As we prepare to move to the yet-to-be-determined house, I had what I thought would be great idea. Besides working lots of hours to beef up our savings, I decided it would be awesome to organize every closet, drawer, cabinet, file, etc. in our house.
What a crazy idea this has turned out to be. Thankfully the trash man is coming tomorrow!
This past Sunday our ward split. Not only our ward, but all the wards in our stake experienced some sort of change and two new wards were created. This has happened a lot since we’ve lived in this community and it’s never easy. This time around I was so sad to lose some of our young women and Caleb’s Young Men’s leader. I think this has just added to my feelings of being in constant change. I really don’t like it.
Tonight we had our goodbye party with the Young Men and Women. We met together and made individual pizzas, visited, and played. I love these kids, I love the leaders I get to work with, and I am grateful for the wonderful friends and examples my kids have in their lives. We are blessed.
In other news, I’m having more problems with my right hand. Mostly it’s pain in my thumb and up through my wrist. It never seems to get better because of all the writing I do for my job. I was told to alternate hot and cold treatments and to use my left hand to manipulate my computer mouse. Too bad I’m too uncoordinated to do that. The pain seems to be more tolerable than the total frustration of being unable to manage my computer. Argh!
I have the whole house to myself tonight. Wahoo! Clint’s busy with High Priest duties, Caleb is out with friends, and Caitlin is babysitting at the Relief Society thingy I should probably be at.
I haven’t had a lot of desire to keep my blog updated lately. My brain has been full of stuff, all kinds of fun stuff.
We did have a wonderful Christmas. It was so nice to be with my whole family. Having both grandma’s and the little cousins around is pretty sweet.
On December 27th, we celebrated Caleb’s 17th birthday. I can hardly believe it. He’s growing into such an awesome young man. More about him in a minute…
The anniversary of Caitlin’s cancer diagnosis was on December 28th. Ten years that seem like a hundred years some days, and one year on others. We are so grateful she is here and doing so well. It’s time for her to go in for her yearly MRI and checkup. I haven’t scheduled it. I’m not nervous about it, I just don’t have the desire to do it. Yet. Maybe next month.
Since Christmas, we have been actively house hunting. We’ve made offers on and walked away from two darling houses. As cute as they are and for as many upgrades and positives that they each had, neither felt right. It’s getting frustrating and I’m not really sure what’s wrong. I don’t know if our previous two building/buying experiences have scared us and made us nervous this time around, or if these houses truly were not right. All I know is that I really want to find the right house, as we plan to live in it for a very long time. We have another option in the works right now and are hoping this time around things work out. If not, we’ll keep looking.
Caleb has had some ups and downs lately. One of his school friends passed away unexpectedly last week from an unknown medical condition. She had asked him out on a date a few months ago and he wasn’t able to go. He told her they’d make up for it later. That never happened. He and a group of friends sang at her funeral today. I feel so bad for this girl’s family. I just can’t imagine.
Caleb was asked to the Sweethearts Dance by a girl he doesn’t want to go with (for valid reasons). It’s hard to know how to help him. Thinking of the girl, I believe a lot of her “issues” are because she has low self-esteem. For Caleb to say no could potentially really hurt her. On the other hand, he should be able to choose. Ugh. The only advice I could think to give him is to keep this completely between the two of them and give her a simple “Thanks for the invitation, but I won’t be able to go with you”. I have no idea if this is the right thing to do. Suggestions?
One more thing about Caleb… he is so pleased with himself today. In his sociology class their final project was to do something “deviant” without breaking the law or school rules and present the experience in class. As Caleb is a good student (and with or without a good grade on this project he would still get an A), he decided it would be awesome not to do the project at all. He got up today and made his presentation (or announcement) and the reaction was a classroom full of cheers, applause, and “You’re my hero!” When Caleb tells his tale, I think he believes there was background music and the whole scenario was played out in slow motion. He said his teacher was speechless. Apparently she asked him a few more times throughout the class period to give his “real” presentation. He finally convinced her that he didn’t do it. He said the hardest thing was to refrain from laughing, but he couldn’t stop blushing. While he was at play practice this afternoon he checked the website where grades are uploaded and realized his teacher had given him an A on the project. She had also written a comment- “Very original!!!” Tonight he called to check in and let me know the story is spreading and he’s a legend. Honestly, this could be the beginning of a whole new Caleb.
Well, Caitlin’s home. Solitude is over. The kids have tomorrow off school and we’re still waiting around for some snow. What a strange winter we’ve had.
Happy weekend!
Happy birthday today, mom. I love you so much. Thanks for talking me down off the ledge. 
Love,
Me
Here’s a run down of last week:
Last Sunday our ward finally had a Court of Honor. Caleb earned nine merit badges and got his bronze, gold, and silver Eagle Palms. He accomplished the goal he’s had since becoming an Eagle last year.
Each boy was asked to tell about their experience earning one of their merit badges. I was thinking Caleb would share something cool, I mean he earned some of those merit badges in Alaska, and he had a cool experience earning his law merit badge. Instead he shared that he realized the week before the Court of Honor that unless he earned another merit badge, he wouldn’t get his silver Palm. So he started and finished his photography requirements. He’s funny.
On Monday, we went to Caleb’s choir concert. They were amazing.
On Tuesday, Caleb gave in to peer pressure and tried out for the school play, Alice in Wonderland. He tried out with a monolog from Knights Tale that he didn’t spend too much time practicing because he was hoping not to get a part. He got a part. LOL.
That night, we went to a Voice Male concert at Thanksgiving Pointe. It was way fun.
On Wednesday, we had a little break. Caitlin and I went to Young Women and decorated gingerbread houses.
Thursday was Caitlin’s orchestra concert. Her friends came over after school and curled her hair. She has really cute friends and they are helping to make her girly.
We also made an offer on a house. Someone else beat us to the punch and we didn’t get it. I was sad for a few days, now I’m over it and looking again.
Friday brought the HopeKids Christmas party and our ward party. Both were fun. Our ward party was catered by Rodizio Grill- yum! Each auxiliary also had to put on a skit. Our Bishopric rocks! Their rap routine was so great. In fact, I have a feeling it’s on You Tube by now.
On Saturday we almost finished our Christmas shopping and then went to a concert we have been waiting all December for. Jon and Steven are our favorites. Caitlin was thrilled to meet her favorite cellist after the concert and it turns out he’s as nice as he is talented (and shorter than I thought he’d be).
We promised the kids we’d take them out for breakfast after the concert. It was a late, but fun night.
