Boy Has It Been That Long

Well, it looks like I have been delinquent in my blogging. I am currently pretty busy with finishing up school, oh and teaching. Web are at the tail end of our Spring vacation so it's back to work tomorrow.

Had a great visit with grandma and grandpa Williams over vacation. They brought up their new puppies, cutest things ever. We weren't too sure about Tipper (the big lab) and her reaction to the little guys but she and was well behaved and loved playing with Rosie; the little girl. Tipper was quite gentle and tolerant. Harry was even well behaved, he generally kept to himself.

We went mini golfing in the cold, windy, afternoon. It was great fun. It was our first round this season. Randy even came up and spent the day.

The weather has finally turned to rain again. Right now it is just drizzling but it promises to turn nasty. We are at the bottom of the snow level. We may or may not get some snow. It's pretty typical considering it's back to work tomorrow and I will have to walk through the rain all day.

What else have we been up to? Well, work for one. I have been layed off so I have now put in for other jobs. (tired of getting the boot every year) Hoping to get the principals assistant job. If I don't get that one I can defiantly get my teaching job back, but not so sure I am interested anymore.

Tim is doing well. About eleven of his co-workers were layed off but Tim is safe for now.

Mike and Carina are working hard. Chris is working on moving to Paradise with Holly. Nathan is doing well in school and enjoying his guitar.

Well, as promised awhile ago, I am posting some low carb but yummy meals.

Tonight we had our sausage, mushroom, spinach, and cheese combo but tonight I added some small sweet peppers and nutmeg. Tasted yummy. We added avocado on the top.

This afternoon we went to Courthouse so I had a taco salad, which is yummy and good for you. Tim had an omelet and fruit.

Breakfast was small; a kiwi, avocado, and some nuts. (I knew we were going out for a big lunch)

For snaking throughout the day I mixed up a nut combo: pecans, almonds, cashews, cocoa roasted almonds (Emeralds), and Let's Do Organic coconut. I just mix it all into a large bowl and we snack on it all week.

Well, time to take a test.

What's Up These Days

Short update on the Retallack family. We haven't been up to much more then the usual day to day events everyone faces during a lifetime. I'll start at the top and work my way down.

Tim has been busy with the Susanville project. He has spent lots of time there, getting security and such fixed up. He is really enjoy the whole project. He has learned lots and foresees even more to learn. Tim has also joined the volunteer fire crew and first response team for Greenhorn. He is a bit timid about it but wants to get involved since we will be here for awhile. He will start meetings in March and go to training sometime after that. I think he will have lots of fun.

I am enrolled once again in college courses this semester; math and science. I will be taking one more science class this summer and then finally graduate with my BA. I am not too sure about the next step as the student teaching and BTSA requirements will add another two years on to my credentialing requirements. I will get a major pay increase after my degree is finalized though. There is also 17 teachers retiring this year so the district could get desperate and hire teachers with prelim credentials; which would be me. At this point I will be teaching full time next year. This year I picked up two courses I am teaching at FRC but I don't know if I will be teaching them next year. It is very time consuming and there is such a lack of communication from their side that I never feel organized.

Raynelle' is finishing up her classes and planning on graduating the early part of May; this year. She will then be applying for the Masters program at Reno University. She will, of course, be moving back to Reno which will be nice for us. She is also busy with working at the college. She sounds like she is having a great time with her life right now.

Mike and Carina are doing well. They are both working hard and we see them quite often. Carina is still working on her Vet Tech stuff. Mike is working at Safeway still but is going to apply for Forest Service jobs this summer. They are both quite amazing in my opinion.

Chris is still involved with music. He is giving guitar lessons and working for the Charter School as a music teacher. He is also going to FRC this semester. He will be moving this summer so he can attend Butte College and major in communications. I'm sure he will be able to find somewhere to play and make some money, especially since Holly will be moving there with him. The two of them are amazing to listen to and watch when they play together.

Nathan is still plugging along in school. He doesn't like anything but Chemistry and Music. The jazz band he is in will be playing in Chico at CSUC. They will be opening for the Jazz Jubilee at the college. I'm not sure what day but sometime in March is what Nathan says. He is also going to play in a local talent show with two other boys; kind of a Latin rock band thing. Nathan is still wanting to go to the Charter School next year, we'll see how that pans out.

The animals are all doing fine. The last Guinea Pig died and we have no intentions of getting another one. It does still seem strange to not feed them in the morning with the other animals.

Well, off to homework.

A Short Week End

This week end went by pretty fast. I had so much stuff I needed to get done and only got about half of it finished. Although, I did get the important stuff finished.

We made an unplanned trip to Reno to see Avatar. Mike, Carina, Tim, Nathan, and I. Chris stayed home because his girlfriend was heading back to Davis Saturday. The movie was okay in my opinion as well as everyones opinion, except for Tim, who loved the technical aspect of the whole thing. I would have been happy waiting for the DVD to come out.

We then went to Red Robin for dinner, after of course making a stop or to for electronics shopping. I did get Pride and Prejudice finally. (Tim will be gone all week so I will get to watch it without all the eye rolling) We had never eaten at RR before so it was something new.

We drove home in some incredible fog. Once home everyone was pretty tired.

Today Tim spent most of the day helping out people with their broken computers. Tomorrow he will begin his adventures in Susanville, once again. He will be up there all week. I guess they are firing up the generators; bringing everything on line, so they want him up there in case something goes haywire.

The kids are doing fine. Chris starts back at FRC next week. Nathan is pretty bored with school but is considering tennis team in February. Mike and Carina are busy being the greatest people ever. Raynelle' starts school tomorrow but we will see her when we go down to my mom's retirement celebration. It will be a quick trip, which I hate, but an adventure by any other name is just a trip. Randy, my brother, will be going down with us too.

I start teaching at the college again on the 19th of January. These breaks fly by when you have so much stuff to do and deadlines. The classes I'm taking to finish up at Chico don't start until the end of January so I have some time to wrap my brain around that endeavor. The ecology class I signed up for might not work out so I don't know what the next step will be for that class. I may have to just wait until fall10 to take the one out at FRC, unless the happen to offer it this summer; not likely.

Some Pictures

A Day at the Homestead

Well, it was snowing when we got up this morning; not much though. The day actually warmed up today.

The kids have been playing with their new toy; PS3. We've been watching old movies again too, in a much better quality of course. No I can't tell the difference but the games available for the PS3 are pretty intense. I got a Magic Bullet Blender, yes from the infomercials, and the kids have been having a great time finding more and more things to make with it.

Tim is going to be in Susanville again this week, until Thursday night. He gets Friday off for New Years. I am inviting all the family over for dinner on the first, including the in-laws side of the family. I could be quite a party. There are a lot of people on Carina's side of the family. Sharrill and her clan will be coming over also. The house is big enough and I think I will have everyone bring a salad and I will make a turkey and/or ham depending on how many are coming out.

We have quite a bit of ice all over the outside. It hasn't gotten warm enough for it to melt but just enough to melt it into slight puddles that freeze over night. It is still very pretty out here though. There is no snow left in Quincy so it looks nothing like winter.

I got the pleasure of helping Chris feed a whole gaggle of animals this week. If the world were a perfect one, this is what I would love to do. There's something quite satisfying about seeing horses being very grateful to the person bringing their food. The three colts were quite cute too. We also fed chickens, goats, ducks, geese, dogs, mules, and cats. The first day we went out it was pouring rain, not so fun and really cold. Thankfully it was the only rainy day.

A Wet Wet Day

Boy the rain is coming down, the temperature has dropped and I'm watching the Top Gear crew race across the North Pole. Obviously, they make it, but how idiotic is this.

It has been dumping rain all day. Chris and I went out to feed horses and such for a family they are gone for a week. It was great fun, believe it or not, but the rain was coming down in buckets, and the animals were pretty spread out. We then went into town to get the mail and a bite to eat.
Even got to see Mikey in the process.

I will be spending tomorrow and Wednesday baking banana bread, blueberry bread, and sweet corn cake for Christmas gifts. That's what happens when people can't make up their mind about what they want the most. We are having family out to our house for Christmas dinner. This year we will be having turkey and Filet Mignon, special request from Nathan. I will also be making mashed yams, a bit healthier then potatoes.

Except for finishing up some reports for work, I really don't have many plans for vacation. Chris will be feeding all week but Holly should be helping him. Since it's raining I guess not having plans is okay.

Tim is in Susanville this week. He should be back Wednesday night. He is on his own this week as the other two ended up in the hospital; for different reasons. He has to be the boss. Not his favorite thing to do but he'll so fine as he works well under pressure.

Winter Has Hit

Well, we were hit with quite the temperature change around here. At our house it was -15 and in Sierra Valley it was -26; not exactly warm. Our front door was actually frozen shut. The 26 degrees it is now seems quite warm.

Everyone is busy but fine. I just finished my last final and will be taking three classes next semester. I will then graduate in May. I will be taking a math class and two science classes. I'm really glad I don't have any homework to do over vacation. I do have work I brought home but it should only take part of a day to finish.

Tim will be in Susanville again this coming week. This will be his third week up there working on the generator. He will get Thursday and Friday off. Don't know if he'll be going up next week, it seems to be a last minute decision every time (wait and see).

Chris is enrolling at FRC for the Spring semester so he'll be busy. He is still playing with his string group and some other groups here and there. He is also doing odd ranch/horse jobs here and there. He spends most of his time with Holly of course. She is finished with her first session at UCDavis and is up for a month or so.

Nathan is busy with school. He is now playing guitar in the school jazz band. He and the band played in the school's talent show last week and did a great job. They did the Need More Cow Bell skit from Saturday Night Live. Pretty funny. He is also busy with his school work. He is enjoying his chemistry class but not the rest' if course. He doesn't see the need to do anything but math and science.

Mike and Carina are busy working and hanging out with their friends. Mike is almost finished with his probationary period at Safeway. He will then get paid vacations and insurance so that will be great for them. Carina is still working on her vet tech degree. I believe she is almost finsihed. They both still want to move somewhere where it doesn't get so cold and snow.

Raynelle' is finished with her classes this semester and will be going for one more. She may graduate in May if they let her walk 5 units short (she would finish the five units over the summer) Most colleges let you walk but won't send you the diploma until you finish. She is also working at the school. She has decided to apply for the Masters program at UNReno, which is great because we will be able to see her more.

Not much else going on in these parts. It's starting to rain and the ice is melting. The dogs are cozy inside and hate going outside. The cats have joined in with the dogs protest of not going outside. We are down to one guiene pig, the lizard now lives in the living room and the fish have taken over the tank(I think they need a new tank for Christmas) We haven't gotten any new animals, although Chris is lobbying for a miniture donkey to pull the sled and carry the backpacking stuff.

Well, once again, there's not much happening around here, but it is what it is.