Playing Catch Up

This last week has been quite busy for me here...hence my lack of blogging. I've tried to get on the computer numerous times but it just hasn't happened!! Steve started back up at Texas A & M last week and this semester we took the plunge and signed him on to two classes. So far things have gone well. The only downside is that he's studying nearly every night. This is not something our family can maintain for any extended length of time. But for a semester or two, we can put our heads down and do it. I keep keeping the end goal in mind. If we can do this for two semesters (this one and summer), then he will only have two classes left. "I think I can, I think I can...."

One of the things that has changed, with him gone, is the general flow of the evening since he's no longer here to help me field/manage the masses. I've simply had to maneuver things and in some instances lower the standard to still have all of us (myself definitely included) end the evening loving the standard and cheerful. This is hard for me to do but after a few nights of me being snippy, I knew something had to change. Before I would put the kids to bed by myself a couple of nights a week when Steve would study. But now that it's most nights, I find that it's a different kind of tiring. Letting go of "my standards" is a pretty difficult thing for me. Luckily, my husband loves me, listened to my concerns and was able to offer some pretty helpful suggestions that have worked well. And this whole deal is what I signed up for...I knew it would be like this if we decided to do two classes. So no tears for me. I'm just trying to learn how to navigate it well.

Another thing that has caused quite a stir over the last week is some major car trouble we've been having. I still maintain that our Pilot is the best (I'm a loyal fan) and has never broken down on us of its own accord. We keep it well maintained. But twice now, in the past six months a rodent of some kind has caused MAJOR wiring damage to our engine. You might remember me writing about it the first time. This time the price tag was over double what it cost last time and I was in tears. It's one thing for a car to need fixing when a part goes bad but when a mouse/rat wrecks perfectly good wiring just because it's hungry, that can be tiresome. We live in the country and do not have a garage. What are we to do?

However, God NEVER fails to care for us. The car dealership hooked us up with a sweet rental for the last week that they've paid for (for some reason), they suggested I call our car insurance to help cover the damage (turns out it was covered) and our bill went from $1300 down to our $500 deductible without any residual damage to our monthly premiums. Ummm...what? So even though it's been a flurry of phone calls, it has still ended as well as it can and I'm forever in awe of how God cares for all of our needs. Now we just need to figure out how to keep those pesky creatures out of our engine. Any ideas would be MUCH appreciated.

I'm also helping prepare for a dear friend's baby shower this Saturday which I am SO excited about, fielding the normal banter of children (which I do adore), directing school work for all three boys-day work for two and math practice at night for Isaac, madly trying to keep up with my chores, playing dolls with my best girl and at times dealing with a puking Joshua. That poor kid. He got the stomach flu really badly three weeks ago-as in, the worst I've ever seen and I've seen much puke. Then he got another full round of it ten days later. Then this morning, exactly ten days after the last episode, he threw up again. He was okay for the rest of the day this time, but it has just taken his body so long to recover from that bug. I finally emailed the doc to make sure I wasn't missing something. He wrote back that his little belly probably just took a big hit and was still recovering. He prescribed the BRAT diet and probiotics for a few weeks. He doesn't think he's still actually sick just recovering. Wow. The things you learn as a parent. I never knew something like that could even happen.

Earlier in the week, one of my best friends from Cal Poly came to visit with her two boys. I treasure the time I get with my best buddies from Cal Poly and this day was no exception. She drove two hours here and two hours home just to see me. Seeing her beautiful face, hearing her laugh, and watching her with her kids just lifted my spirits so much. I love all my girls from Poly...you know who you are...such an incredibly meaningful and amazing time in my life. I'm so glad I joined LSM (AGO)-it literally changed my life. And thanks for coming Jilly. Seeing you encouraged me so much!

As you can all imagine, our house was definitely in mourning after last Sunday night's NFC Championship game at Candlestick Park. I had to console the boys, all clad in their 49er jerseys after Kyle Williams fumbled the punt in overtime putting the Giants well within field goal range (which they did kick) and on their way to the Superbowl. Their Dad was at that game. And when he came home hours later, I had to console him too. Those were some sad times but, there's always next season. And as a whole, the 49ers far surpassed expectations. We're still faithfuls. Go Niners!!

So there you go. It's a whole bunch of nothing but, still enough to keep me on my toes at all times. May God be praised for it is Him who keeps me, and really all of us, going.

I'm going to go pass out now :). Ha ha!! Nigh-night!