Clouds

Today on our way out, we saw these awesome clouds. It looked like there was a huge clump of cloud in one spot and then someone just took their finger and swirled it around to make lots of little wispy clouds like these. They were ALL OVER the sky. It was whimsical and beautiful.

Urgency

I talked to my mom tonight. Dad is getting worse. She really thinks I should come see him again soon. I took as a "before its too late" kind of visit. I have no doubt in my mind it is necessary and the right thing to do, but I'm scared. Everyone keeps telling me how bad he looks, and how much pain he is in. As if my visit in March/April wasn't hard enough...and now its worse. How do I prepare? It will be nice to spend Father's Day with him. I fear this could be his last. Mom isn't even sure he can hold on until the end of this year. At one point she even said something about him trying to make it until his birthday (which is in mid August). Could we really be here already? He's only been officially sick/diagnosed for 6 months now. I'm relieved that my boss hops to a plan on how to cover my shifts whenever I mention needing to go home for dad. If work was adding to my stress with this, I don't know how I'd manage. I will book my flight home in the morning...

Surprising O'Neills...

...is not always an easy task, but we pulled it off. We woke up extremely early on Wednesday morning and flew to Eugene via San Francisco. We arrived to beautifully refreshing dreary rainy weather, but we didn't mind since we left 100 degree furnace type weather in Las Vegas. Alan picked us up from the airport, we had lunch with him and Christa, and then he let us use his car to get around and find the people we wanted to surprise. Sadly, we stopped at all places of employment but we just missed everyone because they had headed to the airport to pick Chelsea and Brennan up. They got there from Canada about 4 hours after us! Not to worry, Spencer still has his house key, so we headed back to the house to impatiently await their arrival back home. Spencer sat on the couch all relaxed while every car that went by I jumped and said, "is that them?" They FINALLY got home and we were giggling quietly in the living room...shortly afterward we were spotted. Papa said he knew (we knew he would be suspicious), Stefan didn't seem too surprised, Chelsea screamed with excitement (I think it was excitement anyway...), and Brennan was like WHAT IS GOING ON?! Tricia came home soon after and was mad at us for about 5 seconds for surprising her and then seemed really happy that we were there. It seemed to make things feel complete to her that all 4 of her kids could be there, so I'm REALLY glad now that Spencer wasn't the only one to miss out on this special event for his mom.

Wednesday night, we headed to the pre-graduation banquet with Spencer's parents. It was really nice to hear so many wonderful things about what a great teacher Tricia is, not that we had any doubts, and to get to know these 9 kids that have been such a huge part of the past 8 years of her life just a little bit more before we watched them all graduate the next day. It was really special. (Meanwhile, Blaine spilled the beans to Chelas and Gerd and Chelas was a little mad at us, but I guess she got over it.)

Thursday morning was the graduation. Hugs from Chelas, Gerd, Grammy, and Aunt Jeannie topped off our surprises. I also met lots of people who have known Spencer since he was little which is always interesting. They always have that "are you still up to no good" look when they first see him. Hmmmmm. The graduation was really sweet and it was extra special because not only was Tricia "graduating" with her students at a school that she helped to start, but she also had all 4 of her kids there, who also all graduated from the same school, to support her.Family is a great thing. I wish all families had this same support system and connection. I'm so glad to have inherited such a wonderful family when I married Spencer. Thursday afternoon, we all just hung out a little bit. Thursday evening Spencer and I had the best ice cream ever and then spent some time at Stefan's (always an adventure).

Friday morning we had breakfast with Spencer's godmother Lourdes at her farm. It was really nice. We even got to see some animals!Then after saying our goodbyes, we headed to the airport and made it by the skin of our teeth. I feel very lucky that we managed this trip with our budget and work schedules, knowing what is important to make a priority in life. But at the same time, the trip was such a tease. Not only do we want to move to Oregon so we just simply love being there, but it also felt like the little family time we got was dangled in our face and then taken away leaving us wanting more. I guess its a good thing to want to spend MORE time with family though, right? All in all a lot of traveling for a trip and a family that is always well worth the effort. I love me some O'Neills!

May 2010

Star Wars! Nothing But Star Wars!

Tonight I took Spencer to Star Wars In Concert. The tickets were his birthday gift. He was like a little kid at Disneyland. Its just like a normal concert with a big stage and a huge orchestra with a big screen in the background showing scenes from the Star Wars movies. It was pretty cool, but Spencer LOVED it! Before the show started, there were characters dressed up and all kinds of paraphernalia everywhere so we took tons of pictures of course!
Us with a Storm Trooper and Darth Vader!Tie Fighter Pilots have captured my husband!I'm a little scared of this dude.Spencer and C3POMe and some EwoksUh oh! Poor Han Solo!Spencer and ChewbaccaYodaAnakin, me and some blue jedi chickThe Orchestra!And our host.....
The REAL C3PO, Anthony DanielsLight Sabers EVERYWHERE of course!Some scenes from the show:I think its time for me to give these movies a second try. May the force be with you!

ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME?

"Don't worry, it will be no big deal, you'll probably get out of it."
"Its your civic duty."
BLAH BLAH BLAH!
I kept hearing this leading up to today because I was dreading my jury duty summons. But all of you who told me it wouldn't be a big deal were wrong. WAY WRONG! Not only did I get selected (they hardly dismissed ANYONE!), but I got selected to be on the Nevada State Grand Jury. And not just the grand jury but a "special grand jury," which happens to meet at the court house downtown from 8:00AM - 5:00PM every single Tuesday for the next 3 years. Yes, you read that right THREE YEARS! And the only way you get out of it and they call on one of the alternates is if you a.) move out of the state or b.) Die. Nice, huh?
Oh and did I mention I can't work on that day now and only get paid $40 a day?
And I am one of 50 people (including the 27 alternates) chosen out of 2.5 million people in the system. I've never been that "lucky" in my entire life...maybe I SHOULD start gambling...as the kids are saying these days...FML!

TV Rots Your Brain! (Apparently)

Is it sad that my last 2 posts were semi-inspired by television shows?! Maybe. Its a good thing I was so disappointed with the results of my other favorite show, Dancing With The Stars, last night or I might have made it television inspired post #3! Oh wait...I think I just did....Well, now that I started, I might as well finish...I'll keep it a little more light-hearted this time...the TRUE winners in my heart...a tie! :)
Evan and AnnaandErin and MaksHopefully I'll be happier with Season 11's outcome....