NUMERO UNO

Zoey celebrated her 1st birthday at her party on Sunday.  She absolutely loved the cupcakes!!!

Until later,

Ciao Baby!

A THANKFUL THANKSGIVING

We had a great Thanksgiving with Travis, Traci, Zach, Zoey, Sig, and Tammy. I am thankful for my family. The other half of my family spent their Thanksgiving in Santa Cruz with Bobby and Rachel, and they had a great Thanksgiving too. We all have so much to be thankful for. A few pics below.

50% of the cooking team!

Grandma, Zach, and Zoey

Zoey's first Thanksgiving!

The other 50% of the cooking team

Zoey just loved her Uncle Sig

We're ready to eat!

John, Sig, and Tammy

Until later,

Ciao, Baby!

THE LAST TWO WEEKS

OK, it's been a while, but the last two weeks have been busy and fun. Donna came to visit while JR went to Hawaii with JJ. We had a really nice time. We stayed down in Laughlin. She came in Friday afternoon, and we enjoyed a Lemon Drop before we met my Godmother at Harrah's for some drinks and conversation. Then, as you can see, Donna did a little gambling. Saturday we went to Zach's soccer game, then did a little shopping. We got Zoey a Christmas dress, and Aunt Donna spoiled Zach, buying him a game for his Wii, which he loves. After that we went over to Trav and Traci's for a visit and had a fun time playing Wii Fit. Well, it's not really a game, it's an exercise program, which I do not like, as it says my age is 65, and I know I'm much more fit than that! After that we went back to Laughlin and ended up in our room drinking Lemon Drops and having some good ole fun conversation. Sunday we got up early, since the time changed. We went to Harlow's for brunch (thanks, JR), and it was fabulous! I love that place, and the crab was especially exceptional, as well as the stuffed shrimp. That day Donna was a little burned out, she can't keep up with her 65 year old sister! Alas, it was Monday...I went to work, and Donna headed home, but all in all it was a fun girls time to remember.

At Harrahs enjoying our drinks!

Donna, she just can't stop gambling!

Zach...playing his new video game

Zoey, in her pretty Christmas dress!

This weekend (Sunday and Monday) we took Zach to Las Vegas to see the Thunderbirds fly in the air show. I haven't been to see an air show since I was about Zach's age, but it left a big impression and I have always wanted to do it again (cross one thing off my bucket list). It was totally awesome, and Zach really enjoyed himself. It is totally unbelievable the way they can synchronize their flying. There was so much to do and see. Then we headed to the hotel, where we relaxed with a martini, and then headed out to dinner. After dinner JR did some gambling while Zach and I lost our money at the arcade. We were all sound asleep by nine. Zach fell to sleep in the middle of eating his doritos! The next day we ran a few errands and then Zach got to play at the playground at Town Square until our movie started. We went to see Madagascar, which was really good, even JR liked it!  Then, unfortunately, all good things come to an end, and we had to head home. Zach was not a happy camper about that, which was ok because it just showed us what a good time he had. It was a totally awesome two days with Zach, and thanks Trav and Traci for letting us take him. I know it is hard for you, Traci. Now Zach is off to the Hemophilia convention in Colorado on Wednesday, and, hopefully, will get to see some snow!

Zach, when we first arrived

Zach in the plane the soldiers fly in and jump out of

Zach with one of the soldiers

Awesome!

Nosedive!

Four of the six Thunderbirds

I actually got all six, I'm awesome!

Zach with his F22, which he totally loved!

Grandpa and Zach after a looooong day!

Until later,

Ciao, Baby!

THANK YOU

Thank you to my wonderful family for all their supportive comments. They mean more to me than any of you know.  I'm sorry for such a depressing blog, but sometimes it feels good to just put pen to paper, so to speak. Things are getting back to normal. Sometimes I just dwell on things too much and they become bigger than they really are. I find that I probably need to change my actions so I don't expect more than I get, and that is something I will work on. Thank you all again for your love and support; it means the world to me. You're the BEST!

Until later,

Ciao Baby

BLOGGING ETIQUETTE

Is there blogging etiquette?  Are you allowed to blog when you are depressed, or only when you are happy?  That's the question for my fellow bloggers.  I am probably going to break blogging etiquette because I am depressed, hurt, sad, and unhappy. What got me into this state doesn't really matter. Let's just suffice it to say that it has been a hard week; with work and family.  The question is, how do you break out of this depression?  When I am depressed I really and truly don't want to talk to anyone or take any phone calls.  I literally force myself to do what I have to do. I'm a firm believer that depression runs in my family; whether that is true or not doesn't matter.  I feel fortunate and am thankful that I can pull out of my depression by myself, although it takes a few days.  Sometimes I wish that I could just run away and hide. So, for all you who get depressed, truly depressed, don't feel alone, we all go through it. I just thank God for friends and family that help to get me through it, even though they don't know it most of the time. And, for those of you whose phone calls I may have ignored, please bear with me, I have faith, and I know that things will get better.  Thanks for listening, and I apologize for such a depressing blog, but I truly feel that blogs should be honest, or else we are just kidding ourselves and other.   

Until later,

Ciao Baby! 

PHOENIX AND THE LASEFICHE SEMINAR

We had a blast at the laserfiche seminar. Cindy and I left on Tuesday. The seminar started Thursday evening, and ended Friday. Thankfully, they sped through it and we were done by about three on Friday. We shopped until we literally dropped. We left at 7:15 Tuesday morning, as JR had to drop me at Cindy's and he had to be at the golf course by 7:30, and believe me, nothing interferes with his golf. Cindy and I arrived in Phoenix about 10:30, picked up some beading thing she needed from someone she found online. JR made me promise to carry my pepper spray everywhere I went. I told Cindy since we didn't know these people she was getting her "tumbler" from, the plan would be for me to wait in the car (with my pepper spray handy) while she went into the house. Well, I waited, and waited, and waited.  Thought maybe I should call her on her cell, but saw it was still charging in the CAR! After thirty minutes she finally came out. The people were old and wanted to show her all their jewelry and even invited her to stay for coffee. She told them she had a friend waiting in the car (I think she had coffee with them). We usually have a special mission when we go to Phoenix, and this year it was to get Cindy a Wii, which you cannot get in our neck of the woods. Well, since we were somewhat lost trying to get to the mall, we decided to stop at the first Target we spotted to check out the Wiis. Well, first stop...successful. There were four Wiis just waiting to be bought. Cindy told me to stand guard over the Wiis while she went to find some help. I questioned why I needed to stay with the Wiis since there were four of them and no one else around. Well, I thought we were just going to buy a Wii, but after she got the Wii from behind locked doors, she went insane! She started grabbing every Wii thing imaginable, covers for the controllers, more controllers, battery chargers, etc. It was amazing....I could not believe it....  awe struck, that was me. Well we finally got out of Target after receiving directions to the mall. Cindy was so excited about her Wii she was beside herself (I learned more about Wii this week than I ever needed to know). We spent the remainder of the day at the mall. Found some great buys! Got to the hotel about 4:30 and checked in. Decided to go over to the bar for a drink and dinner. I ask for a Lemon Drop and Cindy asks for Chivas. The waitress comes back and asks if 12 year old Chivas will be ok.  Cindy says sure (she is not a drinker) and I'm thinking "how about 12 hours old." After we ate I told Cindy her drink was probably going to cost more than our dinner and she couldn't believe it.  Sure enough, when the bill comes, her drink is $18.00 (I later pointed out at Costco that she could have gotten a whole bottle). There goes our per diem! Just joking, this was our money that night!! I also pointed out that I could have had about three Lemon Drops! That night we go to the pool. I tell Cindy it is her turn to be in charge of the pepper spray (the thing is getting on my nerves, as it does NOT fit in my itty bitty purse). We grab the pepper spray and head down to the pool, which we find loaded with dead bugs (seems they are having a bug problem and the filters can't keep up).  We find a little spot with no bugs so we sit in the pool for a little bit. Decide to head back to our rooms and Cindy says "are we allowed to take the towels?" I say "who's going to stop us?" Get back to the room and want to get ice for the ice chest. Cindy is going to carry baggies to get ice in.  I say bring the whole ice chest (it has wheels) to the ice machine. Cindy says "can we get that much ice?" I say "I think the ice cops are off duty now." Man, talk about following rules! Wednesday we shopped from 9:00 in the morning until about 8:00 that night. We also bought more Wii stuff. We were exhausted. I'm still carting the pepper spray....only people we have wanted to spray are the drivers! We decided to try our clothes on Wednesday night and find that we need to go back to the mall Thursday and make some returns. Yes, we tried them on at the store, but, hey, what can I say....we're women, we change our minds. Thursday, back to the mall to do returns, but not to worry, we found a whole bunch of new stuff! Head back to the hotel about 3:00 and meet up with another girl from work at the Golden Spoon Yogurt Shop. Get back to the hotel and are too pooped to attend any seminar classes (which are really for IT administrators anyway). Went down to their welcoming party about five, then went over to the bar about seven. Thankfully, Cindy decided to join me in drinking Lemon Drops that night! We had a great time, and then went to gamble a little at the casino, with my pepper spray! Only thing to spray is a frog, but no one will let me! Friday attended the seminar, where we ate breakfast from 9 to 10, had classes from 10 to 12, ate lunch from 12-1, had classes from 1 to 3 (except our classes were 1:15 to 3:00 since Yo misread the schedule). Got out at 3 and they had a big old ice cream cart, soft pretzels with cheese, candy bars, etc. Basically, all we did was eat that day!!! Since it is early, Cindy, Yo, and I decided to go to a little mall by the hotel, where, you guessed it, there is a Target. Cindy needs a nunchuk! That night Yo and I went to the bar and then to the casino and Cindy stayed in the room and rented Sex in the City. Cindy insisted that we leave at six Saturday morning as she had commitments for that day back home. We were home by 9:30, and I was pretty pooped out, but can hardly wait until next year!

This weekend we picked Zach up on Saturday and took him to Pied Piper Pizza, and then he spent the night. He is so fun to have....he has so much energy and so much curiosity.  JR and I laugh at his antics all the time. JR taught him how to make scrambled eggs from start to finish....he did really good, only burned himself once. I miss him when he leaves!

Today (Monday) is a holiday. Just got odds and ends done. Back to work tomorrow. Primary election in Mohave County and we are on pins and needles waiting to see what some of the outcomes will be.  Keep your fingers crossed for us!

Until later,

Ciao Baby!

LAWRENCE WELK WEEK

Well, we're back. We had a nice vacation at Lawrence Welk with Donna and her family. The trip didn't start out so great since the air conditioning in the car went out midway through the desert. However, nowadays you can't even think things will be better when you get out of the desert, because it seems the desert never ends!!! The coolest it ever got was 86 degrees when we arrived in Escondido, which actually felt like heaven!!!  Sunday we had family and friends over for a visit. My wife-in-law and her husband got me a most luscious birthday cake......pure chocolate!!! We enjoyed that all week. Monday we went to Valley View Casino for a "free" buffet, which entailed many long waits in lines (yes, that's plural for both).  However, it wasn't all bad because I hit four aces for $200. Other than that, John did a lot of golfing, and I did a lot of hanging around the condo and the pool. Friday, after golf, JR took me to my favorite pizza place for dinner after we hit the bar with Donna for our favorite drink....chocolate paradise! It was fun getting to see the nieces, nephews, kids, etc. Donna and I did manage to get in a day of shopping. We got our AC fixed and it worked great on the way home. Bad news.......JR and I both gained 3 pounds and I believe I can add Donna to that list too!  Now it is back to work for a day and then off to Phoenix for my next adventure with my girlfriend from work!!!  I'm posting a few pics for everyone to enjoy!!!

Friends and family on the patio

My granddaughter, Taylor Margaret Romero - 13 years old

John and I

My niece, Megan, reading all the boys a book

Ryan and Caleb feeding the ducks

Ryan (almost two) and his brother, Noah (3 months old)

Caleb, almost two (born one week after Ryan)

And, last but least, Caleb and Ryan with their favorite uncle!!!

Until later,

Ciao Baby!

I'M WELL!!!

OK, it's been a sucky week.  I was sick with a bad cold, but I managed to nip it in the bud with lots of over the counter meds.  I was off all meds by Thursday night.  This weekend I decided to take it easy and get caught up on my rest, as next weekend I start getting ready for trip to Lawrence Welk.  Lots to get done, but too early to start, I hate that!  That's about it for my boring life, what's everyone else been up to?

Until later,

Ciao Baby!

MEGAN

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MEGAN!

HOPE YOU HAVE A WONDERFUL DAY. WE LOVE YOU!

JULY 4TH UPDATE

WOW, the three days go waaaaay too fast. We had a great 4th.....BBQ with the kids, shot off some firecrackers with Zach, and then they left around 9:30. Unfortunately, they got stuck in after fireworks traffic down in BHC. 

Saturday....decide to run down to Laughlin to attend a wine tasting event. Turn onto Hwy 68 and there is a big accident.....just happened....tanker truck in flames and a car carrier truck already burned on the other side of the freeway. Decide to go the loooooooong way on I-40. Took about one hour and fifteen minutes to get there. Needless to say, we missed the wine tasting!!! Went with our friends to happy hour and had an enjoyable evening with them. Broke even on the gambling, so that was great. Got home around 9:30. Heard the highway had been closed for 5 hours, so apparently it had just reopened when we came home. Would have been a bummer if we had to go home the way we came. Trav and Traci would have been entertaining overnight guests!!

Sunday, vegged out and did nothing. We also managed to watch four movies over the three days.  

Now I am bummed because there are no more holidays until September. July is going to be a long month because I only have one scheduled vacation day (so far!)  August is going to be great because I am only working about two weeks out of the whole month!!

Hope you all had a good fourth!!!

Until later,

Ciao Baby

PRE FOURTH OF JULY

HI ALL,

Just wondering what everyone is doing on the Fourth of July??

U. S. OPEN SUPER STARS

You probably think I am referring to the golfers, but no, I'm referring to JR and JJ.  Yes, JR recorded the U. S. Open, and managed to find himself on TV. Here are a couple of pics.  JJ (red bandana) and JR (Stanford hat) are in the bottom right hand corner, you will need to click on the pic and enlarge it.  I'm wondering where Tim and Trav are?  Did they scalp their tickets????

NOW FOR THE REAL PRO.........

Until later,

Ciao Baby!

WEEKEND HIGHLIGHT

One highlight of the weekend was getting to see my grand-nephews.  I haven't seen Caleb and Ryan in a long while, except on iChat, and I got to see the newest addition to the family, Noah! He is a very good baby, no trouble at all, YET!  

Caleb and Ryan had a ball running around Grandma's house.  At one point they collided....Caleb cried (he did get a knot on his head), and Ryan laughed.  It was great seeing Megan, Rachel (the Moms) and Glenda, (Rachel's Mom).  My sis put together a nice lasagne dinner for all of us.  Thanks everyone.

Until later,

Ciao Baby!

P.S.  Sorry this was late Megan, but I didn't feel like downloading pictures when I did my original post.....you are NEVER forgotten!!  Love ya, but cut me some slack, would ya!!!

SAN DIEGO

Just got home from our trip to San Diego.  It was fun, but I'm burned out.  The guys really enjoyed the U. S. Open, and John said it was so neat to be able to go with JJ and Travis (and you too, Tim).  Thanks to all the wives for sharing their husbands, and the kids too, since it was Father's Day.  My hubby had a memorable Father's Day with both his sons!!!  My sis and I took Trav to the airport on Monday, but beforehand we enjoyed a delicious lunch at Filippi's .  It is mine and Trav's favorite place to get pizza.  We made sure to send some home for Traci......hope you enjoyed it!!!  Tuesday, JR, Donna and I went to lunch at Lowes Resort in Coronado.....it was fabulous.  Ours was compliments of Linda and Larry with our birthday gift cards, and Donna's was compliments of JR and I with her Christmas gift card (all received two years ago!). Wednesday we went to dinner with Linda and Larry.  We started off with drinks at their house were we toasted our anniversary with a bottle of champagne.  They then presented us with a bottle of Mumm's champagne from their winery trip last month, and a beautiful professional picture of our granddaughter, Taylor.  She is turning into such a young lady!! Where did our little girl go? We went to dinner at Romesco's and it was very good......JR, Donna, and I split a salad, paella, and a delicious penn pasta dish.  The menu was loaded with other items that I would love to try. Maybe next time.  And, before we knew it, it was Thursday morning and time to head home.  I'm always glad to get back to my house, but I miss San Diego too!!!  We will be going back to my sister's condo at Lawrence Welk soon and will get to see everyone again. Already looking forward to it.  Hope it gets here before gas reaches $5 a gallon!!!  Highest we paid was $4.79, yup, you guessed it, San Diego!  Premium!!!  

Until Later,

Ciao Baby!

REALLY QUICK UPDATE

Zach spent Friday night with us.  We had pizza at his house, then took him to Target to pick out a toy.  Saturday Traci and Zoey met us at the house and we went to my County picnic.  We had a fun time, and we were all exhausted, except Zach and Zoey. Here's some pics.

Zoey is getting soooo big

and she is always happy

Zach doing the hula hoop

His lightening bolt......Go Chargers

Until later,

Ciao Baby!!!

ARUBA......I WANT TO GO BACK!!!

It was great!!!  My sis has been bugging me to put some pics of our trip to Aruba on my blog, so here they are.  Briefly, about our trip, it was fantabulous!!!  I loved Aruba.....you feel very safe.....no one on the beaches trying to sell you stuff....you can actually leave your stuff on your beach chair and do whatever you want, and it is there when you get back. The hotel was great, would definitely stay there again! Highlights.....kayaking.....JR and I were the first ones to tip over.......why?  Because they made JR the captain.....I should have gone solo!!! Embarrassing!!!  Then, try to haul your big butt back on that kayak when you can't touch ground......who has that much upper body strength.....NOT ME!!!  Thank goodness the guide was strong, and could haul me back on my kayak with one hand.....hey, I guess people do have upper body strength!!!  On our anniversary we decided to lay out on the beach all day.....when we arrived the hotel had a bottle of champagne, gouda cheese, and crackers for us in our room, which we decided to save for our anniversary.....around noon we brought the bottle of champagne and cheese and crackers to our palapa and indulged.......dinner.......can't even describe it! They seated us and brought us a glass of champagne on the house.....best of all, it was a sugar rimmed champagne glass!!!! The dinner.....the best steak I have ever eaten.......really....and the presentation was beautiful!!! Snorkeling......the fish sucked, no pretty colors, but the trip was great!!!  They dropped us at three snorkeling places, one was a sunken ship.  I enjoyed that day very much; poor JR didn't feel so great, but improved as the day went on.  No, he didn't drink too much the night before!  I am going to post a few pics from the trip.......one of the best trips I have ever been on......I will remember my 25th anniversary forever!!! Nothing went wrong........everything was absolutely perfect!!! Met some great people!  We could not have asked for more!!!  Would love to do it again, and I hope someday we do!  I picked a keeper when I picked JR!

View from our room, we walked right out to the beach!

Happy hour at the bar on the beach....we never missed one!

My own happy hour...you guessed it.....a lemon drop martini

Chill'in on the beach.....it's a rough life!

Our kayaking adventure.....we made it to the island!!!

Morning coffee on the beach!!

Our 25th anniversary dinner!

JR loves his desserts......rum soaked pineapples w/ice cream

Snorkeling, look at how beautiful the water is

After snorkeling

Our friendly gecko (or as Tim pointed out....our friendly IGUANA).  He visited everyday!!

Until later.

Ciao, Baby!