Hap....py New Year!!

Hi Y'all!!
Well, it's New Year's Eve and I don't know about you, (except Lu) but I am excited for a new, promising, prosperous year. I feel like this is a life-changing year coming up and I am soooo looking forward to it. To get things rolling, I just submitted some info about my poetry book to an agency. They will let me know in a couple days if they are interested in carrying it. I am reading the Secret, which is changing my way of thinking, and I watched the Documentary twice last night to help charge me up. I am going to try to get a tutoring business up and running unless of course I will be too busy promoting my book. I want to write another one. I have some of the material already and I want to use photography to illustrate it this time. It's already in my head and I know what I want to do. But, I feel like I shouldn't start it until I get the first poetry book out there.
I am getting my soul filled up because I have started painting again. I am making paintings for the kids as a Christmas gift. It is very time-consuming as it is painting on glass and requires a day drying time between steps. I did two for practice and let them tell me which style they liked. They are paintings of the Beech Street house. I have one done and it turned out great. Not telling whose it is cuz some of them do read these posts. Neenerneenerneener.
And thank you Jessi, for the canvasses. I am planning an abstract, colorful montage to hang in the living room using the three from you and two others and mirrors.
2009 is going to be great! Ask. Beleive. Receive. That's all there is to know. (Now you don't have to buy "The Secret" to find that out. ) Send your positive thoughts out to the Universe everyday and everything you want will come to you.
Looks like the New Year's Eve party is going to be small here. Lu and I just might get a little tipsy since the two of us have some serious Asti drinking to do. It will be fun. If any of you can make it, pop on in. Either way, have a great night and I hope 2009 is a fantastic life-changing year for you. Obama's in the White House, (or will be soon) we've got hope again, at last. Yeehah!
Love you all!!! Just me-Kiash.

2009 IS HERE!!!! (ALMOST)

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ONE AND ALL!!
BEST WISHES OF INNER PEACE AND JOY AND HAPPINESS TO ALL OF US. ONCE AGAIN IT ONLY TAKES A MOMENT TO REALIZE THE YEAR HAD ITS UPS AND DOWNS, BUT ALL IN ALL, I'D HAVE TO SAY, FOR ME, IT WAS MOSTLY GOOD. MAY 2009 TREAT US ALL WELL AND KEEP US ALL SAFE.

TAMMY, WHAT TIME DO YOU START WORK ON THURSDAY? ALSO, DO YOU ALWAYS GET THE CHOICE OF PICKING UP A SHIFT. DO YOU ASK THEM TO LET YOU KNOW OR DO THEY SEEK YOU OUT (OR BOTH)?

WE WERE WARNED A MONTH AGO WORK WAS GOING TO BE SLIM IN FEB. WELL, IT HIT A LITTLE EARLY. THE PART TIMERS ON NIGHT SHIFT JUST GOT LAID OFF, EFFECTIVE MON. THEY ARE MOSTLY H.S.ERS AND COLLEGE KIDS BUT IT WAS UNEXPECTED. WE WERE ALSO TOLD TO GO AHEAD AND TAKE SOME TIME OFF IF WE WANT-W/ OR W/O PAY. WE COULD ALSO VOLINTARILY TAKE A TEMP. LAY OFF AND QUALIFY FOR UNEMPLOYMENT. YIKES. SO FAR I PLAN TO DO NONE OF THE ABOVE. I'LL WORK TIL THERE IS NO WORK. HOPEFULLY IT WON'T GET THAT BAD BUT AT THIS POINT I DON'T THINK I SHOULD GET TOO SNIPPY. WITH THAT SAID I START THE NEW YEAR WITH HOPE AND OPTIMISM TO SPARE. WE'LL SEE WHAT TUNE I'M SINGING IN A FEW WEEKS.

HAVE A SAFE AND HAPPY WEEKEND EVERYONE. TALK TO Y'ALL SOON.
LOVE YOU ALL VERY MUCH!!! MY WORLD WOULD NOT BE THE SAME W/O EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOU IN IT!!!

COLD COLD COLD

Shayla, BRRRRR!!! I just seen the weather you have had out there. Ish! It's not nice here either right now, but we don't have 90 mph winds brewing. Stay warm! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

busy busy busy

Wow, I haven't been on here for awhile but I see that is the case for alot of us. I am just about done shopping. I have a few things left to buy but not much. I have Christmas Eve off so I hope to see many of you at Mom's/Gramma's. I work New Years Eve and Day so I won't be at the bash at Kathy's. Have one for me. I just took my first test in coding and got 86. Not bad. Nine more tests and I'm done. Two of which are those stupid research assignments. I hope this gets a chuckle or two from all of you cause I was sure doing so as I shared that piece of information with ya. Jessi came over the other day and tried to figure it out and she couldn't find anything either so I don't feel so bad. We/she emailed my instructor and she sent back a list to follow to get the needed information. I would have never found it. I haven't tried it yet but I will (sooner or later). I wanted to keep going in the coding part. I don't see me finishing by the end of the year, as planned as my second set goal that I set after I didn't make my first goal, which was to be done by Breezy. But I have now set a third goal, and that would be just finish it whenever I can get it done. Shouldn't be much longer. I still have 7 days of vacation to burn up at the nursing home anyway so really there's no hurry. I think I have pretty much decided to get out of there cause I have done a little checking and I believe I could start at $14/$15 bucks an hour and I am pretty sure I won't get that there. I hate the thought of starting over though. We'll see I guess. I haven't ordered pictures yet. That probably won't happen until Jan or Feb. I spose I should go to bed as it is after 3 already. Good-Night. See some of you in a week. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to those of you who I will not see. Wow, another year shot in the ass. Yap at ya all later.

Hey Tammy

I looked through Logan's pictures. I liked the ones with the nature scenery the best. But that might just be because I'm not into all the tractor and cattle rustling stuff. But he did have some really good ones. I imagine that Gramma and Lu will have a pretty hard time picking one. The guards huh. That's intense. It'll be nice to have all that help with school and everything. And congrats to Cody. 2nd in the state is not so bad.

I'm glad to hear that you are on the home stretch for coding. I spose there's still a little to go, but you'll get there before you know it. This time of year always flies by anyway. And it's really excited that you'll be able to change careers once that's over. Good luck.

Shayla

2nd in state

Thanks to all who made it to the game. It was great to have you all there. Now wrestling starts. He has a meet on Sat 12/6 in Foley for anyone who wants to go. He says he's not in shape and probably won't do well but Jessi and I are going anyway. Jess is gonna come over and make me do my two papers that I keep putting off. Ugh! I am now in my coding so I am just about done. Probably not by the end of the year but oh well, that was just a goal(or extention of my first goal). I just started at the end of April, so I guess that's not too bad. Between work and living, I haven't been working on it as much as I should (or could) be. They give ya 15 months to finish so I should be fine. I am still debating whether or not to continue on with transcription. I'm thinking I should do that also and then go look for a job. We'll see. Anyway, the reason I really came on here was to let you all know that Logan had his pictures taken and they can be viewed at bjp.photoreflect.com . It will say may not be a site. But go there anyway. There are two parts/dates. The smaller group are the better pictures. If you select all and click the middle play button, it will give you a slide show. Most of you probably know that already, but in case there's any computer dummies like me, there's a tip for ya. Lu and Mom, look through them and let me know what you want your 5x7 to be. And Dave's of course). Everyone else can just look. He had some taken at the fair. There's nothing there that I really care for but that's just me. The other ones are pretty good. Jess, let me know if you and Kris want 8x10's or 5x7's. I haven't talked to Logan but I'm guessing I just order what we want. So, everybody take a peek. For some reason, I like the one's with the sunglasses, looking off into the distance (future maybe), I don't know, but I keep going back to that one. Not for the wall, I am just drawn to that one. He has decided to join the guards. He will be doing basic this summer. He is looking to get some schooling out of the deal. Diesel Machanic and something with farming. Imagine that. Anyway, I should get back to coding for awhile before I have to go to work. Yap at ya all later.

The Secret

Hey everyone~

Sorry I haven't written for a long time, I was waiting for something to happen that was worth writing home about. But the last couple of weeks have been pretty uneventful for me. Just beating the pavement mon-fri hoping some idiot somewhere in Seattle was dumb enough to quit their serving job. The economy has caught up with me, and I thought I was safe since I didn't have a "real job." But every place I've been has been able to tell me that the restaurant industry is feeling the strain in a very large way. So I was getting pretty discouraged. I've spent the majority of my life working 2 jobs, plus school, plus a show, and a full-time boyfriend. That's how I roll. And in Montana, I may have only had one job, but I would be out hiking or swimming or floating down the river for a full time shift everyday. So being here in Seattle, where I don't know a lot of people and have absolutely no time commitments has been really hard on me.

I kinda hit rock-bottom last weekend. I was starting to wonder if I should consider going back to 371 Diner in Brainerd for a while. My money is draining out of my bank account like a jar with no bottom. Even though I'm trying to be careful. I just can't go so long being unemployed. So I was talking to my very wonderful roommate, Ada, about this and she saw that I was actually getting depressed about it. I struggle with dealing with things I can't control. And she gave me her copy of the movie "the secret." Now I'm a firm believer in energy, it's like my religion, so I've always respected "the secret" from what others have told me about it. But I had never read the book or watched the film, and thought now would be a good time. So I found out how to actually apply it to my life.

And. mind you, I've been sitting helplessly by my phone for 15 days just waiting for a Seattle number to call me. I've personally passed out over 40 resumes, had a handful of interviews, responded to a dozen craigslist ads, followed up on about 10 places to make sure to meet the manager, and nothing has come of it. Even in times when I was sure I'd get the job, still nothing. And then yesterday, I tried using the secret. Believing that the things I needed would just happen for me and I got 4 phone calls from seattle numbers. Went to two interviews, got two job offers, and recieved 3 responses from theaters with audition appointments for next week. And today I got another job offer plus another audition appointment. So now I have a serving job, a bartending job, an on-call catering job, I'm dog/cat-sitting for a nice lady with a beautiful house this week (which will be perfect for me to practice monolgues and songs for my auditions), and I have 5 auditions next week.

So I find it hard to argue that the secret doesn't work. Those of you who haven't given it a shot yet, I recommend it.

Other than the huge job hunt, Seattle has been very good to me. I've met a lot of great people. My roommates are starting to feel almost as good as family. I've seen some great theater. I can't get enough of the amazing coffee shops. And on days when the sun is shining, which has unseasonably been almost everyday, I get giddy like a school girl looking around Seattle and it's beautiful ocean bays and mountain ranges. When Obama won the election, Seattlites took over the streets singing and dancing, laughing and crying, and then CLEANED UP AFTER THEMSELVES! Like picked up the garbage and swept the sidewalks. How cool is that!?

Anyway, sorry to always write such long blogs. If anyone sees Jeannie soon, ask her if she would be willing to send me her copies of the Twilight series. I really want to read it, but I can't get copies of it at the public library till like 2010. That is if she owns the series.

And my congrats to Cody. I think I share the same excitement and surprise that it's happening to Royalton high!!

I hope everyone is doing well. I'm sure now that I'll be able to come home for Christmas.

Mom, I was wondering if you might have any suggestions or be able to research an orthodontist for me to get my wisdom teeth taken out. I have until Feb 21st for my insurance to expire and really want to get it done.

Lu, I'll call you soon. I'm sorry I haven't lately, but I haven't really been in the mood to talk about Seattle until now.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone. My roommates are coming to the house I'm sitting on sunday and we're having a t-day potluck. It'll be great. I'm in charge of the tofurky, the pumpkin pie, and green bean casserole to add a little midwest flavor to the occasion.

Love you all.
Shayla

GO ROYALS!!!!

CONGRATS CODY!! GOOD JOB! MAYBE I'LL BE DOWN TO WATCH YOUR NEXT GAME. ANYONE ELSE WANT TO GO LET ME KNOW AND MAYBE WE CAN CAR POOL.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TAMMY!!!
YOUR SCHEDULE ISN'T DIFFICULT TO REMEMBER IT'S JUST DIFFERENT FROM MINE. IT'S SURE A GOOD THING THAT IT REALLY IS THE THOUGHT THAT COUNTS CUZ I "THOUGHT" YOU A VERY NICE DAY!!:) I'LL BUY YOU AN EXTRA MEGA AND BONANZA TOM. NITE. SEE YOU THERE.

I MUST STILL BE CATCHING UP FROM THE HOURS THE LAST TWO WEEKS; IT'S ONLY 9 AND I'M READY FOR BED! I HAD 51 (WED-FRI W/6 ON SAT) AFTER TAKING MON AND TUES OFF AFTER BREEZY AND I HIT 70 LAST WEEK. YOU HAD A COUPLE WEEKS LIKE THAT NOT TOO LONG AGO,TAMMY, DID YOU STAY TIRED FOR AWHILE? ANYWAY SEE YA AT BINGO

HI EVERYONE. HEY JEN, WHAT'S UP? HOW'S IT GOING AT YOUR NEW PLACE? ARE WE GOING TO DAD'S FOR THANKSGIVING DINNER? SKIP WILL BE AT MOMS FOR DINNER SO I'LL COME BACK HERE AFTER WE DO OUR GET TOGETHER. ANYONE WHO'D LIKE TO VISIT C'MON OVER, HE'D SURE LIKE TO SEE YOU.

HAVE A GREAT WEEK EVERYBODY!!! CATCH Y'ALL LATER. LUKE

Far out, Cody!! Royalton at state. Yeehah!

champs???

cody won his game yesterday so now they play for the championship on friday nov 28 at 1:00 at the dome. i dont know who they play, whoever won the game after his. wow!! for those who went to the last game. cody said they stayed for about an hour after the game and was hoping to come and visit us. kate thought they had to get on the bus right away so we left. don't feel bad kate. you didn't know. but now we know for next time. we'll hang around for awhile. gotta go to work. yap at ya all later.

state

sorry for the late post but cody made it to state. he plays at the dome on friday at 10:15. just so ya all know, he doesn't play much. i don't know much about football but he is in the kickoff line. so he only plays when we kick the ball to the other team. jessi and i are going and i believe connie plans on going. yap at ya all later.

Yea

Proud to be an American, yes I am

BREEZY

BREEZY DAY!
HOORAY!
...
Happy Halloween.
Yes, that too.
See you TONIGHT!
:) :) :)

four days off!!!!!

is everybody ready? hoo-hoo--i can't wait to get up there. i worked 4 days this week and got 37 hours in. not bad-only 3 hours short of a full week. good enough for me considering last week. i had 35 hour of ot and claimed 8 so they only took out 200 plus child support of course. but that check was more than i make all month with no ot. sweet!! lu, i have everything packed up and ready to throw in the car when i decide to get up. i plan on being at the casino about 1 or so, so i guess we can meet at plums for lunch or something. call me when you get close and i'll try to meet ya at the door. what's jen and connie got planned? they usually get up there early. do they plan on stopping at the casino? i don't know why i'm writing this cause chances are no one is gonna respond before i leave tomorro anyway. oh well. see ya all in a matter of hours. yap at ya all later.

GREETINGS TO ALL

HI EVERYONE!! WE'RE ALL GETTING EXCITED AND PREPPED FOR OUR FUNTASTIC WEEKEND. MOM IS MAKING HER SPECIALTY-NONE OTHER THAN BLACK MIDNIGHT CHOCOLATE CAKE (I'LL BRING THE BUTTER)

JEN WOULD BE A BETTEER ONE TO ASK, BUT I DON'T BELIEVE SUZ IS COMING.

JESS, YOU MAY DEF. HAVE A BUNK-(B.Y.O.B.) CUTE, HUH? AS FOR GOLF, I DON'T BUT ALWAYS WANTED TO SO I'D BE INTERESTED IF I COULD SHARE YOUR CLUBS AND GET YOUR WISDOMONIOUS POINTERS. I DON'T HAVE TO WEAR FUNNY PANTS DO I? I WANT TO PLAY W/SKIP NEXT TIME I GO DOWN TO SEE HIM.

I SPOKE W/ LISA TONITE AND LIKE TAM SAID SHE'S WORKING TIL POS. 8 SO IT'LL BE LATE. I, HOWEVER AM DEF. GOING TO THE CASINO. I MADE UP MY HOURS AHEAD OF TIME (WE'RE WORKING TIL 2:30) SO I GET TO LEAVE AT NOON!!!! YEAH. ALSO, I'M GOING TO STAY TIL MOM GETS THERE, (SOMEWHERE BETWEEN 2 & 3:30) TAMMY, CAN I MEET YOU SOMEWHERE AT 1:30?

JEN AND JESS PLEASE WEAR YOUR MATCHING WALKIN GEAR!!! GREAT PHOTO OP.

SIX MORE HOURS OF WORK AND I'LL HAVE 17 HOURS OF OT ON NEXT WEEKS' CHECK, WHOO HOO!!!! I'M VERY THANKFUL FOR THAT!!

THIS IS GETTING OUT OF HAND - SORRY, CATCH Y'ALL UP THERE.
PS--KATHY, JUST FOR YOU I'LL PRINT THIS IN ONE COLOR! SEE YA IN A MATTER OF HOURS!

Any golfers out there? I'll bring my clubs just in case. It is supposed to be sunny and 60 on Saturday... I'd like to do 9 holes if anyone else is interested.

I am working a whole day and won't be stopping at the casino on the way up. But I do plan on drinking some strong coffee on the way up, should be to Breezy around 7:30 and hopefully I can stay awake past my usual 10 pm. I am excited too!!

casino anyone?

kathy, thanks for the update on lisa. she must have monthend or whatever it is she has at this time of year. i still plan on going up for about an hour or so and heading up to breezy. i guess it doesn't matter if anyones there cause we all kinda go our seperate ways anyway. i worked 35 hours of ot in the last couple weeks that will be on this check on friday so i should have some money for ya whether you need it or not. i too am really excited to get there this year. it must be a sign of something. hopefully a good one. anyway, i will see ya all in three days. yap at ya all later.

Final Countdown to Breezy

I gotta get to bed soon, but I read the posts and wanted to respond to Tammy's. Lisa won't be up there til late. I don't think she will come to the condo until Saturday a.m. She may possibly pop in Friday night, but if she's tired she'll go to her hotel and sleep and catch us in the morning. So...she won't be at the casino in the afternoon as she has been in the past.
We are on our final countdown. I can't believe how much I look forward to getting up there this year. I can hardly wait. Yeehah!! I don't know that I will be bearing any gifts this year, but I will be there nonetheless. See y'all soon!!! Love you all! Kiash

jess, as far as i know, there will be 14 of us. that's if all three of lu's girls come. which i'm guessing they will, at least for a day. so if you're thinking about gifts, shoot for 13, unless you want one. i have a mattress too. someone let me know if you think we'll need it or else i won't bring it.
wow! three more days and we are there!!! i'll check back to see if anyone thinks we need the mattress. i'm guessing not. lu's bringing a few and she has that room reserved, so we should probably be good to go. see ya all in a couple days. jess, we are planning on stopping at mille lacs on the way up(glen laughed when i said that cause it's really not on the way up for most of us).me and lisa usually get up there about noon or 1:00.(lisa, are you planning on that again this year? it's not planned but we usually meet up there about that time. it don't matter i guess, just wondering), gamble for a few hours and head up. are you working a whole day? let me know what your plan is. i am really looking forward to it this year for some reason. yap at ya all later.

Hi

Hello everyone! Not much is new with me, just wondering if anyone knows exactly how many people will be there this year If I do think of something to get for gifts, how many should I bring? Does everyone paint their nails? Lu- I would like to reserve a spot on one of your air mattresses please. Jenny- I'll wear my 3day shirt on Friday, and if you do too, we could match.... :) I just lost out on our sunday night holdem' tournament, saving all my luck for this weekend! See ya all Friday!

HI AGAIN

HEY JEN, I FORGOT TO MENTION THAT GRANDMA HAS SOME PITT HAM LEFT OVER FROM ED'S PARTY AND SHE'S BEEN SAVING IT FOR BREEZY. JUST THOUGHT YOU'D LIKE TO KNOW.

ALSO, I RESERVED THE MOTEL FOR FRI AND SAT NITES. IT'S CONNECTED TO THE COMMADOR (OR IS THAT COMMANDER) AND IS ONLY $60 PER NITE. THERE ARE 2 DOUBLE BEDS, SO IT SHOULD SLEEP 4 COMFORTABLY, IF YOU DON'T MIND BUNKIN'
WE CAN DECIDE NOW OR WHEN WE GET UP THERE WHO SLEEPS WHERE. TALK IT OVER AND SPEAK UP. I HAVE A SINGLE AND 2 QUEEN AIR MATRESSES FOR ANYONE WHO'D LIKE TO USE ONE AT THE CONDO. (I GET THE TWIN OR WILL SHARE A QUEEN), THE OTHER 4 SPOTS ARE UP FOR GRABS.

SEE Y'ALL NEXT FRIDAY!!!

OOPS

i used black ink and i guess that can't be so here's what didn't show up. i didn't mean to cause such confusion. i just meant that in the early years, everybody used to bring their own groceries and alot of it wasn't even opened and ended up going back home, therefore money was spent that could have been used elsewhere. bring whatever you want, when it's time to go home, take it with ya that's all. i was just trying to help those that are financially tapped and looking for ways to come up with enough money. but i do believe it makes sense to make a list and send someone shopping. bring your own beverages and the rest will be bought there and divided among us all.

clarification (hopefully)

i did not mean to cause such confusion. i simply meant that it makes sense to get together, make a list, and someone go shopping. me and kathy never seem to find bonding time anymore, so i figured i would volunteer our services. we don't have to go. it doesn't really matter. i didn't mean to imply that no one is allowed to bring something from home. i was just saying that we all used to bring up our own stuff and by the end of the weekend we had alot left that wasn't even opened. so therefore, money was spent on groceries that weren't needed. that's all. bring whatever ya want, if it's still there when it's time to go home, take it home with ya.
DON'T WORRY--BE HAPPY -- BREEZY IS IN NINE MORE DAYS--NO STRESS ALOWED!!!

can we swear here?

I saw a couple darns and thought they might deserve to be damns. just wondering what the rules are. :)

mom - I don't think anyone was thinking you are always doing it and taking the fun away from others...I think Connie and I have done it the past couple years. I don't think it matters who gets the groceries if we decide to do groceries as a group like normal. So is that the plan? I was a little confusesd but it looked like that's what we are going to stick to.

I talked to Jeannie today and she is going to bring this spinach and artichoke dip that she likes to make, she's making plenty for everyone so we can count that as one good snack/app...also when she moved back to MN she found this potato recipe, au gratin like, we like to call it the hert attack casserole...don't tell grandma... :) anyway she asked me today if I thought anyone would mind if she made that (it needs the oven fri night) I said you better make it!!! ok that's not quite how it went but pretty close. So i think she is going to make that so really from kath and tam we need something to eat with it fri night, I'm sticking to the cheap idea of yummy ham sandwiches, but I'm not the one shopping so I don't care. Just wanted to let everyone know what's going to be brought from jeannie. Unless something jumps out at me i'll not bring anything so as to avoid the usual over abundance of food. I'll just pay my share of whatever is bought. unless I'm needed for something.

Tammy - I'd be happy to bring my scissors so that you can make me feel better about $20,000 of my debt. :) I'll try to be quick but I know that won't happen. Thank God I quit. Whatever, it's still worth it (everything happens for a reason, right??). I'm sure Brea is due too! By the way, I couldn't get an 88% in any type of math to save my life (ever wonder why I try to NEVER score shanghai??) so good job with that; I guess that's why occasionally I'll shoot out some proper grammar...gotta make myself look edumacated somehow...I have you to thank actually; I learned how to spell "kinda" from a birthday card that you had given me when I was a small child. Maybe around 8 or 10 yrs old. So thanks!! :) Did anyone notice that was one ENORMOUS sentence? I wonder if Kathy is pulling her hair out right now. :)

Yall have filled up this blog pretty well and I can't remember what else I was going to respond to so I apologize if there were questions I'm leaving unanswered. But I don't think anyone asked me anything. so there.

did everyone get my thank you cards?

later yapperoonies. see yall in 11 days. not that I'm counting.

BREEZY GROCERIES

HEY TAM, I GUESS I WASN'T VERY CLEAR ON THE GROCERY IDEA; I WAS JUST TRYING TO SAY THAT BUYING FOOD UP THERE MAKES NOTHING BUT GOOD SENSE AND LATELY IT SEEMS ALOT OF FOOD HAS BEEN COMING UP TOO. I ACTUALLY LIKE GOING SHOPPING BUT I SURE DON'T MEAN TO BE THE ONE THAT ALWAYS GETS TO GO. YOU AND KATHY CAN SURE HAVE A TURN. I DIDN'T KNOW ANYONE ELSE WANTED TO. SORRY IF I GAVE THE IMPRESSION IT HAD TO BE ME OR THAT I DIDN'T THINK IT WAS A GOOD IDEA.

AS FOR THE "GIFTS" WELL, I'M THINKING, YOU CAN JUST LET EVERYONE KNOW HOW MUCH YOU LOVE THEM AND THAT IT'S NOT ALL ABOUT THE MONEY, AS FOR ME, I WANT MY NICKELS. :)

I TOO AM TRYING TO SAVE MY OT AND KELBER MONEY FOR BREEZY, UNFORTUNATELY, MY CAR HAD TO BE BOUGHT W/ THAT MONEY AND HAS NEEDED SEVERAL REPAIRS SINCE I GOT IT. I AM HOWEVER GETTING OT THIS WEEK (8HRS) AND I'LL GET 20 HOURS, OR SO IN AT KELBER NEXT MON AND TUES, WHILE GETTING PAID FOR NOT WORKING UP HERE. SO THAT'LL BE THE SAME AS DOUBLE TIME- ALMOST. I'LL WORK APPROX 20 AND GET PAID FOR 40!! THAT WILL HELP ALOT!!!

CATCH Y'ALL LATER! LUKE

my 2 cents

i don't know what day would work for jessi, i do know that i only get tuesday off. yes, gramma is coming. we always go every other tuesday. i don't know if i'm gonna do the usual nickels yet, it depends how much money i have to spend. i've had 20 hours of ot on each of my last two checks and i'm getting there already on this next one. today was my day off and i went in this morning for 6 hours, sat and sun are both 14 hour days so that puts me up to 18 already. so i will probably do the nickels i'm not sure yet. don't hold your breathe for that $4 in gambling money. i hope this doesn't wreck anyones financial plans for the weekend. as far as groceries goes, we always used to bring stuff up and it got so out of hand that we all ended up taking half of it back home. that's why we started making a list and going shopping up there. i think it's time for me and kathy to go so if we are gonna do this again, no-one has to worry about going shopping. i think it comes up to about $15 bucks a piece or something. it's cheaper than everyone going individually. but whatever i guess. thanks for the vote of confidence about finishing school by the end of the year. i'm thinking it will happen, but i don't know what the remainder of classes has in store. i won't get my next class until i turn in one test for this last one and i still have the last half of math to finish. working ot is nice but it kinda puts a damper on school work. oh well. that's ok. well, that's it for now. see a few in a few days, the rest in a few weeks. wow! yap at ya all later.

Drinking Water

Well Lu, my roommate said you're supposed to ease into it and add more everyday. But I just plowed into it and it sucked for about a week. But after that it wasn't such a big deal. Now it's no problem, and it's been less than two weeks. I think the key is just keeping water on you at all times. Then you're bound to gradually drink it.

I can't wait for Bingo! I'm coming home tonight and Mitch is picking me up at the airport. I'm really excited. Can't wait to see you all soon.

Love ya,
Shayla

Hi all you "Chatty Cathy's"

Yes, I do plan to go to bingo on Tues. Tam, do you know the schedule enough to know what day might work for Jess? On the 31st Mille Lacs has no matinee bingo session, Mom checked it out.

Shayla, are you saying if you (when you) drink enough water for a long enough period of time you quit having to pee all the time? I've tried the exact deal you're talking about but I guess I gave up too soon. I got soooo sick and tired of running to the bathroom all day. Maybe I should give it another shot.

Good idea, Jen, about groceries. Actually, it'd be getting back to why we started buying them up there in the first place.

I finally get an OT Friday. They've been talking about it for a month and we get 8 hours this week!!! Yeah! Breezy $$$ I, too, am doing "gifts" this year; (please take that lightly) It's fun and I always stay under $5. Tammy usu. does 4 so I use that as my guide. So either trinkets or cards but so far no one's getting both. You'd laugh if I told you when I started. :) Also, I have a bonus treat this year. See ya all there:)

Pam, how's the first few days of the last job you'll ever have going? :) I really hope I'm in the last one for me. Unless I get rich another way, then this one can be my part time job til I'm about 70!

Tam, you will def. get done by the end of the year and you'll have a great final score!!! You are doing so well. Just keep it up and you'll be done before you know it.

I guess this is it for now. See you gals in a couple weeks. TTFN, LUKE

Bingo!

I will do my best to collect my Jesse and my Mamma for bingo. I think mom will probably be up for it, Jesse might have to work, but if he doesn't then I'm sure he'll come. Is Gramma coming? It sounds like Lu is!:) We were going to go visit uncle Rhonda this weekend, but I guess he needs the weekend for his anniversary(the nerve of that guy). It's too bad, cause I haven't seen him for while and the drive would have been gorgeous. But that's ok. Can't argue with an anniversary, especially when his wife works for the airlines.

I like that you are a slacker online, not only must it be nice for you, but it makes us look pretty good. Just kidding, punctuation is for nerds. I just can't help it, I've never fallen out of it since school. And I would say that going from D's to B+'s is really great. And I'm glad you only have to read 100 pages out of 900, because that would be awful! And about the smoking, I just think it's great that you've been trying to quit, even if you don't always succeed. It's not really fair for me to pretend to know what it's like to fight an addiction. I'm sure it really sucks! But just think of how much less you smoked in the last few years compared to all the rest. So in conclusion, I won't be mean to you at Breezy or anything. Jessie is coming to Breezy right?

I am totally willing to split up the cost of groceries for Breezy, I think if everyone pitches in evenly it shouldn't be too much for any one person. I know it might suck for those who only stay one night, but all the more reason to stay for 2 or 3, and again, if everyone does it than it shouldn't be so bad.

I'm really loving my new place so far. I got some really great furniture for really cheap yesterday. I have this big dresser that's covered in stickers. I love it. Most people would call it tacky, but to me, it's perfection. I think I got that from my mom. Love you Mom! :)

I'm really trying to make an effort to be healthy these days. I think the yoga is really helping, today was day 6. But even more so, I think for the first time in my life I am finally drinking the right amount of water. My roommates were telling me that if you don't do it, it's kinda like the rest of the stuff you do doesn't really matter. Like if you stretch or exercise or get a massage and don't drink the right amount of water, you're muscles won't keep the strength or they'll cramp up and be more sore, and your toxins won't go anywhere. You're suppose to drink half of your body weight in ounces, so if you weigh 180lbs then you need 90oz a day. And if you have coffee or soda, you basically need another liter to cancel it out. So since I'm a coffee addict, I'm going for 4 liters a day. I've been doing it for about a week and a half. And it's great. I'm finally getting to the point where I don't have to pee every 40 minutes. Which sure is nice. I highly recommend it. Keeping it consistent has actually kept my body from retaining a lot of water too. Which I wouldn't think works that way, but it does. And already my nails and my skin are starting to look better. And I don't get sore from big workouts. But heck, I'll be home tomorrow, and I'm sure all of my healthy habits will be on there way down the john in no time.

Anyway, can't wait to see you all next Tuesday. Love ya,
Shayla

welcome back ladies, nice to hear from ya both. jen, i'm smoking so get over it or stay home. i'm glad you are concerned though. i quit again for a while but now i'm smoking again. be nice to me. shayla, jessi has class now on tuesdays so she won't be there. you can bring your jesse though. (and your mama). yes, it's a week from today. nothing much new here. work and school are keeping me busy. glen is good. he's also busy working. he is the oldest one there and works the most hours. he's getting tired but won't say anything so he just keeps working the long hours. about the gifts, if ya find something, that's great, but if not, don't worry about it. hey, can ya all tell i'm done with my engish class? screw all the rules about capitolization and paragraphs. i can type faster this way. although i noticed you two were quite awsome with yours. in fact, you both did so well, i feel that it's only right for someone to slack and it may as well be me. i did a math class today before i went to work and got 88%. which i thought was pretty good cause it was alot of figuring stuff out that i really have no idea how to do. in the book i did ok but when it came time to take the test everything got mixed up so 88 is good. besides, keep in mind in school i was happy to pass with a D. C's were pretty darn good for me. so i think i'm doing ok. still hoping to be done and job searching be the end of the year. i got Health Information Management Technology in the mail the other day. it's over 900 pages. i was getting a little worried(ok, alot worried) but i looked through my study guide today, and i only have to read 100 pages of it. ROCK ON! i still have 2 research assignments on previous classes that i haven't done yet. i think i'm gonna bring them up to breezy and if there happens to be a laptop up there, someone can help me figure out where to find the information i need cause i've tried and it's really overwhelming where to look. i spose i should go read for awhile and go to sleep. see some of ya on tuesday, and the rest i'll see in 17 days or so. i am going to the casino early fri afternoon. probably about 1 or so. jen, you can bring your scissors if you want. i would hate to see all that schooling go to waste. everyone else.... didn't mean to leave ya out. nothing personal. I LOVE YA ALL!!!!

Seattle

Well I moved in to my new house yesterday and it's going great so far. And I went for a drive today around my neighborhood and it's lovely. I live really close to a beautiful harbor with lots of sailboats and cute restaurants. And a cool bridge going over Lake Washington. It's all kind of reminds me of San Diego a little bit, although it's slightly more colorful. And not as warm.

Jen~Congrats again. I think (though this is kind of bad advice) NOT training is as good of a way to go as any. I guess you just miss out on the benefits of always walking to train. But you seem super fit anyway. It sounds like it didn't matter. And walking is altogether a thing that your body is ok with. I think. This summer I was hiking over 20 miles a day sometime consecutively. And my body was like, "what? this all you got?" I guess what I'm trying to say is that it sounds a lot more treacherous than it actually is. And as humans, we're probably supposed to walk a hell of a lot more than we actually do. But good for you. And great! that you're going to keep on going to other fund raisers. And I'm in Seattle because it's got a little bit of everything I want out of a place to live, a great theater scene, lots of bars and restaurants to make money in, great coffee shops, lots of freaks like me, and Obama sign in every window, good radio stations, beautiful water everywhere, mountains, national parks very near by, lots of yoga, great vegetarian food, and two of my best friends from high school are out here going to a great school, which I could go to if I decide to go back to school. I wanted to live in the city I liked best, I think that's how life should be. And Jesse is in MN, he came to spend the whole month of September with me in Glacier, then helped my come out to Seattle and headed back to MN. I'd really love for him to move out here, but he really wants to save up money and go to LA for a while to audition for stuff. Which I want him to do, and quickly, so he can not have it hanging over his head anymore.He's the same with L.A. as I was with N.Y. It's something he just needs to do so that he can know what he's not missing and get it out of his conscience. And yes, I'm addicted to travel. It's a disease, but a good one. I know I should grow up and start hitting the theater, but I can't suppress this need to see everything. I'm thinking of going to Africa this winter with my friend Mel. I still need to hear details and see if I can afford it, but if I can I'll go. And postpone buckling down for yet another few months. But theater is always there, and so in and out. I might even be able to get a job this Christmas season and then still go in January.

Tam~ I miss the mountains a lot. It was really really hard to go, and even harder not to go back. But then again, it's probably under several feet of snow by now, so I might as well get comfy here. And it's great here so I can get used to it. I think 89% is great! I'm glad it's winding down too. That must be a really nice thought. I might still try to bring presents, but I haven't found anything great AND cheap. That seems to be the problem pretty often in life. I would love to play some bingo on the 21st. Next Tuesday right? I'll be around. Can Jessie come? I miss her.

Mom~ I really can't wait to see your new place, and Mitch's too. I feel so terrible about Lacey. I'd love to see her while I'm home, but I know it still might be too soon for visitors like me. My new air mattress was pretty cozy last night. I slept well, but my room sure is in need of some personality. It's empty walls and a bed in the corner with a couple of suitcases on the floor. I could really use some furniture and posters and a nice rug. Maybe I'll look for some home decor in MN. I miss Max a lot too. I really can't wait to be home. I talked to Mitch last night and he said he wouldn't mind at all if I stayed at his house. Then his cats wouldn't be so lonely. It'd be nice for me too. And he might play hooky from work to get some Pizza with Jesse and I on Thursday night when I fly in.

I'm doing this Sweatbox yoga for a week. It's good, and I can tell that it really helps get the toxins out of you body. But they turn the room up to 100 degrees. And last night the instructor forgot to turn it off halfway through class like she's supposed to. And I swear it was at least 10 degrees hotter than it has been. It was killer. I ended up just lying down on my back for most of the last 15 minutes of class. And it's a 90 minute class, so imagine how hot it gets in a room of people sweating that starts out at 100 degrees. Other than last night, it's been going really well though. I can really feel the benefits. They say the routine works every muscle, organ, and cell of your body and detoxifies everything.

That's pretty much all I've done in Seattle so far. It's too early to apply for jobs if I'm going to be gone for 3 weeks. So I'll hit all of that when I get back. Can't wait to see you all soon.

THE WAIT IS OVER

I know it has been a while since I've typed anything in here and you have all been so sad and lonely without me. Well, I'm back!...So you can all smile now. Thank God.
I haven't looked at it in a while, although the last couple times I was reading everything I didn't post either, so it hasn't been as long as it looks. I'm sure I'm missing plenty of info but I just read what was available on the first page here. Which will now be bumped off to a different page because mine is always long.

WOO HOO BREEZY!
Thank God I am not the only one that cannot afford to buy gifts for everyone this year. I still want to, so I hope I can find something cheap so that I can do everyone. Maybe I'll steal Kathy's idea and give scratch offs. I bought one for myself the other day, first time in many years; I won $3 and kept redeeming it for new tickets until my money ran out (only because I'd win $1 or $2...had I won even $5 i would have cashed that baby in!:)). But those can be fun. It would be kind of fun if Breezy got so big that we had to draw names for our gift exchange! :) That would be funny. For me I still want to give something to everyone because it's fun, so it just won't be anything great. I have Friday off and am playing it by ear; hoping that Connie and I can do our usual and go together and sneak up early to go to the casino with everyone else. It's going to be a full house this year! We will really need to figure out food. I know it's hard because sometimes if people aren't staying the whole weekend they don't want to chip in towards the grocery bill, and there will be a lot of people this time. I was thinking maybe we could each be responsible for an item or meal (or split a meal between a couple people) but that would be a lot of work to organize, so I'm guessing we'll have to go at it just as we do any other year. Chaotic and with too much food! :) But hey, it always works out in the end. I just don't want someone to go get the groceies and be stuck with a huge bill and worried about getting paid pack. That isn't fun for anyone. So maybe we can figure something out when we get up there. I'd recommend eating out for the two or three meals that we'll need, but helLLLLO! That is precious poker and shanghai time pulled out from underneath us!!! :) I have an idea...ham sandwiches and snacks the whole weekend. Inexpensive and easy.

Breast Cancer 3-Day 2008
Well, it was pretty amazing. I didn't train, at all, and it all turned out in the end. I knew it would. In my opinion, well, experience, you can't possibly train your mind or your body to endure such a strenuous event. I mean, really. I "trained" for the marathon, a little...I did a 5 mile, 6, 13, 16 and a 20 or so (mile) walk and I was supposed to train six days every week, plus the saturday walks started at 5 miles and increased by a mile each week soas you can see I trained very little according to the schedule, and guess what, the marathon was a lot of work but I did it. I didn't feel any worse walking 60 miles with absolutely no training than I did with training and walking 26.2 miles. In fact, I felt better by the end of the 3-Day. So there. Hopefully everyone has received my thank you card by now. Sorry to those who just received theirs late last week; I needed those last few addresses and just didn't get them like I should have. But hey, better late than never, and it hasn't been that long since the event.
As far as when the next one is, to answer my mom's question, well I'd do the 3-Day again but I'm a gemini and variety is the spice of life, so another 3-Day won't be soon...there are so many other great causes that I want to get involved in. I don't yet know what I'm going to do, but my next fundraiser is going to be for Ovarian Cancer; possibly MOCA specifically (Minnesota Ovarian Cancer Alliance). Like I said, I don't know what the event will be, if anything, but that's my next fundraising adventure. I'll just turn on the water works and people will have money coming out their ears. Kidding!! But not really though...I do think that one of the reasons it was harder for me to raise money for breast cancer was that I am not personally affected by the disease with my family or friends, so I think people fels less sympathetic towards me. Instead, I said I was walking and raising money so that I never have to walk for someone, and I don't know how moving that was to the people that I know, but when we were at the 3-Day and people would ask me why I was walking or who it was for, they thought it was pretty cool that I was trying to make a difference for a cause I'm not actually affected by. So that was awesome.

Shay - didn't know you were in Seattle!!! And here I kept emailing you asking you about Montana still. I'm behind on the times...What are you doing in Seattle now? I know there was talk of it after NYC but I forgot what the buzz was for. Are you getting into theater out there? Or are you just traveling for the sake of seeing the country? (SO jealous...) Where's Jesse?

Pam - Happy belated birthday! I can't believe mom called you out on your age, but if it makes you feel any better, I forgot you were older than her; I'm used to thinking she's the oldest so I can see why she'd feel the need to publicly rub it in. :)

Tammy Jo - looks like school is going well? How's Glenn? What else is new? Don't feel bad that you are on here every day and waiting for someone else to talk. I think that's part of why I lost touch with it for a bit; I felt like I was telling my life story every day and I was bored with myself. Not that that was really the reason, but it is awesome when a handful of people are on here. So Cheers to that! Speaking of cheers, you are only drinking for good cheer, NOT smoking, RIGHT????? The saying is EAT, DRINK AND BE MERRY. Don't make me come over there........... :)

Wacky Macky - Welcome to Freedom Weekend 2008! Your initiation requires that you bring everyone chocolate. My mom likes the dark stuff. Don't forget or we'll hang you out the window and give you lots of wedgies. I have no idea where this is coming from...it'll be fun to have you along!! If you are staying, don't forget your pillow and blankie. Also a must, coins for all of the gambling, and something to put your money in when you leave with all of mine. And if you slip me $5 I'll buy you some booze. Kidding...I think liquor is free at breezy until you are 21. After that you can figure it out for yourself. :) We're usually well stocked.

Kath - I can't believe all of your kids are old enough to be at breezy. It's about time. I'm so excited they are all coming! Can't wait to see everyone. How's the apartment going? Loving it? Hating it? Good luck with your cultural festival if it is not over already. Sounds like a lot of fun to put together. Is it snowing up there yet? Are we going to take some back woods way to the bar this year??? I went to a place with Adrian's folks a couple of months ago that I didn't know was there. I'm sure it's old news to you and all the other breezy vets but we may need to check it out. :)

I'm sure I could say plenty more but I'm guessing this is already going to take up an entire page. So I'm outta here, yappers! Pot calling the kettle black, I know. Who ever said the pot was black????? hmmmm.

hi all. shayla, your pictures are great. how did you ever get yourself to leave? although, seatle sounds like it's treating you pretty good also. i too am excited for breezy. to save us all some money, i think 3 or 4 of us decided to forgoe the gift process because it is getting quite spendy with the added people every year. it's not written in stone but just so everyone knows it is not to be expected. maybe the original 7 could still do it. and all the offspring could do their own thing. don't know. i will have the 21st off if you are still here, maybe you could bring your mama and come to st cloud to play bingo. as far as classes go, i am doing math now. it's fun and challenging. i am sitting on 89% with 15 assignments/tests to go. i'm happy with that. i think i am gonna go read for a while because i have been working on math for the last two days. congrats to jen and jess for finishing in the top hundred of all those walkers. good job ladies. i think jess said it was the top hundred anyway. now that i said that, i'm not sure. good job anyway. yap at ya all later. see ya all in 20 days or so.

hello

Thought I would shock you all and post something. Not a whole lot new here, anyway. Shayla called yesterday. I missed her call, but she said she found an awesome place to live in Seattle. It was pretty much the first place she looked at. She will be home on the 16th!!
For those of you who know our friend Lacey (or know of her) who was hit by a car while rollerblading a few weeks ago, she is out of the coma and has communicated with her family via hugs and hand signals. However, this is unofficial as no doctor or nurse has yet witnessed it, but Mac and Emma and others have. So that is cool. On the downside they are saying she will be hospitalized for a year! She has a lot of rehabilitating to do. She has a broken hip, pelvis, tailbone, vertebrae in her neck, jaw, and other injuries. And it's still a mystery to what extent, if any, brain damage there might be.
On a lighter note, Breezy is now just over three weeks away. I think all my girls are coming. I'm so excited to have them all there.
Been busy with work. It's a good year, just busy, as usual, which helps the time fly by. I'm getting geared up for a cultural festival that I'm planning. It should be great. Got lots of things to take care of yet, to pull it off. Definatley have to work on it this weekend.
Hope all is well with all of you. etalk at y'all later. Love ya! -Kiash

Out of the Woods

Hey Everyone~

Well I just got out of Glacier last week and I'm back in the saddle. I gotta say, I miss the mountains a lot already!! I had a perfect summer, the best so far, and I hope to be able to do it again sometime soon. But now I'm in Seattle, which is good too. Especially since I found a really great place to live with some really awesome roommates. It's a 5 bedroom Victorian house with a small backyard that has an outdoor movie theater in it. And my roommates are everything you could hope to live with, yoga enthusiasts, gourmet ethnic chef, talented bar-tender, Nutritionist, and message therapist. So I've got all of my bases covered. It's going to be great. We have movie night and board game night as well. And it's a beautiful place.

So, so far Seattle is treating me well. I'm looking forward to getting home soon. And can't wait for Breezy weekend. Sounds like the 3-day walk went great. And your pictures were so cute Jenny and Jessie.

Congrats Tammy!

Happy late Birthday Pam!

And I really can't wait to see everyone soon. I'm getting to MN on the 16th. So I'll probably be bugging people by like the 17th. Perhaps some bingo would be in order.

I'm working on a photo album of Glacier to send everyone, even though I don't really know if I'm doing it right. Hopefully I'll send it out soon.

Love you all,
Shayla

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, PAM!!!

HEY SIS, YOU MADE IT THROUGH (& TO) ANOTHER YEAR, YEAH! IT'S THE FIRST DAY OF YOUR 56TH YEAR ON PLANET EARTH. SORRY, I COULDN'T HELP MYSELF, I DON'T HAVE MANY FRIENDS OLDER THAN ME TO PICK ON!!! HOPE YOUR DAY WENT WELL. ONLY 6 MORE WORK DAYS...THEN OFF YOU GO TO A NEW BIGGER AND BETTER JOB. MAYBE THIS ONE WILL BE YOUR LAST. :)

MOM /GRANDMA DID OK @ BINGO LAST NIGHT-CALL HER FOR DETAILS.

TAMMY ARE WE DOING BINGO ON TUES? WOULD YOU LIKE TO GO EAT SUPPER FIRST? I KNOW IT GETS KINDA SPENDY KINDA FAST WHEN WE DO THAT BUT IT'S NICE TO DO ONCE IN A WHILE TOO. LET ME KNOW. HOW'S THE HOMEWORK STUFF GOING? WHEN DO YOU HOPE TO BE TOTALLY FINISHED BY? YOU ARE SURE DOING WELL WITH THE GRADE PART OF IT. GOOD JOB! (AND GOOD LUCK W/THE REST)

JEN, THANKS FOR THE THANK YOU. IT'S VERY NEAT, DID YOU MAKE THAT FROM YOUR OWN PICS? YOU ARE VERY TALENTED AND YOU ARE ALSO VERY WELCOME--WHENS THE NEXT ONE? :)

BREEZY IS FOUR WEEKS AWAY LADIES. A SPECIAL PRE-WELCOME GOES OUT TO YOU MACKIE. C'MON UP AND JOIN THE FUN. MOM /GRANDMA IS WILLING TO STOP @ THE CASINO ON THE WAY UP IF ANYONE IS INTERESTED. THE SAME GOES FOR PLAYING DAYTIME BINGO. I AM AND I THINK TAMMY IS. JENNY AND CONNIE MIGHT -DON'T KNOW YET.
I GET OFF WORK @ NOON AND WILL BE PACKED AND READY TO GO FROM THERE SO I'LL BE @ MILLE LACS BY 1:30 AT THE LATEST.

WHAT'S UP WITH YOU, SHAYLA? HAVE YOU BEEN OUT TO SEATTLE ALREADY? WHAT'S THE TEMP LIKE THIS TIME OF YEAR? CAN'T WAIT TO SEE YOU AND HEAR ALL ABOUT IT.

WELL, I'M THINKIN THAT'S ABOUT ENOUGH OUT OF THIS PEANUT GALLERY FOR NOW. LOVE YA ALL, LUKE (THAT'D BE THE GIRL LUKE :) )

Summer's history!

Can you believe that summer is history? Fall's here and colder weather is on the way! Hopefully the Fall/Winter seasons will go just as fast as the past Spring/Summer and the warm weather will come back before we know it! Hey, a person can dream!

I have some good news! I received an offer for employment this past week from the VA Hospital in Mpls. Without thinking twice, I accepted the position and gave my 2 wk notice at Southdale Peds (my last day will be 10/10). I start at the VA on 10/14; the position is called a Medical Support Assistant (which is a HUC position-what I went to school for); it is full-time, 3:30-midnight and e/o weekend. The pay and benefits are really good! I'm very excited to finally get to use my schooling...need to pull out the old books and review some terminology, tho! I have to complete a background check and get fingerprinted to make it all official.

How did the 3-day walk go? I had seen a couple reports on the news...looks like the weather was nice!

For all you runners/walkers, Melissa mentioned that she'll be doing the LifeTime Fitness Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving... if anyone is interested in burning calories before all the eating begins, give her a call to find out more. Melissa's cell is 612-229-2459. A couple years ago, when Nicole was here, they ran it together. Austin and I went down to watch and cheer them on:)

Speaking of Austin...he is playing football on Chaska's freshman team. They play on Fridays at 4pm. I've tried every week to get to see him play but the game is usually done by the time I get there through all the city traffic, since I work til 5pm. There is a game at Blmgtn Jefferson coming up that I hope make in time! Melissa says that he's been awsome!!

I did hear from a couple people that they didn't get links to the birthday pics. I've had some internet problems over the last 2 months, so I can try to send another link or I can put them on a disc if you'd like...just let me know!!

Hope everyone is enjoying the weekend...it's fun to hear what everyone is doing, so keep posting!

Later!

Pam

5 WEEKS TO GO

HI EVERYONE. HEY GIRLS, WE'RE DOWN TO FIVE MORE WEEKS TIL BREEZY!!! I CAN HARDLY WAIT. I'M SCHEDULED TO TAKE M-W OFF AT WORK BUT WITH SO MANY KELBER DAYS THIS SUMMER, FOR WHICH I TOOK PTO, I DON'T KNOW IF I'M GONNA BURN ALL 3 PTO DAYS. THAT'S ALL I HAVE RIGHT NOW.

HEY, TAM, ANY TIME YOU WANT SOME COMPANY OR WANNA GO DO SOMETHING GIVE ME A HOLLER.

ED'S PARTY IS THIS SUNDAY @ 1PM. IT GOES TIL ABOUT 4. I DIDN'T FIND OUT FROM EVERYONE IF YOU ALL WANTED TO DO SOMETHING COLLECTIVELY OR NOT. I ACTUALLY GAVE HIM $$ TO SPEND @ THE CASINO ON HIS BIRTHDAY. UNFORTUNATELY, NEITHER OF THEM WON, BUMMER.

NO BIG NEWS FROM ME SO I'LL CATCH Y'ALL LATER. LOVE YOU ALL--LOTS!!! LUKE

hi all, I check this quite frequently with nothing really to say and mac was the last one on here. Jen, good luck with the walk. Tell Jess good luck also. I haven't talked to her for awhile. I am getting quite excited for Breezy this year. The last couple years was just what we do, but this year I am looking forward to it. I won $100 at bingo last time and I kept it hoping it would be a start for a bed but I think with Breezy and Christmas coming, the bed might have to wait. I'm fine with that. I am just about done with my current assignment I have a research assignment due (which I think will be easy cause it's about the court system's part of confidentiality of medical information), that I hope to get done tomorro, and a final, that I also hope to get done tomorro. Then I wait for my math books to get here. I have 3 more units after that and I am done. Then I have to look for a job. Kinda scary. I was hoping to maybe get put to work at the nursing home but I overheard the DON say she was sending one of the HUCS to the class so I'm not so sure there will be a place for me at this point. Oh well, it won't be the first time they kinda offered me something that got shot down before it actually happened. I was hoping to stay there but it's not looking real promising at this point. We'll see I guess. Nothing much new, just wanted to reply to your post. I know everyone is busy but it would be nice if you could all just say hi once in awhile. I guess I'm feeling a little lonely or something cause I check this almost daily. Sad huh? Yap at ya all later.

been a while

So I haven't been on here in a while and haven't posted in a while so I thought I'd check it out. the walk is this weekend so I'm getting pretty excited about that. I'll be meeting Jess in a few hours down here and we'll do a couple last minute things and then crash for the night and we'll be on our way!
Tam, I'm so so happy for you!! Can't wait to see you at breezy. Sounds like most if not all of the Paradeis ladies will be making it to Breezy! I hope everyone is saving their change; it's not that far away!
I think that's all from me for now I'm sure you'll here from me when I get back on Monday.

Hello, Hello!

I'm back. I know it's been a while, but you know how it is. Nah, Tammy. None of us won much. I got a Bingo, split it with like four people and came out a dollar ahead in the end. So, not bad for my first Bingo experience, at least I got something out of it. Beyond that, not a whole lot has been going on. Mom lost track of her phone for a few days which explains why she hasn't gotten back to you. She should be back in touch sometime soon, as she unearthed her phone this morning. As for me, I've just been solidifying some college preparations, and I've got a meeting with the lady that handles all the college stuff at the high school on Wednesday. Should work out just fine. If all goes well, I'll be running off into the big bad world next fall. Scary and exciting, and I'm definitely looking forward to getting on with life. I really think I needed the break though, so I'm glad it took the time off. I don't want to rush into anything and waste my money, I'd rather have a fairly solid idea of what I want to do and then worry about changes later. But yeah, I should get going. Talk to all of you later!
(I'm already excited for Breezy!)
-Mac

CONGRATS, TAMMY

HEY, HEY, HEY, TAM!!! WAY TO GO ON THE SCHOOLIN' AND ON THE DIAMONDS! 90% IS FANTASTIC!!! GOOD JOB!!!!! (AS FOR NOT WINNING AT THE CASINO, YOU'RE JUST SAVING IT FOR HALLOWEEN. OR MAYBE ONE OF US WILL WIN SOMETHING SAT NITE IN WALKER. WE'RE OVERDUE THERE, AREN'T WE?) AS FOR BINGO, SUSAN IS BEING INDUCED TUES. YEA!!!!! I'M SO EXCITED. I WORK TIL 4:30, THEN I HOPE TO GO SEE HER, (IF SHE'S READY FOR COMPANY , I'LL GIVE YOU A CALL) THEN I HAVE LIONS. BUT MOM PLANS TO GO SO LET HER KNOW IF YOU'RE NOT. YOU CAN BOTH POP IN AND SEE SUZ BEFORE BINGO AND I CAN STOP IN FOR A GAME OR 2 AFTER LIONS.

HI EVERYONE, HOPE YOU ENJOYED THE SUMMER CUZ I THINK IT'S ABOUT TO BE REPLACED! JEN AND JESS, GOOD LUCK AND KEEP US POSTED. HAVE YOU FOUND THE CAMPING GEAR NEC., DO YOU NEED TO BORROW ANYTHING? SHAYLA, THANKS FOR THE PICS. I'M GLAD YOU'RE ENJOYING IT SO MUCH OUT THERE. IT SURE IS BEAUTIFUL. LOOKING FORWAED TO MAYBE SEEING YOU AT BREEZY.
JEN, JUST A REMINDER THAT THIS WEEKEND IS THE WELLE FISHFRY; SEE YOU THEN IF NOT BEFORE. BEDTIME FOR ME, CATCH Y'ALL LATER.

hello again, I know I was the last one on here but I now have something news worthy to say. glen and i went to the casino for crab legs last night(we got in line right behind kathy, her and brea and mac were up to eat and play bingo)that was cool. anyway, glen asked me back to his place, as i was looking at all his new plants(he has alot of plants) i saw a single rose, he said that was mine. i went to sit on the couch later and he handed me a small black velvety box. my bottom hole in my ears has finally got something in them. wow! eight years ago i got my first diamonds and 6 roses. he said i know you girls like your roses but they die and diamonds are forever. He also said these were the first of many. so i put them in the top hole and never wore anything in the bottom cause what would compare to diamonds right? well, eight years later, my ears are now complete. they are gorgeous. kathy, i tried calling ya twice but your phone went straight to voicemail. did you guys win anything? we didn't. well I did but not at the casino. yap at ya all later.

hi everybody, nothing news worthy really, just wanted to say hi. I made it through a&p l & ll. I am still sitting at 90% so I can't complain. I must admit I used the book quite a bit for the first one. But oh well. I am now waiting for my next unit to come. Confidentiality of Health Information. Doesn't sound like it should be too tough. I have been working alot cause they decided to fire 6 aids in the same day without hiring replacements first. I have been doing alot of training but we are still running short staffed. I know I can work 25 hours ot and still make money. I'm kinda nervous about picking up too much ot cause taxes will take out more and I will be working for free. I never did get my last two days of vacation. I talked to the scheduler and she said they will roll it over because they were the reason I didn't get it. We will see next check. It best be added to my new week. I have been telling her for two months to give it to me but it never worked out for her I guess. I will be pissed if I get screwed out of it. I'm tired so I'm gonna go to bed. Yap at ya all later. Bingo this tuesday lu. Let me know if you're not gonna go. Jessi is back in school so I don't want to go if you and Mom aren't going. Pam, I didn't get the pictures of Mom's b-day. You can use the tjwgas@yahoo.com or kjlcks@netzero.com

Montana

Hey Everyone~

How's life? I'm having a great time out here. It's gotten a little rainy lately, which kinda gets in the way of hiking. So that sucks, cause hiking's my favorite. And I've gotten really good at it. I love it, I'm now able to hike 20 miles a day and work a dinner shift afterwards. It feels great to be so energetic. I feel really healthy. I was hoping to hit 500 miles of trails this summer, but the rain seems to be an obstacle, rain wouldn't be so bad if it weren't for the fact that it's snow on the top of the mountain. It's just too cold that way. Wet and freezing.

I'm really getting excited to be in Seattle soon, and I'm coming home for a while in October too, so that'll be really fun. I'm going to try to send out some pictures soon, I'm just bad at computer stuff, so it takes me a while to figure it out.

But congrats on all of the money raising ladies. Sounds like you're going to make it.

Love you all,
Shayla

Yeah, Whippersnappers!!!

Sounds good to me-and fun! Are you finding stuff on line or would you like me to check out craft &/or $$ stores? I would like to pledge $150 to go towards the stuff you need. (I am hopeful that I will still raise this amount from my coworkers and Lion buddies. I haven't done any formal fundraiser but I'm pretty sure I can get $5 from 30 people. Would you guys like me to send it to you then reimburse myself? Who wants it and where should I send it? (bank account or delivered cash, etc.?) I'm working the NRC for Kelber so I'll be in Mpls. Or I can get the money to Jess. Let me know who's doing what. Tammy and Jess, I'll only be popping in to say hi and play a game or two then I'm heading down to Lisa's Tues. nite. I have a 7:30 start Wed morning.
Catch the rest of you later.

I'm down to just over $700, plus Jessi has $105 for me so that'll be about $600, and then grandma said she was planning on giving each of us $50 which will mean either $50 for me, or more if she still wants to donate the same amount (since I'm the only one that needs it), and then Karen was going to do the same thing so I think that is still on its way (?). At the least that will bring me down to $500, and Heidi said at the party that she sent me a check, so I should probably get that tomorrow (I'm assuming she sent it sat since I don't have it yet), and also kathy said she was still planning on donating. so that's where that is...next up is getting what we need for the actual event which includes everything from getting the little things like sunscreen and a sports bottle to buying or making the skirts and everything we need for the tent. Which brings me to my next question, we are thinking about decorating our tent (there is a contest for it, not expecting to win but do want to participate). I was thinking since we are hopefully going to have cheerleading skirts to wear over our shorts or whatever, we could have a "cheer for a cure" theme for our tent and have cheesy glittery signs and pep rally type stuff. so anyway, we are looking for ideas!!!

DOWN TO THE LAST $1,000. :)

Good idea, Jen, and good luck. Actually, congrats to both of you on a fine job thus far!!! I'm in the process of setting something up at work. Hopefully that'll be another 100 for you.
Mom and I went to bingo tonite and didn't win. The Megabingo is up to $31,000. How sweet would that be!!! Another time perhaps. I'm getting anxious for all the gambling fun Freedom Weekend brings us, not nec. November tho!!!
It was sure great seeing everyone at the reunion. Thanks to all for helping me out w/the sites right away! It's greatly appreciated. I think place turned to be pretty neat. Eventho I think I played my absolute worst at volley ball this year. I was thinking maybe I should stop playing but I've decided to play at least once more to redeem myself. (then quit, maybe) :)
What's everyone doing for Labor Day weekend? I'm working at Kelber . I'll be staying at Lisa's, if you're in the n'hood give me a call. We can watch a movie or play cards. Gotta get to bed. It's late. Catch y'all later.

this weekend

so i though of a funraiser that I was thinking the three of us could put together at some point but it never happened. I was thinking we could do a poker tourney (hold 'em) but I don't really know how to do it because I don't raeally have any friends down here so I was thinking maybe I could do it at the reunion but I don't know if anyone would participate. thoughts???
I think Brea is going to drop out. Jessi will be good I am pretty sure; she needs $1000 and has an idea locked in of where it is coming from. Me? I refuse to drop, but I also need $1600. I have a couple people saying that they will donate but I don't think that will get me $1600...I am going to send a fundraising letter (like I did for the marathon) to the family (except tam, kath, con, pam, mom because you all supported us already, and you know how to give more if you want to!) so hopefully that will help, but unfortunately my recipient list is short. I was thinking about adding Uncle Dick to the list, any thought on that from his actual nieces???

We're Baaaack

Just a note to let you know we are back. The vacation was awesome. And a very nice break but now I have to get to work and get the apartment put together. So much left to unpack. I have to get one more load of stuff out of the house, then I'm done.
Tammy- give me a call when you can re camping this weekend. I have a tent. We can bunk together, no problem.
Looking forward to this weekend. Thanks for the pictures, Pam-they are great. etalk at y'all soon.
Kiash

Birthday Photos

Mom, I have a photo album made for you, with all the photos :) Pam

Mom's Birthday

It was so nice to see so many friends & family at the recent celebration. I have attempted to send a link to the many photos from the event to the email addresses that I have. I did receive a response from Jessica that she had received them, but Lu mentioned that she had not. If you did not receive the Kodak link to the photos, please let me know...I will resend it!

Tammy, so glad to hear that you've taken the challenge to quit smoking! Hopefully, more will follow your lead to a healthier life (not to mention a few extra $ saved). Don't give up! How's the classes coming?

What's new with Shayla? Haven't seen any updates lately...hopefully Kathy and Jesse had a safe, relaxing, fun time out in Glacier! Looking forward to hearing about the trip, Shayla, and seeing pictures :)

I am finally working again! Accepted a position, as scheduler, at Southdale Pediatrics in Edina and started on 7/22. The pay is good, but I'm not crazy about the daily drive in rush-hour traffic. I'm going to continue to look for a 2nd job or even a FT position closer to home, that uses the education I'm paying for.

Hope everyone has a fun August! Doesn't seem like summer should be nearly over...not looking forward to the "cold" weather! Anyone planning to go to the State Fair?

Pam

WEIGEL-REUNION

HEY DUDES AND DUDETTES. SORRY IT TOOK SO LONG TO GET BACK TO YOU TAMMY,HERE'S THE INFO: THE NAME OF THE CAMPGROUND IS AJ ACRES, THE ADDRESS IS 1300 195TH ST NE, CLEARWATER, PH#320-558-2847 DIRECTIONS(from yahoo)-FROM 94- GO WEST ON 24 (AWAY FROM HWY 10) TURN R ONTO 179TH ST NW, GO .2 MI, "CONTINUE ON"C.RD.145 FOR .7, "BEAR" R ONTO 195TH ST E
CHECK IN IS ANY TIME AFTER 2. SO GO AHEAD TAMMY AND TAKE ON YOUR MORNING SHIFT IF IT'D NOT TOO LATE, AND IF IT IS i APPOLOGIZE AGAIN.
IT'S $68 PER SITE FOR THE 2 DAYS, EVERYONE CAN PAY THIS WHEN YOU CHECK IN, OR JUST PAY ME. ANYTHING NOT PAID FOR WILL AUTOMATICALLY GO ON MY CREDIT CARD. SEE Y'ALL FRI NITE OR SOMETIME ON SAT!

8-8-8

hello everybody, i just got off the phone with a counselor from quit plan and decided to share the news. i got a flyer for free gum/patch/or losenge when you sign up with quit plan and i was planning on quitting on 8-8-8 anyway so i figured why not give them a call and get some free help. so it is official. i'm excited, weird huh? oh well, what i really came on here for is to get more info on the family reunion but there is nothing posted LU. as it turns out i do not have to switch weekends because that is my weekend off. i will work tuesday and take friday off. it would be nice to have a little more info though. so kathy, ya wanna quit with me? no pressure just wondering. i am ready. and i know you have to be ready and not just pick a date cause someone else did. you will quit when youre ready and not a day before. to get the free stuff, i had to agree to talk with a counselor 4 more times. i'm confident about this so why not right? plus they will send me the stuff for free. i dont know how much they are gonna give me but that don't matter i guess. i didn't ask cause i thought that was kinda greedy so we'll just wait and see. she said it takes 7-10 days so i will stop at coborns and get a small package to start with if mine doesn't get here in time. so now that everybody knows my plan, i will know it will be a bigger deal if it doesn't work so i will try harder. but, like i said, i have been planning on this date for a while so hopefully i stand tough and stick it out. good luck to me! school is going ok. of course i have a research project on the back burner for med terminology,(imagine that) but a&p is going ok. the first couple chapters were on cell division and stuff like that so i thought this sucks but i finished bones last night when i got home. that was pretty easy. so i just keep plugging away. work just hired 10 new aides so guess what i'll be doing for the next couple weeks. i am training in a new girl this week and i was informed the other day, when i'm done with her, i will get another one. oh yippee! actually, i don't mind it but it slows ya down because instead of just doing something, you have to explain everything and we're very busy on my unit and we get behind. on the third day, i have them start doing the cares and that makes me nervous. you should see me when the new people transfer the residents alone for the first time. i try to let them do it but i usually have my hands in there somewhere. oh well i spose i should try to get another chapter done before i go to work. yap at ya all later.

lu, why don't ya post directions and registration info so i know where we're going and when we can set up. i think me and kathy are gonna share a site.

kathy, how about we share a tent and let the kids have the other one? i suppose it depends on who all plans on going and needs a place to sleep. we'll see when we get there i guess.

Kathy's address

I forgot to give you my new address:

14953 Wonderland Park Road Apt 1470
Brainerd, MN 56401

(Just call me Alice :) )

Howdy!

Hi Everyone-
Nice to see you on here, Lisa. I have not posted lately so just wanted to let you all know that all is well. Mom came up for a visit the other day. It was great. We finished a puzzle and watched the end of the Twins' game 14-2 - Go Twins. tonight they are losing to the Yankees by the same outragious margin. Oh well, can't win em all.
I got moved in here right away the first day, but now am going back for carloads of junk that I don't need on a daily basis, but can't throw away either. The apartment looked so nice and now I have a carload of boxes in the living room that I don't know what to do with. I had so much room before. I still have a four door file cabinet to go through, a big desk, shelves, etc... Maybe I will have to set up a mini-office in a corner of my bedroom. I have been good, I think, at getting rid of things along the way by either putting them on the Sale, throwing them out, giving them away etc... but when you downsize from 2000 sq. feet to 700 sq. feet, and the equivalency of a 4 car garage to 0, it is a little tough. But, I am holding the moving sale/plant sale one last time this weekend and will with a little luck, get rid of a bunch more.
Anyway, enough of that. I am excited to go out to Montana on the 2nd of August with Jesse. We are driving out and splitting expenses so it will be a reasonably cheap trip. Can't wait to see Shayla. And to eat Polebridge's famous baked goods.
Mitch is moved in-sorry if I have already told you that. Mac is moving more and more of her stuff here to the apartment and will probably be here full time pretty soon. The cats haven't made the move yet as we're holding off as long as possible. We brought Pooch over for a visit. She didn't mind it here but definately did not enjoy the ride over.
If it works out with anyone, I could use some help with the sale later this week. I'm advertising this one in the paper, so should get a good turnout, and it gets hectic with the gardening stuff outside and all the household stuff inside even with Mac around to help. Let me know if you can help out. If not, that's okay too. We'll get by, I'm sure.
Well, I better get started on the latest carload. Yeehah. etalk at ya later.

lahag

Yes, we're still here....You know that whole too much to do and so little time. I have to confess that I don't personally go onto the computer very often. You know 3 computers, 5 people. The kids are on constantly...go figure. I bet it's been a good two months since I have seen my laptop.

Anyway, life is same old. The girls are in NYC and having a blast. They just called from the ferry and are on their way to Ellis Island. Ash said the Statue of Liberty is awesome. She was calling to get family names to check on. Hannah is green and can't wait to step onto dry land. She forgot her ginger snap cookies. Both went shopping in Chinatown and spent most of their money. They have been enjoying the sights they have gone to Central Park, Grease, a Mets game. I know they were looking forward to Coney Island last night. Hannah has enjoyed the fellowship during bible study. Ashley is having a harder time getting to know the kids involved with the mission trip. The house is extremely quiet and we have to check to see if Gary is here. Even though the quiet is nice, I can't wait for the girls to come home tomorrow night. I think Gary misses them too, though he would never publicly admit it.

Glad to see more are contributing and I will try to be better at checking in.

Go to go for now. We are leaving to save some bugs lives.

Later

Lisa

Weigel Reunion

Hi Everyone. I went to a wedding yesteday and had a great time. Tammy and Kathy-Dennis Ries says Hi! It was so nice to see so many of the old Bowlus gang. (It was a Psyck wedding)
The Weigel Party this year is the 3rd weekend in Aug. Fri-15 thru Sun-17. We need to be out by 3pm. It's at AJ Acres in Clearwater. I booked a room Mom and Ed at a motel in town, only a few minutes away. All campsites are elec so it's $35 a nite/2 tents or 1 rv. (Mom's motel-Budget Inn-is only $65 a nite,so that's an option too.) Please let me know asap what your plans are and who has/needs any tents, air matresses or sleeping bags. Mom already bought the s'mores fixins. :) I have one rv and 4 sites (up to 8 tents) reserved. That's $350. right now.
Catch ya later, dudes.

Job Update

Just wanted to let everyone know that I've finally landed a job!!! It's been such a long time with me sending online resumes out daily with no positive responses. Last week I answered a Star-Tribune ad, that requested a faxed resume, to Southdale Pediatrics; I got an interview Monday and yesterday (Fri) I was called with an offer of employment. I didn't want to seem to desperate (even tho' I am); the offer was good and I accepted it. I start Tuesday (22nd)!! Lu was here in the cities at DJ's and so she was one of the first to hear...Thanks, Lu, for your enthusiasm and for dinner last night at Perkins!

Tammy, don't stress out too much about A&P...it was tough for me, but you deal with meds/health issues already, so I figure it will come more easily for you! My class was not online and the instructor had a very monotone voice reading from his notes and using slides. He gave us handouts (so we could read along) that were typed, single spaced, each sheet front and back. He didn't seem to like questions...he was very knowledgeable but didn't like his reading disrupted; the class was 3 1/2 hours long and he had every minute accounted for and some nights we didn't even get our breaks. He was a Dr but worked in research not with patients. Good thing!!! At least you can go at your own pace, learning the material and not getting the Dr version, like I did. I have no doubt that you'll do GREAT!!!


Hey, Kathy...still need your new address. I might be up next Sat. to help with your sale...you're still cleaning out aren't you? Kind of figure you're pretty busy right now between the house and the apt. How's it all coming along?

Kate, what a fun trip you had!!! You're much braver than I'd be...what an experience! I hope we get a chance to visit this summer...the days are passing too FAST, and everyone's busy. Nicole is coming to MN early in August and hopes to get a chance to see everyone. Last I talked to her, she was waiting to hear from a coworker, who'd possibly work a shift for her, so she can come in a day or so earlier. She'll be booking her flights and making arrangements soon, I'm sure she'll send out an email to let everyone know!

I think I'll go watch the Twins game...they're on a scoring streak...the score is 12 - 2!!! Morneau just hit another homer! Wow, I hope they can keep this pace up-they're so fun to watch!

Have a fun weekend, everybody!!!

Pam

It's been a while

Hey everyone, how's it been going? Kathy, if I knew you found a place I could have helped ya move if I wasn't working. Shayla, it sounds like you're having a blast. As it should be. I have been busy working and school. After Glen moved out, I decided it was time to decorate a little. Besides, the closet that I had all my stuff in got wet so on my time off, I went through everything, box by box and put some stuff up around here and reboxed what I didn't put out. It was fun looking through all the pictures and stuff like that. Medical terminology is kicking my butt. I turned in a test and now Anatomy and Physiology is on it's way. I still have a test and research project in med term yet. Hopefully, this will set me up for a&p for it is quite detailed on blood and organs and such. We'll see I guess. Sad to say there's not much new around here. Glen and I still see each other once or twice a week. So that has stayed about the same. I guess I just wanted to say hi cause it's been a while since I was on here. I read it quite often just haven't taken the time to say hi. See ya next week. Yap at ya all later.

WOW!

Hi, Katie. Wow, sounds like you had a great time. The hot springs sounds pretty neat. Good luck on the job search, it'll happen.
Congrats Jess on your Bingo!:) Hey Kath, I forgot to get you're address. I'd like to send you a housewarming letter.
Mom is planning a party for Ed in Sept. He'll be 80 this year and I think "things" are getting tougher for him all the time. The extended family visit was a success, I think he enjoyed it alot but it sure tuckered him out-more than usual even. I don't think he's gaining wt. but he's got alot to carry around and things like walking very far and steps are really hard. It'd sure be nice to them in a one floor (no steps) place-then maybe he could get one of those scooter chairs. Mom's having a garage sale this week. I was planning on helping her then DJ and Sam let me know it's the 2nd week in July they needed me for not the first. It's been fun tho. Sophia is a very strong willed littled girl but she's fun too. The biggest hurdle is communication. Anyway just thought I'd say hi. Catch y'all later.

hey its Katie,
everyone seems so busy in here, well I haven't been on here for a while so I'm trying to get caught up on everything, as for my life, summer is pretty boring, I didn't find a job yet, I just got back from Colorado yesterday at 10 am. Sam and I went with a church group, there werew 42 of us counting the 5 parents that went with, 3 girls, and two boys and then pastor Nate, I left last Monday at 4 pm and got there on Tuesday at noon, we went to the hot springs, it was pretty cool, then on Wednesday we went on an all day hike, we all split up into groups rating on how hard you wanted it to be. I was in one of the two hard groups, our trial was all up hill except for two straight aways, they were very short ones to, on our hike we had a snowball fight, it took 2 hours to get to the lake on the mountain, but on the way back since it was all down hill it only took a half hour, on Thursday we went rock climbing and repeling, it was so fun!!! the scariest part was repeling and when you had to lean backwards off of the cliff, it was about 90 feet in the air, I repeled twice, once on the hardest one and my second time I went on the 3rd hardest one, I was going to climb the one that was at least 200 feet up but there was a long line and didn't have time, so I climbed the second hardest one, there were 3 stations for rock climbing and 4 stations for repeling, Friday we went white water rafting, that was so fun, the sight was awesome! We left on Friday at 2 pm and got home Saturday at 10 am. I had a lot of fun! We slept under the stars and saw a lot of cool things, I have a lot of pictures from the trip. I still didn't tell a lot about the trip but it was a great experience!

Mom I hope that everything is ok between you and Glen! I would be sad if it wasn't.

I hope that everyone is doing ok,
Talk to everyone later!
Love, Katie

Time to Move

Hey Kath,

So glad to hear that moving is off to a good start (even if it was a little wet), at least the heavy stuff got moved. Being able to move over time is really good; hopefully you'll be able to get rid of the bulk of what's left. You're lucky to have help...saves a lot of money...I had to hire 2 Men & a Truck to get my big stuff moved. I hauled boxes a couple times a day for about 2 weeks. Thank goodness for Lu...she did some major cleaning for me, after lots of digging in my flower beds!

Don't forget to post your new address :)

Wish I could be there to help; I'm still job hunting-I did get a call from Southdale Peds Clinic today; hopefully I'll get an interview. Something wonderful is out there for me-I just need to find it this month!

What's up with everybody else? I hope that everyone has made it through these nasty storms without any damages. Sounds like there are more coming tonight/tomorrow, then comfortable this weekend! How's the studying coming along, Tam?

Enjoy the warm weather...

Pam

Yeehah!! Today's moving day! It was raining all morning so we delayed it until it stopped. Just as we got the first load of furniture over to the new place, it downpoured. We got drenched and of course so did the furniture. Ah yes...the joys of moving. Now it is clear and sunny. Jesse came over and hauled two pickup loads (the furniture) and we have filled up the car twice. I have all the main stuff there already. I am downsizing big time!! Mitch moves out next Tuesday, so I will have a sale sometime after that to try to get rid of whats left. Hopefully, a lot of it will go, but if not, I'll give it away or throw it away.
I don't have the internet hooked up yet over there until next week so I will come back here to get on the net.
Shayla, I love the idea of a cabin at Polebridge. That is such a cool place and the bakery is the best in the world so we can't go wrong. I have orders to bring back bread for Mac. Can't wait to try out the new one. Nummmmmm. Can't wait to see you too! I'll take pictures of the new place so you can see it. The place is a little run down but the view of the lake in the back yard makes up for it.
Well, I'm gonna head back over there and unpack some boxes. Have a great weekend everybody! Etalk at ya later.

Happy 6th

Hey guys.

Congrats on the new computer mom. You'll be so glad you did that. I was wondering how you feel about staying in a cabin in Polebridge with you're out here. They're only $40 a night. So I thought we'd get one for at least one night. Does that sound good.

I'm actually in polebridge right now. Its a town of about 50 people but somehow they get wireless. It's pretty neat here. I'm loving every minute of it. But I should get back to the cabin now.

Hope all is well for everyone. Glad you got my postcard Lu.

Love ya guys

Happy 4th Everyone!!!

Hey Shayla, wow, sucks to be you. How awful, you actually have to look at that every day!!!???
I was going to send a real letter out today but it didn't happen. Miss you too, Kiddo.
Well, one more unsuccessful bingo nite, maybe next time.
I'm going down to Jeannie's tomorrow for Em's BD party. BBQing, swimming, eating, probably a little card playing. Should be fun. Oh yeah, a little liquid celebrating as well perhaps.
For anyone who knew I was sick, I'm all better. :) Well, I've got a bunch of stuff to at least attempt to get done tonite (I'd like to be on the road by 9:00 a.m.) (it could happen) Take Care and keep in touch. Please have a safe weekend!!! Love Y'all. ps I'd still like excercise ideas for my tushie if anyone has any. Tammy, I meant to ask you Tues. nite but didn't think of it at the time. It gets pretty tight by the end of the day.

Hi Everybody!
I bought a computer today so can access this a little easier! I couldn't open the grizzly video on the old one so I will look at that tonight. I am going to get off here right away and let it get its initial battery charge. But. I'll be back!!

Hi guys

Thanks for the cute video Pam. I love bears, they're such cool animals. I haven't seen any yet, but I was hiking huckleberry mountain two days ago with a friend and almost to the top when a couple of guys came along and said that the trail had a freshly killed deer or something just around the bend and that there was a ranger up there checking it out. It was a total coincidence that there happened to be a ranger on the trail ahead of us, he passed us on the way up. (I read in the paper later on, that this guy was named ranger of the year for 2008, which means he's pretty darn good at what he does) But I was pretty greatful of it, because I think I would have freaked out myself. Tyler and I didn't go too much closer and just turned around. I'd love to see a Grizzly, but I would NOT love to find myself in between a Grizzly and it's food. And sure enough, once he mentioned it we started to notice big fresh bear tracks on the path. Pretty cool though. I'm not really afraid of Grizzlys at all, used to be, but after talking to so many people who have run into them, I feel like they're not really into killing humans, you just need to be prepared and alert. I always carry bear spray. My real fear out here is a mountain lion or pine martins. A hiker found a bear on the side of the trail a couple of weeks ago that was bleeding terribly from the knees down. Almost bled to death, but the hiker got some rangers there right away and saved the bears life. That was the work of pine martins, it's mind boggling, they look like otters or fishers, kinda cute and cuddly and cool to watch in the water. But they have razer sharp claws and wait around in a bush near water for some unlucky being to walk by, then they kinda jump him, and tear him up from the shins down and literally eat some of your flesh. I know this is incredibly gruesome, but I just cant get over it. A guy died taking water samples by the lake four years ago. Bled to death. And last weekend I went camping and hiking by myself at two medicine lake. It was great. And after my day hike I sat by the lake and read (same place we were together last year mom) and watched these three cute critters swimming in the lake. They were just like otters. Diving and swimming and they didn't really notice me or care that I was there and got pretty close. I was like, wow, this is sooo cool to see. Then I got back to property and read a warning on the cabin door to beware of these cuddly deamons. Man, I was going to hike that lake by myself the next day too, but luckily woke up too tired for it. And just so that you don't worry mom, the only hikes I'm willing to go on alone are the really touristy ones with lots of hikers on them. All the back country stuff I do with people who I think know what they're doing. I'm way more chicken then I sound.

The animals are by far my favorite thing about the park. I saw a bull moose drinking from a swamp a few miles from where I live, it was cool. He had big antlers and everything. I see lots of deer, and at the top of the mountain I climbed alone last week I was joined by two marmits, who are so neat looking, they were like white beavers chewing on fallen hiking snacks and sitting just feet away from me. And a ground squirrell right on property just had babies, and they are so cute popping out of their little holes and squeaking at you when you walk by. It's sort of like wack-a-mole.

Anway, I really love it out here. I have the best time by myself honestly, but that' s probably just because I don't know people quite well enough yet for it not to be a lot of work spending time with them. I make pretty good money at work and picked up on it very fast. The going-to-the-sun road is opening either today or tomorrow, which is so great, because there's some really pretty stuff up there that I haven't been able to see yet, plus it's the biggest attraction in the park and business will get even better than it already has been.

I'm really starting to miss my family. I think of all the things I'd love to show everyone out here. I'm really happy that Mom and Mitch found some places to live. They sound great. It's a bummer to think that I would have been seeing mom and Jesse in 12 days but now have to wait a month, but I'll appreciate come October when it's been so long since I've seen them. I hope everyone is enjoying the summer so far. I miss ya all.

Love Shayla