Ouch

Well, as I make my way closer to my new Kaiser job, I've had to get up to date on vaccinations, etc. Today I got three shots in my arms! I got a Hepatitis B vaccination - optional, but what the heck, I'd rather not worry about contracting that disease! I also got a TDaP - Tetanus plus Diptheria and Percussis - yep, I'll be vaccinated against those ugly diseases too, although this is the one that will make my arm sore! The one I was totally surprised by was a measles shot! Now you might be asking, like me, didn't I have that in an MMR shot like when I was two or something? Yep, I did, but for whatever reason, sometimes they wear off with age (just what I needed to hear as my birthday is in another month) - and my blood level was 0.83 when you need at least 1.00 to be considered "immune". Go figure! Well, to all of my little nephews and nieces who have had shots/vaccinations...Auntie 'M empathizes.....

Kip's 40th Birthday

Another fun weekend with family. Saturday, Derek and I trucked down to a 'surprise' 40th birthday party for Kip. The theme was western!

Red Rock Canyon

Derek and I have been working so hard with our jobs that we realized we haven't seen much of the great outdoors lately. So Saturday we packed up the pups and journeyed to Red Rock Canyon for some fresh air - about 25 miles north of Mojave

Our attempt at 'family photo'...Shasta with her ever present tongue....and poor Monkey who has a hard time showing up in pictures...

Can you see the two people on the left of the picture? That's how huge these cliffs are!

Valentine's '08

For those of you who have known me for quite a while, you know that Valentine's Day has not always been my favorite holiday...I think there are some years when I even wore black....hey, I know it's childish, but when relationships are few and far between and the ones that happen seem to start after or end before the holiday of love....it can get depressing.

But, God truly is a redeemer...this year I got to spend my second Valentine's Day as Derek's wife...and how sweet and precious it all is! My wonderful husband, who is so incredibly busy (and so over-worked and over-tired) found a way to leave his class of 'hellions' (and I say that fondly!) to come over to my work and in person deliver flowers! I was so shocked (and so happy) to see him in the middle of the day! And needless to say, I think I was the envy of the office with my beautiful pink flowers! Thank you, honey!!!

A Snow Day

After 1 1/2 years of living in Tehachapi, Derek and I finally got our first 'snow day'. We woke up to 4-5 inches of snow with our cars stuck and the 58 freeway closed early in the morning. It's been snowing off and on all day and so we both called into work have been working from home.





Here is our beautiful, snowy backyard...you can barely see the dogloo next to the tree:

There's something neat about seeing snow piled on the fence rails:

Seasonal Creek

Saturday night and Sunday we got quite a bit of rain. Here's our "seasonal creek" out back - it's turned into a babbling brook!

Derek's handy work - some racks for our new supply of wood: