The Recent Goings On

30^th May 2011

I have forgotten so many things I intended to write. I suppose that’s just what happens when you put things off. It’s been a long but good day. We went hiking around Point Lobos State Reserve with our neighbors; it’s very beautiful. We had a BBQ that also doubled as a birthday party. And we bought a piano. It’s not perfect, but it’s a piano. :) Now…where to put it…

The things that stand out…hmm. Oh yes, ½ day stint potty-training a 2 yr old before I figured out he didn’t even know what a toilet was for. He absolutely refused to wear diapers that morning and I got ahead of myself and thought it would be a good time to potty-train. Nope. He never did quite get it figured out and I’m perfectly content to wait another year. In the meantime I just have to put the diapers out of reach because my 3 yr old thinks he wants to be a baby again and kept putting the diapers on himself. Strange.

Baptism! It went very well. Shawn’s parents were here and it was so nice to have them :). Demetri was excited to be baptized with his friend, he picked a place to go to dinner, and he was ecstatic to see his grandparents. Now the others are asking when it’s their turn. He’s trying to focus on reading a few scripture verses every day and understand what each verse means.

My little brother graduated and had his Eagle Court of Honor this week. I don’t remember him being old enough to do either of those things. But I’m proud of him!

I’m now a Cub Scout Den Mother. No joke. I’m a tad nervous about that, the entertaining and teaching several 8 yr olds part. I can do one of those at a time, sometimes, but it’ll take a lot of practice to do both. Guess I’ll have some time though.

We’ve been here for 5 months. 11 more to go, and I have no idea where we’re going next, but the kids and I will probably spend next summer at my parents’ while Shawn is in Texas. Then, we’ll be notified 30 days in advance of Shawn’s new duty station. He joined the army so I could learn patience and be flexible. Well…I guess flexibility is more of a family trait, so I’m good there.

The kids have made friends in the ward and now love going to church. It was pretty difficult for a couple of months. I’m glad they are adjusting. I'm glad I'm adjusting too. It's pretty, we have good friends, and I'm learning some new skills (cooking, laundry, and how to ignore messes when I don't have the time to clean them up, haha).

Ah yes, blackout curtains. We now, thank goodness, have them. A necessity when children go to bed an hour before it really gets dark. It is for my children at least. These curtains also help break the established habit one of them has of waking up the moment any light enters his room, and staying awake. I'm getting more sleep= everyone is happier. Really.

I tried to upload images- pictures from today, but I think they're too big? So I'll have to learn how to resize them and then try again.

Home, not unpacked yet, but home.

I'm home. I was not sick for about 2 days in the last two weeks. Thankfully long enough to drive home. Now I'm getting sick again. I'm drinking tea, searching for my vitamins, making a point of not eating sugar, and going to bed before 11:00. And just hoping it all works out.

I have so much on my brain that it feels like it's spinning, much like a carnival ride. I guess traveling really throws off a schedule too, so I'm working on taking one day at a time and engrossing myself (well, attempting) in the domestic life for a few days.

At the moment I'm having shipping problems with this not-even-fledgling-yet business of mine. I'm working out some related financial woes, and trying to keep the whole deal from stalling for another several months. Optimism is key. I'll just smile and tell the shipping clerk it's all okay, rub my magic ring, and he'll stamp everything "okay" and send it on over. Okay, okay, I'll do the research on the shipping companies like I'm supposed to.

The semester is pretty much over, at least for me. No finals and all of my homework (except a couple of little quizzes) is done. A needed respite at the moment so I can concentrate on the work at hand.

I'm cleaning my house up, mad at the guestroom bed- I know, it does tons of good to be mad at an inanimate object- and now looking for a futon, attempting to get back into menu planning, and wondering how to get a very nasty smell out of a rug. Trying baking soda next. Also slightly more than irritated at some cute little Army regulations designed to drive people nuts. Ah, well, I'll just keep watching my good old movies and pretending that the Army is like it is in the movies. Some days reality just isn't my thing.

The kids had a great time at Grandma's. And they have absolutely no concept of time. Olie wanted to come back home to see Dad. We're back, saw Dad. Now he wants to go show Grandma a new toy, so he wants to go back to Idaho. I don't even think they remember the drive! Oh, but I do. And it'll be a little while before I voluntarily take it on again. Yeah, like, a month.

Demetri is super excited about getting baptized sometime in the next couple of months. The date keeps changing but I think we're pretty set now with May 21st. The other family whose child is being baptized as well asked if it could be changed to then because they have family flying in from Hungary. Sounds great to me; I like being flexible.

Uh oh. Make that getting to bed by 11:05. I'm going, I'm going...