Life in Green River
I'm having a bit of a hard time trying to decide what to write. So
much has been happening, and at the same time, it feels as though so
little is happening. We moved to Green River with high hopes that Dean
would find a job quickly. And while it hasn't been as quick in coming as
we had hoped, he had an interview and a job offer from a security
company. The pay isn't great, but it's more than double what Dean is
making working at McDonald's. He'll be working twelve hour night shifts
three days a week, and an additional 6 hour shift. We have no details
yet on when he might be starting, they're still running background
checks and that sort of thing, but hopefully it will be soon. In the
meantime Dean has been getting extremely frustrated working at
McDonald's where high school kids yell at him and tell him what to do.
He remembers being one of them a decade ago, but after having been in
the military for nearly ten years, and having been to Afghanistan three
different times where his work really mattered to people's safety and
lives, a lunch rush is no longer the exciting, stressful thing it once
was to him, and still is to most of his co-workers. He is eager to get
out of there.
In the meantime I'm just trying to keep the kids out of trouble and the house in order. I am without a dishwasher for the first time in a while and I've been struggling keeping on top of the dishes. The last time I was without a dishwasher was when I was living in Idaho with Heidi and DJ, but Heidi usually took care of all of the dishes. I don't think I ever showed my appreciation to her for that as much as I should have. For a while I had a good routine going where I would get the kitchen cleaned and the dishes washed, and I was really proud of myself for keeping my kitchen so clean, but then for the last week or so I haven't been feeling well and it has fallen back into its usual state of disarray.
I suspect I may have had a miscarriage this last week, I'm pretty certain that's what it was, but I don't really know for a fact. If I was pregnant I couldn't have been more than 5 or 6 weeks along. I keep expecting to feel more sad about it than I am, but I'm not. I don't think that I was really far enough along for the idea to have really sunk in yet, or to get attached to the baby, or even the idea of the baby yet, so I'm content to wait a while longer.
In the meantime my boys are definitely keeping me busy. DJ is in an obnoxious phase right now where he has to change his mind every three seconds or so. I usually try to give him as many decisions as I can so that he has as much control of his life as I can give him, but when he says that he wants apple juice one minute and the moment I start pouring it for him, he has a meltdown that he wants milk, I'm inclined to take away all of his decisions all together. If we're upstairs, he wants to go downstairs, and the moment we start to go down, he screams that he wants to stay up, and when we stay up he starts running for the door to go down like I was keeping him from oxygen. It is almost as though he refuses to be happy. It would be so simple for him to just make a choice and be happy with it, but he instead wants whatever he doesn't have, even though I offered it to him only moments before and the option is still open. He will go back and forth like that until I am forced to make the decision for him, and whatever I choose is the wrong choice, and all I know what to do is send him to his room until he can be happy again.
Andrew is usually happy and easy going. He goes to sleep easily, sleeps through the night, and for the most part stays out of trouble. At his young age, he is quickly developing an interest in sports. He is almost always walking around the house with a ball of some sort. He gravitates towards baseball bats and badminton rackets, and if these items are taken away from him, he will scream until he gets them back. He has a little soccer ball that he will chase around the yard for an amazing amount of time, and he absolutely loves it when I pick him up and swing him down to kick the ball clear across the field. While DJ always enjoys playing with balls, he would rather play on a playground or pick grass or chase birds and rabbits or hide behind trees or roll down hills. It is so much fun playing outside with these kids.
DJ's biggest love right now are trains. When we were living in Colorado Springs and in Rexburg, both places with airplanes flying around regularly, he loved airplanes, but as soon as we moved to Green River his interest instantly switched to trains. I kinda think it was a coincidence, because he kinda switched right before we moved, but it is rather fitting because Green River is a city full of trains. There are train tracks and trains around all the time, we hear them toot their horns from all over the city, and we regularly go to the bridge that crosses over the train yard so he can watch them come and go, and often just sit there. The library here also has a train table that he would play with all day long if I'd let him. We do usually go to the library at least once a week because of this.
I've missed going to the library. In the past the kids have hated coming to the library because I usually made them sit in the stroller while I looked around, and DJ has very little interest in the books I would give him, or try to read to him. Now DJ is so eager to go to the library to play with the trains that I am able to go and get books. DJ isn't much of a reader at this point, although I do try to read to him daily. Andrew on the other hand loves books. He will bring me book after book and sit in my lap as I read them to him. I love it! I'm also able to read my own books for the first time in ages. Really since DJ was born I haven't had a whole lot of time to read, but I've been getting audiobooks and listening to them as I wash dishes and do other house work. I have read (listened to) more books in this past month than I have in the last two and a half years combined. I have missed it. And it makes the housework a lot less tedious. I actually am beginning to enjoy it. While I have my mind occupied with a great story, I have my hands occupied with work. It's actually rather nice.
In the meantime I'm just trying to keep the kids out of trouble and the house in order. I am without a dishwasher for the first time in a while and I've been struggling keeping on top of the dishes. The last time I was without a dishwasher was when I was living in Idaho with Heidi and DJ, but Heidi usually took care of all of the dishes. I don't think I ever showed my appreciation to her for that as much as I should have. For a while I had a good routine going where I would get the kitchen cleaned and the dishes washed, and I was really proud of myself for keeping my kitchen so clean, but then for the last week or so I haven't been feeling well and it has fallen back into its usual state of disarray.
I suspect I may have had a miscarriage this last week, I'm pretty certain that's what it was, but I don't really know for a fact. If I was pregnant I couldn't have been more than 5 or 6 weeks along. I keep expecting to feel more sad about it than I am, but I'm not. I don't think that I was really far enough along for the idea to have really sunk in yet, or to get attached to the baby, or even the idea of the baby yet, so I'm content to wait a while longer.
In the meantime my boys are definitely keeping me busy. DJ is in an obnoxious phase right now where he has to change his mind every three seconds or so. I usually try to give him as many decisions as I can so that he has as much control of his life as I can give him, but when he says that he wants apple juice one minute and the moment I start pouring it for him, he has a meltdown that he wants milk, I'm inclined to take away all of his decisions all together. If we're upstairs, he wants to go downstairs, and the moment we start to go down, he screams that he wants to stay up, and when we stay up he starts running for the door to go down like I was keeping him from oxygen. It is almost as though he refuses to be happy. It would be so simple for him to just make a choice and be happy with it, but he instead wants whatever he doesn't have, even though I offered it to him only moments before and the option is still open. He will go back and forth like that until I am forced to make the decision for him, and whatever I choose is the wrong choice, and all I know what to do is send him to his room until he can be happy again.
Andrew is usually happy and easy going. He goes to sleep easily, sleeps through the night, and for the most part stays out of trouble. At his young age, he is quickly developing an interest in sports. He is almost always walking around the house with a ball of some sort. He gravitates towards baseball bats and badminton rackets, and if these items are taken away from him, he will scream until he gets them back. He has a little soccer ball that he will chase around the yard for an amazing amount of time, and he absolutely loves it when I pick him up and swing him down to kick the ball clear across the field. While DJ always enjoys playing with balls, he would rather play on a playground or pick grass or chase birds and rabbits or hide behind trees or roll down hills. It is so much fun playing outside with these kids.
DJ's biggest love right now are trains. When we were living in Colorado Springs and in Rexburg, both places with airplanes flying around regularly, he loved airplanes, but as soon as we moved to Green River his interest instantly switched to trains. I kinda think it was a coincidence, because he kinda switched right before we moved, but it is rather fitting because Green River is a city full of trains. There are train tracks and trains around all the time, we hear them toot their horns from all over the city, and we regularly go to the bridge that crosses over the train yard so he can watch them come and go, and often just sit there. The library here also has a train table that he would play with all day long if I'd let him. We do usually go to the library at least once a week because of this.
I've missed going to the library. In the past the kids have hated coming to the library because I usually made them sit in the stroller while I looked around, and DJ has very little interest in the books I would give him, or try to read to him. Now DJ is so eager to go to the library to play with the trains that I am able to go and get books. DJ isn't much of a reader at this point, although I do try to read to him daily. Andrew on the other hand loves books. He will bring me book after book and sit in my lap as I read them to him. I love it! I'm also able to read my own books for the first time in ages. Really since DJ was born I haven't had a whole lot of time to read, but I've been getting audiobooks and listening to them as I wash dishes and do other house work. I have read (listened to) more books in this past month than I have in the last two and a half years combined. I have missed it. And it makes the housework a lot less tedious. I actually am beginning to enjoy it. While I have my mind occupied with a great story, I have my hands occupied with work. It's actually rather nice.
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