What a Weekend!

With the move looming, it was time to gt our rears in gear!

Thursday we cleaned out the garage and got things ready for next weekend's neighborhood yard sale. Almost ready for that. I still need to transfer Monster's clothes out of the dresser in his room into his new big boy all-in-one loft bed! I love that thing...now if he'd just sleep in it!! We also got a fresh coat of paint on the walls in the dining room and the hallway.

Friday, I scrubbed down the bathroom and got a start on the laundry. Then I took Munchkin to see "Alice in Wonderland" 3-D with the A family girls. The hubster and Mr. A stripped all the old flooring in the basement family room and started laying our new floor. Us girls picked up some Buffalo Wild Wings on the way home and fed the men! ;) After the A family left, I worked on more laundry and watched "My Sister's Keeper". Yeah my eyes were still a little puffy this morning from all my boo-hooing! LOL

Today, hubster and Mr. A headed to the landfill to dispose of all we had discarded from the garage and old flooring. Hubster returned the floor stripper and picked up Munchkin from the A family's house. Hubster has since been working on the flooring downstairs. I started with the bathroom redecorating by painting. I let Monster help....until he started painting the shower tile! Then it was time for him to go help daddy. We only got a quart of the paint because hubster wasn't sure about the color. Needless to say, it got the first coat done with the exception of cutting in. It's a nice light buttery yellow. I love it. But will get more paint tomorrow to finish the job. Until then, I continue to work on laundry.

Sure seems like a lot of laundry, huh? It is. Laundry is the one job that just never seems to be done in this house. It is my domestic nemesis! Just when I think I'm finished, another load magically appears. Do the dust bunnies under the beds knit themselves into clothing items just for me to wash?! I've always said the laundry here breeds like bunnies....that must be how it happens!

Tomorrow, we tackle the master bedroom since all the laundry should be finished. Painting and rearranging, staging. All the good stuff. We also need to finish painting the main bath and paint the half bath off the master bedroom.

I'll post pics of our weekend results tomorrow! I think the family room is looking awesome! I'm feeling a bit jaded that the house is finally going to be done and we won't even get to enjoy the fruits of our labor (and bank account) for very long. *pout* But maybe we'll get lucky and the house will sell quickly!

Lia Sophia Jewelry Fans

My BFF is hosting an online fundraising party to benefit Baby Jayden.  50% of all sales will be donated to Jayden's COTA fund.  If you'd like to participate in this fundraiser, please email your order to Kellie M. or Kelly R. at Our Everyday Blessings.

Baby Jayden is currently awaiting the call for his new liver. He has pediatric end-stage liver disease. His liver was damaged when his body went into shock following open heart surgery to correct congenital heart defects when he was only a week old.

COTA is the Children's Organ Transplant Association. They assist family in fundraising to offset transplant related costs not covered by insurance. The Olmsteads non-covered costs are estimated at $40,000. Any money left in the fund after their needs have been met are donated to another family who's child is facing an organ transplant. If you'd like to learn more about COTA or donate directly to Jayden's COTA fund, please click on the COTA banner at the top of this page.

The Olmsteads are an incredible family who have faced the challenges presented to them with unwavering faith, dignity and grace. They are truly an inspiration and I'm honored to call them friends!

**Edited to add the following**If you are touched by Baby Jayden's story, I ask that you pass it on to your friends and your family and that they do the same.

Be the change you want to see in the world!
Together we can make a difference!

The Silver Lining

I discovered the silver lining of my surgery being postponed.  Hubster leaves in a month, therefore we have a basment to finish remodeling thanks to the county sewer main backing up.  It was absolutely disgusting!  Today was the meeting with the county comissioners and they are paying for our damages since they failed to respond to our call in a timely manner.  If they had, there would have been much less damage.

Anywhoo...so we have a basement to tear up flooring, re-floor and paint.  We have a bedroom to paint and I'm likely going to have to repaint Monster's room.  It's currently fire engine red and royal blue with stoplight yellow trim...he has a Disney "Cars" theme.  It looks awesome and was a bitch to paint....so I'm really not looking forward to toning it down in order to sell or rent out the house.

We also need to recarpet the upstairs.  Monster was not kind to the carpet in his terrible twos while hubster was deployed.  It was covered in chocolate syrup a time or two, coffee granules, coffee creamer.  Yeah, I think he wants to be a baristo.  But the Dyson and Hoover Floormate only have so much power which was outdone by the Terrible Two Tornado.

With the big move ahead of us, we took today to clean out the garage.  Next weekend is the neighborhood yard sale. We're goint to take advantage of that and do our premove sale in conjunction with it.  Munchkin is going to do a lemonade stand and will donate the proceeds to the 2nd Annual Blasingame Family Stand to benefit Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation ,which funds pediatric cancer research.  Their goal is to raise $500 this year.  If you'd like to help just click the link.  Every little bit helps find a cure! 

As you can see, it's going to be a busy month and it's going to require a lot of  manual labor and heavy lifting. We also have a bunch of overgrown brush behind our fence-line that needs cleared. Luckily, if we can get it cleared, the University has been awesome and burns it off for us. It's just grueling and we need to get it done before the poison ivy sprouts because it seems I only have to look at it to break out in an itchy rash! They're calling for snow this weekend, so hopefully next weekend will be nice enough for us to tackle that.

 So yes, God, I hear you.  Yes, God.  I know Your will will always be done and You always work for our good.  Thanks, Lord!

Thinking Through Typing, again!

So yeah, today was supposed to be my lucky day.  The day I got my band....but it was a no-go because I needed a sleep study.  Well that is scheduled for the 24th.  I've been keeping the sleep diary they've asked me, too.  I'm actually doing pretty good on the no caffeine thing.  I had one Coke yesterday and so far that's the only caffeine I've had this week.  Unfortunately, other than Monday, I haven't drank much water though, either. 

As for my whole back, back, back & forth stuff, that decision has pretty much been made.  The hubster got orders today.  Looks like we'll get to move to Florida just in time for the dog days of summer!  Heat and humidity...a fat chick's favorite friends..NOT!  I'll hopefully have some decent results from the band by then so at least I won't be mistaken for a beached whale.  We won't be eaten by gators at the beach, right?  Apparently we just have to watch for the bears in the back yard from the advisory issued by the installation.   However, I also realize that is is likely the only chance we'll get to go somewhere really neat and plan to make the most of our time there.  We will definitely be doing Disney World (even if it's still 8 hours away) and Busch Gardens.  I'll build sand castles with the munchkins and  look for hermit crabs and do my best to get my good friend to visit and do a beach photo shoot.   Not to mention, I'll have yet another nursing license from yet another state to add to my collection!

Well, A. is bugging me for the computer.  She's got to play Barbie.com!  Talk to you all later!

Back, Back, Back & Forth

Aren't you glad I got that song stuck in your head? No? Sorry...just a warning though the following post is thinking through typing.

Big changes are coming with the hubster's job, changes that affect just about every aspect of our lives from where we'll live, where the kids will go to school, and whether or not to put the pursuit of my own dreams on the back burner again to support his career aspirations.

His career change involves approximately 10 months of schooling, six that could be accompanied in an awesome locale. That would be a refreshing change from nowhere OK and KS. The kids and I would be able to meet up with some good friends from OK, hang out at the beach, go to Disney, Busch Gardens, etc.

But then I think, "In just about the same amount of time, I could my finish my degree and start working in the field I have always wanted". Our youngest will be starting school next school year and would be the perfect time for me to follow that dream. In order to do this, I would move back to the area we are from with the kids. I know my daughter would be in a good school and the little guy could go to pre-K and daycare at our church. The cost of living is significantly cheaper so DH could have an efficiency apt near the school and I could rent a house for me and the kids and still be under BAH.

However, both plans will only work if we can sell or rent out our current home. So that is another area where my mind is going back, back, back & forth. Sell or rent? Put it on the market and hope it sells quickly so we don't have to worry about it or rent it out in hopes we get orders back here after his schooling is done? While KS is not super awesome, we live in a nice neighborhood in a nice town with good schools and there are definitely worse places the Army can send us...like Ft. Sill or Ft. Hood.

Then the struggle over whether it's selfish to pursue my career goals begins. In the 5 years we've been married and he's been in the Army he's only been "home" for half of it between training and deployments. Would it be wrong to separate our family when it doesn't have to be? Doesn't the Army do that enough? He's switching from being a light wheeled mechanic to an EOD tech (bomb squad for the Army). What if (God forbid) something happened to him? Would I regret that decision to pursue my dream? Or do I pursue my dream so that if the unthinkable happens, I have a good career that will make sure our families needs are met?

As one of my friends blogged today, where is that giant arrow sign that says "This Way", showing us the right path? It's possible things will work out regardless of which path I choose, but if they didn't would I regret the choice? *sigh*

Back, back, back & forth.....