The Eagle has Landed

What a wonderful sense of relief, Caleb’s Eagle Scout Project is over and in my opinion, it went very well. He organized a private performance by Jason Hewlett (motivational speaker, comedian, and impressionist) for Hopekids, a support group we belong to for children with cancer and other life threatening illnesses.

While it didn't go off perfectly (miscommunication with the janitorial staff at the school we rented almost made this an outside event…eeek!), the performance made up for the glitches in a big way. The theme of the day was hope and finding your unique talents and gifts. There was plenty of laughing and singing along too.

We have learned a lot of things about Caleb through this process; he’s a procrastinator, doesn’t care much for details and is all about keeping things simple, he is not intimidated to speak to adults or in front of groups, he is cool under pressure and he takes problems in stride. We are so proud of our (almost) Eagle Scout.

Now, Clint and I have to follow through on a little promise we made… time to allow a certain young man to get his Driver’s Permit and practice, practice, practice.

Bookworm

book-worm
Pronunciation: \buk-werm
Function: noun
: a person unusually devoted to reading and study



Yesterday Caleb asked if I would run him to the library. This is his weekly/semi-weekly request (he has his library card number memorized and do you know our library allows patrons to check out up to 20 books at a time?). I dropped him off to run inside and then I had to drive around the side of the building to let Caitlin drop her books and DVD's into the little return slot. She gets a kick out of doing this. Cheap thrill I guess, not sure if it's the hanging out the car window or watching the books disappear as if by magic-she gets the same kick out of the moving sidewalks at the airport.

As we pulled up in front of the library again, here comes Caleb trying to balance books on both sides of his body. It looked really awkward and really funny. He's all legs and arms. I wanted to take a picture but wasn't fast enough. He got in the car and started looking through the books he'd reserved. On all his receipts there were little smiley faces. Caitlin's convinced there's a librarian with a serious crush.

Caitlin's To Do List

Caitlin is going off track this week and she has a lot of things she wants to accomplish. Her List:

• Send emails to all my friends
• Play on the computer
• Read for 15 minutes a day (this has since been crossed off)
• Call to see if anyone can play
• Make an animal book
• Watch TV
• Watch a movie
• Color a coloring book
• Make my teacher a pencil holder
• Have fun off track
• Research about volcano's and stuff
• Make a book about what I research
• Play at the park
• Weed the backyard (another item that has since been crossed off)
• Water the plants (crossed off)
• Clean the house completely (crossed off)
• Practice dividing and multiplying (crossed off)
• Go to Disneyland
• Create a blog

Enough

Whatever you do, don't ask me to do anything that takes time or effort.

In my own humble opinion I function well and am productive under pressure. When my schedule is full and I have limited time, I fit a lot in.

Then I get tired. And resentful. I avoid. Then I shut down. And when someone mentions needing this or that for school, or soccer practice, or (the worst) a Cub Scout meeting... well, it's just plain not pretty.

I am sick of "have to," "need to," and "should do" ruling my life. I welcome "want to" and "get to do."

I feel better than I did this morning though. Clint and I went to the Temple, out to lunch, and then for frozen yogurt. I envied the employee at the yogurt store; I would love the Butterfinger topping needing a refill to be my biggest worry. Sigh!

But, here's the deal. At the end of the day, I have a lot to be grateful for. We are blessed and I have to remember it could be A. Lot. Worse. My stress involves my job, which I am lucky to have and will eventually learn. My house, which I have to remember does not always, every minute, need to be perfectly clean, as long as it is filled with love. And my kids, who have so much going on, but without them, my life would be empty.

But really, don't ask me to do anything that takes more time or effort, okay?

I'm Home!

Today is my day off and I get to spend the whole day at home.

I slept until 8
I am still wearing my pj's
I plan on cleaning, washing, drying, straightening, dusting, organizing
Daisy is happy
I'd better get busy...

Tomorrow is also my day off. Clint and I are going to lunch at PF Chang's.

Life as a "real" working mom, with commutes, lunch breaks, office chatter, and dressy clothes hasn't been too bad (getting up at 5:45 am has been really bad!), but I sure look forward to being a working mom from home again soon.

Easter Weekend

• General Conference
• A ride to Park City
• The Red Banjo
• Snow
• Spring Break
• Peeps and Reeses eggs
• Anne of Green Gables
• Easter Baskets
• Brunch with french toast and caramel syrup
• Lego's
• Dying eggs
• Remembering the Savior and the Atonement
• Resting and trying to feel better

One Step Closer to Freedom

Most people don’t like to be reminded of snow in April, but at our house, we love snowballs (or at least what they represent).  As we work on our “debt snowball” we get  really excited to see debt disappear and even more excited to have more money to put towards the next debt on the list.

Today our snowball totally wiped out our medical debt!

This is the most emotional debt we’ve paid off so far because we lived for so many years believing we would never catch up or get ahead of paying for Caitlin’s treatment.  There were times when Clint and I would look at the statements coming in and gasp.  Then we would shove the bill back into the envelop, pretending somehow the reality of what we owed would disappear if we couldn’t see it.  FYI- that doesn’t work.  Instead of bills in the mail, you get phone calls.  Not fun!

After nine years and three months (I’ll spare you the weeks, days, and hours), we are paid in full and we may be the only customers at our credit union with a savings account for a  MRI.

So our family would like to say a final goodbye to ARC, PCMC, IHC, Radiology, University Medical Billing, and RCS.

In early March I wrote about all the overtime I had worked and how I had intended to buy this-

But instead, I put the money towards our debt.  Well, last week the mailman stopped by and delivered an unexpected package.  My Grandma and Aunt had read my blog post and decided they would spoil me.  I cannot wait to get this beautiful artwork framed and hanging in our home.  Thank you Grandma and Jerrie for your very thoughtful gift.  We will cherish it always.