Back to my usual routine again

It's been awhile since I've been around here. My mornings are now busy with cleaning the doctors' offices. I clean houses for about 4 hours a weeks. We have an insurance office we clean on Friday evenings. Now, we have a "bank job", cleaning - that is - on Fridays. It was so incredibly dirty the first time we cleaned it last Friday. It took me and L & G 10 hours in total hours! I'm hoping this week will be half of that.

I started a poetry section in my "blog-it". That is a subscription blog that I write on also. At first I wasn't sure I would keep doing it, but I've found it helps me to write everyday. It is a blog where you "get paid" by those on "blog-it" that read you. One month it paid my subscription out of 5. But, it's still worth it to me, as the many comments are encouraging and most people who subscribe are writers or "wanna-be" writers.

I can send a link to anyone interested in joining blog-it. I get $20 for a referral, if someone joins for 3 months. I would only recommend that someone try it, and if they don't like it they can cancel. Don't join for the $, but because you like to write and want others to read what you write. It also feels more private, as only subscribers can read the blogs.

Any way, my life has been pretty boring since I got back from my vacation. I did enjoy the family reunion at Redbridge park near Hillgard State Park. It was fun and I liked sleeping in the tent. I did get upset when the "4 families" of Hispanic decent set up their camp 2 feet from my tent. I don't know if they were being rude on purpose, or just ignorantly, but I was a little irate for awhile. I got over it when I realized that the tent could be moved. My 2 younger sons and J.A. very willingly moved my tent to a more secluded location by the river. After that I was glad that the "4 families" moved in on me! They were having a great time and I'm glad that I didn't ruin it for them.

Clemy just had her 10th birthday party. She had a slip-n-slide (homemade) and a cookie cake. Petra also made horchata. The only thing missing was the pinata. She had about 5 friends come and they had a blast!

That's about all for now. Maybe I'll post some poetry on here from blog-it later.

Summer Heat

We did go to the coast and had a nice time. It was 60 degrees there! I am so tired of driving though. I got to visit good friends and walk on the beach.

Greg, Levi, Gideon and Petra stayed a week longer, as Greg had some work lined up.

It has been so hot here, but I guess it is almost everywhere right now. The girls and I went swimming one day with our friends. That was so refreshing.

Tomorrow looks like might be another swim day in the afternoon. A good time to get out of the house.

Not much else to say.

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: