Lu, Joshua and I went to Disneyland today. I was asked to go to their house at 9 am this morning, and I found out I was to do the driving because Lu didnt want to. I got there a little later than 9 because I could not wake up this morning. I was too tired from yesterday. And besides, I knew they wouldnt be ready anyway. And they werent!
But we got on the way, and it was a pretty easy trip. I didnt think Disneyland was that close to my house! As we were driving, there was a slow car in front of me, but I didnt say anything or try to change lanes just because I had other people in the car with me. But then it signaled and changed lanes, and I muttered, Good, get out of my way. And Lu heard me, and started laughing and laughing. I was like, what? And she goes, I do the same thing! That made me feel better! I tend to talk to the other drivers as I am driving. Sometimes, I call them names too. But that's neither here nor there.
So we got there and I got a year pass where I can go to both Disneyland and California Adventure in one day. And we went to CA Adventure first because we wanted to go for the Soarin' Over California ride. It is an awesome ride. Nothing scary, because it's all simulator, but it takes you to the different parts of CA. We got a fast pass for it, AND went and queued for another ride. All in all, we sat that ride twice. Then we went to sit some water ride, TWICE, where I got wet. I am the last person to want to get wet, but I always seem to get the wettest. Joshua wanted to get wet so badly, and he did get wet, but he didnt get a whole spray of water on his back like yours truly did. And that was the first time! Then we had to go back the second time and get even wetter. Then we sat some kiddie ride which to me, wasnt so kiddie! I DO NOT like the feeling when we go down at a fast speed. Good thing we didnt sit that twice!
Then we went over to Disneyland and we rode a ton of rides. If I remember all the rides, we went on the Star Tours, Pirates of the Carribean, Small World, Splash Mountain (which we queued an hour for! And I didnt even want to get on that ride!), Alice in Wonderland, Jungle Cruise, and they went on Autopia which I didnt go to. I'm sure we went on some other rides, but I dont remember now. Everything is one big blur because I am SO TIRED. This is the first time I've ridden on so many rides in one trip. We never went shopping, we stopped a little for lunch, but we packed a full day today! But it was fun. As we were queueing for the Splash Mountain ride, Joshua made a friend. He's a little kid about Joshua's age, and they had a great time playing with each other and talking to each other. At least it kept them from being bored as we were waiting.
Anyway, it was a great day. I'm tired, but I'm happy, because I went to Disneyland! I would love to go back again, now that I have a year pass.
So I'm going to end here because I'm beat. Goodnight, y'all!

Well, it really was a nice day yesterday. I didnt go to work at all because I didnt want to, and I didnt have to, and besides, it's vacation time! So I stayed home and cleaned. And watched lotsa TV.
Then I went to get me another massage, and Oh man, it felt so good to finally get the kinks out of my shoulders again. I think I worked my massage therapist too hard because I was really tense to start with. But I feel much better now, and I actually slept very well yesterday night. Didnt want to wake up this morning, unlike the rest of the days, when I was woken up because my shoulder muscles hurt so bad. I think massages are underrated. Everyone should go get one some point in their lives because it makes one feel so much better after that. At least I feel a lot better!
Then I went out dinner with a friend whom I met through work. We had Chinese food. Buffet to be exact, and it was good. They had the one shrimp dish I really like, and havent had since I went to Mr Yen's in Springfield, MO. I didnt think about it until just now, when I was thinking about it, and now I wish I had more of it! And I dont know why, I've developed a taste for this chicken and mushroom dish that's always present in the Chinese buffets. Anyway, we had a good time chatting. So all in all, it was a nice evening.
So now I'm getting ready to go to Ventura. The church is starting the 40 Days of Purpose series tomorrow, and will go on for the next 6 weeks. I was put in a group that meets at 11 am, during the 11 am service time, which is great, because then I dont have to worry about getting up to Ventura earlier or staying later or things like that. It should be good.
Have a great weekend!

Remember the comment about gas prices coming down? Well FORGET IT! It's gone back past 2 bucks per gallon again! If you ask me, this sucks!
Aura and I went for a concert last night in Universal City. It was a group called M-Pact. They are an acapella group of 6 guys. They are pretty good, I have to say.
Vacation has started, and I havent really had a vacation yet! I dont have to teach, HOORAY, but I do have to do some other stuff for Chilin, who is out of town right now. We're still planning to go to Universal Studios again, and on Monday I think Lu will take Joshua and I to Disneyland.
Other than that, my week's been pretty good. I'm going to get another massage today. I CANT WAIT!!! My back's hurting again and I woke up this morning with my shoulders tight and cramped. I'll let you know how it goes later!
I cant believe it's only 8.20 am. But like I said, I woke up because my shoulders hurt. So I think I'm going to try to go back to bed. I can, because I'M ON VACATION!!!!

The concert last night was wonderful! I know Jeff and Dana were stressed about it, but in the end, it was a blessing to everyone who went. I know everyone took something away with them. I had forgotten about the Teacher Song Jeff wrote, and I had tears in my eyes when he sang it. He did it as a solo, and he choked up midway too. The song talked about how there was a boy in your class, who was unkempt and a little rowdy, didnt dress too well, didnt know how to behave. But the love you show him as a teacher might be the only love he knows, and how he wishes he had a mama like you. Then there is this girl in your class, and all she wants to be is a teacher like you. I dont remember what the chorus says, but I will get a copy of it. It is a very true and touching song, I know the teachers in the congregation were all moved, but Jeff later told us about this guy who went up to him after the whole thing ended, and said, I really like that teacher song. I was a kid like that. But you know what? I think the reason why the whole concert/worship session was so blessed was because of where their hearts and focus were. They were totally on God, and the people knew it. Jeff gave background on each of his songs, and it was very interesting to hear how he got inspiration for each of them. At the end of it, the people were about to give them a standing ovation, in fact some people were already on their feet clapping, but Dana asked Mike Newman, the new Assoc pastor to close in prayer. And it quieted the tone of the whole thing down, and they didnt get the standing ovation they so deserve. Norma, Jeff's mom, said, I kinda wished they had gotten the standing ovation. But after thinking about it, I'm glad they didnt. Not because they didnt deserve it, but because it's not them. Their focus was not on themselves, but on God.
I wanted to talk about gas prices a long time ago, but I always forgot. You'd think that I'd remember, seeing how excited I was when I saw that they came down to below $2.00! I filled up tonight at $1.94/gallon. It was $1.92 a few days ago. So I'm thinking it's going up again. Well that stinks!
Chilin's out of town again, and so I'm holding on to his phone again. That's totally fine, but that means I have to work on my vacation again. That just means more money, which is great.
On Wednesday, I think Aura, Charisse and I are going to Universal Studios. It will be fun. We've been meaning to go ever since we got the free year pass in May. We keep saying we can go anytime, but we never seem to be able to find the time to go! And then next Monday, Lu, Joshua and I are going to Disneyland!! I'm really pumped about it too.
Tonight was a battle of wills between Lu and Joshua. Apparently, when I got there at 8.30 pm, Joshua hadnt had his dnner yet because he didnt want to or something like that. I didnt quite get the story. But anyway, she was mad at him, and he was stubborn and didnt want to eat.He took 2 bites and said he was full.So they took away his food. Which I thought was the smartest thing that they could have done. Sometimes, alternative measures of discipline work better than conventional means. But we shall see.
My sister Faith is pregnant. I'm going to be an aunt. That's wild. But you know what's wilder? My parents are going to be grandparents. Somehow, in my sinple mind, I never thought of my parents as becoming grandparents. But they are come next April. Wow.
I'm talking to my other sister, Ai, right now. She's really cool. She oftentimes encourages me when I am down. I talk to her at night, and I'm glad I do, because that's when I usually get a little down. But I am still very blessed. I have a fantastic family, and wonderful friends, who enrich and touch my life in many ways.
2 more days till vacation. I cant wait!!!

I think Yuko and I bonded a little last week. We were talking about family and growing up and we realized that we had some things in common. For one, we were really close to our grandmas. And we talked about a lot of things over dinner and it was really good to hear about her. We plan to hang out during the vacation.
The Potts family is putting up a concert/worship session this coming Sunday evening. I am helping them play the keyboard. We had a rehearsal last Sunday and it was great. We recorded it and each of us got a CD to listen to during the week. My favorite is Jeff's version of the Lord's Prayer. He composed a new tune for it, and it is SO pretty. As we were practising, a family walked in, and they were from Mexico. Apparently the church supports them and they had come all the way to visit the church. They thought we had services at night, but we dont. If they had come any other week, the church would have been closed. But they came the week we happened to be practising! That is such a miracle from God. They wanted to see some people, and Dana managed to get them on the phone and they came to the church starightaway to visit with them a little.
After practise, we went to ColdStone Ice cream to get some icecream, and then I drove home. The exit that I usually take was closed, and I had to go round and round till I found the next exit. By that time I was so frazzled I wanted to scream. But I got home safely and that's all that matters.
I got a card from Stephanie, and it was a beautiful card. It is in Spanish because she got this card in Mexico when she volunteered there for 2 months. It says, "This day is special and always, I would love to give you all the good things life has to offer. But because I cannot, I will give you what I have prepared for you. I will encourage you in everything you do, Happiness in everything you will accomplish, communion with your desires, Hope for the future, and friendship and love now and forever." She translated this on the side of the card. And then she gave me a check for $30 to get a necklace I told her I wanted to get but didnt because I thought it cost too much. On the check memo it said, Go get that necklace! She's an awesome person and a wonderful friend. I told her that when she figures out when her recital is, to let me know, and I will be there.
I was watching Will and Grace, and in my opinion, the character Karen Walker is the most sensible and sensitive of all characters. Thought I'd just throw that one in.
Gotta get to bed, gotta get up eatly tomorrow to go to work. Chilin's request. Goodnight!

It has been a WONDERFUL DAY!!!!! It will be hard to top the fun I had today!
First of all, THANK YOU, Ching Han, for sending me those photos of the family!!! It was such an awesome surprise to get them in the mail today. When I saw the envelope, I thought to myself, I didnt order anything from Amazon.com! Then I opened it, and almost cried when I saw the photos! You guys all look great!!! And you managed to get everyone in at least one photo. Even Uncle Lian and Auntie Carol. So thank you very very much for them. It's amazing thatI havent seen you guys in almost 2 years. I hope all of you can come over in Dec, it will be great to see you all again!
Anyway, this afternoon we went to Medieval Times. It's a place where you have dinner and watch a show of medieval games and jousting and fighting. Oh it was great!!! I didnt know what to expect, I just thought we were going to have dinner and sit back and watch the show. Well, we were all part of it too! I met Aura and Charisse at Cerritos and we went there together. We met Yuko there. Then we had to wait for Chilin, who brought his 2 daughters, Felicia and Mendie, and Blessing, who was the latest! We went in together because we wanted to sit together. When we got to the waiting area, they made me take a picture with the princess, because it was my birthday. Anyway, we all got yellow crowns because that's the section we were supposed to sit in. We sat the 2nd row from the front, so we got pretty good seats. We sat in a row because that's how they used to sit in those days! Anyway, the show started, and we were told to cheer for our knight who wore our colors. So we cheered for the yellow knight. Except for Yuko who thought the Black and White knight was cute, so she cheered for him. She was totally flirting with him, and she a married woman too! Who knew!!! Of course he didnt see her. Aura thought the green knight was cute, and Charisse was going for the red knight. Anyway, there was a ton of screaming and cheering as they competed in the games. There were real live horses too, it was really cool. They showed off some tricks, I guess you could call it. It was neat. Anyway, it was a great show, and we screamed and cheered from start to finish. I was worried Felicia and Mendie would get scared because there was fighting, but they loved it! The food was fantastic. We had to eat everything with our hands. We had garlic bread, soup, which we had to drink from the bowl. And then we had the chicken. I had Aura take a picture of the chicken because it honestly took up the whole plate. It was SO HUGE! I think we all had the same expression when we got served the chicken. It was an "OH MY GOSH, THIS CHICKEN IS HUGE!!!!" kinda face. But my favorite was the ribs, which we didnt get enough of, in my opinion! We had so much fun there. We took lots and lots of pictures because Aura bought herself a camera today!
Then Chilin said, I'm treating you all to ice cream! So we went to Claim Jumper and had dessert there. Charisse really wanted the Motherlode, which was a 6, count them, SIX, layer chocolate cake. There were 8 of us and there were leftovers. We also had a coupla huge slices of cheesecake. But the best part was just sitting there and talking and chatting and having fun and having a great time. I'm so glad Yuko, Chilin, and his daughters were able to join us. It usually is just Aura, Charisse, Blessing and I, but today was special. At first I thought it might be a little strange that my boss is coming too, but I'm glad he did. Besides, he paid for dessert!! Felicia and Mendie leave for Singapore tomorrow with their mom, so we wont be seeing them for about 3 weeks. Have fun, guys! Eat Lots!!!
Anyway, I have to get up at 4.30 am which is about 3 1/2 hours from now, so I need to go to bed. This has been an amazing birthday celebration. God's totally blessed me with a wonderful family and great friends. So, THANK YOU GOD!!!
Goodnight! Or rather, GOOD MORNING!

Ok, to continue my previous blog.....
So I went to the cabinet and after opening a coupla drawers, and flipping over a coupla boxes containing trash bags, I found the next clue in the 3rd drawer I opened. And it read, "NOPE you are not finished! But you are getting closer! The next clue can be found behind one of the plaques on the wall beside the alarm." For those who dont know, there are about 25 plaques on that wall by the alarm! Trust Aura and Charisse to choose that location to hide the next clue!!! I think I flipped over about 5 plaques before I found the piece of paper. By that time, there are parents and students looking at me, thinking I was nuts. I could hear Aura and Charisse laughing in the office because I think I moaned a little when I saw the number of plaques I thought I had to turn over. The next clue read, "Good job but there is still a long way to go! The next clue can be found on the bulletin/cork board. But you have to figure out which board it's on." There are 4 boards FILLED, and I mean FILLED with notices and announcements tacked on them. I had to turn over quite a few notices before I found it. I should have known that they would stick it onto something that was laminated so it would not destroy the paper! But of couse I didnt think of it till after the fact! So clue #5 reads, "Alright! Still not there! This TIME your clue will be in a form of a riddle: It keeps TIME but it doesnt have a face, it has numbers but it goes past 12, and it only has one hand instead of two. Once you figure out the riddle, you will find the next clue." And I thought it was the clock that they timed in and out with! So I went and looked at it, but it was digital! So it wasnt it. Tricky, girls, tricky! Well, being a musician, you'd think I'd know that they meant a METRONOME! Anyway, that was my 2nd guess, so I feel better about that! I looked and looked but couldnt find a metronome anywhere. Finally, talking to Aura, I looked up and there it was, right above her on Synthia's shelf. Those sneaky girls turned the box around so the picture was hidden! But I found the clue stuck at the bottom of the box, and it read, "You are almost there! THIS IS YOUR LAST CLUE! This last clue will lead you to your ULTIMATE SURPRISE! Yet another riddle: I have leaves but I'm not a tree, I have dog ears but I'm not a dog, I belong to Mel Bay but for a price I can belong to you, my companion is a guitar, and my talents are to help you play beautiful music." That clue totally stumped me! I had to ask Chris Keefe, another teacher, what he thought it was. That man had no clue too. I literally walked around the office area, and I looked very closely at funky looking fake tree with pink flowers, and finally ended up at the book cabinet. And I found the clue!!! I couldnt believe it! I happened to look at a guitar book and stuck to it was the last clue!!! I heard Charisse say, How did she find it??!! Haha, thought you tricked me, huh?? So my last clue was, "Congratulations! Youre ULTIMATE SURPRISE can be found in the storage room. Now ask Aura and Charisse for the key." There are 2 storage rooms, and OF COURSE I had to go to the wrong one first! But I found my prize at the end, and they had 4 balloons stuck to the wall with a big colored paper that said,"ULTIMATE SURPRISE! SURPRISE!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY! You thought we forgot, didnt you? Well, you are not finished yet. Please select one of the boxes and this will determine your FUTURE!" And I had 6 boxes of choices of what I could do. I could go Salsa Dancing, (Blessing thought I was going to pick that. Have you ever seen Audrey dance? No? Maybe there is a reason why!) I could go bowling, or the movies, miniature golfing, Medieval Times, or Universal Studios. I narrowed it down to Miniature golfing and Medieval Times before I picked the latter. It's a restaurant where you sit and eat with your hands, and you can watch the medieval knights fighting and jousting and stuff like that. We are going on Saturday, and I am SO EXCITED!!! I just thought it was going to be a dinner with my girls! It was such a fun day on Tuesday, running around the school looking for clues.
So a HUGE thank you to Aura and Charisse for coming up with this really fun scavenger hunt for my birthday. I had a blast doing it. And a HUGE hug and thank you to my sister, AiAi for thinking of me and writing to Aura to ask her to do something special for my birthday. It's been a wonderful birthday week. I am very blessed to have wonderful family and friends around me. And that is my best gift of all!

I've had a really nice birthday week! On Sunday morning, Jeff, Dana, Lauren and Jena woke me up by singing happy birthday to me. At 6:15 AM!! It totally shocked me, but it was such a nice way to wake up! And then at church, they told everyone I knew that it was my birthday, and people were coming up to me to wish me a happy birthday. I really had a good time though I was sick. I think I got the stomach flu, but the Potts family wanted to take me out, and I was determined to enjoy myself. So I downed quite a few ibuprofen to keep going, and it was fine. We went to the Wood Ranch for lunch, and I had tritip, and it was really really good. I couldnt eat too much, so I took a good chunk home. I slept most of the afternoon. We had a little practise for the concert they are going to put up at the end of August. But after that, I was out like a light again.
On Monday, I got a few surprises. Dave and Chilin pooled their resources and bought me a watch. It was a Precious Moments watch. It was really sweet of them to get me a gift. Then, I got a call from Stephanie. She's been in Mexico all this time, and she only got back into the US on Monday and she called me to wish me a Happy Birthday! It was SOO good to talk to her again. I cant wait to talk to her this weekend. Then Stacy brought her whole family for piano lesson because she wanted her husband to listen to her play. She and I did her favorite duet, Beauty and the Beast. I think her husband was really impressed. Anyway, then I got home, and I got a package from Jana!!! She sent me this huge package and in it was a book, a photo frame, and muddy buddies!!! Muddy Buddies are those yummy puppy chow things her mom made while I was there visiting them. I'm going to savor them and eat them slowly! They are SO good.
Then Tuesday morning I had to get up and go to Costco to get Joshua's birthday cake and 6 pizzas. I was supposed to get to the school at 11.15 am, but noone else cooperated with me! The traffic didnt cooperate, the cashier at costco didnt too, so I only got there at 11.30. Oh well, the kids didnt seem to mind, they seemed occupied with other stuff, like kids regularly do. And it was a good party, it was good cake too! I love cake. I ate 2 pieces because I love cake! Chocolate with cream cheese filling. Yummo! I met a few of Lu and Chilin's friends there too. They were in town for a visit, and Chilin brought them to the school for the party. They are very nice people. Joshua had a pinata, and it was very funny to watch the kids hit at it for the candy. It was a Spiderman one, but he really didnt look very much like one. Looked like a scary red scarecrow to me. Then I went to Cerritos to teach, and that's where all the fun began.
I got there early, and put my stuff down in my room and went to check my messages in my mailbox. Aura was there and I was getting ready to go into the office to talk to her. I got quite a few messages about kids dropping out of lessons for the summer and new students coming in, and there was a purple piece of paper and a yellow piece of paper. I thought those were just announcements from the office because they usually use colored paper to send out messages and announcements from the administration. Well, the purple one was a card that the office staff all signed, and the yellow one read, " AUDREY, You have just gotten yourself into a SCAVENGER HUNT! Throughout the day, you will be searching for pieces of paper that will lead you to different clues. Each paper you find will lead you to a clue. There is an ULTIMATE SURPRISE at the end. HAVE FUN! The first clue can be found under the table in the teacher's room." Reading that, I started to laugh, and from the office, I heard Aura laughing. I walked into the office and she goes, GOTCHA! You thought we forgot about your birthday!! I cannot believe they planned this for me. It was incredible. Later, Au told me that they had planned this 2-3 weeks ago, and they didnt say a thing to me about it! And Au also told me that Ai, (my youngest sister) had written her an email asking her to please do something special for my birthday. And Aura had written her back telling her that they had already planned something, but didnt say what. Anyway, I didnt want to start looking for clues until Charisse came in because she was a big part in this too. I had to teach, so I could only start looking for clues at 4 pm, when I had a break. I found my next clue which said, "Congratulations! You are one step closer to your ULTIMATE SURPRISE! Alright, the next clue can be found inside one of the drawers of the filing cabinet by the restroom."
OK, Blogger is really messed up tonight, so I will continue tomorrow. ARGH!