Adulting: not as fun as it looks

It's been a bit of a nutty summer around here. While we are glad we bought a house, it came with a fair share of issues, which have caused me a fair share of stress, creating a whole new set of issues.

1). Stress + Christine = physical ailments/trips to the doctor! Maybe I'll get into the details in a later post. Apparently I'm fine, but do have some anxiety.

2). Shortly after we moved in to the new place we discovered that the fridge had been leaking water. It permeated the wall and the floor behind the fridge, resulting in moldy carpet and a potentially moldy wall. We worked quickly to remove the carpet and install new flooring, thanks to the in-laws. Only after most of the work was done did someone ask us about home insurance...being first-timers with a house and home insurance, it never crossed our mind. That whole situation was extremely stressful to me, and grew to an even more intense situation when we discovered a few weeks later that the cupboard next to the fridge was filled with mold and rotting away. $

That's all fixed now. I don't want to talk about it anymore. $

3). The week between mold discovery and mold removal/wall replacement the AC quit working in the middle of the night. It gets hot around here, so it was an issue. $

4). The day of the boys' birthday party, the doorknob came off in Justin's hand. It just came right off. $

5). For about a week we thought Justin might be diabetic, based on results from blood work done at his annual check up. However, after repeat blood work, we were informed he is no where near being diabetic; that he must have simply had an outstandingly sweet breakfast the morning before his first draw. Sheesh!

6). It's monsoon season in Arizona. You may have seen some pictures on various weather media showing the dust storms, also called haboobs, roll through. They're usually accompanied by thunder, lightning and rain -- intense rain -- and, of course, wind -- strong, gusty wind. There are usually flash-flood warnings because ground is so hard and so dry the rain has no where to go. You may remember the floods that devastated Mesa and other areas last year.

We've been hit by a monsoon almost every night for a week. It was so windy Saturday, the large Mesquite tree in our front yard was uprooted and fell directly on top of BOTH our cars. Yep, both. I rarely leave my car outside, but had moved it out to gain more space for painting the hutch. $

Justin's car is a work car, but we are still responsible for the deductible. $

Friendly neighborhood folk came by throughout the night to alert us to the downed tree. Another neighbor brought over his chainsaw in the morning to help free our rides, and a friend came later in the morning to help move the wood away, finish freeing the cars and clear off the driveway.

We're grateful no one was outside and we're very thankful the tree didn't hit our house. I'm even more grateful the cars are drivable and the repairs aren't enough to total our car (read: I don't want a new car payment right now).

7). To top it all off, though, my hairdryer started smoking Monday morning. $

Adulting isn't all it's cracked up to be. I guess Billy Madison was right when he said to a little third-grade boy who was eager to grow up and go to high school that he should, "Stay here. Stay as long as you can. For the love of God, cherish it. You have to cherish it."

On a more serious and important note, however, I was reminded in all this by a dear friend that we are to "Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work in you so you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything." -- James 1:2-4.

Man, oh man, did I need to be reminded of that in the midst of all these trials!

I was (ok, I am) having trouble considering all these things pure joy, but I am so grateful I serve a God who knows every hair on my head, who graciously offers a peace that passes understanding, who upholds me with his righteous right hand and who says, "fear not, for I am with you; do not be dismayed for I am your God, I will strengthen you and help you!" -- Isaiah 41:10.

I need all a lot of strength and peace these days, that's for sure.

With that said, we should highlight some good news:

1). As of yesterday, we are officially out of our lease in our last rental. Whew! 2). The boys are healthy, Justin and I are healthy and 3). we are blessed with amazing friends and neighbors. 4). We're thankful for family who call to check in on us, pray for us and 5). even offer to fly down and help out the day the tree fell on our car (my bro Joe is pretty neat).

In other good news, 6). Emmett's enlarged kidney has officially decreased in size to a normal range so he has officially graduated from regularly scheduled urologist appointments. Yay! 7). He also seems to have outgrown his cow's milk protein, corn, soy and who-knows-what allergies. No more bloody poop! He's eating all regular food now and we aren't avoiding anything.

8). We've been blessed with the opportunity to buy our own house and make it a home!

I suppose the good does outweigh the bad! If you think of us, please pray for us!

PS -- All things happening at once has reminded us of September 2010 when both our cars were in accidents the same week, followed by Justin getting rear-ended five days later in the rental car he was driving while his car was being repaired! Hopefully that's all for now, for later and for a long time!

Receiving

One of the things I learned about myself in pre-marital counseling was about how I could stand to be better about receiving; both in terms of what receiving would do for me, and what it would do for the giver.

I suppose my initial reluctance to receive comes from independence. Or, more likely, a sense of responsibility (hello, first born). I generally want to, think I should, know I can or secretly want to show others I can do it all by myself. This goes for anything from receiving help out to my car with the groceries to simply asking for help with I could need it.

A typical situation

In my head: Good golly, I think I've cut off circulation in my arms with all these bags! I could sure use some help... 

Person offering assistance: "Hi, can I help carry your bags? That's quite a load!"

What I actually say: "Oh, no thanks. I've balanced the weight so I've got it. Thanks anyway!"

What? WHY!!??

Another reason could be because I like to help. I like to assist. I like to give. Sometimes it's because I just feel like I should (again, oldest child here), but most of all it's just because that's who I am. It's innate. Need help? Ask me!

In pre-marital counseling, the approach to this topic was about how to be and become a better partner. It was a lesson in how to give and to receive to better learn to rely on one another. It was a good lesson for me at the time. It opened my eyes to how receiving benefits both the recipient and the giver, makes for a stronger relationship and teaches humbleness and gratitude.

My thoughts have led me to this post because it seems I'm in a season of receiving. Sometimes I can't help but feel bad (convicted? helpless? not sure which word encompasses the feeling) about being a recipient. I suppose it's tied to an idea that I'd be considered needy? Becoming a mom is serious business. There is much to do. There are many decisions to be made. I'm sure one day I'll shower AND actually dry my hair with some frequency... All in all, most days are fine, fun, manageable. There are, however, times when I've realized I needed help from my mom or a friend.

One thing I know I still need to work on is to stop waiting until I feel that I have to have reached the ultimate edge of sanity or physical endurance before I actually ask, "can you come help me?"

As of late, friends have come to my rescue without me even having to ask. These are good, gracious and thoughtful people who have come to my door with food, let me stay at their house, responded to random and late-night texts or have met me for coffee/playdates to let me vent about how 2013 has, when you think about it, been sorta crappy (literally...we'll get to it) so far.

On top of blood in diapers, changing to formula, multiple doctor & specialist visits, painful engorgement, lost luggage, the flu, RSV, a shower that won't stop leaking into the kitchen, a botched repair job on said leak which left a thick layer of mystery dust on everything in the house, baby's sleep regression, "piglets" in the dryer and more or less having single-parented for most of 2013 thus far...

...there was poo and poo-related business floating around our basement over the weekend.

In short, what appeared to be a small puddle -- initially thought to be rain-related -- turned out to be backup from the sewer due to a clog somewhere along the line. We had moved some stuff out of the way when we noticed the puddle a few days earlier, but around 5:30 p.m. Saturday there was poo in the puddle, and the puddle had grown to a lake. It seeped around and through walls, cardboard boxes and other belongings.

Thankfully the landlord was able to get a drain guy and a cleaner here within a half hour (impressive!), but the stink became overwhelming, so Rolin and I packed up and stayed with a friend Saturday night. Back at home on Sunday revealed how much damage had been done -- I didn't know where to start cleaning, let alone how to do it efficiently and by myself. Justin was scheduled to fly to Vegas at 10 a.m. and was frantically trying to get some laundry done...I stood in the basement and prayed for patience, peace, help; I prayed for the toxic ick to stay away from my baby. I prayed that we could hurry and get all of JT's laundry done so he could finish packing and have dry undies for his work conference.

I lost it when I opened my eyes and realized I was standing in a new puddle in a room where we'd moved a lot of our stuff to stay dry. REALLY!?! The stuff was now wet...including my new, still-in-the-box card table, chairs and roasting oven. I was mad. Why hadn't God sucked up the new puddle while I was praying (jk).

I knew I needed help. If anything, I needed someone to help entertain Rolin and keep him upstairs. I texted my (newly semi-retired) dad to see if he was working Monday. He had to cover for someone and couldn't get away, and mom is on jury duty so she was out. Blerg... Probably an hour later, mom called to say that dad had leaned over at church and whispered, "let's go to Spokane." Apparently, they got up after two worship songs, ran home and packed up grubbies, bleach, mops and rags and came to my aid.

I think the most impressive part is they dove right in when they got here. I had also completely spaced the fact that my sister-in-law was in town and was coming to visit Sunday afternoon. What sweet relief she was! She stayed upstairs with Rolin while mom, dad and I tackled the basement.

Anyway...the original intention for this post was to say I have been the recipient of much freely given kindness, assistance and love as of late, and I'm humbled by your actions (you all know who you are). I honestly don't think my nerves or tolerance would be intact if it weren't for those the good Lord has given me.

You all are a gift I'm grateful to have received.

Armpits of fire

I was recently reminded of a hilarious incident that we think requires documentation.

Before Justin and I were married, he went with me to my parents' house for Easter. If you know Justin well, you know he is a man who (unfortunately) forgets at least one thing when packing for (or returning from) a trip.

On this particular occasion, it was his deodorant.

A little background: Back in their high school days, Joe would always sneak into Matt's room to use his deodorant (who knows why). Matt grew tired of Joe's thievery, but instead of simply telling Joe to stop, Matt came up with a much craftier plan.

Matt removed the label from a stick of Old Spice deodorant and wrapped it around a deodorant-shaped stick of Icy Hot. He left the decoy on his dresser for an unsuspecting brother to find. Had it gone down the way it was intended, Joe would have quickly learned to never ever again pilfer Matt's deodorant.

However, Joe never fell for it and the Icy-Hot-disguised-as-Old Spice was left in Matt's room, even after Joe went to college. I'm sure Matt figured if Joe had struck once, he would definitely strike again.

Fast forward to Easter: Justin discovers Easter morning he had forgotten his deodorant. As luck would have it, there sat a stick of Old Spice on the dresser. Justin applied the "deodorant" and quickly realized something was wrong.

Just picture it...a boyfriend at his woman's parents' house suddenly has burning armpits but doesn't know why. Doesn't know what to do. Doesn't know what's wrong or how to take care of the situation without drawing too much attention to himself.

He runs into the bathroom to try to scrub off what he's now discovered to be Icy Hot. Justin says he straight up threw up from the pain. "It hurt so bad!" This was all happening as we were all waiting in the living room for Justin to come down so we could go to church...waiting...waiting... Finally he appeared and reluctantly shared the details.

We can all laugh now. Well, we all laughed then. Matt was quite proud of his success, no matter the trap had  been triggered by someone other than whom it had been originally set. It worked!

The decoy sits on Matt's dresser to this day. You've been warned!

Sunriver -- Days 4, 5 & 6

Day 4 posted a while back. However, I forgot to post this:

The Emersons and the Thompsons parted ways on day 5 -- the Emersons headed back to Grandview, while Justin's parents and bro headed back to Aberdeen. Justin and I stayed an extra day and night because vacation was planned before Joe and Brianna set a wedding date...and as luck would have it, the wedding was planned for the following weekend. A special thanks goes out to my boss who let me stay in OR/WA instead of going back to Cali to work and then fly back to WA for the wedding. He said I could work from home in between events!

With an extra day on our hands, we decided it was time to do what most grown ups do on vacation when they have a vacation house to themselves.

Went to town to watch the final Harry Potter movie.

It was glorious.

It was a blustery day in Bend, so we also went to the Columbia outlet store for new outerwear.

On the way back to Sunriver we stopped off to hike to Benham Falls. The clouds looked ominous, but we decided to proceed...our new Columbia outerwear made us feel invincible.

Mind you, it did rain. Oh, did it rain. But, the clouds did make for some beautiful pictures.

As luck would have it, we had a bottle of bug spray in the car and decided to take it with us. It seemed every mosquito was on the prowl that day, and they had it out for Justin. And Justin wasn't having it.

If he would stop for even 20 seconds, they would attack. Not even the bug spray could keep them away. We reached the falls, took a few pictures, felt the first of the rain drops and decided, "well, if you've seen one white-water water fall, you've seen them all," and bid Benham Falls adieu. We made it back to the car only half soaking wet.

Why do boys like to climb out on rock ledges? I took this picture just in case I needed to show the park ranger in the event Justin slipped and fell.

Closer to the resort I saw a sign for the Lava Cast Forest and asked to drive out to it. Remember...I was diggin' the lava on this trip, so having seen the signs up and down the highway for this Lava Cast Forest, I wanted to check it out. The rain had let up, so Justin agreed.

Now, usually, when driving a car, the driver reads signs around him to simply be informed and aware of their surroundings/location. At least to be aware of the distance between point A and point B. Well, my dear Justin is a different case. Signs mean nothing to him. And I mean that in the nicest way possible.

I, however, did see the sign after we exited from HWY 97, which read: Lava Cast Forest, 9 miles.

Knowing full well that Justin would have tried to convince me we didn't actually need to see the Lava Cast Forest, had he been privy to the distance, I decided to bite my tongue and enjoy the scenery.

Suddenly, the road went from smooth and paved to bumpy and unpaved. We slowed down. We slowed much. There was not a soul to be seen. Anywhere. Some deer ran in front of us a ways ahead, but that was it. Justin started to get visibly agitated, and it wasn't just because the road was bumpy and unpaved. A few more minutes went by and then...I saw it: a paper plate stapled to a tree, acting as a mile post marker. The number? Two. We'd gone just two miles.

Justin didn't see that "sign" either. If he had, I don't think he would have thought much of it because he didn't know the forest was nine miles off the freeway in the first place. Eventually he asked how far in this place was, so I told him...

...............silence................

Teehee.

We rounded a corner and saw the entrance sign. Again, not a single soul is out visiting this sight. Odd, I thought, for it being so well advertised along the highway. A small info sign at the entrance told us that along the trail there are trees that were surrounded by lava, but didn't burn immediately because the lava was pahoehoe so the trees eventually burned or died, leaving casts, or molds, of the trees behind. In other cases, the trees grew up out of the lava in weird ways, affected by the lava, like so:

I really thought...no, hoped...there would be more than just a few trees looking like that...simply for the sake of my husband who was a good sport and drove out to the middle of nowhere to appease his wife's temporary lava obsession.

I scooted ahead to see what else there was to see, leaving Justin behind to take pictures of the trees. I was soon out of Justin's sight when I heard it: a low, breathy growl. I stopped in my tracks and slowly looked over my shoulder, expecting to see a werewolf, an alien, a killer orca, a bear, a mountain lion.

I saw nothing. But I heard the breathy growl again.

I turned around and started to book it back down the trail, as fast as my poor-choice flip flops could carry me. I said to Justin, as I scurried past, that it was time to go. I noticed that he was taking his time, snapping a few more pictures, so I said louder, "It's time to GO!"

It is a lovely picture of the flowers...

He replied, "Oh, haha, do you have to go to the bathroom? Cuz it's about, haha, a thousand miles of gravel road away."

I opted to keep quiet. I dared not let the forest monster know where I was by following my voice.

Finally we got to the car, safe and sound, and I told him about the growl. He let out a nervous laugh, looked around, noting again how we're in the middle of nowhere with no one around, and then hit the gas.

Apparently we missed the best part of the trail...the actual lava casts...We only saw trees coming up through the lava...we saw no casts. Boo. Maybe someday we'll go back. Maybe.

We celebrated making it out alive by going to Goody's for ice cream where I ordered one of the biggest banana splits I've ever seen. I couldn't move after eating it. It was a good end to the day.

Also, and I'm not ashamed to point it out, but it's apparent my Oil of Olay night eye gel hasn't worked a wink, no pun intended, for the last three years. Perhaps I should look into a different brand. Any suggestions?

Mama mia. At least now my spiral macaroni gray hair won't seem so out of place.

I'll spare you a recap of Day 6 -- it was spent on HWY 97, where I fought with my wireless internet card, worked in the car, drank a lot of coffee and ate a lot of white cheddar popcorn. We also stopped for a picture of this from the top of the Horse Heaven Hills.

The valley is a sight to behold.