Work - well, as of June, I am unemployed once again. The job at the University became too much, so I resigned and am on to a new adventure in retirement and part time work. As of yet, I have not looked for employment, I am regrouping the rest of my life and hope to find some work that is rewarding if not financially, then just plain easy and mindless!
Shep and I have found quite an agreeable lifestyle, not only unconventional, but unencumbered by expectations. We have both some financial freedom and personal space which works well. It is so nice to have another person to take side trips with, to eat with, cook for and clean up after! Believe it or not, I enjoy all of the above. With my partial retirement, I have been lucky to keep expenses low and still maintain some level of enjoyment!
We visited Bent's Old Fort east of LaJunta and enjoyed the trip immensely. It is a huge fort in the middle of nowhere. We had an interesting tour of the rooms and a great background on the visitors to the fort over the years. I recently read a great book "The Old Ace in the Hole" which describes the Fort and some occupants. It was a great read!
The Royal Gorge visit last week was really fun! Not only had Shep never been there, but I was a visitor as a young child and there was only a bridge - not much else. It is a huge entertainment meca for kids and parents alike. I balked at the $25 admission fee, but we ended up spending most of the day enjoying the activities. It is a good thing we went last week, because there is a fire there right now, and the park is closed. If you are ever in the area, it is worth the visit. We also happend to be there when the T-Buckets were touring. The cars are really fun, and some owners gave both Shep and I a ride across the bridge. It was really fun and the cars were incredible.
Since February I have visited the Close family in Los Alamos for 5 days, seen Josh, Bree, Owen and Wyatt a lot, and been to see Ben, Brenda, Amelia and Cavan as well. What a nice experience to get to visit them and watch those children grow up! They are growing so fast.
Becky and Devin really like Los Alamos - it is really a unique community with a whole lot of educated people and many are very outdoorsy! They ski, hike, and Becky is doing half-marathons and Devin does a lot of mountain bike riding as well. Logan is 4 - can hardly believe it- and just as curious as ever. He loves trains. When I visited, we went from Santa Fe to Albuquerque on the Rail Runner. Logan talks to adults so well, he was speaking with the engineer before we got on the train. After the ride (which he loved!) the engineer saw us and gave him an engineer pin. It was real brass, not the plastic kind. He was so funny and the engineer was amazed at his questions! He quizzes me on the types of trains in books and pictures, and of course I can't answer the questions. When they come to Pueblo, he gets to go over the 4th street bridge where the switching stations are - what a treat. On one visit, we went to the River Walk and there is a coal train that passes by the end of the walk. It just happened to be going through when we were there. Becky says he is out of library books to read on trains now, so I don't know what she will do. That is his favorite activity - going to the library to find train books. Laila is just precious and what a talker. She is two now and has the cutest mannerisms - she reminds me of Becky. When they were through a couple of weeks ago, she came in the door saying "wanna see the monkey". I have this huge stuffed gorilla and the kids all like it in the living room where they can lay on it. She will spend a long time reading books to herself. She carefully turns each page and reads - mostly not clearly - but she will finish the whole book and start over on another one. She is a great little dancer with some remarkable moves. Look at the videos they posted - what a crack up. She is not nearly as reserved now that she is old enough to remember me between visits - I love that! Becky is being a Mom and may work part time in the near future in an environmental consulting firm. She isn't in any great rush. Devin really likes the lab he is in. They are lucky to have some great skills he brings to the job.
Ben and Brenda are trying to sell their house this summer to get closer to grocery stores, etc. Things aren't moving in the mountains any better than anywhere else, though. They will just hang on until something breaks. Ben likes working from home and it is easier with the kids, because Brenda commutes twice a week to her job that moved closer to the Denver area. Amelia just loves her Nana and our visits are always fun. She will be 3 in August! Her favorite things to play with are her kitchen and babies. We dress a lot of dolls and read a bunch of books when I visit. It is so fun to watch her in the yard running up and down the hillside - she is quite the mountain kid! She is like Laila with the dance moves, and she knows most of the words to songs, which she sings to me. When I am around she lets me help her with toothbrushing and hair combing. I love doing the pigtails and can't wait til I can braid the girls' hair! Cavan is just 1 and a smiley as can be. He is happy and active! He does the army crawl a lost of the time and loves to go in and out of the house down a step. He tumbles once in a while, but he can spend his time happily in the doorway. He has a real belly laugh and the sparkling eyes. He and Amelia look a lot alike right now. Ben just did a 100 mile mountain bike race-the Bailey Hundo. Check out his blog for the pictures when they post them. I went up to help and we got to go to the Romer Ranch for dinner the night before the race. Chris Romer was the brain child. We had a great dinner and met a few politicians. The ranch is not far from their house - just beautiful. The race the next day was crazy-we met Ben at the half way point and helped him with water and snacks (briefly). It took him from 6:00 a.m.to 4:00 p.m. to complete the race. He did great because the terrain was incredibly technical. It was really fun! Brenda ran the Bolder Boulder (sp). They are busy this summer going to Wisconsin, Tennessee and I don't know where else.
Josh and Bree are really enjoying their house in Colorado Springs. It is so much roomier for them with the boys getting older. Josh has embarked on a terracing yard project. I went down one day to watch him with the skid loader-I held my breath most of the day because the yard is so steep. He enjoyed it, and when Ben arrived it was like they were both kids again! Josh really loves his job as an Assistant Principal at Fountain Middle School. Being so close to home has been a great advantage compared to his commute when they lived in Pueblo. Bree is still doing tutoring on-line and taking care of the kiddos. She has a great group of friends and keeps busy with them. Owen is 4 and quite the expert on dinosaurs. He can say all of the names and is quick to correct me if I mispronounce the names. His visit to the Dinosaur museum in Woodland Park and in Oklahoma were big hits. He is full of information about every aspect of each dinosaur. He doesn't sing as much as he used to as a performance (I miss that). He likes his books just like Logan! Wyatt is 1 1/2 and just as cute as Josh was at that age. He has that little grin and those long eyelashes. What a joy he is, running around immitating his brother. They have a great blog showing him jumping-it is a must see. He is really happy following Owen around and loves to throw balls. I got to spend a few nights babysitting this spring while Josh and Bree played softball. It was great to get some extra Nana time with them! Josh is bringing them down this Friday to give Bree a break. We'll either go to the zoo or the swim beach at Pueblo Reservoir. They love the water and I am sure there will be plenty of rocks to throw-isn't that what boys do? There will be another Hobgood baby in late December. We're pretty excited - that will make 7 grandchildren from 0-4.
I went to GJ for a week and just got back on July 6. I saw more people there than I did when I lived in the area. What fun to catch up with old friends! Mara Phillips had a wedding reception, so it gave Becky and I an excuse to visit. Becky had to drive 8 hours! She met Wendy in Salida, and left her car. Coming back, Becky and I drove to Salida and she continued on from there by herself. It was great to get caught up for four hours in the car. I wish I could have seen everyone I wanted to on the trip, but people were out of town or times didn't work out. I surely do miss the Monument and the Grand Mesa. I like where I live, but there is nothing quite like the view from the valley. I stayed a few nights with Sherry and then with the Feathers. Sherry and I had a great time and her hospitality can't be beat. When I got to the Feathers, Larry and I did the usual fix it things like swamp coolers. trapping and/or shooting pack rats and a little landscaping thrown in. Joanna is always good for a laugh - after we left a movie, she was gesturing as she spoke and threw a cup of popcorn on my head. We laughed so hard the tears ran down our faces - then three ushers came with their dustpans and brooms to clean up the mess. It was like old times.
My future plans include finding part time work. I am officially retired but the income is certainly not going to be enough to live on. I made some great contacts at the university, so networking should not be as hard as it was when I first moved here. I have faith that things will work out. I just feel like my life is so blessed with a great family and lots of good friends. What more could I ask?
Make sure you keep checking for the family updates. Just click to the right on their site.
Miss you all
Linda
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