Stories from Des Moines

The more I talk with my two older sons, the more I just can't believe what things are like back there. The other night, I called Johnathan at 8:30. I asked him the standard question of what are you up to, and he responded by saying he was just getting home from school. This is not all that unusual for him due to the number of extra curricular activities he is in, so I proceeded to ask what he had been doing after school. This is where things got a little interesting. He had nothing after school that day, but was simply waiting for my ex to pick him up. My next question was why he would wait that long, why not get a ride from someone or find another way home? To this he responded by stating that he does not have a key to the house, and she will not give him one. Is it just me, or is that just completely insane? He is 17, and almost ready to graduate from high school and be off on his own. Yet, he is not even trusted with keys to the house? I did not know how to respond to that. I still don't. I'm at a complete loss... total disbelief.

I have decided one thing I can do to try to alleviate some of it though. I am planning to buy him a car this weekend. Maybe then he can at least go somewhere else to spend his time and wait, a friends house or something. There is no reason for him to be forced to sit at the school for five hours at a time waiting for her to give him a ride.

A quick snack

Em kept asking for some cake, so I started to look in the cupboards to find out what was available for making some cake. Then Johnathan suggested using some of the carrots in the fridge and making some carrot cake. Since there was a bunny shaped cake pan sitting there, I decided that sounded like a good idea.


They turned out pretty good, and with the carrots and all, I thought they were reasonably healthy, at least as far as cake goes anyway.

They at least looked like little bunnies and were half way healthy, at least until I added the cream cheese icing on top of them...


Oh well, they still tasted great and it was a nice break and fun cooking with the little ones. They are always a great help in the kitchen and an even bigger help when it comes to eating anything sweet.

Tired

This is what it looks like on the weekends when I have to get both of my older boys to school by 6:00 am for their various activities, and therefore have to dump the little ones in the car to go with us.

I don't think she was even aware that she ever left the house.

New Job

I'm starting to get used to and settle into my new job. There is a lot of things to learn, and a ton of reading to do. The insurance industry is new to me, so I need to pick up on the lingo and learn as much as I can as quickly as I can.

The project itself does not sound like it is going to be too bad. However, there will of course be a few obstacles to overcome. Everyone within the organization is willing to make whatever changes are needed in order to make the system work. The problem is going to come down to how much will there be that the new system can not do, and therefore, either new manual effort needs to be made, or additional customizations that could effect the timeline and budget.

These are the things that I need to figure out in the next couple of weeks in order to ensure that the scope of the project is nailed down. Without that, there would be no way for me to be able to say at the end that I accomplished what was set out for me to do.

Anyway, I just wanted to give a quick update as to the new job. So far, it looks like it is going to be a lot of fun and yet quite challenging at the same time. I will try to keep this updated and get back to posting more regularly.

A Great Visit with Family

It was a long drive, but everyone slept most of the way both directions, so it was a good trip. We all had a lot of fun and got to catch up on things a little.


Carter got a helicopter for Christmas and the other boys all got airplanes, so we had to go outside for a bit and have some fun playing with those. Good thing it is considerably warmer down there. Hopefully, some of that warm weather came back with us and we can actually get outside once in awhile here too.


My mom and dad were both very happy to finally be able to get everyone together. It has been awhile since all of our schedules matched up and we could all get together.


My sister brought her puppy, which of course made Emmy very happy.


Although, I think latched onto Nicholas even more than she did the puppy. She would lead him around the house and kept him at her side as much as possible.

One of the first things my sister wanted to do was to do Em's hair for her. Em being the only girl, she was pretty much the center of attention. Of course, she did not have any problems with that.

Anyway, I just wanted to post some pictures from the weekend. Everyone had a blast, and we all agreed that we need to do it again soon.