Merry (day after) Christmas!!

Hey all,

Hopefully you had a wonderful Christmas out there!! Tyler and I opened gifts around 10:30am. I had the corn casserole almost all cooked by then and then shortly after, I put the ham in the oven. Tyler doesn't eat ham, so he ate the corn casserole, cranberries and rolls. He also made himself a quesadilla and then had seconds of the corn stuff. He's vegetarian these days and has been for about 3 years. We ate about 1. After we ate, I decided to go ahead and put all the Christmas stuff away. We couldn't enjoy the lights I had put up cuz the breaker would keep flicking off, if we had the tv on, so we stopped plugging in the tree and lights. While I did all that stuff in the living room (dusting and moving things around and vacuuming), Tyler cleaned his room, did laundry AND cleaned up the spare room (his old room). So, here we are...on Christmas...cleaning away together! I thought it was funny and cute! We had an awesome day! In the evening, I watched football and Tyler left and went and spent the evening with his girlfriend, Sydney. She came back from ABQ last night so he wanted to go see her.

Today, I got up a little early and had to make a couple of phone calls and then got ready to go workout. I went uptown and stopped at Smith's for a few groceries and then headed over to the gym to workout. It was really busy, so I did my run and then left. Went home and got in the shower and got ready to drive to Santa Fe. Tyler got home about 12:30 and then he got ready and went along with me!! He had gotten a sweatshirt for Christmas and wanted to exchange it and I had a few items to purchase! We made it a real quick trip and then stopped at Taco Bell and got food for the drive home. It was REALLY nice that he went along. We got some good time together this weekend and chatted. :)

Here is my list of Christmas items I received this year!!

Body lotion and hair gel, Peanuts Thanksgiving movie, couple of Packer items (toothbrush and sticker and title towel), Skullcandy headphones for working out, $350 cash, nut assortment, Eton/American Red Cross radio, Farberware kitchen knife set, stuffed puppy and sterling silver necklace (Kalyn and Sasha), wax burning pot, movie gift cards (totaling $60), Olive garden gc ($50), stuffed Christmas moose, sweatshirt, scarf, kitchen towels, Christmas towel and tweezers, calendar, mug with goodies inside and 2-$25 giftcards with which I purchased a new digital camera!! Got a lot of nice items and I'm very thankful!!

I also am attaching a new pic of the Rav that I took today. I had sent it to Gram so she could see my new car!

That's all I've got!! My fantasy team is in the running for 3rd place and I think I may have gotten it. So I did pretty well for my first year of Fantasy Football, I think. There were 10 of us playing so coming in 3rd, isn't bad!! Until next time...

More Snow!!

Hey all,

The past 3 Monday's, we have had a significant amount of snow fall upon us! Been kind of nice, I must say! We got to close the bank early today and head for home due to weather. I have been shoveling ever since I got home! Good exercise though! Here are a few pics to enjoy! The Rav did great in the snow too! I'm off from the gym, but they needed someone to cover from 6-7, so I might do that. The girl working from 7-10 has another job, but the event that is going on may get cancelled, so in that case, she would show up at 6. I may lay down now after all my hard work!

Until next time....

It's a brand...new....car!!!

Hey all,

I got my new car on Thursday evening!!! It's a 2011 Toyota Rav4!! I absolutely, positively love it!! They delivered it on a trailer so they didn't even drive it here, which I thought was really nice. Saves on the mileage for the vehicle. Then, the guy loaded up my Jeep on said trailer, and away it went. I sure will miss the Jeep, but it sure was beginning to have issues!!

I got insurance right away for the Ravy and then scheduled an appointment at "The Tint Shop" in Santa Fe, which was today, to have the windows tinted. The tint sure helps in the summer when it is hot outside! I also had them put a strip across the front windshield and boy all that tinting makes it look a lot different!!

I got really emotional thinking of how tough the past two years have been for me...the kids getting older, filing bankruptcy, the divorce, kids leaving, kids coming back...and I realized how very lucky I am and how much I deserve this new vehicle. It makes the past two years all worth it. All the hard work and persistance paid off!! I'm slowly rebuilding my credit and for it to be so good as it is to get pre-approved for the loan, is just amazing! I ended up going with Chase Bank, as they gave me a much lower interest rate than Zia was going to, with no cash down! I thank God for all of this because He is the one that makes it possible! :)

I've gone on a few dates with a very nice guy. He's 10 years younger than I am, but super guy...a little quiet...but super!! I can't really say a whole lot on here about it cuz he works for the bank, but in the Santa Fe office. I think its actually forbidden we date, so we have to keep it quiet. We've seen each other about 3 times now and it's been fun! I've known him for like 7 years or more. So, that is my news on that!

Kalyn will be alone at Xmas time at her Aunt and Uncles house so she got herself a small little tree and decorations and then I sent her those stockings so she has a cute little section of her room displaying her Xmas items! She mailed out a package to me and Ty and then a separate one for her Dad and Stephanie, with Xmas gifts, all by herself! I'm so proud of her for doing all this stuff on her own.

Tyler drove to Santa Fe a little bit ago...he is up for renewal on his cell phone, so he took his Xmas money that I gave him and is buying himself a new phone. He needs to buy himself some clothes and then he needs his car fixed, so those are his next items on his agenda! He's doing really well.

We had some good snow this past week and more to come this week! Work will be a short one this week. I work at the bank Mon -Friday, but we close at noon on Friday and the gym on Wednesday evening and then Saturday 1-5. Will be nice this weekend to be off a lot and then we have Monday the 26th off too. I'll have to take down my Xmas decorations at that time, I suppose! Good time to do that kind of stuff, I think.

I cleaned for the Courtright's on Thursday evening and then I go back tomorrow to finish up. She has company coming for Xmas so she wants it all looking good! I want to just get it done, so I offered to go over on Sunday, my day off, to finish it up. If I go during the week, then that forfeits a workout session at the gym, which I hate missing! I'm sure she will give me my Xmas bonus too, so that will be nice. Sunday evening, Catrina and I are going to go to the movie "New Year's Eve"! Should be fun! Been seeing a lot of movies lately and I love it!!

Well, have a great week!! Merry Christmas!! :) Until next time...

Stockings...

Hey all,

Here is a pic of the stockings I sent Kalyn and Sasha. I mailed the box out today, so she can enjoy them hanging in her room with plenty of time til Christmas! LOL I am convinced THAT was my last box I am mailing for the season....I hope! I'm pretty much done with shopping now. Maybe pick up a couple of small gifts, but that is it...I'm finished! AND, I have finished passing out all my baked goods too. I believe about 16 people got to enjoy the goodies!

Nicole, my loan chick over at Zia Credit Union, is working on my loan for me!! She said I will need 10% down, but my trade in should help, so I'm getting closer to my goal! Very excited! Buddy and Beth are helping me find a car. If I can't get a loan big enough for a small SUV type vehicle, I will have to go with a front wheel drive car. That's ok, as long as I get something reliable with no alterations, I'll be joyful! :)

Heading to work and it's snowing!!! Until next time...

Jeep and other items of interest.....

Hey all,

Hope this finds you all well and happy out there!! Remember how I said I would scream if anything else broke in my life?? Well....I didn't scream, but I seriously thought about screaming and here's why....

My Jeep was fixed in November...it was the 1/2 shaft problem that I told you all about. Well, now it started making a knocking noise in that same area but only as I would go uphill or accelerate. It would make the noise whether i was in 4 wheel-drive or not. I had Brian look at it again and he heard the noise and said he would replace the 1/2 shaft again in case that part was defective, but if THAT didn't work, it would be the drive shaft, which could cost a very pretty penny to replace. Well, I was just hoping and praying (alot of praying) that it was just the 1/2 shaft and nothing else. All of this is due to the lift that Shane put on the Jeep about 5 years ago. The Jeep is really not meant to be lifted so the parts are suffering under there! lol Brian finally got to changing out the shaft yesterday and said he looked at the drive shaft and it "looked" fine, which is good, but still worrisome...if anything else happens, I won't be able to afford to fix it, so I decided to trade it in!! I've got some friends helping me look for a smaller SUV type vehicle. These friends would be Beth and Buddy that own an auto shop and also sell cars out of Alamogordo, NM for a family member. They always have cars up here for sale and Reuben actually bought his Honda from them. I will keep you posted on that!! I'm hoping to have a new vehicle by the new year!!

Kalyn quit her Spencer's job at the Roseville mall and then got a promotion and raise at her job at Piercing Pagoda!! She is so excited and happy about this promotion and she will be working ALOT from what she tells me. She's kind of a manager figure now. Very proud of her! She turns 19 tomorrow!!! My baby girl!!! LOL

Tyler is doing well. Keeps plugging away at work and playing his guitar and going to practices, etc. His girlfriend Sydney is real nice. She comes over alot and they watch tv or play PS2 in the living room. Whenever I'm home, I usually hang out in the kitchen/my bedroom area so I don't disturb them! I quite enjoy having him around!

So, my computer (HP) that I bought a little over a year ago from Cliff, broke a week ago on Friday night!! LOL....I called Cliff right away and he had me drop it off to him and also my Dell computer that I had in my closet! He said the HP, motherboard, went out and was angry with me that I had this "very nice" Dell, hiding in my closet!!! So, he hooked me up big time and fixed the Dell and now I'm back in business again. He said the Dell should be just fine for a long time to come. He saved my pics and music too, so he is a godsend and only charged me $75! I gave him a $100 cuz he saved my life! lol Then, our computer modem has been acting up and I even had the Qwest guy come over and he said all the internet lines work just fine so it was my modem that I bought at Radio Shack that was broke. So, I took it back and exchanged it for another modem (same one) and it worked for a bit, but internet kept going up and down, up and down..ugh...I was frustrated, Tyler was frustrated...so finally...the other day we hooked up the free modem that the Qwest guy gave me (he's my neighbor and felt bad I was having issues...didn't charge me for the home visit either!!) and oh....my....goodness....the internet works soooo fast, and efficient and almost faster than we can handle!! Now why did I let that modem sit around for two weeks??? I have no idea...scared that it might actually work??? LOL so, now our internet is back to normal! I took the modem back to Radio Shack and the owner gave me store credit, but I know what I'm gonna buy with it...its that new radio thing for emergencies that has a USB charger, radio, flashlight stuff on it..made my the Red Cross or something?? But its a cool thing to have when the power goes out, which it does a lot here!! I'm excited to go buy it!!

Catrina and I went and saw the movie "Tower Heist" the other night. It was really good!! Then, last night, right after work, we drove down to Santa Fe for dinner and then to finish our Xmas shopping. We hit good, good deals at Kohl's and then Target and our final stop was Best Buy so she could buy a new, huge tv! She got a 46" for $750. Its a Samsung and very nice! We closed down Best Buy and went racing back and forth between there and Target to get the best deal! Quite hilarious, to be honest! We had a great time..got home about 11:30 pm, then I stayed up wrapping gifts and such. I got stocking stuffers for me, Ty and K. I got K and Sasha matching stockings and will send that box up to her here soon. I wrapped all her little stocking stuffers to she has stuff to open. I may post a pic. I got Sasha a toy and treats to put in her stocking! I'm such a good "grandma"! lol K will be alone as Dave and Heidi go to her parents house for Xmas, so I figure I better send a little love from home to her! I've sent her like 3 boxes in the past couple weeks too! I was gonna send K her stocking I have here at the house, but figured it would be better if her and Sasha had matching ones there in MN. They are huge and long. Kalyn's has a "K" and Sasha's has an "S" on the front of the stocking!

I mailed about 6-7 boxes total then of cookies and gifts to people! I think this is the most ever, that I have shipped! I truly enjoyed it all though. I love the baking and then sending the finished products for people to try! I almost had a fight here in the gym over my cookies!! Chuck, my friend, told me "thank you for the cookies, they were delicious", right in front of my other friend, Manny. Manny got all hurt and thought I "gave away HIS cookies" to Chuck! I said "no, I've got your cookies at my house still", well he was all hurt and teasing me that I "gave away his cookies"! ohman...boys!!! :)

Jobs are going well! I've been working 3 days a week at the gym again and not hardly cleaning for the Courtrights lately as Mr. C is in a rehab in ABQ now. Mrs. C has been keeping the house clean as she is hardly there now. She's gonna use me before Xmas, I'm sure. Bank is doing really well and we are having our Xmas dinner on the 22nd at DeColores! Catrina is gonna be my date as neither of us have boyfriends right now! Catrina got hired at the gym now too, so we both have two jobs, at the same places! She's a good friend. We also go to the same church so we get to see each other a lot! Our football teams play each other tomorrow, so there is a bit of rivalry going on!

I had an awesome massage today with a new lady, and it was really really good, so I plan to go back to her!

Well, i will end this now. Until next time.... :)

Christmas Time!!

Hey all,

Hope you are all well out there!! I'm working at the gym tonight, so that gives me a chance to get on here and type away!!

I'm excited about the holidays this time of year. Everyone seems to be in better moods and out and about and all in a holiday spirit!! I've got all my baking done, except for some regular sugar cookies that Tyler has requested, and all of my shopping done except for two people, Tj and Diana! I always have the toughest time trying to figure out what to get them. I'm also sending them some baked goods in their box, so they should enjoy that! I'm very glad to be done with everything, so that I can relax and watch everyone else scurry around!! Catrina and I are going down to Santa Fe next Friday night, to finish up shopping and have dinner. Should be a good time! So, I have mailed out 4 boxes and about 70-80 Christmas cards. I didn't think I was gonna do that many, but I did. I figure this is the one time of year where you should hear from everyone. With the technology we have these days, most people don't even do cards or pictures anymore. I enjoy it :)

Tyler is enjoying his new guitar and writing songs! He also keeps working away at the Coffee Booth.

Kalyn went to Wisconsin this past week since she had off from both jobs. I hear she had a great time and today she went back to work. I sent her a package with cookies, a couple small gift items for her birthday, birthday card and then a toy gingerbread man stuffie for Sasha to play with. Kalyn really appreciated her package from home!

My friend Sharon spoils me..she brought me cookies here at the gym a couple weeks back and now tonight she brought me brownies!! Not that I need em, but they were delicious!! My friend Carrie and I are going to see the movie "The Muppets" on Sunday! Should be fun. Catrina and I saw "Breaking Dawn" and then Sharon and I saw a movie a few weeks back too. It's fun to have friends!! :)

Well, I better get going. Have a good weekend!! Until next time....

Tyler won!!

Hey all,

Been another busy week, but a good one nonetheless. I say a prayer every morning thanking God for the day ahead and for my kids and family....it always makes the day go better once you have your moments with God. :)

Tyler placed 3rd in the guitar competition held on November 12th!! He drove to Albuquerque and picked up his guitar the other day!! I promise to take a photo of it and post here, but I keep forgetting!! LOL Then, when I remember, Tyler is playing it. I suppose I could snap it then, but he would probably frown upon that! They had the guitars all listed wrong for each winner, so when he got there, he didn't get the guitar he thought he won. He had brought with him another guitar that he's been wanting to sell...soooo...he sold his orange one and sold the one he won and then bought the guitar he originally thought he won!! So, he did end up with the one he wanted! So proud of that boy! He is very talented!

Kalyn is doing well. She is working alot and that is to be expected when one has two jobs!! She also got her hair cut short, but it looks so cute on her. She takes Sasha for a walk everyday and then is busy with work. She is really liking both jobs. They are both in the same mall, so she doesn't have to go too far if she works at both on the same day.

Had a wonderful Thanksgiving!! I went to Carrie and Kent's house (owners of the gym) for lunch and then went over to my friend Catrina's for dinner. I made sure to take small portions at each place, so I didn't overstuff myself! The plan worked and I'm very thankful for that!

The bank closed at 3 on Friday, so I went home and got my house all decorated for Christmas and the tree up. Then, I whipped up cookie dough and thought I was gonna just make the dough, but I figured I may as well have them baking while I'm making the dough! So, I ended up baking all the cookies last night. I made chocolate chip/m&m, oatmeal, peanut butter and then the peanut butter with the chocolate kiss in the middle. I was getting low on flour, but was able to whip up one small batch of sugar cookie dough today, so that tonight when I get home from work, I can work on those. I'm sending out cookies to Kalyn, my Mom, Reuben and my Dad, so I want to get all those "mailing" cookies done and out so I can concentrate on passing out my plates of cookies to friends and co-workers here. I also whipped up banana breads and pumpkin breads during the week, so I'm pretty relieved to almost be done with the Christmas baking. It's always fun to do this once a year! And of course, I always wear my apron that my Auntie Jacque made me!! ;)

Well, that is all for now....until next time....

Seattle Trip 2011

Hey all,

I had a GREAT time in Seattle last weekend!! I flew out Thursday night, the 10th. I left work at 4pm and drove to Albuquerque and parked my Jeep for the 3 days I would be gone. (remind me to tell you the Jeep story too!) I had a straight flight on Southwest to Seattle and Reuben picked me up at the airport with flowers in hand...can we say awwww?? Now you must remember we are not dating anymore, but it was a very sweet gesture and I also got a great big hug out of the deal... (I think he misses me!) We drove 45 min to his mom's house in Edmonds, WA and got settled in and went to bed. Reuben's mom, Esther, was already in bed for the night, when we arrived, so didn't get to see/meet her until the morning.

Friday a.m. I woke up early cuz Reuben and I were going to go site-seeing in Seattle!! We had breakfast and got to meet Esther, his mom, and also the cat, Orange. Reuben packed us up some snacks and sandwiches and waters and we headed out!! Our first stop of the day was Puget Sound! We took pictures and watched a couple of para-sailers out on the choppy water, which was really neat. I also picked up a seashell and later Reuben told me that you're not allowed to take things off the beach...I guess he felt I wasn't committing too much a crime so he didn't mention it while I was in the act of taking it! Reuben got a stick and wrote "11-11-11" in the sand and took pics. When we were in St. Thomas, a year ago, we had written "10-10-10" in the sand there. So, we joked that next year, we have to go to another beach for 12-12-12. I suggested Hawaii..Reuben says South Texas! lol

Next stop was downtown Seattle!! We had a difficult time finding parking, but finally did and headed over to the monorail. We rode that and walked around a small mall for a little bit and then headed over to the Space Needle! Went to the top of that...it was mildly cold and sprinkling, but fun! Took some more pictures and then left for our next stop...The Coast Guard Museum!! We had a heck of a time getting to the museum with road construction going on, but finally made it and then had to get cleared to go ON the base since the museum is on base. We drove over to the museum and went inside and the guy greeted us with a million dollar bill!! Of course, it was fake and had Coast Guard stuff all over it, but it was cool nonetheless!! Reuben gave me his so I have two now! We took lots of pictures and then before we left, I bought a CG sticker and a CG sweatshirt! We went outside and took pictures of the boats and such and also of the Polar Sea boat! There are two of those huge red boats that we learned about in bootcamp, so it was nice to actually see one of them! The other is the Polar Star.

Our next adventure was the Pike's Place market! Very famous place downtown Seattle where there are vendors selling everything under the sun...flower bouquets made out of vegetables, seafood, fruits, cheeses...everything! They give you samples and such and the atmosphere is just awesome! It's a very busy, bustling place! We also stopped at the Hard Rock Cafe and just looked around. We walked around and down the pier area and saw all kinds of ships and took more pictures! We decided it was dinner time so headed back to Edmunds and stopped at a fastfood fish place and ate there. It was delish and took something home to Reuben's mom too. She was very glad we did!! We hung out that night in the cozy, warm house and Esther showed us pictures, I got a shoulder rub and had great convo and many laughs. Reuben and I stayed up late watching tv and chatting.

Saturday, was our day to take the ferry over to another part of WA and to meet up with my friend Kim, from my McD's days here in LA. Kim lives in Berenton, WA. I think that was the name of it. lol So, we got to ride the ferry (it carries your car too!) and Reuben and I stood out on the deck and yes, it was freezing cold and probably the reason why I came home sick, but it was fun to be out there in the cold moving fast across the water! We drove down to Berenton and stopped at this pier to see the USS Turner Joy. We didn't pay the $12 admission, just took pics and went inside the gift shop. We met Kim around noon at a Starbucks and she brought her granddaughter, Sierra, with her too. It was great to catch up with her for about an hour and then we headed out for our drive up North! We drove and drove and enjoyed the scenery and mountains and finally got to Port Angeles, WA. Cute little town and it was a little overcast so couldn't see the Olympia mountains too well, but it was cool to be there! Had a brought my passport, we could have taken the ferry from there over to Victoria, British Columbia...aka Canada! Oh well...there's always next time. We headed back to the ferry and took the 5pm over back to Edmunds. The water was SOOO choppy and wavy I was frightened!! They even announced the emergency procedures over the intercom which was also frightening!! lol I didn't think we were gonna survive, but we did. :) Reuben drove us to a brick-fired pizza place and we placed a to-go order and then went into the bar and he bought me a drink! Reuben paid for everything while I was there, which was really sweet of him. We waited an hour and finally got our pizza (they had a large group in there) and headed back to eat pizza with Esther. We had another warm, cozy night at the house chatting and picture looking and hearing stories. Reuben's mom is hilarious!!

Sunday morning, it was time for me to get packed and ready to head back to NM!! I got to sleep in a bit and lounge around and then finally had to get in the shower and packed up! Reuben packed me some snacks for the plane trip and also packed leftover pizza for us to eat before I left too. I had cried all morning cuz I was really going to miss them and had a great time there! Wasn't quite ready to go home! Finally said my goodbye's to Esther and Orange and then we headed out to the airport! We got the airport, got my boarding pass and then we went to a sitting area and ate our pizza and chatted. Finally, it was time for me to get through security so Reuben and I said our goodbye's...lots of hugs and tears. He waited until I got all the way through security and then I saw him leave. It was a wonderful time!

The flight got into ABQ about a half hour early, so that was good and then I gathered the Jeep and headed back to LA. I stopped at Smith's and then got home about 7:30. I was able to get all my laundry done and cleaning up around the house and ready for the work week! I've been recovering from that cold all week and today finally feeling better!!

So, the Jeep got fixed right before I left for this trip. It had been making an awful noise down by the tire for a long time and finally after two mechanics, we figured out it was the half shaft, down by the CV joint. The lift was causing it to work in a awkward way, so it finally gave out. I had Brian fix it for me cuz he was the only guy in town that wasn't too busy to get it done before I left town!! Brian owns the Coffee Booth where Tyler works too. Brian also fixed Kalyn's car and is good friend with Reuben. It cost $800 but it runs so smooth now and I can finally enjoy the new brakes and tires I had gotten this summer. I hope it lasts awhile now cuz it has cost me some dollars this year! It just turned over to 70,000 miles a couple weeks back.

The kids are doing great!! Tyler had the guitar competition last Saturday and became one of the 6 finalists out of 70 people! They named 6 finalists and 3 of them were from LA!! Tyler's friend Thomas is one of the finalists. 3 guitars will be given away and they took down the voting thing today, so hopefully we find out soon who won!! I'm enjoying having Tyler around and he keeps everything all neat and clean at the house like I do. Kalyn got two jobs....she works at Piercing Pagoda and also Spencer Gifts, both at the Roseville mall in MN. She bought herself a new outfit for her first day today at PP. Kalyn also had to go get Sasha's Xmas present yesterday, early. Sasha had chewed 3 of the metal bars off her crate and could fit her head out and through the opening she created!! Kalyn went to Petsmart and got a different kind of crate that Sasha can also fly in (to come visit in NM). She will keep the other crate for trips to WI. I believe she got the kind that is all plastic and only has smaller bars on the front that she can't get her teeth around to chew them. lol That dog is crazy!!

Thanksgiving is coming up! My bosses here at the gym are having me over for lunch on Thursday and then in the afternoon I'm going to Catrina's for dinner! We plan to watch those undefeated Packers play the Lions!! Should be a fun time! My friend Sharon is baking this weekend and just brought me some of her cookies to try!! Yum!!

I've got all my Christmas cards ready to mail, some gifts purchased and then need to do my baking so that I can send a care package to Miss K! I'm sure my Mom and Dad will want some of my baked goods as well!! Can't believe in a few weeks Kalyn will turn 19!! My babies are all grown up!!

Well, this is my 2nd time typing this, so I hope I didn't forget anything. Lost the first draft. LOL Luckily I'm at the gym and have time!! Until next time...

November!! brrr....

Hey all,

Can hardly believe how fast this year is going! Soon it will be the holidays...I've got my kids' gifts (money) but not anyone else's yet, so I'm working on that!

Finally got my house sold and lease signed! I'm very grateful that it is finally done and over. I think once Bruce gets the title, we will have to do a couple of things, but the main part is over. Bruce will be sending someone over this coming week to cover up the swamp cooler for the winter. I had Kevin lined up to come do it, but now that the sale has gone through, Bruce can have his maintenance guy do it. I didn't make any money on the deal and actually had to come up with the 4 months of payments that I didn't make on the house so that he could finalize the deal with Greentree. I signed a year lease @ $725 month. That includes the water/sewer, so not a bad deal at all. I am saving about $55 a month. I know some of you can't understand why I would not want to own the home, but I figure, it's getting older and things will start to break. I cannot afford to buy a new furnace or fridge or what have you, if it goes out. This way, Bruce can fix anything that happens and I can sit back and save some money. If I ever move, I won't have to worry about the house at all. Just trying to think ahead, you know. :)

I leave for Seattle on Thursday evening for a quick weekend trip. We have Friday off at the bank due to Veteran's Day, so I thought I would take advantage of that and go see the sights up there and Reuben and his mom. I also got a VERY cheap ticket on Southwest, so couldn't pass it up! Still haven't told Tyler yet, that I'll be gone. I guess I better!! :)

My Jeep is going in the shop on Monday. :( It has a noise underneath and after several inspections by mechanics...I finally got my friend Buddy to look at it and he found the issue in 2 minutes!! It's the right front outer differential bearing. I've got Brian from AutoDoc lined up to fix it. He fixed Kalyn's car before she left and also Tyler's wheel bearings, recently. He also owns the Coffee Booth that Ty works at. I like to give him business, apparently. The Jeep has been making this noise for quite awhile, but more recently getting worse and worse. I'm not even driving it this weekend cuz I'm afraid!! People keep telling me i should not be driving it. I drove it to Albuquerque last weekend and by the grace of God, I made it there and back and didn't even realize how bad this was!! So, Merry Christmas to me, cuz it's going to be expensive!! I swear, this year has been the worst for spending money on fixing things. But, the good news is that in 2012..I shouldn't have to spend any now that everything will be fixed!! LOL

Today at home, I worked on finishing up the Xmas cards and got them separated for the ones that just get mailed and the ones that will go with gifts, etc. I think I've got everything figured out as to who is getting what. It won't be much, but it will be the thought that counts. :) My kids always want money, so that is easy. Kalyn will just have a deposit put in her account so that way I won't have to mail it and Tyler will get his early cuz he wants to buy a new mini laptop. His is WAY old and slowly not working anymore.

Jobs are going well. I got a raise of 25 cents an hour here at the gym starting in November and I got a raise at the bank last month. I'm doing ok financially and hope to start saving again after all these expenses. I paid for all of Kalyn's moving and box shipping up to Minnesota too. I'm just glad I was able to make it happen. I didn't want her struggling and asking for money and this way, she can live on what she has until she starts work. She should find out this week if she got the job at Caribou coffee. She starts school March 20th. So proud of that girl, she even painted her whole room by herself up there!!

Well, I suppose I will end this. You all take care and write when you can! I keep up-to-date on all the blogs on here, even if I don't make a comment. Love you all, until next time....

Back From Vaca!!!

Hey all!!

Did ya miss me?? lol... I had a wonderful trip for two full weeks!! I got to see almost my whole family except for a few cousins and Aunts on my Mom's side!! Very fun and relaxing and getting to spend that last little time with Kalyn was absolutely the best!! We had a lot of fun on the drive and her car drove really smooth. Couldn't even tell I was driving 85 mph!

I typed up a synopsis of my trip, by day, but it is waaayyy too long to post on here, so I will just make a little paragraph about each part of my trip instead.

First of all, Tyler took care of the house for me and did a good job with the cat feeding too. I'm sure he was glad to have the whole place to himself!

First part of my trip was driving Kalyn's car with myself, Kalyn and her dog up to Minnesota!! We spent one night at a hotel in Nebraska and the next day we arrived in MN. Perfect trip, no problems and alot of great conversation. We spent one night at Dave and Heidi's (where Kalyn is now living) and then we were off to Eau Claire for 5 days! We stayed with my Dad since he could house Sasha for us. He no longer has his dog, so I knew we would be safe having Sasha there. Dad and Lori loved Sasha to death and Sasha loved them in return. It was quite funny how they interacted. Dad hosted a pizza party for Jenni for her birthday the first evening we were there, so that was fun. The next day, we spent the whole day with Jenni, eating and shopping. We ate at Gram's house for dinner and it was delicious sloppy joe's. Grampa went and played pool and we chatted with Gram. That evening Kalyn and Jenni got matching tattoos on their wrists. Lori took Kalyn and I to Taco John's on Wed. for lunch and then that evening we went to Pizza Del Re and rollerskating with Jenni and Trent. Thursday we spent time with Sasha alot but did go over to Gram's to see Aunt Julie and eat leftovers from Tuesday! That evening we met the Wilson gang for dinner. Ann, Haley, Dick, Brenda, Lori, Sis Jenni, Kalyn and my friend Jenny Logan Delkamp all ate at Azul Tequila. Aunt Kathy stopped by just to say hello, which was nice! Dad didn't wanna come. Friday we headed to Gram's again cuz Cousin Matt and his gf Tiffany came to town to surprise Gram and fix her computer. Aunt Julie bought pizza and fruit and we had a great time! Soon, it was time for us to go back to Minneapolis! We drove back to Dad's and loaded up and away we went. It was so great to see everyone there. Gram, Gramp and I snuck over to see Aunt Bev too, for a little bit on Wed.

At Dave and Heidi's I got Kalyn settled in. We went grocery shopping, cleaned up her room, washed her new bedding and made her bed, explained to her how to refill her prescriptions and got her clothes hung up in the closet. D and H took us to eat downtown Minneapolis to Hell's Kitchen, which was delish!! We also hit up Mall of America for just a little while. Sunday the 9th was Sasha's 1st birthday and I flew out that morning to Baltimore....I cried and cried all morning leaving Kalyn and Sasha. Probably one of the hardest things I've ever been through besides the divorce. :( I still get teary-eyed thinking about it (and typing this!)

I arrived safely at Phillie, raced to catch my next 20 minute flight to Baltimore and boy was I starving when I got there!! I grabbed a quick little Chinese meal and walked down to baggage to meet Mom and Jon. They were laughing at me as I was saying hello, giving half hugs cuz I was holding my food! It was wonderful to see them!! We drove straight over to Jon's to see kids and Minerva. M cooked enchiladas and they were delish! Kids were good and then we headed to Mom's. Mom needed a little help with getting rid of things so we did that one morning, toured Frederick, ate good meals and toured DC one day! When Mom had her class on Tuesday night, I stayed with Minerva and kids and got some quality time in there. We went to eat and shopping at the post for an Army t-shirt. Earlier in the day, Mom watched the kids and M and I went and did a spinning class at the gym. It was brutal. They are stationary bikes that you workout on. You have an instructor that tells you what tension to be at and to speed up or slow down! We spent one whole day at Jon and Minerva's cuz Jon was off work and they took me and Mom to lunch and then the Mall there. Minerva cooked the last night I was there also and it was a great dish called Bulgogi. Got some quiet time with Mom at her place and it was just so nice to be there and see them all too. :) Then, it was time for me to fly back home on Friday the 14th! After my flight from Baltimore to Abq, Tyler picked me up and we did a little shopping and headed back to LA. I didn't leave the house the rest of that day or Sunday. I spent that time cleaning, washing, scrubbing, organizing everything that I could. Had to catch up on two weeks of duties!! I got it all done!

I want to thank everyone for feeding us and housing us for the entire trip! We couldn't have done it without the help of some of you out there!

It's been really quiet at home with just me and Ty. It's nice to be home and back to work though! I did go back to ABQ on Saturday. My former co-worker, Christine, was back in town for her baby shower! She married an Army guy she met in college, almost two years ago. Their baby is due in Feb. They are going to name her Lucia. It was great to see C again and meet all of Pat's (her hubby) family after hearing about all of them from time to time when she worked at the bank.

Well, I suppose I shall end this...I'm working at the gym and gotta start cleaning!! Hope all is well out there! Until next time... :)

First Day of Fall!

Hey all,

Well, the weather is turning a bit nippy in the mornings now and then by the afternoon it is 70 degrees!! Gotta love Fall in Los Alamos!!

Mailed off 9 boxes this week via USPS/FedEx/UPS full of Kalyn's clothes and books and shoes and jackets and gloves and scarves...whew the list goes on and on!! Her room is just about empty and ready for Tyler to move in!! She's leaving a few things here and so either myself or Tyler will help ourselves to the extra junk she leaves behind!! She's very excited to be moving on and she will be missed dearly around here.

Tyler and I moved him last weekend, so we are glad to be done with it. We borrowed Kevin's truck and went and picked up the couch and his bed and stuffed whatever else would fit along the sides of those big items. Then last Sunday, we each drove down and got the rest of his stuff!! We took it all to his storage shed...well, except for the stuff he wanted at the house...and now his shed is full of his goodies. He is thinking of staying for a year and then move again. Depends on if he gets his bills all paid off. He is absolutely loving his job at the Coffee Booth and the manager there, is in the process of purchasing the place, so he asked Tyler if he would like to be one of the managers when HE owns it! I thought that was very flattering! Tyler is really pumped about it! He will be watching the cats and house while I am away. Hopefully no parties will be thrown!!! :)

Work is going well at the bank. I had my annual review and got a small 2.5% raise, so that will help a little bit. Comes out to $40 a paycheck right now, but after December is when our medical benefits change, so hopefully it won't dig into my new wages too much. Gym job is good too. I asked about a raise there when I get back to my regular schedule in November and the owner told me to remind her and we will chat. :) Haven't gotten a raise there in over 2 years, so it's time.

I'm also getting really excited about the trip and seeing everyone! Should be a grand time!

Tj and Diana will be here early next week. They will be here a couple weeks for Balloon Fiesta in ABQ. We will get to see them probably one evening before we head out early next Saturday am. Will be nice to see them too.

Well, I am getting sleepy so will cut this short and go to bed. Stay well everyone and until next time.....

Labor Day!!!

Hey all!

Had a very productive weekend and still movin along with it!! I got a couple of cupboards reorganized, general cleaning done, work outs, yardwork, watched a season and a half of "Dexter" and now on my way to go clean for the Courtright's!! Today, Kalyn is off so we will be packing up boxes to mail up to Minnesota. We will be driving her little 2001 Honda Civic up there with her dog and then a little puppy to drop off with Shane, so there won't be much room for anything but clothes and essentials! I hope there is room for my stuff that I need to take for traveling too! LOL I will be packing very light as far as I can tell!

Things are going well. Tyler has been here a lot more and he needs to get all his stuff moved in here and to his shed before the end of Sept. from his house in Santa Fe. He is really loving his new job. I'm sure it's very hard for him to have to move back home. I'm trying to be easy on him and not say too much. He comes and goes and does his own thing which is totally fine. He's a quiet guy and I'm sure everything will work out for him.

Kalyn has three more weeks of work at the pizza place and she has 4 weeks of babysitting. She took on a babysitting job when the college started here for a friend of mine who has two little girls, ages 3 and 2 or something. The girls really like Kalyn so I'm glad we were able to help out my friend with a babysitter issue. Kalyn babysits on Tues, Wed and Thurs for Sara and then the other days of the week she works at Home Run. Kalyn got her account opened at US Bank on Friday. She needed an account for up there and she will keep her account here open as her "emergency car fund" account.

Well, I must run and go clean for a bit. Mr. Courtright has had some health issues and is not doing well. He is pretty much bed-ridden now so Mrs. C needs me more now that they have all these people in and out of the house to help Mr. C. I also went and saw Keith! He is at Sombrillo which is a nursing home. He was very glad to see me and I may try to go see him today too.

Talk to you all soon...keep in touch..until next time...

Been busy!!!!

Hey all,

Things are going well here. Thought I better catch up with things!!

Tyler got the job here in town as a barista at Coffee Booth/Coffee House Cafe!! He starts on Aug 25th!! He is way excited to work there! He plans to stay here when he has to work and then drive to Santa Fe, when he is off. The lease comes due at his place at the end of September, so he plans to move back in with me to save money and pay off his debts and THEN move on to what he wants to do (go to school, move or whatever!) I told him that is totally fine since Kalyn will be leaving around that time as well. I want to get her room cleaned up before he actually moves his stuff in, but we will see. He's gonna take her room cuz the futon is already in there and the room is bigger than his old room. I think he will get a storage shed up town for his other stuff that won't fit. The shed will run him about $50 a month, so that's not bad! Tyler is here now and is real sick!! Yuck!! Tyler got a lot of money for his birthday and plans to buy some clothes and shoes. Hopefully he is working on that! :)

Kalyn is doing well. She is working away at her job and saving every dime she can for her move, etc. She is gonna buy my HP laptop from me so that she has a computer. I've only had it a year so it will be a good computer for herself. I still have my little Dell that I can use. I am never on those laptops anyways, unless it is a really slow night at the gym. I usually have my phone to check email and Facebook, so not a big deal. She will pay me what I owe on the computer and then that loan will be paid off. It's that zero interest loan I got at the bank I work at, to help build my credit back up after the divorce/bankruptcy. So, it helps me and it helps her too!

I am doing well....keeping real busy with the jobs and such. I've got a couple of little projects I am working on at the bank, so that helps with passing of the time. It's pretty slow there most days and of course whenever Lesley is out, I don't wanna do any kind of work!! I like to stay busy when she's there, but otherwise, as long as I'm caught up with my work, it doesn't really matter what I do while she's gone. LOL Gym is making some changes with things, not sure if they are for the better or not. We will see how it goes. I will disclose as they come up!

Reuben is doing well in Seattle. I talk to him pretty much everyday. I would like to go see that area over the long weekend in November, so I've been looking at ticket prices here and there. One time I looked, it was $360, then the next time it was $300 and then the next time it was over $400!!! yikes!! Shoulda bought the $300 one, but then again, he isn't for sure if he will still be there at that time or what. So I would hate to buy it and then he's not there.

I gotta work at the gym this afternoon. We got a lot of good rain yesterday so the ground here is just soaked...so much for my mowing the lawn before I go to work! :) It can wait until tomorrow!!

I've been able to exercise more lately and that makes me happy!! I had a really nice run last night so that's got me motivated!! I've been going after church now too since I'm already up town. That seems to work pretty well!!

Okay, must get going. Hope all is well out there!! Until next time!!

Furniture pics!

Hey all,

Thought I would post my pictures real quick here. The kitchen shows my new table and bakers rack to match. The living room is my new couch and the two big pieces of furniture are from Reuben's office. And also some plants he had in the office. Enjoy!!! Until next time....

Pretty good week....

Hey all,

Had a good week, this past week. Getting things done around the house as far as getting things moved around, sold on the internet or gathering items for the yard sale. Kalyn is making great progress on her room. She did her desk a couple of weeks ago, the closet about a week or so ago and now lately going through drawers and crap she has laying around. LOL She has some more clothes to go through and then basically separating out what she is taking along with her or mailing or storing with me.

I've got my new baker's rack coming, that matches the new table and then I will need to rearrange my living with the new furniture that Reuben is moving in for me. Don't think it's gonna work the way I want it unless I do move the couch so we shall see. Just busy, busy, I tell ya...

Tyler won't be moving in then until further notice. He is working now and can afford his place and so far is getting along with everyone there. I think his roomies were getting frustrated with him having no job or anything. It's fine with me that he may not move back in yet...I want to get things cleaned and organized. I figure I will shampoo carpets and the new couch once K and Sash leave too.

Barb is planning to come down and get her cabinet from me. It will be good to see her!!

Last night, Catrina and I went to see the movie, "Friends with Benefits", with Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis. It was hilarious!! Great movie!! Then, we stopped at the Canyon bar and each drank 1/2 a beer (we sure are partiers!!) and chatted with folks we hadn't seen in forever!! Pretty fun time for once!! Girls night out is always a good time!! Today Catrina picked me up and we went to a few yard sales and then we picked up lunch and then she took me home just in time to get ready for work! Her and her boyfriend broke up too, so we are leaning on each other right now!

So, tonight, we are gonna pop a pizza in the oven and probably relax. I would love to help K go through more of her stuff, but she has to be in the mood for that!! lol I've kinda given her a time frame to get it done cuz Reuben is leaving and I need his assistance to get her bed taken apart and delivered up the street and then take apart the futon and move in her room and put it back together! Lots of work and I don't wanna be doing all this on my bday either. We are planning to do the yard sale in the am next Sat and then go to ABQ for the day in the afternoon. Should be a fun time.

My dad had to put his dog down on the 16th. I feel bad for them!! Malley was a good dog and very excited all the time.

Tj and Diana and them are getting ready for a family reunion/anniversary party for Tj's folks the first week of August. Everyone is flying down to stay and party on the beach! It is Tj's parents 60th wedding anniversary! Diana mailed out 3 boxes to my house for Tyler. It is Jesse's clothes and such so hopefully he finds a bunch of stuff he can wear.

I got renter's insurance on the house then and switched companies. I still have not had the Greentree peeps out to take pics like that lady said they would. I did call last week and let them know I had not heard a word. Hopefully soon!!! I'm still not gonna pay them a dime. That may get the ball rolling!!

Jobs are going well. We've got the Bodybuilding show coming up two weeks from today. They usually have it in Sept, but they moved it up a month to see if they might get more competitors. I'm gonna work the snack bar again and I think Kalyn took off from work so she can help me too. :)

That's all I've got for today!! Reuben just brought in a huge beetle in a container to show me!!! ick.....until next time....

New kitchen table!

Hey all,

Thought I would throw a pic up of my new kitchen table. Ordered a baker's rack to match it today! Can't wait to get it next week. Can't take a pic of the couch yet as it's all covered nicely with sheets so Sasha doesn't ruin it!! LOL I promise to take a pic soon!!

Speaking of Sasha, if you hadn't heard, she jumped or fell out of Kalyn's bedroom window the other night!! Very scary. Apparently Kalyn jumped out of bed and went to rescue her outside and Sasha was all happy to see Kalyn!! The screen was down on the ground, the flower planter spilled and then the metal bar was all bent as well!! Sasha had quite the fall, but seems fine!!

That's all I've got for right now....catching up on household duties tonight!! Love to all and until next time...

Mid July...

Hey all,

Well, I survived my busy week and made some money and spent some money!! I sold my couch and kitchen table/chairs all on Craigslist in one day! I also went to Santa Fe that same day and picked up my new/used couch from the same place I got my dryer from last Saturday! When I got home with my couch, the old couch was already gone and sold so that worked out well! My new table/chairs from Walmart will be here this week. I needed something smaller for myself, since I will be alone after mid-October. I really am looking forward to being by myself. It's a good time for reflection and having fun without anyone around to stop me!! LOL

So, Kalyn and I pull out from LA on Oct 1st. We plan to be in Minneapolis the evening of the 2nd and then sometime on the 3rd, we will drive over to EC and stay. Not sure how it's all gonna work out yet cuz we will have Sasha to contend with and not sure the Aunt and Uncle in Minneapolis will be up to doggy sitting for a few days while we go to EC. We will see, but I plan to be in EC most of that week. I fly out to Baltimore on Sunday the 9th to see Mom and Jon and then fly back to ABQ on Friday the 14th. So, basically that first week in October, i will be in EC.

There is finally action going on with the house now too!! I called Greentree to check the status and spoke with Brandi our new chick that is handling this. She was so apologetic for the lack of help I've been getting for the past few months and she is on top of things!! We plan to have this done by end of July and I am done with my house payments!! She told me there is no need to make anymore payments!! I was glad cuz I have another story to tell about the house insurance.....

The house insurance is through American Bankers, which is a company through Greentree. I pay Greentree the house payment and the insurance payment all in one. That is part of the reason why I kept paying even though I had put this house in the bankruptcy...I was worried if I didn't pay, I wouldn't have coverage and therefore if a fire broke out...I would lose everything!! So, I kept paying the full amount. Fine with me cuz I didn't wanna screw anyone over, basically (ie: my landlord for the lot, etc) and just felt obligated and also wanted a place to live. Now, with the fire/evacuation we just had, my insurance guy told me I don't have coverage and will not be reimbursed for the hotel/food I spent during that week out of our house. I was irate with him...what a jerk!! So, I was on a mission to cancel that insurance...I called up Allstate (who I have my cars with) and got renter's insurance since I #1-don't own the house anymore and Reuben told me, "who really knows if that company would cover me since the house was written off" or anyone for that matter and #2-could not stand my current coverage or the guy I spoke to!! LOL

I couldn't bind the insurance with Allstate until this past week cuz the fire is still going, but she called me and now I'm all set up with that!! I have $40,000 worth of coverage for my belongings in case of fire and I believe it starts next week. It's only $20 a month also. So, this house and insurance thing all kinda is working out at the same time. Very awesome! I have to sign a years lease with Bruce and I'm sure he will discuss with me all the in's and out's of the place and what I get to keep, etc. I'm gonna be so relieved to not have this expense over my head. He gets to fix anything that goes wrong. :)

This weekend I washed all the window coverings and blinds and also the actual windows and then did the floors. Today after church, I went thru my shed to find stuff for the yard sale we are gonna have and also got rid of a bag of trash and also moved and swept things up so it's better organized. Had to make room for Kalyn's storage tubs that she will be keeping in there too. It looks good. I've got a bed in that shed I'm selling for Barb (she had given me that pine log bed) and also we will sell Kalyn's bed and then put the futon in her room. That futon is roomier for her and then that room will be the guest room when she leaves. Kalyn went thru her closet today too and got rid of 3 garbage bags full of clothes!! She has to have her room mostly done before we move the futon in so I think she's beginning to get going on that now.....Man does that girl have a lot of stuff!! We gave Catrina's mom that bookshelf that was in K's room, on Friday night and then Catrina is getting my shoe rack too. I will have a box of goodies to mail to Mom for the kids' playroom at Gram's house! That may be awhile as K goes thru more and more stuff. Kalyn is giving her desk to her friend up the street and the rest she will leave here for me to store. Reuben is leaving in two weeks so we are trying to do alot of this big moving stuff while he is here. fun, fun!! :)

Well, that's about it for now...just wanted to update ya'all. I will send pics of the new couch and kitchen stuff after the table gets here. Love to all! Until next time...

Replacing things....

Hey all,

I must say...this is the year for replacing things in my home. I got all new computer stuff that I mentioned how cheaply I got it....had Jeep repairs last year and now new tires...now my 2 year old dryer quit (didn't renew the warranty cuz my landlord is in process of buying the house and didn't wanna spend the money if i didn't need to....needless to say...I have now added warranty to the washer but you must wait 60 days before making any claims...lets pray it hangs in there!), new tv at Xmas time, water line breakage at New Year's and then Kalyn's graduation stuff, medical bills, etc....are we done yet?? I'm hoping this is it now....with the evacuation (and finding out my home owners policy doesn't cover any of it!!) I'm almost tapped out here...I am just very thankful I had money saved to do this and have to praise God for that blessing!! I did find an organization here, Self Help, that is helping me with the 10 hours of work I missed from working at the gym and also with the dryer purchase!! I won't find out until Monday what they can do, but at least they CAN do! whew...

Tyler is finally employed! He got two job offers...one for Servicemaster and then another as a waiter/busser at Amavi (downtown SF)...he is gonna take the restaurant one, i believe! Hallelujah for Tyler! I was getting worried there.

Kalyn is getting nervous about her October 1st departure to Minneapolis!! I don't blame her, but this will be a good experience for her! She will do just fine.

I'm working at the gym today and getting back into the swing of life again after the fire. I've got the Courtright's to clean for this week and also Keith needs help with his place too. He is government subsidized so they inspect his place every so often.

I've got my flight booked from Minneapolis to Baltimore to Albuquerque!! Very excited to come see everyone in October!!

Reuben leaves in 3 weeks for Washington. He is getting sad about leaving now and we are sad to have him go. I think it will be a good opportunity to have some breathing room and seek other opportunities for each of us. He's such a great person and I wish him well!! We will still keep in close contact and he wants me to go up and visit him and see that part of the country. Never been up there except for the airport, so that will be fun. Maybe in November over that long weekend, I will go.

So, that's about all for now...very thankful no one lost their homes during this fire!! There are still little fires all over and they are still fighting a big portion of it, so it can get smokey here at times depending on the winds etc. Thanks to everyone for your prayers and thoughts too!! Until next time....

HOME!!!

Hey all,

Made it home just fine after being evacuated from town for almost a week. Very scary to have to go through and we did it 11 years ago also...didn't think that would ever happen again in my lifetime!!

The first night, I stayed with my co-worker Kathleen down in Santa Fe. We rode together to work the next day also. Kalyn stayed with our friend Dana (she worked with me at McD's, when she was a teen!) for that first night. Then, while I was working, I called hotels and especially the one right next door to the bank, to make it easier for me to get to work and also so that Kalyn would have access to me during the day. I got a room booked for 6 nights at the Hotel Santa Fe...very nice place and we ended up only staying 5 nights!! Sasha did really well there and I think we all enjoyed ourselves as best we could. Kept a close eye on the news for any indication that we could go back home!!

We got to come home today and only had to stay 5 nights at the Hotel, so that was a nice surprise on my pocketbook. I have put all my things away, did laundry (had to drive to someone else's house to dry the clothes, as my dryer quit working right before the fire!!) and now I am settled for the evening to relax. What a week!!!

While we were in Santa Fe, I took the Jeep to get the tires rotated and I KNEW they were gonna tell me I needed new tires!! Well, of course they did and of course I got 4 new tires. They kept the spare on the back cuz it was the best looking one and boy oh boy can you tell a difference with these tires!! They actually have TREAD!!! So, that was my birthday gift to myself, I suppose. LOL I'm gonna keep the Jeep for awhile and it was long overdue for new tires, so what the heck huh?

Reuben did an amazing job with the house! He had it all clean, the cats actually looked plump, the yard was all trimmed, watered and mowed!! It looked soooo green and amazing when I got home today!! He did a wonderful job!! I told him several times too!! He missed all of us and Sasha really missed him!!

Well, that is all for tonight...just wanted you all to know we are home...I get to deal with the insurance adjuster next week. He told me I have a $600 additional living expenses clause, but only if the house burnt down.....WHAT?? If the house burnt down, I would have a totally different coverage!! What is he thinking!? Of course, they don't wanna give up money, but come on...I've paid my payment every month on time for how long now?? You've got to be kidding me...this guy isn't gonna know what hit him when I'm done with him!! :) Until next time....

Working Saturday

Hey all,

I'm cleaning my house today and then later work at the gym!! Fun times!

It's been very hot here! In the 90's which is a bit unusual. The weather this year has just been weird. Very very cold temps in the winter and then we jumped right to summer with record high heat! We also still have fires burning around us and it is so, so dry here. We are hoping for rain soon!!

Still no word on the house. I called Greentree the other day and the guy told me that the pictures we sent in, haven't been "imaged" yet. I said, does that mean you got them? He said, "probably" and to "call next week". Ugh....they are being so so slow on this. We've been working on this since March. I'm getting to the point that I just want to stop paying on it (which I can) and then see how quickly they move! As long as they are getting payment, I'm sure they don't care how long this takes! They tried to tell me that before it can sell, the payments have to be current..well that is not true cuz this place was written off in the bankruptcy and I do NOT have to pay them anything, but I do. :)

A friend of Tyler's helped him pay his rent for June and the check she wrote him came back "insufficient funds"! They had to put that check against my account cuz Tyler had no money in his account. I'm so furious with that lady. I've been talking with her since Thursday about this. She got paid yesterday, but "couldn't get to the bank, cuz of an incident at work" and now today she tells me they are at a "basketball game all day"...I finally texted her and told her to get to a Western Union and either send me the money that way (plus fees I have incurred) or get a money order in the mail asap. She was gonna wire the money to my bank account yesterday, but couldn't get away from work. She promises to do it Monday. This is just crazy...if it were ME...I would have gotten this done right away. So, she stopped responding to me now via text so I probably made her mad, but it's like geez!!!

Kalyn is healing very nicely from her wisdom teeth removal! It's been a little over two weeks now. She is working alot also. Works just about every night of the week and she is saving all her tips for a laptop. I may sell her mine since I don't use it that often plus I have the smaller Dell mini that just needs a new memory system cuz only having 1GB on there makes for not much of anything to be put on there, but I like it cuz it's so tiny!

Tyler may have to move back home if his job situation doesn't perk up here. He's still job searching after all this time (April) and I'm gonna have to put my foot down and tell him by mid July if he has no job, he needs to come back here. No one is gonna be able to keep helping him like this. Another situation I'm not happy with right now.... LOL

My happy news...I got a new printer for my computer!! it's an HP and it prints photos and everything, if you want it to. I got it on sale at Best Buy and it's very nice. Our other one was very old and would not feed the paper anymore...you would have to hold each slice of paper and guide it along for it to grab it and you would have to do this for EVERY piece of paper you wanted printed!! LOL I finally got so frustrated and figured it was about time for a new one. So...I've gotten a whole new system (CPU, monitor and printer) within the last year and a half for about $370!! Not bad!! The CPU is a rebuilt HP and the monitor is an Acer brand. Love it!! My other happy news is that my trip to Baltimore, etc is all booked!! Kalyn and I drive to Minneapolis on Oct 1st (in her car) and then we will get there probably evening of the 2nd. We plan to head over to Wisconsin on the 3rd (maybe later in the day) and see Jenni as it will be her 40th birthday!! We also plan to spend time with Wisconsin fam and then I fly out of Minneapolis to Baltimore on Sunday Oct 9th. to see Mom and Jon and his family until the 14th when I fly back to Albuquerque. Really looking forward to seeing everyone (or almost everyone!) while I'm there! Woo!

My jobs are going well...I have one cleaning job now for the Courtright's and it's whenever she calls and needs me...I work only two nights a week at the gym now and then full time at the bank. The bank changed it's Friday hours to 5pm now, so no more staying until 6pm! Love it!! I'm very grateful and thankful for my jobs!

Kevin has rhubarb growing in his yard, so I had him cut me some and last night I baked 4 little loaves of the bread and then 2 small cake pans of rhubarb crisp!! ohman...they turned out YUMMY!!!! I promised to take Kevin some goodies, so I've got all that ready to go. He's never had rhubarb anything!! He said he threw alot of it out cuz he didn't know what it was and it was irritating him! LOL

Well, I must go now...gotta mow the lawn and get ready for work here shortly!! Kalyn is still in bed and Sasha is running around outside!! Until next time...

Saturday in Los Alamos

Hey all,

I am working at the gym, so thought I would keep you all updated on my life!

Today was Chamberfest in downtown LA, and for once, I didn't have to work the gym booth!! The owners are usually out of town and so they recruit me and another worker to man the booth. This year, they are in town, so they decided to do the booth themselves! I had another job this morning, so it worked out well. I had to do the Courtright's two-level deck this morning. First I round up the hoses, then I connect the hoses, then I figure out if the hoses I have connected will reach the longest point of the deck, then I turn on the water and make sure there are no faulty hoses and then I can begin!! Whew...I always bring my own sprayer and then this year I wore my water shoes so that my shoes would be ok. I have worn flip-flops and you end up sliding all over the place in your wet shoes and then with tennis shoes, you hate getting your feet soaked. It is a propanel type material so its slippery, but the water runs off nicely. She has me do this once a year in the Spring and also Kalyn would typically join me, but she is still getting over having her wisdom teeth out and can't really be doing any kind of strenous labor yet. It only took me a 1/2 hour more than usual, so not too shabby!! I got home just in time to get ready to work here at the gym. :)

So, we discussed vacations at the bank yesterday. We were trying to figure out between the four of us, what everyone needs to take off before the end of the year. I will be taking the first two weeks in October off!! I will be driving Kalyn and her dog Sasha to Minneapolis in Kalyn's car on October 1st!! We plan to take two days to get there and then we will go over to Eau Claire and visit peeps for a few days!! I will then go back to Minneapolis and fly to Baltimore to see Mom and then fly back to New Mexico after visiting for a few days. I am really excited to see everyone on this trip and to help Kalyn get settled. I plan to get back home, regroup and then start a cleaning frenzy!! I want to have the couch cleaned after having Sasha around and things like that. It will be different not having anyone at the house with me, except for the cats, but it will be a new chapter in my life. And as Tj so brilliantly put it, I need to get a life!! LOL

Reuben is leaving Aug 1st to go take care of his Mom for awhile up in Washington state. He plans to be gone for several months, so he will be missed around here and in town. Everyone loves his massage work!! Hopefully he finds the answers he needs while he is up there. He said the hardest part will be leaving me behind. I told him you never know what can happen!! We are keeping our hearts and minds clear. We still do things together, so its been going really well. Last night, we went uptown and listened to music (Gordon's concerts on Friday nights) and then ran into friends down there and also went to Smith's to grab a couple of groceries. We enjoy each other's company very much.

Tyler is hanging in there, but needs a job desperately!! Hopefully he finds anything soon!! I mentioned to him that he COULD move back home and save money and get a job up here. He is "thinking" about it and really wants to be in Santa Fe for his music scene and stuff.

My landlord called me yesterday!! He said he called Green Tree and they still were in process of having pictures taken. Bruce, my landlord, told the guy at GT that "we've heard this before and have been waiting since March for these so called pictures to be taken"...the guy understood and said "well, I suppose you could take your own pictures and email them to us"...DUH....that's what we kept asking them!!! ugh...so Bruce had me take pictures and I sent them to him via email yesterday on my lunch break. Bruce responded today saying he got them and they were good pics and that he would forward them to GT. I had called GT earlier into my vacation and the pictures had been "cancelled" for some reason....so the lady I talked to ordered them up again. I don't know what they are doing, but I'm glad Bruce called them and is getting the ball rolling!! I have to sign a year lease once we get this done. I'm very excited to be rid of the mobile home. I just don't want to be financially responsible for it. It's been a great home to us for 13 years!! I don't plan to move out of it either unless I have big life-changing plans or decide to move out of town. Bruce told me he would charge me a little more a month, but not more than what I'm paying on the lot and the payment right now, combined. He said it would come out less than what I'm dishing out now. Very sweet of him!! The maintenance guy put a latch on our house by the gate now so we don't have that piece of wood in front of the gate anymore for the dog. Our little gate had no pole to attach to, but it would stay put, but we had to blockade it so the dog couldn't get out OR have another dog get IN the yard. Now with this latch, the gate won't move either way unless you lift up one piece of the latch. VERY nice!! Now Sasha can't get out and any kind of other animal cannot get in. It's about time!!!

Tomorrow is church and then we have two picnics to go to. My friend Catrina's mom turns 50 tomorrow so she is having a big bash at one of the little parks in town and then at 6 at the same park, our church is having a cookout. I think we plan to go for a little while for both. Maybe catch the tail-end of the party and then have the cookout.

Well, that's all I can think of for now. Keep in touch and until next time...

June!

Hey all,

So, Kalyn graduated...everyone left....house is clean...now what?? LOL I'm enjoying my last week of vacation by getting some errands done, finishing up paperwork/filing, etc and spending some time with Kalyn and Sasha! Last night, Kalyn and I went to the movie "The Hangover 2", it was pretty funny. Kalyn is also having her car fixed this week. The mechanic said whomever had the car previous to Kalyn, took excellent care of it! Since it has over 203, 000, he suggested she swap out the water pump and the belt and then 3 tires needed to be replaced. He said other than those couple of things, all is great with the car. I've never seen Kalyn so happy in her life!! Car should be ready to pick up tomorrow!

Kalyn is now beginning to pick up more hours at Home Run Pizza. She worked Monday night and again tonight, tomorrow night and her usual Saturday evening shift. Her plans are to leave in September for Minnesota! She's very excited to have a lot of family around her too.

Graduation and all that went with it, went wonderfully! It was a great day!

Tyler is still job-hunting, but doing well. We got to see him a lot in the past week so that was nice.

I go back to work on Monday the 6th at the bank. I work at the gym this weekend.

Love to all...until next time!

Memorial Weekend

Hey all,

So, Friday, me and Mom hung out here at the house for quite awhile, then headed up town to Smith's to pick up Kalyn's grad cake and some lettuce. We came back to the house and waited awhile before we left again and went to visit my friend, Keith. He always likes to see Mom and see how she is doing. He gave us $11 to spend, cuz he knew we were going to Gabriel's to dinner, so he told us to each have a margarita on him!! So, it was a very relaxing day around here on Friday. Did some watering of the lawn and took care of Sasha cuz Kalyn was gone spending time with her Dad and then went and had her nails done down in Espanola with Gram Diana! I think Kalyn was also showing off her new car!! :)

Friday evening we all headed down to Gabriel's!! Our group of 10 was, Kevin, Kalyn, Dani (K's friend), Tyler, Gramp Tj, Stephanie, Shane, Diana, Joyce and myself. We had a great time and took pics! The food was wonderful too! Yum!!

Saturday am, we got up bright and early and got ready for the graduation! We were/are so proud of Kalyn for getting all her online stuff done and achieving this wonderful goal. I'm so relieved she finished!! We got to the High School early and got our seats. Me, Mom, Tyler and Reuben all sat together and then Diana, Tj, Shane, Steph and Kev all sat together a little further down from us. We took pics after (all pics are on Facebook) outside and it was so nice, weather-wise!! When Ty graduated, it was a downpour of rain!! Then, we headed back to the house and Carrie and Kent from the gym came over with a tent/canopy, tables and chairs so that people could sit and eat outside too. That really helped out alot!! Shane came over to eat too, so that was nice. Stephanie thanked me for inviting them. I really appreciated everyone coming over and having a good time! We served Frito pies, with homemade chili, homemade cookies, cake, chips and homemade salsa, fruit salad and pasta salad made by Aunt Jill, and punch to drink. We had about 24 people in and out and finally the crowd fizzled right around 3. I got everything put away and cleaned up and then later Reuben and I packed up the tent, tables and chairs and took all those back to the gym. We did good!!! :)

At 6pm, me, mom, Reuben, Jill and Tim all headed down to Buffalo Thunder, aka Buff T, and ate at the Turquoise Trail restaurant and then did a little gambling. I had a $1 bill, so I popped that into the BIG machine by the restaurant and ended up cashing out a $22 ticket!! Then, I had $8 credit on my Buff T card (from gambling previously) and cashed out another $23 ticket!! Then Reuben gave me some cash to spend and ended up cashing out another $5.22 or something like that so I left with a $50 bill!! Not bad!! Jill and Tim ended up ahead too. I think Mom lost $5. We had such a fun time!!

Today we are going to church. Mom is coming with us. We will eat first at the Coffee Booth and then church starts at 10:30. Jill and Tim want to "tour" Los Alamos, so we will do that afterwards and then they plan to leave town, with Mom in tow, around 2pm. We had such a wonderful, relaxing week!! Loved having Mommy here!! Kalyn is sleeping today as they had the Senior Appreciation Night last night. She got home about 3:30 am.

For Memorial Day, the church is having a hike up the ski hill, so in the morning, Reuben and I will be doing that until about noon. I still have this next week off, so I've got a few things going on. Dentist appointment on Wednesday, take Kalyn's car to the shop to get all fixed up with new tires, etc and then I work at the gym at the end of the week! Kalyn's wisdom teeth surgery is June 9th, so I will be taking that day off to drive her and take care of her!

That's all I've got for now...until next time... :)

Mom is here!/Graduation!

Hey all,

So, Mom got here just fine on Tuesday! We picked her up, as planned, at the downtown train station in Santa Fe. She enjoyed the scenic ride from Albuquerque! Previous to us picking her up, Kalyn and I (and Kalyn's friend Dani) had some time to shop and also to go to Kalyn's wisdom teeth consultation. Kalyn only has 3 wisdom teeth so the VERY nice surgeon told us that SINCE it was going to be cheaper for Kalyn's parents to pay for this...Kalyn deserves to buy a new pair of jeans with the "extra" money her parents would now have...I told him, "shh...thanks alot"!! LOL Crazy dentist!! Kalyn's surgery is scheduled for June 9th. :)

Kalyn also got a car this week!! Been busy getting it, having it inspected for any issues, licensing it, etc. Been quite the week with everything! The car is great! It's a 2001 Honda Civic, 2 door coupe. She absolutely LOVES it!! The mechanic said whomever had this car, has taken very good care of it. It needs new tires, plugs and a new belt/water pump. He said after all that, it will run for quite awhile. He said the engine is great!! The tires are really bald on the rear, so we are taking the car in next week for the tires and then the week after that for the other work. I've never seen Kalyn so happy between graduation and getting her own vehicle!! :)

Yesterday, we had lunch with Mom at Quizno's and then did a little shopping here in LA downtown. We headed home and then did some things around here and then decided to go uptown again and get all the party food, so that we were done with all that. We got home and then it was time for me to work at the gym.

Today, I got up bright and early (after staying up REALLY late last night watching the DVR version of American Idol and also the last Oprah show) and got in line at DMV to register Kalyn's car in both our names. Reuben and I went to breakfast and then I came home and Kalyn and Gram Joyce were getting ready to go to Santa Fe with me! We drove down and hit the Ross store so that Gram could find a nice/cheap outfit for the graduation...she had success and I also bought 2 new tops for work. Then, we headed downtown SF and hit a couple of souvenir shops. Gram was looking for t-shirts for the little grandkids and stuff. Then, we finished up there and headed over to Horseman's Haven for a late lunch with Tyler! We drove immediately back to LA, as Kalyn had to work tonight. Long, but good day! Tonight we are chillin', cookin dinner here and then I'm going to whip up the chili for the party tonight and hopefully get some rest tonight. Reuben plans to come over and have dinner with us too.

Graduation is Saturday am, so really looking forward to that. Shane will be here to see Kalyn, which will be really nice. Also, Tj, Diana and Kevin will join us too! Tomorrow, we are picking up the graduation cake and having a wonderful dinner down at Gabriel's with the whole family!

All in all, everything is going really well...lots of fun spending time together! Take care all...will post pics when I have some...Until next time...

The break-up!

Hey all,

Reuben and I broke up this past week on Tuesday evening. Been quite the week, if you ask me. Lots of tears and sadness...so much so...that yesterday I was finally at my breaking point. I hadn't eaten much, slept much, cried TOO much, so I had a tummy ache, headache and felt hot and dizzy. I managed to make it through the work day and then came straight home and went to bed. It helped alot!! Then, I just sat in my chair the rest of the evening. Reuben got dinner for us, so that helped with the lack of food in my stomach and I felt much better by the end of the evening. Had a good night's sleep and then got up about 6:30 cuz I had so much sleep! It really really sucks when two people love each other, but just can't make it work at the moment. We will still be in contact and seeing each other for various events so maybe if we really take our time, things will work out. I think we both need breathing room right now! He commends me daily for having the strength and courage to bring our issues to light and taking action on it. We will see what happens, but will take one day at a time!!

I'm officially on vacation from the bank for two weeks! Woo!! Kalyn and I are going to a different bank on Monday to apply for a small car loan for her and I work that evening at the gym, Tuesday we go to Santa Fe to drop off stuff to Tyler-Kalyn has her oral surgery appointment-then pickup Mom from the train station and bring her back to LA!! Wednesday I work that evening at the gym and then Friday we pick up Kalyn's cake, get party food ready and Friday evening is our meal at good ol' Gabriel's restaurant with Diana/Tj/Kev and whomever else wants to join! Saturday is the graduation at 9am! Aunt Jill and her bf Tim will be driving here on Sat. and get here around party time at noon! Really looking forward to the week with Mom and getting things ready for the graduation!

That's about all for now! Until next time...

Forgot!!

Hey all,

I suppose I should fill you in on Kalyn's plans!!! At first she was gonna stay here in LA and take classes at the little University here. Well, then she figured out that she would probably have a tough time with classes and such. She just doesn't feel ready to have a full class load with tough college classes...sooo...she's been thinking about Cosmetology school!! She had first thought of moving to Moab and stay with Stephanie, but go to school in Grand Junction, CO, during the week and stay with Steph's daughter Aly, there. Well, then she figured her Dad would return from duty and then she would have to finish school and just stay with Aly. Then, she thought well, i could go live with Dad in Kansas after he is back and go to school in Manhattan which is about 30 min away from Ft. Riley, KS. NOW....she's been talking with her Aunts and Uncles and one set is in Colorado Springs (with a 5 year old daughter) and the other are in Minneapolis. She has a high school friend that is going to be in MN for her college and then Kalyn thought she would be real close to family in WI if she went to MN. So as of right now...she is thinking of doing the MN thing. We told her to make sure what the "expectations" are of living with them, etc. Will she have to pay for anything?? We hate for her to go there and have false expectations and there she is stuck, you know? That's what she is contending with at the moment. She plans to move there in the Fall sometime after getting a good car and saving up money from working. I will probably take time off work and get her up there and then fly home.

Just thought I would fill you in.... :) Until next time...

Weekend

Hey all,

Well, my dear Reuben is gone this weekend until Tuesday up in Washington state, visiting his 91 year old mother, whom he hasn't seen in 15 years!! His family had a falling out a bunch of years back and he just didn't connect back up with anyone until a couple of years ago. A client of his, gave him a free round-trip ticket (stand-by) to go see her!! I hear they are having a wonderful time catching up and today they are out sight-seeing and he said it is just gorgeous there!! She lives in Edmond, WA.

Sooo... while Reuben is away, I am cleaning and working!! I am doing some deep cleaning and organizing around the house to make sure all is well before company comes for Kalyn's graduation! My house, on the surface, is clean, but with 4 pets, there is a lot of pet hair in corners and such so I am working on that and dusting ceiling fans, window ledges, etc...all the detailed cleaning one hates to do....well anyone but me, that is. :)

I also plan to bake cookies for K's party and put those in the freezer so that they are ready for the party in two weeks. The weather is great so I watered and mowed the lawn last night. I think I have a couple of cupboards that need organizing so I will whip those up in the am before church. I'm working at the gym right now. I am soooo glad I am not cleaning for Angie anymore...makes my Saturday mornings so much better!!

Tyler is still job hunting. He is applying for pretty much anything he can get his hands on, at this point. Hopefully something comes along soon!!

Kalyn has one week of school left!! Woohoo!! She turned in all her books yesterday and then she just has a few finals to take and she'll be finished. The Seniors get the last week off from school so that they can do the picnic, hand out their gowns, have rehearsal, stuff like that. My Mom comes to town on the 24th so that will be nice to finally have her here too!! Kalyn has her consultation appointment on the 24th for her to have her wisdom teeth removed here within the next couple of weeks. We want to get it done before she is gone and before she no longer has insurance....her Dad may be getting discharged from the Army so we are trying to get this done quickly. Shane has real bad depression and PTSD from being over in Afghanistan. He was supposed to go back after Jesse's funeral, but he had really bad symptoms and didn't go back. He went to the VA hospital in Grand Junction, CO for treatment and then they recently sent him back to Kansas to his doctor there. That's about all I know....

Monday night there is our Bloom event again at the church. Its a ladies event that they have about every 3-4 months. I'm taking two friends with me, so that should be fun. Last time they had a shoe fashion show...this time it is kids modeling clothes that this lady makes. I made and donated one of my bracelets as a raffle prize. Reuben donated a massage coupon. They always have great things that they raffle off! They serve you dinner and it is sooo much fun. It only costs $10!!

Well, that is all for now...keep in touch and love you all! Until next time...

Mother's Day!

Hey all,

Just thought I would whip up a few lines here while I am at work today!!

First of all, happy Mother's Day tomorrow, to all you mother's out there. I hope each and every one of you have a wonderful day!!

Today I got to sleep in a little bit, then did some laundry and dusting around the house, showered and then decided to go do yardwork after being all clean!! LOL Not sure what I was thinking, but I did some raking and then got the lawnmower going and cut the grass out front. We need to water really badly. The rains this year have been non-existant. Reuben is still working on the water line that is broken. We hope that this is it and it will be fixed so our swamp cooler can run and the lawn can get watered. It is dry, dry, dry.... I'm praying for no rain for Kalyn's graduation though. lol

Sasha the puppy is still doing great. She is very good and doesn't bark hardly at all.

Tyler is here in town for a bit. He is picking up some items that he left at Gram's townhouse to store until he officially moved into his room at his new place in SF. So, it was good to see him as he needed to get the house key from me. He is still job hunting and hopefully he finds one soon!!

That's all for now. Love to all....until next time...

ahhhh....almost May!!

Well, my fellow bloggers...thought I better catch you up to date!!

Jesse's funeral/memorial all went well. People arrived...then people left....everything went really well and it sure was great to see everyone!! There is not a day that goes by that we don't say something about Jesse. We loved him so much and he will be missed dearly!

Jennie, Ryan, Katy, David, Heidi, Ellen and Meira all stayed at a friends house of Jennie while they were here. The house just happens to be empty (still has furniture) and is used as a get-a-way home for Jennie's friend Allison. It was the house that Allison grew up in and her mother passed away two years ago, but they still kept the house and all the belongings in it. So, long story short, Allison was happy to have someone staying there to keep an eye on things. The washer and dryer apparently do not work well, so they all asked me if I would mind washing the sheets and towels....i had no problem doing that for them. Jennie gave me a key and I went over there and made the beds again and put the towels away. Now I am working on getting the townhouse in order. I spent an hour over there one day on my lunch this past week and made a big dent in the cleaning. I had to take all the trash up to the street and then some more bags to the bank trash bin as there was so much of it!! I also gathered up the dirty sheets and towels from there and got all that done also. I should be done with the cleaning tomorrow and should only take another hour.

I stopped cleaning for Angie!!! I was just getting too frustrated with that place and not finding it enjoyable to help her anymore. She is divorced now, her kids have moved away, but now she's got a homeless family living with her temporarily and it just seems odd for me to be there when that lady that is living there should be cleaning for her instead, you know? I just can't see cleaning for her for so little money and its always messy and this last time I was there I could tell she was frustrated with her guests and expressed that to me. She actually was being quite rude to me and I decided...enough is enough. Reuben even quoted some quote saying "insanity is doing the same thing over and over but expecting different results"... I still clean for the Courtrights and usually she only needs me once a month, so that is perfect for me. Plus, I need to get back into working out more religiously and this free time on Saturday am will help with that.

I've been working on graduation announcements and have those all ready to mail out!! Kalyn only has 3 more weeks of school! Her graduation and party will be May 28th. Graduation is with a ticket only and then the party will be at our house from noon to 4. I am off work from the bank from May 23-June 3rd. I'm hoping to get the house clean for the party, cleaned after the party and then get Kalyn ready for her wisdom teeth removal during that time.

Tyler is putting the finishing touches on moving to Santa Fe this weekend. He borrowed my Jeep yesterday to take a load from ABQ to SF. He's got friends helping him today get the last big furniture and such. He is still job hunting so hopefully he finds something quick. I think his money supply is getting low!!

Mother's Day is right around the corner...had to get all my cards/gifts ready to send out for this next week also. You should see all the cards that need to go out between Mother's Day, Graduation and birthday's coming up that are all sitting on my counter ready to go out!!! lol

I'm hoping to make it to Maryland sometime this summer to visit with my Mom and then Carole Schultz wants Kalyn and I to go up to Denver for a weekend this summer and hang out with her. I know Reuben wants to go camping too and his daughter is setting up a family camping event for Father's Day weekend. I don't think Tyler or Kalyn will want to go and I really don't wanna go for 4 days. We shall see....

So, Reuben and I are doing ok these days. He has dedicated his life to God and got baptized in March. I think he is finally seeing that I am not ready to dedicate my life to God like he has and so we are unsure of our future right now. I am taking it a day at a time to help me get through this. He is such a wonderful person, very caring, very concerned about me and my kids and would do just about anything for me. But, when Kalyn and I were at the Jason Aldean concert, I thought to myself, there is no way Reuben would come to this concert with me. If there is an event that doesn't honor God, he will not go. I barely got him to go with me to the Easter egg hunt for church and afterwards he told me that he probably shouldn't have helped with that. So, I told him/asked him that I need to have someone in my life that will do things with me otherwise I have to find someone to go to these events with me. He understands that it is a legit claim that I have. It got him thinking that we may not be together because of his dedication to the Lord. He doesn't wanna pressure me into anything, which is very nice of him, and I think this is really hard for him cuz we were so close before he re-dedicated his life and now we are moving further and further apart. So, time will tell....I'm excited for some family to meet him at the graduation. I don't think he will be at the party though. :)

Well, that is all for now...I'm looking forward to seeing family the end of May. I'm hoping May is a good month also!! 2011 has not been a good year for me, so far. I'm staying positive though and hoping for the best!! Love to all...until next time....