Jack ‘n Tracie

Life… is busy…. So busy that I wonder if we’re coming or going half the time. Some of it’s good busy, some of it’s not-so-good, but mostly we’re just trying to enjoy the “ride” as much as we can.

First, my trip to California. I didn’t race home and post about it because, while it wasn’t a bad trip, it wasn’t really what I had expected it was going to be. There was a few disappointments. It was awesome meeting the people I work for finally face to face. And it was great seeing the office, the data center, and seeing how things operate in person. I learned a lot, learned to do calls (even “Supervisor/Manager calls”) and brought home an IP phone that helps me a lot for work. The disappointments were personal and not work-related really so I’m not going to go into it here, and really, it was small stuff.

It was a lot harder than I anticipated being away from my family (again). When I spent the week in Central Oregon after my mom’s accident, I was never alone. I was constantly with either my mom, my aunt and uncle, or my brother. So I was always with family. The only time I spent alone was sleeping (in a camper in their driveway.)

In California, I had plenty of moments where I was by myself. It had already been a week since I’d spent any time with my husband and kids, so during those times it was really hard. I called Jack in tears a couple times. Overall, the trip was a success, business-wise.

I was home two weeks then went back to Central Oregon to be with my mom some more. (Missing Jack and the kids of course.. boohoo!) By then it had been a month since the accident and I was amazed at how well she was (is) doing! She met me in the driveway when I pulled in (I drove her car) and she was very happy and upbeat. Amazing, really. We spent the next several days shopping, eating out, and chatting. The whole time I worried about her doing too much but she was going stir-crazy and was very happy to have someone to hang out with and seemed to do fine!

The day before mother’s day Jack drove down with the kids to pick me up (so I could leave my mom’s car with her) and we took my mom out to dinner. Jack got a ticket right when he got into town though, for “Failure to obey a traffic control device”. He was behind a tripple trailor truck, in the middle of downtown, doing all fo 20 MPH when the light turned yellow just as he got into the intersection, then red as he passed through… slowly. It was stupid that he got a ticket really because his only option would’ve been to stop and backup.. which is less safe IMO.

Anyway, that meant that we had to go back down to Redmond to appear in court for the ticket. We lost but only had to pay a fraction of the fine and if we get no tickets in the next 90 days, it won’t go on our driving record. That was our primary reason for appearing so it was all good.

My mom is home now and back to work. She still has to wear the body brace and still has a long road of recovery ahead of her. But she really is doing amazingly well and I’m quite proud of her!

The kids are great. All growing like weeds! I can’t keep Casey in pants. He grows out of them in two months every time I buy him new jeans. It’s crazy.

They are out of school and the first day of summer they were already bored, lol. Ralph and Denise rescued me at the end of last week and took them overnight to play with Richie. They had a blast and we were relieved they got to have some fun. (The summer started off with crappy weather but that all changed the end of this week!)

Now that the weather is better, hopefully the option to play outside, play in the kiddie pool, etc. will make it better for them. I’m also glad I have a laptop I can take outside with me so I’m not going to be holed up in the corner all summer, lol.

We also have a ton of projects happening. We were literally handed a free … NICE … hot tub! So we’re busy getting that in. We also have to re-landscape the whole front yard because two trees have to come out. .. So it’s just busy busy busy for us!

Oh yeah, on July 7th, we won’t be around… Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest comes out that night and I’m likely to be first in line for a ticket! lol Anyone wanna come with us??

Also, the party is on for July 4th. We thought we were getting out of it this year but there was a bit too much protest. I’m mostly kidding. We loving having the annual 4th of July party, but this year I have to admit we’re both a little overwhelmed by all that’s happening in our life. So were afraid to throw a bit party. Especially since our house and yard is likely to be a mess given all we’re doing (spring cleaning too!) but hey.. people come for the food and fireworks, right? So ignore the messy house/yard, lol. And, with any luck, the hot tub will be functional by the 4th anyway so bring your bathing suit if you wanna try it out. (Sorry, no nudey tubbing as children will be around). Disclaimer: it’s not a promise the hot tub will be functional by the 4th. It is our goal though!

I hope everyone is doing well.

Miss ya!