Spring Cleaning, Allergies, And My Boys

     Wow.  It has been so long.  I didn't mean to abandon this.  Do ya'll remember me?? LOL.
     Friday was such a big day.  For me.  For Hubs.  First, I got my maternity clothes packed away.  All except one shirt, but as soon as I come across it, it too will get packed.  I may have to recheck the bin to make sure I didn't get it in there absentmindedly.  I washed the ones that needed washing, and they were packed in the bin.  Not as many clothes as it seemed, but enough that they were everywhere, and now they are away.  Getting those put away and finally looking at the pictures were the two biggest steps that I needed to take...or at least I think they were.  I guess I'll find out, huh?
     Hubs interview went awesome!  He started out with brownie points because he even bothered to show up for the interview.  The two people scheduled before him never bothered to show up or call  to reschedule or anything.  In fact, his interview went so well, that he was able to have a second interview before he left.  It was for a seasonal job, but Hubs wants to do something until the call comes in for the job he really WANTS. 
     The positive interview really brightened his spirits.  Today's economy really bites, and even the "not-forever-job" kind of jobs are hard to get.  We decided to get some lunch, and  on the way, I started pointing out cloud shapes.  Hubs and I were giggling like little kids as I pointed out things...I saw a lobster with his pincers in the ready position.  I saw a whale with water spouting out.  I saw an alligator with his mouth wide open.  I saw the Snuggle bear hugging a pile of laundry.  I saw Perry the Platypus standing on a rock.  I wish I had my camera with me so that I could share the clouds.  I kept looking for more and more shapes.  (Friday was the day to cloud hunt.  It was before the rain, and there were clouds EVERYWHERE!)  I even saw a cloud that looked like JJ when he lies on his back with his arms crossed and one leg crossed over.  Like I said.  Hubs and I were cracking up.  Once we got to where we were having lunch, Hubs just bubbled over, telling me about his interview.  He could barely eat for talking.  He was sending a text to arrange a time to get Lydia on Saturday, and a call started coming through.  He picked up without meaning too because he didn't recognize the number; and thank goodness he did!  It was from the job he WANTED, scheduling an interview.  :whew:  And I thought he was bubbling over BEFORE that phone call. 
     After lunch, we headed to Target to pick up some more shelves (like the ones I used for my yarn) to go in the garage.  I am super serious about this spring cleaning stuff this year.  We are determined to get control of our clutter, reclaim our garage, our closets, our space.  The shelves are on sale, and there was only one set out.  We had an associate help us, and he went and got two more sets out of the back.  While we were standing in line, Hubs said that we were spring cleaning/organizing our garage, and the guy looked at him and said "Are ya'll hoarders or something?"  [Uhh...no...if we were hoarders, we wouldn't be able to organize.  It's a serious sickness that people have.  It made me think of a friend because we had recently talked about not being able to watch and entire episode of the TLC show Hoarders because it truly grosses us out. ]  So, I tell him, no, we just have a lot of stuff that's never been unpacked, and it's taking over our garage (because that is the truth.)  And now that Hubs is no longer in the military, we can't use the excuse of  "well, we'll just leave it in the box because we will move again in a year."  While we will definitely be making at LEAST one more move in our lives (when we buy a house), we don't think we'll be making that move for about a year.  :)  Now is the perfect time for the TRUE spring cleaning...purging...organizing.  Pinterest will definitely be of use to me as I look for inexpensive ways to organize and "create" more space.  (Don't be surprised if I steal some of your organizational ideas!)
     We left Target and headed to the school to pick up JJ.  JJ had such a good day at school, but he was so congested.  Pollen is our enemy.  Everything we love about spring is his enemy.  Poor kid is allergic to outside.  Trees, grass, pollen, weeds, ragweed...plus dust, cats, and dogs.  :sigh:  He loves to play outside, now that he has a friend across the street.  We are dealing with the congestion.  He sounds so miserable though.  I have been to walmart several times for sudafed, but they never have any.  And of course, because it's a control substance thanks to all the meth users, I have to go to the pharmacy to ask about it.  And of course, the same little old man is there working the register every.single.time.I ask about them having sudafed.  And he always tells me that they only get about 10 total boxes in on their shipments, and they are gone that day.  :sigh:  A lot of good that does JJ, right?
     So we've been able to turn the heat off and leave our front door open and the back sliding glass door open.  But only in our living room so that the pollen doesn't infest JJ's bedroom.  We are sitting around before dinner, and it is so hot.  Our house was 85*!!!!  JJ's been coughing a deep, rattly, asthmatic type of cough, so we shut the doors and flip on the AC to cool off the house.  We really have to watch his cough and his allergies or it causes his asthma to flare up. 
     The house finally cooled, and we watched Stuart Little 2.  Great family bonding time.  No pizza because we had gone to Cici's the night before.  Hubs grilled burgers and dogs, and I made a potato salad.  Yum.  That is all. 
     Hubs went out to close the grill and ended up walking around the house instead of coming back in the sliding glass door.  He called me to the front door to see something, and there was this brilliant bright green tree frog hanging out on the siding.  Be still my heart!

Of course, my camera does NOT do this little guy justice, but he was amazing.  For those that don't know, I love frogs.  All things frogs.  I collect frogs and frog stuffs.  LOVE LOVE LOVE!!!!  I told Hubs I was going to catch him and keep him.  I got the "you're so crazy" look.  Then Mr. Tree Frog hopped to the corner and started catching the nasty skeeters.  I decided he was perfectly fine right where he was, eating all the bugs he wanted!
     OH  I forgot to mention.  When we got home from picking JJ up from school, there was a letter for Hubs in the mailbox.  It was another place requesting an interview!!!  (For the same job we got a call about at lunch, just a different location.  He was able to put in for three different locations and has heard back from two.  FINALLY.  In the same day.)  Did I mention that Friday was a really good day?
     Saturday was a mostly busy day.  Hubs and JJ went to pick up Lydia and brought her back to the house.  She was able to open her Christmas presents from Hubs' family.  She seemed to like everything.  Especially the huge pack of lip gloss.  We had to open so that she could put one on :)  Then we got everything packed in a bag and got loaded in the car.  We headed for the mall because that is where the dress that Maggie had liked best was...I had been roaming stores looking at the Easter stuff, sending her random pictures of different dresses...or dress stuff for JJ, trying to figure out what to get them for Easter and the wedding.  We found this amazing dress, and I didn't know what size to get...and I wanted Lydia to try it on because department store clothes fit differently.  We find the dress.  In the smaller sizes, they had 6, 8, and a 12.  Then they started at size 14 and went up from there.  I knew she wasn't an 8, but she also wasn't a 14.  I was thinking more of a 10.  I grabbed the 12, and off we head to the dressing room.  There is only ONE dressing room open.  With 2 stalls.  And 2 girls with out 30 different Easter dresses each.  And for every ONE that they try on, their mom brings in another 3.  :sigh:  So, Lydia and I get in line, and I send Hubs off in search of another dressing room.  He finally finds an associate who opens another dressing room.  We try the dress on...SCORE.  It was a little big, but I could tie the bow in the back tighter, and it gave plenty of room for growing in the next month.  I will share a picture after the wedding :)  Don't want to ruin any surprises!  I told Lydia that all we needed now was a pair of white shoes to go with the dress.  She said she was wearing a size 3, and they fit her and felt good, so we didn't need to measure her foot.  I told her we would probably measure anyway, just to be sure.  Off we head for lunch at Red Robin.  We had a very enjoyable time all together. After lunch, we head to the shoe store.  We have Lydia's foot measured, and it comes in at a size 4; the associate tells us to get a 4 1/2 so she has room to grow.  We try on several different styles in 4 1/2, but they are all way too big.  I can put 2 fingers in the shoe behind her heel.  I know her foot won't grow THAT much before the wedding, and I don't want her feeling like her shoe is going to fall off!  We tried on a size 4 shoe, and it fit very well.  Not too tight, but not slipping off when she walked either.  I was sad because I had found a style that was SO.PRETTY in the size 4 1/2, and they didn't have the same style in the smaller size.  We ended up getting the shoe we tried on, which was a similar style to the one I really liked.  It was pretty also, but I reeeaaallllly liked the bigger shoe.
     From the shoe store, we head to Target to do a little shopping.  We had decided as our Christmas present for Lydia, we would buy her several outfits for the wedding weekend.  I think overall, she was very excited with the clothes that she tried on.  She can't wait for the wedding so that she can wear all of her new stuff :)  While I was checking out, I sent Hubs and both kids to Pet Smart.  It started drizzling while we were inside.  When we left Pet Smart, they wanted to go into Gamestop, but I wanted to go to the car.  So, I sent Hubs and the kids in while I went to the car.  I was just tired.  It had been a busy day.  It was muggy outside because of the thunderstorms looming in the sky. It started raining pretty hard, and then Hubs and the kids were running towards the car.  Lydia's mom picked her up, and we headed home. 
     I really can't tell you what we did for the rest of the day.  I think we just hung out.  Hubs finished reading The Hunger Games.  I played games on the kindle after that.  We didn't stay up too late because we had to drive to Wilmington so that Hubs could get fitted for his tux for the wedding. 
     I woke up pretty early on Sunday and started reading Catching Fire.  The boys woke up, and we all got ready to head out.  We had decided to get breakfast out so that we had a good meal before travelling.  (JJ sometimes gets car sick, so we do what we can to make sure that he doesn't get sick...full belly, sprite or some sort of drink...and don't let him get too hot!)  I had talked with Hubs a bit about feeling anxious going to Wilmington.  It's our first time back since leaving the hospital.  While it may not seem like a huge thing, for me, it FELT like a ginormous thing.  The drive was fairly uneventful.  I did some reading, and JJ played his DS.  Then I let him play Angry Birds.  Around the point that I gave up the kindle, we passed the Hardees where Hubs and I stopped to get ourselves together before heading home that day.  I reached out and held Hubs hand for a long time.  I could feel the tears trying to come, but they never did.  We made it to the tux place.  While Hubs was getting fitted, JJ played Angry Birds, and I looked at the shirts and ties.  We got done and walked over to the bookstore.  JJ and I went to the kid section so that I could read him a couple of books, and then we decided it was time for lunch.  We drove to Zaxbys.  The food is great, but I forget how long it takes for your order to be ready.  And they were packed.  Boo.  The drive home, I read a couple chapters, and then I let JJ play Angry Birds again.  The kindle died right about the time we hit town.  I plugged it in once we got home, and then we all got in our comfy clothes.  The rain had started right before we got home...and it was NUTS.  It wasn't so bad once we were home though.  Only while we were driving, LOL...I finished Catching Fire and went straight into Mockingjay. 
     Monday, Hubs had an appointment, and I decided to leave right after he did and get some prescriptions filled for myself and JJ.  It didn't take as long as I had thought it would, so I had plenty of time to go sit at the school and read.  I got home and helped JJ with his homework, and then he got ready for karate.  Hubs was finishing up some schoolwork.  We went to Subway, talked with JJ's friend, and then headed out.  We got to the school, only to find a note taped to the door that they were having karate at a different location.  So, we look it up on the GPS, and off we go to find this other elementary school.  We get there just in time (we weren't late, the instructor pulled in behind us!).  Hubs gets JJ checked in, and then we head to get gas.  I go to read my book, and my story would not load.  It kept telling me it needed wi-fi (which it shouldn't need because the book is loaded, it's not a game.)  I ended up letting Hubs play Angry Birds, and I worked on a baby hat.  I had gotten a tiny loom to make hats for people who have situations like ours...where they have to deliver and are given a memory box with photos.  Our memory box includes a hat that the baby wore when presented to Hubs.  The hat didn't take long at all to finish.  For my first try at this size, I thought it was cute.  I will definitely have to work several before I figure out the correct number of rows needed.

I picked one of JJ's smaller toys as a model, then used the Flintstones glass to give you an idea of how small the hat is.       Today, I just did not feel motivated to get going at all!  I somehow got JJ ready for school, and Hubs got him there early to take his AR test.  He scored a 5/5!!!  We were being bums at home though.  Hanging out, just not motivated for anything.  I finished Mockingjay.  SUCH a great series!  We can't wait to watch the movie.  Hubs decided he was going to play video games.  I went to finally get dressed.  And the power goes out.  There is an outage in a fairly large area, so we hang out for a few minutes before leaving to pick JJ up from school.  The lights are out, the shopping center is out...Nuts.  People don't know how to drive around here anyway....The police were directing traffic.  We get on Piney Green and see a sign that says local traffic only.  We keep going because we are local and heading to pick JJ up from school.  No.  What the sign should have said is "Mandatory detour ahead.  Road closed."  We follow traffic, but we have no idea where we are headed.  The road goes on forever.  We finally end up on Old 30, and I say "OH!  We will come up by the guy with the hot dog stand."  It takes forever, but that is exactly where we come out.  We go to turn, and the policeman tells us that the road is only open to Hunter's Creek...which is where we needed to go.  We get to the school about 3:10, and there are no kids out anywhere.  They decided to keep all of the kids in their classes working on homework or whatever since the traffic was so backed up that the buses hadn't even arrived yet at the school.  Parents were going in to check out their kids, and it was a crazy process.  Hubs went in, and was gone forever it seemed.  Finally, it comes over the intercom to please take the car riders to their designated areas....this was about 3:20pm.  JJ and Hubs finally make it to the car, and off we go...the long way home.  Traffic was so ridiculous.  But there was no sense in getting crabby about it.  It wasn't going to change anything.  We tell JJ that the power is out, so once his homework is done, he should go out and play.  We notice that the shopping center has lights and the stop lights are working again.  We get home and still have no power.  But when I had called, the recording for outages said that the power should be back up between 5:30 and  6pm.  JJ got his homework done, and off he went to play outside.
     I grabbed some bags and a stack of papers and sat down to go through them..  I had four piles:  shred, recycle, keep and trash.  Most everything went into the shred or recycle (all of the shred ended up in the recycle); only the staples,  or plastic parts of the envelopes went into the trash.  We had schoolwork from kindergarten, stuff from first grade....we even had our lease from the apartment we had in Georgia.  The box was almost completely gone through.  Hubs went through and got the trash stuff out.  There is only small stuff in the bottom now.  Tomorrow after my appointment, we are going to re look at what is in the bottom and find new homes for everything.  One box down!!!  I never know where to start and end up starting everywhere and nowhere looks "done."  We've mostly done the dining room now, so I think I will finish in there and then tackle the garage.  I think once that is gone through, then the stuff from the other rooms that needs to go out in the garage will have a home, not just thrown on top of the current stuff residing all over.  I will definitely take before and after pictures.  I have no clue how long this will take.  We have boxes that have been following us around since we were first married that I'm not sure have ever been completely unpacked.  The good news for today is that one box is 99% completed, the shredding is 100% completed, and everything that can be, is in the recycling bin.  I know this week and probably next week our recycling is going to be over flowing.  But for tonight...our house is breathing a little easier....