Big Bear!

Chris surprised me and took me away for a few days to Big Bear, which is a mountain, a lake, a resort, AND a town about three hours north of us.  We had a cabin with a jacuzzi in it.  Very nice!  That's the first time in 27 years I haven't known where I was going.  It's very hard to surprise me... so I helped a little by not looking in the bank account and not looking at the driving directions someone left printed out!  It was a lot of fun.  Chris wanted to go horseback riding, so we did.  My idea of a getaway is a five star hotel with room service, a massage, eating out, shopping... yeah, I'm spoiled.  Chris's idea is staying in a cabin, in the mountains, riding horses, and so on.  I still had a lot of fun, and it was great to get away from all the stress for a few days.

Ally got hired as a lifeguard at Knott's Soak City for the summer.  No one tried harder than her to pass the requirements.  She had to take the weekend class (20 hours!) two times (she passed the second time).  The first time she didn't pass, she was told she was a bit timid and seemed flustered at times.  We told her to speak up and act like she knew what she was doing.  There were written tests, CPR, and all kinds of rescue tests, etc.  Of course, she passed the written tests with flying colors... third in the class.  She was glad to finally make it through.  There were 60 people in her first class and only half passed.  She really wanted her first job to be as a lifeguard.  No pics yet at her work... coming soon!

She got a speeding ticket on her first day going to work (Soak City is 30 miles from our house), so she can use her newfound wages to pay that ticket, which will probably be around $300 along with a day of traffic school.

Ally also received an award at school this week for a 3.75 GPA.

I finally got the van back from the body shop after 30 days!  I love my Odyssey -- I didn't realize what a stress it was driving around the rental -- was glad to return it.

I got flowers delivered at work for the first time ever!  I did go above and beyond for this customer, and they were glad of it.  So nice to be appreciated!