We’ve had some wild weather in the past two weeks, and it is interesting how different each day can be. One day might be in the 20s all day, and then the next day will be in the 40s or 50s. We don’t get the 40 degree swings in temperature from morning until afternoon like we did in Flagstaff. In fact, there have been a few days where it was 40 degrees in the morning and the temperature kept going down throughout the day. Keeping an umbrella in my bag is always important because it might rain anytime there are clouds.
We actually got some snow last week, and though it wasn’t a lot, it was kind of fun to see. We also had a day or two of 60 degree weather, which is not good because when the warm air is hit by a cold front, that’s when tornadoes hit, and they did. We were pretty lucky when the big storm went through on Tuesday the 6th and caused all the deaths to the south and east of us. We had the missionaries over for dinner (I keep threatening them that if they are late or something, they are going to get Cream Tuna on Toast - sorry mom, but they view it as a real threat and don't believe we ate that along with Mac & Cheese with tuna and peas and Egg & Tuna sandwiches) and while we ate, the wind and the lightning were really going, and our county was in a tornado watch and then warning. I was going out with them after supper, and when they were ready to go I told them we should wait until the warning was gone, and so we did and everything was fine. Missionaries kind of think they are invincible sometimes, and they said to me a few days later that they didn’t think the tornado warning was that serious until they heard about all the death and destruction left behind after the storm that night. (Once again, I am really nervous about the tornadoes. I get all worked up and am constantly checking the news and now our weather radio - which I love, it just goes through batteries too fast.) We visited a recent convert who I had visited with them before, but she missed church on the day she was to be confirmed, and she had asked me to confirm her, so we had a good visit with her. She did come the next Sunday and I did the confirmation, which was kind of neat since that was the first time since my mission that I’ve done that.
JJ started working officially last week, and so we had the babysitter, Sarah, with the girls on Monday and Wednesday. (I am really enjoying work. I am in the office seeing patients while Dr. Fulbright is in the OR all day. He must trust me quite a bit - though I don't know how, since he never even really checked my references out or anything, - but after only spending 2 days with him to see how the office works, I am in the office by myself two days a week. Anyway, I love the autonomy and it's fun to be seeing patients again - at least most of them.) I think they are doing pretty well with her, though Rachel was a little shocked to not have Mommy there for 8 hours on those days. She is not as mellow with anybody as Claire was, and she wants to be with JJ when she is not wholly content, so we have to get used to that some. Claire reacts differently now — she is great for babysitters but when they leave the tiredness of the day catches up and she seems to have a meltdown every late afternoon. In fact, it’s not just babysitters, but when one of us gets back from work or wherever, she seems to break down. Probably the inattention when we adults talk to each other. (I don't know what it is, but according to dad, I seem to be the most common denominator in the equation and therefore, whatever is going on is my fault :) And it's not just one meltdown, it starts when she wakes up and continues throughout the day - all day when I am home and mornings and evenings when I am at work - anytime she doesn't get exactly what she wants. I told Paul that I was about to lose it. I'll tell you, Terrible Twos were nothing. She was an angel at two. It's the Tantrum Throwing Threes that have me in a tizzy. I guess things will get better, but if they don't soon, Paul will have to deal with me in a loony bin along with Claire and her meltdowns)
We didn’t go out on Valentine’s Day because neither of us wanted to go through the trouble on a weekday to get a babysitter, so we went out on Saturday night to a nice restaurant in town and then to some of the MSU basketball game. Thursday night, what began as a nice relaxing evening turned bad when JJ tried to flush our upstairs toilet that a boy Claire’s age had put some toilet paper in to test his theory that toilet paper is what plugs toilets up — he and his brother played with Claire for awhile in the morning. Well, JJ tried to plunge the toilet with our bad plunger and when I tried, it really overflowed and we had lots of water that ended up leaking down to our bathroom downstairs. We got the flow stopped, used all of our towels and a shop-vac to get rid of the water, then I stopped the leak in our ceiling downstairs — it was through the vent — and then went to Lowe’s and bought a decent plunger that took care of the toilet problem in a few seconds. Happy Valentine’s Day, I said to JJ when I came back with the plunger. (My whole plan for the night was to relax, watch some TV and paint my nails. So, after using up all the towels in the house to mop up the floors, getting a bucket to catch the water leaking through the ceiling and while waiting for Paul to come home with the plunger, I did just that. When Paul came home with my new Valentine's Present, I was able to plunge with pretty nails.)
On Friday I drove to Clarksville to have our seat heater replaced — it was a recall — and I expected to stay for awhile, but they finished in about 2 hours, so I came back and did a little work in my office and got some flowers for JJ and then got home in the early afternoon. They also replaced the seat covering of the bottom part of the drivers’ seat, which was water damaged or something when we packed it full of stuff when we moved, which was nice. I think they thought the seat heater did it, but it worked out for us.
Saturday we cleaned the house, which took awhile because of the girls, and Claire played with Katey for awhile. Our next-door neighbors gave us their old breakfast table, which we like, but we now have our old breakfast table with nowhere to take it yet, so we are looking for someone who needs one. Right now it is still in our kitchen, which drives us crazy. (We came with one small table and now we have three tables sitting in our dining room/kitchen/breadfast nook area. I am ready to throw it out, but I don't think the duct tape holding the leg together would stand up against rain and ice.) I also worked on our taxes the last two weeks, which turned out easier than I originally thought. I completed everything on the online tax site I usually use, but it said that it wouldn’t do part-year state forms, so I thought I would have to do those by hand. Well, when I downloaded forms from Arizona’s website, they had links to different tax sites, and one of them said they would do part-year forms. So I had to put all the federal stuff in that one, but that is easier than going through the part-year forms by hand — both Kentucky and Arizona are complicated and use different ways of calculating. It was easier to do online.
For pictures and things, don’t forget to check our blog http://dynomitewalkers.blogspot.com, as JJ occasionally updates it with our letters and photos. We love you all and hope everyone is well.
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