For those of you wondering how the home project is coming along, you can refer yourself back to the picture I took last week. Cause it still looks exactly the same. We were hopeful to get more done on it this last week, and Saturday in particular, but life happened. As follows:
Strep Throat
I am Better! Starting Wednesday I was feeling quite a bit better, and by Thursday I was as much better as I could be without being 100% (so, if you're a math person, that would be like 99%.
Rob stayed home from work on Thursday, feeling pretty crummy. Had pieces of the symptoms I had. Went to work on Friday since he was feeling better, and his co-worker sent him home at 2:00 because Rob was staring blankly at walls. On Saturday he was feeling much better, though, and by Sunday I could tell he was feeling a LOT better. Back to telling jokes and laughing. So whoever prayed that Rob wouldn't get deathly ill like I was, THANK YOU. Apparently it paid off.
Today the house will be all the way put back together. It's amazing that even though Rob was doing such a good job keeping the house running, there is still so much that doesn't get done when someone is sick. For us, it's been the dishes and laundry. Both have been a little out of control for about a week, and we take stabs at it, but it's like swimming upstream. Today, though, it should be possible to get it all done and have the house back to normal.
The First Pre-Spring Day
Rob said he could do stuff on the home project on Saturday, but we weren't altogether sure how he was REALLY feeling, so we held off. Plus, it was almost 75 degrees outside!! You can't do an indoor home project on the First Pre-Spring Day! We took the kids to the park and read books while we sat next to each other. Hurray for having kids old enough to play by themselves! We all went to Miciah's soccer game (she's in an indoor league). She's doing better every game, by the way. Figuring out that she can be aggressive. Though I still get frustrated when she's too wimpy for my tastes. I wanna say something like, "Be a man!" and then I remember, "Oh yeah. You're a 7-year-old girl." Anyways, we've been impressed with her progress.
Then, Rob did do a little with the home project. I should have taken pictures of the piles of trash bags and tile that were sitting on our back deck. I told Rob I'd help him move it all to the garage, but I didn't realize that each of those bags was easily 50 lbs. or more. So I went and borrowed R&C's wheelbarrow, and that was the most help I was. It took Rob probably almost an hour to move it all. So now I don't have to worry about the kids when they play outside. They've been really good so far, not touching all the nasty nails sticking out of beams, and such, but still, it's a hazard to have stuff like that out there. So now it's at least in the garage and we'll work slowly on getting it thrown away.
And I did something genius months ago, at the start of winter: I left my garden alone. I deliberately did nothing about the dying leaves, because I knew that on the First Pre-Spring Day I would be itching to play in my garden, but that I'd have nothing to do. So on Saturday I had a great time pulling off all the dead Lily of the Valley and Black-eyed Susan leaves. Enjoying the spring weather and applauding myself for being so genius.
We also walked around surveying the garden. The rose bushes with new growth just barely showing. The lilac bushes budding. The lamb's ear coming back. The spring bulbs we planted coming up. This is our first year having spring bulbs, and we're excited. Outside we have 2 itty bitty yellow flowers poking out of the ground. I don't even know what they are, but it's exciting! ... If you don't have a garden, or if you're not a garden person, then you'll just have to trust me that this is very cool.
We also listened to music all day, and in honor of the First Pre-Spring Day, I downloaded Garden Party by Ricky Nelson, that great oldies song, off iTunes.
Miciah
Yesterday Miciah was vacuuming the floor, and I had a moment where I thought, "She is so beautiful." I do this from time to time, and I'm not sure why it strikes me, but when it does, I'm floored by my gorgeous, capable, amazing daughter.
She did her hair herself, before church. It looked better AT church, of course, but this was hours later. She just looked so adult to me. So grown up. And I fell in love with my daughter again.
Elijah
Elijah is getting interested in learning, especially in learning church stuff. This is exciting for us because for so long we thought, "Hello, are you listening? Do you care?" and the answers to both of those, for him, was No and No. But now he's wanting to read scriptures and talk about church stories. He talks about the temple all the time, and says he wants to go there. It's a little far of a drive just so he can see the outside of the temple, but it's a good desire, so we'll arrange it soon.
The other night he wanted a temple bedtime story. So I told him a very very brief account of the early Saints building the temple in Nauvoo and then they had to leave it behind and move to Utah, but that they soon starting building another temple. I told him the temple was so special because Heavenly Father blesses us there with power and gifts. He said, "Mom, I want to go to the temple soon, cause I want that power." His simple faith floors me. He is a good boy.
Teancom
Not much to say about Teancom. He's still addicting and I still shamelessly rave about him. We recently introduced him to the idea that his name is Robert Teancom, not just Teancom. He opposed it. So I've been torturing him by saying, "Can I call you Robbie?" to which he'll respond, "NO! I TANK!" It's not Teancom. It's not Tank-um. It's Tank. Cracks me up.
The other day I was teasing him about his name and I said, "I'll call you Robbie," and he said, "NO! I Tank-um. Say it: Tank," and then he paused very deliberately, so I could get it right, "Um!" I giggled and said, "Tank-um." And he said, "Thank you."
This got a laugh out of the family. Teancom is always picking his nose (like most 2-year-olds I know). The other night he was sitting on my lap, all chill like normal, when he reached up his finger and casually put a dried-up booger in my mouth!! As I was gagging and spitting and grossing out, Rob and the kids were laughing their heads off. At my expense. But, it was funny, and worth the laugh. Ick.
Rob
Things still go well with Rob and his career. He's met with several local colleges now, and he has a feel for what they would expect. They all told him that he needs to get teaching experience, and he's putting his resume out there.
It's been nice for him to meet with people, one cause it's given him direction and hope for an end in sight. But also, it's given him a realistic timeline for his post-doc. I think he's been thinking that he'd do a year and out (a year is over in August this year), but in terms of hiring and things like that, he isn't hire-able for another year or so. So he's back to looking at the original timeline of 2 - 3 years at his post-doc. And that's the way of things, I guess.
Rob is back to his old self: laughing and joking easily and teasing me all he can. It's Heaven.
Tamra
Over my brother's objections (I hardly EVER do things over his objections, so I must be getting braver), I have started another blog. The idea is to make this one the family blog, posting my updates and pictures and things related to family stuff. And the other blog is for all my other random comments and writings. It's an attempt to make this blog seem coherent, and to spare everyone my randomness, if you want to be spared. The other blog is: http://www.randomtamra.blogspot.com/
So far there's not much posted. And I won't be sending out e-mails for that blog like I do for this one. If you want to check it out, you can. If not, I won't be offended. It really is going to be the most random blog ever, but I'm looking forward to having fun with it.
And that's life. Life for us is so good right now. If I could make life stand still, I would. My boys wouldn't get any older. They'd always be running around the house killing bad guys. Things would be calm and everything would be handle-able. If only, eh?
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