ALEX IS HOME!!!!

2 months is wayyyyyyyyyyyy too long.  He's home!! I'm BEAT, but I'm happy as heck to have my boy back home! It will take a LOT to acclimate to him being home, everything has changed, but he's super stoked about his room, happy to be reunited with his sis and he's optimistic about school!  I'm reallllly anxious for him to get into some clubs or sports and make some friends so he can have some sleepovers.  I know he really misses his good buddy Jack from next door. (his g/f had no problem pointing that one out to me today...ugh..another time) I'm feeling guilty, but really excited for him to make some good friends here too, and I know he will!

I'll update more later, until next time.

#feelingcomplete

Long time...

Not much to report... Still HOT, still summer, but the school year is fast approaching and I know this household is going to get very loud and very crazy, so I'm kinda enjoying the peace and quiet.  Sarah is playing in her room with her barbies and being an angel, of course.  Excited for her brother to get home so she'll have someone to play with but boy is she possessive over her room so I'm trying to make both of their rooms equally exciting so they have their private places to go to if they can't learn to share.  My dream has come true in that they both have their own room.  I tell ya, that one "little" thing has really changed things for the better and Sarah's room is complete (minus some pictures) and she LOVES it, and it's been a dream almost 5 years in the making, for her to have her own room, and I never realized how hard it was until they got their own room.  It was so difficult to discipline those kids when they never had a place to go to to cool their jets. Their own place to write in their journals or just show their personalities.  Super glad that they have that now.  Still need to work on Alex's room.  The desk is PERFECT and that's where his computer will be and then the white table will be for his projects/homework or maybe the desk will be for homework, haven't decided yet, but he can do his artwork or write in his journal, and play his games.

Really hoping and praying we get our furniture today. I'm soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo excited and anxious to have FURNITURE!  That's all I can think about right now, and I'm praying Brian can pull through with a work van so we can get everything in here, and then I can decorate, and just

BE!!!!!

Tonight we have tickets to Terry Fator, super excited!  He's had them on reserve for over a month now and they are finally available. Weekdays are apparently still packed  but less so than weekends.  Really excited to see him tonight!!

I hope you are doing well over there in Clarkston... You guys have been having a LOT of fires!  I hear there is a tropical storm headed to Hawaii.  hope everyone makes it through okay.  Hate to hear of any tropical storms, especially when there is an ocean involved!

Welp - I'm off to work out and anxiously await the arrival of our furniture *FINGERS CROSSED*
I'm gonna say screw it and rent a uhaul if he can't get a work truck! We are NOT missing the opportunity for this damn furniture!  I want a real living room!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'll catch ya later! try to have a good day and STOP THINKING ABOUT THE PAST.  We can't change it. We have to move on!

Just a quick update post

FINISHED both workout challenges!! WOOT WOOT
30 day squats and 30 day crunches!!

I'm starting wall sit challenge tomorrow and going +5 on crunches until the race!! I know I'm losing slowly just need to start eating better.  Sleep habits all sorta messed up so I need to get those in gear - lots of work done on the house, lots more to go, but it feels soooooooo good to be working on things!! Lots of fun projects on the way.

Fun day planned on Friday - Ambers kids are coming over for a bit while her and her hubby go out with his parents and then Amber invited me to join her and her mother-in-law to go see MJ Live! Can't wait!! Should be fuuuuuuun!!

Love you and miss you.  Get back on the blog!!! We're not growing apart, I promise... just leading separate lives right now, but I hope you're still trying to get over here - we miss you!!

write soon!

Missed me?

Wow -- I haven't blogged in awhile.  Didn't even blog about the 4th of July...whaaa? well the 4th was kind of a bust.  We were originally planning on going to watch the fireworks atop Caesars palace but we left kinda late and there was nowhere to park so we went to MGM and watched from there but honestly... It wasn't the same. It wasn't up close :( I miss the show in Clarkston cause you were always RIGHT underneath and I miss hearing "Proud to be American" ... always cry.  The only cool thing about the 4th this year was that it was on top of MGM and you could see firework shows from EVERYWHERE... Next year we've already decided we're going to Hendersons firework show and the year after that the Skyvue will be up and running and we'll watch it from there.

Sue was here from Sun-Wed and we had a really good visit.  First day was a little awkward but after awhile we got more comfortable.  We had some nice home cooked dinners and the last night before she left she helped me make chicken and asparagus and the chicken marinade was BOMB...the asparagus was soooo good and I even ate the leftovers!  We had cake and ice cream the day she got in and Sarah got some presents from all of the aunties. She got a Paris, France shirt from grandma Sue along with a cute princess card and a doorknob hanger that says SHHH Princess is sleeping or Your highness will see you now! lol...she loves it.  She also got a Rapunzel doll and a new baby that crawls and talks.  Needless to say, she got SPOILED by grandma and family.  We went swimming one night and did a lot of sightseeing.  We ate at America in NYNY which was pretty amazing, had the entire United States hanging from the wall with all of the famous landmarks in each state.  We also ate at the Cafe in Sunset Station and ate at TGIF's thanks to Sue.  We walked M&M Factory, NYNY, took the tram from the Aria to Belagio and saw the world famous Chocolate Factory and cake production place with the worlds largest Chocolate Fountain...A M A Z I N G.  Can't wait to take people there!! Where else... Ummm... Went to the Mirage and went to the Secret Garden & Dolphin Habitat and fell in LOVE with the dolphins.  That was fun.

Mostly, we stayed cool inside.  There was a WICKED thunderstorm the day she got here that had us in Flood warning. that was NUTS, but we need all the rain we can get because there is a WICKED fire that continued to blaze right now over the Charleston Mountains.  Seeing that from Treasure Island (oh yes - we watched the pirate show!!!) was such an amazing sight and I've honestly never seen anything like that.

It was a good visit.  Sue and I had some time to chat and we watched The Bachelorette together as well as Americas Got Talent.  She's into the entertainment news stuff like I am, and we pretty much agree on Politics, so conversation flows pretty nicely.  Of course Sarah was in Grandma heaven and I'm very thankful that she has a close relationship with both of her grandma's.  It made me miss you more than anything and wish you were here, but I know you'll be here soon and I can't wait!!

I'll say it early - HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! I dunno if you'll even check the blog, but I hope you have a great birthday, wish I was there to give you 54 black balloons and some depends, but I'll be there in spirit and I hope you like your gift that is soon to arrive!!

Lots of stuff to do next week so I am going to enjoy my Fri-Sun.  Gonna head to Home Depot tomorrow to get my supplies to start working on Alex's desk and going to finish that up this weekend.  Hoping to hit yard sales again on Saturday with Amber to try to find a desk for Sarah, possibly a book shelf and whatever other treasures we can find. LOVE MY YARD SALES!!!

I'm gonna relax this weekend because Monday is packed with my physical/tb test and Sarah's shots...Glad we can do that together so she isn't so scared.  Tuesday is jam packed with my training class that goes from 8am-5:30pm and then Wednesday is the CPR class from 9:30-12:30.  After that it's fingerprints and if all goes well  -- Orientation.  I dunno what made me decide to follow through with this job, but I just don't want to give up on a job that I succeeded at, and even if I only work this job a few years, it will give me time to A. Continue working so I can 1. Get possible benefits 2. File taxes and 3. Make a name for myself and also B. I will have time to really decide what I want to do.
Worst case scenario - I don't like it, and I resign and keep looking, but I just can't let myself fall back into another rut and be jobless for 1-3 years, that makes the 1 year that I worked for ResCare seem pointless, and I put money and effort into that job and went through a grueling test to pass, and I don't want to give up.  If I start work late July that means I only went 1 1/2 months without a job, and that looks better than a big gap in between jobs.

I'm gonna give it my best like I do everything and hope it works out....and another bonus is that when you get money saved up, you'll already have a job lined up down here.  If they don't have medical benefits yes that sucks, but I'll just have to settle for private insurance.
I'll take it one day at a time.

Anyway - Hope you get on and blog again soon. Would love to hear how things are going, and I look forward to getting your letter.
I'm off to go do 115 crunches and take a bath...then take a nap! cause I didn't sleep well last night and had like 100 different dreams.

Hope you're enjoying your day off!
It's remarkably cold right now, only 85!!! Looooooooooove it, so I might try to convince Brian to take me out walking down the strip tonight, I just want to window shop.  We shall see!!

ta ta for now!!

And.... ..... .... then! :)

So much for "staying in touch" ... kinda lost track there for awhile.  But here I am again!! Nothin' like a good glass of white wine to get your creative juices flowing! but no, I felt bad for not writing in awhile.  Not much to write unfortunately.  I've been really lazy lately... and there's not much $$ to do much else right now.  I'm applying for jobs that look interesting and deciding if I want to pursue the caregiving jobs or not.  My heart is telling me it doesn't want to, but my brain is telling my heart to shut up and go get a job.  Being home for most of the day is getting to me...It's really hard to shift from being so busy I can barely keep my head straight, to, being so HOT and so BORED that I find even the mundane things exciting.  To defend myself, it's too damn hot to do ANYTHING.  We went to the library today and that was fun, and we went swimming and that was really FUN, but aside from that, we really can't do anything without dying of heat stroke.  We're going out around 530 for the firework show at a park in Henderson and I'm excited for that.  Wish Alex could be here though :( but we will try to have a good time.

Just gonna take it easy until Saturday then do some yard sellin' and hit Despicable Me 2 with friends after that.  Should be fun.  Sue comes on Sunday until Wednesday and I'm gonna fix up Alex's room for her.  I'm not sure what we're gonna do, probably just hang inside, go swimming, maybe hit up the lake or the mall or something.  She's just excited to spend some time with Sarah since she hasn't in awhile.  Got Sarah a fairy cake so we're gonna grill some burgers and toast to Sarah. Wish you were here...but soon, you'll be here for GOOD!

Welp, sorry it took me so long.  Hope you enjoy your 4th.  Wish we were together!! Send me LOTS of pictures okay?

All my love

A

Lost but never forgotten... the passing of a friend.

Dwight Adamson - a friend for life

Don't know how long obits stay on record, but hope to have this for as long as possible.  Dwight was a pleasure to know.  I'm so glad I got to spend a year with him before he passed.  I never realized how difficult dementia was until I started working with Dwight, and my heart always went out to him as well as to his wife, and their family.  Dwight passed before Alzheimer claimed HIM, he was always in control of his faculties until the very end and he was always a true gentleman.  He would always hold the door for me before leaving or entering, and when we would go for our walks he always made sure that I was on the inside, never out where traffic swept past.  He always left the room to blow his nose, always excused himself, and was always a sweetheart to me, even when he was frustrated.  We had our own conversations, and even though he couldn't always communicate, we always managed to enjoy each other's company.
It was only a year that i know him, but he changed me in a lot of ways, and I'm glad he's at peace.  I'll never look at that Clarkston bridge the same way again, and even though I may not cross it very often, or at all now that we've moved, if ever I cross it again, I will always think of him!

Beach, Breakdown, BIRTHDAY girl!!!

Today... was... WOWWWW.  First of all... I slept from 3:30am-5:30am this morning and actually woke up awake?! Don't know how it was possible, but I also managed to do my squats.  And as I sit nearly 13 hours later...today has been such a jam packed day, I don't even know where to start.  First, the drive to Rosamond where Alex lives was pretty easy, and seemed to go fast, and we made it to Alex's house a little after 10:30am.  it was nice to see his neighborhood and it looks like such a good place to grow up!  I think he really likes it.  The drive to LA was good at first, as the kids basked in their reuniting glow, but that soon changed to fighting over every little thing and arguing back and forth with me and Brian.  I don't know where it all went wrong.  We made it to Santa Monica a little after noon and we were beach bunnies until after 2.  The ocean was AMAZING... we had SO MUCH FUN! The kids loved splashing in the Ocean and we took turns burying each other with sand.  OMG it was like a sand massage, it felt soooooooooo good!! I almost fell asleep LOL.  Alex and I really got deep into the ocean, and it was like a gigantic bubble bath with all of the bubbly waves.  I'll never understand why, but the ocean is so serene and beautiful, and it never ceases to amaze me.  After we left, with sand in all the wrong places, we left for the hotel in Anaheim, and as we crawled at a snails pace on the freeway, Brian noticed that his car was revving, and nothing was happening, the gears weren't shifting, and his car was going NOWHERE fast, and we were left to pull over on the side of the busiest freeway in the US, and let me tell you, it was SCAAARRRYYY!!! LA freeways are NUTS.... Anyways...here we sit, and here we panic...jk...Brian called the tow truck and 20 minutes later we were driving to the Honda shop to have the clutch replaced...only 1700$ later! of course Bob was all over it and wanted to pay for it, but Brian insists on paying him back.  Brian covered the tow and the rental which was almost 800 bucks, so needless to say, IT HAPPENED...what always happens...something ALWAYS happens to test our faculties.  I'm impressed with Brian...he kept his calm and it never seemed to get to him too much.  We were able to rent a badass Dodge truck for a few days, and when we FINALLY arrived at the Qualtiy Inn Hotel in Anaheim (the kids never being the wiser to all the Disney posters everywhere, at 6pm, we were all POOPED.  There was many more dramatic events...mostly arguments with Alex and all of us...and I don't really know what to make of it, but I think he just pushes buttons to push buttons...and it exhausted me so much, that I contemplated turning around and driving his butt back to Rosamond.  I think a lot of it is his jealousy and having to go from one on one time to sharing with his sister, and that's hard to separate, but things have finally calmed down, we're EXHAUSTED, beyond it, and so damn excited for tomorrow we can hardly stand it.  We are going to get some good sleep, get up and shower, and have breakfast at the hotel, and finally let the cat out of the bag when we wake up in the morning...

I'm ready for the secret to be unveiled!! and I CANT FRIGGIN WAIT.
God, I love you, please let tomorrow be a good day for Sarah & Alex...we all deserve a break...and may her 5th birthday be perfect, just like her.