unpack/pack

Finally the money arrived, and we found a rental house in Albuquerque. The moving van brought our stuff, and I had everything unpacked and set up in no time at all (I'd done a marvelous job of packing *patting self on back*)

Mel went to work at the Hilton Inn in Albuquerque. He was a line cook, there, but soon took the place of 3 cooks. I found a part time waitress job, and things were okay, but not good. The kids were unhappy with the NM schools, and there was lots of rivalry. They all got chicken pox, too and that wasn't fun! I'm not saying that it was all bad, we had fun times, but generally, things were lacking.

A former boss (Innkeeper) of Mel had opened a new Hilton Inn in Wichita, and recognized Mel's name on the payroll. He contacted Mel, and flew him to Wichita offering him a position as head chef.  Mel accepted, and went to his Albuquerque boss to give notice. Albuquerque boss beat the offered Wichita pay to keep him. Wichita offered more, then Albuquerque trumped Wichita, again. Wichita offered still more and Albuquerque folded. Wichita won, and it was pack-up time again! *sigh* It was at this time that "X" filed for custody and we married.

I'm going to double back to CA, again. Mel called me one evening saying that he was bring his "grandson" home. I replied jokingly, "I think you forgot to tell me something!" Grandson turned out to be an old friend (old as in known long time—he was only 22 years old—9 years my junior) He (name Arno—yes I spelled it right) had worked with René's mom, and the age difference was enough that Arno fondly started calling her grandma. Of course grandma's hubby was grandpa! And I, as grandpa's proposed, became grandma, too! Arno took a job with "grandpa" in CA, and moved in with us there. He was a great help to me, and the kids were mesmerized with him. Arno had a masters degree, and was a brilliant kid.  He enjoyed cooking, and he and Mel made a great chef/sous chef team.

Back to NM. I was facing another move (this time the Hilton paid the movers to do the job!) and had my hands full with the kids, and without Mel.  Mel needed a sous chef in Wichita, and called Arno who was still in CA. Arno came running, and relieved me in NM while I drove to Wichita to house hunt. 

I found a nice rental home with full finished basement. It was in a very rural area of Wichita—7 miles from the Hilton Inn, across a narrow street from a huge cow pasture, with a farm pond. An elementary school (all 3 were still elementary) was just under a mile away, but the kids would be bussed (no sidewalks or traffic control). It was a very small school, and looked ideal for the kids. We moved in in late August just in time to register the kids for the new school year. With Arno, we were a family of six, embarking on a new life.

Hugs!