Jurassic Classic 2013

While my boys were at the Father & Son's camp out last weekend I ran the Jurassic Classic 5K Mud Run. There is something about jumping in a big mud bog that brings me a sense of release and joy. I signed up by myself and was a little sad about doing it alone. I decided to do it anyway and was super excited to bump into a friend of mine from church at the starting gate. We ran together and she kept me going when I wanted to stop. I am not a great runner and the mud run I completed last year ended up being mostly a mud walk. This year I improved my time by over 15 minutes. If you think about it that is quite a lot when you are only going just over 3 miles.

The obstacles we faced this year were a little different than last year. The mud pits were smaller but more frequent. Some seemed like they had been stirred around to make them sludge rather than just dirty water. I think there were 7-8 mud pits as well as a rope wall, a wooden wall, tires, a crawling pit area, and hay bales. It really felt like they were getting us nice and muddy only to cover us in hay. We ended up looking like we were tared and feathered. The only thing the course lacked were water stations! There were only two when there should have been at least 4-5.

In the end my legs were pretty scraped, my skin milky smooth from all the mud, and my sense of accomplishment was through the roof. It was such a great start to my morning. I came home, took a shower, and cuddled up in my bathrobe on the bed for a nice nap. The second my head hit the pillow the phone rang and Johnny announced my truck full of stinky camping boys along with all their laundry, sleeping bags, and smelly gear were just around the corner. No rest for the weary!

Mother's Day 2013

Mother's Day this year was nothing out of the ordinary. Johnny made breakfast. He loves to cook and Sunday is his only chance. He apologized for not getting me anything while we were eating. I laughed because it is usually a Kit Kat when he does get me something. I cleaned up and got out the church clothes. Once all the boys were ready Johnny took off with them walking to church so I could get ready in peace. I really LOVE this part of my Sundays. A whole 40 minutes to shower and dress all by myself! Just as I was leaving the house I got a call from Johnny that Wesley (our 3 year old) had pooped his pants on the way to church. Wesley rarely has accidents. I grabbed new clothes and plastic bags for him and headed out. I took Wesley into the church to drop off my stuff on the pew and rushed him to the bathroom only to realize I left the wet wipes in the bag on the bench. We ran back to grab them then off to the bathroom again. Once in the bathroom I realized we were dealing with a serious explosion that went down his legs and over his shoes. I cleaned him up the absolute best I could on the floor of the handicapped stall and washed up before realizing my keys were in my purse on the pew. I was not going to sit through Mother's Day sacrament meeting with a bag of poop clothes next to me! The meeting had started so I handed off Wesley to my parents (Johnny had the other 3), grabbed my keys and went to the car. Only then did I realize that Wesley had left a trail of poo through the foyer when we had come in the first time! Ugh! I delivered the poop bag to the car and scrubbed the foyer carpet on my hands and knees. At this point I was cursing my 6 inch heels! I entered sacrament meeting for the 4th time and threw myself on the pew just in time for my boys to go up with the primary to sing. If not for the Symphony and Dove chocolate bars at the end of the meeting I might have ended up in tears. We ended the day with a nice picnic in Pasadena with my sister's and their families. Johnny left for work in Delano, CA and I went home. Fancy? No. Memorable? Yes!

Such is Life

I should have been posting regularly for the past two months since Johnny was working close to home and coming home every night. I had the time but not the motivation. He would come home every day and take the kids to play or to baseball practice so I could clean or make dinner in peace, but I never took the time to blog. Tonight is Johnny's first night away from home now that he was sent to a substation in Delano, CA (just north of Bakersfield). He will be working there for at least a month and hopefully coming home on the weekends. He is sad and lonely sitting in a grubby hotel by himself and was very put out that the hotel pool looked too gross to get in! As for me, at this very moment I have a sink full of dishes I am not going to wash tonight, clothes in the dryer I am not going to fold, dishes in the dishwasher I am not going to unload, toys (and a few goldfish) all over the floor that I am going to ignore, and most importantly I have four very happy little boys all asleep in their beds who had a yummy dinner, a fun bike ride, a warm bath, singing time, and a spiritual family home evening followed by family prayer. I actually feel a sense of accomplishment despite all of the things I didn't get done! I am going to go grab my kindle to start rereading the Great Gatsby (so I can feel prepared when I go see the movie with my book club) and eat some yummy chocolate! I will update my blog with all the fun stuff later!  

Goals

I almost accepted a part time evening and weekend job the other day. A friend mentioned they needed people and I thought, why not? I knew I would get the job and I had $$$ signs flashing in my mind as I thought about being able to save extra money and pay off debt. Then I thought about what I would be giving up. Johnny is finally home every night. I would be gone instead of spending time with him. I would miss baseball games, all Saturday activities, Sunday afternoons and family dinners, etc. I would leave Johnny to work 12 hour days then come home to take care of dinner and put the kids in bed. I would really miss singing to my kids at bedtime. Not worth it! I realized I was trying to fill a desire for self improvement and fulfillment with something that would leave me wanting and frustrated.

I have wanted to go back to school for a long time. I completed my first Master's degree in Adult Education/Distance Learning the month I found out I was pregnant with Daniel. That was February 2005. 8 years later I am enrolling in my second Master's program. This time I will get my teaching credential and a specialization to make myself more marketable as I try to enter the Online Education world. The ultimate goal being that I can teach online at the high school or college level. After having 4 babies in 5 1/2 years I want to do something that is for my own personal growth and self fulfillment. I'm scared and excited all at the same time. I have not written a research paper in almost a decade and the thought terrifies me! What on earth am I getting myself into?

Life

Tonight I was reading scriptures with my boys before bed holding Jaxon's hand so he could point to each word while sounding it out. For just a few seconds all my boys were calm and quiet which happens so infrequently it surprised me. All of a sudden I thought I would like to take a picture of my hand on Jaxon's on  the scriptures so I could remember that very second when I was actually able to feel the Spirit of the Lord in my life. By the time I even had the thought pop into my head the moment was over. Forget about even trying to grab the camera, I had to stop reading to intervene as Wesley smacked Garrett upside the head for touching his toy boat. Oh well. Such is my Life.

Skittles

This morning Daniel told me he had to bring a bag of Skittles to school for their 100th day of school project. At first I grumbled about having to leave the house early to stop by the store and unload all 4 kids just to grab a bag of stinkin' Skittles. But, then I thought maybe this would make an excellent learning experience for Daniel. He is 7 now and I have been trying to let him in on some older kid stuff like taking the garbage cans to the street, getting the mail, cutting veggies, filling pots with water and putting them on the stove, etc. So, I pulled up to the grocery store and luckily got a spot right in front of the door (not Wal-Mart, just the small local grocery store so I knew it would be an easy experiment) then I explained to him that the candy was on the first isle which I could see through the door, told him what to get and handed him a few dollars. I made sure to tell him which line to go through. Then, I stood at the door (looking like a dorky mom almost in tears because my first baby is growing up) for extra encouragement and to watch my other kids in the car. Daniel had a HUGE goofy toothless smile on his face the whole time. The cashier recognized me standing at the door since I am at that store on a much too frequent basis. She was great guiding Daniel through the payment process. The other shoppers all smiled at him and said encouraging words to him. It was adorable! When he was done he did a double fist pump in the air and shouted "I really did it Mom!" Apparently he enjoyed the experience so much he was going to write about it during journal time at school. Its amazing to me how something that was at first so annoying and filled me with frustration turned out to be the highlight of my day.

Weekend Getaway

Johnny has been working in Hanford (south of Fresno in central CA) for the past few weeks and he will likely be there for a few months. Its about 5 hours from Hemet where we are renting a house so he can't come home every weekend, its just too expensive. Luckily the company he is currently working for had their holiday party which provided a perfect excuse to leave the heathens with my parents and spend a whole 36 hours with Johnny alone. It was divine! We sat in the jacuzzi, danced to live music without worrying about what time we had to relieve the babysitter, ate ice cream, sat in the jacuzzi, went to bed late and slept in late, worked out at the gym for hours, sat in the jacuzzi, took long hot showers, went clothes shopping, took a nap, and then got all dressed up to go to the party.

I was nervous to meet the guys Johnny works with. Linemen are a rough group and I didn't really know what to expect. Johnny warned me about a few of the guys in advance, one was super scary looking but turned out to be a big teddy bear. The party was great fun. The food was great. The dancing was fun. The people I met were very nice and one guy in particular made a hilarious drunk. We were given $500 gambling chips each to use at the poker tables to earn raffle tickets. Our drink tickets we used to suck up to the guys on Johnny's crew. It paid off. Since Johnny and I don't ever gamble it was fun to learn a few new games and bet big knowing we had nothing substantial to lose. Some of the other guys started asking me to play for them when they saw my stack of chips. One guy told me I needed to win big so I could "win the Kitchen Aid to bake for [my] 45 children." He was hilarious. I guess 4 kids does seem like a lot to some people, especially when they are drunk. What I really wanted was the 60" flat screen, but I settled for $40 to Cold Stone. At least we didn't leave empty handed. Then what do you think we did when the party ended? Jacuzzi, of course! The time seemed to go so slow without the normal hussel of keeping the kids on schedule to avoid meltdowns. I was so relaxed the entire time. I miss being relaxed. 

The problem with the weekend being over is that now I need something else to look forward to. I have the kids all on my own so much of the time. Its hard to breath sometimes much less even remember to go to the bathroom or brush my own teeth. I am struggling to just keep my head above water. Going to a cold bed alone at night is not appealing so I tend to stay up too late reading then regret it when my boys wake early the next morning. Each day I tell Johnny he should be happy we are all alive. I know it is hard for him too knowing that I struggle and he can't be here to relieve me. Most of the time our limited conversations are cut short by the kids. I know it will get easier over time. I count my blessings that we are not in the trailer any more and that at least two of my boys are in school most of the day. I think later in life I will be able to look back at this time and laugh, but not yet. Not yet.