Full time Grandma- week 3 Sept 19-25 2010

OK, I just posted, and it didn't publish any of it, no photo's nothing, just the Title. I'll be back, I'm a little torked just now! GRRRRRR!!!!

Well, I'm up early this morning, getting some pictures posted. Still learning, I see I have the school bus on there twice, and can't delete one. Oh well. Cara had school three days this week and now she's at her Dad's overnight. The mornings are becoming routine, we pick out the clothes the night before, to save arguments. Making breakfast, packing lunch, getting hair and teeth brushed consumes the morning before school! Heather leaves at 6:50 for her van pool. Glad I'm here to fill in the gap. School bus comes at 8:15 am. Tues/Thurs/ every other Friday. We will get used to the schedule eventually. Already have a play-date on Monday with Elliot, a little girl from church and school, lives about 4 miles away. Cara went there last Monday and played, Elliot's coming over here next. Hope it doesn't rain, but either way, it will be nice for Cara to have a friend over to play with. Heather coaches a Cheer squad, so she has a game this morning, and Tom's group at church has a BBQ at Kyak Point at noon. I need to check on the prices of my presciptions, as they will need to be refilled soon. Walmart or Cosco should be the best prices. I woke up at 2 am with a leg cramp, and have been up ever since. Will need a nap this afternoon! Cleaned out the bookcase and took some books to the used bookstore. Will be taking more, I am only keeping 1/10 of the books I brought as I gave Cara my tall bookcase for her room last week. So, I should have lots of credit coming, when I need a new read! Keeping Diana Gabaldon books, Harry Potter and Twilight Series, plus a few others. Still have lots of boxes in the garage to go through, as I make space, I go find something. When Tom gets the shed done, I can move some kitchen things in there. Hope to get to clearing out the outside storage areas soon! The house is getting better at least! Three generations in one small farmhouse, with no storage inside, it's a challenge!

Weeks 1 & 2 with Grandma Karen

Week 2 Grandma Karen

So, I'm already behind on my blog posting. Last Thursday was Cara's first day of KG at Lakewood Elementary School. Teacher is Mrs. Reynolds, who is very organized and has the best personality for the first timers! Cara goes all day Tuesday and Thursday and every other Friday. So last week she only went one day and had 4 days off! This week, three days, so we will see how she does. Came home Tuesday and was cranky and tired, took a two hour nap! She is excited in the mornings to get ready and catch the bus. I am so glad I am here for this! I am designated child care, and resident "Hazel" and it is great. Getting things squared away in the house is taking some time, and then I need to work on the outbuildings to make more efficient use of the storage. These last two weeks have been technologically trying. The router I put in for the laptop works, but my laptop will not connect to the network. so now, I have a 100 Ft. ethernet cord, wrapping along the dining room wall, and up the stairs to connect my laptop. Then today, needed to print for Tom, and printer would not work. Spent 1 1/2 hr on the phone with tech support, and they finally decided to send me a new printer. I did get a new cell phone provider, and finally got my old nuymber ported over, and my email accounts are working. That took about three days! So, hope to get all of that behind me and have a functioning office area.
Hope this is not too boring for anyone, but it's my life at the moment! I have loved being the cook, and maid for the house, met a gal yesterday at Winco Foods that has three children and her mom is the caregiver, and they all live together. She says she couldn't manage without her mom helping out. So, it's a trend. Hey, I'm trendy! Husband is still working on the little cabin, he's sure it is the answer, but it seems we all are doing okay in the same house, at least for now! I just need more storage, or at least a closet!

Moving to Washington

It's been an interesting transition to full-time grandma! Left Rock Creek on Saturday September 4th, 2010 shortly after noon. Shed some tears. Pulling a 6x10 U-haul which was quite full, bigger than I had ordered, but all they had to give me. So, I had more belongings than I had planned to take with me on this first trip. GMC Envoy pulled it fine, but alot slower on the interstate, so I was looking at a ten hour (minimum) trip. Sweet Husband said that he would leave Arlington and meet me in Ellensburg, and transfer the trailer to his truck, giving me a break from towing. So, after 6 1/2 hours of travel, around 7pm. I met up with him and Cara at the Gas station and fruit stand outside of Thorp. They were so cute, standing by I-90 waving as I headed for the exit. Well, as usual, Murphy's law kicked in. We unhooked my rig from the trailer and he backed up. He had to take the ball off his stinger and use my two inch ball to tow. That was the first hurdle. First went upstairs above the Fruit satnd to the antique mall to buy a pipe wrench. Since it was an "antique, it cost about $30. Then he struggled with the pipe wrench and channel locks to get the ball off the stinger. It wasn't budging. So, now it's 8 PM. I'm wanting to just hook myself back up and get on the road. But, you know guys, they have to keep trying. So, I went back to the last exit to see if the truck stop had a 2"trailer ball. No such luck. Then I went downtown Ellensburg to Fred Meyers, to get another pipe wrench. Lo and behold, they also had a trailer ball. I got both, another $30 and went back to the fruit stand. Forgot to mention the wind was blowing gale force, and we were all in our sweatshirts and still cold. Now it's 9PM. Tom attached the ball and hooked up to the trailer. Plugged in the lights, guess what, his plug slightly different than mine, so no lights. I'm, again, ready to hook myself back up and just go! Tom stripped his plug and wires each one into the trailer wire separately. Finally,,,,,,,lights. It's 10 PM. Everyone went to the bathroom, got drinks for the road and we commenced on I-90 over Snoqualmie Pass. About at the top it was raining and in a constructon zone with barrels and lanes narrowing, Tom decides that Cara need to switch to my rig, he exits, I'm too far behind navigating barrels to notice. So I had to go downhill to Denny Creek exit, and wait for him to catch up. It's midnight. Finally pulled into the driveway sometime after 1am. I have been awake since 4am, packing, loading and driving. Got to bed around 2am. Sunday church was at 9am and by the afternoon I was a zombie! But, Grandma Karen is in Washington to start her shift(13 years worth). HooRay!