I'M BACK

In case you were wondering, and even if you weren't, I'm back. I ran away for a few days. Life got the better of me, but I have decided, now that I have taken my reprieve, that I can once again, check into my life. This is not to say that I might not decide to leave again, but never fear, my kids now have clean clothes, and I was even able to cook them dinner tonight. All is well.

HOPE

Tomorrow marks a historic day in American history. I believe that most of America and indeed the world, will be sitting by with baited breath. You either love him, or hate him, but this man has the fate of America and indeed the rest of the world, resting upon his shoulders. I don't envy him this position. So I will sit, with the rest of my family and friends, and watch this event unfold.

I am putting a lot of trust in his ability to correct some of the past wrongs, but I am not naive in knowing that although he is in a position of power, there is much at play in the background. I am only hoping for a brighter future, not only for myself, but for my children as well.

As most of you know, we have had a very rough 3 years. We have been warned by the prophets to be prepared, and we thought we were. Last year, sitting in a Sunday School class, the Bishop asked us, how many of us were out of debt. I was able to raise my hand, but that was short lived.

We now find ourselves, after nearly 20 years of marriage, without a permanent home, with all of our savings exhausted, and though Handsome works nearly 13 hours a day, barely able to survive. We moved into a home, hoping that we would be able to keep our family there for as long as we desired, but have now realized, we have bitten off more than we can chew. Don't think we didn't do our homework, but that was not good enough. Now we are wondering what the next step is going to be. Will we need to move out of an area that we are loving? We hope not, but with Handsome having some medical issues, we are finding our future very much up in the air.

I only tell you this, to help you realize that you are not alone. I have talked to numerous friends and family that are struggling just as we are. People that thought that they were doing the right thing. What is right anymore?

So, I will watch the inauguration, hoping. Hoping for the change that was promised, but wise enough to know that it won't happen overnight.

Am I Ready?

I am at a crossroads.

I didn't think I would ever even consider this at my age, which is just over 25, but the time has come. To let my gray actually show through? What to do, what to do....

Unlike my parents, who didn't even show up with gray hair until way after 60, I started finding those little buggers about 25, or shortly after I got married, could that have been the cause? Now a few years later, and many bottles of dye later, I am tired of 2 weeks after the new dye job, have my hair showing its true color. So the question is, do I continue dying it the awesome red that has been my color for quite a long time, go back to the white blonde of my early 20's or start embracing the next stage. NOT that I plan on doing it gracefully mind you, but I have decided if I try this, I will also be going short and sassy again. Help, what is your opinion?

The Year was 2008

Every year, I try to write a Christmas letter. Some years it comes after the New Year's and other years I decide to be on top of things and send it before Christmas. Last year (2007) was no exception. As soon as I put it in the mailbox, I had a thought, now that you have put down in words the kind of year we have had, everything is going to change. I was not disappointed. SO, with that being said, I made a conscious choice this year to NOT write a Christmas letter or a New Years letter, instead I figured I would let the last year slip into obscurity. I should have been a Catholic, because guilt got the better of me. I decided I would be very wrong, to not share the good the bad and the ugly.

Here goes, and know I won't feel bad if you walk away....

After the Christmas letter went into the mailbox, Jac proceeded to have another heart attack, so we spent the last part of December and first part of January thinking he might possibly have to have bypass surgery. We were very lucky, when they decided that the blockage he had might be better dealt with with just medication, only because of where the blockage was. So with new prescriptions in hand, employment terminated with the man that had taken us to Reno, he proceeded to look for another job. We were very lucky in that, he had several offers, but decided to take the one with BJ'S Restaurant. Our thinking was that it would keep us in Reno so that Michael could finish out her Senior Year of high school, but that is what we get for thinking. Instead, they liked him sooo much, that they decided to have him open up the Northwest region, hence the move to Washington. So, from the end of February until mid May, Jac lived in California, training, and the kids and I continued our life in Reno. It was an interesting time. I figured my job was damage control, well actually, I thought I was just to be a single parent, but it turned into damage control. You know, not letting your kids brain damage get completely out of control! My sweet, smart Michael took this time to enjoy a conversation with the police, and found herself hiding from the fire department on a certain occasion. Madison found that sliding down the stairs on sleeping bags late into the night was the ticket, Quinn enjoyed his time having sleepovers with a wild group of boys, and Alexa figured this was a good time to spend as much time as possible with the neighbors, in hopes that they would adopt her. And I just spent an awful lot of time running, getting up to 6 miles a day!

We enjoyed a cluster of earthquakes that rattled Reno and myself for several weeks. The blessing in all of that was it made us get prepared. We also learned to really enjoy the simple things in life and each other. We had a great time!

Jac returned to Reno with enough time to help finish the packing and for the movers to show up. It was wonderful having someone else do this for us this time!

Michael also got her drivers license during the move, had a minor accident and finished out her Junior year of high school. The kids were sad to leave friends, but not terribly sad to leave Reno. I feel that we definitely had left our mark, but I don't think Reno could have handled anymore of the Chandlers, pretty soon they would have come looking for the parents.

Now we have been in Seattle area for about 7 months. We have loved living here, we have loved the green, the hills, the water and the mountains. Jac has opened a new restaurant and has been dealing with the challenges that that has brought. Michael is trying to survive her Sr Year, but has made great friends again, and is excited to finish so she can go back to Utah for college. She was just informed that she could graduate right now, but since she is only 16, I am going to make her stay and take that golf class that she is looking so forward to!

Madison is in the 8th grade, and with that comes all of the challenges of being 13, the hormones, the boy issues and the reality that Mom truly intends to keep her cell phone for quite a while! She is still playing the violin, and is doing very well in school. Scholastically, this has been a great move for her!

Quinn is in 5th grade and is in his last year of elementary school. It makes me sad to know that as much as I have wanted them to grow up, they truly are doing that. I never thought I would say that I miss having little kids, but occasionally, I do. Quinn also started playing the clarinet this year, and really seems to enjoy it, although I think he has plans to switch instruments at the end of the school year, probably because he knows how much I enjoy listening to the squeaking!

Alexa is now 8. She is in the 2nd grade and loves school! She probably had the easiest time settling in and feels like she has always been here. She seems to brighten every room with her smile and laugh. She was baptised this year and was so excited to have her Grandfather and Uncle come from Colorado to baptise her. She also was thrilled to have Grandma and Grandpa T come from Oregon and her cousin and Aunt to show up from California. She loves being the center of attention.

As for me, I keep myself busy. I am a counselor in the YW's program over the 14 and 15 year olds. I love it! Although it is a busy calling, the girls in our ward have such sweet, strong spirits, and I am grateful every week to get to share in that. I have started running again, although, not quite 6 miles or 3, but slowly I will get back to that. I don't know how long we will get to be in this area, but I am so grateful for all of the blessings that my Heavenly Father has bestowed on me. I might get sarcastic at times and laugh or cry at the way things are going, but I know, that my family is still together, that we love each other, we know how to laugh and sing and be silly and that the challenges that we are now facing will also pass and the lessons we have learned when we come out on the other side will be invaluable.

With this being said, Have a Happy and Safe 2009. We are so grateful for all of your friendship and love.

We have gotten to experience record snowfall

The beautiful green trails
And INCREDIBLE amounts of silliness!

I'm Dancing Again

YEAH!

They finally did it! The kids made it to one whole day of school, without a delayed start or a snow day! Definitely a day for dancing...so why am I sitting at this computer? I better go get my feather boa!

What New Year's Resolutions?

Ok, by nature, I'm not a complainer. Today I just want to say....

ARE YOU KIDDING ME?

We are only 2 days into the New Year, and my resolution was to dance more....but so far, I'm having a hard time making that work....

Take today for an example, my goal is to get my house back in order. The Christmas decorations are down, I really was looking forward to just getting the 6' of dust cleaned off of everything, and get rid of my mold-ridden toilets. (It is very hard to be festive when you have to clean bathrooms all the time).

Instead, I get the call from Handsome that he needs me to pick up food for the restaurant, I won't bore you with why I, the lowly housewife is doing this, but suffice it to say, this is the 3rd trip in 4 days...I got one day off because after all, it was a Holiday.

Not a problem, but I think I will start the self -cleaning oven before I go, because even the oven could have fed a third world country.

The smell in the house became toxic, I made all 4 kids go for a ride with me, only to get them away from the big black box and the little white wii. (How can they learn to beat me in tennis, if they are not home practicing!), anyway, I digress.....

Off we go to the restaurant supply house. I'm told, get there around 12:15 because they will have your order for you..I figured, give them a few minutes, and arrived at 12:20. I walk in, and am told, "There Is no way your order will be ready until at least 1:00!"

Dilemma.....do I drive the kids someplace, or do we just wait...wanting to be environmentally conscious, I decide to wait. Of course, with kids, you don't wait in silence, so the stereo goes on. Now, knowing how prone to killing the battery my children are, I diligently, start the car every five or ten minutes.. 1:00 comes, I back my car into the bay for my pickup, go inside, get my invoice, then wait for another 10 minutes for them to pull it. NOT A PROBLEM......

The order arrives, and I start to have a panic attack!

I NEED A U-HAUL!

I can do this...

With some very clever maneuvering, tripling kids into seat belts, we are finally loaded.

Go to start the car, and nothing.....not anything. The car is dead. A very kind man came and jump started it for me, with my jumper cables, because, like most men, he didn't have any.

Go to the restaurant, ask one of the managers to get a dolly because I have tons of food, and he says that they don't have any that they would want to put food on! ARE YOU KIDDING ME? I have been here how many times? Do you need me to show you where they are kept?

Sorry, I got a little angry!

Finally, the food gets unloaded, our meal that Handsome had prepared for us is ready, and we jump in the car ready to go home, 3 hours later, and the car won't start again! HELP!

Luckily, Handsome was nearby, he could save the day, except that the battery in his car is smaller than most, (for racing, you know light weight batteries), it doesn't have enough juice to start my car....I wanted to cry, I didn't....finally, we got the car started. That is when SWEET Michael says, "oh yeah, we didn't leave the car running long enough..." (lessons learned from draining the battery on numerous occasions).

Finally, we drag our butts home, walk in the house.. ready to wipe out my beautifully cleaned oven, when I see.....

THE ERROR CODE

I can do this, I calmly walk over to the oven and begin pressing various buttons.....

NOTHING. The door won't unlock.

I go online to find a manual. There is nothing in the manual about error codes! I wait on hold for 10 minutes, only to be told, unplug it, if it doesn't clear it, it is broken and you need to call the repairman. I pull the oven out. I gasp at the mess underneath it, but look at the blessings, and say, not a problem....I can clean this too. I plug it back in, still the error code....I have pushed various buttons, wanted to kick it, but stopped myself because I don't want to completely annihilate it, so I think I will walk away and make a cup of tea.....

Just saying, this is only the 2nd day of January!