Wed. 1st--I was asked to substitute for special Ed at Ira for the first time. I wasn't sure what it was going to be. But when I arrived that morning, the principal, Mr. Jones, met me and got me signed in and walked me down to the classroom. I was covering for Mrs. Cox. She has two dyslexia classes (read: 1 student in each) and then the rest of the day is more or less content mastery...kids (K-12) will come to her room to get help with assignments or assistance reading tests or who just need a quiet place to work. I saw five kids total. I taught two and helped three. Didn't see students for a 2 1/2 hour stretch. She has an assistant across the hall to help with coverage if she's teaching dyslexia or if she gets too many students at once. This is her room when you first walk in. And as sub jobs go, this was a piece of cake. Granted, I only get paid $85 a day, but that's what I was making as a full time instructional assistant in College Station. I get paid $100 a day in Snyder. However, the demographics make it a little rougher. Some classes are much easier than others.
*We learned the house we bought appraised for $221,000--just $2,000 over asking price. The sellers are very fortunate they chose to lower the sale price. Just based on purchase price, we're coming in with $13,000 of equity. I'm grateful we didn't have to renegotiate anything. We were expecting to close on Tuesday, Sept. 7th, but with the Labor Day weekend coming up, it was delayed until Sept. 10th.
*While I was subbing for Mrs. Cox, the gal who is her assistant, Macy Garcia, came in. She was very pregnant and began having some contractions. She was letting me know she was leaving for the day. I told her I completely understood and wished her luck. When I left for the day, Keva, the front office secretary, said she may ask me to sub for Macy the next day. Haha!
Thurs. 2nd--And Keva did call me to cover for Macy the next day. My lunch was more or less aligned with JJ's so I spent that time sitting at his table with him and some of his classmates.
*Later that afternoon, while I was working with a student, Mr. Jones popped in and asked if he could speak with me out in the hall. He said it sounded like Macy was starting her maternity leave and asked if I would cover her six weeks maternity leave. We hadn't really closed on the house, let alone started any of the renovations, which was one of the reasons I turned down the full-time instructional assistant job he offered me in August. We were just too new to the area and I didn't know how much I would need to be available for the renovations and other family things. But Macy's job was really easy...just show up, do my thing to help the students, and then go home and done. I told him that would probably work. I disclosed that I might have an appointment here or there which he waved off as no big deal, so I accepted. My only concern is that Macy coaches basketball 1st and 8th periods so if they need me to do that, then we're in trouble.
Sun. 5th--The kids spent the night with their cousins since the next day was Labor Day. Olivia did Calvin's hair. Haha. I don't think so.
*Afterwards, Jared went to work and then when he came home for lunch, we had a call with Karina, from the Texas A&M psychology department who conducted Calvin's evaluation three months previously. She said it took awhile to get his scores calculated and to share the findings. According to her and the department chair, Calvin is an extremely bright young man who has been diagnosed with ODD (oppositional defiant disorder). As she described some of the characteristics of this disorder, we just kept nodding our heads thinking, "Yeah, that sounds exactly like Calvin." Especially the part about a lack of impulse control. That's his biggest hang up. Because depression runs on my side of the family and since Cooper was recently diagnosed with major despressive disorder, we asked if they found any indicators for that in Calvin. She said they actually did not. But ODD can only be treated with intense psychotherapy. There are no medications to reverse the behavior. She explained that the concern for depression would be as Calvin continues to display defiant behaviors that conflict with the morals he's been raised with, he will start to wonder why he can't just do the right thing because he's been taught and knows right from wrong. Not being able to reconcile his actions with what he knows is right will weigh on him which can certainly lead to depression, and could easily spiral into suicidal thoughts and attempts. It was a little overwhelming to hear all of this and while I kept it mostly together during our conversation, when we hung up, I cried. It felt as if we just can't catch a breather with these big, heavy medical issues our kids are dealing with. Narcolepsy, POTS, depression, narcolepsy again, ADD, ODD, celiac disease, maybe more narcolepsy, and who knows what else has yet to appear. Not to mention dealing with my own hormonal changes with peri-menapause, on top of relocating the family, a new job, a new town, and all of the transition and hard days that come with just moving. I am grateful, though, that we did go ahead and get the evaluation done while we had access to those resources. Because while ODD doesn't excuse Calvin's choices and behaviors, it definitely helps explain them. Hopefully that will bring a little comfort to him in the coming days.
*Jared and I met with Orlando, our contractor, and his wife, Donell, who is his designer, to get their estimate for the renovations. We told them we had $75,000 cash for the project. Their estimate came in at $90,000. We took the paper and line items back home to think about it and figure out what to do and what we could maybe eliminate from the renovations at the front end because we don't just have an extra $15,000 laying around.
We were supposed to meet with his wife, Donell, the next day to go over her design suggestions for bathroom tiles, carpet, flooring, backsplash, bathroom vanities, etc. Shortly after I spoke with Orlando about waiting on demo (we hadn't even signed the contract yet), Donell texted me and said that in light of us holding off on the demo, she felt we should not meet to discuss the design ideas. I responded that actually we do, in fact, need to meet because her ideas will help us decide if we want to move forward on the project with them or not. She relented. Phew...disaster or two averted.
*A beautiful Snyder sunset.
This is the kitchen backsplash she picked out. It will have an oyster gray grout to break up the white in the kitchen. We like that, too. It's very classic. I love the subway tile look, but it's very common in kitchens these days, so I really like the uniqueness of this backsplash.
This is the gray tile going into the master shower and on both bathroom floors with an oyster gray grout. We have also requested a walk-in shower. I'm so tired of cleaning the glass doors. I am very fastidious when it comes to cleaning and even after trying all the tips and tricks, I can never get the soap scum off.
I do love the subway tiles, though, so this will be in the kids (main) bathroom shower. But I want it to have white grout.
After careful consideration, we selected the luxury vinyl tile on the left (some brown with streaks of white and gray) for the entry way, kitchen, dining, and laundry area. And the "pencil sketch" carpet, which is a shade of gray with white in it--it's super soft. We've also requested super padding. None of this carpet-over-cement like we had in our CS house. We were pretty excited about these designs. While I considered being my own contractor and hiring separate companies to come do the work for us, I decided that it would be better for my sanity and the sake of our house, if we had Orlando be in charge of all of that. He already has subcontractors he uses. I wouldn't even know where to begin. So we told Donell that we did want to continue with them, but we needed to find a middle ground between our budget and theirs. She understood. The $90,000 was more of an estimate and explained they'd try to find more hard numbers to give us.
Thurs. 16th--Donell came to our house over Jared's lunch break and showed us her ideas that work within the budget. This is the bathroom vanity she had picked out for the bathrooms and we like it.
Fri. 17th--There was no school for Snyder, so Jared took Karcyn to the DMV so she could get her permit. Jared was also able to switch his driver's license over to our new Snyder home address. Macy went into labor so I covered for her on Friday.
*We made personal pizzas for dinner. Calvin got a ruler out to measure which crust was bigger because he felt he should get that one. (eye rolling)
Sat. 18th--We had Calvin and JJ on the same bowling team because we thought it would be more fun for them to be together and it's easier for us to watch them when they're bowling on the same lanes. There is only one other young man on their team--Logan. He's 15 and a real sweet boy. But very quiet and a little shy. He's very good about cheering JJ on and making him feel important and welcome, which means a lot to us!
*Calvin getting a strike and JJ waiting his turn.
The kitchen.
The master bathtub/shower. Notice how there was nothing above the fake ceiling that was lowered to 5 feet 10 inches. It looks so much bigger already.
The rest of the master bathroom.
The main bathroom. See where that brown area comes down on the far left wall? That's where the shower ceiling was. Why did they do that?
More of the main bathroom.
The view of the kitchen without that wall of cabinets hanging over the peninsula. It looks like a whole new house without that there. So open and airy.
And the dumpster in our driveway.
We swung by when we got to town and took our own pictures. From the living room looking into the kitchen.
The master bath, standing in the doorway. The showers in each bathroom are back-to-back. You can see into the main bathroom from the master.
More of the master bathroom.
The popcorn ceiling. Eck.
And a toilet...sitting in our driveway.
*Jake and Trina went to the BYU football game that night. For a previous date night, they made those shirts--freehand!! Super impressive! They had a great time.
*This is exactly why I didn't want to be my own renovations contractor.
Tues. 21st--The flooring has been removed!! The old-people/medicinal smell is all but gone now. 
And I was thrilled to see that they ripped up the icky carpet from the sunroom even though none of the renovations include the sunroom.
Laundry room.
Master bedroom.
Karcyn's bedroom (also the guest room as needed).
The boys' room.
Front hall closet.
*Jared came home with a certificate that was awarded to him at work. He was recognized by the walk-in clinic coordinator for being willing to give provider coverage on such short notice when help was needed. Ella, the CEO, also wrote a small note of appreciation. Jared was so proud when he brought this home and we were proud of him. In all of the seven years he worked at St. Joseph, he never received any such public recognition like this. It may seem hokey and a bit juvenile to give out these kinds of certificates, but it's such a small thing that goes a long way in boosting morale. It went right on our fridge!
*Hahaha! I'm not running that far either. ;)
Wed. 22nd--I had the very unique opportunity to watch Ira School (K-12--one class per grade) come together that morning for an event called SYATP (See You At The Pole). I was a little skeptical and I won't deny it, a bit apprehensive about supporting such a thing. Would this be along the same vein as the Zoramites who were at the Rameumptom during Alma and Amulek's time? I let JJ participate and stood back and watched as an onlooker on the outskirts. It was run by a small group of upper classmen. A couple of juniors had prepared two short messages about pressing forward in faith and trusting in God with scriptures from the Bible to solidify their points. Then the entire student body separated into smaller groups composed of 2 or 3 grades with an upperclassmen in each circle to help. They joined hands and the older student began to offer a prayer. When they were done, they squeezed the next person's hand to let them say what they wanted to in prayer. If they didn't want to participate or say their prayer out loud, they squeezed the next person's hand which indicated it was their turn, and so forth and so on. At first, I questioned the act of coming together like this and to pray in such a way. But as the gathering progressed, my heart began to soften. Here is a school who loves and values the Lord and they're gathering together to share a spiritual thought based on scriptures from the New Testament. How could God disapprove of that? "Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there I will be in the midst of them." The Lord loves effort and this school was making the extra effort to honor God that day with a beautiful morning side, much like the firesides I'm used to. As for the group prayer, I don't believe they were doing it for show. They broke out in smaller groups and said what was on their hearts--it wasn't repetitive. These children prayed for those who were sick with Covid and that they'd do well in their school work. I believe they really did want to be unified and this was how they showed it. I was touched by what seemed to be genuine worship and respect for the Lord. When the prayers were done, they wrapped it up with donuts and orange juice, like we do in early morning seminary. I was touched and I would like to think that the Lord was in the midst of the Ira student body that day and that he was pleased with their efforts to worship the best they can with the knowledge they have.
The main bathroom standing in the doorway.
Sun. 19th--Poor Karcyn...still struggling to stay awake during the day. This was taken at 9:40am, about five minutes before leaving for church.
*Hahaha! Poor guy!!
*We were invited by our previous stake in College Station to pray for Reed Hickson and his family. We were in the same ward as the Hickson family when we were realigned to the CS 1st Ward in 2017 and were so sad to hear that Reed was hospitalized due to covid. We gladly joined in the stake prayer at 8:30pm Sunday night. Unfortunately, he and another brother from the stake passed away that night. With that many faithful saints praying on his behalf, the Lord clearly needed him home. Reed was 49 years old. He leaves behind his sweet wife, Gina, and 12 children.
*Calvin working on his algebra IXL problems with Rolo nearby for moral support. IXLs are math assignments on the computer. He has to do one for each skill. Like finding LCM would be one IXL. Finding the GCF would be another. Sometimes he has to do five a week. The biggest gripe he has about these computer assignments is that you have to get to 80 or 100 points. You start at zero. Every time you get a right answer, you get a few points. However, if you answer a problem incorrectly, you lose points. So instead of just not getting points with a wrong answer, it feels like you're being punished and it has caused a lot of frustration for Calvin. Especially when he's already battling the tendency to be defiant and push back when he doesn't want to do something.
*This is what white tiles with oyster gray grout looks like from a distance. Just enough to break it up, but not so dark it stands out.
Thurs. 23rd--JJ was selected as student of the week! He gets to have the glowing green cactus statue on his desk. It's the little things.
*Fri. 24th--Jared and Cooper had been keeping their eyes out for a car that Cooper could buy for use on his service mission. They found a 2017 Kia Forte that looked promising in Dallas. It had hail damage, but for a mission vehicle, that didn't seem to bother Cooper. So Jared took Friday off and they drove to Dallas (oh, how I hate the car buying process in small Texas towns...driving 3.5 hours one way just to see if you want the car...ugh). Turns out they did get the car. They were headed back home later that night, about 2 hours from Snyder when one of Cooper's tires blew out. Fortunately, he handled the car like a boss and was able to go to the side of the highway safely. Unfortunately, there wasn't any town nearby. They needed a tow, they needed a place they could get the tire replaced, and they needed a room for the night. There was only one tow truck that could help them and he was about 1.5 hours away. When looking for a room for them to stay in for the night, I learned that Ranger, the town Progressive had suggested and already approved for a tire replacement, didn't even have a tire store. So we had to pay the difference to get the tow truck to drive them 10 miles further down the road to Eastland. Never a dull moment.
*There is a young adult in our branch--her name is Tanya Rivera. She is attending WTC on a soccer scholarship. She's from Provo, Utah and actually played club soccer for Elton Jazexhiu (WTC's men's soccer coach) when they were in Utah. She is Cooper's age, far away from home for the first time, and going to college. Snyder is a big adjustment no matter who you are. I wanted to reach out and invite her over for dinner so we could get to know her better. She accepted the invite. I told her she could bring her roommate if she wanted. She ended up bringing two of her teammates, Luisa and Dabasy. We enjoyed having them over very much and of course, I loved serving them and putting a home cooked meal in their bellies. We enjoyed it so much, we decided to make WTC Wednesdays a long-standing dinner date with the trio of girls.
*We are pretty picky about our refried beans. It has to be Rosarita and it has to be the spicy jalapeno flavor. Unfortunately, we haven't been able to find them in Snyder. So I would always be sure to pick up 4 or 5 cans whenever we'd swing by HEB in Lubbock. But I actually found a small pocket of them at the Walmart here in town and was thrilled for Cooper's sake! :) His diet consists of flour tortillas, spicy refried beans, and lots of Tapitio.
*Sat. 25th--Poor Jared spent the majority of his 48th birthday waiting to get a tire fixed and driving home. I took the little boys up to bowling league in Lubbock. JJ surpassed his league average so he got to write his score on the big board--a 92. Almost reached his goal of 100.
*I thought it would be fun to get a few baby things for Macy while I covered for her maternity leave at Ira school. I love the onesie. Haha! I also got a card for all of her students to sign for her as a surprise.
*Rolo is loving the squishy carpet just as much as we are. He never laid on ours in College Station. Can't say that we blame him.
*Jared didn't get back until late in the afternoon after the car debacle, so I took him out to the Sushi House in Snyder to celebrate his birthday. It is really good for a small, west Texas town. I especially love their mushroom broth.
*Korbin (left) and JJ (right) riding their bikes back to our house from Korbin's. We follow them home to light the way.
*We also learned that in order to support the new custom cabinets and our double ovens (which are only 3 inches wider than the old one), there needs to be a stem wall built to extend another 20 inches into the dining room in order to have space for the refrigerator. 20 inches may not seem like much, but that's a foot and a half of width we no longer have in the dining room. We were not happy to hear this. But it didn't seem like we had much choice. Ugh. These renovation bumps are not cool. Donell and Orlando suggested we could maybe push our dining room table into the far right corner that butts up to the garage for a "bench/nook" type seating area. That could work. They said we could put in can lighting and eliminate the ceiling fan so it didn't seem like the table was so off-set. Though, to be fair, it wasn't centered in the CS house either. The cabinet guy (who we've never met) said he could offer to build a pantry to put behind the stem wall so there isn't any dead/empty space created by the extension. For another $650. Sure. Why not? What's another $650? We didn't even get to see the pantry sketch or anything, so it's going to be a surprise. In fact, we have no idea what any of the cabinets are going to look like...how many drawers or cabinets there will be. They will be white because that's what we asked for. And a couple cabinets will have pull-out shelves. Orlando said there would be soft-close drawers. And I want to have vertical storage for cookie sheets, etc. over the ovens.
Sun. 26th--I made Jared an apple pie for his belated birthday treat.
Mon. 27th--A beautiful sunrise from the Ira School parking lot.
*Jared had Karcyn get in the Mazda for some driver's training. Since she's super short, she had to adjust the seat to make it work for her. Jared said he'd pay Cooper a dollar if he could get into the car and close the door. It was tight and he had to "unwedge" himself, but he did it.
Wed. 29th--After taking the fourth and fifth graders out to recess, I spied these two cousins sitting together.
*I worked with Rebecca Young at River Bend in College Station. Her son, Phin, and JJ were good buddies. We got word that Phin, who had just tested positive for covid, was having complications and had to go to Texas Children's hospital in the Woodlands. Understandably, JJ was very upset. Phin's 5 year old brother, Calvin, has covid, too, but you wouldn't know it because he has no symptoms. This virus is just nuts. After JJ calmed his tears, we made a video to send to Phin to let him know we were thinking of him and hopefully to make him smile.
Thurs. 30th--Calvin had a football game in Muleshoe (two hours away), so I went to the high school to pick up Karcyn a little earlier than normal because I needed to get my driver's license switched over. Except that there was a big storm and the power was out at our house, the hospital across the street, and the high school. The HS decided to go ahead and release school right then--no point in just sitting in the dark. They were getting ready to do that right as I arrived to check out Karcyn. I waited for a few minutes and noticed that the halls were filling with students as they received the word that school was dismissed. Because the power was out, the front office couldn't call or page any teachers, so they had to wait for runners to come back to the office to get new messages. At one point, they just told me to text Karcyn and have her meet me at the office. Because Wi-Fi was down, it was hard to get a connection with Karcyn's phone. When I finally reached her I told her to just meet me at the car. She said she was already there! She just walked right passed the front office when the administrators said they could leave school and I didn't know to be watching for her. At least we connected fairly quickly.
When I got to the DMV, they tried looking me up in the system. It said I had my passport as proof of citizenship, but there was no picture of my passport scanned into their network. Consequently, I was denied trying to change my address. Which really got me fired up. Do we need to mention how many illegal aliens get licenses ALL.THE.TIME?? And here I am, a current Texas resident, moving from one city within the state to another and I'm getting stonewalled trying to simply change my street address? I am still a US citizen, I am still in Texas, and my license has not expired. They said if I could find proof of citizenship and brought it back within the half hour, I could get my license updated. Unfortunately, my birth certificate and passport are buried in a box in the garage--somewhere--I just don't know if it's in our garage or the one next door that we're also occupying with furniture. I left the DMV quickly and went to both garages frantically looking for the fire safe with all of our family documents, but to no avail. So infuriating. Especially because the biggest concern about not having a license with my updated address was that we needed to apply for the homestead exemption on our taxes. When it was clear I was not going to be able to find the documents I need, I called the appraisal district to let them know. The woman I spoke to said that as long as one of the spouses has an updated driver's license to submit with the application, we'd be fine to apply for the exemption. It was a relief to know I wouldn't have to unpack every box just to locate my passport.
*It was WTC Wednesday again. The college girls had a study session though and couldn't come to our house for dinner, so instead, we took three plates of Mexican casserole, chips, and a treat to them. They were very grateful!
