March 2022

Tues. 1st--It was a long couple of weeks! I was exhausted. We were up til midnight moving things over. Miraculously, I was able to find some paper blinds for the time being that are $5 per section ($10 per window). Christina helped cut them to size for me and then hung them, the shower rod and curtain, AND set up the beds for us all while we were at work. What an angel!!

We needed to move as many of our boxes and as much of the small furniture as possible before the branch was coming the next day. Everything needed to be out of the rental and both garages. This is where me not working during the day would be advantageous.

Wed. 2nd--The goal was to have the branch come help us get everything moved out of the rental that evening, starting at 5pm. This was the youth activity as well. The missionaries were there first. Then a couple others...they slowly straggled in. We all worked hard for 4-5 hours straight and still didn't get everything. I called it at 9:15pm and sent everyone home. Karole fed the kids, blessedly. Jared and I didn't eat until 10:30pm. We were just utterly exhausted. Fortunately, we got the piano beast and gun safe moved over. Those were things we couldn't do by ourselves. The safe is in the garage. We don't have the extra space from the study, so it's causing us to rework a few things...

*This was the last load of the night. We all CRAMMED into the Outlander. Poor Calvin could barely squeeze in. At least it was a short, three minute drive to the house. :) And this will be new home #5 for little Rolo in his 20 months of life.

Thurs. 3rd--Jared and I went back to the rental to get the last of it after work. I told Rose, who does the landlord side of things for the hospital, that we were going to have to have a couple extra days to get the rest of our stuff and to clean. Fortunately, Kevin, Chris, and Cooper were able to help again. We were able to get everything out of there, except the few boxes of food and stuff in the fridge. 

*Sweet Dixie Brooks from across the street, who has been eagerly anticipating our arrival, bought us SIX pizzas and three salads/dressing and plates for our dinner. I needed to go to the store and didn't know WHAT to do for dinner. She was a godsend!! It saved us and touched my heart greatly. Janie Romine next door brought us the most delicious pan of brownies. 

*I was going to bake a GF pizza for Karcyn, otherwise, she wouldn't have anything to eat, poor girl. And my ovens stopped working!!! Nooo!! Just literally stopped while preheating. 

On top of that, we couldn't get any hot water and boxes were EVERYWHERE! It was complete and utter chaos.

Fri. 4th--After teaching all week and staying up til midnight each night moving, I was dragging. And I still had to clean the rental from top to bottom. I worked on it from 3:15 to 6:30pm. Then Jared and I had a hospital recruiting dinner at the center next door. We had to leave early though to go buy a microwave since the one in CS was a built-in. We had a back up microwave, but we couldn't find it and  think we gave it to Trina and Jake. I went back to cleaning the rental until...you guessed it...midnight. The rental vacuum didn't work, which stunk, because that would have made the rooms look really clean. Even still...the rental was cleaner than when we found it in July. 

Tues. 8th--This sums it up...the gas prices are disgusting.

Thurs 10th--This was Karcyn's 16th Birthday! I don't know why we don't have any pictures of any celebrations. It was pretty low key, unfortunately with our move and then going to Dallas for Calvin's Pepsi bowling tournament. 

Sat. 12th--Calvin started at 9am. We was on a lane that was behind a huge pillar and we couldn't see him very well. I was a little salty about that. 

He didn't do as great as he would have liked, but he was above 100 in all his games.

Mon. 14th--These pictures are a flashback to March of 2016 when we took the kiddos to the Franklin Safari when we were living in College Station. It was so fun. The animals poked their heads in our car to get the food we had for them.

Great memories! As a side note, the ostrich was scary! :) 

Karcyn feeding the giraffe. 

Mon. 14th--When I wore the heart monitor for a week back in December, they called to tell me I have SVT (supraventricular tachycardia). The nurse said it wasn't life threatening, but I would need to see the electrophysiologist cardiologist. Since I was teaching, I told them I wasn't free to get up to Lubbock until spring break, so that's when we scheduled my appointment. I had a 1:45 appointment. I had to leave at 11:45 to be there by 1:30. I didn't get pulled back to my room until 3:07. While the SVT isn't life threatening, Dr. Cevera (who I really like) said he needed more information about what's going on with my heart. He had three options. One of which was to do nothing because I've been fine for so long, but he said that as we age, things tend to break down. I honestly didn't know what to choose. He said, "Okay, if it were me, what would I do?" I said, yes, what would you do? He suggested wearing the heart monitor for another three weeks so he can get some more data. I didn't really like that option, the sticky pads make my skin itch and crawl, but I agreed. I had to go to Costco and get gas before coming home and I didn't get back to Snyder til 8pm!!!

Tues. 15th--We figured we might as well pay the $3,000 to get the trees removed and trimmed before we get used to having any leftover equity. This is the big Juniper in front of the house. I love the green and the cover, but it is just too close to the house.

The mesquite trees in front of the house and on the side. We went with Trees, Etc. in town because their quote was the best, but also because the guy wanted to try and keep the mesquite by the street. He said he believes it's one of the top 75 trees in Scurry County. It's been struck by lightning a couple times, we certainly don't want it to be a hazard, especially being so close to the road. But the guy seemed to think once they trimmed it up, it might be okay.

The mesquite on the side of the house where the branches were hanging over into the neighbor's yard and almost touching their house.

The pecan tree in the backyard. It looks a little stubby, but the branches were super close to the powerlines.

The trunk of the juniper tree out front. I guess I thought they'd just cut it down with an ax or something, but it makes sense they'd get all the limbs off first. 

Wow...the front yard looks a lot different. 

Wed. 16th--I finally got the extra pantry shelves in the laundry room set up. A little progress.

I bought some metal shelves from Costco and used them in the pantry cupboard that was added behind the fridge when they extended the wall. I like how it turned out.

The closet in the laundry room.

The tree guys forgot to grind out the stumps that we paid for, so they came back and did it the next day. Had to take down our fence to do it. I don't care, so long as they put it back the way they found it!

The pecan tree from the front and all the wood from the juniper.

The cabinet guy finally came out to add the pulls (hardware) to our cabinets and drawers.

*JJ and his friend, Daniel, who lives a couple streets down from us. His mom, Meagan, teaches high school math at Ira School. She's been a great friend to me, making me feel very welcome and included.

Thurs. 17th--I was trying to spend some special one-on-one time with the kiddos this week since there wasn't any school. JJ wanted lunch at Dominos, that's what we did. At first, we were going to stay and eat lunch in the store, but decided midway through the first slice that we would rather just go home to eat our pizza. I grabbed the pizza box and put the plate with my slice on top. JJ had his plate. It was super windy outside...there was an advisory for the high winds...so as we walked out the door, he was in front of me and I started to say, "Hold on to your plate..." so the wind wouldn't whip it out of his hands. Except that apparently, I found where the sidewalk ends. I stepped halfway off the curb, twisting my right foot underneath. I lost my balance and fell into JJ (whose plate with his pizza slice went flying across the parking lot and who yelled at me, "Mom!!" because he thought I pushed him on purpose).  I caught myself and landed square on both my knees, without my hands even touching the asphalt, but the pizza box flew out of my hands. Miraculously, it landed right side up. Saved the pizza! I was so stunned that I had just had my first adult fall, right outside the Dominos in Snyder. I quickly assessed my injuries and carefully stood up to see if I needed to go see Jared at the clinic. Once we got in the car, I turned both ankles around in both directions. They were a little sore, but they didn't appear broken. 

I tried staying off of my feet as much as possible at home later that day, but the more that time passed, the more they hurt and the stiffer they got.

Fri. 18th--By the time I woke up, I could barely stand and hold my weight. I needed to go get my ankles x-rayed. I couldn't walk, let alone drive, but it was only a couple miles to the hospital. As I was gimping to the car, Cooper was walking up the driveway. He came to my rescue and drove me to the hospital entrance. The young man working at the door saw my pitiful plight and got me a wheelchair. Blessedly. I think I would have had to crawl to the ER at that point.

Cooper parked the car, then caught up to me and took this picture for documentation of my first adult fall. *sigh*

These Adidas slides were the only footwear I could sort of get on my feet due to the swelling. 

The left ankle hurt (and my big toe was black!!) but my right ankle was definitely more swollen. It's the same ankle I broke when I was 6 or 7 years old jumping on our trampoline. They xrayed my knees as well since they caught my fall. I hurt everywhere it seemed like. Blessedly, nothing was broken. They got me a boot for my root foot. I was a little skeptical. But the doctor assured me it would do wonders at stabilizing my foot and alleviating pain. 

Boxes and boots! Ugh...I had big plans for the rest of spring break, too. I promised to rest, elevate, and ice my foot religiously. I guess the first three days are pretty vital. And that's all I had until it was back to full-time teaching on my feet again. I didn't want this to drag out any longer than needed so I did exactly as I was told.

*Rolo went in for a grooming appointment after I was done at the ER. We tried to get him in with our regular groomer, during spring break when I had time to drop him off and pick him up, but she wasn't open during spring break. (I do hate that about full-time work--having to rethink or postpone all of your appointments and errands). Jared found another place in town and got him an appointment. When I dropped Rolo off, she said they could cut maybe half an inch of fur. It's a popular cut in the summer with the dogs and helps keep the burrs and stuff out. I said okay. He certainly had plenty of fur to spare. I was eager to see what the trim would look like. Rolo always looks so handsome after his grooming appointments. 

Jared had to pick him up because I couldn't drive for the weekend. When he entered the house, I heard Karcyn scream in humorous disbelief and then exclaim, "What did they do to Rolo?!" Calvin and JJ also cried out in shock so I was steeling myself for the big reveal. And I wasn't prepared. I laughed and I cried. My poor Rolo! They shaved MORE than just half an inch. They buzzed him! I couldn't believe it. We were all laughing more than anything and I feel bad that we did because I'm sure Rolo felt that. All of his fur...gone! I was so upset when I learned Jared TIPPED the groomer, too. This was NOT what she described she was going to do. 

It took a few days, but the new do actually grew on me. He looked like a stuffed animal. Super cute and a bit vulnerable. Not the majestic doggo with much floof. Our biggest concern is that the new fur coming in wouldn't be as soft as it's been...that it would turn coarse. Rolo is SO soft. We've been around other poms whose fur is more coarse, so we prayed this accident wouldn't be to the detriment of his super soft coat.

Sat. 19th--There was a Pro Bowling event happening in Lubbock, so of course, Cooper and Calvin were there. Cooper was filming for his "buddy" Packy Hanrahan. Cooper has filmed for The House Bowling YouTube channel before and since they were back in Lubbock, Cooper offered his free services. Calvin took a permanent marker in hopes of getting pro signatures. Jared said Calvin was actually really shy and afraid to approach them at first, but once he started, it was all good.

Anthony Simonsen

One of your older guys...Chris Barnes.

Jakob Butturff

Kyle Troup

And the number one bowler Cooper loves and studied...Jason Belmonte from Australia. Or Belmo. (Kris Prather and Kyle Sherman are Cooper's 2nd and 3rd faves respectively). Such a cool event for my guys!

Sun. 20th--I got a surprise text from my dear friend, Kim Woodbury, from our Forest Grove, Oregon days (2004-2006). She and her family were driving back to their newer home in Abilene, TX and wondered if they could swing by for a quick visit. OF COURSE!!! I even fed them German Pancakes with all the trimmings for lunch. It was so fun to see them and catch up and meet the children they didn't have when we parted ways 14 years ago. ;) Ethan was an optometry student at Pacific University and went into the Air Force. They've done a lot of fun traveling around the world because of his work. 

Cute little boys and one really short-haired Rolo. :) 

Mon. 21st--Doing my due diligence with icing after work. 

Tues. 22nd--I can't believe I didn't realize it til now, but the cabinet guy forgot to put pulls on these drop down drawers under the sink and under the cooktop. They are completely unusable without the pulls. Ugh. Now we gotta wait for him to come back and finish.

Wed. 23rd--There was no school at Ira today, so I was running some errands and when I came home that afternoon, I went to use my bathroom. My shoes were off, but my socked foot stepped on the bathmat and was shocked when it was wet. WHY...why is this bathmat wet? And not just damp...wet. I didn't shower that morning and Jared had showered HOURS before. We do have a walk-in shower that we haven't been using for very long, but I've never noticed that much water coming out. 

That's when I noticed water on the tile and water on the carpet. 

This is under our master bathroom vanity.

I couldn't figure out where the water was coming from. Did the toilet overflow? I had just sat on it and it was dry. Dry as a bone. The shower ledge was also dry. But the floor was not. This kind of stuff freaks me out. There's not much worse than water damage. After what we went through with Hurricane Harvey, I think I have a little PTSD.  So I sent Orlando the pictures and asked for some urgent help in figuring this out.

He came by the next day when everything was dry and couldn't give us any more info than we already had. He wasn't sure where the water was coming from either. That didn't give me much comfort, but it hadn't happened again so hopefully it was a one time thing.

*These were my feet at 10pm that night. Starting to turn colors!

This ankle is swollen too, just not as much. That toe! I didn't even remember tweaking it or feeling it when I fell. 

Fri. 25th--Gimpy with a heart monitor and all, we still managed to get to the temple that night for a much needed break from the chaos of life.

Sat. 26th--Calvin holding his own up against bowlers who are also in the high school leagues.

*Calvin playing the piano with Rolo...or for Rolo after we got back from leagues in Lubbock.

All of his Pro signatures. 

*Pictures of the backyard with stumps gone and trimming done.

Can't wait to get rid of that gross, rusty shed. It is very reminiscent of the dilapidated shed that was left behind when we bought our first house in Oregon.

We've got a lot of work to do, but maybe the grass will start to turn green later on.

The bushes in front of the sunroom are called Texas Sage and purple buds blossom right before it rains.

*DISASTER!!!! There was ANOTHER WATER FLOOD in the bathroom. I had the bathtub faucet on in the main bathroom as I was showing the boys how to clean their shower, when the toilet started to gurgle and lose some pressure. The boys ran into our bathroom and water was gushing up from UNDER the base of the toilet. Just pouring onto our floor. We couldn't stop it with all our towels. Nooooo!!! We got it on video so we could send to Orlando. He said that wasn't anything they did and that we needed to call a plumber. Well, of course, no one is going to come to help on a Saturday evening--and in West Texas, no less. 

We had no choice but to turn the water off and not use it until we could get someone to come out on Monday. *sigh* You just don't realize how much you use water and your plumbing until you don't have access to it. The boys utilized the bushes out back for emptying their bladders. It's not quite so easy for us girls. We used Janie's bathroom nextdoor and Karole's shower and planned strategic potty breaks.

*Rolo chilling with Jared. He really looks foxy here with his fur cut "high and tight."

Rolo fell asleep in Jared's lap like that. He doesn't even look comfortable. 

Mon. 28th--Jared took a day off with Kevin and they went fishing. Good for them. Meanwhile, we had a kitchen filling up with dirty dishes. So we piled them into a bin and we took them over to Karole's to handwash.

Calvin's shift washing...and playing with the suds.

*Calvin's special day means special time with a parent of his choice. He wanted to do Big Brain Academy with me. And for ONCE...I actually WON!!!!! Not just by a few points either...30!! I needed photographic proof. Yay, me!!