Wednesday, June 30, 2010

The Red Door

When I was little, my friends and I all dreamt of what our lives would be like as we played with our Barbies. One declared she was going to marry a doctor, another a lawyer and me?! Well, I drew a lot of strange looks from my friends as I declared I would live in a house with a red door.

Why "Red"?!?!?!

To me having a red door meant I was more than just the standard white or brown door. It meant there was something fun and whimsical about the person residing behind that door. I've always had an independent streak in me and a love of being different, mind body and soul. And now I've found my way.

As a family we've made our way back into something resembling a life. My children....are happy. My husband, who I discovered owns more than 40 pairs of shoes in this move, is content. I, though waiting for my impending surgery on my foot, can finally open my eyes and feel the sun on my face....even though I discovered today the previous tenants forgot one of their weaves behind one of the drawers in my new bathroom....let's just say rubber gloves were in order.

So my friends, you now know why I've changed my identity to Red Door Girl when I sign into your comments. It reminds me of the vision I lost through this trial.

Almost Home...

I am sitting here in my dungeon...literally, although I think we need a few more gargoyles and skeletons hanging in the corner to be perfectly honest. Oh and by the way....I HATE MOVING!!!!!

The start of our moving season was beautiful...all three of my children were off at scout camp or Young Women's Camp. Bryan had a great time earning 7 whopping merit badges bringing him within 1 merit badge to earn his life rank... And of course he has 5 1/2 months to wit until he can advance. the girls had a blast of their own learning the power of prayer is great. While the other cabins at camp found spiders and scorpions lurking in their cabin, theirs was the one cabin with absolutely no incidences. The girls even enjoyed their horseback riding lessons at camp. It was great in their eyes.

While all three kids were gone we bagged and boxed all of their things and moved everything but the furniture. Moving day came and the hectic pace began. I consider ourselves blessed that we had so much help loading up...and there were 6 moves happening in our ward that day. We even had my car loaded to the hilt!!! I received a call from a friend saying that the girls would be arriving home in 1 hour. My care was packed to the roof. I had no choice but to run to the house, unpack my car and then run to pick the girls up. I made it about 5 minutes late. Once we loaded the girls into the car along with all their gear we ran back to the house. I knew I had about an hour before Bryan would be arriving home. So we loaded some of the final kitchen items...not all would fit in the car and began our journey to the new house.

Our friends, and new neighbors, lent me one of their cell phones since our phone would soon be down. As we were driving past the church the cell rang and we found out Bryan would be at the church in about 10 minutes. We turned around and drove back to the church and then desperately tried to rearrange things so that we could fit one more body AND all of his gear into the car. Let's just say there's a reason I'm good at Tetris.

For the past 3 days we've done nothing but unpack and rearrange. So much to do and never enough time let me tell you!!!

Today is a little slower pace. Don is at work and this is my final day off.We have just a few more boxes to unpack and then we can get back to our previously scheduled programming.

Monday, June 21, 2010

Remember That Light at the End of the Tunnel?!


I've asked myself constantly...

"Are we there yet?!"

And guess what?!

WE'RE THERE!!!!!!!!!

Hubby and I have spent the weekend moving whatever we could into our new home. The carpets have yet to be cleaned, but it is planned. From there the house needs a good scrubbing every corner of the house. We ran over there this morning and borrowed my best friend's SUV again to bring as much as we could before Saturday. Besides, a few of the things we needed for Corinna for camp...were brought to the house...Ooopsie!!!

We picked up the items and dropped Corinna off for camp. We bid our eldest good bye. Our sweet Bryan was woken up this morning at 4:15am to head off to scout camp. Tomorrow brings one more farewell as we send our youngest to Girl's Camp for the first time...she is so excited about the shows, the fun, the learning and most especially the horseback riding.

Tomorrow we begin our 4 nights with no kids in the home. That can only mean one thing....


PAR-TAY!!!!!!

I wish...no instead we are working our week while trying to make usre everything else for the move is finished.

The best news is that after a long hard hunt for Hubby to find a new job with fulltime hours I am happy to report...the search is over. today after dropping child 1 off for her trip up to cmap he received a call offering a job as long as he passes the criminal background check. I am so thrilled. He was offered a position at the high school my daughter just finished her freshman year at. She is moving to another school so there won't be any problems. He is literally dancing and the move is a good thing for him. Yes, we will lose our discount at Target, but it will be so worth it in the end.

I also made it to the doctor again for my third cortison shot into my heel. It's not working my friends, but we are hoping for a miracle. My dcotor and I have discussed the surgery which he is believing may be necessary at this point. He explained the procedure and told me it would be an outpatient surgery that would keep me out of work for just a few days to recover and that is a good thing. It is a 15 minute procedure I would be awake through. Only an hour before the surgery for prep, 15 minutes for the actual surgery and 1 hour after for recovery. From there I will go home wearing a foot cast for three weeks to allow my foot time to recover. I can hardly wait to walk without pain. This is a good thing.

So my friends, I THANK YOU ALL!!! for your incredible support you've given myself and my family. I am grateful for the prayers and strength and the friends along the way who wound their way into my heart. I love you all for your kindness and your cheering. Starting July 6th...Hubby's first day....I will step out into the sunlight for the first time in two years.

Perhaps I should wear sunglasses.

Sunday, June 20, 2010

More To Come...

Starting move....

Foot is killing me....

More to move tomorrow...

Final moving....Saturday.

Praying for strength to lift, patience to not kill my husband when he is tired and grumpy, a smile to keep everything cheerful, and the men at church to show up and help.

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

We Have A Date!!!

AND I am thrilled!!! Hubby came home with notice that he and I have the same Saturday off that we were hoping to plan and so we are going to move on the 26th. I am hoping and praying that all will go well...so far so good. Most of the important things are packed and ready. THe loose stuff? Well...we'll just say we're going to do our best!!! As soon as I get into the house I'll be updating with new pictures. Until then...pray for me to have strength to make it through this!!!

Saturday, June 12, 2010

It's been a long couple of weeks....working hard, playing hard, praying hard.

Long hours on the sales floor and connected to a headset listening to people tell me a bit about their lives. This morning I had a wonderful conversation with a woman who worked in a bridal shop part time and was taking her husband into the doctor to get his check up with his Parkinson's. Her oldest son has just sold his house and is living in her brother's condo, of which he is going to out in the next week or two to find a new home to start out his new life with his new job. And how do I know this? Because resevervationists are the bartenders of the travel world, dontcha know?!?!?

In between the packing we've found our way to the pool, doing a quick road trip...just to drop hubby off at the airport. All the while getting hit on by a guy in the Shell station...Here's what happened....and please keep in mind this is a biker with tattoos up his arm with a handlebar mustache.

Him "Hi"

Me "Hi"

Him "How are you?"

Me "Fine thanks, how are you?"

Him "Better now that you got here!!!"


OH MY!!!!


And finally, my best friend, My Bobby. He called and asked for a favor. For a friend? Absolutely!!! Can I watch his girlfriend's kids? No prob. Why?!

Because he is in the hospital and when his girlfriend finds out she's going to FREAK and will be wanting to get to the hospital to see him. Truth be told...she sure did. She did what she was told....brought the kids to me and left for the hospital. We watched their kids. her darling 4 year old son came up to me and fluttered his big brown eyes and said: "You're pretty." Sucking up?! Nope...far to innocent. Molly however was given a better offer: "You're pretty...will you marry me?" The little guys older brother who just happens to have a crush on Molly seems to agree.

...oh dear!!!

Come to find out our dear Bobby had a sugar level so high it made the doctor's scratch their head trying to figure out why he wasn't in a coma. YOWZA!!!! Apparently he has been diagnosed with juvenile onset diabetes. I told him he needed to grow up...you've gotta love our friendship. He's the one that is renting us the house so our kids can be together and play together. The beginning o his own community. One where the kids can be kids and the grownups can shut down the street for a block party, just because we want to.

He is now recovering and slowly making his way back to work. He's a nurse and all of the doctor's he works with are keeping a very close eye on him...he is adjusting fine.

And finally, I am grateful for the goodness in my life and the close friends who I can depend on and who can depend on me. I am grateful for the love of my life who is at this moment celebrating his parent's 50th anniversary and for the first time in MANY years having all of his brothers and sisters in one place. I am grateful for the gospel that keeps my feet moving even when i don't want to move them. I am also grateful for the cool weather that will invade San Antonio on whatever date we decide to move....I can dream can't I?!?!? Just a little faith!!!!

Thursday, June 10, 2010

Aside...

Aside from working a ridiculously 40 hours workweek...I know horrible isn't it?!?!
Aside from packing the house and getting ready for the move...though I'm not sure yet what date this will happen...Aside from trying to get all three kids ready for Youth Conference and their camps which are all happening within a few days of each other...Aside from getting hubby ready and taking him to the airport at some incredibly horrible hour of the morning for a weekend trip (Happy 50th anniversary to his parents)...Aside from hobbling to the doctor only to hear the words: "We'll give you a larger dose of Cortisone and re-evaluate if we should even do a third dose in 4 weeks...Aside from realizing the larger shot of Cortisone didn't work, but appreciating the pain in which I felt as it was injected into my foot...Aside from the loss of my sanity and taking a brief moment to enjoy the incredibly beautiful lightning storms...Aside from attempting to remember how to spell my own name....I'm here and I'm laughing...to the side of course!!!

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

And so it begins...




Do you see this? Oh yeah! The move is on!!! The current tenants vacate 2 weeks from tomorrow and we will then be allowed to come in and paint, clean and get ready to move in.

We have until July 5th to get out of the apartment. My prayers until then are that the 26th will run smoothly for us....Don will be off that day...I will be off that day...we'll find a full crew of willing helpers in out ward to move us. From there...the rest will be simple. Or as simple as moving can be.

Seeing boxes again...I'm thrilled!!! I am truly thrilled to see the move is not so far away!!! And oh yeah...there will be pictures... and the unveiling of a new look...new blog...a new me!!!