Happy Halloween...not so much!

Okay. I know that my next post was supposed to be over the kids and I going on our mini-trip to ABQ, but had to vent a bit.

Halloween is supposed to be the fun day. Kids dress up...and adults, too. The candy search ensues and all that jazz. Well, all of that did happen this past Halloween, but there was another form of trick or treating that went on as well...our house was robbed Halloween afternoon.

I got out of school early to head to the house, get out of my costume, and get the kids for us all to start the chaos. Of course, when I was in my bathroom struggling to get the Grecian rope untied from waist, I looked back in the mirror and saw that the trunk at the end of my bed looked ransacked. No one ever gets in the trunk since it is just full of old blankets and stuff packed away until the other house is done. So, thought that was odd and walked back into the room and immediately confirmed that stuff had been taken...My jewelry box was not on my nightstand.

It was when I noticed this I called the cops and Bjak, took a look around the house and became much more observant than I had been before going to my bathroom...when ya gotta go...ya gotta go.

For the most part the house only looked partially ransacked. But these folks knew what they were looking for. ALL the medications we had in the medi cabinet...gone. ALL the beer in the garage fridge...gone. ALL the harder booze in the pantry...gone. The change jar from our closet...gone. My jewelry box, which on that day had my stud earrings and MY WEDDING RING so that I would not snag my costume...gone. The little diamond stud earrings Bjak's grandma left for Riley...gone. Several peices of Brighton...gone. An attempt seemd to have been made to take the Wii off the TV, but guess they just could not get it done...so, the Wii...still here!!

Needless to say, there was a bit of trauma Friday afternoon. Still very upset and not yet comfy being in this house. Just gives me more reason to get out of this house and back to some form of civilization!!

Anyway, at this point, all I can do is let it go, talk to insurance folks, and go from pawn to pawn shop! Boy, does that ever sound fun? NOT!

The bright side is that no one was hurt, there was not a confrontation, and apparently they needed the "stuff" more than we did.

More on happier times with the next update!!

Housing Progress

Well, here are the updates on the house. We have walls and windows frames formed. After a week of work, there has been major progress. I have no idea who lit the fire, but I can tell you that I am not complaining. Here are some pics to show the progress.

Keep in mind there was a LOT of work going on this week, as these pics show from the last housing post. Bjak said there was a very large crew working on the house for about four days, and I think it shows!

But make sure to remember that the previous photos were taken EARLIER in the week. By the end of the week, we had all of this!!

Yes, all of this happened in fewer than five days!! Yippie!! Major progress in the works with all of this. Walls are up. Windows are in and check out the view from the balcony upstairs!

Anyway, lots going on and will make sure to keep you posted!!

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Up next...Robbin and kids go to ABQ!!

Colorado Colors

Okay. As a person living in Farmington, NM, there is one thing that you MUST have. No, it is not a snow shovel although after last winter that was not a bad idea. No, it is not a pair of shades eventhough it tends to be very sunny. No, it is not a hazmat suit regardless of the nuclear waste stored underground in many places here. What you MUST have periodically are trips. So, as usual, a couple of weeks ago we took our trip, which turned out to be very, very pretty.

In typical Jakino fashion, we headed north to the ski area just outside of Purgatory...not the real hell but the name of the mountain! : )

It was very, very pretty since it was the end of September and leading into October. Generally the colors start chaning in October, but we got a big

treat...the trees were already starting their metamorphosis! It was gorgeous and now that we have an operational camera, we were able to takes lots and lots of pics. Here are a few of them:

Now, one thing to notice is the pic with all the clouds.

Hmm... wonder what that means?? Yes, you got it!! We went and stayed a night in the lodge and were there for the first snow of the season!! Obviously it was not enough snow to grab poles and skis out of storage, but it was the first nonetheless and too cool!!

Anyway, the unfortunate thing was that in less than four days, all of the leaves had already dropped. :( When they start to make changes, it does not take long for the changes to become absolute until next spring!! Bye-bye colorful leaves...and hello lots of snow!!

Here are a few more pretty pics from our driving around the area:

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Up next more on the Housing Project!!!!

The Summer Trip

Well, way, way, way back prior to the days of learning, we took a little family vacation. We decided to drive to ABQ, then fly to Love Field. From Love we flew to New Orleans, a city I had never visited before, and then we rented a car for our journey across the southern coast of the US over to the Florida panhandle. Our destination was Destin.

We went to Destin several years ago with Mike, Robin, and Summer back when I took my year off from Lowery. At that time, we rented a monster huge house. This time we went condo, and the condo was great. It was way up high and we had a great view of the ocean. We went for little dips in the ocean waters as well as did a little swimming in the condo pools. The funny part was looking for crabs at night...they were creepy!! Very, very little crabs and the exact same color as the sandy beaches. Yes, that means without even knowing it, we were walking on the little guys every time we were on the sand. Yuck!!

After several days in Destin, we went back to N.O. The plan was to spend the night there for our flight back early the next morning. I had never been in the party city, so we took a trip down Bourbon Street...yes, with the kids! Not the wisest choice of my life, but Joshua most certainly found it...educational! Actually, he said he like the pics on the walls of the girls without shirts on!! Yep, that is Brandon's boy alright!!

Anyway, I tried my first N.O. hurricane...and traded it in for a mango something or other. Hurricane was a bit too overwhelming for me, so Bjak had to drink it all and this was not a little hurricane!!

Overall it was a cultural experience. We went from the middle of nowhere, to sin city #2, to the redneck riviera and back again!!

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Next up is Colorado Colors

Finally back!!

Okay, okay! Yes, I know it has been a while since the last post...more like forever, but there were some major teachnical difficulties...like a camera!! Anyway, lots going on here, but here are up date pics on the casa Jakino (aka the Jamansion) from the summer to last week. I went by today and even MORE has taken place, so I will try to give those picks plus more info out tomorrow. But for now, enjoy what I have and I will post more info, other than the casa, a bit later!!

Love to all!

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Up next!! Our summer trip!