Let me see, since I last wrote:
- Nathaniel has made a basket at one of his games (he got the ball and ran to the other teams basket and shot and missed, he got the rebound and his coach whispered, "the other basket", to which he ran down and made a shot. He was so proud.)
- Chris got a letter from DPS. They decided to go with someone else for those jobs. So, he is back to square one again. Really down hearted and that has caused him to go down with yet another sickness, head cold or something.
-My parents came to bring some good cheer. They wanted to refill our cabinets and buy us a months worth of groceries. They also wanted to just do something fun, but since Chris was still fighting off junk, we stayed here and played and watched movies and just hung out. It was a good time. As Nathaniel said, it was "encouraging", and he was thankful that "Papa likes to ride bikes.". Such a sweet time together. Thanks mom and dad!!
-I have decided to go back to school online at Ashford University and get my degree in Early Childhood Education. I will start soon. I need to finish up some financial aid stuff. I am excited. I want to be doing something that will better off kids, especially mine.
- I have re-learned how to drive a stick. I haven't driven one since I quit driving the farm truck when I was a junior and I was supposed to back the truck up to a hay wagon and killed it. Chris' truck's heater is still being a stinker, so he is taking the car with heat and I am driving the truck to work. So far, we aren't complete enemies, (me and the truck) so it works.
I think that is about it. Looking forward to warmer weather. I should say, consistent warm weather. We have 65-70 days that are followed with 28-32 . My poor bulbs don't know whether or not to come up. I am looking forward to seeing them. Hannah and I talked about how we miss the really pretty wild flowers that we were so happy to see when we moved here.
Hope you all are doing well. We are surviving!
Till next time...
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Thursday, January 08, 2009
Well, its been a week!
It has been a week and I survived. :-) Things at work have been super slow. The change of pace has actually been really nice. Getting stuff done and not having to rush around is a nice change to the frantic chaos of last week.
Chris had an interview with the department of highway patrol yesterday. He applied about a month and a half ago to be a communications officer or dispatcher. His Aunt Lisa told him about the opening. He went in and had to take a lie detector test and had to bring over 10 pages of paperwork with lots of background stuff with him. He was interviewed by a board of 5 officers and he was asked a lot of questions and information about what he observed in some things they presented him. They told him at the end that he would either get a phone call, which would be a "you start tomorrow", or a letter in about a week saying, "we didn't want you". So, we are waiting for the results of that.
On the same day, I recieved my evaluation and the possiblity of a raise. I just don't know what to do about all this. I feel a little confused as to what's next. If Chris gets the job, depending on what they want him to work, that will change my schedule possibly in regards to the kids. I havn't mentioned any of this to my managers because I dont know what to say. I have already been debating what to do for summer break. Surely Chris will be working by then. He needs to be for our livelihood. but I am not going to expect someone else to watch them everyday so I can go earn peon money. I know people do it every day, but the choice between my family and Mazzios comes more and more obvious and I feel torn.
Of course I would choose my family, but I would feel terrible leaving them without one of the few people they can trust to get things done for the day shift. I am pretty sure the store manager wants to move me up to day shift manager, but if I need to be there for my kids, I can't accept that. I don't know. It is confusing. Just keep praying that whatever God wants for our family he will make abundantly clear. I am not sure if some of this stuff is God opening a door or testing me in my faithfulness to what he has called me to. Lots of personal questions I have to answer for myself. Lot of soul searching.
We are looking forward to this coming summer. If we still get to, we are hoping to celebrate our 10th anniversary in hawaii and Oregon. I sure hope things work out for us to still get to do this. I would bawl if we get shafted again out of another wonderful trip because our lives have taken a turn for the unexpected. Chris already had his vacation approved at Lowes for the trip. We laugh about that he is rehireable in March for Lowes, so if the DHP doesn't work out, he can just go back to Chad and ask to work for him. :-)
Anyways, Kids got their grade cards today. both are making straight A's. Nathaniel is conducting a science experiment on himself about hot and cold air. Ask him about it the next time you talk to him. :-) Hannah has been working on her design your own horse that Aunt Lisa gave her for Christmas. She is enjoying that.
Oh, and one more thing. Thanks to my animal loving husband, we have a new member to our family. A friend for Ben. We had talked about getting another dog to keep him company for when we are gone. Chris found on freecycle, which he scans everyday, a lady who needed to get rid of a puppy or it would have to be put down. If you know any of the situations in our acquiring animals, it is a familiar story. He brought home this 9 wk old half pomeranian half collie black fur ball that Ben absolutely LOVES. Their sizes are so different, but they were meant to be together I think. Ben take his red blanket and drags it on the ground so "Snuggles" can catch it and then they run together. They sleep together and share food and water with no issues. Considering he hasn't been a part of our family for very long, he has fit in really quickly. The kids named him Snuggles because when you pick him up, he nuzzles in your ear. He is really sweet. Just as goofy as Ben, so they are good together. Now we really need a good pen for them to run in. They are both chained up most of the time with extended leashes but it is not the same. Maybe when it warms up and we have an income can we make them a real home. :-) I laugh about having my cousin come down with his fencing company and asking him to do it. :-) At least he wouldn't mess it up like we would.
Well, I need to go to bed. One more day of work before a weekend off. Ooh, which reminds me of one more story I didn't tell. Last Saturday was Nathaniel's first upwards basketball game. How wonderful and fun!! He loves it and it was so fun to watch all of them learning. They play 6 6-minute quarters, with a devotion after 3 quarters. All the kids get to play at least half of the game. They run in through a tunnel that has lights and fog. Their names are announced in the gym as they run out with their team. No scores are kept. The referees were really great at working with the kids last week. They would stop the game and help the kids learn where to run to and what to do. It was really neat. He plays again this saturday at 8. Most of his games are saturday mornings at 8. He will do this until the end of February, when they will have an awards ceremony to celebrate a good season. I am so thankful for it. It is a good bible based activity and Nathaniel loves playing and learning a new sport. I will have to post pictures when I can next.
Ok, I think I am caught up. Until next time, all our love!!
Chris had an interview with the department of highway patrol yesterday. He applied about a month and a half ago to be a communications officer or dispatcher. His Aunt Lisa told him about the opening. He went in and had to take a lie detector test and had to bring over 10 pages of paperwork with lots of background stuff with him. He was interviewed by a board of 5 officers and he was asked a lot of questions and information about what he observed in some things they presented him. They told him at the end that he would either get a phone call, which would be a "you start tomorrow", or a letter in about a week saying, "we didn't want you". So, we are waiting for the results of that.
On the same day, I recieved my evaluation and the possiblity of a raise. I just don't know what to do about all this. I feel a little confused as to what's next. If Chris gets the job, depending on what they want him to work, that will change my schedule possibly in regards to the kids. I havn't mentioned any of this to my managers because I dont know what to say. I have already been debating what to do for summer break. Surely Chris will be working by then. He needs to be for our livelihood. but I am not going to expect someone else to watch them everyday so I can go earn peon money. I know people do it every day, but the choice between my family and Mazzios comes more and more obvious and I feel torn.
Of course I would choose my family, but I would feel terrible leaving them without one of the few people they can trust to get things done for the day shift. I am pretty sure the store manager wants to move me up to day shift manager, but if I need to be there for my kids, I can't accept that. I don't know. It is confusing. Just keep praying that whatever God wants for our family he will make abundantly clear. I am not sure if some of this stuff is God opening a door or testing me in my faithfulness to what he has called me to. Lots of personal questions I have to answer for myself. Lot of soul searching.
We are looking forward to this coming summer. If we still get to, we are hoping to celebrate our 10th anniversary in hawaii and Oregon. I sure hope things work out for us to still get to do this. I would bawl if we get shafted again out of another wonderful trip because our lives have taken a turn for the unexpected. Chris already had his vacation approved at Lowes for the trip. We laugh about that he is rehireable in March for Lowes, so if the DHP doesn't work out, he can just go back to Chad and ask to work for him. :-)
Anyways, Kids got their grade cards today. both are making straight A's. Nathaniel is conducting a science experiment on himself about hot and cold air. Ask him about it the next time you talk to him. :-) Hannah has been working on her design your own horse that Aunt Lisa gave her for Christmas. She is enjoying that.
Oh, and one more thing. Thanks to my animal loving husband, we have a new member to our family. A friend for Ben. We had talked about getting another dog to keep him company for when we are gone. Chris found on freecycle, which he scans everyday, a lady who needed to get rid of a puppy or it would have to be put down. If you know any of the situations in our acquiring animals, it is a familiar story. He brought home this 9 wk old half pomeranian half collie black fur ball that Ben absolutely LOVES. Their sizes are so different, but they were meant to be together I think. Ben take his red blanket and drags it on the ground so "Snuggles" can catch it and then they run together. They sleep together and share food and water with no issues. Considering he hasn't been a part of our family for very long, he has fit in really quickly. The kids named him Snuggles because when you pick him up, he nuzzles in your ear. He is really sweet. Just as goofy as Ben, so they are good together. Now we really need a good pen for them to run in. They are both chained up most of the time with extended leashes but it is not the same. Maybe when it warms up and we have an income can we make them a real home. :-) I laugh about having my cousin come down with his fencing company and asking him to do it. :-) At least he wouldn't mess it up like we would.
Well, I need to go to bed. One more day of work before a weekend off. Ooh, which reminds me of one more story I didn't tell. Last Saturday was Nathaniel's first upwards basketball game. How wonderful and fun!! He loves it and it was so fun to watch all of them learning. They play 6 6-minute quarters, with a devotion after 3 quarters. All the kids get to play at least half of the game. They run in through a tunnel that has lights and fog. Their names are announced in the gym as they run out with their team. No scores are kept. The referees were really great at working with the kids last week. They would stop the game and help the kids learn where to run to and what to do. It was really neat. He plays again this saturday at 8. Most of his games are saturday mornings at 8. He will do this until the end of February, when they will have an awards ceremony to celebrate a good season. I am so thankful for it. It is a good bible based activity and Nathaniel loves playing and learning a new sport. I will have to post pictures when I can next.
Ok, I think I am caught up. Until next time, all our love!!
Thursday, January 01, 2009
More...
As I sit here waiting for our hot water heater to repenish the warm water so I can soak in a warm bath. ( I have felt like trash the last 24 hours) I was on to catch up and realized I didn't get to mention that an anonomous person from our church had been extremely blessed this year and had asked Bruce for names of 3 families in our church who were hurting this holiday season. Our name was one listed, so we were supposed to give Duane, our associate minister, some interest the kids had and a list of our bills. We did and on December 23rd, Duane called and said that the people had brought by the church some gifts for us to put under the tree for the kids and if we could come by, that would be great. We got there and they had gotten Nathaniel a new bike, a speed racer track set, an air hog flyer , winter boots and gloves, and a $25 gift card to walmart. They had gotten Hannah a huge dry erase board, a huge coloring book, some snow boots and gloves, and an easy bake oven. They had also bought really neat paper and ribbons and gift tags. We put, "to hannah, from God; to nathaniel, from God." on all of them. They also gave us an envelope with $400 to help pay our utility bills. The kids were overwhelmed. We had Chris' family here that week also and I don't know what they thought of all of it. It has seemed easier, (so it feels) for them to just bypass the thought that we are surviving completely on the kindness of others and God's blessing through those people. I think they were overwhelmed with the generosity of our church and the people around us here. They were here when we had to leave to go and get all these things from the church. We were very thankful and still are. But with it being the beginning of another year and the holiday season over, we are facing the reality that we are still unsure of the future. WE are so grateful for all the kindness of others and I don't know how we would have made it through all of this without the kindness of strangers and others. We had our friends, the Mills family over last night to share in our plenty of food. We cooked off our ham and some veggies. They brought over some drinks and cookies. it was nice.
the kids and Chris have enjoyed the last few weeks just being together. I have been working extra hours at mazzios. so many, I am afraid that is why I was feeling ill all last night and all day today. Every ounce of my body was sore, and cramping. I got to thinking that I go in at 6:45 and have my vitamin water and either some toast or oatmeal, but the next chance I get to eat or have something to drink is when I get off. I have been the only cook in the back and this week, that has meant rolling dough, making dough, making all the food products, watching the buffet, cutting pizzas for orders and buffet, and watching the drive thru window. I haven't had time to stop and go get a drink. When I get off, i crash at home. Eat supper with my familty and maybe have one or two glasses of water. Otherwise, I am in bed by 9 and up to do it all over again. And this week, I have been staying until after 5. When I got off yesterday, I just left. There was a super rush right at 5 and the night crew was just getting there and weren't in the game to get in there and get the orders done. I had no energy left to help out. I just clocked out and left. I was worried I would fall over. I think most of my problem is that I am getting dehydrated and am working so long without a break to stop rushing around. I don't know how much long I can do this. It physically hurts. That is why I stayed home to rest. I slept all night and was up at 8 with the kids only to go back to bed around 9 and I slept until 4pm. I am still not feeling 100% so I am not going in tomorrow either. I am going to get a bath when I have hot water and am going to rest as much as I can the next few days. I know you all are praying. Continue to do so. This is so hard. We know God will get us through. The waiting for it is the worst. At least we have a wonderful church family and friends who are so wonderful to us.
Anyways, I am starting to feel weak again, so I am going to go and check on the water. I hope the new year will bring you all God's goodness and mercy!
the kids and Chris have enjoyed the last few weeks just being together. I have been working extra hours at mazzios. so many, I am afraid that is why I was feeling ill all last night and all day today. Every ounce of my body was sore, and cramping. I got to thinking that I go in at 6:45 and have my vitamin water and either some toast or oatmeal, but the next chance I get to eat or have something to drink is when I get off. I have been the only cook in the back and this week, that has meant rolling dough, making dough, making all the food products, watching the buffet, cutting pizzas for orders and buffet, and watching the drive thru window. I haven't had time to stop and go get a drink. When I get off, i crash at home. Eat supper with my familty and maybe have one or two glasses of water. Otherwise, I am in bed by 9 and up to do it all over again. And this week, I have been staying until after 5. When I got off yesterday, I just left. There was a super rush right at 5 and the night crew was just getting there and weren't in the game to get in there and get the orders done. I had no energy left to help out. I just clocked out and left. I was worried I would fall over. I think most of my problem is that I am getting dehydrated and am working so long without a break to stop rushing around. I don't know how much long I can do this. It physically hurts. That is why I stayed home to rest. I slept all night and was up at 8 with the kids only to go back to bed around 9 and I slept until 4pm. I am still not feeling 100% so I am not going in tomorrow either. I am going to get a bath when I have hot water and am going to rest as much as I can the next few days. I know you all are praying. Continue to do so. This is so hard. We know God will get us through. The waiting for it is the worst. At least we have a wonderful church family and friends who are so wonderful to us.
Anyways, I am starting to feel weak again, so I am going to go and check on the water. I hope the new year will bring you all God's goodness and mercy!
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