Birthday

MaryAnne is on the east coast and was first to call. Made me smile. Mom followed. A little later Devanie called and that was interrupted by Thomas. I also got an e-card from Dove in my email. This morning I got a message from Molly that she left after 10pm. I must not have heard the phone because I was watching a movie. I felt loved.

Mike, who has been coming home from work between 6 and 7 got off at 4. We had a $50 gift certificate from a friend for an Italian resturant in the fancy part of Dallas. It was a wonderful meal. I don't know if I have ever had service as good as they had there. My absolute favorite part was dessert--Spumoni ice cream. It is a tri-color ice cream pink (red), white, and green (as in the colors of the Italian flag). Cherry with marachino halves, vanilla, and the most amazing pistacio I have ever tasted.

We stopped at the store on the way home and bought me a necklace and earring set. Then I went to blockbuster to pick a movie. I ended up with Dream Girls. It was a good movie, but it was too long. Mike got really irritated with it because of the drawn out musical numbers. He is also not a fan of Black wailing (not to be confused with black whaling).

Being 35 means as little to me as being 25. The years go by, each one much the same as the other. We'll see, though how different having a baby is at 35 than it is at 25. Speakin' a which, I finally have firm little pooch that can't be sucked in. I get some occasional ligament discomfort between my hips and belly and I have to be even more careful when I sneeze--not just so I don't pee my pants, but the strain on my c-section scar is creating additional discomfort if I don't lean forward before I sneeze. It is all very minor, but being pregnant is becoming a noticable reality--even though according to growth stats, the baby is only about 3 inches long "the size of a large jumbo shrimp." I am 13 weeks along, which means I have only one more week of my first trimester. I used an online calculator and it says January 29th--the way I run, it will be on or after Amber's birthday. I majorly miscalculated, though, because I was thinking it would be at the end of February or beginning of March. I think that is because I counted from estimated conception, rather than first of last.

O! Pioneers

Today is July 25th. Yesterday was Pioneer day. Kim is talking about sewing pioneer clothes for treks, Devanie is talking about Pioneer costumes and I have not managed to tell anybody that last week I made 8 pioneer bonnets and four aprons. I have 5 more bonnets cut out to sew, but I ran out of the elastic I need for the back. Mike's parents own a store in Far West Missouri and they can't keep those bonnets on the shelf. They are super-sellers. They even jacked up the prices to slow things down, but she has been out of them for a month and the people who say they are going to sew them don't seem to. Sew I took it upon myself. They will be getting their first shipment from me tomorrow.

Mike's dad called me this morning to ask what I wanted to sell them for. I said that was up to them. I just used fabric that I bought at Wal-Mart for $1 a yard that I have had sitting around forever, so my expenses are absolutely minimal. When they sell, they will give me half. Anybody else up for sewing bonnets and aprons?

Of course, now that my daughters have seen that I can make them, they want one for themselves. Andrew enjoyed trying them on for me so I could check their size and shape on the child's size head they were being made for. He looked so cute in his bonnet and apron. I thought of Thomas.

Book Mania

You other bloggers and your Harry Potter this, Harry Potter that, blah, blah blah! : ) I love the books, but I haven't gotten around to reading The Half-Blood Prince, let alone Deathly Hallows. I bought half-blood when it came out in hardbound for the kids, but have not made reading a priority these past years.

Emylie went with a friend to the Barnes & Noble release party and was there until after midnight. She had a great time, and I am happy for her. She did not get the book because she is hung up on the Warrior series right now. Devanie gave her a gift certificate that she was able to buy the rest of the series she didn't have. Then she bought me the most recent in a series I have been reading since I was pregnant with Isaac. The 11th book in Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time has been out in paperback for over a year, and I never got around to reading it. Mike has read the rest of the series as well, so rather than fight over who gets to read it first--or when, I have been reading it to him. That is how we spend all of our time together lately. We will finnish the last three chapters tonight. I have really enjoyed the experience--837 pages of mouth-numbing, throat-parching fun. We stay up too late reading "just one more chapter." To me, it is better than watching a movie together.

I don't know if he has read the Half-Blood Prince yet, but if not, we may do that next. Forget books on cd, we do live books!

Something more solid

We finally have a more definite view of our future. Mike has a job. I would put exclamations and stuff like that, but I still have reservations about the reality of it until he gets his first paycheck. He has successfully completed one week of work. It is a six-month contract position with the potential of becoming a full position with the company. I do not even know the name of the company or what they do. I know he is to be paid $29 an hour doing some sort of Network administrator-type thing. They issued him a laptop, and though he can access the server and do some work from home, most of his work is on-site.

On-site includes a few different locations, all of which are within 15 minutes of our house--in the same place he was working before, which is why we moved to this side of town in the first place. Therefore, we will not moving out of this area. Therefore, the kids will start school in here on August 27th. We would like to get a 3 bdrm house where the rooms actually fit the childrens' beds AND allow the closets to open. We might even get rooms big enough to walk between the beds, but I don't know. I would wonder if it would be worth the hassle of moving, but we are already halfway packed. Either way, we are staying in this area.

I went to Bed Bath and Beyond today and got my old job back. Rather than folding towels, though, I will be working at the customer service desk. Mike's job will more than cover our expenses, but I want to have a special savings account, and that is all my paycheck will be for--except maybe purchasing a few more household items at employee discount.

Back

It was so nice to see everyone last week. I have to admit I was in a really grumpy place. I think I didn't have enough to eat on a pregnant stomach--especially on Lagoon day. It made me nasty.

Big thanks to Devanie for everything. Thanks to Lee Joe and Kim as well as MaryAnne and, of course, mom and dad, without all of whom, I would not have been able to be part of it all. The kids had a wonderful time. It had been five years since they had seen Molly's kids. Memories with cousins are so important.

After everyone left, we met some of Mike's family on Monday at Temple Square. The kids actually enjoyed that a lot. Claire would have talked to one of the sister missionaries for an hour if I had let her. She told me she was shy about asking her a question, and I told her that the missionary would love to answer any questions she had. I wouldn't be suprised if Claire ended up serving a mission. When we got home, I notice there was an article in the July Ensign about the Temple Square sister missionaries and had her read it.

Tuesday, though, was my favorite day of the trip because I got to go to the temple with my husband for the first time. Now that he is endowed, we can move forward so that our marriage will be sealed for eternity. I really wanted to do it where family would be able to participate, but we may end up doing it in Dallas, where we can at least have friends there. We would like the baby to be born in the covenant, so doing it before February is the goal, but also doing it before I am especially bulky is a nice thought. It will take at least six weeks to clear my previous sealing.

Mike and I went to the temple together this morning--on his initiative. It is really a wonderful feeling to share that with him. I have a feeling he will want to go back again and again. He is out right now putting in job applications for basic retail jobs so we have something between now and whenever he gets a more ideal job. It will probably end up that as soon as he gets an 8.50/hr job and works a day or two, he will have to give it up for one of the jobs he has been waiting for. Of course, he is currently applying at Golf stores and may be reluctant to leave before even qualifying for employee discounts.

We talked today, though about maintaining focus with his business project because we feel like that is what we are really supposed to be doing. Sunday after Kim and Lee Joe left, we went to Heber City to see one of Mike's distant cousins, Van and his wife, Heidi, in their lavishly modest home on 5 acres. Van is an investor. We talked to him in some detail about Mike's business project, to which he responded enthusiastically. I guess Mike started a business a few years ago that Van helped him on the capital with, which he sold a short time later for, like, five or six million dollars. (I'm here to help the man keep the money he makes.)

The kids got along great with their five and Emylie came home with some books that she has gotten really excited about. It is the Warrior series, which I know nothing about. Devanie gave her a Barnes and Noble gift card that she was able to use to complete the series. She is excited.

I had written another posting on Devanie's computer, but it probably got deleted before I could post it. It it is still sitting on your desktop, feel free to post it, Dev.

Simple Math

What is the maximum capacity of a midsize van/SUV? 8
How many does a large dining table seat comfortably? 8
What do you get when you add [(1+4)+(1+2)]+1?
More than you can fit in an 8 passenger van.

What do you get when you have 2 lines in a 1st Response test? A big belly.
I haven't told the kids yet. I know they will all be thrilled. Maybe the youngest two boys won't be, but I think they will.

So far, that is the only thing I know about my future. We are still planning on being at the reunion.

Mikey is getting baptized today and G-ma and -pa Skembo are here to be part of it.

I had a garage sale yesterday and came up with $150 more than I had, and a little less bulk to find somewhere to put. It was a great day for a garage sale, but we are in a lousy location. We wanted to start it on Friday night, but it rained for exactly 20 minutes. Just enough to deter us and any potential buyers.


Janika out.

One Year

I have been married for one full year. It is nothing short of a miracle. It has been a bumpy ride. Matt and I never went through anything like this. We always had a steady income--and consistent wastefullness. We rarely disagreed (out loud). We always knew what was coming next. Maybe that is why it didn't last. Our relationship was safe and eventless. Our trials were minimal. Yes there were military separations, but I liked those. It may be that adversity is key to a lasting and successful marriage.

Sunday was Father's day, and our anniversary. Nothing worked out the way we wanted it to all weekend. We got Lexi and Mikey back to their mom in the late afternoon and sat down for some alone time. His home teaching companion called and said that one of the ladies on his route was escaping from her ex-husband who found out where she lived--again--and was beating her up.

We did manage to take some time for each other. I do love being in my honey's arms. We didn't give each other a single, tangible thing. I didn't even make a nice dinner for us. We had leftovers. Mike loved it even better last night than he did the night before. We had some sparkling red grape juice that I had bought last month for a picinic that never happened on account of rain.

Our projected June 15th miracle has results yet to be determined. We had actually set a date last month, but were not as specific about it as we thought we needed to be. But both 15th's produced the same results. I will not discuss them because I have noticed that every time I post something positive or talk about it, it falls through. Suffice to say, we have no job and no money--only hope. But we do have hope--that's something.

Being with my kids

I love having my kids around. I was grumpy at them yesterday and/because I never did anything with them but it is so wonderful to have them around. We did watch a movie last night. All the kids had seen Over the Hedge, but we hadn't. I slept through the middle of it, so I missed what Mike said was the best part. Then we read scriptures together, which we have done every night that the kids have been here. Mike and I are better at remembering when it is not just for us we have to remember.

The day before, I spent a few hours online with the kids. Separate rooms, same world...of Warcraft. Emylie and Claire created a new character on their dad's accout on my realm (shadow council) so that we could play together. I am a gnome mage and level 22. I helped them kill things and complete quests and managed to help them get to level 7. Claire freaked out because I took her to Shimmer Ridge where the trolls are level 9 when she was level 5. I told her all she had to do was stay back and loot corpses. She got the shimmerweed she needed for her quest, but she didn't want to play after that. She did die once, but when I was going through that area for the first time, I was a level 10 and got myself killed about 20 times.

Yes, you are still reading Janika's blog. I have thrown away 3 days, one hour and 18 minutes of my life for a game--and I'm not finnished. One of our visiting managers talked to me at length on my last day of work because she plays too. Everybody was laughing at us all day, because neither of us seem like the type of people who would do that. It is my husband's fault. He made me make a character. I like that I can play with the kids, even though this week was the first time I had, but we have been able to talk about it together for months.

It is too hot in TX to spend much time outside in the summer unless you have easy access to a pool. So we will play World of Warcraft.

I did a little family history work yesterday because dad asked a question about some of the information I had sent him. There was a big mistake somewhere and I had to fix it. I will be going to the temple today for the Stake Relief Society trip and do some family names--maybe they will do some of the ones I have as well. Tomorrow I will probably go again, and a couple of my guy friends from the ward are going to do the inititories on the male names that dad sent for whom Isaac and the youth here did the baptisms.

Summer plans

We are still unclear on a lot of what will be happening for the summer. We are 5 days away from a miracle and are anxious to see the results of it. This much we know:

In the next two weeks, I will be packing up my house and leaving it. Mike will be moving into a local appartment so that he can work at his new job (whatever it may be) and develop his business project. I will take all 6 kids up to Missouri, where we will meet my mom and stay in her new house in Hardin and help fix it up if needed. Of course, it is only 30 min-1hr from Far West where Mike's parents live. we will be there two weeks. I will leave Mikey and Lexi to stay as long as they and Grandmas S want. July 3rd, Mom and I will go to Utah together from there with the other kids. I'm not exactly sure what will happen from there. I want to go to Nevada to visit as well.

When I have done all of that I can, I will go back to MO to let the kids run around wild on 5 and 40 acres until the end of July. Then, Matt had planned to take the kids to Branson this summer, so rather than take them all the way back to TX, I can meet him there.

In the meantime, Mike will be working and finding a place for us to live on the eastern side of Dallas (we are on the west now) so we can be closer to Lexi and Mikey and be able to see them more often, as well as allow them to be involved in weekday church activities. It will also be closer for getting to Matt, and he wants to move to eastern Dallas himself. He will not move for about a year, but we will all be one, big, happy, centrally located family. Won't that be nice?

Isaac is back from scout camp, the other three kids are here, and I had my last day of work on Friday. It feels like home again. But now I have two weeks to pack it up and get out of here.

Mikey is getting baptized on Sunday, June 24th at 7pm. We would have done it Saturday, but Grandpa Skembo could not have made it that day. He is excited. I am glad, too because it probably would not have happened if Mike had gone to Iraq.

The four kids are with Grandma Carruthers still, except for Isaac, who I had to pick up last Saturday so he would be able to go to scout camp. Tragically, he is the only one from the ward who is going, but there are some people from the other ward that he knows. I had Mike take him at 3:30 Monday morning, since I had to work that day, but I should have just done it myself because it ended up that I had to go and sign a form that we had missed. I guess I was really nervous about Isaac's first year of camp--which is really out of character for me--because I kept waking up, and after I got back from sending him off, I had really wierd dreams about him (and about not being able to go back to sleep before I had to go to work, but I woke up and realized it was a dream.)

Mike is on his way to Scout camp now because they wrangled him into being an adult leader for the second half of the week. It is less than two hours away, but he left at rush hour, so we'll see.

This week, so far was pretty nice. Lexi and Mikey stayed the weekend and left this morning (Wednesday). We played board games, played together at the park and watched a few movies. Yesterday was our first really hot day--yes, I'm still in Texas--and the kids really wanted to go swimming, but we had already spent our swimming allotment. They asked me what friends I had with a pool. My good friend, Arren Quigley just got called to be Mikey's primary teacher and he asked me if she had a swimming pool. Since she lives in an appartment complex, I took a shot at it.

Mike was getting home from his job interview about that time so we all spent the evening in the pool. Arren, her husband Scott, his brother James and his two sons had a great time. We got hungry by 9:00 and decided to pool our food resources for a bbq at our house. Then we watched Emma, with Gwennyth Paltro. The kids were asleep early on, Scott complained about the lack of shooting or sword fights--even though the young Obi Wan was in it--Mike enjoyed it but prefered to complain for Scott's sake.

There's more to say, but I don't want to keep MaryAnne from her homework after a long day in a mail truck.

A Date

Random tidbit, the drought in Texas is over. (It never felt like a drought to me.) In the entire month of May there were a total of nine days without rain in the Dallas area. That does not mean there were 9 sunny days.

Therefore, my plans to go on a picinic with my husband on Memorial day (a re-enactment of our first meeting one year ago) were foiled.

I was supposed to go out with my husband last night as well, but he got an email invite from a president of a publishing, marketing, and distribution company he has been working with. He and another friend are putting together a magazine for car enthusiasts. I was really disappointed about cancelling our plans, but I want him to seize every opportunity. He didn't get home until almost 11 and I made him stay awake until 1 so I could talk to him. I have a lot on my mind lately, but I don't often get to express it.

For a month now, I have been trying to explain that we need to set a date for getting positive word on a job and pray about it. He has insisted that the "We pray in our time and the Lord answers in his." He was opposed to setting a demand like that on the Lord. I insisted that that was the entire premise of the church missionary program, and it was doctrinally sound to reqest specific answers at a specific time.

So, finally, last night we set a date and prayed about it. We'd like to ask everyone to do the same on our behalf. We have asked that Mike be gainfully employed in his chosen carreer field--have confirmation of it, at least, by June 15th. Thank you in advance for your prayers.

If our prayer is answered in our time, the kids and I will see you all at the beginning of July.

A Little Honesty

The kids are out of school and off to Austin to visit their grandma on Matt's side. I had a Claire-and-Mommy sleepover with Claire before they left, since she will be having her birthday at Grandma's house. It wasn't as fun for her as I would have liked it to be. We went to Olive Garden (which did not taste at all as good as I remember) and went shopping at Old Navy, the only problem was that a friend of mine came along and Claire and Mommy was not the focus of it all. I was with her all the next morning, but was at a loss for something to do with her. We would have gone swimming, but it was early, and still too cold. She was bored. I hadn't planned anything in particular. I'm just not good at making special times out of everyday moments.

I was so looking forward to this summer travelling with the kids. Those are special memories that will always last. I was able to scrape those trips together when I was single and living off of child support, but I wanted to be able to splurge a little more and let the kids enjoy a little more. I promised them last year that we would go to Disneyland this year. With Mike's Iraq job, we would have had plenty of money to do that. It looked like we would be living high on the hog, now we are back to wallowing with them.

Mike and I got in a fight this afternoon (mild compared to some others) until we both broke down crying because we realized we were both experiencing the same frustration and struggle. I'm so tired of feeling tossed with the waves. I told him, "We're going to be together a long time--because if we can make it through this, we can make it through anything." This has been the most difficult year of my life. There was a one-month blip when I got a divorce that was a magnitude of difficult, but it did not require the patience and endurance of this year. The whole period between divorce and remarriage did not seem to have this degree of uncertainty--or, oddly, this sense of alone-ness. I used to talk on the phone for hours. Nobody calls me anymore. When I call (not that often) the conversation doesn't last and/or I keep it shallow. I called Jodi the other night when I realized I just couldn't handle it anymore by myself. That was such a huge help. I was reminded how important it is for me not to bottle up.

It may sound like I'm really depressed, but I am actually doing better than I was at my last posting. Being grateful was an attempt to push away the worst of my feelings. Now I am far enough away from it that I can talk about it.

It's gonna be okay, 'cause something's gotta give.

Isaac's School Project

Look! New Post!

It is nearing the end of the semester for a certain seventh grader. That means there are a bunch of project and assignments due. Of course, Isaac has avoided telling us about these things, or has puttered around so much that it is like waiting till the last minute. For english, he had to make a five-page comic, which I didn't have to be on him about too much. I can't even remember what the other two projects were. He has been working all sememster on his County Project for Texas history. There were 11 projects. He had done them, but some of them were not so good. His teacher made a deal with him that if he redid all of the projects and tidied it up, he could up his grade on those assignments. I had been trying for weeks to get him to redo a project every night. Monday before they were due, on Tuesday he ended up having to complete three of the projects.

His drama project was due that day as well, but I asked his teacher for an extension because it was a music video, and I had left my video camera at a friend's house. She was shipping it to me and it would not arrive until the due date. So we spent tuesday night making the video. I sent Isaac to bed and ended up staying up until 2:30 editing it. I had never done such a thing. We had to use two different editing programs to put it together because the one that was malfuctioning for final edit was the only one that made it easy to cut clips to paste into the timeline. It was actually really cool.

I have never done homework for a child, but I don't think I robbed Isaac of any learning experience that he will not be able to make up in the near future. It was just drama class anyway.

I was asked a couple of weeks ago to do a skit for Relief Society Enrichment meeting. I was to be Dorothy in the Wizard of Aahs. The skit was something some goofy mormon woman in some distant land had posted on the internet. It was horrid. I was trying to memorize it last night in the last hour before Enrichment meeting, and Isaac informed me that he had to be at the school for his band concert in 20 minutes. I tried to call the RS President and the enrichment counselor to let them know I would be late, but they were already at the church setting up, I guess. I knew that our number was the opening, so I would mess up a lot of things if I was late.

Isaac's concert started at 6:45. I left in the middle of the last number at 7:00 and left Isaac to walk home. Mike was at a friend's working on his computer. I called and asked him to pick Issac up. He got dinner for the boy, and I made it in time to run over the play in the bathroom with the other two sisters who were in it during the opening song and prayer and announcements. We blundered through it and our audience had a good time. I don't know if they understood the message. Fortunately, they had a cooking class that amounted to a meal, because I was starving.

That almost sounded like a Kim, posting, didn't it?

Second Coming

Yes, my husband has returned. The company did not submit his security clearance right, and so he became ineligible for the position. We don't know how long is will take to correct the situation, so we are looking into other jobs that do not require a security clearance. The objective is still Iraq. We feel good about going. Maybe with a month's delay, the timing will be perfect, we will have averted some risky situation, like my dad did during the Vietnam war. He was sent to the less volatile Korea because of the Pueblo incident. He had opted out of officer school and remained enlisted or he would have been in the thick of Vietnam.

Anyway, maybe we will find a position with a better company or salary. It was devastating to have that job fall through, but nearly a week later, I am grateful and hopeful. We have fasted for a solution by the fifteenth of this month. The other company already paid us for one week of his training and are going to pay us for another week. That will get us through the month nicely, but doesn't get us out of the hole that we got into to get the job.

Now I get to brag on my honey. W0rd got out that I didn't have a washing machine. One of the ladies in the ward had one that they had tried unsuccessfully to repair themselves. It is the same model as my old one, but 5 years newer, at least. You guessed it, Mike fixed it. It was completely different from my old one, mechanically, but he said it was easy, and that he could do it again, knowing how, in less than and hour. It is so thrilling to have a man that can get stuff done.

Our home teachers gave us their old dryer. I have now washed alll of the laundry I had gotten behind on. It feels great.

If everything works according to our faith, we will not have to change our summer plans, except, perhaps, to condense them. It will take a miracle, but I believe in those things. I hear about them all the time. Sometimes they even happen to me.

Time to take Isaac to scouts.

PBS and Mormonism

I watched most of the Frontline episodes of the American Experience that explored Mormonism. No publicity is bad publicity. I did not really like the way they treated many of the subjects and cut off the remaining sentences of Dallin Oakes and Elder Packard. Really, four hours is not enough time to treat such a complicated subject as our faith. I, myself could talk about the subject endlessly.

I think what bothered me most is the persistence with which they implied that we do not think for ourselves because of the church's emphasis on obedience. That's not the church I belong to. Obedience is based on the principle of free will. They emphasized that free thinking was suppressed, and intellectualism denied a voice. How is it, then, that I, a hyper-analytical, nothing-inside-the-box person, could feel so at home and be so accepted and appreciated when I raise my hand in Sunday School or bear my testimony on Fast Sunday?

Still, I am thankful for the program. Hearing contradicting points of view and challenges to my faith, my mind easily reverts back to the hours upon days, year after year that I have spent in study and prayer, trying to understand my faith, my relationship with God and the place of the Church in all that. I really began to have a testimony of God's power and truth because I heard the arguments of opponents.

More than once in my life, everything I hoped for and perceived as reality was shattered. Holding on to faith in those circumstances has been like the struggle of a novice swimmer in a rolling ocean--one who is determined to make the shore. But the waves of doubt and conflict, are what I use to carry me to the shore.

Tonight, my hurting heart remembers when my faith was not so feeble. Remembrance of knowledge that once filled my mind pours in. Truth remembers this soul who loved it so dearly. They are only words. Flowery eloquence doesn't satisfy. God is my Redeemer. He is real. He reveals truth to the hearts and minds of those who seek. I have found--again.

The Lone Ranger

Here I am again, one woman alone. It has not even been a year since I got married and now I am sleeping alone again. I think it is pretty much the anniversary of the time I first called Mike--because he sent me his resume. I called him for strictly professional reasons.

Anyway, this is how the weekend went:

Saturday

Mikey's b-day party was at a place I can't remember the name of. It just had a bunch of inflatable obstacle courses and moonwalk-type stuff with some party rooms to serve the food you bring. Before that, Mike and I were collecting things and packing for his trip. Afterwards, he bought a laptop and got a case from his friend that works at Microsoft (Erik mentioned in previous a post). As soon as he got back, we met our photographer friend from church at the park for the family portraits we have never gotten. There must have been something else we did, but mostly, it was all about getting packed.


MaryAnne, stop reading now and take a break.

Sunday

I dropped Mike at the airport early enough Sunday to get to primary, where I teach the 11-12 girls. Of course, the only ones there were the two I brought--Lexi and Emylie. Mikey was really upset that we had to go to church because he wanted to get to his mom's house right away. We had left from his birthday party on Saturday and his mom went the other direction with his presents. He was very disappointed that he didn't get to play. But at least he got his Birthday song and pencil in primary. That helped a little bit.

I left directly from church to drop them off to appease the boy. We made the drop around 12:30. I actually talked to Lisa for a little while. There was some tension between us several months ago and we hadn't really cleared the air. Everything is settled and clear. The kids are welcome to come over whenever they want to, and they will go with us to see Mike's parents in Missouri. Lexi had said she wanted to spend the summer helping grandma at the store. (Take a look at the store on the Far West link at the right to see the store.)

After the drop off, I called Matt to see when he was going to meet me because I was already halfway to our halfway meeting point. He was helping his girlfriend, Julie move into here new house and was planning to meet me around 7:30. Rather than go home, I drove around the Rockwall, Wylie area looking for houses. I have decided (with the counsel of my husband) that we will be moving out there as soon as we get back from our trip. I will be moving out of this house before I leave for the trip.

So after all that I got home at 9:00. I barely had time to be alone or feel alone. I did delay going to bed. I was able to be in contact with My Love (that's the way it comes up on my phone). He arrived safely in El Paso (Ft. Bliss proximity). He will be in country until Friday evening, at which time, cell phone service will be disconnected--oh and transferred to me for those who don't know. Devanie will have my cell number and I will have Mike's.

Hey, I'm gonna stop typing now. Stop reading.

The Last Days

I have a lot to do today to help Mike get ready for his departure tomorrow morning. We will be going to Mikey's birthday party, which his Mom invited us to. She has been especially nice since we told her that Mike was leaving. But then, there was also a very large child support check that has probably contributed to her sense of friendliness.

We did the shopping we needed to do yesterday, for the things he needs. Now we need to pack everything. I have a few pants to hem for him, and I really should do my laundry, but he will probably have to take some dirty clothes with him. That is fine since he will have a laundry service while he is there. My guess is that they offer that because of the scarcity of water in the desert, and it is more efficient to do laundry in bulk.

For the past two days, the reality of his leaving have hit me really hard. I like being alone, and I look forward to being able to focus my time on things I have wanted to do for a long time. But it has only been a year since I found the love of my life and decided that I could spend the rest of my life with him. But now he is going to be gone. We have such a good time together, but now we have to be apart. I'm going to be fine, and I am not worried about anything, but it is good to feel a little angst now and then. Loving will do that to a person.

Social Novelties

Just wrapping up a great weekend. Saturday we had a friend of Mike and his three children come over for a lunch BBQ. The kids had a great time together--and so did the adults. We ate our lunch and then all of us went to the park near our house. When we came home, it was time for the ward picinic, which had been postponed last week because of the rain. Our friend Erik (this is the guy that was helping Mike get interviews with Microsoft--I know I never told you about it, but he's the guy) was not planning on going to the picinic with us, but since he had nothing to do, he came along. It was a great day. I like doing things with other people. Sometimes I forget that I am not a hermit. I have become so introverted over the years. It is nice to remember now and then that I love people.

After church, the kids had lunch, the we listened to 3 of the conference talks while we played conference bingo since none of the kids were with us that weekend. Then we let them play while Mike and I relaxed. I went to choir practice, and then we had a make-up ward picinic with a couple of people from church that couldn't make it the day before--trying to fellowship with some new kids in the ward whose parents are just separating. I got there in a really bad mood, no reason behind it, but got over it soon, because I love socializing.

Today I will be taking the kids back to their dad since they had a random day off. On the way I will visit a few friends--and see if there are anymore roadside vendors selling $2 rose plants in Tyler: the Rose capital of Texas. Mike will be at home working on his 40 hour training course so that he can leave on Sunday for Ft. Benning, GA. He will stay there for a week, the ship to Iraq. The anticipation is the worst part of it--anticipating a paycheck, that is. Two months of having "a job" and not getting paid is tense. We eexpect it to be worth the wait, but we keep getting further and further behind, so getting money doesn't seem like it will do anything but keep us floating. I'll be singing a different tune, of course, after our first full paycheck, but who knows when that will be.

My monitor went out on my computer, so I am using Mike's. (I get the flatscreen for myself next week so I am okay for now.) He is anxious to get his work started for the morning. Have a great day.

Brighter

Someday soon we will get paid. Mike has his official orders. His date was pushed back a week--again. But this time it is in official writing. He will be training for a week in GA beginning the 29th of April. He will leave for Iraq from there. We really needed that extra time, though Mike wishes he could just go and be done with it. He is tired of the anticipation and the stress of preparation.

We have an awesome home teacher who served in Iraq through the national guard. He has done all sorts of things to help us in our planning and prep. It is all a little overwhelming, but it is great to know where the whelming begins.

Mike had a really cool experience last night. A friend of his is a drum rep in Houston but was sponsoring a drum clinic at one of the music stores here in town being taught by Billy Cobam, a world renowned drummer. Mike was late for the clinic because he had forgotten about it as dinner was coming out of the oven, but he went to dinner with Billy and his friend the rep afterwards. Billy lives in Switzerland most of the time. Mike mentioned that we were going to be meeting in Europe midway through his tour in Iraq. Billy suggested we stay at his house and gave Mike his home phone and email. Pretty cool.

Mike has a tendency to bump into people like that. While he was working at the music store just before we got married, he had developed a great rapport with Don Henly who would often come in to the store and ask for Mike. He would just hang out and talk sometimes.

It is funny the things I have discovered about my husband--bits and pieces at a time. For example, as I was cutting his hair one time, I was singing: "I turned the radio on/ I turned the radio up, and this woman was singing my son/ lovers in love and the other runs away/lover is crying 'cause the other won't stay..." and he's singing with me. And he knows every word. I had to stop what I was doing.
"Why do you know the words to a Lisa Loeb song?"
"She's a sweet girl."
"Okay?"
"Well I did some studio work for her when I was in high school."
Apparently he was on the call list for Sony studios when they needed a drummer. It is fun getting to know the man. He has all sorts of surprises.

In other news, Isaac's bike got stolen from school yesterday. The officer gave us hope that it would be recovered. He asked us if we wanted to file a police report. I said, "A rorice rerort?" No, I didn't, I just put that in there for Dove. Anyway, if it doesn't turn up by Friday, I will file an official report.

Time to do what I haven't done since February--pick up Isaac from school.