My girls will be home for Christmas!

I am a Proud Army Mom and my girls will be home for Christmas!
Darleen - PFC Dolbee graduated BCT on 11/20/09 at Ft Jackson, MO and started AIT school at the same base the following monday 11/23/09. She gets 2 weeks off for Holiday Exodus and will be home Thursday 12/17! Cousin Lisa is getting her from the base on 12/16 and driving to their house in Georgia then taking her to the airport in Atlanta to fly home to Vegas~ then on 12/31 she will fly back to Atlanta and stay with Tim & Lisa until they return her to base 1/3/10. She will graduate AIT 2/3/10! Samantha - PV2 Dolbee graduated BCT on 9/10/09 at Ft Leonard Wood, Mo and began AIT school there a week later 9/21/09. She graduates from AIT this Friday 12/11 at 8:00 am and then will get her crap together, shuttle to the airport and fly to Dallas, then fly home to Vegas! She is DONE! Now she will be a full fledged weekend warrior~ HOOAH!

The new twins

These are my new twins. We have had them for 3 weeks now and they are just so fun! Eddie surprised me with them to make me smile and fill my empty house and loneliness. So far, it's working! The cats are getting used to them.
!
This is Sandy
This is Danny
They spend all their time together wrestling toys from each other, pooping and peeing.

They met one of their cousins last Sunday. This is Marley Poncho Box. He is a happy humping chihuahua.

They are getting along well with the cats. Leeloo has liked them from day one.
Rage has just started letting them be around him the last 2 days.
Gimpy hisses and growls when he can see them. Kiki hates them still.

October is breast cancer awareness!!!

Save the boobies! It is breast cancer awareness month! Even the NFL is getting into it!
Click the link below to give free mammograms:
http://www.thebreastcancersite.com/clickToGive/home.faces?siteId=2

Samantha's BCT graduation and road trip to Missouri!

So Karissa and I journeyed to Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri for Samantha's BCT (basic combat training) graduation from the Army on September 8th - 11th, and yes we flew on an airplane and survived on 9/11/09! woo hoo!
Karissa did a blog but couldn't get all the pictures (hyperlink below)
http://nklemme.blogspot.com/2009/09/boot-camp-graduation.html
so here are the items she missed!

the worlds largest farmer, the worlds largest eyeball and the worlds largest mosaic cat!!! And more!

To start off, we rented a car I would now NEVER buy. Toyota Prius. It had awesome fuel economy on the 6 gallon tank, but it is noisy and you have to press too many buttons! Luckily we never locked the keys in it!









Then we went to White Castle! Neither of us had ever eaten there before! My dad says he loves it and the locals call them "rat burgers". We enjoyed ours and had extra and we couldn't find any bums or homeless people to give them to. Just as we were ready to chuck them, this lady came in and ordered coffee and two sliders and hoped it would be less than $4.00 'cuz that's all she had. Karissa and I decided to give our 2 extra burgers to this lady. She was unsure at first and I convinced her we would throw them away! So she accepted them and we got in our Prius and drove off to our 1st of many destinations!




















Yup! St Louis Arch! It is such a huge structure! We finally found a place to get us and the Arch in the picture together! Karissa is in the right doing Darleen's famous Cheerleader Jump.
Then we were off to find a Giant Farmer Fred and Clyde! OMG as you can see by the pictures, we laughed so hard! They were so funny!



















Then we were off to find a Giant Eyeball!

And as we were there we found the bonus Giant Blue mosaic Cat!
then we headed for another destination called Hot and Cold water towers. This is what we found!
There was one last thing we had to get a picture of and it is this sign posted along the freeway throught the state. It reads "HIT A WORKER $10,000 FINE. LOSE YOUR LICENSE"
must be pretty bad over there!













This was our sunrise as we drove to the airport to go home. It was amazing and this does not do it justice! The sun was so huge and red it looked like Mars!

My Army Girls

So Darleen left on Monday 9.7.09 for Fort Jackson, SC via MEPS in Salt Lake. She was there at the Radisson Hotel for an extra day and didn't ship to Ft. Jackson until 9.9.09. Luckily Box grandparents lived nearby and visited her Monday night, and Tuesday night took her to dinner. Then Wednesday she flew to Ft Jackson to begin her BCT! She arrived and is still in reception until basic training starts Monday 9.21.09. Thankfully they have had their phones and she has been able to text and call. Some girls can't keep their mouths shut so they have been doing a lot of PT.











Samantha graduated from BCT on Thursday 9.10.09 at Ft Leondard Wood, MO. Family day was on Wednesday and we got to spend the whole day with our soldiers on base. We went to the PX, all the training sites that were open and outside her barracks. She is a true Army Girl. She loves it and it shows.
At graduation they announced the oldest and the youngest soldiers. PV2 Samantha Dolbee from Nevada was the youngest graduate at the age of 17. She stays at FLW for her AIT school, and it starts Monday 9.21.09.


So today is my first evening alone! Eddie is gone to work and Darleen is away at BCT Ft. Jackson, SC. Samantha is away at AIT school Ft. Leonard Wood, MO.

This is the first time since the girls were born 17 years and 10 months ago, that I have not worked. I was laid off in June and still looking for a new job. I am not good at being a housewife yet, as I get upset that I don't have a job. I have registered for school at CSN city college, but am awaiting my transcripts to merge so I can register for mid term classes. I feel that I cannot get a new job until I complete my college degree. I have also decided to change careers and become an RN. Once I have taken all my core classes at CSN I will transfer to UNLV and then enter the nursing program. I may just get my second college degree at the same time the girls get theirs! We shall see!

My life seems to be starting over at the age of 38! I guess it's never to late!

I am looking for work

I am currently looking for a job! I have an awesome work history that is steady and consistent! I am a workaholic and an organization freak (at work that is) I have been promoted and expanded my work experience at every job I have had! I am steadily applying for jobs and filling out questionnaires and attaching and uploading my resume, cover letter, transcripts. I have a personal goal I set for myself to apply for 10 jobs a week. Some weeks, there are more, some there are less, but I still go for it!

I have my resume on Monsterjobs.com. CareerBuilder.com, USAjobs.gov, Nevada Job exchange, Lasvegasjobs.com, and I'm sure there are more! Wow!
Looking for a new job takes as much time to do as a real job! As I said in my previous blog un-frikcin-employed I spend 4 - 5 hours a day looking for a job! But I am steadfast and stick with schedule. It has been 4 1/2 weeks since i was laid off. The Fontainebleau Resort isn't doing any better than me it seems. They are still in bankruptcy court and tring to get money to finish the project. It was scheduled to open in October 2009. This link has current photos and links to the most recent news articles.
www.vegastodayandtomorrow.com/fontainebleau.htm#construction

I miss my job. I just checked the company website today for job openings, just in case. No jobs at this time. They have such an awesome portfolio. www.raymond-co.com

Just needed to take some time out of my day and blog about it. Thanks for listening!

un-frickin-employed!!!

So the awesome job I have loved since January 2008 laid me off June 3, 2009. Our construction site Fontainebleau Casino in Las Vegas went bankrupt. I am now unemployed and still find myself wide awake at 4:30 every morning!! So I get up and drive Eddie to work. Come home, eat some breakfast and get on the computer and look for a new frickin job! I swear I spend 5-6 hours a day Monday - Friday (sometimes Saturday) looking at the 5 job search agents I have signed up with. I apply for and send resumes to 2-4 places a day. Going for gold here, and looking at lots of Government jobs. Those applications are like taking an SAT test!! They take about 1-2 hours to complete! There is the background, education and then 60 - 90 questions for each application! YIKES!!
I am still adapting to the homemaker lifestyle. Problem is, I wake up at 4:30 am..........stores open about 8:00 am......Target, Office Depot, etc. I have bought 3 black ink cartridges and on my 2nd ream of paper!
Last time I was off work I had two little babies to chase around. Yup I have worked from days after I turned 16 until manditory maternaty leave with the twins in September 1991. Then I didn't return to work until they were almost 2! I mean, how many times a week can I do laundry and clean the house? I haven't let my self get sucked into the couch. I have only watched 3 movies, on 3 seperate days. I have actually lost weight! Woo hoo!
I am enjoying the one on one time with Darleen, and we are doing our best to not cry every day with Samantha at Fort Leonard Wood, MO. We are coping quite well I think. Going to start our evening/morning walks on Monday!

oh saw Transformers 2 in IMAX!!! THE BOMB DUDES!!!!! We will be seeing Harry Potter in IMAX also, they cost more but they are so AWESOME to see!!!

THE TWILIGHT SAGA: NEW MOON trailer in HD Video by Trailer Park - MySpace Video

THE TWILIGHT SAGA: NEW MOON trailer in HD Video by Trailer Park - MySpace Video

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Its time to graduate!

So its finally that time...my little girls are going to graduate from High School and become adults!Yikes! Time has flown since my WOW seniors blog 8/8/08. These are my precious little girls in Kindergarten at Tarpey Elementary in Clovis, CA September 1995.

Their 17th birthday November 13, 2008. Seemed so far to June from there! Proud dad.

Samantha & Darleen ready for Senior Prom June 2009.

Darleen & Samantha my beautiful precious little girls ready to graduate from Liberty High School June 9, 2009. Wow, just 14 days away!

Race for the Cure

I have been such a slacker with my blog this year. Maybe because there has been nothing new going on???? Well, my slacker times are coming to an end!!

Saturday May 2, 2009 we are participating in the Susan G Komen "Race for the Cure"
I wanted to be all daring and do the 5K walk, but remembered I have surgery on the Tuesday previous...so alas, we will be doing a 1K walk. My awesome employer Raymond Company has sponsered us and 10 of my co-workers to participate in the 1 Mile Fun Walk.

http://race.komensouthernnevada.org/site/TR/Race/General?team_id=22650&pg=team&fr_id=1040 click to donate on our team site.

This is an aweseme cause that I have been donating to for years! Yes I have lots of support for the women who go through this tough time and survive or not. Eddie supports it he loves boobs and wants them to be around foreverBelow is a link that donates free mamograms when you click on their site. Just by clicking on the on the link. No purchase necesary!http://www.thebreastcancersite.com/clickToGive/home.faces?siteId=2

There should be some pictures after the "Race" posted. So be sure to check back! Love you all! And remember to eat! Losts of sponsers are in things you buy. I know it seems like a comercial blog, but its just a support page! Support your boobies!

Brave Girl Dee Dee

Dee is a very brave girl. Today she has to fly to MEPS in SLC to finish her Army Reserve stuff and swear in. She is brave because she has to fly there alone, stay in a hotel alone and fly home Thursday alone.

I beleive she has decided on Gloria as the hippo travel companion of choice. Wise decision as she is a safe traveler. I had a picture of her, but its gone.

Welcome to Facebook

So I just wanted to say how much fun Facebook has become. Thanks Karissa for getting me started long ago at G-ma & G-Pa Gaynes house at midnight.

In the last few months I have rekindled long lost friendships and relatives. Also keeping posted with family and friends current. Still looking for others, if you are out there I will find you! I have hooked up with high school and jr high friends and some as far back as 6th grade! Crazy you say? Not I! I love it! Facebook friends are forever!

So take out that yearbook and look for a blast from the past!

Thanks for coming!

They text, they joked....then they drove.....Karissa and Nate http://nklemme.blogspot.com/2009/01/it-all-went-down-like-this.html

It was awesome and we all needed it. We had been away far to long, due to money and car issues over 2008. But they did it!

Wii for hours and then PS3 after the girls went to bed.

We went to Kohls and got awesome T-shirts for our men, and bras for the girls! Serriously.

We made 10 dozen tamales and ate candy, pumpkin pie, banana bread and eggnog bread.