Shamrocks

After a quick visit with Mom, I went over and helped Pat.  Today we finished machining the shamrocks.  I'm not that much help at this point.  But I am company in the garage and I am motivation.  Now the shamrocks will deburred and then sent to the powder coater to be made green. 
I guess our plan is while those are at the powder coaters we are going to start taking those rods the shamrocks are sitting on and making them into something. And then after that we are going to start cleaning out the room upstairs. 
While working I had commented about putting up a facebook ad for two men and a truck and trailer to take some furniture to the dump.  I want to make one trip and that is hard to do in just a pick-up when there are two couches and three chairs.  Pat reminded me that his friend Dale has a nice box trailer that dumps and he was sure that Dale would be happy to haul them to the dump for me.  That would be a major score. 

A Day at Home

Neither I nor the car went anywhere today.  I managed to fill the second garbage can.  And I filled the recycle bin.  It was my goal.  I'm trying to pull stuff out of the house that needs to go.  I really need a dump run, but until then I keep throwing stuff that fits in the cans.  I already pay the garbage bill so it isn't adding anything to my budget. 
Both Littles have called me this week.  They can video chat from the ipads and that is what they do.  They do not realize how lucky they are.  I don't video chat, but I do with them.  So the little man wanted to know if "Dumbo" was still in the theater.  When I told him no, he told me I needed to get the Disney app because the movie is really good.  And that was all he wanted.  I so love seeing his little face. 
Then the little woman called today.  She wanted to know about the eruption of Mt. St. Helen's.  She wanted to know exactly what I saw and I told her about the big dust cloud and sent her a picture of it.  No lava down here.  And no earthquake.  I will share my small earthquake experiences with her another time.  Her conversation made me realize that I am living history.  And it doesn't seem like the mountain erupting was all that long ago.  But it was before even her parents were born. So it really is history for her.  I love seeing her mind expand and her being curious about stuff. 

A Productive Day

First I got the POA thing taken care of.  The woman in membership services pulled up the POA in their system and wow, there was my name right on page one.  I wonder if the nurse was looking for my maiden name.  I don't know, but the woman in membership services was going to send a message to the nurse that the information is there and was when she talked to me.  I don't care what the snafu was, I just wanted to make sure all was clear. 
Then I got my haircut.  Now I am about two years early for that.  Susan at the Salon did a really nice job.  I got my haired shampooed and that always feels so nice.  She cut 3-4 inches off.  It should look nice as it grows out for the next three years.  She called my hair ash blond.  I don't know.  I think it is brown with lots of natural white, gray, red highlights.  Right now it still looks like highlights as the hair is changing color again.  Soon it will just look old. 
The littles were gifted a Skyzone membership for Xmas.  And we rocked that the week and a half we were able to.  The last day we were there I talked to a manager on duty about possibly cancelling the membership.  Usually there is a three month commitment to it and we knew that up front.  But we didn't know up front that the kids would be moving.  Anyway the young man said no problem, he would get it done.  I was grateful.  Well the credit card got dinged for the next month.  So I went to Skyzone and talked to a different management person.  She took care of it. Credited back my credit card.  I walked out of the place happy and I think she was also because mine was really an easy problem to solve and I wasn't irate.  I was ready to accept what came, but I was hoping for that cancellation. 
Leslie, who is the supervisor of the cashiers at work, is leaving her position to be a stay at home mom.  She is so blessed to be able to do that.  So tonight they had her going away dinner and everyone was invited.  So off to Who Song & Larry's I went.  Got to catch up with some people.  Told the ones that were there that I don't intend on going back to the bookstore.  I'm tired of manual labor and my feet are happier not being on concrete.  As well as I will be spending a long holiday in the Midwest and the bookstore would not be happy about that and tell me I could not take that much time off.  And then I would have to quit, because I am going east come summer. 

Antibiotics

Naturally Mom's infection is not gone.  Cami told me when I went to see Mom this morning.  So I got right on it.  Called and talked to someone who said she would put urgent on the request for advice.  I had commented on the last time taking five hours before I received a call and  by then we had went to urgent care.  The lady told me they have lunch from noon to one so not to expect anything until after that.  And if I had not gotten a call by 2:30 to call her back. 
1:15 the nurse from Mom's doctor called.  First she informs me there is no release of information so technically she cannot talk to me.  I say I am POA and that is in the file.  She agrees with me but tells me there is nowhere in the four pages that says I am the POA.  My name is not in there anywhere.  Methinks she is blind.  She said she even had another person look.  Okay.  We continue on though because I was with Mom for all of her appts thus far and for continuity of care.  She asked the right questions, agreed with my assessment and sent the info to a doctor to hopefully prescribe more antibiotics. 
Antibiotics were prescribed for the very first time without me having to take mom to a doctor appointment, an urgent care or the ER.  Other than the POA snafu it went the way it always should go.  It isn't like I'm trying to scam the pharmacy out of antibiotics.  If Mom needs them, she needs them.  And it becomes harder and harder to take her places.  She isn't happy and always wants to just leave.  Funny how every person I have ever taken to the doctor as a grown up wants that. 
Once I was home I got out the POA paperwork.  Yup four pages.  And my name is right on the first page.  Now I will need to go to Kaiser and make sure their copy says the same thing my copy does.  They have had it for five years and never have I been questioned about it before. 

Gofer

I played gofer some more yesterday.  Pat had a couple of things to fix on the machine.  He did that and then he tweaked the program for the shamrocks. We got it all set up and ran the first one. Found that he needed to make a small adjustment in placement.  Once that was done we ran three more shamrocks.  They all came out great.  It was getting later in the evening and Pat tries not to run the machine too late.  It makes a lot of noise and he tries to be considerate of his neighbors. 
Only 36 more small ones to make and then he will switch to the larger ones.  Once done they will go to the powder coater and become green.  :)

Finished Project

I finished my string art.  I think it turned out all right.  And I definitely want to update which part hurt most.  Turns out the threading does.  My fingertips got a bit sore after going around all the nails and holding the string on the nails. 
I don't consider myself to be crafty.  So this is a huge change for me to do something like this. 
Talking it over with Brenda and Belinda we came to the conclusion that maybe we should try some of those projects they do at craft warehouse.  Who knows, maybe we can time it so we can do it together.  Weekends are harder for Brenda though.  Guess time will tell. 

Chinese New Year

Today is the Chinese New Year.  Year of the rat.  When we were making plans we didn't plan our lunch at the Chinese Buffet to be on Chinese New Year.  But it happened anyway.  Too funny.  I met up with Brenda and Belinda at the buffet in Hazel Dell.  We spent over two hours just talking and catching up.  Brenda and I do a pretty good job of keeping up with each other.  It is harder with Belinda.  She has a funny work schedule and she does a lot of stuff with her husband (went to their wedding) and her family.  It was grand to be able to connect.
I am seeing some great benefits of being sans children.  I still miss them greatly and it knocks me right to the floor, but I also like being able to do stuff without it being complicated.
I won't be eating anymore Chinese food today, but Belinda will be.  She had already ate special treats for breakfast and they had New Years Eve last night.  They will meet as a family tonight.  Her family really does it up right when they celebrate events.  That's probably why her wedding reception was so much fun.  To this day nothing for me has topped that experience.

Up and At Them

My brother requested a kick in the butt today.  So I stopped at the store and bought stuff to make a high protein breakfast to get us started.  We ate and then moved to the garage.  First order of business, and the only thing we accomplished today, was to clean out the CNC machine.  It was filled with aluminum shavings.  We had to make a trip to the store for some supplies.  He added locks onto the side doors to keep them on.  As the machine has aged things shifted and the doors could fall off from the vibrations of the machines.  There was a garbage can and a half of shavings.  They will go to Metro Materials for recycling.  Once the machine was clean we seemed to lose steam.
We had some pizza bread for dinner.  Then he had another store trip to make and I needed to get back to BG for my craft class.
I beat Marina to the class.  That meant I got first pick for colors of thread and nails.  I went with copper nails, pale lavender and dark purple thread.  Marina went with silver nails, off white and a teal thread.  The instructions were pretty simple.  Cut out the letters and tape them on the board where we want them.  Then pound nails in partway where all the dots were.  Pull the paper off and start the threading.  Sounds really easy.  It is definitely harder than it sounds at least for a first time person.  I would have guessed that the nailing and hitting my finger and thumb to be the hardest part.  Well it didn't feel good to hit my thumb and finger, but I'm lucky I wasn't hitting hard.  When I was done hammering...my hand that held the hammer hurt more than the smacked hand. Funny that.
We had a nice start on the threading when our time was up.  So we gathered up our supplies and will finish at home.  It was fun.  It was nice spending time with Marina and working on a project.  Hers looked so much better than mine.  Some people are just like that though....have a natural gift.  Maybe we will do something like this again.

Tripping Down Memory Lane

Bryan Adams is coming to Portland with Bon Jovi.  I looked at the tickets and they are $104 for nosebleed seats.  Don't think so.  A couple of my friends had expressed interest in the concert on facebook and that is what caused me to look.  And then remember.
I saw Bryan Adams along with Journey, Sammy Hagar and Sequel, during the Oregon Grand Slam in 1983, at the Autzen Stadium in Eugene.  It was an adventure.  My friend Tom had won tickets on a local radio station.  He wasn't very interested in the bands and gave me the tickets.  Kim, Patti and I went and only had to buy one ticket.
The drive down was smooth.  We parked in a grassy area where lots of other cars parked.  Watched the concert.  I just realized this must have been when it started.  I always leave just a little before the concert is over...to beat the traffic.  Ha.  We get to the car.  We start the car and decide to drive off the curb and high centered.  Wait...what?  A flat tire will do that on a not too high curb.  Oy.  I had had a flat tire the week before so my spare was on the car.  I learned a great lesson about immediately replacing or fixing spares and tires.  The concert ended and every one left.  And we were stuck.
Some guy who had been at the concert got stuck also.  I do not remember what happened to his ride.  But he helped us take the flat off and rolled it down to a gas station and got it repaired.  This obviously was back in the day when you could do that.  Now you would have to wait for the morning or have Triple A.  The tire got rolled back and put on the car and then the car would drive off the curb.  And we were good to go.  But that guy that helped us was still stuck.
As luck would have it he was from Vancouver so we gave him a ride.  And I was very tired so at some point we let him drive us back to Vancouver.  We dropped him near the hospital on Mill Plain and went on our way.  If we were to do that today we would be called crazy.  We would be "lucky" he wasn't a human trafficker.  I know there are traffickers, but I don't think they touch my world much.  And so I probably would do it again today.
My friend Patti was suppose to work at 6.  She called in saying we were stranded in Eugene and she couldn't make it.  We were roommates and worked at the same place.  So since she lied I could not tell my fabulous story of the adventure to see Journey and Bryan Adams and Sammy Hagar.  I honestly don't even remember Sequel so they didn't impress me much and I wasn't there to see them anyway.  The rest of the concert was spectacular.  And what a great memory.
Thanks again Tom for the adventure.
.
Addendum; buying the tickets through ticketmaster are now $61.50 for nose bleed seats.  Still too rich for my taste, but a lot better than the resale website at $104.

Right Track But Oy

So I have added in at least one walk a day.  Trying for those 10,000 steps.  And I have not made it any day yet.  Working up to it.  But I did have two days that were right about 8,000.  And boy could I tell those were extra days.  Tuesday was one of those days.  So yesterday I rested all day long.  Got to bedtime and I realized I had not even been out of the house. 
I think I am going to cut down my goal for awhile and work at that level.  I must remember I have not done this is a long time.  And I feel it in my hips, knees and feet.  Shows me that I need to do it, I just need to work up to it more.  Whew. 
Even though too much hurts right now, it still feels really good to be doing something good for me. 

Urgent Care and Burgerville

Cami called.  Seems Mom has a UTI again.  A little agitation, can't sit still, going to the bathroom every five minutes.  Yup sure sounds like it. 
Again I tried to not have to take Mom to the office.  Again I failed.  I called for the advice nurse and got told I would get a call back.  The intake person also convinced me to do the e-visit because we can do bladder infections there now.  So I did the e-visit which entails answering a bunch of questions.  Within five minutes I got an email telling me they can't do anything and that she needs to be seen.  Said I would receive a call shortly to get her in. 
Four hours later Cami calls and I said I will just come get her and take her to urgent care and that is what I did.  Just as we were arriving my phone rings.....it was the advice nurse.  I didn't take the call.  I'm already there.  It takes two hours at urgent care.  That's just the way it goes always.  Yes she has a UTI and yes we can have antibiotics. 
Now when I didn't answer the phone the advice nurse called Cami.  The advice nurse was not happy that we went to urgent care, but Cami told her we waited almost five hours for a call back.  Well we should have an appointment......Cami told her we needed to be seen today and get started on antibiotics.  Sheesh.  Guess it all works out in the end.
So by the time we got done at urgent care it was way past dinner time.  So Mom and I did the drive thru at Burgerville.  Mom really loves that Pepper Bacon Cheeseburger.  It seems the only time she gets it is after a trip to the doctor's office.  We took our dinner back to Cami's and ate at the dinner table with Cami telling us stories.  It was kind of nice.
A little side story....while driving Mom comments on the kidders settling down nicely.  I just agreed with her.  About ten minutes later she tells me those kids must have fallen asleep; Again I agreed with her and she probably was right.  They were asleep in their beds. 

Coordinating

Time flies as we know.  So I got ahold of my friend Doug to find out when his vacation is exactly.  I don't want to go to the Midwest in June if he is going in July or vice versa.  Well his vacation starts in July. 
So I am going to travel with him when he goes.  He is like Dave and just goes.  Maybe even more so than Dave was.  He told me he doesn't stop to eat.  Wait...what?  Guess I will need road snacks.  He takes three days to get to Illinois.  It makes me feel a little better traveling with someone even if we are caravaning.  I could ride with him and rent a car there...but it really didn't look cost effective.  And the kids stuff will fit in my car.  It's just bikes and some toys.  We got our hotel rooms booked.  He always stays at the same place in Wyoming.  He just started the second night when he realized that showing up at his parents at midnight was kind of hard on them. 
I will spend some time with Doug.  I assume he has already checked with his mom about me staying there for a couple/few days.  I think we get to go on another bike ride...assuming I can still get on it.  Then I will head to Kokomo.  I really dont' want to leave stuff in my car for too long.  Spend some time with the littles.  From there it is on to Ohio to meet my mom's brother.  Then back through Kokomo and on to Rockford. 
So far so good.  Then I have to decide if I part ways completely with Doug.  We can travel back together or I can take the northern route and see some MN relatives. It may depend on the timing.  But if I do that....I can take my time coming back home.  Maybe see some prairie dogs or something. 
It will be my longest trip.  It's a lot of family trip.  Can't help that most of my family is in the Midwest.  And I can never hit them all at once.  The biggest part of this trip though is the littles.  They are my heart. 

Settling In

The littles are settling in.  Spending quality time with their siblings.  Makes my heart happy.  I want all the good things for them.  All the things that come from growing up with your siblings.  All the good things you get from Mommy.  All the things from having a Nana like me. 
I get to send cards and care packages.  And they already call me to tell me stuff.  We are figuring this out as we go and it seems to be going okay.  They are happy.  And I love that. 

Right Choice

Before the kids and I left for the Midwest I thought the biggest health problem was my cousin.  He had surgery while we were back there.  Initially he got good news.  The first tests they did in the operating room showed that the cancer was a non-aggressive kind and they were pretty sure they got it all.  He is just still waiting for the results from pathology (and he may have them by now) to see what his next course of action is.
So that was mostly good news.  My uncle on the other hand....has been diagnosed with terminal cancer and there isn't much they can do.  He has been given a couple of medications that may prolong his life some.  Those medications can also have some pretty harsh side effects.  So my understanding is he is trying those meds, but if he has side effects he will stop.  Living longer isn't really living if you are miserable. 
I made the right decision to build in those couple of extra days on my trip. I knew I needed to see them all while I was back there.  I kept saying I wanted to see every one while they are in the land of the living.  I was not going to be discouraged from being there and I wasn't.  And while I am extremely sad, I'm also very glad that I saw them.  He is the last remaining brother of my dad's. 

Dodge Durango

So before I totally forget.  I was suppose to have a Nissan Rogue while in the midwest.  But naturally that didn't happen.  I got a Dodge Durango.  And I liked it.
There were a couple of design flaws, the first being that knob on the console that coats can catch.  There were also a few more blind spots than I like in a car. 
But there were some things I really liked.  I liked the digital readouts.  I loved the heated seats.  When I found where the control was for the seats I saw heated wheel.  Now I live in the PNW so it didn't really register.  I was just trying to figure out why someone would want the wheels heated.  Got in the car  with Cassie and she tells me, "oh, that is for the steering wheel".  Well now isn't that clever.  I had that turned on almost the whole time I drove that car.  May have had something to do with the first day there it never got above 27 degrees.  That for sure is the cat's pajamas. 
I loved how the car told me how much pressure was in the tires.  I loved the auto high beams.  I loved how it didn't look like the old Durango.  It really was a nice vahicle.  Doubt I will ever own one, but I liked it. 

Oy

I mailed the first box to the littles.  It was an amazon box that came with a game in it.  The game stayed in the box and I added some dinosaurs, a barbie, pokemon cards and uno cards, and two small Nerf guns.  Weighed just under 8 pounds and costed $31 to ship.  Dang I should have checked two bags when we flew.  It only costed $30 to check a bag up to 50 pounds. 
While at the post office I grabbed a few flat rate boxes.  None of the rest of the Nerf guns are being shipped.  They will have to wait with the hoverboard and bikes.  They are just too long to go in boxes that don't cost an arm and a leg to ship. 
I got in two small walks today and visited with Jodi for a bit. She is painting the walls in the extra bedroom.  Figures she will be in trouble with the management company since she didn't ask their permission.  Said she will just tell them (if they say anything) that she had the owner's permission.  And she does.  She always had it.  Josh asked when they first moved in if he could paint that room and I told him yes and at that point I even would have paid for the paint.  But it never came to be. 
I have spent a good amount of time on the couch resting and watching TV/movies.  I think it is time to get up and get doing stuff. 

Stepping

Still enjoying the quiet.  But I did decide it was time to bring back counting steps.  It is hard to get walks in with littles who don't want to.  So it kind of fell by the wayside.  So I have gotten in two small walks this week thus far.  My hips and knees tell me I have not done enough for awhile.  So while part of the walks are uncomfortable, they also feel good.  I'm doing something for me. 
I figure it will be a bit before I consistently hit 10,000 steps a day.  All walks are more than I was doing the last six months though. 
I'm also adding in more water.  The first couple nights at home were filled with charlie horses in my legs.  I immediately knew it was from not enough water.  Drinking more means less of those.  ;p

Quiet

I did not get as much done as I thought I would.  But you can tell I am working on it.  I pulled out almost all of the kid cereal and tossed it.  That made a big dent in the cupboard and by the frig.  I managed to get the living room picked up and ready to vacuum.  It is still ready to vacuum.  Maybe tomorrow. 
I took some more rest time and watched another movie.  It is so nice to watch a movie totally uninterrupted. 
It is very very quiet here.  I'm not going to say too quiet as I am still enjoying it.  But it is kind of weird to get to the end of the day and realize I haven't spoken to anyone except the cashier at Walmart when I ran in for a few things and to return my movies to the Redbox. 

First Day

First day on my own.  I visited my mom and plan on doing more of that now that I am free to do so. I hit the gas station, the grocery store and Costco.  Redbox sent me a code for a free rental so I rented a couple of movies.  Video visited with Mike and it was a joy.....just like I expected....twenty minutes of how he needs that commissary package.  He does not seem to care that each package can cost $27 and he wants one every week.
Today was errand day. A movie day.  Tomorrow is a start the clean day.  My tentative plan is to clean the place up and get it ready for market and then do that.  And in the meantime I will figure out what I'm doing.  But it is not staying here.

The End

       

We Are a Grandfamily

Home Again

I woke up to a text from the airline.  My flight was delayed.  That's nice.  Still heading to the airport at my earliest convenience.  I was so worried about the roads.  And they were completely clear.  Ran the speed limit the whole way.  Only took an hour to get to the rental car place. Funny how much quicker you go when you go the toll roads.  I had discovered where to change that in the GPS. 
I was at the airport by 11. My flight wasn't until 5:20 p.m.  I had a little lunch.  I watched the people.  I did not envy the gate attendants job. I was wearing my Clark College hoody and some guy came up to me and told me how he had graduated high school from Clark.  He looked about my age or even a little older.  They didn't have running start when I was in school.  Well he took night classes to get his diploma.  Funny to run into somebody like that. 
The plane left at our new departure time and we got on the ground by 8 p.m.  Felt good to be back.  The house was quiet and only one cat was around.  I'm sure the other one will show up in the morning. 
Tomorrow a new life begins. 

Family

As we all get older it seems like we have a lot more health issues.  Which is why I took advantage of being so close to build in a couple of days to see my relatives in Illinois.  My cousin had surgery so I saw him at the hospital a couple of times today.  He was in good spirits in the morning and then he could tell when they started weaning him down on his pain meds.  He got a bit cranky so my aunt and I left and went out for lunch.
We picked up my uncle and went over to more family and had a snack.  Caught up there.  It has snowed and when we left my aunt fell down so they headed to the ER and I headed back to the hospital my cousin was at.  My aunt is fine, just had a headache and a goose egg.  My cousin thought I had impecable timing as I got to get him the urinal he couldn't reach and close the curtain and move this and move that.  I just sat with him for awhile and watched the snow. 
Driving back to the hotel the roads were getting slick.  Makes me a tad worried about my drive back to Chicago tomorrow. 

An Adventure

It was an adventure all right.  First I waited for Cassie to go grocery shopping so she could do it without Baby Love.  She really appreciated that. 
And then off I went.  Got gas and a soda.  I wasn't even to the Illinois state line when I had a low tire.  so I find a gas station and air it up.  Air gauges on free air are crap.  The car told me so.  Get going and now that tire is way to  high.  So I stop and let some air out.  I leaned over the console to get in my purse to find something to do that.  Remember this part.  Get some air out and it starts feeling really messed up.  So I go to a tire store.  The guy tells me the sticker in the door says 36 and that is what he is going to do all the way around.  I'm like hmmmm.  The tires say 44 psi.  So I drive it around and it is still acting freaking funny.  I stop at another gas station and by now I have no clue as to where I am in Indiana.  I paid for air here and it's gauge worked.  The car told me so.  Aired them all to 44.  And the car still acted funny.  So I just drive it.  GPS tells me where to go and gets me to Illinois.
 I am remembering to watch for the toll that I missed so I can go online and pay it.  I went through no tolls.  I could not drive over 55 which was fine most of the time I was in Illinois.  I had to get off the freeway.  Rush hour fun.  Decided I needed to take the car to the rental place.  Wondering if I should have stopped driving it.  But it just wouldn't go fast and it didn't  like to park.  I thought for sure I was a long way from the rental car place.  Turned out I was five miles.  I was at a gas station where the cashier was behind glass.  Made me a tad nervous as I have only seen that on TV. Get to the rental car place and tell the guy behind the counter what is happening.  He tells me I switched a switch.  Easy fix.  There is a knob on the console that switches it into low range.  I must have done it when I leaned over the console to get into my purse.  He switched it back and I was on my way.  Thought I was going to make good time now.
Ha.  I did not know that the GPS was set to no toll roads.  So I toured suburbs of Chicago and the countryside.  Some roads didn't even have lines.  But I got to Rockford and went and say my aunt and uncle.  It was a long day and an adventure.  But one that was better for not having children with me. 

Celebrating Baby Love's Birthday

Baby Love turned 2 years-old last week.  Cassie waited for us to be here to have a small celebration.  We went to Chuck E Cheese and every one played and played.  Then we had cupcakes.  A great memory.
Cassie also got the kids enrolled in school.  She did not need a social security card.  Funny that.  Anyway they both are going to school tomorrow.  I'm not sure if that is what the little woman wanted, but it certainly is for the little man.
I think that is going to make my leaving tomorrow easier.  I will be gone before they get home.  They know I'm leaving so it won't be like I just left without saying good-bye.
I'm sure Cassie appreciated being able to run a few quick errands without taking Baby Love.  Now she is going to wish I lived closer. But she does have the little woman to help a bit.  And the little woman loves Baby Love.  And so do I.

First Day

Lots of love in the household.  The kids are so bonded.  We ran some errands.  Cassie was told she needed a social security card to enroll the kids in school.  I only had the little man's.  So she tried to get a replacement for the little woman. Well a birth certificate is not good enough proof of who she is. Wait...what?  That doesn't make any sense.  Anyway...that is on hold. 
We found new jeans for the little man.  He only wears shorts.  It is too cold a lot of winter there for just shorts. 
Cassie cooked a nice dinner.  The littles are going to have to get used to that change and it will be good for them.  The little woman is so picky, but I bet she will try more stuff for Mommy. 

Flying and Driving

We were up and out the door on time.  Parked in long term parking.
The flight was quiet.  Both kids fell asleep.  The little man for about an hour and the little woman for almost the whole flight.  She was tired. 
We landed and taxied and taxied and taxied.  Oh yeah...we are at O'hare.  Then we missed a sign to baggage claim.  Got some directions.  Got more directions and our bag was waiting for us.  Caught the shuttle to the rental car center.  Got a van to the rental car place.  Did not get the Nissan I had rented. They just gave it to the woman ahead of me.  So they gave me a Durango.  Doesn't even look like a Durango anymore. 
And on the road we were.  The lady at the rental car place told me to be sure and pay my tolls since I opted not to buy the Ipass.  Of course I am going to pay my tolls.  Hit the first three just fine.  Was in the wrong lane for the last one and could not get over.  Damn. Going to have to figure out how to pay that so I don't get socked with a $50 from the rental car place. 
It was dark and late by the time we got to Kokomo.  I heard a lot of "how much further?" and "we are never going to get there."  We got there and the siblings were asleep.  But they gave Mommy lots of loves.  And so their new adventure begins. 

Packed

All the clean clothes are folded.  All the clothes that are going with are now packed.  I also managed to sneak in a couple of small Nerf guns.  The little man insists he wants the hover board, but it isn't going on the bag or in a box to be mailed.  It will have to wait till I take a load this summer.
We are about as ready as we will ever be.  What we forget will either be replaced or shipped later.
We went to Skyzone for the last time.  Skyzone went back to normal hours so they only got to jump for an hour and a half.  While there I explained to management about moving and they told me they would cancel the membership for me. Made me happy. We got a lot of days in jumping and that is good. 

Getting Ready

More and more laundry.  Seems every time I turn around I find more dirty clothes hiding in the woodwork. The little man got the suitcase down out of the attic for me.  Definitely cheaper to check a bag than to mail a box that big. 
Spent a little time at Pat's house.  The kids forgot to give him a hug.  I don't think they realized that they weren't going to see him again.  He works tomorrow and we leave on Tuesday. 

A Memorable Day

It had an ominous start, but it worked out.  The little man and I met up with Chad and Ky at the local restaurant for breakfast and it was packed.  I didn't have enough time to wait the twenty minutes to half an hour before we got our table.  So the little man took off with them to find somewhere else to eat.
 I picked up the little woman and we picked up Mya.  We all headed to visitation at the jail.  We had a video visit with Mike and he really wanted to be able to say good-bye to the little woman. Naturally there were issues with the video machine.  We got bumped till 37 minutes past our original time.  But at least we got it.
After that we met up with the guys at the Circuit Bouldering Gym in Portland.  It is a fantastic place.  The little man had no issues with anything straight up.  I don't think he ever tried one of the angle ones.  But it is amazing watching his natural athletic ability shine.  And his brain just seems to tell him where he needs to position his body to climb.  The little woman stayed in the kid area and did fine.  It is harder for her, but she persevered and climbed up and over many times.  She also did the slack line once, but I was her balance point so I didn't get a picture. 
After that we went to OMSI.  We used the arts for all plan and Chad and Ky got the same price since they were with us.  $5 is a great price.  The guys did the submarine tour and the little man kept telling me tidbits about it.  It all goes in his brain.  They all went to the play room while I found the Exquisite Creatures exhibit.  It was fantastic.  The little woman turned down going with me because the creatures weren't alive.  She had a good time with the guys and they spent almost an hour doing this one thing with rings on a board moving in a circle.
And then it was time to go. They got and gave great big hugs to Chad and Ky.  Chad told them to call anytime and that Ky's number is in the envelop for Mommy's house.  In the envelop is also gift cards for all four kids to go shopping for some new toys.  Always amazed at Chad and his capacity for love for his family.  So grateful for all that he has done over the years for the littles.  And while I know he is afraid of how this move will affect the long term relationship between Ky and the littles, I know they will always have a relationship with him. 
It was a super memorable day for the littles and for me.  We are blessed. 

Another Glow

So this weekend we found out we are not limited on the Glow.  We can arrive at 8 and stay till 11.  And that is what we did.  Almost three hours of jumping for the littles. 
I can tell the newness is wearing off though.  The little man was having great fun picking on his sister.  Nothing super mean, just annoying.  And that just annoying is enough to start her anxiety a bit. 
I'm so thankful for this week and a half of jumping though.  It has burnt off a lot of energy that is caused by anxiety in both of the littles about the upcoming transition.  While I know they are excited, I'm sure they are also nervous.  The little man says no, but I think he is a bit.  It's a big change, but I think he is going to do well. 

Another Trip to SkyZone

Every time we go the littles seem to focus on something different.  I hope they aren't getting burnt out on it as we still have at least one more trip for a glow. 
Tonight the little man put in some time playing basketball with Marina.  The little woman naturally just played by herself.  They both played very hard.  In fact I think the little man played the hardest he has yet. 
I have to thank Marina for keeping me entertained. 

Racking Up the Time

Made our fourth trip in a week to Skyzone.  Every time they concentrate on something different.  This time was the rock wall.  The little woman spent well over an hour on it.  He did a good amount of time and the rest was in the dodgeball court. 
They are getting good use for the money spent on their membership.