DK moving back

We are gearing up for DK to move back to GA to begin working on Monday. We promised the boys they could finish up the school year here, so I'll be remaining here with the kids. There is more stress brweing around here than anyone should have to deal with.

DK is stressed, I'm stressed, kids are stressed. Baby J is blessfully unaware. I'm trying not to let on how anxious I really am, but I am. I have no support system up here really. I have 2 very sweet ladies who help me with cleaning who will also help me with babysitting...which I am very thankful for. I enjoy their company immensely..very cool people. But that's about it.

Not to mention I'm now insane about personal safety and locking the doors and so forth. I double check them multiple times before I can fall asleep. I used to take for granted that my little corner of the world was safe and nothing really horrendously bad would happen. I have lost that sense of safety.

My friend, Meredith Emerson, was abducted and murdered about 6 weeks ago. I haven't had a decent night's sleep since then, and I expect it'll only be worse once DK is spending the work week in another state. I usually hold together very well during the day, but at night when the house is quiet and I'm alone with my thoughts...that's when it's really hard.

I'm rambling... I'm hoping I can begin posting more upbeat things soon.

Month from hell

January sucked....and that is the grandest understatement I have probably ever made.

I lost a friend, and the world lost an amazing person. I lost my sanity for a while there. My husband lost a job. And my children lost their sense of innocence and security in the world. That was January...in a nutshell I guess.

Things have to go up from here...they just have to.

Catching Up

Whew..I haven't updated in a long, long time...
We moved to Arden NC at the end of August, and we all love it here. I enrolled the boys in a local private school...very non-traditional, and my former homeschoolers took to it right away.

I stay home with Baby J..who's now not such a baby at 13 months.. He's still trying to get a hang of that walking thing though...

D is working here in Asheville, and if things work out right, we'll be able to stay here permanently. If not, we'll be heading back to GA...but that is up in the air at the moment. And what a huge thing to have hanging over your head...

What else? Oh yes.. I have diagnosed with SEVERE obstructive sleep apnea, and am now sleeping with a CPAP and feeling much much better. And with some of this newfound energy I have, I can begin working on weight loss again.

Guess that's all for now.

Catching up

It has been entirely too long since my last post. We've wrapped up the school year, with the exception of some testing that we are currently working on. S and D are spending their days at a local Y daycamp and DK is commuting to Asheville on business alot unfortunately. My 15 year old niece, L, is staying with us for the summer. She is a tremendous help and baby J just adores her.

Unfortunately the kitchen flood that we experienced 2 months ago ruined the kitchen floor and subfloor, causing the complete destruction of our kitchen. (Cabinets, sink, counters...everything got ripped out!) So for the moment we have no kitchen at all, save a fridge, microwave, and toaster. (No, not even a sink!) I'm now on a first name basis with the contractors.

We are also helping my dad get his house ready to sell and L has been a huge help there too. hopefully that will be all wrapped up in a week or so. I hope all this mess will be wrapped up, and I can relax a bit this summer!!

The Drive

This last week has been quite a rollercoaster of ups and downs. My children attended a funeral for the first time- my grandmother passed away and her funeral was one week ago. I was incredibly impressed with both their behavior and their sensitivity.

The following day we all loading into the minivan and began a 14 hour drive from GA to WI. On the way up we drove for 6 hours and stopped for the night and finished up the next day. We had a very nice visit with DK's mom and step dad and all the cousins. My southern boys got to stomp around in some snow, and we witnessed the (fairy themed) wedding of two very dear friends. We were all in costume, and the boys were all adorable!! D was a dancing fool at the wedding. We;ve got to get him involved in community theater or something...he's a natural!
The drive back was a bit more difficult. After a lovely luncheon with family we hit the road around 2 pm and hit post ballgame traffic in Chicago. After spending 3-4 hours in traffic, and not making it much father than Gary, IN, we stopped for the night exhausted and frazzled. We got up the next morning and had to do the remaining 12 hours in one day. This is tiring for adults...but throw in 2 kids and an infant and it's a *really* long drive. But the kids once again did amazingly well.
I've learned a few things- my family can log close to 40 hours of driving time in just a few days with very little bickering. Driving cross country can be a blast. Peppy music makes the drive more fun. And Gameboys are invaluable on a long drive. Some rest stops are very nice, and some are just nasty. And lastly, when you are nursing a baby at a rest stop, truckers steer clear of you. :) I look forward to making that trip again next year..with hopefully more time to explore all the interesting things along the way.

Insanity

I have noticed that when crises occur, they seem to somehow come in waves.

Our kitchen flooded 2 weeks ago, the flooring and subflooring were ruined and I'm dealing with the insurance company, contractors, etc and our kitchen is pretty unusable.

I already mentioned in a previous entry about my dad. He's still in the hospital. He's developed an infection and is still getting transfusions because his hemoglobin keeps dropping and no one is sure why.

My 93 year old grandmother developed pneumonia earlier this week and now her lungs are collapsing and her heart is in failure, and she is being released to hospice. The doctor thinks she'll only live a day or two longer.

Oh and yeah..we are supposed to be leaving Wednesday for a 14 hour drive from GA to WI.

And I think J has another ear infection brewing. Can someone cut me some slack, please?! :(

At this point I'm very glad I scheduled 2 spring break for the kids...at least with everything else going on, I don't have to worry about lessons next week.

Today we are heading to the vet school open house, and I am really looking forward to some lighthearted fun...like the dancing dogs show!

Hectic Weekend

I haven't posted for a while. My father has been in the hospital. He was in ICU for several days, but is doing better now, though he hasn't been discharged yet. I've been running back and forth between home and the hospital, which is about an hour away.

Monday, there was no schooling accomplished at all, but Tuesday and today we worked hard and made up for it. Tomorrow we have our co-op and then we'll trek back over to the hospital. Friday we have an event that S has been waiting for all year! The local university has a top rated vet school...and this vet school is having an open house. DK even has the day off (for Good Friday), and we can all go on this field trip together.

This weekend I will simultaneously be catching up on everything from this week, and preparing for a big trip we have planned towards the end of next week. We are taking next week off from school (Lucky kids get 2 spring breaks!) Though we have to make it up by running a week longer into the summer. I am only hoping my dad is better and out of the hospital before we leave..otherwise I'm not sure what will happen!