Just Slowing Down

The weekend, was, as usual, very busy & full of times with friends and family, too. We spent a lot of time with our friends, just hanging out, talking & laughing. I guess they didn't get that rental, after all, the partners in the management company don't seem to communicate very well with each other, because it was rented when they had Dawn come in with paystubs. So, they're staying where they are for the time being, unless they can get one of the local mortgage lenders to work with them & show them how to apply to purchase a HUD home, that is.

I took Rhi to get her hair done this morning. She had some more blond done & had it cut in a really pretty layered cut. She looks so nice, now & really loves her hair. I do plan to get mine done before graduation, just so I can look nice, too, but that's 24 days away, so I have a little time before I have to get in & get it done. I'm pretty excited about it though!

Erin is leaving to move to Portland tonight. I'm pretty angry about it, but will have to post more about it later, gotta jet!

Time Travel?

It's sometime amusing the things that you remember from your childhood, isn't it? Sometimes, a smell will trigger a memory, that to an outside observer would seem completely random, but to you, makes perfect sense. Like, for instance, the smell of Brut aftershave and scotch tape instantly takes me back to Christmas when I was a little girl. Seems a little random, doesn't it? What about when I tell you that for many years, I bought my dad a bottle of Brut & wrapped it myself? Makes a lot more sense now, doesn't it?

Looking at jewelry in stores always reminds me of my mom, especially bangle bracelets, because they're her favorite. She used to have a gold bangle that I loved a lot when I was a little. It was delicate & dainty & had pretty vining flowers etched in it, so now when I look at them in stores, I always seem to be trying to find it again.

The smell of saddle soap reminds me of my oldest brother, who rode in the rodeo when I was growing up, and the smell of charcoal on sketch paper reminds me of my other brother, he was always drawing when we were younger.

What sights & smells take you back & what to?

Stuff

I've been thinking a lot lately, about my first home as an adult and things that I've always wanted in a place, but have never (yet) had. This has most likely come about die to Rhi being so excited about her first home and moving out & all of that.

I've always loved exterior shutters, but have never had any, not even in homes I lived in as a child. We had a house that had interior shutters in my bedroom, instead of curtains, which is probably where my love of them comes from. I think it may have only had 1 or 2 in the room, but I really liked them.

I've always wanted a wild-looking garden in my yard, the kind that is planned, but doesn't look like it, with a lot of wandering paths, stones and fountains. I love gardens and watching the birds & butterflies in them. I want a gazing ball, a hummingbird feeder and a nice place to sit & relax in my yard. I think mostly, I just want a nice yard to call my own, you know? I'm getting to a point in my life where renting is no longer making me very happy, but there really isn't anything I can logically do about it.

Changes in Plans

Well, now that airfare has gone up to an unaffordable fee, we're pretty sure that we aren't going to Iowa for Labor Day weekend, now. They just about doubled in the space of a week & if I had had the money when I first checked, I would have bought them then, but I didn't. So, I guess I get to buy my laptop after all & not have to look for a reasonably priced laptop rental for use at faire.

We're probably still going to take a vacation of sorts in August, it'll just be a weekend thing for Troy & I, though, which will be great, because we haven't done that in a long time. We really need to start doing it more often, because it refreshes us & energizes us just to get away for a couple of days. I'm looking forward to it, it should be a lot of fun!

Yay!

I got Rhi out of school early today & took her to lunch. After that we went to look for graduation dresses that she could also wear to her Graduation Dance on May 10. We found a really pretty (and totally her) dress at Beall's, for $45. It's black & white with bright green trim, and I got her some green shoes to match. She looks so pretty in it, and she actually found a lot of really pretty dresses that she just loved (a big shock for a girl that doesn't like dresses) and plans to go back and get later.

I helped her pick out paint samples and all of that, too, and I looked at HDMI-ready TVs for a future purchase for Troy & I, too. We really want a nice flat screen TV and they have some really good ones out now. Those of you who have them, what do you have & how big? What do you recommend? What should we know before we go out shopping for one? It was a lot easier in the old days, you know? I didn't ever frrl like I knew nothing about a TV before now.

Oh..

Before I forget, I already mentioned that Erin is staying with us for awhile, I know that. He & I had a chance to talk today & I'm really very pleased with him, right now. I had some concerns that he was smoking salvia in the more highly concentrated forms, and we talked about it. He had smoked it once or twice, but not in those forms & the one time he had a strange experience he decided that he wasn't doing it anymore.

He also told me that he's not drinking to get drunk anymore, and only has a beer or a glass of wine every once in awhile now. I'm so proud of him & thankful that we won't need to step in & discuss addiction treatment with him and try to convince him that he needs it.

At any rate, and at least for now, he seems to have a grip on what he doing and what he wants out of life. He's still working and still planning his life, so at least he hasn't given up on everything!

Another Busy Day

Today looks like it's going to be another busy one. I've already taken Rhi to school, helped Erin find some breakfast (he's staying with us awhile, before he heads to Portland), gone to the store, packaged a custom sign I made for mailing and fed the pets, and it's not even 9:00am yet.

Still to come, I need to deliver some graduation announcements, take a bottle of hoodia over to Vicki that I'm not using, pick Rhi up, take her to check on a couple of jobs & then to the store to grab paint samples (she's renting the trailer next to ours after she graduates). Who knows what will happen after that? I don't really mind that much, it makes Troy's work weeks go by a lot faster if I manage to keep busy. I should probably finish addressing the rest of the announcements and make the others for Rhi to give to people who are either already out of school or aren't graduating with her.

I think I'll see about getting started on that, at the very least, have a great day!

Getting Close

Do you know what that is? That my friends is the light at the end of the proverbial tunnel. It not only represents the end of Rhi's required education, but the end of almost 22 years of raising children. They are beautiful announcements, the inside has the class motto, the graduation announcement & a picture of the school, all in lovely silver ink. Erin never got any of these, because he never brought anything home for me to order them, and if he did, he didn't explain that's what they were. Anyway, we're very excited around here today, getting these made it all seem so much more real, you know?

30 days until graduation!! 15 days until she turns 18! We also found out that she's on the new hire list at one of the places she applied, so we'll see if that goes through or not.

Dawn & Co may have the house they were wanting, they heard from the management company yesterday & turned in pay stubs and such, and as far as I know, they're just waiting to hear back from them, now. I'm nervous with all of the waiting, it's such a great house. I want them to get it so badly.

Gimme a Break!

I love all of my friends, and I love that they all seem to want to do fun things on the weekends, but I'm starting to think that I need just one weekend a month to just sit around and do absolutely nothing. I swear I get more worn out on the weekends these days than I do during the school week. I know I get a lot less sleep, for sure!

Dawn, Blake & Melissa & Jason are still looking for a place to move to, because Ryan is in the process of moving to Las Vegas and they can't afford to stay there very much longer. They found the perfect house, which is pretty close to us, has enough bedrooms and living space & huge back yard with a garage, but they haven't heard back from the landlord on it yet. It had a few nifty features to it, too. It has a screened in back porch, which would be perfect for hanging out & visiting in the summer, built-in wine racks in the kitchen, a lot of cool stonework in the entryway & family room downstairs & a huge pantry/laundry room. I really do hope they get that one, it's so perfect for them.

Done for Another Month

Yay! I got all of my bills paid for another month. I love being able to take care of everything online, it saves me so much time & gas that way. I used to hate bill-paying day, it would take us so long to drive all over the place, paying everything, and then buying money orders and stamps for everything that wasn't local and having to mail those. It seemed like it blew the whole day for us, really.

I'm always so thankful that our car insurance is only due every six months, because I remember when we couldn't afford to pay that much and had to pay it every month. The regular monthly bills that include our utilities and all of that cost enough without tacking an insurance bill on top of it, trust me! So, at any rate, we have enough left over this time to go & buy some new towels & I'm keeping mine in my bedroom, so that I always have a towel when I want to take a shower!

Dragging my Rear

Man, am I tired this evening. I'm sunburned, sick, and just flat-out wiped out. We spent the afternoon yesterday, out at a local recreation area, watching the kids play & hanging out & I was in the sun quite a bit then & then today, we were unloaded, cleaning out & reloading a semi-trailer that we use to store faire props in & that was in the sun for several hours, too. I was really tired last night & slept really well, it was a really late night for me, though & I didn't get enough sleep.

I was in pain most of the night, between my back & my hips, I just couldn't get comfortable. I think I honestly need to invest in some good exercise equipment so that I can build my strength up in those areas, again. I'm so tired of not being able to rest comfortably & so tired of being in pain!

A Week in the Life

Well, maybe not a week, but the past few days, at any rate. We started the school week off with Rhi getting kicked out of her poetry class. Permanently. Yes, she needed it to graduate. It wasn't her fault. She was talking, very quietly, to one of her friends & expressed her opinion that someone else's poetry project sucked, because it was very religious & I know very few high school students who appreciate that. She was called a bitch several times after her comment & when she looked at the class & said, "Well fuck you all, then." she was asked to leave the class & not to come back. It seems to me that the students who were calling her names & pushing her to react ought to be kicked out as well. At any rate, we ended up having to pay $40 for her to remediate the quarter of Humanities she failed (last quarter), which is fine. It's worth it for her to graduate. She was transferred to another art class for that class period, which, of course, id fine with her.

Troy's been working since Monday, as well. He'll have 69 hours, just this week and he'll be exhausted by the time Sunday rolls around. I guess it'll be worth it, but at times I wish they made something like miracleburn for energy. Something he could safely take, with his diabetes, to help him make it through these tough weeks. The poor guy is already tired, I can tell by his sleep patterns during the day.

Erin is talking about leaving town again, but I did get him to promise not to go until after Garrett's visit & Rhi's graduation, since those things are very important to them & they want to share them with their brother. He's living with a different friend now, so maybe that will be better for him, I'm not sure. He's complaining that there's nothing for him to do here, no matter what he tries. I'm not sure if that means work wise or if he's just bored, since I never get to talk to him for more than a few minutes & haven't seen him for any length of time since Christmas.

Getting Rhi Ready

Rhi will be turning 18 at the beginning of May & graduating on the 22nd. We're trying to get her ready for the real world as seamlessly as possible. She plans to get a full-time job as soon afterwards as possible and then she and her friend Nicole are getting an apartment together. We're trying to get her car up & running, get it registered & some auto insurance for her so she can get back & forth to work. She went through her room about a month ago & threw a bunch of stuff away, so I know that she won't have to do that when she moves, all she'll need to do is pack up what she has & move it to her new place.

I'm not sure what we'll be using her room for, maybe it'll just be a guest room, or maybe I'll turn it into my office & have a place separate from my bedroom to work in. Maybe I can even convince Troy to move his computer in there & we can actually see each other when we're on our computers, for a change!

Travel Plans

Troy & I are planning a trip to Iowa for Labor Day weekend & we plan to fly. I just barely realized that we only have one piece of luggage, and it's broken. So, I'm guessing we'll need to find a new set before we go. I don't have a to have a super-nice set like Briggs and Riley, but it'd be nice to have something that will last a little while.

We'll have to fly out of Las Vegas to even be able to afford it, so we plan to drive down the day before, stay with our friend Ryan (who's moving down there next month) and leave our car at his house. He'll drive us to the airport & pick us up when we get home. I'm pretty sure that Tiny is either going to stay at my mom's house (if she can get a long with her dogs), or in Dawn's back yard. It's only for about 4 days, so everything should be okay with her, either way. Dawn will come over & check on the cats for me, since Rhi plans to move out with her friend Nicole as soon as she possibly can, which means she won't be here to feed them & such.

I'm nervous about the trip, but I'm kind of excited at the same time. We had planned to drive, but Troy can't take that much time off & still be able to do the other things we wanted to & I don't think we can actually afford the gas to do it. The airfare is only going to be about $500 total for the two of us, and I know that gas would cost us more than that, plus food on the road & hotels, too. We can fly and rent a car way cheaper than that.

Still Alive

This past Saturday, Dawn & I took a drive to a town northeast of us, to visit her younger daughter, who's in a juvenile facility up there. We talked with her for about an hour & a half, then all of us were pretty much done & suggested that we let her get back to whatever she was doing before got there & we could head home (the drive is 1 1/2 hours).

We stopped off at the local KFC/Taco Bell to grab some lunch, since both of us were starving & it was way past lunch time. It was pretty funny, we've both slowed our eating way down & have started to pay a lot more attention to what we're actually eating & what it tastes like, so we're both pretty slow about it. She got a leg & thigh meal with mashed potatoes & gravy & a biscuit, I got a 3 piece strip meal with wedges. We started eating, each taking a bite, taking the time to chew it up and focus on it, talking a little, judging whether we were full or not.. you know the drill (or maybe you don't, but you get it). About halfway through her potatoes, she looked at me & said, "These are really gross when they get cold." and stopped eating them. I actually liked the wedges after they got cold, and they're the only French fry type thing I've found that I do still like, so far. We both ended up wrapping up part of our meal in a napkin & taking it with us - I truly felt like an old lady at that point, but we able to laugh about it. I've never had leftovers like that before in my life & I'm so proud that I do now.

Making Progress

I was so proud of myself yesterday! I took Rhi out to lunch at the local Chinese buffet & I didn't overeat! I took my time and stopped when I was full. I did find out that I don't really like tempura batter after all. I started to eat my sweet & sour chicken & the batter on the chicken didn't taste good to me, so I put it down after one, small bite.

This morning was also a bit exciting for me. I bought 3 pairs of pants on my birthday when I went shopping with my mom that didn't fit, so after I weighed myself (I've lost almost 15 pounds in just under 2 weeks), I decided to try them on. They all fit! They aren't comfortable yet, but considering that I couldn't even pull them up when I got them home, that's definite progress right there.

In other news, Troy & I (and maybe Rhi, she wants to, but plans change) are planning a trip to Iowa at the end of August, to go to his family reunion. I'm really dreading that long drive, so yesterday, I looked into flying & found some cheap flights to Des Moines, but we'd have to get a ride to Las Vegas & then back home if we went that route, and I'm not really sure where we're staying once we get out there. I think it would be cheaper to fly out & rent a car than it would be to drive, but another downside is that we wouldn't be able to stop in Pueblo to see Garrett. (I'm not even sure that's going to be convenient for him to begin with, anyway) I guess what we really need to do is talk to my mother-in-law & find out what the plan is so we can start making our own plans.

I Like It

I always wanted to be that person. You know the one.

The one that always stopped eating when they weren't hungry anymore, and couldn't finish all of their food, no matter what it was. That never ate food that they didn't like just because it was there, or because they were eating it so fast they couldn't taste it. The person that could eat whatever they liked because they never overate anything.

Yeah. That person.

Guess what? I am that person now, and I really like it. I've discovered that there are some things that I thought I loved that I don't even like, now that I've slowed down enough to actually taste them. I thought that I loved French fries, and they have been the bane of many a diet for me, but I found out almost a week ago that I don't even like them. They just taste like grease to me. My mom's strawberry short cake? Too sweet. Blood oranges? Not good. I'm sure that as time passes & I taste more things that I'll find out more of my preferences.

I had a tuna wrap for lunch, with some jalapeno & cheddar Cheetos on the side. I didn't finish either of them. The chips went back in the bag & what was left of the wrap is in the garbage. I had a very small bowl of cereal for breakfast & a single serving bag of Sun Chips for a snack a couple of hours later. The best part? I can eat what I want to & I eat when I'm hungry. I don't feel deprived, I don't feel like binging & I'm losing weight, too.

Yay for not dieting!

Progress

This city sure has grown in the past 15 years. When we first moved here, there were only 3 traffic lights in the whole town. I can't even count them now & they're putting up two more on north Main starting this coming Monday. Back then, there were stores and businesses only on Main Street, now there is commercial real estate all over town. We have a pretty big industrial park, a new airport terminal, a lot more stores and restaurants and even a new park since we moved here.

They seem to be building apartments and subdivisions almost nonstop anymore and I always catch myself wondering how all of these people moving here are going to support themselves before I realize how much new industry we really have here. There are factories and such here that I don't even know about, I'm sure, because I'm finding out about places all the time. It's kind of cool to move to a town that was somewhat economically depressed and watch it grow and flourish over the years instead of dying.

Memories..

I was thinking back to the spring that we moved to Utah and were living with my parents while we got on our feet here. My folks live on a 5 acre lot outside of town. The kids used to love to wander around in the sagebrush and investigate the world around them. Erin wasn't quite 5 yet & Rhi had just turned 3. She was fascinated by so many odd things that she found out in the yard and would spend hours just checking it all out. Erin saw snakes in everything, from a hose to a stick, he would shriek and run away, yelling about the "big snake over there!!" He never saw a real snake during those weeks, but he imagined plenty.

One of their other favorite things to do was to bounce on my mom's mini trampoline that she kept out on the front lawn, which was tiny, itself those days. They would see who could knock the other one off & who could bounce higher. Rhi was always flying when she was on it & Erin was always Batman. It was pretty cute, and they had a lot of fun on it. I can't believe that on May 11 we'll have been here for 15 years, the time went by so fast.

Too Many Movies

I was looking for a VHS tape that I told Dawn she could have if we still owned it yesterday. We have so many movies anymore that I often have no idea what we even own. I forgot about all of the VHS stuff we have in the bottom of the entertainment center. I sat there, going through things, reminiscing about when the kids were little & what movies they loved back then. It was a bittersweet experience, remembering them when they so young and we were all so close. I miss those days sometimes, mostly, I miss my kids.

Anyway, enough being sad. I never did find the tape she wanted, but I did find a yoga dvd I had forgotten about that she might want to try out.