Blogging has not been on my list of priorities this season of my life. My priorities seem to be focusing on getting enough sleep and having clean clothes.
I suppose eating is up there, too.
Lorene's new schedule involves 2 or 3 days of my leaving the house at 5:30 am so she can leave hers at 6 am. It means less time at home, but I wasn't very productive before 5:30 anyway. It would help if I would remember to take my breakfast and lunch along.
I worked on my budget this weekend after spending way too much money, in my opinion, to get the car's heating system to blow out cold air on the passenger side instead of engine hot. Now it blows out the proper temperature on both sides, but it is blowing air out of the top vents when it is supposed to be only the bottom ones. Jim says it's stiff new parts. I hope so. I don't like cold air blowing on my ears when it's cold out. Well, I don't really like any kind of air blowing on my ears. And, yes, the dash vents are turned off, but there's leakage.
Anyway, after the budget looking over, I decided to see how little I could spend on groceries this month and use up some things in my freezer and pantry cupboard. Except for milk and fresh produce, I think we could survive about 6 months.
Running total:$24 and I forgot to buy flour. Thank goodness for brownie mixes.
February Leftovers
Lorene is into decorating in a big way these days. I love this girl, I love this shirt, but I don't love how quickly she is growing up.
Christian has a unique way of looking at life. I don't know that I've ever seen drawings of people quite like his. This is his mom and I. Usually, he draws my hair down to my feet. This could be his opinion that I should wear more colorful clothes.
Valentine's day has come and gone.
Every year about this time, school fundraisers rear their ugly head. I have such a hard time paying double the cost of the magazine even though I know that half of the price goes to the school. So, I just write a check to the school and forget the ordering. Then I get to choose how much to spend. And, I don't have a magazine I don't want. They never have anything I do.
ANYWAY, one person in the elementary school that turns in their completed forms wins a prize right then and there and Barry was the lucky winner!
Spring time made a brief appearance in February, so we took a trip to the park. Zane and Barry rode their bikes while Christian and I followed along in the car. I was in mother hen mode most of the way there. Even their little hometown has a few cars on the main road.
Several months ago, Mom suggested I submit a "cute kid" picture to this magazine. The only one close to hand was Paislee. And lo and behold, they published it. I got a check for $25.
March News
Wresting season is still going on and this time Christian was well, not sick so he got to participate.
The little ones just wrestle for experience and a medal. Christian doesn't get the idea of what is going on. When it's his turn, he just lays down and the other kid "wins".
He was sure pleased with his medal!
Barry worked very hard, as you can see by his flushed cheeks, for his medal. The wrestlers weren't sorted by weight so he was up against bigger kids.
I got a week off between Lorene's field work sessions, so Jim and I really took off. We went to Wyoming to see my aunt and uncle and had a marvelous time.
We've been meaning to go for years, but the last several years have been difficult ones due to finding any good help, thus making it nearly impossible to leave when construction is going strong. We were glad we did. Time is passing for them, as it is for everyone else, and medical issues cloud the future.
We went as far as Cheyenne on Sunday and spent the next morning at the Cheyenne Depot Museum. We have been interested the the big steam locomotives, particularly the Big Boy series and the Challenger 3900 series. The Big Boy is the largest of all steam engines, ever. Cheyenne, in its time was a hub for railway traffic on the Union Pacific Railway.
Once we reached our destination, we had the fun of looking over their house which was new to us and visiting, visiting, visiting. We looked at photos, and things with precious memories. We went out to eat at some yummy pasta/pizza restaurant whose flat bread was so soaked in olive oil that it was easy to eat, and delicious besides.
We left early Thursday and arrived home to our beds just a little after normal bedtime, (which for us is mighty early,) and spent Friday hiding out and not telling people we were home.
On the way home, we saw antelope and Chimney Rock.
We had more fun than photos.
This is how Jim takes his Sunday nap.
