Radom Ramblings

There is so much going through my head, and so much that I would like to write, that when I finally sit down to get it out, it is all in a jumble.

The first thing I realized this morning is that I am incredibly jealous that Leroy's friend, Jessica, gets to spend so much time with him, doing things that I wish I could do with him, while I get to stay at home day in and day out with the kids, just waiting for some small contact with him, having to be satisfied by two-minute phone calls and five-line emails. All that I can do is look forward to the little things that are keeping me busy: story-times, library activities, Mom's Club, cleaning, school, swim lessons, piano lessons, critters. Next week we get to see Leanne and her family on their way through, the next week Danica's comes for the rest of the summer, and the week after that we get to spend time with Anna and her family and Leroy gets home. Independence Day. The last bit is always the hardest, though, because no matter how hard I try not to think about how soon he will be home, it is impossible. And the more I think of it, the slower time goes and the more impatient I get with everything else. And yet I know that when Leroy finally does get home, it will still be a difficult adjustment and things will not just fall into place. The best thing to do is to try to be as happy as I possibly can right now.

There is one thing that I really need to do that I am dreading and have been putting off. Potty training. I have already tried several times, and Constance just does not seem interested. I've tried using stickers and treats and cute panties and cute pull-ups, and she just does not want to do it. But I don't want to have a three-year-old in diapers. If I could potty train a boy by three, I sure as heck can get Constance into panties. All of our activities throw a wrench into the works, though. Do I keep her in panties while we go around, or do I put her in pull-ups when we go to activities? It will all work out, I know, but I am sure not looking forward to it. I guess we need to go on a sticker run so that she can pick out the stickers that she wants, and then buckle down and really stick to it this time. Grrrrrrr!

I am really sad at all of Emily's progress that Leroy is missing. She is now crawling a bit, and she can sit herself up by herself. I have also noticed that she is already trying to pull herself up on the furniture. She hasn't been very successful yet, but she's trying. She just learned how to sit up, for goodness sake! She just wants to do what everyone else is doing. She is determined to be a big girl! Maybe she will potty train early . . . .

As for Danica, we have some news. Due to several different problems they have been having in St. George, Danica's family is moving with her grandparents (her mother's parents) to Roswell, New Mexico. Now we have to worry about her being abducted, too, I guess. They will be moving in July, while Danica is with us, and she'll join them shortly before school begins. This poor girl has been through so much! I thought we were supposed to be the unreliable ones, because we are military. We plan to take advantage of her being here, though, and going to Lagoon as often as possible with our cool season passports.

The weather is also a bit of a concern. Although I have been loving this wet, cool weather, I am a little worried that it will continue through next week when we start swim lessons. It's the middle of June! I was also hoping to take the kids swimming at least once before they start lessons to get them back in the groove. I was especially hoping to go to Lagoona Beach! Well, hopefully we'll have plenty of time to do that later in the summer. It can't stay cloudy all season . . . . Can it? We do live in the desert, after all!

There is so much more going through my head that I can't seem to make any progress on any subject. My mind keeps going around in circles, and around and around and around. I think that I am going to turn my music on full blast and clean clean clean. At least then I'll feel better about living in my house.

P.S.
Oh, I am very excited about my latest project. There is a spot in our kitchen where the fridge used to be. We moved it to make a spot for the dishwasher close to the sink, and so there was about a three foot gap between the top of the dishwasher and the bottom of the cupboards. I felt like it was wasted space. In the meantime, we had our microwave on the counter, and we only have about three feet of counter space, so the microwave took up more than half of the counter space. So I finally put a shelf up above the dishwasher, a very simple wood shelf on brackets, for the microwave. I am very happy with the results! Now we are using that dead space, and I can actually use my counter. Well, I will be able to after I declutter, anyway. Yeah for space-saving projects!