November 14-19 Then and Now

Last Sunday night I stayed up reading this blog. I'd suspected all week that the calendar was EXACTLY like it had been 6 years ago when we were preparing to leave Fort Rucker. The whole Veterans Day on a Friday just felt oddly familiar. So I checked this blog and yes, the calendar was exactly the same. I also verified the dates that we left Fort Rucker and started traveling back west. I never could quite remember when we did that because we'd left at midnight.  So it was good to check those dates. 

All week I had little flashes of "6 years ago we were doing this today."  And because I wrote a blog post for each day of our drive back to Utah I actually can share with you what we were doing each day.  I'll include those little snippets as we talk about this week. 

Before this week started I was talking to my friend Kaymie and said something like, "It's an easy week. I only have like one appointment a day."  And then we laughed because only mom's can say something crazy like that and be absolutely serious. 

At the end of the week I thought, "oh I wasn't very busy this week."

But that's a lie. It WAS a busy week. Even one extra appointment a day is still A LOT. 

So let's look back over this crazy week.

Sunday was the Primary Program for our ward. Here's a picture of Derrick and Veronica all dressed up for the program. 

No, I didn't forget to upload a picture. There actually is no picture because they weren't in the Primary Program. 

They haven't participated in a Primary Program since 2019. When everything shut down in 2020 and even church was cancelled I realized that a lot of good things are also optional. And the Primary Program was one of those good, yet optional things. Derrick's participation had always been tenuous and Veronica literally had a panic attack on stage in 2019 so I didn't feel like forcing them into the program. They both chose not to be in it again this year.

Monday. November 14th 2022 was exactly six years since Monday November 14th 2016 when we signed out of our house on Fort Rucker. (If you want to go back and read all about that day you can click here.)

All day on Monday I kept getting a little sentimental for that house and life in Alabama. It's funny because almost everything about my life is better now than it was in Alabama. Like Brandon actually has a consistent schedule these days.  Or how the Alabama house only had a one car garage and we have a two car garage now. We have a bigger backyard and a whole basement now too. But I still get all sentimental about the Army and that house. (It did have a master bathroom as big as my current kitchen so that might have something to do with it.)

I think Alabama just symbolized so much. And it was hard to leave all that behind. Anyway, here's a picture of that wonderful house at 33 Endl Ave. 

And here we are (with the neighbor's dog too)  Look at those little kids. 

I got everyone off to school and then went to work. I left work around 12:00 and went home for a quick lunch. 

At 1:00 I drove over to the park and met up with some other PTO Mom's for the big event of the day. Our PTO had been doing a Butterbraid Fundraiser and today was the day everyone could come pick up their orders.  This has been a HUGE project that has been overseen by a wonderful mom named Monica. I'm so glad she took this one because there is no way I would have had time for it.  

I was able to help with this last day though. I made sure to write out the check for what we owed Butterbraids. When I got to the park one of the co-presidents signed it.  I had it all ready when the delivery guys asked for it. 

The Butterbraids truck was there delivering all the orders.  They had everything organized really well. The boxes were labeled with the child's name that sold the orders.  So it would be like, Veronica Illguth 1 of 8. (Just kidding, she only "sold" two so she just had a small order that wasn't even in a box.) Then each kid was assigned a number.  Veronica was something like 33.  There were 79 orders in total and they lined the whole section of fence. 

 

After school got out parents drove over to the park and picked up their orders.  I was in charge of greeting the parents, asking the name of their child's teacher and the childs last name.  I'd find them on a list and find out what their order number was.  I'd call out something like, "Number 53."  Then one of the PTO dads and his sons would find order Number 53.  They'd bring it to the car. Meanwhile Monica and her teenage daughter would find the original order form and give it back to the parent so they could know who'd ordered what. 

It was quite the process, but we got the hang of it. 

The kid who sold the most has sold 108 Butterbraids.  Monica said, "how did he do that? I don't even know 108 people."  Turns out he'd asked a bunch of his mom's bowling friends. 

After the initial rush things slowed down a lot. The other PTO helpers gradually left. It was just me and Monica there for about the last hour. We'd been warm when things were crazy, but we were getting colder. 

Monica started calling people to let them know that their orders were ready.  That got a few more people there.  But when the pick up officially ended at 4:30 there were still about 8 unclaimed orders.  Monica took them home and would continue to try to contact people throughout the week.  She finally got the last ones to the correct people on Thursday. I told her she doesn't have to help with ANYTHING with the PTO for the rest of the year. 

All in all we had a profit of over $7000 from the fundraiser.  But WOW, it was a lot of work. 

I went home and was so happy to be in a warm house. Brandon and the kids were all happy. Brandon and Lydia were making dinner. Derrick was like, "Where were you mom?"

Now let's talk about Tuesday November 15th, 2022 (And because we can, here's the post from this same day in 2016. We went mini-golfing on our last full day in Alabama.)

I'm sure you are SUPER curious what a Butterbraid is. So was I. Last year someone told me and Java/PTO Liz that Butterbraids were a great fundraiser.  We both were like, "what's a butterbraid?"

So this year when we actually did the fundraiser I bought one for me and one for Java/PTO Liz.  PTO ended up ordering extras to give out to our helpers. So I was able to bring a few extra home.  I decided to open up one of the Butterbraids on Tueday.  

Basically is frozen dough in a cool braid shape.  There are different flavors inside.  This one was apple.  The instructions said to let it thaw/rise for 8-12 hours.  So I opened it in the morning.  

I walked with Derrick to school. Veronica stayed home because she had a doctors appointment a little later that morning. Here she is hugging Marcia.  Marcia's eyes say, "Why aren't you at school?"

Veronica and I took Charlotte and Lydia to school. The middle school drop off is SUPER stressful and everything that I've been avoiding for years. (When we were bus riders in Alabama and Pocatello I NEVER let the kids miss the bus because I didn't want to deal with the drop off.) 

These days I can deal with the stress and craziness okay though.  The key is just to be patient.  Well this day I had to be REALLY patient. I pulled in close behind a big SUV. Charlotte and Lydia got out and I was hoping the big SUV would move soon so I could keep moving. But the SUV didn't move. I was too close to them to pull out without hitting them. And I couldn't back up because the car behind me was right on my bumper.  That car couldn't move because the car behind them was super close too.  Normally this isn't a problem. We were all just waiting for that SUV to move.  But it kept sitting there.  

I was like, "Are they having breakfast in there?" Eventually one kid got out and I was like, "Okay, now this traffic jam can get moving."  But NO they just kept sitting there. Eventually another kid got out followed by a third.  I really hope whatever the hold up was about was important because WOW that was inconsiderate. 

Veronica kept asking me if we were going to be late.  I told her, "No, the doctors office is less than a mile a way and we have plenty of time."

We got to the doctors office, and were soon in the exam room.  While we were waiting for the doctor Veronica started asking me about what if she got coal for Christmas.  She was genuinely concerned about it.  I was like, "Veronica, I don't know a single kid that has ever got coal for Christmas."  But she was still worried that it could happen to her. 

Veronica's appointment was for a follow up on the ADHD evaluations that me and her school teacher had filled out. The doctor came in and went over the results.  He said something like, "She doesn't score high for possible ADHD. But she does score high for Anxiety. There's another assessment I'd like to do while you are here."

So we did that assessment and the whole time I was like, "Yes she does that. Yes she worries about that. Yes that's a concern."

Then Veronica answered similar questions.  

And at the end Veronica had a Generalized Anxiety Diagnosis.  

I was simultaneously thinking, "What?" and "Oh that makes SOOOO much sense."

Actually I'm kind of surprised that this is our first GAD diagnosis because I can think of several other people in our house (me included) that could probably meet the requirements. 

Anyway, looking back over the school year I can totally see that Veronica has been dealing with heightened anxiety levels. She was so scared on the first day of school. She's always concerned about fire drills. The day of one of the lock down drills Veronica was so scared to even go into school, I had to find the school counselor and have her help Veronica. (She gave her a stuffed animal to squeeze.) Veronica literally had a panic attack the week before about something she thought was poisonous on her shoe. 

At home Veronica is always worried about far off future things like how she's going to find an apartment when she's a grown up.  

So yeah looking back this has definitely been a thing. And it explains her learning problems. The doctor put it best when he said, "you can't learn if you are constantly worrying about things."

So what are we doing about it?

Good question. I'm meeting with the school after the break to talk about some things we can do. They've already brought up the words 504 plan and I'm SUPER happy about that. I also really need to pull out a resource my boss gave me to help with Derrick's emotions. (It helps to work with therapists.) I think it will help Veronica too. 

After the appointment I took Veronica to Mcdonalds for a cinnamon roll because apparently that's a thing we do now. 

Then I went home and took care of some PTO accounting stuff. I was hoping to get to do some accounting for the RV business, but I ran out of time. 

I went to work and covered the front desk for a few hours and then went home.

When I got home I walked into the house and saw that Brandon, Derrick, and Veronica had figured out how to get the pellet stove in our living room working.  This thing has been a mystery for the 3 years we've lived here. Brandon has looked at it a few times but could never quite figure it out. We'll I guess 4th winter is the charm. He noticed (or maybe Veronica noticed) a plug for the first time. They plugged the stove in and Voila! It worked!

In other things that took 3 years to figure out, I'd finally figured out how to organize this little cubby space. I ordered a paper organizer and put all of our paper on that.  I also bought a card organizer for all the birthday and Christmas cards I have. 

Oh and look at this!  Here's the butterbraid after it was done rising and baked. Brandon put icing on it right after this picture and then we ate it.  It was good, but I kind of felt like I could do the same thing with Rhodes dough. 

Now we are onto Wednesday. On Wednesday November 16, 2016 Brandon sighed out of Fort Rucker at midnight and we drove away from Alabama starting at 1:00 am. We spent 16 hours driving and ended the day in Missouri. Here's the post about that day.   

Wednesday November 16, 2022 was not as momentous.  But car things happened so that's kind of the same. Brandon took the van to work and I took the Pilot.  The Pilot needed an oil change and Brandon just hadn't had time to do it.  So after work I took it to Jiffy Lube.  

While I was there the technician said there was a leak in something or other and recommended where I could take it.  I was like "okay, I'll call them right when I get home."  

And then I remembered my foot. I'd called a podiatrist earlier in the week to FINALLY do something about my foot that's been hurting on and off since March.  But I'd called during the lunch hour so I just left a message.  And I was busy when they called me back and I'd never got around to calling again. 

So then I told myself, "Valerie, you CANNOT call that mechanic until you have an appointment with the podiatrist."  So when I got home I called the podiatrist and made an appt for sometime in early December. And then I called the mechanic and made an appt for December 1st. 

So even though the Pilot is getting looked at before my foot I did make the foot appointment first.  

That afternoon I finally got around to doing accounting stuff for the RV business.  It's funny because when I went back to school for my accounting degree I was like, "I don't know why, but I feel like I need to get this."  I had no idea that I'd need it for my own business.

That night I was driving the van again. I had to take Charlotte and Lydia to Young Womens. It was at a leaders house who lives just one subdivision over from us. An hour later I went to pick them up again. I parked the car and went into the house. And then I came out with the girls, started the car, and drove the short distance home. 

I know that sounds trivial, but it's actually kind of important for the next day. 

Thursday was a busy day. Both in 2016 and in 2022. In 2016 it was the day we visited places where Laura Ingalls Wilder lived as an adult and as a small child.  Here's the post about that day. 

In 2022 it was a busy day thanks to the PTO. Kaymie gave me one of her quick rides home from the elementary school. She asked me, "what do you have today?"  I was like, "Well first I have a district PTO meeting at 9:30 and then at 11:00 I'm selling apparel at the PTO table during the Thanksgiving Lunch at the school."

She was like, "good luck with all that!"

I got out of her car and noticed that my van was completely iced over. I figured I'd turn it on and get it warming up for a few minutes before I drove Charlotte and Lydia to the middle school. Then I'd go to work for a little bit before heading over to the district offices for the meeting. 

The plan all came crashing down when the van didn't start. 

It's had trouble starting for a while, but usually on the third try the engine turns over and we are good to go.  But this time it wouldn't crank. After a few tries I think the battery got flooded and it wouldn't start. At least I think that's what was happening. The Pilot has been so reliable that I don't know the jargon for problems with starting cars. 

I gave the battery some time to do whatever it does to un-flood and went inside to do my make up.  I was hoping that I could get it started, but I didn't want to cut things close with getting the girls to school. I texted Kaymie to see if she could take the girls along with her son. She said yes.  And then because she is one of the best people ever she said, "If it doesn't start you can take one of my cars to your meeting."  

I went to try to start the car and it made noises like it was trying.  But then the car started clicking.  Charlotte was with me.  She was like, "what's that noise?"  I told her, "Oh that means the battery is completely dead." Once again, the Pilot has been so reliable that Charlotte has no memory of ever hearing the sound of a dead battery before. I chalked this up to an important life lesson. 

I was pretty certain what had happened. I'd started the car three times the night before and had only driven a short distance each time.  There hadn't been time for the battery to recharge.  Add in a sub-zero night and the fact that the battery wasn't super reliable to begin with and it was a perfect recipe for a dead battery. 

Kaymie came to pick up the girls and get them to school.  I stayed home and was able to work from home.  Then at 9:15 I walked over to Kaymie's and borrowed her car.  I can't say enough about how awesome Kaymie is.  She's not the type to do PTO stuff, but she is the type of supportive friend that helps me do my PTO stuff. I kept telling her, "You saved the day."

I was able to make it to the district PTO meeting and participate in discussions about the upcoming school levi and the proposed calendar for the next school year. I was also able to report on the good things happening at our Elementary school. 

I had to duck out of the meeting early and zip over to the Elementary School.  This was the day of the Thanksgiving Lunch.  This was one of my favorite days in 2019 and I was happy it was back after a hiatus during COVID. Since so many parents would be in the building I wanted to have some apparel on sale during the lunch.  

Lindsay, one of the co-presidents, took care of setting up the table so it was all ready when I got there. (The original plan was for Lindsay to go to the meeting and for me to set up the table. But she has 3 year old twins so it made more sense for me to go to the meeting while she set up the table.) I'd texted sooooo many people hoping to find 2 or 3 other people who could help sell things.  I wanted enough people that we could stagger times so we could eat with our kids.  I heard back from a lot of people that their kids were sick and so they couldn't make it to the lunch. But I did have Lindsay and a lady named Melissa helping.  We were able to stagger and eat with our kids. 

Here's the table with the merch. We ended up selling quite a few hats and almost all the shirts. 

Veronica's class went to lunch and I jumped in line with her.  She showed me how to get the silverware, a napkin, and a plate. Then we went through the lunch lady line and got food like stuffing, green beans, a roll, and turkey chunks on top of mashed potatoes. The school Principal was service pieces of a spice cake.  I told her, "I LOVE this day! I'm so happy it's back."

Veronica and I ate together. I liked all the food.  I was happy to be there with Veronica, but I was a little sad when I thought about the last time we'd done this.  She'd been in Kindergarten in 2019. We'd both come to eat with the other three kids.  Somehow their lunches all overlapped well enough that we all ate together.  It had been so much fun for the 5 of us to share a meal at their school. 

Actually the memory from 2019 showed up in my Facebook feed today.  Here it is:

Sometimes I wonder if I should take a break from doing so much for the PTO.  But then I remember how short these elementary school years are - especially for someone like me who has kids close in age. Charlotte and Lydia are already in Middle School. This is Derrick's last year of elementary. Then there will just be two more years of Veronica at the elementary school.  And then it's over forever. I want to do PTO while I can.  

My phone was running the square payments app so I left it with the table when I went into the lunch room to eat with Veronica. We took a selfie together when we were done eating. 

Lindsay took this picture of us. 

A little bit later it was Derrick's turn to eat.  Since I'd already eaten with Veronica I just went into the lunch room after Derrick had his food. I knew he was in there but I couldn't see him at all. Finally one of the para's pointed him out to me.  He'd been like 10 feet in front of me the whole time. 

Here's our after lunch picture. 

Lunch wound down and the last of the parents left the building.  We cleaned up the table and put everything away.  Then I drove Kaymie's car back to her house. 

I went home and grabbed my stuff for work. It was about 1:30 by this point and I considered waiting for Brandon to get home and 2:00 and then driving to work.  But I had a ton of energy and I didn't want to wait around the house.  So I started walking to work.  Usually when I walk somewhere I listen to a podcast.  But after a crazy morning of talking and talking and listening, and talking some more I realized it was nice to just listen to my footsteps. 

I got to work and was so happy to be in my tiny, quiet office. I calmed down from all the excitement from the day and then came way down. I got more and more tired as I worked. When I was done I considered clocking out and then taking a nap on the couch in my office. Instead I texted Brandon and asked him to pick me up. He did and we took the PTO money to the bank.  

I was super quiet in the car.  I told Brandon, "I'm all talked out." I do a good job of pretending to be an extrovert. But I'm very much an introvert. (My mom says I'm a loud introvert and my sister Lindsey is a quiet extrovert.) This was one of those times that my introvert battery got completely depleted.  When we got home I disappeared into my room and read a book for a long time. 

Brandon took care of charging up the battery in the van again.  He looked at it and said, "That battery is from 2017. It's probably bad."  I made a mental note to get the battery replaced soon. 

Alright we've made it to Friday.  In 2016 this was the day we did a lot of sightseeing in Kansas. Oddly enough the Pilot battery needed a jump on this day. I think that might have been the last time the Pilot had a dead battery. You can read all about it here.  In 2022 this was the last school day before the Thanksgiving break. AND it was one of those rare calendar days with NOTHING on it. 

Nothing on the calendar didn't mean I had nothing to do though.  I still had work in the morning.  I got a lot done so I wouldn't have to do as much during the break.  

When I was done with work I went grocery shopping. We are planning a really low key Thanksgiving this year, but as I went shopping I was like, "Oh wait, I do want stuffing." Or "We'll maybe we'll have a few yams."  So I bought a bit more Thanksgiving types of foods than I'd been planning to. 

I got home from the store and as always happens I was just so sick of all that food. Don't get me wrong.  I'm super grateful to have it all, but after picking it out in the store, carting it around the store, putting it on the conveyer belt, bagging it, putting it back into the cart, pushing the cart to the car, putting it all into the car, driving it home, and then bringing it into the house I'm ready to be done with it.  So I put away the perishable stuff and left the rest of it out for Brandon to take care of. 

Derrick and Veronica came home from school and a little while later Charlotte and Lydia came home.  We were all SUPER happy to be done with school for the next 10 days. 

We were also all super excited for dinner that night. We were going to have an "End of Season Dinner" to celebrate a successful first season for the RV Winterization business. The business has officially existed since July, but things really took off during the last few weeks of October/first few weeks of November. I figured we needed to celebrate that and include the kids.  

We wanted to go somewhere the kids have never been, but we still wanted to stay with fast food because well because that's just the phase of life we are in. So we picked Carl's Jr. We ordered our food and while we waited for it I read off our total revenue and our total expenses for the last 5 months. Then I explained that if you subtract expenses from revenue you get profit.  

The food arrived and we all had a good time eating. This was a very happy meal. Everyone was in really good moods.  I was feeling super present. Usually I'm thinking of what I need to do next, but there really was no next. Just now. I kept rubbing my cheeks and noticed how soft they were. I never notice stuff like that. It was a good feeling. 

Every one liked the fries and the root beer. (Of course) Charlotte and Lydia didn't really like the burgers, but Derrick loved them.  He ate his and then half of Charlotte's. Here he is showing how much he liked it. 

Things got a little crazy toward the end. Veronica mixed sprite and rootbeer. Brandon tasted it and said it tasted like a hospital. We all laughed really loud.  Derrick and Veronica wanted to thumb wrestle with me. Since this was Carl's Jr all this was all just fine. 

I'm hoping the business continues to do well and we can continue to do End of Season dinners every spring and fall. This was the start to a great tradition. 

We went home and watched X-Men First Class. The kids were a little thrown off by the whole new cast of younger versions of the characters they knew well. But they got used to it and enjoyed the movie. 

Then Brandon and I stayed up and watched The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent with Nicholas Cage playing a washed up version of himself. It was HILARIOUS, but if swear words bother you, you should definitely watch this one filtered. 

Here's the trailer because it's just so fun. 

Here we are on Saturday November 19th. In 2016 This was the day we drove into Colorado and the kids all experienced snow for the first time in a while.  Read the post here.  In 2022 it was the third Saturday in row where we had NOTHING to do. No plays, no trips, nothing.  Just getting the house cleaned up and then relaxing. 

We'd sucessfully kept the house pretty clean all week so it didn't take long to get the house done.  I cleaned my bathroom for a third week in a row which is probably some sort of record for me.  

Brandon took the kids outside and put them to work picking up dog poop and raking leaves. I took this picture through my bedroom window, but I joined them later. 

I was finishing a little project in the house.  I organized the linen closet. The biggest thing I did was put all the sheets and pillowcases into the closet organizer divider things.  I'd bought these for Charlotte and Lydia's pants, but they didn't like them so I put them to use here.  I can't believe how much they helped.  I still need to do something with the blankets on the top shelf, but that's a project for another day. 

After everything was clean I took Charlotte shopping.  She has an orchestra concert coming up so we needed to buy some clothes for that. We were going to take the van, but it wouldn't start for me again. So we took the Pilot. 

After Charlotte and I got back I told Brandon, "I need a new battery by the end of the day."  

He joked, "Well let me teach you how to charge it. You charge it by taking the dead one to Autozone and buying a new one."

So we went to Autozone and bought a new battery.  Here's Brandon putting it in. Brandon is the best

That night we watched X-Men Days of Future Past. All our X-Men viewing has lead to this.  The kids were super excited because this was the one with Quicksiver.  They've seen the scene with him and laughed at it every time.  This time when it came on in the movie Lydia was like, "Oh now I know who all these other guys are!"

I was excited because this movie is my favorite out of the whole series.  It fixes the mistakes of The Last Stand. I literally cried in the movie theatre when I saw this movie. 

The kids didn't quite appreciate it for the cinematic masterpiece that it was.  I think part of the problem is that they watched all 5 movies in the span of a month.  They didn't have time to wonder and anticipate between movies. Later I told Brandon, "The X-men franchise was an important part of who I was in my childhood, in my teens, and in my 20s. The kids have no idea what that's like yet."

Well that gets us caught up now.  I'll include Sunday in my post about Thanksgiving. 

So thanks for reading and have a Happy Thanksgiving. 

Getting back on track

I can't tell you how much I was looking forward to November.  October had been A LOT. Brandon's play had 9 performances. I took the kids to Utah.  The kids and I had COVID. We threw the first annual dance party for Charlotte and Lydia's birthday.  We celebrated a major holiday AND a birthday. 

So I was very much looking forward to November. By comparison we have NOTHING planned for November. 

I kind of thought everything would be amazingly better on November 1st.  And it kind of was, but there were still lingering things from October that made their way into November and kind of messed things up for a while.  But we'll get there. 

November actually started out pretty great.  I was able to get all the kids to school by 9 on November 1st and then I went home and cleaned all morning.  At first I was kind of randomly putting things away. I got all the Halloween stuff out of the living room. Then I decided I'd focus on the basement. I remembered that I've wanted to watch the "Sins of our Mother" documentary on Netflix. It's about Lori Vallow. So I turned that on and watched/listened to it while I got the family room put back together. 

It was a lot of work. I had to move furniture, and clean up decorations.  When I had the family room back to normal I started working on the huge pile of laundry that had accumulated on the laundry table.  There were rags, blankets,  and sheets to fold. And so many socks to match. It was a huge project. 

The documentary was a good distraction. I followed this story in real time and watched the Dateline special that came out a few years ago.  But I liked how the documentary brought everything together and showed the timeline.  It's nuts!  

At 12:00 I went to work and got a lot done there. I was starting to feel more caught up. But there's so much to my job these days that I'm not sure I will ever feel completely caught up. For example, this was the first of the month.  So on top of my daily stuff I also had to create statements for any client who was past due and mail the statements to the clients.  

The kids came home and I found myself feeling really annoyed by them.  It seemed like the family room was immediately trashed again. They just seemed super loud and super ungrateful.  I'm sure they were acting fine, but from my perspective they were just annoying.  I found myself snapping at every little thing they did. 

I didn't sleep well that night. But on Wednesday I still got up and took care of all the things. 

Everyone went to school on time. At the beginning of the school year I had Charlotte and Lydia walk to school on their own.  But lately I've realized that it works really well to drive them to school and then go right to work. So that's our routine right now. 

I dropped them off and then got a lot of stuff done at work. I went home and had lunch.  Then I drove over to the CSI campus for Poll Worker Training. 

I volunteered as a Registrar back in the 2020 election and always planned to do it again. But it's a big time commitment.  I didn't want to do it for the "small" election in 2021 (plus I was in school that year.)  This year I felt I had enough free time and it was worth taking off work. So I signed up to be a registrar again. 

This training was different than the one I went to in 2020. That training had been held in the Fine Arts Building Auditorium and everyone spread out. This time we were in the large gathering room at the Science Museum. They had tables set up and we sat with the other registrars from our Precinct. I was at a table with a lady named Vonnie.  (She's the second Vonnie I've ever met.)

The training covered how to use the laptops to look up names of registered voters and addresses so we could make sure they were in the right precinct. We also learned the rules about what people had to bring with them to register to vote. 

It's a little complicated at first, but it makes sense the more you do it. 

I was one of the youngest people there.  There were two college aged guys who were younger than me. And there was another lady that was probably around my age.  But most of the people were in their 60s or older. 

It was a reminder of what a unique situation I have.  I'm very lucky to have a flexible part time job. - I didn't even have to ask my boss for the time off to work as a registrar. I just sent him an email saying, "I'm working as a registrar again this year. I wont be here on November 8th."  And he wrote back. "Okay."  That's pretty great, and unique and I'm grateful for it all the time. 

Also Brandon's schedule allows him to be home with the kids while I'm gone. Normally he goes to work at 6:00, but he was able to take off two hours of work that morning to help get all the kids to school.  And he's done with work at 2:00 so he was home in plenty of time to be home with the kids that afternoon. Plus he has no problem with making dinner and putting the kids to bed. 

Not a lot of women my age have the ability to completely check out from their work and home responsibilities for a day. So that's how I ended up being one of the youngest poll workers. 

The meeting ended at 4:00, but I still had to drive to the county offices to pick up the supplies. I'd kind of assumed that Vonnie would take care of that.  (She's done this for years.) But she had an appointment.  So I said I'd do it.  But I had an appt of my own so I knew this would be cutting it close. 

I drove over to "County West."  This is where the county offices like treasurer, assessor, and clerk are.  It used to be a hospital. So there's a circular driveway that leads to the main entrance. The elections office people had all the supplies waiting our there.  I just had to pull up and tell them I was from Precincts 7 and 9 and they gave me all the stuff that was labled 7 and 9. It was pretty efficient. 

But I was still running a little late. Veronica had to be at physical therapy at 4:30 and I picked the stuff up at 4:15.  I rushed home, but got stuck at a light on my way there.  I called the PT office and told them we were running later.  I made it home, told Veronica to put on her shoes, and then we drove to PT.  We made it there at 4:40.  

Then I got to just sit and relax while she did all her exercises. It was good to just sit.  

When I got home I found that I was still super annoyed at everyone. It just felt like no one knew how to act like decent humans. Like someone would just let their coat fall on the floor and then someone else would come step on it!  Everything was on my nerves. 

I didn't sleep well that night either. My brain was full of intrusive thoughts. I felt like I was a terrible mom and that my kids were just falling apart. Life just felt really overwhelming and hard. 

In the morning I got everyone off to school again. I was planning to go grocery shopping after dropping Charlotte and Lydia off at school.  But I realized there wasn't anything that I NEEDED to buy that morning.  So I decided it was a better use of my time to go back to sleep. 

I slept until 10:30. That was really nice. I felt a little better when I woke up, but I was still feeling like things needed to change with my kids.  They were just so annoying lately.  One of the biggest annoyances was how much TV they were watching. I've never really been concerned about screen time.  But lately the kids were acting pretty entitled about their TV time. The house was a mess, I was completely stressed, but they all were watching TV like it was their God given right. 

We already had a rule that they couldn't watch tv until 4:30 on school days. They were good about waiting until 4:30, but then it seemed they'd be watching the rest of the day until bedtime at 8:00.  At 8:00 Charlotte and Lydia would be like, "Oh I forgot I have homework."  and then they'd stay up another hour doing homework. I didn't like this. 

I started to think of alternative ways of doing things.  

I went to work in the afternoon. Recently I've figured out a good work schedule. I work in the mornings on Monday, Wednesday, Friday.  And I work in the afternoon on Tuesday, Thursday. It's nice to finally have that figured out. 

After school I took Charlotte and Lydia to the orthodontist to have rubber band type spacers put next to some of their teeth.  This was to make room for the bands that would go on the next week when they got their devises put on. 

As we drove home I checked their reaction to a new idea I had about TV watching.  I told them that I wanted to change things so they could only watch TV after dinner. I wanted to give them time to relax AND do their homework before watching TV.  

They were actually pretty cool with this idea. 

That night Brandon and I went on a walk like we normally do. I started out complaining about EVERYTHING that was bothering me. Then we talked through it all. The biggest thing we came up with was to tie TV watching to keeping the house clean.  The kids would have to help do the dinner dishes and clean the living room before they could watch TV after dinner. 

This would be a huge shift in how we do things.  But it felt like a necessary shift. 

We decided to tell the kids about the new plan on Saturday.  We'd all clean the house really well on Saturday and then explain that they had to help keep it clean if they wanted to watch TV throughout the week. 

Even though nothing had physically changed yet, it was so nice to have an actual plan. I felt so much more relaxed. That night I went to sleep around 10:00 and didn't wake up until Brandon's alarm went off at 5:00.  I was so disoriented. I hadn't slept that well in at least a week.   

Friday was our last dark morning of the year.  Daylight Saving Time would end that Sunday and we'd have our light mornings back.  I took this picture to remember how dark the mornings had been.  This is at about 7:50 when I took Veronica and Derrick to school. For some reason Veronica laid on the grass for this picture.  I think she was trying to show how much she wanted to be asleep at that moment. 

For comparison's sake I took a picture at 8:50 when I was at work. I was looking forward to the sky being this light at 7:50 the next week. 

I worked that morning. My friend Kaymie had more stuff that she'd dejunked from her house. She wanted me to come over and see if I wanted any of it. I told her I'd be there at 12:00. At 11:55 I looked at my clock and was SHOCKED that I was still at work.  Most Fridays I usually spend about an hour at work.  But here I was at 3.5 hours and STILL has stuff to do.  

I finally got over to Kaymie's house around 1:00. We had a long talk.  Kaymie has been such a good friend ever since I moved in.  She lives around the corner from me.  Her house is closer to the elementary school than mine, but she always drives her kids. She's usually driving back from the school while I'm walking back.  She will always offer me a ride and I always accept it. She drives me home and we have a 2 minute catch up. Usually its the two of us just saying things like, "I'm so busy this week."  It's our little time to commiserate. So it was really nice to have basically UNLIMITED time to talk on a Friday afternoon. 

Then I went home and took care of accounting stuff for Brandon's business. Business had been booming!  He'd had at least one customer every day that week.  Most days he'd had two. We've had cash, check, and venmo payments flying every which way. It's been super exciting.

I was convinced to start this business when I found out how much the Twins' braces would cost. The business isn't paying for the braces per se, but it's covering other areas of our budget so we can afford the braces.  Well the business, in its 4.5 months of existence, has brought in enough money to pay for a quarter of the total cost of the braces. Of course some of that money is staying in the business, but it's still encouraging. 

The kids came home from school. We were all just pooped from the week.  We had a quick dinner and then went downstairs to watch a movie. I'd checked The Music Man out from the library.  That's the next musical that Magic Valley Rep is going to do so we wanted to watch it.  That musical is LONG but overall the kids liked it. Charlotte and Lydia were both saying that they want to try out for the play with Brandon. 

And look at this.  I had this play poster up on the bulletin board in my office. When the play ended I took it home.  Derrick put it up in his room. He's always telling me, "Mom, I love Guys and Dolls."

Saturday was a cold and rainy day outside.  Which means it was a perfect day to focus on the inside of our house. We cleaned and cleaned and cleaned.  

We vacuumed and swept the whole house.  The kids cleaned their rooms really well.  We did all the laundry. We got the bathrooms clean. 

I was able to spend a long time on my bathroom. My bathroom has been a bit of a disaster for weeks.  I've wanted to clean it, but it's been at the point where I knew that there were organization problems contributing to the problem.  So I needed time to get organized. 

I took everything off the shelves and the counter.  (There was so much stuff on the counter.)  I took everything out of the little cupboards behind the mirror.  Then I figured out how to put it all back in an organized way.  Kaymie had given me some little storage baskets and I realized that they would be perfect for keeping things organized on the shelves.  I ended up grouping all the tooth care things into one basket, all the hair care things in another, and all the lotions into another. I used bigger plastic storage bins to hold my blow dryer and straightener.  Another bin held a collection of random things. When I was done this all looked so much better. 

I also went through the cupboards behind the mirror and threw away any bottles of old medicine.  I was able to get those cupboards so much more organized. Then I went through the storage under the sink and got that under control.  

By the time I was done I had a whole garbage bag full of trash. 

After all that I was finally able to actually clean the bathroom. Whew. 

I also cleaned up my bedroom.  I had piles of stuff by my bed that had just accumulated because I didn't have better places to put them.  I went through those piles and got things put away. 

The week earlier I'd found this book case at DI, but I hadn't been able to do anything with it yet. I moved books up from the basement to put them on the book case.  That freed up room on the basement shelves for the books that had been accumulating in my bedroom. 

I'd found this shelf thing by a trash can on garbage day.  I'd brought it home, but Brandon didn't have time to mount it until Saturday.  He put it by our back door. I don't really know what I want to put on the shelf long term, but having a spot for Marcia's leashes is a GAME CHANGER.  We used to keep them on the same hooks as the kids coats, but they always seemed to get lost or misplaced.  This is such a good improvement. 

After the house was clean everything felt so much better. Brandon and I explained the new clean up before watching TV rule to the kids.  They were all like, "Okay."  I'd been worried about how Derrick would react, but honestly I think that kid reached total Youtube Saturation while we were sick from Covid.  I think he was looking for something different, but didn't know how. 

The rest of Saturday was spent just relaxing.  I had plans to go to the bank, drop stuff off at DI, and finally go to the store. But none of that happened. 

Instead I watched Jurassic Park with the kids and fell asleep as soon as the T-Rx started attacking.  Then we watched some episodes of the 90's animated X-Men TV show.  We've been working our way though the X-Men movies. Our next one was going to be The Last Stand. They tried to do the Dark Phoenix story line in that movie, but botched it.  I wanted the kids to see the animated version of the Dark Phoenix Saga so they could see how it was supposed to play out. 

The cartoon was kind of a jarring experience for the kids.  They were like, "Why is Wolverine wearing yellow?  Why can Rogue fly?  Why does Professor X have a huge hover wheelchair?" And the big one,  "Why are their aliens in this story line?"  But overall I think it was worth it.   

That night after dinner we decided to watch The Last Stand.  I hadn't seen that movie since it came out and I was so disappointed by it. This time I had zero expectations for it and it was actually an okay movie.  But still such a wasted opportunity.  

The kids liked it, but they also agreed with me that some things shouldn't have happened the way they did. 

When it was over we watched the Pitch Meeting for The Last Stand.  We all thought it was really funny. 

Sunday was a relaxing day. We love our long Sunday mornings. 

At church our Bishopric was reorganized. We haven't lived in a ward where the Bishopbric was reorganized in over a decade. In Alabama a whole new ward was created so that was kind of the same thing. But our kids have  no memory of that.  They all very interested in who would be the new bishop.  I was telling them stories about how me and my siblings were going CRAZY when we found out my dad was going to be the bishop.  He became the bishop when I was 11.  He was 36.  It's interesting to realize that I'm now older than my dad was when he became the bishop. 

After sacrament meeting the Primary kids stayed in the chapel for their Primary Program practice. Derrick and Veronica have opted out of being in the program again this year.  But they didn't have anywhere else to go during this rehearsal so they were a little disoriented. I stayed in the chapel with them and we sat in the back. 

The chorister had brought a balloon on a long string. She put us in charge of the balloon.  When the kids sang loud we were supposed to let the balloon rise up.  Derrick and Veronica had fun taking turns with the balloon. It hit the ceiling many times. 

When it was all over the chorister let Derrick keep the balloon. He was so happy. 

He loved the balloon so much. At home he told me that he'd named it Illguth. He'd talk to the balloon and then talk in a deeper voice like it was "Illguth" talking. It was adorable. 

Here's how bright the morning was on Monday. Veronica laid on the grass again for continuity. 

Lydia always lays on my lap during church and I like to braid her hair.  I talked her into letting me do it for school.  It looks so fun. 

Monday was an absolutely crazy day.  Here's what my calendar looks like. 

I dropped everyone off at school and then went to work for 45 minutes.  Then I picked up Charlotte and Lydia from school and took them to get shots at the doctors office. These were the delayed Flu and Covid shots. I'd been so anxious to get these done that I'd just scheduled the first available appt and didn't care that they'd have to miss school. 

The doctors office is pretty close to the school so I figured I could have them back within 20 minutes, but I hadn't factored in time for tears. Both girls cried when they got their shots and they had puffy eyes when we left the doctor.  Also Lydia said she'd been so nervous about shots that she hadn't eaten breakfast. 

So we drove to McDonalds and I bought them cinnamon rolls.  Then we went to the bank so I could drop off the wad of money I'd meant to drop off on Saturday.  And then we finally made it back to the school.  They'd missed all of second period. 

I went back to work and got a lot done.  Then I went home and worked on PTO accounting stuff.  I got everything to balance.  I LOVE doing that. 

Derrick and Veronica came home from school and we went to the doctors office for their shots. The office has a bunch of different suites. Derrick goes to speech and occupational therapy in Suite D. Their pediatrician is in Suite A. Derrick got his flu shot in Suite F last year.  This year we were going to Suite B.  That's where I'd taken Charlotte and Lydia and they'd had a nurse from Suite B do their shots.  But since Derrick and Veronica are under 12 they called over to Suite A to have one of the pediatric nurses do the shots.  And the nurse was none other than Mrs Teresa. 

Mrs Teresa LOVES Derrick. It started a few years ago when she gave him his flu shot and he said thank you and gave her a hug.  She always asks about him when I bring in the other kids. Part of me wonders if she'd requested to do these shots just so she could see Derrick. 

Derrick went first.  He was so brave. His arm swelled after his flu shot 3 years ago so now we always do that shot in his leg. He pulled down his pants and hopped right onto the table.  He got both shots with no problem. 

Veronica was scared. But she did great. She's been so worried about these shots for weeks, I think she was a little surprised at how quick and relatively painless the actual shots were. 

We went back home and Charlotte and Lydia had just got there. I took the twins to the Orthodontist because some of their spacers had popped out over the weekend.  They got them put right back in. 

Days like today are why I pick doctors, dentists, and orthodontists based on how close they are to my house. 

We had one last thing on the schedule for the day. The school was having a fundraiser night at Pizza Pie Cafe. I was so happy that I didn't have to cook dinner.  So we drove over there.  The kids wanted to eat in this little booth.  I sat at a table outside of it. 

At first I was eating by myself because Brandon was finishing up with an RV.  He joined us later. The night was fun, and the pizza was good.  But I was exhausted. 

I was talking to another teacher who I know through PTO.  But our conversation was a little bit off.  I couldn't figure out why until I was driving home.  I realized she thought I was one of the 5th grade teachers.  Derrick's teacher and I are doppelgangers.  If you sat us down by each other you could tell the differences between us, but we still look pretty similar. When I'm in the school I'm always getting mistaken for this teacher.  It's been happening for 3 years. The teacher that I'd been talking to is new to the school and teaches kindergarten.  So she probably has only had passing conversations with the 5th grade teacher. When she saw me she knew I looked familiar. She didn't realize I was from the PTO and that's why I looked familiar. She thought I was the 5th grade teacher. 

Anyway, when I got home I sent her a message basically saying. "Hey this is Valerie from PTO.  I liked our conversation, but I think you thought I was that other teacher.  I didn't want to make it awkward for you if you tried to have a follow up conversation with her tomorrow." She sent me back and text and we had a good laugh over it. We both agreed that we were just so tired we shouldn't have been trying to have conversations with ANYONE. 

When we got home I had to pack my backpack for the next day.  Tuesday was going to be the opposite of Monday.  Monday I'd had muliple errands all over town. Tuesday I was just going to stay in one spot ALL DAY LONG. It sounded amazing, but I knew I needed to bring some things to keep me occupied. 

So I packed my backpack with my laptop, a book, lots of snacks, and a project in case things got really slow. 

On Tuesday I woke up at 6 and took a shower and ate breakfast.  At 6:40 I left to drive to the polling place. It had snowed overnight, but it only stuck on the grass. The roads were clear. 

I was assigned to Valley Christian Church which is my actual polling place.  I'm glad I was assigned there.  When I got there the Chief Judge was standing at the main doors.  She was like, "Why are these locked?"  I told her, "Well when I vote here it's always over here through these doors."  I went over to that part of the building and those doors were open.  We were able to start bringing in all our things. 

I had the registrar laptop, a big bag of maps and signs, the Express Vote machine for disabled voters, and a table to put the Express Vote onto. The Chief Judge had all the polling booth tables and dividers, and the I-pads that they poll workers use. Someone from the county came and dropped off the printers for the ballots. 

Other workers showed up to help get things organized.  Vonnie was there and so was a third registrar named Sherri.  Vonnie wasn't sure if we needed three registrars.  But when she called the county about it they said they were trying to train a new group of registrars and to keep her there.  

We got things set up and the signs out. I took a selfie with the signs on the doors. 

But since that one was backwards I took another one. 

We had people lining up to vote around 7:45.  The first person in line was my neighbor Joshua.  He's married to Chicken Liz. At 8:00 people could start voting.  The line was almost out the door when the poll opened.  And it stayed long for a while.  I saw a lot of people I knew. 

Idaho allows same day voter registration and so that's what I was there to help with.  People would come to our table to register to vote. We'd check ID and verify their addresses.  We'd help them fill out their voter registration cards. 

We also functioned at the greeters.  People would come in the doors and I'd say something like, "If you are registered you can go down to that table down there."

I'd requested a mail in ballot before I found out I was assigned to my own precinct. So I didn't worry about the mail in ballot and just voted while I was there.  I think this was my first time voting with the printed ballots.  I gave my ID to the worker who scanned my ID.  That pulled up my voter registration on her I-Pad.  She had me verify everything and then she was able to print my ballot.  I took that to the booth and voted.  Then I took it to the drop box.  A lady asked my name and when I put my ballot in she announced, "Valerie Illguth has voted."  She did that for every single voter that day. I guess that was a recent addition to the Idaho Election Code. 

Things slowed down a bit around 9:30. The line disappeared, but there was still a steady stream of voters. It seemed like every time someone left another person would walk in the door. 

I was able to see a lot of my friends and neighbors.  My favorite was when Java/PTO Liz walked in.  I haven't seen her in AGES.  Her son goes to another school now and I can't make it to Bible Study anymore. Plus we are both so busy. It was great to catch up with her for a bit. 

When things were slow I was able to read a little bit. I was in the middle of a Biography of Robin Williams.  It was a really well written book. 

I'd brought my own snacks. Other poll workers brought food to share and put it into the kitchen. Texas Roadhouse came and dropped off a bunch of rolls.  So there was plenty of food. 

We had a big line form around around 10:30 that lasted until 11:30.  Oddly the 12:00 hour wasn't super busy. Then we had another rush around 1:00 that lasted until 2:00.

Brandon showed up around 3:30 to vote. I'd thought he'd bring the kids, but he was like, "We don't need that craziness here."

Things got really busy around 4:00 when the after work crowd started showing up. The line could have gone out the door, but it was such a cold day I didn't want people to have to wait outside.  So I got up and started directing people to line up against the wall. There was a hallway of sorts that extended off the room we were in so I started sending people down that hall.  

The Chief Judge saw what was happening so she directed the people to form three lines - one in front of each poll worker.  We had those three lines for hours.  

Us registrars were hard at work getting people registered.  The most fun ones were the first time voters.  We'd watch for them to finish voting.  When their names were announced at the ballot box we'd cheer for them. That was really fun. 

Around 7:40 things started dying down and we started cleaning up.  There were a few last minute stragglers, but not many.  At 8:01 the Chief Judge announced that the polls were closed. 

I went outside to get the "Vote Here" signs.  That morning they ground had been covered in snow.  Now it was all melted. 

All day long people had been tracking in leaves.  I found a vacuum and vacuumed the whole room.  Someone said, "We don't normally do that."  I said, "Yes, but I'm going to."  I didn't want the church janitor to have to come in and take care of all those leaves the next day. 

Our Registrar stuff was cleaned up pretty fast.  The poll workers had to stay and organize ballots, but I didn't have to help with that.  So I was free to go around 8:30.  I drove home and talked to Brandon about the day. 

Wednesday was all about catching up. I was at work a long time on Wednesday morning. 

After work I sat down with my laptop and put together the slide show for the Magic Valley Symphony that Friday. 

After school I spent a long time just talking to the kids. 

At 5:30 I took Veronica to Physical Therapy.  

It was good to be back in the swing of things. 

And guess what?  The cleaning before TV thing was actually working.  The living room and family room where still clean.  

Also the kids didn't seem to miss TV.  Derrick had discovered many of his toys.  He and Veronica had fun with Walkie Talkies, his toy trains, and looking at books. Charlotte and Lydia were doing their homework before dinner.  And the kids were helping with making dinner again. 

This new plan was going very well.  

On Thursday I dropped the girls off at school and then drove to Walmart.  I had a few things I needed to get there, but I also just felt like wandering the store.  It's been a long time since I felt like I had time for that. It was fun to just wander and pick up things we needed. 

Then I did grocery shopping at Winco. At home I put a way the perishable food, but I left a lot of the other stuff on the table.  I'm just so sick of all the food after picking it out at the store, putting it all on the conveyer belt, bagging it, putting it into the car, and then bringing it into the house. I just can't get it all put away.  Brandon took care of putting it away when he got home. 

I went to work for a while. I started feeling a little off at work and I wondered if I was getting sick. I was like, "I do NOT have time to get sick."

I ended up leaving work a little earlier than planned.  I was going to pick up Derrick at the school for speech therapy. I just went there and parked and took a nap for about 30 minutes.  I woke up feeling a lot better. 

I picked Derrick up and we went to Speech therapy.  While we were there his therapist called me back. She said that it was a goal evaluation day and Derrick had just passed all his goals.  She said, "And I can't think of anything else he needs to work on."  I tried to think of anything, but I realized that Derrick was communicating really well. I was like, "I can't think of anything else either!"  So we decided it was time for him to graduate from Speech Therapy.  This wasn't even on my radar so it was really cool that this was happening.  

She printed off a certificate and put up some props for Derrick to pose with. 

I kept thinking about when Derrick first started therapy and it seemed like he'd never say ANY words.  And here he was talking and interacting super well.  It was a good day. 

That evening I went to the church to help with a Friends Giving dinner we were doing for Relief Society.  It was such a beautiful evening. My friend Marilyn had set up two long tables in the Relief Society room.  She decorated them super pretty. There were branches with berries (she said she cut them off the trees outside the church), pine cones, and pears.  (She said, "I didn't buy the pears for this event, I've just been canning a bunch of pears.) 

We had soup and bread and then cookies for dessert.  

I was in charge of a little activity.  I recycled by favorite list of "deep get to know you questions" and passed them out.  We had the people in groups of four take turns reading their questions and then answering them.  Lots of people told me how fun it was to have conversations based on those questions. 

I stayed and helped clean up. I love these types of activities and I love this calling. 

Friday was another busy day. 

I had work in the morning and then I left to help with the Mustang Day Sale at the kids school. Mustang Day would end around 1:00 and I had to have Charlotte and Lydia to the Orthodontist at 1:30.  I'd been stressing about how I would get the deposit counted and deposited to the bank in time to pick up the girls.  I'd been considering taking the deposit to the bank during their appointment.  

My plan for getting the deposit done quick was to stay on top of the money.  Usually I show up at 12:00 and have a whole bunch of disorganized money to count. But this time I got there when it started at 11:00 and tried to keep things organized.  

About 10 minutes into counting money I was like, "Wait! It's Veteran's Day. The bank is closed today!"  So now I had a new problem.  What to do with the BRICK of money that I'd end up with.  I would be too big to fit into the night drop at the bank.  I could leave it in the school safe, but that meant I'd have to come back for it.  And I was NOT going to take that money home.  

The solution was actually pretty simple.  One of the co-presidents works for the bank we go through. She was there and I asked her if she could take it to her office.  She said she could.  So that solved that problem. 

I got all the money counted and we had over $800. $300 of that was in $1s. $90 of it was in quarters. 

I was actually running about 10 minutes ahead of schedule so I had plenty of time to pick up Charlotte and Lydia and take them to the orthodontist.  

Today was the big day when they had their devises installed. These devises replace headgear.  Everything goes on inside their mouths. 

That night after dinner we had the icecream that Brandon had promised the kids if they were good while we went to a grown up Halloween Party. We'd had so much Halloween candy floating around the house that icecream hadn't sounded good until now. 

Here I am with my bowl.  I had chocolate sauce covered with nuts and then caramel drizzled over the top. 

Here's Charlotte eating hers. 

And Veronica with her's. 

Then we went to CSI for the Veterans Day concert. This was the first time we've taken the kids to a concert.  Normally Brandon brought them to my dress rehearsals.  But this one was a salute to Veterans and Brandon is a Veteran so I felt like it would be a good concert to go to.   I thought the concert started at 7:00 so we were there at 6:45, but it really started at 7:30.  I'm glad we got there early though, we were able to get our favorite seats way in the back. 

Here we all are. 

Brandon asked me how much the tickets cost.  I told him, "A Slide show."  I get free tickets because I do the slideshow.  (And I get my name in the program.) Actually Brandon would have got in for free anyway because he is a Veteran. 

The concert was really good.  They played so many fun songs that kept the kids entertained. Derrick got a little antsy and I had to take him out before intermission.  But after intermission he did well. 

At the end they played the Armed Forces Salute and Brandon stood during the Army song.  I love how everyone stands during their branch of the Armed Forces.  

And I love the chorus of the Army Song. 

Then it's Hi! Hi! Hey!
The Army's on its way.
Count off the cadence loud and strong (TWO! THREE!)
For where e'er we go,
You will always know
That The Army Goes Rolling Along.

The Army has been rolling along without us for 6 years now.  And that's actually a pretty significant amount of years. If Brandon had made it through flight school he would have been bound to a 6 year contract. That means that this is the year he'd be looking at getting out of the Army or signing up for more. Its an interesting thought experiment to think over the last 6 years and imagine what things would be like if we'd stayed in the Army. 

The concert ended at 9:00 and Veronica was struggling.  She was so happy to get home and go to bed. 

I think we all were.  

On Saturday morning Brandon got up early to go hunting with his friend Corky.  Corky is in his 60s so their hunting is more like driving around looking for animals.  But they have a good time together. 

Derrick woke me up around 7:30.  I'd told him we'd go to Toy Town after the house was clean so he was HIGHLY motivated to get the house clean. I was trying to tell him that we'd start cleaning when more people were awake.  But he ended up saying, "I'll just start by myself!  I'm SUPER strong."

So before I was even out of bed he was vacuuming the living room.  (Which was easy to do because we'd kept it picked up all week.)  Then he took the vacuum downstairs and did the Family Room.  Then he started cleaning his room.  And finally he did his bathroom job which was "Sink and Counter."

I was kind of in shock. I was like, "Who are you?"

The other kids got up and I had them help clean up a bit. All three girls had a lot of work to do on their rooms so that's where most of their time was spent.  They also did their bathroom jobs. 

So then we went to Toy Town.  

My aunt Diane had sent birthday money for the twins. And since she hadn't sent anything for Derrick for his birthday she included some for him.  

Charlotte and Lydia also had money they'd earned from cat sitting for a neighbor. 

Lydia ended up picking out a huge stuffed Golden Retriever.  I was like, "Why"  But then I told myself, "Well it's cheaper than a real Golden Retriever.

Derrick got a disk drone. He got it all figured out and had had a blast flying it around. 

Veronica got a cool bouncy ball. (She only had a few dollars and was very sad that she couldn't buy any of the cooler big toys.  But the bouncy ball was a "Moon ball" and that was cool.

Charlotte didn't get anything at Toy Town. She'd found a lego set from Walmart that she wanted.  When we got home I ordered the set for her. 

The kids went downstairs to watch TV and I started making Raspberry Jam with the raspberries I'd been collecting and freezing the last few months. 

Here it is getting cooked down.

Here's one of the jars. 

Brandon came home when the jam was about to go into the canner. He'd expected a stressed out wife and family.  But instead we were all really content. He was like, "This was not what I expected."  

I got the Jam canned and set it on the counter.  All the jars sealed. 

Doesn't that look amazing!

I went to take a nap just because I could. Brandon went down stairs and asked the kids, "What did you do to Mom?"  They thought they were in trouble, but he was like, "This is the happiest I've seen Mom in a long time. Whatever you did, please do it again."  

That evening we went on a "date."  We went to Lowes to make copies of the house key for the kids and pick up mouse traps for the garage. Real romantic stuff. 

Then we went to Fred Meyers mostly just to window shop.  But we ended up seeing some hard to find Christmas treats so we bought those. 

When we got home Charlotte's walmart order had showed up. I didn't realize we'd get it same day delivered.  She was so excited.  Its a Lego Friends theatre.  She and Lydia have been playing with it all morning. 

Brandon and I put the kids to bed and then watched Everything Everywhere All at Once. That movie is like a combination of The Matrix, The Butterfly Effect, and Hitchhikers Guide to the Universe. It was super strange but also super well done.  

And look, we are all caught up again.  And not only that, I feel like we are all back on track again. 

Thanks for reading.