9

Yep. That's the number.

Hours

The number of hours of good straight, uninterrupted sleep that I need to carry me through the day. For about 2 months, I have been on a roll. Waking up early! I love it. Lately, Beau seems like a taskmaster because we have so much to do yet for the move, and I just keep telling him that I would really like to get nine hours of sleep and that I'd really like to get to bed early so that, of coarse, I can rise early and then do whatever we need to.

'Rrrrrrrright,' is the look he always gives me as he rolls his eyes and hands me another dish to wash or put away. Well, last night, I proved my point! We took the boys upstairs to go to bed at about 8:30....just so happens that we both fell hard asleep, which is unusual for me and not for Beau. Anyway, I woke up wide awake at 5:20--yep, that's nine hours (okay, technically 8 hours and 50 minutes). 5:20! What did I do? Well, I read my scriptures, made muffins, washed all the dishes, cut all the vegetables for the omelets, boiled eggs for lunch, cleaned the kitchen, and weeded my garden (until I came running in for fear of burnt bran muffins.) And look, here I am at 7:20 writing on my BLOG! Something I haven't done for the last 2?3? months? Sheesh, pitiful I know.

Well, case in point, I need nine. Just about the time I finished the kitchen I got a text from my dad telling me he'd already planted and watered (probably a ten acre field). I need to make the point here that I am no where near being able to stand next to my grandparents, or my parents, not even close. I can say that I feel like I could stand in the same very giant room as them--which is a big improvement for me. I used to be LOVE to sleep in, and now I know why: I need nine hours. But I'm am loving this morning business, so even if I have to continue to crash at 8:30 I'll accept the title of party-pooper and you can enjoy my muffins and omelets in the morning!

Days

Nine is also the number of days I have to be moved from my house. Where you ask? Your guess is as good as mine. I don't know. All I know is that I have to have all my stuff out of here before its taken over by the coastie that keeps pounding on my door. ('coastie'--term used by locals for those stationed here in the US Coast Gaurd). I have to say that I'm okay with this move--odd, being that I know nothing yet, but I feel like one of the children of Israel and that the cloud has been removed from the tabernacle, which means--time to move camp. Honestly, in such a time as this I would feel most comfortable moving back home and "establishing" ourselves in somewhat stable conditions--and it may come to that sometime, but for right now I'm going to play the faith card and hope that where we go will be where Heavenly Father wants our family to be. For now though, I have 9 days left here and 9 days that we will be living in a bed and breakfast after that before the "actual move."

Months

I don't feel so bad though because I"m not the only one getting evicted. Nine is also the number of months that Nikki has been pregnant and I am awaiting the call or text any minute now about my new nephew!!! I just have to say that Brenden and Nikki are going to make the best parents in the entire world. Seriously. I wish I lived closer so I could watch everything they do. I am so excited and thrilled for them (and for Keagan and Kaleb who will finally have a Saline cousin)!

Nine is also the number of pictures I'm going to post....soon, because I just tried to post them and there was an error. ugh.

Friday is Bring Cookies to Dad at Work Day

THURSDAY:

2:45 a.m: The little furnace next to me is radiating so much heat that it wakes me up.  I take his temperature again.  104.8.  I run down stairs and mentally prepare myself for overloading my child's kidneys and liver with ANOTHER dose of ibuprofen or acetaminophen.  

3:30 : Finally the fever breaks. 

5:30 : Kaleb seems hungry and willing to eat and drink so I feed him some applesauce with cheese and water; satisfied, he and I dose back asleep.

8:00: Kaleb and Keagan are playing with the train set.  I know that I have only have a short window to nourish Kaleb before he will no longer have an appetite as the medication wears off. 

I taste the batter as the pan is going into the oven.  No sugar, I forgot the sugar.  Although muffins rank next to candy in Kaleb's mind, I am fairly confident that he wouldn't eat a whole wheat sugarfree blueberry muffin.  I dump each muffin wrappers back into the bowl. 

8:10: Right now is probably not an ideal time to be putting Kaleb in underwear, nevertheless, I'm not backing down.  I change his underwear, clean up the spill and set him on the toilet.

8:15 : I stir in the sugar. 

9:30: We've already gone through four pair of undies this morning.  I set Kaleb back on the toilet. 

10:30: I tell Keagan what I never wanted to hear myself say in all my days: "Go watch a movie." I hold Kaleb until his fever breaks again.

11:30: This is the second nice day we've had so far this year. I am determined not to spend it inside, despite my having to wade through toys and 'whatever' else is on the floor to get outside.   

12:00 p.m: The boys and I have a fabulous time starting all of our flower seeds.  (Mostly Kaleb just likes to scoop up the dirt.)  I am so thrilled to be here for the summer, I start making big plans for my front porch and find hanging baskets and plant pots under the porches and around the  premises.  I start cleaning up the flower bed next to the front steps.  Keagan squeals with delight when we find the dark soil rich with worms. 

2:30: I realize that Kaleb is beyond tired, and I come in to rock him to sleep while Keagan is absorbed in a dinosaur puzzle.  

3:15: Mom calls. Her motherly instinct must have been telling her I was having a bad day. It was really great to talk to her.

3:45: I sneak back outside to finish cleaning the flower bed. 

4:00 My neighbor across the street yells, "You look ambitious. Did you guys decide to stay?" We'll at least be here for the summer I tell her. I'm relieved that she is keeping her distance because I haven't looked in the mirror today.  hmmm....

 

4:20: My next door neighbor sees me madly hacking at the stubborn grass with my hoe (believe me, I know how to wield a hoe) and she comes outside and asks me in an 'are you okay?' 'should I call the authories?' kind of voice "What are you doing?" 

"Hard work." I tell her.  I explain that I've done nothing but hold my son for three days.  We chat for a minute about our yards and then I say, "I'm sorry you have to see me like this, I just really needed to be outside today."  Then she says in all seriousness, "Oh, don't worry, when schools out, I don't think I'll shower for a month either." ....right.... 

 

4:30: When she's gone I come inside the house, look in the mirror and realize what she is talking about. I'm embarrassed to make eye contact with myself.  I fix my hair, and get back outside to FINISH THE JOB. ( I think that that is what I needed the most. The dishes are never done, the laundry is never done, the cooking is never done, the house is never clean... all of this is magnified when someone is not well. I wanted to get SOMETHING done!) I realize when the little 6 sq. ft. bed is clean that I miss getting my hands dirty like this. 

4:45: I think of all the lead paint dust that I'm probably inhaling as I sweep off the porch. Why do people ever paint wood porches?  I decide that it will be worth it in July when my front porch looks like the Garden of Eden. 

5:30: Kaleb's fever has spiked once again.  Medication.  Sponge bath.  Holding. 

6:15: We run to the grocery store for mozzarella. 

6:35: I decide that I better de-clutter the front room before Beau gets home.....we hear a diesel truck five blocks away... too late.

6:45: I jump in the shower and am throughly enjoying two minutes of QUIET hot water pouring over me.

6:47:  "Oh, Shaunalee, bad news. We didn't get the Supplemental Agreement.  We'll probabaly be gone by June."

6:47:10:  I am asking myself, "Why on the day that I tell my mother that we'll be here all summer?  Why on the day that I plant all of our flowers, clean out the flower beds, and plan my Garden of Eden? Why on the day that I buy a 36 pack of toilet paper???"

6:55: I cry the entire drive to Enrichment.  

7:10:  Enrichment is about simplifying.  I wonder how I could simplify any more?  She says, "Write on this paper what is most important to you."  Testimony, Family, Health.  "Okay, now write what is keeping  you from doing these things."  I think, This IS what I spend all my time doing and my life is STILL not simple.  

7:40: We sit around a table for dessert (there are only 10 of us) and listen to the broken heart of a mother and her trial in the fight for her daughters soul.  I can only imagine that keeping an easily-peer-influenced 14 year old daughter from having sex (even though ALL of her friends do it) is nothing short of a soul tormenting experience for a mother.   My heart sank as she told us how these kids aren't even dating, or in love, they just do it because "it's popular." 

8:55: I drive home and silently say a thankful prayer for my life of ease.  My sleepless nights over a fever are NOTHING compared to sleepless-nights over concern for my child's spiritual welfare. 

9:05: I hug and kiss my family.

FRIDAY:

4:30 a.m: I am awake checking Kaleb's temperature every minute.  The thermometer actually reads, 105 degrees.  Overload the kidney's once again. 

5:30 a.m: Kaleb is not only awake, he's hyper and happy so we get up.   It's Friday, officially, "Bring Daddy Cookies at Work Day." 

It's going to be a really good day!

Home away from Heaven...

I feel the need to post these videos about the temple--more as a reminder to me about their importance in my life... but also in light of certain media events regarding our worship there.

The temple is my home away from heaven. 

There is a certain peace in my life that comes from knowing who I am, where I came from, where I am going, and where I am pointing my children. 

Once, all of us lived with our Father in Heaven.  The goal of earth life is to prove ourselves worthy to return to our Father's presence; in the temple we make promises (covenants) with Him that we will live accordingly.  

In the temple families are also 'sealed' together for time and all eternity.   Beau will be my husband forever and Keagan and Kaleb will always by my sons!  This knowledge fills my soul with joy and makes me the happy person that I am...  

Temples of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are among the world's most beautiful structures--inside and out.   There are 129 operating temples throughout the world and 9 are under construction.   Most temples have a statue of the angel Moroni (holding a trumpet) which symbolizes that the (restored) gospel of Jesus Christ will be declared unto all nations and all people; and "all are invited who prepare." What goes on inside the temple is not secret, it is just sacred. 

When I am at the temple, I know that I am on sacred ground. The temple is truly a House a God and I feel very close to Him at the temple... it is truly my home away from Heaven.

Why mormons build temples...