Adventures in singlemotherhooding it.

My text to Mike one fateful evening:
MIIIIIIIIKE!!!!!Bird trauma.Call ASAP.  

Here's the story.  I came home from work the other day and the house was a little chilly so I decided I should light a fire, cuz I'm super handy like that.  Audrey was at work, Goose was feeding her goats, Grant was out riding his bike and Elsie was downstairs with me.

I noticed there was already a lot of newspaper in the stove, but I didn't think much of it--I figured someone was going to light a fire earlier and decided not to.  I opened the stove and started to add kindling to the paper and then decided I should probably wad the paper back up tighter so I reached in and out flew a bird!!!
Right at my face.

Let us pause here for a moment and discuss my feelings towards birds.  Birds are fine.  Birds are beautiful and majestic.  I have absolutely no problem with birds...as long as they are not in or any where near MY SPACE.  I don't like birds swooping down near me.  I don't like birds fluttering by me.  Is that so wrong??
And let me be VERY clear here...my house is most definitely MY SPACE.
 
So, the bird is flying around the room, Elsie and I are both screaming and the cats (Gertie and Ethel) are trying to figure out what is going on.  The bird crashes into the window over by the freezer and Gertie jumps up and grabs it.  So now we have Elsie and I screaming Gertie with the flapping bird and Ethel still trying to figure out what is going on.  By this point Elsie had run into the bathroom for cover and was just peeking out the door, I was by the back door trying to decide if I should just leave the house all together and let the bird take over.

Gertie takes the flapping bird into Elsie and Grant's room.  I had gained enough composure to tell Elsie to go shut the bedroom door so at least then the bird and the cat would be trapped in a room and I could call someone for help.

She is telling me she can't and I am trying to convince her she can...after some frantic discussion between the two of us she takes a step or two out of the bathroom when suddenly the bird escapes from Gertie, flies out of the bedroom and starts flying around the family room again.

I opened the back door, not totally sure if it was for my freedom or the bird's, (alright fine! It was for me--but I decided not to abandon Elsie) so I had the door opened all the way and I was cowering behind it trying to decide what to do next when the bird must have seen the escape route and flew out.

WHEW!

After Elsie confirmed that it did indeed fly out I slammed the door shut and we hugged each other ....it was at this point that she told me,
"Oh yeah, Grant said there was a bird in the stove."

ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME?!?

This tidbit of information would have been good to know about five minutes prior.  Needless to say, I did not start a fire that night.  And my throat was sore for a few days from all the screaming I did.  And Mike could hardly stop laughing when I told him of the encounter.

It was traumatic, but I think I'll recover.  The bird, however, may never be the same and will regret the day it flew down our chimney for the rest of it's little bird life I'm sure. 

So....Here's some news.

A mere four days after I sent a tiny piece of my heart to Mexico a sent another piece of my heart to Boise.
Granted, the departure wasn't nearly as traumatic, but I did send Mike on his way to Boise.

Why???
Oh, just because after five loooonnnngggg years of under employment for my dear old Mikey he now has a FULL TIME JOB.
And we are happy about that.  We are so happy about that.  We are ecstatic about that.  We are delighted.  We are down right tickled about that.  It is a good good good thing.

This, in turn, means that the old farmgirl fam will be moving again.  This time to Idaho's capital city.  I hear it's pretty nice up there.  For an Idaho born and bread gal I can't say that I've spent much time in Boise, but I'm excited to discover all it has to offer.

Here's the crazy story of how this all came to be:
When I was offered a full time job, Mike and I decided that he would dial back the job search and focus more on helping out around the house until I was licensed and we had Adam off.  And then one day out of the clear blue sky he got a phone call from a friend that works for a lumber company (we actually worked for this company 16 years ago when we lived in Montana) telling us there was a position opening up in the sales department in the Boise branch and asked if Mike would be interested.  Less than a week later an offer was on the table and we took it.  Pretty crazy how things work out.

Funny that as soon as we stopped chasing after it, the perfect job landed right in our laps.  There is something to be said for just making the most of what the Good Lord hands you.  Do the best you can with what you've got, quit worrying about what you don't have and it all seems to work itself out in the end.

Soooo, Mike is in Boise and I am here.
With the children.
Working full time.
And being a single parent.
Until summer.
It's kind of a lot.  The weeks are super busy, I hardly have time to breathe let alone miss Mike.
The good news is I can do anything...for a while.

The Morning I Sent a tiny Piece of My Heart to Mexico.

The day came and the day went.  

Honestly, it wasn't nearly as bad as I had anticipated.

Yes, I will miss him--I already do.

But what else would I choose for him? Nothing.

I am not in mourning, nor did I sob all the way home.

  My heart is too happy for that.

 

First of all, let me say it was EARLY.

Or late.

How ever you would like to look at 1:00 in the morning,

which is the time we woke the kids up to get ready to leave.

Adam's flight left at 6:15 so he needed to be at the airport at 4:15.

 I pretty much dressed this zombie while he was sleeping.

I know, why did I bother with pajamas in the first place?

Don't know.

Moving on.

 Here we are walking to the airport shuttle.

 I'm sorry, did I mention it was early??

We ended up waiting for the place to open so that he could check his luggage.

FYI This was my first moment of tearing up...

watching him standing there so ready to go.

 

After he checked his luggage we walked him down to security.

That's where we could go no further.

 So we visited for a few minutes more and then decided to take

some pictures.

Pictures weren't too bad either.

I was still holding it together quite well.

Look at how happy that boy is!  Oh, I just love him!!

 A very kind gentleman offered to take one last family picture for us.

He told me he had a missionary leaving in four months.

I told him Don't Blink.

And then hugging shenanigans started.  And it was pretty much all

over for me and holding it together.

  Adam and Grant.  

Or Goober as Grant is loving referred

to by his older brother.

 Adam and Elsie.

She made us all Valentines and saved candy from school

for each of us.  She had one for Adam too.

We'll have to send it to him when he gets to Arkansas.

 

 Adam and Goose.

This was a tough one.These two have a pretty special bond.

 They are best buds.

 Adam and Audrey.

Audrey was our photog for the morning and did a fabo job.

See, there I am crying watching all my kids

tell him good bye.

Adam and Mike.

That was one big bear hug.

  

 Adam and Me.

It was really hard.  Still makes me cry just looking at it.

I was trying to take in enough of him to last me for two years.

I kept telling him these are happy tears.

Ahhh, my first born.

I like him.

 And he's off.

We stayed and stood on tip toes to watch him go all 

the way through security.

After he got his suit coat back on and shoes on and 

put his bag back over his shoulder

he turned and gave us one last big smile and wave.

 And then he turned and headed up the escalator.

And that was it.

 I know I'm more than a little biased here,

but I think he's going to be

GREAT.

YO.

Let me begin by saying, I should be studying.  I'm fully aware of this little fact so I'll keep things short, sweet and to the point.  Well..as much to the point as I ever do.

First:
The reason I need to be studying...I did not pass all of my test in December.  I passed one quarter of the test.
On Monday I passed two more portions and missed the last one by two stupid points. grrrr.
I am scheduled to test again on this coming Monday.
I would really really love to be done with this little thorn in my side.
I am slowly adjusting to working full time.  I don't mind the work and while I'm there it's really no biggie.
It's the coming home that gets a little crazy...it is at that point that I am quickly reminded that I have not been home all day. 
I don't really love working full time, but it is what it is.
So there you go.

Second:
This boy.

 

Oh, hello handsome man.  He leaves in just two short weeks.  It is so so crazy.  And I am so so excited for him.  I keep telling myself I still have time with him...and I do, but it's not much.  He, on the other hand, is chomping at the bit.  

Third:

I really do miss blogging.

Life is all around just pretty good.  Not what I expected it would be, but pretty good all the same.

I didn't expect to have my 18 year old son graduate early and be leaving on a mission so soon.

I didn't expect to be working full time outside the home....ever.

I didn't expect that Mike and I would be trading roles....ever.

I didn't expect a lot of things.

And that's okay...because I guess I should learn to expect the unexpected.

Come what may and love it, right?

Peace Out.

:o)