Sweetest words

Tonight we were talking about planning a weekend trip to a local water park and when I told Cole that my brother and his girlfriend might be going, he rolled his eyes. When I asked why he rolled his eyes, he said "I don't like that word 'girlfriend'". I started to laugh. Lately he has been really embarrassed by this sort of stuff (he even looked away when the robots kissed on WallE). My mom said that she never liked the word "fiancee" and then Cole asked me what that word was and I had to explain that. He was embarrassed again and then said then said he didn't like that word either. I reminded him that someday he would like that word and girls for that matter. He said he was going to get married when he was 10. I said, "Dude you better start looking then, you only have 4 years left." He looked straight at me and in a very serious tone said, "I'm looking at who I'm going to marry". So sweet that boy.

Countdown

I have only three weeks left of being employed! I'm excited and nervous. I'm such a planner and facing the uncertain leaves me really freaked out. I do better the less that I think about it. I'm excited to start student teaching and hope my savings hold out so that I don't have to work nights and weekends. I'm just ready to get on with the rest of my life. They have now officially hired two managers to replace me and I hope they do well. I already feel like a ghost walking through the hallway and it was really tough to listen to the latest manager go on about "finally" having a manager to take care of things and etc. I expected to be blamed for everything after I left but it was tough to listen to it while I'm still there and in front of the entire staff to boot. I'm just keeping my head held high. This place has seen me through lots of life changes (getting married, having Cole, getting divorced) and nine years is a long time to spend somewhere. There was a period of over a year that I was the only manager and now there will be six. I'm ready to walk through the doors, being a manager is great training for working with kids and I'll have some great perspective to take with me. Cole is sad that I'm leaving because in a way this was his second home and he grew up there along with me. I'm definitely a different person than I was nine years ago! So here's to my last three weeks and on to the first time in my life that I won't be receiving a paycheck since I was 16!
Cole and I will have to start volunteering at the local animal shelter or something to still play with animals. In the meantime we adopted a kitten last month and she's been fun and bratty. Cole named her Jupiter. My other cat HATES her even though she tries to be as cute as can be. He alternates between ignoring and hissing when she's around. In fact he hissed at her the other night in the dark when I was carrying her and I got the worst cat bite I've ever had when she freaked out. My thumb is still numb from that one! Here are some cute pictures of her and Cole playing on his bed.

Total Space Cadet

Cole has been taking karate classes at our gym since Octoberish and for the most part has done fairly well. Due to my crazy work and school schedule he has had to take classes on Saturdays. This group has a wide variety in age range. His instructor had continuously recommended that he join the older group of kids for more stimulation, the only problem was that they meet twice weekly at times that were impossible for me. Since school is over, I finally signed him up.

Tonight was his first night of the new class and tonight I wanted to disown him...okay not disown, but I did wish that he had a shock collar on that I could zap (just a mild shock) every time he acted like a fool. This new class is held in a Yoga studio that is surrounded by mirrored walls. He spent the entire class making faces at him self in the mirror and once scooted on the floor on his back like a worm. They did endurance tests to see how many push ups, sit ups, etc. they could do and he never kept count and would holler out numbers like "97, 78, 69" when his instructor asked for his count. He is the highest ranked student in the class and I bet the other parents were thinking how in the heck did "that kid" earn that belt?

So, Cole got a stern lecture from mean ol' mom on the way home. I hope class goes better on Wednesday or I might just sign him up for those acting classes after all!

Mini Vacation

Since I'm trying to save for my rapidly approaching unemployment during student teaching, I couldn't afford much of a vacation this year. My mom and I decided to take Cole to San Antonio for a few days. It was great to get away and have some fun.

Our first stop was the Alamo. Cole was eager to see the Alamo. We decided to rent headphones and take an audio tour to maximize our experience. The cashier didn't charge us for Cole because she thought that he might not be that interested. I laughed because I knew he would be enthralled with learning about the battle. He paid rapt attention to his tour. At the very beginning of the tour the automated voice was talking about the history of some doors and Cole looked at me in awe and said, "is that the door that the Japanese soldiers came rushing in?"...I guess between his trip to Pearl Harbor and the WWII movies, he thinks all "enemy" soldiers are the Japanese!

After the Alamo we went to the riverwalk. We rode a tour boat and then ate some lunch at one of the many restaurants along the river. After lunch we rode the trolley to El Mercado. After visiting the market we went to the Texas Ranger Museum. We then concluded our walking tour (we must have walked miles in the blazing Texas heat) by heading to the Imax theatre. We watched a 3D movie about Dinosaurs that we all loved and then watched a movie about the Alamo. Finally, we headed to our hotel. Cole and I capped off the evening with a swim in the hotel pool.

The next morning we went to Sea World. Our original plan was to spend the morning at the park, take a break mid-day and then to return in the evening. We ended up spending the entire day (from the moment the park opened until after closing) at the park. We enjoyed feeding the seals and seeing all the exhibits. The first show we saw was at 11:30am. Cole wanted to sit in the "splash zone". It was hot and we sat in the direct sun for about an hour. I remember being a kid and wanting to sit in the "splash zone" so badly. So Cole and I sat on the very front row while we braved the heat. It was a relief when we finally got soaked. We had a great time riding roller coasters. Cole and I rode one water roller coaster twice. The lines weren't long and the ride was so much fun. On the second trip, Cole "dared me" to ride with my hands in the air. I did and he was so impressed! We spent the most of the afternoon in the water park. We all loved the wave pool. During the summer the park is open later in the evenings. We watched a 4D haunted lighthouse movie and another seal/walrus/otter show. Cole and I want an otter and a walrus as a pet. We headed over to watch Shamu to finish off our evening. We were sitting in the "Splash zone" once again and I looked down and there was a kid from his Kindergarten class two rows in front of us..what a small world. They enjoyed seeing each other so far from home. Sunburned and tired we ate a quick dinner on the way back to the hotel before collapsing in bed.

This morning on our way back to town we visited some local caverns. I think this was one of Cole's favorite parts of the trip. He especially enjoyed the 5,000 year old pile of bat poop! We then "mined" for fossils and after securing his shark teeth, shells, amber, etc into a Ziploc baggie we headed home.

It may not have been a European vacation (since Vetmommy wouldn't adopt us), but we still had a great time.