Today, I frequently hear myself thinking, "Oh, Father, he needs this so much."
Jesse hasn't been in the best of moods lately. I'm sure you can understand why, with a job that is quickly (yet still maddeningly slowly) eroding away, a car that is constantly breaking, trying to job hunt, and deal with things the way they constantly are with three young children in the house. Sometimes I've worried that this entire giant set of circumstances might lead him to become depressed, especially since he pretty much never hangs out with any guy-friends. It's just work, deal with problems at home, and worry about the future.
Yesterday, Jesse found a great job to apply to in Butte, Montana. Initially, Jesse had completely written off the entire state of Montana for job searching, but he came across this one job, and suddenly started getting excited. It sounded right up his alley, he soudned perfectly qualified, he had a good background with his current job that would lend well to transitioning to this other job possibility. We spent a while working hard on writing a solid cover letter, and sent it off. But it was amazing to me, to watch his mood do a complete 180. He was grinning, getting excited (while trying not to get TOO excited, because, you know... if you get your hopes up and then your resume just sits in a black hole, that can be a pretty big let-down), and just suddenly turning back into the happy-go-lucky guy I married all those 9 1/2 years ago. The kids were up past their bedtime and playing crazy, like they always do when they're up late, but Jesse didn't start losing his temper or getting frustrated... he started picking up each child and "boinging" them across the room, like they were on giant spring shoes that could bounce them higher than an adult head. And then they were all giggling and having the time of their lives, and then Jesse started flipping them in the middle of their bounces, or having them rebound off the wall. And I couldn't help but grin and giggle and get silly, myself....
The whole evening was happy.
Happy!! Just because of a little hope and excitement, from a job prospect in Montana, of all places.
I went to bed with that thought in my head. Comparing it to the typical mood around here lately. I try to stay upbeat, among all the problems, but it's hard, of course. And just seeing how happy things could be, I realized how very much Jesse really needs this: A new job, a new start, something to hope for and look forward to. He needs to be back to himself again.
And such a sharp contrast... that moment in time didn't last.
Today, as I was taking Melinda to her school physical, the car overheated again. Again!! Just a few weeks after we replaced the radiator!! I called Jesse just as I was heading into the doctor's office, to see if he could come over and look at it or at least give me more fluid to put in the car, so I could get home. It was just about his lunch break. So he had to skip lunch with the guys, get dropped off in the sweltering, humid air, walk across the street from Wal-Mart to the doctor's office (lucky they're so close to each other!), and figure out what the problem with the car was. He was just devastated when I told him the problem over the phone. His exact words were, I think, "Becky, I just can't take any more of this..." And it wasn't an angry or frustrated voice. It was a despairing voice.
But, he came and looked at it. Looks like it's some sort of pipe that goes to the rear heater of the car that has rusted through and was pretty much pouring the radiator fluid out. While he was laying under the car looking at everything, all the guys from work came back and huddled around our car. They shared their time to run and get some clamps and stuff so Jesse could quick-fix the van well enough to get it home. In the meantime, Melinda and I got a ride home with a couple others of his coworkers. And to top it all off, Jacob and Alex had to be driven home from our friend's house 20 minutes away, since I couldn't go back to pick them up. I'm grateful for everyone who pitched in to get us through the afternoon... but we still have yet another car repair to do, and the fun didn't end there...
As Jesse was calling the auto parts store, the sound of his phone was "crackly". Attempting to fix it, he turned it off, removed the battery and replaced it, and powered it back up. Except, when he powered it back up, it wouldn't come on. It only showed a screen that said, "Contact Service". Of course, we're out of the warranty time for his phone, and it's doubtful that it will fix itself, you know? So it looks like we're also going to have to pay for a new phone for him. In the meantime, though, we were able to call up customer service and get his called forwarded to my phone.... so if any potential employers call, at least he'll get the calls, right? After he got off the phone with customer service, he admitted that he really just wanted to "quit" the day, and go to sleep. To escape, even just temporarily, all the troubles that were weighing and beating him down.
But my heart was really breaking to see him react to these events one right after the other, on the heels of such a happy night. I just wish I had the power in me to physically remove his stress. So he could be himself. The carefree, animated, laughing, joking Jesse that can always handle anything that comes his way. It's a sharp contrast... and not one I enjoy witnessing.
Yes, he needs this so much. A change, new prospects, something to get excited about, something to ease his worries... He needs it. And I can't give it to him.
Friday, July 31, 2009
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Might As Well Just Call it Facebook Sunday
My mom wrote to me on Friday, asking me what was up. She hadn't heard from me in a while. Oh? Is time slipping away from me once again? I suppose it is. Sorry...
I haven't had a lot of interesting things to talk about, and I've let myself get caught up in a lovely anime series called "Nodame Cantabile" for the past week (english subtitles only, lol, my brain has been chattering in mostly-made-up Japanese, complete with foreign voice inflections). My free time during the day isn't the kind I can really blog well with: Alex is all about grabbing my hands away from the keyboard and mouse when he's awake, and when he's asleep, I'm trying to work on reading lessons and play big-kid stuff with Jacob and Melinda. So, I apologize for my lack of blogging. I've definitely been going in waves of blogging and not blogging lately. Wish I could get myself back into a regular habit again.
I'm sure you're all curious about what's going on with Jesse's job. We are, too. We're really sick of being in limbo, not knowing what's going to happen, or when, or how.... Jesse seems to think that *something* needs to happen, one way or another, within a matter of a few weeks. He says either his company will run out of money, or will get a purchase offer, or will manage to somehow wrangle some extra funding from investors. But there's certainly not enough money to keep things afloat as they are for more than a few weeks. In the meantime, Jesse's getting in touch with as many recruiters as he can (his boss/co-worker type people seem to think this is the best way to find a job, and we haven't had any luck with what we *were* doing....). Hopefully we'll know what the next step in our lives will be before long. Limbo isn't fun.
So, I'll give you an update of life through the wonder of Facebook Friday. On Sunday. And maybe one of these days soon I'll finish blogging about our trip to Colorado, share videos, and all that fun jazz. You'll just have to wait and be surprised (along with myself) about when I get in the mood to do it!! :)
Saturday, July 11
9:47am
Becky is going for breakfast and window shopping at IKEA.
6:27pm
Becky wonders what happened to all those thunderstorms promised in the forecast. The lawns around here are starting to look dismally brown. :(
(See? So boring that I'm Facebooking about the weather.)
Sunday, July 12
8:53pm
Becky is mad at T-mobile. Suddenly both our phones are not getting ANY reception in our home, all day long. And I have to wait a *minimum* of 72 hours for them to check the condition of equipment and towers to see if there's a problem. In the meantime, I can only make and take calls if I'm about 100 feet away from my apartment building.
Monday, July 13
9:46am
Becky left a bunch of folded laundry on the front room floor last night, with a note for Melinda: "Put away" (complete with a picture of laundry and an arrow going to an open dresser drawer). Turns out she LOVED getting the note, and had all the laundry put away before anyone else got out of bed. And she's demanding a note for tomorrow! Ack! What chore to give her next?!?
>>> Additional comments based on feedback/comments left by others:
I haven't thought of something for tomorrow yet. The reason I came up with this idea is because I was folding laundry just before bed. I sat there, surrounded by nothing but children's clothing, and I said out loud, "I wonder if I just left these here, if Melinda would put them away in the morning?"
She often helps put the laundry away without complaint, and she's always up before the rest of us. I didn't want to risk wake the kids up by putting their things away, but I thought it was also likely that they'd quickly make a mess of things without any direction. So, I wrote a note. Since she's just learning to read still, I kept it simple and added the picture.
Now I just have to come up with something else. But she doesn't really like picking up, so I'm not sure she'd follow directions to pick up the toy room. Oddly enough, though, I KNOW she'd scrub the toilets if I put that on a note. I'd rather not have her in there without supervision, though. Maybe washing the patio door?
1:57pm
Becky just loves loves loves Keane's song, "Atlantic" from the Under The Iron Sea album.
>>> I just added it to my playlist, if you want to listen to it! It's waaaaay down at the bottom of the page, first song. Especially listen to about minute marker 2:30, where the song changes pace and tune a bit, it's just sooo beautiful.
Tuesday, July 14
11:00am
Becky had another note ready for Melinda this morning. Asked her to sort the shoe closet. She wasn't as much of a self-starter this time (it *was* a more complicated note). Once I explained it more to her, she dug right in. And now I can see the floor of my shoe closet again, and all those old/worn-out/not-fitting things -and winter things!- are finally put away. :)
>>> She did need help understanding the goal. But once I explained better, she was awesome at organizing piles of shoes, scarves, hats, winter coats (lol, I'm so awful at putting things away each season!), and so on, so I could jump in and put it all away easily.
11:26am
Becky has a working cell phone signal in her apartment again. <insert grumbling about how it took a full two days.>
3:14pm
Becky just lost another perfectly good glass to Alex's habit of tossing things over the baby gate into the kitchen. Ceramic tile seems nice and all, but I've had more broken dishes in the last year than I have in the entire 9 years before that.
Wednesday, July 15
1:03pm
Becky has a bad afternoon ahead. Alex only took a half-hour nap, thanks to driving home at naptime. He doesn't transfer well. And when I finally got him settled in bed, someone outside woke him up, and he was beyond "fixing" at that point. Sigh. Here's to hoping the ice cream truck comes by today.
>>> it didn't. :(
4:59pm
Becky notes that there actually *is* something worse than a 15-month-old who can push around chairs to get into things he otherwise shouldn't. It's called a 15-month-old who can climb to the top of a bunk bed.
>>> Dead serious. He can now climb the bunk bed ladder. I'm so cursed with physically-inclined babies.
Thursday, July 16
6:14pm
The weather page says it feels like 93 degrees outside right now. And I still haven't turned on the A/C.... though I'm beginning to be sorely tempted. Still, I'm patting myself on the back. :)
>>> It's managed to hover right around 81 degrees indoors, which isn't terrible. We've somehow managed to slowly adjust our bodies to the summer heat, for the first time in the almost-6 years we've lived here. I've never managed to keep the A/C off in July before, but I've gone several weeks without it, now!
>>> Depressing to realize it only cut our electric bill for the past month by about $20.
Friday, July 17
1:52pm
Becky is frustrated. Alex has had three *terrible* napping days in a row.
Saturday, July 18
10:45pm
Becky is finished preparing for her lesson on Charity tomorrow morning at church. :)
>>> Lesson (which was on Charity) went well!! :) Guess who was in church that Sunday? Elder Neil Andersen, of the Quorum of the Twelve. He's got 2 daughters in our ward. His wife was in Relief Society while I taught. Yikes? Actually, it didn't add to my nervousness at all. I just hope I didn't embarrass myself. ;) And having Elder Andersen there made for a really interesting Gospel Doctrine class, too, as his daughter was teaching and invited him to present a big chunk of the lesson, which was on Priesthood Keys. He is a really friendly, down-to-earth speaker. But when he recalled the time when he was recently called to the Quorum of the Twelve, and thus given keys appropriate to his calling, he was moved to tears. I have never heard our chapel so silent and reverent as when Elder Andersen stood in silence, taking a few moments to try and recover his emotions. You have to remember that our ward is so large that our Gospel Doctrine class is held in the chapel, and has the attendance equivalent to many other wards' sacrament meeting. It was quite a large group, and it was *silent* as he stood there. It was humbling, and moving. I'm thankful for men like him who put so much of their hearts into leading our church under God's direction.
Sunday, July 19
3:03pm
Becky has been having lots of fun with a 2-week free Photoshop class at jessicasprague.com. Sad that it's over! But I've learned so many neat tricks!
>>> I'll have to share some of my class projects on the blog soon! Also... I signed up for another class, which starts next month. It was just too fun (and, dare I say, useful?), and I was given a discount code... squeee!
11:58pm
Becky loved this music video. :)
(Coldplay's "Strawberry Swing", which is a fun song on it's own... set to sidewalk chalk "animation". Amazing!)
Monday, July 20
9:12am
Becky needs to drive over to the elementary school today. Even though I called and asked for registration papers mailed to me about a week and a half ago, still nothing has come. Should have taken a few days at most.
Tuesday, July 21
2:22pm
Becky is glad that it's unusually cool for July. It makes outdoor play so much more enjoyable when it's overcast and low 70's!
4:48pm
Becky had to dash outside to turn off the car alarm after Alex stole my keys from the top of the bookcase and pressed the panic button. When I got back inside, Alex was in tears. Guess he got scared. Me, I'm glad I didn't step on any glass in my hurry, since I had no shoes on. Have I mentioned before that I hate car alarms as a general rule?
6:36pm
Becky thinks she could probably feed 5 starving African children with just the amount of food Alex throws on the floor from his high chair every day. That is, if they don't mind eating floor-food.
Wednesday, July 22
9:19am
Becky is still trying to process two unusual images from my dreams last night: Jesse with amputated arms nearly up to his elbows, which was sad but didn't impact our general happiness; and Jacob as a young tree (complete with face?!) who was losing his bark, then falling over, then being prepared for death. Why is it, by the way, that if I ever dream of a child dying, it's always Jacob? That's starting to worry me!!!
1:10pm
Becky notes that ever since Alex pressed the van's key fob panic button the first time yesterday (yes, there was a 2nd time, sigh), he has been screaming in absolute hysterics any time he hears the following withing ear shot: a car horn (every time someone remotely locks their car), a large truck with squeaky brakes, a large rumble-y garbage truck, or even moving/rental trucks that beep repeatedly when backing up. Yay.
>>> He has since stopped freaking out at every single car. But now thunder is making him act the same way.
3:35pm
Becky got Melinda's brand-new, hot pink lunch box in the mail. She's so excited!
Thursday, July 23
9:35am
Becky started the day off with a bang- gotta love those morning thunderstorms that bring a lot of heavy rain!
1:38pm
Becky needs to learn how to sew children's underwear. Not satisfied with what I can find in stores, both for too-tight elastic and either boring colors or annoying characters. And not quite willing to pay the price for other people's handmade underwear.
>>> Looking at this pattern on etsy.com.
Saturday, July 25
12:41am (still felt like Friday night to me!)
Becky went out on a date with the hubby to see Harry Potter, got the curious baby back to sleep, stuffed her face with ice cream, and hopes there might be some semblance of sleeping in tomorrow morning. Doubt it, but it never hurts to hope. ;)
>>> Now owes our lovely babysitter cookies, as she refused payment since her job was so easy while we were out! She and Melinda played some games for an hour, Melinda went to bed without any trouble, and Jacob and Alex both stayed asleep the whole time we were gone.
4:36pm (the *real* Saturday!)
Becky is so so so hot. Finally caved into the A/C today. Most of July without it!
Sunday, July 26
3:10pm
Becky is a little overwhelmed with how much Melinda ONLY wants pink things these days. Pink lunchbox, pink jacket, pink shoes, pink pants, pink shirts.... ugh. My eyes are going to hurt. Pink is not one of my favorite colors.
>>> (I went internet shopping for some school stuff. Yay for Land's End backpacks being on sale, and their overstocks section. But booooooo for so much pink that I couldn't talk Melinda out of! She almost refused the cheap purple courdoroys just because of their color!!)
And there we are, all caught up again.
Things I didn't mention on Facebook: Melinda came down with a day-long fever back on Tuesday. We had gone over to play with a friend, spent an absolutely lovely day outside, and by the time we drove home, she was complaining of a headache. A older neighbor girl at our friend's house was letting the younger kids go "repelling" from the lower tree branches, and Melinda hit her head at some point. Couldn't have been hard, because she wasn't even upset. But she thought it was from that incident that she was getting a headache. I gave her some medicine around 12:30, and by 3ish, she still wans't feeling better, and I suggested she go and lay down to rest. She was wrapped in a blanket when I checked on her. At 5pm, we were about to head out the door, and she was still acting a little off, and when I felt her, I could tell she had a fever. We stayed home (took off all those shoes I had just gotten on everyone's feet!!), and she went back to lay down again. 10 minutes later, I went to check on her, and she was asleep. Shocker! She woke up around 7pm, burning up and in her typical delerious/frantic fever state. Since her head was still hurting, I gave her more medicine, and we started on bedtime. She was feeling more chipper by the time Jesse got home at 7:30ish, but still a little warm. Her fever was gone by the end of the next day. And then Alex came down with a fever in the early morning hours of Saturday. He woke up around 3am or so to nurse, and he was pretty hot. So we didn't do a whole lot on Saturday. And he still had a fever when he went to bed Saturday night, as well, so we didn't go to church. Jesse took Melinda and Jacob. Saturday night was really terrible, too. I think the fever + teething got to him, and I swear he was awake and screaming more than he was asleep. I'll be happy if we don't repeat that experience tonight. Ugh. He's fever-free now. Hoping Jacob, myself, and Jesse don't get it. Fevers in the heat of summer just aren't cool.
I haven't had a lot of interesting things to talk about, and I've let myself get caught up in a lovely anime series called "Nodame Cantabile" for the past week (english subtitles only, lol, my brain has been chattering in mostly-made-up Japanese, complete with foreign voice inflections). My free time during the day isn't the kind I can really blog well with: Alex is all about grabbing my hands away from the keyboard and mouse when he's awake, and when he's asleep, I'm trying to work on reading lessons and play big-kid stuff with Jacob and Melinda. So, I apologize for my lack of blogging. I've definitely been going in waves of blogging and not blogging lately. Wish I could get myself back into a regular habit again.
I'm sure you're all curious about what's going on with Jesse's job. We are, too. We're really sick of being in limbo, not knowing what's going to happen, or when, or how.... Jesse seems to think that *something* needs to happen, one way or another, within a matter of a few weeks. He says either his company will run out of money, or will get a purchase offer, or will manage to somehow wrangle some extra funding from investors. But there's certainly not enough money to keep things afloat as they are for more than a few weeks. In the meantime, Jesse's getting in touch with as many recruiters as he can (his boss/co-worker type people seem to think this is the best way to find a job, and we haven't had any luck with what we *were* doing....). Hopefully we'll know what the next step in our lives will be before long. Limbo isn't fun.
So, I'll give you an update of life through the wonder of Facebook Friday. On Sunday. And maybe one of these days soon I'll finish blogging about our trip to Colorado, share videos, and all that fun jazz. You'll just have to wait and be surprised (along with myself) about when I get in the mood to do it!! :)
Saturday, July 11
9:47am
Becky is going for breakfast and window shopping at IKEA.
6:27pm
Becky wonders what happened to all those thunderstorms promised in the forecast. The lawns around here are starting to look dismally brown. :(
(See? So boring that I'm Facebooking about the weather.)
Sunday, July 12
8:53pm
Becky is mad at T-mobile. Suddenly both our phones are not getting ANY reception in our home, all day long. And I have to wait a *minimum* of 72 hours for them to check the condition of equipment and towers to see if there's a problem. In the meantime, I can only make and take calls if I'm about 100 feet away from my apartment building.
Monday, July 13
9:46am
Becky left a bunch of folded laundry on the front room floor last night, with a note for Melinda: "Put away" (complete with a picture of laundry and an arrow going to an open dresser drawer). Turns out she LOVED getting the note, and had all the laundry put away before anyone else got out of bed. And she's demanding a note for tomorrow! Ack! What chore to give her next?!?
>>> Additional comments based on feedback/comments left by others:
I haven't thought of something for tomorrow yet. The reason I came up with this idea is because I was folding laundry just before bed. I sat there, surrounded by nothing but children's clothing, and I said out loud, "I wonder if I just left these here, if Melinda would put them away in the morning?"
She often helps put the laundry away without complaint, and she's always up before the rest of us. I didn't want to risk wake the kids up by putting their things away, but I thought it was also likely that they'd quickly make a mess of things without any direction. So, I wrote a note. Since she's just learning to read still, I kept it simple and added the picture.
Now I just have to come up with something else. But she doesn't really like picking up, so I'm not sure she'd follow directions to pick up the toy room. Oddly enough, though, I KNOW she'd scrub the toilets if I put that on a note. I'd rather not have her in there without supervision, though. Maybe washing the patio door?
1:57pm
Becky just loves loves loves Keane's song, "Atlantic" from the Under The Iron Sea album.
>>> I just added it to my playlist, if you want to listen to it! It's waaaaay down at the bottom of the page, first song. Especially listen to about minute marker 2:30, where the song changes pace and tune a bit, it's just sooo beautiful.
Tuesday, July 14
11:00am
Becky had another note ready for Melinda this morning. Asked her to sort the shoe closet. She wasn't as much of a self-starter this time (it *was* a more complicated note). Once I explained it more to her, she dug right in. And now I can see the floor of my shoe closet again, and all those old/worn-out/not-fitting things -and winter things!- are finally put away. :)
>>> She did need help understanding the goal. But once I explained better, she was awesome at organizing piles of shoes, scarves, hats, winter coats (lol, I'm so awful at putting things away each season!), and so on, so I could jump in and put it all away easily.
11:26am
Becky has a working cell phone signal in her apartment again. <insert grumbling about how it took a full two days.>
3:14pm
Becky just lost another perfectly good glass to Alex's habit of tossing things over the baby gate into the kitchen. Ceramic tile seems nice and all, but I've had more broken dishes in the last year than I have in the entire 9 years before that.
Wednesday, July 15
1:03pm
Becky has a bad afternoon ahead. Alex only took a half-hour nap, thanks to driving home at naptime. He doesn't transfer well. And when I finally got him settled in bed, someone outside woke him up, and he was beyond "fixing" at that point. Sigh. Here's to hoping the ice cream truck comes by today.
>>> it didn't. :(
4:59pm
Becky notes that there actually *is* something worse than a 15-month-old who can push around chairs to get into things he otherwise shouldn't. It's called a 15-month-old who can climb to the top of a bunk bed.
>>> Dead serious. He can now climb the bunk bed ladder. I'm so cursed with physically-inclined babies.
Thursday, July 16
6:14pm
The weather page says it feels like 93 degrees outside right now. And I still haven't turned on the A/C.... though I'm beginning to be sorely tempted. Still, I'm patting myself on the back. :)
>>> It's managed to hover right around 81 degrees indoors, which isn't terrible. We've somehow managed to slowly adjust our bodies to the summer heat, for the first time in the almost-6 years we've lived here. I've never managed to keep the A/C off in July before, but I've gone several weeks without it, now!
>>> Depressing to realize it only cut our electric bill for the past month by about $20.
Friday, July 17
1:52pm
Becky is frustrated. Alex has had three *terrible* napping days in a row.
Saturday, July 18
10:45pm
Becky is finished preparing for her lesson on Charity tomorrow morning at church. :)
>>> Lesson (which was on Charity) went well!! :) Guess who was in church that Sunday? Elder Neil Andersen, of the Quorum of the Twelve. He's got 2 daughters in our ward. His wife was in Relief Society while I taught. Yikes? Actually, it didn't add to my nervousness at all. I just hope I didn't embarrass myself. ;) And having Elder Andersen there made for a really interesting Gospel Doctrine class, too, as his daughter was teaching and invited him to present a big chunk of the lesson, which was on Priesthood Keys. He is a really friendly, down-to-earth speaker. But when he recalled the time when he was recently called to the Quorum of the Twelve, and thus given keys appropriate to his calling, he was moved to tears. I have never heard our chapel so silent and reverent as when Elder Andersen stood in silence, taking a few moments to try and recover his emotions. You have to remember that our ward is so large that our Gospel Doctrine class is held in the chapel, and has the attendance equivalent to many other wards' sacrament meeting. It was quite a large group, and it was *silent* as he stood there. It was humbling, and moving. I'm thankful for men like him who put so much of their hearts into leading our church under God's direction.
Sunday, July 19
3:03pm
Becky has been having lots of fun with a 2-week free Photoshop class at jessicasprague.com. Sad that it's over! But I've learned so many neat tricks!
>>> I'll have to share some of my class projects on the blog soon! Also... I signed up for another class, which starts next month. It was just too fun (and, dare I say, useful?), and I was given a discount code... squeee!
11:58pm
Becky loved this music video. :)
(Coldplay's "Strawberry Swing", which is a fun song on it's own... set to sidewalk chalk "animation". Amazing!)
Monday, July 20
9:12am
Becky needs to drive over to the elementary school today. Even though I called and asked for registration papers mailed to me about a week and a half ago, still nothing has come. Should have taken a few days at most.
Tuesday, July 21
2:22pm
Becky is glad that it's unusually cool for July. It makes outdoor play so much more enjoyable when it's overcast and low 70's!
4:48pm
Becky had to dash outside to turn off the car alarm after Alex stole my keys from the top of the bookcase and pressed the panic button. When I got back inside, Alex was in tears. Guess he got scared. Me, I'm glad I didn't step on any glass in my hurry, since I had no shoes on. Have I mentioned before that I hate car alarms as a general rule?
6:36pm
Becky thinks she could probably feed 5 starving African children with just the amount of food Alex throws on the floor from his high chair every day. That is, if they don't mind eating floor-food.
Wednesday, July 22
9:19am
Becky is still trying to process two unusual images from my dreams last night: Jesse with amputated arms nearly up to his elbows, which was sad but didn't impact our general happiness; and Jacob as a young tree (complete with face?!) who was losing his bark, then falling over, then being prepared for death. Why is it, by the way, that if I ever dream of a child dying, it's always Jacob? That's starting to worry me!!!
1:10pm
Becky notes that ever since Alex pressed the van's key fob panic button the first time yesterday (yes, there was a 2nd time, sigh), he has been screaming in absolute hysterics any time he hears the following withing ear shot: a car horn (every time someone remotely locks their car), a large truck with squeaky brakes, a large rumble-y garbage truck, or even moving/rental trucks that beep repeatedly when backing up. Yay.
>>> He has since stopped freaking out at every single car. But now thunder is making him act the same way.
3:35pm
Becky got Melinda's brand-new, hot pink lunch box in the mail. She's so excited!
Thursday, July 23
9:35am
Becky started the day off with a bang- gotta love those morning thunderstorms that bring a lot of heavy rain!
1:38pm
Becky needs to learn how to sew children's underwear. Not satisfied with what I can find in stores, both for too-tight elastic and either boring colors or annoying characters. And not quite willing to pay the price for other people's handmade underwear.
>>> Looking at this pattern on etsy.com.
Saturday, July 25
12:41am (still felt like Friday night to me!)
Becky went out on a date with the hubby to see Harry Potter, got the curious baby back to sleep, stuffed her face with ice cream, and hopes there might be some semblance of sleeping in tomorrow morning. Doubt it, but it never hurts to hope. ;)
>>> Now owes our lovely babysitter cookies, as she refused payment since her job was so easy while we were out! She and Melinda played some games for an hour, Melinda went to bed without any trouble, and Jacob and Alex both stayed asleep the whole time we were gone.
4:36pm (the *real* Saturday!)
Becky is so so so hot. Finally caved into the A/C today. Most of July without it!
Sunday, July 26
3:10pm
Becky is a little overwhelmed with how much Melinda ONLY wants pink things these days. Pink lunchbox, pink jacket, pink shoes, pink pants, pink shirts.... ugh. My eyes are going to hurt. Pink is not one of my favorite colors.
>>> (I went internet shopping for some school stuff. Yay for Land's End backpacks being on sale, and their overstocks section. But booooooo for so much pink that I couldn't talk Melinda out of! She almost refused the cheap purple courdoroys just because of their color!!)
And there we are, all caught up again.
Things I didn't mention on Facebook: Melinda came down with a day-long fever back on Tuesday. We had gone over to play with a friend, spent an absolutely lovely day outside, and by the time we drove home, she was complaining of a headache. A older neighbor girl at our friend's house was letting the younger kids go "repelling" from the lower tree branches, and Melinda hit her head at some point. Couldn't have been hard, because she wasn't even upset. But she thought it was from that incident that she was getting a headache. I gave her some medicine around 12:30, and by 3ish, she still wans't feeling better, and I suggested she go and lay down to rest. She was wrapped in a blanket when I checked on her. At 5pm, we were about to head out the door, and she was still acting a little off, and when I felt her, I could tell she had a fever. We stayed home (took off all those shoes I had just gotten on everyone's feet!!), and she went back to lay down again. 10 minutes later, I went to check on her, and she was asleep. Shocker! She woke up around 7pm, burning up and in her typical delerious/frantic fever state. Since her head was still hurting, I gave her more medicine, and we started on bedtime. She was feeling more chipper by the time Jesse got home at 7:30ish, but still a little warm. Her fever was gone by the end of the next day. And then Alex came down with a fever in the early morning hours of Saturday. He woke up around 3am or so to nurse, and he was pretty hot. So we didn't do a whole lot on Saturday. And he still had a fever when he went to bed Saturday night, as well, so we didn't go to church. Jesse took Melinda and Jacob. Saturday night was really terrible, too. I think the fever + teething got to him, and I swear he was awake and screaming more than he was asleep. I'll be happy if we don't repeat that experience tonight. Ugh. He's fever-free now. Hoping Jacob, myself, and Jesse don't get it. Fevers in the heat of summer just aren't cool.
Saturday, July 11, 2009
The Gallon Bags Worked, By The Way!
Remember how I said that maybe I should implement gallon-sized bags into our cleanup routine? Well, it WORKED!!
Alex had dumped out all those lovely bagged toys during the afternoon. It's okay... they weren't sorted, anyway, and someone would have had to dump them out. But, he did dump them out in the front room, which made things look horribly like a tornado came through the house. So, when it came time to just get down to it and clean the darn room, I brought the bags back out and told the kids to clean up just like they had this morning: Put the toys in the bags, take them to the playroom, and come back and get more.
Let me tell you, I've never seen them clean so fast and so well. Granted, we had a big ol' mess to clean up in the playroom, but they helped me clean. Honest to goodness! Even Jacob, who can avoid cleaning better than the best of them! And he was enjoying it!!
Who knew a few plastic bags could be so handy around the house??
Alex had dumped out all those lovely bagged toys during the afternoon. It's okay... they weren't sorted, anyway, and someone would have had to dump them out. But, he did dump them out in the front room, which made things look horribly like a tornado came through the house. So, when it came time to just get down to it and clean the darn room, I brought the bags back out and told the kids to clean up just like they had this morning: Put the toys in the bags, take them to the playroom, and come back and get more.
Let me tell you, I've never seen them clean so fast and so well. Granted, we had a big ol' mess to clean up in the playroom, but they helped me clean. Honest to goodness! Even Jacob, who can avoid cleaning better than the best of them! And he was enjoying it!!
Who knew a few plastic bags could be so handy around the house??
JunkVan Strikes Again
If I could go back in time to approximately 2 years and 1.5 months ago, I would have written a note to myself to forgo the whole idea of buying a used van with money out of pocket, and to just put that money into a solid down payment for a new or nearly-new van. Because this stupid van is slowly sucking the life out of us.
So anyway, Jesse ended up taking the van to the mechanic after he couldn't decide for sure where the leak was coming from. Because did I mention this? After the whole overheating thing on my trip down to deliver dinner to my friend, we thought we were fine. But last Thursday, when Jesse got home early from work, I had him take the older kids out to the park for a bike ride. On the drive home, which only takes about 10 minutes, the car was just starting to reach that critical point of the temperature gauge pointing to HOT-HOT-HOT just as he pulled into our parking space. Well, crap, we thought. Now what? Jesse took a look at it later that day when it was cooled off, poured gallons more water into the radiator, and fluid was basically just pouring out. Well, not pouring. But might as well have been. But he couldn't tell if it was a pipe, or the radiator, or maybe even the water pump (though the location of the water pouring pointed to probably not the water pump).
He could have purchased a radiator and probably replaced it himself. But with the high likelihood of losing his job soon, we didn't want to play guessing games with our money and replace parts we weren't sure were the culprit. So we had to wait over the weekend and take the car into the mechanic on Monday. And we walked everywhere we went, except for church. And for that trip, we took multiple containers full of water, just in case it couldn't make the trip. We were blessed that we didn't have any problems, and that Jesse also got the (stupid) van into the mechanic without any issues.
The mechanic confirmed it was a radiator problem: The radiator was split. The water pump also had a very small leak in it, but Jesse decided to save some money and do that repair himself. The mechanic's bill for the radiator replacement was just over $500, which is a pretty reasonable price. And then we had to spend another ~$50 for new fluids and a water pump that Jesse replaced the next day. BUT! The car isn't leaking anymore, and we can continue on our merry way.
Except for that nasty little problem of the car randomly dying whenever it wants to. That *might* be a "MAP" sensor problem? I don't even know what that is, but the part costs about $50. We might go ahead and try replacing it.
And there's still a bunch of other issues with it, like the leaking doors during heavy rain storms, or the myriad of electrical problems (stereo buttons, turn signal, horn, airbag... to name a few), and the leaky A/C system. At least it's easy to recharge the A/C, so we're not dying of heat on every drive.
But still.... can you imagine my life right now if I didn't have a junker van? I can, and do often. You should have heard my grumbling when I had to renew the van's registration for 2 years last month, when I totally would have preferred kicking it into a junkyard, or dumping it into the ocean, or anything other than basically telling Maryland, "Yes, I'd love to commit to having this van long enough to register it again! Where can I send my money?!?"
What I wouldn't give to have been out new-van shopping instead of radiator-fixing.
Wishful thinking....
So anyway, Jesse ended up taking the van to the mechanic after he couldn't decide for sure where the leak was coming from. Because did I mention this? After the whole overheating thing on my trip down to deliver dinner to my friend, we thought we were fine. But last Thursday, when Jesse got home early from work, I had him take the older kids out to the park for a bike ride. On the drive home, which only takes about 10 minutes, the car was just starting to reach that critical point of the temperature gauge pointing to HOT-HOT-HOT just as he pulled into our parking space. Well, crap, we thought. Now what? Jesse took a look at it later that day when it was cooled off, poured gallons more water into the radiator, and fluid was basically just pouring out. Well, not pouring. But might as well have been. But he couldn't tell if it was a pipe, or the radiator, or maybe even the water pump (though the location of the water pouring pointed to probably not the water pump).
He could have purchased a radiator and probably replaced it himself. But with the high likelihood of losing his job soon, we didn't want to play guessing games with our money and replace parts we weren't sure were the culprit. So we had to wait over the weekend and take the car into the mechanic on Monday. And we walked everywhere we went, except for church. And for that trip, we took multiple containers full of water, just in case it couldn't make the trip. We were blessed that we didn't have any problems, and that Jesse also got the (stupid) van into the mechanic without any issues.
The mechanic confirmed it was a radiator problem: The radiator was split. The water pump also had a very small leak in it, but Jesse decided to save some money and do that repair himself. The mechanic's bill for the radiator replacement was just over $500, which is a pretty reasonable price. And then we had to spend another ~$50 for new fluids and a water pump that Jesse replaced the next day. BUT! The car isn't leaking anymore, and we can continue on our merry way.
Except for that nasty little problem of the car randomly dying whenever it wants to. That *might* be a "MAP" sensor problem? I don't even know what that is, but the part costs about $50. We might go ahead and try replacing it.
And there's still a bunch of other issues with it, like the leaking doors during heavy rain storms, or the myriad of electrical problems (stereo buttons, turn signal, horn, airbag... to name a few), and the leaky A/C system. At least it's easy to recharge the A/C, so we're not dying of heat on every drive.
But still.... can you imagine my life right now if I didn't have a junker van? I can, and do often. You should have heard my grumbling when I had to renew the van's registration for 2 years last month, when I totally would have preferred kicking it into a junkyard, or dumping it into the ocean, or anything other than basically telling Maryland, "Yes, I'd love to commit to having this van long enough to register it again! Where can I send my money?!?"
What I wouldn't give to have been out new-van shopping instead of radiator-fixing.
Wishful thinking....
Facebook Friday...late
Changing routine somehow makes me forget what day of the week I'm on. Obviously, I missed Facebook Friday on Friday. Again. So here we are on Saturday, and I'll get you up to speed before I end up with another month-long Facebook Friday post! ;)
Friday, July 3rd
11:06pm
Becky wonders if she should wake up Jesse so he can move from the couch to the bed.
(He had been snoozing on the couch in front of the TV for over an hour!)
Saturday, July 4th
1:24pm
Becky wanted to do so many fun things today, but with our only vehicle having a radiator problem, we're only driving if absolutely necessary until after it goes to the mechanic on Monday. So, no pancake breakfast at the church, no parade at Towson, no driving to the trail to go for a nice long bike ride, and maybe not even fireworks, if we can't see them from our hill.
10:09pm
Becky took a 2 mile (total) hike to the grocery store and back (with Jesse setting the pace... ugh!!), made meatballs/carrots/crusty bread for dinner, and enjoyed spying fireworks from the hill across from our parking lot. We also set off a few fireworks of our own, but one of the fountain ones was VERY noisy and scared Alex half to death, poor guy.
Monday, July 6th
11:26am
Becky got a call from Jesse, who is at the mechanic with our van: The radiator is split. Will cost ~ $500 to replace it. The water pump is also on it's way out, but Jesse knows how to replace those, and will do it during his surplus of free time this week and save some money.
Tuesday, July 7th
11:53am
Becky went for a nice fast-paced walk on the NCR trail with the whole family today. Still, the fresh air wasn't enough to squeeze the cranky attitude out of Jacob. Next up is lunch and grocery shopping.
11:24pm
Becky has too much to do this week. Can I just take a vacation from life? Maybe hide in a hole and read some books instead of dealing with things that need to get done?
Wednesday, July 8th
8:13pm
Becky got lots of stuff to support Alex's tooth health today: Xylitol, glycerin-free gel for brushing with; xylitol "mints" to take multiple times a day; vitamin D supplement; minerals to add to water; Also got news that he's on Dental insurance now, so calling the dentist is on my to-do list.
(He now has an appointment for Tuesday, but they may not be able to do much more than take a peek, since they normally only see children starting at 3 years old. But at least we'll have an idea of what we're dealing with?)
Thursday, July 9th
2:28pm
Becky called the elementary school to get registration papers for Melinda. It seems beyond unreal that she's going to be in school so soon!
8:07pm
Jesse got a call and has at least 2 more weeks of work pretty much guaranteed. Yay? Can't say I haven't enjoyed having him home this week.
10:39pm
Becky got the munchies and sent Jesse out for some fried food, after which we'll dive back into our Gilmore Girls-athon. Aren't we exciting?? ;)
Friday, July 10th
6:35pm
Becky had a lovely day out with the whole family down at the temple. ♥
(Jesse and I took turns going in and doing initiatories while the other took care of the kids. It was such a HOT day outside! So glad to have a wonderful visitor's center to take advantage of. And so glad we went, it had been too long, and it was such an uplifting activity.)
Friday, July 3rd
11:06pm
Becky wonders if she should wake up Jesse so he can move from the couch to the bed.
(He had been snoozing on the couch in front of the TV for over an hour!)
Saturday, July 4th
1:24pm
Becky wanted to do so many fun things today, but with our only vehicle having a radiator problem, we're only driving if absolutely necessary until after it goes to the mechanic on Monday. So, no pancake breakfast at the church, no parade at Towson, no driving to the trail to go for a nice long bike ride, and maybe not even fireworks, if we can't see them from our hill.
10:09pm
Becky took a 2 mile (total) hike to the grocery store and back (with Jesse setting the pace... ugh!!), made meatballs/carrots/crusty bread for dinner, and enjoyed spying fireworks from the hill across from our parking lot. We also set off a few fireworks of our own, but one of the fountain ones was VERY noisy and scared Alex half to death, poor guy.
Monday, July 6th
11:26am
Becky got a call from Jesse, who is at the mechanic with our van: The radiator is split. Will cost ~ $500 to replace it. The water pump is also on it's way out, but Jesse knows how to replace those, and will do it during his surplus of free time this week and save some money.
Tuesday, July 7th
11:53am
Becky went for a nice fast-paced walk on the NCR trail with the whole family today. Still, the fresh air wasn't enough to squeeze the cranky attitude out of Jacob. Next up is lunch and grocery shopping.
11:24pm
Becky has too much to do this week. Can I just take a vacation from life? Maybe hide in a hole and read some books instead of dealing with things that need to get done?
Wednesday, July 8th
8:13pm
Becky got lots of stuff to support Alex's tooth health today: Xylitol, glycerin-free gel for brushing with; xylitol "mints" to take multiple times a day; vitamin D supplement; minerals to add to water; Also got news that he's on Dental insurance now, so calling the dentist is on my to-do list.
(He now has an appointment for Tuesday, but they may not be able to do much more than take a peek, since they normally only see children starting at 3 years old. But at least we'll have an idea of what we're dealing with?)
Thursday, July 9th
2:28pm
Becky called the elementary school to get registration papers for Melinda. It seems beyond unreal that she's going to be in school so soon!
8:07pm
Jesse got a call and has at least 2 more weeks of work pretty much guaranteed. Yay? Can't say I haven't enjoyed having him home this week.
10:39pm
Becky got the munchies and sent Jesse out for some fried food, after which we'll dive back into our Gilmore Girls-athon. Aren't we exciting?? ;)
Friday, July 10th
6:35pm
Becky had a lovely day out with the whole family down at the temple. ♥
(Jesse and I took turns going in and doing initiatories while the other took care of the kids. It was such a HOT day outside! So glad to have a wonderful visitor's center to take advantage of. And so glad we went, it had been too long, and it was such an uplifting activity.)
Unsupervised
We haven't been great about getting out of bed very early this week, with Jesse home on a forced vacation from work. That means that the kids are up and playing while we're pretty oblivious to what's going on, catching some extra zzz's while we can. This morning, they surprised us with a couple actually good things.
First, a box of gallon-sized ziploc bags somehow got knocked down from the top of the fridge. Might have happened before we went to bed without us noticing it, but the kids sure noticed it this morning. They took them and proceeded to "clean up" the playroom by stuffing those gallon-sized bags with as many toys as they could. And then they stacked them all on the chair in the living room. See the picture? So proud of themselves. Even Jacob, in all his underwear-and-swim-goggle glory. You can even see a bit of the very clean playroom floor in the doorway behind them. .... .... Maybe I should implement gallon-sized bags into our cleanup routine??
And then, as I was setting out a breakfast "snack" (snack only, because we were heading off to IKEA to grab breakfast and do window shopping, but since Jesse and I had gotten up at 9am, they were already "starving"), I saw some papers on the table, and I was floored by the drawings I saw on them. Melinda had found her "how-to-draw animals" book that I bought a few months ago. She had deemed it too difficult and frustrating back then, but she did awesome this time, all on her own:
A Cobra, complete with wiggles:
Top: a fly;
First, a box of gallon-sized ziploc bags somehow got knocked down from the top of the fridge. Might have happened before we went to bed without us noticing it, but the kids sure noticed it this morning. They took them and proceeded to "clean up" the playroom by stuffing those gallon-sized bags with as many toys as they could. And then they stacked them all on the chair in the living room. See the picture? So proud of themselves. Even Jacob, in all his underwear-and-swim-goggle glory. You can even see a bit of the very clean playroom floor in the doorway behind them. .... .... Maybe I should implement gallon-sized bags into our cleanup routine??
And then, as I was setting out a breakfast "snack" (snack only, because we were heading off to IKEA to grab breakfast and do window shopping, but since Jesse and I had gotten up at 9am, they were already "starving"), I saw some papers on the table, and I was floored by the drawings I saw on them. Melinda had found her "how-to-draw animals" book that I bought a few months ago. She had deemed it too difficult and frustrating back then, but she did awesome this time, all on her own:
An Angel Fish:
A Butterfly:
A Cobra, complete with wiggles:
Top: a fly;
Middle Left: a worm (with wiggles);
Middle Right: a starfish (with a million dots!!)
Bottom: a sperm whale
She said the worm was the trickiest one for her. But she put a lot of detail into all of them, and I could tell what they all were right off the bat. What a fun thing to discover first thing in the morning!
Friday, July 3, 2009
Facebook Friday
Isn't this exciting? I have about a whole month's worth of Facebook status updates to share with you!!!
Uhh, maybe I should say "YIKES!" instead of exciting???
Saturday, June 6th
12:10am
Yay, it's my birthday!! Now I just have to get to bed so I can be awake for it during the actual daytime... :)
4:17pm
Becky's day is going reasonably well. Too bad I've had to fold laundry , and a certain little girl is choosing to throw fits every 2 seconds, and my free Coldstone ice cream got kicked all over my jeans by the baby. Otherwise, I'm in a good mood, Jesse's doing a lot of chores and cooking for me, and it's SUNNY, thank goodness!
Sunday, June 7th
3:21pm (from my iPod)
Becky appears to have a dead computer. It won't even boot up in safe mode.
>> Jesse, 4:51pm << we got it running....finally booted in safe with CMD and then a restart got it running.
9:26pm
Becky prepared and very much enjoyed a white vegetable lasagna for dinner tonight. And then went bike riding - Melinda is officially graduated to riding with no training wheels!! What a smooth transition she made, she was amazing tonight!
Monday, June 8th
10:44am
Becky is happy for beautiful weather.
>> 1:58pm Well, I might just take my happy comment back, because running errands made me feel like I was going to melt. But inside I feel nice and comfortable.
7:34pm
Becky is glad that if the car decided to overheat, it at least did it at the best time possible. No kids in the car, a nearby exit off the freeway, and a husband at home just a phone call away to explain step-by-step how to locate the radiator cap. Also glad that said awesome husband managed to have no less than THREE giant bottles of coolant sitting in the car, saving me a walk to a gas station.
Tuesday, June 9th
4:41pm
Becky is too hot. Ordering pizza. I'm such a wuss.
6:05pm
Becky loooooooves a good thunderstorm!!
(I even have pictures and a video to share eventually!)
Wednesday, June 10th
11:13am
Jacob's first dentist appointment: Check! Lookin' good! Find Hawaiian clothes at Goodwill for family reunion Luau party: Check! Eat ice cream before lunchtime: Check!!
1:31pm
Becky appears to be putting of getting the house ready for vacation by one more day. Typical me, save it all for the last minute.
3:39pm
Becky is *trying* to pick up the front room before I start dinner, but the computer is so darn distracting!! If only a thunderstorm would roll by and knock out my power, THEN I'd get some cleaning done! Oh, but then I wouldn't have fans or A/C. Hmmm. Maybe I should just exercise more will power.
4:30pm
Clean front room: Check! Trim Alex's hair: Check! (Poor kid needs someone to donate hair cutting lessons to his mommy....)
11:29pm
Becky doesn't know why Alex went to bed 2 hours late tonight. No logical reason, and he was happy as a clam.
Thursday, June 11th
9:26am
On the agenda: Pay bills, clean playroom, sparkle-clean kitchen, finish laundry, start packing, go to swim class, finish packing, and sleep. Bright and early to the airport tomorrow....
9:47am
I am now extremely ticked off. Just went to start a load of laundry, and discovered that all my water is turned off. They're repairing pipes somewhere, and they don't know when it will be back on. HELLOOOOOOO. I have laundry and dishes to do before I leave in the morning!!!!! GRRRRRRAAAAWWRRR
12:46pm
Lunchtime. Switching the car with Jesse and taking all 3 kids and 3 full laundry baskets to the laundromat. Yay. .... Wish I could take back my laundry procrastination yesterday.
4:34pm
Was able to narrowly avoid the laundromat- checked the water once more before heading out the door, and it was back on! Took Jesse back to work anyway, in case they turned the water off and we needed to do the laundromat still. But it's stayed on all afternoon, and the laundry's almost done, along with most of the rest of the chores. Yay!
10:12pm
Becky is definitely not going to get enough sleep tonight. Gotta get up before the sun in the morning to get to the airport, and I haven't even finished packing yet. But I'm sooooo excited for Colorado! ♥
(From the 12th through the 22nd, all statuses are posted while I'm in Colorado, on Mountain time, but the posting time is still in Eastern. So, think 2 hours early for everything. 9am= I really posted at 7am, 10pm=I really posted at 8pm, etc.)
Friday, June 12th
5:04pm (from my iPod)
Becky got three hours of sleep, hopped on a plane, held a wiggly kid for 4 hours, and then crashed on the couch in beautiful Colorado.
Saturday, June 13th
9:02am (from my iPod)
Becky is not a fan of young toddlers transferring their 8am wake time to a 6am Mountain wake time. Especially after yesterday's lack of sleep followed by an 11:30pm mountain bedtime. Zzzzzzzzzzz.
6:51pm
Becky loves watching the kids play with their cousins. Jacob just yelled to one, "Come with me! You're my friend, you're my cousin!!"
Tuesday, June 16th
11:21pm (from my iPod)
Becky notes that her entire family would prefer to stay in Colorado rather than go home in six days, despite the daily T-storms. And today I made my own beaded necklace... That was so cool! I think I have to do it again.
Note about that status: My mother-in-law Nedra, and sister-in-law, Rachel, have a TON of beading supplies and their own (fairly new) Etsy shop here, where they sell their creations. They also sell them in person at craft shows. They invited all of the women (and a couple of the older cousins) to try it out and make their own stuff for the cost of the materials. So I spent $10 total on these two necklaces and one that Melinda picked beads for (hers is entirely random, but she loves it!). The first one I made with my red and white dress in mind, and it works fantastically with it! The second one I made because the first one was so fun/addicting... And I thought it would be pretty to put pinks and purples together with a little pop of green-blue. Turns out that necklace goes with a million different shirts I have! :)
Wednesday, June 17th
4:32pm (from my iPod)
Becky was in lawn-mowing heaven this afternoon. Ahhh... Nothing like the look of clean lines on green grass.
Note: I'll talk about that more in one of my Colorado blog posts.
10:10pm (from my iPod)
Becky is totally wiped out. Lawn work all morning, often with Alex strapped to my back, followed by two hours at the pool. If you hear some snoring, it just might be me all the way from Colorado.
Thursday, June 18th
7:18pm (from my iPod)
Becky supposes that bad days are inevitable even on vacation. Sigh. Here's to a better tomorrow.
Friday, June 19th
10:12pm (from my iPod)
Becky apparently missed out on the most awesome swimming pool ever, today. But when one kid took a nice long nap and the other two ended up falling asleep on the couch, I think we made a good decision by staying home.
Saturday, June 20th
1:24pm (from my iPod)
Becky is getting ready for a picnic, playground time, and canoeing on the lake. Fun!
7:21pm (from my iPod)
Becky keeps trying to remember "Today is a gift". But despite the fun, I'm still completely bummed that I have to go back home tomorrow. Wish I could stay in Colorado forever.
(Back to normal time, now...)
Tuesday, June 23rd
1:10am
Becky is home. Fridge & cupboards are essentially empty, there are 3 loads of laundry (despite doing 2 on vacay), booster seat got mixed up w/ relatives at the last minute, nobody slept on the plane, each kid had a bit of a meltdown at home with getting into bed, and we had to turn on the A/C at midnight because we felt so hot and sticky. I'm going to bed.
1:30pm
Becky is completely unpacked in record time, and has already started 2 loads of laundry. Usually it takes me a couple weeks. ;) Yay me!! Look what sleeping in until 10am can do for a travelin' gal!
3:01pm
Becky enjoyed over an hour of **all three** kids napping.
>>> after various shocked comments:
It's not so impressive when you remember that we got home at almost midnight, and didn't get them into bed until after that (and several meltdowns). Melinda woke up before Jesse got out of bed for work... so, yeah, not enough sleep. They HAD to have naps.
3:28pm
Obviously, the naps for Melinda and Jacob were not enough to make up for a midnight bedtime and a 7am wake time. They are both melting down, and I'm getting frustrated. Where's all the cousin/aunt/uncle/grandma/grandpa distractions when you need them? :(
11:00pm
Becky is hoping tomorrow goes much, much, much better than today did.
Wednesday, June 24th
2:50pm
Becky is doing great with laundry and kitchen upkeep, but keeps putting off the restocking-the-groceries part of getting back from vacation.
Thursday, June 25th
1:57pm
Becky made an impulsive decision and ran out to buy a couple giant popsicles and and ice cream bar when the ice cream truck rolled by, blaring it's music. Hey, I'm hot, and I actually had cash on hand. And now the kids are blissfully occupied while I finish up my grocery list. ;)
11:42pm
Becky is starting to feel that slightly-sore feeling in the back of my mouth up near my nose, like I'm about to come down with something. Sigh. Hope some extra vitamins and such will help, because I don't know if I can tolerate my typical hot tea in this weather.
Friday, June 26th
9:36am
Becky is definitely not feeling good. So far it's all in my head... but even my neck is a bit achey/stiff feeling. Loading up on vitamin C, garlic, and tea with honey... (The tea actually feels very good, even in the hot weather.)
12:20pm
Becky told Jacob, "I love you so much!". Jacob replied, "I love you more much!" And then I said, "I love you most much!" and he agreed that he loved me "most much", too. .... Little boys are awesome. ♥
9:03pm
Jesse came home early from work today with bad news. The purchase deal fell through for his company. There's another company still considering, but in the meantime, after next week, everyone has been told not to come in to work for 2 weeks. And nobody can say whether they'll come back at all or not. They'll figure that out later, I guess. .... ... I knew I should have stayed in Colorado. ;)
Monday, June 29th
12:00pm
Becky thinks today is a beautiful day. And it helps that the floors are vacuumed and the kitchen is clean and the laundry isn't piling up. I've somehow managed to stay mostly organized in the week I've been home from vacation!
3:53pm
Becky just logged 45 minutes on the Wii Fit. After a break of 179 days. :-\
Tuesday, June 30th
1:51pm
Becky pushed 2 kids on a stroller for over an hour at a fast-as-possible pace while Melinda sped ahead on her bike. If only I had my own bike and kid trailer! Or even a double jogging stroller would have helped. Melinda had to stop and wait for me to catch up so often!
10:08pm
Becky just helped Jesse apply for a job out in Louisville, CO that sounded absolutely perfect for his background. Have to keep reminding myself that even if *I* think he's perfect for it, doesn't mean they automatically will. But here's to hoping!
Wednesday, July 1st
11:33am
Alex was playing on the porch, fell over, and whacked/scraped his forehead on the concrete. My poor baby's face is covered in a giant red splotch. It could have been worse, but it sure isn't pretty. :(
2:50pm
Becky did 45 min on the Wii Fit again. Three days in a row of exercising! *pats herself on the back* But when will the soreness stop? Oh, I ache so much from the first session!
Thursday, July 2nd
10:19am
Becky dreamed last night that she was back in band, eager to play clarinet after many years, but of all the large handful of reeds I had, not a single one was unbroken.
3:55pm
Jesse's done with work for this week and the next week, if not more. But for now, we're enjoying his early time off, and he took the older two kids out to ride bikes while Alex and I enjoy some quiet time.
5:16pm
Becky is feeling a bit overwhelmed by mommy guilt.
>>> 7:10pm
The irrational kind set in by everything going badly at once. But it's mostly focused on Alex having some issues with his teeth that really need to get looked at, but we don't even have him on our dental insurance yet. Also, I realized it's not fully mommy guilt. It's also a lot of panic setting in about everything else going downhill in our life right now. Job, car, bills, that sort of thing. Panic came out of nowhere... I was fine with it up till this afternoon...
Friday, July 3rd
10:30am
Becky is hoping Jesse can figure out the current car issue. Radiator emptying completely in a 10 minute drive. Hopefully it's just a broken hose or something....
>>> 11:08am
Looking more like the whole radiator, since water is pretty much pouring off the frame underneath the radiator after being filled. We've decided to take it to a well-respected mechanic on Monday. They think they can fix it for $300-400, and take less than a day doing it. Sounds better than buying a radiator for almost $200 when we can't say for *sure* that this is the problem, and chance wasting both time and money while Jesse's income is on the line.
(Yay for our only car being completely crappy. I really was hoping Jesse's company would be purchased and we'd be shopping for a new van right now. That hope sure was blown out of the water. We're stuck fixing a car we hate, instead.)
12:30pm
Becky does not have a text messaging plan. Each text message sent costs $.20. Each message received also costs $.20. So when the baby grabs your phone and somehow manages to send two blank messages in quick succession to your husband who shares a family plan with you, he just cost you $.80. For nothing.
Uhh, maybe I should say "YIKES!" instead of exciting???
Saturday, June 6th
12:10am
Yay, it's my birthday!! Now I just have to get to bed so I can be awake for it during the actual daytime... :)
4:17pm
Becky's day is going reasonably well. Too bad I've had to fold laundry , and a certain little girl is choosing to throw fits every 2 seconds, and my free Coldstone ice cream got kicked all over my jeans by the baby. Otherwise, I'm in a good mood, Jesse's doing a lot of chores and cooking for me, and it's SUNNY, thank goodness!
Sunday, June 7th
3:21pm (from my iPod)
Becky appears to have a dead computer. It won't even boot up in safe mode.
>> Jesse, 4:51pm << we got it running....finally booted in safe with CMD and then a restart got it running.
9:26pm
Becky prepared and very much enjoyed a white vegetable lasagna for dinner tonight. And then went bike riding - Melinda is officially graduated to riding with no training wheels!! What a smooth transition she made, she was amazing tonight!
Monday, June 8th
10:44am
Becky is happy for beautiful weather.
>> 1:58pm Well, I might just take my happy comment back, because running errands made me feel like I was going to melt. But inside I feel nice and comfortable.
7:34pm
Becky is glad that if the car decided to overheat, it at least did it at the best time possible. No kids in the car, a nearby exit off the freeway, and a husband at home just a phone call away to explain step-by-step how to locate the radiator cap. Also glad that said awesome husband managed to have no less than THREE giant bottles of coolant sitting in the car, saving me a walk to a gas station.
Tuesday, June 9th
4:41pm
Becky is too hot. Ordering pizza. I'm such a wuss.
6:05pm
Becky loooooooves a good thunderstorm!!
(I even have pictures and a video to share eventually!)
Wednesday, June 10th
11:13am
Jacob's first dentist appointment: Check! Lookin' good! Find Hawaiian clothes at Goodwill for family reunion Luau party: Check! Eat ice cream before lunchtime: Check!!
1:31pm
Becky appears to be putting of getting the house ready for vacation by one more day. Typical me, save it all for the last minute.
3:39pm
Becky is *trying* to pick up the front room before I start dinner, but the computer is so darn distracting!! If only a thunderstorm would roll by and knock out my power, THEN I'd get some cleaning done! Oh, but then I wouldn't have fans or A/C. Hmmm. Maybe I should just exercise more will power.
4:30pm
Clean front room: Check! Trim Alex's hair: Check! (Poor kid needs someone to donate hair cutting lessons to his mommy....)
11:29pm
Becky doesn't know why Alex went to bed 2 hours late tonight. No logical reason, and he was happy as a clam.
Thursday, June 11th
9:26am
On the agenda: Pay bills, clean playroom, sparkle-clean kitchen, finish laundry, start packing, go to swim class, finish packing, and sleep. Bright and early to the airport tomorrow....
9:47am
I am now extremely ticked off. Just went to start a load of laundry, and discovered that all my water is turned off. They're repairing pipes somewhere, and they don't know when it will be back on. HELLOOOOOOO. I have laundry and dishes to do before I leave in the morning!!!!! GRRRRRRAAAAWWRRR
12:46pm
Lunchtime. Switching the car with Jesse and taking all 3 kids and 3 full laundry baskets to the laundromat. Yay. .... Wish I could take back my laundry procrastination yesterday.
4:34pm
Was able to narrowly avoid the laundromat- checked the water once more before heading out the door, and it was back on! Took Jesse back to work anyway, in case they turned the water off and we needed to do the laundromat still. But it's stayed on all afternoon, and the laundry's almost done, along with most of the rest of the chores. Yay!
10:12pm
Becky is definitely not going to get enough sleep tonight. Gotta get up before the sun in the morning to get to the airport, and I haven't even finished packing yet. But I'm sooooo excited for Colorado! ♥
(From the 12th through the 22nd, all statuses are posted while I'm in Colorado, on Mountain time, but the posting time is still in Eastern. So, think 2 hours early for everything. 9am= I really posted at 7am, 10pm=I really posted at 8pm, etc.)
Friday, June 12th
5:04pm (from my iPod)
Becky got three hours of sleep, hopped on a plane, held a wiggly kid for 4 hours, and then crashed on the couch in beautiful Colorado.
Saturday, June 13th
9:02am (from my iPod)
Becky is not a fan of young toddlers transferring their 8am wake time to a 6am Mountain wake time. Especially after yesterday's lack of sleep followed by an 11:30pm mountain bedtime. Zzzzzzzzzzz.
6:51pm
Becky loves watching the kids play with their cousins. Jacob just yelled to one, "Come with me! You're my friend, you're my cousin!!"
Tuesday, June 16th
11:21pm (from my iPod)
Becky notes that her entire family would prefer to stay in Colorado rather than go home in six days, despite the daily T-storms. And today I made my own beaded necklace... That was so cool! I think I have to do it again.
Note about that status: My mother-in-law Nedra, and sister-in-law, Rachel, have a TON of beading supplies and their own (fairly new) Etsy shop here, where they sell their creations. They also sell them in person at craft shows. They invited all of the women (and a couple of the older cousins) to try it out and make their own stuff for the cost of the materials. So I spent $10 total on these two necklaces and one that Melinda picked beads for (hers is entirely random, but she loves it!). The first one I made with my red and white dress in mind, and it works fantastically with it! The second one I made because the first one was so fun/addicting... And I thought it would be pretty to put pinks and purples together with a little pop of green-blue. Turns out that necklace goes with a million different shirts I have! :)
Wednesday, June 17th
4:32pm (from my iPod)
Becky was in lawn-mowing heaven this afternoon. Ahhh... Nothing like the look of clean lines on green grass.
Note: I'll talk about that more in one of my Colorado blog posts.
10:10pm (from my iPod)
Becky is totally wiped out. Lawn work all morning, often with Alex strapped to my back, followed by two hours at the pool. If you hear some snoring, it just might be me all the way from Colorado.
Thursday, June 18th
7:18pm (from my iPod)
Becky supposes that bad days are inevitable even on vacation. Sigh. Here's to a better tomorrow.
Friday, June 19th
10:12pm (from my iPod)
Becky apparently missed out on the most awesome swimming pool ever, today. But when one kid took a nice long nap and the other two ended up falling asleep on the couch, I think we made a good decision by staying home.
Saturday, June 20th
1:24pm (from my iPod)
Becky is getting ready for a picnic, playground time, and canoeing on the lake. Fun!
7:21pm (from my iPod)
Becky keeps trying to remember "Today is a gift". But despite the fun, I'm still completely bummed that I have to go back home tomorrow. Wish I could stay in Colorado forever.
(Back to normal time, now...)
Tuesday, June 23rd
1:10am
Becky is home. Fridge & cupboards are essentially empty, there are 3 loads of laundry (despite doing 2 on vacay), booster seat got mixed up w/ relatives at the last minute, nobody slept on the plane, each kid had a bit of a meltdown at home with getting into bed, and we had to turn on the A/C at midnight because we felt so hot and sticky. I'm going to bed.
1:30pm
Becky is completely unpacked in record time, and has already started 2 loads of laundry. Usually it takes me a couple weeks. ;) Yay me!! Look what sleeping in until 10am can do for a travelin' gal!
3:01pm
Becky enjoyed over an hour of **all three** kids napping.
>>> after various shocked comments:
It's not so impressive when you remember that we got home at almost midnight, and didn't get them into bed until after that (and several meltdowns). Melinda woke up before Jesse got out of bed for work... so, yeah, not enough sleep. They HAD to have naps.
3:28pm
Obviously, the naps for Melinda and Jacob were not enough to make up for a midnight bedtime and a 7am wake time. They are both melting down, and I'm getting frustrated. Where's all the cousin/aunt/uncle/grandma/grandpa distractions when you need them? :(
11:00pm
Becky is hoping tomorrow goes much, much, much better than today did.
Wednesday, June 24th
2:50pm
Becky is doing great with laundry and kitchen upkeep, but keeps putting off the restocking-the-groceries part of getting back from vacation.
Thursday, June 25th
1:57pm
Becky made an impulsive decision and ran out to buy a couple giant popsicles and and ice cream bar when the ice cream truck rolled by, blaring it's music. Hey, I'm hot, and I actually had cash on hand. And now the kids are blissfully occupied while I finish up my grocery list. ;)
11:42pm
Becky is starting to feel that slightly-sore feeling in the back of my mouth up near my nose, like I'm about to come down with something. Sigh. Hope some extra vitamins and such will help, because I don't know if I can tolerate my typical hot tea in this weather.
Friday, June 26th
9:36am
Becky is definitely not feeling good. So far it's all in my head... but even my neck is a bit achey/stiff feeling. Loading up on vitamin C, garlic, and tea with honey... (The tea actually feels very good, even in the hot weather.)
12:20pm
Becky told Jacob, "I love you so much!". Jacob replied, "I love you more much!" And then I said, "I love you most much!" and he agreed that he loved me "most much", too. .... Little boys are awesome. ♥
9:03pm
Jesse came home early from work today with bad news. The purchase deal fell through for his company. There's another company still considering, but in the meantime, after next week, everyone has been told not to come in to work for 2 weeks. And nobody can say whether they'll come back at all or not. They'll figure that out later, I guess. .... ... I knew I should have stayed in Colorado. ;)
Monday, June 29th
12:00pm
Becky thinks today is a beautiful day. And it helps that the floors are vacuumed and the kitchen is clean and the laundry isn't piling up. I've somehow managed to stay mostly organized in the week I've been home from vacation!
3:53pm
Becky just logged 45 minutes on the Wii Fit. After a break of 179 days. :-\
Tuesday, June 30th
1:51pm
Becky pushed 2 kids on a stroller for over an hour at a fast-as-possible pace while Melinda sped ahead on her bike. If only I had my own bike and kid trailer! Or even a double jogging stroller would have helped. Melinda had to stop and wait for me to catch up so often!
10:08pm
Becky just helped Jesse apply for a job out in Louisville, CO that sounded absolutely perfect for his background. Have to keep reminding myself that even if *I* think he's perfect for it, doesn't mean they automatically will. But here's to hoping!
Wednesday, July 1st
11:33am
Alex was playing on the porch, fell over, and whacked/scraped his forehead on the concrete. My poor baby's face is covered in a giant red splotch. It could have been worse, but it sure isn't pretty. :(
2:50pm
Becky did 45 min on the Wii Fit again. Three days in a row of exercising! *pats herself on the back* But when will the soreness stop? Oh, I ache so much from the first session!
Thursday, July 2nd
10:19am
Becky dreamed last night that she was back in band, eager to play clarinet after many years, but of all the large handful of reeds I had, not a single one was unbroken.
3:55pm
Jesse's done with work for this week and the next week, if not more. But for now, we're enjoying his early time off, and he took the older two kids out to ride bikes while Alex and I enjoy some quiet time.
5:16pm
Becky is feeling a bit overwhelmed by mommy guilt.
>>> 7:10pm
The irrational kind set in by everything going badly at once. But it's mostly focused on Alex having some issues with his teeth that really need to get looked at, but we don't even have him on our dental insurance yet. Also, I realized it's not fully mommy guilt. It's also a lot of panic setting in about everything else going downhill in our life right now. Job, car, bills, that sort of thing. Panic came out of nowhere... I was fine with it up till this afternoon...
Friday, July 3rd
10:30am
Becky is hoping Jesse can figure out the current car issue. Radiator emptying completely in a 10 minute drive. Hopefully it's just a broken hose or something....
>>> 11:08am
Looking more like the whole radiator, since water is pretty much pouring off the frame underneath the radiator after being filled. We've decided to take it to a well-respected mechanic on Monday. They think they can fix it for $300-400, and take less than a day doing it. Sounds better than buying a radiator for almost $200 when we can't say for *sure* that this is the problem, and chance wasting both time and money while Jesse's income is on the line.
(Yay for our only car being completely crappy. I really was hoping Jesse's company would be purchased and we'd be shopping for a new van right now. That hope sure was blown out of the water. We're stuck fixing a car we hate, instead.)
12:30pm
Becky does not have a text messaging plan. Each text message sent costs $.20. Each message received also costs $.20. So when the baby grabs your phone and somehow manages to send two blank messages in quick succession to your husband who shares a family plan with you, he just cost you $.80. For nothing.
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Colorado Vacation Begins
Early early on Jesse's birthday, we started our trip to Colorado. Our plan was to be up by 4:30am, to get to the airport early enough for our flight at 7am. Well, I accidentally set my alarm for PM instead of AM, and Jesse apparently either didn't hear his alarm or turned it off. Jesse woke up up at about 4:45, gasping in terror that we didn't wake up. We were lucky he woke up enough to notice the time, because it took me forever to fall asleep the night before, as is always the case before a big trip, and so I was essentially dead, only about 3 hours into my sleep. There was no way I would have woken up. But Jesse's panic got me moving, and so off I went on only 3 hours of sleep.
Melinda woke up easily - just the lights turning on got her out of bed and excited to start the trip. Jacob had to be shaken around a bit before he was up enough for us to get him dressed and going. Alex woke up as soon as I got him dressed. Amazingly, all three of them stayed awake the entire trip down to the airport. And the only ones who slept ON the plane were Jesse (I admit I was furiously jealous of that for a little while), and Alex... for only about 45 minutes or so. On a 4 hour flight. Alex fought sleep and wanted to run and play the rest of the time, and Melinda and Jacob didn't even look like the were tired. Out the window went my ideas for airplanes putting young, sleep-deprived kids right to sleep!!!
Our arrival at the airport was actually pretty stressful. Since we were running behind, we were rushing to make up lost time. There was no traffic, but we still had to park at the long-term parking, remove all three car seats, grab a bus to the airport, and check in. We were banking on short lines due to the day and time of the flight, and we didn't have to wait long to get to the check-in counter, but security wait was longer than we anticipated, and our agent that checked us in was as slow as molasses. And this was AFTER she chided us for being so late ("so late" being only1.5 hours before departure), earning us no boarding passes (I didn't know I could actually CHECK IN online a whole day before!), and told us that we needed to hurry to the gate to get seats, or they'd give them away. So we're like, THANKS, lady--- could you maybe hurry it up a bit?? I swear I could have checked the luggage faster than 3 versions of her working together. So anyway, we finally got checked in, and waited through security anxiously, and then really booked it down to our gate, as best as we could while trying to urge the kids along. Jacob likes to stand completley still on moving sidewalks, so getting him to run was a joke. But we made it, and got our boarding passes easily, like there was never any question that it would happen. And then we had to wait around for a while... all while realizing that our planned "breakfast" of leftover Arby's burgers was sitting back in the van between the front seats, and would have to stay there for 10 days. We had snacks, at least, but no real breakfast.
It was a full flight, but because we had young kids, we got to board rather early, and picked out a row of seats, with Melinda at the window, Jacob in the middle, and Jesse on the aisle, and me with Alex on my lap in the aisle just across from them. An older couple sat next to me, and helped entertain Alex a little bit (because, no matter how many toys you bring, they simply aren't interesting to your own kids). But they started to make me uncomfortable after a while, offering food to Alex, wanting to hold him, and walk him up and down the aisle. I'm sorry, but I'm uncomfortable enough with Alex's safety while he's sitting firmly locked in my own lap, on the off chance that there's some crazy bad turbulence that rips him out of my arms and kills him. I am certainly NOT going to hand him over to a perfect stranger and let that responsibility pass from myself. I would never ever forgive myself if he got hurt on a plane because someone besides myself was holding him, at the wrong time, you know?
Anyway, we arrived in Denver bright and early at 10am Mountain time, where Rachel met us and took us home in the van. All three kids fell asleep on the drive back to the Newson house, thankfully. I was worried about them being so low on sleep! We ate some lunch back at their house, and said hello's to Grandma and Grandpa, and Sarah and her kids (Meredith, Max, Jack and Luke), who had already been there for a few days. Once the kids looked good and distracted with playing, I crashed on the couch, fast asleep. I was so exhausted, after only 3 hours of sleep, a busy morning of travel, and wrangling with Alex to keep him happy on my lap on the plane. I woke up much happier and feeling more energetic, which was a relief.
The day was spent mostly by me watching after the kids, while the others kept getting the house ready for more guests. Jeremy and Heidi's family would be coming the next day, with their 5 kids, and Tobin would be flying in as well. It's hard to believe it, but a good 24 people stayed in the same house for more than a week!! The time change for us made it easier to get the kids to bed than it otherwise would have, with such a noisy, busy house. But the downside, of course, was that they were getting up at the crack of dawn, while we kept on going to bed late so we could stay up and visit and play with the adults.
We had a delicious birthday dinner that day that we arrived, to celebrate Jesse's birthday that day, and mine a week before. Rachel had made dessert for us, and we even got to blow out candles! My mom had sent a birthday card to Jesse at his parent's house, and it arrived in time for him to open it that day. That was a surprise!! And then we got to open up some presents from the family after dinner. Jesse's always been a hard one to give gifts to, but they had found a big collection of Calvin & Hobbes comic books to give to him, and Crocs brand swim trunks and sunglasses. And cousin Meredith (9 years old) made for a good laugh when she wrapped a single tic tac in a giant pillowcase for Jesse to open! I got a couple small kitchen gadgets, a great hand-made tote bag from Sarah, and a needle felting kit, which was fun, because it's something I've been wanting to try! It's easy to feel a little spoiled when we get together with the Newson family.
The first few days we were there, we mostly just hung out at home and let the kids entertain themselves... and with so many cousins available, and Grandma's ample supply of toys from the 70's and 80's, and the giant sandy "beach" in the backyard (thanks to the unfortunate septic tank issues they had recently, and new regulations about drainage systems), entertaining themselves was generally very easy.
Sunday we had another birthday celebration for Rachel. I think it's really fun having a sister-in-law the same age as myself. Of course, as she reminded me, I'm SOooo much older than she is. A whole 8 days older!!! Gasp!! But after her birthday dinner (which, in Newson tradition, the birthday girl or boy gets to choose, and Rachel chose homemade Chipotle! Yum!!), we had more birthday dessert and singing and gifts. Alex had his first ever ice cream cone, which he thoroughly enjoyed, and everyone else got delicious ice cream and brownies. What a weekend!! ;)
On Monday, Jesse and a couple of his brothers helped clean out Ron and Nedra's gutters, which were overgrowing with little plants. They actually did quite a bit of work around the house, which I'm sure was a big help to their parents. Jesse also helped install a screen door on one of the doors downstairs.
It was so, so, so good to see everyone again. All those cousins had grown up so much since the last time we all got together, 2 years ago! And being in Colorado itself was just wonderful, too. Even though it was chilly the first several days, and raining with thunderstorms every single afternoon/evening... it just felt good to be there.
More to come later.... if I don't split this up, I'll never finish it!! ;)
Melinda woke up easily - just the lights turning on got her out of bed and excited to start the trip. Jacob had to be shaken around a bit before he was up enough for us to get him dressed and going. Alex woke up as soon as I got him dressed. Amazingly, all three of them stayed awake the entire trip down to the airport. And the only ones who slept ON the plane were Jesse (I admit I was furiously jealous of that for a little while), and Alex... for only about 45 minutes or so. On a 4 hour flight. Alex fought sleep and wanted to run and play the rest of the time, and Melinda and Jacob didn't even look like the were tired. Out the window went my ideas for airplanes putting young, sleep-deprived kids right to sleep!!!
Our arrival at the airport was actually pretty stressful. Since we were running behind, we were rushing to make up lost time. There was no traffic, but we still had to park at the long-term parking, remove all three car seats, grab a bus to the airport, and check in. We were banking on short lines due to the day and time of the flight, and we didn't have to wait long to get to the check-in counter, but security wait was longer than we anticipated, and our agent that checked us in was as slow as molasses. And this was AFTER she chided us for being so late ("so late" being only1.5 hours before departure), earning us no boarding passes (I didn't know I could actually CHECK IN online a whole day before!), and told us that we needed to hurry to the gate to get seats, or they'd give them away. So we're like, THANKS, lady--- could you maybe hurry it up a bit?? I swear I could have checked the luggage faster than 3 versions of her working together. So anyway, we finally got checked in, and waited through security anxiously, and then really booked it down to our gate, as best as we could while trying to urge the kids along. Jacob likes to stand completley still on moving sidewalks, so getting him to run was a joke. But we made it, and got our boarding passes easily, like there was never any question that it would happen. And then we had to wait around for a while... all while realizing that our planned "breakfast" of leftover Arby's burgers was sitting back in the van between the front seats, and would have to stay there for 10 days. We had snacks, at least, but no real breakfast.
It was a full flight, but because we had young kids, we got to board rather early, and picked out a row of seats, with Melinda at the window, Jacob in the middle, and Jesse on the aisle, and me with Alex on my lap in the aisle just across from them. An older couple sat next to me, and helped entertain Alex a little bit (because, no matter how many toys you bring, they simply aren't interesting to your own kids). But they started to make me uncomfortable after a while, offering food to Alex, wanting to hold him, and walk him up and down the aisle. I'm sorry, but I'm uncomfortable enough with Alex's safety while he's sitting firmly locked in my own lap, on the off chance that there's some crazy bad turbulence that rips him out of my arms and kills him. I am certainly NOT going to hand him over to a perfect stranger and let that responsibility pass from myself. I would never ever forgive myself if he got hurt on a plane because someone besides myself was holding him, at the wrong time, you know?
Anyway, we arrived in Denver bright and early at 10am Mountain time, where Rachel met us and took us home in the van. All three kids fell asleep on the drive back to the Newson house, thankfully. I was worried about them being so low on sleep! We ate some lunch back at their house, and said hello's to Grandma and Grandpa, and Sarah and her kids (Meredith, Max, Jack and Luke), who had already been there for a few days. Once the kids looked good and distracted with playing, I crashed on the couch, fast asleep. I was so exhausted, after only 3 hours of sleep, a busy morning of travel, and wrangling with Alex to keep him happy on my lap on the plane. I woke up much happier and feeling more energetic, which was a relief.
The day was spent mostly by me watching after the kids, while the others kept getting the house ready for more guests. Jeremy and Heidi's family would be coming the next day, with their 5 kids, and Tobin would be flying in as well. It's hard to believe it, but a good 24 people stayed in the same house for more than a week!! The time change for us made it easier to get the kids to bed than it otherwise would have, with such a noisy, busy house. But the downside, of course, was that they were getting up at the crack of dawn, while we kept on going to bed late so we could stay up and visit and play with the adults.
We had a delicious birthday dinner that day that we arrived, to celebrate Jesse's birthday that day, and mine a week before. Rachel had made dessert for us, and we even got to blow out candles! My mom had sent a birthday card to Jesse at his parent's house, and it arrived in time for him to open it that day. That was a surprise!! And then we got to open up some presents from the family after dinner. Jesse's always been a hard one to give gifts to, but they had found a big collection of Calvin & Hobbes comic books to give to him, and Crocs brand swim trunks and sunglasses. And cousin Meredith (9 years old) made for a good laugh when she wrapped a single tic tac in a giant pillowcase for Jesse to open! I got a couple small kitchen gadgets, a great hand-made tote bag from Sarah, and a needle felting kit, which was fun, because it's something I've been wanting to try! It's easy to feel a little spoiled when we get together with the Newson family.
The first few days we were there, we mostly just hung out at home and let the kids entertain themselves... and with so many cousins available, and Grandma's ample supply of toys from the 70's and 80's, and the giant sandy "beach" in the backyard (thanks to the unfortunate septic tank issues they had recently, and new regulations about drainage systems), entertaining themselves was generally very easy.
Sunday we had another birthday celebration for Rachel. I think it's really fun having a sister-in-law the same age as myself. Of course, as she reminded me, I'm SOooo much older than she is. A whole 8 days older!!! Gasp!! But after her birthday dinner (which, in Newson tradition, the birthday girl or boy gets to choose, and Rachel chose homemade Chipotle! Yum!!), we had more birthday dessert and singing and gifts. Alex had his first ever ice cream cone, which he thoroughly enjoyed, and everyone else got delicious ice cream and brownies. What a weekend!! ;)
On Monday, Jesse and a couple of his brothers helped clean out Ron and Nedra's gutters, which were overgrowing with little plants. They actually did quite a bit of work around the house, which I'm sure was a big help to their parents. Jesse also helped install a screen door on one of the doors downstairs.
It was so, so, so good to see everyone again. All those cousins had grown up so much since the last time we all got together, 2 years ago! And being in Colorado itself was just wonderful, too. Even though it was chilly the first several days, and raining with thunderstorms every single afternoon/evening... it just felt good to be there.
More to come later.... if I don't split this up, I'll never finish it!! ;)
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Pay it Forward
Obvious confession time: I've been severely behind in my blogging for months now. I've been putting off this post with the idea that I should catch up with my "real" blogging, first, but I give up. I need to do this. If I eventually manage to catch up with the other stuff, great.... but I'm not going to force this to wait anymore.
Back in March, I accepted a gift from Allyson with the requirement to Pay it Forward. It was an awesome gift - something like 20 beautiful hand-made cards, each as lovely and useful as could be! I've already used a few, and feel so happy sending them out to friends and family. Now, all I have to do, is share something with three more people. It's been a long time coming, huh? (Hello, July... where on earth did you come from?!?)
Please please please comment here and agree to take a gift from me! All you have to do is pay it forward yourself. I don't care if you give away 3 more things to bloggers or to real-life friends, or even if you only give away one thing to one other person. I'll be honest and say that I feel QUITE guilty that it's taken me this long to put up this post, especially when I've had 3 things just hanging around waiting to be given away!
If you win, I either have to be able to mail the item to you, or give it to you in person. So, be prepared to let me have your name and address, if I don't have it already!
I have three beautiful hand-made items from Etsy for you to choose from.
Number 1, a fun and practical palm tree bag, made by Kennedy Grace boutique on Etsy. I'm sorry that I'm not going to drag out my ruler for you, but this bag is as tall as the length of my forearm, a bit wider than that across, and about 2-3 inches deep. Definitely roomy! It's got 4 outside pockets, 2 inside pockets, and a little ribbon loop for attaching things like your keys. The handles are a lightweight bamboo, it's got an attached black ribbon accent, and the bag can stand up on its own. Feels very sturdy and durable, and looks perfect for summertime!! I'm just not much of a purse person, so I'm passing it along. It's brand new and unused.
Number 2, a lovely sea-green and blue paisley diaper and wipes pouch made by Shut the Front Door at Etsy. It has a velcro closure and will definitely fit plenty of diapers and wipes. Love this concept - it makes grabbing a diaper and wipes to throw in your bag such an easy chore! And I personally think the fabric is so stylish. :)
Number 3 is a set of beaded french hook earrings with silver findings by dedesbeads at Etsy. I completely wish I could use these. I ordered a gorgeous beaded necklace several months ago, and the seller was so excited that she ran out and made a free pair of earrings to send to me as a gift. It was so unexpected and thrillnig! But I don't have pierced ears... and I think this is the first time I've ever regeretted it!! I think I'd wear them every day, if I could... they're just such a gorgeous shade of blue. They are even more impressive in person... when I haven't taken a picture with poor lighting at 10pm, that sort of thing. I'm almost certain that there are two swarovski crystals on each earring- they are vibrant, shiny, and match the shape of the swarovski crystals I worked with during jewelry-making fun on vacation in Colorado. :) They're also made with .925 silver, so they'll be good for those of you with sensitive ears!
So all you have to do is comment here, and in about a week's time, I'll randomly choose 3 winners to receive a gift! Go ahead and state your order of preference for a prize in your comment, but if things don't work out automatically, prize winner #1 will get first choice, followed by prize winner #2 getting second choice, etc. And remember - if you win a prize, you need to be prepared to pass a gift on to another person! Your choice of gift type, gift recipient, and method of giving. Just Pay it Forward, simple as that. And feel free to tell other people about this little giveaway! I know I've been blogging so infrequently, that my readership is languishing a little bit. Of course, I'm happy to just give things away to my family, but if you want to make it more fun, I might even throw in one of my recently read books for fun, you know? ;)
Also, just a quick disclaimer: I'm only willing to ship within the continental U.S. With Jesse's job being very likely gone in the near future, I don't want to spend a fortune on shipping.
(Phew! Now I can get along with catch-up blogging guilt free, now that I've finally taken care of this Pay it Forward thing!)
Back in March, I accepted a gift from Allyson with the requirement to Pay it Forward. It was an awesome gift - something like 20 beautiful hand-made cards, each as lovely and useful as could be! I've already used a few, and feel so happy sending them out to friends and family. Now, all I have to do, is share something with three more people. It's been a long time coming, huh? (Hello, July... where on earth did you come from?!?)
Please please please comment here and agree to take a gift from me! All you have to do is pay it forward yourself. I don't care if you give away 3 more things to bloggers or to real-life friends, or even if you only give away one thing to one other person. I'll be honest and say that I feel QUITE guilty that it's taken me this long to put up this post, especially when I've had 3 things just hanging around waiting to be given away!
If you win, I either have to be able to mail the item to you, or give it to you in person. So, be prepared to let me have your name and address, if I don't have it already!
I have three beautiful hand-made items from Etsy for you to choose from.
Number 1, a fun and practical palm tree bag, made by Kennedy Grace boutique on Etsy. I'm sorry that I'm not going to drag out my ruler for you, but this bag is as tall as the length of my forearm, a bit wider than that across, and about 2-3 inches deep. Definitely roomy! It's got 4 outside pockets, 2 inside pockets, and a little ribbon loop for attaching things like your keys. The handles are a lightweight bamboo, it's got an attached black ribbon accent, and the bag can stand up on its own. Feels very sturdy and durable, and looks perfect for summertime!! I'm just not much of a purse person, so I'm passing it along. It's brand new and unused.
Number 2, a lovely sea-green and blue paisley diaper and wipes pouch made by Shut the Front Door at Etsy. It has a velcro closure and will definitely fit plenty of diapers and wipes. Love this concept - it makes grabbing a diaper and wipes to throw in your bag such an easy chore! And I personally think the fabric is so stylish. :)
Number 3 is a set of beaded french hook earrings with silver findings by dedesbeads at Etsy. I completely wish I could use these. I ordered a gorgeous beaded necklace several months ago, and the seller was so excited that she ran out and made a free pair of earrings to send to me as a gift. It was so unexpected and thrillnig! But I don't have pierced ears... and I think this is the first time I've ever regeretted it!! I think I'd wear them every day, if I could... they're just such a gorgeous shade of blue. They are even more impressive in person... when I haven't taken a picture with poor lighting at 10pm, that sort of thing. I'm almost certain that there are two swarovski crystals on each earring- they are vibrant, shiny, and match the shape of the swarovski crystals I worked with during jewelry-making fun on vacation in Colorado. :) They're also made with .925 silver, so they'll be good for those of you with sensitive ears!Also, just a quick disclaimer: I'm only willing to ship within the continental U.S. With Jesse's job being very likely gone in the near future, I don't want to spend a fortune on shipping.
(Phew! Now I can get along with catch-up blogging guilt free, now that I've finally taken care of this Pay it Forward thing!)
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