You know it's fire season when....

It still isn't daylight at 4 in the afternoon,

There is ash on the hood of your car, and everywhere else,

It smells like campfire INSIDE your house,

The kids start wondering if the fires meet in the middle would it burn our house down,

There are fire crews all over town from all over the US,

Your husband has to work overtime to install 25 temporary phone lines to all the crew camps in town, (not to mention DSL)

We have two really bad fire's that are pretty close. One has been burning for a few weeks but the other is in the Piute mountains and is really bad and really close. It makes it look eerie outside. I took some pictures but for some reason they won't upload, I will keep trying. It reminds me of when Jim and I were first married and he worked for the Rio Bravo Hot shot crew here in Lake Isabella. He worked SO hard and for not a lot of money. Here is what the Bakersfiel paper says about it.
http://www.bakersfield.com/102/story/485249.html

Just an update

I thought I would update, just for the sake of updating.

1. The van. Well it still makes me sick to think about it but, I argued with the mechanic that is responsible for the engine blowing and didn't seem as if he were going to budge. (In "didn't seem as" I mean he flat out told me). But the next day I got a phone call from HIS insurance company whom sent an adjuster down to look at it. He assures me that it doesn't mean they will pay but at least they are FINALLY getting involved. I am so sick of this van thing! I'm not stupid I know that they are going to try to get out of it any way they can, but it is still a hope. We aren't getting excited yet because we have had ups and downs through the whole thing and always seem to get let down. Oh well, it's just a worldly car! I DON'T CARE ANYMORE!!

2. Jimi and Alex both made all-stars for baseball and softball. Jimi has practice all week and then games all weekend. I can't wait until it's over! Dang over achievers!

3. I went rafting for the first time last week. I had a TON of fun. I chaperoned the summer school kids. My great friend Tina fell out of the raft and scared us to death. We laughed so hard for hours replaying it. It was so funny (after we had her safe). He niece actually panicked and threw her paddle at her. hehehe

4. Yesterday I had great plans to clean house and catch up on laundry. NO SUCH LUCK! About 7am our neighbor comes over and says Jim's mom has water leaking and running down the street. I run over and find the leak and turn off the water. Jim was getting ready for work but comes over and we check it out. If it would have been PVC that broke I could have fixed it myself. I have done that quiet a few times. It wasn't! It was the metal pipe. Did you know they come in 22ft lengths? Me neither, and so we dug and dug and dug, and to make that worse there was a PVC pipe that ran the whole length just inches above it and it ran along side a sidewalk so we had to do most of the shoveling by hand. The wet parts weren't so bad, but the dry hard dirt was a little (ok a lot) tougher. Then we worked on her sprinklers that were leaking. It took the ENTIRE day and luckily Jim took the day off. So, I leave to pick up Jimi from practice and Jim goes home to start dinner and shower when he gets called out to work. Nobody in Weldon could call out of Weldon. Someone had cut a cable, so he had to dig some more and didn't get home until almost 1:30am (I think). So, I am so incredibly sore today, and I know Jim is too, but worse. And he is probably exhausted too.

5. Money... bad.

6. Work... it's work...

7. Family.... good, everyone is healthy. I took all 4 kids to Bakersfield on Monday, Alex and Sami had eye appointments. Alex failed and Sami passed, but only with a B. Her eyes are starting to get bad but Dr. didn't think she needed glasses yet, but maybe next year. Alex's eyes got a little worse. Then Sami and Trever had tonsil appointments and Trever got his ears checked. Trever took the hearing test so seriously and it was SO funny when he was doing it. He has just a little high frequency hearing loss in his left ear but she said it wouldn't ever be a problem. He needs to be tested again in 6 months just to make sure it isn't getting worse. I remembered why I don't EVER take all the kids to town at the same time. They weren't bad but when you take 4 kids anywhere that is enclosed i.e. a Dr. office waiting room, or a Dr.'s office, it is pure chaos! I was so tired by the end of the day and I have vowed to NEVER take them all to Bakersfield by myself at the same time again!

8. The Suburban now has a small radiator leak (I think, although I'm not a mechanic). It's not getting hot or anything but I smell it and I checked it and it was a gallon low, then today I drove it and after I turned it off it leaked. We are going to start off with some stop leak, and if that doesn't work we will but a new one and put it in ourselves. They are about $200. OH WELL, I DON'T CARE ANYMORE!!

And that's the updates for the Hurley's.

Happy Birthday Sami!!

June 18th my my Sami Jean's birthday. She is now 9 years old. She is getting a kitten for her birthday but we haven't found one we want yet, she is trying to be patient but it's hard for a 9 year old. For her birthday we didn't do a whole lot, we went to dinner the night before and her dad took her to almost get KILLED by his horse. She was riding him, (by herself, well he was lunging him, it's like leading him in circles fast) and he started to buck. She held on and Jim was trying to stop him but he was panicking and the horse could feel it, then Sami slid to the side and was still holding on. Jim started yelling to her to jump! Sami said she heard him but she was trying to figure out exactly HOW to do that. Finally she pushed off and landed face first in the dirt and Jim pulled the horse away. Jimi had been panicking in on the fence and she jumped in picked her up and ran her out of the way. Sami had her Sami smile on until Jimi picked her up then she broke down crying. Out of fear, not because she was hurt. Jim asked her if she would get back on him and she agreed (I don't know if I would have been that brave) she walked him around the arena and he tripped and she said "O.k. daddy I'm done". She was really proud of herself and she if fine. This horse is a GREAT horse, but we tell the kids you always have to be ready and expect ANYTHING!

Sami is the sweetest girl ever. She almost ALWAYS has a smile on her face, even when she wants to cry. She has just a little attitude but in a cute way still. She hugs everyone and everyone LOVES a Sami hug. I think her teachers my be going through withdrawals by now. She usually does what she's told, unless it's cleaning then it's USELESS! She wants to be a DR. or work at McDonalds when she grows up, but as most of you know, she has a thing about fainting in hospitals and Dr. offices, mainly because she smiles and stops breathing. So Sami here is your story...

June 18th 1999, I was HUGE and uncomfortable, my due date was June 30th which was the day after my birthday so I was hoping she would be born on my birthday. Jim's parents were planning a trip to Oregon to see us and were holding off so they could see the baby. I even bought our trampoline to try to induce labor. (Just a tip IT DOESN'T, it just makes you REALLY sore). So I call Jim and tell him to meet me at my Dr. appt. when the Dr. comes in I tell him "I'm not leaving your office until this baby is OUT" he laughs and does the check up and comes back in and I'm still sitting there. I cried and begged and pleaded, so finally for my mental stability I think, he agreed to induce. So we met him at the hospital that night at about 7pm. I get into a room and get hooked up to the pitocin all by 8:30pm. Jim had to study for a test for work and I was doing these number puzzles (the things we did BEFORE we had a TON of kids) when all the sudden HOLY CRAP IT HURT!! I got the epidural but it only worked on the right side of my body, which freaked my out. I was trippin out, the metal IV stand was rattling and I was freaking out for it to stop. Tabi was there and of course Jim, and even a friend of ours Gitte had stopped by to visit another friend and saw us there and came in, all of the sudden the Dr. comes in and says it's time. So I sit up to get ready to push and I hear a funny noise and so I ask Tabi, "what is that noise?" (remember noises are freaking me out at this time) She says, they're sucking out the nose, so I sit up to look and Sami was born! At 10:34pm, she swears it was 11:04 but I KNOW it was 10:34pm. She was 6lbs 4oz and 21 inches, beautiful as can be. I was STARVING so Jim wen to get me monster tacos at Jack In the Box. Two days later Jims parents were here and we went to the coast and went crabbing. Yes I pulled crab when Sami was 2 days old, what was I thinking? She was an amazing baby, rarely cried. Tabi even fell with her and she didn't cry. Tabi did really protect her and sacrificed herself for little Sami, and she would be mad if I didn't say it WAS Alex's fault his skateboard was in front of her. I think God knew she had to be a perfect baby because I was pregnant a VERY short 4 months later with Trever.

We love you Sami, we hope you NEVER change, your the sweetest girl in the world!

I think I can, I think I can, I think I can...

make it to tomorrow! Kids started summer school today. It is more for fun, they have school from 9am to almost noon, then they get to play until 5:30. They feed them breakfast and lunch, then they get to swim, art, sports and I think even guitar classes, which Alex is super excited for. When we lived in Colorado they had a "modified year round school". This consisted of starting the school year in September like normal, then having a few extra two week breaks, like spring break was two weeks instead of one, and Christmas break was two or even three weeks and then maybe two more long breaks like that throughout the year. School would get out in the first week of July (or something like that) and they only had like a month or 6 week summer. They did this because it is a fact that kids loose 80% of what they learned in the school year JUST over the 3 month summer. Then they spend the first month of the school year refreshing what they learned the year before. It doesn't make any sense. So I like the idea of keeping it fresh in their minds over the summer. I also liked the year round school because vacations were so much better because it wasn't matched with everyone else in the country. I think it will be good for them to stay busy and my house could use the break, it is a wreck and it is starting to bother me that we haven't had a chance to remodel anything for a long time. So, I am currently working in the girls room, here are my plans:
1. clean, (of course) weed through all old toys and cloths and throw it all out, my friend Tina and I am going to have a yard sale in a few weeks, so I better get a move on.

2. paint their beds, and dressers. Right now their walls are a peachy orange (it sounds bad but it is a neat color)I am thinking of black, just listen... chalkboard black boarder around the top, then some BIG polka dots. Then they could write on their walls, and I could put neat motivational sayings on them. My friend Marci has my new favorite on her blog it says "When life is too hard to stand...KNEEL" this is my life motto right now.

3.For those that have seen my house you know of the GREEN carpet in the rooms. I am going to tear that all out. I have been looking at staining the concrete, you can do this NEAT acid wash thing, and what's the worst that can happen? I can always cover it with carpet.

The biggest problem with all of my plans is finding the time. It isn't going to cost hardly anything, but it will take a lot of time. I am going to be working constantly for a few days, I thought I would update now before I have no more time. i will try to post pictures, before and afters, but right now it is so messy that I wouldn't dare take a picture.

We currently have NO kids in the shop!

Jim and I decided a long time ago that we would NEVER say "things couldn't get worse than this..." because they always do. So, in a nutshell here is my past week. I finally got my van back, did I mention I LOVE MY VAN! I know I shouldn't love a worldly possession that much, but I do (well, did). So I was driving home from work last Friday when all the sudden my van just overheats, quick! So I pull over and wait a few minutes for it to cool off, with the engine off. I start it back up and it is running rough, and blowing white smoke like CRAZY out of the exhaust. I get it the rest of the whole 3 miles home and let it cool back off and Jim and I go check the coo lent level, hmm... we add over a gallon and a half. We start it back up and the same thing, Jim smells the exhaust and sure enough, that's where our coolant is going. Now, I'm no mechanic, but I KNOW that's NOT good. So Monday morning we have it towed into the radiator shop who fixed it the first time. Where they say... " the engine's blown, it's not our problem" So, we get it towed over to another shop who says, "YUP, the engine's blown, it'll only cost you about $4000.00. (ONLY my BUTT!) Ok, so I take our good old reliable second gas guzzling vehicle, a good ole '99 Chevy Suburban into the shop to fix the back drum brakes, because we knew it needed it. Only $215.00, and I also needed at least 2 new tires so I go ahead and put on 2 good USED tires, so another $100.00. Not bad, so I am scooting home when.... chug... chug... chug... clunk!! I steer off the side of the road, not in a good place, where I am BARELY off the road. Now, pride aside, I sat and cried, yep I cried. I call Jim and try to get the number of the tow truck guy and while he is trying to set that up a CHP pulls up behind me. He says "are you taking pictures or are you having troubles?" I immediately start to sob, trying to hold back and tell him, I was broken down. He informs me that it's not a safe place and he needed to move me to a safer place. So I leave the keys in the Burb, like the CHP said, who's gonna steal it, it won't run. And get a ride into Mt. Mesa, since I had to be to work in a half hour anyways. Now, I know this poor CHP guy was a little scared, I tried through choked down tears to tell him that this was our second car broken down, and he did laugh when I asked if I was allowed to sit in the FRONT of the police car! (don't laugh, I had NEVER been in one before, I didn't know if there were rules or not) and he was very polite to point out that my tags were expired. Although, I did have the current tags (at home). I think he just wanted this crying girl out of his car. When he finds out I work at El Portal he realized who I am and I do the same. He and his wife and a group of 4 others come in regularly every Thursday night before Survivor. I didn't know he was a CHP, I thought he was a Sheriff, but I think he is the Sargent or something. Anyways, nice guy and I'm sure he will be in tonight, and this time I won't cry at him.

Now, on to the hopefully better news. I got the van towed, thanks to grandpa Dodge's AAA, to Lancaster Honda where they will try to get it fixed under warranty. I'm not holding my breath but I am praying for that. And, the Suburban will be fixed today, a fuel pump, which Jim just replaced in it last year, and in his mom's right before that. Only about $500.00 later! (ONLY MY BUTT!)

THE GOOD NEWS.... WE CURRENTLY HAVE NO KIDS IN THE SHOP!! We are thankful for that every day! Always remember what's important!

2006 Honda Odyssey bill from last month: $500.00

Towing combined for the week, out of our pocket: $200.00

Brakes for Burb: $215.00

Tires for Burb: $100.00

Fuel pump for Burb: $500.00

New engine for 2006 Honda Odyssey: $4000.00

Not living at UCLA for the month: PRICELESS