Before I Do Anything Else...

I'm going to blog! I swear, if I so much as glance at anything else on my way to this site, I'm a goner. I get lost in reading something and I use up all my time and energy before I can post. This time I closed my eyes, and that's what I'll have to do from now on, I guess. Why was that not a problem before? Must've been less interesting news. Hmmm. I'm going to make a list of things we've done or that have happened. I'll elaborate on some: Today we went on a drive to Red Rocks park, only we didn't get there. We couldn't find our way, so we'll look at a map first next time. Of course, we didn't ask for directions; I mean, you can see them from here, so why not be able to get there? Ha ha. But we had a nice drive, then stopped at Wal Mart, and then came in and ate salisbury steak and taties and peas, and a little bit of cake. Now my tummy is sooo full! Today I wore a bracelet and necklace that DeeDee gave me, that were given to her by the jewelry-making resident's daughter. The mother had died recently (I can't get used to that), and she donated her supplies to the bldg. There was some jewelry that was already completed, and DeeDee gave me a few necklaces and a couple of matching bracelets! I'm really happy about that, first of all because I liked the jewelry lady, and, secondly, I am bereft of jewelry compared to the Las Vegas residents. That's interesting how people in diff. areas wear diff. makeup, jewelry, clothing, glasses, shoes, perfume, etc., isn't it? Here, they wear tons of jewelry, so it's nice to have more. It feels like playing dress-up again! We went to a hamburger joint that Melissa likes, for her birthday. It was fun and I liked their milkshakes. Sadly, Melissa put in her notice and will be leaving here in a couple of weeks. Her mother owns a house where some renters died in a fire, and now she's entangled in legal difficulties before her ins. co. will give her the money to fix it back up. It's very stressful for her mother, because children died in the fire. The authorities need to make sure there was no arson involved before it's not considered a crime scene. How awful! Melissa is going to help her mom and spend more time with her kids and husband, and I'm happy for her about that. She says she'll come and eat lunch with us sometimes. I'm going to miss her. I did karaoke last Wed. We didn't do our skit because Aaron (Gilligan) was hit in the eye by a soccer ball and it actually made a hole in his eye. His eye looks pretty normal, but it's bleeding and the pressure has gone down (they said it's "collapsing") (isn't this a cheery little post?). The last I heard, it should heal and be all right. I certainly hope so. We can do our skit later on. At karaoke, I sang Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend and I Wanna Be Loved By You, and I imitated Marilyn Monroe. They really loved it, and it was fun to do. Tut has started watching tv when it's on near him. He really follows it, and he acts like he's just one of us, watching tv. Tut loves routines. They came and inspected Mark's bldg. last week, and it went well. Mark finds out Monday whether he got an A or a B. His boss seemed pretty happy about it. I went over there Friday to help them decorate cookies. The two elderly people beside me ate their cookie dough before it was baked, and they ate the frosting after, rather than use it on the cookies. It was hilarious, and they seemed to enjoy themselves. The Valentine's Dance was wonderful and I'll get you pictures as soon as Mark gets them from Melissa in Marketing. We ate delicious pork roast and they had a pretend Elvis who was quite a good singer. Most importantly, they had cool desserts and we had the best one - Bananas Foster. It's bananas that they flame and serve with ice cream. Yum! I was given some clothes by a resident that was moving to the other bldg., by way of DeeDee. The lady must have a huge wardrobe, because there was so much to choose from and they were her extras she didn't need. Mark is washing them now - I got a few tops, a couple of slacks, and a bunch of pjs that are in nice shape. Yay! I needed pjs! Last Saturday, Mark and I drove to the Green Valley area of Vegas, which is really nice, with lots of stately palm trees and a gorgeous carrousel. There are some big-name stores there we looked at: Whole Foods, West Elm, Pottery Barn, Coldwater Creek, Talbot's, and Sonoma Williams. I loved just looking around. I got pictures from that, too. Let's see...we've been watching American Idol. The talent is outrageous this year and I love the new judges. I went with Mark this a.m., before our long drive, to investigate whether four inactive families still lived where they had. The two he found hadn't been active and didn't want visitors, but they were cordial to him. Mark's birthday is coming up. Maybe we'll get to go to the movies. It would be the first time in a really long time! I know I'll remember more later on, but at least that's some news. I hope you are all feeling better and that Phillip is all right in Afghanistan (he just shipped out, but he doesn't like us making a big deal about it). I also hope that Seth is all right and that he can call us sometime, when he gets to use a phone. We love you all! xoxoxo