It looks like summer has actually arrived....with the exception of a wicked storm last night complete with wind, thunder and lightning. It rained really hard throughout the night but by this morning all was blue sky and fluffy white clouds.

My sister Ann had a Pampered Chef party at her house and now I've booked one for my new digs in late July. Hopefully we'll be settled in by then and we can have some fun! Ann and her girls had a long, quick road trip to Wyoming over the weekend to take her mother-in-law to her daughter. Tyler was at his first solo overnight Scout camp- so no Loney's for me this past weekend. So, I worked, cleaned and packed.

All kinds of good things have been happening for us lately.....Looks like the move will be happening to the twin home in Logan that initially wasn't going to happen...they were working on the kitchen floor when I drove by on Monday. We have some stuff we moved into the apartment that we didn't even unpack and now I'm packing up things we won't be using in the next couple of weeks. I'm not sure what our exact new address will be but we'll be on the corner of 4th and 4th in Logan.

Our almost a year long dispute with the state tax commission has come to an awesome conclusion. After a telephone hearing with the Judge and my resending all of our evidence, they finally have adjusted all three audit years to us owing $0!! We have signed a stipulation to be filed with the court and hopefully it all be finalized soon....boy, did my paralegal degree come in handy with this one. I feel sorry for the "average Joe" who would have to go through the same ordeal as we did. (I really think they just figure you'll just give in and pay the thousands they demand out of fear or ignorance.)

I finally broke down and changed cell phone plans. I kept going over on my texting with Sprint and the over $100 bills are killing us. The Loney's are on a plan called "Straight Talk" that runs $30 a month for 1000 text and talk minutes or just $45 for unlimited text and talk. I bought the $40 LG flip phone that's pretty cool but I'm having to learn to text and such all over again....so if you get any strange texts or pages from a 535 prefix it's most likely me- messing up.

Our former family member Harley (our 3 yr old pitbull mix) was adopted! Dewey went to the pound to visit a few Saturdays ago and they told him a couple looking for their first dog had adopted him....We're so grateful that he has a home. We miss him but he needed a yard and we sure don't have one any more.

It's nice to have some major decisions made and things going smoothly for a change. We're grateful for all the love and support from family and friends.

SLC Weekend- Part I

The much anticipated weekend was worth the wait but it didn't start out as smoothly as I would have liked.....Dewey and I both had to work on Friday but the plan was for me to get off work, go straight home and wait for Du to get Erica and we'd leave from Logan at about 5:10 pm. Yeah right!! Julie covered the switchboard for me so I could leave a little early and I could not find my bathing suit anywhere! I haven't seen it since we moved so I ended up packing a pair of shorts and a bathing suit top as plan "B". Then, at 5:15 pm Du called me and said he's on the big press and is working late, something that almost never happens on a Friday!! So, I ended up gathering up both my and his stuff and going over to Loney's to wait for him to get off work...this meant 2-3 trips up and down the stairs plus packing my car...none of which I had planned on...

I didn't get to Loney's until a little after 6 pm and Dewey followed a little after me. Erika was only packed and ready on time. Then, she lost the $20 Mom gave her as spending money. She thought it fell out of her pocket when she took out her cell phone...turns out she never put it in her pocket. At least she found it and we hit the road. We were all hungry so we drove through Burger King in Wellsville. They parked us and made us wait 20 minutes for a fish sandwich which I ordered my usual way...minus lettuce, plus cheese...being a former employee of the BK Lounge I know the proper lingo for such things...and yes, you guessed it, it came with tons of lettuce and NO cheese- which by the way-they charged me 50 cents for! There was no ketchup in the bag, after they asked if we wanted any, not a single napkin, etc, etc! The drive down went well even though it was the end of rush-hour in the rain. We had the nicest clerk at check-in at the Crystal Inn. We got a nice room on the 3rd floor with 2 queen beds, fridge, micro, flat screen tv, etc. Du and Erika made a couple trips up in the elevator to unload the car but we all kinda just collapsed on top of the beds and were 'discussing what we wanted to do when a pack of roller derby kids rented the room directly above us....Just the thing I was trying to get away from!!! So it was SuperDewey to the rescue. He went right down to the front desk and spoke to "Broc". Dewey called up and asked if we could handle 'someone' sleeping on the couch and one king size bed....and, oh yeah, there'd be a jacuzzi tub in the room...um, hurt me!!!! Erika volunteered for the couch right away- which turned to be a full-size pullout. I'm so impressed with the Crystal Inn's staff and accommodations....

We watched tv and ate junk food and retired around midnight. I didn't sleep well but then I hardly ever do.... We slept in a little on Saturday, got up, and Dewey and Erika went down to breakfast. They brought the food back up to the room- milk, scrambled eggs, O'Brien potatoes, bagels, sausage links, etc. It was all so tasty. Erika has become addicted -her words, not mine- to hot chocolate with French Vanilla creme added...and they had it there for her. She was on cloud nine. She and I showered and got dressed and then it was time to head over to Sandy to go to the Living Planet Aquarium. For over a year Tyler, Erika and Dewey and I had donated money for the penguin habitat and it finally opened about 2 weeks ago. There was a crowd at the aquarium but not that busy in front of the 'quins. We had fun walking around and taking in the exhibits. We passed on petting the sting rays this time around and actually had Erika take OUR picture for a change. Also, I bought myself a souvenir of a gold key chain with a penguin on it. It's really cute. We bought Sara a fluffy and cuddly (stuffed)baby penguin and and Erika picked out a blue tall fluffy (and definitely stuffed). We got Aceley a small plastic cup and a necklace shaped like a penguin filled with soap to make bubbles...We decided not to get Tyler anything yet, he can pick out his own prize when it's his turn to come down to the aquarium....

It's raining, it's pouring, the old man is.......

Another Tuesday working and the rain is coming down in buckets....I'm so thankful for an indoor job. The forecast was for this to end today but last night's forecast said it'll last through Thursday night. But, there is hope....this weekend is supposed to be in the 70's....I can't wait.

Last weekend was USU graduation and Mother's Day. I didn't really have anything to do either occasion...I got to spend time with Tyler (we went shopping) and Saturday evening Aceley joined us when her parents went to the demolition derby...She and Tyler played and ate pizza. It was fun. I got a card and perfume from my husband and my sister gave me a miniature yellow rose bush...pretty good haul for a gal who's not even a Mother!

When I get off work tomorrow I will have 5 days in a row off again....nothing major going on so maybe I'll get in some family history work again....I have given it much thought in a while.

Soon school will be out and children everywhere will be uttering those 2 famous words- "I'm bored!" Hopefully I'll get to spend time with the Loney kids before the summer is over. Tyler will be going into middle school and Erika will be a high school freshman....wow, I'm old.

It's MAY!

I thought I'd be writing to say we'd found a house to rent- we found 2 that we thought would work but, alas, neither has worked out. On one we went so far as to send all the paperwork and sign the lease but then he backed out of the deal. I'm really disappointed because it was a great house. Oh well, there must be something better in store for us.

In the meantime we're staying busy....I'm still working my regular schedule at the hospital. Our new supervisor is making changes we all can live with and we've trained 4 new operators who are available to fill in shifts. Dewey is experiencing some forced days off as the printing business is a little slow....but hopefully it won't last long. (In the meantime I have the "honey-do" list at the ready if he gets bored....).

I can't believe the kids are almost out of school. Erika has won Honor Roll awards and Tyler is looking forward to being at middle school next year. I went by Ann's and even Aceley (3) was working hard on her "homework", at least someone likes to do it.

Thanks again to everyone for their support during the move and all. We've had our first hearing with the Utah Tax commission and it went well, I think, so maybe now I can get some sleep.

April Showers Bring May Flowers....

We are slowly but surely getting our lives out of boxes and finding places for our belongings. I'm still trying to decide how to live without a linen closet. We have a pretty good solution putting some shelves in the Master bedroom closet....we'll see how well that will work. Erika has been a big help...her 14 year old legs can take the townhouse stairs 2 at a time...I'm so jealous....

Speaking of stairs, last Monday I decided to come downstairs the quick way- I slid down mostly on my rib cage. I'm still sore but nothing major got broke. Stairs and I just have a history of not getting along.

I can not believe how fast this month has gone by. Soon it will be May and hopefully Spring will be in full bloom soon. I'm ready for sunshine and bright colors...

I went shopping with the Loney girls last Saturday. We went to the Layton Hills Mall. I thought I'd be a spectator but I ended up with a couple of new blouses, a new purse, had lunch in the Food Court. It was a really fun day.

MOVIN' ON UP, OVER, OUT......

So much for keeping up with my blog....but, I believe I've had a fairly good excuse. Moving. As previously mentioned, Ann's house was on the market and it was sold. So we have moved into a townhouse apartment in Logan over behind ShopKo. (It's actually across the parking lot from where we lived back in 1995...we actually watched this apartment being built...)

Lots of packing, stacking and moving. We now have 2 storage units. And the apartment is nice, 2 bedrooms, 1 and 1/2 baths and fairly new (nice) carpet. It also has AC which the other one didn't have. The patio is small but we have grass out back which will be nice come summertime.

We had such awesome help and support from our family. Ann, Sara and Shelley worked their butts off packing, cleaning and moving us, as did Erika. Tyler was a champion leaf bagger, with an assist from Aceley and her new garden cart and shovel. Mike and Brian helped Dewey with all our big stuff like washer, dryer, freezer, beds, etc. Brian also had a list of repairs (demands) from the new home owners that involved drywall that he and Mike tackled under the basement stairwell.... Little Aceley kept asking to help move boxes out to the truck- so we'd hand her empty boxes and she huff and puff and strut out to the truck or van with them....it was adorable!

Now we just have the task of putting stuff away and hopefully getting it whittled down to one storage unit before too long....but I'm gonna need some warmer weather before I'm ready to go out to storage and sift through all our old junk. I've really gotten rid of a bit of "stuff" this move...hopefully even more by the next one! With Erika's help our living room looks good but the rest of the of the place could use some work....

I'm working today (Saturday) traded it with a coworker/friend for next Saturday off...so when I get off we'll be going to a friend's wedding reception and tomorrow morning is our friend Shane's missionary's homecoming....I'll get to spend time with both Ty and Ericka when I get off work today...I can hardly wait....

March Madness

Wow....it's only the 10th of March and already it's been a busy month. My birthday was on the 2nd- I worked that day until 5pm. We were supposed get our new phone system but it was delayed, so I didn't get to experience it fully until yesterday...it's awesome. I got some really cool gifts-clothes, gift certificates, a Bath and Body set, a scrapbook calendar, and lots of cards- some of them were even G-rated.

Wednesday night we had the family cake and ice cream gathering at our house. Duane bought a chocolate cake with yellow roses on it; and he also got me white cake....It was fun.

This past Saturday we took Tyler and Erika down to the Ogden Train Station for the Model Railroad Show. We had a blast....we checked out the model trains indoors, saw the train exhibit that's made entirely of Legos, and both kids we able to climb on the locomotives outside. Hopefully the pictures I took will come out and I can post them here before too long. We ate dinner at a place called Warren's. They have great food and we had great service..... After we ate we went to the Rescue Mission Thrift Store next door and found some really great deals.

This week I get to work three 6am to 3 pm shifts...I love coming in to work so early. (And, it's not bad getting off at 3 either....) We've starting packing and sorting and I'm really trying to purge a lot of unnecessary stuff and junk. We're going to start putting stuff in storage this weekend...if the weather cooperates....It's only March-isn't that when everyone puts away their Christmas decos??

Thursday the 11th Tyler will be 11....He's excited to be having a birthday...You do that when you're young. He's going to take 3 friends to the movies on Saturday (the 13th) to celebrate...boy time, fun!

Another Saturday

I am at work again so I thought I'd write some more...Yesterday I had lunch with 2 of my girlfriends from work..we went to the Black Pearl for Chinese food. I'm doing meatless Fridays so I had the shrimp fried rice...it was sooooo good. I took about half of it home, their portions are huge! It was fun to sit and gab for a while. Even though we all three work at the same place we're on different schedules so we don't get to talk much except in passing sometimes so it was good to get together.

After lunch I picked up some drinks from the local Maverick and stopped by at Ann's. Little Aceley was having a marathon hugging session with her Aunt Sara. She was so cute....when I told her I wanted one of Sara's hugs she guided Sara to me and said "here-hug her." She's a hoot. Then I went and picked Tyler up from school so we could spend time together. I call it date and he lets me....We had a great time, except for the hour we spent at my doctor's office so I could get medicine for a sinus infection. (I get them so often that Dr S. just looks me over and calls down the "usual" antibiotic and pain meds.) Ty was helping me around the house and he decided he wanted Beto's for dinner (he always gets a ham breakfast burrito with NO cheese...)Duane ended up go at 3 fast food places to make all of us happy, what a good husband. We again watched the Olympics while we ate and Ty told us all about he's going to be a professional snowboarder- or an awesome hockey player like his dad. I love spending time with him!!


Better get back to work...we're actually a bit on the busy side today...I'll be back to work on Tuesday...so I'll catch up more then....

Ash Wednesday

Today is the 1st day of Lent...my first day without chocolate...so far so good. Mass is at 5 pm tonight so I'm leaving work a few minutes early to attend. I'm really looking forward to 40 days of spiritual renewal, and Easter. I've been reading up on the Ash Wednesday service and the reasoning behind the ashes...cool stuff...not just for Catholics either- who knew. It's actually rooted in the Old Testament of the Bible.

We've had a few more showings on the house. They even called early this morning to show it today. I feel kinda silly wishing to be "homeless" but it's such a cool house...some one needs to buy it so Dewey and I can move on. Soon the snow will melt and there will a yard and a house to make "pretty"...Spring IS coming I tell you. Oh, did I mention there's a 70% chance of SNOW tomorrow?.....

Duane and I had a good anniversary, Valentine's Day was nice and now we're making plans for my birthday on the 2nd of March. We're fairly certain we're going to the Hot Springs (we need to soak the old bones...lol) and maybe I'll get to hang out with Tyler and Erika some. I'll probably have to celebrate with Twinkies instead of chocolate cake (ahhhhhh!!) but otherwise it'll just be another year gone. Erika will be 14 next Monday- she's 40 years younger I am...you do the math....Anyway, when I'm around here I'm always amazed at her boundless energy! I wish I had some of it.

I'm off work for a few days and then back on Saturday. Then 2 more days off....rough life, eh? I like my job but we're going to have some new equipment changes soon that may cause some momentary headaches....change is always a challenge...."resistance is futile".... (and wastes everyone's time)....

More on my Mind

It's 1:30 am on Saturday the 13th...I'm working a graveyard shift to help out at work. I came in at 6 am this morning and went home around 10 am. I had lunch with my sister Ann at Angie's here in Logan. We live only minutes away from each other but seems we hardly have time to just and talk, it was really nice....

They've been showing Ann and Brian's quite a bit lately...Dewey and I aren't looking forward to the idea of moving but we sure would like them to get a sale. I can't imagine what it must be like to have 2 mortgages. The house around the corner that has almost the same layout as ours just put up a "contract pending"sign....bummer.....keep your fingers crossed that things will get moving, literally, very soon....

We had a great anniversary. We won the daily contest on KVNU (our local radio station) so we get a free rose and vase and a portrait sitting. (We were the only couple called in for the day so there wasn't any competition...) We had talked about going out for dinner but Du got hung up at work so he picked up Sizzler to Go and we had an awesome steak and shrimp dinner and watched Grey's Anatomy...now if that doesn't say romance I don't know what does...

I'm excited for the Winter Olympics to be getting under way in Vancouver. The Opening Ceremonies didn't seem nearly as impressive as Salt Lake's but I might be just a little prejudiced. I love the skiing, boarding and figure skating...and any day that has Apollo Ohno in it...

This Wednesday is the beginning of Lent...the 40 Holy Days leading up to Easter and the remembrance of Christ's suffering, cruxifiction and resurrection. I haven't made many sacrifices of my own for Lent in recent years so this year I decided I'm going to give up chocolate and donate the money saved to the local food pantry. No Hershey bars, chocolate chip cookies (or M&M ones), no Hershey Easter eggs, etc. It will be good both for my soul and the diabetes.... I want to be a lot more spiritual and this seems like a good time for renewal and faith. Many people around me are facing trials and I want my prayers to really count.

I really scaled back my Valentine's greetings this year...didn't even mail a single card (sorry Hallmark!!). I guess I just didn't figure I needed a holiday to tell those close to me I love em'...you know who you are...

FEBRUARY- Hurray!!

Today is February 9th. I'm sitting at work with a stuffy nose and still nursing the knee, but otherwise in good spirits. I worked last Saturday and meant to update this blog then but didn't take the time, sorry...

A lot of random things happening here. It's Girl Scout cookie time, so I ordered some from a coworkers' granddaughter and a few boxes from one of the maintenance guys (didn't want to play favorites). Two of my friends (who are coworkers also)baptized children over the weekend. I think that is so special.

Our new Supervisor starts this week! I'm excited to have an on-site sup for a change. I'm looking forward to changes at work, hopefully in scheduling and such.

I really like this week since it started with the SuperBowl (which the right team WON by the way!! Thank you SAINTS!!) Then, Thursday is our 27th wedding anniversary...I'm going to fix shrimp and pasta for dinner. I have the weekend off and Sunday is Valentine's Day so I'm going to think of some creative way to celebrate it with my Honey. Erika's birthday is the same as Washington's birthday...I can't believe she'll be 14, and she's so much taller than I am. She's quite a beauty....

I'm so glad it's mid-February, that means that March and Spring and good things are on the way! I can't wait!! I'm so stoked for spring time.....There are a few March birthdays(mine and 3 Loneys) coming up....ah, cake!

Happy 2010!!!

A whole new year is here with all the promise of a fresh start and wouldn't you know it I decided to end the old year by having knee surgery on the 30th of December. I torn my meniscus on my left knee in 2 places, so surgery was the best bet for healing. The doctor did a arthroscopic procedure so scaring is minimal - just 3 little incisions. When he got inside he found a huge amount of arthritis on the back of my knee cap so he scraped that while he in there...yes, it is as painful as it sounds. As of today I'm still walking with a cane but it seems to be getting better.



I don't make New Years' resolution any more- that way when I don't accomplish them I don't feel like a failure....but I have set a few "life goals" that I'm pretty sure I can live with: keep my blood sugar under control....lose weight (but I won't set an exact number)....be more forgiving (of myself as well as others).....



There are going to be more changes at my work. I interviewed for the job of Supervisor but did not get the job, but I like the person they selected. I'm hoping there will be less chaos in my work life before too much more time passes....we'll see. Dewey has been working hard and facing challenges with the printing world lately but he's grateful to have a job to go to each day (and a wife to come home to so he can vent....)



We got to see Tyler race in the Pinewood Derby recently and afterwards he got his Arrow of Light award in Cub Scouts. He really seems to be into Scouts. It was fun to watch. Grand-niece Aceley turned 3 in late December....what a cutie! She wants to "help" me walk since I have "a big owie on my leg". When I first came home from the hospital though she wouldn't come near me because I was on oxygen and I had "that gross thing" in my nose.