Coming up on a landmark

Oh wow. It's almost like the end of a pregnancy... about to reach the end and also a wild beginning.

First of all, let me say that I don't know what I was thinking in starting a blog. I don't have time for this! LOL I have a draft of an unfinished post from February which will never see the light of day. It's a good thing I kept the draft, though, because I'd nearly forgotten some of what's happened.

You can see that in January I tore my living room apart, partly in anticipation of new carpeting and a new door. There was the wallpaper, too... that wallpaper has taken on a life of its own. I don't want to talk about it.

Toby, Lynae, and Jon auditioned for the Missoula Children's Theater production of "The Jungle Book". Toby got a part as a wolf. He was very wolf-like, and I could even hear his singing! (His deep voice really stood out among all those "kid" voices.) Lynae and Jon didn't get parts, but they were able to enjoy watching the show.



We had a wonderful tour of the Kentucky State Capitol on Valentine's Day, led by Brother Joe Adams, a missionary to our state government. It was great to finally meet the influential man I'd heard and read so much about over the past eight years. Brother Joe helped to secure our current homeschooling freedoms, and also helped to start our local support group. I'm so thankful that he devoted most of his day to teaching us how a bill becomes a law in a very meaningful way.



We were blessed with a healthy dose of snow before spring arrived in Crofton. We got a few inches over the course of about two weeks. I suppose it was even more exciting for me because I expect to be up north next winter, where it will last for more than a couple of days. Say what you will about a long winter full of snow -- it beats 40 degrees, rainy, and muddy.

Speaking of blessings... we were able to hire a couple of men from our old church to come and fix up the house. They've done floors, walls, siding, electrical stuff, plumbing, and more! It's been such a load off of me! Now I will be able to focus more on painting, decluttering, and packing.

Somewhere in there, I was able to get away for a day. I went shopping (well, mostly driving, really) in Nashville, then joined one of my long-time internet friends to hear a nutritionist speak. It was the most educational break I've had in a long time!

And just a couple of weeks ago, I took another trip to visit internet friends, this time in Cincinnati (the ultimate vacation spot! LOL). There were so many memorable moments, it's hard to know which ones to share! Unfortunately for all of us, I did as much bad driving there as I had done in Nashville. I seem to have lost a large portion of my navigational brain cells.

Me with Tammie, Kayla, and Esther

Thankfully, that didn't matter as we left Cincinnati and meandered over to eastern Kentucky to visit all the (closed) museums full of information about Simon Kenton and other historically significant Kentuckians. Trip-planning note: Kentucky closes in winter, snow or no snow. But we still squeezed every last drop of fun out of our visit.





When we got home, I realized there was a typo in the bank account number I'd used when I electronically filed our tax return, and our refund was floating around in... wherever the numbers float around between transactions. In fact, when I called to clear it up, the IRS man laughed at me. Out loud. Turns out I'm not the only one who's done that. Thankfully, it's easily fixed, and our electricity should be back on within a month or so. Whew!

Ok, so now I'm zonked. But I'm excited about tomorrow... we should finally get the carpet laid!! Whippee!!

Speaking of zonked, here's one last photo.