The last day of 2011

Wow, since October I've been soooooo very very busy. As much as I love the holidays & always want to enjoy every minute of them from the moment halloween gets here up till Christmas I get so busy with work. Unbelievably busy. So I've been terribly remiss in posting anything here.

I hope that those of you who used to read this daily will enjoy reading these again. I'm gonna see if I can do a better job with this coming year.

So since October what have I done, what haven't I done? Ugh. Seems like I've lived at work. Lots of training, lots of new hires to get us into the holiday's. I don't remember if I had already told ya'll they sent Mani to Arlington & we finally got Doug who I told M Taylor about last September, who wanted to be in our store, he was moving down here from Arkansas. Doug is Domino who used to be my work out partners boyfriend. Great guy, everyone at work loves him. He actually does his job & a great job he does. LOL

November, came & went terribly fast. My brother in law, Clint found out that he had prostate cancer just before Thanksgiving. At work every available moment I had I was on the phone taking TG to go orders. We had 86 this years which is about 30 more than last year. Since they finally opened up the roads, all the construction is pretty much done around us, we have gotten busier & busier. Which is a good thing. But the attentiveness of our service has gone down in our scores. Some things have gotten better & some things haven't.

All the kids are now out on their own, Niki & Randy got a new apartment, Amanda & Jason found a place right off Las Vegas trail North of 30 & Stephanie found an apartment 5 minutes the other direction. So Robert & I now have the house to ourselves. We started working on some of our remodel. We stripped & painted the entry way, it looks really good. Primed & painted the first bedroom & got it all set up as a guest room. Of course we had that mostly done before we went to the Canyon. I still have to decide on the colors I want in the second bedroom. Although I still want to make it my craft room & turn my craft room into the second guest room.

Thanksgiving was a blur, we usually go to Sissy & Clint's but with his diagnosis they had a lot on their plates & didn't get the invite out early enough that we accepted Robert's sister Glenda's invitation. Of course just like the last 5 years I had to work sitting on the front porch for those picking up the bulk to go orders. This year I went in at 7 & didn't leave until after 3. Got home changed & we head to Alvorado. Spent a couple hours at Glenda & Johnny's with Mary Lou, Dena, Katelyn & Stephanie joined us. We had a nice visit, great food. Then we left for home & vegged the rest of the evening. Since Thanks giving is on a Thursday it was nice cause I always have Friday & Saturdays off.

December went even faster than November, I went to Rhonda's yearly Christmas party, which is always a lot of fun especially when you have about 20 women all together enjoying the games that Rhonda devises for us to play. LOL

Work Christmas party was on the 12th, this year it got started late because there are idiots out there that can't read or if they can don't care. We always post on the front door a week & a half to two weeks that we will be closing at 8 PM so that the employees can enjoy our Christmas party. So I get to the store at 7:30 there is an 18 top in the third dinning room who had just gotten sat another 15 top in the first dinning room who had just gotten sat & several other smaller groups. Needless to say that by the time we got everyone served & they sat and visited for ever, once everyone left & we got things cleaned up so that we could set up it was 9:30. Now mind you last year home office said that ETC are no longer to be in charge of the employee Christmas party, that managers are supposed to plan them etc. WELL that went over like a lead balloon this year. I didn't worry about, I had a lot of other things going on. So our party being on the 12th, when I worked Sunday the 11th our DM M Taylor came out to the store for lunch and to shake things up a bit like he likes to do & he asked me what I was doing for the party, if we were ready. I said I don't know, I'm not doing anything. He then proceeds to grill me on why not, I said because the directive from home office last year & this year said ETC are not to do Christmas party planning any more, we could help if asked but not to do the major work. He then tells me that "well you're the only ETC I have in the district then who isn't doing the party" Great, now what? So he tells me I need to find out what's going on & if I can help.

I talk to Fred, who is doing the party, he tells me he thinks it's Doug. Well Domino happened to be eating lunch with a friend at this same time, I was running the dinning room & Doug was on the grill, so I ask Domino, what has/is Doug doing for the party tomorrow? She tells me that she was supposed to get all the gifts the day before but had forgotten so she was going to do the shopping that afternoon. I said ok, well Taylor has pretty much informed me that I should be doing the party so at 2 meet me here back at the store because we have 200 to spend in store and then we'll go to Ross to see what they have, Tuesday Morning also if need be. We have 300 we can spend outside the store. So at 2 Domino & I start shopping for gifts for the party for the next day. We get it done & loaded in my truck. I worked Monday but left around 3 so that I could get home at a decent time to make food for the party & wrap all 90 plus gifts. I got online to see if I could find some games & entertainment for the night. BECAUSE ABSOLUTELY NOTHING HAD BEEN DONE OR DECIDED UPON FOR THE PARTY. I informed Mike Bernard the Wednesday after the party that we're going back to the way we used to do it. Next year I will start on it in late October early November like I used to do, we WILL have sign up sheets etc. Cause the only thing they had decided about the party this year was that instead of pot luck we'd do mexican.

Once the party got started, it went ok, everyone enjoyed the food, we had a couple of games to play, Santa came & saw the kids, giving them a stocking with goodies & pictures. I then had everyone pick a gift, not to open them just to pick a box or bag. I got everyone in a VERY large circle & we played the right/left game. It was a ton of fun & funny. It was something different & everyone enjoyed it plus it gave everyone a gift. There were a few extra left over so we drew for them.

Then Mike had a couple of awards to hand out, he started with some of the Employee of the month awards, then he made a small speech about how much work this person does to keep things in order & running & I really didn't hear the whole thing. Then he says that is why this next award goes to ........

Michelle Bartee - she was chosen as the ETC of the District for 2011. I really was surprised. I was hoping I would get it but when DM Mike Taylor wasn't at the party I figured I didn't get it since he was supposed to award it to me. I teared up, they wanted me to make a speech, I'm not sure what I said except how touched I was & how special it was.

This is the first year for this award & ETC's are chosen by their DM's. I really was surprised & excited that I got it. It's a 3 by 3 by 3 lead crystal block with a star engraved inside with my name & ETC of the District 2011 engraved on the front. It weighs like 5 lbs. Then Mike gave me a gift from the managers at the store. Which was some items from the new peacock display that I love. Tina tricked me, telling me she was thinking of sending some of it to her mom & what did I think.

Of course I've never gotten employee of the year in our building cause everyone thinks they can't vote for me. Oh well I got something more important. It really means alot.

So back to the sign up sheets, after the party was over, some helped me get the dinning room back in order & I assumed that there were people who had straightened up or cleaned the kitchen area where we had all the food laid out. NOT, after everyone had left including all the managers except Shawn cause he was doing his inventory & Sandy the night maintenance gal. I walk into the kitchen & nothing, not one thing had been cleaned up. So it's 11 PM & I have to clean up the kitchen now cause Sandy has to get started on her job & Shawn is useless. It took me an hour to pack up food, clean up the area, put food in the cooler & pack up some of it to take home with me since I was the one who had to clean it all up. I was pissed.

So that is one of the other reasons why next year I'll be totally in charge of the party again. We wont have any of the last minute problems like this year.

The rest of December flew by, I really didn't do any shopping, Robert did it all this year. I actually didn't finish getting his gifts until the 23rd. Of course the 22nd I left work early sick, had been sick for a week & by the 22nd it was really bad, I went to urgent care & found out that I had an upper respiratory infection, got all sorts of meds & told to go home not back to work. No problem wasn't planning on going back that day & I had the rest of the weekend off, my normal fri/sat plus we are closed Christmas day so that gave me Fri thru Sun off. Back to work on Monday feeling better & we were WAY busy the whole week. I once again have Fri thru Sunday off cause I asked to have New years day off this year.

So here it is New Years Eve day & I'm doing absolutely nothing but catching up on this blog.

Oh to report on some of the movies I've seen lately.

Hugo, Sherlock Holmes 2, War Horse, The adventures of Tin Tin, Breaking Dawn, ALL good movies.

Hugo - not really a kids movie but a great 3D, forgot I was watching it in 3D it was that good. It gets into the history of some of the silent movies, I think children under 10 0r 11 really wouldn't understand it. I really enjoyed it alot.

Sherlock - great movie, love Robert Downing Jr. & Jude Law. Can't wait to see it again.

War Horse - Speilberg has done it again. This is a great film, wonderful story & a good family film.

Tin Tin - wonderful fun, good kids adventure movie.

Breaking Dawn - saw it twice, can't wait for the 2nd part to it. It was good.

I'm sure there are a couple others that I've seen & hadn't reported on. But these are the most recent.

Still want to see the new Mission Impossible, the Darkest Hour & We bought a zoo. Plus I really want to see The girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

So tonight we're going over to Glen & Rue's for dominoes & snacks. Just gonna hang out with friends. No big parties.

So to all of you my friends & family, followers of my blog, I want to say I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season, a blessed Christmas & most of all that you each have a Happy & prosperous New Year. God Bless you all & keep you safe through out this next year.

Saturday, 16th of Oct to Sunday 23rd of Oct 2011

Hmm, where to start for this past week? Last Saturday didn't do much of anything, we stayed around the house all day, didn't go anywhere. So it was just a hang out & continue to catch up on all that I had recorded while we were gone. Think I got it all caught up. LOL

Sunday had to work as usual. Busy day, good day. Got home around 2:30 & chilled for the night. Watched the premier of Walking Dead. Great start for the new season. Wow.

Monday I had orientation with a new server & a seasonal retail. It was a good day, two nice young ladies. Finished up with them at 2 & sent them on their way. Finished up some of my work & headed home a bit after 4.

Tuesday my new server was supposed to show up to do computer work, never saw her. Called left messages, nothing. Really strange, she seemed eager & excited to work for us. Not a clue as to what happened. Called her several times through out the week with no luck or return calls. Spent the majority of the day calling all the applications that have been piling up since my vacation. LOL. Set all the managers up with interviews for the rest of the week. Will call more this week & set up more.

Had my 6 month follow appointment with Dr. Young at 2:50 in Fort Worth so left work early to get there. After the appointment went over to visit Cindy at her work since it was only 3 blocks away. All was well, Dr. Young released me.

Wednesday finished calling applicants & booking appointments, fielded return phone calls from those I had called on Tuesday. Worked on our holiday mail outs with the help of one of new rising stars, giving her extra hours. Left work after 4 & headed h0me.

Thursday was once again the 12 plus hour day for me at work. It was really a great day. Everyone in good moods, business good. Stayed busy & steady most of the day. Finished up the mailers. Got home after 9 & vegged.

Most nights after I get home from work, Robert & I sit in front of the TV watching our shows or right now the World Series - Go Rangers. It's really rather boring. Stephanie has moved back in with us just over a week now. Supposed to move into her new apartment the 4th of November. Niki & Randy spent this weekend moving into their new place. Amanda & Jason have been in their new apartment for about 3 weeks now.

Friday Robert & I were both off work, I had to go to the Weatherford PO to get the mailer out & when I got there they told me it wasn't even ready, I didn't have the bulk mail stamp on the envelopes from the Chamber & they'd have to be crated or what ever they call it. So I had to go to the Chamber & once their the lady who does the bulk mailers for the Chamber didn't even have a clue that we were supposed to be using their stamp. It was a big mess. Tammy who is the boss over there had just walked in the door as we were trying to figure out what to do, we all had some ideas. Then Tammy said "are they all going to chamber members" I said yes, we got the labels from ya'll. She suggested then that Saturday they have a crew who comes in & does the stuffing for the Chamber news letter & why don't we just put it inside that & it wouldn't cost you anything. Yes, that was a fantastic idea. I offered to stay & de-envelope them all but they said no, I had already done so much not to worry about it they'd take care of it. Thank heavens. Mike should be happy to hear that when I see him on Wednesday.

After I got home we loaded up to go over to some friends house & help them move some furniture from one place to another. Went out to dinner after ward & then to a club in Dallas. Had a very nice evening got home close to 2, went straight to bed I was beat - slept on the drive home also. LOL.

Saturday got up around 7:30 had to be at work at 9. Got there about 10 till. Got the key & my head set on as it was Fred in the kitchen & me in the front of the house. Shawn wasn't supposed to be in until something like 11, I think it was supposed to be 10, he said he thought Mike had changed it to 11, he came in at 10:15. No biggie. He spends all his time in the back of the house anyway. He & Fred both stayed in the back while I ran the front & the dinning room. We did a great job if I say so myself. Stayed busy, had good compliments, barely went on a wait. Left work around 2:30 & headed home. Chilled out for a bit took an hour or so nap then went to Lake Worth to the movies with Cindy. We went to see The Three Musketeers. It was really fun. I liked the new twist on the storyline. We enjoyed it, very entertaining. Isn't that the point to enjoy & be entertained. We were.

Got home after 9 & it was close to the end of the ball game, no bueno, very bad game last night. I think we were both in bed & passed out by 11:30. I was really tired.

Sunday Robert got up before me, I think I was up about an hour after him. He hooked up the BAT to the truck, backed it out of the pasture & I got in the drivers seat & took it out for a practice drive. Since I'll be the one driving it down to Burleson Friday for our weekend away. I drove it to Walmart in Hudson Oaks, actually to the street that runs next to Walmart to get it out on to I - 20 West, drove it up to the Main Street exit, took it around the Texas turn around back up 20 to the Aledo exit over to 1886 to 730 then home, I parked it myself. Yeah me. Didn't have any problems, however it took me a while before I could breath right again. LOL. But I think I can handle pulling it down to Burleson on Friday.

Just hung out around the house the rest of the day, played on my facebook, read emails, sat here in the living room while Robert watched Nascar, the Cowboys win & now the Rangers. LOL

There ya have it folks, my life in a nut shell. LOL

Hope you all have a fantastic week. God Bless & keep you till next time.

Wednesday to Friday, 12th to the 14th of October 2011

Wednesday - very busy finishing up training with all my newbies, computer work, classes, a couple of PAR tests, menu's. I think I was running around like a chicken with it's head cut off. I don't think I ever stopped that day. Left around 4 to go home to get ready for our dinner date. Robert & I met friends in Grapevine for dinner at Le Madeleine's, it was good but of course all the boys & some of the girls wanted to watch the game so after we ate we went next door to chili's to the bar area to watch the Rangers win. It was 11 before Robert & I got home.

Thursday - I went into work early because Mike was supposed to give me my eval first thing. I did very well & should be getting my annual pay raise. Plus he submitted me to our District Manager for a new award the company has decided to do, ETC of the Year for each District. So exciting - however I really don't expect to get it. I'll be surprised if I do. After the confrontation between our DM & myself back in the early part of the year I don't think he likes me much. We'll see. It would be nice to get some sort of recognition after 5 years as an ETC.

This was my long day & surprisingly it was a very good day. Everyone was in a great mood, we were all having alot of fun, we stayed steady. I had some of my newbies finishing up their computer work. Working around some of these new guys schedules is getting a bit difficult. But we'll get there. It was after 9 before I got home. Working 13 hours. Very long day.

Friday - got up before 6 & got dressed for the Weatherford Chamber of Commerce Breakfast Before Business meeting at 7:30 at the Doss Center. I took two gift baskets for the drawing & our holiday brochures. Made a couple of new contacts that I believed panned out very well for our store. Met a man who is the President of the Texas Home Builders Association & they meet once a month at a different restaurant that isn't working out for them, so he had quite a few questions. I gave him some info, Mike's card & told him to call I'm sure we could work something out.

After the meeting I went to Walmart to do some grocery shopping then home to unload. Did some house work & chilled out. Took a nap. LOL Robert woke me up around 5. We just hung out at the house & watched recorded shows from the week that we didn't watch due to watching the Rangers. In the evening Kelley called me & said that a lady had come in to talk to Mike about using the dinning room once a month for their meeting. The gentleman from earlier in the day had told me he'd have his secretary call, it seems she decided to come in rather than call. I think they worked out a deal & it would make us an extra 800 one Tuesday a month. This would be great. Love local network marketing.

So, not a lot to tell for the past 3 days. Same ol', same ol'.

Enjoy your weekend. God Bless

Monday & Tuesday, 10th & 11th of October 2011

Monday - an uneventful day at work today. No orientation - had to move it to Tuesday, which will through everything off for the week, oh well, I roll with the punches. Not as busy of a day as was expected, good thing, we only had 8 servers. Had the newest grill cook in training with Lynda & Jojo - grill cook hired around 6 weeks ago, come in to work with Lynda on more training. So what little bit of busy that we did have we got the food out fast cause we had 4 grill cooks on the line, for a Monday that's pretty good. LOL

I was able to get a few things done in my office that need to be caught up on since my vaca. Gave a couple of PAR tests. Wrapped up & left for home around 4. Got home & of course we had to watch the ball game. Go Rangers. It was a great game. And if you didn't see that grand slam you missed it. It was classic.

Tuesday - had a dermatology appointment at 8:30 to follow up on my rosacea. Still the same, not worse, not as bad. It has been flaring up the past few days so the dr got a good look at it. Refilled scripts. Headed to work, of course I had to put my make up on in the car before I went in to work. Went in & got clocked in at 9:30, ordered some breakfast before my orientation class at 11. Had 5 newbies - 1 dish, 1 server, 2 cashiers & 1 retail seasonal. Seems to be a good bunch. We'll see. Finally wrapped up at 5 with the group, finished getting them into the computer & headed to Autozone to get a few things for Robert so he could get Niki's car fixed. Thank God it was an easy fix & not something way worse.

Please, keep Niki & Randy in your prayers, they really really need alot of prayer. Young kids trying to make it & for those of you who were married in your early 20's you know how hard it is. Keep them in prayer please.

Stephanie & Niki came over around 7:30, Steph to do her laundry & Niki so she could get her car.

Sat here & watched the Rangers again, this time in Detroit. No Bueno, Rangers lost. Let's hope they do better at the next game.

Oh, two of our friends showed up at my store today. Bob & Saeng Soul, we were in Iceland with them. The live in Clovis, New Mexico now, for several years. That is were they retired to when Bob got out of the AF. He's a NM Highway Patrol. She has a restaurant, if you're ever in Clovis & you want the best Oriental Food you've ever put in your face, go to Saeng's. She is amazing, you only think you know what oriental food is. They had come over to Dallas to visit his parents & were headed back to NM & stopped in to see me. We had a really nice visit. It was great that my class was involved watching video's(Tina had a couple of extra's to throw in for the upcoming holiday's) so needing to use the dvd player the whole class watched them with her class. So I got to sit with them & visit.

Well there ya have it. My past two days. Woo who, exciting. LOL

God Bless you all, have a wonderful week.

Sunday, 9th of October 2011

What a very busy day it was at work today.

But first let me tell you of what a wonderful breakfast my hubby made for me this morning before I went to work, bacon, eggs & tatercakes with a large glass of oj. It was really good.

Got to work around 9 & it was hit the floor running, stayed that way until I left at 2:15. Had a guest come up to me & tell me what a wonderful staff we have, said everyone was on the ball. They had several servers check on them, refill their drinks etc. He told me that the store in Tyler seems like all the servers have blinders on but we were really on the ball. I asked him to please call home office & let them know what a great job we did.

Driving home I called Debbie (stepmom) to check on her. Her spinal surgery was about 4 weeks ago, it's been a very slow recovery process for her but she's getting there.

Once I got home, I changed clothes, took off my make up & warmed up left overs from yesterdays, red beans/sausage & rice with corn bread. Just finished a wonderful home made butterfinger blizzard that my hubby made for me. Yummy.

Hanging out now, watching CSI Miami recorded from the past two weeks. Finally just about caught up on all of my recorded tv. LOL

Oh, BTW, do you all know it's only 6 1/2 weeks till Thanksgiving. LOL just thougth I'd throw that out there.

Ya'll have a great week, God Bless.

Saturday, 8th of October 2011

Well to start with today, I've done absolutely nothing much. Robert & I slept late, I've been on my laptop all day playing games(catching up on them) & watching the two weeks of recorded tv shows to catch up on them as well. We are now watching the Rangers with the back door open listening to it rain & thunder. It's awesome. I did make a pan of sweet corn bread to go with the red beans, rice & sausage that my honey made us for dinner.

I'm really sorry, once again, to be so remiss in posting.

Starting with the week we left for our trip, had a lot of work to do at the store before we left, that Thursday I didn't get home until close to 9, Robert & Cindy had loaded up the trailer with most everything except my stuff. So as soon as I got home I immediately started going through my clothes to decide what I was taking & started hauling all my things out to the trailer as well.

We had finally finished the guest bedroom, got a little touching up to do with the paint but all in all it's finished. Now I just need to figure out what I want to hang on the walls in there. It looks really good. We didn't have the blinds before we left so there still wasn't anything up on the window. But after we got home this past Saturday night, the blinds had arrived while we were gone & on Sunday Robert hung the blinds & the curtain rod, so I got the curtains hung up after he got everything else up. It looks really nice, I'm very pleased.

Back to the trip, we pulled out of here on Friday morning the 23rd at 7:30 AM, stopped at the gas station 3 miles up the road & bought breakfast burritos & coffee for Cindy then headed on down the road. We made it almost to Wichita Falls before we had a tire on the trailer blow out on us, not good. We had only been on the road an hour & a half. There are 3 tires on each side & this was the front passenger side right under the kitchen slide out. Needless to say it tore up the sheet metal & the trim as well as ripped off the hose that runs from the propane tank to the fridge which was running to keep our food. We had to quickly cut the gas off. Robert got the tire changed & we limped it into WF, finding a trailer place which sent us up the road to a hardware place which sent us to some hole in the wall place looking for a new hose to replace the one that runs to the fridge. Once we found the place which wasn't called "The hose place" like the people at the hardware store called it. Luckily right across the street was a tire place that did tires for every size vehicle you can imagine & enough room for us to pull in & turn around. Robert changed the hose out & got the fridge running again then we got the tire changed. Putting us back on the road close to 11:00, now we were about an hour & a half behind on the schedule. Got through WF & most the little towns until we stopped for gas & poor Robert had been doing so well it was a difficult place to get into & he was watching out the side mirror looking low that he missed how far out the pump hung up top taking out the pump & some of the sheet metal on the side of the trailer. No camera's, no one saw it happen but we did the right thing & Robert went in & spoke with the manager who told him they never would have known. Not sure if they'll contact our insurance or not?? Went on up the road to the next town where we were able to get some gas. We got 30 minutes east of Amarillo & once again another blow out, this one being the middle tire, the one behind the one from the morning. It was just after 5 so I got on the laptop & Cindy got on the Tomtom looking for a tire place. I called 3 different places that did not have the size tires we needed. Found directions to a place & when we got off the highway at 5:35 in the afternoon on a friday, rush hour traffic mess with a one ton four wheel, four door truck pulling a 40 foot 5th wheel that was quite the feat. The street we were trying to get down had to major accidents, the place we were looking for wasn't there but thank God there was a Firestone on the opposite side of the road from where we were & when there was a bit of a break in the traffic we crossed 4 lanes to pull into their drive. Robert went in to talk with the guys & they also didn't have what we needed but thankfully another store did & they sent a guy to pick two up. I didn't mention when the tire blew after looking at it & it being in the middle didn't change it driving very slowly into Amarillo so that by the time we made it to the tire place there was about an inch of rubber around each outside rim of the wheel & that was it. We had them change the middle & the back tire on the right side of the camper giving us 3 brand new tires on that side. Four weeks earlier we'd changed the left rear tire from that one blowing out after our trip to Hillbilly Haven. Cindy & I just prayed that the last two on the left would hold out even though we thought that we should have changed all of them there. We finally got back on the road around 7. Now we're a good 3 hours behind on the schedule. We made it into Albuquerque just after 9 PM their time(10 central). Tried two different gates to get onto the base one not made to get a trailer into & the other closed. We found the gate we could get into which was on the total opposite side of the base from were we needed to be. About a forth of the way to the FamCamp a small car pulled up beside us & asked if we were looking for FamCamp & told us to follow him. Good thing, the GPS was going to take us one way which wouldn't have been conducive for a 40 foot trailer. Got to the camp & got set up. Had called Justin when we got into town, then again after we got set up called him to tell him we were all beat after 15 hours on the road, which with out the trailer would have been around 10 hours, with the trailer we figured 12 even with gas stops. We just didn't figure on all the other probs we had.

Got up the next morning, had breakfast, got cleaned up & Robert took Cindy & I to Justin's. It was so nice & I wished someone had had a camera to take a picture of Kali's face when she saw me. It was wonderful. I came in the door, gave Audrey a hug, turned to my left into the kitchen & she was in the living room looking toward the front door to see who was coming in & when she saw me her face lit up & she hollered MIMI, I just melted right there, all the bags I was carrying as well as myself dropped right there to the floor & held out my arms which she promptly ran into & gave me the biggest hug. In case most of you don't know, I've only seen & spent 4 other occasions with her since she was born & she's only 2. So I was very very happy she recognized me & came to me. I have so much love for her it's so hard to explain. Those of you who are grandparent probably understand. I love all my children so very much but there is something about a grandchild.

She'd been up since before 6 so not long after we got there she was getting very cranky. Robert had left because he has work to do on the trailer, the siding, the gas hose, the trim above the wheel wells & the air conditioner. Cindy & I went with Justin & Audrey & Kali to Walmart. We all needed to get a few things. Kali was still throwing a fit, she was so tired & wouldn't fall asleep. We finished up at the store, headed back to the house dropping Kali, Audrey & the groceries off so that Cindy, Justin & I could go to his football game. He's coaching 7 yr olds in little league football. We dropped Justin off at the field & Cindy & I went to Dion's, a pizza place very popular in Albuquerque, really good pizza. Heard from Robert just as we got there & he was done so wanted to meet up with us. We all had a great lunch then headed to the park. The game was supposed to start at 2, it was about 2:15 before it got started. We stayed & watched for a bit but when we found out they'd be there playing a full game till like 4, unreal in my mind for 7 year olds. And people think Texas is gungho about football. Anyway, standing outside, even though it was a beautiful day, that high of an altitude under the sun at 2 in the afternoon, no shade, we didn't stay long. The 3 of us went back to the trailer so Robert could get cleaned up then we went back up to Justin's house. Kali was up from her nap & in a much better mood. She helped me make cornbread for dinner & was supposed to help with the peanut butter/chocolate chip cookies too but got side tracked. LOL We had a very nice dinner & visit with Audrey's dad Art & a co worker/friend of Justin's, Adrian, had come over so they could make some beer. After Kali went to bed around 9, Robert, Cindy & I headed west to Rio Rancho to some old AF friends of ours that was having a get together. We hung out over there for 2/3 hours visiting. Cindy had a chance to meet the Smith family. Topper, Debbie & their son Dalton, their daughter Dotty was at the homecoming dance. Around 11:30 we headed back over to Justin's, Cindy & I spent the night their & Robert went back to the trailer.

The next morning we all got up & Audrey made a wonderful breakfast while Cindy & I played with Kali. We watched Rio & Ringo, Kali & I played airplane in the kitchen after a while. She loves to fly. So for about 10 minutes we're going round n round in the kitchen. Kali saying "do it again, do it again", we had fun. Robert finally showed up around 10 & we all just hung out around the house for the day. Later in the afternoon Cindy, Audrey & I decided to take Kali to the park around the corner from their house, Kali fell asleep on the ride in her stroller so when we got to the park we just sat & visited under the pavillion. Robert caught up with us & we enjoyed the outside & each other's company. While I was taking pictures something woke Kali up & it wasn't a good thing. She wasn't ready to wake up & she became a very cranky kid.

We went back to the house, Justin & Art had been working on the back yard wall when we left & returned. There was a low place & earlier in the week one of their dogs had gotten out & disappeared for the week. So they built it up & got it fixed. We had another nice dinner, played more with Kali, gave her her bath, got lots more pictures, played a little bit more before she went to bed. We hung out for a little while longer then decided we'd better head back to the trailer because we would be getting up earlier the next day to head on over to Arizona. It was bitter sweet, I never get enough time with my boy & his family.

We got up before sunrise Monday morning, ate some breakfast, cleaned up, packed up, hooked up & headed out of Albuquerque, west. We got on the highway just as the sun was coming up over the mountains. We had a wonderful drive during the day, making a few stops. One of the stops we made we spent 2 hours at the Petrified Forest National Park. WOW. Amazing sights to see. We made it to the Grand Canyon just after 4, got to our campsite & got things set up then walked to the market which was about a mile or so from our camp. Checked out the store & bought a couple of things. Robert went back to the trailer & Cindy & I walked out to the canyon rim as the sun was setting to get some pictures. AMAZING. Definitely one of the most amazing natural wonders I've ever seen. Up there with some of my favorite places in Iceland. Cindy & I made it back to camp, gathered up my laptop & her nook & we went back over to the cafe by the market to get online. Met some wonderful people who work at the park, we shared a table with a young lady who was also on her laptop. We got online but the speed was very very slow. Connections up there not good same goes for cell reception. Verizon seems to be the only one that works. Cindy is Sprint & we're AT&T. We hung out till a bit after 10 then went back to the trailer. Watched some tv then we all went to bed.

Got up around 7 the next morning, Robert cooked breakfast outside for us, we got showers, dressed then headed over to the West village where most the hotels & shops are. We started at the west side taking pictures & checking the sights, looking through the shops. We were supposed to meet Kelley & Kim at the ice cream shop around noon, we got there around 11:15 & waited but never heard from them. We finally left around 1 & went back to the trailer. Decided to relax & watched Alpha & Omega. Around 3:30 we finally heard from Kelley. They were late coming back up out of the Canyon. Cindy & I left Robert at the trailer & went to their rooms around 4:30, hung out for a bit & went to catch the redline bus to Hermit's Rest to get some sunset pictures of the canyon. Told Robert we'd be back at the trailer for dinner around 7/7:30. Which we were. He'd made penne rustica for us with sour dough bread. It was sooo good. After dinner, Robert had a book he'd been reading so he went to the master bedroom to read, Cindy & I decided to watch Thor. We didn't finish it cause we both started dozing. I got up & got my stuff ready & laid out for the next morning because I was getting up at 5 to catch the bus to the East rim out at Yaki Point for sunrise pictures. Went to bed & crashed.

Got up a little before 5(which at home was really 7), got dressed & headed to the bus stop. Caught the bus with a little couple who are avid & professional bird watchers from Canada. They were also going to Yaki Point, it was very nice to visit with them. They are working their way to Texas. He has a conference the first week in November in Houston, they were headed to Harlingen. I headed back to the trailer around 7:30 getting back just after 8 for breakfast & in time to start getting ready for Kelley & Kim's ceremony. We were supposed to meet them at the point but Kelley called & they were running late, so we decided Cindy & I would go to their room to finish getting ready & help her. Kim & Mark would head to the market to get the burger makings for our cook out & pick up Robert at the trailer. Cindy & I got to the hotel & Kelley was just starting her make up, I still needed to get mine on as well as do my hair & get dressed. I got finished, Kelley needed help getting her hair done. Cindy was already done & ready before we got there & looked great. Sue just needed to change into her dress. We all finally got ready it was after 10 (when we were already supposed to be at the point). Got some pictures & it was so funny walking through the hotel lobby in our semi formal dress, Kelley who looked amazingly beautiful in her long red dress with her bouquet of red flowers. She got quite a few complements from the staff. Needless to say we didn't look like we were going hiking like most everyone else. LOL All us girls loaded up into our truck, again a funny sight, remember it's a 4 wheel drive 4 door one ton long bed pick up. I have to step up on the running boards just to get in, Kelley & I both in long dresses climbing into that truck. Once we got to the road that we needed to take to the picnic area, it was a private road so no one could drive back except us cause we had the key to the gate. Driving back up into the woods toward the rim & passing hikers on the road driving in also got us some looks, again 4 women, all dressed up in a big ol truck. The boys were already there & had most everything set up. I had to hurry to the point with my tripod to get things set up with the camera & make sure everyone got to were they needed to go.

It was sooooooo beautiful. The day was perfect, the weather, not to hot, a slight breeze & a few clouds in the distance. All Cindy & I could say almost the entire time from Monday until we left Friday was WOW. Every sight we saw was awesome. The ceremony was wonderful, we all cried. Afterward we took a bunch of pictures(imagine that) lol, then headed back to the pavillion where Robert cooked us all some burgers. It was funny at one point a couple came hiking through & were sorta looking at us, I made the comment "yes, we always dress formal when we hike". LOL the lady looked, stopped a bit & said " Oh my, you are all dressed up". We all got a great laugh out of it. We drove out a little after 1 to head back to camp, they headed back to the hotel so everyone could change & rest or whatever. We meet back up at their hotel around 5 for cake & champagne. Cindy & I then left & went to dinner at the Bright Angel hotel restaurant. After our dinner we went back to their hotel room, where Robert was still hanging out, gathered him up & went back to the camper. Got into bed around 11 & crashed.

Had plans to meet up with everyone back at the hotel for breakfast, which was very good. Afterward, I went on a hike with Kim, Cindy went shopping with Kelley, Mark & Sue did some shopping & sight seeing & Robert went back to the camper. His ankle & knee wouldn't allow him to hike to much. Our hiking trip took longer than I thought it would so when I got back to camp Robert was very upset with me. The one thing he wanted to do we didn't do because he said it was to late. It was 3, sunset wasn't until 6:30 but he was angry with me so therefore we couldn't do it. So I went shopping since I hadn't gotten any gifts or souvenirs yet. The one big ticket item I wanted I didn't get because it was expensive but after getting back to camp & telling Robert about it, he asked what time the shop closed, which was 6, it was 5:30 he said I would make it to get it, I said if I take the truck instead of the bus I could. So I drove back over & got it. Got all my shopping done by 6:30. We had steak & baked potatos for dinner outside on the picnic table then did roasted marshmallows. Cindy played on her nook, Robert & I on our laptops, he online with our sprint connector, I downloading & organizing pictures. We all went inside around 10 or so. Robert went to the bedroom to read, I got online with the sprint connector for a bit, Cindy reading her nook. Then we were all in bed & asleep I think by 11:30.

We all got up early to pack everything up to head out. Time to leave & head east toward home. Boo hoo, didn't want to leave. It would have been nice to stay a couple more days. We had a very nice drive back through Arizona, made it into New Mexico & 30 minutes west of Albuquerque one of those other tires on the trailer finally blew. The middle one on the left side of the trailer. We pulled into the Route 66 Casino & travel center got the spare put on & limped about 5 miles up the road to Camper World, again being 5:30 in the evening & they closed at 6. Bought 2 new tires to replace the last two that were on the left side of the trailer. Finally getting back on the road around 6:45, we drove straight through Albuquerque since there wasn't a place to keep the trailer since the Balloon fiesta opening day was the next morning. All hotels, camping areas everything was full. We went on to Santa Rosa, getting there around 9 & set up for the night. The next morning Robert started breakfast, then ran to the store, I finished breakfast up by the time he returned. We chowed down, loaded & closed everything up & headed on to Texas.

We stopped at the Cadillac Ranch just west of Amarillo for Cindy, got some pictures & back on the road. We pulled into our drive way around 5:30, got the trailer pulled up onto the blocks & parked finally. Cindy gathered up her things, we unloaded some stuff from the trailer. Cindy headed home, we unpacked some, then vegged out for the night.

Sunday morning we got up, Robert & I just hung out in the living room watching his morning shows & on our laptops. Then he had some errands to run, while he was gone I went out & cleaned the trailer, thoroughly, took me 3 hours. But it looks great & is ready for the next trip.

Monday - Robert was supposed to have knee cap replacement surgery, he didn't. The dr decided to just scope the knee to check out exactly what the inside looks like, cleaned up a bunch of stuff in his knee. We waited longer for them to take him back than the whole surgery. He didn't have to spend the night which please him greatly. Got back to Hudson Oaks around 2:15, dropped off his script at Walgreens. They said 3 so we went to Boo Ray's to get a late lunch. Picked up the prescription & headed home. Spent the rest of the day taking it easy.

Tuesday - Friday, ugh, back to work. Orientation on Tuesday with four newbies. 2 servers, a host & a grill cook. Lost a grill cook, cashier, server & manager while I was on vacation. Busy week catching back up, the only bad thing about leaving for more than a couple of days. Had another orientee Friday, a server. Got somethings caught up. Doug our new manager started the first Saturday that I was on Vaca. Been trying to get him in our store for over a year. He's Domino, my workout buddy's boyfriend. Really glad he's finally in our building. Mani went to Arlington, which he told me before I left for vaca. Doug is great. I think everyone is liking him. I know I do, finally someone with the guts to do their job.

Well, there ya have it folks, a bit of a book I know. But I think I've finally caught up on this. Rangers still playing, it's still raining here at my house and it keeps moving that direction. They are still in the 5th inning due to 2 rain stops. Go Rangers. I really hope they win.

I have to work tomorrow as Shift Leader, ugh, I have another orientation lined up for Tues/Weds, a server, dish, & I think 2 seasonal retail.

Till the next time, have a wonderful day, God Bless

Friday to Thursday 16th - 22nd of Sept, 2011

I'm gonna post this alittle at a time. I've been rather busy this past week and hadn't had a chance to do much on the computer and that includes my FB and FB games. So I started with my day from last Friday it's almost 1 AM now and we'll be getting up in a few hours to leave on our big trip so I'll post this now and add more tomorrow when we're out on the road.

OMG, I have been so busy, I got some catchin up to do. I was off this past weekend and Robert & I stayed home all weekend. I was going to go help my friend La Rue at her shop Friday and not long after I got up and was sitting on the couch catching up on FB, I heard a whining noise at the garage door. Knew it was Sophie wanting in and when I opened the door there she lay covered in blood and couldn't hardly move. When I walked away to go around from the front door she pulled herself up into the laundry room. I had to get her cleaned up just to see what was wrong. Our neighbor has a female who was in heat for about 2 weeks and every boy dog in the area was hanging out in our yard causing all the dogs to go nuts. So we think one of them in the heated moment of fighting that all the boys were doing, because she might have jumped in to help Boxer. Any way they got her good. Once I got her cleaned up and checked how bad it was, she had a couple gashes and I got her bandaged up got her moved eventually onto her bed in the living room and there she laid the rest of the day and most of the night. I didn't go anywhere I stayed on the couch did some things on my computer and watched her all day. I did do a bit of piant in the bed room. But I didn't go very far from Sophie. I got her to drink some water and after Robert got home we got her to drink more water and I got to wennies and broke up a tylenol into them and she scarfed it down.

The rest of the weekend Robert and I painted. I never left the house until Sunday morning when I had to work. I worked 9 to 2 as a shift leader and ran the dinning room. I had Mani with me but again I ran the dinning room. One of my newer hosts, a young man, who is quickly turning into another some one in our building who is a pain in my neck, I made him stay at the podium and be my name taker and caller. He wasn't happy about that. But he did ok once we got him over the hurdle and I told him everyone has to do it they can't all be the seaters or running all over, which is really what he wants to do.

I had orientation during the week with 2 ladies and a very tall young man who is the brother to one of our other servers, a cash, retail and a server. So working all week getting the 3 of them trained, do PAR tests, finish up some paper work, did my DM report since it was the end of the month. When I wasn't at work I was at home painting and working in the bedroom getting it ready for Cindy on Thursday night and Stephanie to stay in while we're on our trip. So that would be why I'm sooooooo behind on my blog. Once again I apologize to those of you who like to read about my boring life. LOL

On Tuesday Mani told me that he was leaving. I said leaving the company? No, he's leaving our building and going to the store on 360 in Arlington. YEAH. Our replacement is Doug Brown who I've been trying to get into our store over a year. I promoted him to Mike Taylor last fall when he was trying to move down from Arkansas. He happens to be my work out buddies boyfriend and he lives only like 15 minutes from the store. They moved him down last year and when we got Mani they sent him to Grapevine. So I'm happy, Domino is happy and I'm sure Doug is happy. He's gonna shake some things up I know but I told Domino to tell him to not go in guns ablazin and not to upset any of my people until after I get back. LOL

So there ya have it, my week in a nut shell. Thursday I worked 13 hours and then had to go home to pack and put all my stuff in the trailer for our trip. Robert had gotten pretty much everything done, Cindy was at the house and helped me pick out clothes. I was up late, late, late after the two of them headed to bed to finish stuff.

My next post will have the beginning of our trip. Till next time, God Bless you all.