Pennsylvania Bar, Check!

Well Dustin concluded the Pennsylvania Bar Exam today! He has been in Philadelphia since Sunday and I could immediately hear the relief in his voice when he called to tell me he was done today! He feels it went the best it possibly could, but of course now is a sit, pray and wait game. He comes home tomorrow and not only am I physically excited to have my husband back home and in San Antonio, I am excited that he will now be "checked-in," to all that we "normally," do without this hanging over his (and my) heads.

Don't worry he wore ALL GREEN each day, including new pairs of clover-leaf boxers for extra good-luck in the Irish city. : ) Thank you for your e-mails, texts, prayers and phone calls....we loved them all!!!

It's been a GREAT week!

Last Friday, my principal came to me to discuss me moving in to serve as the high school's special education department chair. Our current chair, who is absolutely the most organized and wonderful person ever is being relocated to California with her husband's job. I am very flattered and honored that I was chosen to fulfill her very LARGE shoes! I won't start until August, but will have the remainder of the year to probe her, ask LOTS of questions, learn, etc. I am not sure what my schedule will exactly look like -- I will still be teaching math and science, but how many classes and when is the million dollar question. A lot of these decisions cannot be made until the budget decisions are made in Austin which could be as late as August / September (hopefully not!). I encourage you to follow the education budget crisis in Texas. It's very tough and sad situation for ALL to be in. We're projected to lose up to 8 million dollars in my district, which is a large chunk of our current yearly budget.

Dustin leaves for Philadelphia on Sunday morning. The Pennsylvania Bar exam is on Tuesday and Wednesday of next week (2/22-2/23). He is more relieved, now, that the end is in sight. He has been working half days so that he has adequate time to study and prepare. At this point, he feels he has learned all that he can learn and is using his time to take practice exams. I believe the results from this exam will be in either late April or early May. PRAY that he does his very best and PASSES!

Snapa Photos II

Snapa Photos

Napa & Sonoma

We're home from a wonderful trip to Napa and Sonoma. We had 3 full days of wine tasting and that was heavenly! We ate at the most amazing restaurants...some that we had reservations for and others we stumbled upon. I took over 350 pictures....don't I have a great husband to let me take that many pictures? Capturing these pictures took many U-Turns, pulling off the side of the road, etc. etc....but Dustin was patient. The mustard plants were in bloom in between the vines.... I haven't uploaded the pictures yet....I know that will take a few hours...that I haven't found time for, yet. It's hard being away from your job....your work just piles up---there isn't a magical work fairy!!! My favorite winery was Duckhorn and Dustin's was Cakebread. Other wineries we tasted at and visited were: Franciscan (to me had the BEST Reserve Merlot I tasted on the entire trip), Whitehall, Frank Family, Rombauer, Duckhorn, SilverOak, Peju, Caymus, Domaine Chandon (for Jay some bubbly-bubbly), Artessa, and Domaine Carneros. PICTURES COMING SOON! They are absolutely breathtaking. On our way home we got up early and headed back to San Francisco to visit the Muir Woods. Something I have wanted to do, but when I am in the bay area I dash for the wine country. After that we continued down Highway 1 to the beach...took off our shoes and walked in the coooollldddd sand. Following that we went up to another lookout to capture pictures of the Golden Gate Bridge---with the heavy fog hovering around the top was just breathtaking. Then we had lunch at McCormick and Culetos in the Fisherman's Wharf....looking over the Bay and at Alcatraz. We previously had dinner there on New Year's Eve in 2005. : )
Now we're back to work, boot camp and Dustin's studying for the Pennsylvania Bar... 1 month from now and it will be over. : ) We're staying in tonight, making soup and watching movies (or the series of Dallas --- uhhh we're still on Season 1!).

Napa Agenda

Our trip is just right around the corner!!! We leave Friday AM from Austin so we can fly direct on JetBlue and come home later afternoon on Monday. : ) I am soooo excited....of all of the places I have ever been Napa is BY FAR my favorite.

Here is our agenda so far: Friday Dinner at Cindy's Backstreet Kitchen (Cindy is the owner of Mustard's Grill -- she is like THE Napa Chef and has several restaurants in and around the area...this will be our first time trying this restaurant). Check out the menu -- doesn't this look so delicious for a cool and overcast weekend! http://www.cindysbackstreetkitchen.com/

Saturday we have a private sit-down tasting (never had one of these before) at Caymus www.caymus.com and dinner that night at Mustard's Grill (our favorite restaurant!!! -- we ate here for Dustin's birthday in 2005 when we visited San Francisco with my parents and again, when we went to Napa in 2006).

Sunday morning we have a tour and reserve sit-down tasting with a wine maker at Cakebread www.cakebread.com (Tonna don't worry we'll bring you back a bottle).

The rest of the trip we are just winging it -- going to more boutique vineyards and wineries....a little less mainstreamed and off of the beaten path of Highway 29. I hope we have time to visit Artesa, Hess, Stag's Leap, Franciscan, Beaulieu Vineyards (this wouldn't be a trip without Napa without visiting this GORGEOUS winery), Louis Martini, Benziger, Simi, Hall, Silver Oak, Murphy - Goode, Meeker.... If we visit all of these we will definitely need a cab (don't worry--we are very responsible).

CANNOT WAIT -- WE ARE ECSTATIC!!!!!!!

Day 1 of Boot Camp...CHECK!

Well we had an early morning -- waking up to an alarm clock at 4:15 in the morning is just a little on the early side. I started my boot camp this morning and can already tell I am going to be sore for the rest of today and through tomorrow I'm sure. It was a great workout though.....made myself do some things that I wouldn't be disciplined to do on my own. Six pack abs here I come! Dustin got up with me to start his study regimen for the Pennsylvania Bar that is in late February. ....this could make for a long two months. We're going to Napa on Friday for the long weekend -- much needed Dustin & Haley time.. I hope the weather holds up so we can fly in and out without delays or problems. Happy Monday to you all!!!