Cupcakes and Career Hunting

I tried to post a test blog from my phone, but it sent it to the wrong blog section.  I haven't written anything in my Random Library Findings in a while, so I don't quite know why the writing went there.  Oh well. I deleted it and decided to write from the source, or my computer, as it were.  It's okay.  I like the ability to edit etc. from here anyway.

Raven has been on Winter Break for the last THREE weeks!  What school tortures their parents like this anyway!  When my friends in other states were saying that their kids were going back to school this past week I was very jealous.  Money has been tight to say the least, so we didn't really do much of anything over her break.  I can't wait until she goes back to school.  She is not looking forward to it.  What kid does, really, but she told me flat out "not to mention it".  Oh well. I mentioned it anyway.. lol

Raven and I have been spending a lot of time at Falcon's apartment for various reasons.  Firstly, because he was helping with her daycare while she was on break.  I couldn't afford the money to put her in the Boys and Girls Club over the break which rather broke my heart because I know she loves going there and participating in the various field trips and such.  She also has a lot of friends that attend the club.  She didn't get to spend as much time with her friends over the break as I would have liked, but scheduling conflicts and a mysterious deletion of one of her friend's parents' contacts made that impossible. 

The other reason is that something happened to my hot water heater.  It took my dad several days before the new one he replaced it with finally started working.  It was the strangest thing.  He thinks that there might have been something going on with the breaker.  And go figure, the day after it starts working again, the garbage disposal starts to leak.   I tell you, if it is not one thing, it's another!

I wish I would have thought of this earlier in the break, but I didn't.  I decided that each day or every other day as time allows, Raven is to pick something new that she wants to learn about or how to do and we will research and learn this new thing together.  Even if we don't "master" the subject in a day (who does that anyway!) at least it will get her exposed to something new everyday.  She is the one to pick the subject matter and together we will research and learn it. 

Yesterday she wanted to learn how to make marble cupcakes.  An interesting topic, so I found a recipe online.  I have never made marble cupcakes so this was a new experience for both of us.  Falcon bought the majority of the ingredients so we could embark on this endeavor.  He didn't mind as he got to eat the final product.  Raven and I also made chocolate butter frosting from scratch.  Sure, it might seem like something simple to do, but to a 9-year-old who hasn't done much, it was a really good experience for her.  I think she enjoyed herself.  She certainly had fun spinning the knife in the batter!

In other news, I have finally finished my resume and did a bit of job hunting.  I haven't applied yet as I am waiting for my career adviser to reassess my resume.  He's been helping me to get it ready for sending out.  I did find what seemed like a really good job.  The starting pay is really good and it is an entry level position.  It seemed like something that one gets into in order to advance within the company.  Perfect for someone like me! 

The only drawback that I can see is that this job would take me out of Reno.  I don't mind that so much.  I have moved fifty times in my life, but I finally have a relationship that I don't want to leave behind.  Falcon has been so good to Raven and I and I couldn't bear to not be with him.  We briefly talked about this when we first met.  About the possibility of me leaving.  I don't know how he feels about coming with me if I were to get a good job and have to move.  He's got friends here and a decent job.  I will have to talk with him further.  I really want him to come with me if that time ever comes. 

But, as I haven't applied for the job yet, I don't want to dwell on anything negative for now.  I will cross that bridge when the time comes, but it helps to be prepared.  I can't imagine myself going kayaking without paddles, so to speak.

I've been having a bit of difficulty with my vision as of late.  I believe that I just need to get my glasses updated properly, but the rate at which I get dizzy watching a television or movie screen has been overwhelming.  Falcon bought me Skyrim for Xmas and I can't

play it because I get too dizzy.  He says that it is a common occurrence, but what good is it to try to play when I just feel nauseous all the time?  But as I cannot get that taken care of until I get some extra money, and I won't get extra money until either I can work more hours at my current job or find the aforementioned better job, then I'll just have to wait.  I just hope that I don't get dizzy while I'm driving or something.

Time has flown by and I cannot believe that it has nearly been a year since Titan's passing.  I have been thinking about him a lot as of late.  Those thoughts have brought me to tears and I've had to excuse myself a few times.  I know Falcon knows the reason for the tears, but he is kind not to say anything.  Needless to say, 2014 had its horrible points, but also it brought some of the best things to my life that I have ever had.  I do hope that 2015 treats me better.  I will be writing something about Titan in the anniversary blog in a few days.  I should probably send an email to his parents to see how they are doing.  My plan was to go singing karaoke and sing Titan's favorite songs including the one that took me months before I could sing again.  I don't know if that will happen or not. 

I suppose that this is enough of a novella for now.  I plan on writing more frequently in 2015.  I have the time for now.  It really helps get things off my chest and out into the open.  I have no idea who reads this although I do know that there are a few who do.  If you are one who reads this please feel free to leave a comment.  Encouraging or otherwise.  It doesn't matter. 

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Missing Home, But Don't Want to Leave

I've been on vacation for the last few weeks in Baltimore, Maryland.  This is just a precursor to what I will be posting about my trip when I do get home.  I took the Amtrak train here, but I will be taking a plane and a Greyhound bus home.  I wanted to stay a few extra days and I didn't really want to spend three days on the bus again.. lol...

But as for the trip itself, I will be posting picture collages and another blog entry about the trip.  I am seriously considering moving here.  There is so much to do and the weather, crazy as it was, is completely beautiful.  I could get very comfortable here. 

More to come...

Stay tuned.

Have Yourself a Merry Christmas From Austin, Texas ~ Parts 4 & 5

Trip Journal Day 4

Today was fun.  We started out making Christmas goodies. Most everything had walnuts in them, which I really don’t like at all. It’s okay. I don’t have to eat them.  I’ve gained so much weight while being here that I really should refrain from doing any extra eating.  I really do plan on making that same New Year’s resolution to lose weight and eat healthy again. 

After the baking we went out to the garage and played ping pong and threw darts.  I must say that I still got it when it comes to throwing darts.  I won most of the games, but I will say that my brother throws a really mean game of darts.  He also plays ping pong like a pro.  I’d love to say that we were evenly matched, but his return could be really hard to hit.  It’s okay, it’s all in good fun.

Eventually, our mom joined us for games.  She’d never played darts before, but I will admit that she did rather well.   She picked up the game rather quickly although we couldn’t talk her into a game of Cricket.  We did play a few 01 games and she did manage to win one.  It was great and she said she had a lot of fun.  She moves great for a woman who just turned 60.

Afterward we went upstairs and I forced myself to play some Star Wars Angry Birds.  I’ll admit that it was more fun that I thought it would be, but I try really hard to stay away from popular conventions such as ridiculous video games.  I suppose I should rethink about some of that, but I always seem to choose a different path for myself.  Regarding the game, I did pretty well.

All in all a decent day.

Trip Journal Day 5

Oh yay, it’s Christmas.  If you’re sensing my absolute sarcasm, you’d be correct.  Christmas actually really doesn’t hold much of a special place in my adult life.  When I was young I loved it just like every other child who celebrates it.  As I got older, though, it was just something to do because social convention dictated that if you didn’t then your kids would grow up to be unhappy….or something.  Actually, there was one year when Erika and I decided to join a charity organization.  That is how we found Soldiers’ Angels.  We did that for a full year, but had to stop because it was getting to be too expensive to send packages and write letters every month.  It was amazing while it lasted, though. 

The day was spent playing darts and ping pong and listening to the others play video games. We didn’t open presents because our mom wanted to wait until my sister and nephew got here.  They should be arriving in about an hour. 

I ate more food yesterday that should be legally allowed.  I know I’ve gained about five to ten pounds at least this last six days.  I swear that I’m going to get back into a more healthy routine when I get home.  And I’m going to do it with or without Titan’s help or encouragement.  That’s a whole other story for a different time though.

Not our table, but close enough.

Christmas dinner was really good.  There was a ham, a turkey, several side dishes and many pies for dessert.  I managed to pass up most of the pie as I am not a fan of pumpkin.  Thankfully, someone had the foresight to purchase an apple pie.  There wasn’t one at Thanksgiving and I was kind of saddened by that.  Conversation was good during dinner.  I had previously printed up twenty random questions in order to get to know my stepsister or her family whom I had not met before this trip.  I think that because I was already so old when my mom and Gary got together that it really didn’t feel like I had gained any extra siblings at all.  I also have a stepbrother whom I haven’t met and really don’t plan to anytime soon.

Overall, yesterday was rather blah.

Have yourself a Merry Little Christmas ~ in Austin, Texas Part 1

Trip Journal Day 1

I hate to fly.  Flying makes me absolutely nauseous.  There are few pros  that outweigh the cons for flying.  The best thing about flying is that one gets to where they are going a lot quicker.  Big deal.  I would rather take two day to travel this beautiful country by car and see all that I could in the time I have.  Granted, the scenery between Reno, NV and Austin, TX is not the best, but I have taken many car trips where the scenery was definitely worth the drive.  

The only other pro about this trip was the fact that I didn’t have to pay for it.   That’s certainly a plus.  It probably would have cost around $500 in gas money to get from here to there.  Even though that is cheaper than flying, I couldn’t have come up with that kind of money.  Thank you, Mom.

I really don’t like to fly.  My stomach gets queasy and I feel dizzy long after the plane lands.  I never get that way when I’m driving.  Sometimes I do if I’m a passenger, but otherwise I fair really well in cars.  

This trip has been interesting so far.  My brother and I checked in more than a few hours early and the check in gate person said that the flight we were supposed to be on was delayed which meant that we would have missed our connecting flight to Austin.  They booked us on an earilier flight although we lost our really sweet boarding numbers for this first flight.  We were among the last to board so we both got stuck in middle seats.  The saving grace is that this flight is less than an hour long.  And, the ladies I’m sitting with are quiet and that’s good for an introvert like me.  I don’t like having conversations with people I don’t know.  They are probably wondering what I’m doing.  

It’s hot and stuffy in here.  I’d really like to roll down one of the windows right now.  The air from the above head area is okay, but it isn’t cooling me down any at all. 

I’ll be glad when we land in Vegas.  Since we are going to be there early, we have more time to spend doing whatever.  Perhaps we’ll win some money at a slot machine.  I ended up seventy-five cents ahead just before we left.  That’s not bad for an airport slot machine.

Are we there yet?       

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Phew!  We made it to Las Vegas.  When we got off the plane we checked the arrival/departure screens and found that our connecting plane was going to be delayed about 50 minutes.  Okay, no problem.  We went to find some food. I don’t think I’ve ever paid over $10 for a small combo meal from any place.  The airport is definitely not the place to eat lunch, but what did we know.  Even after that we found a few other places as we were walking toward the gate where we were to catch our fight…later than we hoped.  

Instead, we decided to take a walk out of the airport to see what we could see.  We were on the side of the airport that was lined with not taxis, but LIMOS and shuttles.  I’d never seen that before, and here I was joking with my brother about commandeering a limo for a ride.  One could actually pay for the driver to take them to the strip or to the airport.  If I ever visit Vegas for a trip, I would totally do that!  

My brother had the idea of going to the hotel that had the roller coaster, the New York New York.  We got some information from one of the shuttle services who told us that we should only get a one way ticket (knowing that we were only here for a few hour layover) and that we could catch a free shuttle from any of the hotels back to the airport.  We got to the New York New York at 2:30. I didn’t realize that it was already that late.  We arrived at the roller coaster area only to find that there was about a 20 minute wait, which probably would have been more like a half hour, and then the time for the ride itself.  I advised that it probably wouldn’t be a good idea to stay because we needed to go through airport security again once we got back to the airport.  My brother was disappointed, but also didn’t want to pay the $14 for the roller coaster ride. 

We went down to the airport shuttle area outside the hotel to wait for a shuttle.  One pulled up.  It was a different company than the one that dropped us off.  The driver was really nice, but informed us that there was only one hotel in Vegas that actually had a free shuttle.  We ended up paying full price for a trip back to the airport.  At first, it was disappointing.  The driver made it better.  Elmer was his name and he was awesome.  He told us a story of a time when he and his wife visited friends in Reno and he got totally plowed.  He was funny.

We arrived back to the airport at 3:01.  I remember clearly because my brother said that if we got back to the airport by 3:00, he’d be really upset.  It was a minute later, so I told him he wasn’t allowed to be that upset.  We walked into the terminal and when we looked at the arrival/departure screen, we were in for a shock.  The flight that by the time we had left the airport was over an hour delayed was scheduled to leave now at 3:20!  How cruddy was that?!  

We raced through airport security.  I made sure to take my laptop out of my bag this time so that we weren’t delayed going through.  I didn’t know about that and it took forever to get through security in Reno.  After we finished with that we hoofed it for what seemed like forever to make it to our gate in time.  We were at C24.  We needed to be at C9.  Ugh!  My brother is a really fast walker, but I’m out of shape and I could barely keep up with him.  We made it with only five minutes to spare.  Our bad ass boarding numbers went to waste AGAIN!!!  We were of the last to board the plane and ended up sitting in the middle seats again.  Ugh!  

It’s a good thing that we didn’t pay for round trip tickets from the airport to the hotel.  We would not have gotten to ride back with the same company and ended up having to pay more just to get back.  The Universe works in mysterious ways.

When we got off the plane in Vegas I had nearly thrown up.  My stomach was really nauseated, so we went and tried to find a place that sold Dramamine.  I couldn’t believe how much it cost!  I wasn’t about to fork over $11 for a small bottle just so that I wouldn’t feel the need to puke when we landed in Austin.  I ended up paying $8 for Bonine, which worked just as well.  Although my head was dizzy when we landed in Austin, I didn’t feel the need to puke. 

 While in flight to Austin I broke out my laptop and tried to watch some free Dish TV that they had available.  It was making me dizzy so I decided to turn it off and listen to music instead.  That really helped me focus on the fact that the ground was several thousand feet below us.  I sat in between two averaged aged gentlemen.  The one on my left was not much of a talker at all.  The one on my right spoke a bit, but mostly it was to complain about the guy behind us who didn’t shut up the entire trip.  We both complained to each other about that. I made a reference to duct tape or something and we both chuckled. 

We finally arrived in Austin just as I was changing my music set list to stuff I hadn’t listened to in a while.  I was very happy to be on the ground.  I borrowed Titan’s duffle bag because the stuff I was bringing for my mom didn’t fit in my Adidas bag. I didn’t recognize it as it was coming off the luggage wheel.  

My mom and Gary picked us up and we took the trip 50 minutes to their house.  It seemed like a long trip.  My right knee got cramped on the way, but then it has been acting up again due to the last time I worked.  I hurt it and had to wrap it the next day.  But the drive to their house was well worth it.  It is a beautiful brand new home that they waited a long time for.  It has several rooms including 4 bedrooms, a magnificent kitchen and formal dining room, living room, upstairs area they call the playroom.  It has a television that my brother is currently playing video games on.  It’s a really amazing house.   

I gave my mom her birthday gift after the house tour and before we ate dinner.  It is a butterfly stylus that I had engraved from Things Remembered.  She really loved it.  I showed her what it was used for.  She really liked it a lot.  I told her that I wasn’t going to let her celebrate her 60^th birthday without a gift from at least one of her children.  

So far the trip is really good.  The plan is to go to some race track tomorrow.  Big deal for me really, I’m not all that interested, but my brother really enjoys racing and he is looking forward to it.  I tried to see if there were any karaoke bars in the area, but since I don’t have my own car it doesn’t really make sense for me to even ponder that. 

 

We’ll see what tomorrow holds.  For now, it’s getting late and I’m rather tired.  Tomorrow is going to be an interesting day.  

To be continued....

Trip Postponed

After careful consideration, I have decided that I will not be making the trip to SoCal in April after all.  I just cannot afford it at this moment.  I have to register my car before the end of the month, which means I also have to have a smog check done on it, too.  That is a mere matter of $18.  (The people of Boise seem to think that is expensive.  I came from Reno where it is at least twice that amount,)  Registration is somewhere around $35 as I recall. BUT, it still has to be done and is enough to through my financial plans for the trip into chaos.

I will probably go this summer, perhaps toward the end before Raven starts school.  It will depend on if I get that job, though.  I haven't been called back yet, which is disappointing, but I am not going to discount it just yet.  I think it took the company I currently work with about a week to call me the first time.

Vile will be disappointed, I think, but that's just tough.  If he really wants to see Raven, he can jump a military flight up here and spend a few days with us.  Yeah.  I think he should do that.  He finally has his uniform, so he is out of excuses.

I work 12 hours today as it is Saturday.  The time change is coming tomorrow.  Goodie.  Bleh.  I don't like the time change.  I think that it is an outdated tradition that really doesn't save a whole lot of money like they say.  It messes with humans' metabolism, so to speak, and frankly I am tired of it.  I suppose that griping about it isn't going to do anything.  Writing my congressmen won't do any good either as I live in a farming state.  I think the farmers like Daylight Saving Time.

It is still too early to plant anything in my garden, but not too early to start seeds in my house.  I just don't have anywhere suitable to put them.  No shelves in any of my windows that get enough light.  I'll have to think about that for a moment.  I also have the minor issue of the big hole under my window in the garden.  Every time it rains, the Faeries get a new swimming pool.  I do have some topsoil that I plan on working into the garden and filling up the hole.  Hopefully it is enough to discontinue the flooding that occurs.

Ah, the garden.  What do I plan on having in it you ask?  A lot of different things, I hope.  I have a garden arch against my window.  In the middle of it I plan on having a butterfly bush that I will train to be a tree.  Up one side of the arch I plan on growing snap peas, and on the other side I will have cherry tomatoes that I will train to grow up the side.  Hush, it will work.  I also plan on having some stalks of corn, some beans, some cucumbers, a bit of squash, lettuce, green onions, some shasta daisies, marigolds, the bearded iris that is already sprouting, and other various herbs... mint, etc.  Raven thinks we have enough room for canteloupe.  We might.  The plot is only about 4 feet by 8 feet or so.  Maybe a little longer.  I've never measured it. We'll see what happens.  There are sure to be pictures soon.  If I don't get everything planted that I want this year, there is always next year, and who knows.  I might be in a house with an even bigger garden area.

Thank you for joining me for my ramblings today.  Please leave your comments, suggestions for further ramblings and whatnot.. I love comments!

Currently, Pandora is playing "Drops of Jupiter (Live) by Train

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The Journey

I've been hashing over how I want to post what will likely be a very long blog.  I suppose I'll go by day, that will make things easier.  I really didn't have access to a computer while I was away, and the one that my dad and stepmom have is even more archaic than the one I have at home, that died while I was away.

Tuesday: The Drive

Instead of leaving at noon like I thought I would, I left at 8 am.  If anyone has ever driven the 95 from Idaho to the Nevada state line, you know that Oregon needs to catch up with the rest of the country and for humanity's sake raise the speed limit to at least 65 mph.  55 mph made me feel like I was stuck in a time warp in more ways than one.  The drive itself is a pretty one if you like high desert beauty, but for me it was really boring especially with no music.  There are no radio stations anywhere between here and Reno, not even in Winnemucca that I could find.  But, I finally got to Reno without major difficulty, not even a flat tire.  Actually, knock on wood, I've never had a flat tire while traveling.

Tuesday: The Visit

I arrived in Reno around 3pm local time and let me tell you, I was excited to see the Biggest Little City again.  Actually, let me back track just a bit.  On the way to Reno, there is a small.... hamlet, for lack of a better word, called Lockwood.  I have a friend whom we'll call Turtle, that lives there.  I stopped by on the off chance that she was still living there, and there was no mistaking her decor on the outside of her home.  Faerie doors, gnomes, wind chimes.. oh yes, she still lived there.  She wasn't home, so I left her a note with my dad's phone number.  I knew I wouldn't get any cell service where he lived.

So, upon arriving to the "city", I went to visit some friends, Nick, Rachel and Jacob who is an ex-boyfriend, but still my best friend.  Rachel wasn't home, and unfortunately, I didn't get to see her my entire trip.  More about that later.  Nick and Jacob were doing really good as far as I could tell.  They were living in the same apartment complex and paying what I thought was way too much rent for what they had.  It really makes me glad that I live where I do because even with paying water, sewer and trash, I still pay over $100 less than they do.  I would like to have a full basement, but I can wait until I get a house for that.  It was really great to see Jacob again, he looked like he was really happy with his fiance whom I did not get to meet.  I was also relieved to see a lot of my stuff that was sentimental that survived the move like a glass bottle with ornate designs that was given to me by another really good friend from Sacramento, and the 3-piece pub set.  Not that I was the set back, but I will definitely get the bottle back eventually.  Why didn't I get it back while I was there you say?  Not sure.

Tuesday Night: Dad's house

My dad has been building a house out in Dry Valley for the last 7 years or so.  He's been building it by himself for the most part and taking his time in doing so.  He's almost finished and what he has done is really beautiful.  It is a two car garage, 2-bedroom, 2.25 bathroom home with an office for my stepmom and the most awesome Master bathroom (when it gets finished) that I've ever seen.  He lives on ten acres out in the middle of nowhere outside Reno.  They get no cell service, but they do have wild cottontail bunnies that come for carrots twice a day.  We got to throw them some on Wednesday morning.

My dad and I don't have the best relationship.  He constantly thinks I need saving or something.  I made sure to clean up my car before I left, which got messy again because of everything I packed and the garbage from munchies on the way, but for the most part it looked presentable.  He always wants to make sure that I have good brakes and things like that, which is fine, but when I tell him that I am going to replace the two other tires that I didn't replace when I did the first two because I didn't have the money, he said that he would pay to have them replaced.  But I think I'm getting ahead of myself.

Wednesday:  The Other Friends

I had this whole day before the actual funeral, which I'll get to later. On this day I decided to go back and visit Jacob as we had made lunch arrangements the previous day, but when I got there, he didn't answer his door.  I heard the tv on, but after five minutes of ringing the door bell and knocking, I decided that he wasn't home after all.  Instead, I walked around down town for a while.

I had every intention of going by the Brickhouse Bakery because they have the best treats in the state, but to my dismay, they had been replaced with some hoity toity wine bar.  As I was walking around downtown I noticed that a lot of the places I used to visit had either been closed down or replaced with something else.  It was actually very depressing, and it was already a depressing trip.

After sending off the stuff for my soldiers, including several Reno post cards, I decided to visit some other friends that I've known since the days of Dark Garden.  I knew they still lived in the same house because of all the gargoyles on the porch.  It was a welcome sight.  I knocked on the door and Adam answered and the look on his face was priceless.  He immediately got off his cell phone and we talked for quite a few hours.  We played Rock Band, which was my first time, now I MUST go out and get a system for myself.  Darn him!  Raven was out at my dad's house this whole time, so I could get some alone time for myself.  I had an awesome day.  I left their place around 5:30 pm so that I could be out to the house for dinner.  It takes an hour to get there from town.  My brother was driving out for dinner that night so I didn't want to miss it.

Meatloaf isn't my favorite dish in the world, but my stepmom makes it pretty good, I'll admit.  It was really great to see my brother, too.  We had made plans to spend some time together on Saturday night as well, so that story will be coming up later.

Thursday: The Funeral

Family here, family there, family everywhere.  Most of which I could have done without seeing.  Some of my family members have what I lovingly refer to as dissociative disorder.  A few of them shed no tears whatsoever during the service, but then what would one expect from a doctor.   My dad, on the other hand cried more than he ever had in his life, to my knowledge.  He now only has one sister left.  His parents are now gone as well as an older sister.  The sister who is left and he get along as well as any siblings, I suppose.

I got there really early, even after having stopped by the store to pick up three red roses.  My cousin, Chris, was there is full military get up.  My cousin, by marriage, Dean also dressed in his military finest.  Chris had a surprise for all the blood cousins, though.  When we were younger, my grandmother would offer us things to drink, lemonade usually, or water, and we always used these metal cups, probably because they couldn't break, and plastic really hasn't been invented yet...lol... anyway, Chris showed up with these metal cups and we all got to take one home with us.  We ALL remembered those metal cups. Chris had the pink one engraved with all the cousins' names and it was really beautiful.  It went in the coffin with Grandma.  It was really touching and made me cry on the inside.

I never realized how many people knew and loved my grandmother.  She was a member of the Rainbow Sisters, or something to that effect and a Daughter of the Nile.  Both of those groups came forward to do a funeral rite during the service.  The pastor, or father, or minister, or whatever he was, did the eulogy, and it was really beautiful.  The inside lid of her coffin even had the Navy seal.  She was proud of the word she did in the Navy.

The microphone was passed around at one point for anyone who wanted to say something.  I didn't say anything because I really didn't have anything to say, but Chris did, and he told the same story he did at our grandfather's funeral which was good the first time around, but I couldn't believe he would recycle that same story.  No matter, at least someone said something.

The family went to the grave site, which wasn't where she was actually going to be buried, probably because there was a tree in the way, so no chairs could be set up there.  My grandmother was to be buried between her husband and her mother, both sites of which were covered by a green tarp awaiting the burial of Grandma.  The roses I purchased were for all three of them. Once for each.  I ended up putting two on Grandma's coffin, and Raven put on on there as well because I thought I wouldn't be able to get to Grandpa's or Gram's headstones.  I did, though, so I put a rose on each and left one on Grandma's coffin to be buried with her.  I was the only one in our family to bring flowers for the other ancestors.  Sad, really....

I cried.... a lot.

Friday: Fixing the Car

Ok, so as I mentioned earlier, my dad is always making sure that I have something safe to drive.  His goal was to make sure that my brakes had enough pad on them and that my fluids were topped off and the oil changed.  Upon checking the oil, he noticed that it looked pretty good.  I wouldn't tell him, but it's because I checked it before I left and noticed that it was two quarts low.  *gasp*  My car doesn't really burn oil that much, but I hadn't checked it in months.  Shame on me.

He also noticed that my tires in the back looked like they could use a change.  The fronts ones are brand new by three months, because I was getting ready to take a trip to Southern California, and wanted to make sure that I had good tires for the trip.  I hadn't the money to change the other tires just yet.  Dad helped me get two new tires.  Now, I'm set for my trip.  He also changed out all my brakes, which didn't really need it, but I don't think I could have gotten back down in six months when they did, so, he decided to do it while I was there.  Now, with a little luck, I'll be able to go another two years without needing to change them out.  Oh, and my steering wheel doesn't shudder anymore.  *happy dance*

Needless to say, I didn't get to visit anyone in town.  I had made plans to see Rachel and Jacob because of the plans that fell through on Wednesday.  Now, I just hung out at the house and watched tv, played Spider Solitaire and hooped for a bit.  It was really nice outside, and hooping in the fresh air, and I do mean FRESH air, was really relaxing.  Fresh air you say.. what's that?  Well, there is no visible smog in the area, not like town.  Every home is on at least ten acres and some plots haven't been purchased yet, and well the traffic out there is sparse at best. So, no smog and fresh air.

Saturday:  The Comedy Club

I was going into town on Saturday to spend time with Adam and Candice because I wasn't going to let another plan go broken.  I had arranged for my dad and stepmom to watch Raven that night because my brother and I were going to spend some time together.  But first, the visit with Adam and Candy.  When I got there, they were getting ready to do some gaming, which I already knew before I got there, with another friend of theirs and a newcomer who hadn't shown up yet.  The afternoon was really good.  Raven played with Khail, their son, and life was good.  I even managed to talk them into watching Raven for me so that I wouldn't have to drive an hour out to my dad's house then an hour back into town just to go visit my brother.  I traded that favor by providing pizza for everyone.  It was a fair trade, in my opinion.

While we were waiting for pizza, we played more Rock Band, and they broadcast it live on one of their webcam channels.  I think we got a whole 7 viewers.  LOL... one of the viewers said that we'd get more people watching if I took my shirt off, but hey, it's a family show.  Perhaps next time. lol...  Then the time came to leave Raven there and go see my brother.

My brother, whom I'll just call Joe,  had purchased tickets to Catch a Rising Star, the comedy club inside the Silver Legacy.  I had been there a few times before although I couldn't begin to tell you who we saw.  It was a while back.  The comedians were funny.  I forget who the opening act was, but the headliner was Cory Rodrigues.  Very funny guy.  If you get the chance to see him, definitely do.

Afterward, we played some black jack and some slots.  Before the show, my brother won $70 on a quarter machine.  More than enough to pay for the tickets.  I was glad of that.  I lost a few bucks on a penny machine.  During our black jack stint, I came close to losing the whole $20 that I was brave enough to gamble. (Not all at once because I'm not THAT brave)  In the end, I doubled my $20 and I knew enough to get out of dodge.  The dealer had the personality of a wet mop, but I left her a few bucks anyway.

On the way back to the parking garage, we ran into an old acquaintance, Doc Cheatum.  That is his stage name.  I actually have no clue what his real name is.  He's an up close magician working mostly with cards inside the Silver Legacy.  He's been there since the day it opened almost 16 years ago.  He had some of the same tricks and several new tricks that worked wonderfully.  He has an awesome personality.  He was almost done with his set and afterwards we talked for a good while.  He asked me how I was doing, you know the normal stuff.

He also gave me some really great advice.  I won't go into the details here, but in the end it made me cry and realize that I wasn't doing the things I needed to do to get my life where I wanted to be.  I know what I want to do with my life, but I have those fears, the same as anyone else.  I am just going to do it, though.  Yes, I will!

Crashed at Adam and Candy's house that night because I didn't feel like driving all the way out to the house.  It wasn't THAT late, but late enough that I didn't feel like driving.  I didn't sleep very well that night, but then, I didn't sleep very well at all while I was in Reno.  I thought perhaps it was the time change, but as it turned out, I just didn't sleep well.

Sunday: The Drive Home

I woke up really early that morning.  I didn't sleep very well at all.  I woke up Raven and left a note for Adam and Candy as they were up late and I knew they wouldn't be up for several hours.  We went to breakfast at Denny's and when we were done it had started to snow.  I thought that I would need to leave lest I get stuck in Reno and miss work on Tuesday.  I drove out to my dad's house and on the way it started snowing harder.  I could tell that it had already been snowing for a while because the snow had been sticking to the non-paved ground for a while.  Out towards my dad's house, it wasn't that bad, and had all but stopped.  I felt a little better, but still wanted to get on the road in case it started again.

I ended up having to cancel my plans with Turtle although I wasn't able to call her.  I felt bad about having to stand her up, but as it turned out, her daughter had a fever and wasn't going to be able to keep the plans anyway.  She left me that message on facebook.

I did manage to see Carmen on the way home, though.  She met me in Fernley, which is on the way home, and we had lunch.  We talked about everything it seemed.  It was so great to see her again.  I didn't want to leave, but I knew that it would be midnight before I got home and that was IF the weather held out long enough to me to actually get home in one night.

It turned out that the drive home was even more boring that the drive there.  I did get the pleasure of setting my cruise control to 55 mph, again, and watch as people zoomed by me.  I thought to myself that they are going to get to where they are going a whole 15 minutes before me, but then I wasn't going to give the Oregon highway patrol a reason to pull me over.  Like they did the red van who passed me sometime around 7 pm.  Yeah, that was satisfying.  It made me realize that my 55 mph wasn't in vain.

Before I left, I stopped by my brother's house to get some stuff that I had left behind.  I was under the impression that I only had about four boxes left and the rest went to storage.  As it turned out I had twice that many boxes left as well as my hope chest.  I was really excited to see some of the stuff that remained.  Old softball team pictures from when I was a kid, blankets that my mother had made, books, and my punch fountain.  I am really excited about that!  Also, all the blogs that I had written on myspace and printed out (about 600 blogs at the time) were in one of the boxes.  I am so happy about that.  Now I just need a hole punch and a binder.  I am happy about that.  I shall have to go back and read some of the entries at some point.  There are other things that were saved that are still in Reno because of course I didn't have the room to get everything.  I will stop by and get the stuff on my way back from my California trip in April.  I'll make sure to leave more room next time.

The trip was a great success.  I haven't had a visit with my dad as good as that in a very long time.  There were times when he made me feel like I wasn't good enough, but then, he does that every time.  This time I didn't let it get that bad and even stood up for myself a few times.  He always seems to have a reason why I shouldn't do something.. like the trip to Southern California... it will just put more wear on the tires than need be.  Yeah?  Well I love to travel.  I'm not going to let that stop me.  I was going to get the other pair of tires replace anyway.

The one thing I found that we had in common was gardening, but he told me that I shouldn't grow veggies because it would be cheaper to buy them in the market than pay for the water, etc. to grown them myself.  I am going to do it anyway, because I pay for water as it is, and it's not that expensive here.  And, I will be able to have my own organic veggies and some beautiful flowers as well.  In fact, I went yesterday and picked up a bunch of seeds, but decided to put them back because even though they were 30% off, it was a little much for me to spend right at this moment.  At any rate, I am tired of him usually coming up with a reason why I shouldn't do something instead of being positive and encouraging.  He did have a lot of tips for gardening for me, though, which was good.  I'm not growing all flowers, though.  I'll be mixing veggies and flowers and make the plot really good looking.  It's not that big, but I figure I'll be able to do a lot with what I do have.

Ok, I think that's it for my blog about my trip.  Over all it was a really awesome trip.  I look forward to posting pictures just as soon as my computer either gets fixed or replaced.  Fixed would be better.  Now comes the daunting task of cleaning my apartment.  I haven't seen it this atrocious since I first moved in.  I have been telling myself that I will clean Raven's room for a long time now, and haven't.  Now the rest of the place looks the same.  Heaven help me please.....

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