We have a time honored tradition of giving weapons of daft destruction on Yule. This year was no exception.
Thursday was wonderful, weird and sad.
Thursday was Dan’s 47th birthday. It was also the day we had to head up to Palmer Lake and have lunch with the Governor. On top of that, it was the day Ian headed for MEPS, the big physical which decides if he can enlist or not in the military. Oh, and my parents left for New Mexico and we are babysitting Elway, the cat.
So,… Up at the crack of dawn. Morgan off to school, and all three of us trying to cycle through the bathroom to get ready to go. 8am, all of us out the door. We dropped Ian off in Pueblo and headed north to Palmer Lake. It was a good thing we were early, because we got lost. The Inn at Palmer Lake might as well be the Bat Cave. It isn’t easy to find at all, even with directions and GPS. One of the women there said her Garmen’s GPS had failed. sigh…
The meeting was great. Governor Ritter signed the Colorado Workforce Development Council into law/being and then we had lunch. The food was okay, and yet not enough. One of the guys at our table asked if everyone was hungrier than they were before lunch. Most were. As it was, we ate in Pueblo on the way home.
After our ‘second lunch’, we drove to Gardner for Morgan’s volleyball game. Gardner was playing La Veta. It was a tighter game than Aguilar, but Gardner’s A and B team were both winners. As a treat, we took Morgan to A&W for a rootbeer float. 🙂 We had a little bit of time with her before she had to head over to her mom’s for the weekend. sigh…
Then it was time for a bit of quiet for Dan and I. I sat down to my computer so I could write and Dan started on school work. There wasn’t any magic smoke, but my computer died. Dan thinks it is the hard drive and we will try and fix it in the next few days. Meanwhile, I am timesharing on his computer. pout… tears… sadness…
Friday Ian enlisted in the Air Force. He isn’t sure when he will ship out as he is waiting for a job opening.
Today we went to the Upper Huerfano to pick choke cherries. The bears had been there first, so we got more rosehips. sigh…
Tomorrow I plan to do a lot of baking for the Spanish Peaks Celtic Festival where I will be holding two bake sales. At least that will keep my mind off the lack of computer.
A rough week
Last week was horrid. Rough. Buzy. However you want to slice it.
Sunday. Hectic. Kayla arrived back to spend the week with us. She was moving and needed a place to stay in order to finish up school. So, we had her stay with us.
Monday we had the meeting in Trinidad with the workforce people. I think that in spite of the hectic start to that day including being late, it was the best day of the week. I got home early enough to go do the school board meeting in La Veta.
Tuesday. Hell day. My friend Mickey’s son Eric died. He was in a roll over car crash, and ejected, because he didn’t wear his seat belt. The accident happened in the early hours of the morning, and the paramedics figured he died some time after the crash. He was 17.
Of course, this colored the rest of the week. The RE-1 school board meeting that night was full of tears and very quiet people. I think it was the shortest, quietest meeting I’ve been to there in years.
Wednesday. Gardening with the vets out at the veteran’s nursing home. I pruned 10 rosebushes in need of serious help and then dug and planted a 4×8 raised bed by myself. I got home, got changed and we all headed out to Gardner for the 8th grade graduation. It was a good yet slightly bittersweet event. Eric had gone to Gardner school, and his family lives just down the block from school.
After graduation, I had the memorial service for Eric to attend. It was at the high school. Very moving. Tearful. Painful. And just right. People told stories, sang songs, there was a slide show that lasted about ten minutes, and of course, lots of tears. His family was there. The principal gave his mom the award he would have gotten for improvement in English. I got to see Mickey and Sal, and my heart broke. At the end of the memorial, we all released balloons. sigh…
I walked from the high school to the library and went to a Town Hall meeting. That was interesting. We got home around 9:30pm.
Thursday. We cleaned the front yard and hauled TRASH!!! Also did a lot of prep work to clean up the rest of the house. I tiled the kitchen cabinet tops too. Used the same tile I did on the bedroom dresser, and they look cool.
Friday. This was run around doing errands day. Paid bills, bought groceries, applied for a job as a cook at a local hotel and did some more garden work in the front yard. Friday evening, I made bread for the cat coalition bake sale. Dan got a call from the family in New Zealand. Mikki had a bouncing baby boy around 9pm our time. 9 pounds, 2 oz and 21.25 inches long! I think Dan said they were naming him Richard. This is Dan’s second grandbaby. Finally hit the pillows around 1am.
Saturday. Took bread to the bake sale, dropped a loaf by the hotel and got a tour of the kitchen and then came home to clean house. Oh boy… Moved LOTS of stuff. The front porch is now tidy. We moved all the building supplies out to the garage. We also moved stuff out of the front and back yard to clean up. I have lots of supplies for the green house project, and will start on that in the next few weeks. I did load after load of laundry too. Where DID all those dirty clothes come from??? We did a huge amount of work, and got finished just in time for Ian’s family to show up. (the reason for the mass house cleaning in the first place.)
The visit went well, and Dan and I had a bit of quiet time as Ian went to see IronMan 2 with his family. Plus, something I ate disagreed with me. Ugh….
Today… I am moving slowly. Still feel punky. However, the house is clean, laundry is done and I don’t think there is anything on the schedule for the next 24 hours….. Wheeeee…. Oh, and my Mom is back from Littleton!!! 🙂
Paint Fumes and furniture!!!
The last two days have been busy. Ian and Dan brought bookcases over from the Methodist church. We worked the living room and office to accommodate the ‘new’ shelves. IT is still a bit torn up, but it looks so much better.
Today I painted the dresser and one of the bookcases. Blue to match the paint in the bedroom.:) Then we put wood style floor tiles on the top of the dresser to finish it off. It looks soooo cool. I’ll get pictures and post them tomorrow. All I have to do now is finish the curtains, hand the new lights and the bedroom will be totally done.
Tomorrow we are going to use some of the tiles in the kitchen to fix where the Formica top has peeled off. Hopefully this week Dan and Ian will start the plumbing. (hope! hope! hope!)
Now to make a bit of dinner and watch a movie. I’m exhausted!
Now this is what May is suppose to be like!
Warm days, cool nights and lovely breezes. Okay, Winds. Then again, when isn’t it windy in Walsenburg? Oh well. The weather is warmer, I can wear skirts, sandals and light tops again. Wheeee!!! Can you tell I get tired of jeans?
Life has been busy. It was suppose to be a relaxed week. HA! It got really busy really fast. Not only were Dan and Ian trying to fix the Neon and the Nissan, but they had computer work, and then the Lights at the Fox. Oh gods. They wired the theater in 9 hours when it normally would have taken 3 days. They also discovered that there was a piece missing called a terminator. (stop laughing) Without it, nothing would work. Dan and Ian about had a seizure. Checking online and on the phone, and discovered that they cost $300. Or, you could ‘build your own’ for about $5. Guess what we did? Yup! We built it.
The reason it was so necessary to get things running this week was that El Fandango was performing for Cinco De Mayo. One performance on Wednesday, one tonight and another one on Saturday if I remember correctly. Practice went well, so hopefully the shows will as well. Dan was happy the way the new light board worked too.
We let Nibbler play with the big dogs this evening. Daniel was here, so I figured that he and Ian were strong enough to pull the dogs apart if anything went wrong. No problems. Wheee!!!! Now to just rebuild the fence.
Tomorrow I have to buckle down and write an essay for school. Oh, and return about 20 phone calls.
Tuesday, Birthday, Meeting day…
It is a WARM day today, which is a really nice change from the cold and Snow of yesterday. I have the doors and windows open and I’m letting the air warm the rest of the house. I’m also glad that it is warm, because Dan is working on my car yet again. sigh…
Today is Ian’s 20th birthday. He’d planned to go to Pueblo, but with the car not working right, he just hung around the house. I’m making him a carob mayo cake and barbecued beef for dinner.
Plus, tonight is the RE-1 school board meeting which will probably be a LONG meeting. The alcohol issue, drugs at school- Peakview, and a bomb scare at the high school. Not exactly what most school districts want just before the end of school. We had an irate member of the public try and tell me how bad Morgan’s school was too, because Gardner was letting students shadow at both RE-1’s high school and Re-2’s. Gee, where has he been for the last 20 years? Oh well. It should be interesting.
We went to Walsenburg lumber and got glass, caulking wood putty and sandpaper so I can fix the back window and my dresser. Wheeeeee!!! I got a new story up too. I’ve managed just about a story a day on that blog. Also got a power point presentation done yesterday for college. Here’s hoping the professor reads and grades the right one this time. Yes, I’m still irritated over that.
Okay, Who Took February???
One minute I was watching the groundhog see his shadow, the next it’s Daniel’s birthday. All I could think was who took February???
It really was a busy month. Morgan one a CCIRA award for a short story she wrote. Dan was already going up to Denver to visit with his girlfriend, so we all went. Ian, Morgan, Dan and I headed to Denver. We stopped in Pueblo and got Morgan a dress. It is really pretty. Two different hotels, one with a pool. 🙂 We picked up Ruth and went out for dinner and then played in the pool. 🙂 Everyone had a great time. Next morning, we got up and after getting lost a few times made it to the Award Ceremony. She got her award, and we then changed clothes and headed to the Denver Art Museum. Lots of cool stuff like a bungie cord maze, red foxes in a dinning room setting and art… A lovely time.
I got home just in time to turn around and head to La Junta for Census Training. I have a job with the Census. Bad part was that it was SNOWING!!!! We were suppose to take Ian back to Alamosa, but the car died. We decided to turn around and poof, the car stated. So, I borrowed Daniel’s car and Dan and I drove to La Junta. We had a lovely soak in the hot tub and a nice swim before we crawled into bed. Training was okay, and we came home Monday night.
That week I was suppose to have a break from school. I did. I just spent most of it in bed sick. akkkkk!!!!
Caron and Ian came down for Valentines day. 🙂 It was a nice treat. What was really nice was to be taken care of for a day while we both were so sick. The next week, we talked with Ian and realized just how unhappy he was at Adam State. So, we went and picked him up. Moved him right in. 🙂 To say he is happy is an understatement.
The next week, I had more Census training. Which brings me back to this week. Our first day of real Census work was Monday. It snowed. I think we got a good 5 inches. I am an assistant crew leader, so I help with handing out census forms as well as do sort of mid level admin work. The next month is going to be very busy as we hand out a form to every person in the county.
Oh!!!! I made my favorite cake with carob tonight for Daniel’s birthday. As far as everyone else was concerned, it tastes better than the chocolate version!!!! I am so glad, because I have missed my cake!!!!
Now that I have finally caught up, it is bed time!!!