May 13, 1998
Lisa,
Hey hon. Man, it's been so long since I've seen you. I sure hope you still read these letters. It's the only way I can feel like we are still keeping in touch!

Well, not a whole heck of a lot going on right now. Went on a trip to Chicago last month. That was great! It poured down rain, and we walked around downtown in it. We must've looked like drowned rats! We went to the Sears Tower (the view was amazing!), the Museum of Science and Industry (ever watched those IMAX movies? incredible!), The Field Museum (my personal favorite, they had some nice dino bones), and The Adler Planetarium (rather disappointing, but still fun),and we ate authentic Chicago Style pizza, which was the best pizza I've ever had. I was driving. What a nightmare that was! I hate driving in cities, I hate driving in the rain, and I hate driving at night, and wouldn't you know it, I ended up doing all three AT ONCE! If we ever go back, I will NOT be the one driving, that's for sure!! But it was great. I managed to get a picture of the Chicago skyline, I hope it came out good.

Hmm, what else. I have a new female friend, finally. Hehehehe, it takes me so long to make friends with women, I don't know why that is. I've always gotten along better with men, and, truth be known, I prefer the company of men (get your mind out of the gutter, you know what I mean!!). I already have quite a few male friends. Anyways, we've been hanging out together, going to garage sales, complaining about men, you know, the usual stuff. It's nice to have a friend like that again, it's been a couple of years since I've had someone to hang out with.

Lay offs are on the horizon. The nuclear plant where I work has actually started up, finally. I've been working there for four months, and I still love it. I hope and pray to the gods that I can keep this job. It pays really well, and working second shift gives me the opportunity to go back to school in the fall, which is the plan at the end of this month.

Which reminds me. You're probably wondering about the status of my divorce. Well, May 27 will be the six month mark. As in Satan and I will have established our 6 month residency requirement for filing. He's going to file, since it's cheaper and faster and less paperwork where he is at. Three months after he actually files, it will be over. I can't wait! Will be nice to finally have some closure to it all. I'll still have to deal with him, since he does have the children.

Speaking of kids, have you seen the new picture? I look terrible, but the kids are adorable, of course. They are doing fine. I talk to them every Sunday. This past Sunday was difficult, was the first Mother's Day that I had to spend without my children. But, school will be out soon, and I'll get to see them more, maybe even twice a month for the next few months that they're out. That'll be so nice.

Anything else? I've seen quite a few movies. The Mummy was the latest one, very good, I thought. Funny, scary, the special effects were AWESOME! Life was okay, but not great. The Matrix was pretty good. The Other Sister was fantastic. Ever After was also great, although with the person I'm seeing, I don't like to see Drew Barrymore movies. I'm not going to go into why. Saw There's Something About Mary (okay), Phenomenon (good), Star Trek: Insurrection (again; good), Happy Gilmore (interesting). Think I've seen more, but can't remember. Hehehehe.

Anyways, not much else going on. I work as much as I can, and my days off are spent on errands, laundry, and my friends. Oh, I've also gone to Springfield and to Bloomington too. Plus, a friend showed me where there was a park, so I've gone there a few times. I got permission from my landlord yesterday to plant some flowers and even a small garden. I'm gonna plant a tiny herb garden, that should be fun. I have my fish, Pete, to keep me company when I'm home, so things are going well, and I'm reasonably happy, as long as I don't think too much or too hard about stuff! Hehehehehehe.

So, that's what's going on. I know these entries are erratic at best (you should see the journal I keep in my nightstand, I think the last entry was January!), but I get so busy sometimes, and there just doesn't seem to be enough hours in the day. Take care of you, Lisa, no one else will! See ya!