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...