The Daniels came for dinner and spent a few hours. We had a good catch up. We hadn’t seen them in several years, but it didn’t seem like it. We had brisket and it was so incredibly tender. It’s was such a treat.
Monday was school and spirit week. We were supposed to wear green, but I forgot. Oops. I’m not terribly inclined to get involved in spirit week. However, the kids love it when the teachers participate. After school I came home and then later took Jack to his skills training. I went to Home Goods to return something and look for a shirt for twin day. I had told one of my students I would be a twin with her. She is a child with very few connections, so I couldn’t tell her no.
Once we got home from practice, Jack showered and had a snack. I showered and then put Jack to bed. Stuart went to bed at 10 and said ‘See you at 1!’ I, of course, was not humored. I do like to watch television on my own for a bit before going to bed, but most nights it’s not that late.
Tuesday morning the kids dressed as their favorite book character, as did Stuart. I forgot to take pictures of the kids, but Millie was Thing One and Jack was himself, from the book I wrote. He’s so lazy. Stuart was a Viking from How to Train Your Dragon. And he got a picture with Diane who was Junie B. Jones.
After school I spoke with the Director of Human Resources and she gave me good feedback from my interview. I then collected Millie and took her to a new gym for an assessment. We had decided that her current gym is way too steep for our pocketbook. She loves it and was told she would most likely be on the competitive team starting in the summer session. So we decided we would switch gyms the first of April.
Wednesday I dressed as a twin. I ended up buying shirts at Wal Mart and dropping one of them at this student’s house. I would post a picture of how cute we were, but I’m sure I’m not supposed to post the student’s picture.
I walked with Sue after school, changing out of my jeans and into my bike shorts on the journey to meet her. Safe? Uh, probably not, but necessary. We had an hour of chatter and tried our best to catch up on each other’s lives. When I got home, I changed clothes. I took Jack to Grammie and Pop’s and then took Millie to gymnastics and informed the gym we would be moving her. When they asked why, I didn’t give them all of the reasons, which seemed nicer to me.
Thursday after school I met Sherry, Mary and Elisa at The Keg for Happy Hour. Again, we did our best in 2 hours to catch up on what all has happened over the past several months. We seem to never run out of things to talk about, and laugh about.
Friday my school had a World Book Day celebration, although World Book Day had been on Tuesday, but who cares. I dressed as The Enormous Crocodile by Roald Dahl. I was quite the hit.
After school I picked the kids up and made the rounds. I picked up three boys for a night at our house. When we got home we discovered that the latch on the cage outside for the dogs had somehow come open. It seems the dogs did a number on our sitting room sofa. Awesome!
The carnage.
Had those boys not been there, the dogs just might have lost their lives. And I’m positive there would have been some choice words spoken.
After cleaning the mess, I carried on with house chores and then made food for the boys. They were playing basketball outside and then were playing at the park. One of the boys left at 9:30 pm, but the other two spent the night. Jack was on his phone too much and having issues with his little girlfriend. I tried to tell him he needed to tell her that she shouldn’t be calling him, but of course I’m stupid and don’t know anything. Then he let me hear her and her friend talking to him on a call. One of the girls said, ‘You are a dick and let people suck it’. I didn’t say anything to the person who said it, but when Jack hung up I told him that he could have whatever friends he wanted, but I would question his choices if that was the type of person he was okay with being around. He seemed disturbed by the whole thing, which made me happy. Sadly, he’s not my little boy anymore.
Later in the evening, Jack told me our neighbor called me a ‘Karen’ which kind of hurt my feelings. I told him that the neighbor didn’t even know what a ‘Karen’ was and he should ignore the kid. That boy has a reputation in the neighborhood as the mean boy anyway. Dang, I hope my boy is kind and polite and gentle to others.
Around midnight, when Stuart had gone to bed, Jack asked me to play Blockus with him and his friends. It was so sweet. The boys are still kind of little boys if they wanted their friend’s mom to play a game with them. They were super boys and I’m thankful he has friends that are like him and enjoy what he enjoys. After the game they came downstairs to watch a movie. They finally got slap happy and started playing a game with putting wiener at the end of every movie title. Around 1 am they retired and decided to go to sleep.
Saturday around 11 am, I took the boys home. Jack had a game in the afternoon and really turned it on. He was more aggressive and played with way more intensity. Once we were home, the preparations for the evening with friends started. We had the Tawneys and Reynolds over for dinner. As always, we had a wonderful time. Both families concurred with Stuart that club sports are irritating, but we are all a bit stuck when it comes to choices in the matter.
Sunday around 11:30 am Millie and I went to collect her friend Mallory. We went to the park for about a half hour. It got too hot for the girls, so they decided they wanted to come to the house to play. They pretty much entertained themselves, thank goodness.
Monday school was fine. We had a meeting after school to tell us we all had to fill out an involuntary transfer form. I took this a step further and messaged the HR director to let her know I would go the the gifted academy if necessary. I just need to be assured I have a job next year.
I got home and uncrated the dogs. They had peed in their crate, but that was the extent of the damage. We are hoping they get used to it as this is their new way of life since they can’t stop eating furniture.
I took Jack to basketball and met Ken at Streets of New York pizza place. When we got home, I took a shower in the kids’ bathroom because Jack was taking a shower in my bathroom. He’s scared of his own shadow, so in my bathroom he can see out of it, which he likes. Naturally I let him use my shower.
I left school on Tuesday to pick the kids up for an unbelievable confusing evening. Millie was at gymnastics at 4 pm. Jack and I went to grab a bite to eat until 5:30 pm when we picked Millie up, fed her and then headed to take Jack to practice. I then returned Millie to a make-up class she had at 6 pm. I returned to watch Jack practice and then we returned to collect Millie at 7:30 pm. We then headed to Champion Academy to have Jack measured for his new uniform. We were home just after 8 pm. The kids were showered and in bed just before 9 pm. What an exhausting day this was. While we were at school, the pool concrete was poured. Stuart got home to spray it down and then did a second watering before we went to bed.
Wednesday I picked the kids up after school. I got home and cleaned the dog crate. They had peed, but I think they will get used to it eventually. I had dropped the kids off at Grammie and Pop’s as Uncle Russ was in town. They were playing a game when I got back to hustle Millie out for gymnastics.
After dropping Millie off at the gym I headed to Susan’s house. It’s about a mile from the gym, so often I message her and Brenda, and we have a bit of a catch up.
Millie and I returned from gymnastics about the time Russ, Grammie and Pop brought Jack home from basketball practice. Millie had a meltdown about taking a shower and called Stuart a ‘loser’. By this time it was about an hour and a half past her bedtime. So instead of making her go to bed, I gave her a choice. She could go to bed or do what I was going to do when she went to bed. She decided to clean the bathrooms with me. If nothing else, we had three clean bathrooms. Once she decided to go to bed, she had remorse and told me she didn’t know how to control her anger and that she just ends up being mean. Hello, self-awareness! Please God, let her continue to see this and please help her correct these things.
Thursday Morgan came up from Yuma. We went to San Tan Flat.
Jack had s’mores while Millie slept.
Stuart stayed home with Bailey as he had his testicles removed that morning and we didn’t feel we could leave him alone. Poor dog.
Friday I was late to school because I had to take Chloe into the vet to be spayed. I left school as soon as school was out so I could collect the very lethargic Chloe. She was pitiful and not up for playing with Bailey. He wouldn’t leave her alone. The kids played outside and then we ordered Panda Express. Russ and Morgan came to eat and then went back to Grammie and Pop’s for a bit. Jack had a game at 8:15 pm. He played well and they won. He made a three pointer and was very pleased with his play.
Saturday morning we were up and Jack and I headed to Phoenix; me to the airport to go and visit Liz and Jack to his tournament. Stuart had decided he should stay home with the dogs in the cone collars as they were not terribly compliant.
When Grammie and Pop dropped me off at the airport, it was as if I had never traveled. I wasn’t sure what to do. I wasn’t checking a bag and was told I could go to security and print off a boarding pass. I couldn’t figure out what code to put in. I finally called Stuart. I figured it out in the end, only to be told my flight was delayed. It seems there was trouble in Flagstaff, where it was originating. I could have actually gone to Jack’s first game had I gotten the delayed information 45 minutes prior to when I got it. Oh well!
I finally got to Oregon just before 4 pm. Liz and I hit the grocery store for snacks and then went to have sushi. Oregon had just recently opened all of their restaurants. After we ate, we came back to the house and talked about Liz’s dad’s death. We laughed and cried and just had a great time catching up. I think it was good for her soul to talk through things. I was so thrilled I had decided to come and see her.
Saturday morning we got up and did some chores around the house. The biggest job we had that day was chipping the glue up from the tile. I was actually quite amazed at all Liz had done in a month.
Chipping the glue off the floor from the tile.
Cleaning out one of the deep freezers was another fun job. After chores and the sale of a bed, we headed to town for some breakfast. We went to a place called Debbie Sue’s. They had chicken fried steak and biscuits and gravy. I hope my jeans fit at the end of the week.
After breakfast and a trip to Ace Hardware we headed back home for some down time and to get ready for the 5K Paddy Pint. It was the first event that had happened in a year in Prineville. It was so much fun. We did a bit of shopping beforehand and then took our time walking the course, 4 hours to be exact. We came in dead last!
St. Patrick Day gear and all ready for the race, or walk, or leisurely stroll.
One of the stops was at Sons of Beer, a local restaurant/pub. Like the sign to the entrance of the bathrooms? Classy! We didn’t have the fastest time in the race, but we had fun!
After the race, and I use that term very lightly, we came back to house to warm up and have a bit of a rest, before heading back out for dinner with some of Liz’s friends. We were going to get cleaned up, but in the end decided it was too cold and too much trouble. We went to Redmond to a place called Diego’s. Liz’s friends were so nice and funny. We had a great evening, but totally forgot to take a picture. When we got back to the house around 10 pm, we stayed up for a couple of hours and continued our time of catch up.
This is what Stuart and the kids were up to Sunday afternoon. They are pasta outside by the chimemia and then had s’mores.
Monday morning we had left overs from where we had eaten on Sunday morning. 
This was what the food looked like originally. It was just as good the second day.
It was terribly cold once we ventured out of the house on Monday morning. Burr! We headed to Bi-Mart, a store that was a combo of Ace Hardware meets Dollar Tree meets Fry’s meets Ross. You could possibly never have to go to another store again. We then had lunch at Sons of Beers, one of our stops on the Paddy Pint the day before. After lunch we headed home for our nana nap. We both actually slept for a bit.
At 7 pm we met up with Cody, Liz’s cousin, who sang in the worship team at Central Christian Church when I was singing there as well. We went to a local steak restaurant. We spent two hours catching up with what had been happening basically the past 15 years. It was so nice to see him.
Tuesday we got up and Liz had a conference call with her job. She had taken the whole week as vacation in order to get some things done as well as spend time with me. We then went to Post, where Liz grew up. It was a little area about a half hour from Prineville. It was small town USA at its finest. We spent time with Beverly and Tom, some long time friends of Liz’s family. They showed us their property and we saw the cows. We had lunch and hours of conversation. It was wonderful.
The cows were a bit like dogs and just came up to us as we were standing there. They were massive animals.
Tom told me if this heifer lived much longer they would likely have to trim her horns.
This was the homestead Beverly’s family grew up in. The acreage they had covered a lot of ground, uphill and down. We drove around most of the 6000 acres.
We traveled on up the road to the Post Store. It wasn’t what I had envisioned, but we did get some souvenirs. Liz’s hope is to one day buy the store and restore it to what it once was, having a bar, coffee shop and restaurant. The store boasts that it sits exactly in the geographical middle of Oregon. Actually, the exact middle is on private property, so the store was as close as we could get.
We then traveled on Brooke and Andy’s house, friends Liz has acquired since coming back to Oregon a year ago. They were hilarious people. We had excellent conversation and Brooke fed us chili rellenos.
My new friends from Post, Oregon.
Wednesday was St Patrick’s Day, so we both wore green. We went to the cemetery to clean off some family headstones. Liz said she had kind of dreaded the whole experience because it was the first time she had been there since the graveside service. It helped ease the tension when I accidentally stood on Liz’s dad’s grave plot. There wasn’t a headstone there yet, so I kind of forgot the fresh ground was there. Liz said, ‘Hey, get off my dad!’ And then we both started laughing, as I apologized to Ralph. We headed to town around 10:30 am to do some of Liz’s errands. We decided to hit the sushi place again before going to grab a growler of pineapple cider from Sons of Beers.
We came home for a nana nap and then headed to pick up some tables from Liz’s friends for her garage sale. We set up the tables and put things on the tables. I washed out the other freezer and then we decided to eat a bit and watch some Netflix.
Garage sale nearly ready.
We started watching the show Good Girls. The first time I watched the show I thought it was dark and scary, but watching it with Liz made me laugh. We both laughed at the times that were a bit dark in the show.
I didn’t sleep at all on Wednesday night. I’ve been having trouble breathing. I think I’ve caught a cold. I also think I have long term covid damage, and will most likely need to go get that checked out. I find myself having to sit up in the middle of the night to catch my breath. I finally got out of bed at 8:45 am. I got dressed and we continued to work on sorting the garage sale stuff. Liz worked harder than I did for sure.
We went downtown and got a coffee before visiting a few local shops. We then went to dump some paint at the city dump. We went back to the house to meet with Liz’s tile guy. After he had finished we went back to town to eat lunch at Crooked River Brewing restaurant. I had a delicious pizza and Liz ordered the pulled pork nachos. Wow! The food was amazing. Around 2 pm, Liz went to the county assessors office to take her dad’s name off of the title of the house. The details of what all needs to be done when someone dies is something people don’t want to think of, but really should.
We got back to the house around 4 pm and decided to binge watch Good Girls. For dinner we just had leftovers and then hit the hay around 11 pm. What an absolutely amazing time I’ve had with Liz.
The kids spent Wednesday and Thursday up north with Grammie and Pop. Below are pictures from their adventures. I’m glad they did something with Grammie and Pop. The time they spend with them creates memories that are irreplaceable.
Montezuma’s Castle
Jeep your in Sedona.
A little fun with the alpacas.
Friday morning I got up, showered, packed, stripped the bed, and cleaned the bathroom before going into the kitchen for some coffee. I’m going to miss my lazy vacay mornings.
We decided to take a crack at putting a deadbolt on Liz’s door to her garage. It ended up not looking like a professional job, but it will do. I think Liz decided she would have her friend Jill’s husband help do the one on the front door. At least we tried. Unfortunately, Liz jacked up her shoulder in the process.
After the lock fun, we headed to Redmond to have some lunch at a Mexican restaurant. I had coconut shrimp tacos but could only eat one. They were delicious, but I think I will need to take a vacation from eating for a while.
These became leftovers for Liz.
When I got to the airport, I went to check my bag in and pay for a checked piece of luggage. Fortunately for me, the card machine wasn’t working and I didn’t have to pay for a checked bag of luggage. It was my lucky day, and not even St. Patrick’s Day.
The flight was uneventful, but packed. I met Liz’s high school health teacher, which cracked me up. When I landed, Stuart picked me up. The kids weren’t interested in coming, which was a bit disappointing, but it isn’t terribly exciting to go to the airport.
Once I was home, I unpacked. We then went to my mom’s for dinner. We had sandwiches and soup. I got home, showered, did some laundry, watched some television and went to bed. You would have h TJ ought I had been working all week. Stuart was the one who had been hard at work. He cleared the front yard of all the rocks and dug areas where we are going to put pavers. He’s the one who have been working hard.
Saturday morning I got up to go to the bathroom and stepped in dog poop. Ugh! These dogs are killing me. I think Bailey has been eating so much yard debris, his belly isn’t well. He’s not the sharpest tool in the shed.
Jack had a tournament in Chandler. They played at 10 am and then at noon. His regular coach wasn’t there so the equal rotation really didn’t happen. If I were to be honest, I wish Jack liked to sew or do crafts instead of sports. It’s all a bit stressful for me, but I suppose it’s not about me. He loves it so that is what matters. When he played he did well, especially on defense. Sadly, these days, kids think if they don’t score a lot of points then they aren’t contributing. However, Jack did a great job in stopping the other team from scoring. We tried to tell him that. He seemed fine with his play, but didn’t play as much as he would like. Have I mentioned I hate club sports?
After his games on Saturday, his team had another outing. Unfortunately, Jack already had plans with his school buddies, so he went to a sleepover at Gavin’s house. He knew we would have to pick him up at 10 am for his 11 am game, but he was fine with that. We took Millie to a birthday party from 3:30 to 7 pm. So we decided to shop a bit and then hit a curry restaurant. We do miss the curry of our middle eastern town of Al Ain.
It was pretty authentic and yummy, but spicy.
Sunday Millie had a play date with her gymnastics friend, Lucy, whose dad was nice, but had too many rules. And Lucy got hurt every other minute and needed an ice pack. Ugh! After the play date, we went home and got ready for Millie’s first sleepover in the United States. She was so excited. Stuart took her while I headed to Jack’s final game for the championship of the tournament. Grammie and Pop had taken him to the first game and then I met them there for the second one. Again, he didn’t play much. The team they played were a bit dirty. But the Gremlins killed them.
Champions of the St. Patrick’s Day Slam!
Stuart took Millie to her sleepover.
Clearly she was having a horrible time.
Jack and I came home after the game. He informed me he had stayed up until 4 am. Awesome! No wonder he was so tired. Chilled and leftovers for dinner.
Monday we went to work. Grammie picked Millie up from her sleepover. Jack was at home and then went to Grammie’s when Millie got back to the house. We all met at the house just before 4 pm. Millie had her counseling appointment as well as her meeting with her psychiatrist, who prescribed her another medication. Millie had told me a few nights earlier, after one of her meltdowns, that she didn’t know how to control her actions. That made me so sad. I told her I didn’t know how to control mine either. How many times in our lives do we feel we are failing at this parenting thing? A LOT!
Tuesday we all headed back to school. It’s hard to believe we have been back in Arizona for a year now. It doesn’t seem real. Sometimes I long for our UAE life, but we are content and healthy, so that’s all that matters.
I picked Millie up after school for another double session of gymnastics. She has a lot of make up classes, but will most likely not get them in before we leave this gym at the end of this month. Grammie and Pop took Jack to basketball. We all got home around the same time. The kids showered and ate and then it was bedtime for all.
Wednesday after school Stuart and I took Millie to gymnastics. We decided to have a date night. While Millie was at gymnastics we went to a pizza restaurant close by. While we were eating a lady came into the restaurant and asked for a cup for some water. She was not terribly clean, had matted hair, and seemed to be a bit confused. She came in and out of the restaurant several times. She finally walked over to our table and asked if we could buy her a slice of pizza. I said, ‘Absolutely!’ and proceeded to get up and go buy her food. As we waited for her pizza I started talking to her. She was asking about the busses and whether they went back into Phoenix. Well, I know nothing about the bus system, but decided I would help her get back to Phoenix. I ordered her an Uber, but she couldn’t remember the address where her friend stayed, so she just told me to put in the address for a hospital. Just before the Uber driver arrived, she remembered the address, so I was able to make the switch. She got into the car and I assured the Uber driver that he would get a bit tip for doing this trip. I gave her $20 and closed the door to the Uber. And then I thanked God for all He has given me. There but for the grace of God go I. I don’t think many of us realize how very close we are to being in a similar position. One wrong decision, or act, and it could be any of us needing that kind of help.
Stuart walked to gymnastics, as it was taking some time for me to send Melissa back to Phoenix and we had promised Millie we would watch the last part of her class. Once Millie was finished, we headed home and got back to the house before Jack arrived with Grammie and Pop. They had taken him to basketball again that evening.
Thursday I had an interview at the gifted academy closes to our house. The interview was really interesting. I had a tour of the school and then interviewed with the principal and three of the teachers. When the interview was over, I picked up the kids. We drove to Grammie’s and went to look at an RV. Stuart suggested I take Grammie because he wasn’t able to go. When we got home, I was freezing so I took a shower. I love Thursday evenings because we don’t have to cart kids anywhere. Now Mondays will be the same as Jack’s skills practice has been postponed until further notice. Stuart got home and I told him about the RV and he decided he wanted to go and see it on Friday.
After we went to see the RV on Friday, we decided we wanted to see a few more RVs before making any decisions about one. So Saturday morning we got up and went to an RV dealership to have a look around. We found one we liked, but the price was way out of our reach. When we got home we cleaned the downstairs of the house, washed beds, and got ready to go to Jack’s league game. It was at 1 pm, and then we headed to Glendale to look at another RV. We stopped at a place to grab some food before seeing the RV. We didn’t like it so much. There was way too much work to be done. But at least it made us realize the first RV was more up our alley. We got home later than the kids wanted, but they would get over it.
Sunday we were planning to clean the rest of the house but instead decided to go and drive the RV and then decided to buy that RV. So, look at us!
A view from the inside.....and
A view from the outside!!!!!
Once we were home Sunday night, Stuart started unpacking our camping stuff.
Monday after school I went to pay for the RV. It was a bit of a struggle as I had buyers remorse a bit. But when I got home we planned our first trip and I felt a little better about it. Monday evening we had nothing to do, which was nice. I enjoy lazy evening.
Tuesday at school I got the call that I didn’t get the gifted job I interviewed for. I was bummed a bit as no one likes rejection, but my dear friend Jennifer said no principal wants a teacher for one year with the threat of leaving for an administration job the following year. I suppose my right job will come along at some stage. I like where I work and who I work with, so it’s all good.
After school Stuart brought Millie to my school and took Jack home. Millie went to gymnastics and I went to a restaurant close by. She had a double lesson again so I said I brought pizza to her and then stayed to watch the second class. She has a little boy in her class who really should stick to something other than gymnastics. Bless his heart!
Grammie and Pop took Jack to basketball so he was home by the time we got back from gymnastics. I’m so glad this gym is almost finished. She will go from two nights a week, finishing after her bedtime, to just one night a week, getting home before her bedtime, and then on Saturday mornings. I’m hoping that’s a fit. However, those Saturdays will cut into our RV time.
I got up and walked with Sue on Wednesday morning. The dogs didn’t go back to sleep, and I’m sure they expected to go for a walk with me as I’ve been getting up for the last week to walk them. When I got back from my walk, I woke Millie and our day started. Stuart left early for school on Wednesday, as he was getting a new student and needed to get some things put together for him. It dawned on me what the date was after he walked out the door. I called him and said, ‘Uh, happy anniversary!’ We never remember. It’s good neither of us gets terribly bent out of shape about it. After school I picked he kids up so Stuart could get the oil changed in his car. I had a meeting after school so couldn’t get the kids until after 4 pm. By the time we got home, it was nearly time to turn around and head to gymnastics. This did not make Millie happy as she thinks we rob her of time to play in the neighborhood with her friends, who she is often upset with. Can’t win!
I dropped her off at gymnastics and then met some of the old Bunco Babes for pizza. I love that I celebrated my anniversary with my girlfriends. Seems a bit wrong, I realize, but Millie had gymnastics anyway and Jack was at basketball.
Millie and I got home, took a shower and ended the day with me laying with her. She just chatted and chatted. When she’s sweet, she is sugary!
Thursday I took Stuart and the kids to school so we would just have one car when we met with our friends Lisa and Skip after school to celebrate Lisa’s birthday. I got to school and finished getting my things together for my second formal observation of the year. When you are a ‘new’ teacher, you have two observations the first few years. It had been put off a few times and really should have been completed before the end of second quarter, but because my principal had been gone most of the second quarter it never happened. We are preparing for state testing and there was to be no school the following day, so it was a bit strained, but I tried not to think about it. The observation was to start at 12:30 pm. She wasn’t in my room at that time so I just carried on with my lesson. The phone rang at 12:45 pm and it was the principal telling me had been caught in a situation and was I okay to just sit down with her and go over the evaluation instrument and tell her what she wouldn’t know about my teaching. Yep! That really happened. And although I’m thrilled she knows she can trust my teaching, I wish she had just told me at the beginning of the week she wouldn’t be able to make it. Oh well, it’s over.
After school I went to Ross to find Easter baskets to put the kids’ items in on Sunday morning. I then met Stuart, Skip and Lisa at Chilis. We sat and chatted for a couple of hours. I love those people and am so glad they are a part of our lives. We then headed home to let the dogs out. Grammie and Pop had picked Jack and Millie up from school and took them home to feed and play games. When we got to their house they were playing corn hole. We stayed for a bit and then headed home. Millie and I showered and got in our jammies. Then we all watched Monsters University, a choice Millie made. Millie actually fell asleep on the sofa and Stuart carried her to bed. Jack stayed up until about 10 pm and then Stuart and I went to bed around 11 pm. The day and week had been exhausting.
On Friday morning I got up just after 7 am, which is late for me. I cleaned our bathroom, got dressed and headed downstairs. Stuart, Millie and I made our grocery run and bought supplies for Millie’s book report. We got home just after 9 am and I announced we would be going to Elevate, a trampoline park our by us. Instead of being thrilled, both kids asked why we weren’t inviting friends. I told them it was short notice and we needed to get out of the house so Stuart could have some privacy while he was interviewing for this new educational consultant job. It really doesn’t matter what you try to provide for your kids, it never seems to be enough. Millie announced she wasn’t going, and is often our method of operation these days, I just ignored her, knowing she would go. Her biggest complaint was Jack never played with her at these places.
We left the house a bit early to buy Jack some socks and Millie some shoes. We got to Elevate, and it being in Queen Creek, and the governor having removed the mask ordinance, we were about one of ten families that had masks on. Whatever! I’m just hopeful that enough people have been vaccinated that we have now moved into a safer space. With the kids still not having been vaccinated, I’m remain nervous and unsure. I’m just hoping the kids’ vaccines get approved soon.
Stuart called me just after his interview and felt very positive about it. I think this opportunity would be so good for him. He would travel a great deal, but I think a change would be good for him. We shall see.
When we got home from Elevate, I cleaned the other two bathrooms and vacuumed the upstairs. I also dusted. Jack took over vacuuming, finally, after being chastised. The pool guys had shown up to do the travertine, which was exciting and frustrating at the same time. We were told they would lay the sand and have the tiling completed by the end of the weekend. I was hopeful, as the frustrating part was we would now have to take our dogs out for every wee and every poo! Ugh!
We left to have the title of the RV signed over to us. We met Jason, the previous owner, at a UPS store and then he took us to the storage unit to show us around the RV. We ended up bringing it back to our house and parking it out front like Cousin Eddie. Shitter wasn’t full, though, thank goodness.
It’s a beauty. We cleaned it out and started sorting out what to put in it. We had decided to store all dry goods, like baggies and foil, in the cupboards, as well as dishes and pots and pans. Everything could wait until the day before we headed out for a trip. As much as I initially had buyer’s remorse, I do think we are actually going to enjoy this vehicle.
I then went in to take a shower and get ready to go to a Midnight Madness tryout for a basketball team Pop had decided he was going to coach. We told Jack he would need to fulfill his commitment to the Gremlins until the end of this season, but also told him if he wanted to tryout, he could. So we headed to Cortez High School at 6:30 for an 8-midnight tryout. We didn’t have any idea the tryout would cost $75, but Pop paid it and said since this was his deal, he would handle it. For the first half hour, the younger boys started their own pick-up game, while the older boys just shot the ball. They then separated the younger boys from the older boys. Pop didn’t really have much to do with the tryouts, but would be the coach for Jack’s age group when the teams started up. Jack played really aggressive and was pleased with his play. They actually finished at 10:30, which disappointed Jack but pleased me to death. I’m old now and midnight is not as much fun now as it was when I was in my 20s. We got home just before midnight. Jack showered and I sat down to watch a bit of television before slipping into slumber.
Saturday I headed to Fry’s for some last minute Easter Bunny shopping and to pick up Millie’s medication. When I got home, I continued to help Stuart clean abd put things away in the RV. We then took the RV back to the storage unit and signed our storage contract. The owner told us that she actually had a waiting list for her storage, but since Jason was a long time customer, she was happy to transfer the ownership.
We went to buy Jack some new basketball shoes. I didn’t think they fit well enough but there wasn’t a 9.5 men’s shoe of the same style he wanted. In the end, he tried them on again and they weren’t terribly short but also didn’t have a ton of room. Stuart was a bit frustrated that I let him manipulate me and buy them. He spent his own money, but it did seem his snarky behavior should have warranted him not being able to buy a new pair of shoes. However, I had promised him the previous day that he could bring his wallet the following day and buy the shoes. How many more times will I screw up as a parent, you ask? I suspect it will be in the billions.
We got home and had some lunch. I made beds and did laundry while Stuart cleaned the kitchen. We continued to work on cleaning the house, which has become the bane of my existence, but it has to be done. We left for Jack’s basketball game around 2 pm. He played very hesitantly again. When I asked him why he played like a monster in the tryouts the previous night, yet played so scared at this game, he said, ‘Because that was just practice, Mom. This is a game and I’m afraid I’m going to mess up and disappoint my team.’ To which I said, ‘If you would play like you did last night in practice, trust me, you would not disappoint your team. You are better off to do something and make a mistake then hesitate. Hesitation is also a mistake, but can be more damaging to your game.’ I hoped he would listen and follow my advice in his second game.
After the game, Millie showed her true colors with Grammie and Pop in the car. Her medication hadn’t kicked in. I’m afraid sometimes we wait to late after the first dose has worn off. We will get better at it, I hope. She finally calmed down when I started playing a game with her. It doesn’t help that Jack winds her up the way he does.
We got home and Took the dogs for a walk. The travertine guys were nearly finished laying all the tiles. It’s going to be so awesome! I can hardly wait until the pool is finished. We had a bite to eat and then sat for a bit before heading back to the gym for another game. This time I was hopeful Jack would have a better game.
Unfortunately, he barely played 10 of the 40 minutes in the game and touched the ball twice. What ever happened to teams paying attention to those who contribute by playing offense AND defense. He kept about 10 points off the scoreboard. But who am I? Just the daughter and sister of a coach, a coach herself, and a former player. It’s so frustrating! Again, I wish he were into chess or sewing.
He talked to me a bit on the way home, but all I knew to tell him was to either speak with his coach about his concerns or buck up until the end of the season. His team lost by quite a bit. It wasn’t a good basketball day. But of course there is always tomorrow and at least two games. He’s going back, so at least we aren’t raising a quitter.
We got home and Millie went to bed while Jack took a bath. He’s still my little boy in so many ways. I laid with Millie for a bit and then told her we would all need to go to sleep so the Easter Bunny could come and leave the eggs full of candy and money, as well as leave them an Easter basket. I’m pretty sure this is the last year of the Easter bunny as we know him.
