Pretty pics

New-To-Me Wheels!!

Yes sir, I am the proud owner of a 1983 Chevy G20.  :D   Got her yesterday.  No name for her yet, waiting for her to tell me, haha.  Picked up this sweet ride a few hours away for $900, and I feel like I stole her!  Ran great, motor and tranny ran smooth, good tires all around.  Has some things to work on, naturally, but yay!!!! 

Here she be:

Has a carbureted 305 V8 with 75k miles on her.  Can't wait to start outfitting her.  :D

 

MIA and Stuffs

I admit, I have gone a while.  Got into a funk, I suppose.   Let's see, to catch up on things since my last posting.

Got somewhat settled into the new place.  Think I got a little bummed out about it, actually.  Going back to what is considered 'normal'.  Totally opposite of what direction I had been going before.  But it can have a bad or good outcome of this, more on that later.

I sold Van Halen.   :(:(:(  Hated to do it, sooo bad!!!!    Had to sell one, and the car was the practical choice to keep.  Only good part of that was that Van Halen was bought by someone who was to use her for what she was intended..   a family of 4 that was to camp out of her on hiking trips, and the guy was going to live out of while on working away from home.  (Thank you Corey!)

I believe the sell of her, housed with having a house with all it's trappings and repairs and stuff needed just sent me into a downward spiral of depression.  Did not handle that very well for a long while.  But I'm working on it and moving forward.

Forward to almost Christmas and WHOA!!!   I became a grandma.  :D   Christmas Eve I was lucky enough to be in the room while my daughter gave birth to my first grandchild.  Born at 7pm on the dot, weighing 7lbs, 7oz and 20 1/2" long after...  17 hours of labor.  Grandson loved his 7's, huh?   Hehe.  Daughter did awesome, giving birth completely natural.  And he's such a cutie!!!!!!!    This 'Gigi' is so in love!!!!



 

(My dad holding him next to mom, such a sweetie!!)

Also decided to go back to school, so I'm getting used to that.  Have 2 years left for a bachelor's in Health Information Management (HIM).  It's all online, so that part is way cool.  Aiming to work in coding after I'm done.  Which can be done remotely.   *wink*  I picked HIM because 1). it's all done online, no driving 50 miles one way to the university for Pammy, yeah!  2). it goes with both of my associate degrees in Computer Science and Radiologic Technology. 3). Coding is computer driven, meaning less physical strain on my bum wrist. and 4). can work remotely from a company not local, and this is a plus because, let's face it, where my house is now there just aren't that many jobs in this depressed local economy.

So far this is working out pretty good, financial wise, as I can concentrate on school full time without worrying too much about a full time job.  I live cheap, that helps.  I picked up a very part time job off the books to help supplement spending money, so that's cool.  :)

The car situation..   My car isn't going to last the year, I don't think.  The first cylinder is failing, so the motor is going out.  Runs for now okay, but I know it's limited.  Hell, it's a cheapy car that isn't worth anything, so the plan is to run it til she dies, in the mean time, keeping my eyes open for my next vehicle... which, you guessed it..  will be a van!!!   :D

Next van:  still undecided whether to look for a cargo van, conversion van, or minivan.  It will probably come down to the best one in the best condition when I have the money for it.  Or need for it, should the car die tomorrow.

In summary:  while working towards my remote new career, I'll be looking for my next 'Pampervan' and get to start over with a clean slate.  Eventually, be able to have my cake and eat it, too.  Ie. have a cheap to own paid-for homebase with a camper van that I can use to travel while taking my job with me.  Oh yeah!!!!  

  I miss you.....

Flipper No More, Different Direction Part 2

Okay, so a month later...

White paint everywhere, new carpeting in all bedrooms and hallway, new flooring in kitchen.

Also remember, I had everything I owned condensed into a van, so I was basically starting over with ZERO furniture and stuff.

Most of these things was either donated, or found very cheap.  Had a ton of help from family, thank goodness!

I didn't take any pics of the spare rooms, they are bare, just white walls and new carpet.  Nor the bathrooms, still working on them as well.

It's a work in progress.  Not too bad for a home base to come back to when I travel some.  And when the road gets weary, place to come back to.  :)

 

Flipper No More, Different Direction

Well, as things happen, life changes.

I kind of had a house fall into my lap.  Well, a mobile home.  But, it was cheap!  Like $1500 cheap.  Yeah.

So, sold the Dolphin and made enough off of it to pay for a home.  BOY did it need work!!!!!

Have been working on it just over a month and the improvements are quite impressive, if I do say so, myself.

Here's some pics of before:

Had a fence, new paint, not too bad.  :)

Some landscaping... I hope I don't kill these flowers. 

Decent porch on her, decent size.

Yeah...  the rest of these will show how much work is going to be needing done.

 

(notice, they took out the shower... hmm...)

And the smell, omg!!!!    Lots of pets, 3 little kids, and I swear, they didn't EVER clean. 

For example, that newish looking fridge that was less than a year old took me and my sister 2 hours together to clean.  

We decided to paint the whole darn place white, so it'd be bright and clean looking.  Replace nasty carpet and put in kitchen flooring. 

Will put in a Part 2 to show what a month's worth of work accomplishes.

New Rig... Flipper

Yes...  got a new rig.....

 

Kind of had to, needed/wanted to have a few more amenities.  Mainly, bathroom facilities and air conditioning for this upcoming summer.  I got a good deal.   Needs work, of course.  One of my sis's want's to 'glam it up', haha...   but here's the new wheels....   Flipper.  :)

 

 

 

Give me some time on it, I will pretty it up. :)

 

Van Halen will be going up for sale, unfortunately.   But hey, I don't want to try to keep 3 vehicles up, ya know. 

 

Wish me luck on this new adventure!!   :)

Goofy Doggy

Just makes me giggle.

So, last week my parents had me doggy-sit their dog, Wesley.   Just for a day.  But dad did bring food, water, doggy bed, and doggy treats.

Somehow, the doggy treats got hidden and left in my cabinet.  Well, mainly because the doggies were driving me nuts about them.  But, there they were.

Last night, during the storm, since there were possible tornado activity, me and my doggy, Chevy, were up and prepared to hide for cover.  Since Chevy wasn't taking a liking to the noise of the rain and thundering and kept pacing the floor and moaning, I decided to give her one of Wesley's bones.

Well, imagine if you will, the need to try to bury a bone, the fear of not wanting to go outside...what's a doggy to do??      Yes, I found her trying to 'bury' the bone in the corner of a decorative part of the house with twinkle lights.  

The lights didn't work for covering it up, apparently.   haha....

I next found her trying to bury the bone in the doggy bed, which wasn't cooperating.   She gave up and decided to just eat the darn thing.

Goofy doggy.

Laughlin Nevada

This July 30th will mark the 15th anniversary, or would have been, of John and I's marriage. 

 

We planned a week long trip that was a few things rolled into one:  vacation and wedding.  We took my 12 y/o daughter with us, of course.  All 3 of us loaded up in my little 2-door Chevy Cavalier for a week of fun.

 

Our main stop was in Laughlin, Nevada.  For the gambling, and for the wedding.  We had friends meet us there, very very good friends, to attend our wedding.  His best friend in the world, David, was his best man.  My daughter was my maid of honor. 

 

We stayed at the Colorado Belle, a casino designed to look like a riverboat that sat right on the Colorado River.  I researched ahead of time and snagged some rooms cheap.  As well as, applying for marriage license early to marry across the river in Bullhead City, Arizona. 

 

So while on this trip, I snagged a picture of that same casino as I was driving by, sent it to my daughter. 

 

 

 

I wished I could have stopped there, but this trip was very hectic.  It didn't feel right for a hula doll planting.  I'd rather go on my own, in my own way.  And not by flying there, but by driving.  That is more meaningful for me.

 

Well anyway, here's a few pics of this recent stay in Laughlin, Nevada.

 

Pics are of the villa at the Golden Nugget they put us in.  Couldn't have had any better weather!!  Gorgeous high 70's, light breeze.  And this villa sat right on the Colorado River. 

 

Three bedroom, 3 1/2 bathrooms, private high walled gates right next to the casino.  This is where they put the famous people that come to town to perform for the casino.

 



 

That last one was my room, lol.  Hey, a free trip, you take what you get. :)

 

A person could get used to this, I suppose.   Honestly, I felt like an imposter the entire time.  I soooo don't belong here, lol.  But it was nice to experience this side of life for once.  :)



Vegas Trip

This was in February.  Sorry it took me a while to post this, been busy.  :)

I got the chance to go on a trip to Vegas.   No cost to me, came up at the last minute.  My sister's father-in-law had a trip planned, and his son was not able to go.  So he asked if I wanted to go.  Since I wasn't working, I said sure!!   Free trip to Vegas??  uhhh...  yeah!

Lemme tell you what...   That man must have been going for a looooong time to get this kind of treatment!!  

The purpose of the trip was a golf tournament in Laughlin, Nevada.  So, we flew to Vegas, limmo picked us up, stayed 2 nights there in the Penthouse Suite on the top floor of the Golden Nugget, hopped in the limmo again for an hour and half drive to Laughlin, which they put us in the Villa of the Golden Nugget for 2 days (one of which was the golf tourney), then limo back to Vegas and in the Penthouse Suite again for the night, then limo back to the airport the next day.

I snagged a few pics...   This is how the other half lives....

 

My private room and bath...

 

 

Had a blast!!  My companion was a joy to be around.  Always happy and smiling, and everyone loves him there.  People knew his name wherever we went and some rushed up to him for big hugs.  It's apparent this place was his second home, haha.  He played a lot of blackjack and I got to learn it pretty well.  I think I came away a few hundred in my pocket.

 

Here's reality though..  One morning I'm waking up in the penthouse in Las Vegas, the next morning I'm eating lentils for breakfast.  haha!!

 

Will post pics of Laughlin on the next post.