Mis-Adventure part 1

With adventures, there is always a "mis-adventure" or two in the mix. This weekend I had a handful of those. Looking back, I was so ticked off, but now I just laugh because really.. is it worth being that upset about it?

"Mis-Adventure" Part 1

Sunday night we, as a family, drove back up to Kooskia. I had Monday off and the kids were on spring break. When we arrived at the trailer sight and inspect everything, I noticed that the roof had leaked on the bedding. I don't know about you, but I wasn't going to have 4 kids sleep with wet bedding. So I packed all the blankets and sleeping bag into my car. My first task at hand was to find a laundry mat, then head to the store and get some quarters, no biggy .. right?

As I'm driving down Main Street, I spot what they call the "laundry mat". I pull up to see if they are still open and what time they close. Lights are on, but nobody's home. Fine. I now know where it's at and I drive off to the grocery store to get change. When I walk in there, they inform me that they don't like to give cash back, so I have to use the ATM in the corner plus I'm charged the $1.25 to process. No price to high to have the kids sleep through the night. Great. When I go to the check outs to have them break my $20 bill, the lady informs me that it's Sunday and they couldn't go to the bank for change and can't give me any quarters. Oh and by the way, the laundry mat doesn't have a change dispenser either. Oh Joy. Starting to get irritated I ask if there is another place in this town that might be able to give me quarters. One of the nice ladys pipe up and suggests the car wash. I politely ask where might the car wash be. On the other side of town, of course.. silly me. Not familiar with this place, it's 8 o'clock and it's dark, which I'm deathly afraid of. The ladys nicely break my $20 into one's. I head back out to the car and slowly drive past the laundry mat again to make sure they aren't closed. Lights are still on. Good. How far could the other side of town be?

Driving slowly, I spot a lonely street light shining on a figure of 2 dolphins. I think I found it...in the dark. I drive around the oblique structure looking for the change dispenser, found it.. of course not well lit. I say a little pray "Please Lord stand guard over me in this poe-dunk lil town, please no crazies". I insert my one dollar bill in to the machine. All of sudden the sound of a shot gun rings out. I jump, and place my back to wall eyeing the landscape. At that exact moment out of the corner of my eye, I see 4 shiny objects fly out of the wall and land about 5 feet out in front of me. "Oh Heaven help me!!" I cautiously insert another bill... another shot gun sound and more flying quarters. What the hell? I endure this hannis sound and action 3 more times. Scrabbling in the dark to pick up the projected coins. I jump back into the car and head back to the other side of town... onward ho to the laundry mat...
Mission one and two accomplished... on to the next "mis-adventure"....

Conversations...

Setting: At the grocery store walking down the aisle that has the already made jello and pudding cups for $2.79 for four little cups.

Trent: Hey, Mom, can we get some of those jello cups?

Mom: No, we can get the boxed jello and pudding and make them at home. It's a lot cheaper.

Trent: Why do you always have to be so cheap?

I didn't think I was that cheap, just economical. I guess not.

Twilight the Movie

New Moon Movie and Twilight Merchandise



So I did it.. I watched the movie tonight, though I SWORE I wouldn't. Dare I say it wasn't as bad as I thought it was. Nonetheless cheesy. Eric kept laughing at me when he'd see the anger in my facial expression when the book and the movie didn't match up. I knew I'd have a hard time separating the book from the movie. And do I start with Edward- NOT HOT!!! He so wasn't what I imagined in the book. I'm glad that I didn't "waste" any money on seeing it in theater. I couldn't even justify it at the Dollar Theater. A lady that I work with burned it for me, so I didn't spend a dime. Eric and the kids enjoyed it, so I'm sure I'll be watching it again and again and again. Maybe it'll grow on me.... but until then... I'll stick to the books. They are always 100% better.

"Deller's"

Adella is our family German Shepard. When we were up in Kooskia, Eric was camped out close to the middle fork of the Clearwater. The kids and I took a walk to check it out. Adella walked about a foot or two out from the shore line. Where ever the kids were, she stayed in front of. She didn't like the kids too close to the water. It was like she was "on guard" in case they fell in. The first question we get when we introduce her to anyone is " Does she have lab in her?" No. She's a pure black, pure bred German Shepard. Papers and all. We have literally had her since day 1. We were fostering her mother for the time being, and we got a free pup out of it. She was the runt and Eric fell in love with her, he HAD to have her.

When naming her, Eric wanted something German. Since I was pregnant with Caitrin, I was digging in my baby names book for all sorts of German names. We settled on "Adella" because it mean noble. She has proven to be all that to us.

I survived.....

.... my first night with Eric being with DeAtly Crushing. But in defense of my survival, I drove to Kooskia last night. Eric called me and said that he forgot his coveralls, and that's a MUST plus his welding hood. So last night after I interview yet another person for daycare, I packed up the kids and left. I got there around 8:30ish and went straight to bed. Eric's shift is 4:30am til 2:30pm, usually Monday through Friday, but that is always subject to change on Friday afternoon. I got up at 3:45am and headed home, needless to say it's already been a long day. His position is called an "Oiler". Bluntly he's a grunt. When there is overtime to be had, Eric and one other person ( I forgot what he's called) has to stay behind and finish up, whether it's only a couple of hours or the whole weekend. The price we pay, I guess.
This morning when we woke up, I told Eric not to expect me to come up every night. That drive killed me, driving in the rain and at night. Where he's situated and parked isn't all that bad. The trailer was warm and roomy and it has running water. I'm heading back up on Friday morning, and we'll see if we come home for the weekend or just hang out there.

Most Fitting

Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for. By faith we understand the universe was formed by God's command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.
Hebrews 11:1-3

What door He opens, no one can shuts and what door He shuts, no one can open. I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name.
Revelations 3: 7-8

It's never easy...

That's pretty much the story of my life; it's never come easy. Poor Eric, I'd hate to be in his shoes right now. Just a week and a half ago he was hired for DeAtley. They did warn us it could be up to month before he could start. They have to look at each plant (crushing site) and see where to put him according to his qualifications. We even heard rumor of which plant he might be going to: plant 5 in Kooskia. No problem right? We can still draw unemployment for the time being. We are living just fine.
ATK calls him today to start back up with them. We had heard that they were hiring back the employees that they laid off this past January. It was by seniority only and we knew that Eric was on the low end of the totem pole. The thought crossed my mind this morning that it would put us in a crappy position if they called him and wanted to hire him back. I spoke (or thought) too soon. I got the text around 11ish for me to call him asap. Low and behold they had called him and asked him to come in and sign some stuff. I guess we are going to follow the ropes until DeAtley comes through on a start date. It's not what Eric wants to do, but if it draws a better income to house hold. He did say that he plans on telling them about DeAtley, and see what they have to say. But right now with this economy, we have to do what's best for the family. ATK has already put us out once, whose to say they won't do it again. DeAtley hasn't laid off at all in these troubled times, in fact they have picked up what the other crushing companies have lost due to closure. This summer should be hella busy for them.
So the question that's ran through my mind all day is WHY, WHY, WHY....?? Why can't it just come easy? It should be simple. But what lessons would we learn from God if it all came easy? Sometimes the best lessons come out of the hardest times. I just now wait for the answers to this test to see if we passed or failed. Time will only tell.

Dentist Dan by Shel Silverstein

DENTIST DAN

Nentis Nan, he's my man.

I go do im each chanz I gan

He sicks me down an creans my teed

Wid mabel syrub, tick an' sweed,

An ten he filks my cavakies

Wid choclut cangy-I tink he's

The graygest nentis in the lan.

Le's hear free jeers for Nentis Nan.

Pip-pip-ooray!

Pip-pip-ooray!

Pip-pip-ooray!

Le's go to Nentis Nan dooday!

I went the dentist today. I honestly think that I should have taken a Valium. I shook and trembled the whole entire time. They had to numb my whole right side to do my cleaning, and I get the pleasure of going back to get the left side done. They have given me prescription mouth wash to build "healthier gums". Not only does that stuff taste like crap, it settles in you gums and when you eat or drink something it comes out again and makes whatever you're eating taste rotten. I knew there was a reason I haven't gone in 5 or 6 or however many years. I then get to go again in April to have more work done. I can't wait. All three of the kids have their appointments on Friday. That should be real interesting considering I have a stranger anxiety child who will probably freak out in the chair and maybe just end up biting the charming, dark haired, blue eyed, yummy eye candy doctor. (sorry I got carried away, did I mention that he was a good looking doctor?) I did get the speech of "if you wouldn't have waited so long, this wouldn't have happened." Yea... I know, but I'd rather give birth two times a year then go to the darn dentist. I'm only feeling a little pain now as opposed to what I was feeling this afternoon. It should be better tomorrow... here's hoping.

A New Motivation

I now have a new motivation to loose my "baby fat". I figure that you can't call it baby fat anymore when your baby turns three. I have been going to the gym lately. If your job pays for the membership, why not?

Just recently I was contacted by an old friend, via myspace. It caught me off guard at first because the message said " you look like some who went to CHS". My first thought was Clarkston. How dare they think that I went to Clarkston. So in my disgust I was quick to hit the delete button, but no sooner then I did that, I realized it was one of my class mates at Cascade High School. So I had to scramble through the search engines to find her and apologize for not paying attention. She had informed me that she was trying to find class mates who were graduates of 99. It kind of blew me back, didn't she remember that I moved in the 9th grade, I didn't graduate with them, I became a Lewiston Bengal. Of course she new that, she was always one of the smarter ones of the class, but wanted me to make an appearance at their reunion.

Now going to my 10 year reunion is still very questionable, I still kind of don't want to see certain people. Especially at that time when I was 8 months pregnant and the principal pulled me into his office and told me that I wasn't welcomed in the halls of my high school, and that I was a bad influence to everyone else. That I didn't belong, and I'm better off else where. That gave me all that more motivation to get all my credits in and graduate early. By January of 99 I had all that I needed and got the hell out of there. Not to mention the complete strangers that walked right up to me and called me a slut and a bitch right to my face, or the rumors that went around that I wasn't sure who the baby belonged to or that it she was Justin's not Eric's. Good times and great memories I tell ya. One could see my hesitance to not want to go. I obliviously have some talk'n to do with God on that one.

I was informed that the Cascade High School 10 year reunion would be sometime in August and I think I'll travel down south to make an appearance. I guess it would be kind of fun to walk the halls of greater times and of my childhood. (K - 12 are in 2 buildings conjoined by a long hall) So that is my new motivation to loose the weight. Who doesn't want to look good for people they haven't seen in over 13 years? Though I haven't weighed myself in a while, I do feel and can see a difference. I bought a pair of jeans today that were a size smaller. Just one step closer to where I want to go.

If it's not one thing.. it's another....

If it's not my house he's tearing apart, it's his truck in MY carport... This is what a 460 ford engine looks like outside of a 3/4 ton pickup.

He hasn't started work yet..isn't it obvious? I just got word tonight what plant he's going on to but still no ETA as to when he's leaving us or where the heck plant 5 is.

Silence isn't always golden

It was turning out to be an uneventful night, as I hope so many nights would turn out to be. I was chilling on the couch with a book, Eric in his chair watching his movies, the kids playing in their rooms...or so I thought. You know when you are a mom and you get that weird feeling, like something isn't right, well I wasn't getting it. Eric's daddy senses picked it up instead. I heard him calling out Caitrin's name and when she didn't respond quick enough, that's when he got up to see what the heck she was doing. Our bathroom door doesn't have a lock, we just pull open a drawer to the cabinet so the door doesn't open. Well, she has at some point in time saw this and took it upon herself to do what was necessary. Caitrin was watching Tarren paint her toe nails and decided that her toes needed painting to. When Eric realized the door to the bathroom was "locked", he demanded that Caitrin open the door. His first thought was that she was hurt and bleeding, then he saw that she wasn't freaking out about the "blood" and took a closer look.

He started laughing uncontrollably and made me check out the problem. I was the one who ended up getting higher then a kite to clean up her hands, feet and floor.

Moral of the story:

1. when it's quite... too quite... always investigate

2. keep the nail polish WAY up high out of little hands reach

3. make the husband get high on the polish remover... a headache is always to follow.

All I have to say is....

What the HECK??!!!!
When I woke up this morning at 5:30am, there wasn't anything. I let the dogs out and the weather was actually warm. When I got out of the shower at 7am, this is what it came down to.

Right now it has stopped snowing, but we are to expect another 2in by tonight. It' s March and I was kind of hoping that spring would come early. Though this weather is no stranger to the valley, I don't know that I'll ever get used to it.

Torn

That's kind of the emotion around the house lately. Happy but sad, good news but bad news, yes but no. It's even trickled down to the kids
To start off, Eric got the job offer we were waiting for. We were hoping for DeAtley Crushing to come through and they did yesterday. Good news right...? They hired him on the spot, BUT the guy isn't sure what plant to put him on, since they have a good handful of crushing plants all over the 3 states and he isn't sure when Eric is going start.
Then there's the simple fact that he has a job, so I couldn't be more happy, but with DeAtley, they are a traveling company. That means that Eric won't be home. Some weekends he will travel home, and some weekends I'll pack up the kids to see him. See the dilemma? The pay is better then we anticipated, but it's not going to replace Eric. We have discussed this job in great lengths. Though it turned my stomach like the Seattle job, it doesn't make me want to throw up. I've prayed on this position and I feel God has lead us in this direction. I know that it isn't going to be easy, but if this is the Lords will, I know that he'll guide me every step.
The poor kids, mainly the older two for right now, they aren't so happy that dad's got a job. It broke my heart yesterday when Tarren came up to me with her eyes welled up.
Tarren, "Dad got a job"
Me, " I know, babe, isn't that great" trying to be excited
She just looked at me and shook her head and stomped off to her room. Under her breath you could hear her say "that means he won't be home anymore". I know it's gonna break Caiti Mae's heart when he leaves, for the last 2 months she's been home with him and those two are inseparable. Eric's gonna end up missing out on the kid's baseball game come up here real soon. I was thinking of putting Tarren in a dance studio with her cousins, he'll miss all that as well. I guess that'll be the price we all pay.

Nesting

Today I cleaned like a mad woman. It reminded me when I was "nesting" right before each of the kids were born. Just a feeling in the air that I need to get into the nooks and crannies. Honestly I think I was trying to settle my nerves. Those of you who knew about the Seattle position, we respectfully declined it today. It just didn't seem or feel right. We were trying to make it work, and every direction it just didn't add up. Though it was good money and they offered to certify Eric, it wasn't good for Seattle standard. We couldn't live on it. In these few short weeks that have past, Seattle was a hard issue for me to swallow, literally. When ever Eric brought it up, I threw up. I ended up not eating, just to avoid the urge, and that only caused dry heaving.. good times. But in the whole windows and doors scheme of things, a few more windows have opened for us. We are hoping to hear back from some places this coming week. One of which has got my nerves all riled up. Praying about which path to take, that's the one that make the most sense, and feels like the good Lord is pushing us towards. It'll only be another test of our marriage, but God willing we will make it thru this as well. The Lord has not once let go of my hand in this journey, and it has only built my faith stronger knowing that He has only the best for us, but not until it's His time and not one minute sooner. That's been the hard part for Eric. Having the patience. He being a man of little faith, I try to have enough for the both of us. I only pray that the Lord gives me the strength to get threw these next couple of days or maybe even weeks. We shall see. God Bless.