The Other Shoe

Well I had to mention it didn't I? I was recently worried that T would get deployed and now the day has come. He told us about a week ago that he got word that he will be deploying on Oct 11th. Just after middle boy's 12th birthday. We will surely miss him and I wonder how I will manage to do (by myself) all the things he does for me around here. Not to mention the sad fact that I will miss his company. But I have been aware of a feeling of calm that I can't understand ever since he told me. I know I am being comforted by the Holy Spirit. Troy has felt that same Spirit of calm. I know we will be watched over. I know we will be given opportunities to grow. I know everything will be alright... If your feeling sad about our news, please watch 'Bulbous Bouffant" in my last post. It has done miracles in our family this week! Laughter is the best medicine!!!

Bulbous Bouffant

Nie Nie

Somehow I stumbled onto a news story (Today just interviewed them this past week) about a family I grew up with in Provo and I am now obsessed with reading about them online. Unfortunately I am sort of a blog idiot and don't know how to post a link, but I am sure you can search under the Nie Nie dialogs to find her blog and her story. She and her husband Christian (she calls him Mr Neilson which I find so funny! Like the monkey in Pippi Longstockings), were in a nearly fatal plane crash and are fighting for their lives. They have 4 kids. I didn't know her personally, but her blog is absolutely fantastic. What a great spirit she has. I knew her older siblings. Matt (my 5th grade crush), Page and Steve. There were 9 or 10 kids in the Clark family. I recently saw Matt at our 20 year high school reunion. I also bumped into Page at church while we were there. She is so nice and has like 8 kids herself.

Anyways I have been reading up on Nie Nie's past blogs and her sister and brother's blogs as well. Such good writing! I am getting nothing done around the house and my eyes are red from crying over this tragedy. It has also done something else for me though, it has made me want to enjoy my kids more, eat better, take better care of my body, and just be grateful everyday for everything God has blessed me with. I have been so richly blessed that I feel like the other shoe will drop soon.

We recently avoided Troy being deployed (twice in a month actually). One of those times it would have been to a seemingly dangerous place and he would have left in the next 7-10 days. I can't tell you how somber I was for the next 48 hours. The other thought I kept pushing out of my brain was that because the winds switched and someone fought to keep Troy just where he's is at right now, someone else now has to go (or stay there) in his place. Is that fair? Selfishly I want him here more than I want things to be fair for everyone, but it does make me feel a bit guilty. This situation we have in Iraq is so sad and just needs to be over. We have made so many sacrifices as a country for this cause and it just seems to be mis-managed right and left. I don't know what the answer is, but I know life is precious. I need to take a walk and breath deeply and get myself together before the kids come home. I am grateful our family is in tact for now, that we are taken care of. I will be praying for this family. Bless their souls!

brownies

So I was standing there minding my own business, blowing kisses at Big Girl, hoping she would not cry while waiting for the school bell to ring. (She's been in melt-down mode lately. I tell her there is a switch she can turn on or off on her back that turns off her tears. People must wonder what in the world we are doing when we are reaching onto our backs and flipping that switch off so there will be no more crying while sitting cross-legged with the morning sun in your eyes in that wait line). But I digress.... I'm doing my thing- signing 'I love you', flipping my switch and blowing kisses, when the ladies next to me notice that Baby Girl has beautiful curly hair that needs admiring. I thank them and the one lady who was more quiet says "You know there's a good chance it will turn out straight. My daughter's hair was curly until she turned 3 and now look how straight it is." She points out her daughter to me. I say as politely as I can. "Well just look at that cute little girl doing the I love you sign and scratching her back over there- she's my daughter and clearly she still has curly hair." Next we discover that we both have freshman attending the same high school. She asks if my son takes the bus in the morning and I say no and explain early morning seminary to her. She seemed impressed that I was able to get a teenager to wake up for a scripture class. But she found a way to bother me when she asked about the carpooling situation there. I told her that for now the parents are driving, but that soon a senior will be getting his license and will be driving them. She was not shy as she told me what a mistake I was making by letting that happen. "I don't care how responsible the teenager is, they are not experienced enough to be driving people at that age." she said. She also told me that she didn't let her teen drive until she was 18yrs old. Then I found out another tid bit of information and it all seemed to make perfect sense to me. This was her first year putting her youngest in public school- up until now she had been homeschooling. Nothing against those who do it well, but some of those homeschool parents are pretty odd ducks with straight haired non driving kids.

Troy's birthday- gone wrong

Well Troy turned 39 this week. I can't believe how old we are getting! We had planned to take labor day weekend and go visit some friends in Pennsylvania. However on Friday afternoon I started feeling poorly. It turned into the stomach flu which lasted all weekend long and I still don't have a good appetite yet. So instead of nicely wrapped presents and a card signed by the kids and I, with Troy's favorite meal and a home-made carrot cake. We had target-bag wrapped presents, (*one coupon for a present I didn't get a chance to buy drawn up by Evan), no card and Troy cooked his own meal and bought a 6.00 awful carrot cake from the grocery store. Plus he got to empty my throw-up bowl and wash linens. Nice! Good thing he's not as spoiled as I am and he didn't even resent it a bit. Or if he did he didn't show it. What a wonderful man. Who knows when we will make it to our friend's home now. Hopefully sooner rather than later.

On another subject I am so proud of the way my kids study habits have been starting off a new year- wanting to do well. They have this online way to check your kids progress and I know it's only the first week, but they are acing everything. I was a bit nervous because I put them in all honors classes to make sure they get the better teachers and put with the smarter kids who won't be as likely to be trouble makers, etc. Too bad that they don't give out "my kid's an honor roll student" bumper stickers on the first week. I always resent those people just a bit. Braggers! Yet here I am bragging now. But that's different, it's on my blog where hopefully people reading have an interest, not like on your car where people have no choice but to see you are bragging. I would probably also feel differently if I had straight A students (which unfortunately I don't- except this week!). I would want my kids to know how proud I was by defacing the van with a bumper sticker... nah, probably not-we'd just celebrate privately at home with the opening of new cell phones for the kids. I saw a bumper sticker at church that said "I love my kid even if he's not on the honor roll" and it made me laugh out loud.

Well, sorry to my friends who have those stickers on your cars. It's just the bitterness in me lashing out at you : )

KT