OK… my son got a job his first time trying.  He interviewed with Michael’s (a craft supply store) and got in!  I’m so proud of him.  Now I’m the only one without a job!  While we were out, we also set up his bank account (finally) so he can begin to receive those paychecks and so he can write checks.

For the week, I wound up working two days as a substitute “floater.”  It was not exciting, but I did see how the first week of school worked, I got some money and I got to see some of my kids from last year.  Seeing the kids again was the best part.  Towards the end of the week, I got another chip job as well.  It’s not going to take me long to complete (in fact, I may already be done), but it’s something.  Every day, I’ve been searching the job sites twice a day.  No new jobs have come in, but I’ll keep searching.  I have also started searching college sites.  Next week, I’ll update all my information for the California Community Colleges registry and see where that gets me.  I’m still hopeful that I can land a job in my home city.

Well, I was going to turn in that application to the Fremont district today, but I got a sub job on the first day of school.  Who would have thought?  I mailed in the application instead.  I was slated to be at Russell Middle School for three days as a floater, but when I got there, I realized that my sub buddy Neil was also there as a three day floater.  They really didn’t need both of us and Neil always gets first dibs because his wife is the receptionist there and she calls in the sub jobs.  I get the feeling that I got the call for Neil’s job by mistake by the automated system.  Still, it was good to see my kids again, now all eighth graders.  They seemed happy to see me too.  During the day, I had a nice lunch with my wife, and I helped many seventh graders find their classrooms.  Towards the end of the day, I asked around the office to see if there was anything more to do.  They thought I had come in just to see what a first day of school looked like (and I would have done that for free), but they didn’t realize that I had been called in.  We both agreed that they would call me tomorrow if they needed me, but I wouldn’t come in on my own.  I want to be helpful, not in the way.

Our church office somehow didn’t get the memo that we were in a rush for Ghana money.  They had put their funds for the trip on the back burner, when in reality, they needed to push things through the board for approval.  I got things expedited.  By Wednesday, the money was in the account.

Tuesday, my family went to the river, maybe for the last time this year.  School starts next week.  Nothing got stolen this time.

On Saturday, I went with the Huss boys to Leguna Seca to look at cars.  I did not realize that they were also racing these cars.  It was a loud, fun time.  We watched a few races from the grandstand, then watched a few more from the “corkscrew” which is a quick set of turns that also has a 35’ drop within a few feet.  I would really like to drive on this course someday.  I know that if I join a Porsche club, I would get that chance, but I also don’t want to pay big bucks for the privilege.

An Art job came up late this week up in Fremont, so I dropped my application off on Friday.  On Saturday, two Social Studies “pool” positions opened up in the same district.  I should turn in that application on Monday.

This weekend was all about the upcoming Ghana trip for Ralph and Jeffrey.  To help them with funding, I created a powerpoint for the church.  I tried some new techniques and it turned out to be some of the best work I have ever done in powerpoint.  I’ll have to remember what I did!  I hope the visuals, plus mini-testimonials from both guys, really brings in some money.  The trip is super expensive this year because international travel has gone up and because they are going deep into the interior of the country so transportation costs are higher.  Any money not funded for Jeffrey means money I have to pay.  In theory, the deadline for funding for this trip ended yesterday.  I’m holding off on paying because the church has not yet sent their portion for this trip, and because donations keep trickling in.  Any money sent to the trip organizer after I pay in full does not come back to me, but gets donated to future trips – another reason why I’m delaying.  This one way policy of theirs is killing me, and will kill me financially if I pay right now.  I simply can’t afford to fund someone else’s future trip.

On Sunday, the three of us held another training session, this time with two other Ghana team members Skyped in from Connecticut.  They went to Ghana last year, so their information and advice was simply wonderful.  The training session itself was simply stellar this time around.  I didn’t put a great deal of effort into the preparation of it, but it just sort of came together beautifully.  I give all credit to God.  I was also reminded of some of my own past trips as we read sections from my trip journals that applied to the topic of the day (working together as a team & finding the good in the country and people you are visiting).  I don’t know if this is wrong or prideful – probably is – but I was really impressed with how well the journals were written and how well they conveyed my thoughts at the time.

Yeah, as of today, I am a graduate of NHU with teaching credentials in both Social Studies and Art.  Now I can also teach at the High School and Middle School level.  I’ll certainly look for jobs there as well as at the college level for Art History.

Twenty-four hours and we were still dealing with the repercussions of yesterday’s theft.  We dropped the van off at a glass repair place then headed down to DMV to get Barbara’s license replaced.  Those two things took all morning.  We drove to church just in time to see our children off on a four day houseboat trip.  In the afternoon, Barbara called all the gas stations where our thieves had attempted to use her credit card to see if her backpack was in a trash can or dumpster someplace.  It was not.  Good news though, one gal remembered the denied transaction and seemed to know the two thieves as regulars (caught on camera no less!).  They may get nabbed, and we might just get that backpack back… if the sheriff’s office is willing to view the video and track stuff down.  Based on their conversation with Barbara, this is unlikely to happen due to resource limitations.  We’ll have to pursue this ourselves.

The family went to the river park with a lot of teen-agers while I stayed home to do homework.  I got interrupted.  Someone had broken into our van while everyone was rafting, smashing a window and stealing a backpack, two iPhones, an iPad and Barbara’s wallet.  As soon as she called me, I began the work of cancelling all the credit cards and disabling the electronic devices.  This took three hours.  Barbara meanwhile, was dealing with the sheriff and with our auto policy.  About the time I finished killing any chance of the thieves profiting from what they had done, it was time for school.  When I got home, the family still wasn’t home.  When they got home, Barbara was understandably upset; not so much because of the expense of the whole thing but because the thieves had stolen all her clothes and a book she had been writing for the last three years – by hand.  Barbara did not sleep well that night.

Today was less planned than yesterday, allowing us some flexibility for anything we might have missed.  Our hotel had recommended “Cornerstone” in Sonoma as an interesting place to visit, so off we went.  On the way there (and back), we tried to find the Windows “Bliss” location – you know, that green hillside picture on some Windows OS systems – it’s in Sonoma!  We found it too, sort of.  Well, the Cornerstone was not what we expected, but it was so much more!  It was a sculpture garden for the most part, and we had the best time just looking at the sculptures and the artists’ installations.  It was a great way to spend a morning.  Next stop, Napa Premium Outlets again.  Because it was unseasonably cold around here, Barbara had been wearing Jeffery’s leather jacket all weekend.  She now wanted one, and so did Courtney.  I didn’t mind because the prices were so cheap for such an expensive item.  Both girls got $60. jackets that were really worth a lot more.  Our lunch reservation was coming up, so we trucked up to Yountville to our last foodie location – Mustards Grill.  Mustards is a place that my wife and I go to just about every time we’re in Napa.  We like the place, however, this time; the prices had really gone up!  This forced us from the “premium” menu items to the burger section to keep things under $100.  The burgers were fantastic, and just about as good as Andy’s Café.  The problem with this is that we wound up paying about $100 here, where we had spent under $40 for Andy’s burgers.  We may not be back to Mustards too soon after this trip.  Andy’s and Carpe Diem are so much better.

After this stop, it was back to home.  I had to go to class tonight to teach an hour-and-a-half long lesson.

Happy Birthday to me!  The day started off right with the high-end coffee that our hotel provides.  The family then got in the van to begin our full day of eating and wine tasting in Sonoma.

We began at a marketplace/winery called Viansa.  Frankly, the exterior grounds were more interesting than the marketplace.  It was too early to drink, and this place, as a winery, was not in the top 15.  We left quickly.  Because my wife didn’t have enough olive oil yesterday at the Oxbow, she requested that we go to Jacuzzi Winery, which also has the Olive Press.  The kids liked the architecture and the grounds.  Barbara bought olive oil.  Next stop was to Ferrer Vineyards, where there was supposed to be a decent champagne wine tour.  We took the tour, which turned out to not be all that great.  Still, the kids mostly enjoyed it.  I enjoyed the champagnes, but I really, really liked the now discontinued 2009 Merlot.  I bought one of the last 100 bottles.  By this time, it was time for our lunch reservation, so we headed into town and went to La Salette, a Portuguese restaurant.  The food was good, but not quite in the fantastic category.  Still, under $100, which was good for lunch.  After that, we headed back to the wine trail.  I had heard that Gundlach-Bundschu Winery had some fantastic views, so we went there.  We were not disappointed.  It is a pretty place.  The kids went hiking around the pond.  I tried wines and fell in love with a Spanish variety wine called Tempranilla.  It’s rare here, but apparently common in Spain.  I bought a bottle.  The next winery was also supposed to be pretty.  With a name like Buena Vista Winery, I sort of expected a view.  There wasn’t one, but it was indeed a pretty place.  I was served by a Czech wine steward and I was in a section alone with a German family from Frankfurt.  We had a great (wine induced) conversation.  It was very enjoyable – more so than the wine in this place.  Ravenswood also did not produce much memorable wine.  The kids wanted to get downtown so we stopped going to wineries and started hitting stores.  First stop was the Vella Cheese Company, a favorite of Barb’s and mine.  We bought a lot of cheese.  After that, we toured shops until our feet got sore, then rested in the central park for about an hour.  Our dinner reservation was still an hour away, but we were hungry so we decided to ask if we could arrive early.  We sure could, so we ate out back at “The Girl and The Fig,” our favorite restaurant the last time we were here.  Being that it was French food, you could expect it to be a bit expensive, and it was.  Even with no wine, the bill came to $200, but it was a pretty great meal.  The crème brulee for dessert was divine.