March & April have been a blur!

Job situation





Finally, I sat down with my boss to figure out if I will have a job or not. She said that until she does the budget, she won't know my rate of pay, but it does come with benefits. In order to do the budget, I have to make appointments for her to meet with Xerox, etc., to determine costs of scanning options on our equipment. The problem is, she is never available, or the Xerox rep did not show for the appointment we had. Oh, life at work! All is well with the job and I continue to get more responsibility because everyone is so overwhelmed. The pay will not be enough, but I can get by until retirement-whenever that happens!





What I have been up to.


I spent Easter weekend with Brenda and Amelia while Ben was in Reno visiting friends from California when we lived in Santa Rosa. He had a great time, and I loved to get time with Brenda and Amelia, too. Amelia definitely knows who her Nana is! She is really lovable and we have a great time together. Brenda is looking great and feeling pretty good, considering she only has until June 20 or so before delivering a little boy, who is nameless at this point. They are busy with work and activities with Amelia.

Ben and Amelia also came to Pueblo for a weekend while Brenda was in San Francisco visiting a friend. We had fun getting the cousins together. She and Owen are pretty funny. They would run around the house chasing each other. With Amelia talking so much, it makes for a whole new dynamic. Owen is learning to hold his own, because Amelia can stand up for her rights! One of her favorite phrases is "My turn" and she means it. What fun! They will be coming again in two weeks to help Josh and Bree move.

Wyatt looks exactly like Josh when he smiles. He is the happiest little guy and his making lots of noises and smiling at Nana. He is so cute! I love getting to see them a couple of times a week. Owen is into great concerts these days. I hope the kids get a video posted, because he knows whole songs and the dramatic gestures are hilarious! He will perform either with the guitar or a drum. I kept him for a day while Josh and Bree looked for houses in Fountain/Widefield. He was great and I enjoyed his sense of humor-he makes up words and tells great stories.

Josh and Bree will be moving to south Colorado Springs/Widefield in a couple of weeks. They are packing boxes and getting ready for the great adventure. They will be 1/2 hour away. Josh will be 5 minutes from home. He has evening activities as an assistant principal, so this will mean he can go home and then back to the activity. He was putting in alot of late evenings! They got a bigger house and are really excited about having room to stretch. The Fountain area will be growing because of the troops moving into Fort Carson. Josh's school is hiring teachers, while many in the area are laying off.

I miss the Close family. Check out the blog on the right side of this page. Logan is such a character. He is into lawn mowers-you can read about it. They went to Moab this weekend and met Shep to camp. I guess Laila butt-scooted (she doesn't need to crawl) all over the sand leaving a trail. She loved the experience almost more than Logan! They had a great trip. The kids are growing up so fast. Becky and I visit on the phone at least twice a week, so I keep pretty updated on their lives. Devin is still looking for a Post-Doc position-but in the meantime they still enjoy SLC. Becky is busy with the kids, they have so many great places to take them for entertainment like the zoo and parks. It is a great place to have children. Becky's play group has been nice for her, because she has met some really close friends.

Shep will be moving over during the next two weekends. He will rent a storage unit and we will keep much of our stuff in case the kids need something. I think it will be an interesting adventure. Since my job is so undetermined, the financial help will be tremendous. Shep and I agreed, too, that living alone is no piece of cake! It is nice that we can be friends after all these years of being divorced. I am sure it will be an adjustment for both of us, but I think we've both become more realistic about life in general and are willing to give it a go.

House

I have been painting my kitchen bit by bit for months! I am almost finished. I still need counters and other shelving, but it is slowly improving. I got a new red front door. Ben got the wrong one, painted it, and had to get another one, so I bought it from him. He and Josh installed it and now I just have to figure out how to trim it out. It has an oval window and looks soooooo much better. Need a screen for it, but that will come soon. I am really liking my house. My lawn in dying in the back yard, it is really wierd. Guess I will have to dig it up and put new soil in. It looked great this spring, but it has something going on. I still have green on part of it. I planted the seed in pretty bad soil. Why is it that grass always grows where you don't want it? Josh gave me some plants from his house and they are doing great. I am anxious to put in some annuals, too.

That's all folks!