Good riddance January

So for a long time now I have been obsessed with Bassett hounds.  It started when I decided I was going to buy one for Jim for Christmas.  I started hunting and was shocked at the prices.  I have been watching, and looking, and have never found one I could justify paying the price for.  I even looked at a rescue and it is just crazy!   Recently, I was talking to Colin. I half-jokingly told him I hoped I won the lottery so I could buy one someday. He got real serious all of the sudden, and asked me if I was kidding?   I said if I could find one for the right price, I would take it home in a heartbeat.  He told me he has a friend who raises them, and they recently had a dog bred and somehow the puppies would not be able to be registered.  He said he would see what he could do.  Well, the boy doesn’t disappoint!  The momma dog had 13 pups this week!  I wanted a girl- 10 of them are female!  Colin sent me pictures.  I squealed like a little girl!   Look at them!!!   They are soooooo cute!   And look at the momma dog!  She’s the cutest thing I’ve ever seen!  I have set a date to pick a puppy and I don’t know the last time I have been so excited!   Of course, I had to break the news to Jim.  This wasn’t exactly an endeavor I forewarned him about.  He asked me a lot of questions.  He had a lot to say, but one thing he didn’t say was no!  I know how this goes, he will be sitting here with my dog on his lap by the end of week 1!   She won’t be ready for a while obviously, but when spring rolls around I will have a dream of mine come true!  Fingers crossed it all works the way I hope it will!  

Maybe it is wrong of me, but I’m happy this month is over.  First of all, any time you get me closer to warmer weather and sunshine, I will be happy.  And secondly, this month has been looong!  Too long.  The world is a little too politically charged, the anxiety over literally everything right now feels bad, and I just crave a little normalcy.  And then you add in the extra work that is directly caused by cold weather, snow, and everything that goes along with that, and I am just done.  Ready to move onto February.  And  no, I am not dumb enough to believe that it is going to magically be spring, but it will be closer!  My mom always told me not to wish away time - sorry mom, but this month deserved it!

This week has been filled with oddities.  I have been trying to get a unique identifier for the township.  That means dealing with the government on their incredibly terribly laid out websites.  I never seem to be able to get stuff to work the way it needs to.  I did finally, after days and days of sending more things to them, get the identifier I needed.  Without the number, I could not get money that we were awarded from a FEMA disaster declaration.  I finally got the  number on the same day that I was told that the county is putting together another disaster declaration for the blizzard from earlier this month.  The thing I was taking care of - was from LAST January!  I rolled my eyes back so far, I noticed I have a freckle on my brain stem.   

I did get a huge kick out of Madison sending me this photo of the feral child - sneaking out the dog door.  Have you ever seen the movie "Close Encounters of the Third Kind?"  I swear to you I would never live in a house with a dog door just because of that movie.  And I guarantee if the aliens come this girl would be the one to go out the dog door - and she would not give a second thought about it either!  No fear!  

My mom said this photo came up in her memories.  I love this - what you might not be able to tell is that the thing in Quincy's hand is a papier mache wildcat head.  Quincy had some school project and my mom helped her make that wildcat head.  It fit on her head so she could be Willie Wildcat.  She was so proud of it!  We worked for days on that thing!  I miss my crazy girl!  She texted me some crazy stuff this week about her roommate clogging the shower drain, and also about looking at changing her major.  She has good ideas, and is doing things with thought and purpose.  I am proud of her.  

Preston texted to say that Sunny had tested positive for the flu, but he wasn't sick.  I hope she feels much better!   

Other places this child was discovered - in the bathroom sink,  in the dog kennel with Dexter, 

and of course, on the bus, with her stash of toys and snacks!  She is really growing up and losing her baby look!  I love me some grandkids! 

Now I have a little bus story for the blog, because I like to document weird things that happen, but first, look at this!  Green!  I happened to notice as the snow melted, the winter wheat is poking its head through!  I know - stop acting like it is spring - it is literally the last day of January.  I can't help it - look at this beautiful sight!  Don't you just feel better when things are green?  And the sun is shining?  I know I do!  And yes, I did stop the bus (I had dropped off all the children), took photos, and spent a couple minutes breathing in the greenness! 

Now for the weird part.  I pick up my first kid at 6:30 in the morning.  It is dark at that time.  As in, no indication of the sun even starting to rise.  As I drove east down the county road this morning, I was getting near my Uncle Harold's farm, when I saw a light in the sky, that I at first thought was lightening.  Except it was orange.  Then I had a moment of panic, as the last time (actually the only time) I saw orange lightening, there was a tornado a mile away from my house.  But this light was flickering, but not flashing like lightening.  It was more like something big in the distance was on fire.  I then thought oh yea, must be a house fire. Then the light went out.  Like a switch was flipped.  No light.  No nothing....just back to darkness.  I thought well, that was weird.  I turned a corner to head towards  my first pick up, which happens to be my cousin's daughter, Lily.  As I was turning, I noticed that the light was back, but a little bit bigger than what it was before, and a little bit further south than it was before.  It was still orange, and still flickering.  I stopped the bus, opened the door and took a photo.  When I looked at the photo, it was just squiggle lines and not anything to document what I was seeing.  I started to take a second photo, but it was gone.  No light, no glowing, just darkness.  I shut the door and went to grab Lily.  I cannot see the horizon at Lily's house, because of the trees.  We went around another corner to head to where we pick up the next kid, and it was back.  So I slowed down and asked Lily (an 8th grader)  if she could see it (thinking maybe I was losing my mind).  She said yes, she could see it and it looked to her like something big was on fire.  About then, it went away.  She looked at me and said so that was weird right?  UUUH YES GIRL!  Very weird!  So we drive probably 2 miles and it was back - this time north of where we saw it before.  Lily says to me - HOPE!  What IS that?  I said I don't know, but I am feeling better that you can see it too - because I don't want to seem crazy!  Happy to have a witness!  I am still a little weirded out, I am always out at that time of the day and have never seen anything even remotely like it.  

Of course, because of things going on in the country, I have been down so many rabbit holes lately that I should probably be eating carrots and pooping pebbles.  So of course, my mind went from lightening, to fire, to aliens.  Because that is how I roll.  Which brought up a whole series of questions I feel like I should get some clarity on - like 

If I get beamed up while driving the bus - do I take the kids with me, or not? 

If I take the kids with me, do they need a permission slip from their parents?

If they only take me, will I get fired when I get back, for leaving the kids unattended?

Can I send one of the kids to check it out before I agree to going with the aliens?  

Does it make me a bad person that I had that last thought?  And it is wrong that I had a couple of kids in particular in mind to be the ones to send first?  Ok yes, I am a bad person.  

Tonight, Jim is at a hockey game (match?) with his brother.  That meant that Harper, Saige and I are home alone for the evening.  I did a thing.  I decided to be lazy, ran into town and got us some dinner.  Harper has been feeling a little under the weather, and has missed the last couple days of school.  She wanted something not too crazy.  A little chicken and some cheater cookies.  Could I have whipped up some homemade ones?  Yes!  But sometimes you just have to do the lazy way.  I laughed, thinking about Andrew putting cookie dough in their cart and Madison coming unglued.  Sorry Madison, laziness prevailed tonight.  It was a nice evening at home, hanging with my girls, chatting via text with some of my older kids, and sitting around in my pajamas.  Soup for the soul.  Thanking the heavens above for a weekend!

Weekend roll out

We had a great weekend around here.  Well, most of us did anyway!  Preston and Sunny came home on Friday night.  We hung out with them a little bit, watched a movie and caught up some on their lives.  They stayed over and then left to have dinner with friends before heading back to Manhattan so that Preston could go back to work.  I failed to take any photos, but it made me very happy to see them.  I have missed them!  They are doing great things in school, and working hard to be successful.  It makes me proud!

I had to work on Saturday night, which meant Jim and the girls had to fend for themselves. Jim and Saige were wound up over the playoff games....which left Harper looking like this!  Hey - some of us like football, and some of us like the game day snacks.  To each their own right?   

Sunday found us rushing around trying to accomplish al the things we hadn't gotten to on Saturday.  Seriously, if you don't get them done on the weekend, you won't get them done at all.  Jim and I ran to town to do a couple of errands, the girls helped clean the house back up so we could have Sunday dinner.  We were celebrating Andrew's birthday, and watching football.  Jim has been a lifelong Commander's fan (he was a Redskin's fan, but now they are the Commanders).  He has recruited Cameron into this Commander fandom, but Cameron was working security at Arrowhead yesterday, so Jim had to back up for his cheering section!   He was excited about them making it this far in the playoffs.  He was not excited as the game went on though.  As you can see, he found a sympathetic ear.  

Never mind that he had to bribe her sympathy by giving her an ice cream cone....it is about the listening part right?  :)  

This girl - loves snacks!  She wasn't about to take a bite from someone else's ice cream if she could get Poppy to give up the goods!  She is the most silent child ever - but she honestly does not need verbal communication!  She gets what she wants, and you just know!  

Harper and I attempted to make the girls some Valentine's Day shirts.  Our original plan did not work at all.  We improvised.  Wrenley was very impressed.  She wanted the shirt on RIGHT NOW!  She kept petting it.  I think it was a hit!  :)  

And if Evelyn sits on the coffee table to eat her ice cream, you KNOW who else is going to do it!  

We were all watching the Chief's vrs Bills game.  For those of you who don't know Preston and Saige are huge Bills fans.  And Lauren, well, she is a life long Chief's fan, and also on the staff there.  When the game ended, someone was going to be unhappy, there was just no way around it!  

Saige was in tears.  She was devastated - losing by 3 was too hard!  

Lauren, on the other hand!  She was elated!  She was at work.

Cameron was also working the game.  He sent me this text - telling me that Lauren was going to be on the field if they won.  I think the photo was so I could look for her.  I never saw her, but she did send me some great pictures and a video!  I am sorry Saige was sad, but it is hard to not be happy for Lauren and her team.  

Lauren did send me this photo she got off of the internet - as you can see, she was pictured in the background of a picture of Taylor and her boyfriend!  :)  It really is a good thing she had on the hat!

Happiness for you kid - we are proud of you for landing a job you love, and for sticking in there when it is tough!  And even though some of our people are sad, it is hard not to be excited for Lauren, as she is about the sweetest thing ever!

Lauren also send me these photos - the girl on the left is one of my best friend's niece.  She also works with Lauren.  I sent the pictures on to her aunt, who was excited to see them - we think it is cool that they work together!  It is a small world. 

And now, we have to start preparing for the super bowl snacks - because if ya ain't eating the snacks are you really doing life right?

Also had to be smacked back into the reality of the weekend ending and the sadness that goes with having to wake up early!  Dang it!  

 

January 984th

I swear to you that this month has seemed like 10 lifetimes long.  The weather, the country going through dark times, the sadness over kids returning to school, the darkness of winter, death of people we cared about, did I mention the weather?  Anyway, I am trying to stay positive, but it hasn't been easy.  Monday was a holiday, no school.  Yesterday, they called school off due to the extreme cold.  I am relatively sure it was just as cold last week, and the roads were worse, but we still had school?  I do not know what made them decide, but I was not complaining at all!  Any day we get off for weather, we get paid for - paid to not drive is a great deal right?  Since there was no school, Madison brought the girls out to visit.  We had fun painting Valentine's Day ornaments and then the girls decided they wanted to eat the cool whip we had in the refrigerator!  They are funny kids!  Mallory came out as well, and  Daisey Paige had a great time cleaning all the cool whip off the floor, and off of Wrenley!

I am so thankful for these kids - they truly brighten up my days!  All of them (not just the grandkids -although ....grandkids are a pretty cool gift).  

This morning, Jim and I attended a funeral for a lady who we lived here in town.  She owned the laundry mat next door to my office.  She was one of those people who is involved in everything, and did it all well with grace and pride in her work, but without needing to brag or boast about her accomplishments.  She had a son in my class growing up...but I really didn't get to know her as well until I worked next door.  When I started here, she stopped me to tell me that downtown, we all are responsible for our own sidewalks, that we were to keep them clean, swept off, and shovel our own snow, and keep them salted so nobody slips.  She told me that nobody was going to do my portion, as everyone does their own.  I told her that was fine, I would do my best.  First time it snowed, I arrived to work with my gloves and shovel, ready to make sure I wasn't the cause of someone slipping.  Pat was already outside and had my portion already shoveled off.  It became sort of a game, where I would try to beat her, but never succeeded.  Recently, I was able to clear her portion of the walk.  I was happy about it, until I realized it meant she was probably really unable to do the work anymore.  Then it was just overwhelmingly sad.  She used to stop by to tell me things that were happening in town, followed by telling me I did NOT hear it from her.  She also stopped by because her kids made her get "a stupid smart phone" and she didn't' want them to know she messed it up.  Usually, it was easy stuff to fix, and she thought I was a technology genius.  I appreciated her enthusiasm for my skills, and never had the heart to tell her if it had been a difficult fix, she would have been out of luck!  I will miss her.  She was good people.  

I am looking forward to spring!  I love indoor projects and crafts, but - flowers, garden veggies, and sunshine on my skin without getting frost bite are currently things I am craving!  

This kid - has zero fear.  Has zero sense of danger - and is the best climber I have seen since my nephew Josh was a little kid.  I distinctly remember taking Josh and the twins to the park when they were pretty little.  He scaled right up to the top of everything.  I stood on the ground with my heart in my throat waiting for him to plummet to his death.  I swear to you, he terrified me with his agility and lack of fear.  And yes, I had boys, so I sort of understand.  Colin pulled a few things that ended us up in the ER.  Cameron tended to climb trees, and Preston was sort of a combination of the two.  But this girl - holy moly!  She is everywhere - made worse by the fact that she moves in complete silence.  She is going to be one who will put (more) gray hair on all of us I think!  But it also sort of cracks me up.  And her tenacity - wowsa!  

Today is also Andrew's birthday.  I am thankful that my daughter married a man who is easy going, a good husband and father, and who tries so hard to do life well.  I am also thankful that he and Jim are such good friends and like doing things together.  Andrew has thrown himself directly into the insanity that is our family.  He has helped repair vehicles, helped with household projects (even ones where he got electrocuted), picked us up when we needed rides, and even rescued Quincy once when she got in trouble at school.  We are happy he is willing, happy he is flexible, and proud to have him in our mess.  Happy Birthday Andrew - we love you!

 

Sundays are still my fav

I have always loved Sunday.  This weekend, after church, we had a little brunch with Quincy, who then departed to go back to WSU.  I had to go in to work at the liquor store, but it was a short shift, so I still had time to hang out with the kids and my boy.  Jim and I even finished his puzzle - and this time, all the pieces were there!  Score!  This puzzle was harder than it looks - so many tiny pieces and similar colors.  I am sort of glad we managed to finish it!  Not sure what he is going to do with it - but if it lays there very long, Saige will undoubtedly glue it together (she has decorated her room with a bunch of glued together puzzles).  

It has been so cold that the dogs give me this look when I tell them they have to go out to potty.  Blitz goes to the door and then when I open it, she turns around and hides behind the chair!  She is starting to age a little bit, and the cold is really not kind to her joints.  Carlos....we have to put him in his little sweater and then pick him up and plop him out the door.  He thinks the cold sucks!  I agree with him, but I know how to use the bathroom inside, so I don't have similar issues!  

I am almost done with the new guest (Preston) bedroom.  I like how it looks.  Preston will be home next weekend, and I will have him help me hang the new ceiling fan.  I am working on a couple of projects in there including painting a dresser, and I have a few things to hang on the walls.  I am pleased with it, and happy it is almost done!  I have new projects in mind.  

This nugget and this dog - are both hot messes.  I think Daisy actually likes being used as a pony.  And containing this kid is next to impossible!  :)  

She confiscated the remote.  Turning off Poppy's basketball game seemed to be high on her list of needed activities!  

I am always sad when my kids leave.  I am so glad we got a month with Quincy at home to catch up, get some paperwork done, and hang out with her.  I had to hold myself together because she stopped at the liquor store to say good bye and I can't be in there crying - they will think I have been sampling the goods!  She is doing great things and I am so proud of her - she has really grown up from an ornery, crazy kid into a responsible, smart adult.  I miss her when she isn't home, but I couldn't be prouder of her.  

Not only did she change the channel, but she also brushed all of our hair!  Now mind you, she got some new toys yesterday, as she had gifts from grandma Chris and Uncle Steve and Aunt Heidi, but....

She really makes me laugh.  Also, I realized that Harper and Saige both have hairbrushes without handles on them.  I guess when we go shopping today, we might have to get them some new ones!  

Today is Martin Luther King day, and also Inauguration day.  Jim and the girls are off today, I have to work, but only for a little while.  As much as I would like to believe America is better than this, I guess the exchange of power is going to happen.  Unless the Tik Tok Conspiracy theorists and psychics are correct, and they swoop in at the last moment and arrest him.  I am hoping for that.  I am praying for that.  I am trying to believe it could happen that way, because honesty, I can't see another 4 years of the insanity.  The girls and I are going to go to town.  Harper has a recheck at her orthodontist, and she broke her glasses this weekend, so we are going to make a day of that.  We are going to hit the bath and body works sale, pick up a few supplies for some projects at Menard's and maybe bring home dinner.   We aren't going to watch.  If my prayers are answered, I will just find out about it this evening. 

 

 

Birthday boy

 Today we went to a birthday party for my nephew Lawson.  When I tell you that my nephew Garrett married the sweetest woman, and together they have such a sweet little guy - I’m not kidding.   It’s hard to believe Lawson is 2 already!  He had a tonka truck party.  We got a kick out of him pulling the tissue paper out of his gifts and then clapping for himself. So stinkin funny.  

Happy birthday buddy!  We love you.