Ain't No Gangsta Gonna Put My Dog on Blast

I was working in my garden this afternoon, and some kids walked through the alley by my yard. (Here in the ghetto, we have chain link fences, so we have a lovely view of the alley. nice, huh?) One of the boys had on no shirt and pants that sagged a good 18 inches below his waist. He was wearing yellow boxers, and had a matching yellow bandanna tied around his head. I stifled my laughter (for fear of getting shanked), but what I really wanted was to tell the kid to wait while I got my camera.

My dog, Lucy, was barking at him hysterically through the fence. I know it's ironic, but I think my black lab is racist. She always goes nuts around black people. Anyways, this kid with his booty hanging out is like "Hey lady, call off your dog!", and I'm thinking "You look like exactly the kind of hooligan I would want her to bark at. Pull up your pants and buy a shirt, Coolio."

I just called a kid a hooligan. Am I old?

Here it goes...

Today is a great day to start a blog.

I'm sitting on my couch drinking coffee with my black lab, Lucy, curled up at my feet snoring and two cats curled up in my lap. Its been an interesting journey for Jeff and me over the past 3+ years. We got married in May of 2006, and I'm proud to say that he has been the most wonderful husband a girl could wish for. We love our little house, our four cats and one dog, our garden, our church, our jobs, all the things that make up life.

Jeff is currently substitute teaching at the jr. high and high school levels. He finished the credential program at Point Loma last summer and now has both history and special ed credentials. Once he passes the CSET test, he'll do six weeks of student teaching and then hopefully score a teaching job.

This is my second year working in the Special Education Department at Ridgeview High School, and I love my job. I help kids with mild-moderate learning disabilities understand math. I can distinctly remember thinking as a kid, "Who would ever want to grow up and teach math?" Turns out it not so bad.

Its drumline season, and this year we're working with Shafter High School on a pirate show. There are 23 kids in the ensemble this year and they are completely pumped up about getting to sword fight and wear eye patches. The first competition was last weekend at Frontier. The kids looked great in their costumes, and were the only group in their division to have their show finished. Go Shafter!

Jeff and I are still actively involved in the worship ministry at Cornerstone Church. We love our music pastor, Paul Cierley. The man is God's gift to music and has breathed some serious life into our church with his mad arranging skills. I can't imagine Heaven being any more fun than Sunday mornings at Cornerstone.

We're still living downtown in the Oleander area, and we love our little house. I finally feel like I've finished it. The walls are various shades of red, gold, and orange. We got new flooring last summer. Between yard sales, hand-me-downs, and craigslist, we're well furnished. We had so many morning glories growing the garden this year that they found their way through the wall at one point, and we had vines in the guest room. Good times.

This coming week, Jeff and I have both forsaken work for a Disneyland vacation with Jeff's family. I can't wait to see my niece and nephew. Josie is six and Jason is ten, and they live four hours north in Santa Clara. We haven't seen them since December when we spent an amazing week skiing and sledding in Sonora with them and their parents. I have been blessed with such great family!

Well, thanks for reading. I'll try and post Disneyland pics when we return!