub for the quiz night. It was such a fun night and we came in 4th place.
We were pretty pleased with ourselves. While we were there we had a jello shot, which inspired me to make jello shots for the pizza party the following evening. When we got home, we decided to let the dogs have the run of the house overnight. They did perfectly fine. We left our door open and around 6 am Moose came in. I assumed that was my sign to get up and feed the dogs. I know it was just one night, but I am hopeful it lasts.
Stuart and I had a few cups of coffee and then I got a message from the Fun Box, a new bounce experience in Mesa. It seems the tickets we had bought that morning would need to be used on a different day. It was raining outside and the activity was an outside activity. The kids were disappointed, but we all coped with it. The day was dreary and seemed to never end. This vacation seems to be flying by, so having a day that drags doesn’t totally upset me. Stuart spent the day getting his pizza dough ready and using his new mixer.
He said it took a fraction of the time to make the dough. He made enough for 12 pizzas. He ALWAYS makes too much.
The jello shots came out nice and STRONG!
This is the famous Stetson salad, made famous by Cowboy Caio, a closed restaurant in Scottsdale. It was amazing. Stuart recreated it exactly as we remembered it. Ken and Maytee came over as well as the Hills. The Stetson salad was Maytee’s request.
Pizza station was open and ready for all the different creations. My favorite was the pear and blue cheese pizza. Yummy!
Everyone went home rather early except for Ken. He stayed and chatted for another hour or so. After Ken left, Stuart and I finished cleaning up and sat down for another beer. Millie went to bed and Jack followed about 30 minutes later. Stuart and I were right behind Jack. It was a successful pizza extravaganza for sure.
Saturday morning, Moose woke me up again, but there were no messes to be found. I watched some television until Stuart was up. He made us some coffee and we watched an episode of the Crown. He then went to the Empower warehouse to get some boxes to deliver to Gallup when he returns to work next week. I got ready to take the kids ice skating. Jack decided he would go and take his friend Owen.
Millie and her friends were ready to skate.
I forced these two to let me take a picture.
It was freezing in the ice rink. I decided to have a coffee and sit in the little cafe attached. The kids skated for a while and then came into the cafe for a snack. Millie had wondered why we came 20 minutes early to the rink. I wasn’t exactly sure how long it would take them to get their skates and get organized so I wanted to be there in plenty of time. I am glad we did show up early. For one thing, there was no line when we arrived, yet ten minutes later the line was out the door. For another thing, they ended up turning people away because they were at capacity. So I am thrilled we showed up early.
Once skating was over, we headed home. Stuart let Jack take the Bronco out for a drive, then I drove it for the first time. We stopped at my mom and dad’s to show them the Bronco. It is going to be so much fun. We spent the rest of the afternoon getting ready for our New Year’s celebration. We were going to go to a party at one of Stuart’s colleague’s house, but decided against it because of Bailey’s fear of fireworks. We felt it would be better to stay at home to keep him from freaking out. So we decided to make pizza again and the Hills came over. We watched a movie on our new outdoor projector and shot off fireworks. It was a really fun evening.
Once skating was over, we headed home. Stuart let Jack take the Bronco out for a drive, then I drove it for the first time. We stopped at my mom and dad’s to show them the Bronco. It is going to be so much fun. We spent the rest of the afternoon getting ready for our New Year’s celebration. We were going to go to a party at one of Stuart’s colleague’s house, but decided against it because of Bailey’s fear of fireworks. We felt it would be better to stay at home to keep him from freaking out. So we decided to make pizza again and the Hills came over. We watched a movie on our new outdoor projector and shot off fireworks. It was a really fun evening.
Jack made shadow animals while Mitch and Stuart got the projector and sheet ready.
We decided to watch Raiders of the Lost Ark. we are looking forward to a new year with new and amazing adventures like none we have had before.
Happy New Year to all!
We then ate dinner at an Italian restaurant. We decided to go ahead and go to the airport in light of the fact that if there was traffic we would need to avoid that. We got to the airport and most of the coaches were on our flight back to Arizona. 
