Beautiful Spring, Crazy Days

It's a beautiful spring day - the kind of day we spent all winter waiting for, I think.  Unfortunately, today and tomorrow are supposed to be it for nice days this week.  Then, it's going to get chilly again.  I really need it to warm up and stay up - not only for my own sanity, but because I'm in the final countdown towards Will's graduation.  Right now I have two seasons of everyone's clothes out and I would really like to get all the winter stuff packed up before the party.  Oh, it will happen - I'm just impatient this year, I guess.

I'm sort of working on Will's party, but I am just having the hardest time getting motivated.  I suppose that's fueled by own unwillingness to admit that he really, truly is graduating and getting ready to leave me forever.  And it's because there are still a few projects remaining on the house before I would even want a burgler to visit, let alone, all my friends!  But it's a month from this Wednesday, so I had better get moving!  I'm almost done with his announcements/invitations and I think we have a menu hammered out now.  I just need to figure out how much of everything I need to buy, how much help to ask for, and clean my house from top to bottom (ugh).

Will and I went up to Faith last week to crunch numbers with the Financial office.  It's actually going to work and with Will having to take on only a small amount of debt.  So that's good!  What's not good is that I totally forgot I had a mammogram scheduled for that morning and blew them off to run up to Ankeny.  Oops.

The house is getting there, thanks to how slow it's been for Paul's work this March and April.  Last week he got the rest of the kitchen ceiling tiles in and drywalled in one of the pantry cabinets, making an extra-long, tall cupboard.  That little bit of drywalling needs to be painted, along with the spot behind the piano in the backroom where the window used to be.  He needs to get the trim up around the backroom door, too.  I noticed that he smoothed out all the dirt where the porch used to be, in anticipation of re-building the porch.  We have to get the new kitchen floor down and clean up the yard and then we'll be ready!  Wonder if we can do it in a month...

We've had a bit of an ordeal with Sam lately, as most of my FB friends are aware.  A week ago I noticed that his face was "off."  We ended up taking him to the ER and discovered that he has Bell's Palsy, which is paralysis of the face (in his case, half his face).  His was presumably caused by his recent bout with the chicken pox.  So, in the space of 4 days, we had to see 4 different drs, including the ER visit.  We saw an infectious disease guy who was quite nice.  He's so interested in Sam's case that he called me back a few days later and is asking that the results of Sam's upcoming MRI be sent to him.  We saw an eye specialist because now Sam's right eye doesn't close all the way.  It's kind of freaky - when he does blink, we can see his eyeball rolling up into his head!  We also found out Sam needs glasses at that visit.  Then, we had to have a pre-op physical done the next day.  They're going to do an MRI of his brain (sedated) on the 15th just to rule out any brain inflammation.  This ought to be fun, since he has had zero experience with needles since he was infant.  Right now he's on a couple of meds and we're really hoping that they do the trick and get his face back to normal.  So far, they're not working, though.  The drs said that his face will probably come back, but they can't guarantee it.  It could be days, they said, or weeks.  I've been doing some research and talking to others and it sounds more like months is more common.  Although, I haven't actually talked to anyone who has experience with children and Bells Palsy.

So, you know - this is just one of "those" things.  It's not the end of the world, Sam isn't in any pain.  He's annoyed when he eats because he can't get it in very fast anymore and his speech is a bit slurred.  He looks a little odd.  But, he's not sick, he doesn't have a disease, he hasn't been injured - things could be worse.

I got a new dining room set last week, which was kind of unexpected.  I've been wanting a new table since we got the girls.  It's been a bit difficult to fit 8 of us around our 6' table.  Paul's actually been more on the look-out for one, though, then I have.  I assumed we were looking at big bucks for something new and it takes work to find something used on Craig's List (which is the exact reason I am still sitting on my very saggy and dilapidated love seat - I don't want to take the time and effort to hunt down something better!).  He ran up to Homemakers one day last week in his truck because they had advertised a little computer desk we were interested in.  We moved our office down to the basement the week before last, but are keeping the computer upstairs and needed something to put it on.  Well, while at Homemakers Paul ran across this table and chair set that had been returned and was marked down 2/3 of the price!  He called and described the table to me and it sounded exactly what I have wanted.  Our last table was ornate and I just don't like that kind of stuff.  I am really a simple kind of girl, when it comes to furniture, anyway.  So I took a leap of faith and told him to go ahead and buy it!  I love the table.  It looks like old planks of wood fastened together.  When you put the leaves in it's a full 8' long and it's 2" wider than our last table was, too.

The chairs I'm not crazy about - I don't hate them, but they don't inspire any fond feelings on my part, either.  I've always wanted old-fashioned ladder back chairs, so someday I'll find what I want.  Actually, the table came with 6 chairs.  We had 2 wooden, simple chairs we were using, too, so I spray painted them black to match the new ones - it works for now!

Bella has an appt. next Friday to get de-clawed, fixed, and to get a rabies shot.  We're going to drop her off first thing in the AM and pick her up at that afternoon, getting her all taken care of at once.  About two weeks ago she started acting really strange and we thought maybe one of the kids had hurt her back.  She was yowling all the time and this cat very rarely ever meows.  She was laying funny, like it hurt her, kept her back legs straight.  I was getting ready to call the vet.  Well, my neighbor was over one day, helping me with my printer (an ordeal when it came to printing Will's invites) and he told me that Bella was in heat!  I was so shocked.  I did not know kittens could do that!  I looked it up on the internet and sure, enough, that's what it was.  Boy, am I glad I didn't call the vet!

I had kind of a nasty experience last Thurs.  Lizzie and I ran errands all day.  It was a nice, mother-daughter type of day.  One thing I had to do was run to Mid-K, which is a black beauty supply store in Des Moines.  Since it is located really close to Methodist Hospital and I had an appt. there, I decided to do those things together.  Bad idea.  I'll try to condense this, but basically what happened was that there was a woman in the store who recognized Lizzie and called her grandmother to tell her we were there.  I also got very bad service there and I'm convinced it had to do with the color of my skin.  We got out of there rapidly, but I just felt like my skin was crawling afterwards.  We are doing everything we can to remove Lizzie from her past.  It's not that I have any problem with her being black (I think she's beautiful) or black people in general,  but being in that kind of not-nice environment was a reminder of where she came from. And it stirred up all kinds of icky feelings in me - jealousy, fears that we won't be able to totally give her a new life, fears that she may choose to go back in adulthood - stuff like that. 

I ended up emailing Jenn (who used to have the girls and adopted their brother) about it the next day and she immediately called me and we talked for quite awhile.  It was nice to just talk to someone who understands, who isn't going to think I'm racist because I'm uncomfortable in that kind of environment.  The thing is that by adopting children who were not given up willingly and by remaining in the same metro area, Jenn and I have sentenced ourselves to a lifetime of looking over our shoulders every time we are out and about with the children.  I do think it will get easier when the kids are older and less recognizable and after the birth mom has moved on with her life.  But for now we have to be more cautious.  It's still worth it, though!

A week ago Paul and I went to a movie event at the Fleur cinema.  Actually it was a documentary.  It's called "Stuck" and it is an amazing account of the plight of the millions of children waiting to be adopted overseas and the hundreds of thousands of parents who want them.  But the red tape of governments, and treaties are standing between them, creating an almost impossible situation at times. And children are left, unadopted in often very pitiful orphanage situations when they had people willing to be t heir parents.   But yet it was so inspiring to see the fight that the profiled parents had for children they had never even held in their arms yet, in some cases.  So awesome!  The theater was nearly sold out.  To my delight, Jenn was there, too!  It was just a one-time viewing.  The guy who made this (an adoptive father of 3 Haitian children) film is on an 80 city tour and we were fortunate enough to be on the list.  Paul happened to hear an interview with him on the radio last week, called me and suggested I listen, and that's how we found out about the movie.

I spent last Saturday in Council Bluffs with Kathy.  It had been six months since we had seen eachother - way too long.  We had such a nice, relaxing day of shopping and catching up.  I need those times!

Well, I have laundry to hang outside (such a nice thing to have to do!), picking up that needs to happen, Camp Coins to work on with Ben, and a hope chest to unload so that it can be moved.  I have to do all while hobbling, too.  I tripped over a board tonight and scraped my ankle and hand, twisted my foot, and wrenched my back.  I'm thinking the two advil I took aren't doing the job, either...I'm getting more and more dangerous as I get older.

The next time I blog we'll be within a couple of weeks of Will's graduation.  I may be certifiably insane by that point. 

Prom, Ben, More Pox, and Widdling Down

Ack - I can't believe how long it's been since I've been on here - just indicative of my life at the moment, I guess!

I got Will and Ben off to Prom Alternative today.  I'm a nervous wreck about Ben.  He's got Will, so I know he'll be ok, but I'm still nervous.  However, I did have fun getting pics of the boys together, all dressed up!  It was just one of those, "Ahh - I'm so glad I decided to be a mom!" moments...They're going up to Minneapolis.  Ben is so, so excited about going to Mall of America.  We were just there 5 years ago - wonder if he remembers that?

Let's see, let me get caught up here:  I mentioned in my last post that Lizzie and I were going to the ballet the day before Easter.  That was really neat!  She was so excited that she was bouncing up and down in her seat before it started.  Afterwards, she couldn't wait to meet Snow White in person!  I realized that I had never been to a ballet myself, either.  I think of myself as being a pretty "low-brow" type of person when it comes to the arts, but I really enjoyed watching the show, even though I do not "get" ballet (to me it's still a bunch of people hopping around on their tip-toes.  How many times and in how many different ways can one do that?).  In fact, I may even be able to wrangle up a Jewels post out of it.  The thing about ballet, I discovered, is that you are forced to think during the performance, unlike any other entertainment that provides speaking and singing for the audience.

Ben had his Special Olympics field day this past Tues.  It was gray and rainy (April in Iowa) but we only got rained on once.  He did well and got 2 red ribbons and one yellow.  I'm so thankful he didn't score any blue ones so we don't have to go to Ames for the championships!  He will have to go up there one afternoon in May for bocce ball, but that's it.  I had one of those "pure joy" moments that always take me surprise because of their rarity.  Ben was finished with his last race and the Olympics were pretty much all over for everyone at that point.  All of sudden, Sam and Lizzie just spontaneously started racing each other on the Simpson track.  It was so fun to watch!  They each made it half the distance before collapsing.

This past Monday I visited a sheltered workshop in Indianola called Genesis.  The school is wanting Ben to start working there a little bit next fall.  I wanted to see just what this place is before agreeing.  I'm ok with it, but if it's going to happen, it's going to be on a limited basis.  Learning to wash and fold laundry (the facility takes care of the laundry needs for several area hospitals) is fine for Ben, but it's not going to be the sum existence of his possible job training.  I really intend to push the school into providing numerous job training/shadowing opportunities for Ben in the next couple of years.  I was able to meet yesterday with the new sp. ed teacher the school hired after Spring Break. I was really impressed with him, even though I am quite sure I am old enough to be his mother!  Well, I know I am.  He told me he just graduated from college in Dec!  Technically, he's just a long-term temp, but I plan to put a bug in the principal's ear, for whatever it's worth, that I would not be opposed in the least to the school choosing to hire him full-time after this year ends.

Paul and I took our permit-to-carry class last night.  It was interesting.  I don't know that I am any more anxious to buy my own gun, but I'm going to.  I definitely see the need to be able to protect myself and the kids.  Losing my fear of firearms is the first step.

Did I mention that David, Sam, and Elli all had the chicken pox?  They got them two weeks after Ben did.  Elli's wasn't too bad of a case, so she might get again later on.  But I'm pretty sure David and Sam are taken care of!

Being sick didn't dampen Elli's mischievousness, though.  In a space of four days, she flooded the kitchen ceiling, tipped over a 7' cabinet and breaking off the door, and furiously scribbling over freshly drywalled and painted kitchen walls with a red crayon (and when I scrubbed the crayon with a magic eraser, the paint came off).  This week she took an ink pen to David's Bible.  He was one very unhappy brother!

They had a nice write-up about Will in the Marion Co.newspaper a few weeks ago.  Actually, it was a terrible write-up, but it still made me proud.  The paper does what they call "senior spotlights" every spring where they publish a senior's picture and the results of a survey they send them.  Will gave a really strong Christian testimony and talked about how his biggest influence was his dad, who lives his life "according to God's Word" and things like that.  In fact, one lady at church told me that reading it made her "proud to know Will"!  Now, if I had about 10 more hours in every day, I would march down to the Knoxville office and demand that they hire me to take over the current editor's job.  I have never seen such poor writing in my life - this woman switches tenses, misspelled my name, wrote in fragments, misspelled words, capitalized things when she should not have, and didn't capitalize when she should have.  I'm still not over it - just shuddering.  It's almost as bad as when my mom recently told me the Waterloo Courier published a sports headline that talked about some team "widdling" down the competition.  Help me - I think I'm going to need medical help soon!

Ok, need to start supper.  I'm caught up - good for a couple of weeks, I think!

On Surgery, the Chicken Pox, and Birthdays

I think the timing of our anniversary trip was a good thing because we had no idea just what was waiting around the corner - like anybody ever does.  I had my surgery on Friday, Mar. 8.  I really thought it was going to be no big deal - kind of an in-and-out deal.  In fact, I told Paul that perhaps he could plan on going to work that afternoon, after getting me home from the surgery center.  Ha!  We were honestly given very little preparation about what to expect from the surgery.  I suppose I should have asked more, but assumed if there was more to tell, they would.  They did tell us to expect about an hour's recovery time.  I woke up and was in absolute agony.  It took them THREE hours to get my pain to a more manageable level.  Who knew a nose could hurt that bad?!

The weekend passed in a blur.  I was living on pain pills and bleeding so much that we had to keep gauze taped below my nose.  The worst part was the migraine-like sinus headaches.  I'm still having those.  We went to the ER on Sun. afternoon.  They gave me an IV pain drug that definitely helped - temporarily.  They they did some stuff that we found out later that this was stuff we could have done at home, saving us the $200 co-pay they squeezed out of us before we left.  Paul was not happy about that one bit.  In fact, we had been told just the opposite of what the ER docs told us (about keeping the nose dry).

That same Sunday morning we discovered that Ben had the chicken pox.  We have never had the chicken pox in our house and NOW we get them?!  Talk about timing!  The poor kid probably did not have a square inch of skin on him that didn't have a spot.  The first few days he was just miserable.  This picture was taken towards the end of that time (hence, the smile)!  He had to miss an entire week of school, which was the week before Spring Break, so he got two full weeks off!

But as word got out, our friends kicked into action, which was nothing I even expected.  We had meals brought to us, gift cards given, goodies baked - it was amazing.  All of Ben's classmates made him get well cards, which tickled him.  I felt so overwhelmed and so grateful.  I could not have done the things I needed to do that week because I was just plain miserable.  But God knew that and took care of us anyway!

And then, a new week dawned, and it was suddenly my 42nd birthday!  And I was feeling loads better.  I've still got some recovery to go and my nose is sore and gross inside, but it's nothing like what it was. 

My birthday was a nice day.  I got out of the house, ran some errands alone, and spent time perusing the jewelry counter at Younkers, which was a treat (because I can't do that with children) since I'm such a girly-girl and like everything to be "just so" when I dress and accessorize.  We went to Fuddruckers for supper, which was actually a bit of an ordeal with 8 people.  We rarely eat out anymore, so I forget how difficult something that used to be simple can be.  And then we came home and celebrated me.  It was a very, very nice day.  And I'm so pleased to be 42 because I like that number a lot better than "41"!

And, when I least expected it, my Persnickety Punctuation hat popped onto my head.  We were at Fuddruckers, ordering when I looked up at their sign and it said "Fuddrucker's" something or other.  I don't remember what it was, but they were using the apostrophe to denote possession rather than plurality, which was the context of what they were trying to say.  I literally gasped and exclaimed to the gal taking our order, "Your sign is all wrong!"  She sighed and said, "I know - I didn't write it!"  Then she asked, "Are you an English teacher?"  I replied, "No - a homeschool mom."  She nodded and said, "I should have guessed."  Ha, ha!  Meanwhile, Paul was clearing his throat and saying, "Anyway!"  I am going to get myself in real trouble one of these days, going around and correcting others.

Ok, so what else?  Oh, yes - my kitty!  Isn't she beautiful and amazing?  What's amazing is that I have her.  The morning of my birthday Paul and I were talking on the phone and he hesitantly asked me, out of the blue,

"Would you be interested in having a kitten for the house?"  Or something like that.  Actually, the conversation wound around in such a way that he told me he had narrowed down my gift to two things - a gps or a cat.  Which would I prefer?  I have always, always wanted a house cat.  I grew up with one, a big, fat calico persian named Mitze.  We got her when she was 2 and I was in the 4th grade.  She died a few months before I got married.  Paul has never been interested in having an animal in the house.  I remember it was a chore to talk him into Will's pet hamster years ago!  We've had outdoor cats, but I quickly learned to not get too attached to them because they have a tendency to run off or get killed. I've always wanted one in the house that I could curl up with, have purring on my lap - things like that.  But due to his firm no-animals-in-the-house stance, I just assumed I would have to wait until widowhood to have my kitty.  I never bugged Paul about it - I was just biding my time. 

So, this was quite the surprise.  The gps can wait - cat ownership cannot!  This had all come about because some people at church had asked me a few days earlier if I would be interested in taking a 6 month old farm kitten off their hands.  I told them no, but I had later mentioned it to Paul, thinking that maybe it would be a good idea to get an outdoor cat, to help cut down on the mice.  That's what got the wheels in his mind turning.  So, Tuesday night we went and picked up Bella.  I chose that name.  Don't you know I have to re-name everything that comes into my house?  I suppose it's good it was a she.  I was leaning towards "Larry" if it was a boy cat. 

I just love her already!  Every night she jumps into bed with me and it's like having my own personal heater and white noise machine in bed with me.  We're making great progress on her litter box training and she's only scratched the Littles a few times.  I may still get her declawed, though.  She's definitely going to get spayed soon, too.

And you know where "Bella" came from, right?  I haven't clued Paul into that yet.  I may never do that.

All right - what else?  Will had scholarship weekend this past Thurs - Sat. up at Faith.  It sounds like financially this is going to be do-able.  But there's a few other things I have to get in, paperwork, wise.  He had a blast, hanging out on campus.  Paul and I went up on Friday night for a parents dinner.  It was catered by Olive Garden (note to self: never order their lasagna - nasty!).  We were sitting there, eating and Paul commented that we have really come full circle now.  It was 23 years ago, almost to the week, since we met and started dating at Faith.  Of course, that ultimately led to Will's existence, and there we were, preparing to send him off to the very place he "started"!  Afterwards we attended a concert put on by the Faith Chorale.  It's nice to listen to for a few minutes, but I guess my tastes are just a little more low-brow than the average GARB-er.  That probably doesn't say too much about me!

Sam has the chicken pox now.  We discovered those yesterday morning.  He even has them on his lips and inside his ears.  Will and David are very nervous these days. let me tell you!

I found this week that free tickets are available for Lizzie and I to attend a ballet performance of "Snow White" next Sat.  I am so excited by that - it seems like the perfect mother/daughter outing.  And I've been waiting many, many years to get to do things like this!  But now I'm almost afraid to mention it to Lizzie in case she's all spotted by next Sat.  Actually, I really do think if anyone in this house escapes the pox, it will be her, since I'm fairly certain she was vaccinated the most recently against the chicken pox.  Will was too, but I never had him get a booster.  He's threatening to live elsewhere until the plague lifts from our house!  It would be pretty awful if he has them the weekend of Prom Alternative. 

I got new glasses.  I knew I needed a stronger bi-focal prescription.  So, I went to a regular eye dr. and then took the prescription over to America's Best for the glasses, thinking I would save money.  I spent almost $700 for 3 pairs of prescription glasses, so I'm not really seeing a savings!  I guess this is what happens when you get old and your eyes don't work as well as they used to.  It was kind of nice, though, to go pick them up after a rather traumatic visit to the ENT who took out my nose splints a week after surgery.  I haven't had any trouble at all adjusting to this new prescription, either, which has surprised me.

And lastly, I may have a potty training prodigy on my hands.  Maybe.  Not going to get too excited yet.  But Ellie is using the potty chair.  She started getting pretty insistent about it a couple of weeks ago and she has "produced" several times.  She's not even 21 months yet!  We are taking a short family vacation in Aug. and I was planning to wait until we return from that to start working with her.  And she may still be diapers then, too.  I remember, though, that Sam started showing real interest right after his 2nd birthday, but it was a full year and a half later before he was finally trained.  And I was pretty impressed by that after the slow, drawn-out progress of his older brothers when it came to potty training.  I don't know if it's related or not, but Ellie has also figured out how to disrobe.  She's gotten into the very bad habit of stripping naked in her bed and then wetting while she sleeps.  I'm getting very weary of this!

Well, that covers it all, I think.  It's been a long couple of weeks and it it's not over yet.  But there's a light at the end of the tunnel.  That's enough for now.

All Good - Our Trip, Part 2

Sunday morning we awoke to snow and predictions of 12" by nightfall.  Hmmm...we wondered what this might mean to our day's plans.  I determined, though, that no matter what happened, I would not let it ruin my day!  While I ate breakfast (which were really, really good at this hotel - we were never hungry by lunchtime and often just skipped that meal) that morning I noted with amusement a family loading the shuttle to the airport.  They were obviously NOT used to snowy weather!  It was snowing furiously and the wind was whipping it all around.  Their two children wore only flimsy windbreakers and Mom and Dad had no coats at all.  Mom was barefoot, save for her strappy sandals.  Southerners!

While still in bed we had flipped through the channels and found a message given by Charles Stanley - we figured that could count as church.  We wanted to visit this large antique mall we heard about, so we set out in our little rented Mazda.  We found the place and waited patiently for them to open at noon.  Only, they never did!  Apparently, they believed the reports about the coming foot of snow and decided not to open.  We found our way to the Brass Armadillo instead.  We have one of those here, too, but of course, they don't have the same things.  We spent a long time and a lot of money there!  I got a few little things for the kitchen.

That evening we went to Olive Garden - that had a sign on its door informing the public they had lost their liquor license due to a violation of some code - hah!  Then we went to see "Safe Haven" at a theater.  Nice movie with a surprising twist at the end.  I really like Josh Duhamel!

And that foot of snow they were predicting?  Denver got about 4".

The next day, Monday, we headed west of Denver.  We saw gorgeous scenery like what I have up at the top.  I've seen pictures like this before, of course, but seeing it for real is just something else.  Unfortunately, all my photos have this black dot in the left corner, though - there's something wrong with my camera.  Other than that, though, I have a slew of beautiful pictures.  I got a real kick out of the trailer courts we saw as we drove up the mountains.  They just seem so incongruous in such a beautiful setting!

We spent most of the day in Georgetown, which is a quaint town of buildings all built in the mid 1800s.  The town is a functioning city, though, today.  They have all kinds of shops there and Paul and I had so much fun exploring them!  We bought all kinds of stuff.  I found a new purse at an art gallery and I found the Colorado sweatshirt I wanted to come home with.  We ate at a cute little restaurant (not cute prices, though!) called, "The Happy Cooker."  And, yes, that bothered the English lover part of me!  Just today, this railroad picture Paul wanted arrived in the mail.  There was no way we were going to be able to fit that in our luggage!

After Georgetown, we drove up into the mountains.  It was very cool!  Paul kept stopping the car every two seconds to take pictures.  We have a disgusting amount of mountain pictures that nobody in the world will be interested in (except us).  For this one, he said, "Quick, kiss me!"  I obliged, not realizing he had the camera
pointed at us!

That evening we drove back down into Denver and finally found the Downtown Aquarium, which also has a restaurant.  It smelled like fish, which actually surprised me.  It probably should not have, huh?  Anyway, we had a nice supper there.  We then did a little bit of walking in downtown Denver, which was beautiful (and cold) in the moonlight.  Our last night of vacation...sigh...

We then returned our rental car.  While we were waiting to get into the place, an ambulance drove up two cars behind us, lights flashing, wanting to get in!  The spikes were still up on the ground at the rental place so we were afraid we were going to pop the tires of the car, but they weren't going down and there was this ambulance behind us, demanding entry!  We never did find out why the rental place needed an ambulance.

We relaxed the next morning at the hotel and enjoyed our last yummy breakfast.  Then, we engaged in the arduous task of cramming everything we had bought into our luggage!  It was not easy, but we managed.

And here I am, at the airport.  Our flight wasn't officially listed as delayed, but it was.  And we discovered there is precious little seating in the Denver airport, despite its huge size.  Eventually, though, we took off and landed in Omaha - where it was snowing.

We ended up driving home in the worst snowstorm!  Will had called that morning to let us know that the weathermen had totally missed the storm.  Everyone woke up and discovered all this snow on the ground; schools were cancelled, etc.  They were cancelled the next day, too.  But I figured if Paul could manage the little tin can we had rented in the Colorado mountains, then he could surely keep our van on Interstate 80.  And he did.

I was anxious to see the kids, especially the girls.  Anytime they had been left before, it was permanent.  I felt it so important to get to them to show them that we would pick them up, just as promised.  But you know, by the time 24 hours had passed since our return, I was ready to leave again.  It was so nice to be kidless for all those days!

The trip was a total investment in our marriage.  We needed it more than most people were aware.  We needed it probably even more than we were aware!  We came home feeling refreshed, renewed, in love, relaxed, and already throwing out ideas for our next trip.  And then, a few days later we attended a wedding, which kind of kept that "mushy" feeling going.  That night Paul suggested we watch our own wedding dvd, which we haven't seen in 5 or more years.  That also helped. 

It's all been good.  I'm so glad we went.  The memories we created, the embers we stirred up will help us, I think, through the minutia of our daily lives for awhile.  That will be good.

Being married is a good, good thing.

Anniversary Trip - Part 1

This post is going to be all about our wonderful trip to Colorado.  We've been back nearly a week now, but I still feel like I'm playing catch-up from just the 5 days we were gone.  I'm hoping to get my trip pictures up on Facebook, soon, in addition to this post.  Then, I'll feel like I'm finally getting some things accomplished!

As the day approached for our departure, we were getting increasingly nervous about the ominous weather reports that predicted blizzard conditions.  Paul kept saying he wondered if it was a sign we weren't supposed to go.  I told him that the weather is not always about us, though!  We ended up leaving a few hours sooner than we had planned.  We had to swing by Paul's work and drop off his paperwork for the week.  The gals in the office had been expressing their desire to meet the girls so it worked out well to bring them by before dropping them off at Paul and Jen's house.  We dropped the girls off and we were on our way to Council Bluffs.  We stopped in Adel for lunch.  Oh, we felt flush with the money we dropped in our account and wallets before we left.  It almost felt silly to pull out only $12 for lunch!  By the time we came home, though, we hardly had any left!

By the time we got to Atlantic the snow was coming down at a clip and it was definitely snowing hard by the time we pulled into Paul's parents' driveway in Council Bluffs.  We spent the evening mostly playing with Zach and Elli who had just been officially adopted two days earlier.  I spent most of my afternoon worrying about Will who was working and would be driving home in the snow.  I felt much better when I talked with home and found he had made it home safely.  He told me to quit being "such a mom!"

Neither one of us slept well that night.  Paul always wakes in the early morning hours, thanks to his anti-seizure drug.   I was just too worried that we would oversleep and miss our flight!  I was also worried that we wouldn't be able to make it to the airport, thanks to the 8" of snow or so that blanketed the western Iowa landscape.  But Paul's dad's truck has 4 wheel drive and he was able to get us out.  And, fortunately, our flight was not delayed or cancelled - another worry of mine.  I think I worry too much!

We witnessed a near-fight on our plan, though, as we were landing in Colorado.  The guy sitting next to Paul objected to the way this lady (she was no lady, though) immediately thought she was going to barge through and get to the front of the plane before others.  Boy, did she let him have it!  Some people...

We had no idea the Denver airport was so huge!  I guess in my mind I still think - never having been there, of course - of Denver as being this western, slightly backwards, mining town!  And, actually, the whole time we were there, I never really caught a whole lot of the "western" theme.  The airport guides were dressed up kind of western, but that was it.  We had to take this train to collect our luggage and that thing must have gone 50 mph - whoosh!

We caught the shuttle to our hotel and settled into our nice, normal room.  Peace and quiet at long last!  We eventually walked over to a nearby Ruby Tuesdays for lunch.  Paul saw me admiring the advertised molten lava cake and ordered one for me that we shared - bliss!  I really need to find a recipe for that.  Then we spent way too much time trying to figure out the Denver bus and trolley system.  Our plan had been to rent a car for just one day when we would go up into the mountains.  We got so frustrated trying to figure out that dumb system that we finally just ended up renting a car for 3 days!  That's one of the best decisions we made.  We went through Hotwire, which is what we had booked our vacation through.  It was so cheap!  That decision made, we spent rest of the evening relaxing in the hot tub and watching cable tv - both treats!

The next morning we drove over to the western side of Denver, to the Cherry Creek shopping area and mall.  Ooh, boy - and I thought Jordan Creek mall here in Des Moines was fancy!  I really felt out of my element.  This was a very, very upscale mall, boasting stores like Macys, Neiman Marcus, and Norstroms.  Paul wanted me to get a new nightgown on this trip and we did find one at Macys, but I still thought $32 was a bit much to spend on a nightie!  Of course, it was much better than the $168 gowns we found at Neiman Marcus and Nordstroms!

From there, we went to a 7 block area of downtown Denver called "Antique Row."  That was fun.  I did a really bad thing at one store, though.  I still haven't told Paul, I'm so mortified that I did it.  But I'll just confess to the whole world on my blog!  We were in this one antique store and the guy had signs all over.  It drove me absolutely insane because he had words like sale's, quilt's, antique's, etc.  I finally grabbed one of his sale signs and scrawled, "An apostrophe denotes possession, not plurality!"  I then heard the clearing of a throat and the owner was looking right at me!  I'm not sure if he saw what I did or just thought I was acting suspiciously.  I looked down and what I had just done to his sign and fled the store, just absolutely mortified.  How could I have done that?  Paul didn't even know I had left.  I had to call him and tell him I was next door!  I am a wicked, wicked grammarian...

We had purchased tickets to a murder mystery theater for Sat. evening.  It was held in a restored Victorian mansion in Denver.  We walked in and were each handed a tray of billiard chips.  Now, on the website, they had said nothing about gambling - only a murder mystery dinner show!  So we were a bit mystified.  Then we realized that all the actors, in period costumes, were set up at various gambling tables.  Paul muttered to me, "What have you gotten us into?"  I had the sinking feeling that we had just wasted $80 and our evening!  Obviously, we don't gamble and have a very dim opinion of gaming establishments and those that waste their money at such.  We don't know how to play gambling games and even though the chips were free, it just didn't seem right to participate.  So we sat on a Victorian-era couch and watched everyone else participate.  I'm sure we looked odd, but that was ok, because we were sure feeling odd!  At one point, the "director" asked Paul if he would come do a small acting bit in a movie they were making, and Paul agreed.  I thought it was kind of funny that in the movie, they had Paul pretending to drink bootlegged whiskey - drinking being something else we take a dim view of!  You can't win them all, I guess.

Eventually, though, they did shepherd us upstairs to the ballroom.  I was relieved.  We had a nice dinner and then the fun started.  The actors started doing their thing and then the lights went out.  When they came back on, it was found that one of the cast members had been "murdered."  The rest of the evening was a fun time of trying to figure out "who done it."  There was lots of audience participation and it was just plain fun!  Here is a picture of taken by some of our table mates.  It's one of my favorite pictures of our whole trip:

I'm going to end this post now and continue in Part 2.

 

Better Days

This post is going to be more cheerful than the last one, I promise.  I am actually feeling a bit better, although life is still nutty and will remain nutty for a few more months, anyway.  I'm also taking some positive steps to improve my outlook on life.

I did suggest to David that perhaps we could put off having him run track this spring.  That would free up some time.  He was more than agreeable, particularly since he's been having some especially fearful thoughts about the upcoming track season.  Will didn't start football until his 8th grade year.  He wanted to do it in 7th grade, but that was the fall that I was pregnant with Sam and we didn't know what was going to happen as it got closer to delivery time. 

We may be delaying the adoption, as well.  I've got really mixed feelings about that, to be honest.  There is a huge part of me that wants it done NOW.  I'm anxious in every way to make the girls totally and completely ours, although it's hard to imagine that there's anything that could make them feel more ours than they already are.  While they are completely free for adoption now, I am finding that the wheels still continue to turn slowly when it comes to the legal end of things.  We have yet to hear from our adoption worker, other than a brief email a couple of weeks ago letting us know that the procedendo had come through and we could now proceed.  And yet - we haven't.  Then, I heard from a third party that our adoption worker had commented that perhaps we (Paul and I) ought to consider waiting for the adoption until after July 1.  That's Ellie's 2nd birthday and in our state, if you adopt a child over the age of 2, you are entitled to a monthly stipend from the state.  It's really, really tempting, particularly when I think that we could use that money and be debt-free within just a few short years.  But yet - we never got into this for the money.  I do believe that God will continue to provide for our needs without help from the state.  But what if this stipend is God's way of helping us get out of debt?  Being debt-free would definitely help the girls - all of us, of course.  So, we shall see.  As slowly as things are going, it could end up being after July 1 before we'd even get into court anyway, even without us requesting a delay.

We had our taxes done a week ago and found out that somebody (I'll leave it to your imagination to figure out who) already claimed the girls on their taxes!  I was just dumbfounded at the sheer audacity.  It's thievery, plain and simple.  I spent quite a bit of time on the phone with DHS on Monday and collected a number of different stories.  I don't think anybody in that dept. knows what the person in the next cubicle is doing or saying!  Fortunately, this guy who did our taxes is also an attorney.  He did some research for us and drafted a letter to the IRS on our behalf.  We can't e-file now, but will have to submit taxes the old fashioned way.  With this development, I'm not sure how long it will take to get this sorted out or get our refund check.  And it looks like this attorney will be doing the adoption for us, which is nice.  That's one less thing we have to find.  It also occurs to me we're going to need legal services in a couple of years - less than that, actually - when we have to file for guardianship of Ben. 

Speaking of Ben...yesterday his life skills class had a Valentine's Open House for his room.  Just this year, the school started a "life skills" room where Level 2 & 3 (the neediest) sp. ed students learn practical life skills.  All of us were able to attend and it was so cool.  The kids greeted us, got our food, poured drinks.  We watched a video that showed how the boys spend their days.  All kinds of staff were popping in and out and they were taking pictures of the boys' families.  It was a good reminder to me to see just how valued Ben is by the staff and students.  He presented us with this metal cut-out of his hand that he had made.  It's shaped into the "I love you" sign - so cool!

We leave this Thursday evening for our trip...maybe.  There's a big snowstorm moving into the state on Thursday, so I'm trying to tell myself that I need to be flexible!  If we have to postpone the trip a few weeks, it will be ok!  But I hope we don't have to.  I'll be so sad!  I had a nightmare one night this week that it was one hour before our plane was due to leave and I had not finished packing.  I woke up with my heart pounding - it was so real!  So the very next day I started packing, more than a week before I needed to!  So now I'm tripping over suitcases in our too-tiny bedroom.  But at least my nightmare won't come true!

Paul got my counters up this past Thursday, which also happened to be Valentine's Day.  I told him I was so pleased, that I didn't need him to do anything else for me for Valentine's Day!  Right now, he's putting up some of the brick mold, which also makes me happy!

I had a complaint last week on the city sign last week.  I put up the announcements on the sign and when we don't have anything to announce, I will put up a quote for people to read on their way in and out of town.  The latest offering is this: "A good scare is worth more to a man than good advice."  It's actually been up for several weeks.  And then last week some resident complained that the sign was "sexist."  Sexist?  I'm guessing they think I'm picking on men.  What's that old saying - "you can't fix stupid" ?? 

Paul almost blew up our house a week ago tonight.  He installed a new water heater and went to light it.  All of a sudden we heard this big bang from the basement and Paul yelling.  Will ran down to see what the problem was and then lit upstairs, dashing under the kitchen sink for the fire extinguisher.  That definitely aroused my curiosity, to say the least, so I went down in the basement.  Paul stood there, stinking like crazy because he had just burned off the hair on his hands and part of his eyebrows.  A huge fireball had erupted out of the heater and he thought the house was a goner.  Holy cow...His forehead has been a little tender all week where he used to have eyebrows, he says.

Will is loving his new job, which is a good thing.  I've told him repeatedly (because I keep forgetting I already told him) how my grocery store years in college were always my favorite.  I loved working in a grocery store because of all the different customers.

The other day he commented to me that he thinks he'd like to get married in the month of October.  He said that's because that's during football season and that would put him in a good mood (like getting married wouldn't put him in a good mood?).  I asked him what he would do if he married a woman who expected to do things other than watch football on her honeymoon.  He looked and me and said in a "duh" voice, "Well, Mom - I won't be marrying anyone who doesn't love football as much as I do!"

David was struggling with his math the other day and finally sighed and said, "I sure hope I can be the kind of missionary someday who doesn't need to know a whole lot of math!"  Hah!  I have known since David was Sam's age that he's headed for full-time ministry.  Lately, David has been talking about becoming a foreign missionary someday (I was thinking more along the lines of him being a pastor here in Central Iowa, though!).

Well, I need to get these kidlets fed.  It's Saturday night and I've got a whole list of pre-Sunday chores to complete before I get to fall into bed.  But a week from now?  Who knows what kind of romantic and exciting Saturday evening I'll be having?  Or maybe we'll just be snoring away in our hotel room, which would also be really nice!

Black Holes of Busyness

Finally blogging again after more than 3 weeks...life is crazy.  And I'm going to be putting pjs on kids, putting said kids to bed, and cleaning up the kitchen in between jotting things down in this post.

I have been feeling super-overwhelmed lately, which is leading to battles with depression.  I hate that - I determined as a teenager I would never, ever be depressed, but lately it seems like I've crawled into a dark hole and I can't quite find my way out. Apparently, depression is not always something that is matter of the will.   I've been getting some counseling, which helps.  And today, I ordered Ann Voskamp's book, "1000 Joys" (or something like that).  I think it's a book about thankfulness. I've been meaning to order it forever. I also bought a couple of really nice notebooks for jotting down thankful thoughts.  I'm going to get out of this - sitting around feeling sorry for myself is not something I want to do.

So, why am I overwhelmed?  The house thing is getting to me.  We have only 3 1/2 months until Will's graduation and open house and there is SO much that needs to be done before then.  Paul assures me it will all get done, but I don't believe him.  Between now and then we have so much else that needs to happen.  We leave for our vacation in a couple of weeks.  I want to go, I know we need to go, but I feel guilty about taking the time when we could be using that time to work on the house.  I know I'll come back and say I'm so thankful we went, but it's a little hard for me now.  We've got to go to Iowa City the 3rd weekend in March to watch Ben participate in the state-wide basketball championship for basketball skills.  The boys need to start working on their Camp Coin requirements.  Ben is insisting on going to camp again this summer, which means that I'm going to have to help him extensively with his requirements.  The adoption is looming large.   I have to make graduation announcements for Will and plan his party.  I have to get Will's FAFSA form filled out and then we attend something called "Scholarship Weekend" at Faith in a few weeks.

I'm struggling because my baby is graduating from high school and while I know it's all natural and normal and I couldn't be prouder, I'm also sad because it's the end of parenting him.  For the rest of our days, he'll have a life outside of us and we'll take a backseat to his dreams and desires.  Normal, yes, but sad, nonetheless!

A couple of days ago we got the last of his senior pictures taken and I immediately had a flashback to May of 1995 when I took him in at 6 months for his first photo shoot.  I could still remember the little Sears studio and the red and navy baseball outfit he wore.   This was the last time I would ever take him to get his pictures done.  It went by so fast.

And now I have to have sinus surgery.  It's planned for March 22.  I'm bummed because this will be the third spring in a row that I'm having some sort of surgery!  I was really looking forward to not having to spend all our flex money at one time.  My dr. sent me in for a CT scan of my sinuses a couple of weeks ago and I saw the ENT today.  I have a severely deviated septum, which is probably why I've been sick for the past year with repeated head colds.  He was positive I had to have broken my nose at some point, but I told him I had not.  He said maybe I just banged it really hard then.  Could be.  So, he's going to straighten out the deviation and do a few other things while in there.  It sounds promising, even though I really do not want to have it done.

Our water heater sprung a leak, so tomorrow, instead of working on the house, Paul and Will will be installing a new heater.  I have a suspicion that means I'll be without water for most of the day...grrr... Fortunately, we already had a new water heater.  It's bigger than what we have and has been sitting in a corner of the basement for a couple of months, waiting for Paul to get time to install it.  I guess that time is now.

So, any good news amidst all this stress?  Some...

The adoption is nearly upon us.  Our worker emailed me this week and told me she received the procedendo, which means the appeals processes are completely over.  All that remains to be done is for us to sign some paperwork, meet with an attorney, and get a court date.  I've been trying to get ahold of her to set up a time to get together, but am not having much success with that.  I've been praying this would happen prior to my birthday and am hopeful, still, that may happen.

Here is Eleanor's 18 month picture - so solemn, but so beautiful...

Will got a job - PTL!  I've been praying about that so much.  He's going to be working at Hy-Vee.  He and 6 other new employees were chosen from over 700 applicants.  More than 300 had applied for the position Will got (courtesy clerk, or as they used to call them, "bag boy").  It's hard for me to believe that that many people want to work at Hy-Vee! Is the economy really that bad?  He should be able to transfer to the Ankeny store this fall when he starts at Faith. 

I'm so encouraged with the way Will is taking his future in hand.  I was nowhere near this independent or visionary when I was his age.  On his own, he is investigating scholarships.  He's determined to get through school as debt-free as possible and is planning his post-Faith years accordingly.  He's already poring over class offerings and trying to figure out which credits will transfer from Faith to ISU or DMACC. 

He wrote a story this week for his writing class.  It involves Sesame Street characters.  His teacher was so impressed by it that she wants him to submit it to a creative writing contest.  I asked him if he told her that I had edited it, but he said he didn't.  I can't get any credit anywhere, I guess!  It is a really, really good story.  I just have to smile to myself.  I remember 3 years ago being so worried because I could not get this child to even write a paragraph and now look at him!  I need to remember this when I'm worried about other things in life - most things have a way of working out.

Last month sometime Paul told me not to worry about getting him a present for our anniversary.  That was good, because I didn't have anything planned!  But it soon occurred to me that I could still do something.  This is our 20th anniversary AND it's falling on the 20th of the month, which is something that will never happen again, ever.  So, I wanted to do something extra special.  This brilliant idea came to me of doing something small for him every single day, Feb 1 - 20.  So, I've been hiding small gifts, cards, notes, and treats for him to find every day.  But you know what?  Every morning I've been finding a heart-shaped sticky note hidden in the house  with an odd, but romantic,  message on it from him.  I suspect it's going to make a poem or long limerick once I get them all, but I'm not real sure.  So, it's kind of fun this month around our house!

I picked up some silk boxers for Paul Wed.  They're going to be one of my daily surprises.  I had been looking everywhere for them, but could only find them on the internet, but they were too expensive.  I happened to be at Walmart with Will when I spied just what I was looking for only $7!  Will wanted to know why I thought I needed to get those.  I told him, "You'll understand someday."  Will replied, "I hope not!"  Hah!

We got our picture taken a week ago for our anniversary.  I'll get those back this week.  It turned out really good - not too bad for a couple on the non-friendly side of 40!  We chose the shot of us standing up together because I'm guessing the older we get, the more anniversary pictures we'll have taken where we're seated - being old people and all that.

We had a big snowstorm last week.  Prior to that, we had ice.  But part of that hit on the weekend, so Ben only missed 1 1/2 days of school.  Will did put his car in the ditch, though.  He was on his way to get his drug test for Hy-Vee.  Fortunately, our neighbor came by and pulled him out with his truck!  Times like that, I love small-town living!

Well, that's all I know for now.  Things are going to get better.  I will get through the next few months and what needs to get done will get done.  I won't remain in this black hole forever, I don't think.

But I sure am looking forward to June 2 (the day after Will's graduation/party)!