Almost a Week!

Well, the boys are waiting for the bus. The goats want breakfast. It is wet and soggy outside and I don’t want to go out. I guess I have to because the goats can’t exactly get their own grain and take it out and Scooter isn’t any good at it either.

They are fed. Mostly. I’ll take out more hay later. Why wait? Well, I’m not entirely sure due to the fact that it looks like we’re supposed to have rain/snow/wintery mix pretty much all day.

It’s almost hard to believe it’s been almost a week since I have written here. Almost but not quite.

What does Cedric do when he has a pen (or pens), paper, and some spare time?

Sketch.

Tuesday night about 9:00 I realized that Joanna was going to need the car for school and work on Wednesday so I emailed all the doulas that due to transportation issues I wasn’t going to be able to make it in. I did neglect to add Karen to the email. Wednesday morning I called in at 6:00 to let them know the same thing and found out that there was a woman going in for induction. Great. Then I discovered that I could have made the transportation work out so I was getting things collected before I made a phone call and checked my email to see if anyone had responded to my email. No one had but Karen had sent one telling me what I’d already learned about a woman being induced and adding that she wanted a doula and that they’d tried calling me several times and were attempting to get another doula and had I given them the correct number. Well, I was pretty sure that I had given her my cell number and I knew that I’d written it down on the list of doulas in the nurses station in labor and delivery. I called and was informed that they had found another doula and that the number they had called was my cell number. What the heck? I contacted Verizon and changed my phone number and emailed Karen, apologizing for the mess up and giving her my new number.

As the day progressed and I called and messaged and emailed people who needed to know my new number, I became increasingly annoyed because I KNOW that Meredeth and maybe even Karen called my cell phone and obviously were able to get through because they left messages in the past when I was applying for the doula program. Why all of a sudden now are they not able to reach me that way? Very aggravating.

Anyway, that was kind of my whole day Wednesday. Not really, but the whole day did seem to revolve around the phone deal. 

Thursday Julia came over for a soap making class. That was fun. Of course, I think making soap is fun to begin with and Julia is just a hoot so combine the two and you’ve got a groovy thing going on. I also contacted the couple from childbirth ed who were interested in my being their doula and I have more to say about that later.

Friday my visiting teachers were going to come over but something came up and they weren’t able to. I was actually kind of relieved because I had so much to do I wasn’t sure how it was going to all get done. Emily West came over for sewing and that worked because I just told her what to do and she did it while I cooked and cut up chicken.

After the boys were gone on the bus, I took a shower and went to Walmart to get things I needed for the dinner. I wanted to spend no more than $110 and I was successful spending only $100. 35. Then I came home and cooked and cut up chicken.  I made three 2 ½ gallon bags of salad (which isn’t as much as it sounds like because I filled them about 2/3 of the way and then used the bags to ‘toss’ the salad). I made a cocoa cake and two dozen cinnamon rolls for the auction. I painted cars for the boys for the Pinewood Derby which was Saturday morning.

Amena got home from school. The boys got home from school. Cedric and Seth taped up their cars so they could get their other color on them and I sprayed them. Then we got everything together and loaded in the car and we left for church. I put the boys and Amena to work and got to work myself. Help didn’t begin to arrive until about 5:45. I’m not sure when we got there but it was before 5:00. I didn’t realize that the burners on the stove work at about 50% capacity so it took forever to get water boiling for the noodles and the sauce never did get thick for the alfredo. Still, everyone who said anything about it said it was good so in spite of the fact that I should have done things slightly differently, it turned out alright.

And the auction was pretty good. I think we had about 30 items and we made about $500. I guess one pan of cinnamon rolls was the highest earner so I’m happy. The boys weren’t happy that I made a cake and cinnamon rolls that we weren’t going to get to eat ourselves but I think it worked out pretty well.

Pack 12 Cub Scouts

Saturday morning was the Pinewood Derby. I got up at 6:00 to get the cars weighed and wheels on. When that was done I got the boys up and showered. Joseph was mad about his car so he took the wheels off and took it outside and sprayed it with paint. Even one coat of paint changes the weight and I wasn’t about to go through all that again so he didn’t get to race his car. Cedric and Seth did okay. Neither placed but they had fun and Cedric won the ‘Best Block of Wood’ award.

Tiger Scouts. Cute, aren't they? Joseph is on the right.

At this point, I honestly don’t remember what I did Saturday afternoon.

Weblos 1s. Seth, in back on the right, always manages to look so HAPPY in pictures.

Sunday was Sunday. We had a Young Women Board meeting and it was wonderful with all the positions filled. Jerusha Peterman taught the combined Young Women and it was really good talking about the Atonement and how we feel about it. Because most of us are grateful and/or thankful, the rest of the time was spent making Thank-You cards. What an awesome activity!

Weblos 2s. It looks like Cedric (on the left) was thinking about smiling, at least.

We did Family Home Evening almost as soon as we were done eating and then the boys watched Spiderwick. Maybe not the best Sunday movie but it could be worse. Then we did family prayer and scriptures even though it was still pretty early and Paul and the boys watched Simon Birch. There is some language in that I don’t like and I really wish we had a DVD player that bleeped that out. The story itself is good and it’s interesting that Joe’s biological dad in it is the same guy who plays Arthur Spiderwick. Then it was time for bed.

This morning wasn’t too bad. Amena got up and ready. I got her lunch together. She was ready to go and out the door and the bus driver didn’t see her so she had to run to the other end of the driveway and she did get on then. The boys got up and ready and were out in time for the bus. Even a couple of minutes early which is something of a miracle since Seth and Joseph didn’t even want to get up. Seth made an interesting comment. He said, “It’s weird how you don’t want to go to bed at night but in the morning, you don’t want to get out.” That is often very true.

And that’s that.

About the couple in childbirth ed. . . Both of the couples are great. First babies for each and both different but similar. I would have been completely cool with being there for either but only one specifically asked if I could be their doula. Meredeth said under the circumstances, it’s totally fine. They don’t like a doula to make the commitment to be there for someone they meet at Meet the Doula Night but if you’ve developed a relationship during childbirth ed, you’ve actually gotten to know someone a bit and have an idea if you are compatible with them. I agree. Anyway, they were due Wednesday and it was Thursday when I messaged the husband to let them know my new phone number so they’d be able to contact me.

It was after that that I felt for a few hours completely out of control. Thursday afternoon I was busy planning my day Friday and finalizing my shopping list and the recipe and I kept thinking, what if they call? What if they call? I really wondered if it is normal to feel so out of control and was seriously considering if I could live my life like that.

Then I remembered to breathe. And I remembered that life goes on. And I thought, yes, I can do this. I can drop everything and go when I need to. And then I was fine. Honestly, I was hoping to get through Friday and Saturday morning without having to drop and go but if they’d’ve called, I would have dropped. In some ways, I think this has been a transformative experience even though I haven’t yet physically done anything; it’s all been in my head. I have nothing planned for this week that I can’t postpone or reschedule or cancel other than a doula shift Friday morning so we’re all good.

Up for today, unless I get a phone call, is laundry, Emily coming over for sewing, dishes, lotion, and finishing my application to the Utah Midwifery College. Well, and picking Joanna up from school and taking her to work. In any case, a busy day.

I was going to end now but then I remembered something else I wanted to mention. I have to say that I am grateful for my family (friends, too, but especially family right now [keeping in mind that I do have a friend or two that are like family]). Another of my lovely aunties is on Facebook and it was really nice having a little ‘chat’ with her last night. We used to do the same only using instant messaging years ago and it’s a wonderful thing to be able to do it again.

And with that, I hope you have an absolutely spectacular day!