Hoops

Breathe in slowly through the nose, out through the mouth. Breathe in, breathe out...slow and easy. Continue until ones thoughts calm down, ones blood pressure drops and one can consider the hoops one must jump through to change names and info on driver's license, work paperwork, etc more calmly. I made my 3rd trip to the BMV in a week today - up until this point I had been somewhat calm about it. Today...not so much. I have to go back yet again as I still didn't have everything I need to change my name to married name and my address to new address - yesterday they would have used the marriage license to change the address as well as the name - now that I've been to the SS office to get that changed. Today...I have to have some official mail with the new mailing address on it in addition to the marriage license and paper from the SS office. Now that I've spent the last hour attempting to calm down - I realize I've dealt with 3 different employees in the BMV who have all told me something different. I have called my bank who I've dealt with since we moved here - they will change name and address based on marriage license. Then on Tuesday I can get copies of bank statement with new information on it, take that along with marriage license and SS paper back to BMV - along with new hubby B - and hopefully accomplish what has currently been not possible. Thankfully my workplace is not demanding it be done immediately which helps.

I told the girl I talked to at the bank what was going on - told her this kind of stuff was something I expected to have to deal with overseas - I remember Dad having to take care of getting stuff updated or paperwork and planning on it taking most of the day. He knew that even banking could take a long time with one having to visit multiple offices/people to accomplish one thing. I remember tagging along with him and being thankful that I had a book to read as we would go stand in one line or another to eventually get everything stamped appropriately. Here in the US I do NOT expect to have to deal with multiple trips to the same place to try to accomplish changing one driver's license. I was talking to Suz yesterday - she commented that if a business was run as inefficently as the government is run said business would go under in very short order. I have to agree.

On a different note...I'm currently unable to download pictures to the computer from my camera to post. Somehow in the wedding rush and computer getting updated my card reader software has disappeared - both what was installed and the disk to reinstall it. The good news is that the pictures that were already downloaded are fine - I just need to get them backed up to disc. Hopefully soon I will get wedding pictures that I can post...we will see.

Squirrel has had 2 cross country meets - the first one was home and the second was quite aways away. I didn't attend the second one - I know he was disappointed about that and his time. However he is still doing quite well for a beginner - just needs to stick it out and keep working at it. Tomorrow I will drive bus for a joint meet with both boys.

Sept11...That date is one that will forever stay in memory. Most of us can remember where we were and what we were doing when we first heard about the terrorist attacks on the US. I know I do...I was on my way to the hospital to spend the day with my husband Mike who was fighting brain cancer and going through rehab so he could hopefully learn to come home and be "self-sufficient". That day no rehab was accomplished - he took those attacks against his country as extremely personal attacks because the planes used were owned by "his" company. He was angry, frustrated and depressed. I know beyond shadow of a doubt that had he been 5-10 years younger and healthy he would have been first in line to enlist to go fight back. Suz, who's since become one of my best friends, on the other hand had just had her world jarred by being told her husband Tim had a very aggressive brain cancer.

My heart aches today for all those who lost that day...who still lose as a result of that day.

Monday Musings

Busy busy couple of weeks...and I really should be doing peaches already this morning. I have tomatoes waiting also - from Suz. I'm waiting on a call back from the doctor's office this morning - got into some poison oak the end of last week while I was picking elderberries. The good news (!) is that it's poison oak - not poison ivy - so my "preventative" from the spring apparently works on at least poison ivy. That's somewhat encouraging. However the fact that the poison oak is up around my eyes and into my hairline makes things challenging - not something I want to mess around with. So we will see what the doctor says. And thankfully it's not something that spreads to other people so I can still drive bus and continue on with semi-normal life.

Today was a rather wild morning on the bus - checking on some bus conduct reports I turned in last week, having one of my "challenge" kids punching the side of the bus for no apparent reason while another little one was in puddles of tears...Thankfully most of this happened at the elementary school so I could get some back-up. Most of it was nothing that was a real discipline issue though.

The wedding went off fairly well I think. We had a nice time away - though it was short. We deliberately didn't plan on any kind of schedule - did some sightseeing, some sleeping and just enjoyed the time away together.

The house is coming along - the drywallers are supposed to be there starting today. Insulation is in...I'm told it will change appearance drastically as the drywall goes up. From there I've got to get paint colors finalized and get ready to get things painted. I'm not sure when flooring will go in but it would likely be easier to paint first. We'll see.

This past Saturday Stretch had his first cross country meet of the season. He did really well I think - finished with a time of 20:25 for the 5K. I didn't drive the bus this past week - am scheduled to drive for the next two Saturdays when both boys have meets at the same places. It should be interesting.

I'm going to post this and will come back later to add pictures.

Today

Today is the day....whatever is not done won't be done. Soon the boys and I, along with my best friend from OK (and official wedding photographer) will be leaving to meet the family for breakfast. My sister reserved a room at a local buffet place - my request. I figured since family is flying in that I haven't seen for some time I really wanted a meal together - busy and chaotic as it will be. Dresses are done, flowers will be arriving at the church at 12:30 (I think) and whatever else is NOT done won't be done. I've not had time to post pictures this week - and barely any time to stop and think. HA!

Hopefully next week I'll have time to simply stop and think for awhile. For now...I'm signing off. Happy Holiday Weekend everyone.

Sunday Night

So Sunday night I had EMS on my property again - 2 ambulances and an unknown # of other responders - it was dark and I never did get a count of who all showed up. I've had a family living with me here this past summer (since June) - and their middle boy (13 - in 8th grade and a runner) came flying off the trampoline and hit his back and tail bone when he landed. No adults were home at the time - B and I were picking up my Squirrel from Bible study, Craig and Ginger were both at the house they are moving into (hopefully this week before the wedding!) Stretch was the oldest kid at home - inside on the computer. J & N (Craig and Ginger's boys) and Dipstick were out on the trampoline (instead of getting settled down for the night). Stretch called me - "Mom - J fell off the trampoline and he's having trouble moving"
Talk about sending fear into one's heart! Thankfully B and I were almost back to the house so I told Stretch to stay with J and tell him not to try to move. I assessed him with my limited knowledge - does this hurt, can you move this, rate your pain....and called my nurse neighbor and J's parents. From there I sent Stretch to call EMS - J was transported - with a neck brace on a back board to the local ER. Thankfully after all was said and done - X-rays, CT scans - J was sent home walking stiffly and sore but otherwise o.k. He's not to participate in gym for a couple of days but otherwise has no restrictions and no pain meds. Their insurance will pay all but $100.00 deductible for the ER and 10% of the ambulance bill.

I still feel stretched - like a rubber band that is about to snap. But I am rejoicing in God's protection - that J's injuries were not more serious and that they have good insurance. (I have home-owner's but no personal medical insurance). This week is going to be hectically busy - my dress for the wedding is not finished - nor is anyone else's. The gal doing the flowers backed out last Thursday night so I'm scrambling to get that covered - we will hopefully be able to use wildflowers and flowers from backyards. Family coming in this week - from pretty far across the US and Canada....B' s house is still no-where near finished - I suspect it will be close to 3 months at least before we can move in there. There is re-arranging to be done, food to be purchased... the list goes on. I want to enjoy this week...without feeling stretched the entire time.

Word picture from this morning:

Sun rising as a glowing orange ball. Dark shapes of trees and bushes. A calm pond reflecting it's surroundings. A solitary deer silhouetted by the edge of the pond getting a morning drink.

My morning bus route especially often leaves me longing for the ability to draw the scenes I see as I drive through the countryside. So far I've always been too much of a perfectionist to attempt to translate what's in my mind's eye to paper. But maybe someday...In the meantime I seek to remember the words to describe what I've seen.

I am thoroughly enjoying no longer having the kindergarten shuttle to run - not because I minded the little ones but because it's really nice to have 5 hours time at home during the day. I feel like I'll actually be able to get something accomplished during the day. So far today I've cleaned and cleared off all the kitchen counters and most of the dining room table. Laundry is put away (at least in the owner's rooms) while more is done in the washer. My bedroom is finally getting some much needed attention as is the family room. I've also laid down and closed my eyes for a bit, dealt with a couple of phone calls and looked at recipes for apple butter (canned) and apple pie filling. I have 4 good sized bowls of mealy looking apples on my counter top waiting to be dealt with. There are plenty more on the trees mostly out of my reach - the hope is to get at least one batch of apple butter and enough for several pies put up. I'm honestly not sure what type of apples these are - some look a lot like granny smith while others have a reddish tint to the skin....We will see how they turn out.

I've been busy picking out colors for the house - it's not ready to be painted yet. However I've had several people ask me about how I'm going to decorate it so I figured I'd better get some ideas going. (B has said painting and color choices are completely up to me!) It really is coming along - and is exciting to watch. Saturday B and I put wood panels (otherwise known as car-siding) up in the 3 season room. We got one wall done and another one partly done - the panels are pine and really light in color. I will seal them somehow which will darken them slightly. I really like the way it looks already - even with power saws and other construction equipment still in there. And it was really a lot of fun to learn to run two different kinds of power saws - I've always wanted to learn to work with wood. The challenge was just getting stuff cut exactly right - fortunately it wasn't too difficult most of the time.

Yesterday afternoon on my bus route I was handed a bag from a couple of the moms along with a note. It was a wedding and appreciation gift for my putting up with their kiddos on the bus - beautiful handmade ripple pattern throw - just perfect size to snuggle up under on the porch or in the 3 season room. The ripple pattern is my favorite crochet design and one that I've never successfully made.

Ok...time to scoot. I really want to get a bit more done on my bedroom before time to get on the bus this afternoon. We are in the final countdown for the wedding and things are still very much in progress rather than finished. I've delegated more stuff to more different people - and am having a relatively easy time saying "ok it's yours - I'm not going to worry about it now except to answer questions".

Huge Relief

Huge sense of relief this afternoon. - no more kindergarten shuttle. I loved the little ones - and there were only a few so that was nice. However with getting married and moving it's just too much. My afternoon bus route went fairly well - except for missing a stop. But I was done by 4:15 for the first time since school started last week - that's an improvement. All the kids on the bus belonged on my bus route - unlike Friday when I had a "stray". Apparently this girl likes to just ride the buses so periodically she will sneak onto one and ride until she's found - easy enough to do at the beginning of the school year when one is still learning faces, names and stops. I still have one mom who really would like me to not drive her children anymore (to put it politely). However I have support from my boss and the superintendent so that helps.

I started feeling much better from the strep throat within 24 hours of starting the antibiotic - I still sometimes get tired but that's normal. I still wanted to hibernate last week - crawl into a hole and pull covers in after me - could feel myself withdrawing from stuff around me. Having the computer go down again did not help at all as it leaves me feeling isolated and cut off from the "wider" world when I can't blog or check email. I spent over an hour on the phone with the telephone company yesterday and was able to get that sorted out. The other major reasons for the withdrawal was the huge mess in the house, boxes what seems like everywhere and people around all the time.

Supper is ready....Stretch should be calling for a ride home soon so I'd better post this and do more another time.