Hi Grandkids! It's been quite a while since I posted here, so I thought I'd get back to what I was trying to do, and that is to tell you about my life. I am not going to give you any more speeches, you don't seem to be too interested. I don't know if you're interested in my life story either, but maybe someday you will be. So, after we moved to the house on Arapaho, we got back into the daily grind of the kids going to a sitter where they were just across the street from their school. I was still working but had gone back to working for the Navy instead of the Internal Revenue Service. I had found that my boss wasn't interested in my future and I just felt that going back to where I had the most experience would be a good move. I was wrong, but you never know if you don't try. I eventually wound my way back to the same group of people I had worked with before, but I wasn't the only one. One gal had been a co-worker since 1968 when I first started working for the government. Her name was Pat and she was a very nice person. I took a downgrade when I went to the IRS, so when I went back to the office I had worked in before, Pat was my boss. I was working there when my Mom passed away. My best friends Dad had passed away in June, Jack's Grandma passed away in August, and then my Mom passed away in September of the same year. It was really hard having to deal with so much death all at once. Then in April of the next year, my Mom's Mom passed away too. I had been sick already and having to deal with all the changes was very difficult. It was a good thing I was working with old friends, although my big boss, not Pat, but our boss Jim Meyers wasn't a very understanding person and was very upset that I was off for a week mourning the loss of my Mother.
I went back to work and eventually I got tired of being there and put my application in for a job elsewhere. I was accepted, and made all the arrangements and did all the paperwork and changed jobs once again. All the while the children were growing and when the boys were 12, we took them and their sister out of childcare and let them stay home in the evenings until we got home. That was about 2 hours. They had keys to get in the house of course, and I think Sidra usually got home first. They did fairly well but sometimes they'd call and tell their Dad or me that they were sick and didn't go to school that day. Once they told me Sidra threw up on the table and they were going to stay home and take care of her......uh huh! I didn't find out till much later that that was a very "tall tale". The boys were in the Mighty Mights Wrestling and Sidra was in ballet and jazz dancing. We all went to the wrestling matches on the weekends, and afterwards we'd take them to the hamburger stand to eat and then home where they'd play outside till it started getting dark. We all attended Sidra's shows which were held at the Civic Center here in El Cajon. We usually would take the kids for ice cream as a treat after the show.
Eventually the neighborhood started deteriorating and the boys got swept into it as well and they stopped going to school at 16. They were old enough to decide, so the school district had determined, and both of them regretted it later on. They got into gangs and I didn't even realize till later on that they were into drugs as well. They got into trouble and one day we came home to police cars up and down our street and the road was blocked off at one end. Alex had a BB-gun and there was a fireman at the house next door that said he was aiming the gun at him and he called the police. They had gone in the house and collected all the guns and knives we owned and had them in the trunk of the police car. When all was said and done and they saw it was a BB-gun, they called us from the jail and said we could come and pick Alex up. So Jack went and got him while I made dinner for the rest of us. That was a day I would rather forget. But we all survived, the boys got older and wiser and then Brian met Lorena. I had retired from working in 1996 when Jack got offered a really good job and decided to take it and let me retire. The job was very stressful for me, and he was worried I'd have another heart attack. I was so happy the day he called and told me I could retire and take the early-out which meant I'd get $25,000.00 to vacate the position I was filling and they closed down the position and made one for a surveyor who would come down from somewhere in Northern California. I was elated. I couldn't wait to leave that job and was so thrilled to be at home at last. We didn't get the money for about 6 weeks I think, but when we did, Jack and I went shopping and we bought the big surround sound unit for the living room as well as a new couch, and a nice recliner for Grandma. Then I took Bri with me one day and we picked out twin mattresses for the kids. At the time, our landlord had been coming down to check on the plumbing and made arrangements to fix some of the things that were wrong with the house.
Lorena was still in school when she met Brian and I think she was 17. When she was 18, she and Brian came home one day and told us that Lorena was pregnant! We were surprised to say the least, and we made arrangements for her to move in to our house. Brian and Sidra and me all went to Nana's house and told her together that Lorena was pregnant. She wasn't happy about it. She asked Lorena what about her education because Lorena had made plans to go to college. They spoke to each other in Spanish so I don't know what they were taking about. But then we all left and went home. The pregnancy went fine and the day finally came that Lorena would go into labor and deliver a beautiful baby boy.
Everyone was thrilled with the new baby. He was so tiny and sweet and we all were proud of our new grandson. Lorena and Brian lived with us for a little while, then they moved into her Mom's house. We'd go visit now and then and for birthdays and whenever we were envited. Soon, Lorena told us she was pregnant again and this time she had a little girl. They named her Venus and she wouldn't let anyone hold her but her Mom. She had to be wrapped tightly after feeding and put in her swing and she'd fall asleep. Lorena had to have caeserean with Venus and my daughter Sidra and I would go to their house for 6 weeks straight and clean the house and help with the baby and help Lorena. Then there were problems between our son and Lorena's parents. Financial problems and other things that made it very uncomfortable for them to stay there, so they moved back to our place.
Things went fine for a while. Our landlord came down to do some work, saw that Brian and Lorena and the babies lived with us, in the extra room and she raised the rent so drastically that we decided we could do better finding a different place to live. I looked and looked through papers and found that buying a manufactured home would be better afforded and so we looked into it. We decided we liked it and went one day and made all the arrangements for having our home built the way we wanted it to be built. We finally made a trip to the park where our house would be located and found the house had finally arrived. We would look in the windows and see what remained to be done. The carpet wasn't down yet, and they had to secure the home to the lot and hook up all the utilities. When they were finished, we all moved in together and enjoyed our new home. We gave the kids the master bedroom because they needed their own bathroom and room enough for themselves and 2 small children.
We still live here, but Lorena and the kids live at her Mom's house. There has been a lot of water under the bridge, so they say, and Brian and Lorena are no longer together. While they were still together, they had 2 more children and now they are older; Brian you are 13, Venus you just turned 12,
Angel you are 10 and Kris is 5. I have been retired since I was 48, before your Mom and Dad met, and I am now 65. I am getting old and I am very tired and we see you all for a few days every week. We don't know the future and what might happen then, but we love all 4 of you and of course we love Alex and his family as well. After we had moved in here, Alex met Lori when he worked at Target. They got engaged and married and they now live in Colorado and have 3 children themselves. Anna who is going to be 10 in April, Alex Jr. who just turned 7 and maddy who will be 5 in September. We usually see them for a few days every year when they come out to do their taxes. Alex recently got to come out alone and spend 9 days with us. It's hard to say goodby and see your son leaving. We don't know when we'll see him again.
Today we are waiting for Venus and the family to come over and celebrate Venus's 12th birthday. Our water has been off since yesterday and the dishes can't be washed, we can't cook or clean, and we are thinking of going to buy pizza for dinner. There are gifts, decorations are up in the living room and all that needs to happen is for all of you to arrive.
This blog from this point will be done on a daily basis. It's difficult for me to remember all the things that have happened in the past, and I think I've fairly well covered my life and the things that have happened since all of you were born. So I will focus on things that happen on a daily basis and you'll have a record of your own to read about as the time rolls by. I hope I have covered the most important things that have happened and I will be talking to you now on a regular basis. I love all of you with all my heart, and I am proud of you and hope to have a long and healthy life and spend a lot of time with you and watching you grow up and live your own lives. Take care, and I will see you tomorrow!
Love You,
Grandma
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