Changing times of my life.

In the last few weeks there have been many changes in my life and more to come in the next few months and years.

Christa, my daughter is getting married in SIXTY DAYS!!!  How did that happen? LOL  But even before that, she will be moving to the San Fransisco/Oakland Area.  Trey, her fiance got a job at the Oakland Airport and will start on August 15th.  About 3 weeks before the wedding.  Christa's prospects are to either move in with me until after the wedding and then find a job in the area or, if one of jobs she's applied for come through, move up at the same time as Trey or maybe even before.

She is up for the same job Trey landed at the San Fransisco Airport.  She flies out on Thursday for a "Meet and Greet" there.  She is also up for a promotion with Ikea in Paso Robles or Palo Alto.  I forget which, but close to Oakland.  They found a couple of places in Hayward they are looking at, but don't want to put down a deposit until they are sure where she is working.  They may actually opt for the SFO side of the bay.

Little Krysta thought she was moving back to Cali, but after just a week, has realized that her life is really now in Michigan and the opportunities for schooling are also much better there.  We will truly miss having her around, but are very proud of the difficult decision she is making to better her future.

I have been diagnosed with Diabetes since September of last year.  I have been monitoring my diet and losing about 3 pounds a month.  I am down 3 dress sizes. I started a program at work called Calories In, Calories Out.  I feel better and have more stamina, but seem to be losing the weight about the same.  I'm not going to stop though!  It's really helped me correct some major mistakes I have in the way I move.  So I am able to move for longer periods of time.  It makes me wonder if I had gotten help earlier if I would have led a more active life.

The kittens are finally out of my closet!  I made the mom take them into the living room. She's moved them 3 times since then, but still in the living room.  They are acting like kittens now instead of the "veal" they were in my closet.  Very cute. But they will probably be the things that change the fastest.  Growing, playing, eating then moving away in early August.  My sister is taking the Mother Cat and at least one of the kittens.  People are fighting over the girls and one of the boys is sort-of taken.  The white one is promised to a guy at Christa's work, but he can't make up his mind if he really is ready for that responsibility.

I'm getting a new student in September.  Her name is Monica.  She'll be with us from September 26ish to December 15thish.  I've corresponded with her via e-mail and FaceBook.  She seems very nice.  She will be doing her Clinical at our clinic.  She may be bringing a cat with her as well.

My mom really likes her place.  The people there really treat her well and she is very happy.  But I see her slipping away.  She still has more good days than bad, but even on the good days so many memories are just plain gone.  I do foresee many changes with her in the next few months and years.  Most of them NOT good.

Randy is doing so much better with his kidney pain and that is truly a blessing.  But now that he's stopped taking his pain meds for that, he's really noticed how painful his rheumatoid has gotten.  The unusual humidity this summer is not helping either.  His joints are swollen.

I'm hoping that with my blood clots and his restricts we will still be able to go out and do things now that we will have a little more time for that.  I hope that we will be able to enjoy our empty-nest and fill it with outings, dates, vacations etc.

We had a great time with our friend, Joel last weekend.  We love Joel!  He makes us get out and do the things we want to do but never make time for. 

We went to the Skirball Center for their Houdini Exhibit and looked over the whole place.  The guys really enjoyed the Noah's Ark exhibit.  It's made for kids and is interactive.  But the guys thought it was the best part of the museum.  The animals were made out of unusual items like the purse-bird crane, the house-key Yak, the ceiling vent zebra, the pasta sheep - you get the idea.

We were done by 2:00 and were hungry so we drove off down Sepulveda in search of a restaurant and realized we were right next to the Getty.  We decided to eat at the sit-down restaurant there.  It was very nice.  Beautiful views and great food.

They had a wonderful photo exhibit on Cuba.  We also looked around a bunch of the galleries.  We've all been there several times and enjoyed just poking around.  There was a big concert there and one of my co-worker's girlfriend was there for it and spotted me, but didn't say hi.  She apparently told my coworker who texted me "Are you at the Getty?"  Not stalkerish at all, LOL.  We didn't stay, it was already so crowded!  There was a back up for well over a mile to get in.

To round out our cultural experience, we went to the Paramount Swap Meet on Sunday.  Then we ate at a Brazilian place called Amazon Churrascaria.  It had nice ambiance and they bring out meat on swords to serve. We have one in Long Beach called Greenfield's which I like better.  But the meat was great except for the garlic steak which was only o.k.  Randy had the quail and they both tried the alligator.  Not my cup of tea.  Oh yeah, they also only had Pepsi products. YUCK!

We got Joel on the Amtrak right on time and I am enjoying my new purse purchased for $10.  Real leather.

Fourth of July

We had an amazing Fourth of July!  Great food, great company, great fireworks.

I've been having Diana, Corina's sister come and help me get my house in order for the last two weeks.  So, we cleaned and organized for two days before the Fourth.  And then I started prepping all the food.  Marinated about 10 pounds of tri-tip and 5 pounds of steak, and 10 pounds of chicken, 5 of lemon pepper and 5 of Italian.  We also had about 40 burgers. I made a fruit salad with watermelon, cantaloupe, grapes, raspberries and strawberries.  Rounded it out with salad, bread, tortillas, chips and dips.  Oh and for dessert cookies, cakes and Pru brought a pie from Polly's - Ban-Berry.  A huge hit.

We got my mom around 2 and she had the best time.  Christa and Trey were here for about an hour and a half; between Christa's jobs at Ikea and Jet Blue.  Grandma was very glad to see them.  We had a good time chatting about all the changes coming up. More about that later in the post.

Both April and her mom, Wanda, brought Gabriel Jr. over for my mom to see.  What a good baby he is!  April had him at the beach party Christa had for her birthday and everyone just loved passing him around and he was eating up all the attention.  Never got fussy or cried.  A truly good baby!

The kids came over from across the street and had fun with some building pads that Randy drug out. We also got out the canned whipped cream and squirted it into their mouths to see who could eat it without losing it or using their hands.  Harold had a little mishap with that, LOL!

The fireworks were truly awesome this year.  While I don't buy the "illegal in California" types, my neighbors have no such qualms and we got a 360 degree view of some really beautiful displays.  My mom enjoyed them very much and could talk of nothing else for the next several days.

It was great to see Little Krysta again.  She flew in from Michigan the day before.  She is moving back to Cali to be near family and friends again.  But her mom and little brother are still in Michigan.  Not to mention the college and work friends she made there.  It's hard to make these kind of decisions at 20.