Wed. 1st--Calvin had his third day of baseball camp at Ira School. Coach Goodwin, who I got to know while subbing in the secondary hall from Jan. to May, told me Calvin needs to become an Ira Bulldog. He said Calvin is a great kid and strong player. Even though I know this already, it's still music to a mother's ears when she hears it from other teachers/coaches/leaders/adults.
We kept telling Calvin we needed to take him to Sushi House so he could try it sometime. We found out the hard way, they're closed on Mondays, but this day worked out after I picked him up from camp. He loooooves sushi as much as we do.
*JJ is not a fan of reading. At all. He's my only kid who just doesn't find great pleasure in it. So this picture does my heart some good and gives me a little hope. Reading is so important and opens up doors for success across all areas of your life.
*As part of the summer reading program organized by the Scurry County Library, there was a magician show at the gazebo in the park down the street from us. We put Rolo on his leash and walked over. Believe me when I say it was SO COLD. Around 65 degrees!!! It was crazy and almost uncomfortable. But the magician was a good distraction and JJ enjoyed the show. Afterward, he went up to me the man and he gave JJ a personal show by placing a squeeze ball in his palm and JJ's. They squeezed them tight, and after JJ tapped his fist on top of the magician's, when he opened up his palm, the ball was back in the magician's hands, not JJ's. It blew his mind! Mine, too. :)
Fri. 3rd--We started thinking towards the winter months and felt impressed to purchase a wood burning insert fireplace even though it would use up most of our extra financial reserves. But with our house being all electric and no natural gas for heat, we figured the purchase was one that would eventually pay for itself over the years. Here's a before picture.
West Texas Fireplaces came and installed our insert that morning. Unfortunately, while installing it, they scraped up my paint job on the hearth. But that would be easy to fix. However, the frame around the edge of the insert wasn't wide enough by about an inch. So they would have to come back and add more metal to it. Here's the after. You can see the gap on the right side. Hopefully it won't take too long for them to come back and fix that.
*Gasoline is $4.39 a gallon. Ugh.
Mon. 6th--Calvin worked on earning service hours (from 8-noon), by helping with a class at the College on the Square. This will enable him to take a college course as an elective so that he can get a criminal justice certificate by the time he graduates high school.
I taught aerobics at the rehab pool that morning and after picking up Calvin from his volunteer job, we went to the cousins for a little bit. Calvin said he'd drink a raw egg and so I decided to get picture proof and his reaction after.
He's thinking about it. Probably too much thinking.
Second-guessing himself?
Ah! He did it! Will he keep it down, though?
Yes, he did! ;)
Tues. 7th--I had an interview at Ira School for their 2nd grade teaching position. It's only 1 class per grade at Ira. I hadn't considered teaching full time, but after spending 90% of the last school year at Ira and at the insistent encouragement of the other teachers in the elementary hall (especially Jessica Chavez, the outgoing 2nd grade teacher, who I subbed for often and Jodi Dunn, the first grade teacher who all but begged me to interview because she wanted to know she was getting a neighboring teacher who would work hard), I decided to go for it. I wasn't 100% sure I should do it. It would be a HARD year for me. My current obligation is to dedicate my time to planning, preparing, buying, hauling, cooking, and serving 3 meals a day (plus snacks and desserts) to over 100 young women and leaders for YW Camp in Cloudcroft, NM at the end of July. I don't feel like I can do anything else right now, but devote all my time to this assignment. Not to mention, I have three teaching certification exams I need to take (the first one in a week) within the first year AND...I have to figure out how to manage my classroom and learn new curriculum and the ins and outs of being an Ira teaching. It feels really overwhelming. Yet, teaching positions at Ira rarely come available. And maybe my being at Ira so much this past school year was for a reason. After talking it over with Jared and taking it to the Lord, I feel like I need to interview and see what happens. I guess if I'm offered a job, I can always turn it down if it doesn't feel right.
At 9:30am, I had an interview with Mr. Jones, the principal, Brian Patterson, the superintendent (who mostly sat off to the side listening). Denise Lewis (6th grade), Candice Poole (3rd grade), Cheyenne Thomas (5th grade), and Emily Rollins (Kindergarten)--who are all my friends and all of whom I have subbed for. It was my first face-to-face official interview in almost two decades. Every other job I've had has been at the employer's request and fallen into my lab. I interviewed for the census job in 2020 but it was just over the phone and I didn't have to answer hard questions.
The questions weren't tough, per se, but I hadn't really thought about the kinds of things they'd ask me. So I don't feel my presentation was as strong as I could have been. I did ask if they'd allow me to work on my certification a little at a time, beyond a year, because Snyder ISD allows that. Since they are a smaller district, they weren't sure that was an option. I was honest and told them it would be A LOT for me to do in one year as an essentially "new" teacher. I also told them, I want what's best for the students and I wouldn't be offended if they didn't hire me. I would still sub for them.
Then I went to go teach two more aerobics classes. Ira called while I was in the middle of teaching and the class members told me to answer the call. I said no way and decided to wait to call them back. When I did Mr. Jones said he was glad I came to interview as I did very well. However, they chose to hire someone else. I told him no problem and thanked him for letting me know. When I hung up the phone, though, I got hit with a quick pang of "Really?! You don't want me? The teachers practically said that job was mine." This is the first job I have ever interviewed for and not gotten. Every other job I've had in my life has been mine, either by interview or because people asked me to work for them. But just as those thoughts ended, I suddenly felt a HUGE sense of relief wash over me. Now I don't need to worry about any of those things that would have been massive burdens in my life.
Okay...I get it now. I felt good about interviewing because if I hadn't, I'd probably always wonder what the result would be. Not getting the job, despite what so many had said, was the Lord closing a door that wasn't right for me or my family. I knew it immediately after my initial, split-second reaction of shock. And I was immensely grateful as I got glimpses of a horribly, stressful year that might have driven me to quit if I managed to get completely certified to begin with. I'm so grateful the Lord has my back! I will continue to sub for Ira and Snyder and if we need more than that, I know the Lord will provide a way. He always does.
Fri. 10th--Jared and Calvin left for northern Minnesota on a fishing trip with Kevin and Garrett--driving our suburban and towing Kevin's boat. They had to take the long way up, through Illinois to do some pre-college things for Garrett. Since they were in the area, they decided to catch a Cardinals game in St. Louis against the Cincinnati Reds.
Sat. 11th--They arrived in Tower, Minnesota on Lake Vermillion late Saturday afternoon.
*Back in Snyder, JJ and I went over to Christina's house to work on camp prep with her. She also helped me get vinyl lettering on the aprons I got for my assistant cooks, Marcie and Shayla. She and I watched rom-coms while we worked and had a great afternoon together. So much fun in fact, that she suggested we got back and get Karcyn from our house, pick up some pizzas and keep going. So we did. I was there from 2pm to 10pm.
Sun. 12th--Let the fishing fun begin!
They caught lots of small mouth bass. Some bigger than others. :)
This is a rock bass.
And this is a Yellow Perch.
*Yay for summertime! Korbin came and spent the night with JJ.
Mon. 13th--More pictures from the fishermen. Up and at 'em before 5am. Haha--Garrett looks thrilled.
Calvin with a small Walleye.
Jared and a 4.5 lb. small mouth bass. The biggest fish caught that trip.
Another small mouth bass...just a smidge smaller than the other one.
They kept some small mouth bass to eat, like this one.
Taking a break before heading out again.
Calvin was pretty tired. Fishing, when you do it right, can be exhausting! He just curled up on the boat floor and went to sleep.
Loons!
Back at it again. Face masks to protect against bugs and the sun.
Back in Snyder--my gross front yard. Who knew that having rocks instead of grass would be so hard to maintain? Someone came to my door offering to clean it up and spray it for me. I figured it would be a nice Father's Day gift for Jared so I agreed.
*The Hatala's rolled back through from their trip to Arizona later that evening. We always love it when they visit.
Tues. 14th--I was scheduled to have a loop recorder device implanted on Wednesday morning. I begged Cooper to drive me up and back because I can't drive after being sedated. I was supposed to call Dr. Cervera's office by 2:30 if I hadn't heard from them about pre-op instructions. I hadn't, so I called. Apparently, even though I was scheduled for surgery the next morning, I had to be seen by the office first because it had been past 30 days since they suggested surgery. I decided to do it, but wanted to have school out of the way first. Unfortunately, the doctor was out of town for several weeks, so 6/15 was the first time we could make our schedules mesh. But when I called to schedule this, no one from the office told me I needed to be seen again. I was a little put out by the glitch, especially because they're in Lubbock and I'm not. But to their credit, they got me a telemed visit arranged so that surgery could move forward.
*Cooper asked me if I'd watch Jurassic World Dominion with him at the theater. We enjoyed that and he just spent the night at our house since we had to wake up and leave by 4am to be at the surgery center by 5:30AM.
*I found out my friends Sonja and Kevin Staples from our Kalamazoo days twenty years ago (he was our home teacher) were called to be the Mission President and wife of the Saint George mission for three years. That's pretty exciting! Especially since my parents and Jake and Trina live there.
Wed. 15th.--I drove to Lubbock so Cooper (who struggles with sleep to begin with) could sleep on the way up to the surgery center. He came in with me, but then went out to the car and slept. Poor guy. I really appreciated him coming with me.
I wasn't sure what to expect, but it felt like a mini ER/OR. I was taken back to a room, partitioned by three walls and a curtain. I had to change into a gown, they took my vitals, and then I was hooked up to an IV. I had to wait a little bit before the surgery. I was first on the docket. I got wheeled into the OR and had to slid over to the hard, flat table. The sedation wasn't too crazy and it didn't take very long.
While I was recovering, a nice tech came in to speak to me. He told me the recorder was about the size and width of a piece of gum and it would monitor my heart rhythms and catch anything that might be missed on the holter monitors I had already tried. He helped me download an app on my phone so that it could track things. If I felt anything abnormal, I could also record that myself.
I asked how long people usually have recorders. He said 2-3 years. Sometimes the things they're looking for occur only once every 6-12 months. Interesting. They'd be monitoring my heart on their end and will call me if there are any issues. Got it.
*I was kind of bummed that this was the day of the surgery because back in Snyder, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints delivered 70,000 lbs. of food, totaling over $100,000 to the Snyder Food Pantry. And they needed help unloading it. I really wanted to be there to take part in such a monumental occasion. At first the Food Pantry was very skeptical of the offer and wanted to know what the catch was. The Church said there's not catch, just allow the members and missionaries to help serve. Once they realized it was a free offering, they were very grateful. There's been a long history of Snyder-ites not approving of members of our church. Hopefully, efforts like these will show them our true intentions...to help and serve others the way the Savior did.
*After I was released from the surgery center with post-op instructions, it was almost 9:00am. Having fasted the night before, I was pretty hungry and I told Cooper I'd take him out to eat at Torchy's before we headed home. Except that it was so early, Torchy's wasn't open yet. But Starbucks was. I had given Cooper a $5 gift card to Starbucks that I had received some a kind student and told him he could use it to get something. He really wanted a slice of their lemon loaf. As we pulled up, there was a gal waiting to greet us at the drive thru, much like they do at Chick-fil-A, to keep traffic moving. She asked what she could get us. He just said a slice of the lemon loaf. Okay, and what else? He said that was all. She looked at him suspiciously and said, "No really, what else?" And again he said nothing. "A coffee? Latte?" Nope. She seemed kind of offended that we wouldn't order a coffee item at Starbucks. Sorry chief. We aren't coffee drinkers. She finally gave him a total and told him to move forward. That one inch slice of frosted lemon loaf...$5.00. Cooper said from now on Starbucks is now called "Fivebucks."
We hung out in the car in the parking lot of Torchy's until it opened. I was feeling a bit dizzy so I was grateful to just be still and not do anything. We eventually went in and got some food in our bodies and then drove home. I dozed while he drove. And then I went straight to bed to sleep some more. It was kind of weird to not have Jared with me after a big procedure, but I felt like I had delayed it enough and didn't want to push it out any more.
Karole came to check on me. She, Christina, and Emma all pitched in and made us a meal, which was so sweet and very much appreciated. I rested the whole day.
*I finally got some proof of life picture updates from Jared.
Thurs. 16th--I had four aerobics classes to teach and told them all that I was going to move a little slowly, if at all, and hoped they understood. They were just shocked I was even there to begin with. It was no biggie. Got me out of the house and earned me a little money, too.
*Later that night, I had my second camp cooks meeting over zoom. I think it went well. The ladies are very supportive and not critical. Just happy to help and offer solutions. I just wish I wasn't so far away and could meet with them in person. But thank goodness for technology so that I don't have to drive 3 hours round trip for each meeting. There is a small concern about our budget. We were given $2,000. Same budget from 3 years ago when they last had YW camp, but that was also pre-Covid. The price of eggs, dairy, and meat especially have all gone way up, but everything in general has, too. Shayla worried we wouldn't have enough to feed the girls. I told them both that I was wondering about that too, but since I've worked at Ira and have seen what the secondary kids eat at lunch, we are planning to feed our YW just as much, if not more, and we're providing snacks and desserts as well. I also said I would keep an eye on the budget and if I felt we needed more, I was go to the stake and ask for some. (Apparently, the North Lubbock stake cooks were given $6,000 for their food budget!!! They didn't do Trek, though, either, like our stake did. But still...I don't know what I'd do with that much money.) My input placated Shayla's concerns.
Shortly after our call ended, I went to take Rolo outside to go potty for the night. I walked outside in my bare feet with the flashlight and walked the path I usually do from the porch to the storm cellar. When I turned around and shone the light on the grass near where Rolo was, there was a HUGE tarantula!! I could not believe my eyes!! YUCK!! I tried to keep Rolo away, because he just wanted to play with it and yelled for Cooper--who, like Jared, HATES spiders!! I told him there was a tarantula out here and that I needed his help killing it. I didn't want it hurting Rolo or us. He grabbed the big push broom and hit that thing like it was a zombie. My hero. Eck. Later I learned that while tarantula's can deliver a venomous bite, the venom is weak and they can't kill you or your dog. A bite would be similar to a bee sting. Plus they help eat bugs and small rodents that can be problematic to your yard and garden. So I kind of feel bad for asking Cooper to torture that poor tarantula. It's just too bad they are so creepy. And big.
Fri. 17th--Welcome to age 45! My body is falling apart. My heart, my hormones, and now my eyes. Time to get glasses. I don't have to wear them all the time, but I might as well. My sister, Michelle, who is 42, just got glasses, as well. So at least I made it a few years longer than she did. ;)
*Up in Minnesota: It was another beautiful day on the lake.
Jared dared Calvin to take a Polar Bear Plunge. And Calvin accepted the challenge. The video was very entertaining. :)
I could get used to living on a lake...
*Sun. 19th--The fishermen returned home Saturday night and Christina left to go to a wedding out west before they got back, so she and Kevin just missed each other. Because it was Father's Day and the guys had just returned from a long, long drive home, I asked Kevin if he and the kids wanted to join us for dinner. He said that would be great. So we hosted our cousins for the first time since moving to Snyder. Only took about a year.
*JJ and Korbin finished a puzzle out in the sunroom.
*Cooper pulled up in front of the house behind the Mazda. I was mildly alarmed and then impressed that he got that close without bumpers touching.
Mon. 20th--I taught three water aerobics classes and had to get my new glasses tightened/adjusted. They refuse to stay on my face. It's utterly frustrating.
*Tennis camp for Calvin started. Because of the youth pioneer trek, he can only participate two of the four days. Kind of a bummer, but I wanted him to have a chance to get out on the courts with the coach so they could be a little familiar with each other. When I went to pick him up after the two hours, Coach Hale told me that Calvin did really well for never having played. She was really impressed and enjoyed meeting him.
Tues. 21st--I taught four more aerobics classes and the fireplace trim was finally installed. I guess they just used magnets to keep it all together. As long as it does the job, I don't care.
Wed. 22nd--The first day of Trek for Karcyn and Calvin. This took a little fenagling. We borrowed Karole's van to drive to Lubbock. I needed Cooper to come with us again. Jared would take JJ to the cousins when he went to work.
We left at 6:45am to pick up Garrett (Olivia had cheer camp) by 7am as Christina was still gone.
I had my first Texas certification exam (PPR) scheduled at 8:30am, but the trekkers weren't needed at the stake center until 9:30 or 10am, which is why I needed Cooper's help. We went to the testing center first and after they dropped me off and I wished them well, Cooper drove the kids to the stake center where they waited until they could get unloaded.
I said a prayer and took my first of three certification exams. Jodi Dunn, the 1st grade teacher at Ira, and another teacher (Emily) told me it was SUCH a hard decision for them to make regarding who to hire for the 2nd grade teaching position. Jodi said she hoped that I would still get certified because she felt that was probably the biggest thing against me. They knew it would be a rough year for me to get that done, so really, they were doing me a favor. I'm not sure I would have turned down the job if it had been offered to me. I told her I was already planning on getting certified and here I was a week later taking my first exam.
I bought a manual, a very THICK study guide, to use to prepare. It was a slow slog through it. And made for a great sleep aid. I took a couple practice tests and scored 1 above passing once and 1 below passing once. Hopefully, I would do okay at the testing center. Surprisingly enough, I felt like the answers were almost "highlighted" for me when I wasn't sure how to respond. The others, seemed like no-brainers. But it's so hard to tell with these types of tests.
When I was done, Cooper came to pick me up. After a pizza lunch, we went to see Dr. Cervera again for my loop recorder follow-up appointment. I'm so grateful that this appointment was on a day I was already in Lubbock. Everything was fine and Cooper and I headed home.
Fri. 24th--I missed a call from an unknown local caller while I was in the kitchen. Then I got a call from Jana Pinoli, the stake YW president. She was letting me know that Calvin had worked hard, played hard and then fell hard--from dehydration. He didn't pass out, but he definitely needed fluids and so they gave him an IV and he started feeling much better. I talked to him a little bit and Karcyn, too, who was there. They were in good spirits and felt everything was under control.
Garrett got back to the stake center with the main group. Karcyn and Calvin came back with the Flakes, who were the camp cooks, and they were at the end of the caravan. They were about an hour or so behind everyone else. But I got their things and it all worked out. Karcyn was still in her pajamas from walking up that morning and Calvin was still wearing what he wore the first day. Haha! Oh boy. I mean, I guess that's really getting into the pioneer spirit.
Before we left Lubbock around 4:00pm, I took them to Chick-fil-A to get some food in them for dinner.
Yay! A real shower. Something we all take for granted! Surprisingly, the kids were not as smelly as I expected them to be on the drive home.
Look at these adorable (handmade bags by some saint in the stake) and camp cups. They earned those little wooden badges as they completed tasks/challenges/invitations within their trek families. Our kids' trail parents loved them both! Karcyn's were Bishop and Sister Long. Calvin's were Bro. and Sister Jenkins.
*Tues. 28th--Karcyn got braces on the top teeth. They'll put the bottom braces on at a later date.
Thurs. 30th--Our friends, Jessica and Elton Jazexhiu and family were sadly moving away to Pennsylvania. I had arranged ahead of time with Jessica to make dinner for them as they would be packing up getting ready for the moving truck to come. After I had everything set and ready to go, Jessica texted that they were not going to be able to come because they were suddenly swamped. So I told her I'd bring dinner (hot dogs, food truck sauce, water melon, chips, devilled eggs, gatorade, and cookies) to them. I told Jared about the change in plans so they could all meet me there. We spent from 6pm to 10pm packing up their house as best we could. I spent most of those hours packing up their kitchen and pantry. Jared took JJ and K home at 10 and Calvin and I stayed until 11pm doing more. We eventually ran out of boxes and tape. We assured them we'd all be back in the morning to help pack and load some more. Moving is such an ENORMOUS, dreaded job.
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