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...