Some October Happenings

My knee is healing better all the time. I have been without crutches for almost a month, I think, and out of the brace for probably 3 weeks now. Yeah, just about. Today I noticed I can go down stairs with almost no pain, though I still have to go slowly. My knee can bend much better. Even still, it aches a lot if it doesn't spend most of the day propped up. So under my desks at work I have to keep a prop. And tonight Nate lectured me that I need to go to PT after I complained that my knee keeps popping painfully. So bossy. ;-) I do NOT want to wear my brace anymore, but I think I could use a little additional support, so I've finally ordered a compression brace thing that I think will help me.

But life is going well. I started working at Smith Morgan just before the sister's trip, so I guess a month ago. Tomorrow is Marie's LAST day, and knowing she was leaving with all her knowledge, I've been prioritizing being in the office there as many days as possible. But, if I ever want to go back to only having 1 job (which I do), I also have to prioritize training my replacement at Underwater Audio. I finally just started that about a week ago. So last week, I worked about 4 hours/day in Salem, then jetted to Corvallis to work about 3.5-4 hours there. Every. Day. Nate was such a champ. Usually he takes Brennan to seminary and gets an early start at work, but last week he got all the kids up, ready for school, made lunches, went to work, and came home and made dinner and took care of everything so I could work my 10 hour days (with commutes). Wouldn't you know it, but I was LESS tired each day last week than I ever am in my usual schedule. That's how much I HATE making lunches and dinner. Apparently it wearys me even more than 2 jobs and long commutes all week long. Huh. And I don't even feel all that busy. I feel happy when I get home, I've happily hung out with the kids and we've had lots of fun and good feelings. Heavenly Father is surely blessing me during this otherwise stressful time.

Even so, I won't ask Nate to pull so much weight forever. Back to the ol' grind eventually. This week I'm going to attempt to do the same thing 3 of the 5 days, but Nate will be gone for 2.5 days so I can't be away too long. 

I feel super underprepared for Marie to leave me on my own. I mean, she'll only be a phone call away, but that's just kind of. She doesn't own a cell phone, she doesn't have a way to screen share or see things I might be talking about. She won't be able to know the particular situation going on with certain clients or see mistakes that I or others made that affect the bookkeeping... I'm pretty lost when she explains things a lot of the time. I've had a blessing, I've had others praying for me. And I really could use more. I feel like I could have things down so pat eventually, but my time has run out. And I'm terrified of how badly I might screw things up while I try to do this. Failure sucks. Failing a boss/business extra sucks. Failing them by messing up their finances and/or that of clients that are trusting us to do our jobs well - I can't even describe the terror that causes me if I think too much on it. But, I'm trying VERY hard to trust in the Lord. Trust in the words of my blessing, trust that He will help me. I'm trying very hard not to shut down or run away from this frightening situation I got myself into. 

On a lighter note... some recent photos:

We were goofing around last night. The girls are too funny,

I wanted a sleeper sofa. I know, I know, they've gotten a bad rap when it comes to comfort. But, I have this thing where I really dislike spaces that are underused. I see guest rooms much like many of us now see formal dining rooms - valuable space who's low usage doesn't often justify having a whole room just for it. My ideal is spaces pulling double (or more) duty. Like my formal dining room will eventually also be the homework station, and it can certainly be used for extra dining any time we want it to. And our living room that was converted in a bedroom, it's doubling as the guest room, thanks to the closing door.

But because my guest bedroom is a living room too, I wanted the seating to be real seating. Hense the sleeper sofa. So much easier to keep a real matterss and pull it out when guests come than keeping an entire room 24/7. Anyway... I wanted my sleeper sofa to be in a style that I'd like. Which it turns out is super hard to find. Fashionable sofas are not made with hide-a-beds. But I kept coming back to this sofa on Craigslist. The seller had just bought the couch from Pottery Barn and it turned out to be too big for their little space. They've literally not used it at all. I kept passing it by, but going back to it. I didn't know about the price, great a deal as it was for a new sofa. Finally I realized that I really wanted it. (Same thing happened with this house, BTW, and like most of my favorite things in life. I orginally think "meh" and then for some reason it keeps coming back to my mind until I realize I love it, hahaha.) Anyway, I'd hit the point where I realized I really wanted this sofa, and the seller had knocked another $150 off. You guys, I was SO excited to get this couch. It's just a couch, right? It's ridiculous how giddy I was.

Instead of borrowing Dad's truck, I invited him and Mom to come pick it up with us (at the coast) if they thought they might like the drive or something. They decided to do that, and brought Donna. Then, all 7 of us came in the van. The seller's eyes got huge as the kids started hopping out and he said, "Wow, they just keep coming!" 😅 What, you mean most people don't bring 5 kids, a spouse, their parents, and an aunt to pick up a craiglisted item? It worked out great though. This was a beach cottage so we stopped by and watched the waves for a few minutes before heading back. And having Dad's help was invaluable. I don't know that I could have helped moved the couch much and the boys are kinda scrawny themselves.

Contemplating the guest living room on a chilly Sunday afternoon

For fun, Nate put just the center seat back in before either of the side chairs. This photo pretty much captures #Hollyn'sLife

I love our house so hard. I was gonna rip all the 70s out of it, but it's super grown on me. (Plus my sister in law tells me the dark trim is coming back. The white is on it's way out apparently.) I love the layout and I love the way the old style makes is feel differernt. Style aside, I love the way our family feels in this house. This is our home. We're growing comfortable here in a way we never did in our old house. Not because we lacked ownership, but the spaces were so cramped, it just never felt good or comfortable. One of my favorite things in this house is the CordaRoy beanbag chairs I scored on Craigslist. Again, this was someone who'd bought them and decided they didn't fit and sold them practically unused for about a 1/3 of the original price. (I also got a dining set off Craigslist last week with the SAME story, being rarely used and a low, low price. I am super scoring lately!). Anyway, these beanbag chairs aren't the most comfortable, to be honest, as is. But, you can take the inner part out of the outer bag and it lays flat, mattress style. People say it's not the *most* comfortable - like, it's pretty comfy but I wouldn't put my visiting grandmother on it, for example. Which is fine, we have lots of guest sleeping now. (3 trundles in the kids rooms too.) But as it turns out, we love having these things open for us. Nothing is cozier than resting on a foam bed next to the fire on a rainy Sunday, your husband softly sleeping next to you, while your kids play board games/toys together quietly nearby. #Heaven.

 

Hollyn having a "sick day" (She stopped coughing the minute I said she'd better keep her germs at home - but I rolled with it because it gave me an excuse to not go into work. Hee hee.)

Got to see The President's Own Marine Band.