11/30/20

 Austin and Dominic left today. 😭 We all get sad when they leave. But hopefully they will be back for Christmas. One of our team members Joe, has been decorating our mask/glove boxes. That is how boring being at one post for 8 hours is. He even made one of the boxes into a Security Emergency relief kit: Aka candy stash. I thought that was awesome. Today I left at 5. I haven't left at 5 in a couple of months. It was really nice. I picked up the last thing I needed for the gifts I made. I truly hope they like what I made. 

11/29/20

The makings of something 
wonderful

Dominic and his 
charcuterie boards

chillin watching their phones,
lol supposed to watch the game

McScruffy: lol 

Not sure what to call this do

talking board games

Perfection

Thanksgiving dinner is served

Missing Brandon/Ten

Holy smokes it was good

In memory of Anita and Kim

after dessert relaxation/digestion

Who says you have to celebrate Thanksgiving on the last Thursday of the month? Not us. You do it when you can. We were able to get together today for some great food and family time. Just missing Brandon, Ten and Caitlin. Everyone helped make a wonderful dinner. As always the boys made the best turkey. Kirstin made some killer sides and I made a new stuffing recipe. I added too much liquid, but it still tasted good. Kirstin set the table and put 2 extra plates to include her mom and my mom. When Christopher questioned why there were 2 extra plates she explained it was in memory of them. I burst into tears. Happy/sad tears. She's the best.  She also made a couple of pies, pumpkin and Pecan. Umm, lets just say that the pumpkin pie was the favorite. She added kahlua to the pecan it wasn't great! It ended up getting tossed. oops. 

Earlier we watched football. The Raiders SUCKED!!!!!!. I don't know what the hell happened to them. Last week they played hard and almost beat the Chiefs. Today, all I can do is lower my head in shame. We are better than this. We lost to the Falcons 43-6. Christopher had a great time harassing me. His team played and won. It was a great day except for the loss. 

I'm thankful for my kids. They may not be around all the time, but we make the time we have count. I love them so much. 
 

11/28/20

still leaking 😒

 

Chilis to go

Looks like my tank is still leaking or something in there is leaking. I dried it up earlier and came back to more water. I need to get this figured out. I did a little yard work. As much as I could. I got myself dinner from Chili's to go. Yes Pasta. I love pasta. lol Sat and decided that my tree that is sitting in my living room is coming down and I'm not going to decorate. No point. 

11/27/20

heated political discussion 

My baby...😊

 

😀☝

Austin got his test results, so he will be driving down today. Dominic text me and said he would be in town around 7:30 ish, so I told work I would work until 7. I drove to Christopher and Kirstin's house for dinner. It was so nice to see him. Austin got a late start because he wasn't able to rent the car being under 25 and no credit card. Kirstin figured it out for him and he arrived around 10:00 PM We all caught up. Laughed, argued over politics, told them after today no more talk about it. Austin is growing out his hair. I asked if he was going to let it get as long as Brandon's. He said NOPE! thank God. LOL I know Brandon loves his hair and that's great for him. I came home around 11:30. I was so happy to be around them, but I really missed having Brandon here. Don't know when I will see him since he won't be coming home for Christmas either. 😢

I don't think people realize how much family means to me. I know we have to let them go and make their own life, but they are my life. This big ass house is LONELY. 

11/26/20

bomblettes

😊☝

Dominic made a pie to take to 
Caitlins mom's

Brandon and Ten spent Thanksgiving together
in Ohio

Brandon's turkey

Dinner looks delicious

My dessert at work

TDR Thanksgiving 😞

Nanette made me a plate

Mary made me a plate

 I miss my mom immensely. Tears welled up in my eyes all day. And not having my kids here, made it even worse.  Today's been hard. I volunteer to work until 9:00 PM. No reason to go home. The casino was relatively quiet due to no Buffet and having to have reservations and only 25%. TDR served up ham and turkey, but the turkey was dry. They drenched my food in gravy. I threw most of it away. Had a piece of pumpkin pie. One of my co-workers saw how sad I was and came back to work and brought me food. That was so sweet of Mary to do that. She hooked me up. Then Nanette said to stop by on my way home because she made me a plate of food as well. I stopped for a bit and ate a little and watched 24. I haven't seen that show in years. 

Dominic and Caitlin went to her moms house for Thanksgiving. He made a pie to take. 

Brandon drove to Ohio to spend it with Ten and her roommate. They cooked a turkey and all the fixings. 

Christopher and Kirstin had Buffalo wild wings. He made "Bomblettes for their breakfast" 

Austin, cooked up some food he had because he didn't want to leave food in the fridge when he hopefully comes down this weekend. Waiting on Covid results. Dominic's test came back today, so he will be coming tomorrow night. 

* Update on my water heater: I text the guys and they came over about 8:00 AM this morning. No time to shower, but they realized they just forgot to turn the water on at the street. Thank God I can shower now when I get home.

I know there are so much to be thankful for, but 2020 has been an extremely hard year not only for me, but the world. I'm thankful I have a job. I'm thankful my kids are healthy and doing well. I'm thankful for new and old friends. I'm thankful for each breath I take. I wish all a blessed and happy day. Today, tomorrow and Always. 

11/25/20

 Work, work work.....I keep hearing Rihanna's song in my head. lol Today, while I was sitting in the TME I kept smelling smoke. I notified dispatch about it. It was coming from the roof above the uniform room. I looked out to see a couple of my bike guys out there relaying the info to dispatch. It all turned out ok, thank God. I felt like I helped save the day. At least that is what I'm telling myself. 😁

My friend Deisy came and sat with me. She's from the Palms and we hang out at work as much as we can. We are each others sounding board. Sometimes you just need someone to vent to. We've been that for each other since she's been there a couple months ago. I was venting about my water heater. A friend from work offered to help me fix it. He hooked me up with a water heater and had his dad come install it. It saved me about $200. Well I was working, so I couldn't be at home to supervise what was going on. When I got home from work I turned the shower on and NO WATER!!!!. I was pissed. How the hell am I going to go to work tomorrow without a shower. I laid down, fell asleep for about 2 hours then I was wide awake from 3:00 AM on. I already sleep crappy, but once my mind starts spinning, I can't stop it. I'm dreading work tomorrow. 

11/24/20

 

Dominic wanted to try his hand at making shelves for him and Caitlin. They went out and rented some tools and got the wood. He made 6 shelves for their plants and her Rae Dunn. lol. This is a whole other monster. lol He did a great job. Brandon made this table/cutting board earlier this yr, but he added an extension to it. He wants to add more so he can flip the leafs out and have more space. My boys are so talented in so many areas. I always think to myself wow, there is nothing these boys can't do. and I just SMILE! One proud mama! 

11/23/20

 

Back to work and it was like I hadn't been gone at all. Same old BS just different day. Funny story tho, one of the new hires thought because she came from the Luxor, that she would be able to be put on the floor and do things like the officers that have been there for yrs. Um..you ain't nobody at Sunset girl....Well apparently she just up and left her post last week and quit. No one knows how long she was gone, but I give her props for walking out during a Pandemic when most casinos are closing down during the week and not opening up until Friday for the weekend. Good luck finding a job. lol As much as I don't like going to Sunset, I'm grateful I have a job that keeps me in my house, car, my bills paid and food on my table. So I told them I would stay until 9 since it was my first day back and wasn't sure how I would feel. Well here it is 9:15 and they asked me to stay until 11. Of course I said yes. Stopped in Starbucks and got me a Toasted white chocolate mocha for my last break to keep me going. 

11/22/20

The start of something great:
I'm all toasty inside!

Body

Topiary 

My Grinch inspired tree

Day view

Yesterday Nanette and I spent a great deal of time trying to figure out what I was going to do since I have been so down lately about the holidays. She's been hearing me talk about my obsession with the Grinch this yr and we went to work on making a tree inspired by that. I made 2 topiaries. It took me about 1.5 hours yesterday to make just 1 because I didn't have the right tools. I used a skewer to heat up and try to melt a hole in the ornaments. That took forever. Today Damien drilled the holes I needed in less than 10 mins. on the second one. I'm so happy I was able to get that done. Thanks! While Nanette assembled the body parts I put on the leg ornaments. I adore those ornaments. Those are the ones I drove around looking for yesterday. I need more green boas to finish up his head, but for the most part the tree is perfect for me. I love it. I'm very thankful and blessed that she saw that I was down and wanted to turn that frown upside down. LOL I asked Christopher to come over today and help me put up the tree in the living room. He said yes. I was so happy. I will fluff and decorate during the week. He stayed for dinner and to watch the Raider game. OMG it was such a good game. He at one point said you turn into a monster or something to that affect when you watch them play. I tend to yell a lot at the tv. I know they hear me 😉I've seen him a time or two yelling while watching the Vegas Golden Knights. Unfortunately we lost to Kansas City. But damn it was close. KC 35-LV31. I go back to work tomorrow. I'm dreading it, but unfortunately my lottery numbers haven't hit yet, so I need that paycheck. Going to miss my bed. LOL 

“Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before! What if Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store. What if Christmas... perhaps... means a little bit more!”

11/21/20

Ichi Ramen House

big project and big cup of cocoa

Dollar tree craft :) 

 What a long day. Got up early to go to my Drs appointment. He wanted me to wait until Wed now since I still draining, but told him I can't come during the week or I will end up losing my job due to pointing out. He agreed to take the tube out, but I have to go back next Saturday to get the stitches removed. From there it was just non stop going. I ran over to Walmart really quick because I was looking for some really big ornaments for a project I wanted to work on. I wanted to make a topiary with pretty colors. They only had the basic holiday greens, reds, golds and silver. I picked a few up and then met Nanette at Mimi's for brunch. It wasn't that great. But oh well. We ran by my house really quick because I had to use the restroom and take my meds. While there I noticed that my garage had water in it. Wouldn't you know it, my water heater is leaking. You've got to be kidding me. I can't catch a freaking break. I will call my homeowners insurance and hopefully they will cover it. Now onto Bigs a furniture store near my house. I would love to get a new living room set, but with my water heater now, that will be on the back burner for a while. It was fun looking. We stopped off at a few more stores, 5 Below, Big Lots, and Michaels. We both were getting hungry after our long morning of shopping, so we stopped at the Ramen place that Kirstin got me the other night. Its so good. We grubbed and then realized that we might have been overcharged at Michaels. We took the stuff back because I had already gotten the stuff from Walmart earlier and it was cheaper there. Ran to 4 different Dollar Tree looking for a specific item. Thank God I told the girl at the first one to hold onto the stuff incase I didn't find what I needed at the others. I'm going to wait to show that picture because I want the kids to see it first in person. She helped me put up some Christmas since I can't do much. (I'm hoping I will get my roommate/s to help me put up my tree, we'll see) I made those little trees from the Dollar store mini trees. Its 2 together with a tin we found there and a hat. Who knew there were so many possibilities with stuff from there?