All Hail Queen Mary!

After a year and a half of wanting to tour the Queen Mary, I FINALLY got the opportunity to do so- with my parents! The parental unit stayed over a couple nights at my place, and we made an all-day event out of our visit with the Queen. Legend has it that the ship is haunted...they offer a tour that takes you to various locations at which there have been ghost sightings/paranormal activity. While I believe in the spiritual realm, I don't know if I subscribe to the idea that the ship is "haunted". But, it was interesting. We explored the floor of the ship that rests against the ocean, investigated the first-class pool that is rumored to be home to many spirits, and travelled through the mechanical underbelly of the ship. I didn't see ANY ghosts. We did experience a fowl smell around the pool, but that was because a 2-year-old in diapers left his stale mark there.


Mom and Dad have passports in hand!


The best part- watching the sun set over Long Beach. Gorgious.


....and, that's a really large smokestack: up close and personal!

Home for the Holidays

Oh boy...so much to blog about, the task is a bit daunting. I'll attempt to summarize my holiday events with the following pictures:

Christmas at Grandma and Cliff's. We enjoyed supper and a gift exchange, complete with a surprise return of the porcelain Chinaman (a prank gift that has been showing up at gift exchanges since the 90's). It was nice to celebrate Christmas with BOTH sets of Grandparents this year.


...and she even let me enjoy a spin in their new golf cart!


Then, of course, I had to get some time in with my peeps at the Conner household. Aidan is growing up so fast! I was pleased that he quickly became attached to my gift for him....a t-shirt bearing the title "Current Family Favorite." I always welcome fellowship time with his mommy and daddy, too.


CHRISTMAS EVE @ the Turners...a family tradition, but not usually with so many children around! Guess we'd better get used to it. Rylan (pictured above) is an old pro at the Christmas festivities, but this was a first for sister Kinley (pictured below). We did carolling a little different this year....the Children of the World sang a few songs for us.


On this trip, I met Daniel and Amanda's baby, Anne-Marie, for the first time. She spit up all over Auntie Jamie. I'll let it go...this time. Following the Christmas Eve midnight service, we joined up the Bakers (Rich & Allison, and Dan & Amanda) for some wild karaoke...until 2:30 in the morning. Yipes. It's easy to crank out BeeGees tunes when you are on an adenaline override! I HAVE VIDEO THAT YOU WILL NOT WANT TO MISS....coming soon.

Deep breath....that concludes the STOCKTON leg of the trip. Christmas Day it was off to Tucson!

Christmas at Disneyland

YESSSSS! FINALLY I got to see an ENTIRE fireworks show at Disneyland, and this one was worth it! Complements of Captain Jack Sparrow, Steph, Kaelyn and I spent the evening in the Magic Kingdom. To our surprise (and great delight) we didn't have to pay for parking, either! We grabbed some dinner in Tomorrowland and claimed a spot at the Main Street Circle, right in front of the castle. Kaelyn was pretty suspicious of the loud noises and plethora of bright lights, but seemed saddened by the end of the show. Immediately following the fireworks, it SNOWS on main street...and that, Kaelyn enjoyed immensely!

Circuit City to the Rescue!

The day started with mud baths in Corona, and ended on the side of Sunset Blvd with a flat tire.

Let me explain.

My friend, Christi, turned 30 yesterday, and had a spa-day celebration with a few close girlfriends. About 8 of us spent the morning/afternoon at Glen Ivy Spa in Corona, CA. The admission cost gave us access to ALL the pools (Roman bath, saline pool, mineral bath, indoor jacuzzi, and warm water shallows) AND the infamous mud bath. YES, I was apprehensive about the mud, but my skin is super soft today and I attribute that in part to the mud! It was pretty hilarious. It would have been very helpful had the weather been just a tad bit warmer (imagine how unpleasant stepping out of a jacuzzi can be in cold weather...) but I'm grateful for the opportunity nonetheless. I indulged in a massage as a spa service- the "stress reliever" focused on my back, neck and shoulders. Apparently my piano playing and constant typing has taken a toll on my shoulders, so much so that my masseuse exclaimed as I was leaving, "good luck with those shoulders!" Oy.


Following the evening service at Revolution, the girls and I continued our adventures by seeing a Burlesque Show in Hollywood.

(I'll pause while you read that sentence again.)

Yes, it's true, but let me clarify...Cheri's friend dances with this show, and it was a Christmas/Comedy routine that was really quite tactful and very entertaining. We enjoyed tapas before the show (an assortment of appetizers) and were impressed by some of the cirqe-de-soleil happenings all over the room. At one point, Christi was pulled up on stage- how's THAT for a 30th birthday memory?!



(Steph and Bridget enjoying the show...)


What I failed to mention is that once we hit the Hollywood freeway in Cheri's car, we seemed to run over something- were momentarily stunned and then quickly forgot about it. When we returned to the car post-burlesque, something was not right. We made it about 2 blocks before stopping the car and finding a flat tire. Assessing the situation was a bit disconcerting, being that we were 4 girls stranded on the roadside after midnight in Hollywood. However, God was on the task, and he sent two extraordinary gentlemen (who work at Circuit City) to fix our tire in a jiffy. Being that the flat tire was on the street side of the car, our job was to block the lane from traffic so our electronics-selling friends could live to see Christmas. We watched as once, twice, three times the Hollywood Sheriff's dept drove right by us, FINALLY stopping to see if we were okay. It was an interesting conversation; first they asked if we knew these guys, to which we responded that they were being very helpful. Since they weren't offering to help us block the lane or give us a flare, we asked if it would be okay if we stood in the road to deflect traffic. The "helpful" officers responded, "yeah, if you want to get hit!" We defended our position by pointing to the two men laying next to the car helping us out...to which the officers responded, "better them than you." Thank you, helpful Hollywood police. They were clearly enjoying this banter, but seeing as they were of no use to us, we excused them with a "Merry Christmas." We were very grateful for our helpers, who did a good job of fixing up the car for us. A little roadside humor to keep us warm.

Our traffic control was outstanding, though our methods were a bit unconventional.

Harmony...

I took a quiz today to find out what kind of Care Bear I am...the results are as follows:



You are most like Harmony Bear. Harmony Bear helps others get along. This peace loving bear knows our differences are something to be celebrated, not something to keep us apart. When differences are brought together in harmony they create something beautiful. That's the meaning of her symbol a smiling flower with different colored petals.
Her Caring Mission is to help others overcome differences and get along. Her smiling flower symbol shows the beauty and happiness that comes from getting along with those around us. Her Personality is open and friendly. Her Character Quirk is that she's got a beautiful singing voice that seems to magically help calm others when they're upset. Her Color is Lavender. Her Best Friend is Friend Bear. Her Relationship Challenge is with Champ Bear. He can be so competitive sometimes. Motto is Good times get better when we get along together.

(For the record...I would take Champ Bear DOWN in a heartbeat!)

OFFICE PARTY!

Not MY office. The Office. Tonight at 8:00 p.m...a special one hour episode! Last year, it was a game of Yankee Swap gone awry. Who knows what kind of antics Michael will pull this time.

Favorite quotes from last year's show:

"Well, Happy Birthday, Jesus. Sorry your party is so lame." -Michael Scott

Michael: "How is Paintball better than an ipod?"
Dwight: "I never said it was."

Festive Recreation for the Cerebellum

Just for fun...can you guess the names of these Christmas songs?


Quadruped with crimson proboscis_______________

5 p.m. to 6 a.m. without noise___________________

Miniscule hamlet in the far east __________________

Ancient benevolent despot ______________________

Adorn the vestibule ___________________________

Exuberance directed to the planet ________________

Listen, aerial spirits harmonizin _________________

Monarchial trio _______________________________

Yonder in the haystack _________________________

Assemble, everyone who believes _________________

Hallowed post meridian _________________________

Fantasies of a colorless December 25th _____________

Tin tintinnabulums ____________________________

A dozen 24-hour yule periods ____________________

Befell during the transparent bewitching hour ______

Homo sapien of crystallized vapor ________________

I merely desire a pair of incisors __________________

I spied my maternal parent osculating a fat man in red__

Perambulating through a December solstice fantasy ____

Aloft on the acme of the abode _________________

(Shout-out to Keith D., who earned 100 % easily, as well as Michelle L. Woot, woot!!)

The Colony Cafe

Alright, I don't normally throw down shout-outs to food establishments, but this one has earned a place in my heart...WASSSUP Colony Cafe! Cheri, Lori and I were looking for a low-key place to grab some coffee in Beverly Hills, and maybe a bite to eat. We got more than we bargained for at this place. First of all, it's ADORABLE, like a front porch you'd find in New England, minus the horrible weather. Secondly, this is JUST the place you want to go if you want a reasonably priced meal in Beverly Hills/West L.A. Third, I cannot express to you adequately my new love for the shoestring garlic fries. WOW! Next door is a small frozen yogurt/coffee shop called Papa's Porch, the perfect end of the evening treat.

COTW Visits Biola

Shaaaaaame, shaaaaame on me for not blogging for so long. Don't lose faith in me, folks. I just had a lapse of temporary insanity, but am ready with renascent vigor to bring you munificent musings on life.

Friday was such a COOL day! First, one of my freshmen students came to my office and gave me a gift bag with a cookie and a small ornament that she had deocrated, along with a card that said, "Thanks for being so helpful and absolutely wonderful! You are a gift from God." I soooo appreciated this, since Credential Analysts aren't the first ones to get recognized on the gift list... It's a big shift from my days of teaching Second Grade, when I had to make several trips to my car just to load all the goodies I got. This was just as special.

Second, I got a visit from Christa and Mikey Hahn, along with all of the children from COTW! (The picture above shows them in front of the famous Jesus mural at Biola...it amuses me because it looks like Jesus is about to drop The Book on them. I guess if you're going to get hit with something, it might as well be a giant Bible.) This was my first time meeting the new group of children. I got to show them around Biola a bit (somehow they are under the impression that I run the place, so let's keep that going....) and Christa visited my office in the Education Department. We had a couple faculty on site over the lunch break, so I thought I'd take them out into the Biola quad to sing a bit for them. As soon as the kids started singing, a crowd of at LEAST 100 students began to gather around. People were stopped everywhere in eyesight of the choir. They did just a couple portions of songs, but could be heard all around campus. (Our students erupted in applause when the children started singing "Take the Shackles off my feet so I can dance"...and boy, can they EVER dance!) Following their performance, they spent some time talking and playing with our Biola students, who seemed as if they haven't seen children in a long time and were ready to PLAY! I was so proud of how welcoming these students were! Below are some pictures from the event...


COTW draws a crowd!




Hammin' it up with the laaaadies!

O Christmas Tree

It smells like Christmas! Jenny and I put up and decorated our Christmas Tree on Saturday- it looks amazing (if I do say so myself).

This Song Sounds Familiar...

Published by CCLI in August, this is the current list of the 25 Most Sung Choruses in U.S. Churches. Are any of your favorites in here??

1) HERE I AM TO WORSHIP (T. Hughes)
2) HOW GREAT IS OUR GOD (C. Tomlin)
3) BLESSED BE YOUR NAME (M. Redman)
4) OPEN THE EYES OF MY HEART (P. Baloche)
5) COME, NOW IS THE TIME TO WORSHIP (B. Doerksen)
6) SHOUT TO THE LORD (D. Zschech)
7) FOREVER (C. Tomlin)
8) YOU ARE MY KING (B. Foote)
9) LORD, I LIFT YOUR NAME ON HIGH (Founds)
10) HOLY IS THE LORD (C. Tomlin/L. Giglio)
11) GOD OF WONDERS (M. Byrd)
12) BREATHE (M. Barnett)
13) YOU'RE WORTHY OF MY PRAISE (D. Ruis)
14) TRADING MY SORROWS (D. Evans)
15) WE FALL DOWN (C. Tomlin)
16) THE HEART OF WORSHIP (M. Redman)
17) YOU ARE MY ALL IN ALL (D. Jernigan)
18) I GIVE YOU MY HEART (R. Morgan)
19) DRAW ME CLOSE (K. Carpenter)
20) ABOVE ALL (L. LeBlanc/P. Baloche)
21) BETTER IS ONE DAY (M. Redman)
22) LORD, REIGN IN ME (B. Brown)
23) BEAUTIFUL ONE (T. Hughes)
24) DAYS OF ELIJAH (R. Mark)
25) GIVE THANKS (H. Smith)

Who Wants to Learn English?

I came across this poem in some old college paperwork of mine...can the English spelling system be as complicated and illogical as it appears in this poem?

"HINTS ON PRONUNCIATION FOR FOREIGNERS"
(T.S.W.- only initials of writer known)

I take it you already know
Of tough and bough and cough and dough?
Others may stumble but not you,
On hiccough, thorough, laugh, and through.
Well done! And now you wish, perhaps,
To learn of less familiar traps?
Beware of heard, a dreadful word
That looks like beard and sounds like bird,
And dead: it's said like bed, not bead--
For goodness' sake don't call it "deed"!
Watch out for meat and great and threat
(They rhyme with suite and straight and debt).

A moth is not a moth in mother
Nor both in bother, broth in brother,
And here is not a match for there
Nor dear and fear for bear and pear,
Just look them up- and goose and choose,
And cork and work and card and ward,
And font and front and word and sword,
And do and go and thwart and cart-
Come, come, I've hardly made a start!
A dreadful language? Man alive.
I'd mastered it when I was five.


(Who says teaching is easy?? If you made it through this, THANK A TEACHER!)

My Spiritual Hangover

I was honored to play alongside the current worship team at CrossWalk last Sunday. God is rad- I love the presence of the Holy Spirit that fills that place. Seven Sutton, my successor, is super organized, which makes "stepping in" easy and fun. Randall drove all the way in from San Francisco to join us, also! Always busy when I visit the old digs, I ran over to "big church" during the second CrossWalk service to watch the Baby Dedication of Rylan and Kinley Park, daughters of good friends Jen and Kyle. Babies always lend an aire of anticipation on stage, as you never know WHAT is going to happen. It's like working with animals, except not. : )

Following church, we had a great lunch at Garlic Brothers on the Delta with the whole gang. It was straight to the highway after lunch for a 8-hour drive home to Long Beach. Thanksgiving traffic....ugh. Make sure you don't need a bathroom break, and PACK A MEAL (for future reference).

Days like that leave me walking away thinking "wow...what just happened?" A whirlwind of activity, conversation, noise, energy, reverence- it's enough to make anyone pass out! Enter: the nap.

Bread and Wine

...and then came Saturday! We were up early to meet friends Franse and Kim at Panera BREAD for some coffee and breakfast before driving to Napa Valley for some sightseeing. After our fix of pastries and egg souffles, we hopped in the car for a beautiful cruise through delta-land on Hwy 12. Our first stop was Sterling Vineyards, up in Calistoga. This winery includes an arial tram ride over the vineyards. WOW! You should have seen the morning sun shining on the grapevines (now golden yellows and oranges). The view from the winery is worth the cost of tasting/admission. Awesome. We enjoyed some time just relaxing on the balcony and talking. A good start to the day.

Following Sterling, we enjoyed lunch in St. Helena and a quick stop at Prager for a sampling of Port. Prager is a little hole-in-the-wall, infamous for it's walls covered in signed dollar bills. Franse and I quickly found our dollar bill on the ceiling, posted there during her bachelorette party!

My favorite...St. Supery...was next on the list. St. Supery produces Moscato, my favorite dessert wine. We enjoyed talking with the wine host, who was sporting a Hume Lake wristband and had some mutual friends. (Here's Kim screwing around! ha ha)

We strolled through the beautiful grounds of Peju Provence, but passed on the vino here.


Our final stop for the day was Domaine Chandon, producer of Sparkling Wines. There was a lovely ambiance in the tasting room (which is open to the vineyards) as the sun set and turned to a swanky evening lounge. We enjoyed a cheese platter and had some fun with the table next to us : )

Here is a HUGE shout-out to my Napa buddies Kim, Jessie, Franse and Brandy. Each of you inspire me in different ways. I'm so glad we got to spend this time together..."Take off your boots, Jessie," the blue-blazer, and our "sorority"...all cherished memories. I LOVE YOU GIRLS!

The Big Turkey Day Report

So much activity this weekend...these posts will have to be in installments. Sorry!

Ohhhhhh, I'm still recovering from a weekend full of food and fun- from a grueling, intense game of Capture the Flag with my Revolution buddies, to ice-skating on soap (yeah...I'll explain later) and hiking through Napa vineyards. I was treated to TWO Thanksgiving feasts...the first, and most traditional, being held with Jessie Pauling's family here in Southern California (complete with Jessie's grandmother dressed as a pilgrim). I have heard about deep-fried turkeys for a while now, and finally had the opportunity to taste one! The conclusion I came to: there is no difference. Not that I could taste, at least. Still yummy. Following dinner, the fam LOUDLY participated in some game festivities.

On Friday, Jessie, Brandy and I drove up to Stockton to have Thanksgiving with MY family, and to visit Napa on Saturday. We were impressed that all roads and freeways were virtually empty, making it a smooth 5 hour trip. Mom veered from the traditional Thanksgiving spread (fine by me!) to include tri-tip, cajun pasta, potato casserole and many others. In addition to the immediate family, my Grandma and her hubby Cliff joined us to eat. Grandma is always entertaining with her stories!

Gratitude

Gratitude

This dance was featured at our Thanksgiving Eve service, with my accompaniment on piano to Nichole Nordeman's song, "Gratitude."

Uninspired.

Hi all. This is more of a check-in than anything else. I'm alone at the office today. Most are out sick, some are at a funeral, and I'm overwhelmed with lots of work, lackluster motivation, and a killa migraine which I've been nursing the last 24 hours. It's a K-O-K-O day...our code for "keep on keepin' on" back in S-town. I'll rest my pen- thoughts- keyboard after sharing with you one of my favorite portions of the Bible....Psalm 16.

I said to the Lord,
"You are my Lord. APART FROM YOU I HAVE NO GOOD THING.
Lord, You have assigned me my cup and my portion....You have
made my lot secure. The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places.
Surely I have a delightful inheritance.
I WILL PRAISE THE LORD WHO COUNSELS ME; Even at night, my heart instructs me.
I have set the Lord ALWAYS before me.
BECAUSE HE IS AT MY RIGHT HAND, I WILL NOT BE SHAKEN.
Therefore, my heart is GLAD and my tongue REJOICES;
My body will also rest secure, because YOU WILL NOT ABANDON ME.
You have made known to me the path of life;
YOU WILL FILL ME WITH JOY IN YOUR PRESENCE, with eternal pleasures at your right hand."

Have a blessed day.
Jamie

Yep....I Saw Him!

I intended to blog this info a LOT sooner, but the weekend just got away from me. My purpose in travelling up North last weekend was to attend a conference at the State Capitol with some of my colleagues at Biola. The Executive Director of the State County Superintendents Association is a Biola graduate and acted as our tour guide for the day. By the time we arrived back at the airport, we had met Sr. Policy Analysts for the Governor, the Director of Data & Tracking for the State (all of our state's test scores! Ack!), the Staff Director for the Senate Education Committee, and the Executive Director of the State Board of Education. We had also eaten lunch in the basement of the Capitol and taken a tour, during which we were allowed entry onto the Senate Floor and the Assembly room.
In the horseshoe, we passed Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's office, which was full of balloons and staff members celebrating his re-election. It was a surprise party for him...and as we walked by, the door guard was kind enough to give us a little glimpse into the office. There he was!
Biola takes over the Senate Education Committee!