Looking Back 2008

2008 has been a year with allot of changes, I have never reviewed a year in our lives like this and cannot believe how fast time flies.

January- I turned the big 40, I always thought life got better at 40 and so it does. Living in Kamiah, Idaho, working at the Chiropractic Office as Office manager was not a dream I had. So I turned in my notice and began packing again. Nicholas my oldest son also turned 18 this month but even as an adult he has yet to want to contact us, yes that hurts but all in God's Timing.

February- After my boss in Kamiah had asked me to stay till April, till she had someone trained, I put packing on hold until closer to our move date. Needless to say she came up to me the Friday before my original 6 week notice date and said, "this Friday will be your last day". Wow, we started packing fast and were moved to Richland, WA by the 24th.

March, April and May - I looked for work, everywhere. Just when I thought there was no work to be found I was hired by Visiting Angels the day after I applied on March 30th. Then calls started coming in, I had my choice of where to work.

June and July- Summer went fast. Dustan moved from Kamiah to Richland in a nomad sort of way. And we had a Maxwell reunion in Kamiah in July where we went tubing down the middle fork between Stites and Kooskia. Also my mom and her twin Brother turned 65 and my sister is now a BIG 43.

August and September- I had forgotten I applied as a school bus substitute and since I thought that would work around my home health care job I went for it. Needless to say I have my CDL, and was a sub for 20 days and am now a contracted driver for the school. Also in September I started the RCT/HPT class through Energex. The class is 3 times a week and ends the middle of December.

October and November - Still studying for my class working 2 jobs and cleaning house, and being a mom is trying at times but day by day God gives strength. The kids seem stressed as I do but do their part (with some prodding) to clean, cook the meals, make shopping lists, and help me study, also keep me on schedule ( I have had no days off since July). We went to Idaho for Thanksgiving and spent time with my mom and dad. Always good to go for a visit, and mom's home cooking. My dad went black Friday shopping with me, we got up at 3 am and I drove to Lewiston for a day of fun and crowds.

December- I passed my class, wow it was a challenge but worth it. Now I can apply to work as a RCT/HPT in January when they budget for the new year. Being a school employee, I get Christmas break off ( our pay is prorated, so we get paid when we are on breaks). We shared Christmas eve and Christmas day with Rachelle my BFF (since I was 4 and she was 2). Also in December I started blogging, not a professional yet but having fun.

Time flies so quickly makes me wonder what 2009 will bring, good or bad, I know God is in control and I trust Him.

Twas the day after Christmas ... sigh

Over for another year, we have already set a strategy for next year to make things go smoother.

Cindy, our beagle woke us up at 3 am Christmas morning to go outside, then the kids woke from there. So at 3 am we opened stockings, presents, and visited awhile. Then Brittany decided since we did not make our cinnamon rolls Christmas eve like we always do, she would start them. So she got the dough mixing in the bread machine and Dustan woke me up when it was time to finish them. So, again this year they woke up to freshly made cinnamon rolls.

Dustan made pumpkin pies and the fruit salad while we got ready to go to a friend's house. We ate dinner sat and watched the kids play and then the teens all went to a movie. Peaceful without them, I went home to let the dogs out and ended up sick the rest of the night.


SO today being the day after the kids are going sledding and then we will go back to our friends for pie and hot chocolate.

Next year will be more organized and better we hope

Getting ready for Christmas Break

Today is the last day of school,, yeahh!!!

Wesley took the day off from school, Dustan got in at 10am, and Brittany will come home with me on the bus, she had a party in spanish class so wanted to be there.

Brittany started baking cookies last night, and tonight we are all cooking and baking up a storm getting ready for the festivities that start Monday.
I dont have a definate plan this year so we are playing things by ear and enjoying our time together.

I have to finish my shopping and getting all the Christmas stuff out. I try to make the house and table as festive as possible.

It would be a perfect Christmas if Nicholas would be here this year, I heard he is going to his dad's though, so I will keep praying he will come home. I do know though he is attending college, church and is working for my ex in-laws. His happiness is important to me even if it hurts he wants nothing to do with his siblings, me or my sister and her family. It is hard to know though what his dad has told him over the years. This breaks my heart as I love him so much and miss him. But again this year we will leave his presents under the tree, then put them in storage with the others he has not gotten since he was 11.


Lena and I are getting a blog page set up for the family reunion and will e-mail the address for that so family members with computers can see progress or updates, as we have already had changes since the letter she sent out from Afghanistan.

Radiation Protection Technician

I finally passed my class I have been taking since September. I can now apply and work at Hanford Nuclear site as an RCT or HPT (hazardous protection tech). Finally a sole job where I can work support my kids. The only problem is that I love driving school bus, which I hope to keep doing, and I love my clients that I do home health care for, hmmm, somedays I wished I was able to do more that physically capable, as I also have the twins still at home.

Dustan left last Tuesday and is now residing at Moses Lake on the Job Corp campus. He loves it, and we are greatful to my Unlce Philip whom recommended it. He comes home on Friday for Christmas break and stays till January 4th.

Brittany is getting her paperwork in also as she wants to join Job Corp, leaving Wesley and I home. Wow just one kid left, makes me regret working so much of their lives away, but we do have fond memories and our Friday night movies/ popcorn/ game nights.

Our beagles are doing great, as we are still in an apartment for the winter. Cindy turned 7 in Sept, and Betty 1 in Oct. We take them to the dog park often where they get worn out and come home to sleep.

Well this is our lives at the moment in a nut shell.

New at Blogging

After reading everyone's blogs for months now, thought I would give it a try and see how I do.

Seems like life is so busy, things change fast and the kids grow up. Sometimes it feels like the world is in a fast spin and the days are flying by. So with this blog maybe I can go back and look to see the yesterdays of life.