Honest to blog?

After two years of agonizing course work, I now have my two credentials and a masters in Special Education. Weee!!!

So, at first I thought a spa day with Chris would be a nice graduation reward, but after our weekend in Jackson with Joy and Brian, a weekend away sounded so much better. Get me outta the Bay Area!

So Carmel here we come! Luckily we were able to go two whole nights and stayed at the Carmel Valley Lodge - an accommodation I gave kudos to on Yelp.com. Great, quiet and cozy location. Upside was that they bumped us to a room or rooms (the place was bigger then our half of the duplex) with a fireplace. Most other guests brought their multiple pure-bred dogs making the place seem like a sort of dog show. My favorite was the long-haired dachshund named Lulu. The long-haired variety is said to be more friendly, so-said her owner lady. If you are wondering and I'm sure you are, I failed the Constitution Test for a third time. So I asked to meet the Dean of the university that the test was given, hoping to strike a deal since I missed the cut-off by two points. The Thursday I was meant to meet the Dean was also Open House at my student teaching placement, so I came in my teacher's best business clothing. Complete with kitten heels - watch out! When I sat down with the woman, I explained that I could not see how I missed so many when I felt I studied so hard. I also mentioned that I thought there were a few questions whose content was not provided in the study guide that they supplied. Even so, she stood by the results saying that her hands were tied and that the exam was standardized and no strings could be pulled. When she said she could introduce me to the test-prep person, I started crying and had to excuse myself for a few minutes. I did not want to sit yet another exam. When I emerged from the restroom, red-faced, I went back into the Dean's office and told her I was ready to meet this other test-prep individual. By that point, I felt hopeless - so what was a few more minutes of my precious time? Sure, let's go and see how horribly I had studied the test booklet and how inept I am at making flashcards.

After a short walk down the outside corridor we went in to see another middle-aged lady surrounded by piles of books and "Achieve your Dreams" posters. That was when the Dean said introduced me as a very intelligent new teaching candidate who only needed to pass this Constitution test in order to finished. She then looked at me and said, "What does your schedule look like because I thought you could study with So-and-so here then retake the first page of the test so you can make up those two points." I was so happy and of course finally passed. When the Dean corrected the test that morning and announced I had passed, everyone in the office cheered. I couldn't help but give the Dean a hug.

We spent most of the day in Big Sur on Sunday mostly at Chris' desire. Here is Chris in front of the Henry Miller Library which is actually an old house of Henry's friend, Emil. Chris wants you to know in reading this post that Henry Miller did not solely write sexually explicit novels, but pieces about living life simply and about doing what you love. Mr. Miller loved women, art, writing and France. I cracked up at a poster mounted on the door to the bathroom that had a picture of Henry in a lounging position and the words asked, "Freedom, is French?"



Here we are, skin-cancer wary and enjoying our time away from the hustle and bustle. At Pfeiffer Beach there were some beautiful rock formations, to Chris's delight, and tide pools, and a little more tourists that we cared for. But how else would we have gotten our picture taken without other people?The tide pools had a colony of little hermit crabs, crawling happily here and there. They looked so much more active and content in there than any other captive hermit crabs I have met.

That evening we met up with Mom and her boyfriend, Chris (that is not a typo) and had a lovely meal at Il Fornaio. We also made sure to partake of Barnardus wines in their tasting room the first day we arrived, only after going to Jeffrey's for breakfast. We definitely have our favorite eateries in Carmel.

Next on the "To Do" list is to apply for my teaching credentials (the pieces of paper that state you are recognized by the state of California that you are, indeed, a teacher), and apply to different special education positions. Just today I was asked to come in for an interview Friday morning. That interview will be for a Special Day Class for KINDERGARTEN! Love it!

Ok- since we just had a vacation we thought it was time for another. We go to Tahoe this weekend. Wish us luck!