So it's May now. This year is 1/3 of the way over. The other day I came across the little piece of paper where I'd scratched out some goals for the year. It was cool to see how I'm doing with those goals.
My theme for this year is Preparedness. I'm working on being more prepared in finances, professional development, food, health, etc.
For my financial goals I put down that I wanted to make double payments on Brandon's student loans every month. I wanted to pay off the rest of the Fedloan student loans and pay down most of the ACS one. And I wanted to pay off a total of $__,___ in student loan debt.
Well so far I've made double payments during 3 out of the past 4 months. I am within 2 months of paying off the last Fedloan account. The ACS account hasn't really made much progress, but once the Fedloan ones are out of the way I can start making a dent in that one. And I've paid 44% of the total amount of our payment goal for this year.
I also wrote down that I wanted to create a budget, do something with my 401K money from the job I left 5 years ago, and look into life insurance. I've done all those things.
That's a pretty awesome showing for finances.
For professional goals I put down that I'd like to get published by someone and get paid to write something at least once this year.
I'm making progress on the getting published part. I've been approved to write for an online travel website. The problem is that I have a bad case of the yips and I freak out every time I think about writing for real. I mean I can knock out something on here in my sleep without a problem. And I'm okay writing for my travel blog because - well it's mine. But to write for someone else who will go over what I wrote - that's scary. I need to get over it and just write.
As for the getting paid part. I'm still working on that too.
So I guess I need to push myself a little bit more professionally. Though I should add that an unwritten goal was to really step it up with writing on my travel blog. And I have done that. So I shouldn't be too hard on myself. (Maybe I should retroactively write that in on my little goal paper.)
Under Food Storage Goals I wrote that I wanted to buy a wheat grinder and wheat, buy a deep freezer, get a Sam's Club Membership, and get a plot at the Community Garden.
I've accomplished all those goals. YAY! I've also learned a lot about how to cook with food storage and how to store food. This area is going great.
Under health goals I put down that I want to lift weights 3X's a week, jog once a week, fit my wedding dress, and weigh 165.
It's a good thing I'm reviewing these goals because I'd completely forgot about the first two. And I'll have to reevaluate whether or not I want to try for 165 a little later in the year. (Right now the answer is "not now") and I don't fit my wedding dress yet. However, I do fit my Temple Dress which technically is my wedding dress because that's what I wore when I was married. Plus that's the dress that I actually still need to wear on a semi regular basis so I'm happy I don't have to buy a new one.
It's good to know that I'm making progress on my goals. Its also nice to actually have goals after so many years of survive being my only real goal.
Okay now that we've talked about that let's go over pictures. Most of these pictures are from my phone and some of them date back to the beginning of April. These were the things that got over looked while I was writing about Derrick's birthday and our vacation.
First off we have a picture of Lydia at the doctors office. On April 1st she woke up tired after a long night of coughing. She'd had the cough for a while,and I'd gone back and forth between thinking it was allergies, to wondering if she had something serious. It had finally reached the point where I knew we'd need a doctor to listen to it. I was able to get her an appointment for that morning. Brandon had a break in training so he watched Derrick and Veronica while I took Lydia to the doctor.
I quickly remembered why I hate taking my kids to the doctor when they are sick. First Lydia didn't act like she was sick at all. I was thinking that this was all just an unwitting April Fools Day joke on me. She just sat on the floor and drew.
I have a lot of pictures of my garden on my phone. Here it is the first week of April. I was so happy to see how tall my pea plants were.
So I finally switched the back ground to poster board and that has worked much better.
The girls went to a fancy tea party themed birthday party the day after we got home from vacation. They had so much fun dressing up and going to the party. After the party we went to the garden and picked peas for the first time. I love this picture.
Here are some of the peas.
One day the girls set up a band out on the patio. Charlotte played the drums. Lydia played the piano. And Veronica sang.
Okay now I have to warn you. This next part gets a little bit long. But it's an interesting story I promise.
About two weeks ago I was on the way to the garden when my sister Lindsey called. She works at an elementary school these days so I don't have a lot of chances to talk to her. But her school was closed because of all the flooding that was going on in her area of Houston. (Their house and the school made it through without any damage, but other areas weren't so lucky.)
Lindsey told me that she was going to fly out to Indianapolis that weekend to help our grandma move to Houston. Lindsey has been planning on having Grandma move near her for a while. She was hoping to get everything taken care of this summer. But circumstances changed, and it became apparent that Grandma needed to move sooner rather than later. Lindsey planned to fly out there on Friday night, pack and load everything on Saturday, and drive the moving truck back to Houston on Sunday. It was an ambitions plan, but Lindsey is the type of person that can handle big projects like that. I wished her luck and figured she would be okay.
Later, I told Brandon what Lindsey's plans were. I added almost as an after-thought, "I should go and help her." That little thought suddenly turned into "I am going to help her."
It was great to realize that I'm finally in a place where I can offer some sort of service to Lindsey. She's done so much for me over the past few years, but there haven't been many opportunities for me to help her out in return. Remember, she was the one who dropped everything and drove 10 hours to rescue us when our car broke down on the New Mexico/Texas boarder. She drove three hours to watch the kids when I thought I was in labor with Veronica. And the next week she drove those same three hours when I had Veronica for real. She was there for me every time Brandon was away for training or in Korea. She's let me stay at her house countless times. I really don't know how I would have made it through our 2 years in Texas if Lindsey hadn't been there too.
A quick look at the map showed me that Indianapolis is basically a straight drive up the I-65 from Alabama. Google Maps told me it was "only" a 10 hour drive. Brandon would be able to watch the kids on Saturday and Sunday and he was able to get Friday afternoon off from class. My friend Kelli (who is an amazingly selfless person and deserves tons of praise for all the service she provides to everyone) agreed to watch Derrick and Veronica in the morning. (And she was okay with watching all four kids if Brandon couldn't get the afternoon off. Seriously, this lady is a rock star.) I called Lindsey and told that I'd drive up to Indianapolis and meet her at the airport.
She was super happy to hear that. For one, it solved her problem of how to get to from the airport to Grandmas at 11:30 at night. Also it meant that we'd get to spend some time together. This would be our first weekend together without children in 7 years. And she knew that having another adult around to help with everything would be very helpful.
So Friday morning I put Charlotte and Lydia on the school bus and then took Derrick and Veronica to Kelli's. I briefly came home to leave the car seats in the garage for Brandon to use. And then I started my long drive to Indianapolis. I'd be lying if I said that I wasn't excited for this trip. The last time I traveled by myself was 3 1/2 years ago when I flew to Georgia for Brandon's basic training graduation. It was so nice to not have to stop for emergency bathroom breaks or to hear whining and fighting. It was just me, the road, my audio book (Brandon Sanderson's Way of Kings), and cooler full of food.
I stopped at a rest stop between Montgomery and Birmingham for a quick solo picnic. I couldn't believe how easy it was to just get out of the car and walk over to a picnic bench.
Kentucky was another skinny and beautiful state. This was my first time in Kentucky. My sister Hillary had served her mission here and she was always talking about how pretty it was. Now I could see why. Everything looked like a post card.
I crossed into Indiana a little before it got dark. After another 110 miles I was in Indianapolis. I drove to the airport and found the cell phone lot. Even though Indianapolis is almost directly above Alabama it's not on the same time zone. Alabama is in the Central Time Zone but Indianapolis is on Eastern Time. This worked in my favor because I only had to wait about an hour for Lindsey's plane to come in rather than two hours. I talked to Brandon about the trip and he told me about the day with the kids.
Soon Lindsey was texting me that her plane was taxi-ing in. I drove over to the terminal and picked her up. It was so good to see her. We gave each other a big hug.
Then we drove over to Grandma's apartment. She was waiting up for us. We talked for a little bit and then Grandma helped us set up a bed in her couch bed. Lindsey and I climbed in and then laughed about how here we were sharing a couch bed again after all these years.
The next day was a big day full of lots of work. Grandma only had a one bedroom apartment, but it was full of stuff. Valuable stuff. So we packed and packed and packed and packed. At one point the sister missionaries came over and helped us pack for about two hours. We also had several errands to run - like picking up the moving van and trailer from two separate U-haul location. There was so much to do and as the day went on we realized we were running out of time.
Things started to get a little stressful as we got closer to when the team of movers was supposed to come to start loading the truck. We weren't ready for them. Fortunately they were running terribly late. Finally we realized that our goal of getting out of there early in the morning on Sunday was not going to happen. Lindsey called the movers and told them to come the next morning. Then we went to Chick-fil-a to drown our worries in shakes and fries.
Earlier Lindsey had dropped Grandma off at a friends house to spend the night. And another friend would take her to the airport the next day. So at least we didn't have to worry about her any more. Still there was a lot to do. We went back to the apartment and tried to find a place to set up my air mattress. As we looked around the apartment that was now a mess of boxes and furniture we couldn't help feeling like we'd made the situation worse. We took this picture to document our feelings. And then we erupted into a fit of stressed induced laughter at how ridiculous we looked.
Neither of us slept very well that night. We were both very worried about how Sunday would go. Lindsey woke up really earlier and channeled her stress into writing down all the things her substitute teacher would need to know on Monday. When I woke up I went to work on getting things ready for the movers to show up. We'd stopped laughing about everything and were more resigned to our fate.
Gradually, as the morning went on things started to go in our favor again. We were back to feeling like we'd made the right decision. The movers came and started the long process of taking everything down three stories to the moving van. Lindsey and I worked to get the remaining things packed.
I'm so glad I came to help. There were so many things that we had to talk over and figure out together. It was kind of like a problem solving team building weekend. I'm also glad that I brought my car. We used it so much. There were so many little errands to run. At one point I ran to the store to buy snacks for the drive home. I ended up at a Kroger. It's always a good day when I get to go to Kroger - even if I hadn't had a shower in two days and probably hadn't brushed my teeth that morning.
Around 4:00 the apartment was EMPTY! I'm still kind of in shock when I look at this picture.
We'd thought about leaving as soon as the truck was loaded, but we both needed a break - and some food. I told Lindsey, "here's the plan. We go to McDonalds, get hamburgers, and cry." So that's what we did. But we skipped the crying part.
Lindsey took care of getting her sub plans submitted. And I made sure that Brandon had found a babysitter for the kids the next day. He had to be to class at 6:00 so he needed to find someone who could come over at 5:30 and help the three older kids get ready for school. At church he'd asked our military relations missionaries, the Hansens if they could come do it. They readily agreed. Brandon made sure to pack the kids' snacks and lay out the clothes so the Hansens wouldn't have to do much. I was so grateful for him and for them.
We finally were on the road at 6:00. Lindsey followed me as I navigated us through Indianapolis. I'm glad I could help her out with that because she was still getting used to driving the large van and the trailer. After a while we switched so that I followed her down to Kentucky. Then I took the lead again and navigated a complicated construction detour in Louisville. After that we stopped for gas - which was nerve wracking with such a large truck that needed a regular gasoline pump.
Then we drove just a few more miles and stopped at the first rest stop we came to. It was about 9:00 pm by this point and we were exhausted. Lindsey parked in the truck area and I parked in the car parking lot. She came over to my car and we folded back the seats and fell asleep. Well Lindsey did. I was still really wound up from everything and it took me a while to settle down.
Around 12:00 Lindsey got up and got on the road. A little while later I got and started driving too. Our routes were the same until Nashville, but we'd already decided that Lindsey didn't need to follow me any more. It would be late enough when she went through Nashville that she wouldn't have to deal with any traffic. She'd be able to get on the I-40 without much trouble. So when I passed Lindsey's truck and trailer I pulled ahead of her.
We'd call each other throughout the drive and update each other on our progress. Lindsey said that with every jolt she was imagining all of Grandmas stuff breaking. She said she imagined that she'd open the back of the truck and dust would blow out. She also said that she was getting better at handling the truck and felt better about stopping for gas.
When we weren't talking on the phone I was either listening to the radio or listening to the Way of Kings. I'll be honest. It's a good thing I had a long boring drive and lots of time to kill or else I don't think I'd have made it very far in that book. It took at least 10 hours for me to feel like I sort of liked the book. But my brother Billy swears its an amazing book that leads into an amazing series. I'm at the point with it now where I'm curious to see what happens to all these characters that I've taken the time to get to know.
I drove through Kentucky and Tennessee without feeling too tired, but by the time I got to Alabama I was ready for a break. So I pulled up at a rest stop, put a towel in the window to block out a street light. Wrapped a blanket around myself and fell asleep. It was some of the best sleep I'd had all weekend.
I woke up about 3 hours later to sunlight. I used the bathroom in the rest stop building and then I was back on the road. It was odd to think that the Hansens were at my house getting my kids ready for school. I wondered if my kids missed me or if they thought this was fun. I worried that Derrick wouldn't react well to any of these changes. I just wanted to get home.
The drive down from Birmingham passed quickly which is funny because doing that same drive with kids in the car feels like an eternity. Soon I was on the last few miles to home.
When I came to the Fort Rucker gate I handed over my ID and was told that I'd been selected for a random vehicle inspection. I was like, "you're kidding me."
So I had to pull over to a separate area, get out of the car, and open all the doors while I soldier and a dog checked everything.
I'm sure that I looked like a sight. I was wearing a hoody over the same shirt I'd worn the past two days. I didn't have any make up on and I still hadn't bushed my teeth. There is no way that I smelled good at all. The car didn't look that much better. The passenger seat of my car was full of empty Dr Pepper bottles and granola bar wrappers. There were blankets and pillows strewn about. The back of the car was full of furniture that my Grandma had given me. If there ever was a suspicious person trying to enter Fort Rucker it was me.
But I passed the inspection and was soon on my way home. It was so nice to walk into my own house. Veronica yelled, "MOMMY" and ran to me as soon as she saw me. She hugged me tight and wouldn't let me go. Elder and Sister Hansen told me that all the kids had been very good that morning. They were surprised that Veronica knew all her letters. I told them a little bit about the trip. Brandon came home a little after that and I shared some more details. Then the Hansens left and I was able to get away from Veronica long enough to take a shower and brush my teeth.
Soon it was time for the bus to come so I walked out with Brandon and Veronica to meet the kids as they got off. They were so happy to see me. The monitor told me that Derrick had hit a kid that morning. But as far as I could tell that was the only sign that anyone had been upset by me being gone.
Then we came back home and I took a nap. Later we unloaded the car and put the furniture in the house. This is how my entry way looks now. The green console table looks so great.
So anyway, that's the end of the story of my weekend trip to Indianapolis. Oh wait, I should probably tell you how Lindsey did. She made it home about 6:00 on Monday night. She says she deserves an honorary CDL license. On Tuesday night she and John and some people from their ward unloaded the truck into a storage unit. She said they only found 2 broken things and that all the boxes stayed in place. It's going to be a big project going through all those boxes and sorting everything out - but that can wait a few weeks. Grandma is with family now and that's what matters most.
The next week was a busy one for me. I'd scheduled a lot of appointments back when we thought that Brandon's training would start in May. I'd hoped that he'd be able to watch the kids. However, his training was bumped up by two weeks so I had to find some babysitters instead. Good thing I have good friends here.
So on Tuesday afternoon my friend Melissa watched all three girls while I took Derrick to the doctor for his 4 year old check up and shots. We didn't have to wait anywhere near as long as Lydia and I had to wait at the beginning of the month. Before we left Derrick had opened a belated birthday card from my sister in law Melanie. She'd sent some ABC stickers and Derrick excitedly put them on his shirt. He put his favorite letter, I, onto his forehead. He proudly wore that sticker the whole time we were at the doctors and the whole time we were at the immunization clinic. Everyone thought it was really funny.
On Wednesday I had a dentist appointment and I came out of that without any cavities. Whew.
The rest of Wednesday was kind of tough. I was still tired from the trip. And honestly it was kind of a letdown to go from solving difficult problems and then come home to a boring routine of doing dishes and making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Lately I've been feeling like it's time to start thinking about getting a job and on Wednesday I really started thinking about it.
But I redeemed myself in the kids eyes by letting them play in the rain storm that came through that evening. They had so much fun.
All this time I was still blaming the ice cream and vowed never to eat it again. But then the school nurse called and said that Lydia had thrown up. Thankfully Brandon was back from class by this time so he was able to go pick her and the other two up from school.
He came back home and I took a nap until he had to go to class again at 1:00. He told me that Derrick had thrown up while I was sleeping. We realized that we were probably dealing with a 24 hour stomach flu and so after class Brandon went to the store and stocked up accordingly.
Friday was a long day of everyone resting. Derrick and Veronica wandered the house making messes and eating what ever they wanted out of the fridge. Brandon checked in at work, but came home to rest as soon as he could. I was feeling better so I tackled the dished and laundry, but then took a 4 hour long nap in the afternoon. It's been a long time since we have all been sick like that and I hope it never happens again.
Finally it was Saturday and we were all feeling better. We cleaned the living room and then we went grocery shopping to stock up on food again. (I'd been planning on going shopping the day I got sick.) I also finally had a chance to check in on the garden. I hadn't been there in almost 10 days. My peas were doing amazing and were almost all ready to pick. This is about half of what I got. (I ate the other half before I even got home.)
Everything else is also doing well. I've really loved that garden.
Well this post ended up way longer than I anticipated, but honestly that's kind of how April has felt. I hope you've enjoyed reading.
Talk to you later!
Sounds like a busy month! I hear you on wanting to get a job sometimes (and even applying for some now and again). It's a struggle somedays to figure out "what I'm supposed to be doing." I'm hoping to figure out the balance of the mundane mom jobs and putting my skills to more interesting uses. If you happen upon any secrets, let me know!
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