“Do the next thing”

Today I cleaned out Fran’s car.  The thermometer said it was warm, (40F), but the wind chill revealed otherwise. When that task was done, I looked up today’s gas war prices in town on mainegasprices.com and then drove over to Puffin Stop to fill up.  I know, on FB this is gas strike day, but, whatever.  Anyway, I don’t know if the gas cap is broken, or someone siphoned and was alarmed and interrupted, but whichever the case, the gas cap fell off into my hand.  It doesn’t seem to screw back on tightly.

Mountain Dew cupcakes?  Anna’s latest food adventure.  This was a test run for the batch she’s been asked to bake for the SMASH cast party on the 19th.

HOME Convention tomorrow.  Ok, it’s starting with its first workshop right now, but really?  It’s hard enough to rationalize the money for one hotel stay up in Rockland, much less two.  We’ll leave here bright and early tomorrow to attend what always used to be a two-day event.  Of course one of the workshops I most would have liked to attend is happening now, but I’ll get the cd, (has anyone ever listened to the free cd you get with your paid registration?  I haven’t.)

Still no letter from Adam.  He said he wrote one.  I believe him. When the rest of the guys went to BCT they sat them down and made them write a letter home saying they arrived safe and were doing fine.  I expect no less this fourth time around.  Soon enough it will arrive.

Five Hour Energy commercials.  Silly commercials.  They try to sell their product as if the only reason people ever drink coffee is for the energy.  As if!  I like coffee.  I like the taste of it sweetened and creamed.  The reliance on it for the morning wake-up and the afternoon restart was a side effect.

So, I’ve seen it but have never done it; list random thoughts that sum up my day, week, or whatever.  Here goes.

I’m looking for a very skinny pouch to tuck my Kindle into so it will be protected from any mishap like my hand lotion opening in my purse. This has never happened to me, but it would be disappointing if it suddenly decided to happen while my Kindle was tucked “safely” away.  I’m looking for the thinnest plastic sleeve similar to some CD sleeves I used to see when CD’s were more, um, seen.

I won my Kindle in a contest.  I wrote about how YNAB software helped our family get out of debt.  One of the six prizes went to me and it was this cool Kindle; I’ve read one book on it, and listened to one other book on it so far.  FB has robbed me of most of my random reading time.  It’s all my fault, I know.

I received my new Tracfone today.  I was able to transfer my phone number and my minutes, but not my contacts or pictures.  A conversation with Fran tells me not to start reloading it manually yet….one of the boys might have a SIM card reader that would do it for me.  Interesting.  Today’s Tracfone guy was Spanish; he would have chosen “1″ for Spanish when calling for tech support.

I got a new Tracfone because my old one stopped working.  Too bad, cause the tech on the phone who tried to help me for at least a half hour last week spoke clear American English and even understood my humor, frustration and sarcasm.  I don’t try any of that, oh, except the frustration, when I’m the phone with a foreign sounding person.

Anna made some yummy macaroons today.  Another friend suggested they’d be even better with chocolate. She might be right.  Isn’t everything better with chocolate?  She used the cream that separated in a can of coconut milk.  There is still some of it left so I have to figure out what to do with it.  I know, Google.  I’ll get to it.

I like watching Kitchen Nightmares.  I’ve just finished Season 1 and started with Season 2, all on Hulu.

There is still a lot of construction dust around here.  It’s mostly all around the edges of the floors…we’ve walked the rest of it onto our socks and washed it away in our laundry.

Micah just emailed; he has a sim card reader with him…in Iowa. He’ll help me do the task when he gets home…in two weeks.

The recent rain washed about two feet of snow away.  Now there is only about a foot left.

It’s hard to read posts on Facebook by people who miss their husbands because they’ve been gone for a week, (or less.)  I know that’s a looonnggg time to them, so I refrain from commenting, but I do sigh or scowl just a little.  We’re at six weeks down, two to go.  For this round.  Then we start it all over again in July. Incidentally, I know that anyone reading this who has a husband gone for a year-long deployment would wonder what my problem is since Fran’s only been gone for six weeks.  I know.  I get that too.

Now I need to go up and strip the bed.  Anna told me that the cat threw up on it, and while she cleaned up most of it for me, (she is amazing,) she said I’ll still want to wash the linens.  That was this morning, and I forgot about it and here it is 8:19pm.  Guess I’ll be using my back-up quilt……..quiltsssssss.

That was fun. Bye.  Maybe next time I’ll add photos.

While I trip over yet another pair of tan Army boots, I sometimes feel like kicking myself! Should I have made Adam pack up his room before he left on Sunday for Boot Camp? Should I have made Micah do it last year, or Erik two years before that?  ’Cause I did.

Reality is that our big old house is 110 years old and we are always renovating.  This makes bed accommodations tricky. It’s not like we’re just emptying their room over a weekend so we can do a Heroes Home Makeover for them to return to or anything cool like that. They don’t get to be like the college student who just goes away and comes back to the same Red Sox posters, trophies and cds still where they left them.   We keep rearranging what we do with the rooms, while in the process of trying to make them more functional and finished. In 2008 Erik’s room became Micah’s, making Micah’s and Adam’s room just Adam’s room.  When Erik came home for holidays we threw an extra bed into Adam’s room.  When Erik left again, the bed went back to the attic.  Then, when Micah left in 2010, his room became the computer repair depot, (if you know our family, you know whay we need such a thing!)  When Micah and Erik both returned, they set up beds in the now half-finished attic.

This week, with Adam making his trek to Boot Camp, Micah and Erik are moving into Adam’s room. It’s time to get back up into that attic and finish it.  All the walls are drywalled, but only half have been taped and primered, and the storage system has to be installed into the knee walls.  Anyway, I checked in on Micah while he was setting up in the room above the kitchen. Micah commented that Adam left one knick knack shelf intact, and another pile on the bureau. I said, “Yeah, there is an emotional element to packing up your whole life, (wrenching,) and going off to boot camp. Combine them and it can be tough to handle.” Then after lingering a few minutes while he worked, I walked away wondering if I should have “done that” to each of them; made them reduce their childhood to plastic bins.

I remember when I left for college.  I packed boxes for “College”, and also boxes for “Maine”.  We lived in MA at the time and once I left for school, my Dad moved our family to Maine.  Actually, my Mom and sister had already moved up ahead of my Dad….so it was all a very non-traditional “Send your oldest daughter off to college” experience. In fact, my friend’s Mom took me shopping for school.  I think of both of them whenever I see my old steamer trunk. That is a precious memory, and a foundation for the years the followed when I wasn’t afraid to let other older women play a role in my life.  At times I really needed it.

Later that day, when I dropped in on Micah again during his moving in process he said, “I’m just going to leave that shelf and Adam’s stuff there on the wall; it won’t hurt anything.” It was so comforting to know that Micah got it. I wonder if when I mentioned the emotional stress that might have caused Adam to not pack some things, Micah started remembering back to last year when he did the exact same thing.  He packed most things, but there were still things for me to take care of so that the room could be used for it’s next purpose.  I bet Micah just remembered and decided it was ok.

I tear up now and then at the thought of how they have all grown to be men who care about each other and don’t barrel through life recklessly heedless of others. By God’s grace, He has led us through and sometimes despite the emotional struggle, allowed hard things in their lives that make them who He wants them to be. God’s plan for each of them needs some very specific experiences, and if we shelter and protect too much, we’ll be denying Him the training that He has in mind for them.

Now, to figure out whose Army boots are in the hall…

If I’m having a bad day, someone else is having one that’s worse. If I’m sick, someone else is sicker.  If I’m frustrated by an obstacle, someone else is nervous about a bigger one.  If I have too far to drive, someone else has a longer trip.  If I don’t like my weight, someone else is frustrated that they more lbs to lose.  If I have too much housework, someone else has a larger house to clean.  If I don’t feel I have enough room in my house, someone else fits more people into a smaller one.  If I’m in a tizzy about a relational problem, someone else has one that is more dramatic.

So, since my problems are smaller than other peoples’,  I should consider myself blessed, smile every day, suck it up and be happy.

Not.

I still have frustrations.  Anything that can be deemed a challenge or obstacle in my world is just that in my life.  Others might want to tell me that my “problems” don’t matter because they have bigger ones. They seem to think that since I don’t have their circumstance, my life is carefree.  No, it just means that they can’t see my life through my eyes.  They aren’t walking in my shoes.

“I should consider myself blessed, smile every day, suck it up and be happy,” simply because God is there and knows all about the issues in my life, not because I’m better off than someone else.

Just because I know that, doesn’t make it easy.

I just have to link to today’s article in my local paper!  It’s what a wife and mother must do!!!

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