Universal Studios Monsoon and Other Unrelated Stuff

I stand no chance of catching my blog up on everything, so I'm going to use Shan's numbering method to hit the highlights:

1. I took thirty Builders Club students on a field trip to Universal Studios on Saturday.  It rained the whole time, although the heaviest fall was right when we arrived to the park.  It felt like a monsoon while we were purchasing our group's tickets.  Of course my idea of a monsoon is probably skewed by the fact that I live in the desert, but I will point out that my socks were soaked within two minutes of leaving the bus, even though I was wearing boots that were supposedly water resistent.  On the plus side, because of the rain, the lines were non-existence.  We walked straight on to Mummy's Revenge and Jurassic Park without even waiting thirty seconds.  Plus my students, being desert rats themselves, aren't used to rain, so they were all excited and festive about it.  The park sold ponchos for $4.00 (decent ones too!), so everywhere you looked there was a sea of bright yellow shiny hooded figures sloshing through puddles.  It was quite the scene to see in Southern California.  But my favorite part of the whole day was getting to tour Wisteria Lane.  Desperate Housewives is my weekly guilty pleasure.
2. While we were in Vegas, the cat (Meow--yeah, we give our pets creative names) decided to give birth in my closet.  I lost a duffle bag and a purse in the process, but I just felt relieved that my favorite boots survived the ordeal considering they, too, were sitting on the floor.  We now have five little Meow spawns.  Their names are:  Ewok (although we call her Wookie), Sunshine, Yowler, Pants, and Kitty Soft Paws.  They are adorable as all get-out, but now my closet smells like kitty litter and my nostrils are perpetually plugged up due to mild cat allergies...although I guess the latter makes the former less of a problem.
3. I've been jogging quite a bit lately.  Not by choice, really.  Clint's mom calls me up regularly asking me if I want to run the track at my school, and most of the time I end up saying yes because I can't think of a good reason not to.  We always walk from my house to my work (3/4 of a mile), jog the track eight times (two miles), and then walk back home (another 3/4 mile).  By the time we're done, we've walked/jogged three-and-a-half miles.  Sometimes I loop the track a ninth time while Teri is finishing her eighth loop.  The funny thing is I really don't like to run.  Yet somehow I keep doing it.  And somehow I got roped into two 5Ks: one in April, and another one in June.  The one in June is at Knott's Soak City, so I'm really excited about that one.  The last third of a mile is through their "Sunset River."  Awesome.  I told Teri if I end up living to be a hundred--or dying in June in the Sunset River-- I'm blaming her.  
4. I used part of my tax refund to buy myself a new handgun.  I know...I could've got myself some cute new clothes for work, or a hot new pair of boots, or a new purse to replace the one the cat exploded on, but no...I go and buy a firearm.  But seriously, I love love love it.  It's a turquoise and black 38 Special.  I hand-picked this one because I wanted something that was very compact, but something that packs a bigger punch than a 9 mm.  Eventually I plan to attempt to get my CCW license, so I definitely wanted a petite handgun.  I say "attempt" because the license is difficult to qualify for, and it is very expensive. I did have to take a handgun safety test just to make my purchase, which was sort of funny because I didn't realize I was going to be taking a test that day.  When the store's owner gave me that piece of paper and escorted me to the conference room, I was instantly thinking, "Oh crap, should I have studied for this?"  As it turned out, the test was way easy.  I only had to cheat on two questions.  Kidding, kidding...anyway, I was supposed to pick up my gun today, but the place was closed because they are moving to a new location.  I was so disappointed that I may have cried a little.  Okay, I didn't cry, but I was REALLY bummed.  Clint and I had made plans to go to the gun range this evening to try it out, but that same gun range is now closed to the general public until this Saturday.  So even if I get my new gun by tomorrow, I can't play with it until Saturday.       
5. I'm on spring break!  Yeeeeeeeeessssssss!
6. Our heater is broken.  Our kitchen sink is broken too (something's wrong with the pipe underneath).  I've been using a space heater to keep warm and rinsing dishes in the tub. 
7. Trin and the rest of her sixth grade class were on my campus on Friday for seventh grade orientation.  It was a lot of fun to have my own kid at my actual work site all day.  There's a good chance she'll be in my class next year, but that's something I'll write a seperate entry about once it gets closer. 

Okay, I'm pretty sure when my sister did the numbered list thing, her items were much more concise.