Well, it's been almost a year since Lindsey suggested at Thanksgiving for all of us to create blogs and keep up with each other that way. It was a great idea and I just wish I would be more of a blogger and write more often with lots more pictures!
It started right after Mark left to teach at the academy that life went crazy and I had such pity for myself. Who knew life in New Mexico would of been that life changing? I met so many wonderful and even crazy people who all taught me a little more about growing up, being myself, learning new things, and accepting more people into my circle of friends. I came home to a crazy and wild mess in my house, but I faced it with a new determination to finish it up and appreciate what I do have.
I do have a knack for storytelling, so I will give a bit of the sob story. My dad came and picked up a UHaul trailer and myself and the kids, 2 dogs, 1 cat and way too much stuff and we traveled home last monday. We got here around 1 o'clock in the morning.
The next morning I was still stuck on "New Mexico" time and woke up at 5:45 in the morning! I was wanting a shower, but alas, no hot water (we were going to have the gas turned on that morning) so I got to work trying to unload a few boxes and find a path so kids didn't get hurt. It was so overwhelming at first, because my dad had been working hard to get the rooms finished before we got home, but they weren't quite there and construction debris was everywhere. The dust and dry air we weren't quite as used to as we thought was getting the best of our breathing and I was doing my best to make sure kids didn't get hurt on all the extra building material inside and out.
Around noon, when I was assured by the gas company they didn't know what time anyone would come turn on the gas, I begged Aunt Em to let me use her shower and went over to her house for a couple of hours. After that I went and got the kids registered into school and everything set up, and headed back home.
The SW gas man was in the front yard talking to my dad and informed me that it wasn't holding air for the pressure test, I had a White PVC pipe for the gas, and he wasn't going to turn it on until I had it replaced. The quote for them to replace the line and move the meter: 897 dollars! Eventually I will get it on, but for now, my dad helped me put in an electric hot water tank on Saturday. Let me tell you, you don't realize how much you take hot water for granted until you live without it for 5 days.
BUT back on topic, I have realized as bad as my problems sound or can be dramatized, there are a lot of people out there with more problems, less comforts of life, and live through life without complaining or storytelling. And these same people give more of themselves to others and the community than one would expect them to. I am grateful for the experiences of the past year, and it was a little bitter sweet to leave. I am glad to be back in my own house with all the funny cartoon drawings on all the doors and walls from kids that seem so much younger than the ones we came home with. What an amazing change a year can bring!
