Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Work, Meeting new friends and weekend plans

Now I'm cleaning the offices in the morning. We can only clean when there's another office person there, which is a bummer. But, we need to adjust and working in the morning is better now. I talked to my friend and it doesn't matter if we are bonded, it won't change the agencies' rules. So, when you can't change something you have to accept it.

Today Petra and Levi came in to help. We got it all done in 1 hour. I found a blind in a new exam room that was so dusty I could hardly believe it. I cleaned it (as far as I could reach), but all the blinds need done when I get a ladder.

It is nice getting off at 8:30 and not having to go in the evening, so maybe I'll get used to the new routine.

Our family will be going to the coast this weekend. The doctors' offices are closed Thursday and Friday, and I talked to the other office we clean and the boss said we could come in on Thursday instead of Friday. Then I'll need to check the trash cans on Tuesday as well.

I am looking forward to doing something together with the family, but all the driving just doesn't sound too fun right now. I'm glad I'm not a truck driver.

Yesterday We went bowling. It was dollar night. We took our 4, the Hawkins' 3 and 1 other girl. We all had fun. First I played pool with Greg. I can shoot with my right or left hand, so that is nice, but I still lost. Susannah had started a bowling game and had to leave to go to gymnastics, so I took over her game. I got a strike the first ball, but after that I didn't do so well. My score was 91.

We met an interesting couple there, with 2 children. The lady was in a wheelchair. The man spoke English with an Italian accent. They were from Italy. He also spoke German. He and Greg visited a lot. After awhile I came over and visited. I didn't want to interrupt their family time, but they seemed happy to visit with us. Our little friend who came with us, Nikkola, speaks German, so he spoke to her in German some. She is shy and didn't say much. Her mom is my good friend and from Germany. She married a family friend, so now we are almost like family.

Greg is getting a "tree job" across the street. At first he was going to do it by himself, but then decided to get a hold of a man he's worked for who has a tree service company and so they will work together.

I think Greg might take all the kids rafting in the river today. I'm not sure I will go, but maybe. The river isn't very swift, but I'm not sure how clean it is.

Sunday, July 19, 2009

Home Sweet Home

We're home! I was gone about a month. Seemed like forever and seemed like a very short time too. When we came home there were some improvements done to the yard and bathroom. Greg and the boys had cleaned the house and there were candles burning everywhere. Some of my plants died, but there was a beautiful fern on a table.

We all went to the skate park for about an hour. I sat by the river and the boys skated. The girls all went on a walk.

Greg has been contemplating getting an A/C unit or swamp cooler. I think we should just use the fans for now and wait. It doesn't stay hot here very long. If it does, or we can't handle it we can get something though.

We now have 3 extra teens in the home for a week. The ages of kids here now are: 9,12,13,14,15 and 16! What fun! Our 2 families get a long real well and the children too. The boys all like to skateboard and make home made videos.

Yesterday morning we woke up in the motel in Ogden, Utah. I slept in till 9:30, as I hadn't gotten to sleep till 1:30 or so. It was a little confusing, as my phone registered a different time than the alarm clock and a different time than my computer. I was able to catch up on my blog(s) and all the kids had fun swimming. At 12:30 the office called. (My computer said it was 10:30). I said to her, "Are we supposed to be out?" "Yes". "OK, we'll be out in 10 minutes." So, we got out fast so I wouldn't have to pay for another night.

When we all left, I had to try to find the apartment where Greg and I lived when we first got married. There was a parade on that street and a lot of craft booths. We parked and walked the whole length of 25th street. I saw a lot of old buildings, but wasn't sure where it had been. The whole street was being renovated, with coffee shops and other stores. When we lived there, I hate to admit it, but it was near the "red light district".

It was actually a nice apartment, furnished, but in a bad area.

After talking to a lady in a coffee shop, she told me that she thought one building had been torn down. "It was a Brothel", "Was the name of it, Ed's Variety Shop?" she said, "I think so."

Well, we lived directly across it, in the upstairs apartment. We thought maybe it was a "brothel", or a drug house. I went there in the day once, being curious, to see what they sold. Everything was dusty and looked like it had been there 20 years. I bought a fingernail clipper and got out of there. I drew a picture of it also and have it somewhere.

After buying good coffee, we were on our way. It only took us 6 hours to get to my sisters'. We had a good visit and talked about old times when we were kids. As kids, we did not get along. My mom said we were too much alike. Petra thinks we are a lot alike too. But, we are good friends now. We stayed overnight and visited more in the morning, then took off.

We stopped at another little town. They had a whole block with craft booths too. I wanted to see them, but I was out numbered, being the only one who did. We stopped at a convenience store, bought drinks and left.

Greg has been doing the office cleaning at 6:30 a.m. There has been a lot of construction being done at night, so it's necessary. Maybe we'll start cleaning together and get it done sooner.

Everyone is going to the park, so I have to go if I want to go with them.

posted by mariposa75 at 6:07 PM | comments from blog-it add or view comments (5)

Almost home and more about our trip

We drove 16 hours, but finally made it to Ogden at about 11:30 pm Arizona time. (but it's 1 hour later here) I'm staying on Arizona time, because it's the same as Oregon. They do not do daylight savings time in AZ.

The trip went well and we really only stopped for gas and a supper break, but I don't think I'll be eating at Wendy's anytime soon.

It was fun traveling with another family. I learned my "following a car in traffic skills" when our family took road trips through Tijiana, and some big cities traveling east. It's a lot easier if the person you are following doesn't change lanes at the last minute and exit. That happened once near LA, when Greg did that. At that time we had "walkie-talkies" to communicate with. I couldn't find mine, then we got out of range. We finally found each other, but it was scary at the time.

The scenery was beautiful. Desert scenes with flowers and many different kinds of plants and shrubs. Part of the way there were cacti. We didn't take too many pictures, because the day was all about getting there. I wish we'd have gotten more. Petra took some really pretty sunset pictures.

I'm going to try to get a hold of my blog-it friend in Idaho that I just met on the way here. Also, I need to contact my sister. If all goes well, we will stay at her house tonight, so we can arrive at our little house tomorrow early.

Thursday, July 16, 2009

Leaving between 7-8 tomorrow for Ogden

(PS, I left comments from my blogit for you to read)

My headache never came back. I started to get stressed out though, packing. We got the car packed first, and then later I was able to talk with our friend to see what he could bring in his van when he comes to Oregon to pick up his kids. There will still be 2 or more boxes of books I am going to have him mail to our address though.

After packing, I ate supper. Then Petra, Susannah and I walked to our other friends and visited with him and his wife awhile. Then, we all went swimming in the pool. It's still pretty hot here at night, so the pool felt good. Now I'm going to finish a couple of things I need to do, then get to bed. The plan is to leave at 7:00, but it could be a little earlier or later. I think we will be on the road for 15 hours. We'll see how close my estimate was by tomorrow night.

I reserved 3 motel rooms for the other family and all of us. Greg and I used to live in Ogden, Utah, when we first got married, so when the guy on the phone said the motel was on Washington Blvd. I thought, "Oh my." It is practically downtown and not in the best area. But we'll be safe inside our motel and there will be another family there too. I hope it's not too loud. Maybe in the morning we can drive by our old apartment on 25th street, if I can find it.

posted by mariposa75 at 9:33 PM | add or view comments (2)

A migraine and a dream

I woke up at 3:30 a.m. I was dreaming I had a headache. I wished it had been a headache. I took 2 IBU and tried to sleep with a washcloth on the left side of my head. 1/2 hour later it wasn't any better, so I walked up to the house where Petra was asleep and got some excedrin from her. After another 1/2 hour it finally went away and I fell asleep.

I was dreaming a very involved mystery dream. In it I was looking for a key to a room. Then there was a special key that was on the side of the doorknob that did something else, like opened a secret room or something else mysterious. I found the key hidden in a hole in the wall. There was a lamp and a hat in front of it. I had the key, but the mysterious strange lady came was coming back, so I was looking for another generic key to replace it so she wouldn't notice it until we were done with it.

Another part of the dream was there was a spider building a web across the little creek, but on my way to put the key back my hat touched it and I couldn't believe how strong the web was. I pulled my hat out and ran to put the hat in front of the hole in the wall again.

Just then, the lady came walking around the corner. But, then I started dreaming about headaches again and woke up. I took 1 excedrin and now I am feeling better.

I think it's a combination of not drinking enough water, drinking tea and coffee (which dehydrates) and a couple other things (being tired...)

I have a lot to do, unless I get worse. Know the pressure will be on as we are caravanning. I'm sure I'll be ok and I have a lot of help.

posted by mariposa75 at 10:08 AM | add or view comments (7)

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

A Caravan to Idaho

I ended up not getting as much done as I wanted to. I guess I'm still a little tired from the long drive from San Antonio on Monday.

I did get to Trader Joes. I bought some boxes at Home Depot so I can mail my books if our friends can't bring them with them when they come get their kids in a couple of weeks.

Petra and I ended up eating fast food Chinese food at Bashas' instead of getting a Starbucks. She was hungry and I missed the street for Starbucks. We bought a 3 entry plate and split it. Really good food.

Tonight some other friends that we haven't seen for over a year came over to visit. So our 3 families had fun visiting. The kids went swimming. The great news is this family came to Arizona about the same time we did and we are going to caravan together and leave Friday morning. I hope I can get all my stuff done tomorrow and still get to sleep by 10. Petra has a migraine, so I won't be waking her up to walk. I think I will sleep in and then get everything done as fast as possible. I really don't have that much to do, just sort my "stuff", and do laundry and then clean the trailer. We also should pack the car before dark to see how it all will fit.

I still want to visit my new blogit friend who lives in Boise. Our friends who are caravanning with us live in Northern Idaho. It should be fun traveling together. They have a 9 year old boy and 11 year old girl and a little dog. We will have 2 adults, a 10 year old girl, two 13 year old girls, a 14 year old boy and a 16 year old boy. Should be interesting and lively.

posted by mariposa75 at 10:58 PM | add or view comments (1)

Plans for today..

Today is going to be one of those busy days. I got up early and then woke Petra up so we could go on a walk. When we lived here a couple of summers ago, we used to walk every morning. It was a special time to spend with her. It is cloudy today, so the sun wasn't beating down on us, yet it's hot and a little humid still. We stopped to visit a family friend who lives on the same road on our way back for about an hour.

After my cold shower, Petra is coming with me to do some errands. I need to go to Trader Joes' to get some dark chocolate for Greg (and me too). He really likes chocolate and they have really good chocolate. Also some good coffee.

Then I have to get some boxes for the books I will mail, or our friends will bring to Oregon. Mostly my favorite books that were in Mexico and some I had left in Tucson.

We will probably go to Starbucks if Petra wants to. The 2 younger girls stayed overnight at some friends of ours. They had been planning this for months. Yesterday I took them to the swimming pool and then I met them all at a pizza place. I visited with the mom where they stayed overnight. She has several children, and there were going to be at least two extra, our 2. I think 11 altogether. I hope they had fun. They probably stayed up till after midnight.

I'd better go now. I am tired, and also have to finish sorting our stuff in the horse trailer, and take some more clothes to the thrift store that we have. I hope it doesn't take too long.

More photos when we were in Mexico:

Here's some photos from our road trips:

Road trip from San Antonio to Tucson

Tue 7/14/2009 1:09 PM

I am safely in Tucson in the "Tinker Camp". We arrived last night at 9:30 p.m. Arizona time. I went to bed at 11:00 after unloading part of the car and visiting .... I was exhausted. I had originally wanted to get a motel, but we got an early start so it was not necessary. Most of the trip was great. We left San Antonio at 8:00 a.m. Petra drove part of the way. Driving is usually relaxing for me and I would rather drive than ride.

We stopped in El Paso, Texas for a nice restaurant lunch. It was over 100 degrees there. The humidity went down after leaving San Antonio, so our air-conditioning worked better.

I understand now, how "Road Rage" happens on a freeway. I am usually a patient driver, not letting what others' do upset me (except when they are shaking their fist at me because I did something stupid, then I cry). But on this trip there was a car from New Mexico driving in the passing lane, a little slower than I wanted to go. They would not get out of the passing lane. I hate it when people pass me on the right, so I tried to give them a hint and follow them, but not tailgate. No matter what I did, they would not get out of the left lane. Then I decided to pass on the right, but found I couldn't because there was a car going slower in that lane. This went on for over 50 miles.

I was getting more and more agitated inside. Finally, they got over and I passed them. Then the speed limit went from 75 to 65, so I slowed to 68 and they passed me. I was so glad when they finally got in the right lane and took an exit. It turned out to be a girl, blonde, with pink streaks talking on her cell phone.

After dark, I tried to pass a car, then noticed someone right on my tail. So, I put my blinker on to get out of their way and they passed me on the right, not waiting for me to get over. Then, I was passing a motorcycle and a car was coming up fast behind me and was going to try to get in front of me around the motorcycle. I got over and let them by. It was a New Mexico plate and wondered if it was that same car that did not let me pass them earlier in the day. I didn't find out because by then I was driving much slower because I was tired.

I think some people get their drivers licences out of a cracker-jack box.

Then I got to see a "sky show" for over an hour. A sky show is when God paints the most incredible sky and cloud scene before your eyes. The colors were incredible. I tried to take some photos while I was driving, but they didn't turn out very well. Our friend in Tucson is a painter and paints incredible clouds and sky scenes. His link will be posted at the end. I Wish he could have seen the clouds I saw in New Mexico.

If you like impressionism art, please check out this link. You will not be disappointed.

http://williamhawkins.blogspot.com/

Six Flags

Sat 7/11/2009 9:50 AM

I'm at Starbucks, using their wireless. My son's internet is slow.

Six Flags was great. We got there about 10 and left at about 9:30. I went on a roller coaster first, because I knew I would change my mind if I just didn't do it. It was scary and I screamed all the way, but I'm still alive. My daughter-in-law thought I would really like the second roller coaster. I was in line, but when I saw that it went upside down, I changed my mind and didn't go on it. My daughter told me later it was the scariest one and Clemy said it felt like she was going off a cliff. I'm glad I didn't go.

Most of the other ones I went on were water slides, or raft rides, almost like a roller coaster. My favorite was the Lazy River ride, about 3 feet deep with water that moved and you just sit in an inner tube and go around in the "river" and under some small waterfalls. But, that's probably where I got my sunburn. We all put sunscreen on more than once, but most of us got some kind of sunburn. Mine isn't too bad. I don't want to know how bad it would have been if I hadn't had any sunscreen on.

The last thing was a laser show on the side of a cliff and fireworks. I found out why Texans are so proud of Texas. The laser show was all about Texas history and my daughter-in-law said that in school they get a lot of Texas history and how great Texas is. The first time I was in Texas I saw the Texas pride. I can understand it better now. It's hard to be proud of Oregon when they are one of the only states that have passed assisted suicide laws and others... Oregon is a beautiful state, but I don't agree with a lot of things the government does. They seem to have a law for everything and it's getting hard to breath there... getting smothered by all the laws.

I wished Greg was here for the water rides. He would have liked them.

Today is a rest day and tomorrow. We plan on leaving Texas Monday early. I want to go half way and rest more, but everyone is pushing me to drive the whole way. I do have my daughter to help drive, but I can't sleep in the car well. I am not sure what I'm going to do yet. It's supposed to be a 12 hour drive, but it took us 15 hours. We did stop a few times, but I need to.

Cheerios, Oil change, tires and watching Indian movies!

Wed 7/8/2009 9:58 AM

This morning I talked with my husband for quite awhile. He was so happy to tell about our grandson, who is living with his parents in Asia. The story goes something like this: My son is reading a book to his little 1 year old. In the book are cheerios. So he starts pretending to eats the cheerios, and so does his baby. After awhile he goes into the kitchen and gets real cheerios and "makes them appear" so they start eating real cheerios. The baby believes they came out of the book.

It is very funny, but hope he lets his son know it was just a game. Little children believe easily, even when things aren't true. They also trust easily.

In the morning, my daughter-in-law took me to a place to get my oil changed in the Previa. After that was done, we dropped the mini-van off at the tire store. When I had my flat in Mexico, I should have bought 2 new tires, but I didn't know, so now I'm buying one. The ruined window gaskets, bad shocks and transmission flush will all have to wait.

My daughter-in-law checked out another Indian DVD from the library. If you've seen slum dog millionaire, and liked it, then you might want to watch some others. The other 3 I've seen had romance and Indian dancing, but were clean.

I'm still telling myself I WILL go on the roller coaster. I can take dramamine. I WILL scream the whole way!

My Phone has revived...

Monday, July 6, 2009

I am at Starbucks using their fast internet. I had some business to do, now I am chatting with a friend on Gmail and trying to write here too. She types FAST. Amazing Fact: My Sony cell phone started working a little yesterday. Last night the screen would come on and off. Today it is working, but a wire might be loose, so I am not trusting it. If it keeps working that will save me about $50 to replace it with a decent used phone.

I am trying to decide if I want to go to Six Flags amusement park. I think Petra thinks it will be "too much" for me, and she is right, but I might want the adventure and I'll take dramamine so I can go on a roller coaster!

Better go. Have a nice day.

A great day

Sunday, July 5, 2009

Sunday's events

Another full day. We all went to church in the morning. Afterwards, came back to my son's home and I took a nap. Later we had a wonderful meal of Barbecued chicken and beef, salsa and tortillas.Zyanyas' mom, dad and grandmother came. Her grandmother doesn't speak English, so I had some more Spanish practice again. We were able to communicate OK.

After the other relatives left, we watched a movie from Indian Films called "Jab we met". It was a little corny in parts, but turned out to be a really good film.

Tomorrow the girls are going shopping. I may go to the library and do my email. The internet here is really bad, and I can't even get a signal with my older laptop. It doesn't work very good at all, so I can't count on it.

All the other things we might do, I'll tell about after we did them.

I am very thankful to be here and see my older son and his wife. She takes very good care of him!

July 4th

Saturday, July 4, 2009

End of a great day

We went to see some fireworks over a small lake in San Antonio. Lots of people... The fireworks were really good. Now we're back "home" and resting. I was able to get a short nap, which left me feeling groggy for a long time. Now I feel awake and it's about bed time. A great day and looking forward to more great days this next week.

We're in Texas!

I am at my son, David's and daughter-in-law's. We arrived at midnight last night (Friday night) (Texas time). The drive was pretty boring, and took 15 hours actual driving time. I ended up driving the whole way because the 2 other drivers stayed up till midnight the night before and by the time I would have needed them to drive they were tired. But I was fine and we are here!

Petra, the younger girls and Zee are going grocery shopping. I tried to get internet on my computer, as they have a low signal, but it wouldn't work, so I ended up using their laptop. I tried to transfer what I wrote on my USB card, but it wouldn't work. Oh well.

This week I plan on resting a lot and enjoying my time here. The girls want to go to Six Flags, an amusement Park. "Bob" has a bad sunburn on his feet due to his fishing adventure last weekend. By the time we go, he'll be better.

David and Zyanya bought a fixer-upper here in San Antonio. David is a skilled carpenter and handy man, so their house is looking really nice. Today he and "Bob" are working at his other job, building a deck for someone.

Amazing photograph

This is an amazing sky scene we saw as we were driving to Tucson. Taken by:
(c) 2009 Jenna Stoeppler

Back in the USA

Here are some photos of the trip:
1st: Sunset in the village
2nd: Sunset
3rd: Entry road to the village
4th: Driving through the City
5th: Driving through a village

I thought the trip up to Tucson would be uneventful. It started out fine. We left the village at 9:00, with the windows locked and the house looking as if we were only leaving for a weekend. We got gas in Toltecas, 5 miles away and bought snacks at the store.

The night before, our neighbor asked Petra if we could take her son and daughter to Santa Ana, where they would get a bus to Corboca to visit their sister. I knew we would be loaded down, as there were already 6 of us,(Petra, me, Clemy, Susi, and 2 girls that had been helping out at the deaf school) our luggage and I was bringing several boxes and backpacks stuff from our house. I told Petra I hoped we had room and I really wanted to bring them.

After packing the car, we did have room, and it didn't seem that crowded. I always thought I was tough, because we never had air-conditioning on our trips back and forth from Mexico to USA, but I am so glad we had it. I never realized the stress the hot weather, and driving in a car was before. It was relaxing driving for me.

When we were getting close to Hermosillo, the road was really rough, but the car seemed to change sounds. At first I thought I had a flat, but after awhile realized that wasn't the problem. I was determined not to stop until we reached a place I could check the van out. I did not want to be stranded on the side of the road in the heat with cars and trucks whizzing by.

We were trying to find a "Pollo Feliz" to no avail. We didn't want to eat at Kentucky Fried Chicken, but decided to turn around and head there. After pulling into the packing lot, I got out and checked the car. The tread on the left front tire was separating, and that was why the van was vibrating so much.

After eating at KFC, we took the van to the tire shop right across the street, but they didn't have our size of tire. But, he told us where Michellen tires was, right around the corner. We went there, I bought a tire and it was put on the van and in 30 minutes we were on our way.

Nearing sunset their was an amazing cloud formation that Jenna was able to photograph. I am going to post it on my blogspot and put a link here.

We made it to Tucson around 11 pm or later. Everyone but me was hungry, so we found a Taco Bell. My stomach had been hurting me from something I ate in the morning, so I got a milkshake from McDonalds' later, which didn't help at all.

I slept soundly and woke up without a stomach ache. We have today to rest, then tomorrow we are heading to San Antonio Texas.