Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Jeopardy!


I have always loved Jeopardy!, and have recently decided to watch it everyday for a slice of "me time". Usually Marce has fallen asleep by then or is pretty relaxed anyway to where I can watch in peace. I rarely get a lot right, but sometimes I can sweep a catagory if it's one of my expertise subjects. Anyway today I thought I'd share one cause I thought it was interesting. The answer basically said that 80 billion dollars worth of these are sold a year, and companies love to sell them because about 8% of them are never redeemed. What are....gift cards?

I remember one Christmas giving my two older sisters Gap gift cards. My responsible sister used hers, my not so responsible sister lost hers. So...I could see how this is true in many different circumstances. I can tell you that I hardly ever receive gift cards, but when I do by golly, I use them! I never loose anything though, I'm very organized and on top of things that way. Shar says I'm OCD all the time, maybe I am but I view it as a good thing as I don't really know what OCD entails altogether.

Anyway, moral of the post: Use your gift cards! It's your money...or the money of the person who gave it to you. But, you get the point! Retailers make enough money!
P.S. Alex is good looking, I think. And Ken was so fun to watch. It was so entertaining with him on. I have to get footage of that someday...

Time Outs: Starting to pay off!

To discipline Marce, we give him time outs. That's the only thing really to do for his age. And it's good because he doesn't like them. We put him in his room and shut the door for a few minutes. (he doesn't even think to play with his toys or anything) In the beginning he would violently cry and bang on the door, then he'd settle down a bit but still he was right there on the other side of the door and when we came to get him, he was sad and wanted to be held right away. The last few weeks when he gets a time out, he is sad and goes to cry face down on his bed...so cute. When we open the door he is still that way on his bed and he stays there and we come to him and then we hug him and hold him and stuff. He still does this now but the reason I say it is working is that he is now not angry with timeouts, but rather, sad that he got a time out. There's a big difference. BUT, the biggest reason why it's working is that he is learning to obey based off of time outs. For instance, if I tell him come over here and lay down so I can change your diaper...and he's playing around and doesn't come, well after a couple times of telling him I tell him he will get a time out, and he immidiately comes over and lays down. He now knows he does not want a time out and he knows what he needs to do to not get one, and...he does it! Yay, it's working. It's been really nice. and I don't just use it to get him to do everything, if he doesn't come in time, he actually does get them still, but he avoids a LOT of them because he does come.
This has all worked out in beautiful time as I am now getting big and don't want to chase or wrestle with him anymore. It couldn't have worked out better!
The communication barrier, not just with this but so many other areas is improving everyday between us. We're really subconsciously working on it I guess, and it's getting better and better, not just communicating, but understanding, both of us. We are really focusing on Marce asking for things rather than first whining for them. Like for example when I'm eating a bowl of cereal and he's whining right by my side "uh...uh...uh...uh...uh" So annoying, well we say "say please", or "more" and he says it and then we give him a bite but the very next time he is whining again, and we do that cycle everytime, eventually I know he'll get it and some day soon right from the start instead of whining he'll say "please". We usually say "What do you say?" but I can tell he doesn't know what were asking him so we just have to tell him what to say for right now.
It's good he's communicating and understanding better and better because that will really help me when I have this new baby come. One will be able to speak a little and one will be crying and whining, I don't want two crying and whining, so it's good Marcelus is progressing wonderfully.

Monday, January 28, 2008

Tagged...

How long have you been together? We met in early Dec. '04, were engaged by New Years, and Married Feb. 5, '05. We have been together just over 3 years.

How long did you date? We really didn't date. We were seperated by an hour drive, but we went on one half day date. He held my hand for the first time on that date. It was really the first opportunity.

How old is he? 29

Who eats more? Definately him, but for a girl my size, I eat a ton!

Who is taller? Ha Ha, I'm actually only one inch away from being the average women's height. He's a giant.

Who sings better? We both can sing decently. Sharrid has a good sounding voice, every once in a while if he sings without music, hell changethe key at some point. I don't know how people can so maybe I have a better ear, and I can sing parts if I learn them, but Shar loves to sing, and can carry a tune well, he could learn parts also if he needed to.

Who is smarter? Sharrid is more booksmart. He is smarter than me on Math and Science big time. He is prob. more street smart as well, but I have a leg up on him with some things. We compliment each other well I guess.

Who does the laundry? I do all the laundry.

Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? If you are looking at the bed, I do. I have to have the side closest to the door, even though Shar gets up first always.

Who said "I love you" first? I don't remember at all.

Who mows the lawn? No lawn.

Who is more stubborn? We are so equal here.

Who cooks dinner? Me, I always cook dinner almost every night. Sharrid is a decent cook, he likes to cook big breakfasts.

Who pays the bills? Sharrid pays the bills, but I am in charge of writing them out, sending them off, ect. I run the money I guess.

Who kissed who first? It was one of those movie kisses, you know where Telepathy takes place and you both just know,...it was mutual. I think we both equally wanted to.

Who asked who out? How do I answer this...Shar did, but then I said no because I lived so far, then he said he didn't care so I guess he did. And then I invited him to spend Christmas with me, so that was a big one...?

Who proposed? Well, I brought marriage up first, actually it was Christmas night. So, kind of me. I brought it up and initated most of that conversation but of course after we were engaged, he "proposed" with a ring that I told him I didn't want, just after we had said a prayer together.

Who is more sensitive? Sharrid is more sensitive, but he won't always tell me he's been hurt, actually I always have to find out later that I hurt his feelings. He tries to act tough about it but because he still remembers down the road this long (and brings it up) I know he is sensitive about it...I have never seen him shed a tear once. He says that he physically cannot cry. I don't know how, but I have not seen him cry, not even a tear come out of his eye.

Who has more friends? Neither of us really have friends, but we do have a few, I think it's equal.

Who has more siblings? Me, I have 5. He has 3 brothers and 1 half brother and 1 half sister...So I guess we tie? I should win. He should have 4. Half siblings count for half. He didn't grow up with them.

Who are you tagging? If you read this, you're tagged...

Personal Spotlight - Fred Rogers: America's Favorite Neighbor








So last night I was relaxing and reading out of a book my mom gave to me for I think my BD this last year. The book is "The World According To Mister Rogers" and it is a small quote book. I LOVE Fred Rogers. I loved his show when I was little and then I guess forgot about him until I was older but when I saw him again, I remembered. I remembered how he made me feel. Plus being older I realized what a big humanitarian he was and I like him now more than ever. Anyway I just wanted to share a few quotes I read last night that stuck out to me.

"People have said, "Don't cry" to other people for years and years, and all it has ever meant is, "I'm too uncomfortable when you show your feelings. Don't cry."
I'd rather have them say "Go ahead and cry. I'm here to be with you."

"Grandparents are both our past and our future. In some ways they are what has gone before, and in others they are what we will become."

I was so pleased to read this last one because I felt it was true and I absolutely adore my grandma Packard, and if I could be a tenth of the grandma she is, and has been, I would be a really great grandma. I love all my grandparents of course, but there's something about her, and I immediately thought of her while reading this.

Here are a few things I have learned about Fred Rogers myself

  • He named the character Mr. McFeely after his grandpa Fred McFeely because he had a great relationship with him and spent a lot of time with him growing up. McFeely is also Fred's middle name.

  • Died of stomach cancer in 2003.

  • The show is the longest running show on PBS, from 1968-2001.

  • The sweaters he wore on the show were hand knit by his mother.

  • Rumors of Rogers having a wild or violent past are untrue, as are rumors that he served in the Military and has arms covered with tattoos are also untrue.

  • Fred Rogers wrote and composed over 200 songs, including all the songs on his shows. He started playing the Piano at age 5 and he heavily influenced the idea of having his intro music be not simple and childlike, but a sophisticated sort of jazz piece.

  • He was red-green color blind.

  • His parents were foster parents to a Black boy named George who Fred considered his older brother. George later taught Fred to fly as he served in World War 2.

  • Fred earned a BA in Music Composition in 1951.

  • He was married, had 2 boys, and 3 grandchildren, the last born 12 days after his death.

  • He was a vegetarian who swam every morning, and neither smoked nor drank.

Friday, January 25, 2008

Crazy Marcelus...



Marcelus has already broken his arm once when he was about 15 months. He is not afraid of anything. He is a dare devil but the funny thing is that he just tripped and fell down on tile floor and broke the arm. He wasn't doing anything crazy, like he could have been.

Marce doesn't like milk so I want him to be careful and not break any more bones so they can be stronger for when he's older because he'll prob. want to do sports.

A few months ago he started jumping off couches onto the floor. One of these times he might just sprain or break an ankle but that has not happened yet. I think I've even seen him jump off the arm of the couch. Well, the last few days he has learned that he can jump from couch to couch. He's such a crazy kid. He is not afraid of heights at all. We were at the park today and he goes on the big kids side and up onto the landings of the play thing. It's really pretty high up there. It would be a really far way to drop so hopefully that never happens, but I just know that I better accept the inevitable fact that my kids are going to get hurt, maybe even often, and somewhat seriously, thanks to their crazy ways.

By the way figured out today that another pair of pants is not going to cut it anymore, I had to retire them into the "non pregnancy" bin of clothes. Also I've been meaning to post Marcelus latest words. He has been saying "Oh No" instead of "Oh Oh" so much, and it's just so different believe it or not. He says it like he's so devasted, like he seriously is sad about it, it's so cute. Also, the other new word is "Ouch". It is hilarious to hear, because even the lightest tap or whatever will cause him to say it, actually he mostly says "Ow" for Ouch but he says both. It's pretty funny, he says it all the time. I wonder if he's learning them from Nursery as he started saying them just all the sudden and we really didn't teach him these. Maybe he picked them up from movies...

Thursday, January 24, 2008

Quick Update

We've found out that Sharrid will actually have Swing shift which will be like from 2pm-10pm or so. So we were excited to get that over graveyard. Also Shar will be taking a van pool they provide, so it'll be nice to save on gas that way. Anyway, we'll be settled into our schedule soon enough, coming into Feb.

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Going back in time...
















Ok these pictures are horrible, for two reasons. One, I took a picture of a picture for these with my digital, and second, my hair is really ugly because I was trying to grow out a perm...





But, anyway I wanted to put video on my blog of me ready to burst last time and some baby shots of Marce but I can't figure it out altogether so here are some still shots anyway.

The story behind the name



ok so a couple people have asked me about how I came up with Phoenix' name. So, I'm doing a post about it. First of all, when Shar and I were engaged, we talked about our future kids names, and he had said a few, and Marcelus was one of them. We know our first girl, whenever she comes will be named Roma Jean, but if it were to be a boy, we'd have to decide. Sharrid was determined to name his first boy Marcelus, after the greatest boxer in the world, you see Marcelus is Muhammad Ali's real middle name. When I found out this was the reason, I suggested that we use the first and last name as well, because I happened to like Muhammad Ali also. I don't know a lot about boxing I guess but I collect footage and have a interview piece of him that I have always been impressed by. So, Marce's full name is Cassius Marcelus Clay Hill. It's fun when the doctor's use Cassius at the office and stuff. But Sharrid wanted him to go by Marcelus. By the way Cassius is prenounced like Cashus.

As far as Phoenix goes, it was not on our original list of names to use that we formed when we got married. (We basically have all our names picked out already) but, we came up with this I think just before we got pregnant or something, and I don't know why. Obviously it came from where we live but other than that, there's no significance. We did not pick this because we love the city or the Suns or anything like that, we just thought of it and picked it and there was no sentimental reason. I have known that the Prophets middle name is Bitner for a long time. And ever since I learned that I have loved it and wanted to use it for one of my kids. So, were not so much naming our son after the Prophet, although it prob. wouldn't be a bad idea. It's just that I like that name, so that's how Phoenix Bitner Hill came about.

Sharrid's 1st Day of Work









These are some candid pictures of Sharrid's 1st day of work after he got home which was pretty early. He got home when I was watching Jeopardy, which is like 4:45. I was way excited about that. It has been so long since he's been home from a work day that early, I have gotten un-used to it, so it was a big surprise. Of course after this week, things will change drastically. He'll be told his schedule on Thur. I guess and he said most likely he'll get graveyard. This will be tough. In time we'll have a good schedule though.

I thought these pics were funny of Marce. Usually Sharrid would be very strict about Marcelus climbing all over the table like this but I was very surprised that he wasn't. Marcelus is wearing his Suns shirt because it's a game day. We won the game, it was pretty close the whole time, (we were not playing well). But of course at the end of a close game PHX always comes through, and takes the win. There is another game on tonight against the Timberwolves at 6 on My45 if interested. The T wolves are not very good at all now that Garnett traded to Boston but they have been surprising a couple teams lately, so it should be a good game. By the way, Marce doesn't wear Suns clothes every game day...sounded as if I were saying that but he does prob. have enough now that he could!

Oh and yeah the shower time picture is just random. He only let me get the one.

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Is this even possible?!


My heavens, how many babies has she got in there. I'm sorry but I was looking for pics for my poll (to the side) and found this, and Wow. I had to post it. This is every woman's worst nightmare,...well mine anyway! Look at the pic above the poll though, isn't that little foot print cute, how adorable is that?

Poetry Post

Fantasy World
-Lexie Willard
2004

Reality is overrated
I don't want to be so concentrated
Let's drift away
To a fantasy world
I want to go back in time
To when I was a little girl
Life was so much easier then
Let's travel back in time to when
We played games
And we jumped rope
We had so much to gain
And every reason to hope
Life was carefree and full of wonder
Life was easy going and life was funner
The difference is back then we lived our lives
We weren't just a spec or a dot in time
There's just one question I might ask
Why is living rather than existing such a task?
That's just a question and this is just a thought
But I'd rather live fairytales than what this life has brought
Our minds are for learning and imagining such things
If you think and dream and wonder
Who knows what that could bring
I dream wonderful fantasies, yes I am very smart
Cause who wants to live this reality
Be honest with your childlike heart
Reach deep inside
For the young one that's there
The young one who's innocent
And the young one who cares
The young one will take you to your father above
Because the young one is full of that Christlike love
Don't ridicule those who seem like "young" adults
They are better off than you
You have greater faults
They're just trying to get away
From the reality that life is
A child is in his heart
And that heart is truly his
Why don't we all lay back
And drift into that world
The world where you are a little boy
And I am a little girl
My brother is already there
And I am on my way
When I finally arrive there
I'll always there stay

Monday, January 21, 2008

Long Weekend

Shar graduated on Thur. We were able to spend that day together pretty much, and then he was given fri-mon off and told to report Tues. because of the holiday. It has been so nice to have 4 WHOLE days off! I think we are both well deserving of it though. We spent one day in town running errands. And one day we moved Marcelus into our blank room cause Kira moved out, so now he is in there, and his room is adorable, there's just a couple more things I want to get for his room. We bought him his very own dresser. It is much bigger than the crib dresser he has been using. With all of Marcelus' toys and play tent and bed and dresser and everything in his own room, the other room has plenty of space in it for Phoenix. There is a lot more room in the closets, and I now have to just fill Phoenix room with a couple of things I want, like a glider and a baby swing. and little stuff like a hamper and a toy box.
The best part of putting the boys in their own rooms, or moving Marcelus over early was that I got to go through all of Marcelus' old clothes and put Newborn clothes in the crib dresser to be ready for Phoenix, I know I have plenty of time but it was just exciting, and gave me that "organization high" that I crave all the time. So his drawers are all ready for him, there are a few things we need to buy but I have 4 months so we're going to do it gradually.
It will be great to have the boys in their own rooms! They are somewhat small rooms I guess, every new house is like that now. But, they'll each have plenty of room!

We are also working right now on getting Marce to go to bed better. He always comes out over and over when I put him in there so I've been sitting with him til he falls asleep, but he is old enough that he needs to learn to go to bed on his own after being tucked in. With another kid coming, I need him to do his part. The last 2 nights we've been working on a new routine in his new room. And, the last two nights we've had to shut his door and he lays on his bed and cries himself to sleep. After he's asleep I open the door because yeah,...he gets up in the middle of the night, almost every night. That's a whole other issue I'm not really going to worry about right now. If I can get him to go down in the first place on his own, then we'll worry about in the night. Hoping to have him be a much improved sleeper by the time Phoenix comes because who knows how good/bad a sleeper he will be! Any advice is welcome...I think it's just a matter of time though...a few nights of having the door shut and he'll prob. stop coming out...

You asked...Here they are

The long awaited pregnancy pictures are here but don't get too excited. It seems I feel a lot bigger than I am. I still have something to show though, so here they are. Excuse these ugly pictures. I'm in my "after church relaxing" clothes, and my hair looks like crap. At this point now I am 21 weeks along and my next appt. is on Feb. 8th.






Sunday, January 20, 2008

A young mothers confessions...

First of all, ignore the previous post. I am still trying (and failing) to put video on my blog.

ok, well, today is Sunday, and having lessons about Prayer and Heavenly Father, I am inclined to post a bit of a confession or it can just be called a story and a thought. Friday we were in town all day running our annual weekly errands. We always have to end with Walmart because of the cold food. The plan according to me was that I was to go in and get a head start on the shopping, while Sharrid took Marcelus to a nearby park for a half hour and then come and find me in Walmart to finish up. What actually happened was that I did all the shopping, walked around all of Walmart to find Sharrid. Couldn't find him anywhere, was wondering why he hadn't found me yet. It was now dark outside, there would be no reason to still be out at the park. I called him over the intercom, and he did not come. He had told me that he would find me because he left his cell phone at home. I couldn't call him cause of that and reached for my phone to check the time only to find that mine was missing. It definately added to the stress, but I was thankful that I was worried about Sharrid and Marcelus so much at that point that to lose my cell phone was not even a tiny care in my mind. The only problem was that I not only couldn't call Shar, but couldn't call anyone. I felt really alone at that point, beside all of these strangers in Walmart. My cart was full of groceries and I decided to check out and then continue my search. I went through self check out as I always do, (checkers are too slow and use way too many bags) The thought of Sharrid and Marcelus overtook everything in my mind. The fact that my cold foods were just sitting there forever meant nothing to me after a very short period of time. Time,...a lot of time had gone by. It had been dark outside forever, and I didn't know what to do. I didn't know what my next move was. I felt it was pointless to search the store again, and tears were at my eyes now. I didn't want to ask them to call him again because I was really about to lose it. I felt really helpless and went to sit at the McDonalds section of the store to think. I was at the end of my rope, so much time had gone by and I was starting to think of the worst. I knew Sharrid and Marce were not in the store, or they would have found me. I knew they were out there, I thought they must not be at the park, it was dark and cold outside, and Sharrid said he'd be back in 30 minutes. I thought of bad things that could have happened. I thought they could have gotten in a car accident. I thought that Sharrid could have been tired and fallen asleep somewhere or in the car, I even thought of worse things. I could barely keep from crying, and tears were just wanting to burst out of my eyes. It almost hurt to keep them under control. At that point, nothing else mattered at that point. Nothing. Now, I'm so grateful for that, and proud of myself that when these times come, we realize that were doing ok,...because we don't care so much about money or our house, or car, ...or cell phone, or any THING. I cared for nothing at the time but Sharrid, and Marcelus. I was at the end, and said a desperate prayer. Peace did not come over me right then, I still was holding back tears, I still felt helpless, I still felt no hope, I still was reeling inside, BUT ...Sharrid and Marcelus walked into Walmart about 10-15 minutes later. I called for him but he didn't hear me, I grabbed my cart and ran for him. He was confused that I was crying. I held Marcelus and put my face in Sharrid's chest because I really was crying at this point.
It turns out that Sharrid and I were not on the same "plan" page. The plan according to him was that yes, he would be back in 30 minutes but he would be circling the parking lot waiting for me to come out, which was exactly what he had been doing for all that time. It never occured to me to step outside, never even the thought...he said he'd been circling forever and Marcelus was being good anyway, and he just figured I was just having a lot of "fun" in Walmart shopping. Wow...a lot of fun.
On the way home we both agreed on a rule that both of us are to have our cell phones every day we go into town, as we are seperated some times. By the way, mine had slipped out of the diaper bag into the car's back seat. Also we agreed that we will be more clear about the "plan", althought we both felt that it was clear...

It makes me sad to think that I am the first one to know and understand, and yet the first one to be guilty of praying in emergency situations, or when we are really struggling or need help, but then forgetting to pray on a regular basis. Not sharing the good with HF, just using him when we need help and taking it for granted. It's like a slap in the face you know, to him. There's not a relationship there. There's only a dependency, that we recognize only when we are in desperate times. I've had experiences like this as a young mother and thought to change, but really haven't. And it makes me sad because I at one time had the best relationship with Hf that I could have it seemed. Shortly after HS moving out for the first time, up north where it was cold, it took me a month to find a job after searching. The job I did find payed me 2.15/hour plus measily shared tips. The only bills I had were rent and phone. I could barely pay them. I barely ate. I refused to ask my parents for help because I knew at that time it would have been hard for them. I had a bike, and my two legs. Luckily I did have a warm coat. It took me an hour to walk to work, fast walking. It took 25-30 minutes to bike. I walked most the time so that I could hopefully get a ride home with a co-worker. I can't paint the picture good enough, but I can tell you that I prayed constantly to get through the day, or the week. To survive. After 6 months I came home, not really gaining anything from that experience but a relationship with HF, a real, friendly, "talk to Him as if he's standing there" relationship. I came home praying 20 minute prayers I would guess.

Now, I have to start over, and get that back. Why is it so hard for me, a young mother? I do know that I am so tired by the end of the day with a 2 year old and a "parasite" as Shar calls it, in the belly, that at night I just crash. In the morning Marcelus wakes me up with a request whether it be "eat" or "movie" or "sippy". Once I'm at that point, I've forgotten. Luckily family and food prayers allow me to pray at all. BUT I have now made a goal, an inspiration has clicked for me, and some of you might think it is odd, but it will work. I shower everyday, and it is a quiet uninterrupted peaceful time. I take a decently long shower, I will pray in the shower! Even Marce is quiet at the bottom of the shower, he showers in with me about every other day. He's always quiet and playing though, it will be my prayer time. The Lord will excuse this I think. What must a young mother do to fulfill the commandments, to do what needs to be done. It's a tough gig isn't it, but we have to be creative. This is a new start at least. I know it's weird but it hit me, and I know it will work.

Sorry this post is so long, but it is what it is, I couldn't cut it any shorter. Maybe it will help you, maybe it won't, but it's helped me by writing it down, and to me a blog is a journal anyway. It's a journal everyone can read, but it is a journal, and whatever we feel we can share we do, and what we can't we don't but I felt like writing this story. I am grateful for experiences like this, but sad that I have to have them over and over again, and make goal after goal, trying to make it work again and again.

By the way, pregnancy pics are coming very soon...

Saturday, January 19, 2008

Friday, January 18, 2008

COTA Graduation

We got up at like 4:30 Thursday morning and got ready, headed down to Tucson. Marce and I slept pretty much the whole way. When we got there, I had to entertain Marce during a dress rehearsal and room inspections. We waited in Shar's classroom. They had a film strip going that they gave all the cadets. We ended up packing way too many snacks, drinks, and diapers. It really wasn't super long and Sharrid got a break to come and be with us before the ceremony started. During the ceremony, they gave all the little kids crayons and paper but it only interested Marce for like 2 seconds. He tried to escape a couple of times. I had to fetch him. Luckily he was good when I had to take video and pictures, therefore I got all the video and pictures I wanted, sometimes taking video and a snap shot at the same time using both of my hands. The ceremony was the perfect length of time, but good it wasn't any longer because of Marce. It was neat to be in that setting though. After graduation, we headed into town to find a restrurant. After awhile of driving in down town Tucson, seeing U of A campus, and Tucson HS, we found IHOP! I ate my weight in breakfast foods. I still can't believe it! I ate my whole plate, plus about 1/3 of Sharrid's second plate which was a T-bone steak with sides. Yeah, Sharrid had 2 plates, the first was Pecan Pancakes, but then he felt like a steak so he asked for another menu. Then we drove home. What a day! Sharrid is now a Correctional Officer! He goes for his first day of official work on Tuesday. He has a normal schedule this week, and he'll find out what schedule (graveyard or swing) he'll be working after this week. He's hoping for swing. These pictures are not in order but it won't be that big of deal. Congratulations Officer Hill! You are no longer known as Cadet Hill!


Sharrid with his Sargeant Martinez. All the cadets really loved him including Sharrid. He will miss him.

Sharrid with his "celly". He was a member of the Church also.

Shar's class earned their flag their 3rd week of Academy. They were very proud.


Sharrid signing his class flag. Class 824. The flag was very significant to the cadets.

The cadets marching out after the ceremony.

Sharrid's certificate from being the top 3rd cadet for academics. The top 3 got awards.

Sharrid with his badge on.

Myself pinning Sharrid's badge on him.


Some of Sharrid's class, class 824.

Sharrid receiving his graduation badge and certificate.

Bad picture, but Sharrid received a special award for his academics as he graduated in the top 3. He was 3rd out of 38 cadets!

In the graduating ceremony, Shar and the cadets sitting around him. Some of these people he will still see at the prison he is assigned to, but others will work in different prisons around the state.

Sharrid in full cadet uniform. He also has a spiffy Jacket he can wear when it's cold, and I think the hat might be just for the Academy.
Marcelus with Shar's uniform cap on.

Sharrid said the area of Tucson they were in was very beautiful.

Sharrid got really close to the cadets in his class.
Still working on putting a video on my blog. I think my videos are too large or something, but it was just a little clip, I don't know. I'll keep trying.


I had to graduate another pair of regular pants this week, (the Cords Connie) Bummer...I'm going to have to buy some Maternity clothes sooner than later. Last preg. I swear I borrowed the majority of them.


Saving the best for last. I am very happy to report that the Suns beat the Lakers last night. I didn't get the game and was upset at that. But I checked online at the half we were up, so I had high hopes then I went to bed, checked this morning and we won. Good..., stupid Lakers, I hate the Lakers. Eat that big win Kobe! We reclaim the number one spot in our conference! I think there's another game on tonight! Can't wait...