The Kendra's Journal Podcast
132 Blue Jean

Mom got our car running, only to have it die for the last time. She planned to sell it piece by piece to get as much money out of it as possible. She was also dreaming of big money and big changes with a financial plan she believed would set us up for life. Mom had to leave her job due to the car troubles so she made a new plan… SCHOOL!! She went to Hermiston vs. Pendleton high school football game that had a surprising end.

TURNING POINT!!

Okay so normally we just highlight the topic we cover in the podcast, but this time we have some explaining to do…

  1. We thought this episode was going to run long, but after some edits we are right around our normal time. Sorry if the edits are a little choppy.
  2. A major change in our lives begins and we get into that a little. We edited some stuff out but left most of it in. Let’s hope we aren’t throwing too much out there before we read what Mom wrote, but we felt the authenticity of the emotion was important to what we are adding to this journal.
  3. As we continue we're going to try to read what Mom wrote and then react rather that telling our thoughts. With that being said, we have a lot of thoughts, feeling and emotions around these topics so from time to time we might go off the rails.

We’re not going to say anything more here, so please take the time and listen to the episode. There's certainly a lot more to come, but this the beginning of a new (darker) chapter in our lives. Thanks for listening and drop us a line with your thoughts.

Direct download: Kendras_Journal_Podcast_132.mp3
Category:Personal Journal -- posted at: 12:00am PDT

131 Are We Ourselves?

Money was tight so Mom was borrowing to get by. She was getting ready to start a new job, still working with potatoes but in town! Mom gets us our first “real” computer. Mom continues her search for a new guy and wants a steady boyfriend but ends up spending more time with “R”. Our beast of a car finally died for good. And Mom was still dreaming about getting us out of Hermiston. On a side note: This is the calm before the storm, come back next week to find out what the hell we’re talking about.

Direct download: Kendras_Journal_Podcast_131.mp3
Category:Personal Journal -- posted at: 12:00am PDT

130 On the Dark Side

Mom won some money in a contest and her brother had some fun pretending to be the IRS. Us boys started at our new school, things went well. Mom was still looking for Mr. Right, she even took a trip to John Day to spend some time with friends and one of the guys she was interested in. We got signed up for welfare so our food problem was solved for the immediate future, but we were still in a bind when it came to rent, electricity and the phone bill. We all went to the Round-Up Parade in Pendleton and Mom ran into some friends she hadn’t seen in a very long time. And Mom applied for a job with the state grading potatoes. Enjoy!

Direct download: Kendras_Journal_Podcast_130.mp3
Category:Personal Journal -- posted at: 12:09pm PDT

129 New Girl Now

We finalized the move into low income housing across town. It’s a good thing too because money and food were both running low. The sister of one of Mom’s friends got drunk and beat Mom’s friend up. Mom was worried she was next. She was also still very lost and confused when it came to her love life. She was meeting nice guys but was still hung up on the Mystery Man. Her move to swing shift was finalized around this time as well but that didn’t stop her from quitting without any notice and no real explanation in the Journal. She was planning on looking for a new job but also had plans to go to school. Us boys spent Labor Day weekend with our grandfather. When we got back we got ready to start at a new school.

Direct download: Kendras_Journal_Podcast_129.mp3
Category:Personal Journal -- posted at: 12:00am PDT

128 Lights Out

The intro is really long in this one, sorry about that. One important note, this Saturday, September 3, 2016, marks the 5th anniversary of Mom’s passing. If you feel like it please spend a moment in silence for her, we’d really appreciate that. It’s not in the Journal but we tell a story about getting caught stealing candy from the bulk foods section of a grocery store. That took place around the time this part of the Journal was being written. We also talk about an incident where Mom let us go to the pool but didn’t remember and was going nuts because she was actually asleep when we “woke” her. We also moved again, this time to a low-income apartment on the other side of town. Mom and her mystery man were on-again, off-again… again. Mom was also planning on moving us to Boise instead of Portland so we could get away from Hermiston. Money was still really tight and Mom resorted to asking a friend for some to help us get by. Mom finally got her transfer to Swing Shift at work but wanted to get a babysitter that would watch us boys at our place so she wouldn’t have to get us up in the middle of the night again. Enjoy!

Direct download: Kendras_Journal_Podcast_128.mp3
Category:Personal Journal -- posted at: 12:00am PDT

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