Trans-Siberian Orchestra

We had our Date Night on Thursday. I was very, very excited because not only were our plans going to take us out of the High Desert, but we had tickets to see TSO in concert.  I have wanted to see them in concert since - well, forever! OK, they only started in the 90s, but it seems like forever to me. So, I saw they had a new performance and were headed to Ontario, CA and I purchased tickets for Ken and myself.

Trans-Siberian Orchestra

So, we left early and headed down to Victoria Gardens. Sadly, we weren't as early as we wanted because the weather wasn't it's typical Sunny California. It never ceases to amaze me that a little rain and cloud cover makes it impossible for people in So Cal to drive. 

We chose to have supper at The Cheesecake Factory. We were torn between that, Islamorada, and TGIFridays. We don't normally eat at the Factory, so we went with that idea. Apparently, eating before 6 pm is out of the norm for Victoria Gardens, so we were seated right away. 

Our service left something to be desired, and we were not impressed with the quality of the food. Oh well, it was still great to get dressed up a little bit and go somewhere for supper. 

We walked around a little bit to work off the meal, and we wanted to stop by the cigar shop that we had seen driving in. It was a cute little place with a ton of selection. We bought a couple sticks, chatted with the owner and then grabbed some coffee and headed over to the Citizen's Bank Arena for the concert. 

As we have only been to the Arena for hockey, Ken was very curious how it would look for a different production.  I had managed 5th row seats right in the front, so we settled in and waited for the show.

Of course, Ken has been in a total smart-ass mood meaning that he keeps up with his "jokes" which makes the rest of us groan and moan and he has taken to making funny faces in the pictures. Well, I'm making sure to include all of the funny-faced photos from now on.

Once the concert started, I was hooked!!  Sadly, I saw that Ken was not as excited about the show as I was, but he did enjoy parts of it. 

The "new" show was great. The story that was told was excellent and, at times, heartwrenching. The theatrics were amazing!! I was so surprised about the ending - they didn't actually want to end performing, so then they played and sang some of the "older" songs - the ones I had heard from the radio and from friends' CDs that made me like TSO, and I loved every moment.

The concert was three full hours. I have no idea how people can perform that long, but they did, and it was obvious that they enjoyed every minute of performing. I was blown away by Wish Liszt - the two pianists did an amazing job and had a blast with running around and switching pianos. Oh, what I wouldn't give to be able to play like that again!! I miss playing the piano, but I so appreciate those who do! 

Then came the rendition of the Carol of the Bells. I loved every second of it!! One day, I'll try singing again and teach the girls as well. To be able to do a four-part on this song is amazing!!

By the time we were leaving, I was amped up. Again, I was very bummed out that Ken did not enjoy the concert as much as I did, but he was a trooper about it. 

We arrived home very late and safe. The weather, again, did not cooperate with us. It was rainy and foggy heading home, but we were very lucky that people were driving carefully this time. 

It seems that the concert has put me in the Christmas spirit finally!

Five Years!

Five years ago, exactly today, I received a phone call from Ken. He was a guy I had met through an online dating site, and we had escalated to phone calls from just emails.

I enjoyed talking to Ken even despite having recently left the girls' father and all of that nightmare. Ken and I had had numerous phone conversations, and he was asking to see me. I was totally honest about myself: the drinking, smoking cigars, shooting & cussing, and yet he still kept asking me out. Unfortunately, I was past broke & everyone I knew to ask to watch the girls was away on Summer Break.

On the evening of Friday, July 13, 2007, Ken called me just after the girls had eaten supper. (There wasn't enough food for me to eat at this point.) Ken asked what we were doing tonight and I told him - the girls were finishing their supper and then we were going to watch a DVD. Ken said he had a different idea - load the girls up and meet him at John's Incredible Pizza.

John's Incredible is a slightly better Chuck E Cheese. The food is OK, and everything is way overpriced with tons of games and silly rewards for the tokens. Ken just wanted to meet me, and he was happy having the girls tag along.  

My first impression at seeing Ken was that he was even more handsome in person than the pictures he had posted of himself. Inside, I was doing a happy dance while going to say hello in the parking lot. The girls introduced themselves and were fairly shy about it.  Taylor and Mandy had not yet dealt with the fear of men they had developed from their father.  Jordan, however, sized up Ken, chatted with him for about 3 minutes, and then grabbed his hand and declared that he was "OK." I quickly snapped a picture of his license plate and sent it via text to a friend of mine, "Just in case."  Ken didn't notice me doing that, and he loves hearing that I did it when I told him later.

Ken listened to the girls' stories and to me. He and I chatted away the entire night.  He bought tokens for the girls and helped me watch them while they played in the arcade. I was impressed that he only bought them $5 each and he didn't go overboard.  That was a major plus for him to me.  Ken and I were having a great time talking and getting to know each other better.  He told me later that he was really relieved that I was as pretty and just like I had been on the phone - Ken was afraid that I was going to be snooty or something in person.

When the "restaurant" told us they were closing, neither of us were done, but the girls were exhausted, and I needed to get them home and in bed.  I took a huge chance and invited Ken back to my house.

Everything after that is, well, history. The next day, he called me to have supper at his house and meet his boys.  All 6 of the kids had a great time together, and it was very natural for us all to be together.  Ken and I found that we really preferred each other. I couldn't stop thinking about him and he couldn't stop thinking about me, and the rest is well, history.

So, in honor of that first date, since we found ourselves with Friday, July 13th again, we recreated the first date a bit, and we took the girls with us to celebrate at John's Incredible Pizza.  We do not go there on our own - it is usually a birthday party that gets the girls through those doors.  You should have heard the girls' excitement that they were being included in the anniversary celebration. 

Now, very sadly, I have no pictures of us from 5 years ago.  My camera was not the best and my computer had frozen, so I didn't take any.  Here are a couple of pictures from the first few months of dating:

You can see that the girls loved being around Ken, and I always figured that so long as he stayed a part of their lives - no matter what happened between us - that they would be OK.  I never dreamed I would be so lucky as to be his wife, but that is what happened, and I have never regretted a day!

Here is our Family Date from tonight:

Rather than recreating the ending that we had 5 years ago, Ken and I ended this celebration in the style that we have grown accustomed to: back patio, a drink, and cigars with easy conversation.  It's not much different from "then" - the conversation and talking was always easy, but this was a great way to enjoy the cooler temperature, a very slight breeze, and to relax from the noise and running around from the pizza place.

Neither of us can believe that it has been 5 years.  Ken and I talk about that a lot - it seems that we have known each other forever, so there's no way it's only been 5 years, and then we think about our lives before we met, and we can't believe that 5 years has gone so quickly. 


We have been so very happy - even when things were tough and we weren't seeing eye to eye. There is nothing that I would change about what we have.  Even Ken's cancer has made us appreciate ourselves, each other and our lives so much more.  


A toast was made to the next 50 years, so we're getting started on that.  

Date Night

Ken and I used the first part of Date Night to run errands.  We really needed to do some specialized shopping, but both of us hate driving all the way over to the freeway area to do it. So we combined the trips into one and used our time alone as the time to do it.


The first stop was JoAnn's so we could get some of the crafting things that we wanted and needed.  The girls have been making the paracord bracelets - well, Taylor has been making the bracelets, but they are getting buyers.  

The girls are really excited about this new adventure. They love the bracelets, and they are so looking forward to having their own money.  So, we went on a search to see if we could find some of the supplies locally - which we couldn't.  Ken and I even tried Hobby Lobby, but while I found some other things I really needed for stitching, we struck out for anything related to the paracord bracelets.


We enjoyed supper at the Roadhouse Grille before finishing the shopping.  We enjoyed the time together - and away from the girls. I, unfortunately, had to spend some time working because some major things came up, but I was able to deal with it quickly and then focus on Ken. Our waiter was attentive, so we were never without anything which was great.


Ken and I picked up a new tent for the beach trip - something smaller that will be more compact and easier to use than the two-room tent we currently have, and the girls were thrilled to see that I picked up Summer Bridge Activity Books for them to do since their summer packets from the school sucked.


After we were done with our errands, we went over to Dave's house so Ken could do the work to alter the actions to their rifles.  Dave was cooking supper, and despite my being completely too full to eat, I did sample his steamed vegetables from his garden (the snow peas were amazing) and the fried quail was so yummy!!


Michael opened his two Growlers of Alyssa's Attitude that he got from Oggi's.  This has fast become a favorite beer, but sadly, it is a Limited Edition.  We are all a bit concerned about how long we will have to enjoy it.


After Ken worked on Michael's rifles, we went to the garage to work on Dave's.  Well, Ken worked on them while I enjoyed a cigar, the beer and good friends. Ken was working for a long time on the last rifle.  Dave started to question Ken such as, "After 4 other ones, this one is causing you problems?" That type of thing.  


It took a while, but Dave finally noticed that Ken kept removing the old part and putting it back in the rifle, which was causing it to not act correctly.  Everyone got a huge laugh out of this, and I managed to get a (fuzzy) picture of the enjoyment.

All in all, it was a great Date Night. We enjoyed the adult time away from the girls (who had a great time away from us as well), and we spent some of it with some wonderful friends.

Political Rally and getting to the weekend!

Ken and I had our Date Night, but we had a twist - we attended a political fundraiser.  Definitely not my style, but I like the guy.  Tim Donnelly has been a good Assemblyman for our high desert, and this was a birthday bash.  Tons of our Gun Club friends were going to be there, so why not?


When Ken and I arrived, we saw a ton of people we knew, and we were able to have a free dinner (which I never say no to), and spend the evening chatting and hanging out with friends. I was introduced accidentally to Donnelly and he was kind.  However, I kept watching and waiting for him to make the rounds to all of the non-paying people.  There were a TON of people there who were large supporters, and he schmoozed with them, but I kept waiting for the Little People to get noticed.


In the meantime, we had a great time visiting with friends.  Rose Henrichson was busy taking pictures, and apparently, I wasn't standing near Ken most of the night.

I was busy laughing with Matt and Tim, and Rose came up and snapped a picture - with my eyes closed and everything.  Haha!


By 8 pm, there weren't many people around.  Most of the large financial supporters had gone home; the band had left, but we were having a good time hanging out with our friends who were still there.  And yet, Donnelly never came over and talked with us.  Well, that is still bothering me.  What kind of a politician - who wants and needs my vote - would totally ignore the average people that were invited to this party??  


Honestly, I had every intention of voting for him, but now I'm wondering if I will.  I may not have been able to write a check to his re-election campaign, but I was still a voting constituent.  Why didn't we matter??


Ken and I had an early evening since he had to get up the next day and take Addie to the Snake Break Clinic.  She didn't care for the shock collar that was used to scare her away from the rattlesnakes apparently, but Ken was really pleased with the guys' clinic, and now we can worry a bit less about hiking with her in the desert.


Friday night, I spent a good chunk of the night stitching.  I hadn't been able to get to my flip-flops like I wanted to all week with the stupid Exit Exam, but I had managed a little during the week.

By the end of the night, I had almost a whole new flip-flop.  Whoo-hoo!

Saturday morning was the girls' hair appointment.  They each love taking their turn in the chair having Melodie's total attention and chatting like the ladies.  Mandy and Jordan love to get their hair curled, and it's totally 80s.  Ken and I totally giggle about it, but they adore it.

We stopped at Target so the girls could get new flip-flops, and then headed home.  I managed to talk myself into painting my nails. Not sure why, but on an impulse, I purchased some nail varnish.  I started with the red, and next time I'll try the Gunmetal.

This seriously is going to take time to get used to - I'm not girlie, but it was still fun to give it a try.  I think I'll have Mandy paint them next time, and I'll end up with a better job.  


Jordan was DYING to get into the pool, and even got herself ready for it.  With the pigtails that she put in her hair combined  with her bathing suit, she looked like the Coppertone girl.

Ken picked up Christina as his date and went to Brian's piano recital.  I just did not have it in me to attend and deal with Sheryl today.  My Bullshit Threshold is very, very low lately, and I couldn't be responsible for whatever I may say or do, so it was best if I did not attend. So, when Ken asked if Christina was available to be his date, I sent her a text to find out, and she was all over it.  In fact, she totally played along, and it worked out GREAT!


During the recital, Ken sends me a text that Sheryl will NOT stop looking over at him and Christina. She was apparently really trying to figure out who the young girl was.  When Ken went to take a picture with Brian, Sheryl's friend, Dodi, asked Christina, "So, how are you related to the family." Christina, being a former student of mine, answers, "Oh, I'm not related.  I'm just really close to Ken."  Boo-yah!  That is absolutely AWESOME!!!  Hahahahaha.  


Ken made plans to take Brian for coffee, and initially, Sheryl was just going to drop him off.  Apparently, the curiosity about Christina prompted her and Dodi to hang out as well.  Ken said it was perfect, because he and Christina were already sitting in the corner and he had his arm around her when they walked in.  I'm laughing at all of this as is Ken and Christina.  Brian even made the comment, "Oh, so she's a Kasey substitute?" and Christina answered, "Yeah, that would be a good description."  BRILLIANT!


While I would love to say that I do not contribute to the delinquency of young people, I have to say that I love this girl! She's a smart-ass and she knows how to use it!  Ken is still on cloud 9 about it all, and he's even more stoaked because Christina doesn't think that he's "old".  Haha.


Christina stayed over a while so she and I could catch up on the last year of her life, and so the girls could hang out with her.  It's been tough since there hasn't been much time for her to get out and just be 19, but she had a great time talking and playing cards with us.  I did make sure to get some pictures before she left, and I sure hope that she can go with us to the beach!

Ken and his #1 - Christina.

The Raspberry Cobbler recipe came out really well especially when I added a spoonful of Vanilla Bean ice cream on top of it.  Definitely a recipe to make a card with!