This week

Woke up late this morning, about half an hour late. Jeremiah said the alarm went off. I was dead to the world after a pretty rough night.

I won't lie, the kids are still having grandparent and family withdrawals. Rachel's are bad at night, they always have been. Nights when she is overly tired, she has these emotional breakdowns where she cries inconsolably about people she misses, sometimes about people she barely knew (like Great Grandma Hargett).

They miss life in Ca. I won't lie, I do too. We're happy, don't get me wrong. We're very happy. But night time is especially hard when you're winding down from a long day, you're overly tired and your mind allows things to creep in. I have to think it will get better someday. The kids don't always understand why we had to move here. It's hard trying to explain that to them. On one hand it stinks, on the other hand, it's a great opportunity. Try telling that to a 4 and 6 year old though who don't understand grown up life and all the things that go with like dreams, and paychecks, and LIFE.

I have always had this "in between time", for lack of a better definition, where I want to go back home. In this case, maybe for the 2nd time of the 4 times we've moved in which all have been major moves, I do but I don't. In all cases we couldn't go back and pushing forward is the only direction to go. The "in between time" is the time where you miss what you left, aren't quite used to where you're at and pushing forward is living day to day knowing some day it will get better but currently is still a challenge to deal with. The "in between time" is the time when your heart still aches for the good memories you left knowing you won't live them again, missing the places and activities. Ug. I miss Apple Hill about this time.

We wish at times we could pick up friends and family and move them closer but we realize those people would miss their lives as well and so that wouldn't be fair, not to mention the fact that's it's a wishful dream, not reality :o). We do agree though that everyone would love it here, er, love parts of it anyway. It's green in the summer, I LOVE that! We don't have mountains, I like mountains. The things we do have are different from what we had in Ca. and they are nice in their own rights.

As each day passes, memories will be made here and the hurt becomes less and less. We are happy here, we love our property and this place. No, it's not California. It's different, in good ways, and it's just going to take time getting used to the new places to visit and making them a stomping ground for us year after year.

As a side note, we've yet to make it to the town of Yoder but I have it on good authority we will soon because I really want to see this Amish hardware store up close and personal. Maybe THAT will become our new stomping ground :o).

Jeremiah's family will be able to visit more often and I know that is something he looks forward to. Being on nearly opposite ends of the US makes visiting difficult and after 13 years of being nearly completely apart from his family, living in Kansas will make it possible for him to get back what he's been missing for so long. I am happy about that.
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Jeremiah has a welding simulator coming to school tomorrow. The state of Kansas (and possibly neighboring states) have a competition going on for all the highschools on this simulator for welding students. The school with the highest score will win prizes. Jeremiah said today anyone wanting to try it will be able to, their welding ability won't be of importance. He says winning isn't important. He may even be in the local paper!

It's nice to be able to say that I am or my husband is the new welding teacher at the high school. Granted, there are a few high schools around in other towns, and even though they may not know Jeremiah's name or face yet, in the event someone were to say something like "my son is taking welding at H. High" people will remember that at one point they met the instructor or the wife of the instructor...it's a small town feeling like that. You kinda get to know people easier that way. Being the only welding teacher at H. High is a pretty recognizable thing. Seems everyone around here works in education or has a spouse or neighbor or family member (or several) who does.

Along with the simulator, I learned today, Jeremiah is hosting a BBQ for the students. This evening we get to go shopping for hamburgers, hot dogs and all the condiments for feed approximately 30 people. Nice right?

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Rachel is going on her first field trip tomorrow to Dillon's Nature Center right here in Hutch. There is also a carnival at school tomorrow evening that we'll be attending.
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It's raining pretty good right now as I write this. We've needed it. The storms seem to keep skirting us and my grass has been fading to a nice shade of brown.
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There is a doe (goat) up for sale by a herd somewhat close by, at Fiddler's Ridge (about 35 min. from here). I am back and forth on buying her. She's a Six M Galaxy doe and for anyone who's not familiar, they are known for their high milk production genetics. My spotted doe Granite's sire is a Six M Galaxy buck.
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I am nearly finished with the basement. The floor is painted and I finished up the faux painting this morning. I has planned to do faux tile but I could not find 1/4" or anything close to it in painter's tape and I didn't feel like cutting it all down by hand from 3/4-1" widths so it just all got an all over sponged coat. It looks nice, I think. I am hoping everything is in place for me to finally start sewing again on Monday!
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Rachel's poison ivy on her face cleared has nearly completely cleared up, no doctor intervention required but she must have gotten into it yet again while Jo and Frank and the kids were here because now it's all over her left side of her body. I'm about at my wits end!
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Jo, Frank and the kids came over on Saturday and spent the night. We all went to the K-State fair on Sunday and had a good time. The majority of my day was spent at the goat show. I met up with a gal who lives right here in Hutch who raises some lovely Nubians.
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The rain is coming down in buckets now and the kids will be home from school in just a little while. I've yet to do the dishes from today and I need to start on dinner. Over and out for now.