Friday, September 12, 2008

The Hardest (and Most Time Consuming and Rewarding) Job in the World

I had such plans when I woke up this morning. I bought new yarn on Wednesday for a sweater that I have been working on for my cute nephew. I started this sweater before he was born and I ran out of yarn shortly before his birth. I had this yarn in my stash for a while and since I bought it they have stopped making that color. I have searched high and low for it. I have looked online everywhere, even on eBay. It is no where to be found. I have to start all over with different yarn. And I was so close to finishing. I just needed enough to make a little bit on the front, the little sleeves and collar. Anyway, I was looking forward to watching a movie and knitting today before the kids cam home from school. I went out for my run before Jim even left the house. (which is very good for me. He is a bad influence and wants me to sleep in with him.) I was about a half a mile away from home when something popped in the back of my knee. I had to limp home and my 45 minute run turned into about an hour and 15 minutes. I got home and was about to make a smoothie when I looked at the calendar and saw that Kyle had a dentist appointment at 9:00. It was 9:08. I rushed over to the school and picked him up. We were there for over an hour! And I didn't even bring my knitting! He was very numb so we went to buy him some liquid lunch. We drove through Starbucks and got two Orange Mango Banana Vivano's; mine was breakfast, his was lunch. I dropped him back at school and remembered I needed a couple of things at the store. I drove over to Wal-Mart and made my purchase. I put the groceries in the back of the van and was so disgusted at what I saw back there. That car was so gross I had to clean it and that's a job you need to do before you shower. I did a major clean. I took the seats and the mats out and vacuumed for what seemed like forever. My kids may be grown but they still leave behind dehydrated French fries and squashed raisins (at least I hope those were raisins!) There was also plenty of grass, dirt, gravel and dog hair. It looks great now but it was after 1:00 and still no shower. I was on a vacuuming roll (and sick of dog hair) so I started vacuuming in the house in all the places the dog visits. I also spent some time brushing her outside so she would bring less inside. when I looked at the clock again it was after 2:00! The two younger boys had early out (whoever invented that should be shot!) and I had to pick them up because Kyle had to be at baseball practice at 2:30. So, I got Kyle to practice on time in my clean car and came home to my vacuumed house so I could accomplish my goal of blogging every day this week - but still no shower. I think that is next on the agenda!

To all those moms that have little ones at home still, I know you are dreaming of the day when all your kids will be in school and you will have hours of "free time". I am here to tell you there is no such thing as "free time". You still have tons of things you will need to do for your family even if they aren't there to ask for drinks and snacks. I suppose I could have not cleaned and vacuumed the car. I suppose I could have made the boys vacuum in the house. I suppose I could have knitted all day but when I got in the car to take Kyle to practice it felt really good to do it in a clean car. And when I got home and walked into a vacuumed house it felt good. I live with boys so I don't think anyone will notice and I am almost positive Jim will wonder what I did all day (because I told him I was going to clean our room and I didn't!). It's only 3:30. I can shower, pick up in the room a little and then maybe knit for a while before I have all our Rock Band friends over for dinner, games and Rock Band. I just might not be able to stay awake past 10:00!

Thursday, September 11, 2008

Dinner of Champions


Usually when Jim or I go on a business trip we bring back something cool for the kids. Since my last trip was to a place where all the stores got boarded up and the power was still out when I left, I didn't really have a chance to get something cool, or what I thought was cool. The only thing I brought back was two MRE's (Meals Ready to Eat). These were true, military issue MRE's.

One was Chili Mac. It came with pineapple tidbits, "forever" bread, cheese spread, a little package of red hots, red punch mix, hot apple cider mix, gum and toilet paper.

The second one was BBQ Beef Ribs (it looked like the meat that's on a McRib sandwich). That came with clam chowder, tortillas, a chocolate chip pop tart, lemon lime drink mix, instant coffee (we passed on that), trail mix, gum and toilet paper. We warmed both of them up using the cool warming chemicals that it comes with and split it up between the three boys (Jim ate leftovers and I had a smoothie).

The reviews were mixed. The cool factor was still there because of the heating method. The favorite was the Chili Mac and the Pop Tart. I asked the boys if i should get more for our 72 hour kits. They said it would be great if they were starving but not for a regular dinner when we have other food in the house and electricity to cook it with!

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Wednesday Ramblings

I got tired of seeing Gustav on the blog so I will have to post something every day this week to get those posts in the archive.

I think Jim had this idea all along. He would get this Blog started and then sneakily hand it over to me. (He thinks I have a lot of "free time".) I don't have anyone to talk to during the day because I am home alone. When I do have someone to talk to (when Jim gets home from work) I do tend to ramble a bit. It can be overwhelming. It has been nice to get most of it out on this blog and in my journal (http://www.ldsjournal.com/) and let Jim have some peace and quiet when he gets home. But, in reality, I think it is just that I took over and he let me. I have way too much time to think about things!

I am starting to get back into the daily grind. I have gone running every day this week, so far. The laundry is almost manageable. The kitchen is usable. I knitted a dishcloth. I am getting a handle on the mail and other paperwork. The bathrooms still need some attention but for me that is always a last resort; when I don't have anything else to do!

Sunday, September 7, 2008

Gustav - Final Update

I arrived home on Thursday evening and since then I have immersed myself fully in my “real” job. So much so that I forgot I left everyone hanging on the hurricane situation. I got several text messages and phone calls over the past few days (even people stopping me in the hall at church) asking what happened. That leads me to believe that people out there are reading this blog even if there are almost no comments left behind ;) So, for all those inquiring minds out there, here’s the skinny…

On my way to the airport I needed to pick up another person who was also leaving. When I stopped by the office to pick him up, another coworker came out to the car and informed me that I needed to leave my “work” computer, and accessories, with him. The camera I used to take pictures of the aftermath was one of those accessories. The only picture I have now is below. (Sorry about the quality, I took it on my phone.) I have not heard one thing from TMS and I am still not sure if I have a job or not. I will keep you posted.

I was so happy to be home, to kiss my husband, to sleep in my own bed, to cuddle with my boys, to have power, to go to the grocery store, to go to Kyle’s baseball games yesterday…all the things I should be doing as a mom. I don’t mind working outside the home; in fact, most of the time I really enjoy what I do. Every other event I have worked has been several days or weeks and very long hours. It makes the days and hours go by faster when I have a job to do and I work hard to get that job done. During this particular event was different and I felt my time was not being used wisely. I need to be busy so I feel like the time away from my family is worth it. I hope you know what I mean.

Well, that’s where things are at so far. If I am unemployed, I can handle it. Football season has started. Super Bowl will be here before I know it. I hope Hurricane Ike goes straight west. People in Texas are tough! They most likely won’t need our help.


Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Gustav Update #5

I finally got into a place that has power. I plugged in my cell phone and laptop but have no cell phone signal. The storm was very windy and rainy. For those of you that live in Utah and have been through a micro-burst thunder storm, it was like that but instead of four minutes of crazy weather it was for about four hours! The power is still out at the house we are staying in and I am sure it will be out for several days if not weeks. I know that I was in a bubble of protection because of all your thoughts and prayers by what I saw the next day. When I got up the courage, I walked around the neighborhood a little bit and took some pictures. (I didn't bring my cable so I can't post those pictures yet.) There was a lot more damage in Baton Rouge than I thought. About one third of the roads were impassable because of downed trees, standing water or sagging power lines. I wish I had been able to go home between trips so I had some of our camping equipment. (There were three candles in the house and they are those tiny, fragrant bathroom candles so I used them sparingly.) I wish I had been able to bring, at the very least, a lantern, head lamp, backpacking stove and the power inverter that plugs into the car.

But I am happy to report, none of that is going to be necessary. Because of several issues, none of which I care to mention in this blog, I have informed TMS that I no longer wish to be a part of this project. One of these days I would be happy to explain it all but for now I am just counting down the hours until I can happily drop off my rental car and board a plane at BTR. Now, don't tell my boys, I am going to surprise them!

Thank you all for your prayers and support of my family. It has been very noticeable. I have felt the peace and comfort through everything I have gone through. Especially once I made the decision to come home. I know without a doubt that home is the place I should be right now. How wonderful if we all had that firm confirmation on a daily basis of where we should be and what we should be doing. I know we can if we only pray and listen for that direction.

Monday, September 1, 2008

Gustav Update #4

The eye of the storm is now 60 miles due west of us. I think the worst of it is over. We may still get quite a bit of rain and some winds but the worst of it is usually the north east quadrant of the storm. The majority of the trees have stayed in tact in the little area I am in. But small branches and tons of leaves litter the roads and sidewalks. The power has been out for about three hours which makes me believe there is some major downed trees somewhere in the area. I don't know how long we will be without power here but I don't think I will be here long enough to find out. I hope we can start moving people back into the city starting late tomorrow. Hopefully by Friday but there are several parishes that are severely flooded. They are covering it on the major news channels but I have been watching a local channel that is streaming live. It has been a great source of local information:

http://www.wwltv.com/video/?nvid=57429&live=yes

I only have about 40% of my laptop battery life left so I am going to make this short. I don't know when I will be able to charge up again. I am glad I charged everything up last night!

Gustav Update #3

When I woke up this morning it was pretty calm. There was a little rain and some wind but not much yet. It is about 11:30 now and things have picked up quite a bit but it is still not much more than a good rain storm. Right now, the eye is about 60 miles away from downtown New Orleans. Where I am now should be getting really interesting in the next few hours. Everyone in the house is sleeping. I have a hard time sleeping durring the day so feel free to email or text me. I am just wrapped up in a blanket reading a magazine and listening to CNN. I may have something more interesting to report tonight. I just hope the power stays on...